Laurie Tom
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laurietom.bsky.social
Laurie Tom
@laurietom.bsky.social
53 followers 60 following 21 posts
Chinese American fantasy & science fiction author, RPG/VN maniac, and consumer of niche anime. Blog: https://laurietom.blogspot.com/
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Reposted by Laurie Tom
rosemarymosco.com
Spooky bird stories.
A four-panel comic titled Spooky Bird Stories. In each panel, it's a dark night and a bird holding a flashlight is telling a story to other birds who are listening. In panel 1, a turkey vulture is telling stories to other vultures, and it says, "She walked toward the source of the terrible smell. She got closer and closer, and then, to her horror, she saw... No dead body." A black vulture says "No!" and a turkey vulture says "Did someone already eat it??" In panel 2, a northern cardinal is telling a story to some songbirds. It says "They peered through the windows of the house at the gory scene. Zombies had smashed through the door in the night. The homeowner was dead. But worst of all... He hadn't refilled the feeders." An eastern bluebird says "Aaah!" and an American goldfinch says "It can't be!". In panel 3, a screech owl is telling a story to other owls. It says "And then the ghost fluffed itself up really big to appear scarier." A saw-whet owl gasps, and a long-eared owl says "Horrifying!". In panel 4, a downy woodpecker is telling a story to other woodpeckers, and says "The eerie sound rang through the dark woods. Tap-tap. Tap-tap. It was the distinctive two-part knock of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. The species had returned from the dead... FOR REVENGE." A red-cockaded woodpecker says "Yesss".
October 21, 2024 at 1:44 PM
Reposted by Laurie Tom
rcmacleod.bsky.social
As someone who's spent their whole adult life trying to help writers get better at writing, NaNo's AI statement is disgusting
aftermath.site/nanowrimo-ai...
The goal of National Novel Writing Month is to produce 50,000 words of a draft in 30 days, a quantity-over-quality approach that has value in that 1) it forces you to write, probably the hardest part of writing; and 2) it gives you a draft you can make better–as I often say to writers, you can’t fix something that doesn’t exist. But it’s not to create a publishable book, or even a good one; it’s simply to do the work. Asking ChatGPT to write a garbage draft for you will produce the kind of garbage draft that comes out of NaNoWriMo, but you haven’t really done NaNoWriMo–you’ve just created some garbage. There are of course degrees between writing 50,000 shitty words yourself and generating 50,000 shitty words with AI; I’m not going to say that every possible use of AI in the creation of a first draft is equally reprehensible. But NaNo’s statement dresses the latest fad technology up in the language of social justice, desperately trying to give AI capabilities it doesn’t have... The bullshit on display here is personal to me: Before moving into journalism full time, I ran a small press focused on trans authors... and teaching writing workshops for trans writers. I also made my actual money contracting for an editing service, where I edited clumsy memoirs and fiction and countless dissertations for students of shady for-profit colleges, people getting Master’s degrees or PhDs in nursing or teaching primarily to get raises or promotions at their jobs. In both these roles, though in different ways, I tried to overcome access gaps and the effects of systemic discrimination...My entire career has been dedicated to helping people get better at writing; the idea that not only can the plagiarism machine do that, but that believing it can is a moral obligation, is frankly hideous.
September 3, 2024 at 5:14 PM
Reposted by Laurie Tom
tkingfisher.com
Incidentally, if people just want permission to spend a month writing the first draft of a book…

*clears throat*

I, Real Published Author With Awards And Shit, hereby give whoever needs it permission to take a month and write like the devil if they want to.

And it can be any month they want.
September 2, 2024 at 6:25 PM
laurietom.bsky.social
I thought Rose of Versailles was indefinitely trapped in production hell, but a new movie trailer came out a couple days ago! Love how the animation has been updated, but the designs still retain that 1970s shoujo quality. www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxA2...
The Rose of Versailles Teaser PV2/IN THEATERS in JAPAN -- EARLY SPRING 2025
The Rose of Versailles IN THEATERS in JAPAN -- EARLY SPRING 2025🌹Original WorkRiyoko Ikeda🌹CASTOscar François de Jarjayes: Miyuki SawashiroMarie Antoinette...
www.youtube.com
July 4, 2024 at 5:30 AM
laurietom.bsky.social
I was a HUGE Dragon Age fan back in the day. Genuinely loved doing multiple play through with different companions and classes. But I saw the new Veilguard trailer and found myself completely put off by the art style.
June 9, 2024 at 6:47 PM
laurietom.bsky.social
Watched the new X-Men '97 and enjoyed it a lot. The original was really big with me and my friends back when I was in high school (and later college). I ran a D&D campaign where my friends, my brother, and I played X-Men transported to a fantasy world and we homebrewed stats for all their abilities.
March 26, 2024 at 5:42 AM
laurietom.bsky.social
I was all proud of myself and my time management, thinking I finally figured manage to find another hour or two each day for myself, and then I discovered my neighbor's property has a feral colony of bees and I've lost half the afternoon and evening to bee research.
March 14, 2024 at 4:47 AM
laurietom.bsky.social
If I ever seem to drop off social media, you'll likely still find me blogging at laurietom.blogspot.com
March 13, 2024 at 2:31 AM
laurietom.bsky.social
Got myself a new profile pic, ported over as many people to follow as my Chrome extension could scrape from Twitter. I think I'm set.
March 13, 2024 at 2:28 AM
laurietom.bsky.social
I realized I've been missing Twitter and I don't like my feed over there now, so gonna give Bluesky a go. :) Hoping for good times here.
March 13, 2024 at 1:32 AM