if i don’t make it back from where i’ve gone

it only took me a billion years but i FINALLY finished my Mad Max: Fury Road fic! pls check out!!

I've already said that my number one piece of writing advice is to read.

But my number two piece of advice is this: be deliberate.

Honestly this would fix so many pieces of bad writing advice. Don't forbid people from doing something, tell them to be conscious and deliberate about it. This could help stop people from falling into common mistakes without limiting their creativity. Black and white imperatives may stop a few annoying beginner habits, but ultimately they will restrict artistic expression.

Instead of "don't use epithets": "Know the effect epithets have and be deliberate about using them." Because yes, beginners often misuse them, but they can be useful when a character's name isn't known or when you want to reduce them to a particular trait they have.

Instead of "don't use 'said'" or "just use 'said'": "Be deliberate about your use of dialogue tags." Because sometimes you'll want "said" which fades into the background nicely, but sometimes you will need a more descriptive alternative to convey what a character is doing.

Instead of "don't use passive voice": "Be deliberate about when you use passive voice." Because using it when it's not needed can detract from your writing, but sometimes it can be useful to change the emphasis of a sentence or to portray a particular state of mind.

Instead of blindly following or ignorantly neglecting the rules of writing, familiarize yourself with them and their consequences so you can choose when and if breaking them would serve what you're trying to get across.

Your writing is yours. Take control of it.

It probably sounds like I'm preaching to the choir here because most of my mutuals are already great writers. But I'm hoping this will make it to the right people.

Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) dir. Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert

You can be talking to someone and she'll be like, "Oh I made a silly mistake. Women don't deserve voting rights teehee." And you'll be like, "What." And she'll be like, "Oh I'm sorry! That must sound so bad out of context. No it's this Tiktok meme where, if you're a girl and you do something dumb, you say 'Women don't deserve voting rights teehee.'"

And you'll be like, "That sounds bad." And she'll be like, "No no. It's totally not that bad. It's just a meme. Men say it too. Like if a man does something silly he'll be like, 'I am like those women who do not deserve to vote.'" And you'll be like, "Does that make it better?" And she'll be like, "Well there was one guy who tried to make 'Men shouldn't vote' a popular meme. But it never caught on and also he got yelled at a lot."

And then you drop it there because like, you're harshing the vibe.

God this makes me think of this screenshot:

"it minimizes you as a person" really wraps up my entire discomfort with the whole "oh but i'm just a girl" thing when used in most situations.

People don't actually grow out of their emo phases. People are forced out of their emo phases by employers who get a raging boner over controlling how their employees dress, cut their hair, whether they mod their bodies and so on

How many beautiful emo men would we have if not for the tyranny of the 9-5. How many strange goth women are trapped inside the performance of a clean girl aesthetic because she needs to be able to eat. How many people are wage slaves when they should be punks?

A lot of people are talking about what you are and aren't allowed to wear but I think that issue is secondary to what you are and aren't allowed to do to your body. Like "you have to wear a polo shirt and dress pants" fine as long as you're paying for the polo shirts and dress pants I now need to buy. Whatever. "You must have natural colored and clean cut hair, no facial piercings, no visible tattoos" now we have a fucking problem because I also have to have that hair face and body outside of the workplace. it's literally pervert shit I've met 24/7 doms less horny about controlling how their subs look.

A nine month old filly named Olwina, recorded by @merilver. From what I can tell she’s a Friesian x Comtois x Menorquín cross.

You want to call your House rep now and tell them Trump needs to be impeached immediately for defying a Supreme Court order (re: Kilmar Abrego Garcia), which functionally voids our constitution and means no one in America has rights anymore.

I am not exaggerating.

As of now, anybody can be disappeared, no due process, no recourse. Trump is openly disregarding a Supreme Court order and says he’ll send US citizens to El Salvador.

This is not a drill.

Call your House rep and tell them they must impeach. Tell them if they cannot bring themselves to impeach, they must resign. A more open and shut case to impeach is not possible. Trump and his administration are saying openly, in public, that anybody can be kidnapped by ICE, even in error, and disappeared permanently.

Call your senators, too, and tell them to support impeachment (it goes to them once it passes a majority House vote).

"Hello, my name is _______ and I am a constituent from _______. My address is ________.

I am reaching out today to urge Representative ______ to call for the impeachment of President Trump due to his refusal to comply with the Supreme Court's April 10th decision regarding Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was unlawfully deported and has been charged with no crime. As Justice Sotomayor stated, this inaction implies the government's ability to 'deport and incarcerate any person, including U.S. citizens, without legal consequence, so long as it does so before a court can intervene.' This precedent is unconstitutional, highly illegal, and grounds for impeachment. Every individual, regardless of immigration status, must be guaranteed a right to due process.

Representative _____, I urge you to stand on the right side of history today by calling for President Trump's impeachment. This administration can not be allowed to continue unilaterally defying the checks and balances that are intrinsic to our government."

You can also find your representative and senators and their phone numbers on https://5calls.org/

Please don't be afraid of calling. Your job would just be to be a data point, not to sound perfect. Here's some info on why calling is effective.

There IS a slippery-slope issue involved here, but it's not the one the alt-right and the TERFs are talking about.

If people get recognition for whatever gender they claim to be, cis men will not be able to claim that their desired wives were born to be submissive and subservient. And TERFs will not be able to claim that all women have always been oppressed by all men.

Gender recognition undermines their claims of a "natural" gender-based split in society.

The idea that compassion, equality and fairness are not gender-linked traits terrifies them. The idea that assertiveness and anger are not gender-linked traits terrifies them.

The idea that how we treat each other is a choice terrifies them.

THAT'S the message they're trying to kill. They want to destroy the idea that societies choose how people are treated, that nothing about cultural norms or community standards is based on genetics.

[ID by @malcriada : four tweets by @/sacha_coward that say,

“Do you remember the days before same sex marriage when it was a common argument that gay and bi people would render the word "marriage" meaningless, that people would marry their dogs, that incest was next, that we'd groom our victims into underage sodomy? 1/

In my teens I remember "reasonable" arguments that gay men using changing rooms alongside boys was asking for abuse, that us being in the armed forces would endanger everyone else. I remember people scared you might teach straight kids to act gay, and they'd regret it later. 2/

And here we are, in a world where marriage is still just as present as it ever was. No dog grooms. No cascade of sister wives. A world where gay serial killers aren't haunting every changing room, and straight kids aren't "degaying" left and right. 3/

The rhetoric for gender recognition is so similar, so closely aligned to the conversations of just 10 years ago. Don't you see it?! Sometimes it feels like we're all suffering a kind of collective amnesia! /4” End ID]

Eugenics

I just felt these tags were too important not to add @blacksasuke

The particular segment of medical racism that says ‘Black people are built tougher’ is a great example of why ‘positive’ stereotypes don’t exist. 

Adding your tags, prev, cause.. yeah.

the human body is so evil for inventing headaches it will throw one at you for anything. ate too little? headache. drank too little? headache. ate not the right things? headache. didnt wear your glasses? headache. took off your glasses for two fucking seconds? headache. bright light? headache. about to get your period? headache. about to get sick? headache. headphones too heavy? headache. ponytail too tight? headache. posture bad? headache. didnt sleep well? headache. slept too much? headache. didnt take your medication? headache. took your medication? headache. took an ibuprofen earlier? headache. didnt take an ibuprofen earlier? headache. RELEASE ME

I do love the inclusion in the pets poll of "free roaming insects." I have to imagine free roaming would be dangerous for insect pets. I guess I've had a free roaming insect pet in that I became deeply attached to the orb weaver who lived above my bed for months and I named her Penelope and showed her to people who visited. So I SUPPOSE she was in some ways a free roaming pet spider. but that did ultimately lead to her demise, so the point stands that pet insects probably shouldn't free roam for their own safety.

i know a lot of people get ants in the spring & summer though and i love the idea of just straight up lying and telling a hookup that they're my free roaming pet ants that i released onto my kitchen windowsills on purpose.

"i don't believe in ant farms or terrariums. why shouldn't my ants enjoy the same freedoms as my dog? stop questioning my antkeeping or i'll put my clothes back on."

if you have good enough hair you never actually have to learn how to dress, you can just coast on that

Buffy the Vampire Slayer | 4.04 - “Fear, Itself"

[GIF description: GIFs from the episode “Fear, Itself” of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Anya is wearing a rabbit costume, standing in the background impatiently as Giles examines a solid exterior of a home where the front door should be. He is consulting an open book as he says, “We’re gonna have to create a door.” He begins rummaging through his bag of supplies as Anya asks, “Create a door? You can do that?” Giles says, “I can.” He turns, holding up a chain saw pulled from his bag, then moves back toward the wall to cut an opening.]

Yeah Mr. Darcy’s proposal was a complete turd and a half but you gotta understand. You got your life together. A good career, stable income, retirement plan, all that shit together. And you meet this girl. And she’s everything. Clever, outspoken, funny, calls you on your bullshit. Grade A cutie, right? And she doesn’t go out of her way to spend time with you but she’s nice, and sometimes you catch her looking your way in a way that makes you think you might have a shot.

But her family. Holy shit.

First off, it’s p much ALL women, and mostly UNMARRIED women, which at this time means of something happens to her dad then you’re financially responsible for like. Four grown ass adults, potentially forever

Because mom in law is DEFINITELY gonna need someone to take care of her when dad in law kicks it, and they have like. NO money. So already you’re accepting that if all goes well, you’re gonna be one random old bag’s retirement home. That’s expensive and exhausting, yeah? Imagine asking someone on a first date knowing that if they say yes and things go good her high-strung chihuahua mother is gonna move in with you. IMAGINE.

And girly’s other sisters. Well, one is a sweetheart, yeah, so she probably won’t be an issue, but that still leaves three more, and two of those ones are INSUFFERABLE. Never went to school, dumb as rocks, spend cash like it’s toilet paper

And while one of the two is young still and might grow out of it the OTHER one is actively torpedo’ing her entire family’s reputation by wandering off with random dudes and chasing ass. She’s never gonna work, she can’t build connections, she’s a fucking sinkhole, and she’s being led on by the same goddamn con man ass leeching tit who’s been bleeding you dry while telling anyone who’ll listen that your family is full of ratty thieving bastards.

And if he dumps her after a week- WHICH YOU KNOW HIS BITCH ASS IS GONNA- you’ve got a SECOND UNMARRIABLE GROWN ASS ADULT TO PROVIDE FOR. And you KNOW she’s gonna be a tantrum-throwing little shit about it, and it’s not like you can lock her in the basement or something, you’re gonna have to bring her fucking. Everywhere. And give her an allowance and shit while she contributes zero, because again, she NEVER GOT EDUCATED AND HAS NO MARKETABLE SKILLS. She’s not even good to TALK to. FUCK

And you’re looking at this girl’s father like “please for the love of fuck get your spawn under control, marry them off, get them working on their résumé, learning to sew or be nursemaids or manage staff or SOMETHING, yall got no money and one foot in the grave” and that old man just laughs like “haha yeah, what can you do. lol”

So you’re looking to the mom and finally it’s making sense how she got that twitch in her eye and as MUCH as she is you’re starting to realize she’s the SMART one, desperately throwing her armloads of girls at random men like they’re a bunch of fucking lifeboats bobbing around a sinking ship, like yes Jesus Christ sweetly that life boat IS old and ugly and kind of boring but for FUCKS SAKE PICK ONE

And you look back at this girl who is ALSO REFUSING THE LIFE BOATS BY THE WAY and god damn it she’s still the most radiant thing you’ve ever seen so fine, fuck it, Christ alive, you’ll do it. You’ll shoot your shot. She’s everything you’ve ever wanted in anybody abut it’s not even just about that anymore, it’s about being her best fucking shot at a future, and even if she doesn’t like you all that much she’s still gonna say yes and that might break your heart a bit knowing it’s about the money but who knows, maybe it will at least be civil, or companionable, and even if she doesn’t LOVE you at least you’ll know she’s well and cared for

And so you’ll do it. You’ll take on the neurotic stress mess mother in law, the absent father, the broke ass wingnut no brain no money no future airhead sisters, the bad mannered relatives and the embarrassing behaviour and the impending future of sharing your entire shit with a clown parade of freeloaders, you’ll risk it all and accept the absolute certainty of financial ruin and emotional exhaustion for the rest of your whole ass life and you’ll make your own family deal with it too, you’ll do it, you’ll fucking DO IT, you stupid lovesick motherfucker

And so you go to this chick like “look. Your whole family’s a shitshow. You’ve got fucking nothing and you’re gonna die on the street. But for some reason- and I don’t get it either- I’ve fallen in love with you, and I wish I didn’t, but I did, so I’m telling you that whether you like me or not, I’ll give you everything. I’ll give you everything even if it’s the dumbest shit I ever done. Fuck my stupid Baka ass, I’ll marry you.”

And she looks at you- having heard or considered absolutely none of your months-long internal debate and monologue- and goes “The fuck did you just say about my family, you son of a bitch?”

And the shock of that is enough to jolt you back into a reality where you are able to actually hear and process what just came out of your damn mouth And yeah

Yeah, I think I kinda get it

2025 Progress Pride Reading Challenge

The Goal: Populate every spot on this progress pride flag with a queer book with the corresponding cover color.

The Rules:

Hard mode (optional):

Participants: Anyone who wants to join and also can read.

The End Date: Whenever you want! I will be aiming to finish by June 30, 2025 aka the last day of Pride.

The Prize: Honor, glory, and having read some more queer books.

You can follow along with me at my Instagram, and if you want some suggestions, you can check out the pride-flag-in-book-covers post that insipired this.

If you have any suggestions, stick them in the replies (and if you're an author, feel free to suggest your own books)!

If anyone needs the count for each color:

Total: 66