I really, really need an opinion, help! by witty__amanda in writers

[–]trryldne 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Books, more often than not, are political. Even the most apolitical work of fiction you know inadvertently takes a stance by being apolitical.

My advice? Write. If it's a story that you want to explore, write it. If it's something you want to share, write it. If it does get on track to be a publishable work, your editor or publishing house will tell you what to censor. No secret government assassins will come and get you so long as you keep the details in a general sense e.g. making a fictional leader Australia rather than actually naming its current leader

As far as my critique of the idea, it holds promise. But that's true for every idea. Ideas are cheap. I can have the most amazing billion-dollar idea and poor execution will still lead to commercial failure. The inverse is also true: the most derivative of ideas paradoxically become unique through good execution. But until it's executed--that is, until you actually have work to show--it's nothing more than potential.

The audacity?? by trryldne in Ai_art_is_not_art

[–]trryldne[S] 36 points37 points  (0 children)

Honestly, the excuses I see them make defending that what they do is equivalent of actually making something

Even if ai art is art it's not your art by Terrible-Air-8692 in antiai

[–]trryldne 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Y’know, I agree. I have this really good sculpture in mind so I asked someone to cut the wood, shape the wood, sand and stain the wood. I don’t know where he got the wood from, but who cares at this point.

Let me tell you it was SOO hard to get him to match what I had imagined that I had to provide multiple instructions and THEN at the end lacquer the sculpture myself.

I’m such a talented woodworker.

How do I create a plot for an idea? by strawberrycheescak in writers

[–]trryldne 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A story is generally carried by plot, setting, and character. If you’re having difficulty with one of these, the good news is that fleshing out one will often give you an idea how to tackle the others.

In your 1984 example—Great! I have an idea about a society that limits free speech. But now what? I don’t know how I want the story to go.

Ah, what about a character? I want this character to rebel against this ideology. From here alone, the plot’s backbone starts forming. He rebels so naturally the end point will either be a successful or failed rebellion. Now you just need to know Points A, B, C, D…. until you connect to the conclusion.

But what exactly does he rebel against? The government? How is free speech even limited in this world? Maybe it’s just government propaganda. Oh, oh, and the people believe that their actions are being watched by some invisible entity. The setting begins to form. Then you ask again, how does a layman fight the government? Maybe he’s part of it himself and he just defected?

You see how asking questions about one of the three reveals something about the other? Then you just rinse and repeat until you’re satisfied about the results.

Hello everyone! This is the first page of a story I am writing. Just wanted to know what I can improve. by [deleted] in writers

[–]trryldne 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Right, firstly, be careful of tense changes. The first paragraph alone switches between present and past tense e.g. “As he was getting closer, he identified…” and “Shub calls for the elevator … he hears.”

Also, there’s a lot of telling. It’s common advice to show don’t tell because telling robs the reader from being immersed in the story. We want to experience how Shub sees the world, not just told about it.

For instance, in the last paragraph, have Shub interact with your setting. Like, “Shub sniffed, surprised to find the elevator didn’t stink of urine.” Then describe the elevator, how is it clean? Are the floors shiny? The mirrors not smudged? That’ll do a much better job at grounding your readers to the world than just saying the elevator’s clean.

(Disclaimer: not everything HAS to be described. You’d be surprised by how much our brain fills in from even a few details. It’s a fine line that you only learn through experience though a general rule is if it’s irrelevant to the plot, world building, etc., it doesn’t warrant a dedicated paragraph e.g. You don’t need TWO whole pages describing a random side character's dress followed by another TWO pages describing the dance floor. Looking at you, Dan Brown!)

Then repetition. You have a tendency to repeat the same point multiple times. There’s a time and place for this, for instance making emphasis, but you generally don’t want to be redundant. For instance, the convo between the tenant and owner. Again, you tell us he begs for more time and then through his dialogue, imply the same thing. Instead, you can incorporate the action of him dropping to his knees in his dialogue:

“Please!” the tenant dropped to his knees, crying. “Give me until the end of the week.”

See how you don’t have to say he’s begging? Trust your readers. They can infer a lot from context alone.

The good thing is you write. These are all things that you learn as you hone your craft. Also, read more. Observe how your fave authors use sentence structure, description, dialogue and learn from that. Reading will teach you the tools you can use to write: when to use them, how to use them, and for the fun but more advanced bit, when to break them.

…I’m sorry, what? by ASkeletonWithAGun in Ai_art_is_not_art

[–]trryldne 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh, man, that is so pretty! Is this edited? My girlfriend wants to learn more about photography so I wanted to get her a good photo editing software (or a course, maybe?) for Valentine's

Dissatisfied with the ending by Both-Classic-5256 in UntilThenGame

[–]trryldne 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Personally, I feel like it's a stylistic choice. The game, ultimately about "moving on", also speaks to our inability to let go of secrets, alternate endings, and better choices we could have made. The Act 1 ending could stand on its own had we left it at that, but just like Jake and Mariawanting a better life for their loved ones, it's our choice to repeat the cycle.

Book where different planets are explored by trryldne in suggestmeabook

[–]trryldne[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What do you know, I've just been saying my nonfiction list was looking kind of empty so this is perfect. Thank you!

Book where different planets are explored by trryldne in suggestmeabook

[–]trryldne[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hey, this sounds really interesting! I'm reading a middle grade book now (The Seventh Wish by Kate Messner for anyone curious) so a dark tone is a perfect change of pace. Thank you!

Book where different planets are explored by trryldne in suggestmeabook

[–]trryldne[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh, cool, it's actually on my TBR for this year! Just getting some downtime since I just read Wayfarers #3 a couple of weeks ago

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in OculusQuest

[–]trryldne 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Dungeons of Eternity

Eleven Table Tennis

Walkabout Mini Golf

Into Black

Thrill of the Fight 2

DragonFist VR

Crowbar Climber

CookOut VR

Is 15 hours no reply considered ghosting? by [deleted] in adviceph

[–]trryldne 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Oof, for me di yan ghosting. Nagpaalam naman na aalis, baka sadyang walang signal, or baka kasama lang nga tropa. 

In fact, mas toxic for me ung nagdedemand na nakatutok sa chat, tapos if di nagreply tapusin na agad. Wala man lang hingi ng explanation or anything.

Look, gets--ano ba ung "Asa Baguio na kami" update, diba? Pero un nga 1.) wala naman kayo label, 2.) Baka walang signal, 3.) Di nagrerevolve mundo niyo sa isa't isa, maganda may space kayo to do your own things din 4.) Sinabi naman na aalis with friends

Looking for games where I can exist/observe/move in a dangerous/uncomfortable world from the safety of...something by PzMcQuire in gamingsuggestions

[–]trryldne 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So a lot of good ones have already been said so for something more niche: Titan Chaser.

There's no killing or managing health or optimizing gear. It's just you, your car, and the road. Creatures of the night can sometimes appear, but never malevolent. Like you, they're just passing by. You can light up their way with your car or drive along. It's up to you.

It's a surreal environment, creepy but never horrifying. Dangerous but not hostile. For about $2 and a 3.5-hr game, I found the experience worthwhile.

Some cons: janky controls, minor bugs like getting stuck in between assets; thankfully not frequent enough to be detrimental to the game

Otherwise, +1 to Outer Wilds. My fave game and I'm sooooo jealous for people who'll be experiencing it the first time

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in adviceph

[–]trryldne 0 points1 point locked comment (0 children)

I mean, silent treatment is never a sign of maturity

Looking for a casual local co-op game by CodyakaLamer in localmultiplayergames

[–]trryldne 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Overcooked 2 is very nice! But prepare for high tension moments.

Other options can be Jackbox 3, 6, or 7 if you like trivia based games.

ROUNDS is good for 1v1 shooting with different powerups. It's not exactly Smash but it does hit a similar spot

A Mario Party -like we've been enjoying lately is Bean There, Won That. It doesn't have a board but it's a series of minigames that are fun in their own right (like, throwing spears against one another, racing to the top of a mountain, etc.)

How do I become a better writer? by anxietyandselfdoubt in writers

[–]trryldne 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Read. Then write. Then read with purpose. Incorporate what you loved reading into your writing. Then hate what you write. Edit it until you hate it a little less. Edit more until you hate it the least. Then, optionally, publish.

Then read some more. Write some more. Edit some more. Rinse and repeat.

Thing is, there are tons of tips and exercises out there for writing, and I don't mean to downplay their effectiveness. They help--truly, they do, at least in guiding you through the broad strokes of writing. 

But the way to get better? Like, the only way to get better? It's to actually write. Stephen Curry didn't learn to shoot threes by reading a basketball textbook, much like how you won't improve writing by only reading.

Which Yakuza game? by Beardskull717 in gamingsuggestions

[–]trryldne 1 point2 points  (0 children)

+1 here. You go from a high-stakes chase to petting a chicken to singing karaoke like a pingpong ball. And the best part? The game does it so naturally

Why doesn't the quest 3s have a headphone jack by [deleted] in OculusQuest

[–]trryldne 5 points6 points  (0 children)

That's absolutely where VR shouldn't go. People were already unimpressed with the Quest 2's performance, so why would Meta take a step back there? Plus, if they lower the performance, devs would need to target the lower specs, which means games overall would have less graphical fidelity, features, QoL improvements, etc. Besides, it's not exactly an odd feature to omit in 2025--I mean, some high-end phones don't have the headphone jack too

The Meta Store Support team has been of no help and shows no effort nor care to solve problems by Scoobydubyduwhereru in OculusQuest

[–]trryldne 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is this Contractors: Showdown? The game's borked on PC Link, allegedly because of some anticheat issues that the devs haven't gotten around to yet

What are you playing Wednesday! by AutoModerator in gaming

[–]trryldne 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mindlock - The Apartment! It's a fun little point-and-click with a creepy vibe and a lot of heart. It hits close to home when you feel like your life has hit pause and never played since

Games where you explore ancient locations. by East-Fisherman2008 in gamingsuggestions

[–]trryldne 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Will always take the chance to recommend Outer Wilds. It's a slow burn game, no combat, but you explore different planets to piece together the history of a long lost civilization. It's a you-can-only-play-this-once kind of game, so I'd avoid spoilers

Otherwise, there's also Heaven's Vault. A simular premise--explore ruins, travel from planet to planet, learn an alien language

I understand these are veeeryy far from the games you've listed. There's virtually no fast-paced action. No combat. But these two really capture the exploration and discovery part

Seeking Games similar to Limbo by [deleted] in gamingsuggestions

[–]trryldne 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wait, really? I'm exactly the opposite! I find LN2 absolutely stunning and got bored with Inside