Power Stance

I want to break free

[wizardarchetypes]

never thought this day would come but i’m currently having a customer service experience so bad right now that i’m defecting from the employee regiment and joining the customers in their next battle. i don’t know who i am anymore.

[wizardarchetypes]

experience that makes me research local customer service supervisors for a global corporation and tag them in a LinkedIn post, to fall upon their mercy.

[wizardarchetypes]

long story short i have worked for a call center in customer service before and i knew something was not working out. i've had to call about this issue 5 times in 4 weeks because it's still not resolved, and each time the conversation has ended i've asked for an email confirmation of our conversation and a ticket number so i can call back and reference it with a new representative.

well every time i've called, the new representative has been like "i'm so sorry, but there's no ticket by that number. i have no record of you ever calling about this. i'll start a ticket for you."

finally, the fifth time i nearly burst into tears of frustration and i said "i don't want you to start a ticket for me, because it will be the sixth ticket created for this same issue. every week, one of your colleagues tells me they'll create a a new ticket for me, and then nothing happens."

they said, "i'm sorry but i have no record of those tickets existing." and i was like i KNOW. but they doooooo what is happening.

finally i got transferred to a supervisor's supervisor.

if you've ever worked in online customer service, you know that when a customer calls with a problem, you create a "ticket" that puts that issue into the system. if you can't resolve it, it goes into a ticket queue, where other people with the ability to resolve it select it, put it into their personal working queue, and resolve it.

well after 30 minutes of searching, this supervisor tells me, dumbfounded, that she's discovered a completely unique queue she's never seen before, where my tickets have been going somehow. a pocket universe queue that no one has access to or can edit or select from, not even her. she has no idea what's happening. she's like "yes, here are all your tickets, and no one can open them or comment on them or resolve them.....this is crazy......" and it's JUST my tickets in there. no one else's. of tens of thousands of customers.

all professionalism fell by the wayside. i told her i've worked with those queues before and also found that totally wild. she was like "what the hell is going on...." and talked me through everything she was seeing and how gobsmacked she was. we were both like "this is one for the books truly"

tells me she's going to have to bring this up above herself because this is a really big error on like, a coding level, that she has no idea how to resolve. tells me she will personally call me back tomorrow to update me.

four days pass with no word.

i call customer service again. random agent. explain the entire situation, including that last bit.

agent says "i'm sorry but i have no record of those tickets existing. i'll have to start a ticket for you. rest assured, it will be resolved."

i said, "no it won't be. it never will be. because they're in the special queue."

clearly not believing me, they said, "i've heard nothing about that. i'll start a new ticket for you."

[batshit-auspol]

Please enjoy the infectious laughter of the Australian senate struggling to keep its composure while grilling a man about bee semen

[batshit-auspol]

Regularly forget we posted this and then are hit like a brick with notifications like this one

[sagethegremlin]

among us is a good show but if i just said that you probably wouldnt believe me

[sparrowlucero]

the among us show being a total gorefest on par with john carpenter's the thing is a really fun choice

[sparrowlucero]

the among us show having a gay orgy in the middle of it is another really fun choice

[sparrowlucero]

realizing many people don't know about infinity train creator owen dennis' among us show from years ago, which has been trapped in unreleased limbo all this time and was just dumped on streaming this morning with no advertisement. they don't even know about its weirdly stacked cast

[virtualgirladvance]

was expecting another goncharov but...its real?

[uselessasswerewolf]

.... Brian David Gilbert and Karen Han are writing for this, too, fwiw

[chaumas-deactivated20240115]

[frodo-of-the-nine-fingers]

it is always narratively correct to make your characters sleep together before they sort through the hundreds of lies and misdirections between them. make things worse make things worse make things worse #i love betrayal #i love lying #i love people feeling bad about themselves

[thedoctorknits]

Okay so this is the stuff that is making me lose my absolute shit. I'm telling the story in the order I figured it out, so that you can experience the developing levels of HOLY SHIT.

So first off, there's this foot stool:

I was told it was A Character from the Canterbury Tales that my grandmother needlepointed. Which, neat I'll like that,so I put it in the "For Emily" pile.

In between here, someone else put the Work Box in my pile as well.

Weeks later (aka today) I'm poking around in the sewing closet (this house has so much stuff impressively crammed in crevices). I see a box. I have learned at this point that my Grams kept the coolest shit in boxes and I should definitely open the box. I pull out the box and I find this:

Fully drawn out and colored needle point canvases for more Chaucer characters in PRISTINE condition. But crucially, not started. Complete with the sizing up drawings. This tells me there are original small drafts somewhere. I also learn that my Great Grandfather REALLY liked Chaucer and was a good artist.

The coolness of the stool is Starting to Come into Perspective.

I bring the box and canvases home with me. OBVIOUSLY. And the rest of the Me Pile too.

I get home and start opening the hat box, only to find this:

So I have the original letter, the original draft art from my great gramps, the intermediate draft art also done by him, the canvases and a single finished piece by my grandmother.

4 generations in one project now including me.

I am losing my ever loving mind.

[jewfrogs]

this is so mean but sometimes i see published writing and suddenly no longer feel insecure about my own writing ability. like well okay that got published so im guessing i dont have much to worry about

[naamahdarling]

I have a friend who is an editor, and gets submissions of mostly poetry and short stories.

I have had a glimpse into her slush pile, and let me tell you, the contents were unbelievable and immediately disabused me of the notion that reading through submissions is in any way glamorous. People have the nerve to submit unhinged paranoid ramblings, fetish porn, and a seemingly endless supply of poems about masturbation.

I no longer feel like my fiction is somehow an imposition on the people who read it. It may be forgettable, but at least it isn't typeset to look like sperm.

Do not be afraid to submit your work. Your competition is not only worse than you think, it's worse than you ever imagined.

[silverhand]

Do these three things to get to the top of the slush pile:

The place has a style sheet. Use it. They say they want your MS in 16.5 point Papyrus italic with 0.8 inch margins all around, guess what you're doing before you send it off? Save As, reformat, send it. In the absence of a specific guide: Courier 12 pt (Times New Roman if you must), double spaced, align left, tab 0.5 at each new paragraph.

Check the word count. Don't submit novellas to 2500 word short story venues. BTW, you format the MS in that old style above because the question isn't literal words. Courier 12pt double spaced gives you 250 words per page for typesetting purposes. 2500 words is 10 ms pages, 5000 is 20 pages, etc.

Don't send your romance to Analog or your war story to Harlequin. If it's a cross-genre story, be sure there's enough of what the publication is focused on to interest them, but breaking through is hard if that's not something they usually do.

That's basically what every single editors' panel at every con I've ever been to has boiled down to. And invariably, someone tries to get up and argue with them, not realizing it's not a discussion.

Bonus tip: Don't be in any way cute in your cover letter. Just the facts/Luke Skywalker's message to Jabba the Hut in ROTJ.

Enclosed/attached is my story <Title> for your publication <Magazine>. It is x (rounded to the nearest 500) words. I can be reached at <email> (that you check regularly and isn't likely to dump things into spam) and <phone>.

(If submitting a hard copy: The manuscript is disposable. A SASE is enclosed for your response./A SASE is included for return of the manuscript and your response.)

Thank you for your consideration.

If submitting a novella length piece or greater, a brief and complete summary is appropriate.

In the midst of an interstellar revolt against an evil galactic Empire, vital weapon plans fall into the hands of a farm boy on the edges of the galaxy. With the help of an aging warrior from the Old Republic, and a smuggler with a dark past and his imposing alien copilot, the four set out to deliver them to the rebel forces but are instead flung into a rescue mission to save the beautiful princess who stole the plans as worlds are destroyed by the might of the Empire's weapon, the Death Star.

Captured by the Death Star on route to deliver the plans, they manage to escape the base with the princess, the old warrior sacrificing himself to make this possible. As the Death Star approaches the rebel base, they use the captured plans to stage a desperate final stand. In a fierce space battle of single-pilot ships over the surface of the moon-sized weapon, the farm boy manages to make the critical shot with an unexpected assist from the smuggler, destroying it.

Never under any circumstance put a cliffhanger into a query letter summary. There is no faster way to get the entire MS binned than doing that.

Happy writing.

PS "Top of the slush pile" means into the top 25% of manuscripts received. Three quarters of the submissions don't take the trouble to do even those three basic steps.

Now, that still means 25/100 submissions or 250/1000 submissions, but it still improves your odds and forms the basis for starting a relationship with the publisher for the next piece you send them.

PPS This is obviously about prose. Poetry certainly has its own submission rules, and I know none of them. If you're writing poetry, find out what they are.

[dduane]

@silverhand's reply is right on.

[adastra-sf]

Might seem like basic advice, but @silverhand is exactly right:

We've heard editors say that fully 90% of submissions fall into the category of "Didn't follow directions, doesn't understand what we publish, or looks amateurish." Read: Immediate rejection of submission.

(And nowadays they add, "Looks like AI-generated botshit," which accounts for even more editorial time-wasting and immediate rejection.)

At the top of the Ad Astra Writers' Resources page you'll find two fantastic manuscript preparation resources by Vonda McIntyre and William Shunn - foundational reads for anyone hoping to become a published author.

(The rest of that page contains links to many more writing resources.)

Knowing how to make your work - and, by extension, yourself - look professional is the first step toward becoming a professional.

[1995lahaine]

he was literally deciding what pronunciation of lies to go with while they were rolling

[albertserra]

tom holland: this is it. this is my break as a serious actor

robert: the LAAAs?

[shesnake]

[pjharvey]

this is killingggg meeeee

[steelycunt]

when the bdsm etiquette is bad and the kink is under-negotiated and the communication is poor and the bad behaviour isn’t justified and the trauma isn’t unpacked and the identities aren’t defined in tumblrspeak and the dialogue isn’t therapised and the bodies don’t have sixpacks and the teeth aren’t straight and the faces have acne and the scalps have dandruff and the outfits aren’t from pinterest and the homophobia is period-typical and the slang isn’t americanised and the sex isn’t satisfying and the happy ending isn’t married w/kids

[steelycunt]

u think im playing but i just blocked these people. i told you i would

[thestuffedalligator]

I’m going to level with you. I have listened to The Devil Went Down to Georgia for most of my life. We were a country music household, this was a staple of my childhood along with Johnny Cash, Garth Brooks, and that one Chipmunks country album.

I have no idea what “Fire on the mountain run boys run/The Devil's in the house of the rising sun/Chicken in the bread pan picking out dough/Granny does your dog bite no child no” means and at this point I’m too scared to ask.

[dementian]

For once I can be of assistance.

Each of the lyrics comes from an old-time hickory song for fiddles, and is a lyric from that corresponding song.

"Fire on the Mountain" --> "Fire on the Mountain, run boys run"

Fire On The Mountain - Fiddle Player POV

"The House of the Rising Sun" --> "The Devil's in the house of the rising sun"

House of the Rising Sun

"Ida Red" --> "Chicken in the bread pan peckin' out dough"

Ida Red - Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys

"Granny Will Your Dog Bite" --> "Granny does your dog bite? 'No child, no'."

FTC #149 Granny Will Your Dog Bite

And for your furthered education, The Mountain Whipporwill.

Mountain Whippoorwill (aka How Hillbilly Jim Won the Great Fiddler's Prize)

[fyeahtomska]

[teaboot]

OH MY FUCKING GOD

[dr-viles-laboratory]

[spreadassholesdotorg]

[slow-burn-sally]

A recent conversation in a discord group reminded me of something important. If you're on the younger side (under 25 or 30) and you haven't seen all the incredible, dark and disturbing fantasy films that came out in the 1980s and late 1970s, then I would strongly encourage you to do so. There was something so dark about that genre during that time that I absolutely adore and that isn't really around in modern films for children and young adults (once they learned that it traumatized a whole generation of us).

My faves in case you need any recommendations. (Some of these are really not appropriate for children, so keep that in mind lol).

The Dark Crystal - 1982 - the Skeksis will give you nightmares. I am honestly very proud of the remake for being just as disturbing if not more so than the original.

Watership Down - 1978- NOT FOR CHILDREN - Jesus Christ why did so many of our parents show us this film at a formative age? It's all about trauma and death and displacement and there's literal blood and murder. Not a G Rated Film. Still, it's very good. Loads better than that CGI remake from a decade ago.

The Secret Of NIMH - 1982 - Incredible movie. Minor disturbing elements. Probably my favorite on the list. It's just a great adventure story with real world issues (animal experimentation, mental health problems, disabilities) and there's even a lovely romance. Highly recommend.

Legend - 1985- This film is just straight up disturbing. Yes, there's a lot of beautiful shots of unicorns and sexy, 20-something year old (insane Scientology wack job) Tom Cruise and gorgeous Mia Sara, but there's also torture, madness and literally the Devil (Tim Curry is the entire reason you should watch this film)

Labyrinth - 1986 - I only really have two words. David. Bowie. My 10 year old self found out about a lot of burgeoning kinks while watching that man prance around in eyeliner and a codpiece. It's a wonderful adventure as well - if you ignore the blatant romantic and sexual tension between Bowie and an underage Jennifer Connelly (none of us could)

The NeverEnding Story - 1984 - Lots of disturbing imagery in this one! The Nothing was fucking terrifying, and the creatures in this world seemed uniformly creepy, but still incredibly well done. Love the adventure of it.

The Princess Bride - 1987 - Not technically a kids film maybe? Lots of adult themes and adult jokes, but safe for kids imo. I adored it and still do. Incredible performances by Cary Elwes and Mandy Patinkin. R.O.U.S, Hello! My name is Inigo Montoya! (need I say more?)

The Last Unicorn - 1982 - A beautiful film with stunning representations of innocence, good and evil. Just gorgeous really. I should rewatch it as it's been 20 years or so.

[rannulfr]

______________

Adding a couple...

LadyHawk.

A romance / Action film about a knight and a maiden who are cursed. Her to transform into a hawk during the day & him into a wolf at night. Forever keeping them apart.

DragonSlayer

A coming of age tale about a wizard apprentice who must save a village from a dragon & the sacrifice lottery the village has established around it.

(Rare example of 1980s genderfuckery)

Willow

LOTR before we ever thought a LOTR film would ever be possible. You've probably seen this one, but just in case.

The Flight of Dragons

Transplanted into the body of a dragon a scientist must come to terms with magic, even while explaining it.

Krull

Classic adventure story severely undervalued in its time.

Some of the creepiest spider stop motion to ever exist.

[brightlotusmoon]

These are all on my favorite movies list. I find myself humming the Flight Of Dragons song randomly to this day.

[slow-burn-sally]

As an autistic child with ADHD and a burgeoning case of OCPD, I was deeply upset by many moments in many of these movies (particularly The Dark Crystal and The Never Ending Story, which are dark, so you have every right to feel grossed/creeped out by those muppets. They were hella extremely creepy.

[thistlearts]

They all shaped me

[lavender-lily]

[str-ngeloop]

"public schooling in america is by and large not designed for ideal learning and has a lot of fucked up incentives and structures that encourage mistreatment of children" ✅

"it would be preferable to have no structure or standardization and just go by vibes" ❌

"education itself is the problem, knowledge is fake, math and writing are unimportant, and ignorance is wisdom" ❌❌❌