Someday I will put here a title

Don't ask chatbot "what are characteristics of X".

Ask instead: "find me 3-5 links to sources that characterize X, then summarize their content".

At the time when I begun using this trick, for 5 links usually 1 lead to wholly inexistent website, 1 lead to either nonexisting subpage of existing website or content was not relevant to question, and 3 were valid and relevant.

But also, first prompt ("tell me about") was usually answered with hallucination for everything even slightly field-specific, while second ("find me links then summarize") was usually consistent with presented sources.

That's because first was interpreted as

"What are characteristics of X" ⇒ "Based on your training set and discussion until now, whip up some believably-looking sentences about characteristics of X"

while second was understood as

"Find me 3-5 links to sources that characterize X, then summarize their content" ⇒

"1. Based on your training set and discussion until now, whip up some believably-looking links that might lead to sources on X;

2. Scrape the websites these links lead to;

3. Include their content in your working memory ('context');

4. Based on your training set and current context, whip up believable sentences about X."

That's how you could force ChatGPT to use external sources even though ChatGPT generally doesn't allow users, even less free users, to control when it uses search option or agents.

However, if your professor would allow it, I recommend switching to DeepSeek, which allows to explicitly enable and disable Search and links to results by default, even in free version. Tldr it's less opaque and therefore less frustrating to use for people who trust AI as far as they can throw it, while experience still translates to successfully managing ChatGPT.

By definition you can't accidentally queerbait. Queerbaiting is specifically using a same sex pair from the show to market the show to queer audiences with no intention of ever following through on a romantic relationship.

There is officially licensed Destiel merch signed off on by Kripke. Teen Wolf had a commercial with the actors for Derek and Stiles draped over each other talking about being "on a ship." Both shows actively used scenes between them as marketing while actively mocking fans for wanting them together. Sherlock has multiple characters refer to Johnlock as a couple, including characters we're supposed to believe are never wrong about human behavior and pushed those scenes in marketing. Then they acted insulted when fans saw them as a couple.

That's queerbaiting.

Done on accident it would just be queer subtext. Done because they had no other choice due to censorship is queer coding.

The specific meaning of the word is really starting to get lost and it's a pretty important one to keep accurate. It describes a very specific phenomenon that was done repeatedly and maliciously for decades and is meant to examine that specifically.

A combination of Eridian engineering with human computing.

After delivering its payload to a system's Petrova Line, the probe would stick around in orbit around the CO2-rich planet. Because it also carries with it a message encoded in such a way to be decipherable by any sufficiently intelligent species.

The message explains about Astrophages and the probe's purpose, as well as information about Erid, Earth, and where to find them. It also includes instructions on how to harvest Astrophages and build an interstellar engine with them, along with instructions on other useful technology from both Erid and Earth.

Helen Whitaker, England

" Sycamore Seed "

Over the past 7 or so years, we've seen this absolute shift in expectation, migration, and stagnation in the webcomics sphere which applies to style, sustainability, and the platforms grip on readers and creators

I'll be the first one to say that webcomics are not an easy way to make money and a majority of folks who make them rarely see profit. This has always been the case! But when virality, siphoning audiences from all over, and opportunity to 'get printed' presented itself, that expectation shifted.

So let's talk about what those expectations are now: 🔴Demand for Higher quality- less readers will check out beginner looking works or comics that feel too 'faulty' in style meaning less excitement to see webcomics grow over the years. Polish is expected and commented on consistently by readers

There is also an expectation for specific visual and narrative styles. This applies to other social media platforms too- in that works that take less investing in are often promoted and prioritised. That means less risks on narratives, less nuances, and shorter series running.

🔴All on one site/app- That may seem pretty fantastic for getting new readers (and is the absolute main sticking point for so many artists) but when algorithms and specific series are wanted, your works have a harder chance getting to the people they need to. The search function is trash for a reason

I'm not one to toot the competition flute, but there's a level of that at play when the spotlight for that platform is actually pretty small. What you get is a lot of readers checking out the same comics, and not spreading it all out to find yours (their subs have a cap for this reason)

🔴Sustainability (and lack thereof)- The creator of these comics are often burnt out and given little support- all while fighting to see what is allowed on the platform with its excitable censoring. I won't speak for originals (there's many testimonies you can find) but their experiences of burn out are harrowing

With the high production expectation for a person who is rarely given help (often has to hire out of pocket for that) and the readers who want Updates Now, it's a frustrating place to post your comics with no rest. It's 2026, we shouldn't be treating cartoonists this way still.

Webtoons (the company) is always going to be interested in making a profit. That's sort of where it all starts and stops here. They'll embrace the slop machines (more slop sources) for investors, they'll mistreat creators, cancel 'unprofitable' comics, censor work, and protect that bottom line. That's their MO, always!

So when I see these conversations that inevitably float around about Webtoons and how the only response is 'stop using it', I think we also need to deconstruct what it's done to creators and readers and how they engage with/create works too- because it doesn't seem that simple of a solution

Webtoons has solidified itself in webcomics as the Place to start and stop with comics. They want you to use their app of course, but they've conditioned folks to think it's the only way to share your stuff. How do we break this? How do we get people to stop using it?

We share resources 😎

I only know the barest minimum about coding so I use the free version of the >>>Breakdance<<< plugin to design my sites. The backend looks like this:

It takes some playing around with but it's not as intimidating as coding from scratch. It was actually even fun once I got the hang of it.

Coding webcomic navigation can be tricky so I use the free version of the >>>Toocheke<<< plugin to handle my archive and navigation buttons. There's even a >>>guide<<< to help.

Yes I have to pay for domains and hosting myself. I think it's worth it.

I use Feedly to keep track of comic updates. It's like a subscription system you can use across different sites (look into RSS feeds if you've never heard of them!)

As a personal preference I don't maintain comments on my sites anymore and simply run a discord server instead. I like it much better when folks' comments are not permanently tied to my pages. I think it allows every reader to have a focused experience catching up to the story.

_______

The day Webtoon started advertising in Times Square I was actually pretty upset because I KNEW it was going to bring an unhealthy culture of expectation towards webcomics. I knew it was going to define what a webcomic was to millions of people who were unaware of what they were outside of that app.

But much worse was how Webtoon normalized pressuring webcomic creators to appeal to the widest audience possible, because now normal everyday people who don't share your interests might see you and judge you and leave nasty comments on the work you care so deeply about. You don't HAVE to use that platform. You don't HAVE to cater to that audience. You don't HAVE to design your narrative to appeal to the widest audience possible. I will tell you a secret:

You will be loved for the same things you are hated for.

In the world of entertainment the worst thing you can be is not hated, but forgettable.

On top of that a lot of the sweeteners, like monkfruit, are horribly extra sweet so it still fucks with insulin AND it tastes like shit and we'd be better off just titrating our threshold for sugar down to something more reasonable.

I mean full-on khaki-shorts-wearing, traversing-wilderness-with-nothin'-but-a-machete Adrian who yoinks snakes outta trees and pets swamp puppies and will unflinchingly dig around in elephant faeces for signs of a rare parasitic tapeworm if needed.

Oh, humans eat socially? No problem, Adrian has observed many many animals eat. Did you know that an obscure species of small underground dirt creature from the north side of Erid also eats socially? Adrian can give you a not-so-short presentation on them.

Oh, the human has no external carapace and so its internal sounds are absurdly loud, wet and off-putting? No problem, Adrian was just conducting an expedition last month researching the incredible eridian animal, the Wet Loud Worm from the south-east region of Wet Loud Wormland. They're desensitised, it's fine.

Oh, Grace leaks often from many orifices and it can be a bit of a learning curve to get used to? No problem for Adrian, see Wet Loud Worm paragraph again!

A Life Hidden: The Burden of Chronic Illness That I Rarely Talk About

"In Northern California, a Native American tribe is celebrating the return of ancestral lands in one of the largest such transfers in the nation’s history.

Through a Dept. of the Interior initiative aiming to bring indigenous knowledge back into land management, 76 square miles east of the central stretch of the Klamath River has been returned to the Yurok tribe.

Sandwiched between the newly-freed Klamath and forested hillsides of evergreens, redwoods, and cottonwoods, Blue Creek is considered the crown jewel of these lands, though if it were a jewel it wouldn’t be blue, it would be a giant colorless diamond, such is the clarity of the water.

Pictured: Blue Creek

It’s the most important cold-water tributary of the Klamath River, and critical habitat for coho and Chinook salmon. Fished and hunted on since time immemorial by the Yurok and their ancestors, the land was taken from them during the gold rush before eventually being bought by timber companies.

Barry McCovey Jr., director of the Yurok Tribal Fisheries Department, remembers slipping past gates and dodging security along Blue Creek just to fish up a steelhead, one of three game fish that populate the river and need it to spawn.

Profiled along with the efforts of his tribe to secure the land for themselves and their posterity, he spoke to AP about the experience of seeing plans, made a decade ago, come to fruition, and returning to the creek on which he formerly trespassed as a land and fisheries manager.

“To go from when I was a kid and 20 years ago even, from being afraid to go out there to having it be back in tribal hands … is incredible,” he said.

Part of the agreement is that the Yurok Tribe would manage the land to a state of maximum health and resilience, and for that the tribe has big plans, including restoring native prairie, using fire to control understory growth, removing invasive species, restoring native fish habitat, and undoing decades of land-use changes from the logging industry in the form of culverts and logging roads.

“And maybe all that’s not going to be done in my lifetime,” said McCovey. “But that’s fine, because I’m not doing this for myself.”

The Yurok Tribe were recently at the center of the nation’s largest dam removal, a two decades-long campaign to remove a series of four hydroelectric dams along the Klamath River. Once the West Coast’s third-largest salmon run, the Klamath dams substantially reduced salmon activity.

Completed last September, the before and after photographs are stunning to witness. By late November, salmon had already returned far upriver to spawn, proving that instinctual information had remained intact even after a century of disconnect.

Pictured; Klamath River flows freely, after Copco-2 dam was removed in California

“Seeing salmon spawning above the former dams fills my heart,” said Joseph L. James, chairman of the Yurok Tribe, the leaders of the dam removal campaign along with the Karuk and Klamath tribes.

“Our salmon are coming home. Klamath Basin tribes fought for decades to make this day a reality because our future generations deserve to inherit a healthier river from the headwaters to the sea.”

Last March, GNN reported that the Yurok Tribe had also become the first of America’s tribal nations to co-manage land with the National Park Service under a historic memorandum of understanding involving Redwoods National Park.

The nonprofit Save the Redwoods bought a piece of land adjacent to the park, which receives 1 million visitors annually and is a UNESCO Natural Heritage Site, and handed it over to the Yurok for stewardship.

The piece of land, which contained giant redwoods, recovered to such an extent that the NPS has incorporated it into the Redwoods trail network, and the two agencies will cooperate in ensuring mutual flourishing between two properties and one ecosystem.

Back at Blue Creek, AP reports that work has already begun clearing non-native conifer trees planted for lumber. The trunks will be used to create log jams in the creek for wildlife habitat.

Costing $56 million, the land was bought from the loggers by Western Rivers Conservancy, using a mixture of fundraising efforts including private capital, low interest loans, tax credits, public grants and carbon credit sales.

The sale was part of a movement called Land Back, which involves returning ownership of once-native lands of great importance to tribes for the sake of effective stewardship. [Note: This is a weirdly limited definition of Land Back. Land Back means RETURN STOLEN LAND, PERIOD.] Studies have shown around the tropics that indigenous-owned lands in protected areas have higher forest integrity and biodiversity than those owned by national governments.

Land Back has seen 4,700 square miles—equivalent to one and a half-times the size of Yellowstone National Park—returned to tribes through land buy-back agreements in 15 states." [Note: Since land buyback agreements aren't the only form of Land Back, the total is probably (hopefully) more than that.]

Turtle Quilt by Laurraine Yuyama

One of the most popular theories of trauma says there are three steps.

Escape the trauma and find safety.

Process the trauma.

Consolidate the trauma.

Sometimes this can be a relatively quick process. If you get into a car accident while turning left in a busy city street, you might get trauma symptoms that cause feelings of fear and anxiety when you're driving your car, or travelling by car through a busy city.

"Finding safety" would mean learning to handle your anxiety and fearfulness by re-training your body to seek calm, even when reminded of the trauma. This might include things like breathing or muscle relaxation exercises that actually affect an anxious brain and help you stay centred, as well as slow exposure to situations that are stressful and traumatic so you learn to tolerate them again.

"Processing the trauma" means to look back at what happened that has given you significant psychological symptoms, and re-process those memories and the lessons you took from them so they are less damaging or hurtful. That might be revisiting your memories of the accident until they aren't so painful to think about, or it might be working to be more comfortable with driving again.

"Consolidating the trauma" means that when you've settled those memories, you take your new, healthier understanding of yourself forward into your life. That might make you a more cautious driver, or cause you to be more mindful and value every moment because you've seen how quickly your life can change. It is what you make of it.

When you try to do these steps out of order, that's more of a problem. If you want to dive straight into revisiting your memories of something that happened, but you have no defense against the panic attacks and nightmares that remembering causes you, you're not safe, not so far as your brain thinks. Your brain experiences raw memories of trauma as though it were still happening all around you. You can end up even more traumatized than before, so that even seeing a picture of a car makes you feel like you're back on that street waiting to turn left.

If a trauma is particularly old, complex, or strong, it can take a long, long time before you actually feel safe enough to go back into the memories that haunt you most. That's especially true if you're still in a situation that feels threatening, like if it's your job to drive around downtown. Or in other situations, if your abusive parent is still alive and in your life, or if you're still a member of the group or club you were abused in.

I told her that escaping the shit would be hard, but that if she wanted to not make her mother’s life her destiny, she had to be the one to make it happen. She had to do more than hold on. She had to reach. She had to want it more than she’d ever wanted anything. She had to grab like a drowning girl for every good thing that came her way and she had to swim like fuck away from every bad thing. She had to count the years and let them roll by, to grow up and then run as far as she could in the direction of her best and happiest dreams across the bridge that was built by her own desire to heal.

Just because I wasn't deconstructing the shit that happened to me when I was 4 for the past couple decades, it doesn't mean I wasn't working on my own healing. I did all the work that got me to here and now.

Also this bit from Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold:

Not only that the language itself sounds straight out of a marvel forcibly funny haha moment, but Menelaus? The Menelaus who all thoughout human history, from Homer, to Sappho, to Euripides, to Virgil, to Shakespeare, to Brooke, to Barth; from Classical vases to Medieval poetry to Reinessance art, has been known as the man whose sword fell from his hands at the sight of his wife after 10 years apart?

"What joy for me to hold my wife" Menelaus?

"He flung the sword away, and kissed her feet" Menelaus?

"I believe all. I understand nothing. I love you" Menelaus?

"I have no fault to find; my wife, he daughter of Zeus and Leda, is mine again, she whom her brothers on their snow-white steeds, whilst torches blazed, made my happy bride, but gods removed her from my home." Menelaus?

The Menelaus who was picked out of the suitors by Helen herself? The Menelaus who couldn't kill a begging Trojan so his brother had to do it for him? The Menelaus who rescued Odysseus and got out Patroclus' body? The Menelaus who volounteered to fight Paris one on one so everybody could go home? Who kept expressing his guilt about himself being the cause of war through every assembly he spoke at in the Iliad? Who after 10 years away at Troy, took his wife through a 7-year long journey at sea back home, where he reinstated her as the queen of Sparta? Who wept like a child in front of Telemachus recalling the war and his brother and all the friends he lost and the only consolation being his wife' gentle hand on his?

You want me to believe that man scarred Helen's face and called her only worth half the ships because of it?