#yes yes we do actually we just can't sell our work

[museaway]

there are some days when no matter how good the music or the company or the food, no matter how comfortable you are or how much tea you make, no matter what friends are online, you just feel miserable.

[nobodysuspectsthebutterfly]

FYI artists and writers: some info regarding tumblr's new "third-party sharing" (aka selling your content to OpenAI and Midjourney)

You may have already seen the post by @staff regarding third-party sharing and how to opt out. You may have also already seen various news articles discussing the matter.

But here's a little further clarity re some questions I had, and you may too. Caveat: Not all of this is on official tumblr pages, so it's possible things may change.

(1) "I heard they already have access to my data and it doesn't really matter if I opt out"

From the 404 article:

A new FAQ section we reviewed is titled “What happens when you opt out?” states “If you opt out from the start, we will block crawlers from accessing your content by adding your site on a disallowed list. If you change your mind later, we also plan to update any partners about people who newly opt-out and ask that their content be removed from past sources and future training.”

So please, go click that opt-out button.

(2) Some future user: "I've been away from tumblr for months, and I just heard about all this. I didn't opt out before, so does it make a difference anymore?"

Another internal document shows that, on February 23, an employee asked in a staff-only thread, “Do we have assurances that if a user opts out of their data being shared with third parties that our existing data partners will be notified of such a change and remove their data?” Andrew Spittle, Automattic’s head of AI replied: “We will notify existing partners on a regular basis about anyone who's opted out since the last time we provided a list. I want this to be an ongoing process where we regularly advocate for past content to be excluded based on current preferences. We will ask that content be deleted and removed from any future training runs. I believe partners will honor this based on our conversations with them to this point. I don't think they gain much overall by retaining it.”

It should make a difference! Go click that button.

(3) "I opted out, but my art posts have been reblogged by so many people, and I don't know if they all opted out. What does that mean for my stuff?"

This answer is actually on the support page for the toggle:

This option will prevent your blog's content, even when reblogged, from being shared with our licensed network of content and research partners, including those that train AI models.

And some further clarification by the COO and a product manager:

zingring: A couple people from work have reached out to let me know that yes, it applies to reblogs of "don't scrape" content. If you opt out, your content is opted out, even in reblog form. cyle: yep, for reblogs, we're taking it so far as "if anybody in the reblog trail has opted out, all of the content in that reblog will be opted out", when a reblog could be scraped/shared.

So not only your reblogged posts, but anyone who contributed in a reblog (such as posts where someone has been inspired to draw fanart of the OP) will presumably be protected by your opt-out. (A good reason to opt out even if you yourself are not a creator.)

Furthermore, if you the OP were offline and didn't know about the opt-out, if someone contributed to a reblog and they are opted out, then your original work is also protected. (Which makes it very tempting to contribute "scrapeable content" now whenever I reblog from an abandoned/disused blog...)

(4) "What about deleted blogs? They can't opt out!"

I was told by someone (not official) that he read "deleted blogs are all opted-out by default". However, he didn't recall the source, and I can't find it, so I can't guarantee that info. If I get more details - like if/when tumblr puts up that FAQ as reported in the 404 article - I will add it here as soon as I can.

Edit, tumblr has updated their help page for the option to opt-out of third-party sharing! It now states:

The content which will not be shared with our licensed network of content and research partners, including those that train AI models, includes: • Posts and reblogs of posts from blogs who have enabled the "Prevent third-party sharing" option. • Posts and reblogs of posts from deleted blogs. • Posts and reblogs of posts from password-protected blogs. • Posts and reblogs of posts from explicit blogs. • Posts and reblogs of posts from suspended/deactivated blogs. • Private posts. • Drafts. • Messages. • Asks and submissions which have not been publicly posted. • Post+ subscriber-only posts. • Explicit posts.

So no need to worry about your old deleted blogs that still have reblogs floating around. *\o/*

But for your existing blogs, please use the opt out option. And a reminder of how to opt out, under the cut:

The opt-out toggle is in Blog Settings, and please note you need to do it for each one of your blogs / sideblogs.

On dashboard, the toggle is at https://www.tumblr.com/settings/blog/blogname [replace "blogname" as applicable] down by Visibility:

For mobile, you need the most recent update of the app. (Android version 33.4.1.100, iOs version 33.4.) Then go to your blog tab (the little person icon), and then the gear icon for Settings, then click Visibility.

Again, if you have a sideblog, go back to the blog tab, switch to it, and go to settings again. Repeat as necessary.

If you do not have access to the newest version of the app for whatever reason, you can also log into tumblr in your mobile browser. Same URL as per desktop above, same location.

Note you do not need to change settings in both desktop and the app, just one is fine.

I hope this helps!

[onlyangel4]

Hi can i request an smau with just met to love at first sight (maybe summertime fling) with lando based on Wherever u r by umi and V 🥹 happy ending!!

wherever u r. ln4. smau.

lando norris x actress!reader

lando always thought that love at first sight was some cliche created by the movies, something not applicable with real life. but then he met you

faceclaim: madelyn cline

y/ninsta posted a story

written: emergency leg shave in a hotel sink before going out in monaco that i definitely do not belong at, wish me luck.

y/bff replied to your story: i can't believe you are going to an event alone, your confidence baffles me

y/ninsta: if it makes you feel better i said yes when i was drunk and now that i'm stone cold sober i am shitting my pants

y/ninsta posted a story

written: two hours later and i am ready

y/nsightings posted a story

written: y/n spotted outside a club in monaco, there is a massive celebrity event there tonight she told a fan that her plus one dropped out last minute so she is attending alone and is shitting herself, sounds like our y/n

f1updates

liked by user1, user2, user3 and 54,683 others

f1updates: lando, charles and alex, daniel and heidi have all been spotted outside the same club in monaco. there is an exclusive invite only event taking place. several celebrities have already been spotted entering the club including zendaya, yn l/n, tate mcrae and the kid laroi

view all 7,293 comments

user1: i would sell a kidney to get inside that club

user2: omg this is the event y/n was shaving her legs for

user3: she is so real for that if i knew that i was going to be in a room with f1 drivers i would shave EVERYTHING

user4: the summer break just started and they are already meeting up at a party they are all obsessed with each other

y/nupdates posted a story

written: y/n spotted leaving the monaco party with an unknown man

y/nfan

liked by user5, user6, user7 and 34,855 others

y/nfan: guys! so my boyfriend does a lot of work behind the scenes in film and tv so we got invited to this event in monaco. and i spotted y/n standing at the back of the party not really interracting with anyone because she didn't know anyone so i went up to her told her that i was a massive fan and she spent a lot of the night with us. we were dancing and watching lando norris' dj set when he saw her and goes "holy shit that is y/n y/ln shit you are hotter in person" and when his dj set was done he ran off the stage and over to us and we were about to take a selfie so i got this gem. honestly the best night ever.

view all 592 comments

user7: could that be who y/n was spotted leaving with

user5: omg that is such a lando thing to do

user6: i would not be mad at this couple

landonorris posted a private story

charlesleclerc replied to your story: alex is so mad that she didn't get the chance to meet y/n last night and you guys are just hanging

landonorris: man we are not just hanging, she is like actually perfect

charlesleclerc: oh dear are you what the kids call down bad

landonorris: i will forever hate alex for teaching you that

mclaren: so if you fancied inviting your new "friend" to the dutch gp no one would be mad, especially if she wanted to take part in media day

landonorris: you never miss a trick admin, i'll talk to her

y/ninsta posted a story

written: beach day

y/ninsta

liked by landonorris, sabrinacarpenter, alexandrasaintmleux and 1,384,735 others

y/ninsta: monaco trip dump

view all 23,452 comments

sabrinacarpenter: can't wait for you to be back in la

y/ninsta: girl i have so much shit to tell you

alexandrasaintmleux: meeting you was a dream come true, can't wait until we get to hang out again

y/ninsta: love you so much, will have to visit again soon

landonorris: i made the cut !

y/ninsta: that night was too memorable to not include

user8: y/n what do you mean

user9: lando norris wtf is this crossover episode

user10: didn't she go on holiday alone, who took all these pictures

y/ninsta posted a story

written: first time on a private jet wtf never flying commercial ever again

landonorris posted a story

written: and we arrived, so ready for the next part of the season

charlesleclerc replied to your story: if "we" is who i think it is alex is going to lose her mind

landonorris: tell alex her job is to make sure y/n doesn't get lost in the paddock

f1celebs posted a story

written: actress y/n y/ln has arrived for media day here in the netherlands

y/ninsta posted a story

written: exciting things coming

mclaren posted a story tagging landonorris and y/ninsta

written: lando took actress y/n y/ln on a hot lap, click the link here to watch the whole thing

landonorris

liked by y/ninsta, alexandrasaintmleux, mclaren and 1,453,621 others

tagged: y/ninsta

landonorris: bring your girlfriend to work day

view all 78,934 comments

y/ninsta: i think you mean "almost kill your girlfriend at work day"

landonorris: babe i was actually going slow

alexandrasaintmleux: no you brought MY girlfriend to work

landonorris: well no...

mclaren: next time we will put y/n behind the wheel

y/ninsta: omg really !

landonorris: that is an awful ideal

user10: he has just beaten the norizz allegations by pulling one of the hottest women in hollywood omg way to prove us wrong

∘•···············•∘ʚ ♡ ɞ∘•················•∘

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[cc1010fox]

Rex: That number is your kill count? Fox: Roughly. Cody: I wasn't...expecting that to be honest... Wolffe: He's lying. Look, he wrote a number above it first, then crossed it out. That's the truth. Fox: No, that's the literal kill count. Cody: ... Rex: ... Wolffe: ... Fox: They were alive before we crossed paths. Rex: Oh...Most of our kills are-- Cody: Droids... Wolffe: I don't--How!? Fox: ...Why do you think I have so many awards? Wolffe: You...work hard? Fox: Doing what? Wolffe: Whatever the chancellor tells you to do. Fox: ... Cody: You protect the Senate. Fox: Coruscant. Rex: What? Fox: My duties extend beyond the Senate. I protect Coruscant. Wolffe: Ok, you protect Coruscant. Fox: ...From? Wolffe: Seppies? Fox: That's...part of it. Rex: ... Cody: ... Fox, popping his tongue against the roof of his mouth: Let me lay it out for you three. Fox: While you're out there sniping heads off of comedic relief training dummies, I have to deal with living, breathing, thinking beings. The living and breathing should make them easier to take down, but the thinking makes them unpredictable. I have to account for their individual beliefs, their morals...their sense of honor...all of which throw logic out of the window. It's not easy to land a droid army on Coruscant, so I don't get the pleasure of predictability too often. Rex: ... Fox: Instead, I have to deal with the citizens of this planet, too many of which don't want us here. They shout at us, abuse us, and have even started a market for us. You know...the skin and organ market. Yes and no. Yes, they have actually harvested our skin. No, I don't mean literal skin when I say skin market. Think collars and chains. How many times have you stood between a threat and the people you're duty bound to protect knowing at least one of those people have spat on your men, attacked them, used them like toys, or captured and sold them? My only comfort is knowing I can turn on them the second they're labeled a traitor to the Republic. And I can pick the worst of them off when there are no witnesses. Cody: ...That's-- Fox: On top of that, I have encountered creatures of nightmares because they just dwell in the bowels of this rotting planet or some pieces of garbage brought them here to sell. If you thought I was protected against watching my men get eaten by a wampa, you are sorely mistaken. Although it was the nexu that kept me up at night. For weeks. Who buys those things? Seriously...At least I put some of them down, but who knows how many they sold? Wolffe: ... Fox: The worst creatures are the ones I can't add to my kill count, though. The absolute worst is Chancellor Palpatine. He doesn't know what my job is and assigns me to literally every job in the Coruscant Guard. I have to do it personally. I'm the boss of the people who are supposed to do those jobs. He is the sole reason I will only sleep when I am dead. Fox: The second worst is 99% of the senators. Entitled, egotistical pricks. I would rather be distributed to desperate families looking for organs than catch the eye of any senator. Thire has to remember which ones show a little too much interest in the clones because we are at their mercy. He can't allow a shiny anywhere near them. If a Coruscanti attacks a clone, it's considered damaging government property, making them a criminal. If a senator attacks a clone, it's considered You better do what is best for the Republic and shut your kriffing mouth. Because treating a clone like a complimentary gift isn't betraying the Republic. Risking one of the Republic's delicate alliances is. Cody: Force, Fox... Fox: I deal with all of that while maintaining an impressive record of mission successes. That is why I have so many awards. Wolffe: ...You have awards, but do you want a hug? Fox: Desperately. All day. Every day.

[tinydefector]

Okay. You've got me invested on the newest installation of Human Effects.

Now I can't stop imagine both Humans and Mechs alike having some sort of Google Form where they click on the Human/Mech they want to fuck and see which is the most desired amongst their respective species.

Now that I think about it, I think there'll be a lot of fighting. And chaos.

But then again, we live for the drama.

Human Effects Lost Records

Wordcount: 1.5k

Warnings: talk of sex, human/alien, pornhunting

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Lab logs

Did I take this as an opportunity to merge Human effects and laboratory logs together into a series yes I did. I'll be working on the human Effects timeline where human Effects 2 is spin-off pieces from the mainline.

_____________________

The Holo, cyber and inter webs had a strange beauty to them. It has given many the ability to communicate with different planets, species, to share culture, laughter, debates, videos And all sorts thanks to the many different satellites floating out in space. Everyone also enjoyed it for the use of downtime the most. Some had taken to enjoying Earth's entertainment platforms such as YouTube, Netflix and many other sights, others fell into more depraved sights such as Reddit, Twitter,Tumblr, Pornhub, interlink, Processed and other sights. 

Commlink: post Humans Aboard BLO freight.

BigBotNoStop: Alright mechs, I come bearing an inquiry. As you may have heard from some of my last posts, the newest additions to our crew are a thriving colony of soft, squishy humans. Word in the taproom is some have taken quite an interest in... extending cultural exchanges, if you catch my drift. Not really my field of experience and was hoping some of Xeno's here might have some input. 

Posted to Sublink: Human and cybertronian relationships?

But I'm curious, are interspecies acts even possible without harm? Their frames seem so fragile. One wrong motion and SPLAT! No more humans. quite a few members of our crew have shown interest in flirting... Thoughts? Suggestions for how to proceed with care- help a mech out!

Blazemech: Yo! You got fleshies on your ship! Fragging jealousy!. Your ship is looking for any dock workers?

TailOrTrails: Oh Primus, are we really having this discussion?? Look, I get the appeal of those soft little flesh bags. Really, I do - different wiring can be so freakin' hot. But there's no way a romp with one of those puny things ends well for them! Even accidentally bumping into a table puts them in the medbay. Think of the mess, One wrong thrust and you've got squish all over your plating.

ISOCLEAN: Just download some holofacing and use your imagination if you're that jonesing for an organic interface. Trust me, it's not worth the risk - or hassle of cleaning up after. sure you can find something from the Human sites on Mechanophilia, slutty Show and shine or Car Washes. Stay shiny and keep those servos to yourself, mechs! Some curiosities are better left to fantasies.

Flyboi69: Don't leave a mech hanging, I want deets!, has anybot here actually gotten friendly with a fleshie before? I'm talking about hands-on experience. We've all gotten curious watching, but has the real thing lived up to the fantasy? 

Pimptheride: Any tips for coaxing one into the berth, or does their tiny size mean you've got to take it slow and gentle? And most importantly... any videos out there of the deed? A mech's gotta do some, ah, research before taking the plunge. Hook a brother up if you've found any good amateur organic-on-mech action out there in the 'net. Gotta see it to believe it. 

ScienceSorcerer: For reasons. Does anyone know if humans have both Spikes and Valves? Or if they have any human anatomy holos or books and such from Earth they are willing to sell for some decent Shanix.  

T-Wrexz: Primus, you mechs are hungrier than fragging scraplets. As far as I know, relations between our kinds are still uncharted territory. Could be amazing, could end badly - who's to say until we try? Personally I'm keeping an optic out, just curious to see what new experiences those squishy aliens can offer us tough metal mechs. 

Bar-rizzla: Oho, look who's swapping tall tales. I've been keeping a close optic on our ships squishy company since they came aboard. And between you and me... I may have an in with their ambassador that could lead to some juicy first-hand intel. Just trying to track down the bot we think they are berthing with. Crews got bets out. Turns out they get just as curious about us big metal hunks as we are them!. The other night, their chat got particularly saucy after a few drinks. Lots of gossip and speculation about which lucky bot one of them might take for a private ride. 

WPHAS-Violation: I may have a certain special "human entertainment" vid I could share. Let's just say the organic in question got quite... friendly with an eager mini-con. You know where to find me if you're brave enough to watch! 

Tapemix54: Oho, mechs - think you've got it bad now? You should've seen some of the real deviants back before the war. When I was still stationed on Petrex, I knew this one smuggler - went by the name Rattler. Sneaky little scraplet, but Primus if he didn't have the wildest stories. Rattler used to run goods across time and space, dodging security at every turn. He'd pop up out of nowhere selling the rarest exotic "pets" to rich senators and other high caste mechs looking for a thrill. I'm talking aliens so bizarre even our data banks had never heard of their kind. But the highest bidder always walked away with a new "plaything" to break in, if you catch my drift. Word was Rattler even had a collection of sentient organics that he'd let special clients "test drive" between runs. Humans were apparently a favourite - their smaller frames could take all sorts of creative handling. Rattler had vids, too, of course, to entice buyers. I saw one once, let's just say "versatile" doesn't begin to cover it. Naturally the vids have all been scrubbed by now. But I bet if you knew where to dig in the deep web or some easily swayable Archivist, you might find traces of Rattler's stash still floating around out there.

 T-Wrexz: Whoa, whoa, slow your intake there tapemix! As much as I love a good far-fetched tale, I gotta call scrap on this one. Humans weren't even around back then, much less roaming the streets of Rodion as black market pets, I'm all for imagining exotic interface scenarios, but let's keep the stories at least somewhat rooted in known history, yeah?. Last I checked it was probably fabricated by Caminus cartels to make their actual goods seem tame. 

A few other mechs agree with T-Wrexz before a few kliks later a new post is put up. 

Post: 

"Old Iacon records saved of the Senator and his human Conjunx”

It's a file collection of holotapes and pictures: "Enjoy these are pre war photos of Senator Shockwave and his Human holding their sparkling" 

There are many holos and videos of the long gone senator smiling with his human perched on his shoulder, in the crystal garden with a young sparkling held in the human's arms. Videos of the sparkling playing with the two but the last The last holo looks like a family portrait with Shockwave’s frame in a lime green blue white paint with gold accessories,  his human lover is dressed in elegant robes and the small blue praxian sparkling held in their arms. Each holo is dated with the Iacon records seal of authentication. 

FlyBoi69: NO FREAKIN' WAY. Is this real?! *downloads files faster than Blurr* FRAG ME SIDEWAYS, I think I just popped a gasket! How in the PIT did you manage to dig up the holos of senator Shockwave, most of his speeches, debates and lectures were wiped. Where did you find this! 

Jackin0: of all mechs, with an actual human back in the Golden Age?!. I'm calling scrap on this being real. It's gotta be a flawless deepfake. By PRIMUS if true - to think ol' Shockers was living it up with a squishy. Maybe there's more to those Senatorial types than meets the optic...

T-Wrexz: Okay, I'll bite... but someone better explain to me RIGHT NOW how any of this computes! Last I checked, time travel and inter-species relationships were the stuff of erotic imagination, not legitimate pre-war archives. Tapemix, you better start talking. Where in the PIT did you source these files? How do we know they're authentic and not just an incredibly convincing parlour trick? Because if I'm gonna let these images ruin me, I wanna be ruined by the real deal! Spill it, mech. 

Iacon-Records: Tapemix54 could i please request where you discovered these as i work with Iacon records and this here is history that needs to be preserved. I'm willing to talk with you through a contractor if you would be willing for us to add these back into the new hall of records. Cybertron has lost so much and to find something like this I ask that we find a way to preserve it.  

BigBotNoStop: Pit take me now... I think I may have to reassess everything I thought I knew about interface and partnerships. That human is holding a sparkling curled around them - frag if it isn't the most beautiful thing I've ever seen! If anything could make me believe in miracles, it's this! Tapemix, you glorious glitch - how can I ever repay such an enlightening gift?

Tapemix54: These were filed only cycles after Shockwaves Emputra; they were added to the Iacon records by some Archivist under the title. 'I will Remember you for who you were'. This was right when the senate fell apart on the brink of the war. From my knowledge of information on Rattler he apparently had an outlier who he got to take them to different times since he was a shuttle made it easier to transport. That's from the  records that still exist at least. I'll take you up on that offer Iacon-records. 

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[literaticat]

I'm at my wit's end. I've spent a decade trying to break through - 10 years with 5 novels coming super close with a variety of big publishers, who rave about my writing, ideas, etc. Feedback has been mostly positive. One even rejected saying "I don't know why we're rejecting this, it's EXACTLY what we're looking for and ticks all our boxes, but we feel compelled to reject it anyway." Is there just a "Do Not Publish" sign on my head? How to keep pushing ahead after so long and so much rejection?

(OP continues...) "Sorry about the rant, Jenn, and I know there's not much you can say as you don't know my specific situation. But it's just maddening. 10+ years of my life! I know everyone faces rejection, but I seem to mostly get positive feedback and so many "close calls" of almost getting a deal - a lot of interest, but then it just peters out. That "compelled to reject anyway" just made me start feeling like I'm just fated to never be published, no matter what? I'm unagented now, starting from scratch..."

OK first of all -- that rejection, if that is literally what they said, is utterly insane. I have to presume (HOPE? PRAY?) that you are paraphrasing, that that is what it *felt* like to you, but that's not LITERALLY what they said??? Because there are certainly things where, on the surface, yes, this is what a publisher is looking for and it "ticks the boxes", but ultimately, it doesn't have that X-factor, je ne sais quois, or whatever -- so I can see a publisher saying something like, "while the writing is admirable and the premise is interesting, ultimately, we weren't compelled enough to make an offer for publication" -- which is ALMOST what you said, but there's a key difference that makes it actually normal and not insane. Because in YOUR version, it sounds like they are under an imperius curse or something, where they don't know what they are doing or why they are doing it, they just have to do it, even though it is against what WOULD be their better judgment if they weren't cursed. And... it's wild to think that a publisher would make a statement like that. (Maybe they were having a very OFF DAY???) -- BUT ANYWAY, on to the crux of your question/rant:

I understand your frustration. If it makes you feel any better (??), you're not alone. I know many -- MANY -- MANY career authors, who spent 10 years honing their craft, trying and failing, getting rejections, getting close-but-no-cigars, etc. I was chatting with a wise (and now famous) author I know, who spent 10 years or so in the query/wrong-agent/rejection/close-call trenches. She told me a theory that I feel pretty sure is right, though I don't have proof per se, it does track with my observations. She said:

Just about everyone who sticks with writing or the arts in general as a career has about a ten-year rough patch. That doesn't mean it takes everyone ten years to get published! (Though it does take LOTS of people 10+ years) -- Some lucky people get their break a lot sooner than that. BUT. Everyone has to pay the piper that ten year fee, either all at once, or in installments. So let's say you sell your book right away and start raking in the accolades etc -- fab! Just know that nobody stays popular and beloved forever, and at some point, the ten year slump is coming for you. Aren't you lucky that you're getting yours out of the way now?

OK, if that didn't work for you, how about this:

How to keep pushing ahead after so long and so much rejection?

You know you don't have to, right?

Like, if writing and seeking traditional publication is making you miserable -- you can stop. In fact, stopping may be a great idea.

I say this not to be discouraging, but rather, encouraging, actually. I encourage you to give yourself permission to prioritize your own mental and emotional well-being.

If you realize you miss writing and can't live without it -- go back to it! But maybe instead of having "publication" as your goal, your goal can be writing for the pure joy of it, without worrying about future queries or would-be agents or anyone else's expectations. What freedom! Embrace that!

Then when you do have a brand-new shiny manuscript, you can decide your next steps. Maybe it's trying again for traditional publishing, and this is the turn around the track that changes everything. (It should be close, if the 10 year theory is correct!)

OR, maybe it's self-publishing. (Lots of people have a lot of success there -- maybe you're one of them!) --

OR, maybe it's just chilling out and writing some more for your own pleasure -- creating art for the sake of creating it, for fun, for self-fulfillment, etc. Like, you know, a normal hobby, that nobody is expecting you to monetize or make into a "gig".

[a-dauntless-daffodil]

possibly scenes between masquerade canon aka who left the two hotel grumps together who did that. don't do that. what if they start bonding and shit

Vaggie: “Okay… Angel’s off to work, and Charlie’s off to work on that… looks like it’s just us assholes here.”

Husk: “Do not lump me in with you motherfuckers.”

Vaggie: "You're literally worse than them."

Husk: "Bullshit." (swig) "And there's no them without including YOUR sorry ass too."

Vaggie: (glares) "Har. Har."

Sir Pentious: “Can WE, er, ah- sssswitch off the porn now..?”

Niffty: “No~” (kicking heels) “Let’s rewind to part where the bad boy actually EATS Angel’s ass.”

Vaggie: “Niffty- ugh, can you just, take it back to your own room?”

Niffty: “The hotel air vents don’t have a TV!”

Vaggie: “You live in the- okay. Pentious. I won’t kill you for watching me and Charlie sleep IF you rig Niffty up with her own TV somewhere that’s not the lobby.”

Sir Pentious: “Do I HAVE to ssspend time with the pessst-”

Vaggie: (punches fist into palm) "Now."

Sir Pentious: “-AH yes!!  PORN ISSS A RIGHT NONE SHOULD BE DENIED!” (scoops up nifty) “Come sssmall pessst, let uss inssstall a sssscrene for your PRIVATE viewing pleasssure!”

Niffty: (giggling) “Do you even know what privacy means-?”

Sir Pentious: “AAAHAHA OF COURSE I DO!!!” (hurriedly slithers away)   

Husk: “… and these are the fuckers you and your little miss princess are trying to rehabilitate.”

Vaggie: “That’s the plan yeah.”

Husk: “Ha! Good fucking luck.”   

Vaggie: (sigh) “Husk?”

Husk: “What?”

Vaggie: “You’re fired.”

Husk: (spits drink) “FffUCK-” (cough) “-you I’m WHAT!?”

Vaggie: “Can’t keep to the code of not talking about shit you know you weren’t supposed to hear? Fine. No more bartender therapy for you."

Husk: "You can't fucking do that."

Vaggie: "Hotel fucking manager, asshole. Watch me. From now on you serve drinks ONLY to go, NO more people sitting at your bar for you make yourself feel better listening to. Not until you treat them like people instead of a damn telenovela."

Husk: “You think I LIKE listening to you all bitching?”

Vaggie: “No. I’m saying I’m not the only self-hating bastard here who gets off on judging others.”

Husk: “Fuck you.”

Vaggie: "Wow what a comeback. Look Husk, if you’re gonna break our trust just to score points in a dumb argument then you can go get your gossip somewhere else.”

Husk: “It’s the only way I’m getting paid in this crappy place!”

Vaggie: “And who’s fault is that? Did I sell your soul to a creepy smug disc jockey?”

Husk: “You’re sure using it either way.”

Vaggie: “Can’t be judgmental without being a fucking hypocrite too, right? Might as well own it, since now everyone knows that’s my thing.”

Husk: “I was trying to help you motherfucking losers!”

Vaggie: “Like hell. Telling others how much they suck feels good doesn't it? Feels like you've got it all figured out. No reason to get your own shit together when you can point at people who're an even bigger mess than you. No, you've already learned your lesson, you fucked up but won't be making any more mistakes. At least you're not in denial over it. At least you're coping with it the right way, aren't you."

Husk: "Well you'd sure fucking know since you're doing it right now."

Vaggie: "Takes one to know one."

Husk: "Tell yourself that if it helps."

Vaggie: "Oh you wanna talk about helping? Charlie’s trying to help every one of you assholes here. She's the one opening up and risking fucking up and getting hurt trying to reach you! Not that it matters to any of you.”    

Husk: “…”

Sir Pentious: (muffled) “It matterssss to me!!!”

Vaggie: (groans) “WHAT DOES PRIVACY MEAN, PENTIOUS!?”

Sir Pentious: “….not, ah, lisssstening in from the hotel air ventilashhhtion ssssystem…?”

Niffty: “Carrrrreful. Don’t crawl through my disembowel rat corpse collection~”

Sir Pentious: (shrieking)

-later that night-

Vaggie: “Hey."

Husk: "Hey your fucking self."

Vaggie: "Angel Dust said you had a drink with him.”

Husk: “Yeah? What if he did?” (ears flattening) “He didn’t even get fucking tipsy and I’m not telling anyone what that loser would’ve said to me while drunk off his ass anyway. I don’t hate you motherfuckers that much.”

Vaggie: (smiles) “Yeah. I know.”

Husk: “…. your miss princess asleep?”

Vaggie: “Technically she’s in bed. Angel Dust came over for a sleepover girls night and I kicked Pentious out of a shadowy corner to join them. You seen Niffty?”

Husk: “No. Sounds like she’s still enjoying that shitty film though.”

Vaggie: “Sounds like? What-”

Husk: “Shh. Listen.”

Vaggie: “…… are the air vents..”

Husk: “Moaning.”

Vaggie: “That’s Angel Dust’s moaning. That’s his work moan- Fuck, I never wanted to know what that sounded like- but does that means the hotel ventilation system is-?”

Husk: “Piping hot garbage throughout the hotel like hell’s shittiest surround sound.”  

Vaggie: “Great.”

Husk: “Hope your princess is ready for the audiobook.”

Vaggie: “Ugggghhhh.”

Husk: “Drink?”

Vaggie: “Just break the bottle over my head....”

Husk: “Fuck no.” (grins) “I’m not wasting a whole bottle on you.”

Vaggie: “Pour it out for yourself then. Tonight you’ve earned it.”

Husk: “Earned what, a fucking hangover?”

Vaggie: (rolls eye) “Just drink up, old man. I’ll drag you back to your room and toss you in when you’re done getting drunk off your own ass.”

Husk: “Huh!”

Vaggie: “I also won’t tell your princess he left you smiling like a dumbass for the rest of the night either.”

Husk: (opens bottle) “You better fucking not...” (swigs) (still smiling)

[therobotmonster]

So... Shapeways is going bankrupt.

This is particularly irksome for me, as that's a good 1/3rd of my monthly income, so I'm crossing my fingers while I start setting up a new store on cults. I have literally thousands of items so getting them all up is going to take ages.

But why did this happen?

Well I'll fucking tell you what I think happened.

It was a company run on arrogance and cowardice.

Shapeways made its mark as the cafepress of 3d printing. The weight of this was their marketplace that let people sell prints directly to customers without having to do the printing themselves. At its peak, I made more from Shapeways than from my day job.

The problem was that Shapeways put zero effort into the marketplace. They'd send some of us to a con to promote the idea of 3d printing game minis a couple of times, sure, but when it came to actual site maintenance and design every suggestion and request by sellers was roundly ignored. We asked for better search and categorization options. We asked to be able to name variants in our stores. We asked for better communication from the print techs. We asked for accurate subcategories that actually reflected how customers looked for items. None of it was done.

As such, the site was baffling to customers and difficult to understand. This was made worse by Shapeways' continual renaming of their materials. So after a couple of years Shapeways announces that they're not going to do anything for the marketplace because it's underperforming, and are going to focus on B2B, and in doing so they buried the marketplace in a tiny little link on the front page.

Overnight sales plummeted. We complained again, nothing was done. We asked for a different URL that went straight to the marketplace (something that would literally cost them $80 to do) that we could direct customers to, we were ignored.

The marketplace is underperforming, so we won't put in the effort needed to make the marketplace perform. Makes perfect sense.

Prices go up. Shipping goes up substantially, and then it was a thousand little cuts. The auto-checks were altered to make it impossible to verify anything manually with any accuracy, so it became harder to design for the limitations of their printers.

The site slowed down substantially so every click had a several second pause, making shopping and maintaining frustrating and unpleasant. Shipping costs to many areas of the world became insanely high, effectively cutting off entire markets.

Want to not be Shapeways? Then remember this:

Your users know more about your site experience and their own needs than you do.

If you have a sales site, and the people selling through it say "this isn't working, we need this" then maybe you should listen to them and not just say 'you're wrong' to their faces.

Oh, and also, if goddamn Rolls-Royce comes in filing false DMCA claims over the use of the word "Phantom" in any context on your site, you don't take every item through a multiple day review for every edit and say "LOL, we can't do anything"

You take them to court for abusing the system on behalf of your user base, you fucking bootlicking cowards.

OH, AND I ALMOST FORGOT!

I HAD TO FIND OUT ABOUT THIS FROM A DM ON TWITTER.

They've sent me a check every month for half a decade and they don't even send a "We're closing shop" email.

Look upon my prints, ye mighty, and despair.

If you want to help me though the meantime, here's my paypal.me and my gofundme.

[emeraldspiral]

AU where the Tallest actually recognize Dib during their video chat in Frycook.

"Oh, we know you. You're that Dib kid Zim's always going on about. The one from that weird time experiment."

"That's right! I'm the one who's been single-handedly thwarting your finest elite soldier!"

*the Tallest burst out laughing*

"You really think he's the best we could send?"

"Trust us kid, if your little backwater dirt ball of a planet was of any actual value to us, we'd have sent a real Invader who would've conquered you little hairless monkeys ages ago."

"Ha ha. Yeah. But listen, thanks for keeping Zim occupied for us.

"You mean... You don't want him to conquer Earth?"

"Of course not! Why would we want that? If he somehow managed to actually complete this joke of an assignment, we'd have to send him to another planet just to get rid of him again!"

"This whole time I've been fighting for my life and the lives of everyone on this planet. And it was all just a joke to you?"

"Yeah, pretty good one, huh?"

"Anyway, keep up the good work. The longer it takes Zim to conquer your world, the longer he stays far away, where he can't interfere with any of the invasions we actually care about."

"Hey, wait just a minute! He might be a joke to you, but Zim's been a real menace to me and my people. He stole organs from my classmates! He used time travel to ruin my life! He leveled the city with a giant water balloon! And I'm just supposed to keep dealing with him so you don't have to?"

"Pretty much."

"It's not like you have any other choice."

"I could tell him the truth. I could tell him you've been lying to him this whole time."

"Pfft... Good luck with that."

"Go ahead and try. He'll never believe you. We've just about spelled it out for him ourselves more times than I can count, and he still hasn't caught on. He only believes what he wants to believe."

"Tell you what though, if you're as tired of him as we are, why don't we let you in on a little secret that could destroy him for good?"

"You'd... You'd sell him out just like that? Your own loyal foot soldier?"

"Yeah, why not? It'd solve both our problems, wouldn't it?"

"Hang on, are we really thinking of volunteering information about Irken weaknesses to an outsider?

"Why not? It's not like there's any way for him to use it against us. He's stuck all the way out in the middle of nowhere on a primitive rock that doesn't even have faster than light travel."

"Hm... You may have a point..."

"You're really serious about this? You want me to kill him?"

"Yes. And make sure that when you do, he knows we told you how."

"But only when the end is nigh! That's important. Don't tell him until you're 100% certain the light is leaving his eyes for good. Not a moment before!"

"But if you wanted him dead, why send him on this mission? Why recruit me? Why don't you just kill him yourself?"

"Uhh... cause..."

"Because we're far too busy and important to trifle with a task so insignificant. That's why we're delegating the responsibility to you. An expendable nobody."

"Whatever. I guess it doesn't matter so long as Zim's reign of terror comes to an end, even if it benefits you jerks as well. So go ahead and tell me. What's the secret to putting him down for good?"

[writing-until-i-drop]

Wildflowers For A Hangman Ch. 5

Summary:

Daisy, a career novelist, moves in with her college best friend Phoenix who has been permanently assigned to Top Gun with Dagger Squad. She finds herself instantly connected with a cocky pilot who's soft only for her and Jake can't help but want to know everything about her. When the past comes knocking at both of their doors, will they stand together or fall apart?

Or: The Dagger Squad can't cook and Jake falls in love with a woman who makes a mean lasagna while they work their personal trauma.

Jake "Hangman" Seresin x writer!femOC | 18+ (eventually) minors dni. Fluff, smut (eventual), idiots in love, past trauma.

A/N: Everyone but Penny sees the surprise coming and Jake gets a new lock screen wallpaper.

AO3 Link

Previous Chapter

Amelia and I made eye contact over her mom’s head, holding in giggles. Penny was passed out, head back, snoring softly as a woman massaged her feet. Maverick had asked Phoenix to take the girls out for a mani-pedi but we all agreed that I was the less suspicious choice when it came to a girls’ day out. 

“We should get lunch after this,” Amelia pulled out her phone and showed me a vegan place with a clean aesthetic. “What about here?”

“Sounds good to me,” I lied with a smile. “Is there anything else you want to do today?” I had to keep the girls out of the house for at least another hour but Maverick had said the longer the better. Amelia shrugged,

“If Mav’s gonna propose, we should go shopping,” I choked on my spit, and Amelia rolled her eyes. “Seriously? He was sweating buckets this morning and now we’re getting manicures?”

“That’s fair,” Fifteen-year-olds were very perceptive apparently. Penny let out a louder snore and Amelia elbowed her in the ribs, her mom shot awake.

“Yes?”

“We’re getting lunch and then going shopping for matching dresses,” Penny looked at me and I tried to look as enthusiastic as possible. 

“Okay,” And then she nodded off again. From what Amelia and Mav had both said, Penny had had a long night closing up the Hard Deck and then had thrown back shots with her bartenders. Amelia rolled her eyes and then went back to scrolling through Instagram. My phone buzzed.

Jake: Hey, Wildflower. How are things going?

Daisy: Penny’s sound asleep and Amelia saw right through Mav

Jake: Figures, man has no poker face when it comes to her

Daisy: Mav owes me big time, Amelia wants to get vegan food

Jake: I’ll take you for pizza tonight after everything 

Daisy: Deal

I paused, brow furrowing. Did he mean getting pizza as a friend? Or as a date? I shook off the thought, of course, it was as friends. Well…I blushed, it might not have been so bad if Jake wanted to- No. I put the thought away in a locked filing cabinet, the same cabinet where the feeling of his muscled arms beneath my hand was stored. Jake and I were never going to be anything more than friends, even if he was perfect and handsome, and he listened to all of my stories with a smile on his face. Absolutely not. 

Jake: What color did you get your nails?

Daisy: Guess

Jake: Green, the same shade as your bedspread

Daisy: How the hell did you guess that on your first try?

Jake: Because you told me it was your favorite

Jake: And I remember everything you say

I didn’t even know how to respond, so I didn’t. Amelia and I chatted about baking while they painted our toes. She had volunteered to bake for a soccer team bake sale to buy new uniforms for the school year.

“If you need help, just give me a call. I’ll help you bake whatever you need,” Amelia lit up with a smile,

“That would be great! I was planning on using bagged mix but actual homemade stuff would sell so much better.” It felt good to be helpful, Amelia reminded me of my oldest niece, Sarah. Sarah was four and loved soccer, at that age it was mostly just kids running around and screaming excitedly. She had the same blonde hair as Amelia too, always smiling and giving her parents a hard time.

After a very dry and under seasoned lunch that Penny and I managed to grin and bear it through, we ended up at a little boutique. Amelia treated Penny and I like her own personal dress up dolls, having us try on dress after dress until she found one that looked good on all three of us and was up to her standards. 

The dress she settled on for me was a light green made of light, flowy fabric. It cinched at my waist and made my boobs look fantastic. The only negative was that it clung to my stomach a little but I couldn’t stop smiling at how cute I looked and in a moment of giddiness, I snapped a picture in the changing room mirror with an arm around my waist. Then I sent it to Jake. 

“Yo, D, you ready to go?” Amelia shouted and I quickly grabbed the shopping bag filled with my earlier clothes and followed her out to the car. 

Jake: Baby you’re killing me in that dress

Daisy: That was the idea, pretty boy

“Flirting with Hangman?” Penny asked, the pep finally back in her step. “You two are adorable together.” 

“We’re just friends,” 

“Suuuuuuurrreeee,” Amelia patted my shoulder from the back seat, “You keep telling yourself that, D.” 

“You two are horrible, we’re friends!” 

“That man used to go home with a different girl every night and now he doesn’t even look at another woman, even when you’re not at the bar.” Penny shot me a motherly look that had me blushing like a schoolgirl, “In fact, he spends every moment you’re not there on his phone. Would you happen to know what he’s doing?”

“Oh! I know, I know!” Amelia pounds on the back of my seat, “Texting D!” Penny made a dinging noise. “You guys are too cute together, everyone can see it.” 

“I’m not listening,” I plugged my ears with my fingers, “Lalalalalalala.” Penny smacked a hand over my mouth.

“I will bet you a hundred dollars that Hangman’s going to have his hands on you within a minute of us walking through the door.” I was going to lose that bet, I already knew it. 

“You’re on.” I was an idiot.

Penny thought they were celebrating the end of summer, a weak cover story, but Penny was looking forward to it. Especially since Maverick had promised to organize the whole thing so that she didn’t have to lift a finger, me taking them out on a girls’ day on Maverick’s credit card was just the cherry on top. 

“Ready to win, mom?” Amelia asked, the double meaning completely lost on Penny as we strolled through the doors of the Hard Deck. The lights were off inside and it was impressive how quiet the daggers were being before Penny flicked on the lights. Stretched across the rafters was a white and gold banner with the words will you marry me written in cursive and Maverick was on one knee with a ring in his hand.

“Oh my God! Of course!” Penny rushed to Maverick, kissing him soundly as he slid the long overdue ring onto her finger. The daggers came out from the woodwork, hooping and hollering with excitement. I caught sight of Jake who was already beelining towards me with an indiscernible look on his face.

“You’re so losing the bet,” Amelia snorted, showing me a timer that was counting down from a minute. 

“You’re horrible,” Jake swept me into a hug, the bet officially lost. When my feet lifted from the floor I shrieked in equal parts surprise, horror, and delight.

“Jake, put me down!” 

“You look fucking gorgeous, Wildflower.” Jake dropped me gently to my feet but kept his grasp on my waist, holding me at arm's length while he took one long look at me. Amelia walked off, laughing as she went. Jake was looking at me like I was a T-bone steak and he was a starving man, a deep flush working from my cheeks down to my chest under his intense gaze. “I mean it, Daisy. You look beautiful.” 

“Shut up,” I laughed, letting him pull me into his chest. My heart was racing, that stupid fluttery feeling they described in romance books making me a little nauseous. “We’re supposed to be paying attention to Mav and Penny.” 

“I don’t think I can pay attention to anyone but you right now and you, pretty girl, better believe this is Jake talking and not Hangman.” I stopped laughing, wrapping my arms around his waist.

“Well, whoever’s saying it is making me blush,” 

“Well, you made me blush with that picture. It’s only fair.” Jake squeezed my hip, making me blush even harder. I wanted to go up on my toes and press my lips to his but instead, I pushed him away with a laugh, pretending I didn’t believe a word he said like I always did but this time I had doubts that he was joking. “Daisy-”

“Come on, pretty boy. I have to pay the bride.” 

X

Daisy yelped when I lifted her onto the bed of the truck. We stayed at the party for a few hours, Daisy spending most of the time with the girls while I hung around Mav and the guys. Maverick had been over the moon, talking about his plans for a big wedding and an even bigger honeymoon. Then when he was ready to spend time with his fiancee, sweeping her off her feet and taking her to his bike, Amelia having been picked up by a friend earlier in the night, Daisy had gone right to my side and laced her fingers with mine. 

“Stop doing that! You’ll hurt your back.” She protested, smacking my chest.

“And why would I hurt my back, Wildflower? You don’t think I’m strong enough to manhandle my girl?” Her mouth opened and shut a few times, I could tell by the scrunch of her brow that she didn’t know which part of my words to respond to. Did she insist she was too heavy again? Which was total bullshit. Or did she protest that I called her my girl? I tapped her knee, “Scoot your pretty ass back to the pillows while I grab the pizza.” Daisy muttered something under her breath about me being an ass but did what I said. 

She looked as pretty as a picture, leaned back against the pillows in the bed of my truck, her sundress pooled high up on her creamy thighs, staring up at the stars with a soft smile. Lord have mercy, I needed this woman to give my heart a break before it beat so hard it lept from my chest.

“Are you going to keep staring or join me up here?” Daisy snapped without malice, making me grin.

“Actually, darlin, I want a picture to prove I had the prettiest girl in the world in my bed.” 

“You’re an idiot,” She sighed but smiled for the picture that I quickly set as my lock screen before climbing up beside her. “You know, you’re not nearly half as charming as you think you are.” 

“And you’re a horrible liar. Now eat your pizza and look at the stars,” She responded instantly to the stern tone of my voice, and hell if that didn’t make me that much more attracted to her. We ate in silence, staring up at the sky, and when the pizza was gone, Daisy let me wrap her in my arms. 

I wanted to do this every night, lazily tracing patterns on her thigh and kissing her neck while she giggled at me to knock it off. I wanted her to tell me stories about the stars and lace her fingers with mine. I wanted everything she was willing to give me and a little bit more for as long as she would let me have it. Which was hopefully forever. Forever. I’d never thought about forever before, not like this at least. My biggest dream had always been flying and I would let nothing get in the way of that but Daisy had been on my mind every second of the day that I wasn’t in the sky. 

“Hey, Harvey.” I had been so far in thought I hadn’t even heard her phone ring. There was a jealous spark in my chest. Who the hell was Harvey? Some guy from back home?

Daisy must have felt me tense, her free hand resting reassuringly on my thigh. “No, I’m fine. Yes, I’m telling the truth,” She huffed hotly. “Now’s actually not a good time, I’m stargazing.” The tips of her ears went red, “No, I’m not with Tasha. I’m with,” She looked over at me and I was already staring at her. What was she going to say? Friend might kill me, I knew boyfriend was off the table for now. “I’m with a very good friend,” She squeezed my thigh, “His name’s Jake.”

A very good friend? I could work with that. “Yeah, okay, Harv. I love you too,” Just hearing those three words come out of her mouth was enough to stop my heart. She squeezed my thigh again, biting her bottom lip as she stared up at me. “Give my nieces a kiss for me. M’bye.” Nieces. Harvey must have been the brother Phoenix had mentioned in passing. 

“What was that about?” Daisy shook her head, silencing her phone before relaxing back into my side, her hand still on my thigh.

“He’s just checking up on me. I, uh, historically don’t do well with September.” I waited for her to elaborate, to talk my ear off for an hour but no explanation came. 

“Care to explain?” 

“It’ll ruin the night, trust me. I’ll tell you some other time.” 

“I’m going to hold you to that, Daisy. I want to know everything about you, the good, the bad, and the ugly.” She huffed at me and I just knew she was rolling her eyes.

“Can you just hold me for a little bit longer and maybe…” She trailed off with a sigh, fingers tapping on my thigh. “Can you…” 

“Whatever you want, Wildflower. All you ever have to do is ask.” 

“Kiss my hair?” This woman was going to kill me, it was official, and I couldn’t have been happier to be a dead man walking.

“It would be my pleasure, darlin.” I tried to take a picture of this moment in my mind.

I could feel the warmth of her body against mine, making me forget about everything else in the world. Daisy’s hair smelled like vanilla and lavender and as I placed a gentle kiss on her soft, red hair, I couldn’t help but do it again, and again. We sat there until the air became too cold for comfort, even with a blanket, the sky twinkling above us as her fingers gently rubbed my thigh through my jeans. It was the perfect night, I kissed her forehead when I pulled her out of the truck bed, and then her knuckles after I helped her into the passenger seat.

“Such a gentleman, Jake.” She sighed, looking at me like Penny had looked at Mav when she spotted him on one knee. I swallowed hard, mouth going dry thinking about myself down on one knee.

“I’m your gentleman, Wildflower.”

Next Chapter

[cherrylng]

Green Day Interview - Warning era [ROCKIN'ON (September 2000)]

"Don't think rock is just dormant at the moment. I'm sure there's some energetic rock out there somewhere, properly, I'm sure. I'm sure it'll wake up and bite us in the ass again - and yes, if you still love rock ‘n’ roll, we've got some great stuff for you."

How will the ‘immortal little bastard punk spirit’, which has seriously entrusted its troublesome life to punk and continues to take on troublesome rock for life, manifest itself in this year 2000? We meet Green Day just before the completion of their new album ‘Warning’ and just before their Summer Sonic visit to Japan, with an undercover studio report and interview!!!

Interview & Text=Kenichiro Yanagi Interpretation/Photography=WILLIAM HAMES

"And I feel forgotten Feel like rotting (Do you feel the same?) Adolescence Just can't make sense" ‘Road to Acceptance - 39/Smooth’

Ten years have passed since Green Day sang this on their first album, released in 1990. I think it's quite a long time for everyone, and for Green Day, too, because when I subtract ten from my own age, it makes me laugh. Anyway, since 1990, ten years have passed, and now it's the year 2000.

Ten years. I've passed through my adolescence, when I was completely ‘out of touch’ but had a strange sparkle in that aspect, and I've said to myself, "It's been a long time since then, but I feel like nothing's changed," and then someone might say "The fact that you're saying things like that means you've gotten older," and I'd say, "I see," and think about it again, and then the next day I say to myself, "I'm not young anymore." That's a long enough time for that kind of flow to take hold. And in fact, most people live with it.

But the band Green Day seemed to be a bit different from us. They started their rock ‘n’ roll career with the idea that ‘maybe that trend can be managed with a driving beat and a melody?’ That was the starting point of their rock music. I think that was their way of rock, running so fast that you can't see what's in front of you, and staring at the scenery as it flows by. I think that's why they sang "Every time I look in my past, I always wish I was there" and "I wish my youth would forever last" [from the song "16"] on their first album. If you wish that, you might actually get it, haven't you ever wondered that? I think their early work was like that, and their first major album Dookie, which was full of that wish, sold a huge 10 million copies.

But that wish did not come true. It was a failure. It's no surprise. It is impossible to break the timeline in a strict time flow. It's good that they ran forward with such a wish and became popular, but as time passed, they stumbled, they were troubled, and they got tired. That's the kind of Green Day I was attracted to. They were rejected with comments like "You're not punk, you're going to go to the majors and try to sell yourself!", but at the same time they were praised with comments like "You're the punks! Our real punks!" - it fits the 'me' and 'you' who had no idea who they were. "There's no point in looking back at the past!" they said in an interview, but "I look into the past and I want to make it last / I was there" ("I Was There") - yeah, that's ‘me’ and ‘you’ again. Moreover, they continued to behave too honestly, even more than ‘me’ and ‘you’. Yes, Green Day were too honest a band to be labelled as "young punk." Their second album was full of negativity with the title ‘Insomnia’, and their third, "Nimrod", crawled out of it and returned with musical breadth and verve. Green Day, as a band, had created a clear passage of time - a band story. In the end, Green Day seem to me to be the band that has bitten off the passage of time more than anyone else. That's why they were proud to be ‘our band’.

This year, they will release a new album, their first in three years since "Nimrod". I was very interested in this news, as it seemed to me that with "Nimrod" they had put some of their own drama behind them. Green Day have run, stumbled, and bounced back - what exactly are they going to show us of themselves next? Although I was only allowed to listen to six songs at the moment, I applied for an on-the-spot interview and headed for Los Angeles.

Los Angeles, a certain day in June. As I arrived at the hotel and was preparing for the interview tomorrow, I got a call from a record company representative. "They say they're doing a live studio today. They might play a new song, so let's go and see it." I rush out by taxi to a studio in the city, but it turns out to be a recording for a programme called "MTV Influence." The show is about artists who talked about the artists who influenced them in their music, and then played covers of those artists. On a table outside the studio was a random CD. It was Hüsker Dü. Well, that's interesting, isn't it? I say hello to the three members of Green Day. The drummer, Tre, was drinking beer, joking around and messing with the staff whenever he had the chance. He suddenly took the cigarette from one of the staff, a very fat guy of KONISHIKI's size (but with a bullet wound in his shin), climbed up the ladder, and jumped onto the roof of the studio. Then he grins. "Take it if you can, fatty," he said, just like a little kid (but in the end, the fatty man manages to climb the ladder and take it). I saw the ‘marijuana’ tattoo on Mike's arm with my own eyes for the first time. It looked strangely dazzling. Billie is, as I thought, nothing but mischievous looking, but he still has a great deal of thoughtfulness about him.

But basically, all three of them were still giving off the same ‘fuck-you’ vibe, which made me irresistibly happy. But I also thought they must be getting a bit older (as you can see from the photos in this issue).

The three of them played "Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely". Well, it's a sad song to begin with, but even more so when performed by Green Day. Even the title of the song seemed to have a sadness that had Green Day's stamp on it, and it was very moving.

After the recording was over, we all looked at the TV in the studio and saw a car on fire. And so is the crowd. It's a riot. "Where are we?" "Hey, downtown. The Lakers won today, and this is what happens when they win," said the staff member. Billie was staring at the TV screen, but when he looked at us, he said in a tone that it was hard to tell if he was joking or serious: "Welcome to Los Angeles!" I should have laughed, but for a moment I thought of his history as a street kid. I felt as if he was seriously telling me, "Well, this is what California is all about", so I couldn't really laugh.

I left the studio and returned to the hotel, but Los Angeles was in a state of chaos everywhere because of the Lakers' victory. The roads were filled with cars and honking horns in celebration. The asses of the girls were dazzling, and the men hanging out in the streets would only say "LAKEEEEEEERSSSS!!!!!" when they opened their mouths. I'm a complete Asian country bumpkin, silently turning on my 8mm camera. In the end, the horns didn't stop honking until late at night. "Welcome to Los Angeles!"

The next day. I headed to the office, which was 10 minutes from the hotel. After listening to six new songs, we moved to the studio and interviewed the three of them.

It's been 10 years since you released your first album. Well, maybe it's not really a milestone because it's been 10 years, but I think there must be some kind of emotion to it. Billie (B): 「It makes me feel like I'm getting old, hahahaha. But we made our debut so early. I was only about 16 when I started this band. So…… Yeah, we've changed a lot since we started, it's true. When you're a kid, it's like time stands still, you don't really think about the next day (laughs). So we really had no idea how long this band would last back then. All we knew for sure was that we wanted to be in this band now.」 Mike (M): 「We've always tried not to look too far into the future. And now we're trying not to look too far into the past.」

But in 10 years, I went from being a kid who listened to Green Day to now coming to you for an interview, looking like a big shot. Tre (T): 「So you're old now, too, hee hee hee hee hee.」

Hahahahaha. Now that you've been together for such a long time, what do you think of each other? Do you think you've changed? T: 「We still have a perfect relationship, like spoons lined up in a spoon holder in a cupboard.」 B: 「Hahahaha. But I think all three of us have grown as individuals. And we've started to want more time away from each other. That's what happens when you get older, you know? You want to do what you like, how you like it.」

I see. You mentioned ‘doing what I like’, but in terms of ‘doing what I like’, I think the situation in the American music scene has changed a lot in the last three years. B: 「There have been so many different bands that have come out over the past three years, and there have certainly been quite a few that I don't really understand. But on the other hand, there are also a lot of bands that are working hard and making energetic music. For example, the Foo Fighters and Red Hot Chilli Peppers. They've been doing it for years and they're still growing, you know? But to be honest, we have to concentrate on our own work. I think it's quite a narcissistic idea that we can control the whole music scene (laughs). You have to accept that there are good bands and bad bands. For every good band I find, I find another I don't like. You just have to think of it that way.」

That said, it's been said that rock music is getting smaller and smaller, with hip-hop, teen bands and pop tunes with female vocals all being embraced. Do you think this is a very sad situation? B: 「"Rock's shrinking stature"? I think it's just dormant. Besides, I'm sure there's a vibrant rock band out there somewhere. I don't think rock ‘n’ roll is going away, I think it's just hibernating like a bear at the moment and it'll wake up and come back to bite us in the ass. Well, if you like rock ‘n’ roll, leave it to us. We've got some great stuff for you.」

But why do you think hip hop and teen pop are so popular? B: 「Well, I don't know. I think it's the same reason as when Run-D.M.C. became big. It fits in with the times, and hits the key points of American culture. I think that's what it's about. And I think the American music scene is always cyclical in all its styles. Every ten years a really good rock ‘n’ roll band comes along and explodes in popularity, and every ten years another really popular hip-hop band comes along.」

Cyclical. B: 「Yeah. At this very moment, there's a cool band playing in a garage somewhere with a cool sense of humour and cool opinions. Nobody knows they exist at the moment, but one day they'll burst onto the scene and show us what rock ‘n’ roll is all about again. It's just a matter of time, so we can't get fed up with what's going on. Once you're fed up, you'll end up not being able to see what's on the other side of all the crap that's trending right now.」 M: 「But I'm sure when we were kids there were a lot more rock’n’roll bands. So the music that people are influenced by now is probably different from when we were kids, and I think it's even different when you're younger.」 B: 「Oh, and I think a lot of bands these days are very conscious of self-marketing. Compared to those who were active in the early 90s, for example, they have a totally different mindset, really. They're on TV all the time, and they're always praising themselves like it's a telephone shopping show.」

Yeah, and there are bands that just sing "I'm pissed off!" and don't know what to do next. B: 「I've thought about that too. I think you should always have a sense of humour no matter what.」 M: 「It's no fun to perform. Especially when you call yourself an ‘angry band’.」 T: 「People who get angry easily seem to get pissed off at everything around them. It doesn't matter what they're angry about. Of course, we're not a bunch of chumps or anything, but, you know, when it comes to ourselves, we have to look at it fairly objectively from all angles.」

I see. So, let's talk about the new album… B: 「Great! (laughs)」 M: 「Thank you! (laughs). All the songs are tremendously inspired by all sorts of things. We took a break and waited for Billie's moment of inspiration to write new songs to come naturally. We practised all the time, but we didn't force him to squeeze out new songs. So it just happened naturally. Everyone wants us to explain everything, like, "What did you write? How is it different from before? What's changed? Have you grown?" But all we can say is, "Listen, this is our next album, it's a Green Day album, it's a rock “n” roll album".」 B: 「We're really proud of this album. I think I'm at a good time in my life right now, and……. And we all worked really hard on it, so I think we deserve to be proud of it. But I don't want to hype it up or sell it. I don't need to say anything, the music and the lyrics will speak for themselves. So…… yeah…… Anyway, this time it's just the three of us and we produced it ourselves, so it's a real, how can I say……」 M: 「Personal.」 B: 「Yes, it's definitely a personal work, and the whole album is full of uniqueness and hope and humanity, and the songs are about personal issues. And it's also…… It's also a fun album.」

You say that you produced such an album yourselves. How did that come about? T: 「Because we're the best producers in the world.」

……You say you produced it yourselves, but then again, why? B: 「(laughs). We had a lot of producers' names on the shortlist, you know. Just…… this album had too much weight to bring in outside influences.」 M: 「Yeah, in the end, when you want your car to run properly and you're there and the guy who made the car is there, and someone else comes in and says, "The body colour should be like this," how would you feel? Well, maybe they're right about the colour, but in the end, the car won't run properly without the person who made it. In other words, we're the mechanics on this album. That's what we wanted to do.」

So it took you three years after "Nimrod" to start work on this album, and the reason you didn't start immediately was to prepare for that? B: 「…………I was burnt out. I felt like I was going to hate the music too, so I needed to get away for a while before that happened.」

"Nimrod" was a great album, but were you too tired to maintain the energy you showed on that album and go straight into the next one? B: 「We just needed time to get back to normal life. The difference between "Nimrod" and this album is that last time it was like our lives went through the making of the album, but this time it's like the making of the album went through our lives. Do you see the difference?」

Yes, I do. B: 「We've been able to experience friends, family and all the elements of normal life over the last three years. If we kept living 24 hours a day all immersed in music …… I thought we'd end up neglecting ourselves and our music. If I could give one piece of advice to every band, it would be to put the guitar down and go away for a while. Before the guitar crushes you.」 M: 「Then by the end you'll be so desperate to play the guitar that you'll jump at the chance to play it. That's when you get the most incredible inspiration. So for the last three years I've been so preoccupied with life that I even forgot to play the guitar for a couple of days. Then I'd suddenly wake up in the middle of the night, or in the middle of dinner I'd suddenly think, "I'm not hungry. What's going on? I know! Let's play the guitar," and I'd jump at the guitar.」 B: 「The “Nimrod” tour was too long. So, we all felt that after that cycle, we needed to go home and experience a bit of “life”. We had to get a life so that we could write songs that had something real to say, instead of just writing about rock star woes while we were still on tour. No one wants to listen to that rubbish, and no one can relate to it, right? nd most of all, I can't relate to those songs either (laughs).」

(laughs) So you needed time to face yourself and reassess the situation. B: 「Yes, I just wanted to be able to write songs about what I experienced. And in order to do that, I needed to get away from music for a while. Because, you know, when you think about how many years we've been a band and how many times we've toured and made records for how long, a year off isn't long at all (laughs).」 M: 「Plus, we hadn't really taken a break up until that point.」

You took a year off? M: 「Yeah, but we only didn't play together for two months. And after those two months, we were back to practising five days a week. But I enjoyed that pace because of the break. We didn't try to force the songs.」 B: 「Yes, I didn't want to force it. So if I couldn't think of a song, I didn't force myself to write it. Anyway, the band was becoming a source of depression for me, so I needed to do other things…… Like having time with my family.」

The huge sales made you famous whether you liked it or not, but in the past, you guys were very resistant to your fame, weren't you? Has taking a break freed you from that? M: 「I still don't think we need fame. To be honest, I have a lot of fun, but the truth is, I'm both very outgoing and very shy at times, so it's hard when I want to be alone……」 B: 「I don't think there's anything wrong with being famous or successful - as long as you're doing it your own way and not anyone else's.」 T: 「And there are different kinds of fame. There's fame like Green Day, there’s fame like Macaulay Culkin, there’s fame like Shirley Temple…」 B&M: 「(laughs)」 B: 「Well, unlike those child stars who were totally controlled by their parents, we had freedom of choice and we're happy with the way our band is and what we're doing. We don't care what other people think of us or what they say about us or anything like that. But kids don't, do they? They don't have a choice, to be frank.」

So it sounds like you guys have learnt to deal with fame in your own way? M: 「Because, you know, nobody wants to hear you whine like that, do they? In fact, I don't want to hear myself whining. That's why…… When I realised I had learned how to cope with it. And how we cope with it is that we go home for a while and get completely away from it all and get back to ‘reality’. We go back to the world of friends, music and family. That's how you give yourself substance again…… You refill your water.’

With all that in mind, I think this "Warning" is a wonderfully balanced album that truly values ​​both "changing" and "staying the same." Well, I've only listened to six songs, so I don't know yet. M: 「(laughs). So it's like, you change your shoes but not your underwear?」 B: 「Same right! That's so cool! (laughs) ……Well, I mean, this album isn't about growing up and getting older or growing up and becoming an adult anymore. It's simply about growing up, that's what this album is all about. Always remember your roots……」 T: 「We'll play better music.」 B: 「Yeah, with the feeling that we're going to be a better band.」

I also thought that the album showed a very natural side of Green Day. B: 「It's a lot better than the “unnatural” Green Day of old, isn't it? (laughs)」 T&M: 「Hee hee hee hee!」

(laughs) I mean, before "Insomniac", you guys used the punk format to show us the sensations and ideas you'd acquired to survive on the streets. And with "Insomniac", there was an attitude of "If you're going to be negative, then go for it!" But with "Nimrod", you recovered from that kind of negativity and scaled up your expression by using strings and horns. But this time, I felt like it was Green Day's natural punk, in a way that was rather free from that kind of approach or storyline. It's not just about rushing, it's about punk. There were a lot of songs with an acoustic feel. B: 「First of all…… I don't think of Green Day as a punk band. I don't think it can be categorised in that extreme. I don't know, I just think we're a cool rock ‘n’ roll band. I don't really know what else to call it…… Well, we don't really care what other people call us, seriously, we've been called all kinds of things. We believed every single one of them at first, then we ignored every single one of them…… We just want to live. Seriously, as long as they let us live, that's all we want (laughs). But…… I'm sure I learnt from punk that it's about ‘being yourself’. So it's up to the person who goes through punk to decide what to do afterwards. And now we're just……. We're in the process of trying to grow up freely, without putting ourselves into genres or anything like that…… I think that's what this album is about.」 M: 「We are crazy punk guys, but at the same time we are very normal people. I think that part of us will continue to show up in our songs for a long time to come, just like it has in the past. We might be a little weirder compared to the old guy sitting next to us on the bus, but at the same time we might be more normal than the guy sitting at the back of the bus…… That's who we are.」

I see. The way you guys interact with music these days seems fresh in this 2000 era. T: 「That makes me happy.」

You mentioned above that the theme of punk is ‘to be yourself and live the life you want’, and that's also what you sing about in “Minority” on this album. B: 「Yes, “Minority” is about individuality, about being yourself. People don't belong to a country, they are who they are.」 M: 「That's what I've been trying to achieve in the last three years of my life - to be myself.」 B: 「Yeah, the songs on this album, “Deadbeat Holiday” is a song about not giving up on life, “Misery” is a story about people living miserable lives. And “Castaway” is…… I think it's about starting a new adventure. And “Macy's Day Parade” is about commercialism, about outside forces selling you things, but what you really want is hope for a better tomorrow. I think there are a lot of songs like that.」

…….That's amazing. B: 「That's what we're trying to do (laughs).」 M: 「It's a tough world out there (laughs).」 T: 「You have to live positively (laughs).」

(laughs) But, you know, I think you have a lot of depth when you can sing about things like that so honestly. I guess you guys really love people now. B: 「(laughs) Hmm, yes……」 T: 「Yeah, yeah, we're having sex with everyone one by one.」

(laughs). You know how? M: 「(laughs) Well, I've become a bit more tolerant, or maybe I've slowed down to the point where I can smell the roses.」 B: 「In the end, it's all about how you deal with your anger. Do you look for a solution, or do you hide in your shell and let the anger smoulder? That's what's changed a lot since before. And also in terms of how you channel your anger. Do you channel it in a positive way and make your life, and sometimes that's more important - other people's lives, better, or……?」 M: 「In short, are you going to find a proper solution or are you going to continue being an asshole (laughs)?」 T: 「Hahahaha.」 B: 「But there are times when I just want to be an asshole, of course. Like, I don't want to be in a good mood (laughs). That's seriously still there. But I think we've all become better at dealing with anger, especially in the last couple of years. I don't mean stop being angry. That's not what I want. I don't want to give up my anger. I just want to channel it in a positive way.」

I see. That's a very good state of mind. It's like all three of you are able to do punk independently of each other. M: 「Yes. —So for the next album we'll evolve even more and release a record for each of us. See, KISS did that a long time ago, right? We'll make a Billie album, a Tre album, and a Mike album like that.」 T: 「Hahahahahaha!」 M: 「And of course, the Mike album is the easiest record to listen to.」 T: 「And it's a two-disc set, right?」 M: 「Oh yeah, a two-disc set!」 B: 「Gahahaha!」 T: 「The discs are all poetry readings……」 B: 「Gahahahahahaha!」 M: 「Yes, yes, of course, the first disc is all poetry readings……」 T&B: 「Disc 2 is also a full-length reading series! (laughs)」 T: 「Hahahahahahaha! And the title will be “A truly enigmatic and brilliant man, his name is Mike”!」 M: 「Hahahahahahaha…… And also “Mike's Quick Guide” (laughs).」

(laughs) That's enough. M: 「(laughs). I think that as time goes by, we tend to lose sight of what we want most as individuals in life. But anyway, I believe that if you just keep moving forward, in the end you'll find out what you really want. That's why we took a break along the way. Not only for ourselves, but also for the people to whom we dedicate our music to. I think that's how we felt that we could keep going forward and not burning ourselves out.」

I have a feeling that you guys are trying to keep rocking out in your own natural way, while protecting your punk roots in a good way, so what do you think about that? M: 「Yeah, we're certainly at a point in our career where we can take it easy and not get too uptight.」

Do you feel you're moving forward in your career with confidence? B: 「I think so〜〜」 All: 「Ahahahahahahahaha!」 B: 「No, no, no. I don't have any confidence!」 M: 「Yes. As for us, we just have to keep working as hard as we have been working so far. That means first of all, we do what we are happy with. We always think that we are our own biggest critics, but at the same time, we are the ones who are the first to praise others and say, "Well done! You did well!"」 B: 「Well done, Mike!」 M: 「Gufufufufufufu (laughs).」 B: 「Well done, Tre!」 T: 「Billie, you too! (laughs)」

(laughs) I guess we should wrap up the interview then. So here's the last question. You are finally coming to Japan for Summer Sonic 2000, can you tell us how excited you are? M: 「It's great to be able to play at a festival.」 B: 「Yeah, yeah.」 T: 「We couldn't make it to Fuji Rock in 1998, so this time we're going to……」

Right (laughs). B: 「So, this time, we're going to give you a show that's so intense you won't be able to say a word! You guys can expect the best moment of your life at Summer Sonic.」

……Um, does Fuji Rock in '98 still have an impression on you? B: 「Yeah, I think it was terrible for the crowd. A lot of people got buried in the mud.」 M: 「And in the end we couldn't play.」 T: 「Right?」 B: 「Right? We had no choice but to stay in the hotel and shoot the people around us.」 T&M: 「Bwahahahahahahaha!」

……………………Oh, that's right. What's your hair colour going to be? B: 「I haven't decided.」 M: 「Me, I'm thinking of going for emerald green, but then again, I'm still on the fence about this one (laughs).」

Translator’s Note: KONISHIKI (originally named Saleva'a Fuauli Atisano'e, nowadays going by his naturalised name Konishiki Yasokichi) is a retired American-born Japanese professional sumo wrestler and still a celebrity in Japan. He was also at the time the heaviest wrestler ever in sumo, at a peak weight of 287 kg (633 lb), earning him the nicknames "Meat Bomb" and, most famously, "The Dump Truck".

Despite the journalist trying to hide when Green Day was having that particular episode of MTV Influence filmed, because he didn’t hide when that particular riot happened thanks to the Los Angeles Lakers winning the 2000 NBA Finals, I easily found that the day of the recording was done on June 19th, with the interview being done on the 20th the next day instead. So you’ve tried, Yanagi-san.

As mentioned in a previous translated post, there are at least 3 different accounts on what happened with Green Day when the first Fuji Rock Festival was cancelled back in 1997. Yes, it's 1997, not 1998 like Yanagi-san had mistaken here. The first ever Fuji Rock Festival was held in 1997 and subsequently cancelled because of how bad the location and weather was.

Do support me on my Ko-fi! ☕

[melanieph321]

Ruben Dias x Reader - Fake Love Part 7

Reader is a kindergarten teacher. Nothing more nothing less. But following an accident whistle vacation in Dubai she somehow makes her boyfriend believe that she does somthing else for a living, something that earns her way more money than she has. Her boyfriend, Ruben, is just happy to have found someone who understands him so well, someone who doesn't want him for his money since money isn't an issue for neither reader or himself. Or so thinks. Would finding out the truth ruin their newfound relationship? Readers thinks so, and does everything to keep up the lie, although it has some bad people from the middle east looking for her.

Enjoy!

"Okay, how much is that?"

"About 7 000 total."

"Ugh, we're still 13 000 pounds short." You groaned, falling back against your couch.

You and Alicia agreed to sell all the things that she had bought, in order to pay Mr Siddiq back. You managed to sell most of her designer items online, and some of the items that she hadn't even worn yet were returned to the store for a refund. You spent all week living like savages, glued to the computer, making phone calls to meet up with potential buyers.

"I don't understand why we can't eat, though? Or have heat?" Alicia asked, wrapping her body up in a blanket.

"Eating costs." You muttered. "So does heat. All of our money is going to paying back Mr Siddiq. I've told you this."

"Yes, but like you said, we're still 13 000 pounds short. I don't think we will be making that much money in 24 hours and I'm starting to get hungry."

You rolled your eyes. You really couldn't with Alicia. How could her financial judgment have been so poorly? I mean, her mother is an accountant for God's sake. However, it might have been her dad who used to spoil her as a child. The thrill of a man paying for everything she pointed to must be her aspiration in life. But today Alicia's aspirations had gotten you in a lot of debt.

"Would you please pick up your phone, my ass doesn't want to vibrate forever, and I'm pretty sure your boyfriend is calling me now."

It was true, you recognized Ruben's number on Alicia's screen. You stood up to take the call, disappearing into your bedroom.

"Ruben?"

He had been calling all week. But with everything going you weren't in the right head space to talk to him, let alone be honest with him.

"Hey, baby. Is everything alright?" He sounded concern, probably because you were talking to him through someone else's phone.

"Everything is fine. Life is just pretty hectic right now."

"Oh, sorry if I'm disturbing you..."

"It's fine Ruben. Hearing your voice is really what I needed."

"Good." He shriped and you imagined the dimples that came with his smile.

"I've actually got some news that might cheer you up?"

"Really? A man named Mr Siddiq and his entire family sadly passed away in a plane crash?

"Yeah, I'll be in London this weekend for our away game against Chelsea."

"Oh"

"Oh?"

You perked up. "I mean, that's...that's really nice Ruben. But I'm not in London this week?"

"No? Where are you then?"

Don't lie, don't lie, don't lie.

"Stevenage!" You blurred out, immediately regretting it.

"Stevenage? What is that?"

"Um, it's a city. Where I grew up actually. Where my parents live."

"Oh, you're visiting your parents?"

"Yes, so I'm pretty busy."

"I'd love to meet them someday."

"You do?" You paused, Ruben's answer suprised you.

"Of course. Wouldn't you like for me to meet them?"

You had just gotten comfortable calling Ruben your boyfriend, him meeting your parents would mean another milstone reached before you had told Ruben who you really are.

"Sure." You mumbled.

"Let's make it happen someday." He said, sounding happy about the fact.

"Um, I've got to get back to work..."

"Of course. It was nice to hear your voice too. Can I call you again later tonight?"

"Um, sure."

"Alright, talk to you later then. I love you."

"Bye Ruben."

The room fell silent as you ended the call, however the guilt and shame inside you was louder than ever. You dragged yourself back to the living room, handing Alicia back her phone.

"You good? What did he say?"

"He said he loved me." You plotted down on the couch, eyes staring blankly into space.

"Oh my god, really? What did you say."

"I said, bye Ruben."

Alicia frowned.

You turned to her with tears in your eyes. "He's never gonna talk to me again when he finds out."

"Finds out what?" She cought you as you slumped into her embrace. "That you're nothing but a gold digger?"

You sat back up. "That's not funny Alicia."

Her shoulders shrugged when she laughed.

"I am not a gold digger. You on the other hand...."

"Okay, okay. I get, I messed up. I'm the bad guy in all of this. But speaking of gold diggers...." She said, with that look that often haunted your dreams. "Wouldn't it be easiest to just ask Ruben for the remaining money? I mean surely he's good for it, and if he really loves you..."

You batted your eyes. Baffled by what was coming out of Alicia's big mouth. Surley anyone would agree that now would be the only right time to slap your best friend in the face. "Alicia." You said, with the lowest most calmest tone you could extract from yourself. You were convinced that this was the only way that she would understand you, if you were babying her.

"Yes, Y/N?" She said, with that naive twinkle in her eyes.

"Have...you...learned...nothing. You are NOT. I repeat NOT, borrowing money from anyone ever again, especially not Ruben."

"Then how are we gonna pay the last 13 000 back?"

"I'm...." You said, getting up and walking over to grab your coat. "I'm going to talk to someone I trust and know will lend me the money, with a promise that I'll pay him back with interest."

Alicia looked over to where you stood. "It's not Byron is it?"

"That's none of your business." You hissed, slamming the door on your way out.

Byron agreed to hear you out over a beer. You met in a small pub in town and to your suprise Byron agreed to lend you the money.

"And don't worry, you won't have to give me all of it until June."

"It's okay." He said.

"It is?" 13 000 punds was alot of money. However, there was something else on Byron's mind, a question.

"Is this you?" He asked, showing something off his IPhone.

Heat rose to your face seeing a photo of you in the club with Ruben and his friends, Ruben's arm waying over your shoulder as you sat next to him.

"Um..."

You had seen it before, the photo, going around the internet, with the caption talking about Ruben and his new boe. It was first posted on Lauren's Instagram. Lauren who was Ruben's teammates girlfriend.

"Yes, yes that's me." You sighed.

Byron nodded. Of course it was you in the photo, he wasn't blind. People in Stevenage watched Football and knew of the hype around it. You only belong to the few people who didn't.

"How do you know Jack Grealish and Ruben Dias ?" He followed up, in a way that sounded more like you were being accused of a crime rather than asked a simple question.

"I um....met them during a night out with friends." You lied. He wasn't  Ruben, you had no problem lying to Byron.

"And so the two of you...?" He was reffering to Ruben.

"Took a photo and then went our separate ways." You nodded. "Yeah, that's pretty much what happened."

Byron didn't look to believe you, but proceeded. "It's obvious that you're seeing someone Y/N, I mean you never come over for game nights anymore and I've seen you texting someone when you should be paying attention to your class."

You chuckled. "Byron I have no idea what you're point is, but if this is you criticizing the way I teach my kindergarten class then..."

He shook his head. "No, it's not that."

"Then what is it?" You really didn't have the  time. You should get back to the apartment, help Alicia sell her clothes. And Ruben would want to facetime soon.

"I like you Y/N."

"There it is." You sighed.

"And I'm not lending you the money so that you'll finally agree to be my girlfriend, but...."

"But?" You frowned. "There is no but in this Byron. Either you lend me the money out of the kindness of your heart, or you don't. This is not an exchange of services."

"Then, no." He said, fixing his posture as he sat across from you.

"No? What do you mean, no?"

He got up to leave, grabbing his jacket. He looked down on you with pitty on his face. "Life is about choices Y/N, and you seem to keep making the wrong ones."

With that he left.

You got back to your apartment, pretty sure that smoke was coming out of your ears.

"Y/N, there is something you should..."

"Not now Alicia."

You stomped across the living room.

"But you should really..."

"God, not now Alicia." You hissed, not meant to take your anger out on her. Nevertheless the damage was already done as Alicia crumbled where she sat on the couch. "I'm sorry I..." You ran a hand down your tired face. "I just got to facetime Ruben first. I have to tell him that I love..." The handle to your bedroom door pressed down just as you were about to do it. The door opened and he appeared in the frame.

"Ruben?"

He grinned. "You sounded down over the phone so I brought something that might cheer you up."

"W...what?"

He stretched out his arms. "Me!"

Warmth erupted inside you. You stumble forwards, melting into his giant embrace. Although this was a bad thing, a really bad thing that he was here, you really needed to be held right now.

[basilpaste]

(actually got around to writing connies rude little ass being rude! yippee!!!!)

You sit on the cold damp ground, your only layer of protection a thin sheet folded thrice over. The chill sneaks into your bones. It's an unusual temperature for this time of year, but you suppose everything in Vaugarde is unusual at the moment. A little cold is nothing compared to the current state of affairs.

You hold a loosely held together manuscript on your lap. The draft is really more or less finished, but since your editor is currently frozen in time, you figured you might as well at least try to be mindful of your own work. Though with all the previous novels in the series at home, you can't easily screen for continuity. Just another reason to get to that wretched King.

Tapping your pencil to paper, your eyes glaze over the text. Ah! Désirée has an extra accent on her name there. You cross it off. No more Désiréé. Honestly, were you asleep while writing this chunk? The sentence structure of the next line is also… a bit off? It's technically correct, but it really would scan better in Poterian than Vaugardian. You miss writing in Poterian. Ugh.

"Conifleur."

You do not look away from your work, though you do jump. "Odile. I'm shocked to see you up this early. And here I though your 'old bones' needed some rest, dear."

"I'm sure. Just like how you are so desperate for your beauty sleep, right?"

You scoff. She thinks she has you clocked. It's annoying in the worst of ways to have to contend with someone who is no better than you. You know her type. You aren't stupid.

"I'm flattered that you're so concerned for me, darling! But can't one work in peace?" Your pencil scratches the page, leaving a thin line across the margin.

She sighs. From the corner of your eye, you catch her rummaging around in a small supply bag. "Of course not. You're here."

"Oh?" You tilt your head in faux-curiosity, "Is the crone annoyed with poor me? I've done nothing to you today, I'll have you know."

"Urgh."

"It's true! You're the one who went out of your way to make yourself known, dear. I was busy."

"Busy working on something that will help us on our travels, I'm sure." She kneels at the fire pit, sparking it with paper craft, "Like lighting the camp fire."

You blink, "I thought we were going to get moving when the others woke?"

"Yes," she sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose, "but it's cold out. Since you've apparently put yourself on 'watch', it's your job to make sure no one gets sick from it."

… Loath as you are to admit it, she does have you there. You hum in response.

"And where are you off to? I was under the impression that we were still a few days out from the next town."

"There's a caravan that should have set up shop not far from here. I'm doing a supply run. More mouths to feed means we can't afford to rely solely on whatever Isabeau or I can identify and what we have stored." She pulls a coin pouch from her bag by the drawstrings.

That newest mouth to feed. Siffrin was… an enigma. Something about them was familiar to you. You were quite certain you didn't know him personally, but there was a nagging feeling you couldn't shake. They were quite good with that dagger of theirs, though, so you couldn't complain too much.

"Yes, well, I absolutely believe in your ability to charm the merchant into selling us all of their resources for a reduced fee." You say, "You are known for your endearing personality, after all. You positively exude grace."

You don't have to be looking at her to know that she rolls her eyes at you. Hmph. "Gems alive. I'm not going there to haggle, Conifleur. Just to buy."

"Shame," you hum, "and I was so looking forward to a bountiful harvest."

"Are you going to come with me or are you just going to complain at me?"

You jump a bit despite yourself. You just don't understand it! It's no secret that the two of you don't think much of each other, and yet she still invites you along. She has an ulterior motive, surely. To neg you, you suppose. You don't buy it.

You smile, "I thought I was on watch, dear! As talented as I may be, I simply cannot be in two places at once."

"Urgh." She slips her coin pouch back into the bag, slinging it over her shoulder, "By all means. Stay right where you are. I figured someone other than me might enjoy having a say in what I buy for us."

"Wake dear Mirabelle or young Isabeau if you need a second opinion, darling." You scribble out a rough edit of that problem sentence from before.

"… The two of them deserve the rest."

You nod solemnly. That, at least, is something the two of you can agree on. Your companions are much too young for the burdens placed on them. Dear Mirabelle especially.

That said... "That they do. But Rejuvenation only knows that dear Mirabelle will dread waking up so late. Not that it's 'late' at all. You know as well as I how she is."

"Mirabelle would appreciate having a say." She mutters, glancing back at the tents.

"Exactly, darling!" You explain, bright as anything, "You two have fun with that! Until then: I am busy, I fear. Don't bother me anymore. Thank you."

She turns away from you without another word. Good. You can actually think without her incessant badgering.

... The fire warms you in the cold morning. You clench your jaw. You've got work to do, dear. Back to it!

[spahhzy]

The plan!

Roman: Jaune, listen, I have a plan... a plan so glorious it's will put all my other plans to shame with how not glorious those plans were and -are you listening?

Jaune with Neo is currently just currently having his Tuesday tea date with her.

Jaune, annoyed: Yes, Roman, I know another one of your glorious plans. What is it this time?

Neo: Oh, lighten up, dummy. I'm sure it can't be worse than working with that fire bitch.

Jaune: Did you see the look she gave me? Rude!

Neo: She was trying to lay claim to someone that is already mine.

Jaune: Oh, I'm yours, am I? I clearly remember differently last night.

A kick to the shin was all he got as he looked at Neo's cute smile.

Roman: If you two are done being gross flirts, I can actually explain my super ingenious plan.

Jaune: I'm all ears Cap'n.

Neo: Go on!

Roman: We, as In You, me, and Neo, are going to sneak into Beacon as students, and STEAL whatever it is that Cinder wanted.

Jaune: ...wait, you believe what she was saying?

Roman: I did some digging, and she has whitefang in her back pocket, so it seems she is very adamant about getting in their.

Roman: So, it's gotta be something big, plus, I can fuck with Ozpin some more and that's always a plus.

Jaune + Neo: ...

Jaune: Uh, you know how the initiation process is right? Also how can we get in there? We never applied.

Roman: fear naught, my left hand of destruction l have already submitted our fake transcripts under false aliases.

Roman hands them ID cards.

Jaune: Tacitus Kilgore?

Neo: Beretta Stone?

Roman: annnd Rip Van Winkle as yours truly.

Jaune and Neo look at each other before both laughing.

Roman: What's so funny, I had to think long and hard on those names!

Neo: I think you just picked names out of a book and threw a few darts at them.

Roman: I-I did not! Look, we can do this, we steal whatever valuable is locked away right under Ozpin nose and flaunt in Cinders face before selling it off to the highest bidder!

Jaune: Roman, you know this is like a big commitment? It's like a year to four years, possibly depending on what Cinder does, granted we ain't helping them.

Roman: Trust me, Jaune, if all goes well, we can be in and out within the year!

Jaune: Alright if your sure...

Jaune turns back to Neo.

Jaune: How about you?

Neo: playing school for a while? Sure, why not. Plus, it would be fun to flaunt you around a bit.

Jaune blushes before smiling at Neo nodding he turned to Roman.

Jaune: Looks like you got yourself a plan.

Roman: Great!

Neo: Wait... aren't their teams of four?

Jaune: Oh yeah, I heard about that and that you get paired in two's as well, I think the first person you see is like your partner for the rest of your time their.

Roman: Relax, I will have that all taken care of when it comes down to it... As for our fourth member, I already made a call, and she will be down here shortly. Already ran it by her mother and her, and her mom was iffy at first, but with some...persuasion, I was able to get her to agree.

Jaune: Oh, Yangs coming too...oh boy.

Neo: The pun-she devil is going to torment us, oh the inhumanity!

Roman: I actually find her puns hilarious, mind you.

-

Else where on Bumblebee, coming to a stop just outside of vale.

Yang: I got the strange urge to torture two individuals, specifically with puns... hmm.

She continued her drive to vale.

[duckprintspress]

hey, i'd like to just throw this out to you, since you're a press so i have a feeling you might know. if i was seeking to publish a book but i didn't want it to ever be sold through amazon, what would my options be?

Hiya!

I'm assuming you mean you're interested in self-publishing? If yes, then yeah, I can give you at least some information about your options. :D

If you don't want to use Amazon, you definitely still have some options for self-publishing a book. I can sympathize with this sentiment; we hate Amazon and I've done what I can to keep our works off there (and, ultimately, failed, but still kept it to a minimum).

There's two overarching questions you'll need to consider when deciding how to proceed:

What formats are you selling? Are you doing e-book only or e-book + print or print book only? What about audiobooks? Which will influence your choices.

Are you mostly interested in direct sales (as in, you personally sell the book to the customer) or sales-through-an-intermediary (as in, a bookstore sells your book to a customer) or distribution (as in, you list the book with someone who acts as an intermediary between you and other vendors)?

As briefly as I can, first, here's what Duck Prints Press uses:

Ingram - e-book (and, once we have one - we're working on our first! - audiobook) distribution. Ingram is the biggest book distributor in the US and has a virtual monopoly on distribution. Even places that aren't technically Ingram, such as draft2digital, usually use Ingram. Because they're a near-monopoly, Ingram has a lot of ability to, well, screw people, and one way they've tried to screw people is they keep making it harder to get into their better services, pushing people to their much-less-supported service IngramSpark. I managed to get the Press grand-fathered in to Coresource, which is their e-book and audiobook distribution system, even tho we don't meet the current minimums for number of titles for that product. I CAN'T get into Lightning Source, which is their better-supported print book distribution service, because we don't have enough titles (we'd need 30, we currently have 10ish). If I wanted to use IngramSpark, I'd have to ditch Coresource, and I don't want to do that because Coresource works great and has good customer support, and so I had to settle on a compromise I don't love until we meet the minimums for Lightning Source - I use Coresource through Ingram for e-book distribution (and don't distribute to Amazon), which is...

draft2digital - print book distribution. This was my work around for not losing Coresource in the name of getting Ingram print on demand (pod), and it came with a price: d2d doesn't let me opt out of Amazon, much to my irritation. So the three titles we currently have pod on ARE on Amazon.

our webstore - e-book and print books, directly sold to the public. Our website lets people download e-books; I package print book orders made through the webstore myself and mail them myself.

in-person sales - I started vending at events last year; this year I'll be doing about a dozen.

All of which goes to show, even trying to publish while avoiding the most evil places is really hard and a source of frustration. If anyone knows a good option for ethical publishing distribution, I'm honestly all ears. Competing with Ingram is extremely David vs. Goliath (see also the recent death of Small Press Distribution).

So: remembering that Amazon is easily the worst but that there's still basically no ethical consumption or production under capitalism...

Ingram

Of the places I'm familiar with, the best-known option with the widest reach for self-publishing distribution is IngramSpark. As mentioned, I don't use Spark, but Coresource lets me completely customize which of Ingram's partners (vendors, wholesalers, libraries, etc.) I actually distribute with, and I've assumed that other Ingram products are the same. I believe IngramSpark is currently free per title; they get paid by charging fees per sale and because they get better listing deals with partners than an individual would get (like, Ingram might get charged x per title they list with, idk, Barnes and Noble, whereas you as an individual would get charged y, where y is larger than x, and Ingram pockets the difference).

I know a lot of people who use IngramSpark and my impression is that when it works, it works really well, but when it doesn't, getting help/customer service can be a nightmare. Virtually everyone I know who has used them has stories about late titles, support taking a week+ to reply, that kind of thing. I believe they have an option to pay for better/more rapid responses from customer support, which I feel kinda tells you everything you need to know about IngramSpark.

Draft2Digital

Another option is draft2digital. They use the Ingram distribution network, but again they can do so cheaper than an individual can because of their bulk sales through Ingram. They also offer e-book, audiobook, and print distribution. I use draft2digital for print and I've been quite satisfied with their customer support, but their print distribution doesn't allow opt-out of Amazon. HOWEVER, I believe their e-book distribution does. At minimum, there's a checklist on d2d about "steps you have to take to distribute e-books through d2d" and I'm assuming if you just. didn't do that checklist. then you obviously wouldn't get your books distributed through them. The other big thing I don't like about d2d (which may also be true of IngramSpark, idk) is that they charge after the first revision. Which is to say: you put together your book, you upload your book, you get it all set... and you notice a mistake. Okay, fine. You fix the mistake and re-upload. Re-uploading uses a "change token." You only get one free change token per title per six months. So, you notice another mistake you feel you have to fix a few days after that first? That'll cost $25. I've personally just kinda... tried to find all my mistakes right off and fix them, and anything I spot after that, I keep a log and will update all of them at the six month point. (I understand why they do this, btw - they have actual humans doing set-up on their end, so if you revise eight times in a week, that's a lot for an actual human, and charging for the tokens forces people to be careful, helps ensure people submit books that are actually ready in good faith, and helps keep costs low. That doesn't mean it's not annoying, though.)

Bookvault

Bookvault is a UK-based print-on-demand option (so NO e-book distribution, just print) that has recently started offerings in the US too. They currently have a relatively limited distribution network, but they're growing, and especially for UK-based people they're a strong alternative. I've heard a lot of positive reports about their printing in a FB group I'm in (Kickstarter for Authors - do recommend, lots of great info there), but I'll own my personal experiences weren't great and I've decided not to keep using them for now. However, if what you primarily want is print books as print-on-demand, and some limited distribution choices, they're a good choice, and they can help with option five below.

Do It Yourself Lite

A fourth option that's a LOT of work is...you add it everywhere yourself. Most places will let you. For example, here's how to sell on Barnes and Noble.com. When I self-pubbed a book a few years back, before I ran the Press, I submitted my work by hand to several different options (B&N, Kobo, Amazon because I still used them then, Smashwords, to name a few). However, doing this isn't the same as distribution - it only will sell through that specific vendor - and as far as I know there are no options for doing print-on-demand those ways (I THINK, tho I'm not sure, that Amazon is the only place you can set up both e-book and pod through a single vendor - it's not something I've researched tho, cause with the Press, doing single-title-at-a-time entry across so many different vendors is simply not realistic).

Side note on this: I don't believe there's a way to list self-pub books on Bookshop.org, but don't quote me on that.

This method also doesn't work well if you want to get your title in with libraries. I researched this a bit well over a year ago now, so I don't recall all the details, but before we signed up for Ingram I DID try to see if there was a way for us to publish and get in libraries especially without involving them, but there...wasn't really. Places like Overdrive that handle e-book-to-library distribution don't really have a way for individuals to submit; I have this vague memory I found a way to do it that involved paying per title but tbh I can't even find that now (though while I was looking I did find this decent-looking article about how to get your self-published book out in the world, echoing a lot of what I say here).

Do It Yourself Difficult Mode

Your fifth major option, and what we originally did as a press, is: do it all yourself. You can get your own storefront (ours is through Woocommerce + Wordpress). You can do your own crowdfunding. You can run your own newsletter (I use Mailerlite), do your own advertising, etc. You can do your own printing (we currently use Booklogix and I'm quite happy with them, their customer service is A+++). You can vend at events, you can market to local bookstores, sell through bookstores that do consignment, etc. You can learn to format your own e-books (I use a combination of Affinity software and Calibre, with an assist from Daisy to improve the accessibility of our e-books). You can get access to stock images and vector art to make things look nice (I use vecteezy). There's a LOT you can do entirely on your own. And that's what I did for myself before I ran the Press, and what I did for the Press for the first couple years we operated.

The reason I changed how the Press handles things? I hate to say this but the sad truth of publishing is that not using Amazon is utterly crippling to a publisher. As of 2 years ago, Amazon represented 67% of all book sales in the United States. Not selling through Amazon means accepting you'll simply be completely unable to reach more than half of the people reading works in English all around the world (works not in English may be different, I don't know that market since I publish in English). And for myself, alone - for my works? I could make that choice. But the Press currently works with well over 100 authors, and I ultimately felt I couldn't make the same choice to them. I tried so so hard not to compromise this, but refusing all distribution, when we were also avoiding Amazon, meant completely hamstringing the ability of authors we work with to market and sell their books. It meant, to work with us, people would have to sacrifice so much of their ability to earn money from their words, and it just didn't feel right to continue in that avenue as we grew. So, I was forced to compromise: first to use Ingram, which I did on the condition that I'd be able to reject Amazon specifically, and then by having to use draft2digital, including their goddamn Amazon print-on-demand, at least until I qualify for a better option, which as soon as I can do? You bet your butt I'll be switching and opting out of Amazon again.

The current climate makes these choices really hard, and I didn't make them lightly, nor did I make them alone - there's about 20 people on the DPP staff, and they all contributed opinions and voted on the final decisions I implemented for the Press in these regards.

(and sorry, I know "what DPP does and why" is a bit to the left of your actual question, but I felt like it'd be weird to make a list of recommendations without including the decisions I've personally made and why - like, why would I recommend you something I don't do myself with the books I publish? So sorry for the info dump.)

The TL:DR of all this is, as far as I know, and as I've been forced to accept as part of the realities of running a small press in the modern world of publishing, is that avoiding one Big Evil (Amazon) with any hope of achieving even a modicum of success basically requires partnering with at least one other Big Evil (Ingram especially). It's a very hard game to win.

HOWEVER, you are doing this FOR YOURSELF, NOT for all the people involved in a business larger than just you. If you're willing to put in the extra work to figure out a lot on your own and manage your own marketing, you can theoretically build enough of an audience to go it alone without Amazon OR Ingram OR places like Kobo/B&N/etc. You'll have to outlay more out of pocket - things like webhosting cost money - and you'll have to be a lot more careful - if you're running your own website instead of using someone elses, you gotta go above and beyond making you're in compliance with privacy rules and such - but it can be done.

And if you don't want to go that route, and your only real "to avoid" is Amazon specifically... use IngramSpark.

Sorry I'm long-winded. I hope this helps! Good luck with your publishing goals!

(and if others reading this have some other advice and resources, things I may not know about, please do weigh in! I bet the asker would like to know, and I'm always eager to learn about new options too.)

[omg-snakes]

Thoughts on Crab Day

I support this idea and I'll be participating on July 29th.

I see a lot of folks saying things to the effect of, "don't reward Tumblr for making things worse/not listening to their userbase/not adding features I need-want-like." I also see a lot of posts saying that the organizers of Crab Day are TERFs, neo-Nazis, and/or ultraconservatives.

While I agree that TERFs and Nazis (neo and paleo) need to be yote into the sun, whoever started this idea was not wrong about the site needing money to continue operating. Tumblr is a business. That's how businesses work.

Now, they can get money from advertisers and monetization partners, or they can get it from users. If they get it from advertisers/investors, those parties have the opportunity to weigh in on features they think will generate more revenue... like Tumblr Live... which is objectively trash. Tumblr Live is powered by LiveBox, an add-on service provider that enables sites to host live streaming content to generate revenue. Tumblr is also trying to attract users from the X-Twitter exodus by making the interface more familiar to these users. Was this a bad idea? Yes. It's a desperate attempt to attract more users so as to increase ad views and generate more revenue. But, remember, Tumblr is a business. That's how businesses work.

For YOU (and me!), Tumblr is a community. It's a platform for our art. It's a meeting place for friends and like-minded individuals. It's a safe space for self-expression. It's the last mostly-unmonetized bastion of social media in a landscape dominated by influencers, hustlers, and data-miners. For TUMBLR STAFF, Tumblr is a service that they are trying to sell so that they can obtain money that they can then exchange for food, housing, repayment of student loans, etc. If they can't afford those things by selling you their services, then they will literally go do something else. Yes, Tumblr is indeed a business and not just a passion project. That's how businesses work.

So by buying things directly from Tumblr, like a $3 crab-summoning gift, and especially as part of a coordinated effort like Crab Day and/or Crab Week, you are telling Tumblr Staff that YOU are a CUSTOMER, not just a monetizable data point. We are, in a very distant sense, establishing ourselves as a body of influence. If Tumblr sees that we can and will do this en masse, they are more likely to treat us as contributors and potentially shareholders who need to be kept happy. We each have a vested interest in the continuation of this site, and we have a rare opportunity to show the specific value of that interest.

Also, for those who want more accessibility tools, this is a great way to get those implemented. Accessibility for web applications is a big, big business and toolkits and training for accessibility standards tend to cost quite a lot. Training for a single accessibility plug-in toolkit can cost around $2000 per user*. That's about 667 crabs. By participating in Crab Day, even just a little bit or even just spreading the word about it or even just allowing others to participate as they please without pitching a ragequit tanty about it, you can tell Tumblr staff that you're here as a customer, your voice needs to be heard, and your needs are important.

If this doesn't work, and Tumblr doesn't take their userbase seriously after we make a concerted effort to support them, then please by all means go back to whatever version of complaining makes you feel most satisfied. But just for now, let's try something new!

*based on actual costs of a web accessibility training program offered by the agency for which I work