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me-4eva · 2 years

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I’m going to vent about something for a sec.

I’ve seen a fair few posts on tumblr being all like “oh piracy and copyright infringement isn’t a big deal we should all totally be allowed to do it.” On one level, I get it. I grew up in the 2000s-2010s, I pirated my fair share of tv shows, especially when that tv show wasn’t yet out in my country and the best/only way to watch it WAS to pirate it. BUT.

I work as a musician. I’m a (very) small indie artist and I’m going to give you a glimpse behind the curtain of the industry. Music is especially bad for this but I’m not commenting on other creative industries. I occasionally release tracks that I’ve spent months working on. Each track I release costs me literally hundreds of pounds. That money goes towards paying musicians to play on the tracks, towards my producer who helps me put it together, to renting recording space when I need it. That does NOT include the big initial upfront costs that are investments towards future tracks - my DAW, my gear, my instruments and of course, the mountain of debt I accrued studying my entire life to learn how to do the things I can do.

I make this money working freelance at a part-time job, and ideally from gigs (though there haven’t been many around the last couple of years and even with the world opening back up I’m still not really getting paid gigs because all name recognition has dropped off after 2 years moving online.) It’s a sad reality but I don’t really make money from my music at the moment. So why do I release music online?

First of all: I want to. Every single song I’ve written means something to me and often comes with a message that I’m trying to share. I love my music, I love what I’ve written and so I want to share it with the world.

Secondly: It’s very helpful to my career. Being able to go to open mics and various other things and say “hey I’ve got music out on Spotify! Check me out my name’s XXX!” helps build up hype, name recognition, publicity etc. It helps me take that next step. And it’s this that I want to talk about.

You see, musicians are getting royally screwed over by Spotify and all the other streaming platforms. It’s no secret that they take the biggest share of the pie and are fighting not to even give us crumbs, despite the fact that Spotify has a long history of refusing to invest in artists (though they do invest in podcasts). Every now and again a big name will come along and say “hey I’m taking my music off Spotify because they don’t pay artists.” (Think Taylor Swift in… I want to say 2016?) Every time this happens (or indeed any artist takes their music off Spotify for any reason - see the whole Joe Rogan outrage) everyone gets super outraged at the artist, calling them greedy. But the truth is, the big names are the only ones with the power to do this. Us little artists can’t afford to do that, because the only person who suffers from me taking my music off Spotify is me. It has no impact on Spotify. Because to little artists, Spotify and the other streaming platforms are only a publicity tool. And the reason we keep putting our music on there is because they’re probably the best tool we have access to.

Getting music heard when you’re a nonentity is HARD. Especially when every single aspect of the industry is stacked against you. Social media, streaming platforms… they want to push the big names in front of people. It’s all a numbers game. The fewer listens you have, the less likely your music is going to get pushed in front of the people who matter. Playlist creators are more likely to put a big name song on a playlist than a tiny little artist like me. And this goes for every single aspect of the music industry. If you want to get booked for gigs (remember when I said that’s how musicians make money?) and someone hears you, likes you, then goes to your Spotify page or whatever and sees you only have like 20 monthly listeners? They ain’t gonna book you.

It happens at a higher level. Say someone gets signed on a record label. Only a very small percentage of artists signed actually get to the point where they release the album they were signed to release. Some get dropped immediately after that. The reason why is because the hype dies down. Those streaming numbers, those social media followers, that name recognition all has to keep going - and keep going UP - in order for the label to keep wanting to work with the artist. And here’s where the piracy issue comes in.

Pirated streams do not get counted.

You may think that by pirating music to avoid Spotify or Apple Music or any major streaming platform like the plague is somehow your own hardcore act of rebellion, standing up for artists etc. But the truth is you’re taking away not just the pennies we’d get from Spotify or whatever, but what is far more important at those early stages of our career. The music industry is and always has been a numbers game. A popularity contest. And it’s got to be public. Your pirated streams of the ESTABLISHED giants of the industry may have a negligible effect, but anyone new, upcoming, just broken onto the scene, even if they seem to be everywhere with a giant number 1 hit… stream their music. Because if people stop streaming them, following them, supporting them LEGALLY, then every aspect of their career will fall away, they may get dropped before they finish their album, and they become another one-hit-wonder.

So in short, when you think about pirating music, remember a few key things:

1) the track you’re pirating probably cost that artist hundreds, if not thousands of pounds/dollars to make. That’s in expenses that can only be applied to that track.

2) you’re also taking publicity away from artists. Like I say, EVERY aspect of the music is a numbers game. If you like someone’s music, just let them have your number.

3) if you want to be radical and screw over Spotify or whatever streaming service you want to screw over for not paying artists, consider either downloading that track so you can listen to it as many times as you like, (many artists will offer direct digital downloads of their music where the money goes straight to them), or shop around and find the streaming service that pays musicians best and get a subscription for that one. (Napster and Tidal are pretty good for that.)

Thank you for listening!

#piracy #music #music industry #support artists

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labevan · 1 year

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Dear @netflix

You’re going to lose a lot of customers. Or at least brand trust.

What about the grandparents who don’t know tech? Or the university students that live between places, or can’t afford their own subscription? Etc. Some can’t afford the extra £4.99 per month per added person.

Plus, with so many streaming platforms and a cost of living crisis, many families are sharing accounts between each other so that they can all enjoy and connect over TV shows and movies they love. Or just use it as and when they need to. Much like when families share tools, lawnmowers, or other items between each other. For instance, the son could have Netflix, the daughter have Prime, parents have Disney+ - all live separately but share the services to save costs but also ensure all can still enjoy the entertainment as and when they please. You’re still getting money at the end of the day and most importantly views and engagement. Ensuring long-term customers/engagement. Rather than flaky customers - some people I know join and cancel every time a Netflix exclusive show they watch releases a new series. Yes you get the money from them during the times they join here and there. But they’re not loyal. They could easily forget or be swayed by other platforms or even just life in general.

I understand that you’re a business and need to make money. And that this money pays for staff, new content, etc. But surely it should be more about the art and the customer experience. Focus on creating content that people will want to watch more of. Find other ways. Make less content a year and focus on better quality content. Stop cancelling shows too early. Let them all have a proper close. Work on the algorithm more so everything gets a fair chance of being watched,

I appreciate that you’ve made it easier by allowing profile migrations. But at the end of the day, you’re tarnishing your brand.

I’m lucky enough that I can afford the changes. But there are so many out there that can’t. You only changed your prices last year which people have had to adapt to.

Thanks,

Concerned customer

#netflix #streaming #streaming services #film #tv #tvandfilm #movies

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msclaritea · 1 year

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Netflix’s AI Anime Credits An Artist As ‘Human,’ Gets Roasted

The anime community has been rife with contraversy over AI-generated images. Today, Netflix joined the hot new trend of being ratioed online for terrible AI takes. The streaming platform not only produced a commercial project with AI, it tried to justify doing so by citing the “labor shortage” in the anime industry. Artists did not take this bullshit at face value, and they weren’t quiet about it either.

Dog and Boy is an animated movie created by Netflix Japan and Wit Studio (which produced Ranking of Kings and co-animated Spy x Family).

According to a Vice translation, Netflix Japan tweeted: “As an experimental effort to help the anime industry, which has a labor shortage, we used image generation technology for the background images of all three-minute video cuts!”

The production credits list AI as the co-creators of the background art and the music. Before you click “play,” I’d like to make one thing clear: It doesn’t matter if the resulting video is good or bad. One of the wealthiest anime producers in the world chose not to employ at least two living artists to create the movie, and that’s not great for the future of animation. Or artists as both workers and a community.

Even worse, the artist who had to handhold the AI doesn’t appear to be credited at all. The background designer is credited as “AI (+ Human).” Um, I’m pretty sure that the human has an actual name. So not only was Netflix Japan experimenting with some ethically dodgy technology, they’re showing exactly how little they respect living background painters. If Japan has an animator shortage, it’s because the industry pays freelancers a poverty wage to hand-draw images.

In Japan, artist pay has not risen with the cost of living, which makes it impossible for some to survive in the industry. Even under these conditions, companies continuously find ways to underpay their employees. Despite being massively successful, the studio behind the movie Promare and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners was forced to settle with its own staff over unpaid overtime. If artists don’t want to work, it’s likely because they can’t afford to.

Netflix could have easily solved this problem with higher pay. Instead, it’s trying to cut out some artists altogether. Kotaku reached out to ask Netflix about the specific challenges they have with recruiting human artists, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

On Twitter, artists and creators are, as the kids like to say, “beating Netflix’s ass in the quote retweets.” A Netflix showrunner wrote: “Not something to be proud of, babes.” Even an AI engineer offered to introduce Netflix to animators looking for work while chiding the company for not “looking very hard.” The quote retweets are filled with people demanding higher pay for animators, which warms even my cold, cynical heart.

“You want everything for free, but we need money to live,” tweeted one Japanese comic artist. “And a lot of work that can worsen our health”

Meantime, elsewhere in Netflix Land:

They certainly do love their sociopaths and robots, don't they?

Netflix lost 200,000 subscribers last April, and over 970,000 by the 2nd quarter in 2022. Password sharing is the least of their problems. I'm so glad I dropped Netflix last year. Besides the way they sabotaged The Power of The Dog, they just show far too many Occult themed shows for my taste.

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aulia-m · 1 year

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Expanding Twitter’s Character Limit. Again.

The point of Twitter was its brevity. The need to conform to SMS standards was why it was limited to 140 characters with 20 set aside for the username. Five years ago they raised it to 280 long after it no longer needed to match SMS and now they apparently want to raise it again to 4,000.

Some time after Twitter allowed people post up to 280 characters they said the majority of tweets don’t reach the limit but they never said how popular threads were and how long was the average thread. Twitter has always been more suited for story tellers so it makes sense to let people write longer posts.

Twitter’s reach and discoverability was a major selling point to bloggers and journalists to share their thought streams and link to their work. It’s why they were among the early adopters of Twitter alongside the startup crowd.

Letting people post long tweets is basically coopting the blogging experience, essentially telling people that they can just post everything there, not bothering with links. Most people don’t blog anymore so that’s moot but people do share stories and they make long Twitter threads, which means threads are going to go away.

Twitter’s plan to release Notes (Twitter Write) was in early stages before the takeover and it was a full blogging experience with embedded images, captions, and titles but they were going to be separate from the regular tweets, a lot like Instagram’s Guide, which was likely inspired by Twitter Moments. Curious how they’re going to roll it out now after the people who worked on it are no longer around.

It would be relatively easy to just expand the character limit but it’s also lazy. Turning Twitter into a full blown story telling or blogging platform would make more sense and it may serve to head off the migration to other platforms like Tumblr or Mastodon (face it, Google’s Blogger just isn’t a thing anymore) but that’s only looking at it from a product perspective.

The return and increase of right wing political radicals on Twitter is a major turn off for many people and many have jumped over to other platforms. However there are crowds that are not affected directly by these groups, can’t afford to switch platforms for whatever reason, or simply chose to stay. They may still stick around, oblivious or dismissive to what’s happening, and most likely be taking advantage of the new features instead of jumping to another platform.

Change is challenging and it’s not just about features or environment. Leaving your playground or asking people to move to a new one is not easy. The push factors need to be stronger than the pull factors and if people don’t feel the need to move, they won’t, no matter how much you try to convince them. Letting people write even longer tweets could be a reason for people to stay.

#AuliaSays #Twitter #microblogging #blogging

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ihavethebestjob · 2 years

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I Voted! Now What?

Great! Let’s assume you voted (or were denied the right to vote--in which case, all of this comes second to FIGHTING THAT and getting yourself squared away).

Now what?

Democracy is not a every two years thing (or, worse, every four years thing--please vote every two years, y’all!). It is a constant thing. I know that not everyone can do the heavy protest stuff (as a teacher, I definitely can not; all it takes is one picture and my career is over).

You can still be involved! Here’s some steps:

1. After the election is called, find the names of everyone who now represents you. Know their names. Know their platforms. Prepare for them doing what they said.

2. Subscribe to ALL THE MAILING LISTS. Get their newsletters. YES, EVEN THE ONES YOU DID NOT VOTE FOR. ESPECIALLY THEM. Know what they are telling people--look at how they “campaign” when it isn’t campaign season (this made all the difference in one of my local races; he was a DICK who did NOTHING like hell he’s got my vote whiny bitchass)..

3. Subscribe to a local newspaper, if you can afford it. If you can’t afford it, find a local news source online that you CAN access (a lot of local news stations have YouTube streams! Check it!). Read it at least once a week.

4. Find a national news source you trust. Watch it no more than thirty minutes a day (I personally watch about twice a week). 24 hour news is a bane on our society; limit your exposure. Stay informed, but not stressed.

5. Fact check the national and local news against each other. If they disagree, find a third source you trust. If they all disagree, tread cautiously; this may be a developing story prone to mistakes and bias.

6. USE THE NEWS to FACT CHECK YOUR REPS. YES EVEN THE ONES YOU LIKE. THEY LIE TOO. Remember that mailing list from earlier? You should get something once a week to once a month, depending upon how local they are (local tends to message more, national reps less). Check it. Is this true? If it is true, how biased is it? ARe they considering all the facts? How often are they lying or shading the truth? Is that someone you can vote for in two/four years?

7. After fact checking, figure out what you believe. Even people you disagree with can do things you agree with! That’s life! But start to build a mental tally of how much they’ve done that you like versus how much you dislike. Start to find your hard lines. What things MUST someone have to earn your vote?

8. CONTACT THEM. Email, phone, letter, carrier pigeon, I don’t care!! Tell them when you’re mad. Tell them when you think they’re being dickheads. Make your voice heard. THIS CAN AND DOES SHIFT POLICY.

This seems like a lot, but I’ve done it while working a full time job and going to grad school. It made voting a lot easier, because I knew when my candidates were lying (if they were incumbents), I already had an opinion about them and their party, and I knew most of the names on my ballot without extensive research.

PARTICIPATION IN DEMOCRACY DOESN’T END WHEN YOU CAST YOUR BALLOT. THAT’S WHERE IT STARTS.

#democracy #politics

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cinepiner · 2 years

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Tsmuxer for mac

#Tsmuxer for mac how to

#Tsmuxer for mac for mac os

#Tsmuxer for mac movie

#Tsmuxer for mac install

While we don’t actually have to change the video and audio streams of your movie, we do need to rearrange them so they’re in the right format for Blu-Ray players to read them. For this, we’ll use a tool called tsMuxeR, available for both Windows and Mac. More technically, we’re going to use a process called multiplexing, or “muxing.” In this context, muxing involves combining multiple video or audio tracks into a new format without changing their contents. No matter what OS you’re using, you’ll need to convert your video files to the Blu-Ray format. Step One: Convert Video Files to the Blu-Ray Format With tsMuxeR

#Tsmuxer for mac install

Install or plug in your Blu-ray drive, install the apps you need, then fire up tsMuxeR to remux your videos into the proper format.

Finder (Mac): On a Mac, the burning process is even easier. Finder has the built-in ability to burn an ISO image directly as long as you have a disc drive connected.

We’ll use tsMuxeR to create an ISO file that ImgBurn can easily burn directly onto a disc.

ImgBurn (Windows): This is a handy tool that can burn files, folder, or disc images onto a Blu-Ray for you.

If your video is in MP4, MKV, or other supported common video formats, tsMuxeR is a simple utility that can reorganize these files into something your Blu-Ray player can read. This process is technically “muxing,” not encoding, so it won’t mess with the quality of your video.

tsMuxeR (Windows/Mac): Before you burn your video to a disc, you’ll need to put it in the proper format.

Single layer Blu-Rays can store up to 25GB, while dual layer Blu-Rays can store up to 50GB. o Always try the Mirrors (EU, EU2 and EU3 MIRROR LINK) before reporting Broken links. When your browser asks you what to do with the downloaded file, select 'Save' (your browsers wording may vary) and pick an appropriate folder.

#Tsmuxer for mac how to

Blank Blu-Ray discs are a little more expensive than DVDs, but they’re still relatively affordable if you buy them in bulk. The blank discs also come in two flavors: single layer and dual layer. HOW TO DOWNLOAD tsMuxeR: o Click on DOWNLOAD tsMuxeR.

#Tsmuxer for mac movie

A blank Blu-Ray disc: Naturally, you’ll need a blank disc to burn your movie to.

If you want to burn Blu-Rays from a Mac, you’ll probably need an external burner, as most Macs can’t use internals without some kind of enclosure. If you don’t already have one, you’ll need to buy a Blu-Ray burner drive, which usually go for around $40-60, depending on whether you want to get an internal or external drive.

A Blu-Ray burner drive: By the time Blu-Ray became a common standard, many computers were skipping optical drives altogether.

To create your own playable Blu-Ray, you’ll need a few things to get started including: RELATED: How to Rip Blu-Ray Discs With MakeMKV and Handbrake Here’s how to burn a copy of your movies-or even your own home videos-to a playable Blu-Ray on Windows or macOS. Tom2tec on foo_vis_shpeck ~ Foobar MilkDr…įollow The Audio File on WordPress.If you’ve ripped your Blu-Ray collection to make your library more convenient, you might also want to burn a back up or use a copy so you don’t damage your original. Starlight on foo_vis_shpeck ~ Foobar MilkDr…

DialogMusicPlayer ~ Simple & Minimal Android Player May 23, 2022.

rAudio-1 ~ Raspberry Pi Audio Player May 24, 2022.

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Quiet on the Set ~ Windows Volume Limiter May 25, 2022 Tsmuxer For Mac Os Automatic or manual fps adjustment while mixing Level changing as well as SEI, SPS/PPS elements and NAL unit delimiter cycle insertion while mixing H.

Pitch Pipe ~ Android Instrument Tuning June 9, 2022.

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wma2wav ~ Convert WMA To Wave Audio June 18, 2022.

Find & Play ~ Foobar2000 Music Search Extension June 18, 2022.

wavtoac3encoder ~ WAV To AC3 Encoder July 10, 2022.

Blue Cat Chorus ~ Free Vintage Chorus July 24, 2022.

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#Tsmuxer for mac

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ledenews · 2 years

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WPHS Athletics Department Embracing Technology

Wheeling Park, and in particular, its athletics department, is working toward fully embracing the use of technology at the high school. WPHS recently announced on its Facebook page the link and details surrounding its revamped web presence for Wheeling Park Athletics. The Patriots athletics department utilizes the Big Teams platform and has for some time. But recently, the school has been fully embracing all its possibilities and has transformed its site into a one-stop information hub for all things Patriots. “We've always been a part of Big Teams and had the availability, but we wanted to put something in play where we everybody understands that anything dealing with Park, from going there for tickets, to streaming (games), any announcements, it will be there,” said Chris “Doc” Daugherty, Park's head football coach and first-year athletics director. “We've linked our social media accounts there as well, so if we post something, it will appear on the site.” Daugherty also noted the site is interactive insofar that fans can sign up to receive notices and alerts whenever the site generates any news. If there's a schedule change, the Big Teams site will be updated and fans looking to attend said game will be alerted to that change. Daugherty is a busy man, serving as both the head football coach and now AD, taking over for Dwaine Rodgers, who retired last school year after a lengthy tenure in the position. So this platform, and its ability to be easily updated, affords Daugherty the flexibility to make adjustments on the go once of the school's respective sports' coaches provide him with the new info. It's still newish, so some sections—like individual team rosters, coaching staff bios, team and game photos, etc.--are still being added to the site. But the meat and potatoes, per se, are included and what is offered is continuously expanding. You can even find a practice schedule for coaches that have provided that information for their respective teams. In short, have an athletics question? Hit the site. Online Ticketing Park isn't the only school in the OVAC to embrace online ticketing. Nor is it the first. WPHS still sells tickets at the gate, but those prices are an additional $2 per ticket. There are other incentives to purchasing tickets ahead of time online, however. One of the biggest is the school's all-access pass, which covers every Wheeling Park High School regular season sporting event. While neither OVAC-specific events—whether tournaments or all-star contests—nor W.V.S.S.A.C. postseason events are covered, all other home contests are. That means every contest of the school's more than 20 varsity sports teams, plus junior varsity and freshmen level home games, are included in the purchase price. The cost is $128 for the year, but for a parent who has a child playing say three sports, cost savings can add up quickly. Safe to say, the passes are a big hit thus far. “We're still doing gate tickets, but that ticket is $2 more than buying online,” Daugherty said. “What we've really tried to push through online is the passes. Most Park fans know that if they're going to all the home games, it's just easier to buy the pass and have it done. Then you have no chance of losing the tickets or forgetting to buy them. “We've sold more season passes this year than we've ever in the history of the school, at least while I've been here. It seems to be working and we expect it to grow.” Daugherty admits he knows that not everyone embraces technology advancement and online purchasing. That's why the in-person option is still available. But as the years progress and more fans come to prefer the online option, he foresees a day when WPHS will be 100 percent online-only for tickets. The YouTube page for Wheeling Park sporting events, which is directly linked from the WPHS Athletics web page. Game Streaming Don't live close by? Can't make it to a game? Fear not, as WPHS has expanded its streaming options for fans that want to follow their son or daughter, niece or nephew, or even just check in to see how their alma mater is fairing. The school's athletics web page has a section specifically entitled “watch live” where fans can click and link to the school's streaming page to watch. Daugherty admits he and his staff are still working out the kinks as far as getting every event streamed live that they'd like. But rest assured, the eventual goal is to have all home events available for streaming. “I think we'll get as much as possible (streamed),” Daugherty said. “I got a little behind getting all of our jayvee and frosh home contests on the Hudl schedule, but once we can do that, we will be able to stream all of those events too. “It'll be nice that grandmother or grandfather in Oklahoma can watch their grandson or granddaughter on the freshmen or jayvee team, and not just Friday night or varsity.” All that streaming you'd think would require a sizable audio/visual staff, but once again, thanks to technology, it's not needed. The athletics department has purchased a Hudl Focus Smart Camera, both for outdoor use at Wheeling Island Stadium, and inside the Palace on the Hill at WPHS. These cameras can record, upload, and livestream, all at the same time. And it's not just the same view from center field or center court. These smart cameras can either stay in one spot, or follow the ball, zooming in and refocusing on the action automatically depending on chosen settings. “It can do a bunch of different views, from wide-angle, following the ball, etc.,” Daugherty said. “We have them both at the stadium and in the gym, and that gives us a lot of availability. We just turn it on and you wouldn't even know that it's unmanned. You'd think a person was running the camera, zooming in and out.” Those cameras aren't cheap, but the benefits more than pay for the purchase price. Not every school has the resources to fully take advantage of what technology can offer, not only for the students, but for extracurricular activities. But those that can are coming to find the benefits can be innumerable. Wheeling Park is such a school. Read the full article

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farawayeyes4 · 2 years

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Let’s Get Physical

First off, RIP Olivia Newton-John, the reference in this title is for you.

In the wake of this whole HBO Max/Warner Brother’s Discovery fiasco, I just wanted to write a reaction.

I am well aware that the likelihood that we’re going to see a return to physical copy being the norm rather than an increasing exception is pretty much non-existent. Streaming, cloud services, e-everything is just so damn convenient and so many of us use them/rely on them/turn to them because it’s a lot to buy every book, movie, album, etc that we enjoy or want to see and it takes up so much space. SO MUCH SPACE. And it’s expensive and things are only climbing higher in the cost departments. I get it. Physical copy is dead. Long live physical copy.

But if there’s one lesson I would like us to take from what happened with HBO Max is that perhaps we should at least rethink some of that. Buy movies on DVD/Blu Ray. Get that book in hardcopy. Buy an album on vinyl or CD. Show them that you value that item that you can hold and look at and call your own rather than just clicking a button on a service that may decide that the purchase of that particular title is no longer yours because it wasn’t yours EVER. You pay for access on these services, not for the actual item you’re accessing. And so, while you may be able to watch your favorite episode of Seinfeld or your favorite Star Wars film for the millionth time or listen to your favorite song or album at will without having to dig it out of your own physical collection to play it or find that book in the pile of TBR on the floor, you just might find that you go to the stupid service and POOF it’s just not there and aww, that’s too bad. The companies don’t care. They don’t.

The thing of it is, this whole situation subverts the whole notion of the First Sale Doctrine. That means if I buy that book or that CD or that Blu Ray, I get to do whatever I want with it. I can read that book as MANY times as I can stomach. I can burn it. i can give it away. I can resell it (not the copyright in it, no because I do NOT own that, but that’s for another day), hell I can even turn the book into toilet paper if I like (don’t do that because EW and I bet that would be scratchy). Same with my CD or Blu Ray (well maybe not the toilet paper thing). The point is, I buy something, it’s MINE and I get to decide what happens to it at least until I give it to someone else or sell it to them and then THEY get to decide.

These companies have found a whole way around that now and they really really REALLY REALLY REALLY like it. The more you just pay for the access and don't think about it, the more they’re going to do it. They know that you’ll eventually figure it out, but they’re hoping that it’ll be so entrenched by the time you do that it won’t matter any more. Perhaps it already is.

It also allows for companies to do what Disney has done since the late 1980s and 1990s. To put everything in the DAMN VAULT. That’s the principle that these companies play by of “If I can’t make any money off of it OR if I can make MORE money off it by making it scarce then NO ONE CAN HAVE IT” will be enacted. With streaming being what it is, guess how easy it is to do JUST that with everything on their platforms? Pretty damn easy and no one can do anything about it.

Now, this is all doom and gloom so far. I know.

But there’s hope. I swear.

Like. Think of it this way. There’s a few things we can do.

First of all, if you really really really REALLY enjoyed something, please consider buying it. I know that is not always possible or easy or accessible for us, but think about it real long and hard. If It’s something you KNOW you’ll listen to repeatedly, watch over and over, read a bunch or reference all the time, BUY IT. That may remind these companies that sometimes physical copy is preferred and keep these things being made for the sake of posterity.

Second. If you can’t afford to buy your treasured item, find it at your library or request that THEY purchase it for the collection. This will ensure that it will be some place that will take care of it and provide FREE access to all in the community who may need it. It will also keep us librarians happy and healthy and able to provide the service that communities need. I get it. You can’t collect it all. Neither can a library longterm, BUT if you really like an item, check it out often and it’ll be kept in the collection or replaced once it reaches the end of its life cycle.

Third. Treasure the physical experience when you do engage with it. Hold those discs for your favorite show. SMELL the pages of that book. Feel the weight of the item as you handle it. It may seem silly, but it’ll remind you that these things exist this way now not because that was the only way for them to do so, but because there is a human quality and value in them existing this way. Think of the most beautiful book you’ve ever seen or held and how it felt reading it in book form rather than on a screen.

Fourth. Buy from artisans who may take some of the digital creations and turn them into physical. Here I’m not talking the corporate created DVDs or print books. I’m talking fine artisan presses who may be printing and binding people’s treasured fanfiction or meta analysis for whatever show they love. I’m talking art prints for your favorite character. I’m talking those who have elevated fandom into the next realm of arts and crafts and fine art in ways that make fandom so concrete again. I’m talking art for art’s sake, fandom or otherwise. Support those artisans at Etsy, the Ren Fest, your local art market, wherever they find their niche. Collect that and what has meaning.

Remember, these things aren’t just CONTENT to be sold and consumed mindlessly and without purpose because Disney or Paramount or Warner Brothers decides this is what you want to see/experience. Engaging with the physical will also remind us that human creators helped to make these things and while Work for Hire practices are screwing them in the digital streaming realm, we can and will and should celebrate them in the physical so their art will remain grounded in the human condition and the real.

Go engage with something physical. Read that book. Listen to that album on a player. Dig out whatever physical item you want and just be with it for awhile.

It doesn’t have to be this streaming, cold digital world. It can be real and vibrant and concrete. Let it be.

#streaming physical books dvds cds engage with real things again fuck corporate media

0 notes

mostlysignssomeportents · 3 years

Text

How copyright filters lead to wage-theft

Last week, "Marina" - a piano teacher who publishes free lessons her Piano Keys Youtube channel - celebrated her fifth anniversary by announcing that she was quitting Youtube because her meager wages were being stolen by fraudsters.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcyOxtkafMs

Marina posted a video with a snatch of her performance of Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata," published in 1801. The composition is firmly in the public domain, and the copyright in the performance is firmly Marina's, but it still triggered Youtube's automated copyright filter.

A corporate entity - identified only by an alphabet soup of initialisms and cryptic LLC names - had claimed Ole Ludwig Van's masterpiece as their own, identifying it as "Wicca Moonlight."

Content ID, the automated Youtube filter, flagged Marina's track as an unauthorized performance of this "Wicca Moonlight" track. Marina appealed the automated judgement, which triggered a message to this shadowy LLC asking if they agreed that no infringement had taken place.

But the LLC renewed its claim of infringement. Marina now faces several unpleasant choices:

She can allow the LLC to monetize her video, stealing the meager wages she receives from the ads that appear on it

She can take down her video

She can provide her full name and address to Youtube in order to escalate the claim, with the possibility that her attackers will get her contact details, and with the risk that if she loses her claim, she can lose her Youtube channel

The incident was a wake-up call for Marina, who is quitting Youtube altogether, noting that it has become a place that favors grifters over creators. She's not wrong, and it's worth looking at how that happened.

Content ID was created to mollify the entertainment industry after Google acquired Youtube. Google would spend $100m on filtering tech that would allow rightsholders to go beyond the simple "takedown" permitted by law, and instead share in revenues from creative uses.

But it's easy to see how this system could be abused. What if people falsely asserted copyright over works to which they had no claim? What if rightsholders rejected fair uses, especially criticism?

In a world where the ownership of creative works can take years to untangle in the courts and where judges' fair use rulings are impossible to predict in advance, how could Google hope to get it right, especially at the vast scale of Youtube?

The impossibility of automating copyright judgments didn't stop Google from trying to perfect its filter, adding layers of complexity until Content ID's appeal process turned into a cod-legal system whose flowchart looks like a bowl of spaghetti.

https://pluralistic.net/2020/12/12/fairy-use-tale/#content-id

The resulting mess firmly favors attackers (wage stealers, fraudsters, censors, bullies) over defenders (creators, critics). Attackers don't need to waste their time making art, which leaves them with the surplus capacity to master the counterintuitive "legal" framework.

You can't fix a system broke by complexity by adding more complexity to it. Attempts to do so only makes the system more exploitable by bad actors, like blackmailers who use fake copyright claims to extract ransoms from working creators.

https://torrentfreak.com/youtube-strikes-now-being-used-as-scammers-extortion-tool/

But it would be a mistake to think that filterfraud was primarily a problem of shadowy scammers. The most prolific filter scammers and wage-thieves are giant music companies, like Sony Music, who claim nearly *all* classical music:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/05/22/crisis-for-thee-not-me/#filternet

The Big Tech companies argue that they have an appeals process that can reverse these overclaims, but that process is a joke. Instagram takedowns take a few seconds to file, but *28 months* to appeal.

https://pluralistic.net/2020/05/17/cheap-truthers/#robot-sez-no

The entertainment industry are flagrant filternet abusers. Take Warner Chappell, whose subsidiary demonetizes videos that include the numbers "36" and "50":

https://www.dexerto.com/entertainment/annemunition-bizarre-copyright-strike-youtube-random-numbers-1317750/

Warner Chappell are prolific copyfraudsters. For decades, they fraudulently claimed ownership over "Happy Birthday" (!):

https://consumerist.com/2016/02/09/happy-birthday-song-settlement-to-pay-out-14-million-to-people-who-paid-to-use-song/

They're still at it - In 2020 they used a fraudulent claim to nuke a music theory video, and then a human being working on behalf of the company renewed the claim *after* being informed that they were mistaken about which song was quoted in the video:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/03/05/warner-chappell-copyfraud/#warnerchappell

The fact that automated copyright claims can remove material from the internet leads to a lot of sheer fuckery. In 2019, anti-fascists toyed with blaring copyrighted music at far right rallies to prevent their enemies from posting them online.

https://memex.craphound.com/2019/07/23/clever-hack-that-will-end-badly-playing-copyrighted-music-during-nazis-rallies-so-they-cant-be-posted-to-youtube/

At the time, I warned that this would end badly. Just a month before, there had been a huge scandal because critics of extremist violence found that automated filters killed their videos because they featured clips of that violence:

https://memex.craphound.com/2019/06/06/people-who-document-evidence-of-violent-extremism-are-being-shut-down-in-youtubes-crackdown-on-violent-extremism/

Since then, it's only gotten worse. The Chinese Communist Party uses copyfraud to remove critical videos from Youtube:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/05/27/literal-gunhumping/#communist-bandit

and so does the Beverley Hills Police Department:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/02/10/duke-sucks/#bhpd

But despite all that, the momentum is for *more* filtering, to remove far fuzzier categories of content. The EU's Terror Regulation has just gone into effect, giving platforms just *one hour* to remove "terrorist" content:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/04/eu-online-terrorism-regulation-bad-deal

The platforms have pivoted from opposing filter rules to endorsing them. Marc Zuckerberg says that he's fine with removing legal protections for online platforms unless they have hundreds of millions of dollars to install filters.

https://pluralistic.net/2021/03/25/facebook-has-a-facebook-problem/#played-for-zuckers

The advocates for a filternet insist that all these problems can be solved if geeks just *nerd harder* to automate good judgment, fair appeals, and accurate attributions. This is pure wishful thinking. As is so often the case in tech policy, "wanting it badly is not enough."

In 2019, the EU passed the Copyright Directive, whose Article1 7 is a "notice and staydown" rule requiring platforms to do instant takedowns on notice of infringement *and* to prevent content from being re-posted.

There's no way to do this without filters, but there's no way to make filters without violating the GDPR. The EU trying to figure out how to make it work, and the people who said this wouldn't require filters are now claiming that filters are fine.

https://pluralistic.net/2020/09/11/protocols-of-qanon/#no-filternet

Automating subtle judgment calls is impossible, not just because copyright's limitations - fair use and others - are grounded in subjective factors like "artistic intent," but because automating a flawed process creates flaws at scale.

Remember when Jimmy Fallon broadcasted himself playing a video game? NBC automatically claimed the whole program as its copyrighted work, and thereafter, gamers who streamed themselves playing that game got automated takedowns from NBC.

https://old.reddit.com/r/beatsaber/comments/bi9cp5/beat_saber_stream_blocked_by_jimmy_fallon_show/

The relentless expansion of proprietary rights over our virtual and physical world raises the stakes for filter errors. The new Notre Dame spire will be a copyrighted work - will filters block videos of protests in front of the cathedral?

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20190425/09282042084/why-your-holiday-photos-videos-restored-notre-dame-cathedral-could-be-blocked-eus-upload-filters.shtml

And ever since the US's 1976 Copyright Act abolished a registration requirement, it's gotten harder to figure out who controls the rights to any work, so that even the "royalty free" music for Youtubers to safely use turned out to be copyrighted:

https://torrentfreak.com/royalty-free-music-supplied-by-youtube-results-in-mass-video-demonetization-191118/

We need a new deal for content removal, one that favors working creators over wage-thieves who have the time and energy to master the crufty, complex private legal systems each platform grows for itself.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/04/content-moderation-broken-let-us-count-ways

Back in 2019, Slate Future Tense commissioned me to write an sf story about how this stuff might work out in the coming years. The result, "Affordances," is sadly still relevant today:

https://slate.com/technology/2019/10/affordances-cory-doctorow-sf-story-algorithmic-bias-facial-recognition.html

Here's a podcast of the story as well:

https://ia803108.us.archive.org/3/items/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_314/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_314_-Affordances.mp3

Meanwhile, governments from Australia to the UK to Canada are adopting "Harmful Content" rules that are poised to vastly expand the filternet, insisting that it's better than the alternative.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/bill-c10-user-generated-content-1.6007192

#pluralistic

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delicrieux · 3 years

Text

☆ﾐ 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚊𝚢 “𝚘𝚑”

PART 10: BIG DICK IS BACK IN TOWN

y/n is back in brooklyn for the holidays. thinking that a stream will make her feel less homesick for cali, she starts working on her famously titled hentai.free.srv. what was supposed to be a relaxing stream turns into a special delivery about two hours in.

─── corpse husband x reader ─── soc. media + written fiction! ─── word count: 2.2k ─── ❥ req: Here's one... You know those apps for delivery like Domino's or whatnot... What if reader is streaming Among Us with Corpse, and reader mentions they're hungry and Corpse offers to order them food, and readers like no no it's fine... Then there's delivery at the door (Corpse ordered beforehand)

author’s note: fucky format is also back in town baby!!! also if you find any mistakes - no u didnt <3 thank u everyone for enjoying this story sm i literally cant believe how feral yall going strawberry cow was a nuclear explosion im still recovering tbh. got an ask a while ago and decided to incorporate it into myso. happy holidays everyone! myso will continue on monday!

ultimate masterlist. ҉ myso masterlist ҉ previous. ҉ next.

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Indeed, being soft on any social media platform was the biggest disgrace and needed to be eliminated post haste. Moreover, it was a slippery slope - once you start flooding your timeline with cute imagery and heart emojis, what will stop you from posting inspirational Facebook quotes? Disgusting. If Rae were here, she would chide you (not you thinking about her as if she’s dead or something). For once in your life, you feel like you deserve it.

Alas, you hope this little chaos you’ve caused is enough to throw everyone off. The stans, especially. You know the hashtags, you’ve seen ARMY scourging for info online with the same fervor and ruthlessness 1 Direction fans hacked airport security cameras just to spy on the boys. If you had any dirty secrets online, they are out to the public now - thankfully, besides the Harry Styles stan account (with edits and all), you have nothing. Though, now that you think about it, exposed nudes would have been better than your Punk!Harry edit receiving almost a million views. God, your life’s a fucking mess.

Your fans aren’t the only ones out for info - you, too, are trying to decipher Rae’s message. Code: Barbecue Sauce. The two of you had come up with it roughly two years ago, around the same time when you promised that if you didn’t find significant others by the time you’re 40, you’ll just marry each other. It was one of the many rules found in your friendship codex. Barbecue Sauce signifies information - an exchange of information. And depending on how it ends or begins (”So I’m sitting there” alludes to Rae, “On my titties” alludes to you), secret data on that person is given away, usually free of charge.

But why? And to whom did Rae give away what? You had pestered her mercilessly and even sent some voice messages where you were crying. You were only crying because of a video of a grandpa smiling you saw on TikTok, but you are a snake, and so you put those tears to good use. If streaming doesn’t work out, you’ll just become an actress. Hollywood would love you. Your PR firm sure as fuck wouldn’t, though.

Rae was having none of it. She said you’ll figure it out eventually. Told you to channel your superior puzzle skills. You were quick to remind her that you can barely count to ten without having an aneurysm. Oddly serious, she admitted that she worries for you sometimes. Why only sometimes?! you demanded. She merely sighed. uttering under her breath something that sounded closely to “Boke.”

You leave her for barely a week and she’s already neck deep in the gay volleyball anime, hoodie and cardboard cutout and everything. Your life is falling apart.

But Brooklyn is nice. It had snowed when you stepped off of the plane. Thousands of snowflakes sprinkling into your hair, dotting your cheeks and nose. You missed this sight back in Cali. You missed your parents, too.

Home cooked meals, old sweaters, your old room and about 40GB worth of old high school pictures on your computer. You went through them all one night. Some were stomach churning, cringe inducing nightmares. You were especially fond of those. Texted some of your friends that were still in Brooklyn, met up, decided to bake. Bad idea, Rae was the resident chef back in Cali. Besides laughing till your stomach hurt, and almost burning down your kitchen, nothing all that significant happened. Somewhere down the line, at about 3 am, half-way through a cheesy rom-com you had the overwhelming urge to text Corpse.

That’s where the problems really started. God, you missed California, missed being in the same timezone with a guy you hadn’t even met yet, how embarrassing is that?! You missed skating around and taking pictures of the beach in the setting sun, sending it to him, silently wishing he was with you to admire the view.

You really want to call him. And to hang out with him. But for some reason, the thought of that springs up immediate anxiety and you shy away from asking. Him sending you cute good morning texts doesn’t help, either. Maybe it’s better he doesn’t know that you’re a blushing, stuttering mess each time you read “baby”.

Late evening. Your stream is already set up, people are slowly trickling in and you greet them with a grin and a soft “Hello! Hi hi!”. You did your best to make your room a perfectly chaotic backdrop - led lights, an embarrassing amount of anime merch and plushies. You always try to balance out your weeb side by dressing hot as fuck for your streams - today’s inspiration just so happens to be egirls. Mostly because you watched one too many egirl make-up tutorials on TikTok, and also because you’ve been listening to Corpse’s song all day.

Yeah, no, who are you kidding, you dressed up this way because you were hoping Corpse was watching your stream. You didn’t forget your cat headphones, either. You know he likes them. You want to make him suffer. Perhaps then, finally, he will ask you out, so you wouldn’t have to.

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“I feel like,” You start when you put away your phone, staring idly at the chat, “I feel like I need a new name for you guys. Calling you guys after two years of streaming is just... weird, no? I also don’t respect men so I don’t want to call you guys. Like, so many creator’s have, like, a name for their fans. Uhm, Cody Ko has the chodesters, Kurtis Conner has, uh, folks? Kurtis Town? Citizens! Markiplier has mommy issues--” You can’t help snorting, “So, I’ve been, like, thinking - I know, shocking! - so I was thinking I’m gonna name you cockroaches. Because you’re grimy little shits impossible to kill. And also then I can use the legendary Minaj meme ROACHES!”

Your stream enthusiastically echoes ROACHES, making the chat swim. Yes, if anyone would enjoy such a name, it would be your audience. You’re as equally proud as you are disturbed.

“Well, anyway.” Leaning back into your chair, you throw your arms out with a bright grin, “Big dick is back in town, baby! If you noticed the backdrops different, it’s cuz I’m in Brooklyn now. Don’t ask me when I will return to Always Sunny, I don’t plan that far ahead.”

While Minecraft boots up, you decide to answer a few questions.

r u dating sykkuno?

You want to smack your head into the keyboard, but as it is, you can’t exactly afford a new one, so you refrain, “No, Sykkuno and I are not dating, we are just good friends. Uhm, I’m not sure how much I’ll have to repeat this, but, we really aren’t, so if the roaches could chill - Oh my God, that sounds so stupid, I love it - uh, yeah, if the roaches could chill that’d be great.”

the roaches lmao sounds like we’re a sports team

“Oh shit, yeah it does, uh-- maybe I can make like, jerseys or something. That’d be cool, I think.”

how disappointed are your parents with the way your life turned out?

“My parents are actually not disappointed at all!” You say with a cute little smile, “Uhm, they’re both really proud, actually. They’re glad I found something I love doing and made a job outta it. Dad finds my Youtube videos endearing. Yes, they watch pretty much all of my videos, unless I explicitly tell them not to. And yeah, with all the fucks and thirsting for anime characters. Uhm, it was very embarrassing at first, but I mean, after a while, shame just...doesn’t exist anymore, I guess? Funny thing about my parents, actually, when they watch my videos-” You eye catches a comment, “Oh! No, they only watch my Youtube videos. They don’t know how to use Twitter, thank God. Uhm, anyway-- when they hear a name they don’t know, like, I dunno, Dabi, or something, they google--” You’re grinning by now, eyes crinkling, giggling softly, “--who that is, and buy me like, merch and stuff. It’s really cute.

can i be adopted by ur parents plz

will you and corpse ever collab?!

You were about to answer, though the man of the hour himself decides to do it for you.

Corpse_Husband: yes.

Okay, not to say your heart skipped a beat, but it totally did. With a pleased smile, you nod, like one of those bobble head toys sold at the dollar store. The motion is oddly reminiscent of Sykkuno’s own nod. Perhaps you had picked it up from him. The chat seems to notice.

pack it up, sykkuno

More questions pile about this mysterious collab you and Corpse are planning. Yeah, you’d like to hear more about it, too, since he single highhandedly decided one was happening right now. Corpse remains silent. Fine, keep your secrets.

“Okay, guys, oh, I mean, roaches, Oh my God--” You’re covering your mouth, giggling, “-calling all roaches, calling all roaches, calm down. Everyone grab a snack and a blanket I’m turning up the music volume so we can all chill. Entering chill zone. Entering chill zone. Roaches, prepare.”

we are prepared

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An hour or so passes and you grow hungry. It shows with the amount of cakes you had baked in your server. Currently, you find yourself throwing eggs at the wall of one of the renovated houses, your face scrunched in concentration and slight frustration. 24 of the 50 eggs have been wasted. “What’s a girl gotta do to get some chicks around here?” you had uttered under your breath, until, finally, a screech - the egg finally spawns a mob. Your mouth falls open, “Aww, look!” You approach it, so small, walking in zigzags beside you, “It’s a baby chicken! Die, bitch.” The baby chicken is no more as you swing your bedazzled (you have mods) diamond sword. You’re cackling by the time the dust settles.

y/n is a child murderer

“Roaches,” You address your fan-base, spurring another fit of laughter - you can’t get over the name, “I think I’m like, forgetting that eating in Minecraft won’t actually make less hungry in real life.”

take a break and go eat queen <3

“Fuck no, we starve and die like men. Now I actually really need another chicken.”

Another twenty minutes trickle by and you’re trying to lure back a panda from the jungle when there’s a knock on your bedroom’s door. Whipping your head to the side, you slide down your headphones. At the same time, your mom pokes her head through the ajar door, “MOM!” You scream, “Get OUT of my room I’m playing Minecraft!” But your yell has no actual bite to it, as you don’t manage to hide your smile. Your mom laughs, doing some sort of sign language and motioning for you to follow her with her head. That or it’s some sort of performative dance.

“I’m live right now,” You tell her, pointing at your screen. She knows this already, though, “do you want to say hi?”

The roaches spam the chat with friendly hellos. You mom, quite impatient now, waves you over.

“Sorry, roaches, mom needs something. Be back in a bit!”

Stopping the stream, you rush out of your seat and pleased she slinks into the hallway. “What’s this about?”

“Your pizza came.”

“My what now?” You echo, confused.

“Domino’s. You ordered pizza?”

“What? No? I was busy with the stream, I never--”

Thankfully, you had managed to grab your phone from your room before you exited. You almost choke on spit once you read the messages.

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You decide that it’ll be impossible to stream after experiencing what you had just experienced. You tweet out a quick apology to the roaches (God, that fucking name) and say that you had a breakdown but you’re okay. That is as a close to the truth as you managed to muster. It’s a sad sight, chewing and crying; your mom winced when she saw your state - disheveled hair and rundown eyeliner and everything. “D’aww,” She had muttered, caressing the top of your head, “don’t cry my little raccoon.”

If anyone was ever to ask you where did your chaotic nature come from, you’d answer with my mom. To make yourself feel better, you took a selfie - duck face and peace sign and the horrible 2000′s angle. Sent it to Rae.

looking hot, her message read.

thanks, was all you replied with.

You couldn’t just leave things as they were. Once you calmed down, you wanted to text Corpse, but how would you follow up the ungodly caps lock and screeching? Impossible. An idea sprung to mind, one that was brave. Taking the first step.

Instead of sending a text, you sent a voice memo.

“Thank you for the pizza, it was delicious.”

You voice still sounded a bit raspy. His reply was instant. Your heart skipped a beat. He sent a voice memo back.

“Glad you liked it, baby.”

He was going to be the death of you.

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tags (in italics is those i couldn’t tag! make sure all’s ok w your settings!) : @littlebabysandboxburritos - @fairywriter-oracle - @tsukishimawh0re - @ofstarsanddreams - @bbecc-a - @annshit - @leahh19 - @letsloveimagines - @bellomi-clarke - @wineandionysus - @guiltydols - @onephootinfrontoftheother - @liamakorn - @thirstyfangirl - @lilysdaydreams - @pan-ini - @mxqicshxp - @tanchosanke - @yoshinorecommends - @flightsandfantasy - @liljennyx3 - @slashersdream - @unknown-and-invisible - @sinister-sleep - @fivedicksinatrenchcoat - @mercury–moon - @peterparkerspjsuit - @unstableye - @simonsbluee - @shinyshimaagain - @ppopty - @siriuslystupid - @crapimahuman - @ofthedewthesunlight - @mythicalamphitrite - @artsyally - @corpsesimpp - @corpsewhitetee - @corpse-husbandsimp - @hyp-oh-critical - @roses-and-grasses - @rhyrhy462 - @sparklylandflaplawyer - @charbkgo - @airwaveee - @creativedogs - @kaitlyn2907 - @loxbbg - @afuckingunicornn - @fleurmoon - @yeolliedokai - @truly-dionysus - @multi-fandom-central707

more tags are in the comments bcs tumblr only allows me to tag 50 people max 💙

#corpse husband #corpse #corpse husband x reader #corpse x reader #corpse husband imagine #corpse social media au #corpse husband fanfic #social media au #corpse husband x y/n #corpse x y/n #corpse husband fic #reader #xreader #imagine #imagines #myso #make you say oh

2K notes · View notes

mewberii · 3 years

Text

Streamer!Scaramouche AU

i feel like he’d be one of the biggest streamers on his platform- probably one of those that everyone has heard of even if they’re not into watching livestreams and all

but between those who do know who he is, they either love him or hate him. no in-between

it’s kind of understandable because his attitude is not suited/can be handled by anyone

he’s brutally honest even when his opinion may be seen as rude (to him he’s just saying the truth so he doesn’t mind if people get offended)

of course he doesn’t try to be rude on purpose but i mean it as in he’ll say what he thinks

imagine he’s playing a game and he doesn’t like a certain mechanic, or he isn’t enjoying the story;

he won’t say the game is bad but he’ll openly say he doesn’t like it/it’s not for him. it makes him seem strict but tbh he’s not that hard to please and even when he complains about one or two things he still enjoys the game

he usually gives every game a chance even when from what he’s seen it doesn’t sound like a game he’ll like. if he turns out to be right he just won’t play it again and if he’s wrong he’s a little too prideful to admit he spoke a little too fast but in the end he will admit the game is good or he’s having fun

probably the kind that just knows so much about all games and all the creators and all the game-making engines and is up to date with every single news of everything video-game + streaming-related,,, how does he do it, i don’t know,,,,

and also since he’s so popular he probably gets packages from game developers with limited edition stuff or merch from different games soooo often

and he placed the ones from his favorite games in his setup room and it looks INCREDIBLE he has so much stuff

he did a room tour stream once talking about all he has, where he got everything, from his monitor to every complement of his computer and like,,,,, the cost of his setup,,,,,,, some people already know they’ll never be able to afford that in their entire life

and he already had a great setup before he even became big as a streamer so people can already guess he’s fairly rich

also i feel like he would have started his career as a streamer without using a facecam and even like that, he already managed to get very popular because of his professional commentary of game dynamics/playability + you can tell that he’s passionate about this and also he’s very funny without even trying??

he says some stuff so casually that he doesn’t realise how funny it is

probs showed his face after he hit a very important milestone

he never considered showing his face that important but he understood why people would want to see his reactions when playing games (even tho he warned them he’s not the most expressive/dramatique person in the world and they know by now) and would want to put a face to the person who entertains them so much with his streams

and when he does show his face people go absolutely cRAZY BECAUSE he is crazy good looking (if you don’t think he’s good looking i’m sorry for your eyesight. jk i’m sorry in general i just really love him)

some people who didn’t watch his streams will even check them out because of that but literally if you come for the visuals only you won’t stay for long because as i said not anyone can handle his personality

if he sees people being superficial about him too much instead of paying attention to what’s happening in the stream, he will immediately turn the subs mode on in the chat (if he didn’t have it on already)

being rude, being disrespectful/saying discriminating stuff or anything of that sort won’t be tolerated and anyone who does it will be banned instantly

without even interrupting what he was saying before he saw the comment, he’ll just type the ban to whoever said that and go on

and his mods do the exact same. they are just as strict as him

if it ever got too much of course he wouldn’t be afraid to speak up about it and tell his chat to stop that behaviour or else, as they should already know, he won’t be afraid of banning them even if they’ve been subscribed for months or years

ANYWAYS

why do i feel like he has a super organised chat— as in instead of spamming 5 emotes per comment they all send just one and it looks so tidy and perfect

literally other streamers would be jealous of how not-messy his chat is even when he has thousands and thousands and thousands of viewers all the time

also i have this idea that maybe any of his fans would have designed him as a genshin character (which would be the design of the scaramouche we know (?))

and the little pop-ups (i don’t know the name in english rIP) thingies that show up to notify when someone subscribed or donated would be lil chibi art of that design

it’d be really cool

and since i also doodled what a stream of his could look like (i’ll show it in the future when i’m done!!) i thought that way it’d be more recognisable that the streamer is scaramouche

99% of the people who have seen him irl found him too intimidating to go ask him for a picture or tell him anything

he’s not a huge fan of taking pictures anyway + is more on the introverted/reserved side but he wouldn’t mind if someone went up to him (if he’s not busy with something) to tell him something or say they enjoy his streams

i feel like in a couple occasions he would have played a game with some subscribers and he’d like to tease them speaking with his usual tone and face (in case they’re watching the stream as they talk) so they think he’s serious

“did you watch my 12 hour stream the other day?” -scaramouche

“ah,,,, i-” -the sub

“think well of what you’re going to answer.” -scaramouche

“i-i couldn’t watch the whole thing,,,” -the sub

“ah, is that so…?” -scaramouche

he’ll pretend to sound disappointed but at one point he just can’t help but smirk and hold in a chuckle before telling them he’s not serious

(he literally doesn’t know how the hell he survived that stream himself because he isn’t one to stream for that long)

i feel like deep inside people who know him would know he wouldn’t say such things seriously/wouldn’t be disappointed in anyone for not watching every single minute of his streams or not even all his streams

but he says all that so seriously that it’s,,, intimidating and they’re lowkey like “god but what if he’s not joking-”

he’d play games with the other streamers sometimes but i feel like most of the type he’d play more single-player games

it’d be so funny if he plays among us with others and for example one of those others it’s childe

both of them would always be suspecting of the other first/bickering, especially scaramouche

and if one game turns out they’re both the impostors… people would know right away

like, if any of them tried to defend the other, everyone else would be like “!?! what is this? scaramouche and childe defending each other? scary”

they’d vote one of them (maybe scaramouche) out because they started guessing + saying proof of how both of them could be the impostors (but the biggest proof is them not coming for each other’s throats sNKJFNGKJS)

scaramouche would have to resist the urge to S C R E A M

needless to say he doesn’t like when he has to be impostor with childe

and unfortunately for him, fate makes it happen considerably often

i feel like at least one time scaramouche would kill next to childe and then report it and literally blame childe

and childe would be like ?!?!?!?!?? WHAT- NO- (struggles bc his brain instinct is to say ‘it was you!’ but they’re both the impostors??? how-)

and then they’d eject childe,,, and then people wouldn’t suspect of scaramouche for most of the game because ? why would he- blame his partner---

well he did it with no regrets and at the end when they all found out they found it very funny (except for childe, but even he ended up laughing in the end because what a mean strategy sjkfhdsgkj)

i have this feeling that even though they bicker so much and for any strangers it’d seem like they hate each other, when scaramouche does play online games, many times it’d be with childe?

ik they aren’t supposed to get along but for the sake of it being a modern au i don’t want bad vibes between any of the characters pls-

and everyone enjoys their dynamic and those streams always get a ton of viewers sjfhdsgkj and i’m sure both their chats would be good friends (most likely one’s fans would also be a fan of the other too)

very very very rarely (because he prefers just playing and talking while playing) he’d do streams where he doesn’t play anything but just talks with the chat, watches videos that they send him, looks at the fanart they make, just talks about games,,,,

it’d be super chill and the perfect streams for people to be doing homework/work/play games/draw or do basically anything while they listen to his stream in the background

he’d also be answering some of people’s questions about him or about his favorite games, or if he’s playing this new game that came out earlier this week,,,

“will you play ‘it takes two’ with childe?” -someone in the chat

“absolutely not. i won’t play a co-op game with him”

not even 5 days later, tweet from childe saying “streaming in 30 minutes! Scaramouche and I will be playing It Takes Two on my ch---”

anyways this will be all!! (for now?) i obviously knew genshin before this but, yesterday i could finally start playing it myself! so i feel like if not now, soon i will also write headcanons of him playing genshin! i don’t take requests but if you guys have any ideas or anything you want to say about this AU, send me an ask!! i’d love to talk about this and about genshin in general!

also, i was very inspired to write this by @baeshijima ! so thank you very much to her for her wonderful streamer AUs and if anyone reading this hasn’t read hers already, go check them out!! they’re amazing!!

#genshin impact #genshin impact scenarios #genshin impact headcanons #genshin impact scaramouche #genshin impact x reader #scaramouche headcanons #scaramouche scenarios

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5uptic · 3 years

Text

hey fanfic spotlight again:)

arm candy by amsves (5up/Fundy, general rating, m/m | 300 words)

Summary: The first thing Fundy does after the stream ends is lean over and engulf 5up in his arms.

a chance encounter by mangoedges (Apollo/Steve, teen rating, m/m | 450 words)

Summary: Who would have thought Apollo would find his soulmate now?

Desecration Smile by AllianettemiE5 (Apollo/Steve, teen rating, m/m | 1k words)

Summary: No summary.

She said to me, Oh Death / Come close my eyes by Anonymous (Apollo/Steve, general rating, m/m | 1k words)

Summary: Steve thought the words on his wrist were the coolest thing ever, but they just didn’t make sense. No, really; he even asked 5up–had called him in a possibly drunk state on his twentieth birthday, when a prickling sensation on his arm made him think that he was about to die, 5up, help, and was reminded drily that it was his soulmark, dumbass–and the best his smartest friend (self-proclaimed) could offer was, “Maybe your soulmate’s a poet?” Completely useless. Steve remembered hanging up on him, the click of his mobile cutting off his indignant exclamation. It was only the next day that he looked, properly looked, at his soulmark and tried to make sense of it. Nope. That didn’t work out either; he blamed the hangover. For the longest time ever, he just dismissed it as the universe fucking up. A slash in the middle of a phrase? Ridiculous.

why’d you only call me when you’re high? by LVTO (5up/Steve, teen rating, m/m | 1k words)

Summary: “I miss you,” Steve mumbles through the phone, and his voice has that soft, honest tone that it always does when he’s like this. 5up’s heart clenches. It’s these moments that keep him from leaving like he should’ve done four months ago, these soft-spoken truths that time and time again have him believing that maybe, maybe this time will be different. It never is. or 5up receives a phone call and ponders his life.

jealousy, jealousy by planetwitch (5up/Fundy, teen rating, m/m | 1.1k words)

Summary: 5up and Fundy are best friends and have never crossed that line into something more. Until Fundy gets jealous at 5up's constant admiration for a certain 6 foot tall musician.

mimi's menagerie of the miraculous & the mundane by 5280ft (5up/Steve, teen rating, m/m | 1.1k words, chaptered WIP)

Summary: a drabble for the word of the day, every day, for 100 days.

5up & Co. Throw Yarn at a Wall (and more) by WhenTheFogClears (general rating, gen | 1.3k words, chaptered WIP)

Summary: Hafu neither confirmed nor denied, instead snatching the half unraveled ball of yarn out of his hands forcefully, a cheshire grin finding its way onto her face. Before 5up could clearly decipher the situation, she flung it at him, smacking him directly in the center of his face. or 5up loves throwing yarn at walls, and everyone else quickly picks it up from him. But in different ways.

Inside My Mind by SilverSprinklez10 (5up/Apollo, Apollo/Steve, teen rating, m/m | 1.4k words)

Summary: Soulmates are usually a blessing. But sometimes, a soulmate connection can feel like a curse.

(2021, 190 x 172 cm, oil on canvas) by 5280ft (5up/Steve, teen rating, m/m | 1.9k words)

Summary: Nobody ever painted anything if they’ve never painted the way 5up closes his eyes when he laughs, how his slender fingers wrap around a new tube of paint, how his smile is all teeth and eye-crinkling. Cabanel’s Fallen Angel has curls, but they aren’t 5up’s, are they? Hyllas, in the nymphs, has fair and delicate hands but 5up’s are prettier, especially when he accidentally squirts paint everywhere and slams his palms on the table and goes “fuck!” Steve cackles until he can’t breathe.

Don't Take Me Tongue-Tied by AoDity, LovelyDayForIt (5up/Sleepy, 5up/Apollo, teen rating, m/m | 2.2k words)

Summary: "Sleepy found the ring by luck, something that matches his lover's graceful beauty that he could still afford. Twisted strands of thin silver with a little shimmering opal in the center, it was perfect." Aka: Sleepy's love for Five brought him heartache. If they try, there's still a chance the two could be happy.

implying that the ferris wheel's your body (and i'd really love admission to it) by homeward_bound (David/Hafu/Steve, mature rating, multi | 2.2k words)

Summary: Steve might be drunk out of his mind, but David's just really hot, okay? [or, steve propositions david, kind of. hafu and dumbdog bear witness to his lapse in judgement.]

mi casa es su casa by some_spooky_shit_right_there (Apollo/Steve, teen rating, m/m | 2.9k words)

Summary: Apollo's soulmate is cautious. Except, apparently, when it comes to coffee. Because, for the fifth time this week, Apollo wakes up to a burnt tongue. It's annoying. He can't really be mad though, because he has given his soulmate so much worse. The occasional burnt tongue is a meager act of penance, comparatively.

I love you too (I love you too) by some_spooky_shit_right_there (5up/Apollo/Steve, general rating, multi | 3.9k words)

Summary: Apollo comes into 5up's coffee shop. He always gets a cup of coffee and either a bagel or a croissant. He always seems tired, and he never comes in on weekends. Steve would really love to find out just who, exactly, he is.

i'm more fool than wise by 5fu (5up/Steve, unrated, m/m | 5.8k words, chaptered WIP)

Summary: Steven Suptic is a brilliant crewmate - ask anyone. Okay so don't ask Janet. Or Dk. Or Koji. You know what, don't even ask - it's pretty obvious he is. But when new recruit and stunningly intelligent 5up boards the Crewfu, Steve isn't so sure he can compete. Not that he cares. Totally. Absolutely. On their mission to gather intel on Polus and find out what happened to the previous crew that disappeared from the planet three years earlier, Steve may realize that maybe he was indeed more fool than wise - and maybe it wasn't a bad thing.

i was praying that you and me might end up together by Qupid (Apollo/Steve, teen rating, m/m | 7.8k words, chaptered WIP)

Summary: Four years at Polus University. Four first weeks of school. Two strangers become two friends, and maybe even something more. Apollo hates being seen, hates having attention drawn to him, hates living in a world that feels like a game where everyone knows the rules except him. Steve thrives on attention, purposefully draws the gaze of everyone in the room, making his own rules as he floats through life. They're a match made in hell, but Apollo finds that when Steve looks at him, gives him nothing but attention, he doesn't mind being seen after all.

Long Journey Home by some_spooky_shit_right_there (Apollo/Steve, teen rating, m/m | 9.6k words)

Summary: Homesick and lonesome and I'm feeling kind of blue Feeling kind of blue, boys, feeling kind of blue Homesick and lonesome and I'm feeling kind of blue I'm on my long journey home

there’s so many ways to say “i love you” and i wouldn’t wanna waste ‘em (on someone who, don’t feel it too) by Dear_MaedaysUnwelcomedGhost (5up/Steve, 5up/Hafu, 5up/Ellum, 5up/Kimi, teen rating, multi | 13k words, chaptered)

Summary: Love was a strange thing, 5up found. It was everywhere. And not in the way it may seem. It wasn’t in the adverts of perfect couples with artificial lighting. It wasn’t in the glittery cards made by factories or the flowers sold at grocery stores. Not in the TV shows made to bring in cash and be thrown out, with couples who don’t have anything to hold onto but brief infatuation and physical attraction. But in the friendly smiles of strangers as they pass by. In a mother cutting fruit up for their child. Running a hand through the hair of your partner, as their eyes flutter close and to sleep. Helping a stranger pick up their dropped papers, asking for nothing in return. In the graffiti on the wall by the alleyway you walk by everyday to get to work. To the goods baked by small independent bakeries. Flowers planted in parks to make it just a little nicer, or the ones growing out of pavement cracks with determination.

Also!

GuardianPuppy‘s this city needs to be destroyed or at least painted in a different color collection.

spaded_ace’s Casino in the Sky collection.

5fu’s among all this pain collection.

FAQ:

Wait what is this: pretty straight to the point! i’ll regularly share crewfu-related fanfictions to this blog :)

How regularly is “regularly”?: great question! LOL. it depends on the flow of fanfics that get uploaded, which i do not have any control over, but i’m looking forward to do this twice a month. after all, it’s only me doing this and i often run on a tight schedule.

What’s the format like?:

[title of fic with link] by [author of the fic with link] ([main pairing(s)], [fic rating: eg, general rating], [relationship: eg, m/m] | [word count in k], [added prompt to specify if it’s complete or not])

Summary: [summary provided by the author. if it doesn’t have a summary, a “No summary” prompt will be put instead]

(What does WIP mean again?): Work In Progress :)

Why are you doing this?: from the beginning, my blog has hosted conversations about RPF (real people fiction) and crewfu pairings. this has evolved into people sending me updates about certain fics in the crewfu tags every now and then, but i wanna take the next step and just do these things myself. after all, i’m already lurking in the tags often to see the fics that get posted. as someone who is both a writer and a reader, i wanna appreciate fanfic writers and help out other people that want to read fanfic and consume more fandom content!

Will it be AO3 only?: well, ao3 has a very helpful tag system that makes finding fics incredibly easy, as well as allowing people with no accounts to like and comment on fics, so that’s the site i will personally look in for fanworks. but if there are any fics you’ve written or liked in any other platforms, such as wattpad, you can always contact me through my inbox (send an ask or a dm!), and i’ll make sure to include for the next fanfic spotlight :)

Does it mean you won’t reply to fic asks anymore?: yeah, i guess. since i’ll be doing the searching myself it seems counterproductive. but if i ever skip a fic or again, it’s in another platform, or you’ve posted/read the fic a while ago and you want to get more traction on it, hit me up and i’ll take it into consideration!

Will you read every single one of the fics on your list?: oh no. again, i run on a tight schedule, and also i have my own taste when it comes to fics. i won’t be reviewing fics or any of the sort, and my intention extends to simply sharing these fics to this page so people will have easier access to them :) that’s where ao3 tagging becomes SUPER useful!!!

So what’s the criteria for the way you’ll sort out the fics in your list?: word count, going from lowest to highest. in case of fics in other platforms, i guess i’ll put them at the top of the list. i’ll also be looking for fairly recent fics, so let me know if you want any old-ish fic to be included.

I see you talking mostly about 5up/Steve and Steve/Apollo. Can I still send/see other crewfu fics?: why yes absolutely! my goal is to push every fic which heavily features regular crewfu characters - 5uptic and supdog just happen to be very popular pairings. so, to give you a list: core 4 (5up, hafu, dk, steve), apollo, aipha, annie, janet, kimi, ellum, koji… you know the drill. it doesn’t have to be centered on a relationship, or about 5up in specific, etc. my only requirement is that any of the previously mentioned members are a central part of the fic or are HEAVILY featured in it (sorry, minecraft fics with 50+ tags who only mention 5up as an afterthought won’t make the cut :/).

Isn’t shipping Bad™?: well, it’s a little more nuanced than that. i will go out of my way to discourage and shame people who often violate CCs’ boundaries by acting like so and so has a crush on this person, or that this and that are Actually Into Each Other or secretly dating. any sort of tinhat bullshit is a big nono (think larries). but i run on the assumption that people who write rpf understand that what they’re doing is simply write a completely fictional story using real life personalities, and understand the boundaries necessary to do it - aka they’re not tinhats, they understand they can’t assume everything about CCs’ thoughts and personalities, they understand that what they’re writing is strictly fiction, they keep these works only in fandom circles, etc. (but again, it’s only one me doing this, so please be kind if i don’t happen to know that this person is Actually a tinhat or whatever).

show fic: NO. (seriously. i don’t feel comfortable putting my ao3 account out there. please respect my privacy on these trying times <3)

I REALLY don’t care about your rpf/fic talk: fair! i’ll be tagging every single one of these posts as “fanfic spotlight”, so just mute the tag using tumblr settings so you’ll never have to look at these! likewise, you can follow the tag if you want to keep up with it, or search it on my blog to look at the other entries you might have missed.

Hey, my fic is here and I don’t feel comfortable with it being shared over here: no problem! let me know as soon as you can and i’ll take it down <3

#crewfu #fanfic spotlight #long post #finally a steve/dogfu fic.... come kiss me author

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