#read harder challenge 2017

[reasonsforhope]

"At HarperCollins, a lot of attention and thought is given to deciding exactly what combinations of margin measurements, font, and layout feel most appropriate for the genre, and writing style.

But in a case of do-your-part environmentalism, designers at the publishing house have now standardized a series of subtle and imperceptible alterations to normal font style, layouts, and ink that have so far removed the need for 245 million book pages, totaling 5,618 trees.

Telling the story in Fast Company, representatives from HarperCollins, one of the four largest publishing houses in the world, explained that the idea first arose in Zondervan Bibles, HarperCollins’ Christian publishing division. Being that the Bible is 2,500 pages or sometimes more, saving ink and pages was not just an environmental consideration, but one of production costs.

A new typeface called NIV Comfort Print allowed Zondervan to shave 350 pages off of every Bible, which by 2017 had amounted to 100 million pages, and which, as Fast Company points out, would be four times higher than the Empire State Building if stacked.

The production and design teams then wondered how much they could save if they applied the same concepts to other genres like romance and fiction. Aside from the invention of the eBook, publishing hasn’t changed much in the last 100 years, and the challenge was a totally novel one for the teams—to alter all their preconceived ideas and try and find a font and typeface that resulted in fewer pages without being harder to read.

They eventually standardized 14 different combinations their tests determined were the most environmentally friendly, and which delivered an unchanged reading experience.

But the challenge didn’t stop there. Printed books, one might not know, are printed in large sheets which are then folded into sections of sixteen pages, meaning that Leah Carlson-Stanisic, associate director of design at HarperCollins, has to calculate the savings of space, words, and ultimately pages with the help of her team to fall in multiples of sixteen.

Nevertheless, they have been successful with it so far, and in the recent print run of one popular book, 1 million pages (or a number near 1 million that coincides with the 16 times tables) were saved.

“We want to make sure our big titles, by prominent authors, are using these eco-fonts,” Carlson-Stanisic said. “It adds up a little bit at a time, saving more and more trees.”"

-via Good News Network, April 4, 2024

--

Note: Great! Waiting to see this on the rest of their books and at the other big publishers!

Actually, though, it's worth noting that this may not come quickly to the other large publishers, because Harper Collins almost certainly owns that font - meaning that other publishers would have to pay HarperCollins in order to use it, on an ongoing basis.

More on publishing shit and more realistic solutions here below the cut!

What I'm hoping for and think is more likely is that this will inspire the development of open source eco-friendly fonts, which would be free for anyone to use. That would make it far more likely other publishers would adopt eco-friendly fonts.

I'm also hoping it would inspire other publishers to create similar eco-friendly fonts of their own.

Ideally, there would be a whole new landscape of (hopefully mostly open source) eco-friendly fonts. And/or to see calculations of the eco-friendliness of popular existing fonts, compared to each other.

If we could have a publicly accessible list of calculations for different fonts, including fonts designed to maximize eco-friendliness, I really do think that it would affect which fonts publishers choose to use. Here's why:

Most people in publishing are on the left (notoriously, actually) and really do care about the environment

People in publishing are plenty aware of these issues re: paper and trees, I promise

Shorter books means smaller production costs - and possibly smaller shipping costs as well, over time! So it would save them money too.

Eco-friendly fonts could also be combined with other measures for greater effect, such as bamboo paper (already in use for a lot of projects where page color/quality is more flexible) and thinner paper (aka paper with a lower weight) that uses less trees.

Don't expect books to all move to just one or two different fonts, though. Publishers and typesetters and font designers will innovate to create more options instead, though it will take longer. This is because different books really do use different fonts for various different reasons - one new font to rule them all isn't really a solution here.

"Every book is in the same font" may sound like a "whatever" deal to a lot of people, but as someone who works in publishing - trust me, it would actually make your reading experience worse, even if you could never quite put your finger on why.

[boobabietch]

Chapter II: "A Rookie’s Obsession, A Legend’s Indifference: Is Diana Taurasi ready for Victoria O’Hara?” | Diana Taurasi x OC

Warnings: fight fight fight!! And a tad bit narcissistic Diana

A/N: I’m having a shitload of fun writing this lmao, so here’s another chapter I hope you like. As always English is not my first language so if you find something wrong tell me so I can change it asap, I can’t wait for y’all to read this and the next chapters I’m so excited. Likes, comments (!!!) and reblogs are highly appreciated and my ask box is always open. Love Sof :))

Making headlines masterlist

There’s a funny thing about being the best in women’s sports. People either love you or wait for you to fall. But when you’ve been around long enough, it doesn’t matter what they think. You know your place. And you protect it.

That’s what I’ve been doing since my debut in the WNBA. Owning the court. Owning the pressure. Every game, every season, everyone expects the same thing from me: perfection. Winning is never enough because when your name is Diana Taurasi, nothing is ever enough.

Then, she showed up.

Victoria O’Hara. The rookie everyone wouldn’t shut up about. Reminded me of me, hungry, talented, a little too much attitude for her own good. The first time I saw her was just before our game against San Antonio. I’d heard her name, knew she had something. But there’s a difference between hype and reality.

May 19, 2017

Game day. I could feel her eyes on me during warm-ups, it was cute honestly, I could see the gears working hard on her mind, probably wondering what it’s like to be me, to dominate the way I have. They all wonder. But what she didn’t know yet is that being good in college doesn’t mean shit here. Welcome to the W, kid.

I didn’t give her a second glance. What was there to say? Another rookie trying to prove something. I’ve seen it all. I’ve been that girl. But this one, this woman, had something extra in her. I could see it the minute the game started. Every time she took a shot, it was like she was aiming at me, if I didn’t know she wanted to rip my throat out I’d say she was in love. Every drive, every step, was a challenge.

I could hear the yelling in the crowd, I’d hear her teammates tell her to relax, feel the energy shift. People loved watching us, golden veteran vs. golden rookie. A fucking classic. O’Hara wanted to make a statement. I could tell she was on the edge, burning herself out just to prove she belonged. And every time, I’d remind her, I’ve been there. I’ve fought harder battles. If she wanted to be the next big thing, she was going to have to earn it. She was good, but I wasn’t worried. I’ve dealt with players like her before. They rise fast, burn out faster. But this one... she kept pushing.

Every game we played after that, it was like she had a personal vendetta. I couldn’t walk on the court without feeling her eyes drilling into me. She was obsessed. It was funny, really. This kid was trying so hard to beat me, to make me see her.

I saw her. I always see them coming.

July 7, 2017

We were in San Antonio. Close game. O’Hara played her heart out, I’ll give her that. But we still won. After the game, I found her slumped on the bench, wiped out. I should’ve just left her there. But something in me couldn’t resist. The kid had fire. I respected that.

“Not bad, O’Hara. Keep it up, and you might actually be a challenge someday.”

Her face said it all. She was rattled, but she had that spark. I liked seeing it. She looked at me like she was trying to figure out if I was serious. I was. Kinda. Then, she shot back:

“Someday? I’m already a problem for you.”

I almost laughed. Her confidence was impressive, misplaced, but impressive. I glanced down, smirked. Let her have that moment.

“Of course you are,” I said, walking off.

Sometimes I wonder what things would be like if I never said that, lucky for everyone I did.

July 30, 2017

Maybe I overestimated how in control I am of everything; the game, the rookie, and my body.

We were playing again, tensions running high. It was bound to happen. O’Hara wanted her moment, wanted to prove herself. And me? I wasn’t giving her an inch. Then, somewhere in the third quarter, it happened.

I saw her coming, her eyes locked on me with a mix of defiance and determination. She made a quick drive, cutting to the basket with an intensity that almost made me respect her. But I wasn’t about to let a rookie get one over on me. I slammed into her, blocking her path with enough force to knock her off balance. She hit the floor hard, her elbows scraping against the court. The whistle blew, and for a moment, I watched her lay there, her frustration almost palpable.

“Get up,” I muttered, standing over her. “You’re gonna need more than that to take me down, rook”

I saw the anger in her eyes as she pushed herself up, pressing her chest on mine. Damn, was she this tall the whole time? The way she glared at me, it was almost as if she was daring me to push her further. “You think you’re untouchable? Just fucking wait.”

My smirk didn’t waver. I’d seen that fire in rookies before, puffed up, ready to prove themselves. “I don’t think, O’Hara. I know.” I said with the most arrogant tone I owned.

“Oh you’re just a fucking bitch, aren’t you?” Before I could react further, she shoved me hard. Everyone erupted into chaos. I felt the rush of adrenaline as I moved to shove her back, but the moment I lunged, my teammates were already there, hands gripping my arms and holding me back.

O’Hara wasn’t any better off. Many of her teammates were swarming around her, trying to pull her away from me. I could see the frustration in her eyes as she struggled against their hold, her fists clenched and ready to throw.

Fun fact about fights: when you need the strength of 4 pro basketball players to hold you back, it makes you look really fucking dangerous.

We both tried to break through the human barriers restraining us. I could almost feel the impact of our fists connecting, the unfinished fight burning in my veins. But with every struggle, every strained push against the hands holding us back, the reality set in: we were not going to get to finish this here.

I didn’t care. I didn’t care about the cameras, the refs, or the impending technical. All I cared about was feeling that fire she was throwing at me. I wanted her to know what it felt like to face me, to try and break through the wall I’d built around myself.

Eventually, the refs managed to get us both under control, leading us to opposite sides of the court. As I was pulled away, I couldn’t help but glance back at O’Hara, her eyes still blazing with that same fire. Despite the chaos, a small part of me felt a twisted respect for her, a rookie who was not just willing to challenge me, but was ready to throw down if necessary.

The arena buzzed with excitement and disbelief as we were separated, but the fight between us was far from over.

That was the moment I knew this kid wasn’t going anywhere. And maybe, just maybe, I’d finally met someone who could keep up.

Little did I know.

Fucking Victoria.

"Rivalry Ignites: O’Hara and Taurasi Get into Fiery Altercation During Friday Game"

"San Antonio Stars Victoria O’Hara Adidas Grey and Black Edition Player Jersey | SOLD OUT"

Requests are Open!

Masterlist

[redgoldsparks]

December Reading and Reviews

I post my reviews throughout the month on Storygraph and Goodreads, and do roundups here and on patreon. Reviews below the cut.

I’m Laughing Because I’m Crying written and read by Youngmi Mayer

I was only vaguely aware of Youngmi Mayer from tiktok before picking up the audiobook of this blunt and honest memoir, read by the author. I think experiencing it as an audiobook greatly enhanced my experience- the sections in which the author's voice shook with emotion when describing, in particular, the hardships her family experienced during the Japanese occupation of Korea, meant the memories hit much harder than they might have if I was reading in print. Overall I was very impressed by Mayer's insights on her multi-cultural mixed-race childhood, how her parents' traumas impacted their ability to be present for their kids, and how that damage played out in her teens and early twenties. This book tackles a lot of heavy subjects including colonial violence, bullying, fat-shaming, eating disorders, drug use, suicide, and depression. The tone, which is almost aggressively matter-of-fact, with flashes of piercing insight and occasional jokes, kept me riveted. I do wish a late chapter on a brief queer relationship had been more thoughtful; that was one section that felt kind of half-baked and unnecessarily gender-binary. But overall I'd still recommend this memoir, especially for those looking for critical takes on the fault lines of both Korean and American culture.

Blue Period vol 1 by Tsubasa Yamaguchi 

This manga follows a high school boy who's good at school, has a pack of friends, but no specific ambitions in life. A few comments by a charismatic art teacher challenge him to try and honestly express himself through art. A competitive streak pushes him to join the art club and begin actually applying himself. Along the way, the teacher and his fellow art club members explain many concrete basics of drawing from life, and how to apply to art colleges in Japan. These aspects of the story reminded me of the real-life manga creation information included in Bakuman. I like the idea of a manga series focused on fine art and the challenges and rewards of pursuing it. I did struggle with the fact that the drawing in this book is only okay. Some of the figure drawing of characters is downright bad, with bizarre pose choices. There are also some kind of confusing interactions between the characters early on- one member of the art club is either a cross-dresser or trans femme, and the way this character and the main character talked it felt like they were supposed to be childhood friends? I kept expecting a flashback to their earlier relationship that never came. So, we'll see if I end up reading more. Great concept, mid-level execution.

She Loves to Cook and She Loves to Eat vol 1 by Sakaomi Yuzaki translated by Caleb Cook 

This slow-burn lesbian comic is as cute as everyone has been saying. A woman who loves cooking elaborate meals, but lives alone, notices a female neighbor in the apartment complex carrying a huge amount of takeout food home. Impulsively, she invites her neighbor in for dinner. This begins a gentle routine of joint shopping, cooking, and meal planning together. Will this food-based friendship develop into something more? I will have to keep reading to find out!

Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion written and read by Jia Tolentino 

This book was written in 2017-2018, and I still often hear essays from it quoted, especially the opening piece "The I in the Internet". Some of the essays in here already feel a bit passed their sell-by date, but several of the ones I read after the most recent election still have teeth, especially "The Story of a Generation in Seven Scams", which made me furious, and "We Come from Old Virginia", examining rape culture on college campuses. I also enjoyed two two of the more personal/autobiographical pieces, "Reality TV Me" and "Ecstasy" quite a lot. Your mileage will vary with this book depending on what type of topics you care about, but I'm glad I finally picked up this collection.

Autoboyography by Christina Lauren read by Deacon Lee and Kyle Mason 

Set in Provo, Utah, this queer teen romance centers a bisexual, Jewish high school senior, Tanner, who is closeted at school despite being out to his supporting family. Tanner and his best friend Autumn decide to sign up for a notoriously difficult class in their last semester- a seminar in which the students try to write the complete first draft of a novel. Their TA for the class is a college freshman from BYU, Sebastian, who took the seminar the year before and produced a novel that actually had legs. He signed a book deal and has his first fantasy novel due out in the following summer. Also, he's tall, handsome, kind, generous, and very very Mormon. Tanner falls for him immediately. I found the first 1/3 of this book very rushed; the insta-love didn't really work for me. But when I got deeper into the novel I realized the authors had speed-run a meet cute because what they actually wanted to write was an established relationship. Tanner and Sebastian go through multiple ups and downs, breakups and makeups, book releases, college acceptances, family and friendship conflicts. Despite the pacing issues, it's an affirming story of queer acceptance in the end which I did enjoy on audio.

Off Stage Love Side by Kamome Oshima

A Japanese idol has been crushing on a man he met in a gay bar five years ago for his entire career. Then that man is assigned as his new bodyguard. Shocking twist! Fairly cute, but I honestly wished it had been a 5 book slow-burn instead of a single volume that ended with them getting together.

She Loves to Cook and She Loves to Eat vol 2 by Sakaomi Yuzaki translated by Caleb Cook 

This series is already getting more cute and more gay in book 2! Neighbors Nomoto and Kasuga continue to plan meals, shopping trips, and holidays together but now they are also beginning to share deeper feelings and memories from their lives. And also... Nomoto has her first lesbian crisis googling session. I'm rooting for these foodies! I hope they Uhaul in book 3.

Moomin Builds a House by Tove Jansson 

A short sweet arc from the early days of the Moomin comic strips, which show how Little My ended up living with the Moomin family. When she takes over his room, Moomin decides to build a whole new house. This is harder than he anticipated!

The Wood At Midwinter by Susanna Clarke

A very brief piece of winter magic.

[badcircuit]

Earlier I was reading something I wrote in 2017 and marveling at what my brain was (is?) capable of. It wasn't some great masterpiece but I love Six Days, my sex-filled vacation fling/romance between the enhanced black ops soldier character played by Oscar Isaac in The Bourne Legacy and a Black OC civvy. He barely had lines and didn't even have a name so totally free real estate. It started with this scene, where the other character guesses that he got punished because he fell in love, which he doesn't deny. His only reactions are these faces--which grabbed me by the throat and shook me--and to change the subject and walk away:

Ooo that lil left eye twitch in the second one.

Anyway, I both love and hate writing sex scenes because they're a challenge but I'm pretty proud of what I did with this fic so I'm posting two sex scenes here because I can. Minors look away.

From Chapter 3:

He let her into the room first, locked up, and then stood watching dumbly as she went around to the nightstand and brought out the single strip of condoms he'd left behind. 

"Condoms take all the spontaneity out of sex," she said, glaring at them in her hand before looking up at him.  Her gaze was heated, her cheeks flushed.  "Come over here."

He dropped the bag he'd brought in and went, thinking again about oxytocin.  "Are you feeling spontaneous?  What about your nap?"

"Shhh.  Too much talking.  We talked too much today and now I just want to..."  Instead of finishing, she tossed the condoms on the bed and began to undress him. He stood still and silent, letting her be the aggressor, lifting his arms for her to get the shirt off, not offering any help while she wrestled his belt loose and worked the button and zip of his shorts open then let them drop.  She slid her hand down, stroking his cock through his underwear, thumbing the wet spot over the straining head.  "Looks like you want that, too," she said, giving him a squeeze.

God help him, he did.  "Jesus Asha.  Yeah.  Just tell me what to do."

Instead of answering, she planted a hand on his chest, pushed him down onto the bed, and finished getting him naked.  He heard the rustle of cloth as she removed something, her shorts judging by the sound of the snap, and then she made a soft sound of horny distress that made him lift his head to watch as she slipped her panties off.  Wetness glistened on her thighs and her swollen clit peeked out of the neatly trimmed bush there.  Holding his gaze, she touched herself and made that sound again, a sighing moan that made his cock achingly hard. 

"Fuck," he croaked, "come up here please."

She unwound the wrap from her head, letting her braids spill down.  She crawled over him and he followed, trying to hand her the condoms but she brushed his hand away and kept going until they were up near the hand-carved wooden headboard.  Hovering over his chest, she smiled down at him, trying to look unaffected but he could see her thighs trembling on either side of his head.  "You know what to do." 

Goddamn right, he did.  Settling into the pillows, he grabbed her ass and brought her down to his mouth.  He didn't waste any time teasing, just went straight to work sucking her clit with an intensity that caught her off guard.  She let out a cry, one hand braced against the wall, the other groping for the headboard for support.  He offered his hand and she took it, entwining their fingers as she rolled her hips.  Her face was a study in pleasure, her eyes squeezed shut, her brow furrowed, her teeth catching her bottom lip again and again.  Her breath came faster, her hand squeezing his tighter.  He sucked harder, needing her to lose her shit ASAP, because the sooner she did, the sooner he could be inside her and right now, he needed that almost more than he needed his next breath.  Moving his other hand down, he traced her slick lips, driving her closer to the edge.  His fingers wandered, grazed her asshole, and she bucked like she'd been hit with a stun gun.  He could hear her heartbeat accelerating, could feel it where he held her in his mouth.  She took five little gasping breaths and then she was gone.   

"God," she said, her voice quavering as she came back down.  After wriggling out of her top and bra, she pushed her hair out of her face and sat back, one hand patting around on the bed.  "Where are the condoms?"

"Way ahead of you."  He'd freed the hand she'd been mangling and got one on as soon as she finished coming.  He guided her hands to his chest and touched her hips lightly.  "Back up or I'm going to embarrass myself."

She eased back but not enough.  "Does that mean you want me?"

"It does.  I do."  He couldn't stop himself from pumping his hips at the air in frustration.  "I need to be inside you."

Leaning down, she kissed him, then swiped her hand across his chin.  "Your face is a mess."

"A sign of a job well done.  Now quit stalling and fuck me."

"If you're going to ask like that..." she said, grinning, and moved back the rest of the way.  Between her wetness and his hardness, he slid right in, hands-free.  They fit together perfectly and despite how amazingly it felt, he couldn't help but feel a pang of despair that in a few days this would be just a memory.

Asha sat up again, sucking in a breath as she sank down fully onto him, her head lolling back, the curled ends of the tiny braids tickling his thighs.  "I think I'm coming all over again."

His hands had been on her tits, pinching the way he knew she liked.  He drew one down her front, enjoying the way her muscles tensed in the wake of his touch.  "You think?  Let's make sure," he said, pressing his thumb to her hard clit.  It was good, so good, but just as good was hearing the sounds she made and watching her face as they moved together.  She tightened up, definitely coming again, her inner muscles clenching and releasing, tipping him over the edge.  He jack-knifed up and wrapped his arms around her, probably squeezing too tight, moaning into her mouth when she held him in return, one hand in his hair, the other clutching his back.

"I'll never forget this," she whispered against his lips.  "Never forget you."

"I won't either," he managed, his throat tight with emotion.  He knew his face gave nothing away; he was an expert when he had to be.  His eyes were another story so he kept them shut and hugged her closer for a moment before letting her go to sprawl out on his back. 

He should have hauled his sorry ass out of bed and cleaned up but he couldn't seem to move.  He let Asha do the honors and lazily admired her butt as she crossed the room to deposit a messy handful of tissue into the trash.  He'd never felt so sated and like nothing, absolutely nothing else, mattered at that moment.  Governments crumbling, wars raging, the world burning down, he gave not a single fuck.  For three more days—more like 2 1/2—he was out of the equation, not on-call to interfere on behalf of the US of  A, his shadow hand still and empty.  He had a sudden ridiculous urge to spill his guts and tell her what a piece of shit she was dealing with.    

Asha came out of the bathroom and flopped face-down on the bed, still naked.  He filled his empty hand with her magnificent ass and she mumbled something into the mattress.  A few minutes passed where he thought she'd fallen asleep but then she turned her head and gave him a sleepy, satisfied smile.  "Don't let me sleep too long.  Clock is ticking."

No, he couldn't unburden himself, couldn't tell her things that would literally endanger her life if she knew them, things that would probably make her hate him.  He had to have her for every remaining minute, every last fucking second.  He didn't deserve Asha's magic but he was going to take it all the same.  When their clock ran out, he'd disappear, be a shadow again.  Be no one.

~~

From Chapter 5:

"Wait...are you sure about your ankle?" she asked, giggling and gasping as he kissed, nibbled, and licked.

"Fuck my ankle.  I could be in a full body cast and still figure out a way to make you come.  They leave a slit for your mouth, right?"

She shrieked with laughter, delighted by this sudden smutty turn.  "Are you sure you didn't bump your head while you were underwater?"

"First you question my health, now my sanity."  He gave her a stern look then ruined it with a dirty grin.  "I'm good."  That was a massive understatement in all ways.  While she was distracted, he'd worked his way down to her pussy and was pulling her closer to his beautiful mouth.

"I'm kind of gross." 

"So am I.  Are you going to make me stop giving you the best head of your life for a shower?"

She smiled, petting his hair.  "Well, when you put it like that..."

"I like the way you taste and how you smell.  It's us."  He inhaled to prove it and hummed his appreciation.  "How much time do we have?"

"We don't have to be there until 5."

"Yes," he said, his warm breath on her making her squirm with need.

With past lovers, Asha would often fantasize about other things to get off.  Not with Gabriel.  She was fully present for every touch, every kiss.  He made as much noise as she did while he was going down on her.  And the way that he knew just what to do at any given moment—it was like he could read her mind.  It was no exaggeration to say it truly was the best head she'd ever had.

She watched him down the length of her body, raked her fingers through his hair, slid her hand lower to touch his working jaw and to spread herself for him.  His eyes had been closed but now they opened slowly and she was swallowed up in his deep brown gaze while he drove her higher and higher.  Then she couldn't watch anymore, she had to close her eyes and just feel:  the light bite of his fingertips where he held her legs wide, the occasional brush of his scruff against her tender skin, the unfaltering flick of his tongue.  He moaned his encouragement as she circled her hips.  Close, so close.  She couldn't keep her hands off of herself, couldn't be still, could barely breathe.  At the exact moment she thought her heart might give out, she came, her entire body stiffening, back arching at the delicious shock of it and then her muscles going lax as the pleasure spread slowly outward from where he was coaxing out each pulse with only the tip of his tongue, until she groaned and wriggled away. 

She was lying there, languid and drifting, when he began to kiss his way back up her body.  "Keep going," she murmured, not giving him a chance to ease inside her just yet.  He made noises of protest and put up a half-assed fight but when she opened her eyes, he was where she wanted him, kneeling over her chest, one hand hanging loose by his side and the other mostly hiding his cock as he held it to his belly, his face a mix of lust and bashful awkwardness.  "Let me," she whispered, adjusting the pillows under her shoulders and neck and brushing his hand away.  He sucked in a breath when she laid her hands on him and she could feel his muscles jumping under her palms as she touched everything she could reach:  soft skin, marred here and there with scars, hard muscle, the hair on his thighs a crisp, tickly contrast to the soft fur on his belly and chest.  Finally, she tasted him, a swipe of her tongue from base to tip while her fingers played lower.  "Give it to me," she said, and he did, gripping his cock and angling to her mouth.  She teased with a kiss, her tongue in his slit, her lips around nothing but the head, bumping his squeezing fist. 

"Look at you," he said, his hand falling away. 

"Yeah, keep looking.  Watch me."  This most intimate of acts was for her as much as it was for him.  This time was for more than pleasure.  She had to commit him to memory:  his taste, his scent, how he felt against her tongue and under her fingers.   She took him down, watched him struggle to keep his eyes on her, felt his heartbeat in her mouth, and his guttural groan in her pussy, in her bones.  It didn't last nearly as long as she would have liked but he still gave her everything she wanted.  Some wordless thing, there in his fingers on her face and in her hair, in the ragged rhythm of his breath and the sound of her name in his mouth when he came, in the flex of his hips, a bit rough and out of control, she wanted that too.

[not-poignant]

Hi Pia! I was curious, as I understand, this story was written long time ago? Did you edit it with almost 10 years of practice on writing since 2014 now? And more in general, do you feel like writing is easier or not withos much practice (I read about smut, that it is harder now, but in general - worldbuilding, character creation and so on) ?

Hi hi anon!

Yeah the story was first drafted in 2014, and has gone through big edits since then (the latest being 2017, though I did some cursory stuff this year as well to just double check that it's not terrible).

Tbh, prior to 2014 I was writing like... very serious award winning short stories with tragic endings and winning awards for them, so I'm moderately confident the story is readable. I've been writing novels (for fun mostly) since 1995. And I have a university education in writing that started in 1999.

My fanfiction/serial style is very different to my 'I'm writing a book / I'm writing a short story' style.

I think it will feel different to my serials because I wrote it like a book, there's less sprawling character exploration, and the pacing is much, much tighter. There's a lot more focus on plot, and folks used to my serials might feel like the story ends really quickly! Because it's like much shorter (100k) than my serials.

If anything, I think these are the things to watch out for in Tradewinds:

100k novel means much tighter pacing and prose, and often very little time for too much character reflection.

Possibly not as much character exploration as people are used to from me (though there's still some!)

More plotting

Less smut, and the smut is also more 'vanilla' than what I normally write, because at the time I was a lot more wary about putting BDSM into the market. There are power dynamics though (i.e. a vibe where one character 'feels' more submissive to the other)

Robust scene-setting (i.e. description, place, anchoring)

Lively dialogue

I actually think I was probably a better literary writer back in the 00s but it wasn't much fun for me. I quit writing for a while and then picked it back up again to write fanfiction, which was easier and more relaxed for me. (And still is! The Ice Plague is an exception to that because it had more robust plotting and was structure more...formally.)

I honestly think writing gets easier or harder depending on the project and writing style involved.

Some writing gets easier with time, some doesn't. Sometimes that will flip or switch. Sometimes one thing is easy for years and then becomes harder with certain stories.

It was Gene Wolfe who said:

"You never learn how to write a novel. You just learn how to write the novel that you're writing."

And yeah, I tend to believe for the most part that's true with how hard or easy something is. How ambitious a project is, its genre, its length, its complexity can all play into that.

I pick easier projects as my main projects right now, but I have hard projects coming up too!

I would say overall writing does become "easier" in the sense that foundational skills become second nature (I know how to build a character and their dialogue now without thinking about it, and while there's always more to learn, I can now start in a place of just knowing how to do that instead of knowing I need to learn how to do that), but that the stories themselves will still pose unique challenges to a writer.

Er so TL;DR yes writing for me is easier but I'm choosing easier things to write, and sometimes it's still very hard!!!

[leclerdelune]

Macau GP 70th Anniversary

YOU. YEAH YOU READING THIS. This is me trying to pursued you to go watch the Macau GP this weekend. This track is historic and legendary. And one of the most fun and dangerous street circuits (imo) with tight corners and varying elevations. It is still the oldest (active) street circuit that still holds F3 (+other races) and isn't part of the F1 World Championship (the other being New Zealand🤝)

Since it’s the 70th anniversary and they are holding two wholeass race weekends with a BANGER entry list this year (full list at the end of the post), so why not take a trip down memory lane and talk about some iconic races and drivers throughout the years. [LONG POST, just saying][Also, surprises underneath]

Macau Grand Prix, Guia Circuit (or Circuito da Guia)—a circuit that spans 6.120km, with different elevations over 30 meters top to bottom (in non-metric terms: 2 small pine trees, or 2 volleyball courts for all non-metric people out there👍). Top speed: 260km/h for an F3 car, which is already a handful. This circuit has had little to no changes since the beginning of its grand opening. While this track serves as a stepping stone for drivers, it remains an independent circuit and race of its own. Though still having an affiliate with the FIA.

Although the first race event began in 1954, they didn’t introduce F3 until 1983. Which they had a strong start for F3 with the likes of Ayrton Senna and Gerhard Berger, respectively taking first and third place.

A few years later; Eddie Irvine, Damon Hill, Jean Alesi also left their marks on this race track.

But the most iconic moment came in 1990. The battle of Schumacher vs Hakkinen. The beginning of their motor rivalry.

Schumi took first place while Mika unfortunately crashed out at the back of Schumi’s car.

Jenson Button (a literal child) in 1999, second place. God works hard but those mechanics work even harder

In 2003-2004, both Lewis and Nico took part, whilst Lewis took pole and they both showed great results in qualifying. Neither of them went on to podium in both years.

2005: baby Seb starting to shine through and took third at the main race, just behind Kubica

They put a baby in a fast car

2009: Daniel, Valtteri, and Jules took the challenge. Jules started near the back end of the grid but was steady racing and finished 10th. Valtteri started 4th, had the opportunity to be on podium until he got a puncture on the last lap that saw him finish fifth. Daniel-not the best start- clipped the wall and punctured his left rear, carried on a little bit more until he crashed out of the race :( can’t find any video cuz apparently no one cared enough about 2009

2011: Valtteri’s third year in a row; the previous got him third place but this one he retired the car on lap 4 due to an accident. Kmag, da Costa, Carlos participated but all in all, half the grid retired in the end.

Pre-mustache Bottas and baby redbull Carlos

Bloop! 2014: a wild baby Max appears! Boy had good results in qualifying, placing him third, but in the quali race he lost control and crashed. Main race-7th. Nick Cassidy, Nicki Latifi, Antonio Giovinazzi, Alex Palou finished 3rd, 5th, 12th and 16th. Unfortunately, Antonio Fuoco and Estie Bestie retired :(

Yes, Max did get the fastest lap

2015: Everybody’s favourite! Charles Leclerc has entered the ring. Charlie’s aggressive attack led him to second place and on that podium. Giovinazzi-4th, Lance Stroll-8th, Nick Cassidy-12th and following close behind, my boy, Alexander Albon-13th

The race was that good even FIA had to post it on their channel lol

The infamous onboard camera

2016: we see the introduction of George Russell, Landon Norris, Callum Ilott, Guanyu Zhou and Ticktum (But we’re not gonna talk about him🤭). It was an okay race, António Félix da Costa took first (came 9th in the recent WEC👏) and Nikita crashed.

That year gave us baby Lando and baby George who took his first pole *surprise🎉*

2017: A fucking great racing year, Lando came second due to Habsburg and Sette Câmara crashing out in the final corner. It’s Mick’s first year, though not the best result but did manage to snatch the fastest lap 💨

2018: it was a scary ass race and I remember standing in front of the TV just watching this. Lisboa corner is famously know for a lot of accidents, Sophia Flörsch made contact with another that send her airborne and crashed into the barriers and fractured her vertebrae. Final standing: Mick-5th, Ilott-7th, Schwartzman-9th, Zhou-11th, Vesti-15th

I’m not gonna post the video, you can go look it up if you’re interested

2019: a lot more familiar faces: Richard Verschoor, Jüri Vips (yeah that one), Logan Sargeant, Callum Ilott came back for another year, Liam Lawson with his bestie Yuki Tsunoda, Enzo Fittipaldi, Max Fewtrell🫡, David Schumacher, Felipe Drugovich, Schwartzman’s second attempt and Sophia Flörsch

3 years of absence and we are back! 2023!

This year there’s two whole weekends, from 11-12th November and 16-19th November. And they’ve a banger list of drivers like Bianca Bustamante for F4 and Richard Verschoor taking another stab at it.

Macau F4 race is happening on the 11-12th:

F4 is happening the week after on 16-19th

The FIA is streaming F3 on the YouTube channel (streaming f3 not f4🥲…go watch motor gp too it’s on the same day) but you could probably watch it on other streaming platforms too (you know the ones👀👀)

If you haven’t seen the Macau GP before…give it a go! It’s brilliant!

*side note: if Fernando or Lewis ever retires from f1 and have nothing else to do…I’d like to see them tackle this track (again for Lewis) maybe not f3, maybe something like GT cup or something. It would be verrrry interesting👀

[according2thelore]

2023 top five!

@preseriesdean thought it would be fun for artists/authors/creators to post their favorite five creations this year, and i agree! it can be anything: your favorite posts, fics, art, edits, fanvids, anything!

i saw some folks turning this into a tag game, so here are some tags! @deanwinchesterpregnant @dyed-red @mercette @crucifysam @weirdbrothers @togethertogethersoulmates @pookeenpie

if you end up doing it, pls tag me! i'd love to see y'all's works! :)

-lizzy

so in no particular order, here are the five fics i liked the best/am the most proud of!

considering that everything i’ve written on this account (240k words of it good lord) was published since february 23rd, i’ve got a lot to work with!

i was in the fandom back in 2012-2013 until 2016-2017, and when i rewatched it recently with some friends, i realized just how many words and feelings had been broiling since. i wrote a LOT for spn back in the day (not published, just for the pure joie de vivre), but everything on the ao3 is completely new since feb!

1. tell me, why are you still so afraid?

or, the "what do you want, sam?" fic. this one might be a surprise! it did moderately well, but i'm really happy with it! i love writing weechesters/pre-series, and i hope this fic did them justice! it hit a lot of points i liked, and i had so much fun writing it!! i'm proud of it! :)

2. you're pretty when you don't speak

or, sam's wife pov. i was shocked!!! aghast!!! frankly agog!!! at how much folks loved this one! i had the idea in the shower of all places, lmao, just the idea that wait, being sam's wife must be so lonely. it was not the usual fare (and written in second-person pov), so i was expecting it to gently and quietly flop. but no! i wrote this fic in two sittings at one a.m. the night before a paleopathology exam, so i'm shocked any of it was coherent in the morning. thank you, dear reader, if you interacted w it at all! :)

3. romans 3:10-11

ahh, romans. to other folks that write, this was one of those fics that scratched in my bones until i sat down and wrote it all out. does that sound pretentious? it was stifling; it was all i could think about. even now, i look back on it and feel like there are things that are missing, extended scenes and extra themes that i wished i had teased out. the response was overwhelming and positive and i'm so glad you lot liked it! if you ever want more...idk...lemme know...

4. we didn't get it right, but love we did our best

or, the Heaven fic! this one took awhile to make, and a lot out of me to do! it's the longest fic i've made this year, by a lot! the planning process was a lot of fun (even though charlotte was mostly asleep), and i even colour-coded themes and turning points i wanted to include. the sense of accomplishment when it was done was a great part of this year!

5. there's no such thing as a clean break, when your heart starts bleeding out

or, the stanford!era fic where dean bleeds out on the highway and decides to not tell sam about it. one of my favorite things to write is a character getting more and more out of it as they lose control (or blood), and this one was a fun challenge! i love stanford!era dean, because he's so mangled and angry and sad. i feel like that one tweet that william shatner posted where he said ELECTROCUTE HIM!!! this also feels the most like the things i wrote back in 2014, so it brings nostalgia :,)

this was WAY harder than i thought! i loved and was so proud of so much of my work this year! a top ten would be easier, but i'm happy with this list!

thank YOU for reading! :)

we are holding hands now and there's nothing you can do to stop it. y'all keep this up and we might even have to stare lovingly into each other's eyes.

[arqueete]

New Year's Meme 2024

I've been doing this survey for probably at least 15 years now? It's from back in Livejournal days, when we had things that were like ask memes but we just answered all of the questions. Feel free to take this survey for yourself.

1. What did you do in 2024 that you’d never done before?

I saw a total solar eclipse!!! After regretting not seeing it in 2017 I resolved to make plans to see it this year. I ended up traveling to Columbus, Ohio for a couple days and staying with a coworker who lives in the path. We sipped cocktails on her deck as it passed over us and it was exhilarating.

I signed up for a subscription box from Bon Appetit that sends me five ingredients and recipe cards that use those ingredients. Of the 25 recipes I've received, I've made 17 so far, so I think I'm making good use of the box.

I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge on a trip to New York.

I visited the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum in Chicago.

For half a day, I worked in a store in the mall as part of a program at my job that put corporate office employees in the company's stores.

I adopted a letter through USPS' Operation Santa and sent gifts to some kids anonymously.

I saw The Postal Service in concert.

I started wearing a watch every day.

Two musicals I saw for the first time: Swept Away (on Broadway) and Illinoise (in Chicago.)

I saw Tim Rice host a concert of his music at a local theater.

2. Did you keep your New Years’ resolutions and will you make more for next year?

In 2024, I wanted to get my novel-in-progress beta read, and I did that! Two people read it and I realized I have a lot I'd like to change.

I wanted to figure out a way to start budgeting again now that I share money with my husband, but I didn't manage to follow through on that one.

I wanted to read every book on my book club's schedule--I almost made it, but skipped December's. I also wanted to re-read more books I already own, and I ended up re-reading four things from my bookshelf.

My resolutions for 2025:

I want to continue reading books regularly, and will be setting a Goodreads challenge goal of 20 books again.

I want to try more new video games. I'm going to shoot for playing at least an hour in a dozen games that I haven't played more than an hour in before.

I want to volunteer somewhere. My work gives me a day off for volunteer work and I've never actually used it.

I want to finish another draft of my novel.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Not this year. 4. Did anyone close to you die? Fortunately this year has been easier in that regard.

5. What countries did you visit? No international travel this year. We did go to Ohio for the eclipse (and I went in the summer for work), to Chicago to escape the RNC, and to New York for a bit in the fall. 6. What would you like to have in 2025 that you lacked in 2024? Last year I said I wanted less stress. WELL it was an election year so that was a lot to ask.

Sorry to go and soft launch huge life updates in the New Year's Meme, but the current plan is to start trying to conceive our first and likely only child this coming summer. It's really strange to admit! I don't have many friends with kids and there's this feeling like I am way too young to be planning this when actually I am 34 and this is very much the time to do it. The idea of being pregnant by this time next year is terrifying, though barring anything that makes us change our timeline, the idea of it not happening is also terrifying because that means it will be harder than we hoped. So! We'll see how that goes! 7. What date from 2024 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? November 5th. The election hit me really hard. 8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? I guess making the eclipse trip happen? It's weird to think how far back I resolved to plan a trip for a specific day in the future without having any idea what my life would look like. 9. What was your biggest failure? I think this year was a lot of getting by and I wasn't very good at managing "adult stuff." My to-do list was always full of things I was putting off, I had plants die because I wasn't watering them consistently enough, and we didn't keep a budget or keep the house as clean as I'd like. 10. Did you suffer illness or injury? I had a stubborn yeast infection and it took a long time to feel normal again.

11. What was the best thing you bought? I got a new laptop this year and it was really about time. I've been enjoying playing video games even more now. 12. Whose behavior merited celebration? I'm a part of a local community group for bisexuals and we accomplished a lot this year.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? I hate knowing that I had put everyone who voted for Trump back on the 2016 survey and now we're right back here again. 14. Where did most of your money go? Besides bills, probably traveling. 15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? A theater in my city put on the Deaf West version of Spring Awakening! It was so good and I went many times! 16. What song(s) will always remind you of 2024? The top song on my Spotify this year was "Without Your Love" by The Paper Kites ft Julia Stone because I listened to it on repeat so much while writing.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: i. Happier or sadder? Sadder. ii. Older or wiser? Wiser. iii. Thinner or fatter? The same. iv. Richer or poorer? Richer. 18. What do you wish you’d done more of? I meant to do more rollerblading when the weather was nice and then I didn't :( 19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Curling up on the couch with my laptop, especially while working, because it hasn't been good for my body. 20. How will you be spending Christmas? Christmas was a little chaotic schedule-wise this year. On the 23rd, my husband and I went out to dinner and opened our gifts for each other. On the 24th, we had dinner with his parents and brother and opened gifts at their place. On the 25th, we had a late lunch with his extended family, and then left to go have an early dinner with my family where there was some drama over some family members coming despite contagious illness going around in their household. It was a lot.

21. How will you be spending New Year’s Eve? We had dinner at a local brewery that had an event celebrating the Swedish New Year (so that they could toast at 5pm.) Then we went out for cocktails.

22. Did you fall in love in 2024? I celebrated my second anniversary with my husband (we went to a small plates restaurant we love called Odd Duck.) 23. How many one-night stands? None.

24. What was your favorite TV program? I'm struggling to remember what TV I even watched this year. I said The Bear last year but I guess I'll say it again?

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? I don't know that I knew anything about Robert F Kennedy Jr last year and now I have to worry about him. 26. What was the best book you read? I read so much this year! Last year I finished 18 books and this year I finished 27, blowing through my goal of 20.

The Beautiful Ones by Sylvia Moreno-Garcia enthralled me and I already can't wait to re-read that one next year. Her book Mexican Gothic impressed me a lot but also made me realize that I just can't handle books with horror elements, so I was so happy she wrote this book that is more of a historical fantasy romance to draw me back into her writing.

Some of the things I loved about that book reminded me of Mairelon the Magician by Patricia C Wrede, which was an old favorite, so I decided to track down a copy. I was really worried about picking it up again because what if it turned out to be terrible despite my great memories? But I actually devoured it (and its sequel) like I was a kid all over again.

The best nonfiction I read was How the World Ran Out of Everything by Peter S. Goodman, which talks about the global supply chain through the lens of how things went awry at the start of the pandemic. I came away from it feeling like I had unlocked really important context about how the economy works (and how much we're all getting screwed.) 27. What was your greatest musical discovery? Like seemingly everyone, I got into Chappell Roan this summer.

28. What did you want and get? Last Christmas I preordered a watch for myself (an automatic mechanical watch with a sea lion that swims around and around) and it arrived in the spring. I had some problems with it and ended up needing a replacement at some point, but now I have it and it's a comfort to me.

29. What did you want and not get? After seeing Tim Rice do a fundraiser show at a local theater where they did a lot of Chess songs and he mentioned the plan to bring Chess to Broadway in 2025, I was hopeful that we'd either hear concrete news about that by now and/or that the local theater in question might put it in their upcoming season. No for both. 30. What was your favorite film of this year? Of the films released this year, I saw Challengers, Anora, and Wicked. I enjoyed all three and would see any of them again. It's hard to pick a favorite. I'm leaning toward Anora.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 34. I took the day off work and went to go see Wicked by myself, and then in the evening my husband and I got dinner at a place we love called Aperitivo. My birthday is always a little weird because it's so close to Thanksgiving, so I ate my birthday cake on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and then also saw The Muppet Christmas Carol accompanied by a live orchestra on that Sunday as a birthday activity.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Not staring down another Trump presidency. 33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2024? The summer was all about cute dresses again this year, while in the colder weather I was into oversized sweaters and men's shirts with the sleeves rolled up. I'm gravitating toward looser jeans and more comfort-centered looks. 34. What kept you sane? When I was stressing about the election in the later part of the year, writing postcards for Postcards to Voters was a way I channeled that anxiety. More generally, books and going for walks. 35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? I have a little celebrity crush on the stand-up comedian Taylor Tomlinson. 36. What political issue stirred you the most? The rise of fascism in the United States. This year it really felt like anything else I wanted to care about had to be secondary to that. 37. Who did you miss? I no longer have a membership at a pottery studio and while that seems to have been a good move, I do wonder what some of the people there are up to now. 38. Who was the best new person you met? Some new people started coming to the bi book club I'm in this year and I've liked meeting people that way. 39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2024: As we reach the end of 2024 I am feeling very disillusioned and like I learned a lesson about assuming that I live in a uniquely enlightened time where history might not repeat itself. The idea that my country or the world will come together to do hard things is not something I have a lot of hope about right now. I am focused on supporting the people in my community who share my values.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:

Some folks are born made to wave the flag Ooh, they're red, white and blue And when the band plays "Hail to the Chief" Ooh, they point the cannon at you, Lord

Creedence Clearwater Revival - "Fortunate Son"

[isatumbles]

Hi okya Im doing it :3

Topic of the day: Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes

Ive heard of this game ever since it got popular around 2015 - 2017, and it has always intrigued me as a kid! A fun (and stressful) co-op game about defusing a bomb that has several puzzle-like modules on it with no idea how to complete them without the help of an expert? My grabious goodness that was like music to my ears for young me! But unfortunately, I did lose interest as I forgot about the game.. until a certain Roblox game (Looking at you, Defusal) brought me back to this game

Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, or in its abbreviated name, KTaNE, is just as I said above, a bomb defusal game where one must defuse a bomb with instructions from an expert that can only see their manual! The game comes in a really nice painted aesthetic while keeping the tenseness of having to defuse a ticking bomb! Ill be discussing the general game and mods as well bc why nont

So the game has you go through several sections containing missions that gradually get harder as you progress. Each mission gives you a bomb with differing amounts of modules that can range from slightly easy to quite difficult (Depends on how well you can relay information, for me I am pretty good with all the modules, even morse!). The game sets the atmosphere really nicely with music that swells in intensity as the timer ticks down and the beeping of the timer that goes down, reminding the defuser of their job!

The modules this game presents are all super unique and fun to wrap ones head around, and one may even notice improvement with certain modules after doing them many times! Some modules that come to mind are:

The Button: A large button that can come in different colors and have different labels. The defuser has to either press the button or hold it and release it at a certain time. If the button is held, a light will appear on the right to tell when to release the button depending on the numbers on the timer! (I have a pet peeve watching people play this game and them giving the color of the button instead of the light next to it weeps)

Complicated Wires: Several wires that may come in striped or solid colored, as well as LEDs and Stars indicating if the wire should be cut or not. The expert has to read the given Venn diagram to see if the wire should be cut or not, resulting in heavy mind chugging and additional info such as if there is a port or a certain number of batteries!

The Knob: A needy module (Think a module that reactivates at random times that forces you to focus on it before handling other modules again) that shows several lights and a knob that you have to set in a certain direction before its own timer runs out! This one is a pretty annoying one considering the knob can reorient itself to throw off the defuser!

There are several more modules, but the game only has about 14 modules! So for more customization, the creators made it so the game is moddable, allowing people to make their own modules! Lets just say, as of the time I upload this, there is about 2,000+ modules made by the community. No, I am not kidding. These people have dedicated many years to creating and uploading modules for others to defuse and enjoy, and it is still heavily active with new modules almost every week or two! Some cool ones Ive seen are:

Forget Me Not: A boss module (A type of regular module that makes the defuser and expert record information every time a module is complete, and then having that information be used at the very end when all other modules are done) that displays a single digit for every solve before making you input a code with said digits. This module has plenty of variants and is commonly used in challenges.

Triangles: A group of similar-looking modules that require you to click on the triangles depending on what type it is such as Slipping Triangles, Dripping Triangles, Tipping Triangles, etc. Each have their own unique set of rules that range in difficulty. There are other modules that have similar-looking modules themselves such as the Squares, the Switches, the Flashes, and plenty more, but I prefer the triangles bc theyre my favorite lmofa

Simon Spins: A Simon Says module that has spinning arms with different colors, shapes, and movements. This is my all-time favorite Simon Says module as it is pretty fun to deal with! The large list it has in its manual as well as the unique combos makes it a new experience each time, even more so with seeds!

SO YEA I LOOOVE love KTaNE so much, and Im super glad the community is not only thriving but super friendly too! People are always available to play in the discord server, and some even allow themselves to teach other players how to do difficult modules that may stump new players! Its honestly such a blast and Im sure its a fixation thatll stick with me for a while!

Ill end this off with a large doc that I made for the sake of documenting on KTaNEs history and fanbase! Id be super elated to receive feedback on it and such, go take a look here!

[notsocheezy]

Brain Curd #50

Brain Curds are lightly edited flash fiction - practically first drafts - posted daily and sometimes written with the express intention of being terrible… but, you know, in an endearing way. Please enjoy.

The sound of Pomp & Circumstance filled the entire hall, weaving through the ears of proud parents and extended relatives. Backstage, the graduates stood in line, waiting for their turn on stage, but none was more excited than the one and only salutatorian, Patty Ward. Unlike most other people, Patty relished public speaking.

While the five valedictorians discussed their division of labor in the corner, Patty stood confident in the knowledge that she’d already practiced and memorized her speech over the previous week. She was going to kill - absolutely kill.

The valedictorians went up first, nearly tripping over each others’ gowns on the way to the podium. The tall one took out a stack of index cards and tapped them on the podium before flipping through them and handing them out to the other four.

“Wait, wait, wait,” the short one whispered. “Why do I have three cards? The rest of you only have two.”

“Weren’t you paying attention?” The blonde one asked. “We agreed that since you go last, you have to take the extra card.”

“Where was I when you made that decision?”

“You know what, actually,” the bearded one rubbed his hairy chin. “I think you might have been in the bathroom. But it’s just the closing remarks.”

“Guys!”

“Look, it’s not a big deal, I’ll take the extra card.” The brunette swiped the card from the short one and added it to her stack. “Can we please all get along? This is the last time we’ll all be in the same room together. It’s important.”

Patty agreed. In fact, she was counting on that fact for her speech.

The tall one approached the microphone first, and awkwardly read from his cards. His part of the speech was something about unity in the face of challenges, but it was brief since each of the valedictorians only got about twelve seconds for their portion of the speech.

The rest of them gave similarly stilted reads of their lines, which for valedictorians seemed poorly written and low effort. They just didn’t seem to have anything to say.

Single file, the five of them left the stage, and Patty knew it was her turn. She got a whole minute all to herself. She confidently approached the podium, staring out into the massive crowd of faceless silhouettes. There was no need to ‘imagine them in their underwear’, or whatever people always said to do. Each person ceased to be human, ceased to be an individual with complex thoughts and motives. They were all part of the hive mind known as the audience. If one laughed, all laughed. A clap could begin anywhere and radiate out at the speed of sound.

Patty adjusted the microphone to her preference and slid her finger along the remote in her pocket. It was smooth to the touch.

“Greetings, all! It is my honor to speak to you all today and to congratulate the Class of 2017 for their great achievement. We did it!”

She held her arms in the air and the cheers quaked the room, localized in the teacher region of the audience.

She continued. “But it wasn’t easy. We struggled, we persevered. We studied, we procrastinated. We tried, and sometimes, we failed. Except the valedictorians, of course.”

She gestured to stage left, where the five had gone and now stood in the shadows. The crowd erupted into laughter. It didn’t take much.

“Me, personally? I stand before you as salutatorian - that is, the second-best - because I worked hard. Because I never gave up. Because of that one B in AP History.”

Everyone laughed at that one, as expected, and no one laughed harder than Mr. Idolt, the teacher who gave her the grade that sealed her fate. The one semester in which she didn’t get an A in every class. She took this moment of pause to pull the remote from her pocket and hold it up in the air.

“The funniest part is I’m not fucking joking.”

No one in the crowd could tell what she was holding, but the quiet that immediately took the room told her that she had them worried.

“This remote is attached to a series of explosives I have placed around the building. I don’t want to have to use it, but I did not come THIS FAR to leave with a goddamn three-point-nine-seven GPA! I get a four-point-oh or every one of us turns into a crater!”

Patty pointed at Mr. Idolt. “Come on up here!”

He stumbled, clearly scared out of his mind, across the row of seats to the aisle and walked toward the stage. He climbed up awkwardly and brushed himself off before hesitantly approaching the podium.

“Why don’t you tell them all why I ended up with a B, teach?” She pushed the microphone toward him.

“Uh…” the microphone popped and he pulled back from it by an inch. “I didn’t think your essay was quite up to par with AP grading guidelines. For a nine. I gave you an eight instead. That is still very good.”

“Were there better essays?”

“I have seen many -”

“Were there better essays in this graduating class?”

He adjusted his glasses, which slipped down his nose from all the nervous sweat. “Uh… no. No, I don’t suppose there were.”

Patty pointed back off stage. “So why did you give blondie over there a nine?”

The crowd gasped. Idolt began shaking and looked toward his wife, who shook her head in disapproval. He gulped.

Patty rubbed her thumb along the contours of the button on the remote while refusing to break eye contact with the man.

“I… I must have made a mistake. She… didn’t deserve it. It… wasn’t as good as yours. I’ll - I’ll fix it, okay! I will!”

“You’ll give me an A for that semester?”

“Yes! Yes! You were my best student, you always were!” He started crying and fell to his knees.

Patty looked at the crowd, satisfied by her revenge, and clicked the button. Contrary to what she had claimed would happen, however, no one exploded into a million pieces. The projector screen descended behind her on stage and the lights dimmed. She moved the microphone back into place for her to speak into it.

“And with that, ladies and gentlemen, I leave you as the sixth valedictorian of the Class of 2017. Please enjoy the rest of the ceremony.”

[klappert-art]

It's my 5 year anniversary on Tumblr 🥳 --- Wow it's been 5 years since I tried to learn to draw properly and post them here 😅

Long rambling under the cut

Honestly it was pretty challenging for me because my study (when I started this blog) was pretty intense, also I live at home, commute every day to go to class so finding time & energy to draw is out of the window. I'm always amazed that most of my fav artists are real university students too, who probably have it even harder than me but they can draw a lot better... So why can't I??

The thing that I learned over time is, I improved faster when I draw fan arts. Because I have real and strict references to follow, unlike when I do OC where I usually just random bullshit go. That's why you see me posted fan arts more here. I just do my favorite fandom to motivate myself lol.

I am a picky person regarding fandom because mentally I can't handle so many heartbreaks (HAHA). And I need a fandom with diverse things to draw. Fate series is very perfect for me. I really like their ideas and the characters are just challenging. I've been into it since 2016-2017 and my pre-Fate art compared to today is... dkgeagwefgwk. I owe my skill growth to this fandom. My first post here was a Tomoe Gozen fan art 😂

I got into radar twice (which is still weird and unbelievable) because of a Noragami FA and my first A:TLA FA ever posted. Which was funny, because I don't draw them that much. But then again, my first "exposure" was from a random Taylor Swift ink art for a random inktober in 2019. That was so surreal lol.

Maybe you notice another fandom I draw a lot too, yes the game of all people in this world: Genshin Impact. Man, I started the game in release and thought "I have to make at least one fan art with the scenery of the game, and maybe this gonna be my first and last GI fan art." And look where we are now. I didn't expect this game would blow up, I believe the first FA I posted was one of the earliest Genshin post on tumblr 😂.I started doing GI FA also because I am mesmerized by the landscape and want to draw landscapes better. You see, there's this kind of reason in EVERY media I'm involving myself into. I simply like pretty and cool things. Sadly at some point the fandom is hell, so I like to take a step back sometimes.

Few months ago I also did some vtubers FA. Although mostly HoloID only, simply because I'm proud of them. Vtuber community has this unique relationship between Vtubers and derivative works, so you can feel real accomplishment when you showed your work to them.

Still, I still highly prefer to make real good original art and story someday. For now, I guess I have to grind first, because my current level is still not where I want to be yet to achieve that.

I use tumblr to post because I like the blogging and tagging system, however this site isn't popular in my country and my marketing for local cons isn't effective if I only use tumblr. I have IG, but I don't like it, thinking I should make twitter or something. AAaaA. My wish for now is to make many money with art lol (at least to supply my disposable income).

And some little things about myself, I'm working now, but not in creating art/design field. It's more of a history and research field (I do still interested in design... if I have the chance--yes I graduated from design thingy school). This blog is like... my creative outlet. The girl on my avatar is my OC Klappy, a gjinka of klappertaart. Klappertaart is the name of an Indonesian dessert (well, the name itself is dutch I guess) made from coconut topped with raisins. Dalr is an acronym from my real name. Thanks for reading, have a good day.

[firsttarotreader]

Thinking of your latest confirmed reading, was he ever the victim of a love tourist, someone who started a relationship with him but didn’t have the time or the emotional availability to be with him? And he said in 2017 he didn’t want to get in a relationship without having time for the person, but has he ever done it himself, has he been the love tourist to someone?

Hello! First, this anon is referring to the reading about his views on love, but I got this like a couple days ago. Lol I also needed to split this ask in two posts because they are different questions. In this one, I asked if he has suffered because of a love tourist like you said, someone who started something with him but they had no time or availability for it. The Major Arcana were Strength, Death and The Fool.

Strength shows us he might have gotten into a situation like this knowing what it was. He had his shit together, he mastered his emotions and he had control over how far he was going. However, Death means something changed. He went through some radical change that made everything he thought he had under control to not be the same again. He became The Fool, he got excited, hopeful, full of energy, willing to go on an adventure and willing to risk it.

The Minor Arcana were the Ace of Swords, 7 of Wands and Ace of Wands. Ace of Swords with Strength means he had the clarity he needed when it started and he had his emotions under control, he knew what it was, he had it figured out. But when things changed with Death, the 7 of Wands was there representing conflict and self-doubt. He was feeling insecure, like he had to face challenges and obstacles and had to fight to win. There was a lot of inner conflict too. Ace of Wands with The Fool points to him feeling so excited and so passionate, ready to go for whatever he got because he was pure fire energy and potential. He was bold, faithful, he thought he could have it.

So I would say he might have suffered because of a love tourist for the simple fact that at first he had his shit together emotionally, but then he got carried away and went “to hell with it, I can make this work!”. The higher they fly, the harder they fall.

[justaboutdead]

Why Escape the Dark Castle is pretty cool

Escape the Dark Castle is a 2017 1-4 player board game published by Themeborne, and its damn good. First shoutout goes to the artist, Alex Crispin, who did an amazing job. The art is all very reminiscent of old school rpgs or choose your own adventure books, and im here for it.

The art isn't the only thing that's inspired by old school rpgs. Everything about the game, from the campy dark fantasy writing, to the gameplay itself feels like an interesting take on the osr, and honestly works best when you treat it as such.

The mechanics are simple (its successor, Escape the Dark Sector is a better fit for people who want more complexity), but there's actually quite a bit of depth. Basically, you slowly reveal scenarios on cards that have been randomly set aside before the game, read them aloud and then roll dice to resolve actions. You loose health if you do bad, and if anyone in the group dies you all fail.

There's actually quite a bit of depth to the system, each character has different traits on their dice, which mean they are good at different things. Before you flip over each scenario You choose a player to flip it. That player is you for the duration of the scenario, and any effects that specify You affect that person. Encounters can award players with items that they can use and pass around to other players between combat. All of this results in a lot of micro decisions across the course of the game.

Combat consists of rolling dice, trying to match the dice the monster has. If you match them you can roll dice. Monsters attack every player after the players attack. If you roll a double, you block and take no damage. Additionally, you can place one character at a time, on rest, restoring 1 HP each round, but taking them out of combat.

While all of these factors individually don't account for much strategy, together they make a huge difference. The odds are stacked against you in Escape the Dark Castle, so every little difference count. In fact ive found that good planning and careful strategy can lead to fairly consistent victories even against some of the harder challenges we've attempted. The game also balances itself for more or less players, giving you less health and the enemies more the more players you have.

Here's the example they give of a monster in the rulebook. The bottom left shows the health of the monster, thevplayer simble meaning to roll s number of dice equal to the player and add that to the monster's HP.

The most important part of Escape the Dark Castle, however, is the mood. The game is all about mood, it even has an official soundtrack (here's it on spotify: https://spotify.link/MVbjH3GkZDb ). This is perfect for setting the mood, and I'd highly recommend it.

The game is packed with flavor text and lore. Every card has a flavorful description of what's happening, which are best read aloud in your best dark fantasy voice. There's also the lore book, which has 2-3 page descriptions of every boss and character, aswell as the Death book, which has unique death descriptions for every card in the game (that can kill you). This is all written with the tone you'd expect from the game's setting.

Due to the nature of the game, they've also been able to publish 3 similarly well designed expansions for the game. Also, if you feel overconfident after a clean victory, you can add more cards (or even more bosses) to your deck and play a longer run.

The game acomplishes a lot for its simplicity, and part of my love for it probably comes from my love for old school revival rpgs. It ultimatley offers a fast, pretty simple but satsfying, definitley quite tense gaming experience that does a lot with its simplicity. Randomizing the control of a dungeon crawl to a deck of cards isn't exactly a new idea but it is executed very well.

(Note: i kept bolding escape the dark castle bc thats how i say it in my head: w all the bravado of a mortal combat announcer)

[mthollowell-writes]

Author Ask Tag Game!

Thank you so much to @axl-ul for the tag! You can find their original post here!

Even though it was my @missaddledmiss blog that was tagged, I'll be using my writing blog to tackle this one.

You've given me the prompting I needed to finally talk about the beast of a WIP I've only been hinting at thus far. I'm choosing the Festival of Shadows (tentative title) for this tag game.

What is the main lesson of your story (e.g. kindness, diversity, anti-war), and why did you choose it? I'm not sure there's a lesson per se. The story is a murder mystery that becomes a monster hunt, though the monster becomes harder to identify as more dark truths and conflicts of interest are uncovered. The story at its heart is a quest for truth which often requires a deeper examination of the darkness within each of the characters and the darkness they choose to tolerate. The story is about how ultimately, to get through a problem, you have to let other people help you. You don't have to do it alone. (Collective action for the win!) So I guess, that is a lesson though one that requires a lot of sacrifice and vulnerability for everyone involved.

What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding (like real-life cultures, animals, famous media, websites, etc.)? The story takes place in the fictional American town of Hollow Grove. It's where strange things happen: where vampires, werewolves, zombies, and other mythical beings are tolerated, where the macabre is rather commonplace. For the longest time, I struggled to characterize the town beyond its eccentricities because I couldn't decide where it was. When I settled on the Midwest, a lot of things clicked into place. I drew a lot from that culture, horror media, and true crime. I also draw a lot upon history to inform the text, especially 19th-century trends like Manifest Destiny/ settler culture and progressive movements of the 1970s and how all that informs the present (circa 2017).

What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, help readers grow as a person? Mariela is trying to piece together how a dark magic ritual leads to the deaths of several members of a fringe cult within Hollow Grove and how that may tie back the Edelhaus Coalition (the main political and religious power brokers in Hollow Grove) and her own troubled family history. I simply want to tell her story, along with the stories of the rest of the cast. And I guess, how the past still influences the present, no matter how long ago it may seem. Certain things stick with you. Certain things shouldn't be brushed off because "it happened so long ago."

How many chapters is your story going to have? This monster is projected to be 65 chapters give or take a few. We'll see what survives the editing process.

Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it? This is an original work. As for posting, I haven't made my mind up about that yet. I'll cross that bridge when I finish it.

When and why did you start writing? I started the Festival of Shadows story back in 2017 as a fun weekly challenge to myself for the new year to flesh out all these new characters I created for Hollow Grove and to flesh out the world itself. The earliest draft ended up taking a whole ten months to complete. I then put the story on the shelf until about last year when I completely revised it from the ground up. I started a second (first) draft but was forced to put the story on pause again to flesh out certain plot threads neglected in that one. This has truly been a long labor of love.

Do you have any words of engagement for fellow writers of Writeblr? What other writers of Tumblr do you follow? I'm going to interpret engagement as encouragement so by that logic my advice would be to have fun with it and write the stories you want to read. As long as you start there, you'll go far. I know of a lot of lovely people in this space and can't wait to see what you all do and how we can help each other reach our goals.

Sorry if this was all written out a bit clunkily. This is my first time talking about all this publically but I enjoyed the practice and hope to improve.

Now for tagging!

Very low-pressure tagging @acertainmoshke, @ryns-ramblings, @nonsenseramble, @palebdot, @friendlyshaped, @rmgrey-author and anyone else who would like to participate!!!

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Brazil's labor unions struggle to stay relevant in a changing job market

Experts say informal work, digital platforms, and loss of political clout are weakening union influence—despite new labor challenges like AI and climate

On this May Day, marked by President Lula’s absence from the celebrations and a lukewarm turnout at events organized by major labor federations, sociologists, economists, and labor lawyers interviewed by Valor said that unions are increasingly losing their influence. This decline, they argue, is driven by global trends such as the fragmentation of labor—spurred by digital platforms, the growth of the service sector, informal work, and changes in labor relations. Domestic factors, however, also weigh heavily, including pension system issues and the 2017 labor reform, which allowed outsourcing of core activities and ended the mandatory union tax.

Union membership is declining around the world, said Adriana Marcolino, technical director at the Inter-Union Department of Statistics and Socioeconomic Studies (DIEESE). She links this trend to broad changes in labor. “We’re seeing more informal work, precarious contracts, and outsourcing—which also reduces the average size of companies. We no longer have companies with 20,000 or 30,000 workers.” This fragmentation, she adds, along with high employee turnover in Brazil, makes union organization harder. “We also still see anti-union practices in the workplace.”

International standards, she said, include all employed individuals in unionization data. But in Brazil, only about 60% of workers have formal contracts. That, in itself, already presents a challenge for union representation—especially when compared to Europe, where rates are lower.

Among unions representing salaried workers, 77% conduct collective bargaining, she said. While this shows unions still play a role, the overall number is smaller because it excludes informal workers, freelancers, and public servants—who don’t have the right to negotiate collectively. Still, she argued, unions must find ways to represent the broader labor force. New challenges are also emerging, such as the impact of artificial intelligence and the green transition—issues increasingly present in collective bargaining and labor policy discussions.

Continue reading.

[sshirotalk]

Week 10: Digital Citizenship, Gendered Harassment, and Platform Responsibility – Why “Logging Off” Isn’t the Answer

This week’s reading by Haslop, O’Rourke & Southern (2021) challenged me to rethink digital citizenship within spaces where gendered harassment has become normalized. Their research into UK student online culture reveals a concerning pattern: online abuse isn’t just tolerated, it’s expected as part of participating in certain digital environments.

🚩 When Harassment Becomes a Cultural Norm

Haslop et al. (2021) argue that online harassment—particularly targeting women and LGBTQ+ individuals—is often seen as "just part of being online." What stood out to me was how many participants internalized this logic, viewing harassment as inevitable. This creates a gendered digital divide, where masculine-coded behaviors like aggression or trolling are normalized, while those outside dominant groups are pressured to either adapt or withdraw.

Personally, this resonates with my own experience in online spaces like gaming communities, where toxic behaviors are often brushed off as "just jokes." Haslop et al. highlight how platform governance often fails by relying on self-policing instead of taking active responsibility to protect vulnerable users.

GIF by canadianabroadvery

🧩 The Manosphere and Organized Harassment

This normalization connects directly to Ben Rich & Eva Bujalkaj (2023), who explore how Andrew Tate gained popularity by exploiting manosphere rhetoric. Tate thrives in a culture where harassment is reframed as “pushing back” against supposed political correctness. This mirrors the conditions outlined by Haslop et al., where toxic behaviors are rewarded by both social and algorithmic dynamics.

Marwick & Caplan (2018) describe this as networked harassment, where collective online actions target marginalized groups, creating toxic solidarity. The manosphere and cases like Gamergate show how harassment becomes not only accepted but also weaponized.

GIF by vowled

💡 Resistance and Platform Responsibility

While creators and activists resist through satire or community action (e.g., Vitis & Gilmour, 2017), Haslop et al. make it clear that this burden shouldn’t fall solely on individuals. Platforms benefit from high engagement, yet moderation remains reactive and inconsistent.

For me, this raises key questions about what digital citizenship means today. It should move beyond passive participation to include active work in reshaping exclusionary digital cultures. The reading leaves me wondering: is legal reform like the Online Safety Act 2021 (Australia) enough, or must we push platforms harder to enforce structural change?

🔄 Final Reflection

This week reinforced how systemic gendered harassment is—rooted in cultural attitudes, platform design, and profit models. While individual resistance is essential, Haslop et al. challenge us to rethink collective and institutional responsibilities within the digital sphere.

💬 Discussion Prompt: What does meaningful action against online harassment look like—platform reforms, cultural shifts, or both? 💬👇

GIF by jylljylljyll

Reference list

Ben Rich, & Bujalkaj, E. (2023). The draw of the ‘manosphere’: Understanding Andrew Tate’s appeal to lost men. The Conversation. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/the-draw-of-the-manosphere-understanding-andrew-tates-appeal-to-lost-men-199002

Haslop, C., O’Rourke, F., & Southern, R. (2021). #NoSnowflakes: The toleration of harassment and an emergent gender-related digital divide, in a UK student online culture. Convergence, 27(5), 1418–1438. https://doi.org/10.1177/13548565211010683

Marwick, A. E., & Caplan, R. (2018). Drinking male tears: Language, the manosphere, and networked harassment. Feminist Media Studies, 18(4), 543–559. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2018.1447334

Vitis, L., & Gilmour, F. (2017). Dick pics on blast: A woman’s resistance to online sexual harassment using humour, art and Instagram. Crime, Media, Culture, 13(3), 335–355. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741659016652445