Right, but sometimes you just need to say “I’ve read what you said. Sounds good to me. No need to keep discussing.”, especially when organising things.

👍

There are no bad words. Bad thoughts. Bad intentions, and wooooords.

– George Carlin

Are you a duck?

Probably less addictive.

Don’t replace social media with something else on your phone.

Put the phone down and walk away.

I think what you’re seeing is people trying to get Americans angry enough to get beyond the coach potato acceptance of events that many are displaying. Get them to be what they always claimed to be… A country full of patriots that will fight for their country rather than see it destroyed from within.

We can’t help you all from outside.

…and then you sit down one key left to the left of normal.

Were you in the Oval Office yesterday?

It’s called empathy. Their words and actions obviously have an effect on you, so it shouldn’t be surprising that the opposite is true as well. Reading people and their moods inform this and help you predict how they might react in the moment.

I suspect most of what you’re talking about is about timing. Taking a jovial mood and injecting serious topics without warning will piss people off. You’re killing the mood. “Don’t be so negative” sounds to me like you’re not reading the room. Let people enjoy those times. If you need to raise a serious subject with someone - a deft “now’s not the time, but I’d like to talk about something” allows them to finish up, switch gears, and then have a more serious discussion.

The same goes the other way. Injecting jokes in a serious discussion can cause problems too.

The whole thing is like merging into traffic. You have to match the pace of the traffic flow. Too fast or too slow causes pile-ups.

I can be like this sometimes, but I normally try to let people know that the dogs are whirring.

• Hmm, good question…let me think…
• How can I put this?
• What’s the phrase I’m looking for?

I’ll especially do this if I’m speaking to people whose first language is something else, as I’ll want to answer the question without resorting to idioms or slang. No point telling a Frenchman that the situation is a bit of a dog and pony show.

It’s more explicit in the directors cut when you learn of her own daughter’s fate.

Ripley being a woman didn’t matter much in the first film. It’s crucial to her character in the second. It’s her maternal instincts that drive her protection of Newt and that drive her into direct conflict with the alien queen.

The final battle is two mothers fighting for their children.

I mean, there is definitely a crowd that don’t like women as lead characters…

There are always crazies, but I don’t think that’s a large number of voices. I seriously think that most people just want well written characters that are true to themselves and the situation and don’t give a shit if its a man / a woman / black person / white person / pig or sentient blob of jelly.

I don’t accept the premise of the question. People don’t complain about female led movies, as long as those movies are well written. What people complain about (and this should include people looking for increased female representation) is projects that prioritise having female leads over having good writing.

Take the trend of gender swapped existing male characters into female ones. If, as a writer, you’re prepared to follow through on that concept and explore how it changes the story, then it can be interesting. A chance to experiment with the differences in motivation between genders and how obstacles can be navigated in different ways.

If you’re just going to swap “he” for “she” in the script and call it a day… Well that’s boring and doesn’t deserve anyone’s time. It’s not interesting or clever. In fact it’s often bad take. You can end up with a woman on screen showing that to be a hero they have to display hyper-masculine traits. How is that a good female role model?

In Deep Geek on YouTube. Content on LotR, SoIaF, and other fantasy. He’s also read some stories as Audio books.

SPACESHIIIIIP!

…but wouldn’t change your life.

I preheat the air fryer to soften the fat and oils. Drain whatever I can into a container, and use a silicone spatula to get anything that is still adhered.

It then goes in the dish washer on a hot wash. Come out like new.

I think the EU depends on your country of entry. Some countries are under much more pressure than others. Also a lot comes down to your skill set.

Nah. You’re the dick on this one.

There’s a line in every relationship where doing something outside the relationship is disrespectful.

Most will agree that sex with other people is over the line. You have sex with someone else and you’ve betrayed the relationship. Even in open relationships it’s common to say “only if I know about it”. That’s rarely “the line” though. That will be something before sex. It might be keeping secrets, or meeting people in date-like scenarios, or getting naked with others.

If they’ve talked and decided between them that nudity with others when apart is over their line, that’s their choice and you have to respect that.