knowledge mercenary

There’s other instances of people randomly punching slaves that they didn’t even know because they got in their way or something. This was just normal behavior.

And slaves didn’t rebel en masse because if even one slave committed an act of violent rebellion it was common practice to kill every slave and former slave in the household.

People only took notice for posterity when these mass executions got into the hundreds of people. One of the few recorded for the history books is of over 400 people being killed because one guy stabbed his enslaver.

Great dialogue can come from radical emotional honesty. But in most real conversations, people

dodge questions

answer indirectly

lie (badly)

change the subject

crack jokes to avoid serious answers

lie (convincingly)

say half of what they mean

tell the truth but get so anxious/angry/defensive others now think they're lying

If your dialogue feels unnatural, it might be because everyone is saying exactly what they think, or articulating their thoughts too well. Try letting characters hide things instead.

people don’t always speak in full sentences,

slang can change depending on age range, demographic, etc. &

I have endured what no one on earth has ever done before

I put to my lips the hands of the man who killed my son.

instead ask:

is it SINCERE

was it CATHARTIC

was it FUN TO MAKE

is it MADE BY ME

Green sea turtles have been an iconic endangered species since the 1980s, mostly due to bycatch in fishing nets and taking adults and eggs for food. I have core childhood memories of watching Steve Irwin talk about sea turtle conservation in front of a beach full of nesting green sea turtles.

After 45 years of conservation efforts, their population now meets the IUCN criteria for Least Concern rather than Endangered.

For a species with such a slow life history (it takes green sea turtles decades to reach sexual maturity) and a nearly global population, this is a Really Big Deal. This is the kind of long term conservation victory that many of the amazing humans who started working on green sea turtle conservation back in the 80s didn't live to see.

Wandering the Old Town with my camera to look for fantastical & whimsical architecture details 🌞🏰

I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH HOW BAD AN IDEA THAT IS!

As someone who’s not only an IF writer but who has worked in the marketing and publishing industry for 20+ years, NEVER give blanket permission like that! You are basically withdrawing any rights you have to your own work. You will lose in a court of copyright law because someone can point to that and say you gave permission. They can take your work, slap their name on it, and call it their own. They can feed it into an AI engine and diarrhea out their own slop and then get paid for said slop.

I know there are a lot of young writers who think they’re being kind by allowing piracy, but you’re actually being unkind to yourself. Protect yourself and your hard work! Viatica is free out of the goodness of my heart, BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN ITS NOT COPYRIGHTED. It very much is and I do not allow piracy of it in any way. I’ve already fought for two such removals on piracy sites and I will continue to fight for my work every time. You can provide free content and still ban piracy of it. The two are not mutually exclusive.

If, and I stress if, you want to allow liberties with your content, be VERY specific. Outline the express conditions under which someone can take and/or use your work.

I painted the color key concept for *THAT* Sonam shot. It came out so beautifully in the finished film! (Additional note written below.)