Entropy Alarm

My writing. About writing in general. And relatable writer problems. (Fandom stuff is through @fanfictionfridge)

[afloweroutofstone]

I wish there was a way to tell companies that I dislike an ad so much that I will actively avoid buying anything from them because of it

[botprince]

So slightly unrelated but still relevant, generally when I come across an ad that just really fuckin annoys me for whatever reason I’ll go into Google and just type different variations of “I hate ‘x’ product” like 5 times until googles algorithm picks it up an I never see an ad for that product again. It’s amazing.

[reallycoolsoup]

Use that cooperate spyware to your advantage

[cuntaloupes-deactivated20241215]

Abusive men pave the way for lazy men to get wives and girlfirends.

[cuntaloupes-deactivated20241215]

Lemme clarify, how many times have you heard your overworked female friends and relatives say “Yeah, Jerry drinks beer every evening after work while I cook dinner and clean up after everyone and does the bare minimum to help me raise the kids but he’s such a nice guy. He’s never beat me in my life. I couldn’t ask for a better guy in my life.”

Like no, Sally, your husband is a common stone among turds and you know it.

[biggestniq]

I try to explain this conceptually to people as a thing that happens not saying that this is good but it’s a thing that happens.

[wedgemccloud]

This is what male privilege is and how all men benefit from it.

This is why you are not exempt from statements about “all men” even if you are overall good.

You benefit from the bar constantly being lowered by systemic issues within the gender.

The expectations on you are always lower than they should because “at least you’re not X”.

[musingsofatiredmind]

That…is the best response I’ve seen to the “not all men” thing. Thank you.

[dapperdonuts]

This was in my psychology book. I thought it might be useful to those who can’t think if gender-neutral terms.

[glumshoe]

It’d really suck if I got ice or water-themed superpowers. I’d have to wear blue and white and gray instead of the reds and oranges I prefer.

[semoka]

wear the reds and oranges and pull an iceland/greenland on em

[glumshoe]

“I have cornered you in this aquarium, where your fire powers are useless!”

“Fire powers? Dude, I’m an ice hero. I freeze shit and manipulate water. Also, I love aquariums. Thanks for the free entry!”

“But… you’re dressed like Guy Fieri…?”

“Yeah haha. I have an autumnal complexion.”

[concerningwolves]

Full offense but your writing style is for you and nobody else. Use the words you want to use; play with language, experiment, use said, use adverbs, use “unrealistic” writing patterns, slap words you don’t even know are words on the page. Language is a sandbox and you, as the author, are at liberty to shape it however you wish. Build castles. Build a hovel. Build a mountain on a mountain or make a tiny cottage on a hill. Whatever it is you want to do. Write.

[skepticalavenger]

Why Did God Create Atheists?

There is a famous story told in Chassidic literature that addresses this very question. The Master teaches the student that God created everything in the world to be appreciated, since everything is here to teach us a lesson. 

One clever student asks “What lesson can we learn from atheists? Why did God create them?”

The Master responds “God created atheists to teach us the most important lesson of them all — the lesson of true compassion. You see, when an atheist performs and act of charity, visits someone who is sick, helps someone in need, and cares for the world, he is not doing so because of some religious teaching. He does not believe that god commanded him to perform this act. In fact, he does not believe in God at all, so his acts are based on an inner sense of morality. And look at the kindness he can bestow upon others simply because he feels it to be right.”

“This means,” the Master continued “that when someone reaches out to you for help, you should never say ‘I pray that God will help you.’ Instead for the moment, you should become an atheist, imagine that there is no God who can help, and say ‘I will help you.’”

ETA source: Tales of Hasidim Vol. 2 by Mar

[scyphozoans]

I started reading this and was worried it would be something attacking atheists, or bashing religion, but this makes me really, really happy.

[naamahdarling]

imagine that there is no God who can help, and say ‘I will help you.’”

Holy shit.

Holy shit.

Yes.  YES.

[a-queer-seminarian]

i love experiencing how my classmates work to avoid misgendering me. for instance, today one classmate greeted the rest of our small group: “All right ladies and gentlemen — and Avery”

another time a classmate went: “Pardon me, ma’am — uh, sir, uh….esteemed one”

and, my absolute fave: “Hey ladies! — and gentleThem”

i love these moments both because they’re humorous and because they show how hard these folks are trying! it’s not about getting it right every time at first, but consistently correcting yourself!

[rollerskatinglizard]

It’s not about getting it right every time at first, but consistently correcting yourself!

[citizen-zero]

YA literature? You mean books about Super Special White Girl and Her Mysterious Brooding Boyfriend?

[readyalit-blog]

Here’s a list of black YA leads! And ten Native American protagonists! And a list of ladies who love ladies in YA! And genderqueer / transgender YA leads! And more queer titles! And 2015 / 2016 YA books with Asian / East Asian leads! And bisexual YA leads! And Muslim YA leads! And asexual YA leads! And YA Interrobang’s entire section on diverse YA fiction! *confetti*

[hikatebishop]

PLEASE REBLOG THIS

[unapolpgeticalfeminist]

omg I’m doing research for one of projects for college, and apparently, girls learn better when they’re in an all girls class, but boys learn even worse when they’re in an all boys class, because all the negative things become even stronger of there are no girls to act as “buffer”

get rid of the boys and let girl learn in peace, i couldn’t care less about them

[cecaeliawitch]

It’s not our job to be a “buffer”

[radfemarchive-deactivated202304]

Separate boys from girls then, they don’t have to be acting like mothers at age 12, if boys ruin the education of others boys, um, idk, fix their behavior maybe?

[shopcatsca]

I work at uni. My program is very competitive. Like you need a 92% or more to get in. We get 10x the applications than we can accept. So. This means our program is 95% female. Simply because girls do better in highschool than boys. Its literally that simple. However. This is a HUGE deal in the administration! Because OMG all those poor boys with less than a 92% can’t get into our program and woe is me, those poor poor boys. Every year we meet to talk about ways to “rectify” this “problem”. One year they’re going to stop inviting me to these meetings. Because I always ask questions like “how do we get boys into the program with lower GPAs without denying girls with higher GPAs? And how is giving boys preferential treatment not sexist?” Keep going good ladies, I’m saving your seat!

[radfemarchive-deactivated202304]

This type of thing always happens when women are dominating something, protocols are changed to accommodate and benefit men, and if this strategy isn’t successful the field is devalued.

Keep the good work!

[benyw]

The amount of times I heard my grandfather talk about the ‘feminization’ of schools because he wanted to blame the system for boys under performing (or, more accurately: girls out performing the boys) instead of, ya know, boys’ entitled attitudes and overall piss poor behavior when at school.

[emeritusprofessorofnothing]

When women fail at something: there must be something wrong with women When women succeed at something: there must be something wrong with the system

[cephalopodvictorious]

I think I’ve talked about it before on other posts, but I once had an anthropology class that, completely unintentionally, was all women and one man, and he dropped the course after two weeks. The other section of the same anthropology class, taught by the same professor, was mixed with men and women. So, since it was anthropology, she asked if it was cool if she took notes. She said right away that the all female class had a wildly different vibe, that we spoke and acted differently and had different social expectations of her and the rest of the class, and that we let students complete their thoughts before disagreeing, while the mixed class was highly traditional and almost entirely male dominated because every time a woman spoke, a man jumped in halfway through to “correct” her by saying the same thing. Its a very small sample size, but I think about this a lot

[plantinghuman]

Funny way to find out which plant you might like to buy.

Source: apartmenttherapy.com

[herbwicc]

FOR MY FOLLOWERS THAT HAVE DIFFICULTY CARING FOR PLANTS AND ASK WHAT THEY SHOULD BUY, THIS IS REALLY GREAT!! 

[unofficially-nasa]

As a former florist this is hella helpful

[gallusrostromegalus]

Greenhouse Pro, this is all legit, with two bonus hints. 

-If you have any loose animals, be sure to google if a plant is toxic for them (ASPCA has an amazingly comprehensive database, bless them).  Even if a pet’s never showed interest before, it’s best to not have anything toxic in the house.

-”It’s dark in here” means “the house lights are on most of the time” if your place is even darker than that (No natural light + the lights are usually off) I reccomend grow-your-own mushroom kits.  They’re fun, do fine in the dark and you can eat them!

[clovvenhoof]

i’ll stop dressing in black when they invent a darker colour

[samandriel]

[internetastronaut]

finally something to match my soul

[hektikk]

If you haven’t seen this, it’s actually so black that if they made clothing out of it, it would just appear as though there was a photoshopped hole where your clothing is.

[cosmic-aria]

finally i can become the void

[you-have-startled-the-witch]

“i equip my trusty laser revolver. there’s basically no point in it being a revolver and not an automatic pistol except for the aesthetic. honestly it’s just really inconvenient to have only six shots of fuckin light energy at a time but it’s a labor of love for a space cowboy”

[thequantumqueer]

ok but consider: capacitors that recharge automatically but not instantly, so in the few seconds between each shot, you have 5 other capacitors to cycle through, leaving the first capacitor ready to fire again by the time it is again aligned with the lens assembly and trigger mechanism.

in that sense, the purpose of a laser revolver’s cylinder would be like the cylinder of a traditional ballistic revolver and more like a rotary barrel assembly (which is used to allow each barrel time to cool down before another round is fired through it, reducing wear-and-tear), though due to the fact that its direct function is to align the ordnance with the weapon assembly, it would still be considered a cylinder, making the weapon properly a revolver.

[lovesthesmarty]

Yes!  I want SCIENCE in my science fiction. Thank you.

[universalfanfic]

writer problems: trying to figure out how many chapters you’re going to stall until An Event™

[piteousfangirl]

more writer problems: trying to figure out how many chapters you can fit between Events™

[sos-fandoms]

even more writer problems: trying to figure out what Event to put in between your chapters

[whitebear-ofthe-watertribe]

even more bonus writer problems: looking forward to writing an Event™ but trying to figure out how to write the less fun but important filler chapters leading up to it

[socialnetworkhell]

“Consensual sex” is just sex. To say that implies that there is such a thing as “non consensual sex”, which there isn’t. That’s rape. That is what it needs to be called. There is only sex or rape. Do not teach people that rape is just another type of sex. They are two very separate events. You wouldn’t say “breathing swimming” and “non breathing swimming”, you say swimming and drowning.

[seeingteacupsindragons]

You know what we need more of? Beginner’s classes for adults.

It’s supposed to be really, really good for you to keep learning new things as you age. It helps stave off strokes and dementia and Alzheimer’s and improves memory. And hey, learning stuff is fun.

But I really don’t want to be infantilized when I try to learn something. And I definitely don’t learn the way a child does. And honestly, what adult wants to be in the same class as children? Very few.

This occurred to me recently because I’d like to learn how to actually ice skate properly. My parents never signed me up for classes, because it wasn’t a thing they ever cared about or thought about. Now I’m in my twenties and want to learn, and also don’t want to be surrounded by a bunch of eight-year-olds who probably honestly skate better than I do. Because that’s embarrassing, and embarrassment is not how you learn.

Would it be good to lose the social stigma of being worse at something than a child? Yes. Hell yes. But we’ve got to start somewhere, and like I said: adults don’t really learn the way kids do, and a lot of people use these kinds of activities to make friends, and I don’t want to make friends with an eight-year-old, either.

So.

Beginner’s classes for adults. Let adults suck at stuff and learn how to get better and learn new things and broaden their horizons, while still being treated as adults. Classes for writing, for pottery, for chess, for art, for instruments, for singing, for sports, for chemistry. For everything, dammit.

[mevima]

List of Vocal Sounds for Smut

I present to you a - probably quite incomplete, I’m sure I’m missing a lot of speech sounds - reference list and a bit of a guideline for the different ways one can describe the sounds your characters make whilst writing smut. I’ll definitely be referring to it, because I sometimes get stuck on exactly how to describe a particular noise. (aka, “he can’t groan again, he just groaned last paragraph”)

Sounds (noun, both independently and describing speech): breath/breathe, gasp, moan, groan, pant, whimper, whine, shout, yelp, hiss, grunt, cry, scream, shriek, sob, growl, curse, sound, sigh, hum, noise, squeak, snarl, howl, roar, mewl, wail, choke, keen, purr

Sounds (noun, describing speech): rasp, husk, drawl, plea, murmur, whisper, beg

Descriptors (adjective): loud, hushed, quiet, low, high, high-pitched, little, tiny, soft, deep, unrestrained, restrained, strained, breathy, rough, sudden, short, drawn-out, sharp, harsh, hard, thick, smooth, thin, heavy, impassioned, insistent, hungry, passionate, repeated, filthy, debauched, sweet, slow, deliberate, guttural, languid, surprised, husky, distracted, happy, pleased, satisfied, wordless, cut-off, bitten-off, contented, hoarse, extended, long, depraved, aching, choked, strangled, broken, helpless, shuddering, shaky, trembling, urgent, needy, desperate, wanton, shattered, pained, eager

Combine a descriptor and a sound for best effect - for example, “needy moan,” “pleased hum,” or “sudden scream.” You can even use two: “low, rough grunt,” “sweet little cry,” “desperate, filthy noise,” as long as you don’t repeat a word that means the same thing, unless you really want to emphasize it. Avoiding repetition is pretty key here. You don’t usually want to say “hushed, quiet gasp” except on rare occasions when it’s very important how soft the sound was.

Use your own common sense, as well; some sounds and descriptors don’t generally work well together. “Deliberate shriek” probably wouldn’t work well, and neither would “languid grunt,” but again, this is all very situational - play around! Have fun.

Feel free to add to my lists, use for your reference or pass them around. It would be fun to see a randomized generator made, too, I’m just too lazy to do it myself. ;)

[justwhumpythings]

It’s probably not entirely a coincidence that a lot of these words are also good for writing whump.

[mysharona1987]