#i want to print it all out and make it into a book

[ranticore]

what writing program do you use?

I use LibreOffice, a free open source word processor. It's very customisable, I change my document bg to medium grey so that my eyes don't hurt. It saves documents as .odt by default

When I was finished a book I would open it in Word to run a spelling and grammar check as Word used to have more sophisticated proofreading abilities but the last time I did it it was absolute tripe due to increased implementation of ai. I also use Word to format the pdf for printing

To turn the .odt document into an epub novel i save as .html and open in Calibre to format the ebook. You can then read it using google books or apple books on ur phone

Other programs I've used/tried:

Google docs - the only reason anyone should use this is if they're writing cross platform in which case it can be useful. Hands-down the worst spelling suggestions out there and stupidly lacking in functionality on mobile

Bear (iOS) - it's nice if you like markdown and only exporting as .rtf files in the free version. Works well, stores documents offline, and uses a nice tag system to organise stuff. I wrote all my Siren prose in this

Scrivener - overcomplicated and distracting

Discord - honestly prefer it when writing cross platform over gdocs, sometimes I'll write a paragraph or so on mobile and just paste it into my libreoffice when I get home. My pc is immovably large & I don't own a laptop

Word (for writing) - if you click & drag to highlight text in libre, it will highlight only the exact letters you selected. Word has a fun feature where it makes assumptions about what you REALLY wanted to do and tries to fight you on it. Fuck Word

[ahistoricdistraction]

Finally finished my binding of my fic, Burn it All Down! So freaking happy with how it turned out. I bought this coverstock long before I'd ever even thought about writing this fic, no idea what I was going to use it for, but it was PERFECT for this. Right now the back cover is the same as the front but without any text. I might still add a quote to the back, but I haven't decided which one yet.

I had originally wanted the stripes to go all the way around, but I didn't have quite enough of the yellow vinyl. I do so love the white vinyl, it's a lovely iridescent color, but I discovered it is a PAIN to weed anything other than large simple shapes like that stripe so I'm not sure how or if I'll use it in the future. It was PERFECT for this, though.

The endpapers are a stock illustration I modified just slightly because I didn't like the jagged edges of the original flames, and I had to extend one side slightly so it would be the right size for the book.

Also, if you would like to bind this fic yourself, you are more than welcome! I've got a folder full of resources here if you want to use my files, but you are welcome to make your own too! Fun fact, if you use the version with 16 page signatures, you'll end up with a handful of blank pages at the end which, if you've read the fic, you might find something to do with once you've got it all printed out and bound up. ;)

Info on the fic:

Read it here.

Rating: E

Summary:

After a few years of living together in New York Alex and Henry's lives are going great, but Queen Mary is an ever looming shadow. When she summons Henry back to England for apology tour for a comment he makes on a podcast, Henry and Alex realize something needs to change. Before they can make that change, though, Henry's plane home from the apology tour crashes in the Canadian wilderness, killing all on board. Or so Alex is lead to believe. Trapped in his grief, he flees back home to Texas to try and start over. And over. And over. He finally settles in a small town at a small lawfirm, but it isn't until he joins the local volunteer fire department that his life starts to finally turn back around. Only Henry isn't dead. In an attempt to both smother his "corrupting influence" but still protect the line of succession until Philip has kids, Mary has had him squirreled away deep in the Australian outback. And, well, it's amazing how often the outback burns, isn't it? Sometimes, it burns so bad, they need help from international firefighters...

[skeletboi]

Part 16 of the Intridimensional au!

First /// Previous /// Next

___________________

Fiddleford, what the hell is that thing?” Stan asked, motioning to the memory gun.

“I- this? It's… nothing. Don't worry ‘bout it Stanley.” Fiddleford responded.

Stan took a cautious step forward, feeling a bit like he was approaching a hurt puppy more than a human being.

“It sure as hell doesn't look like nothing.” he said trying to get a better look at the gun.

“Really, Stan doncha worry ‘bout it. It's jus’ an invention I done whipped up to help me deal with some them spookems Ford an’ I are always runnin’ into.”

“Deal with? That can't be a good thing. If it's not a big deal, then just tell me what it does.”

“Well… well it jus' erases some bad mem'ries is all.” Fiddleford said, looking away and attempting to hide the gun behind his back.

“It does what?!” Stan asked, taking a step forward and reaching for the gun. “Fidds there is no way that's safe!”

“It's fine, Stanley, doncha try an’ take this from me! Ya don’ know what I've seen in this town! I love yer brother, but he's messin’ with somethin’ serious. I don’ know where he's gettin’ all these ideas from- but it's dangerous. I- I can't-” Fiddleford practically yelled, backing away.

“I've seen shit, too, and I've been there- but this sure as hell isn't the way, Fidds. Give me the gun.” Stan said back, trying his best to be gentle, but tripping over his own peg leg as he took another step closer and sending them both to the ground.

“No. I need it, Stanley, ya don’ understand!” Fiddleford yelled, pushing Stan off of him and scrambling to his feet.

Stan tried to get up, but stopped as Fiddleford aimed the gun at him.

“Fidds.” He said carefully. “You don't want to do this.”

“I'm sorry, Stan. I don’ want to, but I need this.” Fiddeford said, his hand trembling, tears streaming down his face.

“I’m sorry, too.” Stan said, pushing the gun away with one hand and grabbing a book from the floor with the other.

He leaned up on his good leg and hit Fiddleford across the face with the book as the gun skidded across the floor. Fiddleford collapsed onto the ground and Stan grimaced.

“I really am sorry, Fidds.” Stan said, struggling to his feet.

He grabbed a pillow from the bed and put it under Fidd's head, checking to make sure there was no blood from the hit, and turned him so he was laying on his side. He looked to the gun on the floor and frowned, his sadness turning to anger as he thought of Ford's careless dismissal of Fiddleford's anxiety.

He grabbed the gun as he left the room, grief warring with anger as he carefully made his way through the cluttered hall. He knew Ford had walked this way to go back to his lab, but Stan had no idea where this lab was.

He glanced down at the gun in his hand, then paused when he got a glimpse at the floor below him. There were muddy shoe prints leading down the hall. He slid the gun into his inner coat pocket and followed the trail around the corner until it dead ended at a bookshelf.

“You have gotta be shittin’ me, Sixer.” Stan mumbled.

He ran a finger over the bookshelf, glancing over the dry titles until he came across one he recognized.

“The Siblings Brothers. That's a bit obvious.” He said as he pulled the book from the shelf.

The shelf clicked and creaked. Stan opened it, and probably would have been impressed by the elevator hidden behind it if he wasn't too busy being angry. He looked to the keypad next to the door and nearly laughed. It was just like the one on the old vending machine down by the dock when they were growing up. He didn't even have to think about it, he input the code for jelly beans and toffee peanuts, and the elevator door dinged open.

The elevator automatically opened on the third floor and Stan stepped out, following the hallway down until it opened into a vast room that had to be at least double the size of the house itself.

“Holy shit.” he said aloud.

“Fiddleford! I need you to check the pressure gaug-” Ford started, but stopped when he got a look at Stan.

“You should work on your security, Sixer.” Stan said.

“Stanley! What the hell are you doing down here?! And where is Fiddleford?!” Ford asked.

“I'm here to talk to you about this.” Stan said, taking the memory gun from his inner coat pocket and holding it up for Ford to see.

Ford's eyes widened in recognition, and, to Stan's surprise, horror.

“Where did you get that?!” Ford asked, his voice laced with fear.

“You do know about it! And you just let him use it on himself?! I was under the impression that you cared about him, Ford!” Stan yelled, his anger returning in full force.

“No, Stan, I- He told me he destroyed it! I never would have let it go on if I had known!” Ford yelled back, sounding more panicked than angry.

“You knew he was anxious, Ford! Did you think he just magically got over his anxiety?!” Stan yelled.

“No, no- I- well, I don't quite recall…” Ford said, looking down at his feet.

“You don't fucking-” Stan paused, the realization dawning as he looked at his brother's frowning face.

“I'm sorry, Stanford…” Stan heard from behind him.

Stan and Ford both turned at the voice and saw Fiddleford standing at the end of the hall, a hand to his head.

“Fiddleford, what did you do?” Ford asked, the panic in his voice turning to anger.

“I didn't have ‘nother choice, Stanford. You wouldn't listen to me! I still don't understand where you're gettin’ all these ideas! I couldn't get rid of the gun- I- I needed it.” Fiddleford said, his voice rising in panic with each word.

“So you used that machine on me?! All I have is my brain, Fiddleford! How dare you use that on me!” Ford yelled back.

“I know, Ford. I'm sorry. I jus’- well I jus’...” Fiddleford stuttered.

“You just what?! Wanted to ruin this for me?! Everything I've worked for! Who cares where the idea came from?!”

“I care, Ford! I know you're smart- I've always known that! But this is somethin’ else!”

“This again?! Why can't you just listen to me! This is my life's work, Fiddleford! This is the final step in proving myself! Don't you get that?!"

Stan looked from Fiddleford to Ford and frowned.

“You have everythin' ya need ta prove yerself in those journals a' yers!” Fiddleford yelled back, tears running down his cheeks. “You're so obsessed with proving yerself that you don' even see how dangerous this damn portal is!”

“Wait, did you say portal?! What the fuck does that mean?!” he asked.

“Nothing, Stanley! Just stay out of this!” Ford yelled.

“Nothing?! This is obviously something! Goddammit, you two are mad scientists, aren't you?! Why didn't I see that sooner?!” Stan yelled back.

“Hey now, that ain't nice a ya, Stanley!” Fiddleford said. “We ain't crazy! We jus’ get a bit caught up in our projects!”

“You tried to erase my mind with that crazy gun of yours ten minutes ago!” Stan responded, nonplussed.

“Yeah, well- you hit me with a book!”

“Of course I did! You were-” Stan started, but stopped when Ford started to laugh.

____________

“Well, well, well.” Ford said, his voice echoing oddly in the large room.

I did not have time to proofread. My bad.

*edit: I went back and half proofread. It needed some help frfr.

Also sorry about leaving y'all on a cliffhanger, then not posting for another day. Have another cliffhanger, as an apology.

[cartoonz27]

Some additions from a passport acceptance agent:

1) THE PASSPORT CARD HAS LIMITED TRAVEL ABILITIES! You can only travel by land or sea, so no flying with just the card, and only to certain countries directly around the US like Canada, Mexico, the Bahamas, etc. If you plan on flying at all or going to a country the card doesn't work for, you need the full book. As OP says though, the card does work for general ID purposes though.

2) You can have F, M, or X gender markers on your passport and no documentation is required for the change. It doesn't even have to match what's on your citizenship document or ID if you don't want it to. If you have had a passport before and are changing your gender marker from what was printed on that, there is a box you check to mark that it is changed. Keep in mind though, some countries won't let you travel there if you have an X marker so be sure to keep that in mind when you decide what to select.

3) The Department of State fees (the price of the passport book/card itself) MUST be paid as a CHECK or MONEY ORDER. DoS doesn't accept cash or cards for passport fees. Make sure you know the right amount before going for an appointment, especially if you may have extra fees on top of the base price for things like expediting the processing of your passport. There is also a SEPARATE execution fee that is paid to the acceptance facility that processes your application (right now it is $35 and is standardized no matter where you go).

4) If you're filling out an application online and they are trying to charge you money for filling it out DO NOT PAY ANYTHING, THIS IS A SCAM. You can fill out an application online and print it off FOR FREE at travel.state.gov or pick up a physical paper form to fill out at your local acceptance facility. Many post offices and libraries offer passport services so check what you have near you. If printing, it doesn't matter if it's in black and white or color, either one is fine, but they do need to be on separate pages, no front/back copies (also you don't need every page they give you in the pdf, most of that's just the instructions. Just print the two pages that actually have tour information on them). If filling out by hand, use a black ink pen. And no matter which you do, make sure there are NO mistakes. DoS doesn't allow cross outs or white out corrections, so you'd have to start the page all over again.

Last time I checked, processing times were 4-6 weeks (not including mailing time, add another 1-2 weeks to account for that) for routine service, and 2-3 weeks (plus mailing time) for expedited service for an additional $60. If there is a MASSIVE influx of passport applications that could change, but right now they're pretty caught up and it's the slower season.

Good luck everyone, and stay safe and sane right now!

Now is a good time to check if you need to renew your passport or get one for the first time.

Not even as an alarmist thing, but because you want to do it NOW before any requirements change and your get distracted by the world. It's just a good thing to have.

The full passport book is pricey ($130), but the card ($30) has all the same benefits as identification and can be used at land borders.

[im-a-king-baby]

I was just watching videos of Omar on tour and it reminded me of ELYN. The way he is on stage is so ELYN vibe. I feel like I’m watching the chaos tour haha (minus the negative stuff)

<3 <3 <3 Hiiiii, thank you!!! It's been fun to see all the pictures and videos coming from the concerts and play spot the difference with my mental pictures of Simme. (Sadly I haven't been able to go, very rude of Omar not to go to Australia on his Europe tour. We're in Eurovision! That makes us basically part of Europe.)

Also since you reminded me of it and my November resolution was to try to post more things, here is a Simme Chaos tour snippet that is (mostly) the positive stuff <3 😅

(And for the reblogs, this is a prequel snippet to Everybody Loves You Now @ AO3)

He has his first solo concert in Europe. Not counting the promo events, or the industry shows, or the monopolized Open Mic Nights.

The first show in a concert venue, which was booked in advance, with tickets sold that have his name on them, printed in all-caps.

Of course it’s tiny compared to the stadium they were in last night opening for Ariana. A theatre most used for plays with a single bathroom backstage in place of a dressing room and where Candace had had to drag them all out to the alley where the van was parked for the pre-show pep-talk so they couldn’t be heard on stage over the support act.

But Simon has a support act now. There are other solo shows booked, in and around the Ariana dates. Every day Candace is making calls and emailing contacts and adding things to the calendar pinned up on the inside of the van. Filling up all the gaps.

Which is good. It’s great. They’re gaining momentum and Simon is getting better at jumping from show to interview to show, at catching sleep in bursts crammed between commitments, at finding products that cover up the exhaustion on his face. And now he’s got a solo show, and Candace is In Talks about the second album that he might be able to work with a songwriter to put his own songs on, and he’s in Europe again for the first time in… months.

“This could be the start of bigger things,” Candace had said in the alley, while Simon bounced on his toes to keep warm, already dressed in his show outfit of a black mesh tank and jeans slashed open on the sides. “So drink it all in tonight, we’re only going bigger from here.”

He’d thought he was used to it by now, the noise of the crowd, the sight of phone lights spread out before him like stars, but it turns out it’s different when they’re all there for him. When they’re screaming his name before he’s even stepped on stage, rather than him having to slowly win them over. When he runs out onto the stage and the screaming ramps up and hits like a wall and he can feel the smile stretching at his cheeks that he can’t even pretend to hold back. He might cry, actually has to sniff a few times, turning away from the crowd to pull himself together.

There were so many moments he thought he wouldn’t get to have this. When the label said his songs weren’t good enough, when the graphs showed sales were falling, the shows where he opened and the crowd barely seemed to notice, the phone call in Texas to ask what the plans were for the tour break only to get Rachel’s Assistant ‘Ms McKenzie has decided to cull her list and focus on acts with more commercial appeal.’

“Sim-me! Sim-me! Sim-me!” The crowd chants, falling into rhythm and his heart seems to speed up to match Sim-me Sim-me and it doesn’t matter that it’s three hundred people rather than ten thousand, he spins around to the mic and there’s enough light from the spots and the phones to pick out faces. Girls with glitter dots around their eyes, boys in black eyeliner edged with gold, people in Simme T-shirts, waving signs saying DANCE LIKE THIS, people who came to his show who traveled and paid money and got dressed up because they wanted to see him.

“Oh my god, hi. Hello. Hi. I love you.” There was a script, he thinks, but he has absolutely no idea what it said. It’s only thanks to the set-list taped to the floor by his mic stand that he can even remember what he’s meant to sing. “Hello Cologne. This is the first official show of what I think we’re all agreed is the Chaos Tour.”

They laugh along with him and they cheer and Simon can only hope he’s still capable of singing around this wild, insane grin on his face because it absolutely isn’t going away. “Thank you for coming. Thank you for supporting me. The fact that I’m here, the fact that we can do this at all, is all because of you talking and filming and sharing and streaming and this was my dream for so long I can’t say thank you enough for making it come true.”

The fight is lost, the fight is over, he is absolutely crying as they scream again, someone shouts 'Simmers forever,' and more people shout 'Simme,' and the exhaustion melts away like it was never there.

He’s not cold, or tired, or lonely, or afraid. It feels like getting his song picked for the jubilee, like seeing Wilhelm running after Sara’s car, like everything.

“Now I hope you’re all here to dance,” he says. “Because all of us up here, We Wanna Dance.”

Kevan hits the intro, the backing track hits the beat, and every single person in front of him starts singing. Every word, thrown back at him. Screaming, applauding, chanting his name.

And it’s all worth it. Whatever it takes. To have this.

[frictionpress]

THE NIGHT PRINCE & THE ROSEFINCH: Volume One print run launching December 1st on Crowdfundr

I’m so unbelievably excited to announce @sjmillerart as the cover artist for the physical release of NIGHT PRINCE! I adore their work with both sensual body horror and unsettling dark fantasy. They are such a good fit for this story of strange rituals and shapeshifting bodies and the concept of the night made into a man with no boundaries.

You can now check out the page for the crowdfundr before it launches! I am so excited, I want to make these wonderful books and get them onto your bookshelves. Our team is amazing and we’re all really excited. The only unknown is whether or not we’ll get enough book orders so I hope everyone can join us and help spread the word! Bookmark the page, sign up to be notified the second it goes live, and set aside a few bucks to get yourself a gorgeous book and support an indie queer creator while you’re at it.

We need more physical books of queer stories that aren’t afraid to be as weird and visceral as we are. THE NIGHT PRINCE & THE ROSEFINCH is a (very explicit) story about pleasure, yes, but also pride and the different ways in which we view the concept of sin. This is the first volume of three, and it is my sincerest hope that eventually we can print all three volumes so they can never be deleted from your homes, or banned from the internet.

[simper-maximus]

just found out the best valdemar fanfic got deleted a while ago. rip "A Long Journey" you'll be missed with all your 200k words

BurgundyDahlia_ed if you see this i'm willing to pay to read it again please im starving for content

[fictionadventurer]

August: Day 8

Adventures

Went to a thrift store and the library's used bookshop.

Bought a copy of Around the World in 80 Days that looks more readable than my current copy (so long as it's not an abridged children's edition). May make a new cover for it.

Bought a book about the basics of astronomy. If I'm going to write about an astronomer, I need to know a tiny bit, and this looks like it's written for idiots with short attention spans, so it'll be great for me.

Bought the coolest pop-up book I've ever seen. For a quarter. I'll have to show you guys pictures.

Treated myself to Youtube videos about Victorian literature. Indulged in a few Gutenberg downloads. Read the first chapter of Lady Audley's Secret and this may derail all my reading plans until I finish.

Accomplishments

Read a few chapters of Heretics. Am now halfway done.

Tire. Twice.

Signed up for a CPR refresher course

[chiropteracupola]

took the chance to scribble up a plague pigeon for @quezify's dtiys...

[isfjmel-phleg]

😐

[always-a-slut-4-ghouls]

I just looked at the price on the back of a book I’ve had for a bit over a decade and it was four. fucking. dollars. Just four with no taxes. No extra 97cents or something before taxes. Just a round number that you would add taxes to.

I googled the price of a new edition and it was almost thirteen! Not an even thirteen, it was like 12.96 or something. Close enough that it’s basically thirteen but if you’re adding multiple items together to try and get the price on a purchase with more items it would add more confusion.

[coquelicoq]

wild to me how the english translation of natsume is just. largely out of print i guess?? like half of the volumes you can't get ANYWHERE for love nor money, not even on amazon (unhallowed be its name)! i've found like five sites that sell print volumes and they've all got the same selection (vols 1, 2, 17, 19, 27-29, sometimes 24-26) and if you want any others you are SOL. though what's interesting is i'm pretty sure last time i looked it up a few months ago, you couldn't get volume 17 anywhere either. did they do a print run just of that volume?? total mystery.

[lovelaceisntdead]

Halloween books I've made recently 🎃

instagram | etsy

[meikyuunolovers]

Searching for overseas musician autobiographies that are NOT Keith Richards or a KISS member in the middle nowhere of French countryside thrift shops is like searching for a needle in the middle of a haystack

[sysig]

Can’t talk now, I’m making Pokéballs

[dbphantom]

maybe i should have gone into practical effects instead of computer science...