#computer cursive

[pizzaronipasta]

Computer Cursive

Okay so, I've had an idea. Y'know how the reason why the world's writing systems look so different is often because they were developed for writing on different materials? Well, to my knowledge, there hasn't ever been a writing system developed from the ground up for handwriting on a computer using a mouse. Which is a shame, because other writing systems are so ill-suited to mouse handwriting.

The Latin alphabet was originally carved into stone. But then a cursive script came around so it could be written on paper more easily. Who's to say the same can't happen with mouse handwriting?

So I tried my hand at making my own "computer cursive." Since precision with a mouse is much harder than with a pen, chisel, or stylus, I tried removing as much fine detail from the letters as I could while keeping them distinct and recognizable. Specifically, producing strokes of precise shapes is especially hard, so I prioritized making the arrangement of strokes recognizable, no matter how the strokes themselves ended up looking. Also, since long continuous lines are less than conducive to digital error correction (ctrl+z would remove a whole word instead of just a single letter or less), and because the risk of making an error gets quite high after only a short while of continuous marking, the term "computer cursive" ended up being something of a misnomer. It was best to keep letters disconnected from each other, thus not fulfilling the definition of a cursive script. However, "computer cursive" makes for a convenient shorthand that's reflective of the thought process behind its creation, so I'm sticking with it.

Anyway, here's what I came up with:

So first of all, it looks cool as shit if I do say so myself, though that's probably just because of the calligraphy pen brush I used (and I recommend you do the same if you ever try using this). But in seriousness, I'm very happy with how easy it is to recognize most of the letters here, and the rest are easy to get used to.

Some usage notes:

the letter c should start going diagonally down and left, and gradually curve further downwards. it doesn't matter how far it ends up curving, as long as the curve is noticeable

the letter k needs its bottom-right stroke to be curved as seen in the image, or it'll look too much like an h

yes, the letter o is a triangle. deal with it

p and q are distinguished by the lengths of their rightmost strokes: p's is longer (roughly as tall as the other stroke) and q's is shorter

r and v are distinguished in the same way: r's is longer (taller than the other stroke by a noticeable margin) and v's is shorter (more symmetrical). also, r's stem should technically be vertical while v should technically be completely symmetrical, but that isn't a feasible distinction to reliably make in practice, so don't worry about it

the letter s should start going diagonally up and left, and gradually curve down and around to start going diagonally down and right. it doesn't matter how far it ends up curving, as long as it fits this description

the letter u should start going straight down, or down and slightly right, and gradually curve further right. it doesn't matter how far it ends up curving, as long as the curve is noticeable

In general, don't worry too much about it looking tidy—it's specifically meant to be serviceable despite inevitably looking sloppy from time to time.

[currentlyjaywalking]

So idea where Batman finds out Captain Marvel's identity and respects that he wants to keep it secret and still be independent but also is a little worried and saddened by him not having any people his age he can talk to about hero stuff so he sets up him and Damian as pen pals.

Neither one knows the other's civilian or hero identity (although Billy very strongly suspects it's Robin because c'mon) but they were each vetted by Batman so might as well?

[dovewingkinnie]

what if the scientist duo wasnt actually a scientist duo and was the 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴𝔂 duo

they're both freaky in their own way scientist dude is way too obsessed with experimenting on creatures scientist lady is way too obsessed with scientist dude and 100% owns a bodypillow of him its just the truth i wonder what would happen if they actually got togwther

[thatonefananticinclass]

Willi Date Everything Moodboard <3

She's my favorite woman dateable so far, you can find her by using the dateviators on the Work app, our unemployed beloved <3

Made on my phone, sorry about the low quality.

I advise being professional & supportive if you want to romance her!

[mrdarcysdadbod]

Accidentally getting a Reputation for myself in grad school as The Jane Austen Guy and then cementing that reputation because I take all my notes in cursive longhand :(

[simonoliverseville]

“I’m using a different font just to switch things up a little.”

“Nope. I don’t like this.”

“Back to my usual font.”

[macchiatosdumptruck]

We are not that far away from a time when illiteracy was a big deal because keeping people illiterate made them easier to control and like how did school go from "try to read 15 minutes every day. Anything is better than nothing!" and giving out awards to no longer teaching penmanship or spelling

[petals2fish]

Are you left handed or right handed?

Wait are you ambidextrous?! 👀

I am right handed! But fun fact about me is I broke my right collar bone and right arm in third and fifth grade respectively (thanks horses). Since I was so young and we still wrote on paper back then, I can write with my left hand. My handwriting is atrocious with both hands at this point though since I haven’t had to hand write anything but letters since 8th grade lmaoooo

[sniffanimal]

i should start designing masc planners for guys and dudes and butches. i like the planner im using a lot and use it frequently but its hard to be masc when someone asks if you're free and you pull out your sweet orange blossom planner and flip to this week and the header is like 'she believed she could so she did' and you say yeah man i am free

[orcelito]

Actually it is SO weird to me to remember that I was an engineering student and that later on I had been pursuing a minor in statistics

I may be a IT & com person in the end, but I do have the foundations of engineering and statistics in my brain too. Wild !

[all-thestories-aretrue]

The public to do lists are actually working so I'm going to keep posting them 😂

But this time in picture format bcuz I'm too lazy to type it all up. Just ignore my atrocious handwriting. It only has to be legible to me!

[achillesuwu]

Random thought but I see a lot of discourse about cursive on the English side of internet and I just noticed that one of the reason why many Americans may find it useless is because their average of bilingualism is low.

Like, I’m not saying that you need cursive to learn another language or for it to be to a level that is pretty good (being able to listen to song, being able to watch movies,… basically enjoying a language from afar and even then you may have an hard time to enjoy fully some things)

I’m just saying that for exemple french speaker of Europe do not write in anything but cursive. Same for Dutch. Etc so if you want to be fully able to navigate (arguably you can still do well enough) in those countries you will have to be able to at least somewhat read it and if you want to studies there you NEED to be able to read it. Same for many job if you want to work there. Same for legal thing : if you get into an accident, you better know how to read what the other person is writing on their accident rapport for their insurance etc

Many thing are done by computer but everything that is handwritten is in cursive.

[imtheiliad]

why did they choose the absolute most basic horrible cursive font for the wedding posts 😭

[draconicsplendor]

Why do some university students two years younger than me not know how to use Microsoft Office? I knew that schools don't teach computer skills as much as they used to, but like... this is worrying.

[readingwriter92]

Bc I now just exclusively write in cursive, I’m finding a good balance of messy but readable cursive that just brings me a lot of joy

[nightowlfury]

i need to rewatch atoats so i can make an improved version of my do it for him longtae meme