#affinity photo is weird to use

[gawki]

Put a tiny horn on an opossum

#opossum #unicorn #artists on tumblr #doodle #drawing #digital art #affinity photo is weird to use #an attempt #woman #that is a filler tag #iykyk #hidden moon #painting

[thatstonedwriter]

The Ace up my Sleeve

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

A/N- Apologies for the wait. I hope I was able to do justice for this request. If any revisions need to be made, I'm more than happy to take suggestions/critiques. Enjoy <3

Contents; asexuality, romantic, polyam relationship, mentions of relationship insecurity, comfort/fluff

Feat; Fizzaroli x Ozzie x Reader, Blitz, Stolas

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The occupants of Hell, as horny as they can be, are no strangers to the rest of the LGBTQ+ community. No matter where you fall on the ace spectrum, when you come out, you're met with unconditional love.

Asmodeus said it best, "Lust shouldn't be about force. It's an art. To be earned, and enjoyed." There are many, many different kinds of intimacy and affection outside of the physical/sexual realms. Fizzaroli and Asmodeus would know a thing or two about that. As most people know, these two are big on communication. In fact, once you're all somewhat settled into the relationship, y'all set up a time to actually talk about the expectations you each have going forward. This is probably when it comes out you're ace. No matter where you fall on the spectrum, Fizz and Ozzie are happy to accommodate you. Even if you're not involved with the sexual aspects of the relationship, they make sure you're involved with everything else. Reading together, watching TV, playing games, partaking in substances, baking, going on walks, listening to music, you name it. There are so many other facets of a relationship that they're so excited to share with you.

Stolas is another who has to know early on. Likely occurs when he's flirting with you and notices you're uncomfortable. He's marginally better at communication (look at his texts with Blitz and try to disagree with me). If you don't bring it up, Stolas will, whether its in person or not. He wants to set clear boundaries so as to ensure your comfort and the stability of your relationship. Now, he's a passionate person who wants a passionate partner. But don't think that it exclusively applies to sex. Stolas wants to be wanted. He would love nothing more than to spoil you with nights spent on Alpha Centauri (pls someone get that reference), trips to your favorite sight-seeing spots, extravagant evenings spent in the shopping districts. Of course, passion can be found in the simple things, too. When you get him a thoughtful gift, write him a poem, take photos of him, set up a date, the list goes on. At the end of the day, he can't complain. As far as Stolas is concerned, as long as you love him, he's the luckiest being in every universe.

Blitz doesn't know until he absolutely has to. He's flirtatious, for sure. But lets also account for his affinity for being stupid (I say it with love). When you tell him, he's surprised (mainly because most of the people he knows are horny). It's actually a nice change of pace. It takes some getting used to, but he really enjoys learning about what else a relationship can be. It's new- having someone not just want him for sex or to steal things or kill people. Someone just wants him for who he is. Of course, that doesn't mean he knows how to show affection. Blitz is so used to being flirtatious and "weird," so have a spray bottle ready at all times. It's not that he doesn't respect your boundaries, its that he's afraid you'll leave. He doesn't believe someone could just want him for who he is, and he projects that insecurity onto you and the relationship. They key to things with Blitz is time and communication. No matter what though, he does love you, so much it makes him afraid. But it doesn't matter, because you love him too.

#helluva boss #helluva boss x reader #helluva boss headcanon #fizzaroli helluva boss #helluva boss blitz #blitz x reader #request #asmodeus helluva boss #stolas helluva boss #stolas x reader #fizz x ozzie x reader #polyam relationship #romantic attraction #romantic relationships #asexuality #writings.onthe.wall

[seafoamreadings]

week of april 14th, 2024

these are written predominantly for the *rising* signs but they are also intuitively "channeled" enough that they should work for any dominant energy you have! (try your sun if you don't know rising, or more advanced readers can try moon, anywhere you have a stellium, etc and see what works best for you!)

aries: you're on a post-eclipse wind-down. no matter what happened last week, although of course you must deal with it, i hope you are resting! the astrology is helpful with this - rest, nourish, it gives you strength.

taurus: mars sextiles jupiter and uranus in your sign, and meanwhile mercury in its retrograde conjoins your ruling planet venus. okay, mercury retrograde is not a crowd favorite. but overall this is auspicious for you; any change you need to make can be made. avoid grand actions, and actually avoid any action if possible, but make plans now to execute in a few weeks' time.

gemini: if you have been despondent or bummed out about mercury's retrograde, it does at least accomplish some nice little conjunctions. try to use the time well, even if it means spending a lot of time in your head. you don't have to go driving all around or sending a million emails to be productive.

cancerians: cardinal (especially aries) vibe rages on. but with that said it is a good time to beautify your public image. even if you don't go posting your headshots all over your linkedin or whatever, take a nice photo today, see how you feel. you can post it later or not. or now! or not. but at least see how it goes, or something similar if social media isn't pertinent to your social status.

leo: jupiter-uranus makes you a public persona. if you have wanted to develop an online presence, a political shift in the world, a legacy of any kind, sudden "viral" yet positive outbursts are likely for you around this week. you just have to give it the first little push.

virgo: although it is still a somewhat wild time it's actually a pretty sturdy period for virgoans, especially those with closer affinity to ceres than to mercury. if there is something you need to do or learn, it is a great time to lock in and get it done!

libra: venusian nodal activity means you're still not quite done with eclipse themes. hopefully that's not dreadful; hopefully it means great things are coming for you relationship-wise. there is also a jupiter-uranus conjunction in your 8th house, bringing positive changes to intimacy, magic, and/or shared resources.

scorpio: relationships are a very major focus at this time, with a lot of (mostly positive, try not to worry) changes but the end of the week also features a sun-pluto square in fixed signs. pluto is your ruling planet, but it is in aquarius at this moment. so these two bodies may well make a T-square to any natal scorpio points. it is uncomfortable but it brings about transformation, which in the end is kind of your whole deal.

sagittarius: the long-awaited jupiter-uranus conjunction happens in taurus this week. taurus is not a sign you are likely to feel much natural affinity or understanding with. but jupiter is your ruling planet - this is the biggest thing affecting you this week. try to live a little bit like a taurean, but one who embraces change and all the electricity alive in nature. be outside touching grass literally. the miracles then come easier.

capricorn: most modern astrology has you painted as something like a miser or suited up businessman but you're still the old god pan at heart. this week's jupiter-uranus conjunction brings that out of you - let it.

aquarius: even if you stay at home, the weirdness finds its way to you. so there's no need to alter your plans, although if you feel compelled to do so it won't hurt or keep opportunities away either. besides, weirdness has always suited you. this week's style of it is bold but benevolent. this is one of the last major uranian things of this uranus in taurus age, so enjoy it.

pisces: most of this week's events, large as they are, affect you only indirectly. have patience with others who are deeper in the trenches. not that compassion is any real difficulty for you. if you get the chance to volunteer to help someone it is good to take it.

#horoscopes #horoscope #weekly horoscopes #weekly horoscope #astrology #signs #zodiac #aries #taurus #gemini #cancer #leo #virgo #libra #scorpio #sagittarius #capricorn #aquarius #pisces

[burning-sol]

I assign the JRWI characters a social media.

You would think Exandroth would be on Twitter but no he is a Tumblrina and a very very toxic one. Somehow its blog has endured for a very VERY long time. You don't know how.

Rumi has an instagram I think that's obvious. It looks amazing. They have many followers. Sometime their story is a bit weird though, don't worry about that.

Peter actually has an ancient html site that he still updates and its coding is really average. He hasn't improved much over the years. You click through his gallery of rock photography with length captions about the processes that led to its formation. The still life painting page that he updated with blogs has "started over" typed on it like a bajillion times with photos attached of a new blank canvas.

Thanatos doesn't have a social media. He's normal.

William and Dakota have Twitter as stated in canon. William has 50 alts he uses to bully people he doesn't like. Dakota doesn't really touch his account but he posted once and has a fuck ton of followers now.

Vyncent has Snapchat primarily so that he doesn't become a stray kitty. They need to track him somehow. He sends you a photo "hlep 😿" and you see he's on the other side of the city. You tell Vyncent to stop using the cat emojis but for some reason his phone ONLY has cat emojis. It doesn't make sense. Help him.

Ashe goes on Fur Affinity and obscure internet forums. What more needs to be said.

Trickster has a pinterest where they never credit people and leaves mean comments on their pins and leaves mean comments on OTHER people's pins. Don't look at their boards it'll make you ill.

Chip, Jay and Gillion share an instagram account together and it's really cute. Their stories are WILD though and one time they went live and it was the worst thing anyone ever beheld. Nice photos of the sea though.

#📚 my posts #📌 thoughts #just roll with it

[but-thats-idiocy]

Hug the Angel

Some still blame Aziraphale for acting 'weird' and 'selfish' in the last 15 minutes. Now is the time to use empathy:

Imagine having a very dangerous, bigoted cult-like family where each member has the authority to kill and your father, a man above the law, carries a big gun*. Now, picture your celebrity crush – perhaps David or Michael – whose photos you browse on Tumblr daily while making inhuman sounds. One day, you discover that your celebrity crush loves you back. The Thrill! Unexpectedly, they give you your first kiss and express a desire to rescue you from that life, while your severely dysfunctional family witnesses the kiss and hears the entire dialogue. What would you do in that moment? How would your body react? Would you easily reciprocate with a hug or would years of trauma, fear and hiding make your body rigid? Would you caress your love or would your hands instinctively push away? If you resist, there's a 99% chance that both you and your crush will suffer. We're yet to ascertain if Metatron** is truly as unlikable as we perceive him to be, but that 'trauma' was Aziraphale's reality in that moment. His feelings were very similar to those of a closeted gay man who lives in a highly conservative town, being stripped naked by their lover in front of their murderous family members.

The camera showed us where Metatron was looking before TheKiss™, indicating that Metatron didn't go near Muriel for nothing:

Please put yourself in Aziraphale's shoes and rewatch before TheKiss™ for the 598743985th time. While it's true that Aziraphale wanted them both to go to heaven and take control, the reason he acted differently was because he knew The Voice of God, Metatron (therefore God) was watching them.

* Metatron came with coffee in hand. Since those in heaven perceived everything literally, they would either offer Aziraphale 'coffee' or 'death'. If the coffee gesture hadn't worked, Crowley would likely have been in danger.

** In contradiction to the previous viewpoint, considering that all of this is part of the ineffable plan and that Metatron is God's voice, Metatron may not be as bad as we perceive. Given that the ultimate war will involve Heaven and Hell against humanity, God (Neil?) is appointing Aziraphale and Crowley as the new leaders of Heaven and Hell, knowing their affinity for humans and their capability to safely guide humanity to a new location. Their cottage will be situated in South Downs, though South Downs won't remain on Earth anymore.

#good omens #good omens 2 #ineffable husbands #crowley #aziraphale #ajb #meta #headcanon included

[littjara-compleated-sage]

It's that page-filling time again! Weird Phyrexians 14-20! (Sorry for the weird light effect, I couldn't get a good angle on the whole page, so I'm reattaching a better photo of the top two below.)

14: Along the lines of tome lackeys, mites, and other small scurrying Orthodoxy servants, this one was simply made to be a bowl, carrying ichor or other liquids to partake in holy rituals.

15: This wiry creature has wrapped itself in stinking, decaying piles of discarded gore from the Orthodoxy's compleation chambers, topping it all off with a pilfered faceplate. Now, it wanders the rare dark corners of the Basilica looking for more flesh to add to its hoard.

16: Combination survey instrument and grappling hook, this Progress Engine device is used for detaining unwanted intruders. It features a prominent eye in the center, with its optic nerve wrapping up along the tentacle "arm". Smaller nerve bundles connect the eyes on the three claws to the center.

17: It's not too clear what this soft and goopy creature actually is, as it's a shy, quaking thing that's cloistered itself in the toughest shell it can find and added spikes and teeth to scare off others from investigating. Unfortunately, the ichorous tear trails it leaves behind make it easy to track. The poor thing has anxiety.

18: A helpful tool assistant from the Quiet Furnace, complete with tiny arms to hand off supplies to busy artisans.

19: This skite was of plot relevance in the New Phyrexia campaign I DM. It sucks up oil through its syringe and processes it in its abdomen, before the bulbs on its body change color to indicate the oil's mana affinity. It's how a core-born Swarm PC learned that she was in fact of Gitaxian descent.

20: Like a proto-Dominus, this being coalesced as an avatar of faith... but not the kind the Orthodoxy likes. Despite being white-mana-aligned, it shows itself to be something of a free spirit, and represents the faith of Phyrexians in themselves. This is deeply inconvenient to the Orthodoxy.

#mtg #magic the gathering #31 weird phyrexians #phyrexia #phyrexian #creature design #inktober #art

[kissingrhi]

give thoughts on reader being cute with Coop and js wanting to hold his hands all the time 🙏🙏🙏

i am a coop girlie so this is actually the greatest day of my life!

coop gets astronomically flustered whenever he is shown any sort of attention. he isn't sure if it's a weird, complex issue, or if his mind literally goes into overdrive after being the center of attention for more than like 10 minutes

he'll always push the spotlight onto someone else as soon as possible

so whenever you two first got together, your growing affinity and affection for him made him consistently stumble and stutter - to the point where he had to excuse himself to the restroom to beat his face with cold water

the first time you ever held his hand, it was only around 2 weeks into your relationship (which is apparently very soon to him).

it was moments before a championship game, and he was gripping the edge of a bench so hard you were sure his knuckles were turning white. his gaze was sinking further and further into the ground

without thinking, you slid your hand over to lightly cave around one of his, making eye contact as you pressed a gentle squeeze

he choked on his spit, of course, and looked at you with an expression you couldn't quite decipher

"thanks." was all he could awkwardly stutter, giving you a very odd pat on the back before going out to play

you could tell that he wasn't used to any sort of romantic affection, so you were empathetic. knowing it was something you had to ease him in to, much like every other aspect of his life.

from that point forward, pinkies barely touching turned to one of your hands over his, to fingers interlocking and clamping so hard you were sure your fingers were numb

he eased more and more into your relationship over time, as one does, and with that he eased into the gentle kindness of holding hands with you. it easily became his favorite form of affection

he loves fidgeting with your own fingers instead of his own.

like if his mind is preoccupied with something while he's cuddling with you, he'll just grab your hands and swing it across his chest and start paying attention to every detail of your fingers, while muttering about what's on his mind.

he'll be like, "and then - god, this bitch - he doesn't even pay me what he owes?" while pulling at your pinky, "i mean seriously, who does he think he is?" while cracking your knuckles

whenever he's especially stressed, needy, or anxious, pressing your hands against his face is his kryptonite

his eyes soften and he scrambles to put his hands right on top of your own, melting into your touch

loves holding pinkies when you walk together because he thinks it looks funny

"it's like two tiny dicks! interlinked!"

loves comparing hand sizes and curling his fingers over yours to make fun of you, especially during half-serious half-joking arguments

"yeah, you see that? your fingers can't even beat mine. beat it, twerp."

one time when he was blackout drunk he got ass-naked and made you stick your finger in his mouth and take a polaroid photo of him while making the goofiest seductive face you've ever seen

very silly man!

#joe cooper #coop cooper #baseketball #trey parker #baseketball x reader #joe cooper x reader #cooper x reader

[greenishghostey]

Hellfire Club Members Headcanons

Note: Okay so, I wrote in the tags of reblogging this photo that I made up names and backgrounds for everyone here, and @manicpixiedreamcurl and @lunatictardis, the gems that they are, encouraged me to post what I came up with so here it is!!!

Further Note: This post is about to be quite long and I'm only a little bit sorry because I'm far too proud of these. Also, the order of them is across the photo from left to right but I have provided descriptions so you know who is who!

Guy with the bandana around his head:

Name: Ethan (headcanon name)

General background: Ethan was Eddie’s right-hand man since Hellfire’s inception since they were in the same grade. You would never see one without the other. Ethan graduated in the class of ‘84 and decided to pack up his car to travel the west coast. He didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life, but he knew he needed out of Hawkins. Ethan sent Eddie postcards while he was travelling until he eventually settled down working at a record store in Reno. 

Ethan is similar to Eddie, and that’s one of the main reasons they get along so well. However, he’s a bit more subdued. He was never a big fan of drawing too much attention to himself but damn could the guy fight. Ethan was the original brawn of Hellfire, while Eddie was the brains. 

Most recent Hellfire Character: Ethan’s character is a sheltered Wood Elf princess named Thia. He wanted to try his hand at playing a character that was so different to him in every way. She is travelling to learn more about the world outside of her small kingdom and to prove herself as an able ruler when the time comes. Thia is a chaotic good Ranger with a particular skill for animal handling and languages. 

Note: Ethan is mentioned a bit in my fic series, Dungeon Master meet Prop Master, have a read if you would like!

///

Jeff:

Name: Jeff Fulton (headcanon surname)

General background: Jeff joined Hellfire in his sophomore year of high school after deciding to embrace his interests. He was bullied in middle school quite a bit because he liked D&D and was really into Drama/History. 

Jeff is a fairly quiet guy outside of Hellfire, where he is comfortable. Officially, he is the vice president of the Hellfire Club because they had to put together a club committee so they could use the drama room. As seen in the show, Jeff is not one for starting a fight but he will get involved if necessary. He plans to attend Indiana State to study European History when he graduates. 

Most recent Hellfire Character: Jeff’s character is a travelling, well-cultured Dwarf named Jeffrey of Birchthane. He is a neutral-good Druid and belongs to the Birchthane grove which is nestled between the Irongut mountain range. Jeffrey is very bad with animals. However, he has a strong affinity with deep forest areas and mountain ranges. 

///

Gareth:

Name: Gareth Campbell (headcanon surname)

General background: Gareth is the youngest member of Hellfire before Dustin and Mike join. He originally worshipped Eddie and Ethan and loved that he was friends with the cool older kids. Gareth is quite snarky and has a hard time holding his tongue on occasion. He’s gotten himself into a few fights over being dubbed one of the “freak’s disciples”. Gareth is very protective of Hellfire since it’s where he felt safe and comfortable when he got to high school. He used to be a quiet kid because he thought he was weird, but now he will always stand up for himself and others.

Gareth is really into physics and math. He’s always had a fascination with space and plans to apply to study Astrophysics somewhere on the east coast after high school. Gareth is the club treasurer even though they get zero school funding; he is in charge of making sure people get paid back for buying snacks and drinks to sessions. 

Most recent Hellfire Character: Gareth’s character is, as we know, named Gareth The Great. He is a lawful good, human paladin, who was originally a knight for the empire’s royal family. He has quite the stick up his ass, but he means well. His weapon of choice is a longsword and his charisma is shockingly low.

///

Unnamed Hellfire member from ST4:

Name: Simon “Si” Walker (headcanon name)

General background: Simon and Jeff are the same age and both on track to graduate in the class of ‘86. Simon is the quietest of the current Hellfire guys, not for any particular reason, he just enjoys keeping to himself. He’s a naturally gifted writer but is a little embarrassed to move on to being a storyteller. Simon and Eddie often share their work with each other. The two have similar taste in books and became friends when Eddie saw Simon reading ‘The Black Cauldron’ by Lloyd Alexander. Simon can read and write Tengwar, the script used in Tolkien’s fictional languages.

Simon wants to study English at college after he graduates but worries about leaving Hawkins. He also thinks his writing, both fiction and non-fiction, isn’t good enough to be taken seriously. Within Hellfire, Simon is the secretary, which he actually enjoys because he gets a title and doesn’t ever have to take meeting minutes. 

Most recent Hellfire Character: Simon’s character is named Rothgar Baljor. He is a lawful good, half-elf cleric who has devoted his existence to the immortal Sun Goddess, Sol Ola. Rothgar is quite the character since he’s still young and is on a journey of discovery for his church. He is naive but arrogant since the sun continues to shine on him - when it does that for everybody. He is a skilled healer but is not well trained in combat, both close and ranged.

///

Brunette guy in the denim vest:

Name: Nicholas, “Nick” (headcanon name)

General background: Nick is Eddie’s counterpart in terms of music - Nick really likes punk music, specifically British punk music. He looks up to Eddie quite a lot in terms of his beliefs; anti-establishment, anti-conformity, that sort of stuff. Nick has a hard time keeping his mouth shut, but he is also very friendly. He is aware that he looks a little scary and can come across as mean. 

Nick graduated in the class of ‘85 and moved to Indianapolis to try and make a name for himself as a punk singer. It went quite well and now he is part of a small punk group that tours various bars across the surrounding states. He hopes they can make it the New York City one day - Eddie said he was definitely good enough.

Most recent Hellfire Character: Nick’s character was a cunning, irresistible human named Nikolai. He is a chaotic good rogue who was inspired by Robin Hood - steals from the rich, and gives to the poor. His choice of weapons is two daggers that he was gifted by his beloved mentor. Nikolai has had charisma and dexterity for days but very little wisdom, sadly. 

///

Girl in the acid wash jeans

Name: Abigail, “Abby” or “Abs” (headcanon name)

General background: Abby was, and still is, the first girl to have been a member of Hellfire - she really prided herself on this fact. She was in the same grade as Nick and they got really cool graduation photos together with the entire club. Abby was a big chemistry nerd and went into Chemical Engineering at Indiana State when she graduated. Her passion for D&D started in middle school and she was hooked from her first one-shot session. Abby could become absolutely anyone she could think of, and damn right she was gonna be someone cool.

Abby was a talented storyteller and had the opportunity to run a handful of one shots with the club - Eddie trusted her to make some good material and keep everyone in line. She wrote some of the most twisted and captivating Halloween sessions and each of the guys had nightmares for days. Abby gave Eddie regular updates about the college D&D club she founded - he was super proud of her for keeping the Hellfire spirit going.

Most recent Hellfire Character: Abby’s character was named Bell Silverstring. She was a chaotic good, halfling fighter who was a warrior-for-hire around her home city. Bell was quite hot-headed and energetic, but she also got everyone hyped up and ready for a battle. Bell was a master with a short sword and was, arguably, the strongest character to ever grace Hellfire because of how well-built she was.

///

Name: Gordon “Gordo” or "Gordie" (headcanon name)

General background: Gordon was in the same grade as Eddie and Ethan. He joined Hellfire in his junior year after realising that his classmates weren’t all that scary. Gordon had a hard time in high school, so Hellfire really gave him a sense of belonging. He was part of the AV club before joining Hellfire and still is an absolute whiz with tech. He helped and taught Eddie how to repair audio equipment when his guitar pedals broke. After high school, Gordon moved to Chicago to study Audiovisual engineering at college. 

Gordon was also a really good bass player, having started playing when he started middle school. He tried out for Corroded Coffin once but felt that his style of playing wasn’t suited to metal - he was a fan of jazz/blues bass. This is why he was so good at fixing musical equipment and was the unofficial part-time roady for Corroded Coffin. But only on the Tuesdays when he had access to his dad’s car. 

Most recent Hellfire Character: Gordon’s character was named Goren Erfina. He was a neutral good, high elf bard who mainly worked as a wedding musician in his home city and the surrounding areas. As a high elf, Goren is viewed as a bit of a disappointment to his family since he has such a commoner career, but he just adores music so much and needs to share his with the world. Goren’s beloved flute and his comrades are all he needs on his travels. Also, he is oddly wise beyond his years, which is helpful in the group since they need some wisdom.

///

#eddie munson #eddie munson headcanons #hellfire club #stranger things #stranger things 4 #my writing #headcanons #oh my god this makes me look insane #I have fully lost my mind now #enjoy everyone!

[keganexe]

Okay I’ve learned a cool trick well enough to share it now

So I’ve been trying to do a lot of like physical manipulation to make cool digital effects for ttrpgs so I wanna show folks how to go from like this

to this

Using a combo of physical and digital manipulation. You’ll need a printer, a scanner, and something to cut with; and then I used the Affinity Suite for digital (especially photo), but you can probably do some similar shit with Adobe

The big things in here are “fucking up text with the scanner” and “creating threshold maps for texture and to hide issues”

so here we go

Okay so you’re gonna need a scanner I’m so sorry, but just print out whatever text (or images! It works on images too!) you can as big as your scanner bed will allow. You can go smaller, but you’ll lose a lot of sick texture on the way, and we don’t wanna do that tbh

The short version of this tutorial is “now drag it funny as the scanner goes down the page” but I’m gonna explain longer how that works practically haha

So print it out, cut off the white space on the left and right of the text to make it easier to work with (and I did under as well, but that’s less important). On the back of the paper with a pencil, mark the lines where you want the text to drag. For me that was above the midline on the E, but below the bottom of the top line

Like roughly here?

Set your scanner at a decent DPI, but beware the higher the DPI the harder this gets to do, because the super slow moving scanner light thing really highlights any amount of shaky. For my scanner the sweetspot is like 400 for good texture, but you’re gonna fuck up a lot doing it tbh so trial and error.

As the scanner comes though, keep the light between those lines, and drag it and wiggle it around! Just try to keep a consistent speed and have fun. After a number of scans you’ll pull something like this, there is a weird grey bit I don’t love and it’s gonna fuck us up just a little, but I’m gonna go over how I dealt with it as well~

Pull it into Affinity! If you have Publisher open it here, even if we are planning to work in Photo mostly, because the Persona manager is a life-saver when you’re doing cross program work.

So I first cut out the text, you don’t need to be super exact, but you only want the white paper, and the black text, not the grey of the scanner bed.

I usually then slap this text into a new document, because cropping is for idiots

then lets hop over to the Photo Persona~

Duplicate the layer that is just the text, lock it, and hide the bottom layer because we’re gonna start destroying shit and we want old copies that aren’t fucked up. With your fresh layer, hop into Adjustments>Threshold at the bottom of the Layers Menu, and drag around the preset until the text looks how you like. This gets us cool texture, but also hides that weird grey blob on the page from where I squeeze the paper during the scan and fucked it up some. For me that’s around here, but obv ymmv

After doing this right click and rasterize your later

Now at the top of Affinity go into Filters > Colors > Erase White Paper

Where this leaves you might be perfect on it’s own! For me there are some areas I don’t love, so now we’re gonna texturize the whole thing. I circled the areas that I don’t love, but the tldr is I need to hide my sins where I had fucked up the scan some, and as a result have no texture

So if we zoom in on the gain some it is strongly vertical instead of just square

If your grain is a different shape you’ll wanna find different stock for this, but this looks a lot like denim to me? So I’m going into the Stock screen (View>Studios>Stock will bring it up if you don’t have it enabled already, but it just goes to Pexels and Pixabay to grab images for you is the tldr) and grabbing a high quality scan of some denim. You’ll wanna resize it so the fabric texture is around the same size as what’s here already. This might mean making it smaller than the whole page and that’s fine, for me I just duplicated it till I had enough to cover the whole image, but the tldr here is “cover the whole page in denim or concrete or whatever texture you’re using”

If you used multiple images group them, rasterize the entire group, tldr make it one big image. Afterwards hop back into the Threshold page, and try to replicate the grain pattern! You’re gonna slap it over the whole image so don’t worry about getting it perfect. You want the image to be mostly white, with black as a the textured bits, BUT if you can only get it to mostly black with good white texture? Totally fine, you’ll just want to inverse the image at the end (I personally find this way easier, but like ymmv) 

anyway for me we ended up here

Because it’s mostly black we are gonna want to Adjustments>Invert on this. Same as before now we want to rasterize the image, and go to Filter>Colors>Erase White Paper. Set the blending mode to Erase

This whole thing requires a lot of patience, and a lot of trial and error, but eventually you’ll land on something like this

We aren’t going for a ton of texture, just enough hide some of our mistakes along the way

Group the whole thing, duplicate it, lock and hide the original again

Now on one group go ahead and rasterize it again, slap some color under it (or idk a book cover? That’s what this is for) and you’re good to go!

Anyway hope this is helpful, I do a lot of threshold maps on stock photos to get cool texture so I can zoom through this pretty quick, but like it takes some time and effort!

#uhhhh I need a skill share tag so im gonna make it #skillshare #yeah that'll do it #its nice not being on twitter because I can just do something like this without making a thread of it now

[blogger360ncislarules]

For Hilary Duff, this is what dreams are made of.

The Lizzie McGuire alum is pregnant with her and husband Matthew Koma's third baby together and her fourth child overall, she confirmed on Instagram Dec. 12.

Alongside a sweet family photo, showing Hilary cradling her growing baby bump, the "Come Clean" singer wrote, "Surprise Surprise!"

Hilary is already mom to kids Luca, 11, who she co-parents with ex-husband Mike Comrie, as well as her and Matthew's daughters Banks, 5, and Mae, 2.

This new chapter for the family comes shortly after both Hilary and Matthew, both 36, celebrated their eldest daughter's birthday.

"Banks- the sweet/spice/dancing butterfly of our family!" Hilary captioned her Oct. 25 Instagram tribute. "5 years of memories with you are burned on my heart and soul forever and begging for more! You are all the top ingredients! Whimsical, yet practical. Smart-clever-cautious, yet free! Thanks for being ours and for being weird and princessy all in one glorious package!!!"

"Gosh I love you so much!" the Younger star continued. "To the best big and little sister there ever was! Happy 5 my little cherry bomb ! I sure hope the next 5 go by a little slower, all the cuddles, tickles, Taylor Swift, brain teasers, treats and trampoline bounces 4life my queen."

Matthew also celebrated Banks' special day with a sweet message on his Instagram page.

"Being your dad is the greatest gift of my life and seeing every day through your rainbow tinted eyes has colored our family with all the good there is in the world," the singer wrote. "I'm blown away by your wit, kindness, heart, affinity for Dawes and I can't even imagine what magic will come along with your 5th year on this planet. I love you forever and when we let you have social media at 37, you'll see this post and maybe feel a little guilty for telling me you love mommy more all the time."

A few weeks prior to Matthew's shoutout to Banks, the music producer had penned another hilarious Instagram tribute for Hilary's birthday.

"It's wild to think this first photo of us was taken almost ten years ago," he joked, referencing a pic of Hilary and Ed Sheeran. "I remember it so vividly, it's almost like we didn't break up three times between then and now."

Matthew—who, after an on-off relationship, officially tied the knot with Hilary in 2019—continued, "You blow me away everyday with your ability to juggle the un-juggle-able… you do it with such ease & grace. You have an endless well of energy and patience that makes you the super-mom + super-wife you are, all while bringing your wildest dreams to earth level, then still somehow giving a shit about our dogs at the end of the day."

He concluded his message by noting how much of an honor it is to be on this journey with Hilary.

"We're the luckiest," he added, before joking, "our kids are gonna be so stoked when they find out Ed Sheeran is their real dad. #paidad."

#:) #hilary duff #lizzie mcguire

[liapher]

in love with your dta book binding and i find i am increasingly more invested in wanted to physically hold a copy of dta so i was wonder if you had any advice or resources (programs/materials/web sites) for beginners or like point me in the right direction if you don’t mind?

Okay so keep in mind I'm very much an amateur at both typography and bookbinding

Alright, typesetting. What I initially did was just open some of the books on my shelves to see how those were designed and just use that as inspiration. That absolutely worked, although there are some details I would now do differently. Last fall/winter I fell into a bit of a rabbit hole and read every typography book that I could find at my library. The ones i would actually really recommend are the following:

“The Elements of Typographic Style” by Robert Bringhurst. This one is a really nice intro to all kinds of typesetting details. It’s also pretty easy to find PDFs of this book on Google :-)

Jan Tschichold’s essays on typesetting and book design, if you can get your hands on them. I think they were translated and published as “The Form of the Book.” Tschichold explains the typographical choices that have worked well for centuries and how to do modern (20th century) versions of those. He’s very much not into having fun and experimenting though. I nevertheless found it really interesting and useful to read what he wrote and to then decide whether to heed that advice or to deliberately ignore it (since I’m here to have fun with typesetting).

If you speak German: “Lesetypografie” by Friedrich Forssman and Hans Peter Willberg. Its thesis is basically: book design has to be for the reader, and it's really good at explaining what that actually means with tons of examples.

For a free online resource, you could also check out practicaltypography.com, especially the sections on page layout and text formatting.

Moving on: typesetting software. I use LaTeX because I was already used to using it for typesetting academic texts, and because it allows me to be a little control freak about all kinds of details >:) and because it allows me to programmatically import the text and change its design. If you’re already used to working with LaTeX or if you enjoy programming, I definitely recommend it, but otherwise I have to warn you that the learning curve is very steep. This document contains links to how-to guides for various other kinds of software though, maybe those might be useful to you?

For re-ordering the pages of your PDF so they’re in the order you need for folding signatures when handbinding a book, you’ll need an imposition tool. I use LaTeX, but I know lots of people swear on this online tool.

Designing a cover (if you want to use a print-on-demand service or if you want to add a dust jacket to a handbound book): I use Affinity Photo, mostly because that’s the image editing software I already had anyway, but I'd also generally recommend it; it can do lots and is sold at a very fair price imo. My general tip is not to place any elaborate design details near where the spine and the front/back cover meet (and the front/back cover and the cover flaps)—if you use a print-on-demand service, they might end up printing the cover just a smidgen too far to the left/right and it'll look weird if part of your spine design is now on the front cover, and if you design a dust jacket, you might underestimate the small amount of extra material you might need to fit the dust jacket around the spine or around the fore-edge of the cover. Before exporting the print-ready PDF, merge all layers—this will considerably reduce the size of the PDF.

Printing books via print-on-demand services: I've used lulu.com, which prints books that are of a fine enough (but not perfect) quality. If you want to design a cover + interior to print via their service, definitely make sure to read their formatting guide where they explain what kinds of trims/bleed edges/etc. you should take into account. To find out what dimensions your book cover is gonna need to have (specifically how wide the spine is gonna be), use their pricing tool and enter the page count, select the binding type etc. My tip here is to only start designing the cover once the interior is done and you know how long the book will be—otherwise, you’re gonna spend a fair amount of time adjusting your cover layout to work with a new spine width... :)))

Printing dust jackets: go to your local copy shop and check what kind of glossy, slightly-thicker-than-copy-paper paper they have available and ask if you can use their paper guillotine to trim the printed cover to the size you need.

Handbinding a book: I read the “printing” and “physical assembly” sections of this document, and I also watched a lot of Darryn Schneider's videos on Youtube—he’s a professional bookbinder who makes a lot of incredibly useful videos on various bookbinding techniques. Really great if you’re a visual learner! To get started, I’d watch his video on tools for beginners, his series on making a case bound book, and his video on the square back case binding. I really like the latter technique—it’s great if you’re making thinner books where the width difference between the spine and the rest of your textblock isn’t too, too pronounced, and if you're a bit scared of actually backing and rounding spines / don’t have the appropriate tools. I also found it very helpful to ask questions in this fanbinding discord!

In terms of tools, I have:

A good-quality cutting mat + cutter (Olfa, definitely worth the small investment so far), and a metal ruler

A bone folder (great for, well, folding stuff, but also for smoothing out creases as you glue cloth or paper to the bookboard)

An awl (and a couple of pieces of (mostly) corrugated cardboard stacked on top of each other to protect my desk when I punch holes into the signatures)

Two bristle brushes, a large one (about an inch across) and a small one (less than 1 cm across)

Sewing needles—I’d recommend using one that’s relatively blunt and large but a bit thinner than the awl for sewing the signatures, and a thinner and pointy one if you want to make headbands

I don't have a press, I just use a stack of heavy books

and as for the materials:

Off-white 80 GSM paper, but I’ve also used whatever off-white copy paper the library printers happened to stock. Real bookbinders use paper with the grain running parallel to the spine—I don’t since it’s way more expensive, at least where I live.

Bookbinding glue (see also here and here)

Cotton gauze

For these books, I used some random leftover woven cotton tapes, but afaik if the book is fairly thin you don’t need tapes and can just sew the signatures together with the French link stitch instead. (That's what I’ve been doing at least)

2 mm thick bookboard (solid cardboard, preferably acid-free)

Bookcloth. It’s special in that it’s made from non-stretchy fabric and backed with paper, so you can glue it to the bookboard without any glue spots staining the cloth. I’ve been buying bookcloth from bookbinding/stationery suppliers, but you can also find online guides to making your own bookcloth (no recommendations as I haven’t tried that yet)

Some pretty paper for the cover and/or the endpapers (optional, you can also cover the entire cover in bookcloth and use plain endpapers). Since this involves applying a bunch of glue to the paper, it’s a bit easier to work with if the paper’s a tad heavier than copy paper (around 100 GSM maybe?), although that isn’t a requirement

Linen thread. I got some from a bookbinding supplier and picked the 18/3 one, which is nice, but if I had to choose again I might consider getting something ever so slightly thinner. Also full disclosure I don't know how or if this thread is different from regular linen thread. Lots of people apply a thin coat of beeswax to their thread, but I haven’t done that so far, and haven’t had any problems with that (will report back if that changes)

Optional: a thin leather cord (or shoelaces) and some thin thread you happen to have lying around for making headbands

Also optional: some pretty ribbon to use as a bookmark, like those thin fabric ribbons you can buy for gift-wrapping

I think that's it? For the most part it’s about approaching this with a can-do attitude and not being too afraid of just trying things out

This is a bit all over the place, but if you have more specific questions, feel free to send me another ask! :)

#also regarding wanting to have a physical copy of dta: if it's really just about wanting to hold a book in your hands but you're not too int #interested in the design/assembly: feel free to pm me and i can share print-ready pdfs with you #but if you are interested in typesetting/crafting: absolutely do it i promise it's lots of fun!!!! #bookbinding #replies #deangloriam #mission update

[highwaytothedangerzone502]

Ghost Story - Chapter 4

Pairing: Rooster x Female OC

Word Count: 2242

Warnings: Mention of death

Summary: No one will miss a ghost. It'd been a running joke for as long as anyone could remember, something Ghost herself started, and she always said it with a smile on her face or with mirth in her voice. The untouchable stealth pilot in every sense of the word, no one could've predicted the depth of her turmoil over recent events, nor the extremes she would go to in order to protect the man she loved, not even those closest to her. Now, all that was left of the young aviator for Maverick, Hangman, and Rooster were the memories of the past, which would slowly fade with time. She'd come into their lives and made an unforgettable impression, and then, like a ghost, she was gone... Then again, ghosts can't die a second time.

Notes: The chapters/parts in italics are flashbacks. Also, I know I used Melissa Benoist as Juliette in India Lima Yankee but I really love her as an actress okay...

Chapter Songs: Compass Bubbly

***

Maverick

Penny moved around the kitchen, preparing the food for tonight's dinner. She always made extra in the event Rooster one day brought home a girl with him, and tonight seemed to be the night, even if it wasn't the girl he was going on a date with tomorrow, whose identity still remained a secret to everyone.

"What are you reading?" Penny asked, peering at the file Maverick currently had open while she prepped the chicken.

"A file on an aviator," he replied, hesitant to tell her who. Penny knew the pilot and knew her well. He wasn't sure how she'd react to him digging into the girl's file.

"Annalise?" Penny guessed, raising an eyebrow at him. When he opened his mouth to start defending himself, she added, "What are you looking for in her file that I couldn't tell you?"

"I don't know. Rooster claims Ghost is this great pilot, but I'm wondering why she wasn't in the group chosen for our recent mission."

Penny raised a quizzical brow. "How'd you get her file in the first place?"

"Warlock pulled some strings for me."

"So? What's her file say?"

"That's the weird thing. She's got all the qualifications. Youngest first-place graduate at Top Gun, distinction after distinction, commendations, top grades in school in every subject with an affinity for stealth missions. Got put in hack for high-speed passes over two air control towers-"

Penny snorted. "Sounds like you."

Maverick grinned. "For her sake, I hope she's not. Training reports show she's a wildcard. Hangman is too, but he was still chosen for the mission as a nominee, so why wasn't Annalise? It's like the Navy completely overlooked her, like she's invisible to them."

"Like a ghost," Penny said with a sad smile. "Annalise didn't live up to her callsign just based on the fact she's like a ghost when she flies. She's also said it's because people forget about her or don't see her. Judging by what you're reading and seeing, it sounds like the same thing happened with the mission. They didn't see her for it, even though she would've been a great candidate."

Maverick stared at the black and white headshot of the blonde aviator. Even in the photo, he recognized the look of determination and cunning in her eyes. This girl had a need to prove herself, but why? Her record spoke for itself. She belonged in the top one percent of aviators without a doubt, so what was he not seeing about her that the Navy did? Why were they holding her back from using her full potential? And why did she look so familiar to him?

The sound of Rooster's Bronco pulling up snapped Maverick out of his thoughts. He hurriedly hid Ghost's file, narrowly avoiding being caught by the pilot as she strode into the kitchen on Rooster's tail. Penny greeted them with a smile and a hug, as did Maverick. However, he noticed something peculiar about his godson, and when the girls were out of earshot on the other side of the room, Maverick whispered teasingly, "Since when do you wear cologne?"

"Shut up," Rooster muttered, pushing up his sleeves.

"Captain Mitchell, what do you want to drink?" Ghost asked, poking her head out from behind the fridge.

"A beer, and please, call me Maverick."

Ghost smiled, handing him his drink. "Yes, sir. Rooster?"

"I'll have a beer, too," he replied, walking up behind her and reaching into the fridge to grab it himself. Rooster didn't notice the slight smile on Ghost's face when he brushed up against her back, but Maverick did. Whatever Bradley felt for Annalise, she undoubtedly returned the sentiments. Whether either of them realized it remained debatable.

"So, Ghost, how long are you planning on being at North Point?" Penny asked, smacking Rooster's hand away from the dessert tray when he tried to sneak some.

"Until the Navy tells me to move again. It was unexpected, but I'm not complaining. It's nice to have my feet on solid ground, and it's good to see old friends." Her gaze flicked over at Rooster, a small smile gracing her face, but he didn't notice. He was too busy helping Amelia with her physics homework. "How long ago did you buy the bar?"

"About three years ago. It was all good and fine until this guy walked in," Penny replied, playfully side-eyeing Maverick. He grinned back at her but said nothing. Instead, he watched his new family and their guest chat and laugh. Ghost and Rooster regaled them with adventures from their time at the Academy and their deployment together, Penny provided entertaining bar stories, and Amelia offered up embarrassing stories about each member of the Dagger squadron, mainly Hangman and Rooster, the latter of whom flushed a deep red when she brought up the time he nearly burned down the bar trying to make a drink.

They played Uno, in which Ghost and Amelia took turns demolishing everyone. The latter took the record of the shortest game won, getting rid of all her cards in three plays. That was the last round before they moved to watching TV. Penny, Maverick, and Amelia took the large couch while Ghost and Rooster resided on the loveseat. The captain noticed that although they sat with distance between them, the two young aviators kept finding ways to touch each other, be it a shoulder or elbow bump, a playful shove, or affectionately patting the other's leg. 

Around eleven, everyone save for Maverick had fallen asleep. After carefully placing blankets over all of them, he slipped outside to the shed to work on a motorcycle for his neighbor. Music played softly from his docking station, and he couldn't help but smile when 'Great Balls of Fire' started. "Talk to me, Goose. Where do I know Ghost from? Why does she look so familiar?"

The song kept playing, and as expected, Maverick received no answer to his question. He kept working on the motorcycle, allowing his thoughts to wander about Ghost. So far, he learned she originated from Texas and had grown up alongside Hangman; her dad was the late Admiral Winchester, one of the few admirals who actually liked Maverick, and she was a wildcard with an impressive flight history. But otherwise, her file gave nothing else away.

"Captain Mitchell?" Ghost's voice floated from the shed's entryway, and her unexpected presence made Maverick flinch in surprise. Understanding flickered in her blue eyes, and she said sheepishly, "Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you."

"No, no, you're fine. I can see why you have the callsign Ghost," Maverick joked. "What are you doing up?"

"Needed the bathroom and then tried to find a bandaid because I gave myself a nasty hangnail." She stared distastefully at her bandaged thumb. "Realized the shed was open and decided to make sure no one was breaking into it. What are you doing?"

"I'm fixing this bike up for a neighbor."

"I'll leave you be, then. I don't want to distract you from anything."

"No, no, you're welcome to stay and chat. You can help me with this if you want," Maverick offered, not wanting to miss the opportunity to learn more about the mysterious aviator. To his delight, Ghost agreed and sidled up beside him. She watched as he tinkered with some wiring.

"So," Ghost began casually, handing Maverick a wrench before he could even open his mouth to ask her for it, "what do you want to know about me that my file didn't tell you?"

Maverick felt the color drain out of his face. How had she found it? Why was she in the cabinet in the first place that the folder resided in? What was he going to say to get out of this?

"I came across it searching for a bandaid, but don't worry, I'm not upset," Ghost promised with a smile, sitting on the stool. "I figured you were curious to know who Rooster was bringing home."

"The way Rooster spoke up about you, it sounds like you're an extraordinary pilot. I was surprised you weren't chosen for the recent mission we went on and wanted to see if the Navy saw something that I don't," Maverick admitted hesitantly.

"And?"

"And I found nothing. I'm just as confused as I was earlier, if not more so than before." Maverick straightened and dug through his tools, searching for another one. "Do you know why you weren't chosen?"

Ghost nodded, smiling bitterly. "Two words: my mom."

"Your mom?"

"She's high up in the Pentagon and has a lot of pull with the Navy. My dad protected me from her trying to hold me back, but once he passed, no one was stopping her, and she didn't hesitate."

"How come?"

"It first started after my sister nearly died in a training accident before I even got into the Academy. She tried to have my papers pulled, I found out, told my dad, and they got into a nasty argument. My dad won, and I went to the Academy the following year. Then my sister passed away during an operation, which made my mom panic over my well-being. Dad kept her from doing anything to harm my career, but then he passed during one of my deployments, and that's when my missions started becoming scarce. Of course, my skill made the Navy still want to use me, and luckily, I have a few higher-ups in my corner, and they send me on the missions my mom doesn't have clearance to know about."

"Judging by what you've told me about your mom, those missions must be close to black ops level," Maverick remarked, studying Ghost's face to gauge her reaction, to see how correct his guess had been. Still, the aviator before him seemed so young... too young to be trusted on those kinds of missions.

"Not close to. They are black ops. I'm the person the Navy sends when they need culpable deniability."

"Why you? Why not other aviators?"

"Because no one will miss a ghost," she said with a smirk. "Joking aside, I've outperformed more senior stealth pilots, and I live up to my callsign. Of course, only a handful of people know of my successes. They don't want people knowing your strike count when the battle happened over lines they weren't supposed to."

Maverick let her words sink in. "You have air-to-air kills?"

"Yes, sir. A helicopter and a stealth bomber. No one knows, not even my mom."

"So why tell me?"

Ghost shrugged. "You were black ops too. You understand the secrecy we're sworn to. I'm sure you've done things most people close to you don't know about."

"You wouldn't be wrong," Maverick agreed quietly, thinking back to all the missions he participated in, the ones only a handful of Admirals knew about, the assignments that could've started wars had they not succeeded. "You have a lot on your shoulders for such a young pilot."

"I do, but it's worth it. Makes up for all the missions my mom held me back from." Ghost said the words so nonchalantly that it made Maverick wonder what all she had seen and been through and what she would be willing to endure to make herself stand out in retaliation against her mom's attempted protection. 

"This is where you two are hiding out," Rooster remarked sleepily, shuffling into the shed and standing behind Ghost, too close for both of their declarations of being 'just friends' to be true. However, Maverick chose not to give them hell for it, mainly because Rooster's following words caught his attention. "Should've known Ghost would be with her idol."

The female aviator flushed a deep red, evident even underneath her makeup. Maverick grinned and said, "I'm not sure I'm the best idol."

"Oh, yeah, my mom was not thrilled when she found out you were who I tried to model myself after," Ghost admitted, although Maverick could not detect a single drop of regret or remorse. 

Rooster bumped his chest lightly into her back. "It's obviously paid off."

Ghost tilted her head back up to look at him. "I wouldn't be so sure, although I will say she always acted better when you flew with me."

"Probably because I was your voice of reason."

"Just like Goose was Mav's?" Ghost lowered her head again, eyeing the seasoned captain with curiosity.

"Without a doubt," Maverick confirmed, wiping some grease off his hands. "Now, did I listen to him all the time? No. Still, he saved my ass more times than I can count."

"You saved his too," Rooster said. The compliment caused Maverick's heart to soar, although he didn't wholly believe the words. He hadn't saved Goose when it mattered most... 

"Saved Admiral Kazansky's, too," Ghost added. "My mom told me all about the time you helped him in the fight against those six MiGs."

How did her mom know about that? Who exactly was Ghost's mom? A brief idea popped into Maverick's head, but he swiftly pushed it down. He would've heard through the grapevine. Surely... "Hey, Ghost, who is your mom? I'm wondering if I know her since she seems to know so much about me."

"Charlie," she answered casually.

"Charlie?"

"Yeah. It's her callsign. Her real name is Charlotte."

It couldn't- there was no way... "What's her maiden name?"

Ghost, although slightly confused judging by the tilt of her head, responded with the revelation, "Blackwood."

***

Tags: @supernaturaldawning @shanimallina87 @polikszena @lgg5989 @callsign-milano @bradshawsandbridgetons @harper1666 @shadeops21 @double-j @rotating-obsessions @amantedelnorte @abigailannz @copaceticwriter @sharkprestige @thedarkinmansfield @lapilark @mickeyluvs @mini-bee-bee @starshipfantasy @itzyogurl92 @bennypears00 @mandowife221b @the-navistar-carol @lj13oct @getmyprettynameoutofyourmouth @carmellasworld

Chapters: Chp 1 Chp 2 Chp 3 Chp 4

#top gun #top gun maverick #fanfiction #fanfic #top gun fanfic #top gun fanfiction #tg #maverick #rooster #hangman #phoenix #bob #coyote #fanboy #payback #halo #fritz #omaha #harvard #yale #charlie #ghost #ghost story #winchester #bradley bradshaw #top gun 2 #iceman

[davidmariottecomics]

Tools of the Trade

Hello hello! 

I'm *hoping* this'll be a pretty quick blog today because I have a lot of ideas kicking around my head and want to focus on trying to write some of 'em! But inspired by the new Creator's Guide to Comics Devices (we'll get to that in a sec), I want to talk about some resources that I've accumulated over the years that can help with everything from the fundamentals of comics storytelling to good reference to software and fonts and printers and distribution platforms and more! 

As a disclaimer right up top, some of these resources I have not personally used--I haven't done a lot of crowdfunding, I haven't worked with some of these smaller printers, etc--though I will say that these are things that're coming recommended to me and I'm passing along that recommendation. If you've had a really bad experience with one of these, or know some dirt, let me know! I'm always happy to stand corrected on this sort of thing. 

Lastly, a number of these things I'll point out specifically as an alternative to other software or expected resources. Alright, let's boogie! 

Making Art Not being an artist, I can't speak exactly to what tools will work best for you! The good news is, as an artist, you probably already know that and don't need me to tell you what sort of pencils, pens, brushes, inks, etc work best for your style. However, I will say, I've seen some glowing recs for Eon paper. If you're working traditionally in any way (I know some people work hybrid), good paper is important. 

If you are working digitally, I think the two sort of biggest contenders outside of Photoshop right now are Procreate and Clipstudio. Becca uses Procreate and really likes it. The downsides are that I believe it is Apple exclusive (and not on desktop) and while I've seen plenty of pages come out just fine that were in part or fully produced in Procreate, it does sometimes lack some of the functionalities for what you might need--I know folks who've had trouble doing clean flats, for example. I know a lot of folks use Clipstudio with great success, but I also know there's a bit of controversy around some of their 2.0+ updates including only working on a subscription fee if you want to use it on a tablet or non-desktop device (and/or want the updates they release) and something about like, it not working if you aren't on wifi? 

I personally have had good experience with Affinity's Designer and Photo. But I am not an artist, so while I think they're good for doing some of the production side of art--I've used them for lettering and prepping files and making little social graphics and stuff--I can't speak to how helpful they are as a full art tool. I will also say, as long as I'm talking about Affinity, their Publisher tool is pretty good too and with the Affinity suite, you can get a lot of what you would want out of the Adobe suite. 

Art Reference

Look, you're smart. You don't need me telling you where and how to find reference. It's all over. There are hundreds of books and websites and resources for artist reference. You can go find some live models or pose one of those weird little wooden dolls or turn around a toy or whatever. 

But! With that said, here're a couple big ones. Blender is itself an art tool! It's a lot less common for comic art to be fully produced in Blender than, say, animation, but Blender can be a really helpful way to put together thumbnails or consistent backgrounds. You can build a room and move it around for what you'd need to see in a panel and have that as a base when doing your art. You can use it for lighting studies. Lotta possibilities! 

If you can be cool, you can maybe get access to Fat Photo Ref. It's what the name says, an archive of photo reference by and of fat people, who unfortunately are often not included in your standard art reference collections and books. I'll also plug that the Morpho art book series has a very well regarded Fat and Skin Folds volume. Linking specifically to that one, but you can find the whole series from the link and get it from an indie bookstore! 

And as someone who has long pointed people to things like Wally Wood's 22 Panels that Always Work and Steve Lieber's 12 point portfolio critique without even looking (which I riffed on for writers here and also talk about like... finding agents) and all the thoughtful analysis on the craft and creation of the medium from Scott McCloud (I'm not linking Understanding Comics... you probably already have it), I think that the aforementioned Creator's Guide to Comics Devices is the logical progression of all of that. It is a free collaborative resource about the way comics storytelling works. 

Writing, Lettering, and Additional Craft 

I believe I've shared this before, and have said it's not my actual preferred format when I write, but Steenz and Camilla Zhang created a standard script template for comics. I think this is very helpful for people who don't know what a script looks like and, obviously, if you find yourself wanting to modify it to better suit your needs, you can! But this gives a really clear picture of what the general form will look like for maximum sharability with your collaborators. 

Comicraft and Blambot are two of my favorite font houses (and lettering houses)! They have fonts that you see in your favorite comics for reasonable prices, including often big discounts or fonts that are free for indie use (though obvs read the terms and conditions). They have packs including like premade balloons that can help ya get started easier. Both of their books on comic lettering, Comic Book Lettering the Comicraft Way and The Essential Guide to Comic Book Lettering, are excellent and should be considered the tomes they are. Sara Linsley's fonts are also great, particularly if you're doing more manga or webcomics inspired books.  And if you don't want to be a person who has to spend a lot of time thinking about fonts and getting MainType or another font management software (I don't do a lot of it, but I've gotten really into teaching myself lettering and I do think it's pretty fun), do us both a favor and just hire a letterer. 

But if you want to learn more about lettering, Todd Klein also has a really amazing blog! 

Printing

There are a lot of professional printers that print comics. Many of them that are printing for publishers have a very high threshold for minimum orders. If you aren't printing 2K copies, they aren't going to print your book at all because that's how they have to ration their paper and run their business. 

But I know of a couple of printers that do smaller print runs for indie comics. I've heard really good things about RA Direct and about Comix Well Spring. Something I'll flag right here and now is that whether it's one of these or another printer, early in the process--before you pay for anything--you should take some time to email the printer about any potential issues you might have. This can be anything from confirming your specs are correct and you've got the right overprint on your blacks to checking if the printer has any sort of issue printing 18+ sexual material or dismemberment or if you have anything that might be on the line of fair use. Like, it'll help you both out to get that sorted early and easily. 

As a brief detour, I've also heard good things about both Alibaba and have used Vograce with Becca, if you're looking for merch for shows--y'know, keychains and pillow covers and pens and pins and whatever else you may want to create with your art that is not strictly comics themselves. 

Distribution - Subscriptions

I'm talking specifically digital subscription platforms that are not webcomics hosting sites and that are subscription sites of any sort, not just stores/places your art lives. So no like Webtoon or Artstation or Shopify or whatever. Basically, your Patreons (you know Patreon, but you could sub to mine) and uhh... Substacks. But maybe better than those options... 

I host this blog on Patreon, that's true. I also have it on Tumblr and on my website. And I sent it out as a newsletter through Buttondown! They are super friendly and concerned with making the service work! It's awesome and I highly recommend it over Substack which, as you may recall, I have some issues with. My Buttondown is free, but you can have paid subscriptions. I've also heard some folks say good things about Ghost as a similar sort of alternative. I can't speak to that the same as I can Buttondown, which, again, I really like, but I know some people who use Ghost. 

In terms of Patreon alts, options are not great, TBH. Kofi has memberships (plugging mine which is membership-less). But I believe Kofi is also a lot stricter about what sort of content you can post and host--similar to the sorts of questions I was suggesting you ask a printer about earlier. Fanbox through Pixiv is something I see some folks use. I think it's largely international folks. I also, again, think it has some content restrictions though I'm not entirely sure how enforced they are. I feel guilty enough using Patreon (lol this being posted there), but I really can't recommend Subscribestar. I've heard good things about them as an alternative--like, I hear they're maybe the closest in practical functionality and are a lot more adult material friendly than some competitors, but I have a lot of the same problems I have with Substack and Patreon with them. Like, Patreon isn't perfect, but some of the more horrific elements of humanity that cannot operate on Patreon have found a home there and that stinks. 

The one non-subscription option I will highlight is, and again, I don't think it's perfect, but I know people who have had good experiences with itch.io. If you're looking for a place to sell some digital comics outside of your own website, there are far worse options. 

Crowdfunding 

I think we've all ceded IndieGogo to the worst parts of comics. Obviously, Kickstarter is still the big one that people really think of and like many of these prominent versions of the service, it has its good and bad. There is name recognition and a track record of projects getting funded and paid and completed, and there are criticisms. But that's true of lots of things. 

There are also a few options that're a bit newer in the space. Backerkit has been a part of a lot of fulfilment of Kickstarter campaigns for a long time and now operate their own crowdfunding platform. I know Iron Circus uses them. I've heard a little bit about Crowdfundr and am pretty sure I know some folks who've given that a shot. And I know one of the co-founders of Zoop and they've been helping get a lot of really cool projects made recently. 

Final Recs

BLEH! This ended up taking a lot longer than I expected! Oh well. You don't know. You're reading this and it is not happening in the realtime it took to write it. So, final resources I'm going to throw your way as jumping off points for more! 

1. Cartoonist Cooperative! Guess what, for basically everything I just said, they have EVEN MORE RESOURCES! They also do mutual promotions and support and are a really great community based initiative! 

2. Creator Resource! Similarly, they also have even more resources! Their database/articles include a lot of stuff like more about finding agents and publishers and page rates and marketing and this that and the other thing. Between the two of those, you're going to have a lot of whatever you would need to get started and have not just a rounded out knowledge, but access to a knowledgeable community. 

3. Curiosity's Corner from Wildstar Press! Wildstar's mission is really cool. They're an indie publisher that focuses on helping new creators get their first publishing credits and work they can share to get more jobs. And they've recently started a guide that's not dissimilar to this blog on how to get started on having a comics career. 

4. This is just a general reminder. Make a website that has a way to contact you. Make an email that maybe can be public facing but that you're comfortable using for work and dedicate it to that. If you're going any place where you think you might make industry contacts, bring business cards. We live in the future and you can put your portfolio or samples on a QR code on your card. Find or make communities. I'm not great about it myself, TBH (and that's a little intentional because being an editor, working at a publisher, there are reasons on both sides to create this distance), but like... I dunno. Get on Discord or something. Have a group text. Like, have a way to reach out to your peers. 

Like I said earlier, if you have corrections to be like "nah, this thing sucks, don't recommend it" or if you have additional recommendations, please share them! Don't DM me because I've been very bad about answering those because I am going to be shuttering Twitter soon, but y'know, if it's something you can share publicly, reply on post where you saw it or on the website (comments in a rare move are open on this unless something happens). If you want to share anonymously (or like... invite me to a Discord or something), there's always my contact page. 

Okay, I'm off to write fiction now! And should probably reach out to some folks to draw it soon. 

L8rs!

What I enjoyed this week: Blank Check (Podcast), Solve This Murder (Podcast), One Piece (Manga), Sonic Superstars (Video game), The Archive Undying by Emma Mieko Candon (Book), Reverse 1999 (Video Game), Yu-Gi-Oh: Duel Links (Video game), Last Week Tonight (TV show), The Simpsons (TV show), I said Thirsty last week, but I meant Steamy, the last book in the trilogy from Space Between, but it did make me go back and read Thirsty and Cheeky again too (Comics - Adults only), Five Nights at Freddy's was fine but like... I don't think I'm the target audience and we only saw it because we pay for Peacock and didn't give additional money to the bad man creator (Movie), Phantom of the Paradise (Movie), Scream 3 & 4 (Movies), Batman: The Brave and the Bold (Cartoon), Joe Pera Talks with You (TV show), Witch Watch (Manga), Halloween, Godzilla Day, Spooky's Jump Scare Mansion (Video game... well, until I got too spooked), wanting to write. 

New Releases this week (11/1/2023): No new books from me this week. Don't worry, next week makes up for it. 

Final Order Cut-Off next week (11/6/2023): Godzilla Rivals: Jet Jaguar vs. Megalon (Editor)

New Releases next week (11/8/2023): Godzilla Rivals: Round Two (Editor on most of it) Sonic the Hedgehog #66 (Editor) Sonic the Hedgehog: Knuckles' Greatest Hits (Editor) Sonic the Hedgehog: The IDW Art Collection (Editor)

Announcements: I might be done for the year? If you'd like to have me on your podcast, Twitch stream, at your convention, signing at your store, talking to your students, whatever, feel free to hit me up, but I don't think I have anything else public for the rest of the year, though knowing us, Becca and I will probably a local market or something. 

Wanna support me? Visit my webstore, the previously linked Patreon or Kofi, or my eBay. And you can always visit Becca's portfolio/shop/Patreon/Twitch streams too. Streams will be returning soon. Been having technical difficulties of late. 

And of course, things are bad. Call for a ceasefire and urge your reps to stop the Palestinian genocide. Fight back against whatever terrible policies are currently up in your local or national area--from trying to ban books to criminalizing transness to further criminalizing homelessness to whatever. Support SAG-AFTRA as they're still on strike, and support all the other strikes and union actions happening across the country and across the world. Just be kind to people. 

Pic of the Week: It's my favorite green heroes, the Warrior Mans! 

#comics #making comics #comic tools #comics editorial #warrior man #tmnt bootlegs #art programs #art reference #lettering #comic printing #comic subscriptions

[hazelplaysgames]

new tri-fest idea: Palmon, Terriermon, and Hagurumon. i, myself, have an affinity for Virus types. no affinity for the affinities, though.

now, compared to any Pokemon game out there, C.S. allows you to have 11 members in your party... and you probably need all of them. the only other Digimon game i’ve really played was Dusk, and that one let you use six, in basically a permanent triple battle format mixed with X/Y’s Horde battles, if that makes any sense. and that’s not even touching the fact that Digimon can do a lot of weird and wild things in regards to digivolution. i busted out a notebook to track the digivolution lines.

that said, for my main team, i tried to stick to two major lines starting from the in-training II form. this works out well, since there’s 11 in-training II forms on a new file. i’ll probably make a few images to demonstrate what i digivolved them into at the end of the game. it’s a little awkward because tumblr has a 10 image limit on photo posts.

so, to name Hagurumon’s nickname, Gearson!

#video #digimon #digimon cyber sleuth #10/5/22

[velvethopewrites]

Find the Word

Danke for the tag @alonelyturtle🐝😎

Words to find: Somewhere; Blame; Write/Wrote/Writing; Short; Might

From Two Guys & Some Pie: (destiel) “somewhere”

In the end, he went with a fuzzy sort of picture that Sam had saved from last year – he’d been standing next to his Baby (his 1967 Chevy Impala) holding a carton full of pies and smiling. Well, more like squinting because the sun was in his face. In actuality, it didn’t look much like Dean at all. His hair had a weird blonde thing going on because of the summer sun and you really couldn’t make out his features, or his eye-color, which was his most attractive feature, he thought.  But it was enough to let people know he had two arms, two legs and all the rest. Which was more than they deserved to know, Dean grumbled. He even cropped it a bit so that mostly all people could see were his pies and his Baby. It summed him up nicely, Dean thought. 

Sam looked over his shoulder at the finished photo and only rolled his eyes. “You know, I think I have some baby photos of you somewhere I could scan. You wanna use one of those to make you even less recognizable?”

From Accidentally on Purpose: (destiel) “blame”

Dean feels a smile breaking across his face and can’t help himself. 

“Is that what I think it is?”

Cas shrugs and rattles the box. “It’s a salad. For me.”

Dean frowns. He is just trying to figure out why 1) Cas is suddenly eating and 2) why he would pick a salad, of all things and 3) he blames Sam for this travesty. So lost in thought about Sam’s bad influence on the angel, Dean doesn’t notice Cas remove two forks from his coat pocket as he sets the box down on the bed. 

“Dean.”

“Huh?”

Cas rolls his eyes and holds a fork out to him. “It’s pie. Blackberry. The owner at the diner down the road assured me it was the best tasting pie in the county.”

Dean feels relief and then surprise. “Dude. Did you just sort of make a joke and tease me with pie?”

From Two Guys & Some Pie: (destiel) “write/writing”

Turning back to his laptop after checking on his pie, Castiel opened up the letter he’d been in the middle of writing, picking up the thread of his thoughts once again. 

…my brother once told me I had a better affinity with my bees and my baking creations than with people and I think he may have been right. I am awkward at the best of times and I rarely understand social norms or clues. There is one thing to say about this type of communication that we find ourselves using, it’s harder for me to misunderstand things. I do hope you are enjoying our letters, Baker. So far, it has, for me, been a pleasure to get to know you.

From my baking Hp AU, Baker Baker- (H/G) “short”

Harry had two weakness when it came to women. One was they had to have red hair – it didn’t matter which shade – auburn, ginger, bright red, soft red, warm mahogany, brilliant tomato red or even strawberry blonde. The other weakness was that he absolutely, without a doubt, liked women who were short. And this one was tiny – almost a foot shorter than he was and her hair was a brilliant, vibrant bloody shade of red. Actually, the more Harry looked at it, the more different shades he saw in it – some strands were dark, like near the back of her neck and some were light, almost golden red, around her face. He realized he had been staring at her hair for a while and quickly looked away. But soon felt his eyes latch onto her again.

From Chapter 16, Possession: (H/G) “might”

“Don’t you think you should put a hat on?” The bodyguard said calmly, and she felt Harry sit up straighter next to her.

Before leaving the hotel that morning, they had agreed on certain code phrases to call attention to anything off that Moody might pick up on. They ran from simple audible clues, like Moody’s grunts for too many people around them all the way to “It’s time for a nap,” which meant stop what you’re doing and head back the hotel, now. Telling her to put a hat on meant that something or someone suspicious was nearby. Ginny immediately felt her tenseness return and started looking around. Which, of course, is what the bodyguard had instructed her not to do. She tried to cover her mistake by leaning closer to Harry, setting her chin on his shoulder.

This was fun, although it made me sad (sadder? I dunno I am a walking batch of emo hormones lately) I don’t really write anymore. I tag: @scones-and-texting-and-murder and @startanewdream (even though she’s on a tumblr hiatus) and anyone else who writes and wants to share.

#Writing #tag you’re it #my writing

[game-stationed]

That's it everybody's getting little Nate fun facts now

Awesome Nate art by @/sweet-teath bullet points below cut

I can't remember if I've linked his bio here or not so I'll do that first for basic backstory info (click the folded-over triangle on the top left for more info)

For someone that's worked in the medical field his whole adult life, being no stranger to blood and guts (in real life, they don't really phase him, even), he's horribly squeamish about horror films - yeah, even super campy ones.

He HATES phone calls. Getting them, answering them, being on them, anything. If it wasn't required, he wouldn't even have a phone in his office. He'd prefer a written or printed memo above anything else.

He took his wife's surname when they got married! He was more than happy to ditch his old one.

His favorite foods are pretty much any sort of safe, consistent comfort foods that are easy to make. Yeah he's autistic yeah it's undiagnosed

He's slightly farsighted. It doesn't bug him too much now, but he would need glasses eventually.

His PhD (He's an actual doctor! The title isn't just for show.) is specifically in biomedical engineering. It was a job path that made him feel fulfilled and useful in being able to, hopefully, help others.

He's rather picky about being referred to as "Dr. Schaeffer" by colleagues, disliking being referred to by just his first name or without the title. The only real exception to this, as far as fellow Playtime Co. workers would go, would be that he allows Leith to call him just "Nate."

One job path he considered prior to aiming for his doctorate was that of a writer, potentially a poet. He always had an affinity for poetry and prose. However, he decided against this path for various reasons: he considered himself too unskilled in the craft to turn it into a career, he figured it would be too difficult to make a good stable income off, and thought it would not feel as productive or fulfilling as it didn't directly help others.

Nate has a ton of symbolic objects tied to him within his story, but some of the biggest ones that represent specifically him are the sun, fire, the color red, and ship captains/boats. Probably some more, too, but those are the really big ones.

He's maintained the same shitty haircut for years after (accidentally) having a particularly bad haircut for his wedding - more or less ruining all the wedding photos, though there weren't really all that many pictures, anyways. While he was growing that haircut out, his wife mentioned liking how shaggy it was getting, and he kept it in a similar style from then on.

He never really had much interest in Playtime Co. products, even before learning of the experiments they were doing. He wasn't opposed to them by any means, he just didn't have an interest in toys made for kids. If asked what his favorite toy from them was, he'd eventually land on Cat-Bee.

He suffers from both insomnia and hypersomnia. He's very, very tired. Always. Not much seems to alleviate this.

He has fallen asleep at work before on rare occasions, overworking himself and feeling like there just isn't much reason to go home anymore. It just felt like time wasted to sit idly at home by himself, really. After losing his wife, he lost most of his hobbies and interests as well, anyways.

His gender identity and sexuality are not any further labelled than "man" and declarations of how dearly he loves his wife but, on other occasions, weird offhanded mentions of both female and male lovers in his distant past that he fails to elaborate on. He's the type of guy to mention something really out of pocket about it and move on like he never said anything. He genuinely doesn't think anything of it.

If he was an animal he'd be a basset hound. To me

#nathaniel schaeffer