This was one of the best laughs I’ve had in a bit, thank you

Same.

That is not what “the Tetris Effect” means. :P

That’s because they’re fake.

Yes, technically, just like “everything is subjective”. But only ignorant people remove all context like that.

Most of these clearly have no proper etymology and root/suffix/prefix structure, and therefore are clearly made up.

It was the only used vehicle we could afford that wasn’t breaking down and could haul furniture.

It sounds like you know everyone’s lives and what they need then. I’ll just close up shop. /s

Fuck cars? But also, we need cars. Like, you can’t live in most of the US without them. Nobody should be downvoting a person for using a car. You’d be downvoting a person who uses a crappy system out of necessity. I would hope people here understand that.

It is too big, but the form factor is still important. We upgraded from a Jeep to a Yukon Denali because we are very poor and live in Fuck All, Nowhere and need to haul groceries and furniture from the city.

With that said, none of us three friends and housemates like testosterone, and we are careful about how we drive and where we park. We do our best! <3

Capitalism: “Numbers go brrrrr”

Aaaand now !goodoffmychest exists. I am not intending to squat on this, so I’ll set the foundation and people can talk to me if they want to become mods. <3

There’s a lot of good answers already here, so I will post a few unique things.

I’m writing a novel (a damn good one too). The first thing you want to know is that you need years of experience if the novel’s going to be any good. That does not mean you need years of reading and writing experience specifically— you can replace it with other kinds of experience. For one, you’ll need some maturity— some understanding of people, some understanding of the world, stuff like that. And then you’re going to want to read at least a little about writing, even if it’s just TVTropes.

This may not work for you specifically, but it would also help a lot if you— like me— are a huge lover of any of the fictional arts. I don’t really read novels anymore, but I am obsessed with the multimedia fiction arts— things like movies, comics, and video games. I read a ton of articles about writing, I watch a ton of multimedia critics and essayists, and I read things like Mythcreants and TVTropes. Unlike most people I know, I hugely value the writing and storytelling in video games, and can get really angry at games that have a ton of writing/dialogue but it’s all crap (looking at you, Pokémon and Golden Sun).

I would also like to say that pure “pantsing” is a pretty bad idea, even for pantsers. “Pantsing” means that you just sit down and start writing. Don’t do that. At least start planning and writing down things you really want to see happen in your novel, locations, characters, whatever. At best, outline as much as possible before you even start. With that said, having a roadmap is good, but not critical; personally, I think preparing your novel to include scenes you are super excited about is much more important.

Which leads to a very important point: if you don’t like writing something, stop writing it. Focus on things you love. If that scene or genre is boring you or is soul-crushing, stop writing it and write a scene you’re excited about. If you’re excited about something, your readers will be too. They’ll feel your energy and love.

Next point. In this day and age, don’t write anything too standard or predictable. There are a million and a half generic D&D-feeling fantasy books that don’t get published, and they will bore any agent (and reader). Bring something new and exciting to the premise, and make sure people know about it from the first few paragraphs. Intrigue people.

Final point for now: Focus on writing well. Don’t focus on what’s selling, don’t focus on a market, don’t try to chase bandwagons. Do not care if you will get published or not. For one, trade publishers are usually awful, don’t offer anything of value except a professional editor, and are basically crappy venture-capitalist middlemen. Just focus on writing something you love and which is genuinely good, for now. By the time you’re done, the trade publishing landscape will probably have changed anyway.

Nah, let’s wait until the law passes and people die first, that’s a great idea! /s

Sometimes strongly-opinionated people (such as myself) are misunderstood as “arrogant”. In the end, you need a lot more information and context on a person than just a few of their paragraphs to judge that. I’ll say though that arrogance and lack of empathy go hand-in-hand, so that’s one way to tell if they’re arrogant.

Either way, if you give people permission to troll “arrogant people”, then you are telling them that it’s okay to judge others before you know them. And of course that’s the source of a ton of society’s garbage. Not to mention everyone’s always in the process of learning and maturing. Nobody’s perfect; and to be an ass to others is hypocritical, even if the area you’re judging them for isn’t the one you struggle with yourself.

Love me some XKCD.

I believe in you!

I think the best way to figure this out would be to do research on world holidays and start putting together a calendar. I can see a really interesting and informative video about this.

Hey VSauce! Michael here!

I think they meant worldwide and statistically, not personally.