#reblogging to save a life

[into-the-very-fires-of-mordor]

Reblogging to save a life (it’s mine. I suck at dialogue so bad. Give me ten sprawling pages of descriptions any day, but heaven forbid my characters actually want to talk to each other 😅)

Dialogue tips that actually work:

You are not writing a movie (ignore this if you are). The reader doesn't need to know every word the characters say for the duration of the story. Less is more.

Dialogue can happen within the prose. "And they awkwardky discussed the weather for five minutes" is way better than actually writing five pages of dialogue about the weather.

Balance your dialogues. Surprise yourself with a monosyllabic answe to a dialogue that's ten sentences long. Don't be afraid of letting your character use half a page for a reply or nothing at all!

Don't write accents phonetically, use slang and colloquialisms if needed.

Comma before "said" and no caps after "!?" unless it's an action tag. Study dialogue punctuation.

Learn the difference between action tags and dialogue tags. Then, use them interchangeably (or none at all).

Don't be afraid to use said. Use said if characters are just saying things, use another word if not. Simple. There's no need to use fancy synonyms unless absolutely necessary.

Not everyone talks the same way so it makes sense for your characters to use certain words more often than others. Think of someone who says "like" to start every sentence or someone who talks really slow. Be creative.

Use prose to slow down the pace during a conversation.

Skip prose to speed up the pace during a conversation.

[263adder]

IMPORTANT PSA

Please share for UK residents!

The public alert will go off on Sunday 23rd April at 3PM (15:00) BST.

The decision to issue the alert was made against the advice of NGOs who warned this could put vulnerable people in danger. Please spread the message.

[coconut-cats]

This is SCARY and this is WHY YOU NEED TO MAKE SURE YOU ARE REGISTERED AND KEEP MAKING SURE YOU ARE REGISTERED

[juniemunie]

[Abandoned by the Lightners, his heart became cracked with hatred.]

Hitting a lil' too close to home?

[pnkq]

[theivorybilledwoodpecker]

[greypetrel]

Just a note from a mothertongue Italian with a BA in Foreign languages and some Linguistics exams under her belt:

"Italian/Spanish accent" is something that makes very little sense.

Italian and Spanish are two different languages, they are similar but not interchangeable. Italian isn't a dialect nor a regional variant of Spanish.

Lucanis, Teia, Viago and Illario all have good voice actors who are good at acting, but none of them have an italian accent. Judging by the fact that none of them actually can pronounce "Treviso" as it is pronounced in Italian. Treviso is a real city in italy, and the only one who up to now pronounced it as we would here is, actually, Emmrich.

Adding: I like the voice actors, they did well and act greatly, the thing that makes me mad about the Crows in the game is not them or their performance. I'm grumbling about posts on tumblr speaking of phantomatic "italian-spanish accents" and being here like Jack Skellington in Christmas Town.

[fountainpenguin]

Wild Life Session 1 takeaways thus far:

- Tiny Grian blends in with the fish

- Scar and Jimmy are doing their best... I don't have anything specific to say, but I like their cherry hill base plans. And I'm just really glad Scar decided to call them Bam Boys instead of Bang Boys.

- Grian's reputation as a cheater precedes him and it cracks me up... He really is out here like "You really think I'd cheat on you guys? I've been gone for like 5 minutes" and Mumbo and Skizz are just not having it.

- Grian: "I'm not here to share." [Realizes Martyn took all the sugarcane right in front of him.] "Oh, wait... Can I have some?"

- Etho calling BigB his big brother and saying he's nervous about wandering away and needs someone to hold his hand...

- I really enjoyed the Etho-Bdubs banter over the black horse. Bdubs had so many great lines throughout this episode. I especially liked "Wait, I can't take this- That's a bad example for the children."

- Giant Etho and Tiny Scott in the boat...

- Martyn looking around in confusion when he can't find Ren like "I think Ren shrank so much, he perished."

- Ahasbands... save me, Wild Life Ahasbands... Martyn gushing over Mumbo (to Ren) and imitating Mumbo's voice and talking about how cool he is (followed by their later teasing chat over Martyn inventing the wheel) is killing me slowly...

-> sldkfjsdklfj wait, Martyn really is gunning to bring Mumbo on his team, huh? Yeah, that's not gonna last.

- Ren and Martyn talking about how they were going to claim the top of the cherry hill unless someone already put down a sign, and then they reach the top of a long climb and there's just a sign saying Scar and Jimmy live there. Comedy gold...

Martyn: I think [Grian] thinks of you as 'less than half.' Mumbo, who has spent an entire episode bragging about being tiny and loathing anyone big: Or more than half. That'd be worse.

I'm crying.

- I enjoy Martyn saying "I love that for us" in regards to a group he's trying to schmooze his way into, but isn't yet part of.

- I'm fascinated by Sub 1 Club's obsession with getting as tiny as they can and opting to go into swim mode as a form of land travel.

- Oh gosh, Mumbo knows Martyn so well... The lack of faith he has in his honesty is incredible.

- Mumbo screaming at Martyn, "I knew you were tall! I knew it! You're just pretending to be small!" in regards to his personality despite him being small enough to fit in a pocket.

- Martyn leaving by saying "I'm not your friend anymore" sdklfjskd?? Drama in the Ahasband household tonight (/jk)

- Pearl, reluctant to kill animals that have low respawn: Yeah, but porkchops...... Scott: Taste great; yeah, you're right!

- The dichotomy between the other groups I watched, who mostly kept trying to mine or build after they shrank, and GGG + Impulse who started doing parkour.

- CACKLING at Pearl dying, asking her teammates for food, and Cleo looks straight at her and says "Arguably, you shouldn't need any" since her hunger meter refilled when she died.

- Impulse is going to be a really interesting balance to GGG because Cleo is being lightly "aggressive" towards Pearl (Denying her food, teasing her and Impulse for having a thing for soup since they're the Soup Group with Gem). Cleo and Scott cling to each other a lot, so Pearl having a close friend and not ending up a third wheel is interesting.

Scott, digging, calling up in a wobbly voice with his heavy Scottish accent: Pearl, there's a drowned down here! Pearl: There's a... clown down there? Impulse: There is now!

- I doubt the bit will be continuing, but wouldn't that be hilarious if the Clocker family tree extended due to Cleo joking that Pearl and Impulse were her parents?

- Considering I'm currently in the "Impulse and Cleo struggling with half-smothered resentment and weirdness over 3rd Life and stuff" arc in Dog's Life... their conversation about Cleo saying she doesn't trust Impulse is perfect timing. That is literally the arc I've been posting.

- Etho said they're playing in a 500 x 500 world instead of a 700 x 700 one this time. There are so many people this time, so this should be interesting!

-> Even on a server brimming with people, BigB's alone again... (It is very late when I'm scheduling this, so I will watch him another time <3)

[calmparticles]

?Want a break from the ads? If you tap now to watch a short video you'll get 30 minutes of ad free music! Yes, really! If you tap now you'll get 30 minutes of ad free music! So what are you waiting for? I'm still waiting.. Why aren't you tapping? Don't you want 30 minutes of ad free music? If you tap now and watch the short video you'll get 30 minutes of ad free music! It's that easy! If you want to be free from the ads forever considerIf it doesn't work for you, then you're using it wrong. Make sure you're using EVERY single filter. If you are currently, then de-select them and make sure they're updated and re-enable them. IT WILL WORK. There's no "it won't work" when you do this. It's either a 1 or a 0. Either a yes or no. Either a "it will work" or an "I am not using the adblocker correctly".

[rebeccathenaturalist]

So you may have seen my posts about AI foraging guides, or watched the mini-class I have up on YouTube on what I found inside of them. Apparently the intersection of AI and foraging has gotten even worse, with a chatbot that joined a mushroom foraging groups on Facebook only to immediately suggest ways people could cook a toxic species:

First, and most concerningly, this once again reinforces how much we should NOT be trusting AI to tell us what mushrooms are safe to eat. While they can compile information that's fed to them and regurgitate it in somewhat orderly manners, this is not the same as a living human being who has critical thinking skills to determine the veracity of a given piece of information, or physical senses to examine a mushroom, or the ability to directly experience the act of foraging. These skills and experiences are absolutely crucial to being a reliable forager, particularly one who may be passing on information to others.

We already have enough trouble with inaccurate info in the foraging community, and trying to ride herd on both the misinformed and the bad actors. This AI was presented as the first chat option for any group member seeking answers, which is just going to make things tougher for those wanting to keep people from accidentally poisoning themselves. Moreover, chatbots like this one routinely are trained on and grab information from copyrighted sources, but do not give credit to the original authors. Anyone who's ever written a junior-high level essay knows that you have to cite your sources even if you rewrite the information; otherwise it's just plagiarism.

Fungi Friend is yet one more example of how generative AI has been anything but a positive development on multiple levels.

[violottie]

...yes... you read that right. a fucking playground.

reported by Al Jazeera, from Call 2 Action Now, 16/Apr/2024: caption under image

At least twenty Palestinians, including children, died in Israeli strikes in central Gaza. Witnesses say a group of children were playing near the Maghazi Nuseirat refugee camp when the attack happened.

The camp is densely populated and has become even more congested after thousands of families were forced to flee their homes in Gaza’s north after Israel began its assault on the enclave.

Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Rafah, said the attack on Maghazi took place during “rush hour”. He said the attack hit a playground that is frequently visited by displaced children.

“Dozens” of wounded people have been transported to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital, Mahmoud said.

This is the true face of the Occupied State of Palestine (OSP), deranged, murderers!

Keep the pressure on and do not stop until we see an immediate, permanent ceasefire!

[wilwheaton]

(via UjicYky.jpg (JPEG Image, 720 × 969 pixels))

[encyclopika]

Just to be clear, you can use any of these coupons or vouchers or whatever they want to call it, even if you have insurance! If insurance doesn't cover what you need, your pharmacy can usually just not run it through your insurance.

Additionally, if your doctor prescribes the name brand, 9 times out of 10, there is a much cheaper generic med. I had to tell patients all the time when I worked in a pharmacy that generics are literally the same exact thing and they'll be cheaper. Don't get stuck paying $100 when you could be paying $10.

Dudes healthcare is so fake. My ADHD meds are $940 without insurance. But they gave me a website of "coupons" which straight up looks like a scam website, and I got it today for $60! Just a coupon from a random website and it was $900 cheaper. America, I am confusion!! America explain!!

[musicofthenightphantomoftheopera]

KOSA SENATE VOTE UPDATE

The official senate vote is set to take place July 30th and then the senate goes on august break. If we can fight this bill and make sure it doesn't pass again, we'll have around a month before we have to fight it again!

So CALL AND EMAIL YOUR SENATORS!

This link below has a call and email masterpost with contact info for a few senators and 2 scripts (1 for democrat and 1 for republican) that works for calls, emails, and even fax! (yeah you can still fax your congress ppl. do with that info what you will) call and email and fax every day you can!

also, for my peeps that are still Minors, you can do all this too! you don't have to be an adult to contact your reps & senators! They don't even ask for your age! you especially need to be helping since this bill is trying to use you as a scapegoat and directly targets you. Don't let them unleash textbook fascism upon the internet in your name!

Spread the word! at the time I'm making this post (July 28th, 2024) we got a little under a day and a half to make as much noise as we can! SPREAD THIS LIKE WILDFIRE PPL

[the-real-dickmaster]

“HEY, YOU!”

“YEAH, THAT’S RIGHT, I’M TALKING TO YOU, BITCH!”

“THE FIRST MAN NEEDS YOU TO HELP SOMEONE!”

“THIS PERSON NEEDS HELP AS SOON AS FUCKING POSSIBLE!!”

“THEY NEED DONATIONS TO PAY FOR THEIR MEDICAL ALERT SERVICE DOG’S TRAINING!!”

“Here is their GoFundMe page below.”

https://gofund.me/ec8376ce

“And if you yourself can’t donate, don’t have a bank account, or don’t have the money. The least you can do is to reblog this post.”

“If you can’t do it, reblogging means that more people will be able to see this post. And there’s a chance that THEY will be able to help.”

“Seriously, they’ve only reached 7 PERCENT OF THEIR GOAL. Every reblog count.”

“Tags also help too.”

((OOC: Here is a more detailed description from their GoFundMe about their situation.))

“Hello, my name is Cameron. In a world filled with uncertainty, my life has been a constant battle against panic disorder. Every day, I face the overwhelming fear of sudden panic attacks that can strike at any moment. But amidst the darkness, there is a glimmer of hope - a new service dog that could change My life forever. This is a journey towards finding safety and independence, and how your support can make all the difference.

Imagine living in a constant state of fear, where even the simplest tasks become daunting challenges. For Me panic disorder has turned my life into a never-ending rollercoaster of anxiety. The fear of experiencing a panic attack has confined me to the walls of his own home, leaving me isolated and dependent on others for even the most basic needs.

But there is a ray of hope for me that could break through the darkness. A service dog trained in medical alert can provide me with the support I desperately needs. These incredible Canines can be trained to detect the early signs of a panic attack, allowing me to take necessary precautions and find a safe space before it escalates. With a service dog by my side, I can regain my independence and face the world with newfound confidence!!!!!

...Unfortunately, the cost of obtaining a trained service dog is beyond my reach. The extensive training, veterinary care, and ongoing support required for these remarkable dogs come at a significant expense. As I rely on the generosity of donors, I humbly reach out to you, hoping that you can help me on my journey, OUR journey towards a brighter future.

Your donation can make a world of difference in My life. By contributing to my GoFundMe campaign, you are not only helping me obtain a service dog but also giving me the chance to break free from the chains of panic disorder and hallucinations... Your support will provide me with a loyal, obedient companion who will be by my side, offering comfort, safety, and protection during my most vulnerable moments, keeping me out of danger and harm.

My story is one of resilience, determination, and the power of human kindness. With your support, I can overcome the limitations imposed by panic disorder, hallucinations and embrace a life filled with hope, independence, and freedom.

Please! together, let's make My dream of a new service dog, a new comfort, a new safety, a new life, a new chance, a reality. Donate today and be a part of my journey towards a brighter, safer future!!”

[songue85]

Okay, everyone.

If you can post something positive, do it.

We all need the reminder that things can be better.