hold back the storm

[hold back the storm]

Europe’s planned copyright changes are Really Bad for fanfic sites

[eatingcroutons]

I mean you’ve probably got that impression already but honestly, they are really, really bad. Especially if you like uploading fanfiction to websites like AO3.

At the moment, the way the law is phrased is likely to mean everything you upload in Europe, to any website that allows user-created content, will need to be automatically scanned for copyright violations.

You know YouTube’s automatic content filter? Imagine having that for the entire internet. We already know that copyright trolls exploit YouTube’s system in a bunch of ways, making money off user content they have no actual rights to, and shutting down legitimate user content.

But here’s where it gets worse: Websites that host user-generated content – including fanfiction – will be responsible for putting those filters in place and maintaining them themselves.

This law would in all likelihood require AO3 to implement a system which monitors every single work uploaded in Europe for copyright violations, before they can be shared on the Archive.

We’re talking full-on “robotic censorship regime”, as the Electronic Frontier Federation puts it. 

Not only would that be that icky and invasive. Not only would it ignore the complexity of copyright exceptions like Fair Dealing. Not only would it be easy to exploit by copyright trolls. It would also be a massive, massive burden on an organisation staffed entirely by volunteers. The sheer volume of work AO3’s coders, wranglers, and policy and abuse staff take on – for free, in their own time – is already staggering.

And while AO3 is a pretty robust archive, and might miraculously be able to find the resources to comply with this ridiculous law, there are many, many smaller websites out there that would seriously struggle. Other non-profits, libraries, and archives, who would all have to either build automatic content filters from the ground up – or more likely, pay for off-the-shelf “solutions” that are overpriced and ineffective.

The OTW are doing their best to fight this change, and this EFF post also has links to a bunch of ways in which you personally can help lobby against this terrible law.

The European Parliament’s legal committee has just voted (in June 2018) to press forward with the law, but we’ve probably still got until at least early 2019 before the whole Parliament votes on it. The timing is about as good as it gets – the next European Parliament election is expected in May 2019, so our MEPs are going to be worrying about re-election right when we need to put pressure on them (that’s now!).

Europe has managed to reject bad legislation in the past. We can do it again this time. Please do what you can to spread the word or get involved!

[salt-of-the-ao3]

European followers: please, please sign the petitions, call/write to your MEPs, everythings that’s necessary. Your voice matters.

[hold back the storm]

@muirin007 BE GLAD YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH BODYPAINT FOR YOUR ERIK
PROSTHETICS ARE A PAIN IN THE ASS TO MAKE AND WEAR
I canNOT EMOTE AT ALL AND I LOST AN EYEBROW.

[hold back the storm]

[sophia-helix]

OTP test: which one is the fuck-up, and which one spite-cultivates an entire memorial garden of the other’s mistakes

[hold back the storm]

something that’s been bugging me lately

I’ve noticed that, in several fandoms, things are starting to get a bit toxic. anyone who ships any pairing other than the most widely accepted is getting attacked.

it seems that it has to do with making fandoms more ‘wholesome’ or ‘pure’, to keep abusive or pedophilic ships out of said fanbaase. don’t get me wrong, some relationships in canon are extremely unhealthy, but with some of the ships i’ve noticed that the ones that are not the mainly accepted ship coughvoltronklancecough are really attacked. other ships, that in canon may not be that bad, are blown out of proportion by the fanbase to make their primary ship the most widely known and accepted.

i don’t think this is ok.

of course, if a ship is extremely abusive in canon or unhealthy in canon, maybe don’t ship it.

but don’t blow the proportions out of the water just so you can make sure your ship is endgame.

[hold back the storm]

[my-username-was-taken]

she transformed her enemies, or those who offended her, into wild beasts // Circe by Wright Barker (1889)

[takealookatyourlife]

tits out surrounded by big cats is how I wanna live my life

[classicaldynamics]

reblog if you wanna live tits out and surrounded by big cats

[hold back the storm]

Post the last sentence you wrote and tag as many people as there are words in that sentence

[hjbender]

“I want you to be able to fit inside.“

I swear this line is completely innocent. Yeah, it’s spoken by a wee little frost troll to a great big bare-chested thundergod, but you’re just going to have to believe me.

I was tagged by the amazing @fairy-changeling and I tag the wonderful @dictionarywrites, @i-bleed-salt, @calamity-cain, @moonsandrock, @softnocturne, @roguewen, @raeseddon, @noelleian and @wouldyouknowmore . I share a lot of friends in the Thorki fandom, so if you’ve already been tagged, guess what, you get a free pass. (Unless you don’t want to pass up a good opportunity. In which case, HAVE AT IT, FRIENDS.)

[raeseddon]

Ermagerd Bender, you caught me in the middle of editing a thing! Okay, here goes:

“Alright, so we’re in Middle Earth! No use complaining until someone asks us to scale a volcano barefoot.”

I don’t have enough people to tag for the whole sentence BUT. I tag:

@zabbers ,@cybra-sensei , @nowhere-dawn-death-phan @inquisiitor

[nowhere-dawn-death-phan]

Ahh, you managed to find me just as I started writing a request. It’s fluffy, which is always good - 

Helena nodded almost lazily, taking the lollipop she’d been eating out of her mouth. “We’ve been attempting to make you do this for almost a week. Do try to keep up, darling.”

Since it is undeniably far too long of a sentence to tag each and individual person for, I shall just tag - @racescoronas, @dwayne-pride and anyone else who wants to do it.

[racescoronas]

This was my last comment in a discussion about my teacher cancelling a school event we were all looking forward to since last year

“Okay what the fuck”

I tag @bisexual-eponine, @the-1992-newsies-is-better, @the-newsies-justice-for-zas-blog, @heyjackyboyuh (sorry I’m annoying and always tag the same people)

[heyjackyboyuh]

Oh my god no, it was

“Jwsbksdh I love baking”

does keysmash count as a word ? I’m gonna pretend it Don’t

I’d tag ppl but my laptop won’t let me because of horrible connection ?? But y’know if Hug, Grace or Mai sees it uhhh hi guys ur. ur tagged. haha. tagged u

[we-dont-sell-papes]

thanks Andy

“He hated being seen with his inhibitions down, which is why he almost never got drunk.”

guess who “he” is lmao. (it’s spot) so that’s 16 words. great, ok.

@timesarehardfornewsies @albertdasillva @ben-cook-can-cook @elmers-half-a-cup @elmer-s-s0cks @newsies-stop-theworld @poorguysheadisdoingwhatnow @sqecs @maiawakening @broadwayandbookblog @thatfancyclam @not-your-cigar @thatshiscigar @tony-higgins @wetcoffeejpg @dank-crypitic

[poorguysheadisdoingwhatnow]

this is really cool, thanks!

“When Katherine first met that silly, flirty, cocky boy and his gang of loud, rambunctious friends, she had never imagined that she would soon consider them some of the best friends she had ever made.”

-it’s the first sentence of Katherine’s Side, y’all better buckle up cause this shit is sad

-also it’s 35 words why did I do this to myself

@races-erster @disney-princess-sized @shes-the-king @thatguylex @elmerkasprzakguarantees @ben-cook-can-cook @awwwwwwdang @westcoastbroadway @daveys-pet-snake @roses-are-red713 @albertdasillva @gracetrack-higgins @racetrackcook @maiawakening @fuckboyloki @thewebernutter @my-writemind @auburnpumpkin @anddrownedusinink @newsieofnj @daveyjacobss @racetrack-and-jojo @alicewhitmore @concretedonutssprinkledwthmold @wafflesareh0t @makeanewsiesday @rebecko @newsies-fics @angrynewspaperchildren @woildismyerster @i-got-personality @crazygeniusspacelady @actualtheatertrash @infinity-fandom-trash @newnewsieprice 

[thatguylex]

yall need to eat a cracker and breathe

@race-ace @the-1992-newsies-is-better @got-the-east-side @bouncyscreamingnewsboys @jackson-cus-i-can @soak-em @bernaynay @concretedonutssprinkledwthmold

[concretedonutssprinkledwthmold]

I mean it’s GABRIEL DAMON

@soak-em @acewithacase @the-1992-newsies-is-better @shes-the-apex-predator @baura-bear

[shes-the-apex-predator]

Silently cheering, Mush said, “Thank you! Good luck love, I love you.” And quickly gave him a kiss.

@newsieoftn @harrynerd @fandomtrash-universe @all-these-wonderful-things @soak-em @c0ronas @bernaynay @thatguylex @dank-crypitic @newsieofnj @gaypowersunite @gaybroadwayloser @the-1992-newsies-is-better

I still need 5 more ppl but whatever. Also sorry if you’ve already been tagged/secretly hate me ahhhhh

[c0ronas]

“YES”

@thecaptainsgingersnap

[thecaptainsgingersnap]

“i wouldn’t let go of my hand if I were you.” he chuckled. “Wouldn’t want you getting lost in here. “

@races-erster @woildismyerster @albertdasillva @gothicgirl100 @gothamsmarvel @newmooneyfanfiction @harryhooksgazebos267 @we-dont-sell-papes @tis-my-cigar @unofficialfansie @agentmarymargaretskitz @agent-absinthe @haroldhookwriter @kingofbrooklynny @coldflashwave-baby

[gothamsmarvel]

Thanks @thecaptainsgingersnap!!

He cupped her face and let himself cry, careful to not hurt Selina any more than he already had.

@bbabybatcat @dc-hoe @verydepressedfangirl @tylily @lizzysong @marvel-ness @bucky-plums-barnes @senorita-stucky @everyday-imfangirling @jugheadscrownxx @sirengirls @kookiesandjintonic @robinmagik  @onedayiwillflyfree @transwayne @saltybatman @hollandroos @persephone-is-here-omg @ohitswanda

[everyday-imfangirling]

Thank you so much!! Love you!! 💖💖@gothamsmarvel

“You? Owe me a dance?” She asked, quite amused.

@derpity-does-stuff @flapjacku @gracianasi @rosesandmusicsheets @queenofthemorgue @phantomsopera @operaofthephantom @angel-of-moosic @hedwigthelegend

(Y’all don’t have to do it if y’all don’t want to lol)

[operaofthephantom]

Thank you SO much for thinking of me, Maria! It means the world to me <3

And since I sadly can’t share my last sentence since it’s…ahem, a bit inappropriate, here’s the second to last one: 

“I love you, Erik,” she whispered blissfully, and he could not hold back the tears this time, letting them come forth with a few gentle sobs. (Chapter 15 of Change Every Lock and Key)

I’m tagging @rienerose (now you have to show us what’s next in your fic and I am very excited), @madiamazing, @wheel-of-fish, @i-am-melancholys-child and @littlelonghairedoutlaw <3

[hepta-sa-hregg]

Nobody tagged me but i’m doing this anyway:

‘It was time for the Trials.’

@rienerose @asmaspeaks and @savetheblackpaladin (i refuse to tag more than you three)

[hold back the storm]

reblog for good things to happen to you

[studyblr]

the universe will listen

[hold back the storm]

[nolanyx]

Janelle Monae at the 2018 BET awards red carpet 

[hold back the storm]

The Racist History of U.S. Immigration Policy & Citizenship Rights

[rowanthesloth]

This started as a Facebook rant, and then ballooned into a more comprehensive dissertation on the racist history of U.S. immigration policy and citizenship generally (or as comprehensive as a dissertation can be that was written in 6 hours in a sleep-deprived state).

I’m sure I missed some important points. Feel free to reblog with relevant information and corrections. Some of this was new information to me, and I may not have understood it perfectly, or explained it well. Please copy, paste, and share any or all of this information wherever you think it might do some good. Links are provided not only as sources, but also as starting points for additional reading about any of the topics summarized below.

Part I: Immigrants Are Not A Threat

• The number of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. has been slowly declining since it peaked in 2007. (i.e., there is no current immigration “crisis” in the U.S.)
  
• Between 2009 and 2016, the number of undocumented immigrants from Mexico living in the U.S. declined by around 12.5%. (i.e. unauthorized immigration is not an issue of Mexicans “sneaking” across the U.S.’s southern border.)
  
• The U.S. civilian workforce includes 8 million unauthorized immigrants (~5% of people working or unemployed and looking for work), down slightly from a peak of 8.3 million in 2008, but essentially more or less level since 2007. (i.e., no, undocumented immigrants are not coming here to leech off U.S. government benefits, which would be impossible for them to claim in any case.)
  
• Only 6 U.S. states have seen an increase in the number of undocumented immigrants since 2009. 7 others have showed a decrease, and the rest have showed no change.
  
• Since 2003, there has been a steady decline in the number of undocumented immigrants who have been in the U.S. 5 years or less, and a steady increase in the number who have been here 10 years or more. (i.e., an increasing share of the undocumented population are adults who have been contributing to the U.S. economy for at least a decade, living and working and raising their families here.)
• Illegally crossing the border into the U.S. is a misdemeanor for first-time (adult) offenders, on par with such crimes as driving more than 25 mph over the speed limit or shoplifting, and carries a penalty of a fine or up to 6 months of jail time.
  
• In 2014 42% of the undocumented population of the U.S., and 66% of new undocumented arrivals, were visa overstayers. (i.e., they entered the U.S. legally, but overstayed the terms of their visa, and would not have been prevented from entering the U.S. by a border wall.)
• A growing number of people who do cross the U.S./Mexico border without a visa are refugees from Central America, fleeing violence, persecution, and poverty. By and large, they do not seek to evade border checkpoints, but openly present themselves and request political asylum. (i.e., they would not have been prevented from entering the U.S. by a border wall.)
  
• The proposed border wall is a ludicrous and unconscionable waste of tax dollars, even if you believe stricter immigration standards are warranted.
• Apart from the initial misdemeanor offense of being in the country illegally, undocumented immigrants are less likely (and in many cases, far less likely) than native-born U.S. citizens to engage in criminal activity, especially violent crime. (i.e., trying to blame a general crackdown on illegal immigration on gang violence is disingenuous.) 
• [additional source on immigration and crime statistics] 

In summation: There is no immigration crisis in the U.S., and no real reason to be cracking down now, other than to score points with the party base, or as a distraction.

Part II: Legal Immigration Is Not A Reasonable Option For Most People

• The process of legal immigration to the U.S. is opaque, complicated, expensive, time-consuming, restrictive. An applicant can do everything “right” and still end up waiting years or decades for a visa. 
• Fewer than 1 million immigrants per year are granted permanent residency (green cards), out of 6 million applicants. That number includes asylum seekers. (Permanent residency is not the same thing as citizenship, which can take an additional 5 years.) 
• No more than 7% of the green cards issued annually in the U.S. may be granted to citizens of any one country. This seriously limits immigration opportunities for people from more populous countries, such as Mexico, India, and China. 
• Around 66% of legal immigrants are admitted to the U.S. on the basis of family ties (limited to children, parents, spouses, and fianc(e)és of citizens or legal permanent residents). Another 13% are granted employment visas. 17% are accepted for humanitarian reasons, such as refugees.
• Legal immigration for the child or spouse of a legal permanent resident (green card holder) can take 5-10 years. This is a serious strain and hardship of family relationships.
  
• Unless you are a highly skilled (and highly educated) immigrant in an in-demand field, obtaining an employment visa can take 6 years or longer.

In summation: unless you have money, a lot of free time, an outstanding skill set, a keen ability to cut through red tape and navigate bureaucracy, and/or a strong family support system already established in the U.S., you can forget about immigrating legally.

Part III: The History of Immigration and Citizenship Rights in the U.S. is Racist AF, in Case You Hadn’t Heard

• The U.S. has a long history of restricting and withholding citizenship rights from people of “undesirable” ethnicities and nationalities (usually non-white). (i.e., there is no good historical precedent for equating legality with morality.)
• The 3/5ths Compromise of 1787, written into Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution, declared each enslaved African person to be counted as 3/5ths of a person, for the purpose of establishing proportional representation in the House of Representatives and the Electoral College. Slaves were not, of course, represented by the new government, and were considered property rather than citizens under the law.
• The Naturalization Act of 1790 granted U.S. citizenship to all free white residents “of good moral character” who had lived in America for at least two years, regardless of where they had been born. Subsequent laws passed in 1795 and 1798 increased the term of residency requirement.
• The passage of the 14th Amendment in 1868 granted birthright citizenship to anyone born in the U.S., regardless of race or ethnicity (with the exception of Native Americans), cancelling out the 3/5ths Compromise.
• In 1870, African immigrants were granted the right to become naturalized citizens. Non-white male citizens were granted voting rights by the 15th Amendment, but were often prevented from exercising them effectively by Jim Crow laws. Asian immigrants were still barred from becoming citizens.
• The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 banned virtually all immigration from China until its repeal in 1943. It was the first immigration law passed by Congress.
• The Dawes Act of 1887 granted citizenship to Native Americans who agreed to disassociate from their tribes. Native men who agreed to this were granted the right to vote. 
• Throughout the 19th century, government policies routinely forced Native American tribes off the land they had occupied for centuries, in order to make more room for white European settlers. Today, Reservation lands make up only 2% of U.S. geography. Many Native traditions were outlawed, including traditional religious practices, in an attempt to destroy and erase Native cultures. Children were taken from their families through programs of forced assimilation, and sent to boarding schools, where they were not permitted to speak their own languages or even use their own names. Many children died due to poor conditions and harsh treatment at these school, and many more never saw their families again. It is estimated that the pre-contact population of the territory now occupied by the U.S. was between 4 and 18 million. On the 2010 census, just over 5 million U.S. citizens reported themselves to be Native American, or Native American plus another race.
  
• The California Alien Land Law of 1913 prohibited all non-U.S. citizens from owning land in California. The law was primarily intended to target Japanese immigrants, but also resulted in many other Asian immigrants losing their land, since foreign-born Asians were still not permitted naturalized U.S. citizenship.
  
• The Emergency Quota Act of 1921 set the first numerical limits on immigration. It restricted immigration to no more than 3% of the number of people reporting the same ethnic origin in the 1890 U.S. census, to the great advantage of immigrants from Northern European countries, and disadvantage of all others. 
• The United States vs. Bhagat Singh Thind Supreme Court ruling (1923) officially declared South Asian immigrants to be non-white, and retroactively stripped them of their citizenship, by arguing that they had obtained it illegally.
• The Immigration Act of 1924 further increased restrictions on immigration from Catholic countries, Eastern Europeans, Arabs, Jews, and many other non-white ethnicities. It virtually banned all Asian immigration, while leaving Northern European immigration virtually unlimited. 
• The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 finally granted birthright citizenship, and the right to vote, to all Native Americans.
• During the Mexican Repatriation (1929-1936), between 400,000 and 2,000,000 people of Mexican heritage were forcibly deported to Mexico. It is estimated that around 60% of them had birthright U.S. citizenship. The justification used at the time was that the region of the U.S. that they lived in had been ceded to the U.S. by Mexico in 1848. The U.S. wanted the land, but decided that the people living on it were still Mexicans, and should therefore be sent “home”. (But actually it was all about stirring up racial resentment and scapegoating Mexicans for the Great Depression.)
  
• The Magnuson Act (aka Chinese Exclusion Repeal Act) of 1943 granted Chinese immigrants citizenship and voting rights.
  
• During WWII, the U.S. turned away thousands of Jewish refugees, many of whom later died in Nazi concentration camps.
• Also During WWII, the U.S. stripped Japanese Americans of their citizenship rights and forced them into internment camps.
  
• Operation “Wetb*ck” in 1954 resulted in many more legal U.S. citizens being deported to Mexico, besides resulting in a number of other civil rights violations.  (I know tumblr loves Woody Guthrie, so here’s a song he wrote about this particular policy and the people who lost their lives to it, as performed by Woody’s son Arlo.)
• “Equal opportunity” immigration was not implemented until the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. Since 1970, there has been a sharp decline in immigration from European countries, giving rise to racist rhetoric concerning white Americans possibly becoming a racial minority at some point in the future, in spite of the fact that nearly 2/3 of the current U.S. population is white. 

In conclusion: America’s history on immigration policy and its treatment of those it considers outsiders has always been shady as heck, and pretending otherwise (”HOW is this happening in AMERICA????”) is blatant historical erasure.

I do not bring up any of these things because I hate America, or think that anyone else should, but I think we should be honest about our history, and the suffering that history has caused, and continues to cause. We can learn from the past, and do better going forward, but only if we understand and acknowledge what our history is and how it impacts the present. “Make America Great Again” denies the negative aspects of our past, and is disrespectful and dismissive towards the people who remind us that America has never been “great” for them.

Here endeth the history lesson.

[archaeologysucks]

Someone last night asked me if I would share my immigration rant on here, so here you go. This is what I did instead of sleeping or eating dinner last night. I learned a few new facts along the way. Maybe you will too.

[hold back the storm]

if you would be so kind as to reblog this if you feel insecure about your writing skills.