Some Fountains That Are Pretty Amazing.

as promised, the transplanting tutorial

most sources make transplanting sound incredibly difficult, but transplanting young seedlings from areas with sparse dirt, like a driveway or roadside, is actually incredibly easy and can get you some great stuff. Once I worked out the method, i've had a very high survival rate

it took me like a month of trial and error to figure this out so you don't have to.

Feel free to repost, no need for credit

Writing Software I Use & Recommend

Brainstorming:

Campfire: Great for organising your thoughts and making detailed character profiles, customised maps, worldbuilding, plot organisation—amongst other features. You can write your manuscript here and post it; and they have many helpful writing tips on their blog. Here's a general overview (customisable):

Notion: Although not conventionally a writing software, I find it immensely helpful for getting my thoughts sorted out. It's organised and easy to navigate, and the interface is manageable and uncluttered. (Keep in mind it's hard to cowrite on Notion—if you're planning to, I suggest making a separate Gmail account and both logging in with that.)

Microsoft Word, with spellcheck off, in Comic Sans (I saw the font thing somewhere and hate that it works). This is what I use when writing excerpts or spontaneous ideas, and it's actually quite effective, though I couldn't tell you why.

Writing/Editing:

Reedsy: The manuscript editor is organised and lets you set writing goals, split chapters, and jot down notes for later. I highly recommend it for authors looking to self-publish—once you're done, you can format and export your book as an eBook or PDF; and you can connect with various editors and find the one that's right for your novel.

Scrivener: Although, unlike the others I've mentioned so far, this software isn't free, the formatting is great for making an outline, collecting any research and notes, and writing your manuscript.

Feel free to add on any more you know of! Hope this was helpful ❤

it takes years to develop your craft. do not romanticize the idea of an ‘overnight success’. be a student. grow organically. get really good. hate your work. start over. find new ways to express the same ideas. the student becomes the master. your time will come.

reminder that donating just a few $ to gofundme campaigns actually helps, you don't have to donate huge amounts if you don't have the funds, every little bit is useful. give $10, $5, even $1. it all adds up. don't scroll past because you think you can't help. help in your own capacity. donate a dollar. share and speak up.

wait,wait,wait.Hold on.So Fyodor was around from the time of the crusaders and we've pretty much all agreed he's 'immortal' but like.....what abt his cameo in season 4 in untold origins,like.He looks like a kid to me in that one,no?Can he repeat his lives or whatever (timeloop-ish kinda situation)?Or is he some shapeshifter or smthg? I don't know what I'm saying anymore

not to sound sappy, but i personally think that a happy ending that the characters bled, suffered and fought for is a thousand times more interesting than a bland tragic ending that the author clearly thought would be “subversive”

Black Characters and Blushing

entropyalarm said: When describing embarrassment, blushing is typically used as an indicator. I’m white, but I recognize that darker skin tones shouldn’t show blush the same way as lighter tones. My friend, with medium skin, told me it only shows in her nose and ears, felt more as intense heat radiating from her cheeks than a visible color change. What is your insight on handling blushing? I feel this is especially important for proper portrayal of PoCs in romantic situations.

Anonymous said: You’ve written some great advice for describing black characters, but I was wondering whether you have any advice for describing a black character blushing? I have face blindness, so I’m having a lot of trouble with this. (otherwise I could just look up pictures and describe those) So sorry to bother you!

I’m glad you’ve asked. It bothers me how often I’ve heard “Black people don’t blush” which only seems to be another way to dehumanize Black people (and defeminize Black women) for not possessing this base human reaction, even if it’s not always notably visible.

Everybody blushes. Or rather, can blush. It’s the physical act of blood rushing to the face, ears, and other areas of the body; how visible the output doesn’t dictate whether one blushes or not.

While fairness has its part, I think blushing and how visible it is has a lot to do with the individual (some folks have better blood flow) + the undertones within their skin.

I’m going to steal my undertones chart from the Skin Tone Guide here:

As shown above cool skin colors have undertones that mostly fall under red/pink shades.

I’ve seen dark cool-skinned people with naturally rosy cheeks. I can only imagine when they blush, those reddish undertones are emphasized or brightened.

On the other hand, warm skin is usually in the golden, orange spectrum. Not so much reds. Still that doesn’t mean red coloring doesn’t appear on dark warm skin tones.

I have warm medium skin with golden orange undertones, and I definitely get flushed from extrinsic factors, such as if I exercise hard (I turn a berry-red coloring), plus the winter cold pinkens my nose like Rudolph.

I’ve also had friends call me out on blushing, but I can’t tell you exactly how that looks for I’ve never checked a mirror at the time, though I imagine it’s like a slight tinting or an enrichment of the undertones in the skin, brightening them, paired with a “coral to dark red” reddening.

In general, though, it can be redundant to constantly refer to blushing to show shyness or embarrassment with characters of any skin tone. It seems blushing is one of those things that happen more often in stories than daily life. Kinda like green eyes.

For variety, also consider these indicators: 

~Pages from the Emotion Thesaurus, seriously every writer should buy this book 10/10 would recommend.~

To reiterate; dark (cool) skin with red/pink undertones might show blushing more notably than warm skin, as an enhancement of those reddish undertones. 

Dark (warm) skin without red undertones, more “richening” of the undertones with pink to dark reddish coloring as an influence, likely depending on how harshly they’re blushing.

In any case; if you’re describing the blushing from the character’s perspective, it makes more sense to focus on heat and sensation.

Followers, any personal experiences or thoughts?

~Mod Colette

Hello everyone, I have an update to make.

gofundme.com

Donate to HELP AMIR GET BACK TO WALKING ! DONATE TODAY!, organized by mohammed shamallakh

Hi, I am Sarah. 1. Who is Sarah? Sarah is the mother of the chi… mohammed shamallakh needs your support for HELP AMIR GET BACK TO WALKI

Sarah's son Amir was born with a condition which makes it difficult for him to move. In order to treat this, he used to receive regular physical therapy, a special diet of ground food, and special medicine; however, since last October, he has been unable to access these necessities of his life.

This has caused his condition to deteriorate. Along with these horrors, he and his family suffers like every other Palestinian in Ghazza; in a dirty tent without basic human resources.

In order for Amir and his family to evacuate and for him to continue his treatment, they need to raise €35,000. Since my last post about this campaign, they've only managed to raise €1,961; an obvious improvement from their previous number of 0, but still not nearly enough.

Amir needs this treatment to live. Please donate if you can and share this campaign so he and his family can survive.

VETTED HERE

previous post x

I never thought of 'bloo' as a possible derivative for my username, probably because it really is short for 'blood oranges' so uh yeah😅(it is pretty cute~) Oh boy I get you though, I am OBSESSED with cardistry and cards in general, pretty sure I never really grew up from my Kaito Kid phase

Hey Niko!!!!!!

I hope you are well and having the best time (unlike me and my poor brain due to exam season😑).For the ask game...number 4+34.

Have a great day💖💖

HI BLOO!!!! ( is it alright if i call you that, I've been using it in my head and it's very cute 2 me )

OH GOSH exam season. Wishing you the absolute best of luck and a lovely lovely day <3 :3

4. Where do you find inspiration for new ideas?

ooohhhh... it's definitely a mixture of listening to music, watching films, and browsing through pinterest. TSP was heavily inspired by some of my favorite movies ( Last night in Soho, Chinatown, the Third Man, etc. etc. ) but also little, random things like my actual real-life academic pursuits in law and psychology, and also . . . seeing a random poker hand while looking at drawing references and learning that this

is called the 'Dead Man's Hand' <- you can see where TDB got it's logo from. after that, things just spiralled.

34. Five years from now, where do you see yourself as a writer?

Hopefully a better one! If you'd asked me this question five years ago, when I was just starting to create my original works and languages and characters, i'd have said 'published!' but since writing isn't what i want to do as a career ( and I'm not an English major, god forbid ), it's a hobby I'm letting myself take slowly, and take my sweet time to develop :)