#access form create tab

[mcyt-longfic-database-project]

Welcome to the MCYT Longfic Database Project

Hello!! My name is Jim ( @rocketships07 , he/him), and I'm just a guy with a passion for data analysis and cubitos. I have been compiling, for a few months now, a small google sheets file of my favorite mcyt longfics, because I enjoy being able to see some stats and have everything in a place I can access. However! It ocurred to me that it would be very fun to develop a much larger database so that I could share it with friends!

So, the MCYT Longfic Database Project was born.

IMPORTANT LINKS:

MCYT Longfic Database SUBMISSIONS Form

Publishing site voting (closed)

FAQ

MCYT Longfic Database

Here's how it's going to work.

1. Interest Check (due: jan. 27)

I'm going to first compile information on what fandoms most people want me to compile fics of. This can be any MCYT fandom! As long as someone requests it, it'll have a place in the database. To do so, please send me asks through my tumblr page with your fandom(s)!!

CURRENT FANDOMS ADDED:

Hermitcraft

Traffic Life Series

Empires SMP

Dream SMP

QSMP

Scott's Life series (X life/Afterlife/New life)

POW Creations (Pirates SMP, Rats SMP 1&2)

The Realm

Fable SMP

Life Steal

Outsiders

Yogscast

2. Fanfic submission form is released (jan. 27 - feb. 28)

I will be releasing a form, where you can submit your favorite longfics! This form will include plenty of different sections for you to fill, such as title, fandom, word count, main character(s), ship (or ships), main tropes or au, amongst other categories with the purpose of data analysis! Mainly because the database will also have an analysis tab, where you can see some fun stats about the database!

During this period, the database will not be public. This is due to the fact that Google Forms does not format the information correctly, and I will be creating a much easier to read file for everyone to see!

After the end of this period, the forms will continue to be open! I will not be updating it constantly after that, but I'll try my best to keep it updated!

3. Database publishing (march 1)

After March 1st, the database will go live!!! I will continue to update it and add fics as long as people keep submitting them.

Feel free to share it with your friends and use it to find new fun fics to enjoy!

[thirstkanaphan]

You said "(this is where KQ has really dropped the ball for all the members, imo, but we can get into that discussion later)" about the solo outings.

May I humbly request that it is later now and I would very much like to know what you think about the individual forays of Ateez?? Thank you!

@storkmuffin I will happily share my mostly-coherent thoughts about this topic, although I will caveat that this is my first kpop fandom and I really don't know enough about other groups to know if what I'm saying is specific to KQ or applies to other companies.

I'm happy for others to chime in!

My opinions are scaffolded by two broad impressions of KQ as a company: first, that KQ still does not quite know what to do with the unprecedented success and demand for Ateez; second, KQ has delegated much of the promotional responsibility for Ateez to atiny/the fandom.

These impressions have been formed by nearly a year on atiny twitter, where most of the major fanbases reside. I often remind myself that the primary demographic on atiny twitter is under-25, meaning many of their complaints and concerns are based on general ignorance about how business/music industries operate...but I also have so much admiration for how the fandom has mobilized over the years to achieve great things for Ateez: their multiple music show wins, invitations to major music festivals like Mawazine (the result of endless campaigning by the Moroccan fanbase) AND, most importantly, their tireless effort to get Ateez albums distributed in the United States. While Ateez had (and still has) a distribution deal with RCA, my understanding is that they have done very little to promote Ateez and the fanbases had to campaign for their albums to be distributed through Hello82 which gave them the opportunity to debut on the BB200.

The fandom mantra has always been: Ateez only has Atiny.

For many in the fandom, this mantra also applies to how KQ has promoted the members' various solo efforts in recent years. I have mixed feelings about this sentiment, and I'll do my best to articulate them here.

When it comes to the members' solo schedules, whether it be fashion show appearances, artist collaborations, or solo music projects, KQ does the bare minimum to promote these projects to their 10.5 million instagram followers, 4.3 million twitter followers, 4.4 million youtube subscribers, and 8 million tiktok subscribers.

Let's use as an example Sagittarius by Wooyoung, which Hongjoong produced for his Ateez Present series. An original song with original choreography, and a beautifully-produced performance video available only on youtube.

The KQ promotional cycle for this song: an announcement on twitter less than a week before the premiere (often less than 48 hours); our biggest fanbase releases a clip that can be shared on twitter (KQ only posts a link) and the official Ateez account posts an IG story with a link to the video, which Wooyoung reposted to his own stories. A day or so later, they release a logbook. After a few days, it's like the song never existed...except among atiny, who created hashtags, got those hashtags trending, made fun edits, and did their best to share the song with as many people as possible, pushing Wooyoung's IG account under every viral tweet.

To compare, I looked at another recent solo release by a member of a Big4 company: Beomgyu from TXT, who released his first single Panic a couple of weeks ago. This solo had a big promotional push: weeks in advance, HYBE rolled out concept photos, teaser clips, and an official hashtag campaign. You can easily access all this content in the highlighted stories tab on TXT's official IG page, which remains up to this day.

I may be ignorant, but this really doesn't seem like an impossible strategy for KQ to replicate, given the money they've already invested in producing these solo tracks. There was practically no promotion for San or Yunho's solo projects. Mingi really seemed to be in the room when they promoted Autobahn: that release got a lot more build-up and attention, perhaps because of its collaboration with Yumin.

One major complaint among atiny is that songs like Sagittarius or Autobahn are not available on streaming, and to be clear: none of the Ateez Present or Fix Off Project songs are available on spotify or apple music. Large parts of the fandom point to KQ as failing their artists by not making their solo projects available for streaming.

I share the somewhat contrarian opinion of those who argue that these solo projects are largely artistic ventures by the members, driven by their desire to make music for themselves to share with atiny. Making them available to stream transforms these songs into another metric, diluting their artistic value by replacing it with commercial value, and we cannot guarantee that those numbers will hold up to the hype of the fandom (streaming numbers are the no.1 metric used against Ateez in fanwars).

This is perhaps a naive opinion to hold, given that KQ is a company and making money is their primary goal. A more realistic explanation is that there are complicated logistics involved in putting a song on spotify, including artist royalties, licensing fees, and copyright. It may just be easier and mores straightforward to upload something to youtube....

But that still doesn't excuse the minimal promotion expended towards these projects. Frankly, it's short-sighted of KQ not to see that the more attention paid to these solo ventures enhances the overall Ateez brand.

And as a counterpoint, Jongho's recent cover got minimal promo, even though that song is available for streaming.

There's a separate and parallel argument to be made about the members' foray into the fashion world. For their recent appearances at Paris and Milan Fashion Weeks, the official Ateez accounts merely reposted reels and stories; the fandom once again came up with strategies to get hashtags trending and put together guidelines for how to generate EMV and MIV (we achieved great results for San at D&G and Wooyoung for Courreges). To KQ's credit, we did get excellent logbooks documenting Seonghwa and Mingi's fashion week journeys.

However, poor Yunho also had a fashion week appearance: Seoul Fashion Week...but he never got any promo, not even a logbook. It's like it never happened.

There's something to be said about how the small-company mentality of KQ has enabled the members to grow their individual brands in ways that feel organic and suited to their unique personalities: Seonghwa met Isabel Marant at a party in LA and now he's the face of their international campaign; Mingi landed the Calvin Klein gig and his recent Marie Claire photoshoot due to his own networking; Hongjoong met Odetari at a song camp, and they decided to collab (Hongjoong's collaboration with Odetari, which went viral for Hongjoong's lyrics allegedly dissing Bang PD, got next to no promotion by KQ. Odetari did a lot of the heavy lifting to promote that track and made cute animated mvs on his youtube channel and tiktok. It also bears noting that Hongjoong collaborated with a Palestinian American musician, while many Big4 companies are actively being boycotted by kpop fans for their associations and investments with Zionist companies). KQ appears not to dictate what their artists can and cannot do when it comes to their solo schedules, but also seem disinclined to make extraordinary (or industry-standard) efforts to support these ventures, except in rare cases.

There's still so much we don't know about their contracts and what will change when they inevitably renew those contracts. We also know that Ateez now works with an external PR firm for their European fashion schedules, which is perhaps why we saw SO MUCH attention during their recent fashion week appearances.

Yet their solo music promotion remains a mystery to me, and I'd love to hear from anyone who has more to say about this topic!

My final thought is that KQ's reliance on the fandom to do the promotional work will inevitably backfire. Our fandom is growing but with a lot of casual fans who have only ever known Ateez as a globally successful idol group, and not the underdogs whose remarkable achievements were (and still are) underpinned by the invisible labor of their dedicated fans and fanbases. Whenever a member's solo project fails to hit 1 million views within the first week, the fandom goes into blame-mode, tearing itself apart for our lack of support to the members, especially after everything they do for us. This isn't sustainable nor healthy. KQ needs to take on a lot more of the promotional burden now, especially since they have the means to do so.

We will see how that goes with the next comeback!

Thanks for the question, and thanks for letting me ramble.

[unabashegirl]

entangled 1 | one shot

Y/N, punished by her gang leader for a failed mission, meets Harry, a rival gang member, at a club. Their encounter turns intense and passionate.

Author's note: Hello everyone! I hope you are all doing well! Here is another one shot. This one was posted almost a month ago on Patreon. They've already gotten a chance to read it. The second part will be posted here and it contains smut.

warnings: violence, cursing, and more

check out my patreon and get full access to the second part (+4K words) and much more :) thank you beforehand!

if you would like to leave your request for the next one shot. do it here :)

masterlist

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

The rain drummed steadily against the cobblestone streets of London, casting a sheen over the historic architecture. A heavy fog rolled through the city, shrouding the narrow alleyways and dimly lit corners in a ghostly haze. The occasional flash of neon signs reflected off the wet pavement, creating a kaleidoscope of colors that danced erratically in the puddles.

In the heart of this misty labyrinth lay a particularly desolate alley, where the rain seemed to fall harder, as if refusing to touch anything but the cold ground. Here, the sound of the downpour was a constant, rhythmic roar, drowning out the distant hum of traffic and the occasional wail of sirens. The alley was lined with old, weather-beaten buildings, their brick facades slick with rain and grime.

Y/N moved stealthily through the darkness, her footsteps muffled by the soggy pavement. Her breath formed small clouds in the chilly air, mingling with the fog that clung to the alley walls. The tension of the night was palpable, a sharp contrast to the usually vibrant London nightlife. She was deep within enemy territory, her senses heightened and her mind alert to every sound.

As she rounded a corner, the streetlamp’s flickering light revealed a shadowy figure ahead. Y/N’s pulse quickened, both from the adrenaline of being caught and the undeniable anticipation of their inevitable confrontation. The fog parted slightly, revealing Harry Styles, his silhouette a stark contrast against the faint glow of the lamp. He stood still, his posture rigid, his eyes scanning the alley as if he could see right through the mist.

Harry stepped forward, the lamplight catching the glint in his eyes. His lips curled into a smirk as he took in Y/N's determined stance. "I knew you couldn't resist" he drawled, his voice low and mocking. "Slumming it in our territory again, are we?”

Y/N’s eyes narrowed, refusing to show any sign of intimidation. "Keeping tabs on me, Styles? Didn’t know I was that important to you."

Harry chuckled darkly, taking another step closer. "Important? Hardly. But you're predictable. Meeting with our clients, trying to undercut our deals...it’s pathetic, really."

Before Y/N could retort, three figures emerged from the shadows behind Harry. His men, loyal and watchful, forming a semi-circle around them. Their presence was a silent threat, a reminder of the precariousness of her situation.

Y/N tilted her chin up defiantly. “You need back up to deal with little old me?”

One of Harry’s men, a burly guy with a scar running down his cheek, snorted. “Can’t have him wasting time on someone who’s not worth it.”

Harry raised a hand, silencing his man with a single gesture. "Don’t worry, I can handle her," he said, his eyes never leaving Y/N’s. "Besides, this is entertaining."

Y/N’s heart pounded in her chest, but she refused to let her fear show. "Entertaining, huh? Look up," she said, pointing to the roof above her.

Harry's eyes flicked upward, his smirk faltering slightly as he saw a figure perched on the edge of the building. The sniper, a man with a confident grin, waved down at Harry and his men.

"A little insurance policy, I see." Harry muttered, his tone darkening as he turned his gaze back to Y/N.

Y/N shrugged, her expression cool. "Can't be too careful. Figured you might try something stupid."

The burly man with the scar took a step forward, but Harry raised a hand to stop him. "Stand down," he ordered, his eyes locked on Y/N. "So, this is your game? Bringing snipers to a knife fight?"

"Just leveling the playing field," Y/N replied. "Or maybe you’re not as confident as you pretend to be, Styles."

Harry's smirk returned, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Oh, I'm confident enough. But I have to admit, you've surprised me tonight." Harry took a step closer, his voice low and dangerous.

"Glad to hear it," Y/N said, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "But if you think a few threats and some muscle are going to scare me off, you’re in for a disappointment."

Harry's demeanor shifted, his eyes narrowing. "Cut the crap, Y/N. What are you really doing here territory? Who sent you?"

Y/N's smile didn't waver. "You think I'm here on someone else's orders? Please. I'm here because I choose to be."

Harry stepped closer, his voice low and menacing. "There’s a treaty, Y/N. Your gang stays in your territory, mine stays in ours. Or have you forgotten what it was like before we had that agreement? The bloodbath, the chaos?"

Y/N's expression hardened. "I remember. But treaties don't mean much when people are starving and desperate. Sometimes, you have to bend the rules to survive."

Harry’s eyes flashed with something between anger and grudging respect. "Survival. Is that what you call it? Sneaking into my territory, undercutting my deals?"

"Call it what you want," Y/N replied coolly. "But I’m not here to play by your rules, Harry. Not anymore."

Harry’s men shifted uneasily, sensing the rising tension. Harry glanced up at the sniper, then back at Y/N. "This ends now, Y/N. You tell your people to stay out of my territory, or next time, treaty or no treaty, there will be consequences."

Y/N stepped closer, her voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. “I’m not backing down. Not for you, not for anyone.”

For a moment, they stood there, inches apart, the rain pouring down around them, the fog swirling at their feet. The memories of the bloodbath they both wanted to avoid loomed over their confrontation, a silent reminder of what was at stake.

Harry’s jaw tightened, his eyes locked on hers. "I warned you. Next time, I won't be so lenient."

With that, he turned sharply, signaling his men to follow. They melted back into the shadows, leaving Y/N standing alone in the alley, her heart racing but her resolve stronger than ever. The rain continued to fall, washing away the tension but not the memory of their encounter. She knew this was just the beginning, and the next time they faced off, the stakes would be even higher.

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

Y/N made her way through the rain-soaked streets, the adrenaline from her encounter with Harry still coursing through her veins. She navigated the labyrinthine alleyways of her territory until she reached a nondescript warehouse. Inside, the dim lighting and the smell of damp concrete provided a stark contrast to the chaos outside.

The warehouse was bustling with activity. Men and women moved purposefully, sorting through shipments, counting cash, and packaging drugs for distribution. The hum of machinery and the murmur of low conversations filled the air. Victor’s operation was large and well-organized, a testament to his cold, calculating leadership.

At the far end of the warehouse, a man sat behind a cluttered desk, his presence commanding despite his unassuming appearance. He was older than Y/N by nearly twenty years, with a cold, calculating demeanor that had earned him respect and fear alike. His name was Victor, and he had a reputation for being as ruthless as he was strategic.

As Y/N approached, Victor looked up from his paperwork, his piercing gaze settling on her. "You're late," he said, his voice devoid of any warmth.

Y/N nodded, shaking off the rain. "I ran into some trouble, but it's handled."

Victor's eyes narrowed slightly. "Did you make the deal with Sean?"

Y/N took a deep breath, recounting the details of her encounter. "I met with Sean. He’s fed up with Harry's control and wants out. He's one of their biggest distributors, and he’s willing to work with us if we can offer better terms."

Victor leaned back in his chair, his expression unreadable. "And what did Harry have to say about this?"

Y/N hesitated, knowing that the next part of her report would not please him. "Harry knew I was there. He confronted me, tried to intimidate me. But I held my ground. He has no idea about Sean's intentions."

Victor's fingers drummed lightly on the desk, his eyes narrowing to slits. "You took a risk, going into his territory without backup. You could have jeopardized everything."

Y/N met his gaze unflinchingly. "I had backup," she replied, thinking of the sniper. "And it was worth the risk. Sean is valuable. If we can secure his loyalty, we weaken Harry significantly."

Victor considered her words, his expression remaining stern. "And you believe Sean is trustworthy? He reached out to us, but that could be a ploy."

"I trust him," Y/N said firmly. "He’s desperate, and desperate people can be useful. Besides, we’re offering him a way out. He has no reason to betray us."

Victor was silent for a long moment, his eyes studying her intently. “I hope you haven’t misplaced your trust this time."

"I haven’t," Y/N replied confidently. "This is our chance to hit Harry where it hurts."

Victor nodded slowly, a cold smile creeping onto his lips. "Very well. Continue working with Sean. But be careful. Harry won’t take this lightly, and he’s not someone we can afford to underestimate."

Y/N nodded, feeling a sense of determination. "’ll handle it."

Victor leaned forward, his eyes sharp. "Good. And Y/N?"

“Remember, loyalty is everything”.

Y/N's heart skipped a beat, but she kept her expression neutral. "I won’t."

Victor dismissed her with a curt nod, returning to his paperwork. As Y/N left the warehouse, she couldn’t shake the feeling that the lines between duty and desire were becoming increasingly blurred. The rain had lessened to a drizzle, but the storm brewing was far from over.

They had met when they were just kids, newly initiated and eager to prove themselves. They hadn’t even turned eighteen yet, and the world of crime and rivalry was still new and intoxicating. The first time she saw Harry, he was standing in a grimy alley, his youthful face set with a determination that matched her own.

From the very first day, they were pinned against one another. Victor had always made sure to poison Y/N's mind, filling her with stories of Harry's ruthlessness and the cruelty of his gang. He painted Harry as the embodiment of their enemy, someone to be despised and defeated at all costs.

But despite the animosity Victor instilled in her, Y/N couldn’t help but notice the fire in Harry’s eyes. There was a spark there, a drive that mirrored her own. They clashed often, their encounters fierce and unyielding. But beneath the surface of their rivalry, there was an unspoken understanding, a recognition of kindred spirits.

Back then, Harry’s boss was a different man—cruel, ruthless, and feared by all. He ruled with an iron fist, and Harry was his protégé, learning the ways of their world under his harsh tutelage. The man was a constant presence in their lives, a looming shadow that dictated their every move.

Years passed, and the battles between their gangs grew bloodier. The streets were painted with the consequences of their rivalry. The turning point came when Harry's boss was killed in a brutal skirmish. In the chaos that followed, Harry emerged as the new leader, taking over with a resolve that was both feared and respected.

Victor had always kept Y/N close, grooming her to be one of his most trusted members. He continued to feed her a steady diet of distrust and hatred for Harry. "Never forget what he stands for," Victor would say. "He's our enemy. Always has been, always will be."

Despite the indoctrination, Y/N couldn’t shake the memories of their shared past. She remembered the way Harry had looked at her during their first encounter. It was a connection that neither of them could deny, even as they stood on opposite sides of a deadly divide.

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

Y/N made her way to the hospital, after securing her payment and leaving the warehouse. The familiar ache of longing and love filled her chest as she approached the sterile, imposing building. This visit, a ritual she never missed, was the one thing that brought light to her otherwise shadowed existence.

Y/N hadn’t joined a gang at sixteen out of a desire for power or excitement. It had been a desperate measure, a necessary evil to secure the funds needed for her sister’s treatment. Her sister, Emily, was just ten years old and battling a relentless illness. The money Y/N earned through her dangerous work was the only thing keeping Emily’s hope for a future alive.

As Y/N walked through the hospital corridors, the stark white walls and the scent of antiseptic did little to soothe her. She navigated her way to Emily's room, her footsteps quickening as she neared the door. She took a deep breath before pushing it open, her heart lifting at the sight of her little sister.

Emily lay in a bed surrounded by beeping monitors and IV drips. Her face lit up with a bright smile as soon as she saw Y/N. "Y/N!" she exclaimed, her voice weak but filled with joy.

Y/N forced a smile, trying to mask the turmoil inside her. "Hey there, sunshine," she said, approaching the bed and gently brushing a strand of hair from Emily's forehead. "How are you feeling today?"

Emily shrugged, her smile never wavering. "A bit tired, but I’m okay. The doctors say I’m doing better."

"That’s great news," Y/N said, her voice soft. She sat down beside the bed, holding Emily’s small hand in hers. "I brought you something." She reached into her bag and pulled out a small, wrapped package. "Open it."

Emily’s eyes widened with excitement as she unwrapped the gift. Inside was a sketchbook and a set of colored pencils. "These are perfect!"

Y/N’s heart warmed at her sister’s happiness. "I thought you might like them. You can draw all the things you are going to do when you leave the hospital”.

Emily nodded enthusiastically, already flipping through the pages of the sketchbook. "The beach, the park, maybe even you and me together."

Y/N’s smile faltered for a moment, the weight of her choices pressing down on her. She quickly pushed the thoughts aside, focusing on the present. "I can’t wait to see your drawings."

They spent the next hour talking and laughing, the bleakness of the hospital room fading away in the light of Emily’s joy. For a little while, Y/N could forget about the dangerous world she was entangled in, finding solace in her sister’s company.

As visiting hours came to an end, Y/N reluctantly stood up. "I have to go now, Em. But I’ll be back soon, okay?"

Emily nodded, her smile unwavering. "Promise?"

"Promise," Y/N said, leaning down to kiss her sister’s forehead. "You just keep getting better, and we’ll have all the time in the world."

With one last look at Emily, Y/N turned and left the room, the weight of her double life settling back onto her shoulders.

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

The air was thick with anticipation as Y/N and her crew gathered in a dimly lit alleyway. Victor had received intel that Harry’s gang was making a move to reclaim and prevent Sean from selling for Y/N’s gang. Harry’s gang planned to kidnap Sean, ensuring he couldn’t betray them. Y/N’s orders were clear: protect Sean at all costs.

The clash began in the shadows, a chaotic melee of fists, knives, and gunfire. The alleyway turned into a battleground, the sound of fighting echoing off the walls. Y/N moved with practiced precision, taking down opponents with a cold efficiency. Her senses were heightened, every sound and movement sharp and clear in her mind.

In the midst of the chaos, she spotted Harry, his presence unmistakable even in the dim light. Their eyes locked, and for a moment, the world around them faded away. The fire in Harry’s eyes was as fierce as ever, matching the determination in Y/N’s.

“Y/N!” Harry shouted over the noise, his voice a mix of anger and something else she couldn’t quite place. “This ends now!”

Without another word, they lunged at each other. Their fight was intense, a blur of swift movements and exchanged blows. Harry’s strength was matched by Y/N’s agility, each anticipating the other’s moves with an almost instinctual familiarity.

Harry threw a punch that Y/N barely dodged, countering with a swift kick that caught him off guard. He stumbled back but quickly regained his footing, his eyes never leaving hers. The rain-soaked ground made their footing precarious, but neither wavered.

“You’ve got balls, I’ll give you that,” Harry growled, wiping a trickle of blood from his lip.

“Balls aren’t enough to survive in this world,” Y/N shot back, her voice steady despite the adrenaline coursing through her veins.

They continued to fight, each trying to gain the upper hand. Harry managed to pin Y/N against a wall, his grip strong and unyielding. “Why are you doing this, Y/N? Sean isn’t for you to take!”

Y/N glared at him, her breath coming in short, sharp bursts. “This has nothing to do about Sean. I was given orders and I have to obey”.

Their fight resumed with renewed intensity, neither willing to back down. Around them, the battle raged on, the sounds of struggle blending into a chaotic symphony. Y/N and Harry were locked in their own private war, each move a testament to their skills and their conflicting desires.

Y/N swiftly drew the small knife she always carried with her. Realizing that the only way to take him down was to stab him, she knew she had to act fast. He was much bigger than her. She was strong, but not strong enough to overpower him without the blade.

Before she could make her move, Harry’s reflexes kicked in. He drew his own knife in a flash, and before Y/N could react, he had nicked her arm. A sharp pain shot through her as blood began to seep from the wound, staining her sleeve.

“You think you can take me down that easily?” Harry sneered, his eyes cold and calculating. “You’ve got a lot to learn.”

Y/N gritted her teeth, refusing to show any sign of weakness. She adjusted her grip on the knife, her mind racing for a strategy. The pain in her arm was a stark reminder of the danger she faced, but it also fueled her determination.

They circled each other, both on high alert. The rain continued to fall, making the ground slippery and adding to the tension in the air. Harry lunged forward, aiming for another strike, but Y/N anticipated his move, sidestepping just in time and slashing at him with her own blade.

Y/N’s arm throbbed, but she pushed the pain to the back of her mind, focusing on the fight. She managed to land a shallow cut on Harry’s side, drawing blood. He hissed in pain, his eyes narrowing with fury.

“Don’t make me hurt you.” Something had changed within Harry, and Y/N couldn’t quite put her finger on it. He looked deadlier, his eyes colder and more ruthless than ever before.

Harry was quick to land a blow on Y/N, knocking her to the ground. He wasted no time in picking her up, his strong hand gripping her neck as he pressed his knife against her throat.

Y/N’s heart raced with a mixture of fear and something else entirely. The pressure of his massive hand around her neck sent a thrill through her, mingling with her worry. She stared into his eyes, defiance and a flicker of excitement burning within her.

“Styles! Stop!” yelled one of Y/N’s most trusted men, his hands raised in a gesture of mercy. He noticed that Y/N’s feet weren’t touching the floor, suspended by Harry’s grip on her throat. “We’ll leave. Don’t kill her.”

Y/N’s face turned red as she struggled for breath. Every instinct in her body screamed at her to give up, the pressure making her feel like her eyes were about to burst from their sockets.

Harry’s grip tightened momentarily before he loosened his hold just enough for Y/N to gasp for air. His eyes remained fixed on her, cold and unyielding.

“Don’t test me, darlin' "

Part 2

[gravidwithlore]

Different types of preggy wizards!

Potion Master

Many ingredients and spell/potion components actually grow quite abundantly within the human body, and with a few basic protective charms and spells, a natural or artificially created womb is perfect for the job. Potion Masters often prefer to grow their ingredients themselves to ensure the quality meets their strict standards. A Potion Master can be spotted by their usual uniform: thick dragon-hide gloves, face protection (usually in the form of a hood or eyeglasses, which are then charmed to protect the entire head), and low-cut robes that provide easy access to their chest.

Despite not carrying any progeny that would need to be breast-fed, the human body often insists on producing milk anyway. As it would turn out, many potions, from common recipes to rare concoctions, either require breast milk or breast milk can be substituted for certain ingredients (which is an extremely rare phenomenon regarding potions ingredients, most teachers ban any substitutions at all unless it's breast milk). The low cut robes provide easy access to an oft used ingredient. Busy Potion Masters will often find their breasts engorged, their bodies will quickly adapt to the demand and begin to oversupply to compensate.

Academic

These wizards deal mostly in theory and controlled magical experiments. Little experience, or even desire to go, out in the field. Possibly the most common stereotype of a wizard, they're often found in libraries combing through stacks of old tomes. Because of this, many rich or noble families who desire to have more magical talent in their bloodlines will ask academic wizards to surrogate for them. It's a bit of extra money for their research, and it's not like they have to do much standing or walking when they can use magic to summon the books or supplies they need.

Over time, academic wizards have become very prideful of their surrogate work. Competing with other academics as to how many offspring they can carry, how long they can carry them, and even keeping tabs on the surrogate children to see who produced the most magically talented. They can also be spotted by an abundance of jewelry, often gifted in addition to their hefty surrogate contract payments, they proudly display, rather than use as spell components, as a mark of how many surrogacies they've completed.

Adventurer

While academic wizards often fit the wizard stereotype, adventurer wizards are the opposite. They live a life that's freer and less structured than most other wizards, and some even tend to be 'looser' than most wizards. Being more exposed to the world, it's variety and temptations, adventurer wizards often end up impregnated by accident, whether by a fight with slimes gone wrong or by a single night of 'drinking and dancing' with one of their party mates, just to name a few examples. Pregnant adventurer wizards are often looked down upon by the rest of wizard-kind, both for the lack of family planning and for the often mismatched outfits they sport, often dressing in whatever they can fit in, as it's hard to find a good tailor who can keep up with their growth and their traveling schedule.

Adventurer wizards often end up settling down outside of the big cities or universities most wizards call home. They usually settle down soon after giving birth. Perhaps not after the first time, or even the second, but usually somewhere between the third and fifth time; when it gets too strenuous, or depending on the location, too dangerous to travel with a party full of young children. Although there are a few who adapt to living in caravans, their ever growing family housed in a series of magically connected and protected caravans they use to continually travel the world in.

Satellite schools or small independent schools are often started by adventurer wizards, giving people in rural and wild areas access to a magical education they would otherwise have to move far away to even get a chance at getting. They are known to teach more practical magic, giving those who then wish to move to more traditional schools an excellent educational baseline. While adventurer wizards may be looked down upon for being "dirtier" from traveling and "sluttier" than most wizards, some of the greatest academic wizards of the day were taught by adventurer wizards. Even if an adventurer wizard does fit the stereotype of mismatched travel worn clothes with a heavy belly, a baby on their hip, and a toddler at their ankles; doesn't mean their contributions to magic and magical education should be disregarded.

Royal Wizard

Many kingdoms require that Royal Wizards have a minimum number of children. The reason is that a wizard who is so powerful as to obtain the status of a Royal Wizard needs to spread their genes and produce a few other powerful magic welders to pass on their power. Adventurer wizards promoted to this position may have already fulfilled that requirement, but since children born as surrogates dont count, academic (and other types of wizards) immediately feel the pressure of this new duty weighing them down. Of course, a Royal Wizard can always leave the child bearing to a partner or so, but in the past, this has left room for doubt of parentage. To prevent the disasters a court drama like that can bring (royals are very big on the whole 'bloodlines' thing), Royal Wizards often just choose to carry the required offspring themselves.

One often can't become a wizard powerful enough to be promoted to a Royal Wizard without a good amount of hubris. And in their hubris, most newly appointed Royal Wizards choose to carry all the offspring they're required to produce in one single pregnancy, despite the warnings of the Royal Wizards that preceded them. They always think they'll be the ones to perfect it, or do it better, or weave just the right combination of spells to alleviate the struggles of previous, 'obviously inferior,' Royal Wizards. Most come to regret this decision around the time the second trimester hits.

It certainly doesn't help that a Royal Wizards pregnancy may take much longer than the average wizard's due to having to pause their pregnancies due to the importance of their work. If a kingdom is at war, it wouldn't do to have your most powerful wizard at risk of going into labor at any moment. Or so gravid they cannot stand to give their speech at a peace conference. There are a thousand different situations, either real, fabricated by the ruler they serve, or even fabricated by the wizard themselves, that force a Royal Wizard to put their pregnancy on pause until it's convenient for them to finish growing their brood and allow labor to commence. While one might assume a Royal Wizard would only have to endure this once in their lifetimes, several kingdoms do have bylaws that state a Royal Wizard must conceive the required amount of children for each new ruler that ascends the throne. Conceive, not birth, which prevents the Royal Wizard from simply pausing their pregnancy at the end of a rulers life. This is most common in kingdoms with high turnover in leadership, or those with bylaws requiring the reigning ruler to be the one to breed their Royal Wizard.

[bellobambino]

I'll be happy to solve this billing issue for you, Mr. Mangione. It seems as though your mailing address was pulled from your parent's account. It's no problem, sir. I can help update that for you.

Have you downloaded the Healow app? You can use it to make changes to your account, view healthcare documents, find new providers in network. It's wonderful. You can update your mailing address there. Is there anything else I can help you with today, Mr. Mangione?

Sure, I can stay on the line.

After making account changes, it might take some time to update on my end.

Sorry to put you on hold, thank you so much for patiently waiting. I spoke with my colleague and it seems the Healow app doesn't have permission to make changes in our HealthSure database.

I've just emailed you the form to update your address. Once you send that to us filled out, we can get this all situated. Yes sir, it's a link to the form. What you'll need to do is access the Wanky app. Yes, at HealthSure, we use Wanky so your private data stays secure. I'll wait while you download Wanky.

Right, Mr. Mangione, once you've created your account, you can access all the forms you need to update your information for HealthSure.

The app crashed? I've had better luck with some clients using the Wanky program on their desktop computer. Yes, I can wait.

Yes, I've sent the change of address form to your Wanky account already. It's not showing up? I'm terribly sorry for the inconvenience, may I put you on hold?

Sorry for the wait, Mr. Mangione. I've spoken with my supervisor. He's advised me to send you the form in the mail. Once we receive the change of address form back at our Atlanta office, we can make the necessary changes to your account.

Just one moment. Can you confirm to me your mailing address please?

Hmm.. that doesn't match the one we have on the account. Yes... Yes, this the address you're trying to change. I'm aware. I still need to type it in to confirm your credentials on my end of the system. Don't worry, Mr. Mangione.

Okay thank you for that information. ... Okay, Mr. Mangione. I'm going to mail you a packet to the address on file. If you can fill i out and send back to us--

... Right, yes, mr mangione. I see the problem now. May i place you on a brief hold?

Thank you so much for waiting. I spoke with my manager and he said the easiest way to update your account information would be to access the Wanky app on the computer, filling out the form, and then submitting it through the documents tab in the Healow app.

I'm sorry for your frustration, Mr. Mangione. I'm trying to make this as easy as possible for you.

[vanesa]

How I Customize Windows and Android

Windows: Rainmeter

Rainmeter Skins

Rainmeter | Deviantart

r/Rainmeter

Rainmeter is where I get nifty desktop widgets (skins). There are a ton of skins online and you can spend hours just getting caught up in customizing. There are clocks, disk information, music visualizers, weather widgets*, and more.

I get most of my skins from the links I posted, but they are by no means the only resources for Rainmeter skins. r/Rainmeter and Deviantart have some awesome inspiration.

This is what my desktop looks like right now:

Dock: Dock 2 v1.5

Icons: icons8 - this is probably the best free resource for icons I know of

"Good Evening [name]": Simple Clean

Clock: Simplony

* Note about weather widgets: Older Rainmeter skins that use old weather APIs will likely not work. The Rainmeter forums has information with lists of weather skins that do work.

Windows: Useful Things for Workflow

Flow Launcher - this is basically a search bar, app launcher, and even easy-access terminal all in one. The default hotkey is Alt+Space. I use this almost primarily to do quick calculations. There are a ton of plugins and I've barely scratched the surface with how I use it.

ShareX - This is my screenshot tool and I love it. Admittedly, I find it difficult to configure, but once I had it set up, I didn't really have to adjust it. You can create custom hotkeys to screenshot your entire screen, or to select your screen, or even use OCR. This has saved me a ton of time copying over text in images and making it searchable.

Bonus - Get Rid of Windows Web Search in the Start Menu: If you're comfortable with editing your registry, and you want to get rid of the pesky web results in Windows search, this fix is what I used to get rid of it.

Android: Nova Launcher

This is my main Android launcher that I've been using for almost as long as I've owned a smartphone, and it's super customizable. The best part is that it's free with no ads, and you can purchase premium at a one-time cost.

The main things I use it for are app drawer tabs, renaming apps, hiding apps, and changing the icons.

I've had premium for so long that I've forgotten what the features were, but looking at the website, the one feature I use is app folders.

This is what my phone homescreen and app drawers look like:

Time/Weather: Breezy Weather

Calendar: Month: Calendar Widget (I got this on sale for like 30 cents once but there are a plethora of good calendar apps out there)

Icons: Whicons - White Icon Pack

Advanced Customization

Further things to enhance your customization experience to look into include:

Flashing a custom Android ROM (e.g. LineageOS)

Give up on Windows & install Linux instead (Ubuntu is a good one to start with)

Android app modification: ReVanced apps (includes Tumblr), Distraction Free Instagram

Miscellaneous notes under the cut:

None of these links are affiliate links. These are all tools I happen to use on a daily basis and I'm not being paid to promote them.

Install Rainmeter skins and programs I recommend at your own risk. Before altering Windows, such as editing the registry, make sure you have everything backed up.

The Windows web search fix works on my Windows 11 machine. I don't know if it works for Windows 10, but I do know I was able to disable it in Windows 10 at some point, so your mileage may vary.

Install non-Play Store apps at your own risk. (Although in my opinion, open source APKs are less sketchy than some apps on the Play Store...) Always check where you're downloading APKs form!

The wallpaper for my desktop and phone are custom wallpapers I made myself.

(At the request of @christ-chan-official)

[nogacheloveka-blog]

The Bad Sanses somehow ended up in the Backrooms. №9

<-Switch to Russian ver.

next 10

prev 8

This is the translation of the another post from Russian to English. I understand English, but it is very difficult for me to write in English, so I asked chat GPT to help me. I have corrected some parts, but there still may be mistakes.

I encountered an organization called "To Be Determined". It inspired me to create this drawing. In this organization, there are 6 people who trade highly nonfunctional and peculiar items. I immediately imagined it as a shop run by lost Temmies (Flowey and Bob) from different AUs within Backrooms.

I noticed that there aren't that many prepared posts about bad guys in the backrooms - maybe two or three more. A couple of weeks ago, I started a new job and haven't been drawing much.

I think these posts about bad guys will be once a week, on Saturdays.

Please wish me inspiration =)

The new rooms were similar to Level 0 in their structure. Clusters of office rooms, with and without office furniture. But now there was a pleasant addition in the form of windows. The closed door of the previous place, as before, disappeared behind them when they passed through it. Nightmer seemed calmer without the negative water supply. (Again, being able to clearly distinguish the auras of his wards was definitely pleasant)

After some wandering, Nightmare sensed another presence nearby. Within seconds, everyone heard a distant

“HOOOOY!”

This exclamation certainly wasn’t what Nightmare wished to hear, yet if these were Temmies (or something like them), then they might provide information — even though their brains seemed similar to confetti made of narcotic flakes.  At the same time, the place where the Tems might live cannot be too dangerous.

Following the sound, the group found themselves in a medium-sized office room. Soft bean bag chair (Error felt nostalgic for Antivoid) and strange objects, presumably for sale alongside an old cardboard box, occupied one corner. Something resembling Flowey danced as if trapped in an animation loop near merchandise, becoming slightly animated upon seeing customers. Two monsters dressed similarly to Temmies sat nearby. Bob stood apart, his expression frozen, suggesting he had eaten Temmie Flake.

As it turned out later, two more monsters from this group were missing, busy gathering supplies and goods for the little shop. They all seemed to come from different AUs.

Here were also computers, many of which were operational. They tried to access the Undernet and various sites. They couldn't. Instead, they entered a sort of knowledge base. A local Wikipedia or something similar. The browser already contained open tabs, but they couldn't open new ones - there was no network connection. Someone had left the browser open, he took the equipment with him. And, oh, it seemed they had found gold while looking for copper: by reading the text, they understood that the author of the notebook was making notes from this knowledge base. This was easy to understand by the style. There were about a hundred open tabs: items and entities, but mostly levels. From the amount of new information, their heads were spinning. Some levels were described in an unusual way, requiring attention to details to extract additional information. And nothing about exiting from here. There were levels-dead ends, levels-traps, but nothing about a real exit from here.

However, on the other hand, it became evident that there weren't many people in the Backrooms, and they moved individually due to the nature of how many levels was work. Almost everything here seemed to be trying to kill them. But it appeared that not even the dimension-killer could do anything against their DETERMINATION.

Temmies struggled to provide clear answers regarding humans; instead, they simply told strangers, "Temmies too pieople," and strangers treating them like quirky yet harmless folks. How could such a system work? Perhaps these humans were slightly mad. Or perhaps very tolerant towards others' differences. Either way, avoiding contact would be wise.

The presence of monsters in these places brought some comfort. The Bad Guys weren't the only ones who had a rough time. That was good. But the fact that some other monsters they encountered were distorted beyond recognition - like the Smilers - raised serious concerns. It was nerve-wracking.

While Error, Cross, and Dust were exploring the local equivalent of the internet, others used the suddenly freed-up time for themselves. For example, they tried to trade. They all had some amount of monster gold and items to exchange, which Temmies agreed to accept. Horror bought a "Strange Amulet," sweets, and some food to diversify their diet. Almond Water was certainly good, but it was getting boring, and they never tried to cook Greasy Marshmallow. Considering the amulet useless for himself, Horror gave it to Dast.

Strange Amulet ATK: 10 DEF: 10 Made from butterflies in the stomach. It smells of hopes and dreams turned to dust. Allows forming new friendships.

Killer bought numerous boxes of Temmi Flake and Flowey Seeds, several paint cans, and countless small parts of mechanisms along with some mysterious steel scraps, strange red shavings - it seemed he enjoyed them. He also tried planting grass, but Horror stopped him.

Temmie Flake Restores 1–10 HP and sanity *represented by cut yellow wallpaper soaked in Almond Waters

Flowey Seeds Restore 10 HP *represented by seeds coated in Greasy Marshmallow

Nightmare didn't particularly need any products, but somehow excitedly Temmies looked at his tentacles (too much positivity) and offered a discount. Eventually, he purchased a notebook containing maps of certain stable levels from them. Unfortunately, those maps were unsigned. Since he wasn't sure if damaging traders would be beneficial, he decided to go the honest route this time around. After all, merchants held a special status across worlds.

The group stopped at this location for a couple days to record all the information from the site that could be useful to them. It turned out that sequential exploration of levels was only possible up to level 12. Beyond that, entrances and exits from levels led randomly, and any movement scheme resembled a pot of spaghetti. But in theory, they needed to explore this entire pot to find a way home. There were levels that looked like a one-way ticket, empty, unexplored, strange, surreal, remote, and destroyed. Overall, they could work with this.

Temmies didn't mind their company. Soon returned two departed collectors - underfell!Temmie and Temmie in "Temm Armor". They were surprisingly normal compared to the other merchants and shared some information:

People here can also be dangerous just like Fallen Child of Dungeons;

Many who live outside bases and settlements are mad to varying degrees especially those who haven’t drunk Almond Water for long;

Monsters can safely trade with lone humans;

People at outposts and bases usually think rationally and may attack if they realize you are not human. But even with them, you can negotiate.

Nightmare belongs to Jokublog Killer belongs to RahafWabas Dust belongs to Ask-DustTale Horror belongs to Sour-Apple-Studios Error belongs to CrayonQueen Cross belongs to JakeiArtwork

[jaystephevents]

💜❤️💜❤️. Save the Date! ❤️💜❤️💜

JaySteph Weekend

August 9-11, 2024

💜 Stay posted for our Interest Survey and Prompt Voting! (It’ll all be one form this year).

❤️ Prompt Voting will be from April 2-9 and prompts will drop by April 11, so you’ll have 4 months to work.

💜 Our theme this year is “The Summer of AUs and Feelings.” We’ll have 3 prompt categories… can you guess them? You got it!

Summer

AUs

Feelings

Each category will have one prompt per day. You can use just one category’s prompt for your work, or combine them.

And, you can interpret the prompts as broadly or as wildly as you want! It’s ok if your Summer work has nothing to do with summer, as long as it has something to do with the prompt word itself.

💜❤️💜❤️ Event Info ❤️💜❤️💜

❤️ This is a ship-friendly, censorship-free event open to all. We will use #batship and #dark tags if applicable on work reblogs so they can be filtered out if needed. We want this event to be accessible to everyone regardless of triggers.

💜 Your work must be brand new and JaySteph-centric. Your JaySteph can be platonic, romantic, or NSFW. We don’t allow JaySteph-poly ships in order to keep the focus on our rarepair’s relationship with each other, but side poly ships are fine.

❤️ Almost all types of fanwork are accepted! Fanfic, fanart, playlists, mood boards, edits, incorrect quotes. Be sure to read the Rules and FAQs before beginning to create. (I will update those links shortly but you can find them on desktop in the page tabs).

@dc-fandom-events @fuckyeahjaysteph @jaysteph-server

Please reblog to help spread the word!!

[shinobi-bacon]

How I Make Gifs!

I've gotten multiple asks in my inbox about the method I use to make these animal crossing gifs:

So I figured it was about I time I answer these asks in the form of a separate post using gifs and screenshots to help explain things! I will warn that this will be an EXTREMELY LONG explanation, but I want to give as much details as I can under the cut. I'm going to use Queenie as my example!

The first thing I do is go to Photopia on Harv's island, a place where you can take photos using any of the villagers in the game and all the items you've collected. I use the Custom Designs app on the nook phone to download different colored wallpapers and floors. The colors that I use depends heavily on the villagers. I've used different backgrounds to make these gifs: green, blue, magenta, and (very rarely) black. For Queenie's colors, it was best to use green! I usually place the villagers towards the back of the wall while I stand in the center of the room. From there, I take out the phone's camera and start recording different reactions.

To record these I use my capture card, the Elgato HD60 S, and the capture software that you can download from Elgato's website. Any capture card and recording application will work.

I use three adobe apps to make these gifs: Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Photoshop. I know not everyone has access to these, but I was able to obtain these with the help of some friends. I won't go into details, but I will leave you with this image as a friendly reminder:

Premiere Pro - Here is where I drag all of my videos down onto the timeline and begin the editing process!

I try to find the best looping points for each reaction. I mark those points using the "Mark In" and "Mark Out" buttons located at the bottom of the preview window. The "Mark In" sets the starting position for the villager reaction and the "Mark Out" sets the ending point, creating a bracket for that specific reaction.

After marking these points, I use the "Play Video In and Out" button and then I make sure to click on the "Loop Playback."

This will not only play the parts of the timeline that I've marked, but it'll loop that exact bracket.

From there, I go to File > Export > Media (or ctrl+m on keyboard). This will bring up the export settings window. I turn the "Source Range" tab to "Sequence In/Out," so it only exports the spots I've marked with the "Mark In" and "Mark Out" buttons.

I then go to the source tab at the top and select the cropping tool.

I make sure to click the box under the "Match Source" button to remove the check mark, and then click the chain icon next to height and width settings to put a slash through the symbol. This allows me to freely crop the video and adjust the height and width of the output, so I can make a perfect green screen box around the villager

I then export this video and move on to the next reaction. I have folders for each gif set that I make. They usually look like this for all the villagers I've completed sets for:

After Effects - Here's where I open all of the reaction files. I go to the effects panel and open the keying tab.

This is where the magic happens! There are three keying effects that I use: Color Range, Key Cleaner, and Inner/Outer Key.

First Effect : Color Range - Starting the keying process, I use dropper tool on any part of the green that's behind the villager. This will only remove some of the background elements because how unevenly colored the green is, due to the lighting of the game.

I then use the dropper with a "+" icon on the rest of the background. What helps me is clicking the "Show Channel and Color Management Settings" button at the bottom of the preview window and switching to the "Alpha" view. The alpha channel deals with the transparency of an object and switching to this view allows me to see every bit of the wallpaper and floor that remains. This is where I can apply that dropper+ tool to get rid of them. It doesn't have to be perfect, because the other keying effects that'll be used will help get rid of the loose pixels of green that may still be present.

From here, the only adjustment that I sometimes use under this effect is the "Fuzziness" tool. Some villagers will have various color patterns that'll get keyed along with the background. Bringing down the fuzziness helps bring some of those colors back. This does run the risk of bringing some the background pixels back into the video, but that can easily be erased. I usually don't need to adjust the fuzziness. Again, it all largely depends on the colors of the villagers. After all of this is done, I now have a transparent background, but now there's a green outline around the villager:

Luckily, the next effect will help with that!

Second Effect: Key Cleaner - This plugin helps clean up the alpha channel around the edges of the villager. The only thing I do here is select the box labeled "Reduce Chatter" and turn the "Alpha Contrast" all the way to 100%.

This helps erase most of the outline and makes the edges a little sharper, but there's still a tiny bit of green that surrounds the villager.

Third Plugin: Inner/Outer Key - I will admit that I don't utilize the entirety of this effect's capabilities. I only adjust the "Edge Thin" and "Edge Threshold" sliders, which should shave off the rest of the green outline.

Using these tools, I've now completed the keying process and I have a nice, crisp villager reaction with a completely transparent background!

Next I go to File > Export > Add to Render Queue (or ctrl+m on keyboard). I bring up the output settings by clicking on the "Output Module." I then change the format to QuickTime, which will render the reaction as a ".mov" file. I then change the channel to "RGB + Alpha" to render the object (which is the villager) and the transparent background.

Once this is done, I hit the render button and the reaction has been exported! After doing all of this with the first video file, I highlight all of the effects that I've applied from the effects panel by clicking on the names:

I then hit ctrl+c on my keyboard, open the next reaction into the timeline, and then hit ctrl+v. This copies all the effects applied to the first reaction and pastes them to the next video. I repeat this process for each file so I don't have to redo the entire keying process for all of the reactions. After they're all rendered, I can move onto the final adobe step.

Photoshop - This is where I open all of the QuickTime files that I've exported from After Effects.

From here, I can apply any adjustments to the villager, whether it be adjusting the brightness, messing around with the hues and saturation, increasing the speed, etc. The main thing I do here is decrease the size. These files are usually huge so I have to adjust the size so I don't risk putting groups of extremely large gifs on peoples' dash. I go to Image > Image Size (or Alt+Ctrl+I on keyboard) and change the width and height to five inches. Of course, any size you choose will work. Five is just perfect for me because it's not too small to ruin the quality of the gif.

After this is done, I got to File > Export > Save for Web (or Alt+Shift+Ctrl+S on keyboard). This is where I can preview the gif.

I go to looping options on the bottom right and change it to "Forever," otherwise the gif won't loop. I then turn the matte to "None" so the gif doesn't export with an outline around it. I also make sure that the transparency box is checked. This is what my window looks like before I hit the save button:

Once I hit save, that's it! Queenie has been exported as a gif. You can see that gif at the top of this post.

If you've made it this far, thank you for reading all of that! I know some parts of this could've been just a simple summary, but I really wanted to show all the details of how I use every application in this gif making process. I will say that I'm no expert at adobe. This is just a method that I pieced together after experimenting with different combinations of keying effects and I managed to make it all work. I apologize if this process seems messy to advanced users out there and I welcome any tips if they help make things easier!

[ivoryfirefly]

Sex Work as a Choice: a rant

The normalization of sex work is woefully misguided. Over the past few years, I feel like it's gotten to a disgusting unrelenting low. How barely-legal women are being targeted and sold degradation as empowerment, wrapped in the sparkly language of “choice,” “feminism,” and “financial freedom.” But let’s be real: there’s nothing liberating about selling access to your body, your image, or your sexuality to survive.

Let’s take the whole “sex work is work” movement. The problem isn’t that people in the industry deserve safety, rights, and protection, because they absolutely do. The problem is that capitalism, patriarchy, and misogyny have worked together to convince young women that selling sex is freedom. That being consumed is a form of power. That having men drool over you, jerk off to you, and throw you coins means you’ve won something. But all it means is that the system has done its job: it made exploitation feel like a “choice.” Why is it that I know girls with beautiful minds and all the potential in the world, who went straight to stripping post-high school? It's not because they truly wanted to, even if they feel that way now.

Because here’s the thing: how free is a choice like that in a world where women's sexuality is already stigmatized? You really think all those girls on OnlyFans are living their dream? Or are they trapped in a loop of monetizing their bodies because it’s the only thing the algorithm rewards, the only thing the world affirms, the only thing the vast consumers (men paying for it) validate? The algorithms are built to push content that sexualizes women. That’s not a conspiracy, it’s just data. Sex sells, and when a platform notices it gets clicks, that’s what it promotes. So even girls who didn’t set out to sexualize themselves end up doing it, because that’s what gets traction. You’re not choosing to play the game. The game is rigged so that playing it is your only way to be seen.

And let’s talk about the men, the ones consuming all of this. They’re silent lurkers, tab-hopping from porn to dating apps to Instagram models. They don’t see women as people, just options. Products. Fantasies. And when they do interact, it’s often entitled, transactional, or flat-out predatory. And still, we’ve created a culture where their desires are catered to in the name of female empowerment.

Even Hooters—let’s go smaller-scale—is marketed as harmless, kitschy, even “fun.” But the underlying message is clear: wear a tight tank top, be hot, smile for tips. It’s not far removed from the gig economy of porn. It’s just another rung on the ladder of male entertainment, where women’s worth is measured by how much we’re willing to expose. And if you question it? You’re a prude. A pick-me. Too conservative. As if it’s somehow radical to offer yourself up to a system that was built to chew you up and spit you out by 30.

And let’s not pretend dating apps aren’t part of the same ecosystem. Women are expected to essentially market themselves: curate photos, witty bios, flirt just enough to stay desirable but not desperate—all to maybe land what: a mid date, a shitty hookup, a pointless “situationship” (kill)... God forbid a real, equal relationship, right? All unpaid labor. And if you don’t participate? You’re invisible, “not putting yourself out there.” All of this, whether it’s overt sex work or the performance of femininity for digital male approval runs on the same fuel: your self-worth as a product.

And sure, some women do enjoy this shit. Some feel empowered, and that feeling is real for them. But that doesn’t mean the system isn’t still rotten. You can feel powerful in your prison cell, but that doesn’t make it a palace. Just because you chose it doesn’t mean it isn’t degrading. Because “choice” in a culture that constantly commodifies women isn’t always agency, it’s often coercion in disguise. Empowerment isn’t flashing your body for survival. It’s not being paid to pretend you like it. Empowerment is being allowed to exist without selling yourself. Empowerment is safety, autonomy, and the option to say no, not glamorizing a world where that no is rarely respected unless it’s behind a paywall.

So no, sex work isn’t empowering. It’s just the oldest trick in the capitalist playbook: make women think their objectification is a form of power, then call it feminism when they profit off it. Because no matter how “empowered” a woman feels posting her body online or dancing for male validation, it does ripple out. It changes the water the rest of us are swimming in. It raises the bar for what we’re expected to give, even in non-sexual spaces. And that’s not just theory—it’s visible in how unhinged (some!) male behavior has gotten. The entitlement. The desensitization. The comparisons. The obsession with being visually fed, constantly. It’s exhausting. And the generational cost? It’s massive. A whole wave of girls growing up thinking their value lives in how clickable they are. Their beauty curated for the male gaze, their worth tied to engagement, their boundaries blurred by content creation. We’re not moving forward—we’re looping back in a circle, only this time it’s digital.

[mcyt-longfic-database-project]

I GOT BORED, DATABASE SUBMISSIONS ARE NOW OPEN

Welcome to the MCYT Longfic Database Project!!

Hello!! My name is Jim (@rocketships07 , he/him), and I'm just a guy with a passion for data analysis and cubitos. I have been compiling, for a few months now, a small google sheets file of my favorite mcyt longfics, because I enjoy being able to see some stats and have everything in a place I can access. However! It ocurred to me that it would be very fun to develop a much larger database so that I could share it with friends!

So, the MCYT Longfic Database Project was born.

This form will include plenty of different sections for you to fill, such as title, fandom, word count, main character(s), ship (or ships), main tropes or au, amongst other categories with the purpose of data analysis! Mainly because the database will also have an analysis tab, where you can see some fun stats about the database!During this period, the database will not be public. This is due to the fact that Google Forms does not format the information correctly, and I will be creating a much easier to read file for everyone to see! After the end of this period, the forms will continue to be open! I will not be updating it constantly after that, but I'll try my best to keep it updated!

After March 1st, the database will go live!!! I will continue to update it and add fics as long as people keep submitting them. Feel free to share it with your friends and use it to find new fun fics to enjoy! Feel free to submit as many fics or series as you'd like !!! Do try to get the information as accurate as possible, it really helps with the development of the database!!!

[nsfwitchy2]

Sorry I keep talking about it but it’s literally been years since I saw a callout post and now I feel like I’ve been catapulted back to being 16 years old, but with all the mental capacity now of like. An adult???

And I’m honestly a bit,,,,, startled? Concerned? Unnerved? By the realization of just HOW unhealthy callout culture is

Like yeah we’ve all talked about how callouts are bad because they’re pretty much always he said/she said, how a lot of times evidence can be fabricated, how even the most well intentioned callouts will often spiral off the rails and become an excuse to pick apart every little thing someone does so you can find reasons to keep hating them. We’ve talked about how they’re often aimed at minorities and used as an excuse to be transphobic or racist or some other form of bigoted, how “justice” based around social ostracization creates a world where people cannot learn from their mistakes and grow because they will always have them lorded over their head.

But looking at a callout now, as an adult, I am KEENLY aware of how fucking unhealthy this behavior is as a whole. There is quite literally no worse way I can imagine spending my time than obsessively stalking the page of someone who supposedly hurt me, let alone multiple someone’s.

If someone sat me down right now and forced me to pull up the social media pages of the girl in high school who made me suicidal and destroyed my mental health, and then forced me to follow her pages so I could have a 24/7 live access to her life updates - I would assume that person is an FBI agent and this is some new form of government torture.

Even if the callout is about someone hurting somebody else, even if you’re just “doing this to spread awareness”, you are making a martyr out of yourself - one that nobody asked for.

The time and energy and dedication it takes to make a callout post or video, let alone to run entire blogs dedicated to calling somebody out - you’d have to basically be keeping tabs on someone 24/7. Why….. would you do that to yourself? Why would you spend all this time keeping tabs on somebody who hurt you, or that you hate, or that you believe to be a bad person?

And more importantly, why would you ever give someone that much power over you, willingly? Why would you give someone that much power to consume your every waking thought like that? Why would you give someone that much power, to know that they can still hurt you because you are still interacting with them, even if just passively?

Forcing yourself to look at content you hate, forcing yourself to keep tabs on people you hate and believe are bad people, people who may have even hurt you - that’s not helping anybody. You’re not spreading awareness, you are publicly self harming and demanding it be called justice.

[pastelprcdigy]

PEOPLE OF INTEREST

Now that I have access to some of Umbrella's secluded files, I thought it best to create an addendum to Log 7. Due to further developments I've observed, there are a lot more people of interest to look out for besides the people listed.

[BAKU]

Interest Level 4, Code C Notes: Honestly, I'm shocked this guy never made it to the original list. Supposedly responsible for the disappearances of multiple wayward travelers, trainers, and even children in some cases -- all because his trainer decided to remove herself from the census. [BAKU] is larger, far more aggressive, and far more powerful than other members of his species -- all at the cost of stability to his physical form. Despite having gone through none of our conditioning and procedures, [BAKU] seems to give off the same energy as a Shadow Pokémon -- potential XD-series candidate?

[TWERP GIRL]

Interest Level 1, Code D Notes: Seemingly normal Pokémon trainer from Paldea who's been extremely annoying in the group chat to me. Could potentially be a threat to the XD002 project. Send my current agent in Paldea to keep further tabs on her.

[BLUE RAT]

Interest Level 2, Code B Notes: This little shit exposed me to the rest of the group chat. Annoying, mouthy teenager who claims to be the '''fastest thing alive'''. Note to self, touch base with Ivo later to get more information on this one.

[PINK RAT]

Interest Level 3, Code C Notes: Self-styled girlfriend of [BLUE RAT], daughter of [GARBAGE COMPACTOR], and niece of [CAR COMPACTOR]. Fairly weak on her own, save for that hammer of hers. We could potentially capture her as a way to exchange for [BLUE RAT]. In that case, deal with [GARBAGE COMPACTOR] and [CAR COMPACTOR] first to prevent whatever rampage they can go on.

[SUNFLORA]

Interest Level 3, Code CNotes: Former escaped lab experience who thinks he's the smartest sprout in the room. Despite alluding to some kind of secret power, he claims to be content with sitting back and watching as events unfold. I wonder how far you could push him before he decides to take action. Anyway, he's currently preoccupied with certain theatrical pursuits. Approach once those are over and done with.

[GIRL FRIDAY]

Interest Level 2, Code D Notes: I CANNOT STAND THIS BITCH. Despite being a weak, Doduo-limbed, overly compassionate, insufferable little daycare worker, [GIRL FRIDAY] somehow managed to wrap [BAKU], [CADAVER], and [HELL'S DEMO] around her bony little fingers. Hell, she even managed to seduce [CHAMPION] with those big Sawsbuck doe eyes of her. Once we've accounted for all four of her protectors, we can attempt capture again.

[CADAVER]

Interest Level 4, Code B (could become Level 5 and A) Notes: I have unfinished business with you, sweetie.

[THE SWARM]

Interest Level 5, Code B Notes: Apparent sentient hivemind of serpentine creatures that can form together to create a single being. Despite purporting to be a scientist of some high regard, doesn't seem to have a brain? Weird. Approach for consultation on a future XD-series project when opportune.

[FALSE PROPHET]

Interest Level 5, Approach In Progress Notes: YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE. I'M NOT GIVING MY NOTES ON YOU HERE.

[crossoverdanuary]

Crossover Danuary Week 2024 Master Post

Crossover Danuary Week is a daily prompt event, this year occurring the 21th-27th.

Each day has two prompts; a word prompt and a fandom prompt. The idea is that you can either choose a fandom and do the word prompt, or use the fandom to create something without the word prompt, or use both to create something of that fandom with that word prompt.

The general idea is to get people to try writing for new fandoms they wouldn't normally pay attention to, and just get more dp crossovers out there in general.

The week will consist of 6 fandoms encouraged to crossover with Danny Phantom, with Wednesday as a free space, and optional secondary prompts.

The Timeline Is:

Jan 1-9: Suggestion Form is open, to give the later poll options to vote from. Fandoms will only appear in the voting poll if it was suggested first.

Jan 10-15: Voting Poll is open, to decide which of the suggestions will actually be used this year

Jan 16-20: Schedule is released early so people can prepare

Jan 21-27: Crossover Danuary Week

Jan 28-29: Honorable mentions

Questions may be asked to this blog, and will be tagged “#Xover Danuary Q/A”

If you want to be @tagged on tumblr when we post announcements for this Event, please DM the Event Blog and I will add you to the tag list.

The rules and more info are available at the spreadsheet I have linked here.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BKSgskcy6Hhsjc1HMxIRuMKPRXA_mVaahgXv8WJMCnM/edit?usp=drivesdk

[tj99er]

I'm sick and tired of social media, but I can't stop myself from logging in to Twitter and looking at toxic discourse. I still don't know what's wrong with me...

When it comes to curbing a social media obsession, will-power alone often isn't enough and there is nothing wrong with you for struggling with that.

As much as I love the internet and the social media found amongst it, most social media websites are intentionally designed to be addictive.

But IMO social media is still worth engaging with as long as the media that keeps you coming back is something that makes you happy.

But with Twitter in particular, I've noticed that, more and more, that is no longer the case. When it reaches that point, you should

0. Identify when it reaches the point of obsession. Of realizing that a hub of your free time has gone from something you enjoy engaging with to one that is involuntarily stealing your attention and making you unhappy.

When you do inevitably notice this, there are a number of steps you should take, either short term just to redirect your focus or long-term if you're committing to a full exitus like I have been.

1. Uninstall the app from your phone. No good can come from having the source of your problems in your pocket and 1 button press away. AT BARE MINIMUM remove the shortcut from your phone's background. It is more confrontational to delegate your primary Twitter access as something you can only see on your main computer.

At least there, any time you spend on Twitter is directly proportional to the time you could spend doing literally anything else. This should automatically make you care less about it since now competes with everything else you could possibly want/need to so and it can no longer permeate the between-spaces of your day as much.

If you're like me and the main reason you keep your Twitter account at all is to keep up with notifications...

1b. Stop ALL forms of non-essential posting INCLUDING RETWEETS of things you like. After being conditioned for years as the guy who retweets every Orin post he sees, this has been a slow unlearning process, but for every single post you make - even if it's just sharing someone else's art - is an open prompt that gives you more reason to return.

Copy a link and share it in a discord server if you MUST, but any time you open the website and see a number next to the notification tab, it is a validation that you have reason to keep coming back.

If limiting it to your main computer isn't enough...

2. Completely log out. You know what's even more confrontational than needing to already be in your recreational space? A big ass screen plastered with the website's branding that requires you to manually enter your information.

If your browser has your login info saved, remove that shit. Your mission is to make signing into your account as inconvenient as possible.

Doing this much has historically been enough to keep me away most of the time, but some people may need to go farther...

3. Change your password. Create a completely incomprehensible and string of characters and store it somewhere inconvenient, but in a place you will never lose it. This is where things can get a bit risky, but if you truly and utterly misplace your password, you got a recovery email and 2FA for a reason.

And if forcing yourself to jump through all of these hoops isn't enough, you may just have to face that it's time to

4. Delete your account. Look, if you are struggling to control yourself to a point where you can STILL notice your usage habits are out of your own control - even after jumping through every single one of these hoops - this is an extreme problem and the time for cautious self-created barriers is probably over.

If you truly and utterly can't fight off the urge to return to a platform that you can confidently recognize as being harmful to your well-being, then the only thing left to do is to give yourself nowhere to return to.

Take a day to archive any personal favorite posts or bookmarks, and wipe the slate clean. Twitter may very well continue existing but you can at least ensure your own space within it does not.

Just as your addiction can be fed by the press of a single button, so too can it be cut off. Social media is given value through the connections you make over it. Although you technically CAN just create a new account, it will never be the same as your old one and that gives way you less to return to.

[booktowerofficial]

Booktower Updates: November 4th🍂☕

So we're sharing some of the cool updates we have added to Booktower recently. You can access our update announcements regularly by joining our discord (as linked in the Booktower site) or by heading over to our updates tab in Booktower directly.

First, if you didn't already know, Guilds is a recently added feature in Booktower which allows users to join and form Guilds based on different fandoms. This creates a sense of community, giving readers a chance to chat with people who share similar interests and gush to them about their favorite fanfics, books, characters, and more!

Many of us at Booktower often wished there was a better way to connect with other fans of our fandom, especially when it comes to fanfic sites that don't offer much room for user discussion.

And that's where Booktower's Guilds comes into play!

Guild Updates:

You can now subscribe/unsubscribe from Guild Threads to receive notifications whenever there's a new post!

You can now format your Guild Threads/Posts using our WYSIWYG editor!

You can now use emoji codes in Guild Thread Titles and Posts! See here for the full list of supported codes.

You can now edit and delete your own Guild Threads & Posts.

General Updates:

Created a help page with more details about our achievements.

We added a plaintext link to the sign up and login email for users who have tracking blockers that were preventing the button from working.