#copy/write with a offset

[budgiesizedchicken]

dd

tumblr tournament most fuckable gnu coreutils command

[maddascanbe-blog]

Power/Kwami re-writes?

I think I'm going to star applying these to redesigns and re-writes, but here is my (current) rewrites of the miraculous power system.

Ladybug- Kwami of Creation and Good Luck

Abilities- Lucky Charm: Creates a solution to whatever problem the user is seeking an answer too and creates a tool to point them in that direction.  Miracle Cure: Can re-create all physical damage to its pre-existing state (only works on physical damage).

Cat- Kwami of Destruction and Misfortune

Abilities- Cataclysm: Allows users to destroy anything they touch, either reducing whatever is to dust, or causing it to stop functioning.  Miracle Purge: Can destroy any presence of the villain left on a person or location after defeat (only works on non physical residue) to cleanse them of the effects.

Fox- Kwami of Memory and Guile

Abilities- Mirage: Creates an Illusion of anything the user wants, the quality being determined by scale and the users attention to detail.  Recall: brings forward the memories of a given location to offer insight to the events that shaped the place.

Butterfly- Kwami of Transmission and Perception

Abilities- Champion: Users can lend their strength to another holder to create a new power, but any attempt to copy another miraculous will be far weaker than the real thing.  Discourse: Allows the user to sense the thoughts of a person who is facing adversity.

Peacock- Kwami of Emotion and Intention

Abilities- Amok: Forms a new body to house part of the soul of the amok bearer to act as an aid, binding them together.  Senti: Creates a new soul, forming a body around the intention and emotion of the person who created them.

Turtle- Kwami of Protection and Diligence

Abilities- Shelter: Forms a barrier that is as strong as the protectors will to maintain it.  Devotion: Guards the users body from change in correlation to their determination to carry on their cause.

Bee- Kwami of Subjugation and Action

Abilities- Sting: Creates a barb that can be used to steal away a person's will, leaving them frozen.  Drone: Imparts a new purpose into a person by the whim of the user.

Mouse- Kwami of Efficiency and Cleaving

Ability- Divide: Separates the user into two or more versions of themself to act as many bodies with one mind, however the more a person divides the smaller they get.

Dragon- Kwami of Parity and The Storm

Ability- Water/Wind/Lightning Dragon: Allows the user to form themselves into the elements of the storm, clearing the path for the world to rebalance itself.

Snake-  Kwami of Intuition and Revision  (Nicknamed the Kwami of the Damned)

Ability- Second Chance: After fixing a point in time, there is a five minute window to return to that point.  The user can change time freely in those five minutes, but do not reset with each rewind.

Rabbit- Kwami of Liminality and Hindsight (Nicknamed the Miraculous of the Outcasts)

Ability- Burrow: The rabbit user can observe the impact of decisions on the timeline, without directly interfering once a branch is created

Horse- Kwami of Passage and Direction

Ability- Voyage: A portal between two points in space is opened to allow journeying between the two.

Monkey- Kwami of Derision an Disruption

Ability- Uproar: When the user calls for a distraction, it can offset their opponents greatest strengths.

Ox- Kwami of Immunity and Resilience

Ability- Steadfast: Once set on a goal, the Ox will be able to power through any attack.

Dog- Kwami of Pursuit and Passion

Ability- Tracker: Once the user's ball touches a quarry they can sense a path set by the movement of their target.

Tiger- Kwami of Exhilaration and Impulsion

Ability- Trounce: All of the attacker's power is pushed into a single attack, with a massive damage output.

Pig- Kwami of Desire and Reverie

Ability- Fancy: Allows the attacked target to escape into the world of their fancy, leaving their mind wandering.

Goat- Kwami of Curiosity and Discovery

Ability- Inquire: The user writes down a specific question, and the answer is revealed to them.

Rooster- Kwami of Pretension and Restriction

Ability- Chicken Scratch: The user can set down a rule, and all those who are present to hear it are bound to it, including the rule giver.

Obviously not all of these are my original ideas. A good chunk of the powers stayed the same, Recall was inspired by @zoe-oneesama in her upgrade for Rena Rouge, and Chicken Scratch was based on an amazing fanfiction by @imthepunchlord. But I will take credit for the Goat, I haven't seen anyone with that Idea yet.

The other thing was what the Kwami's are meant to represent, personally I think all the kwami's covering a small (or large) range would make the most sense. Especially if this is supposed to be the most powerful box. I'm tempted to make a youtube video explaining all my picks, but its really late and I have class tommorow sooooo- lets just talk Trixx and move on.

Illusion doesn't quite feel on par with everything else in the big five, especially once the Bee was changed to Action instead of Subjugation. But I knew I wanted to keep Mirage. So Memory and Guile felt like it hit that nice midpoint. Guile has to do with intelligence and cunning, combined with the memory of the person being necessary to create an accurate copy of whatever/whomever it is.

Also, I have seen a lot of people say they think Miracle Cure removes all stakes and like- i don't really think that's true? Marinette and Adrien are still watching their loved ones get murder/enslaved/tortured/ whatever on the reg, thats plenty of motivation for them to try and minimize the damage already. Not to mention the victims allegedly REMEMBER DYING in most cases. And quite frankly no one in paris would still be alive if the miracle cure didn't exist. So glad cannon has now confirmed Chat Noir does have an equal power, one that might have saved a lot of people money on therapists if Plagg had bothered to tell him about it.

[blob-of-darkness]

THERE IS NOT ENOUGH CHANTS OF SENNAAR CONTENT SO TODAY I AM DUMPING SOME OF MY BRAIN INTO A TUMBNLR POST ABOUT IT

Fair warning - This might not be that coherent because I didn't write it as a tumblr post, I just copy pasted the messages I sent a friend about Chants of Sennaar in the middle of the night

SPOILERS AHEAD

Learning the languages in this game is like a really big part of the game, it's even a main focus of the story, but I will be talking a lot about it so if you don't want spoilers you shouldn't tap on the readmore.

YES I CAN SHARE THE BRAINROT

Okay so I've gotta say I love the looks of the languages

They all have their own distinct styles and small deviations in rules that make them unique

In the first level of the tower, you get the Devotees language

They're got a sign for man/human which kinda looks like an L and the signs for specific kinds of people are based off of that L

The sign for devotee is an L with a floating diamond shape - which looks really similar to their sign for god

I think it's interessting to think that the diamond shape represents the word faith, that's why it's so similar for the word god and would technically mean that DEVOTEE is FAITH HUMAN or HUMAN WHO HAS FAITH IN GOD or smth like that

Then there's a word for WARRIOR which also hat the MAN/HUMAN sign but this time instead of a floating diamond shape it has two triangle shapes like >< kind of offset next to it

I think the sharp angles and harsh look of those triangles and the way they're pointed makes it look aggressive and fitting for WARRIOR

later we also find a broken mural which depicts part of a sentence in the DEVOTEES language, a sentence in another language which I think was the BARD language and then a part in the WARRIOR language and basically you learn what that sentence in the BARD language means by cross referencing the parts of the other two languages

Most of the translation comes from the DEVOTEE language but only the word FORTRESS comes from the WARRIOR language

But we actually see part of the word for FORTRESS in the DEVOTEE language, but it is so broken that the game labels it as [INDECIPHERABLE] and doesn't let you mark the word in the notebook that your character uses in game to learn/note/unlock new words/translations

However- the reason I'm mentioning this is because from that broken part of the mural we can guess that the word for FORTRESS would look like the floating triangles from WARRIOR inside of the almost-box that presumably means PLACE

The almost-box shape shows up in other place names too

Notably the word for CEMETERY is the almost-box and the word for DEAD/DEATH inside

The CHURCH is the box with FAITH inside

at least I'm speculating it means faith

So basically CEMETARY is PLACE with DEAD inside and CHURCH is PLACE with FAITH inside

This continues also continues with GARDEN being PLACE with PLANT inside

They also have a specific sign that seems to show that something is a tool of sorts

KEY, DOOR, INSTRUMENT, POTION/FORMULA and POT all have a curved line at the side, which kinda looks like a C

KEY looks like OPEN-TOOL because it's made of OPEN and the TOOL signifier

INSTRUMENT is MUSIC-TOOL

Oh I forgot about LENS which looks like a simple drawing of an eye with the TOOL signifier

So basically Lens is EYE-TOOL

SEARCH/LOOK also has the eye drawing but with a line underneath it

The line seems to be common with verbs I think?

SEEK/WANT CREATE/MAKE LIKE/LOVE all have that line underneath

So basically SEARCH/LOOK is EYE-VERB

And I genuinely think that's neat

Oh the sign for TALK is similar to the sign that is added to MAN/HUMAN in the PREACHER word

So PREACHER is TALKING HUMAN which is funny af

The signs for ME and YOU are also with the MAN/HUMAN shape!

We're all just people :D

OH ABOUT SMILEYS HOW COULD I FORGET

The word for Hello genuinely looks so mu h like a smiley in the DEVOTEE language and it's so adorableeee🥺😭❤️

Oh also the word for GO/PASS looks like a little MAN/HUMAN turned away from a PLACE with a verb-line underneath!!

There also doesn't seem to be a distinction between GO/PASS and COME or LEAVE

So basically GO/PASS is basically MAN/HUMAN COME/GO/LEAVE from/to PLACE

Or MAN/HUMAN doesn't stay in one PLACE

Oh also originally I guessed that the word for POTION/FORMULA meant MEDICINE because it shares a part of its picture with HELP

Actually POTION might just be what they refer to MEDICINE as so not that wrong

They also do not have a distinction between UP/GREAT

So whenever I see one of the DEVOTEES say God is great

Instead of GOD GREAT my brain goes GOD UP

Or it mixes UP and GREAT so I just read GOD GOOD

Lmao get good😎

And that's pretty much most of the DEVOTEE language

Because it's a pretty short game all things considered so we only ever learn small snippets of the language

OH but another thing

The DEVOTEE language is the only one that doesn't have any plural modifier

Like if you want to say PLANTS you just say PLANT PLANT

Or if you want to say WE you say I I

Or you (plural) (uh, y'all?) would be YOU YOU

Or WARRIORS would be WARRIOR WARRIOR

So "The warriors closed the door/gate." would be WARRIOR WARRIOR CLOSE DOOR

There's also no conjugation or past and future tenses or anything but that's with all the languages since it's all simplified for the game

Anyway the DEVOTEE language is very down to earth, they believe in god and they're connected little people that are very down to earth and lead simple lives, so t reflects in their language

The DEVOTEE language also has very organic shapes - there's some sharp corners and some curves and everything has thick lines and looks hand drawn

Now we move on to the WARRIOR language, which in contrast is *all* sharp angles and artificially steady lines, no curves or wobbles or anything at all

Very heavy, they value duty, they don't walk - they march.

It reflects in their language too - they don't have a word for GOD but they have a word for DUTY

Here's a spreadsheet in case you wanna see what the languages look like because I've been talking a lot about them and will continue to do so but it's probably hard to visualize without having seen them

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/d/1IWZOvCUNrsnOZUd9FG79Pfwx_ZpMhiaI1q3EwQkhjb0/htmlview?pli=1#

Oh and I went back to look for the post I got the spreadsheet from - it's from @asp1diske-art

Thank you for this wonderful resource/compilation, it makes it much easier to take another look at the words and their meanings and which of the languages have a translation in another of the languages!

I'm gonna be honest, despite this post being quite long already, this isn't even all my thoughts on the DEVOTEES and the DEVOTEE language and I'm pretty sure there's some stuff I haven't mentioned yet because it was the middle of the night when I wrote those text messages.

I also haven't gone back and reread anything so there's likely some spelling mistakes but whatever-! I don't care. :)

[asymphonyofstarlight]

rilla, chapter 1

absolutely wild that I read this over ten years ago for the first time. I am forever sorry to my 6th grade English teacher for having to read about Rilla repeatedly in my class journal (I discovered the existence of fanfiction and TBAQ that year at the same time. thus, insufferable).

also, skit lore: this book is the reason why I'm a history major and I wrote about it in multiple college application essays.

sidenote -- the spine of my copy is broken right in the middle of "and so, goodnight." who could've guessed.

ok, locking in:

this chapter is a fun little catchup if somewhat ridiculous (in the sense that I would love to know who is writing these Glen notes. Pay me to do that won't you LMAO). banger infodump. really setting Rilla up as the unambitious baby with no cares in the world

Maud's cats are all so special to me. no other author's cats stand out this strongly to me individually.

very good friends !! jem/faith and jerry/nan have no real textual backing and it is sad bc if we'd gotten more time with them in any form I would've been so much more invested. tantalizing, but not really there. I don't dislike the pairings they just kind of exist--obviously it had to be Rilla's story but WWI from any of their perspectives would've been so fascinating (Rilla is just so remarkably different from Anne it's a mood shift for me from the earlier books to this one and not only bc of WWI. RV kind of mediates it, but not really since it's the Merediths' book too. But part of Rilla's appeal to me all these years is the untold stories Rilla is not a part of.)

I would love to read more about Carl's teaching adventures. I think I would have enjoyed him as a teacher.

Una doesn't even get an actual moment in this chapter beyond being mentioned in conjunction with Rosemary and Bruce. Jerry and Faith and Carl are all off teaching or in school so I suppose the assumption is made that she's simply At Home but not a mention of what she's up to, not even being ambition-less like Rilla :(

the offsetting of this chapter from the rest of the book--the calm before the storm--what should've been a golden summer. ouch!!

every year I realize that I am x number of years older than Rilla at the beginning of the war and every time it shocks me for a second what do you mean she's 14/15 man. also when I was younger I was faintly jealous of Rilla and then I was perpetually annoyed by her and now I don't know why I thought either way. fantastic

Miss Cornelia's beef with Miller Douglas is always wild to me and I wish we'd gotten her reaction to Susan's shot. I sound like I'm talking about youtuber drama yikes. I'm sure I could say something smart about Anne's upbringing as an orphan and Mary's and Miss Cornelia's disdain of the Douglases

idk I don't think I ever really registered how bad Walter's typhoid bout must've been

Gertrude is one of those characters I remember every so often and have to pause to think about. Drawing connections to Katherine Brooke lowkey. Wish we knew more about her

"who is this archduke man that has been murdered" < classic case of 'ah a world-shattering event has occurred but whatever that was just some guy I guess'

hello Whiskers-on-the-Moon. hey shoutout to the Maud short story abt the strike at the Putney church. why did I just think of it here

[umbrvx]

i like ur art. its great and interesting!! i really like your artstyle and i really like the way u draw hsy, yjh, and kdj. you captured them so well in terms of vibes/character. also i was wondering do u have any advice to improve on drawing anatomy/poses/faces?

wahh thank you so much...!! i feel like im still trying to figure them out in a lot of ways but i do really like ironing out my visual interpretations of them so im really happy to hear if people like what im coming up with

also anon you super activated the part of my brain that cant help but yap about art theory... i spent some time writing as many tips as i could think of. unfortunately i dont think i have the time currently to do a fully illustrated guide, but ill still try to include some visual examples:

[incoming wall of text lol]

ANATOMY:

to preface i think that like 100% of the time you should reference a real life photo for anatomy rather than other artwork or drawn references. the best way to learn the body is by… well, actually looking at the body! but also artwork is informed by a person's own artistic ability/stylization choices/sense of idealism, so while looking at art can help give you an idea on how to break down forms, i think you would be best served observing real life references. i labor on this point because i do think that having over relied on drawn reference material and avoiding photographic references on the basis of not being interested on realism hindered me as a largely self-taught artist as a kid, so i want to encourage live or photographic reference since anatomy is one of the foundations from which everything else is built on. that being the case, all of my doodles i'm doing for this are going to be for the sake of example rather than to strictly say how you should or should not be drawing something

-> when you are doing a study of a photo, just try copying it as best as you can. pay close attention to the natural lines and shapes of the body -- the S-curve shape of the leg, the triangular shape of the forearm, the trapezoid shape of hips/thighs when they sit, and so on. note where the body folds or squishes or pulls; how mass will shift to accommodate a certain position. if a form is hard to visualize, focus on the negative space and carve that out, rather than strictly drawing the positive space.

don't expect to get it perfect the first time. in fact, iterate on it multiple times to build understanding. try doing it to a timer of 15, then 10, then 5 minutes. doing this will force you to have to prioritize the most important shapes. you can help reinforce this by using a thicker brush or a brush with no pen pressure (no joke ms paint works great for this) to force you to be loose and not become preoccupied with details.

-> pinterest is a great resource for finding and compiling photo reference material

-> organic shapes are curved, so embracing/emphasizing that (particularly for the extremities) can help make your drawings look more natural or fluid

POSES: -> it all begins & ends with contrapposto… you've probably heard of the line of action, which is related. if you're offsetting the shoulders & hips, it: makes poses more natural, more dynamic, and helps the pose sort of "draw itself" -- the legs will follow the direction of the hips, and you can use the arms to reinforce the angles

-> context is key. don't ask: what pose should i draw? instead ask: what do i want this character to convey? what does happiness, anger, sadness, and so forth look on this particular character? how do they express that? consider these drawings: these are both ostensibly the same pose, but look at how changing just the shape of the spine recontextualizes it.

for more on pose design i recommend watching Tracer & Pose Design 101 - The Animation of Overwatch by New Frame Plus (i promise this is a genuinely super informative video).

to expand on this, in general, all of the components of a piece (background, composition, pose, etc.) are best considered in conjunction rather than separately. it is difficult to choose a pose and then choose a background because they are missing the context that would make a piece cohesive. when you are planning a drawing, try to begin with your general concept/idea/prompt and then do several thumbnails -- small and quick doodles that should take no longer than 5 minutes each -- developing it: you may find that the pose and bg will naturally fall into place.

-> silhouette: the degree to which you need to push this varies by style but generally speaking the pose needs to be readable; i.e. instantly recognizable. try to keep important elements of the gesture outside of the silhouette. for example, if the character is pointing, keep that arm out of the interior of the body. the same pose can be more or less readable or dynamic depending on where the character is pointed in relation to the viewer

-> exaggeration!! goes along with the previous point. push the pose as much as you can (and what makes sense for your style) to communicate your pose as clearly and as intensely as possible.

FACES: -> i highly recommend the app Handy Art Reference Tool by Belief Engine for all things related to drawing hands/heads/feet. its on both android and ios. it isn't free -- it costs around $3 -- but that is seriously such a small price to pay for the amount of utility you get out of it: the hands models are fully poseable (there's also pose presets), you can rotate the head models however you want, and there is 3-point customizable lighting. it is really helpful for getting those super tricky and hyperspecific head angles that you just can't find a real life reference for. that being said given that there's only a few different head model variants, bear in mind how differences in features can affect what exactly a face will look like in those angles.

-> i still recommend doing studies of real people. as with anything else, learning generalized proportions is important, even if you are going to later on bend or break this depending on style

-> as for my own approach... it kind of depends on the style i'm doing at that particular time. for my paintings (what id consider my main style) i approach a character with a few real-world features in mind and then apply them to the best of my ability. it usually will take a few iterations to land on an interpretation i really like as i try out different things. a lot of the face also gets developed during rendering rather than through my initial sketch too, as i adjust for lighting and correct proportions on the fly

(look how much this image changes between sketch and render lol)

if i were to recommend anything, i think it would be to nail down your most distinct features first -- the ones that will make your character's face recognizable, and could apply regardless of art style. in my case with kim dokja, i knew when i first started drawing him that i wanted to give him a longer face and down-turned eyes. when i decided to do the disco elysium inspired set, in which i was breaking out of my comfort zone by letting go of any idealizations focusing on conveying characterization/making them feel "real", i landed on some more specific traits (defined lower lids/perpetually tired eyes/eyebags(?) the crease there idk how to describe it) which i continue to try to evoke even if im drawing something much more cartoony

(pictured are my first kdj -> disco elysium style -> my post de-style kdj)

as a side note, this very same process changed yjh much more dramatically

(^ that first guy is mad someone else)

those handful of key features will be the thing that you can then take into a simpler style and simplify or exaggerate to whatever degree suits you. you can also play with shape theory (square = sturdy/solid, circle = natural/smooth/welcoming, triangle = energetic/dangerous). shape theory doesn't necessarily need to be so rigid -- you can combine shapes as you please to convey whatever vibe you're going for -- so please think of it as a tool that may help rather than a rigid law you must abide by.

-> expressions: exaggerate them. thats kind of it!! make it big!!! you wanna be able to really feel those emotions. the principles of squash & stretch help here: think of how the muscles move when you, say, open the eyes or mouth really big. as one side of the face stretches open, the other side squashes to accommodate it

even without changing the position of the jaw here, moving the nose and scrunching the eyes will sell the expression

you can also play with squash/stretch to break proportions to sell a feeling more

since expressions are just, well, poses for the face, everything else for poses applies here (and facial expressions & pose should also be considered in tandem). while the term contrapposto itself just refers to the offset of the shoulders & hips, the similar principle of asymmetry also carries here as that will help make the expression a bit more dynamic.

and i think... that's it!! all i can think of at least. i hope it helps anon!!!

[geminixevans-stan]

Sweetest Thing - 1

Pairing: Curtis Everett x Female!Reader

Words: 4.5+k

Summary: When reader decides to start over, she moves to a new town hoping that she can make in the world on her own.

Warnings: 18+ Minors DNI, explicit language, nothing too bad, more world building than anything

I do not consent to my work being copied, plagiarized, or translated in any way >:P

Just the thought of starting your new life was all the reason you needed to finally open your eyes. The sight of your room fills you with joy—you’d decorated it yourself, and spared no expense. The walls are painted a baby-soft pink, offset by the butter-soft white sheets that adorn your bed. Soft, sheer curtains blocked the rising sun on the other side of the wide window, beneath which was a plush window seat. You already made up your mind that this area would be for when you wanted to look out and take in the world without having to leave your home. Two small side tables accompanied each side of the bed, holding a small vase housing a plant that you are currently trying your very best not to kill.

When buying that particular plant, you knew that it would probably not last long. But you were determined to live on your own and take on the responsibilities of a proper homeowner. The warmth of your bed enveloped you like the bear hugs that your daddy used to give you. The feeling was so good that you decided that maybe thirty more minutes of sleep wouldn’t hurt.

… Or that was the intention.

The next time that you blinked your eyes open, the sun had finally shown its beautiful face through your curtains, and the faint noises of cars passing by indicated that everyone on your street was up. You sit up, rubbing the remnants of your satisfying sleep from your eyes, and raising your arms to stretch. The comfortable silence that you were striving for was here and you smiled at the realization.

You swing your legs over the edge of the bed to slip your feet into the softness of your bedroom slippers, an item that you couldn’t leave without. Everything from your old life was dead and gone… except for those slippers. They were the last things that you received from your grandmother before her untimely passing. She was the only person, besides your dad, who really and truly wanted the best for you.

Victoria de Montfort was a name to be reckoned with in the world of fashion. She made such a name for herself that you suspect the generations following you will still be called fashion royalty. She was a powerhouse, her attention to detail in every stitch. She poured herself into each piece—that was something she’d taught you, too.

“Nothing means anything without love.”

After doing your morning hygiene routine of brushing your teeth, skincare, and a shower, you go downstairs and head straight for the kitchen. With you waking up so late, your stomach was saying some not-so-nice things to you and you needed food immediately. Another lesson that your grandmother taught you was to always keep a clean kitchen. No matter if you didn’t need to clean while you were still under your parents’ roof.

You lived a very wealthy life before this, and you know that naturally, anyone would wonder why you gave it all up. If anyone would outright ask you, they would think that they were part of a soap opera with all the drama that you had to endure. It took all the strength that you could muster to leave the comfortable life you’d known. But you weren’t happy—your mother, Nora, made sure of it. To her, you were just another link in the chain of the De Monfort family, and she’d groomed you to be the perfect heiress.

In a sick way, you had to thank her for being the evil woman that she was. If she hadn’t pushed so hard, you never would have decided to start your new life. With the constant bullying you’d endured from both your mother and brother, Caden, you had enough stories for your future therapist to write volumes. If they hadn’t pushed you away, you'd never have found yourself here— in Camden, Maine, living the life you’d thought you’d never have.

You step onto the tiled floor of your kitchen, standing there for a moment to take in the area as a whole. A wide kitchen island sits in the center of the room, and the counters are littered with your growing collection of silver appliances. The surfaces on the stove and counters gleamed beautifully in the sun, innocent of the future stains of your failed attempts to learn to cook and bake. Something that you couldn’t do because the De Montfort’s never lifted a finger.

Luckily for you, Grandma Victoria showed you a few recipes that stuck with you, ones that she would make for you when no one was looking. On mornings when it was just you and her, she would make the most sinful thing — a heaping stack of chocolate chip pancakes, eggs, and a hot side of bacon. That was one secret that you were more than happy to keep from your own family.

The kitchen smelled just as it did when you were a little girl. The sweetness of the chocolate chips mixed with the syrupy sweet concoction of the maple bacon had your mouth salivating the entire time that they sizzled in the pan. You sit down at the table, setting it beforehand with your utensils and orange juice. You happily sit down with your plate in both hands, setting it on the table and saying a quick thanks before digging in.

Cutting into the pancakes is like a breath of fresh air, and you groaned with satisfaction when the familiar sweet taste touched your tongue. The mixture of flavors sent you back to your grandmother’s quaint kitchen table.

Whenever she had some time to herself, she would take impromptu “vacations” and would go off the grid, no one hearing a word from her.

But not you…

One vacation in particular was a week-long trip to Aspen. It called for heavy clothes at all times. The snow sparkled in your innocent eyes, nose moist as you tried to withstand the cold. You marveled at the pillows of soft ice on the ground, wanting to be one with it.

And so you were…

Without hesitation, you pulled off your bubble coat, tossing it on the ground as you fell back, feeling the instant coldness on your skin. You sigh in contentment, letting your joy fill you with warmth against the coolness. Bursts of laughter erupt from your lips, not paying attention to someone else watching you.

Victoria watched on, startled at first to see you doing something so ridiculous. But she warmed at the pure joy radiating from you and she could swear she saw her younger self lying in the same spot as you.

Her soft chuckle rouses you from your world, snapping up to see your grandmother with the most loving smile on her face. You tilt your head a bit, sure that you were in trouble but her face said something different, “You okay, Grammie?” You say in a confused tone.

She chuckles again, shaking her head, “More than, sweet bee, it’s like I’m looking at my younger self….”

As you enjoyed the most perfect breakfast, you couldn’t help but think of your grandmother and how proud she would be of you. To know that you got out and dared to start your path was something that you always wanted to do. Sure being wealthy had it’s perks but was that living?

One thing is for sure, you were going to find out and seek out a life that you could be proud of. As you begin to get lost in your thoughts, you hear a familiar sound coming from the kitchen island that held your phone. The ringtone only belonged to your one and only best friend, Thea. Your body moved before your feet could, rushing over to snatch your phone off the counter and answering quickly.

“Hello?” You answered, almost out of breath.

“It hasn’t been two days and you’re already whoring,” she says amused. You roll your eyes at her, eliciting that laugh that you missed so much.

“Yeah, yeah laugh it up. I haven’t even been out of this house yet to touch anything or anyone,” snickering as you looked at your friend who had a gleam in her eye, “What is it?” You ask, pulling a stool from the island and taking a seat.

A tremble formed on Thea’s lips and she continued to keep her eyes on you. You knew that she was getting emotional and before you could even say another word, she burst into tears. It didn’t take much for those salty drops of fluid to form in her eyes, Thea was just like that.

She was the most normal person in your life besides your grandmother. You two grew up together in the same circles. Although, her family were less… vapid than yours. Thea had been a breath of fresh air to your high-strung situation. You two were each other’s safe space and she was the only person that knew exactly where you were.

Everyone else knew that you were gone for some “you” time. That’s the story that your mother was pushing around since your untimely departure. You stare at the screen watching Thea’s eyes well with tears as she begins to talk super fast.

“It’sjusthtatyoudiditandi’msohappyforyou,” she says quickly, unable to form her words correctly as she bawled in front of you.

You were so used to her antics that you knew that you just had to let her go on with her spiel before you could get a word in.

“You’re doing it again! Slow down weirdo,” you chuckle as she lets out a watery laugh.

A smile forms on Thea’s lips as she grabs a nearby tissue to fix her face, “You know how I get. I’m proud of my friend! She finally got out of that castle with that evil dragon of a mother,” disgust on her tongue as she made a fake retching sound.

If anyone was a hater of Nora De Monfort, Thea would put them to shame. To say she loathed your mother was an understatement. If she met her untimely demise, Thea would plan an entire parade around your mother’s death.

And you can’t say that you wouldn’t be in attendance…

You and Thea talked on the phone for almost an hour. Catching up on the move, what you needed to do, and how her life was going. It was nice to know that she was slowly making a name for herself and getting comfortable with becoming a well-known socialite. The lights and fame were where Thea shined the most and she knew how to balance that life and still be her true self.

After you two caught up, you let her know that you had some errands to run and the first place on your list was to find a hardware store to add some more embellishments to your room. You were thinking of adding a small shelf above your bed to put some added Knick knacks, plants, or even pictures. It was whatever your heart desired and this was going to be your little project.

Pushing open the door of Everett Hardware Store, the ringing of the bell startled you a bit making you jump in alertness. A man with a weathered face, placed his eyes on you, freezing you in place. But it didn’t last for long as you were put at ease by the wide smile he gave you.

“Welcome to Everett Hardware! You don’t seem like you’re from around here and I should know,” he chuckles, never taking his eyes off you, “The name’s Jerry, little missy, what can I do for ya?”

“I’m looking for wood? I guess? I’m not sure…”

“Well, what do you need the wood for?”

“I’m trying to build a mantel to go over my bed. Something big enough that I can put some plants or little decor pieces,” you say with certainty. You were determined to do this for yourself.

Jerry furrows his brow in thought, a low sound coming from his throat, “Seems like a good maple wood would be good for that. You’ll go down to aisle 4 and if you want I can help pick out a nice maple for you.”

“That’d be great and can I ask another question, Jerry?”

“Shoot.”

“What would I need to do the mantel?”

Jerry’s eyebrows rose at that question, “A pretty lady like you? Doing her dirty work. Now I don’t think I can let that happen,” he says, folding his arms.

You stare at Jerry in confusion, “Hey! I can do it!”

“And I don’t doubt you can but, what you’re trying to do ain’t a one-person job. I tell you what, I know a guy that will have that mantel up in an hour… two if you’re trying to get fancy.”

“Well, I do have a little fancy about me,” you say, doing a slight curtsy that made Jerry erupt with laughter.

“Funny gal, We’ll get along just fine. Just as a new member in the community, we want to make sure our own is taken care of. You pay for the wood and I’ll have my guy come and get that fancy mantel of yours done in no time.”

“Oh no that wou-“ your words cut off before you could even finish them as you see Jerry put his hand up.

“Now I won’t hear another thing, little lady. Let’s get you something nice,” determination in his voice and he leads you to the aisle holding all sorts of wood.

He was just like your grandmother, stubborn and wouldn’t hear a thing from anyone who lent a helping hand too. That made you feel a little more at ease as you followed Jerry down the aisle, amazed at all the different types of wood and the sweet smell coming from the maple solidified the suggestion that Jerry made.

Your eyes landed on a thick piece, sturdy and looking heavy enough to hold just the right amount of things that you wanted to put on it. Taking a look at Jerry, you point up to the piece of wood high on the shelf, “I like that one. It speaks to me and that’s the only one I want,” you take a subtle gulp, not used to getting your way where it counted, you were ready for a rebuttal and you didn’t get one.

A gleam came into Jerry’s eyes as he did a deep chuckle, “You got a good eye, I’ll tell ya that! Would have been my pick too.”

The time at the hardware store was your first time paying for anything in your life. Usually, others did the shopping for you and it was refreshing to be able to pay for something that was all yours. You and Jerry found the right size of maple wood for the mantel and even bought some tools — just in case you were in the mood to fix other things in your house.

He helped you load everything in the car before mentioning someone by the name of Curtis would be stopping by to help with the mantel. You let out a sigh, shaking your head at him, “I swear I have it, Jerry. That’s too much.”

Jerry folds his arms, dead set on what he promised, “This ain’t up for discussion, little lady. Think of it as a welcome present from the town,” a small smile appearing on his lips, “It’s okay to get some help sometime. If you want, maybe Curtis will let ya help. Show you a few tips or two,” you could no longer decline the gesture.

“Okay… okay. I’ll let him come over. Under one condition…”

“I’m sure he can meet yer’ demands. What’s the condition?”

“He can’t say no.”

Jerry furrows his brow, unable to grasp what you just said, “He can’t say no… to what?”

“To anything. Not that I will ask him to do anything crazy. But that’s the rule,” you wanted to hide or disappear for making a rule. You didn’t know how this would play out but you were proud of yourself.

Jerry shrugged his shoulders, “Alright. I’ll let him know. Now if he’ll listen is the real challenge,” he chuckles, walking back to the store, pushing the door open, “Go easy on him will ya?”

“I’ll try my best,” your words caught in laughter as you waved goodbye and got back in your car. You take the scenic route back home, looking at all the places that Camden has to offer. Down the street from the hardware store was a cozy-looking coffee shop, small enough to fit enough people and you made a note to visit later. Maybe even tomorrow.

You take in the oranges, yellows, and golds for the leaves littering the streets, signaling the changing season. The noticeable change in temperature when you first got here was indicative that you may see some snow for the first time in ages. That puts a small smile on your face as you turn into the driveway, happy that you made it back home.

Home….home…

Something that you haven’t felt in a long time came back to you and all you could do was enjoy that moment for a while, lying your head back against the seat as you finally realize that you have a home of your own. Your place of peace.

Thunk

“Ouch..”

Thunk… THUNK!!

“OW!! Dammit!!” You screech out, dropping the hammer to the floor and you suck on your injured thumb. The stinging pain ran down the whole of your thumb, throbbing slowly as you tried to quell the discomfort. It was hour 2 of trying to put the mantel up and no YouTube tutorial in the world could help the obvious.

You were not a handy person…

Nor did you have enough manpower to get the job done. There was no way you would be able to hold a heavy piece of wood and drill it into the wall. At least that’s the excuse that you came up with. You got off the ladder, frustrated by the entire idea.

But one thing is for sure; you couldn’t be mad and hungry. You didn’t have the energy to attempt to cook anything so you decided that pizza or takeout would be the greatest choice. With a half-defeated spirit, you plop down on your couch and start to search for restaurants on your phone. There were a couple of pizza places that stood out as well as some Thai and Chinese places.

You were stuck on both but before you could make a choice, a ring at the bell startled you, making your head snap to the door. The figure on the outside covered the entire length of the door so you couldn’t get a good look at the person’s face. The bell rings again and you stay still, uncertain if you should answer or not.

“Maybe they’ll go away…” you thought to yourself, noticing some movement at your door before the person stood still again.

A ding coming from your phone fills the room and you jump, finding it behind you as you look to see what app went off or your weekly email from your dad that you don’t bother reading. Instead, you see a text message from an unfamiliar number reading.

It’s Curtis from the hardware store. Jerry told me to come over. Just wondering if you’re home.

“Shit!” You whispered loudly, running up to the door to swing it open. Curtis steps back, giving you a first look at him as you crane your neck up to look at him. He is… very tall with a clean buzz cut to match the neatly trimmed beard on his face. His plaid shirt spread over his expansive shoulders, a thin cotton shirt hugging the noticeable broad chest that could be a great pillow for someone.

Or you….

Nope! You couldn’t be thinking this way about a stranger, even if he looked like a warm hug and a piece of art. You have been staring at him for too long, the clearing of his throat snapped you back to reality and you finally could think, “Um, you’re Curtis? Jerry’s guy right?”

Curtis chuckled, adjusting his bag as he took a look at you, “Yeah I’m the guy. I help him out sometimes,” a smirk pulled on his lips as if he knew something you didn’t.

But it was no matter, you needed a mantel and you were going to let him do it, “So Curtis… Chinese or pizza?” You say as your stomach grumbles for something greasy, “Pick or I’m choosing both,” you look at him with a straight face, feeling small on the inside with him almost towering over you.

“I’m not opposed to both and I’ll even pay for it.”

“Nope. I pay. You fix. There’s a hammer that lost it’s life in there and I just can’t go back into that massacre. So, I’ll pay and feed you. That a deal?”

Curtis takes one long look at you, standing straight before shrugging his shoulders, “It’s not like I can say no, right? You are the boss, ma’am.”

A tiny shock sent through when he said those words, but you quelled it down before you were able to speak, “I like you already Curtis. I think we’ll be just fine,” you smile, moving out of his way so that he can come in.

A small smile pulls at the corners of his mouth before he walks past you, stopping to lean down, “ You had me at food, ma’am. I’ll never say no to eating,” he steps into your house as you follow behind, closing and locking up. Curtis takes a look around, making note of the familiarity of the house, “This is the old Hancock place. We didn’t think they would ever sell it,” the timbre of his voice trailing as he begins to look around the place.

You follow behind him, mimicking the path of his sight as you notice some things that need to be repainted or even redone. The mention of the previous owners intrigues you and you decide to ask, “Were they well known around here?”

“One of many. I live down the street so I was here many days playing with the other kids. Time goes by fast is all,” a small smile pulls at this lip as he turns to you, “By the looks of everything, I think this house is in good hands.”

His words warm you in a way that you’ve never felt before, causing a nervous chuckle to escape you before you could stifle it. You quickly recover, taking a deep breath as you try to change the subject, “Ready to see the bomb I let off in my room?” Smirking a bit as you begin to walk down the hallway.

Curtis follows along, snickering at you, “I’m sure it’s not that….” He takes a look at your room as he stands at the threshold, taking everything in. “What exactly did you try to do in here?” Genuine confusion on his face as he tries to make sense of all the scattered materials on your floor.

You stand in the middle of the room, looking around before looking at him, “I was trying to put my mantle up. I read all the instructions, looked at tutorials and nothing,” You knew that you should have waited but determination surperceded your memory. Which is why you were in the predicament you were in now. You look around, finally seeing the actually mess in your room, feeling your heart race and before you knew it… “You know what? Let me clean this up. Shit… I should have never… I’m so sorry let me get this cleaned up. I’ll be quick, I promise,” you say hurriedly as you begin to pick things up and put them back down, feeling the frustration arise as you try to grab anything on the floor in sight.

The sight before Curtis was like a tornado and he needed to stop it before you went into a full on panic attack. He steps over, placing his hands on your shoulders, looking down at you, “Woah, woah! Slow down there. It’s fine, I’ve seen worse okay?” He says softly, keeping you in place as you begin to calm down, breathing deeply, “There you go, keep breathing,” his instructions are all you can hear as the blood lowers from your ears slowly. You hadn’t felt that feeling in months and one mistake sent you into a frenzy.

You’re not there anymore…

You’re free…

You’re going to be okay…

You repeat that in your head over and over, listening to Curtis as you keep your breath steady until you no longer feel that familiar tightness in your chest. The room begins to come back into view the first thing you see is the cerulean orbs staring down at you. For a moment, you see just a speck of green in them and you decide to get lost for just a second.

The sound of your name brings you back to life as you hear it come from Curtis’s lips, sounding like a the sweetest thing you ever heard. He’s silent for a second, paying attention to beauty of your eyes, clearing his throat before he sees you fully alert, “You okay?”

You do a quick nod, taking another deep breath, “Yeah… yeah. I’m sorry about that.”

“Don’t sweat it. We all get overwhelmed,” he says in a reassuring tone as she squeezes your shoulders lightly, “Relax. I’m here to fix and you have some food to order. M’ not picky either,” he smirks lightly as you let out a soft laugh.

“Who’s the boss here, you or me?”

Curtis takes a deep breath, letting out a quick chuckle, “You are and what happened to the food boss?”

“Oh right! What kind of boss am I?” You teased, pulling away from him and walking out of the room, “One round of sinful food coming up!” You shout, going out to grab your phone before sitting down. You take another breath, replaying the way Cursis said your name. It wasn’t said with vitriol or disgust.

But with care…

You wanted him to say again. Just like that… Just to give you something that you always craved….

[verosvault]

🚨SPOILERS FOR FANTASY HIGH JUNIOR YEAR EPISODE 8🚨

Dimension20 "Fantasy High Junior Year"

Episode 8 "Fracas at the Frostyfaire Folk Festival"

Timestamp: 00:12:54

Video Length: 3min. & 20sec.

Adaine casts "Comprehend Languages" on all of the notes that Lydia provided and gets some (bad luck) help from a Cursed Fig Bardic! 😭✋

Brennan: "You can spend a little while to cast it ritually. It will take you a chunk of time. It's the middle of the day. You've got Frostyfaire later tonight."

Siobhan: "Yeah, it's a minute per page. Can I grab Riz and go up and turn around my calendar that I have on my wall, and it's just a blank corkboard?"

Murph: "Great."

Brennan: "Hell yeah."

Ally: "I'll go up there too and just give you both as many Help actions as I can"

Siobhan: "Oh yeah."

Brennan: "Hell yeah, I think the whole gang can tromp on upstairs and jump to it. This feels like the biggest payoff of not being sure that Lydia was even gonna be able to get this stuff. Go ahead, and I'm gonna say there's so many materials here, Adaine with that Comprehend Languages, go ahead and roll either Arcana, History, or Investigation with advantage, and then because Adaine has to translate for everybody, you guys will use Help actions to offset the disadvantage because you guys can't read the text yourself. So if there's any other checks you wanna roll that are Religion, Investigation, whatever, go ahead and roll them straight."

Murph: "I'll roll Investigation."

Brennan: "Cool."

Siobhan: "So I'm rolling with advantage?"

Brennan: "You're rolling with advantage."

Siobhan: "Okay, great."

Zac: "I assume I'm not there? Is it the morning?"

Brennan: "It's morning, but you might have come by. If they texted you, you could have swung by."

Ally: "Yeah, I think we would've."

Brennan: "Yeah."

Ally: "Unless you need to help your parents set up, but I'd imagine they already did everything."

Brennan: "And actually, let me know what your rolls are real quick."

Siobhan: "I got a 17 History."

Emily: "Do you want a Bardic?"

Siobhan: "I would love a Bardic."

Murph: "21 Investigate."

Ally: "If I have advantage in History or Religion, it's still straight, 'cause we would have disadvantage?"

Brennan: "Yes, with a Bardic-"

Siobhan: "With a Bardic from Fig, I got a dirty 20."

Brennan: "Dirty 20 on your History."

Siobhan: "On my History, yeah."

Brennan: "Okay."

Murph: "And I got a 21 Investigate."

Brennan: "21 Investigate, awesome. Kristen, what are you looking at?"

Ally: "11."

Brennan: "11 for Religion. Okay, copy that. So you guys are taking time to pore over the books. Maybe someone shoots Gorgug a text. Adaine, as you begin to read with some of that help from Fig, you feel your stomach gurgle and-"

Siobhan: "Oh no." *gurgling sound*

Emily: *laughing* 😭✋

Brennan: "You feel your stomach gurgle-"

Fig: "Adaine, can I help you?"

Brennan: "Can you go ahead and roll a d100 for me?"

Adaine: "Is anybody feeling weird after that breakfast?"

Kristen: "Hm, no, I thought that was good."

Fig: "Yeah, I think I'm feeling fine."

Siobhan: "I got a 91."

Brennan: "91, okay. As you go to study, you are looking at the book, and as you lean in a little bit closer, there's something moving on the page, in the binding, in the shadow of where the pages sort of fold into each other. And it looks almost like it could be text or writing. As you blow into it, you blow thousands of dust mites into your eyes."

Adaine: *coughing*

Brennan: "You stumble back, slam your head into the bunk bed, and one of the railings comes loose, hits you in the head, and knocks you unconscious."

Murph: "Holy ****!"

Ally: "No! No! I'll do a Medicine check!"

Riz: "Quick, Kristen, do a Medicine check!"

Brennan: "Go ahead and roll with disadvantage. Let me know if any of the dice come up under an eight."

Ally: "Oh, No, no, we're good."

Brennan: "Okay, cool."

Ally: "12."

Lou: "Jesus."

Brennan: "You go stabilize Adaine."

Ally: "So, 21."

Brennan: "21."

[justforbooks]

The CIA Book Club by Charlie English

A gripping study of the CIA smuggling operation to get banned books behind the iron curtain

In March 1984 Polish customs officers noticed a suspicious truck. It had arrived on an overnight ferry from Copenhagen, docking at the Baltic port of Świnoujście. The truck’s interior was smaller than its exterior. Workmen broke through a walled-off inside panel. To their surprise, they found a cache of books – 800 of them – and illicit printing presses. And forbidden walkie-talkies. “Oh shit! Reactionary propaganda!” the officer exclaimed.

The shipment was to be delivered to the Polish opposition movement Solidarity. The country’s communist leader, Gen Wojciech Jaruzelski, had banned Solidarity three years earlier. The forbidden books included critiques of the socialist system and pamphlets on human rights. Other works smuggled behind the iron curtain included Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, philosophical texts by Albert Camus and Hannah Arendt, and copies of the Manchester Guardian Weekly.

The organisation that funded this highbrow delivery service was none other than the CIA. For 35 years it sent books, magazines and video cassettes to the Warsaw Pact nations of eastern Europe, as well as to the USSR. The methods used were ingenious. They included travellers hiding material in their luggage, as well as balloons, yachts and a baby’s nappy, taken on a flight to Warsaw and containing Solzhenitsyn’s Gulag Archipelago.

As Charlie English argues, in his entertaining and vivid new work, The CIA Book Club, this programme was a success. It played a part in defeating Polish communism and in hastening the demise of similar regimes in Romania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. And it was cheap. It cost $2-4m annually. During the same cold war period the CIA was splurging $700m on supporting Mujahideen fighters in Soviet-occupied Afghanistan.

For Poland’s dissidents the printing presses sent by the west were the equivalent of guns or tanks. As one put it, literature nourished the soul and gave Poles a sense of a bigger human context. Books encouraged dissent. The editor Adam Michnik – who played a leading role in Solidarity’s struggle and spent much of the 1980s in jail – said that after reading a book “your spine would be straightening up”. He observed: “You knew then you could tell the state ‘No’.”

The Polish democracy activists helped by the CIA were not stooges. They selected which titles to distribute, many of them written by people who had lived in the eastern bloc. A key person was Mirosław Chojecki, whom English dubs Solidarity’s minister for smuggling. Chojecki was a talented publisher who had numerous run-ins with the secret police. They arrested him more than 40 times, but failed to stop his underground operation.

When strikes broke out in 1980 at the Lenin shipyard in Gdańsk, the authorities cut the phones. Chojecki brought out a special newsletter, Bulletin, in support of the workers. The country’s communist rulers blinked, with Solidarity recognised. Fifteen months later, though, and under pressure from Moscow, Jaruzelski imposed martial law. Solidarity officials were rounded up. Chojecki was out of the country and, for the next decade, produced dissident literature from Paris.

English writes thrillingly about the activists inside Poland, and their efforts to defy the clampdown. Women played a crucial role. In 1982 the journalist Helena Łuczywo launched the Mazovia Weekly, a vital source of information in dark times. She and her colleagues slept in safe-houses, carried fake IDs, and used contacts to source banned offset presses. The Polish security services were deeply chauvinist. They assumed – wrongly – that the reporters they were hunting were men.

For the next few years Solidarity’s cause looked hopeless. At the same time, Chojecki’s distribution network flourished. By the mid-1980s books were being sent into Poland on routes stretching from Stockholm to Turin. Illicit print sites sprung up in lofts and kitchen cellars, under a trap door concealed by a fridge. The regime had triumphs too. Spies infiltrated Solidarity and intercepted international deliveries, calling them “provocations”.

CIA records from this giddy period remain classified. Senior US politicians were privately supportive, including president Jimmy Carter and his Polish-American national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski. The clandestine book programme had a codename, QRHELPFUL. Its results were impressive. George Minden, the CIA officer in charge, estimated that almost 10 million items were smuggled east, with 316,020 books dispatched in the programme’s final year.

English has interviewed the surviving dissidents, whose cat-and mouse struggle led in 1989 to the regime’s collapse. I would have liked to read more on the books themselves and reaction from underground readers. Who, for example, decided to include Virginia Woolf’s advice on writing? What did communist-era Poles make of Agatha Christie? This is a gripping account of an intriguing and little-known cold war moment. In contrast to our own fascist-tinged times, liberal ideas won.

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[titanicfreija]

Ended up reading the copyright infringement lawsuit by that one guy against Bungie 'cos curious

I gotta tell you, if there is anything being revealed about Bungie's writing, it's not plaigarism, it's that that it sounds like a fucking hack job vomiting the contents of an AI told to write a Sci-Fi adventure about the Red Legion; which is about the only thing they have in common as far as genuinely unique items in the story

I've come to the conclusion that dude is going for a marketing thing and hoping he gets enough attention to offset the costs. This is a good audience to try to rope in, with a lot of, "if you liked ____, try this!" senses, but frankly, this is the most generic shit I've ever seen.

Which, again, is both parties. Destiny 2's stuff being explained is generic as fuck. (Our perceived nemesis for a long time was The Darkness, for instance, we don't have a great defense against the accusations of being Basic)

They use communications devices with screens! There's dog-like animals being trained to fight by an alien enemy faction! They have reactors! (I'm not kidding, these are all points brought up, and that really is all the commonality presented)

The main bad guy was a weakling adopted by an exiled wizened badass and trained to be a monstrous warrior almost sounds like a copied item but as specific as that is, it's still just Standard Bad Guy Hero Journey

I started out picking on the guy for his attempts to link shit but now I'm just picking on Destiny for being generic as fuck

Which, granted, I thought it was when I heard about it first. Rise told me that The Darkness was a force for evil while we wield the Light (understood to be true at the time), I just 🤨ed. Vex was a name I had given my depression spells, the Krill, progenitors of the Hive are from Fundament, there's not even a lot of fun Alien Names in basic lore stuff. (Scratching the surface will give you what you're looking for, but I'm still on the rind here)

We're zombies with guns and space magic sounds cool as fuck in a generic sense. That we're fighting The Hive on the Moon.... Seriously? Bug aliens? We're using guns on bug aliens that took over the moon?

The bug aliens are also religious fanatics that use psychic/mind altering magic with rocks that resonate with the sounds of their voices and are also energy vampires that feed off the deaths of their own kind (and everyone else) which does sound immensely better

But it's bug aliens on the moon we fight with guns. So.

I'm pulling from this stuff the same thing as The Locked Away Deformed Frenchman who Falls in Love with a Beautiful Woman thing where you very much can create new and interesting shit from the same modeling clay as everyone else. Details are important.

Good luck, bro

[creativexspirit]

Rolling playlist gif for GIMP: a tutorial ▬ by Joy from @creativexspirit​ 

Credit where credit is due, I fell in love with this gif tutorial but EH I don't use Photoshop anymore so I made it my mission to recreate the effect in GIMP.

This tutorial uses AnimStack, a Script-Fu script for GIMP to give you tools for the creation of animated GIFs. As it's super useful, even if you don't follow this tutorial I highly recommend to download. How to install AnimStack to GIMP in tumblr's FAQ: https://animstack.tumblr.com/faq

IT ONLY WORKS IN GIMP 2.10.

This tutorial uses my playlist template.

Tutorial with screenshots is under the cut.

Like or reblog if you download. Please don’t request as your own, respect my work. Don’t hesitate to tag me if you follow the tutorial! I would love to see your edits.

STEP 01.

Change the titles, the colors, the icons. Tip if you want to change the song title that are not visible: move the layers group "Song list", so you can see the text you modify.

Add songs by copy/pasting the "Song 5" layers group. Keep this layers group inside the "Song list" group.

Try to move the layers group so that it is aligned with above songs.

To place back correctly the "Song list", here's a tip: use the align tool and click on the "Song list" group. In the tool's options, in the "relative to" drop down menu, choose "Selection". Back to the layers window: in the "Background" group, right click on the "Color nuance" layer and choose "Alpha to selection". Now you are free to align your "Song list" layer group to the top and center of that selection, and it should be alright!

STEP 02.

Now the tutorial actually begins. Flatten all layer groups using Image > Flatten Layer Groups. (Don't mind my GIMP language, it is in French but the AnimStacks tools are in English, you should have the same menu.)

And now your layers window should look like mine, minus the links on the layers.

Now, see the linked layers? Merge them all together. You should end up with only 4 layers: "Song list", "Background", "GUIDE MASK SONG LIST FOR GIF", "Arrière-plan".

Note: you don't really need the "Arrière-plan" layer, so if you want to, you can delete it or you can merge it with the background layer. In my case, I will delete it.

STEP 03.

Reorder your layers. This is very important as AnimStacks will process the layers from top to bottom, so the layers order counts.

Put your "Background" layer on top, your "Song list" layer under it. As for the guide mask, we don't really care as we will delete it later.

STEP 04.

We are now going to add AnimStacks tags to our layer names. Here you'll have to do a bit of maths because you can choose the number of frames your gif will ultimately contain and adjust the tags parameters accordingly. This might seem complicated but it really isn't. I'll start by showing the tags to add, and explain how this will be processed. I will then give you the maths to choose your parameters accordingly.

Below, the tags I have added to my layers. You will have to write the same things as I do but what you might change is:

the number of "30" in Background.

the y parameter of the offset tag "-12".

YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO REMOVE THE [copy:0] and change it.

OK but what does each tag do? Remember, AnimStacks process is from top layer to bottom. Here the first layer is our Background layer: [*30] means it will duplicate the "Background" layer 30 times.

Now, onto "Song list" layer: [copy:0] will check all layers above the "Song list" layer that has no tag (at this point, all of our 30 "Background" layers have no tag), create a group for each found layer and place the "Song list" layer at position 0. Ok this explanation is wacky, for better explanation, please check the documentation.

The offset tag is necessary for the rolling effect: at each addition of the "Song list" layer, it won't just be a simple duplicate of the "Song list" layer, but the layer will have moved a little by (x,y) = (0,-12), allowing us to get that "rolling" effect in our gif. (And now you get why I said "y parameter".)

OK now, but how did I choose my parameters? So for reference, I only have 5 songs - I didn't add any song to the song list. For my maths, you need the height of the "Song list" layer. Check it with the scaling tool.

The height of my layer is 353 pixels (awful number meh). I choose to have 30 frames. So the move of the layers will have to be of 353/30 = 11.77 pixels. I choose 12 pixels because you can't have floats for the number of pixels, can you?

DO NOT FORGET the minus in front of the y parameter. My y parameter is "-12". Otherwise, the playlist will roll towards the bottom.

STEP 05.

We are now going to add a mask to the "Song list" layer to avoid seeing the title songs where we shouldn't see them. See that obnoxious orange layer "GUIDE MASK SONG LIST FOR GIF"? Yes, it is its time to shine.

Right click on the "GUIDE MASK SONG LIST FOR GIF" layer and choose "Alpha to Selection". (Well in French it's Alpha vers Sélection.)

Now, we are going to use that selection to create a layer mask on the "Song list" layer.

Right click on "Song list" and choose "Add a layer mask". /!\ Your selection must still be active. (Well in French it's "Ajouter un masque de calque" but you can see the icon right? By the way, you can also add a layer mask by clicking on the icon in the layer window, see circled icon in red.)

Now, choose Selection for the creation of the layer mask.

If you don't have the above results for the mask, it might be that you foreground and background colors are not the same as mine, meaning black and white respectively.

If you don't have the same colors as me above, click on the small pair of squares the blue arrow I draw is pointing to. It will default your foreground and background colors to black and white. Keyboard shortcut is D. (I don't think I changed it.)

And now, we don't need the orange guide mask layer anymore, so you can delete it.

STEP 06.

Last check before process: make sure you have no area selected (or you will get a weird result). Cancel all selection with Selection > None.

STEP 07.

We now begin the AnimStacks tags process.

In Filters > Animation, find "Process Animation Tags" and click on it.

The process might take a while depending on the number of frames you have.

If everything is correct, you should have something similar to that. Now, we can check if the gif is correct and if we liked the number of frames and y parameter by previewing the animation in Filters > Animation > Playback...

STEP 07.

This step is optional but you might want to change the time of our first frame to be longer so people have time to read the beginning. Do so by changing the layer group name by adding (800ms) to it. This means the frame corresponding to that layer group will be 800ms.

You can check if it's long enough by doing the playback again.

STEP 08.

Now, we have to flatten all layer groups if we want to export to a GIF. In order to do so, we will just use the same trick as the beginning: Image > Flatten Layer Groups.

STEP 09.

Optional, but good to do: to make our gif lighter, we are also going to optimize the gif. In order to do so, do Filters > Animation > Optimize (for GIF) I don't know personally the difference with the other optimization method. Choose either you'll have similar results it's a difference in the implied algorithm I guess.

This step might take a while, but it's ok. When it's done processing you should have a new image created with the same results as me above. You can playback to check if everything is correct but here our job is done! We will now export the GIF.

STEP 10.

You can now export to GIF! Go to File > Export as..., choose the name of your file and end it with the .gif extension.

If you get an error message because some layers are not cropped, no worries: just choose the "crop" option (but you should not with the optimization).

Now, don't forget to check "as animation" when saving the GIF, if you haven't done the optimization, choose the delay between frames (the first frame will still be of 800ms), and choose "replace".

WITHOUT OPTIMIZATION:

(With the optimization process, all layers already have delay and animation replacement type thingy specified.)

AND VOILA, YOU HAVE YOUR GIF! If you mess around more with AnimStacks, you can do cool stuffs with it!

Now, how do you pronounce the G in gif? Also shh, don't say you saw the mistake I made when changing the title's songs in the tutorial, I wanted to write Everybody Talks by Neon Trees.

[uwmspeccoll]

Wood Engraving Wednesday

Engraved Title Pages by Joan Hassall

These engraved title pages by the prolific English wood engraver and book illustrator Joan Hassall (1906-1988) are from The Wood Engravings of Joan Hassall, with an introduction by the Scottish book and type designer Ruari McLean, published in London by the Oxford University Press in 1960. 

Hassall was one of the most sought-after wood-engraving illustrators of her generation, yet her process was slow and deliberate, but also intuitive. Ruari McLean writes:

She does the minimum of drawing on her blocks first, putting down only the bare outlines of the composition, so that the detail of the design is developed by the graver, almost as a series of afterthoughts. She often engraves a block completely, only to find that it does not satisfy her conception: she will then offset the design into a fresh block and entirely re-engraved it. At this stage, an exasperated publisher is often waiting in great impatience, so it implies a very firm resolve indeed not to let a block go until she is satisfied.

The title page for Devil's Dyke is for a book by her brother, the actor, dramatist, and poet Christopher Hassall (1912-1963), with whom she was very close.

Our copy of The Wood Engravings of Joan Hassall is another gift from our friend Jerry Buff. 

Read more about and view more engravings by Joan Hassall.

View more posts with women wood engravers

View more posts with wood engravings!

[kimyoonmiauthor]

Another correction with GenAI as the lead

Leads with a GenAI image, so... still give it a chance? Maybe not written by AI but by a human? Then why so many errors?

A great way to tank yourself as a creator is to use a GenAI image as a cover, as part of your marketing. People will start to doubt if you wrote anything.

So to demonstrate, I'm going to go through the errors in this article. Because often people think, "Oh, self-pub is EASY and I'll make all the mulah" from articles like these, but the hardships aren't showing up.

The first issue is this table...

Screenshot 2024-12-24

That's an odd thing....

Did you write this?

So this is attributed to Jane Friedman, who is a real person.

The problem with this chart is that this is not her chart. Look at the actual chart here: https://janefriedman.com/key-book-publishing-path/

Huge honking red flag.

This is shaky legal ground, I would think too, attributing a work that is soooo clearly shoddy to a professional.

This is also why it's so filled with errors.

So let's go over the items: Trad Publishing:

Publisher contracts with author for rights to manuscript

Not always easy to sever relationship

Possible royalty paid up front and with book sales; author may need to pay for extras

Offset printing for large runs

Traditional Publishing Today The “Big Five” major publishing groups handle most traditional publishing, earning approximately 25% of their income from ebooks. You must secure an agent to present your work to these (or most other) houses. Getting an agent can be a daunting task, and crafting an agent’s query letter is an art in itself, but it’s necessary to avoid your request landing in their proverbial slush pile. Once a publisher accepts your manuscript, they own its rights, and your contract specifies what they can do with it. You receive royalties, while they manage editing, cover design, marketing, and distribution. You have minimal input or control over these processes, but they cover all associated costs. A traditionally published book can take up to two years to reach bookstore shelves. Royalties from traditional publishers are smaller than those received from self-publishing, but an expected larger number of sales offsets this.

The “Big Five” major publishing groups handle most traditional publishing, earning approximately 25% of their income from ebooks.

That's their source. No. It's authors who earn about 10-25% from ebook sales of their total sales within traditional publishing. This does not mean the publishers do.

I smell genAI. Like how could you be an author and miss this from your *checks source* Reddit and Quora??? Like really? You're taking these figures from Quora?

Again, for small presses that are genuine small presses, you DO NOT ALWAYS need an agent, however, when dealing with an entity not your own with a long term contract, you should have an IP lawyer or an agent or at least be up on your legal shit before you sign.

Getting an agent can be a daunting task, and crafting an agent’s query letter is an art in itself, but it’s necessary to avoid your request landing in their proverbial slush pile.

This sounds like a copy-paste of the other article?? Is genAI spreading misinformation and bad organization skills?

A query letter ain't that difficult. Does it take time? Yes, but can you learn the art of it? Yes.

To be clear, the system for trad publishing, which is why I have suspicions they didn't really do the research is:

query an agent (usually for bigger presses and medium sized presses)

If you get accepted, then you go to signing the contract with the agent, who usually asks for 15-20% of your total earnings. Money flows first to you.

You have to make a comp package.

The comp package goes out to editors at presses. You need to communicate clearly to your agent which type of publishers you wish to court.

The book is picked up by a publisher who edits your manuscript and often works with you on your press releases, etc. Sometimes you are given control of the cover. If you make the cover yourself, make sure you get paid separately for that. There should be a built-in reversion clause. !@#$ Make sure there is a reversion clause.

The payment from the advance is made out in installments over a long period of time.

If the publisher fails to publish, then the rights should revert back to you. Usually the time period is a year (more likely) or two.

The book is then after copyedits, etc released at a given date.

You get your first payment on the first book signing (usually)

Royalties only happen after the advance amount is met in sales, not before then.

I should note that often people who are shitty at queries are great at synopses and people who are shitty at synopses are great at queries.

So let's go over the list items:

Publisher contracts with author for rights to manuscript

Yes. This is true. Limited rights to publish the manuscript in various forms. The publisher pays for each form of the media which should be delineated in the contract. Look out for in perpetuity. Agent, reversion should be in the contract especially sinc eit's popular these days for publishers to try to screw you over by saying they own your manuscript's license for the rest of your life+copyright time. That's what the reversion is for.

Not always easy to sever relationship

More often than not the publisher severs the relationship with the writer by usually either non-payment or failing to publish. It's often more often than not for the writer to be both paid and published.

The only reason to sever is if there is something egregious.

Possible royalty paid up front and with book sales; author may need to pay for extras

Untrue.

The ADVANCE is the usually 15K-20K for the PoC authors. And that you have to make back in sales. A whopping 20% only make that back. You in effect borrow that against the sale of your book. But if you ask for a lower advance, you better ask for a higher royalty rate.

The "standard" royalty rate is around 20-30% last I saw.

You absolutely do NOT need to pay for marketing, editing, translation, etc. The publisher handles all of that and the covers, typesetting, etc. They sometimes will also assign a publicist, though famously, this is usually for famous white male authors, which shouldn't get me into trouble since it's been reported waaaaayyyy back.

Offset printing for large runs also make books available through online channels

They do absorb the cost for printed books. They do help with listing it on amazon and getting you an official ISBN, etc.

With Indie the problem is the costs are absorbed by the author.

I've known writers to pay up to 5,000-25K dollars to be published. Which is eye watering. And you should be getting full service editing at that point.

You can also circle around and get no profit and face a loss of 4,995. Again, you need great marketing to make any money off of it and be aware of marketing, which you may or may not know.

I've seen authors that only got 5 dollars back from their sales because they simply don't know how to market their book. They didn't do the reading, they didn't start doing the marketing, their marketing is too timid, they didn't know how to network to other writers, etc.

The most successful online sales writers usually write shorter works, nonfiction, and put a lot of effort into doing a professional type setting and layout, including the covers. They really put themselves out there in terms of marketing. They know how to build connections, get onto podcasts, into newspapers and know how to angle themselves so they can break that 10% barrier.

But this comes with an additional cost as well. These people often don't have the time to write another book because the time chasing podcasts and arranging, etc is the time you're not writing. So to be an indie author, you really, really need to be able to make back your investment and research before you write the book.

True Indie authors have to write a TON of books in addition to the marketing. And it's an eye watering amount.

As for combination outfits...

They are often rife with scams, and usually aren't worth your time. It's often better to find a small limited press that's genuine with a genuine track record than to pay a combination press.

The problem is when you do indie there are less automatically there supporting authors to help you out.

BUT getting through the doors of trad publishing is hard and you may, especially as a queer disabled PoC, etc face more discrimination.

Ultimately, the choice is yours, but I wouldn't listen to the idea that Indie publishing is a quick and easy buck either. You have to absorb a lot of costs up front, and have A++ hussle game. This doesn't mean that Trad publishing doesn't have the problem of you having to do your marketing, but there are more support systems in play.

Either way, I'd look at Jane Friedman's actual chart rather than what seems to be an AI generated chart. I defer to people who have experienced it all versus a chart that is wholly inaccurate.

So my last bit of advice is this:

Gen AI is not your friend.

It never will be and never should be used for official articles or images. There is nothing faster to tank your sales than to use GenAI for those things. Nobody wants to read GenAI. And GenAI fails become rapidly apparent when people do things like fact check you and find out you got your info from Reddit and Quora and didn't pause for a hot minute to consider if that was the wisest source, which then makes people think, you're a shitty writer, or you used GenAI. Don't do it. Don't be a creator that steals from other creators, whether they are known to you or not.

Humans love, love when they feel something genuine from your heart and work. Practical effects are coming back in movies.

And there is always someone like me out there that will check your work. And I'll catch you. Like Kenneth Rowe stealing from other writers, despite being a Lit professor. I'll be sure to let people know. And do you want to do that to yourself?

Simply don't do it.

[emo-eyemakeup-evildude]

hi, about the astor zine,

1- how many maximum number of images per submission? (example: astor mod screenshots can be a lot of images for a single submission subject if unlimited)

2- is a zine web published? or intended as physical print as well? asking for if gifs or videos can be turned in as well, and if a clear (printable) thumbnail would be needed if so/if not

Hi

a. I'm going to say no limit, because I've already planned for shortened versions of the zine. My hope was to get so many submissions that a full, printed version would be difficult. In that spirit I ask that any extremely long submissions come with a shortened version of the submission, like an abstract on a paper. Just like how NSFW works can be submitted alongside a censored version for the safe for work editions. Reminder that I will not edit, censor, or shorten any works, so keep an eye out for followup emails because I'll be in contact about any and all potential changes. That said if you're unsure if a submission is long enough to require a shortened version you can always email me. b. Each drawing/picture/comic/triptych or the like will count as one submission but there's also no limit on the number of submissions any one person can submit, so the people submitting meta or memes or tutorials aren't getting some kind of multi-submission loophole here. c. But I also ask that any writing submitted alongside images be under 2500 words, the same as the limit for other written submissions. This is not a hard limit, more of a guideline. If your work is a few dozen or even a couple hundred words over the limit, I'll work with you on it. The limit is to encourage shorter excerpts instead of printing multiple full novel-length fics within the zine.

a. There is going to be an online PDF version, so links to external websites or files will be an option. If I can figure out how to embed gifs and videos directly into a PDF I'm willing to do that, too. Digital extras like music or videos was always one of my goals for the zine. Physical versions may include links to these, I haven't worked out all the logistics yet. Anything that is particularly difficult to print will simply be excluded from the physical version, like how NSFW works will be excluded from the SFW version. Just like the NSFW thing, you can also submit a thumbnail and/or a summary for the physical versions. b. I put emphasis on this every time because I want to make absolutely sure no one misunderstands, but the full and uncensored version of the final zine will be available online for free. Any curated, printed versions will be a bonus, and if they cost any money at all it will only be a small fee to offset shipping costs, because I don't want price to be a barrier to getting a copy. The full version will never be behind a paywall and everyone will be able to access it. If I ever gatekeep the full version for anything short of a full authoritarian crackdown you all have my full permission to track me down and beat me. And then steal the PDF and put it back up so everyone can access it again, please.

[bloombeard]

Lugosi for Beginners, Vol. 4

(Palo Alto, Republic of California, printed 2039) Offset printed, paperboard binding, partially burnt Donated by the Silicon History Awareness Fun, 2186

With the cementing of Lugosi's monopoly on computational language, there was a sudden need to retrain nearly every software worker to avoid a second tech sector collapse. "Lugosi for Beginners" was a 16-volume set of tutorials written by Lugosi-powered large language models, with printing and distribution subsidized by the Republic of California. Despite the project's roughly 600-person editorial staff, software workers still bestowed it with the unofficial slogan, "The book writes itself."

This copy is one of the few surviving examples of the series. Marginalia highlighting difficult concepts and correcting errors is found throughout. Warped pages suggest spilled drinks or poor climate control and a broken spine speaks to heavy use, though the burnt sections make these summations educated guesses at best. This copy was recovered following the language burnings which occurred during the 2043 General Strike, and only information from its middle third remains legible. Of the few remaining pieces of Lugosi's documentation, this copy remains in the best condition that may be responsibly preserved.

[radioactive-leopard]

Gluten Free Cookies

Much of my family has celiac disease, so I grew up baking gluten free. I've decided to post some of my family's gluten free recipes because my grandma has been doing this for over 30 years and gluten free baking can be intimidating for those who are unfamiliar. I'll only be sharing recipes that are not copyrighted as far as I know, although I will also make posts about good gluten free cookbooks and resources. Feel free to copy these recipes and change them to your liking. I will also be writing who I got this from (without names ofc).

Gingerbread Cookies (Me)

This is my gluten free gingerbread cookie recipe, it can be made glutinous using regular AP flour and omitting the xanthan gum. I live in Minnesota, so I just use my porch as a freezer.

5 cups (780 g) ATK flour

2 tsp xanthan gum

½ tsp baking soda

1 tbsp ground ginger

4 tsp ground cinnamon

¾ tsp ground cloves

1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1 tsp allspice

1 ½ tsp salt

16 tbsp unsalted butter

½ cup (105 g) firmly packed light brown sugar

½ cup (125 g) granulated sugar

1 cup (345 g) unsulfured molasses

1 egg

Have all the ingredients at room temperature.

Over a sheet of parchment paper, sift together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, xanthan gum, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the butter on medium-high speed until fluffy and pale yellow, 4 to 6 minutes. Add the brown and granulated sugars and beat for 1 minute. Reduce the speed to low and add the molasses, beating until well combined, about 1 minute. Add the egg and beat until combined about 30 seconds.

Add the flour mixture in 4 additions, beating in each addition before adding more.

Beat just until combined, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Using floured hands, form the dough into a smooth mound and divide into at least 4 equal portions. Shape each into a disk and wrap separately with plastic wrap. Freeze for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.

Preheat an oven to 400°F (200°C). Line several baking sheets with parchment paper.

Remove 1 dough disk at a time from the freezer and let stand for 10 minutes.

Place the dough between 2 sheets of parchment or waxed paper or flour countertop and tools generously, and roll out to a thickness of ¼ to ⅜ inch (6mm to lem). 

Cut Out and bake the cookies until lightly browned on the bottom and sides, 4 to 8 minutes depending on the size. Let the cookies cool on the pan for 5 to 10 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack. 

Royal Icing:

4 c (~1 lb) powdered sugar

5 tbsp water

3 tbsp meringue powder

Mix until combined, if too stiff add water 1 tsp at a time. 

Outlining: toothpaste-like consistency, line drawn through icing in bowl disappears after 15-25 seconds

Flooding: honey-like consistency , sinks after 10 seconds when you drop the icing into the bowl.

Tips

The dough is very soft and sticky at room temperature, it needs to be frozen. 

Dip the cutters into flour to cut out the shapes 

Using an offset spatula, carefully transfer the cutouts to the prepared baking sheets, putting similar-size pieces on the same pan.

Flour the countertop, dough, and rolling pin generously and as necessary

Freeze the dough portions, then roll the pieces out on a silpat, then using plastic cling wrap, transfer to a baking sheet in the freezer. Repeat with all the portions, stacking them with cling film on the bottom of each piece. Bringing one piece of dough out of the freezer at a time, cut them out. Roll into a flat sheet again. Rinse and repeat. The dough can be rerolled many times. 

Royal icing softens the cookies and balances the flavor out nicely, depending on preference. 

Glutinous dough cannot be rerolled as many times as gluten free dough, I would only reroll once or twice before cutting everything into squares using a bench scraper.

[snugglesquiggle]

Any tips on using fonts in ao3?

going to assume you're familiar with the basics — creating a new workskin at Dashboard → Skins → My Work Skins, and selecting a skin on the Edit Work page. if not, AO3 has a tutorial for this

(though skimming the tutorial, it doesn't seem to mention the <span> tag, which is your best friend when it comes to applying styles to a bit of text within a paragraph)

now for the more specific part of this question. also, be warned i'm going to be embarrassingly technical before i actually answer your question.

this is going to sound funny, but i am by and large not a fan of manipulating fonts as a stylistic device. my personal opinion is that what font a text is displayed in should be for the user to decide, both for preference and for accessibility reasons (e.g. there's fonts designed for dyslexic readers). i also tend to find most font changes to be a a bit goofy and immersion-breaking

it's different when i do it, but i'll explain my cope in a second

anyway, the style property you want to change to set in your work skin is font-family. e.g. font-family: monospace will give text a code/"typewriter" look, and on my own site i use "font-family: Newsreader, serif;". (the comma there essentially says 'if you don't have Newsreader installed, any serif font will do)

but as mentioned, i don't like messing with fonts, and in fact, there is no font styling as such in my fic at all. what gives?

(note: im going include mildly spoilery excerpts from my fic, Hostile Takeover)

but basically, i wrap cyn's dialogue in <code> tags, and most browsers will make that monospaced by default, but it leaves the door open for custom userskins to add their own flair to code blocks.

for example, my site puts little boxes around them

but with all that said, i think i might be taking this question overly literally. i think it's likely you aren't talking specifically about just fonts, and most of the interesting things people want to replicate from my fic aren't about what shape the letters are.

my secret weapon for styling this fic is the humble text-shadow property.

what it does is simple: it creates a copy of the text, and you have four knobs to turn: you can shift it over horizontally or vertically, blur it, and of course change the color

text-shadow: 1px 2px 3px red;

this gives you a copy of the text shifted to the right 1 pixels, down 2 pixels, blurred 3 pixels and colored red.

text-shadow: 1px 2px 3px red, -1px -2px 3px blue;

same deal but now there's another in the opposite directions colored blue, like a chromatic aberration.

you don't have to include the color or the blur if you dont want color or blur.

now i'll run through some real examples

the "pain" effect is what you get when you stack text vertically

text-shadow: 0 -3px 0px, 0 3px 0px;

the "beyond the grave" effect is text stacked horizontally

text-shadow: 2px 0px 0px;

the famous "i want you destroy you" text is of course colored, and here i offer an actual tip

you can predict the offsets, but the color is special

text-shadow: 2px -1px 0px #da38;

full explanation here, but basically, when you write a color with four values, the first three are RGB, but the last is the opacity. i think this matters because, if the earlier part of this post didn't make it clear, i care about readers getting a good experience no matter how they choose their custom styles (within reason, ofc)

by making the color slightly transparent, it blends with the background color, means whether you read with a light them or dark, it meets you half way

(try removing the transparency on that shade, and it's a pretty harsh contrast on both modes — though part of that might be that i made it super saturated to compensate for the transparency.)

i have some complaints about how ao3 handles css, and one of them is that it forbids you from using the very convenient filter: blur() function. to work around this, i cooked up a very "we have blur at home" solution

text-shadow: 0px 0px 6px, 1px 1px 3px, -1px -1px 3px; opacity: 50%;

(it looks much better on my site, where i can filter: blur all i like)

one of the reasons this sucks is that without a doubt the biggest limiter on doing really complicated stuff with text shadows is that they don't stack.

you'll notice that when the "pain" effect shows up, the "blur" effect disappears.

this matters most for what is definitely the most striking and involved use of text shadows in the work: the big man himself

the basic principle here isn't that special. the illusion of depth is accomplished by increasing blur and opacity the 'deeper' the text is supposed to be. the biggest trick here is that instead of the 'px' we've been using everywhere before, the offsets use 'em', which is a unit that relative to the font size.

but there is a nuance. you see:

text-shadow: 0px 1px 0px, 0px -1px 0px, #fd64 2px 2px 2px, #fd68 2em 1em 3px, #fd65 4em 2em 5px; text-shadow: #fd64 2px 2px 2px, #fd65 2em 1em 5px; text-shadow: #fd6 2px 2px 5px, 0px -3px 0px, 0px 3px 0px, #fd68 2em 1em 3px;

the "translate" looks like a combination of the new effect and the pain effect, but i had to give it a special style, specifying both by hand.

if you want to layer things, it will get out of hand, and if you ever opt to revise the specific colors or values, solver help you.

also, this doesnt show up anywhere in HT (yet), but i've used it in the past — only setting the blur of a text-shadow lets you give words an 'aura', and it's a neat and simple effect

(excerpt from Eifre Quest, an original work of mine from years ago. i have mixed feelings about it)

sorry if that was a long ramble or self-indulgent, but hopefully something there was new or helpful.

thanks for asking!