Finding out AI companies are chewing through - literally, they’re pulping and burning them as they go - millions of books often including 1/1s and old texts that cannot be reprinted
Meanwhile there’s always some dipshit telling me AI is the future and we’ve got to just let companies erase human history and literature so they can train their abomination machines to pretend to think like people because a judge said it’s fine
Al companies are bulk-buying rare books, scanning them through high-speed machines that cut the spines off, and shredding the originals. A service called ISBNdb facilitates orders of up to a million books and keeps buyers anonymous. Pre-2022 books are premium because they're free of Al-generated text. A federal judge ruled the practice is fair use because eliminating the original means only one copy exists at a time. Anthropic hired the former head of Google Books partnerships to obtain "all the books in the world."
My Take
This got to me. A bookseller told 404 Media that rare books with almost no surviving copies are being fed into this pipeline. Books that survived wars, fires, and centuries of handling are being shredded so an Al can learn to write a better marketing email.
ISBNdb's website literally says "Al company destroys two million books' is not a headline that generates sympathy," and they still built an entire business around making it happen quietly. They offer NDAs as a feature. They coach clients to call it "digital preservation."
I've covered Al companies scraping the internet, torrenting libraries, and stealing music. This is worse because it's irreversible. You can re-upload a website. You can reprint a bestseller. You can't replace the last three copies of an 18th-century botanical text once someone shreds them for training data. And the judge said it's legal. So it's going to accelerate.
"We shred rare books and offer NDAs so nobody finds out" is a legitimate busine model in 2026. What a timeline.
tweet by Ole Lehmann @/itsolelehmann:
btw anthropic's internal document on this literally said "we don't want it to be known that we are working on this."
it was called project panama.
here's exactly what happened:
1: anthropic concluded that books were the cheapest way to build a world-class model because they gave claude curated facts, structured arguments, compelling stories, and writing "an editor would approve of."
2: once anthropic decided it needed books at enormous scale, its first solution was piracy.
it downloaded 7m+ books from online libraries including libgen. the judge later wrote that although anthropic had legal ways to buy them, it chose piracy to avoid what dario amodei called the "legal/practice/business slog."
3: that piracy created a massive legal risk.
so in february 2024, anthropic hired tom turvey, the former head of partnerships for google books, to find a legally safer way of obtaining "all the books in the world."
4: turvey first contacted major publishers about licensing their catalogs.
those attempts didn't produce agreements, so anthropic chose a route that required no publisher permission: buying millions of physical books through distributors and used-book retailers.
5: within about a year, anthropic spent tens of millions acquiring and scanning millions of books, including many rare and 1/1 titles. one vendor proposal targeted 500,000 to 2 million books in six months.
6: to scan that many books within months, the vendors physically dismantled them.
a hydraulic cutter removed each spine. the pages were trimmed to size, fed as loose sheets through high-speed industrial scanners, and converted into searchable PDFs. the paper remains were then sent for recycling.
7: these PDFs were fed into claude as training data.
the complete collection became a private, searchable anthropic library that the company planned to "store forever." the scans aren't available to the public and were never open-sourced.
Robert Evans (the Only Robert Evans) @/iwriteok.bsky.social repost:
if elected president, i will dissolve the Department of the Navy and hand their funding, and nuclear fleet over to the Internet Archive.
They'll know what to do.
original post: Jason Scott @/textfiles.com screenshot of official Internet Archive tweet:
At the Internet Archive, this is how we digitize a book.
We never destroy a book by cutting off its binding. Instead, we digitize it the hard way--one page at a time.
#digitalbooks
attached to the same post are images of people scanning books, spines intact.
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Your dialogue is stiff because everyone is being too honest
Great dialogue can come from radical emotional honesty. But in most real conversations, people
dodge questions
answer indirectly
lie (badly)
change the subject
crack jokes to avoid serious answers
lie (convincingly)
say half of what they mean
tell the truth but get so anxious/angry/defensive others now think they're lying
If your dialogue feels unnatural, it might be because everyone is saying exactly what they think, or articulating their thoughts too well. Try letting characters hide things instead.
The Colors Of August (Greek Island Slice-of-Life IF) (Demo Coming Out This July)
"If you deconstruct Greece, in the end you will see an olive tree, a grapevine, and a boat remain. Which means, with as much, you reconstruct her."
For as long as you can remember yourself, summertime has beckoned you to your grandmother's home, in the idyllic island of Zakynthos, Greece. You have dipped your toes in the golden brown sand, delved into the crystal blue depths of the Ionian sea, and made memories to last you a lifetime beneath the scorching Mediterranean sun, your flock of close-knit family and friends always by your side in your carefree summer escapades. Your quaint seaside village has been a haven, a specter of a time bygone, a dreamland oasis.
However, this year, something dark and sorrowful stirs beneath the tides, a shared loss reflected in everyone's eyes. A real estate mogul is aiming to purchase the seaside lot and re-purpose it into a luxury hotel. If they are successful in their endeavors, the familiar taverns, homes and shops, including your grandmother's own coffeehouse, will be bulldozed over to make room for tall spires of concrete and marble.
The sunlit reverie of your youth is coming to an end. You may never get to spend another summer season like this in Zakynthos. There is thus only one thing left to do: Make the most of the time you have left.
Features
Customize your character's personality, appearance, gender, sex, preferences and goals. Do you cling to the happy memories of your childhood or does the thought of modernization excite you? Does Greece call you to as your homeland or do you discard your roots? Shape your future and discover how your past slots into it, if it does at all.
Embrace Greek island life! Enjoy the Mediterranean cuisine, engage in local traditions, and interact with the island's lively and colorful cast of residents.
Participate in all sorts of wacky summer shenanigans. Explore an underwater cave! Go on a submarine ride! Witness the hatching of baby turtles! Try skinny dipping! Get so blackout drunk that you and your friends wake up on the other side of the island and are forced to retrace your steps, basically re-enacting the Hangover Ala Greek!
Unravel your complicated family history, and how it entwines with the village's own muddled past. Face generational trauma and decide how to move on from it, possibly reforge your family bonds, and uncover secrets hidden in the attic for far too long.
Engage in steamy summer romance! Fall in love with your wise-cracking (yet oddly secretive) childhood friend, or pursue the unattainable, stoic and withdrawn man/woman of your dreams, who to your misfortune also just happens to be your brother's best friend. Experience a whirlwind romance with the cute and shy tourist staying over in your grandma's B&B (one bed trope here we gooo), or explore your undeniably fiery chemistry with the business mogul who is actively trying to drive your family shop out of business! Or do all of the above! What happens in Zakynthos, stays in Zakynthos... or does it?
Decide the future of your village. Save it from the evil clutches of capitalism or help it transition into a bright new future! Enjoy your last summer in Zakynthos or carve out a life for yourself in the island, permanently.
Romantic Options
The Local (Lukas/Lukia)
The boy/girl next door, L has been your steadfast companion every June through August. The only other kid in the village exactly your age, unlike you, L is a permament resident of Zakynthos and holds no desire to change that fact. Characterized by a sunny disposition, a zest for life and a complete lack of shame, you don't believe you have ever seen L without a grin on their lips.
Yet despite it all, as your time together is drawing thin, you can feel something cracking in their gleeful exterior. Is is at all possible that your old friend is hiding something more troubled from you?
Close as you are, with how deeply they are entwinned with island culture, it is very likely that after this summer you will never see them again. The possibility makes longing swell in your chest, or could it be something else which is making your heart gallop?
L has golden curls that refuse to be tamed so they don't even try, sunkissed tanned skin and sea blue eyes. Their build is fit and toned. Dimples grace their cheeks when they beam, which is often. They look like the spirit of summer personified.
Potential Tropes: childhood friends, friends to lovers, girl/boy next door.
Potential Variations: You can choose to have had a crush on L since childhood. If you do, it will be reciprocal. You can also choose how close you are exactly: whether you are summer buds or best friends all year long.
Brother's Best Friend (Atlas/Athena)
Your brother's best friend and the most mature of the gaggle. If you did not know how much they cared from years of them gliding over you like a mother hen, you would honestly assume they hate you, because their default expression ranges from "irked by your presence" to "murderous intent".
Currently top of their class in an Ivy League College, A is what you may call a perfectionist, and they hold themselves in very high standards. Many want and have tried to get close to A, but very few get past their guard, and you are not even sure if your brother is one of them.
Though distant, stoic and often biting in their remarks, A acts as the group dad/mom, ensuring that you have drunk enough water, put on a sufficient amount of sunscreen or remembered to take your jacket with you.
A is also very honest and straightforward about their perception of you; you are just a kid they are obligated to watch out for through the bonds of friendhood. They are fiercely (sometimes annoyingly) protective of you and will support you through thick and thin, while buying you a stuffed toy like you are still five years old.
But what if you want them to see you as more than just a kid? Is this your last chance to make an impression on them?
A has silken straight black hair, dark grey eyes and a fair complexion. Their physique borders on that of a Greek statue. A has an aquiline nose.
Potential Tropes: brother's best friend, "I am not just a kid anymore", in love and in denial.
Potential Variations: You can choose to have had a crush on A since childhood. You can also choose if they are aware of it or not. At the beginning of the game, A is not actively reciprocating your interest.
The Tourist (William/Willow)
W had no intention of imposing on your grandmother's hospitality so long, but a sudden break up has them deciding to prolong their stay in Zakynthos. Not that they infringe all that much, seeing as they are quiet as a mouse and twice as skittish.
Shy, sweet and with a deep love for Greek history and mythology, W is hoping to take advantage of their vacation time to come out of their shell.
W is in many ways a mystery, intentionally so, you get the impression. Driven by a thirst for knowledge and a need for change, they are the newest addition to your little group.
Will do you able to coax this intriguing stranger out of their shell? And perhaps most importantly, why do you want to so badly?
W has dark skin, long locs and soft features. Clusters of freckles dot their cheeks and nose. Their build is petite and curvy. W speaks with a British accent.
Potential Tropes: summer love, one bed trope, forced proximity.
The Business Mogul (Stefan/Stefania)
S is a suave and confident playboy/girl, who seems to take a lot of pleasure in teasing you. Shameless in their hedonism and even more unashamed in their business acumen, S has come to Zakynthos to survey what they are determined to make their property. Having a wild summer while doing so, is really just a coincidental plus.
Self-centered but undeniably charismatic, S grew up in the lap of luxury and is used to getting their way with things. Despite it all, there is a constant lack of satisfaction about them, like they have everything and nothing all at once. One must wonder if the constant philandering, partying, drinking and expanding is nought but a shield against having to sit in silence with themselves.
S has their eye on you as their favourite person in the island already. Is that good or bad? You are tempted to find out, to dive deep into their dazzling and hazy world of glamor and grime, but you are not quite certain a single person in your life would approve of such an interest.
S has tanned skin, which deepens and darkens especially in summertime, wavy dark brown hair that frames their face irritatingly angelically given what a fiend they are, and olive green eyes. They are tall and lithe in build.
Potential Tropes: enemies to lovers, romeo & juliet, reforming the bad boy/girl.
Important Note
The Colors of August is centered around the beautiful, messy and sometimes difficult lives of a group of new adults making the most of their last summer together in a quaint village on the island of Zakynthos. The game heavily incorporates elements of modern Greek island culture, and is based on the author's own experiences of such!
Core themes include: summertime (of course), romance, self-identity, self-discovery, nostalgia, coming of age, breaking cycles of trauma, healing, the power of community, the old vs the new, the division between the generations, environmentalism, the past and how it haunts, and more.
While ultimately a feel-good type of game, mainly focused on character and relationship drama, I do not plan to shy away from incorporating more serious themes into the game. The intent behind this decision is primarily to show how people grow past or are affected and shaped by them.
For more details, on the precise themes referenced here, you can look at safety warnings below!
Safety Warning
The Colors of August is rated 18+ for:
Optional Sexual Content (can be detailed, fade to black or entirely absent from the story)
Generational Trauma
Mental Health Problems (Discussion & Depiction)
Parental Negligence
Referenced Past Child Abuse
Consumption of Alcohol
Economical Disparities
And potentially more. List may expand as I go.
Trigger warnings will be issued before every chapter/every sensitive scene, so players can opt out of and skim over any darker content, if they so desire.
DEMO RELEASE
Upcoming: July of 2026
Thank you for coming to my TedTalk and I hope you enjoy The Colors of August!
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I was deleting a bunch of asks in my inbox (because I said I would) but I got trigger happy and deleted one which really should have been answered. The anon mentioned that some IF writers have said they don’t mind people pirating their works, so the ask may have come as a genuine inquiry to that.
I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH HOW BAD AN IDEA THAT IS!
As someone who’s not only an IF writer but who has worked in the marketing and publishing industry for 20+ years, NEVER give blanket permission like that! You are basically withdrawing any rights you have to your own work. You will lose in a court of copyright law because someone can point to that and say you gave permission. They can take your work, slap their name on it, and call it their own. They can feed it into an AI engine and diarrhea out their own slop and then get paid for said slop.
I know there are a lot of young writers who think they’re being kind by allowing piracy, but you’re actually being unkind to yourself. Protect yourself and your hard work! Viatica is free out of the goodness of my heart, BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN ITS NOT COPYRIGHTED. It very much is and I do not allow piracy of it in any way. I’ve already fought for two such removals on piracy sites and I will continue to fight for my work every time. You can provide free content and still ban piracy of it. The two are not mutually exclusive.
If, and I stress if, you want to allow liberties with your content, be VERY specific. Outline the express conditions under which someone can take and/or use your work.
It’s not being unkind to protect yourself and your work!
Hi Fir! I had a question as someone who's nearly ready to release their first demo: If you had to start over, on Tumblr and with the game in general, what advice would you give yourself to make the process smoother?
Ooh, this is an interesting question. First off, congratulations on your near release!
Hmm, for Tumblr specifically, I should have created guidelines for asks much sooner than I did. When you’re first starting out you get understandably excited to receive asks and want to answer them all. But inevitably you’re going to get too many or ones you may not be comfortable answering. For myself, I don’t like asks that are heavily NSFW. And scenario asks, while fun, are very time consuming for me. Set clear expectations for your followers and guide posts for yourself so you don’t get overwhelmed.
I also wish I’d been more deliberate about tags early on. I ask people to search my blog for answers but even I have trouble finding stuff. For example, I use the tag “world lore” a lot, but I wish I’d been more specific, like Iredicci lore or Tinebaille lore.
As far as the game itself… KEEP TRACK OF YOUR VARIABLES! I was very deliberate about my scope and so I thought I could remember what variables I was using. Easy peasy! I didn’t start off with a lot. If nothing else, I figured I could just look back in previous chapters. Yeah, no. 😅 Due to branching, the variables get out of hand VERY quickly, and looking back is too time consuming when you have nearly 600 passages.
Good luck with your release, and even if the process isn’t a smooth one, I hope it’s rewarding and enjoyable! ❤️
➡️ Not every medium of fiction and storytelling has or is expected to have content warnings or extensive tagging.
➡️ Print novels do not traditionally warn for content in any way.
➡️ Until AO3 came along, fanfiction did not traditionally warn for content in any significant way.
➡️ An author is only obligated to warn for content to the degree mandated by the format they publish their fiction on.
➡️ Content warnings beyond the minimum are a courtesy, not an obligation.
➡️ 'Creator chose not to warn' is a valid tag that authors are allowed to use on AO3. It means there could be anything in there and you have accepted the risk. 'May contain peanuts!'
➡️ Writers are allowed to use 'Creator chose not to warn' for any reason, including to maintain surprise and avoid spoilers.
➡️ 'Creator chose not to warn' is not the same thing as 'no archive warnings apply'.
➡️ It is your responsibility to protect yourself and close a book, or hit the back button if you find something in fiction that you're reading that upsets you.
➡️ You are responsible for protecting yourself from fiction that causes you discomfort.
For the writers stuck describing every single scene transition as someone "walking" somewhere. Some words are repeated across categories since they fit more than one, but those are counted once, so it adds up to 50 new words.
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A story of adventure, war, brotherhood, friendship and the search for one’s true self, but above all, a story of love.
SYNOPSIS
It is the obligation and the design of God for the Royal Family to have three children for every succession.
The Beacon, the Protector, and the Conciliator.
Your older sister, your little brother, and you have to fulfill those roles.
But when a life marked by death and touched by greater forces you cannot comprehend twists the path you were taught to follow, nothing matters anymore.
Your life, your family, and your position on the throne have been stolen.
Forced to make a pact with the nomads you were taught to keep your distance from, you’ll have to lead, protect, and advise your siblings in this uncertain new journey.
Will you reclaim your family’s birthright, or will you carve a new destiny of your own?
✦ Play as male or female.
✦ Customize your character.
✦ Rekindle old friendships, forge new ones, find love and build unbreakable bonds with your new companions.
✦ Choose your allies.
✦ Choose your God.
✦ Will you become The Protector, The Conciliator, The Beacon or something else?
✦ Find who you are.
MAIN CHARACTERS
The People of Iberryn
Joanna Ballester
Your older sister.
A sickly and very smart girl who has never taken a step outside the castle.
She loves good adventure stories, has a vast hunger to discover the world and learn about it, and a horrible fear that she may never be able to satisfy those longings.
Marcus Ballester
Your little brother.
Marcus is a boy who can’t stay still for a second, always running everywhere and wanting to duel anyone who has a sword.
His naivety, high energy, and carefree nature both charm and annoy those around him at the same time.
He dreams of one day becoming the greatest Protector the world has ever known.
Petra Casares - RO
Joanna's personal guard.
Raised to be perfect, strong, fast, clever, and keen.
Petra possesses a deep sense of honor, guided by solemn vows and values that have carried her to where she stands today, as the first woman to become a Silver Knight.
Although a rigid mind and a narrow life may not let her see that there is more to life than duty.
Athan Heras - RO
Stablemaster of the Royal House, as his father and grandfather were before him.
He has devoted his entire life to the breeding and training of horses, a passion that runs through his veins and matches well with his stubborn and self-demanding nature.
He also happens to be your childhood best friend, someone you haven’t seen since leaving home.
Among the Nomads
Loryen - RO
Most people are fooled by her petite figure and sweet personality, but her skill in hunting and her incredible resourcefulness make her one of the most valuable members of her tribe.
Loryen needs no God to tell her how good she is, as no one has ever beaten her precision with the bow.
Egan - RO
Egan is the only son of the tribe’s leader.
He has an exceptional gift, a blessing and a curse to him in equal measure. Always on the edge of either making him irreplaceable or destroying him.
His warm smile and cheerful attitude distract everyone from that hidden truth.
Harun - RO
Harun is a proud and agile fighter with great determination, who would die before bowing to anyone.
Fiercely protective of his own, he trusts no one outside his circle, a trait that does not always benefit his people.
When his tribe was destroyed by the forces of your house he was taken under the protection of Egan’s and Loryen’s tribe.
The loss left him with a deep and permanent mark that will never heal.
Content Warning
Fantasy violence, blood, death, themes of war, trauma, and suggestive themes.
Do you think tumblr will ever learn the difference between “I’m defending this person because I agree with them wholeheartedly and I am also like this person” and “I’m defending this person because your behavior is dangerous and you need to stop”
IMO, blurring the lines between “I’m defending them because they’re right” and “I’m defending them because you’re taking this too far” is step numero uno to cutting down the very existence of fair trial and democracy–even in places where saying that might seem a little dramatic.
Mob mentality is extremely strong in humans and it’s also extremely dangerous. Mobs don’t think things through. Mobs kill and they destroy and they can’t be reasoned with. Someone trying to calm a mob down isn’t someone defending the ~problematic party~ It’s time we re-learn that.
"Stop scrolling and please help me spread the word, because if I've landed on your page you're most likely either a black woman or someone who cares about black women and the simple phrase I'm about to share could help save a black woman's life.
Doctors are to black women what police officers are to black men. That may seem controversial but I believe it to be true and I speak from personal experience.
If you've seen this TikTok you know that a 2016 study showed that 50% of medical students and residents thought that black people couldn't feel pain the same as white people.
And we learned from this video that because of a 1999 study, to this day, there's a black correction factor for the creatinin levels in black people's kidneys, meaning we're less likely to recieve a kidney transplant if needed.
So if you go to a doctor, feel you aren't getting proper treatment or they refuse the treatment you've requested, say to them the following:
I will need you to document on record that you are refusing the treatment (or medicine) I've requested, and the reason you are doing so."
This works. I have used it in other situations. If medical staff have to document and take responsibility and be on the hook legally for doing shady shit they behave much differently.
If you weren’t already going to spread this advice because black women are at risk, then spread it because it’s applicable to everyone else as well, including you reading this.
But particularly women, and especially black women.
Just to raise awareness at the situation in Canada right now to my non-Canadian followers: Toronto has been ranked as having the worst air quality in the world right now due to wildfires.
Toronto is not a wildfire-prone area. It is extremely close to the USA border, and the smog is currently affecting NY right now. There is literal chunks of debris in the air. The sky is orange, and the sun is nowhere to be seen.
Climate change and its effects are right outside your door. Data centres are the cause for the insane heat waves across the globe, and the increase in wildfires and other natural disasters.
You will watch recordings of the world burn around you, and only when you are behind the camera will you realize there is no going back.
Oh, what is that? They are selling my demo for 400 dollars :D That is rather expensive for a free demo, I think. Or is it just my logo they are selling? Interesting. I doubt it sells well, but if it has I would like my cut! But I do not at least know about selling my demo, so perhaps they missed a step somewhere.
But wait! As with these scam sites, there is more! I am naturally not the only one who they are trying to steal from. Probably very badly at these prices (like 400-600 dollars) but still.
At a quick glance this "brand" is also "selling" at least:
God Cursed by @wings-of-ink
Misplaced by @calliopefiction
Uroboros by @uroboros-if
The Gray Ascendancy by @thegrayascendancy-if
The Great Protector by @greatprotector-if
And probably a bunch of other ones I missed. And this was all from this one "brand".
Should we try to do something? This one is so ridiculous I really doubt people are falling for it with those ridiculous price tags.
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