#ie soliciting

[roger-elizabeth-debris]

oh, and they only pay like? $15/hr or something or have it listed like, "Make up to $60,000 a year! ($2/hr + tips!)"

people are like "no one wants to work anymore" when every job application is like upload your resume and cover letter. okay now manually type out your resume and cover letter in our text boxes. okay now answer these 10 riddles. okay now take a rorschach test. okay now upload a photo of your childhood bedroom and explain the relationship between its layout and the adult you are today. okay now show us your youtube watch history. okay now define the color "red." okay now walk into a patch of poison ivy and take a selfie of you holding up a paper saying "i <3 ivy." okay now wave your hands in the air if you just don't care. that one was a trick to cull the applicants who don't care. okay now choose a loved one to sacrifice. great! thank you for submitting your application we will not be calling you

[quicktimeeventfull]

i feel like whenever i talk about emotionally manipulative behaviour people who are doing nothing wrong get worried and people who are causing problems double down, so ftr here is some delineation.

obviously i can't speak for everyone, but most people are not bothered by:

sending asks about the subject of their blog (ie, if someone's blog is about death note, sending asks about death note is probably fine)

sending personal questions in response to an ask meme specifically soliciting personal questions

a single unsolicited DM or ask, and a continuation of the conversation if that gets a positive response

compliments, comments or questions about their artwork, including their process

what nearly everyone on earth is bothered by includes:

sending love confessions to strangers, either platonic or romantic

sending asks to strangers requesting emotional support

sending multiple asks or DMs which are NOT responded to. like the occasional double-text is generally fine if you've got some sort of rapport with someone, but a barrage of unanswered messages is not

following someone across multiple platforms when they don't respond to you

contacting people's friends or acquaintances when they don't respond to you

sending suicide bait, effusive compliments or self-flagellating apologies when they don't respond to you

vagueposts, especially suicide-bait, about someone who has not responded to you

informing strangers you have collected personal information about them

block evasion

i would love to say this is chronically online behaviour but it really is not. people do this offline and offline and ime they do it with shocking frequency. i feel this often gets described as poor boundaries and that's not technically untrue but i genuinely feel it's more sinister than that. i don't know if it's necessarily malicious, but having dealt at length with some of these people it seems to me that most of them are aware on at least some level that they are actively causing distress and that their emotionally manipulative tactics are likely to solicit specific responses. it is hard to say no to someone who is showering you in flattery or implying something bad will happen to them if you don't coddle them.

anyway: i'm directing this not towards the people who do these things (bc as far as i can see they really do not care) but towards normal people who are afraid their perfectly reasonable messages are freaking people out AND to anyone who is getting a message like this for the first time. block on sight bc it almost always escalates.

[catsandcataclysms]

Please do not fall for the recent spambots/scammers

They have changed their tactic up-- it used to be "please help my sick pet" and now it's "please help my family in [war-torn area]"

New blogs with only a few posts soliciting others for money via asks is classic tumblr-scammer behavior. They are appealing to the specific social media concept of activism that gets created by the scammers appealing to the reader's sense of morality (ie "oh no a hurt pet" and recently "oh no a hurt person!")

They are not real. Please do not fall for these scams or put them on other peoples' dash.

People who do not engage with these scams are not uncaring. We would just rather our money go to a genuine cause, rather than a scammer.

[askagamedev]

How much freedom does a game designer have at a non-indie studio? Are they able to pitch and create their own ideas or are they basically project leads that get assigned games to make/design (ie that time everyone was making a WW2 shooter)?

I think you have the wrong idea about what game designers do. We're not project leads that pitch entire games, we're [content creators] that build the bits of specific content in games - the spells, the monsters, the fights, the classes, the races, the quests, the environments, the stats, the companions, and so on. Your typical AAA dev team has hundreds of developers, including dozens (or even hundreds) of designers there to create the items, quests, abilities, enemies, fights, crafting recipes, and other content that players engage with.

There are times when studios will solicit pitches from the rank and file, but these are few and far between. Everybody from the oldest of the old to the newest of the new have their own game ideas that they want to get made. Only those who have amassed sufficient experience and influence with publishing executives are typically given this opportunity, often because anyone who leads a new game's development is being trusted with hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars.

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Short questions: Ask a Game Dev on Twitter

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Frequent Questions: The FAQ

[avelera]

Fandom Meta vs. Literary Criticism vs. Workshopping Fiction

I recently wrote a post about how I do not want authors of works like say, Neil Gaiman to see my fandom meta or literary critiques about their work, such as The Sandman which is my current fandom. Not just because there's a time and a place but because, depending on the audience, I'm going to frame my critique in different ways.

Workshopping fiction, ie, offering critique to an author with an eye towards improving the work or improving their overall skill level, is a sacred trust and one I take very seriously, to the point where I often refuse beta request (as workshopping is often referred to in fandom spaces) because I do not trust that the person on the other end of the request is mature enough as a writer to accept the level of critique I would offer to a pro or pre-pro author who is seeking to improve their work. I am careful because I want to foster a growing author and not slam them with the level of professional critique I'd give someone trying to go pro, so until I know what level I'm working on as far as how in-depth my critique should go, I usually only offer the lightest of touches. But if, for example, Neil was a fellow pro or pre-pro author who seriously solicited my thoughts on a piece that could be improved, this is what I might say to his face:

Ex. "Hey Neil, overall I love this comic you brought to the workshop, "The Men of Good Fortune"! One question, in the 1689 beat, I noticed that the death of Hob's family is just one beat of many in his string of misfortunes. However, in my experience, the loss of someone's family would be a seriously traumatic event, likely outweighing the loss of their wealth. Was this intentional? As it is, this beat makes me less sympathetic towards Hob because he seems to view his wealth as more important that his family. If not, might I suggest adding a bit more weight to the loss of his wife and adult son? I understand this was just one minor beat of the many you were juggling to show us this jaunt through time and I wasn't sure whether or not I was meant to have less sympathy for Hob here, since this arc appears to be about watching him change and evolve as a person over the centuries, or if this was merely an oversight as the loss of his family only meant to be one of a series of beats on the historical misfortunes that could befall him in this "worst of all possible centuries" and you just didn't have the time, energy, or space, or interest to expand upon it?"

To which Neil might respond, "Yes, you are meant to find Hob distasteful in that century, well spotted! Hob sees his family as possessions as much as anything else and you are not supposed to like him." Or, "I never thought of that! I had so many other things going on and I was under deadline that in truth, it was just meant to be a bit of a laundry list of misfortunes. I never really thought of or meant to explore that beat. Maybe I will improve it in the next draft!" OR, "However, that exploration is beyond the scope of this story and while I see your point, I just don't have the time/interest/space to explore the long-term ramifications to the character of him losing his first planned family."

Now, Literary criticism is when I, with a somewhat more formal tone, offer my personal analysis of a work, heavily steeped in my own experience, historical knowledge, opinions, etc. It's not going to be published in a literary magazine because this is Tumblr, but I am putting a little more effort into it and will likely do things like cite my sources.

Ex. "In Neil Gaiman's work, "The Men of Good Fortune" the narrative treats Hob in his "worst of all possible centuries" in the 1600s with a remarkable lack of sympathy. He is depicted as ugly, diseased, unpleasant, and uncaring for the wife and son he has lost, or least, no more troubled by their loss than he is by the loss of his material fortune. This century is largely passed over for its long-term impact on Hob's character, despite the fact that the tragedies invoked would likely change someone forever and represent major traumas. It is possible we're meant to see Hob unsympathetically during these years, as the whole arc is meant as a growth narrative, or it could be that as a relatively juvenile author, Gaiman only thought of these tragedies abstractly, as a way to illustrate possible historical misfortunes, and didn't really think out the extrapolations of how these stated events would impact the character's arc."

Meanwhile, Fandom meta is for funsies. It's just my opinion on a work and usually it's me rotating an idea around in my mind while I consider how to transform an element of the original media for use in a fanfic I'm writing. For example, the Doylist explanation for an inconsistency might be "The creator didn't care enough to fix it" but in a fandom meta I might acknowledge this and say, "Yeah but for the fic I'm writing I need to know why this happened so here's a possible logical, in-universe explanation that jives with the story I want to tell." There usually won't be cited sources and I will not argue with you if you disagree, even if I might side-eye someone considerably if they decided to pitch a fit about it, because it's literally just my opinion and might not even be spell-checked.

"Yo, why the fuck is Robyn's death not treated as a bigger deal for Hob in the "Men of Good Fortune" beat of Sandman?? Dude lost his son, it's a major theme throughout Sandman that losing a son can majorly change someone's entirely outlook on life, like Roderick Burgess capturing Dream to force him to bring back his son, or Dream himself and Orpheus and how killing his son to spare him his awful fate is what kicks off Dream's entire arc towards self-destruction. Yet Hob loses a son and it's barely mentioned? I just have to assume this is because Neil was like a 20-something year old dude who only knew about "losing a child" as an abstract historical thing, but losing a son who is 20 years old is a majorly traumatic event that rips entire families apart. Are we not meant to think Hob was traumatized by this, maybe leading in part to his utter collapse of circumstances in the 1600s, or did Neil just not consider it at all??"

The latter two I would never ever want to show to Neil. It's not my place. We are not involved in the sacred trust of a writer-workshopper/editor relationship. I'm not tempering my question by asking what the intention was. And ultimately, the "Word of God" doesn't matter. I can have my own interpretation and Neil's statement wouldn't likely alter it very much and my critique would be pointless because it can never actually change the story. It's just a beat I found unsatisfying and felt the need to fix in a fic, not anything that Neil ever needs to hear about what is now 34 years after publication.

I'm using Neil and Sandman as a specific example but, for the most part, this applies to all my meta and analysis. You will rarely see me writing workshop style critique on this site because that's usually done one on one. For the most part, I'm writing out my thoughts for my own sake and that of fellow fans. It is never, ever ever meant to be seen by the creators of the work.

[mindshelter]

if we're being entirely honest, "sum of our parts" (ie. tim's feature in batman: urban legends #4-6) was not particularly exceptional in terms of writing, even while it accomplished the remarkable feat of establishing tim as bisexual. that being said, the coda ("carol of the bats," batman: urban legends #10) was excellent. it did a wonderful job at portraying tim and bruce's relationship for what it was: ultimately loving, but clouded by expectations, real or imagined. it established that tim's use of the robin title, at this stage of his life, was a consequence of tim inadverdently locking himself into a box because of how he thinks he should be, and a desire to see bruce happy—it would be a point of pride, after all, to make bruce happy. clearly, there's a double meaning here: tim is restricting his own growth and personhood over abstractions (valid ones founded by experience, but abstractions nonetheless). it's time to figure out who he is, now.

then, somehow, mfitz managed to shell out some or the worst writing young justice has ever received (and teen titans vol. 3 exists) and tim continued to split the robin mantle with damian. damian's robin run ended prematurely, and td:r was launched via solicits that described tim as "the best robin." like damn... ok...!

[doberbutts]

hi jaz, this is a dog training question. currently i'm in a position to take on a dog from a neighbour who can't look after him and keeps him in a shed. i really want to give him a better life but we have cats and he's a collie mix so while he's not aggressive towards them (soliciting play when they're close) if they run away, he chases them if he can and it terrifies them.

when he's focused on the cat he doesn't listen to commands that he otherwise does (ie: leave it) so my question is this: is this an appropriate situation to use an ecollar, like a tap on the shoulder to break his focus on the cat so he can respond to a command to leave it? treats don't take his focus away so i was thinking something like: while leashed, ecollar + command -> reward for breaking focus on the cat, but i've never trained using an ecollar before, only clickers.

thank you sm

(currently he's still living with the neighbour and we're walking him, i'm not going to take him without knowing that he can behave around the cats, but besides this he's a great fit and has a great personality)

This is a situation that I don't think should be resolved with online advice but with a trainer who can come out and help you in person.

[gothprentiss]

ok like i get why “not adhering to a standard of formality” is one of the most traditional ways to evaluate scams but it was really nutty seeing, for weeks perhaps months, a variety of very well-intended people making it absolutely clear that they specifically were not interacting with palestinian fundraisers because they didn’t meet a certain tumblr-normative standard of discourse, ie ‘please don’t scroll by or you’ll doom my family’ is engagement-bait or whatever you’d call it, people are explicitly begging for money, many of these bloggers have clearly only have tumblr accounts to solicit donations, and so on. i don’t think it’s hopelessly naive to be like well yes. duh. this is what it looks like to show up on a website you’ve never used before trying to raise money to spirit your family out of gaza. this is secondary to what appears to have been an explicit backlash against palestinian gofundmes over the last week or so, tho i think of a piece with it: i saw a couple of people making nigerian prince jokes about the whole thing. it’s interesting that obviously low fluency in english and clearly distinct customs of address and formality are taken as tokens of scams as opposed to the natural result of coming into contact with someone from a different country and culture. tho i guess it comes as no surprise that scam awareness takes the shape of xenophobia as opposed to any form of investigation. this doesn’t really matter it just has been pissing me off for as long as the watch out for scams stuff has been going on. of course watch out for scams. the first 2-3 people to message me fundraising were, as far as i know, scammers. but my god not with those particular blunt instruments!

[hellionhpau]

Request for Help

Hey guys. In compliance with AO3's policy, I'm posting this here on my private blog for this fic. I ask that if nothing else, you read and share!

So, this is not only embarrassing but also extremely difficult and saddening on my part. Unfortunately, I don't have a chapter update for you, but I am reaching out publicly to ask for help. Please read this whole thing before you dismiss this because I am in seriously bad shape here and am rapidly running out of options.

To hear a fuller story, you're free to reach out to me personally. If nothing else, if any of you can share that around, it would be a huge help.

Here's the low down, and some of you who have been with me from the beginning know some of it. So, in short order over a span of a little over a year: covid hit, I lost my job, I lost my house, my mother got extremely sick (not with covid), my sister, her family, and I move in together to help take care of her and to financially support each other. Turns out my sister's husband is a complete asshat, and it was a very abusive home for the year I lasted there. Shortly after I moved out, my mother died, my dog died, and then my grandmother died right before Christmas. Both my mom and my grandmother were my two biggest maternal figures of my life, so you can imagine the blow. Add to it, I was just staying with a friend, was making shit money, and spiraled into a bad, bad depression. 

That's why I was gone for a year lol. I tried to pick myself up and became roommates with another friend. We had grand plans to move to the city and start great lives. However, it didn't work out. Suffice to say that neither of us were who the other thought we were. It ended on friendly terms, and thankfully, we hadn't made the jump to the city or I would have been fucked, man.

Things were looking up from there, but my depression wouldn't go away. I ended up staying too long at that shit job, then moved to factory work, and now I'm working two fucking jobs day in and out. I'm burning at both ends, and it's just not enough to cover the bills I'm still paying off for those two horrible years, my mother's funeral and burial, not to mention medical bills.

Right now, I can't pay my rent. I can't afford food, and I've been struggling to get on food assistance. I can't pay my therapist or doctor. And now this month, thanks to coming to head with some of the earlier mentioned debt (ie, my mother's gravestone), I don't know how the hell I'm supposed to pay my electric and phone bill, let alone afford the gas to get to my second job. I was so, so close to getting ahead of everything, and I just can't get over that edge…

I want to make this very, very clear—this is not me soliciting in any way. That is to say, this is not in any way, shape, or form requesting payment for anything I do on here. It's just my way of trying to reach out to anyone wanting to help a dude out.

I do want you guys to know I have no plans on abandoning this fic. Just the other day, I made time to pick through chapter six, adding in an extra ghoul scene for you. Also, you guys are hilarious. I give you an awesome adventure into Muggle London with Draco sodding Malfoy, and you guys were just like "i love the ghoul!"

Don't blame ya. I love them too. Don't worry, I had originally planned on the ghoul having more scene time in this than canon. Anything creature related, you know Hellion's going to be all over it lol.

If you took the time to read all this, thank you. It's embarrassing, having to ask for help, but I'm officially at the begging strangers position. Please, please, help if you can, even if it's just a dollar or sharing this.

For anyone interested, my paypal is paypal@deanjharrison or https://www.paypal.me/deanjharrison

Or this one: https://www.gofundme.com/f/dean-and-pets-recover-financially

Thanks, you guys! I appreciate you just taking the time to read this.

[ms-m-astrologer]

Transiting Neptune stations direct

Wednesday, December 6, 13:20 UT, 24°53’ Pisces

Caveat: this may not have much of an impact on you unless Neptune is prominent in your chart: closely in aslect to the Sun, the Moon, &/or an angle; or strong Pisces &/or 12 House energies.

I always feel like I should solicit a guest blogger to write about Neptune doing things. Not only is this planet tucked away in my 12th House - not only is it not very well integrated with the rest of my chart - but it’s conjunct my North Node, ie, something completely alien to my skill set (the South Node).

Anyway: Neptune stations direct. We’ve spent the past five months (since Neptune stationed retrograde on June 30) going more inward with our spirituality, or our escapism. If we’re trying to “go with the flow,” we’ve been looking within for direction.

Neptune stationed Rx at 27°41’ Pisces, and now stations direct at 24°17’ Pisces. If you have an important placement between those degrees (or between 9°17’ and 12°41’ of the Fixed signs Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, or Aquarius) - you’ve felt some kind of dissolution (disillusion?) over the past weeks and months. Moving forward, we have a better sense of our “guiding vision” freed from the shackles of ego and glamour.

Neptune’s next station is on July 2, 2024, at 29°56’ Pisces. Almost Aries! Which is a whole ‘nuther can of worms in itself. Let’s not borrow trouble, but deal with Neptune/Pisces on our plates right now.

[rtnortherly]

I started doing the build a character thing on Bluesky, and we stalled out on style, so I'm soliciting outside help. IE y'all.

BTW Here's who they are so far!

They're a tiefling with blue/green/teal skin, a deep purple mohawk and braid, purple eyes, and use they/them pronouns.

Feel free to leave comments with ideas for Question 8: Jewellery, Question: 9 Casual Outfit, Question 10: Fancy Fashion, Question: 11 Tattoo A, Question 12: Tattoo B, and Question 13: Tattoo C

[filmnoirfoundation]

ASK EDDIE - August 24 2023

FNF prez Eddie Muller responds to film noir fan questions fielded by the Foundation's Director of Communications Anne Hockens. In this episode, we discuss the recent changes at TCM, Eddie’s memories of Robert Osborne, the new Philip Marlowe book, The Second Murder, Poker Face and its inspiration Columbo, female investigators in film noir, and more. We wind up the show with a new game, “Femme Fatale or Not?”. On the cat front, Charlotte is a diva and Emily won’t come out of her trailer.

Want your question answered in a future episode? We solicit questions from our email subscribers in our monthly newsletters. Sign up for free at https://www.filmnoirfoundation.org/signup.html

Everyone who signs up on our email list and contributes $20 or more to the Film Noir Foundation receives the digital version of NOIR CITY Magazine for a year. Donate here: https://www.filmnoirfoundation.org/contribute.html

This weekend’s questions:

1.       I am wondering if there's a way to find out which movies screened at the first NOIR CITY. I'm also wondering when you first started distributing those spectacular programs.

Jeannin

 2.       Would you address the recent cutbacks and layoffs at TCM that are affecting NOIR ALLEY.

Andrew

 3.       I would love to know about your relationship with Robert Osborne.

Stacy

 4.       The estate of Raymond Chandler hired Scottish crime fiction writer Denise Mina to pen a new Philip Phillip Philip Marlowe novel, THE SECOND MURDERER was released in August. Have you read it and if so, what did you think? What do you think in general of the practice of having contemporary authors pen reboots based on other writers' classic detective characters? Are there any examples of this that you think are particularly well-done--OR that you think egregiously miss the mark?

Kathleen

 5.       Have either of you seen the new TV series POKER FACE? It’s not a whodunit.  It’s a howcatchem.  It’s been said it’s a homage to the old COLUMBO series.  Were you two fans of COLUMBO. Was Peter Falk ever in a noir movie?

Alan, San Anselmo, CA

 6.       Would love to see THE ENFORCER, 1952, starring Bogart presented on NOIR ALLEY sometime soon. I wonder about the film’s backstory. What parts of the film really portrayed the "Murder Inc.", if any?

Victor

 7.       Since becoming interested in film noir, I have seen several films with Richard Basehart. Did he ever talk about his career in noir films? I saw Basehart live on stage in the late 1970’s playing Macbeth at a theatre near Philadelphia. Did any other “noir” actors perform Shakespeare on stage? 

Ed, Washington, D.C.

 8.       What do you think of Roger Corman's 1962 film THE INTRUDER? And do you consider it to be noir? Doug, Silver Spring, MD

 9.        I was curious to hear Eddie's opinion on directors William Dieterle, Delmer Daves, Anthony Mann, Robert Wise, Jean Negulesco and which of their film noirs are worth watching.

Jeff from Montreal

 10.   I was intrigued by the plot of Joseph Pevney’s UNDERCOVER GIRL (1950) because it centers on a policewoman working. I couldn’t find UNDERCOVER GIRL anywhere- to stream or buy.

My question is two-fold. How rare is this type of character in film noir? And why can I not find this film (and other films like this)?

Kellee, Kansas

 11.   Was The movie PUBLIC ENEMY recut? I ask because Jean Harlow's role is so short and feels like it was recut. I know that the Hayes code had just come into effect so that adds to my suspicion.

David

 12.   Anne and Eddie: How many emails do you each get each day connected with movies? Is it overwhelming?

Alan

 13.   Does Eddie or Anne have a favorite or memorable tagline associated with a noir film? Also, is it Tizzie with an "ie" or Tizzy with a "y"?  Inquiring minds need to know.

Timothy, Schenectady NY

 14.   I’d like to propose a new game: ‘Femme Fatale or Not?’ And start off with one tough (or maybe off the wall) example:

PITFALL (1948) (dir. André De Toth) - Mona Stevens (Lizabeth Scott) is not a femme fatale in this film but Sue Forbes (Jane Wyatt) is. I’ll stop here and see what you and Anne think (about the concept and my interpretation of Wyatt’s character.

Dave in Pie Creek, Queensland

[literaticat]

I know you said not to worry about blurbs in another question. But I've heard (ie, read on on social media) about a few authors whose editors requested blurbs before deciding to offer. Or even agents who requested them on submission. These are only a few cases, but do you see this becoming a trend? I feel like this would shut out anyone who's not well-connected to other authors.

I have "heard of" this before (insofar as I have read vague anecdotes about it on social media, like you have). In 15+ years and 600+ books, I have never (NEVER) heard an actual IRL agent tell me they require blurbs at the query stage or before they submit work, and I have never (NEVER) had an editor ask for blurbs before they make an offer. I've not even heard anyone vaguely allude to such a thing, in fact. MAYBE some do, but it's certainly not something that is The Norm, or even NEAR The Norm.

I have, in that time, had one (1) project come to me with a blurb from a famous person already attached. (Because, I think, the famous person was the author's mentor or something like that). The blurb did get used on the book! But that's not the reason the project sold, by any stretch -- if it wasn't already a great project, it wouldn't have sold even with a blurb from Christ Himself.

I absolutely do NOT see this becoming a trend. Books can change a lot in the editing process; as far as I have ever seen, editors and agents want to wait until a book is polished before they show it to potential blurb-givers. (And authors should want that, too!) I also get blurb requests for my authors near-daily, and I don't think I've ever received one that was "preemptive" in this way.

Not to mention the fact that much of the time, the agents and editors themselves are the ones soliciting the blurbs, because while some authors DO have famous-author friends, most don't -- these requests usually go from the asker's editor or agent, to the famous-author's editor or agent. Nobody expects a new author to come fully equipped with a bunch of famous friends!

Now, maybe things are different on the adult side? Or with celebrity or pop-culture driven projects, or books that are "packaged"? But I don't think they could be TOO different in this regard. Yet another thing, IMO, you don't have to fret about.

[adamantineheart]

what a read but this section in particular, damn:

So, MZB deserves her own comment. And this is where my sarcasm comes from in my original comment. Because for almost 2 or 3 decades or more, authors and fandom existed pretty peacefully side by side. Authors would solicit stories to edit for anthologies of both the 'fan' nature, ie. Darkover, Asimov's Universe, and original nature ie. "Sword and Sorcery." You had scifi and fantasy magazines. Star Trek zines were really popular. So on and so forth. Really different time. But these were pathways to publishing and getting publishing deals. You got some short stories in anthologies, well, then publishing would take a chance on a longer book. See Mercedes Lackey, Tanya Huff... etc. This was before MZB was known to be an awful person. She was a big fantasy author and a big editor. She put out she was doing an anthology again for Darkover. She had a book she was writing for the series at the time, a big one featuring a extremely popular character. She opens up a submission and there in the short story was the basic plot idea of her novel. She reaches out, offers the short story author 500 dollars and a byline on the copyright page. Her usual modus operendi when this happened, and the woman went "No. I want my name on the cover with yours and part of the royalties." Well, DAW went. "This is a headache we don't want to deal with." And canned the entire novel. 4 years of work down the drain for MZB, because one fan author got entitled and DAW got scared. Be aware, this was entirely DAWs decision. It's publishers. It's always publishers. The story went "viral" for the time. (This was before internet.) And it got blown up completely out of proportion to where MZB got SUED and a whole bunch of agents and publishers told their authors to come out against fanfic even if they weren't against it. Entire Zines got shut down. And MZB and others decided to stop soliciting short stories for anthologies. This false story is still swirling around there in the ether with popular youtubers talking about it without doing the research. (Argh.)

[gnetophyte]

i dont like “heartbreaking” movies, i find they’re often very silly and just throwing whatever tragedies they can at the characters to try to make the audience cry. boring and trite. i love a good tragedy but when films become tragic, ie soliciting pity, i lose interest

[originalleftist]

Regarding the reports of Musk's payouts to Trump voters (ie potential vote-buying) in Pennsylvania.

I've seen some folks here talking about taking the money and then voting Harris anyway/donating it to her-

This is a bad idea.

Per 18 U.S. Code 597 - Expenditures to influence voting, BOTH the person making the offer to buy a vote and the person soliciting, accepting, or receiving it can be fined and imprisoned for up to two years.

Don't land yourselves in Federal prison.

Just file a complaint with the DOJ/FBI:

Phone: 1-800-CALL-FBI

Online: tips.fbi.gov

Or you can reach out to your local FBI field office.