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So I could go on an entire rant about multilingualism in the Spiral for hours on end, but for now I really like the idea of multilingual wizards using the words that sound best to them in spells that require verbal components (if they do in combat).

Spanish is my L2, and a small example of what I mean is the word "miel," which is "honey" in English. When I think of honey, the first word that comes up is usually miel, and I end up having to correct it if I plan to say it out loud.

For card names spoken as verbal components, it could look like names being translated the best they can be in someone's native tongue or L2, L3, etc. Serpiente de tormenta, (storm snake), murciélago de sangre (bloodbat), unicornio (unicorn), just to name a few examples (in my best Spanish).

There are concepts that don't seem to translate as well, for example the spell "Treant." I cannot seem to find if there is a name for it in Spanish, so the best I can come up with for it is "Árbolombre" (sort of a mix between árbol and hombre (tree & man respectively)).

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her forever good boi

original under the cut!

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Any advice for figuring out how to work on writing characters arguing?

I’m just curious and also I mistakenly derailed part of my writing over struggling to write a scene of characters starting an argument that was meant to escalate.

Writing Notes: Arguments

Arguing is full of tension.

Even benign conversations between friends so often belies subtextual personal agendas that are antagonistic or covertly full of anger or upset.

Honesty itself sometimes is the product of extreme tension and upset.

One’s resistance to telling the truth to another or admitting to oneself a truth can be excruciatingly tense and stressful, even between lovers.

SIDESTEPPING

You instantly create conflict in dialogue when you avoid “on the nose” responses.

On the nose means a direct response, sometimes even echoing the previous line.

You can avoid direct response:

With a statement that is unrelated to the prompting dialogue

By answering a question with a question

With a line of dialogue that is going to need some explanation

Also consider using silence:

“Are you ready to go, dear?” Bob asked. Sylvia said nothing.

Or use an action response:

“Are you ready to go, dear?” Bob asked. Sylvia picked up the mirror.

OPPOSING AGENDAS

Always know what each character wants in a given scene.

If a character in a scene is just taking up space, give him an agenda or get him out of there. Or cut the scene entirely.

Scenes require conflict or tension, even if it’s subtle.

Before you write the scene, note what each character wants.

Then spend a few moments playing with those motivations.

List 3 other possible motives for each of the characters, then mix and match to decide which ones will make for the best conflict.

It is also important to create tension among allies.

One of the danger points in fiction is when two friends, or people who are at least on the same side, have a talk about what’s going on. The trouble is there might not be any trouble between them. So much of the dialogue becomes a friendly chat.

This will violate Alfred Hitchcock’s axiom (Hitchcock once said that a good story is “life, with the dull parts taken out.”).

The fastest way to handle it is to make sure there is tension manifested from the start.

Create tension in at least one of the characters, preferably the viewpoint character.

Example: When you have Allison meeting Melissa, her college friend, for coffee, don’t have them sit down and start talking as if nothing’s wrong in the world. Put the trouble of the story into Allison’s mind and nervous system and make it an impediment to her conversation with Melissa. In Melissa, place something that might be in opposition to Allison’s needs. Allison needs to ask Melissa’s advice about a crumbling marriage. Maybe Melissa is full of news about her sister’s impending wedding to a wonderful man and gushes about the prospects.

Spend some time brainstorming about the ways two friends or allies can be at odds. Then weave those things into the dialogue.

DIALOGUE AS WEAPON

Look for places where you can use dialogue as a weapon, a means for your characters to charge ahead in order to get what they want.

Keep in mind that dialogue is action.

It’s a physical act used by characters to help them get what they want. If they don’t want anything in a scene, they shouldn’t be there.

Note that not all weapons are explosive. They can be small and sharp, too.

PARENT-ADULT-CHILD

A great tool for creating instant conflict in dialogue is the Parent-Adult-Child model, popularized in the book Games People Play by Eric Berne (1964). This school of psychology is called Transactional Analysis.

The theory holds that we tend to occupy roles in life and relationships.

The 3 primary roles are Parent, Adult, and Child (PAC):

The Parent - the seat of authority, the one who can “lay down the law.” S/he has the raw strength, from position or otherwise, to rule and then enforce his/her rulings.

The Adult - the objective one, the one who sees things rationally and is therefore the best one to analyze a situation. “Let’s be adult about this,” one might say in the midst of an argument.

The Child - not rational, and not with any real power. So what does s/he do? Reacts emotionally. Throws tantrums to try to get his/her way. Even an adult can do this. We’ve all seen clandestine videos that prove this point.

So it is a helpful thing to consider what role each character is assuming in a scene.

How do they see themselves? What is their actual role? (It may indeed be different than what they perceive it to be.)

Most important, how will they act in order to accomplish their goal in the scene?

Answering these questions can give you a way to shape your dialogue so there is constant tension and conflict throughout.

Also consider that the characters might change their roles (try something new) in order to get their way. Thus, this is a never-ending source of conflict possibilities and only takes a few moments to set up.

TIP ON DIALOGUE

Look at all of your dialogue exchanges, especially ones that run for a page or more.

Analyze what roles the characters think they’re inhabiting.

Rework the dialogue by getting each character to be more assertive in their claimed role. (Also note that a character can change roles as a matter of strategy. For example, if the Parent isn’t working, a character might switch to pouting like a Child in order to get his way.)

Sources: 1 2 ⚜ More: Writing Notes & References

Hope this helps with your writing!

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Hey, the ACLU is getting people to send letters to your Reps to have Congress pass the No Kings Act.

This act would make constitutional amendments to ensure that even sitting presidents are held liable for their actions. That NOBODY is above the law.

Their goal is 150k messages sent and at the time of writing this they're about 2.1k off from that goal!

ACLU gives you a prefilled message that you can edit to send to make the process easier, and will send it out for you.

This only takes a few minutes!

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I'm at such a weird place in my Spanish-learning journey.

I've been actively learning for 4 years now. I don't use it very often though so I still kinda suck lmao. I'm good at speaking as long as the listener is patient; reading and writing are solid; but I still suck at my listening skills (why are some accents so difficult to understand!!!!!!!!!)

So anyway.

I have a bunch of coworkers who grew up speaking Spanish natively. I don't use Spanish with them because I still suck at it (affectionate to myself), but oftentimes they/we all will be taking about Spanish grammar and such. And I'll chime in like "yes when it's conjugated like this, it means that, so you yada yada and yada" and "well it depends on where you're from, but generally xyz."

So I don't exhibit any understanding of Spanish but then I'll pull out my knowledge of the language. I've discovered that, due to how I have learned the language, I typically I understand the nuances better than my native speaking coworkers.

Like I said. I'm in a weird place.

Yeah, I was in that space for a few years myself. I think that's the B1/B2 experience in a nutshell, you know enough to know what you're talking about, but not enough to feel comfortable

Unfortunately the only way to get better is to talk more. For me, listening is still the hardest part because of that - I'll try to hear and translate every single word and then trip myself up by focusing too much on one word or phrase I don't know, then miss everything else

I think it also depends on your comfort level with the other person

And how frustrated you get with yourself, because the more self-conscious you feel, the more you end up doubting yourself

It's rough. Unfortunately the intermediate phase lasts a long time lol

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I swear to fucking God every time an anti AI post circulates there's ALWAYS some braindead fucker who tries to go "bu-bu-but muh Character.AI :( that's not bad right????" and sorry to burst your bubble but YES. IT IS BAD.

Character.AI is constantly fed information taken from online writers without their consent. I've seen artists complaining about people stealing their characters to make C.ai bots without their knowledge or consent. And these people usually don't even bother to use correct information about the character either.

Character.AI is a plague and if you use it, even for recreational purposes, even for a funny haha moment, I have 0 respect for you.

And also, what's the point????? You're literally talking to nothing??? Doesn't that feel hollow? Doesn't that make you feel sad? Don't you have one (1) real friend you can try role-playing with?????

"bu-bu-but I'm too shy/autistic/disabled to talk to real people :(" either read xreader fanfiction or bite the bullet and make an RP blog. Go Google some resources for disabled people and how to start role-playing. Take advantage of the anonimity that comes with creating a new account, make a persona who's not shy or something. There's literally endless possibilities, there's a thriving RP community on Tumblr and they'd be thrilled to help as long as you're not an asshole. Go read their threads if you want an idea of what they do.

"Bu-bu-but what if they RP my character wrong :(" assflash newshole, C.ai probably does too. And if you have a problem with your RP partner it's time to put up your Big Boy Pants and tell them.

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If I'm being honest, I wouldn't be surprised if the Pirate101 discord stays locked down until the situation gets resolved. I've been peeking in between both servers, and channels that were deleted in P101 and then reinstated are now being spammed again. It is also leaking into the Wizard101 discord as of writing this.

uhh what happened to the discord?

also was the community manager the va for hawkules??

Okay let's enlighten Tumblr:

Tonight, it was confirmed that Chris (AKA Hawkules) left Kingsisle as Pirate101's Community Manager. A little afterwards, Hawk himself left the statement below:

So now this has opened the floodgates for people to make a WHOLE LOTTA jokes, memes, jabs, etc. at Sparck (the Lead Community Manager) in the official P101 server, which has now been fully muted because of the influx of...well...everything. I am not in the official W101 server to say if anything is happening there.

Also, I believe Chris was the voice of Sinbad, which means he may need a replacement if an update proceeds with voice lines for him. He doesn't voice Hawkules I think, just claimed him for his Ki persona!

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The irony of Hawkules starting this fire is not lost on me

Hoooooly shit, p101 discord on FIRE.

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Update: slow-general was deleted

Edit: Entire p101 discord is no longer usable

Edit 2: Apparently the bug reporting forum is still working

Hoooooly shit, p101 discord on FIRE.

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General chat was shut down, I'm sure slow-general is soon to follow

Hoooooly shit, p101 discord on FIRE.

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Stay hydrated this holiday season.

Flask: https://topatoco.com/collections/wtnv/products/cpb-wtnv-seesomething-flask

Moonlite Diner Mug: https://topatoco.com/collections/wtnv/products/cpb-wtnv-moonlite-mu

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what in the welcome to night vale

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"Carlos, this station’s favorite scientist dropped by our broadcasting station earlier this morning for a little chat.

Sadly, dinner or weekend plans were not among the topics."

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youll never guess what podcast i started listening to