Psa - Blog Posts

minimal tag dump for now

I NEED YOUR HELP TO SPREAD THIS

This blog in the photo accompaninstuo91 does not have a proper blog. When you click on their blog, an image pops up asking you if you're 18 and if you say yes or no, it directs you to a virus/porn site that isnt on tumblr

The bots are evolving to actively redirect you/ give viruses to you

Please reblog this so you dont fall victim. Do not click follow or try to go onto their blog, instead the only way to report them is to click the little three dots and click report

@staff please stop shit like this

this is so so important to me and mine, and I'm asking you to Do Something so I'll respect your time and keep it brief

in the UK, if 100k sign a a government petition it will be brought to Parliament and debated. y'all know this country is suffering from some 80s-style bigotry right now, and this is one symptom: almost 200k fuckholes have come together to force the government to discuss whether it is 'appropriate' to tell children that queer people exist. this is a big symbolic victory for them. and i am burning with fury.

please, if you're from the UK, sign this counter-petition so they can at least see how much of a minority they are. simply put, the attempt to put these bastards in their place isn't gathering enough steam. there are barely 2000 more signatures now than there were this morning (27th January 2023), and that isn't enough. i refuse to let these people feel even a moment of victory or satisfaction. please help.

So, what is the OGL and why are DnD creators thoroughly screwed?

Tumblr has not been doing a great job at talking about this, but:

With OneDnD, Wizards of the Coast has decided to update the Open Game License (OGL). Said license is what allowed people to create homebrew DnD content and sell it, and even larger companies to use certain sorts of content. Pathfinder, for example, is built on said OGL. This also allows streamers and artists to exist and benefit from said content.

With OneDnD (sometimes called “dnd 6e”), WOTC wants to create a much more restrictive OGL, which will, amongst other things:

Make WOTC take a cut for any DnD-related work (according to Kickstarter, a whole 25% of the benefits)

Let WOTC cancel any project related to DnD up to their discretion

Let WOTC take ANY content made based on their system, and re-sell it without crediting you, or giving you a single cent

And most importantly, revoke the old OGL, which will harm any company or game system that used it as a base, such as Pathfinder. And it means they GET ownership over any homebrew content you may have done for 5e in the past!

It’s important to note that OGLs are supposedly irrevocable. They were planning to use it for OneDnD initially, but they want to apply it retroactively to 5e, somehow. Which is illegal, but lawyers have mentioned there’s a chance they may get away with it given the wording.

This means that anything you make based on DnD (A homebrew item? A character drawing? Even music, according to them?), can get taken and used as they deem appropiate.

These news come from a leak of the OGL, which have been confirmed by multiple reputable sources (including Kickstarter, which has confirmed that WOTC already talked with them about this), and was planned to be released next week.

So, what can we do?

Speak against it. Share the word. Reblog this post. Let people know. Tumblr hasn’t been talking much about this matter, but it’s VERY important to let people know about what is WOTC bringing. 

Boycott them. Do not buy their products. Do not buy games with their IP. Do not watch their movie. CANCEL your DnD Beyond subscription. (Btw, they ARE planning to release more subscription services too!). They do not care about the community, but they care about the money. Make sure to speak through it. 

And maybe consider other TTRPG systems for the time being, Pathfinder’s Paizo has been much nicer to the community, their workers are unionized and are far more healthy overall

DONT SCROLL THIS IS IMPORTANT!

im begging anyone who sees this post to prevent rapesexual, im begging you. no one will see this but if you do reblog to get the message out that these fuckers exist and dont deserve to exist heres the flag so you can know who to fucking block, report and tell to fuck off

i dont want this to ruin the pride and help with self esteem of being lgbtq+ so a signal boost from larger accounts might be nice

A Gentle Reminder

I always try to keep things positive, but I saw something tonight which really upset me and felt the need to say this.

For most writers, interactive fiction stories are free passion projects. Hobbies which we engage in simply because we want to. Writers should never feel bad if they aren't finding the time to write or meeting deadlines that they've set for themselves. By the same token, people have no right to demand content or complain about how long it takes to produce something.

There are some people who write at a breakneck pace or who are able to make a living just writing IF, but readers can't hold all writers to the standards of outliers. Sometimes writers don't have time to write, no matter how much they may want to. Writers should never feel guilty for this and people shouldn't try to make them feel guilty either. Sending authors rude anonymous asks is not productive and I imagine they aren't particularly satisfying for the people who ask them. All they are is upsetting to those who receive them.

If the goal of an ask is to spur a writer to complete work faster, being negative and demanding is not an effective way to accomplish this.

If there is any way to help a writer produce content faster - and again, if - then it's by supporting them and cheering them on. Not anonymously making them feel bad for not creating something at a speed that's to your liking.

If you want to encourage a writer to write, then support them.

You can do that through nice asks, reblogging their posts, sharing their stories with friends, rating their games highly (if they've released them), or even tipping them on ko-fi/supporting their patreon (if they have one). Positive interaction - in general - works wonders. Let them know how excited you are, share your positive comments with them, or just gush about whatever thoughts you have on their game. That's how you help motivate people. Not by trying to make them feel bad. If you're uncomfortable with the social aspect of this, that's what anon is for.

But, if people are nice to an author, that doesn't mean they're owed anything. It might still be a while before readers see more content, but that's no reason to stop being supportive. Again, these are free projects that writers choose to share.

Writers don't owe anything to anyone but themselves.

Now there are times for criticism if it's constructive or warranted, but entitled complaints are neither of these things. Don't be negative if you don't have to be. It doesn't help anything and it's not a productive use of anyone's time.

Being kind and respectful doesn't cost anything. It's just a choice. You can either choose to upset someone or choose to make someone's day and, with that, help make our community a better place.

To the vast majority of readers who already support authors and respect the content that they create, thank you. We appreciate you so much. If you want, try challenging yourself to be even more vocal and outspoken with you support. It will only help.

And to any writers reading this who may be feeling bad about project timelines, you have no reason to be. Complete your work however you need to at whatever pace works for you and your life. You're wonderful and talented and valid no matter how fast you put out content, how much interaction you see, or what someone says. You are creating art and that is something to be immensely proud of. Keep doing whatever's best for you. The vast majority of us support you with no expectations. ❤️

Welcome new followers. As my senior year of college starts up I'll be a little scarce. I will keep posting stuff I find helpful though so keep an eye out. Just a reminder that I have a second blog that has my actual writing. Granted it's usually full of fandom stuff. There's no pressure if it's not something that intrests you. If it does, check me out over at sinedras-snippets.

Bushfires.

Don’t usually reblog lots of stuff, but as an Aussie, this hits really close to home. A favourite camspite of mine, where I made so many good memories, was burned down in an earlier bushfire. Some school friends with asthma have had to go home early because they couldn’t breathe. Every morning, I wake up, look out the window, and see a haze of smoke, almost covering the sky. Some days the smoke smells almost chemical.

Here is the situation as of 5 hours ago (excerpt taken from The Guardian newspaper):

Queensland

14 homes had been destroyed.

There were 80 active fires.

Leave immediately and leave now alerts had been issued at locations including Kinkuna Waters, Pechey, Buxton, Woodgate/Walkers Point Road, Kilkivan and Noosa North Shore.

There were 293 vehicles across all of the fires around the state.

100 interstate and international personnel had arrived in the state to assist.

Very high to severe conditions were expected to persist across Queensland. Conditions may ease in some areas on Thursday but severe fire danger was expected again into the weekend.

New South Whales

There were 76 active fires.

None were currently at emergency warning level, most were at watch and act or advice level.

Conditions eased on Wednesday after the catastrophic and extreme fire danger ratings on Tuesday.

Thursday was forecast to bring very high fire danger across much of the state, as was Friday, with potentially severe fire danger on Friday in the greater Hunter region.

The very high fire danger being experienced in the north-east of the state was expected to continue for the rest of the week.

The Rural Fire Service commissioner, Shane Fitzsimmons, said severe conditions forecast for the weekend would be followed by another burst of hot air next week, meaning crews “simply aren’t going to get the upper hand on all of these fires”.

Western Australia

One fire was at emergency warning level at Drummond Cove in Geraldton.

A second fire, the Utakarra fire in Geraldton had been downgraded to watch and act.

AAP was reporting that two homes had been destroyed and two homes had been damaged in Geraldton.

Please. Wise up, Government, and cut the shit.

My heart goes out to the firefighters. Love you guys, absolute LEGENDS. Keep it up.

- Pasta

tl;dr my country is literally on fire and the politicians refuse to help

I know there’s a lot going on in the world, but you probably haven’t heard about what’s happening in Australia.

we’re on fire.

approximately ¼ of australia’s population is in catastrophic fire danger. A catastrophic fire level means your only chance of surviving is leaving before it’s too late.

it’s Spring in Australia, and rainforests aren’t meant to be dry enough to burn, yet at the time of writing this (11/11/19) there are 71 active fires in NSW (43 out of control), and 51 active fires in Queensland - not including those that have already burned before now, and there are more in other states. Sydney is already rated “catastrophic”, the first time this rating has ever been used there since its creation in 2009. That’s right, we had to add yet another level of destructiveness, because “high”, “very high”, “severe”, and “extreme” were no longer adequate. To quote the Fire Danger Ratings, “for your survival, leaving early is the only option”. conditions tomorrow will be the worst they have been, and people are evacuating as we speak. the fire fighters are preparing as best they can.

This isn’t just about people losing their homes; people have died and will die, countless animals have already lost their lives and many more will still perish. our land, our lives, and our hope is up in flames and will soon be nothing but ash. the annual fire season has not even begun yet. this is only the beginning. my native land is burning, and there is nothing i can do to stop it.

the government refuses to acknowledge that we are in a climate crisis. the fires have never been this bad. we have been in severe drought for more than a year which has only contributed to the force of these fires. the Prime Minister Scott Morrison has done nothing but send his “thoughts and prayers”. He will not accept aid from other countries because he is too egotistical to admit that we need it. All the while the people of this land are suffering. Climate change needs radical human change to be combated. we are already seeing the results of years of indifference, and this is barely the beginning of something that will only get worse the longer government’s and big companies refuse to act to counteract climate change.

Our government has also cut funding to Fire and Rescue NSW by 35.4%, the Rural Fire Service by 75.2%, and QLD Rural Fire Service by 26.42%, resulting in closures of services; they don’t have the resources to cope. We are fighting a losing battle against the results of climate change.  and this is only the beginning.