The Male Hysteric

I don't know if this is an insane thing to do but I updated a fanfic that I wrote two chapters of 3 years ago and then abandoned.

Saboteur, Chapter 3

It's a fic that takes place immediately after the events of S1 and is heavily focused on Viktor, Jayce, and Mel. The thing is that, well, the second season was kind of a clusterfuck of characterization (though it does definitely have its moments) so in a way this looks like a fix fic, except I didn't even know what was broken before I started. Either way, if you're interested, it does include Jayce/Viktor as a ship.

So, summary:

Sky's dead, Viktor's dying, and Jayce is out of commission. With Hextech possibly dead in the water and war on the horizon, perhaps it's time to take a look at who benefits.

Takes place just after events at the end of of S1.

Apparently there is another fanfic purge of unseemly naughty-type fics going on on Wattpad. However, this one is made worse because apparently what's happening this time is an AI tool is flagging and shadowbanning anything that could be potentially naughty until it is reviewed by a human, at which point it will either be allowed back up or purged. So it's like last time, only even MORE automated.

Anyway, back up your work if it's on Wattpad, I guess. From the AO3 reddit, AO3 users are concerned about an influx from Wattpad going against etiquette and flooding the place with placeholder fics, harassment over 'immoral' stories, etc., so if you're on AO3, be prepared for that, too.

There was a thread recently by the admin here on twitter about issues going on at AO3. From what I understand -- and I may be confused, here -- is that there were bad actors who were using AO3 as a service and sending CSEM to people with the intention of swatting those they sent the CSEM to. AO3 of course disabled the accounts but apparently there's an issue on AO3 where when they disable accounts they do not automatically hide that account's contents, but moderators have to go through the contents manually for some reason and this may have fucked up their legal liability. Because of this, if you have anything you have posted on AO3 or have any well-loved bookmarks on AO3, I would recommend downloading them for yourself on your local machine/drives. The great thing about AO3 is that it will generate epubs and other formats for you to keep on your own devices, at least, but I understand that's probably a LOT of bookmarks for some people...

I do not know all the details but the twitter thread is here. It looks like it has had a lot of updates since I last checked and I don't have time right now to go through all the addendums but the point is -- AO3's code and policies may not have been able to meet its US legal obligations to remove illegal material in a timely manner and that could be a legal issue, so back up your work and favorites in case anything happens to the site.

At this point on the internet if you see something you like you like it's hard to know if it will be on there for much longer so just take a copy anyway. You never know when your personal archive will be necessary.

Back on the hellsite that is Twitter I saw a discussion about "why don't we go back to LiveJournal," and after all the notes about how LJ has been destroyed even if it's technically still online and how you'd really better go to DW instead, I offered to follow anyone if they posted links to their journals and directed people to mine. As of now, I have seen zero interest.

I find it a bit disappointing, to be honest. They keep saying they want to do something different and then they don't seem to even try. One of the major issues on DW is that there aren't a lot of people here, but wouldn't that be helped by, well, making an account? Following a few journals, making a few posts? I don't know. I know I'm not on here a ton but I do appreciate what I'm trying to do and try to do more of it.


Anyway, given my comments on Ao3 a couple posts ago, I figured that because I actually am keeping up with a fic now I should push it. I've been reading Cold Skins and Warm Blood by Unfried_Mouth_Wheat which is a mashup of Dracula and Frankenstein as mentioned on Tumblr a while ago. It's not the direction that I would have gone, which I only feel the need to mention because I have Opinions on Frankenstein, but I'm invested. It says it's updated on Fridays and has been updated pretty consistently, and is noted right now at 19/35 chapters, so the author may already have the whole fic written, which is good news if you're tired of getting burned on abandoned fic.