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anonymousad · 2 years

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an unbiased review: the Among the Stacks crowdfund

if you would like to follow along, or if you for whatever reason do not trust my screenshots of the campaign: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/among-the-stacks-season-1#/

this is going to be very long and I apologize. but when I thought about leaving out some parts to cut it down, it didn't feel like I was doing due diligence in communicating the full picture and providing constructive feedback and critique. I think I have some good notes in here for general things to keep in mind for anyone asking publicly for money to fund their passion project.

so. let's get into it.

The Campaign Video

this is the first thing you see on the page, displayed prominently at the top next to the title and goal.

but before it even starts, why is it a full 10 minutes long??? this is your elevator pitch opportunity, you need to get to the point and make your case before someone clicks away. because unless I already care I am not sticking around for 10 minutes to hear you say the same thing I can read for myself if I scrolled slightly down the page. (that's not even mentioning that any video which is exactly 10:01 long just makes me think of how youtubers pad video lengths to hit the time requirement for putting ads in the middle)

but anyway, let's talk about the video itself.

first up: the content

cut. it. down.

10 minutes is an egregious length for what is supposed to be a video that grabs attention and funnels people into taking the time to read the rest of the page. it is not meant to be a video version OF said page. even 5 minutes would be pushing it in most cases, and the most important information needs to be in the first 2. that means the elevator pitch for your story, ideally 1-2 sentences, and then an explanation of what you are asking for and why. it is fine to set the tone with an excerpt or thematic prose, but keep it BRIEF.

there is no need to spend nearly 3 minutes of the runtime playing samples of your most famous actors for clout. especially when you barely touch on the 12 people that are part of the crew .

touching on various perks of the different tiers is good, as is reiterating the goal amount, but it would be nice to have visuals to go along with the more interesting and complicated sounding ones. the visuals that are included are lackluster and the small amount of shown art is way too obscured by the "copyright" watermark.

finally: why the fuck is the last minute and forty just music. no, seriously. almost 2 minutes of time wasted for the sake of what? fade that shit out after 10 seconds and end the video, I'm not here to listen to your theme tune, I'm here to learn about the project.

also, don't use "Kickstarter" as a general synonym for "crowdfunder". it is confusing and will make people forget how to actually find your campaign.

second: the quality

you are making an audio drama, yes, so producing nice videos isn't your end goal. but it DOES still matter and is a reflection of the care you put into your work. if I like the video, then yeah maybe I go and check out the actual content you've released on the Among the Stacks feed. but your feed isn't embedded at the top of this page. your feed isn't the first impression I'm going to get of your production quality. this is.

we could nitpick how the transparent logo on the library background makes the text unreadable, or how the cast announcements aren't lined up properly with the visual transitions, or how more than one take was definitely needed because some of the stumbles are extremely noticeable. some of the issues are visual only, but there are plenty of problems with the audio itself in this video, which is especially suspect when what you are asking money for is an audio project.

so when the opening voiceover changes to a more informal description of the project, why does the quality go to shit. the first part sounds like it was recorded in a properly treated space with care for removing background noise and reducing echo and reverb. in the second, I can constantly hear birds and there was a fucking discord notification at the 1:45 mark. most bafflingly, it's the same exact voice (I assume showrunner Nigel's), so HOW can the quality be this inconsistent??? I'm not looking for fancy, I'm just looking for the bare minimum in quality for something like this.

all this tells me, is to expect inconsistency in your product. if I give you money am I going to get the treated professional approach or the slapdash one? this video is the way you are demonstrating your quality to prospective backers; you provide no other examples directly on this page so THIS is what you have presented as an acceptable representation of you and the project as a whole.

this shit matters, it really does. ESPECIALLY when you are asking for $21,000 dollars. which leads us to...

The $21k Goal

with names this prominent in the AD space attached, I did have an expectation of a somewhat higher goal than I've seen on recent smaller projects. but I was not expecting the actual goal to be this ridiculous.

let's compare this number to another high profile project that happened last year: Re:Dracula (https://seedandspark.com/fund/re-dracula)

off the bat, you can see that this project raised about $24k on it's own, but if you scroll down to the budget section it says "We estimate that this production will cost $22k. You'll note our goal is $12k - this is because we've received $10k of external funding outside of this campaign!" for a total of $34k

now you might see that and think "well anon, is that not basically the same thing? they actually raised more than that!"

there is as big difference between a project that is being spearheaded by a well-established and proven name in the audio drama space like Tal Minear and a project being driven by someone that most people haven't interacted with in any production capacity (I'm sure Tal would have their own interesting things to say about this crowdfunder, as they have quite a bit of experience themself in this realm). ADDITIONALLY, in the Re:Dracula campaign video (which is only 2 minutes if you were wondering) they state it is an "all or nothing project", meaning if they couldn't raise the necessary funds it wouldn't have happened. so when Re:Dracula asked for that money, there was an expectation built on past proven work and releases and the ask was made based on that.

(now do I also find that amount of money for Re:Dracula to be a bit ridiculous? honestly a bit yes, but as a production it is very much a professional venture within the space more than an indie project fueled by passion to tell a story. the whole thing exists to capitalize on Dracula Daily tho, so I think we all know that)

there is an expectation of quality and professionalism that is proportional to how much money you are asking people to entrust you with. it sounds shitty, and it is, but crowdfunding is about asking individuals to put faith in you and your vision, and it is your responsibility to do right by those people.

I should point out that there is no problem with a flexible goal, which means that money will still go to the project if not fully funded. but I do think it betrays that they know this goal is nonsense high.

but we will talk more in-depth about the budget breakdown in the next section.

The Donation Tiers

this is the bit that will be the most presumptive, as the nature of backer tiers is that you don't know what the goods will be like until a while after the campaign is over and stuff goes out. so this will be a more general look at the different levels, whether the perks seem to be fairly placed/distributed, etc.

my first question tho: why are nearly all of the tiers seemingly "discounted" right now (the day after launch)? is it a limited time first week of the campaign thing? if so, why aren't you using that to advertise and push people to pledge early to take advantage? in some industries this kind of thing is common practice (video games often launch with small discounts on digital platforms like Steam), but I have never seen it on any kind of crowdfunding campaign. I didn't even know it was a thing you could do.

I do like the visual cohesion with all the images used across the tiers. the yellow and purple thematically match with the show's website (which interestingly is not linked a single time on the page), though I'm unsure how legible it is when it comes to the text images within the main campaign body, definitely hides some the details of the pictures here against the parchment style background. the art styles themselves are exactly consistent, which is pretty obvious why once you realize they are all traced off other pictures or artwork (for example, this one is a clear base for this one and I was able to quickly find ). I was going to give the benefit of the doubt and assume this is a legal use of them since I can't hunt down every single one. but the hands holding a rosary image is from a site that says "attribution is required", and that sure wasn't done here so I don't know if any of the others were traced without permission or proper credit given. nowhere on the page is there a link to or mention of who created these images for the campaign. (unrelated, but alt text for images should be standard by now on sites like indiegogo, especially since so many campaigns utilize banner images instead of header text to differentiate sections)

okay let's actually look at these tiers (at the price before the discount):

there are 10 options total (plus the general donate without a perk) ranging from $6 to $267 USD. as a high and low these are good boundaries, with 6 of the options being below the $100 mark. honestly this is a really solid distribution in terms of offering options at the lower end while still giving variety at the middle and higher end.

the first four are restricted to digital content only, with the baseline offering discord access and a social media shout-out and then progressively adding digital annotated scripts, early access to episodes, and the digital "librarian guide".

the annotated scripts is an interesting perk considering it will apparently include both past and future episodes of the show. however that isn't particularly specific about whether it is even talking about season 1 scripts or if it means scripts for only the current "prologue season" as it is defined in the main text of the campaign (oh we will get there). it does has a general delivery timeframe of April 2023, but is this a one and done or will these backers continue to get new annotated scripts thru the creation of season 1? how many will that come out to? will they get all the scripts? these are not small questions when it comes to asking value, though at a price point of $12 I think most people would be satisfied with a few from throughout the first season.

similarly "early access to episodes" is too vague and needs to be more specific; when Red Valley crowdfunded last year they stated that backers would get access a full week before the public, but all the ATS campaign says is "ahead of the general public". it is worth noting that both campaigns asked $18 for this level, so we are in line there it seems.

the Librarian Guide is a neat bit of content to offer, though I wish there were mock-ups or even a little more information about the type of things that will be included aside from illustrations. "information" could mean star signs and the fact they hate cake, or it could be substantial like their background and how they came to be part of the story. the price has jumped to $33 at this tier, so sell me on why I should give another $15 for this.

from here we start bringing in physical goods, which can really drive people to giving more for that extra thing to show off.

at $44 we add a 5 count sticker pack. considering ordering minimums I think people often discount how much nice stickers can cost (assuming they go with nice ones), plus factoring in the postage from Ireland for even a regular letter envelope. so I think this is a fair jump up in price. the real question is, what are the designs? and actually, is it more than one design? because the wording is very non-specific to whether it is 5 of the same sticker you see a mock-up for in the video (which is just some black block text on a white background) or if it is 5 different designs that include actual artwork, or what. a sticker pack usually means multiple designs, but given we've only seen one thing that wasn't very impressive I don't know that that stuff is even prepared yet to send for printing. there is also nothing said about the quality of stickers in terms of vinyl, heavy duty, die cut, approx size, etc.

at $60 we add another digital reward of being thanked in the episode credits, a tier which does not have a limited number of slots, so I guess hope that it doesn't end up with 20+ names that have to be read out for every single release?

now we jump to the big leagues of pricing and physical production with the physical Librarian Guide at $128 USD. this is a pretty non-standard physical good which is an awesome thing to offer.

but here's where I feel something needs to be said about manufacturing, because that shit can go south fast. physical goods can be hard to produce on their own, and promising too much will lead down a road of stress and frustration and lots of time and money wasted if you don't know what you are doing. I know people who have goods manufactured as their entire business and it is a fucking gamble sometimes.

but also, what exactly does it mean for this to be a physical item? it is 24 pages, which is too short to be bound like a book (even an art book). is it a zine? what will the quality of the print be and will it adequately show off the artwork that you are all proud of? this is where mock-ups or a sample page would be really nice to see.

a big jump up to $171 for the addition of a t-shirt. an additional $43 is somewhat steep I think, but that's probably fine because we're factoring in a middle man and shipping costs. but on the mock-up... why is the artwork so obscured? I genuinely cannot figure out what it's supposed to look like, which is a pity because what I can see seems interesting. are you really that worried about someone stealing the design?

for only $213 there is the option to name a character. again, no limit on the number of slots for this strikes me as weird since there are only so many characters that can possible BE named? especially given that all the currently announced cast have character names, so are there more people that we don't know about and aren't named or are some of those names up for change or is this just a "in the transcript you'll see the name and maybe it will be said once" kind of deal?

another small nitpick on this one. here's the description for it:

just lose the last line. the two before it do a good job at saying "hey it will have to be approved, and we don't stand for hateful shit", so the last line comes across kind of weird? it feels somewhere between 'no fun allowed' and 'you're an idiot' and is wholly unnecessary to get across the restrictions you want.

last tier sits at $267 USD (or an even €250 EUR for those who like round numbers). this is the reward that I always fucking hate to see, and it's somehow more egregious for how it's framed here. for all that money, you can get an executive producer credit.

this is a note for everyone doing a podcast crowdfund campaign: STOP DOING THIS SHIT. do you know why this reward exists? vanity. that's literally it. it exists for someone to claim that they were part of a project they didn't do anything for to try and gain clout.

now, why specifically does THIS ONE enrage me? for one, it is literally the only addition at this highest tier. add a handwritten thank you note or a chance to talk with the writers or SOMETHING. this is wholly unsubstantial for being the ultimate backer reward. but back to the credit itself, do you know where you'll be able to find it? only on Podchaser and IMDb. no mention of being distinguished in the credits of each episode with this label, nothing about being recognized on the website. just those two places that mean nothing and will barely be seen by anyone. do you know how easy it is to get on IMDb? embarrassingly so, and nobody will ever look. this kind of title exists for putting on a resume and looking impressive, but then if someone where to ask any follow up question you're kind of screwed because you actually did nothing but pay for it. so unless your only goal is to have your name attached to a project that has some well-known actors in the tiny pond that is audio drama, this shit is worthless.

so overall, I think the tiers are reasonable theoretically (minus the last one), but the lack of mock-ups for the more interesting stuff is definitely hurting that assessment.

The Campaign Itself

"About Among the Stacks"

minor gripe right off the bat, why is everything in this section a bullet point? those are for things in a list, which this is not. just leave them as paragraphs, which is basically what you've done anyway.

sorry that was distracting me. but let's talk about the actual content and some general advice.

the first thing I expect to see here is your elevator pitch. I talked about this in the video section, but since not everyone will watch your video (especially in this case when they see it is 10 minutes) you have to put it here. tell me why I should keep reading past your first paragraph. if I only read this campaign I would have no idea what your show is about or trying to be about.

instead what we're given is the setting and framework of the project. honestly this is good to include when there is a driving idea like "[creating] an open and inclusive space for creators to tell the stories they want to tell within the framework of the Library", and I take no issue with the inclusion of this. it could be said a little tighter (something this whole campaign could have used was a bit more editing to be honest), but the core principle is communicated and it sets the tone for what this project is claiming to be.

the 4th bullet should come next as it is the first mention or hint at the podcast feed even existing already. this is your way to prove that you can and have made stuff for the project and it doesn't only exist in people's heads. also, why is there no link to it?

it is nice to get the framing of who this project is largely coming from more than just looking at the name "Nigel McKeon" (she/they according to the website) as who created the campaign. it would be nice to get links to stuff like the poetry or podcasts to get a sense of her work, especially as they are asking for this much for what is essentially blind faith based on what this page gives us.

it is worth noting that while Nigel definitely has experience as a "podcaster", they do NOT have experience making an audio drama. her projects to this point have largely been unscripted talk podcasts such as Archive Admirers or Hyperfixations, so there is no indication of the quality of writing to expect from the project, even with a team of writers working on it. speaking of...

very interesting that our last paragraph here and the only image of this section is about some of the cast. this point is devoted to bragging about 6 of the well-known actors who are already involved in the project and listing their recognizable credits. the image below shows of 20 of the actors (including those 6), and even that barely scratches the surface of the 51 actors listed on their website as cast.

yep, 51. it is unclear to me how many of those are for one-off parts or actually considered core cast, but they are are named characters and apparently listed as equals so this is what I have to work with here.

it just so happens that these listed and pictured actors are the biggest names involved. which I get to an extent, you want to attract people to the project and that's a good way to do it. but that shouldn't be the ONLY thing your success is counting on. there are SO MANY big names attached here that it's suspicious to be honest.

also. why the fuck do you only mention your crew in passing here?

I don't care how talented your cast are, they won't be able to save bad writing or editing. your crew is just as important and yet THEY get no more than a passing mention. there are some really great people attached to this project and you are giving them zero recognition for all the hard work they had to put in already. before you could record these well-known voices, people had to write the scripts and flesh out the characters. so treat them with some respect for that!

I cannot even begin to communicate how infuriating it is to see the lack of credit given to the whole creative team, because the way this is presented feels like it's just Nigel and maybe some guest writers. if that IS what it is, then fucking say that! it isn't hard to communicate this stuff, and it is your duty when asking for this much money. always err on the side of being verbose.

I do think that generally more care needs to be taken with word choice and what is being highlighted though, because as with the tier descriptions some stuff is too vague or implies something that maybe isn't true.

I don't want to make assumptions about the people involved, particularly Nigel (she/they) who's project this is, but when I look at the pictures on the website of all the cast and crew involved in the project, I see a lot of pale skin. some of this might speak generally to the problem we have in the audio drama community of being very white, and it should be recognized that there is an amount of privilege associated with having the time and money to take on these kinds of creative hobbies. even with the bar for entry being much more accessible, things are a bit homogenous. but if you are claiming to care about platforming diverse and marginalized people, you need to show that. "show don't tell" is kind of the backbone of a lot of my issues with this campaign when it comes down to it, but this is one of those places where it really fucking matters. performative activism is something that we see a lot of, and I don't want to get into it here, but just platforming queer and ND voices is not the same as being diverse. queer activism and racial activism and disability activism and economic activism are all connected when you get down to it.

don't say you have an "incredibly diverse writing team" when I can look at the website and see that everyone is pale and very young. this does not read as diverse, it reads as "I didn't realize other neurodiverse people existed until I got deep on the internet and now I understand we are a marginalized group too".

(don't get me wrong, neurodivergence is absolutely a marginalized thing; it is still incredibly difficult for many people to get accommodations and help with managing the different struggles they may have. but even in that realm, it includes more than being ADHD or autistic and I'm getting on my soapbox so I'll stop here)

aside from all of that there is a piece of incredibly important information that just isn't here. how many episodes are you trying to make with this.

saying this will fund "season 1" doesn't mean anything when a podcast season can be anywhere from 40 episodes (The Magnus Archives) to 15 episodes (Jar of Rebuke) to only 4 (Samite). what does "one season" mean to your project? this is particularly important when it comes to justifying your budget and the breakdown of that work, as I'm about to get to.

(in that vein, communicating information like approximate episode length is also helpful I think for giving people an idea of the actual scope of the project; 20 episodes at 30 minutes each is 10 hours of content, but at an hour each that's twice as much work for all involved parties)

fucking hell, onto the next section where things do not get better.

The Budget "Breakdown" and Rewards

did you even try to make a chart where the text didn't go outside of the boundary, mate? also I hate these colors, it hurts to look at.

this is the chart provided, which basically just mirrors was the first bulleted paragraph states in terms of project budgeting. obviously for this section the monetary amounts did not automatically convert for to USD, but since all money is basically worthless right now it's pretty close to a $1 = €1 conversation rate anyway.

the project budget is split into 3 big categories: cast, crew, and artists. and split no more granular than that, which is big problem #1.

especially when there is no transparency on this page about how many people are involved within each of these groups, this could mean vastly different things and send a poor message generally. some people will look at this and not understand whether it is a fair ratio or not without the context of numbers.

if I were to do some rough calculations based on the information readily available via the website, we have:

20% or €4,000 to be split among the artists, of which there only seems to be the one on the website (Claire) and the one who made the character designs pictured lower on the page (@qkayoo). so that is €2k going to each of them roughly, though I know that likely isn't the actual shake out because Claire is responsible for all the episode art in addition to any of the other work being done specifically to fully campaign rewards like the t-shirt design. I'm also guessing that promotional materials for social media are included in this, but that's unclear since there's never any mention of marketing as part of the budget or campaign overall.

30% or €6,000 to be used for crew wages, which includes writers, composers, and producers. again, no mention of how many people this is or what the breakdown of that larger percentage is to each of these groups. should I also assume that there is going to be adequate compensation for the directing even though it isn't mentioned here?

the website lists 3 people as either "music", "composer", or "original songwriter" (not sure what those distinctions mean though in this context) but are we talking about vocal tracks or ambient music or what? and how much unique content are they expected to produce? is it comparable to the expectations for the visual artists, and if so why aren't they receiving compensation that reflects that? these are the questions I ask myself when you give me this little information and don't even bother mentioning who is involved in this part of the process.

similarly we have 3 producers, most of whom wear additional crew hats. are they all working together on each episode or is the season going to be split between them to ease the workload? on that note, is there a head producer in charge of doing final mastering on all episodes to make sure they sound consistent, because that is a lot of additional work compared to the other two.

and then there are 9 writers, so I start to wonder what is the breakdown of that load. is everyone writing full episodes or are people just writing the stories and Nigel as showrunner is doing all the larger plot stuff?

basically I just want to know that people are being compensated appropriately for their time, particularly the people whose work is sometimes not thought about or invisible such as the dialog editors, mixers, quality check, etc. even if the person doing these things isn't asking to be paid for that, they deserves to be compensated for each part of the process they are devoting time to. paying yourself adequately is part of equitable pay, even when it's your passion.

50% or €10,000 for all the cast wages, which as I've pointed out is at least the 51 people credited on the website, though again there is no mention of that here. I won't assume this is to an equal extent, but even if you are listing folks who literally have just one line you still need to compensate them a base amount for the time and effort.

I'm not really gonna say much about fair wages, I think that without insight into a process you can't really pass much judgement on how much work is going in? for example, recording voice over for an audiobook is often compensated in terms of "finished hour", rather than factoring in the additional amount of time spent doing retakes and editing it all together. compared to a production that wants to pay actors for the time they spent total, including things like table reads, live-directed, and asynchronous sessions, that number is going to look very different. differently skilled actors may require more or less help and industry rates are also dependent on your level of experience in the field. some of these bigger names will have a set rate, some of them will not.

I think the largest issues with this section is just the complete lack of justification for ANY of these numbers. when you say "we have estimated it will cost this much", what got you to that number? are you using industry standard rates for general voice acting or did you consult with audio drama specific folks, because those amounts can be different. the more money you ask for, the more conscious you have to be of how it will come across. if I asked my mom to lend me a $20, she won't ask why. if I ask her for $100, she probably will. if I ask for $1000, she will definitely want to know what exactly I'm planning to spend that much on.

we're going to jump over the rewards paragraph for a second to hit the last bullet point since it really belongs up here will all this money information.

as I stated earlier, I have no issue with flexible goals. in fact, it's very nice that it is again addressed here, because I really don't think this campaign will hit that $21k USD goal.

however, what exactly does "paying equitably" mean in this context, because that phrase could be a couple different things. does it mean these same percentage breakdowns for every individually, meaning if I were going to have been paid $500 but it only gets 50% of the goal would I make $250? or does it mean that some people like the larger named actors will still make most of what they would have and people with only a few lines will make a few bucks?

the term "equitable" does not mean "equal", they are genuinely different things. so apart from the larger percentage breakdowns being the same, which were already too broad of categories, it doesn't really tell us anything.

additionally, if the project doesn't get fully funded will there be any money paid out of pocket by Nigel or other crew to cover any promised or guaranteed minimum pay? I would assume that for some people involved this is very much part of their contract/agreement, formal or informal.

also, normally I would like to see the stretch goals section up here rather than down near the bottom as it is for this campaign.

but that's all for the budget, there's not a lot of information to work with here and I've already covered pretty much everything I can think of.

okay, back up to that rewards paragraph we jumped over.

there isn't very much to say about the rewards in this section because the campaign itself says basically nothing. this is where I looked for further details on any of the items promised by the different tiers and the only thing I found was a brief paragraph, a t-shirt mockup (that you can't see the design on, this will never not baffle me), and two character designs for the Librarian Guide, which the caption mistakenly refers to as the "Library Guide". proofreading is important folks.

let's look at this one paragraph though, because there is something very incorrect about it. if this were Dora I'd ask you to point it out for me, so fucking say it at your phone if you spot it:

did you catch any of the issues/inconsistencies here?

the first one is small: "thanks on our social media pages and website". this is the first mention of the website existing anywhere in the body of the campaign, and there isn't even a hyperlink to it. the lack of links on this campaign is just generally baffling.

I'll come back to the middle ones because they are the same issue twice, and the last one is another small nitpick: if you executive producer reward is the highest tier, why are you not presenting it that way here? from reading this I would assume name a character is the top prize for backing, not the fancy vanity credit. like I said, I fucking hate it as a reward, but you are the one trying to sell it to me as such and not doing a good job of it.

okay, so the thing that actually made me stop in my tracks and scramble confused to see if I missed something is the inclusion of 2 rewards that don't seem to exist. why are you claiming that "perks for supporting the crowdfunding include" t-shirts (note this is plural), posters, and pins.

let's take a brief detour with "t-shirts" plural. if you think this sounds pedantic, it really isn't because saying "a t-shirt" was always on the table. there is no tier at which I can support and receive multiple t-shirts, there are not multiple t-shirt design options. no reason to use plural phrasing here when everywhere else it is clearly a singular, feels like a mistake or trying to sound more impressive than you are.

posters and pins however, are entirely fucking new to the conversation we're having. I will point out that the concept of a pin set is mentioned in the stretch goals section BELOW this one, so reading top to bottom as one would expect that isn't known about yet. but even if it were, this is the paragraph talking about your INCLUDED REWARDS, which DOES NOT include your stretch goals. these are the things that someone can explicitly receive for backing your campaign, not the things they might get if you make enough money.

also you can't even make the stretch goal argument for posters however, that shit is not mentioned once anywhere else on the page, not even as a digital reward.

my guess is that this section was written before stuff was finalized or scoped down to the one t-shirt and limited physical goods, and just not updated because no one read over the campaign before launch to point out that adjustments were needed.

"Other Things We'll Be Doing"

just one paragraph here, should be a quick section to review.

right?

RIGHT?

it feels incredibly strange to me that you are asking for this much money when you admit that you are new and not "established members of the AD scene". just very weird behavior generally.

but as for the actual content here.

why the fuck are you promising so much stuff that isn't part of making the show. all of these things take time and energy and people caring enough to make that worth it. if you stream yourself playing a video game for 12 hours total and no one watches, you've spent 12 hours not actually connecting with the community. streaming is work in and of itself with no guarantee of any kind of interaction. and even you do have folks in chat, it's still incredibly one-sided and the streamer's first priority is the game rather than that communication.

the same goes for all these other events, except maybe the hangouts if the entire purpose of those is to interact with chatters. but it's more likely that's just some cast and crew in a discord call that happens to be streamed rather than an interactive type of thing.

in fact, none of these events actually connect you with your fellow creators or prospective fans except, as I said, potentially the hangouts and readthroughs. where is the actual community engagement and outreach? how is any of this supposed to help the project?

this shit is some of the worst to me and it will do nothing but slow down the entire project, because ALL of this requires way more work than you think it will. work that doesn't serve any purpose as far as this campaign goes.

if you want to do these things outside of it, go right ahead. but don't pitch it as part of this or you are implicitly saying that this crowdfund is kind of also funding all of that rather than just making the show itself and fulfilling rewards. this is a lot of time commitment that people are either being paid for or being asked to do as free labor for the show.

also, we once again have issues with being vague here. how many events are you planning to do for each of these different things? who will be hosting/participating in them for the more casual ones like the gaming and TTRPG streams? are these things planned for during the crowdfund period, after the crowdfund but before season 1, during season 1, or a mix of all three?

oh yeah, and what do you mean by "a full cast readthrough of the prologue", because from what I could tell above you have 9 episodes of a "prologue season" out with however many more to go. so is this a full readthrough of this season 0 or is there a DIFFERENT prologue yet to come? and if there IS a different singular prologue episode, why should I even bother with the stuff you are releasing right now?

Milestones

I like this section, it's genuinely good stuff. enticing people to contribute for immediate bonus content is a great way to drive engagement and it can snowball as more funding means more sneak peeks means more eyes see your campaign.

WTF Are These Stretch Goals

not gonna lie, stretch goals is the first place I go when I check out a crowdfund campaign. it says a lot to me about the larger project priorities and reveals a bit more about what people deem as fair compensation for work.

first off: why did you attach a date for when you came up with the stretch goals? all this does is tell me that you potentially sat on launching this campaign for 9 days (launched March 1), which honestly doesn't matter to me but feels unnecessary for me to even wonder whether something was going wrong behind the scenes. just get rid of it, if for some reason you have to update or edit the goals you can make a note then with the date and change you made for transparency.

second: I think it's generally seen to be more effective to hide the majority of your stretch goals until the prior one is reached. this adds mystery and gets people excited dreaming up the "what-ifs". and it stops people like me from judging the feasibility of your numbers up front like this.

also, I do want to point out upfront that stretch goals are not necessarily meant to be seen as a value equivalent for what is being offered. it is an encouragement to get above and beyond and should theoretically be more about raising the overall wages of involved parties with only a small amount pulled aside for the perk.

but let's just go down the list:

"Stretch Goal 1: If we reach €22,500 we will write and perform a digital exclusive livestream of new Among the Stacks content"

so this is something that will happen for only €2,500 additional. which, to be honest, that number feels a bit off for the implied work required, but since "Among the Stacks content" could just mean one more short story, I'm not too concerned with it. just remember that a livestream also requires production work and organization to be done, especially when you are trying to plan around optimal times for your listeners and availability of actors from various timezones. the difference between GMT and PST is 8 hours fyi.

"Stretch Goal 2: If we reach €25,000, we will be able to bring out a small line of Among the Stacks related enamel pins."

yeah no. for a couple reason.

firstly, there is not even a single mockup of what these might look like so why should I care? all of the art we've been shown so far for the show would not translate well to an enamel pin because the level of details is wrong for that scale.

also, what does "a small line" mean? does that mean 3 or 5 or 10? making one pin is a lot of work, let along multiple designs that each have to go through their own proofing phase with the manufacturer.

speaking of.

I didn't really get into the manufacturing thing much when I talked about rewards earlier, but that kind of thing is a real risk. I see and know a lot of pin makers who wind up with more "B and C grade" pins than ones they feel comfortable selling for full price. so what are you going to do if you finish at €25k and there's a manufacturing issue? do you have a contingency built in? have you made selected a possible factory and made blanks with them? are you sure they aren't a scam, because that's also a real problem that goes on with places using photos from other people and then running off with your money. there's a reason this thing is an entire job to wrangle in itself, and at only €2,500 above the prior stretch goal that could be a really slim buffer to work with.

and all of that has to be done for every pin design. this isn't like stickers where you can see a mockup of the die-cut. this is hours of work and communication past just getting a design from your artist.

now, I should point out that this does not say anything about how these will be made available. with no mention about the tiers as part of this, I'm assuming it will not be something added to every tier above a certain level, which is the right choice I think. the implication to me is that this is basically the seed money to then offer it in their website store. this is not something talked about anywhere, so I am potentially making a big assumption there, but I do know they have one already. whatever the case, some people will get the wrong idea about what this goal means because it isn't being specified and maybe think that they will be getting pins in the mail for backing the campaign. clarity is important.

which, also. how much of this is going to pay the artist(s) and will your artists be getting any kind of royalties from sales of this or other store goods? I am full of questions and you aren't answering any of them anywhere.

"Stretch Goal 3: If we reach €50,000, we will be able to create physical books of our scripts featuring notes and commentary."

again, lets talk manufacturing and proofs.

there are a decent number of options for getting a book printed, but that number is cut down when you have specifications involved like "notes and commentary". what this means in practice is probably something like irregular margins to make room for these, the addition of annotations that then must be matched to the proper pages depending on book size (since no way will it be an 8"x11" sheet the way that your google doc scripts are, especially if it's a paperback).

this also means lots of time doing page layouts, checking over the whole book digitally, getting the proof to verify things are right when printed, getting cover art, etc. and which scripts are we talking about for this? prologue season and/or the whole of season 1? in that case, what's the time frame you think that kind of project would take and who is going to paid to do all that work and make sure it includes all the most updated notes and commentary?

speaking of commentary, that sounds like a lot of extra work too since that's not a normal byproduct of making a podcast. whose commentary will it be, Nigel or the writers or a mix of cast and crew?

yes, this is a full €25k above the prior goal, but that is not a lot.

also, again. where will this be available? is it another store good that anyone can buy? how much do you think you'll charge for it on top of this required stretch amount? I'm not necessarily saying you need to answer these questions now, but I need to feel like you have a plan to and I just don't.

"Stretch Goal 4: If we reach €75,000, we will be able to do some physical live shows."

this one is definitely bullshit.

first of all: "SOME"??? what does that even mean except for more than one? honestly with how spread apart some of the cast are in the world, I would be impressed if you could wrangle this amount of money into a single live show.

plus live shows are then further restricting the availability of people to attend, because whether you host it in Ireland where Nigel is from or elsewhere in the UK or Europe or US, there will be a lot of people who are disappointed that you aren't near them. you can livestream them too, but that's another layer of setup and coordination and we all know it's not really the same.

also, as a larger point we need to talk about the ableism of hosting live shows when the pandemic is still happening and killing people. you are excluding your listeners and your cast/crew who don't feel safe to travel to it, let alone be in an enclosed space for 30-60 minutes with people who likely won't be masking.

"Stretch Goal 5: If we reach €100,000, we'll reveal it if we reach Stretch Goal 4"

based on the other goals, I'm already sus what this could be. but the mystery of it is good, they should have done that for more of the goals.

"This is one suggested by Marguerite Kenner as a larger stretch goal, but if we reach €250,000, we can pay everyone involved, down to even one line performances, enough to qualify them for SAG recognition - which requires a person to have receive over £500 paid for work they have done."

this is naïve at best.

right off the bat, let's talk about what SAG is for a second. it stands for the Screen Actors Guild. SCREEN ACTORS.

let me tell you what this makes me think about your project:

you wish you were making a movie, but that's hard to break into so you settled for making a podcast.

podcasts are not for the screen, why are you trying to impress people as though they are. audio storytelling as a medium is an entirely different thing, and the best podcasts out there right now are the ones who are leaning into what makes audio unique. The Goblet Wire, The Moon Crown, and Human B-Gone are all great examples of using the medium for what it is rather than trying to turn it into something it isn't. we have awards in our space if you really care that much, there are some high profile ones too that you can submit for (tho some sure do cost a lot of money to even enter).

this drive by some audio drama creators to chase after tv and movies is a disservice to THIS medium. stop fucking doing it.

putting aside all of that, your project doesn't actually qualify for this.

the phrase "SAG recognition" isn't a real thing from what I can tell, the actual thing I think we're talking about is "SAG eligible".

one of two things needs to happen for a performer to actually be considered eligible:

proof you were employed in a position already covered by a SAG-AFTRA agreement and have worked at least one day in a speaking role

you are a paid-up member of an affiliated performers' union for a year and have worked and been paid for at least once in that union's jurisdiction

so what does that all mean? basically that this goal is pure bullshit.

also worth noting, in order to prove your eligibility to SAG-AFTRA itself, you must submit pay stubs. I don't think Among the Stacks has an official company or business registration that is being used to pay everyone? that means there is also no tax ID, and probably no formal contract which you also need. also I don't know what that looks like for anyone who ISN'T American, which a huge number of them aren't.

that's not even considering the fact that it's an application with them that needs to be approved. being eligible just means you can choose to submit. and they'll probably look at your 1 line in a random independent audio drama and say no anyway.

additionally did you know the base fee for a SAG card is $3000? and then when you have that you will need to report the ~$500 you made on your taxes, which just cuts into your earnings and gets you nothing.

I will say that it is a weirdly noble goal to be able to pay everyone a minimum of €500, even if they have a single line. but completely unnecessary and unreasonable and honestly the money could probably be better spent elsewhere.

but yeah that one made me fucking laugh.

one last more general thing: what will happen if the campaign hits €40k? will that €15k above the prior stretch goal be distributed along the same lines as the "equitable" budget split? will it go towards an emergency fund if your physical goods require more shipping than you thought or the pin manufacturer sends you largely duds?

"Alternative Ways You Can Help"

another section I have literally no problems with. it's always nice to acknowledge that not everyone who wants to support you will be financially able to. audio drama has a listener base that includes some surprisingly young people who may not have spare income, along with people paying for education, between jobs, otherwise financially strapped. especially right now.

I do think it would help these people if you had any links to your social media here though. literally any at all. even just mentioning the @ on twitter would be helpful.

The FAQ

an oft forgotten part of the campaign, the FAQ is actually super important and a great place to put information that didn't really fit anywhere else.

it is not where you should be making your show pitch.

it is for frequently asked questions about the campaign itself.

so let's look at what ATS has done with it. they only put two questions, so this will be quick.

the first question is: "What is Among the Stacks about?"

this should have been the first paragraph of your actual campaign, why is it tucked away here???

the second question is: "I haven't heard Among the Stacks - what podcasts is it similar to?"

again, this is fine information to put near the top of the main campaign page. but it's not a frequently asked question about the campaign itself.

also how have you STILL not linked the podcast feed, I am BAFFLED. also, you list a bunch of inspirations that I probably could have guessed based on your premise and pitch, but without saying anything about why or how you found these things to be impactful in the development of your idea. especially when one of your milestones is to release lists of things that inspired you, why did you include this at all?

so, what is ACTUALLY supposed to go in an FAQ?

the first thing you should talk about if you didn't cover it in the main text is when people should expect the project to start releasing the content. the "estimated shipping" dates that are on tiers are usually not a reflection of that, but more about the goods that are being offered. so it's important that you put somewhere when people should expect to hear the first episode of season 1.

it's also a good place to give people a sense for the scope of the project beyond the campaign, i.e. how many season total are you planning to make.

if you are shipping physical goods for any reward, it can also be helpful to address whether shipping costs have already been factored in or if that will be an additional fee on top of the listed prices.

tell people where to contact you if they have additional campaign specific questions. an email, twitter handle for dms, anything.

there are so many things that can go here for clarifying parts of the campaign, and you can add/edit it as actual ones do start to come in. but it is here to be about the campaign itself, and the questions should reflect that.

are we done yet? almost, I swear.

(I'm dying a little inside right now)

The Catchall

these are small general notes that don't fit anywhere in particular, but stood out to me as weird:

why is a link to the feed not within the first paragraph? on that note, why is there no link ANYWHERE in the campaign??? not to your podcast host or website or even social media. if someone stumbles across your campaign, how do they find you FROM it.

the repeated framing of this show in comparison to queer media that is distributed by larger streaming services (i.e. Netflix and Discovery) is very weird. the scale of those projects and therefore the monetary expectations are different because marketability and capitalism. anyone with a $30 microphone can create a podcast with enough work, this isn't a valuable comparison in the slightest. none of us in this space are pandering, why even draw the comparison as is done in the video.

as an added note to that last point, almost all audio drama is extremely queer, something I love. but it is not something that sets a project apart enough to stress it as much this and other productions do, especially when for many they are using the term to mean "there is a gay relationship" versus "we substantially have queerness as part of our characters and stories in ways that matter to it". both have value, but there is a difference between "this is a podcast about coffee" and "this is a podcast where people sometimes have a cup while chatting about something else"

maybe a petty one, but it's been bothering me: the logo generally looks bad in my opinion, but it looks even worse when blown up on a web page or in a youtube video because it was clearly not made with that kind of resolution in mind. I've had this issue with art I've done in the past and it sucks, but it just doesn't look good when you see those fuzzy edges. especially when the framing device of your whole story is a professional environment like a library, which would have very clean promotional material.

Closing Thoughts

this show feels like a disaster waiting to collapse in on itself. I could write a whole post about just that aspect and all the things that have made me generally suspicious of it, but from the point of view of this review of their campaign? it just feels like asking way too much for so little guarantee it will come together.

I'm not here to try and shit on a project that someone feels passionate about, I think that's a necessary part of making any good creative project and we have a staggering amount of that in the audio drama space. but people can get in over their heads or dream too big to handle if they aren't already prepared and experienced. I've talked with creators who set aside dream projects until they knew it was something they could handle. and there are so many cooks in the kitchen here, the level of coordination required to wrangle a production staff this large is not to be understated. I just don't see this turning out well for anyone involved and I think this kind of money should be spread broader in the community to help fund smaller more varied projects.

especially considering we are already for some reason getting TMA 2 and this feels like it's trying to be TMA 1.5

I really should have made this account back when that campaign was running, because wow did it have some terrible issues too

#among the stacks crowdfund #red flags #what not to do #basically an essay #anonymous ad #crowdfund tips #crowdfund don'ts #budget breakdown #more like roast #fair wages #voice acting #I wish I could have said nothing but I literally could not #I was compelled #the quality of this campaign was just so bad #and saying it on main would have not been productive #sometimes we're too positive of a community and we don't call out sketchy things

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ofthedarkwoods · 1 year

Text

Questions

Platforms currently?...

Tumblr

Ofthedarkwoods :random shit all the time basically main blog

OfthedarkwoodsArtwork :Multi-fandom artwork and content

Ofthedarkwoods :filled w/ lots of references, art challenges, brushes, and more.

Ofthedarkwoodsfashion :different themed oufits perfect for ocs or going out.

Twitter

Ofthedarkwoods : rn all I've been focusing on is to share about Palestine hoping it'll keep spreading

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

Is rebloginging your art okay?

Yes of course reblog away! The more reblogs the better!

Are you okay with me uploading your art to other platforms?

As long as you keep the watermark & give name credits i dont mind, maybe even a link so others can find me and enjoy my artwork as much as you do. If I see on any platforms where no name credit is given (watermark deleted.. ect.) I will get it taken down, so please be respectful. Also remember not every artist is like this so always find the creator and ask no matter how long it takes or how little research there is. Otherwise, I wouldn't bother posting any artwork.

Also for mature content like nsfw & gore I beg of you to put warnings. If you can't put warnings then dont bother rebloging or reposting at all. My content is not made for everyone and any mature +18 content without warning will be taken down forcefully. Anyone who sees my artwork being shared without warning let me know please.

Is dubbing your art ok?

Yes that is fine although I would still love to hear you ask so I can research your account, find out more about you, and maybe even like and support you as well. Just remember to give name credit please.

What mature content are we talking?

I wish to post more content like gore and consensual type themes in the future for other adults to enjoy. I have been experimenting with my artwork and seem to have found myself drawn to it quite literally. I have been observing pastel gore and just love it. All this type of art will have warnings and if anyone reposts this should have warnings as well or else.

OH! Please note I WILL NEVER POST ANY INCE$T, PEDØ, CØMSHIP/PRØSHIP TYPE STUFF SO FUCK OFF!

Why are you interested in drawing gore?

What can I say.. well, when I was younger, I had surgery and was always afraid of my scars opening up. It wasn't until recently I decided that my scars were something to not be afraid of and that it was all in my head, I started seeing the beauty in candy/neon/pastel/fruit gore. I saw it all in a different perspective and that other people must feel this was too. I want people who want to see it to feel the beauty and comfort like I do. I thought as though I'm reclaiming it for myself instead of being afraid but to embrace it.

I'm a minor under 18 how do you feel about that?

I'm gonna be forward and say i dont feel comfortable with minors on my page. I'm an adult I talk about mature topics and will be posting mature content (w/ warning of course). Yes I know I cant fully stop you from seeing my posts especially on other platforms but if you message me or ask any questions I will ignore/block you. The internet is a fucked up place and I truely wish more adults would take topics like this seriously. I really care about each and everyones safety so I will take measures into my own hands if i have to. I really dont want to be friends with childern so please respect my wishes and leave me alone.

Are you open to commissions?

Unfortunately no. I'm still figuring out some things at the moment but I will take suggestions for any lgbtqia+ icons to have as a pfp. I mean starting a business is tough and I want to take my time with my art on my own terms, I'm still a part time artist and on top of that I procrastinate a lot so deadlines are exhausting.

How do you feel about Spammimg?

If we're talking about DMs I honestly wouldn't really perfer a ton of text messages to reply to however you're welcome to hit the like button as much as you like. It shows your appreciation and I know what its like finding an artist with cool artwork to enjoy. Comments are fine but I dont think I can respond to every single one.

Are you trans?

Yes probably non-binary specifically with they/them pronouns because I feel like the "given" binary spectrum and "gender roles" don't really suit me. I mean most days I feel "feminine", some days I feel "masculine", and some days I wake up feeling neither, or sometimes I wake up feeling both. Gender is very confusing so for short I'm nonbinary.

Why did you quit Instagram?

Animation is one of the hardest things I've pushed myself to do. Instagram's platform wasn't necessarily fitting to my standards per say. My technology kept failing as well and made it difficult to keep a steady rhythm with posting. But also in other words I felt many users wouldn't accept my artwork as much as they'd accept my videos. I also felt that many Instagram users didn't see me as non-binary meaning many didn't use my pronouns correctly. I felt like all this together was enough to push me away. Tumblr felt more freeing than Instagram and so far its been more enjoyable, but none the less I made friends and will miss them dearly.

Will you do anymore Animation?

Yes i do animaton but wish to expand more on that later... right now it's just artwork and edits. I've thought about posting to YouTube but idk..

Why are you so political?

I think everyone is affected by politics all over the world. It's a part of our society, and I do have morals so of course I'll be evolved. Like already most of the world is against me for their own selfish insecurities and I realize that I have some privilege of my own and should stand up for others when they are faced with unjustifiable terms. I get that people need breaks and yes please take breaks and take care of you basic needs but without ever talking about any issues, wintnessing but keeping to yourself, or simply not teaching and discussing your feelings with others can lead to serious problems or issues that will never be fixed. There is always a time to bring up your concerns and make yourself feel heard but remember things like this take some time, communication on every side, and a good support group.

You are welcome to block, ignore, or mute me but I'll always keep posting important topics.

#questions

0 notes

crownofpeachess · 5 years

Text

MY DOF WON’T SHUY UP SEMF HELP

#send help #yes i drew this #but seriously send help #digital art #my ocs #i forgot my watermark shit

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onlymingyus · 2 years

Text

Unexpected

header edited by me (@chogiwapadada) do not remove the watermark and do not repost

pairing; choi seungcheol (s.coups) x afab reader x xu minghao (the8)

genre; smut (minors dni), slight angst, threesome

warnings; threesome, protected sex, unprotected anal sex, fingering, oral (m & f), rimming, anal fingering for prep, breast play, hand job, dirty talk, deep throat, some impact play, some mutual pining, pet names, cheol called daddy

word count; 4.4k and some change

request; no - not directly but there was talk in tags and then i couldn't let it go

a/n; ok so. alot happened here. it took a turn.

first part

“You want me to do what?” Minghao stares at Seungcheol for a long moment before laughing and shaking his head as he starts to walk away from his friend throwing a hand up. “You know when something feels like a trap? This feels like a trap.” Seungcheol sucks on his teeth and follows Minghao with an annoyed sigh before leaning against the wall as the man tries to walk past him.

“Seungcheol, seriously?” Minghao gives the older man a confused look and furrows his brows as he watches Seungcheol smirk. “Yeah seriously. Do I look like I’m joking?” Minghao shakes his head no and sighs looking around before meeting his friend’s eyes again. “And she wants this? She wants me?”

Seungcheol gestures his hands out and sighs. “You heard her the other night. That happened for a reason, Minghao. I offered her other names. She didn’t want any of the other names. She wanted yours.” Minghao’s cheeks burn as he looks away and scratches at the back of his neck before nodding. “Yeah, okay.”

Laying on your stomach on Seungcheol’s bed you scroll through your phone with your back to the door when you hear it open. A smile crossing your lips as you feel fingers run along your ankle up your calf making you laugh at how it tickles. “Stop that. I’m ticklish. You know that.” You aren’t prepared when you hear Minghao’s voice with a small chuckle, “I didn’t but I guess I’m going to learn a lot about you.”

Your eyes widen as you gasp and turn over quickly to meet his eyes and see Seungcheol standing behind him with a shit eating grin on his face. “Cheol, what the fuck?” He laughs and moves around Minghao to you with a shrug. “I felt bad about what we did to Minghao. We left him in a little bit of a rough spot the other day, baby. So I thought…” Your eyes stay on Minghao’s even as his move to watch Seungchoel’s run along your arm as he sits beside of you.

“Could let him have a little fun with us tonight. Only if you want to. What do you think?” You shiver to Seungcheol’s touch and Minghao’s gaze as he looks over your body before meeting your eyes with a smile. “You can say no Y/N. I won’t be too upset. Though hearing you scream my name like that…” You watch him take a breath letting it out slowly, almost shakily. “It isn’t something I could, or would want to forget any time soon.”

Seungcheol smiles at you as you glance at him before you swallow and lick your lips as you subconsciously rub your thighs together. “Fuck…you really have some pull on her Hao. I bet she is already wet thinking about it. Watch her thighs…” Minghao’s eyes drop to your lap and you have to stop yourself as you shift, making him smirk slightly. “Is that true? Are you wet thinking about me? Sweetheart, don’t feel pressured to say you are or yes…I–”

“Yes I am.” When you cut him off Minghao can’t help how his smirk grows. His eyes move from you to Seungcheol as he leans to kiss your shoulder. “Do you want to do this baby?” You nod and Seungcheol reaches up to your head towards him. “Use your words or no one gets to play. Understand me?” You sigh, biting your lip as you nod. “Yes I understand. I want this.”

Seungcheol smirks and leans in to kiss your lips softly once before pressing his nose against yours. “Perfect. That’s my good girl. Let’s have some fun then. Fuck, all I could think about was how your pussy was clenching around me when I mentioned Minghao’s name. Did I tell you that Hao?” He glances over to his friend who watches from the end of the bed, his chest rising as he takes a deep breath realizing things are moving forward.

“No, you didn’t.” Your cheeks burn with slight embarrassment as Seungcheol leans to kiss your cheek and coos at how warm they are. His hand moving over your stomach and down to your pajama shorts as he cups your pussy making a sound of appreciation as he practically purrs against your jaw. “So warm and inviting. Should we invite Minghao now?”

You whimper out a yes and Seungcheol laughs, kissing your jaw before gesturing his head for his friend to get on to the bed. Timidly Minghao kneels on the bed before reaching for your leg running his hand along your skin. He smiles when he feels your skin prickle and goosebumps pop up at his attention. When he is close enough, Minghao bites at his lip and lets out a small laugh as he shakes his head. “Fuck I don’t know what I want first.”

Seungcheol laughs and presses his fingers against your shorts pushing your panties between your folds making you whine softly before he takes his hand away. “Are you more of an ass man or a tits man?” Minghao smirks a bit and raises a brow as he looks at your chest and lets out a breath. “Tits.” Seungcheol moves to sit in behind you and runs his hands up your sides pulling your shirt up slowly.

Minghao watches as inch by inch your flesh is exposed to him until finally the shirt is off your body and you are left in your bra. “So pretty.” Reaching out a slender finger, he traces over the cups of lace making you suck in a breath as he pays close attention to the area over your nipples. “Can I see what’s underneath?” You nod and whisper yes prompting Seungcheol to unclasp your bra and help you slide the straps down as Minghao tugs lightly at the section between your breasts pulling it away from your body.

You watch as Minghao smirks to one side before tilting his head away from you as he tosses your bra away and then looks back at you and Seungcheol. He can’t help but to scoff as he meets his friend’s eyes who smirks at him before Seungcheol nips at your ear making you gasp and arch your body forward. “Oh my sweet baby is so sensitive Hao. Every little touch, kiss, lick…” at the word Seungcheol runs his tongue along your neck and you squirm against him pushing back against his lap making him grunt.

“You wanted to see what was under that lace.” Seungcheol’s hands cup under your breasts before he lifts them slightly only to let them drop. “Don’t leave my beautiful girl waiting.” Minghao smiles and shakes his head before moving to crawl up the bed towards you. “I’m sorry sweetheart. I won’t make you wait anymore. Can I kiss you first?”

Uncertain if the question is aimed more for you or Seungcheol you nod but look at your boyfriend who laughs and nuzzles his nose into your hair at your ear. “He’s yours tonight angel. You don’t have to ask for permission for this.” You smile and nod before you reach for Minghao pulling him towards you making him laugh softly as his lips meet yours. It’s so different from kissing Seungcheol. His lips are soft, his tongue brushes against your lips teasing you as he pulls away when you try to taste him. “Soon, don’t rush. Lean back on Seungcheol.”

As you nod and let Seungcheol pull you back against him, his fingers run along the waistband of your shorts before dipping under them just staying there as Minghao sits comfortably on the bed. His leg comfortably tangles with yours and Seungcheol’s before he runs his fingers along the center of your breasts making you shiver. “I have always thought you were so beautiful but god…I never thought I’d tell you that.”

You smile at Minghao's words before you lean your head back as his hand cups your breast and he leans down to run his tongue over your skin. He hums in appreciation before his lips wrap around your nipple and a moan falls from your lips. Seungcheol laughs softly against your ear before he kisses your neck right underneath and speaks. “Feels good?” You whine out a yes as you lift a hand to run it though Minghao’s soft hair making him groan against your skin as his teeth gently close around your nipple.

“Mmm, that's a good baby. Let’s make it even better. Lift your hips for daddy.” You nod and lift your hips letting Seungcheol push your panties and shorts down to your thighs giving him better access to you. Minghao pulls back for a second and glances down with a groan before sliding to pull your shorts the rest of the way off so you can spread your legs. “Fuck…”

Seungcheol smiles as he runs his fingers along the sides of your pussy before he slides his middle finger over your clit making you jump into a moan just as Minghao’s mouth latches onto your breast. He hums against your skin into a laugh before putting his hand on your side as he cups your breast with his other flicking your nipple with his thumb making you squirm. “Oh my god…please.”

At your bed Seungcheol coos at you and slides his middle finger towards your dripping entrance letting it circle you teasingly before he slowly pushes into you. “So needy, so greedy. Hao, look how she sucked my finger in.” The man who had been causing your nipples to become almost swollen pulls away and glances down with a low groan before reaching down to run his own finger through some of your leaking wetness before bringing it to his mouth licking it off his finger with a muffled, “holy fuck…”

You watch him sucking on your lip as Minghao smirks and runs his finger sides of Seungcheol’s once more before bringing it to your lips. “You taste like candy.” Opening your mouth you let him run his finger over your tongue before you suck around the digit letting him pull it from your mouth with a slight pop. Seungcheol laughs and slides his own finger out before leaning to reach over into his drawer taking out a condom and a small bottle of lube laying them on the bed.

“Well, were ass Hao might be a tit man and as much as I love your tits baby, we both know I am very much an ass man.” With two small pats to your legs he signals for you to move with you sliding to the middle of the bed as Seungcheol moves from behind you. Minghao watches curiously before his friend looks at him and smirks. “Want to help me get her ready?”

With a raised brow, Minghao nods before he watches Seungcheol remove his shirt. “Eventually I’m gonna take her pretty little ass and since I am a very generous man I’m gonna let you fuck her. Are you okay with that baby?” Seungcheol looks at you for permission and when you smile and tell him yes he smirks at you and winks.

“So what I need from you Hao…” Seungcheol gestures to the bottle of lube before he starts to undo his jeans and slips out of them. “By the way, you can get naked anytime you want. It’s going to get awkward if you are the only clothed one in the room. Anyway I want you to eat her out and stretch her ass for me. Let me see your hands.” Minghao stares at Seungcheol with how brazen he is as he moves to take his hands looking at his fingers.

“Slender, she will probably need three at least before my cock isn’t going to hurt her.” Dropping Minghao’s hand Seungcheol moves back towards the bed shedding his briefs as he climbs onto it with you making you laugh as he growls against your lips claiming them. Minghao watches for a moment before shaking his head and slowly stripping his clothes as he had been prompted to do. His eyes follow as Seungcheol moves to lay you down in the bed as he simply sits beside you running his fingers over your skin as your hand lazily runs over his thigh.

When your hand wraps around his cock Seungcheol groans and leans his head back with a laugh before putting his hand over yours. “Slowly sweet girl. I’m not cummming until I’m inside of you.” You bite your lip and nod glancing at him until you feel hands sliding along your inner thighs drawing your attention back to Minghao as he lays between your legs. “Hey there.”

You smile letting Seungcheol guide your hand slowly over his length as Minghao kisses each of your thighs working his way higher as you sigh happily reaching to run your free hand through his soft hair. “Minghao…” When you whisper his name, the man between your thighs freezes as he has to stop himself from almost losing it right there. He smiles and glances up at you, “Oh beautiful, that might be better than hearing you scream my name.”

Minghao winks at you before he dives into your folds, suddenly making you arch your back pushing your hips towards him. Your hand tightens around Seungcheol who laughs and hisses out, “careful” before he starts to move your hand again. Your fingers in Minghao’s hair tugs tightly at his scalp making him groan hungrily as he works his mouth over your folds. His soft lips tug your folds before his tongue presses at your clit until he finally sucks your clit making you cry out his name over and over.

“You made a good choice, baby. He’s practically eating you like he’s starving.” You whine into a moan before letting go of Minghao’s hair in place of brushing it back from his face so you can watch him as you roll your hips towards him feeling your orgasm approaching quickly from just his mouth. “Minghao, I’m gonna cum.” He smiles against your folds before you feel his tongue slide into you as his nose nudges against your clit.

Minghao’s fingers hold your thighs apart as he fucks you with his tongue only to pull back as you clench tightly and point your toes coming undone. He watches as your cum seeps from your tiny hole with a smirk before leaning down to dive his tongue back into you, getting as much of it as he can with a satisfied sound as he swallows it.

“Delicious, you look so pretty when you cum Y/N.” You laugh at Minghao’s compliment even as he smiles and massages his thumbs into your thighs before he reaches for the bottle of lube and brings it closer. “You need to turn over baby, get your ass up for me.” You laugh at Minghao’s words before Seungcheol lets go of your hand and helps you move.

Seungcheol moves a pillow to rest under your hips before he shifts to sit in front of you, making you laugh as his lap is right in front of your face. “Do you want me to suck your cock?” With a laugh he bites his lip and licks his lips. “I thought I might help you distract yourself. We’ve only done this a few times.” You laugh again as he taps your nose with his index finger before he glances at Minghao and studies the man.

“Don’t go too fast Minghao, she’s only been stretched out like twice. Be good to my innocent girl.” With a scoff Minghao runs his hands over your ass as you move to your elbows to gain better access to Seungcheol making him groan as you wrap your hand around him then your mouth. “Remember, slowly baby. I’m not cumming like this.” You roll your eyes at how picky he is but nod before pulling back to give his slit a small kitten like lick.

“Yes daddy.” Seungcheol scoffs at you and looks at Minghao, “Spank her, once. Just enough to make it red.” Minghao laughs and as his hand connects with your ass you gasp into a laugh before taking Seungcheol’s cock back into your mouth. “She gets sassier every damn time.” Minghao’s hands run over your now warm and red flesh before he spreads your cheeks and looks at your tight hole with a small groan.

“Can I try something, before the lube and my fingers?” Seungcheol raises a brow to Minghao’s question but nods and glances at you as you nod, not pulling back from his cock as you hollow your cheeks making him grunt. Minghao smirks and moves to slightly lay back on the bed so he is more level with your ass before he leans in to kiss each of your cheeks. When you wiggle your hips at the slightly ticklish sensation he laughs before biting gently at the plumper flesh.

“Hold still, you little wiggle worm.” You pull back from Seungcheol to speak but are rendered speechless when you feel Minghao’s tongue circle your ass as his thumbs hold your hold apart slightly. “Oh…oh my god.” Seungcheol smirks at your reaction, running his hand through your hair as he tilts his head watching Minghao’s mouth move over you. “You like it?”

“Oh…oh fuck!” Seungcheol laughs when you don’t answer him when Minghao’s tongue presses slightly against the ring of muscles making your free hand clench Seungcheol’s thigh. You press back against Minghao’s mouth making him growl against you as his fingers dig into your flesh before he pulls back with a smirk. “I think she likes it.” Glancing between your thighs as he pulls them apart, Minghao’s smirk widens and he nods to see you dripping. “She really likes it.” You moan and take Seungcheol’s head back into your mouth suddenly making him groan loudly and grab your hair tugging hard. “Fuck, oh my god.”

Minghao laughs as he coats his fingers with lube before running them over your already wet hole before he slowly starts to push one of his fingers into you giving you a moment before adding another. “Tell me if I’m going too fast.” You whine around Seungcheol’s cock sending vibrations through him as Minghao smirks as he scissors his fingers slightly working to stretch the muscles in your ass.

Seungcheol leans his head back when you suck hard around his tip. He groans, sucking on his bottom lip as his hand tightens in your hair. “God you act like you want me to fuck you little throat. Is that what you want from me? Has bringing Minghao into the bed made you into a needy little whore? To think I called you my innocent baby not 5 minutes ago.” You moan around his length, saliva running to his balls making Seungcheol growl as he takes your hand from his cock and puts it on his other thigh before putting his other hand on your head.

“You better get her ass ready Hao because…god…she is asking for it.” Minghao watches with a groan as his cock twitches leaking onto the bed as Seungcheol starts to thrust up into your mouth. “Fuck Cheol…”

Seungcheol smirks at his friend’s voice but keeps his attention on you making sure you are okay as his cock almost hits your throat with every thrust. Only when Minghao slides in a third finger and you gag around Seungcheol does he pull back and let you take a breath. His hand running along your face as he makes sure you are okay, but when you smirk at him Seungcheol grips your cheeks and kisses you hard.

You whine as he puts his free hand on your shoulder and pushes you slowly back against Minghao’s fingers as he smirks on your lips as you gasp and moan. “Oh..I…” Seungcheol nods and pulls back from your lips to look at you and meet your eyes as he looks at you, noses touching. “Yeah baby? Tell me. Tell us.” You moan as you feel Minghao’s fingers shift in you and you start to close your eyes but Seungcheol tsks. “Now, tell me now.”

“Fuck me. I need you to fuck me.” Minghao groans, his free hand that is on your ass grips your flesh hard as he looks to meet Seungcheol’s eyes as the other man smiles and nods. Minghao’s fingers slide from you slowly making you cry out at how empty you suddenly feel. Seungcheol grabs the condom and tosses it to Minghao who catches it and tears open the foil slipping it on and he watches his friend sit against the headboard before he pulls you towards him.

“Come here baby. You are gonna take me first. Okay?” You whine a yes and once Seungcheol has added more lube to your ass and coated his cock he slowly helps you sit over him as you cry out to the almost painful stretch. Minghao watches having to grab his cock as he groans when you have finally settled completely over Seungcheol. “Are you okay, Y/N?”

You lean your head back on your boyfriend’s shoulder and whine out a moan as you have to just adjust for a moment before you say yes as the stretch becomes pleasure. The way Seungcheol’s cock felt was much different than even three of Minghao’s fingers. It’s only when you reach out for Minghao does he move to a knee between yours and Seungcheol’s legs to run the head of his cock through your wet folds. You both shiver making Seungcheol groan before Minghao pushes into you making you gasp.

He felt much different than Seungcheol. Where your boyfriend was thicker, Minghao’s cock was somewhat thinner but longer. You instantly felt him bump up against your g-spot making you let out a cry as you reached for anything to steady yourself. “Oh my god…so full.” Seuncheol’s hand laces with yours as the other finds Minghao’s forearm when you start a mantra for them to just move move move.

Nodding and groaning a yeah, Minghao holds on to your thigh as he starts to thrust into you. His cock already feeling like you are trying to walls are trying to clench the life from him with how tightly you are clench. Seungcheol tests a thrust upwards only to throw his head back to how tight you are.

“Fuck…Minghao…move her hips.” Minghao nods and moves his hands to your hips helping you move which starts a chain reaction. Seungcheol grips the sheets and your hand as he feels his stomach tighten, unsure how much longer he can hold on. You cry out feeling overwhelmed, the coil in you beginning to snap as you meet Minghao’s eyes.

Minghao watches you as he sucks on his bottom lip trying not to be the first one that loses control even as he thrusts into you deeply, each time your body pulling him back in as if it were made from him though he knows you aren’t his. Seungcheol grunts he’s gonna cum and you whine that you are too and Minghao just groans. He had no idea how hot it could be to watch two people he cared so much about come undone in front of him.

When Seungcheol cums into you he groans your name against your ear as his hand moves from the sheets to your breast where he holds you gently. His fingers kneading into your skin as he mutters for you to cum for him, to cum for Minghao. He tells you how good you’ve been and how beautiful you are. You whine and look into Minghao’s eyes as he gasps getting closer to his own climax as he whispers your name.

“Minghao…” You whisper his name back to him and you watch his eyes close as he spills into the condom thrusting into you hard. Seungcheol’s fingers move down your stomach to your clit where he rubs over it almost at the perfect pace sending you right after Minghao as you cry out when you orgasm. Minghao groans loudly as you clench around him even tighter when you cum. His hands gripping your hips even harder as he pushes you down over Seungcheol who grunts.

Once silence falls over the room, Minghao carefully slips from you to take care of his condom as Seungcheol helps you to move from him and onto the bed where you lay exhausted. He smiles, leaning to kiss you gently before glancing at Minghao who looks almost a bit lost now that everything is done but when you say his name he looks at you as he pulls on his boxers and smiles. “Minghao, thank you.” He laughs and scratches the back of his neck. “I should be thanking you…and Cheol.” You smile and sit up with Seungcheol’s help before reaching for Minghao, pulling him towards you for a kiss.

He starts to pull away after a small peck but when you pout into a whine he laughs and lets you deepen the kiss as his heart almost tightens at the gesture. “I should…find a bathroom to get cleaned up in and let you all do the same. Get some rest, beautiful.” Minghao pulls away from you even as you try to hold on to his fingers making Seungcheol raise a brow until the doors are shut.

“Did you like it that much?” You shrug and lay back down against Seungcheol who runs his fingers over your breasts in thought. “I like him. He’s so sweet and he was so good to me.” Seungcheol laughs, feeling a bit jealous. “I’m sweet, and I’m good to you.” You laugh and pull your boyfriend down to you kissing him fiercely making him groan on your lips.

“I love you so much Cheol.” He nods and rubs his lips together as he hovers over you. “I love you too. I think I know what you mean. It was nice having him around. We might invite him back again, huh? Would you like that?” You nod but shrug, “Yeah but I don’t want to break his heart.” Seungcheol furrows his brows and watches as you play with his fingers on your stomach. “What do you mean?”

“Choi Seungcheol…if I have to explain it then you need glasses.” You didn’t have to explain it, Seungcheol just wasn’t ready to admit that his friend was in love with you. “No I don’t need…I don’t want to talk about it right now. What we do need right now, is a shower and to change the sheets.” You whine not wanting to move and Seungcheol mimics you playfully as he slides from bed and you hear the sounds of his shower starting as you lay in thought thinking about what had just rocked your world.

——————————————————

tag list; @bangchanbabygirlx @just-here-to-read-01 @hoshistar96 @niktwazny303 @strawberri-uyu @yeritheloml @tis-niki @noraehey @hoohoohope @otterpopchan @xuxibelle @foxdaisy @smileysuh @vern0nsworld @synthetickitsune @enhacolor @pandorashbox @yeosayang @httpswonwoosglasses @rubyscoups @onlywonus @gyuhanniescarat@yoonguurt @jwnghyuns @xoxodino

please note that I am doing my best to tag all of you who have filled out the tag list form but tumblr won’t let me tag some of you. I think that is because either you have tags turned off or possibly a blank tumblr page. consider reblogging some of the fics you like from me or other writers. ♥

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whitmerule · 2 years

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jelliclekay is reposting yout gifs again fyi

hi hello i don't care please stop trying to stir shit 🙃 people can repost my gifs if they like and I've always said that. if attribution of the videographer matters I'll add a watermark so credit stays with the image, but so far as my own work goes, I almost always don't care and if I do I'll slap my own watermark on it so.

please find something more productive to do with your time than go 'ooo, can has drama?' and stop sending me these messages.

@jelliclekay if you're reading this, idk if what anon is saying is true because i can't be bothered checking but seriously, go for it. feel free to use my tagging/filing system to find and repost whatever you want. ❤️ I make them and file them for people to find and enjoy so please. do that.

the only caveat is that I include credit/source in the post where possible and would prefer if anyone who reposts my gifs include that too - in fact I'd prefer that they include that link than a link to my own post - but other than that, go wild!

anyway yes. basic principle: treat other people on tumblr as reasonable adults and just. act like one yourself. Communication and common decency. Not hard.

#apologies if you didn't want me to tag you #i'm not sure where you stand on the pro vs anti thing #since we've never talked!#unless my memory is failing me #which it usually is these days

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shijiujun · 3 years

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ooh okay to my SHL content creators, especially the gif-ers and artists:

so i’ve had to like basically tell a THIRD hourly-(whoever) account today to stop stealing gifs on twitter? again? haha i think most people @/leonzhng @/zhouszishu @/qiweishang already know, but if you see a new hourly-gj/wkx/zzh/zzs account on Twitter, please think twice before reposting anything from em because it’s likely it was stolen from elsewhere.

and in general i think it’s good habit not to support accounts that don’t have the decency to put credits on their posts to even like edited photos that I’m pretty sure are edited by talented/dedicated fans on Weibo like just cuz they’re photos don’t mean you can just pick em off just saying. you can tell. you can freaking tell when an account is full of HQ photos or videos or whatever but they don’t look consistent in colouring or style etc., and there is no reference to original source. seriously, as also ppl consuming content it’s a good habit to be a bit suspicious when an account posts for example a lot of nice art but they’re all differently styled and NO links or disclaimers?

the weibo account watermark doesn’t count. we’re talking about permission here?! don’t just blindly reblog shit (i recently did once by accident and it was @/heukheuk who like knocked some sense into me) - so anyway! don’t just frickin pluck shit off accounts just because it’s convenient for you, in any setting. it’s not a “oh i referenced from this other twitter or tumblr account” - you’re an accomplice to the distribution of the theft lmao

the only exception of which i think is acceptable are original material from official brands - i mean no one will mistake that you stole em from idk, giorgio armani or you know elizabeth arden even if you don’t dump a credit lols

there are some good ones, i think @/HourlyZhangZH has gotten a good hang of it and @/gongjun_ is excellent at finding their own source material and also crediting or placing links - since talking to @/hourlywkx they’ve also started to at least put link credits

in any case, there are somehow a lot of these hourly accounts sprouting out and some of em obviously have the “steal until i’m caught” attitude or “outright steal i don’t care” viewpoint. there are only so many people like gif-ing regularly for SHL rn on Tumblr, and they’re all recognizable by colouring, quality and also preferred font type :D i can spot any of my moots’ gifs from a mile away

SO just look out for the hourly accounts on Twitter (and others yes, it’s just these hourly accounts. seriously like wtf, stealing so you can make up a posting quota YOU FORCED ONTO YOURSELF lmao if that’s not irony idk what is), don’t support em and if you do happen to spot one of anyone’s stolen gifs it’ll be nice for the ops to know, and for those gif-ers who don’t usually put watermarks? pls do ;-;

#rambles #stealing #twitter #shl #woh

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frugalkubal · 3 years

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Even if you're not an art thief (or you don't repost independent artists' stuff without permission), you're still part of the problem if you still like/share reposts and/or follow repost accounts.

"It's not my problem, so I don't really care. It's not a life-threatening matter, so it's no big deal." Okay, then let me wish nobody would help you when you get robbed. It's not like I wish you'd die,right? It's okay, no big deal.

// If you don't have the guts to call out the reposter, then at least report and block them AND like and/or share the original artist's work.

"Fan artist don't deserve credit because they're stealing someone else's characters! It's illegal!" Bruh. We aren't stealing anything. lol Fan art is literally an art made by a fan. We don't claim those characters as ours. We even mention where they're from. As far as I know, making fan art of characters from shows/media made by big companies and some manga is totally acceptable. Making profit off copyrighted characters, though, is illegal; however, independent artists are often ignored because those big companies don't really mind if you sell those 'lil merch of yours in cons (be careful selling online tho lol). Also, most Japanese companies/creators (mangaka) consider fan art as advertisement.

Anyway, the bottomline is that those fan arts are owned by the fan creators because they made it. The characters may not belong to the fan artist but the fan art does. Get it? ಠ‿ಠ So, shut the hell up if you're just going to justify any repost for the stupid reasoning that "it's jUsT fAnArT, bAsiCaLLy thE sAme as mEMEs!" 🥴🙄

"Don't post it online then! Someone's going to steal it anyway."

Seriously, instead of telling fan creators to stop posting stuff online, you should just focus on reporting and shunning reposters. Help in stopping this shit instead of justifying it and blaming the victims.

Reposters be like:

"We gave credits anyway!" If the artist didn't want it to be reposted, then DON'T REPOST IT.

"We gave you exposure! You should even thank us!" Again, if the artist doesn't want it to be reposted, DO NOT REPOST IT. You're not doing a favour. YOU'RE the one who owe us a favour for the undeserved attention and support you get out of reposting our stuff. Besides, a lot of social media folks are lazy bums who don't even give a damn about the original artist so they'd just settle with the repost they see; thus, that exposure you're bragging about isn't even worth mentioning.

"Don't be so stingy!" Would you like it if I say that same thing after I take something of yours without permission (basically stealing)? No, I don't think so. So, delete that damn repost now.

"DM us if you want us to take it down." 🤦‍♂️ You should've asked for permission to repost BEFORE you reposted it. A YES, UH-HUH, AFFIRMATIVE, SURE!, GO AHEAD should be given before you repost it. Simply asking to repost without being given the go signal is not a permission, bro. You just asked but a permission wasn't given. WTH

"CREDITS TO THE ARTIST." THAT'S USELESS. Zero credits has actually been given to the rightful owner. You're just trying to make yourself seem good with that. You think you did good enough by saying that but that shit's offensive as hell to the artist, especially when your repost got more engagement than theirs. If you don't know who made it even after searching thru saucenao.com or whatever, THEN DO NOT REPOST IT. That CTTO isn't doing any help; and even if you did find out who made it, you MUST ask for permission to repost first.

*adds in their own watermark* You contributed nothing in making that art. Have a bit of shame. ಠ_ಠ

*removes original artist's watermark and act as if they made it* Congrats, you're a full blown art thief. 😬 I hope you step on a lego 3x/day.

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mikuedits · 3 years

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HEY BITCHES!!! I HAVENT POSTED IN A WHILE!

WOW IVE BEEN AWAY FOR QUITE SOME TIME HAVENT I?? I GOT RLLY INTO D4DJ AND I HAVENT WANTED TO EDIT FOR A WHILE. ILL GET BACK INTO VOCALOID ONCE PJSEKAI IS IN ENGLISH. SO ANYWAY HERES AN UPDATED LIST OF ALL THE EDITING APPS I USE CURRENTLY IN CASE ANY OF YALL WANNA BECOME A MOD LEARN TO EDIT LIKE I DO

SO HERE WE GO! everything is under the cut :)

1. Afterlight. AN UNDERRATED FAVE. seriously this app has it all, and its even better if u can afford to pay the premium. otherwise just screenshot the premium features if u can or use the already good ones they have and Wham there ya go!!

2, PREQUEL. this is one of my new favorites tbh!! it makes my life SO much easier. it has everuthing ud want in an editing app!! effects, filters, adjusting (basic photo editing stuff), text, etc.!! the only thing it doesnt have is overlays which is manageable without considering the variety the filters/effects give.

3. pic collage. HEAR ME OUT. the templates are trash thanks to the watermark so im not talking about those. im talking about the freestyle mode. literally judt make ur edit above the watermark and ur set. its easy and WAY MORE INTUITIVE once u get to know it. its what i use since photoshop isnt on mobile. its also got an in-app image saving feature and an image search engine built in. genuinely, if you use another app for finishing touches and dont care much abt absolute precision, please try it out!! its what i use for practically all my edits, including moodboards and such.

4. canva!! this is what a lot of the quicker and less detailed but still very good editing blogs use. its got assets built in so you don’t have to find things like borders to use. it also has a few animations as a bonus if ur into that!!! its like pic collage otherwise, im just not good at it. props to anyone who can figure it out. i only know how to use it for school ;-;

5. capcut. is it a video editing software? yes. can you put photos in it? also yes. you can see where this is going. slap some effects on that shit or use it for animated headers. you can use it to position transparent images onto backgrounds and then save the video and screenshot it off of your photos. if you’re lazy and wanna just get that old request DONE without it being trash, capcut will be your friend.

6. ft image. for simple things that arent available without premium elsewhere, ft image is your friend. literally Just Vibes. wonderful.

SO THATS YA LIST!! if u wanna see more of me and my edits u can follow my d4dj account @muni-ohnaruto , my main account @ultimatestellar , or my side account @stellarsideshow where i all post edits in some capacity. just look around the blogs to see what i mean lol

anyway YALL HAVE A GOOD DAY ROCK ON IM FUCKIJNNN SLEEPY BYE BYEEE

- mod rin

#mod rin #not an edit #mod rin’s handy dandy list #aesthetic #editing #editing tips

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cas-backwards-tie · 4 years

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Breakup Headcanons

Warnings: General Angst, Cursing, Slurs, Mentions of Cheating, Ended Engagement.

A/N: @oh-adam this is for you! I know you just wanted a drabble for my choice, and... well it’s hard to choose so I decided to do headcanons for a bunch! :) I hope you enjoy! I put everyone underneath the cut since it’d get too long otherwise and no one would want to reblog lmao. Also here’s to me trying to write for Flip and Adam for the first time! also I think credit to @drivermisfit for using one of your gifs! I saw the watermark, so thank you <3

Kylo Ren:

“It’s for your safety!” Kylo explains again. Somehow he’s gotten the idea into his mind that by sending you to the outer-rim, somewhere you’re less likely to be found, that you’ll be safe from Snoke and the First Order.

“I don’t care!”

“Well I do, and what I say goes. I am the Commander. Get in! Don’t make me force you,” he threatens, his breathing starting to get heavier as his anger level rises, his fear getting more serious as the longer your relationship had gone on, the more and more he’d gotten feelings for you. “I love you,” he says your name, gloved hand reaching out to caress your face, “but I have to leave you. It isn’t safe anymore and I don’t know when it will be. My life is already at risk and I can’t risk yours too. I was foolish enough to think they wouldn’t catch on for this long.” Now that you’ve obeyed him and entered the starship, he closes the walkway and takes off his helmet. Placing it underneath his arm he guides you toward the cockpit, being gentle with you for a last time.

You don’t say anything as you can’t find the words to. The cast on your arm and the bandage on your head are already warning enough. He straps you into the seat and has already set the ship up with coordinates before you’d both even come down to the hangar.

“Remember-” you cut him off and finish his sentence, “-when you arrive destroy the data so they can’t track me. Yes, yes, I already know, Kylo! It’ll be fine!” You reassure him. Sighing, you look at his face, never wanting to stop look, fear riddled in your body as you worry for what will happen to him when you leave.

“Okay... well... I love you. I always will, my star... please be safe,” he whispers, suddenly tearing up as he presses a kiss to your forehead, running his hand over your hair before pulling away. You hadn’t anticipated how painful the sounds of his departing footsteps would be, but teardrops run down your face as you silent let yourself sob, shoulders wracking as he leaves the ship, it already counting down and preparing to take off, leaving and tearing you away from the love of your life.

Charlie Barber:

You knew it was coming when he’d started working late everyday. Charlie would be more than a few minutes late to your dates with really lame excuses and you started communicating less and less. Maybe it’s me, you thought, but ultimately forbid yourself from dwelling and going any further down that train of thought since you haven’t done anything wrong! “I’ve just been really busy with work!” Charlie argues, “Transitioning from theatre to film is not what it’s cracked up to be! Do you even know how many calls I’ve had to make? How many meetings I’ve had to take or how many of my days I’ve had to sacrifice seeing Henry?” A scoff comes from his mouth as he rolls his eyes, holding back tears as his cheeks start to turn a little red. “I can’t do this anymore,” the way he says your name is heart-breaking, the final acknowledgment that it’s not working and he doesn’t want to continue trying making your heart ache with pain.

“So that’s it, huh? After everything?” You ask, fed up with his lies and excuses, the defensiveness.

“For fuck’s sake! Yes! I’m done. I can’t do this right now. I can’t handle this. I’m done.” Gesticulating with his hands in the air, Charlie finally lets himself take a deep breath as the two of you just stare at each other from opposite sides of the room solemnly. “There’s just too much going on right now,” he whispers, and that’s all it takes for you to turn around and walk out the door.

Clyde Logan:

“You what?” Everything else around you fades except for him, the only things running through your mind and ringing through your ears repeatedly are the words he’d just said. Your heart clenches, pain making you clutch at it as your cheeks sting with the threat of tears willing to surface.

“I said I went through with it. I enlisted. We’ve been talkin’ bout it an now that Ma and Pa are gone... Jimmy says this is the best bet for college an I agree. I’m leavin’ tomorrow mornin’. Darlin, please don’t cry. This is the last thing I want right now, but I... I have to do this... and while I’m gone I don’t want you waiting’ around for someone who might never come back.” Clyde takes a step forward, hands reaching up to wipe away your tears, but you turn away from him.

“I- I don’t want you to leave!”

“I know,” he whispers, his voice soft, sweet like honey, and calm like the lake in the morning, “but I promise ya that I wasn’t no good for ya anyhow. There’s gotta be a man that deserves you ten times more than me and can give you the life you actually deserve.” His hand rubs your back while the other one brushes your hair behind your ear. Before you can speak he calls your name, his beautiful brown eyes looking down into yours. “I just came to say goodbye... but,” he shakes his head, “god dammit if I can’t help myself... can I have one last kiss goodbye?”

Nodding in response, too choked up to speak, you crane your neck to place your lips against his. The previous smile that’d engrossed your lips slowly melts and turns into a smile as Clyde’s sweetness never fails to brighten you up. One of his hands weaves into your hair while the other snakes itself around your waist. Your lips dance against one another, his soft plump lips pressing harder than usual against yours while both of your noses brush against each other. Curse him and his cute big nose!

It all feels like it happens too fast. While the kiss seemed to last forever, he’s suddenly out of your arms and on the other side of the parking lot and into his truck, then gone... almost like it never even happened.... like you never even knew him.

Adam Sackler:

“Get out of here!” He screams, head and hair shaking with fury, “Fuck!” Of course, though, you don’t move. “I don’t want to hear you shit! I already fucking told you what happened! I can’t take it back!” Pounding his closed fists against his head angrily he beats himself up. See, Adam had told you that two days ago on Saturday night he’d went to a mutual friend’s house for comfort after the both of you had gotten in a fight. Now you couldn’t even remember what started the fight but it doesn’t even matter. Next, the friend convinced him to go to a party, where Adam ended up seeing Jessa... one thing lead to another and she kissed him, he pushed her away, but after another kiss and one more, they madeout. Of course he felt guilty and told you today, but that doesn’t change what happened.

“I just want you to know that I fucking loved you Adam! I fucking loved you and go and do this?!” He doesn’t care that you’re crying in his living room, no, at least it doesn’t feel like it cause all he’s been doing for the past five minutes is telling you to ‘get out’ and leave.

“I don’t know what you want me to do!”

“I don’t know what I want you to do either! Do I think I wouldn’t fuck tell you if I didn't?!” Furiously wiping away your tears with the sleeves of your shirt, you try to ignore the throbbing in your head. “I fucking HATE this you know that?! I fucking hate that you’re forcing me to do this!”

“I’m not forcing you to do anything!”

“Yes you are!”

“No I’m not!”

“I c-” you choke on a sob, having to catch your breath, “I can’t do this. I- I’m breaking up with you Adam.”

“You can’t,” he whines, his expression suddenly changing at he looks at you with pleading eyes.

“It’s too late. I just did.” Making your way toward the exit, you know you need to get away from here and move on as fast as you can.

Paul Sevier:

“Paul, can we talk?” You ask as you sit down in a chair at a corner table at a random cafe you’d picked to go to for lunch today. Keeping your purse in your lap, Paul doesn’t fail to notice that’s odd.

“Isn’t that what we’re already doing?” He jokes, smiling as he chuckles, scooting in his chair as he gets settled in the chair across from you.

“Okay, sure, but I mean seriously,” you sigh. He can tell this isn’t going anywhere good. Something’s up. “I want to break-up. I’m not happy anymore, I can’t do this. You’re a nice guy, I like you, sure, but I have this co-worker who I like and has been asking me out and... I just... I can’t do it. I don’t want to do that to you, so... I want to break-up.”

“But-” he’s taken aback, his jaw dropped as he shakes his head, eyebrows furrowed as he processes everything, “Uh... just like that? What about the wedding?” He asks stunned, his heart not even in pain as he can’t comprehend what’s happening in this moment. Where had he gone wrong? What did he do?Was it something he said?

Taking off your ring you place it on the table for him. “We never planned it, so there’s nothing to cancel. I thought I could live this kind of life, but with you gone all the time, I just... can’t do it. I don’t think I could live like that. I’m sorry. I don’t want to draw this out Paul, I really don’t. I loved you, I really did, and it broke me for a long time to even think about this. But I know that I’d never be happy just keeping this up. I really hope you find somebody. I have to go.”

Within another moment you’re gone. Paul doesn’t move an inch. The diamond ring glints in the mid-day sun on the table and he quickly springs into action to snatch it into his hand and stuff it into his pocket under the table, removing the scene of its evidence like it never even happened. The waiter comes up to the table and offers him a menu, greeting him with a smile which he doesn’t return. “I’ll just take one margarita please.”

Flip Zimmerman:

Parking outside your house, Flip shuts the engine off and gets out of the car to lean against it. You know he said 7:30, so you should be out the door any minute now. He taps his foot against the pavement, admiring the way the trees blow in the wind, leaves starting to turn yellow and red as autumn approaches. A minute passes, then another before he pulls out his packet of cigarettes and his lighter. A breath of fresh smoke wafts into his lungs with his breath, he holds it for a moment before letting it out, the smoke curling up and disappearing into the air. Holding the cigarette between his fingers he perks up when he hears the screen door swing shut. A smirk displays itself upon his lips as you trail down the driveway, you dress swaying with your hips and your heels clacking against the concrete. It isn’t until you’re right up in his face that you go in for a kiss, only to halt a centimeter away, your smile turning into a frown.

“You lied to me Flip Zimmerman,” you accuse.

“Bout what, Doll?” He responds calmly, flicking the cigarette to knock the ash off and onto the street below. Small qualms like these don’t phase him, everyone’s got a bone to pick and Flip doesn’t have time for it. All of his days are spent dealing with fights and problems, the least he can have is his time-off spent with peace and coolness.

“Oh, I don’t know,” you say sarcastically, backing up a bit as you toy with him, “maybe the fact that you don’t work for Bobby’s mechanics, but you’re in fact, a fucking pig?!” Shoving his chest, Flip’s eyebrows furrow together as he takes another puff of his cigarette before tossing it aside onto the street.

“That’s what you’re mad about?” He asks seriously, taking a step toward you.

“You’re not denying it- so it’s true?” You put your hands on your hips.

“And what if it is? You got a problem with me being a ‘pig’?” He mocks you, hating the recent reputation the police have started to get, and the problem you’re personally taking up with him since you know fully well that he’s not like other cops, he’s a good man through and through. At least, he tries to be.

“Yes, I do, and for starts it means I don't want to be seen going around with no pig! So you can count yourself out, Casanova.”

“Fine! Whatever, as if I care! You weren’t the first and you won’t be the last, babydoll!” Rounding his car, he tears open the door and gets in, slamming it shut behind him before speeding off.

#kylo ren x reader #charlie barber x reader #Clyde Logan x reader #Adam Sackler x Reader #Paul Sevier x Reader #flip zimmerman x reader #angst #my writing #kylo ren x reader angst #Charlie Barber x Reader angst #Clyde Logan x Reader angst #Paul Sevier x Reader angst #Adam Sackler x Reader angst #Flip Zimmerman x Reader angst #breakup headcanons #headcanons #angst headcanons #oh-adam #request

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surveys-at-your-service · 4 years

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Survey #323

“dehumanized upon a shell / we came to bleed it dry / obsessed with divine wealth / divide and multiply”

Have you ever drawn on someone’s face while they were sleeping? No. Would you scuba dive in shark infested waters if you had the chance? No thanks. What is your favorite slow song? There are so many, but one of the slowest and most beloved of mine is "Obstacles" by Syd Matters. It gives me goosebumps without fail. It's one song I know I want at my hypothetical wedding. If there were aliens on earth, would you be afraid? I mean, yeah. I'd want to know their intentions. If your best friend died, would you be able to speak at their funeral? It'd be extremely difficult, but if I had any say in it, I absolutely would. Do you enjoy going through old pictures? Sometimes. Other times it causes too much pain, depending on the pictures, of course. Do you tend to have a lot of drama in your life? Definitely not. My life is painfully uneventful. When’s the last time someone was disappointed in you? I don't know. Do you have a house phone? No. Which fast food place do you eat at the most? McDonald's. Have you ever met someone on the Internet in real life? Yep. What’s your favorite color to wear? Black. Do you like being in pictures? No. Do you travel a lot? Essentially never, even though I'd love to. Do you play any sports? No. Do you like pickles? Yesssss. How many times have you been kicked out of a store? Never. Is there things you’ve told someone that you’ve NEVER told anyone else? Probably. When was the last time you had alcohol? My birthday dinner last month. Are you one to often make typos? No, except when I'm texting. I have autocorrect on for a reason. On a hot day, would you rather prefer ice cream or a popsicle? Ice cream. Have you ever wanted to get drunk and get your mind off everything? Yes, but I just didn't want to drink anymore at one point. I'm far from a lightweight, apparently. Have you played cards recently? No. Is there a band you like with amazing music but a bad vocalist? Mother Mother immediately comes to mind, but not the main singer; he's great. The woman who occasionally joins in is fucking horrendous. Like, it hurts my ears. Is there a certain song you like to headbang to? I don't and never have really headbanged, surprisingly. It's a sure-fire way to make me dizzy. Anything you might be giving up on soon? I hope not... Sometimes I feel like it's time with photography, but I just. Can't. Have you ever captured a moth? I've raised a caterpillar into one before, then of course let it go. Is there a band/artist who has strange lyrics but you love them anyway? Otep, noteably. When was the last time you wore earrings? It's been a long time. How many pairs of heels do you own? I don't think I have any. When was the last time you changed your picture on Facebook? Uhhhh it's been at the very least a month, but I know more. Would you consider yourself to be physically strong? Absolutely not, especially my legs. I struggle to fucking walk because they're so weak. Have you ever painted a piece of furniture? Yes, actually. I helped Jason paint his shelf black. Do you have a really fat cat? No, we never have. We've always been good about keeping our pets at a healthy weight. Do your initials spell a word? No. When was the last time you went to a playground? A year or so ago when I was taking pictures of someone's son, as well as just general family photos. That same family just had another baby the other day. Have you ever made a business card for yourself? No. Do you have a favorite curse word in a different language? No. Are there any recipes you have memorized? No. Do you know your multipication times tables? Lol not most of them, no... It's been way too long. Do you have a favorite font on the computer? Of the basic ones, probably Garamond. Are you good at creating logos? *shrugs* I've only ever really made my photography watermarks, and I only JUST made one I like pretty well. How about catch phrases? I don't make those. Have you ever been severely burned? Not severely, no. Did you ever dream that you had a baby? I've actually had numerous dreams where I was pregnant, but I don't THINK I've had one where the baby was born yet. Do you or anyone you know have a rabbit? No. What was the weirdest thing you ever saw cross the road? Hm, nothing too weird, I think. Last song you got stuck in your head? "ALTÆR" by 3TEETH. Last song you listened to? ^ Favorite movie quote? I don't know. Maybe Rafiki's quote about the past hurting, but you should take that opportunity to learn. Favorite lyric? That is impossible. There are so, so very many that just like slather me in goosebumps. What magazine are you an avid reader to? None. Have you ever gone a full day without interacting with another person? I have. How many relationships have you been in that lasted less than a year? Four. Have you ever been significantly more physically fit than you are now? Man, take me the hell back to my WiiFit days. I was pretty damn fit. The last time I did it, it was seriously alarming how much I struggled doing things that were once pretty effortless. When growing up, did you parents keep the house very tidy? "Very" seems a bit too much, but Mom definitely kept it in order. How many watches do you own? None. Should teenagers be allowed to have their cell phones with them in class? Yes. Emergencies happen. Do you have any gay relatives? Yes; my mom has a cousin who's gay. Have you unfollowed, deleted, or blocked anyone on social media recently? Not recently, no. If so, what was the reason? ^ What’s the biggest financial mistake you’ve ever made? Oh, y'know, dropping out of college three fucking times. Once I pay my own bills and I truly understand finances, that's going to fucking wreck me. Do you like metal music? Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck yeah. If so, what sub-genres of metal do you like the best? Heavy and symphonic. Who was the last person you sincerely thanked? My mom for bringing home lunch recently. Have you ever been in a relationship where there was a large difference in maturity levels? No. What’s the longest you’ve ever stayed as a guest at someone’s house? Maybe like a month when I was technically homeless? How bad was your acne when you were a teenager? It was preeeetty rough. Do you like strawberry shortcake? No. What’s the last you got out of the freezer? A microwavable breakfast bowl. Do you go on the computer or watch TV more? Guess. Explain why you are single: Because I'm a very, very underdeveloped "adult" that has very little clue what she's doing. At my age, I and any potential partner should want someone with direction. What feature do you usually get most complimented on? My hair. Has anyone ever accused you of being gay? Well, I'm bi. I had this weird therapist once in middle school though who asked if I was a lesbian... Idk why she did? What Facebook groups have you found the most helpful? I'm in an advanced ball python husbandry group, and while a lot of people there are utter, degrading elitists, they do have valuable information. Did you name all of your stuffed animals and dolls? I sure did as a kid. What would you have your bridesmaids wear? Probably black dresses, and I think it'd be really cool if I were to marry a woman, the bridesmaids wear checkered Converses colored into a rainbow pattern, or something like that. Where do you want to go on your honeymoon? I think Alaska, if it was a good time to see the Northern Lights. Are you sick right now? No, thankfully. Do you feel loved? Yes. Do you like your butt? Why or why not? God no. I have such a flat ass. Are you ashamed of your faith? I'm assuming by this you mean religion, in which case, I don't have one and am not ashamed of that. Has anyone ever tried to force their beliefs on you? Yes. Have you ever personally been a victim of homophobia? Again, I'm bisexual. I have never had a personal act of homophobia inflicted upon me, though. Have you ever been accused of being homophobic? Yes, because I was for most of my life. Fucking repulsive to remember. "Repulsive" is much too gentle a word, but yeah. It is so, so embarrassing to recall myself ever believing it was wrong because my then-religion said no-no. Do you think you’d be happier if you had a pet? I have two pets. I would be so, so lonely without any. :/ I've had pets my entire life. Who was the last person you went on a date with? Sara. How long has it been since that last time you went on a date? Like two or so years. Do you think babies are cute? They can be, but I usually don't find them all that cute, honestly. Especially newborns/very young infants. They're usually hideous. My youngest niece is actually the only newborn that I remember seeing that I thought was absolultely precious. What is your favorite style of pants? Ripped skinny jeans. Were you ever hospitalized as a little kid? No. Who was the last person who broke your heart? Jason. ^Do you still miss this person? I'm sure I always will to some degree. Do you have someone to talk to and share your secrets with? Sara more than anyone, but Mom, too. Is there someone you feel extra shy around? Just men in general. Have you been hurt more by friend break-ups or romantic break-ups? Romantic. Closest living thing to you? My snake's terrarium is against the opposite wall. She's in her hide. Would you rather drown or burn alive? Drown. You go unconscious first, so. And I'd assume it to be faster than burning alive. Also me no like hot. :'''( Who is the last person you got really pissed off with? My stepmother posted some ignorant bullshit on Facebook about how people blow out of proportion our "supposed" environmental crisis. I nearly deleted her right then and there. I take that shit seriously. Most of her beliefs drive me insane, honestly, but she's a wonderful person at heart, so I just bit my tongue. Who was the last member of the opposite sex you laid in a bed with? Girt. What type of sushi do you like to eat? Never tried it, don't want to. Was the last person you kissed physically attractive? Yes. Do you have any flowers in your room? No. Do you know anyone that owns horses? Yes. Well, I took pictures for her family, anyway. Do you know anyone who has road rage? Who? Jesus, yes. My little sister. Is your mom a big health freak or your dad? Or neither? Neither are "big" health freaks, especially not Dad when you consider he smokes and knows it'll be what kills him. My mom is diabetic though, so she's reasonably careful. Do you know anyone who wants to be the president one day? No. What kinds of chips are in the cupboards? We don't have any. Ma tries to keep snacks out of the house for both hers and my sake. If you were going out with your celebrity crush, what would you wear? OH BOY idk. I'd probably spend days planning the "perfect" thing. Do you have any friends who have naturally red hair? I do. Have you ever cried when a teacher retired? Yep, my band teacher. He was incredibly loved by literally everyone. Do you have your mom’s or dad’s eyes? Neither's. They both have brown eyes. What’s the best date movie? We gonna have a problem if you don't watch The Notebook w/ me if I have it on lmao. How long has your current best friend been your best friend? Many years now. (: Do you swear and yell while playing video games? I might swear under my breath, but I don't yell. Would you rather name your daughter Andrea or Eva? Andrea. If you were adopted, would you want to know? Yes. Do you know anyone who has grossly skinny eyebrows? I couldn't care less about someone's eyebrows. Do your pets chase after bugs? Oh yes, Roman certainly does. When’s the last time you were so excited you couldn’t sleep? Why? Hmmm... this actually happened recently, but I don't remember why... What is your mom’s favorite movie? I don't know, actually. I think it's some romance one. What TV family reminds you of your own family? None, really. Do you know anyone who always looks perfect? Who? One of my best high school friends Alon was like... just always pristinely beautiful, it seemed like. I haven't seen many pictures of her lately, but I'm sure that hasn't changed. Has anyone you know ever pulled the fire alarm in school, joking around? I think so once, yes. Who was the main character in the last book you read? A dragon named Sunny. Who are the last people you saw kiss? On the lips, I'm sure it woulda been my sister and her husband. Would you rather look at clouds or stars? Clouds, I think. Well, it would depend on their design, I guess, and time of day. When you get married, who will be the maid of honor/best man? Probably my mom. Does your best friend get along with their parents? She has a wonderful relationship with them. Have you ever been in a wedding? What were you? I was the fat, hideous, crying bridesmaid. ;x; Are you purposely hiding something from someone? No. What’s the most intimate thing you’ve discussed with a stranger? My suicide attempt with doctors. What, if anything, do you substitute for fries? I always get fries. Have you ever been in a building that was on fire? No. Are you in an argument with anyone right now? No. Have you ever written a poem for someone? Yes. Who’s the last person who cussed you out in anger? My grandmother. Who is the person you are closest to that you’ve meet online? Sara. Have you friended your parents on FB? Mom, yes. Dad doesn't have one. What’s the last tourist area you visited? Chicago. Mice or roaches? Mice are precious, meanwhile I hate roaches. Did you give or get any Valentines this year? No. Well, Mom bought me and my sisters each a delicious candy apple, if that counts? What’s your homepage? Google. Is there anyone whose grave you visit? No.

#survey #surveys #questions #lyrics: ''altaer" by 3teeth

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jlf23tumble · 4 years

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Top 10 Niche Interests

Fixations? Obsessions? This is incredibly hard because I have wayyyy too many niche interests, so instead of stressing about it, I tried to channel the 10 things that immediately speak to me and maybe aren't so obvious from what I post here, like how much I'm obsessed with wigs, doll furniture, incredibly specific blogs, all forms of clothing with pockets, swimming pools, whimsical bus stops, over-the-top bathrooms, etc. etc Instead, I opted for some specifics that feel a little more evergreen and long tailed, like, so LIFE-long tailed that it's tough to nail down when or how they became part of the national psyche. I thank @alienfuckeronmain for the initial tag, and I'm tagging her AGAIN for round two because I know she has a billion additional niche things, and she'll post them, and I'll scream because it'll trigger five other things I neglected to post here, and I'll probably post my own round two, arggggh, insert aggressive sighing. Anyway, I tag ANYONE who wants to do it, just tag me so I can see!

1. Indoor Trees

I have no idea why this concept PULLS so hard because houseplants are kind of meh to me, but you want to plant an entire-ass TREE indoors, in the place where you live? Me, too, and I'd add a conversation pit plus a combo gold/red bathroom, among other things, and, bam, we're in my imaginary dream home, which I have literally, constantly ALWAYS mentally constructed from the time I was about six or so. (If you're curious, it has multiple themed rooms, and the closest I've seen to it recently is the outstanding Dita von Teese AD feature, but Amy Sedaris’s apartment comes close, too). There are two (2) 1960s houses in Long Beach with magnificent indoor trees, but I can't find them online, so have this modern interpretation and cry with me about how I can't visit the multi-story fake tree inside Clifton's Cafeteria for a good long while:

2. Conventions of Fans of Any Kind

One thing that I don't think I'll ever lose is how much I *love* people who are fans of SOMETHING, people who have a passion and create something about it or cosplay it or simply gather to celebrate it and connect to other people through it. The Internet provides in all kinds of ways, but I'm talking specifically about IRL conventions and the way my heart pitter pats when I first walk in those doors, SWOON! And it doesn’t matter how big the convention is or how random, I've been to smaller events like CatCon and the My Little Pony convention all the way up to biggies like WonderCon and Comic Con, and I have yet to be disappointed. I might know jack shit about what I'm walking into, but I want to see the merch, hear about the panels, and check out the people who are fucking PUMPED to be there. Sadly, I think it's gonna be a lonnnnng time until these come back, but I can live vicariously through my old photos, sigh:

3. Dutch Wax Fabrics and African Fashion

I'm not the snazziest of dressers, but textiles, colors, and patterns have been an obsession that has soothed my visual soul for as long as I can literally remember. Wax fabric marries all three of those touchpoints, plus throws in a healthy dose of style, and I count myself lucky to have seen two big exhibits on the subject (this was one of them), oh, how I wish there were more! For sure, there's a fucked up underlying colonial/imperialist history here, but there's also humor and color and vibrancy, a reclamation of sorts, and multiple levels of fashion that take my breath away. I cannot do the different patterns justice at all, but the fan motif is one of my faves:

4. Hearst Castle vs. Madonna inn

These two fall into my #home tag because they're where I'm from, and they speak to me as equally sublime and ridiculous, camp and kitsch writ large and small, different (yet similar!) versions of Xanadu that two rich white men built as shrines to their own personal "taste." And the irony is that a lot of people shit on Alex Madonna for being tacky (the Madonna Inn is...uh, something else), yet praise WR Hearst for all the high-class art and architecture, most of which is fully lifted from desperate churches between and after world and yet they're both more or less the same concept (lodging for weary travelers, self-aggrandizement, questionable taste-mixing). Hearst Castle edges out slightly for me because it's bigger and has spectacular scenery and history, plus it gives me doses of LA noir thanks to the way Hearst killed a guy in a jealous Charlie Chaplin-related rage and Hedda Hopper covered it up, all kinds of old Hollywood shenanigans happened up there, etc. But I'm low-key an expert on both houses of the holy, I'm OBSESSED with both, and we can leave it at that. I mean, come on:

5. Snow Globes

I had to cull my personal collection slightly just to fit it all on the dedicated shelf in my bathroom, and I seriously need to refill all the water lines, but nothing beats a snow globe in terms of memorable souvenir, especially when you put it in a bathroom. The majesty!!! The jewel of my collection is the one from Sherwood Forest because WHY NOT celebrate a historic place and moment in the basic way?? He robbed from the rich to give to the poor, and the gift shop about 100 feet from the tree he hid in does the same! The circle of life! The irony of all the watermarks on this blessed image...protect:

6. Highly Specific Museums

Look, we can all agree that the more venerated museums in the world are a form of garbage in terms of what they represent, what they've done, and who runs them, but I'm here for the museums that collect and celebrate things that tend to get overlooked. There are too many to list that I love that are still thriving, so I'm going to say goodbye to four recently departed faves. RIP to the Pez museum, I'm so glad I saw you and purchased your stale candy souvenirs. RIP to the museum of terrible food, you were a pop up when Phoenix and I saw you, and I will forever think about the worker describing people literally vomiting during their visits. RIP to the currywurst museum in Berlin, I've had currywurst exactly once and it was not for me, but I respect the Journey you took me on, including obscure east German TV shows that helped make you so popular (??). Finally, RIP to the velvet painting museum, there's no way to mince words, the person who owned you was crazy AS FUCK and had zero clue how to run a business, but I'm so glad I saw you multiple times and purchased my own velvet treasure (not this exact one, but remarkably similar):

7. Liminal Spaces: Grocery Store Edition

Confession time for those who don't know me all that well, I'm a big time voyeur, and nothing fills my heart with joy like a walk at 7 or 8 pm, the witching hour when people haven't pulled the curtains, and I can scope out their decorations/furnishings without it being "weird." Another confession is how much I unabashedly adore grocery stores in other countries and will spend at least an hour wandering aisle by aisle, falling in love with how much everything is different yet completely the same:

8. Agatha Christie Novels:

As a child, I was a fairly compliant reader--I had to read something for school? Okay! For my mom? Sounds good! But the books that sparked the initial fire for me to read something purely for myself were second-hand (probably fourth- or fifth-hand, judging by cover art) Agatha Christie short story anthologies, which were the gateway drug to full Agatha Christie novels, then other mystery novels, and so on. But getting back to Agatha, I obviously loved all the stories, but every decade spawned incredibly good cover art (like, exceptionally good), and this particular artist's are right up near the top for me (I go back and forth on a lot of the '50s and '60s ones):

9. Scopitones

I link my obsession with scopitones both to my love of music videos in general and a shop in Austin, TX, that sold DVD compilations of them in particular, but either way, they're underappreciated and kitschy all in one! Francoise Hardy and the rest of the ye-ye's are my forever girls for this medium, but seemingly every country cranked them out, both actual set videos and "live" performances? If you don't know what they are, scopitones were machines that played music videos in French cafes in the '60s (??), so it was sort of your proto-MTV way to see your faves sing and dance. Oh, Francoise...so moderne!!

10. Cover Songs

I have so much patience and love for cover songs of any stripe, the more genre-bending and/or surprising, the better! My only minor beef is the trend in slooooooooowing down songs to make a point, but even those ones have a special place in my heart if they're effective. Live Lounge feeds my hunger the best, but my meta fave for representing this concept is Pulp's Bad Cover Version, which was already lyrically INSPIRED, a song about bad cover versions in terms of relationships, but then they did a video that was a visual "bad" cover version, with actors lip synching over an audio "bad" cover version, and all of it just worked? The cover for the single is someone in the band as a boy, making his own bad cover version of a Bowie album cover, it's meta meta meta, and I love love love, here's the video, if you're curious. In the more sublime cover category, I'm absolutely addicted to all of Orville Peck's covers, I truly hope he officially releases them sometime soon, but I wholeheartedly support any artist who does it:

#tag games #niche interests #god i have a few

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fictionalarsonist · 4 years

Note

may i request nr 9 of your recent prompts with taeyong x reader?

「 unexpected encounter 」

pairing ›_ taeyong x readerwith ›_ jaehyun ; doyoungcontent ›_ slice of life-y ; flirting ; friendshiprating ›_pgwc ›_2k

―

premise ›_After moving to a big city, you find yourself missing everything about home that you complained so much. Taeyong was one of these things, but when you two meet again, by a coincidence, he’s nothing like you remembered. › One-liners Inspired Drabbles ― #9.“Hot, gorgeous, beautiful…whatever you want to call it.”

「 ao3 | masterlist 」

The cold streets makes you shiver even with all the layers of clothes you’re wearing, you press your dry lips in a thin line, but that only harms the damaged sensible skin. You’re not much of a winter person yourself; you hate all this cold, wet streets, the chaotic traffic and the annoying, disgusting steam. It makes you think of winter back home, it’s just as cold, if not worst – but you liked winter just fine there.

You miss playing in the snow, the trees always tinkling with snow, the smell of fresh winter mornings that isn’t tainted with the toxic smell of pollution. The bone, chilling cold was as pleasing as it could get, but there’s the fireplace and the familiar faces and your favorite bakery shop. You’re not quite sure if you’re homesick because you can’t afford going back home for Christmas or if you’re just not cut out for the big city. Funny, though, you were so eager to live the pathetic small town just two, three years ago.

It’s relief seeing your colleague arrived earlier, the lights inside the shop is dimmed, the closed sign shows on the glass door. You push open the door and the bell announces you. Jaehyun raises his head to see you walking in.

“Good morning!” He greets you with a quick, tired smile.

“Morning!” You greet, smiling back at him as he goes back to work. “You beat me today,” you hear his scoff.

“Well, I might pass out during the day,” you hear him reply from under the balcony and you stop in front of it, unbuttoning your coat.

“Another night awake?”

“That fucking stupid project,” he grunts before appearing from the balcony, his face twisted in annoyance, “I swear, if no one send me their part in this I’m just gonna watermark the whole shit with my name with big, bold letters. I’m not going to give credit to anyone.”

“Can you do that, though?” Jaehyun shrugs in response, “How long ‘till deadline?”

“Uhm- four days?” He frowns, looking into the distance, “Wait, what day is today?”

“Today is the 28th”

“Three days, then” he corrects himself, looking at you, “Even if they send something I don’t think I have enough time to edit, so-” he shrugs, leaning his weight on his elbows on the balcony. “I don’t even care about the fucking prize, the shitty award or whatever- I just want a good grade, that’s all.”

“Don’t worry about it, at least you’ll make it,” you comfort him, patting one of his slumped shoulders.

“You’re right,” Jaehyun replies more energetically before pulling back.

“I’ll get ready and come out to help you real quick,” he hums as you rush to the locker room.

Inside the shop is warm and cozy and you, slowly, regain the sensibility on your fingertips, your lips, and on the tip of your nose. You go through the usual routine to get ready before meeting Jaehyun outside.

“What’s left for me?” You ask, finishing to tie your apron.

“Those two needed to be cleaned. I’m gonna get the pies-”

“Okay,” you shrug

“The espresso machine’s already on,” he warns over his shoulder.

There’s nothing but the sounds of Jaehyun at the back while you clean the machines, but this silence is welcoming and even relaxing. It contrasts so much with the view beyond the glass door. The chaotic traffic and people walking up and down the street. You enjoy these times before opening the shop, not knowing how the rest of the day would be.

***

Taeyong looked through the car window, irritated with the stillness. The car’s been stuck in traffic, not being able to move for far too long. Clicking his tongue, he lowers the partition with an impatient sigh. His driver looks at the review mirror, waiting. Ten, sitting by his side, spares him a watchful look.

“Isn’t there anything we can do to get out of here?” Taeyong asks, impatient.

“I ‘m afraid not, sir.” The driver replies with a trained apologetic tone.

Upset, Taeyong slumps back on his seat, undoing the button of his suit, blowing air out of his lungs, trying to tone down his anger.

“Are we too far from the company?” Taeyong asks, this time his questions directed at Ten, sitting by his side.

Doyoung spares a look at the map on his phone before replying.

“I’m afraid so.”

This reply only causes Taeyong to be even more discontent with the whole situation.

“This is ridiculous,” Taeyong protests in severe exasperation.

He glances outside yet again and sees you running out the door after a client.

“Taeyong, if you-” Doyoung’s cut off when Taeyong pushes the door open, letting the frigid wintery weather in the perfectly warm, luxurious car. “Taeyong!”

Before he could say anything else Taeyong’s walking on the wet streets, with drizzling rain falling on him.

“Park the car somewhere, don’t move anywhere without us.” Doyoung orders the driver and doesn’t wait for the response, already pushing the door open and chasing after his boss with an umbrella.

***

As soon as the sign at the door shows the coffee shop is open people come in, seeking the warmth and coziness as well as the drinks. Jaehyun busies himself to serve a couple of tables as you take his place at the balcony.

“What can I get-”

“Hey, Y/n!”

You blink, not quite believing the dazzling smile directed to you belongs to the awkward boy you had a crush on back in high school. Though now, Taeyong looks nothing like he did then. It hasn’t been that long and yet, he changed more than you could ever think.

“Taeyong?” You gaped.

“Taeyong!” Doyoung calls, hurrying after him inside the coffee shop, “If you want we can go back to the hotel and I rearrange the meeting-”

Doyoung’s words are cut off, noticing Taeyong isn’t giving him any attention. Doyoung turns to look at you, someone who looks… Quite average, nothing like Taeyong’s usual interests.

“We can discuss something like this later, Doyoung.” Taeyong says rather gentle and that gets Doyoung puzzled.

“Yes, of course. Should I get you a table?” Doyoung asks with a light frown.

“I think Y/n could do that for me. Couldn’t you?”

“Uhm- I-” You start, but protests of the customers lined up cut your words. Taeyong wasn’t even in the queue.

“Hey, dude! I don’t care if you’re here for coffee or you just wanna flirt, but get in line.” Someone says aggressively and Doyoung gets between the two people just so the other wouldn’t dare to push Taeyong as they intended to.

“Hey, Y/n!” You hear Jaehyun whisper by your side and you jolt in surprise, “I’ll take care of this, get him a table or something”

Jaehyun’s fast at the job and you step out of the balcony. Taeyong follows you to a more private table.

“Is this place yours?” He asks when you handle him a menu.

“No, I just- work here”

“And when are you free?” He places the menu on the table without even glancing at it while you stand there, waiting to get the order.

Your eyes wander around and you can tell there are quite the number of people looking at him. It’s not everyday someone like Taeyong comes along to place like that, people like him or, at least, the way he looks right now are usually found in over the top, expensive, luxurious restaurants, ordering food which you can’t even begin to imagine the names of, let alone pronounce if you ever came across.

“Y/n?” He asks again, in an inducing tone. With that smile that knocks the wind out of your lungs. You can’t believe you still have a crush on him after so long.

“Uh- Yes. Yes, what’s your order?” You ask automatically after snapping back to reality. He chuckles charmingly.

“I asked, when are you free?”

“At seven. We close at seven.” You speak up before you could stop yourself.

“Okay, then- I’ll come back at seven, then.” He stands up and Doyoung stands up after him. “I’m really glad I got to meet you again,” his smile looked quite sincere this time.

But that’s because, for a split second you could see the face of the boy you liked back then, instead of the arrogant man that was now taking your hand and bringing to his lips. You didn’t notice Doyoung’s eyes going back and forth between the two of you.

***

As soon as the shop got more of a free time, Jaehyun came to you as you cleaned one of the tables. Your mind went back and forth that moment over and over and still- you couldn’t figure how that could possibly happen.

“Okay, so- Tell me.” He asked, standing beside you as you repeatedly wiped the table, the same spot, over and over again. “Y/n?” He called, lowering his head to notice your eyes were looking into the distance instead of the the clean spot on the table or him. “Y/n!”

His half-scream made you jump in place and look at him.

“What now? Did you really need to-”

“You weren’t even paying attention to the table. What do you want, make it invisible or something?”

“Huh?”

He points at the table you’ve been cleaning, literally shining at this point. A wide contrast to the others.

“We have two options now, either we clean the others the same way or get this one dirty,” he says thoughtfully, looking around for a moment before looking at you, “But, seriously- Who’s that guy?”

“Who?”

“You know who,” he insists, chasing after you when you run away from him, “The guy that came here looking for you.”

“He didn’t came looking for me!”

“He came in, ordered nothing. Just talked to you and left,” Jaehyun states

“You- might have a point.”

“Who’s him?”

“He’s- He’s just someone I knew,” you try

“You knew?” He asks with scoff. “He didn’t seem dead to me.”

“Oh, c’mon, Jae! I had a crush on him when we were in high school or something, that’s all.”

“Did you date?”

“No!”

“Then, why’s he here?”

“How am I supposed to know?” You ask in frustration. You’ve been asking the same question yourself. “He’s different. He’s…”

“Hot, gorgeous, beautiful…?” Jaehyung mocks as you seem to search for words.

“Whatever you wanna call it” You say, impatient with the way he keeps joking around with you. “But I was about to say that he doesn’t look like himself. Like the guy I had the crush on. Maybe- Maybe this isn’t a good idea.”

“And- Still, you’re going with him?”

“I- You know, it might be nothing.”

“Yeah, and he might be a jerk. Look, this is what we can do for the day- You’re leaving with me today. We can do something fun that won’t end up with you getting hurt by the morning and leave me to take care of this chaos by myself. Deal?” You watch him manner his hand to the busy but now quiet coffee shop.

“What about your project?” He shrugs

“It’s almost done, I won’t add anything from anyone else by this point, so I can seat back and do nothing. So? Deal?“

“Deal.” You shake his extended hand to you with a self-assertive smile.

#kwordsmiths #cznnet #kwritersworldnet #ultkpop #mine #drabble #taeyong #lee taeyong #taeyong x reader #jaehyun x reader #nct jaehyun #doyoung

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