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Too many writers are using generative 'AI' to make their book covers, so I've written a guide on how to make your own cover for free or cheap without turning to a machine.

If you can't afford to pay an artist, you CAN make your own!

I hope this is a helpful overview that covers the basics and points to some free resources.

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okay but there is something disquieting about this urge to cast fan writers as altruists. they give us all this for free!! well, no.

they’re sharing

it’s a key difference in perception. fic isn’t given. it’s shared. it’s part of a fandom community— in which readers are also an integral part.

it’s probably inevitable mission creep from the increasingly transactional nature of the internet and fandom-as-consumerism, which was always gonna happen after corps worked out how much bank there is to make from those weirdo fan people

but like. fandom is sharing. i think we’ve lost that somewhere.

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this is so mean but sometimes i see published writing and suddenly no longer feel insecure about my own writing ability. like well okay that got published so im guessing i dont have much to worry about

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Pondering my orbs.

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Reblog if you're okay with receiving asks for backstory info on any/all of your fics.

If not all, specify which ones in the tags.

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people might think creating OC lore involves a lot of thinking & planning, but in my personal experience, OC development is more like a divine vision from a god slamming you over the head with a mallet while ur doing the fuckin dishes or folding laundry

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Hi! Could I ask for some body language for general love? Like fluffy kind of love? Shy but like.. I don’t know, flustered? A little hard to describe what I mean haha

Hi Anon! I had a lot of fun with this one

Writing Fluffy/Shy Love

Body language:

Prolonged or fleeting eye contact, dilated pupils, lingering gazes at the person your character(s) interested in. As if they’re fixated on something about this person, or looking for something new about them to fixate on. (If flustered, then darting their eyes away or quickly averting their gaze if caught staring)

Fidgeting, sweaty palms, leaning in

Closeness: your characters will find any excuse to touch. Holding hands, sitting close to one another, touching knees when seated, draping arms around shoulders or legs across laps, gentle touches, playful nudges, etc. This type of physical contact is gonna be a slow burn with flustered/shy characters. For example, if they're holding hands, don't just say they are, describe them inching closer, brushing one of their fingers against the other’s palm, making eye contact. Find nonverbal cues/body language that initiates closeness. 

Soft smiles, relaxed brows, attentive looks (watching the other’s hands, eyes, lips, etc) 

Frequent laughter, open posture

Subconsciously mirroring the other’s body language/picking up some of each other’s mannerisms or habits without realizing it

Inner thoughts or Dialogue:

Overthinking/over-analyzing interactions between them and the one they love

Deeper concern and empathy for the person they love

More genuine interest in what the other says/does, deeper understanding/knowledge of their habits and behavior. Maybe a character loads more attention on their partner’s words/wants above their own.

Dialogue/dynamics in a couple depends on their personalities. Can be more playful/teasing with banter, passionate, casual, quiet, etc. All relationships are different from more passionate ones to companionate ones, and more.

Are both character’s flustered? Explore what it looks like when they're both hesitant or shy around each other. 

If it's one flustered character, what happens when the other notices how shy they are?

General tips:

Linger more on the simplicity/normalcy of the moment. Fluff isn't dramatic twists or arguments. Cuddling while watching a movie, character A playing with character B’s hair while they do the dishes, one doting on the other when they're sick.

The tone here is going to be more cute, domestic, and comfortable.

Remember that in fluffy/shy love it's a great start to have a friendship between the characters as a foundation rather than a romance standing on its own. Why do your characters love each other? What little things do they love about each other?

should i do dialogue prompts with this or try a post diving deeper on relationship dynamics?

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The author 's barely disguised

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worlds slowest fanfic author tries really really hard

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WHY YOU SHOULD WRITE HORRIBLY:

1. You’ll never write anything if you don’t

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it's already humiliating when you get into new media, take one look at a character, and know that one's gonna be living in your head indefinitely, but it's absolutely nothing compared to looking at a character and thinking eh i don't think i'd ever have strong feelings about that one he's kinda boring and then he sits quietly in the back of your brain poking idly at synapses and thoughts every once in a while until one day you wake up and realise oh. oh fuck. category 5 blorbo moment, how the ever loving fuck did this happen to me

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Soft Gestures for Comfort

Bringing them a blanket when they’re curled up on the couch.

Whispering, "It’s okay, I’m here," when they wake up from a bad dream.

Stroking their hair gently when they’re lying on your lap.

Running a warm bath for them after a tough day.

Holding them close and saying, "I’ve got you," when they’re upset.

Preparing their favorite comfort food when they’re feeling low.

Turning off their alarm and letting them sleep in when they’re exhausted.

Reading their favorite book to them before bed.

Playing their favorite soothing music to help them relax.

Just sitting in silence with them, letting them know your presence is their safe space.

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Raspberry Delight

The css for the buttons is from a skin made by @ao3commentoftheday with the colors changed to make them more pink.

The pink icons were made by @zerafinacss

@zerafinacss also has pink stat icons that look really good with this skin. It would replace the language/words/chapters ect. with some cute pink icons.

If you want this skin, the code is under here!

First, you have to put these codes into the wizard.

After you save that, you just copy and paste this code:

#header .logo {

background-image: url("https://images.squidge.org/images/2024/03/30/AO3_imageset_pink.png");

background-size: 250px 1044px;

padding: 42px 0 0 60px;

width: 0 !important;

height: 0 !important;

background-position: -140px -749.6px;

}

#header ul.primary,

#header h2 {

box-shadow: none;

}

.required-tags .rating-notrated,

.required-tags .rating-general-audience,

.required-tags .rating-explicit,

.required-tags .rating-mature,

.required-tags .rating-teen,

.required-tags .category-femslash,

.required-tags .category-gen,

.required-tags .category-slash,

.required-tags .category-none,

.required-tags .category-het,

.required-tags .category-multi,

.required-tags .category-other,

.required-tags .complete-no,

.required-tags .complete-yes,

.required-tags .warning-yes,

.required-tags .warning-no,

.required-tags .warning-choosenotto,

.required-tags .external-work,

.status .private .text,

.status .public,

.status .hidden,

.status .rec,

.status .count,

.index .skins .icon,

.index .mystery .icon,

.index .tag .icon,

.index .tagset .icon,

.comment .icon .anonymous,

.comment .icon .visitor,

.abbreviated .icon .visitor,

.abbreviated .icon .anonymous,

.skins .primary .icon,

.admin .primary .icon,

.tagset .primary .icon,

.tag .primary .icon,

a.rss span,

p.kudos,

#symbols-key dl img,

#bookmark-symbols-key img,

img[src$="/images/skins/iconsets/default/icon_user.png"],

img[src$="/images/skins/iconsets/default/icon_collection.png"],

img[src$="/images/lockblue.png"] {

background-image: url("https://images.squidge.org/images/2024/03/30/AO3_imageset_pink.png");

background-size: 200px 835px;

}

#symbols-key dl img,

#bookmark-symbols-key img {

width: 0 !important;

height: 0 !important;

padding: 25px 0 0 25px;

}

img[src$="/images/skins/iconsets/default/rating-notrated.png"],

img[src$="/images/skins/iconsets/default/category-none.png"],

img[src$="/images/skins/iconsets/default/warning-no.png"] {

background-position: -150px 0px;

}

img[src$="/images/skins/iconsets/default/rating-general-audience.png"] {

background-position: -50px -25px;

}

img[src$="/images/skins/iconsets/default/rating-teen.png"] {

background-position: 0px -25px;

}

img[src$="/images/skins/iconsets/default/rating-mature.png"] {

background-position: -75px -25px;

}

img[src$="/images/skins/iconsets/default/rating-explicit.png"] {

background-position: -25px -25px;

}

img[src$="/images/skins/iconsets/default/category-femslash.png"] {

background-position: -25px 0px;

}

img[src$="/images/skins/iconsets/default/category-het.png"] {

background-position: -75px 0px;

}

img[src$="/images/skins/iconsets/default/category-gen.png"] {

background-position: -50px 0px;

}

img[src$="/images/skins/iconsets/default/category-multi.png"] {

background-position: -100px 0px;

}

img[src$="/images/skins/iconsets/default/category-other.png"] {

background-position: -125px 0px;

}

img[src$="/images/skins/iconsets/default/warning-choosenotto.png"] {

background-position: -125px -25px;

}

img[src$="/images/skins/iconsets/default/warning-yes.png"] {

background-position: -150px -25px;

}

img[src$="/images/skins/iconsets/default/warning-external-work.png"] {

background-position: -75px -50px;

}

img[src$="/images/skins/iconsets/default/complete-no.png"] {

background-position: -100px -25px;

}

img[src$="/images/skins/iconsets/default/complete-yes.png"] {

background-position: -175px -25px;

}

img[src$="/images/skins/iconsets/default/bookmark-rec.png"] {

background-position: -100px -50px;

}

img[src$="/images/skins/iconsets/default/bookmark-public.png"] {

background-position: -125px -50px;

}

img[src$="/images/skins/iconsets/default/bookmark-private.png"] {

background-position: -175px -50px;

}

img[src$="/images/skins/iconsets/default/bookmark-hidden.png"] {

background-position: -150px -50px;

}

img[src$="/images/skins/iconsets/default/icon_user.png"],

img[src$="/images/skins/iconsets/default/icon_collection.png"],

img[src$="/images/lockblue.png"] {

width: 0 !important;

height: 0 !important;

}

img[src$="/images/skins/iconsets/default/icon_user.png"] {

padding: 100px 0 0 100px;

background-position: 0px -75px;

}

.index:not(.comment) .abbreviated img[src$="/images/skins/iconsets/default/icon_user.png"] {

padding: 75px 0 0 75px;

background-position: 0px -375px;

}

.index:not(.comment) img[src$="/images/skins/iconsets/default/icon_user.png"] {

padding: 55px 0 0 55px;

background-position: 0px -525px;

}

#greeting img[src$="/images/skins/iconsets/default/icon_user.png"] {

padding: 1.786em 0 0 1.786em;

background-position: 0 -19px;

background-size: 201% !important;

}

img[src$="/images/skins/iconsets/default/icon_collection.png"] {

padding: 100px 0 0 100px;

background-position: -100px -175px;

}

.index img[src$="/images/skins/iconsets/default/icon_collection.png"] {

padding: 55px 0 0 55px;

background-position: -55px -525px;

}

img[src$="/images/lockblue.png"] {

padding: 15px 0 0 15px;

background-position: -155px -305px;

}

button,

.actions a,

.actions a:link,

.action,

legend .action:link,

input[type="submit"],

.actions a:visited,

.actions li label,

a.action.modal-closer {

color: #FCF5ED;

background: #A0153E;

border: 1px solid #A0153E;

box-shadow: none;

}

button:hover,

.actions a:hover,

.action:hover,

input[type="submit"]:hover {

color: #00224D;

background: #ff2071 !important;

border: 1px solid #ff2071;

box-shadow: none;

}

.actions li .current,

.current,

#dashboard .current {

color: #FCF5ED;

background: #ff2071;

border: 1px solid #ff2071;

box-shadow: none;

}

dl.meta {

border: 1px solid #a0153e;

}

.wrapper {

box-shadow: 1px 1px 5px #a0153e;

}

.actions input:focus {

border-top: 1px solid #a0153e;

border-left: 1px solid #a0153e;

box-shadow: none;

}

#dashboard .secondary {

background: #ff2071;

box-shadow: inset 2px 2px 5px #a0153e;

}

.alert .userstuff {

background: #ff91ba;

border-color: #ffd6e6;

color: #8a0035;

}

.qtip-content,

.notice:not(.required),

.comment_notice,

.kudos_notice,

ul.notes,

.caution,

.notice a {

color: #fcb6d1;

}

.notice,

.comment_notice,

.kudos_notice,

ul.notes,

.caution,

.error,

.comment_error,

.kudos_error,

.alert.flash {

background: #a0153e;

border: 1px solid #ff91ba;

}

.required,

.error,

.alert.flash {

color: #fcc2d8;

}

button:hover,

.actions a:hover,

.action:hover,

input[type="submit"]:hover {

color: #4f001b;

}

.comment img[src$="/images/skins/iconsets/default/icon_user.png"] {

padding: 55px 0 0 55px !important;

background-position: 0px -525px !important;

}

^ If you only read on desktop, this last bit is unnecessary. It fixes the blank profile pics from being too big on mobile, but in doing so, it does keep the pics small on desktop

EDIT: If you have any problems with the tags on mobile, go to media and select: "max screen and (max-width: 42 em)" and it should fix it!

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The cousin of "he would not say that:" he would not keep saying that. It was a one off funny line for one particular situation. Every memorable line does not need to become a running gag.