Code deploy happening shortly

Aug. 31st, 2025 07:37 pm
mark: A photo of Mark kneeling on top of the Taal Volcano in the Philippines. It was a long hike. (Default)
[staff profile] mark posting in [site community profile] dw_maintenance

Per the [site community profile] dw_news post regarding the MS/TN blocks, we are doing a small code push shortly in order to get the code live. As per usual, please let us know if you see anything wonky.

There is some code cleanup we've been doing that is going out with this push but I don't think there is any new/reworked functionality, so it should be pretty invisible if all goes well.

denise: Image: Me, facing away from camera, on top of the Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome (Default)
[staff profile] denise posting in [site community profile] dw_news

A reminder to everyone that starting tomorrow, we are being forced to block access to any IP address that geolocates to the state of Mississippi for legal reasons while we and Netchoice continue fighting the law in court. People whose IP addresses geolocate to Mississippi will only be able to access a page that explains the issue and lets them know that we'll be back to offer them service as soon as the legal risk to us is less existential.

The block page will include the apology but I'll repeat it here: we don't do geolocation ourselves, so we're limited to the geolocation ability of our network provider. Our anti-spam geolocation blocks have shown us that their geolocation database has a number of mistakes in it. If one of your friends who doesn't live in Mississippi gets the block message, there is nothing we can do on our end to adjust the block, because we don't control it. The only way to fix a mistaken block is to change your IP address to one that doesn't register as being in Mississippi, either by disconnecting your internet connection and reconnecting it (if you don't have a static IP address) or using a VPN.

In related news, the judge in our challenge to Tennessee's social media age verification, parental consent, and parental surveillance law (which we are also part of the fight against!) ruled last month that we had not met the threshold for a temporary injunction preventing the state from enforcing the law while the court case proceeds.

The Tennesee law is less onerous than the Mississippi law and the fines for violating it are slightly less ruinous (slightly), but it's still a risk to us. While the fight goes on, we've decided to prevent any new account signups from anyone under 18 in Tennessee to protect ourselves against risk. We do not need to block access from the whole state: this only applies to new account creation.

Because we don't do any geolocation on our users and our network provider's geolocation services only apply to blocking access to the site entirely, the way we're implementing this is a new mandatory question on the account creation form asking if you live in Tennessee. If you do, you'll be unable to register an account if you're under 18, not just the under 13 restriction mandated by COPPA. Like the restrictions on the state of Mississippi, we absolutely hate having to do this, we're sorry, and we hope we'll be able to undo it as soon as possible.

Finally, I'd like to thank every one of you who's commented with a message of support for this fight or who's bought paid time to help keep us running. The fact we're entirely user-supported and you all genuinely understand why this fight is so important for everyone is a huge part of why we can continue to do this work. I've also sent a lot of your comments to the lawyers who are fighting the actual battles in court, and they find your wholehearted support just as encouraging and motivating as I do. Thank you all once again for being the best users any social media site could ever hope for. You make me proud and even more determined to yell at state attorneys general on your behalf.

Fandom things

Aug. 30th, 2025 02:40 pm
sholio: aged sepia paper with printed text saying "If undelivered, return to Air Ministry, London" (Biggles-london air ministry)
[personal profile] sholio
My fandom gift basket is up: find it here!

Meanwhile [community profile] caseficexchange revealed and I have received TWO STUNNING GIFTS in two different fandoms, both of which I genuinely could not love more; the authors nailed the feeling of the caseficcier parts of canon in each of these fandoms, and I have had SUCH a good time last night and this morning reading and commenting on them!

The Case of a Forced Landing (Biggles books, 6800 wds, light Biggles/EvS)
Perfectly captures the feeling of the short SAP stories, with Biggles and EvS on an enforced holiday on the countryside with mysterious happenings and rural ambiance. Delightful!

The House Always Wins (Babylon 5, 16K words, Garibaldi & various)
Early season one casefic with Garibaldi investigating a missing artifact that both Londo and G'Kar claim cultural ownership of. Pitch-perfect character voices and canon tone, feels like it could literally be an episode.

POI: Love and Marriage by astolat

Aug. 30th, 2025 11:13 pm
mific: (Orange mandala)
[personal profile] mific posting in [community profile] fancake
Fandom: Person of Interest
Characters/Pairings: John Reese/Harold Finch, Lionel Fusco, Jos Carter, Bear
Rating: Explicit
Length: 4697
Creator Links: astolat on AO3, silverkat1620 on Audiofic Archive, kalakirya on Audiofic Archive
Themes: Marriage of Convenience, Friends to lovers

Summary: "Harold," John said, "are you asking me to marry you for your money?"
"Well, Mr. Reese," Harold said, "given how much of it you've spent already, I don't really see how you can complain."

Reccer's Notes: This story is deeply based in canon and yet, despite having only a partial grasp of the show and never having watched more than a couple of seasons, I still find it easy to follow, and it packs an emotional punch. The reason for the marriage of convenience this time is financial, to strengthen John's cover story and explain a recent massive outlay of funds. This isn't one of those stories where there's a prolonged slow burn after they marry - despite the pragmatic reason and their initial obliviousness, they're kissing like it's their job even before the celebrant pronounces them hitched. The characterisation is perfect, and there's a wonderful original character in Miriam Hechel. This fic is a gut punch in the best way on a number of levels - from unexpected attendees at the wedding, to John's catharsis afterwards, to the very end when it seems someone powerful in the shadows made sure their wedding day was undisturbed. It's a lovely story, beautifully written, and there are no less than two excellent podfics.

Fanwork Links:
Love and Marriage - the text
Love and Marriage - podfic by silverkat1620
Love and Marriage - podfic by kalakirya

starwatcher: Western windmill, clouds in background, trees around base. (Default)
[personal profile] starwatcher posting in [community profile] fancake
 
Fandom: The Old Guard
Pairings: Nicolò/Yusuf
Characters: Nicolò, Yusuf, Andromache, Quynh, Nile, OCs
Rating: Explicit
Length: 14,400 words
Creator Links: [archiveofourown.org profile] Sixthlight
Theme: Marriage of convenience, Diplomatic marriage, Complete AU, Historical AU

Summary: There can be no misinterpretation or confusion on Yusuf’s part when what Duke Nicolò says is “But I didn’t want a husband, what does my brother think he’s doing?”

Reccer's Notes: Arranged marriages may be common in wealthy families -- but when the groom doesn't know a marriage has been arranged, and certainly doesn't want one, it throws a wrench in the works. Nicolò rejects the idea of marriage, and Yusuf can only accept that -- but everyone around them really, really want the two men to be married. Yusuf doesn't know how to do the seduction that Nile suggests, but a friendship slowly grows between them, and then more, which leads to a thoroughly satisfying ending.

Content Notes: None

Fanwork Links: Diplomatic Complications, by Sixthlight at AO3
 
starwatcher: Western windmill, clouds in background, trees around base. (Default)
[personal profile] starwatcher posting in [community profile] fancake
 
Fandom: The Old Guard
Pairings: Yusuf/Nicolò, background Andromache/Quynh, hint of potential Nile/Booker
Characters: Nicolò, Yusuf, Andromache, Quynh, Booker, Nile, OCs
Rating: Explicit
Length: 24,600 words
Creator Links: [archiveofourown.org profile] sharkie335
Theme: Marriage of convenience, Complete AU, Historical AU, Diplomatic marriage

Summary: Genoa managed to destroy Tunisia's navy, leaving the royal family to sue for peace. A treaty was struck, and Yusuf was offered in marriage to the King of Genoa's second child, the Princess Veneranda.
        At least, that was the plan.

Reccer's Notes: Yusuf has no choice but to make a political marriage to bring peace between Genoa and Tunisa... but when the bride-to-be runs away with her lover, Nicolò it forced to become the substitute marriage partner. Yusuf and Nicolò find they are well-pleased by these developments... until they learn that Nicolò's father and brother have decided to hold Nicolò's mother for ransom. Throw in escape under cover of night, each enjoying copious amounts of married sex, a touch of palace intrigue as Nicolò doesn't know if his family's actions will reflect on his position, and we have a thoroughly enjoyable story.

Content Notes: This is an alpha/omega universe, but the story doesn't make a big deal about that; it's treated as just ordinary life.

Fanwork Links: A Fine Arrangement, by sharkie335 at AO3.
 
sinesofinsanity: For squeeing (Batman Squee)
[personal profile] sinesofinsanity posting in [community profile] fancake
Fandom: Avatar The Last Airbender
Pairings/Characters: Zuko, Toph, Lu Ten, Sokka, Katara, Aang, Suki, Hakoda, Ty Lee
Rating: Author did not rate it, I'd call it G
Length: 20,008 words
Creator Links: thetrickisnotminding
Theme: Marriage of convenience, arranged marriage, fork-in-the-road AU, diplomatic marriage, disability (blindness), families of choice, 

Summary: In some facet of reality, there /was/ a way to help Lu Ten. And so the Avatar woke into a world where no one was questing for the Avatar yet, because certain soldier boys had different methods in their march home.

Reccer's Notes: I love this take on the different ATLA characters. Zuko is trying so hard in this to both prove himself and make up for how terrible his father is, but he's ultimately still the awkward turtle-duck we know and love. His "proposal" to Toph basically amounts to "you give our side a ton of money, I'll take you away from your over-protective parents and let you boss me around." Which she LOVES and takes full advantage of. Being a prospective princess does absolutely nothing to stop Toph from being a goblin-child and it's beautiful.

Content Notes: Some reference to suicidal behaviour; canon-typical reference to child abuse, war, and genocide

Fanwork Links: Lu Ten's Hawk on AO3

(no subject)

Aug. 29th, 2025 11:31 am
sholio: two men on horseback in the desert (Biggles-on a horse)
[personal profile] sholio
State of Whumptober:
7/31 (24 to go)
2 Biggles, 4 Murderbot, 1 Babylon 5

They're definitely not all whump or even h/c; some of them are just using the day's prompt for a general ficlet. Because it's my journal and I say so.

Turns out writing short h/c snippets for Babylon 5 is extraordinarily hard (at least with the characters I want to write about) due to
spoilers.the incredibly short window of everyone being happy and getting along before it all goes to hell. You pretty much either need 20K of fixit beforehand, or somehow fit all your little hurt/comfort tropes into like 4 months of canon. (Obviously this pertains primarily to Londo.)


I also did sign up for Out of Order Flash. (Nominations are still open if the thing you want isn't in there.) I currently have no matches; I don't suppose any Biggles people (or Murderbot! or B5!) are around to be ~tempted~.

In other news, it is definitely early fall. Leaves are turning gold and falling! The air smells like autumn! I love this time of year best of all times of year, and yet .... help.

"Giant" ebook sale, Aug 29th only

Aug. 29th, 2025 12:12 pm
starwatcher: Western windmill, clouds in background, trees around base. (Default)
[personal profile] starwatcher posting in [community profile] ebooks
 

"Giant" is their description, not mine, but they tout 1,500 books on sale.

Note that you can select different retailers in the top drop-down menu, and specific genres in the list to the left.

Sale ends at "midnight." They never say which midnight, but I suspect it's one of the U.S timezones, which are UTC-5 to UTC-8.

Pass this on wherever you like.

 
nilchance: original artist terry moore; blonde staring at canvas with nude male and black handprint (fandom)
[personal profile] nilchance
it's the day for our Frostmaiden campaign, barring schedule disasters, so here's a song that reminds me of my paladin Skink:

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