Rylan Mason

let me reiterate. an active duty air force member burned himself alive because he was so disgusted by what the us government was openly supporting. he live-streamed his own suicide, so the whole world could bear witness as a man in his military uniform set himself on fire to protest his government’s complicity in the horrors that we have all been forced to watch happen in real time. he became a new horror. footage of the immolation blurs him out the moment the fire catches, but you can hear him. it is over in seconds, really, but you can hear him screaming. he shouts “free palestine” until his body physically cannot make any sounds other than guttural screams of agony. and then he falls silent. a police officer arrives and points a gun at his still burning body, shouting at him to get down on the ground. and it is over.

He held leftist and anarchist ideals. He belong to the ACAB subreddit. He recognized the evil of the US Military even though he himself was a part of it. He hated TERFS and called out fatphobia. He understood the dangers of white supremecy and the evils of capitalism.

He had a cat. He liked the show fleabag and played elden ring.

Apparently in his will he wants to leave any money in his name to palestinian relief funds. He was trying to find a new owner for his cat.

Rest in peace Aaron Bushnell. The world won't forget & we sure as fuck won't let the media paint you out to be some crazy conspiracy theorist who had no idea what he was doing.

🍉Data sources under the cut🍉

she was there in coalition with the organization jewish voices for peace.

we have all seen how israel responded to the icj verdict earlier this month. they have all but intensified their attacks on palestinians, their favorite of whom seem to be children. this will end in a bloodbath. palestinians, already malnourished and living in literal tents, will be bombarded, they will be shot, they will be slaughtered. and when i say palestinians, a lot of them are actual toddlers. the videos coming out of this are proof enough.

at this point, it has been made amply clear that palestinians will never experience safety in their own homeland. a lot of the families in gaza are trying to raise funds to get out of it, because there's nowhere left to go.

there is nowhere left to go. if these people don't get the funds necessary to escape, they will die.

anticipation - bouncing legs - darting eyes - breathing deeply - useless / mindless tasks - eyes on the clock - checking and re-checking

frustration - grumbling - heavy footsteps - hot flush - narrowed eyes - pointing fingers - pacing / stomping

sadness - eyes filling up with tears - blinking quickly - hiccuped breaths - face turned away - red / burning cheeks - short sentences with gulps

happiness - smiling / cheeks hurting - animated - chest hurts from laughing - rapid movements - eye contact - quick speaking

boredom - complaining - sighing - grumbling - pacing - leg bouncing - picking at nails

fear - quick heartbeat - shaking / clammy hands - pinching self - tuck away - closing eyes - clenched hands

disappointment - no eye contact - hard swallow - clenched hands - tears, occasionally - mhm-hmm

tiredness - spacing out - eyes closing - nodding head absently - long sighs - no eye contact - grim smile

Thinking of publishing traditionally? Here are some reasons why a publishing agency might reject your book. Don’t let any of these reasons keep you from writing, but rather help you strengthen your craft!

1) Your target audience is unclear. Are you writing for middle-grade boys or adult females? Suburban single mothers or war-enthusiast who love everything weaponry and explosive? Of course, your story can end up appealing to multiple categories of people (take Harry Potter for example). But if you know who your prime reader is, you’ll be able to use the correct language, voice, and reading level for them.

2) Your query letter or synopsis is lacking and doesn’t hook the agency. A query letter and synopsis are two different things presented to an agent or publishing company. You must be able to properly sum up your  book in an interesting way for an agency to want to peruse your novel. You have to pique their interest.

A query letter is a brief summary used to capture the attention of an agent/publishing company. A sales pitch one might say. It typically contains your story’s main hook, some details about the book (genre, similar books, etc.), and some facts about yourself. If the query letter is successful, the agency will go on to read your synopsis/pages.

A synopsis is a summary of your entire book from start to finish and what happens in it (including character arcs and plot). This is all done in less than two pages.

3) Predictability. It may be predictable characters, or the plot itself. Either way, predictability isn’t good. What’s the point of reading a book if you can already predict the events? Conflict is the heart of all stories and if your book lacks conflict/stakes, it can become predictable. Give your characters inner conflict just as much as you do physical. Make it difficult for readers to know what your character will do.

4) Your story starts way too early. From what I’ve researched, a huge reason why books get declined is that they start wayyy before anything happens. You’re revealing tons of background information or your character is doing pointless things when they should be approaching the inciting incident. The inciting incident is the scene that launches your character on their journey and should happen sooner than later! 

5) You aren’t balancing showing vs. telling. Contrary to popular belief, a novel should have a bit of both (but… probably more showing). If you spend every scene in extreme detail, you risk slowing your story down. If you tell everything, you aren’t immersing your reader.

6) You’re spending too much time in Act 1. A story consists of three Acts. The beginning, middle, and end. The rising action/set-up, the middle/climax, and the resolution. Don’t spend too much time in Act 1 setting things up. You’ll want to properly pace your story so that it doesn’t drag on too long before hitting the heart of the story.

7) Simply… bad writing/grammar. Also, consistent POV is important. This one is self-explanatory, but if you care about what happens in your story, you should also care about the grammar and prose! Typically, hiring editors is a step you must do before taking your novel to a publishing agency.

“I need you.” “Oh God, don’t say that, you know I can’t say no to you when you’re like this.” 

“You know it’s fine if you’re a little rough with me, right?” “But I don’t want to hurt you…” “It’s fine, I can take it. I want it rough. Please?” 

“You never used to hold my hand in public like this.” “I guess I just like being close to you? In whatever physical way possible.”

Character A realising just how much clingier Character B can get after sex and secretly enjoying it even though they outwardly complain about it constantly. (Bonus: And then Character B suddenly stops being clingy and Character A’s thrown for a loop by it. “Did I do something wrong? Why won’t they cuddle with me afterwards? I can’t believe this, I need these cuddles more than I need anything else that happens before; you can’t just hook me on that good shit and then take it away from me.” Turns out, they might have complained a bit too much, which ended up getting to Character B’s head, so Character A decides to right their wrongs by initiating the cuddles instead.)

Character A becoming so familiar with how Character B reacts to their touch and taking immense pleasure in teasing the shit out of them and revelling in the noises they make before giving them what they want.

Post-coital snuggles that certainly don’t mean anything. 

“I want to make you feel the way you make me feel,” Character A whispers, sending shivers skittering down Character B’s spine. 

“You’ve been staying over a lot these days, even though it wasn’t something you used to do. What changed?” “I don’t know, I just like waking up to your face.”

“You’re staring at me like that again.” “Like what?” “Like you’re… Never mind.” 

“How am I supposed to not read into things if you keep treating me like this?”

“…You promised me you wouldn’t fall in love with me so why did you…” “I can’t help what I feel. I’m sorry.” 

“I shouldn’t have agreed to this.” “What? What the hell is that supposed tomean?” “Because you’re making it so hard for me to not fall in love with you.” 

“What exactly are we doing right now?” Character A whispers, breathing ragged against Character B’s lips, their heart beating erratically in their chest. “Fooling around,” Character B answers, squeezing their waist. “We’re fooling around, that’s all. That’s what we’ve been doing all along, right?” (The look in their eyes says otherwise, but Character A chooses to ignore that as they give in once again.)

“Stop stealing my hoodies! They aren’t cheap, you thief!” “But they’re comfortable and they smell like you and I can hold onto them when I start to miss you being next to me.” “I’m— how can you say that with a straight face?”  

“…So what are we?” “Friends who find each other extremely fuckable?” “Can you take me seriously for once—”

“Hey. Hey. Oh my God, why are you crying? Are you okay? Did I— did I do something wrong?” “No, it’s just— it’s just you’re always so gentle and caring with me and it makes me— it makes me feel like I don’t deserve you. No one’s ever treated me like you have.”

“Is it just me or are you and [name] really touchy-feely with each other these days?” “Huh? Of course not! We’re just really comfortable around each other, that’s all.” 

Character A biting their lip and winking at Character B across the room and Character B going positively red in the face and Character C being like, “Hello? What the fuck is happening between you two? What’s with the atmosphere? I’m uncomfortable and want out.”

“Stop trying to eye fuck me across the room, people are starting to think something’s up.” “Well, let them think that for all I care. At least they know to keep their hands off of you.” “…Excuse me?” 

Here are a handful of quick tips to help you write believable characters! 

1. A character’s arc doesn’t need to grow linearly. Your protagonist doesn’t have to go from being weak to strong, shy to confident, or novice to professional in one straight line. It’s more realistic if they mess up their progress on the way and even decline a bit before reaching their goal.

2. Their past affects their present. Make their backstory matter by having their past events shape them into who they are. Growing up with strict parents might lead to a sneaky character, and a bad car accident might leave them fearful of driving.

3. Give reoccurring side characters something that makes them easily recognizable. This could be a scar, a unique hairstyle, an accent, or a location they’re always found at, etc.

4. Make sure their dialogue matches their personality. To make your characters more believable in conversation, give them speech patterns. Does the shy character mumble too low for anyone to ever hear, does the nervous one pace around and make everyone else on edge? 

5. Make your characters unpredictable. Real people do unexpected things all the time, and this can make life more exciting. The strict, straight-A student who decides to drink at a party. The pristine princess who likes to visit the muddy farm animals. When character’s decide to do things spontaneously or in the heat of the moment, it can create amazing twists and turns.

6. Give even your minor character’s a motive. This isn’t to say that all your characters need deep, intricate motives. However, every character should need or want something, and their actions should reflect that. What’s the motive behind a side character who follows your protagonist on their adventure? Perhaps they’ve always had dreams of leaving their small village or they want to protect your protagonist because of secret feelings.

It’s raining outside