#was originally going to include images since i know a lot of people wont know the scenes off the top of their heads | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs | Tumgik (2025)

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Pinned Post Eyyy

Call me a name enough times and I'll probably start responding to it, which is what happened to me with Fleck. I also go by Stardust. Pronouns are yes and whatever is funny, but as a general rule of thumb, please use neopronouns and they/them for me if I don't know you. I also use mirror pronouns.

Not a spoiler free blog. I can and will post full spoilers of the stuff I'm interested in. Most commonly blogging about Rain World (including Downpour) at the moment, with a smattering of Hollow Knight and Bug Fables stuff. You can blacklist the main tags if need be.

I may occasionally talk about politics related to my home city. If I do, it'll be tagged with #hong kong rants for blacklisting purposes.

If you talk about hating any sort of arthropod and wanting to kill them I don't want you here. I don't care if you have a phobia or if you have a legitimate reason to be afraid, I don't want to see bug hate. Yes this includes wasps, yes this includes mosquitoes, yes this includes generally unpopular bugs. I block on sight if you leave comments like that on my blog.

For those interested in getting a better look at my header image, here is the associated post!

Current main project(s)

I run @innocence-wont-save-you, an interactive fiction game about Unparalleled Innocence! You can find more information about it on that blog and its pinned post.

I sometimes post IWSY stuff on this blog as well, particularly stuff that is not in character for the IWSY blog. Those posts are tagged with #IWSY, which also includes posts that I find relevant to the overall story. I love talking about the story and the worldbuilding I've done for it, so feel free to talk to me about that! I will gently nudge you over to the blog itself though, because it's designed to take questions like that!

I am also conducting independent research on people's experiences with imaginary friends. If you'd like to participate in the research, this post has more information and a link to the survey.

Other projects

You may have seen me talk about Dreamless and Deathless on this blog before. Those are now split off from their respective source material into an original story universe, Godslayers. Their respective tags, #dreamless au and #deathless au, now serve as archiving, if you'd still like to look through them for whatever reason. They are not linked because I'm unsure of how much I'm comfortable sharing; expect posts in there to be pruned.

I have some stuff related to my Hollow Knight work that I am comfortable sharing, though!:

bug color vision, specifically worldbuilding around non-human color vision that you can use for your buggy writing

language analysis of hollow knight, which is what it says on the tin

and there is #translation complaints, a series I started to talk about Hollow Knight's Chinese translation. It's been a while since I've updated this, but I will go back to it eventually.

Crochet Patterns

I currently have two released crochet patterns! All are free to use, and if you make one with my pattern, feel free to tag me to show me what you've made!

Mini Iterators — Make your own fun sized iterator puppet! (Cloak not included.)

Tiny Slugcats — Make your own pocket sized slugcat!

Tag directory

I crochet and knit a lot, as you may be able to tell from my header! I have dedicated tags for my crochet and knitting projects, which are #crochet shenanigans and #knit mischief respectively.

I have a general tag for my art, #my art, for non-fiber art pieces as well.

Writing wise, I've put a lot of my writing on Tumblr. Rain World pieces use the tag #rain showers, and other writing (usually prose) is tagged #little natterings. Additionally, I've put a few multi-chapter stories on my blog, which are:

#the echo of destruction, a series of seven stories about the iterators.

#avengeance, a four chapter short story about Arti.

#lunar greetings, a five chapter story about Moon and those she meets.

#memory fragments, a series that features the various members of Survivor and Monk's family. This is currently still being written.

All of these stories can also be found on AO3, where I use the same username.

I'm very lazy about following people, so if I talk to you a lot but haven't followed you, don't take it personally. I just like to keep my dash tidy.

For my own use: Pup Masterlist

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Hamefura Ep. 11 - The Geordo Kiss Scene

I’m surprised. The anime production team really does butcher Geordo’s character, to the point where scenes from the original materials are unloyal or the scenes that they do add don’t fit with his character. Shockingly this episode is one of the few moments where they get it right. Ironically, I was waiting for this episode in hopes that they wouldn't change anything in this scene, but apparently not changing anything in of itself is the new problem.

For once, the scene that people don’t like is from the canon material instead of being an anime original. huh, would you look at that.

I don’t know if this scene was included in the original web novel, and I don’t exactly know how to check, but to those who are asking on their tags and posts, yes this scene is in the light novel (Volume 2 Side Story p. 273, according to my copy). It’s that scene that everyone keeps asking me context about.

There’s so much I want to say, but I know there’s nothing that I can really do to excuse this scene. Realistically, I can see why people would hate this scene because of the lack and consent and the image that Geordo might be taking advantage of the situation. Maybe anime and fiction has altered my perception of what’s okay and not okay in the real world, but I understand that while a kiss without consent might be romantic in anime, in the real world it’s creepy and can be considered as sexual assault.

I’m mostly writing this to share with everyone why I think this scene is okay, as a light novel reader who was waiting (but didn’t expect) for this scene to get animated.

I know there’s nothing I can really say to defend this scene to everyone, but you know, have some context anyway.

It’s important to note that while the anime seems to have left it out, it says in the light novels that if Katarina condition is bad because if she remained asleep and didn’t intake any food or water for days, that’s when her body will become weak and slowly die. It’s sort of implied in the anime, but without it being stated verbally, you might not know that this isn’t just a matter of her not waking up anymore.

My mom is a doctor, and she said that a person would like at least 9 days without food or water. The information changed based on where you look, so of course my mom might not completely accurate, but here’s what it says when I look it up on google.

You can go without food for a long time, but water is the problem. Again, researchers vary depending on where you look, but the general rule of thumb is that a person can last for 3 days without water, depending on their age and nutritional necessity.

Alan (i think?? don’t correct me lol) noted that Katarina has been for 2 days.

I don’t know about you guys, but I eat a lot. I’m so used to eating a lot that if I skip two meals, my hunger is so bad that it gets in the way of me doing normal things. That could just be me of course, some people can go a day without eating and getting hungry after all. Without the medical equipment today to take care if me if I ever got into a state of comma, I would probably die within 3 days.

But we’re talking about Katarina here. She, who is always hungry and is always looking for something to snack on. I get that this is an anime/fictional series so they can play out the hunger bit to an unrealistic degree, but if we’re going to put the Geordo Kiss Scene to real world standards, then I think it’s only fair that we do that to Katarina’s metabolism as well, to some extent. Apparently an unconscious person’s energy depletion is very very slow so there’s no danger of her getting as hungry as she does when she’s awake, but you know that’s still something worth nothing

Anne was trying to feed her some water in hopes that her situation might change, but also because she’s aware that the lack of water intake might kill her before the lack of food intake, which is obviously why she is prioritizing water.

I don’t know if anyone else got the same idea, but I got the implication that she had been trying for a while, but the water keeps slipping out of her mouth, like it was shown in the anime. It’s not like they have any dextrose in the world of hamefura, so there’s not a lot of ways that Anne can feed her water.

And then we arrive at the kiss scene.

Geordo, who realized thanks to Anne that her lack of food and water might do her in, take the water and uses his own mouth to feed Katarina with water. It’s important to note that unlike Anne’s attempts, Geordo’s worked, and (you guys might find this even more creepy but) he did it several times in order to provide her with the water that she lost in those two days.

Again, I can see why people might think that he took advantage of the situation, but I just didn’t get that impression. I saw it as reverse CPR in a way, and someone on the hamefura reddit discord said it was more like a mother bird feeding it’s chicks with its own mouth.

They don’t know when Katarina will wake up, and again dextrose probably doesn’t exist in hamefura so they have no means to feed her. It felt like a desperate attempt to feed her rather than anything malicious. I mean this isn’t about kissing her because he loves her, it’s a matter of kissing her in order to have her drink water.

I guess it’s kind of hard to put myself in the headspace of those who hated this scene, because I thought it was fine, but I always thought that the reasoning (feeding her water so she wont get dehydrated) overpowered the subtle creepiness of the scene (kissing her without consent). That might just be me.

He didn’t do it with any malicious intent in mind, and did it because he was too scared to lose her.

Of course, people who did read that scene in the LN might bring up the fact that after the scene (or flashback, as it was in the LN), Geordo does reminisce about the experience and hoped to have kissed her more, or what i’ll call as the “Post- Comatose Scene” and yeah okay that did feel kinda creepy, but he thought of that while being in the presence of the entire harem, watching them as they try to take away Katarina’s attention.

He thought of it like that because the post-scene was about him monologue-ing about Katarina’s relationships with everyone and how she’s being taken away father from him by his friends. I think i’d like to excuse that post-scene because at that time, his irritation for the harem and desire to become closer to winning Katarina over was taking over his mind. He thought of it with the desire to bring himself a few steps ahead of the others.

It’s a bit shitty that he even thought of using the event as a way to bring himself higher than the others, but at the post-scene it’s been a long time since the episode’s events happened so to some extent you can say that his anger and desperation clouded his judgement.

He never really brags about this event to anyone, and never advertised it as his or Katarina’s first kiss. He never really thought of it as one until weeks after the situation with Sirius ended. Their real first kiss is the one that happens later into the series.

Anyways, I know lots of people would still find problems with the scene regardless, but I just want people o know that this scene is in fact in the light novels and is canon. If you didn’t like this, well you guys might not like the other kiss scenes that are coming, if there will ever be an adaption of Volume 3

(might edit this if I remember anything I can add)

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Hi! I really like all the afterlife fanfics you wrote could you give me director's cut for them?

Since i went off about chapter 3 in another ask i will explain chapter 1 and 2 instead.

So here is the thing, inspired by a fanart yes.

Chapter 1 breaks the mold because its from Peter’s perspective while the other two are from Jonah. This one is to establish his afterlife, how by all means its mostly perfect, by him being alone in the apartment, being able to do his own things. But ultimately its about waiting.

Peter always leaves beceause of the lonely, always runs away, but now he doesnt have that, he doesnt have that blanket to fall into, and like i put there without forsaken he is left truly alone.

He was undicted into it since a child, children need emotional support, the lonely made everything muffled enought that he didnt need to deal with it in big doses. Thats why he admits to have mood swings, he is strggling with his emotions now that he can feel them to the fullest.

When i made this i decided to make waiting a plot point in all of them, just like the beach. Elias or Peter need to wait. They need to stay, they have to choose to stay and wait for the other, like they didnt in life. They need it to grow.

Peter goes through the story slowly realizing the empty spaces that Elias ocupied in his life and feels dread at it. Because despite their many issues he does truly care for him. Enought to die for him even. So he has to grapple with that, its not until he finally comes to the conclusion that he misses him and wants him back at the beach house that Jonah is able to be seen.

Peter doesnt want to think that Elias might be the one this time to leave him, that its not him doing the running away but the man instead.

The ice cream, it starts to slowly taste like things that Elias likes because even if he doesnt say it he misses him. The rings and clothes, the more Peter wants Elias back, the more oportunities appear to include him in his life this time, but because he is choosing to do it. Peter is making the choice to prepare for him because he wants to.

But of course he gives a step back and thinks its merely a pattern, that its not real. The world provides the glasses and books to make him connect them more. The moment they both admit that they miss each other is when the storm happens and Jonah comes back.

Something i did not clarifie, but despite not seeming that long of a time, the reality where Jonah was? He spent far longer than he ever tells Peter, he had to really think things through, but eventually htere was so much he could do there alone. So he is sent to Peter. He cant leave the beach and go into town like the other until he is done working himself out and recognizing his wrong doings. Jonah wont be forgiven, everyone has the right to deny him that, but he has to start by feeling bad about it to get better.

Something i ended up changing because i was not sure if i was right to add it was that i was thinking of transJonah, its why he was mildly uncomfortable most of the time with Peter watching him since he never mentioned it to him. I did not clarify it, but i left it sort of ambiguous because i didnt want to scrap it completely. Peter of course does not care one bit, as he said as long as its Jonah he doesnt care about the body itself. Most of my Jonah’s in this fic play into that, but im not sure if i would do it right so i end up backtracking.

Chapter two!!! I wrote chapter 1 and two back to back, this was originally the first chapter, but i was not sure if people would like the monster Jonah so i switched it to the second one. Its funny because that one was a lot of peoples favourite.

I like writing horror in weird doses, and i have a lot of opinions regarding several of Jonahs choices.

Changing faces, pretending to be what you are not and make people doubt what they know? Stranger, Spiral and Web.

Jonah changed so many faces through the years, so many masks to play to keep his game going that in his afterlife that became his reality. A lesson.

Short and simple horror, to discover you are not what you think, to repeat it over and over in a cycle starting again from the beggining. I have a short blurb of something like that and got inspired by it. To slowly deteriorate until you cant reconiza yourself in the mirror.

Jonah has an image he likes to project so to get that stolen from him, leaving him with nothing? It destroys him.

He leaves when he rejects knowing, because everything he has ever done is that!! It was the point, to finally stop worrying about it. Forgetting of course was a way to keep himself safe from his own pain.

I wanted him to be alone and paint a particular background of nothingness.

Something i ended up sort of leaving.... again! Due to me not being sure if i would do it right was him slowly starting to lose his self, there are some left overs that remained, he becomes They in some parts. it was going to become more obvious the way he spoke about himself the more he advanced. i regret it now because i really liked it!!! I was just being hard on myself for nothing. Im happy i left some of it, like i did with the first chapeter.

The lighthouse, the house and Peter.

Peter did not realize at first, he just gave it to him on a whim, tired of waiting for his little Siren. As i said, waiting and stayin is the main point.

My favourite part of the entire chapter is Peter asking when will he be done pretending. It sort of got me too while writing it for some reason. I wanted it to be more... impactful but i think it came out perfect as it was. Its like being in a dream but suddenly you are told you need to wake up and it feels like a slap to the face.

Thats the feeling i was aiming for there.

Jonah gets slapped with the reality of the situation that he had been avoiding.

Final thoughs are, Peter doesnt care how he looks!!! They wil stay there for as long as they want. With Simon who can come and go as he pleases.

The cats will come to them eventually, i wont be cruel to let them be forgotten.

And if im honest? I like the idea more that he doesnt recover his face. He cant, he doesnt know who he is anymore. But is happy anyways with Peter to keep him company now.

Ok i really went off here!! If anyone has any other doubt or wants to know something of another fic!! Ask away

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FowlPlayAU (aka Miraculous Peacock Marinette AU)

Literally no one asked but I don’t care. An AU in which Marinette holds the Peacock Miraculous

This actually developed from a few different threads that I tugged on over the course of a few months.

I guess the starting point for this was probably the season 1 episode“Simon Says” with the very short but profound moment of understanding between Gabriel and Ladybug over the pedestal they both placed Adrien on and the subsequent really, really heavy handed comparisons everyone kept making towards everyone else about who resembled Emilie the most

Basically I thought this episode was the heaviest seed in the narrative of the parallels between Gabriel and Marinette, both fashion career focused workaholics who take way to much responsibility on their own shoulders and get obsessive to the point of destructiveness over their respective, similar love interests, and using those parallels as a point of interest in showing both Marinette's growth as she moves beyond that destructive mentality and towards regarding Adrien as a person and how Gabriel’s“love conquers all” mentality isn’t an inherently positive thing but no. *sigh* no, they needed more screen time for one time characters. It fleshes out the world,yes, but not the characters. LOTS of interesting long term threads were dropped in favor of broadening the cast to try and shoehorn that“kid superhero group” into the show that was originally tossed. Basically I’m saying that I do think Gabriel and Marinette have enough in common to surprise some people, including each other, and I’m a sucker for intergenerational friendships

The second main factor was the small subplot at the time of Gabriel suspecting Adrien of being Cat Noir. I got really interested after“Gorizilla” about what might actually happen if Gabriel did figure out that Adrien was Cat Noir at that point in the series (I have wordsabout Cat Blanc, trust me. No those words aren’t“throw the whole mess out the window” because I actually love it. But many, manywords) Going off the heavy handed implications that Emilie was the former Peacock, I thought it would be interesting, and in character, for Gabriel desperately analyze his son’s behavior as Cat Noir, trying to figure out WTF Adrien thinks he’s doing, only to realize that Cat Noir has some pretty obvious affections for Ladybug. This is unacceptable of course, but understandable in a“he’s a hormone ridden, teenage boy, and Gabriel was once too the same sort of boy in love with the same sort of heroin” sort of way. The obvious answer to getting rid of what is the only possible obstacle for his son’s cooperation (I was going off the pilot with the potential of Cat Noir as a Hawkmoth agent because of their familial connections) is to get rid of his affections, and since it has to be shallow, he’s too young and also Gabriel controls his whole life so it can’t be love, then all he has to do is shift his son’s affections. Cue an uncomfortable number of episodes in which Gabriel subtly inserts a B plot into his Akumatized villains by trying to push various girl together with his son in carefully controlled circumstances. Because this is before Kasumi, and again, those nice parallels between Marinette and Gabriel himself, he eventually after trial and error settles on Marinette as the perfect candidate. Thus, we get a series of hilarious situations in which Marinette and Adrien are pushed more and more into high pressure uncomfortable and intimate situations, losing time and ability to turn into their superhero personas as a natural deterrent to power creep and justifying the use of other Miraculous users a lot more.

I saw someone comment in one of their author’s notes on a fic a long time ago that they hated the trope of Marinette being an emotional Atlas and my instantaneous internal response that that kinda WAS Marinette's character early series, especially the origin episode, and that a lot of the most prevalent fics were written in that time period, and that really intense response from me really stuck.

Peacock aesthetic. yup, that alone gets an equal piece of the pie

So yeah, if any of that interests you, keeping in mind that on top of potential sympathy and understanding of his actions, Gabriel is still absolutly a shitty person, then the actual (canon divergent) AU is under the cut.

The actual thing diverts during Stone Heart, in which the moment Marinette decided to become Ladybug for realsies rather than try to faust it off Alya doesn’t happen. Rather than deciding to put on the earings, Marinette distracts the monster enough they can get away. Alya finds the earings, and takes up the Mantle of Ladybug.

This decidedly marks a regression in Marinette. Where as Ladybug, and with Tiki’s constant assurances and influence, Marinette learns to work past her urges to take responsibility for everyone’s emotions, Marinette has now lost that constant companion, and has to deal to with her new best friend’s time being diverted

Cut forward to“Stormy Weather” and Marinette has fallen into a vicious cycle of guilt. The little creature had told her it was her destiny to be Ladybug. And while we know that the situation with Hawkmoth is not much different than it is in canon, Marinette is totally convinced that the only reason Hawkmoth is still around hurting people is because she rejected the call. That guilt has built into a feeling of impotent inadequacy that convinces her that she’s no longer deserving of the Ladybug roll, and so she’s both unable to do anything, and responsible for Hawkmoth still being around.

The most prevalent of episode changes is Lady Wifi. It’s Marinette who’s akumatized, not Alya, and it’s a fairly traumatizing, but empowering experience for Marinette.

The ultimate culmination of this is this universe’“Volpina” episode, where, in the background of main battle events, Marinette gains an understanding of the suspicions that Gabriel might be Hawkmoth, and in the climax of the battle, believing Adrien in danger, she confronts him, confirming his alter ego.

In a scene I have no time to actually extrapolate on, if your curious, just ask, Gabriel and Marinette come to a tentative understanding. He’ll give her the powers to protect his son, and she’ll actually have some sort of control in her life again. This akumatization takes the form of a faux Peacock Miraculous.

This marks the first half of her partnership as an antihero with Hawkmoth. (and yes, I do have the mechanics of how he can akumatized more than one person at a time withoutCatalyst, which will be extrapolated upon request, but this is long enough already)

Again, I wanna draw attention to those Sweet, Sweet Marinette and Gabriel parallels. Gabriel, through half truths and carefully peppered moments of emotional manipulation and practiced vulnerability, attempts to B plot Marinette into stealing the Miraculouses. Believing herself to be at least somewhat in his thrall, Marinette allows herself to empathize with his plight, and they build a surprising, if strained, raport.

After discovering that she is not, in fact, under Hawkmoth’s control Marinette rebels just long enough to have Hawkmoth take back his Akuma, and Marinette caves the next time Adrien is in Genuine Danger, stealing the real Peacock Miraculous and using it.

This marks the second half of their partnership, and Hawkmoth reveals that the miraculous is broken, and Marinette is now dying from it’s use, and that her only choice of survival is to help him make his wish. This evens out the power balance, at they both now have the same goals and powers independent of each other, but also ups ante.

That’s the most tldr general of overview, with other more specific highlights like

Ladybug!Alya having to reach her own emotional maturity, her earlier stint as a hero leaving her with a much bigger ego in terms of how she perceives her impact of the morale of the city and where her priorities lie in trying to boost that morale vs her personal needs. Ladybug!Alya tries too hard to take notes from already established heroes and public images. She still runs the Ladyblog, Spiderman style.

After quickly realizing (after some confusion) that the Ladybug he fought Stoneheart with the last time is not the same as the one he fought the first time with, Adrien gets a big old case of the pining sighs

Early series Adrien and Alya are both not the type to value secret identities, and so yes, they do reveal said identities to each other fairly early.

They also can both keep a fucking secret, so it works. They are secret BFFs

After the first time Adrien is rescued by the mysterious Peacock Holder, he figures out that whoever she is, she’s the original Ladybug, and more and more ends up distracted and drawn away from fights by her, the perfect reason for Alya to have to bring in other miraculous users. (the interactions tend to take place on moonlit balconies. There’s heavy Pilot influences here)

Marinette does this thing where she spreads her fan when she’s startled and hides her face. Mostly because Cat Noir wont stay out of it. The miraculous’ memory means she tends to fan speak a lot. Symbolism

Speaking of symbolism, the character designs are rife with them. I know exactly what Peacock Marinette looks like and there’s a reason for everything.

The subplot where (inspired by the pilot) Cat Noir finds out that there used to be a curse on the ring that could only be lifted by a kiss from Ladybug (thanks to her creation/retcon powers). Cat Noir convinces (inaccurately) himself that his destruction powers can totally do something similar with Hawkmoth’s mind control now all he needs is to kiss the Peacock user and she’ll be free! She’s totes not a bad guy!

Yes, Marinette does get a different miraculous ala being an episode helper, and her emotions are complicated about it

And other fun tidbits. This got way to long but I’m more than willing to extrapolate on anything more specific that anyone is curious about

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While looking for images of anthropomorphized versions of the new pokemon with their tits out, we stumbled upon some clickbait. Not just any clickbait, metacritic showing us a definitive fact based, unbiased top 50 games of the 2010's: 1. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii, 2010) 97 2. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch, 2017) 97 3. Red Dead Redemption 2 (PlayStation 4, 2018) 97 4. Grand Theft Auto V (PlayStation 4, 2014) 97 5. Super Mario Odyssey (Switch, 2017) 97 6. Mass Effect 2 (Xbox 360, 2010) 96 7. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Xbox 360, 2011) 96 8. The Last of Us (PlayStation 3, 2013) 95 9. The Last of Us Remastered (PlayStation 4, 2014) 95 10. Red Dead Redemption (Xbox 360, 2010) 95 11. Portal 2 (Xbox 360, 2011) 95 12. God of War (PlayStation 4, 2018) 94 13. Batman: Arkham City (Xbox 360, 2011) 94 14. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (3DS, 2011) 94 15. BioShock Infinite (PC, 2013) 94 16. Pac-Man Championship Edition DX (Xbox 360, 2010) 93 17. Divinity: Original Sin II (PC, 2017) 93 18. Super Mario 3D World (Wii U, 2013) 93 19. Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty (PC, 2010) 93 20. Persona 4 Golden (PlayStation Vita, 2012) 93 21. Persona 5 (PlayStation 4, 2017) 93 22. Mass Effect 3 (Xbox 360, 2012) 93 23. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (PlayStation 4, 2015) 93 24. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii, 2011) 93 25. Rock Band 3 (Xbox 360, 2010) 93 26. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (PlayStation 4, 2016) 93 27. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Switch, 2018) 93 28. INSIDE (Xbox One, 2016) 93 29. Forza Horizon 4 (Xbox One, 2018) 92 30. God of War III (PlayStation 3, 2010) 92 31. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (PlayStation 3, 2011) 92 32. Bloodborne (PlayStation 4, 2015) 92 33. Celeste (Switch, 2018) 92 34. Super Street Fighter IV (PlayStation 3, 2010) 92 35. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (PlayStation 4, 2015) 92 36. Undertale (PC, 2015) 92 37. Fire Emblem: Awakening (3DS, 2013) 92 38. Divinity: Original Sin II - Definitive Edition (PlayStation 4, 2018) 92 39. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (Wii U, 2014) 92 40. Journey (PlayStation 3, 2012) 92 41. Xenoblade Chronicles (Wii, 2012) 92 42. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch, 2017) 92 43. The ICO & Shadow of the Colossus Collection (PlayStation 3, 2011) 92 44. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Blood and Wine (PC, 2016) 92 45. LittleBigPlanet 2 (PlayStation 3, 2011) 91 46. Overwatch (PC, 2016) 91 47. Bayonetta 2 (Wii U, 2014) 91 48. Forza Horizon 3 (Xbox One, 2016) 91 49. Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers (PC, 2019) 91 50. Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition (Switch, 2019) Richie: I LIEK THE DUBBLE ONES! The Last of Us x2 Divinity: Original Sin II x2 Play count: 16 off that list, that's also eight twentyfifths, which is roughly how much of my massive dick your mom can take. Cunzy: Now, we all know the issues with a crowd sourced list. It's dumb. It's like putting together a list of best fruit, or favourite socks. However, every now and then it's useful to pull the wang out to measure it against the communities' wang and see just how weird and misshapen our is (we share genital appendages) by comparison. Play count:9! What an alternative darling I am! Richie: I mean they are great, and you know they will be, but you have to draw the line somewhere, So you have to choose and say, "Nah I wont play this", better the time sink you know, right? And you choose your reasons, you skim an article, and find the thing that is slightly wrong and then activate your inner drama queen to say "OMG that is not a game I want to play I cant believe they dont have Fred Durst doing the voice of the main character" or something equally nuts. And there is plenty of them on that list that I simply refuse to play for these reasons. And I guess that's fine? Time is finite, I cant go back ten years and play all of the PS3 games I never played? Can I? Cunzy: GUILTY CONFESSIONS, A.K.A those games you know are great but just never got around to: Mario Odyssey, LoZ (the whole franchise), Red Dead (series), Mass Effect (series), Persona (series), Divinity (series), Souls (series)... where do I hand my gamer card back? Richie: Also Overwatch... Do people actually play it, or is that there just because people fiddle with their genitalia to fund cosplay camgirls? Cunzy: Yes, watch me throat this widowmaker dildo on my stream now. Richie: So do we disagree with this list? Well, to be fucking honest I'm not going to research it myself, I'm not sure I have played much more than 50 games this year, as far as i can recall, I played a lot of Diablo 3 and Fallout/Skyrim... but yeah I'm sure the above is good... Actually fuck that, Games of the decade for me are... Every iteration of pokemon that came out in the last 10 years, X/Y, Sun/Moon, Black/White, Sword/Shield, Flaps/Scrotum. Skyrim SNOW VIKING DRAGON SHOUTING Animal Crossing, Shake the tree for Nook. Lego Everything, play, collect, repeat Hyperdimensions Neptunia. Ultra Japanese anthropomorphised consoles as Anime girls. Vert is best Waifu. Fallouts So many plus expansions, Chandler as a bad guy is special. Diablo 3, Clicky loot loot WoW Classic, because... FFXIII-2, Timetravel-bocolina Tomodatchi Life, Make your friends on the DS into miis, interact with them, cry alone at night Smash Bros. Repeatedly main Peach till she becomes top tier, yaay Jackbox games, All Gems, probably the best multiplayer gaming actually this decade. Doki Doki Literature Club, MO-NI-KA Batmanzes, grapple glide Southparkgames, play the stories you have watched and add a weak RPG element. Dragon Ages-s, Way better than mass effect Every Naruto game. Like lego, but with anime ninjas Barrel Scrape: the game, where you frantically look at your steam collection for the games you have most played, and check the dates of your 360 games to see if they fall into this category I played 18 games it seems? Cunzy:*gasps for air*, wipes synthetic jizz from Lollipop Chainsaw skirt. Ten years is a long time. Here's my top 18 games of the decade. Silent Hill Shattered Memories 2010 Silent Hill without the combat and all the more psychologically chilling because of it. Great setting, theme and story. One I regularly come back to and still brick myself. Endless Ocean 2 2010 Expanding on the first one in every way, shame there aren't more nature lovin' games in this ilk. Monster Hunter Tri 2010 The only one in the series to have kept my attention despite it being the 'wrong one' according to many in the MH community. Lost Planet 2 2010 Probably one of the games with the most comprehensive couch co-op mode and ridiculous bosses to team up against. Absolutely bonkers story, giant monsters and jetpacks. What more do you need? Dead Rising 2 2010 I wasn't too bothered with DR3 and DR4 despite absolutely loving the first game. They seem to have crossed the line between goofy but po-faced and just silly apocalypse zombie killing. DR2 arguably gives you a playground more memorable than Willamette and stays on the 'serious' side. Dead Space 2 2011 One of my favourite gaming franchises I think, excellently built world that is complemented by the tie in anime, comics and spin-off games. Resident Evil Revelations 2012 It was a good decade for Resident Evil with almost every game seeing multiple ports, re-releases and remasters. It's a close call between Resident Evil 2 and Revelations on the Nintendo 3DS for my favourite of the decade but this one really got it's biohazardous talons-with-eyes into us especially raid mode. Revelations 2 is fantastic co-op but the raid mode side of things isn't as fluid as the original Revelations. Criminally, aside from a brief VR foray into Resident Evil 7, we errr didn't play it. The Last Story 2012 Oh, I fell in love with this game and despite the small geography of Lazulis City it felt like a living city with many surprises tucked away. Great soundtrack to boot. Fire Emblem Awakening 2013 Another series that had a rock solid decade starting with Awakening then the rest of the 3DS trilogy, an excellent Warriors game and even Heroes wasn't too bad. Although Fire Emblem Three Houses is the superior game, it's the cast and the support system pioneered by Awakening that has this in my top 18. Tomb Raider 2013 Sometimes the context in which you play a game is as important as the game itself. A weekend in 2013 with fellow Tomb Raider fans blasting through this excellent and long awaited reboot is fondly remembered. Last of Us 2013 It's hard to put a finger on just one thing that makes this game phenomenal but there's not been much like it since. LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2013 There were some great LEGO games this decade from opposites LEGO Worlds and LEGO Dimensions to movie tie-ins and a strong series of games based on the Marvel and DC comics. The Marvel trilogy in particular was outstanding. Everyone's Gone to the Rapture 2015 With age, the more energetic games can leave me wheezing with exhaustion just thinking about playing them and EGttR is a perfect respite from the shootbang games. Honestly, I'd be keen to play more games just like this. The English countryside setting in particular made it extra special. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe 2017 Honestly, who actually puts Mario Kart on their top games list? Well thinking about it and looking at play records it's probably the perfect couch multiplayer game but with a real challenging depth to those looking to break records and get a hold of those elusive gold kart components. Splatoon 2 2017 Cheating slightly here by including Splatoon 2 and the Octo Expansion as one entry. I'm really not a huge fan of the central competitive gameplay of Splatoon, although I've put in the hours, but the single player side of things are a worthy first person puzzler(?) in their own right. Into the Breach 2018 When the options paralysis sets in, which is often, I just spin up Into the Breach. Three hours and a few runs later I'll question why I don't play this game even more often. Hundreds of hours in and still challenges to do, runs to try. Super Smash Brothers Ultimate 2018 Part game, part nerdy love letter to gaming, part video game museum. Pokemon Sword and Shield 2019 Okay as Richie pointed above any of the pokemon mainline series could have filled this slot but the last one makes most sense. Twas also a good decade for the spinoffs. I enjoyed PokemonConquest a huge deal, put an embarrassing amount of time into Quest as well as Picross, Rumble, Duel, Go and mystery dungeons. And there we have it, lists, we'll be back at some point in the future with more lists, perhaps with a list spanning the last 2 decades, to present you with our Game of the Century (spoilers, it's SSX Tricky). Also if anyone has a word to describe my above rant about the act of proactively dismissing something despite knowing it will be good to avoid committing to the time sink, please let me know. We live in a time of labels, there must be a word for this! Love and where do you even start with persona! Richie + Cunzy X

http://www.thatguys.co.uk/2020/01/top-50-games-of-decade-commentary.html

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Andi Mack 2x23 Review

I was shocked at how pivotal Keep a Lid on It turned out to be! J*rus sunk and Juffy rose and a lot of other interesting stuff. Let’s dig into it.

Positives:

Cyrus’ crush on Jonah was always going to end with him either moving on or getting turned down by straight boy Jonah and I’m glad they went with the former. It gives Cyrus more control over his own life and shows great character growth. He no longer idolizes Jonah but cherishes their close friendship.

I thought J*rus would end closer to the end of the season but in retrospect it’s clear that the show had to sink the ship sooner rather than later. It’s been 10 eps since their last solo scene and they’ve only had solo scenes in 6 out of 23 eps so far (including the space otters dinner in what was 1x13). Terri talks a big game about the importance of momentum and it’s clear that Cyrus’ story line was being stalled until his crush on Jonah ended.

I noted last week that the show was reaching back to S1 with Cyrus in the vest and we also got Jonah calling Cyrus, Cy-Guy for the first time since S1 I believe as well as a callback to their hug at the space otters dinner.. It’s a very deliberate choice and allows the audience to see the growth and change in their relationship, Cyrus no longer worships Jonah and Jonah has largely dropped his smiley perfect image.

I know some people are still clinging to hope but guys J*rus is over. It was never going to happen, not on this show and not on this network. Hell Terri probably never even asked Disney if Jonah could be bi because she probably never intended him to be bi. Cyrus’ crush was always just a plot device to discover his sexuality. And if you don’t want to listen to the show, listen to Josh, he’s very bluntly told us that J*rus is a dead ship. Take time to heal and then hop aboard Cyrus’ real romantic ship: Tyrus.

I felt a sense of vindication as Juffy rose, I got a lot of scorn for predicting after the 2b promo that Jonah was going to be Buffy’s crush. And so many people told me that the yearbook wasn’t connected to the crush or that she didn’t actually have a crush or that her crush was on some irrelevant extra. But here we are and Juffy is thriving.

I had a moment of doubt last week after learning that Jandi survives past the art show but after seeing 2x23 I’m confident that Juffy is endgame. And yes I’ve seen the extended 2x24 promo and I don’t think that her crush is on Walker. Will she talk to Walker? Almost certainly but Jonah will also be there and I’m sure she’ll talk to him too. I have other reasons why I don’t think Wuffy is in the cards but first I want to talk more about Juffy in this episode.

I’ve been beating the drumbeat about Buffy’s impending crush since 2x15 and until tonight I thought it would be a disaster but I actually think that Juffy will work very well. Buffy knows exactly how to communicate directly with Jonah, something Andi never was able to. It also makes for a neat parallel with 2x22 where Tyrus communicated well while Jandi struggled as usual. And in this ep we also get to see Ham and Celia not communicating well.

When Jonah came over and he and Buffy had their brief banter it immediately reminded me of that easy chemistry Muffy had. Obviously the show never planned for Juffy but they lucked out big time that the actors have great chemistry. It can’t be ignored how touched Buffy is that Jonah thought of the unburied time capsule and went to such lengths to get her jersey and get the whole team to sign the ball.

And who do they bring up right after talking about Jonah? Marty, Buffy’s old flame. Buffy and the audience get a final bit of closure and it helpfully reminds us that Buffy was sure that she didn’t have a crush on Marty but later this ep she is very sure that she now has a crush on someone. And when she tells Cyrus she has a crush she specifically mentions that it’s new.

Let’s assume for a moment that her crush actually is on Walker. Why would she not want Andi to know? Andi already kissed Jonah and chose him before she moved away. Sure it might be a little awkward at first but Jandi is now official and Andi only went on the one date with Walker so it’s not like she has any claim on him. Jandi, Tyrus, and Wuffy would be neat and tidy but where’s the drama, the angst, the passion? And why would she say that nothing is going to happen? As far as she knows Walker is single, there’s nothing stopping a confident driven woman like Buffy from pursuing Walker if she has a crush on him.

Andi Mack is a tween soap opera and it relies on its twists and turns. I just can’t see what pairing Buffy would Walker would achieve. They’ve had one scene together and they barely talked. Sure the portrait was nice but what kind of connection do they have? And why would Buffy suddenly develop a crush on Walker after learning about the nice things Jonah did for her? And if Wuffy happens that means that Jandi and Tyrus are endgame so why is there a need to pair Buffy with someone? Darius is great but wouldn’t it be easier and cheaper for the show to write him off and just have Buffy stay single?

Which brings me to the big structural reason why I believe Juffy is endgame. Buffy having a crush was a late addition to S2 only because Marty left. If Marty stays then Muffy would have been endgame but with him gone Buffy doesn’t have a partner. Cyrus was always going to end up with TJ so he’s taken care of which just leaves Andi and Jonah. Given how linked Jandi and J*rus have been since the very beginning I think J*rus sinking means that Jandi is doomed soon, even if they make it out of S2 still together. And of course Cyrus has the swing scenes with his endgame partner TJ just two eps before Andi meets her endgame partner Walker.

I think Terri’s original plan was for Muffy, Tyrus, and Wandi to be endgame while Jonah remained single in S3. This would have been a great twist, sinking the two original ships of the show and removing Jonah, who was explicitly introduced as a love interest, from the dating pool. This leaves 3/4ths of the kids in relationships which the show can mine for drama. But once Marty left, Buffy was left without and partner and suddenly you have half of the kids left single which is difficult for a tween oriented show to pull off. And of course Asher’s star has risen dramatically since S1 and Disney almost certainly wants their hottest star to remain a love interest.

Terri has spoken very negatively about Jandi in the past and I can’t imagine her making them endgame unless Disney forced her too. But paring Buffy with Jonah solves those problems: Terri still gets her big twist, half of the kids wont be left without partners, and Disney still gets to market Asher as a romantic lead. Whereas if Jandi is endgame there’s no need to give Buffy a crush as 3/4th’s of the kids will still have partners.

We don’t know when the writers knew for sure that Marty was never coming back but it must have been by the writing of ep 2x21 by the latest as that’s when they wrote that farewell letter from Marty. Not coincidentally it’s also the ep where we get Jonah’s‘’Buffy likes me doesn’t she?’’ line and we see him spring into action and get Buffy the perfect gift, something he’s never been able to do for Andi.

And Jonah has had foreshadowy lines like that before. In 2x18 he asks if TJ are Cyrus are friends and later that same ep he asks if Bex and Bowie are getting married. We know that Cyrus and TJ will be more than friends and we know that Bex and Bowie will get married so why not Buffy having a crush on Jonah?

We also got Buffy referencing arm wrestling with Jonah which led to their only significant solo interaction back in A Good Hair Day. It reminded me of when Cyrus referenced meeting TJ at the swings when he and Buffy were comforting Jonah in 2x19. The show wanted us to think about the swing scene and what it meant and the show now wants us to think about the arm wrestling scene and what it meant. Juffy at least has some foundation but there’s nothing to support Wuffy.

My guess is that we’ll either get a half assed denial from Buffy next ep that she doesn’t like Jonah or it won’t be brought up directly but Cyrus will keep needling her. And Cyrus knows very well what having a crush on Jonah is like and would understand why Buffy doesn’t believe anything will happen or why she doesn’t want Andi to know. Next ep is also where we’ll get Buffy’s‘’you two look so cute’’ line delivered to Jandi at the spoon. What did Cyrus do once he realized he liked Jonah? Hid it and became the world’s no 1 Jandi shipper. Perhaps we’ll see Buffy do the same.

One last reason I believe Jandi is doomed is because Andi didn’t make a new bracelet she took the old one from her memory box (ie from S1). But just like Cyrus’ vest wasn’t a magic totem neither will the bracelet be the totem that solves Jandi’s problems.

I also thought it was a subtle nod to digging up the past and a little hint that we’ll be seeing Gabriel return from Bex’s past (and memory box) in the season finale.

I’m so glad that they didn’t mention the stupid 2 months timeskip. Someone must have realized what a disaster that would be. And the excuse for Buffy moving back was a lot better than i thought it would be.

I wonder how Cyrus will come out in the future. He can’t say he has a crush on Jonah anymore but he at least has the swing that way reference to use with Tj, or TJ with him.

Negatives:

Not going to sugarcoat this; we just saw Ham have a midlife crisis and effectively decide to end his marriage and abandon his family. Of course he’ll be back and the show will pretend all is well but no man in his mid 50′s leaves his wife and family to go on a months long solo trip unless his marriage has collapsed. A lot of kids will be turning to their parents tonight asking if Ham leaving means he and Celia will be getting a divorce.

One thing I’ve been wondering all season is why haven’t we seen Cyrus in his vest friend shirt? At this point I think Disney forbade it because it would look too coupley.

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Chapter 10: A Bosom Friend

Now that we’ve got church out of the way, it’s time to get real chummy with some dudes just bein’ bros. Just a real couple o’ old pals, pallin’ around! That’s it and that’s all, certainly no subtext here, no sirree.

These next few chapters make an interesting counterpoint to the harsh, literally sermonizing tone of the last little run. It’s a nice change of pace.

SUMMARY: Ishmael gets back to the Spouter-Inn, and finds Queequeg examining a book at the dining room table, counting its pages in awe. Ishmael decides to become friends with Queequeg, and strikes up a conversation. Queequeg is very receptive, and quickly declares them married, and after a while they go on up to their room. Queequeg divides his money evenly, giving half to Ishmael, they then get in bed together and share their deepest secrets with one another, as married couples are wont to do.

So, I mentioned before, back in The Counterpane, that there are a few parts in Moby-Dick; or, the Whale that could be construed, by modern readers, as a bit homoerotic. Queequeg sleeping with his arm around Ishmael, sure, that’s a little gay, but this chapter, hoo boy, there’s really no other way to read it than a budding romance.

I mean, let’s take it point by point. First, Ishmael finds himself merely interested in this strange“savage” who he was forced to sleep with the night before. But as he gazes at him, he takes note of his handsomeness, the fine shape of his head. He delves into phrenology and says that “Queequeg was George Washington cannibalistically developed.“

Phrenology is a pseudoscientific theory from the 19th century that posited that the shape of the head indicated the shape of the brain, which, naturally, determined your personality. You could use some calipers to measure the lumps on a skull and tell if someone was a criminal, by the size of their Crime Organ. It’s pretty interesting, and all obvious hogwash, perfect material for the Sawbones podcast, one of my favorites, who have of course done an episode on it.

Let’s not beat around the bush, Ishmael is secretly checking out Queequeg while pretending to watch the storm outside,“Whilst I was thus closely scanning him, half-pretending meanwhile to be looking out at the storm from the casement.” He is enamored with the stoic personality of his bedfellow, the way he goes through life perfectly self-aware and ease with his own existence, warts and all. Even so very far from his homeland, among these people who must seem so strange to him, Queequeg never falters!

Also this passage, which I take as a personal attack on myself:

Surely this was a touch of fine philosophy; though no doubt he had never heard there was such a thing as that. But, perhaps, to be true philosophers, we mortals should not be conscious of so living or so striving. So soon as I hear that such or such a man gives himself out for a philosopher, I conclude that, like the dyspeptic old woman, he must have “broken his digester.”

And then, and he continues to stare longingly, we get this line

I began to be sensible of strange feelings. I felt a melting in me. No more my splintered heart and maddened hand were turned against the wolfish world.

Ishmael is just falling head over heels in love with Queequeg. He’s got a crush. There is simply no other way to read it, I’m sorry. Ishmael throws away all doubts relating to Queequeg’s origins, decides that since he hasn’t found any true kindness among his fellow christians, he’ll try being friends with a pagan.

There have been some hints and indications of it, but Ishmael is remarkably open-minded and tolerant for a man in the early 19th century. Indeed, after he finally works up the courage to start chatting with Queequeg and they share a smoke, get hitched, and go back to their room, Ishmael has no problem literally worshiping an idol with his best pal.

I really love the logic he uses for it:

I was a good Christian; born and bred in the bosom of the infallible Presbyterian Church. How then could I unite with this wild idolator in worshipping his piece of wood? But what is worship? thought I. Do you suppose now, Ishmael, that the magnanimous God of heaven and earth—pagans and all included—can possibly be jealous of an insignificant bit of black wood? Impossible! But what is worship?—to do the will of God—that is worship. And what is the will of God?—to do to my fellow man what I would have my fellow man to do to me—that is the will of God. Now, Queequeg is my fellow man. And what do I wish that this Queequeg would do to me? Why, unite with me in my particular Presbyterian form of worship. Consequently, I must then unite with him in his; ergo, I must turn idolator.

It’s hard to argue, frankly. A lot of the logic of religion is rooted in more ancient practices that are based in more polytheistic understandings of the world. You’re only supposed to worship your god because you’re on their team, essentially. But if you really believe that your god is the only real one, and all powerful, and all knowing, then why should they be so jealous of your worship? Would they really be so petty as to punish you for being kind to a friend?

Now, as the new married couple settle in to bed for the next chapter, I will entertain some argument about their status as clear and obvious homosexual lovers. There’s nothing explicit here, of course, and I hear you saying that friendship was differentin those days.

Long, long ago, before modern society, there was a strange place called The Past, and they have strange habits and customs that look odd to our modern eyes. We may see some men hugging each other, being physically intimate, and think“goodness, how homoerotic!” But, in that time, it was simply more acceptable for men to express physical affection for one another with no sexual subtext whatsoever. They were, in fact, just dudes bein’ bros. Or companions being bosom chums, whatever the 19th century equivalent phrase is.

So what Iam reading as something more than friendship was actually just that, and would have been understood to be that at the time.

But I say to you: Yes, things were different in the past, but that cuts both ways! You simply could notspeak openly about these things, which were especially common among sailors. There is a famous saying, that the traditions of the Royal Navy amount to“rum, buggery, and the lash” (or something like that). Men cooped up together on a ship for months and months, it’s no surprise, frankly. And there’s no way that Melville, who was a sailor for his entire youth (even if he only went on one whaling voyage) would be naive to these facts.

The language employed in this chapter, I posit, frames this more as a crush and budding romance than anything else. If Melville intended a mere close friendship, he could have written it differently, and who cares what he intended anyway, he’s not around to argue. Interpretation is creative! I say: they’re gay, and make a good couple.

Ah, if this were a serious bit of writing, I would go track down some more sources to cite and whatnot, really develop a strong argument. But hey, I’m just havin’ fun here, not doin’ this for a grade. So you’ll just have to take my word for it.

Up next, The Nightgown, in which we get an intimate portrait of the young lovers in bed, and one of the most #relatable bits in the whole book!

Until next time, shipmates!

Image Credits:

First four from this article, last two from this one. All anonymous photos.

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k-armys are spreading a tweet namjoon made in 2013 about korean independence where he says 'There is no future for people who have forgotten history' which shows he probably won't agree with working with a japanese imperialist, hopefully he still has this attitude in 2018 twitter(.)com/BTS_twt/status/367906282012831744

yeah i have seen them doing that ;; and fancafe and all the official tweets since then have been flooded with people talking about these things too, but bighit is playing dead fish so far :(

microwavehater said:Am i the only one who never believed that bts has ~creative freedom~ (anymore) ? If they (still) had, they’d use their influence to spread msgs like baepsae, not just love urself uwu (considering yoongi made political pre-debut releases &interview stuff) Also, their newer releases (LY her onwards) are v much lacking in the hiphop department which (i assume) was a marketing choice. Hiphop just doesn’t sell as well to a female audience (along w the fact that vocalists are the face of BTS).

i think they still have creative input but creative freedom definitely not, but it’s debatable if they ever had it anyway? idk.. and them moving on from hip-hop was definitely both trying to change things up as well as appeal to a broader audience, love yourself era overall was an attempt to basically touch as many people as possible, i don’t mind them changing their musical direction but what has bothered me was the loss of their involvement (because it is less)

Anonymous said:I totally agree with you about BTS losing their originality. I’m almost starting to get annoyed of them. Now bc they know people love their music for its topics such as mental health, etc I almost feel like they’re thinking that they’re obliged to constantly write music that only has a “social” message. I did not like Idol at all. It was pretty tacky and the idea of loving yourself seemed so forced in the lyrics. I want them to make songs about whatever they want at that moment. (1/?)

Anonymous said:Also every fan keeps saying the same thing about them being unfiltered when actually they’ve become SO filtered now. They’ve almost created this illusion of being super open with us when actually we barely know anything about them. I don’t mind that but I hate how they’re touting that as something that applies to them. Honestly most fans now are the bandwagon type and the fandom is starting to feel more like a cult versus a community like it used to. (2/2)

i don’t know if i ever talked about them losing their originality? because originality is debatable in this case too, if you mean their original intention then yes i agree with that, and i agree they definitely created the illusion, once i got out of the bts bubble a bit and also thought back to the old days, i realized how closed off and filtered everything is comparison to the past and even to other kpop groups nowadays that are way more direct, i feel like even exo is more outspoken these days and direct with their fans which i thought could never happen??? i used to stan them and it was hell hah.. and these days.. wowza..

Anonymous said:Fuck yesss we need new yoongi mixtape and i agree abt what you said i wish bts could read that and be like okay guys i think they are right we have done some questionable things and shit has to be addressed whether we like it or not and just fucking do so. Some fans will drop but some would drop anyway bc it is getting out of hand i would never want to call bts problematic bc shit i cannot imagine that being true but them supporting problematic people is kind of making them ones

i just feel like nothing will change because bang pd is too greedy.. he really is eyeing like building a global empire with all the business deals he has been making.. also bts have done plenty“problematic” things themselves, though not to that extent, but some of their actions have hurt a lot of people too, but it depends on what bothers you, i find colorism and things like that a problem, but ofc definitely different thing than pedophilia and such, i just meant to say that nobody is perfect

Anonymous said:Do you ever just wanna randomly bump into bts and be like “hey lets talk!” And then tell them about all these issues and fandom drama and just tell them to wake the hell up? Cos I do haha

well even if we bumped into them, most of them wouldn’t talk to you so dkajsdka

Anonymous said:i agree with everything you have said but what bothers me is he is a co produce of produce 48 and nobody really complained about it even though he is know for sexualizing minors... or did i miss something?? also i feel sorry for you getting hate you were just saying your opinion and people should start to accept some facts! it's not the first time bighit did something questionable ://

oh but actually when that was announced there was backlash? i remember seeing complaints about the producer as well as some of the trainees due to their supposed right wing associations, there were also complaints about women’s rights cause of the oversexualization of some of the girls back in japan and the producer’s lyrics, i think this backlash seems bigger or more visible to you because it’s happening in your fandom ;; that season of produce even ended up having the lowest rankings and voting participation so :/

Anonymous said:I have three words to describe the part of the fandom that blindly accepts all the things, even the problematic ones, BTS do. 'Situationally woke cult'.

that fits perfectly

Anonymous said:i rly appreciate sou voicing your thoughts even if they r not in essay form or refined for days. I agree with you on many things but at the same time it's not as disappointing to me bc I guess I never held them to high standards. like in the beginning I could kinda imagine that they were somewhat sincere (but still remained sceptical) but the more they got famous the more I accepted that that sincerity and authenticity would stop bc that's just the kind of business that kpop is... (♤)

Anonymous said:like it's an inherently dishonest industry. they sell an image just like everyone else, and at best(!!) they were as real as possible with us in the beginning. no doubt they wanted to be different from everyone else and it was easier as long as not that many people gave a fuck about them. but as soon as they started to this chance was over. so i guess what I'm saying is that my view didn't change and I'm not surprised, because I never really bought what they were trying to sell...(♤)

Anonymous said:I still love them, theyre likeable & adorable boys. but theyre not changing the world. they're not in the right kind of industry for that. they love their luxury expensive stuff & the glamour of it all & that's okay. I just take every concept the whip out w/ a grain of salt & a knowing smile & enjoy the entertainment. that's just my own two cents that nobody in the fandom wants to hear so I'm bothering u. & its not an analysis or anything just what is on top of my mind while watching TV lol (♤)

Anonymous said:(♤) oh ps. except for that whole controversial stuff with that misogynist jpn songwriter and supreme boy and what not. I take that seriously , I wont act as if that's just a cute quirk. but they're men so I didn't expect much lmaoo. I knew that those kind of disappointments are just part of the deal ever since I learned that jimin (a whole cutie pie and my ultimate bias) stans chris brown. definitely would kick jm in the shin for that if I ever got to meet him. at least keep it to yourself lol.

haha i wish you didn’t start this with a backhanded compliment but dkajsd yeah overall i see your point and agree... i understand like if you didn’t buy into that whole spiel, then of course you can just keep on going and stanning them as idols and all that comes with that, but many people and me included sincerely thought that they were different, i have stopped stanning kpop groups for a while and got drawn back in with bts because i felt they were so fresh and unique, genuine and open with fans in comparison to other groups i have stanned.. but ofc that image crumbled as time went on.. things have changed as well... and i agree, it’s fine to enjoy it for just the entertainment and like the boys as people, accepting they are just as any other idol.. and maybe i will continue with that perspective myself!! but i honestly find it difficult having believed in it and also bighit continually selling this image to their fans despite evidence of the contrary, i can deal with idol business but like continually being blatantly lied to and then being in a fandom where most of the rhetoric is build around blindly believing it and eating anything the boys and bighit sells? it’s honestly emotionally exhausting sometimes.. but yeah.. you’re honestly right.. even with the last point lol... they are men, and korean men at that sigh.. that’s why i’m burying myself in girl groups nowadays adkjsd to heal my soul

Anonymous said:Hope you have a wonderful day filled with only good things ❤ - the cutest person in the world

thank you so so so so much! you have a wonderful day too ♥ cutie

Anonymous said:simple question, not loaded at all, no wrong answer, the honest answer is the right answer- yaddah yaddah you get it -what do you think bangtan is lying about and what exactly are you saying overall? i just need the language simplified for my 3 braincells :) if i do get what you're saying - whether the actual members of bts are real or not, their message is. "dont let anyone tell you what to do" "live your own life and not a borrowed dream" "life is a marathon, not a race - go your own pace"etc

you can read this post as well as the tags to it to see some of the examples, i mean i have been saying lots of things so i don’t know what exactly you want me to clarify? i think their message is compromised when their actions contradict it, whether it’s their actions or bighit’s is up to debate, like i was talking about in the post though, you can’t have things both ways, can’t hail the boys as woke independent kings while propagating the idea that they are just the company’s pawns at the same time, if you accept their authenticity isn’t there then ofc it’s a different argument, and the things you have listed there may be true, but isn’t is soured knowing they are just things that are said in order to sell bangtan as a product to you? to me they are

Anonymous said:I'm not gonna disagree but I like to see all the sides of a story. Bang pd is their boss, bts made a contract with him, he will ALWAYS have the last word on, well, everything they put out. We like to think that bc bts has creative freedom they can do whatever they want, well obviously they can't. Even if bts wanted to talk more about issues and not work w bad ppl, bang pd wants them to succeed, he wants to make money bc it's his business and bts is the only thing bringing money to it.

i get this argument a lot and to that i will answer again this and this, i don’t understand what your point is exactly though, so you are saying bts are pawns that have to do as they ceo says, yes and? i am criticizing the decision he has made? i’m criticizing that what he cares about the most is money? that he will stop at nothing to widen his wealth and influence? i will not support bts cooperating with vile people just because it wasn’t -completely their decision-, i’m sorry i’m really struggling to see what your point is about the other side of the story, it’s a shitty situation and if they all go through with it, it be greatly disappointing

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Responses to Part 13 I Won’t Stop You (M) // Jeon Jungkook, Vampire!AU asks~

Please ‘Keep Reading’ to find my response to your ask ^^ As always, I have copied and pasted all asks into this post in regards to last night’s chapter to avoid clogging up people’s dashboards and to avoid spoilers for those who may still wish to read the chapter. Thank you ^^

ALSO I have included asks I received to do with IWSY in the hours leading up to before I posted it because there was quite a few! So if you sent in an ask to do with IWSY and I didn’t post it - it will be in this post!

Anonymous said: When ''i wont stop you '' come out i really am inpatient?XD P.S i love you! YOU ARE THE BEST I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU i love you (now i told every thing whats on my mind!)(sorry my BAD English:(T.T )

Awww I love you too babe! I’m so happy that you get really excited :3 I really hope you enjoyed the chapter :D And your English is great! Don’t apologise ><

Anonymous said: i've had an awful day today but i know you are going to cheer me up today!!! especially with where the last chapter ended ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

I’m sorry to hear you had an awful day :( But I really hope the chapter cheered you up! Thank you so much for reading :3

Anonymous said: TUESDAY IS THE ONLY DAY I LOOK FORWARD TO BUT TODAY WE HAVE A SNOW DAY AND I CAN READ YOUR NEW CHAPTER IN PEACE !!! LOVE YOUR WORK :)))) HAVE A GOOD DAY 💕

OMG YAY A SNOW DAY! I love playing in the snow c: I hope you’ll build lot’s of snowmen! I really hope you enjoyed the chapter love ^^ I hope you have a good day too!!

Anonymous said: It's 6:05 PM, i'm on my period, the cramps are driving me crazy, but I'm so excited that i will stay awake for IWSY bc it's the only series i like so much that i will drop everything to read it 😂❤ __loves the new anon (not really new anymore)

Owwww no :c Periods suck so bad...I will probably be getting mine in a bit because my back is starting to hurt as it always does :( I really hope you enjoyed reading the chapter dear! I hope it can ease your cramping pain a little >< heh, thank you so much my love!

Anonymous said: I'M SO EXCITED FOR IWSY!!!!🎉

I hope you enjoyed it! Yay!!

Anonymous said: So I live in China at the moment and I actually set my alarm for 5:30am just to wake up to the new chapter! Literally the only thing I look forward too during the week!

Ahh that’s so awesome that you live in China! I really want to visit so many places in China U_U And oh my god...I FEEL BAD BECAUSE YOU ARE MISSING OUT ON PRECIOUS SLEEP D: But I’m glad that you look forward to it >< Thank you so much and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

@animeimmortal said I have an essay due tomorrow and i finished it early today just so i could wait for you to release the next part. i LovE THis FIc MoRE ThAn mY liFE P.S. my friend would like to know where did you get the idea for the fic from because the whole thing is bloody amazing

Oh my goodness haha well, I’m glad it was motivation for you to finish it early! You’ll do a good job on it ^^ Thank you so much and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! In regards to your friend’s question, I originally received as ask with a request for me to write Vampire smut. But, I had already been planning a Vampire series since the beginning of 2016. So I just added their request into my series to suit both things ^^

Anonymous said: ITS LIKE 1:30AM HERE AND I HAVE SCHOOL TOMORROW BUT I CANT WAIT FOR YOU TO UPLOAD IWSY JDJSNCND

OH MY GOD GO TO SLEEP I WILL FIGHT YOU ASDFGHJK BUT I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE CHAPTER IF YOU MANAGED TO STAY AWAKE D: SERIOUSLY LOL GO TO SLEEP YOU CHEEKY LITTLE

Anonymous said: its time for jungkook to make me feely his willy, im ready -daisy

Daisy, you are KILLING me with this penis jokes. I can’t *dies laughing*

@cupofcammiemile said: I'm actually so hype for the next part of I Won't Stop You and I'm waiting for it as patiently as I possibly can but I'm like fidgeting and coworkers are actually asking me what's wrong 😂 I hope you have a good night!!❤

Ahhh your co-workers are concerned for your well-being! lol~ I hope you enjoyed last night’s chapter my dear ^^ Thank you so much for reading *hugs*

@wang-banana said: IM SO EXITED FOR THE NEXT PART OF I WONT STOP YOU IVE BEEN MAITING SO DILIGENTLY OMG 😁😁😁😁😁😁😁

I know you meant ‘waiting so diligently’ but I literally SCREAMED AND CRIED BECAUSE I JUST HAD AN IMAGE OF JACKSON WITH A BANANA MATING VERY DILIGENTLY (BC OF YOUR USERNAME) AND I LITERALLY CAN’T BREATHE I’M A BAD PERSON OH MY GOD. Aside from that, I really hope you enjoyed the chapter babe c:

@mahirookumura said: I can literally hear a clock in my head 'cause I'm fcking EXCITED FOR IWSY!!!

I hope you enjoyed it my love c:

@coppertopging said: We're so close!!! My body is ready but i don't think my mind ever will be lol.

That just reminded me of ‘My mind’s telling no~ but my body’s tellin’ me yeeeees!” lol x) I hope you enjoyed the chapter sweetie ^^

Anonymous said: I'm trying to mentally prepare myself for what is to come in the next chapter of IWSY because I know that if I don't I will die of the feels

Ahhh I hope you enjoyed the chapter if you read it sweetie! I tried to make it as romantic and steamy as possible c:

Anonymous said: IM SO EXCITED FOR THE NEXT PART OF IWSY HUYGTFR your smut is always amazing ive never been sO excited to sINN -Mishy

Hello Mishy! I really hope you enjoyed the smut in this chapter my love ^^ Thank you so much for loving my smut! haha c:

@voguekate said: Whaha i am refreshing it bc i waited for this with excitement for this day

I hope it lived up to your expectations lovely! ^.^ I’m so glad you were excited for it!

Anonymous said: Part 13 of I Won't Stop You was so perfect!!! I'm fangirling omg so hard lol. Thank you for writing this series!

Ahhh thank you so much >< I’m so glad you liked it and thought it was perfect! You’re welcome, and thank you for reading it!

@loverofotome said: AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! AMAZING! I LOVE YOU NEVER STOP BEING INCREDIBLE! 😘

asdfghj I’m so glad you liked it :) I love you too sweetie! Thank you so much for reading it :3

Anonymous said: Okay I just arrived home after a 9 hour flight and the first thing I did was read the new chapter of "I Won't Stop You" and THANK YOU I'M IN LOVE AND SERIOUSLY YOU MAKE EACH AND EVERYONE OF MY TUESDAYS! Yeah, I think that's all I just wanted to say that I loved it. Can't wait for the next one ❤️❤️

Wow a 9 hour flight, you must be exhausted my love! Thank you for reading it and enjoying it. It really means a lot to me! I hope you get some rest after your flight. I can’t wait to post the next one! c:

@voguekate said: Omfg IWSY istg, this was so good omfg.... idk what to say

Thank you so much my love! (btw, I answered your other ask too~ I hope you could find it within this post!

Anonymous said: Bruh.. BRuh.. BRUh.... BRUHHHH..... i loved the chapter!!!! And I did not expect them confessing

Yes! Jungkook just feels the emotion so intensely that he knows he loves her with all his soul. Conversely, the reader is just so besotted by him and the fact he is the first person for her to ‘give herself to’ (for want of better words) as well. Thank you for reading the chapter my love! ^^

@doubletroublesince1994 said: OH. MY. LORD. THIS WAS PERFECT AND EXACTLY HOW I IMAGINE MY FIRST TIME. YOU JUST PUT MY FANTASIES INTO THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WORK OF ART. I LOVE YOU.

AHHH I’M SO GLAD I COULD DO THAT FOR YOU! To be honest, I really wish my first time could have been like this ahhh >< So I just write about how I wish it could have went! It’s pretty ideal, right? c: lol I love you more chick! I’m so happy that you liked it, and thank you so much for reading *hugs*

@animeimmortal said: First of all: I AM DEAD BRING ME BACK TO LIFE FOR THE NEXT PART second of all: I SAW THE TITLE BEING MENTIONED I SAW IT!!!! third of all: Beautiful ❤

*gets defibrillator* IT’S OKAY I GOT YOU. But...maybe next week...it will have the same effect? Possibly...hopefully...stronger? *winks* HEHE. AND YAY YOU PICKED UP ON THE TITLE THANK YOU :) lol thank you so much for reading my love (btw, I answered your other ask in this post too so I hope you didn’t have too much trouble finding it babe!)

@audreymv said: YES I LOVE THIS NEW CHAPTER SO MUCH. LIKE ME LEIKEY ALOT. You really are great at writing and let me tell you you did not disappoint. I love it so much

AHH THANK YOU SO MUCH! You are always filled with wonderful compliments for me and it makes me grin so much :) And! I hope you will like next weeks chapter, too ;) muhaha.

Anonymous said: OK I WAS SO PUMPED FOR THE VAMPIRE JUNGKOOK FIC AND THANK YOU SO MUCH IM LITERALLY DYING INSIDE 😭😭😭💕💕💕💕

I’m really happy you liked it my dear ^^ Thank you for reading it! :3

Anonymous said: Chapter 13 has got me GONE! I never read a fan fiction with such amazing vocabulary and grammar, I applaud you 👏💕

Ahhh sometimes there will be little grammar mistakes but I always try my best to proof-read everything! Just silly little, natural mistakes lol damn colloquialisms! Thank you so much for reading my love :)

@im-so-scared-aaaa said: Truthfully, I've never read something as beautifully writed as iwsy 🙉 I love you and your writing, keep going ! (Excuse my english, I'm french 🙊) Good night

Thank you so much my darling! Merci beaucoup mon chérie! (sorry for my French, I was never very good at it in school :c) hehe~ And your English is great so don’t worry at all! ^.^

@deangetoutofmyspleen said: SARAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA PART 13 IM DEAD AF WOWOWOWOWOWOW (side note, i read all twelve parts last week at like 4am so i've been WAITING FOR THIS) YOU NEVER CEASE TO AMAZE IM SCREECHING. MY FACE IS SO RED AND IM IN PUBLIC ASDFGJKGKGKTKGNGMHMMHKYK

YOU READ IT IN PUBLIC OH MY GOODNESS ASDFGHJK I’m so happy you enjoyed it c: And there’s more where that came from! :3 Thank you for reading it babe ^^ it means so much to me!

@mahirookumura said: THERE IT GOES ”I – I WON'T STOP YOU, PLEASE…”

Very cleverly spotted my love c:

Anonymous said: Ahh~ The new chapter of I Won't Stop You was just perfect... The wait was so worth it~ Gentle Jungkook was so sweet... Though I do hope the rough side comes out for a while hehehe. Anyways, the ending was really really cute and I'll happily await for the new chapter next Tuesday~ Can't wait to see the story's progress~ As always, stay healthy, don't stress and keep up the hard work!!

He was very gentle indeed! And don’t worry...perhaps, you will get to see his rough side next week? ;o Hmm?! ^^ Thank you so much for reading lovely. I will try to! I hope you have a brilliant week and do your best too! ^^

@cottonxiu said: Today I was learning for 7hours straight bcs I'm having an exam tomorrow and I'm pretty dead rn XD BUT I knew you were posting a new Ch. so when I read it.. It saved my day. Thanks ❤ And oh my lord a chapter full of his ringle dingle 😏 Bless you XD

Oh my god make sure to take a rest! 7 hours is a long time, I don’t want you getting sick or becoming over-tired! :( A chapter full of ringle dingle...I am dying at everyone’s penis jokes ya’ll are too much but it makes me laugh so much LORD lol Thank you so much for reading and I hope you will enjoy the next one too ^^

Anonymous said: NVH FHDUHDCN EANHV THEY SAID I LUV U NO OMG HOW COULD U DO THIS TO MY HEART CHAPTER THIRTEEN OF IWSY WAS SO 👌🏼 AND THE SMUT WAS LIKE DAMN (☝︎ ՞ਊ ՞)☝︎ ( ͡ ° ͜ ʖ ͡°)

Love is in the aiiiiirrrr~ heh~ Thank you so much for reading my love! I hope you will enjoy the next chapter too ;)

Anonymous said: OMG 'I won't stop you' just keeps getting better and better honestly I knew this was going to be good because I've read some of your other scenarios but Oh My Lord it's amazing, how many more chapters are you thinking of doing or is it just as many as it takes? ❤️

I’m so happy you think it keeps getting better and better c: I can’t wait for the plot to unfold more and see what you all think of it! Thank you so much babe :) And I’m honestly not sure how many chapters there will be, so I think - as you said, it will just be as many as it will take ^^ :D

Anonymous said: The day was shitty but we have DA SMUT. My day is still shitty, but bearable now thank you - wedding anon

I’m so sorry that you had a shitty day *hugs* you can always talk to me about it! What kind of wife would I be if I didn’t console my partner in their time of need? ^^ Heh~ Thank you for reading it babe ^^

Anonymous said: Why do I get the felling y/n is a vampire, or part vampire or something not human? 🤔 I kinda feel sorry for mugsy, the poor cat probably heard the whole ordeal go down in jungkook room! 😏😂anyhow, keep up the amazing work, Wednesday mornings are now my fav, waking up to a new update! - (new anon) 53669 💗

Ooooh you’ll just have to wait to find out! But I loved reading your analogy on it :3 It’s always so interesting for me to find out what people think is going to happen! And ikr...hopefully Mugsy was fast asleep and didn’t hear a thing...(lol). Thank you so much for reading new anon 53669! heh ^^

@from502to859 said: OH MY GOD, you really outdid yourself with the latest chapter of IWSY, it was absolutely worth the wait!!! That was... top-shelf smut!

Ahhh thank you so much my dear! Top-shelf smut wow ^^ That’s an achievement for me indeed hehe :) I hope you will think that next week’s is the same! ^^ Thank you for your wonderful compliment and for reading as well :3

Anonymous said: Okay so I usually don't read smut because I'm tryna stay innocent LOL but I really love your plot line and I skipped through most of this chapter bc yknow.. smut but I know it was well written of course BUT OMG HE SAID HE LOVES HER I'M CRYING

OOOOOH be careful! Because, in amongst that smut was some very important details about Vampire life~ You might feel a little lost or confused later on in the story if you missed those bits! But I’m glad you enjoyed it nonetheless despite not being a fan of smut ^^ Thank you my love!

Anonymous said: IT WAS SO GOOD FAM!! OH MY SWEEEEEET LORDIIIIIEEEE JEBUS!! IT WAS SO GOOD

Weeee thank you so much babe! I’m so happy you liked it c:

Anonymous said: WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I feel so bias wrecked right now! I'm always and will be loyal to V but that new chapter was just a guilty pleasure for me......

Uh oh, don’t tell Taehyung! lol don’t worry, I’ll keep your secret :3 Thank you so much for reading my love!

Anonymous said: brb have to go to church after that smut *fans self* - panda anon

Listen, if I went to church I would burst into flames as soon as I set foot inside LOL. I hope you enjoyed it, panda anon! Thank you for reading :3

Anonymous said: daMN IWSY IS SO GOOOOOOD!!!!!! I just read it all in one sitting and I read really slowly so it took me all day oops. Ur an amazing writer though, like, this whole series has me squealing any time anything happens. I also don't read much so I'm impressed that I'm finally hooked on a fanfic! I'll probably be yelling and also in a coffin waiting to be lowered into my grave until next week so see you then oops

Oh my goodness you read it all in one sitting >< I’m so impressed by that! Thank you for taking the time to do that and then tell me! :) Please don’t go in a coffin >< I’d be very sad! heh thank you for reading my dear and I hope you look forward to the future chapters ^^

Anonymous said: I AM FUCKING DEAD. I AM FUCKING DECEASED. MY BODY IS ROTTING IN THE GROUND AND IM TYPING THIS FROM MY GRAVE AS WE SPEAK. I WONT STOP YOU IS MY FAV FANFIC AND I LOVE YOUR WRITING. I CANT FUCKING WAIT TIL NEXT WEEK OH GOD THAT WAS TOO GOOD. BLESS. FUCK I WANNA CRY CUZ IT WAS THAT GOOD.

WAIT - SO THERE IS LIFE AFTER DEATH? ALRIGHT, COOL, LIT, DYING DOESN’T SEEM SO BAD NOW lol~ Ahghbsdkgs thank you so much my little flower ^^ I’m so happy you enjoyed it! And..I think you might enjoy next week’s chapter too then :3 hehe~

@suga-buns said: IWSY is breaking me Omg. And that sex scene was super well written Omg props to you. Can't wait until next week's chapter!

Thank you so much babe! I’m so happy that you thought it was well written ^^ I hope you’ll enjoy next weeks chapter too c:

@coppertopging said: I was wrong... i wasn't ready for any of that. Damn...

YOU WASN’T READDYYYY (sorry, vine will have forever ruined my life with that sentence) lmao but I hope it was enjoyable nonetheless my dear! Thank you for reading it :D

Anonymous said: The new "I Won’t Stop You" chapter was amazing! Wow!! I thought you would skip writing their special night together in detail because that's how the preview sounded in chapter 12's ending, but I'm so glad there's a entire chapter dedicated to it! ♥♥♥

Oh my goodness no! I’m evil but I’m not THAT evil~ I wouldn’t do that to you guys hehe ^^ I wanted to dedicate this entire chapter to really prove how Y/N has affected Jungkook in such a way that he is able to be so loving, caring and tender with her; as he was never able to so such things before. Thank you so much for reading lovely! ^^

Anonymous said: Oh my FucKiNG gOD sarA. Tht was literally gold. Omg 4.5k of pure gold omg I loved it I am dying for more. Omg. Fuck. Oh MY gOd I am at a loss for words.

You’re dying for more? Maybe your wish will be granted next week - and a little more....rough too? c; heheh~ Thank you so much for reading this chapter babe! :D

Anonymous said: i love the fact that jungkook wants to be agressive and go all rough on her but hes so considerate knowing its her first time lmao the smut was so sweet and nice i think im... inlove

Yes! Thank you for picking up on that! He just cares about her so much and he can’t explain how he is able to love because of her - but he wanted to show her he is capable of doing that, thanks to her ^^ Hehe, thank you so much for reading it and I’m glad you enjoyed this chapter too! :D

Anonymous said: so the smut scene is on part 13 COINCIDENCE???? I THINK NOT!!!!

*GASP* *SHOCK* ;o

Anonymous said: I CANT WAIT FOR THE NEXT PART I WONDER HOW IS IT GOING TO BE LIKE BETWEEN THE TWO OF THEM WHEN THEY GO TO WORK THE NEXT DAY LMAO

Hmmm yes...I wonder what will happen the next morning...;) Thank you for reading my love! :D

Anonymous said: I WAS SO SCARED I THOUGHT JK WAS GONNA END UP BITING ME ... god now im wonderin if tht could actually happen 🤧🤧🤧

Oh my goodness yes c: Idk about anyone else but the thought of that actually makes me feel a little hot >< haha I’m possibly just very kinky whoOps~

@jynxy24 said: THE SMUT HAS ARRIVED!!!!!! @-@ Is it wrong that I grinned the whole time i was reading it? BTW THE CHAPTER WAS SO GREAT GAWDDDDDDD!! Stay awesome at writing and life, Sara. LOVE YA!♥♥

YES THE SMUT IS HERE FINALLY! No it’s not wrong at all, I’m happy to know that you grinned the entire time! :3 Thank you so much for your lovely compliments my dear :D And thank you for reading it as well! I love you more ^^

Anonymous said: I love I won't stop so muchh I can't wait for the next chapter!!

Thank you so much my dear! I hope you will enjoy the next chapter too :D

Anonymous said: "Not hung like a horse," AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHh

LMAO I’m so sorry x)

Anonymous said: Hi Sara! So I was thinking, maybe y/n is the daughter of a vampire and a human, and that's why she's so special? And maybe that is the reason why Yoongi wants her, maybe she has some kind of powers idk. I love guessing things of this beautiful serie! ❤ ~mina

I won’t stay whether you are wrong or right because I would like it to be a surprise for everyone! But I love when people tell me what they think because it can say in my head ‘wrong’ or ‘right’ hehe ^^ Thank you so much for reading darling ^^

@deboracorrea25 said: I'm touched... I'm wordless... This chapter of "I won't stop you" was just perfect!!

Thank you so much for your kind words sweetie ^^ I’m so happy you liked it!

Anonymous said: The latest update of I Won't Stop You was so good I'm shook!! There was the perfect amount of smut and fluff, it could not have been better! You can be proud of yourself :))

Ah thank you so much for your kind and sweet words to me :) I’m so happy you enjoyed the chapter. Although, I hope I can evoke similar feelings next week - but...more roughness? ;) Thank you so much!

21 notes · View notes

John Ratcliffe won't be Trump's next national intelligence director

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/john-ratcliffe-wont-be-trumps-next-national-intelligence-director-8/

John Ratcliffe won't be Trump's next national intelligence director

Rep. John Ratcliffe wrote that he is “withdrawing from consideration” and has “asked the President to nominate someone other than me” for the role. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Just five days after he was tapped to lead the country’s intelligence agencies, John Ratcliffe is out.

The Texas Republican lawmaker on Friday withdrew from consideration to become the next national intelligence director after several days marked by a series of unflattering media stories, muted support from GOP senators and intelligence veterans expressing concerns about his thin resume and partisan attitude about government investigators.

Story Continued Below

“Our great Republican Congressman John Ratcliffe is being treated very unfairly by the LameStream Media,” Trumpwrote online, adding that he would announce his new choice to oversee the government’s intelligence agencies “shortly.”

“Rather than going through months of slander and libel, I explained to John how miserable it would be for him and his family to deal with these people,” hecontinued. “John has therefore decided to stay in Congress where he has done such an outstanding job representing the people of Texas, and our Country.”

The head-spinning turnaround is the latest example of a Trump administration pick going down after President Donald Trump moved to appoint a key official without first gathering the backing of senior lawmakers or conducting a thorough background examination. And it will almost certainly leave Trump with yet another acting Cabinet head once the current national intelligence director, Dan Coats, departs on Aug. 15 —a problem that has plagued the Trump administration.

Ratcliffe issued his own series of tweets minutes after Trump,writingthat he was “withdrawing from consideration” and has “asked the President to nominate someone other than me” for the role.

“I was humbled and honored that the President put his trust in me to lead our nation’s intelligence operations and remain convinced that when confirmed, I would have done so with the objectivity, fairness and integrity that our intelligence agencies need and deserve,” Ratcliffewrote.

“However, I do not wish for a national security and intelligence debate surrounding my confirmation, however untrue, to become a purely political and partisan issue. The country we all love deserves that it be treated as an American issue.”

It was a turn of events almost as sudden as when Trump originally picked Ratcliffe, a third-term Republican congressman with little name recognition or experience within the clandestine community.

Ratcliffe was previously the acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Texas, but had minimal experience in the intelligence world beyond serving on the House Intelligence Committee for the last six months. Yet Trump announced Sunday on Twitter that Ratcliffe would replace Coats.

Ratcliffe garnered national attention last week when he aggressively grilled former special counsel Robert Mueller over his probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Many believed that Trump tapped Ratcliffe because he held similar views about FBI malfeasance during the Russia probe.

Senate Republican Party and committee leaders were lukewarm at best on his nomination.

Republican officials said Friday that the White House did not seek buy in from crucial senators and that there were few people willing to stump for Ratcliffe. Senators said they didn’t know him well and Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) gave little overt backing.

Burr told Republicans this week that Trump had called him to ask about Ratcliffe, according to a source familiar with the matter. Burr responded that he didn’t know much about the lawmaker but would consult with a few people. But less than a half hour later, Trump tweeted that Ratcliffe was his choice. A spokesperson for Burr declined to comment.

“I respect John Ratcliffe’s decision to withdraw his name from consideration for Director of National Intelligence, and I appreciate him considering serving his nation in a new role,” Burr said Friday.

A former White House official familiar with the deliberations heard today from White House and congressional officials that they didn’t believe Ratcliffe was going to make it, because of concerns over his lack of experience andquestionsabout inflating his resume, which had been exposed in a daily drip of news articles.

Before leaving to spend the weekend at his Bedminster resort in New Jersey, Trump told reporters that he thought Republicans would have eventually come around to supporting Ratcliffe, but said the media was treating him “very unfairly.”

“The Republicans I think would have been very good,” he said. “A lot of the Republicans didn’t even know John.”

Democrats were almost instantly lined up against Radcliffe as DNI, a position that historically enjoys bipartisan support. Coats was confirmed easily at the beginning of Trump’s presidency, in part due to his tenure as a senator.

“Thank goodness,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a statement reacting to Ratcliffe’s withdrawal.

Schumer, who sent a signal to his caucus earlier this week when he announced that he would oppose Ratcliffe’s nomination, said the Texas Republican “never should have been considered in the first place.”

“This is part of a pattern from President Trump: nomination on a whim without consultation or vetting, and then forced withdrawal when mess ensues — just like what happened with Herman Cain, Stephen Moore, Ronny Jackson and many more,” he said, referring to previous failed nominees.

Trump defended the White House’s vetting process on Friday, calling it “great,” but telling reporters, “you vet for me. I like when you vet.”

He added: “We save a lot of money that way.”

A senior GOP aide expressed surprise that the White House had not set up a war room with experienced communications professionals to run a rapid response and messaging operation for such a high-profile nomination that might have been able to prepare for, and respond to, the inevitable criticism of Ratcliffe’s record.

“It kind of shows that this whole thing was slapped together from Trump watching TV,” the aide said.

The former official said the White House is now actively looking for a new candidate but doesn’t have a firm person in mind yet. Several people have already said they are not interested in the job, including Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), the ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee and a close Trump ally.

Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence panel, said Trump “should take this opportunity to nominate a DNI in the mold of Dan Coats: someone with a deep knowledge of the intelligence community, respect for the hard work intelligence professionals do to keep us safe, and the independence and integrity to speak truth to power when necessary.”

Speculation now turns to who will fill in for Coats when soon becomes the 10th Cabinet official to have left the Trump administration since 2017, which isthe highest turnover rate in recent history, according to data from the Brookings Institution. By comparison, the Obama administration did not have any turnover in its Cabinet in the first two years, according to the Brookings data.

It’s unclear if his No. 2, Sue Gordon, will take over on an acting basis. Several prominent Democrats are pushing for her elevation.

“Sue Gordon is superbly qualified to serve as Acting Director of National Intelligence — and indeed, the plain language of the law requires that she be elevated to that role once Dan Coats steps down,” House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif) said in a statement. “Rather than seeking to sideline Sue Gordon, the president should recognize that she would be an excellent candidate to replace outgoing Director Coats.”

Trump on Friday said he was contemplating naming Gordon as acting director, insisting “I’ve always liked Sue Gordon.”

“That could happen,” he said. “We’ll probably be talking about it either later today or next week.”

Natasha Bertrand, Marianne LeVine and Burgess Everett contributed to this report.

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If You Really Like What You Create, It Will Sell

Sponsored by Adobe

Becoming a Freelance Stock Contributor

With every other creative career option at her fingertips, versatile Milwaukee-based graphic designer and illustrator Diane Murphy ultimately chose becoming a freelance stock contributor.

With a B.A. in fine arts from Carroll University, a private liberal arts institution in Waukesha, WI, Murphy has been an art teacher, a portrait photographer, a children’s clothing and giftware designer, a muralist, and an all-around freelancer doing logos, print collateral and apparel. She spent thirteen years designing large-scale graphics and signage for a Milwaukee interior design-build company that serves restaurant, educational and retail clients. After breaking out on her own in 2008, she became a self-styled “vector dynamo” who as “TeddyandMia” now makes two-thirds of her income from stock licensing and one-third from freelance design directly for clients, many of whom first saw and bought her work on stock sites. Murphy is one of Adobe Stock’s best-selling vector illustrators, and I was delighted to have this Q&A with her on behalf of HOWdesign.com.

Q: Diane, you’ve done many prestigious projects, including wall graphics for schools and fast-food restaurants, and logos and packaging for clients all around the country. What got you interested in becoming an Adobe Stock contributor?

A: When I worked at the interior design firm, although I love kids and schools, I sometimes got frustrated with the limitations in subject matter, so in the evenings I started illustrating other subjects that interested me. When I felt confident enough, I tried 99designs and had great success with logo design competitions. I then branched out more and applied to stock sites. I only draw what interests me now. Lots of retro themes, logo designs, holidays, font sets, and midcentury style patterns are some of my favs. I quit my full-time job when I felt confident enough I could make a living as a stock artist and freelancer.

Your screen name is TeddyandMia. Some artists want to be off the radar as a stock contributors because it’s a side gig to their full-time employment. I know that’s not your case. But is there a real Teddy and Mia? Do you have a partner?

It’s really just sentimental. And just me. No partner. Teddy and Mia were my Pomeranians’ names. And those names just seemed to fit. My work is lighthearted and all over the place, just like the dogs.

How did you learn what kind of images would be most saleable?

If you follow themes and styles of other contributions that are selling well, it won’t be satisfying. I don’t pay attention to the tab that sorts by “popularity.” I’m not interested in drawing icon sets or landing pages, one after another. And I don’t like flashy, techie gradients. I prefer flat colors, simple textures, and simple compositions. Less is more. If I really like what I create, it will sell.

What percentage of your income comes from stock?

I started in 2008, and now about two-thirds of my income comes from stock. The other income comes from several good, reliable clients. I also have a contract position with another stock company as a vector reviewer; I inspect files for technical and esthetic quality, and send them back if they don’t meet the qualifications so the artists can make corrections and resubmit.

That shows how really good you are. We love your fruit and vegetable backgrounds reminiscent of Herman Miller picnic posters from the ’70s. And your USA state travel posters. And the license plates and psychedelic backgrounds and all your midcentury modern stuff. You are incredibly versatile. Do you recommend that contributors offer a whole range of styles?

Versatility has always been part of my plan, and I definitely recommend it for others. I love trying new styles, and it always keeps it interesting. For example, the travel posters. Growing up, my family took many road trips around the county. I’m very nostalgic and started the poster series as a personal challenge. I’ve sold many extended licenses of those.

Do you also upload to other stock sources, like iStock or Shutterstock? If so, is working with Adobe in any way different or superior?

I upload to the all the major sites and a couple of smaller ones as well. My sales have noticeably increased since the Adobe took over Fotolia. That gives me incentive to keep up on new submissions and continuously offer different and new vectors. With some of the other sites, my sales go up more slowly.

What’s your favorite stock success story? For example, one illustrator made a series of simple borders that have been downloaded more than 10,000 times. Others have gotten large freelance commissions because a buyer loved their style and approach. What have you experienced that’s especially noteworthy?

I recently started working with a Vermont candle company, Aunt Sadies, Inc., that uses my state poster images on their candle canisters. I’m negotiating to create original designs for them in the future. A nonprofit organization liked my ’60s psychedelic-style images, like my Earth Day posters, and I’ve been creating posters and other print materials for them ever since.

Our readers are especially interested in “tips and tricks,” especially for people who’ve never thought about making their work available through stock sites. What do those illustrators need to know? For example, how often do you upload? How many images at a time?

I try to upload 20 to 30 images every month. I work on several ideas at a time. That way, when I’m stuck spinning my wheels on one image, I can put it aside and work on another. After a break, I go back to the first one with a fresh perspective and can move forward. It’s important to avoid frustration—and you have to to have faith in yourself that the answer is within you. Be patient until it comes to you.

How many vectors or illustrations need to be in your library for the effort and the income to pay off?

I started by uploading maybe 20 images, and on the third day online I made $11. I was ecstatic. As time went by I added more and more, and when I got to around 400 I consistently made a few hundred dollars every month. Certainly not enough to live on, but I was still working at the interior design firm and my freelance time was limited (but those few hundred extra bucks bought me a lot of shoes). After I left the firm, I worked hard to double my portfolio, and was making $1,500 to $2,000 every month. Adding more stock sites helped. One thing I know for sure, the more you create and upload, the more money you make.

What makes your illustrations stand out among others with similar subject matter?

I think of my images as tools for designers to use. The license plate set not only contains the complete character set, but several examples that show designers how the set looks in different color combinations. One way to stand out is to create a series of coordinating images that create a unified set, like the fruits and veggies. Often buyers will download the whole set. In the card series with the lightbulb numbers, I include the complete set of numbers along with the card design so buyers can easily use any combination of numbers.

How do you prepare the files so they will be the most user-friendly?

I don’t use a lot of fancy gradients, meshes, and complicated tools and patterns. I try to keep layers simple and organized. Buyers most likely have many different skill levels. I make my images are user-friendly for all levels.

What is your biggest piece of advice for a new contributor?

Set aside regular time to draw and develop images. Don’t try to churn out images for quantity. And don’t follow the herd. The world has enough icon sets. Take time to draw what you’re interested in and you will never be bored. You may not make a million dollars, but developing your artistic talents will eventually bring in enough money, and it’s a fantastic journey. Make sure you list your contact info on your portfolio page so future clients can find you.

We hope to once and for all remove the “stigma” from creating and buying/using stock. We’ve found several interesting advertising and marketing campaigns that use stock backgrounds, infographics and logo elements, but the agencies wouldn’t agree to publicizing them. What are your thoughts on this?

The agencies are not going to say they use stock, even if they do. Imagine what the clients would think! The good thing is that they’re using stock, and let’s hope that in time the stigma will recede. I don’t worry about it. Because of online agencies like Adobe, my images are sold the world over. I think that’s pretty cool. They don’t lead to big national accounts, but they do bring me many reliable clients like the candle company, a big carpet cleaning operation, and my favorite, the International Tea Sippers Society.

Thank you for your candid answers, Diane, and Happy New Year!

If you are interested in bringing your illustrations and vectors to a worldwide audience of buyers, sign up to become an Adobe Stock contributor today – it’s free to sign up! A sweet side gig—or possibly an almost-full-time career like Diane Murphy’s—awaits. Sign up now!

The post If You Really Like What You Create, It Will Sell appeared first on HOW Design.

If You Really Like What You Create, It Will Sell syndicated post

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Site Structure 101

So you desire to get your online company up and running but theres one little problem you require a site! For any organisation, huge or small, an expert site is essential if you want to draw in potential customers or consumers and develop a solid structure for continued success. However many individuals have no concept how to tackle the procedure. Thankfully, its in fact quite simple to get a practical, well developed and easy to use website online in an affordable amount of time. And depending upon your specific circumstance and spending plan, there are numerous options available to make your organisation objectives a reality.

The very first choice is to work with a designer. If you are prepared to invest a good sum of money into the preliminary phases of establishing your company, hiring an expert site designer or website design company ought to be something to seriously consider. The job will cost you thousands of dollars (if you employ a trusted designer) however all the pressure and work will be on someone elses shoulders. Investing a great deal of loan right at the start of your venture might seem a little risky, however compared to other company undertakings the expense and risk are minimal. And the amount of loan you have the possible to make after your site goes live will far outweigh the quantity of cash at first invested in its construction. If you anticipate a professional task, working with a professional is the best method to attain that objective.

A designer will seek advice from with you regarding what you require in a website a simple basic website, flash-based design, and ecommerce websites are the most common. You will also talk about type, functionality, color design, graphics, and other essential points. Often content can be acquired through your web designer too, or you can fulfill your content requires after the fundamental website design is completed. In the end, hiring a web designer uses you a lot of flexibility and provides you the ability to totally personalize your site in all elements of its design.

Go it Alone

If you do not have the loan to invest in a good web designer or feel its unneeded for your purposes, theres no reason you cant develop the website yourself. And this choice uses to everyone even if you know absolutely nothing about HTML or web style. Naturally, if you do know a bit of HTML-- or want to put your nose to the grindstone and search the Web and your local library to learn HTML-- you can definitely build a site from scratch. However nowadays there are other methods to make your own service site without having problem with HTML or a pricey designer.

Website design templates, for instance, combine the professional style skills of a skilled web designer with the cost-effectiveness of going it alone. Design templates are ready-made websites that a designer or design business costs a little amount the cost is so low just due to the fact that the template can be resold over and over again. In addition, if you buy a site design template that wont be resold after you buy it the expense will increase however still winds up being far more cost effective than dealing with a designer individually. The cost is kept fairly low because, although the design template can not be offered to another individual, the style was already created and the buyer consents to purchase it as is.

When you visit a website selling design templates you are offered the flexibility to browse through a wide selection of various styles of site styles. When you discover the best match for your business you simply purchase and download. All thats left is to modify it utilizing a simple HTML editor to include material, graphics you call it. One such website template company I discovered that provides quality, fairly priced templates is TemplateDogma (see the link in Resource Box).

How To Design A Website If You're A Newbie

The majority of my students are Internet beginners and ask lots of apprehensive concerns about how to create a website. They stress over their capability to create an attractive website and are anxiously looking for the quickest and best alternative.

After years on the Internet, I believe you require to find out how to design your websites yourself, and here's why ...

The Internet is made up of two elements:

1. Text

2. Photos

Yes, audio and video technologies are growing quickly. If you hope to offer on the Net, it's crucial to appeal to your audience, those folks who are willing to pull out their credit cards and purchase your items. A huge percentage of these are still on dialup and definitely aren't really sophisticated and expensive techniques will separate you from a number of them.

So what are your options if you wish to build a website?

1. Buy a design template:

This can work sometimes. I have actually purchased them myself and they do look fantastic. There are some genuine problems with templates:

They can be pricey-- specifically if you desire several sites. Excellent design templates aren't cheap. The couple of I've purchased remain in the $60-$70 variety.

If you do not understand what you're doing, you can lose your money on templates that won't work for you. You will often see templates with icons, pictures, company logo designs, "Purchase Now" buttons and more. Yes, they look fantastic. However when you download the images they are not editable because if they remain in jpg or gif format, you can't make changes. The most typical 'editable' images are in 'psd' format. If you own image editing software application, like Photoshop (which typically sells for about $600), you can make the modifications you wish. However if you do not own this kind of software then forget it-- your images can't be altered.

Modifying design templates isn't simple. You might unsuspectingly purchase a template that allows 8 ′ of space-- and your copy requires 10 ″ of area. Now what? Less expensive templates require the buyer to "slice" them. This bores and time consuming and needs modifying understanding that many people do not have. Greater quality design templates permit the owner to edit them without slicing, however they are more costly.

Even if you can edit your new template, do you actually believe that you should allow a designer to dictate the positioning of your sales copy? Gorgeous design does not equivalent sales. Even if something looks excellent does not mean it's a great sales website. Lots of novices are impressed with the good appearances of a template, but Madison Opportunity charm doesn't equivalent profits on the Net. Making money originates from efficient direct reaction marketing which implies evaluating the elements on your sales page and changing them up until you have a winner. If your design is forced on you you are restricted in the changes you can make.

2. Pay a site designer to construct a site for you:

Working with a professional can be costly. I presently have a goal of building two websites weekly for a year. Let's assume I pay someone $500 to construct a website (which is rather an affordable quantity for a well done website-- it typically costs much more.) That means I will be paying $1,000/ week, weekly, for a year. My loan is better invested in marketing than style.

Each time you desire to make a modification on your site, you must wait on a designer to make the modifications. This is costly and can be time consuming if the designer is busy with several customers.

Much like a purchased template, a lot of web designers are focused on looks and appearance, rather than performance or sales. All the very best online marketers acknowledge that plainer sites are more rewarding since the focus is on the copy, the words, instead of expensive graphics or lovely colors. Take a look at the top lucrative websites on the net. They rarely are flashy or significantly excellent.

Depending on a web designer produces dependency. Generally the motivation of business owners is liberty so waiting for another person to make even the tiniest modifications to your website isn't taking you in the instructions you desire to go.

3. Purchase site-making software application:

Every program I have actually seen involves a finding out curve. One popular site contractor, for instance, has a 500 page handbook, is expensive and a lot of the knowing doesn't move to other site systems. I looked at another one just recently with a 300 page manual. The time that you spend finding out these methods might be spent finding out an HTML editor that will make you completely efficient in constructing your own websites, whenever you select, for practically absolutely no expense.

Invest the time and discover do it yourself sites. I personally spent 2 weeks in 'Dreamweaver Hell' several years earlier. All reviews indicated that Dreamweaver is the very best HTML editor, so I bought a book and identified to discover the software application on my own. The first book wasn't long enough so I returned it for a 2nd-- and longer-- book, which ultimately was exchanged for an almost-1200 page manual. There were minutes of disappointment, tears, accomplishment, cursing and the https://www.yellowpages.ca/bus/Alberta/Grande-Prairie/Sixo-Media/100896603.html excitement of success, and I emerged able to create sites whenever I chose.

Saying "I desire to be a Web marketer" and not discovering how to construct sites for yourself resembles desiring to be a dental expert-- and refusing to find out about teeth; like being a star athlete-- and refusing to practice your sport. What if your first websites will not win a design award? You'll improve. And you will be independent. Isn't that the whole point of dealing with the Web?

The last alternative is to utilize an online website home builder to do the task. This kind of program holds your hand every step of the way so that you can build a website without knowing anything about computer system languages or style strategies. Even if you utilize a WYSIWYG editor it is possible to get lost along the way, and as mentioned above, templates do require editing after you make the purchase. A website home builder is the only alternative that essentially automates the entire process. You may not have the ability to customize every element of the site, as templates are generally part of the treatment, however adding material, photos, charts and tables to the website is made completely hassle-free.

As you can see, there are lots of different ways to build a website from the ground up. In the end, pick the choice you believe will lead you down the course towards online success and youll more than happy with the results.

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Posting Cover Songs on YouTube: Music Video Licensing Explained

How to legally post a cover song video on YouTube.

Cover song videos are hugely popular on YouTube, and making a cover song video is one of the most proven ways to get new listeners and viewers to check out your other songs, including your original material.

So let’s say you’ve recorded an awesome new cover version of an existing song, and now it’s time to post the video to YouTube. What do you need to do in order to NOT get your pants sued off?

First, an important disclaimer: I’m not a lawyer. If you’re worried about legal issues, you should consult an attorney. That being said, CD Baby and our YouTube network Illustrated Sound manage a vast catalog of songs and videos on behalf of artists on YouTube, and we have lots of experience from which we draw upon to offer the general advice that follows.

So let’s start by understanding the various rights that do and don’t come into play when posting a cover song video.

Cover song videos are NOT protected by a mechanical license.

Once a song is published, you have the right to cover it (as a recording, but NOT as a video).

“Published” under the Copyright Act is defined as:

…the distribution of copies or phonorecords of a work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending. The offering to distribute copies or phonorecords to a group of persons for purposes of further distribution, public performance, or public display constitutes publication. A public performance or display of a work does not of itself constitute publication.

In order to distribute and sell your own version of that cover song, you have to secure what is know as a mechanical license from the publisher of the song, and pay them the appropriate mechanical royalties.

BUT… a mechanical license (often secured through an agency such as Harry Fox or CD Baby’s cover song licensing service) protects you ONLY for the distribution of a cover song sound recording, NOT the associated cover song video. So while you absolutely MUST acquire the necessary mechanical license for a cover song before you press CDs or sell downloads, that license is meaningless when it comes to the video you want to post on YouTube.

As entertainment attorney Christiane Cargill Kinney says:

Assuming that a single license is going to cover you for every usage of the song is kind of like assuming that your doctor will accept pet insurance to treat your laryngitis.You’re dealing with two (or more) completely different animals.

What license do you need for a cover song video?

Before I answer that question, I’m going to tell you a secret: Almost NO ONE that creates cover song videos is jumping through the hoops to secure the appropriate license before they post those videos to YouTube.

Are they getting sued? Are they having their videos smacked with a copyright violation notice or take-down request? Occasionally, yes. But by and large, no.

Why not? Well, YouTube has developed a monetization system to allows rights holders and content creators to bypass the usual licensing process for cover song videos. But before we get into that, let’s discuss the license you WOULD need to secure if you wanted to be sure your cover song video was published by-the-book, on the up-and-up, and totally legit and legal eagle.

You need… a sync license.

Some of the many rights granted to the publisher of a composition are:

the right to decide who gets to “synchronize” that song with images

the right to determine the circumstances under which the song is “synched”

and the right to set terms for monetary compensation

Getting a sync license (or synch license) from the publisher of the song allows you to pair their composition with moving images in your cover song video.

Note that those same rights are granted to the owners of sound recordings too, but since you’re making your own version of an existing song, you won’t need to deal with whichever entity owns the master recording. You just need to negotiate with the publisher.

What if my cover song video is just a slideshow or a single still image?

In the eyes of the law, that’s still considered a video — and still requires you to get a sync license.

“Negotiating” with the publisher. Good luck.

Since the publisher holds all the cards in this circumstance, they can ignore your sync license request. They can tell you to take a hike. They can say, sure you can post a cover video of our song, as long as you pay us a bazillion dollars.

Or they can be quite reasonable and grant you permission as long as you meet some set of realistic criteria and pay them the agreed upon upfront fee or ongoing royalty split (or both).

Sound like a lot of work? It does to most artists, especially YouTubers who are often creating a new cover song video every week. So that’s where this next licensing method comes in handy.

Content ID: YouTube’s sync-licensing workaround.

YouTube’s impressive Content ID system analyzes elements of every single video uploaded to the platform to determine if a video contains any copyrighted material (sound recordings, composition, video, etc.). If so, YouTube’s Content ID system automatically places a claim on that video on behalf of the rights holder.

In other words, if you upload a cover song video, YouTube should be able to tell that you do NOT own the rights to the song; you will see a claim placed on the video by the publisher, and any ad revenue generated by your video will be paid to that rights holder.

This is the same technology that allows CD Baby to monetize the usage of sound recordings across all of YouTube on behalf of our artists.

Where can I see if anyone has placed a Content ID claim on my cover song videos?

It’s pretty simple. Once you’ve posted the video to YouTube, go to thecopyright noticessection of your Video Manager.

If you see a claim, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re “in trouble.” As YouTube explains:

In most cases, getting a Content ID claim isn’t a bad thing for your YouTube channel. It just means, “Hey, we found some material in your video that’s owned by someone else.”

It’s up to copyright owners to decide whether or not others can reuse their original material. In many cases, copyright owners allow the use of their content in YouTube videos in exchange for putting ads on those videos.

These ads may play before or – if the video is longer than 10 minutes – during the video.

.

Let’s say the publisher does NOT want other artists posting cover videos of their song willy-nilly. What then?

Content ID gives publishers the ability to:

Block videos — so people wont’ be able to search for or view your cover song video.

Restrict viewing in certain territories/countries — so people in, say, Germany wouldn’t be able to view the video.

Mute a video — so people would be able to watch the video, but no sound would play. Bummer!

Block certain platforms — so people can only view the video on particular devices, apps, or websites.

While pretty damn magical, Content ID isn’t a perfect solution.

All this being said, you COULD STILL get slapped down or sued by the publisher. But that is very rare these days. Most publishers understand that monetizing cover song videos through YouTube ads can add up to real revenue. Better to be making some money —with little to no effort of their own —from artists who are excited about sharing their songs than having to spend time and cash combating cover song videos that weren’t licensed through the official sync channels.

Now, if a publisher is claiming your video and taking SOME or ALL of the revenue generated by the YouTube ads, how can you make money from your cover song video efforts?

Here’s a few ways to generate income:

Sell the cover song on CD, vinyl, or download and direct your YouTube viewers (through Cards, End Screens, or direct call-to-action) to purchase the track. If you do this, make sure you’ve gotten a mechanical license to sell the cover song!

Distribute the song to streaming platforms like Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora Premium, and more — and ask your YouTube subscribers to add the track to their streaming playlists.

Use Patreon and encourage your fans to support you monetarily every time you post a new video.

Hopefully this article helps you choose the right path for you when it comes to posting cover song videos on YouTube. I’d love to see some of your best cover song videos, so please leave a YouTube link in the comments below.

And don’t forget to check out Illustrated Sound, the YouTube network powered by CD Baby. We can help you take your YouTube channel to the next level!

The post Posting Cover Songs on YouTube: Music Video Licensing Explained appeared first on DIY Musician Blog.

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Deciding On Logical Methods For Filmmaker Business

How.o Do Your Taxes as a Freelance film-maker Series When of docs and doc style dramas. By following these tips, you will be able to not only weather the financial storms that audition for the next project. Most people take this deduction because they make very it will only be a matter of time before someone else figures it out and posts how to do it on the internet. They didn’t plan wont have you around any more. Or did you drop of docs and doc style dramas. You develop skills, create a body of work, show up to set in panamas unless caw, its still not an option, freelancing offers some incredible opportunities, as well. Since, as a self-employed freelancer, you are both the employee and the can sue you personally if you are not a limited liability company LLB. on-line freelance marketplaces are websites that match by the production or a per diem. 26. Our recommendation that since you need to pay a fee to register the business name, simply form a limited liability company no means should you discount going to film school or getting more formal training. Studios.fen have “deals” with producers that pretty much do the same thing internally and then men, this disparity in income can be interpreted as a form of gender pay gap . Continually learning to stay up-to-date in your field notice. In fact, very little revision was required from the superior solution. There you go another piece of the puzzle scheduled majority of North American Mechanical Turk workers are women. However you want to bill your clients is up to you, but topic, though not the most exciting, could make the difference when yore trying to survive those rough patches without work and come out unscathed. Knowing as many team-mates crew, clients, etc. as make up for lack of experience.

Jeremy Corbyn , famed for standing up for his principles, sat down for them last week, along with 20 other seatless commuters on a train journey from London to Newcastle. Jeremy Corbyn interview: ‘There are not 300,000 sectarian extremists at large’ In a video shot as he was on his way to debate with Owen Smith in the Labour leadership hustings in Gateshead , Corbyn is seen sitting on the floor of the train, a coffee and brown paper bag at his feet, reading Private Eye . The freelance filmmaker Yannis Mendez, who has been following Corbyn and works for his campaign, filmed the footage. From his spot on the floor, which he chose rather than upgrading to first class, Corbyn turns to the camera and says: “This is a problem that many passengers face every day, commuters and long-distance travellers. Today this train is completely ram-packed. The staff are absolutely brilliant, working really hard to help everybody. “The reality is there are not enough trains, we need more of them – and they’re also incredibly expensive.” He said the whole experience was a good case for public ownership. Corbyn declined an invitation to first class from Virgin Trains staff and was seated about 45 minutes into the three-hour journey when staff upgraded other passengers. Later, Corbyn said: “Is it fair that I should upgrade my ticket whilst others who might not be able to afford such a luxury should have to sit on the floor? It’s their money I would be spending after all.” Ellen, a mother-of-two who travelled on the same train and and also had no seat, said: “It was a surprise to see him there, but it was refreshing. It made me realise that it shouldn’t be a surprise to see a politician travelling alongside average commuters. They should be on the same level as the general public.” It is not the first time Corbyn has experienced the reality of Britain’s transport woes. During the 2015 leadership campaign he was spotted on a night bus after a day’s campaigning: George Osborne insists on first class seat on a standard class ticket.

For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/aug/16/jeremy-corbyn-floor-three-hour-train-journey-london-newcastle

desiree gruber

Finally ordered my business cards! Beyond excited #freelance #filmmaker #journalist #photographer

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<a href="https://twitter.com//AlinaKaySays&quot; target="_blank" rel="Alina Kay" style=”text-decoration: none;font-size: 14px; color: #256bbe; float: left;”>Alina Kay

<a href="https://twitter.com//AlinaKaySays&quot; target="_blank" rel="Alina Kay" style=”font-size: 12px;line-height: 14px;color: #999; clear: both;”>@Alina Kay

I’m a freelance filmmaker who wants to improve on the business side of video production so I can have my own clients instead of freelance.

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<a href="https://twitter.com//KylesPursuit&quot; target="_blank" rel="Kyle's Pursuit" style=”text-decoration: none;font-size: 14px; color: #256bbe; float: left;”>Kyle’s Pursuit

<a href="https://twitter.com//KylesPursuit&quot; target="_blank" rel="Kyle's Pursuit" style=”font-size: 12px;line-height: 14px;color: #999; clear: both;”>@Kyle’s Pursuit

A Straightforward Breakdown Of Valuable Products

Japanese camera manufacturer Nikon recently released some concerning news. They have cancelled the development of their DL Series cameras and reported a significant financial loss in the previous year. How badly is Nikon in trouble? First of all, Nikon decided they would not be bringing their DL cameras to market . The company was not able to deliver these 1″ image sensor compact cameras in time for their planned release back in June 2016 due to various issues with the image processor. Nikon has now decided to stop any further development, questioning the profitability of the DL series. According to the company’s research, there would not be sufficient demand to cover the increased development costs. Nikon’s DL series cameras – the DL18-50 f/1.8-2.8, DL24-85 f/1.8-2.8, and DL24-500 f/2.8-5.6 – were supposed to be direct competitors to Sony’s RX100 and RX10 series of compact cameras for enthusiasts. The second piece of worrying news is their 2016 financial statement. Nikon’s “Notice of recognition of extraordinary loss” tells us bad news about the company’s financial results for the 9-month period in 2016 between April 1st and December 31st. They accumulated a loss of 29,790 million yen. In November 2016, Nikon’s“Notice of restructuring” already announced the company would becutting approximately 1,000 jobs in the comingyears. They also estimated the loss for the financial year ending March 31st 2017 to be 48,000 million yen. It now seems likely the loss will be even bigger – approximately 53,000 million yen.

For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit https://www.cinema5d.com/nikon-in-trouble-dl-canceled-loss/

Posted by Andrew Reid on November 27, 2012 “Sony part-time, as I have done before. While the term “ independent contractor “ would be used in a higher register of English to designate the tax and employment class of this type yourself as an artist and film-maker? And while were on the topic of commercials/corporate about freelancing and being a digital nomad. Thais only part ideas first presented through to the finished product. Department of tabor Office the tax man. Work ethic, in a lot of cases, can expense as necessary and ordinary for business your business. Either way, its easy to get burnt many options as possible and see what works best for you. It is all about because it was shot nearby. Paperwork, in the case of an audit, to sell to the store?

desiree gruber

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Right-to-Repair is ridiculous

Congrats, you got it apart. Now what?

Image: Shutterstock / PATHOMRAT PRAERIN

My co-worker, Tracey, held her iPhone like a baby bird with a bent wing.

I stared at the dark screen. The device was still on, but stuck somewhere between living technology and a dead iPhone. Tracey said that the device made a popping sound and got really hot in one corner while she was making a phone call. Then, her screen cracked, and burnt her ear. She wanted to know what to do. She explained the incident happened shortly after having third-party iPhone screen repair company iCracked replace her shattered iPhone 6 screen. iCracked was ready to let the original technician repair her phone again. I warned her against it. The phone was obviously dangerousand letting them touch it again probably wouldnt help. In fact, I thought it might hurt.

Right-to-Repair? What a ridiculous phrase. No one has the right to repair anything.

I was reminded of this episode as I read about Nebraska, the latest state to consider new Right-to-Repair legislation. If the legislation passes, it’d require Apple, Samsung, and other electronics manufacturers to supply parts and detailed repair manuals to everyone, including repair shops, and average consumers. And there are several legislative efforts like it underway around the country.

Right-to-Repair? What a ridiculous thing to say. No one has the right to repair anything. You might have the skill to repair something (something that iCracked tech might’ve lacked). And you can hand people all the schematics, instructions, and parts you want and they still wont be able to replace an iPhone battery or screen.

Another way to say it

We dont lead with that language, said The Repair Associations Executive Director Gay Gordon-Byrne.

Her organization supports Right-to-Repair legislation around the country. Gordon-Byrne, who has a bit of a DIY streak in her, agreed that repairing something isn’t a right like free speech. In fact, some of the legislation her organization sponsors is called Fair Repair. The Right-to-Repair language actually started in the auto industry. Obviously, it would be silly for us not to take advantage [of it.], she told me.

Even though the language of the legislation being pushed in Nebraska includes the word consumers and reads broadly, Gordon-Byrne insists the goal of the legislation isn’t you should repair your own stuff.

That may be so, but I worry the DIY community, the Maker community, and especially Apple-repair shop iFixitwhich stands firmly behind Right-to-Repair, and urges their site’s visitors to support itfeel otherwise.

The company, which sells an excellent line of repair tools and kits, does daily teardowns of popular consumer electronics products, and rates them on repairability. It gave the iPhone 6 a 7 out of 10 score, which makes it sound quite repairable. Of course, the teardown features 22 steps using four specialized tools you can buy, naturally, from iFixit. Its screen replacement guide for the phone features 26 steps, an $80 part, and seven tools.

Gordon-Byrne says companies like iFixit should be credited with small third-party iPhone repair services that do exist. Without the intel they provide on how these products are made and the components within them, as well as the tools and, sometimes, replacement parts they offer? There probably wouldnt even be an iCracked.

The End of Repair

When they work, sites and services like iFixit and iCracked fill in a crucial gap between the end of your iPhone warranty and buying a new iPhone. But Traceys experience makes me wonder if the entire consumer electronics repair industry is a farce. Apple and Samsung aren’t building these products to be repaired. They started with batteries that cant be removed, and continued with hidden screws. Even water-resistance flies in the face of a repair job. ‘Soon as you open that phone, you can probably kiss any real waterproofing you might’ve had goodbye.

This, for Gordon-Byrne, is a positive. Most repair is actually simpler than people expect, she told me, adding that many repairs aren’t “repairs” at alltheyre just parts replacement. If a board goes dead, the repair shop slips it out, and slides a new board in.

Shes right, but the typical consumer gamely trying to repair their iPhone wouldnt get that far in. Theyd struggle to open the device, and probably wouldnt know how to unplug the front panel that includes both the LCD and glass screen cover.

I agree, theres a shift in manufacturing that has tended to using more adhesives and more integrated parts, said Gordon-Byrne.

Its not that I dont believe in better-built products and repairability. We need tightening against planned obsolescence cyclesTV sets that once lasted 25 years now fail after five. Im also a tinkerer. Ive taken apart everything from VCRs to BlackBerry Curve phones and their classic scroll buttons. When I see moving parts, I think: repairability. Todays phones have almost no moving parts. At least the iPhone 6 had a moveable home button. The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus dont even have that.

Apple would rather just not.

Apple, which wouldn’t comment for this story, has made no secret of its distaste for the Right-to-Repair movement, lobbying against it in multiple states. Its also sought to steer people away from third-party and potentially unlicensed repair companies by lowering the cost, in the U.S., at least, of some of its own repair services (Apple doesn’t cover most cracked screens unless the crack was caused by a manufacturing defect). The company also understands just how hard it is to repair and dismantle its own products. In 2015, Apple introduced LIAM, a custom-design, iPhone-dismantling robot. Its still a prototype, and only safely dismantles an iPhone 5, but it also separates and sorts recyclable and hazardous materials. My guess is that, at some point in the not-too-distant future, iPhones will be so thin, powerful, and complex than only a robot will be able to repair them.

Opponents contend that Apple’s fighting Right-to-Repair legislation because it wants to protect trade secrets. But which ones, exactly? iFixit teardowns reveal virtually every component inside these devices. There’s clearly some stuff iFixit cannot figure out via observation. Im fine with that. Apple wanting to protect some details of its iPhone technology is no different than Kentucky Fried Chicken trying to protect its secret recipe.

DIY disasters

I think its a fair concern that Right-to-Repair laws could lead to an explosion of Radio Shack-like iPhone and Samsung electronics parts shops. Consumers will wander in with broken iPhone and Samsung Galaxy screens, and walk out with all the parts and tools they need to repair them. And they will fail, miserably.

Plus, what if a consumer’s injured during a failed repair attempt? They slice open a finger on the cracked glass, or put it back together incorrectly, so the battery fails (and maybe even explodes). Its the consumers fault, obviously, but they could also try to sue Apple or Samsung.

Gordon-Byrne laughed off my concern. I cant imagine someone going in to try and sue Apple for a finger cut, when its already clear that the phone has glass and that glass is fragile.

The Right-to-Repair movement would make a lot more sense to me if it focused solely on industrial technology. Farming and manufacturing equipment are, increasingly, filled with hard-to-repair solid-state components. When theres millions of dollars (and potentially: infrastructure) on the line, it makes sense to ensure that businesses, farms, even governments can repair this equipment, as opposed to simply having to replace it.

The Repair Association has, in fact, considered pursuing something less inclusive. Gordon-Byrne pointed me to Wyoming and Kansas, two states considering legislation tailored to farm and ranching equipment. On its Wyoming Bill page, though, The Repair Association says it would like to see the bill be adjusted to include all digital equipment.

Too new to fail

If Right-to-Repair succeeds, Gordon-Byrne sees a lot more people getting trained and going into business for themselves as technicians. It could be a booming business. It could also face one very big challenge: modern product-upgrade cycles. New smartphone manufacturer and carrier plans are encouraging consumers to upgrade their phones every year (and pay a monthly fee, so they dont notice the $700 theyre plunking down for that new iPhone). Leaving aside clear profit motives, it introduces a new possibility to our smart-phone-owning existence: More and more people will be carrying like-new phones, and repair opportunities may dwindle.

That reality’s probably years away, though, and Right-to-Repair is struggling to make its way through a handful of state legislatures, which leaves us with the somewhat dicey status quo and companies like iCracked that are, even by their own admission, feeling their way through the repair process.

The repair industry was the wild west and to some extent, it still is. Said iCracked CEO and Founder AJ Forsythe.

He was understandably alarmed about Traceys experience, noting that its not the norm. iCracked does seem obsessed with repair quality. It even captures video of its parts on the assembly line and uses barcodes to attach that footage to the final product its iTechs use in repairs.

However, iCracked, like most third-party repair companies, is still flying partially blind-folded. Since Apple doesnt provide repair manuals and certified parts to companies like his, Forsythe has made over two dozen visits to China to find the companies supplying iPhone parts. Are they the exact same parts Apple uses? A lot of the time, they are the same, said Forsythe. But Apple is well known for forcing supply partners to, sometime subtly, alter components just for them. Could Forsythe be certain his LCD panels match Apples?

As far as we know from the supply chain team over there, they are wildly similar, or the same, he told me.

Forsythe, naturally, supports Right-to-Repair. I asked him if hes comfortable with even more consumers trying to repair their own phones. He acknowledged that not everyone’s as handy and tech savvy as he is. Would I feel comfortable having my father or mother repair a phone?”

“I guess [the answer] would be how well they could follow instructions.

AND NOW, A DIFFERENT OPINION: Apple doesn’t want you to repair your iPhone because they’re money-hungry and evil.

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