#there should be links on my profile but if its not working you can usually find me at some variant of motionpicturesoundtrack or avianvevo

[motionpicturessoundtrack]

Hi, i was wondering if you had an Instagram account. I really like your art and i want to share it there

hey there!

i'm afraid i do not, though i appreciate the interest!

[flkwh0re]

Silent Observer

Warnings: Fingering, Oral, Mommy kink (A), Dark-ish themes, Using sex as a form of manipulation (reader isn’t aware tho)

Word Count: 1,073

Author’s Note: The whole thing of when this took place didn’t really benefit the story but i just had an itching to make some 1940s detective story. 😪 (my masterlist url isn’t working so if you enjoy this pls don’t hesitate to check out my masterlist linked in the pinned post on my profile ☹️)

Agatha was just about fed up with the amount of work thrown on your lap!! It was the summer of 1946 for gods sake, the war had been over for nearly a year and the country was phenomenal! You should be out enjoying the crisp summer evening, but there you were hidden away in that small office for hours.

A small knock came at your door, "Sweetheart, can I come in?" Agatha said softly, "Yea, come in." She opened the door and gracefully walked towards you, as you stretched and adjusted yourself in your seat. "Hey hon, I brought you a cup of water. Why don't you have a break? You've been working all damn day!" Her tone made you chuckle.

"I would if I could dear, but this is quite the case. The amount of women who just showed up dead, just months after the war ended, who has clearly died months before." You paused, sighing. Who could do such a thing? Many of these women were unknown, but a few were mothers. "What makes it worse is the way they died, it seems supernatural?"

Agatha sighed, "Oh honey you need a break!" Her usual laugher erupt from her chest, why was she laughing? You looked at her, a confused expression held to your face. "Oh darling, don't make that face it's not pretty. I just think you're crazy for considering the supernatural."

You leaned your head back, neck resting on the top of the chair as you stared up at the ceiling. "You're right, but I still have lots of work to do." Agatha's veiny hands stroked at your hair. "Oh sweetheart, take a break please. You're tense, and your eyes are drooping. Let me take care of you?"

You raised a brow at the tone she gave in the finish of her sentence, "What do you mean by that gorgeous?" Her signature, sinister smile crept its way onto her lips. "I believe you know."

Her hand traveled from your head to your lap, her hand resting on your thigh. You tilted your head, turning to her. Her lips met yours, a moan of relief leaving your throat. Her lips passionately entangled with yours, the hand that rested on your thigh moved to rest on your cheek.

Your tongues fought against one another, but inevitably fell to your demise as Agatha won the fight for dominance. Her fingers went for the clasp of your pants, undoing them and shoving her hand in your pants without even hesitating. Her fingers traced the wet patch that had already began to form. "Fuck Aggie." You whined.

"Is that my name?" She asked, your head shook in a 'no'. "Mommy." You corrected, earning a nod from Agatha. "That's a good girl." Her finger slipped into your underwear, softly rubbing at your clit. As you went to gasp, your lips were reclaimed by Agatha.

She spread your wetness around, then abruptly slipped a finger in you. "Oh, fuck- fuck Mommy that feels so good." You mumbled as her fingers pumped in and out of you. "You look so pretty taking mommy's fingers baby, such a pretty girl." A whine of annoyance came from you.

"Don't be a brat sweetheart, just remember whose fingers are inside you right now sweetheart." She said, words that will now never leave your mind, you'll be lucky to even get anymore work done today. Agatha doesn't mind at all though.

"Mommy m'close!" You managed out, but she stopped. Whines of protest came from you. "Hush, I don't wanna end my fun yet."

She moved you to your desk, all the paper you'd neatly organized were now strewn across the floor in messy piles but you honestly couldn't fucking care. All you were worried about was the woman in front of you, whose fingers were currently unbuttoning your shirt.

"Fuck darling you're so gorgeous." Her eyes scanned over your breast, down to the waist band of your underwear. Her lips landed on your nipple, assaulting the bud. Her teeth tugged it, your hand instantly went to the back of her head to give her some sign to calm down, but failed.

She trailed kisses up your neck, marking you up. You knew you'd get shit for that Monday, but you didn't care. "I need to mark up your pretty skin, let everyone know that you're mine." She rasped in your ear. "All mommy's." You replied which caused a satisfied smile to creep on her lips.

She kissed down your stomach, and around your hips. "Let me get these off you." She pulled down your pants, discarding them and your panties somewhere for you to find later. "So pretty and so wet." She beamed in awe, as she stared at your slick covered pussy.

Agatha wasted no time getting her mouth on you, her tongue traced the perfect pattern over your clit. Your hips jerking around, even though she held them tightly. You gripped her hair, and pulled her as close as possible to you. Your eyes couldn't stay off her as her tongue hit every inch of you.

Fingers were added into the mix of her tongue, the sensation almost too much to bear. "Fuck! Mommy I'm gonna cum, please.." You begged, Agatha looked up at you. You dazed and fucked out eyes stared back down at hers, she loved you like this.

Finally she gave you the go to, "Cum for mommy baby, make a mess on my tongue." And you saw stars. "Thank you mommy, thank you so much. I love you." You babbled on, but she hushed you and placed a soft kiss on your temple.

"Don't thank me sweetheart, you deserved that. Now why don't we forget about work for the night and let me take care of you? Go find something on the telly and we'll relax on the couch. I'll fix your favorite food too." You agreed, and she helped you to your room to get cleaned up and changed.

Unbeknownst to you, the one who you loved oh so dearly, was the one you'd been hunting down this whole time. You even though she loved you, she wouldn't have hesitated for a moment to put you under her spell and protect you from the truth. She was the one who had murdered all those women, or in reality, witches. While she had you cuming on her tongue, all sorts of evidence pointing to her, gone.

[drvscarlett]

Let Him Cook pt5

Charles Leclerc x MasterChef! reader

A/N: I'm really so happy with all the love that you have given to this fic. I enjoy writing about it, let me know if you have any blurbs or scenarios that you wanna see. This series will continue on and on

Let Him Cook Series: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

taglist: @bookstore-of-dreams @barcelonaloverf1life @ririyulife @minseok-smaus @mehrmonga @sltwins @charlesgirl16 @six-call @spideybv28 @casperlikej @weekendlusting @janeholt3 @evie-119 @leilanixx @randomgirlnumber-13 @itsjustkhaos

lec lerc challenge

"As you all know by now, Charles is planning to launch his own ice cream store"you started talking to the camera "And you know what funny story, he didn't even tell me"

Charles, who was by your side, was laughing like a hyena. He actually wanted it to be discovered on the the first day of April so everyone might think its a prank but then he will announce that he is very serious about it. It was an elaborate prank on top of prank. However, the news sites got a hold of it earlier.

"That's another story time. We have to get down to business" Charles reeled the topic back to the video that you two are making.

"Okay so in order to test Charlie's knowledge about ice cream, I have here ice creams that I made myself" you explained.

In front of the two of you were 10 paper cups. They have been covered on top so that Charles won't get a hint about the color.

"So my main task is to identify what's the flavor of the ice cream"Charles confirms "Easy"

"I made some unconventional flavors to throw you off" you informed him.

You can't help but giggle as you remember how you made some weird flavors for the ice cream. But hey, this was supposed to be a challenge to see if Charles' taste buds are working so it doesn't necessarily have to be a delicious ice cream.

"Okay, I am ready to scream for ice cream"

The first five cups were easy peasy. It's common flavors such as chocolate, vanilla, cookies and cream, caramel, and pistachio.

"I'm good at this mon amour"

Charles is pretty confident now. Time to throw the curveballs.

"I'm excited for you to try this"you excitedly give him the cup.

Since Charles is blindfolded as he does this challenge, the first thing he does is smell it. He is usually confident upon spelling but the frown lines forming on his face suggest that he might be confused about the flavor profile.

"This feels strange. I smelled this before but I can't put my name on it"Charles notes.

He takes a scoop from the cup and tasted it. It was evident to his face that he didn't enjoy this ice cream a lot.

"That's so sour, mon amour there are definitely strawberries in that"Charles complained.

"Strawberries and?"

There was a string of italian and french word from Charles as he tries his best to identify it. Finally, he had a lightbulb moment where he remembered the taste of it.

"BALSAMICO" Charles screamed "That is not a flavor I will put in my store, definitely"

Y/NCooks posted a photo.

Y/NCooks turns out Charles is pretty good with his taste buds. Watch me test Charles with his ice cream skills [link]

User1 Atleast we know that Charles is committed to being an ice cream man

User2 Charles_Leclerc you should definitely try the bourbon and corn flakes in the menu

User 3 Highly agree, I would love to try that User4 were all acting like were so close to milan. Babes we live across the world.

LandoNorris do you have some plain ice cream left for me

Y/NCooks i have some but its good to try other flavors every now and then Lan LandoNorris mmm, i'll try that black sesame one. that seems like a good flavor Y/NCooks brilliant. message me when i can see you Charles_Leclerc im amazed how Y/N managed to convince you of different food choices

MasterChefAU is this Charles' entry to master chef blind taste test challenge?

Charles_Leclerc MasterChef Monaco soon??? User4 I'm laughing at the number of sidequest Charles has. SIR you are an f1 driver!!!

Charles the baker

Charles_Leclerc posted a photo.

Charles_Leclerc okay i did all the measurements right. WHY DID THEY EXPAND

User1 I can hear Charles screaming with the caption

User2 Charles is such a mood when I try to bake things

User3 But is it edible tho?

Charles_Leclerc it is but its not as pretty User4 this is an internet highlight wherein Charles is sulking and asking the internet where he went wrong

maxverstappen1 recipe reveal?

Charles_Leclerc no ✨✨ maxverstappen1 don't want it anyways. i just wanted to know what you did so i won't end up like that User5 MAX!!!!! User6 your honor we love the lestappen crumbs

Y/NCooks honey maybe you should consider giving it some space, bread do expand when they get baked.

Charles_Leclerc they do?? Y/NCooks Yes they do. But in all honesty they look so cute, its alright honey Charles_Leclerc love you mon amour!

SebastianVettel maybe we should have a baking session one of these days, I can teach you a lot about baking breads

Charles_Leclerc sounds good, miss you already Seb User7 oh to be Charles Leclerc having the Sebastian Vettel teaching him bread and MasterChef Y/N encouraging him

tiktok pasta challenge

It was a fairly simple tiktok viral recipe and in your mind its something that Charles will be able to follow instructions with. So you set up your camera and told Charles about a cooking challenge that he has to do.

"Today's challenge, Charles will be using his listening skills. Lets see how well he listens to me"you greeted the camera "Are you ready mon amour?"

"More than ever, I look good in an apron"

You stayed behind the camera as Charles stayed in front of the kitchen counter. He was tying up his apron and grabbing your chef hat from one of the drawers.

"First of all, I need you to quarter an onion"you instructed.

Charles was immediately grabbing the onion and you immediately face palmed yourself when Charles started quartering the onion without even peeling it.

"Honey, you are supposed to peel it" you sigh

"Honey, you didn't say anything about peeling it. We have three cameras set up and editors should replay that you said quarter it and not peel it" Charles argued

You raised your hand in defeat, you should have been more clearer.

"Okay, I'm not gonna be vague. I'll make it clear"

The whole cooking went along smoothly until its time for Charles to cook the pasta. He has been heavily stressing to get the texture right this time or else it will further the allegations that he can't cook pasta.

"Calm down Charlie"

"I am very very very calm, I'm just checking" he lifted the lid for the fifth time "They have to be perfect"

"Charles is very honored to be taught by Gordon on a 1 on 1 session"you informed the camera.

The two have exchanged numbers and Charles will often ask his culinary questions to Gordon when you were not available to answer them right away. Gordon seems to enjoy the new friendship with the driver since he often send Charles link for cooking recipe to try.

"I don't wanna be an idiot sandwhich" Charles muttered, stirring the pot of pasta.

Charles got a perfect al dente to his pasta. He pulls out the baked feta and tomatoes out of the oven then mixed it with the pasta. It seems as if the dish looks pretty especially with the garnishes that Charles insisted.

"Plating is also everything"he says to the camera as he grates some lemon zest to the plate "Whatever this taste like, just remember that Y/N was instructing me so if there is anyone to blame then its Y/N"

"Way to throw me under the bus Charles"

Y/NCooks just posted a photo

Y/NCooks The dish vs the chef. I think they are equally yummy [link]

User1 CHARLES CAN COOK!!!!

User2 alternative title charles stressing 10 minutes straight if the pasta is al dente or not

User3 The girlfriend effect on Charles is that he is now able to cook pasta

User4 I really want to try that pasta

Arthur_Leclerc i hope you never get tired of the pasta, its the only thing he will cook from now on

Charles_Leclerc i mean she loves it!!!! Y/NCooks its pretty good arthur, you should try it!! Arthur_Leclerc next family dinner? Charles_Leclerc im on it! User24 oh to be a fly at the Leclerc family dinner

User5 I think everyone ignored the caption, miss maam thirsting over her boyfriend

User6 if i was Y/N i would too Y/NCooks facts only!!! User6 Mother replied to us!!!

scuderiaferrari so charles is approved for a cooking challenge in the channel soon?

Y/NCooks he is born ready User8 kind of missed the c2 cooking challenges

everything i cooked

Charles_Leclerc posted a reel

here is everything that I did to celebrate Y/N's birthday. This isn't a common day, its really special so I have to run at 5 to get the flowers I ordered for her. Then next I cooked up breakfast which is some pancakes, thank you Carlos for the recipe. And then I surprised her with a little bit of breakfast in bed

and then I started making our lunch after clearing the table. Y/N had been craving butter chicken and I purposely did not take her so I could make some at home. Its a fairly easy recipe, I just had to mix some spices, cook the onions then you have the tomato paste and then cream. thanks Gordon I owe you one. She loved it so much.

and then I started early on the dessert for dinner. I didn't do the ladyfingers from scratch, I don't have a lot of time so yes here we are. The tiramisu is in the fridge. And then since Y/N loved the Lady and the Tramp spaghetti meatballs scene. I did my own take on it. Needless to say she loved it. So yes happy birthday once more mon amour, I love you so so much.

User10 I know we have been making fun of Charles but the man can actually cook.

User11 My boyfriend be forgetting my birthday but Charles here is slaving in the kitchen for Y/N's birthday

User12 CHARLES IS THE STANDARD!!! User14 Imagine cooking a whole breakfast, lunch, dinner, with a birthday dessert???!!! GOD I SEE WHAT YOU HAVE DONE FOR OTHERS

MasterChefAU Im glad to hear you are treating our girl well, happy birthday Y/NCooks

User13 OUR GIRL??!!!! Y/NCooks he is treating me well, thank you for all the greetings

Gordongram That's a beautiful dish and effort Charles!

Charles_Leclerc Thank you !!! Y/NCooks he is screaming btw Gordongram

PierreGasly when will you cook for me

CarlosSainz55 and me?? i think there is some former teammate privileges out here LewisHamilton the current teammate is also wondering SebastianVettel you boys are not Y/N. Y/N is special. Charles_Leclerc what seb said!!!

Y/NCooks one of the sweetest gesture anyone did for me. Thank you honey for making this day extra special. I don't need any five star restaurants when I have you in the kitchen.

Charles_Leclerc I love you. You deserve the world User21 Them your honor. User22 Happy Birthday Y/N, you two are excellent for each other

[lovetei]

hey , i saw ur profile and can i please ask for a favor , yesterday was the worst day on my life, i had a bad grade on my last exam for college and now i can't do what i want with my friends leaving me alone i feel like i can end my life anytime, so please if u can do the obey me boys comforting me or smth please and thanks

Omg hey, please don't say those, there are just times where everything and everyone are against you but who knows, maybe tomorrow or the next day will be the best day? Please be happy :( 🖤

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The characters comforting you after you experienced an extremely frustrating day

Versions: Demon brothers, Side Characters

Warnings: Hyperventilating, burn out, MC feeling sad in different ways, nose bleeding, unhealthy studying behavior

Links: Masterlist

--------------------------------------------------

LUCIFER

Lucifers day is the same as usual

Wake up, eat, work, eat, sleep, repeat

But the sleep part was immediately erased from his schedule when he saw you

It was already dark outside

And everyone else has already gone on their way home

And he expected you to have done the same as he already memorized your schedule

But when he saw you, sitting on a bench, alone, inside the garden of RAD

Crying and almost hyperventilating

His none existant soul almost flew away from his body

He ran up to you and sat beside you

Just what the hell happened?

He checked around you for any visible injuries or wounds but there's none

MC why don't you answer him?! He'll help you with literally anything just talk to him!

And then that's when you shakily handed him a piece of paper

He must say that the score is low

But definetly not something to worry about considering the amount of other works you excelled at

"Is it because your score at this test..?" He asked oh so softly, his voice so low and comforting as if any sudden surprise will shatter you

You just nodded innocently

To be honest with himself, this is unlike any other exam for him where he knows or at least he got the idea of what's the answer or what to do

He's completely lost

He never saw you cry this hard before

He can't say "It's okay..." As he pat your back because its obviously not for you

So he just turned into his demon form and hugged your currently vulnerable form with his large, black wings

Hoping that the temporary comfort of keeping you,

Hiding you from the world can help you.

Don't worry, MC.

He's right here...

MAMMON

Mammon's day is as usual too

He just went out to gamble for a few games and won large prizes

He's actually on his way to your room to treat you into something nice until he heard sobs,

Sobs from inside your room

And you're there on the floor with almost everything around you in places where they should not be

Just what happened to your day to make you feel this much...

After a few second of standing there shocked

He finally regained his composure and hugged you from behind

Preventing you from furthering any damage that may hurt you too

"MC CALM DOWN!" is all he can say because it felt like he'll start to cry too if he says more

He's glad that the moment he grasped you,

You just fell into him, cometely exhausted and still a crying mess

He asked what happened and...

It's because every went wrong..?

You got kicked out of your job...

You failed a exam...

Oh...

He doesn't know what to do except to hug you and pat your back as he whispered praises and comforting words in your ears

Saying your enough

You did much more than those exams

That you mean more

And that there will always be a tomorrow

Where he'll be there

Everyone will be there to assist and support your every decision

So just take a break and let him do the rest.

LEVIATHAN

He doesn't know how to react,

He doesn't know how to react when he saw you in his tub

Buried in his blankets and pillows

Trying to quite down your cries

Without even noticing that he's there

Standing beside you

"M-MC..." He stuttered out as his hand reached out to touch your cheeks

You're crying so much...

What do he do?!

He doesn't know what to do...

So without he thought he joined you in the tub and hugged you.

His tail slithering it's way around your waist

Pulling you even closer as if just wanting to merge with you

He then hide his face on your neck and said

"I... I l-love..." He wants to assure you that he's right there and that whatever happens he will stay at the same place

And wait for you

"You... I love MC... So p-please stop c-crying..." You don't even know who's having more trouble right now

You who literally have the worst day

Or Leviathan that is about to burst trying to comfort you

But you must say...

His breathing on your neck

And his warm body totally comforts you

The blue light of the room and the sound of water from the large aquarium adds up too

When you finally respond to him saying a small "Thank you, Levi."

He'll almost tear up.

Thank you for everything too, MC.

SATAN

He knows something was up with you

The pact mark, he felt it slightly burning up

He must admit

He likes the feeling of you being connected to him

But he knows you don't feel the same way.

Wrath isn't for humans at all

So he went around the house looking for you

And luckily he saw you enter the library

Fists clutched

Darkened eyes

And gritted teeth

He's surprised

The amount of burning he felt in the pact mark is definetly dangerous

And yet you managed to keep your calm demeanor...

He didn't dare enter the library until the mark warmed up a little

He also prevented everyone from entering it too

He waited patiently outside the library

Leaning on the wall doing nothing

And even though there is nothing to do for him, the burning sensation is enough to keep him busy

But the burning fire didn't warm up

It dissappeared

And that's not normal

Could you have fainted..?

He immediately stood up from the ground and opened the door

And there he saw you on the table

Books littered on the table until there's now space

And you sitting there with a bloody nose, crying, as you try to push yourself to study

The sight is enough to break his heart into pieces

He closed the door and locked it as he slowly walked to you

And even though he makes his prescense known, and you noticed him

You refuse to even look at his direction saying "Go away... I need this."

You don't.

Punishing yourself will not cause you any good.

He pulled out his handkerchief and gently moved your face to make you look at him.

He cleaned your nose and poured you a glass of water from the pitcher he filled up earlier and left inside the library

He just kept his handkerchief in your nose and tilted your head a bit until the bleeding stopped

He then carried you to the sofa, away from all those books

Before he sat on the ground and rested his head on your lap

Kittens do these to him and it always keep him calm

He hope he does the same to you...

ASMODEUS

He knows how to comfort people he knows

But he doesn't know how to comfort people he loves...

Do you want a glass of wine?

Skin care?

Should he brush your hair?

He'll do anything for you, just tell him.

He can't help but have his heart sink when you opened up to him about how witty your day got.

But now...

All he can do is take care of you.

Put you in the tub and take care of you like a royalty

Before putting you into the bed and laying beside you

His arms and legs entangled with yours as if he never wants to let go of you

He will tap your leg and pat your back until you fell asleep in his arms

And when you finally did

He can't help but cry himself too because

"How come I don't even know what they want to do when they're sad..?"

He loves you dearly, MC

Please know it and hang a little more there...

He'll make sure this life will be worth living for you tomorrow.

BEELZEBUB

What should he do..?

He doesn't know what to do...

He felt so bad that he doesn't know who to comfort you...

So without thinking he bent down a little and lifted you up before running away.

You kept on asking him where you two will be going but he just said "Trust me."

And here he take you to a roof top of a tall building

Him and his brothers seems to own this place as the staffs address him respectfully

You and him sat on top of that place and watched as the run set and as the stars become more visible

He loves these stars and he wants to show it to you

Hoping that the stars will magically make you feel better

He doesn't like seeing you like this, it makes him feel useless.

You know how to tame care of them when they're upset, mad and hungry

But he doesn't even know what to do for you when you feel those things

But if catching these stars will make you happy, he'll gladly do so just for you

But for now

Lay your head on his shoulder and say all of things you can't

And he'll be there to listen to your every word

And if you feel tired

Rest

Because tomorrow he'll be taking you to the sixth ring and show you all the things that might make you feel happy.

BELPHEGOR

He was asleep

But he woke up immediately when you threw yourself on top of his sleeping for sobbing

He can't help but panic when you started to sob the phrase "I failed my last test..!"

And no, he's not panicking because you might fail

He's panicking because he doesn't know how to make you stop crying too

Gosh, these brothers are hopeless

He'll sat you up on his lap and let you straddle him as he run his hand through your hair

He'll then lay you beside him and use a few tricks to make you have wonderful dreams

Things that makes you happy

Things that makes you calm

For short, him.

Once you're already asleep he'll enter a part of your memory and find why you're upset.

...

He's so sorry MC.

You need him all throughout the day and he's not even there...

When he saw the teacher who gave you a low score on this project

He'll give that guy a very secret gift

One that he'll remember for the rest of his life

One that will reassure him that the guy will never bother you

Ever again.

For now, sleep tight

And let him solve this issue his way.

[keganexe]

Setting Up a Zine Layout for Print (with Affinity Publisher)

Listen up shits spoons

Heyo back with another guide for folks new to art and layout! In this one I'm gonna talk about setting up your zine for print with a commercial printer (Like Mixam). If you wanna look at my other guides you can see them here (as of the time of this one I've done one other guide, but I enjoy doing these so I'll probably do more as time permits)

I'm specifically gonna be talking about using Affinity Publisher 2 because its what I do all my professional work in, but the ideas should hold solid for other programs like Adobe InDesign, Publisher 1, or others! I'm also gonna talk specifically with Mixam measurements since they're my printer of choice.

I'm going to get real into the basics of this one, so if you've done a good bit of layout already this is probably all old hat for you. I'm specifically skipping around the topic of Color Management, but I talk about it a LITTLE.

This is a lot of text, so if folks would like I can probably record the setup some time in the future if that would generally be helpful? Lemme know what we want haha

Okay lets dive in though

So lets start at the very beginning which is choosing a page size. I'm going to assume we are working with Letter sized paper because that's what most folks in the US do, which means we want to set the pages up to be half letter. This is gonna give us a zine that folds like this just for clarity.

So lets hit File->New... up top, and you'll get a screen that looks like this. We are going to change our measurements to be Page Width 5.5 and Page Height 8.5 which is our measurements all folded and whatnot. We want to set our DPI to 300 so the printer has plenty to work with and we don't end up with pixely shit on the pages.

Under the Pages tabs things should default correctly, but we want Facing Pages to make layout a little easier, and we want to start on the Right with a single page. This tab should look like this

Next we are gonna hop on over to the Color Tag the long of the short of this is we want to work in CMYK/8. I'm specifically working with the color space used by Mixam within CMYK/8, but your computers default should be fine here, so just set your Color Format to CMYK8, and let it choose the default for Color Profile.

I don't personally set Transparent Backgrounds because I think they're a fucking eyesore, but that's dealer's choice and if you prefer them what's wrong with you good for you.

Color Management is really a pretty complex topic I'm not really good at talking about because I don't have the knowledge I should on it (I've largely worked in Black and White!), but here is a really solid primer on why we want to work in CMYK over RGB, and why that's so important for printing.

Hopping over to the Margins and Bleed tags, we are gonna do some minor changes to the default. If you're laying out something over say 60 pages I'd look at editing the inner margins here a bit.

I'm gonna go off the Mixam Full Bleed Print guidelines, and give myself some extra space for safety, but if your printer has other thoughts you should follow those instead. I've found that generally these guidelines work for most projects so you're usually safe to follow this bit as is. If you don't know what Margins or bleed are, I'd just read through the full bleed print guidelines linked above because it's a great primer. If you don't care or already know, keep reading.

For Margins we are gonna include margins and set our inner margins to 1 inch, and our outer/top/bottom margins to .5 inches

For Bleed we are gonna set everything to .25 inches for safety, Mixam only needs .125 inches.

Finally, so we don't have to go through this every single time, we are going to save this setup by clicking the button up top (next to where it says Letter* on my screen). I'm calling mine Mixam Half Letter Zine so I can remember it next time.

FINALLY you can click Create at the bottom right of the popup, and if you've done it right you should be greeted with a screen that looks somewhat like this

Now we're gonna set up some Master pages, font and paragraph styles, baseline grids, and guides to get the best looking zine possible.

At the top of the screen we wanna go to View->Preview mode, and make sure its unselected. This is gonna make sure we can see all the setup we are doing now, you can unselect it at any time (by hitting the toggle or Ctrl+shift+w) to see what the zine looks like without our guidelines on once we get them setup. Also on the view menu we want to turn on basically everything except Grid in the top bit. Here's what your menu should look like, and what your page will look like if things are setup right!

Okay so lets start with Masters! Setting up a good flexible master page or two is a great way to make sure your Zine keeps a consistent look throughout, and it carries your setup across pages! Look to the top left of the working space, and lets go work on Master A by double clicking on it.

I'm going to setup a quick set of guides just so I can lay things out a bit easier! While on Master A hit View->Guides and under Column Guides we are gonna add in 2 Columns and 3 Rows with a Gutter of .125 inches. The margins should be correct, and we want the Spread to be at x:0 y:0 which it should by default. In a lot of circles you will hear this called The Grid, but my friend Clayton did a great guide on this already so I'm linking that here. I also like to set some Horizontal and Vertical guides just so I know where the exact center of the working area is, so I'm going to make 2 Vertical Guides at 2.5 and 8.5, and a Horizontal Guide at 4.25 inches. The long of the short here is this gives us a lot of room to snap things to in the future. I set my Column Guide to pink to make it stand out a little more, but when you export this it'll disappear so just set it to whatever color works best for you.

With the master set, click back over to Page 1, and you should see it now has a series of guidelines based on this master. Hell yeah.

Lets move on to text styles now! These are going to save you a lot of hassle in the future with making sure everything matches, and works how you like. Double check that you're off the Master, and then lets make a text box using the Frame Text Tool, and lets get ourselves a text box somewhere on this page. The placement doesn't SUPER matter here because we are just going to erase it at the end.

Toss a few lines of text into this box, I usually use Title, Header, Body Text, and then 3 lines of Bullet Text

Now we are gonna hop into the Text Styles menu. I keep mine pinned on screen, but if it isn't visible, you can find it under Windows->Text->Text Styles

Now highlight each of these lines of text, and double click the appropriate text style from this menu (ie we are gonna set Title to Header 1, Header to Header 2, etc). It'll look something like this when you're done

Now we're gonna change each of these lines of text to look how we want! For the example I'm making my titles and headers in Bellybeans FG, and setting the rest of the text to Open Dyslexic and resizing them so they look good.

My page looks like this now

Now's a great time to mention that there is a difference between Rich and True black, and it's confusing and it fucks a lot of folks up. The link up above (the primer on CMYK above RGB) talks some about your blacks, and links to a follow up article about them! You can skip reading any of that for now (but like you should), because the tldr here is going to be make SURE that if you are using Black you have the color set to c:0 y:0 m:0 k:100 if you don't wanna have issues later!

Now we want to update our font styles to match! To do this we are going to go back and individually highlight each line of text, and then right click the matching Text Style, and hit Update. The screens should look like this.

Next we are gonna set up a baseline grid! This makes it so that text on one side of a spread is gonna line up correctly with text on the opposite side of the page, and just helps with making pages look good and even! We want to set the grid Relative to the Top Margin, and then set the spacing to whatever you feel is correct in your heart of hearts. These are the settings I've used, but do whatever looks good here, there are probably some hard and fast rules for how to do this well, but I do not know them.

On my specific example you can see my Bullets are really spread out, and I don't like that, but the Body Text lays out much nicer. Lets deal with some spacing issues!

We are gonna hop on over to the Paragraph tab now, for me this is another tab on the Text Styles Window, but if you don't have it visible Windows->Text->Paragraph should bring it up.

So for me personally I want all my bullets to be on the following line, and not skip a whole line between them. I'm going to highlight all my text, and in this menu I'm going to go to Spacing > Space After Paragraph and set the amount to 0 pts.

You can also go further into this tab to change some more rules about what your bullets look like (things like how big your tabstops are, what the bullets look like, etc) but I'm not getting into that here!

After all this I'm gonna hop back into text styles, highlight each line of bullets, and Right Click->Update style on each of them (Just like we did previously!)

It's really tempting to skip this section of setting up your zine, but it enables a lot that can really help you out a ton in the long run. Having standardized Headers allows easy updating of headers and titles across the document, easy setup of Table of Contents for folks using them, and also on export is going to auto-bookmark the pdf for folks using PDF formats. It really pays to take time and set things like this up correctly the first time. After you're happy that this all looks good, you can go ahead and erase this text box.

Now we can break into zine layout proper, but if you just wanted basics you can stop here! Whatever you do from here is gonna print pretty decently.

If you'd like to stick around I'm going to set up some slightly nicer master pages, talk about why I use multiple masters, set up page numbers, and get us a table of contents!

So from hereon I'm just gonna work on laying out a basic Zine. So let's hop back into our Master Pages, and start setting up some flexible masters. I know I want at least two masters, one where I have text on both pages, and one where I only have text on the rightmost page. For right now we are going to just work on the spread with text on both pages, so I'm going to create a text box on both pages within the spread that fills the entirety of that guide we set up earlier. On the leftmost page, I'm going to right click the text box with the Frame Text Tool selected, and I'm going to choose to Insert Filler Text so I can see how everything looks.

Make sure this text is in your Body Text Style, and then click the little triangle on the text box

I'm now gonna select the textbox on the rightmost of the spread. If you did it properly, your page should look somewhat like this.

After I'm happy with this page, I'm going to erase the text in both boxes. I wanna add in some page numbers now. They aren't going to fit in the boxes here, but if you remember correctly I left myself a little bit of wiggle room when I set up the margins! Mixam needs .25 in clear, but my boxes are all .5 inches from the edges of the page. To make sure I don't egress the space too badly here, I'm going to set up a new horizontal guide from the View->Guides page we used previously, and I'm going to set this guide at 8.25 in which is the true bottom edge of our workable space.

I'm going to create new text boxes for our page numbers that line up with the outer edges of our guides, and the new true-bottom line I just set up.

It looks like this, but there's an eye icon which means no text in this box is going to be visible!

No worries this is because our baseline grid isn't playing nicely here, we are gonna break it in a moment, but for the mean time lets right click this text box, and select Insert Fields->Page Number

On the left page I'm also going to Bold and Left Align this box, but otherwise keep it in my Body Text Style. With the text all highlighted, I'm going to hop into the Paragraph window again, and scroll down to Baseline Grid->Align to Baseline Grid, and turn that option off.

My page now correctly shows a single # in the spot I'd want my page numbers to be. When this master is used, that number will automatically update to be correct! I'm going to duplicate this text box, and drag it onto the right page of the spread, and set the alignment to Right. I'm going to refill the textboxes with Filler Text for a moment, and turn Preview Mode on so I can make sure I like the page. For me this master now looks like this

I'm going to duplicate this master now, and on the left page of the spread I'm going to remove both text boxes. I like to name my masters so I know what they are at a quick glance. This is going to leave me a second master that looks like this.

You can get really involved on your master pages generally! I'm not doing anything fancy with this one, but previous projects have that heavily used masters might have pages that look more intense and include things like photo boxes, more complicated sets of text boxes, and even some text to use as a guide as I go.

Lets hop back to Page 1 of our doc, and leave the masters behind

Page 1 is going to be the title page for the book, but it likely now has a bunch of details now that you don't particularly need. If you have a master you don't want on a page, you can right click the page, and click Clear Masters.

I'm almost out of images on this post so I am gonna go mostly imageless from hereout. I'm gonna toss some text on pages, and then make a table of contents, and get my page numbers fixed up since most people don't actually want to count the Cover as Page 1 as far as page numbering goes.

With the project laid out, and the pages where I want them, the actual "Page 1" is going to start on Page 5 for me. Looking at the pages on the left side, I'm going to right click Page 5, and click Start New Section. On this new section I'm going to fill it out so the new section starts on page 5, and restarts the numbering at 1. Here's what it looks like for me.

On page 3 I want to include a Table of contents so if the ToC window isn't visible I'm gonna hit Window->References->Table of Contents, and then in this window I'm going to hit the insert button. You can really dial in a lot of settings here, but as long as you've been using those Text Styles I mentioned previously, it should be pretty easy! Since I've been using only Heading 2 to start chapters, I'm going to unselect Heading 1 since it is effectively only being used on the ToC page and the cover, and I don't think folks need help finding those. This ToC feature rocks and as long as your page numbers are correct, and you use your text styles it should auto-update! If it doesn't there's a refresh ToC button on this window as well. Regardless (and perfectly using my 30th image) this is what it looks like for me now.

You'll also note I updated the text styles here as well! Anyway this is a real overview of zine layout for print, there's probably more things I should cover, but I'm out of images and tired so I'm leaving it here. If this was helpful I'm gonna put this template up on my itch after I clean it up some down the line.

I'm gonna have to come back with a Part 2 that talks about exporting and whatnot, but this is all I can realistically fit in a post for now.

If you get any use out of this and wanna throw a few bucks my way you can do that here

and if you have any questions I'll answer what I can! Just shoot me an ask on here, or like annoy me on my discord (its in my pinned post)

okay thanks bye

[tohwitchesduels]

Pick a name

Testing here how the polls work now that I'm going to use them, plus I need to make some decisions so buckle up everybody.

So first things first, since I know I can add a poll at any placement, here's my first question: since I intend to add information on what each competitor is capable of in their respective duels (what spells they use, what mindset they have, what tools are allowed) should I put such information first and then poll would be underneath them or should poll be traditionally on top and following information hid under the cut so to speak.

Now, I want people to take into consideration background info FIRST before voting, especially since I have a feeling some people coming here may just jump to conclusions. While I don't doubt people's intuition or knowledge on where characters stand, there's also the fact that some folk may not always know the rules and would pick their faves based on bias, not their strength (I do intend to add disclaimers for this at the top which I feel would be a good solution though background info could cool people down too), plus some background info can also help even the odds at times or make people reconsider things. However, I know that usually polls in Tumblr appear first pretty much always and there would be a lot of info regarding what characters are and aren't capable of so I wonder if you would prefer for such info to indeed be under the cut or screw that and be it front or center.

The second thing is I can't also add multiple polls, outside from picking a battle name, you can also pick the background for my bracket template in the comments, just refer to the pictures with numbers (like number 1 is the first photo):

Heck, I can make it its own post or perhaps I would change backgrounds depending on the qualification rounds. Let me know in the notes

Explanations for each and how potentially the data stats/propaganda would look like in battles (the above detour could also serve as such):

Witches Battles! - Technically speaking, lore-wise it was all the Collector's idea to watch the most powerful teen witches clash and they did refer wrongly to witches duels as witches battles.

Battle Witches! - just a reference to the original idea meta-wise, which is Battle Bladers (if you know, you're a legend). plus rolling the tongue kinda nice if you ask me.

Witches Duels! - classical, but it's not my top pick as witches duels are a custom, so naming this tournament just witches duels feels weird as there is structure to those battles as organized events instead of just random battles. But I will understand if you prefer this name and this reference to the show.

Granted when usually highlighting characters I will use big headers, but there's no need for short explanations of the names here

So anyway, here's the update, a bracket will appear soon (once I make it) and battles shall be announced along with it. Now that I will have a spring break I will try to get into that. It will be a new pinned post (but I will post a link to the first post which explains ALL the rules along with a disclaimer explaining the basic ones) and I will be also adding character profiles. Now, those will always appear underneath each duel, but as I explained in the first post, there will be Battle Royals featuring at times 8/9 people and I don't want for posts to get too big so occasionally I will be just sending links to read, but as they're battle royals, by that point I think people will have memorized the general info and I will add only more unique one separately. It's also worth noting that profile posts will have all the information, while specific duels will have a specific set of information at times (like how they do with palismen for example) so I will also add links to them despite already giving long explanations. Plus I'm also open to adding new information regarding the capabilities of characters featured in battles, so let me know in notes or asks if I miss anything that can determine how could battles potentially turn out.

OK, I think that's all for now y'all.

[mariacallous]

The algorithm has won. The most powerful social, video, and shopping platforms have all converged on a philosophy of coddling users in automated recommendations. Whether through Spotify’s personalized playlists, TikTok’s all-knowing For You page, or Amazon’s product suggestions, the internet is hell-bent on micromanaging your online activity.

At the same time, awareness of the potential downsides of this techno-dictatorial approach has never been higher. The US Congress recently probed whether social media algorithms are threatening the well-being of children, and new scholarship and books have focused fresh attention on the broad cultural consequences of letting algorithms curate our feeds. “I do think it reifies a lot of our cultural tastes in a way that at least I find concerning,” says Ryan Stoldt, an assistant professor at Drake University and member of the University of Iowa’s Algorithms and Culture Research Group.

In response to the growing sense of unease surrounding Big Tech’s mysterious recommender systems, digital refuges from the algorithm have begun to emerge. Entrepreneur Tyler Bainbridge is part of a nascent movement attempting to develop less-fraught alternatives to automated recommendations. He’s founder of PI.FYI, a social platform launched in January that hopes to, in Bainbridge’s words, “bring back human curation.”

PI.FYI is born out of Bainbridge’s popular newsletter, Perfectly Imperfect, and a simple conceit: Humans should receive recommendations only from other humans, not machines. Users post recommendations for everything from consumer products to experiences such as “being in love” or “not telling men at bars you study philosophy,” and they also crowdsource answers to questions like “What did you read last week?” or “London dry cleaner?”

Posts on the platform are displayed in chronological order, although users can choose between seeing a feed of content only from friends and a firehose of everything posted to the service. PI.FYI’s homepage offers recommendations from a “hand-curated algorithm”—posts and profiles selected by site administrators and some carefully chosen users.

“People long for the days of not being bombarded by tailored ads everywhere they scroll,” Bainbridge says. PI.FYI’s revenue comes from user subscriptions, which start at $6 a month. While its design evokes an older version of the internet, Bainbridge says he wants to avoid creating an overly nostalgic facade. “This isn't an app built for millennials who made MySpace,” he says, claiming that a significant portion of his user base are from Gen Z.

Spread, a social app currently in closed beta testing, is another attempt to provide a supposedly algorithm-free oasis. “I don't know a single person in my life that doesn't have a toxic relationship with some app on their phone,” says Stuart Rogers, Spread’s cofounder and CEO. “Our vision is that people will be able to actually curate their diets again based on real human recommendations, not what an algorithm deems will be most engaging, therefore also usually enraging,” he says.

On Spread, users can’t create or upload original text or media. Instead, all posts on the platform are links to content from other services, including news articles, songs, and video. Users can tune their chronological feeds by following other users or choosing to see more of a certain type of media.

Brands and bots are barred from Spread, and, like PI.FYI, the platform doesn’t support ads. Instead of working to maximize time-on-site, Rogers’ primary metrics for success will be indicators of “meaningful” human engagement, like when someone clicks on another user's recommendation and later takes action like signing up for a newsletter or subscription. He hopes this will align companies whose content is shared on Spread with the platform’s users. “I think there's a nostalgia for what the original social meant to achieve,” Rogers says.

So you joined a social network without ranking algorithms—is everything good now? Jonathan Stray, a senior scientist at the UC Berkeley Center for Human-Compatible AI, has doubts. “There is now a bunch of research showing that chronological is not necessarily better,” he says, adding that simpler feeds can promote recency bias and enable spam.

Stray doesn’t think social harm is an inevitable outcome of complex algorithmic curation. But he agrees with Rogers that the tech industry’s practice of trying to maximize engagement doesn’t necessarily select for socially desirable results.

Stray suspects the solution to the problem of social media algorithms may in fact be … more algorithms. “The fundamental problem is you've got way too much information for anybody to consume, so you have to reduce it somehow,” he says.

In January, Stray launched the Prosocial Ranking Challenge, a competition with a $60,000 prize fund aiming to spur development of feed-ranking algorithms that prioritize socially desirable outcomes, based on measures of users’ well-being and how informative a feed is. From June through October, five winning algorithms will be tested on Facebook, X, and Reddit using a browser extension.

Until a viable replacement takes off, escaping engagement-seeking algorithms will generally mean going chronological. There’s evidence people are seeking that out beyond niche platforms like PI.FYI and Spread. Group messaging, for example, is commonly used to supplement artificially curated social media feeds. Private chats—threaded by the logic of the clock—can provide a more intimate, less chaotic space to share and discuss gleanings from the algorithmic realm: the trading of jokes, memes, links to videos and articles, and screenshots of social posts.

Disdain for the algorithm could help explain the growing popularity of WhatsApp within the US, which has long been ubiquitous elsewhere. Meta’s messaging app saw a 9 percent increase in daily users in the US last year, according to data from Apptopia reported by The Wrap. Even inside today’s dominant social apps, activity is shifting from public feeds and toward direct messaging, according to Business Insider, where chronology rules.

Group chats might be ad-free and relatively controlled social environments, but they come with their own biases. “If you look at sociology, we've seen a lot of research that shows that people naturally seek out things that don't cause cognitive dissonance,” says Stoldt of Drake University.

While providing a more organic means of compilation, group messaging can still produce echo chambers and other pitfalls associated with complex algorithms. And when the content in your group chat comes from each member’s respective highly personalized algorithmic feed, things can get even more complicated. Despite the flight to algorithm-free spaces, the fight for a perfect information feed is far from over.

[avescorviidae]

TOYHOU.SE TIPS FOR BEGINNERS

Hi! I’m new to Toyhou.se, and only started dipping my toes into coding a few months ago.

Although I can’t code properly yet, I still have some tips for getting into use of the website.

Disclaimer: This is only useful for very new beginners, I am not claiming to understand any of what I’m talking about!

1. FINDING YOUR PROFILE CODING THINGY

To code your profile, you need to go to settings, as seen here:

It’s going to be a bit overwhelming, but familiarise yourself with each tab of your settings bar.

Here is where you want to go:

The biggest part of using this HTML code box is to disable the WYSIWYG, which will allow you to actually input HTML and run it.

You do that by tapping this:

You can find HTML templates by browsing. 

The search page is pretty self explanatory, just have a flip through and familiarise yourself with the search settings. These settings are very diverse, and you should have no issue perusing the website to its full potential.

If you want to find codes type “profile” into the tags bar, that usually works for me

IMPORTANT NOTE: When using a template or code made by someone else, remember to read the rules of the code, boundaries are important! And make sure you always credit. The credit will often already be provided, so make sure to not obscure that. If it is, add credit somewhere visible on the page.

2. UPLOADING A CHARACTER

You can create a character here:

It will always be customisable, so if you need to customise it after submission, here’s how you find it again:

You’re gonna want to click on the characters icon:

And from there, search for CONTROL SETTINGS in the bar to the left. It will be in Manage Character > Edit Profile:

3. WEBSITES THAT WILL BE YOUR BESTEST BUDDY FOREVER

For Coding:

Circle Journey - https://th.circlejourney.net/ 

For Icons

Font Awesome - https://fontawesome.com/search 

For Image URLs:

ImgBB - https://imgbb.com/upload 

Image Colour Picker: https://imagecolorpicker.com/en

Other Colour Hex Websites:

https://redketchup.io/color-picker 

https://www.w3schools.com/colors/colors_picker.asp 

https://htmlcolorcodes.com/ 

4. CODE LINES THAT MIGHT SAVE YOUR ASS SOME SEARCHING ON MORE THAN ONE OCCASION

For Full-Page Backgrounds:

<div style="position:absolute;top:0;bottom:0;left:0; background:url(IMAGE URL HERE) fixed center;background-size:cover;width:100%;z-index:-1;"></div>

For Full-Profile Backgrounds:

<div class="col-lg-2 col-md-3 hidden-sm-down sidebar" style="height:75px;position:fixed;right:inherit;left:0;bottom:0;"></div> 

<div class="card rounded-0 border-0 col-lg-10 offset-lg-2 col-md-9 offset-md-3 p-0" style="overflow:hidden;position:fixed;bottom:0;top:0;left:0;z-index:-1; background-image: url(IMAGE URL HERE); background-attachment: fixed; background-size: cover; background-position: center;"> </div>

For Colour+Opacity:

style="color:rgba(0,0,0,0.1)"

(add in the RGB values (not HTML code) into the first three 0s for your colour. The 0.1 can be adjusted, i.e. 0.80, for the opacity)

5. LINKS!

Full Page Background Image Troubleshooting:

https://toyhou.se/~forums/16.htmlcss-graphics/195730.add-full-image-background

https://toyhou.se/~forums/16.htmlcss-graphics/214765.adding-a-background-image-on-profiles-in-html 

Music Player Tutorial:

https://toyhou.se/6560537.-music-player-tutorial-f2u-

On my page I use codes by these wonderful people!

https://toyhou.se/jiko 

https://toyhou.se/Lechet 

https://toyhou.se/BlipiTheDog 

https://toyhou.se/Pinky 

And my profile is this:

https://toyhou.se/AvesCorvidae 

Please feel free to DM me if you have any other questions, or if I got something wrong!

If you’d like to, we can also be mutuals on toyhou.se

That’s all, thank you!

[kneelingshadowsalome]

Hello friend! First off... LOVE LOVE LOVE your work. You're everything I want to be in a writer holy shit 🫠You've actually inspired me to start my own writing blog here, and I just got page all set up and pretty but I have NO IDEA how to start. Do you have any suggestions/ tips for a writer just starting out here on Tumblr? How to get your work seen, best tagging practices, should I introduce myself as a first post, stuff like that? I have a few works that I'll be posting soon, but I wanted to ask a few pros (aka you ❤️) how I should get started! Anywho, you're amazing, ilysm, hope you have a day full of sunshine and good thoughts 😘

Hey and thank you so very much, what a compliment! I’m so happy to hear that I’ve inspired you to share your writing 🩷

I started from scratch here this year myself and got more “traffic” only after like… 3-4 months of persistent, consistent writing and tumblring? So I’m not sure if my tips are of any help but here they come (such a cute ask!) 💕

Put your work up on Ao3 too if you haven’t done that already. Encourage people to come and talk to you on Tumblr, and share the link in the author's notes of your stories or at least in your profile. It helps if you have the same username, I made the mistake of choosing a different username here and people are sometimes surprised that I’m the same author they’ve read stories from on Ao3... So it's a wise move to keep your usernames consistent! :D

To get your work seen is sometimes only a game of luck, and it might take months before people start to identify you and your works. So don't get discouraged even if there’s not much going on at first, you will find your audience eventually. Just keep creating (and please create what you want and enjoy, not what you think others want to see) ❤️

Tagging is an art on its own but I think it’s also an etiquette thing: as long as you don't use tags that are unnecessary for your post, such as other character tags if they don't make an appearance/have dialogue in your story, you're good! I rarely if ever tag my fics with a simple #cod or #könig tags because I think people are usually searching for other content like pictures with these tags. I might be wrong! But I usually use a set of very specific tags when I share a fic: for example, if it’s a König story featuring x (fem) reader, the tags start with a simple: könig fanfiction, könig x reader, könig x you, könig x female reader, könig x fem reader. People use different tags to find fics, others follow the character x reader tag and others might prefer the character x fem reader tag. So include all the tags that are relevant to your fic/post, that way more people can find your fics. Then after those tags you can include what the fic is about: #historical au if it’s a historical au, or #könig angst if it’s clearly angst. You can try and see which tags work best for you!

Tumblr is a very visual place, so I encourage you to use pictures when you share your fics. I used other people’s gifs at first, but lately I’ve liked to create a 3-6 pic collage/moodboard that I include at the top of every fic. Visuals spark the interest of readers & you can create your own aesthetic and play around with this as much as you like, the more “personalized” and creative you get, the more likely it is that people start to take note of you and notice your content as specifically yours.

Make friends with other people, especially other writers! This takes time also. When I started I knew nobody here, but now I’ve made many new friends (and precious ones too!) Of course you can't just go and *make* friends but it can happen if you talk to people and participate in the fandom by gushing in the tags or asks. Not everyone appreciates it but usually people are ok with or even like it that you talk to them in asks and dms, so no need to be shy! For example I don't bite (if people are nice to me :)

I wish you all the best with your writing and hope you have a lovely time here!

[becomedecay]

JUNE 20TH — Let the record show that REI AKIMOTO was read their rights before the interview proceeded. REI AKIMOTO DID NOT CHOOSE to proceed with a lawyer present at their discretion.

"Please state your legal name for the record." Easy enough, you clear your throat awkwardly and speak with a stifled voice. "Rei. Akimoto. I don't have a middle name. Not really our thing to do that." You know it's serious, but part of you can't hold back wanting to laugh, you know you're indoctrinated into Western culture but you still crave the roots of home whenever topics like your name come up. For a moment, you regret not getting a lawyer, but you knew that if you did, that'd be showcasing guilt. That, and it meant confiding in another person all about your naughty habits.

"Can you account for your whereabouts on the evening of June 10th, 2023?" You shift in your seat the very moment they ask that question, already the muscles in your arms tense up, it's not like you can remember much about that evening, hell your expression says it all. You try to keep your mouth straight, to avoid the slightest grimace or furrowing of your brows. But it's unavoidable. You scowl slightly as you attempt to recollect your thoughts. "I dunno, think I was at work. Night shift at Scaredy Cat... We don't get busy in the day, so I'm usually sleeping to prepare. Think I started around eight, wouldn't have got off until three in the morning..." It's not a lie, but it's not exactly a truth. You mumble the last of your words, as though you yourself are unsure of its validity. Maybe you were working. Maybe you were drunk. Maybe something was sat in your system for a bit longer than it should.

"Mx. Akimoto, Interpol has shared your record with us by request. It seems you have a history for stealing identities. We have reason to believe that with your connections, you may have been holding online communication with Ms. Cho-Iverson through terminals and channels linked to nefarious web forums. Do you confirm or deny?" Deep down, it gets to you. That secrets never stay buried, that your life was now laid out before you on pieces of paper, scrawled and damaged. Your history is catching up, and the lump in your throat gets bigger. You know you're guilty, and though you've had years of practice doing this in front of law enforcement across the globe, it's different now. "My history is my business." As you speak, you see the scowling in their eyes, like a parent telling you to obey. And in the heat of it, you do. "I don't steal them. They're gifts. Maybe I was chatting to her, hard to know. People online use pseudonyms, no ones really stupid enough to use their own names."

"Do you recognize this profile claiming to be you, Rei Akimoto, in communication with Ms. Cho-Iverson, in response to offering hitperson services?" Shit. You know it's you, but it isn't all the same. Your name, your face, your profile. But you don't always do the talking. You have someone for that, they talk the talk, get as much information as possible and you pull the hit off. The reality was you were never really good at talking, socialising isn't a skill you've acquired over the years. You operate alone, but you need someone to be your mouthpiece. You can't grass them up, you have to take the fall. "..... Yeah. I do. I recognise my own face on a goddamn profile, that's my name. That's my picture. That's the answer you want, isn't it? For me to have enough clarity to know my own existence. Those are my details, that's as much as I'm willing to share."

"We would like you to take a look at something." In their possession is a crumpled letter salvaged from the trash — the mysterious letter that came into her sister's possession over Valentine's Day. Alongside it is the wrinkled note found alongside Willow Amelia's body. "Can you confirm this is your handwriting?" You know the letter. You know the pain inflicted on Mio, she'd be so pissed if she knew you were in here right now. For years you kept yourself hidden, kept your secrets buried from her, and now it was all going to be out in the open. She wouldn't want to be associated with someone like you. Why did you come back? "Don't you have my handwriting on file already?" You chime the snarky response, pointing to their homework consisting of all your doings. In there was undoubtedly traces of your own words. "Why are you asking me if I know my own handwriting or not?" Whether you wrote it or not didn't matter. They wanted you pinned to the ground, and there was no use fighting it. Take the blame. You know in your heart you deserve to go down for past mistakes. "Yeah okay, it's my handwriting. I've done nothing but hurt my sister emotionally with my bullshit. This was just another one of those." It wasn't. Because that wasn't you. Or was it? Do you even remember? Your mind is hazy enough as is, the stress of the interrogation certainly wasn't helping.

"This mask was found at the scene." A picture is presented to Rei of a pastel pink feline mask from the crime scene, side by side with a photo from February of the same mask, except the updated picture has stern brows and a mischievous grin in black marker, with red eyes filled in. "This mask was first found in the Tunnel of Love on the day of February 14th. We noticed many in your apartment complex refer to you as a cat. Is this a possession of yours?" "They call me a cat because they never hear me coming down the stairs. Look, it's no secret to them that I practice my ballet... I do it late at night, on the open roof or in the car park. They don't realise I'm out there until they see me because they never hear me. Got movement like a cat. So what?" Where the fuck did they get your mask? You thought you had it on you, maybe you dropped it? Did you drop it? Did you never have it on you to begin with? Shit. This is really fucking with you and you can feel the beads of sweat forming on your brow. You bite your bottom lip, trying to come up with something to dissuade them. "I have one like it. I use it for when I... Uhh.. For when I engage in consensual adult activities. You understand? They like it when you dress up, when they can't see your face. I had a mask like that, but I couldn't find it in my apartment. I didn't realise it went missing until I had a booking... Shit, did someone steal this out my home?" Nice try, you hope you're convincing. There's no real way to prove what you do so you can only hope your word is enough to sway them into believing that you're just a person for hire, to relieve needs and that you didn't know the mask was there.

"Mx. Akimoto, what is your relationship with Ms. Fallon Amarin? It seems you two are well acquainted. Is there a romantic or sexual involvement?" There is a pause. "Has Ms. Fallon Amarin ever requested for you to partake in potentially violent or dangerous endeavors?" You stay silent. You keep your arms crossed and form a mental barrier at the question. You love her. You have loved her for so long but you can't accept that, because you know she doesn't love you back. So you've existed helplessly by her side, protecting her, shielding her, refusing to let anyone hurt her. "What Fallon and I have, that's nothing to do with you." You feel like snapping, this is your breaking point. "Fallon's had fuck all to do with any of this. She's never asked me to do anything like that, she cares too damn much to get involved in shit." You unfold your arms, digging your elbows into the table and lean forward to push your point across. "Fallon is innocent in all of this, I swear to god, you are not bringing her down with me. Everything I've done, I have done alone. So keep her out of it." Gritting teeth and grinding persist, your façade has fallen and they see that in you. "Our relationship is platonic, we're friends... But she'd never drag me into anything, its the other way around. I've gotten her involved in my life and I shouldn't have. She didn't need to know about me. About all of this." You say that, and point to the papers detailing your crimes. "I'm a criminal, I've been wanted in different states and different countries. She's.. She's not like me. She's good. She's kind. And she has had nothing to do with this."

"On the evening of June 10th, were you intoxicated with illegal substances or dangerous amounts of alcohol when you were seen leaving the Seal Harbor Apartments?" You recline after your outburst, aware of how much more you've incriminated yourself. You deserve it, Fallon needs to be kept safe. Away from this and away from you. "Only the usual alcohol levels, I'm used to it because of my job. I wasn't on anything though, you'll have done my blood work, right? I know I.. I have a history of it. But I'm clean." You roll up your sleeves, showing scarred evidence of your arms, they look close to four months healed, to the trained eye. "See. Nothing fresh. If I was on something, it wasn't by choice."

"We've been given access to records of your fingerprints previously logged in our system and found a partial match of your DNA to some evidence collected at the crime scene. We'll be detaining you for a bit longer while we dispatch a unit for this search warrant we have issued for your apartment." The warrant is presented for them to read. This is it. You're done. You roll down your sleeves and read through the documents, they're going to know everything else you've kept secret. Nothing to incriminate the Bastards, you were never that stupid to keep that shit at home. But your life, your past, your killings... It's all going to spill out now. "Yeah. Fine. Can't stop you doing anything now, can I?"

"We'll allow you to consult with your legal advisor in private." You change your mind quicker than ever, they speak of legal advisor and you know you need to call a friend, and do it quick. You simply nod, staying silent and stewing in your rage. He's gotta help. He's the only way to keep her safe. You don't give a shit about yourself. But Mio and Fallon... They need to be kept as far away from this as possible.

[lemongingerart]

Chapter 1 - Departure (I)

Fic summary: The second arc of my Armitage Hux x OC fanfic, “chocolate cookies and tarine tea”, in which both need to deal with the mess they got into (and each other, eh eh eh). Involves cookies that won't be eaten and tea that will get spilled. Same goes for certain feelings... they are going to be hungry ant thirsty 😏

You can find the link to AO3 and other chapters on Tumblr in the pinned message on my dash, both for the first and second arc 😊

Rating: Explicit. This is going to be very NSFW. So, Minors, do NOT read or interact. 18+. Family, friends and colleagues, please don’t read this. :’-)

Tags & warnings: TRoS fix-it (kind of), Hux!lives, Hux doesn’t like Kylo, Not a Redemption Arc, maybe a little bit, shameless fem!OC insert (there are cliches but entertaining ones imo), slow emotional burn, medium sexual burn, Enemies to Enemies With Benefits to Lovers, Hux is still a villain don't forget, Virgin Characters, masturbation against the door, pinv, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Awkward Sexual Situations, Past Child Abuse, dubious first kiss, Dom/sub Undertones, Mental Breakdown, Unprotected Sex, wet Hux, that deserves a tag/warning on its own, Minor Character Death

I will add tags as we proceed in the story, please let me know if I forgot one!

Taglist: @mylifeisactuallyamess, @morby and anyone who’d like to join 🥰

A/N:     Hello dear, it's been a while! I wasn’t actually planning on publishing yet (I still need to finish up the header and the last scene) but after attending star wars celebration I am so high on Hux again! As an extra, I'm also uncharacteristically impulsive. This is not going to end well, ah ah ah.

Arc 2 has been written, up till some very *interesting * scenes! The whole thing got out of hand a bit, I already have almost 23k words for part 1 of this arc (part 2 will follow with the same amount, but still working it through) I should be able to more or less update on a regular basis for the next 11 chapters now, since I only need to review them!

Because I know some of you have read arc 1 a good while ago, let me give you this short recap: Hux, Miko and PC just left Utapau Four and are heading to Taris, so they can obtain the coördinates to the Resistance base. Hux has been in a stressful and frustrated mood (at least, more than usual), while Miko is gloomy from trying to deal with her new reality: she might not be able to return to her home for good.

Get ready for a whole whirlwind of (mis)adventures.

Armitage was looking to the everlasting hyperspace clouds, as if he was paying attention to it for the first time in his life. If Miko wanted to start a conversation - which she certainly didn’t - his intense gaze would've stopped her from doing so. She wondered what he was thinking, looking so serious and focussed on the void ahead.

This time however, she mused, the silence didn’t feel loaded and somehow had turned into something comforting. They had an actual plan and could focus on the upcoming mission. Everything was more or less under control. 

Miko felt like she finally had the time to study her companion. From the seat she was in, she noticed he was frowning deeply, and she could guess by that serious stern look on his face, he was thinking about the current bantha poodo he was in. 

She sat back in the co-pilot 's chair while keeping an eye on his side profile. She knew by now he had done some horrible things - based on her father's reaction - although she didn't know the exact details. 

Thinking back to the way he introduced himself to her with so much flair, his previous position within the military must’ve meant everything to him. The First Order was probably the only life he knew. And she doubted one could become a general by playing along nicely, so he probably has done and sacrificed a lot to get in that seat. 

Still, he betrayed all that. For what?

Her mind wandered back to the time he miraculously woke up beneath her, onboard the Steadfast . She really was convinced he was dead at the time. She could remember the shock she felt, when she unceremoniously had fallen down on his limp body. But the memory was blurred by the storm of emotions and adrenaline she went through that moment. 

Did I really somehow… revive him, like he said? How could that be even frigging possible?  

The girl looked at her hands and slowly turned them around, trying to see if something happened if she tensed the muscles in her fingers. 

Of course, it was to no avail, making her wonder if he was just making things up for some obscure reason. But why would he do that? 

Nothing made sense these past days . The chaos, violence, the unexpected get-away, everything was wearing her down.

She slowly looked back to the ex-general and noticed how his jaw was slightly moving. 

Was he grinding his teeth… again ? 

At this moment, she was absolutely positive this man was full of frustrations and looking at the bags under his bloodshot eyes and his pale skin, the stress was eating him slowly but surely. 

She closed her eyes. If she was not going to stop paying attention to him, she was going to start getting worked up as well, and that wouldn’t help them any further. 

After a short pause, Miko felt relatively at ease again and decided to follow Hux’ gaze, so she started staring at the hyperspace clouds as well. They were somehow enchanting, the slight rotation of the ship making the clouds swirl and giving the space outside a dreamy aura. 

Honestly, right now, this all felt like a bad dream. She had always wanted to leave Utapau Four behind, and she used to fantasise about steering her own ship, drifting through hyperspace, from system to system. Seeing the most beautiful parts of the galaxy. Looking for a place with more purpose to land. 

She once wished for adventure, but now, the sting of hastily having to say goodbye to her father, maybe for good, was reminding her that she wasn't living her dream. This was all too real and absolutely not how she wanted to leave her home behind. 

She felt the urge to cry slowly rising from her chest, but she refused to give in to those feelings, especially around that pompous manipulative asshole. She gulped and kept her head down, trying to find tranquillity once again.

Only a few seconds later, she noticed a small but very irritating noise originating from the left. She looked back at Hux, who was now grinding his teeth so loud she could hear it from her seat and it was not helping her current emotional state.

Kriff.

‘Could you please stop doing that?? It’s not good for both your teeth and my headache’, she said, grumbling, only then realising she was again talking before thinking things through. 

This frigging bastard had almost choked me to death, if it wasn’t for PC , she hastily reminded herself, cold sweat appearing on her backside.

But the next thought that entered her worked up mind, were those glassy eyes again. Almost instantly she felt her cheeks go red, betrayed by her own thoughts, so she swiftly diverted her attention to the other side of the shuttle and gulped. She sincerely hoped he wouldn't turn around and see the blush under the dim light.

Unfortunately, Hux decided to redirect his energy from destroying his teeth to destroying any hope for a normal conversation, and he slowly faced her. 

‘Just who do you think you’re talking to?’ he replied with a low voice, giving her a dangerous look, as if she had done something extremely rude. Her body already involuntarily responded to his words and made her turn her attention back to him, momentarily forgetting the blush and trying to process his rude comment.  

Was this the tone he normally used when a subordinate had messed up pretty bad? she absently considered, trying to find a way to explain that this reply was somehow socially acceptable in Worst Order context. 

But, despite trying to negate the brusqueness in what he just said, she could not get rid of the feeling that he was intimidating her, that was for sure. And, combined with the reason she had been blushing before, he was tearing her apart with these most confusing thoughts.

Right now, under his persistent, piercing gaze, she felt like she couldn’t breathe easily, feeling mixed emotions of anger, inadequacy from her part (and for what? He didn't have anything to expect from her), getting slightly terrified and some other burning feeling from her abdomen. One that matched well with her pink cheeks.

She abruptly closed her mouth and looked away with a defying glance. There was no good verbal response she could come up with, especially since she felt like he turned her into a mess so easily. 

This was a conversation she wouldn’t take any further, because it was going to end in the both of them shouting again, and maybe worse. 

The next few seconds, her discomfort only escalated further into distress. Miko felt like she was walking on thin ice, scared to accidentally provoke him. Not that she was convinced there were any actual triggers, but the thought of his hands around her throat tended to do that to her. So, she decided she didn’t want to stay in the same room with him any more and left the cockpit without a word.

Armitage watched Miko’s back when she retreated from the cockpit. He made notice of her posture, which wasn't reflecting her usual defiance. Unlike their other unfortunate encounters, she looked a bit resigned but mainly confused, most likely too emotionally disturbed to be thinking clearly. Her face looked a bit worked up, too.

Thinking back on what he just said to her, he may have been overreacting due to his train of thoughts. She didn't actually say something offensive, although it was much more straightforward than any other conversation he has had in the past years. 

Taking into account that she already looked off, he hoped she wasn’t going to do anything stupid because of his response.

Given her mood though, he opted not to go after her, and wait in the cockpit a little longer. The atmosphere was already loaded enough and he wasn't looking forward to more energy consuming drama or useless fights. 

He automatically turned his attention back to the hyperspace void in front of him and picked up where his thoughts were left, before her intermission. 

The stress started eating at him again. He wasn’t used to having time for anything, and now he sat there, waiting, counting the hours before he was to be delivered to the enemy, at his own suggestion, no less. 

Was he going to be able to break Ren? How much more did he need to give up so he could remove that idiot, who knocked him from his ambitious trajectory? Is it all going to be worth it and what's going to be left of the First Order in the end? Will there be a chance for him to start over and get in charge again?

There had to be, it was the only life he knew. He had been there, only a little five year old boy, when the Order rose from the ashes of the Empire. So many sacrifices, harsh decisions and risks were taken to become what they were. He personally had pushed himself to the limits, over the limits, sometimes to the brink of insanity, to achieve greatness for the First Order. 

His mind wandered further,  thinking back about the choices he made, the career path he chose and pushed himself forward for.  The way he crawled up to the chain of command.

Yes, corruption was within their ranks. He wasn’t clean of those tactics either, but that’s part of the game. He learned those tricks from his father. 

Armitage grimaced at the thought of the latter, and how he made sure the younger Hux understood his teachings. 

There’s no way one could keep his hands clean in achieving leadership. But at least, he knew how the giant war machine worked, something Ren lacked. They all underestimated him, they didn't understand how far he was willing to go and up till now that had always worked in his advantage. 

The empire had shown that a strong hand was imperative to attain peace, but it was too flawed. And with insane emotionally unstable idiots like Ren at the top, the First Order was risking the same end. Something had to be done.

But, after literally leaking the Emperor's message to the resistance and letting high ranked resistance members escape, will he ever be able to seize command? Maybe he did go too far, this time? 

 He didn’t have many allies left. Phasma perished as did Snoke. Lower officers like Mitaka could prove to be loyal to him, given Ren’s outbursts on the personnel. But in high command, he was losing popularity because of Starkiller and the Fulminatrix.

And then there was that huge factor he hadn’t taken into account properly. 

Pryde. 

He knew of the sick prick and his reserve forces, but none of the acting officers of the First Order out in the outer rim were aware of how Pryde had strengthened their numbers so fast. The so-called allegiant-general had become a powerful and influential player. Suddenly, the tables had turned and both Pryde and Ren almost succeeded in removing him from the board of command.

Then came Palpatine 's message, and it was as if it announced Hux's demise. Pryde convinced his loyal allegiant officers that going after the message would bring them significant strategic advantages, while Ren was not open for reason.  Hux was automatically on the other end of the bargain, and thus enemy number one within the Order's upper ranks. 

How convenient for both. 

He felt his palms grow sticky beneath his leather gloves. He could try to come up with alternative tactics, go over the scenarios over and over again, but he already knew in the back of his mind that there was no better option than the way too risky plan he had picked now.

His jaw felt stiff and was starting to hurt from the constant pressure, the sting bringing him back to the present. He sighed deeply and rubbed his nasal bone.

On second thought, getting into some drama or a fight with Miko suddenly feels much more appealing than drowning in these thoughtlines , he scoffed.

A/N: I'm ignoring Sloane for a minute because we don't know what happened to her, same goes for Thrawn. They will have a cameo later on though! I love them too much not to include them 🥰

[independence1776]

hi - I'm so sorry that I'm writing to you from my nsfw account but I don't have access to my main (I'm at abanaqun usually) at the moment gdi - hope that's ok! but I am writing to ask: I came across your survey about 2000s Tolkien fandom culture from 2019 today and I was wondering if you ever published that meta and would be willing to share a link?

I'm writing my bachelor thesis on the archiving of fanworks in the lotr fandom. its early stages yet and I'm just reading as much as possible at the moment, and I'd love to read your meta!

Hi! I’m glad you reached out.

As far as you using this account: I have zero problem with it. While I don’t know your reasons for having different accounts, I am honestly perturbed that you felt the need to apologize for it. I’ve been in fanfic fandom for more than twenty years; in the spaces I usually participate in, no one cares if people focus on adult topics or not. It's your blog; do what you want with it. Plus, this is Tumblr. The amount of times people talk about sex and shipping is infinite. And, honestly, I don't check blogs before I answer Asks; the only time I do check peoples’ blogs are when they seem to be approaching me in bad faith or could be spambots. You are clearly neither!

For your actual question, unfortunately, I never wrote the meta. I assumed that people who would take the survey would read the paragraph about why I was doing it and only answer if they’d been involved in that particular area of fandom. It was a bad assumption. A significant number of people who answered never read fanfic; I got responses like “why would I go to archives?” and “I didn’t do any of the above; why didn’t you ask about X?” when X had nothing to do with fanfic fandom. They took me asking solely about fanfic-related things as a flaw in the survey rather than realizing they were not actually the audience for the survey. There were enough of those responses that it would have been serious work to weed them out to get useful data. I didn’t want to put in the effort for what should have been a fun survey. I’m sorry I can’t be of further help with it.

That said, have you checked out @dawnfelagund 's work? Not being involved in the academic side of Tolkien fandom, I believe she’s the main person studying and writing on Tolkien fanfic fandom. She ran an IRB-approved survey focusing on Tolkien fanfic fandom in 2015; I believe most of the results can be found on her Heretic Loremaster blog. She co-ran the survey again in 2020 and is publishing based on that data and in comparision with the earlier survey; her research on that can be found on SWG (I’m linking to her profile; her research articles are included alongside her fic). I know she's published results from both in professional journals, but I can't remember if they're included in the above or not.

Related to that is the Silmarillion Writers’ Guild’s newsletter column Cultus Dispatches, which “delves into the history and culture of the Tolkien fandom.”

I especially want to point you to Dawn’s Tolkien Fanworks Scholarship Bibliography. In it, she lists papers available for free online; she links in the introduction to another list that includes articles not available for free.

I hope this is of some help to you.

[nilesh58]

Diu Win Login FAQ: Answers to Your Most Common Questions

When it comes to logging into the Diu Win platform, there are several common queries that users often have. Whether you're a new user or someone who's already familiar with the platform, it’s important to know how to troubleshoot and maximize your experience. In this FAQ section, we will answer some of the most frequently asked questions regarding the Diu Win login process.

1. What is Diu Win?

Diu Win is a popular online service platform that provides users with a variety of tools and features. Whether you're using it for business, entertainment, or personal tasks, Diu win login offers an intuitive interface designed to streamline your online activities. From accessing your account to exploring various applications and services, logging into Diu Win is the first step toward unlocking its full potential.

2. How Do I Log into Diu Win?

Logging into Diu Win is a simple process. To begin, follow these steps:

Open your web browser and go to the official Diu Win website.

Locate the "Login" button, usually found at the top right corner of the homepage.

Click on the button, and you will be directed to the login page.

Enter your username and password in the respective fields.

Click on the "Login" button to access your account.

If you've forgotten your credentials, there's an option to reset your password by clicking on the "Forgot Password" link.

3. I Forgot My Password. What Should I Do?

If you've forgotten your password, don't worry! Here's what you can do:

Go to the Diu Win login page.

Click on the "Forgot Password" link under the login fields.

Enter the email address associated with your Diu Win account.

You will receive a password reset link in your email inbox. Follow the instructions in the email to reset your password.

Be sure to check your spam or junk folder if you don't receive the email within a few minutes.

4. Can I Use My Social Media Account to Log into Diu Win?

Yes! Diu Win offers the convenience of logging in using your social media accounts. You can link your Facebook, Google, or other social media profiles to your Diu Win account for faster access.

To log in with your social media account, simply click on the corresponding icon (such as Google or Facebook) on the login page. You will be redirected to the social media login page to authorize the connection. Once authorized, you'll be logged into your Diu Win account automatically.

5. Why Can’t I Log Into My Diu Win Account?

If you're having trouble logging into your Diu Win account, here are a few things you can check:

Incorrect credentials: Ensure that you’ve entered the correct username and password. Pay attention to case sensitivity and typos.

Account suspension: Your account may have been suspended for violating the platform’s terms of service. In this case, you should contact Diu Win’s customer support to resolve the issue.

Browser cache issues: Sometimes, clearing your browser’s cache and cookies can help resolve login issues. Try clearing them and attempt to log in again.

Password reset: If you’ve forgotten your password, make sure to reset it by following the steps in the “Forgot Password” section.

If none of these solutions work, it’s best to reach out to the Diu Win support team for assistance.

6. What Should I Do if My Diu Win Account is Locked?

If your Diu Win account is locked, it may be due to multiple failed login attempts or suspicious activity. Here’s what you can do:

Wait: If your account was locked due to multiple unsuccessful login attempts, try waiting for a while before trying again.

Password Reset: If you believe someone else has tried to access your account, immediately reset your password using the "Forgot Password" feature.

Contact Support: If you’re unable to unlock your account on your own, contact Diu Win’s support team for further assistance. They will guide you through the process of unlocking your account and securing it.

7. How Can I Change My Diu Win Password?

Changing your password on Diu Win is easy. Follow these steps:

Log into your Diu Win account.

Navigate to your account settings by clicking on your profile icon in the top right corner.

Select the "Security" or "Account Settings" option.

Find the "Change Password" section and enter your current password, followed by your new password.

Confirm the new password and save the changes.

Make sure your new password is strong and contains a combination of letters, numbers, and special characters to enhance security.

8. Can I Log into Diu Win on Multiple Devices?

Yes, you can log into your Diu Win account on multiple devices. Whether you're using your smartphone, tablet, or computer, you can access your account seamlessly. However, for security reasons, it’s important to log out of your account when you're done using a public or shared device.

Diu Win also allows you to manage devices that are logged into your account from the security settings. You can view a list of devices and remove any that you don't recognize.

9. Why Am I Being Logged Out of Diu Win Automatically?

If you’re being logged out of your Diu Win account automatically, it could be due to one of the following reasons:

Session timeout: For security reasons, Diu Win may log you out after a period of inactivity.

Browser settings: Some browsers automatically clear cookies and session data, which could cause you to be logged out. Check your browser settings to ensure that this isn’t happening.

Account activity: If Diu Win detects suspicious activity on your account, it may log you out as a precautionary measure. In such cases, check your email for notifications or alerts from Diu Win regarding the activity.

10. How Can I Contact Diu Win Support?

If you're experiencing any login issues or have other questions about your account, Diu Win offers several ways to get in touch with customer support:

Email: Send a detailed email outlining your issue to the customer support team.

Live Chat: Diu Win provides live chat support for real-time assistance.

Help Center: Visit the Help Center on the Diu Win website to browse FAQs, troubleshooting guides, and articles.

Customer support is available 24/7 to assist with any problems you may encounter.

Conclusion

Logging into your Diu Win account should be a straightforward process, but if you run into issues, the steps outlined in this FAQ section can help resolve most problems. From password resets to security concerns, knowing what to do in these situations will ensure a smoother experience when using Diu Win. If you continue to experience issues, don’t hesitate to reach out to the support team for personalized assistance.

[reputationgenies]

How to Remove Personal Information From the Internet.

The Internet has become an indispensable tool for businesses and individuals. However, the Internet has also created a digital identity problem that is both difficult to manage and expensive to fix. When you create an online profile on any website, you give that site access to your personal information so they can use it to sell you products or services.    The problem is that not just one site can benefit from this information; as soon as people fill in their profile on any social media platform or another online source, they leave themselves open to anyone who wants access to this data. This makes it hard (and sometimes impossible) to remove your data from the Internet without working with multiple companies at once! 

Use “remove information” requests.

If you want to remove your personal information from the Internet, there are a few options. Google has a form on its site that will let you request the removal of all search results related to your name or domain name. You can also request the removal of specific results by providing them in the form and then clicking “Submit.”

You may also want to ask Google Images if they have photos of yourself or other people who look like you—and if so, how they were obtained (e.g., by typing in “black guy who looks like me” into an image search).

If you find that Google has posted your personal information online, you can request the data removal by filling out a form on their site. You’ll need to provide a link to the information in question and state whether it’s personally identifiable or not.

Remove old accounts you no longer use.

Delete old accounts you no longer use. If you have an account on a social media site, but don’t use it anymore, delete it. If you want to keep your profile active but don’t want other people to see it, set it to private (you can also do this by going into your account settings).

Delete your profile from the site itself if possible; otherwise, deactivate your account so that nobody else will be able to log in anymore.

Remove old posts from forums and blogs.

You should also remove old posts from forums, blogs, and social media accounts. These sites are great for keeping track of what’s happening worldwide. But if you’re still paying them attention, it can be easy to let personal information slip out in a conversation or post that someone else might find objectionable.

Forums are an especially dangerous place for this kind of thing because they tend to be heavily moderated—meaning that comments tend not to get approved until after several people have commented on them already. That means there’s no way for humans (or AI robots) who moderate forums like these throughout their existence (usually long enough). This means that while most people don’t post information online without thinking about whether or not they should do so, forum moderators don’t have time or resources available right now.

Download and delete all your data from every website.

Download and delete all your data from every website you use.

Go to Settings on each website and choose Delete Account or Delete Data in the Advanced area of the page.

Once you’ve made sure that all your personal information has been removed from the Internet, delete your account on each site (if applicable). This is not just about deleting an account; it’s about ensuring that no one can access it ever again—including yourself!

Use Google’s “My Activity” tool to monitor and delete your searches and info.

If you’re concerned about the personal information you share online, Google has an excellent tool for monitoring and deleting your search history. This tool can view and delete your browsing history, location history, and activity from Google+. The only limitation is that if you want to remove all of your data from the Internet (not just privacy-related activities), it may take some time—but it’s worth it!

Here are some tips on how to use this tool:

Go here: https://myactivity.google.com/

Remove yourself from old social media accounts.

To delete your old accounts, you can either sign in and delete them yourself or use a service that does it for you. If you don’t have access to the account anymore and want to ensure that no one else sees what’s on there (and possibly causes trouble), consider deleting it by making it private. You can do this by going into your settings page and clicking “Edit Profile.” Under “Privacy & Security,” select “Private” from the drop-down menu next to “Delete This Account.”

Remove inactive profiles from dating sites.

If you have an inactive profile on a dating site, there’s no way you can delete it. However, it may be possible to make your profile inactive by signing out of the website and returning once you’re ready to start dating again.

If your photos are still on other people’s profiles after making your pictures private and removing any contact information from them (email address), remove these images from those profiles as well. You should also update your email address so that anyone who searches for it will find an updated version instead of seeing outdated details about when you last used Gmail or Yahoo! Mail services in 2010; this will prevent spam bots from sending unwanted messages directly through their mailboxes as they did before!

You’ve got control over your online presence!

Ultimately, it’s up to you how much information is out there. If you want to keep your search history private and not share it with anyone else—or if you want to take back control of what’s on the Internet—you can do so.

If you’re thinking of removing your personal information from the Internet, several companies can help.

It’s essential to remove your personal information from the Internet as soon as possible because no one knows what could happen in the future if someone finds out about it or uses it against you in some way.

We remove your personal information from the Internet.

The Bottom Line

Now that you know how to remove personal information from the Internet, we hope that you can use this information as a guide in your life. We want to remind everyone that there is no one-size-fits-all solution for removing personal information from the Internet. What works for one person may not work for another, so it’s best to test different approaches until something works for you!

[cindylouwho-2]

RECENT ECOMMERCE NEWS (INCLUDING ETSY), LATE APRIL 2024

Welcome to my Etsy and ecommerce news & resource update for late April 2024. There are lots of Etsy bugs to keep track of...

I now provide these updates at least twice a week to paying members of my Patreon, along with many other useful benefits. Please check it out!

Want to get these Tumblr updates plus my website blog posts via email? You can sign up here.

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES 

Some Etsy Messages continue to be sent to the spam folder for no apparent reason, and the site has finally taken action on the resulting damage to Star Seller status. The problem itself is not necessarily over, but Etsy is “working to improve the accuracy of these measures.”

If you have an Etsy shop that has been “inactive” for 4 or more years, be aware that Etsy is planning on closing those shops permanently if the owners do not log in to the shop in the next few months (post by me on LinkedIn).  

A really good reminder that correlation is not causation: just because your views or sales dropped at the same time something else happened does not mean that the event in question harmed your traffic and sales. That applies to Google Core Updates as well as Etsy’s Gift Mode. 

ETSY NEWS 

Etsy is testing new SEO tools that will change the listing titles shown in Etsy search and Offsite Ads. I have the full text of the opt-in explanation from Etsy, plus my thoughts. TL;DR: I wouldn't opt in. Sellers cannot control which listings get changed, nor can they see the changes. Etsy's AI track record is too abysmal to try this.

Gift recipients can now contact the seller, and sellers can issue replacements without any contact with the buyer/gift giver. “However, only the original buyer of a gift can request a refund, return, or exchange—depending on your shop policies. Gift recipients won’t be able to request a return or file a case. Messages you receive from gift recipients will be identified with a badge so you know who you’re messaging with.”

Canadian sellers should check their tax IDs on Etsy, as one seller had hers removed from her account without notice, meaning Etsy is now charging her Canadian customers GST/HST, despite it already being included in the item price. Chat told her it was linked to an inability to verify the ID number, but of course no one told the seller, and the issue can’t currently be fixed. 

Some sellers in France report they are being told they must remove “Other” from shipping profiles (as a shipping upgrade only) and choose a carrier option that Etsy provides. While there has been no official announcement, this may be the first step in an expansion of the removal of “Other” in the US and the UK, which I wrote about last year. 

If your items seem to be due to ship later than you might expect, that could be a bug. [short post by me with forum links]

The official Etsy legal policies for sellers changed a bit on April 9, with some words switched regarding “off-platform transactions”. There is a side-by-side comparison here. Both the seller policy and the new “off-platform transactions” page also forbid the use of QR codes to take users off of Etsy. 

Etsy had a major outage on April 19, and from some reports this took an hour to fix. That usually means some major software changes coming…

Etsy released a Spring/Summer Trend Guide, now done as a pdf file of slides as well as a blog post. Searches for “handmade gifts” are up 238% in the first 3 months of the year compared to 2023 [so yes, you should use the word handmade in your tags or titles.] You can also now see Etsy's curated trends on the Trends Page, filled with Editors’ Picks for the different topics. 

Some US sellers did not receive their deposits on April 15, but staff now claim the problem is resolved. A few sellers disagree. 

Modern Retail interviewed Etsy sellers unhappy with the platform and comparing it to Amazon. [ModernRetail; soft paywall] “Etsy only permits the resale of vintage goods and crafts supplies, per its policy. But Modern Retail found listings on the platform for fast-fashion blazers, shirts and jackets from retailers like H&M and Shein. Those listings were taken down after Modern Retail flagged them to Etsy’s team.” The article misses the fact that 95% of takedowns for handmade violations are actually errors, as I covered last year. 

Etsy’s first quarter 2024 results come out May 1. If the company is planning big changes any time soon, they would likely be announced on or before that date, but they have surprised us before, so no guarantees. (Large changes such as the subscription tiers they surveyed sellers on earlier this year take a lot of programming work, so that could delay announcements.)

The Etsy “strike” happened 2 years ago this month, but the organizations that grew out of the movement continue to strive for better conditions for small makers and curators who sell online. 

If Etsy has removed one of your items under the handmade policy but it appears to be an issue with other sites stealing your photos, this Reddit user has a great approach for tackling Etsy Support’s usual slow reaction time. If you can’t access call backs due to your country not being on the list, try the same approach with live chat. If that doesn’t work, go public. Etsy tends to fix things more quickly when the company is being called out. 

Those involved in “closed” Teams in the Etsy Community should be aware that these teams were open to anyone logged in for a few weeks; outsiders could read, subscribe, and even post. [Yes, I did all of these things just to test.] Etsy now claims the issue is fixed. 

ECOMMERCE NEWS (minus social media)

Amazon

Changes to return processing fees for Fulfilled by Amazon items kick in June 1. “Amazon will introduce a returns processing fee for high return rate products in all categories, excluding apparel and shoes, to address the operational costs of returns and reduce waste. The fee will only apply to products that have return rates above a threshold specific to each category.”

According to the Wall Street Journal [paywall], Amazon has sold its items on other marketplaces such as Walmart and eBay. The goal? Spying on those other marketplaces and collecting info about how they operated.  

By the end of 2024, Amazon will be responsible for 40% of ecommerce sales in the US. Note that Walmart is growing faster than Amazon but is way behind. 

Amazon is using more automation in its facilities, and just opened a huge facility with Amazon-designed robots in Massachusetts. 

eBay

Starting April 20th, some eBay orders are being cancelled due to a “systems issue”, even if the orders had already shipped. Some sellers were not aware until their buyers asked why the order was cancelled, even though eBay was supposed to send emails. 

eBay sellers with open orders between April 7 and now should verify the addresses, as eBay admits it has been providing incorrect addresses for some orders.  

Sellers that use calculated shipping on eBay will now see the default shipping price be the discounted eBay label one as of May 15, unless they opt out by May 13. 

eBay seller feedback now includes the requirement to leave a product review as well.  

For everyone following the new hot trend of not charging seller fees, eBay UK is eliminating transaction fees (listing, final value and regulatory) on pre-owned clothing sales by private sellers. [For those who missed it, Depop did this for UK sellers in March, but like Mercari, will be charging buyer fees in at least some cases. eBay has not announced charges for buyers.] 

eBay owns TCGPlayer, which sells collectible cards, and is now selling cards on eBay through TCGPlayer. Is this an undeclared conflict of interest? “Suspiciously, nothing on the main profile page or the listings discloses to buyers that they are purchasing directly from an eBay-owned subsidiary - though it does assure potential buyers that TCGPlayer (eBay) is "one of eBay's most reputable sellers…eBay has graciously granted themselves the "Direct From Brand" badging even though TCGPlayer is not the manufacturer of these cards and arguably has no "brand" rights to Magic The Gathering, Metazoo or any other products they are selling."

Other Marketplaces

Depop recently removed all transaction/selling fees for UK sellers, and is now advertising this on the street and on YouTube. The preloved clothing market is expected to continue to grow over the next few years. “Our research with UK consumers shows that 18-35 year olds are already making an average of £350 a year by selling unused clothing, and saving an average of £185 annually by buying secondhand.”

Apparently Mercari has listing limits for some sellers. 

US businesses who want to sell on Shein can join a webinar on April 25 to learn more about their options. 

Website Builders

WooCommerce’s decision to change the website to Woo.com did not go well, so they changed back to WooCommerce.com on April 9. This was largely an SEO issue, which should make anyone reconsider SEO advice from Woo in the future. 

Shipping 

USPS delays continue countrywide, and there are lots of complaints. "Nationwide, 87% of first class, two-day mail arrived on time during the last three months of 2023, a 2.5 percentage-point decrease from the same period a year earlier, according to data published by the Postal Service inspector general. For mail intended to take three to five days, just 70% arrived on time, a decrease of 11 percentage points…Delays have been the most significant in some of the first regions to roll out the new regional distribution system, including Richmond, Virginia, Houston and the metro Atlanta area.” The problems are so widespread that eBay issued a statement that estimated delivery dates are being changed to reflect the issues. 

Canadians who use Canada Post's oversized lettermail for domestic orders will be paying more as of May 6. Envelopes up to 100g will now cost $2.09 per stamp (plus GST/HST), up from $1.94. Other lettermail and international non-package letterpost are also going up, including single letter forever stamps, but remember you can’t use those to ship product anyway.

Canada Post will be making other changes for business accounts in early September.

[cashappreviewus]

How Do I Know If Direct Deposit Hits on Cash App Account?

Direct deposit is the fastest, safest, and most secure method of payment available today. But many users have this common query- when does Cash App direct deposit hit. There are so many factors which can influence how long Cash App direct deposits take to reach your accounts. Contact your company's customer service team if you have questions about their direct deposit schedule. You can get the most up-to-date information on payroll processing times and any delays in its arrival into the Cash App. The best way to know when your payroll is processed is to check it regularly in the Cash App. Keep an eye on the transaction history. Once it appears under "My Cash," it means that it has been processed successfully and is now ready for you. Let's begin and learn more about it.

How Long Does It Take for Cash App to Receive a Direct Deposit?

When using Cash App, one of the first things that comes to mind is, "How long does it take for Cash App to receive a direct deposit? Cash App's speedy processing is a good thing. Your funds should usually be in your Cash app account within 1-5 working days. Cash App does not determine when direct deposit will occur; the employer or entity that sends you money will evaluate this based on its payroll processing schedule, which can change from week to week.

It is important to remember that the exact Cash App direct deposit time for transaction can vary based on several factors. These include the origin of your deposit, potential delays within the banking system, and when you requested the deposit. The timing of Cash App direct deposits can also be affected by bank holidays. Processing may be delayed if a bank holiday falls on the day that it is normally processed. Technical issues can also slow down the processing time. These include server problems, congestion on ACH networks, or insufficient funds.

How Do I Find Direct Deposit Info on Cash App?

You can find information on your direct deposit through the Cash App with the help of below mentioned steps:

Open Cash App on your mobile device.

Click on the profile icon in the upper left corner.

Scroll down and click "Funds."

You will see your Cash App balance, recent transactions, and direct deposits under the "Cash."

This section gives you a complete overview of all your direct deposits, including their source and the timing.

When does Cash App Direct Deposit hit on Saturday?

Cash App processes direct deposits on Saturdays. Cash App direct deposit hit on weekends or holidays with minimal delay. Processing times may differ slightly from those of business days. Cash App is open 24/7, unlike traditional banks, which often have limited hours of operation. This means that your direct deposit will be credited to your account at any time, even on weekends. This flexibility is particularly beneficial to individuals who depend on having their funds available in a timely manner.

Direct deposits are usually deposited between 9 am and 5 pm Eastern Standard Time on the day they were made. This is typically a Wednesday or Thursday each week. Other types of payments, such as tax refunds and government benefits, may take longer. You can check your Cash App direct deposits by going to the app's home screen and selecting "Deposits." You can view recent and pending deposits from this page. If there is a delay, please get in touch with your bank or employer immediately.

What Time Does Cash App Direct Deposit Hit?

In most cases, your direct deposit will arrive in your Cash App account before 9 am Eastern Time on the scheduled day. Once your Cash App account is linked to a bank, you can use its funds to send money or purchase bitcoins. Remember that you cannot withdraw this money until the ACH transfer is complete - this can take up to five business days.

Sometimes, Cash App direct deposits may take a little longer to reach you due to limitations within the ACH system. Payroll information is not settled on weekends or holidays. If your payday falls during one of these days, your deposit will arrive the next business day. Other factors can also cause Cash App direct deposit late issues. If you find that the information entered was incorrect, contact your employer. A banking issue could also be the cause. This could include having multiple accounts with one bank or one account being on hold.

What Time Does Cash App Direct Deposit Hit on Sunday?

Direct deposits that are scheduled for Sunday will generally appear between 2 am and 4 am EST. However, this is not guaranteed since bank processing times can vary. There may also be delays in receiving banks' processing schedules. Contact your employer or ACH processor directly to find out when your direct deposit will be made. Cash App is the fastest and safest way to receive your pay check. However, it can be not easy to get them on time if you choose to use direct deposit.

However sometimes the Cash App direct deposit delayed due to various factors, including holidays, weekends, technical problems, or incorrect routing or account numbers. However, there are troubleshooting techniques that will help you resolve this problem quickly so your money reaches you the quickest. Technical issues at the bank may also delay your direct deposit. It may take a few extra days for your payment to appear in the Cash App. Contact your bank or employer to find out what is causing the delay. These issues can be quickly resolved. 

FAQ

How long does it take for Cash App to receive a direct deposit?

Cash App processes direct deposits in 1-5 working days. However, the exact time frame may vary depending on different factors.

How do I find direct deposit info on the Cash App?

Open the Cash App and tap on the profile icon. Then, select "Funds" to view your recent transactions.

Does Cash App release direct deposits on Saturday?

Cash App does process direct deposits on weekends, giving users flexibility and access.

At what time does Cash App direct deposit hit?

Most Cash App direct deposits are available before 9 am ET. However, timing can vary depending on your employer's payroll schedule as well as other factors.