A Fool. Truly.

AO3 has written about what they’re doing (and what they’re not able to do), and they recommend restricting your work to AO3 registered users only. [Instructions here]

just wanted to remind everyone again not only of the 3,000+ resources offered through our Liberation Library but also of the study guides for beginners offered under each of our social justice topics!

resources can be organized by type (article, novel, podcast, video, etc.) as well as filtered and searched through. we’ve tried to make our system much more accessible than our former platform on google docs so this is such an exciting development to share with everyone.

Also why the fuck doesn't disability cover the cost of living including apartment fees.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRnM71eb/

just wanted to remind everyone again not only of the 3,000+ resources offered through our Liberation Library but also of the study guides for beginners offered under each of our social justice topics!

resources can be organized by type (article, novel, podcast, video, etc.) as well as filtered and searched through. we’ve tried to make our system much more accessible than our former platform on google docs so this is such an exciting development to share with everyone.

to everyone, some gentle suggestions:

please keep sharing! <3

feel free to @bfpnola in the resources YOU find so we can keep this library going (or send in requests and we’ll do our best to find them or something similar). that #ref or #save tag you got? share your favs!

look into volunteering! we have SO MANY open leadership opportunities and if you don’t have the time for heavy responsibilities or don’t meet all the requirements for other positions, we literally have the General Volunteers who are equally important!

know that i am grateful and love all of you so much! i’ve been trying to send in asks to some of our new followers just to spread the love so if you see one in your inbox soon, mwah <3

- children and teens who cant get home until a later time have a safe, warm, well lit, populated area to socialize, charge devices, rest, etc

- children and teens have a safe place to go to stay away from danger

if you want this, you need to be at your local community government meetings. you need to be talking to your representatives.  you need to be out there Lobbying.

Just a few weeks ago, my library, me, my coworkers, we had to write letters, send emails, make phone calls, speak at council meetings, just to beg our aldermen to give us our usual funding. Which they didn’t even give to us last year.  Losing last year’s funding forced us to cut staff, hours, and all of our databases.  If we’d lost this year’s funding? two positions would have been gone and we would have likely had to close on Saturdays.  On Saturdays.  The day of the week most of y’all working M-F jobs actually have time to go to the fucking library.

And do you want to know how much money we were asking? We were asking for an increase of approximately 13 cents a person.

13.

Fucking.

Cents.

ACROSS AN ENTIRE YEAR.

No one seems to understand how libraries are funded.  It’s not just Free Stuff.  It’s your tax dollars being paid back into your community.  It’s crowdfunding.  The highest cost anyone in my community pays for the library a year is approximately $250.  Divide that up.  That’s just $4 a week.  That’s less than a coffee.  It’s the equivalent of purchasing about 10 hardcover books a year.  For that price, you could have access to every book that has ever been written, a place to go that’s not a bar, programs for kids, teens, and adults, educated staff that can help you find the answers to your questions, and so much more.

You want these late-night libraries?  You want all this stuff?  Start fighting for it.  Start showing up.  Start making phone calls.  It’s not going to come out of thin air.  Start fighting to erase the idea that taxes = evil.  Start fighting to spread the understanding that taxes are what help us build a better society.

Make sure the people who represent you know that you want this.  That this is where you want your tax dollars to go.  That this is what you want them to support.  That you are willing to see your tax bill go up a few more dollars for this.

Because otherwise?  None of this is going to happen.  Libraries are going to keep cutting their opening hours.  Keep cutting staff.  Keep cutting programs and databases and collections.

So. I'm in deep shit because Shutterstock has no cancel plan button. Let me explain. Long story short, tried a free trial and tried to cancel after the free month was over. I called, they helped me cancel my account.

And then I got charged. Again.

So I call again. I think it gets cancelled again.

And then I get charged again. And I call again, get it cancelled. Repeat.

Keep in mind, I'm a fucking college student. I don't have much money to begin with. At all. My only money is for testosterone, groceries, and emergencies, and OCCASIONALLY one nice thing every like. 3 or 4 months.

So I email them, after continuously trying to get ahold of them for 8. Months.

And I get this.

Read that closer, folks.

They're charging me for the months worth of trying to cancel, thinking it was fine, and then trying to cancel again, only to be lied to.

Don't use this shit. I thought I was getting a free trials and then was gonna cancel, and instead I've had money charged every 3 months, and then told I have to pay 160 dollars for the shit I already paid for.

It is not hard to link to your Tumblr or Twitter with a vague message like, “If you’re looking for my other works or other ways of supporting me, go here: link.” I have had people buy me coffees after enjoying my fic and asking where to support me. I threw up a link to my Tumblr and people cared enough to follow it. They were fully understanding when I explained in the comments that they could not commission me and I could not link them directly to any donation platform, but they could go to xyz link to read more. And they did! Nobody has to put AO3 directly on the firing line.

Go ahead and commission independently. Just do it anywhere else except on AO3. And then don’t come crying to the community when you, personally, get a C&D from a massive corporation.

AO3 is our bullet shield. Tumblr will pull your shit down. Wattpad won’t fucking protect you. LJ and FF.net already sold our asses for one (1) corn chip. AO3 is trying to protect us, you goddamn lemmings.

If you cannot follow the rules that protect fanspaces, you do not belong in our fanspaces.

Gods, i remember back when a good friend of mine got a C&D letter for one of her fics. She wasn’t sued, luckily, but it still scared the Ever Living SHIT out of us because it was happening! It wasn’t fake!

TL:DR -

Do not mention anything about commissions, donations, or payments in your author notes on AO3.

If a story was from a commission, do not even disclose that it was from one.

Also, why are you posting it publicly? That is supposed to belong to the “buyer.” It’s not yours anymore!

Be careful in linking back to sites where you openly accept monetary interactions in tumblr or Twitter or whatever.

I think commissions are important! Keep doing them!

Been watching too many animal videos that I wanted to draw a snuggly animal. So here’s Twi with a kitty