Hey i’m a fashion design student so i have tons and tons of pdfs and docs with basic sewing techniques, pattern how-tos, and resources for fabric and trims. I’ve compiled it all into a shareable folder for anyone who wants to look into sewing and making their own clothing. I’ll be adding to this folder whenever i come across new resources
Updated just now with new hand sewing resources (mainly buttonholes) and textbook pdfs on fashion history, fashion illustration, and thinking through designs!
youre monogamous? oh… it’s ethical, right? ethical monogamy? okay good for you! i mean pretty much every monogamous couple i’ve met didn’t work out but maybe you guys will beat the odds! haha. so is it a sex thing? you guys have sex with- just each other? huh. how does that work? i could never do monogamy, i’m too jealous, i’d worry my partner would leave me for someone else instead of dating us both… how do you deal with the jealousy? is it hard? like, how hard? extremely? do you think you’ll break up? i mean in the long run these things rarely work out,
I started writing "4 srs" this month and I like how free and accessible writing is, so I'm recommending free software I've experimented with that might help people who want to get into the hobby!
“Specifically Created for Writing Stories”
-------------------------------
Manuskript – Story organizer / word processor. Has an outliner and index card function, along with distraction free mode. Lets you switch between different templates such as a non-fiction mode or a short story.
Bibisco – Novel writing software that includes writing goals, world-building, distraction free mode, and a timeline.
“I Just Want to Write”
---------------------------
LibreOffice – Microsoft 365 alternative, but free! LibreOffice Writer is what I wrote this tumblr post in before I posted it. Also if you copy & paste the text into the Rich Text Editor on AO3, it seems that it actually converts it properly. Nice! No need for scripts.
Note-Taking
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Zim Wiki - note taking application that is very, very lightweight (1.1mb). It functions with a tree structure, so I’d personally recommend it for world-building and character bios. There are built-in plugins that also turn it into a good software for task management (it even has a article on how to use it for GTD) and journalling. See also: CherryTree (2mb), which is a more outdated-looking app, but functions similarly.
Obsidian MD – The Big Boy. markdown note editor that has been adopted by personal knowledge management fans---if it doesn’t do something you want it to do, just look in the community plugins to see if someone has already done it. Some unique non-word processing related usages I’ve found is the ability to create a table of contents dashboard, a image gallery for images, embedding youtube videos and timestamping notes, so forth.
Logseq – A bullet point based markdown note editor that also has PDF annotations, Zotero integration, flashcard creation, and whiteboards. Best used for outlining projects due to the bullet point structure.
Joplin – A modern app comparable to Zim Wiki, it’s basically just a note-taking software that uses folders and tags to sort easier. Looks prettier than Zim Wiki and Cherry Tree
Notion – An online-only website that allows usage of different database types. Free for personal use. Note: I dislike the AI updates that have been making the app lag more. I prefer the others on this list.
Mind Maps
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Freeplane – So much goddamn features, including a ton of add-ons. Looks somewhat ugly, but it works for anyone willing to spend a while learning how to use it.
Mermaid – Text-based diagram creator. Can be used in apps like Joplin, Notion, and Obsidian.
Obsidian’s Canvas – A core plugin for Obsidian, it deserves its own mention in that it allows you to create embedded notes of the mindmap nodes. Thus, if you want to create a 20-page long note and have it minimized to the size of a penny on the mindmap, you could.
Other Things That Might Be Of Interest
Syncthing - A free software that allows you to sync between two or more computers. Have a desktop but also laze around on a laptop in bed, coming up with ideas?? This is your buddy if you don't want to use a online software.
Since the frog theme I made earlier was light mode, I decided to make a dark mode skin as well. This one is galaxy-themed and in shades of purple, pink, and blue.
You can get the code and instructions for how to use it here.
.notice a,
.comment_notice a,
.kudos_notice a,
ul.notes a,
.caution a,
.error a,
.comment_error a,
.kudos_error a,
.alert.flash a {
color: #506957;
font-weight: bold;
}
.filters .expander {
background: url("https://64.media.tumblr.com/3c89981f933f9f57157d6dcec6fd85a7/94c6737c6db9ad60-e5/s1280x1920/f7557e617a5439c506721bd326580a0cb4c1f8d8.png") left center no-repeat;
color: #f9f6ce !important;
font-weight: bold;
}
.filters .expanded .expander {
background: url("https://64.media.tumblr.com/dab095a2fd9387bc1e0c57747ba6b13f/94c6737c6db9ad60-ad/s1280x1920/c1a4e14e0565cdcac5d3e20bebac3ab440f2d607.png") left center no-repeat;
}
I first created my "Just Girly Things" site skin several years ago, using the Do You Love the Colours of the Sky skin from @ao3skin as inspo.
I was going to post it here today, but when I tested it out to take screenshots I realized that I've learned a lot since I made it years ago and so I spent the evening updating and improving it.
You can find the original skin, as well as the improved version pictured above, over here on github.
I recommend pairing it with @zerafinacss 's Replace the AO3 Icons 2.0 (reversi version). I think their choice of colours works better with this skin than AO3's default.
Editing to add: I also used @ao3skin's tag borders and backgrounds code!
@ivylor You asked for my AO3 skin code! I don't really know code either but I know what's vaguely happening. So I don't know where I got the main code originally but I do know that I got the stats icon code from (here). Then I think I picked bits and pieces from other places. I would like to mention I have code in there to remove buttons. This prevents me from accidentally deleting my fics. Still working on some of those pieces. If you want to delete a fic you will have to turn off the skin. Also, Ivylor you could have commented on the post, you didn't have to msg me. I thought you were a bot tbh. For next time ig. Also meant to make this earlier sorry for making you wait!
Anyways! Photos of my AO3 skin!
Code down below! WARNING THIS CODE IS VERY LONG:
Edit: If you ever need help with the skin please contact me! I will be very happy to help!
i know i'm like the least computer savvy person on here, but i just spent this morning browsing and adding ao3 extensions and let me just say this customization shit is fun. For those curious, the extensions I personally like are:
floating ao3 comment box (as described in this post i reblogged a while back, this is what got me on the train of customization today). Great for leaving thoughtful commentary while you're reading
add a "marked for later" button to browsing page. Huge for me, a procrastinator who sees the experience of looking for fics as a very different task from actually reading them. This should make it faster to add potential fics to my list when I'm in the mood to go browsing
"Marked for Later" and "Bookmarked fics" navigation added to top of home page. Great for quick access to all those fics I am now marking for later. It also adds a "random works" button to your "marked for later" page in case you want to hit shuffle on works you've already curated
(btw if anyone knows of an extension that lets you sort your marked for later by qualities like fandom, let me know. It'd be really nice for days where I'm like "I'm in the mood for Xillia, let's see what Xillia fics I once thought looked promising." Otherwise I'll just have to get creative with the bookmarking feature.)
lastly I added the "change Kudos button to Glory" function as mentioned in a tumblr post (the link to it seems to be broken though 🙁). Fun fact, the code is so simple that's it's very easy to go in and change the text to another short word, which is how I ended up with
Doing what I did last year (and hooboy but that post took forever to find, tumblr is a functional website), and talking about the @200-word-rpgs (it has its own blog now!) that I found interesting, as the compilation post comes out.
Canned Vegetables by @moth-surface
I love the concept here, of finding ways to describe XYZ as though it's ABC, while still being truthful. I don't think I'd be able to play this as-is, since I don't know much about different vegetables, and this relies on both parties having a good deal of background knowledge; but I'm glad that it exists.
HEAVY METAL VAN WIZARDS by @henchmaxxing
I have a fondness for things where all the stats are individual words from a phrase that describes stuff overall. …and on my reread of this one, for writing it up, I noticed something I hadn't registered before: that your character's stats are assigned by the OTHER players, presumably in accordance with how the character had been illustrated, and okay that's really cool. I also like the mechanic of ties being broken by who can metal scream the best, that's great.
Holy RPG, Batman! by @catsarehumanstoo
This is a fun concept. I really like how a particular result comes from the most likely value when you roll 2d6, but especially how that's simultaneously desirable AND undesirable. There's some fun dice stuff there.
Radio Prophets by @toy-dragon
I wish my brain was working more (it's nearing midnight) to say how I like this. The very concept, of flipping through the radio for phrases, that's a good one. The idea of interpreting a prophecy, then interpreting its misinterpretation, that's fascinating. Also, the bit about how if nobody responds, you can't try again until something timed by the car stopping; although now I've a bit of a question of whether "next full stop" means "the car comes to a complete stop, like at a stop sign" or "the car is parked and turned off". But I feel that's something which would be negotiated on a per-roadtrip basis.
Rhyme Schemes by @bookoramaenderteeth
"Transforming things into things that rhyme with it" is a classic. I appreciate the twist here, where after the power's been used a certain number of times, it has to become a more complex rhyme.
If you're reading this and have no idea what I'm talking about... well I prolly shouldn't have left my "this is what the post is about" to the end, especially not late at night. But basically there's an event going on where people write up RPGs with a word count maximum of 200. If you're curious, check the blog mentioned in the first paragraph.
Not very many things I feel like writing about in the next compilation; so I'm just going to write this now, then wait for the next compilation's stuff so there's enough to make it worth a post.
Guns N' Gumption by @chaotic-evil42168
What I really liked about this one was the "run" option. I think it's cool to have a "leave the game" end state that isn't losing, but is still risky, because you're automatically going to take damage if attacked. On a reread, that seemed like a consequence of having a limited number of bullets, which could run out, so you'd need to have options; but on a second reread, I realized that wasn't necessarily true, because "defend" is also an option. …now I'm thinking about possible end states. With no ability to regain bullets, you can end up with a situation where everyone's out of ammo… and actually, that might be an interesting part of the game, if you don't announce how many bullets you have left; you'd need to keep track of how many times each other person has fired a shot, to see if they're actually a threat.
Tomfoolery by @chaotic-error
This type of "wrangle small creatures who wish to cause problems" concept is always a delight. There's a few things I'm a bit confused about, although I think I've figured them out on the reread; this is normal for a game write-up for this event, with the strict word count. And I'm trying to NOT nerd-snipe myself by running the numbers to see if they should be adjusted for an even chance of human or cats winning, because I have things I want to get done today. But if this ever gets playtesting, I volunteer to join in so long as times work out, because it sounds like a LOT of fun.
Next compilation is out now, so let's do the stuff from that.
Risk Aware Consensual Game by @lunellum
This mostly falls under "huh yeah I guess that's a thing that someone wrote a game about". I'm… actually kinda surprised that it's taken this long for someone to do a game set at a kink party (for this event specifically, I know it's already been done in general). I'm always fond of things that have their stats as individual words from a relevant phrase. I also like the end condition here, that everyone has stats above a certain value; and I think it's cool how only two of the four stats can directly be raised by an action.
Shitty Copper Dice by @beleester
I started laughing as soon as I read the title, and enough of the first line to confirm that it was about Ea-Nasir. I wouldn't want to play this myself, since anything which involves bluffing just hits my "I would rather not" button, but I'm glad that this exists.
Alien Democracy 2028 by @clubconsent
This is mostly here because "the reason [someone is] uncomfortable discussing tax breaks for alien abductees" is so EVOCATIVE; it suggests so much, without giving any answers.
KOKAZO by @homarus-words
I'm a word nerd, thus I automatically think this is cool. Now this wasn't necessary for the game itself, but I'm curious as to whether gesture and tone of voice are intended to be part of "telling the story", since they convey further information, HOWEVER some categories of gesture can also be found among creatures agreed to not have language, so that might be fair game for the community to already possess. I'm also curious as to where the name "kokazo" came from in the first place, if it's just messing around with sounds or if there's some meaning there.
Trench Coat by @azurefishnets
"Three critters in a trench coat" is always a classic. I especially like the mechanic that it requires unanimous "yes" for a creature to be invited in, AND that you only have one "yes" and one "no" until both of those have been used up, in which case they get refreshed; it's literally impossible for all suggestions to be accepted. I also think it's really cool that any rejected creatures become opponents later on. I'm a bit confused about the exact mechanism for determining which side wins; but that's not unusual for this event with its word-count.
The Demonic Bad Steam Review Gambit by @infimace-blog
I love the voice this is written in, this is AWESOME. Also a really cool concept; concepts plural, more accurately, both "imp trying to stop the hero from killing the Guy Downstairs" and "trying to make the in-'verse player stop playing".
DRONE by @dericbindel
The descriptions for each thinger that can be rolled, they're very good, getting across the feel of it. I think there's a problem with the numbering, because "success" and "failure" both go 1-3 (at least where I looked at it), but that seems like a hellsite format issue and would be easy enough to correct for while playing.
Fight Game by @lichen-based-organism
Gotta respect something that is literally just a renamed rock-paper-scissors yet insists that it's totally original. The thing of "momentum" there is new (or at least not from rock-paper-scissors), where if you win twice in a row then that represents that you were able to actually injure the opponent, and gives you a point, and "first to a certain number of points" is the winner overall.
(Hero) (Shield) (Planet) by @nyaloholic
The entire thing is written in emoji. What I put here, that's not even its real title, it's just my best approximation of the characters used for it. I recommend looking at this if only to see what can be done with the medium.
This is also the compilation (or well, the first one is) which includes my first entry into it this year; not particularly interesting, just including it here so I can more easily find it if need be.
Holy Shit We're So Fucked by @yaintbeet
I really hope that this turns out to be one of those "you had to have been there" things, and that in the future it won't continue to get a vaguely hysterical giggle; unfortunately, all of human history seems to be a sequence of disasters. So, hold on to this one, so you can reblog it the next time it's appropriate.
Practical Applications by @squidknees
This is just plain cool. First, I always love stuff that involves "you have extremely specialized skills, now try to find a way to apply them to situations outside your usual". Second, mechanics-wise it's cool; you've a dice-roll chance to succeed, and if you don't then a new goal gets added, and the failure state for the game is about how many goals are ended up with.
Sidereal Discordancy by @notsomeoneyouknow
Vague proclamations, and responding to them in equally vague but relevant-seeming ways, that's just fun.
Dragon Slayers by @twentyyearstoolate
This seems cool. And also I really should start working on these write-ups earlier in the day, because "what seems cool about it" isn't as obvious to articulate here as for some other games, thus my starting-to-get-tired brain can't manage it.
Imp Wars by @mallowmaenad
This seems intriguing; it also desperately needs at least a hundred more words (or a diagram), since I can barely picture how this is supposed to work and there's no extraneous words to it as is. But like, what I can gather of it seems cool; same as that time I listened to an actual-play podcast in a language I've gotten very rusty with and was never fluent in.
Incredible Skeletal Crisis by @zincrising
At first I just thought the concept was cool, then on a reread I think the mechanics are cooler. As a dice hoarder myself I have a fondness for things which involve "grab a whole bunch of dice"; plus the concept of "any bone near a replaced bone gets closer to breaking" is evocative.
Secret Monster by @deluxeloy
Interesting concept for this; it might benefit from a third party who counts the use of the word, or actually it might work really well for asynchronous text-based play. (Which would prolly be easier to get people to playtest, since it doesn't require being available at the same time.) I appreciate the design notes at the end, along with potential strategies.
Slay Marciolo by @thefaewriter
Honestly I'm just impressed that someone managed to do a METROIDVANIA, of all things, for this.
Red Scare by @aismallard
It might be due to word count, but I noticed that the number of strips put in the hat isn't specified, only that it's an equal number for each team; thus it's possible for the sides to not be even and/or for there not to be a saboteur at all, which fits perfectly.
Assassins at the Royal Masquerade by @electriceyespots
I think this is cool. At first I wondered why there was a "no action" option, but if there's three masks drawn for a scene out of six masks total, and three players for a scene, then yeah it's possible for someone to not be able to do anything that scene. …it's also possible (albeit less likely) for there to be a scene where NOBODY can act, but you can't give guidelines for every possibility when you're limited to 200 words. There'd need to be something for it though, if I'm reading things correctly, else you'd get "nothing happens" and then know three out of the four masks which belong to players. I'm also a bit curious as to what exactly "protecting from afar" vs "protecting your employer" entails, like is it "watching for any potential assassination" vs "making sure that a given type of assassination doesn't work". Another of the (many, MANY) games that would benefit from an extra hundred words, but what's currently here seems workable, and -- more importantly -- like it's WORTH the extra work.
Door To Door Delivery to Dracula by @tiiimezombie
I like the concept. I'm not so sure about the mechanics; both in terms of "I don't know if I understand them" (I'm also unfamiliar with poker), and also "isn't it dangerous to share your credit card number", but if that's actually an issue (I don't have a credit card so I don't know for sure) then it'd be easy enough to generate a random string of numbers ahead of time. The "suck it" example always makes me grin.
If It Had To Perish Twice by @ferncube
…huh, I guess some changes were made to it, after it got reblogged, but that's okay. It's interesting to have different goals associated with different colours of dice, and I'm intrigued by the idea of replacing them depending on stuff. On a reread, the stuff with the black dice makes perfect sense, because there's no chance of succeeding, but it's literally a "lost cause". I think "what happens if you don't have any dice of a colour left to roll" (as in, they've all been replaced by other dice, not that you don't have sufficient dice of that colour in your dice bag) got lost in the edit, which, that happens even without a word limit.
A correction to something from the previous post: for 'Assassins at the Royal Masquerade', I'd misread part of it, and "protect from afar" is for when your mask WASN'T drawn for the scene, and was actually shown in the example (I just didn't register it). So that brings the "do nothing" to just the rarer instance of when neither your target nor employer are in a scene. (Thanks @electriceyespots for bringing that to my attention.)
The Benefits of Your Library Card by @caw-oticdork
I mean, the whole point of this game is that it's played using a library, I couldn't NOT mention it. The mechanics are some pretty standard bibliomancy -- which is unfortunately not actually "magic that moves books around", but rather "opening a book (historically the Bible) to a random line and using that as your answer" -- but I like the thing about finding a relevant book for the issue at hand, then using THAT for your random line.
Killing Machines by @ribstongrowback
I think it's cool to have a list of traits to define "human", then an obstacle's number is how many of those traits said obstacle has, and you want to roll over or below it, depending on whether you treat it as a person or a thing. Like, "you want to roll high or low, depending on your approach" is something I've seen with other games, but not "the number is arrived at by how many of something it matches". It's cool.
Walking Simulator with Skunks by yours truly
Listen, *I* think I'm funny.
Les Femmes Damnées by @jessica-problems
Other people have already (rightly) said good things about it; for MY part, what I'm most impressed about is that it got PLAYTESTED before posting.
Rubik's Monster by @mildkleptomania
That is just a REALLY cool way of assigning traits to a character; having something for each colour, and randomizing a rubik's cube and seeing how many squares of each colour are on a given side. I also appreciate the categorization schema there for them, it's LOVELY for building a monster, and also they're all five letters, that must have taken a lot of effort and/or serendipity.
When All You Have is a Gun Everything Looks [Verb]able by @that-house
This seems like it would in-'verse end in horrible disaster; I love it. I think it's interesting how not only are you limited to six different actions, but you're limited to them IN A GIVEN ORDER; and they can be reloaded in a different order once fully expended. Any real strategy comes from choosing to act or not act, and WHO acts. It'd be easy enough to make this less impossible, say by allowing the actions to be used in whatever order, but that would change the tone of it.
Game Playing Role by @that-house
There's been a game before here written in… I don't know if there's a term for "both first- and second-person", but that. However, that one was more focused on the recipient; this one's style is more centred on the "speaker". This here isn't so much a GAME, but it's a really cool art piece.
Itsy Bitsy Critters by @bossarmadimon
I think it's interesting, the different end states, and the outcome that means "keep playing until something happens"; that fits so well with what it describes. I'm curious as to why some things got non-digit modifiers, and also whether 'i' is considered to be a positive or negative modifier, or not a modifier at all, since it can only resolve into a sensible number via math more complex than is here.
QWOP: The TTRPG by @fionn-o-nassus
This is mostly here for nostalgia reasons; I only played QWOP once or twice, but it was always fun to see around as a meme. And normally I don't care for "every player has to succeed at their part in order for the action to be successful", but here, it perfectly fits the intended vibes, of emulating a game where you needed to control (with the Q-W-O-P keys, hence its name) each individual limb of a runner.
Why did I decide to become an anime chronicler? by @bossarmadimon
This one seems FUN. I want people to do this so I can read the results. It'd be cool on its own without any of the 'complications' -- trying to describe what happens when you have zero context, generally leads to an entertaining mess -- but adding them in brings it to an actual game.
Hellsquad by @cavetalesz
What I really like on this one are the restrictions; if you harm anyone along the way then it's game over for your character, and if your stat swings too far either way, your character is likewise out of the game (for different reasons that result in the same destination). I'm mildly curious, since apparently it came to the writer in a dream, how MUCH of it was from the dream; like, was it a 'storyline' they went "you know, I could write a 200-word RPG based off this", or did they dream about a game with this concept, or did they literally get some of the mechanics and/or tables from the dream (which apparently can happen if you're deep enough in RPGs).
Normal Human Survival Horror by yours truly
This was the most thought I'd ever put into something written for this, and I think it shows; plus, once I started actually writing it down (having already figured out how everything would work), I began with jotting the bare bones of it in the word counter, and then building on it. That meant I didn't (couldn't!) start rambling, and also I had to think about which elements were most important since that's how I added stuff in. Anyways, this game is about "what if a monster decided to hunt down a group of people, but everyone in that group was secretly also a monster".
Win at Game Jam, Something that is Normal to Want and Possible to Achieve by @smallpileofmoss
Now I normally don't include the "full" title for something this long, but I had to for here. I always appreciate stuff that's incredibly meta, and I like what was chosen for the stats, it makes sense. There's one thing I wasn't really sure what it meant, but an offhand comment in the post-readmore notes cleared it up; that "an option can't be repeated" applies to the whole group, and if you do something then nobody else can do that same thing.
This thread has gotten pretty long, and it covers stuff up to 15 November, aka the first half of the month. My intent is to start a new thread for the next time I want to talk about this stuff, and I'm mostly writing that here so future-me will see it and go "oh yeah" instead of adding stuff on to here.
(Bossarmadimon on my non-fandom blog) I'm flattered you enjoyed my shower thought RPGs. And I'm not calling them that lightly: I had not even considered 200 words RPGs before and after getting the ideas in the shower I literally typed them down in less than 90 minutes of ADHD-powered mania. The biggest challenge was originally I misremembered the number of words and I did anime chronicler as a 300 words rpg (with an extra optional table for the epic style you should be using), which I then had to pare down 😑
The √-1 thing is genuinely just me being stupid and cheeky, given all the rolls results for "six" are kinda out-there. I genuinely didn't even realize that two of those rolls ("Toddler" and "nudity") will inevitably result in the "humiliating injury" result until right this moment 🤣