#It's not at all easy trying to copy from Google docs lol

[17-noodlebird]

presenting...

The Amazing Digital Circus Road Trip AU!!!! 🎪🛣️🎉

I finally have the courage to post something of genuine purpose here!!!

So this is the summary:

• The events prior to the road trip were… eventful, for lack of a better term. To make a long story short, a group of dimensional travelers opened the eyes of the Amazing Digital Circus, both for better and for worse. What started out so rocky ended up becoming a closer bond for them, as they learned more about the other dimensions, and maybe, just maybe, the enigmatic inner machinations of C&A and their perpetually dark history.

• About 6 months went by since then, with Bubble, and four of the interdimensional diplomats, Beth, Pam, Val, and Garcia, creating brand new maps for the game that the others could explore, while completing tasks, gaining artifacts, and meeting brand new people, all while keeping the details secret until it was ready. The other diplomats each had their own contributions to their own game maps, as did Bubble, but only one knew the ending of the road trip: the main diplomat Lulu.

• The road trip would be akin to the world level-based collect-a-thon video games, a la the Super Mario Odyssey, and the role-playing games a la the Steven Universe: Light series. Twenty-six designated levels were made, each with a different theme, animation style, culture, customs, interactable NPCs, characters in need of help, and antagonists/bosses that they can defeat.

• There is a door made out of mountain rock that needs to be unlocked, using all twenty-six (or twenty-eight, depending on your point of view on the matter) jewels, to unlock the “ending” of the road trip; no one else, not even Bubble, knows what's behind the rock door — no one, that is, except Lulu. She says that it's a surprise for afterwards. Each gem is hidden somewhere in their respective worlds, and the players need to obtain and collect all of the jewels in order to open that door by completing tasks, fulfilling objectives, and defeating antagonists. While the circus players pack their things into the Magical Digital Van (a combo of the Magic School Bus for the cutesy face that only communicates in beeps or radio music, and Vanzilla from The Loud House, in terms of retro appearance and spaciousness in cargo and passengers), Garcia gives Caine a silver-colored crystalline gem, causing a “YOU DID IT” pop-up to appear, startling him. Apparently, the pop-up appears when a jewel is obtained after completing the location’s objective. After the first jewel is placed in the middle of the rock door, The Amazing Digital Circus sets off for fun and adventure, thrills and peril, comedy and tragedy, action and excitement, an obscure all-star cast of side characters, heroes, villains, pop culture references, ties to nostalgia, relatability, and… possibly romance…...? Who knows? The inner machinations of my mind are an enigma.

• Each of the Digital Circus members have magical Velcro bracelet communicators that they can use to contact the diplomats for help on tasks, finding out further information, or to just talk to them the same way we'd talk to our loved ones on the phone for hours on end. The communicators also send the circus members notifications for an objective they must complete (do keep in mind they can come much later than usual when they least expect it), as well as random achievements, the same way you would when actually playing a video game. Once a jewel has been obtained by any means, the pop-up will congratulate the circus members for grabbing the jewel, as well as to notify how many left you need to obtain to unlock the rock door. For example:

~ JEWEL OBTAINED! ~

15 out of 26

Only 11 remain

~~~~

Characters:

The original eight characters have been slightly altered to fit the AU, but still have most of their canon traits intact.

• Caine:

Caine is still the charismatic goofball we all know and love, but with a dash of nervousness, inability to understand human humor, especially Gen Z humor, and hints of newfound irritability. He's practically a fish out of water in most of these game locations, not really capable of self-defense outside of his signature cane, and being a lot more cautious and protective with his fellow members, especially his best friend and guide, Pomni. Caine sometimes acts as the dad friend of the group, not tolerating anyone's BS and trying to maintain order in situations he's absolutely not familiar with at all. When around Pomni, he feels kinda at ease, with their dynamic being akin to SpongeBob and Patrick when working together. Hell, Jax even refers to Caine and Pomni as The Dynamic Duo.

• Bubble:

Still the chaotic, anarchy-loving glutton we all know and love, but with a caring side to him. You see, for as long as Bubble could remember, he had been Caine's sole confidant, being there for him during his toughest battles, from witnessing yet another abstraction, to calming the ringleader down after a nasty panic attack. They're even roommates! (my god, they were roommates) Bubble would totally just go with the flow and not worry too much about having to adapt to an environment completely different than his own. In fact, his masochistic tendencies make the perils more thrilling for him! He'd also act as the mom friend of the bunch, acting as some sort of mediator for when things get too chaotic for his liking. He'll also lend a helping hand if so desired.

•Pomni:

She's still jittery and anxious, but thankfully not as bad as when she first arrived at The Amazing Digital Circus. After several months of dealing with this game's BS, she developed an indifference to her situation as a defense mechanism, and has become something of a voice of reason to the others. Jesters in real life are known for not just providing entertainment and comedic nitpicks to the royal court, but were also considered their royal advisors. Pomni would become Caine's advisor after some constructive criticisms towards him and his methods of keeping the others sane and healthy, and later on his best friend, acting as Bubble's stand in from time to time, providing witty banter and friendly roast sessions with the other circus members. Jax often calls Pomni and Caine “The Dynamic Duo” because of the fact that they share some things in common: both can turn into nervous wrecks during stressful situations, both are hilarious to be around, both want to keep the circus happy and healthy, and both care immensely for the well-being of everyone around them. Rumor has it they're also drinking buddies; but nothing has been confirmed…

• Ragatha:

Still our cheerful and good-natured ragdoll, with big sister/ant tendencies. Her hugs are as soft as they are warm and reassuring. She'd be the one to always look on the bright side, even when surrounded by unfamiliar surroundings, kinda like Ruby Gloom. She still has to keep an eye on Jax and make sure he doesn't get up to no good, but during moments where Ragatha and Jax must work together, there are things they can learn from one another. Ragatha would teach Jax the importance of being kind to others as well as taking time to listen and understand them, while Jax could teach Ragatha how to be more assertive and set proper boundaries, making her less of a passive pushover and more confident in taking care of herself first. Ragatha could also attract animals and have them help around with chores, a la Snow White.

• Jax:

Jax is less of a condescending asshole and more of a Jerk With A Heart Of Gold, becoming Pomni's big brother figure when necessary. Sometimes, he and Pomni would get into comedic hijinks of their own, as regular siblings naturally would, even pulling off harmless pranks. Jax is still snarky as always, but this time, being more genre savvy than the others, taking notes of his surroundings, and apparently has a lot of knowledge about agriculture, which proves useful for one particular road trip location. He'll also go out of his way to give someone a hug if he sense someone is in dire need of one, and will offer helpful advice during his more rare moments of kindness.

• Gangle:

Still the cute and bubbly but also emotional and prone to crying talking theater mask, but with hidden depths. Her love for anime and all things Japan is generally what keeps her going, as well as her love for drawing. Gangle doesn't really contribute much other than trying to be as helpful as possible, especially after finding out she can use her ribbons as a rope! Golly! She is, however, incredibly intelligent, with a knack for math, science, and history, as we come to find out in a road trip location, and can even speak and translate Japanese. When Gangle decides to grow a spine in protecting her friends from harm or bullying (even Jax, surprisingly), her voice has a tendency to change to a more mature and assertive business-like tone (remember that her VA, Marissa Lenti, was once the voice of a high school guidance counselor until… y'know.) to show you that you really shouldn't fuck with her. This causes Jax to rethink picking on Gangle ever again at one point.

• Zooble:

Honestly, not much can be said about Zooble, other than they're mostly apathetic, slightly rude, and snarky, being there cuz they can. They, along with Bubble, kinda just go with the flow, but now has the ability to become awestruck or starstruck by the other circus members’ newfound abilities, including Gangle's rope ribbons. Zooble also takes time to appreciate the little things in life, enjoying the much-needed change of pace the road trip brings. They're basically the emo goth kid in terms of personality, but with layers like an onion. Zooble also acts as the bodyguard of the circus members, somehow discovering her prowess in defensive combat, fueled by the innate desire to protect their loved ones at all costs.

• Kinger:

The oldest surviving member of the circus, Kinger still retains his ability to get startled easily from constantly dissociating, his love for insects and insect collecting, and his knack for building pillow forts. Due to being the oldest, he now acts as the group’s grandpa, with his “back in my day” kind of storytelling, and apparent knowledge of how the digital world works. He also offers some life advice on how to get through even the toughest days, him having lived through it long ago with Queenie’s abstraction, and is noticeably a lot more chipper and compassionate during the road trip. He also becomes braver and more empathetic in one particular road trip location, with him becoming less startled easily over time. He apparently is also a tech genius (in reference to MatPat and finnthepony’s theory on Kinger’s past life as The Amazing Digital Circus’s game dev), having knowledge on how to fix machines and software, as well as acting as the gang's mechanic for the Magical Digital Van.

~~~~

• The Magical Digital Van:

Built by Bubble, Kinger, Val, and Beth, the Magical Digital Van is the main vehicle the circus members use for the road trip, traveling to different destinations and stops along the way. The Van has a cutesy face that pays homage to The Magic School Bus, with her own emotions and reactions, but can only communicate in van noises, horn beeps, and radio music. Yes, the Van is a girl; a lot of vehicles in real life (including ships) are referred to by female pronouns. Kinger especially loves the Van like he would his girlfriend, much to the chagrin of everyone else.

~~~~

• Potential ships(?):

I might be the only one in a sea of Showtime, Bluetooth, and Kingleader, among others on this platform, but I actually do ship Caine x Bubble. When I first saw the pilot, I thought to myself, “yep. These two definitely have chemistry.” I see them as one of those old bickering couples that like to tease each other. They've basically been through thick and thin, gray skies and sunny days, tears of laughter, and everything in between. Also, I'm in love with the idea of Caine just being a tsundere; I find it pretty hilarious to me. And Pomni being the Shipper On Deck in the background. I have a particular fondness for the unusual.

Another ship mentioned here is Jax x Ragatha. Remember The Princess & The Frog where Naveen taught Tiana to relax a little, while Tiana taught Naveen to take life more seriously and work harder to achieve his goals? Well, it's essentially that, like rivals to lovers or something. I love when “opposites attract” is done properly, especially here!

Bluetooth (Moon x Caine) would have been canon in this AU at one point in the past, but now The Moon and Caine are exes (y'all can have exes in fiction btw!). In the past, Caine and Moon dated (and at one point did the deed, *wink wink*), but after the Moon became too clingy and possessive, with a yandere attitude, Caine broke up with her, and Pomni would have helped both the Moon and Caine move on from the breakup, realizing what they had was not healthy. This “adventure”/off-screen episode would be mentioned here and there during the road trip (I want to assume the road trip is like a Season 3 thing, but the show's success might contradict this; oh, well) while Bubble and Caine try to take things slowly.

Hints of Gangle x Zooble (aptly named Google by the masses) can be found, but only in subtext. Zooble makes an in-passing comment on how they find Gangle's assertive voice to be hot at one point.

~~~~

This AU pays homage to… well… A LOT of things that I enjoy watching over the years. It takes a look back on the things I found nostalgic as a kid growing up in the late 2000s and early 2010’s, including things that might also be familiar to other older generations of Gen Z. My most recent fixations (such as Unikitty) can also be found there, including random YouTubers I used to watch all the time, horror movies I grew fond of, some cartoons I still watch, such as Steven Universe, The Loud House, Teen Titans Go of all shows, the DreamWorks and Disney movies I watched as a kid, the older Gen Z memes we're familiar with by now, other video games we used to play all the time, among many others. I also wanted to spice up the variety of the fandom with my own interpretations of the characters, as well as some neat ideas I wanted to share when I conceived them.

With that being said, I hope you enjoyed this summary of my brand new AU idea!

Welcome one and all to

The Amazing Digital Road Trip!

#the amazing digital circus #tadc #tadc pomni #tadc jax #tadc ragatha #tadc au #tadc gangle #tadc zooble #tadc kinger #tadc bubble #tadc caine #It's not at all easy trying to copy from Google docs lol #Tadc road trip #The amazing digital road trip AU #References references everywhere #tadrt au #Lots of hijinks ensue #We'll laugh #We'll cry #We'll celebrate #So many video games and movies to be referenced #first post #First post that actually contributes to something #Pls don't flop

[slut4thebroken]

Attention writers !!!

(Or anyone who uses google docs lol)

So for a while now I’ve been trying to find a new app to use because I literally have so many wips (around 160 JUST for cillian💀) and it gets overwhelming when I’m trying to look and see what I’m in the mood to write. Google drive helps organize them a little bit, but it’s not really enough imo.

So I came across an app called Obsidian. It’s a little tough to figure out honestly, but once you get the hang of it, it’s super easy. However, my little neurodivergent brain doesn’t like change lmao so I was really hesitant to switch over to that app completely because I like using Google docs for writing (Also Obsidian doesn’t have an underline option??? Lol). BUT I really really liked that you could have folders AND tags. But at the same time, you have to pay to use it across devices so I couldn’t transfer everything on my laptop from docs like I did when I tried using word. And also it did that thing where when you copy and paste from docs into somewhere else, the spacing between paragraphs gets fucked up and as I said before, I have 160+ fics… I’m not fucking going through each one and fixing the spacing😭 So I was about to just accept defeat and keep using docs, but then I literally came up with the best idea in the entire world🤭

TLDR: I don’t like google docs with how many wips I have and I needed an app with better organization than just what google drive offers. I finally found one and figured out a way to have it all organized and easy to find, but still let me write in docs (cause I don’t like change lmao)

Now I’m gonna explain how I use it lol

It has an option for “vaults.” So far I’ve made one for my cillian fics and one for all my c.ai bot stuff. I’m also gonna make one for dc stuff eventually lol but you get the idea

〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️

In those vaults, you can have folders that the notes go in. Mine are just the characters I write for

〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️

So what I did was I made the note title whatever the doc was titled, added the tags, and then added the link to the original doc so when I click it, it opens it in the google docs app. (To add the link, open docs and stay on the “home page” don’t go in a specific document. Click the three dots next to the title and then click copy link and that’s it lol)

〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️

Also when you click on “files” above all of the folders, it takes you to this

〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️

Clicking on “tags” shows all of the tags you’ve used and you can click on one to find a fic. So if I’m in the mood to write angst, I’ll click the angst tag and it’ll show me all of my wips that have angst

〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️

You can also change the appearance to light/dark mode (I made it dark so you could see the contrast of the screen shot on this post but I’m just now realizing that ppl probably have tumblr in dark mode lmao. Whatever) and change the accent color to whatever you want.

You can also rearrange the order of the toolbar (above the keyboard). So I put the ones I use the most (tag, undo, redo, etc) in the front so I don’t have to scroll. You should explore the app too because there are a lot of things you can customize.

Anyway that’s pretty much it. I really recommend this method if you’re someone who has a lot of documents. It takes a while putting the existing docs in, but after that you just have to add them as you create new ones which barely takes any time at all

#writers on tumblr #writerscommunity #writer stuff #writer help #idk how to tag this post lol

[daydadahlias]

Hey I started writing 5sos imagines lately, and I have a few stories now but I have absolutely no idea how to create a masterlist😅 it's getting chaotic in my feed and since u have one I wanted to ask if you could help me and give me some tips on how to make a masterlist or if there's some kind of guide or sth on the internet 😅

and love your stories btw, you were one of the inspirations to start writing my own ones 🥰

Hello everyone and welcome to the Masterlist Masterclass, I'll be your teacher today, Jess. Hi!! I'll just go ahead and say 'thank you' first! I love to think I'm inspiring a future generation of bottom-ash fans lmfao.

Anyway, on with the class.

I totally get you with the overall Clutter that fics can cause if you don't have a place to store them, especially if you're not cross-posting on ao3 (if you aren't cross-posting, I'd honestly recommend doing that because it makes your fics more accessible and easy to find; slash-writers don't get a ton of interaction on tumblr. Tumblr is a great place to interact with x-readers, and I think ao3 is a much better place to interact with slash fics).

So, when it comes to masterlists, it depends on what you want! What a lot of writers do (and what I initially did for the first, like, year of being a fic writer) is just make a long tumblr post with all your fics! This way, people can reblog and rec your fics easiest! So I highly recommend this kind of masterlist. Here's a link to mine (which is really... painfully out of date, sorry Amanda). And it's fairly self-explanatory, y'know, you just pop a link to the tumblr post to the fic, then you give a little info about the fic (summary, rating, pairing, warnings) and that's that!! If you like the way my masterlist is formatted (which I got the inspiration from by searching 'fic masterlist' and stuff like that and then just scrolling through a bunch and picking out which ones I liked the look of!) feel free to use it as a guideline! Or, go look at other people's masterlists and make your own based on what they do that you like!

As for the masterlist that's linked on my desktop (and in my pinned post), that's a touch more complicated to make. This masterlist (also so horrendously out of date) is just the links to my fics as they are on ao3 with the same info as the other masterlist (summary, rating, pairing, warnings). And basically, this is an extra page on my desktop, so you can only make this masterlist while on a computer. The way I got this masterlist was that I went around on tumblr searching "fic rec themes" and "masterlist themes" and then I picked one out I liked. From there, I copied the html code, and then slapped it onto an original page on my desktop. I know that sounds complicated (and was very complicated when I first did it lol) so please accept and appreciate this series of hopefully helpful screenshots about the process. (These are all screenshots from my masterlist theme).

then, after you click that, it'll whip up the html code of your dreams. I want you to copy + paste the entire thing. So that means hit ctrl + a then "copy" and then from there, go to your tumblr desktop.

Roll on up, hit "edit appearance" and now we're cooking. From there, scroll all the way down to this part:

obviously yours won't look like mine. but then I want you to slap "+ add a page" and I want you to add a page.

From there, I want you to make a "custom layout"

Then, just paste your html coding in there!

From there, things are going to differ drastically based on what theme you're using. And basically you just have to... fiddle around with the coding until you get what you want!! If you're using my theme (which, feel free, it's a fucking fantastic theme and I highly recommend!! and if you're interested in some of my other fave themes, feel free to look at this powerpoint I made when I was trying to pick myself out one lol), then you're going to want to copy + paste this into a google doc for future use:

And you fill in the blanks based on your fics!!

It's kind of a... fuck up and learn type of process and html coding is in fact, very difficult (to me) so I wish you luck lol!! But you got this, and I'm always here if you have any more questions ^.^

Thank you, toodles!

#pigeon #did this help #yikes i hope so #i did have the urge to link the youtube tutorial i made for monse a few months ago about this lmfao #because i literally made her a (very shitty) youtube tutorial about how to make a masterlist #but #it's my real face and voice and overall know-it-all energy #and that's not very fun for new-comers lol #thanks for asking <33

[rarolli]

Shotcut vs kdenlive

#Shotcut vs kdenlive for free#

#Shotcut vs kdenlive how to#

#Shotcut vs kdenlive movie#

#Shotcut vs kdenlive 1080p#

DaVinci Resolve is my go to for a little more complex work. OpenShot ShotCut are what I use for both fast and easy editing.

#Shotcut vs kdenlive how to#

How to remove portions of a video ? I don’t know what you’re using as a video editor but there are a lot of Free Open Source Software (FOSS) options out there that offer a range of complexity.

Then use some kind of test to check the performance gain, I used handbrake with a 10min H265 4K 60FPS video file being encoded.

is percision boost overdrive worth it? i dont trust myself with real overclocking lol.

#Shotcut vs kdenlive 1080p#

Some people also use HandBrake or similar tools to compress the video, since 1080p discs can get over 30GB, and 4K discs easily reach the 60-70GB range. That leads into the software side of things, since you can use MakeMKV to copy the disc to your computer. For 4K discs, look into the suggestions in this MakeMKV forums thread.

/r/Plex's Moronic Mondays' No Stupid Questions Thread - 2022-08-p/DVD's pretty much any optical drive will get the job done.

You either need to set the iPhone to not use VFR (I'm not familiar with iPhones, but you can easily Google if this is possible) or convert the footage to something usable, using something like Handbrake.

Iphone clips dont show in preview Chances are what's happening with your iPhone clips is that they're VFR (this seems to be a default in recent iPhones - you don't say which one you're using) and Vegas hates that.

run the gambit of troubleshooting Convert your video file to something more Plex-appropriate using tools like Handbrake or TDARR. Looking through the docs it looks like it should have a preset for “Playstation 540p30” specifically for vita compatibility. I’m currently traveling though, so I don’t have easy access to give a thorough walkthrough.

playing my content on my ps vita I would try Handbrake.

It will be interesting to see what the video editing add on for Win 10 Photos App will be like. But at least there are viable free alternatives. Programs like the free ones mentioned and things like Premier Elements are overkill for simple quick projects. Eventually, if I need a video editor in future, I would probably buy one of the cheaper programs like Nero Video or Corel Video Studio Pro. I still have WLMM and intend to hang onto it for as long as I can and I can fall back on iMovie on my MacBook.

#Shotcut vs kdenlive for free#

Even though can still be downloaded for free, it is only a few dollars and I paid for it to partly make up for all the times I downloaded it for free and ignored the donate button.) (I also recently paid for when it appeared in the store. However, after using The Gimp for many years I eventually paid for Photoshop Elements when it became available in the Microsoft Store and also as it was at a 30% discount when it first came out in the store. To use these programs,I had to refer to on line tutorials and YouTube videos but, just like The Gimp, this is a small price to pay for what you get (for free). This is because they are far more fully featured and lack the simplicity and ease of use of WLMM.

#Shotcut vs kdenlive movie#

If I was forced to make a choice, I would slightly favour Kdenlive BUT probably go with either OpenShot or Shotcut because of the install procedure for Kdenlive.Īlso, all three could be compared more to programs like Premier Elements or Video Studio rather than Windows Live Movie Maker (WLMM). There are plenty of reviews on line so I will just briefly confirm the good reviews for all three programs. Both were a straightforward, standard install with no UAC issues nor any of the other problems documented in my previous post. Right from the start, both OpenShot and Shotcut were easier to install than Kdenlive. I have now installed and tested two more free substitutes for Windows Live Movie Maker – OpenShot and Shotcut.

#Shotcut vs kdenlive

[to-be-a-rose]

So I took the plunge and bought Scrivener after trying it out for a while and I’m really really liking it! I did everything in google docs before and my system consisted of about 2 docs:

1. The draft, a 250 page monster that I annotated directly on with the comment feature.

2. The editing notes doc, which was a massive stream of consciousness doc that I’d use for anything from working through plot holes to recording miscellaneous scene ideas or character names. Everything and anything went in there.

When I’d finished a draft, I’d make a copy and start editing on the new one. When the notes doc got too unwieldy I’d go through it and take out the most pertinent parts and transplant them into a new doc. Needless to say it was not organized AT ALL and it was not sophisticated whatsoever but it worked for me.  I’d always lose things or forget about them. Like I’d be toiling away on a plot hole, but then I’d scroll back in my editing notes and realize that I already addressed it. I tried separating my notes into sections but it was too inconvenient. 

Long story short Scrivener rules!! It’s basically like keeping everything in one big binder that’s extremely easy to navigate. You have your draft all separated into chapters, which can be separated into scenes. You have all of your notes and research in the same binder, which are easily accessed AND can be brought up in split screen view next to your draft. Now I have all of my notes separated into plot, and under that different plot elements. I have world building, magic system, and character sections, and under that I have sections for notes on each specific character. You can even create inspiration/research folders right in the binder and put pictures and stuff in there. Right now I’m going through my tumblr and transplanting my fav stuff into Scrivener for reference. It’s like having a big giant mood board right there while you’re drafting. 

Ok I’m done geeking out but just wanted to say, Scrivener is cool. It’s not necessary but it is a very useful and fun tool for writers who want to level up their writing experience! and I haven’t even used all the features yet lol

#personal #writing #writeblr #writing software #scrivener #long post #wow I really just gushed about this didn't I

[bookshelfdreams]

Ahhhh, your self bound books just look really beautiful? All the color choices and the layout just look soooo good together. And that's such a beautiful gift? I have not read primium non nocere, as I haven't watched Charité but if it is worthy of such a tribute I am definitely giving it a shot anyway. I'd also be really interested of your creative process and choices with the binding, if you're willing to talk about that

hi omg! thank you so much <3<3 Primum Non Nocere is a very good story, and I'd say even if you haven't seen the show, give it a shot anyway, if you're interested? I mean, by all means, try the show as well, season 2 is on Netflix w english subs afaik and it's also really, really good (not perfect, but leagues better than the stuff this country usually makes abt the nazi regime). It's a retelling of canon events from a character's perspective who isn't a focal character in the show - there's probably one or two points at which it skips canon events or may seem a little jumpy, but overall, it's more of a companion piece to canon than a classic fanfic. It's very well researched and detailed; it expands on canon in beautiful ways and honestly, fits with it seamlessly; it might as well be an official novelization (although its focuses are a little different than the og)

as for the bookbinding, I'm really flattered you're interested in my process! I'm still very much a beginner, but I'm slowly figuring out something that works for me.

Also, I don't really know what information you're looking for, so I'm just gonna share some things that come to mind. This isn't really a step-by-step how-to but if you're interested in that, I can try to take some pictures next time I make a book and make a better reference post.

Typesetting

I typeset in OpenOffice because that's my office suite of choice & I'm old; I have never used google docs and I don't plan on starting. I download the fic in html, and then just copy/paste the text chapter by chapter; that's easiest for me. As for fonts, I wanted it to look vintage but I definitely didn't want it to have Nazi aesthetics. I went with Baskerville for the main text (which is such a beautiful font, it might become my go-to) (Garamond is what is most commonly used in books I think, but it almost looks too professional for me. I love that Baskerville has this very distinct, vintage feel to it.) and an Art Deco font for the title and chapter headings. Overall I think it looks more 1920's which, considering that the Nazis really hated the Weimar republic, seems fitting. I'm happy with how it turned out and I hope the author is, too :) As for the rest, it's set in 16pt, 120% line spacing and the margins could be a little larger, tbh, but it works and I'm a little stingy with the paper XD

OpenOffice also lets you draw simple graphics directly onto the document which is what I did for the title page and the little ornaments at the beginning of the chapters.

To make signatures, I use Quantum Elephant Bookbinder. It does what it's supposed to, the only thing that doesn't quite work is the flyleaf option, but I can just add that in the og pdf.

Book construction

I print on copying paper, 80gsqm. It's recycling, 55CIE which is really quite grey; I like it, because white is uncomfortable for me to look at. As for grain, I cut my sheets from A3. The grain is also wrong there, so I ended up wasting half the paper. Whatever; I think it's worth it. Having the grain in the right direction (parallel to the spine) makes it feel so much more like an actual book and not just a stack of copying paper stapled together. I honestly believe it's more important than having fancy paper.

After folding, I do not use a model and an ale for punching holes; instead I put all the signatures together in my makeshift press (2 old cutting boards and 2 bar clamps), I draw some guidelines and then I use a fine saw to cut them all at once.

I sew the signatures on tapes for stability; it makes keeping consistent tension easier. I use linen bookbinder's thread (worth it) and cotton tapes from the craft store (they do their job, and linen sewing tapes are hard to source & expensive). I do not have a sewing frame; but what I do is, I tape the tapes to the underside of my cutting mat, place the signature on top (fold aligned with the edge of the mat) and use a weight to keep it in place. It works okay.

After sewing, I round the spine with this method, which works surprisingly well. I do not trim the edges (I know myself well enough to know that it would not end well) & instead tap the short sides & spine to the table to align the signatures as perfectly as possible.

The rest is done as in pretty much any other tutorial. No backing, because I don't have equipment for that. I like to sand down the edges of the cover boards a little, so they're a bit rounded; I think it makes for nicer haptics.

Decorations

I like to make as much of the book myself as possible. There's several reasons for that; first of all, fancy handmarbled or printed paper, headbands, bookmarks etc are expensive. Second, I have a crafting addiction & what's the point of projects like this when you buy everything you could make yourself, right? But thirdly (most importantly) it's simply that my book blocks look pretty shitty (that's, untrimmed and uneven). But that's okay; you gotta embrace the "amateurishly handmade" look & just have to amateurishly handmake everything. Adding just one or two perfect, machine-produced details looks kinda jarring.

Paper decoration - mix water soluble paint and wallpaper paste and go wild (videos are in German, sorry, idk if this is a thing that's really done in the anglophone world? But I think they're pretty easy to follow even if you don't understand the instructions). I like to use this for covers, mainly, I'm also experimenting with decorating endpapers this way. The paste makes the paper really rough and horrible to the touch; as the very last step, I wax the cover (with a beeswax-based furniture polish. Floor wax works as well, it just doesn't smell very nice). Be careful not to get any on the bookcloth, it will cause stains & ruin everything at the last second.

Headbands - I found this tutorial very helpful.

Bookmarks - this gave me so much trouble. Most amateur bookbinders seem to use cotton, polyester or satin ribbons, which is fine, I guess. I don't particularly like either option. At first I thought I could weave my own; that didn't work out, because weaving tiny bands is harder than it looks (& also the resulting ribbon was much too stiff). But! Bookmarks in professionally made books aren't woven at all; they're braided. Seven-stranded braids work pretty well (tutorial is for 5 strands, but 7 strands work the same). As for the headbands, embroidery floss is best imho (silk would, of course, be traditional but come on). Mercerised cotton crochet thread works as well but isn't quite as nice.

this turned out way too long lol. Sorry. Hopefully the answer you were looking for is in there somewhere. Again, thank you and have a lovely evening!

#also feel free to ask if theres anything more youd like to know #<3 #hoard of fanfiction #anonymaus #message

[lesbeet]

so a former co-worker from the english dept at the hs i student-taught at last year has been hiring me to do a bunch of editing work for her (stuff from academic essays to sports articles to blog posts to poetry lol it’s a whole lot of various types of writing), and right now i’m working on an academic paper she wrote about the mistreatment and misplacement of “heritage language learners” (students who grew up speaking a native language other than english, but who were never formally instructed in that language—so for example, a native spanish speaker growing up in the u.s. who never had access to formal spanish language education, as opposed to a student born in a different country who learned their L1 formally in that country’s school system before moving to the u.s.)

and while i’ve learned a lot and am excited to contribute even in this small way to bettering the educational experiences of these students (and bilingual students in general), it’s been so difficult to edit the paper, mostly bc the original version she gave me was not organized effectively at all. so i had to start by trying to map an outline of the original structure so i could re-organize it pretty much from scratch.

so i’ve spent the last like 3.5 hours attempting to start filling in the actual content within the new outline i put together. i started by assigning highlight colors to each of the big topics/sections and then i went through the original version and highlighted different parts/sentences/quotes accordingly so i could find them easily when combing through the paper to look for specific pieces of information

and doing it this way has shown me how REDUNDANT the essay is lmao like i feel like it’s going to end up significantly shorter than what she gave me bc there are so many points restated in several places, or like unnecessary additions/explanations of things that don’t need explaining, and extraneous information...the quotes she used are like almost as a rule twice as long as they need to be, and usually only one part of the quote is actually relevant to the topic at hand

like it’s not BAD i’ve seen much much worse, and the language itself is fine (nothing particularly special but definitely coherent and clear most of the time), but editing for organization is so much more difficult logistically lmao like especially doing it digitally on google docs. i know i technically COULD print it out and cut it up and physically move things around, but that’s even worse than doing what i’m doing on the computer, which requires that i have like 4 different docs tabs open at once (outline, old copy, new copy, extra page for copy/pasting stuff i need to come back to) and i have to have a split screen so i can copy and paste stuff directly from one doc to the other without constantly having to switch tabs

i do like this kind of editing though, like i kind of trained myself to really understand what makes certain types of organization effective and just in general like how to reveal information in the order that will best convey my points with the desired effect, and now whether it’s a story or it’s an expository essay i’m always kind of re-arranging things in my head to see how it might change the end result

but usually my editing is very light-handed in the sense that i don’t often go into the doc and change things directly (unless it’s grammar stuff or simple diction/syntax changes), i usually just leave comments with questions and suggestions, and oftentimes explanations for why a certain element isn’t working, along with several options that might work better. because when i go in and just directly edit sometimes it’s hard to stop myself from rewriting it to the point where the author’s voice has kinda been replaced by mine, and i really try hard not to do that

but for giant structural changes like this it gets so difficult NOT to edit directly, bc it’s not as easy to try and convey macro-level arrangement suggestions through google docs comments bc they often affect bits that are scattered throughout the whole work. and it’s such a conceptual thing that sometimes it just makes things way more confusing to try and get the person to put things where you want them, and it makes more sense to do it yourself

idk this got long i just needed to ramble a bit to sort out what’s been frustrating me w this paper ksdflksdj

[soft-october-night]

hiya c: a while ago i came across your book binding post of running in the shadows and i really liked your page layout! i was wondering if you maybe would be willing to share some specifics of your project? i’m very curious about what font, font size, page margins, and paper size you used, bc it looks really calming to me and i’d love to try it out

Hey Anna! Sorry it took me so long to get back to you, I wanted to make sure I had all the information correct before I wrote a response.

ask for paper, I literally used paper from Staples 8 and 1/2 by 11 size but I use their copy paper which is the lowest weight paper that staples makes. When it comes to book binding you want to use the lowest weight paper possible because it will make your little booklets that you have to put together that much more easy to handle.

To do the formatting I literally just use Google docs, it took a lot of trial and error to get it perfect but I kind of have it down to a science at this point. Depending on the font style I'll use size 11 or 12, my preferred fonts are cardo and Georgia because I like serif fonts lol. I use 1-in margins all around, then I export the document to a PDF and I print it out in booklet form using something like Adobe.

I understand that this isn't the best format to deliver this information, and I'm happy to share the documents themselves so you can see them if you'd like to reach out to me on discord here is my discord information!

obviously this goes for anyone reading this who's interested in binding fic or learning how to book bind. I'm happy to share all the tutorials I used, tools, and techniques because it truly is very fun thing to learn how to do!

[velkynkarma]

So, when you publish a story on AO3, do you use HTML or RichText? Do you write your story directly on AO3 or write it in like a google doc and then import and tweak it to fit the formatting? Trying to get a grasp on how I should write out my stuff for future updates to my stories since I’m new to the AO3 scene ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Hey anon! Welcome to AO3 :D I’m happy to help out with your questions!

I strongly advise against actually doing your writing in the AO3 interface. If AO3 or your internet crashes at any given point, you can lose all your progress, and if you don’t have it saved anywhere else, it’s incredibly frustrating! It’s also harder to to spot any mistakes you might have written since you’ll always be looking at the same interface. And it’s easy to accidentally post something you weren’t ready to, or to get so eager about posting something that you slap it up before it’s really ready to go.

When I write, I do so in an external source first, and then paste it into AO3. I used to use a word processor on my computer, but in the past year or so I’ve switched to using Google Docs. In my experience with a word processor, you still have to go through and tweak formatting once you paste it. For Google Docs, whatever you paste over will stick for the most part (italics, paragraph breaks, etc) as long as you keep a few formatting things in mind. This is a great resource for formatting from Google Docs to AO3.

An external source is great in general because when you paste your story into AO3, it will look different. When you haven’t memorized where certain words or paragraphs fall, it’s a lot easier to catch spelling errors, missing words, bad cadence, etc. You can also use this trick in Google Docs by changing the font, font size, and ‘paper’ size. This helps when you’re solo editing, or if you don’t have access to a beta.

I generally use RichText rather than HTML. But mostly that’s because I’m real lazy about putting in formatting tags lol. Again, it works really well with copy/paste from AO3.

As a final note, you can actually store drafts for things you’re posting, which is a super useful feature. I will generally edit and prepare a chapter the night before I intend to post it, and store it as a draft in AO3. That way, I can just tap the post button right when I get home from work, instead of having to wait a couple hours to have time to sit down and edit. It also makes it a lot easier to post fics at optimal times for viewership, if you’re the kind of person that’s savvy about that sort of thing. (I’m not, but I have friends who monitor this, so it’s worth mentioning). 

Have fun posting, anon! 

#Velkynkarma answers #AO3 #fanfiction #writing #Anonymous

[seductresses-temple]

Nine Months Brings Forth New Life

Okay! So, @rose-grangerweasleyisbae just recently had a birthday and she is honestly one of the sweetest followers ever. She always says the most beautiful, heart warming, smile inducing things so I wrote something really random for her birthday 🎂 🎁 🍰 by random I mean, I honestly opened a google doc and started writing lol. I wanted to write something...full of possibilities, I guess?

Trigger warning: Mental Health mentions and mentions of self mutilation

________________________________________

Draco sighed, plopping down ungracefully, un-Malfoy-like, into the all too familiar leather chaise. He shifted around for a moment until he deemed himself comfortable enough before lolling his head over to the side to look at Clara who was gazing at him with her typical, bemused expression. He smiled at her tiredly, even he could feel that it didn’t quite reach his eyes, but at least he was trying.

“Hello, Draco,” Clara said after a moment “nice to see that you’re punctual as always. You look a bit tired, still having trouble sleeping?”

Draco nodded, locks of hair falling over his eyes. “Another nightmare, some days I feel like they’re getting out of control since I stopped taking the Dreamless Sleep.”

Clara nodded, jotting the information down in a small leather bound pad she kept practically glued to her lap. “Would you like to talk about the nightmare? Was it about the war again, or your father?”

Lucius. Draco could appreciate that Clara never said his name anymore. It brought Draco too many emotions to keep under control. Ever since the war had ended, Draco’s relationship with his father had been non-existent. It was his father’s fault that he and his mother had gotten dragged into the whole ‘serving the Dark Lord’ nonsense. It had been his father’s fault that they’d had to house a blood-thirsty lunatic in their home. Draco’s stomach began to churn just thinking of all the things he’d born witness to while the Dark Lord haunted the halls of Malfoy Manor. To make matters worse, Draco and his mother had nearly been carted off to Azkaban thanks to trying to keep their heads above water in the situation his father had put them in. If it hadn’t been for Potter...Draco was afraid to think what would have happened if it hadn’t been for Potter…

“Draco?” Clara’s voice pulled Draco out of his thoughts. He did that a lot now. Spaced out. Got inside of his head and drifted away from the outside world. It was something he and Clara were trying to work on. Seeing a Mind Healer was part of the terms and conditions involved that kept him and his mother out of Azkaban. One of many conditions.

“It was about my father,” Draco sighed, running a shaky hand through his hair. He’d cut it when his father -ragged and screaming like a raving lunatic- denounced both he and his mother as he was carted off to Azakan with a life-long sentence. It had started with the left side, then the right. Now he’d taken to keeping the sides shaved, the middle long -down to his jaw- and streaked with various shades of light blue. His father had a conniption the first time he saw it. It was so feminine, so queer, so very un-Malfoy. Draco loved it and he loved how much his father hated it.

“What about your father?” Clara had such a soothing voice. Draco loved it. He confessed after a few months of seeing her that her voice reminded him of his mother. Clara was gentle and patient and seemed genuinely concerned about his welfare. The wizarding world spit upon the name Malfoy, it was nice to feel cared for.

“I came out to him. It was such an odd dream. We were in a muggle coffee shop, of all places, my father hates both coffee and muggles so it all seemed surreal and out of place. I sat down in front of my father and watched him sneer at my hair and my clothes and my coffee and I just sort of blurted it out…” Draco fidgeted with the hem of his shirt, frowning.

“You can say it Draco. This is a safe space. I think it would be healthy for you to be able to say the words aloud. They aren’t bad words, you just have a negative association to them because that’s what you were raised to think. Your father raised you to believe they’re something to be ashamed of, Draco, but we’ve talked about this. You don’t have to live your life by his definitions anymore, you’re free to live life on your own terms.” Clara stared at him, her yellow eyes watching him carefully like a hawk. Draco was vaguely reminded of Madam Hooch, her eyes trained to the sky, protective and alert, making sure to catch any of the first years should they fall off their broom. There was a safety in that, something rooted so deeply in Draco that he barely understood it. It made him feel safe, brought him back to a point in his life before his world got blown apart.

“I told my father I’m gay,” he whispered. If he weren’t so bloody tired he most likely would have cringed at how small and insignificant he sounded. He sounded like a child sharing a secret that, well..wasn’t a secret. Pretty much everyone knew. His father certainly knew long before Draco did. His father had always done his best to snuff out that side of him.

A black wardrobe. No color. No life. No expression. End of story.

A lack of affection from his father. No love. No smiles. No hugs. No warmth between men because that would be wrong. End of story.

His father drove him to quidditch. A manly sport. Something physical because he’d kill them both before he had a dancer for a son. If Narcissa took Draco to one more ballet, he was shipping Draco off to Durmstrang. End of story.

His father had taken control of his narrative, at least that’s how Clara put it. Draco quite liked that analogy. He liked reading, liked thinking about his life as a book that wasn’t quite finished yet. His father had written the first half but Draco, well, he could write the second half however he wanted. He liked that.

“What happened after that? How did your father react?”

“He mutated.”

“E-Excuse me?” Clara leaned forward a little, making sure she heard Draco correctly.

“He mutated, the dreamscape changed and suddenly I wasn’t in a muggle cafe with my father anymore, I was in the Hogwarts Great Hall surrounded by the rest of my ‘peers’ and they were...being very vocal about my new appearance,” Draco gestured down to his outfit; black wingtips, tailored, royal purple pants with a matching button down, a grey marled sweater vest, and plum, purple, grey, and black, paisley bow tie.

“So they resorted to name-calling?” Clara raised an eyebrow at him, an expectant, maternal look on her face. She was a stickler for not allowing Draco to get away with vague answers.

“No.”

“Draco,” Clara sighed ever so quietly, glancing at the clock “it’s your hour, Draco, and I understand these things are hard to talk about. Examining our emotions and coming to terms with things that go against what we’ve known and been taught our entire lives is no easy feat. However, you’ve been making such tremendous progress lately, you honestly have, if you’d rather table this discussion for the moment and move on to something else, I support that decision but with you leaving for Hogwarts in a few days, I think this is something we should try to tackle. I’m going to go put the kettle on, would you like a cup of tea?”

“Sure,” Draco murmured, nodded absently. He was already lost in thought by the time Clara left the room. He knew she was right, not that he particularly wanted to admit it. She was so like his mother in that way, speaking logic and reasoning into him even when it wasn’t what he wanted to hear. Draco was afraid to go back to Hogwarts. He didn’t want to admit that either. They all hated him and rightfully so. What was the point of going back? It wasn’t like anyone in the wizarding world would higher him all because he sat for his N.E.W.T.S. He was still a Malfoy, for now anyhow, until his father found out he wouldn’t be carrying on the Malfoy name. Not with a woman at least. He sighed, sinking further into the chaise. He didn’t hear Clara come back into the room until the familiar chink of china on wood snapped him back into reality.

“Thank you,” he sat up just enough to take his cup, running a finger over the rim “I’m…” he refused to say scared. “I’m worried about returning to Hogwarts, worried that they’ll all see how much I’ve changed, worried they’ll be able to tell that I’m...gay.” He took a careful, steady sip from his tea, staring down into the cup to avoid Clara. He didn’t want anyone at Hogwarts to know he was gay. They knew too much about him already. Draco sodding Malfoy, ex-death eater, co-conspirator to the death of Dumbledore, prime suspect of the near-deaths of Katie Bell and Ronald Weasley, pompous git, Slytherin Ice King, and the cold-hearted carbon copy of ruthless murder Lucius Malfoy. Parents were already complaining as it. Death Eater children back roaming the halls of Hogwarts? Preposterous! It was bad enough the Ministry was forcing them back to Hogwarts as part of their ‘rehabilitation’ into society, Draco could only imagine what the parents would do if they found out a queer ex-death eater was in their mists.

“I don’t think it would be so bad if they saw you’ve changed, Draco,” Clara took a sip of her tea, giving him that maternal, expectant stare as if he were a small child struggling to discern that two plus two does indeed equal four.

“Wasn’t it you who said, and I quote ‘changing into the man I’ve always felt I should be without my father lurking over every decision I make is one of the best things to ever happen to me?’ or do you no longer feel that way?” Clara continued to stare over the rim of her cup.

Draco remembered that session. Vividly. It was shortly after he had dyed his hair, not too long after his breakdown that had landed him in Mungos for two weeks. Draco learned the hard way that slicing your Dark Mark off landed you in a very cozy room in St.Mungos that just so happened to have white padded walls. “I did say that,” Draco murmured, glancing down at his arm.

“You have changed so much, Draco, made so much progress and have blossomed into a completely different person than the young man I met nine months ago. I think there can be some symbolism in that, nine months, women carry their children to term for nine months and then they birth a new life into the world. You, Draco, carried your trauma for the past nine months and you birthed a new version of yourself into the world. Going back to Hogwarts is your opportunity to foster that new life. It doesn’t have to be a death sentence.”

********************

“You look dashing, sweetheart,” Narcissa smiled sweetly, coming over to Draco and running her fingers through his hair, mussing it up a tiny bit.

“Thank you, mother,” Draco tried to smile but only managed a twitch of the lips. He bent down to grab his school trunk. He’d have to carry it as he wasn’t allowed a wand again until he was on school property. His mother had been kind enough to cast a wandless lightening charming on it.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you, Draco? Between the reporters, the students, the other students, I-” Draco held up a hand to stop her.

“I know you’re worried, mother, but I’ll be fine. They don’t need to put us both in the paper. I’ll write the moment I’m able and at least once a week after. Clara has spoken to Headmistress McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey and its been arranged for me to have my sessions at Hogwarts each week. I’ll…”he kissed her forehead tenderly “I’ll be alright, mother.”

Narcissa nodded, blonde curls bobbing softly. She stared at him, long and imploringly, her blue eyes searching for something. What, Draco wasn’t entirely sure, but he felt small and incredibly young under her gaze. “I love you so,” she whispered, clasping onto his arm, over the spot where his Dark Mark once stood “if you need anything, anything at all, just write home and I’ll come running.” She pulled him into a nearly bone crushing hug, kissing his cheek before letting him leave out the door.

“I love you too, Mother. Everything will be fine,” Draco wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince her or himself. All he knew was the night he sliced the Dark Mark off his arm had left them both changed people. It was scary, leaving the comfort of their little bubble, but they would both be better for it. That’s what their Mind Healers kept telling them. By the time Draco came back at Christmas the Manor would be renovated, cleansed, completely different. He hoped he’d return in much the same condition; renovated, cleansed, different.

********************

Kings Cross Station brought about everything Draco had been expecting. He’d been hexed...twice, booed at, spat at, and the vultures from the Daily Prophet had a field day with the drama his mere presence had caused. The only sanctuary he had within it all was that no one wanted to sit with him so he’d managed to find an empty compartment and settle into it. People glared and sneered as they passed by but once the train began moving he felt as though he was finally able to exhale. Pansy, Blaise, and Theo were all headed to Hogwarts by other means which meant he’d be alone the entire trip. Draco wasn’t sure whether to panic or find solace in that but he had to deal with it all the same. He set his robes on the seat next to him and pulled out a muggle book he’d begun reading and curled up in his seat, praying beyond hope that at least the train ride could be uneventful before he spent the next year surrounded by people who’d much prefer if he were dead.

“Malfoy,” Draco wanted to curse, recognizing the voice instantly. He slid his bookmark in to hold his place and looked up into shockingly bright emerald eyes.

“Potter,” he greeted, taking a concentrated effort to keep his voice low and level.

“Do you mind if I sit?” Potter gestured toward the empty seat across from him.

Draco eyed Potter, taking in his appearance. He’d changed in the past nine months. His hair had gotten longer, long enough to completely cover his scar and long enough for him to have a long, thick plait that sat over his shoulder. Apparently Potter had a sense of fashion now. Draco took note of the dragon hide boots and fitted black trousers, the leather jacket that seemed far too big for him but in a devil-may-care sort of way. He wasn’t wearing his glasses anymore either. “Suit yourself,” Draco couldn’t help but feel his curiosity being piqued by this Potter. There was something about him that Draco couldn’t place. An energy that seemed to crackle around him, pulling Draco in, and he felt helpless to stop it.

“I’ve a question for you, Malfoy, this thing that’s just burning in my mind for far too long.”

Draco quirked an eyebrow at him. Since when did Potter speak so openly with him? They had never been friendly. Draco had gone out of his way to make the other boy miserable for far too long. “So you get...clarity of some sort and I?” Draco trailed off, making a flippant gesture with his hand. Old habits died hard with Potter, apparently. However, much to Draco’s surprise, the git had the nerve to smile. Not just smile, but to throw his head back and laugh.

“I thought you might say that,” Potter grinned at him, eyes twinkling in a way that was insufferable reminiscent of Dumbledore. He reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out an incredibly thin, long box. It could only be one thing and Draco felt his heart clutch painfully in his chest. Potter still had his wand after all this time...He’d managed to convince himself that Potter must have thrown it out, broke it, set it on fire, the scenario was different in his head every time.

“What is it you want to know?” Draco’s voice came out in barely a whisper.

Potter held the box with both hands, leaning forward, whispering conspiratorially “You knew it was me. Why?”

Draco’s breath hitched in his throat. He never thought he’d be confronted with this. He never anticipated Potter wanting to know why. It was something he had only ever spoken to Clara about and even that hadn’t come easily. He swallowed thickly, staring at his wand in Potter’s hands. He was cradling it gently as if it were something precious. It was precious to Draco but he didn’t know if it was worth spilling one of his biggest secrets. He stared at Potter, into those same green eyes that had stopped him in his track that night. “Because I’m in love with you,” he whispered breathlessly, the words rushing out his mouth before he could think about how incredibly stupid it was to say so.

“Oh, bugger off, Malfoy,” Potter laughed, a big bark of a laugh that seemed to make the entire compartment brighter. He shook his head, his braid swinging on his shoulder. “Fine, don’t tell me, but I’m not letting this go.” Potter stood up, using the box containing Draco’s wand to give him a little salute before marching out the door.

Draco sat there in stunned silence. He opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again, and then snapped it shut. He’d just told Potter he loved him. What in Merlin’s name was wrong with him? As if his life wasn’t difficult enough. He took a deep breath, trying to calm the erratic, hyperactive thump of his heart.

“Oh buggering fuck, kill me now,” Draco whispered to the empty compartment. He’d just confessed feelings he’d kept buried for four years and he hadn’t even gotten to Hogwarts yet. It was going to be an incredibly long year. A long year full of Potter and his nonsense and his...green eyes…”buggering fuck,” Draco groaned. It was going to be a long, long year.

#drarry #draco x harry #draco malfoy #harry potter #narcissa malfoy #i stan draco malfoy #draco malfoy deserved a redemption arc #i ship draco with a therapist #drarry makes me happy #even though this fic is open ended and a little depressing #this probably is a shitty birthday gift lol #i hope you like it #i might write more if you dont think its terrible #idk why im like this lol #i totally wanted to post something happy #then i wrote this #the drarry angst is real

[spnfanficpond]

February 2019 Pond LiveChat Recap

We had a great time chatting today with @impala-dreamer!! Thank you so much, Beka, for joining us!

We talked about self-publishing through Amazon, how to do it, what the benefits are, and the challenges to making a finished product. A rundown of the chat, as well as some general Pond news, is below the cut!

Q: What sort of music do you listen to when you write?

Beka: Oh, uh... Well, Actually, I have a lot of playlists on youtube. So it depends. I have a hardcore smut list that is just music that gets my hips moving... then a romance thing which is feely stuff. A "Deanspiration" list that oddly has zero Zepplin in it, just stuff that reminds me of him or gives me ideas. Sometimes I hear a song and it instantly snaps an idea. I write to music a lot.

Q: For everyone, do you reblog everything you read or do you think likes have the same “power” behind them?

Beka: No. If I read it, I reblog, unless it’s iffy. Iffy means, I read it, but wasn’t up my alley or I think it would be too triggering for people. I avoid those types of fics, anyway.

@mrswhozeewhatsis: There is a very small percentage of things I read that I won't reblog, but then, I haven't really read them, I've noped out for one reason or another. Usually grammar/formatting or content, not writing style, to be clear.

@girl-with-a-fandom-fettish: I guess one reason I suck at reblogging is a lot of the stuff I read has nothing to do with what is currently reblogged on my blog and that just doesn't match in my very matchy brain...is that just me?

@mrswhozeewhatsis: I believe that everyone should be able to put on their blog what they want. Some folks see their blog as a collection like in a museum. Some folks, like me, see it as more of a news feed. Collectors are less likely to reblog because they're carefully curating their blog. My advice to collectors is to then make a side blog where you can reblog the things you don't want to collect.

Q: What’s the biggest challenge you find in writing?

Beka: I think the biggest challenge for me is writing in the moment. I can't write if it's not flowing, and sometimes I try to force myself just to get the story out bc i fear i'm letting people down by not posting enough? But it’s not good when I do that, so I have to let myself go with the story that's with me at the moment. Sometimes it's two at once, like today. lol. Also, Sam is hard. (heheh no really, he is. also he is. but pg13)

Q: There are so many questions to about this process!

Beka: I do really get asked about it a lot, and it's really not that hard once you do it. It's annoying to navigate and decide what you want to do, but it really is awesome and not too frustrating. Amazon is really great because they do have an extensive help section AND message boards so you can ask and talk to other self publishers so it's like having someone with you.

Q: You said you chose to publish through Amazon. Out of curiosity, were there any other ways you heard about or considered before you settled on Amazon, and if so, was there a specific reason you didn't use them?

Beka:  I'm basically a Google fanatic, so when I decided to do this, I had no idea what I was doing so basically I goggled "How to self publish a book" and there were THOUSANDS of sites thrown at me. I honestly can't remember the other sites I looked at, but it basically came down to amazon was a company name I knew, I trusted, and had the best help and resources. And I have a kindle, so I figured that was easiest. I think I only looked into one or two others but I can't remember what they were. Amazon just stood out.  I did read up on like actually doing it yourself like through a book binder and all that and it was SOOOO much work this was just the easiest and most cost effective.

Q: Okay, but with Amazon, do they, like, own part of your content if you publish through them?

Beka: NOPE. I hold copyright to all my works. they just are the people who produce the actual physical book.

Q: What was the time frame, like from start to finish, I guess? Or the process if you don't mind. What did you have to do to get set up with Amazon?

Beka: Ok- so getting set up was easy. if you have an amazon account, you're good. Or you just make one. then there is a website- kdp.amazon.com -and they literally walk you through the entire process.  Someone up there asked how long it took -  I rushed it. my novel started as fanfic, which I wrote in about 2 months, then I took 2 weeks re-editing and changing to non-fanfic, then about a week editing again and formatting and then i had my hard copy. So, all in- maybe 3 months, but the actual amazon stuff takes a few days to get you a book in hand.

@kittenofdoomage: One thing I will say about Amazon, it's very convenient but I struggled with the covers and formatting.

Q: Did you have to use special software to submit your work?

Beka: I write in google docs, but amazon no likey- so I had to move everything over to Microsoft Word. and from there it gets updated. HOWEVER, there is now in beta testing an amazon program which I downloaded for my 3rd book but was too frustrated to figure out so I never used it. it's specifically for Kindle, but kindle didn't like my poetry format so I couldn’t do it.

@kittenofdoomage: They have step by step guides. And I use Google Docs, too, but you can download into a PDF or .doc file from there.

Q: So it's not a copy-paste thing, you upload the completed file then reformat it for amazon?

Beka: well... it's two different things for paperback and kindle. There are specific formatting guidelines for paperback such as margin sizes and gutters and such so when you turn a page it's not all wonky. Kindle formatting is MUCH easier to do. you just upload and it does it for you. The files for paperback need to be formatted with specific things. it's not hard... just annoying.

Q: You mentioned changing your fanfic into non-fanfic. Does that mean you can't have any fan elements in a story to publish it?

Beka: Well... my novel was basically a J2 x Reader BDSM fanfic, and so I changed J2 to original characters, I changed the show, the car, the everything. If you know that I write SPN fic, and you read it, you can see it's clearly SPN, but those who don't know SPN don't know that, because I've asked. lol. Also- someone read it recently and thought the Jared character was Jensen, so I guess I changed it enough.  I personally would not publish anything that actually said SPN or J2 or anything because those are copy-written characters and not mine so it does seem illegal to make money off of them, ya know? 

@mrswhozeewhatsis: It is actually illegal to make money off of fan fiction. The WB owns the characters and the show. If anyone else tries to make money off the characters or identifiable elements of the show, the WB can sue and win.

@kittenofdoomage: Those who use Patreon are covered under fair usage only because Patreon is a donation site.

Q: Were there any parts of the process that surprised you?

Beka:  Honestly, the entire thing surprised me. I went into it like just to see if it was possible and then i realized- I CAN’T publish my work. they WILL sell it. People WILL buy it. and it was all very shocking. It was scary, and I know people are intimidated by it, but it really was simple in the end, and if you want to do it- do it. It's awesome to look over at my bookshelf and see my name on actual, physical books ya know?

@kittenofdoomage: I was the same, Beka. I procrastinated for months. And okay, it wasn't a huge success but I learned from the first time, bettered myself the second time, and now.... I'm procrastinating again but that's not the point lol

Q: How much money do you make per sale?

Beka: It depends on the format and the cost you put. Like, for my short story and poetry book I make PROBABLY a few cents on it. My novel I make around $2 depending on the price I set. You set the selling price, and you can do sales and freebies. 

@kittenofdoomage: You can choose everything. They tell you how much you'll make from each copy sold.

Q: Do they tell you how much other authors sell similar works for, to give you an idea what others think is reasonable?

Beka: Yeah, you can look it up, too. They have a chart that's like, "This is your sale price. This is how much we take to make it. This is how much you get," and you can fiddle with it.

Q: Is there any kind of marketing happening on Amazon’s side, or is it all you?

Beka: They can do promotions, but you have to pay them to promote it.

Q: Did you look into promotion costs through Amazon? What kind of money are we talking, here?

Beka: Honestly, I don’t remember. When I see a fee of any kind I run for the hills because I'm cheap like that. lol. It's prob not too cheap BUT they also have this thing you can sign up for that's like a library kinda deal where your book can go on the free book a month kindle deal- i didn't do it bc you don't get royalties for it. but more people read it? idk what's best. It's all very over my head marketing.

@mrswhozeewhatsis: I guess if you're looking to become a popular selling author, and you have the cash to pay to promote it, then after a few books, it would pay off when you develop an audience.

Q: Do you think self publishing is the way to go long term, or maybe a better in terms of testing the waters? I realize you are still in the latter stage but I'm curious about your opinion...

Beka: Here's my thoughts: I used to be a singer/songwriter. I played in Manhattan. I had paying gigs. I recorded an album. I thought I could make it work. But I didn't go for it. No one handed me a record contract. I let it all go to have my kids and family.  I want to write. I realize no one's gonna stick their hand out and hand me a publishing deal. BUT I might be able to pay some bills with my books. I might be able to write enough, well enough to sell some books. and if i sell enough books, maybe a publisher WILL see me and then I can attempt the next stage.  I think self publishing is great. Why not? Do it if you want to do it. If you want to write, write. If you want to share it, share it. Who's to stop you? And if you can share it through self publishing with people all over the world?? freaking do it, man. 

Q: What is your best piece of writing advice?

Beka: OK, my best writing advice is... See it, feel it, write it. If you don't feel what you're writing, I'm not gonna feel it reading it. I think i'm more of an emotional writer than a descriptive. I can't tell you what the room looks like that they're in, but I can tell you how it feels that Dean just stepped on that Lego. ya know? Idk. Write what you see and feel, and put yourself into it, and it'll be amazing. 

Q: Are you a planner or a pantser?

Beka: Planner? SOMETIMES. It depends. I have plans for series, but shorter things I just go with the flow. I'm constantly messaging Ashley like "DEAN JUST DID X. I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING!" lol

Q: Do you outline at all, or just have a general goal in mind?

Beka: I do outline series. but not... strictly or drastically. Like, right now i'm working on a series for my kink bingo that's alternates between the brothers. I have a general plot line over all to follow, but i've also set it up like c1- flogging. c2- spanking, etc. 

Q: What is something you know now that you wish you knew before you published?

Beka: I think I'd tell myself to not worry and just freaking write what I want.

Q: Do you have a writing schedule or something that keeps you productive?

Beka: No. I try very hard to have a schedule, but I'm a little... slightly... bipolar I think and my writing follows my moods. I can write 20K in a weekend and then nothing for a week. I just literally ride the wave of ideas. Like, currently I'm in a slump. but I wrote 10K this week before the slump hit. It's quite annoying.

Except for some general conversation about the stupid places and times we all get ideas and the incomprehensible notes we’ve all left for ourselves, the chat ended. A good time was had by all, I think!! Thanks to everyone who was there! @littlegreenplasticsoldier @kittenofdoomage @girl-with-a-fandom-fettish @because-imma-lady-assface @canadianspnhunter (And two folks whose URLs I never got: Cassie and Shaila)

General Pond Updates and Reminders

Angel Fish Award nominations are due soon! Click the link for the list of raffle prizes! Remember, every nomination is an entry! So far, we’ve only received three or four nominations. If you have sent in a nomination, but have not received a private message confirming we received it, we didn’t get it. Send it in again! Be sure to use Submit instead of Ask!

Don’t forget to submit your stories to be posted to the blog! When your stories are on the blog, then they are easier to nominate for Angel Fish Awards!

SPNFanFicPond Season 14 Weekly Episode Writing Challenge - New prompts go up after every new episode, and there’s no deadline! Check out the prompts and rules at the link!

Say hi to February’s New Members!

Check the Pond CALENDAR to see when Big Fish will be in the chat room and other Pond and SPN events are happening! Know of something that’s not on the calendar, send us an ask or submission with the deets info details!  The calendar offers a lot of features, such as showing you when things are in your own timezone! Since we’re an international group, that’s a definite plus!!

Next month’s LiveChat details will be published as soon as we know them! Hope to see you there!

#spnfanficpond live chat #chat room #let's chat #THE CHAT ROOM #pond chat

[education-tips]

Tips for Seniors/Juniors in High School (Plan on Going to College) College Admissions Advice #1

So when I was a Junior/Senior i remember freaking out about what college I wanted to go to and what I wanted to be and whatever

NOW I know I want to be an educator and help teens through this time because I remember how stressful this process was.

So here’s a 10 Tip thread I made for Jr/Seniors in HS who plan on applying to college

Look first of all, let me just say a disclaimer: I am not a college admissions person, this was just my experience with the California’s college application system.

So in my experience: I had the luxury of applying to 10 colleges (8 pub, 2 Priv) all in California #blessfeewaivers

The schools I applied to all ranged from prestigious to average but most of them happened to be my safety schools.

I wanted to point this out bc that was one of the things you SHOULDN’T DO when applying to college.

Don’t doubt yourself

When applying to college, many people get too caught up on rankings and whether they can get in the college or not.

And I was the same way. I even made a list

<

p>When I was applying to college the main factors I looked for in a school were:

Prestige

Size of school

Weather

WOKE OR NOT

Difficulty to get in

How far was it from home

Etc

So make a list of what you want in a college. Especially if you want to dorm. You know what you want whether it be a school by the beach, or a school in a large city etc

Colleges won’t fit everything on your list, but if they do, congratulations you have found your dream school.

Apply to dream schools even if your dream school is insane to get into or it’s far away or whatever, apply to it!!

DREAM SCHOOLS DO NOT HAVE TO BE THE BEST SCHOOLS, THEY ARE NOT SYNONYMOUS ALTHOUGH THEY SOMETIMES CAN BE

Your dream school is the place you feel like you’d flourish AND fits the criteria you have set for yourself

Nobody should ever make you feel ashamed of your dream school because in the end if you get in you’ll be happy

Also, apply to places even if you doubt you’ll get in. They may not be your dream school but they might turn out to be.

You’ll have a better chance of getting in if you apply compared to the literal 0 chance you’ll have if you don’t apply.

Just have the guts to apply to your “dream school” or a school you really like aight.

But also realize that if you’re applying to less that 5 schools, then maybe you should consider some safety schools.

Apply to safety schools but not too many like me :)))))

These schools are not even schools that are low in “ranking” They are just schools you wouldn’t mind going to but the point is you’ll def get in.

Apply to schools you feel are what you want without focusing on your major too much

Be aware that yes your major might “matter” but apply to places that interest you as a whole. Your major might change. Your school, probably not.

And know what your comfortable with. Personally, I wanted to go to a school close enough to come home on then weekends but still be able to dorm.

Apply to private schools if you fit any of these 1. You got a dank scholarship 2. You’re not planning on dorming 3. Dream school 4. You’re rich 5. You got a fee waiver and why not

Private schools can be fucking expensive. They are smaller and have a “better quality education” but know that price is the main factor.

Many private schools in Cali offer really good education such as Stanford and USC

But unless they offer you a private school education at a public school price they can put you into some serious debt

Many of them also offer very little financial aid but do give out substantial scholarships. I was offered a $26,000 scholarship to a $65,000 school ???

So unless you have a fee waiver, applying to one of those schools and doing the work for it may not be all it’s cracked up to be in the end.

Work on your personal statement EARLY ASF

THE BIGGEST THING WHEN APPLYING TO COLLEGE IS THE PERSONAL STATEMENT SO IF YOU STRESS OUT ABOUT ANYTHING IT SHOULD BE THIS

Your personal statement is the only place in your college application that you can bluntly state: “IVE STRUGGLED IN LIFE PLEASE ACCEPT ME”

Depending on your past you either dread writing about you or you have nothing to write about.

But seriously start early. And if you don’t know where to start, just free write.

I had a dream and the following day I wrote about that shit and I actually used it in my essay. (As a metaphor)

Apply to Financial Aid and Look & apply for scholarships!

My decision on the school I finally chose had SOO much to do with financial aid.

Some schools sometimes will offer you little to no financial aid and if your a broke bitch like me you’re counting on that financial aid

If paying for college is a factor in your decision plan ahead, like start now.

Career Centers are your holy grail when talking about financial aid and colleges in general.

Look for scholarships to apply to ahead of time and get all the shit you need in order for you to submit them. (Letters of Recs)

Speaking of Letters of Rec, if you are planning on applying to a private school, most likely they will ask you for 2 or more letters of rec

So… 8. Make a Bragging Sheet

A bragging sheet is like a resume but for high school. Make a google doc and put down EVERYTHING YOU HAVE DONE IN HS OR ANYTHING THAT IS WORTHY OF MENTIONING

For example - Associative Student Body 2020-2024 - (Leadership Role: if any) [And then put a brief description of what y'all do but in a profesional manner]

My teacher made me do this after I asked him to write me a letter of rec and it helped me sooo much bc

This helps bc it will give your teachers (those who will write your letter or rec) something to say about you in their letter.

And make sure to give it to every teacher/ counselor that way they know exactly what they should put in your LetOfRec

If you’re a person who has done a lot of activities in HS, this will help bc most applications will ask you what you’ve done

Scholarships ask you what activities you’ve done in HS and you’ll have them all written down on this doc and all you have to do is copy it

It honestly comes in handy guys and it’s really easy to make. Google Bragging Sheet/Letter for more info about how to set it up

Do test scores matter when applying to college? ACT? SAT? AP? Answer: Yes and No

AP scores only matter if the schools you’re applying to actually give you credit for the test you’ve passed

However, if you are planning to go to a UC, AP English Scores are SUPER IMPORTANT so pass them at least with a 3. Or retake them if you can.

AP scores are also important depending on your major. If you are heading towards a STEM major they can help you gain credit in that area.

As for SAT and ACT scores, they matter depending on the school you’re applying to.

Applying to a more prestigious school, and having a better test score puts you at a greater advantage

But there are many cases where people get accepted to their dream school having really good curricular activities and average test scores

Don’t stess too much

The actual college application is fairly easy to navigate. Especially the UC app. But do not wait until the last day!!!

For a couple of years now the website to submit your application will crash the day the app is due so try to finish it at least two days before

But if you do your bragging sheet, those applications will be so easy bc all you have to do is copy and paste what you already have.

Colleges want to see that you saw high school as a 3 sided Pie Chart filling in Academics, Sports, and Extracurriculars

They want to see that even if you didn’t play sports, you excelled in academics or vice versa.

In the end, any school is going to help you get to where you want to go as long as you also put in the effort to make your dreams happen.

Maybe some schools will get you there faster but how would I know, I’m barely starting that path myself lol

Edit: I’m so happy you all have found this post enlightening!! It makes me really happy to have passed on some of my wisdom. Go check out the rest of my posts if you want more detailed info and if you have any questions feel free to ask!!!

Edit #2:

Hi everyone! I’ve noticed this post has been getting a lot of traction recently! I’m now in my third year of college and I just would like to point out that I have no idea how updated the current website is!! So please take into consideration that though some tips may apply the process may be different or updated, I really have no idea! On that note, I wish you all the best!!!

#education #high school #school #college #college help #college life #major #act help #testing #usa #california #minor #life #future #tips #strategies & tips #follow #reblog #new account #instant folllow back #knowledge #beyonce #is my queen #idk #diy #funny #i'm just here #memes #that's cool #i'm bored

[humanity-shortest-soldier]

Question tag for AO3 writers~~

I found the original questions on AFF a while back, and I thought since I’ve been tagged in so many meme things lately, I’d also tag a bunch more people in this one XD Since the questions were designed for AFF, I’ve reworked some of them to fit for AO3 writers. I also removed two questions rather than trying to translate them to AO3 terms. So, I’ll fill out my answers first, and then put the blank questions again at the bottom for you to easily copy and paste!

1. How did you come up with your username and what does it mean?

SIFU_HOTMAN because Zuko is one of my favorite characters and honestly Aang calling him “Sifu Hotman” is hilarious. 

2. Which fanfic of yours has the most feedback? (bookmarks/subscriptions/hits/kudos)

Exactly My Type by a long shot, lol. 

3. What is your AO3 profile icon and why did you choose it?

It’s Izaya Orihara to represent the trash on my page. 

4. Do you have any regular/favourite commenters?

Yes! I’m shocked when I read through my comments and see how often the same people will comment on each chapter. And there are definitely one or two that I look forward to seeing. I recognize a ton of usernames on AO3 but I don’t know many of them on here.  

5. Is there a fanfic that you keep going back to read again and again?

THIS fic by the super-talented @courtingstars! I swear I’ve reread this fic like 6 dozen times at this point, as well as the sequel! (For real tho, I could probably recite this fic word for word, I love it so much. AkaFuri fans, if you haven’t checked it out, I can’t recommend it enough!)

6. How many stories are you subscribed to? How many do you have bookmarked?

I’m guilty of not subbing or bookmarking that much, because it got to the point where I had so many that it kinda made it pointless, lol. But I’m subscribed to 2 users, and 5 fics, and I have 46 bookmarks. 

7. Which AU do you find yourself writing the most?

I don’t really write AU’s all that much? (I think I only have 2, the Nanny/Single Parent AU and a Red String of Fate AU). I definitly want to try doing more tho! I was super nervous about the Nanny/Single Parent one, but now it’s my hightest hitting fic! And it was from a prompt! lol

8. How many people are subscribed and bookmarked to you in total? (you can view this on the stats page)

Total bookmarks: 311 Total subs: 337

9. Is there something you’d like to write about but are afraid of people judging you for it? (Feeling brave? If so, share it!)

The only thing I can think of right now is I want to get better/ more comfortable with writing smut lmao. I’ll conquer it one day! 

10. Is there anything you would like to be better at? Writing certain scenes or genres, replying to comments, updating better, etc.

Updating better, for sure. It eats me alive that it’s been almost a year since I started Exactly My Type, and I’ve only written 5 chapters! It’s so hard to find time with all the overtime at work, and with everything else. BUT that’s something I definitely plan on changing. 

And maybe replying to comments? I generally don’t reply (I feel so bad about this, I’m so sorry. Comments just make me an incoherent mess and I’m never sure how to reply without rambling and making an idiot of myself)

11. Do you write rarepairs or popular ships more often?

Is AkaFuri a rarepair? I know it was more considered one a while ago, but I don’t know anymore. I guess whatever category they fall under, that’s it lol. 

12. How many stories have you posted on AO3 to this day (finished and unfinished)?

Eight! Which is eight more than I thought I would write. 

13. How many stories do you have saved in/with your writing program?

I have 30 stories saved on Google Docs. (I’m shocked? lmao)

14. Do you write down story ideas, or just keep them in your head?

Everything in my head. My ten hour shifts at work mostly consist of me staring off into space and writing fan fiction in my head. 

15. Have you ever co-authored a story?

Other than bouncing ideas off of a friend, no. It sounds fun tho!

16. How did you discover AO3?

Searching for ATLA fanfiction like, 4 years ago. After reading everyting FanFiction.net had to offer, I found AO3 and immediately made the switch. 

17. Do you consider yourself to be a popular or famous author in your fandom(s) on AO3?

God, no lmao. I think I’m IN the AkaFuri barrel, but far from the top of it.

18. Do you have a nickname or fandom name for your readers?

Not that I know of? I get comments about how much people like my username sometimes, so I’m cool with it if people just wanna call me Sifu Hotman lmao.

19. Was there an author who inspired or encouraged you to write?

My inspiration mainly came from a desire for more AkaFuri fics, lmao. But there were a few amazing writers who reallllly made me want to try writing, and I was encouraged plenty by my best friend, so here I am lol. 

20. What writing advice would you give to a beginning author?

To just write. I worried for so long (and I still do) about not being good enough, or making a mistake, or failing. But the only way to get better at writing is to write! If someone doesn’t like you’re story, odds are you’ll either get some helpful advice, or feedback on the part they did like. Even if you don’t want to post it publicly, just write it out anyway. I think I’ve improved so much since the first thing I wrote, and I hope I get even better the more I do it. 

21. Do you plot out your stories, or do you just figure it out as you go?

Again, spending 10 hours a day, 5 days a week in my own head, I get most of my stories down to the tiniest details before I even get to a computer. Once I sit down, some things may change or come out different, but I rarely go to write without having any idea. 

22. Have you ever gotten a bad comment on a story? If so, what did you do?

Actually... no, I don’t think I have.

23. Is there a certain type of scene that you have a hard time writing? (action, smut, etc..)

Smut, for sure lol. 

24. What story(s) are you working on now?

Fucking chapter 6 of Exactly My Type! (I just broke 6K the other day, and it’s not even halfway done). After that, I’m on to Defying Fate, with a couple of prompts inbetween. 

25. Do you plan your next project(s) before you finish your current ongoing story(s)?

Sorta...I guess. Exactly My Type happened because of a prompt request that got waaaay out of control, so that was poor planning on my part lmao. 

26. Do you have a daily writing goal set for yourself?

Not at all. I just go for it whenever I get the chance. 

27. Do you think you’ve improved as a writer since you first started?

100% yes. I want to crawl into a hole whenever I think about my first fic, lol. 

28. What is your favorite story that you’ve written?

I’m gonna shove the AkaFuri away for a second and go with Absolutely Baked. Mayuzumi is my favorite character to write for, and I think I got some pretty funny dialogue in that one. It makes me laugh, and the extra chuckles my friend and I got while discussing it were totally worth it. 

29. What is your least favorite story that you’ve written?

I don’t think I have a least favorite? If I had to pick probably my first fic, Emperor's Weakness. 

30. Where do you see yourself (as a writer) in 5 years?

Hopefully still writing fanfiction, lol. I would like to try writing some original work, but I doubt it. 

31. What is the easiest thing about writing?

Dialogue, I think. Once I get in a characters head, I find it very easy to write from their point of view. 

32. What is the hardest thing about writing?

Getting a full plot to run together. I’m pretty good at getting certain scenes down, but I have trouble piecing them all together sometimes. 

33. Why do you write?

Simply, because it’s fun. I know how happy it makes me when I read a super-awesome fic, and I like the feeling I get when someone tells me I gave them the same feeling. 

Anyways that’s all the questions, so I’ll put them here as well without the answers to easily c+p.

1. How did you come up with your username and what does it mean? 2. Which fanfic of yours has the most feedback? (bookmarks/subscriptions/hits/kudos) 3. What is your AO3 profile icon, and why did you choose it? 4. Do you have any regular/favourite commenters? 5. Is there a fanfic that you keep going back to read again and again? 6. How many stories are you subscribed to? How many do you have bookmarked? 7. Which AU do you find yourself writing the most? 8. How many people are subscribed and bookmarked to you in total? (you can view this on the stats page) 9. Is there something you’d like to write about but are afraid of people judging you for it? (Feeling brave? If so, share it!) 10. Is there anything you would like to be better at? Writing certain scenes or genres, replying to comments, updating better, etc. 11. Do you write rarepairs or popular ships more often? 12. How many stories have you posted on AO3 to this day (finished and unfinished)? 13. How many stories do you have saved in/with your writing program? 14. Do you write down story ideas, or just keep them in your head? 15. Have you ever co-authored a story? 16. How did you discover AO3? 17. Do you consider yourself to be a popular or famous author in your fandom(s) on AO3? 18. Do you have a nickname or fandom name for your readers? 19. Was there an author who inspired or encouraged you to write? 20. What writing advice would you give to a beginning author? 21. Do you plot out your stories, or do you just figure it out as you go? 22. Have you ever gotten a bad comment on a story? If so, what did you do? 23. Is there a certain type of scene that you have a hard time writing? (action, smut, etc..) 24. What story(s) are you working on now? 25. Do you plan your next project(s) before you finish your current ongoing story(s)? 26. Do you have a daily writing goal set for yourself? 27. Do you think you’ve improved as a writer since you first started? 28. What is your favorite story that you’ve written? 29. What is your least favorite story that you’ve written? 30. Where do you see yourself (as a writer) in 5 years? 31. What is the easiest thing about writing? 32. What is the hardest thing about writing? 33. Why do you write?

I was tagged by: @herdustisverypretty <333

People I’m tagging: @anime-saved-and-destroyed-me | @kaguneko | @shootmesenpai | @cerberosthehellguard | @jubesy

#(I tried to tag as many as I could. Anyone else join in!) #by this was a long one #and very detailed #i'm into it #i wanna see everyones repiles

[eekal]

some helpful ap review guides!

So I’m taking a couple of AP classes in high school, and I’ve collected a ton of aid docs to help me through the year.

I’ve compiled them all into this one post so you can click on a specific class’ aid doc to help you. I’m still updating some of the tips and tricks, and I will add more as I take more AP classes. [update, May 2017: I’m officially done with high school, so I won’t be adding any more high school AP aid documents, but if people want me to add stuff for other classes, I’ll try!]

IF YOU DON’T HAVE MICROSOFT WORD, tell me so I can put some of the docs on google doc instead.

The more updated version is on my own blog: eekal.tumblr.com/help

More info under the cut

General Tips: It’s extremely recommended that you take the AP exams from previous years. They never repeat questions, but they will 100% repeat concepts and test question styles that they did before. For instance, the WHAP exam will have the same-styled multiple choice questions that question the relationships of civilizations and effects of major events. Always answer every multiple choice question. They take the same amount of points off if you leave it blank and get it wrong. I think they don’t take off for guesses anymore, but it’s always better to guess than leave it blank.

—

AP World History [took in 2015-6]

My own notes that I hope to finish one day (lmao, I only have like 3 chapters done) :  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zG5qouoO0UQE9_eN0e96c9a73lvYcwPolvTr7UaCISA/edit?usp=sharing // It’s kind of too specific, and covers too much of one chapter. Would not recommend seriously.

I love these docs; this is like the only thing my teacher has ever done for my class:  Useful Websites Maps 2 Know Gigantic Study Material

Chapter outlines for every chapter [using Traditions & Encounters: 5th Edition]: Outlines

Tips: The most helpful thing I’ve learned over the year is that the AP exam at the end is mostly about relationships between cultures/civilizations and the effects of various events. For example, the test won’t ask you the specifics about Columbus’s expedition, but it will ask you what happened because of it [ie smallpox + columbian exchange]. Memorize the big events of each section/unit/period like wars and significant trade routes, so when the test essay asks you what the effects were, you can just pull them out. Be sure to memorize certain photos like what the Hagia Sophia looked like, Mansa Musa, Alexander the Great, architect types, trade routes, what empires looked like in their prime, etc.

They always ask about the biggest changes in each time period:

Mongols

Byzantine Empire

Rome/Han

Salt/Gold Trade Route

Silk Roads

Trans-Saharan Trade Routes

The Great Schism / the start of Protestantism

French / American / Haitian Revolutions

et cetera

Remember, this tip might not work for you as I took the exam in 2016, and I heard that the CollegeBoard is going to change it in the coming years. Moreover, your teacher might present information in a different way for their finals and tests.

AP Calculus AB [took in 2015-6]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-D5e4luKNSQkFXBIoOhytmeHraUxpBc2xPq3dJ3K9kE/edit?usp=sharing

This one explains past free response AND multiple choice AP tests from like 1997 to 2015: http://www.askmrcalculus.com/index.html

Tips: Possibly the easiest AP exam. If you know what you’re doing and practiced the past free responses, you should be good to go. It’s really handy to make a notebook with like steps to show how to do each type of problem. Study and fill this notebook out throughout the year, and you’ll be more than ready to take the exam in May.

AP Biology [took in 2015-6]

Honestly, these Enduring Understanding pdfs really helped me review at the end of the year, especially if I didn’t understand a certain topic. It even has book chapters to go back to if I REALLY didn’t know a single thing.

Big Idea 1.A: Change in the genetic makeup over time is evolution. (pdf)

Big idea 1.B: Organisms are linked by lines of descent from common ancestry. (doc)

Big Idea 1.C:  Life continues to evolve in a changing environment. (pdf)

Big Idea 1.D: The origin of living systems is explained by natural processes. (pdf) 

Big Idea 2.A: Growth, reproduction, and maintenance of the organization of living systems require free energy and matter. (pdf)

Big Idea 2.B: Growth, reproduction, and dynamic homeostasis require that cells create and maintain internal environments that are different from their external environments. (pdf)

Big Idea 2.C: Organisms use feedback mechanisms to regulate growth, reproduction, and to maintain dynamic homeostasis. (pdf)

Big Idea 2.D: Growth and dynamic homeostasis of a biological system are influenced by changes in the system’s environment. (pdf)

Big Idea 2.E: Many biological processes involved in growth, reproduction, and dynamic homeostasis include temporal regulation and coordination. (pdf)

Big Idea 3.A: Heritable information provides for continuity of life. (pdf)

Big Idea 3.B: Expression of genetic information involves cellular and molecular mechanisms. (pdf) 

Big Idea 3.C: The processing of genetic information is imperfect and is a source of genetic variation. (pdf)

Big Idea 3.D: Cells communicate by generating, transmitting, and receiving chemical signals. (pdf)

Big Idea 3.E: Transmission of information results in changes within and between biological systems. (pdf)

Big Idea 4.A: The subcomponents of biological molecules and their sequence determine the properties of the molecule. (pdf)

Big Idea 4.B: Competition and cooperation are important aspects of biological systems. (pdf) 

Detailed Lecture Notes!! I used these instead of reading that giant textbook [no diagrams or pictures though…]: Assorted by chapter

Tips: There are no tips to this course. Simply memorize the notes using flashcards and mindmaps. I printed and highlighted the lecture notes during class and went over them again in my own time + looked in the textbook and copied down the diagrams and pictures. Then I rewrote the most important topics with at least one example in each category on a mindmap/flashcard and memorized them before a quiz/test/AP exam. This course is extremely content heavy. The AP exam multiple choice was easy in a sense if you understand the concepts, but the essays were harder in that you had to state examples and explain why things were happening. REMEMBER that there’s a formula sheet on the front of your test booklet [I forgot that and got 2 questions wrong ㅠㅠ]

AP Statistics [took in 2015-6]

Inference Cheat Sheets !

I also have a notebook full of notes that I would scan in, but I would have to rip apart my notebook. However, I will rip it apart in a heartbeat if someone needed it.

Tips: This was a really easy AP exam and class, partially thanks to my wonderful teacher, but if you are having trouble with the concepts and math, look up youtube videos! My friends in different classes did that, and they were perfectly fine on the AP exam.

AP United States History [took in 2016-7]

Content: Bill of Rights / 27 Constitutional Amendments // lol. pretty helpful tbh if you forgot all of your amendments at the end of the year APUSH Review // Teacher recommended me this website; never really used it, though

http://wikibenn.pbworks.com/w/page/78594635/APUSH%20Review APUSH Topics separated by periods // Useful for the periodization topic and as a really good review like right before your test 2015 MC Practice exam

Hooray for huge books: Short outlines [not mine] // also works as chapter notes More short outlines [not mine. download the doc to view the full document] // also works as chapter notes Long outlines [not mine] // more useful for reviewing for tests/ap exam More long outlines [not mine] // more useful for reviewing for tests/ap exam

Essays: 2015  Sample Essays // I basically printed out some essays that I had problems with and analyzed them to see what I would need to include in my essay. For instance, for the periodization topic, I printed out the first essay and highlighted the examples/topics/organization in the essay to see what I would need.  General long essay help Periodization formatting X / example // I didn’t really use this, but it seemed helpful Writing in APUSH review // seems more intensive than the others

Cramming: Very intensive APUSH review  Kinda long APUSH review Brief review of APUSH  Important Supreme Court cases // I’d argue that you don’t even need half of these, but Important Treaties // I’d argue that you don’t even need half of these, but Important Legislation  The Magic years // Incredibly important years/dates Political parties over the years of America  Summaries of all of the POTUS’s

AP Spanish [took in 2016-7]

I, unfortunately, did not take the AP exam for this class, and also I suck booty at spanish ㅠㅠ

AP Physics C [took in 2016-7]

Um, I basically died during the exam, but…

It's extremely recommended that you study for this exam at least 1 month prior, but if you’re like me and chose to wait until the very last 24 hours to study, use these tools to mega cram.

Physics C Equation sheet // Check with this to see if the equation you’re studying is given on the exam or it’s written differently

USE YOUTUBE VIDEOS TO REVIEW! Very helpful in getting the content across and knowing what to do for some situations. Flipping Physics // I love this man? I watched all of his ~16 minute review videos to get the basics of the topics down, but he does forget some important equations/concepts. Don’t worry, I included them at the bottom of this section. I didn’t watch his simple harmonics review video because of the lack of time, so I don’t know what he missed on that video. Dan Fullerton // What a hero. My friend recommended him, so I don’t know the faults of his review videos.

Really simple review of the equations // A little bit too simple in my opinion. This is for if you’re 2 hours away from the exam. Physics review with practice questions // I don’t know if the person writing this website ever finished it, and I’ve only ever looked at the kinematics review, so I can’t really recommend this one over the others. Really simple equations review // Again, really lacking on the concepts. More reviews // I haven’t checked this one out, but it was in my bookmarks. More intensive review // This one looks really intensive, and I appreciate Mr. B for these powerpoints. I should’ve used this one, but I didn’t ㅠㅠ Really helpful review packet (especially the applications of forces) // I mainly used this for the applications of forces pages One month physics C study plan (which I did not have enough time for) // lol. 2D Motion Review  1D Motion Review

Practice exams: 2012 MC Test  1998 MC / FRQ Test  General practice questions

What Flipping Physics forgot: Kinematics/ Certain equations that you can derive for max height / time of flight Velocity and Acceleration relationships- +v, -a / -v, -a / v = 0, a =/= 0 Concept questions for kinematics Momentum/ Types of collisions and associated equations- Elastic equations / Inelastic equations 2D collisions Ice skater-related concept Various moments of inertia for different objects Centripetal motion/ Banked turns- With friction / Without friction , Going from rev/min to rad/s Gravitons / Roller coasters / FBD for speed bumps and top/bottom of a loop on a roller coaster Gravitational/ Binary stars with circular orbits- concepts Orbital velocity formula Single object in ovular orbit and associated equations Binary star physics Basic binary star with circular orbit concept // Unfortunately, I can’t find much on these besides my in-class notes, so message me if you need those. Here’s what I’m talking about for the first one, though. Perihelion vs. aphelion concepts- 1 /  Momentum in gravitational unit- 1 / 2 // There’s also more on this, but they’re in my notes

Tips: Lmaoooooo. That curve is your friend tho. As long as you get a 50%, you’ll get a 5.

Everyone, good luck on your AP exams! I’ll probably only update this on my actual blog page to add more review sheets for more subjects later on

[pssstt, i'd appreciate it a lot if you bought something off this list if this helped you!!]

#ap help #ap physics c #apush #ap us history #ap biology #ap statistics #whap #ap world history #ap calc ab #ap calculus #areistotle #studyblr #sootudying #scholarly #studyguideverified #lycheestudy #i want this to reach as many kids next year lmao its kinda too late for this year

[amongthedeep-blog]

QuollWriter

It's good stuff. It's like Scrivener but easier to get. Sleek, minimalist but still has a lot of features if one wants them, ease of use, light, free, open source. I like using the daily quota, even though I don't write every day but like that when I start a session/open a project at least I have some goal to write to, also checking what they've done/written. I love the Idea Board so much, I copy-pasta from my Evernote notes into it since it's great to put plot points on it. It's not buggy either, plus I really like how easy to navigate it is while still having everything organized and ready to go. Scrivener always confused me, and Word is..lol Google Docs is also lol because it's terrible to try to edit ANYTHING in a long flowing document. Quollwriter has separate chapters, hubs for characters, items, places, locations, research, extra info you want to add but don't want to keep a dozen notes on separate files/words you can just put it all there and voila. Perfect. It's good stuff as I said, try it out~! Check Quollwriter out

#quollwriter #writing software #writing

[linustookmyjournal-blog]

Dream Journal Entry #13 (11/6/17)

This dream is actually kinda funny because its about five nights at freddy’s. I haven’t thought about that game in years lol 

Trigger Warnings: violence, animatronics

The following is copy/pasted from the google doc...

_______________________________________________________________________

I was a paranormal investigator investigating a strange case. So there was the Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza place or whatever right (god I want to die)? Well apparently, the animatronic characters were pretty much the same as irl (there was freddy, foxy, chica, bonnie [except he  was white], balloon boy, puppet guy), except there were rumors online that the animatronics were exploring outside of the pizzeria. There was even picture evidence of the robots walking around in the woods or whatever. So yeah, as a paranormal investigator who knew all about the haunted history of the pizzeria, I really wanted to see what was going on. So me and my sister went on a roadtrip to the town where the pizzeria was to investigate.

I arrived at the town, and almost immediately I was told to go to the local high school (idk how, but i think someone texted me). I went there, and saw that all of the students were just standing around anxiously, and kinda just talking nervously amongst themselves. I found out that they were staring at the animatronics, which were just walking around the campus and interacting with the kids randomly (fun fact: the animatronics in my dream contain a computer inside of them that has a databank of words so they can construct intelligent responses to “talk” to people. sorta like a spooky siri. they also had super cartoony/goofy voices). They smelled really really bad and were strained with food and other mysterious substances. Then Freddy saw me or something, and walked up to me. It was really strange. Perhaps Freddy knew who what I what I was there for? Then, he stuck out a hand (paw???) and said “hey im freddy!” or something. I hesitated, but then shook his paw. It was all gross and the fur was all crusty. then Freddy kinda walked away. the way he walked was really unsettling and robotic.

I went outside and saw that Foxy was out there. i think he tried to talk to me. it was also really strange. only his voice was playing, but that broken metal jaw just kinda flapped around weakly. I knew about how he supposedly bit some kid. I ran away, and I think he said something really super cryptic like “you have to run faster in order to fly” or something like that. I think i also responded, “that’s easy for you to say. you’re mechanical!!” ?????? okay then. well, I made it out of there pretty safely. But then I ran into balloon boy and the puppet guy. they actually seemed???? less horrific???? they tried to talk to me also I think they said something about how Freddy and his gang were gonna try and take over the world??? or something like that idk. anyway, i actually kinda liked them, because they just seemed nicer, you know? i could just feel it. so i kinda told them that if that’s the case, then i am willing to team up with them and try to stop Freddy. They agreed. They then told me that Freddy and the other animatronics were going to try and get out of the town that day. So I called up my sister and told her what was going on. We readied our investigation van, then drove out to intercept them, guided by balloon boy and the puppet.

We at last found the other animatronics. they were in an RV or something (haha roadtrip with the boys!!). We stopped them as they were getting gas i think. Well, me and my sister busted into the RV. it was big, and featured two VERY LARGE pizza ovens?? well, Bonnie attacked first. my sister shoved him into the oven and started it up. then chica attacked. i fought her back, then pushed her into the oven. i did the same to foxy. Freddy was the only one left, but he had grabbed my sister. he dared me to attack him. He claimed that he will kill us both if we did. But then i threw a spoon (??????) at him, which he wasn’t expecting (???? me too honestly). my sister broke free. Freddy rushed me and SCREEEEEECHHED really super loud, but i got him in the oven too. now they were cooking real nicely mmm delicious. for some reason, when they died they became pizzas. Freddy became pepperoni. Bonnie became cheese. Chica became Hawaiian pizza. foxy became buffalo chicken. i ate the pizza the end.

#dreams #dream journal #five nights at freddy's #video games #nightmare #pizza