#and even to get this quality i had to delete the outro

[lispenardst]

sun bleached flies – ethel cain

yes i did make a 6 minute long ethel cain x ft edit

no i am not well

[okay-j-hannah]

Exposed

Smosh : Prompt

Damien x Reader

Word Count: 2646

Warnings: Get ready for a STEAMY MOMENT 😂😉 Honestly though, a couple kisses and some lovely banter 

Request: “80 with Damien where they are caught kissing”  - @damienhaaslover2001  

Prompt:

80. “Delete that.”

A/N: Keeping your relationship a secret has been incredibly taxing while filming, so when a kiss is accidentally filmed and sent to editing, do you run to delete the content or release it for the fandom to see?

(I can’t EVEN WITH THIS GIF! What am I supposed tO Do NOw?!)

Damien lived for being near her.

She was the one constant in his life that never wavered whenever he was in need. Just simply standing by her usually gave him the motivation enough to get through a working day. Sometimes just knowing she was in the same house as him, silence steadily between them, brought him immense comfort.

She was the fuel that kept him going even through the hard days. And he was the steady hand that kept her nerves in place. They were meant for each other – both of them stating it since day one.

You know you’ve found the one when you can sit beside one another, without saying a word, and not sense even the slightest amount of awkward tension. Damien took pride in the fact that he found the girl he was going to marry someday.

Until then, he treasured every moment around her. Every glance, every nudge, every laugh, every little thing that sent his heart stuttering. And most days it only took the mere knowledge of her presence to keep him afloat.  

And then there were the days when he needed a little more than comfortable silence. Something a bit more than appreciative smiles and update texts.

Sometimes he needed to hug her. He needed to hold her. To show that he loved her.

Guess what kind of day it was today?

“How’re your director meetings going?” he asked, casually walking into her office – one that shared a wall with that of Matt Raub.

She typed away at her computer, barely glancing up to give him a smile, “More work than I’m cut out for.”

Letting the sound of her vigorous typing fill the air, Damien gazed at her lovingly. It didn’t matter that her hair was starting to fall out of her up-do; it didn’t matter that her brows contorted until there were lines in her forehead – she was still the most mesmerizing woman he had ever seen.

He padded over behind her, feeling the urge to get nearer. He leaned over and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, sinking his head into her neck and emitting a soft sigh.

“What are we doing?” she asked, pausing her writing and leaning back to appreciate his presence.

“I’m reminding you how much I love you.”

She snickered when he nuzzled deeper into her shoulder, tickling her immediately, “Are we feeling needy today?”

His response was turning her chair around until she faced him, giving her his most genuine look before reaching out to help her stand. She had to tilt her head up to make eye contact with him, finding him placing her arms around his middle.

“I’m feeling very needy today.” And he gazed deep into her eyes, placing his hands on the sides of her head, thumbs delicately tracing her cheekbones. Then he sweetly bent down far enough to peck her lips.

“Remember we have to film today,” she muttered, smiling serenely at him, rubbing her hands up and down his back as they were still wrapped around him.

“Why do you think I’m needy?” He bent forward again into a more intense lip-locked kiss, subconsciously pulling her up and closer to him, “I won’t be able to hold your hand all day.”

His whispered gravelly voice sent shivers down her spine, goosebumps daring to erupt as her senses became overwhelmed by the close proximity of him. He was wearing that cologne she loved, making her brain go fuzzy with the intoxicating scent.

“You’ll be able to soon enough,” she mused, eyes half closed by his mesmerizing presence. “Everyone will know eventually.”

And by everyone, she meant the fans, the public, the rest of the world. Obviously, Damien’s PDA could only be hidden from coworkers for so long. It took Shayne all of three days to notice the looks they were sending each other; let alone the fact that Boze walked in on them kissing in the make-up room.

“(Y/N)…” he whined, drawing her into a hug, pressing his face into her shoulder. “It’s been months!”

“Two months, Dames,” she laughed, holding him tightly to her, rocking subconsciously side to side. “We can wait a little longer.”

It was more the fact that (Y/N) was terrified of what the fandom would do to her. There was such a fierce love for Damien in the Smosh community that it absolutely mortified her what the fans would think of her being the one to steal his heart.

She knew no matter what she would be his, but having that support from millions of people that watched Dames would be just that extra boost of confidence for her. Much to Matt Raub, Sarah, and Ryan, (Y/N) was a beloved member of the behind the scenes cast.

The viewers knew her by heart already, and hopefully they’ll accept where her heart has led her.

“(Y/N)! Damien,” a voice came tapping through the glass walls beside them.

Pulling back enough to spot Matt Raub peering through their shared wall, (Y/N) stifled a laugh at his exaggerated expression.

“If you two could stop melding your skin together, we have a Jackbox Party Pack to film?”

(Y/N) moved away from Damien, feeling surprisingly cold without him, “Matthew Raubert!” She comically stormed out of her office to meet him doing the same, “So help me I will campaign against your spot as ref.”

“Like you could get more votes than me before winter games,” he stated with a smirk, folding his arms and gazing jokingly down at her.

“I could with a representative like Sarah!” She jabbed a finger towards his face, holding back a laugh at the sight of his squinting eyes, “We all know #WorstRef is out there for a reason.”

“Don’t you even…”

Damien came back to her side, sliding his hand down (Y/N)’s arm and into her own. He intertwined their fingers and began pulling her towards the recording rooms, letting a smile stay stuck on his face at her cute banter.

They made it down the several hallways before making an entrance before the rest of the Smosh cast and crew. Damien moved his hands up to massage her shoulders as they peered around the couches and recording equipment.

But it seemed the bickering was moving right from Matt to the man behind her, “And you too – remember we have to keep our hands to ourselves for the next while.”

He pouted, giving his best corny angry eyes, “But…”

She pulled away, turning to put a finger to his lips, “But nothing… you got a few kisses to hold you over, right?”

“I think you underestimate my need to hold you, (Y/N).” He slumped his shoulders as she folded her arms, taking in his sullen stance.

“Patience is a virtue,” she grinned, going on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek before taking a few steps back. “Looks like you need more training!”

He gave a comically loud gasp, placing a hand to his chest, “That’s my catchphrase.”

“Look at the time…” she pretended to look at a watch on her wrist. “I gotta go…”

And as she tried to sidle away, Damien rounded on her, scooping her up enough to dig his fingers into her sides. It forced a wave of squeals and giggles from her, making her cheeks flushed.

“For Pete’s sake,” Ian stated, slapping his hands onto his knees, “Would you two sit down?” He gave an overdone eyeroll as (Y/N) ran over to him to give a swift smack to his shoulder.

“If you guys weren’t so hush, hush I would only roast about you in this game,” Shayne stated, leaning back into the couch. “Alas, some roast battles are not meant to be sung.”

(Y/N) sat in the back beside Damien, turning to retort, “At least I actually have a relationship to think about.”

There was a round of ‘woahs’ before Ian stood from his spot on a chair, “Save the good ones for the game!”

“Sorry, buddy,” Damien laughed, sneaking a look towards Shayne. “Maybe you should point something out about our qualities… oh, how about my patience?”

He snuck an arm around (Y/N), lazily reaching to mess with the ends of her hair, only to have his hand slapped away by hers. He only gave her a light chuckle at the joke, secretly wishing he could have her lay in his lap so he could actually play with her hair.

The game commenced with multiple rounds of roasting each of the other cast members. It was easier than everyone thought, seeing as everyone knew each other so well. The only thing that made it difficult was the fact that Damien kept subconsciously reaching out for (Y/N).

She caught him inching for her hand many times, finding him resting his hand on her knee once or twice. Even when she won a round, she hoped the camera wouldn’t pick up the:

“Nice one, babe!” or “Honey, I didn’t realize you were so funny.”

There was a moment when he had scooted so close to her on the couch; she though he was going to pull her onto his lap. But instead she crossed her legs and gave a nervous laugh towards the camera, eyeing where Ryan was deciding to point it.

Damien eventually opted for just having them touch knees, close enough without her anxiously sneaking glances towards him and the recording equipment. The game couldn’t have been longer, time slowly ticking by with each round as Dames waited for the moment he could envelop (Y/N) into another hug.

By the time the winner was announced, and the outro was finished, Damien couldn’t contain himself as he reached a hand around (Y/N)’s head and pulled her into a heated kiss. It was quick but lingered – Damien ensuring she understood the intensity of it.

He could tell she was caught off guard and it made his heart flutter. She remained in the moment, falling closer to him as he gave her another fierce kiss. He subtly drew out her bottom lip as he pulled away.

“And cut!” Ryan stated, taking his headphones off and leaning in his director’s chair, “Get this to Spencer, stat! We need this edited in the next two days.”

“What?” (Y/N) muttered, turning away. “Did… did they not cut right after the…”

Damien sighed heavily, finally pulling her onto his lap and wrapping his arms around her torso. His head peeked over her shoulder when he responded.

“It’s not your job to worry about the directing on this one, babe,” he muttered, holding her close. “You were filmed, remember?” He giggled playfully, closing his eyes to enjoy her so near to him.

But it was quickly interrupted by her squirming to be released from his embrace, “I just need to check.”

“What do you mean? What’s wrong with it?”

She started kicking her legs, trying to break free, “Seriously, Damien. I just need to go check the footage.”

He finally let go, watching her spring into action, standing to follow her movements. Why would she be so worried?

He thought back to the last moments of filming. What happened after the outro. What Ryan yelled after their kiss.

The pace was definitely increased as he tried to catch up to (Y/N) in the editing room, realization hitting his head. No matter how much he pouted about the subject, he did share some of the worry about revealing their relationship to the public.

He liked to hope that his love life wouldn’t interrupt his success at work. He was happy after all.

And once he got into the shaded room full of computers and editing software, Damien spotted (Y/N) leaning over someone’s shoulder to look at a monitor screen.

“Oh, God,” she whispered. “Delete that. Can you cut out that last bit?”

Damien sped over to see Spencer replaying a segment at the end of the recording. It showed him sitting practically shoulder to shoulder with (Y/N), his eyes never leaving her face as she laughed at the outro being given.

Then in one fluid motion, he briskly pulled her into a steamy kiss. And somehow, it was even more hot watching it being played back. Damien held onto her, keeping the kiss close and intimate between them – (Y/N) falling into it immediately.

It was so painfully noticeable with everyone else turned towards the camera and waving goodbye to the viewers.

“Well…” Spencer muttered, “Even if I did cut out the kiss – there’s quite a bit of other evidence in the video.”

(Y/N) put a hand to her mouth and threaded another into her hair, “Really?”

Spencer gave a somewhat uncomfortable smile as he zoomed through the footage he was able to sift before they came running in.

“You guys aren’t exactly subtle.”

Scene after scene was shown to them through the screen:

Damien laughing at a joke and leaning over to rest his head on (Y/N)’s shoulder.

A subconscious pat to the knee that ended up lingering.

Damien’s hand sliding over to intertwine with hers before she retracted due to her turn being next.

And that’s not even mentioning the amount of times both of them took a moment to gaze at each other lovingly. Something so genuine that no one would ever doubt their feelings for each other.

“That’s a lot of evidence,” Damien muttered, a slight hint of a laugh behind his words.

“What do we do?” (Y/N) asked, turning to him worriedly, “We can’t just remake a video like this. And – and we can’t just cut out every bit that shows us like that. It’s too much to ask Ian and Matt not to post the video altogether – it’s good content regardless. Maybe we can hold off the rumors a bit? Just cut off the kiss at…”

“We could just use it,” Damien muttered, shrugging his shoulders.

(Y/N) gave him a skeptical gaze, “Just use it? Dames, you know that means everyone will know about us.”

He lifted his hands to maximize his shoulders shrugging, “They’re going to find out eventually, right?”

And she looked at him with a slight smirk developing on her face, her head subtly shaking, “Damien Haas, are you ready to tell the world that I’m your secret office romance?”

“Well, it’s not exactly secret…” Spencer mumbled more to himself but emitting a chuckle out of both Damien and (Y/N).

“I think you know I’ve been ready for a while. I just worry because you’re so worried.”

She gave him a sympathetic gaze, flickering her eyes between the monitor and her boyfriend, “I guess this way we can hold hands in videos.”

“And I can actually hug you without making sure it looks platonic,” he added, stepping closer to her, “And… I can sit by you during meet and greets with fans.”

She went closer to him as well, “And you could kiss me onstage at VidCon and I would kiss you right back.”

He was finally near enough to put his arms around her waist, her gazing up at him longingly.

“I think we’ve come to an agreement?”

She laughed, taking in a deep breath, “Spencer – use the whole video.”

“The whole video?” the editor asked, “Even the end?”

“Even the kiss,” she responded, not taking her eyes off of Damien, “Let the fans know.”

And she stretched up to pull him into a kiss, forcing him to dip down far enough to reach. She snaked a hand to the back of his neck, deepening the contact.

“You do know there’s actually two kisses at the end of…”

“Just edit the video, Spencer,” (Y/N) muttered, pulling away until she was only mere inches from Damien’s face – the dim lighting of the editing room making his darkened eyes stand out.

He tried to catch his breath, looking at (Y/N) with a new air of appreciation, “And make sure it’s a close up.”

(Can I just say that I love Spencer? Cause I actually love him 😂)

~~~

https://ko-fi.com/okayjhannah

Tag List:

@caswinchester2000 @joenjoenshire @wierdlywonderful @liamakorn @volleyballgirlforever-blog

Remember to check out my tag list so you’re updated when a fic you like is posted on my blog! Tag List

[uniformbravo]

me trying to make a gif part 2 (thrilling finale, buildup ver.)

ok good news and bad news: good news being withheld for Spoilers (not that it’s that hard to guess anyway lol), bad news explained first bc, chronologically, it is first

so yesterday i mentioned in the tags of that post that i had seen that krita has an animation feature so i was gonna try importing the frames into that and then exporting it as a gif. easier said than done, as it turns out

i started by opening the file i made yesterday with 62 layers as the frames and importing that into krita, which worked fine (i didn’t know you could actually open .psd files in clip stuido ((this typo is so fucking stupid it made me laugh so im leaving it)) and krita, so that’s pretty neat, i wonder if it works the other way around too) but i ran into problems when i tried to convert those layers into frames in an animation. because, like, the layout of the program has the layers displayed in one tab, and the animation timeline in another, like so:

(do u like how im using pictures now, i thought of that yesterday after i published the other post and realized hey, visual reference would probably make my plight a lot easier to understand!! so enjoy these educational diagrams from now on)

so my goal was to get the frames from the layers into the timeline, and i still don’t know if i did it right bc lbr krita is not very intuitive at all,,.,, i mean i watched a video tutorial abt how to animate in krita which was v helpful (it’s the one by jesse j james on yt fuckin SHout out) but it was about animating from scratch, not importing an animation you’ve already done elsewhere

so like, the way krita’s animation thing works, from what i could piece together as i bumbled my way around w/ it, is that each layer in the layers tab is a separate timeline in the,,, timeline tab

i want them all to be in the same timeline, not separate ones, and there’s no way to combine them in the timeline tab bc doing that just overwrites whatever layer you’re pasting it down onto, and also if you define the number of frames for that timeline (62 for this project) it just puts the single image of that layer for all of the frames instead of just one of them, so you’d have to go through and delete all the other frames you don’t want it to be, which would be such a fuckin pain

so i found a workaround, which is so tedious that it can’t be the right way to do it, but basically i started w/ layer 1 and defined 62 frames & then emptied frames 2-62, like this

(that blue box is the frame, btw, even tho it says 0, which actually kind of annoys me like why doesn’t it start the first frame on 1????)

from there i went up to layer two and selected that in the timeline, but for some reason the frame doesn’t show up automatically?

& i couldnt fuckin figure out how to make it into like, an Official Timeline Layer or whatever tf bc like, u see on layer 1 how theres that little lightbulb-looking icon on the right? that’s for turning on onion skin which only applies when you actually have frames with things drawn on them, so basically layer 2 in the layers tab has a drawing but in the timeline it doesn’t?

i didn’t find out what the actual reason for this is or how you’re /supposed/ to make the frame appear in the timeline, but what i did was right click on layer 2′s timeline & select “create blank frame” which magically made the frame i want appear

but it’s on top of the layer 1 frame, and i want it to be the frame after. also it’s still in a different timeline. this is the only easy fix in this whole damn process, u can literally just click & drag the frame from layer 2 to layer 1 and put it wherever u want on the timeline

and then u just delete layer 2 and that’s it, frame transferred!! then i just had to do that for 60 more layers and after [unspecified amount of time but it was a fuckin while ok] my timeline looked like this!

(the gaps near the end are held frames, to save me time so i didn’t have to copy a bunch of frames that were exactly the same)

krita is great because as far as i know ur animation can have an unlimited number of frames, at the risk of your own pc’s processing power, which is a definite upside to SOME expensive art programs i know (clip studio, i’m talking abt csp) and u can pick the frame rate too (cough photoshop elements 5.0 even tho u dont technically have an animation feature & it’s a miracle u can even make gifs at all) so once i finally got all the frames situated all nice and in order like on the same timeline, playing it was great! played at the right speed, looped perfectly, it was a dream come true right

well, time to export it as a gif

ha

haha

hoooo oo  o

so u got 2 options for exporting ur animation, u can either hit “export,” which lets u save it as different file types, one of which being gif, or you can hit “render,” which gives you gif and video options

well

i tried export first, bc that seemed like a good idea, but the “””gif””” it made was distinctly not a gif, despite its claim to be one?? this is what i got:

notice: 1. it is not moving, and 2. the black bars to the sides?? those are supposed to be transparent. they’re transparent in the file i made so why didn’t they register as transparent in the export, when gifs have transparency capabilities??

so That was some real live bullshit but i still had the “render” option, right? export was wrong, so rrender must be the correct option to go to that will produce the results i am wanting to see produced in front of me like a silver dinner platter with a correctly functioning gif under the lid, that’s what i want to see and “Render Animation...” is gonna Give me that silver platter righWRONG ok look at this shit rn ok Look

it says GIF it says it RIGHT THERE right??? right?????? then WHY

?????????????

and it also gave me all This bullshit

like did i ask?? did i fucking ask???? i already have all the individual frames why do i need even M o re i mfjgjgk

((rationally ok yea thats v useful for if ur making the animation in krita and want to export the frames to use elsewhere, but like uhhh 1. again, they’re not transparent & 2. i should have the option of saying i don’t want these??? bc *meme voice* i don’t want these)

so in the end i could find NO correct method of exporting animations as a gif in krita bc every ooption that says gif is fuckign LYING to ur face there are NO gifs in krita, aliens made the progam who looked at gifs and went “hmm i thikng this is how a gif works “ and just made jpegs instead but somehow got on the computers good side and got it to lie for them about it being a gif so thats why it says gif on the file still even tho its not a gif illimati confinr

so what is the conclusion to this? well i said there was good news too, and this is the portion where i divulge that sweet nectar (i type dthis 2 seconds ago and @ me what the fuck)

so after wasting a good 2 hours trying to figure out krita i gave up and watched some good old [youtuber name redacted bc what if it shows up in search & ppl see this dumbass post in there but it rhymes with fjackfsepticfeye] to relax into accepting my fate that i’ll never be able to upload my animations to tungle except in poor quality loopless video form, making me into a laughing stock on my own art blog, but THEN i had a stroke of genius, in my Brain

so if u read yesterday’s post u might remember that flipnote studio, the animation program i use on my ds, to animate, has the option to export files as gifs, both animated and sequential (meaning either as one fully animated gif or each individual frame separately), which is super convenient, but as i mentioned yesterday, any time i tried to open the folder with those files on my laptop, it crashed immediately

WELL today i thought “hey, how about instead of opening the folder in the sd card when it’s plugged in, how about i copy that folder from the sd card to my flash drive, and try to open it there, in case it’s the card’s hardware that’s causing the problem, not corrupted files”

so i tried that and it FUCKING WORKED THANK GOD GLORY HALLELUJAH

so now instead of spedning A THOUSAND YEARS trying and failing to force art programs to bend to my will i can just export the animations straight from my ds and drag them onto my computer Just As God Intended oh GOD im so fucking happy

here’s the gif in the end, i’m gonna post it to my art blog too but this is the Green Version bc i animate in green bc of some default settings in flipnote that i got used to, plus it makes me feel like i’m just sketching so nothing really has to be finalized so i’m comfortable while i work, and also it’s just nice ok it’s a Nice Green

(there’s a few frames at the end that are like the extra scraps from while i was working dw i got rid of those in the final version that i’m posting to my art blog later. also i added my blog url to that one too it’s aaaaaall good)

the only downside to this method is that i can’t change the canvas size to be 540px wide to fit with tumbrl s image dimensions but whatever i can just post them in a text post and fix the html to display it at its original size instead of the resizing bullshit tmurbl pulls constantly ugh. anyway it works great on desktop but it’s inevitably gonna look like shit on mobile no matter what i do *Big Ass Shrug*

anyway thats the end of my success story uhh i can’t make the like comment & subscribe joke again bc i already did that in the last post so like bye i guess thanks 4 watchign & have a great day i’ll see u in my next fvideo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYob4uDjEKI&t=0s

(^that’s my outro music)

[spoopyalessia]

tagged by the loverly @natodiangelo​~

1. Favorite anime?

uHHHHH rn i’m going thru major DGM feelios so i guess that??

2. Worst anime?

imo *waves hands at all of those weird siscon/lolicon/hentai animes ever* those. also i really dislike anime that really pushes it with the boobs like some boob is ok...but too much boob is too much

3. Do you read manga that goes with the anime?

I used too ;; now i’m too busy to read manga for the most part and its easier to watch the show OTL also the manga reader that I used got deleted off of google play and that was the only one that i wasn’t frustrated it with

4. Most favorite genres?

Action? it seems i read/watch the more typically shounen manga/anime? so that stuff?? Also political intrigue stuff is mY SH I T

5. Least favorite genres?

I’m really picky with a lot of shoujo stuff...it’s really hard for me to get into it bc it drags on and on....

6. Favorite character?

uH????????????????

7. Least favorite character?

H I S O K A

8. Qualities you like in a character?

pls give me the nerds that don’t know how to function w/ ppl w/o fucking it up in someway

9. Short or long anime?

I’m not really partial to either. As long as the storyline fits the length, then i’m with it

10. Anime or manga?

Although i watch more anime, i usually prefer the manga for the original source and better quality art

11. How do you choose the anime you watch?

Usually what I hear through the grapevine? I don’t much go around looking for anime myself much anymore.

12. Skip or listen to intros/outros?

I usually listen to them. I really don’t like skipping the intros/outros unless they really bother me or unless they use the same goddamn song for all 148 eps i’m looking at u HxH

13. How do you cope with friends or family don’t like you watching anime?

none of my family (besides my bro) watches any anime but they’re fine with me watching it? also if i had friends that didn’t like anime i wouldn’t be friends with them lmao

14. Do you stop an anime midway if you don’t like it?

dude, i stop an anime midway even if i like it. I don’t have a lot of attention span and if i’m not binging it then i’m not watching it lmao

[thediscogprofile-blog]

Before going into the material recorded with Karma, there are a few distinctions to make. After doing some research into how the music of Altamont and the music of Karma was created, there are a few differences. The first is that while Altamont was a duo, Karma was a quartet (consisting of Wilson and three classmates). Another difference was that in the case of Altamont, “the music was improvised live onto cassette using primitive analog synthesizers and a home made echo machine.”

However, there is one similarity between them: both have some history of actively-suppressed distribution by Steven Wilson himself. In the example of Altamont, Steven actually asked the label to delete all copies of the cassette tapes for Prayer for the Soul and the only reason anyone can listen to it on YouTube now is because promotional copies had been in circulation for some point after it. In the case of Karma, it’s due to live recordings from that era having only one copy in existence—owned by Steven Wilson himself, who’s probably content with them never seeing the light of day.

This excerpt from an interview of Steven Wilson from around 2013 is particularly relevant:

“Karma was what you would now call a neo-progressive rock band. When I was a 14-year-old-kid, I discovered Marillion. They were local lads. I could go see them play in local venues and loved it. A few of us 14-year-olds started this band which sounded a bit like the bands we liked from our big brothers’ record collections. It was a step in the learning process.”

This youthful discovery of Marillion while they were a local band is a case of a young Steven is indicative of the trains of influence towards various eras of music that has cast a shadow on Steven’s entire career. Indeed, one complaint of Steven Wilson’s music is that it is derivative of others, but this can be countered by saying that influence is so inescapable that there is no such thing as being truly original—only a semblance of originality, something that I think Steven excels at in his mature period. Continuing with the quote, to say that “A few of us 14-year-olds started this band which sounded a bit like the bands we liked from our big brothers’ record collections” entails that Karma was a pale imitation of a band like Marillion, but was ultimately missing something. That such a pale imitation was “a step in the learning process” indicates that the existence of bands like Karma and Altamont were necessary growing pains for the material Steven would later give us his various projects as an adult.

Another interview quote (during a question discussing Steven’s earliest bands) from around 2000 is relevant:

“First, there was a band called Paradox, another called Karma and then another one. The two tapes that we made by Karma (“The Joke’s on You” and “The Last Man to Laugh”) have become more well-known because they have early versions of songs I had later recorded for Porcupine Tree…they became kind of a curiosity to Porcupine Tree fans but I mean they’re not different, better or worse than any other 14-year-old kids demo tapes as far as I’m concerned.”

To pick this one apart, Paradox did exist but broke up before they could record anything. Steven’s mention of “then another one” is telling towards how he regards Altamont compared to how he regards Karma—the former isn’t even worth a namedrop, indicative of an embarrassment at the lack of quality of Prayer For The Soul. The mention of early versions of Porcupine Tree songs on the Karma tapes is true—“Small Fish” (Up the Downstair) and “Nine Cats” (On the Sunday of Life) would later be re-recorded. Steven’s closing remark of the Karma tapes as no different “than any other 14-year-old kids demo tapes” is one that can entail two things—that he holds Karma in a similar light to Altamont and that they’re only noteworthy in that they provide a curiosity that Altamont doesn’t.

               But enough about my conjecturing about the words of Steven Wilson regarding this era. The only way I can know for sure if Steven was right on this is by looking at the album itself.

·         “Intruder d’Or” (3:57)

From the first minute, the instrument levels are crisper than they were on the Altamont album. The bopping bassline, steady hi-hats of drums, revolving synthesizers, and use of both electric and acoustic guitar are evenly mixed. This song also has an abrupt tempo change around the two-minute mark, leading to a section which is faster than the rest of the song. Only to go back to the earlier rhythmic pattern for the finish.

This is more impressive than anything on Prayer For The Soul, but nothing to really write home about.

·         “Tigers In The Rain” (7:48)

Electric guitar announces its presence right out of the gate, soon greeted by synth and the rest of a hard-rock instrumentation. This continues until we get lyrics, which (thanks to demo-quality recording) are only partly discernable. After that, there’s a change in rhythm and then one back to the verse rhythm. After this, jagged hard-rock electric guitar comes back to make way for a synth solo. This is followed by a guitar solo demonstrating better acumen of the instrument from Steven than on Prayer For The Soul yet also exhibiting Steven’s gifts of restraint and making the most out of his limitations with the instrument. You won’t have Malmsteen/Satriani/Vai-tier shredding from Steven, but he’ll make any guitar solo appropriate to the song. It’s refreshing to hear that that was evident even at his earliest days. Then next part of the song is a verse using the same rhythm as those which backed the solos. This is followed by an outro where all sound drops out save for an acoustic guitar and the sloshing of water.

For something created by a bunch of 14-year-olds, this is a rather ambitious song only undermined by the limitations of the equipment used to record it.

·         “Small Fish” (4:51)

A heavy synth riff backed by the drums kicks this song off, only to segue into airier synths for the verse. These verses appear to be delivered in a monotone (voice-wise, it doesn’t sound like Steven at all). After the lyrics pass, there is a fuzz-toned guitar solo consisting of Gilmour-style sustains. After this, there is a synth solo and then a drum solo, during the latter of which the bass guitar also begins soloing. Over this, the sounds of crickets and frogs are audible just before the bass drops out. Just as the drum solo wraps up, the sounds of a goat plays out amongst that of the crickets as the song ends.

The increased focus on instrumentation and showing-off of what technical chops this group of 14-year-olds have is admirable. However, the version of this song that appears on Up The Downstair remains superior for reasons to be addressed in that review.

·         “Nine Cats” (14:33)

Piano opens this track and is soon joined by clean-toned guitar and icy synths for the first verse. To this note, the lyrics to this track are completely different from the version later recorded by Porcupine Tree. Mid-way through the verse, bass pops its head in. Soon, drums and electric guitar make their way in and a new rhythm develops—one that feels funk-like yet not.

This drops out and gives way to the verse-pattern, but some of the lyrics in this verse are of note: “I threw five clocks down on my bed/The chimes danced out on golden threads/And turned to footprints on my wall/Sequined tears began to fall.” These lyrics are notable because they were re-uesed for a later version of “Nine Cats” which appeared on Insignificance (a collection of b-sides and demos from the sessions for Porcupine Tree’s 1996 album Signify). This indicates that these songs continue to develop for Steven even after they’re recorded.

Back to the song, where the song returns (after the verse) to the rhythm which I described as funk-like yet not…only to morph into an instrumental section which starts with clean-toned guitar and synths, but is soon joined in by bass and a disco-beat drum part. Then, everything stops dead aside from guitar chords which fade in-and-out after being strummed. Over this, synth begins to play for a bit before the chords become clear and the rhythm section picks up. Then, everything be the drums die out before guitar feedback slowly comes in. Then, a set of synth triplets spark a new rhythm punctuated by drums and bass. After a while, there is a break of silence after which all the instruments (acoustic guitar, drums, bass, and synth) come in. Then, a chord progression is played on both electric guitar and synth while the snare punctuates each note. After a brief bit where there is just drums and bass, a hard-rock guitar solo starts while the drum rhythm becomes more complex. After this, the chord progression part plays again. Then, a brief respite before an arpeggio begins to play on the synth, which leads to another verse. This time, the lyrics are the first verse of the Porcupine Tree version. After this verse, an instrumental vamp builds on the verse’s rhythm for a while until the next set of lyrics ends. After which, a brief drum fill plays which leads to a melancholic-tinged folk rhythm over a synth solo. This is interspersed with a drum solo before the rhythm comes back and gradually fades out, with the synth being the last to go. After all the instruments are out of the picture, the sounds of meowing cats (but given a ghostly echo) are on a loop for around thirty seconds.

What truly sinks this version is that the instrumental sections go on for longer than necessary. Yes, Steven has been capable of writing excellent songs which extend well past the ten-minute mark. Each of those songs either has a structure or a flow that feels impeccable and doesn’t betray the song’s roots—it feels like a natural extension of the foundation. Because that isn’t the case with this version of “Nine Cats,” it suffers as a result.

·         Final Thoughts:

While this album is an improvement from the Altamont album, there are some shortcomings. One of which—the production quality—isn’t entirely the fault of the band (as there are economic circumstances surrounding that). Another shortcoming is one that isn’t as pronounced as it was in Prayer For The Soul, but the version of “Nine Cats” on here suffers from a disjointed flow (much like “Altamont” from Prayer For The Soul). This is not a good place to start, but it is also interesting to hear Steven’s humble beginnings.

[dorothydelgadillo]

"Video Intros, Facebook Watch & Ads, and WeWork’s Interesting Acquisition" The IMPACT Show Ep. 42 [Show Notes]

In this week's episode of The IMPACT Show, Stacy and I discussed video intros, Facebook Watch and ads, WeWork's acquisition, International Women's Day and more.

Just in case you missed us live (or if you want to relive the magic), you’ll find the episode’s show notes below as well as the recording.

Enjoy and make sure to share! 

Like what you saw? Make sure to subscribe to email reminders and give us a review on iTunes.

Have feedback or questions? We’d love to hear it. Comment on this blog or email us at show@impactbnd.com

IMPACT Updates

We’re hosting an exciting webinar with Peep Laja, founder of CXL, on Tuesday, March 13th at 11:00AM ET. 

Learn how to get people to take action on your website without using words through the power of persuasive web design. Register for the webinar now.

The DARCI Accountability Grid

Liz Murphy wrote a great post about the DARCI accountability grid and how it can help your next project. Kathleen liked it so much she shared it in Elite! We discussed our experiences with using DARCI and why it's useful. 

What Marketers Be Talkin' 'Bout

Where we go over what you're saying in IMPACT Elite.

IMPACT Elite is a community of over 2,300 passionate inbounders looking to help other marketers (and sales and customer success people) succeed. We’d love for you to join us! We’d love for you to join us! Go to impactbnd.com/elite or just search the IMPACT Elite Group on Facebook and request to join. 

Elite member Ryan Litwiller posted: "Looking for recommendations… I've read books like Same Side Selling, The Challenger Sale, and Sales Shift, but they are all focused on B2B. I am open minded and can relate many of the concepts to B2C, but am looking for similar sales resources focused specifically to B2C. Any suggestions?"

John McTigue suggested: What’s the Future of Business by Brian Solis. Not really B2B or B2C, not really sales or marketing. Interesting read. Daniel J. Sullivan suggested: Jacques Werth. High probability selling. Chris Handy suggested: Scientific Advertising - Claude Hopkins will teach you more about Direct Response (Inbound isn’t new) Almost a hundred years old. “Salesmanship in print.”

Stacy shared how she always goes back to "good ‘old branding" when she's thinking about either marketing or sales - and straight back to her favorite MBA textbook: Marketing Management by Kotler & Keller. It’s not sales-specific but building a brand encompasses both sales and marketing.

I shared a few Daniel Pink books including To Sell is Human and When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing. 

Share your recommendation in Elite. 

So what else is happening in Elite?

Elite member Joe McNamara posted: "Hey everyone, with all the new changes coming to facebook ads, and the transparency associated with being able to keep tabs on your competition and the ads they're running to their different audiences, do you think we'll see a pull back or double down on facebook as an ad platform?"

We pulled in Ali Parmelee who shared a few thoughts including how the algorithm changes are really perfect for inbound marketing. Facebook is trying to force brands to be better and to produce better content to share while trying to block the people who are trying to scam the system. 

There was another great post by Elite member Andrea Funk who originally posted asking for suggestions to clean up a list of emails that potentially had a lot of bad data. She posted a follow up saying: "Thanks to everyone who help me with my new email list I created. I did run the list through an analyzer and it deleted 13% of the bad address. I sent a new email to those on that list and had a great response rate. 50% open rate, 9% click through rate and 1% contact lost rate. I consider those decent number! As always, this group rocks."

We love that she found helpful information and followed up with the group! Check out her post in Elite.

Elite member Matthew Tringali posted "Anyone have an example of an intro and outro for videos that they are proud of that they can share? We are working on redesigning ours right now and need some inspiration." 

A few members weighed in with their suggestions and Stacy noted how she thinks it's important to keep it simple and set the tone and then get into the content quickly.

Digital Marketing News

Where each week, we share one thing from the world of digital marketing that caught our eye.

recode.net: WeWork is Acquiring Digital Marketing Startup Conductor

Conductor is a platform that provides audience, content and SEO insights to help you optimize your content to your audience. Tagline is “help your marketing deliver true customer value”

Stacy noted how this is another interesting move by WeWork who recently also acquired FlatIron school. 

WeWork acquired Conductor after using the product quite successfully for 2 years. Talk about an in depth M&A discovery process! They clearly see a lot of value in digital marketing and audience insights specifically as a solid long-term business play.

DigiDay: Media Publishers are Treating Facebook Watch Like YouTube

This one isn't exactly "new" news but we wanted to discuss a few things about Facebook Watch! What was previously launched as a place for high quality video is looking more and more like YouTube with more user-generated content. Publishers that aren’t being paid by Facebook  can now take advantage of Watch by posting their existing shows there. 

Facebook watch began in August of 2017. Even back then, Mashable had a post titled "Facebook Watch will overtake YouTube as the biggest video platform."

In the post they highlighted its features such as the discovery page, show-specific Facebook groups, and more. Probably most importantly, Facebook users are logged in which gives them a better understanding of what viewers want to watch. This helps Facebook provide a better experience for everyone with more relevant video.

The Next Web: 4 New Features (Possibly) Headed to Instagram

Universal Portrait Mode - already what the Google Pixel 2 uses (which is the phone I have!) and is really ideal for photos - much better than square.

Cinemagraphs - think of iPhone "live" photos or Google "burst" or "animations." 

Organize Your Conversations - we will be able to "star" a conversation to keep it at the top

Download Your Data - just like Facebook lets you. This is partially in response to GDPR, unsurprisingly. 

International Women's Day!

What caught Stacy's eye: brands that are showcasing their own powerful women!

HubSpot: dedicated an entire page including sharable photos for social, a Spotify playlist and more.

The Crocodile: posted an amazing tweet flashing through images of their powerful and talented women!

Union Hand Roasted Coffee: post featuring the "women behind the coffee." 

What caught my eye:

Digital Megaphone: Top Women in Marketing Chicago 2018 featuring real women at companies in Chicago with specific shout outs to each individual by the post's author and Digital Megaphone owner, Hope. 

Ikea Switzerland: video announcing their new paid paternity plan to promote men and women sharing parental care and still having a balanced professional life.

Ikea Canada: IKEA Canada is partnering with the Canadian Women's Foundation, and is donating $55,000 worth of needed home furnishings to 13 local organizations that support women

Next Steps:

We would love your comments! Feel free to send us an email or comment on the Facebook thread. 

If you really liked it, please give us a 5-star review on iTunes. 

We're going to IMPACT Elite to ask what you want us to talk about, so jump in on the post there.

Join Us Next Week! 

We'll be back again next Thursday, March 15th at 1:00 PM ET. 

Until next time... get out there and make it happen.

from Web Developers World https://www.impactbnd.com/blog/video-intros-facebook-watch-ads-wework-acquisition-impact-show

[bestketodiet]

Japanese Convenience Store Food Taste Test // Healthy Food Haul in Japan

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What’ up everybody, welcome to another Japanese convenience store food taste test. If you want to experience a healthy food haul in downtown Tokyo then you’ve come to the right place. What we got here is a diverse array of Japanese foods from Natural Lawson Japan and personally, I think it’s pretty nice. So grab yourself a treat and take yourself a seat because the show is about to begin.

► Previous Convenience Store Tour: http://bit.ly/2i6TSFK

KONBINI FOOD INFO:

1. Rice-Free Keema Curry (ご飯をつかわないキーマカレー) 2. Chestnut Hojicha (くりほうじ茶) 3. 4 Part Salad Combo (4種人気者サラダア) 4. Morinaga Macrobiotic Biscuit (モリナガ マクロビ ビスケット) * All foods from Family Mart Japan (ナチュラルローソンコンビニ)

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FOLLOW STB:

► Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/solotravelblog ► Snapchat: https://www.snapchat.com/add/solotrav… ► Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SoloTravelBlog ► Twitter: https://twitter.com/TravelSoloBlog

SUPPORT STB:

► Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SoloTravelBlog ► Blog Shop: https://solotravelblog.info/collectio… ► Apparel Shop: http://bit.ly/2mxgceR

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CREDITS:

Portrait Art Courtesy of Davkro (Twitter handle @Krooked_Glasses) Intro / Outro Music: “BirdBrainz” by Otis McDonald Maps, Flags, and Other Pictures from Wikipedia (license: http://bit.ly/2nLZQQ5 and http://bit.ly/2s8k7mN)

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VIDEO SCRIPT:

What’s up everybody, welcome to another Japanese convenience store food taste test. If you want to experience a healthy food haul in downtown Tokyo then you’ve come to the right place. What we got here is a diverse array of Japanese foods from Natural Lawson Japan and personally, I think it’s pretty nice. So grab yourself a treat and take yourself a seat because the show is about to begin.

So I was sprinting around the mean streets of downtown Tokyo but to be perfectly honest, despite that nice weather, I was feeling a tad worse for wear. I don’t exactly know why I was feeling like that but truth be told it bother me a lot. In fact, it bothered me a REAL lot. So to help my body recover from that sorry state, I figured I best be doing a healthy Japanese food taste test for a change. And there ain’t no better place to do that than a Natural Lawson, baby. So I sprinted on inside that Natural Lawson not because I wanted to but because I actually needed to. I needed to treat my body right with a little healthy chow for a change. Can you actually blame me? So I started scoping out those primo healthy prepared foods because you know what they say, you’re body is your temple, right? And what better way to honor that temple than to animalistically consume buckwild bento boxes such as these? Strange as it may sound, I get the feeling that this choice quality chow was designed specifically for me, and WOAH baby. Look at this vegi meshi action. Apparently this is a keema curry sans rice. Even though that’s an Indian food item it’s kind of Japanesey in a way. They got a lotus root and some kabochya in there so I figured I’d give it a whirl. But I still want to get myself a Japanese food item so let’s see what other prepared food items they got around here. And what’s this? I think we got soup up in this mother. It’s not really looking Japanese enough to me so what do we got here, we got us some sandwiches? And man oh man, take a look at that quality. We got a pork cutlet and an eggyweg sandwich and those are some pretty nice sandwiches if I do say so myself. I’ll tell you baby, among the Japan convenience store lineup, Natural Lawson is one of the best places. I mean look at all these delectable treats they got here. They got some kabochya salad AKA pumpkin salad. I mean, you do have to pay up a tad for these items but what do you expect when you’re paying for the best. And holy geeze, what’s that? What in the world is that? Here we got us a 4-part salad combo that’s filled with deletable treats that look good enough to eat. I have a feeling this is the salad combo I’ve been searching for in my life so I slam dunked that mufo into my cart.

And here we go, now we’re talking. We got us some sweet potato macrobiotic cookies. I’ve heard of microbiotics before but macrobiotics? I had to look that up. Apparently macrobiotics is some kind of diet derived from Zen Buddhism. I don’t know the exact details but it seems like a Paleo diet with an Eastern twist. The macrobiotic diet is based on natural foods that have a balanced yin and yang. I mean, I know what you’re thinking, that sounds like something I just made up but it’s actually true, baby. Now, what we got here are some macrobiotic biscuits made by Morinaga and everything I’ve ever had from this company has always been good …

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More from my site

Backyard Garden Tour | Insane Food Forest Grows Tons of Food in the Desert!

LIVE Summer Garden Tour of My Backyard & Front Yard Urban Food Forest

Gringos Cook Mexican Food // Life in Puerto Vallarta Vlog

Man-Thai Curry | Shilpa Shetty Kundra | Healthy Recipes | The Art Of Loving Food

WHAT I EAT IN A DAY – HEALTHY VEGAN FOOD!

Weekly Grocery Haul | Healthy Foods | TheCramers Haul | September 4, 2017

from Best Keto Diet http://best.ketodietfactorfiction.com/diet-foods/japanese-convenience-store-food-taste-test-healthy-food-haul-in-japan/%20