30ish sci-fi nerd from Scotland. I read, I write, I watch, I draw, I spend inordinate amounts of time thinking about fandom-type things. Also spaceships. Asexual, aromantic, agender, autistic, and of the opinion that everything is better with superheroes. Check out my art blog over at @spacecapart
whether the internet becomes an intolerable surveillance state, ubiquitous subscription model, or unusably ad- or AI-ridden shithole, I think we need to remember
how to do things offline
either on your personal hard drive (just because itâs an app doesnât mean the information is stored in your device) or on paper. Iâm not saying the collapse of the internet is imminent, and Iâm not suggesting we do everything completely without technology, or even stop using it until we have to. (to be clear, I also donât think the internet will just blink out of existence, suddenly stop being a thing at all; rather I think it might continue to lose its usefulness to the point where itâs impossible to get anything done. anyway) but some people may have forgotten how we got by before the internet (I almost have!), and the younger generation might not have experienced it at all.
I figure most people probably use the internet mainly for communication with friends and family, entertainment and creation (eg. writing), and looking up how to do things, so hereâs how to do those things offline:
First and most importantly, download everything important to you onto at least one hard drive and at least one flashdrive! files can get corrupted and hardware can get damaged or lost, but as long as you keep backup copies, you have much-closer-to-guaranteed access versus hoping a business doesnât decide to paywall, purge, or otherwise revoke your access. I would recommend getting irreplaceable photos printed as well
download and/or print/write down:
anything important to you - photos/videos, journals, certificates, college transcripts
contact info - phone numbers and/or addresses of friends/family (know how to contact them if you canât use your favourite messaging app), doctors (open hours would be good too), veterinarians if you have pets, and work
how-toâs - recipes (one, two), emergency preparedness (what do I do if⊠eg. I smell gas)
other things you might google: cleaning chemicals to NOT mix, what laundry tag symbols mean, people food dogs and cats can and canât eat, plant toxicity to pets
and know offline ways to find things out - local radio station, newspaper, a nearby highway rest area might have a region map, public libraries usually have a bunch of resources
also, those of you who get periods should strongly consider not using period tracking apps! hereâs how to track your period manually
free printable period tracker templates (no printer? public libraries usually charge a few cents per page, or you can recreate it by hand)
moving on to entertainment, you can still get most media for free! itâs completely legal to download your favourite movies to your own personal hard drive, you just canât sell or distribute copies (not legal advice)
movies: wcostream.tv (right click the player) - the url changes every once in a while but usually redirects; I recently noticed that itâs hiding a lot of movies behind âpremium,â so it may or may not work anymore | download youtube videos
music: how to get music without streaming it | legal free downloads
games: steamunlocked.net - doesnât have every game and can be slow to update, but very reliable
Remember that links won't work without the internet, so also write down anything you find useful in this post! You have to download stuff ahead of time while you can still access the internet
keep physical user manuals for things like car, tv, appliances
how to prepare for computer work offline (may need to use reader mode to bypass a popup)
check interactions with any medications you're taking
how to search a library (databases are often accessible via library computers so might still be a thing without internet; also some info on manually searching the actual stacks) (backup rb)
make note of your local/state/federal laws regarding tenantsâ rights & housing resources, workersâ rights, gun laws, abortion laws (though this is changing frequently)
How to Download Videos
URL downloaders for specific sites & in general
4k Video Downloader Plus, VLC Media Player, Freemake, YouTube-to-mp4
screencap with OBS (may only work on firefox and may violate ToS) or xbox game bar on windows (win+g)
especially download meme songs that you probably wonât find on a CD (example) with https://ytmp3.nexus/
Print photos with VistaPrint, WalMart, or CVS
Old Farmer's Almanac
Household chores list
Simple household repairs
Loads of old recipes (backup rb)
how to wean yourself off the internet
how to spend time with family
how to get involved with your community
ways to spend more time outside (set a goal/reason to be outside)
how to get outside more in different seasons
how to build nature into your lifestyle
how to start a self care habit | how to make a self care checklist
self care assessment | axes of self care | reparenting resources
Since I've already kind of been doing this due to living on a farm where we easily lose power during storms and lose internet because our only service provider is too fucking cheap to update infrastructure (we have copper wires still, not fiberoptic cable), I feel like I should add on some stuff, too. (Also, we haven't been able to afford any up to date shit since the early 2010s.)
- GET YOURSELF A WEATHER RADIO. Phones can be stolen, malfunction, die, etc. While these things can be a pain in the ass because it goes off for the region your local National Weather Service covers, this could very well save your life, especially if you are in a situation that I'm in that I described above. I recommend Midland, and this one is the most affordable if you're worried about price (Jesus, this thing was 30 bucks a year or two ago... stupid cheetoh). One of my local library branches even has it. (I also heavily recommend getting an emergency radio from them, too! Just be sure you get familiar with it soon and use it every once in a while so you're not struggling in a panic. This is the one I have.) Radio isn't a service you have to pay for like cellphone service or internet. Just be sure you have your battery situation all figured out. That being said, while the weather radio only uses the WX bands, the emergency radio allows AM and FM stations, too.
- Get an antenna of some sort for your television so you can receive local TV stations. This could be important regarding local news. I haven't gotten one for us yet, and I'm not even certain if we can get signal anymore because of how defunct many relay stations for airwaves are. If you live in or near a city and you're not deep in a valley, you're gonna have better luck with this. Yes, there are antennas made for modern flatscreens. Look them up while you can right now, and learn how to hook them up. I wish I could share more on this, but like I said, I haven't gotten one for us yet. I don't even know if we'd get anything to come in, lol. But like radio, airwaves are free. This includes what you could get on television!
- Look into meshtastic. Wanna get in touch with a friend or family member and get a response back quickly? Want to send out a message to the local community also using it? Imagine texting on radio waves. That's... kinda basically what this is. And there's no service to pay for! AND IT'S DECENTRALIZED! I haven't had the chance to try it out, but I'm definitely interested. Here's a video if you wanna learn more about what this is.
- Field Guides in book format. Get them. Mainly those involving local plants and insects/arachnids. Get familiar with where sections are in them in case you need to quickly look something up. You don't wanna assume whether or not something that bit you isn't going to be a problem for your health. I'd also recommend snake guides as well. It's VERY IMPORTANT to know what species bit you if they're venomous so you can be given the correct antivenom.
- Physical media is a thing gaining popularity for obvious reasons. Don't assume it's a fad. Unless you taped it, there aren't gonna be any ads or commercials interrupting what you're trying to watch. Learn how to operate VCRs and DVD players if you're too young to be that familiar with them. (I have the coveted combo machine that I've had since the 2000s. Still works like a charm.)
- Learn to make a go-bag (or several) *NOW.* Climate change is making shit get worse. I've got 2 hiking backpacks ready just in case we gotta split, so all I have to worry about is getting the cats into their carriers. Another thing that weather radio can sometimes be used for is if you need to evacuate due to things like volcanoes, chemical accidents, and wildfires. I am not kidding. A NOAA Weather Radio is fucking awesome and essential. I'm hoping to get a duffle bag to fill with more supplies for long hauls if needed, but I wanted to get the backpacks ready. (And if you're gonna have food with you, BE SURE TO ROTATE THE FOOD SO YOU DON'T HUNKER DOWN OR DIP OUT WITH EXPIRED FOOD. THIS INCLUDES ANY PET FOOD YOU HAVE PACKED.) You need to be able to get your shit and get at a moment's notice. Seconds could matter in an unexpected situation. Make sure you thoroughly plan every possible thing with the rest of your household and loved ones, such as where to go in certain circumstances, where to meet up, etc. INCLUDE ANY AND ALL PETS IN YOUR PLANS, TOO! (If you takes meds, make sure you plan for those, too, and make sure they don't expire. You will also want supplies for typical dental care. Trust me on this one.)
- Learn how to write and mail letters. If shit gets so bad for privacy online, the only way to keep in touch with friends and loved ones with privacy is gonna be through mailing letters. This means you gotta hand-write them. Yes, responses will be slow and you'll have to get the hang of using a writing utensil, but if we did it back in the day and survived, so can you. It is against federal law to open or tamper with someone else's mail. (For now. That cheetoh sure is doing whatever the fuck he wants without consequences.)
I just woke up about an hour ago and still drinking my coffee, so that's all I have for now. I don't know if I have any other things to add and just not remembering any of them. I'm also old and doing this on mobile, so trying to go back and edit and shit made the screen boop around and made me fuck a couple things up. I hope i fixed it all and the wording is fine and the links are helpful.
I'm going to post the rest of my inevitable descent back into Flash fanart over on the art blog (@spacecapart), but it felt appropriate to post at least one thing over here given just how many drawings of this guy ended up on this blog about a decade ago. So, behold! Turns out I still remember how to draw this asshole, and all the things I've learned about inking in the intervening years work rather well for him.
Oh my god⊠I didnât know the Torchwood scripts were a freely accessible on the BBC website! I love a script and you better believe Iâll be reading through all of them! Though Iâve just been skimming through the CYBERWOMAN script and two moments have just struck me right to my very coreâŠ
The first..
Lisa calls out for Iantoâs help during the pterodactyl attack!!! :O
Are you kidding meâŠ?! This is horrifying! But I kinda wish theyâd kept it in because it revives the idea that on some level Lisa is still in there and actually validates Iantoâs fight to save her. By this point everyone except Ianto is set on the fact that there is no Lisa left in the Cyberwoman, itâs what justifies the violent actions theyâve chosen to take against her. So having them suddenly hear such a pained human response from Lisa as sheâs mauled by the pterodactyl they set on her, suddenly forces back into question whether there was someone there to be saved after all. It also brings some actual visual justification for Iantoâs stubbornness - even though itâs perfectly evident why Ianto does all that he does in the episode - he loves Lisa, having this moment just allows the team and the audience to also see what Ianto sees, to suggest that maybe there is some justifiable reason behind his reckless persistence in trying to protect her. This is one of those little details that Iâd never have thought about before but now that I know it could have happened, I canât stop thinking about it happening and wish it did happen. This should not have been taken out!
The secondâŠ
Tosh brings Ianto a coffee because no one ever makes him a coffee and she wants him to feel seen but because heâs so used to being invisible he canât comprehend the gesture sheâs initiating until heâs alone again⊠and oh my heart!! It hurts⊠but in the best way!
I wish we could have seen this happen! Itâs exactly what needed to happen after everything ianto just went through⊠but, I do get why it was cut - the ending they went with is tonally better⊠but this scene is so heartbreakingly beautiful and is further proof that the show did both Tosh and Ianto so damn dirty. Their bond deserved to be seen!!!
AnywayâŠ
Iâll be honest, I am not okay after this⊠and I only read half the script!! I dread to think whatâs about to come from me reading them all in full⊠not that thatâs gonna do anything stop me⊠watch this space, Iâm gonna have thoughts! :)
everyone i've talked to about this has been completely unaware so: if you didn't know already, there's going to be a solar eclipse, with totality or coverage of 90% or more in some places, over a lot of europe, on august 12th 2026. in the uk it will start just after 6pm, and the maximum will be at 7:13pm.
here is a map of the path of the eclipse (from timeanddate)
get eclipse glasses if you want to look at it. it is not safe to look at through sunglasses. ok informative post over o7
You know, I always find it interesting when people make fics/art where Edwardâs been promoted to some rank above major (which comes with the state alchemist certification). Itâs interesting to think about sure, but Ed does literally nothing for the army. Mustangâs in Central putting in the effort and getting his name passed around the higher-ups and kissing ass while Ed does literally exactly none of that. He runs around the country with his brother and, begrudgingly, checks in from time to time. Not the sorta dude to be âhighly consideredâ for promotion.
Though the one instance where he could reasonably get promoted would be in the event that 1) Mustang has some sort of opening in his sector and 2) Mustang feels like being a dick.
âHey Fullmetal, long time no see.â
âYeah yeah Al and I are in a rush. We wanted to leave Central an hour ago so hurry up and spit it out whatâd you call me here for?â
âOh donât worry itâs good news. Wonderful news. Youâre really making your way in the world. See Lieutenant Colonel Davis transferred recently to Southern Commandââ
âOh no.â
ââWhich means thereâs a spot for Lieutenant Colonel open here.â
âNo no no you didnât.â
âLonger hours, more responsibilities, sure. But better pay, and youâd get in good with some high-ranking people, assuming you know how to brown-nose.â
âI will literally kick your ass, Mustang.â
âFor what? Brightening you future?â
âNo really I will kick your ass if youâre being real hereââ
âIs that a challenge, Lieuuuutenant Colonel Elric?â
âI swear to God Mustang if you a c t u a l l y  d i dâŠâ
And as it turns out Mustangâs completely bluffing and gave the job to some hard-working major under his command, but he couldnât pass up he chance to see Edwardâs reaction to dealing with the idea of having genuine responsibility to the Amestrian military.Â
Mustang knows he actually has relatively little power over Ed, because Ed is too important to the homunculi. Mustang canât fire Ed (not that he would) or suspend him or dock his pay or dole out any punishment really for insubordination. If he tried, Ed could just completely ignore him, and no one under Bradleyâs rule would try to enforce it.
This frustrates Mustang for some time, at least until Mustang discovers he actually is in possession of a real threat against Ed: Promotion.
This confuses a lot of people, who overhear fights between Ed and Mustang that end with Mustang menacingly discussing the better healthcare benefits of Lieutenant Colonels. Or the nicer pay. Or the guaranteed apartment housing in Central.Â
Most soldiers start theorizing this is some kind of back-hand threat. Something like âYou know Elric, youâre under consideration for Lt. Colonel and would get all these nice things. But if youâre going to be difficult, maybe weâll give these to someone else? Think of what youâd be missing out on.âÂ
This theory loses all of its credibility one afternoon when Mustangâs soldiers overhear a loud, heated argument between the two of them from inside Mustangâs office. It ends with the sound of Mustang slamming both his hands down on his desk, kicking his chair back, and shouting, âI SWEAR TO GOD FULLMETAL IF YOU DONâT SHUT UP I WILL PROMOTE YOU!â
Most Central soldiers just stop trying to understand alchemists at that point.
Violence: A Writerâs Guide:Â This is not about writing technique. It is an introduction to the world of violence. To the parts that people donât understand. The parts that books and movies get wrong. Not just the mechanics, but how people who live in a violent world think and feel about what they do and what they see done.
Hurting Your Characters: HURTING YOUR CHARACTERS discusses the immediate effect of trauma on the body, its physiologic response, including the types of nerve fibers and the sensations they convey, and how injuries feel to the character. This book also presents a simplified overview of the expected recovery times for the injuries discussed in young, otherwise healthy individuals.
Body Trauma: A writerâs guide to wounds and injuries. Body Trauma explains what happens to body organs and bones maimed by accident or intent and the small window of opportunity for emergency treatment. Research what happens in a hospital operating room and the personnel who initiate treatment. Use these facts to bring added realism to your stories and novels.
Maim Your Characters: How Injuries Work in Fiction: Increase Realism. Raise the Stakes. Tell Better Stories. Maim Your Characters is the definitive guide to using wounds and injuries to their greatest effect in your story. Learn not only the six critical parts of an injury plot, but more importantly, how to make sure that the injury youâre inflicting matters.Â
Blood on the Page: This handy resource is a must-have guide for writers whose characters live on the edge of danger. If you like easy-to-follow tools, expert opinions from someone with firsthand knowledge, and you donât mind a bit of fictional bodily harm, then youâll love Samantha Keelâs invaluable handbook
hey boy don't kill yourself. green's dictionary of slang is available online and allows you to explore 500 years of english vulgarity. you can search by part of speech, source, time period, etymology, and usage. there's a whole category for gay slang. they even have specific citations listed so you can see the exact context for yourself. boy did you know that in 1927 "to kneel at the altar" was slang for "to sodomize"
Princess: an effeminate and relatively youthful male homosexual or lesbian (1931-4)
Daffodil: effeminate young man (1925)
To throw a fuck into: to have sex with (1919)
Top sergeant: a masculine lesbian (1939) [âshe takes command of the girlsâ privatesâ]
Lily: penis (1919)
Wolf: sexually aggressive man (1847); a homosexual top (1918)
Soul kiss: a deep kiss, involving putting oneâs tongue into oneâs partnerâs mouth (1907)
Tom: a lesbian (1909); [in 'old tom'] prostitute catering to lesbians (1966)
Church mouse: a male homosexual who frequents crowded churches in order to fondle any potential sex partners. (1941)
Discover one's gender: to accept or acknowledge oneâs homosexuality (1941) / Lose one's gender: To return to living as a heterosexual
Minty: a masculine lesbian (1941)
Also a lot of early 20th century vulgarity is recorded in Letter from My Father, which is a collection of letters published by a man who's dad was, in short, a major slut and human disaster who wrote about his sex life for his son. It's insane. You can find copies of it online & it's a wild fucking read (literally!) and I think a really interesting look at the life of a person who goes against our stereotypes of what people in the past were "supposed" to be like.
Anyways feel free to add y'all's favs to this post. & if you use this for gay historical fanfic please share with the class
#OH THIS IS EXTREMELY EXTREMELY HELPFUL#writing#resources#saving for later#maybe i should move my 1920s story from '25 to '27 because..... bro..........
note for writers: these are dated to the first time they were recorded, not necessarily to their first use. I imagine for many of these, they came about naturally through spoken language before they were written down anywhere. This is especially true of more underground slang because it's probably being recorded (in ways we still have) the least. So if you wanna use a term but it's a little off date-wise, give yourself some wiggle room.
also gonna take this moment to highlight two more i found recently:
Best boy: a sweetheart, a boyfriend, a husband. (1893) [w the obvious equivalent term 'best girl']
Honeydripper or honeydrips: a sexual partner (1917)
Like. Honeydripper?????? That's so horny I can't stop thinking about it. We need to bring THAT back
kianamaiart
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