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Post by Lizica on Jun 10, 2021 17:00:01 GMT -5
Is there a common gender-neutral address on the same level of formality as "ma'am" and "sir"?
I've heard that "captain" can sometimes be used, but is there anything that sounds more everyday? (Like, "captain" sounds incredibly awesome and I love it, but if I was talking with a stranger on a customer support phone line, I feel like I might have to explain myself if I called them captain.)
If you're enby, is there a formal address that you personally prefer?
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Post by Gelquie on Jun 10, 2021 18:13:13 GMT -5
Lizica - That's a really good question! ...That I never really found a good answer to. I've had a hard time finding ones that work or seem to work in practice. (Not a title, but incidentally, I'm also not a fan of "Mx."; it sounds too close to "Ms" for me, though that may be me and my speech issues.) Some people treat "sir" as a gender-neutral term. That does work for some enbies, but not all of them. I think there's "Individual", but I've never heard that used in practice and it feels clunky and stiff. And while I love "captain," I agree with your assessment that it's a bit too specific and already a bit of a title for me to feel comfortable using with anyone but people I'm already close with. If it's for a letter, there may be other ways to start it off. "To Whom it May Concern" may feel too impersonal, but there may be other ways. I always go for a good "Hello"; if it's informal, I may include an exclamation mark. For speaking and in general though, what I ended up doing was avoiding titles all together, either structuring my sentence to avoid needing them (and adding politeness as needed), or addressing them by their names instead. Though I imagine that would take some practice; it was easy for me as I never used formal titles anyway, but I can't say the same for others for whom it was more of a thing. I'm sorry that I don't have a better answer for you. I wish I knew too! xD
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Post by June Scarlet on Sept 14, 2021 7:44:10 GMT -5
Say a favorite author was doing a book raffle, and you enter by spreading news about their latest book. How would one go about doing that?
The rules of this contest are particularly broad. You can share the post on Instagram (how do you do that?). You can share the post on any other platform (like maybe this forum?). You can share a link to the book title itself on a book-selling website. You can even just tell a friend. Then just post on Instagram that you shared the book.
I really like this author and their work, I'm just not sure of the best way to share it. I'm not sure how to share posts on Instagram. I'm not sure if it's appropriate to share links to contests on the forum (though the book and author is safe for NTWF). Just a lot of questions.
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Post by Twillie on Sept 14, 2021 16:18:07 GMT -5
Say a favorite author was doing a book raffle, and you enter by spreading news about their latest book. How would one go about doing that? The rules of this contest are particularly broad. You can share the post on Instagram (how do you do that?). You can share the post on any other platform (like maybe this forum?). You can share a link to the book title itself on a book-selling website. You can even just tell a friend. Then just post on Instagram that you shared the book. I really like this author and their work, I'm just not sure of the best way to share it. I'm not sure how to share posts on Instagram. I'm not sure if it's appropriate to share links to contests on the forum (though the book and author is safe for NTWF). Just a lot of questions. For sharing on Instagram, if you're using the mobile app you can tap the paper airplane button under said post (third button, looks like an arrow pointing to the top right). You'll get a pop up window, and if their account allows sharing, then your first option will be to "add post to your story." You can select this and it'll be added to your story, which anyone who follows you can see. This doesn't seem to be an option when using Instagram on a computer, or if it is is there's some other method to it that I don't know.
If the account doesn't allow sharing, though, this option won't pop up. Instead you could also repost Instagram posts, kind of like how one reblogs on Tumblr or retweets on Twitter. However, this isn't a main feature on Instagram and you'll need to download a separate app to do this. There's a variety of them, but I've never used one before so I couldn't give any recommendations or say if they're worth it. There's a variety of articles online at least that can give more insight on options.
Advertising on the forum is usually seen as a problem when it's spam, typically from an account made specifically to shill something. It's fine if a trusted member wants to promote some of their own stuff, and similarly I think if you want to share a raffle an author you like is doing, we can trust you're not just trying to spam the forum. I can double check with other mods on this to get a more conclusive answer regarding contests, and I can get back to you on that.
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Post by June Scarlet on Sept 14, 2021 22:07:33 GMT -5
Twillie Thank you! I haven't checked, but I imagine the account allows sharing, if they're doing this contest. I haven't done an Instagram story before, I'm not sure if I want to or not. If I were to post it on the forum, where would it go, you think? The closest thread is Books get rec'd, but I think that's more for books that you've already read before, which I haven't done yet because it's not released. I feel like it'd need a whole new thread, though I'm not sure what the theme would be. "Books to Read"? "Cool stuff found on social media"? "Contests"? Hm, just had a thought too, I could create some fanart, and put that on Instagram, that would keep my posts to my art, which is what I want it for, and also spread the word, as assigned. Not sure if I have time to pull it off in a few days or not though.
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Post by Twillie on Sept 15, 2021 11:32:55 GMT -5
Twillie Thank you! I haven't checked, but I imagine the account allows sharing, if they're doing this contest. I haven't done an Instagram story before, I'm not sure if I want to or not. If I were to post it on the forum, where would it go, you think? The closest thread is Books get rec'd, but I think that's more for books that you've already read before, which I haven't done yet because it's not released. I feel like it'd need a whole new thread, though I'm not sure what the theme would be. "Books to Read"? "Cool stuff found on social media"? "Contests"? Hm, just had a thought too, I could create some fanart, and put that on Instagram, that would keep my posts to my art, which is what I want it for, and also spread the word, as assigned. Not sure if I have time to pull it off in a few days or not though. No problem! And if it helps, an Instagram story is only temporary, so if you do share via that it'll only be viewable for 24 hours. But yeah, plenty of options on other platforms if you'd like!
Confirmed with some other mods that it's alright if you share the link here, so long as it leads to forum-appropriate content, that the post has more than just the link (like maybe some backstory on the contest or who the author is), and that it goes on a relevant thread/board. For the latter and to answer your question, I think you have a few options. You could indeed make a new thread, probably on Writer's Workshop, and it doesn't even have to have a broader topic- could just be a thread dedicated to you talking about the book and author. You could possibly also make a post on Mini-Comments, or even Books Get Rec'd like you mentioned. Along with the contest, you could also recommend books from that author that you have read and recommend. I can even see it fitting in a Diary post, although those threads are private so it might not be as visible as you're hoping lol.
That sounds like it could be a cool idea! Is it a contest where you're entered in the raffle from proof of promoting the book? If nothing else, you could just make a post on your Insta account, and then when the contest finishes delete it to keep your posts on theme.
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Post by Gelquie on Sept 16, 2021 3:18:17 GMT -5
So, I have a question about dog behaviors (not my dog) and if I should be concerned, for people who understand dog behaviors better than I do. The question requires backstory.
I've kind of taken up most of the dog walking since I moved in with my parents, because it makes sense in context and it's good exercise. For the most part I enjoy doing it, and there are routes I like. And then there's one route that I previously liked until a new dog and owner moved into the neighborhood that I sometimes walk. The dog in question is never leashed, and wanders the neighborhood freely.
See, this dog and my dog are friends and like to play. They also like to... play. >> He's fixed, but it still leads to problematic behavior in both dogs, so sometimes I have to step in and break them up. Even if they're just running around and sniffing and stuff, I'm not generally a fan of this interaction because it totally throws off the walk and makes it really logistically difficult, especially since I don't want to unleash my dog.
It gets particularly problematic when they get particularly riled up, and if after a while, the other dog... decides I'm in the way. First time I realized something was really up, one time she intentionally walked up to me and let out a growl. (Immediately after that I got my dog to walk away from that because nope.)
She hadn't growled since then in the times we've accidentally encountered her, though she does sometimes intentionally get in my way. Today, we accidentally encountered her, and there was a period of time where they were just running around each other, so I was just trying to tolerate it while keeping an eye on it. I actually didn't have to intervene as much that time. So I thought, till I got to the end of one road and I noticed they were getting particularly uptight, and I did have to set down some law again. And then at some point she got right up behind me and... started headbutting me repeatedly?? (And this is no small dog; when she headbutted me, she was reaching the small of my lower back.) And when I turned around to tell her off (because I wasn't about to wait to see how that would turn out), I noticed her eyes were narrowed and her ears were lowered.
To her credit, when I told her off and walked away, she did stay put without fuss. But...
I just can't decide if this dog is being aggressive towards me or not; I just don't understand dog behaviors enough, because the dog experiences I have don't really involve aggressive dogs besides ones with nasty barks. And attempts to look it up don't quite go well because it assumes I'm the owner of the dog and I need to worry about other people. Ones that do describe dog aggression don't quiiite get to the point they describe, such as attempts to bite or particularly nasty barks (she's actually pretty quiet). So... should I be concerned about something serious around her? Is it a big enough concern that I should just avoid this area altogether and not just try to time it to when I think she won't be out?
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Post by Twillie on Sept 16, 2021 22:29:12 GMT -5
Gelquie While I don't have much knowledge on dog behavior at all, I do have a friend who knows a fair amount who may be able to help, in case you don't find an answer from anyone else! I can try contacting her to see what comes of it.
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Post by June Scarlet on Sept 16, 2021 22:36:59 GMT -5
Gelquie Well, I was hoping someone else with more experience with dogs would answer, but it hasn't happened yet, so I guess I'll step up. My best guess is that it's not a good situation, and it's better to be cautious. Both because of the history given with the dog, and the behavior of the dog in that particularity situation. It's hard for me to say for sure, because I've been trained to read human emotions, but dogs are domesticated long enough that I think they probably emote in a way people would tend to understand. Anyway, the point is, if I were drawing this dog, it'd have narrowed eyes, and ears lowered (back?). Narrowed eyes is not a good thing, it means suspicion, it means mistrust, it means dislike, it means pain. Ears lowered can mean different things, there's sad ear genre, and the angry ear genre. In my mind though, it's probably angry ears, given the situation. But sad ears are lower and more towards the front, while angry ears are lowered and back. The headbutts seemed like a message to move, to get out of the way. You seemed to have taken the hint, so it didn't escalate. Actually, it seems like you handled the situation very well, and therefore didn't see it reach a point where you got hurt or anything. You probably could continue to walk your dog in that neighborhood if you really wanted to, because you seem to have a handle on how to handle that other dog. But personally, I'd avoid it, why create problems and risks when there's other options?
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Post by Ian Wolf-Park on Sept 26, 2021 5:07:56 GMT -5
I'm not sure where to put this, but on occasion, I'm getting the Proboards + friendly reminder (and ads) even though I have disabled Adblock and NoScript for the site. Anyone knows what's causing this and/or how to fix this problem?
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Post by Killix on Sept 26, 2021 13:22:26 GMT -5
I'm not sure where to put this, but on occasion, I'm getting the Proboards + friendly reminder (and ads) even though I have disabled Adblock and NoScript for the site. Anyone knows what's causing this and/or how to fix this problem? Took a look a PB Support and apparently this was an issue that was being looked into. An update from 2 hours ago stated that this should be fixed.
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Post by June Scarlet on Jul 14, 2022 20:15:43 GMT -5
Does anyone here use Paypal? Would it be worth it to get an account so I could pay for an art commission through it? Do you even need an account for that purpose, or does it allow for guest-use and using a credit card without making an account?
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Post by Twillie on Jul 14, 2022 21:46:00 GMT -5
I've used Paypal for commission stuff before, both giving and receiving money, and it's worked for what I needed it for at least. When I paid, I believe it took out a small fee, so I put in a bit extra to make sure the artist got the full amount that they quoted.
Looking it up at least, it seems that there is a way to pay without an account, but the person you're paying needs to send you an invoice first and would still require an email address, as it would send you an email with a "pay now" option.
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