#large text

[novella-november]

Novella November 2024 Announcement Post

Hate AI, but love writing challenges?

Want to take part in a global, fun project to write a Novella in one month?

Grab some friends, and take part in Novella November, by writing 1,000 words a day for the month of November, ending with a 30,000 word Novella to test and stretch your novel-writing skills!

Your goal is not perfection, but merely getting into the habit of writing a litte bit every single day :D

No website, no sign-ups -- Just a community initiative to write using only your own word!

What are the rules? Just Three so far!

#1 - No AI

#2 - No Plagiarizing

#3 - Wordcount for the month should only come from what you write during the month.

What does that mean?

Only words written during November should go towards your Wordcount for the month... but! Feel free to use your 30k words as a continuation of previous writing, or just make it the first 30k words in a longer novel!

Don't think you can write a whole entire 30k word story? Write a series of short stories that total up to 30k!

Not ready to write original works yet? Write a 30k word fanfiction that you can post after the month is over!

Share your writing experience, tips, encouragement, and questions in the #Novella November tag!

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EDIT, from the tags: Want a progress tracker? Track your progress with TrackBear!

https://trackbear.app/

Don't have a word processor? Use LibreOffice , the free and open-source alternative to Microsoft Word!

Want to organize/storyboard your Novel and don't want to pay a subscription? Try 7writer by Simon Haynes!

Want to be able to listen to your story aloud for proofreading using TTS (text to speech)? Try Balabolka!

Or, create some custom progress / Goal Cards in advance you can fill out as you reach word goals! For ideas and templates, search this blog for "goal cards" :D

Want to do a writing challenge in more than just November? Check out my ideas here for year round challenges to keep you writing consistently! Got feedback? Send it in, I'd love to see everyone's ideas!

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EDIT 2: I almost forgot to mention, if you are unable to write/type your story, you can also narrate/dictate your story to your preferred recording device!

If you're doing a Recording only and it doesn't automatically generate a transcript, it would obviously be hard to judge the word count -- but you're also working with a lot of obstacles, so I'd say if you're able to complete your story via voice recording from start to finish, you've definitely achieved the goal!

Edit #3: added the title "Novella November 2024 announcement post" to the top to make it more standard with my Ominous October and Drabble December posts (will be updating Outline October shortly) , added "Official Announcement Post 2024" to the tags so people can easily find the monthly events for 2024, and added a bit of bold to the third bullet point in the original post from September 2nd 2024 for emphasis.

[walks-the-ages]

[ID: a link preview of a stock image coffee table with a laptop with the facebook logo on the screen with text on top that says 'anyone who used facebook in the last 16 years can now get settlement money. here's how." end ID]

-USA Residents Only-

Time Sensitive- Apply before August 25th, 2023 (8/25/23)!

Filing a claim takes less than ten minutes, and can be done HERE

Excerpt from article:

Anyone in the U.S. who used Facebook in the last 16 years can now collect a piece of a $725 million settlement by parent company Meta tied to privacy violations — as long as they fill out a claim on a website set up to pay out money to the social network's users. 

The settlement stems from multiple lawsuits that were brought against Facebook by users who claimed that the company improperly shared their data with third-party sources such as advertisers and data brokers. The litigation began after Facebook was embroiled in a privacy scandal in 2018 with Cambridge Analytica, which scraped user data from the site as part of an effort to profile voters.

Meta denied any liability or wrongdoing under the settlement, according to the recently created class-action website. However, the agreement means that U.S. residents who used Facebook between May 24, 2007, and December 22, 2022, can file a monetary claim as long as they do so before August 25, 2023. 

Please reblog to signal boost this! As many people as possible should know about this to make their claim, if you don't do anything you don't get anything. It takes less than ten minutes to file and pick your payment option including pay/pal and ven/mo .

-USA Residents Only-

This ended August 25th, 2023!

[capricorn-0mnikorn]

In a world where daily living support for disabled people is built on the foundation of the 'nuclear family,' and where disabled adults are penalized for getting married, there is no age limit on "Orphan."

[crippled-peeper]

physically disabled people who will never get better my beloveds

physically disabled people who will only get worse my beloveds

physically disabled people who can’t relate to 99% of posts about disability my beloveds

physically disabled people who hate their disabilities my beloveds

physically disabled people my beloveds

[chelledoggo]

i am so mad i am so scared i am having a panic attack seriously i am at my FUCKING limit.

so you may recall the post i made about my stalker, ArMartz.

well SOMEHOW he's tracked me down to the Progressive/Queer-Affirming Christian Discord server/online church I'm in and joined days ago, and i'm just now noticing it. i have mod privileges there so i blocked him but... i feel so fucking violated.

like seriously i'm not even exaggerating.

this was supposed to be my safe space. my place of emotional and spiritual healing.

and he's thoughtlessly, carelessly, SELFISHLY infiltrated it. as if i'm not even a fucking human being to him.

i'm so fucking upset right now. like i'm gonna be sick.

there's no fucking STOPPING him.

i can't ESCAPE him.

i wouldn't put it past him to find out where i live and drive to my house and try to do something horrific to me.

ARMARTZ.

LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE.

I DO NOT LIKE YOU.

AT ALL.

NOT EVEN A LITTLE BIT.

I WILL NEVER BE YOUR FRIEND.

I WILL NEVER WELCOME YOU BACK INTO MY LIFE.

EVER.

YOU ARE HURTING ME.

YOU ARE A SELFISH, HEARTLESS, PSYCHOTIC FUCKING PRICK.

YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT ME.

YOU ONLY CARE ABOUT YOURSELF.

I DON'T CARE IF YOU HATE ME FOR THIS.

I DON'T CARE IF I HURT YOUR LITTLE FEE-FEES.

I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU.

FUCK.

OFF.

[cjoat-boost]

This is a Medium Friend Link of the article; so you can read through completely without being blocked by a paywall. @my-autism-adhd-blog @autisticadvocacy

IMPORTANT AWARENESS UPDATE:

@a-captions-blog

[littlebadger]

TUE!verse || START 》 @fruity-hub-blog / @lordfruitloop

A deep ache had settled into his bones, every muscle stiff and sore as he lay in the hospital bed, the sheets tucked too tightly around him. His eyelids felt heavy, barely open, and his vision blurred under the harsh glare of the fluorescent lights above. He’d been drifting in and out of consciousness for what felt like hours, but now his mind refused to let him slip back into sleep. Everything hurt.

Where am I? He shifted under the covers, his vision slowly adjusting. The steady, rhythmic beep of a heart monitor filled the room, its sound grating on his nerves. He turned his head to glare at the screen—it was too loud.

No, what was loud was the ringing in his ears—the deafening blast of—

A sharp gasp tore from his throat as his entire body tensed. Instinctively, he tried to sit up but was met with a surge of pain, forcing a pained hiss from his lips. His trembling body collapsed back onto the mattress, every nerve screaming.

The Nasty Burger. His parents. Jazz. Sam. Tucker. Mr. Lancer, too?

“Hey! Help! Hello!?” Danny’s voice cracked with desperation as the heart monitor beside him spiked, its alarm shrill and piercing, calling the nurses to his side.

[arovaricious]

EXPLICITLY include intersex ppl this pride month or die

[agendergenderqueermasculenbyguy]

Welp, it happened.

I have posted before about how blocking content on tumblr has no stigma attached

You – yes, you, person reading this – are allowed to block whatever tags/ content you want

You don’t need to have a “reason”, you are allowed to block and filter content “just because” or “because I don’t want to see it”

Content does not need to trigger or squick you for you to be allowed to filter it

This post is officially your personal permission to filter out whatever content you would rather not see

And this includes filtering/ blocking “#current events” “#current news” “#global news”

You are allowed to exclude/ block out current world events from your tumblr experience

This does not mean you don’t care!

Yes, you are allowed to filter content “just because” or “because I don’t care”

But filtering exhausting and upsetting content does not imply you do not care!

Compassion fatigue is a real thing!

Especially if you (like me) follow several, multiple, a bunch of activist bloggers

There are global crises everywhere, I just read of 6 genocides happening which is precisely why I decided to finally block/ filter out those “current events” tags

How to filter in the tumblr app:

Go to your own blog >

click the little gear in the top corner >

General Settings >

scroll down >

just above “Color Palette” there it is >

Filtering

Type in whatever tags or words you want to not see in the future

This works for filtering out user-URLs too, if you have specific people you’d like not to see posts by

The “full text” filter will, however, 1) also look at the URL of the prev to who put it on your dash 2) ignores spaces in the post

Example 1: You follow “microplasdick” and you filtered “orange”; if the OP is called “orange-fishburne” your filter will hide that post; if the person microplasdick reblogged is “orange-cucumber” your filter will hide the post. Doesn’t matter if the word “orange” is not within the post itself

Example 2: You have filtered “orange” and a post goes “I also ran getting to my bus” – that post would get filtered because it contains “o ran ge” in that sequence

So “#tumblr is my safe space” and for that to stay true, you’re most definitely allowed to block out current events/ world news

Please take care <2

[novella-november]

Free Resources for Writers Masterpost

created October 10th 2024.

Will update every now and then, so click on the original/source post to see any updates that may be added in the future!

Free writing programs (offline):

LibreOffice, Free and Open Source.

FocusWriter, Free and Open Source (?)

Free Writing programs (Online; cross-platform)

4TheWords, (free tier with paid upgrades available) Tracks your daily word count and rewards for daily streaks. 10/10 recommend!

Google docs (Free, requires Google Account.)

Community Writing hubs:

4TheWords (I'm fairly certain the multiplayer option includes this)

Ohwrite - Word Springs with friends.

Online Goal Trackers:

Trackbear word goal tracker

Pacemaker goal planner

Of all of the above links, my absolute champion here is Libreoffice for pure functionality, and for fun and writing goals, 4TheWords!

It is like google docs in that you are writing on an online platform that autosaves your work (don't forget to give it a few seconds to save changes before clicking away from it), but it also means you can write on your desktop or mobile phone while on the go;

it keeps track of your words written for the day, keeps track of daily writing streaks, and makes it easy and fun to stay focused on completing word goals of various levels in one sitting, by "battling" monsters that have different word goals in a time limit.

once you reach that word goal, you've successfully defeated the monster, and earn loot to level up your character if you're interested in the RPG aspect of the site, otherwise, you can use it to simply write and keep to small, steady goals!

[walks-the-ages]

OP deactivated, and some of the links were broken/marked unsafe by Firefox, so here's a new compilation post of Leslie Feinburg's (She/her, ze/hir) novels and essays on being transgender:

Stone Butch Blues official free source directly from Author's website:

Stone Butch Blues, backup on the webarchive:

Transgender Liberation: A movement whose time has come, on the web archive:

Transgender Warriors: Making History from Joan of Arc to Dennis Rodman, on the web archive:

Lavender and Red, PDF essay collection:

Drag King Dreams, on the web archive:

(Also, if anyone ever tells you that the protagonist of Stone Butch Blues ""ends up with a man""........ they're transmisogynistic jackass TERFs who are straight up lying)

Please also check out your local public libraries for these books and see if they carry them, to help support public libraries! If you have a library card already you can checkout Libby and Overdrive to see if your public library carries it as an ebook that you can checkout :)

EDIT: another not included on the orignal masterpost-- Trans Liberation: Beyond Pink or blue !

annnnnd in light of the web archive losing it's court case, here's a backup of both PDFs and generated epubs a friend made:

5/26/2023: hello! I am adding on yet another book of queer history, this time the autobiography of Karl Baer, a Jewish, intersex trans man who was born in 1884! Please signal boost this version, and remember to check the notes whenever this crosses your dash for any new updates :)

6/24/2023:

Two links to share!

Someone made an Epub version of Memoirs of a Man's Maiden Years, which you can find Here , as a more accessible version than a pdf of a scanned book if you're like me and need larger text size for reading--

And from another post I reblogged earlier today, I discovered the existence of "TransSisters: the Journal of Transsexual Feminism", which has 10 issues from 1993-1995, and includes multiple interviews with Leslie Feinburg and other queer feminists / activists of the 90s!

Here's a link to all 10 issues of TransSisters, plus a 1996 "look back at" by one of the writers after the journal ended, you can find all 10 issues on the Internet Archive Here !

------

8/28/2023:

"Bi Any Other Name: Bisexual People Speak Out", can be found on the web archive Here, for the 25th Anniversary Edition from 2015,

and also Here, for the original 1991 version.

Each of the above can be borrowed for one hour at a time as long as a copy is available :D

This is a living post that receives sporadic updates on the original, if you are seeing this on your dash, click Here to see the latest version of the post to make sure you're reblogging the most up to date one :)

------------

October, 25th 2023:

"I began to dawdle over breakfast during shift changes, asking both waitresses questions. After weeks of inquiries, they invited me to a demonstration, outside Kleinhan's Music Hall, protesting the Israeli war against Egypt and Syria. I was particularly interested in that protest. The state of Israel had been declared shortly before my birth. In Hebrew school I was taught "Palestine was a land without peo-ple, for a people without a land." That phrase haunted me as a child. I pictured ears with no one in them, and movies projected on screens in empty theaters. When I checked a map of that region of the Middle East in my school geography textbook, it was labeled Palestine, not Israel. Yet when I asked my grandmother who the Palestinians were, she told me there were no such people. The puzzle had been solved for me in my adolescence. I developed a strong friendship with a Lebanese teenager, who explained to me that the Palestinian people had been driven off their land by Zionist settlers, like the Native peoples in the United States. I studied and thought a great deal about all she told me. From that point on I staunchly opposed Zionist ideology and the occupation of Palestine. So I wanted to go to the protest. However, I feared the demonstration, no matter how justified, would be tainted by anti-Semitism. But I was so angered by the actions of the Israeli government and military, that I went to the event to check it out for myself. That evening, I arrived at Kleinhan's before the protest began. Cops in uniforms and plainclothes surrounded the music hall. I waited impatiently for the protesters to arrive. Suddenly, all the media swarmed down the street. I ran after them. Coming over the hill was a long column of people moving toward Kleinhan's. The woman who led the march and spoke to reporters proudly told them she was Jewish! Others held signs and banners aloft that read: "Arab Land for Arab People!" and "Smash Anti-Semitism!" Now those were two slogans I could get behind! I wanted to know who these people were and where they had been all my life! Hours later I followed the group back to their headquarters. Orange banners tacked up on the walls expressed solidarity with the Attica prisoners and the Vietnamese. One banner particularly haunted me. It read: Stop the War Against Black America, which made me realize that it wasn't just distant wars that needed opposing. Yet although I worked with two members of this organization, I felt nervous that night. These people were communists, Marxists! Yet I found it easy to get into discussions with them. I met waitresses, factory workers, secretaries, and truck drivers. And I decided they were some of the most principled people I had ever met..." Transgender Warriors (1996) Leslie Feinberg

[capricorn-0mnikorn]

🔪🔪🔪No spoons left 👩‍🦼🔪🔪🔪

So. On 29 December 2022, the back of my motorized wheelchair broke completely (as in completely collapsed, flat out behind me, doubling the turning radius of my chair, and giving me zero back support). After business hours, of course. And so I couldn't call for a repair person to come out and look at it until the morning, and of course they were all backed up until after the New Year.

When the technician did come out (early January 2023), he found the frame was completely bent out of shape (I wonder if it was bent out of shape when it first broke, or if it got that way after roughly a week of bumping it into things when it was flat out, because my chair no longer fit around the corners in my house). And the whole part would need to be replaced. In the meantime, the guy rigged up some cables to hold the back up, and basically tie it into place. It's no longer adjustable, of course, but at least it gives me some support, now (I paid a whole lot of extra money for this chair for its adjustable features, like back angle, foot+leg rests, and seat tilt-in-space)

It would be expensive, but of course I gave my consent for them to order a new one.

Months go by, with no news. Finally, on 10 May 2023, I'm told the 20% deductible I have to pay, before they even put in the order. And I pay it, in installments of one half (minimum down payment), one quarter, and last quarter.

And then: Nothing. Absolute Radio Silence.

Last week, I notice that my battery is no longer holding a charge, so I schedule a technician to come out and replace it (Wheelchair batteries have a lifespan of ~ three years, and I bought the battery in March 2021, when I bought this @!#$-ing chair). While I'm making the appointment, I mention: "Hey, it's been a year since the back on this chair broke, any news on the replacement part?" The receptionist says she doesn't know, but she'll ask the guys in the repair department, and call me back.

She doesn't call back.

Today, 1 February 2024, 13 months later, after the repair guy replaced the battery, and while he was replacing screws on one of my armrests, so I don't have to hold it in place with duct tape, any more, he gave me the news:

The company that makes this chair has completely discontinued the model, and are also no longer making replacement parts.

The chance of me getting the back on my wheelchair fixed is zero.

(I think I'd have to pay more for a lawyer to get a refund on that deductible I've already paid than the price of that deductible).

Oh, and also: this chair is also a swapped out model, and not the one I actually ordered, because the company discontinued that model, too. And I didn't find out until they were driving this one into my living room.

That was 3 years ago. Medicare will only pay for a new chair ever 5 years, or longer. So I'm stuck with this chair until at least the end of 2025 (I started placing my order for a new chair -- the one I have now, in September or October 2020)

Oh, and you know what else the repair guy told me? Wheelchair companies even specially design (and Patent) every single screw and bolt that goes into their chairs, so you can't fix the chairs yourself.

🤬Capitalism!!!

[solarianvoidthearoace]

Because of the mess that Duolingo turned out to be, I checked out a recommended app (list of recommendations here.)

I tried Busuu today and it’s great!

It actually uses the language skill levels of A1/ A2/ B1/ B2 that are used to compare language proficiency.

The assessment test was swift and didn’t feel pressuring, you can actually re-do the assessment for a language you already started whenever you feel like it!

However, one major point of critique (which is actually about accessibility): you can not turn off speaking exercises in Busuu. You can only repeatedly click “skip” whenever they pop up. But you can not just say “I don’t want/ can’t do speaking exercise at all.” And the same goes for listening exercises but worse because you can’t even skip those within your regular exercises/ lessons!

Disclaimer: I am not Deaf/ deaf nor mute. To me these things are annoyances more than actual accessibility issues but it does make Busuu feel rather inaccessible. Sometimes I just don’t want to deal with listening exercises. And I generally don’t like speaking “on command” or vocally replying to prompts. But, again, for me these are preferences.

I know speaking and listening exercises are important to achieve an actual comprehension for a language and I recognise avoiding speaking/ listening might slow down my progression in my chosen languages of study. I recognise that I need to and do consume media where I need to listen to the languages I’m learning.

To other people, it is an actual problem of accessibility that you can not universally turn off speaking/ listening exercises in Busuu.

I just figured this might be an issue people will inevitably notice now that we are changing away from Duolingo in droves and someone had to make a post about it.

[queerbauten]

Tagged by @scaredforboomboom <3 thank you!

Rules: shuffle your on-repeat-playlist and let your followers pick their favorite from the first 10!

Tidal doesn’t have an exact playlist like that, so I went with my most-listened for last month 🙈

I tag (only if they so want to do this)… @piranya, @catgirltoes, @mutabletuple, @shostakowitch, @zealouseagleface, @ghostguest, and you, the reader!!

[cjoatprehn]

I’m shaky, tired, and stressed as I type this but-

I am going to be homeless in 30-37 days.

Updated with payment links

Um…I have stayed the extent of the time I’ve been able to stay with the folks I’m currently staying with. I had stayed a few months already. Since mid-May 2023. No one expected me to come and stay this long. They were able to house me longer term. Life just had other plans. They did as they were able. They know my situation. They, nor I, can’t control the systems and all. But I do need to go.

I’ve received 30 days notice. They can extend a week, but no further (thus the 37 days). I’ve put in housing applications, to help with housing, and I’ve checked with other friends that I could possibly stay at, in this state at least. But neither are able to take me in. Which I knew already as they explained their situations and I’m not going to add myself to the mix of their daily lives. I’m grateful for the family I’ve been with and their hospitality. I have run out of options in terms of safe places to stay. I saw it coming a few weeks back I just…

Everything I’ve worried about came flaring up again. I can’t go back to my abusive mom. Nor any of my family, as the majority of them are Christians. I don’t want to live in that atmosphere anymore. The only reason I know the folks I’m in is because of an ex-partner, and their network which…I’m no longer dating due to traumatic reasons. I have reached out to others to see what else I can do immediate-wise.

I don’t…I don’t know what else to do; or where else to go atm within state. It’s bad timing too, just on my part, It’s getting cold. I haven’t located my winter coat. The most I have is my winter boots and sweatpants and sweatshirts as winter clothing; along with other things, which may not even all fit in my one suitcase.

I knew it was coming but…It……I’m…really fucking scared. So I come to y’all. I will…turn off my throne wishlist for now. Without an address to send things to, I can’t receive them without complications. 30 days from now is November 12, 2023; 37 days is November 19, 2023.

I’ll pack starting tomorrow. I…need financial support, encouragement, love, or…miraculously a place I can call my own without a landlord involved. Landlords are already shitty in majority. Very little are truly good folk.

I don’t want to be driven to the dark depths of my mind that put me in where I may take my own life as it’s better than this constant up and down whiplash of lash. I’m not in that state of mind. I would like to keep it that way. I have promises to keep. Promises that keep me alive and would affect many if I don’t keep them.

This will be pinned, so check this updating link for details in terms of financially and otherwise. Halloween will not be a very treatful time for me, as it seems.

Thank you for reading.

October 16th, 2023 Update:

Payment/fundraising links Listed Below

Cashapp (US & UK only)

Venmo (won’t be able to transfer to bank instantly but—it seems to work?)

Wise (US and Most International Countries) - lyrica.anya@gmail.com

ZellePay (US only) - lyrica.anya@gmail.com

Give to ABLE Account (US only? I think?) (Ignore Deadname Pls and Thank you)

Wishlist | US and most International I think? | (going to stay open since I’m allowed to continue having my mail sent here.)

Website - Pay It Forward (Context 👈🏽 clickable)

Ko-Fi - CJOAT | PayPal or Stripe only payment methods

Payoneer - psprocketworth@gmail.com

[tommyssupercoolblog]

I'M A CRAZY WEIRDO AND I'M!!! CALLING YOU!!!

I'VE REALLY GOT NOTHING BETTER TO DO!!!!

I DIAL UP YOUR NUMBER AND I LET THE PHONE RING

AND TWO MINUTES LATER I'LL BE DOING IT AGAIN

YOU MIGHT THINK I'LL BE MOVING ALONG

BUT!! YOU!! WOULD!!! BE!! WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!

I'VE GOT NO LIFE AT ALL!!!

AND SO I'LL CONTINUE 2 CALL!!!

IM A CRAZY WEIRDO AND I'M CALLING YOUUUUUUUUU~!!!!!!!