#fashion glossary

[ace-the-fashion-dreamer]

Black Friday Fashion Dreamer photo dump

[celebratingwomen]

Nicole Scherzinger for The Glossary Magazine, Winter 2023

[youlooklikeabigdoll]

Her in the baggy shants with the cute feet 👣 📸🎏

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Some Editorial Vocabulary

definitions of terms during the writing, editing and publishing process

Acknowledgements: Text in which the author thanks those who’ve supported them.

Action beat: Short description that comes before, between or just after dialogue.

Adjective: A word that describes a noun.

Adverb: A word that describes a verb.

Adverbial phrase: A group of words that describe a verb.

Afterword: A concluding section, often reflecting on the book’s creation or providing additional context.

Anaphora: The deliberate repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of successive clauses for artistic effect.

Antagonist: An adversary. The character who creates obstacles and challenges for the protagonist, or behaves in a hostile fashion towards the protagonist.

Anti-protagonist: A protagonist whose own actions create opposition and conflict, often within themselves or against their own goals.

Apostrophe: A punctuation mark used to indicate possession, omission and, occasionally, a plural.

Appendix: Space in a book for material that doesn’t fit comfortably in the main text.

Asyndeton: Literary device through which a sentence’s structure follows the following pattern: A, B, C.

B-C

Back matter: Also end matter. Elements reserved for the back of a book, including appendix, glossary, endnotes, bibliography and index.

Beta reader: Test-reader who provides feedback on book.

Bibliography: List of all works cited in book, and any other work of interest to the reader.

Chapter drop: The space above and below the chapter title.

Character arc: Narrative that shows how a character changes and develops.

Characterization: The process of revealing a character's personality, traits and motives through actions and dialogue.

Colon: Punctuation mark that introduces additional/qualifying information about the clause it follows.

Comma splice: Two independent clauses joined by a comma rather than a conjunction or an alternative punctuation mark.

Conjunction: A word that connects clauses or sentences (e.g. ‘and’, ‘but’, ‘if’, ‘then’)

Copyediting: A review of grammar, punctuation, and spelling, ensuring consistency and accuracy in the manuscript's language.

Critique: Also manuscript evaluation. Report analysing a book’s strengths and weaknesses.

D

Denouement: The final part of the book in which all the plot strands are brought together and resolved.

Deuteragonist: A sidekick or confidante character who has the most influence on the protagonist, often helping them solve problems and overcome obstacles. Can be critical to driving the plot.

Developmental editing: Also structural editing. The improvement of a manuscript's structure, content, and overall narrative, focusing on big-picture elements. Attends to plot, characterisation, narration and pacing.

Dialogue tag: Also speech tag. Words that indicate which character is speaking (e.g. John said).

Dialogue: The lines characters speak in a book.

Diversity reader: Also sensitivity reader. Test-reader who checks for misrepresentation in books.

Double-page spread: Also DPS. The view of a printed book or PDF when opened so that the left- and right-hand pages are both visible.

Drama: The conflicts, emotional intensity, and impactful events that drive the plot and engage readers emotionally. The focus is on character relationships, motivations, and the consequences of their actions.

Dropped capital: Decorative first letter of the first word on the first line in a chapter. Larger than the rest of the text and drops down two lines or more.

E-F

Ellipsis: Punctuation mark that indicates a trailing-off or a pause.

End matter: Also back matter. Elements reserved for the back of a book, including appendix, glossary, endnotes, bibliography and index.

Endnote: Additional useful information at the end of a chapter or book.

Filter word: Verb that tells rather than shows (e.g. ‘noticed’, ‘seemed’, ‘spotted’, ‘saw’).

Folio: Somewhat old-fashioned term for page number. Also used to refer to a page.

Footnote: Additional useful information at the bottom of a page.

Foreword: A recommendation of the work written by someone other than the author.

Fourth wall: In books, the conceptual space between the characters and the readers.

Free indirect speech: Also free indirect style and free indirect discourse. Third-person narrative that holds the essence of first person thought or dialogue.

Front matter: Also prelims. Includes part title and title pages, foreword, preface and acknowledgements.

Full point: Period or full stop.

Full stop: Period or full point.

G-L

Glossary: Alphabetical list of important terms with explanations or definitions.

Habitual past tense: Uses ‘would’ or ‘used to’ with a verb to indicate events that happened routinely in a time past.

Half-title page: The first page of a book with any text on it; in a printed book, always a right-hand page. Contains only the main title of the book.

Head-hopping: Jumping from one character’s thoughts and internal experiences to another’s. Indicates viewpoint has been dropped.

Imprint: Publisher’s name.

Independent clause: A group of words that contains a subject and a predicate.

Index: Alphabetical list of all topics, themes, key terms and cited author names covered in the book, and the corresponding page numbers.

Information dump: Also word dump. Information that’s necessary to the story but isn’t artfully delivered, or weaved creatively into the narrative and dialogue.

Line editing: Also stylistic editing. The refining of a manuscript's language, focusing on consistency, clarity, flow and style at sentence level.

M-O

Maid-and-butler dialogue: Dialogue in which one character tells another something they already know so the reader can access backstory.

Manuscript evaluation: Also critique. Report analysing a book’s strengths and weaknesses.

Narrative arc: Also story arc. The structure and shape of a story.

Narrative authenticity: The believability and truthfulness of a story so that the characters and events feel real within the framework of the novel’s world.

Narrative distance: Also psychic distance. How close the reader feels to a character’s thoughts, emotions and experiences within a story.

Narrative: Story. The part of the book that’s narrated, excluding the dialogue.

Narrative style: The author's unique manner of storytelling, encompassing language, tone, viewpoint and other structural choices.

Narrative voice: The style, tone, and personality through which a narrator or character tells a story to readers.

Numerals, Arabic: 1, 2, 3 etc.

Numerals, Roman: i, ii, iii etc.

Omniscient: All-knowing. Refers to a viewpoint style in fiction writing.

Overwriting: Using too many words on the page. Often characterized by repetition and redundancy.

P

Page proofs: A file that’s reached a stage in the publishing process where the text and images of a manuscript have been laid out in their final format.

Pantser: A writer who doesn’t outline or plan story structure, but flies by the seat of their pants.

Period: Full stop or full point.

Perspective character: Also viewpoint character. The character through whose eyes the story is primarily told. The narrative lens through which readers experience events, thoughts, and emotions within the story.

Plot: The sequence of events in a novel.

Point of view: Also viewpoint and POV. Describes whose head we’re in when we read a book, or whose perspective we experience the story from.

Polysyndeton: Literary device through which a sentence’s structure follows the following pattern: A and B and C.

Predicate: The part of a sentence that contains a verb and that tells us something about what the subject’s doing or what they are.

Preface: An explanation of the purpose, scope and content of a book, and written by the author.

Prelims: Also front matter. Includes part title and title pages, foreword, preface and acknowledgements.

Pronoun: A word that replaces a noun (e.g. I, you, he, she, we, me, it, this, that, them those, myself, who, whom). Pronouns can act and be acted upon like any noun.

Proofreading: The final pre-publication quality-control stage of editing where any final literal errors and layout problems are flagged up. Comes after developmental editing, stylistic line editing and copyediting.

Proper noun: A named person, place or organization. Always takes an initial capital letter.

Protagonist: The leading character in a novel, often facing central conflicts and driving action.

Psychic distance: Also narrative distance. How close the reader feels to a character’s thoughts, emotions and experiences within a story.

Purple prose: Overblown, poorly structured writing with strings of extraneous and often multisyllabic adjectives and adverbs.

Q-R

Quotation mark: Also speech mark. Punctuation that indicates the spoken word. Singles or doubles are acceptable.

Recto: The right-hand page of a book.

References: List of all the works cited in your book.

Roman typeface: Not italic.

Running head: Text that runs across the top of a page (e.g. title of the book, chapter title, author’s name).

S

Scene: a distinct segment or building block where specific actions and events unfold in a setting.

Scene technique: The use of dialogue, action, setting, and tension to craft compelling moments in the story.

Semi-colon: A punctuation mark that indicates a stronger pause than a comma between two main clauses.

Sensitivity reader: Also diversity reader. Test-reader who checks for misrepresentation in books.

Speech mark: Also quotation mark. Punctuation that indicates the spoken word. Singles or doubles are acceptable.

Speech tag: Also dialogue tag. Words that indicate which character is speaking (e.g. John said).

Story arc: Also narrative arc. The structure and shape of a story.

Structural editing: Also developmental editing. The improvement of a manuscript's structure, content, and overall narrative, focusing on big-picture elements. Attends to plot, characterisation, narration and pacing.

Style sheet: In which an author or editor records stylistic and language preferences, and tracks who’s who, what’s where, and when X, Y and Z happens.

Stylistic editing: Also line editing. The refining of a manuscript's language, focusing on consistency, clarity, flow and style at sentence level.

Subject: The thing in a sentence that’s doing or being something.

Subplot: A secondary storyline that supports and enhances the main plot of a narrative.

Suspense: The tension, uncertainty and anticipation created by withholding information, raising stakes or placing characters in imminent danger. Readers are kept guessing or forced to ask questions.

Syndeton: Literary device through which a sentence’s structure follows the following pattern: A, B and C (or A, B, and C).

T

Talking-heads syndrome: Dialogue that isn’t grounded in the environment or the characters’ responses to that environment.

Tense: The form a verb takes to indicate when an action happened in relation to the telling of it.

Tension: The emotional strain or suspense created by unresolved conflicts, stakes or uncertainties that keep readers engaged.

Tertiary character: A functional character who gives the story realism and depth, but doesn’t significantly impact on or influence the plot or the development of the other characters.

Theme: The novel’s central idea or message about life, society, or human nature.

Title page: Includes full title (and subtitle if there is one), author’s name, publisher’s name, logo, volume number, and edition.

Transgressor: A character who commits morally, socially, or legally questionable acts.

Tritagonist: Third most important character, who often provide regular emotional or physical support, but don’t determine how the story develops.

U-W

Unreliable dialogue: Dialogue that doesn’t match a character’s true voice, mood or intent.

Unreliable narrator: A character whose telling of the story cannot be taken at face value. They may be naïve, confused, or deliberately manipulative.

Verb, intransitive: A verb that doesn’t have a direct object (e.g. ‘I giggled’).

Verb, transitive: A verb that has a direct object (e.g. ‘wrote’ in ‘I wrote a book’).

Verb: A word that describes doing. Can refer to a physical action (e.g. to dig), a mental action (e.g. to wonder) or a state of being (e.g. to be).

Verso: The left-hand page of a book.

Viewpoint: Also point of view or POV. Describes whose head we’re in when we read a book.

Viewpoint character: Also perspective character. The character through whose eyes the story is primarily told, and the narrative lens through which readers experience events, thoughts, and emotions within the story.

Vocative: The form of address for a character directly referred to in dialogue.

Word dump: Also information dump. Information that’s necessary to the story but isn’t artfully delivered, or weaved creatively into the narrative and dialogue.

Source More: On Editing ⚜ Word Lists

[lunastrophe]

🕷️ Drow Lore

Hello! Here is the list of my posts about D&D drow lore, organized thematically - it will be regularly updated. Feel free to take a look if you are interested in a particular character or topic, or if you are looking for inspirations for your fanfiction or artwork 🙂 I also have Ask Box open.

☕ Ko-fi - link for those who feel like leaving a tip. It is totally not obligatory, though - all my posts are free to read and everybody is equally welcome to send a question!

🕸️ BG3 Drow Lore:

🕷️ Character: Minthara

• Minthara's Social Station in Drow Society

• About Minthara's Past

• Minthara's Past: Age and Name Meaning

• Minthara's Past: Minthara's Mother

• Minthara's Past: Childhood

• Minthara's Past: Minthara's Lover from House Vandree (theories) new

• Minthara And Orin: Before and After Indoctrination

• Minthara's Time in the Cult new

• Minthara About Slayer

• Minthara's alurlssrin

• Minthara's ust-nor

• Minthara's Tattoo

• Nightwarden Title

• House Baenre Family Tree(s) new

🕷️ Character: Nere

• Nere's Social Station in Drow Society

🕷️ Character: Araj

• Araj's Past and Ambitions

• Araj and Her Army

🕷️ Character: Dhourn

• Dhourn's Social Station and Past

🕷️ Character: Kar'niss

• Kar'niss' Past: Szarkai Theory

• Kar'niss' Past: Eilistraean Theory

• How to Feed Your Drider

🕷️ Cult of Lolth:

• Prayer to Lolth

• Sacrifices and Adjuration to Lolth

• Order of Soul Spiders

🕷️ Cult of Eilistraee:

• Prayer to Eilistraee

🕷️ Other:

• Eliette / Phase Spider Matriarch

🕸️ Drow Culture - Part 1:

(Part 2 - about Drow Social Relationships and Drow Nature - can be found here)

🕷️ Language:

• Glossary from Drow of the Underdark (2e)

• Official and Unofficial D&D Drow Scripts

• Drow Names (sources)

• Common Drow Phrases / Sayings (and their translations)

• More Drow Phrases and their translations

• Drow Phrases from Icewind Dale 2 drow sound sets (and their translations)

• Drow Pronunciation

• Prayer to Lolth (translation)

• Prayer to Eilistraee (translation)

🕷️ Sign language and gestures:

• Sign of Dead Spider (quote)

🕷️ Drow spirituality:

• Lolthite and Eilistraean Clergy and Dogmas

• How Eilistraee Feels About Lolth

• Eilistraee and Corellon (and Seldarine in general)

• Followers of Other Gods in Lolth-sworn Drow Cities

• Eilistraeans in the Underdark

🕷️ Drow cultural values and worldview:

• Eilistraean vs. Lolth-sworn Drow Worldview

• Drow Culture And Menstruation

🕷️ Drow and surfacers / other races:

• Drow And Sunlight

• Drow as "Beautiful" People

• You worship what? (quote)

• Dangerous Drow Merchants - History of Nym

• Drow And Slavery

• Half-drow in Drow Communities

• Valas the Black Raven, half-drow from Rilauven

🕷️ Drow free time:

• About Menzoberranzan Festivals and nedeirra

• Drow Games: Sava And Charhylniss

🕷️ Drow appearance and fashion:

• Drow Fashion and Hairstyles - various information

• Drow Textile Markets

• Drow And Spider Silk: Part 1 , Part 2

• Drow Haute Couture - Matron's Robe

🕷️ Food and drink:

• Poisoned or Not?

🕸️ Driders & Co:

🕷️ Driders in drow culture:

• Driders of the House Melarn

• Sorn and Nadal, Drider Brothers: Part 1 , Part 2

🕷️ Habitat:

• Cavern of Driders (quote)

🕷️ Feeding habits:

• How to Feed Your Drider

🕷️Other spider-like creatures / transformed drow:

• Aracholoth

🕸️ Drow Lore in D&D History:

• Drow First Mentioned (D&D 1e)

• Drow and Concept of Evil Matriarchal Society - about possible inspirations

• Drow Lore Sources

[aego-weaver]

Asexual characters getting laid

So, the recent discussion around a certain demon has brought a certain subject to the forefront of my circles. So, in this essay, let's talk about asexual characters getting laid, usually in fanfiction, but my advice applies to original work as well.

Glossary

As I discuss this, I will be using the relevant terms. For your convenience, I will define them here. Those in the community, you can skip this section.

Asexual: Often shortened to Ace, an asexual is a person who experiences little to no sexual attraction.

Gray Ace: Notice how I said "little to no" in the previous definition? gray Aces are why. Still falling under the field of asexuality, gray aces experience sexual attraction only on rare occasions or in specific situations.

Demisexual: A person who only experiences sexual attraction after a close emotional (not necessarily romantic) connection exists. It is a form of gray ace.

Aromantic: Often shortened to Aro, an aromantic is a person who experiences little to no romantic attraction.

Alloromantic: Alloromantic is opposite of Aromantic, being a person who regularly experiences romantic attraction. For this essay, I will use the abbreviated form Allo for this meaning exclusively. In more general parlance, Allo can also be short for allosexual, the opposite of asexual.

Sex Repulsed: A person who is sex repulsed has a strong negative reaction to sexual situations. This can manifest as fear, disgust, anxiety, etc.

Sex Favorable: A person who is sex favorable has a positive reaction to sexual situations. This shouldn't be confused with being sex positive, which is about your opinion regarding sex in society and sits outside the scope of this essay.

Opening Principles

The main question is this: Is it okay to write a story in which an asexual character has a sexual encounter or long-term sexual relationship?

The answer, in my opinion, is yes, if you do it right.

The question you need to ask is why are they doing this? You should really ask that question for any character getting laid, but it's really important when you want an asexual character to do the dance.

Asexuals and their relationship to sex

Now, as I start this section, I feel the need to drop my credentials... I am a sex-favorable aroace with an axe to grind. That's it really.

As far as a stereotype exists for asexuals, it's a sex-repulsed aroace who is usually so extremely repulsed they just about faint at the sight of a bare breast or is so naive they wouldn't know what a dildo is.

Now, both of these people exist, I'm sure. But, they aren't the only options. You can have sex-neutral or favorable aces, you can have allo aces, you can have gray aces and demisexuals. Asexuals can like kinky stuff or keep it vanilla. The options are limitless.

Libido is different from attraction. I'm sure you've heard of people who just need it more or less often. Guess what? Asexuals can get aroused just like everyone else; we just have less of an outlet for it.

A good but honestly overused analogy is food: libido is getting hungry while attraction is thinking something looks delicious. Some of us aces (like myself) are just sitting in the kitchen, hungry as all hell, but nothing catches the eye. We still might eat something and enjoy it, but it's a different process.

The only unifying factor for asexuals is experiencing little to no sexual attraction. That's it!

Reasons your asexual character might want to get laid

I'm going to run through a bunch of reasons why an asexual person might find themselves getting laid. I'll go over story ideas they make me think of (which you are free to steal; please steal them, I beg you) and potential pitfalls you need to avoid.

Do note the phrase "want to" in the title of this section. I'm only covering story reasons that are at least mostly consensual.

These aren't in any particular order; I'm just writing them as I think of them.

Personal Gain

Perhaps they benefit in some fashion from the arrangement. For example:

An asexual prostitute is an easy example.

A con artist, using sex to influence their victims, but not feeling anything real towards them.

This one is a great choice for dark character exploration. It's also one of the few options that works well if the character is sex-repulsed; put the reader in the shoes of a sex-repulsed character who needs to have sex for some reason and you've got something I've never seen before and really want to see done well. Tread lightly though, that idea is very easy to get wrong.

For a loved one

This one's for the allo aces out there. An asexual character could have sex for their partner's sake. Just like you, for example, might see a movie you don't care about because your SO wants to see it.

That's a fine reason... with a major caveat: it shouldn't be a transactional thing. Nothing in relationships should be, but I'm calling it out. Your ace character doesn't owe their loved one sex, but if they want to make their love happy, it's an option.

That said, if you want the audience to hate the loved one, get as transactional as you want. You don't have to write healthy relationships, just be aware of what you are doing.

For pleasure and fun

If your asexual character isn't sex-repulsed, they could just... want sex for its own sake. The only caveat here is treating the issue with respect. The characters approach to sex is different from attraction, being more something they want rather than a need.

Exceptions

You could explore an ace character drifting into gray ace territory, struggling with new emotions... or even just a character who already identifies as gray asexual.

My main concern here is avoiding invalidating the character's identity: they are still asexual, just with some shades of gray.

A common refrain from those opposed to asexuality is "you just haven't found the right person yet". Two things about that:

Don't unwittingly write a story where those idiots are right.

If a person experiences no sexual attraction, and then finds themselves doing so for a specific person, usually one they are close to, we have a word for that. It's in the glossary, starting with a D.

One-offs

Rapid fire time. These are all reasons an asexual character might have sex on a short term basis. If you're writing a short story, that might be all you need.

Peer pressure to stop being a virgin. Not a fun reason, but I'm sure it happens.

Curiosity about sex.

Manipulation by their partner. Be careful with this one, it borders on non-con... unless that's what you're writing.

They are trying to have a baby.

Some weird magic thing in your setting.

Fuck, they could lose a bet if you feel like it.

Conclusion

Just because you're writing about people doing the horizontal hula doesn't mean the few ace characters we have need to be stripped of their identity just to be stripped of their clothes. Keeping that identity in mind can help open new story paths, paths that are currently unexplored.

Side note: if you can find any well written smut featuring an asexual lead, please tell me about it. I want to read it.

[puppietooth]

hi these are some of my sydcarmy headcanons:

* i love reading fics where they both realize they like each other and then start furiously making out but. also. what if carmy asks syd out and she’s a little skeptical about it at first? but she agrees to go on the date anyway — and carmy takes her out to a little fancy joint by the river and is so nervous about messing up that his hands are so so so shaky and he can’t even pour the wine into their glasses right. so he fumbles through some half apology half speech about how he’s just really happy she’s here and how he really really really likes her and how he’s honestly glad that she was willing to give him a chance and how he’s very anxious because she looks so pretty in that dress she’s wearing. and syd realizes that, holy shit, he really does like her — and she thinks she really likes him too. so they wine and they dine and when the night is over he takes her home, walks her up to her door, and doesn’t kiss her because he says that’s something he’d like to do on the third date, if she’ll have him. and of course, she says yes, she would like to go on more dates with him — she says yes like he just proposed to her, because they’re so intense about everything they do.

* i think that syd and carmy, carmy especially, are the type of people to be vaguely private about their relationship. like, it’s very obvious that they are together, they won’t hide it — if you see them in person, if you see the way they look at each other, move with each other, the way they talk to each other, you will know that they’re together. they will casually mention each other in interviews and articles, refer to the other as their partner. but they will not post a million pictures of each other on social media, they are not that couple. there will be the occasional, slightly vague post — a picture of carmy in his chef whites, back turned to the camera, posted to syd’s instagram account to congratulate him on The Bear’s fifth year of service. A congratulations to chef sydney adamu on her james beard nomination tweeted to carmy’s twitter account. and if they ever do attain that level of fame, there will be the occasional pap shot of them walking back from a deli, or a farmer’s market (in true JAW fashion). but unless you’re close to them you’ll only see that surface level to their relationship

* i know that they’re roughly the same height but in my head sydney is just slightly taller than carmy, just by a few inches, nothing too big. carmy is not the type of person that cares about height, it’s not a big insecurity of his, and deep down, he finds the similarity in height between him and syd to be quite grounding and comforting. he likes being able to hug her and comfortably put his chin on her shoulder. he likes how it doesn’t feel awkward when they put their arms around each other, and how neither of them have to bend down or get on their toes to kiss each other.

* another thing i absolutely love in fics — when syd just gets the opportunity to talk about her hair. i don’t think carmy is ignorant, but realistically, he does not know about, for instance, the difference between 2b and 4c hair (as in, the labels) and how to care for 4c hair, which (i’m pretty sure) syd has. like, i think hair care would be such an important aspect of their relationship — syd teaches him about protective styles, tells him why she sleeps with a satin scarf wrapped around her braids, what silk presses are and why she has to spend a good twenty minutes wrapping it up each night before she goes to bed. and carmy helps her take her braids out, because four hands are faster than two, he helps her put twists in, helps her blow dry and comb it out the night before her next appointment. and sixth months into their relationship, he becomes a walking glossary — he will tell you what leave-in conditioner is, what edge control is for, why you shouldn’t buy cantu products, the textural difference between synthetic and human hair. and secretly, he thinks to himself, this will also be useful information for him to know if he and syd ever have kids one day because yes — carmy doesn’t do things halfway and he is already thinking that far ahead.

[uispeccoll]

#MiniatureMonday

A guide to the ball room : being a complete compendium of the etiquette of dancing : with the figures of all the quadrilles, gallopades, mazourkas, polonaises, etc., etc., beautifully embellished / by a man of fashion.

A guide to the ball room is a stunning little book dated all the way back to 1884. Detailing many etiquette and dancing rules, along with instructions, this book is a perfect guide to learning the ins and outs of the ball room.

The back of the book also features a glossary of French terms often used in the ball room. So grab a partner, read this book, and get to dancing--just like those from the 1800s!

--Adair J.

[sturionic]

In the course of spiralling down an internet rabbit hole today, I found a truly excellent essay about the trials and tribulations of fandom: How To BNF Without Tears, by Walter A. Willis

If you are familiar with the term BNF (Big-Name Fan), you may have heard it in the context of early-aughts fandoms, or some configuration of superwholock. But this article is from 1954!

Please enjoy these excerpts:

Very well, let's consider a day in the life of this wretched Neofan. Brighteyed, the little fellow wakes early, listening for the tread of the postman. His ears are so sensitive to this faint sound that he will leap out of bed, every nerve quivering, when the man is a hundred yards away ….. whereas before he became a fan a whole battery of alarm clocks barely fluttered an eyelid.

It's me, I'm the wretched little fellow refreshing my AO3 inbox, nerves a-quivering

Consider now a day in the life of the BNF. He too is driven from pillow to post, but since he was up to two o'clock in the morning finishing an article he had promised for ten days ago, the postman has to knock twice to waken him. He staggers down the stairs, observing with a sinking feeling that the porch is covered with a layer of various sized envelopes[....]Some of the letters are from his friends, and he puts those in his pocket to be enjoyed later. Some are from self-appointed enemies, and he puts those aside until he feels stronger. The rest are from Neofen. Some of them want subscriptions to his fanzine. Some want information. Some want material for their fanzine. Nearly all of them are rude.

1954 equivalent of "RIP your inbox"

Now, on the way the BNF handles this mail depends whether he shall stay in fandom or retire suffering from chronic disenchantment like so many others[...]So I am going to suggest some rules which you might consider following when you become a BNF. (All that is necessary to become a BNF is to maintain a reasonably energetic standard of fanactivity for approximately two years.)

And then our friend Walter goes on to advise BNFs to "comment on as many first issues [of fanzines] as you can, and always find something to praise," "Always be polite and kind to Neofans," and to take the piss out of yourself: "Humourous attacks on you should be encouraged -- they add to the interest of fandom, rank as egoboo, and might give you something to write about." (Walter also warns on the dangers of attending conventions, and advises that you wear a false beard to maintain anonymity.)

Of course, I had to know: what fandom were these guys in?

So I did a little digging. Walter mentions a "Ken Potter" in his letter. Turns out Ken Potter ran multiple science fiction fanzines through the 1950's and 60's, including Brennschluss, Triumph and Scientifiction.

A scan of Brenschluss, containing such gems as "tho I did once kiss a girl" and "Isn't Fandom romantic!"

Additional glossary for some terms used in Walter's essay:

"Egoboo": A colloquial expression for the pleasure received from public recognition of voluntary work. Originated in science fiction fandom as early as 1947

"Hectoed" fanzine: A method of copying text and illustrations that fell out of fashion after the 1940's. It involves involves making a bed of gelatin, transferring a special carbon ink to the gelatin and then laying on and picking up pieces of paper.

"Faned": Slang for "fan editor," aka the editor of a fandom publication, usually a zine.

[yinyuedijun]

TOKYO VICE | glossary and notes

hi this is my extended author's note for my unserious yandere suo fic (which will be posted very shortly after this). deeply sorry if you read all that. see below for vocab and world-building delusions!

Disclaimer: I am not fluent in Japanese, have only spent very limited time in Japan’s red light districts, and definitely have no association with Japanese criminal organisations. Thus, I cannot promise 100% accuracy of the below lol. However, I have tried to understand and briefly describe these terms to the best of my abilities. Take it all with a grain of salt!

YAKUZA TERMS/NOTES

yakuza organisations have familial hierarchies in place, so familial terms are often used between members:

aniki – term to address an older brother (or an older male in the organisation, in suo’s case)

anesan –  term to address an older sister; this is used for wives of yakuza members, especially high-ranking members. yakuza do maintain certain principles/ethics, and apparently one is that the wife of another member can’t be touched. this is partly why suo likes to call you his wife (for protection purposes), but he’s also just wants to marry you lol

oyassan – term to address one’s father (or the head of the organisation, in suo’s case)

oyabun –  literally “parent figure” (head of the organisation)

chinpira – rookie yakuza; also used for petty criminals. I got the impression that these guys would be the ones doing street-level grunt work

irezumi – a particular style of tattoos that yakuza members get. they are strongly associated with yakuza membership in Japan (unlike in western countries where people may get them for aesthetic reasons). examples:

han-gure – non-yakuza criminal organisation, which may include delinquents, colour gangs, etc. interestingly, it came up in some of the documentaries that I watched that some people perceive yakuza as necessary evils because they suppress and/or minimise activity by han-gure, which are seen as causing more trouble for civilians.

relating to the ethical code followed (in theory) by yakuza – although yakuza are violent criminals, there are also ideals of chivalrous behaviour and protecting the weak among yakuza. (this is, for example, why yakuza organisations will donate aid/resources during major disasters.) this reminded me quite a bit of bofurin, and I came across some real-life cases where members of the yakuza were previously delinquents, so I thought it was fitting that the yakuza might try to recruit from bofurin in the fic. 

I saw some opinions from older ex-yakuza members that current organisations do not really strive toward these honourable values, and that yakuza are too money-driven these days. I think it made a lot of sense for suo (due to his general disposition and time in bofurin) to adhere very strongly to these ethical codes and endear himself to older gang leaders this way.

one of the reasons that yakuza are nowadays considered less relevant is apparently because japanese policing of petty crime is so strong nowadays. in previous decades, when law enforcement was much weaker, yakuza actually did (or at least, were described to) play a major part in suppressing petty crime or criminal violence toward civilians. this, again, reminded me of bofurin – the police are essentially implied to have given up on makochi, and bofurin formed in order to suppress petty and/or violent crime instead. I assume that this applies to the nearby red light district as well, since roppo-ichiza formed in response to crime on keisei street. it stood to reason to me that this would create a situation where a yakuza family could become extremely socially dominant, and where these old-fashioned ethical codes would actually be quite relevant. this is why suo is so well-known within the red light district and well-respected by his peers.

some yakuza organisations, also as part of an ethical code, do not involve themselves in businesses such as drug trafficking. I didn’t personally come across anything implying that sex trafficking was banned by any ethical codes, but narratively I think it made a lot of sense that suo wants no business with it after what the reader went through. 

on the note of sex trafficking – apparently a lot of sex trafficking and sex work-adjacent professions in japan affect runaway teenage girls specifically, which this reader does qualify as. this is why her backstory got so dark as I was developing the storyline for this yakuza au (I did not initially put her into mizu shobai work for such a narratively significant reason though lol – I just thought the mental image of smuggling three delinquents into the washroom of a girls’ bar was very funny when I was writing Sincerity)

MIZU SHOBAI TERMS/NOTES

Mizu shobai or “water business” – euphemism for certain types of jobs in the entertainment industry, especially those pertaining to nightlife (including girls’ bars and hostess clubs). yakuza are known for their involvement with mizu shobai establishments. 

Girls’ bar – bars where the bartenders are all women, who will make conversation with (male) customers as they serve drinks. 

Hostess bars – bars or clubs where women will accompany individual or groups of (male) customers as they drink, making conversation, singing karaoke, etc. they are not sex workers and are not allowed to have sex with customers (nor is touching generally allowed). in the interest of not misrepresenting this line of work, I want to be very clear that the reader is having sex with her customers not as an industry standard practice, but because something is extremely wrong with her situation (financially, socially, and mentally). 

Douhan – dinner dates that hostesses may go on with customers.

Kyabakura – a portmanteau of “carabaret” and “club”, these are a type of hostess clubs. kyabakura establishments tend to employ younger girls in comparison to high end clubs.

High end clubs – much pricier than kyabakura, with much greater earnings for the hostesses themselves; I got the sense during researching that these tend to be extremely competitive environments for the hostesses.

Mamasan – a “head hostess” who will typically manage girls, and or even manage the club itself. since the reader is working at clubs run by criminal organisations, the mamasans are not the actual owners.

[ranahan]

Canon Mando’a analysis: project outline

Idk, if anyone is curious about what I’m cooking?

I’ll probably re-title and split and merge and move chapters around several times before I’m happy, but the idea is it might look something like this:

Mando’a Phonology

Appendices

Phonetic transcription of Jesse Harlin’s Republic Commando Soundtrack lyrics

Phonology of Jesse Harlin’s Mando’a: vocabulary, phonemic inventory, phonotactics

Phonetic transcriptions of Karen Traviss’s audio recordings

Comparison of Traviss’ glossary ortography, glossary pronunciation, and recorded pronunciation

Phoneme inventory

Phonotactic analysis

Stress analysis

Not necessarily organised in exactly this fashion, but approximately this content.

Mando’a Morphology

Appendices

Tables (so many tables: roots, affixes, compound noun types & couple of specific issues will be covered, but idk yet how these are going to be organised most logically)

Interlinear gloss of Republic Commando Soundtrack lyrics

Mando’a Syntax

?

Appendices

Interlinear gloss of Republic Commando Soundtrack lyrics (same as above in Morphology)

Interlinear gloss of Traviss’s published Mando’a sentences

Whoops, my hand slipped? That’s about all I can say for myself. 😂

[fashionbooksmilano]

Jewellery from Art Nouveau to 3D Printing

Alba Cappellieri, editor Valerio Terraroli, design Marcello Falcone

Skira, Milano 2018, 264 pages, 25x29cm, ISBN 978-88-572-373-4

euro 45,00

email if you want to buy booksinprogressmilano@yahoo.it

A chronological compendium of the masterpieces of 20th-century jewelry

Jewellery: From Art Nouveau to 3D Printing presents an extraordinary collection of jewels and jewelers from the start of the 20th century to the present day. The book is a global journey through taste and fashion, taking the reader from France to Russia, from the United States to Italy, from Britain to Germany and from the Netherlands to Scandinavia. Conceived of as an ideal gallery of the masterpieces of 20th-century jewelry, this volume proceeds chronologically. It begins with the Art Nouveau masterpieces of Lalique, Vever and Fouquet, followed by the Art Deco elegance of Cartier, Boucheron, Tiffany, Mario Buccellati and Fabergé. After World War II, Van Cleef & Arpels and Bulgari's whimsical inventions of the 1950s share space with the designs of the Dutch avant-garde and the artist's jewels of the 1960s. The book closes with the new millennium, with the intermingling of art and design and the introduction of new technologies like 3D printing, wearable technology and new modes of distribution and communication. A brilliant historical-critical essay by designer and academic Alba Cappellieri introduces the magnificent selection of pictures, and the objects are accompanied by thorough technical explanations and an exhaustive glossary. Beautifully produced and comprehensively researched, Jewellery: From Art Nouveau to 3D Printing promises to be an indispensable tool for the specialist, the collector and the jewelry-lover alike.

02/11/24

[disenchantedif]

How active are the Ro’s on Owler? (Just typing that word made me so giddy, it’s such a fun one)

Glossary: Owler - Twitter, Hoot - Tweet, Rehoot - Retweet

Viktor: Mostly rehoots pottery stuff, sometimes makes sarcastic remarks to Theo’s dumb hoots.

Theo: Loves posting shade at certain people and dumb stories that don’t sound believable but are 100% true.

Charlie: Rehoots Theo’s shade posts just to stir the pot. Also posts about what they’re currently reading and what’s on their TBR.

Amri: Rehoots news to do with corruption in general. Drags their family on the regular, especially their dad. Also rehoots any and every tweet that calls MC hot once you meet.

Cameron: Usually just rehoots obscure sorcery documents and pictures of cute animals. Will occasionally fall for Theo’s bait and end up in an argument.

Luci: They’re barely active and mostly use their account to lurk. They rehoot Cameron’s animal posts occasionally.

Penny: New to Owler and posts the weirdest hoots about what gosh she prefers eating. No, Theo, she’s not talking about sushi. Also rehoots random fashion posts she likes.

Harlow: Private account that barely follows anyone and hardly ever posts.

Avery: Has an account under their Canadian alias that Charlie follows. Mostly hoots pictures of the local scenery and the cute pasties the cafe they work at sells.

???: They’re non-corporeal to start off so they can’t exactly hold a phone, but they would love to help you write your hoots.

[ludi-ling]

The Tailor & The Seamstress - A Reading Aid

So here's some stuff I'm just putting up here as a kind of glossary/reading aid/moodboard collection for The Tailor & The Seamstress.

It's not an easy read in some ways, because it's set in 1910 and deals with some fashion terminology that can be opaque, so yeah. Just dropping this here.

Accents

Firstly, Remy and Anna do not speak in their accents, and that was deliberate. Working where and in what they do (i.e. haute couture in 1910's New York), having a Southern accent would have been very uncouth. For professional reasons they would have got rid of their accents, or polished them off, fairly quickly. But both of them actually filed off their Southern accents earlier in life, for entirely different reasons (which will become clear later on in the story).

The closest you'd probably get to what they sound like is probably the Transatlantic accent, which developed in the late 19th century in the acting industry and among the American upper class. (Thanks to @narwhallove for pointing this out!).

You can hear what this accent sounded like in 1930's and 40's Hollywood movies:

Dress Forms

There are a lot of dress forms floating around in this story. A dress form is very much like a mannequin, where a garment can be mounted on it to make working on it easier. The difference between a dress form and a mannequin is that a form can be adjusted to different sizes. Here's an example:

Nowadays, dress forms usually conform to modern standards of sizing, but back in the day, all dressmakers/fashion houses would have dress forms made according to the sizing of their target clientele, and adjustments would be made to individual customers when a dress was purchased.

The dress forms at the House of Burford, of course, are made to Anna's measurements. 😉

Maison Maillot

The idea of Remy working at a waning fashion house was inspired by the historical House of Worth, which was probably the world's first modern atelier. Established in 1858 by Charles Frederick Worth, it came to dress empresses, queens, actresses and singers. The business was later taken over by his sons, but the house's fortunes waned in the early 20th century. IMHO, you begin to see the decline in design quality by the 1920's. Worth was bought out by the House of Paquin in 1950, and closed in 1956. In 1999, it was revived.

Early Worth designs were so powerfully beautiful, and always innovative and at the cutting edge. In the story, the House of Maillot's heyday would have been the same - a tale of an exciting and forward-thinking atelier that dressed the best and brightest.

By the early 20th century, at the time of the story, they are still putting out beautifully breath-taking clothes - but decades of newer competition means that their work no longer stands out. By the 1910's, the House of Worth had been eclipsed by designers like Callot Soeurs, Paul Poiret, and Lucile (of Titanic fame), who were becoming the innovators in women's dress, and Worth tended to follow where others led. This is where Maison Maillot is at in the story; and their rival, the House of Burford, is one of those new and exciting innovators in fashion.

By the 1920's, fortunes have fallen, and the House of Worth was putting out stuff like this:

The Peacock and the Phoenix Dresses

The rival dresses don't have any analogue in real life, but here are the dresses that roughly inspired them.

A 1909 evening dress by Callot Soeurs:

And a 1913-14 evening dress by an unknown artist:

I like to think of Remy always being slightly (maybe a lot) more ahead of his time with his clothes than Anna is with hers. Remy is designing tubular dresses a few years before they started to become a fashionable silhouette. Ironically Maillot rejects them, but I find it kind of funny that by the end of the decade, he'll have been wishing his house had set the trend Remy had conceived of years before.

At SOME POINT I will draw how I envision the dresses to be. I HOPE.

If you want to see my moodboard for this story, you can catch it on Pinterest here.

[toyintrance]

Glossary of terms related to "boy" + "toy"

boytoy: ¹a boy who is a toy for people to play with, or ²a playing fashioned to resemble a real boy. notable examples: ken from barbie, rocky from rhps, pinocchio, me 💖

Boys' toy: a toy marketed specifically to boys. Are often played with by non-boys as well. Examples: racecars, action figures, fleshlights

a boy's toy: (Note the position of the apostrophe) a toy that belongs to a specific, singular boy. Examples: Winnie the Pooh, Woody from Toy Story, me (again)

toy boy: boy who is particularly passionate about his toys, either collecting them, taking especially good care of them, or otherwise paying significantly more attention to his playthings than the average boy would. examples: figurine collectors, model train guys, my owner

[tf2thoughtdump]

TF2 Fic of the Day

OC Included? No.

Characters Used? Spy, color not specified.

Word Count? 753

TWs? None, should be all fine.

You're free to use any fic of mine in any form of media you make.

TL;DR: Reader just came from a failed interview for a new office job, but unfortunately it started raining and they didn’t bring an umbrella, as it was previously sunny. Cue, reader getting absolutely soaked and Spy using his absolute French rizz (I hate myself). Anyways, look out for my comma obsession. I went crazy this time.

I made up my own name for Spy on this one.

Mini-French glossary for Spy at the bottom. Readers gender is not specifically stated(from what I know, feel free to correct me) but written to be wearing heels, so do with that what you wish.

Of course. It had to rain. You just left your interview, which went as smoothly as it could, and now it’s RAINING. And why would you have an umbrella with you? Because it always seems like you’re the target of bad luck! Sighing, you rush out into the rain and down the street towards your apartment, which was a little ways from the office building. You tried your best not to run though, since you had heels on and… it was wet. Obviously. Why couldn’t things just go your way for once?

You sighed as you stepped to the crosswalk next to a man under an umbrella. Cars passed and you watched as the man pressed the button, “Wait.” Yeah, no shit, what else am I gonna do?

You shivered, watching car after car drive past. Noticing your wet clothes, the stranger next to you shifted closer as he moved his umbrella to his left hand. The rain stopped above you in a soft pattern of thumps on the fabric. “Thank you..” You muttered to the man, noticing now his greying, slicked-back hair. He nodded, pulling the cigarette out of his mouth. “Do not mention it, chérie. I’m pleased to help.” He responded in his thick, French accent as he walked you across once the stupid, automated voice had let you know. Such a gentleman! Is what you would’ve thought if the man’s cigarette wasn’t fighting with his cologne to assault your senses. You looked down at his suit, raising a brow. So fancy… “What’s the suit for? Interview?” “No, just my fashion.” You noticed that as you continued walking down the direction towards your apartment, he followed to keep you under the umbrella.

He turned his head to examine your outfit. A professional looking, button up tucked into a pair of black pants. “Did you come from an interview?” Oh Jesus. You sighed and leaned your head back slightly in annoyance. “Yeah, but… it didn’t go as well as I thought it was. I made a total ass of myself! I’m SO fucking embarrassed. And I’m living in a crappy apartment with a noisy neighbor so that screwed up my morning.” You immediately began, before shutting yourself up when you realized you were saying too much. He just wanted to know if you came from an interview, not your whole life’s story. “Sorry.. just pissed today.” “Nonsense. You deserve to be mad. I bet you that company will go down in flames without you, mon cher.”

You raised a brow at this, unsure of how to respond before a laugh creeped up on your lips. “You think so, huh? I guess they did lose the chance of a damn good employee.” You said proudly, while nearing your apartment. It was nice having someone do something like this for you.. a shame it had to come to an end. A sigh escaped your lips as you walked up your steps, the man still following you as the entrance to your complex didn’t have an awning over the door. “Well… thanks for walking with me. I’d give you a hug but I don’t want to get your fancy suit wet.” You said softly with a smile before shaking off your hand and holding it out. It took him a minute, but a gloved hand met yours as the gentlemen brought it up to his lips and placed a kiss to it. Your eyes widened, and your smile did too. “It was lovely being in the presence of such a beautiful creature. Prends soin de toi.”

“U-uh.. y-yeah! You-..you too.” You fumbled while reaching back to open the door, failing in the process before finally grabbing the hold of the handle and walking in. You turned around momentarily and watched as the man lumbered off, his cigarette back in his mouth and his umbrella leaning on his shoulder. You sighed softly before cleaning your hand, feeling something crumple. Looking down…

Did he slip you an extra cigarette?

Wait. You turned it slightly, noticing something written in sharpie.

DID HE JUST SLIP YOU HIS PHONE NUMBER?!

Never once in your life did you think a man could get even more dreamy than he already was. When the hell did he have the time to give you his number?

‘xxx-xxx-xxxx - jacque laurent’

Jacque? How sophisticated, you thought.

How….

French.

You tested the name on your lips in a small murmur and it felt like an hour you stared at that paper, contemplating the name.

…

Yeah, you could moan it.

Glossary:

Chérie - Dear

Mon cher - My dear

Prends soin de toi - Take care of yourself