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Maps Atlas

[her-favorite]

COLLEAGUES

Luke Cooper x F!Reader

Summary: You and Luke always tried to convince yourselves that you hated each other, but once you both come to your senses.. things heat up..

Warnings: SMUT!!

a/n: the office is and has been one of my fav shows so I'm really happy to be able to write about it 🤭, i made luke really sweet to the reader bc I can

wc: 3938

-

"You think they did it?" Meredith took another bite of her sandwich, looking over at you and Luke by the shelves in the annex. Everyone sat in the break room, eating their lunch.

Angela scoffed at the question, rolling her eyes and picking at her salad. There were many hums across the room.

"Totally! Do you see the way he looks at her butt?"

"Kevin!" They all groan, looking away from the man. He threw his hands up, ready to defend himself.

"They totally have. I mean, have you seen the way they look at each other?" Phyllis ignores the man next to her, looking back at you two.

"The way who looks at who?" Michael walks in, putting his hands in his pockets. He had a smile on his face, ready to hear the drama.

"No one!" Pam quickly declines, shaking her head and looking back down at her food. She always knew that you had to stop Michael before he could start.

"If one of you doesn't tell me, I will start screaming." He threatens, giving a look to everyone.

"Y/N and Luke." Phyllis answers fast, not wanting to deal with her managers ridiculous antics. All of the employees sighed once they saw Michael's face light up. "Michael please don't.."

"I hired them! Matchmaker!" He points his thumbs to himself, smiling wide and looking at the camera.

"Michael, they're not together. It's just gossip." Pam tries to explain, looking at her husband to try and back her up.

"Yeah, it's just talk." Jim agrees, nodding his head.

Michael turns his head around, looking at the two together. They stood close together, the personal space rule being broken. You both were looking through files, occasionally talking or mumbling something none of the others could hear.

"Look at them, though! They're in kissing distance!" He pointed at them, many of the others hissing at him to put his finger away because of how obvious it was. He quickly shushed them, rolling his eyes.

"Michael, just please don't make this a big deal."

-

"Hey, Y/N." You jumped slightly as you heard your bosses voice beside your ear. You looked to your right, Michael Scott's face staring back at you.

"Yes, Michael?" You sighed, leaning back in your chair. Your desk was out in the main area, but near the back. There had been an extra desk by Creed (despite the crazy amount of protest by you and the others) and Michael decided that it was fine for you since no one was there. Thankfully, Creed was always too busy by writing down his thoughts on Google Docs and eating mung beans to pay enough attention to you.

"So," He dragged out the vowel, moving up to lean against your desk. He looked at the camera, his lips puckered then back at you. You took a quick glance at the camera lens as well, confused about what this whole situation was about.

"You and Luke, huh?" He smirked, nudging his shoulder forward into the air. You furrowed your eyebrows, crossing your arms against your chest.

"What about me and Luke?" You ask, genuinely confused on what he was questioning. He sighed, sitting up slightly.

"You know.." He looked at the wall, trying to think of the right words. "You two are together." He said, more as a statement than a question.

"What?" You laughed. "No. No, definitely not." You shook your head, chuckles escaping your lips. You sat up, leaning forward on your elbows that rested on your arm chairs.

"Wha.. What?" He freezes, staring at you.

"Did you think that we were.. a thing?" Your face showed your honesty, your eyes wandering around the rest of the room. The others that worked in the room were watching your conversation, only some looking away when you made eye contact with them. "You guys thought that I would date him?" You get up from your chair, looking around.

"I mean.. we see the way you guys look at each other." Phyllis defends, playing with her pen. "That's how Bob and I looked at each other before we were together." She smiled, looking at Stanley who rolled his eyes.

"What? We hate each other. Don't you see how annoying he is? He can't even do his job!" Your arms were  accentuating your disbelief.

"Hey! That's my nephew!" Michael pointed at you, but stood back a little when he mumbled, "Yeah.. I guess you're right. But, hey!" His voice lowered again.

"She is right, Michael. Luke hasn't done anything we've asked of him." Dwight gets up and walks behind him. "Every time we ask him to send something to a client or the post office, he says he'll do it later and we end up finding it in the trunk of his car. Which is way too slow, by the way." He looks at the camera, his hands on his hips. "You want a fast car if you're going to try and catch an animal. The tactic is.."

"Dwight. Dwight!" Michael waves him off, watching you walk off into the kitchen. "Great job, Dwight!"

"You were the one that interrogated her!" He exclaims, throwing his hands up to his sides.

"Why don't we just leave it alone? Let them just work?" Jim suggests, leaning back in his chair and pointing at them with the pen that was in his hand.

Michael scoffed and Dwight made the same sound right after his boss did.

"Yeah, right, Jim. Let two assistants live their own lives and do their own work." He put his hands on his hips and made a face at the camera.

"Yes, do that." Jim mumbled to the camera, shaking his head and looking back at the paper on his desk.

-

"Hey, Y/N/N." Luke walked into the kitchen through the annex door, smirking at you.

"Don't call me that." You reply sharply, pouring your water into the white mug on the counter.

It was true that you hated Luke Cooper.. at least that was what you told yourself. You weren't as new as him, having been here for around a year. You've gotten used to Michael's antics and the crazy stuff that goes down at the office, but you weren't expecting a new addition any time soon. Especially when you found out it was your bosses nephew.

You should've known that he was going to be trouble.

"Why not, Y/N/N?" He came up beside you, resting his frame against the counter that you were facing towards. His irritating smirk overtook your mind, aggravating you even more.

"What do you want, Luke? Don't you have a job to do?" You gave him a look and walked around him to put the pitcher away and back into the fridge. Before you could make your way back, you stood in front if Luke who took your mug in his hands.

"Nope. But thanks for the drink, babe!" He smiles at you and sends you a wink, taking a sip of your water and walking back into the annex.

You stood still for a moment, before letting out an annoyed groan and running your hands through your hair. You walked fast towards the door that lead outside, your pace showing your irritation.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Pam called out, but you were already out the door.

Dwight looked towards the camera, "Lovers quarrel."

-

"Luke? Wha.. Why do people keep asking me about him?" You ask the camera crew, standing outside. The sun was shining right in tour eyes, your hand trying to cover the brightness. You sigh, looking around to make sure no one was around to talk to the camera.

"He gets on my last nerve. He was hired just because Michael wanted to see his nephew for the first time in 15 years. We didn't need another person." You shook your head. "I was doing all the work before, but now that there's two of us, both of us should be splitting it up; I shouldn't being doing the work for two people." You held up your fingers, thrusting them towards the camera lens, making sure they knew how mad you were.

-

"Y/N? She's fine, I guess." Luke sat at his chair in the annex, leaning back and letting his hands link together lazily in front of him.

"She says that you purposely annoy her."

Luke laughs, throwing his head back. "Of course she says that. She also says she hates me, but we all know that's not true. She only says that because I don't do any work. And get the coffee orders wrong... And steal a lot of her stuff." He pauses for a moment before shrugging his shoulders.

"But, I mean, yeah, she's fine, I guess."

-

You let out a heavy exhale as you sat at the little table in the kitchen, picking at your food. You had a book to your right, but it was long forgotten once you started to zone out.

"Hey, Y/N!" You look up once you hear Pams cheery voice. You smile at her, watching her pour some coffee for herself.

"Hey, Pam." You end up shutting the book completely as she walks over and sits near you. "What's up?" You pick up a grape with your fork and eat it.

"Uh, I wanted to apologize for everyone in the office. I know everyone's been acting weird around you and Luke, it's ridiculous." She starts to explain.

"It is! I don't understand what's going on? Why does everyone think we're together?" You ask on rapid fire, desperately trying to figure out what was happening around the office. Your eyes showed your confusion, Pam could see and sense it.

"You know how much this office loves drama," she sends a look your way, you nodding in agreement. "And I'm sorry you had to be the main subject of it. If it makes you feel any better, Jim and I totally believe you, so you have two of us on your side." She consoles, sending a soft smile your way. Your mood brightens a little, sending one back.

As soon as you opened your mouth to thank her, the door squeaked open again. "Oh, hey!" Michaels voice echoed off the walls of the small room. The both of you sighed, deciding to look away from the man and down at the table or at each other. "Girls talk! What're we talking about?" He quickly walks over and sits across from you with a wide smile on his face. The camera followed right after him (without the knowledge of you, it was recording the whole other conversation with Pam as well).

"Michael.." Pam started, but he cut her off.

"Come on, tell me!" He put his hands down on the table. "Oh, I know." He sends a smirk to the camera then at you. "This is about you and my nephew!" You sigh at his words, debating your next move. "Okay, listen, since you are dating a Scott relative, I need to give you the run down, young lady." He tries to sound series, but ends up laughing and glancing at the camera again. "You are definitely Luke's type. I mean, I can only imagine the sex-"

"Michael." Pam cuts him off, watching you walk away and out of the room.

"What? I didn't say anything?" He defends himself, now watching Pam walk out as well.

"Guess they aren't getting any."

-

"Luke, can I talk to you?" Michael asks, putting his hands on his hips. Luke was standing by your desk, clearly bothering you. You had a certain look on your face, showing your indignation.

He looks over at his uncle, taking a quick glance at you before getting up and grudgingly walking towards him. Michael leaned out of the way and his open palm pointing towards his office. Luke gives him a glare, but walks in and lazily takes a seat in the chair across from the desk.

"So, my dear nephew," Michael sits down in his chair, fixing his tie so it didn't sit on his desk. He folds his arms on the dark wood. He stares at him for a while with a smile on his face, taking quick looks at the camera.

"What?" Luke snaps, his patience running thin. If he was being honest, he would rather be annoying you by your desk then be talking to his uncle.

"So.. I heard from the grapevine that you and little ol' Y/N were together." He says, tapping his fingers on the desk.

"What? We're not together. Who told you that?" He shook his head, sitting up slightly. He did hear about all the talk around the office, but he pretended he didn't. He wasn't really sure how to react to it. He never thought of you in a way more than a frenemy. He always knew you were beautiful as soon as he walked through the office door, but he never told you that. He didn't really think much of his feelings towards you, any time he saw you he knew that he had to bother you some way. Maybe it was just his instinct, but maybe it was because it was his only way of trying to talk to you.

"I, well, uh.." Michael smacked his lips, looking off into the distance, grimacing. He rested his hand on his lips, trying to think of something.

-

"I am a master at improv. I've took it for years, I know what I'm doing." Michael sassed at the camera."

-

"Well.. Luke! Wait!" He stood up from his chair as he watched his nephew walk out of the room. Ever the drama queen, Luke ran into the annex, going straight for the break room. He groaned, rubbing his face with his hands. He say down at one of the empty chairs, putting his head in his hands.

Did he have feelings for you? The more he thought about it the more scared he got. He annoyed you because he never truly knew how to talk to you. He didn't have a problem giving people attitude, everyone knew that. But something about you made him nervous. There was no way you could like him back now.

"You okay?" His head shot up from his hands, looking at you. You stood there, leaning against the doorframe. Your question was genuine, something that surprised Luke.

"Uh, yeah. Just a little.. confused?" He tried to explain, but couldn't find the right words. He watched you walk over to him, pulling out the chair across from him and sitting down. The camera outside of the room zoomed in and out from both of you.

You let out a long sigh. "I know that we never really got off on the wrong foot. I guess I was just upset that Michael thought that I wasn't very good at my job since he had to hire another assistant to do the same job as me." You rung your hands together, a nervous habit Luke seemed to pick up on. "If I'm being honest.. I'm sorry that I treated you like that. I never meant to be rude to you, especially with the fact you're my bosses nephew." You both let out a light chuckle. You took another deep breath, "But I never really thought of you in another way than the man that was hired by his uncle." You admitted. "I never meant to cause you any harm, truly. But I never had such strong feelings for someone before." You confessed, looking at your hands, avoiding his stare. "I always tried to convince myself that I hated you, but it was never really true. At least not until now. I know you can be a pain in the ass since you never do your job," You both laugh again, making eyes contact. "But if I don't tell you now, then I probably never will." You go to leave, but you felt his hand on yours, stopping you.

Luke looked at your eyes, noticing all of the emotions in them. "I never considered it until now. I mean, I knew you were pretty, but the thought of us never crossed my mind before today. And I've realized how happy it makes me. And I know I'm an asshole and I'm mean, but I never meant to hurt you if I did. If I'm being honest with you, you mean more to me than any of these asshats in this office." You let out a chuckle, squeezing his hand.

"Can I do something stupid?"

"Depends what you mean."

Luke leaned across the table, cupping your cheek with his hand. He hesitated for a moment, before pressing his lips against yours. You didn't waste a second to kiss back, your hand reaching back to cup the back of his head and tug at his curls.

Once you break away for air, you're both smiling. It was almost as if you were knew what you wanted as you both got up from your seats and connecting your lips again. He took your hips in his hands leading you out of the room and pushing you into an empty closet. He slammed the door behind you, never taking his lips off of yours. His tongue swiped over your bottom lip, your mouth immediately granting him access.

"You're so beautiful." Luke whispered against your lips, making you smile. He pressed his lips against yours again, fumbling for the hem of your shirt. You broke apart and lifted your arms up to help him take it off. He threw it on the floor, leaning down to kiss your neck. His hair tickled you, but his cold hands on your body made you shiver. His hand cupped your bra covered breast, kneading the skin. You quietly moaned, arching your back in his hand. He sucked on the skin, biting and licking at it to leave a deep mark.

"Luke," You breathe out, your hands trying to work on his belt and the buttons on his shirt. He undid his tie, his lips hovering over yours. You helped him throw his shirt on the floor, both of your lips only ever breaking apart to take in an inhale of air.

It wasn't exactly necessary to rid both of yourself of your clothing, but you both needed it. Neither of you could deny it.

You helped him out of his pants and vice versa. His fingers grazed over your panties, stimulating your clit through the damp fabric. He pulled them down, bringing his fingers back and groaning. "You're so fucking wet." His voice sounded deeper in your ear, making you shiver. Your hands braced yourself on his shoulders, occasionally digging your nails into his soft skin.

He pushed a finger inside you, your head leaning against the wall behind you and your mouth opening in pleasure. He added another finger, curling them and letting out a strangled breath every time you moaned.

When he pulled away, you sounded in protest, but quickly shut your mouth when you felt his tip against you, scared to be too loud.

Once he pushed inside, you both groaned, your nails carving crescent moons into his shoulders. His beautiful brown eyes pierced into yours, your left hand moving up to brush into the nape of his hair. He leaned down to kiss you, quickly adding his tongue. His groan was muffled by your lips when you tugged at his curls.

His hand reached down to grab your thigh and hooking it around his hip. It have him a better angle, thrusting harder inside you, pace becoming faster as you both felt knots form in your stomachs.

"God, Y/N. You feel so- fuck- good." He whimpered against your lips, both of your chests heaving together. You felt his hand move up your body, squeezing your boob. His thumb and forefinger twisted your nipple, your mouth opening in a silent plea. Your body erupts in chills when his cold hand moved down your body again to press against your clit.

"Fuck- Luke!" You moan, your mouth not being able to stop your sounds. He groaned again, your name rolling off his tongue. His nails scratched into the skin on your thigh, knowing it would leave marks. "I'm gonna cum." You almost want to scream it, your back arching, basking in the amount of pleasure you were feeling.

"Me too. Cum for me Y/N." His thumb pressed harder on your clit, rubbing rougher circles. You clenched, the knot inside you breaking. You came with a shout, your hand immediately reaching up to cup your mouth to silence it.

Luke came shortly after with another groan of your name, his face hiding in your neck. His nose rubbed against the newly formed hickey on your skin. You both breathed heavily, your chests touching while you tried to catch your breath.

"I really like you, Luke." You whisper, the hand that was still in his hair was twisting his curls with your fingers. "I don't want this to be a passing thing." You confess, looking at the closet wall.

You felt him move, looking up at him. He had a smile on his face, leaning down to kiss you. "I really like you too. I'd also really like it if you would let me take you out on a date." He mumbled, his thumbs rubbing your cheekbones. You both smiled wide, your kiss telling him you accepted.

Once you both were done, you put your clothes back on and you tried to fix your hair with the help of Luke's compliments. Luke didn't even try to hide anything, his already wrinkly shirt even worse than usual, as well as his unbrushed hair.

He opened the door, letting you walk out in front of him. He closed the door behind him, smacking your ass, then walking away with a smirk. He sent you a wink, opening the door to the kitchen, knowing you'd have to follow him out to your desk either way.

Your face felt hot as you followed his steps, watching him pour a drink in his mug. He leaned his back against the counter, one hand resting on the hard surface. He watched you from behind the mug, noticing the way you freeze when you look out the window of the door that leads out into the main office.

Everyone stood outside of the door, looking into the small room. Kevin and Meredith had a smirk on his face, Angela the opposite, others with suggestive expressions.

"Good luck out there, babe." He teased, slapping your ass again, which you quickly glared at him for. He sent another wink your way, before going back into the annex to sit at his desk.

You looked back at the door, taking a deep breath trying to compose yourself. You knew that you were about to be bombarded with questions and statements.

You took quick steps towards it, twisting the doorknob, attempting to move the door open, the others moving out of the way. You headed straight for your desk, taking a seat and picking up your pen and looking between your computer and the papers.

"I called it!"

[thebibliosphere]

You said the phrase "the mysteries of publishing" and honestly that's wild to me. I knew the publishing industry was shitty, but I had no idea it was also mysterious/secretive because the vast majority of what I know of it has come from you and Brandon Sanderson, and both of you are very up front and open about your gripes with publishing

There's always been systemic gatekeeping from traditional publishing (lack of diversity in publishing is not an accident, it is intentional), and there have always been a few jerks in indie-pub who intentionally give out bad-faith advice to try and sabotage the "competition," but they get called out by the community pretty quickly.

Where things can become (unintentionally) mysterious, is when people look at all the information available to them and freeze because they don't know where to start.

Indie and self-publishing is daunting, not just from a creative aspect, but administrative as well. It can be especially difficult if you struggle with executive dysfunction or other information-processing issues.

But if you take your time, ask questions in writing groups/forums -- reach out to author friends if you have them -- or even just contact customer service, you usually get it figured out.

This recent trend-- and it's gotten really bad over the pandemic-- with people conflating being an author with being an influencer, (and some do both well, but many don't.), and there's an almost MLM (multilevel marketing, not men-loving-men. Just clarifying seen as how this is Tumblr 😅) vibe to the way some of them are pushing their platforms harder than their work.

And people think, hey, this person has a million followers on TikTok; they must know what they're talking about!

So they sign up for the "classes" being promoted by these influencer management hubs, and while I am sure some of them are legit, if a lot of them are getting the same emails I'm getting, it's the bare minimum shit that you can find on google.

Maybe if you're lucky, they'll talk you through figuring out international royalties. Chances are they'll just regurgitate David Gaughran's 'Let's Get Digital: How To Self-Publish And Why You Should' -- WHICH YOU CAN GET FOR FREE-- and frame it behind girl-boss empowerment vibes spun through the lens of being a boss-babe author.

When truthfully, this person probably earns more from your clicks and views than anything they've written. There's more money to be made in the hustle of appearing successful and pretending like this wealth of information is secretive and unknown.

And I want no part of that.

[ihatedean]

please help my baby get his ear surgery done<3

thank you for clicking read more :)

so after months of testing the vet informed us a few days ago that our cat does, in fact, have skin cancer. to get more specific it's actually squamous-cell carcinoma.

(text is in spanish but im sure google lens can translate pretty well.)

it's affecting the tip/side of his left ear and hasn't spread to his nose or the other ear, so the vet recommended surgery to get the ear removed as soon as we possibly can. this would be on september 2nd, this monday.

exams like x-rays and biopsies have already been pretty expensive so i'm making this post to hopefully offset the cost of his pinnectomy (ARS$180,000->USD$189) even just a little bit. the whole thing has been really stressing and adding to that a messed up family situation where i can't ask them for help, please trust me when i say i wouldn't do this if i didn't need to.

details for the fic commissions:

my ao3 account for reference

right now im working on stuff for supernatural and formula 1 so that's where my brain's at, mostly, but ive done a lot of writing for jojo's bizarre adventure (im Very fluent with jotaro and all part 3-4 characters) and for the argies in the room, i've even written stuff for los simuladores and el marginal. i have no issues writing in spanish (rioplatense).

im also comfortable writing for genshin impact. been playing for years and im familiar with the lore up until fontaine. i've been itching to write something for a while :)

im Very Very familiar with x reader fics and will do OC x Character or OC x OC gladly as long as you provide character art or detailed descriptions to help me capture them best.

im comfortable writing pretty much every ship for the fandoms i named and can do gen, teen, mature and explicit works. im open to all kinks and have a history of doing incest and age-gap pairings. im comfortable with most dark themes— will write dub-con, non-con, cnc, and want to hear your weirdly specific skinks. in general, it's easier to say what i will not do than what i will. no judgement, as long as you respect

what i will not do:

horror

gore

necrophilia

violent non-con or explicit non-con (mentioning it in the story is fine, but i will not write the actual scene)

scat

vore

race play (hateful imagery/racial slurs)

kidfic

for formula 1 im simply inept at doing maxiel and c2. in general, i struggle with max and carlos. won't write anything for lando, sorry. anything else from 2010 to 2024 is fine, and im open to AUs of any kind as well as gender bending :)

pricing

Tier 3 — USD$5 for 500 words. 5 slots open

Tier 2 — USD$10 for 1k to 3k words. 2 slots open

Tier 1 — USD$25 for 4k to 10k words. 2 slots open

if i exceed wordcount in any case, it's on me. i'm a yapper.

contact me here or ask for my gmail in tumblr dms ^^

i can only accept ppal for USD$. if you're in argentina and you're interested, dm me for mercadopago info :)

(if you just want to donate that's totally cool. i just felt weird asking for money without anything to offer. it's a me thing)

ppal link

if you read this whole thing, thank you. here is the boy himself. he's almost 11 years old, incredibly grumpy, manipulative, called ugly by almost all my friends, has already gone through eye surgery so that's why his eyes look Like That, and on the rare occasion he sits on my lap i literally cry.

please put sunscreen on your cats, especially if they have white hair like aki. we didn't know for the longest time that exposure to the sun could cause skin cancer on cats and by the time we knew and started doing it, it was too late.

[pochqmqri]

In 2007, both Yes! PreCure 5 and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann aired in the same Sunday 8:30AM slot on rival networks, effectively making them competitors despite being completely different shows aimed towards completely different audiences.

Gainax, the studio behind TTGL notoriously had some difficulties early on when the anime first aired in April of that year. When the first episode aired, viewers on message boards complained about the anime’s quality. These criticisms led to harsh comments against the viewers by a Gainax staff member and even one of the studio co-founders, the latter of who would resign after all this.

While this controversy unfolded, on April 17, the official TTGL blog posted a crude webcomic of the character Yoko shooting Coco from the aforementioned PreCure season. While the comic was quickly removed from the site the same day it was uploaded, a fan contacted Toei (the studio behind PreCure) about it, and they issued a response:

Thank you for contacting us regarding the inappropriate depiction on that website.

Before our firm had received the warning about the image in question, it had since been deleted by the other party, so we will not be filing a claim at this time. On the contrary, we believe that by posting such a depiction, the image of the other side's company will be harmed, and their morals will be called into question. 

The deleted comic can still be found online using the Wayback Machine. I’ve included a translation of the comic above, typesetted and all. I’ve been wanting to do this for years now, but it was difficult trying to decipher the handwritten Japanese. Thankfully, technology has progressed in terms of optical character recognition that even Google Lens can read images of handwritten text and convert them digitally.

The comic has a small bit of lore that is a bit too complicated for a simple translation note. In it, Yoko breaks the fourth wall by mentioning that one of the staff members mistakenly drew her hairpins piercing her head instead of holding up her ponytail as intended, seemingly pinning the blame on the key animators ("genga” if you’re sakuga-savvy). This is likely a reference to the animation errors that plagued TTGL at the time, here is an example of such a shot from the first episode:

[system-of-an-up]

I'm so clever

Stay safe artists.

How to recognize an art scam?

1. Hi can you draw a picture of my son and his pet? I'll pay you anything what are your prices?

That's the most common question I got several times on other websites. Whether you gave prices or not they won't look into it. They never looked at your account, in fact. They pish you into making high prices for them to get refunded later.

2. They don't follow you, or they didn't like your art a while ago.

When you're commissioning an artist, it's because you enjoy their art. The least you'd normally do is give their art likes, comments, or follow you.

3. Just do it

A normal client would totally understand your suspicions and would prove they're not a scammer by explaining what they like in your art. For example, the choice of color palette, the graphic paw (funny way to say signature style), etc. They can also make you feel guilty about your questions. Don't.

4. They'll insist on a certain payment method that could give them advantages, and/or pay you AFTER.

Okay, let's say you're gonna buy bread. The baker hands you your baguette. You are right in front of them, so it's okay to pay after.

Now, you are asking for a developer to make you a script. They have no guarantee that you are real, nor that you are honest. It's normal for them to ask you to pay them first. Or 50% before 50% in the middle.

If you take PayPal, don't. They have a 180d refund policy, and even if the client was hobest at first, PayPal is by the buyer's side and not yours. It doesn't matter if you did the commission, the buyer CAN be refunded.

Solutions?

KYC. Know Your Customer. Sniff shady customers. But it's not really 100% working.

Use a middleman. This one decreases trust from the buyer's side but someone who has seen your commissions before and trusts you from the beginning wouldn't be too affected.

Make them sign an online contract before the commission. A lawyer can make you one or you can make one yourself. Email them, and if they're not a scammer they would sign it. Then you could contact PayPal in case of refund with this contract that person signed with their REAL information + their username and PayPal acc.

Ask for CRYPTOCURRENCY or set up a private XMR <your crypto currency> wallet. Few people really use crypto though.

DMCA them in case they use your art after refusing to pay you. Keep reverse-searching (Google Lens/Images) your art after getting scammed. As long as you have screenshots of the conversation with the client, you have all rights to do so.

[shivsdownstairsneighbour]

Closer - End of the Line

Pairing: Stewy Hosseini x Fem. Reader Description: You get hired for a photoshoot with the man behind Maesbury Capital for a GQ-style magazine. Shooting is often all about the price. Rating: General/Teen Word Count: 2.8k AN: Hope you enjoyed it as much as it to ideate it! All photos from which I drew inspiration were done for the GQ article and the NYT article. Props to Erik Tanner and Derrick Leung for giving everyone a vision.

You arrive to the studio just in time to start setting up the equipment and doing test shots to determine the flash intensity. The magazine gave you a list of shots that you would be best to prepare for the feature. The videocall with the stylist was a good opportunity to start making up an idea of what the vibe was going to be with the outfits. You decided it would be best to approach the shoot with some Black and Whites, focus on lighting and keep the backgrounds simple. The man in question was running late and, while you were comfortable with the conceptual proposal for Flux, you didn’t know how at ease the subject would be with trying more artsy pictures and not the classic Bloomberg profile portrait.

“Hey! So, it might take him at least another 20 minutes to arrive. Are you booked after this?”

“Not really, I would’ve just appreciated to be able to finish early so I could get the contacts back to you today.”

“You have until tomorrow night, so it shouldn’t be an issue.”

You were starting to get bored so, in the meantime, you Google a little more about your subject to see if that gives you any additional hints on how to relax him in front of the camera. The headlines were a mixture of financial press and good old classic gossip. On the financial side, Maesbury Capital was almost as getting a visit from the Grim Reaper confirming you were a dead man walking. His word made the difference between a lifeline or the dissolution of whatever you had going for your company. The pictures were classical portraits with him sitting in front of the camera, not doing much aside from looking straight into the lens.

The gossipy headlines were from years past. They portrayed a youth where there were frequent clubbing outings with models, socialites, and actresses around. Some shots were almost from 12 years ago and, while paparazzi would always be pesky with those under the spotlight, he seemed to be out of that circle and into galas. He looked good without the beard during his youth and, in his 20’s, he must’ve been quite the player in the NYC clubbing scene. In either case, he was favored by the camera, so that was not going to be hard to replicate.

In the meantime, you were blasting some rock and pop songs, testing the waters of what could work best to set a mood. You started to bop to some of the songs when the knock on the door alerted you of the arrival of the man of the hour.

“Mr. Hosseini, let me introduce you to our photographer for the day.” He went on to shake your hand as you introduced yourself. “She’ll walk you through the plan as we have two outfits planned.”

He was handsome indeed and he matched the description of both gossipy and financial news. Bloomberg and People agreed on his presence being imposing and how he could command any room he walked into. The one he shouldn’t be able to control was precisely yours as you were the lead during the session, but it would remain to be seen as the pause between your introduction and your next sentence showed a crack in the process.

“Yes! So, we will start with the lighter pictures, making use of the set we have here.” You said, pointing to the indoor area with the flash rig you had created. “And then, once you’ve change to the second outfit, we move outdoors, and we try some high contrast stuff.”

“Okay.” He said, looking at the set as he was processing the brief, before looking at you. “Where do you want me now?”

“Dead center of the set, please.” You were determined to take back your shoot, so as the make-up crew were finishing some final touches once he was under the lights, you took a couple of sips of your coffee to ground you back to reality.

He was sitting, in perfect composure waiting for your instructions. You stood beside him with the exposure meter angled to his face to get a reading for setting up the camera. The proximity gave you a whiff of his perfume. A luscious fragrance, mixing some strong hints of coffee and cigars. The session would get increasingly harder to control if you were going to keep getting distracted with anything pertaining him.

“I’ve always wondered what that is.” He asked, searching for your eyes.

“Exposure meter” You responded, looking chill outside, cancelling the train of thought coming from that gaze inside. “We wouldn’t want to have you look like a ghost on the pictures.”

“Is it even possible?”

“Today, yes. We’re shooting black and white.”

“Any particular reason for that?”

“I think it gives a more intimate, timeless vibe to the shots.” He smirked, seeming pleased with your response.

Picking up your camera gave you back the sense of control you needed. You configure it to the meter readings and started shooting some pictures to confirm everything was according to plan. He looked dazed by the first couple of flashes but regained the composure by the final practice shot. He was a natural in front of the camera, as the third shot was already useful.

“We’re now set to begin Mr. Hosseini. We’ll go for a bit of a chat to get some candid shots, and for others I’ll ask you to pose for the camera.” He nodded affirmatively. “Any questions or music requests?”

“Yes, one.” You raised your sight from the viewfinder. “It’s just Stewy if we’re going get intimate with this.”

“Alright then.” You shield yourself with the camera to hide the hints of blush that appeared after the statement. “Stewy, would you mind angling yourself ¾ for me?”

The initial pose was awkward, but after showing with your body that you were expecting his torso to be in profile with the face angled more towards the camera than out of frame, he started nailing your vision.

“First question, where are you from?” You asked, standing in front of his seat, at eye level from him, and safely shielded away from any direct contact with the camera between both of you.

“Originally, Iran, though I should count myself as a New Yorker after a lifetime here. You?” You answered with the summarized version of your life. You had made it to New York on an arts scholarship that eventually led to your big shot.

You asked him to keep the body posture and change facial angles, but this outfit seemed to be running its course faster than expected. He also seemed to be out of his element with the jacket open, showing the shirt. You asked for a 5-minute pause to check how they were coming along. One was useful, but the rest were giving you very little to work with.

“Are you comfortable with this?” You asked, pointing at the open jacket.

“I can be if you ask me to.” He says, testing the waters with how far he can go with subtle comments.

“It doesn’t work that way. I want you to be you, not business you.” You were probably too in control to notice he was trying to flirt. However, that didn’t matter as you were feeling stressed about the lack of potential in the initial shots.

He started closing the jacket and you snapped pictures of the process. As he was settling the collar, he was getting dazed by the number of shots you were trying to milk out of the process.

“Hey, hey” He tried to get your attention. “Is this really necessary?”

“Everything can be good material.” You said, trying to appear more serious than what was needed from behind the camera.

“Can we pause for a minute?” He said, playfully trying to grab the camera lens. “I’m getting blinded here.”

You pull the camera down, to find him standing closer than what you expected. You get a renewed whiff of the perfume, now having interacted with the leather jacket.

“Is this how it’s supposed to go? You were so relaxed before.” Stewy looks intently at you, leaving the distance of the camera in your hands be the only thing separating you two.

“I’m sorry about that but I need you to do your thing, without minding me, for the candids.” This made you pull your guard down and steal a glance from him being so close. The little glimpses of grey in his beard suited him so well.

“Can I see what I’m doing? Just for reference.”

You show him the monitor with the pictures already taken and give him a few comments. You make a mental note that the candid of him trying to grab the camera is definitely going for final selection. The left side lighting managed to capture the light contrast coming from his streak of grey hair and he looks relaxed. With some additional instructions, Stewy gets the hang of the candids and you repeat a couple of shots with the jacket open.

By now, you’ve learned that he studied at Harvard Business School, quit his rising career in McKinsey for starting Maesbury, and had been to some of the most exclusive bars around. You also start easing behind the camera, letting the atmosphere lighten from your initial absolute grip on the course of the session. He had an imposing presence, but you were guiding how that would translate into the shots.

“I’ll check one final time the monitor, but I think we’ve run this outfit’s course!” You said cheerfully, placing the camera on the table after almost half an hour of continuous shots. Stewy stands behind you, peeking from above the shoulder some of the final outcomes. A playful “No peeking” leaves your lips, making him laugh.

“How can I approve in which I look best if I can’t see them?”

“You won’t. I’m the one getting paid for that.”

“Controlling, I see.” He gave you a side glance before following the styling assistant for the outfit change.

In the meantime, you take a break to gulp the coldest water bottle on sight and start making notes of which pictures you’ll preselect for the contact sheet. You could trace the simultaneous process of you two getting comfortable with your roles. He let go the initial stiffness and you got comfortable directing him. Knowing the next shots were outside, gave you the full confidence you could finish with some quality content. You leave with your camera to the side of the building where the studio was located and start doing some practical shots for adjustment.

While you had seen the outfit pictures from the stylist’s videocall, nothing could prepare you for the final result. If he was looking in control with the first outfit, this one clearly settled who was commanding anything moving forward. The ultramarine blue outfit was doing a number or two on both of you. Stewy was clearly on his element, an impeccable tailored suit, giving him an almost regal look. The blue contrasted with the darkness of his hair and eyes and was ultimately elevated with a watch on a matching color. You were dreading to go with the exposure meter because every step tempted you more towards touching at least the suit lapels.

Standing in front of him, you got it close enough to his face to get the reading and exchanged a determined glance. You were not about to lose it so close to the finish line.

“Are you always so stately in your daily life?” You said standing in front of him, holding your ground.

“Do you mean in control?”

“No, stately. The suits, the watches, the whole cold business persona.” You say taking your stance behind the camera, ready to shoot.

“So, you’ve done your research.” He was standing full frontal, fixing his lapels as you started to shoot.

“I’m asking because that’s all the reference shots I had of Stewy the financier.” The lack of an external flash would give him less hints of any incoming shots. While he could put up more resistance to the guidance, you could get other shots, in motion, that otherwise wouldn’t come.

“What do you know about finance?”

“As much to know you’re like a death sentence.” The response made Stewy smirk and try to pierce the distance between the camera and you after your response.

“Some would call it the circle of life.” Something ticked in him, and he was determined to get his way.

“What’s in it for you? Power tripping?” You crouched to get a lower shot, angling towards getting his hands at eye level.

“Money, definitely. And control.”

“Is that why you want to select the shots? Or are you scared of what finance bros will think of this?” You said teasingly, though keeping a serious tone to match the severity with which he was looking.

“What do you want out of this spiel?”

“You.” You punctuated. “Show me you in absolute control.”

The next shots were a blur. No softness in his eyes, pure and unabridged desire to have it all laid at his feet. You try a couple of takes without the suit jacket to impressive results too. The dark background highlighted his greys and enhanced the depth of the blue suit. It made the exposed parts of him become accent pieces on an otherwise monotone setting.

“Is that what you were looking for?” He said once you lowered the camera and placed it across your chest.

“I’ll let the monitor be the deciding factor.” You say before spotting one final potential angle, something to be playful with since you had made none of those shots. “Before we finish, how about you give me one final angle? An extreme close-up if you will.”

Stewy stands by the doorframe, sunlight hitting his left side. You’re standing a step away from him, enough to get the scene in but benefit still from the extreme close-up angle.

“Do you want me to still dominate you?” He asks, his voice soft enough to make it seem an innocent remark despite the angle you’ve recently explored for the other poses.

“I highly doubt you ever were.” You respond, pulling your confidence out while counting on the camera as a shield. Stewy raises his hands, almost as a sign of a faint victory for himself, shooting a smirk from behind them. His eyes, while on the side, are still fixed in you. The confidence of Stewy Hosseini in one picture, you thought.

Once you walk back and plug the camera back to the screen, you start deciding what could work best for the contacts. You’d let the editors decide, but you were already partial on a five-picture set that would be best for the article. He was taken immediately to get changed and finalize the profile, so he didn’t get a peek of the final shots. The last moments outside had really made you see him in what he must incite in people once he walks into a meeting room. You surrender, let things take its course, and put some resistance but as a method for self-preservation more than salvation.

He came out of the dressing room on another stately suit, yet this was the actual one he had been wearing while you were setting up and chilling in the studio. He was wearing a sweater underneath instead of a shirt, giving it a more casual and welcoming presence.

“Do you have anything else to do afterwards?” He said placing a hand on the upper part of your back. Nothing suggestive until, as you two walked towards the studio entrance, the hand started sliding down towards the lower end of it and you were walking beside each other.

“I wasn’t so sure before, but I might now.” His raised eyebrow gives you an open window for proposing what you had in mind. “Have you ever heard of Rhomboid?”

“Do you know anyone?”

“A couple of friends are organizing it.”

“I’ll pick you up.” He handed you his card and you took it with the hand closest to him. “Dinner will be my treat.”

“In that case, it’s been a pleasure doing business with you.” You stop besides his car, and you hand him one of your business cards from your camera bag.

“Pleasure’s all mine.” As his car goes off into New York traffic you head home ready for a night about town and the new venue your friends scored for this week’s party. You’d have time tomorrow to sort the pictures out. But, tonight, it was all about power dynamics.

[campgender]

I am eight months pregnant. It’s a summer night and I’ve curled my girlfriend’s fingers around my own and led her to our bedroom. I have become an expert at making love to my girlfriend. A dozen years of perfecting the dance. I know exactly when to bite her skin, when to caress her, when to pound her, and when to hold her. I know how to move inside, and I know how to rub and pull and make her body rise.

It’s hard to find a position to reach her. Should I sit cross-legged or on my knees or lie on my side? What angle affords me the longest timeframe before my legs or arms get cramped and I lose steam? I twist into a spot and push all the blankets off the bed. I get to work. I feel my confidence return; I feel a little butch again. Even if I barely sense the warmth of my own body, I can take good care of my femme, and I am proud of that. But my fingers begin to go numb.

It’s been happening for the last couple of months. I lose feeling in my right hand. The nerve is squeezed somewhere in my arm, and the midwife and Google tell me it’s a common side-effect of pregnancy. Damn it. I depend on the delicate precision of my fingers. I hunger to touch and feel my girl. Damn. I don’t stop moving my fingers. I can tell by the rhythm of my lover’s breathing that they continue to do the job. I close my eyes and concentrate. I depend on the focus of my brain, even as my fingers lose all feeling.

Is a butch still a butch without her clothes, her body, her libido, her physical strength? Who was I in those moments? I felt far away from other butches and far away from myself. I felt calm, too. The pregnancy, despite its limitations, was peaceful. The hormones had kicked in. The urgency left my bones. I could feel the bliss of the new life in my body as my mind drifted into daydreams of the birth. I inhabited a spacey land, where I didn’t care about anything except the movement of the baby inside. But as much as I enjoyed the tranquility, I might have panicked if I thought it would go on forever. For my entire life, my knowledge of the world has been grounded in a sense of myself as a butch. When I couldn’t see myself any more, I became a body without any meaning attached to it. I felt vague, adrift.

Hilary takes portraits of me. She puts on a sun dress, lifts her heavy black Nikon, and stretches her arms. When she photographs you, she leads your body from one position to the next as she snaps the shots.

“Sit on the chair. Now stand, straddle it,” she directs. “Lift your head, turn, now look away, and turn back once more. Good.”

She searches a body, a face, the eyes for something she understands about its history, vulnerability, desire. You could stand right next to her and take a photo of the same person, but you wouldn’t be able to capture the intimacy of her images.

On the day before my due date, I gather all the butch garments that will still cover my body—a tie, leather suspenders, XXL T-shirts, stretchy blue jeans, an exercise bra—and head outside. It is a cool summer day, cloudy, the sunlight is diffused evenly across our backyard patio. Perfect photo weather, according to Hilary. It’s a last chance to catch the picture of my pregnant body.

I slip in and out of clothing quickly, avoiding the curiosity of the neighbours in the apartment building beside us. They are busy with their barbecue; the smells of charcoal and burgers float over us.

Hilary guides me methodically through the shots. I look past the reflection on the lens, into the tiny hole of the aperture, and wait for the instant when the shutter snaps open and shut. I can see Hilary there, following the lines of my body. I sit up. I raise my chin. I smile. I look at her shamelessly with lust. I reach behind my head and lie down. I curl up into a ball. I give her my fiercest face. I frown. I plead. I worry. I daydream.

I find myself on my girlfriend’s contact sheets. I find myself through her eyes: a femme’s vision of a butch. In some shots, I don’t look pregnant at all. I still look like the young boyish dyke she picked up a dozen years ago. In others, my belly is bigger than a basketball. My proportions are alarming. My skin looks soft. My face is tired but relaxed. My gaze is vulnerable. My dark eyes are wide open, inviting her to capture me, but carefully—please be careful. I don’t look like other pregnant women. I look like an entirely different creature. A queer creature. A beautiful creature.

from “A Beautiful Creature” by Karleen Pendleton Jiménez, published in Persistence: All Ways Butch & Femme, ed. Ivan E. Coyote & Zena Sharman (2011)

[michaelnordeman]

Hallå! Jag har älskat din blogg lika mycket som @herpsandbirds blogg, och jag har älskat dina fantastiska bilder och jag vill veta vilken kamera du använder för att få så otroligt tydliga bilder, jag tycker att det är riktigt coolt att du kan få bilder på mesen fåglar utan någon form av kameraskakning eller oskärpa för att de tittar sig omkring så snabbt eller flyger iväg. Jag skulle stötta dig med Ko-fi men jag har inte så mycket av mina egna pengar precis. Tack för att du lyssnade på mig som frågade dig om din kamera! Glad fågelskådning och natur! (eller vad det heter.) Ursäkta för eventuella grammatiska fel eftersom jag har använt google translate från engelska.

Hi there! Thank you for your kind words and for using Google to translate your comments to Swedish. I'll answer you in English though, as Google can be a bit untrustworthy from time to time (as is my English, but never mind).

Please know that I don't expect anyone to support me via Ko-fi, so don't feel bad about it. I'm just glad you are enjoying my pictures. As for which camera I use, I re-use my standard answer, as this is a question I get quite often. Here goes:

My go-to camera, especially during summer, is a Canon Eos 80D. I also have a Canon 6D Mark II which I tend to use more during winter and dark/cloudy/rainy days. As for lenses, I use a zoom 100-400 mm (Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM), but I also frequently use a 100mm f/2.8L Macro lens for flowers, plants and insects. These are cameras and lenses I’ve used many years, and I know them very well. As with family, I tend to argue with them from time to time (“focus!”, “no, it’s NOT too dark!”, “why don’t you learn to communicate like a normal person?!” etcetera), but I always love them no matter what.

I also use my iPhone from time to time, especially when I’m scouting an area or when I simply don’t have access to my system camera. I’m thinking of trying out old fashioned analogue cameras as well, but I haven’t got around to that yet (not to mention that I can’t afford it at the moment). Oh, and I remember my first camera, an old Polaroid, with much love, but that camera is long gone.

So there you go. "IS" in the zoom lens name above stands for "image stabilisation", which paired with shutter speed settings makes the bird pictures sharp. But you should know that I take many, many pictures that are far from sharp - pictures you will never see...

Thanks again for contacting me. Have a wonderful day!

[somethingmissingthiswaycomes]

Hi, I am Mahmoud Helles from besieged Gaza. My family consists of 40 people, most of whom are young children. I have a simple request.

I hope you will donate and participate to save my family from the catastrophic situation and get them to safety.😥

Thank you for your kindness and support of my story.. 🙏🍉🇵🇸

please dont hesitate to donate whatever you can, and please keep sharing.🍉🍉🥹

https://gofund.me/eab11710

Gonna paste and edit the text from the last ask I answered, because my conclusion's the same:

Hey all, aside from the announcement on a reply to Mahmoud's pinned post about being verified by multiple Palestinian bloggers, I was able to take the time just now to go and reverse image search the post and gfm using Tin Eye and google lens. The images used don't show up anywhere else online as far as I can tell.

If you have the spoons, time, and means, I encourage you to do these searches when you want to help but are anxious about scams.

I've donated 5€ to this campaign.

[shadowkira]

Hey cat owners! Any true lily is toxic to your cat. Even if they haven't eaten any portion of the plant, the pollen getting on them can lead to them grooming and ingesting the pollen.

Best advice is to not have true lilies in your home to avoid exposure. If your cat HAS been exposed, please contact an emergency facility immediately and have your cat seen!

Safe "lilies" to have in your home:

Peruvian lilies are still very colorful but they are not true lilies. They are more safe for homes with cats, but can cause gi upset if ingested:

Peace lilies aren't as colorful, but they are beautiful. They are not as dangerous because they're not true lilies. Can cause drooling and excessive pawing / licking at mouth.

Another common plant in my family that often gets given in bouquets is Hydrangeas. They are toxic to basically any domestic animal:

An emergency vet office may ask you to contact pet poison control if your pet has ingested a plant that is toxic. If you're ever unsure what type of plant or fungi was ingested you should bring a sample of it to the facility you go to. (Stem with flowers or a mushroom.) You can also try to use an app like google lens.

[f1-giuki]

A Sunday Kind of Love 6 is at +13k words and I don't know how longer it will get, probably a lot, I love it.

Should I add a scene where Max, on the phone with Charles’s mom, dyes Charles’ hair?

And, here's a snippet of the fic! Enjoy!

~

The next morning Max is awake and not too dumbed by a long 12-hour nap. All the tiredness he accumulated caught up with him. He wakes up rather early and manages to eat half of the sweets in the pantry for breakfast. He drinks a red red bull can, the only one he's allowed in the house, and he walks upstairs to turn on the simulator. He might do some endurance racing until lunch.

As the computer turns on he checks his messages. There are a few texts from Charles, a bunch of I lost my dildo, do you know where my pink dildo is texts, a picture of a cake his mother made with a finger half covering the camera lens, another one without the finger, a video Arthur took of Charles asleep on the sofa snoring loudly, you stole my highway pass!!, BASTARD!, then Charles texts him the time he will leave for Italy, two days later, Max blinks twice when he sees that Charles will drive from Monaco to their place.

Babe, are you insane?

Wait, don't answer… What will you do today?

He texts and grins when he sees Charles's answer, a sticker of his face holding a red triangle sign saying 'don't'. Max laughs.

I'll sleep again, go to your place since mine is flooded with people outside, I'll help mom make a menu for the dinner with the cousins and then I'll probably be forced to make lasagne for lunch by Arthur, he doesn't let me live after the ones I made for Easter

Tell him that the next time you fall asleep he should draw a dick on your forehead

Like he did last week

absolutely no, don't give him strange ideas

You're lucky I don't have his number

I know you think I lack self-preservation instincts, but I don't go that far

I miss you

I love you

I love you too

don't let Arthur wait for his food

Blah blah blah, ttyl <3

God you're so sexy when you use millennial slang

Max smiles and puts his phone on the Red Bull mini-fridge he has in the sim room, next to his first world championship trophy. A curious piece of tat. He sits down and fixes the camera in front of him. He still has an hour before he needs to turn it on and join a live stream with his sim racing team. He grins and opens goat simulator and takes his phone to text Lando.

Wanna do one hour of goat simulator before I go live?

Fuck yeah, mate

-

Max's stomach rumbles at half past noon, while he's still streaming and, after five minutes of good teasing, he turns off the live stream, and goes to the kitchen, trying to understand what to make. He looks at the package of tagliatelle Charles bought but didn't like. It's been sitting on the counter for two weeks. He takes it and grins as he opens the pantry filled with stacked jars of fancy tomato sauce. Charles really has a problem…

"Okay, that will do," he mumbles as he takes a new jar.

He puts on another Paul Simon vinyl and jams to the music while cutting onions and garlic, humming the words of 50 Ways to leave your lover. Max grins and puts the chopped stuff in a little bowl. Charles has taught him to be organised in the kitchen and he's trying. His phone starts ringing and Max stops the music to pick it up. It’s a number he hasn’t saved in his contacts, an Italian number.

"Hello?"

"Ciao zio Max! Sono Lorenzo!" Hi uncle Max! I'm Lorenzo!

"Ciao Lorenzo, come stai?” Hi Lorenzo, how are you? He asks with a big smile on his face.

“Tutto bene, scusa se ti chiamo, ma mia mamma non riesce a venirmi a prendere a scuola… Potresti passare tu?”

“Aspetta, I don’t understand, one second, un secondo…” Max says as he hurries to the living room to take his tablet with him and opens Google Translate.

“Parla, per favore,” Speak, please. He says and Lorenzo repeats the phrase. All’s good, sorry if I’m calling you, but my mom can’t pick me up from school… Could you come and pick me up?

[soosthesoul]

spoilers for part 2 murim arc +++

while i understand that the common take on sui is that by far he's more or less a flat character that the author doesn't really know what to do with and hence uses him as more or less of a laugh track — and while i think that's hilarious, i also think there's deefinitely a little more to it from where that came from.

i also desperately want you to keep in mind that almost everything that kim roksoo - now cale has learnt is directly from his experiences at team 1 under soohyuk - now sui's wing. we know this from the test at the sealed god's temple where cale had tried to communicate with his gang via sgt!krs using the cintamani. that poor boy was so awkward.. my sgrungly crimblo...

let's start with how he's introduced! he finds cale in orsena's duchy and they essentially just have a staring contest for a while before sui joins the party. i.. i am not going to lie, while i was a tiny bit disappointed that they didn't have an emotional reunion, a little reflection on their situation and dimensions as characters made me quickly realise that it was no time or position to have a touching re-contact with each other.

mainly, i think this is because sui khan is guilty. he lives with the guilt of leaving cale behind, and he lives with the guilt of knowing that he eventually has to ask for cale's help regarding his own bird clan — as briefly touched upon in one of the earlier chapters.

his existence in xiaolen was barely there, he'd mostly spent his time with the kids, and volunteered to go spying without even having to be asked — while this may be perceived with the idea that lee soo hyuk prided himself in his abilities of stealth, it's also...

"our little sui wanted some air." maybe i'm looking too deep into this, but it seems that even cale picks up on the fact that sui is restless and uneasy for whatever reason and used it to jab at him as a joke.

skipping forward to when cale had to choose a party for his trip to jungwon, he more or less truly did not require sui's presence there besides for the fact of moral support.

and i think.. sui picked up on that, because he suddenly has this air of mischief to him, and while i definitely don't think that he's by any means faking his laughter, i also think he's genuinely masking his worries, concern and guilt by throwing lighthearted jokes to jab at himself and at cale, more or less as a silent apology of sorts.

he's also mentioned to be by cale's side much more often, whether or not this is because cale is in the body of the weak kim roksoo, nobody really knows. but i think cale thinks that's the real reason.

and while i seriously might be looking too deeply into things; these three instances 100% stood out to me.

(forgive me for the off-quote as i am going off of angie's summaries + poor machine translation via google lens)

1. when the emperor of jungwon had asked cale his name, it's specifically mentioned that he glances at sui who nods his head to encourage him. cale then smiles and states that his name is cale henituse

2. when the whole gag of sui making up murim versions of the entire team's names were going on, it's mentioned that cale had originally thought sui was going to give cale the name "kim roksoo", and its further mentioned that sui paused before saying gae-il (as a joke) then settling with hae-il instead.

3. after that whole exchange is over, they'd joked around with each other, "young master kim", "noble warrior lee". further proceeding past this instance, cale's little shit switch finally turns on and he monologues about how he begins to ignore sui's comments and even contemplates if he should call sui "young warrior lee" instead.

now, don't look at me like i'm crazy, please!! cause i'm well aware these are more or less the most normal instances to mankind that yrh may have just put in here to keep the mood lighthearted. but since when has yrh ever written fluff without the underlying gut-wrenching angst? keke

i seriously think this exchange between the two is their whole "reunion" talk, between two clearly emotionally distanced men, between them who were once best friends, but are now still finding the middle ground to interact with each other. their care and trust in each other remains the same, perhaps has even grown greatly, but in order to avoid accidentally doing damage, they try to find their own little safespace in the dynamics they've created with each other in earth 1 before lee soo hyuk had passed on.

i think sui definitely is bottling up a lot of things he'd rather not say to his dongsaeng who is still definitely struggling and has his plate full with the concerns of his own family and other dimensions. i think sui will finally get the push he needs soon, and i think that rereading part 2 with sui's inevitable arc in mind will be a juicy heartbreaker due to all the subtle and nuanced instances the author littered here and there.

while i agree that murim arc is most certainly sort of dragging on in the last 5 or so chapters, i still really really enjoy the direction part 2 is going in, and am eagerly waiting for more. choi jungsoo's appearance is going to break me in 10 halves, i'm most certainly not ready.

here's to manifesting soos reunion on monday chapter 900! here's to law of the hunt already reaching a 100 chapters!!

tl;dr - sui is a pro at masking. the soos.. definitely need closure, and the foreshadowing of it happening soon is driving me insane enough to theorise about it!!

[achocolatemouse]

Fur Art Scammers and YOU

Hello fellow furs! I'm Mouse, I'm an artist who's passionate and knowledgeable about navigating the current digital art scene. I wanted to make a FUR ART SCAMMERS AND YOU post with a few details about the modern commission scene and how to keep yourself safe. I feel like it's never a bad time to reiterate and practice good online safety. A lot of this applies to both art and fursuit parts. I hope the people who read it find it useful!

First thing is how to use google lens. Simply go to google and click on the camera icon next to the search to open google lens. Click on exact matches or find image source to find links to the image. Google lens is your first line of defense against a scam. Any image that's a "sample" image from an artist can be fed into google lens and look for the results. When you feed one of my images in, it shows up with my DA, FA and YCH.art profiles amongst others. They all share similar usernames. If you fed another sample in you'd see that it shows up in the same profiles. Check profile pictures too if they're art. If, for example, one sample is from a FA, another is from a different FA and a profile pic is from an obscure twitter they're probably stolen. You can double check by PMing any of those source accounts to see if they are associated with the account you're in communication with.

What do you do if there are no results for ANY of their samples? That's ALSO a red flag. An artist should have a consistently hosted gallery. Most real artists who are serious about it try to promote themselves on as many places as possible to broaden their audience and commission pool, so why isn't this one? The "samples" could be AI, stolen from obscure sources, or drawovers of other peoples work. (A small note about why a public gallery hosted on multiple websites is SO important. Scammers show up in overwhelming numbers. Think of how many nigerian prince/genital enlargement emails you get. Currently most groups cannot keep up with the flood of them and tactics change regularly. What does not change is that when someone finally figures it out and the jig is up the account gets banned, and sometimes ip banned, bewares go out, which causes the scammer rebranding problems. So to preserve their accounts they will try to host on as few places as possible because when you are a scammer having fewer people see your work means fewer people to find you out and fewer moderation teams investigating and monitoring you. As a legitimate artist, hosting in lots of places means more eyes who want to buy your art on your account and won't report you for scamming, because you're not. This is why having a big gallery hosted in multiple places is such a strong and important dichotomy.)

The second is how are they contacting you. You should be contacting the artist not them reaching out to you unless you post publicly, and then they should be replying publicly not DMing unless you dm first. Generally a legitimate artist will not randomly DM you. If someone randomly DMs you they are probably a scammer and most groups ask you to report and remove them. They will also use odd language; "I will make your furry dreams come true/bring them to life/make them real!" "Hi I notice you are in the furry fandom how long have you liked furry characters? I want to make friends, can I ask you a few questions about your fur fandom characters?" "Do you have any art of your fursona?" "Do you happen to be a furry lover" "Do you play vr chat game?", etc. They may also use tags in weird ways such as using a tag like #furry in a private furry group. It follows some scripts/chatgpt like responses, so take care.

If you still want to order from someone who has red flags, consider asking for past clients to contact, speedpaint videos, or pictures of one of the samples (your pick) with layers visible. A reliable artist should have these things going back a few years or can produce one they posted before. They should be able to pull from any of the samples they send to you and send you layered versions of the image to prove they made it. It should show not only the layers in the program but what the picture looks like with some of them turned off so that you can see if they make any sense, as opposed to just someone taking a picture and making a bunch of fake layers. Lots of scammers fake these things too so don't rely only on them. Fake speedpaints, fake photos of workspaces, and shell accounts pretending to be past clients are real. When receiving your image the artist should be able to send you WIPs as well, make it clear you expect these so you can ask for changes.

Just say no to anyone who wants to use a sketchier payment form like wiring them money, checks, Paypal friends and family, etc. Just say no to anyone who asks you to send them any money before they send you money. If you say no to them "sorry I'm broke, not sure when I wanna order" they should take no for an answer immediately or they might be a scammer. Ask for a turn around time on your picture that happens BEFORE you can no longer issue a backpay or request a refund through your payment service.

Most scammers just try to take your money and run but some of them send you either a bad drawover of someone else's work, or an AI image. There's whole articles about how to spot these things so I won't go into it, a lot of it is vibes and asking to see layers on their work/WIP images helps prevent these things. If you receive one of these things it's important to know that you *likely did not receive an image you own or have rights to*. This is especially true in the USA where only human generated content may be copywritten or owned (see images). Bad drawovers will have the same problem - the person who owns the image rights is the person whose works were traced. For drawovers of AI, they're copying a public domain work and so the copyright is public domain. Given that what you paid for was a custom created work that you can post online and own, you probably still got scammed even if you received something.

-Help! I've been scammed! What now!?-

Depends on how badly you got scammed. You can request a refund through your payment facilitator or bank to recoup the costs if you used a safer payment method. You can issue a beware, through groups like artistbeware or big facebook art groups, etc. But if it is a straight up scammer with a fake profile and stolen/ai/drawover art, they will not care because they're not trying to keep their profiles or a good reputation. They will get banned and make a new one. At that point your best choice is to report their profile to the facilitating company (fb, discord, tumblr, x, etc. as a scam/fraud/phishing profile) and get them removed from your circles/groups through local admins. A beware only matters for artists with a name to protect, your best solution is to block, report, and move on.

A couple of other small notes about misc conduct;

*Ownership of copywritten works is tricky, especially if one person made a design but another person drew an image of that design. If you commission a work you typically own the character you designed/own, but you DON'T own exclusive rights to the image. The rights belong to the artist too unless otherwise stated. A good artist will have a ToS/contract that details what your rights are and what the artists rights are to avoid conflict. Common terms may be the artist can share the work in galleries/self promotion, the commissioner does not own commercial rights, or you can't use the image to support hate groups.

*In some states it's becoming SUPER illegal to even accidentally present 18+ content to a minor. (see; the e621 issue) If you are ordering/asking to access NSFW, it's becoming more normal for artists to ask to age check people to cover their butts. It's standard procedure on a lot of big discords to access 18/21+ channels now a days. Most places encourage you to treat it like an ID check at a bar or a con, we just want to know you're 18+.

*NSFW art production is SW. Respect your artists boundaries and consider being willing to pay extra for it since it comes with certain risks regular art does not.

*Artists can get scammed too, and sometimes will do a whole commission and then never get paid. Having been/seen folks get burned plenty will not start drawing until the work is paid in full or half is put down as a deposit. This is pretty normal. Better to use other methods than asking to pay at the end of work to avoid getting scammed.

*New artists might not have past clients but should still have a full gallery and at least art trades under their belt. Labor for labor matters too.

*Excessively low prices matter and are often cited as a red flag, and not entirely unjustly so. A decent fullbody picture typically takes an artist a couple hours at least, and they have to pay to keep lights on and account for time spent communicating. It varies based on country and state but if you're paying $12 for a fullbody they have to live in a country with a very low cost of living for that to be worthwhile. But if they're just taking your money and run, it doesn't matter much. Ordering discount art CAN be fine (maybe they do live in a low COL nation), but MAY be a red flag. Also debating prices is not OK. The artist has a reason to ask those prices based on how much time it takes them to do their work and what they need to live. This is true for fursuit parts too. Art is a gig economy profession. Many people argue against paying artists a living wage per hour for various reasons but it's pretty simple; if you pay $20-50/hour for private tutoring, dog walking, babysitting, house cleaning, DJing, etc. your artist is deserving of those wages too. This helps keep skilled, local, furry artists working in the scene and keeps the community healthy.

I hope this information helps people avoid scams now and in the future. Scammers are always changing their systems. We all know not the fall for a Nigerian prince scam, but there's other, better scams these days. So be savvy, ask questions, and stay safe out there furs!

[aristsagainstarttheft]

Hello, I am one of the leaders on the app Amino for our space called Skyrim Amino. I've banned the same serial art thief twice from our Amino, and unfortunately, they've began posting (and reposting the works that I couldn't immediately disprove) on The Elder Scrolls Amino and they are now a curator there. I'm in contact with their leadership about the art thief's moderation history on our own platform, but I wanted to try and find more proof of their stolen works from this year for further proof against them.

I'm not sure if it will work but this is their profile on the elder scrolls amino: http://aminoapps.com/p/snp5xb

They have always traced over original artworks and heavily colored over them, so my normal methods of surfing Pinterest and Google Lens is not very effective. They've been tracing for years and have admitted to it once to an older leader of ours, which resulted in them being removed from the active art club.

I kept a lot of screenshots from the incidents between 2022-present for their art theft history, but a good chunk of what got their alternative account banned again from my Amino *this* year is lost with my old phone, and I wanted to be able to bring up more definitive recent history in order to have the art thief be exposed. It's disappointing that they make their platform off of others work and I highly believe they should not be in a leadership position.

[granulesofsand]

Do you have sources for any of the things you've been talking about lately (the different programming types, hc-did, basically all of it)? I'd really like to do some more reading on this stuff but I've found a grand total of One book and most of the rest of the stuff is social media posts with no references, or references to other social media posts :(

Our top three “sources” are usually our system, late night conversations with irl friends, and social media.

The biggest issue isn’t actually a lack of resources, but a lack of good resources. Survivors put out material before they realize they got something wrong. The clinicians that work with us are the same, and the first generation of papers were shots in the dark and fear of lies that hadn’t been exposed yet.

There’ll be a lot about a big, networked Cult, usually either the Illuminati or Luciferians. Plenty of government conspiracy theories, references to projects that sometimes do get evidence. Then there’s the regular racism and Christian lens.

If you’re looking for overviews and definitions, they got taken down here are some good websites:

https://www.ra-free.org/complexities-of-identifying-ritual-abuse - not a lot of information, lists studies and professionals

https://endritualabuse.org/full-article-index/ - lots of good articles, some really helpful, others had me cocking my head

https://www.cherylrainfield.com/articles-cult-abuse/ - more about the author than the issue, some useful links on that page

There used to be more. Two others, one about spin programming and one about colors, are still up, but a little out there. You’ll know if you see them

Some books with more details. Not good books, just books:

https://ia803208.us.archive.org/34/items/BecomingYourself.Miller/BecomingYourself.Miller.pdf - the single best thing I’ve found and I still have complaints, this version is unformatted but free

https://ia803400.us.archive.org/28/items/chainless-slaves-annotated/Chainless%20Slaves%20-%20Annotated.pdf - I didn’t like it, lots of certain language for iffy concepts, has a list of programs and alter roles

https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=89e823aedc9c69ffd8d715757c86878af27c37c9 - not a fan, also lots of funky ideas and hate-based rhetoric, has lists of programs and cues

There are lots of survivor autobiographies and outsider opinions, but I don’t have free links to those

Keep in mind that getting out of a high control group sucks ass, and most accounts (even if they claim to have healed) have the remnants of the abusive ideologies.

I still prefer hearing from other survivors what happened, and I find it easier to validate people I can easily contact. I’ll keep the webpage if I find anything I can’t just Google, but this is what I can pull right now.

It’s not great, buddy, but it’s something.