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Book Decoration: AKA All The Ways I Don't Use a Cricut
(this post is for people who don't want to buy an expensive cutting tool, or for those that do have an expensive cutting tool that would like to mix things up a little)
1. Print That Shit
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If you're already printing your own textblocks, an easy step for titles is to print them. Above is a title printed onto an "obi" of decorative paper. I measured out where I wanted things on the finished book and laid it out in Affinity, then printed it on a full sheet & trimmed it down to wrap around the book. A more simple method is to print & glue on the label into a slight indent in the cover (to protect it). A third option is to do the spine in bookcloth, while you print on paper for the cover and then glue that paper onto the boards (this usually looks even better when it is a three-piece bradel bind).
2. Foil Quill / Heat Pens
The heat pen is one of my go-to tools, but it can be a bit touchy about materials. The most popular version is the We R Memory Keepers' Foil Quill (which is one of the most ergonomic), but other pens exist that can get you to a higher heat temp, finer lines, or more consistent foil. For example, I have a pen created by a local Japanese bookbinding studio that fares way better on leathers than the WRMK quill & with a finer tip, but it's hell to control. Best results in general are on paper or smooth bookcloth (starched linen, arrestox, colibri - even duo will work but its less solid). The fuzzier a bookcloth is, the less your foil quill wants to deal with it. This means the heat n bond method of making bookcloth does not play nice with a heat pen usually, but there are two solutions: 1) use this tutorial on paste + acrylic medium coated bookcloth instead that will get you a perfect surface for the heat pen, or 2) use the pen on paper & then glue onto the cloth. I did a video tutorial for both foil quill use and this type of homemade bookcloth for @renegadeguild Binderary in 2023.
You get the most consistent results by tracing through a printed template that is taped in place, as I do in the video above.
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3. Paint That Shit
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Acrylic paints will do you fine! The above is free-handed with a circle template, because I wanted that vibe. If you need straight lines that won't seep, lay them down with tape first & then paint over it first with a clear Acrylic medium, then your color. Same goes for stencils. Two more examples of painted bookcloth:
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4. IT'S GOT LAYERS
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By using layers of thinner boards, you can create interesting depths & contrasts on your cover. You can also make cutouts that peep through to the decorative paper behind. The most important part to this technique is the order in which each edge is wrapped. To get a good wrapped inside edge, you will split the turn in into tabs to get them to conform to a curve. You can also layer multiple colors of bookcloth without multiple layers of board, as seen below left, so long as you mind your cut edges for fraying.
5. Inlaid... anything
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Mirrors! Marbled paper! I saw someone do a pretty metal bookmark once! The key is creating a little home for it to live in, which is pretty similar to the above layering method. On one layer you cut the shape, & glue that layer onto the bottom solid board before covering. You can do the top layer as an entire 1 mm board (like I did for the mirrors) or a sheet of cardstock, like I would use for inlaid paper.
6. Decorative Paper
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Decorative paper is always helpful & adds to the paper hoard... & its effects can be layers with other techniques, as below. Marbles, chiyogami, momi, or prints & maps of all kinds can be great additions. Some papers may need a protective coating (such as wax or a sealer).
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7. Stamps (with optional linocut)
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While I've not used many more regular rubber stamps, I do know some who have, successfully! And I've used one once or twice with embossing powder (see photo 3 up, the gold anchor on the little pamphlet bind). What also works is to carve your own linocut or stamp, & then use block printing ink to ink it onto your fabric (as i did above). A bit time intensive, but it was nice how easily reproducible it was, and I liked the effect I got for this particular bind.
These methods are not exhaustive, just ones I've used, and there are of course many others. I haven't gone too into detail on any of these for the sake of length (& post photo limits) but feel free to ask about more specifics. Usually I'm using them in combination with other options.
#fanbinding#bookbinding#celestial sphere press#ficbinding#in progress review#bookbinding how to#i am not particularly anti-cricut or anything#it's just a very expensive tool#and its prevalence sometimes makes new binders think they HAVE to get one#when they absolutely do not#you can make pretty books without it
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BETTER CALL SAUL!
#this was mostly a test run on procreate dream!#its pretty good but it has a LOT of room for improvement#which i know the developers have been working on since the app is still technically in beta!#but hey i did this in like 3 weeks while working a full time job and also working on other art so#its pretty damn powerful software#good shit if you use procreate already!!#literally the biggest flaws rn are a lack of selection tool an undo/redo button and#and the app itself has a tendency to crash or slow down if theres “too much” going on#like i had to delete all but one of the preloaded animations just so the app would run smoother while i worked#so its still very clearly in its early phase but its good and im excited to see what the developers will do with it#ok review over#better call saul#saul goodman#bcs#jimmy mcgill#breaking bad#animation#brba#video#procreate dreams
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Now that I know more about writing, I'm upset at all the writing advice that urged new writers to find the one best way to write stories, when they should be telling us to play with writing techniques like toys.
Don't tell us to avoid certain points of view! Don't box us into the one currently popular prose style! Let us play and see what effects different techniques achieve, so we can learn the best ways to make use of them! Give us a whole ton of possibility instead of one cookie-cutter template!
#this has been in my head ever since i started churning out this year's short stories#(i'll admit it's possible that i am now able to play with style like this)#(because i've achieved a baseline level of competence with traditional story structure and style)#(so this shouldn't be advice for beginner beginners)#but anyway it came to mind again because i saw someone review a book that was in first-person present-tense#and it did seem like a poor stylistic choice for the subject#but they were like 'present tense is only for juvenile things'#and i was like EXCUSE YOU!#present tense is a stylistic tool that allows for deeper immersion!#and is a totally viable option used in many respected bestsellers#welcome to the 21st century#all the people who were like 'don't use second person'#meanwhile i use second person and get to learn how it creates an intimate relationship with the audience#tools are tools and they are not inherently bad#they just need to be used well and you need to use them to learn how to use them well#thank you for coming to my ted talk#adventures in writing
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hello guys, i'm here to talk about leah toole's fictional book on mary i of england's. it's called the saddest princess.
at first, i want to clarify that i am highly aware that this book is fictional and not a biography. so you don't need to say "hey but it's fictional"
also, before reading her book, leah toole was someone i really liked. i used to follow her on tiktok and was really excited to read her book. however as you can understand, i am very, very disappointed.
let's start.
just after i had read the prologue i knew that many things would piss me off throughout the book because it was horrendous.
the vilification of queen mary is outdated now and seeing even the people that claim to like her doing this, made me feel awful. according to countless reports, in her death bed, she was peaceful and her conscience clean. the people that she had executed were mainly guilty of treason and many others were executed without her knowledge. i don't think that feeling guilty about this would be her main concern.
but do you know who was rather frightened and surrounded by guilt? her half sister elizabeth.
apart from this, if you ever saw a video of leah toole's, you probably know that she's a great hater of the spanish princess because of its inaccurate portrayals. mind you, the spanish princess tv show never ever claimed that it was historically accurate or something like that but leah toole was MAD (and rightfully so!! i totally agreed with her.) about it anyway. so imagine my disappointment when i started to read her book eagerly then realized that it, in many aspects, was a cheap copy of the tv show.
"there was no lone for this useless baby girl." i mean, really? that scene and almost everything about it was in the spanish princess. AND this whole scene could be proved wrong with countless reports. do i think katharine of aragon suffered from a kind of postpartum depression? i absolutely do. but do i think she HATED her own daughter for years? no because that's not what happened in reality.
again, this is a historical fiction book and it doesn't have to be historically accurate but it's called a hypocrisy when you criticize another material because of the same thing you did yourself.
(ps. katharine of aragon had blue eyes, not dark brown.)
mary's birth scene was AWFUL. henry saying mary is a useless girl was highly inaccurate. writing such things while mary's reputation is STILL unfairly blackened is very unnecessary.
"katherine had tried to love her daughter. but no matter how hard she tried, nothing the girl did held any meaning in katherine's eyes." are you kidding me??
also having mary curse constantly? this woman didn't know the meaning of whore until she was forty something. i can't even imagine her saying words such as bastard, harlot, whore etc. (in the book she called anne boleyn names when in reality she simply called her that woman. which is respectful enough.) especially when she used the word bastard when she was nine? now c'mon! throughout the book, the author is obviously influenced by the spanish princess tv show, even though she'd been very critical about the show. there's a pretty word for situations like this :) and it's called hypocrisy.
and *that* scene with duke philip? even the most passionate mary hater wouldn't write something like this. that was worse than wattpad, worse than ao3. (if you didn't read the book, take a deep breath, she had sex with him. again, did not happen in reality.)
apart from all of this, the only thing that i've liked about this book is clearly seeing that mary wasn't as forgiving as her mother was. because that's what actually happened. long story short, i was eager to read the other books of this series but i don't think that i'll be reading the rest. i am so very disappointed with this. it was such a waste of time. and i have to tell you that i am also incredibly sad because i used to enjoy her content a lot.
there are many more issues about this book but unfortunately i don't have enough time or will to live to write a detailed review but i think this'll do anyway.
lastly, at least there are very few quotes that i've liked and would want you to see.
—chapuys shrugged, "it would seem the king himself is struggling to separate the two religions," he said, "and his newest testaments have received mixed reactions from his council. i believe that in his heart he remains a catholic, but he does not wish to be told by anyone whether it be the pope or his best advisor - what he can and cannot do."
—"of all the women in my father's life, i have survived him the longest. and that alone is a great achievement."
—"i survived my father's tyranny for all my thirty-three years. this edward seymour could not scare me if he turned up at my doorstep dressed up as the devil himself."
#mary i of england#mary tudor#mary i#house of tudor#good queen mary#henry viii#catherine of aragon#anne boleyn#eustace chapuys#elizabeth tudor#leah toole#the saddest princess#book review#i should've understood it all the moment i saw the name of the book lmao#she was more than a sad little princess#no hate to her but i am sooo bitter
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On Wednesday before I gave my presentation I confessed to a new employee that I was worried it would be too long and she brightly told me her life hack was to just let AI rewrite things for her. She said I should put in all my talking points and ask ChatGPT to give me a five minute exactly presentation. I was like....how is the most polite possible way (since this is a new colleague I shouldn't get off on the wrong foot with) that I can express that I will Not be taking this advice. Ever. I told her that I didn't think we were allowed to use ChatGPT at this job (we most certainly are not, it is a nightmare for any type of protected information) and also that I prefer to write all of my own work. Despite my best efforts the last part of that was still passive aggressive, lol.
Something about being a writer makes it so that it's almost offensive to me for someone to suggest I use AI to do my work instead? Like, the day I reach the point where I let AI write something for me is the day y'all need to be checking me for brain damage because clearly I'm losing it
#i also told her i was capable of making a 5 minute presentation but that i had too much information to cover to explain the project in 5 min#and she was like oh that makes sense!!#but like im sorry 😭am i the insane one or like....#idk to me suggesting I use AI isn't a helpful suggestion it reads as someone telling me i don't know how to do my job#does that make sense?#i don't consider it a lifehack or working smarter instead of harder. it seems like you're suggesting i am incapable of writing well myself#i know a lot of people right now thing AI is the best thing ever#to me it's a blatant omission that you can't do your own work or think for yourself#this is also even crazier of a suggestion to me because that morning i had TWO managers on call debating wording of a sentence#like we were reveiwing this presentation tightly so that we said exactly what we wanted to and met the standards of our administration#chatgpt is not going to understand the nuances of what we can/cannot say or official/approved wording lol#i think we use ai tools in the sense of like...photoshop generative fill or ai stuff in scientific research/arcgis#but i'm like 99% sure we were banned from using chatgpt over privacy concerns of putting controlled information into it#anyway. idk. i know not everyone writes as well as i do.#but i'd rather read bad writing that came from a person than something that was generated for you tbh#and i will help review my colleagues' writing any day
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youidraw.com was lowkey a little disappointing
#bandit's doodles#grian#mumbo jumbo#waffle duo#is waffle duo even their duo name anymore#this must be some kind of sick joke right#Just for a bit in his video#Im calling it rn#It can't be permanent#waffle duo will live on forever#big fan of the grey hairs but the waffle man#think of the waffle#cue montage of all the waffle fun we've had over the seasons#now for the website#The setup looks great#looks professional#my expectations were high#They should not have been based on my last reviews#it had an eraser but it just didn't work?#whenever I tried to change the brush size it would just revert to the huge default??#It had that color picker thing with the gradient which was great#But whenever I tried to switch colors#the last brush stroke I did would change color#the selection tool was fine but when I tried to move things it was being so difficult#this might just be a mobile problem but still a problem#But there was this massive ad on the side of the screen so I didn't get the optimal canvas access#the stabilizer on the pencil was horrendous#that little 'no waffle :(' on mumbos head took like 8 tries for it to look legible in any way#Thats why I just used the text for grian which worked fine#actually 4/10 it looks good but works badly
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Ok not gonna reblog the post I responded to because like no one needs that in their life whatever.
But what the HELL polygon this is a A TERRIBLE headline
First of all the gayest thing that has happened in the first like based on what I have complete I think is arounf the first third of the game? Is that Aphrodite mentioned setting two women up in a qpr
Because the game ISN'T ABOUT ROMANCE it's about BURNOUT
Like the gods have lost their memories and along with them their passion for doing their jobs and cut themselves off from their friends and while I stand by my point and being like. The most obvious theme in four hours of playing it should. Probably be in the headline? Especially since that makes it sound more interesting
The Greek Gods have depression help them while running around a gorgeous island with a soothing art style and feeding birds and a very chill soundtrack is just. A way better preview/review sell especially if people are only gonna read the headlines WHICH THEY ARE and how I saw this in the first place
#like I stand by my point that this metaphor doesn't work with the full messiness and inhuman insanity of the gods#which is why the game reinterprets them as mortals who gained godly power like. they're just folks#but the point is right tool for the right job#but also: what the fuck polygon#also also don't judge a game's marketing by the polygon review#uh anyway.#I'm enjoying this game#very chill and good about telling you were to go and forcing you to take things slow#also once again! feed the BIRBS!#also there are lizards running around the walls :)#anyway the point is uh#game fun
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Skincare step 1: cleansers
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Gentle cleansers are like a soothing hug for your skin, delicately washing away the day's impurities without stripping its natural oils. Incorporating a gentle cleanser into your skincare routine is essential for maintaining a healthy and radiant complexion. By choosing a mild formula, you're not only showing your skin some love but also ensuring that it stays balanced and nourished. So, embrace the tender touch of a gentle cleanser and let your skin glow with happiness
I personally have normal-sensitive skin so I choose to use gentle cleansers. I love Korean and Japanese skincare products, and I really enjoy the brand Cosrx I've used them for years and I've never had a bad experience with their products. I'll be doing more posts about in-depth and high-end products you can add to your skincare but for today my suggestions are basic but reliable cleansers
(I will be also doing an overall full-step skincare routine for glass skin as well as individual step-by-step posts soon💋 ) Direct links for all product recommendations are available on my pintrest located on my seriousskincare board
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#bueaty#perfect skin#skin tightness#skincare review#skincare regimen#skin tips#skincare products#skin treatment#skincare routine#skincare#skin cleanser#girly tumblr#girly girl#girly aesthetic#luxury#pinkblog#black girl luxury#bueaty tools#self care#self love#glow up#korean skincare#japanese skincare#girly tips#girl tips#girl time#high maintenance
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hi! saw your readings were open so i wanted to ask about a dream I had! my name is merle, i use it/she pronouns. (◍•ᴗ•◍)
ive been wondering lately about a dream i had. it seemed normal at first but then it got kinda scary and these two girls helped me wake up? like, it was a thing, they were trying to get me to wake up. but i couldn't, even when i tried. which is pretty weird for me since im decent at lucid dreaming. it got to a point where they pushed me off a roof, and then i finally woke up. ╥﹏╥
anyways, so my question is: what the hell was that?! (Ω Д Ω)was that supposed to be a sign or something or was my brain just... braining...
i also have one more question (if you don't mind!) since those two girls helped me out of that dream, i wanted to thank them. but the other night, when i attempted to lucid dream, i couldn't find them no matter what i did. any advice? how else can i contact them? im not sure just my tarot or pendulum will work. i just wanna say thank you to them :((
anyways, thanks for reading my super duper long ask! I hope you have a terrific day. I don't have any other preferences regarding the reading, so do as you please. thank you so so much again (♥´∀`)/
This is a free reading, and thus, a bit smaller than that big dream interpretation I performed. I'm going to answer the questions you asked as such!
I'll be using Thaddeus, the Mind's Eye Tarot by Olivia Rose.
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What the heck was that?! | Upright IV of Pentacles, Reversed III of Cups, Reversed King of Wands
IV of Pentacles signifies guardedness - Think a protector trying to keep you safe. It can be pretty blunt and clear - You have someone, or something, trying to protect you and keep you safe at this time. This can possibly indicate in your waking life that you feel you need to be protected from something now. As the reading gets into, said protector may or may not be you directly, that you need to step up and protect yourself.
III of Cups signifies independence, "three's a crowd", alone time. It could be answering another question in that your source of protection is actually yourself, instead of being from an outside source. (I'll get into this a bit deeper with XV the Devil). It could also be saying, essentially, to spend more time alone. Analyze your dream a bit further, were you generally alone, and if/when you were, how did you feel? Did you welcome it, or deny it?
King of Wands signifies impulsiveness, haste, and high expectations. This... is where it gets a bit muddy and I gotta stretch it out a little bit. We can take it as a... if we continue the theory that the girls were just a form of you or a part of you, how much expectation are you putting on yourself to be strong and keep yourself safe when you could be relying on others for their strength too? Are you being impulsive with your life and your situations, are you rushing through projects without spending time sitting on them first? Are you ignoring alone time to fulfill the expectations of those around you?
How can you contact the two girls? | Upright II of Cups, Upright XV the Devil
II of Cups is where that theory from before can either be made or broken. It usually signifies unified love and partnerships, but...
XV the Devil is partially about ourselves, the parts of us that we refuse to acknowledge and see, often due to shame, but I don't think shame is the factor here.
So, running with the same theory, one could say that the reason you can't reach these girls is because these girls are you, just a different part of you that manifested into your dream as a protector. Think like... we all have an inner child, so who is to say we don't have an inner protector as well? Things like that.
You're seeking to thank someone which is where II of Cups comes in, but XV the Devil implies that the person you should be thanking is yourself.
Thank you so much for your patience with me performing this reading.
Reviews are helpful, but optional. You can send them in replies, my ask box, or reblogging this post. Feel free to reblog this post with your thoughts in general, or without a review! You can also reblog my guidelines post if you like. If you feel particularly satisfied with my work, you may leave a tip in my Ko-fi. No pressure for any of this!
Please do not reblog this post if you are not the querent. If you want something to reblog, please reblog my guidelines post. If there's something within the post you want, you may ask, and depending on the request, I might fulfill it! Thank you!
I hope you, and all readers, have a wonderful day!
#khajiit reads#querent: others#querent: m3rlyc0rps1s#my tools: mind's eye tarot#tarot reading#review in reblogs#reviews in general
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what even is an AI-powered google search . what even is an AI-chat . I’ll kill you
#truly . truly . it boils my blood#like . you type in your query . it answers . when it’s a straightforward question it’s often times correct . cool! where the fuck are you#getting your information from#it is not transparent with its sources . literally anything is better than using ai chat becaue at least you can check the sources#people shit on wikipedia but at least it’s actually fucking peer reviewed and i can verify myself through the many sources they require you#to link . jesus christ#jay rants#throttling every single stupid tech bro and big dumbass tech company thats forced ai down our throats#to the point where it’s actively started impacting my studies . none of our profs can implicitly trust us anymore and instead of receiving#the time we need to write a coherent and well thought out essay at home we have to write one in class in an hour/an hour and a half . lord#if ur gonna fucking plagiarise at least be a moral plagiariser and actually collect the information yourself instead of relying on a self#cannibalising synthesis machine to do it for you#longing for the return to when machine learning was still used as a complementary tool in professions where it was actually useful
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tooling time from last night. got a few more things to do. definitely more confident in blind tooling than in using foil with the tools.
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I love Higuruma. Not just because he’s so willing to help Yuuji and the others (and because he’s hot), but he’s a character with particular traits that I’ve appreciated throughout JJK. The constant adapting and learning that can be seen with Mahito, strengthening his own capabilities that aren’t inherently offensive or overwhelmingly powerful like Tengen with barriers or Nobara being Mahito’s natural enemy, etc. It’s not like there aren’t interesting aspects to characters that are overwhelmingly powerful like Sukuna or Gojo, but it’s gratifying to see characters who aren’t still find ways to make just as much of an impact and work with others to do so. It’s no wonder Sukuna admires him, while giving far less thought to characters that could arguably be considered more powerful or destructive.
#something something about modern sorcerers in the culling games and the new generation#also significant ino is there fighting with nanami’s cursed tool. literally carrying on his memory#jjk spoilers#I already typed this in a LONG review of the chapter but doing it again. I just love him#nobara could’ve been among this group with her power to affect the soul 😭😭😭😭😭#a lot of fans tend to downplay characters if they’re literally not as OP as gojo or have specific traits or skillsets#like calling nobara or yuuji useless when they both have abilities to single out the soul#or even yuuta sometimes if he’s not proving himself by fighting out in the open#I’ve seen more comments about this current team not having a chance but this is the most hopeful I’ve been for their success#power scaling aside gojo couldn’t and shouldn’t have won the sukuna fight#jjk 246#higuruma hiromi#lots of thoughts rattling in my brain
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The Los Angeles House: Decoration and Design in America's 20th-Century City, 1995
#vintage#vintage interior#1990s#90s#interior design#home decor#decorating#kitchen#dining room#Mediterranean#tile#beamed ceiling#fireplace#Los Angeles#California#Italian#style#home#architecture
#vintage#wood carving#1990s#interiors#apartment#applique#bedroom#bathroom#blanket#interior design#viral#tool review
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Writers,
(that includes fanfic writers, hobbyists)
How do you include dialogue in another language, assuming all the character speak it, but not the reader?
More (not really necessary) details under cut, please answer me with reblogs or comments, you can also reblog even if you don't have an answer, for more visibility.
My story takes place in the french province of Québec ('ello there), but the story is in english, and so are most characters talking. However, i do wanna include french in some dialogue, because every bilingual québecer will easily switch between the two. I don't wanna do it too much, but only to add a touch of quebecism and make people understand that some characters have french as their first language. Some of my characters also have spanish as a first language and don't speak a lot of french
here's two dialogues example i got:
"Damn, she's so pretty." "She's gay." "Ouin, pis?" (Okay, so?)
"Bonjour, Alex. Je m'appelle Charlotte." (Hi Alex. My name is Charlotte) "They- They don't speak much French..." "You said they were bilingual!" "English and Spanish. Sorry."
"¿Qué diablos pasó ahí fuera? ¿Alguien te lastimó?" (What the hell happened to you? Did someone hurt you?) "S��. Pero estoy bien, Anton. Solo tengo un- una- a concussion. I'll be okay." (Yes. But i'm fine, Anton. It's just a concussion.) "Y qué pasa con esto?" (And what about this?) "Me estas molestando" (You're annoying me.)
#language#bilingual#writers#writing#writer on tumblr#ao3 writer#writer tips#writing tips#note i'm not super fluent in spanish. Enough to write and review with help of translating tools#but not enough to be 100% certain it's correct (especially when it comes to more complicated syntax or verbs) so feel free to correct it lo
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