I don't know how many of you write fanfiction but this is as good a time as any to remind you to make sure you have back ups of your work.

I bring it up because it looks like Wattpad might be purging fanfics. Below are some links talking about it.

https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/1bvmchq/is_wattpad_going_nuclear_on_fanfics/

Another week, another purge… this week, Emily and V take a stroll back to Yahoo! Groups for a crash course on what they were, how they worked, and why they mattered. The episode takes a surprisingly sad turn as they consider how draining it is to constantly report on purges of huge portions of fannish history and what it really means when a company axes a huge repository of people's hard work, creativity, and passion. Then of course it gets a bit silly again at the end. Join us -- group pun! -- won't you?

...and then I remember it's been 11 years since I was 27.

PLEASE!!! PLEASE, I AM BEGGING YOU, RB!!!

So, if you haven’t heard already, the playlist app 8tracks is going to be shutting down on December 31st, 2019. AKA, NOT THAT LONG from now. This is the earliest we got any warning, or I would have started archiving playlists earlier.

“Well, what does this have to do with The Maze Runner?” you wonder, and honestly, that’s a very good question! The answer is that we, as a fandom, have literally dozens, if not hundreds, of playlists on there, all with unique song lists and cover art. All of that is going to go up in smoke in just a few days.

“Well, why should I care?” you wonder again. Because this is a piece of our fandom’s history! These are all unique creations that show our emotions at different points in time, different fan’s reactions to different events, that start to explain our feelings for our ships. Plus, they’re great to write, draw, or otherwise create to.

“Alright, then what can I do to help?” you (hopefully) think. Well, random person on the internet, I’m glad you asked! I came up with a list for you:

Make an 8tracks account.

Connect your Spotify account to that 8tracks account. Or, use the spotify account: tmr8tracks(@gmail.com). The password’s writtenbyjamesdashner (but only on spotify).

Come check out this spreadsheet!

Pick an available tag (or add a new one!), move it to the “taken” column, and start migrating playlists to spotify. The system’s not great, so you may want to reload pages if it’s not working. Check your spotify account regularly to make sure that cover art/edits is saving as well.

Consider joining the Discord.

While saving, remember to download the tracklist as well. Conversions between Spotify and 8tracks don’t tend to go smoothly and you’ll want an accurate list when going through to repair things.

Once you’ve gone through the tag, it’s time to move it into the completed column. Now, you can either go pick another tag, or start going through your new playlists and adding in missing tracks and art. It’s generally better to try and save more tags, as that’s the time restricted side of things, but I understand if you take the other route!

Take a break. You deserve it!

Make a masterpost with the playlists you’ve saved and @ me when you post it. If you used the “tmr8tracks” account, then don’t worry about this part.

Celebrate having saved fannish creations from deletion. Maybe even listen to the playlists you saved!

I’ll be saving the playlists to the communal Spotify account “tmr8tracks” and making a master-masterpost out of all of them as soon as I can.

Really, I can’t stress this enough, but even a little bit helps. Even if it’s just doing the tag for a minor character and not an entire ship, you. Are. Helping.

@00250 , sorry to @ you, but you’re the biggest TMR blog I can think of that the moment!

But I remember individual websites and archives and the C&Ds site owners would receive, pulling it all offline.

I remember when FFN came into existence, and when it did its first purge.

I remember the LiveJournal purges and the creation of blogosphere alternatives for fandom.

MediaMiner. AFF.net’s rise. Having to send a pic of my driver’s license to access certain archives. The yaoi archive that disappeared five or so years ago.

My memory is spotty. I only had my fanfiction purged once. I wasn’t a victim of Strikethrough or its sequels.

And I don’t use WattPad. Never was interested after I joined AO3. But WattPad is hardly the first purge, and always it follows certain patterns.

As a denizen of Internet 1.0, I generally dislike algorithms and the move to monetize all the internet. The monetization is what leads to the purges, and queer folks are always the first impacted, whether they’re “problematic” or not.

Because queer folks and works are always “problematic” in purity culture, and safety is only in numbers, in being united.

If that outburst on the cohost dev post pissed anyone off? Good. And no, I'm not against the dev, tyvm. SHE has done nothing wrong.

This is strictly about the NS*W restrictions.

I have been through ONE TOO MANY FUCKING PURGES since 2002 over people trying (and fucking FAILING) to define what NSFW type of things ARE and what is OK.

I get it. You want to protect kids.

So do I.

But when it comes to fiction and especially in animation, unless the character has been explicitly stated to be a CERTAIN age (as in an actual NUMBER and not some vague teen/young adult type label), I give zero fucks about lewd content.

And if the series in question has time skips built in? Guess what: teens have sex. Young adults have sex. Adults have sex.

That's a fact.

Fiction is a safe way to poke at many things. Including the not so great stuff. And no. That means it doesn't have to be written like a mid '90s PSA after an episode of Sailor Moon.

Fiction, people, fiction.

You can like or hate what you want, but so long as an IRL CHILD, their LIKENESS, or a fictional child isn't drawn PHOTO REALISTICALLY isn't posted/written about (because that can and IS considered CSEM), go fucking ham, I don't care.

I block and back button out of things that SQUICK ME OUT.

I always have. Learn to do the fucking same. And learn what a trigger is and what a squick is.

YOU PEOPLE CAN LEARN TO DO THE SAME AS OPPOSED TO SANITIZING EVERY FUCKING FANDOM SPACE. BECAUSE IT NEVER FUCKING WORKS.