this is Emily Gwen, the nonbinary lesbian who made the lesbian flag. THE lesbian flag. the lesbian flag that major corporations are using without their permission or paying them for while they are struggling financially.
its Emily’s creation !!!
we love and respect Emily Gwen in this house !! if you can help them out in any way, please do !!
What able bodied authors think I, an amputee and a wheelchair user, would want in a scifi setting:
Tech that can regenerate my old meat legs.
Robot legs that work just like meat legs and are functionally just meat legs but robot
Literally anything that would mean I don’t have to use a wheelchair.
If I do need to use a wheelchair, make it fly or able to “walk me” upstairs
What I actually want:
Prosthetic covers that can change colour because I’m too indecisive to pick one colour/pattern for the next 5+ years.
A leg that I can turn off (seriously, my above knee prosthetic has no off switch… just… why?)
A leg that won’t have to get refitted every time I gain or loose weight.
A wheelchair that I can teleport to me and legs I can teleport away when I’m too tierd to keep walking. And vice versa.
In that same vein, legs I can teleport on instead of having to fiddle around with the sockets for half an hour.
Prosthetic feet that don’t require me to wear shoes. F*ck shoes.
Actually accessible architecture, which means when I do want to use my wheelchair, it’s not an issue.
Prosthetic legs with dragon-claw feet instead of boring human feet or just digigrade prosthetics that are just as functional as normal human-shaped ones.
A manual wheelchair with the option to lift my seat up like those scissor-lift things so I’m not eye-level with everyone’s butt on public transport/so I can reach the top shelf by myself.
A prosthetic foot that lights up when it hits the ground like those children’s shoes.
adults of tumblr how on earth do you decide on what mattress you want to order
Go to the store.
Go to the store and lie on it for five minutes.
I know online is cheaper, but go to the store. Online delivery has a send back guarantee, but do you really know yourself capable of and willing to dismantle your bedroom because it didn’t work out? No? GO TO THE STORE.
Go to the store and try it out and compare prices and nine out of ten times, they will match the online prices for you, because you’re THERE and they can’t afford to let you walk out empty handed.
Try it out, figure out the right hardness for you. Make sure you’re comfortable.
A good mattress will last you 20-30 years depending on how often you move and how well you commit to taking care of it: vacuum it regularly and flip as per instructions, usually once every six months.
A bad mattress costs about the same as a good mattress, up front, except for the fact it will fuck you up for years and you might end up with chronic pain because of it.
Go to the store. Try it out.
I got a 46% discount and 18 interest free installment payment on mine, just cause I was physically there.
Figure out your budget. Go to the store. Ask to try it out. Make sure it feels good.
You deserve a good mattress and you deserve the money you spend to be worthwhile.
You’ve got this.
Also a lot of those trendy online-only delivery mattresses are not quality controlled, multiple people have discovered their mattress was stuffed with fiber glass only after it ripped and spewed sharp fibers over literally all of their belongings
I’m Rachel Eaton, otherwise known as Rayleearts! I create digital and traditional queer fantasy art. You might know me as the creator of the webcomic “Realta” for Webtoon Originals, and I feature all kinds of merch in my online shops.
Follow @rayleearts for even more of their original art.
Are you an artist with a store or open commissions? Want more eyes on your work? Submit your art to Artist Alley for the chance to be featured across Tumblr.
The second week of July 2023 something extraordinarily beautiful happened, the findings of 3 new species of sharks for were announced
A new angel sharks species was identified, from the western Indian Ocean on the Mascarene Plateau and off southwestern India in 100–500 m depths, the Lea’s angel sharkSquatina leae, was recognized to be different genetically and morphologically distinct from its congeneric species Squatina africanae, following unique morphological features. This species was first detected in 1988 after finding three unusual, small sharks, but till today was completely understood. The angel shark is named after one of the author’s fiancee’s late sister, Lea-Marie Cordt.
- Squatina leae, adult male, in dorsolateral.
Angel sharks are “flatter sharks”, possesing distinctly broad, dorsoventrally flattened bodies, a short snout with large mouth and nostrils, eyes on top of the head close to the large spiracles, very large pectoral fins, and a lateral caudal keel. They’ve evolved to be ambush predators, they lie in wait for prey to pass closely overhead before attacking.
From North Australia, another species of hornshark is described based on six whole specimens and a single egg case. The
painted hornsharkHeterodontus marshallae was previously considered to be the same with the zebra bullhead shark another well know bullhead shark from the central Indo-Pacific from Japan to Australia, but genetic and morphological analyses indicated the sharks were different, but looking alike. The painted hornshark is endemic to northwestern Australia and occurs in deeper waters, at 125–229 m below surface.
- Lateral view of two mature female
painted hornsharkHeterodontus marshallae showing small differences between individuals
The painted hornsharks is named in honour of Dr. Lindsay Marshall www.stickfigurefish.com.au a scientific illustrator and elasmobranch scientist who expertly painted all the sharks and rays of the world for the Chondrichthyan Tree of Life Project.
And from an unidentified shark egg collected from the deep waters of northwestern Australia, in 2011 recently helped researchers identify a new species of deep water cat shark. Called ridged-egg catsharkApristurus ovicorrugatus
after its eggs, it was collected in the earlys 90 but remained unknown to date. This sharks presents white eyes, and is small in size, reaching less than a half meter in length. .
-
Lateral view of female Apristurus ovicorrugatus before preserved. Photo by CSIRO.
Egg cases belonging to this species had been documented as early as the 1980s, but could not be matched to any species of Australian shark until recently scientists examined a shark specimen of previously uncertain identity in the CSIRO collection.
-egg cases of Apristurus ovicorrugatus. Scale bar is 10 mm
Ooh, this is actually kinda a neat thing, because you can think of it as a checklist:
Who: Main character(s)
Why: Character goal or desire (stated)
Why: Character need (implied)
When: Inciting Incident
What: Means (that achieves the goal/need)
Where: Place A >> Place B
How: The Plan
Obstacle(s): antagonist or challenge
For example:
Who: Bilbo Baggins, a respectable hobbit of Hobbiton
Why: Treasure, wealth (stated)
Why: Adventure, self-respect (implied)
When: After supper
What: Quest
Where: Hobbiton >> The Lonely Mountain
How: A company of dwarves, a wizard, and an ancient map and key
Main antagonist(s): a dragon
Thus, in less than 100 words:
Bilbo Baggins is a respectable hobbit in Hobbiton, never making any trouble or having any adventures. But when a wizard and a company of dwarves invite themselves to dinner, Bilbo finds himself joining their quest from the shires of Hobbiton to the legendary Lonely Mountain, the home of a long lost treasure, and quite, possibly, a dragon.
~~~~
The Anatomy of Story by John Truby is a really good book by the by, if anyone’s interested in this sort of thing.
A few of these are probably referring to the date posting bug thing, but AAAAAAAAAAAH!
I beg of all the younger folks on Ao3 to understand two things:
There is no algorithm on that site.
Unlearn the attention-hungry bullshit that social media has taught you.
from someone who’s been on ao3 for 5+ years: don’t do this. don’t repost your fics (youll lose your comments and kudos if you do) and don’t change the posting date (people can tell and it’s tacky). it’s not worth keeping your fics on the front page. if you tag correctly people can and will use the very competent search function to find your work even if it’s YEARS old. if youre writing something ppl want to read they will look through their favourite tags to find it. having high interaction, being posted recently, or posting at “peak” times won’t get you any more hits bc that’s not how anyone uses the site.
IT IS AN ARCHIVE NOT A SOCIAL MEDIA SITE
IF YOU WANT TO PROMOTE IT YOU MAKE A POST ON OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA SITES BY OFFERING A SUMMARY AND A LINK
IT. IS. AN. ARCHIVE
TAG YOUR SHIT PROPERLY AND PEOPLE WILL FIND IT AND READ IT IF INTERESTED
There are FOUR WAYS to get people to read your stories, and none of them include relying on a nonexistent algorithm to get them to interested parties.
Choose a good title! And yes, there is such a thing as a good title, though I’ll admit it’s rare for me to see a bad one. Even something as simple as “The one where Martyn forgets the milk” is enough to get me wondering what kind of story earned a title like that. Sometimes a song lyric works super well if it fits the vibe of your story, and sometimes coming up with something of your own might work better. Sometimes making a joke in the title draws more attention if you’ve written a story that will make people laugh, and sometimes choosing a one- or two-word phrase that catches the eye is all it takes. (If I see a fic called “Poppies, Princes, and Paranoia” I might just get curious enough to wonder what in the world is in that story.)
Write a summary!Please. Please, for the love of god, give your story a summary. Every time I come across a fic that says “haha I’m bad at summaries, just read the story lolz” my first instinct is to move on. By saying you’re Bad At Summaries, you’re also implying that you’re bad at writing, and any potential reader won’t take the time to click on your fic and give it a chance when it looks like the author isn’t confident in their own work. You don’t have to write a masterpiece in the summary section. You can say “Tim has a no good, very bad day. Luckily his partner is there to cheer him up.” And look! Ta-da! Summary! :D It’s short, sweet, and to the point, and it’s miles better than saying you don’t know how to write one. OR! OR, if you don’t like that either, then literally take a short and interesting chunk from the story itself and drop it in the summary box. Look! You’re doing great! ^^ THAT will hook a potential reader far more than laughing about how “bad” you think you are at writing summaries in general. Self-depreciation may work for a social media post, but it doesn’t work to sell your writing.
Clearly tag your work! Other folks above me have already said this, but putting clear and relevant tags on your story will ALWAYS bring new readers to your story. Many people on Ao3 search specifically by tag to better narrow the massive sea of stories they’ll need to choose from. SO tag relevant ships and characters (preferably only the ones that are a primary focus in your fic), tag the proper fandoms, define if it’s “hurt/comfort” or “angst” or “fluff” or “crack”, and add the main plot concepts where needed. (For example, I’m writing an Amnesia AU, so I tagged it as both Amnesia and Temporary Amnesia, because while the amnesia is a lingering factor in the plot, it WILL NOT BE later, and some people are more likely to read if they KNOW the conflict in the plot will be resolved.) And while I understand not wanting to tag certain things for spoiler reasons (though you should add those once they’re revealed in a chapter), I DO RECOMMEND tagging relevant warnings, as well as specifying whether the ending will be a GOOD one or a BAD one. Some readers are more or less likely to click on a story based on that alone. I’ve specifically taken a chance on a sad-sounding story before because the author said it would end happily, and more often than not I wasn’t disappointed! I wouldn’t have read a sad story otherwise! Tag that shit!
JUST KEEP WRITING! People will stick around for a good story! It’s true that quality of writing will make a good fic stand apart from a great one, and that comes down to skill. That’s not to say people won’t read a story that’s written by a less skilled author, because if you tag and title and summarize your story well, you’ll still draw in readers, and most people will stick around to enjoy an interesting story whether it’s 2k works or 20k. But the more you write (and the more you READ), the more you’ll learn and the more you’ll improve. Don’t give up just because you’re getting less attention than the next writer. If you keep working on your craft, you’ll be right up there with them soon enough. I’m in my late 20’s and it took me years to get to where I am. I’m not foolish enough to pretend I don’t know I’m a quality writer, but I also refuse to call it “talent” because it’s much more than that. It’s a skill that I honed over years of writing and storytelling. I learned from my peers and I took inspiration from bigger and better writers to work my way up to where I am now. So don’t write just to get hits and kudos, write to tell a good story! And when the comments come in, though they may start small, just know that those people are seeing the passion you’re putting into your work…and they’re just a small taste of the kind of joy you’ll be able to share if you stick with your writing.
(BONUS: Share your fics on Tumblr and other sites. If you’re worried that they won’t get seen on Ao3 without help, then feel free to boost awareness by dropping a link and some info elsewhere. I do this every time I post something new, because I know that part of my audience lives on Tumblr! So don’t hesitate to utilize the platforms you’ve got. Tag it properly on here and you’ll get a few more reads from folks who are looking for it!)
1,500 drones light up the sky over Shenzhen on June 22 with a flying dragon
this amazing display kicked off China’s Dragon Boat Festival, taking place on the 5th day of the 5th month of the Chinese calendar, commemorating the ancient poet Qu Yuan
ALT
