Meaning


                    
                    
                

                

                

            

        
    







            

            
            

                

                    
                

                

                    

                        


	

	
    

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    Life, Target, and Tumblr: sixpenceee:


Dr. Alistair McAlpine shared a
 series of tweets from his terminally ill child patients, after asking 
what they enjoyed in life, and what gave it meaningĀ 


    

        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
    

    

        

            
            

                
                Life, Target, and Tumblr: sixpenceee:


Dr. Alistair McAlpine shared a
 series of tweets from his terminally ill child patients, after asking 
what they enjoyed in life, and what gave it meaningĀ 


                
            

            
            
sixpenceee:


Dr. Alistair McAlpine shared a
 series of tweets from his terminally ill child patients, after asking 
what they enjoyed in li...

            
            
        

    



        

            
        
        

            




    Af, Destiny, and Family: KNOW
 YOLR
 RUNES

 U IS FOR
 LIS FOR
 URUZ
 LAGUZ
 HEALTH, STRENGTH,
 WATER
 BIRTH
 VIGOR & HEALING
 BIRTH 0F A VENTURE
 OR PHYSICAL BIRTH
 VANN
 STRYKE, HELSE
 FODSEL
 RUNE 2 of 12
 RUNE 1 of 12
 TIS FOR
 K IS FOR
 KENNZ
 FIRE, PH YSICAL
 ICE, TIME
 OF RESPITE
 PASSION
 OR STAGN ATION
 LIDENSKAP
 BRANN
 ICE
 PUSTEROM
 RUNE 3 12
 RUNE 4 of 12

 S IS FOR
 O IS FOR
 OTHNLN
 VICTORY, SUCCESS
 ANCESTRAL LAND,
 HOME, FAMILY UNITY
 OF AN ENDEAVOR
 BARNDOSHJEM,
 SEIER
 TRIUMPF
 FAMILIENS ENHET
 RUNE 6 of 12
 RUNE 5 of 12
 E IS FOR
 D IS FOR
 Y
 EVHNZ
 DNGNZ
 PROTECTION
 ABSOLUTE BALANCE
 FROM EVIL
 BETWEEN OPPOSITE S,
 PARARDOX
 BESKYTTELSE
 BALANSERE
 RUNE 8 of 12
 RUNE 7 of 12

 T IS FOR
 P IS FOR
 TWNZ
 PETHRO
 JUSTICE
 FATE
 DESTINY
 RETTFERDIGHET
 SK JEBNE,
 FORSYN
 GUDDOMMELIG
 RUNE 10 of 12
 RUNE 9 of 12
 G IS FOR
 N IS FOR
 NNUD1Z
 KEBO
 GIFTS
 NEED
 DESIRE
 BORN WITH
 OR GIVEN
 TRENGER
 ONSKE
 GAVE, MEDFƘDTE
 RUNE 12 af 12
 RUNE 11 of 12
 X
herbwicc:

plantanarchy:

herbwicc:
viking-illustrator:

darkwolfwitch:

witt-craft:

Runes! This was an assignment to create a set of flashcards that would appeal to kids and adults for my Type 1 class. They each have the rune symbol, the name of the rune, the meaning in English, the meaning (roughly translated by google, thanks google) in Norwegian, and a little icon I made. I made the big rune characters, but the display font is Comic Runes by takuminokami on Font Space (thanks internet). The cards are 3 inches by 4.5 inches.Ā 
Also please donā€™t yell at me if the meanings of these are wrong, my research was not particularly scholarly. (Once again, thanks internet :p)Ā 


Sweet, what a nifty little guide


This is such a cool idea!


Awesome! Quick question: are runes part of a closed culture? 

No, these runes here are the Elder Futhark, used as a writing system in the area that would be Scandinavia/Northern Germanic region. The names are Proto-Germanic reconstructions, so yeah, the culture that used these are very very dead. Similar runes were used by the Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings (the Anglo-Saxons added a bunch of runes and the Vikings used less runes and some different ones and this was centuries later). The reason we know the ā€œmeaningsā€ and names of the runes at all is because of a handful of rune poems that were initially used as mnemonic devices to remember them. The actual system of divination and magic via Elder Futhark runes is very modern and goes back to ~the 60s I believe? Thereā€™s some archeological evidence that runes may have been used for more than just a writing system, and the Havamal (old important morality poem for heathens) mentions that Odin hung on the world tree and sacrificed himself to himself and returned with knowledge of the runes. It also discusses that runes can be used for magic (though it doesnā€™t get into which runes or how to do the magic).So, to me personally, it does seem a bit weird to use the runes as just another divination tool without using them in context of the spiritual/religious paradigm they are connected to, but there are a lot of people that do and seem to have success with it. And Iā€™d be cautious with getting into using them unless youā€™re willing to suddenly have Northern Germanic gods busting down your door whether you like it or not. Though feeling a pull toward the runes in general may mean they already have you.

Good to know, thank you :) 
    

        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
    

    

        

            
            

                
                Af, Destiny, and Family: KNOW
 YOLR
 RUNES

 U IS FOR
 LIS FOR
 URUZ
 LAGUZ
 HEALTH, STRENGTH,
 WATER
 BIRTH
 VIGOR & HEALING
 BIRTH 0F A VENTURE
 OR PHYSICAL BIRTH
 VANN
 STRYKE, HELSE
 FODSEL
 RUNE 2 of 12
 RUNE 1 of 12
 TIS FOR
 K IS FOR
 KENNZ
 FIRE, PH YSICAL
 ICE, TIME
 OF RESPITE
 PASSION
 OR STAGN ATION
 LIDENSKAP
 BRANN
 ICE
 PUSTEROM
 RUNE 3 12
 RUNE 4 of 12

 S IS FOR
 O IS FOR
 OTHNLN
 VICTORY, SUCCESS
 ANCESTRAL LAND,
 HOME, FAMILY UNITY
 OF AN ENDEAVOR
 BARNDOSHJEM,
 SEIER
 TRIUMPF
 FAMILIENS ENHET
 RUNE 6 of 12
 RUNE 5 of 12
 E IS FOR
 D IS FOR
 Y
 EVHNZ
 DNGNZ
 PROTECTION
 ABSOLUTE BALANCE
 FROM EVIL
 BETWEEN OPPOSITE S,
 PARARDOX
 BESKYTTELSE
 BALANSERE
 RUNE 8 of 12
 RUNE 7 of 12

 T IS FOR
 P IS FOR
 TWNZ
 PETHRO
 JUSTICE
 FATE
 DESTINY
 RETTFERDIGHET
 SK JEBNE,
 FORSYN
 GUDDOMMELIG
 RUNE 10 of 12
 RUNE 9 of 12
 G IS FOR
 N IS FOR
 NNUD1Z
 KEBO
 GIFTS
 NEED
 DESIRE
 BORN WITH
 OR GIVEN
 TRENGER
 ONSKE
 GAVE, MEDFƘDTE
 RUNE 12 af 12
 RUNE 11 of 12
 X
herbwicc:

plantanarchy:

herbwicc:
viking-illustrator:

darkwolfwitch:

witt-craft:

Runes! This was an assignment to create a set of flashcards that would appeal to kids and adults for my Type 1 class. They each have the rune symbol, the name of the rune, the meaning in English, the meaning (roughly translated by google, thanks google) in Norwegian, and a little icon I made. I made the big rune characters, but the display font is Comic Runes by takuminokami on Font Space (thanks internet). The cards are 3 inches by 4.5 inches.Ā 
Also please donā€™t yell at me if the meanings of these are wrong, my research was not particularly scholarly. (Once again, thanks internet :p)Ā 


Sweet, what a nifty little guide


This is such a cool idea!


Awesome! Quick question: are runes part of a closed culture? 

No, these runes here are the Elder Futhark, used as a writing system in the area that would be Scandinavia/Northern Germanic region. The names are Proto-Germanic reconstructions, so yeah, the culture that used these are very very dead. Similar runes were used by the Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings (the Anglo-Saxons added a bunch of runes and the Vikings used less runes and some different ones and this was centuries later). The reason we know the ā€œmeaningsā€ and names of the runes at all is because of a handful of rune poems that were initially used as mnemonic devices to remember them. The actual system of divination and magic via Elder Futhark runes is very modern and goes back to ~the 60s I believe? Thereā€™s some archeological evidence that runes may have been used for more than just a writing system, and the Havamal (old important morality poem for heathens) mentions that Odin hung on the world tree and sacrificed himself to himself and returned with knowledge of the runes. It also discusses that runes can be used for magic (though it doesnā€™t get into which runes or how to do the magic).So, to me personally, it does seem a bit weird to use the runes as just another divination tool without using them in context of the spiritual/religious paradigm they are connected to, but there are a lot of people that do and seem to have success with it. And Iā€™d be cautious with getting into using them unless youā€™re willing to suddenly have Northern Germanic gods busting down your door whether you like it or not. Though feeling a pull toward the runes in general may mean they already have you.

Good to know, thank you :) 
                
            

            
            
herbwicc:

plantanarchy:

herbwicc:
viking-illustrator:

darkwolfwitch:

witt-craft:

Runes! This was an assignment to create a set of flash...

            
            
        

    



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            




    Funny, God, and Head: jumpingjacktrash:
 arrghigiveup:
 cimness:
 China's netizens are all in a twitter over the
 account of a carpenter who was
 commissioned to make a cinnabar red
 high-backed chair with the finials at the
 top to be "in the shape of dragons' heads"
 (chĆ©ng lĆ³ngtĆ³u Unfortunately, he
 misinterpreted the directions to mean "lin
 the shape ofl Jackie Chan's head"
 ("ChĆ©nglĆ³ng tĆ³u )
 (via Language Log
 Reanalysis, Jackie Chan
 edition)
 LMAO ok so to elaborate on this absolute gem,
 notice how the characters provided for "in the
 shape of dragons' heads" and "lin the shape of
 Jackie Chan's head" are identical? That wasn't a
 typo
 The thing you need to understand about
 Chinese names is that they all have meaning.
 And I don't mean that in the sense of "if you
 trace the etymology back through two
 languages it has its roots in a Hebrew phrase
 that means "God is my " that many
 Western names have. I mean that in the sense
 of "almost all of these words are still in regular
 use today and my parents very literally named
 me "pretty [and] wise" in Chinese.
 (Sidenote: This is why we get annoyed at made
 up 'Chinese' names that just pull two random
 vaguely Chinese-sounding syllables together. It
 is blindingly obvious when it's not a real name).
 (chƩng) means "to become", "to turn into"
 L (lĆ³ng) is "dragon". Thus, Jackie Chan's
 Chinese stage name, (ChĆ©nglĆ³ng),
 literally means "become dragon". ((tĆ³u), of
 course, means "head")
 (Further sidenote: This is actually a bit of a
 pun/reference. Specifically, it is a reference to
 Bruce Lee, whose stage name was
 (XiĆ£olĆ³ng), or, "Little dragon". So Jackie's
 chosen stage name means both "become
 dragon", and "become [like] Bruce Lee")
 The other thing you need to know about
 Chinese is that we don't put spaces between
 terms in written text.
 What all this means is that the way you'd
 write "Icarvel into dragon heads" can
 be identical to the way you'd write "Icarvel
 Jackie Chan's head", and literally the only
 difference would be where you pause when
 you vocalise it: before lĆ³ngtĆ³u, or after
 chĆ©nglĆ³ng. XD
 i think the chair turned out great
25 Funny Tumblr Posts to Make You Laughing Today
    

        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
    

    

        

            
            

                
                Funny, God, and Head: jumpingjacktrash:
 arrghigiveup:
 cimness:
 China's netizens are all in a twitter over the
 account of a carpenter who was
 commissioned to make a cinnabar red
 high-backed chair with the finials at the
 top to be "in the shape of dragons' heads"
 (chĆ©ng lĆ³ngtĆ³u Unfortunately, he
 misinterpreted the directions to mean "lin
 the shape ofl Jackie Chan's head"
 ("ChĆ©nglĆ³ng tĆ³u )
 (via Language Log
 Reanalysis, Jackie Chan
 edition)
 LMAO ok so to elaborate on this absolute gem,
 notice how the characters provided for "in the
 shape of dragons' heads" and "lin the shape of
 Jackie Chan's head" are identical? That wasn't a
 typo
 The thing you need to understand about
 Chinese names is that they all have meaning.
 And I don't mean that in the sense of "if you
 trace the etymology back through two
 languages it has its roots in a Hebrew phrase
 that means "God is my " that many
 Western names have. I mean that in the sense
 of "almost all of these words are still in regular
 use today and my parents very literally named
 me "pretty [and] wise" in Chinese.
 (Sidenote: This is why we get annoyed at made
 up 'Chinese' names that just pull two random
 vaguely Chinese-sounding syllables together. It
 is blindingly obvious when it's not a real name).
 (chƩng) means "to become", "to turn into"
 L (lĆ³ng) is "dragon". Thus, Jackie Chan's
 Chinese stage name, (ChĆ©nglĆ³ng),
 literally means "become dragon". ((tĆ³u), of
 course, means "head")
 (Further sidenote: This is actually a bit of a
 pun/reference. Specifically, it is a reference to
 Bruce Lee, whose stage name was
 (XiĆ£olĆ³ng), or, "Little dragon". So Jackie's
 chosen stage name means both "become
 dragon", and "become [like] Bruce Lee")
 The other thing you need to know about
 Chinese is that we don't put spaces between
 terms in written text.
 What all this means is that the way you'd
 write "Icarvel into dragon heads" can
 be identical to the way you'd write "Icarvel
 Jackie Chan's head", and literally the only
 difference would be where you pause when
 you vocalise it: before lĆ³ngtĆ³u, or after
 chĆ©nglĆ³ng. XD
 i think the chair turned out great
25 Funny Tumblr Posts to Make You Laughing Today
                
            

            
            
25 Funny Tumblr Posts to Make You Laughing Today

            
            
        

    



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            



        

            
        
        

            




    Af, Books, and Community: ti skerb Retweeted
 Shan AF RJ mesa 15 - AF SP mesa 71 @ShanaBRX Jun 14
 Fuck everyone who whines about ao3
 News
 All News
 May 2019 Newsletter, Volume 135
 Published: Thu 13 Jun 2019 01:03PM 03 Comments: 4
 Recently, the Archive of Our Own has received an influx of
 new Chinese users, a result of tightening content restrictions
 on other platforms. We would like to extend our warmest
 welcome to them, and remind everyone that our committees
 are working to make AO3 as accessible as possible in
 languages other than English
 Read more...
 20
 t 2.8K
 6.4K
 Show this thread
ao3tagoftheday:

zoe2213414:
eabevella:

naryrising:

You can read the post hereĀ for more info, but I wanted to just add a bit about what this entails from my POV, on the Support team.Ā  Somewhere between Ā¼ to 1/3 of all our tickets last month were in Chinese (somewhere upwards of 300 out of 1200 or so), almost all from users just setting up their accounts or trying to find out how to get an invitation.Ā  A lot of the tickets are what Iā€™d characterize asĀ ā€œintroā€ tickets - they say hi, list favourite fandoms or pairings, or provide samples of fic theyā€™ve written. Although this isnā€™t necessary on AO3, this is not uncommon in Chinese fandom sites that you have to prove your credentials to get in (in fact it wasnā€™t uncommon in English-language fandom sites 15-20 years ago).Ā  We respond to all of these tickets, even the ones that just say hi.Ā  We check whether the user has managed to receive their invite or get their account sent up, and if they havenā€™t, we help them do so.Ā  This means taking every single ticket through our Chinese translation team twice, once so we make sure we understand the initial ticket, and then again to translate our reply.Ā 
This is a challenging process, although weā€™ve found ways to streamline it and can normally get a reply out pretty quickly (like within a few days).Ā  We do it because this is part of why AO3 exists in the first place - to provide a safe haven where users can post their works without worrying about censorship or sudden crackdowns on certain kinds of content.Ā  We do it because this is important, and helping these users get their accounts and be able to share their works safely is why weā€™re here.Ā  We hope that weā€™ll be able to help as many of them as possible.Ā Ā 
There have been a few (thankfully few, that Iā€™ve seen) complaints about these new AO3 users not always knowing how things work - what language to tag with, or what fandom tags to use, for instance.Ā  To this I would say:
1. Have patience and be considerate.Ā  They are coming to a new site that they arenā€™t familiar with, and using it in a language they may not be expert in, and it might take a while to learn the ropes.Ā  You can filter out works tagged in Chinese if you donā€™t want to see them.Ā  Or just scroll past.Ā Ā 
2. You can report works tagged with the wrong language or the wrong fandom to our Policy and Abuse team using the link at the bottom of any page.Ā  This will not cause the authors toĀ ā€œget in troubleā€ (a concern Iā€™ve heard before, as people are reluctant to report for these reasons).Ā  It means the Policy and Abuse team will contact them to ask them to change the language/fandom tag, and if the creator doesnā€™t, they can edit it directly.Ā 
If you remember Strikethrough or the FF.net porn ban or similar purges, please keep them in mind and consider that these users are going through something similar or potentially worse.Ā  This is why AO3 exists.Ā  We are doing our best to try and help make the transition smooth.Ā Ā 

I am a Taiwanese and Iā€™d like to put some context behind the recent influx of China based AO3 users.
China is tightening their freedom of speech in recent years after Xi has became the chairman (he even canceled the 10 years long term of service of chairman, meaning he can stay as the leader of China as long as he livesā€“he has became a dictator). 
They censor words that are deemed ā€œsensitiveā€, you canā€™t type anything to criticize the chinise government. Big social media platform wonā€™t even post the posts containing sensitive words. You donā€™t have the freedom of publish books without the books being approved by the government either.
To disguise this whole Ninety Eighty-Four nightmare, they started to pick on the easy target: the women and the minorities (China is getting more and more misogynistic as a result of the government trying to control their male population through encouraging them to control the female population through ā€œchinese tradition family valueā€ but thatā€™s another story). 
Last year, the chinese government arrested a woman who is a famous yaoi/BL novel writer named 天äø€ and sentenced her 10 years in jail for ā€œselling obscene publicationsā€ and ā€œillegal publicationā€ (sheā€™s not the only BL writer who got arrested. Meanwhile, multiple cases where men raped women only get about 2 years of jail time in China). Itā€™s a warning to anyone who want to publish anything thatā€™s ā€œnot approvedā€ by the government that they can literally ruin you.Ā  
Just recently the chinese government ā€œcontactedā€ website owners of one of their largest romance/yaoi/slash fiction sites 
ę™‰ę±Ÿ

and announced that for now on, for the sake of a Clean Society, they canā€™t write anything thatā€™s slightly ā€œobsceneā€. No sex scene, no sexual interaction, they canā€™t even write any bodily interaction below neck (Iā€™m not kidding here). 
But thatā€™s not their actual goal. They also listed other restriction such as: canā€™t write anything thatā€™s about the government, the military, the police, ā€œsensitive historyā€, ā€œrace problemsā€, which isā€¦ you basically canā€™t write anything that might be used as a tool to criticize the government (as many novels did). 
This recent development really hurt the chinese fanfic writers. They canā€™t write anything without the fear of being put on the guillotine by the government to show their control. Most of them donā€™t even think that deep politically, they just want to write slash fictions. But there are no platform safe in China, thatā€™s why the sudden influx of chinese users to AO3. 
I bet it wonā€™t be long before AO3 got banned in China, but until then, be a little bit patient to them. As much as I hate the chinese government, I pity their people. 


Iā€™m crying so loudā€¦As a Chinese, you donā€™t know how your kindness meant to us. When Iā€™m young, I read 1984, and I thought this story is so unrealistic, but now, itā€™s getting tougher and tougher for fanfic and the writer in China. Thank you ao3. Thank you for the people who care about Chinese people. (hope I didnā€™t spell anything wrong)


Hi everyone! As much as I poke fun at ao3 culture on this blog, I love the platform and the community and Iā€™m glad that it can function as a refuge for Chinese fans, both writers and readers.So followers! I encourage you all to be welcoming and helpful to Chinese fans joining us on ao3 and to be patient as the platform figures out how to integrate them. If any of you are Chinese speakers and are inclined to volunteer with ao3, Iā€™m sure that would be appreciated. As for the rest of us, letā€™s remember that ao3 exists as a sanctuary for our community, especially exactly those parts of it that are most at risk under Chinese censorship (lgbt+ content, explicit fics, etc.) and letā€™s take this opportunity to be grateful that our community has worked together so well for so long in order to create this sanctuary. Iā€™m delighted that that effort can now be helpful to Chinese fans facing censorship, and Iā€™m excited to see how Chinese fans and fan culture will interact and co-create with English speaking fandom.And with that, Iā€™m off to slip ao3 an extra 10 dollars.
    

        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
    

    

        

            
            

                
                Af, Books, and Community: ti skerb Retweeted
 Shan AF RJ mesa 15 - AF SP mesa 71 @ShanaBRX Jun 14
 Fuck everyone who whines about ao3
 News
 All News
 May 2019 Newsletter, Volume 135
 Published: Thu 13 Jun 2019 01:03PM 03 Comments: 4
 Recently, the Archive of Our Own has received an influx of
 new Chinese users, a result of tightening content restrictions
 on other platforms. We would like to extend our warmest
 welcome to them, and remind everyone that our committees
 are working to make AO3 as accessible as possible in
 languages other than English
 Read more...
 20
 t 2.8K
 6.4K
 Show this thread
ao3tagoftheday:

zoe2213414:
eabevella:

naryrising:

You can read the post hereĀ for more info, but I wanted to just add a bit about what this entails from my POV, on the Support team.Ā  Somewhere between Ā¼ to 1/3 of all our tickets last month were in Chinese (somewhere upwards of 300 out of 1200 or so), almost all from users just setting up their accounts or trying to find out how to get an invitation.Ā  A lot of the tickets are what Iā€™d characterize asĀ ā€œintroā€ tickets - they say hi, list favourite fandoms or pairings, or provide samples of fic theyā€™ve written. Although this isnā€™t necessary on AO3, this is not uncommon in Chinese fandom sites that you have to prove your credentials to get in (in fact it wasnā€™t uncommon in English-language fandom sites 15-20 years ago).Ā  We respond to all of these tickets, even the ones that just say hi.Ā  We check whether the user has managed to receive their invite or get their account sent up, and if they havenā€™t, we help them do so.Ā  This means taking every single ticket through our Chinese translation team twice, once so we make sure we understand the initial ticket, and then again to translate our reply.Ā 
This is a challenging process, although weā€™ve found ways to streamline it and can normally get a reply out pretty quickly (like within a few days).Ā  We do it because this is part of why AO3 exists in the first place - to provide a safe haven where users can post their works without worrying about censorship or sudden crackdowns on certain kinds of content.Ā  We do it because this is important, and helping these users get their accounts and be able to share their works safely is why weā€™re here.Ā  We hope that weā€™ll be able to help as many of them as possible.Ā Ā 
There have been a few (thankfully few, that Iā€™ve seen) complaints about these new AO3 users not always knowing how things work - what language to tag with, or what fandom tags to use, for instance.Ā  To this I would say:
1. Have patience and be considerate.Ā  They are coming to a new site that they arenā€™t familiar with, and using it in a language they may not be expert in, and it might take a while to learn the ropes.Ā  You can filter out works tagged in Chinese if you donā€™t want to see them.Ā  Or just scroll past.Ā Ā 
2. You can report works tagged with the wrong language or the wrong fandom to our Policy and Abuse team using the link at the bottom of any page.Ā  This will not cause the authors toĀ ā€œget in troubleā€ (a concern Iā€™ve heard before, as people are reluctant to report for these reasons).Ā  It means the Policy and Abuse team will contact them to ask them to change the language/fandom tag, and if the creator doesnā€™t, they can edit it directly.Ā 
If you remember Strikethrough or the FF.net porn ban or similar purges, please keep them in mind and consider that these users are going through something similar or potentially worse.Ā  This is why AO3 exists.Ā  We are doing our best to try and help make the transition smooth.Ā Ā 

I am a Taiwanese and Iā€™d like to put some context behind the recent influx of China based AO3 users.
China is tightening their freedom of speech in recent years after Xi has became the chairman (he even canceled the 10 years long term of service of chairman, meaning he can stay as the leader of China as long as he livesā€“he has became a dictator). 
They censor words that are deemed ā€œsensitiveā€, you canā€™t type anything to criticize the chinise government. Big social media platform wonā€™t even post the posts containing sensitive words. You donā€™t have the freedom of publish books without the books being approved by the government either.
To disguise this whole Ninety Eighty-Four nightmare, they started to pick on the easy target: the women and the minorities (China is getting more and more misogynistic as a result of the government trying to control their male population through encouraging them to control the female population through ā€œchinese tradition family valueā€ but thatā€™s another story). 
Last year, the chinese government arrested a woman who is a famous yaoi/BL novel writer named 天äø€ and sentenced her 10 years in jail for ā€œselling obscene publicationsā€ and ā€œillegal publicationā€ (sheā€™s not the only BL writer who got arrested. Meanwhile, multiple cases where men raped women only get about 2 years of jail time in China). Itā€™s a warning to anyone who want to publish anything thatā€™s ā€œnot approvedā€ by the government that they can literally ruin you.Ā  
Just recently the chinese government ā€œcontactedā€ website owners of one of their largest romance/yaoi/slash fiction sites 
ę™‰ę±Ÿ

and announced that for now on, for the sake of a Clean Society, they canā€™t write anything thatā€™s slightly ā€œobsceneā€. No sex scene, no sexual interaction, they canā€™t even write any bodily interaction below neck (Iā€™m not kidding here). 
But thatā€™s not their actual goal. They also listed other restriction such as: canā€™t write anything thatā€™s about the government, the military, the police, ā€œsensitive historyā€, ā€œrace problemsā€, which isā€¦ you basically canā€™t write anything that might be used as a tool to criticize the government (as many novels did). 
This recent development really hurt the chinese fanfic writers. They canā€™t write anything without the fear of being put on the guillotine by the government to show their control. Most of them donā€™t even think that deep politically, they just want to write slash fictions. But there are no platform safe in China, thatā€™s why the sudden influx of chinese users to AO3. 
I bet it wonā€™t be long before AO3 got banned in China, but until then, be a little bit patient to them. As much as I hate the chinese government, I pity their people. 


Iā€™m crying so loudā€¦As a Chinese, you donā€™t know how your kindness meant to us. When Iā€™m young, I read 1984, and I thought this story is so unrealistic, but now, itā€™s getting tougher and tougher for fanfic and the writer in China. Thank you ao3. Thank you for the people who care about Chinese people. (hope I didnā€™t spell anything wrong)


Hi everyone! As much as I poke fun at ao3 culture on this blog, I love the platform and the community and Iā€™m glad that it can function as a refuge for Chinese fans, both writers and readers.So followers! I encourage you all to be welcoming and helpful to Chinese fans joining us on ao3 and to be patient as the platform figures out how to integrate them. If any of you are Chinese speakers and are inclined to volunteer with ao3, Iā€™m sure that would be appreciated. As for the rest of us, letā€™s remember that ao3 exists as a sanctuary for our community, especially exactly those parts of it that are most at risk under Chinese censorship (lgbt+ content, explicit fics, etc.) and letā€™s take this opportunity to be grateful that our community has worked together so well for so long in order to create this sanctuary. Iā€™m delighted that that effort can now be helpful to Chinese fans facing censorship, and Iā€™m excited to see how Chinese fans and fan culture will interact and co-create with English speaking fandom.And with that, Iā€™m off to slip ao3 an extra 10 dollars.
                
            

            
            
ao3tagoftheday:

zoe2213414:
eabevella:

naryrising:

You can read the post hereĀ for more info, but I wanted to just add a bit about what th...