Part 1 Of Big "how To Chibi-fy This Flower????" Guide Is Here!!! 🥰

Things that will make your computer meaningfully faster:

Replacing a HDD with an SSD

Adding RAM

Graphics cards if you're nasty

Uninstalling resource hogs like Norton or McAfee (if you're using Windows then the built-in Windows Security is perfectly fine; if you're using a mac consider bitdefender as a free antivirus or eset as a less resource intensive paid option)

Customizing what runs on startup for your computer

Things that are likely to make internet browsing specifically meaningfully faster:

Installing firefox and setting it up with ublock origin

adding the Auto Tab Discard extension to firefox to sleep unused tabs so that they aren't constantly reloading

Closing some fucking tabs bud I'm sorry I know it hurts I'm guilty of this too

Things that will make your computer faster if you are actually having a problem:

Running malwarebytes and shutting down any malicious programs it finds.

Correcting disk utilization errors

Things that will make your computer superficially faster and may slightly improve your user experience temporarily:

Clearing cache and cookies on your browser

Restarting the computer

Changing your screen resolution

Uninstalling unused browser extensions

Things that do not actually make your computer faster:

Deleting files

Registry cleaners

Defragging your drive

Passively wishing that your computer was faster instead of actually just adding more fucking RAM.

This post is brought to you by the lady with the 7-year-old laptop that she refuses to leave overnight for us to run scans on or take apart so that we can put RAM in it and who insists on coming by for 30-minute visits hoping we can make her computer faster.

Symbolism Associated With Flowers For Writers

Acacia: Since ancient times, acacia has been associated with purity and innocence. It is also a symbol of resurrection and new beginnings.

Amaryllis: Amaryllis is a symbol of passion and desire. It is also associated with strength and courage.

Anemone: Anemone is a symbol of grief and sorrow. It is also associated with hope and new beginnings.

Azalea: Azalea is a symbol of love, passion, and desire. It is also associated with beauty and elegance.

Carnation: Carnation is a symbol of love, affection, and appreciation. It is also associated with motherhood and childbirth.

Chrysanthemum: Chrysanthemum is a symbol of longevity, happiness, and good luck. It is also associated with death and mourning.

Daisy: Daisy is a symbol of innocence, purity, and simplicity. It is also associated with childhood and new beginnings.

Delphinium: Delphinium is a symbol of wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. It is also associated with royalty and nobility

Frangipani: Frangipani is a symbol of love, passion, and desire. It is also associated with beauty and elegance.

Gardenia: Gardenia is a symbol of purity, innocence, and grace. It is also associated with love and admiration.

Gerbera Daisy: Gerbera daisy is a symbol of new beginnings, happiness, and joy. It is also associated with optimism and hope.

Hyacinth: Hyacinth is a symbol of love, passion, and desire. It is also associated with grief and sorrow.

Iris: Iris is a symbol of faith, hope, and wisdom. It is also associated with royalty and nobility.

Lily: Lily is a symbol of purity, innocence, and chastity. It is also associated with resurrection and new beginnings.

Lily of the Valley: Lily of the valley is a symbol of purity, innocence, and sweetness. It is also associated with new beginnings and springtime.

Magnolia: Magnolia is a symbol of love, beauty, and elegance. It is also associated with femininity and motherhood.

Orchid: Orchid is a symbol of love, passion, and desire. It is also associated with beauty, rarity, and luxury.

Rose: Rose is the most popular flower in the world and has a wide range of symbolism. It can symbolize love, passion, desire, beauty, romance, friendship, gratitude, and respect.

Tulip: Tulip is a symbol of love, passion, and desire. It is also associated with springtime and new beginnings.

Why Symbolism With Flowers Is Important For Writers

Flowers can be used to foreshadow events or themes in a story. For example, a writer might use a white rose to foreshadow a character's death, or a red rose to foreshadow a romantic encounter.

Flowers can be used to represent characters' emotions or motivations. For example, a character who is feeling sad might be described as holding a wilted flower, or a character who is feeling passionate might be described as surrounded by roses.

Flowers can be used to create symbolism that is specific to a particular culture or region. For example, in some cultures, the lotus flower is a symbol of purity and enlightenment, while in other cultures, it is a symbol of death and rebirth.

Tumblr Folklore Stories/Blogs Directory/Masterlist

There are so many great Tumblr Blog stories here! But things are best when organized! Here you are! I’m going to use Tumblr Blaze in a couple weeks to spread this to everyone, but if all of you can reblog this to everyone you know, we can spread the joys of Tumblr to EVERYONE!

Credit to https://www.tumblr.com/dannnnnnnnnnnnex/700073427344736256/love-how-tumblr-has-its-own-folk-stories-yeah-the

The God of Arepo (graphic novel 1 / 2 / 3) (ebook)

The Monster of Sentan

The Witch’s Cat

Raise Both Children

Stabby the Roomba (honorable mention)

Cinderella Marries the Prince (comic)

My Arch Nemesis Cynthia

Pirates and Mermaid

Eindred and the Witch

The Demon King

The Cornerwitch

Grandmother Beetroot

Apocalypse Daycare Worker

Grandmother Accidentally Summons a Demon

New Year Saga

A Story About Changelings

Ranger in the King’s Forest

The Difference Between a Hare and a Rabbit

Goblin Men (Canines)

Faceblind Prince Charming and Cinderella

 The human who died of radiation poisoning after repairing the spaceship

The defeat of the wizard who made people choose how they’d be to be executed

Doctors Without Borders

The Queen with Three Cursed Children

25. Tiny Dragon with one coin hoard

26. Haunted house

27. Shark hero was about to go rogue

28. Grandma lives in the woods comic

29. A Different Aftermath comic

30. Battery (microstory but I love it so much)

31. It’s A Date comic

32. Supervillian kidnaps rival’s kid and they want to stay

33. Narrative Town

34. I have been hired to clean the wizard tower comic

35. Robot Apocalypse

36. The Statues That Do Not Weather

37. Kushiel

38. Tooth Fairy

39. Alien abduction

40. Felonious wish-granting

41. When humans met actual space orcs

42. Space cousins

Well, now they’re categorized.

 https://www.tumblr.com/inkvoices/700033965299531776/love-how-tumblr-has-its-own-folk-stories-yeah-the

https://www.tumblr.com/lightningladybug/699931426130444288/love-how-tumblr-has-its-own-folk-stories-yeah-the

https://www.tumblr.com/blitzlowin/699840636252225536/love-how-tumblr-has-its-own-folk-stories-yeah-the

Also, this is a RWBY-positivity BLOG, so please watch RWBY

By LabradoriteKing on Pinterest

INDEX: Sewing, mending, and crafts

General information:

Fabric types

Basic hand sewing stitches

Hand sewing needles

Knitting 101

Embroidery 101

Visible mending

Crafting on the cheap

How to fix sewing machine issues

Yarn types

Clothing fasteners

Circular knitting

So you want to buy a sewing machine? (by Runeberry)

Sewing vocabulary

Introduction to bead embroidery

Embroidery stitches database (by Chanceyknits)

Yarn bowl alternatives

Tutorials:

How to sew buttons

Disability aid tutorials

How to DIY custom patches

Make some pocket extenders for your pants (by Quixiify)

How to darn holes in woven fabrics (by Delicatefury)

How to mend holes in the thigh area of jeans

How to make buttonholes (machine+hand)

How to make pockets

How to use a seam ripper

Three knitting bind-offs

How to sew a zipper

Bias tape 101

How to thread a needle

Interchangeable circular knitting needles

Patching a hole (by Bronzeagecrafts)

Knitted picot edging on button band

Making paper (by Ofmushroomsandmoss)

How to use dye plants (by Toadstoolgardens)

Game sprites and pixel-based crafts

Hand-sewing: how to start and how to finish

Tailoring masculine clothes with Stylish D

Weaving in ends to finish a knitting project

How to mend torn belt loops

How to knit buttonholes

How to bind a neckline with bias tape

How to hem your jeans

How to sew a rolled hem

Two ways to make your shirt bigger

Tailoring terms explained

How to upsize a sweatshirt with front and back panels

How to make bottlecap pins (by Coveredinredpaint)

18th century buttonholes (by Vinceaddams)

(If a link has a Tumblr username in brackets behind it, the link leads to a post I reblogged from someone else instead of a post I wrote myself.)

I’m sorry friends, but “just google it” is no longer viable advice. What are we even telling people to do anymore, go try to google useful info and the first three pages are just ads for products that might be the exact opposite of what the person is trying to find but The Algorithm thinks the words are related enough? And if it’s not ads it’s just sponsored websites filled with listicles, just pages and pages of “TOP FIFTEEN [thing you googled] IMAGINED AS DISNEY PRINCESSES” like… what are we even doing anymore, google? I can no longer use you as shorthand for people doing real and actual helpful research on their own.

kill the shift manager in your brain

I’m still tweaking it, but something the Visible app has hammered home these past few weeks is just how much energy my body expends existing.

Currently lying perfectly still and I’m in the ‘exertion zone’ because I’m in so much nerve pain it's making my heart rate elevate.

Being in pain is burning up my pace points. I’ve used two since I woke up this morning simply by being conscious.

Anyone who dismisses the effects of chronic pain on the body or tells you to exercise to push through it is formally invited to throw themselves into the sun.

Circling vs. Zigzagging Conflicts

Nearly every writer understands that a story needs conflict. The protagonist sets off to fulfill a goal, runs into an antagonistic force, and their struggle creates conflict. This should happen in the story as a whole, this should happen in acts, and it should happen in almost every scene--the difference is that the smaller the structural unit, the smaller the antagonist and conflict (simplistically speaking).

Today I want to talk about a sneaky problem I sometimes see when editing manuscripts, one that relates to conflicts.

Sometimes the writer simply “circles” the conflict.

What I mean is that after a given conflict, nothing has actually changed in the story. We just completed a “circle.”

For example, say the protagonist is a favorite target of the schoolyard bully. They get into a verbal fight, but when it's over, nothing's different. The conflict didn't have any consequences.

It may not sound that bad.

And if it only happens once in a while, and there are enough other conflicts going on, it may not be.

But if this happens repeatedly or this is the main conflict, the plot isn't progressing. It just did a circle and the characters ended up in the same situation they were before the encounter. Essentially, no matter how exciting the scene may seem to be, you could still cut it and the story would be the same.

Let's look at an even less obvious example.

The protagonist needs to get Object X from Character B.

The protagonist finds a way to successfully steal it.

But then immediately afterward, Character B steals it back.

The scene ends, and the protagonist is back at square one.

It doesn't sound that bad, does it?

And if it only happens once in a while, and there are enough other conflicts going on, it may not be.

But if this sort of thing happens repeatedly--over and over and over--the plot isn't progressing. You're just going back and forth and back and forth and back and forth. And if we just arc that path a bit, guess what? It creates a circle.

Another example:

The protagonist has a problem.

But she's not taking action to solve the problem. 

Yes, she reacts emotionally to the problem.

She may even sometimes come up with a plan for how to try to solve the problem.

But she doesn't execute it. Or, some other problem comes up that keeps her from executing it.

And rather than come up with and execute a new plan to address that problem.

She just reacts emotionally to the problem.

Imagine this going on for multiple scenes.

The plot isn't progressing. She's just ruminating.

It still feels like the text is just circling the conflict.

Please know I'm not saying a story can never do these things. On rare occasions, circling conflicts can be useful, like when the point is to show the audience how some things don't change. My first example may arguably work near the beginning of the story, to show what the protagonist's day-to-day life is like. My second example can sometimes work as a frustrating irony. And my last example, well . . . don't do my last example. Okay, okay, maybe it could work to show off how the protagonist is incapable of or has the flaw of never moving forward (and chances are it'd probably be better to illustrate that through summary, rather than scene).

And some degree of circling can work, when the story needs to end with the characters and world in the same place they started, like in a serial, but note that usually through the installment, there isn't much circling.

And often, even if the external circumstances complete a circle, the journey changed the character internally in some significant way.

BUT if you are repeatedly writing examples like those above, where the situation at the end of a scene or act is essentially the same as it was at the beginning of the scene or act, then you aren't moving the story forward.

Sure, conflict may show up on the page, but the text is just circling it.

Instead, it's much more effective to create a zigzag. 

If we wanted to keep this super simple, we might say the scene (or act) needs to move from a positive situation to a negative situation, or a negative situation to a positive situation. Or, a positive situation to a better situation, or a negative situation to a worse situation. Essentially:

+ --> -

- --> +

+ --> ++

- --> --

This is a good starting point, but I admit, it sometimes feels oversimplified to me.

In any case, the situation the character is in, has changed.

The story didn't do a circle. It did a zigzag (or zigzigger or zagzagger). 

The protagonist had a goal, encountered an antagonist, had a conflict, and the conflict came to a definitive outcome (if only on the small scale for that scene). It hit a climax or turning point.

And that outcome carries consequences.

The protagonist gets in an argument with the bully and gets suspended for his language. If he's suspended, his parents will ground him, and he won't get to go on an upcoming date with his crush. It's a setback.

Character B steals Object X back and in the process, mortally wounds the protagonist. Now the protagonist needs to get help before they die.

The protagonist takes action to solve the new problem, and not only succeeds, but manages to solve her original problem at the same time.

But often just adding consequences isn't enough. We need to make sure the consequences aren't or can't be undone, at least not easily or coincidentally. We don't have the protagonist's dad have a serendipitous change of heart and simply allow the protagonist to go on the date.

Don't undo what you just did (generally speaking). 

If the protagonist ended with a bigger or new problem, make him put in the effort to try to solve it. (See the "No, and . . ." vs. "Yes, but . . . " rule under "Disaster.")

And don't forget my "acid test" for plot progression. At the end of the scene (or act), ask, did the protagonist's current goal and/or plan shift? If the answer is no, chances are you did a circle. (Or you at least left things stagnating). If the answer is yes, something changed.

As I mentioned above, sometimes the change is internal. 

Maybe Character B did simply steal Object X back, but maybe that leads to the protagonist realizing he doesn't want Object X as much as he wants revenge on Character B. He hatches a plan to exact that.

While that may not be as strong as the protagonist getting mortally wounded, it's better than nothing changing, and the experience does change the direction of the story.

Personally, I'd still be cautious of writing such a situation, though. In most types of stories, we want consequences to be both internal and external.

But that topic could be another post.

So in closing: zigzagging conflicts is better than circling them.

Adieu.

Get yourself a fabric store that will light your fabric on fire for you

No but legit I asked what the fiber content of something was and the guy didn’t know so he cut a chunk off and lit it on fire and felt the ashes and was like. Yeah this is mostly cotton with a lil bit of silk. And that was the moment I knew. This is it. This is the fabric store for me. Also that guy is marriage material. Not for me but damn some person is gonna be so happy with him.