Another Mark on the Wall

Many thanks to the Paid Account Fairy who gifted me two months' paid time for this account. It made my morning to open my inbox and read that notification. This account has primarily served as a mirror account and lain fallow for extended periods, but I'm grateful for its presence, as it allows me an outlet as LJ continues to struggle under the current DDoS attack.

I'm not sure what the attack hopes to achieve. Do they really think that silencing the dissidents is going to make the Russian public decide that maybe siding with the oppressive regime is the best choice, after all? That the dissidents are going to quietly step away from their keyboards and stop protesting, stop speaking out? Even if they strangle Livejournal into bankruptcy with these attacks, the dissident bloggers will simply find another platform, and another, and another. As many as it takes until their voices are heard. And they should. Because human beings have the right to free and self-expression, particularly against government corruption and tyranny.

I don't want Livejournal to end because of this. For eight years, it has been my online home, my mouthpiece where I can be heard despite the invisibility wrought by my disability in meatspace. I have made friends whom I cherish and shared my vision and my fannish creativity there. Recently, I have begun to shed my shut-in's skin and gain the confidence to explore this wide, strange, wonderful world there. I have, in many ways, grown up there. So I want it to endure, but I do not want it to endure by cowardice, by taking the easier road. I realize a time might come when LJ will have to decide between survival and principles, but I hope they hold the line as long as they can. I hope they organize donations and fundraising drives to keep the lights on while they fight this battle. And I hope that the userbase, so quick to cry, "Free speech" when fanworks were being targeted by puritanical hand-wringers, will stand behind that professed belief now, even when it is inconvenient and requires patience and a tiny measure of sacrifice.


In other news, the writing of my Calliope interstitial should be finished tonight. It'll need to sit overnight before I proofread, edit, and check for internal continuity, but if LJ is available, it should be posted by Friday night or Saturday afternoon, and it will absolutely be posted to my Rammfic-dedicated blog. It still has no title, alas. I briefly considered calling it "Daydreams about Night Things", but then I realized a)it was cheesy, and b)it wasn't a daydream if it took place in the middle of the night. So back to the drawing board.

Another Mark on the Wall

Many thanks to the Paid Account Fairy who gifted me two months' paid time for this account. It made my morning to open my inbox and read that notification. This account has primarily served as a mirror account and lain fallow for extended periods, but I'm grateful for its presence, as it allows me an outlet as LJ continues to struggle under the current DDoS attack.

I'm not sure what the attack hopes to achieve. Do they really think that silencing the dissidents is going to make the Russian public decide that maybe siding with the oppressive regime is the best choice, after all? That the dissidents are going to quietly step away from their keyboards and stop protesting, stop speaking out? Even if they strangle Livejournal into bankruptcy with these attacks, the dissident bloggers will simply find another platform, and another, and another. As many as it takes until their voices are heard. And they should. Because human beings have the right to free and self-expression, particularly against government corruption and tyranny.

I don't want Livejournal to end because of this. For eight years, it has been my online home, my mouthpiece where I can be heard despite the invisibility wrought by my disability in meatspace. I have made friends whom I cherish and shared my vision and my fannish creativity there. Recently, I have begun to shed my shut-in's skin and gain the confidence to explore this wide, strange, wonderful world there. I have, in many ways, grown up there. So I want it to endure, but I do not want it to endure by cowardice, by taking the easier road. I realize a time might come when LJ will have to decide between survival and principles, but I hope they hold the line as long as they can. I hope they organize donations and fundraising drives to keep the lights on while they fight this battle. And I hope that the userbase, so quick to cry, "Free speech" when fanworks were being targeted by puritanical hand-wringers, will stand behind that professed belief now, even when it is inconvenient and requires patience and a tiny measure of sacrifice.


In other news, the writing of my Calliope interstitial should be finished tonight. It'll need to sit overnight before I proofread, edit, and check for internal continuity, but if LJ is available, it should be posted by Friday night or Saturday afternoon, and it will absolutely be posted to my Rammfic-dedicated blog. It still has no title, alas. I briefly considered calling it "Daydreams about Night Things", but then I realized a)it was cheesy, and b)it wasn't a daydream if it took place in the middle of the night. So back to the drawing board.