#Best Animated Video Creation

[digitalmediacalendarservice]

UNLOCKING SUCCESS IN 2024: THE ESSENTIAL ROLE OF VIDEO MARKETING SERVICES FOR BUSINESSES

In today’s business environment, where competition is intense, it has become increasingly evident that incorporating an effective video marketing strategy is essential for the success and growth of any business, irrespective of its size. Video marketing services have evolved to become critical components of both organic search engine optimization (SEO) and paid advertising campaigns across various platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, and traditional media channels. Understanding the significance of choosing the right platforms and optimizing content for maximum engagement is paramount for enhancing brand awareness in the digital age.

As marketing trends continue to evolve and become more sophisticated, the role of video content in marketing strategies has become indispensable. According to data from Hubspot, a significant majority (79%) of marketers who had not previously utilized video in their strategies plan to integrate it into their campaigns by the end of 2022. Additionally, almost all (99%) marketers who already use video intend to expand their video initiatives within the same timeframe.

However, developing and executing an effective video marketing strategy can be complex, and many marketers are still navigating the process of creating campaigns that effectively resonate with their target audiences. It’s essential to assess your current knowledge of video marketing and identify areas where additional expertise could be beneficial to your business.

Recognizing The Benefits Of Video Marketing Services

Video marketing services offer a range of advantages that can significantly benefit businesses looking to establish a competitive edge and achieve growth in the digital landscape of 2024.

Education and Information Dissemination: Video content serves various purposes within a business, from educating customers to upskilling the workforce. Incorporating video into customer support can provide a more personalized experience while onboarding videos help customers familiarize themselves with your company and offerings. Knowledge-based videos offer specific answers to customers’ queries, while “meet the team” videos create a direct connection with the people behind your brand. Support video calls provide real-time assistance, and customer stories showcase positive experiences, enhancing overall engagement and satisfaction.

Social Media Engagement: Videos are prevalent on social media platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. Leveraging video content on social media not only boosts engagement and reach but also drives sales and conversions. Trends like live streaming and virtual events enable companies to connect deeply with a wider audience, while the shareability of videos increases the chances of going viral and reaching more prospects globally.

Enhanced Engagement and Entertainment Value: Videos have a unique ability to captivate viewers while delivering valuable information. They are highly effective tools for sparking engagement, fostering connections with audiences, and encouraging brand loyalty. Incorporating video content into marketing strategies can significantly increase qualified leads and conversions, building stronger relationships with existing customers and attracting new ones through targeted social media efforts.

SEO Benefits: Video content can significantly improve a website’s search engine rankings, leading to enhanced visibility and increased time spent on the site. When implemented correctly, video marketing strategies can complement existing SEO efforts with minimal investment.

In conclusion, harnessing the power of video marketing services is crucial for businesses aiming to stay ahead and thrive in the competitive landscape of 2024. Digital Media Calendar, a leading social media marketing management company, specializes in creating and executing tailored video marketing strategies. With expertise in website design and various digital marketing services, we can help your business reach its full potential in 2024 and beyond. Contact us today to learn more about how we can elevate your brand through strategic video marketing campaigns.

FAQ

Q1: What are video marketing services, and why are they important for businesses?

A1: Video marketing services encompass a range of strategies and techniques aimed at creating, optimizing, and promoting video content for businesses. These services are crucial for businesses because they help enhance brand visibility, engage target audiences effectively, drive conversions, and stay competitive in the digital landscape of 2024.

Q2: How can video marketing services benefit my business?

A2: Video marketing services offer several benefits, including increased engagement with target audiences, improved brand awareness, higher conversion rates, enhanced SEO rankings, personalized customer experiences, and the ability to connect authentically with customers through various video formats like tutorials, product reviews, webinars, and more.

Q3: What types of video content can be created and utilized for marketing purposes?

A3: Various types of video content can be used for marketing purposes, including educational videos, customer testimonials, product demonstrations, behind-the-scenes footage, company culture videos, live streams, virtual events, and social media stories. Each type serves a different purpose in engaging and connecting with audiences.

Q4: How can video marketing services improve my SEO efforts?

A4: Video content can significantly boost a website’s search engine rankings by increasing dwell time, reducing bounce rates, enhancing user engagement, and attracting quality backlinks. Video metadata optimization, keyword research, and strategic placement of videos on relevant web pages are some techniques used by video marketing services to improve SEO.

Q5: What role does social media play in video marketing, and how can video content be leveraged on social platforms?

A5: Social media platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook are crucial for distributing and promoting video content. Video marketing services leverage social media to increase engagement, reach wider audiences, drive traffic to websites, encourage social sharing, conduct live streams and virtual events, and build a loyal community of followers and customers.

FOR MORE BLOGS:-  Influencer marketing Agency in Delhi,  Digital marketing company in Delhi,  India's No. 1 SEO Service Provider Company

[quriavisualcreators]

Best Video Production Company & Ad Film Agency Coimbatore

Quria Visual Creators, the best video production company in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, offers corporate film, drone aerial shots, social media, testimonials, training, and animation videos. We also offer model, food, product, and drone photography services in Coimbatore.

[pangolinmarketing]

Why Explainer Videos Are KEY to Communication

Discover why explainer videos are indispensable tools for modern communication strategies. Learn how Pangolin Marketing leverages the engaging and informative nature of explainer videos to captivate audiences, simplify complex ideas, and drive impactful messaging.

[ultragamerz]

ImagenAI: Unleashing Artistic Power with AI in the Ethereum Ecosystem

New Post has been published on https://www.ultragamerz.com/imagenai-unleashing-artistic-power-with-ai-in-the-ethereum-ecosystem/

ImagenAI: Unleashing Artistic Power with AI in the Ethereum Ecosystem

ImagenAI: Unleashing Artistic Power with AI in the Ethereum Ecosystem

The artistic landscape is experiencing a revolution fueled by artificial intelligence (AI), and ImagenAI stands at the forefront of this exciting transformation. Built on the Ethereum blockchain, ImagenAI empowers users to explore their creative potential through a user-friendly platform that leverages the power of AI for image and video manipulation, generation, and content creation.

Keywords: Text-to-image generation, style transfer, AI-powered video, photorealistic images, anime style, artistic manipulation, AI filters, artistic movements, tokenized platform, governance rights

Unveiling the Vision:

Ecosystem: Ethereum

Focus: AI-powered creative tools, image and video generation, user-friendly interface

Industry: Blockchain technology, creative content creation, AI art

What makes ImagenAI unique?

Accessibility: No prior AI expertise required. ImagineAI’s intuitive interface makes AI-powered artistic exploration accessible to everyone, regardless of technical background.

Diversity: Generate a wide range of content, from photorealistic images to classic anime styles, using simple text prompts.

Community: A vibrant community fosters collaboration and inspiration, providing valuable feedback and driving platform development.

$IMGNAI Token: Fuels the ecosystem, incentivizes participation, and grants users governance rights.

More than just filters:

ImagenAI goes beyond basic image manipulation, offering sophisticated functionalities like:

Style Transfer: Transform your photos into artistic masterpieces inspired by renowned artists or iconic movements.

Text-to-Image: Craft unique visuals based on your imagination, bringing your words to life through the power of AI.

Video Generation: Animate still images and create engaging visual narratives with AI-powered video generation tools.

The Competitive Landscape:

ImagenAI navigates a dynamic space teeming with innovative projects leveraging AI for creative expression. Some notable competitors include:

NightCafe Creator: Offers similar text-to-image generation but focuses on artistic styles inspired by famous artists.

Deep Dream Generator: Pioneered AI-powered image manipulation but lacks ImagenAI’s user-friendly interface and tokenized platform.

VQGAN+CLIP: A powerful open-source tool requiring technical expertise, contrasting with ImagenAI’s accessibility.

Looking Ahead:

ImagenAI is constantly evolving, with exciting developments on the horizon, including:

Advanced AI models: Continuously improving AI algorithms to further enhance image and video generation capabilities.

NFT integration: Enabling seamless creation and minting of unique AI-generated NFTs, blurring the lines between art and blockchain.

Decentralized governance: Empowering the community to shape the platform’s future through democratic decision-making.

Ready to unleash your creativity with ImagenAI?

Visit the official website: [[https://imgnai.com/]]

Disclaimer: Cryptocurrencies and NFTs involve inherent risks. Always conduct thorough research and understand the underlying technology before investing. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.

By exploring ImagenAI and its competitors, you gain insights into the transformative potential of AI in the creative realm and the dynamic landscape of this emerging field.

[ayushmicreation]

Creative 2D Animation Video Company in India

Ayushmi Creation is the best 2D animation company in India. We focus on delivering engaging and visually stunning videos that leave an impact on viewers' minds. Our 2D animation video is an excellent way to showcase your product or service engagingly. Contact us today.

[imsobadatnicknames2]

How can you consider yourself any sort of leftist when you defend AI art bullshit? You literally simp for AI techbros and have the gall to pretend you're against big corporations?? Get fucked

I don't "defend" AI art. I think a particular old post of mine that a lot of people tend to read in bad faith must be making the rounds again lmao.

Took me a good while to reply to this because you know what? I decided to make something positive out of this and use this as an opportunity to outline what I ACTUALLY believe about AI art. If anyone seeing this decides to read it in good or bad faith... Welp, your choice I guess.

I have several criticisms of the way the proliferation of AI art generators and LLMs is making a lot of things worse. Some of these are things I have voiced in the past, some of these are things I haven't until now:

Most image and text AI generators are fine-tuned to produce nothing but the most agreeable, generically pretty content slop, pretty much immediately squandering their potential to be used as genuinely interesting artistic tools with anything to offer in terms of a unique aesthetic experience (AI video still manages to look bizarre and interesting but it's getting there too)

In the entertainment industry and a lot of other fields, AI image generation is getting incorporated into production pipelines in ways that lead to the immiseration of working artists, being used to justify either lower wages or straight-up layoffs, and this is something that needs to be fought against. That's why I unconditionally supported the SAG-AFTRA strikes last year and will unconditionally support any collective action to address AI art as a concrete labor issue

In most fields where it's being integrated, AI art is vastly inferior to human artists in any use case where you need anything other than to make a superficially pretty picture really fast. If you need to do anything like ask for revisions or minor corrections, give very specific descriptions of how objects and people are interacting with each other, or just like. generate several pictures of the same thing and have them stay consistent with each other, you NEED human artists and it's preposterous to think they can be replaced by AI.

There is a lot of art on the internet that consists of the most generically pretty, cookie-cutter anime waifu-adjacent slop that has zero artistic or emotional value to either the people seeing it or the person churning it out, and while this certainly was A Thing before the advent of AI art generators, generative AI has made it extremely easy to become the kind of person who churns it out and floods online art spaces with it.

Similarly, LLMs make it extremely easy to generate massive volumes of texts, pages, articles, listicles and what have you that are generic vapid SEO-friendly pap at best and bizzarre nonsense misinformation at worst, drowning useful information in a sea of vapid noise and rendering internet searches increasingly useless.

The way LLMs are being incorporated into customer service and similar services not only, again, encourages further immiseration of customer service workers, but it's also completely useless for most customers.

A very annoyingly vocal part the population of AI art enthusiasts, fanatics and promoters do tend to talk about it in a way that directly or indirectly demeans the merit and skill of human artists and implies that they think of anyone who sees anything worthwile in the process of creation itself rather than the end product as stupid or deluded.

So you can probably tell by now that I don't hold AI art or writing in very high regard. However (and here's the part that'll get me called an AI techbro, or get people telling me that I'm just jealous of REAL artists because I lack the drive to create art of my own, or whatever else) I do have some criticisms of the way people have been responding to it, and have voiced such criticisms in the past.

I think a lot of the opposition to AI art has critstallized around unexamined gut reactions, whipping up a moral panic, and pressure to outwardly display an acceptable level of disdain for it. And in particular I think this climate has made a lot of people very prone to either uncritically entertain and adopt regressive ideas about Intellectual Propety, OR reveal previously held regressive ideas about Intellectual Property that are now suddenly more socially acceptable to express:

(I wanna preface this section by stating that I'm a staunch intellectual property abolitionist for the same reason I'm a private property abolitionist. If you think the existence of intellectual property is a good thing, a lot of my ideas about a lot of stuff are gonna be unpalatable to you. Not much I can do about it.)

A lot of people are suddenly throwing their support behind any proposal that promises stricter copyright regulations to combat AI art, when a lot of these also have the potential to severely udnermine fair use laws and fuck over a lot of independent artist for the benefit of big companies.

It was very worrying to see a lot of fanfic authors in particular clap for the George R R Martin OpenAI lawsuit because well... a lot of them don't realize that fanfic is a hobby that's in a position that's VERY legally precarious at best, that legally speaking using someone else's characters in your fanfic is as much of a violation of copyright law as straight up stealing entire passages, and that any regulation that can be used against the latter can be extended against the former.

Similarly, a lot of artists were cheering for the lawsuit against AI art models trained to mimic the style of specific artists. Which I agree is an extremely scummy thing to do (just like a human artist making a living from ripping off someone else's work is also extremely scummy), but I don't think every scummy act necessarily needs to be punishable by law, and some of them would in fact leave people worse off if they were. All this to say: If you are an artist, and ESPECIALLY a fan artist, trust me. You DON'T wanna live in a world where there's precedent for people's artstyles to be considered intellectual property in any legally enforceable way. I know you wanna hurt AI art people but this is one avenue that's not worth it.

Especially worrying to me as an indie musician has been to see people mention the strict copyright laws of the music industry as a positive thing that they wanna emulate. "this would never happen in the music industry because they value their artists copyright" idk maybe this is a the grass is greener type of situation but I'm telling you, you DON'T wanna live in a world where copyright law in the visual arts world works the way it does in the music industry. It's not worth it.

I've seen at least one person compare AI art model training to music sampling and say "there's a reason why they cracked down on sampling" as if the death of sampling due to stricter copyright laws was a good thing and not literally one of the worst things to happen in the history of music which nearly destroyed several primarily black music genres. Of course this is anecdotal because it's just One Guy I Saw Once, but you can see what I mean about how uncritical support for copyright law as a tool against AI can lead people to adopt increasingly regressive ideas about copyright.

Similarly, I've seen at least one person go "you know what? Collages should be considered art theft too, fuck you" over an argument where someone else compared AI art to collages. Again, same point as above.

Similarly, I take issue with the way a lot of people seem EXTREMELY personally invested in proving AI art is Not Real Art. I not only find this discussion unproductive, but also similarly dangerously prone to validating very reactionary ideas about The Nature Of Art that shouldn't really be entertained. Also it's a discussion rife with intellectual dishonesty and unevenly applied definition and standards.

When a lot of people present the argument of AI art not being art because the definition of art is this and that, they try to pretend that this is the definition of art the've always operated under and believed in, even when a lot of the time it's blatantly obvious that they're constructing their definition on the spot and deliberately trying to do so in such a way that it doesn't include AI art.

They never succeed at it, btw. I've seen several dozen different "AI art isn't art because art is [definition]". I've seen exactly zero of those where trying to seriously apply that definition in any context outside of trying to prove AI art isn't art doesn't end up in it accidentally excluding one or more non-AI artforms, usually reflecting the author's blindspots with regard to the different forms of artistic expression.

(However, this is moot because, again, these are rarely definitions that these people actually believe in or adhere to outside of trying to win "Is AI art real art?" discussions.)

Especially worrying when the definition they construct is built around stuff like Effort or Skill or Dedication or The Divine Human Spirit. You would not be happy about the kinds of art that have traditionally been excluded from Real Art using similar definitions.

Seriously when everyone was celebrating that the Catholic Church came out to say AI art isn't real art and sharing it as if it was validating and not Extremely Worrying that the arguments they'd been using against AI art sounded nearly identical to things TradCaths believe I was like. Well alright :T You can make all the "I never thought I'd die fighting side by side with a catholic" legolas and gimli memes you want, but it won't change the fact that the argument being made by the catholic church was a profoundly conservative one and nearly identical to arguments used to dismiss the artistic merit of certain forms of "degenerate" art and everyone was just uncritically sharing it, completely unconcerned with what kind of worldview they were lending validity to by sharing it.

Remember when the discourse about the Gay Sex cats pic was going on? One of the things I remember the most from that time was when someone went "Tell me a definition of art that excludes this picture without also excluding Fountain by Duchamp" and how just. Literally no one was able to do it. A LOT of people tried to argue some variation of "Well, Fountain is art and this image isn't because what turns fountain into art is Intent. Duchamp's choice to show a urinal at an art gallery as if it was art confers it an element of artistic intent that this image lacks" when like. Didn't by that same logic OP's choice to post the image on tumblr as if it was art also confer it artistic intent in the same way? Didn't that argument actually kinda end up accidentally validating the artistic status of every piece of AI art ever posted on social media? That moment it clicked for me that a lot of these definitions require applying certain concepts extremely selectively in order to make sense for the people using them.

A lot of people also try to argue it isn't Real Art based on the fact that most AI art is vapid but like. If being vapid definitionally excludes something from being art you're going to have to exclude a whooole lot of stuff along with it. AI art is vapid. A lot of art is too, I don't think this argument works either.

Like, look, I'm not really invested in trying to argue in favor of The Artistic Merits of AI art but I also find it extremely hard to ignore how trying to categorically define AI art as Not Real Art not only is unproductive but also requires either a) applying certain parts of your definition of art extremely selectively, b) constructing a definition of art so convoluted and full of weird caveats as to be functionally useless, or c) validating extremely reactionary conservative ideas about what Real Art is.

Some stray thoughts that don't fit any of the above sections.

I've occassionally seen people respond to AI art being used for shitposts like "A lot of people have affordable commissions, you could have paid someone like $30 to draw this for you instead of using the plagiarism algorithm and exploiting the work of real artists" and sorry but if you consider paying an artist a rate that amounts to like $5 for several hours of work a LESS exploitative alternative I think you've got something fucked up going on with your priorities.

Also it's kinda funny when people comment on the aforementioned shitposts with some variation of "see, the usage of AI art robs it of all humor because the thing that makes shitposts funny is when you consider the fact that someone would spend so much time and effort in something so stupid" because like. Yeah that is part of the humor SOMETIMES but also people share and laugh at low effort shitposts all the time. Again you're constructing a definition that you don't actually believe in anywhere outside of this type of conversations. Just say you don't like that it's AI art because you think it's morally wrong and stop being disingenuous.

So yeah, this is pretty much everything I believe about the topic.

I don't "defend" AI art, but my opposition to it is firmly rooted in my principles, and that means I refuse to uncritically accept any anti-AI art argument that goes against those same principles.

If you think not accepting and parroting every Anti-AI art argument I encounter because some of them are ideologically rooted in things I disagree with makes me indistinguishable from "AI techbros" you're working under a fucked up dichotomy.

[doyoulikethissong-poll]

The Avalanches - Frontier Psychiatrist 2000

"Frontier Psychiatrist" is a song by Australian electronic music group the Avalanches, that was released on 21 August 2000 as the second single from the group's debut album Since I Left You. It is built around several elements sampled from other music; Avalanches members Robbie Chater and Darren Seltman sampled music from several vinyl records in the production and creation of Since I Left You. The prominent orchestral sample heard throughout the track is sourced from a recording by the Enoch Light Singers of the 1968 composition "My Way of Life". The track also contains several vocal samples of Canadian comedy duo Wayne and Shuster, the most prominent of these samples taken from the duo's comedy routine "Frontier Psychiatrist", as well as the John Waters movie Polyester.

Only the aforementioned samples are credited in the liner notes of Since I Left You; various other uncredited samples are used in the track, with sources ranging from Harvey Mandel's 1968 cover of the spiritual "Wade in the Water", and comedy routines by Flip Wilson, sketches from Sesame Street, and Maurice Jarre's main theme from Lawrence of Arabia. The closing mariachi band plays "El Negro Zumbón", first performed by Flo Sandon's, who doubles Silvana Mangano in the 1951 movie Anna.

Upon release, it peaked at number 18 on the UK Singles Chart and number 49 in the group's native Australia, becoming their first single to enjoy commercial success. "Frontier Psychiatrist" was well received by music critics, who praised the Avalanches' use of samples.

The "Frontier Psychiatrist" music video, directed by Tom Kuntz and Mike Maguire, was the runner-up in the "Best Music Video" category at the 2002 Rushes Soho Shorts Film Festival. Pitchfork Media placed the video at number 19 on their list of the "Top 50 Music Videos of the 2000s". An alternative video was made, featuring actors acting out the 'dialogue' of the track in various scenes, including a psychiatrist's office and "Dexter's" bedroom. In addition, Rorschach ink-blots are animated to reflect various samples in the track.

"Frontier Psychiatrist" received a total of 73,2% yes votes!

[making-you-in-spore]

have you checked out / do you have any thoughts on any of the recent spore-like indie games? talking about stuff like The Sapling or Elysian Eclipse

i'm not really much of a gamer outside of a select few games i've been playing for years on end, but it's cool that people are trying to recapture the charm of spore. i support them fully, and i hope they make good games with their premise.

however, unless you're really truly dedicated to what spore is as a game, none of them are going to be spore 2. spore's creature creator is only one part of its genius - it is a community, creativity oriented game at its core, and an actual game second.

if the game you're making doesn't have the extensive creation power, procedural animations, randomly seeded creatures and creations, etc- it won't be spore 2. if you don't have the ability to implement your creations into someone else's game with something as simple as a png, it won't be spore 2.

if you don't have the goofy, bouncy, janky animations and personality of spore, it will not be spore 2.

spore may not have "lived up to its expectations" as people say. but it is an absolute marvel of video game engineering, especially for its time. nothing anyone has made has ever lived up to spore as we got it. i need to emphasize that all of the data for things you create is stored in png files in your documents folder.

these pngs alone store all the data for your creations. that's fucking brilliant, considering they're only a few kilobytes in size. my entire creature folder is less than 6mb in size.

spore is an infinitely huge game with some of the best file optimization practices i have ever seen, if not downright the best.

i don't think we'll ever get anything like this again in our lifetimes, and i both mourn and celebrate that. i sincerely hope that sporelikes take off and we eventually get one that almost captures the feeling of the original spore, but it won't be very likely in this lifetime.

i hope one day they prove me wrong, though.

[pookietv]

close quarters | arthur frederick

hiii!!! sorry i've been gone so long,,, been sitting on this idea for a while but its just SO fluffy

and you guys deserve a treat cause i have been slacking on uploads so ...... hope u enjoy!!!

locked in had been an experience, to say the least. at first you had been terrified, you were a smaller youtuber, and you were worried how your personality would come across over the fourteen days. of course, you were excited too, to meet people and have a new experience, but two weeks with no outdoor contact, no time of day, no phone? it was a little daunting.

you had been one of the last people to enter the locked in house, pulling up to the car with your small footasylum bag, and opening the door to gasps.

there was a rush to the front door once people had heard it click, and you were first bombarded by introductions from the girls. they were all so sweet, bringing you into the room where everyone had sat, a group of roughly ten people, and you looked around with a kind of taken aback smile as everyone started introducing themselves.

"am i the last one to come in?" you asked to the group, receiving some nods.

"we think so, yeah," anisa said with a smile, and you nodded back in return.

"so i'm guessing people have already had their pick of the beds?" you grinned in a slightly joking manner.

"yeah, you're unfortunately stuck in the bed next to me," one of the boys you had been yet to introduce yourself to said with a half smile, "though, the good news is i don't snore,"

you giggled and nodded, "thank god for that, hm? i'm y/n, it's nice to meet you,"

"i'm arthur, it's nice to meet you too!" he smiled back, "so, are you a youtuber?"

"well, i mean, kind of? i started on instagram, but i do youtube now too! but i was pretty late in the game," you joked slightly awkwardly, "what about you?"

"yeah, i do youtube, kinda commentary videos?" he said, and you nodded back again.

"well, that sounds interesting," you said, "you'll have to tell me about that later," you smiled back at him, and he nodded.

"ah yes, the most boring night story ever - i mansplain my videos to you," he joked, and you giggled back.

within the first couple of days, routine had established throughout the house - in the mornings, you would wake up and shower, before chatting and getting ready with the girls around the makeup table, gossiping about teams, challenges and anything else that could cross your mind before heading downstairs, most likely being met by some abhorrent meal creation from one of the boys that even uni students couldn't cook up.

the days usually filled up, although slowly, and it was surprisingly peaceful to you without a phone - the challenges brought a bit of structure, and the chats with sugarlips and being set secret tasks made the house more lively.

and arthur - the poor boy didn't leave you alone. not that you minded, of course. across the days so far you had been in the house, the playful banter between the two of you had fell into place nicely. as soon as he found out you played chess, it was game over, any spare minute of your day became sitting on the beanbags, listening to arthur chatter on about random facts whilst playing you at chess.

it was endearing, really - listening to his wide range of facts from animals and nature to physics and space, you enjoyed that there was someone in there just as nerdy as you.

but the close, quickly developing friendship between arthur and yourself didn't go unnoticed, neither from the house, or the viewers: with the few comments you would get shown each night often entailing some teasing joke about flirty vibes between the two of you, but you tried your best to ignore it.

it was probably just made up and dramatised for the camera, and you certainly weren't the first, nor the last to have some kind of romanticised relationship in the locked in house, so you tried to keep the silly thoughts to yourself, i mean you still had a week left, right?

when the text alarm went off, and a shout from one of the boys gathered everyone quickly to the front room, all around the screen, you had been chatting to anisa and anastasia, both finishing up and adding final touches to your makeup, before running down the stairs to join everyone.

it was there where you were met with the lit up board, with the words 'this is cuffing season' on the screen and you quirked your eyebrow slightly.

"oh, is this the handcuff challenge thing, like they did last year?" johnny said, and laughter came from around the room, lamenting jokes being made of who people would hate to be stuck with.

"better lock my boy arthur up with you know you footasylum!" steph announced, bringing another round of giggles as you looked over to arthur, the tips of his ears slightly reddened with embarrassment as he gave you a slight smile and an almost-cocky shrug of his shoulders.

'you will all be cuffed to eachother until further notice. there will be challenges throughout the day with chances to win your freedom and the unlock key to your cuffs.' the next text tone came through, and it ended with the final 'report to the store room in these pairs to collect your handcuffs' with a list of who would be stuck with one another.

as your eyes scanned the board, a huff of a laugh came from you as it confirmed that you would indeed be cuffed to arthur, leading a fit of giggles to come from the girls, and left arthur with an even redder face as the boys clapped him on the back teasingly.

watching each pairing go in and return with a pair of metal handcuffs was more than entertaining, watching johnny and jamie argue immediately about tugging on them, and anastasia and anisa struggling with the simple co-ordination of losing a hand didn't fare well as you and arthur entered the store room.

"hello, arthur and y/n," the slight robotic voice, known as sugarlips, relayed through the room, and i grinned at arthur a little as we saw the single pair of handcuffs left on the chair, "please cuff yourselves together until further notice,"

"sugarlips, you sadistic individual, is there any reason in particular it's me and arthur?" you giggled yourself.

"footasylum thought that since you and arthur were always next to eachother anyways, this challenge would be easy for you two," it repeated, and arthur let out a mock groan and put one hand over his face for a moment.

"you need help putting it on?" he asked for a moment, grasping your wrist gently, "i'll put it on your left and i'll put it on my right, i don't mind having the struggle since we're both right handed," he grinned for a moment, clicking the handcuff over your wrist, the cool metal a slight shock before he then in turn clicked it over his own wrist.

the start of the day wasn't too difficult, you sat at the beanbags playing chess as usual, and watched as jamal tried his best to do his workout, steph laying on the floor next to him with only her arm raised, attached to his, in order to give him slight mobility as he struggled with usually simple movements.

"i reckon eating may be a bit of a struggle," you laughed a little to arthur, as he moved his piece with his less dominant hand, "since you've got your right attached to mine,"

"hmm, maybe," he grinned back, shrugging himself slightly, head tilted vaguely down but eyes still looking at you, gently hooded, "well, i could always make you feed me, since i was the gentleman and let you have your good hand." he teased back, and you rolled your eyes playfully.

"only in your dreams am i feeding you, mr television," you giggle back, eyes focused on the chess board in prayer that you wouldn't look up and reveal your burning pink cheeks.

after you moved your knight once more - defensively, as you realised the more times you played against arthur, that he was quite an attacking player, he looked up at you again.

"they feel weird, don't they? like, obviously we've never been in handcuffs before, so, it's a weird feeling having your hand restricted, right?" he said, quirking a slight smile.

you grinned a little more at him, eyes crinkled slightly, "how do you know i've never been in handcuffs?" you teased, and he raised his eyebrows a slight bit.

"well, i assumed you'd never been arrested - you've not been arrested, have you?" he said, his face clearly betraying shock and not quite catching on to the joke you had been trying to make.

"ah, sweet innocent arthur, you don't have to be arrested to be in handcuffs," you giggled, looking up at him and keeping the wide provoking smile as you watched arthur's eyes widen in realisation, almost choking on his own saliva.

"j-jesus, well, um," he managed to cough out, face painted with a shy awkwardness as he laughed a little. "didn't expect to be hearing that about you," he joked back.

"well, i'm just full of surprises, hey?" you laughed slightly, before raising an eyebrow at him, "and besides, i'm liking being handcuffed to you," you said, before being interrupted by another text tone, and a shout to go to the challenge room.

safe to say, you and arthur had failed the challenge - a relatively simple one, a red light green light style game race to the end to try and be the first one to grab a key, which would unlock your handcuffs. but with your less than brilliant co-ordination, you wobbled slightly when you were supposed to stay still, eliminating yourself and arthur.

you had apologised profusely, but he shrugged and grinned it off, said it was no big deal. once the challenge was over, and johnny and jamie had been freed, they lamented in being no longer connected to one another, playing football in the small outside area whilst everyone else tried to figure how to pass their time being connected to their partner.

you and arthur ended up sat in the shared bedroom, with two beds pushed together, due to the handcuffs you of course had to follow along, so now you had both ended up sat next to one another, hearing the occasional noise from outside.

"locked in has been... so strange, so far," you murmured out, and arthur grinned a little back at you.

"yeah, i suppose. what makes you say that?" he asked, and your shrugged your shoulders slightly.

"well, a week ago i hadn't even heard of you. now you pester me everyday and i'm handcuffed to you," you giggled slightly.

"hadn't even heard of me? wow, that's harsh," he joked, and you rolled your eyes playfully.

"oh come on, as if you had heard of me either," you said back, and he shrugged a little.

"my friends had, when i told them i was doing locked in, and we searched the line up, i did my research on you," he said, voice softer and relaxed, "y'know, found your instagram and youtube and things, i watched a bit."

you looked up at him with slight surprise, "oh yeah? why didn't you mention earlier, then?"

"thought i would come across weird or something?" he said back, and your eyebrows furrowed.

"why would it be weird?" you asked gently, leaning forward out of curiosity.

"well, just cause..." he paused for a moment, letting out a breath he had barely realised he was holding, "i mean, you know, i thought you were attractive, hoped i'd get to know you better in here - thought it would seem strange if i went, 'oh, i actually cyberstalked you and know a lot already,'" he said, his eyes following your face, reading for a reaction as his own cheeks flushed.

you leaned back slightly, letting your gaze rest on. arthur for a moment with a clumsy smile, "you thought i was pretty?" you repeated, and he nodded dumbly.

"well, you're stunning." he murmured out.

you looked down at the bed for a moment, almost awkwardly forgetting about the copious amounts of cameras and microphones that picked up every detail of this exchange.

"well, thank you arthur," you smiled at him shyly, pushing yourself a smidge closer to him, and leaning your head slightly against his shoulder, "that's really sweet."

it went silent after that for a couple moments, but not an uncomfortable silence - a gentle hum of background noise and the steadiness of arthurs breath was all you focused on.

"sorry if my shoulders uncomfortable," he said quietly, and you giggled a slight bit at that.

"it's very comfortable. sorry if my head leaning on you is uncomfortable," you joked back, and you felt his head shake a little.

"no, i like it. it's kind of relaxing, you're warm," he said back, "so, whats your favourite thing to do when you're, you know, not in here, or doing youtube?"

"simple stuff, i guess. i read a lot, but you know that already... i like to paint, i suppose that?" you said softly, shrugging a little at your own answer, "i'm not too interesting."

"you're very interesting, i think. we share space and animal facts, and i always feel like you know more than me, i'd consider that interesting. what do you like to paint?" he asked back.

"mostly landscapes, i guess. i like painting cities, and nature and things, so london's great for that. i do the occasional portrait, but i'm not the best at those," you said, slightly self deprecating in your admission.

"i'm sure you're better than you think you are, honestly," he said reassuringly, "i'd like to see them sometime."

you nodded against his shoulder, your cheek rested against the flesh of his upper arm, knees pulled close to your chest as you sat relaxed against him, "well, maybe one day, if you're lucky enough." you said, teasingly.

"do you think you'd like to see me... outside the house, i mean?" arthur continued, and you watched as his fingers played nervously in his own lap, his thumbs gently running around each other and veins becoming more visible in certain positions up his arms, his hands in his own lap meaning your hand rested on his outer thigh slightly.

"what, you mean like see each other once it's all over? 'm sure the whole house will, i mean everyone's become so close," you said reassuringly.

"i more meant, me and you, like coffee, or drinks or something?" he said, slightly quieter now.

you pulled yourself up from leaning at him for a moment to look at him - the soft brown-ness of his eyes and the gentleness of his slightly parted lips as you smiled, nodding to yourself, and leaned back against him.

"i think i'd really like that, arthur."

he nodded again, almost to himself in a reassuring way. "good, i'd like that too." he said, before pausing for a moment, "...it's weird in here, how close you feel to people quickly, just cause of the no technology, no outside world, no distractions. you feel you know people quicker, i suppose. or at least i think."

you murmur back, "i know exactly what you mean. a week ago i didn't know you, and now i'd hate not knowing you."

another soft silence blanketed, arthur's arm still slightly tensed as you rested on it, not wanting to move even slightly to risk the possibility of moving you along with it, and after five minutes of feeling your body rest slightly more against him with each passed moment and your breathing slowed ever so slightly, he moved his arm a little, trying to see your face.

all he was met with was eyelashes resting gently against your cheeks, lips relaxed and slightly parted, and hair falling against one side of your face.

it was all he could do to gently move himself so you could rest more comfortably against him, an infinitely more difficult task when his dominant hand was still handcuffed to yours, but none the less he allowed you to slightly curl more into his own body, pushing hair gently out of your face and looking down at you, the peaceful stillness of yourself almost making himself calmer.

he couldn't help himself but lift his eyes up to the nearest camera for a moment, remembering that this was most definitely going online for millions to see, and gave the camera a cheeky grin.

[evertomorrowart]

Best of YouTube 2023

Yes, I did spend the first week and change of January on this. I wish I could have had it done for New Years, but too many people came out with incredible work in December, so waiting turned out for the best.

What these creators do are a huge influence on my life, I would honestly have difficulty doing what I do without them. That isn't to say that my favorites of the year are *only* on this image--It was almost impossible to narrow down my favorites. Many creators I wanted to include couldn't fit on a single page, and too many of them made more than one video I wished I could draw too!

But, to all of you, thank you for what you do. You're an inspiration.

For those who don't know, further is an explanation.

At the bottom center is an artistic masterpiece by Defunctland: "Journey to EPCOT Center: A Symphonic History." Over the last several years, Defunctland has risen from delightfully-entertaining commentary on decommissioned theme park attractions to occasionally dropping profound statements on the creation of art itself. "Journey to EPCOT Center: A Symphonic History" is worth treating like the cinematic experience it is: No second screen, you sit your ass down in front of a TV, set down the phone, and then you *watch it.* Any Disney, theme park, or independent film fan needs to pay attention to this one.

Bottom left is Caelan Conrad with their piece "Drop the T - The Deadly Consequences of Gay Respectability Politics." While I do think they've done more visually or artistically-daring pieces before, "Drop the T" is one of the most important videos released on YouTube in today's current climate of hate. We as queer folk (and our allies) need to understand how integral every identity of the queer experience has been since the start of the Civil Rights movement (and before!). While we are not identical, we *are* inseparable, and we deserve having our real history easily accessible.

TERFs and other conservative mouthpieces need not reply. Your opinions are trash. 😘

I cannot stop watching and rewatching this video by @patricia-taxxon, "On the Ethics of Boinking Animal People." It's not just a defense of furry fandom and its eccentricities, it's a thoughtful and passionate analysis of what the artform achieves that purely human representation can't. Patricia goes outside of her usual essay format to directly speak to the viewer about the elements that define furry media (the most succinct definition I've ever heard) and just how *human* an act loving animal cartoons really is.

As an artist who can draw furry characters, but never really got into erotic furry art, this video is a treasure. Why did I choose to have her drawn as a Ghibli character, hanging out with one of the tanukis from "Pom Poko?" Guess you'll have to watch, bruh.

Philosophy Tube continuously puts out videos that I would put on this list--I'm not even sure that "A Man Plagiarised my Work: Women, Money, and the Nation" is the best work she released in 2023. However, this video got many conversations going between myself and my partner, and the twist on the tail end of the video shocked us both to such a degree that I had no choice.

At the very tail end of the year, Big Joel released "Fear of Death." On his Little Joel channel, he described it as the singularly best video he's ever done, and I'm inclined to agree. However, for this illustration, I ended up repeatedly going back to a mini-series he did earlier in the year: "Three Stories at the End of the World." All three videos are deeply moving and haunting, and I was brought to tears by "We Must Destroy What the Bomb Cannot." While it may be relatively-common knowledge that the original Gojira (Godzilla) film is horror grappling with the devastation America's rush to atomic dominance inflicted on Japan, Big Joel still manages to bring new words to the discussion. Please watch all three of the videos, but if, for some reason, you must have only one, let it be "We Must Destroy What the Bomb Cannot."

Y'all. Let me confess something. I hate football. I hate watching it, I associate seeing it from the stadiums with some of my worst childhood experiences, I despise collegiate and professional football (as institutions that destroy bodies and offer up children at the feet of its alter as a pillar of American culture)--

I. L o a t h e. Football.

But.

F.D. Signifier could get me to watch an entire hour-plus essay on why I should at least give a passing care. AND HE DID IT. I might think "F*ck the Police," the two-parter on Black conservatism, or his essay on Black men's connection to anime might be "better" videos, but this writer did the impossible and held my limited attention span towards football long enough to make a sincere case for NFL players--and reminds us that millionaires can *in fact* be workers. That alone is testament to his skill.

Sit down and watch "The REAL Reason NFL Running Backs Aren't Getting Paid." Any good anti-capitalist owes it to themselves.

CJ the X continuously puts out stunning, emotional videos, and can do it with the most seemingly-inconsequential starting points. A 30 second song? An incestuous commercial? Five minutes of Tangled? Sure, why not. Go destroy yourself emotionally by watching them. I'm serious. Do it.

Their video Stranger Things and the Meaning of Life manages to to remind us all why the way we react to media does, in fact, matter. Yes, even nostalgia-driven, mass-media schlock. Yes, how we interact with media matters, what it says about us matters, and we all deserve to seek out the whys.

Folding Ideas has spent the last few years articulating exactly why so much of our modern world feels broken, and because of that his voice continuously lives rent-free in my brain. While the tricks that scam artists and grifters use to try to swindle us are never new, the advancement of technology changes the aesthetics of their performances. Portions of Folding Ideas' explanations might seem dry when going into detail of how stocks work in This is Financial Advice, but every bit of it is necessary to peel back the layers of techno-babble and jargon and make sense of the results of "Meme Stocks."

Jessie Gender puts out nothing but bangers, her absolute unit of a video about Star Wars might be my new favorite thing ever, but none of her work hit so profoundly in 2023 than the two-parter "The Myth of 'Male Socialization'" and "The Trauma of Masculinity." There's so much about modern life that isolates and traumatizes us, and so much of it is just shrugged off as "normal." We owe it to ourselves to see the world in more vivid a color palette than we're initially given.

Panels drawn after Kate Beaton and "Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands."

"This is Not a Video Essay" is one of the most intense and beautiful pieces of art I've ever put into my eyeballs. Why do we create? What drives us to connect?

I don't even know what else to say about the Leftist Cooks' work, it repeatedly transcends the medium and platform. Watch every single one of their videos, but especially this one.

The likelihood you are terminally online and yet haven't heard of Hbomberguy's yearly forrays into destroying the careers of awful people is pretty slim. Just because it has millions of views doesn't mean that Hbomberguy's "Plagiarism and You(Tube)" isn't worth the hype. Too long? Shut up, it has chapters and YouTube holds your place, anyway. You think a deep dive into a handful of creators is only meaningless drama? Well, you're wrong, you wrong-opinion-haver. Plagiarism is an *everyone* problem because of the actual harm it creates--the history it erases, the labor it devalues, the art it marginalizes--which you would know if you watched "Plagiarism and You(Tube)".

Watch. The damn. Video.

In fact, watch all of them!

Thanks for reading this if you did.

[heph]

TLDR: Got any drawing exercises to recommend?

I’m in loooove with the way you use lines, shapes and colors/shading to show form in your art. The way you draw bodies shows a lot of understanding of the shapes that go into them, and that’s something I often personally struggle with. I’m familiar with the shapes of a face, but when it comes to connecting them to the shapes of the body and so on, I get frustrated that it’s jumbled instead of cohesive.

I was wondering, when you’re looking to practice, whether that’s anatomy, line-making, still life shapes or whatever, do you have any exercises you’ve done and would be willing to share? I’ve been trying to crawl out of the no-art-depression-hole for a bit and want to start with things that don’t take much willpower but help me improve

I might be the worst person to ask this! My relationship with art is not typical and I do not practice mindfully! (I just draw whatever I want and that's my practice, y'know?

Anyways, here's my progress of how I learnt to draw :3

Step 1 is proportions - breaking up the human body into manageable blocks and pieces. And step 2 is learning the muscles that build up the body, and from there you can simplify as needed... Or do that thing anime art kids do and skip directly to the simplified bit! (You probably shouldn't do that but if it's a hobby who cares!)

For specific tutorials, I find that proko is probably the best mix of entertaining/educational content you can find, but aside from that I watch a lot of speedpaints.

As a sort of get rich quick scheme, I think the absolute easiest way to get stupidly good at art is studying perspective - but you at least need a basic understanding of proportions and anatomy before you can draw someone in a funky perspective.

Everything in life is in perspective, and every piece of work you will ever make will have perspective in it. Perspective is sort of like an all-encompassing thing in our reality that you don't realise is there, and maybe even not realise is missing in your work (just that something feels... Wrong) AND LIKE NOBODY EVER TALKS ABOUT IT! WHAT THE FLIP!!!

I don't really have a specific source for learning perspective, because I've been on-and-off trying to wrap my head around it for a few years (I'm still awful at it but I'm getting there...!) here's a video!

I do think that drawing with progression in mind might help, but I think with art (as a hobby) the most important thing is probably love for a special guy and joy of creation. You have to love what you're drawing and the simple act of creating, or it just won't work out. If you're in a depression hole maybe just try creating for the sake of it, and don't give yourself too many expectations :)

[lopsidedgryffins]

green’s inner conflict and how it is manifested through greenscreen: an analysis

TLDR at end!

disclaimer: this is probably really ooc, and is mostly speculation by a mediocre at best student of literature ++ i’ve never been good at lit, so this analysis is likely not gonna be great :/ feel free to criticise/comment on this analysis! i’m open to feedback if there’s any :)

SPOILERS FOR INFLUENCER ARC EPS 1 AND 2 AHEAD!

we first see greenscreen when the cg abandons an overdone/overedited video of theirs - he is quite literally borne of neglect, and is thus a symbol of green’s negligence towards his friends and the inner turmoil he faces in trying to cater to all his viewers. 

why does greenscreen appear as, well, green? green is basically fighting with himself, a form of inner conflict manifested through the CG’s fight with what is essentially green’s neglect and negative emotions. 

this is also super interesting because inner conflict is usually internal and invisible: that’s what most of it is about. however, alan and the team present it here through actual physical conflict, which parallels green’s fight with himself - to make the content that he and his friends want to make, or to cater to the viewers and leave his friends behind, becoming increasingly self-centred? 

in the first fight with greenscreen, the CG beat him as a group, and green even takes a photo of them together post-fight to upload to instagram. this symbolises green’s (temporary) triumph over his neglect for others, still caring for his friends. 

however, over time, green starts to drift from his friends. he distances himself from them, isolating himself in a minecraft room by himself to make videos, neglecting friendships, genuine feelings and enjoyment in preference for catering to his viewers and all their preferences, taking each piece of criticism too seriously. therefore, as green’s neglect toward his friendships with the CG continues and increases, greenscreen grows in power as the negativity and abandonment become worse.  

before we continue with that though, let’s talk about the recycle bin!

the recycle bin is a recurring figure across AvA - being used in both AvA and AvM to get rid of applications. that’s what a recycle bin is at its core - a receptacle for waste, left to be neglected, never truly emptied. both greenscreen and the deleted videos of the CG are thrown into the recycle bin, where they perhaps fester into who-knows-what in ep 3. you know who else was also unceremoniously thrown into a recycle bin/deleted? victim! after he escaped from the animator’s neglect towards his feelings and sentience, victim is out to get his revenge. the recycle bin takes it’s inhabitants’ negativity (in greenscreen’s case, neglect), and turns it stronger upon their escape. green’s dunking of greenscreen into the recycle bin in ep 1 is symbolic of him ignoring his tendency to ignore and leave his friends behind in the pursuit of content creation. he does not actively work on stopping such behaviour, instead leaving it in a metaphorical (and literal) recycle bin, letting his habit of neglecting others in the chase for something he desires to grow. 

my theory is that greenscreen may come back in the last episode of the influencer arc, beating green at first, symbolising green’s negligence towards his friends’ feelings consuming him in his pursuit of content creation, but this is overcome as he realises the situation he is in - where he finally beats greenscreen and with him, his internal conflict, not by throwing him into the recycle bin where the neglect will be left to fester, but by coming to terms with his plight, communicating with his friends and agreeing to create the content that they want to create, putting an end to the negligence and laying greenscreen to rest.

(as of writing this, green’s newest video (reacting to my friends having fun without me) shows the rest of the CG being thrown around? it looks like they’re fighting something/someone, which is very likely whatever spawned from the recycle bin - i’m guessing this is greenscreen.)

TLDR: greenscreen is a physical manifestation of green’s neglect towards his friends AND his internal conflict, who will return in ep3 of the influencer arc, but will ultimately be beaten by green which symbolises him stepping back from content creation.

thanks for reading till the end! really appreciate it if you read the whole thing - once again this is purely my own speculation, opinions and theory!

[nicksbestie]

Kittens (part two) - M. Sturniolo

READ PART ONE FIRST!! YOU CAN READ IT HERE!

Summary : One specific person becomes a regular at the animal shelter you work at, always visiting the cats <3

Warnings : mentions of anxiety but nothing graphic!

Word Count : 1146

Pairing : Matt Sturniolo/Reader

A/N : part two!! this won't become a series but i felt it deserved a little more!! it's written in a later time, a epilogue scene, if you will!

The cats being in a different room that day had been one of the best things to ever happen to you.

You hadn’t known it at the time, but that conversation with Matt, starting by leading him to a separate room, had blossomed into a relationship. Matt had started coming back every day, coming up with stupid reasons to talk to you, claiming he needed help finding a cat that had run away, only for the cat to walk right out from under the tower when Matt walked back in, but you let him do it every time. You felt like you couldn’t resist the opportunity to spend time with him, and if you weren’t busy, why should you?

He spent hours there every day, which made you wonder what he did for work, because how could he afford to not be at his job? After a couple of days where he came in one after another, you finally asked. It felt like a fair question because he clearly knew where you worked, so it was an eye for an eye, or something like that. He told you he did content creation with his brothers, and you looked him up later that evening, eyes nearly popping out of your head when you noticed just how famous they were. You weren’t someone who lived in the dark, but you didn’t keep up with every new thing going on, so there were a ton of famous people you didn’t know about. 

You weren’t going to lie, you stalked him that night. One thing hit you like a truck when you noticed it, though. Matt had told you that he came into the shelter when his anxiety was getting bad, and he had been coming in every Wednesday and Friday per week, and as you scrolled through their shared YouTube, you noticed that’s when videos were posted. You wondered how much he enjoyed his job, or if he did it because it made good money, or if the posting just really got to him because he worried about what people would think. Later you would ask, and you would learn that the latter was the reason, and that he really did love his job, it just got to him sometimes, knowing that so many people would pick apart everything he had done or said in a video. 

After about two weeks of him coming back to the shelter every single day, talking to you whenever he could, he finally asked for your number. He waited until you were off of the clock, making sure that he could never be accused of being unprofessional by anyone. He waited until the shelter closed, like normal, and you thought he had left, but he waited until you both stepped outside, and the door was locked, and then he asked. You let him have it with no complaints, and he texted you for the first time as soon as he got home, asking if you had also made it home safe. You responded much quicker than you would like to admit, letting him know you were home and safe. 

He would text you before he would come into the shelter, letting you know that he was on the way, and you two became incredibly close. Hanging out outside of work, spending time while he was at the shelter, if you were in the same vicinity, you were practically attached at the hip. You met his brothers, and they were so different from him that it was refreshing. You loved how they all got along so well, and even their banter in videos wasn’t coming from a true point of anger, but all lighthearted. You watched every video as they got posted, and sometimes all four of you hung out together before or after filming. You loved being in their company, and you had found a wonderful friend in Matt, but you had no idea that it would eventually become more than that. 

You’d hung out so much on your own, you knew you two worked together, you both knew that the other was attractive, you both knew that you liked the other. But you had no idea that it would eventually end up working out. Nick and Chris knew as well, being able to see it in the way that you interacted with each other. They kept it to themselves, allowing you two to navigate the developments of your relationship with each other by yourselves, but both of them were hoping that you would just get your head out of your ass already and get together. Matt was the first one to say anything. 

You knew he found love gestures sweet, you’d seen that in a video, and you’d seen it in the way that he interacted with people he loved platonically, being a gift giver, but when he showed up at your door with flowers, you were still in shock. He’d stayed the night that evening, soaking in the fact that the person he felt so strongly for had the same feelings for him. It had only snowballed in the best possible way from there. You did everything together, you went everywhere together, and sometimes that could cause codependency problems, but you were lucky to not have to deal with that. You were used to him leaving for a couple of hours to film, but he always came back as quickly as possible. 

It was refreshing for Matt to fall in love with someone who didn’t love him for the numbers, for the following, for the money, for the fame. This was someone who saw him off guard, who actually loved him for the person he was off of the camera, for all of the good in him and all of the bad. He wasn’t sure that he would ever find someone like this due to his popularity across the Internet, but he never took you for granted, not for a single moment. And those were the words that spilled out from between his lips, when he was knelt in front of you, ring box in hand, just three amazing years later, and the same ones that he would repeat at the altar six months after that. 

You didn’t work at the animal shelter anymore, but you and Matt were regular visitors and volunteers. Some of the people that you used to work with were still there, and shortly after you were wed, you picked out a kitten together, from the same Cat Cottages that Matt used to sit in for hours every week. Glancing over at the man you’d fallen in love with, sitting on the couch with the now one year old black cat in his lap, you knew that had been the best job you would ever work, and it brought you something much more rewarding than the money.

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