#my printer stopped printing in black | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

gender-trash · 3 months

Text

(i am seriously late in posting about this due to The Problems BUT whatever! its here now!!)

somewhere around late november 2022, i asked my dad "hey are there any out of print technical books you'd like a reprint of for christmas?"

he linked me to a dubious black-and-white pdf of Foundations of Mechanical Accuracy. now, i wound up checking out a copy through link+, and the original edition is a really nicely put together book! the chapters are themed around various types of measurements (length, angle, etc), and they all have these cute little diagrams which the endpapers reuse in a lil repeating pattern... the image captions are done in this really lovely dark red that did not scan for SHIT... tons and tons of diagrams and illustrations and images (both color and b&w)... just, all around, a fucking nice book!! (see also @morrak's post about it here.)

and that made me feel kind of bad about the crappiness of the pdf, which is where the Problems began. i used my phone to take pictures of all the photos and color diagrams in the original and went about replacing them in the pdf, using what turned out to be the world's worst pdf editing software (i also got through replacing all the image captions in chapter 1 of 5 before my dad convinced me to give up). i did NOT finish the pdf editing before christmas 2022 (i was going somewhat off the deep end, because both my housemates were away visiting family and i had zero external structure in my life so it was just me and my cat and this stupid FUCKING pdf wrecking my sleep schedule together); i poked away at it for most of the rest of my time off and then got so goddamn sick of it i put the project away for months. "it'll be a birthday gift instead", i said optimistically (my dad's birthday is in april! it should have been enough time!)

gentle readers, i did not finish the pdf editing by april. mostly because it was such a miserable slog that i put it off until the last possible moment and then tried to make up for it with another death march.

hating both myself and the project again, i decided i was Not going to let myself typeset Anything Else before it was done, and then took a break to bind my immortal (using the renegade publishing typeset! i didn't do any typesetting!!). SURELY, i said, i can finish this in time for christmas 2023.

i'm sure you know where this is going.

in my defense i DID finish the pdf editing by christmas, despite first doing every other possible procrastination project (including a second edition of the little second century warlord book), because by this point my dad had managed to convince me to lower my standards. on the evening of the 22nd i kicked off the print job and said to myself "this will finish printing overnight and then tomorrow i can work on sewing the textblock!"

late on the 23rd, after lots of babysitting and using at least one cartridge of every color ink in my printer, the print job was finally done. (my sweet and lovely cat wants SO BADLY to hunt and stalk the printer while it is printing -- more specifically, the printed pages, i think because they tend to make noise and move and then STOP moving. for this reason, the printer is kept in the craft room, because the cat can be shut out of the craft room and thus prevented from chewing on the pages when i have an all-day book printing job going. unfortunately the craft room was also being pressed into service as a guest room at the time so 80% of the floor space was consumed by an air mattress which i had to repeatedly trip over in order to reach the printer and replace the ink cartridges.)

then i went to my parents' house on the 24th and 25th and apologized to my dad (again) for not having the book finished. but this worked out well because we finished putting together my awesome new book clamp:

(the feet still aren't done being painted so they're just dry-fit on for now but you can still clamp books in it and that's what matters!!)

i came home, sewed the textblock (french link stitch over four linen tapes, with sewn endbands made of variegated embroidery floss over linen cord, and kozo paper glued over the spine)

... and promptly realized i SHOULD HAVE PUT IN MORE OF A GUTTER because some of the text was getting reeeeeeal close to the spine. "it's fine!" i said. "i just have to make sure it lays flat!! what better time than to try out K118 binding, a technique i have literally never done before and which people on the bookbinding discord notoriously have a hard time pulling off first try! i even have tyvek tape for it!"

so it turns out that tyvek tape isn't actually tyvek with glue on it, it's tape FOR attaching pieces of tyvek TO EACH OTHER, which maybe i could have guessed if i'd done even the slightest amount of research or planning. at this point i think it was the 27th and i was still angling to get this thing done by new year's, so no time to order Actual Tyvek.

fortunately, i had ALSO received An Package in the mail with yarn for a totally unrelated knitting project... shipped in a tyvek envelope.

i peeled all the shipping labels and stickers off my tyvek envelope, cut that shit up, and glued it on there.

and THEN it was time for gluing on covers, which i thought was going to be easy because i had actually thought ahead and ordered materials (specifically acid-free museum board), except when i cracked open the box of museum board i decided i Didn't Like It because the surface was too soft and easily dented, so i glued onto it the too-thin board material i'd previously been using (so that the cardboard goes on the outside of the book). this worked super well (the cardboard stuff has a tendency to curl up from the glue moisture, but the museum board doesn't!) and i'll probably use it on other stuff in the future.

i thought the blue bookcloth i used was kind of boring but i showed my dad the available cloth options and he really liked it, so... what do you know? i cut the piece i used on the back cover very slightly too short but it wound up being covered by the leather, so you can barely tell.

and the leather... a scrap just baaaaarely big enough from my bag of leather scraps from discount fabrics... and this the first time i'd ever attempted to put leather on a book... AND YET the only complaint i have is that i didn't manage to put an even amount on the front and back. it's reasonably square and straight!! amazing!!

i am super super happy with how this project came out (especially given the number of problems i encountered) and oh my god check out how much the spine bends

AND, AS A NEW YEAR'S PRESENT, I FINALLY MANAGED TO GIVE IT TO MY DAD

#and promptly got sick after i got home from my parents' house.#which is part of why this post was so long delayed #the trashcan speaks #devil venerable also wants to exploit the memoir class for evil purposes #bookbinding

277 notes · View notes

ashmouthbooks · 3 months

Text

2023 in books

better late than never, right?

2023 was a relatively slow year for me in bookbinding, but I still made 30+ books. (ask me how much time I spent on my other hobbies and it becomes clear why books were fewer.)

A5 books

the first A5 of the year was an entry for a bookbinding competition (which I didn't win), where the theme was climate change. I had a lot of fun putting it together and it was the first time I made an A5 tête-bêche book - I usually do these A6 or A7 size.

this was also the year I decided to start a collection of menocchio fics, which also led to experiments with printing directly onto bookcloth to get titles on the spine

what's fun about bookbinding is that you can Just Make A Book, but you can also Get Ideas And Run With Them with it. which is how I wound up with this black on black book. destiel necromancy fic, because of course it is

going back to something more colourful...Ulysses. not the James Joyce one, the slowburn 00Q one. named for a Tennyson poem.

final A5 book of the year is my Renegade Exchange book, which I bound for Silent Sun Press - a Crowley-centric genfic with outsider POV, so naturally I went for TV!Gomens colour schemes

A6 and A7 books

I started the year ambitiously - in addition to entering a competition, I started my urchin specials project. thus far I've still only bound these first three books for the project, but I plan to do more. first dustjackets as well!

I continued with the no-glue pamphlets and did three

I joined the Tiny Books Exchange, and as a proof of concept - before I typeset an A7 sized tête-bêche - I did a little tête-bêche of the two Temeraire fics I wrote for yuletide once upon a time

then followed of course the Tiny Book I bound for the exchange - my copy (test & proof of concept, bottom), the giftee copy (green, top right), and the author copy (blue, top left)

I typeset a lot more than I bind - I have plans to bind so and so, so I typeset it, but don't always have the time to bind it right away. so I have folders full of typesets ready to go at a moment's notice. this one was typeset a whole year before I bound it

are these paperbacks or just very slim hardbacks? I call them paperbacks as I used 0.5mm boards and they have no spine, but ymmv

this one definitely is a hardback - with slightly thicker boards, a spine, and two fics in one book. I do love those tête-bêches

at my work we have a lot of deliveries wrapped in this nice recycled brown paper that was just going into the recycling bin, and I thought: why not make books out of it? so I played around with it (and my printer) and came up with a neat aesthetic for paperbacks with breakaway spines (using 0.5mm boards)

will I ever stop with the tête-bêches? no. also this one has endpapers made from SEAWEED. how cool is that?

the last A6 of the year is this little collection of my own stories for a tiny Danish fandom. detectives and trauma, but make it about food? yes. food and cooking themed endpapers and cover papers, and the dustjacket has fake coffee stains on it. perfect

and that is all, folks. I did a lot of different styles and types of binding this year, I had fun with it, I learned a lot, and I'm happy with what I've created.

#2023 in books #fanbinding #bookbinding

223 notes · View notes

no-name-publishing · 3 months

Text

Cleaning Out the Rooms by bitochondria

After all this time I'm finally calling this bind complete. The concept was a radial pattern with intersecting shapes of desaturated materials in the same tone. I think it was mostly successful, but it was time to move on to other things and stop fucking around with this lol. If you like Disco Elysium and Harry/Kim consider giving this fic a read if you haven't yet. More pictures of the final result and progress pics under the cut.

The colored marbled paper is mine own creation, marbled in my kitchen. I created the black and white version of it simply by scanning the image and printing it on a black and white laser printer lol. It gave me the truest transition into the desaturated colors of the marbled paper, and I used both as references in the endband, where the colored pattern of the threads transitions into it's base tonal iterations.

The body font is typeset in Sina Nova font. Decorative title font is Roti. Images were sourced from the Disco Elysium wiki. Everything was arranged and designed in Word.

Little video displaying the bind and the typeset.

The order of events from laying the paint in the water for marbling the paper, to creating the template for the cover pieces, cutting each of those 91 pieces out, then cutting them out AGAIN from the cloth and the paper. Gluing it all on, to deciding I didn't like the buckram cloth I'd originally planned on, and tearing it off. Cutting out the pieces AGAIN and gluing them on AGAIN. Luckily buckram is so coated in acrylic that I was able to peel it up with next to no issues.

Overall this bind was very experimental for me, and I'm glad to have done it! Excited to move on to simpler projects though, I'm sure you understand.

#fanbinding #fanficbookbinding #bookbinding #cleaning out the rooms #bitochondria #disco elysium #harry/kim #no name publishing

122 notes · View notes

greenhorn-art · 7 months

Text

Prince of Shadows, Lord of Thieves by alkat

Fandom: The King's Avatar | 全职高手

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Category: Gen

Words: 1 929

Once upon a time, their exploits were immortalized by artists and writers across the tapestry of history. Once upon a time, they were worshipped as gods and reviled as demons. None of that stopped the Met from stealing all their shit.

About the Book

FONTS: Alegreya [Google Fonts], Lato [Google Fonts]

IMAGES: all art made by myself @greenhorn-art for this fic

MATERIALS: regular ol' printer paper (8.5"x11", 20lb, 96 bright); ~2-2.5mm binder's board; Neenah cardstock (8.5"x11", 65lb, bright white); Cialux bookcloth (black); waxed linen thread (30/3 size, white); wheat paste (1:4 flour:water); paste wax (from a friend, unknown ingredients&quantities, some kind of wax and turpentine/mineral spirits)

PROGRAMS USED: Affinity Publisher 2; Affinity Designer 2; Bookbinder JS | Renegade's Community Imposer (settings: Quarto, snug against binding edge, custom signatures of 2, 1, 2 sheets).

Text & QR codes printed with colour laser printer (duplex, flip long edge), images printed with inkjet printer. QR codes generated with LibreOffice Writer, snipped, saved, and inserted where needed.

BINDING: quarto (quarter-letter) size, sewn board binding with french link stitch and breakaway spine.

So this one all started because the visual of HST's outfit was so fun that I was possessed by a visceral need to draw it. Inspiration slapped me across my mind's eye, and much like a medieval knight being slapped in the face by a glove (which didn't actually happen, that's a myth that sprung from the throwing down of a gauntlet. but that's beside the point), I felt bound to take up the challenge. Which lead me to draw a few more, and then I ended up binding the whole thing.

(Also, I find it really amusing that the famous Terracotta Warriors were just storage for YXs stuff. And the gang going 'shopping' at various exhibits for gifts for friends/family,, like that sure is SOME window shopping! I can hear it now: 'Oooh I'll take one one those SMASH, and that SHATTER, and throw in some of those CRASH, they're going to love these! 😇'. All in all, it was a fun little read, and fun little project! :D)

About the Art

Because this was initially a one-off drawing I tried a new art style (and struggled to at least not stray too far for the rest). It was fun and helped me think more about shape and visual focus, instead of being caught up in the details.

The crow (based off of image ID: 4039963 from Rawpixel) and the red umbrella on the front cover were filled curves made with the pen tool. The illustrations' poses were based off of a combination of images found on Google and photos taken by myself.

Pinterest is awful for sources, but it would have been handy to pin the references I'd googled. Only remembered to save the one of a man sitting at a desk. (I deliberately searched for someone sitting with bad posture because YX is described as being "slumped" over the desk. I figure that since "the laws of physics held no meaning to ["cursed souls eschewed by the natural order"]", they'd also be immune to mundane things like discomfort from sitting hunched over for too long. Back pain images were a gold mine! All I had to do was choose one with lighting that would give me a silhouette.)

The Myriad Manifestations Umbrellas and illustrations were drawn in Procreate.

I opted for a more plain umbrella design because it's not (presumably) a fantastical weapon in this story. Though the initial version did have YX cradling the donghua!MMU.

For the scene breaks I inserted the images, pinned them inline as character, and adjusted height and baseline in the pinning menu to fit.

The author wrote one scene break differently than the others, using multiple empty paragraphs instead of just one. Following suit, I used a different image for that particular break. I wanted to reference vampires somewhere, so for that break I made two bloody spots resembling bite marks. The blood spots were made with a group of shapes in Designer.

On cover design:

Because the MMU is what sparks the whole heist, I wanted it on the front cover.

Earlier iterations involved a full cover spread with a man's shadow standing before a shattered glass case, with a plaque mounted on the wall to the left providing information. The plaque was formatted like a museum label and had the author, date published, title, event collection, and story description. I'd also added a QR code to it. Ultimately, I abandoned the concept because it was difficult to decipher what is was when only looking a one cover at a time.

My second idea for the cover would have been a bookcloth-only cover with a cut-out of the MMU on the front, acting like a window showing off an image of the MMU on paper below it. (Inspired by the work of a number of folks over on Renegade's Discord. Here's a few examples gleaned from a quick search: szynkaaa's lung cutouts, some of EHyde's books, and the front cover of Spock's massive all-in-one TGCF). As fun as that would have been to try out, I felt it didn't quite suit the style of the art so I nixed that too.

Eventually I landed on the back cover design with the Met exhibition webpage. At last, I felt that the back & white and simple-shapes-background went with the artwork. The webpage viewed on the phone is based off of the Met's actual website. I took a snip/screenshot of the Met's logo from the banner at the top, then looked at their exhibitions' pages and eyeballed it to create my own. (Threw in the QR because I wanted the easy access to the fic online on the back cover). I chose to use a phone screen rather than I computer monitor because it worked better composition-wise. And besides, while YX may be allergic to owning a phone, SMC is not. I imagine that she saw the news while on her phone then messaged him.

The front cover came together after that. An umbrella for the MMU, and a pop of red. One of YX's messenger crows. A black shape in the background similar to the back cover's, sort of creating a spotlight over the umbrella and placing the rest of the cover in shadow.

Trying New Things: Applying a protective finish to printed covers

Over on the Renegade Bindery Discord, folks have spoken about using a beeswax & turpentine/mineral spirits 50-50 mix to seal printed covers (thank you Kate). According to my dad that's just a paste wax, so he threw 3 different ones at me and said 'have at it'.

I tested them out using the same paper and inkjet I'll use for the cover. I was looking at 1) whether the paste wax affected the paper colour or print quality, and 2) the finish. After applying one coat each and buffing them out I had my winner. Then I applied & buffed two more coats to it and tested 3) water resistance by dripping tea on it. The liquid beaded up and wiped away without staining -- good, three coats will work nicely.

(Test results: Mystery paste wax from a friend wins.

The commercial SC Johnson Paste Wax Original formula (intended for woodworking) has a nice dry shiny finish, but coloured the paper slightly brown -> disqualified

My dad's homemade stuff has a nice shiny/satin finish and didn't change paper's colour, but it felt slightly tacky even after buffing it -- maybe I didn't buff it enough?

The gifted paste wax has a matte finish, didn't change paper's colour (in the image below this one has 3 coats. The paper is now slightly off-white, but still acceptable), and while not as dry-to-touch as the Johnson it was not as tacky as the other homemade stuff.)

When I print out my quarto covers, I print front and back covers side-by-side on the same page*, with some guides to ensure I'm cutting and gluing in the correct place. (The guides mark the boundaries of the covers and start of the turn-ins, and stop at the edge of where I cut. Before cutting I flip it over to mark the guides [see marks indicated in image below] on the wrong side and connect them so I can see where to glue/place book. Then flip it back over to cut, right side up.)

*I'm being economical here at the cost of possible warping damage. This layout means that I'm only using one sheet of paper, but the grain is running in the wrong direction (across the book instead of preferred head-to-tail/top-bottom). This could cause warping issues, but I'm OK with that. I'm hoping that by just gluing at the edges, instead of pasting down the whole thing, warping will be minimized. (I use wrong-grain endpapers most of the time with larger books anyways).

I applied the paste wax before cutting out the covers, working carefully to avoid accidentally creasing/bending the paper (which happened twice, but it was minimal and I hardly notice it). Doing so before cutting ensured that the cover material was completely covered. Even the turn-ins -- something I later came to regret. After all, wax is used specifically so that things don't stick to it. It made it rather difficult to drum on the endpapers because I was trying to glue something down onto a waxy surface. It all worked out in the end -- perhaps due to the fact that there were multiple layers of wheat paste which could adhere to each other, followed by being squashed in a press.

#Prince of Shadows Lord of Thieves #alkat #fanfiction #bookbinding #my art #the king's avatar #qzgs #tka

92 notes · View notes

geminibsworld · 4 months

Text

R u mine?

summary: academy!coriolanus (modern day bc it’s my story) opposites attract fr

warning: cussing, corio being a dick lol, smut, fluff, angsty, uhhhh plus his chaotic

🫧

arabella’s dark curls bounced behind her as she walks up the concrete stairs, her chanel necklace pinching her skin, a cigarette sat between her dark pink lips. dark make up around her brown eyes, tan skin peaking out of her loosened school uniform shirt hanging over her short plaid skirt, her black thigh highs in her black mary jane’s. she puffed on the cigarette before stopping and dropping it carelessly, stepping smashing the burning cigarette into the concrete. other students whispering and staring, she scoffs walking inside. mahogany walls, and pale concrete steps, book shelves and pictures of dead white men surrounded her. her heels click on the tile floor, as she heads towards the golden words that say, ‘office’ , her black dress coat, also apart of the uniform hung low only showing her black thigh highs, and mary jane’s showing. she leaned on the dark shelf waiting for someone to acknowledge her.

she stared into the small office seeing no one, she sighed looking at her watch on her wrist. suddenly a lady with bright grey hair appears, her glasses hung low on her nose. she smiled at arabella, sitting down at the desk.

“how may i help you?” the lady asks, opening up her macbook, typing and clicking a few buttons. she looks up at arabella through the top of her glasses.

“arabella lopez,” arabella only says, staring at her long red nails. admiring how perfect they looked, she pulled out her phone turning on the camera, looking at herself before pulling out a cherry red lip gloss applying it.

“are you new?” the woman asks her, arabella doesn’t answer at first. she rubs her lips together before pulling apart, a pop sound erupts from her plump lips. she shoves her phone in her bag, along with her lipstick.

“yeah,” arabella says, nodding, staring a head as she leans on one arm. her nails tapping impatiently, the lady nods at her words. she heard more typing before the printer started printing something. arabella sighs, annoyed.

“here you go sweetie,” the lady says, sliding arabella her schedule along with two other papers. one being her locker information and her room number this place being a boarding school and another being phone numbers and emails of all of her teachers.

arabella nods walking away, her heels clicking on the floor. as she steps up the stairs, she feels eyes on her. she turns and sees a blonde boy, staring at her from afar, and a girl with brown hair she looked like she was trying to pry his eyes away. arabella and the boys blue eyes met, she winked and smirked, before continuing her descent up the stairs. as she makes her way around the corner, she sees the boy and girl walking hand in hand towards her.

as arabella climbs the last few steps, the boy and girl not far from arabella, she gets to the top of the stairs. arabella looks at the paper looking around before spotting the class two doors away. just as she’s about to reach the door, the blonde boy reaches in front of her pulling the door open.

she jumps slightly, before turning and looking at him. he smiles at her, before arabella was about to walk through the brown hair girl pushed past her, practically stomping into the classroom. arabella laughs to herself.

“what’s so funny?” the boy asks, brows furrowed his pale blue eyes meeting her dark brown ones he noticed amusement twinkled in her eyes.

“nothing, she just seems like a lot of fun,” she says, her voice soft and smooth with a slight spanish accent. his brows raise, a laugh escape his lips. he shakes his blonde curls following after arabella.

he couldn’t help but watch her. she was mesmerizing, so different from everyone here. arabella smirks as she can feel his eyes before walking up the steps finding a seat in the back. she sits down her bag, pulling out her macbook, notebook, and a purple pen. coriolanus sits down on the other side of the room, sitting next to emma his girlfriend for the last year, her almond brown straight down her back, neat. he liked neat forsure, but that girl with the wild curls? she was new to coriolanus. he was interested forsure.

as class drones on, coriolanus showing off proceeded to answer as much questions as the professor would allow. arabella typed away, while noting things down. her nails tapping against, her keyboard. coriolanus answered questions left and right with ease, peaking at arabella every once in awhile hoping she’d take notice. oh she took notice, every time he would peak, she looked more obviously, just fucking with his girlfriend though.

as the class ended, arabella looked at her schedule heading to her next class. she walked into the room, coriolanus already there. he stand up walking to her, his face hard and his body stern and tight.

“who are you? where did you come?” he asks, his voice confused, his blues searching her face. she rolls her eyes shoving past him, coriolanus had never experienced such disrespect. he made a face, following her.

“hello? im talking to you?” he says like she should be obviously should be responding to him, she pulls out a chair throwing her bag into the empty chair next to her. she opens her bag pulling out her macbook, opening and logging in.

coriolanus couldn’t believe this, he was never ignored nor disrespected. he slams his hands down on the table, leaning down her height. she ignores him, reaching for other things.

“why are you being a bitch to me?” he asks, arabella can’t help but laugh. a melodic laugh escapes her dark red lips, she shakes her head her curls bouncing. tom scoffed, sitting up standing up straight adjusting his tie pulling at the bottom of his shirt. arabella finally looks him, their eyes meet and she has this twinkle in her eye again, his face relaxed for just a second before returning to look frustrated and confused.

“i don’t have to talk to you, i especially won’t talk to you if you’re an asshole and to answer your questions from earlier. im arabella, and im from none of your fucking business,” her accent coated her words in honey. they rolled smoothly off her tongue, too smooth. her words confident yet so honest.

“that’s not a real place,” coriolanus says, his brows furrowed. she rolls her eyes, sighing. coriolanus, scoffs folding his arms over his chest.

“for someone who’s highest in their class, you sure are dumb,” she laughs, biting her lip grinning. coriolanus unfolds his arms, before laughing rather dryly. he didn’t like how she was treating him, didn’t he know who he exactly was. the top of the class was just a mere accomplishment to him.

just as coriolanus is about to respond, the professor walks in. coriolanus returns to his seat which isn’t far from arabella. he liked her name, that would suit someone like his girlfriend. small, timid, frail girl. but her? she seemed tougher, rough around the edges, no control.

🫧

arabella walks down the student hallway approaching her room, the door says 326 printed in gold just like the office up front. arabella pulls out her keys, sliding the key in. she opens the door, and see that coriolanus from earlier sitting reading a book on the other bed. she rolls her eyes as he looks up at her, arabella slams the door shut.

“yeah, men aren’t supposed to be in here,” arabella speaks, setting down her things as she sits on the bed. she pulls off her coat first, coriolanus sits up on the edge of the bed, a smirk on his lips.

“im waiting for someone,” he says, his eyes bluer than ever from the window being opened, arabella starts her fingers at her buttons. one by one she goes down, coriolanus’ eyes widen as she’s looking down at her shirt, her red nails finishing off her shirt. his eyes totally ogling her tan chest, a white lacy bra finally show pushing up her cleavage. he bites his lips, arabella snaps her head up, their eyes meeting before coriolanus pulls his book up to cover his face. arabella smirks to her, pulling the shirt off her shoulders standing her, pulling down her skirt slowly. coriolanus’ eyes watched, he licked his lips watching as she pulls the skirt over her hips turning around and slowly bending over, she was putting on a show he thinks. for him. the skirt drops, and he catches her white lacy panties, before she stands up straight walking over to her closet opening the door standing there.

coriolanus knew he was getting hard, he couldn’t look away. she had an actual body, more meat on her bones, he thought. she had actual curves, coriolanus had only seen these girls on the internet. he places his book on his lap, pulling out his phone. her curls reached half down her back, the white contrasting with her tan skin. she pulled out a hoodie and a pair of sweat pants, she throws them on her bed. the sun lighting up the room completely, she reaches around her back trying to reach around to unhook her bra, she struggles before coriolanus suddenly decides to speak up.

“need help? i’ll be a gentleman,” he says, already standing up. she turns to look at him, before pulling her long hair over her shoulder, nodding. he walks over to her, adjusting himself in his pants hating his big dick because every time he was hard in these tight ass pants it was painfully obvious. he stands behind her, her ass so fat almost touching his crotch. he was nervous, his hands feeling clammy. he had never been so close to a girl with such a body. he cleared his throat careful not to poke her, his hands softly touching her golden skin. she so soft, he almost came right there. he couldn’t believe the affect she had on him, they had only just met. all he knew was her name, and that she was gorgeous. his fingers pulling the fabric disconnecting the hooks, the straps loose, she made no movement as he takes his calloused fingers pushing the straps off her shoulders. she shakes her arms slightly, before turning around.

coriolanus’ eyes widened, his eyes making immediate movements towards her breast. they were medium sized, dark pink colored nipples. they hardened as the cool air touched them, he sucks in a breath feeling his cock throb in his pants.

“thanks, snowball,” she smirks at him, he feels like a weak child right now, he wants to grab her and just have his way with her. make her scream and beg for more, but his girlfriend wouldn’t like that very much.

her brown eyes darker than normal, brushing past him, her ass touching his crotch, he breathes out a quiet, ‘fuck’ as he stands there dumb folded. she slides the hoodie on over her chest before sliding the sweatpants up her long tan legs.

“hi baby,” emma’s voice snaps him out his thoughts, he turns to face her caught off guard. his cheeks pink, obviously flushed, and his very hard dick trying not to burst through the seems of his pants. he quickly grins pulling her into a hug. she presses a small kiss on his cheek, she had only agreed to date him if they could only have sex on their wedding night. occasionally she did things for him, but he loved doing things for her. she hated to be touched though, plus he could only eat her out.

“hi emma,” he breathes, his voice hoarse and rough as he rubs her shoulders. she grins at him, pulling away grabbing her louis vuitton purse off her desk.

“are you ready to go?” she asks, her perfect brows arched at him. he grins, nodding then clearing his throat. he quickly looks back at arabella, who had airpods in her eyes her eyes pouring into macbook.

🫧

coriolanus was throwing a party at his frat, everyone was there, pretty or ugly, rich or poor, everyone was here. he hoped arabella would show up, he had people watching for her. he was paying them of course so they’d actually do it. he sat with his frat brothers and their girlfriends, playing poker. the room thumped with artic monkeys playing, red and blue lights lit up the room. coriolanus could never imagine acting like these fools, but his frat brother loves parties like these. he looks up, not seeing messy curls, but yet seeing straightened hair, well kind of it had more body to it. she wore a short bra long sleeve dress, black pumps on her feet, she walked in already a drink in her hand. he noticed her red nails, he loved that. most girls he was around had french tips, the classic short look. arabella’s nails were long and dark. the dress fit her curves perfectly, her small waist connecting to her perfect sized hips. he kissed emma on the cheek, whispering, ‘be right back,’ giving her his cards as she takes over. coriolanus approaches arabella, she was flirting with a man. he could tell, her eyes giving a more siren look and her dark lips into a mischief smirk. coriolanus knew the boy, he wouldn’t satisfy her like he could.

coriolanus places a hand on her shoulder, clearing his throat. she snaps at him, rolling her eyes.

“dude! have you met miss arabella?” the drunk boy, sejanus laughs, slurring his words slightly. he stumbles into her slightly, arabella grabs his arms stealing him laughing.

“yeah, i have actually. we talked a few times today, actually,” coriolanus gives him a knowing look. sejanus rolls his eyes, before hiccuping and replying.

“not all the pretty girls are yours, corio,” he slurs, coriolanus scoffs furrowing his brows. arabella giggles, coriolanus’ ears perk up at that sound.

“we all know you just want to use her and dump her afterwards sejanus, now let arabella and i talk,” coriolanus finally snaps, “now go,” sejanus scoffs, walking away heading towards their group of friends. arabella laughs, bitter lacing her voice. she turns around facing him. he looks down at her, before noting how actually short she is. coriolanus is six ft tall, yet she seems barely five ft. he smirks down at her, her thick brows furrowed at him.

“what if that’s what i want?” she challenges him, coriolanus laughs. he couldn’t satisfy that type of girl if he tried, but coriolanus? he could, he knows he could.

“please, he wouldn’t know how to work it or please you enough. you’d be extremely disappointed,” he laughs, so confidently. she shakes her head, scoffing at him.

“how do you know? huh? what would satisfy me?” she asks, narrowing her eyes at him. he smirks leaning down to her ear, his lips breath in her ear. she swallows dryly feeling nervous, remaining calm as her heart thumped in her head.

“let’s see, look at you. you need to be treated like a whore, a toy, someone who could control you and your body, because no offense, look at you. you’re a wild animal, you just need to be tamed,” his breath fanning her ear. he brushes her hair behind her ears before standing up straight, his hand fall to his sides smirking down at her. her dark brown eyes, narrowing at him once more except different. she bit her lip, before nodding at him.

“you’re right. i love to be fucked like a whore, corio,” she says, her thick brow arched at him. he smirks, leaning down his lips on her ear.

“yeah?” he asks, his hand sliding behind her back gently tugging on her hair.

“yeah,” she says smirking at him.

🫧

her hands tugged on his curls hard, he groans into her mouth. his hands cupping her jaw, kissing her with such passion and hunger. his hands go for her dress hiking it up her hips, as his fingers teased her wet heat as they make out.

somehow they ended up in coriolanus’ room, but this was his plan. have her in the palm of his hand. he was obsessed with her confidence and power. she was so different than anyone he had ever met. he couldn’t date her not yet, but he could have his way with her. if he makes her cum tonight more than once, she’ll be his forsure.

his fingers rubbed her clit, feeling her juices soak through her thin panties. she moans into his moan, her nails digging into coriolanus’ shoulders leaving marks. he pulls away from her, sliding her panties down her legs. as he pulls his belt off he gets an idea.

“turn over, baby,” he rasps, “arch,” his voice is stern. he loves to be in control.

she rolls over, on her hands and knees, arabella lays her cheek on the bed arching her back. coriolanus groans, rubbing and gripping her fat soft flesh. he moans, palming himself in his pants, before unbuttoning his pants and unzipping. he pulls himself out of his boxers, spitting in his hand stroking himself a few times moaning. arabella lay there in anticipation as his tips rubs between her folds, they both moan out, his tip rubbing her clit as he holds himself rubbing his cock against her.

“fuck,” she moans out, coriolanus places a hand on her hip, spreading her cheeks as he places his tip at her small hole. she heard rumors of the coriolanus being big, but she figured it was gossip.

he slides in slow, arabella starts panting slightly, little whimpers escaping her lips. her eyes screwed shut, as he enters her. coriolanus throws his head back, groaning loudly before pulling himself then reentering with no warning. his hips slam into her ass, her fist grip the sheets. he starts going at a steady pace as she soaks his cock, he’d never felt anyone so wet for him before. coriolanus was in heaven, groaning so loudly he didn’t care. he slams into her, her ass jiggling with each thrust. arabella lets out a loud screaming, clenching around him once again soaking him as her juices dripped down his cock.

“so wet for me, such a good girl,” he moans, slapping her ass. she cries out, before adjusting her positing now just on her hands and knees.

coriolanus places a hand on her hip before grabbing her hair, yanking it around his large hand. his hand fisting her hair, she whimpers. coriolanus shows no mercy, pounding into her. arabella’s moans not slowing down, as he finds her g spot. her moans becoming more high pitched, he relentlessly pounds her feeling her clench and cream all over him again.

“yeah, take it. cum all over my cock, baby,” he grumbles, she cries out cumming again, she soaked his cock so much. his thrusts sounded so wet, he closed his eyes moaning before slamming into her more becoming slightly more sloppy just as he’s about to cum, he pulls out stroking himself twice before shooting his cum all over her ass. he smirks at her, before slapping her ass again.

he goes and grabs a towel for her tossing it on the bed. arabella grabs the towel, crawling and standing up. she wipes her ass off seeing a hand print. she listens to the rustling of coriolanus getting dressed, she turns around pulling her dress.

“im keeping your panties,” coriolanus’ voice snapping her out of her dizzy haze, her legs shake quivering slightly. she furrows her brows, laughing ever so slightly. he looks at her, confused.

“so, how’d i do? miss arabella,” he asks, smirking at her, eyes narrowing at her. his hands on her small waist, pulling her chest into his. she places her hands on his chest, making a face.

“i guess you did okay,” she says, before a grin comes creeping up. she felt embarrassed, he really did fuck her the way she likes. plus he knew how to make her cum.

“more than okay, you came on my cock five times,” he laughs, cocky but teasing lacing his voice.

“yeah, i did didn’t i?” she asks, looking up at him through her lashes.

“yeah, baby, “ he murmurs next to her ear, “stay the night, just me and you,” his hands rubbing her back, ever so slightly giving her goosebumps.

“we could fuck more,” he says, she hums in response.

“that’s not a bad idea,” she smirks, her nails trailing around his waist band. he bites his lip, watching her finger, smirking at her.

coriolanus and arabella agreed to keep things physical, and not emotional. no strings attached she says, coriolanus was fine with that. they were opposites yet, so connected physically he couldn’t say no. plus he still had emma.

🫧

#tom blyth #billy the kid #billy the kid 2022 #ballad of songbirds and snakes #tbosas #tom blyth smut #coriolanus snow #coriolanus smut

69 notes · View notes

jpitha · 2 months

Text

Between the Black and Gray 19

First / Previous / Next

After lunch, a few crew members came up to Fen and invited her down to the shooting range.

"What do you say, Ms. Whitehorse?" One of them, a youngish man with dark hair and a close cropped beard asked shyly.

Fen smiled. "Fen is fine. Sure, let me go fetch my rifle and I'll go to the range." She turned. "Kel, would you like to come too?"

Kel held both of her hands out in surrender. "No thanks Fen! I just barely passed my shooting test, I'll stick to plants for now. You go have fun."

Fen went to her temporary quarters and grabbed her rifle and met the crew at the range a few minutes later. Dreams was large enough that it had quite a few amenities and a large rifle range was among them. It was in the bottom rear of the ship, next to the hold, and when Fen showed up, everyone was getting issued their ammunition. Fen took her spot in line and when she stepped up the armorer asked what she needed.

"I need rounds for a Mk47 main battle rifle." Fen hefted her weapon up to the counter so that the armorer could see it. Her rifle was given to her by Gord, and printed to her specifications. It was sky blue, with a dark blue K'laxi pattern along the stock running up the barrel and looked out of place among the sea of coal black rifles. The armorer blinked and stared.

"A Mk47? Why are you shooting that antique? That hasn't been standard issue for centuries! I don't even know if I have rounds that big, I have to go back to the magazine and look."

Fen crossed her arms. "The Mk47 is a classic. It has the stopping power necessary to take on any biological opponent, will stop all consumer and many military grade walking frames, is easy to clean and parts can be printed anywhere with nearly any resolution printer available."

The armorer shrugged. "Fine, fine. You clearly know your stuff. Let me go look in the back." While the armorer disappeared, Fen talked with the others. Gev had invited her, he worked in the main battery and gushed about how she took down Ellen.

"I can't say she was everyone's favorite, but I didn't expect anyone to just snap and slam her head like that! I can't believe you got in so fast."

Fen's face hardened. "She was flinging slurs at me. I'm proud of who I am."

Gev nodded quickly "I get it, I get it. I was born on Parvati and even though I grew up in Regantown on Venus people still think of me as just a colonist. I never dislocated a shoulder though."

"If Gev liked normal food like us, we'd probably make fun of him less!" One of the crew with them said. The others laughed.

Gev winced. "They don't like Parvatian food. They said it's too 'ethnic.' As if having a spice other than cilantro and salt is ethnic!"

Fen smiled tightly. She had a hunch that Gev was downplaying how much of a hard time they gave him.

The armorer returned and practically threw three magazines onto the counter. "Here. Any more and I'll have to run the printers. You're lucky that we even had those. Regs state we need to have some rounds of just about every size."

Fen thanked the armorer, scooped up the magazines and joined Gev and his friends. They were chatting and each taking turns running a timed event. In thirty seconds, targets would appear all over the range, and the person with the most accurate strikes got the most points. Fen had done this drill with Gord quite a bit when she was learning, so she was broadly familiar with it. She checked over the ammunition the armorer gave her, and got a magazine ready.

When it was her turn, she stepped up to the counter, loaded and cocked her rifle, and lifted it up to her shoulder. "Ready."

There was a tone, and the first target appeared. Fen slowed her breathing, sighting, squeezing and felt the pressure on her shoulder from her gun. Almost as soon as her finger brushed the trigger, her peripheral vision was already looking for the next target. The Mk47 was a much larger and louder rifle than what Gev and his friends fired. The noise of hers was deafening in the range, and everyone stopped shooting to watch.

The world shrank for Fen. It became her, the rifle, the target and the next target. Over and over, one after another until another tone sounded the end of the drill.

Blinking, Fen ejected the empty magazine, and set the rifle down. She rolled her shoulders back, putting her hands on the back of her hips. "I need to get down here more, that felt rusty." She turned to see everyone staring at her. "What? Was it that bad?"

Gev silently pointed to the scoreboard near the front of the range. Her name was at the top, with the highest score, and three little stars next to the number.

"What are the stars?"

"One star means the high score for the month. Two stars means the high score since deployment. Three stars is the highest score recorded."

Fen looked at the scoreboard. She had beaten the next score under hers by over one hundred points. She nodded once. "Looks to me like you're all slacking." She smiled and slotted another magazine. "Reset the drill, I bet I can do better."

Fen spent the rest of the time at the range giving out impromptu lessons in shooting. Everyone was so sloppy. She wondered if it was something to do with Imperial training or the fact that it was just her and Gord for so long she had extra experience. After about an hour, everyone's scores were improving but they were clearly getting tired. "Well, I'm out of ammunition now, and if I ask the armorer for more I think she's going to throw them at me. Let's stop for today."

Fen and the others stepped away from the firing line and cleaned and oiled their rifles. The others checked them back in with the armorer and Fen slung hers to her back. As they were getting ready to leave, Captain Cooper walked in. Everyone froze and immediately saluted.

She smiled broadly. "At ease, I'm here to congratulate our guest. Overall high score? Very impressive. I had no idea you were such a shooter!"

Fen tried to demure. "Thank you Captain, it's just practice."

Captain Cooper shook her head. "Nonsense. Practice is but one aspect. You have to have skill, experience and training to get that good. You must have been training for a long time."

"For a few years yes, but it was more that I spent nearly every down moment on my previous ship at the range. There wasn't much else to do aboard ship, so I just practiced."

Captain Cooper turned to the crew. "See what a human can do with practice and motivation? She's beaten the all time score onboard on her first attempt! I want to see those scores improving. I'm going to allow her score to stand even though she's not crew to show you what humans are capable of." She turned back to Fen. "Walk with me, Ms. Whitehorse."

They walked down the hall, Captain Cooper's polished boots clicking on the decks. As they walked everyone gave them a wide berth. "Ms. Whitehorse, you are quite a specimen." Fen glanced at the Captain. She was at least one head taller than Fen, and her uniform was tailored to within an inch of it's life. There were no folds or creases out of place anywhere. She had a leather shoulder holster with a well oiled pistol under her left arm. Her short hair was impeccable and she wore her hat at a rakish angle. Her grin was predatory.

"Yes, Captain?" Fen wasn't sure what she meant, but had a hunch it wasn't anything good.

"Despite your... upbringing and your... own choices, you are a beacon of humanity in this galaxy. You are a skilled fighter, a shooting phenom, you're a polyglot, and an able teacher. Fenchurch Whitehorse, you are what we strive for in the Empire. You're able to go through the galaxy and show those... other sapients what humanity is all about." The captain stopped in front of a large widow and looked out. In the distance was the brownish blue orb of K'lax. "Do you know the motto of the Human Empire? Superiores sumus quia debemus 'We are better, because we have to'." She looked away from the window and continued to walk. "Fenchurch. Fen. You represent the ideals that we strive for. You are superior because you are human. You have taken the skills and abilities given to you by your birth and turned them - despite growing up among the-" her voice darkens "-Gren, despite being raised K'laxi you are human."

Uh, thank you Captain, but I'm just me." Fen's mind was reeling. What was going on?

"That's exactly right Fen. You are you. You are human. You are superior. The others out there? The Innari, the Sefigans, the Gren, the Xenni, and yes, even our old friends the K'laxi, they don't understand what it means to be human. What it means to be better."

Fen didn't say anything. What could she say? As they were walking, Fen noticed an outline in the hall. There was no door handle, and no touchpad, but there was a small stenciled sign in Gord's old language. Gord tried to teach her some, but it made no sense. She was able to read a little bit but only after she translated it to Colonic in her head. She hadn't realized Dreams was that old. In a very small font, worn with time and age it said

AI Core

An AI? Here? Fen didn't know much about the Empire but she knew they didn't like AIs. What was an AI Core room doing here, even looking as old and abandoned as it was. She was snapped back to reality by Captain Cooper stopping. "Fen, I am pleased you joined us. I think you have been a... breath of fresh atmosphere for the crew. Please consider signing on with the Imperial Navy. I have some pull back on Venus, I come from a... prominent family. I could get you fast tracked to officer. In a few years you'd probably have your own command. I'd hate to see you... waste your best years out there."

Every nerve in Fen's body told her to just nod along, but not to agree to anything. The last thing she wanted to do was join the Empire, especially after a speech like that. Fen wondered if it was supposed to sound complimentary. "Thank you for saying so Captain. I'm glad I could help out. I'll think on what you said."

She smiled broadly and lightly brushed her shoulder. "You do that, Fen. There are more benefits to the Empire than you know." She bent her head lower to be in line with Fen's. "When it's just the two of us, you can call me Crystal." She purred.

#humans are deathworlders #humans are space orcs #sci fi writing #humans are space oddities #humans and aliens #jpitha #writing #humans and ai #humans are space capybaras #humans are space australians #Between the black and gray

38 notes · View notes

brf-rumortrackinganon · 23 days

Note

I keep getting called a Karen by a few women at my work and I don’t know what to do, as I am a white woman and the women bullying me are in fact black women, and I’ve not done anything other than just started my new job there and all I can think is that they didn’t like me asking questions about what it’s like there etc. and I didn’t say or do anything that can be considered or said to be racist? One of them said as we were finishing that nobody would side with a white woman over them and they’d spread my name online and end me. I’m seriously depressed about this whole situation as my new job was a move and promotion that I wanted for a long time and now with these women targeting me I don’t know what to do. As who will believe me as it doesn’t seem like these sort of women bullying me are ever going to be stopped doing what they’re doing to innocent women like me that have seriously not done anything wrong as even though I’m a left wing progressive woman I don’t feel that non-minorities are listened to by these sort of faux claims of racism, sexism and bullying /abuse etc.

First, if you haven't already, you need to loop your boss and HR in immediately. Right now. If your boss or HR admin is one of these ladies, go above her. Stick just to the facts about what happened when you report what's happening. If you already have reported it, follow up. Say "The issues I reported to you on XX date are still happening and it's still causing (or now causing) X, Y, Z impact to A, B, C deliverables/results, and they are also now making B and C threats of retaliation. What suggestions do you have to address this?"

Second, lock your social media down tight. Restrict your visibility to friends only. Exclude your accounts/profiles from searches.

Third, document. Document, document, document. Every interaction you have with these ladies. Everything you've said, everything they've said, as verbatim as possible as you can remember. Include dates, times, locations, and witnesses/bystanders. If there's any harassment over messages (emails, texts, Slack, etc.) include screenshots in your write-ups. Do it immediately after every interaction you have with each one of them, whether individually or in groups. Also document every discussion you've had with your boss(es) and/or HR about these ladies/these situations too.

After writing it up, immediately email it to yourself - your work email and your personal email. If you have your own printer, print them out too and keep paper files in a locked drawer the ladies don't have access to or at your home.

This documentation is important because it creates a paper trail. If the ladies escalate, you have documentation proving your role (or lack thereof). If the company fails to protect you, you have documentation describing and showing what they didn't do.

I'm just going to be direct here. We live in a time where white people - white women especially - have to be very careful about what we say and do. It doesn't matter what our allyship is or our politics or what we think is right or how much credibility someone does or doesn't have. So when you make these reports, when you do this documentation, leave all of that out of it. Stick only to the facts, which is "I was in Conference Room 1 with Jane, Lisa, Sue, and Joe on Tuesday, April 2, 2024, for a discussion about X that took place between 1:30pm - 2:15pm. {{Discussion summary}} At approximately 2:15pm when the meeting ended, I said A. Lisa said B, then Joe said C. Our interaction ended at approximately 2:20pm when I returned to my office alone." Leave the feelings out, leave the justification out, leave your perspective out, leave your allyship and your politics out. Stick only to the facts.

If I had to guess about what's happening here, it's probably that one of those ladies applied for your job, didn't get the position, and now she's taking it out on you and enlisted her friends to help.

And if you'd like more help, take a look at Ask A Manager. She's an HR manager who has a ton of experience in managing people and the blog is an amazing resource for any/all kinds of career advice. Here are a bunch of here pages about dealing with bullies and toxic colleagues that you might find helpful as well.

#anon advice

34 notes · View notes

leiawritesstories · 9 months

Note

I saw the below prompt and could easily imagine Aelin running a black market of printing services and I would love to see what kind of favors she’d take from a certain buzzard who is pressed for time.. especially if they’ve maybe been secretly pining after one another this whole time? 👀

Prompt: You’re the only one in our college dorm building that owns a printer so you run a black market of printing services for favors/money/food/etc. I don’t have time to walk twenty minutes across campus to the library, please help me.

Congrats on 500!

ANON DID YOU READ MY MIND????

Okay so.....this is actually real-life me at my college 🤣🤣🤣 I own a desktop printer so I don't have to use the campus printing service all the time and half the people in my building want to use it. Naturally I charge a fee--either money or food or coffee, i'm not picky lol. Anyway this is literally me in real life except for the secretly pining part bc i'm very very single and I adore this prompt, thank you so so much 😁

Here you go!!

Word count: 870

Warnings: maybe some swearing

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey, Galathynius! Do me a solid?"

Aelin glanced over her shoulder to find Fenrys jogging after her, catching up to her before they made it to the dorm building they both lived in. "What do you want, Moonie?"

The blonde huffed a dramatic sigh. "First of all, stop calling me that, you know it doesn't fit my mature persona." Aelin snorted so hard she almost coughed. Fen just rolled his eyes. "Secondlyyyy," he groaned dramatically, "I need to print a paper. Lemme use your printer? Pretty pretty please?" He widened his big brown eyes irresistibly.

"Your sad puppy face isn't gonna get you free printing, Moonie," Aelin drawled. "A dollar a page, or $30 flat if it's more than 20 pages."

"Highway robbery!" he gasped.

She rolled her eyes. "It's the same price I've always charged and you know it."

"Ugh, fiiiiine," he grumbled. "Unless...how about I cover your coffee for the next week?"

"Hmm." She pretended to seriously think about it, knowing full well that she'd accept. Who was Aelin Galathynius to turn down free coffee, especially when she spent somewhere around 40 dollars a week on her precious caffeine. "All right, I accept. I'll text you my drink order, and I expect it delivered every morning as I leave for my first class."

Fen saluted her. "Yes ma'am!" he chirped.

She smacked his shoulder teasingly. "Cut the flourishing, drama queen." Fen flashed her a grin and jogged off towards his next class, while she swiped her student ID in the building's card reader and walked into the dorm. She, Elide, and Lysandra shared a triple room with an ensuite bathroom on the fourth floor, so she had to climb three flights of stairs to get to her room. As she opened her door, she noticed a sticky note stuck to the wood. It wasn't uncommon; people who wanted to buy her printing service often left notes stuck to her door. She gave the note a cursory glance.

HELP! Need to print 30 pages for 2pm class! -RW, #350

Aelin glanced at her phone. It was 1:15 pm, meaning whoever had left that note was probably pacing around their room in distress right about now. So of course, she decided to go pay Room 350 a little visit.

"Ah, shit!" yelped a male voice from inside the room when she knocked. There was a flurry of noise and stumbling, and a tall guy wearing a UTerr Hockey sweatshirt opened the door, his pale blonde hair a frazzled mess. "Um, hi?"

"Well hello there, Whitethorn," Aelin smirked, delighted to see the normally perfectly put-together Rowan Whitethorn, star defenseman of UTerr Hockey, all flustered over not having printed materials for class.

"Aelin, thank the fuckin' gods," Rowan gasped. "Did you get my note?"

"Mhmm," she hummed, intentionally vague.

"Ae," he groaned, his desperation showing, "can you print my articles? Please?"

"Got payment?"

"I--yeah, gimme a sec." He vanished into his room and banged around for another couple of minutes, rummaging through drawers and probably his closet as he tried to find cash. He reappeared with a sheepish, embarrassed blush staining his chiseled cheeks. "Uh..."

"No cash?" Aelin clicked her tongue softly. "Sorry, Ro. I don't take credit cards."

"Please," he begged, dropping right down to his knees in front of her. "Fuck it, Ae, I'm desperate! I'm fucked if I don't come to class prepared, the professor already thinks all athletes are dumb jocks who pass classes on daddy's money." He clasped his hands together and stared imploringly up at her, his deep green eyes wide and pleading.

A very naughty part of Aelin wanted to tell him all the sinful ways he could pay her for printing his articles. But because she was a mature woman, she kept that part of herself quiet.

"Well," she mused, "I suppose you could offer me a favor, but it better be worth thirty pages."

Rowan closed his eyes and tipped his head back, a soft groan slipping from his lips as he frantically tried to think up a worthy favor. That gods-damned little groan of his did bad, bad things to Aelin's naughty little inner voice.

Or maybe that was just her enormous little crush on him.

"Dinner." Rowan's voice broke through her traitorous wandering thoughts.

"What?"

"I'll buy you dinner," he repeated. "Anywhere you want, as much food as you want. I swear."

Aelin couldn't have stopped her response no matter how hard she tried. "Like a dinner date?"

Rowan's face flushed a surprisingly endearing shade of vibrant pink. "Um...yeah?"

A tiny, pleased smile curled the corners of Aelin's lips, blooming into a full-blown smile the longer she made him squirm. "Okay, I accept. It's a date." Without waiting for his response, she waltzed off.

When she returned to his room, his articles in hand, he was waiting by the door. He took the papers from her with a slow, relieved smile that made a dimple in his left cheek pop out.

"Thanks, Ae."

"Of course." She waved him off. "Better not be late, Ro."

"You too." Her brows furrowed in confusion, and he winked. "Our date, darlin'. Seven o'clock tomorrow. I'll pick you up."

Gods help her, she could not wait.

~~~

TAGS:

@live-the-fangirl-life

@superspiritfestival

@thegreyj

@wordsafterhours

@elentiyawhitethorn

@morganofthewildfire

@backtobl4ck

@rowanaelinn

@house-of-galathynius

@tomtenadia

@julemmaes

@swankii-art-teacher

@charlizeed

@booknerdproblems

@chronicchthonic14

@earthtolinds

@goddess-aelin

@sweet-but-stormy

@clea-nightingale

@autumnbabylon

@darling-im-the-queen-of-hell

@llyncooljones

@silentquartz

#my writing #answered prompt #leia's 500 followers thing #aelin galathynius #rowan whitethorn #rowan x aelin #rowaelin #rowaelin fanfic #college au #throne of glass fanfic

94 notes · View notes

on-stardust-wings · 1 month

Text

So I've been unhappy about the lack of physical media these days (and, unrelated to Good Omens, mightily pissed off at streaming services), which made me decide if I want to have my favourite shows on my shelf, I will do it myself if I have to. And since Amazon still doesn't look like it plans to sell me a nice DVD or Bluray set for season two, I went and did it my bloody self. I own a DVD writer and a printer and nobody can stop me.

Had lots of fun playing around designing sleeves, labels and on-screen menus. Behold my beautiful creations!

I used some of the very cool official posters for the covers. I loved the one that became my front cover; there's so much to see on it. (Also has this super handy scroll bit at the bottom where one only had to remove some Amazon logos to have space for labeling!)

Splurged on a couple of sheets of glossy photo paper to print the sleeves on. You wouldn't believe how much of a difference good paper makes for printout quality. The photos don't do them justice. The black is really black, the colours have great depth. I sat here giggling gleefully when these came out of the printer.

Here's the spines, sitting next to my season one Bluray (which I was happy to buy, hey Amazon please sell me stuff, you love selling things, I will buy things if you sell me things!) and my other self-made fave-show-on-shelf-putting-project.

If I do something, I do it properly. Disc labels with pictures on them!

Designing them was a blast; printing them was a fucking nightmare. I had a few pages of premade disc labels (sticker paper with perforated circles of the right sizes, so no cutting, yay). Already printing the sleeves took a good amount of test prints and template tweaking; I don't know why printing exactly to scale is still so difficult in 2024. I think Crowley was involved in designing printers. The things are definitely haunted. Printing a rectangle to scale? Difficult, but okay. Printing two circles to scale, in the exact correct position? Oh god I cursed so much. But look at them, aren't they beautiful? Definitely worth all the sweat and tears.

Menu screens! (Had a video of the first disc menu, mostly to show that it plays the Good Omens theme, but Tumblr hated it. Please imagine that all discs have this menu and that you can hear the theme playing while on the menu, thanks.)

DVDs fit 120 minutes of video, and I was super chuffed that I could get two episodes squeezed on one disc. So I have three discs with episodes, and an additional one with bonus stuff. Deleted scenes and VFX breakdowns with Muriel and Making Ofs. You know, the kind of things that are fun and cool about a box set for a show you like. Which I now have on my shelf. You gotta do everything yourself these days.

#piracy ho!#arts and crafts projects of questionable legality #good omens #p+a

23 notes · View notes

enden-k · 1 month

Note

You post black and white art? I scream. You post simple colors? I howl. You drop fucking masterpieces? I descend into hysterics and the only thing stopping me from printing and eating the art is the fact that I have a limited amount of money for printer ink. Congrats Youn, you broke me again.

HHAHJCKBKS PLSSS

i do full pieces like this like. once in 5 months or smth simply bc im so lazy/dont have time and sometimes its a little discouraging seeing how much time i spent on it and then most often a dumb sketch of mine gets more recognition ahahah. but apart of that its kinda fun busying myself w smth for so long, just for myself and then see ppl lose it when i share bkjbsdjkvb (id love to do more like these but i fear the moment i return back to my job i wont have the time often)

(prints it w own printer and feeds it to u) anw here u go anon <3

#reply

25 notes · View notes

bitchfitch · 1 year

Text

Stained glass tutorial bc the birds are good for it.

The tldr with more resources and a few video tutorial links is here (link)

this is our target and this is our pattern:

if you're wondering why I'm just handing out the pattern to a piece i plan on selling, the answer is because all stained glass pieces are their own pattern. By posting the image of the piece i already gave you the pattern to it.

What you need:

1 sheet of printer paper,

scissors,

glue stick or a washable marker that works on glass,

grozier pliers,

curved jaw pliers,

glass cutter,

flux and something to apply it with,

60/40 acid free solder,

copper tape,

gloves,

eye protection,

soldering iron with stand and rheostat,

water proof sand paper or waterproof nail file,

black patina or black acrylic paint,

some kind of heat proof surface to work on. I use asphalt coated compressed fiber board because it was cheap and easy to get at the hardware store

a well ventilated area to work in. or a table set up outside, which is the most well ventilated area you probably can access without a key card to a chemistry lab.

finally: 1+ panes of translucent/cathedral glass.

if something is not pictured in the below image it's because getting it meant fighting my cord management or standing up to go get it. The white waffle grid thing is not necessary. It just makes clean up easier so I'm using it and also i was too lazy to move it. a box of nails is pictured, they are also helpful but also not necessary. especially if you are not using something you can easily push them into as a work surface

I'm just using my normal glasses for eye protection, you don't need anything super fancy but you do need something to stop any flying shards.

Anyways. Soldering and finishing is in a reblog of this. i needed more pictures than you can put in a single Tumblr post

Step 1 Pattern Prep

print your pattern out. once if you are just going to use a marker to copy it onto your glass, twice if you are going to glue it down to use that way.

you may notice my pattern is backwards. That's because i printed it out wrong and can't be fucked to go fix it. Anyways.

Number your pieces in the same order on both copies if you are using the glue method, for such a simple pattern it's not uber necessary but it's a good habit to get into. Larger and more complicated pieces rapidly become broken glass jigsaw puzzles if you don't.

Step 2 putting the pattern on the glass

the way you make the glass the right shape is by using a glass cutter, that bronzy thing with all the tape around the barrel to make it easier for me to grip. the way it works is it holds a very thin metal disk that you press into the glass to introduce a fault line the glass will hopefully want to break along. I said hopefully for a reason.

All cuts have to go from one edge of the glass to the other because that's what the crack will do when you break it. Keep that in mind while you lay down your pieces. I've used a marker to show how i plan to cut this pane but unless you're doing a tricky cut order you don't really have to do that

I'm using what i have on hand so how you lay your pieces out will probably be different if you've bought whole panes to work with. This is a much more wasteful way of doing it than i normally would, but the goal with this one was to produce a piece that doesn't require a glass grinder as those are an expensive thing to get when you're just starting out.

Also plan to cut on the Less textured side of the glass, the texture can get in the way. if you would like the texture to be on the front of your finished piece simply glue your pieces upside down onto the smoother side. also know that less textures glass is easier to use

I didn't have any more of that darker grey blue so I'm using a light bluish lavender piece instead. it looks brown because of the the yellow underneath it

step 3 cut the glass

take a piece of preferably translucent glass and practice this step a few times before doing it on your project.

Press the wheel at the end of the stylus firmly against the glass at one edge, the keep pressure as you push or pull your line. you will know if you're using enough force because clear glass makes a very specific noise when it's being scored. I can't describe it but you'll know it when you hear it. you'll also be able to see the score line from some angles, it should look like a very fine crack in the glass. I've also heard it described as "like a white hair has been set on top of the glass". do not stop, lift your cutter, or go backwards over the scorline you have already made. The crack is a Lot more likely to go off course and destroy your piece if you do.

do only one line at a time before using the grozier pliers to break the glass.

there should be a line on the silicone protector things on the edge of you pliers, hold them so that that mark lines up with your score line and apply pressure , start light and slowly increase until it begins to crack. If the crack immediately runs the whole length of the pane then your done, if it doesn't, rotate the pane and do the same thing on the other edge of the glass until it starts cracking from there too. if it Still doesn't meet in the middle help it along by tapping along the uncracked part of the score line with the tip of your pliers handle until the crack finishes the job. If it's a very long straight one you can also use the edge of a table to encourage the crack to form in the right place.

if the crack decides to go off your scorline just finish breaking that score line and then peel off your pattern piece and reposition it to try again. if you used something like an Elmer's glue stick you can reactivate the glue with a Small amount of water dabbed over the pattern piece with your finger.

Once you have most of the glass broken off use your curved jaw pliers to very carefully nip away at any extra bumps. like half a millimeter at a time, don't just bite into a big chunk, itll shatter the piece. The flat side of the jaws is used to leverage the piece against to break it that way. it's helpful to pick an orientation for your pliers and just commit to always holding them like that. with the flat jaw either up or down. It'll help you build the muscle memory and learn to use them faster.

enjoy your pile of broken glass and dream about the grinder that wouldve made this easier.

Step 4 grinding deburing.

use your water proof file or sand paper to to knock any little bits of broken glass off. it is Vitally important that you do this with the file Wet. glass dust likes to float on any little draft and it's Super not good for your eyes lungs throat or nose.

You can also take the time now to refine the shapes and sand off any little nubbins that are in the way.

once you're done use a little dish soap to remove the pattern and any grease or glue left on the piece. if you need to re number the pieces.

Step 5 Foil

foil comes in a handful of sizes, and in silver, black, and copper backed. The sizes determine how thick your leading will be, thinner foil, thinner lines. With art glass or very textured glass you may need to go up a few sizes to make it fit. The color on the back will be visible through clear glass so you might want to pick one that vibes with your colors. I'm using what i had, so i don't actually know the thickness. It is copper backed tho.

take your piece and your roll of foil and place the edge of the piece in the center of the tape so that there's an equal amount of hangover on either side. then carefully roll your piece to wrap the edges in tape. being sure to keep it centered the entire way around. when you get back to where you started let the tape overlap itself by at least a quarter of a centimeter or like 1/8th of an inch. then cut the foil.

use your fingers to smooth the foil down over either side of the glass. and then the handle of your scissors or any hard plastic object to firmly press out any creases in the foil. The smoother you can get it the better. because that will make the solder sit flatter.

use the second/primary copy of your pattern for reference and lay out your pieces on top of it. If you're using nails and and a softer work surface you can press them into it around the edges of your pattern to keep the pieces from shifting. for a piece as simple as this it's not necessary but it still might help.

Soldering is next up but I'm posting from mobile and have an image limit to keep in mind. so that will be posted as a reblog in a bit.

#please dont reblog im adding the soldering and finishing section rn. i ran out of pictures

117 notes · View notes

bangchanbabygurl · 8 months

Text

Shameless| 05: Strange Encounters

Genre: Dark romance/angst/horror/thriller/mystery/smut

Warnings: Explicit language/mention of domestic violence/mention of violence/alcohol abuse/mention of death/stalker/mentions of blood/drug abuse/smut scenes/dark mature themes/triggering scenes/traumatic experiences

Word count:

A small sigh escapes my lips as I rub my tired eyes; I look back at the computer screen anxiously. I've been in the office all morning; Mr. Hwang and Hyunjin have been breathing down on everyone's neck for the launch of the new product. It had everyone on the edge of their seats, knowing that Mr. Hwang wanted the product launched a week or two before the end of September.

After encountering Hyunjin in the elevator, he has been bossing me around all day; who knows how many times I've edited and redesigned the products. Almost every five minutes, he disapproves of the design, suggests an idea, and then sends me to redesign. I let out a yawn, feeling more tired. I pick up my mug, bringing the rim to my lips. I felt disappointed and gloomy, realizing I had run out of coffee. I groan softly, getting up from the chair and stretching out my limbs; I look at the time: six-thirty PM.

I left my office to see everyone else had gone home; I felt cold and shivered. I rushed to the employee lounge room; I noticed a fresh hot pot of coffee sitting under the coffeemaker. I look around the lounge, but not a single employee is in sight. I exhale softly and pour some coffee into my mug. I shivered once again, but this time I twitched a little, feeling a weird sense of disturbance. I shook it off and took a small sip of the coffee; the sound of a door creaking open had my mind racing with every possibility that it could be anything; what ifs ran through my brain as the creaking stopped.

I held my mug tightly and hurried out of the lounge room; I noticed the lights were off except for the desk lamps. I gulped and rushed into my office. Closing the door behind me, I sat back at the desk. I let out a breath, and my eyes kept glancing at the door and the computer screen. I was paranoid and cold; I shook the nonsense thoughts away and continued to work on the product design.

By seven-forty PM, I was yawning even more; I waited for the paperwork to finish printing. I finished my coffee and gathered my things while waiting for the printer. I heard a thud from outside the office; I looked at the door. The papers were done; I grabbed them and slid them into the black folder. I slipped on my wool coat and turned off the computer screen.

I turned off the lights in the office, leaving the desk lamp on; I grabbed my bag and walked out of the office. I hurried to the elevator, feeling like I was being watched. I pressed the down button and felt eager to leave this floor; my mind was now playing tricks on me. The creaking was closer; the whole hall felt cold. I looked around, feeling scared now; the elevator was taking its sweet time. My best decision right now was the stairs; I rushed down the stairwell feeling like I was being chased.

I could hear footsteps aside from my own; I was panicking now. I began to run down the stairs; I could hear someone curse softly. I reached floor one and ran out of the stairwell. I looked back, but there was nobody. I bumped into something and fell on my ass, dropping the folder; my nerves were all over the place. I was terrified and paranoid now; I picked up the scattered papers.

“Are you okay? Y/N? What's wrong? Are you hurt?” That something I bumped into was Hyunjin; I looked at him. “Hey what's wrong?” He asked. I looked at the stairwell again, “Y/N?” Hyunjin whispered, grabbing my hands. I look at him, “S—I’m sorry, I’m just paranoid..” I said, pulling my hands out of his grasp and fixing the folder.

“Paranoid of what? Y/N,” Hyunjin said pulling the folder away from me, “It's nothing…it was probably just my mind playing tricks on me but I felt like someone was watching me and began to chase me out of the floor three." I whispered, looking back at the stairwell door. Hyunjin seemed concerned and helped me up; he turned his gaze to the door. Hyunjin lets go of my hands and walks over to the stairwell, "Hyunjin, it was probably my tired mind hallucinating." I said. But that didn't stop him from walking into the stairwell; I sighed, defeated, and followed him.

"How could you be sure it was just in your head? Maybe there's still some of the staff messing with you." Hyunjin said as we walked up the stairs, "I'm not positive about anything," I said. A faint sound came from the third floor; I stopped walking. Hyunjin looked at me worriedly, "What's wrong?" he asked. I gave him a perplexed, "You don't hear that?" I said. Hyunjin stood still and looked up at the stairs, "It's just music," He said. Hyunjin continued walking; I bit my lip, feeling anxious, but I followed him anyway.

We reached the third level; the music was coming from one of the offices inside. Hyunjin smirks lightly, "And I bet you're going say that you didn't leave the radio on." He said. I gave him a look clearly showing signs of distress; I shook my head, gripping my bag tightly. Hyunjin sighed as he opened the door, and we walked inside the hall. The music was louder and more evident, and I followed closely behind Hyunjin. I love horror movies and the paranormal, but I would never want to live and experience that. Yet here I am, glued to Hyunjin as he looks around the desks and offices, and he stops walking.

"That's your office..." Hyunjin said. I turned to where he was looking; the door was wide-opened. The music was coming from my office, which made it more creepy and uneasy was the choice of song. 'I Only Have Eyes for you' by The Flamingos was slightly distorted, "I locked that door," I told Hyunjin. "Someone is definitely messing with you." He whispered and walked to the office; I stayed close to him. Hyunjin stopped me from further walking into the office; I gave him a confused look. "What is it?" I asked. Hyunjin blocks the doorway. "Don't look; you'll only make it worse." He said. I let a small chuckle, thinking he was messing with me, too.

But he wasn't; there was no devilish smirk on his lips. Hyunjin was serious and brooding about what he saw, "Come on, what is it?" I said, trying to get through. I was able to get a glimpse of the office; I felt my blood run cold and my heart beating rapidly. Hyunjin grabs me by my arms and pulls me towards the elevator, "I told you not to look," He said. I look at him, "Tho—those are photographs—of m—e." I let out. I wasn't sure of what to think about, so Hyunjin sighed and pulled me closer to him. "I'll have George come and investigate this sick joke,” Hyunjin said his words sounding like a promise. Tears were ricocheting, “H-Hyunjin those are photographs of me…sleeping, doing daily life how-” I whispered.

Hyunjin cups my face in his hands, “Listen to me, Y/N, I’ll have someone look for the person that this. Try to remain calm and—look at me Y/N.” He said. I look at him, “I need you to keep me posted about where you are, what you’re doing, and with whom you are. This is serious Y/N.” Hyunjin said. I was crying out of fear, and he holds me tightly. He was trying to get me to calm down but my mind was running with millions of ‘if the creaking due to the person being in here for a reason ‘What if they were trying to hurt me maybe even worse’.

41 notes · View notes