A Lion Named Cobra

Currently listening to 70s music | Creative writer | Horror film lover | Occasional Puppet History blog | Imagine being alive in this decade

[kawuli]

random PSA, I know a lot of people use duckduckgo as a Google alternative search engine, but it always kind of annoyed me when I was using it because it felt like No Name Brand Google

I have switched to using Startpage.com and vastly prefer it. for one thing, instead of displaying an "AI summary" at the top of the search results (unless you turn it off, yes I know), it displays the first paragraph of the Wikipedia article, with link, whenever it finds one that's relevant.

also a waaayyyyy better sense of design than duckduckgo

also private, European based, least annoying search I've used lately (RIP old "don't be evil" Google)

[yomikoreadsbooks]

Keeping a list of Google alternatives just in case…

[saxifraga-x-urbium]

i have one of those, scraped from multiple different rec posts:

Search Engines

Infinity Search is an alternative search engine with a special focus on privacy

DuckDuckGo is a popular search engine for those who value their privacy and are put off by the thought of their every query being tracked and logged. Uses bangs, ![site] for in-page search (sells your data to microsoft and draws from fucking bing)

WolframAlpha is a privately owned search engine that allows you to “compute expert-level answers using Wolfram’s breakthrough algorithms, knowledgebase, and AI technology.” A data search engine.

Boardreader is a search engine for forums and message boards. It allows you to search forums and then filter down results by date and language.

Based in France, Qwant is a privacy-based search engine that won’t record your searches or use your personal details for advertising. Uses “&” as a bang search.

Another privacy-based search engine is Search Encrypt, which uses local encryption to ensure that users’ identifiable information cannot be tracked. Metasearch across multiple engines. 

Offering unbiased results from several sources, SearX is a metasearch engine that aims to present a free, decentralized view of the internet. Can be self-hosted. 

Gibiru’s tagline is “Unfiltered private search” and that’s exactly what it offers. Requires AnonymoX Firefox add-on for privacy. 

Disconnect allows you to conduct anonymous searches through a search engine of your choice.

Swisscows provides fully encrypted searches to protect your privacy and security. Built-in violence/porn filter cannot be overridden. 

MetaGer offers “Privacy Protected Search & Find” through its anonymised search. A plugin will allow it to be made a default.

Gigablast is a private search engine that indexes millions of websites and servers real-time information without tracking your data, keeping you hidden from marketers and spammers. Variety of filtration and refinement options for searching. 

Oscobo is a search engine that protects your privacy while you search the web. By not using any third-party tools or scripts, your data is protected from hacking and misuse. Has a Chrome extension to allow use in toolbar. 

https://search.marginalia.nu/ an independent DIY search engine that focuses on non-commercial content, and attempts to show you sites you perhaps weren't aware of in favor of the sort of sites you probably already knew existed. Use old-school searching rather than query-based for the best results. 

https://www.mojeek.com/ 

https://wiby.me/ - It’s goal is to index as many personalized websites as possible, and NOT commercial sites. 

https://4get.ca/ it works a lot like SearX, but honestly better. It doesn’t have its own index, but pulls from many others. I think it’s the best for research, since it allows you to search for answers from different indexes, is easy to configure, add free, and avoids censorship as much as it can.

https://www.searchenginemap.com/ for more on how search engines relate to each other.

https://yep.com/ is a crawler

https://www.etools.ch/ retrieves from Google, Mojeek, Bing, and Yandex, like Searx

https://www.dogpile.com/ 

https://searxng.org/ (next gen Searx)

https://luxxle.com/ - possibly conservative?

https://presearch.com/ - good for academic?

https://kagi.com/smallweb - free/randomised Kagi.

Other Searchers

www.refseek.com - Academic Resource Search. More than a billion sources: encyclopedia, monographies, magazines.

www.worldcat.org - a search for the contents of 20 thousand worldwide libraries. Find out where lies the nearest rare book you need.

https://link.springer.com - access to more than 10 million scientific documents: books, articles, research protocols.

www.bioline.org.br is a library of scientific bioscience journals published in developing countries.

http://repec.org - volunteers from 102 countries have collected almost 4 million publications on economics and related science.

www.science.gov is an American state search engine on 2200+ scientific sites. More than 200 million articles are indexed.

www.base-search.net is one of the most powerful researches on academic studies texts. More than 100 million scientific documents, 70% of them are free.https://cosine.club/ is an electronic music similarity search engine

[antifainternational]

30 Anti-Fascist Actions: #30

Since we started this tumblr in 2014, we’ve brought you news of literally thousands of anti-fascist actions around the world.  Yet one of the most common questions we get asked is “what can I do?”  To help celebrate our 4th anniversary month, everyday in June we’re posting at least one real-life example of anti-fascist action that we’ve reported on in the last four years that you could replicate or take inspiration from! 30) Read And Share! OK, every day in June we’ve re-blogged an antifa action that we reported on at some point in our collective’s four-year history.  We hope it inspired you & gave you some ideas for stuff you can pull off where you live.  Now, here’s a list of more resources to tap into (many of which you can download, print, and distribute!):

40 Ways To Fight Nazis - a downloadable/printable guide from Showing Up For Racial Justice, available in both a long version and a short version Our guide to joining or starting an antifa crew:  + bonus tips  + more bonus tips Our Antifa F.A.Q. - downloadable & printable! Anti Fascist Network’s guide to starting an antifa chapter AFN’s list of antifa resources How to form an antifa group The Anti-Fascist Network flyerAnti-immigration raid posters from the Anti-Raids Network Destroying White Nationalism - a 12-page downloadable comic we put out! Anti-fascist & anti-racist posters and images from 1000 Blackbirds Common-sense security precautions when approaching other antifa crews Anti-doxing guide for antifa Computer Security Tips downloadable guide How to set up an antifa neighbourhod watch Downloadable International Anti-Fascist Defence Fund flyer Downloadable antifa flyer about Charlottesville Anti-Fascism = Self-Defense: downloadable anarchist flyer from Crimethinc Opposing fascism in the extreme metal scene: downloadable in English; in Italian; and in French. How to make a kick-ass antifa banner How to fuck up an immigration raid (UK) What to do when ICE comes knocking (in English & Spanish) (US) Bust Cards for UK antifa “To The Charlottesville Anti-Fascists” - amazing downloadable/printable pamphlet/statement (in English) from collectif mères solidaires (set your printer to print double-sided, flip on short edge)

[anarchistmemedistro]

[gr8writingtips]

writing tip #4123:

remove all the plot from your story and replace it with gay sex

[luna-azzurra]

List of Character flaws

─ .✦ Stubbornness, Unyielding in one's own views, even when wrong.

─ .✦ Impatience, Difficulty waiting for long-term results.

─ .✦ Self-doubt, Constant uncertainty despite evident abilities.

─ .✦ Quick temper, Excessive reactions to provocations.

─ .✦ Selfishness, Prioritizing one's own needs over others'.

─ .✦ Arrogance, Overestimating one's own abilities.

─ .✦ Trust issues, Difficulty trusting others.

─ .✦ Perfectionism, Setting unreachable high standards.

─ .✦ Fear of change, Avoiding changes.

─ .✦ Haunted by the past, Old mistakes or traumas influencing the present.

─ .✦ Jealousy, Envious of others' successes.

─ .✦ Laziness, Hesitant to exert effort.

─ .✦ Vindictiveness, Strong desire for revenge.

─ .✦ Prejudice, Unfair biases against others.

─ .✦ Shyness, Excessive timidity.

─ .✦ Indecisiveness, Difficulty making decisions.

─ .✦ Vulnerability, Overly sensitive to criticism.

─ .✦ Greed, Strong desire for more (money, power, etc.).

─ .✦ Dishonesty, Tendency to distort the truth.

─ .✦ Recklessness, Ignoring the consequences of one's actions.

─ .✦ Cynicism, Negative attitude and distrust.

─ .✦ Cowardice, Lack of courage in critical moments.

─ .✦ Hotheadedness, Quick, often thoughtless reactions.

─ .✦ Contentiousness, Tendency to provoke conflicts.

─ .✦ Forgetfulness, Difficulty remembering important details.

─ .✦ Kleptomania, Compulsion to steal things.

─ .✦ Hypochondria, Excessive concern about one's health.

─ .✦ Pessimism, Expecting the worst in every situation.

─ .✦ Narcissism, Excessive self-love.

─ .✦ Control freak, Inability to let go or trust others.

─ .✦ Tactlessness, Inability to address sensitive topics sensitively.

─ .✦ Hopelessness, Feeling that nothing will get better.

─ .✦ Dogmatism, Rigidity in one's own beliefs.

─ .✦ Unreliability, Inability to keep promises.

─ .✦ Closed-offness, Difficulty expressing emotions.

─ .✦ Impulsiveness, Acting without thinking.

─ .✦ Wounded pride, Overly sensitive to criticism of oneself.

─ .✦ Isolation, Tendency to withdraw from others.

[blignick]

[bunjywunjy]

this is actually HILARIOUS because both domestic rabbits and domestic cats practice dominance-related social grooming but for wildly different reasons.

if you're a rabbit, the boss rabbit is the one who gets groomed by its subordinate rabbits.

but if you're a cat... the boss cat is the one that grooms the other cats.

BOTH these idiots are going "aw yeah, it's good to be on top >:) "

[ironychan]

[rainbow-femme]

To update this, the astronaut didn’t actually do it, she and her wife were getting a divorce and the wife plead guilty to lying to the feds about it

And framing your ex for a crime mid-divorce while they are actively in space is some Agatha Christie level shit

[theabigailthorn]

maybe she just needed... some space

[deceasedcardinal]

[mugiwara-lucy]

Yeah I said something similar yesterday but we can NOT let what happened to Renee Good cloud what happened to everyone else at the hands of these SS Demons!!!

Because we can’t disregard one person if we’re for human rights!

[writingwithcolor]

Donate to Support for Keith’s Daughters After Tragedy, organized by Keith Porter

My 43-year-old son, Keith, was tragically killed on New Year's Eve in Northri… Keith Porter needs your support for Support for Keith’s Daugh

The above screenshot reads:

A Black man was killed by ICE (off duty) in Los Angeles on New Year's Eve. And like Renee Good, he was an American citizen. But most people have not heard about Keith Porter. I need y'all to realize this. Black people experience this lack of visibility all the time when it comes to being victims. (Christopher Webb @cwebbonline.com)

The second screenshot above reads:

Renee Nicole Good wasn't the first killed by ICE... In 2025, ICE murdered: Silverio Villegas Gonzalez Carlos Roberto Montoya Valdez Genry Ruiz Guillén Serawit Gezahagn Dejane Maksym Chernyak Juan Alexis Tineo-Martinez Brayan Garzón-Rayo Nhon Ngoc Nguyen Marie Ange Blaise Abelardo Avellaneda Delgado Jesus Molina-Veya Johnny Noviello Isidro Pérez Tien Xuan Phan Chaofeng Ge Lorenzo Antonio Batrez Vargas Oscar Rascon Duarte Norlan Guzman-Fuentes Miguel Ángel García Medina Johnny Noviello Santos Banegas Reyes Ismael Ayala-Uribe Norlan Guzman-Fuentes Miguel Ángel García Medina Huabing Xie Leo Cruz-Silva Hasan Ali Moh’D Saleh Josué Castro Rivera Gabriel Garcia Aviles Kai Yin Wong Francisco Gaspar-Andrés Pete Sumalo Montejo Shiraz Fatehali Sachwani Jean Wilson Brutus Fouad Saeed Abdulkadir Delvin Francisco Rodriguez Nenko Stanev Gantchev In 2026, ICE has murdered 2 people: Keith Porter [New years eve 2025] Renee Nicole Good -From the ICE_Raids Community on Reddit

And to all of our lovely WWC Followers, particularly those in the United States:

Take care. Take care of each other, your community, yourselves.

Travel in groups and make sure your loved ones know where you are. And absolutely know your rights.

And even in troubled times, try to find a spark of hope, creativity and comfort and hold onto it. For even joy is resistance.

Resources

Immigrant Defense Project

City of Mpls website: Know Your Rights (Minnesota)

For those who can support:

I've included the verified GoFundMe for Keith Porter's daughters.

Keith Porter's family GoFundme

~Mod Colette & WWC Team

[literaryvein-reblogs]

How to Describe Setting in Literature

Setting - when and where the action takes place.

Your story’s setting establishes the environment of the fictional world that will be planted in the reader’s mind as they read through your creative writing.

Fleshing out your setting isn’t just for fantasy worldbuilding—every story can benefit from a detailed environment.

Writing Tips: Describe Setting

There are endless combinations of descriptive words and specific details that can contribute to your descriptions of setting, creating a clear vision of where your story takes place:

Use sensory details. Use all five senses to describe the immediate surroundings to the reader to quickly immerse them in the environment of your story. The little details of how your marketplace smells, or what the wood of an old house feels like can make all the difference in your descriptive writing, and really set the stage for a vivid reader experience.

Show, don’t tell. Your setting descriptions should be more than just listed off for the reader. If you have an active or hostile environment, show how the setting changes or interacts with characters. If there’s a factory nearby, don’t just tell the reader that—describe what it smells like or how it changes the way the sky looks. You can also indicate the time of day or time of year it is in your story by including how the sunlight looks or discussing weather changes.

Use real-life locations. If you need inspiration, look at the setting around you. The old church down the road may not be what the religious center in your sci-fi novel looks like, but using real locations as a basis for the ones you create can help outline the setting you’re going for. Just like how character behavior drawn from real life examples can give a natural depth to the characters you’re writing, the same can be done for setting. You can also use pictures and videos from places you cannot visit to get a general idea of what your own location would be like.

Incorporate figurative language. Your descriptions can be literal, but sometimes you can create a stronger image in the reader’s mind when using metaphors or similes to compare it to something else visual. For instance, comparing the volcanic eruption in your novel to a fiery, vengeful dragon can create intense imagery that will have more of an impact on your readers’ imaginations.

Keep it simple. Focus on the details that really matter. The importance of setting in a book should not be overlooked, however, it is also important not to go overboard. A long list of what a place looks and feels like might feel thorough, but ten pages of scenery descriptions will be boring for the reader. Parse out the most interesting and vital details when describing the setting of your scene to give the reader a sense of balance, and not overload them with adjectives.

Source ⚜ More: Writing Notes & References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

[soyoumusik]

“Go into the arts. I’m not kidding. The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.”

— Kurt Vonnegut (via lazypacific)

[mapsofnonexistentplaces]

leaving out a very vital part of the quote

[alionnamedcobra]

Insightful, funny, kinda offensive…Kurt Vonnegut as a writer in a nutshell

[soyoumusik]

“Go into the arts. I’m not kidding. The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.”

— Kurt Vonnegut (via lazypacific)

[mapsofnonexistentplaces]

leaving out a very vital part of the quote

[glassfrogforest]

[alionnamedcobra]

It's my 3 year anniversary on Tumblr 🥳

[thewriteadviceforwriters]

💥 Small Writing Habits That Genuinely Changed How I Write 💥

listen. i’m not here to sell you a productivity system or convince you that waking up at 5am will make you a novelist. i am deeply Not That Girl. HOWEVER, here are 5 chaotic little writing habits that quietly rearranged my brain chemistry:

✏️ typing BEFORE i know what happens i used to think i had to outline everything before writing. wrong. i get more done when i let the scene surprise me. just start with vibes and a line of dialogue. the rest shows up once you start moving.

🗣️ saying the scene out loud like a play no joke. talking my scenes out like a script?? life-changing. the pacing, the emotion, the rhythm of it all makes more sense when i act like i’m gossiping about my blorbos in a voice memo.

⌛ 20-minute timers (not for productivity, just to start) i tell myself “just 20 minutes.” sometimes i stop. sometimes i blink and it’s 2 hours later and someone’s been emotionally eviscerated in chapter 12. this one’s black magic. use wisely.

🕯️ re-reading my WIP like a book no editing, no judging, just reading through with snacks like it’s already published. changes how i see the pacing and emotional arcs. also reminds me it doesn’t completely suck.

🧂 leaving in the messy parts i used to delete scenes that felt “off.” now i just write a little comment like “THIS IS BAD BUT KEEP GOING.” turns out momentum matters more than vibes. shocking, i know.

anyway. tiny habits. huge mental rewiring. 10/10. highly recommend.

[glitchedoutpxie]

How to use Em Dash (—) and Semi Colon ( ; )

Since the ai accusations are still being thrown around, here's how i personally like to use these GASP ai telltales. 🦄✨

Em Dashes (—)

To emphasize a shift / action / thought.

They're accusing us—actually accusing us—of using AI.

To add drama.

They dismissed our skills as AI—didn't even think twice, the dimwits—and believed they were onto something.

To insert a sudden thought. Surely they wouldn't do that to us—would they?

To interrupt someone's speech. "Hey, please don't say that. I honed my craft through years of blood and tears—" "Shut up, prompter."

To interrupt someone's thoughts / insert a sudden event.

We're going to get those kudos. We're going to get those reblogs—

A chronically online Steve commented, “it sounds like ai, idk.”

Semi Colons ( ; )

To join two closely related independent sentences / connect ideas.

Not only ChatGPT is capable of correct punctuation; who do you think it learned from in the first place?

Ultimate pro tip: use them whenever the fuck you want. You don't owe anyone your creative process. 🌈

[buildmeafairytale]

Get these ai writing assistants out of my face!!!! I don't care if my writing is bad at least it is mine!!!!