Frite Club

I spent a good amount of time today following my favorite creators on IG and saving my favorite videos. I'm sure I missed some, but it wasn't like I went back and rewatched my liked videos all the time. I didn't save any videos that I made myself, except for one I posted in early December about my dog who we had to put down. (He was 15 1/2 years old).

I'm actually crying over losing TikTok, but all day I didn't think I'd be sad enough to cry. I've been angry in the days leading up to now, and I cry when I'm angry, but that's not what this is. I'm not angry right now. I rarely posted videos, despite wanting to be a content creator, because I knew the app was going to be banned and I didn't want to get attached in that way. But I'm crying. Because I'm sad. Why am I so sad?

Because I'm lonely.

I realized, in the precious minutes after TikTok went down, that I'm lonely. I watched a video on TikTok sometime ago that said TikTok feels like a conversation, and they were right. I didn't need to post videos or comments to feel included, I already was. I wasn't alone.

The last year or so made me realize how on my own I am.

I would put my phone down, but TikTok away, and engage in the real world only to come away with the understanding that no one really knows me.

No one in my life cares about Palestine. I'd put my phone away and feel like tearing my hair own because I felt like I was the only person who cared.

I got to experience other people's niche interests. Sometimes our interests were the same and sometimes they were different, but the feeling was still shared between us.

I followed a woman who didn't start dating until she was in her 30's and that made me feel seen. I followed a woman who looked like me but was braver than me for posting her weight loss journey, and seeing her succeed made me think I could succeed, too.

I laughed a lot, too. I watched the most random and interesting videos that made me laugh so hard I cried.

I learned a lot, too. I learned more about how the government worked than I ever did in any government or civics class. I learned about food and nutrition, I learned about exercise, I learned about the stars. I even learned about other countries, about Palestine, about books, about people.

TikTok was a conversation, and I never had to worry that I was on the outside. I wasn't being stealthily nudged out or ignored, I never had to worry that I was going to say the wrong thing at the wrong time. I didn't have to follow the normal social rules of having a conversation while still feeling like I was involved in one.

I'm going to miss the people. I'm going to miss the feeling of belonging I got while scrolling through TikTok. And maybe in a week it'll be back and this post will me cringe, but it's how I feel. And expressing my feelings isn't cringe.

I have about 100,000 followers on that app. I joined during the pandemic. I was lucky to find a community full of incredible people, many of whom I now consider lifelong friends. Because of the community I found on that app, I found space to experiment with my gender presentation. I was able to come out as nonbinary (to feel SAFE ENOUGH to come out as nonbinary) because of that app.

I've seen a few Tumblr posts in which people gloat they never got into TikTok. Good for you. You won't suffer emotionally, and that makes you feel superior. But if you have no concept of what that app has meant for more than 170,000,000 Americans (that's half of all Americans!), many of whom do not have access to community in physical spaces, kindly sit down.

The ban constitutes the largest mass layoff in American history. We will lose billions of dollars in our domestic economy. Over 7 million small businesses are shuttering because of the ban. You will feel the effect of that whether or not you were on the app. If you can't grasp the significance of that, again: kindly sit down.

The language of the TikTok ban has set a dangerous precedent for the American government to shutter any tech platforms they deem "dangerous" for arbitrary, undisclosed, nebulous reasons. This will affect Americans' ability to organize, spread information, and protest. They have effectively banned our right to assembly in digital spaces. This is the greatest infringement of free speech that has ever occurred in the United States. If you can't grasp the significance of that, either: kindly sit down.

This is bigger than "never falling for the TikTok craze." This is an enormous governmental overreach sanctioned by our own Supreme Court. It's bigger than teens doing silly dances you can sneer at from your smug high horse.

REBLOG POSTS YOU LIKE

it helps circulate and boots the posts! Likes do Jack NOTHING to boost the posts.

And learn the unspoken rules of the site. For example: you don’t have to censor your words, you can say kill, you can say fuck, you can say lesbian ffs

And don’t start petty drama when it could’ve been a conversation/argument in a DM or you could’ve just let it go and ignored it.

Otherwise people are going to leave the site.

Literally almost nobody cares about your callout post.

Literally almost nobody cares if someone is a proshipper.

You see that block button? Use it.

Don’t like a take someone has? Block them.

Don’t like how they talk about something and think they’re annoying? Block them

Learn to curate your own online experience. Please.

1. DO NOT censor your posts

dont censor sex, abuse, suicide, dont censor it. we dont have censors like tiktok does, you wont be banned for talking about these things and tagging them properly helps people avoid them (also, we dont have shadowbanning here)

2. we dont really have an algorithm

you follow who you follow, and you see posts from who you follow or what you search. the 'for you page' is basically useless here. this also brings me to my next two points

3. dont crosstag

we get it, on tiktok you have to crosstag for reach, but thats not really a thing here. just tag your posts properly (also posters often leave more info about the post in the tags!! and when you reblog stuff you can leave your own notes in the tags, kind of like the old "repost comments" on tiktok)

4. dont expect to go viral/be famous

"viral" isnt really a thing on here (at least not for the average blogger). your posts will probably get 2-10 likes and you wont get nearly as many followers than on tiktok. thats just how tumblr is

5. blocking is your best friend

tiktok is VERY discussion based, and while tumblr is much more discussion based than other social medias, its still not a good place for ragebait/discourse. dont interact, itll make your experience worse in the end, just block and move on

6. you cant go into someone elses house and start rearranging their furniture

HAPPY PRIDE 2024!!!! 🩷❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜

[Part 1]

It’s ok if you’re tired.

🏳️‍🌈Happy Pride.🏳️‍🌈

Copaganda. What is it, what's it do, and what are some examples where we might see it in action? I'm a SFF blog. Technically. So I'm giving this a spec fic twist and making this a list of copaganda featured (mostly) in spec fic.

When we think “copaganda,” we often think of the Dragnets, Blue Bloods, the Law & Orders, Cops, and Chicago P.Ds. of the world. And for good reason. These types of shows are usually held in high regard by law enforcement, sometimes collaborating directly with police departments. This collaboration benefits both parties; production may benefit from perks like closing off streets for filming or…

I never actually did an intro post, and I realize I have none of my links or info here so…probably time to change that. 

I’m Charlie. They/them pronouns, please. Super queer, super nerdy, super awkward and apologizing for that in advance. I’m an editor and an author, a gamer, a brand new narrative designer trying to break into game writing, and a bit of a chaos demon. But in the fun way. I hope. 

I’m an editor for indie authors with +10 years of experience and actually affordable rates. You have stories to tell! Money shouldn’t be what keeps you from the professional editor you deserve. Find me and learn more: cknightwrites.com

I write! As of now: I have a very large, very smutty, angsty as hell Shakarian fic that is posted every week. Best friends to lovers kicking ass in space—you don’t ever need to have played Mass Effect to get into this story. Read that here. 

I also have a Dragon Age: Inquisition fic and (less frequently updated, sorry) Horizon Forbidden West fic. 

My debut novel is coming out in 2023, too! RISE OF THE TEMPEST (the novel formerly known as Butt Pirates) is a low-stakes, high heat fantasy romance features two trans MCs. More on this later, but you can see character arc on my blog already and a little more here! 

On my Patreon, I provide customized and functional editing and writing advice, education, and coaching. I’ve covered everything from how to use em dashes properly to world building and purple prose. New posts weekly! 

My Patreon also has an Editor in Training tier! I’m delivering education on what being a freelance editor is actually like (and how to make it work for you), building that business, and hands-on coaching on editing practices. 

(And as a bonus, my Patreon is how I pay for chemo, so subscribe here.)

I am disabled and sick, which is a costly life, and my editing rates are set to be more affordable for you than profitable for me. My Patreon goes directly to my medical bills every month, and my ko-fi is another great way to help with that.

I will cheer on and help my mutuals however I can. My messages are always open, and I encourage you to use them if I can help you with anything. But you’re not welcome here if you gatekeep the writing or queer communities in any way. I’m not nice to bullies. 

FIND ME ELSEWHERE! 

IG & Twitter: @ CKnightWrites Discord: enbycabbage#0401 linktr.ee/cknightwrites

(Non-authors, please RB to signal boost to your author friends!)

An astute reader informed me this morning that one of my fics (Children of the Future Age) had been pirated and was being sold as a novel on Amazon:

(And they weren't even creative with their cover design. If you're going to pirate something that I spent a full year of my life writing, at least give me a pretty screenshot to brag about later. Seriously.)

I promptly filed a DMCA complaint to have it removed, but I checked out the company that put it up -- Plush Books -- and it looks like A LOT of their books are pirated fic. They are by no means the only ones doing this, either -- the fact that """publishers""" can download stories from AO3 in ebook format and then reupload them to Amazon in just a few clicks makes fic piracy a common problem. There are a whole host of reasons why letting this continue is bad -- including actual legal risk to fanfiction archives -- but basically:

IF YOU ARE A FANFIC AUTHOR WITH LONG AND/OR POPULAR WORKS, PLEASE CHECK AMAZON TO SEE IF YOUR STORIES HAVE BEEN PIRATED.

You can search for your fics by title, or by text from the description (which is often just copied wholesale from AO3 as well). If you find that someone has stolen your work and is selling it as their own, you can lodge a DMCA complaint (Amazon.com/USA site; other countries have different systems). If you haven't done this before, it's easy! Here's a tutorial:

HOW TO FILE A COPYRIGHT COMPLAINT FOR STOLEN WORK ON AMAZON.COM:

First, go to this form. You'll need to be signed into your Amazon account.

Select the radio buttons/dropdown options (shown below) to indicate that you are the legal Rights Owner, you have a copyright concern, and it is about a pirated product.

Enter the name of your story in the Name of Brand field.

In the Link to the Copyrighted Work box, enter a link to the story on AO3 or whatever site your work is posted on.

In the Additional Information box, explain that you are the author of the work and it is being sold without your permission. That's all you really need. If you want, you can include additional information that might be helpful in establishing the validity of your claim, but you don't have to go into great detail. You can simply write something like this:

I am the author of this work, which is being sold by [publisher] without my permission. I originally published this story in [date/year] on [name of site], and have provided a link to the original above. On request, I can provide documentation proving that I am the owner of the account that originally posted this story.

In the ASIN/ISBN-10 field, copy and paste the ID number from the pirated copy's URL. You'll find this ten-digit number in the Amazon URL after the word "product," as in the screenshot below. (If the URL extends beyond this number, you can ignore everything from the question mark on.) Once this number has been added, Amazon will pull the product information automatically and add it to the complaint form, so you can check the listing title and make sure it's correct.

Finally, add your contact information to the relevant fields, check the "I have read and accept the statements" box, and then click Submit. You should receive an email confirmation that Amazon has received the form.

Please share this information with your writer friends, keep an eye out for/report pirated works, and help us keep fanfiction free and legally protected!

I’m Lucy Mason. Normally I only talk about fandom stuff here, but given the state of Twitter and the fact that I have several thousand friends I don’t wanna lose touch with over there, I’m using this as backup.

The ownvoices asexual book of my heart, Ace of Hearts, is out! When a career-ending sports injury causes Felix to lose his scholarship, he marries his best friend for free tuition at the college where she works—but their fake marriage creates real feelings.

Print edition:

Kindle edition:

Goodreads: