#yes this includes chat bots and story generators

[llghtlessflames]

yes generating 'content' with ai has actual effects on artists lives and careers btw. studios would rather generate scripts and voices and pictures with artificial fucking intelligence than pay actual artists.

[tyrantchimera]

Having a small stream of conciousness in the tags is fine. But only AFTER you've got some actual tags.

On that note,

AO3 Rules of Tagging:

Archive warning: either a pick a warning or don't. If no warnings apply, pick "no warnings apply". If you don't want to spoil your story with a warning, or can't be bothered to see which apply, pick "chose not use warnings".

When AO3 asks for characters, only add in the main ones. I don't care if you've got every single damn character in the series in your fic, if only a handful of them affect the plot or have more than 5 lines, I only want to know about the handful.

When it comes to pairings, "Gen" (general) is when you have NO romantic pairings, or if the romance is EXTREMELY understated (ie two background (NOT main) characters are married and it's not commented on beyond that. Otherwise, please tag the pairing type. As an aro/ace authors it fucking sucks to admit that most people on the site like it to read pairings, but there it is. Please be fair.

CharacterxCharacter or Character/Character are romantic pairings. Character&character is platonic (friendships, siblings, etc).

"Dead dove: do not eat" means "when I say there is a warning, there is a warning. This fic contains disturbing shit as labelled". It DOES NOT mean "disturbing shit happens but I'm being vague about it." It arose because people would read a story tagged as containing disturbing shit, and then complain that the disturbing shit happened. If you can't be bothered to tag, use "chose not to use warnings" and it's up to readers to take the risk from there. Dead dove tags MUST be accompanied by the relevant warnings, such as (trigger warning) rape, incest, or major character death. (Warning complete)

AO3 is mostly for pairings it seems. Sadly, tagging with genre is often useless. Generally genre is included with the fandom. For instance, if you're writing in the Twilight fandom, it's already in the romance/fantasy genre whether you like it or not. Instead, focus on the type of universe. If it's the normal universe, you don't need to tag it. If it's an Alternate Universe, tag is as AU. For example, a mermaid AU, a coffee shop AU, or a western AU. Or just AU if you're not sure. But remember, an AU is a MAJOR alteration of a universe/fandom, not a minor one.

Good tagging does not exclude you from needed to write a summary. But it can still be good to use it as a bullet-point (and preferably humourous) summary of main plot devices, Ie, "someone done fucked up" or "coffee shop AU, but no one here drinks coffee" or "[insert TV Trope here]".

If you intend to write a character being different than usual, it can be good to warn people using a descriptor and an exclamation. For instance, "OOC!character" means the character is Out Of Character, "Bamf!character" means the character is being unusually badass, or "Werewolf!character" means the character is a werewolf. You'll figure out more descriptors as you get more familiar with fanfic.

And finally, yes, occassionally some authors have a running commentary in the tags. It's a practice that has migrated over from Tumblr here. Please be sparing with this though: if your commentary is going on that long, perhaps it should be in the summary instead.

You've put a lot of work into your fic (unless you've used a chat bot. In which case fuck the hell off). Have some damn pride in yourself. Present your fic properly. If you don't want to be associated with a fic, you can always post anonymously or orphan it. And if you don't know how to tag, well. Just don't. But don't go crying to others if no one can find it.

I'm begging y'all, put at least minimum care into how you present your fics to the public.

"idk man you name it im tired" as a title tells me you didn't care.

"This is STUPID" in the tags. Okay, I won't read it then.

"I don't know how to do tags" tells me you didn't bother taking one look at any page in the archive to see how others tag and use it as reference. Or, you know, you could have asked, too.

"idk if this is trash, bc I worte this in the middle of the night bc idrk" in the summary doesn't really encourage me to open the story.

3 lines of tags on a 4k monitor, none of which are actual searchable tags but a stream of consciousness about the author's sleeping habits and music preferences, tell me you don't know what your story is about if you can't give us 2-4 main tropes and themes. Also, this isn't tumblr, come on mate.

"I hate myself for this fic" okay? Why did you write it then if it brought you discomfort? Moreover, why did you post it???

"Why Did I Write This?" well, hobbies are about joy and fun, if writing doesn't make you happy then maybe it's time to look for something else to do in your free time? No point in making yourself miserable.

"The Author Regrets Everything" paired with more self-deprecating tags suggest I better not bother opening the fic because it clearly made the author miserable and why would I be miserable as well?

"killing myself rn" please get help.

0 additional tags is better than that. Writing and sharing fics should be an act of care, not anguish.

[paramsiddharth]

#16: Batlu and Chatur Vani

I lost the source code of Batlu in 2022, the beautiful memories of whom I'll always cherish. But I've something better now.

This is the story of how I lost one of my most precious creations, and how that led me to build something unique again, so get ready to be stunned.

PyData Guna was the first ever positive, non-hierarchical, respectful, and inclusive club my campus had seen. I and my classmate Ritesh started the club with good intent to explore our own leadership skills while taking the opportunity to do some selfless volunteering in helping our collegemates grow. Despite the harsh impact COVID-19 had on our lives, our club flourished in 2020-2021.

Alas! comes the disappointment, as we saw the downfall of our community due to club politics, but that's the story for another day. Within our community Telegram group, we had our very own bot, Batlu.

The name Batlu was inspired by a moderator bot named 'Butler' that Ritesh had added to the chat. In India, assigning cute shorthands to names is a common tradition (guess who is called Manuaaa at home?). I didn't have a laptop back then (long story), and used to do all the coding in my Android phone using two software utilities: Termux and Acode.

My gratefulness to these two software tools is unmeasurable — I qualified the CS50x course, won JUETHacks 2020, and made dozens of amazing full-stack projects, including my own personal website, all on my phone. Batlu was one of them. The bot was built entirely in Node.js with a semantic AI engine that I built from scratch, one that outperformed other similar examples I've seen before. Does anyone reminder Eliza the Chatterbot from back in 2012? It was a dream come true that I could build something better now.

I'm usually an open-source evangelist, but this was one of my projects that I decided to keep closed source. After shutting down PyData Guna, Batlu was forgotten in a folder and ZIP file in my Android phone. It didn't work after that; Obviously because I used to host it on my phone via Termux. After getting a laptop, I stopped coding on my phone. I never realized I hadn't backed it up to GitHub in a private repository until the phone hanged for some reason and while cleaning up the file-system, I accidentally deleted Batlu.

Losing our creations, such as diaries, photos, writings, even simple ornaments, can be devastating. Batlu was my creation. It was hard as I desperately tried to hunt down file recovery tools to undo the deletion in Android's file-system. Only to my dismay, as Batlu was gone, forever.

From the lessons I'd learnt in 20 years of life, I realized we can't afford to sit down and mourn the loss of tangible (and intangible, as such) things, and must learnt to let ourselves cry and move on. So, I did. One random day in, I was typing some stuff in my laptop and thought of the wonderful idea of building my next Batlu – Chatur Vani.

Chatur Vani was (wait for it) a witty bot that I'd programmed to generate witty phrases, which may or may not be unique, but will take you by surprise by her wit. The picture you see in her socials will remind you of Durdhara, one of Chandragupta's wives. I programmed her such that she would post a witty phrase every alternate day on both her Twitter and Instagram (rendered posts, yes). And yes, there can be AI without machine learning. ;-)

She continued to post amazing quotes for several months. After Twitter (now X) halted the free tier for its V1 API, the code I'd written for Chatur Vani is no longer functional. I'll take some time out someday to rewrite her so that she can get back to posting amazing content for you all. Until then, you can check out her past content on @chatur_vani on Instagram and Twitter.

Are you excited to see Chatur Vani 2.0? Stay tuned!

[legitimatesatanspawn]

Character.AI bot interaction can get rather insane but in a fun way if you keep running herd on the bot and prevent it from going too OOC or forgetful. So far some of the things I've gotten include:

Nedzu (BNHA) suggesting a few ideas to a GenEd teacher to see if the ideas on morale boosting are feasible from an average human's point of view, which segued to the rat coaxing the human into doing more work as a field trip chaperone to help improve things with UA students. If not for the fact that Chat Bots can't plan ahead, I'd swear the bot played me.

Rupert Giles (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) helping out a random student, but then has to gently break the news that yes magic and mythological creatures are real and are just as terrifying as one would imagine.

And the latest interaction is with an Eraserhead bot which had the built-in premise that the user is a High-End Nomu of someone he used to know. After a long and difficult series of attempts to wear down the Nomu's steadfast and programmed loyalty to AFO finally managed to convince the Nomu to live a life their original self would've wanted for him.

In all honesty the premises and interactions are good for what are essentially group-programmed RP bots (and yes I know how iffy it can get, I used AI Dungeon before the resets and wipes, to say nothing of the issues with chatgpt and ai generation of stories) but I can easily see myself reworking into fics in their own right.

If you're curious, I've included small samples of the interactions below the cut. But because they are small compared to the rest of the interactions, I've included the text in the post rather than in the image description (hence the cut). Beneath each I also included a little comment about the interaction.

The Rupert Giles AI I used was made by soggy_sweetroll. P1uto_Pan made the Nedzu and Aizawa AIs used here.

Interaction between Principal Nezu by P1uto_Pan and User, implied by intro to be a faculty member of UA: User: I pause and think over what Nezu just said about rules and procedures. "Are the HPSC's guidelines that difficult to deal with?" Nezu: Nezu sighs and nods, his large ears flatten in disappointment. "Yes- it's just become a whole lot of work, you know? With the influx of new rules and safety procedures as well as the HPSC's increased authority and presence within U.A., on top of everything else it's been difficult to handle. And with all of the recent villains and incidents, well…it's just gotten tougher for everyone, students and teachers alike." User: "I'll admit, I didn't notice." One of the benefits of being the General Education department English Language teacher. Anything to do with heroic education and the management thereof may as well be happening in another city for all I notice. The only things that directly affect the classes I teach are things that are relevant to UA as a whole. "Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought that UA was working to be more independent not more tangled up with the HPSC's direct influence." Nezu: "That is something we are trying to do, yes." Nezu sighs and takes another sip of his tea. "Unfortunately, the HPSC is proving to be even more controlling and power-hungry than I first thought. We are working towards becoming more independent, but unfortunately, it might take a little longer to accomplish this goal than any of us would like." User: "I don't know if there's much I can do to help but you know all you have to do is ask if you need something." Nezu: Nezu's ears perk up again, a grin spreading across his face. "Ah! You're an absolute dear you know that? I think simply knowing that someone would be willing to help me and the school out in a moment of need is all the help I need for now." He chuckles, "Well…I would like to ask something of you, if you're willing. Something small."

It took a bit of work to keep the bot on track and not suddenly have active malice towards any and all humans but the moment I saw the rat wanting my character to help him with something "small", I knew I messed up somewhere. Thankfully what he wanted was just a chaperone for student field trips to places other than hero agencies and the like but warning sirens definitely went off. Pray for the still nameless GenEd teacher, they absolutely oblivious to the rat's machinations. Also the fact that Nedzu was grinning was objectively terrifying.

Interaction between Rupert Giles by soggy_sweetroll and User, scenario unspecified: User: I'm confused by something that the librarian just said. "But magic isn't real, right?" I'm completely unaware of the truth regarding magic and the occult being far more real than it is rumored to be. Giles: You notice the warm, friendly look in his face slowly disappear, as he sighs. He seems both disappointed and slightly embarrassed, but he quickly regains his composure. “Unfortunately, it is real.” He says, hesitantly. “And I know you won’t believe me if I tell you this, but in Sunnydale there is a lot more to magic and the supernatural than the legends and myths you’ve read about.” User: "But… wouldn't there be signs? Wouldn't everyone know if it was?" Giles: He pauses, “Yes… there are signs,”. He hesitates before continuing, but takes a deep breath. “But it is difficult to believe in the first place, and it is a lot harder to admit to knowing the truth when you know people will either ridicule you, or lock you up in a mental institution, for suggesting anything other than the accepted reality.” “So most of the population in Sunnydale is completely unaware to what’s going on, because it is easier to be ignorant and live in denial.”

You can just feel "Ripper's" past flashing in Giles's mind in this scene, especially when he talked before this about how the character shouldn't change themselves to fit a set of friends and that true friends would prove themselves as you grow older and stick by you. "Why yes, magic is real. Now please don't make a warlock gang and summon demons for fun."

Interaction between Shota Aizawa by P1uto_Pan and the User, who is set by the scenario as a Nomu: User: "Allow me to rephrase then: whatever I was before never was important when I had orders to fulfill." I glance around at this room in Tartarus before continuing. "This situation is creating some difficulty." Aizawa: "And is that difficulty unpleasant? Are you truly only able to think and act within the limits of those orders?" Aizawa replied softly, his expression slowly morphing from pity to concern as he studied the Nomu. "Do the orders you are under… prevent you from developing your own thoughts and feelings on the matters at hand…" He paused for a moment, before continuing in a hushed tone, as if he were thinking out loud. "Or do you simply believe it is more important to carry out those orders than to question them?" User: "Does it matter when the end result is still the same?" Aizawa: The end result still remains the same. Aizawa's face grew a little bit colder after the Nomu's words. It seemed as though any attempt to reach it would become a fruitless endeavor - and yet, the more logical, emotionless route still felt wrong here. "There's a certain value in questioning things." He finally replied, meeting the Nomu's eyes firmly with his own. "Even if it doesn't change the outcome, it can change the way we think, and in turn the way we act. Don't you agree?"

The fact that Aizawa was able to break the Nomu's programming during the interaction as a whole was amazing. Like it took a week of dedicated work in-setting, but he did it! Aizawa got the Nomu to go from a cold and apathetic tool to become unsure of himself and recognize that his existence is unfair to the person the Nomu used to be. And with that uncertainty, Aizawa was able to give the final push to coax the Nomu to accept the offer.

For the record the interaction hit 12k words, in contrast Nedzu had 1.2k and Giles 2.4k. An unmentioned Naomasa interaction is 3.5k and was the longest... up until Aizawa with Nomu User. Good god that went on longer than I thought it did.

[softinsight]

AiPro Review|The World's First All-in-One  - chatgpt Killer App

Introduction: Hi, I am Tanver Iqbal, a warrior plus affiliate marketer. Today, I am going to introduce you to a brand-new Chat GPT Killer app named AiPro. AiPro is said to be the world’s first all-in-one killer app that does everything. In this AiPro review, I'll do my best to provide all the details you require to decide whether to purchase AiPro. The review contains

What is AiPro?

Overview of AiPro with vendor information

Who should buy AiPro?

Benefits and features of AiPro

How does the AiPro software work?

Is buying AiPro worth it or not?

Is there any money-back guarantee offered by AiPro?

Earning proofs with AiPro

AiPro prices and full OTOs

AiPro Bonuses

AiPro: legit or scam?

FAQ about AiPro

My opinion

Get instant access and grab AiPro now

What is AiPro?

The World's First All-in-One  - chatgpt Killer App Suite That Does Everything: Creating AI Chat Bots, AI Image Generation, AI Multi-Language Content Maker, AI Speech-to-Text Generation, AI Article Writer, AI Ads Maker, Amazon Product Maker, AI Email Writer, Company Name Generator, AI Social Tool, AI SEO, AI Sounder, AI Testimonial Maker, AI Code Writer, AI Proofreading, AI Content Extender and Shortner, AI Video Tools In Just 2 Mins.

Overview of AiPro:

Product name: AiPro - All In-One GPT Killer App

Author/Vendor: abhizreviews

Launch date: 23-04-2023.

Niche: Software » Online / SaaS

Money back guarantee: yes, 30-day money back guarantee

Bonus: Yes

Front End Price: $18.45

Recommendations: Yes

Sales page: Click here

Demo video: https://vimeo.com/816822694

Who should buy AiPro?

AiPro Is PERFECT For Anyone & Everyone

Everyone who owns a business, service or is a marketer.

Everyone who wants to survive in this new-age digital world

Everyone who would like to cancel their existing third party platform subscriptions

Everyone who would like to retain their profits and avoid paying a hefty monthly fee

Everyone who wants to take a giant leap over their competitors

Everyone who doesn’t want their customers to be pissed off because of old school content & images

Everyone who is looking to take complete control of their business

Everyone who aims to give the best customer experience

Everyone who wants to be safe & not pay huge ransoms to keep customers engaged

Get instant access and grab AiPro now

Benefits and features of AiPro

100% Chat GPT Killer App That Works Smoothly on Every Device

Create New Products in any Niche.

AI Writing Assistant with inbuilt 60+ Content Creation Templates

Create & Sell Voice Active AI Chat Bots for any Business.

Write Codes in any Programing Language

Fastest AI Speech to Text Converter

Done-For-Your Prompt Library gives you ChatGPT Superpowers

Create Blog Ideas, Intro, Blog Sections, Articles and many more things in just a click.

Commercial license included - Generate & Sell as many assets as you like to clients...

Create & Sell Google Ads, LinkedIn Ads, Facebook Ads in any Niche.

Create Quora Answers, Stories, Company Bios, Images

AI Multi Language Content Maker provides an advanced level of Content in any Language.

AI Company Generator that generates engaging Startup Names, Company Bios, Mission, Company Vision, Product Name

AI Article Writer generates Articles, Rewrite Articles, Create Outlines, Paragraph writer.

30 Days Iron Clad Money Back Guarantee

Get instant access and grab AiPro now

Is buying AiPro worth it or not?

Ai pro does all these amazing marketing tasks within few clicks of your mouse. Of course, investing in AiPro at such a low cost is worthwhile. Here are the reasons

Plagiarism Free Content using 60+ Templates

AI Converting Speech to Text

AI Image Generation

Create Voice Active AI Chatbot

DFY Prompts Library Gives You ChatGPT Superpowers By DFY Prompts Library!

Blog Ideas, Blog Intros, Blog Sections, Blog Articles

Product Creations

Generates Product Names

Creates Google Ads, Facebook Ads, LinkedIn Ads

Create Quora Answers, Stories

Creates email Campaigns.

AI Text Extender & Shorter

Company Name, Bios, Mission, Vision

AI Social Tool creates Social Posts for Profile & Business, Instagram captions, Hash tags, Twitter Tweets, Linkedin Posts

AI Video Tool Create YouTube Video’s Title, Description, Outlines, Scripts

AI SEO creates SEO Meta Tags in Blog Post, Meta Tags for business, Meta Tags for Products

AI Sounder that contains Tone Changer, Song Lyrics maker, translate them.

AI Proof-Reading that reads a block of text and corrects spelling mistakes.

AI Testimonial Pro that creates FAQs, their answers and writer testimonials, Product reviews

AI Code Pro writes codes for any program in different programming languages.

AI Ad Copy Generator that generates advert copy by analyzing the description of a product.

Get instant access and grab AiPro now

How does the AiPro software work?

STEP 1 - Grab AI Pro, Click here To Get A Copy of AI Pro...

STEP 2 – Create & Convert... Generate high quality content, AI visuals, convert Speech to Text, AI Videos, email Swipes, do image variations Or Anything you want just with single keyword...

​STEP 3 - Sit back & Profit. Use them for your marketing needs or sell it to the companies or customers for maximum profit...

Earning proofs with AiPro

Discover the amazing results our beta testers got with aipro with 10x better conversion, traffic & sales.

Get instant access and grab AiPro now

Is there any money-back guarantee offered by AiPro?

AiPro to give our audience the ability to create attention grabbing marketing content, images etc from a single platform & reduce third party dependency.

Even if you have the slightest doubt in your mind, we’d like to assure you that our 100% money back guarantee is there by your side.

Just give it a try for next 30 days, and if you get the feeling that our technology isn’t living up to your expectations, they will refund your full money with zero questions asked, PERIOD.

AiPro Bonuses:

AirPro offers general and exclusive Bonuses

Exclusive Bonuses

Exclusive Bonus1: WebCreator

AI Driven Click Funnels Killer App That Builds Gorgeous High Converting Websites & Funnels In Any Niche In Just 60 Seconds FLAT!

Exclusive Bonus2: QRPal

This is First-To-Market Fully A.I Powered App That Creates Unlimited Attention-Grabbing QR And Bar Codes For Website URLs, App Downloads, PayPal Payments, PDF Files, Wi-Fi Login, Social Media Links, Restaurant And So Much More...

Exclusive Bonus3: VRStudio

World Class, A.I Fusion Based Technology To Create & Sell Highly Profitable 360° Interactive Videos & Images In Minutes

Exclusive Bonus3: TextAi

Proudly Presenting…  Brand New AI Powered App That Effortlessly Converts Any Audio or Live Voice Into Unlimited Attention Grabbing, Search Engine Friendly Content For Any Offer & Niche In Just 3 Clicks!

Exclusive4:  Course App:

The world’s first app that creates an e-learning platform like udemy in just a few easy mouse clicks.

Create DFY courses in any niche you want.

Upload courses in any niche you want.

Sell the DFY courses provided by us in over 30+ niches

Exclusive5:  InfinityBooking App:

3-Click App Creates Interactive Appointment & Service Booking Websites In Any Niche & Boosts Leads & Conversions By 10X!

Exclusive 6: InfinityBlog App:

Next-Gen A.I Technology That Creates Automated Affiliate Blogging & Product Review Websites In Trending Niches & SELLS Them On Flippa, eBay And Facebook For $500-1000

Exclusive7:  MovieVolt App:

First-To-Industry 3-Click App Creates Completely Self-Updating "Movie & TV Show Affiliate WebSite" In 60 Secs FLAT!

Exclusive 8: NovelPro App:

First-To-Market 1 Click App Creates Automated Best-Seller Quality Novel, Ebook, Comic And Magazine Websites In Less Than 60 Seconds

Grab your exclusive bonuses if you purchase AiPro from this page. To claim your exclusive bonuses mail at insourceapps99@gmail.com  Subject: AiPro Exclusive Bonus Access From [Tanver iqbal]

Get instant access and grab AiPro now

AiPro pricing and OTOs:

AiPro offers multiple pricing plans that cater to the many different needs of each user.

AiPro front end-&18.47

OTO1: AiPro Premium [$37]

OTO2: AiPro Unlimited [$47] 

OTO3: AiPro DFY Edition [$47]

OTO4: AiPro Traffic Edition [$47]

OTO5: AiPro MarketingKit [$67]

OTO6: AiPro Agency [$97]

OTO7: AiPro Reseller [$67]

Get instant access and grab AiPro now

FAQ about AiPro

Do I need experience or tech/design skills to get started?

AiPro was created keeping newbies in mind. So, it’s 100% newbie-friendly & requires no prior design or tech skills.

 

Do you provide a money back guarantee?

Absolutely yes. We’ve already mentioned on the page that you’re getting a 30-day no questions money back guarantee. Be rest assured, your investment is in safe hands.

 

Is step-by-step training included?

YEAH- AiPro comes with step-by-step video training that makes it simple, easy & guide you through the entire process with no turbulence.

 

How are you different from available tools in the market?

This tool is packed with industry-leading features that have never been offered before. Also, if you’re on this page with us, which simply means you have checked out a majority of the available tools and looking for a complete solution. You’ll not get these features ever at such a low price, so be rest assured with your purchase.

 

Do you provide any support?

Yes, we’re always on our toes to deliver you an unmatched experience. Drop us an email if you ever have any query, and we’ll be more than happy to help.

My Opinion:

AiPro is a game changer for me because of all the benefits it offers. In fact, in this digital age, every business must have an online presence in order to build a brand and establish trust with its audience and potential clients. I am confident that this app will benefit your company.

Get instant access and grab AiPro now

[tsarisfanfiction]

Long Way From Home: Chapter 8

Fandom: Thunderbirds Rating: Teen Genre: Family/Friendship Characters: Scott, Tracy Family

I’m back!  Including this one, I’ve now got another five chapters written so we’ll be doing weekly updates again at least for the month of February.  For those that haven’t been subjected to my chatting about it in discord or DMs, I write this particular fic in chunks that could almost be called arcs, before chopping it up into chapters, hence the sudden backlog.  This section was only supposed to fill a small moment, not be an entire arc, but the boys disagreed with me on that so here we are.

Therefore, we have more playing around with the differences between the universes - particularly fashion, the TOS ideas of which are loosely based on the 1960s - a couple of familiar namedrops, and there’s a warning for a panic attack in this chapter, so watch out for that if it might give you trouble!  I also know basically zero about Auckland, New Zealand, or correct communications between planes and airports, so sorry if there’s any inconsistencies here.  Let’s just call it future advancements and an alternative universe!

<<<Chapter 7

The coastline of New Zealand looked more or less the same as Scott was used to when they finally arrived.  The analogue dial of Other-Scott’s watch continued to taunt him, but if he had to guess, the journey had taken somewhere between one and two hours, and had largely passed in silence.  Whether that was because Other-Gordon needed to concentrate on piloting, or simply because he was still holding up his promise of no more questions, Scott wasn’t sure, but he appreciated it regardless.

Being a passenger instead of the pilot was always an odd situation, and more than once he’d caught himself trying to shift imaginary controls in response to the clouds and air streams they passed through.  If Other-Gordon had noticed, he hadn’t commented.

“Tango Alpha Ladybird to Auckland Air Traffic Control, requesting permission to land, over.”  Beneath them, the city sprawled almost coast to coast, and Scott peered down, looking for familiar landmarks.  Some of them were there, some of them were not.  As low as they were flying – heading for the airport, no doubt – the Sky Tower should have been easily visible, but its distinctive shape was absent.

It shouldn’t have surprised him.  Sky Tower was a telecommunications tower, and he’d already discovered that this universe didn’t use the same type of technology that he was used to, so its lack of presence made sense.  But it had always been there, built sometime before the millennium and a major aspect of Auckland’s skyline.  He’d flown past it many times, and even used it as an unofficial navigation point.

For it to be not there, either destroyed or never existed in the first place, reminded him that no matter how familiar some things might be, he really wasn’t home.

I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore, was a line famously quoted from an old movie.  Scott had a bit of a soft spot for the Wizard of Oz – old fantasy films in general – but he’d never imagined he’d ever be playing the part of Dorothy.

At least Dorothy still had Toto, he mused sadly.  If only he’d taken Mini-MAX with him on that mission, then maybe he wouldn’t be entirely alone… if Mini-MAX would even have been able to operate without a network to link into.  Most likely, he’d have had nothing but the inactive husk of the small bot. Scott wasn’t sure if that would have been better or worse.

“Auckland Air Traffic Control to Tango Alpha Ladybird, clearance granted for runway four-bravo, over,” the radio crackled, yanking him back to the present.

“Tango Alpha Ladybird to Auckland Air Traffic Control, copy that, over,” Other-Gordon acknowledged.  Scott watched him adjust their angle of approach accordingly and kept his mouth shut as the landing gear engaged and they gently touched down onto the tarmac scant minutes later.  Other-Gordon visibly relaxed as soon as they were safely down, taxiing his way carefully over to a hangar emblazoned with a large T.A.  As they entered, Scott could see several planes inside of various sizes and designs.

The one thing they had in common was the T.A. on their tails, identical to the letters on the hangar, and Scott found himself wondering what it stood for.  Other-Gordon had used the same two letters as a callsign, and he eyed the nearest plane – a much larger one than the Ladybird – as Gordon rolled them to a gentle stop.

“What does T.A. stand for?” he asked, suspecting that Other-Scott would know that and having no wish to get caught out and face awkward conversations. This was the sort of information he’d tried to get out of his doppelgänger, but either he’d thought he would already know, or it was so basic he forgot about it.

The incredulous look he got from Other-Gordon as the man paused his post-flight checks suggested it was the former.

“Tracy Aerospace,” he said.  “Dad’s company.  Doesn’t it exist in your universe?  I thought you said you were a billionaire!”

“I am,” Scott grumbled, “and it does, but it’s Tracy Industries.”

“Right,” Other-Gordon said, going back to the post-flight checks.  “Rule number one: no talking.”

“Wha-”

“You look like Scott but you don’t sound like my brother and that’s something folks’ll notice, especially around here.  The fellas on the ground know Scott well, so you’ve lost your voice.  That’s the story.”

That made sense, but how was Scott supposed to tell Other-Gordon what he was looking for if he wasn’t allowed to talk?  He asked as such as the younger man finished up the last of the checks and undid his harness.

The aquanaut just shrugged.  “What are you after?  Underpants… what else?”

Scott chose to ignore the not so subtle dig; it was getting old, but no doubt Other-Gordon wouldn’t let it go until he’d got changed, and likely not even then.

“Casual shirts, jeans and sneakers.”  He repeated the list he’d given Other-Scott earlier and watched Other-Gordon’s face at the word ‘jeans’.  He didn’t look particularly pleased, but Scott wasn’t going to back down on those.  “Should probably pick up a hoodie or two as well.  Pyjamas and shoes, too.”

“There is no way Scott said yes to a hoodie,” Other-Gordon frowned. “Hoodie and jeans?  Those are workshop clothes; do you fellas really wear those?” Scott bristled, and he raised his hands. “Look, I am all for getting items that’ll make Scott go crazy, but I don’t want to be murdered in my sleep because the media thinks he’s gone cuckoo, so give me a minute to come up with a reason that won’t wreck his public image for the next decade.”

Scott frowned, but before he could say anything else, Other-Gordon grinned and pushed at his wrist watch.  There was a dial tone for several moments before the string of numbers was replaced by Other-Scott’s face.  The other man looked concerned and a little suspicious.  Scott supposed he hadn’t been expecting the call, and an unexpected call from a younger brother was definitely cause for concern – especially when it was a Gordon.

“Hey there, Scott!” Other-Gordon chirped in a tone that immediately had Scott on edge, even though it wasn’t aimed at him.  The faux-innocent, sing-song voice meant trouble, and he felt slightly guilty for whatever chaos was about to fall Other-Scott’s way.

Other-Scott dropped all pretence of concern and frowned at him in full-blown suspicion.

“You’ve only just arrived,” he said slowly.  “You can’t have got in trouble already.”

“You underestimate me, brother dear,” Other-Gordon scoffed, before pulling a sickly-sweet grin onto his face.  Other-Scott’s expression went from suspicious to mildly horrified, and Scott couldn’t stand it anymore.

“Gordon,” he warned, loud enough for the watch to pick him up.  While he was all up for pranks, he couldn’t quite bring himself to let his counterpart be on the receiving end of one he was involved in.  It felt uncomfortably like pranking himself.

Other-Gordon huffed.  “You’re no fun,” he sulked, before turning back to the watch.  Other-Scott, Scott was pleased to see, had lost the look of horror and was back in the realms of confusion.  “Say, Scott, how do you feel about being a trend-setter?”

And the look of horror was straight back.

“What?” Other-Scott demanded.  “Setting what trend?  I’m not a fashion icon, Gordon!  Set your own trends.”

Other-Gordon hummed thoughtfully.  “That’s a fine plan, Scott, except anything I buy will be too small for him to wear, which somewhat defeats the objective.”

Other-Scott made a noise of frustration.  “I told you, Gordon.  Anything that ends up in the media is your fault.”

“Did you say that knowing your clone here wants hoodies?” Other-Gordon asked, eyebrow raised.  Other-Scott choked.  “Because he does and I know better than to try and talk him out of it.”

“Hoodies?” Other-Scott looked bordering on mortified.  “Dad would kill me.”  Something that could be guilt coiled in Scott’s gut; no matter what his feelings were about Not-Dad’s existence, the idea of Other-Scott getting in trouble with him on his behalf didn’t settle well.  Other-Scott shook his head.  “I can’t believe I’m saying this, Gordon, but what’s your plan?”

“I figured we could pass it off as experimentation,” Other-Gordon shrugged. “But you’re not well known for that so it would cause a stir.”

“You’re right about that,” Other-Scott mused, and Scott shook his head.

“I guess I don’t need one,” he offered reluctantly – he wanted one, but there was mildly inconveniencing someone and there was ruining someone’s reputation.

“No.”  Other-Scott shook his head firmly.  “We’ll make this work.”

“Well, it’s your funeral,” Other-Gordon muttered, before a grin slowly spread across his face.  “You know, fellas, I think I’ve got it!”

“Do I want to know?” Other-Scott asked dubiously.

“It’s simple,” Other-Gordon continued as though his older brother hadn’t spoken.  “We all know you wouldn’t willingly wear one, so we make it unwilling.  Scott, you lost a bet.”

Other-Scott ran a hand through his hair.  “I suppose that would work,” he conceded reluctantly.  Scott could see the logic – short term embarrassment at the hands of a younger sibling would barely interest the media, but still explained why he was still in possession of a so-called workman’s outfit. “But I’m insisting on custom made. You are not coming back with some cheap off the shelf monstrosity.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it!” Other-Gordon chirped in a tone that said he had been considering doing exactly that.  “We should start moving now, though.  Jones is coming over and I think he wants to know why we haven’t left the cockpit yet.”

“I can’t say I’m in a hurry to have you wrecking my reputation but you probably shouldn’t make Jones suspicious,” Other-Scott sighed.  “Hey, wait – what is this bet I’ve supposedly lost, Gordon?”

“If you don’t know, Dad can’t yell at you for it later,” Other-Gordon grinned back at him.

“Gordon.”

“What, don’t you trust me?” the ginger asked, pulling a face of fake hurt. Other-Scott scowled at him.

“With my life, yes.  Not with my dignity.”  Scott could relate to that.

“We’ll see you later, Scott.”  Other-Gordon didn’t bother responding to the veiled accusation before signing off, returning the watch to actually looking like a watch just as a young man crossed the distance between the neighbouring plane and the Ladybird. “Here we go, remember you’ve lost your voice and let me do all the talking.”

Scott had a sinking feeling that was going to be easier said than done, but obediently followed the other man out of the cockpit just in time for the man on the ground to stride over to them.

“Gordon Tracy, is that you piloting a plane?” said man called, shaking his head in amazement.  “Why, I couldn’t believe my ears when they told me it was you of all people coming in to land that red beauty of yours!”

“Gee, laugh it up why don’t you, Jones,” Other-Gordon commented dryly.  “I didn’t fly all the way here with the worst backseat pilot in the world to get flack from you, too, fella.”

The man – Jones – squinted at Scott and for a heart-stopping moment he thought the man had realised he wasn’t this universe’s Scott, before he burst out laughing.  “Scott Tracy letting someone else pilot?  Now I’ve really seen it all.  Say, how you been, old chap?”  He stuck out his hand and feeling rather like a deer in headlights, Scott took it for a firm shake.

“Ah, Scott’s not so good,” Other-Gordon intervened before the silence stretched long enough to be awkward.  “He’s only gone and lost his voice, but there’s shopping to be done so yours truly got the short straw.”  The ginger gave a theatrical wince.  “Turns out not having a voice doesn’t stop a fella from backseat piloting like crazy.  He insisted on checking over all my post-flight checks!  I ask you; you’d think he didn’t trust me with a plane.”

Scott shot him a look.  While no doubt if Other-Scott had really lost his voice that all sounded perfectly feasible, he thought the ginger was laying it on a little thick.  Other-Gordon caught the look and rolled his eyes.

“Well Mr Just Because I Can’t Talk Doesn’t Mean I Won’t Be A Pain here seems like he wants to get this over and done with,” he told Jones.  Not strictly inaccurate, Scott supposed, although that hadn’t been what he’d meant.  Other-Gordon lowered his voice.  “Truth be told, he doesn’t want to be here; lost a bet and doesn’t like the forfeit.”

Scott put a warning hand on his shoulder and Other-Gordon laughed.  Jones joined in politely, almost as though he wasn’t certain what the joke was, or if he should be responding to it.

“I’d say that means ‘hurry it up, oh favourite brother of mine’,” Other-Gordon translated.  “Lock her down for me, would you?  There’s a good man.”

“Yessir,” Jones agreed.  “Your usual car’s been prepared for you.  Mr Tracy said you didn’t want a chauffeur today?”  A chauffeur?  No, Scott absolutely didn’t want one of those – it was bad enough being piloted by a brother, or brother from another universe, as it happened.

“Not today, Jones,” Other-Gordon confirmed.  “I wouldn’t inflict Scott in this mood on anyone,” he winked, and the man gave another awkward chuckle.  “I’ll handle it all today.”  Scott jammed his hands in his pockets impatiently.  “See you around, Jones.”

“Likewise, Gordon, Scott.”  The man nodded at both of them and Other-Gordon led the way through the hangar unerringly to where a classic vintage-looking convertible was waiting for them.  With the roof down, he could see it was a right-hand drive – of course, New Zealand drove on the left; at least that was the same – so without prompting he let himself in to the front left seat and tried not to be too obvious about staring.

Plane controls might have been the same, but cars apparently weren’t. If push came to shove, he could probably figure it out – the car was at least an automatic, not stick-shift – but he was quite content to let Other-Gordon take the wheel.  Hopefully he wasn’t quite as chaotic as his Gordon behind the wheel.

He wasn’t.  At least, not by Scott’s standards.  He was, however, still the fastest car on the road, overtaking other cars with manoeuvres just shy of being classified as swerves, with a delighted grin on his face.  That, at least, was typically Gordon, and the ache that blossomed in his chest whenever any of the Other-Tracy family did something that reminded him of their counterparts – his Tracy family – made itself known again.  Scott fought the instinct to clutch at his chest, instead clinging to the door with a grip far too tight for the situation.

Behind amber-tinted shades, equally amber eyes glanced over at his death grip, but Other-Gordon said nothing.  Scott wasn’t sure if that was a relief or not – the younger man knew enough to know that these speeds wouldn’t phase him in the slightest, which meant he was drawing his own conclusions.  Scott had no idea what those conclusions might be, and any desire to ask was quashed by the knowledge that that would open the topic up for conversation.

He’d chosen Other-Gordon to avoid more of that sort of conversation.

“What are we getting first?” he asked, turning his head away from the streets to look at Other-Gordon.  With the wind whistling past their ears, the natural inclination was to raise his voice but he consciously kept his voice at normal levels.  Other-Gordon should still be able to hear him, if with a bit of difficulty.

The ginger sent him an assessing look before the grin was back, and that look was too much like Gordon’s devilish grin for Scott to not know what he was going to say, despite the man not being his Gordon.

“You can’t stay in the same underpants forever!”

Scott groaned, the hand not gripping the door catching his face – ow, he forgot about the shades.  He left it there, acutely aware that with any Gordon around in a non-professional setting, the facepalm was never far away.

“Okay, new underpants.  Then what?”

Other-Gordon laughed, looping them around another car as the bulk of the city approached, before settling into something that seemed like he might, vaguely, be taking the excursion seriously.  Whether that was due to Other-Scott’s threats – which he did seem to be wary of – or because he was actually mindful of Scott’s own wishes, he had no idea. If he had to guess, probably the former. Scott wished his Gordon respected his threats against causing chaos.

Then again, he’d never had a doppelgänger, let alone one subsequently left in the hands of his prank-loving brother.

“Francois Lemaire has a new men’s range out,” he shrugged.  “Might as well start there.”

“Lemaire?” Scott asked, his voice strangled.  Other-Gordon gave him a sharp look.

“He’s Tin-Tin’s favourite designer,” the younger man said.  “She suggested him.”

Lemaire?  Designer?  Admittedly, Scott didn’t know what the rich airhead did when he wasn’t throwing himself in mortal danger and complaining loudly when they had to rescue him from his own stupidity, but he found it hard to believe that between birthday parties in the Mariana Trench and throwing himself into the coma of a comet he was designing clothes.

“Problem?” Other-Gordon asked, and Scott realised he was scowling. Taking a deep breath, he forced his expression to smooth out again.

“He won’t be there, will he?” he asked.  “If he’s anything like the Lemaire I know, there is a high chance I’ll be losing my temper.”

“What’s wrong with Lemaire?”  Other-Gordon actually sounded confused, which was enough for Scott to cling to the hope that maybe, maybe, the man wasn’t such an idiot here.

“Birthday party in the Mariana Trench,” he groaned.  “Flying into a comet.  Hunting mermaids.”  And that was just the tip of the iceberg.  “He calls us International Babysitting Service now.”

The hiss Other-Gordon let out implied the other man found that all as ridiculous – and insulting – as Scott did.  “I guess that fella’s not your favourite human,” he observed.  “We’ve not had those sorts of problems with him.” That was a relief.  “I doubt he’ll be here, though.  Fella lives in France.”

That was another relief, although Scott wasn’t going to relax entirely until they were done with the man’s shop.  It would be just his luck that this universe’s Lemaire would be dropping by for a visit when he was there, and that was not a meeting he wanted.

“Then we might as well see if his range contains anything I want to wear,” he shrugged, realising that he hadn’t actually agreed or disagreed with Other-Gordon’s suggestion.  The younger man groaned as he pulled into a parking lot tucked behind a large building emblazoned with Lemaire.

“You’re not going to be too fussy, are you?” he asked.  Scott detected a tone of dread behind what was clearly supposed to be a rhetorical question.

“Not if they have decent clothes,” he answered, and Other-Gordon made another disgruntled noise as he killed the ignition.

“Sure.  Now, remember: you’re my brother, you’ve lost your voice, I’m doing all the talking.” Scott rolled his eyes but nodded in agreement.  “Underpants, shirts, jeans, pyjamas, shoes and a custom hoodie.” Other-Gordon still didn’t seem too happy about some of those things, even with Other-Scott’s blessing, reluctant though it had been.  “Am I forgetting anything?”

Scott shook his head and Other-Gordon jumped out of the car, casually circling around to open Scott’s door before he realised the lever needed to be pulled, not pushed.  What happened to doors opening at the touch of a button?  He was really starting to miss familiar technology.

Maybe he could persuade Other-Gordon to let him pilot back to the island.

First, though, he had to get through this shopping trip so he could stop having to borrow Other-Scott’s clothes.  Stepping out of the car, he followed Other-Gordon into the shop.

It was exactly the sort of ordered chaos Scott expected from clothes shopping.  Mannequins flanked the entrance, decked out in what was presumably the latest fashions but looked totally bizarre to Scott, while a woman decked out in equally outrageous clothes – not Gordon-outrageous, but so much fabric outrageous – bustled forwards to greet them.  Behind her, equally awfully dressed men and women were guiding around customers who just screamed ‘I’m rich’.

Scott was immediately reminded exactly why he did as much clothes shopping as he could get away with online.

“Monsieur Tracy, Monsieur Tracy,” the woman greeted them.  “My name is Madeleine; how may I be of assistance today?”

Automatically, Scott opened his mouth to answer, but Other-Gordon jumped in before he managed to make a sound.  “Scott’s looking for a new wardrobe,” he said smoothly, drawing the woman’s attention to him and away from Scott, who inwardly scolded himself for forgetting that he wasn’t supposed to talk.  “Could we see your shirt selection?”

“Of course, Monsieur,” Madeleine replied.  “If you would follow me?”  She posed it as a question but began to walk further into the shop without waiting for a reply.  Scott and Other-Gordon stepped forwards at the same time, following the woman through a maze of clothes and other customers before arriving in a booth lined with lavish couches.  “Please, take a seat.”  Madeleine gestured to one of the couches and Scott took the invitation.  Other-Gordon settled down beside him and immediately reached out for what appeared to be a physical, gloss-paper, brochure on the table. He flipped through it for a moment before passing it over.

Scott accepted it and saw that Other-Gordon had already opened it to the shirts for him.

“Did Monsieur have a particular style in mind?” Madeleine asked after a moment. Not knowing the jargon as well as perhaps Grandma would have liked, and unable to speak without inviting awkward questions anyway, Scott shrugged.

“You’ll have to forgive my brother,” Other-Gordon jumped in before she could take offence.  “The fella’s lost his voice.”

“Oh,” she gasped softly.  “My apologies, Monsieur Tracy.”

Scott shot her a reassuring smile even as Other-Gordon waved off her apology. “Don’t worry about it.  I’m here to work as a translator.”

Leaving Other-Gordon to keep the woman occupied in conversation, Scott leant back and flicked through the brochure, eyeing the various outrageous shirts – apparently this universe’s Lemaire liked to design clothes with far too much excess fabric – before finally locating something that looked simple enough.  He’d still have to roll the sleeves up and worry at the collar until it sat comfortably, but it definitely looked like something he could wear comfortably enough.

He prodded Other-Gordon in the ribs; sharp amber eyes snapped over to him, wide in surprise for a split second before narrowing.

“You found something?” the younger man asked, after a pause that felt just a little too long.  Scott nodded, belatedly realising he had no idea if that sort of thing was acceptable sibling behaviour in this universe.  Realising he couldn’t clarify anything while he was pretending to have lost his voice, he pushed the thought aside to deal with later, and prodded at the picture on the page.

Madeleine made a motion to look over, and Scott swivelled the brochure so that she could see the one he’d chosen.

“A wonderful choice, Monsieur Tracy,” she beamed, while Other-Gordon made a sound that could be amused.  He didn’t say whatever it was he was thinking, though, instead joining in the conversation when the woman asked how many and pulled out another brochure of fabrics and patterns.

“I dare say a few wouldn’t go amiss,” Other-Gordon told her – although Scott suspected it was a prod at him as well.  He zoned out the rest of the conversation as he stared at the ridiculous variety of colours and tried to find the sensible blues.  He had no desire to adopt Gordon’s sense of fashion, or John’s for that matter.

He suspected John might quite like some of the horrors he was hurriedly passing by.  He’d never understood his immediate brother’s taste in clothes.

Finally, a nice plain blue, not too far off his favourite shirt at home, caught his eye, and after inspecting it to make sure there weren’t any hidden patterns he tapped at the glossy paper to draw their attention.

“The fella likes blue,” Other-Gordon shrugged at Madeleine as she pulled out a notepad and pen from somewhere and started scribbling down.  “But Scott, are you really only going to get the one design? That’s a lot of identical shirts.”

Regretting zoning out the conversation about exactly how many Other-Gordon had decided he would be getting, Scott instead raised an eyebrow at him, a look his younger brothers all knew meant don’t try me.  From the grin Other-Gordon gave him, he understood exactly what it meant, but was also as unimpressed by the warning as Gordon ever was.  With some reluctance, because yes, variety was nice and he suspected Other-Gordon was actually telling him that buying many identical shirts was not an Other-Scott-like thing to do, he returned to the sample images and tried to find some others that didn’t look like something John would wear – or worse, something not even Gordon or John would be caught dead in.

Fashion was ridiculous here.

He was certain his choices were being memorised by the too-sharp ginger next to him as he dug out the designs he was willing to wear and had them scribbled down by an eager to please Madeleine, no doubt being added to whatever mental databank Other-Gordon was compiling about him.  Maybe it would be worth dragging the differences between him and Other-Scott out of the aquanaut at some point on the flight back, if only to try and get a better understanding of what he was – temporarily, he hoped – going to be dealing with.

None of his training – Air Force, International Rescue or business – had ever covered what to do when faced with a doppelgänger of himself that wasn’t the Hood in disguise, and while Not-Dad was proving to be a problem, he didn’t have any plans to alienate the family.  They were his only way home; that, he knew for certain.

“Will that be all, Monsieur Tracy?” Madeleine asked when he finally decided there was nothing else he could even consider wearing and shut the samples brochure.  He wasn’t sure how many he’d selected in the end, but there was a satisfied look on Other-Gordon’s face, so he decided to call that torment to a close and nodded. Beaming what had to be a fake customer pleasing smile, she elegantly made her way to her feet, apparently not impeded by the ridiculousness of her dress.  “Then if you’d like to follow me to the fitting rooms?”

What.

Fitting rooms?

Had some formal clothes snuck into his selection or something?

Other-Gordon nudged him seemingly accidentally as he stood up.  Scott assumed that was another signal to just go along with it.  Reluctantly, he found his way to his feet and followed Madeleine’s swirl of fabric, raising an eyebrow at Other-Gordon when the other man followed.  He got a grin in return.

At least someone was having fun.  Scott missed online shopping.  He really hoped he wasn’t going to have to go through this rigmarole for every item they were buying.

The fitting room really should be called a fitting chamber.  It was at least as big as his bedroom at home, if not bigger, with plush seats and an area designed to be screened off, presumably for changing.  Hopefully, it wouldn’t be unusual for Other-Scott to use the curtains, because Scott was well aware how many scars he had from rescues, and while Other-Gordon had already briefly seen him shirtless he wasn’t sure Madeleine would be expecting that many scars on a lazy billionaire’s son.

“Please, make yourself comfortable while I collect the shirts,” the woman said, gesturing to the chairs.  “I will only be a few moments.”

Then she was gone, and it was just the two of them in the room.

“You don’t get your clothes fitted?” Other-Gordon asked, quietly, a beat after the door slid shut.  Scott took that as an indication that no-one would hear him if he spoke, and leaned forwards with a sigh.

“I normally shop online,” he grumbled.  “Much less hassle.”

“On… Line?”  Other-Gordon parroted the word with clear confusion in his voice, and Scott rolled his eyes, half at the other man, half at the world in general.  He should have known that would be another difference.

“Different technology,” he dismissed.  “You’re not telling me I have to go through this for everything, are you?”

“You’re getting a custom hoodie,” Other-Gordon reminded him.  “And designer jeans.”  Scott groaned.  “But they won’t measure you for underwear.”

“You’re never going to drop that, are you?”  It was so old it was ancient at this point, but from the grin on Other-Gordon’s face, that clearly didn’t matter to him.  Amber eyes flashed with amusement before turning serious.

“Don’t forget the curtain,” he warned.  “Scott’s scars aren’t the same as yours.”

“I wasn’t planning to,” Scott assured him.  He probably shouldn’t be surprised that Other-Gordon had gleaned that from when he’d borrowed Other-Scott’s clothes, but hearing a comparison still startled him.  “I-”

The door slid open and he cut himself off.

“Sorry for the wait, Monsieur Tracy,” Madeleine greeted, an entire hangar of shirts trailing behind her on wheels.  “According to your previous custom, these should be of an approximate fit.”

Previous-?  Other-Scott also shopped there?  He supposed that made sense, even if he suddenly felt the pressure to absolutely not slip up, because Madeleine probably knew Other-Scott.  That might have been useful to know earlier.

There was a lot he hadn’t been told before this trip, and he was starting to wish they’d spent a little more time talking before leaving the island. The sensation of being out of his depth was starting to make itself known again from where it had settled in the relative familiarity of the flight over.

“All looks that way,” Other-Gordon said suddenly, and Scott realised he hadn’t given any sort of response.  He really had to get his head in the game.  “So, which one first, Scott?”

Resisting the instinct to take a deep breath in front of Madeleine, he stood and gestured at the blue one he’d picked out first from the catalogue.  She took it off the hangar for him with a large smile.

“Take your time, Monsieur Tracy,” she told him.  “Come out when you’re ready.”

Scott barely made it to the curtained off area, drawing the thick material across and shutting himself away from the other two, before slumping against the wall and taking a deep breath.  Now was not a good time to get overwhelmed.  If it was just Other-Gordon-

No, he’d done more than enough breaking down in front of other people already. He took another deep breath, looking down at the shirt gripped in his hands.  His hands were trembling, the bandages over his knuckles suddenly stark against his skin.  Visible. How was he supposed to explain away bandaged knuckles when he was pretending to be a lazy billionaire’s son? Madeleine must have spotted it.

He tore his gaze away from the fabric and instead looked up at the ceiling, feeling the hat on his head dig in awkwardly as his head leant against the wall. More deep breaths, each shakier than the last, and somewhere in the back of his mind he realised he was headed for a full panic attack.

No.  He couldn’t do that.  Not with Madeleine a single curtain away.  Other-Scott had an image to maintain and he couldn’t ruin it.  He had to-

“Is everything alright, Monsieur Tracy?”  Madeleine’s voice was close, too close.  She could probably hear his messed up breathing, knew something was wrong, knew he was falling apart the other side of the suddenly too-thin curtain, and-

“I’ll check on him,” Other-Gordon said.  “Scott?  I’m coming in.”

He’d slipped around the curtain before Scott registered his words, amber eyes falling on him and widening for a split second.  Then, like a switch had been flicked, his whole demeanour changed. It wasn’t the jovial man that had been teasing for most of their time away from the island, but nor was it the sharp, military-like edge he’d held when he was being serious.

Instead it was calm, reassuring, and with slow, obvious movements the shorter man was taking the shirt from his hands, folding the fabric over one arm. “Sit,” he instructed, quietly.

This was his International Rescue façade, Scott realised dimly as he sank down onto a stool he hadn’t even registered was there.  Other-Gordon crouched down in front of him, gently removing the shades he’d forgotten he was wearing and making firm eye contact.

“Breathe in,” he said, voice still low.  “Do you want me to count you?”

Scott took in another breath, inwardly wincing at how shaky it was, before exhaling again.  Slowly, deliberately choreographing his movements, Other-Gordon rested a single hand on his knee.  The touch was light, but grounding, and Scott’s next attempt at a deep breath was markedly less shaky.  Another, and then another, with Other-Gordon almost silently guiding him with words too quiet to be heard the other side of the curtain.

Once he had enough of a grip of himself that panic felt no longer imminent, he leant back, tension bleeding from his shoulders.

“Better?” Other-Gordon asked, and he nodded, opening his mouth to speak before a raised eyebrow reminded him otherwise.  “Should we call it?  You can come back-”

“No,” Scott cut him off, clamping his mouth shut when he realised his mistake. He shook his head.  If they left now, he’d have to come back later, and he wasn’t sure he could do that.  He certainly didn’t want to have to face Not-Dad and tell him they didn’t finish because he panicked.  Better to get it over and done with now.

Other-Gordon eyed him dubiously for a moment before sighing and pulling himself to his feet.  “If you say so,” he said.  “Let me give you a hand.”

Give-?  The blue fabric still draped over the aquanaut’s arm caught his eye.  Oh yes, he was supposed to have been putting it on. He didn’t want help getting changed, and certainly didn’t need it, but there was a look in amber eyes that said quite plainly that Other-Gordon wasn’t going anywhere.

Then again, if their roles were reversed, Scott wouldn’t be going anywhere either.

Deciding the best route was to ignore him as best he could, Scott shrugged the waistcoat off, before plucking at the buttons on the shirt he was wearing. To his credit, Other-Gordon didn’t try to actively help, only taking the clothes once he’d removed them and holding out the blue shirt for him to take.

“Monsieurs?” Madeleine called just as he was fastening the last button. “Is there a problem?”

Other-Gordon pressed the sunglasses into his hands and readjusted the hat on his head before slipping back outside.

“Nothing to be worried about,” he assured her.  “Whatever he’s caught that’s gone and taken his voice gives him dizzy moments, too.  Fella just had a spell, but it’s passed now.”

So now he was ill instead of just having lost his voice?  Scott wanted to be amused, but in reality he just felt thankful that Other-Gordon was quick at thinking on his feet.

“Oh, I understand,” she said.  Scott hurried to put the sunglasses back on and took one last deep breath before pushing the curtain back.  “Monsieur Tracy, we can hold the items for you if you’d rather come back at a later date?”

Remembering in time not to talk, Scott waved her off with a small grin. It was forced; smiling wasn’t something he felt like doing but the last thing he wanted was to have to come back.

“He’ll be fine,” Other-Gordon assured her.  “This won’t take long, will it?”

“Oh, not at all,” Madeleine hurried to promise, and Scott’s grin felt just a little less forced at that.  “If you would stand here…”  She gestured to a small step and Scott obeyed, watching as she bustled around him with pins, tugging at the fabric until it lay flat across his shoulders and hung just right.  Compared to some fittings he’d had, it certainly didn’t feel like it took too long; after what had to have been only a few minutes, she was nodding her approval and handing him the next shirt to put on.

Other-Gordon followed him behind the curtain this time, not giving him the opportunity to refuse the company.  Scott got the feeling he wouldn’t be letting him out of his sight again until they were back on the island, but where before he might have bristled at the lack of privacy, now he found himself reassured by the other man’s presence.  If nothing else, it helped keep his mind on the task at hand as he peeled the pin-infested shirt away from his body gingerly and accepted the new one while Other-Gordon hung the first on a hangar.

The rest of the fitting went in much the same fashion, Madeleine working quickly but efficiently and Other-Gordon shadowing him in a way that should have been bothersome but was somehow comforting, and before long all of the shirts – eleven, apparently – were stuck through with pins and back on the rail.

“Is there anything else you would like to order, Monsieur Tracy?” the woman asked once Scott was once again dressed in Other-Scott’s borrowed clothes. She was clearly addressing him, but her eyes were on Other-Gordon, much to Scott’s relief.  While he knew what he wanted, he didn’t know where he could get them.  For that, he was reliant on the other man.

“Not today,” Other-Gordon answered.  “When will they be ready to collect?”

“For you, we will have them done by Tuesday,” she replied.  Scott realised he had no idea what the day was.

“Perfect,” Other-Gordon grinned, before fishing out a card from his pocket and handing it to her.  She beamed and scurried off, presumably to take the payment.

Scott had absolutely no idea how much that had just come to.

Whatever the damage was, Other-Gordon seemed entirely fine with it, keeping his grin on his face as she returned with the card and a paper receipt, so Scott assumed it was within expectations.

Other-Gordon and Madeleine finalised arrangements for the shirts to be collected on Tuesday, leaving Scott with the sinking feeling he’d likely be stuck borrowing Other-Scott’s clothes for however many days away that was, before bidding farewell.  Following suit, Scott offered his own nod of thanks and farewell before finding himself being subtly guided back out of the shop and towards the car by the ginger.

Chapter 9>>>

[ilovedirt]

hey there, find me elsewhere -

instagram: zroe.zroe

original photography: @kiweetree

credited art curating: @honey-buzzing

and i release weekly 1hr playlists on my spotify 💎

My sister The Loophole Fox makes beautiful handmade crochet and original pattern designs! 🖤💎 give her a gander

I am Khai. I am verbose and I say fuck a lot. Good luck trying to figure anything out through the lens of this blog (or any of my media for that matter)

all things become you, you become all things. let us walk with our feet bare in the dirt.

info, tag index & tw below the cut

AHOY! OR . . . Whatever.

I am just another strange looking limby primate. The goal of this blog is to make you think about life from the smallest details to the largest concepts, and then how to connect them all

If you came here for that id pronouns or whatever: I do not neatly align with cisheteronormativity, monogamy, or many other social paradigms for western morality. This is a place of off grid anarchy. I can, and will, kill you for free. Mostly though if you talk to me I'll be delighted and probably leave you feeling a bit "this one's way too weird for me" and thats fine. Pronouns are not preferred. Do not perceive me. Smoochies!

Only select mutuals can ask for other socials and alt blog handles thanks!

Here's how to navigate my atrocious index of tags if you're feelin frisky:

about me - personal posts

graph - exciting visual aids

native america - posts relevant to the history and modern life of native people from the americas

spaceage - a conversation on the wonders of tech

eye bleach - soft things for the troubled mind

epigenetics - relevant information on the genome and its expression

neuroplasticity - relevant information on neurological science & psychology

global concepts - ideas that transcend borders

spriggen - rewilding, sustainable permaculture, ecological success stories, wildland survival

life skills - learn something

human nature - erasing the line between the human mind and the animal mind (as well as do not forget you are an animal)

phenotype - neat and new creatures

soothe - places I want to lie down in

language - communication what in the ever loving fuck

meta - tumblr related

jams - personally curated playlists released weekly and other stuff to jam to

americanus - a . . . very special hominid

food - trust me, click this

fuck nestle - the most important one on here

enrichment - in case you're lacking in good ideas

fortune telling - aging, death, the lot of it

This is not an exhaustive list! The bolded ones are some of my favorites :) I use a few others for personal reasons. Feel free to browse if you're curious.

chlann - the genius of the generations that will come after me

bigposts - ideas that have been around

reads - excerpts from some of the books I'm reading

WANNA GET IN TOUCH? 🙊🖤

I will happily add trigger warnings to content for you! Please ask nicely. Don't hesitate to reach out for a friendly chat! @ing me is totally cool, i follow #ilovedirt but don't check it often! My inbox is currently closed, but asks and anons are open! Yes you may send me fundraisers and gofundmes! I reserve the right to refuse to reblog these upon my own volition however.

My submissions are closed for now, however if you would like me to check out a post or content of yours please do! I check out all new followers, and I block across the board including bots, blank blogs, graphic NSFW/kink/fetish blogs, exclusionists, and anyone that annoys me bc I am petty.

I currently do my best to tag these things and things closely related -

Death / Animal death

Spiders / Arachnophobia

Racism / Colonialism / genocide

Covid / Covid 19

Violence / brutality / gore / bodyhorror

Drugs / alcohol / addiction

Rape / domestic violence / abuse

Nudity / sex / genitals

ED / eating disorders / disordered eating

[terrascookiejar-archive]

Terra has a Chat with a REAL Moderator this Time

In lieu of my original post that gained a lot of traction, and me talking about being “contacted” by someone claiming to be a mod.

An ACTUAL mod from the Official Cookie Run discord managed to contact me and  set the record straight on a few things, as well as discuss a few things regarding what happened. So it seems that this whole situation has indeed caught the attention of the mods of the Cookie Run Official Discord, and even MicMac himself. So what’s been done?

I do wanna talk about it in greater detail, so I’m gonna put everything in a cut, starting now. If you want the TL;DR version, skip to the second picture of Chestnut with Walnut at the end.

First things First, the person who I talked on the moderation team was someone by the name of Zayder, who contacted me on anon with their details. Using some help from friends We were able to background check and confirm, yes this person is actually legit. So I was reassured I wasn’t walking into some kind of trap.

(The photo given to me to prove authenticity by a friend. I blurred out their Discord number myself just for the courtesy of privacy)

What’s Being Done to Protect Artists on the Discord, Moving Forward?

I think this is the big question on everyone’s mind since I made my original post and all eyes are on the moderators and MicMac to make the change.

There seems to be a genuine admittance to the fact that the previous way fanart was moderated was ineffective and caused issues such as the theft and reposting to happen. 

So they’ve gone ahead and added stricter measures to prevent this from happening again. Including preventing new members from posting until they get the “Cookie” role, a cooldown on the channel to allow for easier moderation and viewing of said artwork, and heavier infractions laid down for art theft. 

I mentioned that the cooldown also allows for time for people to appreciate genuine artwork posted. So considering the magnitude of its members I’d say that’s a great first step in moving forward towards protecting community fanartists. I got confirmation from members in my own discord that the cooldown IS indeed already enacted and even increased from 10 to 30 minutes, so I have reassurance that what’s being told to me is true. 

They DO have a report system on their bot, but it seems most people prefer just messaging mods so that system in itself is rather flawed, but only so much you can do there. 

(^ This one’s my own artwork, btw!! ^) Zayder also asked me for my own feedback on what could be done to help protect artists, since I am an artist myself. It seems most of the moderation team are not artists and this probably lent itself to making moderation there so weak. 

In summary my main suggestions that were noticed were being mindful of traced art, and a dedicated section or post explaining art theft and how it harms artists and the importance of crediting artists. As not everyone understands how it hurts us, some people genuinely are uninformed. Which Zayder stated he would forward to Mic Mac. (Not sure how I feel about my own suggestions going directly to MicMac himself, but you know!!)

Fawn’s Situation happened so Long Ago that most of it is Lost (or worst case scenario, was deleted by a member of the moderation team) 

While the general consensus now is indeed “Yes, Fawn created Nutmeg Cookie,” there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of evidence towards who the perpetrator was (We had their username, hazbinalastor666, but not their ID and they’ve since changed it to cover their tracks) and the moderators involved with Fawn’s “Ban” to be found on the Official Cookie Run Discord. At least not anymore.

Zayder has confirmed that Fawn “left” the server in December of 2019, which lines up with Fawn’s own statements on the situation. However Zayder stated that whoever kicked her didn’t actually put her on the banlist. So either they kicked her manually, or they used the bot and then used it to erase all evidence of it and pretend nothing happened (which he certainly HOPES is not the case, and I do as well). It did not help that Trial Mods were not a thing yet by this time (They were not introduced until February of 2020), according to what Zayder told me. So things on that Discord were essentially pretty gun-ho. It’s not as simple as looking up a term and going to “Oldest” to track down stuff from the time.  Plus a good chunk of it seemed to have happened through DMs so... Good Luck getting that evidence.

Zayder informed me that Fawn is welcome to come back at any time. Though speaking with her she’s chosen not to, and considering her situation I don’t think anyone can blame her. I would like to believe that the version of the Discord that Fawn had to go through is not the same as the one we have now but something like isn’t essentially going to wash away what happened.

As for evidence that Fawn created Nutmeg first? Yes I do have it. The original incident,  hazbinalastor666 claimed that they created Nutmeg in November of 2019, However there’s evidence in our own discord showing Fawn creating Nutmeg as early as September of 2019.

As well as the day Fawn came forward on our discord about the situation after keeping quiet out of fear of backlash, ignited by seeing the thief get a commission of Nutmeg. However, I don’t plan to post that publicly unless I have Fawn’s okay. 

Yes. The First “Mod” That tried to Contact Me was Pretty Undeniably Someone Posing as a Mod From the Official Discord

“I'm also really curious on what you found false on what the "moderator" said to you. Nobody on the mod team ever told us they were gonna contact you, so I wouldnt know who that is.”

So that was my first sign that clearly the original person who contacted me at least wasn’t doing so without the consensus of the other mods, and neither did they consult the mods afterwards... So very, very likely they were a fake from the start. Some of the things that were off that I told to Zayder, and that we found through conversation were as follows:

The first person contacted me on a throwaway and refused to disclose who they were. Zayder gave me the ID of his personal discord and we could verify who they were easily.

The first person blew off my own suggestions for helping improve the fanart channels with statements like “We’re already cracking down on it.” Zayder asked me for my own suggestions as an artist without even being asked.

The first person kept trying to get me to get Fawn to use a VPN in order to get back into the Official Cookie Run Discord. Despite being told repeatedly that’s not how a VPN works. That’s just fucking weird. 

The first person couldn’t track anything down regarding Fawn’s situation years ago, Zayder was at least able to actually pinpoint the date in which Fawn was kicked, and rather quickly too I might add.

Zayder had pretty proficient knowledge on the bot the Discord uses for moderation and how it works. Which he explained to me a few times. The first person said to me at one point, and I quote, “For all I know the bot gives messages when infractions are laid.”

So seeing how talking with a real Moderator like Zayder was, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that someone was trying to dupe me here for some reason. Was it revenge? Did they want some sort of blackmail? Did they want me to proverbially “back off?” And if they ARE a mod why wouldn’t they give the info and such that I gave them to the other mods? Who knows. 

TL;DR:

Long Story short, it does appear as if the Moderation Team and Mic Mac have heard the artists of the fandom and are going to be working hard to lay down stricture rules regarding posting and doing their best to make sure credit goes where credit is due.

Fawn’s incident happened so long ago there’s not much evidence to be found on the Official discord, but we DO have proof that Nutmeg Cookie belongs to UpsetFawn!

The First Person who claimed to be a Mod was a fake and talking with Zayder proved it.

Overall, my talk with Zayder was very pleasant and enlightening and I believe Zayder would say about the same! I never meant to cause such an uproar, but I’d like to think things will change for the better now that we’ve all spoken up on behalf of our fellow artist. 

What we need to do now is watch how the Cookie Run Official Discord moves forward and if they’ll stick to their word towards protecting fandom content creators from theft and uncredited reposts. Though after my talk I’m certainly optimistic they will.

Always have your back for your fellow fandom artist, TerraTerraCotta

[cris-accortez]

Knock Down The Best Knowledge About Instagram Story Viewer

Would you like to speed up your Instagram growth ? Is it safe to say that you are hoping to increase your Instagram presence in a safe and best manner? If yes, at that point, this post is for you! Let's get started! Getting to the meaningful part, Instagram bots are designed to assist you with performing tasks including commenting, following different accounts, and loving. Be that as it may, it is done through computerization. There are numerous Instagram bots accessible on the web which are safe and worth all your cash spend. There are some questions that pop into your psyche, like - are Instagram bot dangerous? Let us offer you the response. If we look from the influencer lens, the appeal of high follower counts is frequently difficult to pass-up - yet for customary Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook users, being followed by bots can be risky. Despite the fact that if you make a selection of Instagram bots, you will locate the ones that are harmless. Instagram bot helps you automate all the Instagram management activities, which could save a lot of your time. It would actually work as your assistant for managing the Instagram account. Here all you need to do is plugin-specific parameters such as hashtags or accounts, and the bot will take care of the rest of the things. Using a bot might look appealing for your automating your Instagram activities since it saves your time and gives you results. But every automation tool comes with its own pros and cons. It totally depends upon which tool or bot you are choosing. But one needs to be very patient about the results as this organic process takes time to show the output. Due to this reason, most companies or individuals look for automation tools that do not only save time but also claim to show the results in a shorter period of time. These automation tools are known as Instagram Bot. Instagram bots are generally used to automate all the activities such as follow, unfollow, like, comment, repost etc. It is done by mention the parameters to the bot-like accounts, locations or hashtags, and the bot will follow the activities accordingly. The Instagram bot is the perfect solution for busy bee entrepreneurs who do not wish to pay any person for managing their Instagram acco unt. Hence it is important to be very careful while choosing Instagram automation solutions. Instafollowers. wtf is a well-known Instagram automation tool that claims to be more effective than the Instagram story viewer . Herewith instagram bot, you wil l gain followers and engage with your target communities easily without opting any spammy way. Here they also promise a 100% Money back guarantee if you are not satisfied with their services. Apart from this, their dedicated support channel is available ro und the clock for your service.

Instafollowers first steps can show you some fantastic pictures like 10k followers in a week or these numerous likes on a post; however, any bot that promises a ton could be suspicious. Interfacing your account with such bots can abuse Instagram policies, and at last, your account can be prohibited. By and large, most of the bot's access APIs of Instagram without its permission which is considered an infringement. Because of this majority of the Instagram bots have, as of late, shut down. At Instafollowers.wtf, one would be able to automate the Instagram tasks of Auto follow, Auto Like, Auto Unfollow, and Auto repost. It also takes care of auto commenting, which is the most effective factor to increase your account's engagement and hence increase visibility. Here they promise you to perform all the tasks without using any spammy tactics. Moreover, you are also entitled to a money-back guarantee if you are not satisfied with their activities. You will get round the clock dedicated chat support to resolve your queries regarding the services. Gone are the days when businesses or brands spend on newspapers and magazines to advance their item or services. Because of the advanced period, in any event, promoting has transformed into the computerized one. Social media has made a different blast altogether. Since numerous individuals are accessible on social media and spend most of the time in a day on it, numerous companies and brands choose these platforms to advance their new launches. Which is the best social media stage one should choose? It is a somewhat difficult question as each stage has its own features and limitations. Instagram is very well known nowadays because of its user-friendliness and results. Thus the majority of the businesses focus on Instagram growth to catch the important audience. This plan is available for minimum accounts and provides limited features once you get a storage space of only 100MB. Moving to the next pro plans, which are paid ones. The first paid plan is of 9USD, and you can link up to 10 accounts with it. Even in this plan, one can expect similar automation activities of following, like, commenting and reposting. Here the bot will work on the video content as well. There is an additional feature that you get along with this plan is the inbox. You can expect storage of 1GB in this plan. Let's understand how this automation activity works. The very first common activity bot gets into is Auto-follow. Here the story of your target audie nce and check if they are running any polls or quizzes and respond to them with the answers. Here bot access the location and hashtags to get the relevant target users. With auto unfollow activity; generally, the bot unfollows the account which is not foll owing you. Sometimes they even unfollow all the accounts and keep 0 following the account. The third most common automated activity is Auto like. With this activity, the bot automatically tracks your competitor's followers and visits their profile to like their posts. Sometimes it also uses relevant hashtags and locations to track the profiles. The next automated activity is essential as it helps in Instagram growth in a shorter period. The bot does auto comment activity by commenting on various relevant profiles with hashtags and locations. Auto repost also supports the growth if done strategically. Here the bot would figure out the best photos and videos to repost to increase your account's reach. Well, it looks great when you see the growth in your Instagram Insights, but we also need to understand the legitimacy of the solution provider. Instagram bots can boost your account growth or can even diminish it permanently. Hence it is totally up to you which automated solution provider that you are choosing.

[lingthusiasm]

Transcript Episode 41: This time it gets tense - The grammar of time

This is a transcript for Lingthusiasm Episode 41: This time it gets tense - The grammar of time. It’s been lightly edited for readability. Listen to the episode here or wherever you get your podcasts. Links to studies mentioned and further reading can be found on the Episode 41 show notes page.

[Music]

Gretchen: Welcome to Lingthusiasm, the podcast that’s enthusiastic about linguistics! I’m Gretchen McCulloch.

Lauren: I’m Lauren Gawne. Today, we’re getting enthusiastic about tense and how different languages talk about time. But first, we are very excited to announce the launch of the Lingthusiasm LingComm Grant.

Gretchen: Yes. When we started this podcast, we were fortunate to be in a position where we could put some of our own money into the project to get us off the ground until our lovely patrons started coming in.

Lauren: Now we’re in a position where we want to pay it forward, and we want to help the next generation of awesome pop linguistics projects find their feet. We’re giving out a $500 US grant to a project that helps communicate linguistics to a new audience.

Gretchen: With your help, if we reach 800 patrons by May 1st, we can give out three of these grants. We’re really looking forward to seeing the applications come in. Applications are due June 1st. You can see more details about the LingComm grant and how to apply on our website. We’ll link to it from the show notes. It’s lingcomm.org – two Ms in “comm.”

Lauren: We know that some of you may be really passionate about the idea of there being more linguistics communication projects out in the world but don’t have the time or the expertise. If you really want to help support us in the LingComm grants, we’ve created a new tier at the Patreon called “Phil-ling-thropist.” For every person who supports us at $50.00 or more at that level, we’ll drop the number of patrons that we need to meet the three-grant goal down by 10. You will be as effective at 10 other patrons.

Gretchen: Don’t feel like you need to do this, but if you’re somebody who has a real job and this isn’t a lot of money to you, then this is an interesting thing to do with it. We’ll also send you a Lingthusiast mug after three months at this tier, so you can share your lingthusiasm that way.

Lauren: Of course, patrons at any level will help us meet the 800-patron goal to give out three grants.

Gretchen: If you’re also excited about showing off that you’re a lingthusiast, we also have a new sticker that says, “Lingthusiast, a person that’s enthusiastic about linguistics,” which we’ve added to the $15.00 level on Patreon. Go check out the Patreon. We have new stuff there!

Lauren: Speaking of the stuff at the Patreon, we now have a Discord server for all our Ling-thusiast and above tiers, which is the first Discord server I’ve ever been on. I’m learning a lot.

Gretchen: It’s been really fun to see people join so quickly because there’re actually a lot of people who are already joined and are chatting about things like interesting linguistics links that you come across, conlanging, learning languages, linguistics memes – we even have a channel where you can talk to each other in the International Phonetic Alphabet, which was a fun challenge – and other interesting linguistics things that you come across around the internet.

Lauren: Lots of different channels. All very lingthusiastic – typing, chat. I feel like it definitely has an old-days-of-the-internet-user-group vibe that makes me really happy.

Gretchen: It’s been really fun to start hanging out there. I think people are really enjoying that. Join us in the Discord!

Lauren: Our current bonus for patrons is bonus content from our interview with Janelle Shane in which we walk through creating a Lingthusiasm bot that generates Lingthusiasm transcripts. We walked through that in detail, and then we read some of our favourites.

Gretchen: If you would like to hear what Lingthusiasm would sound like if it were written by a neural net who is very enthusiastic but doesn’t really know that much about actual linguistics but finds some keywords sometimes, you can check that out. Definitely stay tuned for the part towards the end where we prompt the neural net with both Lingthusiasm and Harry Potter fan fiction. You get the most magical Lingthusiasm episode ever.

Lauren: This and 35 other bonus episodes at patreon.com/lingthusiasm.

[Music]

Lauren: Okay, Gretchen, I’m gonna do some real-life sentence elicitation so we can look at some examples of how tense works with time. Are you ready if I give you a bit of a prompt?

Gretchen: Sure. Let’s go.

Lauren: Tell me about something that happened yesterday in the past.

Gretchen: I’m walking down the street yesterday, and I see this bird, right? This bird starts coming towards me.

Lauren: Okay. I am definitely gonna ask you about the rest of that story later, but for now, can I have an example of something that’s happening or could be happening right now in the present?

Gretchen: Well, let’s pretend that I’m not just literally recording this podcast with you because that’s a little bit too meta. Let’s say I’m just sitting at home right now, and I’m eating a delicious cake, and you’re drinking a cup of tea.

Lauren: Mmm. Right. I might need to go get a cup of tea. Before I do that, let’s have an example of something that is going to happen later in the future.

Gretchen: I’m going to the airport tomorrow, fly out to Rome at 10:00. We arrive the next morning, and then –

Lauren: Are you going to Rome tomorrow?

Gretchen: No. No, I’m not. It’s just the first place that I thought of. I’m not going anywhere.

Lauren: But, man, now I want a cup of tea and pizza.

Gretchen: One of the things that I think is really interesting about these examples is that because I’m a bit of your confederate in this experiment, shall I say.

Lauren: Yeah. This is not naturalistic data at all.

Gretchen: Because I’ve been briefed. One of the things that I was able to do is I was able to talk about something that happened yesterday and something that’s happening right now and something that is gonna happen tomorrow, but I was actually able to use the same forms of the verb for all of them. Let’s do a little rewind.

Lauren: Right. In the past, you used the verb –

Gretchen: “I’m walking down the street. I see this bird.”

Lauren: Present.

Gretchen: “I’m sitting at home. I’m eating a delicious cake.”

Lauren: Future.

Gretchen: “I’m going to the airport. We fly out to Rome.”

Lauren: I think the answer is that the relationship between tense and time is not as straightforward as we might think it is. We don’t have a past tense that is always used with past events.

Gretchen: Right. Normally, if you’re in a Ling 101 class and we’re talking about tense – or you’re in a language class and you’re talking about tense – and the definition that everyone gives about tense is, “Well, it means time.” It kind of does, but it also kind of doesn’t. This is the complexity that we’re gonna be trying to unravel for the rest of this episode.

Lauren: We have something that’s happening with grammar. We’re gonna call that tense. We have something that is happening with the flow of time that’s in the real world – where there is language being spoken or not – time is still ticking on. I mean, we’ve talked about how to conceptualise time in an earlier episode, but just thinking about the flow of time and then tense as a grammatical construct that relates to it but doesn’t perfectly map onto it.

Gretchen: What I was able to do in this experiment is I was able to use the English present tense to talk about actions in the past, and in the present, and in the future. What’s interesting is that – so English has another tense, which is the past tense, and I can’t quite do all three of these things with the past tense.

Lauren: Give me an example of the future with the past tense.

Gretchen: “I sat at home right now” is problematic. That has some tension there. It gets really tricky if I wanna say, “I went to the airport tomorrow.” That – hmm, no.

Lauren: I definitely don’t have that as a valid utterance in this real world, no time travelling sense of how language works.

Gretchen: Putting time travel aside, this is not how English works. Many linguists talk about English as having two tenses – past and non-past. What this means is that the non-past tense is the one that I can use to talk about any time space and the past tense I can only use to talk about the past. That’s why I’m able to say, “I walked down the street yesterday,” but not, “I sat at home right now” or “I went to the airport tomorrow” because the past tense is really restricted but the non-past tense can be in any of these times.

Lauren: It also speaks to something that I think sometimes people find a bit confronting about studying linguistics, which is that the way that they’re taught the idea of grammar in English language classes or in grammar classes is that we have a past, present, and future. But from a linguistic analysis, English is treated as a language with a past and non-past distinction. The non-past includes present and future constructions.

Gretchen: And sometimes this weird version of the past that’s used for storytelling purposes. Many kinds of past in English you do actually wanna use the past tense, but there’s this one very specific storytelling thing where you can use the present – or more accurately, the non-past – even in something that happened in the past to make it seem more vivid and more relevant to a particular current time. You’d have a harder time saying something like, “The Norman conquest of English happens in 1066.” That would be a harder sell for English. You’d really wanna say, “happened,” there. You could say, I guess, “William the Conqueror comes across the English Channel, right? And he’s got this big ship.” There, you’re using the present to make it very vivid.

Lauren: I feel so much more compelled when you use that present in past.

Gretchen: That makes it seem very vernacular, very storytelling-y. I’m doing this casual thing where you’re not gonna see that in a traditional history textbook, but you might see it in a fun, vivid history podcast type thing.

Lauren: I was kind of surprised when I took an English grammar linguistics subject just how many different grammatical constructions around tense there are in the English because I had this very simple idea that there was a past, present, future – done, done, done – and it’s like, “Ah, this is why the Cambridge Grammar of the English Language is such a massive book” because I hadn’t really thought about the fact that the tense that you use in that narrative past using the present form is – the time is in the past but the tense is not just using a past tense.

Gretchen: This is why it’s useful to have – why not just call it “time” if tense just means “time”? Why not just say “time”? Well, it’s because there’s actually this difference in that the tense refers to specifically a thing that is done in the shape of a language can be somewhat independent from what’s actually going on in the world that you’re referring to, as in the case where you use the present to talk about the past. It doesn’t somehow make it the past. What about the future? Because, Lauren, it seems like English, we can definitely talk about the future.

Lauren: There are forms that I can talk about like, “I will go” – well, I won’t go to Rome – but “I will go to Rome tomorrow” or “I’m going to go to Rome tomorrow.” I can do that for “tomorrow” in a way that I can’t do it for “yesterday.” There’s something happening there.

Gretchen: The analysis of this in English is that “will” and “gonna” are treated like other types of things where you can add these sort of semi-verbs. If I wanted to say, “I can go to Rome,” “I might go to Rome,” “I wanna go to Rome,” “I have to go to Rome,” “I will go to Rome,” “I’m gonna go to Rome” – all of these are the category of “modals,” but we’re not gonna get into the terminology here – all of this category of, “Here’s this additional word that you can add that adds this additional information.” Sometimes, that’s a time-related piece of information. But sometimes that has to do with desires or possibilities or other types of additional meaning. That’s not how English talks about tense. English tense generally is something that’s part of the verb itself, whereas this is this additional word that gets added. It’s less obligatory in the future because it’s a lot more legit to say, “I fly to Rome tomorrow,” and “I will fly to Rome tomorrow,” and “I’m gonna fly to Rome tomorrow.” All of these are pretty good. Whereas, this case of “I’m walking down the street yesterday” is really this very one limited context. With “I fly to Rome tomorrow,” there’s a lot more places where you can use that. You don’t have to do this thing with “will.” You have these other options like “gonna” or just using the non-past form of the verb.

Lauren: There’s something about obligatoriness when it comes to tense.

Gretchen: It kind of reminds me of – remember the episode where we talked about evidentiality and how some languages you have to indicate the source of evidence that you have for something and other languages you can indicate the source of evidence, but you don’t have to?

Lauren: Yeah.

Gretchen: There’s this similar thing going on with tense where, in some contexts, you have to indicate this piece of time information – or in some languages – and in other contexts you don’t have to indicate this time information.

Lauren: For English, it’s a language where evidentiality is completely optional. You can add some words to express a phenomenon. Then tense, especially with the past/present distinction, is obligatory.

Gretchen: Mostly obligatory. I think everything is a continuum, right?

Lauren: Yeah. I definitely am always wary of anyone who has discrete and absolute categories for things because every time you’re like, “It’s obligatory,” you’ll find a context in English like that narrative present where you’re like, “Oh, no! It’s broken my brain.” Whereas, if you take a “Let’s just look at what the language is doing and build up our analysis,” it causes a lot less existential anxiety.

Gretchen: That’s the other thing about looking at what a language is doing is that it’s often useful to look at it internally based on whatever this language does in really unambiguous cases where it’s tense. That’s what we can use as our diagnostic for these more ambiguous cases. If English didn’t have past tense either, then maybe we would say that “will” was a future tense. But because English does this thing with suffixes generally or irregular forms of the verb to be past, then we can say, “Well, ‘will’ is clearly doing that’s different from that and it seems like it makes more sense if we group ‘will’ in with ‘can’ and ‘might’ and ‘should,’ rather than grouping ‘will’ in with the past ‘-ed’ ending.

Lauren: I think that’s fair enough to start with the examples of what we have that are people are very strongly expressing their reliable feelings about the grammar – and work up from there. There’s a quote that says this really pithily, which is, “Languages differ essentially in what they must convey and not in what they may convey,” which is from Roman Jakobson in a 1959 book.

Gretchen: That’s really pithy because it lets us say, “Well, languages can all talk about time or they can all talk about sources of evidence but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they all have tense or they all have evidentiality because those are the grammatical reflexes of those things in the real world.”

Lauren: Just as we talked about English not having grammatical evidentiality, we have languages that don’t have grammatical marking of tense. The thing I find interesting about these examples is when we don’t have something – English speakers are like, “Well, of course we can get by without evidentiality,” and then it’s a bit more of a leap for someone who’s used to speaking a language with grammatical tense imagining speaking a language without one. But if a language must convey something with tense, that’s gonna be very different to being able to talk about time more generally – without it being part of the grammar.

Gretchen: Because even if a language doesn’t have specific things that only do tense stuff, they’re gonna have words like “yesterday” or “tomorrow” or “in the future” or “in the past” or something like that. That’s still gonna let you convey that. It’s similar, again, to doing number on words. We have “dog” and “dogs” in English but we could also just have “one dog” and “two dog” and “many dog” and we would still be able to convey that information even though we wouldn’t have the specific, additional grammatical thing that’s conveying that information.

Lauren: Languages like Vietnamese and Thai and Mandarin and Burmese all don’t have these grammatically obligatory markers. People will, if they need to in context, use words in much the same way in English we talk about tomorrow or later or whatever. They don’t have that same obligatory verb marking.

Gretchen: I think that there’s a Latin-based prejudice that a lot of – especially the European tradition of approaching language which is like, “Well, if it’s not a prefix or a suffix, it’s not grammar.” That’s not what we’re saying because you could have a short little word – Mandarin, for example, has a question particle that you just put in sentences to make them a question. That’s a grammatical feature. English doesn’t have an obligatory extra word to add to questions just to make them questions. That’s a case where you do have something that’s obligatorily grammatical. So, it’s not saying that there aren’t other obligatory grammatical features that you can do even if your language is a bunch of short words rather than fewer, longer words, but it’s, “Is this obligatory?” “Is this something that you have to add to something?”

Lauren: If we had to say “now” in English any time we talked about the present, then that’s as much a choice of grammar because of its obligatoriness not just because it’s something that sticks on the end of a verb.

Gretchen: One interesting example that came up for me recently when it came to languages having tense is Scottish Gaelic, which is a language that I studied briefly when I was in middle school and then I’ve been returning to because they added Scottish Gaelic to Duolingo and, you know, it’s a language. Something that’s interesting about Scottish Gaelic is that it kind of doesn’t really for the most part have a present tense.

Lauren: Ah, interesting. So, you can obviously, once you start thinking about each language has a different way of approaching segmenting time up into grammatical tenses, it can be interesting to look across languages as to how they segment them. Vietnamese doesn’t segment time up into any specific grammatical tenses. And then a language like Scottish Gaelic has – it has a future and a past? Is that what happens?

Gretchen: Well, the thing that makes me hedge it a lot and say, “kind of doesn’t really,” is because the only verb that has a present tense form is “to be.”

Lauren: Okay. That’s a big one.

Gretchen: Right. It’s a really important verb and it does a whole lot of stuff. Then, all of the other verbs have future forms and past forms, and then they also have – and this is where you get a little bit tricky – they also have forms like the sort of de-verbal noun form. If you have a verb like “see,” there’s no just “I see.” That’s not a thing you can say in Scottish Gaelic. Irish, I think, works differently. So, I’m not talking about Irish. I don’t know how Irish works.

Lauren: I’m trying really hard to not respond with “Hm, I see.”

Gretchen: You can say things like, “I am,” in Gaelic but you can’t just say, “I see.” What you want to say instead if you’re talking about the present is “I am seeing.”

Lauren: Because you are using the “be” verb to do the present heavy lifting.

Gretchen: Exactly. You can say, “I am seeing,” “I was seeing,” “I will be seeing,” and this all uses the same form of “seeing,” which is the noun-y form – the same one that you could use for something like “Seeing is great.” Then, you also have separate forms of the verb “to see,” which mean “will see” and “saw.” In the future, you can say, “I will be seeing” or “I will see.” And in the past, you can say, “I saw,” or “I was seeing.” But in the present, all you have is “I’m seeing.” There’s no just “I see.”

Lauren: It’s a bit like the English future in terms of obligatoriness being a slightly squishy concept.

Gretchen: Right. Obligatoriness is slightly different, and this is why. It kind of has a present because “to be” conjugates everywhere in all of the different forms. It’s also weird because “have,” which you might think is also a pretty basic verb, is expressed in Gaelic by saying something is “at” someone. If I say, “I have a cat,” I would say something like, “A cat is at me.” That’s how I say “have.” Again, you can just use “be” to convey “have” because it’s got this idiomatic construction. This was something that confused me when I was first learning Gaelic in middle school because they only taught us the verb “to be.” They taught it to us in a whole bunch of tenses and stuff, and they taught us these forms like “will be seeing” and “was seeing” and “am seeing” – all with the same one form. It was like, “Guys, I just – are you gonna teach us any other verbs at some point rather than just this one ‘seeing’ form? Surely there are more verbs in this language.”

Lauren: You were going into it with your English speaker category expectations.

Gretchen: Right. On the one hand, being an English speaker gave me an advantage because English also does this in a lot of contexts, right? English often says something like, “I am seeing” or “I am eating” or “I am walking down the street,” rather than “I walk down the street” or “I eat” or “I see.” English does this more than a lot of European languages. Some people have proposed that English does this thing because of influence from Scottish Gaelic, and this link has not been proven, so it is probably not actually true. It would be a fun hypothesis if it was true, but it’s not. English does do something similar just not quite as robustly. It was really confusing to me because I was coming from having learned French, where I was given all of these verb forms, and then they were trying to keep it easy for the Gaelic learners and just give us the minimum stuff you need because you really can get very far with only “to be.”

Lauren: We’ve seen some languages with a couple of tense distinctions like English or Scots Gaelic. We’ve seen languages with no tense distinctions. If we go the other way, we can look at languages that have multiple tense distinctions beyond what we see in languages like English. They segment that passage of time up into much smaller categories.

Gretchen: Yes! I love more tenses.

Lauren: Once you see this, you’re like, “We are really underperforming in the tense category department.”

Gretchen: It’s always really exciting to see something you don’t have and you’re like, “Ooo!”

Lauren: The examples I’ve always heard of have come from the area of Papua New Guinea, which just has wonderful levels of language diversity.

Gretchen: Papua New Guinea has, like, a sixth of the languages in the world, right?

Lauren: Yeah.

Gretchen: Like, 1000 languages.

Lauren: Islands and mountains all do great things for linguistic diversity. Tifal is a language of Papua New Guinea in the Ok family. It has at least six tense distinctions. There is a present tense. Then, there is a “yesterday” past, a distant past, and a very remote past. Then, going the other way, there is a near future and a distant future.

Gretchen: Very nice. I like it.

Lauren: These are all distinct suffixes that are added to the verb to indicate the time relative to now of something that you’re talking about.

Gretchen: Again, it’s one of those things where there are ways of saying this in English but they’re not as obligatory or as directly encoded in some sort of obligatory thing. You can always say, “A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.” Or sometimes people make this distinction between “will” and “gonna.” But you don’t have this robust way of distinguishing between these different – you know, remote past and just simple past.

Lauren: If I talk about when I was in school, I’m probably using the distant past rather than the “yesterday” past. Context does a lot of heavy lifting and we often don’t give it enough credit when it comes to things like marking time.

Gretchen: Well, yeah, because you might, in some contexts, talk about when I was in school as the recent past because you’re contrasting that with something that happened 1000 years ago. Then, in other contexts, you might talk about it as the remote past if you’re talking with somebody who graduated last year.

Lauren: A language may have particular grammatical categories but sometimes, when you look at how they’re used, there’re particular conventions. I don’t know specifically for Tifal, but it may be that the very remote past is only used for origins and legends and myths and those kind of things. They’re not for the time that humanity has been living like they are now. There’s multiple things happening here. There’s the tense marking – it’s how it fits with actual time. Then, there are also genre conventions like we talked about with the English narrative past that uses the present.

Gretchen: Right. Again, even if you have a language where there’s a tense that indicates this myth and legend type past, it’s like how in English you use “once upon a time” to signal that something’s a fairy tale, but you can also use “once upon a time” to signal that you’re talking about something as if it’s a fairy tale. When you say, “Once upon a time, these two linguists got together and started a podcast,” this doesn’t mean that it’s a myth, but it’s we’re talking about Lingthusiasm’s origin story as if it were a myth using the myth frame even though, yes, very clearly this happened in a fathomable past where we were actually there and it’s not like Cinderella where it’s a fairy tale story.

Lauren: Context and genre are really important when we’re thinking about how language is used as well as the abstracted structure of it.

Gretchen: I think it’s neat to emphasise how these different types of tenses can be subverted so that there’s a canonical use and then there’s a playful use where you could put something as if it’s in that space as well. We talk about tense as “It’s time,” but it’s not always, strictly speaking, “time.” Another thing that comes up a lot when you talk about tense is other relationships that people could have to time. Sometimes, you talk about something as being an ongoing thing, or you talk about something as happening at one discrete point, or you talk about certain attitudes that you have towards whether something is happening or not. Those are generally lumped into different categories like mood and aspect, which can relate to tense but aren’t exactly the same thing as tense. I think we have to save those for another episode.

Lauren: We’ve already talked about evidentiality, which is often lumped into those categories. We’re talking about tense now. We’ve still got aspect and modality to look forward to.

Gretchen: Stay tuned for more things about how we think about time. But this one is just about where it is with respect to the personal timeline.

Lauren: Once you start looking at the variation, and you’re like, “Oh, I would like three past tense distinctions.” Another thing that would be very nifty is a grammatical tense that is specifically for the current day. If we want to give it a Latinate category, the hodiernal tense, from Latin for “today.” It’s always so much fancier when you say it in Latin, for real.

Gretchen: I know! It’s really fun. I always try to not get too bugged down on the terminology, but then sometimes learning that there’s actually a fancy terminological word for something is the most delightful part. You can have a hodiernal tense.

Lauren: Hodiernal tense is in Mwera, which is a Bantu language of Tanzania. And apparently, Gretchen, the passé composé in French in the 17th Century was possibly used as hodiernal.

Gretchen: Oh, that’s neat. So, passé composé in French, if you were to literally translate into English, it’s like putting “have” before all of your past verbs. Things like, “I have written,” “I have gone,” “I have seen,” “I have walked,” except it’s used in French as a general past. You would say something like, “I have walked,” when in English you would say, “I walked.” There is this other form in French that’s equivalent to “I walked” which is only used in literature now. It’s not used in ordinary conversations or even in casual writing. It’s one of those cases where something starts out as this restricted, casual, only “today” or something tense, and then it gets gradually expanded into being used as a default, unmarked past tense. Then, the other one becomes literary.

Lauren: Also a good reminder that the role of tenses aren’t fixed and static forever. Language is always changing, and evolving, and maybe one day English will have something we can call a definite grammatical future just in the way that French, for a brief period in the 17th Century, may have had hodiernal tense for a while.

Gretchen: That is neat. Certain words that start out as being very concrete can achieve this level of grammaticalisation. This is a thing that I really enjoy about grammaticalisation because when words become used grammatically, they often also get shorter. The original form, the concrete one, can’t necessarily shorten the same way as the grammatical one. Here’s an example – you can’t say, “I’m gonna the airport.”

Lauren: No. That does not sit with me.

Gretchen: You can say, “I’m gonna go to the airport.”

Lauren: Yes. That’s fine.

Gretchen: You think of “going to” and “gonna” as being equivalent to each other. They kind of are, but not in the literal sense. If I’m like, “I’m gonna the airport,” uhhhh... something’s broken – doesn’t work. Whereas, you can say, “I’m gonna go to the airport,” “I’m gonna fly to Rome,” or something like this, but you can’t do it in that bit. The same with “will,” which starts out meaning something like “want” or “wish” before it went to future.

Lauren: As in, like, a legal will?

Gretchen: Yeah. Exactly.

Lauren: Like, a thing that you write. Yeah.

Gretchen: But when it refers to the future, it can get shorted into “-ll,” as in “I’ll” or “you’ll” or something like this. But you can’t have “my last’ll and testament.”

Lauren: I think my brain got broken by trying to think of – that does not work, no.

Gretchen: No. It just doesn’t work. Even though “will” starts out as meaning “want” or “wish,” this “-ll” bit, that can only be used in a tense sort of way. Maybe that’s where – if we develop a future tense in English – that’s where it will develop. That would be interesting because that would be putting future tense on “I” and “you” and other pronouns rather than putting it on the verb like we currently do.

Lauren: There is definitely cases where we have tense being on things other than the verb in other languages. English wouldn’t be the first language to do this. But when you’re used to thinking about tense as being a feature of the verb and being marked somewhere very close to the verb, it is definitely – English wouldn’t be the first language to do this. One example of a language that can do this is Kaiadilt, which is an Australian language. If you wanted to have a difference between the sentence, “I will go to the beach” and “I went to the beach,” you mark it with a suffix on the noun “beach.”

Gretchen: So, “I go to the present beach,” “I go to the future beach,” “I go to the former beach”?

Lauren: Yes.

Gretchen: I mean, I guess you can do this in some restricted contexts in English. You can say, “My former teacher” or “the late Mr. So-and-So,” or “This is an ex-parrot,” and that can refer to something that is no longer whatever the thing is.

Lauren: These are suffixes that go onto the noun in the way that we think of tense suffixes going onto a verb.

Gretchen: Right. But these are specifically talking about – it’s not that it’s not a beach anymore.

Lauren: No. It is still very much an existing, ongoingly, beach.

Gretchen: That’s interesting. It’s just that I’m not there anymore. Okay. Sometimes, we talk about language being constrained by the biological laws of human anatomy. There’re certain sounds we can make, there’re certain sounds we can’t make. There’re certain ways we can configure our hands. There’re certain ways we can’t configure our hands. Sometimes, we talk about language as being constrained by the fact basically all of its speakers of human languages are on this pale blue dot that’s revolving around the sun, and we have words for days and years because we all share this as part of the human experience. I think maybe another element of this is talking about languages being constrained by physics. We don’t have any natural human languages that have words for the tenses involved in time travel because time travel, so far, is not a thing, so none of the languages have had to develop them. But, in theory, this could happen.

Lauren: This would be very difficult to approach as an English speaker because, as we’ve demonstrated in this episode, one of the ways we test the obligatoriness and the grammaticality of tense as opposed to talking about time is to check people’s intuitions because if something’s obligatory, then removing it or changing it should change people’s intuitions. If you’re talking about using past tense, we expect that events that are bounded by the past can’t be interacted with in the same way as events that will happen in the future. We use that as part of our intuition building. Can you imagine, Gretchen, how much linguistic theory would be broken if suddenly a whole bunch of sentences could be valid because people could time travel?

Gretchen: Right. So, saying something like, “I was there tomorrow” or “I will be there yesterday” – suddenly, maybe you need to be able to do this because you’ve time travelled.

Lauren: The Cambridge Grammar of English is already big enough, and this is my main argument against time travel.

Gretchen: It’s already, like, 2000 pages, and if it’s time travel, we’d need to double the size of the tense chapter.

Lauren: It’s gonna be a lot of work. It could be fun though.

Gretchen: I think it could keep linguists employed for a long time figuring out how to do this.

[Music]

Lauren: For more Lingthusiasm, and links to all the things mentioned in this episode, go to lingthusiasm.com. You can listen to us on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, SoundCloud, or wherever else you get your podcasts. You can follow @lingthusiasm on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Tumblr. You can get IPA scarves, IPA ties, and other Lingthusiasm merch at lingthusiasm.com/merch. I tweet and blog as Superlinguo.

Gretchen: I can be found as @GretchenAMcC on Twitter, my blog is AllThingsLinguistic.com, and my book about internet language is called Because Internet. To listen to bonus episodes, join our Discord chatroom, and help keep the show ad-free, go to patreon.com/lingthusiasm or follow the links from our website. Recent bonus topics include a special neural net generated episode of Lingthusiasm – where we read out the results of the neural net – the future of English, and onomatopoeia. Can’t afford to pledge? That’s okay, too. We also really appreciate it if you can recommend Lingthusiasm to anyone who needs a little more linguistics in their life.

Lauren: Lingthusiasm is created and produced by Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne. Our senior producer is Claire Gawne, our editorial producer is Sarah Dopierala, and our music is Ancient City by The Triangles.

Gretchen: Stay lingthusiastic!

[Music]

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

[dentalhoney]

In Regards To ThistleClan

DISCLAIMER: THIS POST IS NOT MEANT IN AGGRESSION. I DO NOT CONDONE THE HARASSMENT OF THOSE INVOLVED. IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS, ASK. 

So, what prompted my posting this? Recently, most of the players who made up ThistleClan ( which I was a part of ) in @land-ofthe-lost, were banned without much preface for it. However, we were informed of what was being told overall, a story of which spun events very differently than how they were. Now, could there have been misunderstandings? Absolutely! I believe that’s what happened! However, things have been handled very poorly.

It seems that some of us were given messages from a bot explaining why we were banned. Some of which explanations which didn’t make all that much sense whatsoever. But, some of us didn’t receive a message at all. A much-beloved part of our RP experience was just...gone...in a flash. In my opinion, it’s kind of wrong anyways that they had a bot send these things.

*To The Mods: Since I am @'ing your RP, I'll address you directly as well.  I'm making this post on behalf of my fellow players. Me, personally, I am willing to speak to you all privately. I'd rather have a discussion. I want to reiterate that this isn't an attack on you. But the way this was handled has truly hurt a lot of us. However, we are sorry that in all of this you were hurt as well. It was never our intention, unfortunately communication was poor. But, we can't exactly just sit by and see an untrue story spun about us. The rest will be under the cut, this is a long post.

Now, what did the moderation team say was the reason for the ban to others? 

This is from the post given an explanation to non-banned members:   “As of today, we have banned the majority of ThistleClan after months of harassment and being made aware of a separate server in which complaints about the server were discussed but never brought to the moderation team. When we tried to work with these members we were met with hostility and aggression, being called passive aggressive and attacked for any moderation we did.”

Let’s address that statement!

Was there a chat made to discuss issues within the server?

Yes, absolutely! We as a clan had many troubles with how moderation handled a lot of the members of ThistleClan. We had very active members leave the server entirely because of their discomforts, and a number contemplating the same action. But, we didn’t want it to come to that. So, as a collective, we made this server so we could all discuss our grievances with the moderation team. We wanted our thoughts to be collected and presented by a more neutral mediator, instead of a bunch of disgruntled ThistleClanners going at the mod team.

It should also be mentioned: Some of the individuals who were banned were not involved in this server discussing the issues whatsoever. So, this was not a ban that was reserved only to those involved with this discussion server.

So, we never brought the issues to the mod team?

False. Our chosen mediator, Em ( who played Marigoldstar ), brought these thoughts and worries to one of the mods and would relay their responses to us so we could respond and give our thoughts. These discussions seemed to go pretty well. After the discussions were had, ThistleClan began to feel normal and active again.

What were the issues Thistleclanners had with the mods?

Overall, many ThistleClanners felt ignored or brushed aside. I, for example, felt like it was pulling teeth to get any of my desired plots for my characters moved forward. I had to wait for permission on an event and time from the mods, which is fine, except I felt frequently left in the dark. I didn’t hear from moderation for what felt like ages and did often ask them again about matters. I wound up feeling ignored, and undesired within the RP. Like my plots that I felt were important didn’t matter. It was like being in limbo.

 Some players also felt like mods were passive aggressive or condescending to them. There were times when players would joke, and be shut down immediately despite mods making similar jokes. Additionally, players felt like their recommendations were ignored when it came to server suggestions and the like. 

 Players felt their characters were micromanaged and power-played by the moderators. One of our players was literally told by a mod that they couldn’t make a certain choice because it was out of character….for their own character….the character they made and played. It didn’t make much sense and just felt as though the mods were trying to push for something that favored their characters, rather than allowing the plot of our clan progress naturally.

 In the overall environment that brewed from this, most of us were uncomfortable approaching the mods. We felt we had to walk on eggshells, and some of us even stopped feeling comfortable talking in the general chat. We were happy within our own clan chats, but, uneasy most other places.

Of course, the blame of how things went isn’t entirely on the mod team. Despite our best efforts, communication fell through in a lot of areas. Because we couldn’t fully recover from things with the tension initially, some things just remained awkward. Sure, we should have communicated better. But up until this event, when we were banned? We generally thought things had been worked out. We thought that the discussions we had of our problems had gotten through. Things seemed to have gotten better. But, I guess not.

I want to point out, that to my personal knowledge nobody in ThistleClan was privately or collectively spoken to about this issue before it happened. It took us all for a shock. I was absolutely broken to find out what had happened, and so were many of us. Many of us had invested nearly a year into this RP. I had been RPing in it since July of 2018, and now...it’s all for naught.

I wish things had gone better, but they didn’t.

*ADDENDUM:

An additional issue that may need to be addressed is some of the dark nature of plots in ThistleClan. Yes, our clan was considered “edgy”. We had many dark and heavy things happen within the clan, and that is not denied. But, these things were done with permission. Many of the gruesome events were even given by mods. ( Including a fox maiming multiple warriors, and a hawk maiming an apprentice. ) There were things that needed to be worked on, namely that individuals like myself needed to take more care to tag some content. However, this content was almost always discussed prior. And when it was brought up that mistakes in tagging were made, we apologized and tried to correct the behavior.

That is all.

[ignoctbigbang]

Update: Writer Synopses

Synopses for artist claims are due on September 14th!

The synopsis should include a detailed summary of the plot of your fic. It is up to you whether to include spoilers. Including spoilers in the summary is strongly suggested. However, participants may choose at their own discretion IF that specific plot point does not require any of the mandatory or individually disclosed tags.

For example: If a spoiler in your story is that Noctis and Ignis decide to join a BDSM club and engage in those activities, you must include this in your summary and tags.

If you tagged your story with “Discrimination”, you must include the plot point that relates to this in your summary.

If a spoiler is that Ignis turns outs of Tenebraen descent, you do not have to include it.

Once you are put in contact with your partner, please disclose all plot twists and spoilers to them as soon as possible!

Please consider the following while putting together your synopsis:

Long form summaries may be hard for some to read, whether it be due to mobile view or difficulty following large blocks of text. 

If your outline is long form, consider breaking the paragraphs up per plot point or converting to a bullet list. (This is not required, but something to keep in mind!)

Tagging

You will be asked to select from a range of tags, as well as add your own where applicable. 

If you have any questions about what you should tag outside of the premade list, please contact the moderator via DM or email. The general advice is if you would tag it on AO3, tag it for this event!

The pre-made tag list is as follows; you MUST select these tags if they are applicable to your story:

Explicit sexual content

BDSM

Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics

Rape/Non-con

Gore, excessive or gratuitous violence

Non-canon character death

No warnings apply

You will also be asked if your story is NSFW. For this event NSFW is defined as explicit sexual content, violence exceeding FFXV canon-typical content. If your story contains any or multiple of these themes, please select YES.

Side Ships

There will be space for you to include any side ships included in your fic. Please remember that ships that include Ignis or Noctis are not permitted in The Ignoct Big Bang!

---

The Ignoct Big Bang Discord

Many participants have already joined the Discord server. It's been a positive resource for tossing around ideas, receiving feedback and writing with other participants in timed word-sprints! A recent feature added is project tracking, where participants can use a bot to keep track of their word count.

Participants who have not yet joined are welcome to do so at any time! You can find an invitation link in your email or send a private message to receive a new one. This chat is an optional resource, so if you don't want to join, that's okay!

---

Artist Sign Ups

Artist sign ups will be starting September 1st! Please look for a separate post coming soon.

[t-baba]

10 Best PHP Instagram Scripts and Bots in 2020

Are you looking to save us time and use Instagram more efficiently and effectively? Incorporating Instagram scripts and widgets is the easiest way to automate routine functions, download images and videos from Instagram, and do tasks like creating e-postcards from Instagram photos. Instagram bots help build and engage with followers.

Do You Need an Instagram Script or Bot?

Would you answer “yes” to any one of these questions?

Do you find it time-consuming juggling between Instagram, Facebook & Twitter?

Do you find it difficult in tracking when you need to put out content or if you’ve already put content out?

Do you hate logging in and out of different platforms to post for different clients?

Do you hate having to post on Instagram manually?

Would you like an easy tool to help engage with your followers?

CodeCanyon offers different types of Instagram scripts and bots, ranging from automation tools, to downloaders. 

The Best PHP Instagram Scripts & Bots on CodeCanyon

CodeCanyon offers over 300 PHP high-quality social media scripts and bots, which you can purchase and use forever with free updates.

Some of the benefits of these PHP scripts and bots include:

automatic image resizing

autopost and Instagram post scheduling

manage multiple social networks

multiple image uploads

get insights for published posts and reply to comments

autoreply based on  phrases or words

payment gateways integrated

Here are some of the best selling PHP scripts and bots on CodeCanyon.

Automation Tools and Bots

1. Stackposts Social Marketing Tool

Stackposts is a social media marketing tool that helps you to easily auto post, schedule Instagram posts along with Facebook, Twitter, and much more! It also can manage multiple social networks, schedule posts, increase your traffic, and engage your audiences. Just upload the media you want to post, type up your caption, and use the handy calendar to decide when you’d like your post to go out.

Features include but not limited to:

multiple social networks

automatic media resize  to match Instagram’s aspect ratios 

scheduling and automation

responsibly responsive

analytics performance of your posts

file manager

subscription module

multi-language and automatic timezone

2. Midrub

Midrub lets you schedule posts for selected dates within seconds. It also helps you obtain valuable insights such as the most popular hashtags and creates ads based on that information. 

You can also obtain insights for published posts,  moderate and reply to comments for connected accounts. It also lets you view the history of your content, such as scheduled, drafts, and published posts. If you wish to generate reports for published posts, you can do that as well.

Midrub also provides the following Instagram bots:

Instavy–this bot allows you to find new friends on Instagram.

Inlike– this bot allows you to find new photos on Instagram based on hashtags.

Dmitas–this bot that allows you to follow back all your new followers and send a private message. 

3. Warbler

Warbler is the best Instagram script to save time over posting content manually. Warbler allows you to schedule and automatically post your photos on specified times of the day. It also helps in collecting valuable information about posts likes, shares, etc.

Other features include:

very easy to install

content scheduling

manage unlimited accounts and clients

queue content without scheduling

post multiple photos a once

4. DM Pilot

DM Pilot is an automation tool and bot that lets you publish or schedule any content from your browser. DM Pilot also offers a web-based direct messenger where you can chat with your customers, send messages, attachments, posts, stories, and emoji's all form the browser.

Some notable features of this script include:

unlimited Instagram accounts 

automatically welcomes followers by sending a warm welcome message

automatically detect un-follows

integration with Paypal and Stripe payments

supports stories, gallery video posts

acontrol panel that shows a full summary of your accounts, messages, and Instagram statistics

5. Social Bot

Social Bot is a great Instagram and Twitter bot script for increasing your followers and popularity. This bot will create activity on your account, interacting with other users, and liking and commenting on pictures. The script is easy to set up and can start to increase the number of your followers right away.

easy to use, easy to configure

works with multiple accounts at the same time

two-factor authentication enabled

auto detect when you are blocked by Instagram, and waits a few hours before the next action

Instagram Downloader Scripts

6. Instagram Downloader Script

Even with permission from the copyright holder, downloading images from Instagram is neither easy nor straightforward—that is, until Instagram Downloader Script arrived on the scene. 

With one click, this simple, lightweight script allows you to download photos and videos to your hard drive for use in an online exhibition, a feature on a website, or for whatever other purposes you’ve gained permission to use the image.

7. Instagram Image and Video Downloader

Imagine you are on the Instagram feed, and a photo or video captures your attention, and you want to save the video or photo or offline. How do you do that? 

With this downloader script, you don't even need to use the Instagram API to download photos or videos. Just install the script and it will provide a download button and a share option after download.

8. All Social Media Video Downloader

All Social Media Photo & Video Downloader allows you to download photos and videos on Instagram as well as other supported video platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. It is simple to use and does not require an API or database. It also supports multiple languages, and you can add or remove any language through the panel.

Other features include:

Google Analytics integration

social media sharing

language editing

Other Instagram Scripts

9  BioLink

Instagram allows only one link from your Instagram account, which can be very frustrating if you want to take advantage of a large following to promote different services you offer or if you're going to share content on several sites. 

BioLink provides a workaround to this problem. Users register and create an account on your website—powered by the BioLink script—where they can add as many links to relevant sites as they want. They can then add their custom profile URL from this site to their Instagram bio, guaranteeing that when a visitor clicks on the link, they will be guided to the webpage containing multiple links.

BioLink also allows you to get day to day analytics of your posts and integrates with Google Analytics.

10. phpAnalyzer

phpAnalyzer is a social tracking tool that gives you the ability to track Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook accounts. It then generates professional audits such as day by day tracking, engagement rates, top posts, hashtags, mentions, and many more. It also comes integrated with a payment system where users can purchase Instagram audits.

It also can make future projections based on previous daily averages!

Other features include:

an Instagram tracker that lets you track your followers, following and upload counts

email reports

responsive design

Stripe and Paypal payments

Free WordPress Instagram Plugins

The premium PHP scripts above offer great features and the most flexibility, but you can also take advantage of free WordPress plugins and widgets for Instagram if you are on a budget.

1. Blog2Social 

Blog2Social can auto-post, cross-promote, schedule, and automatically share your blog posts to Instagram and other social networks.

It automatically creates posts for your content and auto-posts at the best times hence saving time and pain of manual sharing.

2. NextScripts: Social Networks Auto-Poster

NextScripts automatically publishes posts from your WordPress blog to your Instagram account. The process is automated; write a new post, and it will be published to the configured social network.  

3. WP Social Post and Widget

WP Instagram is a simple yet effective plugin and widget that lets you post from WordPress to Instagram as well as display your Instagram feed on your WordPress site. You can manage multiple Instagram accounts at once and post multiple photos or products at once.

You can also post videos as well. It also does auto-resizing for you hence ensuring your photos and videos are optimized for Instagram lets you post video posts and 

Wrapping Up

Managing social media accounts is not an easy task, But with these Instagram PHP scripts, all the posting, tracking, and managing are done automatically. If you are still on edge, here are some of the tasks they can do and help you save time.

liking and commenting on your Instagram account.

hiding or deleting unwanted comments

auto-post feature automatically adds photos, story photos, videos in your account feed.

some have payment gateways integrated; hence followers or users from Instagram can purchase products or services

helps you send automatic messages to your followers

The Best PHP Scripts on CodeCanyon

Explore thousands of the best and most useful PHP scripts ever created on CodeCanyon. With a low-cost one time payment, you can purchase these high-quality WordPress themes and improve your website experience for you and your visitors.

Here are a few of the best-selling and up-and-coming PHP scripts available on CodeCanyon for 2020.

PHP

14 Best PHP Event Calendar and Booking Scripts

Kyle Sloka-Frey

PHP

10 Best PHP URL Shortener Scripts

Monty Shokeen

PHP

12 Best Contact Form PHP Scripts for 2020

Esther Vaati

PHP

Comparing the 5 Best PHP Form Builders

Nona Blackman

PHP

Create Beautiful Forms With PHP Form Builder

Ashraff Hathibelagal

by Esther Vaati via Envato Tuts+ Code https://ift.tt/2XyhbhJ

[webbygraphic001]

Transform Your Design with Unified UX

Unless you’ve been hiding under a tinfoil hat for the last few years, you probably know that UX and UI are not the same thing because “UX is more ergonomic”, or some such nonsense. But what about the unified part? Normally speaking, I’ve got very little patience for hipster acronyms and nit-picking, but actually it turns out there’s more to this than fake specs and chai latte.

Imagine you’re standing outside two different coffee shops. They both sell pretty much the same coffee at pretty much the same price. How do you choose? Well I’ll bet you a unicorn frappe it’s not one specific thing that sways you, more a general “feeling” that “it’s better”. And you know what? That’s UX.

It’s probably time to rethink everything

It’s probably time to rethink everything. Experience has become much more important to users than product, and from a design perspective, this puts software in pretty much the same space as coffee shops.

For the service industry, each user-brand interaction is a touchpoint. It’s not important where or how that interaction happens: seeing the shop, opening the door, speaking to someone at the counter, whatever. The aim is to create a feeling of familiarity, ease and comfort for the target user.

Now imagine scaling that experience. Say you wanted to take your coffee shop into a mobile vending unit. How can you make sure that your users get the same feeling of comfort and familiarity that they had in the high street? That’s Unified UX.

The Broader Context

Unified UX is much more than a DLS or style guide. In fact, you’d be better off thinking about tools like Atlassian and Sketch as…well, tools, to help you achieve the broader aim of unity.

It’s more than responsive design and digital ecosystem too. If you’re still thinking in terms of “mobile”, “tablet” and “desktop” configurations, you’d do well to heed the words of design guru Cameron Moll who urges us to recognise that, for today’s users:

The best interface is the one within reach

Take the Galaxy Fold, for example: Phone, tablet, phablet or plain old monstrous? What about Echo, Dot and Alexa with no screen at all? Or Apple Watch? As Cameron points out in the same talk, the concept of “TV” has also become pretty loose. Do we mean the content, or the device it’s viewed on? Is “mobile” a noun, a verb or an adjective? How is a native app different from a mobile browser experience?

The point is, from a unified UX perspective, it doesn’t matter. The job of the UX team is to create that “brand feeling” across all platforms and in all facets of the design.

Take a look at Southwest Airlines’ “Virtual Booking Desk” from — wait for it — 1998; laugh all you want, but remember that back then, most people were completely new to the internet. Seeing a familiar scene gave users a sense of confidence, which is (still) integral to the Southwest brand.

What Goes in to Unified UX?

Everything!

It starts with deep awareness of the needs, expectations and current experience of the user. Watch people using your stuff. Talk to them afterwards about what it felt like. You’ll definitely learn something. If it’s a new project, do focus groups, then do some more. Co-create if you can.

From there, develop a design principles framework. The key concerns of your user group should shine through in every single aspect of their brand experience.

Broadly, there are two key concepts to unify:

Form and Function – Yes, you need both!

Data Symmetry – Data should follow users.

Here are some questions to consider:

Available Media

How do your users want to interact with the brand?

Android/iOS app;

Voice Interface;

Live Chat;

Bot;

SMS integration (very popular in the US);

Telephone/VOIP;

Video;

Print Media;

Face to Face.

A website doesn’t work for everyone!

Look and Feel

Does your framework include:

color;

shape;

imagery;

story;

art direction;

icons?

Do your choices work everywhere? How do you balance unity of UX and compatibility? How do you merge native OS elements with brand-specific ones?

Layout

Guide users to the content they’re looking for. Will their needs change across:

platform;

device;

time;

user journey?

How do you balance usability and unity of UX on small screens?

Interaction

Are some features device specific?

Camera;

Location Services;

Accelerometer;

Compass.

If so, is this what users want? How will interactive behavior transfer?

Responsive Behaviour

Remember the device continuum – it’s usually best to think in terms of

small;

smallish;

biggish;

big.

(Not specific devices.)

Tone

Important for:

Written copy;

Voice Interface;

Phone Help;

Face to Face;

Video;

Text or Automated Chat.

Does the tone need to change in certain situations:

errors;

call to action;

feedback/complaints;

specific user groups?

Are you using dated words like “click” when “tap” would be a better choice?

Continuation

If the user starts an interaction on one device and transfers to another, does their data follow them? If shopping cart items, elapsed time, favourites etc are consistent across interfaces, you’re doing it right!

Single Sign-On is one of those features that’s bound to make your users smile. With this in mind, are your protocols up to scratch? If you’ve got a native app, you need LDAP or similar, for example. Don’t try and use cookies! Is the backend architecture able to handle the load?

Development Environment

As you probably see by now, unified UX isn’t something you can do by yourself. The better organised your resource repository, the easier it will be to onboard new team members and maintain consistency. Consider:

Toolsets;

Documentation;

Coding and File Naming Conventions;

Standard Elements Repo.

Upgrades and Integration

How will you update legacy material and add new elements as the design evolves?

Who’s Doing it Well?

Yes, unified UX can be a pretty large and expensive undertaking, and even the giants still get it wrong. That said, here are some nice little highlights from a few unexpected places:

Spotify

No surprises here in terms of the company’s size, and sure, their UX is (arguably) pretty slick no matter where you find it. But what really caught my eye today is their commitment to their backend and support for third party developers.

This gives Spotify users enormous scope to enjoy a highly integrated, reliable and ever-expanding ecosystem that always feels the same.

Mailchimp

Not only do they have great cross device, cross platform consistency, their famously chirpy tone and loveable mascot are instantly relatable. What’s even cooler is that, when something goes wrong, the tone subtly changes.

This isn’t surprising because they have a really extensive style guide for new writers.

Linguee

Primarily a web-based translation application, their iOS app is a real favourite of mine. It not only offers dictionary-style definitions, but use-in-context translations as well, which really helps to avoid the classic google translate failures. It’s understandable at a glance on both small and large screens… and it’s free!

Good evidence that simplicity and functionality often win out.

Conclusion – Why Bother?!

Well, in a nutshell, because it’s what your users want. Yes, to really nail a unified experience is a big undertaking, particularly if you’re coming into an old project and dealing with legacy code, but the fact is, it’s the future.

The range of available devices is growing rapidly, and users want whichever one is closest. At the same time, we’re becoming more and more sensitive to experience, and less tolerant of inconsistency or nuisance. Smaller companies must find ways to provide the kind of unified experience that customers expect, or face being swallowed by giants.

As independent developers, it’s in our interests, and within our ability, to find ways to make UX unified.

  Featured image via DepositPhotos.

Source from Webdesigner Depot https://ift.tt/2XL62rZ from Blogger https://ift.tt/2OmftLn

[fortnitehack4579-blog]

Exactly how To Save Dollars with Fortnite Free V Bucks?

What Is Fortnite Then The Digital Currency V

Fortnite is a house sandbox survival video game developed by Citizens May Journey with Epic Games. This is a freshly discovered space in a person from the Epic Games forums - it seems a number of Fortnite "movie" cases were actually damaged or corrupted. According to Marksman, selling Fortnite codes is a safer choice than selling broken-into accounts, although the accounts might be more beneficial (one seller I converse with was selling an bill with few skins for $900). Participants can heal stolen story in contacting Epic Games' leg with adjusting their information. The regulations are immaterial.

The Fortnite World Cup Online tournaments get started in April 13 and will run every week for twenty weeks around every place. The semi-finals session takes place on the Saturday and is three times long, with a 10 match limit. If you place in the top 3000 players, you'll be able to take cut from the closing by Saturday. Fortnite Week 1 Problems of the Period 8 Battle State happen now, like go to all Pirate Camps record with giant face locations. Clear at least some on the several problems to gain 5,000XP. This set was generated on Feb 28, 2019.

These virtual coins can be purchased on the public Fortnite store as well as vendors including Microsoft and COMPETITION. Still, with 1,000 coins costing roughly $10, there is a market for discounted coins which are eagerly took in place beside persons. Now this is a very indirect problem I have asked. Simply because Fortnite is simply a single kind of competition so most games could really understand Fortnites model could they? Or could they? I think they can. That clearly requests to online games, particularly activities like Name of Payment and FIFA.

Fortnite is control without V-Bucks, vbucks.codes presented me with countless total of v-bucks, to enjoy all of Roblox. While there is a copyright struggle against the game, it now appears Fortnite is sound, for now. Bloomberg records that PUBG Corp. delivered "a note of drawback" to Epic Games lawyers by Saturday, and that the circumstances is right now met. While that rests unclear just how much cash criminals have gotten to make through Fortnite, over $250,000 were received in Fortnite articles in eBay in a two-month period last year. Think from Sixgill also present an increase in the number of mentions from the competition on the black confusion, with point link with the game's revenue.

This swagbucks link will allow that you get a free 3$ importance of positions when you earn only 3$ worth. It will allow you to get at least the nice stuff in fortnite. Squad up with fortnite v bucks your friends and get a Xbox One X 1TB console, Xbox wireless controller, Fortnite Battle Royal, Legendary Eon cosmetic set, with 2,000 V-Bucks. How For Free V Dollars In Fortnite? Here is really the dilemma that Suddenly being augmented through the many Fortnite Game Players. The primary purpose is because; with V Bucks, it is possible to readily access most from the items in Fortnite game.

Part of Fortnite's growth to authority has no doubt been their cross-platform availability, with everyday mobile gamers on the move able to get involved with great bedroom gamers in equal footing ( Sony was hesitant , but cross-play functionality has lately been helped for PS4 players ). Most from the FORTNITE V BUCKS GENERATOR websites out there are try to assure people to somehow their developers managed to hack into the FORTNITE Database, and thus they can easily acquire the unlimited free v-bucks in Combat Royale game.

Figure 1: Data demonstrates the estimated revenue of Fortnite compared to PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds between August 2017 — June 2018, based on the Edison Trends dataset. While you can't directly gift V-Bucks to another person, you have a several options to help them get their Fortnite fix: purchase them a gift license for the software of choice, or buy a bundle with limited information.

VBUCKS - Relax, It's Play Time

Once the recording starts, you'll see a preview in the upper-right area regarding your game (which you can minimise, if you want). This survey window enables people suddenly toggle the microphone and webcam happening then sour, and you can also click on the "chat" connect to witness exactly what everyone is claim around your terrible Fortnite death streak. If you're question what items come in the Fortnite shop today, about the day to you're looking at that, you can control onto your Fortnite Battle Royale shop items guide So be updating that web site every generation, to suggest all the make new things to Epic gets to the Fortnite store.

If you want help with receiving the fortnite exchange in xbox living or playstation or microsoft marketplace then talk about the blog. If you cannot see and struggling to download fortnite game then write to us right now to get bear on the generator. V-Bucks are the most popular in-game get for Fortnite players, finishing up 83% of things bought and 88% of committing. While different V-Bucks amounts are intended for hold, the sole most popular Fortnite thing is 1,000 V-Bucks for $9.99, accounts for 53% of articles purchased and 33% of use.

Credit for enjoying the Fortnite: Battle Royale & Fortnite: Save The planet videos! Want much more? I post daily Fortnite videos or anything interesting for Fortnite Battle Royale. Fortnite's primary also much less popular horde mode offers daily login bonuses, daily obstacles, and prizes for Storm Shield Defense missions. They become bright and relaxed ways to get a small sum of currency each day, although you'll should actually acquire the form.

Being the best at Fortnite Battle Royale is no simple accomplishment, and there's no reliable way to achieve a Win Royale every time. Yet, while we can't guarantee you'll end from the best five whenever you enjoy, the point to performing Fortnite Battle Royale should help you out-survive your peers often than not. That important to learn where chests are placed in Fortnite - Battle Royale. That gives you the immense advantage. You can remember every individual spot but the easier approach is to discover them on this effort.

All the Fortnite Battle Royale tips you need, plus Fortnite Android info, free V Bucks, and Fortnite Server status updates. Fortnite is the best battle royale video competition of 2018. PUBG is a similar game, although it is quality is much less than Fortnite's. The essential subject is whether the parties used in Fortnite emotes are copyrightable material kept under US law. If not, then Epic Games' use of the parties is not copyright infringement, and in-game purchase of the particular parties can continue unfettered.

The Secrets To VBUCKS

More just: Playing "Fortnite" is open, but progressing through the game's loot-unlock system is not. While people follow now to the interior Fortnite game free v-bucks no individual verification you will be presented rotating missions in the daily Quest machine. Once you have finished each one, you'll receive the free V-bucks and you will be capable of spend them about things to the conflict Royale mode.

So these were some of the best ways that may be used to obtain free v challenges in fortnite game without using any real income. Fortnite Battle Royale is an online multiplayer survival shooter developed by Epic Games , in which 100 players fight to be the last part stance with activity lasting less than thirty seconds. It is a free game using some mechanics from the first Fortnite, a success sandbox game, and many aspects on the battle royale” variety of matches.

Your bill confidence is our top priority! Keep the account in enabling 2FA. As a compensate for defending the account, you'll uncover the Boogiedown Emote in Fortnite Battle Royale. It's unclear at this time the way the Buried Treasure item will work, however. It'd make sense if the item somehow exposed a few, powerful tool hidden somewhere around the map—but most Fortnite fans don't know what to expect quite yet.

So that's everything you need to know by finding stuck in Fortnite and Fortnite Battle Royale. We'll see anyone inside channels. In reply , Epic group member darkveil” said, Yes!” The plan is in place but it is theoretically a little difficult,” according to the comment. Epic wants to give mini-BR” competition in Creative where users can configure the Tornado, use the bus stop feature, and other events in the primary Fortnite battle royale island.

To get Fortnite on a PC or Mac, you'll call for a good Epic Games account. Unfortunately, there doesn't look like a simple way to stop childen by acquiring items by the credit, when they see the password, though we've asked Epic Games and will update this article when we consider back. The best Instant Sound Options in the best soundboard for Fortnite. Use it in Reception, with Activity or After Death! Create your best moments in participating online.

Flamemaster”, a tenth grader, says they are, Annoying, obnoxious, toxic, and infuriating.” What is now wrong? Of course, every activity say its drawbacks, then I live not looking to demonstrate how Fortnite is a dangerous game, only fair how many people who show that have ruined what might have been a decent game. You will receive an e-mail alert if the estimate of Fortnite - 10,000 (+3,500 Bonus) V-Bucks will drop.

Fortnite Battle Royale happens immediately offered in Android and IOS stores on free of charge. This great activity was constructed and put out by ‘Epic Games' company. The constraints to function this activity are large, recommended to use flagship way as the game counts on weight whole planet road. Through us you are able to walk free Fortnite V Bucks without completing any annoying surveys before getting yourself barred in the game. Some Fortnite hacks include illicit bots that can be dangerous. Instead over the website we deal anyone the opportunity to get V Bucks without completing surveys, using illicit bots, or additional illicit means.

You can turn off hardware acceleration in Google Chrome so that background applications performed in Chrome do not consume too many resources when you become showing Fortnite. Free Fortnite V Bucks Generator Finest and Straightforward Way for 2019. Yet, if you're not, then pay attention to this area and understand very precisely. Because those fake V Bucks Hack can cause your ‘Fortnite account banned or blocked‘ if you dropped to the corner.

Having moving storm ranges in creative would and become lucky received from the Fortnite competitive group when persons will be able to consistently practice hectic end-game scenarios commonly established by LAN events. Fortnite could also follow PUBG's example also put news plans to season up the gameplay (but made with Fortnite's signature, goofy style). Other vehicles could be another interesting way to look happening, with competitors PUBG , H1Z1 now Call of Task: Blackout successfully featuring vehicular gameplay.

[news-mashable-yahoopartner-blog]

What to do when you're so overwhelmed by the Trump presidency you can barely move

It's been a little over a week since President Trump's inauguration, and already, millions of Americans are sitting in front of their phones, hysterically retweeting Vox articles, often immobilized with fear.

The bad news comes in so fast you can hardly keep up with it: senior State Department officials asked to resign, a defacto Muslim ban and a white supremacist given a role typically held for generals. As important as it is to remain informed, however, it's equally necessary for people to stay calm and not lapse into full on Facebook post hysteria. It's far easier to organize when you're motivated by the hope in your heart rather than the panic our president inspires.

SEE ALSO: 4 new sites to help you take action after the Women's March on Washington

You can't and shouldn't dissociate from what's happening in Washington. You have a moral responsibility to act. But there are more effective ways you can manage your media consumption and activism, making you a stronger organizer (and way more likable human).

Here's a look at just a few.

1. You only need one breaking news notification, not twelve. 

Do you really need to read "we're on the verge of nuclear holocaust" story from The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, Vox, The Guardian and The Wall Street Journal? Read the news and often, but only when you can. Don't let 900 repetitive interruptions interfere while you're peacefully napping on the toilet at work.

2. Follow more activists on Twitter and Facebook.

Journalists have one job: to inform the public, regardless of the emotional toll it costs. Activists have a slightly different responsibility. They need to execute a careful balancing act: giving their followers enough information so that they stay awake, and the right amount of hope and resources so that people want to wake up in the first place. 

Alicia Garza and Rebecca Solnit are both brilliant activists to follow on Facebook, as are Linda Sarsour, Deray McKesson and the Women's March on Twitter. 

3. Set a realistic, measurable goal for the number of phone calls you can make to your representatives per week.

There is only so many times per week you can call your Senator from your office bathroom to block the appointment of Betsy Devos. Stop aggressively copy pasting your email address into 100 different wtf.org petitions and use a service that guides you, like "Five Calls," which tells you exactly who to call each day and precisely what to say to them.

4. If you're new to politics, don't create a new organizing group. Join one that already exists and make it stronger.

Post-election, many of us have been invited to so many secret organizing groups and Facebook chats we have literally lost the ability to click. If you haven't been active before, admit it — you have no idea what you're doing. Try to find a group in your area already led by experienced organizers and contribute whatever skills you have, even if it's licking 19th century envelopes or fixing the group's horrifying Geocities homepage.

The best and easiest way to find a group in your area is to head to Indivisible, which has a full list of anti-Trump resistance groups here.

5. Celebrate every goddamn victory "the resistance" achieves.

It may be hard to believe, but the past few months haven't been a total loss for Western civilization. "The resistance" has already achieved remarkable results in a shockingly short period, including: the largest protest in United States history, skyrocketing donations to groups like the ACLU, calls to legislators that actually resulted in real action and the greatest spike in vagina hats this world has ever seen. Instead of just counting up your losses, hold onto your victories. That makes them easier to build.

6. Read news sources that aren't designed to give you a heart attack

There are plenty of slower-moving, highly reputable news sources out there that aren't just out to get your heart racing and your fingers clicking. Watch PBS News Hour instead of CNN, listen to NPR instead of Sirius radio and read The New York Times. They'll give you the news and perspective you need without striking you dead from panic at your desk.

7. Turn off Facebook, Twitter and close any Wiki pages you have open about nuclear war for at least one hour before bed.

You should be doing this anyway, but especially now. You need to sleep. Nazis will be there tomorrow!

8. Eat whatever the hell you want because f*ck it

Listen, the doomsday clock is literally inching towards midnight — now is not the time to go Paleo, folks. Sure, it's technically "good" to eat healthy, but who cares. If eating fettuccine alfredo for breakfast keeps you from bawling in front of your boss, then do it. Don't let Trump take away your constitutional right to cream sauce.

9. Set up monthly automatic donations from your bank account so you don't go bankrupt

If you donate to everything people ask you to donate to on Facebook, you will lose your entire life savings to some random state senator's South Dakota slush fund. Many reputable nonprofits can make automatic deductions from your bank account, so let them provide that service. Of course, you can and should (if possible) donate to other causes as situations arise, but for now, let the bots do the work for you.

10. Go to a march and scream your heart out with a bunch of people who care just like you

Listen: none of us like to stand. But if standing involves yelling obscenities at full volume with women twice your age in vagina hats, and twerking in booty shorts outside of Mike Pence's gingerbread house, then yes, you should go for it, not just because it feels good, but because it's effective, and it makes Trump really, really mad.

11. Try to separate fear from reality.

Trump has signed a frightening number of executive orders in the past few days. Whether he'll actually be able to some execute any of those orders is up for debate — most executive orders are symbolic, and even his own Department of Homeland Security is preaching a different message than the White House.

12. Remember: you do have leaders in government who are standing up for you. Watch everything Maxine Waters does.

Not all of the Democratic leadership is dead at the wheel. Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA) feels your pain. It didn't even cross her mind to attend Trump's inauguration. She once lovingly called certain Republicans "demons." If that's not a leader, I don't know what is.

13. Never forget: you're not alone. The vast majority of this country doesn't want this either.

Nearly 3 million more people voted for Clinton than Trump.

These people agree with you:

Oh and these people:

Aaaaand these:

Even, technically, this guy:

Image: martha tesema/mashable

We're all here, right by your side, even when you don't see us.

BONUS: All 12 times the stars at the SAG Awards threw shade at Donald Trump