James Edwards

Technical content creator at TPGi, JavaScript accessibility specialist, writer, neurodivergent (ADHD), vegetarian, socialist, musician.

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siblingpastry_at_mastodon.world@mostr.pub

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Last Notes

2024-09-04 15:31:27

Is it strictly necessary for form fields and labels to have `for/id` association, or is it enough to wrap the `<label>` around the `<input>` ...?
The answer is — Wrapping is enough in theory, but isn’t quite in practice.
https://www.tpgi.com/should-form-labels-be-wrapped-or-separate/
#accessibility #a11y

2024-07-01 16:06:23

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@npub1zyl…t54n You are correct -- `[contenteditable]` is in the TAB order by default.
But the selector needs to be just `[contenteditable]` since it can be boolean or it can have a token value.

2024-07-01 14:44:07

I've come to the conclusion that tooltips are presentational.
* They're not suitable for accessible description, control hints should be provided in static text.
* They're not appropriate for accessible label, this would fail one or more SCs if the control is not otherwise labelled.
The only useful purpose of tooltips is for sighted users, to provide explanatory text for graphical controls, so its text would always be the same as `aria-label`.
#accessibility #tooltips

2024-07-01 12:24:23

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@npub1zyl…t54n I'll do some testing on that to check :-)

2024-07-01 12:22:55

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@npub1zyl…t54n That doesn't make it focusable with `[tabindex]` does it?

2024-07-01 12:16:59

This should be a complete selector for all focusable elements that are in the TAB order:
```
:where([tabindex], a[href], area[href], map[name] area, audio[controls], button:not([disabled]), embed, iframe, img[usemap], input:not([disabled],[type="hidden"]), object:not([disabled]), select:not([disabled]), summary, textarea:not([disabled]), video[controls]):not([tabindex="-1"])
```
Have I missed anything?
(nb. notwithstanding hidden or invisible, that's a different test)
#accessibility #testing

2024-06-27 23:21:47

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@npub1zyl…t54n They should have called it SoylentGPT

2024-06-26 12:13:53

Is it an abuse of #css #system #colors to use them as a generalized palette for UI features that don't have an explicit system color (assuming no direct contradiction)?
For example -- a button's border should be `ButtonBorder`, the text in a form field should be `FieldText`, and it would be bad practice to use any other name.
But there's no "FieldBorder" (it inherits from `ButtonBorder`) so would it be legit to use something like `VisitedText` as the border-color for an invalid field?

2024-06-26 11:00:31

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@npub1zyl…t54n No, I'd make it look like a big red star.
Do you think that's a contradiction?

2024-06-26 10:50:24

Given that "*" for a required field constitutes an unarticulated annotation, seems like we should be using `<u>` for it.
Yeah I know it doesn't expose any semantics (nor would it negate the need for `aria-required` even if it did), but we have to use something, and this fits.
#html #form #validation

2024-06-23 15:45:10

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@npub1zyl…t54n Do you recognize the reference?

2024-06-23 14:33:32

On the horns of a dilemma today ... I've been writing a little library for code-editor line numbering, and the best name it could possibly have is "NumberWang"
Is that gonna be a problem?

2024-06-21 11:58:30

Can anyone help with me this #css #grid problem -- https://cdpn.io/pen/debug/zYQWWYa/86a41656ae1406581210646a621f9279
There are two columns (min-content, auto) and the right column is a resizable editor region with scrolling overflow.
What I want is for the left column (and the whole grid) to match its height to the editor, while the left column has hidden overflow.
How do I do that?
(btw. it doesn't have to be grid, and it's fine to use inner wrappers.)

2024-06-16 13:36:56

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(btw. in the same situation, Firefox moves and collapses the range, and Chrome leaves it where it is. Firefox's behavior is manageable, but wrong. Only Chrome gets this right.)

2024-06-16 13:36:48

In Safari, focusing an element destroys the current selection range.
That's bad enough, but get this -- the reset has *already happened* when the `focus` event fires, so we can't snapshot the data because it's already lost. And yet the resulting `selectionchange` event **hasn't** fired yet, so we can't use that event to filter-out the change.
Are you fucking kidding me??
#javascript #selection #caret

2024-06-11 11:37:10

I recently learned of an issue on the iPhone (but not iPad) when using FKA -- if you tab from an `<input>` to a `<select>`, the menu opens automatically, but when you choose an option or ESC to close it, focus is reset to the top of the page, thereby creating a keyboard trap.
Here's the fix:
```
document.addEventListener('blur', (e) => {
if(e.relatedTarget === null) {
e.target.focus();
}
}, true);
```
#javascript #ios #iphone #fka

2024-05-16 18:40:00

Writing #javascript to handle #caret browsing is interesting.
Since `keydown` only fires for targets that can be `activeElement`, the event target from caret navigating plain text is always <body>.
However you can identify which element contains the caret, by evaluating the range data, which you can also do from `selectionchange` events.
And get this -- Safari still fires those events, even though it doesn't support caret browsing ... because it actually does, it just doesn't show the caret!

2024-04-20 13:37:02

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@npub1zyl…t54n That's a useful point too, thanks. Those use-cases are well covered by radio and checkbox groups anyway.

2024-04-20 11:46:09

Writing up some best-practice patterns for form controls, and I've assembled this list of native HTML controls that should never be used (because they're not universally supported, and/or their native UI has accessibility problems):
<input type="color">
<input type="date">
<input type="datetime">
<input type="datetime-local">
<input type="number">
<input type="time">
<input type="week">
Any debate on those? Anything I've missed?
#accessibility #a11y

2024-04-19 15:13:25

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@npub1zyl…t54n Yeah it’s basically ED-209

2024-04-17 10:37:30

RE: Facebook "reels" (short recommended videos, in a group that shows up several times on any given page)
How do I permanently stop it showing up?
Failing that, how do I control what it thinks I like?

2024-04-17 10:33:30

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@npub10n9…tjug Surely magic is just logic we don't understand yet? 😊

2024-04-12 14:21:31

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@npub10n9…tjug Thanks for this tip, it was exactly what I needed :-)
Loving the pre-defined output templates too, like manuscript formats expected by agents and publishers.
And global word count, yay :-)

2024-04-12 11:40:58

How do regular #Windows users cope with its constant fucking ads?
Abusing system notifications, polluting the start menu, adding unremovable promotional buttons to the task bar.
I can't stand it for more than a few minutes.

2024-04-11 20:12:49

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@npub1zyl…t54n Do you get a little glow of pride when you read "very vocal minority" and know that you're one of the people they're thinking of 🙃

2024-04-04 13:50:27

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@npub1zyl…t54n Shades of "page outline algorithm will fix this so let's just assume it already exists".
Or "our grandkids will fix the environment, so fuck it"

2024-04-01 14:18:04

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@npub1zyl…t54n Blimey, I never knew this was a thing.
Better start drafting a proposal for `@meda(prefers-no-sensory-overload-triggers)` then

2024-03-24 11:15:33

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@npub10n9…tjug MC is mostly comforted by his infatuations, that’s kinda the problem lol.

2024-03-15 10:21:04

If allegories can be metaphorical, and metaphors can be allegorical, is there really a difference between metaphor and allegory, or are they just similes?
#writing

2024-03-08 13:30:49

"We care about your privacy" is the latter-day "I'm not racist but..."

2024-03-06 13:21:51

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@npub1zyl…t54n Huh?? Like ... that doesn't even solve the problem that the document outline was intended for. If we have the contextual information to know what to define for `headinglevelstart` then we could just define headings.

2024-03-03 11:51:34

Point of curiosity --
If I describe a character (male, middle-aged, ex-service with ptsd) as being a "venn-like presence" -- what does that evoke in your mind, in terms of his personality?
#writing #characterization

2024-03-01 18:04:17

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@npub1zyl…t54n It's a neat way to gen-x-signal too

2024-03-01 18:02:28

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@npub1zyl…t54n Yeah I do a lot with "I can't find anyway to do that" and "nevermind"

2024-02-15 21:02:46

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@npub1zyl…t54n I don't get the reference ...?

2024-02-15 20:57:19

Do you ever think, like ... in these confusing and chaotic times, what the world really needs, is an english rap about hiding drugs up your arse.
You're welcome ☺️
https://soundcloud.com/brothercake/socket-full-of-moses

2024-02-09 16:06:27

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@npub1zyl…t54n Sounds like Radio Ga-Ga to me

2024-02-02 21:37:06

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@npub10n9…tjug Ooh this looks good, just what I need. Thank you 🙏

2024-02-02 16:05:31

@npub10n9…tjug How do you manage chapters when writing? I mean file management.
I have a separate word doc for each chapter, but that makes global changes very difficult. But if the whole book is one big document, that's gonna be a pretty large file that's hard to work with.
I guess what I really want is software that can take a whole bunch of separate files, and collate them with chapter numbers etc. as an export process.
Any advice?

2024-01-30 14:52:04

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@npub1zyl…t54n When I read “mask up buttercup” my brain started singing “what’s up pussycat”

2023-12-20 21:20:28

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@npub1zyl…t54n
What's happening with that (if you can and want to say)?
@npub1e6z…g0aa

2023-12-19 20:58:08

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@npub1zyl…t54n Man I encountered this in my drag and drop thingy, but it was really intermittent, mostly it was fine, but sometimes it couldn’t navigate the options at all.

2023-12-19 13:08:55

How can drag and drop be made accessible to assistive technologies?
I'll be exploring concepts and solutions over a three-day series of articles, beginning with a fundamental question -- What actually is drag and drop?
https://www.tpgi.com/the-road-to-accessible-drag-and-drop-part-1/
#a11y #accessibility #javascript #ux

2023-12-07 02:02:01

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@npub1zyl…t54n Ah okay, it's not enough to enable it in settings, I have to explicitly run the Voice access app as well.
And now I know why the thing I sent you before doesn't work with Android voice control -- it doesn't recognize aria-activedescendant as a clickable element.

2023-12-07 01:51:25

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@npub1zyl…t54n No I don't.

2023-12-07 00:17:00

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@npub1zyl…t54n Yeah the little "accessibility person" in the bottom-right of the screen. But tapping it does nothing, it still doesn't respond to voice commands, although I can see in settings that tapping it is turning voice control on and off.
Maybe it's a microphone issue, actually I didn't think to check that.

2023-12-06 17:37:02

WTF is up with VoiceOver now saying "description" before announcing an accessible description.
It's like they're being intentionally perverse.

2023-12-06 10:11:50

How do you get Voice Control on Android to work? I've installed and set it up, and it just doesn't work at all. (Galaxy Tab A7 Lite running Android 13.)

2023-12-03 15:40:55

The unicode presentation selector FE0E can be used to stop iOS replacing standard unicode glyphs with emojis, for example:
```
[aria-checked="false"] > i::before {
content: "\2610\fe0e";
}
[aria-checked="true"] > i::before {
content: "\2611\fe0e";
}
```
This is useful because emojis can't inherit CSS colors, so they're not the same color as surrounding text, and might not have good contrast. And they rarely make good functional icons anyway, when that's what you wanted the glyph for.

2023-11-29 13:53:11

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@npub1zyl…t54n That license only covers the next two versions (from when you bought it). So yeah, Perpetual is probably not the best name for it. I'll pass this on.

2023-10-09 18:27:34

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@npub1zyl…t54n See also: people who describe themselves as "crazy" turn out to be the most middle-of-the-road people you've ever met, but then really annoying when they're drunk.

2023-09-08 20:30:51

@ what good does it do you me to learn from my mistakes if I’m just going to keep making them anyway

2023-08-30 12:16:33

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@npub10n9…tjug My MC keeps talking about stuff that’s not publishable. But I don’t wanna break his flow, he needs to tell the truth of his story. So I’ll just let him run and then edit when he’s not looking.

2023-08-04 13:37:14

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@npub10n9…tjug Actually it might not apply to Word and similar programs anyway, since they contain layout information like page and text colors, which dark mode isn't supposed to change.

2023-08-04 13:25:21

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@npub10n9…tjug Have you tried Dark Mode?
(Don't know what operating system you use, but MacOS, Win10 and Win11 all have system settings for this. Might not help anyway, some people love it some people hate it, but it's a thought.)

2023-08-04 11:44:59

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@npub10n9…tjug I've been taking my laptop to the park and writing under a tree. I find it works for revision but not so well for new writing, I guess it's cos the difference in perspective gives me more of an editor's eye.
But the biggest difference to productivity is whether I remembered to take my meds today lol.

2023-08-01 17:33:29

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@npub10n9…tjug Nobody else could finish it, it would have to be published unfinished. That could work as a promotional point though — a novel so intense that it killed the author 🤣

2023-08-01 15:06:34

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@npub10n9…tjug For sure, there’s no hurry.
As long as I live long enough 😌 Maybe I should put the password to its encrypted folder in my will 🤣

2023-08-01 13:32:10

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@npub10n9…tjug Four years and counting …

2023-07-19 10:33:46

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@npub10n9…tjug ... was there a tollbooth? 😆

2023-07-18 10:54:53

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@npub10n9…tjug Not to mention interspersing transcripts of text message conversations with dialog between different people years later discussing what was said. Still don't know how I'm gonna do that!

2023-07-18 10:49:40

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@npub10n9…tjug Right yeah. And I want to differentiate speech, text, letters, phone calls, emails, and official reports. There's only so far you can go with indentation lol.

2023-07-18 10:08:58

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@npub10n9…tjug I write in Helvetica because I like it, but conversion to another font for publishers is easy enough.
I use double-quotes for dialog, single-quotes for other usage, and italics for special things.
But communication media makes a difference to how we communicate. What you say in person can be very different from what you'd say in a text message, even if the conversation subject is the same, and I'd like some font-agnostic way of conveying that.

2023-07-18 09:21:58

@npub10n9…tjug Are you aware of any typographical conventions for indicating dialog media (e.g. spoken dialog, text message conversation, social media discourse, etc.)
I've been drafting with different fonts, but that wouldn't survive conversion to font-neutral ebook formats.

2023-07-17 18:16:54

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@npub10n9…tjug Hence our original Phantom Tollbooth conversation 😊
I’m glad you’ve found your niche. Meanwhile I shall give your earlier book a read.

2023-07-17 09:57:42

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@npub10n9…tjug What prompted the switch?

2023-07-16 21:07:14

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@npub10n9…tjug What's MG?

2023-07-16 13:55:18

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@npub10n9…tjug I’ve seen so many of your posts, so chock with useful insights, but I’ve never read anything you’ve written.
I see “Requiem for Locusts” on Amazon, is that you?

2023-07-11 10:30:41

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@npub10n9…tjug Their loss :-)

2023-07-07 11:44:36

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@npub1zyl…t54n My edge is so un-straight that it can't be described by vectors.

2023-07-07 10:05:06

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@npub1zyl…t54n Anyway lol, I just mean smoking bud

2023-07-06 21:06:25

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@npub1zyl…t54n I loved the implication that the details of their claim re: doctored videos is trying to mislead the court. That was hilarious.

2023-07-06 21:03:26

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@npub1zyl…t54n There are two really inspiring things here.
One is how the honesty in your writing dispels their claims of libel -- you always say that your opinions are just your opinions, and that's clearly turned out to be quite critical.
The other is how your lawyers have completely ripped them to to shreds. It was fun to read :-)

2023-07-06 07:23:37

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@npub1zyl…t54n Me too.
Except they’re green, and I’m not eating them, and they’re not exactly berries as such

2023-06-26 13:27:57

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@npub10n9…tjug My character’s voice, or more precisely his state of mind, changes how I feel, it puts me in his mood, and the effect is cumulative. And since he’s clinically insane at the current point in the story, yeah … need to give that a break for a while.

2023-06-23 11:54:57

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@npub1pwx…xk5j I didn't believe my friend was such a huge fan of The Monkees.
Then I saw her face.

2023-06-21 15:58:32

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@npub10n9…tjug They're brilliant books, written with stylized spelling mistakes as though the little boy himself was the author.
The canonical one to check out first is called "How to be Topp"
(Somewhat lacking in socio-political sensitivities though, but it was written in the 50s)

2023-06-21 12:15:54

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@npub10n9…tjug Some great advice in there, that's really helpful.
For some reason, all I can think of now is the "Gerund" character in Nigel Molesworth, if you're familiar with that?

2023-06-19 14:47:25

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@npub10n9…tjug I’ve done a similar thing where the first chapter is basically a confession of how the protagonist feels, then the rest of story tries to explain why.
But I have this nagging feeling that it might be better not to do that. It did it to grab the reader so they know upfront what the central theme is, but I also kinda wonder if it might be better to build it as a mystery.

2023-06-16 13:07:34

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@npub10n9…tjug Do you find that the hardest part of it is just -- starting?

2023-06-16 13:05:11

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@npub10n9…tjug I have to do technical writing most days, but that's more function than form so it doesn't take as much creative energy as fiction. I don't think I'd be able to write fiction professionally, I only have one book in me 🥹

2023-06-16 11:54:36

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@npub10n9…tjug I'm lucky not to have this problem, I only write if I feel like it.
So you're describing the point where the availability of creative energy is not readily enough to meet your external obligations?

2023-06-14 17:18:22

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@npub10n9…tjug His voice appears in two different timelines - the writer in the present, and the narrator in the past, so the present voice can essentially annotate his past delusions. But then later the present voice disappears and we’re lost inside the unreliable narrator. It’s quite challenging to write but it seems to be working 😊

2023-06-14 13:36:14

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@npub10n9…tjug Ah right. I'm challenged with presenting a protagonist's delusions -- he hasn't realized how distorted his perceptions of people are, because he's in denial about an essential part of his nature. And it's quite hard to portray his impressions in a way that also leaves space for the reader to draw different impressions.
So basically #1 but with less trust in him lol, more things like, describing facial expressions and body language that readers can have their own sense of.

2023-06-14 13:15:32

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@npub10n9…tjug What's an MC in this context?

2023-05-24 18:27:52

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@npub10n9…tjug Maybe a rolled-up paper would help after all then 😁

2023-05-24 14:48:42

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@npub10n9…tjug The difference is that most writing isn’t predicated on a desire to make the reader subservient. 🙃

2023-05-21 18:57:40

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@npub10n9…tjug To talk to people and share ideas and perspectives. And Twitter has such a grim vibe these days, I’ve largely abandoned it since Space Karen took over.

2023-05-14 13:24:59

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@npub10n9…tjug I just wanted to reply again and let you know how much this conversation has helped me.
 I’ve really been struggling with my book, and this helped me to realise that that was significantly because I was trying to tell the story chronologically, when really I wanted to start in the middle.
 So thank you for the inspiration 👍

2023-05-09 09:30:41

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@npub1syd…8ayc Rule 42 lol. But I agree, and he’d be much worse. Not just because of global reach, not just because of his nastiness and stupidity, but because he isn’t ideologically motivated like Hitler was. He just wants to be lazy and greedy and angry until he dies, and he would burn the entire world to do that if it suited him.

2023-05-08 14:14:26

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@npub10n9…tjug Is it possible to write issue driven fiction in dialectic way, for example, by exploring the sides of an issue through character conversations, without expressing an author opinion?

2023-05-03 14:07:36

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@npub10n9…tjug That's really interesting. Do you write backstories that mostly don't make into the actual story, but they inform what does?