#in my dreams i clip it all together in a video editor and it takes 10 minutes and the sound is right

[fishmotif]

idk what you guys are complaining about, if you watched the finale in the right order you'd get it 🤨

[xrenjunniesx]

Hi I love your account can you please write dreamies revealing their relationship with a non idol reader

when they reveal your relationship

Idol!nct dream x non-idol!reader

a/n - I really struggled on this for some reason so I’m sorry for the longer wait

mark

you two were just trying to enjoy an evening at a bar for a friends birthday. the back of the bar was booked out meaning no fans were going to even be allowed in. it wasn’t fans that were the problem, but rather it was one of the staffs who recognised mark as an idol.

a photo of the two of you hugging each other and another one of mark kissing your cheek was revealed to the public and immediately the response was strong.

people you knew were recognising you and contacting you, EVERYONE was freaking out.

mark didn’t know at first until you called him, panicking as you explained what happened. he left his schedule as quick as he could and went home to you, calling the company to set a meeting to see where to go from here. he is rather mature about the situation and oddly calm, mainly because he knew this kind of thing was bound to happen one day.

doesn’t mean he isn’t panicking though.

renjun

he was the one who saw the post revealing photos of you two shopping together. in fact he saw the post before it even reached the general public. he was quick to get staff and his members to try and get the post taken down but it grew more popular by the minutes and eventually it was making headlines.

he called you and talked to you through what had happened. he was trying to be calm because this wasn’t the end of the world but damn did it feel like that as he read through the public’s opinion.

he did see a few positive comments but the negative outweighed them, so he deletes his social media apps of his phone, only posting photos on Instagram every now and then before deleting again. goes inactive until everything has calmed down for his own mental health and his suggest you do the same - even if it takes months.

jeno

you two were talking in the background of a behind the scenes video uploaded to the youtube channel. the editors thought you were a staff member, they didn’t even notice you and jeno hugging in the background that was only shown for a split second.

the clip was instantly being spread around and the youtube video was re-edited but it didn’t stop the original from being shown.

when he saw it he was a little shocked since he didn’t even notice that there was any type of camera in the room at that moment, which was why he was comfortably talking to you in the middle of the room.

you contacted him minutes later after he first saw it, crying in a moment of worry for what this all meant for you both.

he will reassure you but he will also be just as worried and be telling you to be careful if you go out anywhere JUST IN CASE.

haechan

on a live one of the fans asked what time it was there and he showed the fans his phone, not realising he hadn’t turned notifications off. you sent a message at that exact moment saying, “love, I’ll be home soon.” he moved the phone away quickly but he knew he was done for. he laughed it off awkwardly at first before apologising and ending the live.

he called you as soon as the live was over. “BABE I JUST REVEALED YOUR TEXT OH MY GOD”

you’re both freaking out but once you’re home he tries to calm down and think maturely about this. “look… they can’t ALL hate me? I’ll still be able to make music…” He is thinking positively and refusing to pick his phone up because he knows if he goes online he will only think negatively.

jaemin

you were somewhat a youtuber, and in one of your vlogs, in the background as you walked with the camera through your house there was a picture of you and jaemin.

people managed to recognise it immediately and you were shocked because you didn’t even notice it when you were editing. you contact jaemin, worrying what he would say. you speak so fast into the phone that he didn’t even get to say anything until you were done speaking.

“love… it’s okay we can sort this out.” “I am so sorry jaemin.” “it’s okay, I’ll contact the company then I’ll call you right back, okay?”

you both ended up just coming out about the situation and admitting your dating. you take a break from your socials.

the only positive to this situation is that he gets to see you more since he doesn’t have to hide anything anymore. you can go to his place and he can go to yours!

chenle

there was two instances where he accidentally revealed it and he didn’t even realise that fans would connect these two instances. the first thing was when he accidentally followed your account on instagram. he went on bubble not long after he made it seem light hearted, “oh I accidentally followed an account while going through reels.”

the second time was when a fan asked to be daegals mother and he instantly said, “she already has a mother. WHICH is me I’m the mother and father. I’m the only one she needs.” he panicked as he spoke and tried to play it off.

fans put the two times together and looked more into it, figuring out that you two HAD to be dating. the one and only time the crazy fans were right.

he is panicking when he realises fans were figuring it out and instantly gets in contact with both you and the company. you’re a bit more calm over the phone about this than he is but when you see him in person you’re also freaking out.

jisung

you two were seen together out in public. it was really late at night when the two of you were going for a walk to a local shop near your place to get some late night food.

fans approached jisung, leaving you both shocked since he was disguised pretty well in your opinion.

the fans kept pestering you both so you two ran away- literally.

it made headlines the next day, and you laughed at the photos of you running away with jisung. your laughter was really just covering for how nervous and worried you were though. He on the other hand was texting everyone he trusted and getting all sorts of different advice.

he is really worried about what this meant for his future and he might consider a hiatus to avoid having to face the fans for a bit if the response is really negative.

[ggukkiedae]

2sun on and off cameras

Click Below to See the Video

*quotations in the bottom of the pictures are narrated by the video editor. dialogue in italics are spoken in english, dialogue in bold are spoken in chinese. content warning: one curse word*

*did i write this because i miss haechan? yes. yes i did. get well soon haechannie 🥺*

00z lives 2018 vs. 2020

in the 2018 live when talking about spoilers, hannah and haechan both started doing the same choreography, so jeno stopped haechan while jaemin stopped hannah.

they exchanged a look then continued the choreo, so jeno shoved haechan off the chair while jaemin pulled hannah onto his lap, acting like a straight jacket

(then moments later spoiling choreo again while dancing to chewing gum until renjun shoved them both away)

in the 2020 live, hannah and haechan explained the iphone macbook bit to jeno, then haechan reached over her to pinch jeno’s ears while hannah poked his side.

jeno just pinched haechan’s arm and started tickling her side, making them both start yelling

Bonus Clip #3 | Analog Trip NCT 127: Escape From Magic Island

they all agreed to throw haechan into the water, and he runs away and hides behind hannah

and she looks at the older members, grabs a paddle and looks at them “i will splash you if you touch my twin!” but there was a splash behind her.

she turned around and saw haechan dove into the water willingly, so she gave him a look

“i can’t help you if you do stuff like that!” “it was throw or be thrown!”

he was thrown anyway while taeil lifted her in a fireman’s hold, bringing her to johnny

[BE ORIGINAL] NCT DREAM(엔시티 드림) ‘ISTJ’ (Behind)

while monitoring their cuts, haechan’s backhugging her, patting her stomach and she starts squirming before breaking from his hold

he looks at her offended, then there’s a small pause before she pulls his shirt up, making him panic to hold it back down and hide his own stomach

he moves to do the same to until he realized she was in a bralette

“try. try. just you try, lee donghyuck” “don’t test me, lee haeeun”

and he just throws her over his shoulder, and she’s yelling and mark's just following them all “guys? guys? haechan, put her down”

PADO Dance Practice Behind VS Concert Performance

during a break, there’s just a clip of them trying to (for lack of better terms) out-babygirl each other while doing the chorus, and all the other members are just watching all amused

cut to them dancing the chorus after their shared pre-chorus facing each other, eyes intense just until the second “you got me so satisfied” where they turned to face opposite directions, but beside each other instead then fist bumping as the piano chords sound at the end of the chorus

2sun during concerts compilation

cue a compilation of them hoeing it out together during baby don’t like it stages

them stacking accessories on each other during candy stages

their slow motion to normal speed high five during faster stages

their play arguments before mfal stages

2016 Chewing Gum Making Film

taeyong speaking to the camera: “it’s so interesting. our 127 maknae is over there acting like an oppa to our haeeun. it’s so interesting to see, i don’t think he’s like this even with his actual siblings.”

the camera pans to hannah and haechan, but the two are just seen eating, so the camera pans back to taeyong

taeyong: “you didn’t catch it? such a shame, it was really cute.”

2017 Doyoung Hosting the NCT Dream MFAL Comeback Show

“hey, lee haechan, why are you being like this? where’s the maturity you said you’d have because you’re a hyung in dream?” “hyung, are you haeeunie?” “no?” “exactly.”

*doyoung looks at the crowd with an accusatory look while the dreamies laugh*

“no, but it really is weird seeing haechan being an oppa to hannah. he’s like a different person.”

2018 Taeyong Vlive

“haeeunie is my daughter, everyone. now that she’s in 127, i’ll be taking care of her more. but i don’t think i can ever beat haechannie. haechannie is our maknae, but he’s like a real oppa with our haeeunie. he avoids doing it on camera, but he always takes care of her very well. it’s sweet, if you think about it.”

2019 Chenle and Jisung live

jisung: “hannah noona and haechan hyung? they’re with the 127 hyungs right now, working very hard.”

chenle: “right. i feel so thankful to them for working hard for both 127 and dream. i feel sorry whenever i see them go from one schedule to another, it’s like they aren’t resting.”

jisung: “but they’re taking care of themselves for sure! haechan hyung especially makes sure hannah noona always eats and sleeps well”

chenle (imitating haechan): “haeeun-ah, time for lunch” “haeeun-ah, let’s go to bed, you need energy, okay?” “is our haeeunie okay? is she hurt? is she tired?”

jisung: “woah, you sound exactly like him!”

2020 Kun live

“kun baba?” *chuckles* “i am. i’m huanuo’s kun baba… partly. don’t get me wrong, i love hannah and the fact that we’re working together again after two years, but i don’t see her all the time, you know? i can’t be her baba all the time because she’s always off on schedules.” *sighs* “i’m just glad she has haechan. You may not believe it from haechan’s very bright and energetic energy, but he becomes very mellow and caring when he’s with her. it’s like watching him turn into a dad.”

2021 Yangyang live

“do you ever get jealous of haechan and hannah? no, i don’t. maybe once, but that was for, like, two seconds. yeah haechan is actually very big brother to her, you know? you guys have never, like, hung out with just those two without staff or cameras, there’s a switch. i mean, hannah is still her, but just a little more kid-like. just a little. haechan becomes like an extra protective big brother. they really are like actual siblings. them and mark hyung, too!”

2022 Sungchan live

*sounds of the door opening, sungchan looks, bows his head, then looks back to the live*

“i thought it was hannah noona. she likes checking on me every now and then, but i forgot she’s still on tour. that was a staff just now. hannah noona… she’s like my second mom. she really takes care of me well, which is why it’s a little strange for me to see her with haechan hyung. He’s like hannah noona’s personal hannah noona. do you get it? did i say that right? it’s a little bit like if me, chenle, and and jisung have hannah noona, noona has haechan hyung.”

2023 Yuta on Weverse

hannah is ignoring me right now

not by choice

haechan has my kitsune wrapped in a blanket because she has a cold right now

i want to take care of her but haechan said it’s his job and she’s his responsibility

when did he get so grown up, our maknae?

[N’-153] We gon’ resonate 🔥 | NCT 2020💚MAMA 안무연습 비하인드🌟

around 7 minutes and 20 seconds into the video there’s a really quick moment where you can see them behind johnny dancing while the choreographer was discussing details

she was looking down, and he was just a little hunched over to be more at level with her while holding her face, looking like he was asking her something, and she shook her head, then he nodded, and that was all seen before the clip cut

Mark’s IG Story

hannah straight up just walked into a glass door because she was on her phone, then haechan cradles her forehead, lightly scolding her for not looking where she was going meanwhile mark’s just in laughs going “cute, why are the babies so cute”

[Un Cut] Take #3 | ‘Kick It’ Dance Practice

while taeyong’s talking about the famous dance moves in the choreography, you can see hannah and haechan’s reflection in the mirror where he had sat on the floor, making her sit next to him then urging her to drink water while they both marked the choreography in the mirror

2020 앙게이트 20 📝 #1 | 2020 ENQUETE 20 | NCT RESONANCE Pt.2

in the very corner of the video when jaemin is answering the eighth question, they’re walking, and hannah trips. haechan quickly catches her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and helping her walk

DREAM SKETCH : Page #2 | THE DREAM TOUR BEHIND

at the very beginning of the video when jisung is vlogging with the mirror behind him, you can see the reflection of hannah and haechan on the couch where haechan is rubbing something onto her knee

“woah, can you see that? this is rare to see on camera, everyone. haechan hyung’s natural state when he’s with hannah noona. let’s not disturb them, he’s putting muscle reliever on noona’s knee because it’s been bothering her”

Dance Practice Behind | Ep.1 | 2023 NCT CONCERT - NCT NATION: To The World

when jisung, ten, and renjun are talking, you can hear haechan and hannah in the background

“haeeun-ah, have you taken your medicine?” “yes, and i’m fine” “just making sure. i didn’t see you eat breakfast today” “i’m good, oppa, i had a sandwich a while ago, and jungwoo oppa and i are gonna have a big lunch. it’s just a cold, stop worrying” “you know i can’t do that”

taglist: @1-800-enhypennabi @strwberrydinosaur @sunflower-0180 @caratinylyfe @1-800-minji @one16core @kimhyejin3108 @chansols @akshverse @world-full-of-roses @stopeatread @allthings-fandoms

drop an ask or a dm if you wanna be added or taken out of the taglist 🥰 requests are also open!

[real-life-senshi]

10 (Mostly) Spoiler-Free Reasons to Watch Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon 2003 Live Action

A countdown to the 20th anniversary of Act 1 air date!

Reason 2: The humour!

The live-action series is great that it doesn't take itself TOO seriously. Almost all if not all episodes have some comedic moments, finding a balance of seriousness and moments of relief. After all, life goes on even in the midst of crisis!

Everyone can be funny!

Throughout the series, each character has its comedic moments, some overt and others subtle, but the opportunity gets passed around. Not one character is the sole comedic relief person, even if some characters are naturally funnier than others.

I very much appreciate the types of humour the show brings, as when each character has their own comedic moment, it's done by capitalizing on the awkward side of their personalities, or the role they may play in certain dynamics. It's important for me to emphasize this because no one gets disrespected or dumbed down for the sake of humour! It makes the comedic moment not only believable, even if sometimes cartoonish, but more importantly, it's not forced or cringe.

The editing!

The post-production crew did a phenomenal job with the background music transitions, sound effects and visual effects to optimize the delivery! I think PGSM humour gets to me so much because as a video editor, the timing or certain SFX or VFX transition is just spot on, multiplying the effects of the comedy.

Here's a small selection of such comedic moments. These are all more overt, so it didn't require too much context building (or subtitling), and most are early series, as I had to be very picky to make sure it's spoiler-free.

The last one in the clip is my favourite one by far. Unlike Ami-chan in the manga or anime, Ami-chan in the live-action series, while still smart with a high IQ, isn't actually the brain-cell holder in the team dynamic. lol

While most of the clips I shared show Usagi being the butt of the joke or the ones creating humour, it's EXTREMELY important for me to note that Usagi ISN'T actually written as "dumb" or "stupid" in the series. This re-emphasizes my earlier point. Usagi in PGSM is written to be good to a fault, naive, innocent, immature, naturally overreactive (thus awkward) and sometimes slow to the uptake, but never stupid. Her grades are not great because she's lazy and leaves things to the last minute, not because she's "dumb". When it comes to Senshi business, while Usagi may act according to her heart and not necessarily with facts, she does arrive at the correct conclusion and puts clues together well on her own. Even if mistakes were made, they were actually reasonable mistakes. That's what I love about PGSM's writing, the screenwriter really gets the characters and doesn't disrespect or devalue them for ANY reason!

You can watch the subbed versions of the series at:

Miss Dream Fansubs

Sea of Serenity Fansubs

The series is also on other online streaming sites, but be cautious to only visit them with good adware and firewall installed.

9 days till the 20th anniversary of Act 1 air date!

Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

[a-jynx]

Hi love! How are you today? Also, I have a request for you. What do you think about, Platonic!Tommy x Reader, where they are bestfriends, and Tommy catches a cold, and gets all clingy with the reader, and ends up falling asleep in their arms. While he is asleep, reader goes live on insta, or tiktok, you choose, and “makes fun if him” for “not being clingy”. Just two best friends cuddling, ya know? 😅 (but nothing sexual)

Hello, hello dearest! I am doing pretty well, I hope you’re doing well! And I genuinely love everything about this request - it’s too adorable! Sick!Tommy definitely needs all the bestie cuddles he can get :D So I hope I do this request justice and thank you so much for the request !! <3

Platonic!Tommy x reader (I wasn't sure if you wanted C!Tommy or CC!Tommy, so I went with CC!Tommy since the Content Creators are who I've been writing for, however I can rewrite this! ) *Especially if against boundaries*

~~~~

You knew! You absolutely knew when Tommy told you about going to the water course, on a partially frigid day, something was going to happen, now look where he was… Acting like a whiny, snot-nosed toddler.

“Y/nnnnn,” Tommy’s voice trailed from your bed, making you shift in your seat to see the tall blond sprawled out against your covers, groaning and sniffling. “Tom, if you get as one drip of snot on my sheets,” your warning - of course - fell to deaf ears as he sat up, groaning from what you could tell was the sinus pressure and headache. “Would you like me to turn off the lights?” You murmured, hoping to not agitate his ache more than it already was, however, he gently shook his head.

“No, but forget your stupid editing for two seconds and come ‘ere,” he all but coughed as you winced, hearing the rawness in his throat and with the soft lights you could see his eyes were slightly red and teary, as well as nose blushed red from blowing it. You couldn’t help the roll of your eyes as you pushed your chair back, shaking your head at your ill best friend with a tut. You flopped onto the bed, causing him to jump with the impact with an annoyed huff - glancing at you with a frown. “That ‘stupid editing’ I’m doing is actually for your stupid channel, so watch it or I’ll corrupt all your files,” you bit, wiggling your fingers towards him, attempting to possible irritate him, but he just pushed your hand away and scooted back against your mountain of pillows with a groan. You laid next to him, pressing your shoulders together as you both stared at the dinghy ceiling.

“You wouldn’t dare,”

“Try me, big man,” you both broke into grins at the nickname as Tommy broke out into a fit of coughs, making you frown. Scooting closer, you wrapped him into a hug, not minding the warmth from his hoodie. He slumped into you, sighing as you both laid peacefully. It didn’t take long for Tommy’s snores to rattle you, blinking as you glanced at him - his mouth parted and a bit of drool sliding down his chin.

“Gross,” you rolled your eyes, grabbing your phone from it’s charging port with a wicked grin. Opening your phone, you maneuvered yourself to be comfortable with the weight of the lanky blonde boy in your arms as you clicked onto TikTok, grinning as you clicked the Go Live.

Viewers began to pour in as you glanced between the “hello” and “hi’s.” Since becoming one of Tommy’s few editors, and even jumping onto the bandwagon of streaming - you gained a following quickly.

“Hey, guys!” You whispered, keeping your voice a low hum as Tommy moved, somehow cuddling closer as you snickered, attempting to keep the phone steady on the two of you. “I’m a bit pinned down at the moment, so Tommy’s new video may take a bit to go out! But, how’re you all today?” You watched chat - catching a few ‘good!’ and ‘better now.’ You were thankful for the community you gained - yes, it may’ve been because your best friend was a well-known streamer, but you could care less! You were proud to be by Tommy’s side as he accomplished his biggest dreams, and you couldn’t be happier for him.

“Yes, Tommy is with me, chat - I know! Look at this absolute teddy bear! He’s like a child with a death grip on their mother’s arm!” You snickered, as the chat agreed adding a few ‘haha’s’ and laughing emojis as a few questions came in, leaving you to answer a few while adding a few jabs at Tommy for clinging to you when he always mentions how ‘big man’ and ‘macho’ he is. It was the perfect opportunity!

“I’ve known Tommy for awhile - we knew each other from when we were younger and sort of became inseparable,” you giggled, remembering how Tommy used to ask you for help to reach his juice cup or the cookie jar, but now you’re always asking for help from your tree-height best friend. “Plus, he’s the one that pushed me to get into editing and streaming - so we all have him to thank for pushing me out of my comfort zone.” You smiled as an annoyed groan came from beside you, making you freeze as chat began to spam ‘HE’S WAKING UP’ and ‘RUN Y/N RUN!!!’

Tommy moved to sit up carefully, his yawn even sounding scratchy as he coughed some, mindful to keep it away from you. He blinked, his eyes switching between your slightly widened eyes and the TikTok live stream, as well as chat still spamming for you to quickly book it while you still could.

“Y/n…” Tommy hummed with his hoarse voice, the scratch in it as you slowly began to sit up, moving to try and give yourself at least a small chance to run. “Why’re you live… On the TikTok community… Hm?” Each word came out a bit breathless as you could barely contain your grin, sitting up on one of your knees while your foot grazed the floor.

“Tommy, Tomathy, Tom Simons, Big Man, come on,” you giggled, moving your hands up to keep him back if he tried to grab you. “It’s nothing!”

Your persuasive argument - you really tried to get out of that one - didn’t work as he reached for you, only to be pulled off the bed as you leaned back to get away from him. A shout came from both of you as you landed on your thankfully carpeted floor - chat was spamming as you and Tommy groaned, laying in defeat beside one another as he reached over, ending your little live as you turned towards him, grinning.

“A TikTok live? Seriously?” Tommy groaned, dropping his head back against the plush carpet as you broke into a fit of giggles. “What?” He huffed as you wiped at a fake tear, gesturing towards his face as he frowned, reaching up and wiping away a thick line of drool that had clung to his chin.

Your soft laughter caused him to break out into a smile, joining in on the laughter as he rolled his eyes as you both held your sides, still laughing before you both settled into the soft flooring, your shoulders touching as you sighed, glancing outside. The sun had begun to set, leaving the room in a soft light - you knew Tommy had another vlog to do tomorrow with Jack, Tubbo and Ranboo. You turned towards him, smiling softly as Tommy glanced at you, still holding a bit of a frown.

“You’ve got a busy day tomorrow,”

“At least I’m not stuck editing,” he snickered as you punched his shoulder, making him cry out and rub at the wound.

“What the fuck!”

“I should make you edit your own vlogs, dickhead,” you groaned, moving to sit up as he followed your lead, huffing as he began to massage his temples. The reason why he came over suddenly came back to you.

“Shit, what’re you going to do about tomorrows’ vlog? You’re still sick,”

“I’m a big man, Y/n, I think I can handle a head cold-”

“Yeah, okay, not even half an hour ago you were whining and grumbling about your much your head hurt and how much you needed your best friend,”

“Aye! Don’t make me sound like a pussy!” He grumbled as you rolled your eyes, snatching your phone and flopping back onto your bed, going onto Twitter to see all of the screen records and clips your fans had gotten from your small live. Tommy sat on the floor glaring at you before standing, still glaring before attempting to climb over your comforted body.

“Tomathy!” You growled as he flopped back into his previous spot, snuggling into the comforting feel of your pillows and even your own warmth. It felt comforting for him to feel your precious, but he’s not a pussy so he’ll never admit it.

“Are you done?”

He side-eyed you, pursing his lips with a huff. Not answering as you rolled your eyes before returning to your hunt on Twitter. Tommy side-eyed you again, before scooting closer and watching a few of the clips with you. Tommy couldn’t hold back the scoff as there was a picture of him practically on top of you as you tried to speak to your chat.

“I am so sick of you,” he suddenly grunted as you glanced at him, rolling your own eyes while closing your phone and staring at the ceiling, once more that evening.

“I know you’re not, you can’t lie to your best friend, TommyInnit,” you scoffed as he sighed, closing his eyes as you felt your own body slowly become warm and comfy on your comforter, sighing as you and Tommy both began to drift asleep.

“You’re right.. But, I don’t see Tubbo here,” he mocked, his eyes still closed as you snapped open your eyes, frowning. You moved around some before snatching one of your smaller pillows and smacking it against his chest, causing him to yell out again.

“Now, I’M sick of you,” you huffed, settling in and closing your eyes as Tommy scoffed, as you two settled in, too tired for any more bickering and allowing you both to find comfort in your best friends arms once again - this time no lives, no chats, and no more annoying sniffles.

~~~~

a/n; I hope you enjoyed this anon! I definitely loved writing this, and I hope to see more requests in the future!

Until tomorrow, I hope you all have a beautiful day! ~ J

[cupidlakes]

Op is acting like george isn't a human who procrastinates like the rest of the world when it comes to doing jobs they find difficult being motivated to do 🥴 (so when he does do it we do praise him a little)

Give me your strength OP

shrug i deleted the post bc it could’ve just been lh the tags just took me aback bc it was in my notifs LMAO like . that one clip of all instances george was literally like “congrats on finishing your work! it feels good doesn’t it” and idg how you can somehow spin it as george preaching against what he practices, being lazy also isn’t the worst thing ever and having struggles w starting stuff isn’t either it’s normal and human and a worse time for some than others (as evidenced if you wanna compare the way dream and george respectively work and get around to editing, george acts like it’s insurmountable while dream can take on 5 more projects sometimes)

i’m biased obviously but i genuinely don’t think george is some bum riding on his current hype he does a lot outside of editing his videos being there for his friends and their content etc. it seems like he helps as much as he receives help and the dteam have kinda built up their platform and branding together like that which is genuinely cool the way they sort eachother out w/ thumbnails coding and ideas, coding which george had a big hand in like idk it’s just nice is his editing procrastination problem a problem? yeah but also he knows it is idt george struts around saying he’s the master of content creation whilst delivering absolutely nothing (this is dipped in some sarcasm bc he doesn’t do nothing) and you don’t have to armchair diagnose or medicalise it to see it is a problem for him and not something he wants to be a problem

+ i give him some leeway apropos to editing bc it’s smth that’s cropped up a lot george even mentioning he confided in quackity abt it recently who said george was borderline in tears and idt being a millionaire or successful absolves him of the worries he has, it probably worsens them bc of the expectations and it says more that he wants to deliver smth high quality over smth timely but not up to the unique standard he and dream have set for themselves there are solutions sure but i give him his own time to work out what he wants to do and it’s clearly hard for him and again you don’t have to armchair diagnose someone to realise smth is a struggle for them regardless of the reasons why as a fan ofc i’d love content as often as possible but i’m also sympathetic

i just say all this bc it’s been weighing on my mind generally too and gets kinda sad to see ppl act like george doesn’t stand on his own as a content creator and takes advantage of his position or Dream “when he could so Easily do this thing” which is evidently not that easy bc if it was he would just do it like i know he would and the way i see it george takes pride in his content and executing it perfectly (watch any stream ever he is FUSSY abt semantics) which takes precedence over consistent uploads and it’s bittersweet sure bc i don’t want him to feel stressed abt it above all and the reason why i think he could benefit with an editor but also i’m not going anywhere just bc of it and i do not think it means george isn’t hardworking

[0risha]

THE FIRST MONTH

» CHAPTER SUMMARY : As an aspiring author in New York, life hasn’t been the easiest. To your surprise, things start to look brighter when you're met with an unexpected offer.

» TAGS : a few curse words, mentions of insecurity

⤻ series m.list  | series playlist | ⤻ the next month

“Take as much time as you need,” Draena drawls. Your brows furrow as you note that she was, indeed, being sarcastic. 

“A-are you gaslighting me,” you scoff over the line. You wait to hear a bubble of laughter from your editor/best friend but it never comes.

“Shut it.” You gulp as her tone turns hard. “What you turned in last night.” You shut your eyes in hopes of drowning out her next line. 

“Was complete shit.” 

“Gosh, you’re so rude.” You turn in your seat, propping up your glasses as your attention moves from your computer screen to your slumbering cat. “What happened to my happy, enthusiastic Rae rae?” you boast, clutching the phone closer to your ear. 

“Well, this so-called final draft made my mood go sour.” 

“Fuck, Rae- I’m trying here.” You coax, internally wincing when you catch the crawling desperation in your voice. Draena must’ve heard it too.

“I know you are babe but when you send me videos of you dancing with Yuka while Erykah Badu’s singing her heart out in the background—” her voice cuts off when you let out a snicker. 

“It’s not funny Y/N!” Draena proclaims but you hear the low laugh she lets out. “Okay, but when you send me videos of that it makes me think otherwise.” 

You hum in feigned contemplation. “But you know…. those are like my interim periods.”

“I’m hanging up on you.”

“Wait, no! Rae rae please- I was kidding,” you plead, frantically.

“Give me a better draft by the 12th an—"

“Rae rae!” Your cat turns to you, telepathically telling you to shut up with her green, narrowed eyes.

“And have a goodnight Y/N, I love you.” 

Beep.

You heave out a sigh. “She definitely doesn’t love me,” you confess to the air. “Yuka baby,” you sing, patting your lap; a signal for her to jump on.

“But you do…. I just know you do.” You coo, rubbing the scruff of Yuka’s white-haired neck as she curls into you.

“Yuka…. why does the world hate me so much?” You take your pair of glasses from your face and throw them on your desk. 

“And my head hurts…..” you whine. “And m’ so hungry.” 

You hear Yuka purr in agreement.

“Ugh, Yuka, back home they had such good ramen.” You sigh wistfully, turning to glare at the microwaveable ramen cup that sat in your trash.

“I miss it.” You divert your gaze from the trash to your office window to watch a trail of rain pellets zig-zag across the glass. Dark, heavy clouds farther up in the background. 

New York’s current weather didn’t help with your somber mood. 

“M’ gonna take you there one day, I promise.” You sniffle, unwanted emotions welling up in your chest. 

“You know who I want you to meet!” You raise an index finger idly in the air. “Want you to meet my brother, he loves cats. Have I told you that, Yuka?” Your mood instantly flips as you remember your older sibling. Though, it drops just the same when you get no response. It wasn’t like you were gonna get one anyway. 

With the piercing silence in your apartment, your mind starts to wander to forbidden thoughts. To straggly blonde hair, dark amber e—

“No!” Yuka jerks up when you do. “I’m not doing this tonight.” You push up from your chair, Yuka mewling in rejection. “Sorry, baby, come cuddle with me in bed.” You take one last guilty glance at your computer before walking to your bedroom. Groaning when your body hits your not so soft mattress. You pat the sheets for signs of Yuka’s body but to no avail. With a roll to the side of your bed, you see her glued to the floor. “You’re so spoiled,” you grunt, taking her in your arms and plopping her next to you. 

“Goodnight Yuka.” You get a nuzzle in response. 

When your eyes close and the rest of the world fades, you end up dreaming of him.

Well, it’s not just him. It’s more of an uncatchable blur of moments together. 

Your entry at the local girl’s volleyball workshop that you had eventually begged your mother to quit because you were terrible at it. 

The teasing words he would throw at you because of your non-ability to even set a ball. How his brother would force him to apologize after seeing the tears that stained your brown, pudgy cheeks.

Unsurprisingly, Aran was too caught up in his little world to even care but they were glee-full memories, nonetheless. 

Although, as if your subconscious was in tune with your wants, your dreams didn’t stray too far, cutting right off before that summer. 

The next morning, you’re pulled out of your sleep by Yuka’s insistent scratching against your chest.

“Damn it, Yuka, don’t scratch my nipple off,” you grunt. When you open your eyes, you’re forced to squint due to the harshness of the sun that filters through your bedroom blinds. 

With a sigh, you roll over to grab your phone, groaning when the bright light hits your sensitive eyes. You didn’t have any texts from Draena, which made you happy and sad at the same time. Usually, if Draena sent texts, they were pleas for a new draft or implied words of motivation that were sometimes laced with venom; the absence of emoticons always a telltale sign. 

However, Draena was the only person that bothered to text you, so it did brighten your day a teensy bit when she did. Aran didn’t text, at all, and if you didn’t know better you would think that he physically couldn’t, but he just took joy in speaking on the phone.

“She’s really mad at me huh, Yuka.” You throw your phone on the pile of sheets when you rise from your bed. Body craning to relieve itself when you elongate it to an upwards stretch. Yuka does the same, her white tail thumping on the wood-like tile floor. 

“Don’t have anything to do today,” you whisper, rubbing your eyes as you drag your body to your cramped bathroom. 

When you reach for your toothbrush, you glance at your reflection in the mirror. A simple glance turns into a long, attentive stare as you try to mentally pick and prod at your appearance. You blink, silently shocked that you weren’t falling into an ether of insecurities. 

While furiously brushing your teeth, careful to avoid harsh circles on your sensitive gums, you stare vacantly at your mirrored face. As if observing for long enough would finally uprise the emotions you had grown accustomed to. 

Droopy eyes, too full lips, not the prettiest nose. 

But they never came.

And as uncanny as it sounded, you didn’t like it. You didn’t like the unfamiliarity of losing such a dear friend. One, that you had carried by your side for years on end.

After placing your toothbrush back in its rightful place, you swished a small amount of evergreen mouthwash in your mouth, letting out a wince after following it down with a swish of cold water. 

You turn to leave, but not before glancing once more at your mirror.

It’d be back soon, it had to.

After feeding Yuka a reasonable amount of catnip and changing her litter box, you plop down on your couch (which was to your dismay, missing a few springs), grab your remote, and flip to a random channel. 

After a couple of minutes into a series about fire emergencies, you found it hard to concentrate, the colors that were supposed to solidify into suitable entertainment only blurred by. You squint, but the effect only works for a second. 

Things were so bad that you couldn’t even watch television?

Though, you weren’t sure what exactly these things were. Yeah, living in this place wasn’t exactly ideal but you were gonna make it big in due time. The heavy-paged outline you’d sent in last month had been placed on the top of the Greatest Upcoming list by your publishing company. 

Perhaps, that was the case; the heavy expectations that had been placed on your already frail shoulders, albeit, you knew exactly what you were signing up for when you’d hit the submit button. You couldn’t help but think that your conflicted emotions were for an entirely different reason. 

It was frustrating not knowing what was going on with yourself. The little things that were supposed to make you happy; eating snacks, listening to your mother’s voicemails, playing with Yuka, all felt like a toll. 

However, this train of thought introduced a new one. 

A rush of impelling air flits through your apartment, before it could find the means to disappear you clamber up to your office. Well, it was more a corner of your apartment that could fit a desk than an office, but it was enough. 

Grabbing your glasses from the desk drawer and placing them right on the bridge of your nose, your fingers fly. They’re set in rhythm, thoughts that fly to your fingertips and transfer. It goes on like this for nearly two hours, your eyes burn and your joints ache but something tells you that if you were to stop now, a feeling like this wouldn’t be so easy to attain again. Rare moments like these felt like euphoria. But it always came with a price; a hook of fear that settled in your skin. The fear of writing something that wasn’t up to par. 

To your utmost dismay, your writing is interrupted by the ringing of your phone, and just like that your impel disappears. With an annoyance-filled groan, you grab the source of the noise. 

Draena.

“What! Rae rae... I can’t believe you, I had the best feeling of motivation, and my fucking fingers wer—”

“Come. Now.” Your eyebrows shoot up as Draena cuts off your impending rant, her voice low and demanding.

“Huh- to NPC, why?” Going to your publishing company was a rare occurrence, you basically worked from home. 

“Urgent news.” Draena clips.

“Why the short answers? Just tell me…” your voice trails off. As much as you hated to admit, you were terrified. What if they booted up your deadline? Or worse… 

“No, they’re not kicking you off the list because of your terrible drafts.” You release a long breath in relief. 

“So what is it?” You gnawed the bottom of your lip in trepidation. 

“You’ll see.” The line cuts.

You roll your eyes. Draena hanging up on you was starting to become an annoying habit.

With a glance at your computer screen, your eyes widen in shock. 

68,000 words.

A new record.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Everyone knew about New York, the melting pot of all types of people, food, festivities, and yadda yadda. 

But no one seemed to know how dampening it was. To you at least. 

The difference between being in one of the most active places in the states and having nothing going for you was very...depressing. Though the thoughts of impending success snuck into your gloomy thoughts, it was driven away by impatience. 

When? When were you going to finally catch a break? When were you going to be shrouded by contentment and feel as though moving to the states was the right choice? 

These thoughts compiled onto your mind as you stared at the back of a stranger’s brown and very ugly loafers.

The metro was loud and bustling with life. Though, it didn’t hold much surprise. 

You made sure to keep your head downcast and avoid eye contact with anybody. You were lucky enough to get a seat on the train, but the regret finally started to set in when you felt another person pushing against the left of you. 

With an inaudible sigh, you close your eyes in hopes of getting a few moments of peace before you had to go to your publishing company. Draena did tell you that it wasn’t a serious matter but a gut feeling told you that it was. 

When your stop comes, you squeeze through a plethora of bodies to get out of the doors. 

The walk to your publishing company is short, your gray sweatpants and sweatshirt made it an easier trek. With your heart in your throat, you elongate your neck to stare at the company. It was nothing special, a five-storied building that looked slightly crappy on the inside. However, it was seemingly special to you. It’d housed dozens of authors esteemed with the title of best-seller and you’d be damned if you weren’t one. 

After giving yourself a speech of confidence, you enter the building. The first thing that hits you is the overbearing stench of coffee. The sweet smell of donuts, next. Which leaves you to salivate due to the absence of breakfast. 

“You can have mine if you want to.” A figure towers over yours. Michael. Your eyes flit to his face, then to the donut, he offers on a folded napkin. Your nose scrunches up in distaste. A cruller.

When you see the way his face slightly falls, you smile at him. “Thank you, Michael. I’ll make sure to eat this since I didn’t have any breakfast this morning.” As you grab the donut from his hand and your fingers brush ever so slightly, you catch the way his cheeks flush red. 

Now, you weren’t an egotistical fool but there was no way that Michael didn’t have a thing for you. But there was no way you were going to entertain him. Yeah, he was cute; short-cropped black hair, sharp cheekbones, and nice jade eyes to go with it, he wasn’t your type. It didn’t help that he was only eighteen, four years your junior. The gap wasn’t huge but it just… wasn’t your thing. 

“H-have a nice day.” He chokes out, a nervous smile adorning his pasty cheeks. 

“I will, thanks again.” With a small smile, you turn away to trudge up the stairwell. 

The stairs are rickety and downright scary. Every step you take causes a flash of childish vision in which you end up falling through. The quality of the rails didn’t help either. Renovations, maybe?

You’re pulled from your thoughts as you finally make your way through to the fifth floor. Surprisingly, this floor was tidier than the rest. More expensive printers, offices, and equipment in general. 

“Finally.” Draena cruises towards you, her expression is neutral, conveying no signs of what’s about to come. 

“Hi Rae rae,” you smile, handing her your cruller. “You look nice.” You observe her pencil skirt that fits just right on her curves, and her white button-up that makes her chest look really, really nice.

“Stop ogling my tits, you perv.” You roll your eyes at her crude language as she stuffs her face with the donut. “You look….” She ducks her head to study your attire. “Comfortable.” 

“Putting your rudeness aside.” You wave your arms. “Uh��� what am I here for?” You scratch the back of your neck as a source of relief. 

Sensing your nervousness, Draena places her hands on your shoulders. “Everything’s fine, I promise. Just follow me.” She turns.

You blink out of your stupor to follow behind. Your eyes stay downcast. “Stop looking at my ass—”

Your eyes widen in shock as everyone turns to give you a perturbed stare. “W-what! Draena— I was not.” You scramble up to stand side by side with your friend, sending her an icy glare.

She gives you a low chuckle in response. “I know, I know. Just tryna get you to lighten up.” She pats your mass of curls. “Well, I hope ya did, cause we’re here.” She stops in front of the main conference room. 

She pulls your sweaty hands into her own. “You got this! Just don’t say too much because you don’t nee—”

“Huh- you’re not coming with me!” you whisper-yell, eyes moving sporadically in disbelief.

“Nope!” She springs, letting go of your hand and turning you towards the door. “Good luck, babes, call me when you’re done, I can’t wait to see your reaction.” And with that, Draena pushes a very terrified you into the conference room. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Uh, Miya!” Atsumu turns to the loud reporter. “Any ladies in your life?” 

“Nah and yer crazy if you think there’s gonna be.” He gives an upturning grin as the conference room bursts into a muttering mess.

Next to him, Sakusa grunts, “you’re so damn arrogant.” Atsumu gives him a shrug in return.

“So, any past ladies you’re still willing to pine over?” Atsumu blinks once, twice. The room falls into an eerie silence as his teammates turn to peer at him. 

“Nah,” he clips. “Let’s talk about the game now.” Atsumu coughs. “We should be talking about Mr. Shoyo here, no?” The orange-haired boy flushes in embarrassment as the attention of the room shifts to him. 

When the team heads back to the locker room, the air is filled with exhaustion. The adrenaline finally slithering away as they grab their belongings. 

Meian, their team captain clambers up to Atsumu’s figure and clasps him on the shoulder. “What was that about, Miya?” 

Slowly, Atsumu turns to give him a confused look. “What was what about?” He lies, slinging his bag on his other shoulder. His eyes flicker across the locker room as everyone tries, but fails miserably, to hide their interest in the conversation. 

“Whatever, I know you’re not gonna tell me,” Meian sighs, already used to the boy's nonchalant façade.

With a huff and a series of goodbyes, Atsumu slides out of the locker room and pulls the hood of his jacket on his head. He fishes his phone out of his pocket, thumbs ready to send a pleading text to his Osamu. 

When he does, he sighs wistfully. Silently hoping that his brother would give him at least a dozen of onigiris of his choice, for free. When his phone ringer goes off, he immediately slides accept. A wide smile on his face as he speaks to what he thinks is his brother.

“Sumu! If you’re calling to ask, I’d really like some with grilled salm-”

“Nah, It’s not Osamu.” Atsumu comes to a stop in the MSBY parking lot. 

“A-aran?” His dark amber eyes go wide. It’d been so long, but there was no he’d forget his best friend’s voice. 

“Yeah.” Though his voice is much deeper and gruff, a sense of nostalgia washes over Atsumu.

“What’d you call for? We haven’t talk-”

As Aran’s next words filter through Atsumu's right ear, the setter’s spine grows rigid. A plethora of thoughts enter his mind to merge into a red, blaring question mark. 

“Y/N’s coming back to Japan.”

a/n: yayy, i know this is kinda short and should probably be a prologue instead of chapter one but.... idk. also, i’m really excited to dive more into atsumu’s character. okay, okay other than that. I hope you enjoyed this! I feel as though the header is downright ugly but whatevs ┐( ˘_˘)┌

[cosplayinamerica]

Cosplay Over 40 group founders : Jae and Ana

Today I’m highlighting one of the Instagram share pages / theme pages, I followed, Cosplay Over 40. For the past few years, I’ve reached out to various  pages asking about how their page got started.

Ana: We arrived at cosplaying via two different avenues. Jae and I were both into anime, comic-book, and science-fiction geeks growing up. He loved — still loves — Macross and Robotech, I was more Star Blazers, Superfriends, and Star Trek. In high school and college, my friends and I made our own Star Trek uniforms and attended Star Trek events in New York City back when it wasn't called cosplaying. It wasn't even called costuming. It was just being a Star Trek geek. I bought my first official costume — a Star Trek Next Generation science jumpsuit — in grad school, and that just opened the door to what would become cosplaying. I pulled together costumes of Ranma Saotome from Ranma 1/2, Jessie from Pokemon, and Kim Possible, and I'd wear them for Halloween, to library events, and to comic-book expos... what would eventually become the cons we know today.

Jae: I have always loved taking photos. I'd take photos of friends, of people at events I'd attend. I love photography. It's my way of being involved without being the center of attention and without being stuck on the sidelines. I became a sports and portrait photographer, but cosplay always called to me. It just appeals to my geek side. And with Ana getting more and more into cosplay, it only seemed natural for me to turn to cosplay photography.

Ana: At first, we were just thrilled to be part of the cosplay scene. I love fandom meet-ups. I love meeting voice actors and artists, especially those behind the anime and comic-book characters I love. When people come up to me and ask to take photos with my cosplay, it's such a deeply satisfying feeling. My cosplay made people happy, made people smile.

Jae: We got really caught up in that scene, seeing other people reacting to Ana's cosplays and to so many other amazing cosplays.

Ana: And then we started to notice a different reaction. I think I first started noticing it at some meet-ups. There's be the main group, and then there'd be a handful of us on the outside. This happened more and more often, and it took me a few years to realize that those of us on the outside were older than the central groups. Once I realized this, my eyes flew wide open. At cons, I started noticing that the photographers would ignore fabulous, intricate cosplays worn by older cosplayers and would flock to take photos of teenagers and 20-somethings in wigs and bikinis.

Jae: It really pissed us off. Here were so many people who obviously put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into creating armor and amazing sewing projects, and they were barely being given a glance. I started going out of my way to photograph these cosplayers... and all over them were our age or older.

Ana: It finally came to a head in 2019. We spent a weekend at an out-of-state con, and we — myself and all the other older cosplayers — might as well have been invisible.

Jae: One of the other photographers actually told me he only takes photos of "young, pretty girls."

Ana: I told Jae that we couldn't just let this kind of behavior continue. We had to stand up and do something about it, let the older cosplayers know how wonderful they are. I have a Master's in public communications and I've worked as a social-media specialist for various companies and organizations since the mid 1990s. Since cosplay is such a visual art, I went straight to Instagram and searched for "cosplay" and our age range: 40. There was absolutely nothing there.

Jae: We also checked 50. There was nothing. Then we checked 30. Two accounts came up, both dead in the water. One hadn't posted since 2015, and one hadn't posted since 2018.

  Ana: Just to be safe, we also checked "old," "older," "geezer," all those types of terms. There was absolutely nothing. Given what we'd seen over the years at cosplay events, this really didn't surprise us, but it still hit us hard that there was no representation for the older cosplayer. I spent a couple of weeks outlining the guidelines we would follow. We looked at successful cosplay feature sites like @sharingcosplay and @women.of.cosplay. We knew we wanted to feature individuals, to give each cosplayer their time in the spotlight. We also wanted it to be structured. We didn't want to give one cosplayer a huge write-up, then give the next one just a few sentences. Everyone had to be showcased equally. After all, the whole reason we were doing this was because of the inequality we'd seen.

Jae: I felt we had to go beyond Instagram with this. I'd recently gotten into videography. I felt — still feel — that a multimedia market exists for the older cosplayer. I told Ana that we had to take this to podcasts, to YouTube, to even a magazine specializing in the older cosplayer.

Ana: I've worked as an assistant editor and managing editor for several magazines and I currently work as a contributing writer for two specialty magazines, so creating a magazine was something I totally agreed with. I also agreed with the podcasts and You Tube channel. That kind of thing is right up Jae's alley.

Jae: We decided that we would make this a multimedia venture, focusing on the older cosplayer and letting the world know how fabulous older cosplayers are. Older cosplayers have the discretionary income to dedicate to cosplaying. At this age, they're serious about their hobby and it's a true labor of love. It's not just something they do with their friends a couple of times a year. It's a passion. And the skill I've seen, the dedication... it all needed to be celebrated.

Ana: But we decided to start with social media first. We launched on Instagram on June 28, 2019, with Facebook and Twitter following shortly after.  We did encounter a small glitch...

Jae: There was a Facebook group with a very similar name...

Ana: We checked them out and saw they were a community group that shared photos of themselves and events they attended, nothing remotely like what we were doing and have planned for the future. Having studied journalism law and having consulted with a copyright specialist, we knew we were in the clear to bring our dream to life: celebrating the magnificent, often-overlooked older cosplayer.

Jae: The reception has been incredible. Not a week goes by that we don't get a message or email from a cosplayer thrilled to have found a place that showcases people their age. Our age.

Ana: We also get messages from people letting us know they'll be turning 40 soon and can't wait to be featured. We get people who message us on their 40th birthday, eager to be featured. Or who message us just days before their 40th birthday, asking to be featured on their special day. It's been wonderful. It's been mind blowing.

Jae: We've gone to several cons, and the reception there has been amazing. We've spoken to so many older cosplayers, every single one of whom had experienced ageism at these type of events and who were absolutely thrilled to discover that our focus is them and only them.

Ana: And then the pandemic hit.

Jae: It really sucked, from the photography standpoint, to watch everything come to a halt. But this also gave us the push we needed to move forward with our plans.

Ana: We started producing cosplay video projects, open to any cosplayer over the age of 40. We figured that cosplayers were looking for ways to continue cosplaying — safely — during the pandemic, looking for ways to interact with other cosplayers. We'd present a theme and state a deadline for submission.

Jae: We had a tremendous response.

Ana: Jae took all the video clips and edited them into amazing montages that really showcased how amazing cosplayers over 40 truly are. For one video, our Fight Challenge, we had more than 50 cosplayers participate from all over the world.

Jae: We also held an online con in March 2020.

Ana: Yes, our "Con Together." It was nine days of scheduled fandom meet-ups and cosplay sharing. We even had an artist's alley.

Jae: But right now, we've moved on to the next stages of our Cosplay Over 40 plans.

Ana: Jae has been building a dedicated podcast studio outfitted with all sorts of live-streaming equipment. I'm sure I'm not using the right terminology for this. It's Jae's baby, and I trust him implicitly to have it ready to go later this summer. I've also started working on the inaugural issue of Cosplay Over 40 magazine. The editorial content has been decided, I've reached out to cosplayers and others in the cosplay community for interviews and photos, and I'm really looking forward to laying out the issue and getting it to print.

Jae: But even with these new platforms, we are not slowing down with our original presence on Instagram.

Ana: Absolutely not! We're still growing — we just passed 3,900 followers — and we are now actually part of the @SharingCosplay family of feature pages. We are always looking for new cosplayers to feature and we always invite those we've featured in the past to share more of their cosplays with us. We have cosplayers in their 40s, 50s, 60s, and even in their 70s sending in their photos. Like I said before, it's mind blowing.

Jae: There's a sense of satisfaction that comes from showcasing cosplayers in our age demographic and beyond, of showing the world how awesome cosplayers over 40 truly are.

https://linktr.ee/cosplayover40

[aberstudiostorm]

Cacophony - making of

Read behind the curtains:

Maja (writer) - This week I took the role of a writer. The overall idea was to play with the flexibility of sound. I wrote a script, telling the story of the day in the life of Sabine waking up to discover that every move that she makes has unexpected noise, completely deviating from the original sound. Sabine slowly finds her way through another reality with gripping panic. The serious situation is bending with comedic effects of a rude toaster or screaming milk. I struggled with concluding the story as I felt that it needs more rounding up but in the end, but I think it didn’t turn out bad. I enjoyed writing the script and getting creative with the vision of the emotions and reactions of the character.

Tom (director) - This week I was the director. I was firm but fair. At the beginning I made sure everyone knew when what we needed and deadlines for when we needed it for. Maja started by doing the script which I read over, and I loved it. She has such a skill in this department, which as a group we know we will consider for our final film. I took Sabine the camera so she could get the aesthetic shots with Maja’s DSLR and we begin to film. Sabine got some extremely visually pleasing shots, which gave Sol a variety of footage to work with for editing. I enjoyed the process, and it was nice to have the first draft so we could see what direction he was going with and review it. The sounds needing to sync up with the footage was challenging for Sol, but he did a great job in fitting them together. I was also very proud of my milk scream. Hollie helped in giving ideas for what the film should look like and we all came together to decide which shots stayed in the film and what got removed. Overall, I think we did a great job, and I thought the shots, script and editing were strong show of our skills as a group.

Sabine (cinematographer/actress) - This week I undertook the role of the cinematographer because, as the actress, it was easier to imagine what the shots would look like, since we filmed in my flat. After reading through Maja's script, I sketched up a storyboard. I don't have a graphic tablet or anything to draw digitally on, so I took good ol' pen and paper and, although the storyboard turned out quite ugly, it gave me the general idea of how I wanted the shots to look. There is a mixture of close-ups and medium long shots so we could experiment with the sound intensity a bit in editing. The framing of some shots is also a bit unusual to emphasise the absurdity and oddness of the situation.

The filming process was fun, albeit quite stressful. My flat mate was happy to help out, so I directed him as a cameraman and went over all the shots and their sizes, and framing. I'm glad I had Maja's Canon DSLR and we could get better quality and control over the shots than if we had filmed on an iPhone. The lack of a tripod resulted in sometimes slightly strange framing and balancing the camera on a milk carton, but I suppose that's what filmmaking is about – finding ways to solve problems and putting your camera in unusual places.

Hollie (producer) – This week, I once again took on the role of the producer. Our film for the week relied heavily on the non-diegetic sounds and the synchronisation of those sounds to the picture on screen, for this task it was essential for the group to be organised and know what needed to be done and by when. The schedule for everyone was quite tight as the script needed to be done by Saturday, and then the filming needed to be finished by Monday night ready for Solomon to start the tedious edit. Along with the scheduling I was also responsible for creating the sound list for the week, the easiest way for me to do this so everyone knew which sounds were replacing what was by creating a table showing each one. This is part of the sound table I created, we decided to use a mix of foley sounds that we created and sourced sounds from the internet. One sourced sound we used was the air raid siren.

Despite having done a sound list I think we could’ve included more sounds and concluded the film better, one way we planned to do this was by showing it was a dream, but we decided this was too cliche. Overall, I thought the footage Sabine took was really strong and the edit came together nicely.

Solomon (editor) - Within this week of filmmaking, I took on the role of editing. The importance of this week’s film was the precision of sound usage, using externally made sound from the video tracks, in order to emphasise a clearer and thus more immersive film. Usually, we would have to use a TASCAM to obtain a clear enough sound for the filming, but due to the lack of obtainable equipment, I used my phone to externally create foley sounds, and stock audio to introduce ambience to the film too. The important part of linking this video to the external foley sound obtained, was the time I spent syncing together the sounds so that the audio matched the video. For example, when our actor was boiling the kettle, I would add the kettle external boiling sound over the clip, or when she was brushing her teeth, I synced the brushing in the video with the brushing sounds in the audio.  

The plot of our film was that our main character was finding difficulty in hearing properly but was instead hearing odd sounds, such as a screaming milk or a swearing toaster. With each of these, I had to sync the sounds made to the video at precise times so that the items themselves were given character and personality. For example, I synced the milk screaming only when the main character removed the lid off the milk, using reverb and echo on Adobe Premiere Pro and Audition to create the illusion of the milk itself screaming from inside the carton. I also added a muffling effect for when the lead takes a sip from the milk in order to give the milk a comedic effect and thus more personality. I personally think that this particular scene was the most effective throughout the film.  

[lovelylogans]

Do you have any tips on how to write a female character that's majoring in journalism?

oh boy!!!!!! generally, character-wise, people will of course approach things in different ways, so i’m gonna like mention you know said character and the decisions that she’d make better than anyone else, but i’m gonna write about 1. some “character archetypes,” as it were, that comprise a lot of female members of my journalism school, 2. some general advice on personality traits that would likely be useful/realistic for a female journalism character, and 3. what not to aspire to when it comes to writing women in journalism (ie, this section is just gonna be my biggest gripes about how female journalists tend to be portrayed in media.)

let’s get into it!

section one: “character archetypes,” aka the average personality a lot of female members of my journalism school.

a lot of my really great friends are in the journalism school, and their personality types vary greatly. there are so many awesome women in journalism and this isn’t exactly, like, “BE EXACTLY LIKE THIS OR SHE ISN’T A REALISTIC JOURNALIST,” these are just some character traits/personality things that i’ve noticed when it comes to a lot of aspiring female journalists.

curious. always write them as curious. that’s the backbone of being a journalist is being curious and going after the story. they want to know more about the world, they want to know more about their communities, and they want to provide the perspectives for you, or the reader, or the community, so that you can be better informed/make decisions/be aware. journalists, above all, have that curiosity down; journalism majors can rarely stand not knowing things.

(this also means that female journalists, and journalists in general, really, are very tuned into gossip. not even necessarily “he said she said” gossip, though that can be interesting sometimes too, but things like who got what good grades, which professor said this, what internship accepted who? journalists are basically trained to be investigative and dig deep for things; when it comes to, say, two editors being snappy at each other at a meeting, well, you want to know why, in case whatever is affecting them will affect you. again, not necessarily gossipy in a malicious way that can be portrayed sometimes! gossipy in the sense that they’re usually very in tune with their social circle and immediate community, as well as community at large.)

they are also researchers!!! many journalists are prone to the whole “wikipedia rabbit hole” research thing. they dive deep on a lot of subjects, both broad and narrow, and they like discussing these topics with each other, which again, can vary greatly! the biggest mbmbam/taz Stan i know is a female journalism major, and from there she has a very vested interest in dnd, all because it started with a few funny mbmbam clips (okay, guilty, i was one of the two people who mentioned that it would seem like her thing and now she’s way more into it than i am) and on the flip side of that, there are MANY female journalists who have made careers off their interests—film journalists, video gaming journalists, and social media/pop culture reporters all exist for a reason, and it’s likely because they marketed their interest and therefore “expertise” in these subjects and managed to spin a job out of it!

ambitious. so many kids in the j school strive for really great things, which is super crazy awesome, and they work really hard to achieve it. i know people who have netted amazing internship opportunities while they’re in the j school (we’re talking washington post, new york times, cnn, associated press, like, big organization names) and it’s because they have the ambition to achieve it. they dream big, a lot of the time, and tend to have detailed career goals to go with it.

inclined to ethical/moral discussions. there are a lot of ethical questions when it comes to covering news (there’s actually a wyliwf oneshot in the draft talking about one of my least favorite days of the semester that always comes up in class, which focuses on ethical decisions in times of death, major tragedy, or injury, look up “the breakfast test” if you want to learn more about that particular aspect of being a journalism major) but even when it doesn’t come to major disaster coverage, there are still a lot of little ethical questions to analyze in each area of journalism; journalistic ethics is a whole branch of conversation that i (and a lot of my fellow journalism majors!) fall into discussing. it can be things from the disclosing of anonymous sources to what is and isn’t right to photograph and the inclusion of certain sensitive information or ostracizing it and the importance of fact-checking. i think journalistic ethics is a really interesting topic and it’s usually one of my favorite things to discuss; this wikipedia page just scratches the surface, and here is the spj code of etihcs, widely regarded as a base code of principles for most american journalists to follow, but i encourage you to go out and seek other instances of journalistic ethics, because a lot of the time, what is legal for journalists to do isn’t necessarily right.

organized (even if it doesn’t look like it from the outside) or complete disaster

let’s take my friend, who i’ll call a.c. ac has a color-coded planner, frequently works ahead of schedule, plans out her entire day. she is very tidy, very organized, and seems generally put together. we were roommates in the fall semester and she had a tidy room, a set routine when it came to dinners and organizing her stuff, she’s very On Top Of It

and then there is me. ac once looked at me in horror when i was just starting to write a paper the morning it was due and informed me that the way i approach most deadlines is “her worst nightmare on drugs.” i forget assignments a lot and tend to scramble to do things at the last minute, i am a CHRONIC procrastinator, and yet i still make sure i get things done in time. in essence, i know my limits, and the pressure of a deadline tends to be what kickstarts me into starting those limits.

what i’m saying here is that it’s a vast spectrum, but what tends to drive most journalists is deadlines. journalism people are VERY deadline oriented and their approaches definitely vary, but that tends to be what they stick to most. journalists also tend to have perfectionist tendencies, as a sidenote.

stubborn. holy god. like, just look at the way journalists consistently send foia quests alone, for example, this story about journalists using foia to track hospital bed and ventilator availability in illinous (a dive into sunshine laws, aka releasing public records, which is a whole other thing that people very rarely tend to notice as an aspect of journalism but also lead to really big stories, especially if leaked (pentagon papers, anyone?) and just, yeah. check up on the state’s sunshine laws that you’re writing your story in, i think it could provide a real interesting subplot for you.) journalists. are. STUBBORN. i know people who have sat in offices waiting for public officials to come out for the better part of a work day; i know journalists who have sent hundreds of emails to get one interview; i know journalists who have staged stakeout sessions to see how public officials were using their time when they said they were in the office (hey, including me! i stood in a parking garage for three hours in the middle of winter for this exact purpose once.) what i’m saying here is they are stubborn. if there’s a story, they’re gonna dig. it took woodward and bernstein two years from the time of the watergate breakin to nixon’s resignation. most of the time, that stubbornness pays off.

competitive. yeah, remember that whole ambitious thing i mentioned earlier, coupled with the stubbornness above? journalists are competitive. it’s a competitive job market, so that means that many journalism majors tend to strive for those same big name journalism internships. this is definitely part of my j school culture, so i’m not sure if it’s the same at others, but a lot of people tend to examine what internships or job opportunities or professor favoritism or whatever and see what everyone’s doing, because everyone compares everyone to everyone else. this also tends to feed into other things: getting a story, getting good grades, so on. there’s a definite competitive sense to things, i’m not quite sure how to best explain it, but... yeah. journalists are competitive, sometimes. when it comes to women journalists, it can also be interpreted in other ways (”bitchy” is one) but a lot of journalism majors strive for the best.

supportive. 

section two: some general advice on personality traits that would likely be useful/realistic for a female journalism character

a lot of these were touched on above, but i’d also just like to add: they probably have an interest in some aspect of “social justice,” as it were. feminism, ecological issues, economical issues, racial issues—most of the time, a lot of journalists see these real world issues and it’s what leads them into the career. 

there’s also the whole... ugh... fake news media thing, which i feel like i have to touch on just because: i will say fake news is a meme amongst journalism majors, in that we mutter fake news to each other when our professors are like “this class average is so low y’all need to study more” when it’s their fault for not teaching us i won’t go on that tangent, however, i will also say that this whole idea has contributed to spiking rates of mistreatment and violence against journalists. i’ve been fortunate in that the most tense i’ve ever felt in that situation is taking an uber to a journalism assignment in a white guy’s truck littered with american flags and blaring alex jones on the radio, which i was able to lie and say that i was doing something else and concealing the whole journalism aspect, for my own personal safety, but a lot of other journalism majors i know aren’t so fortunate. i know women who have been yelled at, insulted, and there was a girl who worked around the same time as me who got spit on.

female journalists are usually treated more roughly regardless (when i went out for my first story, my editor sat me down and looked me in the eyes and said “someone might laugh at you because you’re young, and you’re a woman in print journalism, and you know what? fuck ‘em.” which was the first time i’d ever heard her swear and also one of the only times i’d ever heard her swear) so they tend to have to double down and really make sure they know their stuff in case they’re ever quizzed on it in a way that male journalists never really are. this is of course not to say that we’re all mistreated, all the time; it’s just something that female journalists are aware of, the way most women are aware of sexism in general.

section three: realism, and also, hey, maybe don’t do this? just because it’s both unrealistic and like. kinda sexist undertones imo

hoo boy. i’m just gonna take it down the list of some popularized media portrayals of journalists that you might be familiar with and outline why each one is, well..... Not My Favorite?

camille preaker, sharp objects

i do really like gillian flynn’s work, especially gone girl, but camille preaker just rubs me the wrong way? it primarily comes from the ethics involved in her whole situation, and i know they did it for ~drama, but it just... okay, here we go. for starters, you would probably not go out drinking with a source, unless it’s at an event, and you definitely don’t get drunk. you try not to interview people you have personal ties to, because the bias can infiltrate through your work. you ABSOLUTELY DO NOT sleep with your source, especially if he is a member of the police force and a primary source on the murder investigation you’re looking into. just...yeah, those two are the main things?

rita skeeter, harry potter

ugh, the way that rowling painted the daily prophet rubs me the wrong way. like, i understand, and i know that it’s probably more a mention of tabloid culture than like News, but it still just?? it’s the primary news source of the wizarding world?? really?? but yeah, sneaking into places (hospitals especially) to get a story is a massive no-no that would immediately get you arrested.

joan calmezzo, parks and rec

look, i know it’s a comedy, and i know that it’s not realistic, and i know that there is definite semblance for the “alcoholic journalist” thing (an editor i worked for once talked about how her old boss hid a flask in the water fountain in city hall so that he’d be able to get it and drink on the job) and statistically, it does show that journalists turn to sugar/alcohol/caffeine, but i just?? journalists wouldn’t show up to work absolutely blacked out, and if they did they’d definitely get fired.

rory gilmore, gilmore girls

the way rory approaches job hunting makes me cringe down to my very soul. in the original series, from what i’ve seen, she approaches it relatively well (applies everywhere she can, networks, ends up accepting a relatively small job that still provides a massive opportunity to report on a major political figure) but in the revival. who DID that. rory sleeps with a source (WHAT IS IT WITH FEMALE JOURNALISTS ALWAYS SLEEPING WITH SOURCES IN TV SHOWS AND MOVIES?!??!?!!? NO!!!!!!!!!) and falls asleep in the middle of an interview (N O !!!!!) and seems to not understand the concept of freelancing at all (really????? you aren’t working on multiple stories at once??? really????) and also just??? completely disrespects the basic semblance of a job interview??? no matter how impressive your resume is, you still come prepared with ideas and answer questions and no job is OWED to you, especially not with journalism being as competitive as it is, just????

the movie “absence of malice”

i know this one is probably less common, as it’s a movie from the ‘80s, but i still wanna talk about it anyway. sometimes, yes, you write about suspects of murder on the front page of the paper, but federal prosecutor’s don’t usually leak info like That (though rosen is obviously corrupt) and you just?? okay, anyway, carter not revealing her source is good, that’s what a journalist would do, however, teresa perrone disclosing personal information and pleading for her not to include it definitely falls under the realm of an anonymous source. the primary aspect of journalism is “do no harm,” and since disclosing what perrone told her would have harmed her livelihood, carter absolutely either shouldn’t have put it in or made perrone an anonymous source. then we get back to the whole dating sources thing (YOU DON’T DO IT!!!!!!) and then you don’t REVEAL THE SOURCE THAT HURT THIS MAN, OH MY GOD, you still have an obligation to protect your sources!!!! also just generally just!!! this movie does explore a lot of ethical journalistic issues but the sloppy reporting in it just puts me On Edge, ya know?

[let-it-raines]

Catch Me If You Can (3/?)

298 days. That’s how long Killian Jones was away from a baseball field. It’s less than a year, only part of a season for him, but it might as well have lasted a decade as he alternated between physical therapy and spending an excessive amount of time sitting on his couch.

But then he came back and won the World Series.

It’s something no one saw coming, and it’s certainly not something anyone who knows about his arm would predict. Now it’s a new season with new possibilities, and anything could happen. On-field reporter Emma Swan will be there to cover it all even if she is not his biggest fan right now.

Asking her out live on-air will do that.

Rating: Mature

A/N: Shoutout to my spectacular beta @resident-of-storybrooke 🧡 I’m the worst writer and send her multiple chapters at a time instead of just the one, and she gets things back to me in record time! 

We get some background information on Emma in this chapter to further set up the story, and I thank you for reading! I’m really, really excited about a lot of the things I have planned for this story!

I promise they interact in all chapters after this

Found on AO3: Beginning | Current

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Tag list: @sals86 @iam2307 @ashley-knightingale @snowbellewells @karenfrommisthaven @skyewardolicitycloisdelena91 @scientificapricot @captswanis4vr @emmas-storybook @ultimiflos @jamif @idristardis @nikkiemms @resident-of-storybrooke @tiganasummertree @wellhellotragic @bmbbcs4evr @onceuponaprincessworld @jennjenn615 @mayquita @captainsjedi @teamhook @kmomof4 @ekr032-blog-blog @ultraluckycatnd @cs-forlife @andiirivera @jonirobinson64 @mariakov81 @galaxyzxstark @qualitycoffeethings @thejollyroger-writer

-/-

“What are you getting David for his birthday?”

Emma looks to her right where Ruby is stretched out on her yoga mat, doing a stretch that definitely isn’t anything that’s taught in a certified class. She can’t tell if she’s gotten stuck that way or if she’s simply given up on getting some early morning exercise. They really have to start going back to spin class sometime soon. Maybe tomorrow.

“I bought him some new dress shirts.”

“That’s boring.”

“Have you not gotten him anything, Rubes?” She swipes her blush against her cheek waiting for Ruby to answer. She doesn’t. “The party is tonight. You know that, right? And we’re about to be at work all day editing.”

“Why do you think I’m asking so that I have time to get Graham to go get something on his lunch break?”

“You have no shame.”

Ruby falls onto her mat, star fishing out on the floor before propping herself up on her elbows, her bun coming undone so that it hangs messily on her shoulders. “I know. So, what should I buy him? He’s turning forty. Is he having a midlife crisis? Should I get him some hair dye?”

“Only if you want to be murdered.”

Ruby grunts before rising from her mat and stretching out. “Eh, it might be worth it. I think I’ll just get him a Shake Shack gift card. I’m not his sister. I can get away with a semi-shitty gift.”

She chuckles as she grabs her brush for her bronzer and runs it across her cheekbone, blending it in. “It’s not semi-shitty if he takes us to lunch with it.”

“True. Alright,” Ruby claps, picking her mat up, “I’m going to go shower, and then we can go to work. Ten minutes tops.”

It’s twenty minutes, which is actually less time than Emma was expecting, before she and Ruby walk out of their apartment, walking the three blocks to their train station and swiping their metro cards to get through the gate so they can take the ten-minute ride to the studios. They rarely have to go into the actual offices before ten. The only time they have to be at work earlier than that is when there’s an early game and they have to make their way across Manhattan to get to the fields. That’s a bit of a bigger commute. But this morning the weather is relatively nice, the trains aren’t crowded or full of people in T-rex costumes, and she and Ruby get to the office and through security before they have to be there.

She leaves Ruby on the seventh floor before going up to the tenth to the editing room, her eyes having to adjust from the brightness outside to the dim lights inside the room that’s really only lit by screens.

“Anton, how the hell do you live in the sunlight after staying in here all day?”

Anton twists in his chair to look at her before turning back to the screen that he’s working on, clicking on a few keys as he speaks. “It’s only dark right now because I’m trying to get the lighting right on this edit. Something is wrong with the shadows. Get Ash to set you up. You’ve got over eight hours of footage to go through, so this probably isn’t going to get finished today.”

“He’s only talking in about an hour and a half of that.”

“Yeah, but you’ve got to get the filler and then your notes. It’s a whole thing when you have a big segment like this. You’ll get used to it.”

She nods even though Anton isn’t paying any attention to her, before stepping into the room and around some of the editors she’s never worked with until she’s sitting down at Ashley’s workstation, picking up the pair of headphones that she uses and rolling up to the screen as she watches Ashely piece together several clips to promote whatever tennis tournament is going on right now. She thinks it’s the one in Palm Springs, but she hasn’t really been able to keep up with things lately.

“Sorry about that,” Ashley apologizes, flashing her a smile. “Alexandria had a late night last night, and I didn’t get into work in time to finish this up until you got here. But now my attention is all yours.”

“Is she okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. She’s teething is all. It’s miserable for all of us.”

“I bet. I remember when Leo was teething. David aged about fifteen years.”

“That doesn’t make me feel better.”

“Sorry, sorry,” she laughs, patting Ashley’s arm. “I won’t tell you any other stories about miserable babies. Let’s talk the interview.”

Ashley nods and clicks around on her computer until she’s pulling up Emma’s file, all of the hours of footage broken down. Emma has a basic understanding of how all of this works, but it’s mostly above her knowledge and paygrade. That’s why she’s glad to have people like Ashley and Anton, especially when they can easily throw out shaky or unusable footage to narrow things down even more. She tells Ashley that she wants to work on the main interview first, to make sure she can show all of the pieces she wants, and then they’ll work on finding the filler footage and the music to be played in the background. This is the first time Emma has ever worked on an edited segment that’s more than one minute, so it’s all a whole new world to her.

“This is good,” Ashley murmurs, her voice a small whisper outside of the headphones. “Like, really good. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him be this open before.”

“Jones? Jones is an open book.”

Her brows raise before settling back down at a regular height. “You are literally the most knowledgeable person on this subject in this building, and you think that Jones is an open book?”

“I mean, yeah. He’s baseball player, first and foremost. He’s young, hot, likes to spend his money and go out with every woman with big boobs and a pulse.”

Ashley actually laughs at that, rolling back in her chair before rewinding the video to a part where Killian is talking about his nieces and how they collect bobble heads, particularly his, and scatter them throughout their house for their parents to have to pick up. Emma remembers laughing at that, remembers thinking it’s sweet, but she’s not entirely sure why Ashley is showing it to her again.

“I know you probably hate him for asking you out like that, which was kind of a dick move, but anyone with eyes can tell he’s a sweet guy. I mean, he spent his injury break learning how to bake and sitting with his nieces so that they didn’t have to go to daycare. Yeah, he kind of had a period where he was pictured with a lot of girls, but that was when he was twenty-four and on top of the world. I mean, when you were twenty-four, you’re telling me you wouldn’t have been all over a pretty baseball player if you met him in a bar?”

“I hated all men at twenty-four.”

Ashely shakes her head from side to side, chuckling at her again. Emma hates to admit it, but Ashley is right. She knows that he’s not a bad guy, that’s not some sleazy player. No, he did not make the best decisions in asking her out last year, but in a move that surprised her, he very kindly apologized. And she really should not judge him over that time when he was pictured with girls all the time. For one, he probably dates as much as every other guy, but his dates happen to be publicized. She hates when women are shamed for dating, and here she is judging someone else.

His incessant flirting in all of his interviews and him asking her out have likely framed her view on him when she should know better than to judge by what appears on the surface.

She should also know better than to let a few pretty words make her trust someone.

“I met Sean at twenty-four.”

Emma sighs, curving her lips into a smile before patting Ashely’s arm. “And you two are wonderful. Let’s keep editing before we get distracted by you showing me a million baby pictures.”

“Dammit, Emma,” Anton groans from his seat, “the first rule of the editing room is that you don’t talk about baby pictures.”

After letting Ashley show her new pictures of Alexandra and those adorable chubby cheeks, they finally get around to some more editing, cutting questions that have repeated answers and editing out Emma’s laugh or weird coughing sounds so that she doesn’t look like a total maniac. There’s this part in the film where Killian is standing with his back to the camera and in front of a large set of windows that show off the field, and it looks like it could be a part of the Hall of Fame. It’s a gorgeous shot, and it’s where he’s talking about his hopes and dreams for baseball as well as wanting to get to live a normal life full of everything that his brother has.

Frankly, it’s beautiful enough to make her tear up.

They may just be her, though. As much as sports are about the statistics, about the executions, it’s also about the emotions. In the grand scheme of life, a baseball game doesn’t matter. These men getting paid millions of dollars to play a game don’t change the world. Except that they do. People live and die by the game, by the unpredictability, by the fact that it’s human beings out there pushing their bodies to limits that most people can’t reach. It takes everyone away from the world for a bit, lets them cheer for a happy ending, and even though the losses can be crushing, for just that little while, people feel hope.

Killian Jones coming back from injury, no matter how minor, to win the World Series, gave people hope.

It’s that thought process that guides her in helping Ashley and Anton edit the segment, and even though they only get about halfway through editing, they stop for the day so that Ashley can go home to her family and Anton to his while she walks down three flights of stairs to get to her office shoved into the corner of the corporate floor. There’s literally not even room in there for her to have an extra chair for someone to sit with her, but considering how little time she spends there now, that doesn’t matter. And it’s a step up from the cubicles.

Damn, her segment is going to be good.

This is…she knows she complained about it, and for the right reasons, but this is huge for her career. Right now, she’s more than happy doing post-game interviews and the occasional mid-game updates, but one day she might want to commentate or have her own show. One day she might want to move onto things other than sports. She’s getting ahead of herself, she knows. She simply can’t help it.

She’s excited, and she actually can’t wait to come into work tomorrow to get it all finished.

After sending a text to Ruby asking her if she’s almost ready to go, she logs into her computer and waits for her email to load, figuring she might as well get some more work done while she waits. Ruby’s timing at work is always so unpredictable when they’re not working together, so she has absolutely no idea when they’ll be able to leave to get on the train to Astoria. If only David was in the office today.

She doesn’t have much to sort through, just a few emails asking about the segment, another few talking about food that’s available in the office (she really hates that she missed those), and then another two from Walsh that she immediately deletes. They could be work related, but they’re most likely not.

Dating someone she works with was an absolutely horrible idea that she’ll probably never do again. Walsh is definitely an asshole, one that’s worse than all of the others, but he kind of ruined that workplace peace that she had for awhile. They’d both been stat checkers together, spent their days going blind reading spreadsheets and becoming friends, and when they both got promotions to journalists  (ones who actually got to write articles) at the same time, she was pretty sure that it was fate or something crazy like that. They got to have the same job, the same schedule, and she was in that phase of infatuation in a new relationship that it made her stomach constantly feel like it was in those pleasantly painful knots.

Then she interviewed and auditioned for the on-air job to work with the Yankees.

It’s a moment that’s changed her life in an immeasurable amount of ways, but the first and most obvious – before Killian Jones 2k18 – was that her boyfriend of over a year resented her. He resented her, belittled her for what she did for a living, and it all felt so painstakingly familiar that she had to break up with him before he damaged her beyond repair too.

The fact that he was cheating definitely helped that decision.

So for him to still work under one hundred feet away from her in the office and still send her emails on a regular basis is a pretty big sting.

There is no one who got more enjoyment out of her being asked out on live television than Walsh Osborne.

Ruby: I am in the bathroom curling my hair. Meet you by the seventh floor receptionist desk in ten.

Emma: Where did you get a curling iron?

Ruby: The makeup room in the studio.

Of course she did.

Closing out her computer and slipping her booties back on, she leaves her office and locks it up before making her way through the cubicles, specifically going out of her way to avoid Walsh’s desk since she knows he’s still in the office, and waits by the receptionist area with David’s present in her hand. There’s no one sitting there, all of the calls being forwarded through the machine, and she idly wonders where in the world Jacob is.

“We have got to get whatever curling iron it is they use in hair and makeup,” Ruby sighs as she walks into the room, heels that she was not wearing this morning now on her feet and her hair curled into perfectly styled waves. “Seriously, it’s fantastic.”

“It’s, like, over three hundred dollars.”

“We can split it. You ready to go? Graham is going to meet us there.”

“Does he have David’s present?”

“Yep.” Ruby loops her arm through Emma’s elbow, pulling her closer, before walking toward the elevators. “He wins the award for the best boyfriend today.”

“Who is he in competition with?”

“Your non-existent boyfriend.”

She pinches Ruby’s arm, but she doesn’t say anything as the elevator opens and they walk inside. It’s always such a pain to go to David and Mary Margaret’s townhome from the office, if only because of the amount of times they have to switch trains, but it gives she and Ruby time to talk about their days and scroll through their phone, checking up on everything that they’ve missed while working.

(She usually finds time to look while at work. Knowing what’s happening in baseball players’ lives is important to her job, right? It doesn’t make her creepy if they put it online.)

Plus, it’s a Friday afternoon, and that’s always the best time to see people dressed in odd costumes and eating full on turkeys on the subway.

Seriously. That happened once. It wasn’t even Thanksgiving.

By the time they get to the townhouse, it’s past six, and she can see cars parked up and down the street, Mary Margaret’s SUV sitting right in front of their home. She insists on driving everywhere, even when she comes into Manhattan, and Emma will never understand that. But she guesses that they live a bit outside of the most crowded parts of the city and the Mary Margaret is always toting Leo around to school and soccer practice or moving all of her crafts that she takes to her classroom. Emma loves her sister-in-law (it’s easier to say than foster mom’s son’s wife), but she is one of those people whose entire life could be found on a Pinterest board where Emma is more thrift store mashup even with her life being more established lately.

Not that there’s anything wrong with living life like that. It’s simply not Emma’s cup of tea.

“So, how many fortieth birthday themed things do you think Mary Margaret has in their house?”

“I mean, obviously forty.”

“Obviously.”

Graham is sitting on the front steps when they walk up, a small envelope in his hand as he stares down at his phone, and Ruby whistles, making him actually jump from his seat.

“What the hell?” he grumbles, clutching his hand and the envelope over his heart. “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

“It depends. Am I the beneficiary of your life insurance plan?”

“Oh my God,” Emma chuckles, shaking her head from side to side as she adjusts the box underneath her arm. “You two are disturbed.”

“Only my girlfriend is.” He stands from the steps and moves closer to quickly press his lips against Ruby’s. “You two ready to go inside?”

“Were you too scared to go inside without us, babe?”

“If I’m honest, yes. I’m not entirely sure what kind of party awaits us.”

“You and me both.”

Emma steps up the stairs and opens the door, knowing that it’s unlocked and that she can just let herself in. She immediately hears the sound of people talking, most noticeably Leo in his high-pitched voice, but everything looks as normal as it always does. The living room is still neatly arranged, a mixture of white and gray furniture, most of it antique, all scattered throughout. The dining room has place settings arranged, but no one sitting there, so she walks to the back of the home where the kitchen is to find everyone all standing around the island eating off of the veggie place that’s set out.

Huh. So maybe David turning forty means that everything is low-key. That’s a refreshing change of pace.

“Emma,” Leo screeches when he sees her, hopping down from the countertop and running toward her, pushing her back with the force of his hug.

“Hey, kid,” she laughs as she moves David’s present so that she can hug Leo back. He’s getting so big, is nearly as tall as she is now, and he’s only ten. She can’t imagine what he’s going to be like when he gets older. She doesn’t really want to. She’s that aunt who gushes about remembering the day that her nephew was born and grossing him out by talking about it. “Why are you letting all of these people eat my food?”

“Because you don’t like vegetables.”

“I definitely do.”

“You never eat collards, and I always have to.”

“Well, that’s because I don’t like collards.”

Leo scrunches up his nose, his face twisted in disgust like he’s eating those collards, before he grabs her hand and starts trying to tug her back to the entryway. “Come on, Emma, I want to show you my new Captain America shield.”

“I’ve got to go say hi to your parents, but why don’t you go get it and bring it down to show me?”

“Okay.”

He nods his head and then runs upstairs, his footsteps loud, and she turns back toward the kitchen to start talking to people who most likely don’t have Captain America shields in their bedroom. Well, they could. He’s kind of a big deal.

America’s ass and all that.

David is swiping a carrot through a bit of dip, and she takes the opportunity to put her present on the table before wrapping her arms around David’s stomach. He’s so incredibly warm, as always, and she appreciates the solid nature of him as his hand comes up to cup the back of her head, his lips pressing into her hairline.

“Happy birthday, old man.”

“Excuse me. I am in the prime of my life.”

She rolls her eyes, unable to help herself before pulling back and patting his chest. “Sure, if you think so.”

“I do. I’m glad you made it today.”

“And miss your  birthday so that I have to hear it every day at work? Never.”

“That wouldn’t happen.”

“It would,” Ruby adds in. “It would be one of those things that you’d bring up every opportunity you get. You’d feed it into her earpiece while she was on air so that she’d do that thing with her nose where it scrunches up all weird to make her look like a mouse.”

“I do not do that.”

“You do, sweetie,” Mary Margaret adds in, opening up the refrigerator and grabbing a bowl of what Emma sincerely hopes is Mary Margaret’s pasta salad. “It’s so, but it does make you look like a mouse. Or like you smelled something bad.”

“Well, I am next to a bunch of sweaty men. I could smell something bad.”

“True.”

“And Ruby, you can’t say anything. You talk in my earpiece all of the time.”

“That’s my job.”

“It’s not your job to talk about assess in pinstripes.”

“Eh,” she protests, clicking her tongue and tilting her head to the side. “I think it might be.”

“I’m sorry,” a woman Emma doesn’t know says, breaking Emma out of their little bubble to remember that there are other people in this house. “What is it that you do?”

“Oh,” she sighs, her mouth suddenly dry. She’s not conceited, she doesn’t think, but it’s been awhile since she met someone who wasn’t in her circle and didn’t know about her job. “I’m a reporter for the Yankees. Emma Swan. It’s nice to meet you – ”

“Jasmine Anwar. I teach with Mary Margaret.”

“She’s my teacher,” Leo adds in, running back in the room with a shield that’s nearly bigger than his body. “But I get to call her Miss Jasmine when she’s here, which is super cool because my friends don’t get to do that.”

“That’s our secret, though, Leo.”

“I know, I know. Emma, look at my shield.”

“Leo, it’s time to eat,” Mary Margaret says. “You can show off your shield afterwards, okay?”

“I thought we were eating cake afterwards.”

“We are.”

“So, when can I show off my shield?”

“After the cake, Leo,” David sighs before clapping his hands together. “Let’s eat.”

Inside the bowl was, indeed, Mary Margaret’s pasta salad, and in the oven was a tray of baked chicken, rolls, and macaroni and cheese. It’s the kind of meal that Ruth would make on the weekend or whenever David came home for a holiday, and for someone who eats cereal and Chinese takeout when Graham doesn’t feel like cooking, this is absolutely the best case scenario for her.

Thank goodness for David turning forty and Mary Margaret deciding to keep it low key with just a few friends instead of everyone from both of their offices.

(His thirtieth birthday was insane, especially when she thinks about the fact that Mary Margaret planned it while seven months pregnant.)

Most of the conversation halts with everyone eating, just a few murmurs here and there, but then Ruby gets a glass of wine in here – possibly two – and while Ruby can deal with liquor no problem, red wine gets to her. It’s the strangest thing, but Ruby’s already loose filter becomes, well, looser.

“No, do you guys remember the time,” Ruby hiccups, sipping on her drink while Emma very gracefully shovels more macaroni and cheese into her mouth, “that we were out in LA for work, and David nearly got arrested for walking out of a Walmart with a boxed fan because he threw away the receipt at self-checkout and they checked him at the door?”

“This is not that great of a story, Ruby,” David huffs, crossing his arms over his chest and tipping his beer bottle up to his lips.

“But it is,” Graham protests. “It was a twenty-dollar fan, man. All you had to do was pay for it again, but instead you were one more protest away from getting taken off to jail.”

“I paid for the damn fan. It was on the security video.”

“Yeah,” Emma sighs as she slides her plate onto the coffee table, “but we only know that because you literally demanded to speak to the manager, had to sweet talk your way into the security office, and we spent three hours inside that building all because you can’t sleep without a fan in the room.”

“To be fair, you and I did have a great time while we were waiting. We bought that purple hair dye and streaked your hair.”

“Which was really dumb because I had to be on camera the next day.”

“It washed out.”

“Really? Because I swear I still have purple in my hair if it’s in the right light.”

She tugs at strands of her hair to prove a point while laughter bubbles in her stomach. God, she loves her friends. They’re the actual best. She doesn’t know how she got lucky enough to have them in her life.

“Your purple streaks are probably what made Jones ask you out. He saw that you had a wild side and couldn’t pass that opportunity up.”

She takes that thing about loving her friends back.

She groans, sinking down further into the couch and wishing that she had Leo’s Captain America shield to hide her face so that no one can see the blush that’s rising from her cheeks. Today is apparently a day to bring this up once every hour. It might as well go on her grave stone at this point.

Okay, that’s a little dramatic.

It can at least go in her obituary.

That doesn’t make it any better.

“Emma, can you get me Killian Jones’s autograph?” Leo questions, looking up at her from where he’s very enthusiastically scarfing down another plate of macaroni. He’s not going to have any room for cake at this rate.

“I’m not sure if I can, kid.”

“But you know him! He asked you on a date!”

She’s going to dye all of her hair purple, change her name, and move countries. That’s even more dramatic, but she seems to be on a role with being dramatic tonight.

Italy would be nice. There’s lots of pasta there.

“I’ll ask, kid.”

“I want it on a hat.”

“Leo,” Mary Margaret scolds, “use your manners.”

“I want it on a hat please,” he corrects before shoveling more food in his mouth. “Can we have cake now?”

[tedfashionski]

Seeing Red

I was drawing today and reminded somehow of that depressing development where the sister of David & Samantha Cameron has been appointed editor of the Evening Standard. Like, I’m looking past the implied wider corruption problems in ‘real’ journalism here, but one point she said in her announcement interview really bothered me. She said, something to the effect of ‘Oh, thank god I spent 20 years working at Vogue while David was in politics, because I am just so fond of him and I would hate to have to be critical of him. So I was safe at Vogue.’

That, right there, sums up how far fashion media is from even being able to recognise the functional role of journalism. Oh, thankfully, at Vogue we can hide from criticality and awareness of the political dimensions of the world. All the while, the fashion industry is feeding this planet-killing spirit-crushing capitalist consumerism. But, no, why would it be political? Stop making it political. It’s just clothes.

 K, I’m going to RANT a little about these digital fashion weeks we’ve just been subjected to. I’ll preface by saying, yeah, I get it, it’s hard to be creative in the thick of a pandemic. My standards have been accordingly lowered 20%. I am very generous.

 Chanel and Dior’s lack of energy was no surprise. Although, keeping in mind female designers tend to be more pragmatic as a matter of course, it’s sad the two top women are being so listless. I was pleasantly surprised by Azzaro – it gave a hint of a vibe but was sure of itself. It emphasised that there was no reason for the Chanel & Dior videos & collections to exist, no point of view. The smaller couture players like the Dutch trinity of Ronald van der Kemp, Iris van Herpen, and Viktor & Rolf were a little more canny, you got the impression they were enjoying themselves at the very least.

 Regarding men’s, I do think Rick Owens was actually well judged in its boringness – we don’t need product-based experimentation necessarily. I enjoyed the meta-narrative aspect, it seems to me a good time for that kind of subtle, slightly snide interplay of references. Yohji’s design’s really sang, the video could have worked harder, it felt thrown together and didn’t do the clothes justice. (Side note, that showstudio Yohji review video, 45 mins of failing to say anything, was what finally pushed me over the edge. Dude. Are you guys for real? ‘Where is the avant garde’? If you don’t know, give up already. I’m not even a Yohji fanbear but he deserves better.) Kiko gave us a real stab at a pscho-medieval vibe, and I would’ve written a full review about it cus there’s stuff going on there. But fuck that. If he doesn’t want to talk to us, and show his full vision to the public in a spirit of optimism and faith in the culture, why should I bother with him? Mean and snooty gatekeeping gets mean and snotty graffiti right back.

 Fashion culture (twitter, specifically) wants to be wowed by everything all the time. Then, it complains and says why is fashion week even happening during a pandemic, now isn’t the time for fashion. Another example of our schizo cognitive dissonance as we consume this shit. What do we even want?

 I’ll tell you what I want. I want fashion designers to be engaged in a collective speculative in-depth discussion of what the future feels like right now, as an artform. So, I’m not going to analyse anything as a commercial proposition, because the future features less and less buying shit. In part as I believe that with growing internet dispersal of OG systems, awareness will rise, the vocabulary will expand, and we’ll stop caring so much about the performative aspects of fashion clothing. The interiority aspect will only grow, and that means unique-feeling experiences that are like conversing with a familiar presence. The fashion designer as moot, a parasocial meta-commentator. A friend you don’t actually have to talk to, just talk with, in the culture. That process won’t start from a point of ‘buy my shit’. First, a relationship should be built up, set up and running along. Then, if product occurs it’s incidental. Wow, I’m being a real little weatherbear. Check out my prophecies!

 So, I’m pretty disappointed and depressed about the resentful undertone of much of the work presented to us. Like, they’re crossing their arms and getting all grumpy about how they’re not allowed to carry on like they always do. FFS, you’re FASHION PEOPLE. Change is the name of the game, this shit should excite you. It’s your job to guide each other in an open-ended perusal of future possibilities, and to make recommendations. It’s not just clothes, they’re the medium, the language in which you build the commentary. If all you care about is nice product (*cough*, hedi slimane, *cough* jacquemus), stop calling yourself a fashion designer, because you’re a clothing manufacturer and I don’t care about you.

 Why are all these videos so boring? Have any of these people heard of editing, rhythm? They do realise you can hire people for this kind of thing, right? The deadening lack of imagination amongst people whose full-time job it is to be creative about the present’s transition into the future is astounding. This really underlines the risks of nepotism and gatekeeping. The only people who can afford to participate are the gutless products of a bloated upper middle class. I don’t believe in that class’s creative capacities for one fucking minute. They’ve got nothing at stake, no guts to go against anything, because their boring shitty system works for them, so why should it change? Ugh, vom.

Where is the communicative power? Nothing is being said, it’s filler for an elite determined to go down with their ship. I’m glad it’s sinking, it wasn’t fit for purpose and I’ll happily stick some extra holes in to make it sink faster.

 I’m going to single out Jonathan Anderson again. Listen, he’s a little pretty boy who’s working so effectively within the system, who has played the game perfectly to the best of his ability. His work is top level, he wins every time. So, I reckon he can be held up as an example. He can take it. I’m looking at the box-shows he did for Loewe and his own brand, and I’m thinking, oh that’s such a lovely take on alt fashion communication. So much heart, and care. Then, what’s the internet equivalent? A little video showing off the box. Some 3d shots & backs of looks and boxes. A little extemporised pitter patter from Jonny. That’s it. It’s still classist as fuck. With garment design there’ll always be limits on what’s possible in terms of digital translation. This isn’t actually garment design though. It’s fashion design. If I’m stuck with a low-grade clip and some jpegs, it’s pretty clear to me you don’t care about your wider fashion community. There should be an open digital experience that feels equally cared for and crafted. And here’s where I get really angry: all these fashion journalists have been delivered this unique, beautiful experience, and what are they doing with it? Where is the thoughtful response? Every single one of these people in this privileged position should be DOING THEIR JOBS (WHICH THEY ARE PAID TO DO, FULL TIME) and WRITE ABOUT FASHION. Not post online, ‘omg lovee ittt, so cutee!’. Anyone can do that. Are you a fan or a professional? This is an embarrassment. I’m stuck analysing some pixels. You’re getting the ‘real’ experience. I know I’ll never be an insider given these opportunities. I chose this path and I’m not going to try and play that game, because the rules are: you get access, in exchange for sacrificing criticality. Because these people, as educated and privileged as they are, don’t understand the value of criticism. Good criticism, the detailed, even handed, unafraid kind, pushes the culture forward. You can’t have a healthy art form without it, it’s essential because it’s the back in the back and forth. I probably could’ve tried to play their silly PR game a bit harder. But I had a nervous breakdown, in part, because I knew I would never be allowed to get close to the art enough to analyse it fairly if I spoke freely as I do now. And freedom is essential. So, pixels it is. Rudeness it is. Because there is work to do to salvage the bottom-dwelling wreck of our fashion dreams so that maybe we can travel somewhere new and better with them. It just sucks that there’s people standing there with the tools to help and no desire to save themselves or anyone else.

[jedbookout-blog]

about me

Tell me why I’ve reached my last semester as a journalism major and I hate traditional journalism.

Since 2014, I’ve been a student of journalism (first at College of the Canyons in Valencia and currently at CSUN). Prior to pursuing higher education, I was the singer in a self-managed DIY punk band that toured the country, recorded a few albums, and played more shows than there are stars in the sky. I rarely ever talk about this in journalism classes, but since Professor Grewe mentioned my background in class, I figured it was probably time to contextualize exactly where I’m coming from.

Anybody that’s lived this lifestyle that has a name you don’t recognize will tell you the same thing: you probably shouldn’t count on this being your livelihood. So we put out an album a few people liked, and I decided that was as “on top” as it was going to get. So (and there’s a little crossover in timelines here), in 2018, I decided to quit and go all in on journalism, something that even by that point, I’d grown to hate.

All I’ve ever wanted was to be a writer. I learned about the inverted pyramid, ledes, AP style, and all the other hallmarks of traditional journalism in school, so I know how to write print news. But more specifically, I’ve always wanted to be a storyteller. I don’t have much in the way of original ideas, which is why I’m not looking to write The Great American Novel or even a feature film, but I’m consistently fascinated with the stories of people whose lives aren’t often covered, onscreen, in print, or otherwise.

My emphasis at COC was in broadcast, which wasn’t by choice; COC is a wonderful school, but every class prepared me to step into a world I wasn’t familiar with. I took classes on how to present yourself on camera, how to write features, and how to put together a basic news package while working on a live news show. One of the coolest parts about this was getting to meet new people and find out part of their stories, a couple minutes at a time.

But I hated most of that, too. For every human interest story, there’s a thousand car accidents, town halls, and information-based stories that don’t tell you... well, a STORY.

In the process of learning all of that, though, it turned out that I really liked editing audio and video. The process of editing to a script and making sense of the chaos of every clip felt oddly therapeutic. But becoming just an editor in a news-gathering world that favors being as multi-faceted as possible seems less and less likely with every passing day. 

Panic began to set in as I was planning my next move; what was this all for? Why was I spending all of this time & money on something that was making me completely miserable? Sure, I liked to edit, but news gathering, especially at the pace expected in a 24/7 news cycle, seemed like tethering myself to a tree in which the rope kept getting tighter.

So when I got to CSUN, I took the Sundial class, and at first, I hated that more than I had hated any of the preceding years I’d spent in school. By nature of the course, The Sundial is pure chaos with minimal structure. The actual day to day operations of The Sundial are handled by the actual staff there (AND QUITE WELL, I MIGHT ADD; my problems with the course had nothing to do with the amazing staff, editors, publishers, and so on there); what I’d expected was to be a part of an actual newsroom and learn how to function within it. What actually happened was that I was held at arm’s length, in the middle of the room, and asked what I had to offer.

Maybe this is similar to the real experience of a newsroom, but with no actual guidance, it reminded me why I hated traditional news gathering in the first place. Maybe I’m not cut out for it. I expected to fail the course. So I went for broke and suggested something I cared a little bit more about: 

What if I did a podcast? Not the kind of podcast where it’s three white dudes sitting around a table and talking about Batman; a storytelling podcast where I met people who are, were, and will be students or faculty of CSUN and I figure out what their lives are like. The format would take the basic tenets of what I’d learned from editing broadcast news packages and apply them to a strictly audio format instead.

My idea was reluctantly accepted, on a trial basis. So I immediately started pumping out episodes. I really had no idea what I was doing. I did one episode under broadcast-style restrictions (2.5 minutes long, multiple interviews, an almost overwhelming amount of nat sound) before I decided to give up those restrictions for something that felt more honest to the subject: a narrative track I write, based around interview clips with one subject. And that was it. 

One of the proudest and most awkward moments of my life came a month into doing this project. I walked into class and Arvli Ward (the professor and publisher of The Sundial) immediately put on the episode I did where I interviewed Professor Grewe, and proceeded to play all twelve minutes of it to the class, saying it was a “perfect example of the type of content The Sundial needed.”

I’ve never felt so validated and embarrassed in my life. I really wish I hadn’t been there that day. But in a way, I’m glad I was.

I’m well past the 250 word requirement for this assignment at this point, so I’ll give you the tl;dr here: despite feeling as exposed as I did at that moment, I’d never actually done anything outside of music that really made me feel proud of myself on my own terms. After that day, I was free to do whatever I want with the podcast. Unlike music, I did almost everything by myself, aside from the mastering and some music dubs by PJ Shahamat. 

So that’s what I want to do: I want to be a storyteller. Whether that’s in video, audio, or otherwise, that’s where I want to be. I’m not intensely concerned about whether this is a rational moneymaking dream; I was on tour from 2011-2018 essentially nonstop and am lucky to have ended up practically broken even financially.

If I can be somewhat comfortable while helping others tell their stories... that’s good enough for me.

PS: I’m also really into film history, but that’s basically for fun. :)

[kaycha1989]

The Right Partner

My Hero Academia Fanfic

Characters: Katsuki Bakugou, OC

Rating: Mature

Chapter 11

Kia and Bakugou found themselves at the center of the media’s attention. The two of them had apprehended three villains that were wanted throughout Japan for all kinds of crimes. Answering all the questions that they could, it took them the better part of an hour before they escaped back to their agency.

Returning to the garage, Bakugou parked his motorcycle back where it belonged. Kia removed her arms from his waist as he put the kickstand down.

“Sweet ride!” Kia said, stepping down to admire the motorcycle. The bike reflected the design of his costume with the tank patterned like his grenade gauntlets. “I wonder if I could get mine brought over here.”

“You will have to get permits for the bike and go through tests to get your driver’s license.” Bakugou informed her.

“Yeah, I know, it will probably be too much of a hassle and a lot of paperwork,” Kia groaned. Turning to her partner, she gave him a mischievous smile. “Maybe you will let me drive sometime?”

“Keep dreaming,” Bakugou smirked.

“It was worth a shot. Oh well, I don’t mind riding behind you. It will be easier to stay together if I ride with you anyway,” Kia thought out loud.

“Sure,” Bakugou replied, turning to leave the garage. Kia put her helmet back on the shelf before following her partner back to their office.

They had just reached the second floor when Best Jeanist came walking down the hallway towards them. “Good job today you two. You handled the situation well,” he said as they met.

“Thank you, sir,” Kia replied. Bakugou merely stood there waiting for Jeanist to finish.

“I’ve been contacted by the editor of a magazine called Hero Today, they want to do an article on the two of you,” Best Jeanist told them.

“Really? When?” Kia asked.

“I’ve arranged for you to go over to their offices tomorrow morning. You will need to be in costume,” Jeanist informed them. “They want to do an interview and take some photos, so you will probably be gone all morning. I will have Nina email you the address.”

“Cool, B, our first interview as a team!” Kia said turning to her partner.

“Great,” Bakugou said with a huff.

“What is your problem? Interviews are a good way to get noticed by the public. It is one part of becoming the number one hero,” Kia said.

“The problem is Bakugou doesn’t have a very good reputation with interviews,” Jeanist replied, giving said hero the stare down.

“I can see that,” Kia said. “You won’t have to worry about it now though.”

“Really? How come?” Bakugou asked skeptically.

“Because you have me,” Kia said with a smile. “Let’s get to the office and I will give you some pointers.”

“I don’t need any help,” Bakugou growled as he stomped off towards their office.

“Sure you don’t, tough guy,” Kia said, following after him.

Jeanist watched the two heroes walk away arguing. Looks like she can put up with his attitude, hopefully she can help him with the interview, he thought as he headed back to his own office.

%%%%%

Entering their office, Bakugou sat down at his desk to get started on the paperwork for the day. Kia sat down on the front of his desk.

“So what problems do you have with interviews exactly? I can’t see you as someone who doesn’t like being in the spotlight and you are too smart for reporters to take advantage of you.” Kia asked.

Bakugou sighed and turned to face her, “You aren’t going to let this go, are you?”

“Nope, This doesn’t just affect your reputation, but mine as well. If you want to be a top hero, you have to be able to have successful interviews,” Kia reasoned.

“It isn’t that I don’t like interviews. Reporters tick me off and they often twist what I say or ask too many dumb questions,” Bakugou said.

“Sounds like they have figured out how to push your buttons and make you lose your temper,” Kia said. Turning towards Bakugou, she continued, “Well one thing I’m guessing you need to work on is how you say things. Make sure you don’t use inappropriate or vulgar language.”

“You want me to smile at the camera and act all bubbly?” Bakugou said sarcastically.

Kia snorted in laughter before she replied, “Although it would be hilarious to watch, no… you need to be yourself while keeping up appearances. You are a total badass and that will be one of your selling points as a number one hero.”

Surprised at his partner’s words, Bakugou smirked, “You think I’m a badass?”

“Yeah, yeah… don’t let it get to your head,” Kia replied, rolling her eyes. “Your ego is big enough. We don’t need it to get any bigger, or your head will explode.”

Bakugou chuckled. “Can’t help it if I’m the best, Sunshine,” he said, standing up to look Kia in the eyes.

“The best at what? Scaring little children?” Kia countered.  

“Ouch, and they say I’m the harsh one,” Bakugou challenged.

“Nope, you are the loud, angry one.” Kia grinned back. Looking up at the clock, she realized her appointment with the building manager was soon. “I have to get going, but we can talk more about it when I get back. I’m going to YouTube some of your past interviews so I can see what I’m working with,” Kia said as she made her way to the door.

“What about all this damn paperwork?” Bakugou glared as he watched his partner leave.

“I will do my part when I get back, just email me what you get done or leave the forms on my desk. I will see ya later!” Kia said as she left.

Grumbling to himself, Bakugou sat back down, pulling a new incident report out of his desk. “So she thinks I’m a badass,” he said with a small smile.

%%%%%

Kia arrived at the apartment complex 10 minutes early. The building wasn’t very far from the agency and Kia would be able to run to work in the mornings. It was a large relatively new looking building that was eight stories tall and each apartment had its own balcony.

Walking into the lobby, she could see mailboxes at the back of the building with elevators on either side. Two people stood at the front desk. One was a young man in a uniform and the other an older woman in a suit. The woman turned to see Kia walking over towards them.

“Hello, you must be Kia Hales. I’m Yoko Hiroyumi the building manager,” the woman introduced herself with a bow.

“Thank you for taking time to meet with me,” Kia bowed back.

“Why don’t we get started? The apartment is on the top floor,” Hiroyumi said, gesturing towards the elevators.

Kia made her way over to the elevators as Manager Hiroyumi told her about the building’s main floor. “The mailboxes are in the back of the building and it is usually delivered by 12:30 pm every day.” Pushing the button for the elevator Hiroyumi continued. “The building’s layout is pretty simple. The bottom two floors have mostly single bedroom apartments and the next four floors have multi-bedroom apartments for families. The top two floors have two bedroom apartments that we usually rent out to local heroes.  There is a special elevator for those two floors to accommodate heroes that are on call.”

The elevator doors opened as it reached the top floor. Kia stepped out into the quiet hallway. “It is at the end of the hall on the right,” Hiroyumi said leading the way. “We don’t place name plates on these floors for the privacy of the heroes that live here,” the manager said, pulling a key from her pocket and opening the door. “We also do our best to keep the media out of the building.”

Kia stepped through the door and into the hallway which led into a living room. The apartment had an open floor plan with the living room extending into a small dining room and decent sized kitchen. Another hallway led from the kitchen to a laundry room, bathroom, and two bedrooms.

“It seems a little big for just me,” Kia said looking around the bedrooms.

“Some like to use the second room as an office or spare room in case friends or family visit. The whole apartment is also sound proofed for your convince,” Manager Hiroyumi informed her.

Kia headed out on the balcony next. The view was nice. Looking around, Kia realized that it was connected to the balcony next door, with the two being separated by a gate.

“The young man next door keeps to himself and he works late a lot, so we rarely see him,” Hiroyumi said, noticing Kia looking at the gate. “Which is too bad… he is really quite handsome,” she finished, fanning herself.

“The whole place is really amazing,” Kia smiled “I’ll take it. When can I move in?”

%%%%%

Bakugou glanced at the time. Kia had been gone for almost two hours. When the hell is she going to get back? he thought. Turning back to his computer, he opened his email to send Kia copies of the report he filled out. Searching through the agency’s address book, he found her company email and sent the report.

Leaning back in his chair, Bakugou stretched looking at the clock once more. Where did she say she was going again? he wondered when a message popped up in his inbox. Sitting up he opened the message to see a reply from Kia.

Thanks B, I will be back to the agency around 3:00 pm. I’m just finishing up a couple things.

-Sunshine

Bakugou chuckled at her use of his nickname for her. Closing the mail, he checked the time again. She said she would be back around three, so that gave him about an hour. He could head out on patrol without her or wait for her to get back, but what would he do while he waited? All the paperwork was done except for Kia’s half of the reports. He decided that maybe he should look into his partner more.

Opening a browser window, Bakugou typed Kia’s hero name into the search engine. A YouTube link popped up and he clicked on it. The video title said the clip was from a concert in America that quite a few heroes participated in to raise money for a bunch of charities.

As the clip started playing it showed Kia in a purple version of her costume except it was sleeveless with black wristbands and black heels. Her hair was let down and curled with black clips holding it out of her face. Judging from the date on the clip she must have been in her final year of high school. She had an electric guitar in her hands and a mic headset on. Four other young women stood on stage with her, each one with a different instrument except the one in the middle. They all started playing as the one in the lead began to sing. Kia and the girl playing the bass walked forward and began signing back up and dancing with the lead singer. They were pretty good and the crowd cheered. They sang the cover of a song called “Every Time We Touch” by Cascada.

Bakugou couldn’t help but notice Kia wasn’t really into the song even though she never missed a chord or step. The smile on her face didn’t reach her eyes. When the song ended, the bassist step forward to sing lead and then the keyboardist and the drummer sang lead to other songs after that. All of them where cheesy love songs that made Bakugou want to pop in his ear buds and crank his playlist up. He had expected Kia to step up and sing one of the offending songs but the curtains closed and the clip ended.

The title of the next clip, Wildside Kills It at Charity Concert, caught Bakugou’s eye so he clicked on it. This time Kia was front and center on the stage with a different set of heroes playing instruments. The drummer gave off a count to start before he started playing the song. The other heroes started playing rock music as Kia stepped up to the mic and started singing, “When Legends Rise” by Godsmack.

Bakugou found himself liking the music and Kia put on a good show that left the audience screaming for an encore. The clip continued to show the encore when there was a knock at the door. Pausing the video, Bakugou called out, “Who the hell is it?”

“Yo, Bakugou,” Kirishima greeted him as he walked through the door. He was in his hero costume so Bakugou figured he was here on official business.

“What do you want?” Bakugou asked his friend.

“I was running some stuff over for Fatgum and figured I would stop by,” Kirishima said, looking over to Kia’s desk. “You didn’t run her off already, did you?”

“No, dumb shit, she is out for a while,” Bakugou growled.

“Aww, when will she get back?” Kirishima asked.

“Around three,” Bakugou answered.

“Damn I have to be back to the agency at three,” Kirishima sighed after looking at the clock, “Oh well, I will have to catch her another time. What are you working on?” he asked, walking around Bakugou’s desk. “Doing some research on your partner, huh?” Kirishima said after seeing what was in the browser.

“Looks like I’m stuck with her, so might as well,” Bakugou replied.

Kirishima couldn’t help but notice his friend didn’t seem disappointed in the least. “Well, if you are researching her, check this out,” he said, reaching over to open another window. Kirishima typed Wildside and model into the search engine. He clicked on one of the websites and the home page of a modeling agency came on the screen. Clicking on the models tab he found exactly what he was looking for and clicked on Kia’s name. A portfolio of images came on screen. She modeled a lot of sportswear and everyday clothes.

“Hold on a second,” Kirishima said as he searched through the images until he came to one of Kia in an evening dress.

It was a red and black low cut halter-top that hugged her every curve with jewels sewn in to draw a person’s gaze to all the right places. One long leg was exposed by a slit that went clear up to her hip, showing off the matching red and black heels. Her hair was done up in ringlets while dark eyeshadow and bright red lipstick completed the look. She was beautiful.

“She is a total ten, yeah?” Kirishima asked smirking at the look on his friend’s face.

“Who is a ten?” Best Jeanist asked from the door.

Startled, Kirishima and Bakugou both jumped at Jeanist’s sudden question.

“Uh, we were just looking at some modeling pictures of Wildside,” Kirishima said sheepishly.

“She isn’t here?” Jeanist asked.

“No, she said she had something to do today and will be back around three,” Bakugou said, still in a daze.

Moving around to join the two younger men, Jeanist looked at the pictures they had on screen. “Spotlight told me he had convinced her to do some modeling. I was actually hoping she would do some for our agency as well. Now I see what he means about her lacking confidence,” Jeanist said studying the image.

“What do you mean?” Kirishima asked confused.

“She looks very beautiful, but her expression is off. It is more than just good looks and pretty clothes that make a good model,” Jeanist replied.

“I still don’t get it,” Kirishima said, more confused.

“She isn’t comfortable in that getup. Her smile is forced and she feels uneasy,” Bakugou interrupted, “She doesn’t usually show much skin. It looks like it might be photo shopped too.” Kirishima and Jeanist looked at Bakugou surprised. They were not expecting the hero to interject like that.

“Exactly,” Jeanist said. “How do you know it is photo shopped?”

“Her wrists aren’t covered,” Bakugou replied like that was supposed to explain everything.

“The scars,” Jeanist realized clicking the next image which was a view of the dress from the back, “I see what you mean. In this image she looks even tenser. It would make sense why her expression is off. Spotlight told me she didn’t do well with backless apparel.”

“Backless?” Bakugou said then he realized. “You mean she has scars on her back?”

Ch 1 | Ch 2 | Ch 3 | Ch 4 | Ch 5 | Ch 6 | Ch 7 | Ch 8 | Ch 9 | Ch 10 | Ch 11

Ch 12 | Ch 13 | Ch 14 | Ch 15 | Ch 16 | Ch 17 | Ch 18 | Ch 19 | Ch 20 

[jui-imouto-chan]

Part 10 of the Mostly Human AU

Level Select:

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9

Getting through to the last of the suggestions from @manadrite ‘s most recent comment (as of posting this)! I love having suggestions, keep ‘em coming!

Connor isn’t one to get terribly scared. He actually gets a thrill from scary situations.

His sense of self-preservation is startlingly low, for a being granted with immeasurable intelligence. At least, that’s what Hank claims.

Furthermore, Connor loves Horror. From movies to novels to images, he loves things made to be scary.

- Connor may or may not have had a weird crush on Slenderman for like a week. 

Maybe it was the towering height and the lack of a face, or maybe it was the slim fitting suit that made the creature so appealing to him.

Okay maybe Connor has a suit kink.

When he sees Gavin in an officer’s clothing and finds the man slightly attractive, it’s clear that he just straight (pfft) up has a uniform kink.

Connor will take this newfound information to the  g r a v e.

Connor goes to see a horror movie with Hank and the twins, and he’s ecstatic. 

He puts all of the pieces together detective style to figure out how the protagonists are either gonna die or solve the problem while Collin and Conan grip their seats a bit too tight and while Hank mutters flaws about the movie under his breath.

“This scene does not include a lap dance.” 

“What was that?” 

“Nothing!”

By the end of the movie, Collin and Conan had migrated to partially hide behind Connor, and Connor points this out to them.

They lie and say they were getting sleepy, and were dozing off on his seat.

Connor goes with it with a knowing smirk and a wink, mischief twinkling in his eyes.

Connor goes missing one day.

They try to give him a call when he they don’t see him that morning, but they receive no answer.

Hank and the twins storm through the house, upturning furniture and looking under the beds, in the closets, outside. He’s nowhere to be found.

They call up all of his friends, but nobody knows where he is.

The DCPD gets at least fifteen calls all at once reporting Connor missing.

While everyone is freaking out, Connor is actually, in fact, not missing.

He is out for a walk, Sumo at the vet’s for a check up and grooming, and he spots an animal shelter/pet shop. 

There are dogs and cats in cages by the windows, and Connor gravitates towards them without thought to anything else.

He enters the shop and, after talking with the person behind the counter for ten minutes, is surrounded by animals, all vying for his attention.

He’d never seen a cat before this, and honestly, he now holds cats to the same regard as dogs. 

It’s his first time seeing a lot of animals, all of them immensely cute. He giggles when a rabbit nibbles on his pointer finger.

The employee who allowed this to happen is melting against the counter, everything is too much. Too cute. 

The employee pulls out a camera and records, knowing the manager would love to use this as an ad. 

Connor already gave his consent for any media that his interaction might appear in, so it’s all gucci, even though Connor’s too preoccupied with the animals to even realize he’s being recorded.

Connor is there for a few hours, all of the time considered blissful to the android.

The video was sent to the editor as soon as the employee got clips of Connor interacting with each and every one of the animals. 

It's edited impressively quickly, yet still professionally; the editor accredited it to “passion”. 

When the ad goes up on all of the shelter/shop ‘s social media, with Connor tagged in the photo, everything halts.

Connor finally registers that his phone, being sat on by two guinea pigs, is ringing.

He answers it, and is disappointed when he's told to return home immediately by Hank. Hank sounds angry, distressed, and relieved all at once.

The employee reassures him, telling him that he can return whenever he’d like.

There’s an issue when Connor is on his way home, however, as he gets attacked. 

A man tries to mug him with a knife to his throat, pushing him into an alleyway, and while Connor manages to push him away, he doesn’t anticipate the man having accomplices.

He gets a few surprise stab wounds that go into some biocomponents, but their timers are set to at least an hour before he shuts down.

He defeats his attackers and sends Hank his location, telling him that he needs emergency care needs to be taken to Kamski as soon as possible.

His systems kick him into sleep mode against a cold alley wall to preserve thirium, which leaks copiously from his many wounds.

Connor wakes up to the ceiling of Kamski’s “operating” room, vaguely wondering if the past few months had been the equivalent of a dream, if he had imagined all of the friends he’d made and all of the things he’d experienced.

The thought...saddens Connor.

Luckily, a few minutes after he awakens, he hears Hank’s gruff voice and a plethora of footsteps approaching the room he’s in.

Connor goes to sit up, but winces in pain. His movement brings up a prompt, asking if he’d like to interface with the android equivalent of an IV, though it contains a liquid that promotes self-reparation at the cost of his mental capabilities being lowered until his wounds are healed.

TL;DR, it’s the closest Connor can get to pain killing medication.

He accepts the interface and he suddenly feels...oddly happy?

Everything is moving around the slightest bit and Connor can’t help but smile. Everything was great and he was having fun, sitting on the table. 

He giggles drunkenly.

His wounds are slowly closing themselves, and he scoots to the edge of the table while humming an unknown tune. He smiles triumphantly once his knees finally hang over the edge, he kicks them and rocks his head side to side.

When everyone enters the room, he’s surrounded by people and get-well gifts and he’s just so happy. He really doesn’t think of the consequences of his actions.

So that’s exactly why he thanks them all with hugs and kisses, skin tingly and buzzing while his chest feels warm and full.

The members of Jericho are frozen when he gives them all kisses to the cheek, and then all of them simultaneously slap a hand onto their cheek and stare at each other with pink faces. Daniel and Simon both duck their heads while Josh pulls his hood over his face and rugs on the drawstrings. North is suddenly more occupied with poking Markus’ red cheeks and teasing him as he shakes.

Hank tries to fight him off, but eventually relents, ruffling his hair bashfully. Conan and Collin both turn their heads as he approaches their cheeks, leading to him kissing both of them on the lips, though he just laughs good naturedly when they both nod at each other and go to opposite sides of the room, ears red.

Ralph and the Jerrys are surprisingly shy when Connor kisses them, but Ralph gives him a kiss on the cheek back, while the Jerrys all rub their necks and look away with silly grins.

Luther and Kara let Alice take their share of kisses, and she presses a kiss to Connor’s nose.

Rupert tries to escape Connor, but the brunette grabs his sleeve and gives him a kiss to the temple. Rupert immediately tries to flee the room, and Connor waves. Rupert hesitates before waving back and running away.

Connor goes to give Gavin a kiss, too, but the detective shoves a homemade cupcake in his mouth before he can. He still manages to give the guy a hug, though.

Kamski approaches, by Connor’s hug and kiss for him are stolen by Chloe, who had just snapped out of her shock at seeing Connor surrounded by a goddamn harem.

She growls at everyone in the room, sans Alice, Hank, Kara, and Luther.

Kamski is kinda concerned?? People don’t growl like that, wtf.

Also, he’s kinda upset that she’s keeping him from getting affection from his own creation but he’s not about to let his head get ripped off today

Chloe says that there’s too many people in the room, it’s getting late, and that Connor should get some more rest so that he can recover completely.

She tries to sound pleasant, but she really just sounds threatening af

Once she’s sufficiently scared the fuck out of everyone there and gotten them to leave, she puts her hands on Connor’s shoulders and tries to explain that nobody is allowed to touch him bc he’s too precious and, “nobody deserves you. This world doesn’t deserve you. The G-Man in the sky doesn’t even deserve you u pure boi.”

He doesn’t remember a word of this in the morning, but Chloe doesn’t know that.

He goes home in Hank’s car, Sumo already back from the vet and now laying across his lap, and finds out that Conan and Collin are at registration for their next year of college 

(lol idk if thats something u have to go do at college, im 15 and clueless)

Next Level: College Care Packages and Birthday Parties (suggested by @supposedlymatureadult )

X | Continue to Next Level

O | Save Progress and Quit to Main Menu

————————————— •

I think I got carried away with the kissing but I just really wanted Connor to be overly affectionate. At least I didn’t go down the sexual route.

Leave suggestions in the notes or in my ask, along with any questions, comments, and anything else!

Side note: If you want to receive notice of this AU but not the other random things I post/reblog (don’t worry I‘m not offended if that’s the case), I’m marking them all with #Jui’s Mostly Human AU in the tags, so you can follow that instead if that’s preferable!

[christopherniles-blog]

How To Convert FLAC And APE To ITunes And Maintain Your Sanity Learning OS X

Did you ever downloaded a single APE or FLAC file consisting of a number of songs? This converter is highly customizable with flexible settings. There's a preset editor offered for every format that will help you customize it to your model. You may edit, create new presets, or delete olds ones. Free Studio supports 28 enter audio codecs together with MP3, FLAC, WAV, and WMA. Output codecs supported include MP3, WAV, M4R, M4B, OGG, FLAC, AMR, ALAC, AAC, and WMA. It additionally enables you to extract audio from CDs, YouTube, and most video formats. Click "Profile" Drop-down. And search "flac" in the search box. The profile FLAC- Free Lossless Audio Codec (.flac) will appear. Choose it as the output. This is not attainable as a result of limitations of music codecs inside iTunes. In this article, we'll present you how you can switch MP3, FLAC, APE to iPhone with out iTunes. Without even launching it. Dream come true for Home windows and Mac users. Freemake Audio Converter can for positive run on Home windows 10, 8, and seven, and is likely to work with older versions too. Click on on the down arrow button on the Goal tab, and select MP3 or different audio codecs as you want under the Audio tab. The output audio high quality could be additionally chose here. If you want to batch convert all FLAC recordsdata to the same audio format, then you possibly can click on the Convert all duties to: choice on the proper-top nook to choose your audio format and quality. Supported Enter Audio Codecs : ape to flac converter linux ubuntu. The standard path to including recordsdata to your iPhone, iPad, or iPod runs by way of iTunes, and it won't accept FLAC information. The solution? Convert them to Apple's ALAC format. No matter whether or not you've gotten a COMPUTER or a Mac, although, you may have to get the right application to convey your FLAC recordsdata into the iTunes fold. Any Audio Converter is a very free audio extractor, which provides you a helpful tool to extract audio, sound or background music from videos. With the free audio extractor, you can simply extract audio tracks from AVI, MPEG, MPG, FLV (Flash Video), DAT, WMV, MOV, MP4, 3GP video recordsdata and save them as MP3, WAV and AC3 codecs. You'll be able to even extract audio from solely a portion of the video clip, as a substitute of your complete file. Under Use preset, change it to Custom setttings. Now you can pick from VBR, ABR and CBR. These standard for Variable, ape to flac converter linux ubuntu Average or Fixed Bit Fee. For the best quality, you are going to want to go together with CBR, which additionally means your MP3 file will likely be a bit bigger. Step four: Start to convert flac to ape. It's clear that not everyone seems to be delicate to it however I do know numerous people who've started saying what I have been saying for years: Idea notwithstanding, codecs like flac don't sound the identical and raw PCM ( orwav).

Click on Convert" button to get started converting APE to FLAC. Convert APE to Mp3 with out all of the changing headache. Apple decided to make you decode your rare APE songs into WAV, and after that convert it into ALAC (Apple lossless) via iTunes. But there's much more friendly approach. Not solely does it help a dozen of file codecs, Swap also converts those codecs to any of the 26 file formats it offers. One other wonderful function is its potential to extract audio data from videos. Swap is able to extracting audio from a wide variety of video formats, together with MP4, WMV, MPG, MOV, and M4V. You can also use it to import CDs and convert audio to any of the codecs it helps.Whatever the reasons may be, it is very straightforward and quick to transform from one format to another or swapping bit charges for audio withVLC Media Player. This question is not so much a couple of critical have to convert my information, however moderately a frustration with VLC. It should be able convert something to anything, and I use this SW anyway so it will be nice to use SW I already must perform all my duties. I may also simply as simply use VLC to play the recordsdata and never convert them (which is what I'm doing in the meanwhile) but I would really like the few albums I have as FLAC to be with the rest inside WMP.If needed, you'll be able to click on Setting button and open the audio profile window and modify the audio associated parameters, like: audio bitrate, audio channel, pattern charge and so forth. Improve of a quantity is reached by the take a look at and normalization of the volume level of Mp3, Mp4, Ogg, FLAC, APE, AAC and Wav information. I wish to thank every one on this post for a so useful hints, I used to be capable of split my flac files. I simply started to work with this type of audio file, I hope we would start finding audio units that would support this file format, very nice audio.Open your email and obtain the newly transformed FLAC file. More superior customers can customise many encoding parameters: audio bitrate, bitrate mode, variety of audio channels, audio sampling frequency, volume, time range and different. Manage converted information , utilizing info from tags: create folders, apply your individual filename sample robotically. Flacon is released under the GNU Library Public License (LGPL) version 2. A copy of the license is on the market right here That is an open supply venture. You're free to download and distribute the software program below the phrases of the license.With the intention to play APE on more devices or audio players with shedding the audio quality, we have to convert APE to FLAC. Hereby, we would like to introduce a dependable APE to FLAC converter-iDealshare VideoGo, with which changing APE to FLAC in lossless approach will turn into a simple job. Just drag and drop the audio information you must be transformed straight into this system, select an output format, and then start the conversion. Next, choose FLAC as your output format. APE to FLAC Converter here is examined and selected from plenty of APE to FLAC converting tool in the marketplace. This APE to FLAC conversion software program is essentially the most skilled and splendid software to resolve all APE to FLAC issues.I admire you providing the link to the Media software to cut up the songs again. I dont wish to lose the APE high quality of the recordsdata so I"m hoping that chopping them using the information you offered wont destroy the quality. Im hoping I can convert them from APE to WAV after Ive lower the songs up. Click on on Choose Files to Converter and upload your desired MP3 file. When you omit the dest_dir, it put output recordsdata in the present listing. And now Medieval Cue Splitter will do its thing. The time it takes to split the file will depend on the velocity of your PC, however usually it is a quick process. The green ‘status indicator' within the backside right nook of the window will display the progress.