#the number is probably much smaller
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shit happened in july (translation: i don't have much to offer 😔)
#alas bastille day does not give me time to draw#all i have are doodles & the like :p#frev#jean paul marat#maximilien robespierre#as usual#frev art#minor add on in the tags#the number is probably much smaller#because i did the math wrong#i can't fix it so i will just hold hands and sing ça ira
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So apparently people enjoyed the silly MDZS comics I drew this year while reading the books! + one sherlock holmes and one torchwood pic 😂 for variety i guess
#tumblrtop10#tumblr2023#year in review#mdzs#wangxian#sherlock holmes#torchwood#wei wuxian#lan wangji#jiang cheng#wen ning#ianto jones#jack harkness#my art#gonna post my own personal favourites from this year#intersetingly enough i don't think there is a single crossover between my most popular and my personal favourites which is hilarious#though that's probably because my comics tend to be the most popular but aren't necessary the pieces i put as much effort or skill into maki#also the fact that anything in a fandom smaller than mdzs kinda got forced out by virtue of numbers xD#not to say i dislike these ones - there's a bunch here that i'm still really fond of
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////
#there’s a particular brand of fandom girlie that reminds me so much of that fucking. effervescent edward cullen meme#except instead of texting their girl they’re @ing celebrities that they’re in parasocial relationships with on twitter#i can’t give an example without vagueing but holy fuck leave that woman alone 🥹#i need to delete twitter from my phone for my menty health everybody who uses it is a fucking idiot (including myself)#tumblr isn’t much better but at least we’re smaller in number and mentally ill enough to be interesting#like a mushroom growing through a crack in your bathroom sealant#probably shouldn’t be there but now that it is the unfailing persistence of life growing in the unlikeliest of places can’t help#but inspire joy. also want to poke that thang until its head snaps off
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apparently i'm already halfway done my musicology degree??
#i wanna talk about me#between the course i did in undergrad and the frankly ridiculous number of courses i'm taking this semester#apparently i'm over halfway done already#i know the musicology portion is a smaller load than the library science portion but like#man it was weird walking into my advisor's office and him looking me in the eye and saying like 'oh you're almost done'#three courses is all i have left for a master's. Man#well i'm gonna spread those out over the next year and a half...and probably pick up an extra elective here or there while i can#cause idk man i like studying music history...even if i don't Have to i like taking the classes and learning#(esp if it's gonna be paid for by my fellowship as long as i'm still here)#well i need to figure out. how the hell to get in touch with a library science advisor now.#i emailed yesterday and haven't heard back#but i don't know what i'm doing for that degree going forward rn#other than. i guess taking 552. but i KNOW there's other specialty and elective courses i'll need to take too#and i want to take stock of what shit i'll have to take in summers too cause i know some of the courses are only offered in summer#(need to find out if any of my fellowship scholarship can go towards summer courses. i'm guessing not...)#weird. it's weird. i don't know what i'm doing here#anyway#meeting with my advisor went okay i at least know what i'm doing now re: the music stuff#didn't cry which is good but man i hate how my voice started to break more and more the longer i was in there#and when i talked about how i put too much on my plate this semester and am struggling to keep up with all the work#and he asked me if i've been reaching out to anyone for support. or if i had people to reach out to#and i just had to sit there like. uh#define. support?#i have a couple friends at least that i chat with about stuff like that sometimes but not always cause i don't want to bother them too much#but like. it's not like i can ask someone else to write a research paper For me#or it's not like i can control when my coworkers get sick and i have to cover their time in the office#and this didn't come up at all (and i'm glad for it) but jeez it's not like i can control global political conflicts!!#it's hard for me to focus on getting enough work done in small chunks of time in the best of times#let alone when my fucking hamster brain is on high alert for getting hate crimed in public if my necklace is too visible or something#idk. it's a lot man. i bit off more than i could chew this semester even before the world fell apart
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holy shit my follower count just took a huge drop
is tumblr finally getting rid of all the bots so i can finally see what my real follower count is 😭😭
#blue.txt#it's been years since ive known how many followers ive had#the number said 28 thousand#but realistically i know the number is much much smaller than that because i only got to that huge number from#the time i had an enormous amount of bots following me in waves for years#my follower count is probably like <5k im actuality#but yeah it was very demoralizing for a bit to have mostly bots following me for a while
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Gaza is an extremely densely populated territory, with an estimated 2022 population of 2,375,000 people. Houston, an American city of comparable population (estimated 2,302,000) has, at least according to Wikipedia, more than 80 hospitals in Houston's Harris County and more than 125 in the greater Houston area.
Hospitals serve people, not land. The question really shouldn't be "why does Gaza need that many hopsitals?" but "why does Gaza have almost a fifth of the hospitals as a comparably-populated city?" And, from there, obviously, "why is the occupation targeting Gaza's hospitals", and "why are we trying to act like there are too many hospitals in Gaza, anyway?"
Just some food for thought.
![Tumblr media](https://64.media.tumblr.com/ab95e640ef4abb0e30309b93e1f6c98c/011c8c90ddd539f1-f4/s540x810/be0fe2bb7ff8d312e3ca0043dbc87237da194867.jpg)
#god this computer hates tumblr soooo much. everything's running insanely slow#also like houston isnt under siege and that's part of why they CAN have 205 hospitals in the greater houston area#sorry i really strongly dislike the take in this post or whatever like#thats a criminally small number of hospitals for any population of 2.3 million people#ESPECIALLY one under siege#its not 'so they have enough hospitals to deal with wartime injuries' it is literally not enough to deal with the medical issues of SMALLER#AMERICAN CITIES during PEACETIME#like. okay i didnt know that off the top of my head but i was curious what the numbers came out to because i have a brain and i knew that 4#sounded like a really small number for ~2 million people#but to see that it was literally 4.88x fewer hospitals - basically one fifth the hospitals - than in houston was like. Frankly that is stag#staggering and deeply fucked up. like. to make it really work i want you to imagine four of every five hospitals in houston vanishing#(this probably still doesnt account for the 75k more people in gaza but oh well). now you have the hospital capacity of gaza#it doesnt seem like 'such a large number of hospitals for such a small territory' in those terms
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I’ll revise/add to this in the larger fic it’s a part of but this is a good description on how I’d view things post-canon (40+ years later, around the present day or a few years later). Mainly in terms of Greaseball’s position and view of Electra after the guy kicks the bucket. tl;dr he gave it up for the heritage/corporate train life years ago and thinks Electra’s perpetual number chasing is a sad losing battle
Greaseball watched Wrench drag the dead engine down the line to the museum. Dead, not sleeping, not preserved. There was no Snow White revival for him. He’d heard the news. His frame was so cracked it was almost a wonder he didn’t self destruct on the rails, and his transformers were drained when their oil was outlawed. There WAS no way of repairing him without basically making a new engine. They’d just repaint his faded shell and place it next to the husk of Big Red, like taxidermy figures.
Greaseball was far out of his home territory and never felt right out east. It was too flat and small compared to the wide open ranges and mountains out west. But at least it was a safe and comfortable retirement alongside Dinah and several of his old friends. He was still beloved as an icon of days gone by. He wasn’t beating any records or winning any races anymore, but he no longer cared. That stopped ages ago. All that number chasing just meant nothing compared to being around those he truly loved. Numbers would be beaten, replaced, forgotten, relegated to footnotes… but a true love, platonic or romantic, was never truly interchangeable.
Electra never moved beyond his obsession with performance though. Being faster and stronger than the GG1, making the best time he could, keeping up with if not surpassing more modern engines. Always having to be on top, or at least outstanding for his size or age. He always felt that knife against his back knowing the government wanted him gone, whether that fear was legitimate or not. He just kept going and going, seemingly aware he’d go down like John Henry eventually. Watching that shell be rolled into place, Greaseball solemnly nodded, that prophecy fulfilled.
His speed records were broken. Modern engines did times he could never do and pull things he could never pull. If anything he was somehow known for his reliability in his sunset years until he really started to decline. The common populace didn’t cheer because they recognized him from movies or media, like Greaseball. He wasn’t that romantic ideal of a train, cruising across the open landscape with comfortable facilities. He was a flash in the pan 40 years ago before being turned into an overworked busybody doing thankless commuter and freight trains half the time. He tried to glamorize it but nobody cared.
When he was younger, he would have felt smug victory. You live for numbers, you die a statistic. But it was just pathetic seeing him go out the way he did. Struggling on too long and not even surviving his final trip. He never even liked Electra but even he wanted better for him.
#my fics#there’s a number of smaller things i’ll probably change/add to but lol this has the gist#next to “fund passenger rail or you’ll end up a car hellscape” my next biggest message is “track is whack do literally anything else”#i am a gleefull competitive running hater. I wasted a decade+ of my life on it and learned nothing of value.#It is mindless and talent based and unapplied. do literally any other physical activity and it will be more interesting and worthwhile#and that’s why i do not make racing a big thing in the train world. i make it much smaller than canon#because it’s a world i’ve known and i know just how hollow and pointless it all is. I refuse to give it a positive light lol
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would people drag me if i negged the pirate game on main
#i don't actually care that much either way but the implication from many fans that i *should* kind of bothers me#it's not even that i was coping for K3 or JE3 or anything else specific because i knew those weren't going to happen already#i just have zero capacity to care about 'the first solo majima game' at this point in time#certainly not when majima has been playable more times than several other characters#like. yknow. saejima. shinada. tanimura#and ichiban ofc he's only had one solo game and he's literally the new main protagonist of the entire series#like i thought 8 was about passing the torch to the next generation#point being that number of 'solo games' is not a good metric for how much 'content' a character 'gets to' have#truly i do not give a single shit about the game outside of 'i think it should be a historical spin-off or star new characters instead'#i can just not buy or play it. i can save £55 of my gaming budget.#what bothers me is the fan response to it and to folk not being 100% /pos about it because half of you fuckers thought 8 was too convoluted#like i have to reiterate i don't have much to say about the game itself other than 'this isn't for me and that's ok'#but the key is that it *should* be ok and i shouldn't feel like i can't enter certain spaces for fear of being dragged for my apathy#i guess what i should have asked initially is whether it's ok to neg the fandom on main lmao#anyway idk how much i'll post here realistically until the next game announcement i'm probably just gonna keep to my smaller curated spaces#Once Again if anyone wants my discord you need only ask#don't be intimidated i'm definitely more scared of receiving your message than you are of sending it to me#me#text#8 gaiden
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ugh, fuck vanity sizing. fatphobia's shitty to begin with and the bigger problem, obviously. but also. if you are a smaller person looking for non-clingy pants/jeans/shorts/etc. (an already agonizing process), good fucking luck
#brought to you by me trying three different stores and discovering that I--a very VERY averagely-sized American AFAB#somehow count as a four?? or in a couple cases a TWO???? which. what the fuck? and this is AVERAGE sizing fyi it's not oversized#I know a good number of people smaller and slimmer than I am who probably wouldn't have been able to find anything outside#of tightly-fitted leggings/jeggings/etc. and good luck finding petites!#I'm going insane. all I want are some decent straight-leg jeans man ;-; get the clingy chafing sensory hell stuff away from meeeee#(and you know. a pair of jeans that will last me more than two years and don't cost $40+ bucks#this is why 80% of my shorts are literally falling apart from so much use. how do you replace them????)#anyway#synapse talks#synapse rants#why can't we have nice things
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When deciding who to work for there is a sliding scale of employers that goes from lil mom and pop shops up to corporate monoliths. I have worked at both ends of the spectrum and I can pretty definitively say that tiny businesses are hands down the most insane employers.
The sweet spot is a place that has like 10-20 stores; that’s the best possible work environment. They’ll be polished enough to have protocols that make work structured, but not so bogged down with bureaucracy that nothing can ever get done.
This story is not from that sweet spot. This story is from my time working at Oil and Vinegar. Now, like many little franchise stores, the idea was solid. There was on tap imported olive oil and vinegar and it was really delicious. Top shelf. Unfortunately, each location was like the Wild West because owners varied wildly.
My owner was the human embodiment of Mr. Krabbs. His eyes were just constant dollar signs. Throughout my training he informed me of the price of every single piece of equipment I touched and how much it cost to replace it.
He had cameras set up to watch us, and an app on his phone to access the live feed. He’d call us to ask what we were doing when he’d just checked a camera to make sure we were being honest.
Now, the trouble was he had two locations. His location further south did amazing. It was way more centrally located and got three times the foot traffic. The one I worked in was in the snottiest mall possible in Arizona and consequently the rent was through the roof.
It was not going well for my store. We didn’t get as much traffic, so there was only so much I could do in a day. I could dust, sweep, and wait for customers. I read a lot and was frank when he called to interrogate me. I always asked for additional tasks but he never had any. What could I do to prop up a failing business?
But this man was convinced there was some Secret Reason that the store I was in was doing worse. He crunched numbers, looked at staff, and eventually hit upon the most insane possible solution.
We used too much toilet paper.
We were probably stealing toilet paper! Bleeding him dry one single ply square at a time! How dare we need to use the bathroom?! His south location used half as much toilet paper as we did, we must be thieving little monsters!!!!
Friends. The south location was populated entirely by men. My location had three people on staff who had to sit to pee. It was so blindly transparently the source of the discrepancy but this man was convinced we were making off with toilet paper to bankrupt him.
So he implemented what he believed to be an entirely reasonable response to this base treachery. We were allowed to have one roll of toilet paper. At any given time, one roll was permitted to us. This was so transparently unhinged that we protested but he insisted. If we were low on toilet paper we needed to call him to drop off a roll that he brought from his home. Smiling jovially, he assured us he lived so close by that it would be no problem!
When we needed to call him often for more he started tearing his hair out. What were we using toilet paper for?! Why wasn’t his genius plan to stop our scandalous waste working??!
Finally, the manager, the only man on staff had to pull the owner aside and be like, “Look, man, their bladders are smaller. They need to wipe every time they pee. They need to pee even more on their period. Is this really the hill you want to die on?”
Yes. It was. The manager was fired unrelated reasons and denounced as a traitor. The toilet paper ration lasted until I quit and probably until the store closed six months later.
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Tbh at this point you should just make your own webcomic app/website because it would probably be 100 times better than whatever going on with webtoon right now.
hahaha it wouldn't tho, sorry 💀
Here's the fundamental issue with webcomic platforms that a lot of people just don't realize (and why they're so difficult to run successfully):
Storage costs are incredibly expensive, it's why so many sites have limitations on file sizes / page sizes / etc. because all of those images and site info have to be stored somewhere, which costs $$$.
Maintenance costs are expensive and get more so as you grow, you need people who are capable of fixing bugs ASAP and managing the servers and site itself
Financially speaking, webcomics are in a state of high supply, low demand. Loads of artists are willing to create their passion projects, but getting people to read them and pay for them is a whole other issue. Demand is high in the general sense that once people get attached to a webtoon they'll demand more, but many people aren't actually willing to go looking for new stuff to read and depend more on what sites feed them (and what they already like). There are a lot of comics to go around and thus a lot of competition with a limited audience of people willing to actually pay for them.
Trying to build a new platform from the ground up is incredibly difficult and a majority of sites fail within their first year. Not only do you have to convince artists to take a chance on your platform, you have to convince readers to come. Readers won't come if there isn't work on the platform to read, but artists won't come if they don't think the site will be worth it due to low traffic numbers. This is why the artists with large followings who are willing to take chances on the smaller sites are crucial, but that's only if you can convince them to use the site in favor of (or alongside) whatever platform they're using already where the majority of their audience lies. For many creators it's just not worth the time, energy, or risk.
Even if you find short-term success, in the long-term there are always going to be profit margins to maintain. The more users you pull in, the more storage is used by incoming artists, the more you have to spend on storage and server maintenance costs, and that means either taking the risk at crowdfunding (ex. ComicFury) or having to resort to outsider investments (ex. Tapas). Look at SmackJeeves, it used to be a titan in the independent webcomic hosting community, until it folded over to a buyout by NHN and then was pretty much immediately shuttered due to NHN basically turning it into a manwha scanlation site and driving away its entire userbase. And if you don't get bought out and try your hand at crowdfunding, you may just wind up living on a lifeline that could cut out at any moment, like what happened to Inkblazers (fun fact, the death of Inkblazers was what kicked off the cultural shift in Tapas around 2015-16 when all of IB's users migrated over and brought their work with them which was more aimed towards the BL and romancee drama community, rather than the comedy / gag-a-day culture that Tapas had made itself known for... now you deadass can't tell Tapas apart from a lot of scanlation sites because it got bought out by Kakao and kept putting all of its eggs into the isekai/romance drama basket.)
Right now the mindset in which artists and readers are operating is that they're trying way, way too hard to find a "one size fits all" site. Readers want a place where they can find all their favorite webtoons without much effort, artists wants a place where they can post to an audience of thousands, and both sides want a community that will feel tight-knit. But the reality is that you can't really have all three of those things, not on one site. Something always winds up having to be sacrificed - if a site grows big enough, it'll have to start seeking more funding while also cutting costs which will result in features becoming paywall'd, intrusive ads, creators losing their freedom, and/or outsider support which often results in the platform losing its core identity and alienating its tight-knit community.
If I had to describe what I'm talking about in a "pick one" graphic, it would look something like this:
(*note: this is mostly based on my own observations from using all of these sites at some point or another, they're not necessarily entirely accurate to the statistical performance of each site, I can only glean so much from experience and traffic trackers LMAO that said I did ask some comic pals for input and they were very helpful in helping me adjust it with their own takes <3).
The homogenization of the Internet has really whipped people into submission for the "big sites" that offer "everything", but that's never been the Internet, it relies on being multi-faceted and offering different spaces for different purposes. And we're seeing that ideology falter through the enshittification of sites like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. where users are at odds with the platforms because the platforms are gutting features in an attempt to satisfy shareholders whom without the platforms would not exist. Like, most of us aren't paying money to use social media sites / comic platform sites, so where else are they gonna make the necessary funds to keep these sites running? Selling ad space and locking features behind paywalls.
And this is especially true for a lot of budding sites that don't have the audience to support them via crowdfunding but also don't have the leverage to ask for investments - so unless they get really REALLY lucky in EITHER of those departments, they're gonna be operating at a loss, and even once they do achieve either of those things there are gonna be issues in the site's longevity, whether it be dying from lack of growing crowdfunding support or dying from shareholder meddling.
So what can we do?
We can learn how to take our independence back. We don't have to stop using these big platforms altogether as they do have things to offer in their own way, particularly their large audience sizes and dipping into other demographics that might not be reachable from certain sites - but we gotta learn that no single site is going to satisfy every wish we have and we have to be willing to learn the skills necessary to running our own spaces again. Pick up HTML/CSS, get to know other people who know HTML/CSS if you can't grasp it (it's me, I can't grasp it LOL), be willing to take a chance on those "smaller sites" and don't write them off entirely as spaces that can be beneficial to you just because they don't have large numbers or because they don't offer rewards programs. And if you have a really polished piece of work in your hands, look into agencies and publishing houses that specialize in indie comics / graphic novels, don't settle for the first Originals contract that gets sent your way.
For the last decade corporations have been convincing us that our worth is tied to the eyes we can bring to them. Instead of serving ourselves, we've begun serving the big guys, insisting that it has to be worth something eventually and that it'll "payoff" simply by the virtue of gambler's fallacy. Ask yourself what site is right for you and your work rather than asking yourself if your work is good enough for them. Most of us are broke trying to make it work on these sites anyways, may as well be broke and fulfilled by posting in places that actually suit us and our work if we can. Don't define your success by what sites like Webtoons are enforcing - that definition only benefits them, not you.
#my favorite out of these is comicfury because it gives you the most control out of all of them#and you can offer monetization tools like ads and patreon links#it also offers super easy tools to help build your own site if you're new to that#it's as close to “running your own site” as comic hosting can get#but you can also learn how to run your own site if you want undeniably full control without fear of the platform host shuttering#also look into collectives like SpiderForest!#they basically operate as a co-op where people host their work with them and get ad opportunities#but you have to apply to get in#ama#ask me anything#anon ama#anon ask me anything#webcomic tips
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I read this bdsm story where the sub was told to roll some dice and the they'd have a reward of punishment based on the number rolled, right? Not that weird of a premise for this sort of thing.
EXCEPT they used two d6s! And I am too much of a tabletop gamer to let that shit slide.
That's not how you do it! You roll a d12 or something so that each possibility has a roughly equal likelyhood.
But 2d6 and 1d12 have completely different probability curves! Look, here's a meme:
![Tumblr media](https://64.media.tumblr.com/b07dfc8303d9aa9d5735540ad2d87491/70e6b760a7e296e4-32/s540x810/8b20cc3597fef11ca9da833f52acb09f60b2eb1a.jpg)
See? The punishment/reward most likely is gonna be the one at 7.
Although, I mean... I guess you could argue that this let's you weight the results? Like make 2 and 12 the biggest punishment/reward, so they only rarely roll, whereas smaller punishments/rewards around 7 are more likely.
But I don't know. It seems you'd want to explain that if you did.
Ugh. Another bdsm scenario ruined by unrealistic statistics.
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— young lust
![Tumblr media](https://64.media.tumblr.com/49f2fa551fdbed7fc4b48784765ca9be/ccdc808815dab903-43/s540x810/a34c7d9f10665efe7a3278790430cced76bbaa85.jpg)
![Tumblr media](https://64.media.tumblr.com/49f2fa551fdbed7fc4b48784765ca9be/ccdc808815dab903-43/s540x810/a34c7d9f10665efe7a3278790430cced76bbaa85.jpg)
![Tumblr media](https://64.media.tumblr.com/49f2fa551fdbed7fc4b48784765ca9be/ccdc808815dab903-43/s540x810/a34c7d9f10665efe7a3278790430cced76bbaa85.jpg)
▸ 18+ mdni.
You want Mark so badly, but he thinks you’re too young for him. With a little more convincing though, he eventually gives you what you want— in a less than gentle way.
| pairing. rapper!mark x fem!reader
| warnings. mean mean mean mark!!, legal age gap, noncon/dubcon, degradation, reader is mean to mark as well oops, unprotected sex, choking.
| a.n.: this is just self-serving atp. hope it serves y'all too <3
Mark thinks he’s never been eye-fucked this hard before. He’s flattered, of course, but something’s off.
You’re hot and very tempting, too, there’s no need in denying that. The little dress you’re wearing clings to your ass and he honestly can’t stop looking at it, especially with your back turned to him, occasionally glancing over your shoulder to meet Mark’s eyes.
Your gaze is so obviously flirtatious, you don’t even try to be subtle. The finger stuck between your teeth and the look you send him tell Mark everything he needs to know; you want him as much as he wants you.
He imagines your smaller body pressed against the bathroom wall, his hips clashing against your ass roughly, listening to your moans muffled by the loud music playing throughout the club. He sees it, that slutty mouth chanting his name like a prayer as he gropes your breasts with his palms through your dress.
Mark looks at you before taking a sip from his alcoholic drink, then shifts his gaze back to Jisung standing in front of him.
“You know each other?”
He’s taken off guard by the question, taking a second to respond.
“Uh, no,” he thinks about what to say, but he really doesn’t have a clue on how to explain this… exchange. “We… we don’t.”
Jisung sports a perplexed yet amused expression on his face. “So where is all that tension coming from?”
Mark raises a brow, eyeing you one last time, but you’re not looking at him anymore.
“I’m not sure,” he admits, a faint smirk drawing on his lips. “Do you know her?” Mark asks in return, a little curious.
He won’t lie that he likes the mystery of all this, not knowing who you are adds to the desire, to the inexplicable lust that draws him to you. He wants to mess around, do what he wishes just because he can. And that includes you. He wants to do you so bad.
“Yeah, of course, we’re in the same company,” Jisung tells him, “she’s in this new girl group, you know. Up in the charts, just right under you,” his friend grins, looking at Mark to see his reaction.
He’s surprised for a second, uttering a “really?” and Jisung nods his head as a yes.
Mark never pays attention to the charts, even though he gets reminded of them practically everyday. He’s aware of his success—way too aware of it—but he’s not the artist obsessed with numbers. He knows he makes good music and it’s all that matters to him.
“I don’t know how you still haven’t heard of them already,” Jisung continues, “of her, especially.” He tilts his head in your direction, now both men’s attention on you. “Everyone’s fond of her.”
“Are you?” Mark wonders, narrowing his eyes at his friend.
“Sure,” Jisung agrees, “she’s a sweetheart. Seems down to earth, for the few times we’ve talked.”
This intrigues Mark. Does a sweetheart usually act so slutty with strangers? Perhaps he’s not a stranger to you, you very probably know him—everybody does—but he doesn’t think he’s ever gotten a girl this bold with him. And surely not someone who’s proclaimed to be a sweetheart, in this industry where anything opposite to pureness is unacceptable.
He can feel your gaze on him now and he doesn’t hesitate to lock eyes with you once again. You laugh at whatever the person you’re talking to said, almost having Mark envious for not being the one making you laugh right now.
You’re good at this, he thinks. Really good. Staring straight into his eyes, making him feel like he’s the centre of your attention when in reality you’re talking with someone else. If he could, he would take you with him, bring you to his car and fuck you directly onto his shiny leather seats, door wide open. He knows you’d love it.
“Is she your age?” he says, taking a sip of his drink, eyes still on you until he hears Jisung’s answer.
“Uh, no, not exactly,” his friend responds, “younger, in fact.”
He immediately breaks eye-contact with you, looking back at Jisung. Mark feels his heart starting to beat a little faster, suddenly anxious. Or is it embarrassment? Concern? Whatever it is, the desire he once felt, has now shifted.
“What? How old?”
“Well, I’m not sure, Mark. 21, maybe?” Jisung frowns, trying to recall what you’d told him, but it wasn't information he really registered back then.
Mark gulps down. He knew something was off, why didn’t he listen to his intuition?
He’s 25 and you’re 4 years younger than him. You’re barely an adult.
“Don’t tell me you’ve gone soft now,” Jisung chuckles, noticing the deflated expression on his face.
“Barely.”
He empties his glass, settling it down on the counter near him after. He tells Jisung he’ll come back in 5, heading for the bathrooms.
—-
Mark washes his hands in the sink, drying them off with a towel. He looks at himself in the mirror, leaning over the counter. The music is loud, making the ground vibrate under his feet, making it almost impossible for him to think. Maybe it’s a good thing, he can’t overthink, then.
“You’ve abandoned me,” he hears a voice saying, lifting up his head just in time to see you entering the bathrooms. “I was wondering where you’ve been gone…”
Your voice is as sultry as your eyes, as sensual as your body in this ridiculously tight dress. He can’t help but wander his eyes over your figure, looking at what now feels so immoral. If it wasn’t for that—morality—he wouldn’t stop himself from taking you right here and there, but something has to stop him.
If nothing ever does, god knows all the things he would’ve done since now.
You approach Mark with slow steps, a teasing smile on your lips, a very precise idea in mind. He wants to back away, leave, forget about everything, but he doesn’t. He’s curious, tempted.
“Or maybe that’s where you wanted me to be?” you grin, putting your hand around his bicep, the other leaning on top of the counter.
He stares back at you, unconvinced. “I was about to leave,” he explains, and he sees the glint in your eyes changing. You don’t like rejection.
“Really?” you utter, the tone of your voice a pitch higher— sounding somewhat bitter. “I swore there was something between us… With the way you were looking at me,” you say, your hand lingering on his arm before removing it. “Do you often look at women like you want to fuck them and then leave them, Mark?”
This confirms that you know him. For some reason, he feels uneasy about the fact that he knows nothing about you but you know all about him.
You get even closer, only a few centimetres before your body touches him.
Truthfully, you were the only ever girl he was about to do this to. It didn’t feel like a big deal when he thought about it, but now that he’s been caught, he feels a little guilty.
“I didn’t take you for a coward,” you whisper.
Mark arches his brow at that, wondering how in the hell did he get in such a situation. Getting called a coward by a brat? By a spoiled little girl who didn’t have to lift a finger for success to find her?
“You should go back to your friends,” he carefully advises.
But you find it funny, laughing softly. “So you are a coward, Mark Lee,” you mockingly say, tone condescending, tongue pressing behind your bottom teeth as his name leaves your mouth. “Are you afraid of something? Don’t worry, I don’t bite. Unless you’re into it?”
He keeps his hands away from you, as if the mere feeling of your skin under his fingertips would break down his barriers. He turns his head to the side, away from yours, as you roughly pull on his belt, your chest finally pressed down against his.
“I know you want me,” you whine, “to touch me… Fuck me.”
If he could only fall into temptation… Maybe it’d be easier to just follow his desires. Well, in the meantime it would be, but after? What if he regrets it? What if you regret it? He can’t sleep with every girl he sees.
He never goes for anyone that is younger than him. Not that much, at least. What kind of man would he be?
But goddamn, why are you so insistent? Why are you making it so difficult for him?
“You’re too young, okay?”
You take a step back, letting go of him. Your eyebrows are frowned and you look at Mark like he’s the biggest idiot on earth.
You scoff. “So that’s what you’re afraid of? My age?”
You cross your arms over your chest, Mark turning his head toward you now that you’ve put some distance between you.
“What did Jisung tell you?”
“That you’re 21,” he answers, wondering what you’re going to tell him. After all, what Jisung said could have been bullshit. He hopes, for a moment, that it was.
Your lips quirk up, a chuckle leaving you. You look to the side then back to Mark. “I’m 20.”
His eyebrows knit together, annoyed that you find this funny again. What else can he expect from a 20 year old anyway? That you take this seriously?
“You find this funny? Do you realize how much older I am?”
“Yeah,” you nod, “and that’s why it’s funny. You’re scared of what? A five year difference?”
You step forward again, but Mark backs away this time, hitting the counter behind him.
“You’re a fucking puss,” you insult him, full of arrogance.
But something you didn’t expect happens; Mark knocks his body into yours, making you stumble back as he follows you until your back is flushed against the bathroom stall. His hand goes fast to your neck, squeezing.
He leans in, the expression on his face furious. He doesn’t feel guilty anymore.
“You act like a spoiled little bitch and you wonder why I don’t want you?” For the first time tonight, you’re speechless. His nose brushes over your temple, so close you feel his breath fanning across your face. “Fucking learn how to accept when people tell you no. Learn to shut your mouth from time to time because they won’t like your ass in this industry if you keep this entitled attitude up.”
You’re looking down as Mark’s eyes bore into your skull, blood creeping up to your cheeks. You gulp, not having a word to say in return. You’d rather not talk back.
He eventually lets go of you, turning around and walking out, leaving you alone and… turned on.
—-
“Hi, Markie.”
The last person he expected to see when entering his studio is certainly you. The only person supposed to be here is Jisung, and yet, here you are, smiling, eyes glinting teasingly.
He looks at you, then at Jisung, sitting in front of his computer. He turns around on the rolling chair, totally unfazed by the fact that he brought a stranger into Mark’s studio.
“What is this?”
“This?” you question, but he ignores you, walking straight to his friend.
“Uh, well, you’ve already met I believe, no?” Jisung asks, slightly confused. He says your name and it’s all it takes to irritate Mark. “She wanted to come see us work, learn a thing or two. I thought it was a great idea.”
Jisung’s innocence is a good thing sometimes, really. It’s refreshing, quite funny, too, but right now, Mark wishes he wasn’t so credulous all the damn time.
“It didn’t come to you to, maybe, ask for my permission?” he whispers, leaning in so you don’t properly hear him.
Jisung’s brows raise up, simply shrugging. “Not really,” he admits, “I thought it wouldn’t bother you. I told you, she’s a sweetheart, and she promised to not interrupt too much. Right?” Jisung turns to you and your smile gets bigger, bobbing your head.
“Absolutely.”
Mark looks hard at you, not believing this one second. Has god sent you on this earth to test him?
You stare back at him sweetly, and he swears, if it wasn’t for Jisung’s presence, Mark would have made you regret it. Bitterly.
Surprisingly, you did keep your promise. You didn’t disturb them once, even pretending to care about what they were working on. You seemed close to Jisung, actually being kind to him, the total opposite of how you were behaving the other night. You’re good at playing pretend, Mark realizes.
Your eyes were on him the entire time, though. You had the same look as he recalled, eye-fucking him right here in his studio. He was pissed off, to say the least, but he didn’t make a comment. That would’ve been weird to say anything in front of Jisung and the last thing he wants is him thinking there’s something happening between you two— because there’s nothing.
He just hoped the end of the day would come rapidly, and it did, to Mark’s relief.
With Jisung and you gone, he can finally work peacefully, nobody undressing him with their eyes.
That is until he comes back into his studio.
“What the fuck are you still doing here?”
He’s lost all of his patience to be respectful to you now. He really doesn’t give a shit. How can someone be so stubborn?
“Told Ji’ I was going to call a taxi,” you explain, getting up from the sofa you’ve been sitting on. “I lied,” you smirk.
Mark blinks at you, too shocked to say anything. You use the opportunity to get closer, bringing him to you, and then pushing him onto the sofa behind him.
“Call me ‘too young’ all you want, I recognize a pervert when I see one.”
You don’t think twice before straddling his lap, sitting down on his thighs. Your hands come to rest on his shoulders, and even though Mark sends you the most murderous glare in the world, he does nothing to push you away.
Curiosity, temptation.
“If you didn’t know my age, you would have fucked me right against the bathroom stall if I had asked you to,” you affirm confidently, and there’s truth behind your words. Of course there is, Mark knows what he thought of you at first— what position he imagined you in, the sounds you’d make.
“Get off of me,” Mark barks back, his frowned eyebrows giving him this angry look that you like so much.
You roll your eyes, sighing. “Here I thought I was the whiny little one, but you’re whinier than I am, Markie.”
“I’m not fucking whining, I’m giving you an order.”
“Get me off then,” you propose, grabbing both of his wrists and putting his hands on your hips. “Go on, do it. Or are you too scared to touch me?” You provoke him further, knowing you’ll eventually make him break down, sooner or later.
“You don’t want me to, believe me.”
His threat has you shivering… and excited.
“Why’s that?” you wonder, subtly moving your hips over his lap. “You’re sure you’re not the little bitch, hm, Markie?”
You should have expected him to snap sooner, because the moment you say this, he pins you down on the couch, you underneath him. His hold on your wrists is nothing gentle and you can’t even move them. If before you felt like the master of your own game, well now you’ve lost all sense of power, being Mark’s puppet and not the opposite.
You’re shocked. Scared.
His hand closes immediately around your face, squishing your cheeks between his fingers. “Be disrespectful to me once again and I’ll break your fucking jaw,” he spits at you. “Has anybody ever told you to respect your elders, huh? I bet fucking not,” he snorts, “I’ll teach you some manners myself.”
You don’t understand until he reaches under your skirt, pulling down on your panties. Your eyes widen, letting out whines of protest.
“Stop, stop!” you stress out, trying to grab Mark’s hands now that yours are free.
But he merely laughs, probably the first time you’ve ever heard him. “Ah, now you want me to stop? After all the begging you did so I’d fuck you.”
Mark doesn’t stop, working on his belt, undoing his pants.
Your heart accelerates, and despite the worried look on your face, your eyes starting to water, the turn of events please you all too much.
You briefly fight with him, pushing on his chest like a little girl, whimpering pathetically. Mark stays unfazed, easily taking both of your wrists in one hand and pinning it down above your head. He grunts as he pushes his hard cock into you, a gasp escaping your lips as you feel your walls expanding.
You blink multiple times, taking a deep breath, and the tears roll down the side of your face, disappearing into your hair. It burns, but you’re so wet.
You ask yourself if Mark knows you’re faking it, but with how delighted he seems to be forcing himself on you, you doubt that he does. Whatever pleases him.
“It hurts!” You cry out, wiggling your legs, attempting to close them—to no avail—while he pushes himself all the way inside of your pussy.
Mark snickers. He couldn’t care less.
“Oh, it hurts?” You nod, gulping down. “Tell me why it hurts.”
He doesn’t wait to move his hips back and forth, using you for his own sick pleasure right away without any second thought. You wanted this. You asked for this. Why should he be careful of you now? You shouldn’t have been so eager. Shouldn’t have acted like such a slut.
“It-” you begin, but a moan of pain cuts you off, Mark’s hips slapping violently against yours; it has your body moving up, your head hitting the armrest of the couch. “You’re- You’re too…”
“Am I going too rough on your virgin little cunt? Poor girl,” he coos, almost laughing in your face. “Too bad I don’t give a shit, huh?”
You sob out when he keeps on with the assault of his hips, his cock defiling your pussy like you’ve never imagined before. Mark knocks the air out of your lungs, panting heavily above you, his already short nails digging into the fat of your thigh.
You squirm around, pulling on your wrists, none of your attempts are successful— not like you want them to be anyway, but giving Mark a little of a fight is more fun.
“Please, Mark, I’m sorry,” you beg, lips trembling.
His eyes, filled with lust and hate at the same time, lay on you.
“You should’ve thought about it before pushing me over the edge, if it’s pity you wanted.”
#— ☆ starring dream#— ☆ starring 127#w/ mark !#tw noncon#nct smut#nct x reader#nct hard hours#nct dream smut#nct dream x reader#nct dream imagines#nct 127 x reader#nct 127 smut#nct 127 imagines#mark lee x reader#mark x reader#mark lee smut#mark smut
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You Know Other Men Meme HC
Summary: when he gets randomly jealous while cuddling on the sofa and you tell him he’s the most jealous man you know feat. Dick, Jason, Tim, Duke, and Damian
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Dick
“You know other men?”
He’s offended. Shocked. Insulted. Disappointed.
Like who are the other men??? There were other men???
Snaps his head up and looks at you with either eyes that can probably beat Batman’s when he’s angry or the saddest, puppies eyes you’ll ever see on the planet though the grip on your waist says otherwise
Starts questioning you who these “other men” are and goes from wanting their information including address to phone number to since when you started knowing them or where you met them
But when you tell him “I know only one man and it’s you”, he’ll quickly melt - getting all dopey with a silly smile on his face as he peppers kisses all over you
Cuddles into you more though asking for you to look at something else. If not, he’s going have to use a different method to get you to listen ; )
Jason
“Yeah and you better remember it.”
It’s not confidence in himself that makes him say it - rather, it’s knowing that you chose him and would always choose him over anyone else
Like, what is there to compete? All the other guys (cough Bruce and Dick cough) are already sucking it since he’s winning with having you, the best thing in his life
Plus, since you made him yours, you’re stuck with him for eternity whether you like it or not
Does playfully pull you into a suffocating bear hug, enjoying the warmth of your body seeping into his
Chuckles if you play along and tap his biceps, shoulder, or chest, spouting “uncle”, “I lose”, or something that’ll show you surrender
Gives you a kiss on the lips or cheeks before going back to critic and rate whatever you were looking at earlier
Tim
“You do realize I’m the only man you know?”
Rolls his eyes and pretends your comment isn’t bothering him - after all, knowing you inside and out, there are no “other men” other than him
He’s awful at hiding it though when he starts to nuzzle into the junction where you neck meets your shoulder to hide his disgruntlement
Shuffles and pulls you closer to him, trying to “imprint” himself on you. Whether it’s conscious or subconscious that is yet to be decided
Play with his hair and tell him “yes and you’re the only man I also love” will earn a warm grin from him
That or him hiding his face into your shoulder with the tip of his ears burning red as his Red Robin suit
Either way the arms around you won’t loosen up for a while, going back to cuddling in his embrace. This time with him not minding what you’re looking at making a comment here and there, mostly jabbing at your taste
Duke
“I thought I was your man?”
He’s so confused by what you just said
What do you mean “most jealous man I know” - you know other men??? Is he not your only man???
Literally will start overthinking and confront you on whether you actually have starting seeing people behind his back
Has his head-up with an “excuse me?” written all over, needing to confirm you aren’t hiding anything based on your expression
Only to feel silly and embarrassed when you give him sass e.g., “are you not the only I’m dating?” or “do I look like I have another man besides you?”. Especially if your eyes are deadpan
Poor guy ends up hiding his face, becoming the smaller spoon. Dies but appreciates if you snuggle closer to him and pat him
Damian
“You know other men?”
Does the same thing as Dick but much angrier and more hissing
It’s going to take a while to calm him down especially when he’s ready to end things there and then with plans to also take down and ruin those “other men’s” lives
Listen. You are his and only his. How dare you have other men besides him???
When you tell him “you do realize you are the only person i’m dating?” that gets him to put the katana down
He’ll ask you who these “other men” are and realize they weren’t there from the start. Not when it’s his siblings and father
He just grumbles about how you should’ve said that from start and expect you to go back cuddling with him, head pats and all other expressions of affection to comfort him
Will succumb and completely “forgive” you if you give kiss on the top of his head
#dick grayson#nightwing#dick grayson x reader#nightwing x reader#jason todd#red hood#jason todd x reader#red hood x reader#damian wayne#robin#damian wayne x reader#duke thomas#signal#duke thomas x reader#tim drake#red robin#tim drake x reader#red robin x reader
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Please please sunghoon with a size kink please ugh I need him so bad
ngnnfngf. I’m crazy for him.
***
“Look at you,” Sunghoon coos when he hovers his naked body over yours. It makes you feel like he’s inspecting you, making you feel much smaller than you are but you can’t say you don’t love it. His hands push out to touch your soft breasts before dragging it down the side of your body, prying your legs open wider.
He takes ahold of his cock and spreads his precum onto himself, stroking with the flick of his wrist expertly. Sunghoon swipes the head with the pad of his thumb when he watches you constrict around nothing and lets a wad of spit fall from his mouth until it glistens over your folds.
Sunghoon looks at you with a mixture of awe and disbelief. He grabs the base of his cock until it situates on your pussy. The warmth of your skin makes Sunghoon feel like he might as well be set aflame. The skin on skin contact makes his shoulders feel weaker by the minute and it doesn’t help that you’re looking at him like he’s what you dream of.
“You have such a tiny pussy.” His cock jumps at the observation, tip nudging your clit softly. “I don’t know if I’ll fit.”
With his grip, Sunghoon glides his dick between your folds and pushes back enough just for the head to catch in your hole. He does it again and again until he throws his head back in pleasure, loving the way your wet sounds echo throughout the room.
Should he be doing this with you right now? Probably not. But you looked so good tonight that he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to take you back to his hotel room when he saw you wearing that number he liked so much.
Even now, with your body underneath his, does Sunghoon think you look divine as ever. He pushes the head into you and uses his fingers to keep it there and watches your pussy envelope him with ease. He looks so big like this, even with just a little bit of himself inside of you.
“God, you’re so fucking tiny around me. How’s my cock gonna fuck you properly if you can’t even take my tip?”
His words make you gush arousal. Sunghoon stands higher on his knees and pushes another inch inside of you before he feels you clenching around him. His restraint flies out the window and he pushes the rest of his cock inside of you, savoring the intense moan that comes from deep within your body when he does so.
“I’ll make my cock fit into your pussy, baby. Don’t worry.”
It’s not enough for Sunghoon to be wrapped up in you. Instead, he thrusts hastily a few times before pulling you up off of the bed with his cock still inside you and pushes your hips against him with your legs dangling on either side of his body, enjoying the sound of your skin slapping against his. Sunghoon walks to where the large wall mirror is and fucks you right in front of him, watching as your back muscles tighten every time he impales you with his big, hard dick.
Sunghoon grips your ass for balance and digs his fingertips into your meaty flesh when you cling onto him. Seeing your size difference turns him on in ways he can’t describe, loving the way he overpowers you completely. You’re at his complete mercy with the way you’re clawing at his biceps and hanging onto him like you’re afraid he’ll drop you and stop fucking you. He has no intentions to quit right now.
He watches the way his balls constrict in the mirror every time you clench so hard that his cock nearly falls out of you. It’s so hot that Sunghoon moans right into your mouth when he kisses you, shoving his tongue against yours to elevate his orgasm. He feels you creaming around him already with the angle he’s holding you at and he’s sure your body has fallen limp from the pleasure and grip he has on you.
His legs start to burn after fucking you in this standing position for a while but it doesn’t deter him. Your body that barely covers his in the mirror aids his orgasm, pushing him across the finish line as he widens his stance and fucks into your pussy without any constraint.
He doesn’t stop thrusting even when his cum starts to ooze from between your bodies. It drips down to his thighs and he pushes his hips until his cock becomes soft. You move your head to kiss him, pulling his attention away from the mirror as your pillowy lips distract him from the sight before him.
When the two of you have caught your breath, Sunghoon looks back at the mirror and watches as he lifts your body off of his cock with ease. You wince at the loss and he kisses the corner of your mouth as if to sooth you from the lack of him in you.
“So good for me,” Sunghoon whispers against your mouth.
#enhypen smut#enha smut#sunghoon smut#park sunghoon smut#enhypen x reader#enha hard thoughts#enhypen hard thoughts#enha hard hours#enhypen hard hours#enha x reader#kpop x reader#kpop smut#park sunghoon x reader#sunghoon x reader#sunghoon#hard thought*#my writing*
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So you know absolutely positively nothing about photography
Cellphone cameras are fucking great. I love them. I love the ability to take photos whenever and wherever at basically zero cost.
Point-and-shoot cameras have always been awesome and accessible devices.
This is not a post shit-talking "basic" cameras. This is a post for people who have only ever used basic cameras who want to know at least slightly more about photography.
Because, the thing is, a remarkable amount of photography is math. And if you don't know it's math, it looks like a mystery. And you may be standing there snapping a photo with your phone that looks pretty good, but your friend with a DSLR looked at the sky, twisted a dial, and took three steps to the left and they took a photo of the same subject that looks like it belongs on a magazine cover.
How did they do that?
Probably math.
If you've come into possession of a DSLR camera and are disappointed that the photos you're taking aren't looking like the photos you thought came from DSLRs, I'm here to tell you about the math you may not know about.
What is a photograph?
At its most basic, a photograph is the result of light on a sensor. Let's consider a pinhole camera for a moment. A pinhole camera is a lightproof box with a piece of photographic paper on one side and a tiny hole in the other.
When you create a photo with a pinhole camera, you're using pretty much all of the math you would in a big fancy camera, just in a cruder form they are:
The sensitivity of the paper, film, or camera sensor to light (this is your "ISO" if you're using a digital camera or film). Light sensitivity can be easily changed on a digital camera, but on chemical-treated paper or film the sensitivity is predetermined and cannot be changed. If you want to change the ISO on an analog camera, you need to change the medium that's being exposed.
An opening to let light in - your F-stop, or aperture. The F-stop of a photo is how wide open the lens is to let light onto your film or sensor. In a pinhole camera, you have something that is theoretically a very very large F-stop because you have a very, very tiny opening to let light through (F-stops run in reverse - the bigger the number, the smaller the opening).
Exposure - your exposure is the amount of time you leave your sensor open to the light. The majority of photos you see in the world have exposure times that are measured in tiny fractions of a second, sometimes in thousandths of a second. If you're using photo paper in your pinhole camera, you may have an exposure time of minutes rather than tiny portions of a second, but your photo exposure will still depend on how long you want to leave your "lens" open.
Focal length - your focal length is a description of the relationship of the distance between the light source and the light sensor. You can manipulate this in a pinhole camera by making the camera longer or shorter. A larger focal length means a narrower field of view - it zooms in on the subject.
A pinhole camera is the simplest camera that lets you, the photographer, control all of the elements of a photo. This is, functionally, fully manual photography.
So what's the difference between all that and a cellphone camera?
Point-and-shoot cameras like those on cellphones give the user more limited control over these settings. For instance, think of a disposable camera. On a disposable camera, the photographer has control over one setting - the ISO of the film, which they can select at purchase. They can't control how wide the lens opens or how long it stays open, and the only way they can compensate for lighting that is a poor match to the ISO is flash.
Cellphone cameras are very much like a standard point-and-shoot. By default, users point their cameras, then shoot a photo. Many cellphones have a "pro" mode that will allow the user to emulate different ISOs or f-stops, but the sensors in cellphone cameras aren't as good as the ones in camera-cameras, and the lenses are very limited as well. Some cellphone cameras and point-and-shoot digital cameras WILL allow users to set longer exposures, and many cellphone cameras have multiple lenses which does allow for some lens effects, but they don't give a huge amount of control to the user.
Okay so let's say I've got my new shiny camera, what do I need to know?
For best results, you want your ISO to match the light you're shooting in. Low ISO is for bright light, high ISO is for low light. If you wanted to take snapshots of your family outdoors at disneyland in the summer, you'd buy 100 ISO film. When I used to shoot football games at night in oddly lit stadiums, I'd use 1600 ISO film. If you have a DSLR camera, there's a setting somewhere in there that tells you how to set the ISO. If you are shooting in relatively low light and the photos are turning out darker than you'd like *but* things are moving too quickly to use a longer exposure, you can bump up your ISO for brighter, sharper images but they will be more noisy and grainy than ones shot at a lower ISO. If you want clean, smooth, crisp images, your goal should be to shoot with the lowest ISO possible.
The Aperture of your camera lens determines your F-Stop. This acts like the pupils of your eyes. When it's really really bright out, your pupils shrink down to let in less light. When it's darker out, your pupils get bigger to let in more light. If you are shooting in low light, you want a low F-Stop, which means that your camera's lens is open really wide. If you are shooting in a bright environment, you want a higher F-Stop, which will mean the opening is very small. Since your F-stop interacts with the focal length of your lens, you will find that zooming in with the lens often makes images darker. To shoot clear images from far away, you need to be very conscious of your F-stop, your ISO, and ambient lighting conditions.
Exposure describes the length of time you set the camera to leave the aperture open. In many DSLRs this can span from 1/3200th of a second to infinitely long (the "bulb" setting means "aperture is open until you close it.") If you want sharp images of frozen motion, you want the fastest speed that you can get. Sports photography and photography of things like insects or milk crowns often use extremely short exposures to get sharp images. If you want blurry images you want slower speeds. If you want to take a photo in a low-light environment and capture motion within that environment - for instance, taking photos of cars on a freeway at night - you want slower speeds (if you want to do this in a brighter environment, like taking photos of a stream in the daytime, you want slower speeds and a specific kind of lens filter called a neutral density filter). When exposures are set to be longer than about 1/60th of a second, images with motion start to look blurry.
Focal Length determines the field of view of your subject. If you have a lens with variable focal lengths, this is called a zoom lens. A longer focal length zooms you in and a shorter focal length zooms you out. Lenses with fixed focal lengths are called prime lenses, and can't zoom in or out.
Depth of Field - your depth of field is a combination of the interaction of your focal length, your distance from your subject, and your F-stop. The depth of field describes the relative amount of space in a photograph that is in focus. A long depth of field means that much of the image plane is in focus. A short depth of field means that a narrow portion of the image plane is in focus. A low F-stop produces a narrow depth of field. A long focal length produces a narrow depth of field.
You can think of your camera as a tool that measures time and space. Your ISO and Exposures are measurements of time (how quickly the sensor senses the light, how long the sensor is exposed to the light), the F-Stop and the focal length are measurements of space (how wide the aperture of the camera is, how far the lens is from the sensor).
The pre-set modes on your camera, the ones on the dial that show a person running, flower, or a cloud, or a lady with a hat - these are generic settings that combine an ISO, exposure time, and f-stop that are likely to work well for outdoor action shots, landscape photography, cloudy light, and portraits. When you're using those pre-set modes, you control the focal length and not much else.
When you understand that the running person/action mode means low-ish ISO combined with high shutter speeds, you can start just setting your own ISO and shutter speed when you're shooting sports. When you know that portrait mode sets you up for low-ish f-stops, relatively quick shutter speeds, and mid-range ISOs, you can just start setting those things on your own so you can have more control.
"What about light metering?"
Since your camera is a machine that records light, light metering is pretty important. The light meter of your camera will tell you if your settings are "correct" for the amount of that the light sensor senses. In most modern cameras there is a light metering display on the bottom edge of the viewfinder that goes from negative to positive; if the meter shows that you are in the negative it means that your photo will be under-exposed (too little light will get to the sensor and the image will appear dark), if the meter shows that you are in the positive it means that your photo will be over-exposed (too much light will get to the sensor and the image will appear too bright - "blown out"). The way to correct for under or over exposure is to change the length of the exposure, making it longer for underexposed images and shorter for overexposed images.
What the light meter is doing is thinking about all of your settings and the lighting for you. It looks at the ISO, focal length, f-stop, light hitting the sensor, and planned exposure time and tells you what that combination of settings is likely to produce - something too bright, or something too dark.
When you are more experienced with photography, you get good at juggling these things on the fly and messing around with them more, which is how you can do the magic of looking at the sky, twisting a dial, taking three steps to the left, and knocking it out of the park with a picture.
It only looks like magic because you're doing a ton of math under the hood that is extremely non-obvious to people who are new to photography.
Anyway, here is a good guide to depth of field and what goes into it.
Here is a basic photography textbook that explains the principles that I've gone over here in a lot more detail with a lot better explanations. It's a film photography textbook, but one of the cool things about photography is that a lot of stuff from the analog era is still relevant in the digital area, and the basics haven't changed.
However all of that is about the *technical* aspects of photography. Photography isn't just a record of exposure time and focal length, so here's a basic photo composition textbook that talks about the artistic principles of photography.
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