It's a Paper Town

Alison | 31 | Sydney | Avid book lover | Feel free to add me on Goodreads!

[subjectsix]

I don't know I'm not done talking about it. It's insane that I can't just uninstall Edge or Copilot. That websites require my phone number to sign up. That people share their contacts to find their friends on social media.

I wouldn't use an adblocker if ads were just banners on the side funding a website I enjoy using and want to support. Ads pop up invasively and fill my whole screen, I misclick and get warped away to another page just for trying to read an article or get a recipe.

Every app shouldn't be like every other app. Instagram didn't need reels and a shop. TikTok doesn't need a store. Instagram doesn't need to be connected to Facebook. I don't want my apps to do everything, I want a hub for a specific thing, and I'll go to that place accordingly.

I love discord, but so much information gets lost to it. I don't want to join to view things. I want to lurk on forums. I want to be a user who can log in and join a conversation by replying to a thread, even if that conversation was two days ago. I know discord has threads, it's not the same. I don't want to have to verify my account with a phone number. I understand safety and digital concerns, but I'm concerned about information like that with leaks everywhere, even with password managers.

I shouldn't have to pay subscriptions to use services and get locked out of old versions. My old disk copy of photoshop should work. I should want to upgrade eventually because I like photoshop and supporting the business. Adobe is a whole other can of worms here.

Streaming is so splintered across everything. Shows release so fast. Things don't get physical releases. I can't stream a movie I own digitally to friends because the share-screen blocks it, even though I own two digital copies, even though I own a physical copy.

I have an iPod, and I had to install a third party OS to easily put my music on it without having to tangle with iTunes. Spotify bricked hardware I purchased because they were unwillingly to upkeep it. They don't pay their artists. iTunes isn't even iTunes anymore and Apple struggles to upkeep it.

My TV shows me ads on the home screen. My dad lost access to eBook he purchased because they were digital and got revoked by the company distributing them. Hitman 1-3 only runs online most of the time. Flash died and is staying alive because people love it and made efforts to keep it up.

I have to click "not now" and can't click "no". I don't just get emails, they want to text me to purchase things online too. My windows start search bar searches online, not just my computer. Everything is blindly called an app now. Everything wants me to upload to the cloud. These are good tools! But why am I forced to use them! Why am I not allowed to own or control them?

No more!!!!! I love my iPod with so much storage and FLAC files. I love having all my fics on my harddrive. I love having USBs and backups. I love running scripts to gut suck stuff out of my Windows computer I don't want that spies on me. I love having forums. I love sending letters. I love neocities and webpages and webrings. I will not be scanning QR codes. Please hand me a physical menu. If I didn't need a smartphone for work I'd get a "dumb" phone so fast. I want things to have buttons. I want to use a mouse. I want replaceable batteries. I want the right to repair. I grew up online and I won't forget how it was!

[subjectsix]

glad this post is resonating with the local populace fr

[lgbtqreads]

Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Young Adult Fiction: July-December 2026 Hallie’s Rules for a Recovering Romantic by Jessica Lewis (July 7th) Hallie loves romance, but it doesn’t seem to love her back.... https://lgbtqreads.com/2026/06/11/most-anticipated-lgbtq-young-adult-fiction-july-december-2026/

Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Young Adult Fiction: July-December 2026

[lillapillas]

Neil hadn’t been kissed in four years

[readaroundtherosie]

So I'm putting together an officially licensed merch pack for Shadow Reaper by Lynette Noni (author of The Prison Healer and The Medoran Chronicles) and it's going to be awesome!

If there are any Aussies as keen as I am for the release of this book, come check it out!

[maddie-grove]

A lot of people genuinely do hate or dismiss romance novels because they think all sexual frankness in fiction is immoral and harmful, or because they think women (and only women) are too stupid to know fiction from reality, or because they think it’s gross and laughable for women (especially ones they don’t consider fuckable) to have sexual desires, or because they automatically assume that anything popular with women is inferior, or because they only care about fiction being formulaic or light entertainment when it’s something women like. This doesn’t mean that every romance novel is great and deep and progressive, but these people aren’t coming from a good place with their criticism and they don’t deserve a pass.

[ariaste]

Working on the blockprinted papyrus bookmarks for my Kickstarter today -- 8 DAYS LEFT!!!!!!!!!

The Wisdom of Emperors: Deluxe Collector's Edition

A new fantasy novel by Alexandra Rowland, author of A TASTE OF GOLD AND IRON, RUNNING CLOSE TO THE WIND, & YIELD UNDER GREAT PERSUASION

[ariaste]

Also the campaign is within threatening distance of $100,000 and I FULLY don't know how to feel about it because That's Not A Real Number so I'm just trying to kind of avoid making eye contact with it

[tarasimauthor]

Excited to announce a preorder campaign for THE DAWN THRONE! Submit a receipt or library request using this form and receive a print of Taesia and Julian, as well as gold foil House crest stickers!

☀️ Open until June 1, 2026, US only ☀️

[tarasimauthor]

One week left to get your preorders in!!

[winry-lucy-beth]

I've recently learned that escaping enshitification is actually really easy. When I was younger I would use FOSS (free and open source software) because I usually couldn't afford anything else. Back then the paid options were usually significantly better than the unpaid options so when I finally got money I started using the paid stuff and completely forgot that Foss existed.

If you don't know why Foss is awesome its not just that its free. Open source software has a huge set of advantages. Most software is proprietary meaning that its code cannot be viewed by other people. Open source softwares code can be viewed by everyone and people can contribute their own code to make it better. Open source is often more secure than proprietary because more people have more eyes on it and more people have contributed to it's security. Its also easy to know how much privacy you have with every software because you can read the code. No more "trust me bro I'm not harvesting and selling your data" you know if they are collecting and selling because the code is publicly available.

In the last two months I have been switching almost completely to Foss. I was worried at first because when I stopped using Foss over 10 years ago the average Foss software was genuinely worse than the paid proprietary alternative. Thankfully things have really come full circle. 90℅ of the software I have tried in the last 2 months works better than the proprietary alternative and is 100℅ less obnoxious.

So here is a list of every Foss software I have tried and recommend. There is way more than this available. This list is just what I have used and like personally. Anyone can feel free to add and we can turn it into a master list. Please just take these as a place to start and do your own research to see if these softwares will work for your use case before you fully ditch your proprietary software.

Operating systems

Graphene os: android alt. Security and privacy focused. The most secure and private smartphone currently available.

Linux mint: easy to use linux, 100℅ better than windows.

Pop!: The Linux distro you should use if you have nividia hardware and want to play games using said hardware. Very intuitive and easy to use.

Kubuntu: Ubuntu Linux with KDE desktop. This is the linux distro one I am currently using and I don't have any plans to jump ship again. Better than windows and better than Mac. The companion app for your phone makes life soooo easy. Its pretty and easy to customize to a ridiculously granular level. No fucking notes.

Kindle jailbreak- ko reader: use jailbreak to free your kindle from the tyranny of the bezos. It will download ko reader which is a Foss OS that has every fucking feature you always wished kindle had and let's you read whatever the fuck you want, and have whatever the screensaver you want (no more ads!). Soooo fuck amazon and use this. I genuinely cannot recommend it enough.

Linux FOSS: (some available on windows and android as well)

Calibre: Foss desktop eBook library. Packed with features. You will want to use this with koreader to make managing your kindle easy.

Manuscript: skrivner alt. Does absolutely everything I need.

Bitwarden: password manager (use a keepass fork if you want self hosted)

Next cloud: private google drive and cloud alternative that you can self host if you want but it's not required. App available

Proton VPN: to the best of my knowledge it is the only Foss no log VPN you can get. You can pay for higher speeds. App available

Quad9dns: free encrypted DNS provider. App available.

News software:

Use any Foss RSS reader and for the love of god stop getting news from social media. Take control of your feed!

Apps (I only know for android)

Fdroid: great app store to find Foss android apps and download them.

Antennapod: you can get all of your podcasts fetched to one feature rich app via RSS feed. No need to rely on spotify or music steaming services.

Openreads: it's good reads but private and 100℅ stored locally. No amazon, no social media aspect, it just tracks your reading, you can import your good reads but if you want to import from storygraph you have to make a good reads burner account, import to good reads, then import to openreads. The menus Navigation on this one is a bit cumbersome but honestly good reads app is worse.

Newpipe: YouTube frontend that let's you have YouTube subscriptions, watch YouTube in the background, and blocks all ads, without logging in to YouTube. You will want to use this one with a VPN set to Canada (or any other country) so YouTube doesn't keep blocking it in order to force you to sign in. But even with that extra step its worth it for the privacy and the lack of ads.

Proton mail: one of 2 more private gmail alts. But you should note that email cannot be 100℅ anonymous or private.

I think that's it. There are still a lot software varieties I am slowly finding.

[centrumlumina]

LibreOffice is a FOSS Office suite that can handle word docs, spreadsheets, presentations and databases.

[prismatic-bell]

I know people get mad at the name, and I understand why, but straight-up I've been using GIMP for 15 years and it's a good solid art program made under the GNU program. It's worth a look.

[penrosesun]

To add:

Blender is an amazing FOSS suite for 3D modeling and animation, as well as digital sculpting and motion tracking. Pros use it. It’s a staple in game development. It’s what the Academy Award winning film “Flow” was made on. It’s not the bland name alternative to an industry standard; it is an industry standard.

Krita is a fantastic FOSS application for digital painting. Everyone I’ve ever talked to who uses it has loved it to death.

OBS is the absolute go-to choice for screen recording and live streaming. You can use it to record your entire desktop or a specific window, capture audio from multiple sources, and even add overlays, webcam feeds, or transitions to your videos.

VLC Media Player is the best media player, hands down. It’s lightweight, it’s reliable, it supports virtually every audio and video format known to man, and it has built in media conversion and even basic editing. I truly can’t imagine why anyone would use a media player that isn’t this one. It’s just the best there is, easily, no contest.

Audacity is a fantastic multi-track audio editor and recorder. It’s free and it’s good, and podcasters love it for a reason.

And believe it or not, Thunderbird is a really good email client now. I’m not even joking. If you used it back in the day and hated it, please give it another chance, because the glow up is unreal.

[technologistrevolution]

Just tacking on that while FOSS is usually free as in costless the term "free" in open-source spaces typically means "non-proprietary". It isn't a bad idea to look into which of these projects accept donations and to donate if you can. Blender is an amazing program. Genuinely I like it better than Maya or 3DSMax and it is struggling to maintain its project because it has gotten so large in its pursuit of giving artists things that are actually needed but very few of those artists are donating on download.

Other projects (LibreWolf browser comes to mind) reject donations specifically because they don't want to be in Blender's position (often these have an ideological pursuit, like LibreWolf and privacy).

If you see a Donate option when you go to download an open-source project please consider giving them something. Anything you can afford. The non-proprietary (i.e. "free") nature of these projects is so important but I'd hate to see the best of them tank because "free" isn't actually "free".

[jenroses]

what I need is an ebook reader that will make things look and act exactly like AO3 reversi.

[ariaste]

PLEASE explain the Latin fuck words. for science

Okay so. The Romans think that sex doesn't count as real sex unless Someone Is Getting Penetrated By A Dick Or Dick-Adjacent Object. Very sort of dick-centric system.

So Latin has six words for "to fuck", divided into three pairs: one pair for each of the possible Holes (ass, mouth, pussy). In each pair there is a word for topping and a word for bottoming.

Most people who know a little about Latin fuck verbs know 'pedicare' and 'irrumare' from the first line of Catullus 16 (Pēdīcābō ego vōs et irrumābō), which is a poem about saying "absolutely shut the fuck up and piss all the way off" to fandom antis and purity police who are making repulsive accusations about you personally, based on things they're reading into your work from a bad-faith perspective. Catullus was so real for that and it's incredibly endearing to me that he was dealing with the same thing we are still dealing with. I got a hater in my askbox doing this about The Wisdom of Emperors just the other day, but I took the high road and, unlike Catullus, did not tell them "I will assfuck you and I will facefuck you" So here sort of a chart about the verbs: Topping | Bottoming Mouth: irrumare | fellare Ass: pedicare | cevere Cunt: futuere | crisare

Another fun fact related to the fuck verbs was that the Romans didn't think about sexual orientation in terms of who you're attracted to, they thought about it in terms of "which is your favorite hole and what do you like to do with it." So you'll get graffiti (ancient roman subtweeting) about things like "Marcus is a fututor [cunt-fucker] and a pedico [ass-fucker] but omg girlies I also heard he's a fellator [cock-sucker] 👀👀👀👀" In the modern day we'd just call him bisexual, but in Ancient Rome it is not enough to know if someone is bisexual (they think it's kind of perverted if a man only fucks women, like do you have some kind of freaky pussy fetish???? you've never once even fucked a twink??? dat's gay, bro. gay to not be bi), you also have to know if he's being bisexual in a respectable sort of way

You will notice that pussy-eating is not on this list, because those words do not mean "to fuck", they translate more directly to just "pussy-licking" (cunnilingus), and because the Romans are sexist as all hell and think that's gross and filthy anyway. This is not ONLY because of pussy terror, it's also that the mouth is the most sacred part of the body -- so eating pussy or sucking a dick is actually considered slightly more "shameful" than getting fucked in the ass. (Please note as well that the fuck verbs are gender neutral -- if you're a roman man and your girlfriend owns a strap-on, she can [pedicare] you. but be careful because your sworn enemy in the forum will have a fucking FIELD DAY if he hears about that and will write a Mean Poem about you or subtweet you on a public wall)

The moral of this story is that the Ancient Romans were absolutely *GAGGING* for social media (see Martial's Epigrams, aka My Best Tweets), and the second moral of this story is that if this was a fun post for you, you should look at my kickstarter for alllllll of this kind of nonsense in the form of A Fantasy Novel That's Pretending To Be An Academic Paper With A Fake Bibliography And Foonotes aka The Wisdom of Emperors. And please signal boost this so everyone can know about Latin Fuck Verbs and Roman Subtweeting, we've really learned so much here together

[ariaste]

(Only 10 days left to back the kickstarter, u should go look at it, i am very cool and funny and good at books)

[nosimpincurly]

If you start reading books again, you’ll feel at least a little better. I promise.

[readaroundtherosie]

Swipe through for sneak peeks of ALL FOUR books! Let us know if you figure out the surprise books, but no spoilers in the comments please 🤗

✨SCHOLARS & SCREWUPS✨

This pack is filled with the geniuses and underdogs we love to root for.

The four books featured in this pack are:

The trade paperback edition of STRANGE FAMILIARS by Australian author @keshewrites (RRP $34.99), which comes with a signed bookplate. Seamere College of Magical Veterinary Sciences will teach you to tend to everything from unicorns to dragons, cats to centaurs. A magical book with academic rivals-to-lovers, conspiracies, and mythological creatures.

The trade paperback edition of THE UNMAGICAL LIFE OF BRIAR JONES by @lexcanroar (RRP $34.99) which comes with a bookmark from the publisher. A dark academia fantasy following former childhood best friends who reunite at magical boarding school after years, only to find themselves enemies on opposite sides of the ugly secrets hidden within the gilded walls. Come along to the Temple School of Thaumaturgy.

There are two more books in this pack- a trade paperback ($34.99) and a paperback ($24.99) but we’ll keep them a surprise for you!

The first is a sweet and funny novel in which tired people need to save the kingdom. She raises hell. He raises the dead. There’s a skeleton companion. Lots can go wrong! A gorgeous story with a slow burn romance and healing at its heart. This novel will come with a set of character art cards & a bookmark from the publisher.

The second is a charming cosy fantasy featuring a former villain, a cosy farm, a ghost granny, found family and queer romance that we adored. This will also come with a map art postcard from the publisher.

Order here! Shipping in June

[torpublishinggroup]

Celebrate Pride with Tor Publishing Group!

The Works of Vermin by Hiron Ennes

Guy Moulène has a simple goal: keep his sister out of debt. As an exterminator, that means hunting the uncanny creatures that crawl up from the river and attempt to infest the walls of the city. His latest quarry is different: a centipede the size of a dragon with a deadly venom and a ravenous taste for artwork. As it digests Tiliard from the sewers to the opera houses, its toxin reshapes the future of the city. No sane person would hunt it, if they had the choice.

Guy doesn’t have a choice.

Bodies of Magic by Freya Marske (@fahye)

To graduate the Academie of the Grand Duchy of Sieuxerr, every mage with a healer’s gift must endure a five-day trial. The exam groups are chosen at random, and all must pass together or fail together. What the exam should not include is the dead body of a classmate, a brilliant scholar who would’ve been first in their class, appearing in the exam hall on the first day of the trial. 

Five scholars. Five secrets. Five days to solve a murder and pass the most important exam of their lives, and maybe uncover a secret large enough to change the world. (Or: five queer nerds solve a murder and have some feelings.)

Out September 15, 2026!

[ariaste]

Attention ancient history nerds and fans of really weird and unusual fantasy books, THE WISDOM OF EMPERORS kickstarter campaign just launched!

Hello, btw, I'm Alexandra Rowland, the author of A TASTE OF GOLD AND IRON, RUNNING CLOSE TO THE WIND, YIELD UNDER GREAT PERSUASION, and several other books. This is my new one!!

Inspired by the story of the Ancient Roman emperor Hadrian and his lover Antinous, THE WISDOM OF EMPERORS is a second-world adult fantasy novel written in the style of a fictional academic text. It documents the translation and study of a world-changing artifact discovered in an archaeological dig: a manuscript which provides the clues to finally unravel one of the most perplexing mysteries in all of ancient history.

If this sounds like your jam, go back it on kickstarter! If you're not sure whether it is your jam, the merch reveal updates on the campaign include excerpts from the book so you can get a flavor for it -- the ENTIRE Foreword to the book is on there!

I do not have a publisher to help with a marketing and publicity budget, so this book's success really depends on grassroots support from readers -- if you can spare a signal boost, that'd be amazing.

I'M GONNA GO WALK INTO THE SEA NOW AND BECOME ONE WITH THE MOLLUSCS, but before i do, here is the full summary of the book:

SUMMARY:

     An ancient emperor who, along with his entire army, vanished from the historical record for ten years, as if into thin air. A long-suffering scribe, dragged along on a quest that was doomed from the start, furiously scrawling his thoughts in a manuscript that will be lost for millennia. An enslaved young man, as beautiful as a marble statue, breaking his chains and flying to freedom. And a patient, steadfast scholar, dauntlessly seeking the answer to a mystery that has plagued historians for two thousand years.

The great tragedy of studying history is that there is so much we will never know. But a recent archaeological excavation has discovered an ancient manuscript, allegedly the journal kept by one of Emperor Cabian’s scribes during the years of his mysterious disappearance. Though most historians initially dismissed it as a hoax or a forgery, Amatio Orlanti took on the challenge—not only proving the authenticity of the manuscript, but translating it, uncovering the most jaw-dropping corroborating sources and, at last, presenting these astonishing revelations to the world: The truth of Cabian’s ill-fated journey, the twin poisons of imperialist violence and desperate, misguided love that drove him relentlessly onwards, and the ultimate fate of his lost beloved, the legendary beauty Anaticula. This new edition of Orlanti’s dissertation, with its academic commentaries and explanatory footnotes now revised for the general public, offers a glimpse of one of the most famous figures of Ancient Lausa—and casts a light on the rot and depravity lying behind the empire’s outward magnificence.

Miracles in history and archaeology just don’t happen… except when they do.

Coming soon: The Wisdom of Emperors: Deluxe Collector's Edition

A new fantasy novel by Alexandra Rowland, author of A TASTE OF GOLD AND IRON, RUNNING CLOSE TO THE WIND, & YIELD UNDER GREAT PERSUASION

[ariaste]

100% funded in fourteen. fucking. minutes. [mic drop]

[ariaste]

300% funded in two hours.

[ariaste]

We are up to 500% funded in less than 24 hours btw. (i think it was like 20 hours?) CONTINUING TO BLOW ME AWAY, GUYS

[ariaste]

EVERYBODY SHUT UP, KICKSTARTER JUST AWARDED IT THE "PROJECTS WE LOVE" LABEL, IM SCREECHING

[ariaste]

In case you missed it, I released a melodramatic video of myself staring out the window at the rain and then lying facedown on the floor while a sad voiceover asks, "Why do good things happen to people who are just okay?" and you should go watch it because it's one of the funnier things I have ever created IMO.

It is part of my "STOP BACKING MY KICKSTARTER" marketing campaign. My "have you not thought about how many pakidges I will have to pack??" marketing campaign. My "None of u are free from sin, except for the people who have backed the ebook-only tier because that won't involve more pakidge" campaign. My "everyone who backs this campaign is personally kicking my body like the football, jail jail jail" campaign. anyway. definitely DON'T back my kickstarter. But do watch the melodrama video.

[the-reading-lemon]

85k and that's 3/7 art cards unlocked! Great job everyone, but we can do more!

[ariaste]

#do I hear someone say 90k? 100? get your pledges in while you can folks#the author is less than 20k away from being forced to take a nap#we love to see it (@the-reading-lemon) >:[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[

[lynati]

I wonder how many other people are, like me, having to wait until the start of next month to back this.

[ariaste]

[the-reading-lemon]

90k now! At this rate the Pledge tracker needs updating every day. Also: Our dear author is only 15k away from having a much-deserved nap forced upon them. Yay!

[ariaste]

[readaroundtherosie]

Swipe through for sneak peeks of ALL FOUR books! Let us know if you figure out the surprise books, but no spoilers in the comments please 🤗

✨SCHOLARS & SCREWUPS✨

This pack is filled with the geniuses and underdogs we love to root for.

The four books featured in this pack are:

The trade paperback edition of STRANGE FAMILIARS by Australian author @keshewrites (RRP $34.99), which comes with a signed bookplate. Seamere College of Magical Veterinary Sciences will teach you to tend to everything from unicorns to dragons, cats to centaurs. A magical book with academic rivals-to-lovers, conspiracies, and mythological creatures.

The trade paperback edition of THE UNMAGICAL LIFE OF BRIAR JONES by @lexcanroar (RRP $34.99) which comes with a bookmark from the publisher. A dark academia fantasy following former childhood best friends who reunite at magical boarding school after years, only to find themselves enemies on opposite sides of the ugly secrets hidden within the gilded walls. Come along to the Temple School of Thaumaturgy.

There are two more books in this pack- a trade paperback ($34.99) and a paperback ($24.99) but we’ll keep them a surprise for you!

The first is a sweet and funny novel in which tired people need to save the kingdom. She raises hell. He raises the dead. There’s a skeleton companion. Lots can go wrong! A gorgeous story with a slow burn romance and healing at its heart. This novel will come with a set of character art cards & a bookmark from the publisher.

The second is a charming cosy fantasy featuring a former villain, a cosy farm, a ghost granny, found family and queer romance that we adored. This will also come with a map art postcard from the publisher.

Order here! Shipping in June

[faerbloom]

i’ve been thinking about lamen so often lately that i think i might be going insane

[torpublishinggroup]

In The Fake Divination Offense from New York Times bestselling author @sararaasch, sports romance and fake dating get a Dungeons & Dragons makeover. This steamy new book in the Magic and Romance series follows half-giant and rawball defensive tank Orok, who is forced into a PR relationship with a feisty, fan-favorite cheerleader…who might have a few dangerous secrets of his own. The character art featured in this image is by @lilith_saur

[okjohnrich]

Hi! Welcome! 👋

You're about to read John Rich & The Big Picture, a very funny story about a very anxious man hurtling towards his soulmate at 200 mph.

At 28, John Rich is the youngest cover artist in the illustrious history of The New York Review. This means, every week, he draws a portrait of some notable person and this portrait becomes the cover of this very prestigious magazine. But when John is tasked with drawing the supposedly vapid (and obviously gorgeous) action movie star, Tyler Hughes, he discovers that Tyler is the one person he cannot draw. 

Updates weekly.

✏️ start reading >> here ✏️ latest chapter >> here

You can also read the story online here: okjohnrich.site ✏️

FAQ under the cut. ⬇️

When does The Big Picture update? John Rich & The Big Picture updates on Friday afternoons.

Will you release this as an e-book at some point? When I'm done, yes, I'll release this novel in .PDF and .EPUB format.

People keep talking about taxes. What are the taxes? If you enjoyed reading this novel, you are legally required to pay the Friend Tax by telling a friend. Use lots of emojis and sound like you're going insane. (This helps.) Similarly, if you laugh at anything, you have to tell me in a comment or tag me on social media. This is the Laugh Tax. By paying your taxes you help me and others construct a non-monetary socialist gift-based utopia.

Follow the author on bsky, instagram, tumblr (main), and tiktok.

[omgcheckplease]

read this webnovel at okjohnrich.site because there's a 100% chance you're gonna love it, wish you had started it sooner, and re-read the chapters because you laughed so hard.