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admiral-ackbarista

@admiral-ackbarista

Coffee fiend. Pun addict. Admirer of Hot Villains.

my writing fundamentally changed forever ten years ago when i realized you could use sentence structure to control people’s heart rates. is this still forbidden knowledge or does everyone know it now

?????? *raises hand* I’ve been writing for years and don’t know this trick by these words! do tell?

Okay, so a few people have asked for me to cite the dark magics at them, and i’m super happy to share because it’s my favorite thing ever. 

so, let’s see if i can explain this the same way that i learned. read a sentence out loud. you come to a full stop when you hit the period, and you take a normal, breath. but, when you hit a comma, you take a slightly longer pause. and when you hit a dash - you take an even longer pause. 

this is a natural rhythm that we pick up when we’re first taught to read; we do it without even thinking. but when you start to think about it, you realize that it can become a tool.

think of your heartbeat. a period is badump. a comma is badump-dump. and a dash is thump badump. one breath. a longer breath. two breaths.

that means what you read automatically affects the rhythm of your breathing and your heartrate. which means that you can control the amount of physical tension your reader feels… by altering your punction and your sentence structure.

for fast paced scenes, you use short sentences. a lot of hard stops. mostly periods, with just a few comma’s thrown in for the full breath. your reader’s heartrate accelerates. their breathing is slightly and unintentionally, on their end, quicker. you hit the dramatic ending of the scene - and your reader’s body phsyically feels the gasp, the breath of fresh air, of these longer sentences.

now, read that paragraph again ant take note of your natural pauses, and how it subtly affects your breathing. 

the same thing can be said of comma’s and dashes. while they can be used as a breath of fresh air, they can also cause a new line of tension as they lead your reader to hold their breath. during this section, you should use longer sentences; breaking up the harshness of the pauses by using variations of punction. read this paragraph out loud from the start and take note of how long you go between pauses and full breaths. 

and then, comes the biggest trick.

the hard stop.

the paragraph.

because while the periods, commas, and dashes are variations on a short stop, the paragraph is a hard stop. you take a full breath. you pause for a moment, then move to the start of the next paragraph.

which means you can create an entirely new sort of dramatic tension. read the sentences that are in bold. see how you take a naturally longer pause at the end of each paragraph?

see how it makes you feel? 

how it makes you breath different? 

how doing it once, twice, or three times creates a different line of tension? 

this little magic trick can be used to cause a reader’s heartrate to speed up during a fight or chase scene. it can be used to cause their breathing to slow down during moments of dramatic tension, sorrow, or softness. and it can be used to create hard breaks that add a new level of physically felt emphasis to your written work.

i hope these examples make sense! it’s my favorite writing trick!

This is amazing! What wonderful advice.

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If you are silent about your pain they'll kill you and say you enjoyed it - Zora Neale Hurston

Reblogging for accuracy. We cannot pour from an empty cup! We must take care of ourselves first and foremost before we can even consider doing it for others, and oftentimes self care includes eliminating those who only know how to take or bring endless grief from our lives so that we may thrive.

Do you want to celebrate Halloween by watching The X-Files, but don’t know where to start?

Here’s a thread that groups episodes together based on different horror genres 🎃👻👽🤡🔪🩸

Anonymous asked:

You know that Ada Limón poem where she’s like “i can’t help it i love the way men love”? my dad recently confessed to me that he became a shoemaker because they buried my grandma shoeless

oh…………………………………

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Accident Report in the Tall, Tall Weeds - Ada Limón

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slamminscreendoor
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oldtrainticket

So. The Supreme Court is overturning Roe v. Wade.

This is an incredibly scary moment for a lot of people, but I kind of want to put it in context. Because even now, I see a lot of people pointing out that banning abortion doesn’t reduce the number of abortions provided, it just makes it more dangerous for the mother.

They know. They don’t care.

We hear a lot about how Republicans are hypocrites, how their actions don’t line up with their stated belief system, but a lot of those actions will make sense once you recognize that their stated belief system is not their actual belief system. They are theocratic fascists, whose long term goals are to install their interpretation of their religion as official government religion and either expel or brutally repress anything who steps out of line.

Once you understand that, everything they do will make sense, and you can stop engaging with their reasons. Because their reasons are bullshit. “A fetus is a life” isn’t a consistent moral belief that they’ve thought out the implications of. It’s just what needs to be true for their beliefs to be even the tiniest bit morally defensible. It doesn’t hold up to scrutiny, and they know it.

It’s not about protecting fetuses, it’s about controlling women.

It’s not about protecting children, it’s about persecuting queer people.

It’s not about protecting votes, it’s about preventing non-Republicans from voting.

This needs to be recognized, internalized and repeated, because engaging them on their own ground, arguing whether banning abortion reduces the number of abortions performed, is an illusion. Stop meeting them where they’re at, stop listening to their words and pay attention to their deeds.

Because their deeds are those of white supremacist, Christian dominionist hate group. And they are coming for other rights. The leaked draft specifically names Obergefell and Lawrence as other decisions which are not worthy decisions, implying that they too should be overturned. Frankly, I suspect Griswold will be on the chopping block too. Honestly, I doubt they’ll stop there, if they feel they can get away with it, they’ll probably go after Loving and Brown too. They aren’t going to stop until they have enshrined white supremacist christian theocracy into power.

You have to recognize that, and be ready to fight.

Excuse me, Women of America that are too apathetic to vote… Hello, Women of America that demand “the perfect left wing candidate and will vote for nothing less”, I have news for you…

They will not be satisfied until you are chained to a bed giving birth against your will.

OR

They can execute you for getting a back alley abortion.

You, American Woman, are not human to them. You are chattel. They believe that you are a farm animal. How far will you let them take it?

Vote blue, as if your future and the future of your daughters depend on it, because it does. Let nothing stop you! Register and vote in every election, local, as well as state and national. Democrats need a super majority to codify abortion as law. The radical SCOTUS be damned!

Pass it on!

Vote in every single thing on the ballot you can vote on. Not just national elections. Vote for your senator and house representative. Vote for your state legislature. Vote for your county commissioner. Vote for your school board member. Vote for mayor. Vote for sheriff. Every one of those matters.

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you don’t need to ask for jane anymore: a guide to coming to chicago for a safe, low-cost abortion

A lot of people in the US are super worried about the Supreme Court axing Roe v. Wade, but what they might not know is that some states have laws in place that will protect the right to reproductive choice and abortion if that happens. One of these states is the state of Illinois. In 2019, a law was passed that protects abortion rights within the state even if the federal right to an abortion falls. This means that if Roe v. Wade is overturned, abortion will still be a protected right in Illinois. Even before Roe, Chicago was a haven for safe abortions- you just called and asked for Jane.

Now, safe abortion access is the law of the land in IL, and there are several groups who can help you. This post is long, but I think it’s worthwhile. Even if you don’t read all the way through it, maybe save it for later. You or someone you know might need it. If you want to stop now, the TL;DR is this:

  1. f you’re a minor and you can’t tell your parents, get a waiver of notification from the IL Judicial Bypass program.
  2. Schedule your appointment.
  3. Contact abortion funds to get financial aid. Your home state might have s fund, and the Chicago Abortion Fund can help.
  4. Secure housing for the procedure through the Midwest Access Coalition or by talking to the intake staff at the clinic of your choice.

I’d like to start by saying that the closer to home you get your abortion, should you need one, the easier it will be for you… probably. It depends on your individual situation AND your safety. If I still lived in Indiana and I needed an abortion, I’d probably leave to get it done, even though there are abortion providers in Indiana, because Indiana is super hostile and there’s lots of clinic protestors- for example, when I was taking my GRE my senior year at Notre Dame, the testing center was in this little strip mall in Mishawaka next to Planned Parenthood. Despite the fact that the PP in Mishawaka does not provide abortions, there were protestors who yelled at me for going in there. I wasn’t even going to PP. I’d like to say that I said something devastatingly cool but I just ran in flustered. Point being: It really, really would have sucked if I was there for healthcare instead of a standardized test for graduate school. And that’s a very tame, mild situation! Real abortion clinic protests are often much more devastating! 

ANYWAYS. The less you have to travel, the easier things tend to be, if it’s safe to get an abortion where you are and if your state will have protected abortions if Roe is overturned. If you’re not sure what might happen in your state in that case, this map has a clear, succinct overview of the legal status of abortion in each state and all US territories. You will want to click through to that link, because this image isn’t interactive.

[ID: a map of the US with states and territories sorted by their legal protections for abortion into four categories: expanded access in the case of Roe v. Wade being overturned, protected, not protected, and hostile. IL is highlighted.]

So let’s say you live in any of those red states. (Yellow and blue are safe- abortion access is protected there.) Let’s say, worst case scenario, Roe gets overturned and you get pregnant and you want to terminate. You will be able to do that in IL, and it’s relatively easy to do that in Chicago for a relatively low cost and with the benefit of a robust support network of people who want to reaffirm your reproductive choices.

First, if you’re a minor and you don’t want to tell your parents because it’s not safe for you to do so, get a judicial waiver of parental notification. The IL ACLU has a judicial bypass hotline. This will come at no cost to you. Do this ASAP, because it takes time to get it set up! You can do this by calling the hotline at 877-442-9727, texting 312-560-6607, or emailing judicialbypass@aclu-il.org.

Next, you need to get an appointment set up. You could get a referral from someone local to you, but this can be tricky- 87% of counties in the US don’t have an abortion provider, and google can lead you to a crisis pregnancy center. They will not help you. If you have a local Planned Parenthood, call them. Even if they don’t provide abortions, they can refer you to someone who can. If you’re coming to Chicago, which this post… kind of assumes you are… you can call any of these groups to talk about your options and what clinics can help you. I recommend starting with FPA or PP; those are two actual clinics. MAC and CAF are funds- they can direct you but they can’t schedule an appointment for you.

Family Planning Associates (FPA): 312-707-8988 or use their online schedule tool, found here: https://www.fpachicago.com/schedule-now/ Chicago Abortion Fund (CAF): Phone: 312-663-0338 (note: the helpline is only staffed MWF from 3:30-6:30 PM CST, or email helpline@chicagoabortionfund.org Midwest Access Coalition (MAC): 847-750-6224 or email support@midwestaccesscoalition.org Planned Parenthood of Illinois (PP): 1-800-230-7526

You might want to shop around and see which clinic costs the least, and is the most practical for you to get to. FPA has a lot of patient resources, as does PP. Don’t be afraid to ask for financial assistance. The people staffing those organizations have extensive networks and deep compassion for their patients- if the clinic can’t help, they might know who can.

Once you’ve made an appointment, now’s the time to start gathering financial aid. Some insurance, including IL Medicaid, covers it. If yours does not, or if the copay is still too much, this is where abortion funds come into play. Many states have their own abortion funds for state residents, so you might have to look around to see who can help you. I’d start with the National Network of Abortion Funds.

You also need to figure out transportation and housing while you’re in the city to get your abortion. This isn’t super necessary if you’re just coming for the pill abortion, but if you’re coming for a d and c or other surgical procedure, you will be staying for a couple of days. THIS is why I’m writing this up, because abortion funds typically only are able to help cover the financial cost of the procedure. It’s expensive to stay somewhere and it can be absolutely terrifying if you’re on your own! Navigating while you’re in pain from the procedure can be an absolute devil of a time, too! However, Chicago has MAC (contact info above), which is a practical access fund, which means that they help pay for transportation to the city (bus tickets and train tickets) and around the city (volunteer drivers or volunteers who take rideshares with clients), food, aftercare medicine (painkillers, etc.), and housing, and there’s also free access to emotional support staff throughout your stay. This is not just open to IL residents; it’s open to anyone coming to the city for an abortion. ALSO if you go through FPA, they have a partnership with the Hampton Inn a block away from their location where their patients get a discount. If you go that route, just talk to FPA about housing and they’ll hook you up. This can be super helpful if you need some evidence that you’re on a “business trip” or something like that- if you are in a position where you need an excuse for your safety, that might work well.

Hopefully you won’t need this post- but if you do, I hope it helps. Feel free to share it around. If you have anti-choice opinions and you feel the need to share, don’t. This isn’t the space for it; you will be blocked and your comments removed. And then remember that criminalizing abortion won’t stop abortion. It’ll just stop safe abortions. Also, increased access to abortion, funnily enough, tends to be the thing that lowers abortion rates, because increased access to abortion comes part and parcel with increased access to birth control and general health and sex education.

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Reblogging this because it’s always relevant… and because an administrative decision by MAC’s incredible leadership means they don’t just do bus and train tickets anymore. They will also help pay for airline tickets if you need to fly. If you are in the US and need to come to Chicago for an abortion, MAC’s got your back.

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Also, if you find yourself in a situation where you can’t travel, and you catch it early, you can do a medication abortion at home. This can either be clinician supported through telehealth or it can be a self-managed abortion (SMA). Either way, you can do this entirely online without ever having to go into a doctor’s office or clinic.

Now, this only works early in a pregnancy (up to 11-12 weeks), so if you’re in a situation where you suspect you may become pregnant and you don’t want to be, test early and often if you can. The various help lines can also help you figure out how far along you are.

More resources: https://www.reprolegalhelpline.org/- this link is a good resource for talking about your legal options. If you’re a pregnant person of color, immigrant, or low-income (and using Medicaid) in an abortion-hostile state, I HIGHLY recommend talking through your legal options because you are absolutely targeted by politicians and the US legal system.

Also, if you would like to do something IRL to help, why not print out some stickers? These have a QR code that leads to Plan C’s website.

You can print these on sticker paper at home if you have it. It’s a good way to get the word out.

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As of… thirty minutes ago on Monday, 2 May 2022, Politico got hold of Justice Alito’s draft statement on Roe. It’s not good. We’re probably gonna lose Roe vs. Wade in two months, and that means if you live in a red state, you’re VERY probably going to lose the right to a safe abortion.

I know this is a long post, but if Roe is overturned, it’s not going to stop abortions. It’s just going to stop safe abortions. Abortion access is reproductive healthcare, and a lot of states are going to get really restrictive. Indiana, my home state, has already put a woman in jail for having a miscarriage. Oklahoma lawmakers would rather let women with ectopic pregnancies die than allow lifesaving medical procedures. This is bad, but! Underground abortion networks did exist before Roe vs. Wade, and now we have the internet. We have robust networks in place to help people that the government would rather see dead or imprisoned. Even if Roe is overturned, some states will be safe havens for abortion. Travel to these states can be difficult, but not impossible– that’s what abortion networks and abortion funds are for.

Please save as much of this information as may be relevant to you. And if you’re “pro-life” and feel the need to comment on this post? Don’t. Your opinions and input are neither valued nor wanted. Abortion access is a vital, necessary part of reproductive healthcare.

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Yesterday I discovered that an artist had traced my art and was planning to make pins out of them. Art theft is bad enough, but stealing art for commercial use? Big yikes. I confronted her and while she did apologize and delete the posts, she only admitted to referencing my work rather than straight up tracing it. And she is deleting all comments calling her out on it.

I was going to leave it alone, but then I found out she has done this to multiple other artists in the past. While she does make some adjustments to the designs, it’s obvious enough that I could directly tell what the original image was. And she has never credited the original artist for any of these.

I never make public call outs like this, but since she is actually profiting and making these for commercial use I feel it is justified in this case. This person has been confronted by others in the past yet she continues to steal, so clearly she hasn’t learned anything (i talked to an artist who confronted her as recently as last month).

She is called @guillmon9005 on Instagram, and her shop account is called @Chenxira - she also has a Patreon account.

I don’t want any harassment to be sent her way, I just want this information to be public. I don’t think it’s okay that she has been able to continue for this long without ever addressing the situation. Perhaps you disagree with me and don’t consider this theft, which is ok! But even so, it’s shady to be so heavily inspired by someone else and not even giving them credit for it.

I think this is being blown WAY out of proportion. It’s not illegal to redraw (maybe you can argue she traced that last example but nothing else is traced) and it’s not illegal to not credit someone who inspired/influenced you. You don’t own the rights to a pose or color scheme or an idea. Technically, there is no such thing as originality in art. Everything is influenced or “copied” from something else. And it is also possible to have a similar or exact idea as another you’ve never interacted with. (Not saying that’s the case for any of these though.)

And boo hoo she’s a successful artist making a profit off of her stuff. She still clearly drew the work herself regardless of originality, it’s different enough to be considered fair use, she clearly has talent, and spent countless hours rendering the images. Get off your high horse.

It would be different if it was actual, legitimate tracing or straight reposting your art as their own but she drew those herself and she doesn’t owe you shit. If you’re not profiting off your own work then that’s on you. You can post warnings all over your posts and websites asking people to credit you when they reference your work. But none of that is required. You have no legal precedent here. She doesn’t deserve this harassment. Eventually she’ll come around to her own ideas/themes, but I can clearly see she has her own style already. Leave her alone. Literally all you can do is ask to be credited. That’s it.

“Calling her out” isn’t helping. It’ll only cause grief and pressure her to hide and/or give up art altogether while stroking your ego. This isn’t artists helping artists. This is harassment and bullying.

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As I said, it’s fine if you think this doesn’t count as art theft.

I’m not trying to convince anyone of anything, I’m simply posting the material I have gathered. People are free to form whatever opinions they want based on them.

Warning: I went off and I'm sorry but not. I mean what I said but honestly fuck off. You're a hypocrite and a bully.

Feefal this is not directed towards you. Thank you for warning artists of this thief. Not many artists would do this because of their following but again, thank you for warning artists to be careful of this person.

Hi there. Yes, it is illegal to redraw other artists' work. Especially! If the artist themselves haven't granted permission nor consent allowing you to do so. Have y'all never heard of the 10% vs 80%. Literally, the Obey artist got taken to court because he copied a photographer's photo of Obama and painted it red, white, blue. It was not enough to justify as originality so the photographer won the case.

I'm an art-obsessed nerd. I went to an Institute that was top 10 in the states. I know my shit when I say "Yes, it is illegal to redraw other artists' works without their permission or consent" especially if you are going to profit off it.

I'm gonna do a big break down but before that let's define what's okay and what's not. Yes, while it is true you don't own a pose, color scheme, or an idea... Saying "Technically, there is no such thing as originality in art. Everything is influenced or “copied from something else..." Is not justifiable. Yes, you're right things can be influenced and little details can be copied. But, saying this, is not a defense. It's plain ignorance at best. Especially if you don't have a trained eye to see the 10% original and the 80% difference "...And it is also possible to have a similar or exact idea as another you’ve never interacted with." THIS! RIGHT HERE IS CORRECT!! Always Always! Remember this. It is entirely possible this can happen. So always mark your sketches with dates and take pictures of the process, from first to finish, so that way you can justify that this is your creation.

"And boo hoo she’s a successful artist making a profit off of her stuff. She still clearly drew the work herself regardless of originality, it’s different enough to be considered fair use, she clearly has talent, and spent countless hours rendering the images. Get off your high horse." I was giving you lots of credits but this... this right here speaks for itself. Wow. I really see the passion of fuck artist protective rights. asshole

This next bit is just me being an ass to the person because fuck off with your bullshit.

"It would be different if it was actual, legitimate tracing or straight reposting your art as their own but she drew those herself and she doesn’t owe you shit." Did she though... Did she though.

"If you’re not profiting off your own work then that’s on you." OKAY OKAY! So, your logic is that if you made something for free and I took that and said it's mine and I'm gonna make a profit but then, hear me out. You said no. To me making a profit off of your shit I can just say You're not making a profit off of your own work so like. That's on you.

"You can post warnings all over your posts and websites asking people to credit you when they reference your work. But none of that is required." You right. But the person wasn't referencing at all so that idea is out the window.

"You have no legal precedent here..." Ah, actually-

"She doesn’t deserve this harassment." It's not. It's-

"Eventually she’ll come around to her own ideas/themes..." *Looks back at what Feefal said* "...but then I found out she has done this to multiple other artists in the past..."

HMMMMMMMMMMMMM

End of my bullying

"...but I can clearly see she has her own style already. Leave her alone. Literally, all you can do is ask to be credited. That’s it..."

Again, you're right. I can see she does have a style. But what she does can get her in trouble. In big trouble. Asking for credit is out of the window since she is now making a profit off of stolen work. This can give the artist the upper hand in suing to protect their creative rights. If she was just tracing and uploading. Yeah, ask to be credited or take the work down yourself. But again, she's now trying to make a profit off of stolen work. Artists can now sue her for copyright infringement.

“Calling her out” isn’t helping. It’ll only cause grief and pressure her to hide and/or give up art altogether while stroking your ego. This isn’t artists helping artists. This is harassment and bullying."

This is not harassment and bullying. What I just did up there was an example of bullying. Harassing is when you go to the person, engage with the person, and become obsessed with that person not leaving them alone. That's harassment right there.

This warning actually does help artists. It's called blacklisting. Companies do this, artists do this, heck you probably do this too. Blocking. Does that sound familiar? How does warning other artists about a thief "stroking your ego"? I honestly hate people like you. There I said it. I hate the fact that you don't see a problem here. I hate the fact that you probably didn't double-check or even triple-check what you just said. You're a hypocrite.

Going out of your way to not only bash Feefal but to show sympathy to a thief. "This is harassment and bullying." Proceed to imply Feefal is an idiot for not profiting off of her work, Telling Feefal to "Get off your high horse.", Telling Feefal she doesn't have legal precedent here when Yes, she does! in fact, all artists that guillmon9005 took. You can sue since she is now trying to make a profit off of your work.

I can keep going you bully. You're not only a hypocrite but you're also an ignorant one as well.

Alright, let's dig!

Art theft is the WORST. Reblogging for all the artists whose time, creativity, and labor are constantly ripped off by those looking for an easy profit.

I’m very much pro choice/pro abortion…if that’s not the case for you personally, then that’s your decision. But do not force that on others who do not feel the same.

Let women make their own choices about their own bodies. It’s not that hard

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When that disgusting season they call summer finally ends and you start feeling that sweet sweet autumn chill in the air

This is an anti summer blog. Summer stans not welcome, and if you like spring you’re on thin fucking ice (even tho you probably like ice caps melting anyway). Summer is a toxic season and anyone who supports it is an ableist and classist heat-stroke apologist. Don’t normalize global warming and other problematic aspects of summer by celebrating our roasting hot days!! If you don’t want to see the discourse, blacklist my hash tags #seasonal wank and #anti summer, but tbh idk why you’d follow me if you’re pro summer 🤷

Just to be 100% clear this is satire. That shouldn’t need to be said, but it’s tumblr, so I will.

Yesss bring on falllllll 🍁