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#which. i don't have my copy of the book anymore. so i need to ask for it tomorrow!
empty-movement · 4 months
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May I ask what scanners / equipment / software you're using in the utena art book project? I'm an artist and half the reason I rarely do traditional art is because I'm never happy with the artwork after it's scanned in. But the level of detail even in the blacks of Utena's uniform were all captured so beautifully! And even the very light colors are showing up so well! I'd love to know how you manage!
You know what's really fun? This used to be something you put in your site information section, the software and tools used! Not something that's as normal anymore, but let's give it a go, sorry it's long because I don't know what's new information and what's not! Herein: VANNA'S 'THIS IS AS SPECIFIC AS MY BREAK IS LONG' GUIDE/AIMLESS UNEDITED RAMBLE ABOUT SCANNING IMAGES
Scanning: Modern scanners, by and large, are shit for this. The audience for scanning has narrowed to business and work from home applications that favor text OCR, speed, and efficiency over archiving and scanning of photos and other such visual media. It makes sense--there was a time when scanning your family photographs and such was a popular expected use of a scanner, but these days, the presumption is anything like that is already digital--what would you need the scanner to do that for? The scanner I used for this project is the same one I have been using for *checks notes* a decade now. I use an Epson Perfection V500. Because it is explicitly intended to be a photo scanner, it does threebthings that at this point, you will pay a niche user premium for in a scanner: extremely high DPI (dots per inch), extremely wide color range, and true lossless raws (BMP/TIFF.) I scan low quality print media at 600dpi, high quality print media at 1200 dpi, and this artbook I scanned at 2400 dpi. This is obscene and results in files that are entire GB in size, but for my purposes and my approach, the largest, clearest, rawest copy of whatever I'm scanning is my goal. I don't rely on the scanner to do any post-processing. (At these sizes, the post-processing capacity of the scanner is rendered moot, anyway.) I will replace this scanner when it breaks by buying another identical one if I can find it. I have dropped, disassembled to clean, and abused this thing for a decade and I can't believe it still tolerates my shit. The trade off? Only a couple of my computers will run the ancient capture software right. LMAO. I spent a good week investigating scanners because of the insane Newtype project on my backburner, and the quality available to me now in a scanner is so depleted without spending over a thousand on one, that I'd probably just spin up a computer with Windows 7 on it just to use this one. That's how much of a difference the decade has made in what scanners do and why. (Enshittification attacks! Yes, there are multiple consumer computer products that have actually declined in quality over the last decade.)
Post-processing: Photoshop. Sorry. I have been using Photoshop for literally decades now, it's the demon I know. While CSP is absolutely probably the better piece of software for most uses (art,) Photoshop is...well it's in the name. In all likelihood though, CSP can do all these things, and is a better product to give money to. I just don't know how. NOTENOTENOTE: Anywhere I discuss descreening and print moire I am specifically talking about how to clean up *printed media.* If you are scanning your own painting, this will not be a problem, but everything else about this advice will stand! The first thing you do with a 2400 dpi scan of Utena and Anthy hugging? Well, you open it in Photoshop, which you may or may not have paid for. Then you use a third party developer's plug-in to Descreen the image. I use Sattva. Now this may or may not be what you want in archiving!!! If fidelity to the original scan is the point, you may pass on this part--you are trying to preserve the print screen, moire, half-tones, and other ways print media tricks the eye. If you're me, this tool helps translate the raw scan of the printed dots on the page into the smooth color image you see in person. From there, the vast majority of your efforts will boil down to the following Photoshop tools: Levels/Curves, Color Balance, and Selective Color. Dust and Scratches, Median, Blur, and Remove Noise will also be close friends of the printed page to digital format archiver. Once you're happy with the broad strokes, you can start cropping and sizing it down to something reasonable. If you are dealing with lots of images with the same needs, like when I've scanned doujinshi pages, you can often streamline a lot of this using Photoshop Actions.
My blacks and whites are coming out so vivid this time because I do all color post-processing in Photoshop after the fact, after a descreen tool has been used to translate the dot matrix colors to solids they're intended to portray--in my experience trying to color correct for dark and light colors is a hot mess until that process is done, because Photoshop sees the full range of the dots on the image and the colors they comprise, instead of actually blending them into their intended shades. I don't correct the levels until I've descreened to some extent.
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As you can see, the print pattern contains the information of the original painting, but if you try to correct the blacks and whites, you'll get a janky mess. *Then* you change the Levels:
If you've ever edited audio, then dealing with photo Levels and Curves will be familiar to you! A well cut and cleaned piece of audio will not cut off the highs and lows, but also will make sure it uses the full range available to it. Modern scanners are trying to do this all for you, so they blow out the colors and increase the brightness and contrast significantly, because solid blacks and solid whites are often the entire thing you're aiming for--document scanning, basically. This is like when audio is made so loud details at the high and low get cut off. Boo.
What I get instead is as much detail as possible, but also at a volume that needs correcting:
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Cutting off the unused color ranges (in this case it's all dark), you get the best chance of capturing the original black and white range:
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In some cases, I edit beyond this--for doujinshi scans, I aim for solid blacks and whites, because I need the file sizes to be normal and can't spend gigs of space on dust. For accuracy though, this is where I'd generally stop.
For scanning artwork, the major factor here that may be fucking up your game? Yep. The scanner. Modern scanners are like cheap microphones that blow out the audio, when what you want is the ancient microphone that captures your cat farting in the next room over. While you can compensate A LOT in Photoshop and bring out blacks and whites that scanners fuck up, at the end of the day, what's probably stopping you up is that you want to use your scanner for something scanners are no longer designed to do well. If you aren't crazy like me and likely to get a vintage scanner for this purpose, keep in mind that what you are looking for is specifically *a photo scanner.* These are the ones designed to capture the most range, and at the highest DPI. It will be a flatbed. Don't waste your time with anything else.
Hot tip: if you aren't scanning often, look into your local library or photo processing store. They will have access to modern scanners that specialize in the same priorities I've listed here, and many will scan to your specifications (high dpi, lossless.)
Ahem. I hope that helps, and or was interesting to someone!!!
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natsgrave · 3 months
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YOU FORGOT YOUR CLOTHES | scarlett johansson
I'm so chill, but you make me jealous, but I got your heart skippin'. You know I'm not a bad girl but I do bad things with you. Professor!Scarlett x Student!Reader, legal age gap. ( v short one. ) i do not give permission for my work to be copied or translated on other sites. plagiarism is a crime! masterlist
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Y/N'S POV
Me and Scarlett are secretly in a arrange marriage and we managed to keep it hidden from everyone.
It was no surprise that she felt nothing towards me but the cold treatment still hurts me sometimes, because this is not what I dreamt of and expect when I entered the married life.
You might say that I'm stupid but I fell in love with her already, it sucks but what can I do? Being married to her and living under the same roof for over 2 years, it's not impossible anymore.
To my surprise, I woke up first before her. Normally, when I open my eyes, she's already out of bed but not this time.
We might be in a arrange marriage and we— she maybe don't feel any love for me, but we still agreed to sleep on the same bed just like what married couples do.
I carefully climb out of bed and do my routine before heading downstairs and make breakfast.
Halfway through my cooking, I heard her footsteps coming down the stairs.
"Goodmorning, Y/N." She greeted with her morning raspy voice. "Goodmorning." I replied.
"How come you're awake already?" Scarlett asked. "This is what time I usually woke up, you're just really much of an early bird." I said putting the last pancake on the plate before putting it on the table.
"Hmm, you can cook." She said, stating the obvious.
"I do."
We start eating in silence, it wasn't uncomfortable anymore since it was everyday.
We eventually finish eating without much talking and just minding our own business. She took a shower in our room while I use the shower in our guest room. Once I'm done, I change into appropriate clothing, and head downstairs with my things I need.
"I'll see you at school." Scarlett said once she saw me walking down. "Sure." I shortly replied as she walked out of the door.
I made myself a food for lunch and made sure to check my things before leaving the house making sure to lock the door and walked towards the cab. ___
The drive wasn't really that long and before I even notice, the car stopped in front of my school.
I gave the driver my payment before exiting the car and walking directly to my classroom.
When I entered the room, frown instantly forms in my face and my bloods starting to boil.
I saw her flirting with one of the teachers. I know, I shouldn't be feeling like this but I can't stop. I let out a scoff before rolling my eyes and walking towards my seat.
After that seems like forever, the bitc— I mean the teacher finally left and she turned to face us and start her discussion.
I wasn't really paying attention, I don't know what is going on but seeing her flirt just makes me mad. I mean, come on, she's still married to me. I just let out a deep sigh and tried to forget about it, which is failed by the way.
"I want you all to get a partner for your project." I heard her say in a cold tone.
Everyone starts getting their own partners while I still haven't moved an inch when someone coughs beside me.
I look up and saw Gabriel, my suitor, standing there with a smile. For the record, I never entertained him. I'm loyal even though she's not.
"Hey, uhm, would you like to be my partner?" He shyly asked and I was about to say something when we heard a loud bang.
We look forward and there she is, looking at me with stern and cold look, "Sorry, accidentally dropped the book." Professor coldly said and I internally smirk before turning my gaze back to Gabriel. Two can play this game, Johansson.
"Yes, ofcourse! I would love to." I happily replied which made him smile and his face lightened.
Whatever his reply would be got instantly cut off when someone shouted and I know very well who it is.
"Okay! Seems like everyone's have a partner, the deadline will be on Friday and no extensions. That would be all for today, class dismissed." She said and gathered her things, "Oh, and by the way, Y/LN please come to my office after this. You forgot your clothes at my house last night." She casually said with innocent smile on her face while my jaw dropped.
Everyone is in shock too, and I saw her smirk before casually leaving the room like she didn't say anything.
What the fuck?
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tarotwithdanise · 11 months
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PICK-A-CARD : THE ROMANTIC TROPE BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR FUTURE SPOUSE (LOVER)
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༉ ‧ ₊ ˚ sections ✧ . ˚
1. Your romance trope with them.
2. Their love language and how they'll express it.
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༉ ‧ ₊ ˚ how to choose pile? ✧ . ˚
꒰⠀from left to right ; intuitively choose the pile your mind, heart and soul desire for. if you are having trouble choosing the right pile for you, here’s some tips you can do ; (1) take a deep breath (2) close your eyes (3) ask guidance from your guides (4) finally open your eyes and you can choose the right pile for you by the guidance you ask from your guides. if you are still having trouble by choosing the right pile for you let me know because i am willing to help and guide you.
1 - 2 - 3
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rules, disclaimer and notes ☆
1. Just a quick disclaimer : This reading was made for entertainment purposes only. This is obviously a general reading so takes what will resonates and leave those doesn’t, you don’t need to force your energy to read this and leave such a bad comment - just to say it doesn’t resonates with you at all because the answer is very obvious! I don’t own any these pictures i collected them from pinterest so credits to the rightful owners.
2. Please ignore any grammatical errors with my reading since english is not my first language, thank you for understanding!
3. Third to the last one, if you are not an avid fan of this kind of readings and not totally 100% agree about the outcome of this pac please just ignore this post and don’t engaged anymore, this pac can contains harsh, hurtful comments about you or the other person that can trigger you if possible, so kindly read at your own risk and take how it’ll resonates.
4. Lastly, be happy and enjoy reading my works — feedbacks, comments, likes, reblogs and follows are really appreciated by the reader. (that’s me, lol :3)
for tips, donation, masterlist and paid readings ☆
TIPS JAR DONATION BOX
MASTERLIST PAID READING SERVICES
[ ♡ ] check out my second and back-up account @danisetarot.
SOURCE AND CREDITABLE : All of the pictures are collected and downloaded from pinterest , I don’t own any of them but credits goes to the rightful owners however edits goes and the reading itself belong to me. I use the editor tools canva and ibispaint for the header and divider. If saved/downloaded the divider use a proper credits and tag/mention along my acc @tarotwithdanise.
© tarotwithdanise ── all rights reserved. do not copy, translate, alter, or repost my work in any other social media platforms.
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PILE ONE
1. Your romance trope with them.
cards : ten of wands,the magician,ace of wands,knight of swords,six of cups,magnetism,freedom and proposal.
possible romantic tropes : childhood sweetheart, lady and a knight and friendship to lovers.
prompt : person a helping person b to work with themselves then turn out both of them fallen in love with each other.
Whoops, this romantic trope is like a lady or princess and knight, just take which part are you between the two. I don't know but this spread is giving me a book story of that trope, a knight and a lady and/or childhood sweetheart's. Since in the very beginning we got the 10oW, this card is talks about burden. Before meeting your future spouse (lover), you will experience a lot of stress, overload responsibilities and problems with your life and then boom in out blue this person appear in your life or you'll meet this person (knight of swords) in the midst of all these problems and stress situation. I do see here that you are not really into love? before you actually gonna meet this person because you set these goals in your mind that you have to work with yourself first and then this person shakes things up and suddenly you felt the butterflies in your stomach. This love story is like already written down by the stars and the universe is the one that is in charge to make it come true. It seems like with them, with their love or their presence you'll feel being freedom and away from your own problems. This person is like a daily dose of serotinin to you.
It's like you'll mirror each other's love and each other's personality even though some of your qualities doesn't match with them at all. Both of you will find each other's as attractive individual. With them, you will feel the freedom that you want for yourself because you might felt this burden since you were a child (ToW and SoC), as well being with them, you are able to pass any obstacles whether if it's big or small. With them by your side, you will be able to conquer all obstacles that may come on your way in lifetime. It may also mean that a big change is coming in your relationship life when you meet them and this shift may require some bravery and work on your part to push this connection through. You are about to set boundaries for yourself, accepting what is, and fighting for what you feel and what you deserve is the key to open this new door.
I see that the proposal with this person will be grand. With the magician card being present here, I can say that this is giving off the energy of Wattpad or Fairy tale stories, this is a life changing connection, the love story you ever wanted and dream of. But i understand if someone here doesn't agree with this kind of love story since no relationship is perfect, no relationship is perfect - so be careful to not be manipulated with this person and don't just fall easily under their spell and with their charisma, always listen to what is your intuition saying to you. However this is a whirlwind romance that feels like a fairy tale. That makes you scream ‘‘It's happening to me now and i am the main character and not just a reader or watcher’’. This is someone who usually smooth and charming and can totally sweeps your feet off. This is true magical romance trope that feels like fictional. If it hasn't to you yet, well soon it will. However as i said, no love story is perfect there's still times that this relationship will be tested by the Universe.
2. Their love language and how they'll express it.
Their love language is about quality of time, gift giving and words of affirmation . This couple is giving me a vibes of an old soul that always belonged to each other no matter how many times they being reincarnated in many lives. Your future spouse is gonna fulfill your desired when it comes to love and intimacy, they want you to feel complete when they're around. This person love language feels like more into emotional and physical support. And so, they will know their obligations when it comes to you. Probably they want to build a solid foundation with you, a long lasting marriage life is coming out here. They probably from a rich family, someone who considered rich in their country or in your country. With you, they usually gonna enjoy the life's pleasures - having good foods and drinks. They will teach you how to cherish every moment in life and enjoy it while living.
surprise and leave a small tip to your favorite tarot reader here.
Thank you so much for reading, let me know your thoughts, feedbacks as well tipping and reblogs is well appreciated !! ♡
song from my shuffle playlist. ♡
࿙‌֒࿚࿙‌֒࿚࿙‌֒࿚ 𝓞 ops you already reached the end. ࿙‌֒࿚࿙‌֒࿚࿙‌֒࿚
PILE TWO
1. Your romance trope with them
cards : seven of wands, four of wands, ten of swords, justice, nine of cups, fearless love, heart-to-heart conversation, last love.
possible romantic tropes : arranged marriage, blackmail things, fake relationship.
prompt : a two highschool students that develops likings into each other. Fell in love and out suddenly because of the responsibility and being too young. Redemption and spark going lit again, when they sees each other after a very long time.
There's a strong cardigan song vibes by Taylor Swift is outta here, especially the line where ‘‘you drew stars around my scars’’. It's feels like you two are too young for love and t get into the next level of commitment. I see here, a redemption of this love story. Falling apart to grow individually and then bringing back again to lit the love that have been started since they are young. Otherwise, if you already finished school you probably gonna break each other's heart. It will not be easy for the two of you. Other than that, I see an objections from family? They won't agree with this relationship. This is probably gonna hurt you so bad.
Your family or their family is probably thinking that this relationship is against the law? They just can't accept this connection and love that is growing between this two people. Maybe because you two have differences between each other and/or probably you two are belong to the same gender.
Typically challenges make this relationship go stronger and wilder. I see a strong interest with this two people. It's not just you and it's also them. If you are manifesting this type of person, there's like 70% that this probably might happen. You like to discuss your feelings, love and care with so much purity and truth with this person. You don't have to be afraid because this love is about taking a leap of faith, you will be tested about how you really love each other. In the end, this is your true love no matter how many hard phases you two will go through like a dramatic love story you might be watching online or in TV's.
2. Their love language and how they'll express it.
I only get gift giving and physical touch here. They probably buy you a lot of material things that you hold and cherished memories forever. Their small gifts makes you feel loved by them. They like to kiss you on your forehead and eyes, they think that's sweet and lovely. They're also type of people who will bought a flower on a store to give it to you in a special occasion. Their love language will make you as if you are their major priority in their life. If you are struggling with money, they probably gonna help you with that case.
surprise and leave a small tip to your favorite tarot reader here.
Thank you so much for reading, let me know your thoughts, feedbacks as well tipping and reblogs is well appreciated !! ♡
song from my shuffle playlist. ♡
࿙‌֒࿚࿙‌֒࿚࿙‌֒࿚ 𝓞 ops you already reached the end. ࿙‌֒࿚࿙‌֒࿚࿙‌֒࿚
PILE THREE
*For few people who were attracted to pile one, I'm here to remind you that you can read that as well.
cards : eight of pentacles, the magician, four of swords, page of pentacles, king of swords, ace of cups, responsibilities, falling in love, wedding.
possible romantic trope : enemies to lovers, love at first sight and arranged marriage.
prompt : it's a romantic suspense story about taking charge of the two people responsibilities.
There's a lot of hardwork with this two protagonist. Perhaps that there's a high chances that you and your partner might be an arranged marriage. The masculine energy here is the one who will sacrifice and do all the things to make this relationship work and to make this other person fall in love with them. They are the one who will offer the love to another person. They're the one who probably head offer heals ; love at first sight in general if I'm gonna describe it.
Even though you told this person to stop, they will work more harder. They don't want to stop, they want to be the one. This love story is belong with those type of stories you frequently sees on TV's, this is a life-changing love. This is a whirlwind romance like pile one. The one that will fulfill your cup with love and care you are longing for. Your future spouse (lover) is a dominant individual - they can be working in the field of law or writer. They might be good with the subject mathematics as well or anything related to math but I can't totally say that they'll a human calculator, this is probably type of person who is a fast learner.
With your married life, you two are very responsible. It's seems you are aware what you need to do or what job you should do with this marriage. There's so much respect and faithfulness with this two people which I really love.
2. Their love language and how they'll express it.
Their love language is quality of time and act of service. You two probably like to stargazing while lying down in a green grass or in a roof or walking in shore while holding hands, this is a beautiful moment (hope it you will totally experience this). Well, in your marriage life I do see here that the other person can't go to bed without the other person like they always go to bed at the same time. Also, you two like to massage each other's and they're probably the one that will get up first in bed to make you a breakfast. They will make/buy you, your favorite sweet treats.
surprise and leave a small tip to your favorite tarot reader here.
Thank you so much for reading, let me know your thoughts, feedbacks as well tipping and reblogs is well appreciated !! ♡
song from my shuffle playlist. ♡
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Made with love, Danise.
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mari-lair · 1 year
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Could you do an analysis on what Hanako’s life was like when he was human? And his relationship with the “fake” Tsukasa
As in the time gap between Tsukasa jumping in the hole and until he killed Tsukasa because in the 4pm book stacks, when spider face was cleaning up his wounds I see handprints on his wrists which kind of imply Tsukasa (or someone else) did…things
Also do you feel that the manga implies that sort of thing between Amane and Tsukasa too?
I am not very interested in Hanako’s relationship with Tsukasa, so I can't do a 'proper' analysis. But I’ll share some thoughts.
I personally don’t believe there is a ‘fake’ Tsukasa, he has always been weird, he never told anyone that the ‘god’ under the house copied his speech and he didn't show any hesitation or remorse about sacrificing animals to get his wishes.
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Which was all to grant Amane's wishes, a brother he decided he would die for since four. He has been obsessed with Amane since way before learning Amane would kill him.
The only thing the “God” inside Tsukasa seems to have truly done is stunt his growth (he still acts like a child) and give him knowledge a normal human shouldn’t know.
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Still, the horror child framing of this change is in the mom's point of view: Amane seems happy.
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And Amane’s joy remains for years.
When Nene travels to the past and meets Amane, who appears to be at the very least eight years old, it is heavily implied he didn’t come with his parents, just Tsukasa.
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At this point in the story, I don’t think he was being abused, physically or emotionally: He is eager to trust and help Nene, who is a stranger, and he displays a lot of confidence, honesty, and joy. Not being scared even when Nene try to steal his wishing paper.
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He doesn’t seem particularly troubled with his family either. He ever implies a member of his family is crazy, or shows intentions of wanting to use his slip to ‘heal’ them, as a kid as sweet as him would likely be inclined to do. He seems a bit lonely cause his bro was focusing on something else that he can't interrupt instead of keeping him company, but that's about it.
And in Shijima's world they are buddies, which would be... weird... if Tsukasa had hurt him.
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But I’ll be honest, considering how old this plot point is, Amane’s injuries are extremely vague. It could be anyone.
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Maybe something happened, and Tsukasa got violent, and clingy to the point of being hurtful, maybe his parents snapped and Amane couldn't blame family, maybe is a third party, maybe is a curse, I don’t know, I don't plan to re-read the entire manga to get a better feel on it, but since you asked for my opinion, I personally think this turn for the worst in his life is partially the red house fault, and partially Amane’s own actions.
Let’s rewind a bit.
Tsuchigamori, or spider face, said the only person to alter their own fate was Amane. Not Tsukasa, who was influenced by future Kou, or Nene, who is always seeing the past: Just Amane.
Changing the future is such a big deal it became Tsuchi’s yorishiro, the spider can’t get over it. So I would say it is important to consider Amane's ‘normal’ future.
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What changed Amane’s wish? What made him give up?
It wasn’t Tsukasa’s disappearance or reappearance. It was his meeting with Nene.
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These slips are a big deal.
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We are told they are rumored to make your wish come true in a land of supernaturals where every rumor so far was true. And that it is so hard to get all the five colors, that Yako was never able to, and she is an old spirit.
And the wording Amane used is... Concerning.
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As the astronomy teacher he was fated to be, Amane would have never met Nene again, and even in the case he was still teaching by the time she was a student, she would have not been an ‘onee-san’ anymore: He needed to die before 14 for her to stay an onee-san when they met again all those decades later.
I do think the red house and Tsukasa and so on plays a big part in Amane’s fucked up life, but it is strange he only got injured and “gave up going anywhere” after meeting Nene and putting his wish on the Tanabata tree.
We have no info on this part of his life though so it’s anyone’s guess.
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Sometimes you can really tell that people here will argue only from their First World POV, specially in regards to piracy.
Let's take books for example:
"You can get them in your library!"
Nope, not how it works here. Either the publisher has to get the rights and make an effort to distribute and the libraries consider it a good enough profit to put it on sale or the author has to do all that work by themselves. Luckily localization has become easier with time but even then that doesn't cover small and indie authors. And this applies to big franchise libraries like Ateneo or Yenny, do you think a local small library can afford all of that?
"You can request that books be added!"
Again, not how it works. If a library considers a book profitable they will sell it. You can ask if they have a book and they'll tell you if they do or don't and if MAYBE they'll have it and in most cases this, again, does not cover indie authors. You could make a movement to ask for copies of a book and or works of an author but that would be a whole lot of work for yourself and many others and they might still not take it.
"You can wait for them to restock"
That's true, I have tried that. It takes between three months and never because they deem it not profitable anymore and not worth selling anymore but they won't tell you if you ask.
"You can ask the author themselves to sell it to you or make some kind of deal"
Okay, let's consider first that this direct approach requieres for someone to be: 1)fluent enough in the author's native language to communicate with them, 2)for the author to have the time to actually negotiate with everyone that asks and 3)That that copy will not be in my own language and again I would need to be fluent in at least one language that isn't mine, specially because I'm assuming you're talking about USA authors and, this might be a shock to you, not everyone speaks English. And second, you might have nothing to offer as a bargain because you're not a reviewer and have no platform to speak of because why would you need to be an influencer to get a fucking book? So you're stuck with paying for the book full cost AND shipping which is fucking expensive. You could argue that the author might be willing to pay for the shipping out of their own pocket but not only does this mean a loss for them sometimes shipping depending on the country can be as expensive as the book itself therefore in this scenario there's no profit for the author, but also in some countries they will tax you for a book when it gets there even without shipping so one way or another you are paying more for it.
"But they could email you a pdf of the book"
Okay, let's consider again that this means still needing to go through all the work AND the copy might not be available in a language I can understand, we finally get to the crux of the topic and the main reason I wanted to make this post. Do you have ANY idea with what kind of economy we're dealing with? I'm not asking you to be an expert, I'm asking you to consider that you live IN THE RICHEST FUCKING COUNTRY IN THE WORLD. I don't care how bad the economy is there right now how bad do you think people in a third world country have it? Argentina's been having an inflation of over 40% for the past 8 years do you even know how many pesos is a dollar? No, you don't, here it is: 1 dollar=208 pesos. This will be absolutely obsolete by next week not yo mention a couple of months or years. And this is one kind of dollar, our economy is in such shambles that we have five different changes for dollars here. Do you think I have the money to buy that many books? Thank God resources like book depository exist where you can easily buy and be confident the book will get there but it's still full price and still only in English, and again still not a library here.
I am sorry for the situation of authors and indie authors in particular I really am, the way things are now they can barely make a scent and it shouldn't be that way. But also, as much as this may be a shock to you, the world does not revolve around the USA and if I want to read the books I want to read I have to either flip a coin with many libraries here and HOPE they have it or I pirate it, because if I can't then I can't read it.
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literaticat · 6 months
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My debut came out a couple months ago and has sold over 16,000 copies so far, which I thought was pretty good? But I never hit any lists, sales are starting to slow down a bit, my imprint isn't promoting my book anymore, and my option offer is for 35% less than my original deal. I'm feeling pretty pessimistic and frustrated (which I suspect might be normal based on talking to other published friends, but it still sucks) and would appreciate any words of advice or encouragement you have for authors hitting the post-release sads.
(I found this in my drafts and for all I know the OP has solved their problem by now, or written in with a similar-sounding but different ask that I answered -- sorry! But hey, I kinda like it, so here we go anyway.)
I don't know if I have it in me to be a rah-rah cheerleader sweetheart here, my advice/encouragement might be a bit more of a cold-water-to-the-face type deal.
-- You are sad about "never hitting any lists" -- but most books don't, you know that, right? Nobody expected your debut book to hit a bestseller list. If it had, they absolutely would have celebrated like hell, but nobody was counting on that -- so maybe recalibrate your expectations around those kinds of things. Lists, awards, etc, are out of your control -- file them under "not happening" -- so if one day they do, you can be appropriately thrilled!
-- Sales are starting to slow down and your imprint isn't promoting it anymore -- sure, that happens, and is normal. Most of the "buzz" around books happens in "the release window" -- aka, near release time when the book is new -- at this point your book is no longer new, and your publisher has newer books to promote. While YOU can and should keep talking about your book to the extent you're comfortable, it's not surprising the publisher has kinda moved on to other books. (Though of course whenever cool things happen, like you get an award, or a great review, or whatever, that will be another potential "buzz" moment -- and you never know when some random TikTokker doing a review of your book will go viral or something! But again, you can't control that, so you kinda need to let it go.)
-- You've been offered less money for your option book -- that for sure happens, particularly when the first book sold for an unusually high price. Like if you got, say, 80k for the first book, which is significantly above "normal" for most books, and now they are offering 55k for the next book, (which is still above normal for most books!) it probably means you are just not close to earning out the first book yet, OR, this next book is a real departure and in a less-popular genre or something. Am I right about any of this?
In any case, though what they offered is out of your control, there IS a certain amount of control you have over next steps. I'd suggest you talk to your agent about it. Is what they offered insulting / way off-base for the kind if book that it is? Would it be a good idea to put a pin in this and wait it out to see if you earn out this year? Should you decline the offer and try your luck elsewhere? OR, is this actually a good offer for the kind of book it is, and a good publisher/editor, and you DO want to proceed? I don't know the answers here at all, obviously, since I am not in your shoes and don't know all the info -- but hopefully your agent will have great advice for you.
Do you see a theme here?
The things that are out of your control are legion, and while it's totally natural to have feelings about them, it's quite draining to give all your emotional energy over to freaking out about them long-term. Indulging long-term frustration and pessimism is damaging to your mental health, and keeps you from doing things that are actually IN your control. (Like, writing a killer next book, for example!) -- so I say, feel your feelings, but also, do what you have to do to let them go so you can move forward.
Let's do the serenity prayer, Publishing Edition:
Book Gods, grant me the serenity to accept the things that are out of my control -- the courage and energy to do the things that are in my control -- and the wisdom to know the difference.
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krickis · 5 months
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Tension Points print edition (now with link!)
So I've already made a post like a year ago that Tension Points has a print edition. I'm just yoinking the photos of that and giving some new info for y'all. You can now buy the book directly from Lulu, you do not need to contact me or PayPal money directly to me anymore! You haven't in like a while, I just don't think I ever said that here... More info below!
So for about a year, I worked pretty tirelessly on a Tension Points print edition. I made it publicly available on Jan 1 of 2023, though at the time, I couldn't figure out how to let people buy it from Lulu without sharing it on the open Lulu market. If you search Lulu for Tension Points, you will not find it; you need a direct link.
The link will be below, but first let's share some photos and such! I took all these a year a go but like the book has not changed in that time lmao
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This book is roughly 350 pages, hardcover. The actual book under the dust jacket is a tad boring (solid red with gold letters) because that's what Lulu offers. But the dust jacket is gorgeous, all artwork by my good friend @renrink​ . On that note, it is not lavishly illustrated; there is a full page black and white illustration opening every act, and a final one at the end of the story, for four illustrations (plus about the author/illustrator images).
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I will not be asking for extra money for myself on this book, which is sold at cost. I will not profit off it in any way unless you feel so inclined as to send extra money. Which I won’t ask you to, and I won’t try and guilt you into it. But if you want to support me financially by buying this book, it is up to you to decide how much extra to send to me, which can be done by PayPal through this link: paypal.me/evilbun
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If for any reason you cannot buy through the link below, then you should get in touch with me and I'll see what I can do. But it should be pretty straightforward for ordering it! Note that if you want something special, like a personalized note or whatever (lmao my ego, it grows ever larger) I'll need to have your book shipped to me first and then ship it to you, as I don't exactly keep spare copies on hand lol, which like I can do but the double shipping will also need to be paid for. Contact me before buying, obviously (and if you bought the book already and want a note added to your copy, contact me over that as well and we can work on it).
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I think covers it! If you have any questions, I'm always happy to answer them. But anyway, here's that link for y'all!
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zannolin · 18 days
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Bunny Saturn kiwi (CANT COPY PASTE SORRY)
this is fun its like a scavenger hunt
🐇 ⇢ do you prefer writing original characters, reader inserts, or a mix of both? 
ehhhh neither really. this is not to say i haven't done either (a secret for anyone who has read my tma fic: i literally put myself into my gerry keay character study) but my general preference is being boring and Only using canonical characters for anyone who is named and important to the story. i'll do background OCs for stuff like idk the cashier in my national treasure grocery store fic, also ANOTHER tidbit for anyone who read the nt polyfic: there's an "OC" named claire in there who i was just like eh fuck it it's claire redfield from resident evil while writing bc i thought it was funny. i used to write soooo many reader/self inserts but i don't usually do it. i'm very much a buckles-down-on-one-single-canon-character-or-dynamic-to-the-exclusion-of-everything-else gal.
🪐 ⇢ name three good things going on in your life right now
well i'm getting a paper published which is very cool! next month i get to go see the US total solar eclipse and i'm excited 'cause i saw the 2017 one too so this is a symmetry moment. annnnnd hm. i've been given the okay from my advisor to take a gap semester if i need it this fall which i think i do so i'm relieved about that.
🥝 ⇢ do you lie a lot? what's the most recent lie you told?
i dunno probably if saying "i'm laughing so hard" in the tags of a post when i only laughed in my head counts. i don't like lying because i have anxiety and catholic level guilt or something but i used to do it soooo much as a kid like i'd lie about having read book series my friend loved bc i didn't want to read them but wanted to let her talk about them to me. i don't do it so much anymore because again, hate doing it. i'm really good at it in card games tho. technically the most recent lie i've told would be relating to being closeted lol.
ask game!
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gender-trash · 11 months
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last november/decemberish i made the egregious mistake of asking my dad if there were any out-of-print technical books he wanted me to print and bind as a christmas gift, especially given that i now have a wide-format printer; turns out the answer was "yes, many," and he sent me three crusty-ass pdfs of which i selected the least crusty.
however
it pains me, deep in my soul, to turn out a work product with my name on it that's That crusty, and some of the photos etc. (originally meant to be full-color) weren't parseable anymore. so i got my grubby hands on a copy of the original via interlibrary loan (there were EXACTLY three copies in the link+ system which covers a bunch of public and university libraries in the bay area, and i ended up with santa clara university's, which was kind of neat because Back In The Day i took a bunch of physics and math classes at SCU) and manually photographed every image in it on my phone (best camera i have). then i spent approximately the week prior to christmas in a deathmarch slog 1. de-skewing, color correcting, and pasting in all the photos in god's worst pdf editing software (xournal++), 2. retyping all the image captions (originally printed in this lovely dark red that got viciously mangled by b&w scanning) and screenshotting them + pasting them in, and 3. for those photos that are sufficiently clean or unimportant that i don't need to edit + paste in replacements, but that have large black areas in them, covering them in semitransparent white rectangles so i don't wind up printing big black areas on my poor inkjet.
needless to say, this is the worst, most tedious process i can think of except for actually re-typing and re-typesetting the entire book in latex, a process which tempts me every time i work on this albatross around my neck. i only got through part 1 of 5 before christmas so i gave my dad a different book (bought from the bookstore, like a loser) and the promise that i would Definitely have it done by his birthday.
and then i stopped working on it for several months because IT SUCKED AND I HATED IT SO MUCH
and then partway through april i was like "oh shit, his birthday is in two weeks". so now every evening is this cold war with myself where sometimes the project wins and i piddle through another section of part 2 and sometimes procrastination wins and i do a medieval twin-cord binding of my immortal. anyway his birthday was technically today but we are celebrating it next week so i have a LITTLE more time to get the bitch done
whenever i complain about it to my dad he's like "just give up!! just print it as-is!" (accompanied by profuse apologies because he didn't mean for me to go to anything like this much effort) and on the one hand it would feel like giving up but on the other hand i would be FREE OF THE ENDLESS TORMENT but on the third hand there would be a VERY visible delineation halfway through the book where you can tell i Just Didn't Care Anymore
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lost-decade · 7 months
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Reading asks! Thank you to @verycoolwearsleather for the tag 😘
An estimate of how many physical books I own: Surprisingly not that many. I'd say around 100. I did have a lot more but took them all to the charity shop before I moved to London and haven't accumulated a very big collection since. Although I do have a weakness for big glossy photobooks.
Favourite author: Hmm, I wouldn't say I actually have one. My taste in reading is quite niche (ideally contemporary literary fiction but set in the early/mid 20th century, about real life rich beautiful people gallivanting around Europe falling in love with each other, blended with fictional characters and with a queer slant). Villa America by Liza Klaussmann certainly fit that brief. Big fan of Scott Fitzgerald also, surprising no one, and Donna Tartt. Love Garth Greenwell too.
A popular book I've never read and never intend to read: I generally don't read popular books haha
A popular book I thought was just meh:
I wouldn't say it's a popular book anymore but I read the Godfather years ago and found it incredibly mediocre in comparison to the film
Longest book I own: I do have a copy of the Count of Monte Cristo somewhere but only made it a few chapters in and watched the miniseries instead.
Longest series I own all the books to: I think probably the Shadow of the Wind series by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, which I adored apart from the last book which I thought was never going to end.
Prettiest book I own: I have quite a few gorgeous coffee table books on photography, London history, architecture etc. And a couple that are full of cocks. For the beauty of the photos I'll say Collaboration, which is a collection of the photographs of Paul Camus, Jared French and Margaret French, which are stunning and surreal. They were artists and lovers who photographed each other and their friends on Fire Island in the late 1930s. Some of which can be seen here: https://www.pineshistory.org/the-archives/art-history-paul-cadmus-jared-amp-margaret-french
Also I treasure my copy of the Duran Duran World Book, which documents their 1988 world tour.
A book or series I wish more people knew about: What Belongs to You by Garth Greenwell, which is about an American teacher who falls in love with a Bulgarian sex worker he cruises in a public toilet in Sofia. Also, Cleanness by the same author, which is an interconnected short story collection.
Book I'm reading now: I've just finished The Destroyers but Christopher Bollen, which kept me guessing but ultimately ended a bit flat. I'm also reading All Down Darkness Wide by the poet Sean Hewitt, which is a memoir, but I know it's going to get depressing as hell so probably need to step away from that one for my mental health and read something a bit more cheerful.
Since watching the recent Interview with the Vampire series I've started reading the Anne Rice books too. Finished book 4 a month ago and taking a bit of a break from the series for now.
Book that's been on my TBR list for a while but I still haven't got around to it: I keep meaning to go back to The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles, which I attempted to read twice and couldn't get into. Also the Captive Prince series by CS Pacat.
Do you have any books in a language other than English: not that I can think of.
Paperback, hardcover, or ebook?: I prefer paperbacks and have been reading more physical books lately, but also use my kindle from time to time.
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tonberry-yoda · 2 years
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why hawks is the worst character in MHA - an essay :)
Good morning folks! I am absolutely over hawks ngl. lmao. I hand wrote this beautiful essay a while back and thought i'd post it here, so please enjoy my hawks slander!
WARNING!
There are a lot of major spoilers for the manga in here, so if you are not caught up, don't read if you don't want any spoilers.
Alright, let's get this going lol
Hawks, or Keigo Takami as some of you may know him is SO OVERRATED FOR THE ABSOLUTE TRASHBAG HE IS!!!
Hawks, the #2 hero in Japan, Tokoyami's (really bad, might I add) mentor, a spy for the heroes, blah, blah, blah. He may sound like an okay character and I will admit that at first, he was very interesting. A character who is meant to be a spy and practically join the villains sounds AWESOME! But to call Hawks a hero, especially a highly ranked hero only makes what he does 10x worse.
I want to start off simply with his introduction. Hawks is introduced as a cocky young dude who wants heroes to relax. He is shown as a very talented hero who can do a lot of things in one sitting. Not bad, right? You're probably asking at this point why I don't like him. Well, I promise, it gets worse.
After being introduced as this amazing hero, he is shown as a spy who is getting info on the League of Villains and the Meta Liberation Army. He does his job by working with Dabi and "spreading the name of the MLA" by giving Endeavor (the #1 hero) an annotated copy of an MLA book with secret codes to get Endeavor to help stop the MLA and LoV. Not too bad, of course it's not, it sounds good. But just you wait.
While spying on the LoV, Hawks needed to gain Dabi's trust. How does he do this? By killing a hero, of course! Does Hawks kill a hero? No. But he takes the practically lifeless body of a recovering Best Jeanist (the #3 hero) and stuffing it in a bag to show Dabi. This obviously isn't great, but he was doing what he had to do for his country or whatever, so I'll let it slide.
But this.
THIS IS WHAT BOILS MY BLOOD ABOUT THIS MAN!
But first, I want to mention a very important rule for all heroes: you cannot kill anyone unless absolutely necessary!
So, on that note, I want to talk about Twice, or Jin Bubaigawara.
Jin is a member of the LoV, but I have never once associated this man with villainy. Ever. And here's why:
1.) He never kills anyone in the entire series
2.) He loves everyone he works with and is willing to do anything for them
3.) He does nothing but try to find his true self throughout the entire series and even ends up doing it
Jin and Hawks end up becoming friends when Hawks joins the league. They talk about some super deep stuff and Jin easily trusts Hawks.
In the war arc, as Tomura is busy fighting heroes and all the other villains are trying to help Tomura, Jin and Hawks are left alone. Hawks asks Jin to join the heroes as he believes that Jin has a lot of potential. Jin, after thinking for a moment, refuses. He sees the LoV as family and wants to be there for them. After this refusal, Hawks asks for a fight, which Jin also refuses. Jin didn't want to hurt a friend. Hawks didn't want to deal with anymore refusals and villains though, so he grabbed one of his feathers and KILLED JIN!! LIKE BRO WHAT?!?!?!
After that, Dabi finds his dead friend and burns Hawks' wings off. Well deserved if you ask me.
And if that wasn't bad enough, after Hawks recovers, he is still considered an amazing hero and is allowed to help with the villain situation after the war arc.
Hawks killed an innocent man for NO REASON and still got praised for it. I think he is an awful man and anyone who simps for him should... stop simping, simply.
He doesn't deserve to be a hero, let alone the #2 hero.
RIP Jin. And I'll attack Hawks even if it is only through words.
Thank you for coming to my TedTalk, have a wonderful day and don't forget to stay hydrated! <3
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joufancyhuh · 4 months
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14 &/or 18 for the book asks? :D
14. Did you binge any series this year?
Oh friend, I regularly binge. I consistently binge. I am so starved for dopamine that I will scarf down a 22-book series like ipotato chips. It's usually with comics but it's been known to happen with others.
Some of my binges this year:
Noodle Shop Mysteries Series by Vivien Chien. Super cute series, books were an easy read. I loved the characters, even if the love interest is a cop.
The Apothecary Diaries (manga). Amazing. Delightful. Full of fun. She is a gremlin child and I love her.
Mashle: Magic and Muscles (manga). Hilarious. 10/10. Be so strong that you can fake magic by sheer muscle power. Love it. Love the concept.
Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches. This series. Sigh. It's good but random books in the series don't have a kindle edition so I'm stalled again.
Duskwalker Brides by Opal Reyne. Monster loving at its finest. As an author, the next Anne Rice tho, which is ironic considering she took her inspiration from another series. Buyer beware.
Vicious Lost Boys by Nikki St. Crowe. You know the "don't like, don't read" advice? Well, this is a "this kink is not my kink why am i still reading this" situation that just sucked me in and I still don't think it's my kink but who can even be sure anymore.
The Promised Neverland (manga). At a certain point, I figured I was close enough to the end and just push through. I did. It was good. What an ending. Wild.
Assassination Classroom (manga). The art on the cover told me nothing so I picked it up out of curiosity and by the end, I was reading fanfic again for Nagisa and Karma. Old habits phoenixed again. Oops.
Love Me, Love Me Not (manga). Super cute and not full of drama? Not like the author's other series.
Red Riding Hood's Wolf Apprentice (manga). OMG IT'S SO CUTE WHERE ARE MY OTHER VOLUMES, I NEED THEM.
18. Some books you bought this year
I'd show you pictures if I wasn't in the middle of moving. The library sales get me bad. Plus, I get a lot of amazon gift cards through work that usually end up spent on some books. I'd say I bought over 50 books this year, but here's a few:
Sex With Kings by Eleanor Herman. Back when I was driving lyft, a lesbian and I hit it off over books and she recced me this one. I found it at the library sale and snatched it up.
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo. I really enjoy her writing and the wait times on this book are long, so I went ahead and bought it when I saw it at the sale.
Black Butler v. 1 & 2. I found a comic shop around here that does good used manga discounts and for my birthday, I took in my own and got a bunch of credit. I had always wondered about the hype of this series. I've only read volume 1 but it gives strong Godchild vibes (I like Godchild more tho, sorry).
The Haunting of a Duke by Chasity Bowlin. I was real excited to read this when I bought it but I just haven't had time or energy. But yes, give me more paranormal historical romance! Give me more Halloween-esque historical romance!
Dinosaur Sanctuary. I bought this as a birthday gift to myself. A manga with dinosaurs and I didn't know??? And it's super cute! Jurassic Park if it was treated more like a zoo and less like a resort. I can't wait to read more. I need to convince a library to carry it so that I don't have to keep buying (I'm considering buying physical copies).
Thank you so much for the ask!
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s-nebul0sa · 6 months
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Thank you for tagging me, @ekingston! Took me a while, but better late than never.
Nicknames: Neb, Nebithy, Snowflake Iris
Zodiac: cancer
Height: 168 cm (this is very average where I'm from but my foreign friends tell me I'm tall, which is nice to hear when your other friends are all taller than you)
Hogwarts house: Ravenclaw/Slytherin, though I could maybe also pass as Hufflepuff if I attempted, and I'm not really a fan of this franchise anymore so I'm trying to distance myself from it.
Last thing you googled: New York Pizza The Netherlands
Favorite music: I'm having a Disney songs phase again, but in general I like pop and poprock of most kinds.
Song stuck in your head: Op een onbewoond eiland - kinderen voor kinderen
Following: 475 (but so many abandoned ones)
Followers: 724
Do you get asks: Barely ever, though I did get some when I asked for ficlet ideas! (Still haven't finished the last one because my brain wants to make it into a bigger story than I have time for)
Amount of sleep: about 8-9 hours a night but I could use more.
What you’re wearing: Cable-knit sweater, jeans, an oodie (oversized hoodie from blanket material).
Dream job: screenwriter in a team or something with kids and science
Languages: Dutch and English. I can understand some German if needed but not that well, and I cannot speak it even if I tried. And I could probably say some simple things in Swedish, Spanish and French if needed but I don't know if anyone would understand what I tried to say.
Random fact: you can use dish soap, salt, water and ethanol to isolate your own DNA at home if you want. (Curious? I even found a YouTube video with step by step instructions for you to copy because I wondered if this already existed. It does.)
Aesthetic: Books, organised mess, cute things, grey but also colours, softness, comfort, boardgames.
I'm tagging @sincerity--extreme, @battenthecrosshatches and @zoeekar. If you weren't tagged and want to join, just pretend like I did tag you and if I did tag you and you don't want to join, just pretend like I did not tag you.
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qqueenofhades · 2 years
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Out of curiosity, how much do you know about the ancient Near East, particularly the religion? I had the idea for a novel that started off in Akkad (and goes through a five-thousand-year-long love story/drama about an immortal woman and a man who remembers all his past lives, and how they keep finding and losing one another, and eventually come to break the curse). But I don't want to necessarily rely on the old "use the sources from the Wikipedia article" method of research. There are multiple historical (and a couple of future) settings in the novel, but I haven't nailed down much yet except that it starts in the now-lost city of Akkad during the reign of Naram-Sin.
Mainly what I'm asking is, do you have any recommendations for places to start doing this kind of research? If I do end up writing this, I want it to be an accurate picture of what these societies were actually like, rather than a shallow Google search that might be glaringly wrong.
Hmm. This is, unfortunately, quite far from my usual area of expertise, so I can't give you any subject-specific resource or database recommendations. I will say, however, that "use the sources from the Wikipedia article" is not at all the worst strategy in the world. There are obvious ones that you can filter out, like the link to people's personal websites or random 19th-century newspapers and obviously outdated scholarship (the reason you see the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1911 cited so much is that it's one of the volumes in public domain and thus accessible to read for free, but to say the least, scholarship on most issues has advanced since the Catholics in 1911). But most quality Wikipedia articles will have a lengthy bibliography/reference/extended reading list with genuine scholarly resources of relatively recent vintage, and I myself often use this tactic as a general starting point. You also aren't expected to give yourself a PhD in the subject to write a historical fiction novel, and nobody's going to read it expecting an accurate anthropological report, but yeah, of course it's always good to do some work and research.
Other places where you can look for resources, some (but not all of which, alas) will be free and offer most of the text online, include:
JSTOR (the original). Last time I looked, they had a pandemic-era provision where anyone could read 100 articles for free in a year, but I'm not sure if they're doing that anymore. It can quickly get expensive to pay for access to individual papers, so obviously we want to avoid that if we can, but JSTOR also has reasonable monthly subscription rates, wherein you can pay for one month, go in and get what you need, and then end if needed.
Google Scholar, which searches specifically for scholarly papers and publications, rather than just whatever some random peon has decided to slap up on the subject. Also, academia protip: if you discover something that looks really interesting, but you don't have the credentials to read it, search the author's name, see if they have a current email address, and if so, contact them directly and ask if they would be willing to send you a copy. I have obtained multiple papers that I couldn't get elsewhere via this tactic, since academics LOVE to share their work and to hear that people are actually finding it/requesting it/wanting to read it.
Google Books is also a place to find at least some useful titles, though it's everything published in any era and may or may not be current, scholarly, or relevant. However, there are usually good chunks of chapters or articles that can be read for free, and it's worth browsing through.
The University of Chicago Press website hosts subject-specific journals in multiple academic/humanities fields, including anthropology and archaeology, history, medieval and renaissance studies, and general humanities. You would also find it useful to have a click through, search for some keywords, and see which articles turn up. This is a case where it would be useful to have university credentials to get access to full text, but again, if you find something that looks interesting, try to find the author's contact information first and see if they will send it to you.
Anyway, I hope that is somewhat useful, and happy researching (and writing!)
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rambling-willow · 2 years
Text
Sneaking around
Paring: Nick Nelson x Charlie Spring 
Summary: Charlie's parents don't allow him to stay over with Nick, but when they did't want to part, Charlie came up with some plans. The first time he managed to keep Nick in his room, the second he finds a way to stay at Nick's place.
Word Count:1.1K
AO3 link
Staying at Charlie’s
Nick and Charlie were sitting on Charlie’s bed, watching a film. Nick pressed pause.
“I’m going to get a drink,” Nick said. “Do you also want one?”
“Yeah, thanks,” Charlie responded. He checked his phone for new messages and saw that it was already past ten. Charlie’s parents wanted Nick to leave at ten, which was way too early in Charlie’s opinion. “Nick, you should have left six minutes ago,” he sighed.
“Really?” Nick threw himself on Charlie and hugged him. “I don’t want to leave you.”
“Now you sound like Olly,” Charlie laughed and hugged him back. “I wish my parents would let you stay the night.” He glanced over Nick’s shoulder at his bedroom window. “Too bad you can’t climb back through my window. Then I could hide you in my room tonight.”
Nick let Charlie go as he looked at his window. “I consider myself athletic, but that is even too hard for me. Why can’t you just have a trellis I could climb on?”
“Do you really want to stay?” Charlie asked. “Because I do have another idea.”
Nick and Charlie were standing in the hallway. Nick bent down and grabbed his shoes.
“I can’t wait to see you again,” Charlie said.
“Don’t worry, we will see each other at school tomorrow.” Nick got up. Charlie opened the front door.
“I will miss you!” Charlie was yelling out the door as Nick started to sneak upstairs while holding his shoes. He looked up at the stairs. Tori had appeared. Nick put his finger in front of his mouth, hoping she would keep silent. She gestured that she would keep her mouth zipped. “Thank you,” Nick mouthed.
“I will miss you most!” Charlie yelled and Nick finished walking upstairs. Charlie closed the door and walked to the kitchen. Tori was still standing at the top of the stairs processing what she just witnessed.
Charlie walked into the kitchen, filled a glass, and chugged it down. Then he refilled it. He noticed that his mom was looking at him.
“Thirsty,” he said.
“Shouldn’t you have offered Nick a drink before he left?” Charlie’s mum said.
“It was already late,” he said and left the kitchen without giving his mum the opportunity to say anything in response.
Back in Charlie’s room, Nick was already sitting on Charlie’s bed, with the laptop on his lap and earbuds plugged in. Charlie handed Nick the glass and sat down next to him.
“Mission succeeded,” he said as he leaned against him. “Now we have to find a way to sneak you back out tomorrow.”
“You have seen that I can be very stealthy. Before you know it” — Nick handed Charlie his drink, put the laptop on top of Charlie’s lap, grabbed the duvet, and hid underneath it — “I’m gone.”
Charlie laughed, put the laptop on the floor, the drink on the nightstand, and joined him under de covers. “So stealthy, I almost didn’t see you leave,” he laughed. Nick kissed him, accepting that, knowing Charlie and him, they probably still would need to finish the movie another day.
Staying at Nick’s
Charlie let out a big sigh. “And she likes Darcy now? I don’t get it anymore.” Charlie was sitting on Nick’s bed.
“And that’s why one reads the SparkNotes.” Nick closed his homework and got up from the floor. “Nobody has time to read Pride and Prejudice anyway.”
“Hey!” Charlie yelled. “It is a classic. And Isaac read it for fun.”
“But Isaac doesn’t have a boyfriend that wants attention.” Nick sat down next to Charlie and held his cheek. Charlie closed the book and pressed his lips against Nick’s.  
When they were done making out Charlie asked, “What shall we do next? And don’t say homework.”
 Nick checked the time. “You already have to leave in ten minutes,” he sighed.
“Really?” Charlie put his copy of Pride and Prejudice into his bag. “Do you think your mom minds I stay the night?”
“No, but yours does,” Nick stated.
“Give me a moment,” Charlie said. He fetched his phone and messaged Tori. “I have a plan.”
“I noticed that I like your plans, so go on.” Nick looked at Charlie’s screen. 
Charlie: weird question, but have our parents drunk any wine tonight?
Tori: Idk
Why do you need to know?
Charlie: can you just check?
please??
Tori: You owe me.
“What is your plan? Asking Tori to get your parents so drunk they agree in letting you stay?” Nick asked.
“No,” Charlie laughed. “Just one drink will be enough.”  
Tori: And yes, they are drinking right as we speak
Charlie: THANK YOU X
Then Charlie opened the chat with his dad. “And for part two of the master plan.”
Charlie: i should get home soon, but i just hurt my ankle walking nicks dogs. can you come to pick me up?
Dad: Are you alright?
Charlie: it is just a little sore. i just need to give it some rest
Dad: we can’t pick you up, we have had a drink.
Are you sure that you can’t walk?
Or can Nicks mom bring you home
?
Charlie: no, she can’t.
Charlie started typing an explanation.
“No, not necessary,” Nick said. “Unless he asks, we don’t need to explain everything.”
“You are a great partner in crime.” Charlie deleted the draft and typed in a new message.
Charlie: i could stay at nicks and get home tomorrow?
Dad: Let me talk to you mum
While Charlie was waiting for an answer, he got a new message from Tori.
Tori: You didn’t sprain your ankle, did you?
He didn’t respond. He stared at the messages as he rubbed his thumb on the side of his phone.
About a minute later he got another message.
Tori: Congrats
And you owe me double
Charlie looked confused. Then he saw a message from his dad pop up.
Dad: Alright, you can stay the night this time.
Don’t do anything we wouldn’t approve of!
“I can stay. I don’t know which strings Tori needed to pull there, but it worked,” Charlie said to Nick. “But I think we are not allowed to have sex?”
“I can live with that.” He laughed and stared at Charlie.
“What?” Charlie wondered why he was looking at him like that.
“I just realised I get to hold you all night.”
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kujakumai · 2 years
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What does your necrovalley deck look like? Ive been trying to find the right combo of cards in it but it's tough!
My deck is frankly overstuffed and inconsistent but it looks like this:
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You can't see the text on these but most of these are common or in the gravekeepers archetype so I'm sure you can find them (or just ask me if you need to, lol). The only important ones that aren't common or gk are Demise of the Land (which I highly recommend, almost mandatory) and Dark Illusion (which is okay and niche useful, I've swapped it in and out at various times).
If I wanted to make this more consistent, aka good, I'd swap out Visionary for another Descendant and jettison Guard, maybe add cat of ill omen, but I like having a diverse deck with flexible strats because it is fun for me. I am worse on purpose. Whoops.
As far as combos I'd recommend:
-If you do not have Quintet Magician already, get it. You won't use it often but when the stars align it is excellent.
-Book of the Moon is not only good for defense but can let you double-up on the effects of Spy or Guard.
-The Iron Wall, AKA: Opponent attacks Spy; Spy flips and summons Nobleman; Attacks Nobleman, which on destruction summons a second Spy facedown; Attacks Spy, which flips and summons Headman, which summons the first Spy from the graveyard facedown. You have just taken three attacks, and can take a fourth, with 0 damage and you still have a free special summon next turn. Your opponent is so fucking mad.
-Spy + Descendent + Headman, all the time. Flip spy, summon Descendent, tribute Spy to destroy your opponents cards, summon Headman, Headman summons the first Spy facedown, tribute Headman to to kill another card. (or the reverse, if descendent is already in the gy: Flip Spy, use Spy to summon Headman, use Headman to summon Descendent and have him tribute the two of 'em.)
-There's a lot of other useful cards in the archetype I skip, notably: Ambusher, which recovers archetype spells and traps from the gy (I have two copies of Necrovalley and a copy of Temple, so I don't consider this worth it, but if you only have one Necrovalley you'll want him); Chief, which makes your own gy immune to Necrovalley (again, with Headman and Stele I don't think this is worth it, and I don't recommend putting a bunch of gy-dependent cards in your deck in the hopes you can get him out); and Shaman, which shuts down your opponents graveyard effects and ability to use field spells (this murders the hell out of Triamids but I took him out when they stopped being meta. If Triamids returns I will bring him back with a vengeance).
-Tons of cards intended for the magician archetypes only specify "spellcaster" (like apple and lemon magician girl), so they'll work with gk monsters! I don't use them anymore because I have more consistent gk cards but I used to rely on them a lot, and you might find them worth having.
-Priorities are always Necrovalley + fusion summon your big boi + get Hidden Temples on the field. Use other effects as needed to hold back your opponent while you do that. Not sure what else there is to say!
glhf!
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