#I started up on amazon! I have a lot of actual art there though. this is the only cosplay shirt i have up there so far

[dduane]

I just received a copy of a book I've been very much looking forward to by a favorite author, but the quality of the book itself is... not great. Cheap paper, weak binding, even a weird illustration of the main character on the cover that I'm having trouble believing the author approved. Obviously, I don't want to leave a bad review on Amazon or GoodReads or anywhere, as I'm 100% certain the content is as excellent as her other work. But how can I best let the publisher (Baen) know I'm disappointed without threatening to never buy her books again? Because, well, if this is the only option, I'm gonna keep buying them even in my disappointment.

Well, the first thing I thought when I read this was "Wow, I'm really glad I don't have anything in print from Baen at the moment except a couple of anthologized short stories." :)

As for the rest of it, let's take it point by point.

Adding a cut here, because this will run a bit long. Caution: contains auctorial bitching and moaning, painful illustrations of cases in point, and brief advice on how to complain most effectively. (Also links to paintings of cats.)

Cheap paper: This has been an accurate complaint since well before COVID—and it's often been worse since, with supply chain issues also being involved. That said: one way publishers routinely save money on printing books, especially the bigger ones, is by going for thinner/cheaper paper. I remember one of our UK editors going on at great length and with huge annoyance—during one of those late-night convention-bar bitch sessions—over how the only way they could get some really good books published (because Upstairs insisted on reducing the per-copy production costs) was by reducing the paper quality to the point where you could nearly read through it. Sacrificing decent text size(s) also became part of this. Nobody in editorial was happy about the result: but there wasn't much they could do.

Bad bindings: Similar problem. Sewn bindings used to be a thing in paperbacks... but not any more: not for a good while, now. These days, it's all glue. Even hardcovers are showing up glued rather than sewn. Don't get me started. :/ (This is why I so treasure some of the oldest paperbacks I've acquired, which are actually sewn.)

Crap covers: I've had my share of these—though my share of some really good ones, too. And one of the endless frustrations of traditional publishing is that the writer routinely has little or even no influence over what the cover will look like... let alone how much will be spent on it, or (an often-related issue) how good the execution will be.

There are of course exceptions. If you're working at the, well, @neil-gaiman -esque level or similar in publishing, a lot more attention is going to be paid to your thoughts. You may even be able to get "cover veto" written into your contracts, so that if you disapprove, changes will get made. But without actual contractual stipulations, the writer has zero legal recourse or way to withhold approval. (And I bet even Neil has some horror stories.)

The normal workflow looks like this. After a book's purchased, its editor and the art director discuss what it's about and what the cover should look like. The art director then hires an artist and tells them what to do. After that, the artist executes their vision and gets paid. It is incredibly rare for a writer to have any significant input into this process. And as to whether or not they approve of the final result, well... the publisher mostly just shrugs and goes back to eyeing the bottom line, muttering "Who told them they get a vote?"

Now, I've been seriously lucky to occasionally be an exception in this regard. In particular, my editors at Harcourt (when Jane Yolen and Michael Stearns were editing Harcourt's Magic Carpet YA imprint) would ask me what I thought would be a good idea for the next Young Wizards cover, and I'd think about it a bit and send them back a paragraph or so about some core scene. They'd then talk to their art director, and after that send their notes and mine to Cliff Nielsen (who started doing the covers for the hardcover and mass-market paperback editions of the series in the mid-90s) or to Greg Swearingen (who was the artist on the digest-format editions). And the results, by and large, were pretty good. ...I also think affectionately of the UK artist Mick Posen, who insisted on seeing pictures of our cats before painting the covers for the Hodder editions of The Book of Night with Moon and On Her Majesty's Wizardly Service (the UK title for To Visit The Queen).

But this kind of treatment is a courtesy—not even vaguely suggested in the books' contracts, and very much the exception to the rule. And for every writer who's midlist, there are times when the luck runs out. For example: one time I wrote a book that was an AU-Earth-near-future fantasy police procedural, thematically pretty dark—dealing with issues of abuse of megacorporate power, institutionalized bigotry, and (explicitly) attempted genocide. And the cover, done by an artist who's a good friend and some of whose fabulous art hangs in our house, came out looking like this. It was... let's just say "not ideally representative."

So I was glad, when my local workflow allowed it, to recover the current, revised version of the book with something at least a little more apropos. But the original cover's not the artist's fault. He did what the art director told him... as a cover artist must do to get paid, and (ideally) to get hired again. At present, that's how the system works.

...So. You've got a badly-built and -presented book on your hands. How best to make your feelings known in some way that might make a difference down the line? (As you make it plain that you'll keep buying this author's books this way if you must.)

First of all: when (as part of my psych nursing training) we were taught how to complain most effectively, we were told that the first and most basic rule of the art is this:

Only Complain To Someone Who Can Actually Do Something About Your Problem

So I salute your desire not to waste your time taking the issue to the reviews on Amazon, or the pages of Goodreads... because they can't do anything. The odds that anyone from production at Baen is reading the comments there strike me as... well, not infinitesimally small, not being hit-by-a-meteorite-while-in-the-shopping-center-parking-lot small... but really low.

So: write to corporate.

In your place I would go online and rummage around a bit to find out who's on record as the publisher at Baen. I would then write them a letter on paper. And I would lay out the problem pretty much as you laid it out up at the top.

The tone I think I'd choose would be the more-in-sorrow-than-in-anger approach. I'd say, "I write to comment about your recently published book by [X Writer], whose work I love. I have to say, though, that I don't think the cover on [X Book] is terribly representative of the quality of the prose inside. And also, the construction and production quality of the book itself was a disappointment to me because [here spell out why].

"I'd really like to see [X. Writer's] books succeed with you, and I'd like to buy more of them without wondering whether I was going to be disappointed again. But if this is typical of how they're being produced, I'd also be concerned that the state of these books is setting up a situation in which the author's sales will be damaged, and you would stop publishing them... which would really be a shame. Whereas on the other hand, better production quality could keep previous purchasers coming back and buying, not only more books by this author, but books by others whom you publish."

This phrasing, as you'll have seen, walks a bit wide around the issue of your further purchases, while directing attention toward the bottom line... which will routinely be what the publisher's looking at from day to day. And—being, one has to hope, in possession of the wider picture as regards what's going on with their production costs—maybe they can actually do something about it.

Anyway, nothing ventured, nothing gained, yeah? It's worth a try. All you can do is hope for the best.

And finally: please know that I admire your commitment to the author: whoever she is, she's lucky to have you. It's a terrific thing to have readers who'll willing to spend the time to hunt you down, and who're willing not to judge a book by its cover. :)

[polycraftory]

Getting Started: Junk Journaling

So you want to get started with scrapbooking/junk journaling? This is a craft, like many others, that you can get started on with very little supplies! However, we'll get a little deeper into stuff as well for some additional tips and supplies that might be fun or helpful.

What You Absolutely Need

Scissors / Cutting Implements - If you can, buy a nicer pair of scissors for your own sanity, but any scissors will do starting out! Detail scissors specifically are really helpful. Exacto knives can also be helpful, but you'll also need a cutting mat if you don't already have one. This category is worth investing in because dull scissors are a nightmare.

Adhesive - ZipDry is designed for paper so it doesn't bleed through thin stuff and it dries quick and clear. Double sided tape rolls are also very helpful, especially with large areas or gluing a bunch of stuff quickly. This is an area worth investing in earlier! Thin paper and magazine paper will have bleed through with certain glues.

Notebook/Paper - Use what you have! If you, like me, have a million journals lying around, use that! As you get deeper in, you might find it helpful to specifically look for notebooks that lie flat when opened. You can also use sheets of art paper if you want to go more independent collage style rather than journaling. Watercolor paper/notebooks are nice because they are thicker, but you can use whatever.

Materials to Actually Cut/Glue/Use - Okay, here's where you really can do whatever you want forever and spend as little or as much as you want. You can cut up books and magazines you have on hand. If you have a printer, you can print stuff out! People sell really amazing curated mixed packs of materials (you can support some great shops on etsy doing very cool and niche stuff! If you are really on a budget, amazon sells some bulk packs as well).

Material Tip

If you don't have a husband that works in a mailroom (we are very lucky) and you don't have a lot of magazines on hand, try going to your local post office and dig through the recycling bin! A lot of people will throw out magazines/ads/catalogues there and you might find some gems. You can also get a free trial for some magazines and just cancel once they want to charge you money. Nic finds Vogue and GQ helpful for people. National Geographic can be helpful for backgrounds and animals.

Leveling up details below the cut!

Level Up

Slide Cutter - Make sure you get one with a replaceable blade! Super helpful for bulk cutting out big shapes.

"Okay, but I see people online with fancy stuff and I want to get in on that action!" you may say. Here is some fun stuff to play with!

If you see someone whose junk journaling content you like, you can also just reach out to them! A lot of people are happy to share links to the stuff they use and a lot of junk journalers online run their own shops/have affiliate links to the stuff they use!

Fun Junk Journaling Variety Packs - truly this is where a lot of people spend a lot of money because you can buy all sorts of fun niche packs depending on the vibe/focus you want to go with. You can also buy packs of quotes / letters / sayings. This can be helpful especially when doing character focused stuff. My wife really likes the packs from PengellyCrafts on etsy.

Washi Tape - People really like using washi tape, especially the transparent ones. These can be surprisingly expensive.

Transparent Stickers - These are fun because you can get a lot of detail and layering without intricate cutting. If you are careful with detail cutting you can cut the white border on normal stickers if you can't swing transparent ones.

Stamps - Like transparent stickers, this can add fun depth and layering, though with perhaps slightly less detail. The best part about stamps is that they are infinitely reusable and you can get all sorts of stamp pads. The downside is they are surprisingly expensive. You can even get stamps that help you make backgrounds like stars or wood texture. There are also "container" stamps like jars and bottles that you can put stuff in!

Embossing Powder - You can pair stamps with a glue stamp pad (or get glue markers) to use with embossing powder and a heat gun to create embossed details that add depth and texture. Make sure you are careful about what order you do things in when using heat!

Distress Ink (or Distress Oxide) & Blender/Diffuser - Make things look aged! This is a stamp pad you can use to make any paper or image look older than it is. Make sure you also get the little foam blender they also sell for application since it'll go on too thick if you try to use it directly on the paper.

Wax & Wax Seals - Wax can be fun to play with because it is both an adhesive and also adds dimension. Note: a lot of embossing or wax in a journal can make it hard to close a notebook.

Old Books - You can buy used books or use books that you don't want anymore for backgrounds to cut out words. Things like recipe books and encyclopedias can be especially helpful/vibe-y.

Fun Edges / Frames - You can get scrapbooking scissors or edge punches to add fun details and shapes to paper edge. It just depends on whether you like that look! Something like a simple round edge punch can be helpful.

Have Fun With It

Do you do other crafts, like painting or cricut? You can pair so many different crafts with junk journaling to make a cool multi-media piece. The most important thing to remember is to use what you have and have fun with it! Don't put off starting because you want all the bells and whistles or think you have to spend a bunch of money like the people who create junk journaling internet content! Create joyfully and lean into the chaos.

Please let us know if this guide was helpful and if you'd like a more specific buy list or tutorials on anything! We are here to help make crafting more accessible <3 You got this! Go junk journal!

If you want to see Nic's junk journaling, we are going to queue some in the next few days. Check our pinned post to find our junk journaling tag for inspiration!

[hiemaldesirae]

i have less than 24 hours left before i have to go through one of the most stressful days of my life so. heres a list of my fav radiostatic fic recs in no particular order

clarification: by radiostatic i mean fics where vox is 100% not the dom in the relationship. most of these dont contain explicit sex though, and im not recommending any straight porn fics here because you can easily find those with a click and search through the bottom vox tag lmao

most of these fics are unfinished, so be warned that i will not take accountability if you get attached to these without them being finished properly. in fact ill just laugh at you because then we'll be suffering together

now, that aside- starting off strong with some of the more popular fics:

RHTVS / Radio Healed the Video Star by Aspiring_Forest_Witch

notes: LONG fucking fic. like this guys almost 700k words long fic. one of the best things ive ever read in my life though and it has a plotline thats frankly more engaging than the actual showing of hazbin on amazon. so. you know. if you have the time to read it Please do you wont regret it

Unraveling Emotions by Xaelei

notes: one of my favourite fics ever on god. started my brainrot for dad!husk, portrays one of the most scrumptious radiostatic dynamics and is generally so very well written that i might end up trying to recreate one of the scenes in comic form. genuinely in love with this fic and im so glad i can say i was the first comment on this fic because my God its such a treat to see new chapters drop for this. unfortunately i havent had the time to write out a detailed comment as of now but if someone wants to let the author know that im still in love with their fic and will continue supporting it until i drop dead go ahead for me

Safe with Me by rillyrillo

notes: the prequel and main fic of this series is human radiostatic, though the sequel is set in hell. it comes with gorgeous gorgeous art and frankly one of the most exhilirating endings ive ever had the pleasure of witnessing play out. i recommend you guys check out their other fics too, the art continues in them + their radiostatic is written wonderfully across all universes!

A Month of Rut by Vylad

notes: this fic is very self indulgent to me. i love the way radiostatic is written in this one because theyre very soft and sweet, but others may not prefer it if theyre looking for freak4freak radiostatic. if you just want something to indulge in and relax with at the end of a heavy day though this is my #1 rec. i read this sometimes when i find myself crying at night lmao

Down, Up, and Back Down by CowboyEnthusiast

notes: made me sob like a baby. 10/10 no notes whatsoever read it for yourself because you WILL not regret it. i genuinely am always at a loss for words whenever i reread this because it is among the most gutwrenching but beautiful and poetic works that ive ever read and i think it deserves some recognition

Mind the Gap by ZLynn

notes: again, to reiterate, i do very much dislike the abusive!staticmoth portrayal i see in a lot of fics. but in this one... it's written so perfectly, i can definitely see it actually happening. i enjoy the way that val does still seem to care about vox, albeit in his own twisted way that eventually breaks and fractures their love and trust, and its just. Ugh. So fucking good

+ with the less popular but still wonderful depictions of radiostatic that i love to indulge in:

i'll give you a show (cause it helps fill the seats) by dead_and_dreaming

notes: absolutely shameless plug from me for my dear mk's work because i cant stop thinking about the way that she's portrayed al here. its actually insane how fucked up that stupid little deer is and i just. i really fucking love the way that their alastor is written, it's genuinely probably my Number One depiction of alastor ever. i demand more of this stupid little freak RIGHT NOW!!!!

Any of the fics by Rachello344 in the Hazbin Hotel Fandom Tag on their profile

notes: so remember when i told you guys i wouldnt be linking straight porn. looks away... okay in my defense though i read the smut for the characterization and their unique dynamics. its sooo interesting to see how their radiostatic is explored here and im honestly refreshed by the depiction of their relationship. im here for it !!!

The Read 'Em and Weep Series by TooManyPseudonyms

notes: so from what i was able to piece together (everything flies over my head when im reading, forgive me for my low media literacy) this is an au set before the hotel where (in the first work) al and vox are in a qpr relationship. in the second work this evolves into a romantic relationship, and the exploration of their dynamic through this is just... Yeah. please read it its 100% worth your time and so underrated it hurts my heart

Uneasy by Saezs

notes: this fic is one of the first radiostatic fics i read (the others being RHTVS and... i think i tried the 666 series, but it didnt appeal to me lol) and its actually just wonderful. i really love saezs's genderfluid vox and how supportive the other vees are of them <3 their portrayl of the characters puts a smile on my face whenever i reread their work

Heat Waves by HappyPRAWN

notes: i'll be fr dsmptsd hit me like a truck when i read the title but it is such an interesting debut! only at one chapter as of me making this post but the way the author wrote this is so engaging and it really makes me wonder what they have next in store for the fic

Do I have your attention now? by Chi_Chi25

notes: wow no way we have the same name... anyway ahem. ill be completely honest this ones a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. this fic is a bit fragmented and short, so for people who click off fics when they see imperfect grammar this one may not be for you. however if you can look past that, it has an engaging storyline and quite the juicy concept :)

Killer Ex by FanGirl48

notes: gorgeous, gorgeous little human! radiostatic oneshot. i love the relationship that vox and al have here... the reasons why they both stayed away from each other even though theyre still so very clearly down bad for each other... anyway. i think about this one a lot and i still go back to reread it sometimes lol

Negotiations by FanGirl48

notes: i didnt realize until i started making this list that this fic was also written by fangirl48.... go off queen keep feeding us (me). this one was a fic recommended to me initially by link nonny, and i can 100% vouch for how good it is. its got appletv interactions, radiostatic plus lucifer trying to navigate heaven, angels... basically everything needed for a very varied and well packed with flavour story

The diary of a Serial Killer by ShippersCave

notes: okay im running out of brain juice at this point but. yeah this fic is soooo self indulgent to me. this ones another human au, with al as a serial killer and vox as the journalist trying to conduct interviews with him. its got SUCH a good dynamic between al and vox, i encourage you guys to check it out and give it a chance even if youre not really into human aus.

My heart's been pierced by Cupid by ShippersCave

notes: pirate/siren au !!!!!!!!! RAAHH !!!!! i dont have to say anything else for this if thats not enough to get you to click then i dont know what is

System Shutdown by Swoolie

notes: i cant believe i nearly forgot about this one LMAO... vox goes onto a temporary hiatus and everyone goes crazy about it. im not really sure if this counts as radiostatic frankly because of the way its tagged but its so good i think you should give it a read anyway

Together in Radio Static by Anonymous

notes: QPR media husbands radiostatic au !!!! i love this one especially because it opens off with vox slapping alastor across the face for leaving him LMAOO (deserved)

What Has Been by Tianren

notes: another human au (YEAH YEAH I KNOW. JUST HEAR ME OUT OKAY i swear im cooking) look, as someone with religious trauma deeper than i can properly express and the worlds fifteenth worst parental issues, the depiction of vox in this fic just really hits home. i really adore the exploration of voxs past and how the themes of religious guilt and cults are woven in so far- and it blends very seamlessly with their human au, despite the characters eccentricities

you're too sweet for me by awestruck_atrophy and moonbeanies

notes: basically, vox and al make a deal where vox tries to help him out of the shackles or whatever that are bound to him because of his stupid dumbass lusting for power. its very intriguing so far and i love the setup and worldbuilding the authors have done, so you should check it out if you want a unique perspective on radiostatics relationship

candlelight by curtailed

notes: the best way i can think of to describe this one is like... fake marriage but instead of fake marriage its. fake roommates??? the author probably puts it better than me tbh. its super interesting so far, i cant wait to see where this one is headed especially with how unique its premise is!

Zero Day by Anonymous

notes: this one is like those time regression manhwas. you know, the ones where the protag goes back in time and proceeds to try and avoid everyone who made their life miserable- only to fail because for some reason now they're paying attention to them more than they would have had they stayed the same person. its certainly very promising, though! i do love indulging in time regression stories, especially when the mc is someone i love like vox. i really cant wait to see which direction this one is headed in :)

Never as Good as the First Time by IComeForFanficsNowin403

notes: okay. so, uh. um. so- this one is in spanish. HOWEVER its premise (serial killer alastor meets television star (?? i think. its not quite clear) at a party hosted by rosie, moves into his neighborhood to keep an eye on the pretty prey) is just so unique i honestly think its worth the experience to pull out google translate and try living the machine translated life. really. give it a chance. also its got beautiful art to go along with, so.. you know. thats just a bonus!

+ honorary staticmoth and one-sided/past radiostatic fic rec:

Freak-A-Zoid by Femalefonzie

notes: this fic deserves every single piece of praise its ever gotten because good lord. its SO good. i was not seeing the radiostatic twist come in, but it *is* mostly staticmoth. and also a/b/o but i mean. who *hasnt* indulged in a little bit of a/b/o before honestly

there are other fics that i personally like to indulge in, but i frankly wouldnt recommend to anyone else because they're either the kinds of fics that i myself can only bring myself to read after ive spent 8 hours at work crying into my pillow and need to look at something entertaining, or when im starved of content and cant be bothered to cook myself so i pull out the translator and start going at it. (technically i should know how to read french by now but. urgh. anywway..)

[papersnakepress]

I had a message the other day asking (among other things) what kind of tools and equipment I use in making books, and as it's something I like to go into detail on, I realized I couldn't fit everything I had to say in a message so it's getting its own post. With photos!

Disclaimer that I'm not a professional bookbinder, I'm entirely self-taught and probably have habits and practices that would drive a pro nuts. I'm no authority, but these are the things that have worked for me, and maybe you can adapt them to work for you too.

This post will not cover: storage options, materials like board and glue, or equipment specific to one narrower aspect of the hobby like embossing or gilding. It is also not a tutorial on how to make a book, though I am covering things in more-or-less the order I use them in during the book-making process.

This post will cover: What I've found useful, what I've regretted buying, and some things you can co-opt from other, more common hobbies. A lot of it you may already have in your house. Some of it is for beginners, some is nicer equipment you might want as you get further into making books. They are not separated, it's just a list and some description.

Keep reading below the cut; this is gonna be a very long one and there are a lot of photos of everything.

If you want to make books you will need access to a printer. I'm not going to go into detail on this part and I didn't take a photo of my HP (not the best brand, but that's a long discussion in and of itself). Once you've got your pages printed and it's time to fold it into signatures, it helps to have a folding tool like these:

Folding tools can be anything as long as they're smooth and flat. The one on the left here is an actual bone folder from an art supply shop, but the center one is a plastic leatherworking tool that I got at Hobby Lobby, and the one on the right is an agate burnisher that I got from Amazon. None of these cost more than $10, and you can also use the edge of a pen (as long as it has no rubber grip or cap/clip) or the back of a spoon. Or your fingers, but the tools make it faster and the folds are more precise. I once worked a job where I had to fold maps, and all my coworkers were wondering how I did them so much faster and why mine were flatter than everyone else's, and it was because I'd grabbed a sharpie and started using the back end like a bone folder.

Once it's folded, you'll need to poke holes for sewing. I use one of these:

Left is, again, an actual bookbinding awl from an art supply store, while the center one is a paper quilling tool and the right one is a beadwork awl, both of which came from a big chain craft store. The bead one is my favorite; it's a good size and very stable. The quilling thing has too long and thin of a blade and it's wobbly, and I don't like the tapering on the bookbinding awl. It tends to make the holes in the middle page too big, and the outer ones too small. Again, these were cheap, about $10 each, but you can also use a sewing needle stuck in a cork, or a thumbtack or pushpin. If it's pointy and rigid, it'll work.

This isn't a requirement by any means, but I've found I like having a punching cradle for the hole-poking step. I got this 3d printed one from a fellow bookbinder, who was designing their own and made this one as a prototype. There are a lot of tutorials on how to make a punching cradle, or you can buy them online from several different vendors. They don's all look like this, and you can make them from wood or cardboard (though those don't usually have guide holes). If you're just starting out or this doesn't appeal, you can just use a paper template like the one on the far right. The cradle helps get the holes lined up and evenly spaced, and I've never liked this step so anything that makes it faster and less fussy is a win. If you use this kind, check that your hole-poking tool fits in the guide holes--the binding awl pictured above doesn't, but the other two do.

We've made holes, so let's stitch them up. These are just regular sewing needles and beeswax, to make your thread less prone to tangling. You can get both of them in any store that has a sewing department. There are dedicated bookbinding needles, like curved needles, and some binders like them, but I've never gotten the hang of the curved ones and they aren't necessary, especially when you're just starting out. If it fits through the holes you made, it will work.

Once it's sewn, you probably want to squish your new text block so it's flat. I've got a laying press that I bought a couple of years ago when I was first getting started. It was marketed as a book and flower press, and it's honestly not the best. I would probably not have bought it if I had known that it wasn't essential to the process, and I mainly use it now when I'm squishing a text block and still want to use my work space, because once it's tight I can move it somewhere else. You can really use almost anything for squishing as long as it's heavy and flat and rigid on one side, like the stack of books in the right-hand photo. Textbooks, encyclopedias, art and photo books, and comic book omnibuses are all great. I've seen people use all kinds of things, like paper-wrapped bricks and doorstops, and there are tutorials out there to make your own press out of cutting boards if you do want one.

If you like your books to have smooth, flat page edges you're going to have to trim them. This is a book plow from Affordable Binding Equipment, and it was the first piece of actual expensive equipment that I bought. Not all plows look like this; I think the design is unique to ABE, but I've never used the traditional kind. In the interest of full disclosure, you can also trim edges with a sharpened chisel, which is much cheaper and can be bought at any hardware store, and some binders love this method. I do not love this method and have had zero regrets about caving and getting the plow. Very easy to use but does require some grip strength. Not pictured: the setup for sharpening the blade, which isn't hard but requires a bit of space and a small sheet of plate glass that you have to source yourself. Even with that, I still prefer it to the chisel. That said, this is not an essential step and you can leave your books with a "sawtooth" or deckled edge. Most of my early books have them, and some people just like them better than the flat ones and never learn to trim them. As another side note, some tutorials will say that you can trim your edges flat with a knife. You can't. Maybe on a pamphlet you can, but if it's more than 10 or 20 pages you just can't. It will look terrible.

If you're going to use a plow, you've got to have the right kind of press. The one I talked about further up the thread is the wrong kind (full disclosure: I did use it with that press turned on its side, before I bought this one. But it's harder, more time-consuming, less comfortable, and less safe. Don't be like me). So here's a photo of my finishing press (also from Affordable Binding Equipment). I bought it so I could make backed books, but I use it for trimming too. The top part here has a narrow tapered section for backing, but if you flip it over it's totally flat, which is what you need for trimming. Not pictured: the stand that it came with for backing, or the c-clamps that I use to attach it to the desk for trimming. Again, though--this isn't a requirement for bookbinding. This is a later stage that's entirely optional. On the subject of backing, though:

You don't need special equipment to round the spines of your books, but you do for backing. Left image is the set of backing boards I got from, once again, Affordable Binding Equipment, and on the right is a backing hammer from Hollander's. Neither of these are essential. Even if you get the boards (which have to be used in a press with a tapered edge, like the one directly above) you can actually use a regular hammer as long as the front part has no scratches or gouges. This one is a backing hammer, the primary difference being that it has a wider, convex head than a regular household hammer, to make the kind of glancing blows needed for backing a little easier. Honestly, I'm still learning how to use these and I'm not very good with them yet. Comes of being self-taught, probably. I don't think youtube is the best vehicle for learning this part, but it's what I have and I'm making do. Not every book is going to benefit from backing, either; it's primarily for helping mitigate spine swell.

Okay, time for my favorite repurposed equipment hack.

It's bookends. Regular bookends that I've had for ages and that probably came from Ross or some other place that doesn't even sell craft supplies.

Want to keep the text block upright while you glue it? Bookends. Want to sew some custom end bands but your text block keeps falling over? Bookends. They won't provide pressure for squishing, but if you just need to hold something upright while you work on it, bookends are the answer. They hold up books, it's right there in the name. Having said that, you want some with a little weight to them, like these agate slices, so they won't slide around. And you want something with a smooth finished edge like these, so they won't scratch up your text block or leave dents. I have other sets but these are the only ones I use for this purpose, and they're better for it than anything else I've got.

Moving on from making the text block, let's look at what I use to make covers.

It's appeared in the background of most of the other photos, but here's a photo of just the desk surface covered in cutting mats. I really recommend a mat to protect the surface of your furniture and keep your knives from going immediately dull. I've got a big one that covers almost the full surface, and a small one for when I want to be more mobile. I started with just the small one and it was good until I started working with larger sheets of paper. The big one was bought largely for convenience but I have no regrets about it. They're self-healing, non-slip, and you can get them in the sewing section of any big craft store.

I'll be honest, I am not big on knives. I've got a regular box cutter for trimming board, and a razor knife for paper and cloth, and that's it. There are a lot of kinds and really all you need is one sharp blade for board. Paper and cloth can be cut with scissors if you want, though I find I get more consistently straight lines with the knives. Also pictured: Metal rulers and a T-square. You want a metal ruler for this. Plastic will flex and wood won't lay flat. Ideally you want one without a cork backing (my 18" one has this problem) and with the tick marks etched in rather than printed (my 12" one has this problem). For larger sheets of paper and cloth, the 18" one is great, but you can get by with the smaller one. The T-square is for making right angles; mine is plastic and only 12", and I really wish I had a longer one that was metal. These are drafting tools and you'll find them in the section of the craft store that has easels and sketch pads and they're usually pretty cheap.

This is an adjustable compass. You can probably get these at craft stores but I got mine on Amazon. It's for measuring hinge gaps and the width of spines, both essential for making sure your cover fits your text block and your hinges open the way they should. Both of those are incredibly frustrating situations, and this thing makes it so much easier to avoid them.

Things to spread glue with! Any old paintbrush will do, though I like to have a few different sizes and textures on hand to choose from. I like the big one for cover boards and casing in, the mid-size ones for doing turn-ins, and the little fellow for details and touch-ups. I don't care for foam brushes because I find them hard to clean when glue is involved, but if you like you can use those. The metal thing on the left is a micro-spatula, and I did have to special order it from an art supply place but it was cheap and it's very helpful to have on hand for when the brushes are too thick, for doing turn-ins on rounded spines, and for separating pages if you decide to learn edge foiling. Not essential, but recommended.

One thing I neglected to take a photo of is my crepe eraser. Despite the best intentions, no matter how careful you are, you will at some point get glue where you don't want it, where it will be visible on the finished book. This is where the crepe eraser comes in; you can use it to remove dried glue from cloth or (to a lesser extent) paper. Very annoyingly, none of the craft or art supply places I went to had even heard of these and I had to get mine from Amazon. It was cheap (under $10) and I strongly recommend getting one.

Once your cover is made, you have some options. You can leave it blank, hand-letter or draw an image, stamp it with ink or embossing powder, use a stencil, or do what I usually do these days and make a cover graphic from HTV. I've got a cricut for this (though they're not the only kind of cutting machine; it pays to research other brands) and a mini heat press (I want a bigger one, but I got this one cheap because the box is messed up). A lot of libraries have cricuts you can use, and you can use a regular iron to apply the HTV. Getting it to stick is a bit tricky, but that's true no matter which tools you use. Not pictured: a cutting mat, different than the kind shown above, necessary with most materials you can cut (mine came with one, they're about $20 at most craft stores, and they're lightly sticky to keep your materials in place while it's being cut). I don't know if other brands require them, but cricut does unless you're using their Smart Materials (I have never used these). If your library has a cutting machine, they will also have the appropriate cutting mats. Also not pictured: weeding tools. Weeding is when you remove the bits of HTV that you don't want in the final image, usually the spaces between letters and such. The negative space, if you want to get artsy. The special tools cricut sells aren't necessary, you can use an awl or needle and the dull edge of your knife blade, but I have a set of theirs and I like mine.

I didn't take a photo of it, but sometimes I use embossing inks and powder to make cover designs and text. You only need a heat gun for embossing powder, it takes up way less space than the cricut does, and it's cheaper. I got mine free from a family member so I don't know what it cost initially, but cutting machines are a really big expense; the cricut is my third most expensive piece of equipment, after the finishing press and the plow.

Good god I think that's everything. It sounds intimidating, I know. And it sounds like it takes up tons of space in your home, and to be honest it can, but it doesn't have to. The first dozen or so books I made, I made completely to my satisfaction with tools and materials that fit in one 12x16" moving box. If you love the hobby and can make the space, the bulkier items might be worth it down the line, but especially when you're first getting started it's smart to keep things low-cost and compact. Most of the basics are simple and your fellow bookbinders are delighted to share their shortcuts and substitutions if you ask.

The end! I hope it was helpful, @cardassianexpats! I did warn you it would be wordy, lol.

[artistotel]

tips for traditional artists (mostly painters)

so while i primarily post doodles and such on this blog, my true passion is traditional art. :) i see a lot of tips for digital artists but rarely for traditional ones, so this is just my own experience (before anyone goes like "oP tHaT iS nOt UnIvErSaL eXpErIenCe" (i know this site well enough lol) if the advice doesnt sit well with you feel free to ignore it because i am def not an end it know it all. and nobody is because art is so broad and there is no right way to do it.

EQUIPMENT

so, first of all, in my language we have a saying "the tools dont make a master", meaning a true master could create with anything. i mean, sure, to a point, tools wont replace your ability to conceptualize art, but cmon.

equipment matters, especially when painting. i mostly work with acryllics and markers. lets talk about acryllics.

paints

its important to get at least okay quality paints. the stuff i use is not insanely expensive - croatia has limited offers, and i am poor. however, i tried paints for like 1€ from tedi and they are far inferior to goya's paints i use (3-4€ cca per 100ml. and those 100ml are going to last you a very looong time if you work on small scale paintings, and i even managed to fit in large ones).

ESPECIALLY THE WHITE PAINT. i cannot stress this enough. if youre gonna buy cheaply, buy everything cheap except for the white. make sure the white is good. it will serve as a thickener for other colours and good white can even do a good job of covering up the black paint.

brushes: get good brushes. if you paint frequently with bad brushes (like the ones i get from muller; they seem fine but ehhh im constantly changing them) you will be spending more in longer run than you would if you invested in something better. im not talking about 100€ packs made of donkey tail strands or whatever, i mean normal brushes, but look at reviews a bit. i once ordered like 10€ pack of brushes from amazon and they performed muller ones by far (and were cheaper); they left thicker paint and didnt get ruined after five uses.

markers

now see, i dont have any advice here, but i wanted to contrast it with my previous talk about how i purposefully buy good paint. well, i purposefully buy bad markers. really bad ones. because equipment often depends on what style you are after. i use flomasters, and they do what i want: and thats a cheap and trashy look.

canvases and papers

if youre gonna invest into something, invest into paints rather than canvases. you can trick a bad canvas by putting on multiple colour layers, you cant trick bad paints. but there are differences to bad and good canvases, of course. however, if youre just starting out, just go get a bad one; i take most of mine from tedi, or order online. you dont gotta spend billion of euros on them.

paper is also important. i am a painter and i bought a Leuchtturm1917 though unfit one, and was annoyed as to why everyone thought it was great. then i bought the one with specific sketchbook paper and it works fantastic. if youre painting, you need appropriate paper.

learn colour theory and some art history

yes i know this sounds boring. but its not. draw inspiration from your predecessors. there are people making oil paintings of modern things. you heard "dont shade with black" (and thats my personal mantra too) but chiaroscuro was a valid art movement. if you take a look at my own art you will most likely say: oh, thats pop art! and you would be right. i am inspired by roy lichtenstein, andy warhol, and other pop artists. but thats just the surface. my use of colour is inspired by the impressionist takes on it; i dont shade with darker colours, i shade with different ones. i shade red with blue, yellow with purple or red, and so on. if you look at the topics and subjects of my art, you will find surrealism. if you look at my approach to art itself, you might find influences of croatian naive. learn about actual philosophies behind art movements you like; you might find something for you.

ok these are just some general thoughts i had, id probably have more lol but thats it for now

[zemi-noelle-art]

Your LPS customs are soooo amazing!! Like genuinely so inspiring 😭 I wanna get into it but I have no idea how!!

Thank you so much!!! that really means a lot! And I'm really honored to hear I've been inspiring people with my work<3 I can provide some tips on starting the hobby if that helps! this'll be based on my own experience though of course! I can firstly say that getting into LPS customizing was pretty simple for me, because I already had most of the supplies I use for other projects, and it was only a matter of getting the bases themselves to paint on. Of course I have the LPS I grew up with but I didn't want to ruin those lol. I use those blank bootleg LPS bases they sell on amazon. You can also use authentic LPS but I'd recommend making sure you're not painting over a rare one like a big 5 or Savannah Reed first lol. A good starting point is to draft out the design you want on paper/digitally to see what kind of custom you want to make. for me I use digital templates and paint over them in my art program. Templesta on DeviantArt has some really good ones! For paint I use acrylic. Get a teeny tiny paintbrush for detail work along with a couple other sizes as well and those should be all the basic supplies you need to start! You can also get more complex with it and use chalk pastels, water color pencils and glitters too. Get creative! see what supplies you can use to take your customs to the next level. As a tip, make sure to water down your paint and do multiple thin layers. Patience is key because that paint is not gonna want to stick to the base at first. A lot of the actual painting process does come down to practice and a steady hand.

If you want to seal your customs which isn't necessary but gives them a nice finish, I recommend Liquitex high gloss varnish to seal the eyes. There are some good matte varnish sprays out there but I recommend doing your own research on those, as they can be resin based and therefore need a bit of caution and prep to handle. I personally use Mister Super Clear matte spray to seal the base of the custom, and I always spray outside with gloves and a respirator.

And though I have done sculpting I don't consider myself well versed enough to recommend supplies for clay but I've heard Green Stuff and Apoxie sculpt are good clays to use, but be sure to do your own research on those as well.

The monster high doll customization community is a good place to look for material research! A lot of the process of the face-up is pretty similar to painting LPS. That's actually what got me into customizing in the first place; I just watched a bunch of Dollightful, Enchanterium, and Moonlight Jewel's videos and said to myself "Wait a minute, I could do this with LPS!" I also of course recommend watching other LPS customizer's videos to see the process of how they make their customs, and show them some support as well! Pumpkinscustoms Is a really big inspiration for me and HelloStudios, Mr. Crazy Ray and LPSCobalt have really good videos on making customs.

And once again, if you don't wanna dive right in you can just draw them, whether using a template or not to see if you like the process and the design! You can even make a bunch of designs digitally and once you feel ready to tackle a real custom, start there! ahaha I didn't know I'd be writing a whole-ass Essay but I hope all this helps!! Thank you for enjoying my work!

[a-roguish-gambit]

Hey @a-roguish-gambit!

I saw some discussion about Gambit’s body build after someone here said that Gambit is a twink.

I wanted to add some in the ring.

I always like when characters have different body types, as it really helps them stand out from one another.

It’s even better when these types are able to be shown as attractive.

But of my ideal body types for Gambit and Rogue….

Starting off with Gambit, he would be lean and athletic, though more leaning towards the former.

Like, he has defined muscles and abs, but they’re not as prominent when compared to say Cyclops and especially Wolverine and Colossus.

And when compared to those guys, he’s a little on the thinner side.

Essentially, Gambit looks like a guy made for speed and agility.

Now we come to Rogue….

and this is what her build would look like….

Yep! Rogue got those gains!

(But she would also have a little bit of chub on her like Mr. Incredible)

I always like when female characters who have superhuman strength or primarily rely on physical combat have actually defined muscles or are muscular in their own right.

Which even to this day, you rarely see in comic books.

Like, the most explicitly muscular females I can think off in superhero comics are She-Hulk and The Amazons.

Also, you know damn well Gambit would be loving Rogue’s body.

I could honestly see a lot of fun and cute interactions from this:

-Gambit being left completely awestruck whenever Rogue’s working out (particularly when she’s lifting weights)

-Gambit being carried by Rogue (either riding on her shoulders, or his preferred position, bridal style)

-Gambit constantly telling Rogue she has the body of an Amazonian goddess

-Rogue flexing her muscles for Gambit (much to his joy)

and best of all…..

-Gambit telling Rogue that if he ever dies, he wants Rogue to do it via Death by Snu Snu.

Also, if you’re wondering who did the Rogue art, it was @sabrerine911.

I appreciate the Romy thoughts. Also yee I like diversity in character body types too, but the fact of the matter isnt all about muscle it's porportions

Canonically, Gambit by shoulder width is always portrayed as more than 3 head spaces wide, from shoulder to shoulder, even as a teen. You apply that to real life and that would give him the body structure of a football player. The average adult man is between 2 1/2 to 3 head spaces shoulder to shoulder. He is above average in build no matter how slim or lean he's drawn. He's got JoJo proportions.

Meanwhile wolverine is 4 head spaces shoulder to shoulder and cyclops is up to 5 depending on the model sheet. He's definitely leaner than the others but he only seems thin because he's standing next to them. If you put him next to an average joe shmo he would look crazy muscular.

Something to remember is that nightcrawler's more what lean athletic would be. He's the one with the aerobics body type. He's track and field/gymnastics.

Gambit has a full contact sport body.

[wingsonghalo]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Tagged by @cnnmonbimee! Thank you for the tag!! Read her awesome answers here!

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 66! More than I thought were on there tbh!

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count? Uhhh apparently it's 684,757! Less than I thought!

3. What fandoms do you write for? In order of most fics to least: Ace Attorney, JSHK, My Hero Academia, Mob Psycho 100, Homestuck, Hunter x Hunter, Phineas and Ferb, and Supernatural. I've also written a lot of Pokemon stuff, but somehow that has escaped Ao3 despite it being my longest fandom LOL. Working on a Pokemon SV one currently though 👀

4. What are your top five fics by kudos? Project: Matchmakers (shocker, I know), Sleep (Too) Tight (It's always been slowly but steadily popular), Force of Habit (bit of a surprise there honestly), Project: Matrimony (less surprising), and The Stuff of Dreams. So what I am seeing here is that no one leaves kudos on my JSHK or MP100 or MHA fics :') Some of these fics are one-shots, so it's kind of surprising! I wish PlayWright had gotten more attention; that fic killed me while I was writing it. I'm not giving number of kudos because I'm not comfortable with that and it makes me feel bad about myself haha,,,

5. Do you respond to comments? I try to! I've fallen behind on responding to them in the past 2 years or so because life has been so busy, though…

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Probably A Practice, For Now?? LMAO it's also my first JSHK and the one with the most kudos HMM COULD THIS FANDOM BE ADDICTED TO ANGST PERHAPS??! I don't write angst a lot!! What can I say, I'm a sucker for a happy ending.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Almost all of my fics end happily, LOL. Pick any of them that actually has an ending.

8. Do you get hate on fics? Not commonly. I've gotten anon hate before about them on tumblr on rare occasions, but usually my comments on ao3 stay pretty nice.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? I do sometimes, but I'm so shy about it that I rarely ever post it /)//w//(\ Usually I just share it among friends, haha!

10. Do you write crossovers? Nope, and I never will!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Yes. Someone tried to run Project: Matchmakers through a translator to hide the word matches and sell it as an ebook on Amazon, but they only bothered to hide it for chapter 1 so someone reported it to me and then in retaliation I started actually selling it on Amazon for the lowest price I could because the thief was trying to sell the shittier version for like 7 dollars LSFJ;AKLD. Read about the whole debacle here.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Yes, quite a few! People have been great about asking me for permission! 💖

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Yes, here and there! Usually it's either fics where I have written one part and someone else has written another scene, or someone had me look over something they'd written and I added so much commentary or threw additional ideas at them so much that the story ended up changing and I somehow became a co-author, LOL.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? Oh my god don't make me answer that ;alskdjfl;k. If I wrote a fic for them ever, they're my favorite. I have so many favorites that I've never written fics for, too.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? THE UNDERCOVER FIIIIIC [sobs] and also Left on Read hnnngh

16. What are your writing strengths? Emotions!! I'm super good at those! I'm also really strong at dialogue and banter, and making my writing kinda witty/funny.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Describing settings ;w; I write my scenes like I draw my art: in Descriptionless Blank Voids lkas;dlkf. I also struggle with the flow of action scenes sometimes, though I think they usually turn out okay if I spend enough time on them. I also probably use too many adverbs and adjectives, but y'know what? Fuck it I like my descriptive words thank you very much

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? As long as you're checking that it means what you think it means, or possibly asking a native speaker if you're unsure about context or need a sensitivity reader, I think it's fine. It annoys me if I have to check a footnote every other line, but if you can mostly understand it without a translation in context, it can be kinda nice! At least it says you're trying more than phonetically spelling out an accent, which--remember, kids!--is always cringe! 👍

19. First fandom you wrote for? On Ao3, it was Homestuck. On the internet in general, it was Animal Crossing and Pokemon, LOL.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written? Don't make me cHOOSE BETWEEN MY BABIESSS 😭 I dunno man! Project: Matchmakers is my magnum opus, but the PlayWright is lowkey kind of a masterpiece, I love so many of my JSHK fics to bits and pieces, a lot of my MP100 and MHA fics are very special to me, I've been trying to write a HxH one for YEARS and have poured my heart into making it beautiful, just UGHHH every single one of my fics I have vivid memories of conceptualizing and working on and most of them are my favorite to some degree!

I tag @carochinha, @kittykatz009, @toastytoaster22, @ittybittytoostormy, and anyone else who would like to answer these questions!!

[buffyfan145]

Well, looks like we now have another possible "Rings of Power" season 2 spoiler that wasn't as accurate as we thought. Another account that also not only shares spoilers but more behind the scenes things including the concept art from season 1 is saying they heard the character Calam Lynch is playing is not the one Fellowship of Fans said previously. Putting behind a cut for the major spoilers but I know a lot of fans are going to be disappointed if it's true, though I'm ok with it likely because I'm a Haladriel shipper and I personally didn't see Calam in that role anyway. LOL So again the actual spoilers will likely start coming May 14th when Amazon has their May Upfront presentation.

The "Rings of Power Updates" account it saying they've heard nothing about Celeborn being in season 2 at all and actually think no one is playing that role as he hasn't even been cast yet, similar to Anarion. Instead they think Calam is playing the Annatar version of Sauron. If others didn't see it actually was confirmed that Gavi Singh Cherra isn't playing Annatar either and it was a fake spoiler Amazon created to catch who in the crew was leaking these spoilers. However, there was possible spoilers posted on Reddit too that Calam's character was actually going to be Sauron but we all took that to mean Sauron/Halbrand was going to pretend to be Celeborn to trick Galadriel. This whole thing fits too if Calam is actually Annatar instead and ends up being Sauron/Halbrand, and still fits what FOF head about Calam as he'd still be an elf in Eregion and have similar hair and clothes to Celeborn. Plus, Charlie Vickers and Calam even do look a bit alike, especially when Charlie was in "Medici", that some of us including me wondered if Calam was going to be Mairon (which supposedly Charlie did film flashback scenes as Mairon for s2). This would also mean the chemistry screen test Calam did with Morfydd wasn't for Galadriel/Celeborn, but actually still Galadriel/Sauron just like Morfydd and Charlie had a chemistry test before season 1. So in the end it's another form of Haladriel/Saurondriel.

Personally too I did post as well when FOF posted about Calam being Celeborn last year that I thought he was too young and actually was hoping for a mid to late 30s actor to play Celeborn and someone who looked different from the LOTR movies for a change. So if this is true I guess that might be case as Celeborn possibly won't be on the show till season 3 at the earliest.

Again we'll know more once the official spoilers start coming from Amazon and the US media, but I can see if this is true Calam is Annatar how FOF could've gotten it mixed up that he was Celeborn.

[physalian]

(decided to throw this ask here since ur last post encouraged me to lol)

tl;dr: going thru a breakup with my current WIP so I'm in limbo and can't move on to a new one

I'm actually not working on anything right now because I'm going through a form of breakup with a WIP I had worked on for so long (6+ years).

My beta readers (3) deemed it uninteresting and full of plot holes from the start. I thought the amount of editing and rewriting I put it through helped with that, but now I believe the problem runs deeper. Maybe it's the plot itself that's too underdeveloped or something.

Long story short, I decided I didn't want to give the trilogy more time (I've given it enough already) so I'm moving on. But it's kind of hard to pick up something new when all I've known for so many years is this one WIP. I even had noncanon fanfic about it just for fun.

Any thoughts, takes or advice is welcome really! And thank you for your time ofc 🌸

I actually had this happen. I had a WIP I started in 2016, unofficially abandoned last year—mentioned it a few times across my posts as the sci-fi WIP with multiple POV. What had happened was that I started writing it my freshman year of college, and the person I grew into through college had completely different goals from freshman me, which meant the very foundations of my world and my characters were no longer meshing no matter how many times I tried to fix the plot.

It didn’t have any holes and my betas said they were interesting enough, but it was a five-book series and upon starting book 3, I just could not figure out how to move on. I had too many characters with conflicting arcs, too many directions I wanted to take it, and it was deeply political (shaped by the 2016 election year) and I just got exhausted with the tone and the parallels to the real world. It wasn’t fun anymore, and a couple of my characters were my therapy stress balls, and I put them through hell that I wouldn’t be comfortable publishing today.

So it sits there, mostly abandoned, while I steal names and themes and a few monologues that fit in Eternal Night. The breath of fresh air I had when starting Eternal Night, a brand-new world with brand-new stakes and brand-new characters that could be whatever I wanted? 100k word first draft was written in 31 days and went straight to beta readers. That sci-fi WIP had multiple magic systems, was deeply political with a lot of moving parts, a rather large ensemble cast that had nearly doubled by book 3. I designed my own alphabet and language, I had cover art and maps done for the first book, I was writing fanfic crossovers in my head with my characters and other media I liked. It was my writing career, everything centered around it.

Eternal Night actually began as me ripping my two favorite characters from that WIP and tossing them into a kind of ‘fanfic’ and seeing what happened. To this day, I still accidentally think of my protagonist and deuteragonist using their original names from the old WIP, and my protagonist's name was only updated like, last week on my character excel sheet, because I never noticed. Whenever I need a new fantasy word in my much-less-robust fantasy languages for Eternal Night, I consult the language matrix I made for the old WIP and change some letters around where needed so in a way, it lives on.

It took me until about halfway though Eternal Night to start actually caring about the new iterations and the rest of the new cast of characters, going through the motions with zero plan, until it kind of hit all at once. Suddenly I could imagine their faces and how they sounded and what dreams and aspirations they’d have. I was rooting for them to succeed and daydreaming about different ways I could take their arcs, what themes I wanted to explore with them.

And now Eternal Night is due back from my editor, today, and it’s about to go up for preorder on Amazon.

So, advice? Just because you abandon a long-running WIP doesn’t mean it was a waste of time. That’s six years of practice, six years of trial and error trying to make it work. There’s no reason you can’t take your favorite aspects and blend them up into something new. Write your own ‘fanfic’ with your favorite characters. Hell, make it a coffee shop AU, and see what happens. You might find yourself onto something to reignite that spark.

[mishafletcher]

hi, and welcome to the 'frequently asked questions about cooking is terrible' post! some of these are scattered in other places around my blog, but i figured i'd collect them for ease of reading. if you want to read the promo post about the book, you can go here.

as always, purchase links are collected here, or you can go directly to the amazon listing.

is cooking actually terrible/how can you say you hate cooking/cooking is an art form and you're disrespecting it see, the thing here is that i'm actually a good cook! i've cooked for a living before, i'll happily pull together a meal for fifty with twenty-four hour notice, and i love a cooking project. i love cooking for community. what i fucking hate, though, is having to somehow produce food for myself, and then consume it, multiple times a day, every day, for apparently the entire rest of my life.

some people love cooking, and i genuinely admire you. sometimes i don't mind it or even enjoy it, and on those nights, i don't need this book. sometimes i'm too tired or in too much pain or too busy playing a video game or too depressed, though, and the idea of spending thirty minutes making food i don't care about makes me want to walk into the sea, and on those days, yeah, cooking is terrible.

is this book vegetarian friendly? yes! there are a handful of recipes where the point of it is meat, but probably 90% of the book is either vegetarian or has options to make it vegetarian. i was a vegetarian for about a decade, and still tend not to cook a ton of meat because the cost of messing it up is so high. there are a number of recipes that call for things like 'chunks of chicken or tofu', but tofu is cheap and delicious, so i'm just as likely to use that as i am chicken.

is this book vegan friendly? maybe. if you're comfortable with things like vegan cheese and plant-based yogurt, the answer is probably yes. the biggest issue for vegans will be dairy, but there are a lot of good vegan dairy replacements out there.

is this book friendly for [basically any other dietary restrictions]? yes again! everything is designed to be pretty flexible. if you're comfortable with the basics how to substitute things for your specific needs, you should be fine with this. (by 'basics of how to substitute', i mean 'tamari instead of soy sauce' or 'gluten-free noodles' or 'sunflower seed butter instead of peanut butter' level of substitutions.) i have severe food allergies, so am very much on board the substitutions train.

is this book useful for people with chronic pain and/or mental health issues? you are very literally the target audience, because i, too, am a disabled person with chronic pain and adhd and other assorted mental health issues. when i started writing this book, it wasn't a book—it was a text file that i could read over when my brain wasn't working well enough to provide me with instructions for complex tasks such as 'make sandwich'.

is this useful for people living in [almost literally anywhere in the world]? unless you live in a place where you can't buy staple foods like rice, beans, and vegetables, it's probably useful. i've personally bought everything mentioned in the cookbook at stores in the us and australia, and have also checked availability at tesco and rewe. there are sometimes minor differences in what things are called, and occasionally one thing or the other is entirely unavailable, but probably 99% of ingredients can be easily purchased in most supermarkets.

do i need to have fancy appliances for this to be useful? hard no. there is zero slow cooker, instant pot, stand mixer, or even rice cooker content in this.

i assume that you have a knife, a bowl, and a source of heat. some things are easier (or nicer) if you also have a $20 immersion blender (mine's from kmart), but that's as fancy as we're getting. i wanted to keep the barrier to food as low as possible.

is it easy to modify recipes in this? yes, and a bunch of recipes are either lists of suggestions (sandwiches! rice toppings!) or have variations listed.

what kind of recipes are in this book? there's a range of them.

stuff that needs no cooking at all—sandwiches, dips, smoothies, salads, etc.

bowls of stuff: pasta, rice, soups you can make in ten to fifteen minutes, oats, etc. using ready-cooked rice or pasta is 100% fine by me, so this focuses pretty heavily on quick and easy toppings.

stuff you cook while you watch netflix, like 'throw this into the oven and then ignore it for an hour'. more importantly, lists of ideas for how to use the things you cooked.

baking and desserts, none of which require more than about five minutes of hands-on work.

if this list is insufficiently convincing, i've also put up a couple example recipes here.

which storefront/format is best? honestly and truly, on my end, it doesn't matter that much—after various fees and things come out, it's within about 50c of each other for ebooks, and maybe a dollar for physical books. amazon currently nets me slightly more than other retailers, but that's changed in the past and will likely change again.

on your end, amazon is probably the cheapest way to get a print copy (and—in the interest of full disclosure—is slightly more money for me, as well). amazon's printing costs are significantly less than anyone else's are, so the book is cheaper there.

why are there so many price points? this is partly because publishing at this point is several business models in a trenchcoat, and partly because retailers can set their own prices and discounts. if you see very low prices, especially at big vendors like amazon, they've decided it's worth it to sell the book at a loss. i have no idea why, but i get the same royalties from it.

if you see very high price points—like $40+ for the paperback version—it's because the vendor is using a traditional-publishing business model and pricing accordingly. please do not buy this book for forty dollars. anywhere in north america and europe, the paperback should be between 10 and 20 of the local currency (dollar, pound, or euro); australians might see it as high as $22 because it costs more to have things printed here.

i want to reiterate: please do not buy this book for many tens of dollars. one, maybe two tens, fine. but forty is as many as four tens, and that's terrible.

is there a print version of this book? i used to get this a lot, and then there was an amazon-only paperback version and i got it less, and now there's a paperback version that you should be able to buy anywhere you buy books.

worth noting is that the available print versions are not spiral bound. if you would like a spiral bound copy and you feel strongly enough about this that you'd like to have it printed and bound yourself, the digital versions (most usefully the pdf from gumroad) have an explicit 'please feel free to print or have this printed' release.

and again—because i get called out for this not infrequently—purchase links are collected here, or you can go directly to the amazon listing.

[sleepytoycollection]

Sleepy Reviews: Deuce Gorgon (Amazon Exclusive)

G3 Deuce Gorgon ($24.99) with his accessories

The boys of G1 Monster High have been my favorite boy dolls of any doll line ever, to the point I have gone out of my way to collect one of every single boy character that had been made. I adore them immensely, so obviously, when I had to pick one to review, I had to pick the original Manster himself, Deuce. 

He’s got a lot to live up to, so is Mr. Gorgon a worthy entry to my massive MH boy collection? Let’s find out:

This particular Deuce Gorgon is Amazon Exclusive, but there is another version in a 2-pack with Frankie that is target exclusive, which is honestly pretty amazing considering Mattel’s seeming aversion to boy characters previously. Two Deuce dolls right out of the gate? Go off then.

Keep that energy up Mattel and you have my attention. Especially if Jackson and Holt return. Please Mattel I’ll do anything. Anything. 🥺🙏

Ahem. 

Anyway, the box design is serviceable. I don’t love it, but it gets the job done.

I think of lot of it is this artwork. It’s not bad, and it’s clearly trying to tie into the style of the Nickelodeon MH show, it just doesn’t grab the eye as much as I wish it did. 

The back features more of the same art, as well as a full body image of Deuce, as well as a short profile for the character. 

Not a lot of info, just the basics in multiple languages. It’s fine. 

Some unique symbol art work for the edge of the box. A nice call back to the original boxes. 

Let’s get him out of the box for a closer look:

Boom. Out of box. Magic of television. 

He’s a handsome fellow, I like the new sculpt, and it’s fun they made him green. 

Back view for everyone. 

I love the way his eyebrows are painted. The individual hairs and expression bring a lot for me. 

The only thing I might’ve changed is just the color of his snakes, I feel like they clash with his skin just a little. If they had more of a yellow undertone than blue, or maybe were just a shade or two darker, I think it would’ve looked a lot better. 

Not a deal breaker, but I might add a paint wash later to adjust the color and bring out the detail though. 

I do like the actual sculpt of the scales though.

I loved Deuce’s fainted mohawk look in G1 and I think it was a nice choice for his default here. 

Let’s move away from our boy here for a sec, and look at his accessories. Let’s start with his pet:

Perseus returns with his own redesign. 

It’s alright, I actually loved the original MH pets, so I don’t mind them being included, but they look more like the modern Barbie pets this time around. which is hit and miss. 

Honestly I do think he’s cute, I just wish he was maybe more in scale. All the pets are the same size and general shape this time around, and with the even more cartoon-y design they end up looking less unique.

He does still have his twin tails though! 

All the ghouls come with iCoffins (Are they still iCoffins? Surely a few monsters have spooky-pun Androids), and Deuce is no exception.

His phone case is, of course, snake themed:

How cute. I love snakes. 

Along with phones, everyone also comes with a snack and a drink, for some reason, totally not trying to pad out the box, but anyway:

I tease, but actually I do think the little snacks are cute. I like his Medusa head water bottle.

The cupcake has a snake for frosting! Frosting snake! How cute.

Deuce also comes with a little tin of what I presume is scale wax. Gotta keep those scales shiny. 

Like all Deuce dolls, he has a pair of sunglasses, with, one again, a snake design. It’s all snakes here folks. 

See? Snake back back. I’d made to look like it’s made of snake skin. Which feels a little like a human carrying a bag made of hair. Hmm.

It does open though:

I do think the color is a little... bright. Actually, it’s not even the brightness, it’s just that it clashes. Def repainting this one. 

Deuce is a barista in this generation of MH, so his doll comes with a little apron:

It’s fine, and I’m glad his love of cooking seems to be making a comeback, but it does feel a little... idiosyncratic, but does make a good segue into...

Clothes!

The most important part of a fashion doll. 

Let’s start with his jacket, because I love it. It’s made of a nice denim-esque material, it has real pockets, it’s finished nicely, and just generally looks great.

Hope you’re not tired of snakes yet though, because we have more! 

Snake shirt! 

Also very nicely made. 

Snake pants! 

Construction of them is fine, but the material does feel pretty cheap. My least favorite of the fabric pieces.

Snake shoes! 

They’re fine. I’m indifferent to them tbh.

It’s all snakes! 

It’s also the last of his outfit, so let’s look at what’s under the clothes:

G2 MH/BTS body, G3 MH body, G1 MH body

As you can see, this body uses a different sculpt to previous Monster High boys. It’s shorter, and the thickest in the waist do far, but also has smaller hands and feet.

Honestly, I like the other two bodies better, but I don’t dislike this body either. Mostly I miss the bigger hands and feet.

See what I mean? If you were hoping G3 shoes would fit the G1 boys, unfortunately, they do not. I wonder if this change was made so kids could use Ken shoes with the boys? 

Deuce’s body also have a few quality issues:

That seam line is deep, and there’s a very noticeable ridge there.

Plus he’s got a little warping from the packaging, but that can at least be fixed with hot water. 

Let’s go ahead and put our boy back together, with all his accessories:

Is it just me or does he look a little... disjointed? I think it’s the shoes. They’re a different color in the box art, and I think they looked better there. 

Yeah, they had more green and seemed to be a bit lighter.

Final thoughts? 

He’s just a little hit and miss for me, unfortunately. I feel like they were trying to hard to stick to a certain out line of what each doll gets to come with, that it ended up with him coming with things I think would’ve ben better left off or exchanged with something else. 

Instead of an apron, it would’ve been cool if he could’ve had a belt, or instead of snacks, maybe an armband, earring, ect. 

I like the snacks, they’re cute. but why come with this doll? Why not save them for another?

Also, some of the color choices feel random. I’m all for unique color schemes, but we’ve got 5 different greens and four different purples. It doesn’t feel intentional, and more like an error. 

But there’s also things I do like, I like his face sculpt, his jacket is fantastic, and I think it would be very easy for me to fix what I don’t like with a restyle. 

Mind you, I��ve opened up a few other G3 dolls, and some are better than others. 

At the end of the day you have to decide what’s a deal breaker for you. For me? I’m happy with him, despite my criticisms. I’m happy to add him to my collection, and in general I’ve been enjoying G3. 

Do I think I’ll collect G3 boys with the intensity I had for G1? Eh. Bring Jackson and Holt back and then we’ll talk. 

Please Mattel I am begging. At least give us that Holt Reproduction. Please? 

[thecorvidforest]

Hi!! I saw that ur punk and I had questions if that’s okay!!! Im p sure I heavily align w punk ideology (and have already been cpunk for a while) (I strongly don’t want to conform to society and love all “weirdos”, fuck cops capitalism etc etc,,,) but I don’t listen to punk music or dress punk at all. I know u don’t have to dress any certain way (feel like ppl r gonna call me fake though) but people say u need to listen to punk music and I’m going to try !! but I’m very new and haven’t started yet.. when exactly is it okay to call myself punk? and umm while I do align with ideology I actually am very uneducated on anarchy and maybe similar concepts that I’m very interested in learning about but have no idea where.. can u give me any info on what being punk is really about and where to learn more? some people say there are “posers”’ but what exactly would make someone a poser?

hello! not a problem, i'm happy to tell you what i can :) (also ayy, fellow cpunk)

i would say that you can call yourself a punk when you're educated on the politics and ideology and can say for certain what parts you align with. being punk isn't about the aesthetic, it's about the ideology, so making sure you understand said ideology is the most important step.

that said, while punk ideology is generally left-leaning and anti-establishment, it's a massive umbrella that covers tons of different political beliefs. i personally am an anarchopunk, which is very left-leaning and centered around community instead of authority, but is directly against the beliefs of other subgroups like neo-nazi skinheads or national front which have both co-opted a lot of punk culture for its anti-establishment beliefs. there is no single set of punk beliefs, so it's important to do your research before adopting the label.

some places i would look to in order to learn more: classic punk literature (https://www.popmatters.com/punk-literature-101-recommended-readings is a great list of some places to start), and punk arts such as poetry, music, and zines, and punk history. dcdig.dclibrary.org has some fantastic collections that cover some of the history and politics that have influenced punk culture (i would very much recommend their DC Punk Archive Zine Library). in particular i'd look at the queer and BIPOC historical influences on punk culture, because those tend to get left out and knowing about that history is very important.

as for what makes someone a poser: posers in the punk community are typically people who embrace punk aesthetics but are uneducated on punk politics. they want the social recognition of the label but have nothing to contribute when it comes to their ideology. they tend to flock to places like tiktok where they can get that social recognition without having to talk about their beliefs. they also tend to gatekeep the punk community a lot. posers are not punk.

some red flags that a person might be a poser: they gatekeep the punk community, they don't talk about their beliefs and/or get irritated when people ask them about their beliefs, their punk fits are bought from amazon or other large corporations instead of being handmade or from small/punk owned businesses (it's pretty hard to tell from just looking though), they shame people for not listening to specific music or not "looking punk enough", they happily promote unnecessary violence because it's "edgy", they hate on everyone who doesn't agree with them, etcetera.

and in regard to your follow-up question about whether one can be emo/goth/nerd etc and punk at the same time, you absolutely can! these subcultures tend to overlap pretty often, and there's really no actual rules about what makes or breaks a punk identity other than being educated and honest about the labels you use.

i hope this helps, and good luck! :))

[everafterrebel]

Disney Fairies comics in 2023? It's more likely than you think.

Well, sort of. They're not technically "Disney Fairies" comics, but they did release 2 "Never Girls" comics that do feature some of the classic fairies.

Mystery at Mermaid Lagoon

The Art of Friendship

I'm a fan of the classic Disney Fairies comics and the movies series, but I've never read any of the Never Girls books. (I'm not really into chapter books.) But as soon as they started releasing comics, I was there!

That being said, I don't think I would recommend these books to your average Disney Fairies fan, because:

They are very short. Especially for the price they're asking for them.

They do mainly feature the "Never Girls" with the fairies acting more as side characters.

They are written at a more kindergarten grade level. I know that the Disney Fairies series has always been targeted towards kids, but these comics do feel, at least to me, a step "younger" then the "classic" run of the comics and movies.

That's not to say that there isn't anything interesting in these comics however. There are some interesting design choices they made for the classic fairies. Seeing how this is the newest interpretation of the fairies; one could even say it's a "soft reboot" of sorts and I though I'd highlight some of the changes for you here.

Tinkerbell and Rosetta

First off, Tinkerbell now has green eyes.

She has her eyes closed in the above picture, but you can see them better in the Amazon preview for the first comic listed above (or here) on page 11. It's not a coloring error either, they are consistently green in both comics.

Other than that, Tink's dress seems to be longer but that's about it.

As for Rosetta, her hair is now brown instead of red. Her dress seems to have been simplified with it now being one shade of pink with a darker pink trim instead of her shirt and skirt being two different shades of pink.

Unlike Tink though, Rosetta's eyes only might have been changed to brown... but maybe not. In some pictures, her eyes are still a bright green, in others it's a dark green (like the picture above, I know they look brown but they're actually a really dark green) and in others, they are completely brown.

Somebody had to have messed up the color, but I don't know which colors are suppose to be the mistakes. Were they suppose to be changed to brown but somebody accidentally referenced her "old" design by mistake? Or were they still suppose to be green and the brown was a mistake?

Iridessa

Iridessa seems to have gotten a new outfit. Good bye crop top.

It does kind of look like her "summer" or "great fairy rescue" outfit just without the brown around her waist though, so they might just be using that outfit as her new "default/everyday" outfit.

Vidia

In the comic these are just drawings that Gabby made, but given how well the other fairies match the designs that she drew, (Iridessa even has her brown "belt" back) I'm still going to go ahead and use it as a reference for how Vidia would look.

It seems that Vidia lost her pants. RIP Vidia's pants. :(

Silvermist

Just like with Vidia, Silvermist has only "appeared" as a drawing so far, but I'm still counting it.

Her dress is different than her normal one, but similarly to Iridessa, it does still resemble one of her outfits, namely her "fall" or "lost treasure" outfit a lot with the only notable change being that she now only has one sleeve instead of two. (Although that could be an error.)

~~~~~

That's all for now! Honestly I'm glad that our fairies are still alive, even if it's on life support as side characters. Only 2 comics in this series have been released so far and don't know if there will be any more. If it is only 2, then it will be the shortest run of any Disney Fairies comics ever.

[whatisshelties]

Looks like I'll be getting some more hours at my second job. Some admin work in addition to the cleaning, lol. I've been working at the art guild I'm a member of since November. I've only been working about 4 hours a week. I was told that last person did 6, but she was older, so maybe she didn't work as quickly? I dunno. We've been shut down for the last 2-3 weeks. Then there's been no vacuum, since the old one was broken (finally got a new one today, yay). So maybe I'll have more to do since I can actually vacuum now.

Trying to figure out like...how much income I need to make to actually like...start putting money back in savings is a pain. I think I need to aim for 2k a month minimum and 15 hours/week at Amazon and let's say 10/week at the guild doesn't even cover that. I'd still be down like $300 if we go by the numbers before they take out what they need to before they pay you. Another $500 feels like what I'd need to make up. (I'd also have to get off my free state healthcare.)

I'd be even more in the hole if my grandmother wasn't handling some of the expenses. She buys most of the food and pays half the rent. I bet I'd need 3k+ minimum if it was just me. Though groceries for 1 person is different from groceries for 2 people. My parents give us a lot of support as well.

Adulting sucks.

[patrochillesvibes]

I think I fell in love with Pyrrha you describe. Please indulge me more about her. Any more hcs on Pyrrha?

😍 I just love Pyrrha 💕

Pyrrha is a nickname. When Achilles first got to Skyros he was extremely angry and distraught. He didn’t want to talk with anyone and wanted to sulk in his room. The handmaidens nicknamed him Pyrrha (the myth says hair color, but we all know it’s moreso his personality).

Pyrrha was not a planned roleplay persona. She evolved (perhaps into more than pretend 😉). The handmaidens were naturally curious of newcomers to the island, and for sure the sulking/crying she was doing was certainly gossip fodder. what happened, are you ill, did you refuse to marry, are you being punished, have they separated you from your love, are you forced to marry another And of course when she let it slip that she’s been separated from her lover, the handmaidens got excited. They love a great drama. And so Pyrrha wove this elaborate tale of forbidden love, a secret marriage, and a kidnapping. (Deidamia was naturally jealous of all the attention being stolen from her)

Pyrrha came to Skyros under the lie that she was an Amazon warrior ready for marriage but requiring lessons first. Pyrrha’s “truth” she came to believe was that Amazon warriors cannot marry and when the Queen found out about her secret lover, she was sent away to prepare for a proper marriage. But it was a good cover to explain her strengths and weaknesses in the art of being a woman.

Pyrrha is actually good at weaving. She’s good with her hands. She HATED weaving class. BORING. She would spend most of it daydreaming of her husband and different ways he might rescue her. It got to the point where she told so many stories that she started to forget what the truth was.

Pyrrha is okay at cooking. Achilles learned to cook with Chiron, but it was more rustic/camping/bachelor cooking. She can’t bake, her bread never rises, but she can cook mostly everything when given a recipe. She’ll need help though. She often gets distracted by memories and daydreams of cooking with her husband.

She is good at household management, manners, and posture due to her princely upbringing. She still had to attend the classes as she had to learn the female verions. She didn’t care for the classes just as Achilles didn’t.

But she LOVES LOVES LOVES dancing. She picked it up quickly. She’s graceful and full of energy, so it was the perfect activity for her. (Deidamia was crazy jealous of Pyrrha’s skills)

Also due to her natural demigod skills, she picked up makeup and hairstyles easily. The handmaidens were happy to show her different hairstyles and whatnot. Pyrrha had great hair, so they loved to style it.

(not to sound like I’m feminizing Achilles, but Skyros was BORING) Surprising, or maybe not so, but Pyrrha loves to gossip. When Deidamia wasn’t around to bring down the mood, the handmaidens would share their own stories with each other. A few were having affairs with local fishermen. A couple girls had the privilege of going to the market in town. They would return with local gossip and news (Pyrrha was desperate for possible news of her husband).

But the real gossip happened at night 😈. Nighttime was for the unofficial “wife school.” Their favorite topic to gossip and giggle over? Sex. The non-virgins would pass on their knowledge of pleasing your husband. Pyrrha had a lot to share about handjobs whenever the topic arose. (I’m split on oral as at time and in certain city-states, oral was seen as dirty and something only prostitutes performed) (I’m also split on if Pyrrha leaned about anal sex from these gossip sessions. Part of me thinks they had progressed to anal back on Pelion -TSoA implied fingering in that first time! There is a really great fic that explores these firsts. But I think Skyros is also plausible as the handmaidens would discuss anal as “birth control”) And yes, they did practice kissing. Pyrrha was not a big fan as after her first girl kiss Iphis commented that her chin was “scratchy.”  

The non-virgin handmaidens all had olisbos. Pyrrha at first refused when two of the others secretly got her one from the market. But eventually she had one too many daydreams and succumbed to the temptation.

Pyrrha was hit on by multiple men from the palace as well as several locals. She found it extremely flattering, but soon became annoyed due to the number of admirers she gained. Once at a feast a man grabbed her wrist and tried to pull her to an alcove. She beat him up.

At another feast she overheard a group of drunk men making licentious comments about the handmaidens. One of the men commented on her lovely hair and face. Another man responded that she was too flat chested to tempt him. Pyrrha was self-conscious about this ever since.

Oh, and the real reason Achilles died? As Pyrrha he attended a number of women’s only festivals. He sacrificed and prayed under false pretenses. Hera took offense to this mockery of marriage and fertility.

Anyways

Pyrrha’s life got unexpectedly complicated when Patroclus showed up. Of course the very first thing she did was show off her perfect, handsome husband to the handmaidens (they adored him). But it was tough. She didn’t like the way a few of them ogled her husband. Even worse was her schedule. Of course she wanted to go fishing and climb the cliffs, but there was also dance practice to consider and also Diomede had an update on if the eldest son of the pottery merchant broke off his betrothal and was now on the market (but husbands just didn’t get these things).

Pyrrha loves to call Patroclus “husband.” It’s an endearment, a pet name, and a substitute for “daddy” 😈. It drives Pat wild 😉.

It took Patroclus a while to get the hang of managing Achilles. You don’t just develop BDE overnight. But Pyrrha? Ha! Pat has zero defenses. She gets away with E V E R Y T H I N G. Coy Pyrrha is usually enough to do the trick (she gets close, slides her hands up his chest, wraps her arms around his neck, pressed up against him, runs her bare foot up and down his calf). But if there is some hesitance, she turns on the tears. Pat didn’t even stand a chance. And he has no idea he’s being manipulated.

Pyrrha did not get to say goodbye to the handmaidens. The palace guards would not let Achilles near the woman’s quarters after he was found out. This made him sad. The handmaidens were only confused. They couldn’t believe that Pyrrha was a man in disguise. They missed her a lot. A few prayed for her (also why Hera was mad).

After Skyros, Pyrrha only reappeared a few times. It was always in The TentTM. And it usually happened after Achilles won some more feminine items (once anklets, then lip paint, and once a dress).

That’s all I can think of for Iliad/TSoA HCs at the moment. I share a lot of the opinions of this great fic. Did you mean modern AU instead?