#should i even add the watermark??? whatever man

[gillionspookstrider]

DAY 24 - PC

irl stuff has been keeping me pretty busy but here's a chibo i drew up in between cues

[image ID: stylized drawings of Chip from Just Roll With It. to the left is a drawing of his pre-ep 87 design. he's looking to the side, and seems annoyed. to the right is Chip in his post-ep 87 design. he seems happy. at the top is his hand and sleeve, showing off his black and gold pinky prosthetic. above that is op's username, gillionspookstrider. around the drawings are gold hearts, a coin, and Chip's axe earring. end ID]

[living-lucid-dream]

Blind Pico AU (part nine; aka: The Storm)

Part One

Previous

Next

We begin with a glimpse of a text conversation between Nene and Otis:

N: heey kiddo!

N: sending u a file

N: need u to tell me where tf it came from

O: What the hell is this?

O: Is that Pico? Is he OK?

N: hes fine lol

N: just need to know if u can trace dis

O: Where did you even get this?

N: from the dark web ~_^

O: Then there’s probably no way to figure out where it came from.

N: aww shit

N: cant u tell me anything abt it

O: I’ll see if I can find anything that might be useful.

N: omg tysm!

Darnell meets up with Nene. Nene asks if he slept at all last night because he looks like crap. He tells her that no, he didn’t sleep much. Too excited. She asks him if he has the address and he says he does. They go the address Darnell found; it’s an old building in an area of town that is well along the steady slide to slumsville. There is no doorman; the main entrance has a buzz-in feature but it seems to be broken as Darnell just pushes the door open and goes in. The elevator is either broken or so slow it might as well be. They take the stairs to the fourth floor and knock on the door.

O: So I tore into the file. It had a weird little bit of code on it, like a signature.

O: Turns out it was a watermark.

N: lol i have no idea abt any of that

N: but sounds like its a good thing

O: Yeah. It’s a watermark that only shows up in music videos from a specific record label.

N: wat record label is it

O: Coast2Coast in Phili.

N: are u sure

O: Yeah, definitely.

O: So is Pico going to be in a music video or something?

O: Nene?

O: Bye to you too then….

After a few minutes, the door opens as far as the safety chain will allow. Tyler asks them what they want. Nene smiles and sweetly asks him if they can come in for a chat. Tyler tells them not a chance in hell and starts to close the door, but Nene jams her foot in, not letting him close it all the way. She tells him, “You should really just let us in. It might help us avoid any…unpleasantness.”

Tyler tells her to fuck off and tries to slam the door against her foot. Nene sighs and nods at the door. “Darnell?”

Darnell kicks the door hard enough to snap the safety chain. The door flies open, smacking Tyler in the face. He stumbles back in surprise and by the time he recovers, Nene and Darnell have gotten inside and locked the door behind them.

Tyler backs away from them, asks them again what they want, and threatens to call the police. Darnell holds up his hands and says, “Look, man, we just want to talk to you. If you cooperate with us, we’ll be out of here in ten minutes.”

Nene spins a knife and cheerfully adds, “And if you don’t, we’ll see how fast I can chop off your balls! My record is three minutes.”

Tyler goes pale and looks like he might faint. Darnell tells him to sit down and he plops onto a worn-out couch. Once he’s sure Tyler isn’t about to pass out, he says, “We hear you’re quite the Mearest fan.”

Tyler asks them “what’s it to you.” Darnell shrugs and says, “Nothing, really. She’s fine if you’re into pop music.”

“Fine?” Tyler snips back. “She’s the best!”

Nene rolls her eyes and says. “Sure, whatever you say.”

Tyler asks them if they broke into his home for a reason other than to insult his taste in music. Nene says they heard he had a meet and greet with Mearest backstage after her inaugural concert a few weeks ago. Tyler tells them he did.

“You do anything other than that meet and greet while you were back there?” Darnell asks.

Tyler gets shifty and asks them why they want to know. Darnell tells him they have a good friend—a man with red hair who almost ended up dead that night after drinking a drugged beer. He asks Tyler if that rings any bells.

Tyler gets even more antsy and quickly blurts out that he has no idea what Darnell is talking about. Darnell takes out his lighter and starts casually flicking the flame on and off as he says, “Huh. That’s weird. See, our friend, he remembered a few things about the guy that gave him that beer.”

Tyler looks like he is on the verge of wetting himself as he croaks, “Is that so?”

With a shark-like grin, Nene says, “Yep! And the funny thing is, he told us it was a guy with your height, your build, your hair, and—” she lunges forward, snatching his wrist so the tattoo of a Zen labyrinth is clearly visible “—a tattoo just like this one here.”

Nene continues to restrain Tyler as Darnell closes the distance between them. Holding his lighter inches away from Tyler’s nose, he asks, “So, Tyler, what do you have to say about that?”

Tyler tries to duck back, away from the lighter. Nene presses the edge of her knife against his cheek with a playful “Ah-ah-ah! Five seconds to answer the question. Then I get to see if I can break my record.”

Nene starts to count. Tyler doesn’t make it past three before he squeals, “I only did it because she told me to!”

Nene and Darnell exchange a look. “She?”

“Mearest!” Darnell and Nene ask him to clarify. He sobs, “She said I could go to the afterparty if I slipped him a drugged beer. She said it would be funny! I thought it was a joke!”

They back away from Tyler. Darnell thanks Tyler for being so helpful and Nene admonishes the sobbing man “See? That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

Once outside the apartment, Nene tells Darnell about the information she received from Otis: that the “Carrot Top” video was made at Coast2Coast Records, the label that manages Mearest. Darnell’s eyes go wide and he says, “Oh, FUCK! The record label!”

Nene gives him a weird look and says, “Uh, sure. Fuck the record label for working with Mearest.”

Darnell shakes his head. “No; I mean we need to get over to the record label NOW!” He explains that Pico and Boyfriend are heading there today for an “exclusive contract signing party” with Dearest. If Mearest was involved with the attack on Pico, then they could be in serious trouble….

Meanwhile, Girlfriend is at home, unable to find her cell phone. She doesn’t want to be late to the signing party, but she also doesn't want to leave without her phone. She comes across Mearest’s phone and decides to try calling her phone to make it ring.

She dials her phone. It rings and rings, but Girlfriend can’t hear it anywhere. She is about set Mearest’s phone aside when she notices that the photos app is open. Seeing that there are pictures from Mearest’s performances (and that Boyfriend is featured in several of the photos), she begins to scroll through the album. She sees short video clips of Mearest as she takes the stage, Mearest singing one of her biggest hits, Boyfriend taking a bow and giving the crowd “finger guns” and peace signs…then she comes across a video that doesn’t seem to fit with the flashy concert clips.

This video clip is much darker than the others and appears to be set in an abandoned building. It begins with Mearest in-frame, standing over something on the ground. Girlfriend’s guts freeze when she realizes that it isn’t something, but someone—Pico. It’s Pico, lying supine with his wrists and ankles bound and clearly very, very drugged.

She watches, disbelieving as Mearest addresses the camera to say, “Since you can’t seem to clean up your messes, I suppose I’ll have to do it for you.” Mearest brandishes a jug of drain cleaner (from Cyril’s Squeaky Clean Shoppe). She turns to one of her backup dancers and asks him to “Be a dear and hold his eyes open for me.” Then, she proceeds to slowly pour the entire contents of the jug into Pico’s eyes.

Pico doesn’t move or scream (he can’t move or scream), but Girlfriend can hear him moaning and whimpering with pain. Girlfriend wants to look away, but some part of her wants to believe that Mearest will stop and proclaim: “Just kidding! None of this is real!” Instead, Mearest tosses the now-empty jug aside, looks at the camera and coos, “Love you, honey!”

One of the backup dancers asks her what they should do with Pico now. She laughs and says, “Do whatever you want. And when you’re done, throw him in the trash with all the other garbage.”

Girlfriend feels tears running down her cheeks. Then, from behind her, Mearest says, “Oh, sweetie. I wish you hadn’t seen that.”

Girlfriend whispers, “It was you. All this time, you…you pretended to care…you pretended to help us! Why would you do this—what did Pico even do to you?”

Mearest sighs and explains that it wasn’t so much what Pico did as what he didn’t do. Pico’s refusal to remove Boyfriend from the backstage area when he had the chance was the entire reason Boyfriend ended up being her opening act that night.

Girlfriend shakes her head. “It wasn’t him. It was me. It was my idea. I’m the reason he went onstage.” Mearest takes a step closer to Girlfriend, but Girlfriend’s eyes begin to glow red as she snaps “DON’T!” Mearest stops in her tracks. Girlfriend growls, “You almost killed him. You blinded him! Do you have any idea how much you hurt me when you hurt him like that?”

Now it’s Mearest’s turn to become angry. “You’re not the only one who’s hurting, darling. Do you have any idea how much sharing the stage with that little blue haired rat has hurt me? People have been coming to my show just to see him—and then they're leaving before I even take the stage! He actually asked if he could do an encore! An opening act doing an encore! And then that absolute travesty of an interview the other day—the crowd couldn’t get enough of him and they treated me like a smelly old sock! Me! Well, let me tell you, nobody gets away with stealing my spotlight. Your father’s seeing to that right now!”

Girlfriend gasps and demands to know what Mearest is talking about. Mearest’s tone becomes softer as she tells Girlfriend not to worry; that Boyfriend was never good enough for her and that she’ll thank her and Dearest once he’s gone—him and his disloyal little red-haired friend.

“Not if I stop him first,” says Girlfriend. She shoulders past Mearest, heading for the front door.

Mearest follows her and says, “It’s already done, darling. Your father has already taken the limo; you’ll never get there fast enough.”

Girlfriend’s skin begins to turn purple. Her horns grow and her eyes turn completely red. Her voice is a distorted, demonic growl as she says, “Then I guess I’ll just have to fly!”

Mearest tells her that if she walks through that door that she shouldn’t bother coming back. Girlfriend doesn’t hesitate. She runs out the door and takes flight.

Meanwhile, Boyfriend and Pico are approaching the record label (Coast2Coast Records). Boyfriend mentions that he’s gotten a few texts from Girlfriend, saying she’s already inside with Dearest and encouraging them both to hurry in because they have a “big surprise” for him. They go inside only to be ambushed by a mob of the Dearest’s henchmen. Boyfriend knocks a few of them out, but they easily restrain Pico and knock his gun away. One of them punches Pico in his still-healing ribs, making him yelp. It’s enough to distract Boyfriend and they’re on him in an instant.

Once Boyfriend and Pico are both immobilized, Dearest steps into the lobby, giving them both a mocking slow-clap. He asks them if they are ready for the “big surprise” before brandishing Girlfriend’s cell phone and saying, “It’s just you and me, boys.”

~

Well, all the cards are on the table now. There is only a little more left and it should all be covered in the next post. Until then, have a great evening!

[kissmekakashi]

Someone please explain to me why stealing artwork seems like a good idea? Even if it is with the intention to repost.

First of all, a lot of artists are not okay with reposting. For fair reasons too. It’s their artwork, they can do whatever the fuck they want.

But if the artist has said no reposting, it means no reposting. And if you’re that eager, ask for permission. See if they allow. It’s their artwork which means you need proper permission.

The worst of all is that if someone is TELLING you who the artist is and is tagging them in the comments. Just quickly add them to your description. It’s that simple. Not only will it be a quick thing, it’ll also be much easier than deleting comments of people who are telling you to give credits.

This is the page that pissed me off. They’re busy deleting comments and refusing to give credits. They have reposted a lot artists and their works like Ninjaduelist and Cubur Chi. They have also removed their watermarks! As you can see in the comments, people are complaining about either how their comments are getting deleted or them not taking any action about crediting the artists.

If you plan on reposting an artist’s hard work without credit, you are scum. You most certainly should not only ask for explicit permission , but also give them the credit they deserve.

Respect the artist and the art equally.

UPDATE : 8th JUNE 2021

That account blocked me. So they clearly know that they’re at fault.

I don’t fucking get why they’re doing this. Stealing people’s art work and then not giving them credits. What the FUXK, man???

[elletromil]

Collect moments, not things

So some of you might remember Love is a fabric which never fades, that fic where Harry was dragon and pining after Eggsy.

I was always supposed to write this fic too, where instead of Harry being a dragon, Eggsy was the dragon with the hoard. (And a third one where they both are dragons and hopefully this one won’t take 5 years too xp). And well, inspiration and motivation have slowly been coming back to me this week and I managed to finish this one :D

I hope you all enjoy!

Collect moments, not things

When he finally figures out what Eggsy’s hoard is comprised of, Harry feels a bit like an idiot.

Not that it’s particularly obvious at a first glance, but they have been living together for a few months now. And yes, they’ve both been sent on a couple different missions during that time, but that’s still no excuse to how unobservant he has been.

He’s supposed to be a bloody spy. He should have picked up on Eggsy’s habit sooner than he did.

And it doesn’t soothe his pride that it only truly registered when Eggsy asked him for a pen one evening after the one he was using ran out of ink.

The worse is, he can only blame himself for taking so long at figuring out what was Eggsy’s hoard.

Not only is Eggsy not hiding it in any way, he has also made it very clear that he was comfortable answering any questions Harry could have about dragon culture. Or if he wasn’t, that he wouldn’t hesitate to tell him to fuck off.

Whatever hero-worship Eggsy once had for him is long gone and quite frankly, Harry much prefers it that way.

However in Harry’s defense, there is also a perfectly sensible reason why he didn’t want to ask Eggsy about this particular thing.

While his friendship with James had not made him an expert on dragons at all, he’s still picked up on a few things over the years.

Especially on the romance side given the fact that James had very publicly courte Richard and Richard, while not a dragon himself, had taken it as a challenge, one he was very set on winning.

Considering the two ended up married within a year of being introduced to each other, he’s certain Richard did consider himself the winner.

Much like James did.

All this to say, he’s very much aware of just how important a part a dragon’s hoard plays when it comes to such things as courting.

And he very much wants Eggsy to not only feel like Harry accepts and welcomes every aspects of his heritage, but that Harry loves him for it.

After all, it is part of what makes Eggsy, well, Eggsy, just like his gaudy vests and winged shoes or like his liking for medical dramas or like his unwavering loyalty to someone once that person has earned it.

So yes, Harry wants Eggsy to know that Harry is willing to learn. That he is willing to put in the work to make their relationship work. Which, admittedly, he would have done exactly the same had Eggsy been simply human like him, but since he’s not, Harry can’t just ignore that part of his lover.

And hoards… Well hoards are a damn essential part of being a dragon.

It’s their most prized possessions. They can go to war over one.

There’s not bigger honor than to be trusted with any part of it. Or be included in it in any way.

So while he really wasn’t expecting Eggsy to hoard paper of all things, who is he to judge? It’s not the same thing, but Harry does collect dead butterflies and other bugs.

So now he’s got to think of a suitable addition to Eggsy’s hoard, one that would remind him of Harry and hope that Eggsy will accept it.

Because even if Harry doesn’t wish to be married within the year, he would be lying if he said he wasn’t thinking about it already.

***

As he looks over the newest addition in the hidden space of the sitting room, Harry is suddenly stricken by the fear that maybe, this is a bit much.

After all, he’s not even sure Eggsy will accept the first part of his gift and now he’s also trying to change where Eggsy will keep his hoard. It doesn’t matter that this new fireproof safe is one the best on the market, it’s really not Harry’s place to tell Eggsy how to protect his hoard.

Of course that’s the precise moment Eggsy comes home.

Slightly panicked, he close the door to the safe over what really is his gift, but doesn’t have the time to do anything about the fake wall before Eggsy finds him in the room.

“Didn’t know you were getting a new safe,” he safe in lieu of a greeting, pressing close to his back, arms wrapping around his waist. It would take a stronger man than Harry Hart is to not lean back in him.

“Actually, this is for you,” he admits after turning into the embrace just enough to press a kiss to Eggsy’s cheek.

“Oh?” Eggsy lets him go and steps closer to take a better look, but he doesn’t seem angry or insulted, merely curious, which is kind of reassuring. “Fuck me, Harry! That’s like the latest model on the market. It cost a fortune!” Not entirely accurate, but Harry will agree that if it wasn’t for Kingsman more than generous salary, he probably would never have considered that particular safe. “Not that I don’t appreciate,” Eggsy adds quickly, “but you know the one you let me have in the office does the job too?”

He still doesn’t look mad in any way, just slightly confused. Harry can work with confusion.

“Well yes, but also no, considering what you’re keeping in there. The safe in the office wasn’t made with fireproofing as the main characteristic. This one was. And well, it’s considerably bigger and you were bond to run out of place sometime soon.”

He hasn’t checked of course. While he certainly could, what with Eggsy’s current safe being Harry’s first and his training as a spy, they both respect each other’s need to keep some thing private from the other.

But Eggsy has never tried to hide the papers he put in every night and so Harry doesn’t feel bad about making that educated guess.

Eggsy doesn’t seem to mind either if his pleased smile and the sweet blush spreading on his cheeks is any indication.

And as if to prove Harry just how stupid he had been for worrying about him not liking his gift, Eggsy steps on his tiptoes so he can kiss his cheek. “Thank you Harry. That’s- that’s one of the more thoughtful thing anyone has given me.”

He’s still standing close so Harry is the one to wrap his arms around him this time and hold him tight. They stand like that for some time, enjoying the peaceful moment.

Then Harry remembers that the safe wasn’t even originally part of the gift he had planned to make and slowly walks them close enough that he can open it.

Or at least, attempt to open it. The endeavour is slightly hindered by the fact that Eggsy is refusing to step out of his embrace. And to be honest, Harry doesn’t truly want to let go either.

After longer than his pride could take it if not for the quiet chuckles Eggsy unsuccessfully muffle against his shoulder, the safe is opened once more.

Eggsy stops laughing as soon as he glances inside, gasping softly. “It this-” He doesn’t finish whatever he was trying to ask, his hands reaching towards the safe before he stops himself, fingers clenching into fists.

Harry presses a kiss against his temple before taking hold of his hands and laying them on the first colourful pile.

“This is for you, yes. All of it.”

Carefully, with something akin to reverence, Eggsy takes the first sheet to inspect it closer. It’s one of the simpler paper Harry has bought him, a very light blue without any texture. What makes it deserve a place among all the different papers he’s been buying for Eggsy over the last couple of weeks however is the subtle golden watermark of a butterfly at the bottom of the page.

Eggsy notices it immediately of course and trails a gentle finger over the design.

“I’m… I’m not sure if this is okay. I hope it is. That you will accept this gift even if it’s a bit selfish of me. But I really want you to have a little part of me in your hoard.”

Whatever reaction Harry was expecting from Eggsy over his gift, it wasn’t for him to burst out into laughters. It’s a good thing for his ego that he can tell there is nothing mocking in it, but he’s still not sure how he should take it.

Thankfully, Eggsy doesn’t laugh for long and after putting the sheet of paper back in the safe, he turns around and tugs Harry down into a deep kiss.

“I love you so much Harry,” he says after they’ve caught their breath again, “but you’re an idiot if you think you’re not already part of my hoard.” Only the kisses he peppers along his jawline prevents Harry from feeling insulted.

“What do you mean, I’m already part of it?” Try as he might, he can’t think of any instance he gave some kind of paper to Eggsy. Not even a post-it note or a grocery list.

“You think I’m hoarding paper right?” Eggsy annoyingly answers with a question of his own.

“Aren't you?” Two can play the game and Eggsy snorts with amusement at how petulant Harry sounds.

“Nope, not really.” It’s more devastating than he thought it would be to find that that he was mistaken about that. To realise that he obviously doesn’t know Eggsy as well as he should. Before shame can get a good hold on his heart heart however, Eggsy cups his cheeks in his hands and presses their foreheads together. “But even dragons would have made the same assumption you did. And the only reason it’s not really my hoard is simply because I learned very young it was best not to keep anything physical.”

He frowns at that, partly in confusion, partly because it wakens an old guilt in him, the one he will carry to his tomb for having failed to protect Eggsy as he probably should have after Lee’s passing. Eggsy must feel it because he huffs in mild rebuke before letting him go.

“Come on, let me show you.”

Harry lets himself get dragged upstairs to their shared office without protesting, consciously pushing back the guilt as he tries instead to figure out what exactly could be Eggsy’s hoard if it’s not really paper. The ink maybe? But that’s physical too…

Then Eggsy puts a few sheets of paper in his hands.

“Come on, read them.” His expression is a worrying mix of dread and excitement, but there is also the familiar set in his jaw that means he won’t budge from his position and so Harry doesn’t try to tell him they don’t have to do this now. Or ever really.

There doesn’t seem to be anything special about the paper in his hands. He thinks he can even spots a few napkins inside the safe before he refocus his attention on the words that are written on the pages he’s holding. Eggsy told him to read after all.

Each sheet has a date and a few sentences neatly written over them.

-

July 27th

Came back from a mission in the middle of the night. Harry was fast asleep. But when I got into bed, he still rolled over to hold me without ever waking up.

-

November 2nd

Harry ordered from the new Indian place tonight. Best food ever.

-

November 16th

Went on a walk with Harry. I forgot my gloves. Harry gave me one of his and then we hold hands the whole way.

-

March 4th

Harry and Daisy made cupcakes. There was flour everywhere. I am never leaving them unattended in the kitchen again.

-

They all read like journal entries.

Like short capsules of happiness that happened on a particular day.

“Eggsy?” He’s not sure what he’s asking because he fears that he’s only seeing what he wants to see.

“Memories,” Eggsy answers anyway in a quiet voice. “That’s what I’m hoarding. All the happy ones.”

There’s something shy to his smile now, so very different from his usual confident grin and Harry simply has to kiss him.

And as Eggsy all but melts into the contact, Harry swears to himself that every day they spend together will bring so many happy moments to Eggsy that he won’t know what to do with them all.

[inventors-fair]

Let’s Talk Flavor: Commentary

I would say overall that most of these cards were fantastic and a great number of the story ideas were good. There will be parts where I suggest edits, and the thing about story edits is, well, it doesn’t impact game design. That’s the thing about the Fair and the thing about Magic in general: the whole thing could be replicated with number systems and program lines and it would be the exact same. It’s the fact that a creature has Flying, or that a spell is made of Lightning that makes the game exciting. This was an interesting experiment. 

Let’s talk about cards!

@ace-hobo​ — Captain’s Wrench

This is a perfectly fine card. I like the “fixed” Voltaic Key style, the moderate power level. It’s a card that someone would probably be middling in artifact decks but fine in budget builds. I’m sort of feeling an Ixalan vibe, maybe with a little steampunkishness. I get that the wrench belongs to De, but it’s a little confusing regarding why they have the wrench. If they’re the captain and they’re not in the engine room, why is the card depicting a tool that would suit them better if they never left the engine room? Maybe the story should be about how DESPITE their captain status, they spend time in the engine room. It’s an easy enough tweak.

@cas-420 — Boiling Blood

The card is pretty good. It’s very aggressive and has synergistic potential. I really don’t see where the flavor is tying into it. I am favorably inclined towards your text, in concept. I can see where you were making the pun on “execution.” The wording is clunky with the repeated syntax, and could have just used the execution line. But what does that have to do with the card? The flavor evokes dissent, protest, retaliation. The flavor of the card evokes speed, purpose, initiative. It’s not a perfect tonal match. I would save the text for a different card with a clearer purpose

@dabudder​ — Wisdom of the Tides

In terms of card wording, I believe you’d be looking for something like Mysteries of the Deep, where you have an “instead” wording — unless you’re supposed to draw an additional card after? It’s a little confusing how you have it now. Still, Flourish is a fine mechanic, executed well. This was pretty close to being a runner-up. I like the nod towards crabs. We’ve been having a crab mood lately. Overall, not bad. Might need to be four mana, but that’s me being cautious.

@deafeningsandwichpeach​ — Jyska, Artificer Overlord

The name is probably the best thing about this card, and it’s fair enough for a legendary creature. Considering that this is essentially the Nim ability from original Mirrodin and that it’s a vanilla creature otherwise, I would contest that you’re severely overestimating the power level of this card. It’s not as strong as it seems. In terms of flavor text, this is basically exposition. I won’t dissuade you from story-rich cards, but there’s too much information presented in a manner that overloads the reader. Simplify, punch, beat, punctuate. In terms of presentation, the whole block should be in quotes, and you don’t need to attribute the quote if the character’s on the card itself.

@demimonde-semigoddess​ — Thaw

Great name, great snow flavor. I can see this in the tundra wastes, something emerging from the snow, bursting out. I had to do some digging. As it turns out, “gelid” is a real English word I had no idea about! I thought from the shackles and your flavor text that it was some Coldsnap lore. In terms of the text itself, it’s not bad. It’s just that the two statements are somewhat disconnected. They work both on their own, but together, they don’t gel well. Still, bonus points to mechanical flavor for an anti-ice feel.

@dimestoretajic​ — Phytotemple

The card is pretty funky for an uncommon, pushed but not busted. I’d call it a pain in the butt but no more than Wayfaring Temple. Ah, I see, the wayfarers, an homage. But there’s a lot I don’t understand. Who lost the wayfarers? Who’s saying this quote? Why did the phytotemples start appearing in general? Did the original wayfaring temples break into them? What does Selesnya have to do with construction crews? How is that related to the phytotemple’s physiology and motivation? Most importantly, why is there a street named after a Selesnya dissident? I think you should have focused on one specific area of the card’s backstory.

@emmypupcake — Bloom Nurturer

I was really surprised that there wasn’t a card already named this. In terms of card wording, look at High Tide or Bubbling Muck; I think it would read “Until end of turn, whenever you tap a Forest for mana, add an additional G.” The quote doesn’t light my world on fire, but it fits well and reads well. Just remember to indent the attribution with shift+enter. Overall? Good enough.

@fractured-infinity​ — Shara, Skalla Vengeant

I had to do a little digging, but I like how you incorporated Vivien’s lore in here. That said, Skalla is also, well, destroyed, presumably forever. Where did the spirit come from? Is it wandering around Skalla? In that case, did Vivien go back? Why? That raises a couple questions. In terms of this card, it’s broken. In anything but the most pushed Commander formats, it’s three mana to deal seven damage to any creature you want with minimal repercussions. Any prevention makes her impossible to deal with. In limited, she would sweep unfairly.

@ghost31415926535 — Man-Eater Wurm

Firstly, I would like to apologize for the flavor bar being in the middle of the line. That’s my bad. Let’s talk about the rest of the card. In concept, it shouldn’t be too overpowered. But deathtouch and trample together create complex rules baggage that many casual players simply don’t understand. Nine times out of ten, they’ll never be printed together. Seeing that this is exactly how you submitted it, consider for next time: Only the first keyword needs to be capitalized in a string. Something like Unearth needs its own line. The flavor text is standard enough. Just remember that quote attribution also needs its own line.

@gollumni​ — Gives You Hell

I love the name here. I got that All-American Rejects song stuck in my head now. Remember that one? Anyway. Firstly, you don’t need to put “target” there; “Enchant creature” implies it. Secondly, and least importantly, don’t forget you can add watermarks in MSE! Thirdly, the flavor text. I get it, but it doesn’t flow great. If there was some wordplay to be done on fire-spitting and whatever turn of phrase you used, like, “spitting poison” in the literal sense — I don’t know, I just expect something a little more concise. It’s a great concept and has the potential to be very funny, so points there. Also, the card itself? Fantastic.

@greensunzenith​ — Decorated Demon

Liking the name. I don’t like how this card has to be a rare. It’s more of an annoyance than anything. It feels like a card that prevents decisions. It’s not aggressive, nor is it particularly interactive. Conceptually it works, but I’m not in favor. The flavor text is a bit of a head-scratcher. The real question is: who is giving demons sigils? How do they become redeemed? On what world CAN demons become redeemed? This isn’t a Bant thing, is it? I’m a little lost as to the specifics, since it doesn’t play into any tropes and doesn’t inform the world in a recognizable way.

@i-am-the-one-who-wololoes​ — Goblin Decorator

If the flavor text had simply been, in quotes, “Earwigs would go so well with that wallpaper!”, then this card could have been a runner-up. Also, this should definitely be an uncommon. The effect is awesome and powerful and annoying and plays into a variety of strategies. Still, the flavor text is just...too much. It’s a lot of text that tells a story that doesn’t really need to be told. We get enough from the name and that last sentence, combined with a fun ability that matches the card. That’s all we need! Gotta simplify.

@ignorantturtlegaming​ — Dust, Revenant Force

For future cards, I would highly recommend reading up on design philosophy, what Magic’s colors are about, and how cards come into being. There are a lot of questions that this card raises, and a lot of things that need to be edited.

Green doesn’t get first strike, certainly not mono-green.

Why does this card cost five green mana? What does it provide for the limited/constructed environment?

It should be “Fox Warrior.”

The first thing about the flavor text is that there is far too much of it. It’s exposition for exposition’s sake. Fine in a high fantasy short story, but not on a Magic card.

The second thing about the flavor text is that Dust appears to be a white-aligned character through their actions and themes. I don’t feel anything green about them.

@juggernaut-is-a-metalhead — Devil’s Payment

I’m going easy on card art attribution since, well, it’s Disney and they are indeed evil, but in the future, please attribute it to the show itself and/or the director/copyright holder. So, the card itself. Is it supposed to be a common? Is it an homage to Cruel Bargain and Infernal Contract? This certainly isn’t a common effect, and for one mana, well, I don’t know what to say about this card. In terms of the flavor text, why is everything separated in lines like a poem? It’s way too long to fit into a card with three lines of rules text already. I don’t really understand what it’s even trying to say. The devil asked for the MAN’S youth. What does that has to do with his own? And why is it only sometimes capitalized? I don’t really understand this at all.

@koth-of-the-hammerpants — Hidden Bombardier

Great name. For the card text, it’s powerful, arguably fine in the right format, but very strong regardless. It also needs to say “It deals 3 damage” instead of just “Deal.” Gotta get past the 90′s, erryone. So now, the flavor text... I kinda get it? I just don’t understand what makes this card a shapeshifter. I don’t understand the world in which shapeshifters exist. This card feels like a Goblin. It’s an interesting kamikaze take, if a little too flowery and on-the-nose. It doesn’t exactly inform me, and it doesn’t exactly excite me.

@mardu-lesbian​ — Ballynock Adoptee

I had to look up to make sure that there were dwarfs on Lorwyn, and by golly, you’re right, there are! In RW hybrid in Eventide, anyway. And that brings up to a major story problem. By the introduction of dwarfs, the world has already plunged into Shadowmoor, and the thoughtweft has already been replaced with the mindweft. I’m stealing this from the wiki, so berate me if I’m wrong, but I always got the sense that the kithkin were highly xenophobic regardless of where the Great Aurora was. The jarring question that remains is: how does a non-kithkin creature become part of the thoughtweft/mindweft? It goes against what we know about the Kithkin and the world in general. If there’s a good explanation, I’m all ears, but I’m not convinced at this point in time.

@mistershinyobject​ — Phenax’s Messenger

Bonus judge trivia time: I studied Latin in high school and a little in college. From what I can tell about The Callapheia from other cards bearing it’s flavor text, it is meant to evoke classical poetry from Greek and Latin epics. The lines are written four at a time, indented carefully. HERE is a link to all cards with “Callapheia” in the flavor text. The gist is, this card does NOT evoke that. There’s a lot of text, a lot of quotes, a lot of forced story that could have been way punchier if you just had stuff about a snake eating a prophet. I love the card as a limited filler. But yeah, gotta do more research into what it means to have certain aspects on your cards.

@nicolbolas96​ — Unpredictable Betrayal

You know, it’s hard to evoke Nicol Bolas well in flavor text. He’s one of Magic’s major villains, a huge face of many sets, with years behind him. And honestly? You didn’t do a half-bad job in this flavor text. Props! That said, this card is way busted. For one, double strike doesn’t affect fighting at all, so that’s...something. For two, it would need to be three sentences; you did a run-on for that last one. For three, mechanically? This is a two-mana spell that eight times out of ten will absolutely destroy two creatures you don’t control. In limited, that’s insanely powerful. In any format that plays creatures, that’s usually amazingly good. There’s a reason spells like Blood Feud and Clash of Titans cost what they cost. Getting two creatures you don’t control to fight is powerful.

@nine-effing-hells​ — Cairn to Athusis

Actually, this card was one of my favorites from the contest. I’m a heavy Gruul player when I’m not playing cruel control, and I think the gist of this card is super interesting. You made it an enchantment artifact AND a shrine, giving flavor there as well to your new world. The only thing I would have changed is erasing that first sentence from your flavor text entirely. The second is so powerful that it stands on its own. It’s poetic without being overwrought, specific to the world and building off of known tropes. Also, it tells us that “orcs are RG in this world” which is a great mechanical touch. Just needed that little bit of trimming.

@real-aspen-hours​ — Deflect Consequences

Now this is an interesting card!... What practical use does it have? I’m curious what this has on something like Harmless Offering. I don’t believe that cast triggers will be affected. Maybe it would specifically go against things like “counter target spell you don’t control” or something, but if control changes... I’m uncertain of this card’s applications past the gimmick point. That said, it would be fun to cast a Leveler and have it enter the battlefield under an opponent’s control. I’m not in love with the flavor text. It’s fine. Doesn’t light my world on fire. A touch wordy. But it’s fine. Fits the name and the ability well, so that’s nice.

@reaperfromtheabyss​ — Inconquerable Alseid

Besides the fact that “Hope” should be lowercase and separated by a colon, the flavor text is really cool! I don’t like this card much. It’s honestly fine, and it’s an interesting commander card that could lead to some cool consequences, but there’s a reason Undaunted has reminder text. It doesn’t look good floating there by itself. There are some abilities that just need reminder text all the time, and Undaunted is on so few cards that it significantly needs this. I think I was a little too harsh on this card on my first go-around, but I haven’t warmed up to it yet. I think the great flavor could have been used on a simpler, more protective card.

@scavenger98​ — Kadalla the Scornful

I’m 99% sure it should go “First strike, deathtouch, haste.” Order of keywords is weird sometimes. So are creature types. I don’t really understand the world on which an Elf can be Mardu colors. It’s a stretch of the imagination to say the least. The card itself is...fine? I’d honestly make her an uncommon in today’s world. Yeah, she’s powerful, but she’s a 2/1 for three with all different mana symbols. Regarding the flavor, it’s well-worded, but it’s lengthy and doesn’t actually tell us anything about the character or the world. It doesn’t inform the card, and that’s its major misstep. Again, though, good writing.

@shandylamb​ — Multani’s Offspring

A fine card, a funny flavor. Just so you know, though, “Saproling” is pretty much only relegated to the token, and this card would probably see print as a plant or fungus. And additionally, as nice as the pun is... What’s this card even trying to say in the story? Multani’s only known child is Muldrotha, and that’s deep lore as-is. As funny as this card might be, it really doesn’t mesh with a Magic feel.

@starch255​ — Unscrupulous Horpske 

There are only two things I’m concerned about. Firstly: what about this creature makes it “unscrupulous?” What scruples does it have normally in its species? Secondly, this card is trying to make potato salad canon in the multiverse, and I don’t know if such a travesty would be allowed to happen. Potato salad is an affront to taste, no offense to the horpske.

Literally everything else about this card is a 10/10. I would also encourage you to work on a set symbol. Everyone should!

@teaxch​ — Hidden Seers

Interesting. So what timeline is this? Is this supposed to be, like, a return to Tarkir? Cool concept, I think, although I’m not entirely sold. After hearing the shaman’s whispers, why is Surrak’s first instinct to assume that without dragons a human would lead the clan? Wouldn’t the thought of a world without dragons evoke other thoughts and fears first? That’s my main hand-iffy-motion reason. This is also a supremely petty nitpick, probably the pettiest thing I’ve ever said about a card, but if this is the Dragon timeline then wouldn’t the watermark be the Atarka one instead of the Temur one?

@tmstage​ — Apostasy

Everything about this card is good...individually. Great name, but what does that have to do with the ability? What is it trying to depict? What does shuffling your library have to do with religious dogma? And the flavor text feels overbearing. Nykita as a character is someone I’d like to know more about, but this card doesn’t tell me much about her. It’s mostly that the mechanics and the flavor don’t mesh in the least, and, well, it’s not a good mechanic. Shuffling is time-consuming, game-prolonging, and has no discernible benefit to the game outside of incredibly niche cards that mostly don’t affect you as the player. And the more I read the flavor text, the less it makes sense. “Allow the world to deform your flawed notions?” It sounds awesome, but what does it mean?

~

Thank you all for your submissions. New contest tomorrow. 

[jimimn]

HHFJSLASI YOU AND I ARE JUST PROFESSIONALS WHEN IT COMES TO RAMBLING AND I LOVE IT I'LL MAKE THIS FIRST ASK SHORT SO THAT YOU CAN ADD THE READ MORE AND PUT THE REST UNDER THE CUT SO THAT YOUR FOLLOWERS DON'T HAVE TO DO A LOT OF SCROLLING LMAO - 💫

your brain i love it 😌😌

MISS SHIVI YOU'RE TOO SWEET 🤧💞 HFAKKA JUNGKOOK MADE THE WORLD STOP WITH THAT HAIR DYE AT THIS POINT I'M JUST ✨ manifesting ✨ a selfie of him with that hair and I know for a fact that the moment that one selfie comes out ITS OVER FOR US and OMG IN A BUN??? JDJAKJD I THINK YOURE SPEAKING THE DEVIL INTO EXISTENCE. BLONDE JIKOOK SELCA LETS GO BOYS COME ON DON'T BE SHY 🧚‍♂️🌸

OOOPS THAT IDOL PERFORMANCE DOES LIVE IN MY HEAD RENT FREE THO...ESP ALL OF THEIR GROWLS..CALM DOWN??? JIMIN?? EXCUSE YOU.

AND JUNGKOOK'S OUTFIT WAS SO HOTJFJSLQJDJWKA. I did watch the performances later and can attest that DYNAMITE SLOW JAM IS NOW MY ANTHEM AND BLONDE JUNGKOOK SINGING IT IS DEFINITELY NOT GOOD FOR MY SANITY

CHANEL MODEL!JIMIN MISS SHIVI I AM THINKING MANY THOUGHTS NOW FOR REAL THO HE SHOULD TOTALLY WEAR MORE CHOKERS AND CAN YOU IMAGINE HIM FINISHING A PERFORMANCE ANF THEN RIPPING IT OFF AND THROWING INTO THE CROWD LIKE JSLWLAKF DEATH UPON US ALL!!! Honestly he can wear anything at this point and ummm 🤸‍♀️🤸‍♀️🤸‍♀️🤸‍♀️🤸‍♀️🤸‍♀️ BUT FBKSKA I HOPE THIS ISNT WEIRD BUT I JUST THOUGHT OF JIMIN'S COLLARBONES PEAKING OUT FROM UNDER THE CHOKER AND WE'RE GOING A LITTLE FERAL AGAIN

BODY ROLLS DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED THERE IS NOTHING MORE ATTRACTIVE THAN HIM NOT ONLY BEING SO HOT BUT ALSO USING PERFECT TECHNIQUE!! AND THAT GAZE BYE I'M SHORT CIRCUITING HE CLEARLY KNOWS HIS POWER AND ISN'T AFRAID TO USE IT aND THAT LOOK GAAAAH 5TH MUSTER JIMIN COME HOME PLS THE FOOD IS COLD AND EVERYONE'S ASKING WHERE YOU ARE (me....I'm everyone) NO NOO DON'T BE SORRY I LOVE IT TELL ME MORE ABOUT YOUR MUSINGS *cups face in hand and leans on table*

AND I AGREE!! TAEHYUNG LOOKING GOOD IN THAT SUIT ONLY SHOWS US THAT THE GODS TOOK THEIR SWEET TIME ON HIM AND LMFAO I MEAN THEY'RE NOT WRONG THO 🤡 IS A PRETTY ACCURATE DESCRIPTION OF US and omg you've got a sister!! that's so nice 💓

LITERALLY ON WITH THAT DANCE BREAK IN A CONCERT WITH JIMIN JUMPING OVER JUNGKOOK WHEN I TELL YOU I UGLY CRIED FOR HOURS AFTER SEEING THAT DURING THE MV PREMIERE I DON'T THINK I'LL LIVE KNOWING THEY DID IT IN A CONCERT and ooooooo you should definitely keep hoping!! We got an I need u performance, so anything's possible!! I got into them with bs&t so it makes me very 🤧🤧🤧 in retrospect but nothing about jimin dancing his jacket off was 🤧 it was more of a 🥵😵🥴🤕🤒 type of feeling LMAO

I KNOW RIGHT I LOVE HOW THEY ALWAYS GIVE US LIL UPDATES EVERYWHERE LIKE "OO I WENT CAMPING" "OO WE ATE BREAD!!" "OOO LOOK WE'RE JUST GOING TO DROP COVERS AND SELCAS SO YOU CAN LOSE WHATEVER LITTLE SANITY REMAINED!!" BUT YES TIMES LIKE THAT WHEN HE TWEETS JIMIN IS THE LITERAL EMBODIMENT OF THE BIGGEST HEART EMOJI

AND FJSLADHK I NEVER TOLD YOU LMAO MY BRAIN 💆‍♀️💆‍♀️💆‍♀️ MY BIAS IS JIMIN!! I MEAN BY THE LOOKS OF IT YOURS IS TOO HE MAKES US ALL SO 💕💓💫💓💗💕🌺🌈💘💓✨💗💓🌸💕💝🌈💓💗 ITS A LITTLE EMBARRASSING HOW MUCH HE MAKES ME FEEL LIKE WOW HOW AM I LETTING A MAN WHOM I DON'T EVEN KNOW HAVE SO MUCH CONTROL OF ME. HE'S JUST... EVERYTHING 🥺 I'M IN MY BREAK AND A LITTLE TOO EMO RIGHT NOW!! BUT I GUESS YOUR BIAS IS JIMIN TOO RIGHT? TAKING BY YOUR LOVELY BLOG AND BRUTALLY HONEST (IN THE BEST WAY!) URL LMAO IF NOT THEM I'M SORRY FOR PRESUMING 🙈🙈 but tell me!! how did you get into them??

(god...I'm just looking and I see I wrote too much I'm so sorry fksjwlfo)-💫

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA i love seeing your asks in my inbox ok they make me very happy 🤧🤧 BLONDE JIKOOK IN A BUN SELCA I AM MANIFESTING!!!!!!!! BOYS JUST OPEN YOUR GALLERY AND DROP THEM SELCAS I KNOW YOU HAVE A LOT OF THEM PLS SPARE SOME FOR US THANX 😭

JIMIN IN THAT IDOL PERFORMANCE HOLY SHIT YES 😳 LIKE EXCUSE ME WHAT KIND OF DISRESPECT IS THAT 👁👄👁 and then in the same week he became small cuddly jimin with a boopable nose during the home performance 😔

istg jungkook looked like a very hot rich ceo of a huge company or sth 😳😳 (which he actually is sdfghjk atleast partially sdfg)

CHANEL NEEDS TO CALL JIMIN ASAP 🔫🔫🔫 AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING MAKING ME IMAGINE WILD SCENARIOS LIKE THAT 😭 ok imagine him smirking the “i know im hot” smirk after he throws the choker DEATH OK ABSOLUTE DEATHHHHHHHH and omg yes his collarbones along with the choker 😳😳😳😳 (and no its not weird asdfghj chill) 

AND OMG THAT IS THE BIGGEST PROBLEM RIGHTTTTT!!!! THAT PARK JIMIN IS ABSOLUTELY AWARE OF THE POWER HE HOLDS AND HOW HOT HE IS!!!!! AND HE USES IT JUST THE RIGHT AMOUNT WHICH IS KNOWS IS ENOUGH FOR US TO GO ABSOLUTELY FERAL and he’s such a fucking tease too dear lord i can’t with him 😭😭😭😭😭 AND OMG “*cups face in hand and leans on table*” STOP BEING SO CUTE OKAY WTF I AM BLUSHING HERE 😭😭😭😭

AND YES 🤡 IS DEFINITELY ALL OF US 🤣 i remember waiting for 12 am kst every freaking day for a week before BE dropped and big hit was like “not today you absolute clowns” on all our faces 🤡 AND YESS AAAAAAAA she’s not my own sister though!! she’s my aunt’s daughter. they’ve come to visit us for a week 🥰🥰

ON DANCE BREAK WITH JIMIN JUMPING OVER JUNGKOOK HOLY FRIKKIN YES BUT HAVEN’T THEY STOPPED DOING THAT JUMP IN THE RECENT PERFORMANCES? im sad :(((( BUT YES THAT IN A CONCERT WITH ARMY CHEERING AND FANCHANTS AND EVERYTHING HOLY SHIT CAN’T IMAGINE THE ENERGY IN THE STADIUM DURING THAT 🤯🤯🤯🤯 ARE YOU KIDDING I GOT INTO THEM WITH BS&T AS WELL. i am never ever ever going to be over that song. and yes jimin’s “accidental” jacket flips in bs&t are the reason is why i live and breathe 😌😌 (and simultaneously die multiple deaths) I AM NOT EVEN MAKING SENSE ANYMORE AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

AND OMG I KNOW RIGHT WHEN CHRISTMAS LOVE DROPPED WITHOUT A FUCKING CLUE I WENT !@#$%^&*()&^%$#@q@#$%^&*( BECAUSE I HAD JUST WOKEN UP FROM SLEEP AND /?????? NEW SONG FROM JIMIN??????? THAT FELING WAS JUST HHHHHHHHHHHHHH atleast tae gave us a hint BUT I WAS STILL NOT READY WHEN SNOW FLOWER DROPPED. DAMN I HOPE THEY DON’T DO THIS NO WARNING THING WITH KTH1 AND JJK1 BECAUSE I DON’T WANT TO BE FUCKING SLEEPING WHEN THEY DROP ASDFGHJK  AND JIMIN AAAAAAAA JIMIN I MISS HIM SO MUCH CAN HE GO LIVE AGAIN PLS I JUST WANT TO HEAR HIS SOFT VOICE AND SEE HIS EYE SMILE AND FLOOFY HAIR AND TINY HANDS :(((((((

AND OMG YOURS TOO???? 😭😭😭 AND PRESUMPTION WHAT PRESUMPTION OMG OFC MY BIAS IS JIMIN (and six bias wreckers 😌😌) LIKE I HAVE JIMIN IN MY ICON AND IN MY HEADER AND IN MY URL AND I GIF JIMIN MOSTLY SO 😭😭😭 WHAT PRESUMPTION 😭😭😭 and god yes i love every little thing about him 🥺🥺🥺 FROM HIS SOCK DOODLES TO HIM BEING SUPER CLUMSY AND HIS JACKET FLIPS AND HIS SEXY BRAIN AND HIS KIND HEART AND HIM NOT GIVING TWO FUCKS ABOUT GENDER TO HIM GROWLING ON STAGE TO HIS NIPSLIPS I JUST!!!!!LOVE!!!!!!EVERYTHING!!!!! 🤧🤧🤧🤧 AND yes lmao my url ok story time!! so when i made this blog... i didn’t know i’d get into giffing and stuff lol so the friend who got me into bts (i’ll come to that story later) suggested jiminsjacketflip as a url for my blog but i was like nah this doesn’t sound cool so i added a bit of ✨pazzaz✨ and made it flipthatjacketjiminie LMFAOOOOO and ive been wanting to change it for a while now because its so fucking long and my watermark on gifs looks shitty because of that 🤡 but i haven’t found anything as unique as this one yet and i also think that if I change my url people won’t recognize me so im just..... living with this one lmaooooo 🤡

AND OKAY OMG so i got into them at the end of june 2020. My friend anna (who also has a blog and makes a++++ gifs @/lifegoesmon) got me into them. She made me listen to them and the first song i heard was stay gold as far as i remember and then it was BS&T AND GODDAMN THE WAY I GOT FUCKING HOOKED TO THE SONG I KEPT LISTENING TO IT ALLLLLLLL DAYYYYYYY and then she showed me the performance for bs&t and i knew i was a goner 🥴🥴 then I watched chaotic bts compilations and they were so fucking funny and adorable that i went like???? how are they so sexy and intimidating on stage and this adorable and chaotic off stage?😭😭😭 we listened to bts’ discography for like three hours on the first day and she shared her playlist with me and stuff and god I just fell for their music. and then obviously with their dance and then obviously with everything about them 🥺🥺 HOW ABOUT YOUUUUUUUU? WHEN AND HOW DID YOU GET INTO THEM???? (and pls don’t be sorry sdfghjk i love reading your asks 💖💖💖) OH ALSO DID YOU WATCH RUNNNNN???????? WHICH ONES DID YOU WATCH????

[bebaexoexo]

Shit Oh Sehun did in 2017

-Mistook Jeonghan (svt) for Johnny (nct)

-Movie date with suho

-Slayed at the gaon chart award show with a solo dance

-Paris vacation/date with suho

-Got called best dressed man at a Louis Vuiton catwalk and then proceeded to spend the next day walking around Paris with a hood, baseball cap and a cowboy hat on his head all at one time

-Revealed his bed time snuggle routine with Suho, no shame attached

-Was supposed to debut as an Actor Oh in February, but didn’t…

-Was supposed to debut as an Actor Oh in March, but didn’t…

-Got an award for being himself (popularity award)

-Was supposed to debut as an Actor Oh in April, but didn’t…(NoT EvEn a FRackin TraIleR)

-Waved to a tablet instead of the camera, tried to play it cool by continuing to do so

-Posted about his big chilli… 0.0

-Got 15 points on a drawing game while everyone else got over 100 (he drew love hearts and wrote ‘I’m sorry’ for everything and still couldn’t accept being last)

-Howled because of sour pickles

-Members accuse him of being the prime suspect when food goes missing in the fridge, he agrees

-Used binoculars the wrong way round and couldn’t understand why he couldn’t see (Suho to the rescue and an embarrassed osh as a result)

-Gets driven around by big brother chanyeol

-CAN SING (might as well be in exo’s vocal line)

-Biyak Biyak 4 lyfe

-Rubbed his head on a random guy’s stomach (who looks like he’s his sugar daddy)

-Made suho sad because he didn’t go to a premier with him, but went to a festival with Chanyeol and guy whose stomach he rubbed his head on

-Danced (????) at said music festival. By dance I mean chicken fingers at the crowd wtf @ exo’s main dancer

-Can ya tell iv given up on the debut of Actor Oh

-Graced his instagram with such artistic pictures of rice, spoons and cereal

-Only one ft BoA returns

-KING OF SPOILERS sehun the cereal rice (kokobop) poster

-KING OF SPOILERS PT2 dancing the dance with kai can you all please stop this isn’t good for me

-Comments ‘is this exo’s official account?’ On exo’s official account

-“What did you do in preperation for this album?” “Loyalty”

-Passionately talked about eel reproduction

-“Favorite fruit?” “Water with ice”

-Gave flowers to the members because he’s their cute baby omfh (it was a punishment but same thing)

-*gives Kai a rose* “it fits you, you’re sexy and dark red suits you”

-Baekhyun confirms Sehuns big DIACK

-“Sehun has absolutely no interest I’m women. How do I know? Sehunnie said he has no interest in women”- Baekhyun

-Bragged about a really good noodle place, took 30+ people to eat and payed for them- but the food was disappointing

-“Say something to the EXO-L for their birthday” *sehun claps*

SUPER ELLE

-*brags about his dog at every chance he gets, literal protective father to vivi* “I am a cat person”

-EXOTOURAGRAM AKA SEHO AND FRIENDS

-“We’ve been roommates for 6 years I want to cross the line”

-Producer Oh

-“I’ve arrived!” \(-°o°-)/

-Date in NYC with suho (ft the third wheel JD)

-Pulls out chair for suho

-“Its enough just to film me, suho’ s voice in the background is fine”

-Couldn’t believe that a waitress in NYC can’t speak Korean

-Theatre date with suho (ft the late third wheel JD)

-Kicks suho out of their room

-SBS power fm- more like 2 hours of sehun whinning and crying from embarrassment while suho laughs

-“I really like chocolate milk. I think it’s love”

-“Sehunnie is upset~ upset~ really really upset… huhuu” AEGAO KING WHAY

-“I’ve been having a hard time too. At times like this, we should all embrace each other. There’s something I always tell the members and that is to to ‘hug/embrace (me)’. Let’s cheer each other on, got it everyone? Cheer up always and yea, that’s it” and this is why we love our baby

-Sehun irl- “I love all my hyungs to the moon and back #se-rang-hai-yo” Sehun in manwha- “who cares”

-LA date with suho

-DING DONG

-“Let’s goo” \(^o^!)__

-Just sehun trying to control his face while riding the drift car

-King of being HOT, calm and panicking at the same time when their car stalled

-Also Oh Sehun driving someone hold me

-Heart-shaped sweatpatch on his back

-“Excuse me… sir… ketchup ketchup yahh… thank you”

-“The hardest time isn’t when we have a lot of schedule but when the members have different opinions (argue). It saddens me a lot”

-Me me da

-Fan- “do sehun and i have something in common?” Sehun- “we’re human”

-Las Vegas date with suho

-Volunteers suho to go sky diving first like the little shit he is

-Wears a dress shirt and leather shoes to sky diving

-Acts like he isnt shitting himself on the zipwire

-Shamelessly wore nothing underneath an easily unzip-able hoodie

-MC Oh

-“Who is the scariest hyung?” “All of them”

-Tries to prank suho by putting a sticker on him, fails misrebly and then loses the sticker

-White suit blue shirt

-Chanyeol saying Sehuns voice is so good he wants to produce him PLEs

-Teary eyed sehun as eXO WIN RHE PRIME MINISFERS AWARD WWKBDUDBDJ

-Hello councellor MC’s @ seho “stop touching eachother are you guys coming out right now?”

-Sehun @ LVTN

-Gets customised bags from LVTN

-Sehun @ Moncler (also makes the CEO come out just to take pictures with him we love a powerful man)

-Peace signs in his pockets when hes told not to do it

-Doesnt follow seungri back on insta because aesthetics

-Omfg okay elyxion antics begins here

-SHIRTLESS SEHUN IMDG THAT BOY JUST THREW OFF THAT JACKETS WTF I JUST GOT OUT OF WORK AND THATS THE FIRST THING I SEE ON INSTA WTF OMG MY HEART I DONT EVEN KNOW WHATS GOING ON YET BUT I SAW FOKKIN RIPPED SEHUN AND SHIT THATS JISTVTJE LIFE OMG THIS IS GONNA BE LIT

-Wrote and co produced his solo In At thE CONCERT COZ WE LOVE A TALENTED KING

-Lovingly strokes suhos face during touch it

-Comforts kai, upset because he made a mistske in his solo, during cmb

-Danced to ka-ching with CBX

-Suho “after our concert ended at midnight yesterday, sehun and i went back to our door and boiled 20 eggs. 2 adult men peeled them seriously and ate 10 eggs”

-Kisses baekhyuns neck

-Eats pizza at the concert after holding back for months, members happy give us one last chance at seeing THE ABS

-Went crazy and got chanyeol too drunk on his birthday

-Fansites “please dont crop our watermark we work really hard for these pictures” Sehun ;)

-Cute instalive of him just trying on the filters and telling us not to be stressed and play

-SEHUN IN DEAR HAPPINES OMG GREY SEHUN IS DA BESTZ IN A THIN WHITE SHIRT OMG

-“OK!! goo” *pouts*

-“Hey dog, look at me~”

-“Cheese many manyyy”

-*is just standing there posing* Photographer “youre cute”

-Didnt know it was just him, kai and baekhyun in the lightsaber mv

-“Sehunnie makes the most delicious soju” byun baekhyun

-LEON KOREA

-Makes a personal training room in their dorm that can barely fit his own ass

-Supports suho at his musical despite both going through a tough time

-Struggles with the rudolph hat

-SINGING IN UNIVERSE YES DAS MA BETCH

-Subtly strokes suhos face on a national award show

-Make chanyeol kneel whenever he wants something from him. We love our king

-Curly haired solo on mbc gayo

-A beautiful family picture from Oh Sehun to end 2017

——–

Cr. Lerandomexotic

I had a lot of fun making this, just thought i needed to record sehuns never ending loveble antics etc

Feel free to add whatever else i missed

Hopefully he’ll just keep getting crazier next year too, and exo themselves will grow to be greatet and stronger

Like, reblog & excel

[twinkiplier]

Hair Color Tutorial (PhotoShop)

So my friend @dreamsoffallingstars wanted to know how I color hair, since they don’t think they’re very good at it. (I think they are.) But here you go! It’s kind of long, so I put it under the cut, but I think I did pretty well and I hope this helps anyone who needs it!

Step One: Find your image.

Yeah, I know, we’re starting here. Bleh. But it’s really important that you get the right resolution for a picture, okay? So I’m just gonna make sure you get it.

When you search for your image, make sure you’re using the tools and that you’re searching for a fairly large image. Larger than 2MP is the best option, but sometimes doesn’t have what you’re looking for.

When you find the image you’re looking for, hold on - it might not be the biggest size you can find. Make sure you Search by image first.

This should pop up underneath the search bar of the new page. Click on All sizes, it’ll take you to another page with just that image.

Clicking on the first usually brings up the biggest one, but sometimes they’re of bad resolution and you have to click through. If it takes a second to load, chances are it’s nice and big. But wait! Don’t just click and drag.

Make sure you View image to get the highest resolution! It’ll open in a new tab.

You’ll need to right click and Save image as.... This will allow you to save to the desktop, or whatever work folder you’re using. Hooray! Now you have the best possible image to use for this.

Step Two: Prepare the image.

Okay, so you have it now. You need to get it into PS. But before you open a new canvas, hang on.

OPEN. Yes. I’m literally showing you how to open a document. Deal with it.

Now that you have it open, it’s best to crop it to whatever size you want. Just so it’s easier to work with.

I wanted to switch it into a more portrait-sized photo, so that’s what I did.

Now, duplicate your layer. You can do this by pressing Cmd-J or Ctrl-J.

On this layer, we’re going to adjust the levels (Cmd-L or Ctrl-L). If you don’t know how to do that, just bring the black and white arrows in closer to eachother with preview on. It’ll look right eventually.

This picture was a little oversaturated for my tastes, so I dulled it down just a little. You shouldn’t need to do that, but if you do, use Ctrl-U or Cmd-U.

Now, make a new layer. Easy.

Pick the color you want the hair to be. Don’t make it too bright, but don’t make it too dull either.

Sometimes googling the hex code of the color you want can work.

Websites often have lists with samples.

Now, once you have your color, select the paint bucket tool and fill the new layer.

Cool! It’s blue! We’re done now, right? Hahahaha no.

With the colored layer selected, change the layer style to “Color.” That will make it color the layer under it.

Pretty! But we don’t want the whole thing blue.

So we need to change this to... usually, about 50% opacity works. Might want to mess with it a little to get it to look natural, but not too much like the old hair color.

This still looks a little green to me, so I’m going to make it 75% opacity.

Much better. Now, we’re going to hide this layer because it’s obnoxious and gets in the way.

Now, grab your quick selection tool and get to work on the hair.

It doesn’t have to be absolutely perfect, but it should be pretty close, with no stray little ants.

Once that’s done, click Select and Mask up above. That’ll open the masking bridge.

Immediately, I always turn on the smart radius and crank up the edge detection.

That’ll make it look a bit wonky, so erase and add parts until it looks satisfactory to you. Remember any parts you just can’t get to look right.

Now, once you finish, it should look a lot better, right?

Now, with that selected, just add a layer mask to your color layer and turn it back on.

Blue! So now we’re done? Not quite. Zoom in.

Look at all the gross extra blue. DESGUSTANG. You’ll want to fix that.

Grab your brush, switch it to black, and turn down the flow and hardness. Touch it up where there’s too much blue or you can see the leftover hair color. It takes a bit of time, but it’s all in the details.

There, doesn’t that look lovely?

DONT FORGET TO SAVE AS PNG.

Tada! Blue boy! I hope this helped you Ally, and I hope it helps anyone else who needs it now or might need it in the future! Let me know if you want another tutorial!

One more thing: You might notice there’s a watermark on the photo I edited. Usually, I try to find ones without watermarks unless they look like they’ve been professionally taken by someone, or I’m just lazy. But don’t ever, ever ever EVER remove someone’s watermark, for any reason. On anything. I don’t care if you don’t think they have claim to it, I don’t care if they don’t have claim to it. Just don’t do it, man, even if it’s big and obnoxious. Thanks. <3

[dorothydelgadillo]

4 Marketing Tools That Will Make Your Work Easier [IMPACT Toolbox Dec. 2018]

Would you have made it to work on time today without an alarm?

Would you get all of your important tasks done without some kind of to-do list?

How many messages would you miss if you had to get them all by phone and voicemail instead of email or other text communication?

Technology and tools have the potential to drastically improve our efficiency, especially when we can find the right tool for the right task.

We are here to help you do that.

This article is part of our IMPACT Toolbox series.

With IMPACT Toolbox, we’ll discuss all of the latest (and even underrated) marketing tools that you need to try. We’ll make recommendations by category, helping you figure out what tool is best for your situation, and introduce you to tools you may not have heard of otherwise.

Have questions about a marketing tool, whether or not we’ve reviewed it?

Reach out to us and we’ll see how we can help.

Today we’re going to look at:

Buffer’s Stories Creator: Easily create content for your social media Stories

Anchor Sponsorships: Making sponsorships better for podcasters and brands

Coda Automation: Automate the small, critical tasks in your workflow

MessagePath: Think Grammarly, but specifically for business communication

Stories Creator by Buffer: Easily Create Content For Your Social Media Stories

Price: Free

In case you haven’t heard, Stories may be the future of social media marketing. They’re such a big deal, even LinkedIn is trying to get in on the Stories action.

Well Buffer, a company known for its social media scheduling tool, released a simple editor so you can keep up with the trend.

With Stories Creator, you can quickly create content for your Facebook and Instagram Stories using a series of simple image and text editing tools. Veteran Stories users may find the toolset a bit lacking, but it is a great way for new users (or current users short on time) to create polished, consistent Stories content.  

It only takes a few steps to get going:

Start with a template to get some ideas, or use your own background image/color.

Add one or more graphics (like a logo, watermark, or other highlights).

Then add some text. The text input is a series of dropdowns and toggles. Again, keeping it very simple.

4. When you’re happy with your creation, click Download Image and you’re ready to add to your Story!

Now you can tweak a few things to keep a consistent look and feel or try something else entirely.

This removes a lot of friction from the Stories process. If you haven’t really dabbled with Stories, or you’re not sure you can keep a regular posting schedule, Buffer’s Stories Creator can make a big difference to your workflow.

Anchor Sponsorships: Making Sponsorships Better For Podcasters and Brands

Price: Free / Ad Spend

Anchor deserves a discussion unto itself, but their big news recently is a new sponsorship platform. That includes both sides of the sponsorship equation, podcasters and sponsors.

For podcasters, you can:

Be matched with a sponsor

Record your custom ad

Publish your ad to any of your episodes

Publishing the ad is completely optional on your part and you can decide which episodes you would like your ad to be included. You can also decide whether or not to work with a suggested sponsor.

Once your ad is playing, you will start getting paid whenever your ad is heard. Then cash out anytime.

Pretty sweet gig.

For sponsors, you can:

Find shows that fit with your brand

Pay for advertisements that are aligned with your budget and goals

Submit a script that will be read by the podcaster

Brands like SquareSpace, SeatGeek, and Cash App are already sponsoring podcasts with Anchor.

  Coda Automation: Automate the Small, Critical Tasks in Your Workflow

Price: Free (Paid options upcoming)

If I was a gambling man, I’d say you’re probably not using Coda right now, but you probably are using some kind of word processing doc or spreadsheet.

Coda is half document, half spreadsheet, and half app (yes, it is 1.5x whatever you were using before).

While it’s still in a free product feedback stage, this is definitely something to get your hands on and see where it can fit in your workflow, especially now that automation is built in.

In this tool, an Automation consists of two main elements: When and Then. When something happens, then do this other thing. When can be filtered by an optional If as well.

It can be used a number of your essential, everyday tasks.

For example, imagine you are using a spreadsheet to keep track of articles being brainstormed, written, and edited in your organization.

With Coda, when an article is marked as written, it could be assigned to an Editor, and that Editor would receive a Slack message letting them know.

Or if you are keeping a status document updated with important content and tables, every Monday morning, it could email itself to your team leading up to launch.

Having trouble getting started? Coda has an Automation Starter Kit to give you some ideas and see what’s possible.

And you can always check out the templates others have built, or dive into the documentation to learn more. If you have a useful template to share, post about it in IMPACT Elite!

MessagePath: Business Communication Version of Grammarly

Price: Free option (up to $29/user/month)

If Grammarly and Hemingway App had a business-focused baby, you’d get MessagePath.

MessagePath helps you be more direct, clear, and focused in your communication.

Think of it as the editor of your day-to-day communication, making sure that 30-second reply sounds right and that you don’t spend 30 minutes wondering how to make your response better.

It does this by highlighting the words/characters that may be taking away from your message, and a color-coded explanation will let you know what the issue is and how you could improve.

MessagePath analyzes your text based on the specified category:

General Business

Marketing

Sales

Support

Press Release

Web Copy

Based on the category, it will then make suggestions to help improve the clarity and effectiveness of your message, as well as keep it on brand and legally safe.

So what exactly is the app analyzing and trying to fix?

It checks against best practice patterns to help you get noticed and create better communication.

It reduces legal risk by checking for problematic language that could lead to HR or other legal communication issues

It checks for spammy terms, inappropriate words, and words/phrases that weaken your message

It analyzes the tone so you are also aware of how you are saying something

And it helps improve clarity, which can be particularly useful for internal communication

With the Web app, Chrome extension and Mac app, you should be able to access MessagePath where you need it. Try the free version and see if it can improve the results of your next few messages.

Tool to Keep an Eye on: Contentful

Hot off a Series D funding round of $33.5M, the Contentful team is continuing their mission to disrupt web CMSes (Content Management Systems) and improve how content works. They provide content management infrastructures for companies like Spotify, Lyft, and Nike.

Instead of being locked into a CMS, Contentful wants your content to be built on a more flexible infrastructure.

That means it can be included in virtually any technology stack, is friendly for developers and content creators alike, and can be scaled far more easily than a standard CMS. In this way, Contentful can be used for mobile, web, and application content, and even connects to enterprise services such as SAP and Salesforce.

Their near future focus is on developing more and deeper integrations with existing enterprise tools. Expect support for GraphQL and an improved rich text editing experience as well.

Tools Can Make Your Life Easier.

Take note of the things that cost you the most time or energy. Not everything can be replaced, but you would be surprised at what tools are out there.

Whether you’re trying to keep your Stories up to date, make money with your podcast or advertise to the right audience, automate some critical tasks, improve your business communication, or anything else for your business (or self!), there is probably a tool that can help.

Did you find something useful in our round-up? Let us know how one of these tools helped improve your business in IMPACT Elite! And if there’s a specific tool you have questions about, let us know and we’ll see if we can help you figure out the best option for you.

from Web Developers World https://www.impactbnd.com/blog/marketing-tools-that-will-make-your-work-easier-impact-toolbox

[maplesecrets]

MapleSEA Buy / Sell Tips

Refer to: https://ift.tt/2M7I9rb for a add pot Todding guide. Last edited 8th Aug 2018 Aimed at Singaporean MapleSEA traders. Malaysian traders should adapt the guide for their situation. It's repayment and thanks for the hard work other people put into their community guides I've read over the years. Sorry if it seems too complicated, I'm not so good at writing. Ensuring that the other party does not run away and actually honors the deal is more important than this scam. This is a more complex scam with heavier penalties if you don't know what you're doing. Only online SGD/MYR transactions are affected. Mesos, @cash, paper money (meet up trades) and crypto are not. ===================== For buyers, a warning ===================== If you get scammed by someone and they do not send your item after you've made payment, please do not report them to the police unless you've confirmed that the seller is the real owner of the bank account. You can permanently screw over honest sellers without realizing it, while the real scammer gets away. It does NOT matter what details you provide to the police. Banks will unilaterally close an honest person's account with no warning or evidence to back it up. Most people are too expensive for the bank to deal with if they get reported, so they don't bother with investigations. Enjoy modern commercial banking :) To find out whether the seller is the real owner, you need a copy or screenshot of their bank statement or iBanking page and match it to their ID or FB name. Not something that comes up in a typical trade in the FB groups, so this info is not really accessible to you. This is also the typical ID method for FinTech companies nowadays, and you can see it everywhere in FinTech startups. The penalty for the buyer who falls for this scam is losing the money they sent in the trade, not a big deal, you should have understood the risks and used an escrow (middleman) service. The penalty for sellers can be much worse. =========== For sellers =========== Name of scam: Third-Party scam Also known as: Man-in-the-middle scam on Localbitcoins. I believe it originated there as well. Description: Three parties are involved. The honest Seller (A) The Scammer (B) A Victim (C). Seller (A) is selling items to Scammer (B). Scammer (B) is selling items to Victim (C). Scammer (B) has no intention of releasing items to Victim (C). 1. Victim (C) first contacts Scammer (B) about purchasing an item from them. 2. Scammer (B) then contacts Seller (A) about purchasing a similarly priced item and acquires Seller (A)'s bank information. 3. Scammer (B) forwards this info to the Victim (C), and convinces (C) to pay money into Seller's (A) bank account for the item. 4. Seller (A) releases the item to Scammer (B) after noting funds received. Scammer (B) runs away with a free item. The Victim (C) assumes they are sending funds to the Scammer (B), but is actually sending it to Seller (A). Seller (A) assumes they are receiving funds from Scammer (B), but is actually receiving it from Victim (C). At the end of all of this, Seller (A) gets their money, but is now in possession of stolen funds. Scammer (B) gets a free item, and on top of that their identity is usually completely anonymous. Victim (C) loses their money, and has Seller (A)'s bank info. They might save evidence of the trade and report Seller (A)'s bank info to the police/bank. Seller (A)'s bank account is now compromised. If the Victim (C) does report the case to the bank or police, Seller (A)'s may be forced to withdraw all funds in their bank account, and the account will be forced to close. In addition, Seller (A) will never be able to open another bank account in their country, because banks share info with each other. Banking services that the seller will no longer be able to access include: housing loans, car loans, an account to receive their salary and the ability to invest. Think carefully if you want to take risks trading online at an early age. This scam can happen even if (A) and (C) are trading on different sites. Seller (A) might be trading in a Facebook group, while Victim (C) is trading on Carousell. (B) may be leaving offers on multiple sites waiting for a victim to bite. This scam typically involves non physical items, usually gaming stuff, gift card codes, crypto, etc. It's because there is no need for the scammer to provide a receiving address, and everything is done online. The scammer is able to remain anonymous, and anyone can do it to someone across the world. ================ Prevention guide ================ 2 Methods for online FAST transfers and ATM transfers. Both types of transfers have different ID processes. The goal is to match the name of the sender's bank account to either their ID (Method 2), or their Facebook name (Method 1). You must also understand the exact mechanics of the scam, as well as your local bank mechanics, before you reveal your bank details. You MUST inform the buyer about your ID process before the trade begins, for honesty reasons. This only reduces the chance of scammers doing this to you. It does not prevent your bank account from receiving stolen funds, and scammers can still compromise your bank accounts. ========================================== Method 1 - Recommended for typical players ========================================== Lazy method, can be abused, not safe at all. Non-intrusive. - Online transfers (FAST transfers): No ID required. Once funds are received, check the sender's bank account to make sure it matches their Facebook name, and check their FB account to make sure its old and legit. If you use this method, you can't trade with people who make FB accounts with their Maple IGN. Requires skill to judge accounts. Don't get fooled by comments for recipient. - ATM transfers (requires ATM receipt): No ID required. ATM receipt + FB or WhatApp chat window in the same picture. Receipt + Maple client with their account logged in is also acceptable. Doesn't matter as long as they can prove the sender is the one interacting with you. Proceed to method 2 if their ID verification fails. =========================================================== Method 2 - Recommended for frequent traders and high volume =========================================================== Best method, safer than method 1 but depends on your application. 100% safe if you don't make mistakes. The primary method used on LocalBitcoins. - Online transfers (FAST transfers): Request for the buyer to provide ID with their government issued ID such as their NRIC card, student pass, driving license or passport. This ID must come with a physical note next to it in the same pic stating 'Buying <specified item> from <MSEA FB group> from <Your Name>'. Just the ID is not enough, because the scammer can convince the victim to send their ID. You may ask them to hold up their ID in front of their chat window with you as an alternative to a note (some buyers claim they don't have a pen lol). Only the name on their ID is important. You can allow buyers to censor sensitive info such as their NRIC number or face, but not security features like watermarks. It's much easier to spot fraudulent/photoshopped ID if everything is uncensored, though. I have caught photoshopped ID in the past and the shopped NRIC number saved me. The buyer probably did not understand the reason why we needed ID verification, and made this mistake. The Singapore NRIC pink card also has a very suspicious white line on the NRIC number because of bad design. Check if the card is legit by looking at watermarks and security features. If in doubt, request for a skype/video call/different angle. Once you've verified their ID, ask which bank the buyer is sending from, then release your bank details. Do not release it before they provide their ID; doing so defeats the purpose of this guide. See Other tips - #3 and #6 When you receive funds, check the name of the sender's account and make sure it matches their ID. Don't get fooled by comments for recipient. See Other Tips section for details. Most of the time, you won't want to go through the full ID process due to how intrusive it is. That's the reason why I've listed this method as '100% safe if you dont make mistakes'. How safe this method is depends on you; you can sacrifice convenience for more safety and vice versa. I'll give you an example of a mistake. Let's say the buyer agrees to ID, but their note only says 'Maplestory item'. You might think 'meh, whatever, I don't want to be too difficult', and release your bank details... ...but this is what scammers want you to think, and you just fell for the scam. Maybe the scammer convinced a victim to provide their ID as well, but kept the note vague on purpose. By the way, if you're a buyer reading this, I never recommend sending just your ID. This is because shady sellers can farm ID from buyers for fraudulent activities, or to execute their own 3rd party scams with your ID. The note in the same picture helps somewhat if you position it well, but can be cropped out if you don't. Hence, I recommend using a watermarking tool layered on top of your ID + note, unless you completely trust the seller. Here is an example of an ID I received with watermarks: https://ift.tt/2KEtPBx It's from an ID + note from LBC, from one of my trades, with their ID cropped out. The gray lines are watermarks with the trade number + website, layered on top of the original photo. - ATM transfers (requires ATM receipt): Ask for the buyer to provide 3 things present in the same picture - the ATM receipt, their ID, and a physical note. ======================================= What to do if you get scammed? (Buyers) ======================================= A police report will not recover your money, has little chance of getting justice, and the police report will create more problems for the seller. You can ask for the seller (if you can find them) to send your money back to you if they actually implemented this ID policy and didn't release items to the scammer. Someone who adopts this guide's suggestions will be able to see the name of the sender's bank account and be able to link it back to you, after you send your ID to them for verification. Otherwise, I recommend doing nothing. Sucks to be you but sometimes the best thing you can do is not take any action to not make matters worse. If doing nothing makes you feel uncomfortable, you can link this guide to other people and hope Maplers learn from it. Thanks for your effort :) ======================================== What to do if you get scammed? (Sellers) ======================================== If you see a different name on your statement, do not release the item and start collecting evidence. You may ask for the buyer to provide evidence that they own the account by going through the ID process again. They may have sent from a family member's account. Collecting evidence helps you with potential police investigations. It doesn't help you with the bank closing your account and preventing you from opening new ones with other banks. This is why prevention of this scam is so important. It's a bad idea to send a refund to the buyer if ID verification fails. You're putting your funds at risk and you'll probably just send it to another honest seller, helping the scammer perpetuate the scam. Recommend you set aside the money you received and do not spend it for a few months or years. You may choose to refund the buyer after enough time has passed which is being more honest. If you can identify the victim that got scammed, you can actually give them a refund. Just ask for their ID and match it to the sender's bank account. Maybe search around the FB groups for someone posting your bank account number, or the scammer's name. You will likely not get investigated by the police unless a lot of people start reporting you. It's still better to be safer since the penalty is harsh. ========== Other tips ========== 1. You cannot call banks to find out any of your transaction details. I've tried with all SG banks, including the other party's bank. 2. All ATM transfers do not show the name of the sender. Hence the need for receipt +1 form of ID. 3. Internal transfers between accounts from the same bank do not show the name of the sender. An example is if the buyer sends from their OCBC to your OCBC, or from their UOB to your UOB. Recommend opening at least two separate bank accounts, with two different banks that are not DBS or POSB (see #6). 4. If the buyer is sending from their UOB, request for them to add your account as a payee first. If they transfer with one-time transfer, you will not be able to view the name of the sender. 5. It's not quite clear how OCBC's online banking transaction settlement policies work. For example, if a FAST transfer, which is normally instant, is sent during the weekend, or after 9 PM, it will reflect on your statement as being settled on the next working day. Calling up their customer service reps, as well as the other party's bank did not clarity this. 6. DBS/POSB bank does not allow the sender's name to reflect on your statement for all transactions. Use other banks to match the buyer's name instead. The exception is PayNow, which sends a SMS showing the sender's A/C name. 8. Don't get fooled by recipient comments. Comments for recipient are useless and its only purpose is to make sure you don't get confused by too many transfers (transaction matching). You may request for the buyer to enter something like 'Payment to <Your Name>', for somewhat better security. Still vulnerable to impersonation. 9. The 4 common online low risk methods in Singapore currently are FAST bank transfers, ATM transfers, PayNow and cryptocurrency transfers. Request specifically for these 4 methods which are instant and non-reversible. ᵗʰᵒᵘᵍʰ ᵃᶫᵐᵒˢᵗ ᶰᵒ ᵒᶰᵉ ᵘˢᵉˢ ᶜʳʸᵖᵗᵒ ᵈᵉˢᵖᶦᵗᵉ ᶦᵗ ᵇᵉᶦᶰᵍ ᵗʰᵉ ˢᵃᶠᵉˢᵗ⋅⋅⋅ ᵗʰᶦˢ ᵃᶫˢᵒ ᵃᵖᵖᶫᶦᵉˢ ᵗᵒ ᴬᶫᶦᵖᵃʸ ᵃᶰᵈ ᵂᵉᶜʰᵃᵗ ᵇᵘᵗ ᶫᶦᵗᵉʳᵃᶫᶫʸ ᶰᵒᵇᵒᵈʸ ᵘˢᵉˢ ᵗʰᵉᵐ ᶫᵒᶫ Many other payment types such as Paypal, GIRO, Telegraphic transfers/remittance, MEPS, credit card and cheque either have a high chargeback risk, or are delayed transfers. The transaction may also reverse before the funds settle in some cases (cheques), see below under Cybersecurity - chargeback scam. Also, accepting TT/remittance from overseas may cause charges of $25-$100 to be applied to your bank account about a month after the transaction (agent bank charges). 10. Do not allow the buyer to send from their business account. Business accounts do not show the name of the sender. Ask for more ID if they sent through a business A/C, or dig it up yourself. 11. Beware of buyers who are not from SG/MY but have access to a local bank account somehow. Most scammers are professionals from overseas. 12. Beware of suspicious delays in payment. Buyers who 'aeroplane' make this somewhat harder to judge. Delays may be caused by a scammer communicating with a third party. 13. MAS does not prevent banks from blacklisting and refusing to do business with you without a clear reason. Confirmed this via email with MAS about a seperate issue. This means that the police investigation is irrelevant and separate from the bank's decision to blacklist you. Also, police don't give a fuck. They're all completely clueless when it comes to cybersecurity and scams. Don't bother talking to MAS or the police about this, I've already tried. Applies to traders as well who similarly don't give a fuck. Waste of my effort. 14. Recommend rejecting buyers who are purchasing on behalf of another party, unless they are able to provide the other party's ID with note before the trade begins. Usually a big red flag. 15. Online banking transaction receipt, which is what the buyer gets to see after transferring funds, is also useless. Things like transaction reference numbers cannot be used as ID or evidence, so there is no point copy pasting it for the seller. 16. Don't reveal your mobile number in public. If you do, you can expect lots of spam (loan sharks) and phishing through SMS and Whatsapp. This is also the reason why I prefer Telegram over other communication methods, because people can contact you via username. ============= Cybersecurity ============= There are two other dangerous types of fraud out there that deserves their own guides. The chargeback scam, and phishing. Both will screw you hard if you don't know what you're doing. I'll just include a short section here. They're uncommon in most FB groups. 1. Chargeback scams are when buyers convince you to accept an easily reversible payment method, usually Paypal, cheques or credit card. You lose all funds, and you won't know when it will hit you. In certain countries, ATM transfers are also highly reversible, but not in Singapore. 2. Phishing is when you click on a link that you think links to an official site, but its actually a well disguised fake website meant to steal your info. Don't enter your login info into suspicious websites, and don't click on any links you receive in your email, no matter how legit it seems, unless you're 200 IQ. Modern phishing is much harder to spot at first glance than what you might think, and there are different variants. Typically this is done through email spoofing or a suspicious link. Modern forms of this method include the buyer PMing you through your trading site, but they leave a link to their email, something like 'contact me at xxxx@gmail.com'. Once you contact their email, they will spam you with links to either reset your account's password (might not be immediately), or send a phishing link where they farm your login ID. They might attempt to hijack your account once they find out what your main email address is. This can be your FB, Asiasoft, email, or Maple accounts. They might check sites like haveibeenpwned.com to see if you've had any data leaks. Another form of this is phone phishing, where the scammers acquire your Whatsapp/phone number, then spam SMS phishing links about your banks. They may claim things like 'Your bank account has been frozen, login to reset your password etc'. Then you log into your bank by clicking the fake link in the SMS and lose your money. Less likely with modern 2FA, though 2FA is vulnerable. Here is one example of a phishing SMS: https://ift.tt/2MikKDy I don't have a Citibank account :) Usually, when phishing occurs, you will see the page 'refresh' once. This is because the phishers want to make you think you've misspelled your password. What really happened is you got redirected to the legit website after the phishers got your info the first time. Quite sneaky. You can look up social engineering (cyber security) to see what people can do with limited info. Since you are trading on Facebook where you may not value your privacy, people can launch an attack specifically targeted at you for months without you realizing it. For example, pretending to be your friend while baiting your personal info over several months. Typically, this info is used for account recovery, also known as account hijacking. 3. A friendly hacker (China) casually said my login ID and password in public chat while I was chatting with him back in 2011-2012, and knew that I had an @key. Shat bricks when he said that. The same one who hijacked mass inactive accounts to take advantage of the free gachapon ticket welcome back gift many years ago, if you remember the gacha broadcast spam. Might be because of a data leak... or something bigger. He was a very nice guy, though. ================================================= For middleman service providers (escrow service): ================================================= Read the guide carefully and ID both the buyer and seller carefully. In addition to the third-party scam, you are also more vulnerable to other troublesome types of scams such as money mules or money laundering. On other platforms like Steam, ML has been going on for a long time. If you provide high volume services on shady P2P websites (>10k a month), Telegram me (below) for links to Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)'s guidelines on AML/KYC/CTF requirements and other lesser known stuff. The concern is with banking regulations impacting you indirectly, some of which are more recent. You can easily get audited or get your accounts closed with no reason given. If you're not vigilant at all, you may find yourself in deep trouble. === END === Credit to bitcoin_singapore for his original guide on Localbitcoins. Goes out of his way to PM new traders about this scam. Link to his guide posted by numoney: https://ift.tt/2MsZ9op I deal with this specific scam on a daily basis. It's very screwed up if you don't know whats happening. Many of my merch friends in different peer-to-peer trading sites have been sniped by this scam, and I've personally had $5k SGD compromised by a scammer from Thailand through multiple trades. You might not take this scam seriously at first, but once it happens to you, its too late to take any action. My accounts on LBC and LE with feedback below, you can ask me to change profile description to prove ownership. https://ift.tt/2OP6joG https://ift.tt/2KEtT4f Fun fact: This guide's V1 version was originally harder to read and not meant for public use, after me and a few sellers got spooked. It was only meant to be spread within our traders' circle and to authorities, in the hopes that they would be aware and take accurate measures to counter it, but nothing of value came out of discussions with authorities. It's dangerous to even release this guide, since more people will start abusing the scam. It's too bad a lazy scammer started preying on kids/young adults, didn't even try to hide the scam by using multiple FB accounts or using multiple sites, and everything is now out in the open. Our current banking system simply isn't suitable for making online payments, unless you deal with major retailers. It was created a long time ago without the Internet in mind, and has made literally no innovations in terms of safety or verifiability. Worthless, uncompetitive and inefficient trash needs to go. If you don't know what to do after reading this guide or think you got scammed, you can contact me with details, I'll try to help. Telegram me @Zeusie to clarify things, give feedback or criticism.

via Blogger https://ift.tt/2M7s051

[heartsofstrangers]

What has been one of the most challenging things that you have experienced or are currently experiencing?

“The most challenging thing that I have experienced in my life was the loss of my little brother when I was around eleven years old. It affected me. I like to say it watermarks everything that has happened to me ever since.”

Tell me about that experience.

“My brother was born in 2000. I was ten, going on eleven at the time, and I was an only child up until that point. He was my step-brother. It was interesting going from being an only child to having a brother, but I was excited about it. My mother always tells me I asked for a sibling/friend because I was always by myself, so I was really very excited about it. When he was four months old he was diagnosed with leukemia, and when he was a year and a half he passed away. In that time, even though it was a short time, he made a huge impact not only on my entire family but the people in the community around us. I remember we would do walks like they do around Lighthouse Point. Everyone would raise money and we would make T-shirts, a banner, and everything. At the time he was still alive. I think we had two walks before he passed away. We had one when we first found out, and then one right before he passed away. I remember being my mom’s second-hand man in almost all situations after his diagnosis. I became like a second mom. It was very interesting going from having no siblings, being a typical only child, to being thrown into a parental role. It was definitely challenging. I don’t remember much of it. I only remember what people tell me about it. So things like the night walk—I would be sitting at the table with my mom organizing and writing down people’s information, managing paperwork, and things like that. I was eleven years old. It is very weird to look back at. I have a lot of home movies, about eight hours of ‘archival footage,’ I like to call it. As soon as they found out he was sick, the camera didn’t stop rolling. My step-dad at the time, Michael, was adamant about making sure everything was documented. I think that in and of itself and the camera always being on really affected me and what I chose to be in my life, which is a documentarian, and this whole ordeal was like one of my first films. So I think that has watermarked my life in a way, and also has helped me grow as a person. But it also holds me back from time to time.”

Why do you think you don’t recall some of the memories that being present and maybe feeling some of the emotions at that time in your life?

“I think because it was obviously so traumatic, I don’t remember much before it and much during it. I just remember very specific thing. For instance, the day that he died. I remember being at school. I was in middle school at the time, and my step dad came to pick me up. He didn’t even have to say anything; he was just there. September 11th happened, and I called my mother and asked, ‘Should I come home?’ and she said, ‘No, you’re fine. Stay where you are.’ I always knew that if someone was coming to pick me up from school it wasn’t going to be good. He came and got me, and I remember the moment of driving home, going into the house and seeing my whole family there. They hadn’t called the ambulance yet, and my mom was sitting there with him. It was just very super-traumatic. It’s very strange, like a movie. It is movie-like. Everything so memorable. In moments like that, you just remember everything: what everything looked like, sounds, smells, colors. It was very weird. Another thing I will never ever forget was when my aunt came in, my mom’s sister. She came to the door, and I think we were all literally sitting there in silence. We had a chair in this corner, and my mom was sitting there with this light pouring in on her, and it was very much like the Madonna of the chair. She had an ottoman, so her feet were up, and I was on the floor by the ottoman. It could have been painted in my memory. We had family all around us, and I’m pretty sure we were all silent. It was very, very weird. When my aunt came in, she let out this like yelp. It was this terrible scream that I had never heard from a human being before. It was just very, very scary. So I will never forget that moment. It’s important I think because at that moment, describing the moment, not word for word but similarly, was the script I wrote to get into film school. It ended up being the documentary that I made my thesis when I left. It’s always been hard to make. It took two years to make, and I’m still working on it. It’s still hard for me to put it out there. It’s easy for me to share it with people close to me, it’s easy for me to send a link; but when it comes to marketing it in any way, I feel very weird about that. When it comes to writing a synopsis, it seems impossible to me. How can you, in two or three sentences, encompass what had happened? I have asked so many people for help, and it’s like everyone’s suggestions don’t feel right. It’s a weird process. It’s been going on for three or four years now. I haven’t put it out there. I hope to get that out soon, but it’s all part of the process, and I’m not trying to rush myself. I’m trying to be nice to myself and my mom and everyone involved.”

What sort of impact did it have on your family?

“It’s interesting to see how people grieve differently. I think that’s what I’ve taken most from the whole experience: how people choose to deal with the struggles and whatever plight you’re experiencing at the time and in different ways. For my mother, I always think of this, and it’s nuts to me, I just think it was crazy, but she lost my brother and was pregnant with my sister at the time. So not only did she have to keep going for herself, but also for another human being inside of her. That’s incredible. She’s the strongest person I know. I give her a lot of shit sometimes for sure, and we would get into fights and disagree; but at the end of the day, she’s incredible. I can’t imagine doing that. For her it was really hard. She pushed through it. She’s the one person in my life that no matter what to a fault, to just keep going 90 miles an hour in the direction of the right thing. Sometimes that gets frustrating, because I don’t want to get out of bed some days, but you have to keep going. She is definitely been a real inspiration, and she dealt with it in that very specific way, and just continues to go like life is worth living. There are so many beautiful things, especially the thing I’m working on right now. But my mom kept going. On the contrary, my stepfather really went into a bad place that I don’t even think that he’s out of yet, and it was more than ten years ago that this happened. I’m not so sure he would want me speaking about him this way, because I know that it’s really hard for him. But I’m sure he has recognized how he is now. I will say that that he went from being an excited father to watching those eight hours of VHS tapes over and over and over after he died. He watched old westerns, because when my brother was sick and he had to stay home with the baby, he would watch them on television and we would eat Fritos together. That became what he did. It’s part of the film that I made. He has even said, ‘It's part of the film,’ that he stayed there on the couch. He stopped sleeping in the bed with my mom. He would stay there on that couch for five years because he thought, ‘He’s not dead. He’s not gone. He’s coming back.’ It’s incredible to me. It's incredible not because it’s sad, but because his brain said that to him. His brain said this is right, this is what you should do. That’s really terrible, it’s really sad. That’s the thing I get out of this the most when I talk about it, that people deaI with things differently. I can’t expect everyone to understand, but if I’m talking to a friend who is going through something hard, I don’t have trouble empathizing almost to a fault with people. I’ve seen some of what my mother pushed through with the loss of a child and to go on to do good things with her life. That it’s hard for me to not want to shake someone. To be like, ‘No, get off the couch. Please help yourself,’ because when it comes down to it, you can’t really save anyone. You can only help, but they have to be willing to help themselves first.”

How did you process the grief yourself?

“That’s interesting. People always ask me this. I think I just followed suite with my mom and sort of mimicked her. In a way I think making the movie was therapeutic for me. It was cathartic in a lot of ways, but in a lot of ways I feel like I haven’t. So I feel like the movie was really cathartic to me. Making the film was a way to look at it from the side of my mother, the side of my stepfather, and in making the film having my own voice about my opinions about it. Some people who watched it said, ‘We need more of you. We need to see more of you, because only halfway through the film do you realize the filmmaker is actually the daughter and she was there and involved.’ So I found that really interesting. That the audience would find that interesting and be intrigued, but not so intrigued that I would add to the film more with my experience. So what ended up happening was I added a little more but not enough in a lot of peoples’ opinions, but I’m not going to go back and change it. I believe strongly that my voice if you pay attention, if you watch it, you would know how I feel about it. Like I said, I’m not sure that I totally worked through it. I’m just terrified to have kids, because I don’t know if I could do what my mom did. I’m not sure if I had any if I’d be okay and I want to. But it’s really frightening. Everything is frightening in life for one reason or another. If you ever hear a motivational speaker saying take risk or conquering your fears is most important part of life and living. If you don’t, you’re not giving yourself enough of a chance. Right? So that always pushes me to work through it eventually. I’m in therapy and have been for a while—not just because of this, it happened a while ago but it’s still there. Subtly, but it’s still there. So it’s not something like where I cry every day. I feel very lucky, and so I feel like that’s a good thing. But it’s definitely something down the road like five, ten years, when I think about a family, that it’s really going to punch me in the face. I feel like it’s coming, so maybe it won’t be that bad of a hit.”

What are some ways you are able to move through points where you find yourself not wanting to get out of bed or stuck in that frame of mind where it’s hard to get off the couch or to get motivated or keep going when you don’t want to?

“It’s funny. I feel like I force myself a lot of the time, which sometimes can be unhealthy and not the nicest thing to do to myself. You’re shameful if you don’t get out of bed or you’re bad. If you don’t get out of bed, something is wrong with you. That is not the healthiest thing, but that’s what gets me out of bed. I put music on that I can sing to. I’m good at that, so it makes me happy. It gives me energy. I think being around people is very important. I love being around people. I love surrounding myself with good people. Sometimes it’s not always possible given the world we live in, but I think surrounding myself with people who understand me or at least try to is really important. I also love to talk. I love to talk about things that are going on in the world. How do you feel about this? If I can connect with someone who agrees or disagrees, that gives me a reason. A connection to a song, to a person, a film or something. Ultimately, just do something. Do one thing. Take a shower or go out to the bodega in Brooklyn. Remember you need to feed your cat today, remember that you’re out of something, go talk to the cashier. Sometimes just smiling at someone can make a difference. Even just giving a dollar to someone on the subway who doesn’t have a dollar. There is this deaf woman who goes around the subway, and if you’re sitting she’ll put on your knee a little card with the sign-language alphabet on it, and on the back it will say donate what you can, and she’ll go around and put them down then come back around to collect them if you don’t donate. Just giving the dollar and having her say thank you and think ahh that's cool. You have that connection with someone, someone you smiled at. Maybe you made their day. You never know.”

Have there been any blessings to this experience? Has it impacted your life in any positive ways that you can recognize or acknowledge at this point?

“I think the whole experience impacted me positively. I doesn’t give me purpose, but it does in a way. It’s very strange. I don’t think about it every day. It’s just there. It’s something that has happened to me, and it’s the biggest, but one of many things I’ve had to deal with my whole life. It comes down to just loss. In any way and with any loss you may have, there is always a balance of energy. There’s a loss and something comes from that. Whether it comes, has come, or will come, I have a blessed life. I’m so lucky to have hands, feet, legs, arms, and a brain that works. You can’t ask for a lot more than that, because a lot of people don’t have what you have, what I have, what anyone has. It can be sad to think about, and they can be sympathetic and not as empathetic—well, at least you have this—but you have to be grateful for things in order to kick-start any sort of positivity that you want to experience in your life. You have to give gratefulness, thankfulness, and you’ll receive what you may perceive as luck or coincidence or something good happens to you, and you’re like ‘Oh wow, that’s cool.’ Maybe you made that happen yourself, and you should be proud of that. I think in a lot of ways that that’s really important. That’s what positive things have come out of such a bad situation. Just the ability to go, just be happy that you’re alive. I know that’s so cliché, like I hear myself say it and I’m like okay. Like the New Yorker in you is laughing at you right now. But I think it’s true. If anyone is denying that, they are ultimately lying to themselves. You need to be a lot more positive in order to exist. and I believe in the world.”

Sounds like loss, grief, drama, and painful events can often bring about or restore a renewed sense of gratitude not only for the things we have in our lives and our health, but in our relationships and the connections we have.

“Yes, I think the connection with people is probably, ultimately when I boil everything down to it, it is extremely important if not really the most important to me to be able to connect to someone, to understand them, to have myself be understood. I know that’s what’s important. Talking and being in therapy, talking to people about grief and moving on and things like that. I think the hardest thing for me is to be misunderstood. I hate it and I hate when I can’t level with somebody. It hurts me. I think that just being able to—and I know it’s a two-way street and I can sometimes be hard on myself so it may be my fault that someone doesn’t know where I’m coming from but that’s a challenge that I go through all the time—but ultimately communication with people, connection with people is so important. It’s so much fun, it gives me such joy. Truly!”

What was your relationship like with your brother while he was alive besides from being a parental assistant to your mother? Did you have time to establish a bond, and did you have a chance to make peace and sort of say goodbye to him before he left?

“I definitely did not have a chance to say goodbye. I think that unfortunately, probably I’m thinking about it now, as soon as we found out his diagnosis and when we realized all the treatments and stuff weren’t going to work or he wasn’t going to be in remission long enough to get a bone marrow transplant or do anything like that. Once we figured like we’re not going to get it that we were racing the clock and were only getting a little bit, that’s when I think a very slow goodbye began and I think it took months of time. My mom would, well it just seemed ritualistic. Everyone did the same thing. My mother would wake up at 4 in the morning and go for a walk. She would wake me up because he slept in the bed with my parents. She would wake me up so she could go for a walk to have some alone time to just pray or relax or whatever she would do. She would be up and I would go in the bed and sleep next to him. She would come back and after she administered his medication I would be there because I would hold him. He was a baby so you had to hold his hands. He had a catheter in his chest and it could get infected or he could pull it out. You know what I mean? He was a tiny baby. It was insane to me. It was very ritualistic like I said. Every day was the same and I was like an assistant and I feel like, and I don’t know how much of this is true cause like I said but before and during I think I went from being an only child, very loud and obnoxious and selfish in a lot of ways cause that’s how all little kids are, to being such an observant, so quiet and just like you have nothing to say bad about anything right now. You can just help, that’s all you can do. Sometimes that’s so true with life but it’s also very sad. When I look back on it I think about how in a way because my mom was so focused on everything that I was just not, I don’t know how to say it without sounding like dramatic poor me but I was just sort of in the shadows and observing. Because of that I feel like I just a mirror to my mom. I didn’t know what else to do. So I don’t know. (I don’t even remember the question.)”

Is there a significant memory that you have?

“Like of our relationship together?”

Yes, a bond with your brother or a special moment?

“I think that before he was diagnosed, there was a Halloween where we dressed up. He was a clown and I was a cat or something. I think that moment and many moments after that were very similar to it. I would just talk to him like he was a person, because I think that’s what you should do with babies. I mean baby talk is a natural thing, but I really think you should talk to babies like they’re people, like real people. I think maybe I was just trying to get in as much conversation as possible so that he would know me. I have never really thought about that.”

If you had the opportunity to express something to him today or to say goodbye to him, what would you say?

“I don’t think I would say goodbye. I don’t think that would be worth much. He affects my life still, so why would I say goodbye? I don’t know if that’s healthy. I don’t think I need to say goodbye. I can just be thankful for his presence that I feel sometimes, memories or things like that. My mother, whenever she sees a cardinal, always thinks that it’s him. Whenever something really bad is happening to her—she told me that she was driving down the road when she’s really upset with one thing that has nothing really to do with my brother. She sort of brings in the unfairness of that, so it mounts and become so much more intense. So I feel she would be having a day like that, and she would be driving along, and a cardinal would fly right by the windshield. Like really close, and she would say, ‘Oh, okay,’ and she always sees them outside in a tree and it comforts her and makes her feel good. Cardinals are birds, but I believe in signs like that. So I can see how it appears to her. When I think of him, I don’t think of him as a baby. When I do take the time to think about my brother, I think about what I would say to him today at age he would be today. He would be 15 in April. October was the month he died. I get those confused sometimes. He would be 15. I would be showing him all the cool music I used to listen to when I was 15. I would tell him about girls and what to do and what not to do. That makes me happy. I still have siblings to interact with and to tell all these things to, and I do. I make sure the time I get to spend with them at my parents’ house is time well spent. If I can do one thing with them or for them or talk to them about one thing even for five minutes, that makes me happy. That would mean something. If they see me cry about something, hopefully they will remember that and think of me more than just a sister figure or a parent figure. That I have my whole life that I don’t really know much about, that I’m a human. I don’t know if it’s the healthiest thing to imagine my brother as a real human. I don’t think it’s terribly bad. I’m not a super crazy fucked-up person right now, so I don’t think I’m doing that much wrong in imagining that.”

You mentioned your mother sort of connecting with the cardinal and representing your brother’s spirit and his energy. How do you acknowledge his presence in your life? Is there anything that is symbolic for you?

“I don’t think so. I think I piggyback on the cardinal idea because it makes my mother really happy. I definitely do believe in signs. It could really be anything. There is not one thing. I don’t always attribute it to him. There will be times where I could be going through a hard time, and I’m not asking for his help or guidance. It would be a universe question or a God question or a God-figure question. It’s never like I’m asking for comfort or for help or answers to questions, because truthfully if he were here right now, he’d be younger than me, so how could he answer questions? I think about him, the situation where I came from, and I’m thankful for where I’ve gotten myself because of this situation.”

Do you think it’s possible that his short life span was meant for a reason and impacted a lot of positive change and brought about many blessings and gifts and all of your lives and lives of those you’ve touched and hopefully has created ripples from just that one short life?

“Yes. Definitely. I think that his very short life . . . I want to mention there are definitely people I have met who would like to think he was only around for such a short time, he wasn’t able to talk or walk, so how do you miss him so much? How did you have such a connection with a being that couldn’t communicate with you? It just goes to show that you just weren’t there. It’s okay for you to think that, but you’re wrong. You’re so enormously wrong. People meet their person, their partner, and within two weeks—or maybe even in a moment—you know how important that person is going to be to you for the rest of your life, whether you’ve known them for your whole life as a friend or you just met them. It doesn’t take very long emotionally and physically sometimes to realize, wow you have made a difference in my life almost immediately and I don’t even know you. You don’t even speak my language or any language at all. Maybe we don’t have any typical ways of communicating, but it doesn’t mean you haven’t made an impact on my life. So I hate when people say that. It makes me angry, because it shows they have trouble empathizing, they have trouble seeing where I’m coming from. It goes back to being misunderstood. It irks me. I think that his short life was so impactful not just to me and my family in good ways and bad ways, but also to the community that rallied around us. As soon as people found out he was sick, they were like what can we do? They sent food, they sent letters. I remember one kid, his name was Jordan, we went to middle school through high school together. He rode his bike from his house with a card that he wrote with colored crayons, I think, and he brought it to me. He was like I’m really sorry. Stuff like that. I think human connection is one of the most important things in the world. If we’re all thinking that way, then that’s what this experience has given me and my family with the opportunity to really connect with people. To let people in and let them help and let them put a hand on our shoulder and not be so dismissive because they don’t know. It didn’t happen to you, but you can empathize anyway. You can take any experience you’ve had in your life and attribute it or relate it to what someone else is going through. That was the best thing that happened to our family. Unfortunately, my mother and stepfather, Michael, aren’t together anymore, and I think a huge part of it was this loss. That sort of degraded and deteriorated the marriage. Just based on how both of them dealt with it differently as I mentioned, and it’s amazing to see. We spent Christmas with him and his family this year. We're all still very close. The marriage didn’t work out, but it doesn’t mean we all don’t love each other very much. I called Michael on his birthday last month. Just because it didn’t work out doesn’t mean you abandon people. We went through it all together. How could you do that? You can’t leave people alone like that. It’s important to reach out. I’m so thankful that people reached out to us. I’m thankful I still have the ability to reach out to others too, that I’m not closed out because of this.”

Sounds like it opened you.

“Yes. It’s not the only thing that’s opened me. I’ve had some incredibly lovely people in my life I'm so thankful for that have helped me to stay open and happy. They’re there in a drop of a hat if I need them. My best friend Alanna, she is like the best. Sometimes I’ll be at the worst place and so upset and I’ll call her, and before I say anything she’ll say, ‘I already feel you’re upset. I knew you were upset. What’s wrong?’ It’s happened a couple times. I’m thankful for people who have connected with me and have latched onto my energy that we go together. Even if we’re miles apart in life, we go through together with our energy. So if I am experiencing something, all I have to do is pick up the phone or communicate or just think about them and they’re there for me. That’s awesome.”

What advice would you offer someone else who could relate to your experiences?

“That’s a loaded question. Because I was kind of alone in how I dealt with it. I really never had advice except for my mother’s example of just keep pushing 90 miles an hour in what you think is the right direction, or the best direction for you. I don’t know what to say. It’s ultimately a journey you have to go on and figure out for yourself, and dig deep, very deeply into yourself. Sometimes that’s very uncomfortable, something you don’t want to do. It’s part of the reason you don’t want to get out of bed, because to get out of bed I would have to dig deep inside myself and figure out what the problem is and try to solve it. If you’re anything like me, you’re just trying to get things done and in order so solve the problem, get out of bed. So ultimately, my way of problem solving, working through my issue, which is very tailored, and really the only advice I can give is don’t shut yourself off from yourself. Don’t close that door to yourself and all the bad stuff. The bad stuff will make you stronger. That’s so cliché, but it makes you a stronger better person. It wouldn’t be so cliché if it weren’t true. Life wouldn’t be so cliché if there weren’t some truth to it. So the advice I would give would be don’t close yourself off to those around you and don’t blame anyone for the bad things that have happened to you. No one can make you feel anything. Only you can make yourself feel a certain way based on someone else’s actions or your actions or something that happened that you can’t control. No one is going to make you feel bad. You have the option and the choice to feel however you would like to feel about any given situation. So my advice is to regain control, realize that you have control and get out of bed and do the things to be nice to yourself. Go to the coffee shop and get your favorite drink. Drink it on the porch and smoke a cigarette, which is what I do. I know it’s not good for you. Do things that you want to do. Regardless of what other people think, make the choice for yourself to do right by yourself. One of the questions you asked me earlier was about a mantra, motto, or song that helps me work through or calm down, what I repeat to myself, it would be ‘Accept that all is well.’ It’s okay. You’re going to be okay. This is really hard. It’s seems unfathomable how hard it is to solve this problem or to get through what you need to get through. You will do it because you have to. If you think about it this way, the universe wants to exist. If we are all a part of the universe, one being, which I like to believe, energy and everything like that, then we all want to survive and push forward, so why would you work against that? Ultimately it’s going to happen. You can’t fight that. We need to exist, so run with it. Just work with yourself, working with the world, the people around you on a micro level. Then on a macro level things will happen that are good. Another cliché. You have to be the change you want to see in the people around you and the energy in the room. If you walk into work one day and you have a bad attitude because of your commute, someone like me who has a very strong personality will notice. I’m not trying to be conceited in any way but being mindful and aware of your energy and how it affects people. It is very important. I can notice if I walk into a room and I’m upset about something the mood changes and it’s so palpable it's real. Just be mindful to that. Bring good things to the table, because if people around you are in a bad mood because of your bad mood, then you’re not only not doing right by yourself you’re ruining other people’s day too.”

A couple other things that I heard in your advice is don’t shut down, don’t close yourself off. I think it’s an initial reaction we have to something that makes us uncomfortable. We shut down, we close off to protect ourselves, to create barriers, and we do that to shut out the painful stuff, but we also shut out the good.

“Yes, we shut out the good. The other thing you mentioned is it’s sort of moving with force. It’s almost like we are part of nature, we’re water, and we need to keep flowing, and if we try to contain it, the pressure builds up, something breaks and something bursts.

“It’s not irreparable. It’s not like if something bursts and you have a meltdown, you can’t come back from that. I’ve had plenty of that and I talk all day until I’m blue in the face about all these great, positive things that you can do to make your life better; but when it comes down to it, there are days when I’m at work and I am so mean, and I can be so mean and nasty. When I realize it later in the day, luckily with being self-aware and thinking about this stuff very often (which I do), my correction time between having this negative reaction, realizing I have this negative reaction, and correcting it is getting smaller and smaller and smaller. So I think that’s important. I like to pat myself on the back for that, because there are a million times when something happens and for months I’m just upset about this thing and I can’t let it go. Letting go I think is an important part of existing in the world. Don’t go tit for tat with everything. Relax. If you think that in a year this thing that made you mad right now isn’t going to bother you, then why are you upset about it? If in a year or six months this thing isn’t going to bother you, then let it go now. Give yourself a break. You don’t need to harp on it. Again something I wish I could do better. Let things go. It’s hard, so hard, it’s really hard letting things go for sure.”

How important to you think it is to have outlets to express?

“It is so very important to have outlets to express yourself when you’re upset or when you’re really happy. Anything to express yourself is really important. There’s such a release in that. Like I said, when I can’t get out of bed, putting on a record, giving myself one task to for the day. If you can get out of bed and do your laundry, you are human. Not only did you contribute to your well-being physically, spaciously in your small apartment that you have in Brooklyn, but you also emotionally have done something nice for yourself. So that’s what you did for yourself today. Good for me! Little things like that are very important. I was going to say something about letting it go. I forgot. I want to say one more thing about when I’m in a really dark place and feeling really mad at myself that I’ve done something wrong or I’ve hurt a person and I’m feeling guilty about that. I often feel guilty after something bad happens. Like how do I contribute to someone else’s pain or how did I contribute to someone’s bad day or is someone talking about me behind my back about the thing that I did to contribute to their bad day? It’s like a spiral that cycles, and it’s really terrible, and I’m sure anyone can relate to that. And a slew of other bad thoughts come from that, and it may or may not be true but in most cases it’s true. This is another thing my friend Alanna told me to do one time, and it totally resonates with me. Just recently she said this to me, ‘Think about the wisest part of yourself. Breathe, relax, and think about the wisest part of yourself that you know. The part of you that would give your best friend advice, who you wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to. Give them your most honest, truest advice. What is that part of you saying about how you’re feeling right now? And if that part of yourself says it’s okay, you didn’t do anything wrong and you’re being really hard on yourself, it’s okay to let that thing go.’ Then do that. Listen to what the wisest part of yourself has said to you, and believe that, because ultimately it’s the truest part of who you are. You’re not and most people aren’t trying to sabotage themselves purposely. Sometimes we self-sabotage by accident and realize it later, but most people aren’t trying to sabotage their own life, because our animal instinct is to continue to live. So listen to that very true part of yourself and just listen to it and trust it. Go in the direction of what that thing is saying. I like to personify this wise person as this old woman with braids. It helps a lot when thinking about if I’m to blame for X thing that happened or someone else being upset. Most times you're not, because like I said before, you can only control how you feel about a certain way. You just have to be nice to yourself.”

Do you have a favorite quote that you would like to share? I know you mentioned a couple earlier.

“I don’t know. I don’t have quotes. The thing about when people ask what’s your favorite movie or favorite book or what’s your favorite anything, you immediately forget all the things you like and you only remember the things that resonate with other people as well as you because you’ve connected all of these things together. So I don’t have a quote, but I’m sure in my life I’ve read thousands of poems and passages and articles and stuff and have been like yes.”

Is there something that someone said to you maybe during the time you were in a period of grief that resonates with you that you took value from?

“My grandmother—this is silly and profound, but I’ll say it anyway. She is very Irish. She had a mug with a shamrock and Celtic lettering that said, ‘Quit your bellyaching’, all in one word, and it resonates with me because it’s silly so it not only reminds you it’s not all that serious. Whatever is happening, if it’s a little thing, it’s not that serious, and to be grateful and thankful. Like I mentioned before, stop complaining, maybe for a minute, just stop whining, quit your bellyaching and realize you’re alive, you have the ability to choose how good or bad your life can be. That’s totally a gift, and everyone has it. You’re born with this gift, your choice, free will. We live in a country that most times (don’t get me started on politic), you have the ability to choose the thing that you want.”

How’s it felt to talk about and share these experiences and feelings with me today?

“It’s good. I think it’s very good that it’s on camera, because there are a couple of times where I was thinking in my head, ‘Woah, that’s something that you actually never thought about’ or ‘That’s a breakthrough, and that’s why you’re crying. I do cry a lot, let’s get that out. I think anyone who sees this video will be like WOW. But when I go from talking normally to tears immediately, I know that that is something I never thought about before, and a bit of a breakthrough and pay attention to that. Unfortunately I don’t remember exactly what I said or thought, but it’s good that it’s on camera. I get a chance to revisit that. But ultimately it feels good. It was a good therapy session with no time limit. I’m not watching the clock. It’s always good. I like talking to people. It’s good to relate to people about bad things that you go through, and to receive validation is also important. You shouldn't always be looking for people’s validation, which we struggle with quite often. It’s so nice to get it; and what you do is so nice, to ask the compassionate questions and be mindful of how something may have affected someone, to sort of tread lightly. I appreciate it. So I thank you.”

Do you think it’s possible by sharing your experiences even painful experiences with other people, that you could be potentially helping someone else to see that they’re not alone? That you’ve given them some courage to continue to move forward on their journey, or even inspire them in some way to help others?

“I definitely think that this is helpful. A hundred percent. I think that was the point of the film I made. One of my goals with the film was to send it to the Leukemia Lymphoma Society and hopefully they could show it for free or just show it to people, this experience and hope people would see that it wasn’t just an ‘Oh this happened, it was very tragic, and now everyone is fine.’ It shows two sides of the story, three if you count my version, where one was very negative, one was positive and the third wasn’t quite figured out yet. I think sharing this is very important, because it’s what’s really important to me. I know how good it feels when someone can relate to me about a loss. Especially if they had a loss around the same age as I was. I remember being on a first date with someone who lost his mother at the same age. You’re on a first date with a girl and your intentions are probably not to open up and start crying, but we both cried. We shared this moment, and I still have a strong relationship and connection with this person, and that will never change. I think it’s really important for people to believe that they’re not alone.

[autisticadventurer]

Afterword

I realize that there are probably shit tons of lingering questions from anyone who kept up with that entire project. I’ll try to address the ones that seem obvious to me.

Is this blog over? Oh, heavens no. I’ll keep writing at this location until it outlives its usefulness. Eventually, I’ll get to the permaculture stuff but I’m considering a personal Autism Q&A first. It’s whatever.

Why do I believe in the unmanifest? Direct experience. I don’t know if it has something to do with my autism but after I started meditating regularly, there was a change in my perception. The most accurate way to phrase it would be, “I cannot unsee what I have seen,” but obviously I didn’t see anything with my eyes. I simply learned how to recognize the unmanifest. 

Is there anything I would add? I can’t add anything to the DaoDe Jing without venturing into the world of dogma. I would remind people to consider that their learning comes at the expense of resources; that coal is burned to produce electricity and that trees are murdered in order to publish books and in that way, paper is more valuable than gold because it was produced from living things that help maintain a stable ecosystem. There is already a lot of good information on mindfulness, so I would just encourage people to expand their mindfulness to include the greatest total consequences of their actions.

How do I actually feel about being Autistic? I think I will be a lot happier when the autism community can be ourselves in public without having to worry about being asked to leave, laughed at, arrested, or shot. I will feel much better when we can talk about it openly and be respected, and I think the first watermark for that will be being able to talk about Cannabis treatments (both CBD and THC, depending on the person and their neurological needs) for autistics without people losing their minds. On a personal level, I guess there is quite a bit of ennui which gets in the way. I literally have to pretend to be someone else in order to be considered acceptable for employment and all that does is lead me into manic-depression from living in denial of myself. I also know that my culture’s rejection of my condition has more to do with my culture than my condition. I love myself and I am a valuable member of the community even if my participation is conditional and I am regularly excluded. Before I was diagnosed, I was regularly fired, after my diagnosis, I couldn’t get hired at all. That being said, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I know that the autism community has made incredible contributions to humanity and I hope to do the same. I also think people who would exclude or cure autism should stop using technology that we developed and refrain from participating in cultural phenomena that we are responsible for originating. 

What was the best and worst part of this project? The worst part was ignorant teenagers on the internet who think they know everything but are clearly brainwashed by their culture... but I think that’s the worst part of a lot of things. The best part was providing a resource for people to understand at least one other perspective than the one taught to them by their parents or their parents’ religions.

Anything else? Any helpful suggestions? I think 90′s Nickelodeon covered the stuff about turning your lights off when you leave and reducing your air conditioning usage and putting water bottles in the tank of your toilet and walking instead of driving. Continuing to make a mistake because we have been making it for so long that we feel invested to keep making the mistake is a logical fallacy. It’s called the Escalation of Commitment. It’s very important to be able to say, “Oh shit, I’m doing this wrong,” and stop. It’s okay to self correct, you don’t have to be right all the time and you don’t have to commit to poor decisions. It doesn’t matter what other people think because they are probably caught in their own web of fallacies and lies and denials and prejudices. Most people are ignorant, selfish, and shallow so who cares how they react to you? Yes, I know quite well that it is difficult to stand out and be different but that isn’t an argument not to; it’s an argument for improving the tolerance of differences in our culture. Other important ones: NO means NO and nobody owes you an explanation as to why. If you think someone should be doing better, then maybe you should help them (with your vote or donations or whatever). I dislike social games and have trouble respecting anyone who gossips or jumps to conclusions without data. I dislike it when people attempt to use submissive social behavior to appease other people instead of just offering an apology. I dislike liars. I dislike anything that could’ve been easy but humans made it difficult because of cultural faux pas. I dislike being harped on to grow out my incredibly high maintenance hair or to wear makeup or to do anything that is perceived as “encouraging me to be more feminine in order to be more desireable to a man.” 

Do I really not believe in enlightenment or heaven or hell? No. Not even a little bit.