#src: 50% off

[theonyxpath]

On this day in 2021 we released Trinity Continuum: Aberrant and the Aberrant Storyguide Screen! Available via drivethrurpg.com separately or in a bundle at https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/363243/trinity-continuum-aberrant-bundle?affiliate_id=13&src=OPPTumblr Aberrant is 50% OFF at @indiepressrevolution https://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Trinity-Continuum-Aberrant.html

[hinasho]

guide book tidbits

Just some info from the Guidebook I found interesting!

HISTORY & CUSTOMS

It’s implied the language of mermaids has changed over time (as our language does). Because long ago, when humans and merpeople co-existed peacefully, they’d trade resources and “learn to speak in the others’ tongue”. (pg. 19)

Off the coast of “Nevezuela”, there are cave markings of the old relationship between merpeople and humans. There is also this old recitation. It’s a bit wordy, but the last two paragraphs are as reads:

“Guided by ancient fears, [two rulers] kept their realms divided, bordered by the same churning surf, yet worlds apart... Until a storm cast their children ashore together, mermaid and man, side by side... and love turned the tide” (pg. 20)

Sounds like a prophecy to me!

Merpeople’s customs seem to be a blend of nature + ancestral worship. They have celebrations based on moon and sun types, as each one is said to have a magical effect on merpeople. The Coral Moon brings good fortune to merfolk, so merpeople gather in groups to celebrate it in the Carinae Sea. (pg. 60) Each Sister is responsible for hosting one moon and one sun celebration. And all merpeople travel to their respective seas during these celebrations.

Merpeople have a lot of celebratory events and holidays. They celebrate birthdays and weddings, and other new customs, like the moon and sun cycles mentioned previously, but also others like a “Meal of Gratitude” where they enjoy a “feast of seagrass”. (pg. 74 + 75)

Merfolk and humans have mixed legends and myths. By this I mean, sometimes merfolk will tell folk tales that are about other merpeople, humans, or both being involved. Humans do the same, and Lashanah used to tell Eric quite a few merfolk stories when he was a child. (pgs. 174 - 188)  

ANATOMY & DAILY LIFE

Merpeople vary from “more fishy” to “more human-like” in appearance. They can look a clear cut 50% human and 50% fish (ex: the Sisters), meanwhile there are merpeople that have a higher percentage of fishy features, including fins for ears, for hair, distinct gills on their necks, etc. However the reverse, merfolk with a higher percentage of human features, are not depicted. So no, nothing like this 💀 (src: several illustrations throughout the book)

Merfolk babies are referred to as “hatchlings” by the human researcher who “wrote” the guide. I guess this is supposed to signify they come from eggs and not live births. (pg. 29)

There are two types of merpeople: regular mermaids and “singing mermaids” aka sirens. (pg. 26) Eric alternates throughout the book of being wary of Sirens vs defending them. He never takes issue with regular merpeople though.

On that same note, there seems to be a bit of a prejudice from humans’ POV. Sirens are the main ones humans are wary of and fear, while they view mermaids as ambiguous/neutral (pg. 102)

Sirens have different song types. Ranging from offensive (ex: causing a shipwreck), to defensive (ex: shark summoning), to passive (ex: creating a calm sleep), to helpful (ex: granting luck). And more. (pgs. 36 - 39)

Every merperson has a companion/familiar. Size does not matter and it can range from a small fish to a massive whale. It just depends on which type of sea creatures are commonly found in that merperson’s waters. These companions assist in the life’s journey of the merperson. (pgs. 40 & 54-57) Eric says if he were given the choice, he’d pick either an otter or a whale to be his companion.

Most merpeople live in the Twilight Layer of the ocean. (pg. 43)

It seems all merpeople can sing, but only the songs of sirens have actual abilities. I could very well be wrong, this is just my interpretation of the book. It says for merfolk, “finding one’s singing voice is a rite of passage, denoting a coming of age” (pg. 66) and I struggle to see how singing can be this important if only a chunk of the population partake in it.

Anywho, merfolk do need to practice their singing, and they have the ability to “trap musical notes” in bubbles to review later or create their own symphony. Only experienced vocalists can do this though. (pg. 67)

Merfolk diet consists mostly of shellfish and aquatic vegetation. It appears they don’t eat crab, lobsters, squids, or octopus though and see them as companionable. It’s not explained why they don’t give a fuck about shrimp, because despite those exceptions, they do eat shrimp. (pg. 75)

They have sports and athletic games. Their version of “chicken” is diving into pitch black trenches and the first to quit loses. Another is where they see if they can hitch a ride on an unknowing giant squid. (pg. 76)

The merpeople in Perla’s waters ride elephant seals for sport. With a harness, reins, saddle, the whole shebang. (pg. 150 - 151)

SEA CREATURES & ITEMS

The ring Queen Serina passes down to Eric for his betrothed looks strangely like a “Sapphire Mermaid Ring” that’s described as a pale blue and symbolizes repairing rifts and brokering peace between humans and merfolk. There’s a legend that some humans can look into mermaid sapphires and see into mermaid life underwater. (pg. 11) I have no idea how to take this information, but it’s possible Serina also had no idea what’s been in her family for generations.

There’s a bioluminescent sea dragon that has “glowing, veined wings” that resides in the Abyss layer of the ocean. (pg. 51) I don’t know if this is referencing another disney movie, but there’s an illustration and it’s... straight up a dragon. I might post a picture because it looks cool af. (Note: I don’t believe it’s depicting Sisu’s kind as it has two horns and wings)

Water Nokks (the water horse in Frozen 2) exist in this universe! They’re said to mostly reside in the Saithe Sea/Dark Sea that Princess Karina reigns over. (pg. 123) Does that mean Frozen and TLM2023 exist in the same universe? Who knows!

THE ROYAL FAMILY

Merfolk rulers are trained in combat. (pg. 79)

The royal advisor is usually a “small” sea creature. Sebastian is the current one, but its believed an octopus and/or a seahorse were his predecessors somewhere down the line. (pg. 97)

Tragedy of the Mermaid Queen (pgs. 98 - 99)

Mala used to communicate with humans using Great Crested Terns as a courier service before humans and merpeople were divided. She knows how to write and use to write messages on “scrolls of seaweed”. (pg. 104)

Tamika once wrestled a tiger shark into submission (pg. 112)

In Karina’s waters, her Palace City is underneath a massive iceberg. From our POV, it essentially hangs upside down. (pg. 124)

There’s a legend that Indira once saved her subjects from a “rampaging giant venomous sea snake”. (pg. 128)

Caspia created a river to provide merfolk with easier traveling routes to other kingdoms. Which is ironic as it’s said she’s a homebody and only travels for “all-sea gatherings”. (pg. 136)

Each Sister and their people have their own customs. For example, the way their people greet each other, what they consider rude or pleasant, what they eat, etc. (pgs. 111, 119, 126, 135, 142, 151, 158)

Ariel is already the ruler of her sea (the “Carinae Sea”). This caught my attention because I thought she was just in training for it during the movie, but no, she’s the ruler of that sea. (pg. 152)

The other Sisters all have their own palaces in their oceans. Since Triton’s Great Palace already had its home in Ariel’s sea, she just lives in one of its towers. (pg. 156) 

URSULA

It’s believed that Ursula, as a half human half octopus, is either an extremely rare species or is the only one of her kind. (pg. 163)

There is a 3-part system to most if not all of Ursula’s spells/deals: The Want, the Take, and the Rule to Break. (pg. 170) So for example, for her “Transformation Spell” The Want = wanting to be human, the Take = the merperson’s voice, the Rule to Break = true love’s kiss. Ursula was not exaggerating in the movie when she said Ariel was “almost too easy” as she fit the 3 categories perfectly.

Ursula uses latin for her spells (pg. 171)

NOTABLE LEGENDS / TALES

“Legend of the Dagger Shell” - basically an enemies to lovers about a “hard-bitten and unfeeling” merman and a rude as fuck fisherman. The two fall in love right as the merman is about to kill the fisherman. (pg. 182)

“The Flute of the Deep” - a mix of the Spongebob Jellyfish Jam episode and the Legend of the Pied Piper. Basically there’s believed to be an entire village who’s children went missing after they wronged a mermaid. (pg. 183)

“The Tale of the Great Briny Storm” - a merman in this tale can supposedly hear a human’s thoughts??? It’s not clarified whether all merpeople are telepathic, or if they’re only telepathic towards humans, or if only this one guy has telepathy. But he can hear a human woman’s thoughts on land and they fall in love. (pg. 184)

I have a sneaking suspicion the guy might’ve been a young Triton, given that towards the end of the tale, when the merman and the human woman are forced apart, “the sea sent a great storm to lash shutter and shake cave” and from the Sea King’s chapter, it’s said only he has the ability to summon storms via his trident. I could be wrong though! Just a theory.

“The Tale of a Thousand and One Shipwrecks” - a lot of the boats in the shipwreck graveyard are Ursula’s doing. When two continents’ navies were at war over their waters, she had had enough of their nonsense. She stole her brother’s trident and sunk both factions. (pg. 185)

“The Tale of the Great Sea Flood” - this one was intense. One of the Seven Sisters was kidnapped by humans (I suspect Mala because of the other TLM novel). Triton got big mad, so 1) he caused a tsunami, then 2) the “water took his form” (???) and he lifted roofs and building walls to locate his daughter, and 3) grabbed handfuls of land and pulled them down to the sea as retribution. And this is one of the main reasons why the ocean “steals a bit of land from the shore year after year, as payment for the humans’ treachery”. (pg. 186)

If I’m right that the kidnapped mermaid is Mala, that also means the figurehead at the front of Eric’s ships are inspired by her, since upon seeing the illustration on the page, Eric says as such in his notes. (pg. 187)

QUESTIONABLE BITS

The Conch - there’s a page that explains that merpeople use conch shells to communicate. Eric takes note of this and even says the illustration present reminds him of the one in his collection. (pg. 69) I say this is questionable, because it makes his line in the movie about having no idea a conch shell could be used to make noise, a bit off.

In the illustration for Princess Mala’s ocean, her palace has stairs. (pg. 109) I don’t know why they’d need them though. Maybe just aesthetic?

Eric has already heard about Ariel! The book describes her in detail (illustration and name) and Eric says she reminds him of his mermaid figurine. (pg. 152) It begs to question how he wouldn’t recognize or suspect something was up in the movie. But I suppose it can be argued that seeing something in a book and then meeting the person in real life are two very different things.

And that’s it! This post is entirely self indulgent as I just wanted to share my thoughts on some of the info in the guidebook. If you’ve read all this, I’m glad you found it as interesting as I did!

[sukebandekai]

【動画】ドラえもん、ガチで完成してしまうｗｗｗｗｗ

c_img_param=[‘max’,’6′,’3′,’80’,’normal’,’FFFFFF’,’on’,’sp’,’9′]; //img-c.net/output/site/42.js c_img_param=[‘max’,’3′,’1′,’0′,’list’,’0009FF’,’off’,’pc’,’14’]; //img-c.net/output/site/292.js 1: 以下、名無しにかわりましてネギ速がお送りします 2025/02/22(土) 09:50:56.49 ID:WmmxFx3F0 もうこれ22世紀だろ <source src="https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/1893012630211612672/pu/vid/avc1/1920×1080/afyqm8kcVCor6vRU.mp4&quot; 2:…

[ailtrahq]

BTC Price is tapping a new lifeline this week following a dip that tested $25,000 support on Monday. Despite the Market being in a dilapidated state due to the lack of liquidity, this swipe at the major support challenged investors’ “wait-and-see” stance, with some seeking fresh exposure to the largest crypto, foreseeing gains of at least to $28,000. Will BTC Price Uphold Gains To $28k? bitcoin’s Price sharp bounce from weekly lows around $25,000 not only gained ground above $26,000 but tested the short-term resistance at $26,400 for the second time in September. The uptrend would have continued uninterrupted if it were not for the short-term overbought conditions and resistance posed by the descending trendline. The Stochastic oscillator reveals that BTC Price had to retreat to collect momentum while allowing relatively sidelined investors to buy. Up a mere 0.2% to $25,871, bitcoin is seeking support provided by the 50-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) (red) at $25,844. Keeping this support intact would play a huge role when Bulls are mulling the resumption of the uptrend. BTC/USD four-hour chart | Tradingview There’s a higher probability that the expected gains to $28,000 will be sustained this time, especially with a buy signal coming from the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator. Traders can consider holding onto their long positions as long as the blue MACD line is sitting above the red signal line. This signifies a strong momentum propping bitcoin for more gains. A successful break and hold above the descending is another milestone to look forward to, indicating that the downtrend is over and BTC is easing into a stronger uptrend. Meanwhile, not all analysts are convinced that the downtrend in BTC Price is over. Rekt Capital believes bitcoin completed a double-top pattern earlier this week with the drop to $25,000. This also implies that there is room for another sweep at lower levels, plausibly at $22,000 ahead of the Bull Market. However, the analyst and trader cautions that it is “Worth noting but still very early stages & lots can still change in the meantime.” If BTC?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BTC drops to ~$26000 by mid-September then a Double Top may be forming A breakdown from ~$26000 would validate the DT And a Measured Move for the DT would be ~$22000 Worth noting but still very early stages & lots can still change in the meantime$BTC #Crypto bitcoin?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#bitcoin pic.twitter.com/I4npIDq44f — Rekt Capital (@rektcapital) August 7, 2023 Shrinking Liquidity Still A Challenge Liquidity in the crypto Market has been a major problem since the implosion of FTX and continues to dry up across the board. According to on-chain analytics platform Glassnode, volumes have thinned to historical lows both on-chain and off-chain. “Whilst HODLing remains the Market preference, a significant proportion of the supply is teetering on the edge of falling into a significant unrealized loss.” Liquidity across the digital asset Market continues to dry up, with both on-chain and off-chain volumes reaching historical lows. Whilst HODLing remains the Market preference, a significant proportion of the supply is teetering on the edge of falling into a significant… pic.twitter.com/twInh0OqKf — glassnode (@glassnode) September 11, 2023 The liquidity crunch is likely to be stemming from several factors, including concerns about the regulatory environment, especially in the US. Traders and investors are comfortable with a “wait-and-see” approach, hence the low Trading activity. “Some investors might be hesitant to move their Assets due to the prevalence of volatile Price swings, especially in the cryptocurrency market.” @AzukaDM, a web3 strategist said via X (Twitter). “This reluctance to trade can result in lower liquidity.” Another factor resulting in low liquidity levels could be the growing popularity of DeFi and staking platforms which remove a significant amount of Digital Assets from the circulating supply.

That said, BTC Price needs enough momentum to sustain gains above $26,000 with a break above $28,000 likely to propel the crypto beyond $30,000. On the downside, losing the 425,000 support could trigger another sell-off to $22,000.

[incorrect-cavaliers-quotes]

astallien: this is like that time you, ven'valin and bruneida linked arms around me and started shouting "NIGHTMARE! NIGHTMARE! NIGHTMARE! NIGHTMARE!"

[incorrectaphquote]

canada: [to america, england, and france] every talk i have with you people gets more and more absurd!

france: you say “you people” like you’re not part of the family. well, i’ve got news for you, canada. you’re already on the christmas card.

[kiiboslostahoge]

Heizou Hcs bc I can

Guess who's back with some brainrot? That's right, ya girl

The tkl hcs are below the cut!

So, this guy

Genius man, intuition godly

I actually don't think Heizou likes books or even any media all that much

He just kinda- predicts everything in advance

The same applies to real life

It's why he loves the toughest cases so much, he stimulates his brain while bringing justice

However, this makes him very secluded

He makes friends in a few people like Kazuha and the traveler. At this part, I'd like to pause and move onto...

The tkl hcs.

So yk how he had a sad childhood and he quickly broke things off with one of his only friends, Kano Nana doesn't even know where he is, and he's a hermit?

Yeah, he didn't know whether he was ticklish or not. In fact, his only experience with it was from a scene in a book he'd read as a kid

So one day, he's met up with Kazuha as they discuss the serious arts of diss track haikus, sake resistance, and why Heizou is totally a vy weak nerd(src: trust me bro), Detective man pokes his friend in the ribs

Kazuha yelps and blushes, and Heizou's just very confused.

Kazuha admits that he's ticklish, and in hopes of somehow standing a chance, he asks, "And what about you?"

Needless to say, Heizou's reaction was not what he expected.

Heizou's just pointing to the statistics, explained how the majority of the population is ticklish so he probably is too.

Kazuha then pokes him in the ribs and he just- floats.

Needless to say, they both laughed a lot that day.

So, I'll just say rq that this guy is VERY scary as a ler

But, usually this isn't the case

Itto? He just let's himself get caught bc there's no way that guy's gonna figure his plan out

Kazuha? He could probably win every fight(So could Kazuha if the guy didn't want it too but shh...) but he like getting wrecked too so the fights are kinda 50/50.

Eventually, Kazuha does figure him out tho, to which he responds by pointing out that Kazuha likes it too(very embarrassed abt it tho)

With the traveler on the other hand...

If it's Aether, he wrecks the poor guy from time to time. Eventually, he starts letting Aether get him back

Now, Aether is suspicious, because since when has winning been this easy?

So he confronts Heizou, who is armed with knowledge, is basically just like "Yeah I like it. But so do you lmaoo"

Lumine, on the other hand...

R.I.P Heizou, you will be missed

The poor guy feels like he can't open up about his struggles and/or past bc He should be smart enough to deal with them on his own

Traveler wasn't having any of that bull

(Pls Hoyo give these guys therapy)

So, um, yeah, that's it! Tyy for reading!

[scp-foundation-official]

Hey what does my file actually say?

-@just-mushroom-thoughts

Item #: [REDACTED]

Clearance Level 2: Restricted

Object Class: Euclid

Disruption Class: 3/Keneq

Risk Class: 2/Caution

Special Containment Protocols: All instances of the SCP-⬜⬜⬜⬜ are to be kept in air-tight vessels constructed of impact resistant glass reinforced with 316 stainless steel edges. Samples are not to remain near last used Way unless approved for research by O5 [REDACTED] Site Director [REDACTED]. Transportation of samples is to be supported by the use of Scranton Reality Anchors (SRCs) to prevent sample apportation. In the event of a containment breach, Personnel are to cordon off infected area. Infected areas are to be burned and all persons exposed are to be quarantined for a minimum period of 20 days. Civilians exposed are to be administered amnestics prior to reintegration to civilization. Personnel are advised that paratechnological systems may not function due to SCP-⬜⬜⬜⬜'s anomalous reality anchoring abilities.

Description: SCP-⬜⬜⬜⬜ is an anomalous fungus of extra-dimensional origins. SCP-⬜⬜⬜⬜ has the appearance of a Blue Mycena (Mycena Interrupta), however does luminese in the presence of other anomalous objects (anomaluminescence). SCP-⬜⬜⬜⬜ generally prefers to hide in small colonies amongst non-anomalous Blue Mycena, however in the presence of other anomalous entities it's colonies can grow in size to upwards of 50 acres in area.

First discovered in [REDACTED], Australia, SCP-⬜⬜⬜⬜ the anomaly initiated contact with the Foundation in an attempt to generate a chase between the two entities, however (now Lead Researcher) Dr. [REDACTED] was able to narrow down the anomalies travel pattern and MTF [REDACTED] contained the last known contaminants shortly thereafter.

The anomaly has unique antithaumatologic and reality anchoring properties, being capable of disabling anomalous properties of other entities it interacts with. Further research is required into the full extent of these abilities. When in the presence of other anomalous object SCP-⬜⬜⬜⬜ emits a light blue light from its hymenium. this light is partially comprised of Elan-Vital Energy, however, as Junior Researcher Liam [REDACTED] notes, this does not fully account for the energy required to produce the light given off by SCP-⬜⬜⬜⬜. This extra energy released by the object in the presence of anomalous entities is being called anomaluminescence by Foundation scientists. Further research is research is required into SCP-⬜⬜⬜⬜ anomaluminescent properties, as well as additional byproducts of the objects reality anchoring properties.

SCP-⬜⬜⬜⬜ has displayed high levels of sentience, having even been able to conduct interviews with Foundation scientists. Through these interviews Lead Researcher Dr. [REDACTED] has concluded that the entity has no intention to harm other life-forms or realities, however, due to unknown side-effects of its other anomalous abilities, cannot be sure that it will not do so unintentionally.

The anomaly has shown to possess apportation abilities, however SCP-⬜⬜⬜⬜ has only shown such abilities to be possible near Ways located at [REDACTED] (Australia), [REDACTED] (New Zealand), [DATA EXPUNGED] (New Caledonia), and [REDACTED] (Chile). Due to time differentials during apportation events and lack of effect of Xyank-Anastasakos Constant Temporal Sink devices, it is believed that SCP-⬜⬜⬜⬜ possesses the ability to travel to an alternate dimension to facilitate this travel . The use of SRCs has been shown to suppress this ability, however, due to a high Hume count with larger samples, is not always 100% effective.

[smhalltheurlsaretaken]

First I gotta say that I love you and your work, it's incredible and I enjoy every post✨

My brother said that Qui-Gon and Luke are grey jedi and that Luke has a red lightsaber as backup or something like that. And I'm looking at him with mad side eye and just wanted to ask your opinion on it?

❤️❤️❤️ Aaaaaw, so sweet!!!!

... Wait, Luke has a red lightsaber? *furious typing* Ah, yes. It’s in like three Legends books, and therefore worthless. 

Just kidding - but here lies the first problem. What continuity is your brother even working with? Because you cannot - and I will die on this hill even though it’s just basic common sense, cannot - attempt to reconcile the Legends EU and Lucas’ vision for Star Wars into one cohesive universe. The characters don’t work, the themes don’t work, the timelines don’t work, the ideas don’t work. 

Here is a bit of an explanation on why I believe that to be the case, and the quotes backing it up, but basically, Lucas, Filoni and LucasFilms all confirmed that the extended universe was not to be considered on par with the movies and TCW in any way. I’m not saying this to criticize the EU itself, or to say people don’t have a right to find it immensely entertaining/meaningful. I’m saying this to explain why you cannot take pieces of the EU (yes, even the old EU) to try and contextualize the movies - unless Lucas/somebody on the creative team of a piece of ‘higher’ canon expressly admitted to having taken something directly out of Legends.

Now, is there such a thing as a “Grey Jedi” in the movies, or TCW? No, there isn’t, but we’ll come back to that. 

The second problem is the very definition of Grey Jedi. Depending on who you ask, what decades-old Legends book you go on from, Grey Jedi are either individuals capable of using both the Dark and the Light, or simply rogue Jedi. 

Breaking it down case by case: I - Are Luke or Qui-Gon rogue Jedi? II - Do Luke or Qui-Gon use both the Light and the Dark?

I (A) - Qui-Gon is characterized as a bit of maverick, but he is by no means a complete outlier to the Jedi. I’ll just drop these two very interesting posts here and here that are a bit off-topic but make some great points about Qui-Gon loving the Order and definitely identifying as part of it.  We get many, many instances of the Council itself approving of him. They overrule Yoda’s vote to not have Anakin trained, they still assign Qui-Gon very important missions like the one to Naboo, and they don’t pull him out of said missions when Qui-Gon shows up with a random kid he claims to be the incarnation of the Force itself. That is indicative of a high degree of trust, to say the least - so you can say that he is ‘rogue’ in the sense that he used to eff off to wherever to do his own stuff, but he never claimed to be anything other than a Jedi, he never left the Jedi, and he never criticized the Order in the movies or TCW (yes, you can check - he never once directly says anything about them being wrong for not doing things his way; just that he will do what he feels he must.)

"Tu-Anh was something of a maverick. Much like my own master, Qui-Gon Jinn. She would disappear for long periods, conducting rogue investigations. Her activities often unknown to even the Council." ―Obi-Wan Kenobi, to Jen June on Tu-Ahn[src]   

So yeah, rogue somewhat, but still a Jedi Master, trusted to the point that they would have had him on the Council had he chilled a bit. 

He also never does anything in the movies that sets him apart as oh-so-different from his fellow Jedi. Arguing with the Council? Everybody does that. Anakin does, Obi-Wan does, Yoda does, Ahsoka does, the younglings do - they argue with Obi-Wan in the Ilum arc. Being compassionate/nice to people? Check out the Disappeared, two entire episodes that have Mace befriending Jar Jar Binks. Here’s a list of instances of the Council being incredibly nice. Here, here and here is Mace being kind and compassionate. Qui-Gon liking Anakin? Here’s the Council and Anakin bantering. Here’s Yoda caring about Anakin. 

Again, Qui-Gon wanted Anakin trained as a Jedi, and trusted his straight(er)-laced Jedi Padawan with it in the end. There is nothing in the movies or the show saying Qui-Gon was completely separate from the Order, or in radical opposition to them.

I (B) - Luke is the Order reborn, so he cannot be rogue, as the only thing he can measure himself against is himself. There is no longer a standard to be rogue in comparison to. Considering the state of the galaxy when he becomes a Jedi, Luke simply cannot function in the same way the Jedi who came before him did, but that doesn’t say anything about a rejection of the values of the PT Order. What it means to be a Jedi - being kind and compassionate, being in control of yourself, seeking peace before violence - is embodied by Luke. Furthermore, Luke loves Yoda and Obi-Wan - the quintessential Jedi characters - deeply, and finds much of his identity in being a Jedi. 

“I am a Jedi, like my father before me” would be a really weird line if Luke actually meant “but like, not a Jedi like those Jedi. I’m a me-Jedi. A not-like-them-Jedi.”

I can’t make this into a Luke meta, because it’d be too long, but I don’t get the idea that Luke could represent a rogue Jedi when, at the time of his creation, he was the one and only embodiment of an active Jedi Knight we got to see. Like, what were we supposed to compare him to to determine he was rogue/doing things ‘better’? 

Luke’s story is about becoming a Jedi and getting his father to become a Jedi again as well. That story makes little narrative sense if he’s supposed to be defined in opposition to the rest of the Jedi (that, at this point in time, we didn’t know) as instead of being defined as one. 

And again, the Jedi of old display just as much compassion and kindness as Qui-Gon or Luke.

-

II - No, Luke and Qui-Gon don’t use both the Dark Side and the Light, because that’s literally not how the Force works - and don’t take my word for it: here’s Lucas explaining it in details. You don’t get to do both. The Dark is selfishness. You can’t be selfish and selfless and the same time. You can’t crave power and holding innocent people’s lives as more important than even your own.

The words “light side” were never uttered in the movies and only really appear in the Mortis arc, and I dare anyone to claim they truly understand everything about it beyond “it’s a microcosm of the Galaxy/the whole Star Wars saga.” The Jedi never claim adherence to a “light side,” they say they seek balance. The idea that balance is 50% evil and 50% good is baffling to me and I blame the SWTOR video games and their in-game mechanics. (Look, if I pour 50% poison into my sugar when I’m making a cake, everybody is still dead in the end. And if I slaughter only half of the people I’ve got it for and forgive the other half, I’m still creating that many circles of hatred and revenge.)

-

Finally - if Luke or Qui-Gon were meant to be “Grey Jedi” Lucas would have called them that. It’s not the case. It’s not anywhere in the movies or TCW, hence, it’s not what he intended. They can be interpreted this way, but it’s still not what the movies where trying to say. 

[kaminobiwan]

empathy

pairing: fives x reader

summary: after the citadel, you catch him in a rare moment of vulnerability. (it’s sad i’m sorry)

a/n: the next installment of my milestone celebration! the prompt that spurred this was literally “tucking someone in bed” and I went and made it into this pain train asdlk;f anon I hope you like it still. also, this gorgeous gif was thanks to @obiwankenobiness thank you, angel, the world continues to be in your debt!

lastly, here is my taglist form. forgive me for the feels to come

You get the call just as you’re about to turn on your holoscreen to binge the latest net drama.

You don’t recognize the contact, but accept the holo regardless. A group of your friends had gone out tonight, begging you to come with them, but you’d declined in favor of a relaxing night in, telling them to let you know if they needed anything.

Maybe their comlinks had died.

Unsurprisingly, it’s a bartender from 79’s, the one your girlfriend is hooking up with. You’re about to ask if he needs help with her drunk antics when he rushes out an apology.

“Hey, sorry to bother you, but you’d better get here. We need your help.”

Your forehead furrows in concern. This doesn’t sound good. “Is everything okay with — ”

“Yeah, yeah, she’s fine. Well, she’s drunk off her ass, but I’m not talking about her. It’s Fives.”

Your eyebrows shoot up higher, curiosity piquing. “Fives?”

The handsome soldier had been off-world for a couple weeks now, and you hadn’t realized he’d returned to Coruscant. It’s not like you were together or anything, but he did tend to hit you up whenever he came home. Your friends were consistently egging you to “make it an item,” but you’d stubbornly refused. Fives wasn’t the problem, but whatever it was between you was a frustrating mystery and you weren’t going to be the one to clear it up.

If only your courage was stronger than your ego.

“He’s fucked up,” Your friend’s boy-toy explains. “And I don’t see any of his usual mates around. I didn’t know who else to call.”

You sigh, already reaching for warmer clothes as you drop the blanket that had cocooned you until now. “It’s okay. I’ll be there in a second.”

—————

By the time you reach the bar, Fives isn’t alone — another clone, bald and clad in yellow-streaked armor, is hunched over him while trying to wrestle another shot out of the ARC trooper’s hands.

“Fives?”

The two of them jump up at the same time almost comically, and a shred of amusement pulls at your lips. The bald clone blinks at you, uncertain as to who you are, but Fives erupts with enthusiasm and calls to you. Deafeningly.

“There she is!” He all but shouts, and while his companion is distracted, he gulps down the drink before anyone can stop him. “Isn’t she gorgeous, Waxer?”

Blood rushes to your face as Waxer shakes off his stupor. You approach them fully, taking in the empty bottles littering the counter. “Did you ask for me?”

Fives burps, and both you and Waxer jerk back immediately. “Said your name once or twice, you know how it is.” You didn’t, actually, but you let him continue. It’s like watching a holo on a five-second delay, his eyes turning questioning as he turns to you in slow motion. “Come to think of it, m’pretty sure I didn’t drunk call you. What’re you doing here?”

You can’t help it, but as much as you don't want to, the way he cuts himself off makes you to wonder if he had meant without me?

“Bartender commed me,” you explain, more to his friend than him. “I didn’t know you were on leave.”

His rowdiness calms a tad, and you squint at him as the smile drops off his face. “Just got back.”

“He’s pretty drunk,” Waxer speaks up, and you step forward to help him carry Fives so that both of you have an arm around each of your shoulders. “I just called a cab for him, but he’s saying he won’t go anywhere.”

As the three of you stumble towards the exit, you struggling much more than Waxer under the weight, you incline your head in understanding. “I can take him back to my place. Assuming he doesn’t have to be anywhere?”

You receive a shake of a head in answer, and an air taxi pulls up in front of your group, right on cue. “Appreciate it.” Waxer forces Fives to lean against the speeder while he opens the door. “Didn’t know Fives had a girlfriend.”

For the second time in less than ten minutes, your face heats indignantly. You shoot a quick prayer to the Maker Fives is too intoxicated to chime in. Thankfully, he’s resting his head on the roof of the taxi, seemingly enjoying the cool sensation. “I’m not his girlfriend.”

Waxer looks at you doubtfully, but says nothing. He pays the driver in advance as you commend him gratefully, but he only shrugs at you. “You’re taking the hard part. He’ll be a bitch to take care of in a couple hours, trust me.”

You murmur a sound of agreement, and go to push Fives’ limp body inside, but his arm grabs the open door and stops you from moving him further. He raises his head enough to peer at his fellow trooper, Waxer shifting uncomfortably.

“Waxer,” Fives rasps, “I’m sorry about Longshot. And the rest of ‘em.”

The other clone winces visibly, but nods in response before you manage to slide Fives into the taxi.

—————

Getting Fives out of the cab and into your apartment is a series of multiple unfortunate events, but eventually you make it. Once you’ve shut the door and locked it, you dump Fives onto your bed where your pillows are still arranged in perfect nest formation.

He’s sobered up a little, but by the way he hasn’t spoken since the bar, you’re still unconvinced to his level of sentience. As you help him with his armor, you probe him cautiously. “Rough mission?”

His face flashes with malcontent, but you’re not sure if it’s from the awkward way you pull off his pauldron or your question.

“Sorry.”

“S’okay.” Fives shakes his head quickly, then seems to regret it as his hand flies up to press against his forehead. “It was a rough mission.”

You stop in your movements, looking at him with regret. He doesn’t really talk about the war with you. Why would he, when it takes up every other facet of his life?

Before you can tell him he doesn’t have to say anything, he’s speaking again. “‘Lotta clones died.”

A thrum of contriteness reverberates in your mind, but you take his admission as an opening. Treading cautiously, you ask, “Longshot. Was he your friend?”

Fives shakes his head again, slower this time. “Well, yeah, but he’s part of the 212th. Was. We weren’t that close.”

Silence consumes the next few moments before you press on. “You lost someone close to you.”

His lack of a reaction clues you in to the accuracy of your statement, and your face twists ruefully. He waits a couple minutes, then mutters again after a few deep breaths.”

“Echo. My twin.”

“Your...?” You don’t mean to be so obvious, but your face scrunches in confusion. It wasn’t like you were an expert on biology, but you were pretty sure you knew how cloning worked. “Aren’t you all — ”

“Right, no, sorry.” Fives drags a hand down his face tiredly, and you feel bad for asking. Some job of cheering him up you were doing. “He was my squadmate. Domino Squad. It was just the two of us left.” His voice trails off, and you let him work through his silence with a sympathetic hand on his knee. For a moment, he smiles wistfully, but the look extinguishes as he’s reminded of something. “Thing is, he was the good one between us. Knew all the reg manuals by heart, had a perfect plan for everything. Always thought that out of everyone, he’d be the one to survive. That when I’d go out…” he pauses. “He’d be there with me.”

A shaky breath escapes him.

“But now he’s gone. And I’m it. The last Domino.”

His face is set in grim resignation, and your chest aches for him. You can’t imagine the pain he’s feeling — not just from the loss of his brother, but the from trauma of war that practically radiates off of him. You wonder, for a brief moment, how you’d never noticed, but soon enough it dawns on you. His usual swagger, flirtatious and carefree, was a fantastic front. It had hidden the depths of his suffering from everyone this far, but now you were finally seeing the curtain drop. And the Fives underneath it was, well.

Fives was heartbroken.

Your brain is screaming at you to do something — comfort him, hug him, anything to wipe the dull pain off his expression, but he lays his hand in his hands before you can. He gives a small groan. “Think m’feeling that hangover already.”

That spurs you to jump up and grab a cup of water for him from the kitchenette, glad to at least be of some service. When you give it to him, he takes it without looking at you, neck bowed in what seems like embarrassment — you’re not completely sure. It’s not like you’d ever seen anything close to embarrassment on Fives prior to this.

“Sorry for...all this.” He croaks out a wry laugh, but you can tell there’s no humor behind it. It’s so strange to hear, when his normal one is loud and boisterous. He’d always been the one to light up the room. “Didn’t mean to dump all that on you.”

“Fives.” You crouch next to him on the bed again, inching closer. “You have nothing to be sorry for.” The cup returns to your hand, and you place it on the table without breaking eye contact. “I’m only sorry I can’t help more.”

“You help plenty, sweetheart, with that pretty face of yours,” he tries, but you see completely through his attempt at brushing everything off. You reach out gently, exuding as much care as you can without a word.

“Fives…” He lets you touch him, pulling his head gradually to you to hold him against your chest. He freezes for a simple second, but immediately slumps in your embrace afterwards, leaning fully into you. You feel his breath falter, but his arms rest contentedly around your waist as you register just how tired he seems.

Guiding him delicately to lay down, you free one hand to pull up a cover over him. Just as you’re about to extract yourself from his hold, he spreads a beseeching hand at the small of your back. You catch his gaze, pleading and vulnerable.

“Stay. Can you…” he hiccups between his words. “It’ll help if you’re here.”

You stare at him tentatively, but eventually nod. “Sure, Fives.”

It’s only a couple minutes until you’ve changed and returned to bed, and when you slip under the covers next to him, his lids are already half closed. You brush a stray eyelash from his cheek, and lay your palm there as his eyes droop slowly. This look is new, too, but it’s a tender one as you see the strain ebb from his body for the first time in front of you. As he falls asleep, you lift yourself up to press a feather-light kiss to his temple, just below his tattoo.

If he remembers it in the morning, he doesn’t let it show.

[sukebandekai]

【動画】モータースポーツの観客、レベチｗｗｗｗｗｗ

c_img_param=[‘max’,’6′,’3′,’80’,’normal’,’FFFFFF’,’on’,’sp’,’9′]; //img-c.net/output/site/42.js c_img_param=[‘max’,’3′,’1′,’0′,’list’,’0009FF’,’off’,’pc’,’14’]; //img-c.net/output/site/292.js 1: 以下、名無しにかわりましてネギ速がお送りします 2025/02/13(木) 14:50:55.47 ID:wQaEu0v50 <source src="https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/1889454842697097216/vid/avc1/640×360/_VnkQXtYBemZBfxC.mp4&quot; 3:…

[ailtrahq]

Assessing the possibility of sell pressure resurgence as bitcoin forms death cross. bitcoin whales have been contributing to BTC’s dormancy and downside but have recently eased off sell pressure. bitcoin is currently in one of its longest crypto winters, which is expected to end sometime soon. So far we have seen some signs that the current bear Market could be approaching its tail end. Read bitcoin’s [BTC] Price prediction 2023-24 bitcoin’s current performance is a stark contrast compared to its performance 12 months ago. In fact, one could argue that bitcoin might be at the early stages of its next Bull Market considering its current premium. Perhaps even more convincing is the observation that bitcoin addresses have been growing at a Rate of around 527,000 addresses per day. As bitcoin?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="nofollow external noopener noreferrer">#bitcoin continues to fluctuate around $26,000, an interesting trend emerges. Around 527,000 new $BTC addresses are being created daily, representing a new yearly high! For those unfamiliar, this suggests more people are showing Interest in BTC?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="nofollow external noopener noreferrer">#BTC, even if its Price has seen… pic.twitter.com/7O0NcoJjMz — Ali (@ali_charts) September 8, 2023 The above address growth underscores the return of confidence in the Market and its growing demand. This is arguably a healthy sign for bitcoin’s long-term outlook. But does it mean that the worst is over? bitcoin’s death cross pattern in the making Past events that have triggered a Market crash often catch the Market by surprise. We might thus not know when a black swan event is bound to occur. Nevertheless, there are instances where the Market offers some degree of predictability. One such instance is when bitcoin forms a death cross where the 50-day moving average crosses below the 200-day moving average. bitcoin, at the time of writing, was close to forming a death cross. This could trigger a resurgence of short-term sell pressure. The Cryptocurrency has been struggling to Secure momentum to exit its current level. The death cross pattern could usher in capitulation and possibly lead to Price slippage below the $25,000 Price level. The extent of the outcome will depend on the amount of selling pressure. Source: TradingView Perhaps an assessment of whale activity would offer more insights into what to expect. Whales often have foresight over Market events and hence, make moves before the rest of the Market catches up. In the last four weeks, considerable outflows were observed from whale addresses holding over 1,000 BTC. Is your Portfolio green? Check out the bitcoin Profit Calculator bitcoin addresses in the 1,000 and 10,000 BTC and above range are currently within their monthly range. Those in the 10,000 BTC and above bracket have leveled out at a three-month low. However, addresses holding at least 1,000 BTC were still at a premium as compared to their three-month lows. Source: Glassnode The fact that whales are currently not offloading more coins as the death cross is forming could be a good sign. Perhaps an indicator that the expected downside may not be as severe. Nevertheless, caution is still the word of the day especially now that the FED’s next Interest rate reversal draws near.

[incorrectaphquote]

ENGLAND: [speaking about France] He fights like a toddler. And I’ve beaten plenty of toddlers in fights.

[trainingvoluptuousxipu401]

You, Me And Microsoft Certification Exam Questions: The Truth

Microsoft was among the https://www.testpreptraining.com/analyzing-data-with-microsoft-power-bi-da-100-exam very first suppliers to introduce IT accreditations. Back in the day, there was MCP-- Microsoft Certified Professional. You only had to pass one exam to get a certificate, and it was even sent by mail to you in a great envelope!

Then people turned their attention to Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate (MCSA), Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer (MCSD), and Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE) courses. Depending on the version of the examination, you were asked to pass up to 7 tests to get a certificate. Microsoft has retired the majority of these certificates, focusing instead on role-based training and cloud certificates.

Why the Cloud?

It is practically particular that in the coming years increasingly more companies will move their assets and services to the cloud. Gartner, a leading research and advisory business, anticipates that end users will spend $304.9 billion in 2021 on cloud services, 15% more than in 2020! We will require a great deal of highly certified engineers to develop, implement, and preserve all these options.

Microsoft is among the leaders in cloud options, with hundreds of products based around Azure and Office, and the average income growth of Azure services is 50% per quarter.

For nearly all paths to accreditation, Microsoft advises beginning with the AZ-900 examination: Azure Fundamentals. With this test, you will show you know all the basics around cloud services, management tools, and cloud network security features.

microsoft certification

If you want to https://en.search.wordpress.com/?src=organic&q=Microsoft Certification end up being an Azure Administrator, you should take the AZ-104 test: Azure Administrator Associate. It is a more hands-on path concentrating on setting up, handling, and keeping track of cloud resources.

If you invest more time coding applications, Microsoft has a lot to provide you too. You can end up being additional hints an Azure Developer Associate by taking one test: AZ-204. You can continue this course and end up being a DevOps Expert by passing the following examination: AZ-400: Designing and Implementing Microsoft DevOps Solutions.

Here is a video presenting the Microsoft accreditations for Azure:

Let's talk about Microsoft 365

One of the most popular courses is Modern Desktop Administrator Associate. Rather a couple of chapters talk about Microsoft Azure. You require to pass 2 exams here: MD-100 and MD-101.

If you are more thinking about the security side of IT, you need to think about earning the Microsoft 365: Security Administrator Associate certificate by passing the MS-500 exam. When again, the focus is on Microsoft Azure: Azure Active Directory with emphasis on identity management and compliance. You are expected to have a very good understanding of cloud services, security ideas, and support tools prior to attempting this exam. You need to have at least a couple of years of real-world experience around IT services.

microsoft certification course

OK, however ... how can I prepare?

Fortunately is that Microsoft offers a great deal of Azure tools free of charge and even some credits to try out advanced functions and services. It is inadequate to read a book or enjoy an online course. All these tests need you to have some hands-on experience. And do not ignore practice tests: properly designed concerns with in-depth descriptions permit you to check on your development, examine your level, and make certain you are all set to take the real examination.

You take an exam to improve your CV and to get some experience at the very same time. You are going to spend numerous hours getting prepared for a Microsoft test, and any business will value your effort and the knowledge that certificate represents, even if it ends or is replaced with another one.

Of course, however, it makes sense to update your certificates and focus on brand-new courses. Sign up with in now by passing one or more Microsoft examinations and see how your LinkedIn profile enhances!

6 ideas for passing Microsoft certification examinations

1. Develop a research study regimen.

Offer yourself some structure when it concerns studying, and prioritize your research study time. If you do not, it'll be way too easy to hesitate or disregard what you need to do.

2. Evaluation the subjects covered on the examination.

Microsoft publishes the examination descriptions for all their exams and lists their goals. Each sub-objective will likewise have a set of skills that you're going to be evaluated on, so review this page as much as possible till you're comfortable with all the topics.

3. Bear in mind while studying.

"If in doubt, write it out." Write down every technical information you see while studying for any Microsoft Certification exam.

4. Practice utilizing the technology.

Hands-on experience will be indispensable as you take the exam. Instead of attempting to address concerns about a theoretical practice you've just check out, you'll have real-life understanding of what a job does.

5. Take practice tests.

Among the most important things you can do to prepare for your final examination is take practice examinations initially. Treat the practice tests like genuine tests so that you comprehend what your method must be when the special day comes. Expect to fail your very first practice exam. Afterwards, go through each incorrect answer to identify your locations of weak point. Find Microsoft's main practice tests here.

6. Relax on test day.

When it's time for the test, the best thing you can do is unwind, understanding that you've prepared to the best of your capability. While you need to take every question seriously, entering into the examination stressed and overwhelmed will increase your possibility of failure. Excellence is not the objective; completion is. Let yourself off the hook by comprehending that it's alright to miss a question, or sometimes guess or get puzzled by a question's wording. You can always retake the test if needed.

What if I don't pass? Never ever quit! These are not easy tests. If they were, they would not be so valuable to have. Attempt again, go through some practice concerns, and book another slot. Passing an IT test is a discovering path, so each time you take it, it will be a little much easier. All the best with your research studies!

[ineffablefool]

How to center and nice-size an image in an AO3 fic using a work skin

Maybe someone can use this?  In my fic for the DIWS Good Omens Mini Bang, I embedded some images from my wonderful illustrator.  The centered images will never be wider than the text, no matter the screen size, but they also are never stretched larger than their native size (I resized ‘em to 800px wide in my trusty paint program for faster downloading). Here’s how one looks on my giant monitor and on my phone screen:

If you have never done AO3 skins before then I promise they are not actually scary!  You have the option of doing relatively complicated things with them, but this thing is simple.

Anyway this is how I center my images.

Step one: make a skin.

In your AO3 dashboard, click “Skins” in the menu (left or top of page, depending on if you’re on a big or small screen).  This takes you to the Site Skins page, which are for if you want to make all of AO3 look different to just you.  You want a Work Skin, though, which makes your fic look different to everyone, so click My Work Skins.

Click Create Work Skin in the top right and you’ll get an editor that’s similar to when you’re posting a fic!  You only need to set two things.  One, give it a title that makes sense to you (the title won’t be visible to people reading your fic).  Two, paste some stuff into the big “CSS” box.

This is the stuff to paste:

.centered {  margin-left: auto;  margin-right: auto;  text-align: center; }

.centered img {  max-width: 100% !important; }

That was the stuff to paste!  Just toss both of those two blobs in the big editor and click Submit.  Now you have a skin!

Step two: use the skin in your work.

Open up the work you want to do this in.  Find the Select Work Skin box (just under the Choose A Language box) and select the skin you just made.  Yay!  Sorry, the Homestuck and Undertale ones are just there for everyone and that’s how it is.  (Nothing against Homestuck or Undertale.  I just don’t like unneeded entries in lists.)

Step three: center your image.

This is the most complicated bit, only because I can’t give you an exact thing to copy-paste.  But I can give you a basic template!  Don’t try to paste this into Word or a similar word processing program.  The quote marks could get turned into “smart quotes” (like the ones I typed there, just now -- see how the opening and closing quotes are different from each other?).  If you need to save it off for later, Notepad or another very simple plain-text editor will be perfect, because it will keep the quotes as not smart quotes.

Find the spot in your AO3 work where you want the centered image to be.  It would be between two blocks of text which are wrapped with <p> tags, so something like this...

Into that space, you’re gonna hit Enter a couple of times (which I’ve already done in the screenshot) and then paste this block:

<p class="centered">  <img src="BANANA" alt="ORANGE" /> </p>

That was the block to paste.  Before you’re done, you need to change two things!

BANANA goes away.  Inside the quote marks where BANANA used to be, you need to put the URL of your image.  This URL must start with http or https (preferably https), or else it won’t work.  I can’t give specific instructions on how to get this, because it depends on where the image is hosted!  If it’s only on your computer, or attached to an email, it can’t be embedded.  It has to have been put somewhere on the web, like Flickr, Photobucket, or Google Drive.  It will work to embed from Tumblr, but I don’t trust Tumblr not to change everything up and bork all the old image URLs, thus breaking your embedded images on an arbitrary date in the future.  (Any image host could theoretically do this, but -- well.  We’re all familiar with Tumblr, right?)

ORANGE also goes away.  Inside the quote marks where ORANGE used to be, you optionally can (I recommend you do!) put a brief (200 characters or fewer) description of the image.  This is text which is invisible when viewing your fic in a normal browser -- it’s there for screen reader technologies, used by people who are blind or otherwise have trouble seeing a screen.  Their screen reader software will literally read out to them, so that they can hear it with their human ears, the description you put here.  Don’t start it with “image of” or “picture of”, because the screen reader tells the human that it’s an image already.  Here is a pretty user-friendly guide on how to write alt text!  If you’re more technically-inclined, the W3C has more involved docs.  Remember, the screen reader is going to say out loud whatever you put here, so don’t make it super long, or else you’ll force people who are using screen readers to wait through the long description for your story to continue. 

A finished version of the banana/orange block might look like this:

<p class="centered">  <img src="https://www.my-nifty-example-website.com/prettypicture.jpg" alt="Two dogs having a tea party wearing fancy hats" /> </p>

Step four: do it again if needed.

If you have more images to center in the same work, just repeat step 3 for each!  Step 2 has to be done once per work.  Step 1 might be done once ever (and then you just keep pulling that same skin into many works), or you might do it multiple times (if you want other changes in the skin that are special to only this one work).  I do a different skin every time I have a fic that needs a skin, but that’s because I do extra fancy things that are different for each fic.

You never have to do either step 1 or step 2 more than once per work, even if it’s multi-chapter.  In future chapters of the same fic, just do step 3 again.

Step five: preview and/or temporary draft is your friend

I am an IT professional with a (technically expired but work with me here) Microsoft certification in HTML5/CSS and seven years of writing this stuff for pay under my belt.  Even I don’t post without previewing.  Preview and saving as a draft without publishing are both your friends.

Some fun(?) notes

What you are doing here is using cascading style sheets.  The AO3 skin is a very simple stylesheet, which is a series of rules that your readers’ browsers will use to apply to text in your story.  There are standards that all your normal sort of browsers (Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Edge, Opera...) are supposed to follow when they see these rules, so that no matter which browser someone uses, a webpage will look as similar as possible.

A skin created from the above steps defines a class named “centered” and tells the browser how “centered” should look.  Then, in your fic, if you apply the class named “centered” to something in the big editor -- like, say, the <p>aragraph tag that wraps around your image -- then the style from your skin will be applied. 

The magic of cascading style sheets is that you can define your class exactly once and then use it many times.  If you decide you want to change all the places you used it -- maybe you want every centered image in your 87-chapters-long heavily-illustrated fic to have a green border? -- you have to change exactly one place: your skin.  The change will bubble down to every single place you used it.

Skins do not allow all the features of true CSS (no media queries; I am sad), and you can’t put comments in your skin (the editor strips them out).  Browser-specific overrides also do not work (if you don’t know what this means, that’s okay, you have to go to extra work to try to use them in the first place).  But they’re still pretty cool.

A lot of people will just put <center> tags around their thing, and use width=“100%” or some other number, but that is technically not standard HTML, hasn’t been for a very long time, and sooner or later Chrome is going to get clever and stop respecting it.  (Google’s developers like to make Chrome very clever and change how it does things just because they feel like it.  It makes my day job rather more difficult.  Ask me about SameSite cookies!! Actually, don’t.  Never ask me about that thing.)

For portrait-oriented illustrations -- taller than they are wide -- I like to float the image to the right of the text and have it take up no more than 50% of the width of the screen (as seen near the end of this chapter).  But that is a more complicated thing than this one, and I am keeping it simple today.  Maybe I’ll show how to do the nice floaty at some point.

For any-oriented illustrations, you could have a small resized version which links out to a larger version as a click-to-zoom thing.  That is also a little more complicated, so it isn’t in this post.

Questions and clarifications welcome.

That is how to center and nice-size an image in an AO3 fic using a work skin!  I hope you are having a good day.

[blackwell-academys-airdrop]

There were lots of terrible decisions made in LIS BTS but you know what ticked me off the most? The stars scene at the start of the third episode.

After Chloe turns on the star projector, Rachel makes a comment about how the light from stars is beautiful, but they’re so far away that by the time we see them, the stars have died.

That is a FALSEHOOD and I am HIGHLY disappointed with the writers.

The nearest star to Earth (excluding the Sun) is Alpha Centauri, which is approximately 4 light-years away (src). In other words, the light that we see from that star is only 4 years old. Other stars are comparable; I’d guess that most stars visible in the night sky are around 50-500 light years away. The furthest star visible with the naked eye is V762 Cassiopeiae, which is about 16,300 light-years away (src). The brightest stars, the ones that people can most reliably pick out even in skies with light pollution, tend to be the closer ones, since the further a star is away, the less likely its light is to reach Earth and the more likely that it’ll be blocked by something else.

Stars have a lifespan of several billion years. Our Sun is around 4.6 billion years old, and it’s predicted to live around 4.5 billion more years before it leaves the main sequence stage and becomes a red giant (src). Even then, it’ll continue to emit light.

In other words, the stars that you can see in the night sky are, most likely (one exception is the supergiant Betelgeuse), not dead, and likely won’t be until long after human civilization has ground to a halt.

This post brought to you by my extremely pedantic mindset and my long-lived fascination with space.