#the formatting of this post...questionable

[askthisfishprince]

((Eridan has the magnetic allure of a soggy wet sponge 9 times out of 10. But its also up to the recipient whether or not they like what he's putting down. And what he's putting down is a pirahana with blackout anger issues and decent hair ))

[fulloftheloveyouwant]

Lazy Mornings

Summary: Mountain goes outside to have a bit of morning time to himself, the day is exceptionally pretty with everything seemingly lining up to be a perfect early day nap.

He rests against the shore of the lake, and Rain spots him. Of course Rain can't resist bugging Mountain just a bit when he looks so pretty.

Warnings/tags: Trans Rain, Vaginal sex, Vaginal fingering, Biting, Inhuman ghouls, Sleepy sex, Semi-public sex, and lastly rough sex at the end.

Rating: Explicit, MDNI 18+

Length: 3k words

Notes: Originally posted on my Ao3, just a few edits from that version for cohesiveness. I'm still learning to format here, so hopefully there aren't any issues! :')

Mountain stretched as he took in the scene of the outside, morning dew still littered the grass. The leaves were rustling in the trees above and there was a breeze rolling over the lake behind the church. He walked forward, quite happy to be in his element.

He continued until he reached a sandy patch beside the lake, some small grasses growing in the sand. He then leaned back, letting the sun hit his skin and features. A lazy yawn comes out of him as he just listens around him..

Birds are singing their songs, the wind is blowing, the water is lapping gently, at times, he can even hear when a fish comes up for a moment. Does he hear frogs in the distance..?

No matter, this was the perfect day to get a morning nap in. The little grass on the sand was already enveloping his body, small flowers sprouting in his hair as he was perfectly content. There was a quiet ripple in the lake as his body relaxed, he hadn't exactly noticed that's not normal. He was too sleepy.

His tail was thumping lazily on the ground until eventually even that stopped as his chest slowed. For the untrained eye he appeared dead, but he was just sleeping. Small snores coming out of him erratically, inside the lake he had a watcher.

Rain sat lurking barely underneath the water, he finally pushed his head up a bit as he noticed Mountain was now passed out. Rain had come out earlier in the morning when the sun was still low. The cool water tends to help calm his nerves and he likes to think while submerged.

“Mountain?” Rain called out quietly as he swam closer. He didn't want to startle the gentle giant.. Although his sleeping was quite idyllic. Rain has yet to figure out how someone could ever look so relaxed, but Mountain lets a lot of things just slide off of him quietly and without a fuss.

Apparently it saves a lot of heartache and drama that way, which is probably a lifesaver when you're in such a large group like the ghouls. Rain would be lying if he said he wasn't at least a little bit envious of Mountain sleeping so nicely.

He finally swam closer to the shore, carefully stepping out and not making too much noise as he did so. Where did he leave his clothes? Rain peered around the area for a moment before remembering he left them on the dock. They actually have a dock because some like fishing, uh.. Rain can't really consider himself the biggest fan of fishing. He'd rather be soaking in the water than sitting above it.

He walked closer to Mountain, his hair dripped over Mountain for a moment. Mountain groaned a bit, his eyes barely opened until he saw it was Rain. “Rainy?” He muttered, sleep still thick in his voice. “Yeah, just me big guy.” Rain says as he laid down beside Mountain, he stretched lazily with a small yawn.

He let out a small noise of shock seeing Mountain was staring at him, “Where are your clothes?” Mountain asked genuinely curious. Still, it was so forward that it caught Rain off guard. “On the dock..” Rain confessed as he sat back up a bit.

Mountain was gazing at him, in a quite peculiar way. Rain recognised that look even while Mountain was sleepy. “You want something, Mount?” Rain questioned, his head tilting as he shadowed Mountain. Mountain stayed laying down, eyeing Rain carefully as yawned a tiny bit. “Maybe.” He finally said, Rain has a small grin but he doesn't give in yet. He prods at Mountain's stomach. "Gonna tell me what?" Rain questioned, his fingertips barely moved underneath Mountain's shirt and messed with the fuzzy hair leading down to his pants.

Mountain let out a particularly harsh breath of air as his eyes were half lidded, finally he relented. "You." He breathed out quietly, "There we go, that's all I wanted you to say." Rain says with a pleased tone, he then pushed himself a bit down so he could start unzipping Mount's pants. Mountain lifted his hips up a bit to make it easier on Rain when it was time to slide the pants down, he didn't slide them down too far just about half way down his thighs.

"Isn't it a pretty day? I saw you- From the lake.. You look like you'd agree with that statement." Rain mused quietly, Mount barely nodded his head. "It's really pretty today." He says, Rain watched as the flowers in his hair seemed to bloom harder for a moment.. As if it was even possible. He was practically still beaming being so relaxed right now. Rain traced a single finger down Mount's bulge, he hissed a little but otherwise didn't react. Well, that wouldn't do.

His hand finally grasped Mount firmly out of the safety of his boxers, Rain paused for a brief moment to admire the half chub currently. Arguably the best state you can find someone in..

Rain glanced upwards to see Mountain was staring at the clouds above. His eyes a bit more awake now but still not fully there, he didn't say anything. Mount being sleepy is the easiest to work with- Not that he's difficult to work with in general! Just.. He tends to be frisky when he's sleepy. It's easier to get things started.

Rain pushed aside his own desire as he started to stroke Mountain quietly, he didn't make any noises but if looks could devour.. Well, Mountain would easily be the most fulfilling meal of his life. The pace was firm, coming in quick yet hard strokes.

His thumb rubbed over the head, pushing the foreskin down for a moment. A small gush of pre came out at that making Rain grin, Mountain was breathing heavier but otherwise didn't react. At least not by much, it's the subtle things.. His tail was thumping again with the occasional swish, the flowers in his hair were growing in numbers, his face had a blush creeping on it.

"Is it nice?" Rain questioned, watching as small beads of sweat formed on the side of Mount's all too beautiful face. How criminal it is to be so relaxed and so gorgeous at the same time.

Mountain replied with a noise between a hum and a moan making Rain laugh a small bit, he briefly stopped to lean down and kiss Mountain. Though it quickly became heated as Mount was clearly more awake now, his hands holding Rain down to him fairly easily. Their tongues met each other, Rain threatened to nip Mountain's when it peeked into the others mouth. Finally Rain tapped Mountain, needing air. Mountain reluctantly released, Rain taking rather greedy breaths of air.

"Are you awake now?" Rain questioned between breaths. "Mm. Yeah." Mountain says as he sat up, he began to unbutton his shirt then he gestured towards Rain. "And you..?" Mount questioned, Rain was already naked but he's sure slick was gathering between his thighs as he had been watching Mount with an intense gaze the entire time.

"Ah.. I wasn't too worried about myself." Rain admitted shyly, his fangs nipped at his bottom lip for a moment as he watched as the fabric slid off of Mountain's figure. Immediately his eyes feasting on all of Mountain's body, his hands drifted towards the others pants and boxers helping slide those off too.

He heard a noise similar to a grumble before realising Mountain was laughing some, Rain immediately pouted. "What's so funny?" Rain asked, Mount shook his head. "Nothing, I just like watching you look. It's.. Cute. You're very focused with your gaze." Mountain says, Rain wanted to roll his eyes but couldn't find it in him to do so. Suddenly Mountain slapped a bit against his bare thigh, catching Rain's attention. "Ready raindrop?" He questioned, his head had a puppy-like tilt that Rain would be lying if he said didn't have an allure to it.

He was hesitant only for a moment but desire was quick to take over, "Yes." He whispered as he inched closer to Mount. "Remember, stoplight system.." Mountain says, Rain tends to get a bit carried away during sex. But colours are easy to remember and he knows when Mount asks for a colour to call one back pretty quickly, no matter how elated he is about a particular action. "I know. We're green right now, so help me onto you." Rain huffed in desperation, he didn't want to beg for help, but dammit, he would if he needed to.

Mountain didn't need to be told twice, however he did test the.. waters. Okay, admittedly the pun made him chuckle a bit out loud. But more seriously he needed to make sure Rain was sufficiently lubricated and able to take him, the last thing he'd want to do is injure the poor water ghoul.

So this required a position change, Rain got on his back with fair ease and Mountain was now between his legs. Not.. for any particular reason but just because it was the easiest position of course. Rain hissed as he felt one finger prod at his folds, he was sensitive.

So.. When he said he was relaxing in the lake earlier he might have been doing a few other extra activities as well. For relaxation. The good news is water ghouls are self lubricating, they produce a lot of liquids in general because of that. Mountain was using this to his advantage as he gathered the slick gathering outside of Rain's slit, stroking himself with the excess.

Rain panted quietly, too much damn teasing. Well, he doesn't think Mountain was intentionally teasing but it didn't matter if it felt like teasing. "Mount please.." Rain whined, now a bit more helpless in tone. "I know raindrop, I know." Mountain says back, he was taking his time by all means which was killing Rain.

Finally a tentative finger found its way inside of Rain, Rain moaned as it provided stimulation and relief. Mountain could tell already that Rain had been pleasuring himself alone earlier, he was too wet for it to be plausible just off of their interaction alone. Plus.. He was stretched already.

Still, he added another finger enjoying the sounds Rain was making as his legs tried to shut against Mountain's but were stopped as his thighs were broad and blocking the way. One of his hands reached up to stroke at Rain's horns, making the smaller ghoul keen into his touch. His mouth fell open with pretty noises, ah.. Horns are the weakness of all ghouls.

Their tails entwined as Mountain finally pushed one more finger inside of Rain, the three fingers pumping in and out lazily. Then, when Mountain noticed his breathing had got shaky he pulled away.

"Nooo.." Rain sobbed at the loss, Mountain was licking his fingers as if they were some delightful treat. He groaned as he did so, the taste making him grind against nothing. Fuck, as much as he wanted to taste Rain it'd mean he'd be finishing really soon.

He lied about earlier, by the way. The reason he had settled between his legs was just in case he wanted to eat the water ghoul out. Unfortunately it'd have to wait for a different day.

He took his cock into his hand, slowly moving towards Rain. He was lined up perfectly, with that being said he started the first push inside. Rain was wincing but didn't complain, "Colour?" Mountain called out just in case. "Green- Just.. Wish you'd hurry." Rain whined, he was always so impatient. Only matched by Dew who met his level of impatience, but.. At least Rain wasn't a brat like Dew. Normally anyway.

"I'll take as long as I like." Mountain says with an air of finality, the tone made Rain whimper a tiny bit. The head popped in easily, it briefly got caught which made Rain cry out a bit but Mountain moved past that. Now it was an easy slide inside, once hilted he waited until Rain was stable and then Rain nodded when he was ready.

Mountain changed positions, knowing Rain liked to cling onto him during this. Missionary had never failed them in times like this, his head fell between Rain's neck and shoulder. Fangs grazing the skin there as Rain whined loudly at the sensation, Mountain's hands ran up Rain's relatively sleek body. Then he moved, Rain moaned loudly almost immediately asking for more.

Mountain was happy to oblige, he set a steady pace with Rain as his hands were pulling and tugging on Rain's nipples, his fangs finally sunk into Rain's skin. Blood filled his mouth instantly, Rain whining as his hands tangled into Mountain's overgrown hair.

Mountain pulled away after he had suckled enough at the fresh wound, leaving a mark in its place with the fang marks. He moved on to kissing his poor desperate Rainy afterwards, Rain moaned at the metallic taste of his own blood. It's always an odd taste and sensation knowing it belongs to you but he never minded, his cheeks were quite flushed and his kiss with Mountain was needy.

His hands moving to wrap around Mounts neck instead, Rain pulled away to breathe as his lips felt bruised. "I'm close." Rain suddenly says, his eyes were dazed and somewhat lost. Still.. Mountain knew he needed an extra push, Mount hummed as he started to knead Rain's nipples once more. The small bulbs of flesh now being red from being tweaked and pulled so much, still.. It wasn't enough.

One of Mountain's hands trailed down to where the two were conjoined at, his other hand firmly planted beside Rain now. He rubbed at Rain's dick, pushing the hood back and rubbing the nub there. Rain cried out near immediately, so close.. So close. Then Mountain angled himself just right to drag against Rain's sweet spot and before he could even react or properly warn Mountain, he was coming- A gush of fluid around Mountain's cock made him groan, that.. That was obscene. He loved it.

He was a slower with his movements as he was working Rain through his high, the ripple of internal muscles made Mountain close himself but he wanted this to be good when he finished- He didn't want to end the fun just yet.

Finally, Rain's breathing was normal again and he gave Mountain a shaky nod seeing how feral he looked. "Green." He called out before Mountain could even ask, so came the rough part of sex.. He pulled out of Rain, flipping him over with Rain whining at the harsh treatment.

He liked it, they had established this beforehand which is why neither him or Mount reacted negatively. Rain already knew to spread his legs, Mountain was back on him but with a quicker and more erratic pace now. Rain was rubbing his own nipples and circling his dick, yet it wasn't as good as how Mount did it. He whined out helplessly at that realization, Mountain was shaky in his own movements now but he still noticed Rain was struggling.

Rain's hand at his cock was brushed away as Mountain took his place instead, barely holding himself back. He looked at how Rain's thighs trembled and how he was barely holding himself up, "Let go for me- Let go." Mountain says, his voice basically pleading.

Finally Rain let out a sharp cry as he came around Mountain for a second time. Mountain pushed in one last time before he came himself with a moan, his entire body became rigid and tense as he breathed deeply.

Mountain pulls out a few minutes later when he's softened up, cum seeping out of Rain in his wake. It was such a delightful sight, but he opted to check on Rain instead of sticking around to look at his handiwork. "Are you alright?" Mountain asked softly, Rain nodded before pulling Mountain into his face for a kiss.

Mountain was caught off guard but reciprocated as the two shared a deep kiss before mutually parting. "We need to go wash off really quickly." Rain declared, Mountain's eyes were already glazed over once more as he yawned again. "I could use a little wash up in the lake. I'm a bit sleepy now and not to mention dirty." Mount says, Rain laughed a bit.

"My sweaty Mountain." Rain says with a smile, tracing his fingers underneath Mountain's chin where the earth ghoul purred. His hand trailed upwards to stroke delicately at Mountain's horns before he pulled away as Mount sucked in a sharp breath.

"Sorry.. Still too sensitive." Mountain confessed quietly, "No worries. Come on- Let's get cleaned up." Rain says, he tried to stand up but ended up needing Mountain's help for that. The two walk into the warm lake together, "So.. I didn't want to tell you mid-sex but I'm pretty sure some of the others were outside with us." Mountain says as they reach a deeper part of the lake.

Suddenly, Rain had a furious blush and he looked nervous. "Seriously?!" Rain asked, unable to believe Mountain didn't tell him while he was being so noisy. "I could feel them walking on the grass.. But I didn't want you to stop moaning." Mountain says guiltily, Rain could only shudder and think of who heard.

Satanas, what if it wasn't a ghoul and instead someone like Copia?! He might melt from embarrassment. At least with the ghouls they were all in a group together, sleeping and romancing each other freely. Copia knew about their.. ehem, involvement with each other but not to what extent.

But Rain just shook it out of his mind with a sigh, "It's fine. Besides I'm sure it was Dew who came out to get his early morning smoke in." Rain says, he was swimming beside Mountain who was merely standing up. How could someone be so tall..?

"I'll tell you next time, but they did leave after hearing us." Mountain says more seriously, Rain had a small grin. "Well.." Rain started carefully, "I suppose getting caught is half the fun." Rain says before swimming over to nibble on Mount's bottom lip, "Now help me get cleaned up. We have practice in about two hours." Rain then says, Mountain chuckling as he nodded.

[writingquestionsanswered]

Worried About Plagiarizing Narrative Style

Anonymous asked: I've been sitting on this book for years now, stuck due to writer's block, but even though I've gotten out of that space and am writing more, I'm ready to write my draft and just can't. I'm struggling to draw a line between inspiration and plagiarism. I want to write a fantasy book that jumps between characters in the present telling the story of the past, but I recently started watching the Interview with the Vampire series, which uses that same format. Now I can't decide if I'm stealing the idea or not. Even if not, it'll seem that way because my story is similar to that story.

[Ask edited for length]

Multi-POV (jumping between different characters' points-of-view) and non-linear narrative (such as jumping back and forth between the present and the past) are widely used narrative techniques, even in combination. Interview with the Vampire wasn't the first to use these techniques (even in combination), and isn't the last, so no... you're not stealing an idea if you use one or both of these techniques.

You say your story is similar to IwtV, but although I didn't include your story summary here, I read it and it's only similar in very distant, general ways. In no way is your story similar enough that anyone would think it was plagiarism, even if you used the same narrative techniques as IwtV. In fact, I promise there are other stories about actual vampires that use those two narrative techniques in combination, and those aren't plagiarism, either, as long as the actual characters and stories are different enough.

So, go ahead and use these techniques if you want to use them and don't worry about similarities. Even if you intentionally borrowed one or two elements from IwtV, that's fine. Writers are inspired by other stories all the time. What matters is that when they do borrow things from other stories, they make them different and make them their own.

Here are some previous posts that go into more detail about the differences between similarities and plagiarism:

Similarities vs Plagiarism Plagiarism vs Reference vs Inspiration Taking Inspiration from Another Story’s Premise Afraid of Plagiarism Accusation

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I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

♦ Questions that violate my ask policies will be deleted! ♦ Please see my master list of top posts before asking ♦ Learn more about WQA here

[curio-queries]

I saw Jungkook's documentary this weekend and have just a few thoughts. If you're avoiding spoilers, don't click the cut!

The Hybe Documentary Format

So...as a reminder to you all, I do not have professional expertise in the film industry. I'm just a very discerning consumer. I also haven't seen Hobi's documentary and I watched Road to D-Day while I was quite ill last year so I only vaguely remember some bits. (I'll definitely be getting back to those sooner rather than later though as research for a series of posts I'm developing.) That being said, I think we have enough data points to state that Hybe has absolutely no interest in filmmaking techniques outside of music videos.

I did mostly enjoy my experience seeing this film yesterday and I'm always grateful for any amount of footage the members are willing to share with us but this 'documentary ' was worse than Jimin's Production Diary. Any of you that managed to make it through my rambling review will know how dissatisfied I was with that.

I Am Still is not a documentary, it's a mixture of showcase footage and behind-the-scenes clips, most of which has already been divulged in the various episodes and shooting sketches on YouTube. Honestly, if you're not able to see the film, just go rewatch all of the bangtantv content for JKs solo period and the showcase and you'll be up to speed with 85% of what was in the documentary.

There are definitely some expansions to the storylines featured in the bangtantv content; mostly being anything that wasn't overtly optimistic. For example, we learn a little bit more about just how sick JK was during the Seven/3D promotions. That content likely was pulled from the bangtantv edit because it would have put a damper on the promotions and given certain 'fans' a focus to fixate their vitriol. But overall, it feels more like an extended version of existing content rather than a new work. At least JPD didn't continually feed us footage we'd seen before.

I'm someone who gets completely bothered by previews spoiling content so I didn't watch any of the promos until after I saw it and I am so glad I skipped them because most of the 'original' scenes of the film were featured in least one of them. Alas, that's a separate issue of which I'm definitely in the minority.

Was There No Structure?

Kinda. Like JPD, there is a semblance of a structure: Attempting to follow the chronology of release activities for JKs GOLDEN album through the lens of JKs staement trying to prove that he is still worthy of everything he was being hailed as during the BTS group activities but I don't feel this was successfully executed. It jumps round enough and isn't very successful in explaining the events if you didn't already know about them. The film starts with the SEVEN performance at GMA and footage that we've already seen of JK recording SEVEN, not mentioning anything about the music video or really how JK got involved with the song in the first place. The rest of the story beats have similar missing points.

They have a vague narrative with the 'I Am Still' points but that's mostly carried by subs and a couple of moments that JK mentions himself. I'm not saying it's not true or wasn't top-of-mind for JK during this process but it's not the main point of many of the moment/messages he shared with us during this time period so it feels a little disingenuous since everything else jn this film really only makes sense if you've already seen quite a lot of behind-the-scenes content.

Honestly, it makes me question the intended audience. Obviously, they know that ARMY will shell out whatever we need to when there's new content from our members but most of us will have already seen all of the bangtantv content so we are already familiar with the most of the footage in this film. I genuinely don't think this was produced in such a way to be palatable for audiences not familiar with BTS so who does that leave? Our friends and family that are peripherally aware of the content but haven't learned the basics of JKs album? ARMY with short term memories only?

But again, it seems this film was compiled by an editing team and not lead by a director with experience in crafting a documentary. The only new footage that Ican guarantee was captured with the express purpose of being included in this film was the few clips of JK talking in the practice room with the albums displayed by him. But we all know that's where all of the promo clips were gathered as well. I have issues with that approach as well but I'll leave this point alone for now unless anyone is interested.

Suffice it to say, all of these suppositions over the past year about how JKs documentary was getting special treatment or even questioning about investment in a project up front are dead. This was a product assembled with bits of what they already had completely in-house which was sold for distribution.

So, Did We Learn NOTHING?

No, there are a few Golden nuggets (see what I did there?). I can't recall everything having only seen it once (and having a rather disruptive audience - I swear there were only dozen or so ppl in my theater but I forget how obnoxious teenagers can be. I'm glad they're enjoying and supporting but we really didn't need light sticks flashing during a film and how many times does one person need to get up to answer their phone during this runtime? Three according to the row in front of mine.)

Anyway, something I thought was interesting to learn was that Standing Next To You was initially recorded the day after JK heard it for the first time. And hearing a little more about how JK yearned to perform that song definitelygot me thinking a little more about it. We can't reach any conclusions just with this little nugget but it does open the door to some theories. Like perhaps they were initially planning to have JK record two separate albums? SEVEN and 3D would be the singles of the first and JK would perform them as we saw but perhaps STNY was originally planned to be the single of the 2nd album that would release while he was in the military and thus be unable to perform it? Maybe JK loved STNY so much that everything was grouped into one album and Never Let Go was the only track held back for ms? Definitely some theorizing space to be had now.

Final thoughts?

Similar to my thoughts on the GCF: Budapest (which I feel would have had a much better reception if it had been labeled as a bangtan episode rather than a GCF), I AM Still should not have purported to be a documentary. It was much more similar to the annual Memories compilations. But the general public would not have shelled out the $25 to go to a theater to watch a Memories DVD so alas, we have our content packaged as a ~documentary~...

Did my view on the music change at all? Not because of the documentary. We're coming up on the year anniversary of GOLDEN and it's still definitely not my favorite. I completely understand why some people like it but it's just not to my taste. The overall impact falls a little flat for me. Too much breadth and not enough depth. I came into my musical soul during the 00s emo phase and will always be a sucker for music that absolutely drips in an emotional way rather than catchy songs vaguely referencing heartache and love. Again, just a matter of viewpoint.

I do think most of these songs stand much better being shuffled amongst other artists in a Playlist and several of them are significantly better when JK sang them live but I still won't be listening to them regularly. I wholeheartedly believe JK completed his task of proving himself as an extremely dedicated and versatile singer and performer. He's definitely got some solid points added to his resume after this project.

[sparklecarehospital]

an overview of my progress on the new site over the past 5 months of building

i decided i would put together a big post compiling all of the things i have currently implemented to the new site since at the moment it's scattered amongst a million small update posts. i feel like this will be good reference for anyone who has ideas that aren't included yet

the comic reader

you can now change the placement of the comic pagination arrows to be above, below, or on both the top and bottom of the comic page.

you can search for individual page numbers via a search bar (and also search 'cover' 'back cover' etc)

you can bookmark pages and save your place at any time in any series, and the home landing page will give you a link to your saved page when you revisit the site so you dont have to go all the way to the read section just to access your place. saving your bookmark tells you what page you're saving (or clearing if you're removing it)

you can now select individual scenes in the volume that have non-spoiler names but proper associations to the content for returning readers to quickly find specific scenes

on desktop you can change the size of the page on your screen

on desktop you can hide the site header (this is not necessary on mobile)

there is a legend explaining what each button does

new comment service that does not have ads

transcripts now come from the sides of the screens and do not require scrolling down to read them, and they are correct and no longer inaccurate on certain pages

tooltips that explain what each navigation arrow button is for

content warnings

you can select individual categories of content you do or don't want to see via switches

you have the ability to disable warnings entirely if you wish, just turn all of them off

you can choose between verbal warnings (stuff in dialogue) or visual warnings (things seen on-screen)

you can suggest adding content warnings to specific pages if there are errors OR if there is something major i overlooked

there is a page that lists every content warning in a volume with contexts for each individual warning, whether it's verbal or visual, and links to the pages

there is a pre-moderated comment section that allows anyone to ask questions about content warnings (for example, asking if something will ever be in the comic or asking what category something specific would be listed under).

there is a list of things that do not get warnings and a list of things that will never be depicted in the comic

scenes that did not have content warnings before now have them to match the proper category system

archives

volume archives are now images instead of links, and they are displayed in a grid format which is mobile-responsive so it doesn't take absolutely forever to scroll through an entire volumes archive

volume summaries are more easily accessible

the new transcript archive which is a text-only version of the entire comic, including a clean version in case you need things in dialogue filtered out

mobile devices/tablets

the website is now properly mobile responsive and designed to function like a regular mobile website and is not unbearable to use anymore. it just feels and looks like any other mobile site!

comic pages now touch the edge of the screen and do not always require zooming in to read dialogue

transcripts are now more device-friendly and do not appear broken on small screen devices anymore

all comic reader features work on mobile (except the 2 desktop-only features)

content warnings do not take up too much space or overflow the comic page box

margins are improved to make basically everything more mobile friendly

you can still see page backgrounds faintly on mobile, but they have an overlay to make reading the comic page contents easier. this was not originally planned but i made it happen! yippie!

display

the site now has a built-in dark mode that works for every site theme, however, keep in mind that due to the nature of dark themes they are obviously not as colorful as the main site themes

there is now a saturation slider which changes the saturation of the site to whatever percentage you wish

saturation affects the background and does not ignore it

the screen does not flash as new elements load in, however, images specifically may take a moment to load depending on your internet speed. this is something i'm trying to fix but i can't guarantee it because it's not entirely in my control how websites load images depending on your internet speed

secrets!

cast page

cast page for each series is divided by individual character type (main patients, side patients, main staff, side staff, family, outsiders etc)

cast profiles are mobile responsive in an easy-to-use way and do not take forever to scroll through on mobile devices, instead they are collapsible and you only have one open at a time.

desktop has anchor links to specific profiles using my cute emoji edits :]

search bar on the main cast directory page that takes you to specific characters by entering their name (or variations of it)

profiles include allotpuns, genders, pronouns, nouns, sexuality, species, age, hatchday, height, and a list of all of their afflictions

there are popups that explain the meanings of certain phrases or words (like specific sexualities) and neopronoun usage explanations and examples

cast page profiles for all of the currently public cast members

biographies that contain character history (or at least the currently public history) and a detailed explanation of their personality that replaces the trait system for simplicity's sake

secrets!

comic itself

pages with errors have been corrected

pages with improper characterization/retconned information have been updated and replaced with new dialogue

character card intros now contain pronouns and retconned pronouns have been corrected

uni is no longer referred to with exclusively he/him anywhere except in the comic itself to avoid confusing new readers/people who do not look at other areas of the site

scenes that did not previously have site themes now have them, for fun!

secrets!

FAQ

the FAQ is no longer a million miles long despite containing all of the questions it originally had. it is now collapsible sections that make accessing certain question types easier

pre-moderated comment section that allows anyone to ask questions about the comic, even if they do not have a tumblr account. these questions are directly on the FAQ itself. it is pre-moderated to keep things on-topic.

bug report page where you can describe problems you're having if the site isn't working right for you. this is also pre-moderated. common/important issues will be pinned

navigation bar

there will be links to all of the ask blogs on the navigation bar, including the AUs

there is a link to the spinch lore page directly at the top. no more digging through the FAQ!

navigation bar has dropdowns to specific types of pages to increase the link count without cluttering/taking up too much space

the links are no longer poorly sized images, instead they are actually made with html

landing page

when you first open the site, you will be linked to a settings page that allows you to set your display settings and content warnings in advance

you can set saturation and select dark mode if you want

this landing page is not bright and has an overlay to prevent it from immediately forcing you to see bright colors

this is everything that is currently implemented. there may be things added in the future, this is just all of my current progress.

what do i have to finish?

uploading the comic. i currently have volumes 1-2 fully uploaded and transcribed, v3 is fully uploaded, and v4 is undergoing the upload process.

finish the archive pages to include all of the volumes

finish the cast profiles

work on the spinch lore page

do proper beta testing with the crew to make sure everything works on as many devices as i can possibly test it on

thank you to everyone for being patient with me over the past few months as i work hard on this. i feel really good actually writing out everything i've done overall because i have more progress than i actually realized!!! i hope everyone is excited to see all of this in action because i can't wait for you to see it either!

[darkmaga-retard]

Monday September 23, 2024 Truth Bomb

Karen Bracken

“On every question of construction, (Let us) carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed.” Thomas Jefferson (Jefferson obviously knew people would stray from the original intent in order to fit a political narrative)

Well the Kamala supporters are running damage control for Kamala Harris as they did for Obama and their arguments do not hold up to the facts. The fact that Kamala is not a natural born citizen is starting to circulate and the left must shut down the truth and of course they are calling anyone that says she is not eligible is a “racist.” That is the lefts favorite word to shut people up even when speaking the truth. So the left is using 2 parts of the Constitution to “prove” that Kamala is eligible for the offices of VP and President. But there is a bit of a reading comprehension issue among the constitutionally illiterate. Plus they do not know the history of the Constitution and have obviously never read the Federalist Papers (which explain the Amendments) or the debates that took place back during the formation of the Constitution.

1. They claim Article II Sec. 1 of the Constitution which says: Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution: “No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President” proves that Kamala is eligible due to the word CITIZEN in Article II, Section 1. But they conveniently fail to recognize 9 little words that follow: “at the time of the adoption of this Constitution” it does not say AFTER the adoption of the Constitution. This was a grandfather clause for our founders.

Quote from Joanna Martin, J.D (pen name Publius Huldah).: Remember! None of our early Presidents were “natural born Citizens”, even though they were all born here. They were all born as subjects of the British Crown. They became naturalized citizens with the Declaration of Independence. That is why it was necessary to provide a grandfather clause for them. The eligible citizens they speak of in Art. II Sec. 1 were our founding fathers and it pertains to no one else.

Then they cite the 14th Amendment. The 14th Amendment has 2 parts in the meaning of citizen and it is the 2nd part people conveniently elect to ignore (“and subject to the jurisdiction thereof” which will be covered later in this post) Do you see the words NATURAL BORN CITIZEN in the 14th Amendment? No, you do not. It clearly says CITIZEN. The 14th Amendment was added to the Constitution after the Civil War to give citizenship to the recently freed slaves. There is clearly a difference between being a citizen and being a natural born citizen because our Constitution makes it obvious. To be a member of Congress one of the requirements is that you only need to be a CITIZEN but in Article. II Sec. 1 in order to be VP or President you must be a NATURAL BORN CITIZEN. The Constitution is a COMPACT/CONTRACT between the federal government and the states and the people of the states. It is NOT a living document that changes with the times. It is today what it was when it was originally written as are all contracts. Except for those that wish to make it fit an agenda by ignoring the original intent. SO, lets look at the meaning of NBC at the time of our founders.

In respect to the facts below... two legal conditions are critical to the matter

1. The meaning of a word or term that appears in any legal document, in this case, the US Constitution Article II, is the meaning at the time of the adoption, not the meaning 248 years later after decades of word-smithing by "experts" intent upon undermining the meaning and purpose of the term via politically motivated opinions.

2. The true meaning must be consistent with the true intent of the word or term, as it existed at the time of the adoption. The NBC term was placed in Article II for a very specific reason and purpose, which is known due to the recording of history at the time the term was placed in Article II as a condition for the highest political office in our land. The source of the term as it was added to Article II is also clearly recorded in history, The Law of Nations.

All three of the definitions below are "natural born Citizens" under The Law of Nations (a book used by our founders to help in the construction of our founding documents)

1. The natural offspring of a legal U.S. Citizen Father.

2. The natural offspring of a legal U.S. Citizen Father and Mother.

3. The natural offspring of a legal U.S. Citizen Father and Mother, born on American soil.

While all three of the above birth circumstances qualify as a "natural born Citizen" in the USA, they all meet the definition and purpose of the Article II NBC clause because in all three cases, the child is born to a legal U.S. Citizen Father.

1. “As the society cannot exist and perpetuate itself otherwise than by the children of the citizens, those children naturally follow the condition of their fathers, and succeed to all their rights.” – Section 212

2. “The country of the fathers is therefore that of the children; and these become true citizens merely by their tacit consent.” – Section 212

3. “I say, that, in order to be of the country, it is necessary that a person be born of a father who is a citizen; for, if he is born there of a foreigner, it will be only the place of his birth, and not his country.” – Section 212

4. “These are a kind of citizens of an inferior order, and are united to the society without participating in all its advantages. Their children follow the condition of their fathers;” Section 213 pertaining to “inhabitants” or foreigners allowed by the state to settle and stay in the country. - END

As you can see in the days of our founders natural born citizenship was conveyed from FATHER to the children regardless of place of birth.

People can have their own opinion or lies but they cannot make up the own truth. Again, the constitutionally illiterate have not done their historical research. They are passing on the lies TOLD to them about the Constitution in order to push an agenda. Some members of Congress have tried 8 times to have the NBC requirement removed from the Constitution. The last time was when Obama was a Senator and of course he voted for the removal. Gee, I wonder why? He knew and those that supported the attempt to remove that requirement knew Obama was not a NBC and where he was born (if they truly understood the Constitution) was not the issue. The REAL issue was his father was a British subject. Both of Kamala’s parents were in the US on TEMPORARY foreign student Visa’s when Kamala was born. She is not eligible, nor was Obama, Haley, Ramaswamy, Cruz, Rubio, Jindal, Shiva.

HERE (Babies Don’t Provide Anchors) is a short article which includes a link to the US Senate debates of 1866 (go to the center column and start reading under the subheading of RECONSTRUCTION to the end of the 3rd column. The US Senate debate of 1866 explains the meaning of citizen very clearly. As Joanna Martin (retired JAG lawyer and a REAL constitutional expert) stated it is “fascinating.” You see you cannot understand the Constitution unless you learn the history of its creation and the meaning of the contract at the time the contract was written. A contract is NOT a living document and that pertains to all contracts. Read and comprehend clearly.

If you are truly interested in the truth PLEASE also read the article below that was linked in the article above. LINKED ARTICLE 1 (Birthright Citizenship and Dual Citizenship: Harbingers of Administrative Tyranny) by Edward Erler of Hillsdale College.

Here is an important excerpt from that article which refers to the US Senate Debate of 1866

Senator Lyman Trumbull, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, rose to support his colleague, arguing that “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” meant “not owing allegiance to anybody else and being subject to the complete jurisdiction of the United States.” Jurisdiction understood as allegiance, Senator Howard interjected, excludes not only Indians but “persons born in the United States who are foreigners, aliens, [or] who belong to the families of ambassadors or foreign ministers.” Thus “subject to the jurisdiction” does not simply mean, as is commonly thought today, subject to American laws or American courts. It means owing exclusive political allegiance to the U.S. PLEASE take the time to read the US Senate Debate of 1866 above. This is just an excerpt.

Here is an excerpt from another article written by Joanna Martin (The Constitution, Vattel, and “Natural Born Citizen”: What Our Framers Knew which is also included as a link in Babies Don't Provide Anchors) regarding definitions:

Word Definitions:

Like clouds, word meanings change throughout time.  “Awful” once meant “full of wonder and reverence”; “cute” meant “bowlegged”; “gay” meant “jovial”; and “nice” meant “precise”.

Accordingly, if someone from an earlier time wrote of a “cute gay man”, he was not referring to an adorable homosexual, but to a cheerful bowlegged man.

So!  In order to understand the genuine meaning of a text, we must use the definitions the authors used when they wrote it.  Otherwise, written texts become as shifting and impermanent as the clouds – blown hither and yon throughout the years by those who unthinkingly read in their own uninformed understandings, or deliberately pervert the text to further their own agenda.

So!  Is Our Constitution built on the Rock of Fixed Definitions – those our Framers used?  Or are its Words mere clouds to be blown about by Acts of Congress, whims of federal judges, and the idiotic notions of every ignoramus who writes about it?

PLEASE SHARE WITH ANYONE THAT YOU CONSIDER IS CONSTITUTIONALLY ILLITERATE - Help them learn the truth and dispel the lies.

[vampemoqueen]

WoD Hallozine - a mini-Zine!

Introducing WoD HalloZine, a mini-Zine project for the Month of October!

WoD HalloZine is a short, one month project celebrating community and fanworks based on the World of Darkness. This zine will be free and distributed digital-only on socials. The theme of the zine is Haunting. Whether it be wraiths roaming the halls of an abandoned mansion, demons bound to their hosts, vampires lamenting on the nature of their immortal existence, or Garou communing with spirits in the Umbra, tell us your tales of dread, longing, and sorrow featuring your original characters. What sordid secrets are hiding in the dark? What Haunts You? How to Participate This is a time-sensitive event that's accepting submissions from September 24 - October 31, 2024. You can submit any art or written work based on original characters in any of the World of Darkness properties. You are welcome to submit existing work that hasn't been featured in a zine or create a new piece based on the theme. To sign up and be eligible to participate, please submit a form here: https://forms.gle/nnrShH3LDhbBtvip9 You will be contacted at least two times during the event: first to confirm your participation, second to check in and collect your final submission. You can always message more for questions and inquiries. Submit your piece through email or via DM on Discord. My Discord Art Server Gallery Noir will have an event specific channel for up-to-date news and a space to socialize. Joining is optional and not required for the zine. There are no limits on number of participants or submissions for this project. After October 31, all submitted pieces will be compiled into the zine and distributed via PDF format on my socials. No submissions will be accepted starting November 1st. Along with being in the Zine, you are welcome to post your pieces to your own socials and use as you see fit. If you do, I would appreciate if you tag me and use the tag #wodhallozine , though it's totally optional to do so! Submission Guidelines

This is a low pressure event where there are no hard standards on quality or content. I want everyone at all levels and mediums to express themselves however they see fit. There are no editing or draft phases and I will do my best to showcase the biggest variety of work across the community. That being said, to keep the project manageable and social media-friendly, there is a small list of guidelines for all work. General Content Guidelines

16+ or Rated-R at most

NO NSFW or sexual content

NO Gore or Extreme Violence

Light Blood and implied violence allowed

NO Offensive content like slurs or hate speech

NO AI generated or assisted work

If you have questions on what these mean, send me a DM.

Art Guidelines

You can choose to submit the following categories:

Single illustration/Image file

Short Comic (1-2 pages)

Any Size, 300 DPI, CMYK, PNG or TIFF format

Subject to formatting and placement choices

Writing Guidelines

You can choose to submit the following categories:

Short Story (3k words max)

Poetry/Prose (2 pages max including formatting)

English only, DOC, PDF, or ODT format

Subject to formatting and placement choices (please note if you'd like me to keep specific font and formatting choices)

You are open to submit as many pieces as you like. I reserve the right to include, exclude, resize, and rearrange pieces at my discretion for the sake of the zine's final composition. If a piece requires edits, I will touch base with you on the specifics. For any questions or concerns, email me at vampy269@gmail or message me on Discord at vampy8020. Thank you for your interest and have fun!

[prettycottonmouthlamia]

So for those of you who don't follow Magic news and want to hear about something funny, I have a story to tell for you. The biggest format in Magic (for better or for worse) is Commander, a predominantly casual 100 card Highlander format that is played in pods of 4. There is also a Commander Rules Committee, who governs what the rules of Commander are as well as the Commander banlist. Importantly, the Commander banlist is designed for a casual focus in mind, and also in general is pretty bad and no one really likes it. There's a whole different post about cards like Stasis and Armageddon which are considered _soft_ banned through community consensus but not hard banned through the banlist.

Recently, they announced the bannings of four cards from the format: Jeweled Lotus, Dockside Extortionist, Mana Crypt, and Nadu, Winged Wisdom. Nadu is not the discussion point of today, but rather the first three cards, cards which are often under the group of cards called "Fast Mana". Fast Mana generally refers to cards that are extremely cheap to play and give you more mana than you put into them to play. It includes the above cards but also includes cards like Sol Ring, Lotus Petal, and Mox Opal/Diamond. Fast mana is one of the hallmarks of high-powered casual Commander pods, as well as cEDH, the competitively focused niche unofficial format of Commander. Dockside Extortionist also had the additional factor of causing a number of easy to do infinite loops involving a ton of different cards to make infinite mana.

These cards were always questionable, but have become more and more powerful recently as more and more powerful Commanders have come out in the 4-6 mana slot. The ability to drop a Commander such as Winota or Go-Shintai of Life's Origin on early turns can very easily result in snowball wins where it becomes impossible for the other players at the table to react in time. This reasoning for banning them is reasonable but not exactly bulletproof either, since Jeweled Lotus is generally better for Commanders who are only one or two colors.

Much more importantly to our story though, these cards were pricy. They were seen by many as staples of the format, especially if you wanted your Commander deck to be as strong as possible. Jeweled Lotus and Dockside Extortionist frequently were in the $80-$100 range as cards, while Mana Crypt was at its cheapest somewhere around $150-180. A chase version of these cards could go for $300-500. Pricy! While these cards were seen by many as staples, they also created this weird pay to win atmosphere, where these cards were super expensive but extremely powerful. Proxying, where you use an obviously fake card as a representation of a game piece, isn't universally accepted among Magic players either, often by the same very cranky people as we're going to be talking about. It is much more common in the cEDH community where deck prices tend to be in the tens of thousands of dollars.

So, what happened about the bannings that made people so upset? Well, the prices of these cards crashed. It is worth noting why. Mana Crypt is only legal in two formats: Vintage, where it is restricted to one copy, and Commander. Commander ends up being the primary home for the card, because Vintage is SO overwhelmingly expensive and proxy hostile that tons of people are priced out of the format in paper (it is significantly cheaper on Magic Online). Dockside Extortionist is playable in Legacy, Vintage, and Commander, but was only good in Commander, since in 60 cards 1v1 formats its hard for Dockside to generate enough mana to go infinite or make big swings in mana. Jeweled Lotus was basically only playable in Commander, since it doesn't serve a particularly useful function when you don't have a commander. It could see very fringe play in Legacy but it is probably not worth it.

So the removal of these cards from their primary spheres of play have caused the prices of these cards to utterly crash, their value now only kept up by their general scarcity. Dockside Extortionist is currently going for about $25, Jeweled Lotus for about $45, and Mana Crypt for about $90. They're still valuable cards, but their value no longer has promise of going to the moon anymore. They will simply be reasonable expensive and probably never reasonably appreciate in value again. This has made a bunch of people who had no intentions of ever selling their speculative card pieces very angry. Several of these very angry people have decided to hurl accusations that the Commander RC was insider trading, making the frankly hilarious assumption that Magic the Gathering cards are in some way equivalent to stocks. Many people have made the claim they will quit the game over this, but in the kind of way where it's pretty obvious they won't actually do that and will just take the cards out of their decks and keep showing up at their LGS.

It is very funny to make fun of these people, and to be quite frank, we should. This example is a pretty good one in how collectors and financial speculators are pretty much poison to card games as a whole. Most of the people complaining did not have actual money that they lost. They never intended to cash out their gains at any point. It's all theoretical money, practically monopoly bucks. They had, in reality where we all live, spent $80 on a game piece. They made a purchase, they did not make an investment. I spent $60 a piece on a playset of Infinite Impermanence to prepare for a tournament that was cancelled due to the LGS being incompetent. We all make these Ls in our time as card game players.

I will never make profit on my Flames of Destruction Secret Rare Infinite Impermanences. Ever. Konami has reprinted Infinite Impermanence several times in the interests of making the game more accessible to players. This is the key thing. Bannings and reprints are market forces if you're being a particular kind of twit like anything else. You should not just expect that your pricy pieces of cardboard are untouchable. Bannings and reprintings are often done for the interests in making a format more accessible to other players. I do think that the bannings in Commander do that on some level, because Commander is not just played in pre-negotiated pods. Having a non-game because someone opened a fast mana piece and sped ahead of the entire table sucks, strictly speaking. Your cards will lose secondary value, because the primary goal of the Commander RC, and to be quite frank, Wizards of the Coast as a whole, is to make sure the game is accessible to the most players possible. Reprints and bannings are tools for that function, and frankly, I think Wizards has been using them wrong for over two decades at this point. They've ceded a lot of ground to collectors and financial investors, and it has resulted in entire formats that are basically unplayable to the average person. Modern is now very frequently a $900-$1200 format. Legacy decks run at price tags of several thousand dollars, and Vintage decks can run from $20,000-60,000 dollars. All because the price of Black Lotus must keep going up, and there are many, many cards in Magic where this is the case. These people are, to be blunt, parasites who can and will suck a game dry. If this offends you, please do some soul searching. The thing that keeps a game alive is its players, not your tens of thousands of dollars of cardboard game pieces sitting in a cabinet never to be sold or played with again.

The only people who have a reasonable claim to being upset are cEDH players, as these pieces were a part of the meta and their loss will be felt. Frankly, I don't think cEDH should be governed by a Rules Committee that on its face does not make decisions in the interests of cEDH. cEDH is still fringe compared to the casual Commander pool, and they should not be governing policy for players who do not play the same format as them. Likewise, the RC should not be governing them either. This would be a good incentive as any to finally make the split imo.

oh and trust me im tagging this bitch lmao

(Also, the allusions to NFT language in this post are intentional! These are basically one step removed from NFTs.)

[irregularjohnnywiggins]

You ever have those moments where an idea just... won't leave your head?

[northstarscowboyhat]

Tumblr deleted the ask, but this was meant to be in response to an ask about Clover's "emo phase" involving them sneaking out to partake in "vigilante justice" and helping out other folks.

Clover doesn't really do a lot of fighting now - there's no need, since they don't go into areas where they encounter hostile monsters - but they do sneak out to help residents around the Underground! This is actually how they meet Noelle, and subsequently Dess!

Of course, their family, especially Ceroba, isn't pleased with them sneaking around and getting into unnecessary danger... but hey, that's what teenage rebellion is for.

[yardsards]

think of a character that isn't canonically trans that you headcanon as being trans-masculine. (if you have multiple, just choose one arbitrarily or pick your favourite)

trans-feminine headcanon poll

[pencap]

FINAL LAMENT OF THE HERO'S HEART

i love you. doesn't that mean anything? of course it does. it means everything, don't you know?

and you love me. you know i do. it isn't a question. not even now. not from you.

you promised me forever. was that a lie? i meant it. i still mean it. my love is yours forever. for as long as my broken heart beats, and beyond.

but you're going to leave anyway. i have to. i'm sorry. i would stay if i could. but somewhere out there lies a gravestone waiting already with my name written on it and i do not have the strength to uncarve a stone.

why you? why do we have to be the tragedy? because the gods are cruel, or at least uncaring. because the earth is parched with bloodthirst. because all the other lovers who were tragedies asked the same question and received no answers.

but i love you. and you love me. my broken heart, if love were enough to change the story there would be no tragedies left in this world.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

The more I see your work and the more I see of poorly drawn scum villain, the more I'm tempted to do a poorly drawn tgcf 🥺 (I've only just started listening to it and I absolutely love it!!)

I just don't think I'm as funny as both of you and don't know if I could commit to uploading as regularly as you both do.

But oh! I am SO very tempted!! 😭

Working on an adaption of an existing media as a long form project is honestly my strongest recommendation for getting your creative brain going! Of course, there is still planning and hard work that goes into it, but the biggest creative pressures are much lower (And when anxiety brain is quiet, art brain thrives!)

That said, projects like this are a huge commitment, and I'm a bit of a freak case when it comes to the grind. PD-Scumvillian and I both put a lot of work behind the scenes to make it seem as effortless as it is. I'm wholeheartedly giving you my support should you go through with it; feel free to reach out and ask for tips and tricks!

[ask-zacharies-snackarie]

BODYSUIT bodysuit BODYSUIT

I finally got around to it. I said I was gonna do it and now I am. Under the read more.

First four pictures are the old suit, last three are of the new one.

The bodysuit used to be fucking BAD. In the desire to find lightweight fabric that wouldn't overheat me, I went and got this fabric that was.. just the worst. It was too thin, not very stretchy, and it RAN.

Any raw edges exposed to a force stronger than a gentle tug would separate and become unrepairable. Imagine your costume fucking separating at the seams cause something pulled on it a little.

I got most of the way before I said "this sucks ass, I'm restarting." So I went to Joanne's and dropped another 70 dollars on this wonderful modal knit thats discontinued as fuck. It's thick and doesn't show sweat until it's reaching clinical levels due to the modal fabric on one side and the spandex on the other! It absorbs it and disperses it so it doesn't show on the outside.

I definitely did get hot in that costume, but way less than I expected. Honestly I got cold more often than not @_@

N e way it's just a bodysuit pattern I modified to add the split in the middle. It clasps at the bottom and I think I went overboard with the snaps cause for some reason I was convinced they would pop so easily. They didn't lmao.

The gloves on this costume are part of the sleeves, so I can't free my hands lest I want to take off the whole suit.

The buttons are 3d modelled by me, printed, sanded, and painted by hand because I was pissed that no one sold buttons that looked right and I refused to compromise 💪💪

Evidently as you can tell, the ruffles are also sewn into the collar and actually did not give me any issue with the stretch when putting on the suit!

[cuties-in-codices]

Where do you find these manuscripts? Is it like a website or do you find it randomly??

hey, thanks for the curiosity! lenghty answer below the cut :)

1)

medieval manuscripts are typically owned by libraries and showcased on the library's websites. so one thing i do is i randomly browse those digitized manuscript collections (like the collections of the bavarian state library or the bodleian libraries, to name just two), which everybody can do for free without any special access. some digital collections provide more useful tools than others (like search functions, filters, annotations on each manuscript). if they don't, the process of wading through numerous non-illustrated manuscripts before i find an illustrated one at all can be quite tedious.

2)

there are databases which help to navigate the vast sea of manuscripts. the one i couldn't live without personally use the most is called KdIH (Katalog der deutschsprachigen illustrierten Handschriften des Mittelalters). it's a project which aims to list all illustrated medieval manuscripts written in german dialects. the KdIH provides descriptions of the contents of each manuscript (with a focus on the illustrations), and if there's a digital reproduction of a manuscript available anywhere, the KdIH usually links to it. the KdIH is an invaluable tool for me because of its focus on illustrated manuscripts, because of the informations it provides for each manuscript, and because of its useful search function (once you've gotten over the initial confusion of how to navigate the website). the downside is that it includes only german manuscripts, which is one of the main reasons for the over-representation of german manuscripts on my blog (sorry about that).

3)

another important database for german manuscripts in general (i.e. not just illustrated ones) is the handschriftencensus, which catalogues information regarding the entirety of german language manuscripts of the middle ages, and also links to the digital reproductions of each manuscript.

4)

then there are simply considerable snowball effects. if you do even just superficial research on any medieval topic at all (say, if you open the wikipedia article on alchemy), you will inevitably stumble upon mentions of specific illustrated manuscripts. the next step is to simply search for a digital copy of the manuscript in question (this part can sometimes be easier said than done, especially when you're coming from wikipedia). one thing to keep in mind is that a manuscript illustration seldom comes alone - so every hint to any illustration at all is a greatly valuable one (if you do what i do lol). there's always gonna be something interesting in any given illustrated manuscript. (sidenote: one very effective 'cheat code' would be to simply go through all manuscripts that other online hobbyist archivers of manuscript illustrations have gone through before - like @discardingimages on tumblr - but some kind of 'professional pride' detains me from doing so. that's just a kind of stubbornness though. like, i want to find my material more or less on my own, not just the images but also the manuscripts, and i apply arbitrary rules to my search as to what exactly that means.)

5)

whatever tool or strategy i use to find specific illustrated manuscripts-- in the end, one unavoidable step is to actually manually skim through the (digitized) manuscript. i usually have at least a quick look at every single illustrated page, and i download or screenshot everything that is interesting to me. this process can take up to an hour per manuscript.

---

in conclusion, i'd say that finding cool illuminated manuscripts is much simpler than i would have thought before i started this blog. there are so many of them out there and they're basically just 'hidden in plain side', it's really astounding. finding the manuscripts doesn't require special skills, just some basic experience with/knowledge of the tools available. the reason i'm able to post interesting images almost daily is just that i spend a lot of time doing all of this, going through manuscripts, curating this blog, etc. i find a lot of comfort in it, i learn a lot along the way, and i immensely enjoy people's engagement with my posts. so that's that :)

[gordon-freeman-phd]

breaking my silence, i have an alien grunt oc, it has a farm post rescas to ground itself as a way to cope with being made to be a weapon and to make up for previously only interacting with the world through violence and cruelty