#idk what to put in google for this template to show up so i will just be describing it thank you

[jiriceks]

that meme of a guy enjoying himself but there's impeding doom waiting in the background but it's 'jackets playing well' and 'the third period'

[ofduskanddreams]

How I download fics and give them covers before sending them to my Kindle.

Hi all, I've been considering making a post about this for a while and now seems as good a time as any. I'm not an expert, and there is more than one way you can do this; I'm just going to show you my process using "Call It What You Want To" by @separatist-apologist as an example. [This will only work on computers FYI.]

Part One — Getting Started

Download Calibre (it's free.) Calibre for PC. Calibre for Mac. They also have it for Linux but idk if that's still relevant.

Follow the program's setup instructions, and then those for wirelessly connecting Calibre with your Kindle account. Alternatively, you can connect your Kindle/e-reader to your computer with a cable and transfer files manually or download the file to your hard drive and share it another way. I highly recommend taking a few extra minutes to set up the wireless sharing as I think it's far more convenient.

Create a folder in which to store fanfiction downloads so that you can be an organized human.

Part Two — The Fanfiction

Find the fic you want to download on ao3 and click it so that you're on the fic's first page.

Above the box of metadata (ratings, warning, tags, etc.) on the far right click the "download" option. When prompted to select a file type, choose "MOBI."

Note: Though ao3 has an "EPUB" option I've noticed a bug that removes the chapter navigation from the fic when downloading the EPUB directly from ao3. If you enjoy the "x minutes left in this chapter/book" feature on your e-reader, you will want to download "MOBI" and we will be converting it later in Calibre.

Save the file to the folder you created.

Launch Calibre if it isn't already running.

In Calibre, click "add books" on the toolbar at the top of the screen.

Navigate to the folder you saved the fic in, select the fic, then click "open." Calibre will import the MOBI file to your library.

Now as you can see, "Call It What You Want To" already has a cover when we imported it to the library. That is because the cover image is embedded in the fic on the archive. Some fics will already have covers embedded such as this one.

Calibre is not a genius. If there are multiple images in the fic it will usually take the first one and default it to the cover. In the next section, I will go over how to add/change the cover of a fic in Calibre and how I like to create them.

Note: Even if the fic doesn't have embedded images, covers may have been made by readers and linked to the fic either in the notes or related works sections so it's worth checking if a cover already exists. If a fic is popular enough, a Google search of the fic's title + "cover" or "cover art" will show you if there have been covers already created for it.

Part Three — Making The Cover (I use Canva)

On the Canva homepage click "create a design" then select the "custom size" option. Canva does have a book cover template but I've found that it's awkwardly tall compared to the default size for Kindle books so I make my own.

I set the dimensions of the design to be 1024 pixels wide, and 1600 pixels tall, then click "create new design."

This is where you can get creative, make whatever you want. These basic steps are shown in a gif at the bottom of the section:

One: Choose a background image (you'll want to make sure it's a high enough quality that it won't be pixelated.) I used an image I had already uploaded into Canva, but you can use whatever you would like.

Two: On the sidebar, select "elements" and then "rectangle."

Three: Make sure the rectangle covers the whole design, then change the color. I like using the colors from the photo that Canva suggests and then making them a darker shade. Once you have the color that you want, reduce the transparency of the rectangle to anywhere between 40-50%. (This step ensures that the text we put on top of the image is easily legible, play around with it a bit.)

Four: On the sidebar, select "text" and then "add a text box." Then type in the author's username and change the font, the color, and the size until you like it. Repeat the same steps for the fic's title. I like to center the title on the page and put the author toward the bottom but that's just my preference.

Once your cover looks the way you want it to, click "share" at the top right and follow the steps to download the file as a PNG. I usually just save the image to my desktop so I can grab it easily once I'm in Calibre.

Part Four — Adding the Cover in Calibre

In your Calibre library, hover over the fic and right-click. Then hover over "edit metadata" and click "edit metadata individually."

On the "edit metadata" screen, find the section that says "change cover" and click "browse."

When the file upload dialog box appears, navigate to the PNG you just saved from Canva, select it, and click "open." This will add your cover to the fic. You can use these same steps to add any cover image that you've saved to your computer.

Make sure to click "ok" at the bottom of the screen to save your new cover and navigate back to the library page.

Part Five — Converting to EPUB

In your Calibre library, select the fic and then click "convert books" on the toolbar. At the top right of the converting screen, set the "output format" to "EPUB."

Now, the following steps are unnecessary little things I do to make my reading experience more seamless.

Click "Look & Feel" on the left sidebar. Under the "fonts" tab, I embed the "Georgia" font family. I do this because I prefer reading in Georgia which is not a default option on my PaperWhite*. I have my Calibre conversion settings in place to do this automatically. You can embed any font that you have on your computer.

*It might just be me, but when opening a downloaded fic (following the methods in this post) for the first time on my Kindle the font is always weird. The trick to fix it is to go and change the font from whatever is selected (Baskerville in my case) to "publisher's font" and then I've found that switching it back to "Baskerville" on the font selection screen activates the embedded Georgia... even though it will say that it's Baskerville? Idk why this is, I just wanted to let you know how I fix it.

Calibre defaults to a justified text alignment unless you change the default settings. This appears as "original" in the alignment options. The random too-large spaces between words of a justified alignment give me the ick so to make everything left aligned, I stay on the "look & feel" page but move to the "text" tab where I can change the alignment.

Staying on "look & feel," move to the "layout" tab. To ensure even paragraph spacing regardless of how it appeared on the archive, I select both the "remove spaces between paragraphs" and "insert blank line between paragraphs" options.

On this page, you can also change the indent size of the first line of every paragraph (highlighted pink,) and the size of the blank lines Calibre will insert between paragraphs upon conversion (highlighted green.) I set the indent to 0.0 and leave the line size 0.5 which is the default.

The last thing I do is go to "EPUB output" on the left sidebar and check the box labeled "insert inline table of contents." This just means that Calibre will add a table of contents to the beginning of the EPUB. (By default it puts the TOC at the end which I don't like.)

When everything is set as you'd like it, click "ok" on the bottom right and Calibre will convert the MOBI file you downloaded from ao3 to an EPUB containing the settings we just changed. Both file types will appear in your library when you click on the fic and scroll within the right-side window. I usually delete the MOBI format after I have the EPUB because I don't need it any longer.

And you've done it! Now all you have to do is either right-click and share it to your Kindle, or you can "save to disk" and download the EPUB file to transfer to your e-reader by a method of your choosing.

I hope someone finds this marginally helpful. In truth, I was just bored so I made this post but in light of the recent DDoS attacks against ao3, I think everyone should look into downloading their favorites so that you're never left out in the cold again.

Happy fanfic downloading <3

[rdng1230]

Fic talk

tagged by @desert--moonchild

How many wips do you have currently? 8 ish? but I haven't worked on any of them since I started Ain't That a Kick in the Head. Most of them are one sentence ideas in a google doc but others are a little more fleshed out. One I would loooooooove to write is one where Buddie runs into the original Buddie aka Gage and Desoto from Emergency!, but I really need to be able to watch old episodes to get their voices down and the show isn't available anywhere except live tv reruns. I also have lots of Tommy + Deluca family shenanigans for the strings of fate series. There's some angstier stuff as well I hope to dive into.

Which one are you finding the hardest to finish? Why do you think that is? lol you can't struggle to finish something you haven't really started can you? tbh I'm putting everything on the back burner till the epilogues done and then we'll see how everything else goes :)

What does it usually look like when inspiration strikes for you? I'm not often far away from my laptop these days so usually I just plop down and type it straight into docs. If I'm out and about I'll jot it down in my notes app, maybe also text it to a friend if the idea was something I'd been whining to them about.

Do you curate playlists for each fic or is your process different? You know it's funny I love a good playlist and I love making them but because I can't really read or write when music is playing besides like instrumental stuff or lofi, I don't make playlists to set the vibe. However, I am meticulous about the music actually in the story, so I will make playlists to keep track of what music is referenced and also to give my readers an opportunity to know what the characters are listening to in those moments. I will agonize over what a character might listen to and under what circumstance. Sal's picks come to me almost immediately, he follows his heart and likes big earnest 80's gated reverb atmospheric kinda stuff. Tommy is more difficult, he's moodier, a lot more mercurial about what he listens to based on what he's feeling, he can be a tough nut to crack. The hardest part is when there's a song that is PERFECT for their situation but I know they wouldn't listen to/know about, see: A Home by the Chicks for Tommy chapter 5.

Do you go balls to the wall and write as you go or are you more organised? It is soooooo situation specific. Sometimes I sit down and just crank out a whole thing right then and there like my Young Royals Fic from a few months ago. I'm still really new to this whole thing tbh, I'm still trying to figure out what works for me. But for the longer stuff I usually know what I want out of each chapter and then when I get closer to it I write out a scene list for how that happens, sometimes what I want requires breaking things up into two chapters. chapter 6 was fun because it actually had entire conversations written before the scene list so I had a page of dialogue and had to backpedal and structure the chapter scenes around that conversation. the epilogue is literally fully written scenes followed by 5 word placeholders for next scenes, and dry templated out set up scenes, and then random lines of dialogue from the final scene, idk man its the Wild West out here. For my strings of fate series I'm keeping things vague on purpose in terms of timelines and certain details to allow for this universe to account for future ideas I may have.

np tags, I'm sure many of you have done these already and if you have just tag me I'd love to read 'em: @racerchix21 @ohlookitsthearkhamknight @cliophilyra and whoever else wants to!

[swfandomevents]

hii i'd like to run my own event and looking at some of the events, i noticed the same patterns, like the same graphics, themes etc (maul week and fordo week got the same graphics, and subcody and the clone bb got the links | like | this idk if it makes sense)...sorry if its dumb but do you know what websites they use or if theres a masterpost w helpful links somewhere??

Hello!

All good things to ask about! Personally when I make graphics for events I make them myself in photoshop, but I imagine some people may also use services like Canva to make graphics. I’m not really sure which was used in the case of the specific events you mentioned, so you might try reaching out to the mods of events you like and asking if they’d be willing to send you their template. It’s always possible they won’t want to, but it’s always possible they will.

Otherwise for post formatting, I think looking at posts from other events is a good way to do it, if you like the | bar between event links, then try to format your posts using them :).

Unfortunately I don’t know of any “how to run an event” master posts (anyone else please feel free to link any you know of below!) but in general, for example, fan week events have:

- Interest check. Usually people use Google forms, but I’ve also seen people just ask for a post to be reblogged with tags or to reply or like a post to show interest. Tag posts with relevant character, pairing, and series tags so that interested people can find it. Of course you can also tag this blog and/or @clonefandomevents if it’s a clone-related event

- Based on the interest check, decide when the event will be held. Most interest checks ask about which month or week people would like to hold the event. Week events are usually from Sunday to Saturday, but some start on a Saturday or a Monday. Just make sure it’s actually 7 full days. Make a post announcing your schedule including when you will be open for prompt suggestions & voting before your event.

- Make a prompt suggestion post. Generally Google forms are used to get suggestions. You can also just go straight to voting if you have a lot of prompt ideas from the start.

- Voting. People also often use Google forms for this, but depending on the number of prompts or how you want to arrange it, I’ve seen people use tumblr’s polls recently.

- Posting of prompt lists. For accessibility, even if you arrange your prompts nicely on a graphic, it’s good to post the prompts as raw text also, under a cut if you feel it’s long. That’s good practice in general - make sure all the info in any graphics is available in the text of the posts.

- Post to remind people about the event when it’s coming up (a week before, the day before, etc). Post on the event days to remind people what the prompts are if you like. Check the event tags or notifications and reblog people’s work.

- When the event is over, create a masterpost of all works with links

You can tag this blog in pretty much any post about your event you make, although a reminder to please put any NSFW images or text under a cut when you want the post to be reblogged :).

Hope that helps a little! If anyone has any guides to running fandom events or creating graphics for fandom events, etc, please link them!

[sugarsnappeases]

hi!!! do you happen to know if rb previous fanworks/answering asks is okay for during the strike? ik you're not the authority but idk who else to ask other than people participating in it bc i want to be respectful!

hi lovely!! this is a very good question and i’m defo not the authority but i was thinking about this earlier in terms of interacting w fanworks?? so for me i'm not going to rb any fanart/fanworks, even stuff that's already been posted, and i'm not going to post any snippets/the top secret microfic that i was planning to post on saturday, until after the strike. i'm not entirely sure what you mean about answering asks bc my asks never tend to be related to fan stuff anyway, so i'll probs still reply to asks if i get any, but i think it really depends on you and everyone will probs be doing it slightly differently

the main point of the strike is obviously to raise awareness for palestine, to show solidarity and to try and help in any way that we can, even if it might seem kinda pointless, like me w my very minor marauders blog not posting one little fic, but for me this is something that i can do. i think the important thing is just to try and do something - and also to spend this time educating yourself, and emailing/calling your representatives and donating if you can. so, that said:

if you're in the uk, TODAY (wed 21st), mps are voting about a ceasefire. i'm not sure if this is still useful as it's so last-minute but here is a link w an email template that you can send directly to your mp, it's super easy, literally only takes a minute and it's SO important. ALSO if you can get to westminster between 11.30am and 4pm today, palestine solidarity uk are organising a lobby of parliament to put direct pressure on mps to vote for a ceasefire, anyone can go, you don't have to be an expert, you just have to sign up here.

palestine solidarity campaign also has bunch of information that might be useful about protests and boycotts on their website and their instagram also has a useful linktree. also there are journalists like bisan who are risking their lives and sharing news directly from gaza

this is a link to a google sheets which is constantly updating w links for URGENT evacuation funds and this is a link to the palestine children's relief fund both of which i would encourage you to donate to if you can

finally, you can go here and donate daily through arab.org with just one click, it's so easy to do and doesn't cost you anything!!

[rocker-by-heart]

I know I said I was gonna bounce until TROS,

but I just need to express my last minute theories(in case I’m actually right so can have proof and brag about it).

(i’m drafting this in google docs btw jus so u kno lol)

SO before we get in to anything, I should say that I have not read any leaks or things like that. I’ve only watched the things officially put out by Star Wars/Lucasfilm whatever. I also come from the Reylo/Bendemtion part of the fandom, so that’s the mindset I’m in. Now on with the theories:

Now originally I was of the opinion that Rey was nobody and I liked that and that was okay, and I didn’t want them to retcon it or anything, HOWEVER my mind has slightly changed. Kind of. Not really. Allow me to explain. 

The whole thing in TLJ is that we see that situation from Rey’s point of view. Rey believes that the people who left her on Jakku for drinking money and died were her parents. And they may very well be the people who raised her up until that point, ergo her parents, but they MIGHT not be her actual bio parents. And Kylo sees this in her mind and that’s why he thinks he knows the truth. Because essentially it IS the truth. And that is why, if Rey turns out to be SOMEONE in TROS, I don’t see it as retconning or anything like that. They will still honor what Rian did(and maybe planned) without undercutting it. Now don’t get me wrong, in no way do I think she is a Skywalker or a Solo, or even a Kenobi or a Palpatine(well her being a Palps is by this point the most likely of those, but ya kno). Now is the time for me to put my tinfoil tiara on because I think that it is very probable that Rey is

a clone

AND/OR a sleeper agent.

The reason I think this is because the very first thing I thought, before dismissing it as symbolism, in the cave scene when Rey saw her reflections was that holy shit is she a clone!? (later i was glad that i wasn’t the only one who thought that bc of all the theory videos floating around). I think that it might have been part of Palpy’s contingency plan to restart clone production, and especially how to clone someone force sensitive(that might be why the cloning guy from Mandolorian wants Baby Yoda’s dna or whatever), and he might have succeeded and Rey just happens to a random one of the clones, maybe she was misplaced, or planted on Jakku, who knows. I don’t think she is the clone template, but she might be. Then the dark Rey we’ve seen in the trailers will probably be one of the other clones. (or it could totally just be a vision and i’m just full of bs)

OR if she is a sleeper agent she might have been placed on Jakku for some reason, maybe her memories are real, maybe they are planted, who knows. Palps has some kind of trigger words or something to either wake her up, or put her under a Winter Soldier type like spell(who is the real Rey?).

The reason I kind of came back to these theories was because of the latest TV spots as of  the 14th of December.

But then again she could have been created somehow by the force to meet the darkness in Kylo OR if any of the above, or her being a Palpy is true, she might have been created by the dark(Palps maybe somehow) to meet Ben’s light, because Ben was conceived by light essentially, but then manipulated. Who knows, I certainly don’t.

This is basically a long way of saying I am now in the mindset that I don’t NEED Rey to be a nobody(everyone is somebody) just not a Skywalker or Solo, or even a Kenobi(though I like that headcanon the best), but it is also fine if she is.

(Also out of every brunette lady in Star Wars the internet have speculated being Rey’s mom I think Qi’ra is most likely. But I don’t really think she is.)

(Also, also, Rey got her name/made her name up from the helmet she had on Jakku.)

NOW onto some other stuff that could totally be separate from everything above. Theories and wishful thinking:

What’s going on with C-3PO is that he is getting his pre-end-of-ROTS memories back, sacrificing his memories after that, and that helps with something, perhaps telling Anakin’s true story to Ben (R2-D2 already knowing all of it kinda blows holes in this, BUT maybe C-3PO wouldn’t believe him or something and we need him to articulate to the audience idk.)

We’re going on a Horcrux hunt. That’s it.

Anakin force ghost DEFINITELY. (and maybe even a whole army of former jedi force ghosts helping to save the day idk, but Ani is DEF showing up or else i will sue)

(Anakin hearing Padme’s voice, him turning his head and smiling knowing his love is there for him in the cosmic force)

Ben finishing what his grandfather started(aka defeating Palpy) (also palpy being back doesn’t undercut anakin’s redemption bc it’s the thought that counts even tho palpy didn’t disappear)

If Leia dies(she might not, but probably will), it is from space radiation and she falls asleep peacefully, Connix(Billie) holding her hand because everyone else is off world. (ugh sob)

(Anakin being there with her omg??)

Speaking of Connix she will at LEAST have as big of a role in this as she did in TLJ if not larger. Please.

Chewie will NOT die.

Nor will the Falcon.

In the space battle(from the scene where we can see the Ghost and maybe the Colossus) we see glimpses from inside the ships(as we usually do), one of them being Hera Syndulla(the actual best pilot in the galaxy) going “phoenix leader standing by” and Jacen is with her casually using the force to grab stuff and shit PLEASE.

same goes for Kaz and co. i guess but i don’t care as much about them sorry.

(Ahsoka. maybe. played by Rosario Dawson please. Catching a glimpse of force ghost Ani at the end celebration and he’s smiling at her being proud BC THEY HAVE THE BEST MOST BEAUTIFUL MOST HEARTBREAKING RELATIONSHIP IN ALL OF STAR WARS sorry)

Okay so Harrison won’t show up, BUT ALDEN MIGHT.

AKA flashbacks baby.

Force healing.

The fact that the TITLE is The Rise of Skywalker can’t POSSIBLY mean the end of the Skywalker line, ergo Reylo babies. I don’t make the rules.

Okay now I’m going dark, see you suckers after TROS.

[saint-patrice]

it’s time for another one, friends!! today we are loving and appreciating mr charles patrick mcavoy (i, personally, do this every day). this one is for @softboybradenholtby/@cheeksavoy​, thank you for encouraging my nonsense!

Note: a few people have said they like these posts, so i’m happy to take requests if there’s a particular player you’d like to see! see this page for details, and a list of ones i’ve done so far :)

is a young charlie mcavoy attacking his usa teammate with a hug not the best thing you have seen all day? perhaps not, but it has to rank pretty high, because it’s adorable. also makes for a good meme template, for example i would label charlie as “me” and colin white as “the bruins,” “my mutuals,” or even “charlie mcavoy”

(gif via @gaudreau) quick!! someone arrest him for Too Handsome crimes

(gif via @davidpastrnak) the only thing better than charlie mcavoy is charlie mcavoy with glasses!!! and that is a scientific fact. i’m not sure i can cope with how much i love him

there are so many pictures of our boys with pups and i appreciate that to no end. this one in particular

(gif via @werenski) this is the first gif of charlie i have saved on my phone and i think that’s very valid of me. are there any pictures of the rest of this suit anywhere? because it looks amazing - i love the blue on him!! he is positively radiant here, and that single loose corl improved my quality of life by 250%

(gif via @phillymyers) how can you not love him???? he’s just laughing his life away after his first career fight (against none other than pld), and then when he got out of the box he proceeded to provide an assist to get a gordie howe hat trick!!! fucking legend and a half right here. oh, and he was 19 at the time

“This kid's fucking jacked. Thick, dense, built whatever you wanna call him he's got it. Legs thicker than my chest, and shoulders wider than my wingspan. Making full use of his frame and with the golden flow to top it off. He dwarfed us all. Bonafide stallion.”  (if you’re currently wondering what sort of crack i smoked before making this post, just click the link)

if these 2 aren’t your favoruite d-pair you may need to re-evaluate your life choices. i just love them so much, and i love that every clip of cmac hugging zee just has him looking like he’s clinging onto a tree for dear life. heavy father-son vibes,, very adorable

how does he actually do it...how does he look this good all of the goddamn time. if i didn’t love him i would hate him for it yknow

every single photo and piece of video from charlie at world juniors is so premium - and he won gold!!! i’m very proud. i want to kiss his face so bad okay

don’t let his sweet face deceive you though, this is a “big boy” we are dealing with, to use hockey terms. and looking at this it is immediately obvious that he could kill me with extreme ease, so i am slightly afraid. luckily he only uses his v strong arms for good, like holding dogs and beating the living shit out of p*narin!!

this is such a mess of a photo and i love it. what the fuck is he doing. i showed this to a friend (non-hockey literate) and asked her to guess what height both of them were. i forget her answer but when i told her charlie was 6′ she had an existential crisis that only got worse when i told her how tall zee actually was. basically charlie is just our 6 foot baby long beach dman

LOOK AT THIS SHIT!!! HE HASN’T CHANGED A BIT

i went from learning that charlie had a tattoo, with a dodgy quality picture where it was barely visible, to then seeing this video and this photo in the space of 2 days and i think it’s going to take me a long time to recover from that having those revelations at such breakneck speed. this man is a mf Machine

(gif via @chuckersbean) okay i promise this is my last slightly self-indulgent inclusion of proof that this man is Lorge. i mean jesus christ just run me over already, i’m begging you

when i said earlier that the only thing better than charlie mcavoy was charlie mcavoy in glasses, i may have failed to take charlie mcavoy in glasses with a santa hat holding a 4ft teddy bear into consideration - my bad. this is very endearing and i am kin with whoever put the heart stickers on this photo 

bahhhhh look at this ridiculous man. who gave him the right to be this handsome in his coat and his glasses and his beanie?? he’s nothing short of amazing and i will not be taking questions on that opinion

(gif via @marchnds) baby! baby boy!!!! if you don’t cherish him i will appear in your room at 4am holding a large wordsearch book which i will use to beat some sense into you

(gif via @davidpastrnut) i included this gif in my top 5 chuckie post, but i love it to the moon and back, and this is my blog dammit, so i’m putting it in again. i cannot explain why but something about this is so goddamn cute it makes my heart do things and i just adore this boy and his backward cap and shitty beard so fuckin much okay

this is the cryptid i see in the corner of my room when i wake up with sleep paralysis in the middle of the night

looks like he has no idea what’s going on here and like,, me the fuck neither charlie

(this is an elusive gif that i can find no real source for despite trawling through tumblr for 20 minutes. google just says it’s from giphy. if it’s yours please hmu)

there it is folks!! the smile that brightens my day no matter what!!!! charlie really does have the most infectious of smiles though, you just love to see it (at least, i do) i am desperately hoping we make a move to keep him in boston this offseason. because, even with my emotional attachments aside, i think he is going to go on to do incredible things with his career, and i totally agree with people saying they think he’ll be wearing the C someday. i mean just look at what he’s already achieved by the age of 21 for christ sakes 

lmao 

(gif via @i-hate-hockey) i literally never want to see chuckie sad. ever. he is perfect in every way always. also what’s his skincare routine holy moly

(gif via @gaudreau) stunning!!!! magical!!!! ravishing!!!!! handsome!!!! gorgeous!!!! divine!!!!! and so much more! this whole interview with him is just delightful, tbh i always find his media stuff v enjoyable. he gives really genuine answers (not that other people don’t but like,, maybe he’s just young enough to not have had to revert to cliches constantly because he’s answered every question before idk), and i think his personality comes across well. he seems like a very fine young man

#ISaidYes

this is literally just every hockey player trying to use all 3 of their brain cells to come up with a sentence that doesn’t include ‘chip it in’ or ‘get pucks deep’. not that i can hold it against any of them, i only have 2 brain cells, and i use both of them for loving charlie mcavoy. his expression makes me laugh but i mostly included this because that suit he wore to the nhl media day is my favourite thing on the planet, and i’m glad there is so much content of him wearing it

tl;dr - op loves charlie mcavoy. thank you once again to @softboybradenholtby :)) as mentioned, i am taking requests for more of these, although i’m currently sitting on 5 or 6 in my inbox so it might take a while - feel free to keep em coming though! 

[runicbeast]

Self-shippers, wanna see something cool?!

I've been scrolling through / following the #self shipping tag for a while. Noticed I have like, a F/o set up most people probably don't have that I'd love to share / teach anyone else to make! Just shoot me a message, don't be afraid, I literally have nothing better to do and love when people take interest in whatever I'm up to! I'm not worried about damaging any Street CredTM on my main here, I haven't been relevant in forever, if at all.

(This is my first time using a “Keep reading” cut off, since this post is sort of long. I think that sends folks to my blog, sorry if my font is hard to read in, idk how to change it. There’s always copy-pasting into a word processor)

The place where this amazing thing lies? Google Sheets. I guarantee you, it's useful for WAY more than data entry. I've been building up this "F/o set up", let's call it King Kong, an arbitrary name I'd given it that just sorta stuck, since 10/14/17. It all started with the Grade Book template.

Wow, it's been a while since I looked at the base template, so much has been changed since then. Not gonna show the real thing / parallel to this page, because sensitive info, but I will talk 'bout it's features. No one's ever asked and I never plan on sharing the sheet itself, so I'm just gonna rant on all the capabilities (and if anyone's interested, I can share some formulas to help build your own)

Note: This is all 1 Google Sheet, made the whole thing myself except for the /very/ base, which I think was the School Grades template? It's been a year since I started it, it didn't start this awesome.

There's a page full of graphs, info grabbed from my F/os to find what I'm attracted to. I hope to build The Ultimate OC, or one geared towards myself one day with this info.

You get one (1) graph. Looks like I have a preference.

The most used page is the Mobile viewport, or "Mobile RE", (Mobile Random Events) shaped to fit my phone. In the center is a randomized prompt, with pieces taken from another page. A different F/o is generated for each prompt, sometimes multiple (road trips are fun). Some prompts have a "switch" that is effected by character traits, such as characters listed as "Introvert" or "Extrovert" , or “Punchy-fist” or “Pacifist” may see a slightly different prompt

Example prompts -

"Spongebob Squarepants seems to have caught a bad case of the hiccups. Seems frustrating ~ You're just glad it ain't you."

(Has an Honest / Dishonest switch) "While you and Spongebob Squarepants are walking around town, you find a wallet. You could care less what is done with it, but Spongebob Squarepants insists the wallet be returned to it's owner. It's even got the ID in there and everything, so you oblige. One good deed a day." (While the Dishonest may just pocket it)

(Note: Spongebob ain't in there, just first rando I could think of XD)

I usually just peek at these for like a sec / enjoy 'em / imagine 'em in the moment, but you can write as many prompts as you want, even using them as actual prompts for drawing or fanfiction writing! I’d love to share the premise of some of the prompts I’ve collected if anyone is interested there.

There's also a refresh button, a break switch (seen here "Turned off for editing"), 25+ color themes (got "Chocolate" set in the pic), Night reading mode (love reading white words on black text, it’s on 99% of the time), Game modes such as "Best of" which just shows my favorite prompts, pronoun / name dropdown lists. want your F/o to call you your nickname? One of your kin names? Genderfluid and don’t want to be locked down?. 

Sound too good to be true? Hell naw mate, shit's real. Just needed to put a little work into it and boom there it is!

Looking outside the viewport, there's a currency system (Pearls), along with that, a gambling prompt exists (Though I have to calculate winnings / make changes manually), Merchant's Prompt (they can buy stat boosting / effect items w/ pearls), Inventories, Statuses (Cursed Tiki effects a character's stats), Holiday indicators for seasonal prompts, you bet your ass I have a column for each character's MBTI / Enneagram, friendships between characters, even across media sources if it works.

Testing laboratory to check if new characters I've found would fit here (linked because it wouldn’t upload to the post for some reason?)

Team Puzzle the F/os are working on, it's 82% done ~ Each piece is picked up when a certain prompt comes up.

I may not have a self-insert made special for self-shipping or a detailed story of how I met any of 'em / life together like most you have, which is super cool. But I've got this.

I realize some folks still may be too shy to contact me, so here's some useful formulas to start with -

=IF(A1="word", "Yes it is word" , "Nope it's not word") ^ You can nest this formula like there's no tomorrow. Can be used with below for random chance. Ex. Under 50 is tails, over is heads

=if(iserror(SEARCH("thing to find",A1)), "Not contain", "Contains" ) ^ Similar to above, checks if a cell CONTAINS a cell instead of is EXACTLY that word

=RANDBETWEEN(1,100) ^ Classic out of 100 randomizer, but numbers can be adjusted

=CHOOSE(RANDBETWEEN(1,2), "Apple", "Banana") ^ Another random choice. Can def have more than 2

=INDIRECT("column letter" & cell with row number) ^ This thing is very smart, let’s you outsource the location of a cell

Say these are all in column A - Red (A1), Blue (A2), Yellow (A3)

=INDIRECT("A" & B1)

Then in B1 or something you have either the number 1, 2, or 3. It will use that number to know where to grab the info from :)

I use this in my main Mobile RE viewport, the row number is randomized outside of it, also allows info / notes on specific prompts to come up in a separate cell since they use the same row but a different column

=INDEX(HP!D1:D88 , L21 , 1 ) 

^ Incredibly similar to the above “indirect” formula. I grabbed this straight from the sheet. L21 is like B1 in the other formula, and the HP!D1:D88 is like “A” in the other, but this one grabs info ACROSS SHEETS, HP is in a different tab than this formula is in! Very useful

=index(E129:M129, randbetween(1, counta(E129:M129) ) ) ^ Big ol' text randomizer. This one is for a single prompt tho

And that's like 99% of my formulas, I probably have minor ones floating around tho. Reblog if you've been inspired / want to contact me to make your own / want to spread this around!

[chanzicoup]

A/N: I got this template from tenseoyong and I could not find the original creator to give proper credit to.

A = Announcement.- How do you tell him and the world that you’re expecting?

Woozi came up with the idea of filming the progress of the pregnancy from the moment you guys found out until the baby arrived. His bosses liked the idea and made a whole show out of it, you and your husband being the stars.

B = Books.- Did he read the books?

Woozi would get nervous mid-pregnancy and fall into the ploy that reading books about birth and the effects on women rather than the fathers would work out.

C = Cuddles.- Who cuddles the baby more?

Woozi lives for the moments when he can come home and have you at his side and your baby on his chest while you all lay down in the living room watching a cartoon that is supposed to just get the baby to fall asleep but you all end up falling asleep to.

D = Daddy.- His reaction to being called Daddy and it setting in.)

He becomes one of those dads that is wrapped around their children's fingers and is a bit of a helicopter parent. The other boys would tease him when his “Dad side” comes out even when the baby isn’t around, such as when Dino is leaving the dorms and Woozi yells at him to put on sunblock when it’s night time.

E = Empty.- Who goes to the store when you guys run out of supplies?

He lowkey panics, thinking that it’s the end of the world if you guys didn’t go out right at that moment to get the thing that could wait another week before it became an issue.

F = Feeding time- Who does feeding time?

While you breastfed Woozi would be chill since it’s “natural” but during this time he’d be extra cautious of the food you ate, as were you since essentially the food you ate went to the baby through their milk. He’d hesitate on moving to actual food since the worse case scenarios kept crowing up his mind. What if the baby had an unknown allergy? What if it’s too hot?? Could they choke on this? Should we call the pediatrician???

G = Grumpy baby. - Who is better at dealing with a grumpy baby?

Woozi somehow mastered the ways of imitating the baby’s cries until they realized how annoying it is and stopped.

H = How?- how many kids does he want?

He may be overbearing with his firstborn but after raising one baby he’d definitely want another now that he’s a so-called “professional.” If he had a son first he’d want to wait until he was in his teen years to try again, but I feel like if he had a girl first he’d want her and her sibling to have a close age gap. I couldn’t see him having anymore that three children in his life.

J = Jokes.- best dad joke?

He doesn’t have time for dad jokes little Woozie is on the big kid slide for the first time and Big Woozi is having a full-blown mental breakdown.

K = Kisses.- His favorite place to kiss the baby.

When the kid falls and scrapes their knees, Woozi would be the first to kiss it better after disinfecting it and putting on a band-aid.

L = Little.- How he feels when he holds the baby for the first time.

After the hustle and bustle of rushing you to the hospital and the agonizing hours of labor, the bundle of joy was finally here. You and Woozi ignored the cameras and stopped to look at the tiny person wrapped in a warm, white blanket. This was the first time either of you has been this calm in months.

M = Mommy.- what does he call you?

He’d call you “Honey.”

N = Nappies.- who deals with the really bad diapers?

He wouldn’t like it but since he’s always hovering over the kid it’s only fair that he changes their diapers. He’d be really extra about it too, wearing a face mask to keep from smelling too much.

O = Onesies- Who likes to dress the baby in ridiculous outfits?

I feel like Woozi would totally dress the kid up in really cute outfits with squeaky shoes.

P = Pet names- names he calls the baby.

Idk what he would call the baby nickname wise but deadass he’d say their full name if they were in trouble or doing something Woozi found to be “unsafe.”

Q = Questions.- How many questions does he ask the nurse?

He would refrain from asking too many questions but when you started asking him things he didn’t know he resorted to google.

R = Rely- what is the biggest thing you rely on each other for?

You’d trust him that he wouldn’t be too overprotective and learn that kids all fall down but they get back up every time. He’d want you to know that you can always come to him with everything and that no matter how busy his life is, he’d always have time for you.

S = Sleep duty. - who gets up when it’s really late at night?

After running after the baby all day, Woozi’s pooped. He’d have a hard time waking up if I’m being honest. If he were to go to the baby he’s just fall asleep in the crib with them to save everyone some time and stress.

T = Trepidation.- fears as a new parent.

He’s just afraid that the kid will get too hurt. But then again Woozi wanted to take them to the ER for a splinter so...

U = Ultra sounds.- His reactions to the ultrasounds.

After about a month of feeling nauseous and having a weird feeling in your stomach, Woozi practically begged you to go to the doctor. He dropped you off, went to work for a bit, and picked you up afterward. You were strangely quiet and that made him worry a bit as if you were seriously ill. He asked what was wrong after stopping at a red light and you showed him the sonogram photo. He was stunned with a smile on his face, he didn’t notice the light had turned green until the cars behind him honked their horns.

V = Values.- what is the most important value he wants to teach your child.

Woozi would hope that his child will learn to take care of themselves since there will be a day where he won’t be around to do it for them.

W = Water.- Who gives the babe the baths?

To make himself feel better Woozi would be in charge of bath time. He trusts you to take care of the baby but he gets too nervous with them being around water and he’d keep checking in every few minutes to triple check that they weren’t drowning.

X = X-mas- what do you guys plan for the holidays?

Woozi is very close with his family so I could imagine that he’d want to see them for a bit of time for the holidays. You guys would work out the conflict of seeing both your side and the family and his, but when it’s all over you’re just glad to be with one another.

Y = Yelling.- How many fights do the two of you get in?

There would be a few here and there about Woozi’s “overreactions” but really it’s all silly because even he knows it’s a bit much.

Z = Zoo- How crazy is the house after the birth?

It’s really clean because Woozi doesn’t want the baby to slip over a stray toy. There’s also hella baby-proofing too.

~Blake

[luckystarchild]

How do you do mood boards? I'd like to do one but idk how

Great question! My process is pretty simple. Details below the cut.

Step One: Pick your subject matter and theme

This first step might be the most important of them all.

I try to keep something specific in mind when making a board—like a character or a chapter, for instance. Picking images that pertain to a single chapter is easier than trying to pick pics for a 400,000 word story (or at least it is for me, because there’s just too much to choose from if your theme is too broad). The more specific your subject matter, the more specific your images can be.

Your theme, meanwhile, is the overall mood of your moodboard. A moodboard has to have a mood, right? Is it happy, joyful, sad, angry, etc.? Picking a theme as well as subject matter further refines which images you should use (and typically your subject matter will inform your overall theme, btw, so that’s helpful).

Let’s say you’re making a board for a really dark chapter of a story. I’d pick images with dreary color schemes to convey that darkness. If your chapter is funny and light, pick brighter photos. If your character is depressive, choose photos in greyscale, perhaps. Note the tone of your subject matter/theme and tailor your pics to it. Planning ahead is important!

Step Two: Find images that fit your subject matter and theme

I use Pinterest a lot, as well as plain ‘ol Google, to find my images. Free stock photo sites are also great (a quick Google search should show you some sites). When searching for images on Pinterest, it helps to add the word “aesthetic” into your search terms. IDK why, but it gives you prettier images.

Typically I know my color scheme in the process of picking a theme and my subject matter, but if you haven’t thought about color yet, this is where you should do so. It’s good to envision a color scheme ahead of time so all of your pictures match each other, look cohesive, and don’t clash. Knowing your scheme ahead of time allows you to weed out potential images if they don’t match your color scheme/mood/theme.

If you’re having trouble finding matching photos…

Step Three: Edit your images

If you find a photo that fits your board but is the wrong color or color scheme, add filters to adjust the color! :D Adjusting brightness, saturation, contrast, and adding filters can turn a “meh” image into a “wow” image that totally fits your board. You can make a color image black and white, or you can turn up the saturation to make colors more vivid. You can also flip the orientation of the photo if you need to.

There’s a built-in photo editor in just about every smartphone these days, and there are tons of free photo editors online that can help you make adjustments to color and brightness. I use my phone’s photo editor, but I’ll add links to some sites later. Searching “free photo editor” should get you results in the meantime.

Step Four: Compile your images

To compile your images into a moodboard, use an app or software program that has a grid-maker feature. I use an app called “PhotoGrid”, and its entire purpose is to put photos into a grid for you. I make literally all of my boards on my phone with this app. There are lots of sites online that will compile your chosen photos into a grid, too, so with a bit of Google-fu you should be able to find something that works for you. I’ve heard the program called “Canva” works for some and has both an app and a desktop site.

Also, PhotoGrid has an in-app photo editor that lets you crop, adjust tone, rotate, mirror, zoom in, and add filters to your images—and you can do this after you put them in a grid, too, which is nice since you see all your images side by side and can get a sense of how they work together as a unit as you edit them.

Step Five: Make it work

Now, it’s easy to find images, add them to a grid/moodboard-template, and just walk away, but you should take the time to fiddle with the composition of your board. There are dozens of layouts for boards, and some layouts might suit your chosen photos better than others. For instance, some layouts might have a lot of landscape-oriented spots for pictures, but if all of your images are portrait-oriented, you’ll have to crop your photos to fit the spaces, choose a different layout with more portrait-oriented spaces, or just grin and bear it when they don’t fit right. Note how your images flow together, how their colors complement each other, and how “balanced” the board feels in terms of areas of light and dark, bright color and muted color, etc. Take a step back and look at your board as a whole. You might love a photo you’ve found, but if it doesn’t fit the others you’ve picked, you may have to let it go.

In conclusion…

This is the best advice I can give regarding moodboards, short of making a tutorial for the specific software I use (and IDK if you intend to use that same software or not so I won’t outline that software here). I learned the software just by diving in and messing with it until I figured it out, TBH, and it’s pretty simple to use once you get the hang of it. 

Basically, my friend: Get your hands dirty. Pick a theme, find your images, and find grid-making software that’ll compile them into a board. Mess with it. See what works and what doesn’t. And send me a message if you have any questions. The most important thing is that you have fun with it, so best of luck! :D

((NOTE: I tend not to use fanart in my boards because I don’t want to appropriate an artist’s work without permission. If you want to use fanart, try to get permission from the creator, or at least provide a link to your source material once you post your board.))

[a-high-school-seniors-band-blog]

Ok so my band director left sadly so we have a sub and a spring concert and the class said I was the director so I guess I'm directing the concert for my band lol it's so stressful I'm 14 it's my third year in band and idk what I'm doing how do I direct a band pls help

That’s a lot! Is your sub not a music sub? Wow...

If you need help ask! There’s no doubt that someone’s going to forget their music, so get section leaders to hold extra copies of their sections music the day of the concert and keep a folder with the extra copies for yourself. Also carry extra supplies like strings for french horns, reeds for the woodwinds, valve and slide oil for the brass, and other things that always seem to break down the moment of a concert. 

Have people or sections designated to set up, tear down, get the stands over to your venue, help percussion put their stuff away, and tell everyone that no one is allowed to leave until every single item is put away and clean and that you personally dismiss them (it’s only fair), allow people to come up to you and talk about conflicts though if there are any. If you don’t want to take roll yourself for the group and performance, have the section leaders take roll.

If your band for some reason is split up into multiple classes, then call for a short meeting after school with people that you already have this in mind for and see if you can email them using a school server or something like that

Are you conducting the band? There’s a couple of really good conducting videos up on youtube that’ll help you out. If you ever, ever get lost conducting just bounce the stick up and down in tempo and then once you find one again conduct in a normal pattern. 

See if you can get a baton if you’re conducting, that’ll be one good souvenir

Make programs - if you google Music Program Templates and go through the images there are plenty of examples, show everyone a draft the week and a half before the concert and then have them finished a week before the concert that way they’re at the back of your mind.

Rehearsing the band, if you hear something funky, look at the score, try to ID the problem, give people a couple minutes to iron it out, if you run through it again at tempo and it’s better, but still isn’t quite there yet, slow down and break it down, if it’s still not one hundred percent there, tell the group to circle the problem area and work on it for the next rehearsal. 

HAVE FUN! It’s going to be stressful from time to time, but you can absolutely do it. I believe in you.

Feel free to follow up with more questions that you may have thought of, Also followers feel free to put any more advice in the form of a reply or another message. Also Anon, please let me know how your concert goes. I’m rooting for you!