#and drafted a few social media posts for the social media coordinator to have a look at

[thatrandombystander]

I've been at this office job for less than 2 weeks and I was already developing beef with the HR team, and now I've learnt that my whole team has beef with them

We had a team meeting and my boss gave me a task, my coworker went "isn't that something HR should do and should have already done?", to which my boss replied "Yes but I need it done well and soon so we're doing it ourselves"

Lmao get wrecked HR, the grad that's just started is better trusted to do good work than you are

[kingkatsuki]

okay, but i recently saw a stat that john cena holds the world record for most make a wish granted at like 650, and he just keeps topping himself.

like imagine that’s dynamight? and he’s so full of himself about it, bragging to shitty deku that 650 kids don’t even want to see his nerd ass. or that the other heros could never balance hero work and the wishes like he can.

and idk, maybe you’re the make a wish coordinator. and at first katsuki was really doing it because he didn’t want to let down any single kid, but now he doesn’t want to let you down either.

like, he’s skipping galas and other dumb sponsored shit for a make a wish visit. having to fire his assistant for canceling a visit without even consulting him first. and now you’ve got his personal number, because you can call him directly whenever you need a hero visit (he’ll drag whoever’s ass down to the hospital that he needs to) and maybe you can use the number for other things.. if you want or don’t! he totally doesn’t care, ignore the blush on his cheeks

That is exactly what made me think of the last post! Lol. I think at first he’s not even interested in doing it at all, his hero ranking is great, he’s doing great and he’s a busy Pro-Hero. Just send the kids some of his merch, if you drop it by the office in time he’ll sign it and game over.

But one morning there’s a letter sitting on his desk waiting for him, and usually he doesn’t get fan mail to his office, some of his staff are assigned to sorting through it and drafting responses with template paper printed with his signature. So he’s confused why he’s received this one— he doesn’t bother opening it at work, too preoccupied with the mission reports on his desk as he shoves it into his pants pocket.

It’s later that week when he’s doing laundry at home and you find that letter in his pocket, he’d almost forgotten about it too. Tearing it open as he looks inside the envelope— the main letterhead is from you, the make a wish foundation explaining what this is and why it was sent to him. A separate handwritten letter included which looks a little scruffy but it has colourful drawings all over the lines on paper as he begins to read it, noticing it’s a request to meet him from a young fan.

Bakugou doesn’t know what it is, whether it’s the letter from you that explains the kids illness along with how much he loves Dynamight, asking if there’s anything you can do to make him drop by or how basic the kids request is. Bakugou’s seen other Pro’s doing the same philanthropy, taking kids on extravagant day trips, holidays and other experiences but all this kid wants is to meet him? But he ends up agreeing to go.

Bakugou enjoys it way more than he thought he would, taking the time to visit a few more kids in the hospital as he swings by (in true Dynamight fashion he doesn’t tell his PR team he’s going so the next day when there’s only fan photos on social media they’re up in arms at the loss of a perfect PR opportunity), but more than anything he enjoys meeting you.

Finds himself dropping by the hospital more often when he’s out on patrol, or coming home late from work. “You know the kids are asleep right now, Dynamight?” You tease as you lean against the counter, stuck on the night shift— and of course he knows, he’s not stupid. But is it really such a crime to want to see you too???

And kinda like the other drabble I did? Where he finds out about other kids from you, what heroes they like/what they enjoy doing and he makes things happen. He gets their favourite heroes to come and visit, or he brings them the toys they want.

[blogpcwade]

After going through this article on PCHomeWorld, I have learned so much about how ChatGPT applications on iPhones can improve efficiency toward conducting businesses. Here are a few key points:

Improved Communication: The most tangible benefit that I derived was an increase in communication efficiency. The saving of my time was by drafting all the emails and responses to customer queries via ChatGPT and, most importantly, making all communication uniformly professional. This has been particularly useful for handling routine inquiries and follow-ups, allowing me to focus on more strategic tasks.

Enhanced Collaboration: ChatGPT applications have been utilized to ensure better collaboration within the team. With such apps, scheduling, setting reminders, and arranging meetings have become very easy, and it allows me to become better coordinated with my team. There's in-built AI for reminders and notifications to ensure every person is in the loop and reduce the likelihood of missing a deadline or something important.

24/7 Customer Service: The superb applications of ChatGPT have such features built in, meaning customer service is never unavailable. With the help of these applications, I can instantly respond to client queries at whichever time of the day. This boosts customer satisfaction and makes the client more loyal, as they appreciate such timely and prompt responses.

Efficient Content Creation: ChatGPT apps make it super easy to create content for anything, be it a blog post, social media update, or any other marketing document. This makes it so easy for me to still have a good online presence without putting in too much time for the writing and editing process. A user can create content in a consistent and energetic way, therefore making the deliverables come through. The PCHomeWorld article further elaborates on these benefits by giving tangible examples and use case scenarios. For example, the article cites ChatGPT apps intended for enterprise use and concrete examples of how one would implement them in an organization. It also goes to the extent of dealing with the promising future of AI-based improvements in increased business efficiency.

Overall, it has been as transformational as having ChatGPT apps bundled into what I like to call my work ecosystem. Automating repetitive work with sharp communication, this app lets me ruminate on the strategic growth areas rather than anything else for my business.

[universe-2-0]

What are the Stages of Game Development?

If you have a question like “What are the Stages of Game Development?” then this article is for you. In this guide, we will explore the various stages of game development, from the initial planning phase to the post-launch stage. Understanding these stages is crucial for anyone interested in creating their own games or pursuing a career in game development.

Planning Stage

The planning stage is where the game concept is born. Developers brainstorm ideas, define the game's objectives, and outline the gameplay mechanics. This stage involves market research, target audience analysis, and setting project goals. Key Questions - What's the game about? - Who's the target audience? - What platform will it be on? - How long will development take? - What's the budget? - How will we measure success?

Pre-production Stage

During the pre-production stage, developers focus on fleshing out the game concept further. This includes creating concept art, designing characters and environments, and drafting the storyline. Additionally, developers create a detailed game design document outlining all aspects of the game.

Production Stage

The production stage is where the actual development work begins. Programmers, artists, and designers collaborate to build the game according to the specifications outlined in the game design document. This stage involves coding, asset creation, and level design. Key Activities - Writing code - Designing levels - Creating characters and animations - Recording sound effects - Testing gameplay mechanics - Iterating based on feedback

Testing Stage

Once the game is developed, it undergoes rigorous testing to identify and fix any bugs or issues. Quality assurance testers play the game extensively to ensure it meets quality standards and delivers a smooth gaming experience. Feedback from testing is used to make necessary improvements. Types of Testing - Functional testing - Performance testing - Usability testing - Compatibility testing - Beta testing with real players

Pre-launch Stage

In the pre-launch stage, developers focus on marketing and promotion strategies to build anticipation for the game's release. This involves creating promotional materials, reaching out to influencers and media outlets, and generating buzz on social media platforms.

Launch Stage

The launch stage is where the game is released to the public. Developers coordinate with distribution platforms to make the game available for purchase or download. Launch day is critical, and developers closely monitor feedback and reviews to address any issues promptly. Strategies - Double-checking for bugs - Optimizing performance - Generating buzz on social media - Hosting launch events or livestreams - Monitoring player feedback and addressing issues quickly

Post-launch Stage

After the game is launched, developers continue to support it with updates, patches, and additional content. They also engage with the community through forums, social media, and customer support channels. This stage is essential for maintaining player interest and ensuring the longevity of the game.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the seven stages of game development are essential for creating a successful and engaging game. From initial planning to post-launch support, each stage plays a vital role in the development process. By understanding and strategically implementing these stages, developers can increase their chances of creating a hit game that resonates with players worldwide.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What skills are needed for game development? Game development requires a combination of programming, art, and design skills. Proficiency in coding languages such as C++, Unity, or Unreal Engine is essential, along with artistic abilities for creating graphics and animations. How long does it take to develop a game? The development timeline for a game can vary greatly depending on its complexity and scope. Simple mobile games may take a few months to develop, while large-scale AAA titles can take several years. What is the role of a game designer? Game designers are responsible for creating the overall concept and gameplay mechanics of a game. They design levels, characters, and game systems, and work closely with programmers and artists to bring their vision to life. How important is playtesting in game development? Playtesting is crucial in game development as it helps identify bugs, balance issues, and areas for improvement. Gathering feedback from players allows developers to make necessary adjustments to enhance the gaming experience. What are some common challenges in game development? Common challenges in game development include meeting deadlines, managing project scope, and optimizing performance across different platforms. Additionally, balancing gameplay mechanics and addressing technical issues can pose significant challenges for developers.

Join Our Community

Stay connected with us and become a part of our vibrant community on social media: - Facebook - Linkedin - X

Get In Touch

Have questions, suggestions, or feedback? We’d love to hear from you! Reach out to us through our contact page. At Universe 2.0, we provide information, tutorials, guides, etc., to grow the game industry. Visit us at: universe-2.com Read the full article

[zannolin]

hi zanna! do you have any tips on how you manage a zine production and what goes on behind the scenes /np was just curious and remembered you had tons of experience with this kind of stuff already

i'll offer what i can which probably isn't much since i'm just a lil social media mod and contributor but sure.

yeah so i've been on the zine scene for aboutttt 2-3 years now and probably the easiest way to get into things is to start as a contributor which means like, just putting yourself out there, applying a lot, eventually you'll get into something even if you go through a lot of rejection first (which i myself did, for like a year). being a contributor sort of gives you an idea for zine timelines and what goes on from the creation side. if you want to get into zine modding....unfortunately it's kind of a pain in the ass ngl like the easiest way to mod a zine is to have experience. it's what gives you the upper hand in a lot of mod apps. makes it hard to get into things if you don't have any, i know. good tips are like, join servers like zinetown which have a ton of resources and people to talk to, figure out what aspects of modding you're interested in or suited to (for me, i do social media because i had prior experience managing stuff for my own social media/commissions) and start learning! there's a lot of resources out there for all types of mods, and plenty of people willing to help you learn.

if you can, look for zines offering intern or junior mod positions. those are basically like, you get to help out and study under the mods and learn the ropes without being all on your own. very helpful! these can be few and far between though so sometimes your best bet is going to be luck. if you want to start a zine, it's possible to mod one without experience but you absolutely need to get someone with zine mod (NOT just contributor mind you: MOD) experience on your team. my go-to advice is start with a free digital-only project if you don't have experience; don't mess with physical or financial aspects at first. for those you're going to want someone trustworthy with experience anyway, for both shipping and finance/production. don't jump headfirst into a physical project if you don't have any experience because it will probably not end well.

um...honestly there's a ton that goes on bts of zines that i myself don't even know the first thing about. i see the surface and i help out where i can with my team doing production stuff but i can only do so much in non-social media areas, so most of what i do is just communications and public relations. i do a lot on the front end of things (making forms, setting up apps, social media posts, etc) and then i do a lot of updates and poking contributors to keep them on schedule but when it comes to shipping, graphics, etc i am not an expert. there is a whole lot that goes on behind the scenes though, even before a zine starts running. again: making forms, drafting emails, figuring out page count/how many contributors you want, writer word counts, themes, rules, etc etc, and don't get me started on pitches god pitch approvals can be such a coordination nightmare lol. but yeah best advice is join zinetown and look at all the resources they have compiled there because there's a good amount! and channels to talk to people for advice.

[mintycanoodles]

mmmmmmaybe a Cupcake Wars au where the Graduation Kiss never happened and Bitty and Jack went their separate ways never able to shake the feeling they missed out on something big and maybe neither of them really get over it but what can you do but waste countless sleepless nights thinking about what if’s??

so a handful of years down the road Bitty has his bakery and Jack is the darling of the Falconers but is a walking talking PR disaster who never really grew out of the hockey robot thing. so.

The Falconers are having some sort of Thing and get involved with Cupcake Wars to promote it. And who gets guest judge duty? To work on his public persona and media navigational abilities? Jack of course.

And who, of course, is one of the contestants??? Bitty duh so Bitty goes, and iirc contestants aren’t told the theme or guest judge beforehand so the drama bomb that drops when eyes meet and repressed feelings get tapped into and yeeesh now that’s what I call Awkward.

so. Despite two participants with major internal and interpersonal drama happening, the episode actually goes mostly smoothly. Neither Jack nor Bitty mentions it to anyone on the production team because whose business is it anyway and obviously no one did any homework on them so they?? act like they just don’t know each other???????? It’s not like they can sneak off for five minutes and hash it out so both just. Try not to interact directly too much but come on you know things happen.

Bitty can’t exactly forget Jack’s favorites and Jack cannot even begin to be unbiased (not when every taste he gets of Bitty's baking feels like home again, even after all this time). Jack may or may not fight the judges at every critique aimed at Bitty’s cupcakes, but Bitty hardly needs it, he solidly trounces the competition and wins. And gets invited to the Falconers Thing. Which works out pretty great in Jack's eyes.

Except it doesn’t. Bitty avoids him all evening? He cold shoulders Jack the whole time and Jack kind of gets it, the cameras are still rolling and they can’t exactly catch up now but still? Before Jack gets anything approaching a chance to talk Bitty packs up and he’s out of there as soon as he’s contractually able to.

So Jack may or may not eat his feelings in cupcakes over it. It feels like another missed opportunity and it stings and he wonders how he keeps getting it so wrong.

According to Georgia it’s an unqualified success. She watches the footage, pats him on the back for going through with it, and says something offhand about how well he got on with a few of the contestants (one in particular she notices. she doesn’t mention it). Jack gets in a funk over it, but there’s nothing to do but forget about it until the episode airs.

No one, definitely not Georgia, definitely not the PR department, is prepared for the chaos the premier causes. It’s not immediate, the episode comes out on a quiet Tuesday and the Falcs do some promotion for it, but not much, so some of Jack’s diehard fans watch it but they’re not expecting any kind of major major response. It was supposed to be something small and light to soften Jack’s image and work his media relations muscles. Who even watches Cupcake Wars anyways???? Plenty do. And they go nuts for the episode.

People who have no idea who Jack is, barely an idea what hockey even is, see Mr. tall dark and Canadian and see too exactly what Georgia had seen. Bitty and Jack and all the special attention paid to the little southern baker boy.

It’s, of course, obvious to anyone with eyes the sparks between them, the lingering looks, how Bitty can barely stop from grinning when Jack lists off his every favorite part of Bitty's cupcakes but has monosyllabic responses for the other contestants. As subtle as the two thought they’d been, they really hadn’t and it’s only a matter of time before it’s trending on Twitter and every lovelorn Cupcake Wars fan is writing RPF and subtweeting the Falcs and Bitty's account about it.

This is not exactly the public image Georgia had been hoping Jack would cultivate. They try to put out the fires, calm things down and make a few #relatable Twitter posts about it that the PR interns cook up. Georgia wheedles the real story out of Jack, and it throws her off kilter actually, once he fesses up to a few details that would make the collective heads of the internet reel, but she’s a professional. The PR team is a crack squad. They get things under control.

Until, of course, some intrepid fans uncover The Truth.

Mamely, how Bitty and Jack totally knew each other because they were totally on the same hockey team in college??? And had totally set records together and there were totally pictures still archived on school websites of celebration hugs and even a few traces left of a senior photography project that featured one Eric R. Bittle (and others) in touchingly intimate portraits???? and uhhhhh explanations????????? are needed?????????

#cupcakegate takes the Twitterverse by collective storm. Kardashians whom??? Bitty gets bombarded, the Falconer’s can’t make a single post about a home game without demands for updates on the drama and Georgia is nearly drowning in it all but wading through it like a champ.

The PR department reaches out to Bitty in an email that Bitty never responds to, his stomach too tied up in knots over all this debacle is bringing up, but he feels like this is partially his fault. He tries his best. He does a tell all vlog to set the record straight.

He tries to keep it simple, stick to the main points.

Why didn’t they say anything? Why act like they didn’t know each other?

Neither of them knew the other would be there (truth) and they didn’t want to disrupt filming or make it seem like Bitty had an unfair advantage.

Are they currently romantically involved?

No (truth).

Had they ever, at any point, back in college, been romantically involved?

No (truth?).

Was there anything, anything at all behind the long looks and soft gazes? A single spark? An ounce of unspoken, hidden attraction?????

No (lies).

Bitty bears his heart a little, gets going on a tangent on their relationship back in college and how much Jack helped him through and what a good team they’d been and how he’s a little sad he and Jack drifted so far apart (lies, it hurts, it’s never stopped hurting) but he’s happy for Jack and really proud of him and glad he got the chance to see him again and wishes him the best (truth).

Of COURSE this only makes things worse. Bless Bitty's heart but he has zero self awareness when it comes to Jack and his clearly lovesick vlog brings avid followers of the whole debacle to new emotional heights. People are invested. The drama continues.

It comes to a head when Jack himself braves the world of Twitter, finally, to try and hash things out privately with Bitty so he logs onto the dusty old handle Georgia created and verified for him ages ago that he’d, bless her heart, just never gotten the hang of. He knows Bitty's handle from all this hullabaloo now so he opens up a message, stares at the blinking screen for about a minute, then promptly has a breakdown.

Everything comes back to him. Every warm moment they’d shared back in college. Every time he felt Bitty there for him and every inch of home and safe Bitty ever gave him.

And how he never told Bitty how he felt (lies. still feels). How he’d let that slip right through his fuckup fingers.

It takes him two weeks to draft the message. That’s ages in internet time, so things die down a bit in the interim and other celebrity dramas unfold so Jack finally stops getting pestered about it by every pap and chirped by every team mate. He’s glad they’ll never put him on reality baking competition show duty again but is it worth it? (yes. yes it is)

It gives Jack plenty of time to stew and stew he does, until he’s finally able to write out a pretty succinct summary of everything he never got a chance to say.

It boils down to a couple main points:

Bitty was probably the best thing that ever happened to Jack. Bitty made him softer and better able to handle things and just gave him the safety net he needed and he would always be grateful to Bitty for that.

Jack had also never meant for them to drift apart, he’d always wanted to stay in touch, actually, he’d always wanted so much more than that but Jack knew Bitty didn’t feel the same way, so Jack created the space between them and he was sorry he’d been such a poor friend and had gotten it so wrong.

Jack hoped, maybe beyond hope, that it wasn’t too late. Jack asked if they could be friends again, that he missed Bitty, and he hoped to hear back from him.

Jack is rather proud of himself for all the emotional eloquence that goes into the message. He thinks Shitty would be, too. Of course, it is kind of annoying he has to split it up into so many pieces and tag Bitty's account in each one so they’ll send to him, something about a 140 character limit? Jack doesn’t really get it, but social media isn’t his thing. So he sends his piecemeal message and waits patiently for Bitty to get back to him.

Georgia regrets ever trying to get Jack any amount of media exposure.

Jack’s not so private love letter is screen capped, saved to hard drives, printed into longevity and takes the internet land by storm all over again. Jacks completely oblivious to it until day two or so when Shitty, Lardo, and every person he knew at any point at Samwell bomb his phone. Georgia does her best, she really does, but it’s the last straw for the PR team. They’ve long since collapsed in a puddle of tears and Georgia has to coordinate the disaster relief effort herself and enforce the media lockdown until they can just deal with this and Jack, it’s okay, we’re all here for you and your sexuality is valid but honey, no more internet for you. Georgia does take the thread down but its too little too late and there is going to be a million and one interviews about this and she hasn’t slept in days and-

and Jack feels bad for her. He feels a little embarrassed his personal business is so out in the open like that but. Well. It’s his own fault. He should have probably asked a few more questions about how to work Twitter. But deep down? It’s a huge weight off. He’d never exactly planned on coming out publicly because he never really thought he’d have anyone who would make him consider it but. Well. He’s said what he needed to say. About time.

He lets Georgia tell him what to do and what to say to whom. He does a few interviews, nothing televised, just a few online publications. It takes several more weeks for any of it to approach any sort of calm again, but eventually, an equilibrium is reached. And then, only then, does Jack get a call from a number he doesn’t have saved yet.

“Hey, Jack,” he hears in a thick southern accent when he picks up, and it doesn’t, not at all, send a shiver of pure warmth all the way down to his toes (lies, all lies).

“Bittle-Eric? Bitty. Hey,” he says. Bitty laughs.

“I think maybe we should talk. Would you, maybe, want to meet up for coffee sometime?”

“Yeah. Yeah, of course, I’d love that.” (truth)

[brawltogethernow]

Tagged by @mirrorfalls​, hey dude.

Name: Olivia, not a secret but I’ve never liked it.

Nickname(s): Brawl is literally the only nickname I’ve ever had and I love it honestly.

Gender:  Can’t claim to understand the concept even after some little study.

Star Sign:  Capricorn

Current Time:  ............................exactly 4:00 a.m.

Favorite Artists: Calder, Vermeer; not leaving museum fodder or broadening the definition of “art” or we’d be here all day watching me fall apart like Chidi Anagonye trying to pick a hat.

Song Stuck in My Head: *pauses to listen to mental radio* “Caramelldansen” because I keep seeing memes, actively at war with “History Maker” because I’m rewatching YoI. That’s...certainly an otaku cocktail.

Last Movie I Saw: My brother and I coordinated to watch the 2000 Digimon movie. (We live in different states and hold movie nights over text.) It was bizarrely nostalgic despite my never having seen it or literally one minute of any other Digimon media before. It is just so aggressively a product of that year. I could have seen it. I cannot mentally place it into 2020; it has to be edited into ~2000 retroactively.

Last Thing I Googled: “discrete” to check if you can use it like “specific” without the connotation of “separate”. You cannot.

Other Blogs: Reference-saving blog here is ellipsisfolder. A couple empty side blogs, one that isn’t empty that I don’t want people visiting because I use it to save stuff for text post memes and post/reblog things I don’t want an audience for, like if I need a really quick and dirty way to send myself an image. I’m currently clusterfracas on Twitter, which I have basically never used for anything except that it’s recently make it easier to stay tuned in to the only corner of the Spider-Man fandom with opinions I agree with. Thinking of changing it to the same name as this blog for synergy, but it being the clean version of my favorite word (clusterfuck) and also a synonym for brawltogethernow if you tilt your head... Am I ready to give that up.

Do I Get Asks: Yes! I love you guys. Once in a blue moon I even finish answering them.

Reason for URL: An old note on my phone suggests I picked it from a huge pool of roughly Homestuck-username- style blends of words and phrases with common syllables. (brawl + all together now = brawl together now; philosophy + velociraptor = philociraptor) I vaguely remember drafting it? Noodling down all the combos I could come up with in...the schedule-filler law class I had last period of my senior year...? I’m not sure if I intended to use one or wanted to have them on hand for writing projects. I think it was basically doodling, actually. And I guess...I referenced it when I finally made an account? I’m glad I passed over the cutesier ones for one that’s vaguely violent.

Following: Apparently 77. Lots...of these...are dormant. I only follow stuff that updates so infrequently I know I'll forget it before it updates again, aesthetic/theme stuff I 100% jive with, and people whose social media I catch myself starting to check for updates constantly in rotation with the zombie-like refreshing of my blog activity/dashboard/e-mail. Otherwise I check blogs manually when I actually feel like it. Busy dashboard...ungood.

Average Sleep: Bad. I’m currently leveraging shelter in place to experiment with going along with when I naturally get tired and wake up -- which I thought I’d done before and always ended up with a somewhat fluctuating schedule of going to bed around sunset and waking up nine hours later, but I’ve realized that was actually still influenced by my drive to get up and go to bed as early as I could manage, and the concept of a 24-hour day. I’ve abandoned both of those and if I'm afraid to share the results. I think people would cry.

Lucky Number: 22, 9.

Currently Wearing: Artsy Threadless shirt of the TARDIS materializing, dark jeans, burgundy plaid overshirt, disintegrating open front sweater, purple and lavender socks with a landscape of pine trees, clouds, and a moose.

Dream Job: Non-specializing actor but sometimes Marvel calls and begs me to take a writing job for them and I graciously comply, also I have a webcomic and am a novelist and a princess-firefighter.

Okay not a princess-firefighter.

Dream Trip: Check any two: hot, city, ocean is nearby

Favorite Food: Sushi.

Instruments: Took piano for a few years at my own behest but didn’t get very good at it.

Favorite Song: Nah.

Tagging other people. I hate this part. XD ...Who do I owe at least one of these.... @phoenixyfriend @whetstonefires @lizasweetling (??) If you want to play please consider yourself tagged; this will probably get you tagged in the future.

[quarterfromcanon]

2019 Fic Writing Roundup

I was tagged by my lovely friend @catty-words.

Total 2019 Word Count: 58,159

Total 2019 Hits: Asdfghjkl; Oh gosh, it’s much harder to tell when the work is only on Tumblr!  I’ll tally up the notes from there to get the closest approximation I can. It looks like there are 174 total (a mix of likes and comments) on the pieces that I posted from this past year.

Other 2019 AO3 Stats: N/A, although I did finally join AO3 *this* year, so next time around there’ll actually be things to put here! :)

Total 2018 Word Count: Published? None. I think I might have tried writing a little bit of something for myself somewhere in there, but I didn’t get back to any kind of public fandom writing until 2019.

Total 2018 Hits: None. What a difference a year can make! I look forward to comparing 2019 to whatever’s yet to come in 2020!

Other 2018 AO3 Stats: N/A

links and titles to 2019 works

Oooh, this is actually a good opportunity to list them chronologically rather than in publication sequence. Let me see if I can get them sorted. (If, however, you’d prefer to read them in the order that they were published, you can click here and simply open the installments in reverse, since Tumblr displays things oldest-to-newest.) All of the following were written for the Crazy Ex-Girlfriend fandom and feature Heather x Valencia as their central pairing.

1. Barrier  [1,385 words] - Following where we last saw them in 1.09, Josh and his friends continue their beach day now sans Rebecca’s presence. Consequently, Valencia’s critical eye falls on the only other woman in their company - Heather.

2. Unexpected [3,003 words] - The conclusion of 1.18 leaves Valencia with a lot of emotional baggage to unpack. As one of West Covina’s most frequented locales, Home Base is the first place that springs to mind where she might chase away her sorrows (or perhaps just air them out verbally while all other involved parties are away at Jayma’s wedding). Heather finds herself pulled into comfort and commiseration despite her efforts to avoid involvement.

3. Lost Control and Tumbled Overboard Gladly [3,265 words] - Heather goes to her parents’ home for the first holiday visit since moving out on her own. She has her new friend Valencia in tow. Sincere conversation and the rare allowance of vulnerability break down Heather’s walls with an ease that takes her by surprise.

4. Such Sweet Nothing [1,362 words] - Valencia and Heather return to V’s apartment after their Labor Day afternoon of story-swapping and quality time together. Valencia revels in the joyful acquirement of the second gal pal of her adult life. Heather contends with the dawning realization that her interest in Valencia may not be purely for friendship.

5. There’s A Reason Not to Want This (But I Forgot) [2,418 words] - Internet sleuthing with Rebecca pulls Valencia right back into a Josh fixation spiral. Heather must also face some unresolved feelings: namely, a crush now so intense it can no longer be denied.

6. Habits [3,599 words] - The desire to protect Valencia’s heart overrides the instinct to shield her own, and so Heather ends the self-imposed avoidance of her company. She arrives on V’s doorstep with a helpful cover story and some unfortunate news that needs to be broken gently.

7. I Want Not to Want Anything [1,314 words] - Heather Davis gets Santa Ana Winded.

8. Breathless [3,673 words] - A talk with Heather about Rebecca’s impending marriage to Josh leads Valencia to reassess what matters to her. A rosé-fueled jaunt to a local green space gives rise to the persistent inkling that what - or rather who - she really wants may be a lot closer to her than she’s ready to admit.

9. No One’s Really Got It Figured Out Just Yet [3,289 words] - Valencia throws the bachelorette party for Rebecca. Gurl Group antics and H+V flirting tactics set to hits from the mid ’90s and 2000s ensue. 

10. Evading [2,207 words] - In the wake of events from 3.05 and 3.06, Heather and Valencia have a much needed heart-to-heart. They put some important truths into words while treading lightly around a few unspoken facts so delicate they’re best left in the margins.

11. How Long Do You Plan to Keep Me at the Back of Your Mind? [2,442 words] - An evening welcoming Valencia’s girlfriend Beth to be an honorary member of the Gurl Group doesn’t go quite as smoothly as planned when Heather has a difficult time harnessing her lingering feelings.

12. You and Me, Always Between the Lines [1,828 words] - Now that she has spoken with all of her immediate family members and closest friends, Valencia is prepared to announce her first romantic relationship with a woman on social media. In Beth’s absence, she seeks the moral support of her best friend. Heather is readily by her side for this next big step in Valencia’s coming out journey.

13. Gradation [2,503 words] - Valencia’s time with Beth is at an end and, in her hour of heartbreak, she returns to the same place for comfort as the previous occasion when she found herself suddenly single: across the bar from Heather.

14. Rough Draft [2,625 words] - Valencia and Heather FINALLY get together. Valencia experiences her own “Oh My God, I Think I Like You” freak out.

15. Strategy [1,212 words] - Heather and Valencia have a stay-at-home date night featuring deliberately cringey pick up lines and tangled limbs on a couch in the dark.

16. Verity [3,834 words] - Heather temporarily resumes her role as Valencia’s assistant coordinator when they plan a vow renewal celebration for Paula and Scott. On this night, the recently remarried couple may not be the only two pouring out their hearts in a room full of loved ones...

17. Different and the Same [1,035 words] - Valencia and Heather just moved into their own place. They spend their first morning there together and make good use of the privacy and freedom this new residence affords.

18. Finishing Touches [1,157 words] - Heather and Valencia personalize the interior of their new living space. The situation soon devolves into paint-splattered hijinks.

19. Patterns in the Light [1,058 words] - Despite the fact that they are literally cohabitating and have professed their feelings for each other, Valencia remains a clumsily flirty nerd and I love her for it. Heather does, too.

20. Sage [1,324 words] - After being trapped in a car with someone she didn’t want to be trapped in a car with, Heather returns covered in a dead woman’s ashes. Valencia’s time as a ghost-beleaguered home energy cleanser has arrived at last. She is uniquely qualified to save the day.

21. Portage [1,707 words] - Heather has plans for a couple’s trip with Valencia. The only obstacle is keeping it a secret between the two of them.

22. The Courage and the Strength I Need [1,957 words] - Valencia struggles during Heather’s business trip because it is their first time apart since becoming a couple. They FaceTime to ease the pain of distance and talk about their future.

23. Wanna Be With You All Alone [1,237 words] - Heather comes back from the aforementioned work travel to find that Valencia has made special welcome home arrangements.

24. Midnight, Fright and Candlelight [1,426 words] - A quiet evening is interrupted by a power outage. Heather and Valencia find a surprisingly wholesome and G-rated way to pass the time. 

25. Next to You [1,550 words] - The big yearly Davis Family Reunion quickly approaches. Valencia prepares to accompany Heather to this event and be introduced to many members of her extended family.

26. Warm Whispers [1,683 words] - Heather and Valencia just want to be all cute and domestic and spend the morning fooling around. Their cats disrupt these pursuits in typical feline fashion.

27. “When We’re Together, Darling, Every Night Is Halloween.” [1,228 words] - Heather and Valencia get ready to attend a Gurl Group Halloween party. Their second annual couple’s costume? Gomez and Morticia Addams. 

28. #afewofmyfavoritethings [2,838 words] - Nathaniel, Rebecca, Valencia, Heather, Paula, Scott, and Tommy all rent a cabin for vacation. This piece follows them through a day of wintertime fun. Pure fluffiness here and I had the best time writing every second of it.

Favorite Fic: Probably #afewofmyfavoritethings. I packed it with elements I personally love and moments I was hoping my new friends in the fandom would like. Plus, it was honestly just so good for my soul to write these characters in a soft world where they could engage in classic snow day activities and enjoy each other’s company.

Hardest Fic: I knew there were a few installments of Femslash February where I wrote whole paragraphs or even pages I didn’t keep/decided to revise, but I was pretty sure I also remembered at least one where I wrote an entire separate piece. My sleep schedule was, shall we say, not advisable during February but it was also easily the most exhilarating month of my year. I tracked down the evidence of that rewrite and it turns out the incident I recalled was for Unusual Kiss (the prompt for Day 4 of FF). The original involved something to do with butterfly kisses because, evidently, my inclination to link Valencia to winged beings knows no bounds. I’ve got to admit that I’m still fond of the concept of Valencia giving Heather a subtle “kiss” during a hug in that painfully frightening time before Beth when she was afraid to outright kiss a woman in any way that couldn’t be dismissed as platonic. There’s a good chance an interaction of that nature could appear somewhere in the full story. I am notoriously drawn to that angst period of undisclosed pining so the temptation is quite strong. Still, I’m glad I used the version I actually posted and saved elements of the first draft for later. Fragments of their conversation from the original will probably make it into the final tale, but I think I prefer to sprinkle them across several exchanges instead of divulging them all at once.

Do You Plan to Take Prompts in 2020? Sort of yes and sort of no. I am participating in the Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Valentine Exchange, which involves a prompt-esque note from the participant each of us were assigned as our guide to spark inspiration for the gift. It’s also possible that there’ll be some writing prompt list posted somewhere along the way just like Femslash February was last year, and I’ll end up wanting to join the fun. Other than that, though, I’ll mainly stick to the one writing project in an effort to hone my focus.

What was the best thing about 2019? I’d definitely say the bonding and interactions with other members of the fandom. The encouragement and support I received from them remains the primary motivation for me to keep writing and chasing after the ongoing goals I set for myself.

What was the worst thing about 2019? The most honest answer that my mind immediately supplied is death of a close relative. While that isn’t the sole reason for the dip in my creative output (especially since there were multiple months between my last published fic and the passing in question), I know it could certainly be counted among the contributing factors to an overarching writing problem I had. Even before my family’s loss, there was a shift in my thought process that only got worse once there was more on my plate in my personal life. There were many times I sat down wanting to write again but it felt too difficult and intimidating to commit words to the page. I couldn’t seem to transfer them from my mind to the keyboard and I’d invariably switch to doing something else. I developed this terrible internal conviction that insisted the larger fic I wanted to write wouldn’t work as well as the shorter installments. That gnawing insecurity would have me believe one month’s worth of well-received efforts was already such a marvel that anything beyond that point was somehow pushing my luck. Where did the mental voice originate and why couldn’t I shake it? It’s difficult to parse out but what I do know is that I’ve firmly decided 2020 is going to be a year I put it on silent. I know what it’ll mean to me for everything that’s been floating in my head to finally be told in one cohesive format, and to have the satisfaction of giving my favorite characters the ending my heart says they deserve. It’s a sense of closure that’s worth the pursuit.

Any last thoughts for 2019? The bad parts of the last twelve months made me want to essentially say “good riddance” to the year, but the good parts were far too treasured to wish all of 2019 away. I am so grateful for the new people I met and friendships that solidified during that time. I especially owe my most heartfelt appreciation to @catty-words, @notbang, and @monaiargancoconutsoy. Thank you for everything. <3

Goals for 2020

Finish. The. Fic.

I believe everyone I know who writes fanfic has already been tagged but, if you haven’t gotten the chance to look back over your writing year, by all means, use these questions to give it a go! :)

[alexsmitposts]

Joseph Goebbels’ Followers Shaping Policy in Washington Recent events clearly show that, owing to efforts of the current US political elite, teachings of Propaganda Minister of Nazi Germany, Doctor Paul Joseph Goebbels, have taken root in the United States and are being actively propagated in various spheres of work and life. And there are numerous examples of this! The author is referring to the stoking of racial tensions and hatred in the past decades in the United States, and to CIA’s “black sites” all over the world, where, just as in Nazi Germany, detainees were tortured and perhaps continue to be tortured to extract “confessions that authorities wish to hear”. In addition, the United States has been using targeted killings of political opponents as a tool. The widely-publicized assassination of Major General Qasem Soleimani in Iraq is one of the most recent examples. The US could also be on the brink of a revolution, which the current political elites stand to benefit from. After all, protests, possibly orchestrated by intelligence agencies, to show people’s disillusionment with former national heroes are still ongoing and so is the tearing down of historical monuments. Perhaps, the burning of books deemed as subversive is next, just as during a campaign conducted by the German social-democrats in 1933. Nowadays, USA’s once powerful and sophisticated weapons no longer seem threatening. After all, in all the conflicts that Washington has been involved in, particularly those in Iraq and Afghanistan, the US has repeatedly failed to reach its goals and sustained losses, which include the lives of thousands of American servicemen as well as billions of dollars, and damage to the US image. In this climate, the current US leadership, in a last ditch effort to stay in power, has resorted to Goebbels-style propaganda. Back in the 1930s, Doctor Goebbels formulated the core principles behind such war-time and political propaganda. The key is to capture the popular imagination, which is the main aim of any disinformation campaign, and to make sure the propaganda is effective by any means necessary. The bigger the lie is, the more believable it is and the faster it spreads. In order to bring Goebbels’ teachings to life while conducting psychological operations (PSYOP), in June 2010, the US Department of Defense renamed them to Military Information Support Operations (MISO), which the Pentagon and the CIA are actively involved in. The CIA and various think tanks, possibly infiltrated by intelligence agents, are actively involved in the creation of numerous propaganda campaigns, which social media and easily influenced media outlets then become a part of. And since everyone involved needs to be paid substantial sums of money, more and more funds are being allocated to information warfare with the help of politicians who are lobbied to support such activities. It has been reported that the US House Armed Services Committee, headed by Chairman Adam Smith, proposed allocating $3.8 billion to fund the European Containment Initiative program aimed at containing Russia in its draft 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA, the name of a US federal law specifying the annual budget and expenditures of the US Department of Defense). And only for 2019-2020 over $12.4 billion had already been allocated for this program. A layman may wonder what such vast sums of money would be spent on during Washington’s disinformation campaigns. By whipping up a propaganda frenzy about Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election (which saw Donald Trump elected), an allegation supported by a report documenting the findings and conclusions of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s and his team’s investigation (first initiated by the FBI), Washington is trying to actively accuse other countries of interfering with the US internal affairs. In fact, by conducting its own disinformation campaigns, the United States is interfering with internal affairs of other countries. And there are too many examples of this: in nations of the Middle East, Latin America, the post-Soviet space, and most recently in Russia, during its national referendum on amendments to the Constitution. According to senator on the Federation Council Andrei Klimov, by June 25, twenty videos aimed at discrediting Russia’s leadership were meant to be posted online with the help of the “Net” (“No”) movement, whose propaganda campaigns are purportedly shaped by the US Department of State. It has been reported that on the day voting on the amendments to the constitution began, i.e. June 25, a car with US diplomatic license plates was spotted outside anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny’s headquarters in Kostroma. And the day before the referendum began, the same vehicle had been seen near an office of the Movement for Defense of Voters’ Rights “Golos”. Recently, the United States actively focused its propaganda efforts targeting Russia on the conflict in Libya. According to several media outlets, including Ukrainian ones, Moscow sent at least 12 combat jets to Libya. However, Russian politicians and news sources have contradicted such reports. Then hundreds of fighters from the Wagner Group (a Russian private military company) were accused of operating in Libya, but Russia has repeatedly denied these allegations as another fake news from Washington. In order to appear more credible, the stories were published by reputable news services, such as Deutsche Welle, a broadcaster that, as of recent, has repeatedly proven to be a propaganda outlet in Moscow’s eyes. Russia suspects the CIA is behind yet another propaganda operation – The New York Times and other news outlets reported a few days ago that Russia had allegedly offered secret bounties to Taliban-linked militants to kill US troops in Afghanistan. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation justly responded to the latest accusations from Washington: “This unsophisticated plant clearly illustrates the low intellectual abilities of the propagandists of American intelligence services that, instead of inventing something more plausible, have to make up this nonsense. Nevertheless, what else could be expected from the intelligence agency that has failed miserably in the 20-year-long war in Afghanistan.” In their efforts to bring Goebbels’ teachings to life, certain political circles in the United States appear to be filling the media space with misinformation, lies, nonsense and distorted facts, as part of their aggressive propaganda campaigns. Individuals are deliberately overloaded with untrustworthy information, and this could lead to erosion of moral values. And currently, specialized agencies in the United States are not the only ones engaged in the aforementioned activities. Informational-Psychological Operations Centers (IPSYOP) of Special Operations Command (a branch of the Armed Forces of Ukraine) as well as 103rd CIMIC/PSYOPS Center of the Czech Army are also at the forefront of the disinformation campaigns. The operations of these special forces units are overseen and directed by the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence in Riga; NATO CCD COE (the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Centre of Excellence); USSOCOM (US Special Operations Command) and the US Army’s 4th PSYOP Group (formerly the 4th Military Information Support Operations Group). In order to coordinate such activities, special training exercises are conducted on a regular basis. Drills that have taken place in Eastern Europe in the past three years are indicative of the nature of these operations. For instance, some of the largest-scale exercises for the Czech SOF (special operations forces) were reported to have been conducted in 2017: Dark Shadow 2017, Flying Shadow and Repair Exercise Dark Shadow. They involved special forces, INFOOPS and PSYOPS units. Owing to Washington’s efforts, the number of followers of Goebbels’s teachings is growing. However, it is important to remember what fate Nazi Germany and its ideology faced in the end.

[mvlcalgary]

What does it mean to Execute a Real Estate Transaction with Excellence?

On any given day, a real estate agent has a hundreds of tasks on the go. Between your listing presentations, open houses, contract drafts and phone calls, it can be easy to lose focus on the kind of service you’re offering your clients.

Do you put a lot of effort into being nice to your clients? Personable and friendly? That’s important, but being nice isn’t enough. A professional Agent has to be outstanding at their job, relentless about meeting deadlines, professional in communications, and knowledgeable about executing a transaction.

You’re assisting people with one of the biggest financial decisions of their lives. You are the expert and your clients are relying on your knowledge to see the transaction through successfully. Professional excellence is crucial in order to have a positive experience that results in repeat business and ongoing referrals.

Are you providing outstanding service to your real estate clients throughout the transaction? Ask yourself these questions:

Do you consistently meet every important date and milestone? Are you efficient, detailed, and organized? Do you return phone calls and emails the same day? Do you conduct yourself professionally with all related parties? Is your online marketing (emails, social media, website) professional and credible? Do you regularly update your client on the status of the transaction? Are you consistently going above and beyond for your clients? Do you keep in touch with clients even after you’ve closed the deal? These questions are a good starting point for providing your clients with the best possible service.

A big part of securing more referral and repeat business is by providing your real estate clients with outstanding service. Let’s explore a few ways you can wow your clients to win their loyalty.

Likeability is important when it comes to serving your clients, but knowledge and competence is irreplaceable. Clients aren’t looking for a new best friend, they’re looking for an agent who will get the job done right. If you’re both professional and likeable, then you’ve hit the recipe for success.

Meeting key dates and milestones is non-negotiable when listing or selling a home. No matter how friendly you are, if you drop the ball on an important task you won’t secure loyalty from your client. Be meticulous about completing each of your tasks throughout the transaction properly.

Even if your client has bought and sold properties before, they are probably not as well-versed in the transaction process as you are. Be sure to communicate the process to them clearly so they aren’t left in the dark. Maybe you are busy completing important tasks. However, if your client isn’t hearing from you, they might assume you’re not actively working on their transaction. Remember to give your client regular updates on the transaction so they rest assured that you’re on top of every detail.

A big part of providing excellent customer service is about communication. A good real estate professional sets clear expectations, communicates often and handles delicate situations with sensitivity. If you execute the transition efficiently and professionally, you’ve laid the foundation for more referral and repeat business.

How IXACT Contact Can Help

There are countless ways that your real estate CRM will help you execute your real estate transactions professionally. With IXACT Contact’s Active Business functionality, you can track important property and listing details, key dates, showings information, and much more. Other functions include assigning listing and closing Activity Plans, email reminders of important tasks and appointments, the ability to upload transaction-related documents, manage offers, generate service reports, and track commissions.

The more organized you are, the better service you can provide to your clients. The Active Business area of your real estate CRM software acts like your virtual transaction coordinator. This keeps you organized and in control, allowing you to handle more business more professionally than you ever thought possible.

Listing and Closing Activity plans are pre-populated with all the steps normally required in the sale or purchase of a home. You’ll receive reminders when it’s time to complete each task, making sure no important items are missed. You can even customize the existing Activity Plans so they reflect your own unique process.

Real estate agents spend a lot of their time on the road. With IXACT Contact’s Mobile CRM you’ll have the most current information at your fingertips whether you’re in the office, at a meeting, or hosting an open house. The App helps you keep in touch by easily dialing a phone number, or sending an email or text message to a contact. You’ll stay organized thanks to the ‘Next Steps’ function that automatically prompts you to make a note, task or appointment after you complete a phone call, email, or text message.

Start your 5 week free trial of IXACT Contact now, and deliver the outstanding professional excellence that your prospects crave from their Agent.

Source: Ixact Contact

The post What does it mean to Execute a Real Estate Transaction with Excellence? appeared first on .

My Visual Listings Calgary 536 Blackthorn Green NE Calgary AB T2K 3X4 Canada (403)650-5018 https://www.myvisuallistings.com/calgary/

[hope-for-olicity]

Pumpkin Spice and Football 1/?

Felicity is the new Social Media Coordinator for the New York Jets, Oliver is the veteran quarterback - their worlds will change when they literally collide.

I LOVE the Fall and I hope you do too! This story will focus on all the fabulousness that Fall has to offer including NFL football. That being said, you don't have to like football to like this story. This story is also available on AO3.

Thanks so so much to the AMAZING @mel-loves-all for the moodboard! 

Chapter 1: I Heart NYC

She could smell it. Well, almost. She could sense it. Fall was coming.

Felicity Smoak was standing in Times Square. It truly felt like the centre of the universe. She had always LOVED NYC, now she gets to live here.

Felicity grew up a Vegas girl but she graduated early, headed to MIT in Boston where she experienced her first real Fall and fell in love. In recent years she lived in California. She was the Social Media Coordinator for the California Golden Bears, tomorrow she would start her job as the Social Media Coordinator for the New York Jets.

She had been headhunted! Felicity still couldn’t believe it. It was almost like a fairytale. A man walked into her shoebox of an office a few weeks ago, looked around the cramped room. There was just enough room for a desk.  After examining the room he turned to her, ‘this would be nicer with a window. Or maybe a wall of windows with a view of Manhattan. Would that interest you Ms. Smoak?”

Truthfully, she almost choked on her cold coffee. First, she was surprised he knew her name. She honestly thought he was lost. Second, work in Manhattan with windows?? A duh, who says no to that?! Of course, she asked if someone was playing a prank. Once she figured it out it was all real, the guy’s name was Barry Allen, he was a recruiter for the New York Jets, she jumped at the opportunity.

Felicity’s flight landed late last night, Barry had been at La Guardia to meet her. One of the perks of working for the Jets was not just a fancy office with a window she was promised but also a condo in Manhattan. The condo was not yet ready so the Jets organization put her up in a hotel near Times Square which is how she ended up here on her morning walk.

As she stood at this moment looking at the bright lights of Times Square she knew she was truly where she needed to be. She was at peace.

The peace was short-lived. A moment later she was almost knocked over by a crowd of people trying to make their way past here. Suddenly, the sounds of the city began assaulting her ears again - honking horns, a street musician playing the drums and someone yelling that Jesus will save you. Aww, New York - she couldn’t wait for it to be home.

*****

“What are you saying? Are you saying I’m not the starting quarterback?” Oliver tried to keep the fear out of his voice. He was standing on the sidelines of the practice field talking with his agent and best friend John Diggle.

“Oliver, I know you have been training really hard this off-season and I know why. You need this job to work out. It’s not just a want anymore. We both know this team needs a Super Bowl. It’s been a really, really, really long drought.” John shook his head.

“Hey, enough with the reallys! You think I don’t know? It’s worth pointing out that I’m the guy that got to them to the semi-finals a couple of years ago.” Oliver tried to defend himself but he knew if he didn’t deliver this season the team would have to start looking elsewhere. He looked out onto the field at the rookie quarterback the team drafted this year. He’s so young, probably never gets tired or hurt.

“Oliver?”

Oliver turned to John as he felt the older man’s hand on his shoulder.

“Oliver, man, I think this is your year. You have great receivers, that new kid from Chicago can really run, you have the weapons to do it this year. Did you see Sports Illustrated today?”

Oliver shook his head.

“They think you are going all the way. I happen to agree. So loosen up a bit. Go hang out with your sister, your buddies, hell me! All you do is focus on football. It’s not healthy, man. You are so focused right now, you could miss something life-changing.”

“Digg, you know I have to keep my focus on football. My family needs my salary to keep Queen Consolidated afloat at the moment.” Oliver’s father passed away suddenly last year of a heart attack. No one saw it coming. They also had no idea how much financial trouble Queen Consolidated was in. Oliver sat down with the lawyers to work out a payment plan to avoid bankruptcy. However, that plan was dependent on Oliver’s salary. Oliver’s relationship with his father had been rocky. Robert Queen never missed an opportunity to point out his disappointment in his son for playing football instead of taking his role in the company. Seems Oliver was having the last laugh as it’s football salary that’s was saving the company.

“Listen, Oliver, I understand where you are coming from, I just don’t want you to burn out. How about you join Lyla, Sara and I for supper this Sunday? I promise to keep it simple - chicken and vegetables so you can stay on plan.” John smiled at Oliver.

“That sounds great.” Oliver looked out at his teammates on the practice field. “I’m doing a presser tomorrow after practice on Monday. I really want to put my best foot forward this year. Hanging out with you and your girls will help get my mind off it for a bit. “

“Oliver it’s Friday and you are worried about a Monday presser, man, you got problems…”

*****

Felicity stayed at the DoubleTree hotel on Lexington Avenue since her arrival in the city on Thursday night. Barry told her her condo would be ready for her on Monday. He would swing by to bring her there before they both went into the offices.

Felicity was sitting in the lobby, bags packed. Barry was late. She didn’t mind as she had a coffee and an amazing complimentary cookie to eat while she waited.

“Ms. Smoak! I’m so sorry, I’m late. All set? Here let me grab your bag.” Barry reached for the handle for her suitcase.

“It’s Felicity, Barry. Remember?” She smiled at him. She swore she saw him blush. “I’ll let you take my bag as my hands are full!” She held up the coffee and cookie.

Felicity followed Barry out to the waiting town car. She looked out the window at the tall buildings as they drove past. Looking at these buildings just never got old.

“I was thinking we’d stop by your place. You can let me know if there is anything obvious you want to be changed. Then we can head into our satellite offices here in Manhattan before heading to New Jersey this afternoon. You will mainly work out of Manhattan. The team practices and plays in New Jersey so you will also be spending some time there. You will be supplied with a driver to bring you to New Jersey, the office and home on workdays.” Barry was looking at her to make sure this all was okay.

She never had a boss care so much about her opinion. She also never had a job that came with a condo in Manhattan. Felicity really hoped she didn’t disappoint appoint them. Her experience in California was not just posting to social media but also figuring out algorithms of what was most likely to get the most traction from the public. She was excited to do it on a larger scale.

Barry touched her arm. “Hey Felicity, we’re here.”

Felicity stepped out of the town car, she looked up, way up. Gulp. This really was a step up from her basement apartment in California. She felt like she should pinch herself.

Barry stood next to her looking up. “Don’t worry, we don’t have to take the stairs,” he joked.

Felicity began walking toward the entrance of the building, Barry followed. The lobby was quite impressive lots of mirrors, comfy couches, fresh cut flowers and bright lights. Barry walked up to the concierge desk, “Felicity, I’d like you to meet Cisco. He’s currently covering the concierge desk but you should know he owns the building.”

Felicity held out her hand. “Nice to meet you, Cisco. I look forward to living in your building.”

Cisco took her hand, gave it a quick shake. “Nice to meet you, Ms. Smoak. I am one of your many Twitter followers. You tweet so much cool stuff. It’s a pleasure to meet you in person.”

“Well, we’re going to head up to drop off Felicity’s things. Then we will head to the office. I’ll catch you later, Cisco.” Barry nodded then headed toward the elevator.

Felicity caught up with Barry. “Barry, you really don’t need to bring me back here this evening.”

“Oh I know,” he smiled. “I live here too. My wife Iris and I live here as well.”

Before Felicity could say anything the elevator door opened, she and Barry got on. Barry nodded to the elevator panel. “You’ll want to hit 30.”

“30? You mean I live on the 30th floor!” Felicity was trying to figure out how she felt about that. It sure sounded impressive but she’d never been a big fan of heights.

“Don’t worry, you will get used to it.” Barry tried to reassure. “So your condo has been furnished. That being said if you want to change or add things, it is up to you. You can change the colour of the couch easily, other things will take more time.”

The elevator dinged on 30, they got, Felicity followed Barry to her new place, 3001. He handed her the fob she was to swipe to get in. Felicity swiped, she was happy to see it turn green, it would have been embarrassing to have her usual experience where these things never work for her in front of Barry.

Felicity pushed the door open, she looked around completely speechless. The place was stunning. Now she really expected it to be nice, given the building and everything else she had seen but THIS. THIS WAS AMAZING. Felicity began to walk around. The main area was an open concept with stainless steel and marble in the kitchen. There was even a small time in the kitchen nook. The bigger room opened up into a dining table and living room. Straight ahead was a wall of windows with the most amazing view. Felicity couldn’t help be drawn but she had to step back once she got to the window. Yep, she was really high up. She looked around the dining/living room area to notice it was decorated with pale blues with a smatter of bright Jets green and few touches of fuschia thrown in. Felicity LOVED IT!

“I hope this okay, you aren’t saying anything.” Felicity could hear Barry was a little worried. “Your bedroom is through there if you’d like to take a look.”

Felicity said nothing. She headed into the bedroom which was decorated with the same colour scheme. She saw a huge bed, a walk-in closet and ensuite bathroom. She walked back out to find Barry in the living room. “So?” He asked.

“Barry this is PERFECT!! It’s as though the person who designed this knew me. These are my favourite colours. I truly, truly, TRULY love it! In fact, do you have the interior designers name? I’d love to send them a thank you note.” Felicity was beaming. Never in her wildest dreams did she think she’d live somewhere like this.

“Really? I’m so glad you said that. Your condo was actually designed by my wife, Iris West-Allen. She’s just getting back into the business after taking some time when she had our daughter.  Your place was like a trial run for her. So, it’s great that you like it.” Barry smiled.

“Barry, I don’t really like it. I LOVE IT! I need to meet your wife! I need to gush!” Felicity suddenly realized she may have said too much. “I mean if, if that’s not weird. I’m not trying to push myself into your personal life. I am of course comfortable with just sending a note…”

“Felicity, you are not being weird! Iris is a big fan of yours. She actually wants to meet you. She told me to invite you to dinner this evening. She figured you would have a long day and a quick home cooked meal would be good for you.” Barry held up his hands in defence. “Her words not mind.”

“Count me in! Now, I guess we should head to the office.” Felicity smiled. So this is what joy felt like.

******

Oliver knew he had some work to do on public relations. The press didn’t exactly love him. They wanted a Super Bowl that he had not delivered. When he first arrived in New York they loved him but his partying frat boy ways soon became old. Last year with everything going on with his family he just stayed away from the press outside of the required pressers.

This was a new year. A chance to make a good impression. Getting the press to love him, will bring more viewers to the games and help upper management see he is still a valuable asset. Which is why he chose to dress in a suit tie for this presser. He knew it would have been considered fine to go in a jersey or workout gear, it was a pre-season practice presser, however, he wanted to put his best foot forward.

He really prepped for this. He, John and Lyla brainstormed last night after dinner about the best way to say things. So he had prepared lines in his head. He just had to go in there and impress. This was it. This was his moment. He pushed open the door.

*****

Felicity was running late which was never a good thing. Barry told her he was to meet with upper management to go over her plans at 4 o’clock. She got to the offices in Florham, New Jersey with time to spare. She didn’t want to be too early so she ran over to Starbucks to grab a coffee. She was delighted to discover their Fall campaign was in full swing. She really must have been busy to not have known! She ordered a pumpkin spice latte.

Latte in hand, she headed back to the offices. She was dressed professionally in a cream blouse and a black pencil skirt. She added her forest green high heels for an added touch. She really wanted to make a good impression. She had lots of ideas of how she was going to build the Jets social media presence. She just needed to go in and tell them.

She pushed on the door to the hallway, it didn’t move. She tried again. Forcing the issue. It was then she realized that someone must be pushing on the other side. She stopped pushing, stepped back, suddenly a man in a business suit came barrelling at her. Clearly, in a rush, she tried to step out of his way but it was too late - they collided.

The remaining contents of Felicity’s latte spilt all over the front of the man’s shirt and tie. She slowly looked up. “I’m so sorr…” She stopped talking when she said he furious face. She recognized him instantly as Oliver Queen. Damn, he was even more attractive in person. She didn’t even think that was possible. Pissing off the quarterback on your first day. This was not good. Not good at all.

Thanks so much for checking out my new story. I hope you enjoyed :) Clearly, I have no idea how much a Social Media Coordinator would be paid by the New York Jets but I decided it's my story - let's spoil Felicity! Please let me know if you would like to be tagged :)

@mindramblingsfics @memcjo @mel-loves-all @wherethereissmoak @green-arrows-of-karamel @spaztronautwriter @tdgal1 @vaelisamaza @lucyyh@tangled23works @swordandarrow @marcsmom6 @smoaking-greenarrow @pattid1 @1106angel @it-was-a-red-heeler @obibaldwin @folly1977 @nathiawarrior @alemap74 @samwinter09 @miriam1779 @coal000 @alejandra1400 @you-are-not-done-fighting @matalala @alexisa1206 @blondeeoneexox @felicityfan20 @emw751103 @mochababychristy @omglovechrissie

[stephahaa]

Activism: For the rights!

Have you ever heard about the activism before? And what is the relationship between activism and social media? This topic might many people have no knowledge about it. 

If we look at the meaning of it. Activism is an action of campaigning by activists, people who strongly believe in social and political changes, be it in a public place or private such as an organization workplace in order to achieve their required changes. Most highly visible and impactful activism often comes in form of collective action, in which numerous individuals coordinate and act of protest together in order to make a bigger impact. Collective action that is purposeful organized and sustained over a period of time becomes knows as social movements. There are a list full of social movements in the world today. These social movements are such as Black Lives Matter, animal rights movement, feminist movement, political movement, cultural movement and many more. I remembered I came across a few post on Facebook shared by friends seeking for Facebook users’ attention and also to sign petitions for campaigns anywhere around the world. People make use of the petition feature on Facebook called the Community Actions, just by providing a title, a description and then tagging relevant authority, agency and community that can act on it. This Facebook feature can get other users to support the petition and share the cause to their own feeds to help gather more and bigger momentum (Metha 2019).A website and petition has been circulating around seeking every possible Facebook users’ attention and support to ban oil spill in the Great Australian Bight which is said that the problem is reaching as far as Bondi caused by drilling for oil in deep wild waters in the oil and gas industry (Save Our Marine Life 2019). So that means, if any oil spill happened in the Great Australian Bight, it can go as far east as Port Macquaries’s beaches! According to a leaked draft environment plan obtained by the ABC, it is two thirds of the way up New South Wales Coast! Petitions on other protection on wildlife especially is also emphasized. All caused and destroyed by our none other human species who only thought of money and themselves. 

Many petitions means that there is so much problems going on out there. Usually sites that has a particular aim, objective and similar agreement or disagreement will unite people or members alike to bond and work together in achieving that aim. When like that come together online, they will make sure attention will be circulating the every social media whereas placard and actions do the talking when they come together offline. While the rise of social movements has the ability to create such huge impact, it also increases the surveillance of marginalized groups in law enforcement agencies secretly having the ability to acquire social media spying software that can sweet activist into a web of digital surveillance (Gonzalez 2018). And you may ask how might activist use social media in the near future? Well, social media has allowed activist to form like never before but has also made them much easier to track which puts their safety at risk and has the effect on the future of social media activism. And who knows? Technology is always growing, people are always growing, ideas and ways are always generating. I am sure these people can find ways that no one ever thought of to convey their message to the world. Through world of social media.

References:

Boisvert, E & Puddy, R 2018, ‘Bight oil spills could reach Sydney's beaches, planning document shows’, ABC News, 13th of November, viewed 14 April 2019, <https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-14/great-australian-bight-oil-spill-leaked-planning-document/10472922?pfmredir=sm&fbclid=IwAR1cmw-QjwqhG1CZ5pCq4WcDv4ulJS-h7cxa7BUZKSXuWQTC_Bj3adaMyA4>.

González, C 2018, ‘The future of social media activism’, medium.com, 27th of May, viewed 14 April 2019, <https://medium.com/@wordsbyacloud/the-future-of-social-media-activism-35e57ae8232b?fbclid=IwAR3gUndK6yOpMq1hWgP0AGQYok996w3b_k45dFfxDqQUz34iBkh8DPcdh0E>.

Leak shows Great Australian Bight oil spill could reach as far as Bondi! 2019, saveourmarinelife.org.au, viewed 14 April 2019, <https://saveourmarinelife.org.au/sign-the-petition-to-ban-oil-in-the-great-australia-bight/?fbclid=IwAR0Vmwxh6mUi7OlYXDGcyKXjf22i9P5LwBPCFyssATc9J6JvbUrfcRBIfUI>.

Mehta, I 2019, ‘Facebook now lets you create petitions for social causes’, thenextweb.com, 21st of January, viewed 14 April 2019, <https://thenextweb.com/facebook/2019/01/21/facebook-now-lets-you-create-petitions-for-social-causes/?fbclid=IwAR0iN8-WuP2gOfXjEqkmM6VeeE6Dv_MjQrQQWhZaKghORN_nPjFwktFvLVM>.

[antoine-roquentin]

North Americans depending solely on English-language sources for unbiased political information from Latin America have few options. They include TeleSUR’s English-language reports on the entire region and news from Venezuela provided by Venezuelanalysis.com. The government of the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, vilified by the United States, provided the impetus for TeleSUR.

On August 9 the account of Venezuelanalysis with Facebook inexplicably disappeared. The Facebook account of TeleSUR English did likewise on August 13 – and also briefly in January, 2018. Both accounts were restored within two days.

The message is clear, however, that the flow of essential information from Latin America via Facebook is precarious.  Why that might be is now evident.

Generally there is limited access to reliable news for that quarter. One commentator on the August 4 violent coup against the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, for example, cites frequent media reference to a coup that is “apparent” or “alleged.” The mainstream media, he notes, is predicting that Maduro’s government will use the coup as a pretext for repression.

According to Venezuelanalysis.com, Facebook moved against the platform because it published “important pieces which challenge the corporate mainstream media narrative on Venezuela.” Its coverage of “the growing international campaign to End US and Canadian Sanctions against Venezuela” also played a role.

Basically, however, any Facebook role in suppressing information has more to do with the company’s profitability than with ideology. To explain: Facebook has recently come under pressure in Washington for misusing private information and for failing to reveal private information presumed to be harmful to US interests. Its troubles worsened after it became known that the British firm Cambridge Analytica provided the presidential campaign of Donald Trump with private data obtained through Facebook.

Consequently, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg had to testify April 10 on these matters before the Senate commerce and judiciary committees. He confessed that, “It was my mistake, and I’m sorry … [W]e didn’t do enough to prevent these tools from being used for harm. That goes for fake news, foreign interference in elections, and hate speech, as well as developers and data privacy.”

A draft white paper surfacing in July from the office of influential Republican Senator Mark Warner seemed to be aimed at Facebook. Describing “Proposals for Regulation of Social Media,” it calls for identifying “inauthentic accounts” and their origins, for deterring “foreign manipulation,” and for establishing legal liability for “failure to take down deep fake … accounts.”

One presumes therefore that Facebook is embarked upon a damage-control mission. At a press briefing July 31, chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg promised transparency. She reported that “32 pages and accounts from Facebook and Instagram” had been removed because they “involve and coordinate inauthentic behavior.” But how is Facebook qualified and equipped to make decisions on troublesome behavior that is political?

Needing help in that regard, Facebook decided to“outsource many of the most sensitive political decisions.” At hand was the Washington-based Atlantic Council, a think tank set up in 1961 ostensibly to promote U.S.-European cooperation.

According to Reuters, the Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab uses “its own software and other tools [and] sorts through social media postings for patterns.” The Atlantic Council relies on this facility to be able to extend advice of a political nature to Facebook. Likely as not, the Atlantic Council was involved in Facebook’s temporary removal of the accounts of TeleSUR English and Venezuelanalysis.com.

In any event, the process was greased with money.   A recent Facebook donation to the Atlantic Council’s “Lab” was big enough, reports Reuters, “to vault the company to the top of the Atlantic Council’s donor list, alongside the British government.”

According to one critic, Facebook is counting on ties with the Atlantic Council to solve its problems in dealing with disinformation. As “a leading geopolitical strategy think-tank seen as a de facto PR agency for the U.S. government and NATO military alliance,” the Council would theoretically be able to protect Facebook. Council leaders range from “retired military officers, former policymakers, [to] top figures from the U.S. National Security State and Western business elites.”

[latestnews2018-blog]

It’s time for Facebook and Twitter to coordinate efforts on hate speech

New Post has been published on https://latestnews2018.com/its-time-for-facebook-and-twitter-to-coordinate-efforts-on-hate-speech/

It’s time for Facebook and Twitter to coordinate efforts on hate speech

Since the election of Donald Trump in 2016, there has been burgeoning awareness of the hate speech on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. While activists have pressured these companies to improve their content moderation, few groups (outside of the German government) have outright sued the platforms for their actions.

That’s because of a legal distinction between media publications and media platforms that has made solving hate speech online a vexing problem.

Take, for instance, an op-ed published in the New York Times calling for the slaughter of an entire minority group.  The Times would likely be sued for publishing hate speech, and the plaintiffs may well be victorious in their case. Yet, if that op-ed were published in a Facebook post, a suit against Facebook would likely fail.

The reason for this disparity? Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA), which provides platforms like Facebook with a broad shield from liability when a lawsuit turns on what its users post or share. The latest uproar against Alex Jones and Infowars has led many to call for the repeal of section 230 – but that may lead to government getting into the business of regulating speech online. Instead, platforms should step up to the plate and coordinate their policies so that hate speech will be considered hate speech regardless of whether Jones uses Facebook, Twitter or YouTube to propagate his hate. 

A primer on section 230 

Section 230 is considered a bedrock of freedom of speech on the internet. Passed in the mid-1990s, it is credited with freeing platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube from the risk of being sued for content their users upload, and therefore powering the exponential growth of these companies. If it weren’t for section 230, today’s social media giants would have long been bogged down with suits based on what their users post, with the resulting necessary pre-vetting of posts likely crippling these companies altogether. 

Instead, in the more than twenty years since its enactment, courts have consistently found section 230 to be a bar to suing tech companies for user-generated content they host. And it’s not only social media platforms that have benefited from section 230; sharing economy companies have used section 230 to defend themselves, with the likes of Airbnb arguing they’re not responsible for what a host posts on their site. Courts have even found section 230 broad enough to cover dating apps. When a man sued one for not verifying the age of an underage user, the court tossed out the lawsuit finding an app user’s misrepresentation of his age not to be the app’s responsibility because of section 230.

Private regulation of hate speech 

Of course, section 230 has not meant that hate speech online has gone unchecked. Platforms like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter all have their own extensive policies prohibiting users from posting hate speech. Social media companies have hired thousands of moderators to enforce these policies and to hold violating users accountable by suspending them or blocking their access altogether. But the recent debacle with Alex Jones and Infowars presents a case study on how these policies can be inconsistently applied.  

Jones has for years fabricated conspiracy theories, like the one claiming that the Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax and that Democrats run a global child-sex trafficking ring. With thousands of followers on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, Jones’ hate speech has had real life consequences. From the brutal harassment of Sandy Hook parents to a gunman storming a pizza restaurant in D.C. to save kids from the restaurant’s nonexistent basement, his messages have had serious deleterious consequences for many. 

Alex Jones and Infowars were finally suspended from ten platforms by our count – with even Twitter falling in line and suspending him for a week after first dithering. But the varying and delayed responses exposed how different platforms handle the same speech.  

Inconsistent application of hate speech rules across platforms, compounded by recent controversies involving the spread of fake news and the contribution of social media to increased polarization, have led to calls to amend or repeal section 230. If the printed press and cable news can be held liable for propagating hate speech, the argument goes, then why should the same not be true online – especially when fully two-thirds of Americans now report getting at least some of their news from social media.  Amid the chorus of those calling for more regulation of tech companies, section 230 has become a consistent target. 

Should hate speech be regulated? 

But if you need convincing as to why the government is not best placed to regulate speech online, look no further than Congress’s own wording in section 230. The section enacted in the mid-90s states that online platforms “offer users a great degree of control over the information that they receive, as well as the potential for even greater control in the future as technology develops” and “a forum for a true diversity of political discourse, unique opportunities for cultural development, and myriad avenues for intellectual activity.”  

Section 230 goes on to declare that it is the “policy of the United States . . . to encourage the development of technologies which maximize user control over what information is received by individuals, families, and schools who use the Internet.”  Based on the above, section 230 offers the now infamous liability protection for online platforms.  

From the simple fact that most of what we see on our social media is dictated by algorithms over which we have no control, to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, to increased polarization because of the propagation of fake news on social media, one can quickly see how Congress’s words in 1996 read today as a catalogue of inaccurate predictions. Even Ron Wyden, one of the original drafters of section 230, himself admits today that drafters never exempted an “individual endorsing (or denying) the extermination of millions of people, or attacking the victims of horrific crimes or the parents of murdered children” to be enabled through the protections offered by section 230.

It would be hard to argue that today’s Congress – having shown little understanding in recent hearings of how social media operates to begin with – is any more qualified at predicting the effects of regulating speech online twenty years from now.   

More importantly, the burden of complying with new regulations will definitely result in a significant barrier to entry for startups and therefore have the unintended consequence of entrenching incumbents. While Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter may have the resources and infrastructure to handle compliance with increased moderation or pre-vetting of posts that regulations might impose, smaller startups will be at a major disadvantage in keeping up with such a burden.

Last chance before regulation 

The answer has to lie with the online platforms themselves. Over the past two decades, they have amassed a wealth of experience in detecting and taking down hate speech. They have built up formidable teams with varied backgrounds to draft policies that take into account an ever-changing internet. Their profits have enabled them to hire away top talent, from government prosecutors to academics and human rights lawyers.  

These platforms also have been on a hiring spree in the last couple of years to ensure that their product policy teams – the ones that draft policies and oversee their enforcement – are more representative of society at large. Facebook proudly announced that its product policy team now includes “a former rape crisis counselor, an academic who has spent her career studying hate organizations . . . and a teacher.” Gone are the days when a bunch of engineers exclusively decided where to draw the lines. Big tech companies have been taking the drafting and enforcement of their policies ever more seriously.

What they now need to do is take the next step and start to coordinate policies so that those who wish to propagate hate speech can no longer game policies across platforms. Waiting for controversies like Infowars to become a full-fledged PR nightmare before taking concrete action will only increase calls for regulation. Proactively pooling resources when it comes to hate speech policies and establishing industry-wide standards will provide a defensible reason to resist direct government regulation.

The social media giants can also build public trust by helping startups get up to speed on the latest approaches to content moderation. While any industry consortium around coordinating hate speech is certain to be dominated by the largest tech companies, they can ensure that policies are easy to access and widely distributed.

Coordination between fierce competitors may sound counterintuitive. But the common problem of hate speech and the gaming of online platforms by those trying to propagate it call for an industry-wide response. Precedent exists for tech titans coordinating when faced with a common threat. Just last year, Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, and YouTube formalized their “Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism” – a partnership to curb the threat of terrorist content online. Fighting hate speech is no less laudable a goal.

Self-regulation is an immense privilege. To the extent that big tech companies want to hold onto that privilege, they have a responsibility to coordinate the policies that underpin their regulation of speech and to enable startups and smaller tech companies to get access to these policies and enforcement mechanisms.

[touhoupop]

Circle Introduction: FELT

Originally Posted: Never, actually. I’m a bit hesitant to post this. BuyDoujin made a quick and dirty Japanese translation for Nagi and MC to review, and I passed along a few questions, but I never did get a reply. I dunno if this is because BuyDoujin never actually sent the email, or FELT never replied, or what, but whatever the case, consider this one an unapproved draft.

The Touhou community both here and abroad has an idiosyncratic way of labeling their music. What precisely are you getting when you click on a crossfade or video labeled “Touhou Vocal?” Will it be prog rock? Will it be electro house? Will it be a madrigal? Who knows? It’s a ～mystery～. But if such a genre really existed, FELT would be one of its reigning champions.

It was 2009 when NAGI☆ (no relation to vocalist Nagi Yanagi) and Maurits ‘ZEN’ Cornelis (a pseudonym) first appeared as guest arrangers on Hatsunetsumiko’s fourth album, Unchained Melody. Maurits has become a regular fixture on Hatsunetsumiko’s albums as both an arranger and as the resident slap bass master, but the most important result of this collaboration was NAGI☆ and Maurits becoming interested in founding their own circle.

About a year later in 2010, after a few months of planning and coordination between NAGI☆ and Tim Vegas over stuff like naming and web hosting, FELT released its first album, Milky Wink. They shared a booth at Reitaisai SP with Hatsunetsumiko’s, just as they shared vocalists and talent. Indeed to this day, Hatsunetsumiko’s is credited on FELT's site as being their "supervisor," but make no mistake: FELT is as much its own entity with its own driving force and personality as Hatsunetsumiko’s.

And what is that driving force? Aside from “Touhou Vocal,” the other word you hear describing FELT – and the one FELT occasionally uses – is “J-Pop.” Specifically, this is music that would not be out of place in an anime opening or ending. At least, that’s the general feeling. The truth is, like most things called “pop,” FELT’s influences span a large breadth.

Despite being separate circles with separate styles, NAGI☆ and Maurits split their tracks in about the same way Tim Vegas and Maurits split them on Hatsunetsumiko’s albums. Both have their own styles and contribute to the overall atmosphere of the album in their own ways.

Maruits, though his understanding of how to construct a cool bassline often shows up and gives his tracks a certain edge, is generally a little bit more experimental on FELT releases than he is elsewhere. For example, Maurits calls Crumbling from Grow Color a mix of metal, funk, and emo. The fact that these three things are not very easy to imagine together is one of the major reasons that FELT is interesting. I can’t blame anyone presented with such an unorthodox blending of techniques from just throwing up their hands and calling it “vocal.”

NAGI☆ shares many of these traits, and since NAGI☆ runs the circle, there’s not much that you can say only about NAGI☆ that doesn’t apply to FELT as a whole. As I said before, FELT is, broadly speaking, pop. It can be a dirty word, but he's very good at making it, and bringing it to life. His work is full of interesting vocal melodies with well thought out rhythms and production decisions.

Beyond that, some early FELT albums have distinct trance influences, and lately, now that Eris remixes are a common fixture on FELT releases, there's also been a very limited amount of trap, electro, and big room house. I'm not entirely sure how Eris became involved with FELT, but they provide a compelling answer to the question of what FELT tracks would sound like with a buildup and drop structure. (Now that I’m not writing for BuyDoujin, I can safely say that this is not a question I ever wanted answered, but hey. You do you, FELT.)

The third pillar of FELT’s success is its vocalists: Vivienne, Maika, and Mika. Very little is known about them, as none of them use social media. NAGI☆ and Maurits, when asked, usually joke that Vivienne is “a Frenchwoman living in Osaka,” and say very little at all about Maika. All we really know is that they’re both excellent vocalists, whose ranges give NAGI☆ and Maurits many options, and whose charisma is one of the defining features of the FELT aesthetic. Vocals are very important to FELT, and they always take special care to consider the quirks of the vocalist they’re writing for. This attentiveness to detail is part of what makes their work shine.

Their collective skill has won them many fans, both in Japan and elsewhere, and I doubt that they’ll stray from the current path too far in the future. The motivating force behind FELT has always been to write whatever kind of tracks they find interesting, and given just how much they find interesting, the likelihood of FELT suddenly going in a completely different direction is unlikely. Whatever the case, FELT has done nothing if not improved over the years, and this is one trend which I’m sure we’ll all be happy to see continue.

For more English-language information about new FELT releases when they come around, keep checking in here.

(Where “here” now means “touhoupop” and not “BuyDoujin”)

[riyaan-bhandari]

POST PRODUCTION

Post production is Editors domain but I assisted my Editor with few tasks. I was assisting her in selecting fonts for the movie title and also with the feeds of our social media page.

My editor used Adobe Premier Pro CC as a video editing software. 

EDITING

For editing, I have shared all my shoot data on Google Drive so that my teammates can access all the shots easily. 

I also assisted in brainstorming bg score. Look for multiples sound tracks on Youtube. I gave our choices to the editor. 

My editor lined up first draft after which we all realized that trailer 1 is not ending with the bang. My teacher suggested that it should end with the actor’s mad laugh which will hook the audience and will also give the idea of her serious depression. So after coordinating with actor we shot the scene of chaotic laughing looking into the mirror. 

POSTER

For the poster, the editor used Canva. The first draft was not looking great but after multiple drafts we finally got the one which we needed. font was changed at later stages.  Broken Glass font was used at last for our movie title. 

Final Draft of Poster

When we started with social media page on instagram, my editor and my director was having lot of ideas for feed. we kept the same colour scheme throughout. firstly we started with the introduction of cast and crew so that people can relate to us closely. 

Later we conducted surveys, put stories and highlights of our shoot, editing process. At the end we posted our trailers on the feed and created a buzz through the posts of coming soon and releasing soon. 

For branding, we all would want to collaborate with the top most OTT platform Netflix. In our trailers and posters, we included Netflix originals so that we could be beneffitted from it. Our brand will emerge as a trusted brand if we’ll able to tieup with such popular platform. 

We all have to write an evaluative essay by attending four compulsory questions. Although we do not have to use any creative platform to present the CCR but we chose to use Adobe spark as it looks presentable.