FuckNugguget

@bitchytimetravelmate

Bisexual Bigender Bitch the three B's She/Her They/Them

140 posts

shitpostinguniverse

the-writers-society-deactivated

Are These Filter Words Weakening Your Story?

After putting my writing on hold for several weeks, I decided to jump back in. I expected to find all sorts of problems with my story–inconsistencies in the plot, lack of transitions, poor characterization–the works. But what began to stick out to me was something to which I’d given little thought in writing.

Filter words.

What are Filter Words?

Actually, I didn’t even know these insidious creatures had a name until I started combing the internet for info.

Filter words are those that unnecessarily filter the reader’s experience through a character’s point of view. Dark Angel’s Blog says:

“Filtering” is when you place a character between the detail you want to present and the reader. The term was started by Janet Burroway in her book On Writing.

In terms of example, you should watch out for:

To see

To hear

To think

To touch

To wonder

To realize

To watch

To look

To seem

To feel (or feel like)

Can

To decide

To sound (or sound like)

To know

I’m being honest when I say my manuscript is filled with these words, and the majority of them need to be edited out.

What do Filter Words Look Like?

Let’s imagine a character in your novel is walking down a street during peak hour.

You might, for example, write:

Sarah felt a sinking feeling as she realized she’d forgotten her purse back at the cafe across the street. She saw cars filing past, their bumpers end-to-end. She heard the impatient honk of horns and wondered how she could quickly cross the busy road before someone took off with her bag. But the traffic seemed impenetrable, and she decided to run to the intersection at the end of the block.

Eliminating the bolded words removes the filters that distances us, the readers, from this character’s experience:

Sarah’s stomach sank. Her purse—she’d forgotten it back at the cafe across the street. Cars filed past, their bumpers end-to-end. Horns honked impatiently. Could she make it across the road before someone took off with her bag? She ran past the impenetrable stream of traffic, toward the intersection at the end of the block.

Are Filter Words Ever Acceptable?

Of course, there are usually exceptions to every rule.

Just because filter words tend to be weak doesn’t mean they never have a place in our writing. Sometimes they are helpful and even necessary.

Susan Dennard of Let The Words Flow writes that we should use filter words when they are critical to the meaning of the sentence.

If there’s no better way to phrase something than to use a filter word, then it’s probably okay to do so.

Want to know more?

Read these other helpful articles on filter words and more great writing tips:

Filter Words and Distancing Point of View

The Reasons Editors reject Manuscripts

Filter Those words and Strengthen Your Writing

things got a little heated in the gc today

gallusrostromegalus

International Differences that turn into screaming matches of misdirected fury is one of my favorite genres of humor

tybalt-you-saucy-boi

Can we talk about how raw of a quote “When I kill God, I’ll make a law in the universe that makes every being put carrots on their sandwiches. … And you? You will eat sandwiches every day.” is

Also OP

Tower of Babel by unknown author circa Old Testament.

derinthescarletpescatarian

I hope you all realise that I think of this conversation (specifically the Phoenix Wright animation of it) every time I go to Subway. I had Subway today and thought of this conversation the whole time.

And yes, I had carrot.

i had to look up the phoenix wright animation of this post and im not disappointed

https://youtu.be/YBAn-k3dgPE

worldheritagepostorganization

World Heritage Post

brightlotusmoon

Yes! Yes Yes yesss!

They actually have some different needs and you can't meet them if you don't acknowledge the difference between species! I need a zebra label so I can correct people's goofy assumptions about me by telling them that while I have cute ears, a soft nose, will bite when angry, will kick basically anything behind me, and am generally horse-shaped, I'm still not a fucking horse.

Also, yeah, I don't want to hang out with horses all the time. I want my own people. They know how to be my people. They get me.

In other words: Don't tell me I don't have stripes, you Appaloosa-ass motherfucker.

probablyasocialecologist

Abortion is still legal in 49 states! Visit ineedana.com to find a clinic near you.

There is a strong network of abortion funds throughout the country that have provided financial and practical support for decades! Visit http://abortionfunds.org/need-abortion to find your local one.

Anyone interested in promoting abortion access in the United States should donate to Keep Our Clinics to keep independent clinics (which provide 2/3 of abortions) open, or to their local abortion funds!

Anyone who's taking or planning on taking abortion pills at home can call or text ReproCare at 1-833-226-7821 for information, support, and referrals.

There are ways to legally get an abortion without your parents' permission if you are under 18! Visit the Judicial Bypass Wiki to find information specific to each state or call the JB Helpline: 1-844-868-2812

theoppositeofadults

purposelessnessismypurpose

Did you know? The reason citation in APA use only initials and not full names is because some women ran an experiment. They submitted some articles they’d written to a journal and the articles were rejected. They changed nothing about the articles except the authors’ names, which they changed to male names, and resubmitted them. The articles were accepted.

Come on founder/king of Athens, aren’t u gonna slay the Bull of Minos or not?

Huh...

Huh...

olderthannetfic

“Slay”, huh.

lontra-ohiensis

still not over how much I love this

Posts that would kill a peasant from 1173

imjustusingthistolikeartists

Mephistopheles and Margaretta, A Double Statue - medium: sculpture, sycamore wood, sculptor unknown, 19th century. Currently located in the Salar Jung Museum in Hyderabad, India.

i’ve reblogged posts featuring these two separately, but they go great together

thegingerpowers

ginger-ninja420

I feel attacked

you forgot the pie slice labeled “I’m actually holding it but don’t realize it”

That’s the slice they’re currently holding

the only reason cops are at pride now is to intimidate gay people into not making it a riot again and i will stand by that fact until the day i die

vaguelyconcernedtriangle

If the occasion should arise and I attend a pride festival, I would also like it to not become a riot.

imagine being this guy

arent they there? to stop any attacks from the anti lgbt groups?? yknow the ones that ALWAYS gather there???

contrary to what this newer generation of lgbt people think, cops are a new addition to prides. only within the past 10/20 years have they actually started “protecting” pride. aka standing around and intimidating the general public. historically, lgbt people have protected ourselves and eachother during pride events. from police in a lot of cases actually. ive been to pride events where the anti lgbt protesters were the ones being “protected” from the pride crowd… the cops arent there for us. theyre there to boost the image of the police force and make us think they care. the only people who feel safe around cops are the classes that they are meant to protect and people who are uneducated about police. (theres a heavy overlap as well.) you may feel safe around cops but many people do not. theyre literally dogs to the upper class.

umblrgumblr-deactivated20201112

2018 Baltimore pride was crashed by terfs who marched with the cops. pigs protected them.

In hamilton ontario the cops let neo nazis attack people and said they didnt help because people didnt want them there

themintycupcake

I was at NYC Pride a couple of years ago and a massive section of the main route was completely dedicated to cops. The sight of a prison bus driving by with rainbow flags on it made me sick. That was the year that Toronto Pride asked the police not to bring guns to pride. And so the NYPD invited them to our parade, marching through and proudly brandishing their guns. Back at the Stonewall Inn, people who were protesting the commercialization of Pride were beaten by police. I used to buy some of what the commenters above are saying about protection, but after seeing all of that Pride needs to be anti cop.

A group of neo-nazis showed up across from Motor City Pride 2019 waving a giant swastika around. When they crossed over to our side of the road, we could see they had shields, a megaphone, and some had guns. Assault weapons.

They screamed at us, waving their flag. At the time, my friend and I were outside the festival gates helping a local group hand out food, water, etc to the festival-goers. People were gathering. Cops that were posted around pride came to the area.

They gathered around the Nazis, but faced us. They let the Nazis keep walking. They shoved us out of the way. They yelled at us.

I shouted at one of the cops and he told me “They have just as much of a right to be here as you.”

Cops aren’t there to protect us. They don’t give a shit. Given the choice, they will stand with and defend Nazis before they help us.

No cops at pride. Ever.

No cops at pride. Ever.

drtanner-dickery

Just FYI also, the person up there saying they would like Pride to “not become a riot” is a TERF. There’s no correlation there I’m sure but it’s weird, right? :)

I couldn't love him more.

theoppositeofadults

welcomedhappiness

Farewell online privacy

What happened?

welcomedhappiness

Trump happened.

just get a VPN?

You can’t just tell people to ‘get a VPN (Virtual Private Network)’. Buying a VPN is like buying a house. It’s very very important. Having no VPN or having a ‘wrong’ one can seriously damage your life. Especially for Americans because their privacy laws are garbage. I am going to try explain why you should get a VPN but bare with me, I am from Germany and my English is far from perfect.

Let’s start with a simple test. Click this link here: https://whatismyipaddress.com/ It will tell your IP adres, your ISP (internet service provider), and your location. The location might not be very accurate, but then again, it’s just a simple website. Imagine what the government can do!

So basically, everyone can find out where you live. But there is more danger. Your ISP. Your ISP logs your every move online and they are required to keep it in case the government wants access to it (or if a 3rd party wants to buy your data (yikes). They have everything. What websites you visit. How long you stay on a website. What you download. Your search terms. European laws are more subtle on this but if you are from the US you are #@*#&, especially because Trump doesn’t support the open internet. It’s scary but maybe in the future you can’t get a job because the recruiter knows your searched on ‘how to deal with depression’ or anythings else that’s supposed to be private because it’s your f*cking right. Or you get a $100k fine because you pirated a movie 15 years ago. You need a VPN. You’re dumb for not using one. but what does a VPN do?

A VPN encrypts all your data so if it were be intercepted no one can ‘crack the code’ and damage your privacy.

Usually being online goes like this (simplified): Your computer —-> ISP (—–> keeps data —–> sells it)

But with a VPN it goes like: Your computer —–> VPN (encrypts data)—–> ISP (ISP can’t see shit)

Furthermore, a VPN hides your IP address and location by giving you another IP address located in Spain for example (you can often choose from a list and change as many times as you want).

Now that you know why you should get a VPN and what is does it is important to educate yourself because people often choose the wrong VPN. VPN providers are also businesses and have to obey the law. If you choose a VPN provider located in the US then you are throwing your money away because the laws in the US shits on your privacy. If the US gov wants the provider to give all their logs they have to obey. The ISP still can’t see what you are doing online and sell your data but the US gov can interfere with your VPN provider so NEVER CHOOSE A PROVIDER LOCATED IN THE US.

I just wanted to make that very clear so my followers don’t buy false security.

There is still more danger! Who says your VPN provider isn’t selling your data? You need to check their logging policy. Do they keep logs? If yes, what for? For how long do they keep them? Tip: Choose a provider who doesn’t keep logs

More about law The US is part of the Five Eyes program (the worst):

The Five Eyes, often abbreviated as FVEY, is an intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. These countries are bound by the multilateral UKUSA Agreement, a treaty for joint cooperation in signals intelligence (source)

There is also a Nine Eyes (bit better) and Fourteen Eyes Program (better). You don’t want a VPN provider who is located in one the Five Eyes countries. If you had to choose go for a provider located in a country that’s part of the Fourteen Eyes Program or even better, go for a country that isn’t part of any program!

I know this is a shitty explanation and please pardon my english but now it’s time to do your own research. Take your privacy seriously. Maybe WWIII breaks out and you get killed for liking the ‘wrong’ FB-page.

Go to this website: https://thatoneprivacysite.net/simple-vpn-comparison-chart/

Make sure that your future VPN provider both has green boxes for Privacy Jurisdiction and Privacy Logging.

I recommend ovpn.se and trust.zone. ovpn is located in Sweden so they are part of the 14 Eyes Program and they keep minimal logs. Their business ethics, however, are alright.

Trustzone is located in the Seychelles. No country can interfere and their privacy jurisdiction is the best you can get. The US want your data but needs to get it from Trustzone? The Seychelles will simply give them the finger and wave them goodbye. However, this makes this provider very appealing for people who torrent and criminals because they keep no logs (and that is how it shoud be) Also, there are almost no marketing efforts so this provider is one the cheapest)

Also, often providers such as ExpressVPN are being called ‘The Best’ on websites about VPNs but know that this is just marketing which also makes those provider more expensive (and they too shit on your privacy)

This must be the worst article you have ever read but please, please take your privacy very seriously.

EDIT: I got many people asking me which provider I use. For those who want to know, I use Trust Zone. They offer a free 3-day trial with no strings attached. But still do your own research!

writing-prompt-s

I am also with Trustzone but I think you forgot to explain one of it’s most important features. It protects you when you are using someone else’s Wi-Fi. If you are at Starbucks and you use their Wi-Fi your privacy is at risk. Anyone with ill intentions could steal your information. Especially if you are using an unsecured Wi-Fi hotspot. With a VPN your data gets encrypted so no one can steal it.

Wait, what’s going, on? Did trump destroy internet privacy with a bill or something? Where’s the news? Oh wait, why am I getting visions of Alex Jones and selling water purifiers?

He hasn’t yet but he says he wants to. And if he is serious about it it would be really easy to do. Since all our data is already recorded, as the person above explained.

Trump wants more surveillance of Muslim Americans. This in a country where internet privacy is already close to non-existent.

Trust.Zone has a free trial. Use it.

btw this post only has 11k notes? That’s quite disappointing for something this important.

Don’t reblog this post to save a life. Reblog this to protect an entire family!

@earth-ruins @writing-prompt-s Should I get trustzone for my mobile device?

writing-prompt-s

If you use public Wi-Fi, then yes. Which VPN you use is up to you, amigo. Take @earth-ruins advice. Do your own research first.

writing-prompt-s

@elvesfromthedeep just brought the current situation in the US to my attention (March 30, 2017).

Sources

Anger as US internet privacy law scrapped

Congress just voted to let internet providers sell your browsing history

To all my friends in the US, please read this entire post. Making everyone aware of VPNs is going to be my mission. Your privacy matters. Please reblog this post.

greeneyespurpleheart

Don’t tell me you just wanted to scroll past this. Stop looking at pictures of cats for a moment, okay? Don’t you realize how important this is? This is dangerous! ‘America, the best FREE country in the world’ my ass.

With this new law your ISP can sell your Internet history which could include passwords, usernames, religion, credit card numbers, race and much more to the highest bidder. So here is what I want you to do. You are going to read the whole thing and before you think ’this is so important. Let me reblog this real quick and go back to admiring cats again-’ NO! Don’t reblog this. Take action first. Then reblog. Sign up for a free trial! Trust.Zone offers one (here). Yes. It might be difficult to set up a VPN for some people. But is that going to stop you from protecting yourself and your family? 30 minutes. 30 minutes is all that it takes. 5 if you know how to install software. The problem with some of you is that you see ‘difficult’ as something negative. I want you to see difficult differently. I need you to push through this stuff. You are going to protect yourself. There is nothing negative about that. VPNs are fun and costsaving too! A VPN bypasses geographical restrictions so you can access websites you normally can’t or you could start Netflix’s one month free trial over and over again- forever. And it’s legal! (unless you use it to buy weapons etc.,) Don’t tell yourself that you are too tired and that you will do this tomorrow. Because that isn’t going to happen and you know it. You have to do this right now. You only have to click on it. Don’t let this/shit/life just happen to you. Take yourself seriously. Get a VPN.

Privacy is not a privilege, it’s a fundamental human right

tthatonefangirl-deactivated2019

Ok sorry that it’s so freaking long and also sorry for the language, but this is extremely important. Please reblog!

li-ionsandtigersandbears

Reblogging again bc this is important

We have a VPN you should get one too

theesirenofthevoid

Please read.

Can you get them for your phones?

^ you can. & when you have a subscription you can use it on your phone and computer. no need for separate subs or purchases.

it is absolutely so important for safety. but one of my fave things to do with my vpn is access non-US netflix. I mean other places have all the new good place eps, all the ‘classic’ bggo eps…

i-cant-remember-who-i-am-deacti

IMPORTANT

massivegothdreamerpanda-deactiv

I’m thinking of doing this because the Indian government just got rid of internet privacy

unashamedly-enthusiastic

Unfortunately, I do love you now that you can dance

ok, but honestly, it is unfortunate. you know how we’re always passing around that ‘you are not immune to propaganda’ meme? this is the propaganda it’s talking about.

it’s cute dancing robots! they have a cute robot dog! it’s cute! it’s friendly!

well, the robot dog friend? cute little jumpy guy, does some careful ballet-esque steps, often between the humanoid robots? so far, both the boston police and the nypd (heads up: autoplaying video, with sound) have ‘deployed’ the cute dog friend. both departments say that the robots are being used as ‘observation devices’, sent into buildings with lights and a camera that sends a videofeed back to the cops.

part of why i think this video (and others like it) is so interesting is because boston dynamics has defended police use of the robots, saying that there’s a clause that the robots can’t be used in a way that would ‘physically harm or intimidate people’. i don’t know about you, but if i were at, say, a protest, or honestly literally anywhere, and a robot dog started running towards me, i’d be pretty fucking intimidated. i’d assume that it was going to hurt me. if one of the humanoid robots were running towards me, i’d assume it was straight-up about to kill me.

but these videos do a lot of work to erode that assumption. how can anyone claim that they’re intimidated by, say, a line of robot dogs at a protest? the robot dogs do funny dances online! the video above has been live for about two months, and it has thirty million views. people love them! they can dance!

so when they start being used as mobile security cameras, or when they start being used to maintain a perimeter or for crowd control or whatever, it’s not really a violation of the contract. the robots are friendly! my bet is that when they start setting them out to do security or whatever—and i don’t doubt that they’ll be used for security, etc—they might even do funny little dances and interact with people who stop to gawk at them. anything to normalize increasingly autonomous roboticized policing. get one of the humanoid ones out in the field, and it’s a remarkably short step to autonomous, mobile cctv—that can also detain you if it doesn’t like what you’re doing, or if there was a crime and you’re in the area, or if your face looks like someone from a database, or—

and all that assumes, of course, that the no-harm clause stays there forever, and that police departments, so famous for their love of doing things by the book, adhere to it. but just for fun, watch that video again, and imagine even one of those robots weaponized, outfitted with even ‘nonlethal’ crowd control.

i’m not arguing that the robots are inherently bad, or that there’s no reasonable use for them, even by cops. but the time to get critical of them is now, not in five or ten years when their use has been largely normalized. this is cute propaganda, but it’s still propaganda, and we should acknowledge it for what it is.

radicalurbanista

anyway this is how to disable the Spot robo-dog that the NYPD just purchased

no1megumidefender

This is art. A masterpiece, actually.

A true American hero

Iconic

airfierce-deactivated20201208

They killed him. His name was Muhiyidin Moye.

He was killed 1 year after this video, according to what I’ve gathered online. Someone tried to knock him off his bike and shot him even as he rode away. He made it to a hospital, but, he still died due to blood loss as he’d left a trail of blood in his path.

All activists who you can name/you see make an impact are viewed as a threat to those in power or those who regard themselves as having power over minority groups. The more of these names I learn, the more I wait in anticipation to hear if they are still here or if their lives have been taken too soon yet.

Here’s a PBS article because I like to believe they’re less biased than most.

Roosevelt Iglus had been charged with second-degree murder in the death of 32-year-old Muhiyidin Moye, better known as Muhiyidin d'Baha, of

I’m reblogging again cause this is crazy, please block out the faces & your face of you at a protest. Protect yourselves and each other. 😨

This is exactly why we tell y’all stop posting protesters faces and clothes without black squares over them, not no pixelated or blurred stuff. STAY SAFE!!!

Their right

FuckNugguget @bitchytimetravelmate - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag