#it's a lot like my current homepage but STILL

[zombiesama]

working on a mobile responsive homepage for my neocities and it's coming along so well :) look at himb

[the-64th-gamer]

I feel like the last year has been a great push for me to slowly detach myself from giant companies and ensure what I do is in my control and ownership

Finally switched over to linux permanently

switched to firefox

enabled adblocker, sponsor blockers, and tracker removers

disabled autoplay and the recommendations sidebar on YouTube (highly highly encourage, though I still keep the homepage open so I can choose when to browse new suggested content rather than it pestering me)

downloaded all my tumblr posts and now host them parallel on my website (stuck here until we find some decentralized way of doing social media right)

cleared out 99% of my online storage to now be on multiple hard-drive backups

downloaded locally all my music

removed myself from basically every data tracking social media platform except this and YouTube

And now currently I'm trying to consolidate all my feeds into just an RSS reader.

It takes a long time and a lot of planning, but its very rewarding to take control over what you want to see, how you see it, how its formatted, ect. I find these are my steps to an easy transition off a certain service:

Download all your data and back it up. Now your account can be deleted at any time with no remorse.

Find browser extensions that enhance and modify the experience to what you might need. Use that to tangibly guide your preferences. Go ahead and remove the app on your phone if its there.

Research every alternative service and try them out. Begin moving certain activity exclusively to the alternative. Take time getting used to it and see if its better to try more alternatives.

Completely jump ship, delete the account, move all feeds or settings over.

Its an ongoing process but there's still probably a few more years of this to go through. Future plans are:

Completely remove all prior emails and self host a new one

Get off Discord entirely except for running the wiki server. It sucks that Discord is so prevalent. Probably move to various forums. Maybe look into some sort of forum management software such as how RSS feeds tame articles and videos into one place.

Setup adblockers directly into my router so ads won't even appear on phones.

Setup my phone to just straight up also run linux. There's a few mobile-designed linux platforms to look into until I decide.

[reimenaashelyee]

Creator's Guide to Comics Devices: November 2023 Update

The first newsletter since launch came out a few days ago! It summarises all the updates I've made in November, which includes 2 (!) new devices, a sub-device, and other site changes.

Subscribe to the newsletter to get these updates direct to your email.

New Devices:

Aside

A short comment that sits outside of a balloon or character that is not perceived by anyone except the comment maker and the reader. An aside may come from the author, usually placed outside of the panel or near the edges. (Page with examples)

Topper

A secondary row of panels or single panel that goes 'on top' of the main comic. They are typically removable and non-essential, and usually contain the comic's title. (Page with examples)

Sub-device

Markers in Code Switch

Languages are assigned flags, pictographs or other iconographic symbols. (Page with examples)

News from the Curator and Site Changelog

I'm delighted over how well-received the library has been -- thank you to everyone who has shared, commented and provided feedback! I really appreciate the enthusiasm and generosity. <3 As a comics creator taking my first formal steps into the arena of comics studies, there is still a lot to do and to read for the library. Even with 63 devices catalogued, it's only still the beginning! 

From the Interwebs

‘The Creator’s Guide to Comics Devices’ Is the First of Its Kind, an Incredible Resource for Comics Creators & Readers Alike (The Mary Sue, Joan Zahra Dark) Lovely roundup from my fellow Cartoonist Cooperative co-founder Joan setting the historical context for Comics Devices and why an accessible resource is like this is due.  

Kibbles n Bits (Comics Beat, Heidi MacDonald) An enthusiastic feature of the library in Heidi's roundup.

Shout Outs

Thank you to Ritesh, Tan Juan Gee, Samantha Philipps, Blue Dellinquanti, Ted Anderson and Hannah Pallister for their contributions. (I really need to get that credits/curator's notes page set up. That's this month's to-do) Once again, thank you to the Sequential Artists Workshop Teaching Fellowship for supporting the development of the library this month.

Updates to the Site (Nov 2023)

Added the Store page and dedicated a subsection for it on the homepage, if only to direct people to the already-existing zine that’s currently distributed by Sequential Artists Workshop and myself. I might use that page to hold things like signing up for workshops and panels if they ever happen. Added the Newsletter page so it’s easier to link to across the site and elsewhere. Opened up the page that displays all the devices on one page. Added ‘Contribution’ ‘Newsletter’ ‘All Devices’ to the sidebar. Fixed the 404 page. It suggests the Site Map for advice. Finally opened the Links page! Check out all the resources in there! Thank you to folks who have submitted feedback/contribution! I have added new example pages for Harmonious Juxtaposition/Time & Space/Pictorial Lettering/Colour Coding and a longer definition for Map Panel. Added two new devices – Aside and Topper. Added ‘Markers’ and ‘Balloon Styles’ as a subdevice to Code Switch. Finally set up the Gallery page: this is where comics pages featuring the relevant device will be catalogued. Now for the slow work of filling up the galleries…..

New in Store: The Comics Devices Quick Reference Zine Before the website launched, I produced this zine as a promotional thing + quick reference. This is a 12-page zine showcasing the devices in this library as of 2023 (not including the Topper and Aside). Perfect for students, teachers and anyone who needs a quick, in-person reference if there's no wi-fi available. Sequential Artists Workshop is selling copies for North Americans in their online store. Folks in Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia can directly contact me to get a copy. An ebook version is on the way. I will announce it via newsletter.

[love-kurdt]

Swooping, Sloping, Cursive Letters: 40

word count: 206

PLEASE READ THIS IS ME TRYING FIRST, AS THIS STORY RELIES HEAVILY UPON THE CONTEXT OF TIMT

December 15, 1990

Dear Will,

You’re asleep in your bed, and I’m hunched over your desk, writing this letter because I am freaking the fuck out. And not because I showed up at your house out of nowhere. Well, that too, I’m still kind of in denial that I had the guts to drive all the way to Chicago overnight. But the primary reason for my current freak out session is because we finally fucking communicated for once in our lives, and now… we’re actually together. And that’s all I’ve ever dreamed of.

I can’t believe it actually happened. It doesn’t feel real yet. I keep glancing in your direction and intermittently watching you sleep as I write, because I don’t ever want this moment to end. I keep thinking that at any second, I’m gonna blink and wake up on the floor of the frat house with a pounding headache and tears pricking my eyes. But then you let out one of your little sighs, and all feels right again. I’m here with you, and you love me too, and I’m just so… I’m so happy.

I know we have a lot to talk about, but I think that can wait until morning.

Love,

Mike

-

previous letter

homepage

-

GUYS. GUYS GUYS GUYS. it's finally done. i'm gonna cry. this has been a journey and a half, and i'm so glad y'all decided to join me. this is not the end; i'm finishing up the last chapter of now that we don't talk, and then we will continue mike and will's story in the sequel to TIMT & NTWDT: don't blame me !!! i am literally buzzing rn i can't wait.

to all of you who have loyally read, liked, and commented on this fic: THANK YOU. y'all have changed my life.

and to all of the people who are confused about the ending of this fic: READ THIS IS ME TRYING. YOU'LL THANK ME LATER.

[yuurivoice]

Not to tell you how to do your job or anything, and I don't think it's the audience's place to give suggestions when this is YOUR profession, it's just a small idea that occured to me.

But maybe in the upcoming Auron audio you could add a little note on the screen saying that new Auron content is coming soon, and then like do the same with future compilation videos, since they tend to do so well!! Like to let people know that if they like the characters, this is not where the story ends at all and they should stick around. I say this mainly cause I remember you once talked about how the major numbers on the Finn compilation didn't translate to a major increase in subscribers. Really hope this didn't come off as rude, I just think maybe if people think the compilations are the ENTIRE story it might not occur to them to subscribe!

It also might yield no results at all, idk. I just remember I didn't subscribe until multipleeee videos had been recommended to me over MONTHS, mainly because I had no idea that there was a story to be followed.

I've written like three different responses to this but as I yap on I get new conclusions and ideas. This is v3 of my answer lmfao.

Preface: People don't pay attention to shit and unless you are clever or use a hammer, they do not care. They want the content. ESPECIALLY if they aren't familiar with you. This makes any deliberate Calls to Action run the risk of annoyance rather than making a meaningful impact on conversions.

Bonus note: If a video is scheduled to premiere, there's nothing I can add to it at this point without doing a whole reupload, giving Thoo a bunch of extra work, and all that shit. So that wasn't ever an option anyway.

My approach in this current iteration of how I do things is that rather than slob on somebody's knob begging for a sub, they're encouraged to either watch more videos or go to the homepage. My working hypothesis is that you're actually MORE likely to get a curious viewer to drop by your homepage before they subscribe, because they want to see what else is available.

The most recent changes I made to the channel homepage should make it abundantly clear that there are multiple stories, characters, and styles of content to jump into. Making sure that the homepage is great has probably made a massive difference in that regard, without impacting the videos themselves.

Playlists are horribly underutilized in this niche in particular, and on lots of YouTube channels really. So I made sure to try and nail that down. Still need to get the channel trailer locked in but tbh I don't know how effective those really are in 2024.

All of that being said, a ~15 second welcome intro at the start that explains what the compilation is and invites viewers to sub/explore the playlists would probably be the easiest way to accomplish that without intruding on the listening/viewing experience in a way that feels desperate or pander-y. That in conjunction with the end screen prompt would probably be the easiest way to do it.

I don't feel like that immediately turns massive hit videos into untapped wells of subscribers that I missed out on, it could help contextualize things a little more and who knows, maybe it WOULD be a big deal. Hard to say!

The context for me not immediately being like OH IT'S A SLAM DUNK HOW DID I NOT THINK OF THIS is because I run a very lucrative business converting viewers to patrons and I have very minimal in-video notes about hearing the spicy bits on Patreon. People often figure things out for themselves if they're motivated enough, and you run the risk of chasing them off if you come across like a desperate ass hoe. lmfao

I appreciate the ask, but also can assure you that I've spent several hours mulling over these very specific issues and I've considered just about every angle. If I had included every little detail and wrinkle of information I was cooking up in the various iterations of this answer it would be a mile long. So trust me. I've thought about it in great detail, have worked with people on it, workshopped things and much more!

Y'all got me yappin' up a storm on here lately. lmfao

[em-dash-press]

How Traditional Publishing Works for Short Stories

You’ve written a short story and want it to reach readers, but you’re tired of combing through contests. Don’t worry—there’s a path to traditional publishing for short stories and you can follow it to build your writing resume with these steps.

1. Polish Your Work

Reviewing your story before submitting it is crucial. One or two typos may not disqualify you from getting accepted for publishing, but it could make the publisher pause.

Read through your work out loud to catch the tiny line edits that our eyes often skip over.

Ask a friend or family member to read it. A fresh pair of eyes on your work is priceless!

Use a text-to-speech reader to catch typos. You may hear the spelling errors more clearly, so try a site like this one: https://www.naturalreaders.com/online/

You can also use the spell check within your preferred writing software. It may not catch every spelling or tense-usage error, but it’s still helpful.

2. Research Publications

Longer manuscripts would normally look for publishing houses or imprints, but short stories just need publications.

Imagine the publishing world as an umbrella. Publishing houses are the fabric of the umbrella and imprints are the metal arms making the fabric extend. Imprints are subsections of publishing houses. Publications are like the stem and handle of an umbrella. They’re mostly independently owned, so that’s where you’ll find things like:

Literary magazines

Literary Journals

Ezines

Some are run by small groups of people who love making things like short-story anthologies and others will be professionally run magazines or journals with wide distribution. Your work may qualify for all of these publications depending on the length, topic, and what each publication is looking for.

3. Submit Your Work

Personally, I think finding the right places to submit your work is the most challenging part of publishing any story. There are an overwhelming number of places to consider. You might never learn about all of them!

Luckily, I’ve found a few tools to streamline the process.

Chill Subs is my current favorite site to find publications seeking short stories. You can find their site here: https://chillsubs.com/

This is what their homepage looks like—I’m breathing a sigh of relief just seeing it that encouraging welcome!

Once you make your free account (which is what allows you to track your submissions, results, etc.), you’ll find this page when you’re ready to start browsing:

It may seem like a lot, but selecting publication types and finding places that specifically want things like a spooky vibe or a quick response time makes submitting your work so much faster.

Just below this browsing section, you’ll find a list of publications if you just want to select a few without the filters. Here’s a screenshot of the first one I found:

There’s a great summary of the magazine and everything you need to know, like the facts that they have a super fast response time, don’t require a submission fee, and even their acceptance rate!

If you scroll further down under a publisher, you’ll find other invaluable information like:

Normally, you’d have to find all of these things by searching a publication’s website and recent published work. It would take much more time and you might not find what you’re looking for (I struggle when I’m too tired or distracted). Chill Subs will connect you to publications super quickly and easily, without charging a dime!

Next, I also like The Grinder, which you can find here: https://thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com/

Here’s what their homepage looks like:

This site is better for people who are more data driven! Right beneath the top of their homepage, you can automatically see the stats for The Grinder users who recently got accepted or rejected. At the time that I wrote this post, the people in the screenshot below had numerous rejections. I find it encouraging to see stuff like this because it’s a reminder that rejections happen to everyone. It’s just a matter of finding the right place for your work!

If you select “Search” on the top of the homepage, you’ll get a dropdown menu for things like searching for fiction or poetry submissions, plus publishers listed in alphabetical order.

For the purpose of this post, I’ve selected “Historical” as my imaginary story I’d like to submit. There are many other genres in the box if you keep scrolling. Here’s what the start of this process looks like:

Hit “Search” and this comes up:

Right away you’ll see what each place pays, which genres and lengths they accept and their response time. I’ve clicked on the first publisher and found this data:

Enjoy using the charts and data to gauge where your stories should go! There are many publications working with The Grinder, so there’s tons to search through as you get a feel for what’s out there.

Other potential places to submit your work: 

Submittable: https://manager.submittable.com/opportunities/discover (You’ll need to have submitted to a contest that uses Submittable to make an account, but the Discover tab has many publications organized by closest deadlines.)

Your university literary journals (if you’re a university student—most only accept work from students enrolled in that school, but it’s a major perk if you’re paying tuition because you won’t have to pay to send your work off!)

Local literary journals (many only accept work from writers who live nearby, which narrows down your competition).

4. Keep Track of Your Submissions

If you’re submitting more than one or two stories at a time, it’s best to keep a spreadsheet that tracks your submissions. As your writing career continues, you’ll always be able to reflect on which stories you submitted and where they went. It’s a great way to see how your writing has grown and note which publications you liked the most/had the most success with.

My submissions spreadsheet contains labeled columns for things like:

Date of submission

The story’s title

The page length/word count

The genre

The publication mae

The publication type

URL of publication if applicable

Final date of submissions

Date of notice if one is given

Potential prize money if applicable

Rejection or acceptance when notified

Some places only want unpublished writers, but most only want stories that haven't been previously published or placed in contest results. Keeping track of which stories receive prizes/publications makes it much easier to submit qualifying works in the future.

5. Evaluate Your Publishing Contract

Many publishers require writers to sign a contract so the legal reality of the transaction is clear to both parties. This happens for both short stories and long form work. You’ll have to review things like:

Allowing them to have print rights (typically worldwide because things are published online)

Allowing them to publish your picture and bio that is usually included in the submission form

Allowing them exclusivity (you may need to wait a specific time period before submitting the same story to other publishers/contests or selling it on your website)

Agreeing to author’s warranties (this means you agree that you wrote the story, it isn’t plagiarized, it isn’t libelous, and you don’t want it to be public domain)

Agreeing to a termination clause (the publisher typically reserves the right to terminate your publication contract for things like discovering plagiarism, getting sued for libel, if you sell the story to another publication within their exclusive time frame, etc.)

Agreeing to a reversion of rights clause (you’ll get all of the above rights to sell/submit the story if the publisher doesn’t get your story published by the deadline included in your contract)

Agreeing to payment terms (if you’ll be paid based on how many magazine copies are sold, based on your word/page count, or if you’ll get a flat fee). Also, how you’ll get paid (in installments, within a time frame after publication, via direct deposit or check).

A big thing to note—if a publisher doesn’t include a reversion of rights clause, they essentially want to lock your story within their publishing company permanently. You’ll never get the rights back for submitting or publishing it elsewhere. That includes if you write a collection of short stories and want to publish an anthology—you wouldn’t get to include the story taken by the original publisher.

It’s very important to know your rights as a writer before submitting.

You can read more about contract details over at Writing Cooperative.

And you can always look through Writer Beware, which tracks scams and legitimate publication opportunities.

-----

Hopefully this helps you get started with your next venture in getting published! The process doesn’t have to feel as confusing as it often does. Best of luck! 💛

[hayjeon]

🥹

hi everyone, i know it’s been quite a while.

i don’t even remember how to use the app/site well enough to find when the last time i posted a fic was (like, where did the time stamps go?!)

i bet this won’t come as much of a surprise to anyone who’s been following me for a while because i clearly went MIA for a few years. just wanted to pop back in and clarify a few things and let yall know i am alive and well 🫶🏻

WHERE TF R U

i have, unfortunately, moved on from my ff writing era of my life. i’ve seen all your messages of support and reactions to my writing and constantly see the reposts and recs made in my email inbox, and i cherish each and every one of them and do miss yall very often. i am currently now working and traveling full time, and am just past the era in which i used to absolutely love bts/kpop. i’m actually now an avid ao3 dramione reader 😂 and have devoted a lot of my time to getting physically/emotionally healthier, furthering my career, and just pouring love into myself and everyone around me 🤌🏻

DO YOU EVEN LIKE BTS ANYMORE

i still do love/listen to bts, but i’ve also been feeling like i’ve outgrown them a bit and no longer actively read bts fics myself 🥹 but to sometimes come back to my own blog and my homepage to see that other writers are still here and dedicated makes me feel so giddy and happy for them. watching bts grow from their boy in luv era when i first became a fan to the degree they’re at now and even when i stopped actively writing (probably when they started breaking into the US/english lyrics, or covid era) was such a big life landmark for me, and i will always cherish them in my heart for that. i will also always cherish this blog, that kept me actively writing, throughout uni, and actively creating content anonymously, for helping me through some hard times emotionally, physically, and mentally.

WHATS GONNA HAPPEN WITH UR FICS

i don’t think i’ll be updating any of my wips: any writer out there who feels inclined to continue the stories, i give you full permission (pls don’t plagiarize!) and would hope that you drop a quick msg in my inbox when you post so i can read them (better than tags!) 🥰 would also be happy to share where i intended a lot of my fics to go plot-wise. i also deem it would be a disservice to a lot of you for me to release unfinished drafts, but im happy to share that as well to anyone who wants to pick it up, or just are curious where the plots went (lmk if ur into that?)

WHAT ABOUT THIS BLOG

i will be keeping this blog up and active. anyone who wants to pop in and re-read anything: thank you for your continued support. feel free to translate, repost, use as inspiration, continue the stories yourselves, and do whatever you want. i’m sending these fics as a love letter to everyone who’s supported me thus far, and anyone new to the fandom (welcome! i know army has increased so much since i left) into the universe and all i can do is release them with a sense of peace and love, although it’s a bit bittersweet.

CAN WE STILL ASK QUESTIONS

of course 😍 i love seeing them in my inbox so continue to ask away!!!

to conclude:

thank you to everyone here.

thank you to bts and hope for a quick and safe army service to all of them.

and happy new year 🫶🏻

[lacefuneral]

hi!!! i love for custom blog theme,, do you have a link to the code or creator 0:?

ya!

so my theme is actually a heavily modified version of redux edit #1 by lopezhummel (current url: holyaura). i always remind users that most tumblr themes are old and that you'll need to replace all instances of "http://" in the code with "https://" so tumblr will save the theme. i had to do it with this one

these are the modifications i made to the theme. i edited this theme over the course of at least a year or so and don't quite recall how i did all of these things. but to the best of my ability:

i moved the "left side img" to the right side of the screen. i also made this element "responsive" so the image will never get cropped when you resize your screen. this was a bitch and a half to figure out and i truthfully do not remember how i did it

i deleted the text in the drop-down navigation so it appears as a little line that is otherwise not noticeable. this type of theme, the "redux edit," used to be very popular because having a drop-down menu let you cram a bunch of links that lead to sub-pages on your blog. i've done away with my sub-pages, but i still like the format of the "redux style" tumblr theme, for its minimal UI and for its customization options.

i separated my mobile description from my web description for formatting reasons. basically, most elements in tumblr themes are connected to specific text fields and toggles. i simply went to the section that was connected to my blog description and deleted it. the web description has to be manually typed inside of the CSS/HTML editor when i want to change it. whereas my mobile description is whatever i type in the "description" box of the normal tumblr theme editors.

i added code someone else made ("NoPo" by drannex42 on GitHub) which allows you to hide posts with certain tags on them. i did this to hide my pinned post, as it looks bad on desktop.

i replaced the tiny pagination arrows at the bottom with images that literally say "next" and "back" because the arrows were far too small/illegible. i know they aren't centered in the container i'm not sure how to fix that lol

i added a cursor

i installed a working music box ("music player #3" by glenthemes), and then added music by uploading MP3 files to discord and then using the links of those files as the audio sources. iirc i also had to make this element responsive and i aligned it so it would sit on the left side of my screen. i made the "album art" for each one the same strawberry pixel art

the moth is just a PNG i added and then moved around so it was behind my sidebar using the options that came pre-packaged with the theme

if you want something like the strawberry shortcake decoration at the top (called "banner" in the theme) your best bet is to google "pixel divider"

theme didn't support favicon so i added that in so i could have a little heart

ALSO:

this theme is. really weird about backgrounds. any background that i have ever set for it, i've had to do weird shit in photoshop. like making the background HUGE, mirroring it, etc. - because it would crop the image weird, or there would be a gap where there was no image. idk man, it's haunted. i'm sure there's a way to fix this but i am NOT tech savvy enough. anyway, patterns are probably your best friend. and if you DO want something that isn't a pattern, it's going to take a lot of trial and error. but i love this theme so i deal with it 😭

the sidebar image and the floating image do not scale. if your image is 1000 pixels, it will display at 1000 pixels. you'll either have to edit the code so that the theme scales the image for you, or resize any images before you add them

my white whale of theme editing (aside from the Weird Background thing) is that i cannot get infinite scrolling to work. i have tried every code out there. all of them break my theme. it makes me sad because like. i have music there for a reason. the idea is that people would listen to it while they scroll. unfortunately, the way it's set up now, the music will stop every time someone clicks "next" or "back" 💀

anyway sorry for rambling but i hope you enjoy the the theme and customizing it in the way that you want to!

[yinlotus]

as far as i'm aware from reading US news (ny times) most of the smoke on the US east coast is from the canadian fires. also, the fires in canada are a lot lot lot worse than looks on the image you can see - hundreds of fires burning all across canada.

as a californian myself, i've also been kind of annoyed seeing all the news about like 'unprecedented smoke in nyc' like seriously? this isn't unprecedented, just for them specifically. I understand that seeing the orange skies was crazy but like...it's not new...I literally saw that myself during the fires of 2020 in Calif. i've had friends and family had to evacuate from nearby fires, i had to wear an n95 during the summer before covid because being outside in that air quality made me feel sick. my brother had school and sports cancelled because it was too dangerous to be outside breathing the air.

calif, oregon, washington, british columbia and all of the western US and canada (maybe mexico too, I don't know about impact of smoke/fires in central or latin america) have been dealing with this for years. australia and nz have been dealing with this too for years.

I'm sorry...I kind of just wanted to complain a bit...it was a bit jarring seeing all those headlines about it being new when it's really not, it's just only new for the US east coast which has the biggest & loudest mouthpiece coming from america.

i'd also love to see some resources about the fires in canada if anyone has sent you any. i know for california, Cal Fire (fire.ca . gov) has info on calif. since there was a lot of rain this year (i've never seen so much rain in my life) i'm hoping fire season won't be too bad but we never know...

hi anon!

it's okay to vent about it. i understand that for those who have dealt with or are currently dealing with large wildfires would be annoyed by those who are not experiencing it as they are. still, i don't think it's right to blame those people without educating them a bit on it first.

honestly even when it comes to the east coast smoke most news talk specifically about nyc than the other places dealing with the same thing. picky news coverage can be frustrating to say the least.

and you're certainly right about it being new to us but not everyone else. the east coast is generally pretty wet with hurricanes in summer (which hurricane season officially started around a week ago, which i'm curious if it'll be affected at all since the smoke is also going east into the atlantic and wildfire smoke throws off marine ecosystems and cyclones are worse when the water is warmer) and snow storms during winter. i think no matter where you are, people will react extremely if something out of the ordinary happens. personally i can't even imagine it since even when i lived on the west coast, it was near seattle and mostly wet.

thank you for providing some info on california! nobody else has sent anything yet, but i'll definitely post if they do! :)

my screenshot was from fire.airnow.gov and from zooming in more i get a slightly better picture of where the fires are but the low accuracy is likely because the site's focus is only the us. nasa is usually quite good in capturing this things in the states, so i checked the canadian space agency to see if they had better images of the fires. while i didn’t find any recent satellite images (best i found was a video from a month ago), i was directed to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) which has an updated interactive map on the homepage. This site alao has links to individual centers in each province.

[grandlinewiki]

Welcome to the Wiki Tumblr!

Hoi!

This it the tumblr for Grand Line Wiki, a One Piece wiki project I have been spending over a year on now. The goal of this tumblr is to garner some general support and notability but also just to update what gets added, why I do what I do, and to generally have fun as I make it. You can expect consistent One Piece content and a cool look into the manga/anime/video games/music of One Piece <3

Any support at all is extremely helpful as this is a one gal project and it takes time but I hope you enjoy the content regardless, so please expect plenty to come!

Website: grandlinewiki.net

Wiki Patreon: patreon.com/grandlinewiki

FAQ:

(↓ Under here ↓)

→ Why are you making a wiki if there's already a fandom/wikia for One Piece?

A few reasons but without going super in depth, the current wikia has it's issues as some of the pages aren't consistent or accurate as well as the fact that fandom has made their website difficult to use due to the massive amount of advertising and popups. My overall goal is to be ad free on this wiki as well as being a comprehensive, thorough, and enjoyable database that is fun to go through.

→ The news on the home page hasn't updated!

Yes, the home page for right now was more to play around and have a landing page that leads to the directory as well as test a few ideas. The main landing page will eventually be scrapped and re-hauled once more of the wiki itself is filled in. Please look forward to a much nicer and more welcoming home page in the future :3

→ The search bar doesn't work!

Yes, while i have played around with it, it hasn't been the first priority since there's nothing worth searching for if the pages don't exist/haven't been filled in. This will be towards the end as I still have manga, anime, and character pages to fill in and complete. For now you can use the buttons on the left side to get to the main sections and when the homepage is redone, it'll have a comprehensive sidebar that will span all aspects so you can check out what ever you like.

→ How long do you think it'll take?

I'll be honest, it's been a rough year and to not even have the manga section done is it's own bummer (╥ω╥) BUT patreon support would help so much as it would fund the wiki and help to somewhat keep me afloat as I dedicate more time to it. Overall, expect it to be another year at least, I will do my best to make it exciting to follow and with luck (and a lot of coffee) I can have something solid by this time next year.

→ Can I make suggestions, throw out ideas for what I'd like to see?

Yes!! I love hearing other peoples ideas and this wiki is a love letter! It only makes sense if other peoples love for One Piece is included! If I don't respond right away, I apologize but I will do my best to get to every idea and will let you know if it's worth doing, if it would take awhile, and how soon i could do it. ⸜( *ˊᵕˋ* )⸝

[freespeechwyngro]

Was the reboot ever even like, announced?

No formal announcements, no. But we feel confident that at least at one time something was in the works.

For several months (I think since March?) we at FSW were hearing rumors about a reboot but we believed at the time that people were getting it confused with the fan revamp. (This still may have been the case).

Then the wyngro owner began posting with her wyngro characters again. The first image titled “fuck you we’re back”.

Shortly after that wyngro updated their patreon and consistently updated for a time.

The wyngro website began updating and continues to have small updates now and then. Presently, if you look at the homepage it states that wyngro is currently in development. Under guides the website says coming soon.

Activity picked up in the wyngro discord server. In response to a user stating they are happy to see how [wyngro] updates, the owner replies apologizing for the current lack of info and states they are “figuring things out and just want to be a gremlin working in the background for now”.

A moderator and friend of the wyngro owner will later write in the wyngro discord, “I think it may be a full revamp, so lots of new! Unsure if grandfathering will be a thing But don't take my word as law, I just lurk and gather forbidden information 👀” . Suggesting there’s more going on behind the scenes.

Given this, we do feel confident something was/is in the works….at least for a time.

[roo-bastmoon]

BTS Tutorial: CHOEAEDOL

CHOEAEDOL is basically an abbreviation that stands for 'My Favorite Idol'. It’s your standard voting app that relies on engagement from users.

It’s best to login at certain “hot times” (between 8pm-11:30pm KST – or 6am to 9:30am EST). You get 30 extra hearts just for doing that.

After you login with your email to set up your account, you can go to your profile and fill that out. Then you're just logging in all the time.

You can then click the options on the bottom ribbon to watch ads, do missions, click on the hearts of certain pictures, upload content, join communities, and exchange hearts with friends.

Always go into the forum boards for Jimin and use your hearts to vote on posts there; don't vote on the homepage or fellow Jimin fans to get the extra 10 hearts from your vote.

If you’re voting on a post, you’ll want to vote during “hot time” which is basically 10:45pm to 11pm KST (or 8:45am to 9am—best to set an alarm as a reminder).

You’ll want to drop a minimum of 100 hearts in voting every day so you get 10% of hearts back as a reward.

If you upload an image during hot time, you get another 100 hearts.

The rest of your hearts you save for when it’s time to mass vote for a big milestone, like there was a mass voting for 10,000 days with Jimin, which donated money to a charity in his name, or his birthday, where screen ads in Korea were purchased.

There are some rules, like you can watch up to 5 ads within a limited timeframe, you can only click the heart of an image 5 times every hour, for votes to count you’ll want to vote on the community page and not the homepage, and it’s a good idea to save your Ever Hearts for mass voting, stuff like that.

Follow this account and see their fantastic voting tutorial with tips on how to prioritize Jimin in this app:

The point of these popularity contests is to help your idol or group win at the Soribada Best K-Music Awards (previously abbreviated as SOKA and currently abbreviated as SOBA). Otherwise, it’s mostly just for clout / reputation and a few cute side projects, so spend your time and energy wisely. Collect your hearts, save your Ever Hearts, follow your voting accounts on Twitter, and vote when they tell you to.

Here’s a tutorial video for how to vote for BTS:

One thing I like about this app is that the Jimin forum has thousands of amazing high-quality pics of Jimin. Huge bonus for me, because I download these photos to my phone and share them all with you!

DISCLAIMER:

I am a Dope Old Person and have been ARMY since January 2022. So I still have a lot to learn.

I’m making mini-tutorials for people like me who are comfy with technology but totally new to voting, streaming, and buying Kpop stuff.

If you know of better, more up-to-date information, please comment or DM me so I can make sure I’m not spreading misinfo. Please be polite about it, though—we are on the same team!

Feel free to apply whatever you learn here to other BTS members and other artists; I’m Jimin-biased so I am focused on helping Jimin at this moment in time, but I’m OT7 so rest assured I’ll put my shoulder to the wheel for all our members!

[justheretoship]

Thank you so much for tagging me @jussst-lurking!! 💙

1. Are you named after anyone?

Yes, kinda? Mom liked the name Miriana from this person on TV, but she just liked the name, doesn't care about that person lol

2. When was the last time you cried?

A month ago... I cry for anger usually but this time it was sadness.

3. Do you have kids?

No and I don't plan to, although I call a lot of fictional characters and some famous people older than me babies lol

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot?

Yes but I do it with a poker face so not everyone gets it

5. What sports do you play/have played?

Currently none but... I played basketball for 2 years, took dance lesson for a year (worst decision ever), swimming for a couple years because of school, used to play soccer and volleyball just for fun in the summers when I was a kid and then the only sport I truly cared about, horse-riding. It was just a year, just 10 lessons, but it was the best feeling ever, especially galloping 😍

6. What's the first thing you notice about other people?

Maybe... Hair? I'm very socially awkward so I look down or I avoid looking in people's eyes so it's probably hair

7. Scary movies or happy endings?

I don't watch movies much, prefer tv series, but I'm gonna go with happy endings even though the movies I loved the most had a sad ending (Hachiko...)

8. Any Special talents?

Dunno if it counts as special talent but... The upper part of my thumbs can bend backwards at a 90° angle? Lol

9. Where were you born?

In a hospital? Italy 🇮🇹

10. What are your hobbies?

I'm a nerd so... Watching tv series, anime, reading BL manga, reading a bunch of fanfictions, playing cards with my relatives, watching F1 and the Olympic games... Yeah nerd stuff I guess. (Also started learning Japanese on my free time)

11. Do you have any pets?

No... Still live with my parents and my brother so can't have pets. I begged my mom ever since I was 3/4 years old apparently but nope. As soon as I'll live alone I'm gonna get a cat though.

12. How tall are you?

160cm... 😭

13. Fave subjects in school?

Math and English.

14. Dream Job

Translating books or manga would be the dream.

15. Eye colour?

Brown.

I've seen my homepage full of people already doing this so if you've done this already pls just ignore me 🙈

Tagging @cooloddball @redandbluesouls and @f1goesvroom (only do this if u want!!)

[ukagakadreamteam]

I've looked everywhere to change the language from Japanese to English and I can't find anything that's helpful/not working. Is there a post I'm not seeing or no? The issue I am having is no matter what the language is in Japanese and I can't change it no matter how many times I switch it to English.

In what way exactly? The way to change the language of SSP is to right click any running ghost, hover over the Language tab (it's the 4th one up from the bottom), and select the language of your choosing. In older versions of SSP, you may need to restart SSP in order for the change to take effect.

Note that this will only change the language of SSP's menus! So for example, the right click menu here:

And the preferences window here:

Should both display in English after you change the language setting.

However, the dialogue of individual ghosts will be unaffected by this change. For example, my SSP is set to English, but this is how SSP's default ghost, Emily/Phase 4.5 displays dialogue for me:

If the issue is that ghosts themselves are still talking in Japanese, then the only way around that would be for someone to put in the work to translate the ghost! And translating a ghost is no easy task; mastering multiple languages is an impressive skill on its own, but beyond that, there are a lot of ghosts with content that is just difficult to translate. Some make obscure references and such that just don't translate well! But if you'd like to give ghost translation a shot, there's a guide here that may help.

If the issue, however, is that the menus are not translated, then it may be an SSP bug. First, I would check the version of SSP that you're running. Right click on any open ghost, and go to Information > About SSP...

The Information tab is the 5th one up from the bottom, and About SSP... is the first tab in the submenu that opens.

That will open a window, which displays various information about SSP and your computer. At the top it should say what version it is. At the time of writing, the current version is 2.6.45. If yours is out of date, then you should update it. (If it won't update automatically, you can download a manual update package off of SSP's homepage, and install it into your SSP folder while SSP is closed.)

If your SSP is up to date, and this issue still occurs, you might try a new installation of SSP and see if it has the same issue. If not, then it might be an issue of the language files being corrupted. You can find the language files in SSP/data/language/ , and if your new installation of SSP has the language working correctly, you could try copying the files from there into your original version of SSP to see if it fixes it.

If all that doesn't work, then you can try making a bug report on SSP's bug tracker. There are instructions in English on that page that explain how to use it. You'd want to report under the category "SSPBT：本体(SSP)", which is the category for SSP issues.

If any of that gives you trouble, feel free to send us another ask and we'll do what we can! Any screenshots or additional details you can provide would be helpful.

[xacheri]

Brower Electric - Commit #0: Figma

Hello internet. I've been taking a web development class and we are now working on our final project for the semester. We are making a website for an electrical contracting company named Brower Electric. If the owners of the company like our website best, they will use it live. It's an opportunity to show our skills and get a great starting project for our resumes.

Brower Electric is a longstanding family-owned general electrical contracting business that specializes in commercial electrical jobs, but has experience in industrial and residential too.

They wanted a simple, attractive, professional page that kept consistent coloring. They wanted contact information, project information, resume submission, and testimonials front-and-center.

I used Figma to do my design work. It's a simple, browser-based online design tool that uses frames and layers.

I would have produced multiple wireframes/mockups to move together towards a design if I had more interview opportunities with the client.

I designed/wireframed for the desktop, but I will use Bootstrap 5 when I write the HTML and CSS which is built mobile-up. This may be an oversight but I learn best by experiencing the consequences of my actions.

Home Page - Front Facade:

The first thing when you see the page will be a carousel that switches through cards that display testimonials. By using a grey background on the cards, I help keep color variety to a minimum. Because neutral colors don't count.

I kept a simple solid background that matches the logo. Simple and consistent, per the client's request.

The navbar has a Call Now button in bold red to funnel users towards contact with the client. The navbar will be sticky so it is always visible. I used a lighter blue for the background, just dragging the color picker from the body/logo color until it was something attractive

The logo was hand-drawn. I used a web tool to remove the background and nested the company name in it.

There is also another contact button specifically for quotes. This will also funnel users to contact. It will not collapse on mobile so it will be a useful way to contact the company with only a small scroll. No toggling required.

Home Page:

The next section of the homepage goes over the types of services offered. The blank spaces will be stock images related to the heading on the other side of the tree. On mobile, the text will overlay on the image, they will stack in one column, and there will be no tree.

I made a point to include that they were family-owned, established, as well as Licensed Bonded and Insured. This builds customer confidence in the business.

I will likely use a Bootstrap Grid to build this section.

I will also use cards to display the current projects. They will stack on mobile. The current projects gives an idea of the contractors workload as well as what the staff is freshly-trained to do.

The simple footer on the bottom provides contact info and a nav on the bottom for user-friendliness.

About Us:

The about us page is simple and straightforward, because that's how these folks run their business. A past projects accordion will be a space-efficient way to include all their projects (there are a lot, these guys have been in the biz for decades.)

Contact Us:

I decided to display the contact information on cards in the contact us page. The large central card serves as a general directory on what number to call to get things done quickly. I left the former owner on the site, but excluded his contact information. People looking for Mike Brower's company now know that it is still in business, this is it's website, and that Mike is retired.

Donald doesn't like to be contacted directly. So I put a message on his card to funnel contact through someone else first.

Careers:

This page is a simple form submission for a resume. It is very bare bones because the client requested something simple that just lets him do a quick initial screen and initiate contact himself.

They are always hiring for different positions so the user must specify what kind of job title they are looking for.

Conclusion:

Designing this site was fun! I don't really consider myself a creative so building something like this was a great confidence booster. I feel very confident in my ability to code this website for 2 reasons: first, I have built very similar things before, such as the glamourscreens website I built earlier this semester; second, most everything I have included in this website has extensive support included in Bootstrap 5.

This feels like some of my best work yet, and I feel confident that it is something the client will be very pleased with too.

[spikeinthepunch]

i feel like it may be worth just rambling about my website and what things id like to do with it in terms of rehauling the look. i am always the type to say "no, this will stay in my brain until i know for sure what i want to do". but that often means fleeting ideas dont stick and not talking about it makes it hard to properly envision

my website kind of got a solid look mid-early last year after i learned more html formatting and i quite like it- a landing page, a home page, and a few spin off pages (project site and coffini outlet). i didnt feel like i acheived what i wanted to emulate out of the old web though- making the page feel like a proper "home" or diving into my own personal world.

i mostly considered the first solid design to be temporary as i figure out what i wanted to do with a theme that felt more homey, but that didnt happen for a variety of reasons.

the main struggle out of all of it is actually making the assets. there is a lot of ways i could tackle the "old internet" look with assets. low quality jpegs? pixel art? low poly 3d gifs? many other things i am not experienced with making either- and the aesthetic i think i would go for most is pixel art. and even outside of the style is just SO much stuff to make. i gotta make the background? the containers? the buttons? the borders? scroll bar? and every other little decoration!! it is overwhelming especially when i dont even know if i can make it all myself in a way i like because i havent done much pixel art.

in terms of what i want to do though (lets not forget i am writing this to also remind myself what i want to do) outside of my annoyance for procrastinating- i want to rework my landing page to be cuter and more themed. everything to be more themed. obviously i lean a lot on space aesthetics, and would certainly want the landing page to be about that. either something like, a spaceship gif and the puffs of smoke linking to the homepage/etc. or a solar system. home page, i still want to be similar layout as to keep it easy to navigate... but id want to carry that look very heavily still. want think giving the containers a sort of mechanical sci-fi look would be neat, like youre inside a ship. or maybe make it look like holographic screens (id want to try and keep my light color text on a dark background look). for coffini outlet, i want to make all the graphic myself and probably alter the layout a bit? but not too much, as i think this one is ideal for reading still. so really, just a more original header image. for my project page? i quite like it as is, i made it more recently with some help of a template.

so those are the thoughts i have. aside from the aesthetics i know i really want to improve on my code in terms of making it semi workable on phones but also way more usable on different window size.... currently this is a big problem still on some pages:

improving the technical side of the website is important and i think my meds working will help me focus on that a bit more in terms of...learning how to lol. and i do want to sit down and learn properly about the aesthetic parts i feel i dont have the skills for too- ive kind of put a lot of that onthe backburner with all the fan art i have gotten into as well and i feel like i want to pull away from it just a tad in order to focus on original things.