#Split PDF Pages

[acidheaddd]

I've been running around all day and only just now got to sit down for more than 2 minutes at a time. 😭 It's been a stressful day.

[braybenjessi]

eSoftTools PDF Splitter and Merger Software

Best to use eSoftTools PDF Splitter and Merger software offers a comprehensive solution for managing PDF files on Windows. With the ability to split and merge PDFs in bulk, as well as options to split by page number or size, and merge by page range, it seems to provide users with flexibility and efficiency in handling their PDF documents. This type of software can be particularly useful for individuals or businesses dealing with large volumes of PDF files who need to organize or combine them for various purposes.

visit - https://www.esofttools.com/pdf-splitter-merger.html

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Shifting $677m from the banks to the people, every year, forever

I'll be in TUCSON, AZ from November 8-10: I'm the GUEST OF HONOR at the TUSCON SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTION.

"Switching costs" are one of the great underappreciated evils in our world: the more it costs you to change from one product or service to another, the worse the vendor, provider, or service you're using today can treat you without risking your business.

Businesses set out to keep switching costs as high as possible. Literally. Mark Zuckerberg's capos send him memos chortling about how Facebook's new photos feature will punish anyone who leaves for a rival service with the loss of all their family photos – meaning Zuck can torment those users for profit and they'll still stick around so long as the abuse is less bad than the loss of all their cherished memories:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/08/facebooks-secret-war-switching-costs

It's often hard to quantify switching costs. We can tell when they're high, say, if your landlord ties your internet service to your lease (splitting the profits with a shitty ISP that overcharges and underdelivers), the switching cost of getting a new internet provider is the cost of moving house. We can tell when they're low, too: you can switch from one podcatcher program to another just by exporting your list of subscriptions from the old one and importing it into the new one:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/16/keep-it-really-simple-stupid/#read-receipts-are-you-kidding-me-seriously-fuck-that-noise

But sometimes, economists can get a rough idea of the dollar value of high switching costs. For example, a group of economists working for the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau calculated that the hassle of changing banks is costing Americans at least $677m per year (see page 526):

https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_personal-financial-data-rights-final-rule_2024-10.pdf

The CFPB economists used a very conservative methodology, so the number is likely higher, but let's stick with that figure for now. The switching costs of changing banks – determining which bank has the best deal for you, then transfering over your account histories, cards, payees, and automated bill payments – are costing everyday Americans more than half a billion dollars, every year.

Now, the CFPB wasn't gathering this data just to make you mad. They wanted to do something about all this money – to find a way to lower switching costs, and, in so doing, transfer all that money from bank shareholders and executives to the American public.

And that's just what they did. A newly finalized Personal Financial Data Rights rule will allow you to authorize third parties – other banks, comparison shopping sites, brokers, anyone who offers you a better deal, or help you find one – to request your account data from your bank. Your bank will be required to provide that data.

I loved this rule when they first proposed it:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/06/10/getting-things-done/#deliverism

And I like the final rule even better. They've really nailed this one, even down to the fine-grained details where interop wonks like me get very deep into the weeds. For example, a thorny problem with interop rules like this one is "who gets to decide how the interoperability works?" Where will the data-formats come from? How will we know they're fit for purpose?

This is a super-hard problem. If we put the monopolies whose power we're trying to undermine in charge of this, they can easily cheat by delivering data in uselessly obfuscated formats. For example, when I used California's privacy law to force Mailchimp to provide list of all the mailing lists I've been signed up for without my permission, they sent me thousands of folders containing more than 5,900 spreadsheets listing their internal serial numbers for the lists I'm on, with no way to find out what these lists are called or how to get off of them:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/07/22/degoogled/#kafka-as-a-service

So if we're not going to let the companies decide on data formats, who should be in charge of this? One possibility is to require the use of a standard, but again, which standard? We can ask a standards body to make a new standard, which they're often very good at, but not when the stakes are high like this. Standards bodies are very weak institutions that large companies are very good at capturing:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/30/weak-institutions/

Here's how the CFPB solved this: they listed out the characteristics of a good standards body, listed out the data types that the standard would have to encompass, and then told banks that so long as they used a standard from a good standards body that covered all the data-types, they'd be in the clear.

Once the rule is in effect, you'll be able to go to a comparison shopping site and authorize it to go to your bank for your transaction history, and then tell you which bank – out of all the banks in America – will pay you the most for your deposits and charge you the least for your debts. Then, after you open a new account, you can authorize the new bank to go back to your old bank and get all your data: payees, scheduled payments, payment history, all of it. Switching banks will be as easy as switching mobile phone carriers – just a few clicks and a few minutes' work to get your old number working on a phone with a new provider.

This will save Americans at least $677 million, every year. Which is to say, it will cost the banks at least $670 million every year.

Naturally, America's largest banks are suing to block the rule:

https://www.americanbanker.com/news/cfpbs-open-banking-rule-faces-suit-from-bank-policy-institute

Of course, the banks claim that they're only suing to protect you, and the $677m annual transfer from their investors to the public has nothing to do with it. The banks claim to be worried about bank-fraud, which is a real thing that we should be worried about. They say that an interoperability rule could make it easier for scammers to get at your data and even transfer your account to a sleazy fly-by-night operation without your consent. This is also true!

It is obviously true that a bad interop rule would be bad. But it doesn't follow that every interop rule is bad, or that it's impossible to make a good one. The CFPB has made a very good one.

For starters, you can't just authorize anyone to get your data. Eligible third parties have to meet stringent criteria and vetting. These third parties are only allowed to ask for the narrowest slice of your data needed to perform the task you've set for them. They aren't allowed to use that data for anything else, and as soon as they've finished, they must delete your data. You can also revoke their access to your data at any time, for any reason, with one click – none of this "call a customer service rep and wait on hold" nonsense.

What's more, if your bank has any doubts about a request for your data, they are empowered to (temporarily) refuse to provide it, until they confirm with you that everything is on the up-and-up.

I wrote about the lawsuit this week for @eff@mastodon.social's Deeplinks blog:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/10/no-matter-what-bank-says-its-your-money-your-data-and-your-choice

In that article, I point out the tedious, obvious ruses of securitywashing and privacywashing, where a company insists that its most abusive, exploitative, invasive conduct can't be challenged because that would expose their customers to security and privacy risks. This is such bullshit.

It's bullshit when printer companies say they can't let you use third party ink – for your own good:

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/01/hp-ceo-blocking-third-party-ink-from-printers-fights-viruses/

It's bullshit when car companies say they can't let you use third party mechanics – for your own good:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/09/03/rip-david-graeber/#rolling-surveillance-platforms

It's bullshit when Apple says they can't let you use third party app stores – for your own good:

https://www.eff.org/document/letter-bruce-schneier-senate-judiciary-regarding-app-store-security

It's bullshit when Facebook says you can't independently monitor the paid disinformation in your feed – for your own good:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/08/05/comprehensive-sex-ed/#quis-custodiet-ipsos-zuck

And it's bullshit when the banks say you can't change to a bank that charges you less, and pays you more – for your own good.

CFPB boss Rohit Chopra is part of a cohort of Biden enforcers who've hit upon a devastatingly effective tactic for fighting corporate power: they read the law and found out what they're allowed to do, and then did it:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/23/getting-stuff-done/#praxis

The CFPB was created in 2010 with the passage of the Consumer Financial Protection Act, which specifically empowers the CFPB to make this kind of data-sharing rule. Back when the CFPA was in Congress, the banks howled about this rule, whining that they were being forced to share their data with their competitors.

But your account data isn't your bank's data. It's your data. And the CFPB is gonna let you have it, and they're gonna save you and your fellow Americans at least $677m/year – forever.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/11/01/bankshot/#personal-financial-data-rights

[st4rshiptr00per]

looks at you with my female eyes

1. this scene rules

2. vael’s female eyes

[prokopetz]

Playtest draft 0.4 of Space Gerbils is up. I wasn't going to cut it here, but then I realised that I'd re-written the same page three times in as many days, which is usually a pretty good sign that I need to pump the brakes and talk to other people about it!

Nearly every part of every chapter has undergone substantial rewrites, so a complete changelog may take some time to prepare, but the highlights include:

Updated character creation, including nearly twice as many mech suit upgrades, and support for random space gerbil proficiencies; also, you now have to draw a picture of your space gerbil

Cleanup of protocol scopes and phase cycle workflow, including the removal of mandatory Threat Clocks and drastically simplified scene-ending triggers

Stress and conditions persisting across scenes deprecated in favour of new mechanics for handling long-term damage

Split downtime and away missions into two separate rules modules

Reorganised supplementary playsheets, and created form-fillable interactive versions where applicable (assuming your PDF reader software supports that kind of thing)

Additional print-and-play minifigs and interior illustrations by @artkaninchenbau (including the one up top!); minifigs now include lineart-only versions in case you want to colour them yourself

New mech suit schematics by @pencilbrony

Finally, by repeated popular request, there is now a Penguin King Games Discord server for submitting support inquiries and playtest feedback. I reserve the right to repost any interesting comments or feedback submitted there to other social media platforms for better visibility – don't say I didn't warn you!

As always, questions, criticisms, and bizarre flames are both welcome and encouraged.

[greaseonmymouth]

As you've asked for asks!:

Do you have any quick-and-dirty book/fic binding methods a terrified-of-failure novice could use to bang something out to get over the first collywobbling step of Actually Doing The Thing? (this may be something I've been meaning to ask for ages)

yes! I absolutely do! in my opinion the best quick-and-dirty bookbinding method is a no-glue pamphlet: you don't have to mess with glue or measuring or cutting anything, all you need is your text, some paper, a needle and thread. you can use the same needle to punch holes if you don't have an awl.

this is going to be a little long but that's because I'm going to write out some fairly detailed instructions for an A5 sized pamphlet. If you don't want detailed instructions and think you can glean the necessary info from photos, just skip to the photos! I've also linked tutorials.

for preparing the text to printing, in whatever software you use (word, libreoffice, gdocs, whatever) make sure your document is set to page size A5. make it look readable. then save as/export that document as a straight-paged PDF. now go to the bookbinder JS tool (https://momijizukamori.github.io/bookbinder-js/), and upload the PDF. source manipulation: none printer paper size: A4 display unit (you can ignore, or choose cm if it gives you anxiety that it automatically displays points) printer type: select single-sided or duplex accordingly* rotate paper: ignore flip on long side: check if you are printing duplex and if your duplex printer flips the paper on the long side page layout:  tick folio page scaling: original page positioning: centered ignore the rest flyfleaf: ignore signature format tick: standard signatures. in the length drop down, this depends on the type of pamphlet you are doing. for folio i generally find 4-5 pages per signature a comfortable thickness. if you have 6 whole A4 pages you can still do that as a single signature or you can split it into two signatures 3 pages each. wacky small layouts: ignore this signature info click the generate preview button to see what your PDF looks like imposed! I love this step especially when I'm doing quarto (A6) or octavo (A7) sized books generate output - click this to generate an imposed PDF

for A6 and A7 sized books the instructions are much the same, except for these you make sure the page size is A6 or A7 in your software, and then you choose quarto or octavo instead of folio. for signature length drop down I keep signature length to 1 for octavos typically and 2 for quartos, as this still refers to sheets of paper, and for octavo 1 sheet of A4 paper will turn into 4 smaller sheets in one signature once folded and cut.

*if you don't have a duplex printer you will have to manually turn the paper to print on the other side. I cannot be arsed with this so I bought a printer capable of duplex printing (I didn't have a printer anyway). if you already have a printer check what it can do as you might be surprised and go from there.

now to the pamphlets! you don't need a cover - I have one for the long stitch pamphlet but for the saddle stitch one I didn't bother and just made sure the first page had a title on it. you can always take a different piece of paper and print a cover on or or just use coloured cardstock and create a simple cover, but a cover is not necessary unless you're doing a long stitch pamphlet. all you need to do is to punch holes and start sewing. there are a few different stitch types below, I wouldn't say any of them are more difficult or easier than others, but they do look different so...pick one you like the look of and go from there?

pamphlet stitch (uneven number of holes) I haven't ever done a pamphlet stitch but here's a tutorial for how to do it: https://www.starpointestudio.com/simple-pamphlet-stitch-book-step-by-step/

saddle stitch (uneven number of holes) I realised that what I was thinking of as a pamphlet stitch is actually saddle stitch, as in this A7 pamphlet:

here's a tutorial for how to sew saddle stitch: https://www.bookbindingworkshopsg.com/saddle-stitch-bookbinding-tutorial/ here's a video tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWHkY5jOoqM (sealemon has a lot of bookbinding tutorials and I know many people who like her videos, I used her tutorial for coptic binding way back when I first made a book but I can't otherwise vouch for the quality as I haven't used her videos)

french link stitch (even number of holes) in this one I used french link stitch which I typically use for thicker textblocks that i'm not planning to use tapes with as the french link gives it some robustness, I used it here because I had never done it before and wanted to try it out. I am planning to take these stitches out and re-sew this pamphlet with a cover now that I've found a suitable piece of transformer fanart to use as a cover:

french link tutorial. it's quite long but it has a colour coded bit towards the end that shows how the thread is supposed to link which i find very helpful to visualise: https://www.handmadebooksandjournals.com/bindings/french-link-stitch-binding/

here's a video tutoral from DAS bookbinding (he is my go to for techniques and he has the most soothing Australian accent as well, though fair warning not all of his videos are for beginners): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4ZPdbaM-Ws

long stitch (even number of holes) for this one I used long stitch and I had a cover. this one is my favourite variation because I can make these pretty and simple covers and the stitch looks nice on the outside as well, so this one scratches the 'i want to make a book' itch for me.

here's a tutorial that also includes a how to on a cover that is different from my cover: https://lccprintmaking.myblog.arts.ac.uk/files/2020/06/Long-Stitch-Tutorial-A4.pdf DAS also has a video tutorial for long stitch but it's like three videos long, maybe watch it later :'D  here's one I haven't watched but seems decent: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnignTL_wDQ

you can use saddle stitch for this kind of pamphlet as well, that's what I did for dozens of ships and hundreds of souls (https://ashmouthbooks.tumblr.com/post/681587080267202560).

I hope this helped!!

[azuries]

🕰️ We all die in the end, but I know who I am 🕰️

Happy🏳️‍🌈month! Introducing CURTAIN CALL, a music playlist dedicated to REQUIEM's story!

This project started as me just making a playlist for REQUIEM (as a self indulgent person does), but it ended up being a lot bigger than I planned LMAO

But either way, even if it's a bit different, I hope you enjoy this fun little follow up project! TYSM for the wait!!

DETAILS BELOW⬇️

CURTAIN CALL is a playlist split into three acts, worth 1 hour and 30 minutes of curated music that intends to simulate the flow of REQUIEM's story with supporting art and visualizers (with little things I included as a gift for June teehee)

All compiled within a an 11 paged PDF format that includes:

- Intro Animatic

- 3 music visualizers

- 3 new supporting art pieces

- New supporting graphics

[khofiecloud]

Lazy Student (Study) Tips

The best study techniques (in general) are the SPQR method, flashcards, mind maps, split pages, teaching the content to other people, past papers and blurting

Free time tip : Carry flashcards or split pages around and test yourself with them whenever you have time to waste (during tv breaks, waiting for the bus ..)

Know your worst topics in all subjects and find resources for every single one of them. Since you know your weaknesses, you can ask for help from your teachers. If your teachers aren’t reliable (like mine lol), make a list of resources you can use to self study, and then self study whenever you can

Find your ideal study routine by testing out different environments: can you study for 1hr in a row or do you need breaks in between? Do you work best at night or during the day? 

Mentally go over 1 topic (your hardest) before bed

Best resources : Knowt (quizlet replacement), cheatography (study guides), ocean of pdf (free pdf site for literally anything), khan academy, ck12 (textbooks per grade, study guides, exercises for free)

Best study youtube channels for more study tips: Fayefilms, Cajun Koi Academy, Amy Wang, Han Zhango, Mike Dee, Study to Success, Crash Course, Tina Huang, Ali Abdaal

[vintagerpg]

Just because D&D licenses were no longer available didn’t mean Original Adventures Reincarnated couldn’t continue on. This is the seventh, which gives the treatment to Jennell Jaquays’ watershed adventure, Dark Tower (2022). This edition is split into three volumes in a slipcase. The first reprints the original Judges Guild publication in full (70 pages). The second does that Goodman thing, converting it to DCC and greatly expanding upon the original material (324 pages). The third volume provides three all-new adventures that expand the Dark Tower mythology (176 pages). All three volumes are packed with fantastic art by Goodman’s Murderer’s Row (my favorite is probably Mullen’s creepy cyclops). There’s even some sparkles in the DCC logo on the slipcase. Again, the word “decadent” is the only one that comes to mind.

It’s about 160 pages off from Temple, but that’s OK. Temple is too big and honestly, some of the appendices and other spots could have been trimmed. This, I could handle this at the table. Having the reprint as a discreet volume is nice (for Temple, it’s only half the first book). Because it wasn’t bound by silly license terms, you can get PDFs of this too, which vastly improves its table readiness.

And, honestly, this is one of the best Dungeons & Dragons adventures ever written and it has never gotten all the love it deserves. So I think it merits this kind of decadence, this level of adoring homage, probably more than most of the other titles in the OAR line. More people should know Jennell Jaquays name in this hobby and if this beast of a book helps cement her legacy, I am all for it.

[happyzombieapex]

Professional PDF Split Tool for Fast and Secure File Splitting

[upsidedownsmore]

(edited to fix page 3, oops!)

Hello! Here's a Hollowframe zine I made for my 2D design class final last week!

We basically got to make an 8-paged zine + poster designed for a double-sided 11x17" sheet of paper about anything we wanted, so I elected to just reuse stuff I already drew for my ongoing Hollowframe project since I was already buried under other assignments (though I still ended up putting way too much effort into it lol, I even remade the full group arrangement!)

The idea was to split the timeline of the Hollowframe project into four rough "phases", take a warframe from each, and then condense a bunch of info about the design I drew for them into a page each.

Hollowframe tag!

Google drive link with high quality pdfs, pngs, and more for printing and whatever! :) (and send me pics if you actually print it!!)

Pics of the irl folded zine and more under the cut!

And here's an unfolded view of all of the pages:

Feel free to try printing and folding it yourself! (here is a random zine folding tutorial I found: https://zineopolis.blogspot.com/p/h.html) (meant for 11x17" paper but idk maybe you can make a really small one lol)

I used Photoshop for the page backgrounds, Illustrator to arrange the pages themselves, and Krita to rearrange the full group image.

Pretty happy with how it turned out! I'm honestly mostly glad I finally got an excuse to remake that full group arrangement cause man that dull bluish gray background was not doing it for me anymore lol (though now it's 11x17" rather than 16:9 ratio so maybe not as good for desktop backgrounds but idk if that matters that much? idk i might adjust it back to a 16:9 ratio if people really want me to)

Anyways that's it for now bye bye :)

[make-friends-with-the-rats]

@skinnycaats alright, here are the results of my investigation: The Newsies Libretto is not an official 92sies libretto/script, but it is no less intriguing.

I'll start with why it's not official.

"Newsies Libretto," pages 1-3.

There are several details on the first three pages of the libretto that drew my attention. First, the cover page which says "NOT FOR SALE PROPERTY OF Pikakee Music." There's also an address for New York and an email for a Philip L McBride. The same name is found on the second page where Philip McBride is credited for "Stage Adaptation and Score." Finally, there's a copyright and copyright warning with a "Music and Lyrics Copyright" dated 1992.

Compare this to the cover of a confirmed 1991 Newsies film script:

1991 Newsies film script, page 1.

My thoughts were essentially:

Why is this libretto "property of Pikakee Music" when Newsies (1992) is the "property of Walt Disney Pictures" as stated in the lower right corner of the 1991 script?

What is "Pikatee Music" and who is Philip McBride?

Why is there a copyright for 1992 when all scripts would have been from 1991? (As evidenced by the list of revisions in the upper right corner of the 1991 script and by the fact that all filming for Newsies was completed in 1991.)

The most interesting thing, however, was the fact that this libretto by Philip McBride was a "Stage Adaptation." Upon looking further into the pdf, it became clear that this was in fact for a stage, not the silver screen.

"Newsies Libretto," page 7.

"Newsies Libretto," page 66.

The libretto is split into two acts and gives stage directions, but is very clearly based on the 1992 film. This isn't the official film, nor is it the 2011 musical, so where on earth did this come from?

Well, I looked up 'Philip L McBride' and 'Pikatee Music' and I found where on earth it came from. It came from... this guy?

"About Me!" philiplmcbride.com.

According to his website, he is an actor and musician and Pikatee Music is his music publishing company. On his website he also provides his resume, which does not include writing Newsies scripts in his spare time. I personally would be boasting about it but you do you.

Though, there is one little thing about Mr. McBride's script that just might be damning, and it's the fact that he has included "Proud of Your Boy" that we know today from Broadway's Aladdin. (Which is actually wonderfully placed by the way!)

"Newsies Libretto," page 57.

For some context, "Proud of Your Boy" was written back in the 90s by Howard Ashman for the original 1992 Aladdin, however it was cut. Howard Ashman was also supposed to do the lyrics for Newsies (1992) before he passed away and Jack Feldman took on the job instead. The song was reincorporated into Aladdin when the story was adapted into a stage musical in 2010 and eventually made it to Broadway in 2014.

For two decades the song lay abandoned, orphaned if you will.

But this guy (Philip McBride) decided to adopt "Proud of Your Boy" and put it into Newsies.

So here's my theory: this unofficial Newsies Libretto by Pikatee Music was written sometime between 1992 and 2010, before "Proud of Your Boy" was returned to Aladdin and before Newsies was officially turned into a stage musical in 2011.

It is my theory that this libretto was one of the "illegal" Newsies scripts for the stage that filled the void until Disney produced their official, licensable show.

"Newsies - An Oral History: How it All Happened"

Basically, this literal, random guy is my hero and it's a shame that Disney passed him up for Harvey Fierstein.

[erinwantstowrite]

i vaguely remember you making a post about this forever ago but i can’t remember it - BUT i want to get back into writing but i don’t want to use google docs (ai my beLOATHED) so i was just wondering what program(s?) you use to write or if you have any recommendations for beginners

thanks!! always love to see when you post :]]

i used to LOVE google docs because it was a free application and it works so well, so when i found out it was training ai with our writing i was SO betrayed,,,, now, as far as i can tell, the program i use, Reedsy, doesn't use ai nor trains with it. it's free to use and doesn't have "premium" or "pay to use" features. it has an easy enough interface to understand, though it lacks the options with colors and fonts and highlighting that google docs allows- which is fine, because Reedsy is technically for getting your book ready to publish. the exporting part of the program is for print ready pdfs (has an epub option) which are formatted for publishing your book in a physical format. it doesn't have a page option (that i can find) and is endless scrolling, and there are a couple of glitches. but it's still better than google docs and they're still working through stuff and asking for feedback. you can also find potential editors on the site, but if you're writing for a fic you might want a friend to help you with that

i will say that for this program, it's recommended to split a chapter after 20k words or it gets difficult to work with... i found this out because i am... me. and i wrote like 40k in a chapter and the program was so annoyed with me 😭. also don't use the outline part of the program unless you somehow like it

but yeah!!! i recommend it for everyone and it's not too hard for beginners to use!! i might make a tutorial one day or a more extensive post about Reedsy. i know a few people have been asking for a tutorial on krita so i might as well bring Reedsy in too

[plaguery]

TWO FREE/PWYC POETRY ZINES

i finally made my first ever zines and got to hand them out at a local zine fest this past weekend! both of them are now available as downloadable PDFs on kofi that you can print yourself/view digitally, no charge but tips appreciated. links below and details under the cut:

THE BUFFER: POEMS AND WRITINGS

TEN OF SWORDS : A POEM

"There is snow falling, fragile and on fire. See it through the window—the pasture I refuse— look past my cheek, there, to the meadow, by the lilies, where I don't go." (Gathering)

THE BUFFER WITHIN ME, OUTSIDE ME, BETWEEN ME AND THE WORLD. I TRY TO LET IT GO.

These poems are linked by a disconnection with the world and in that, the constant returning to it, an inability to see oneself in its cyclical tides. Explore the abstraction and destruction of beauty, the urge to enclose oneself within it as a buffer, and the desire to let creation resolve this rift between one and the world.

"THE BUFFER: Poems & Writings" is an 8 page zine featuring 6 written pieces, each framed with black & white digital collage. (Link)

"Our eyes speak of how we'll each annihilate the other through the crosshairs. Fear whispers with every jerk of the pupil. We soothe these tremors, steadying the trigger finger first." (IV.)

TEN SWORDS. TEN VIGNETTES. TEN RUINATIONS.

An apocalyptic poem digesting a struggle against the prescribed standards of manhood, all set in ten despairing acts. Following the momentum of the Swords suit in Tarot, the roles of gender, the family, and nature unravel to a cutting end.

"TEN OF SWORDS: A Poem" is an 8 page zine featuring one poem split into ten vignettes, text only (excl. front and back covers). (Link)

[sprintingowl]

Tales Of Crystals

Hey in the early 90s Hasbro put out a tabletop roleplaying larp for tween girls called Tales Of The Crystals, and there's a lot going on here, so I want to talk about it.

First, I want to give credit to @riseupcomus on twitter for doing a thread on it first. Riseup's thread is linked at the bottom, right after hasbro's pdf of Tales Of Crystals.

Now, what is Tales Of Crystals? Well, it's a journaling game. And it's an indie TTRPG. And it's a larp kit. And it's an audio game. And it's a cryptography kit.

It comes with its own map, rulebook, a cassette tape with multiple scenarios, a non-dice-based resolution system, four player roles, and a ruleset that's split up so that each of the four players is in charge of a different part.

If feels like a high concept, big swing indie title from 2024, but it's got thirty years worth of jump on the modern scene.

The basic premise is that the players are crystal bearers in the court of a fantasy kingdom, and there's an evil nation in the goblin swamp next door, and they have to guard the nation against treachery and ensorcellment and whatnot. It's not super duper fresh, but with how many things the game is juggling it's extremely reasonable that the plot's a little plain.

Each player's crystal comes with a power, and the powers are asymmetrical. The Leader gets the Crystal Of Shimmering Ice, which lets you oneshot enemies (nonlethally, by freezing them for a minute.) The Protector gets the Crystal Of True Sight, and can see through all lies and enchantments and mind control enemies for a minute (tbh this one is just better). There's a healing crystal and an invisibility crystal as well---and interestingly the invisibility crystal is given to the role responsible for journaling everybody's adventures. The game recognizes that at least one player of a fantasy larp for tween girls in the 90s is probably going to be a wallflower writer, and deliberately enshrines that role.

Tales Of Crystals has a solid core loop, with a deck of cards for prompts and a cassette tape for scenarios and a little circle with YES and NO marked on it that you can scatter your gems onto to get oracle answers to questions during play. It also has a LOT of gimmicks.

There's a tube of powder you can sprinkle on things to disenchant them. There's a mirror you need to read script that's been written backwards. There's three cryptographic cyphers at the back of the book. There's a box specifically for confining the evil Spider Crystal (after you've sprinkled it with powder to neutralize it.) This is a game of dozens of components, and it's a miracle the design is so tight that they all loop together so well.

Now, I don't have sales data (riseup might,) but I suspect maybe this thing didn't sell amazingly. It requires you to set up six or so distinct locations around your yard, pretty much needs a group of exactly four friends to play it, requires you to give clue elements to your parents---you'd have to be cool with it, your friends would have to be cool with it, your parents would have to be cool with it, and you'd have to have a big suburban yard in order to get a proper intended game experience. That said, its larp design is really stable, its gameplay is carefully thought out, and it includes a section at the start to encourage you to play safely and a section at the end to talk about your game together, journal your experiences, and to clean up the game components as a group when you're done.

This is good tech! And it even specifically recommends having a snack and relaxing afterward.

Tales Of Crystals doesn't use terms like bleed and session zero, but it's a good ways ahead of the curve on larp and ttrpg safety.

I didn't find the designer's name (they're listed as uncredit on BoardGameGeek, not mentioned in the PDF, and missing from the wiki page,) but they knocked this one out of the park. There's stuff in here that modern indie ttrpg designers could learn from---myself very much included.

So if you like ttrpgs, 90s magic, and stuff like Tamora Pierce and Sailor Moon, give riseup's original thread a look, and definitely check out the PDF link.

I'm thrilled this thing exists, and I hope more designers get to look at it.

[enm-enthusiast]

Hey all, sorry for being so late in posting, so in recompense I've decided to share this link to a free story on my Patreon page, it's attached as a PDF file just so you guys know.

Link: https://www.patreon.com/posts/whats-rob-125529014?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link.

I'm working on my next chapter of the Exhibitionists' Club, which will be posted within the next day or so, but I'm hoping to get it posted today, but we'll see.

Here's a sneak peek at the story that awaits you all ;)

What's Rob Wearing?

"What the?!" Rob cried out as he was lifted off his feet and dangled a foot in the air when Kyle realized his mistake and stopped the crate from moving.

What both of them failed to realize was that the hook had dug right into the back of Rob's pants, missing his thong but the weight of Rob's body and the strength of the hook caused the fabric of his jeans to quickly weaken.

Rob struggled to free himself, panicked as his bulge was now on full display, and the three others quickly converged on his position, eager to help him.

Rob's struggling proved to be his undoing, as what first started as the sound of little rips and tears quickly escalated, and as Kyle and the others finally caught up to him, Rob silently pleaded as a loud, familiar sound filled the four men's ears:

RIIIPPPPPPPPP

Rob's pants split down the middle, ripping all the way to the suit of his pants, causing the button to pop and his zipper to undo itself, and Rob fell to the ground and felt open air hit his now bare legs and thighs…

"Dude, what's Rob wearing???" Casey said as what remained of Rob's pants still tangled from the hook and the man himself landed bent over on the ground, his ass pointed straight up into the air in front of the other three men.