#and sometimes those projects are powerpoints

[sixeyesonathiel]

part 2 of male manipulator satoru and girl failure reader, part 1 here.

satoru gojo is currently praying his atheist ass away—eyes squeezed shut like a little victorian child begging god for one good thing. just one. he didn’t ask for much. okay, he did, but this was different. this was righteous. this was divine intervention-worthy.

he peeked at the professor like someone peeking at lottery numbers.

please. please.

“alright,” the professor said, eyes scanning the roster. then they pointed, once at him, once at you. “gojo and… you—you’ll be in charge of the final presentation.”

and that’s the exact moment satoru decided life was beautiful. no—radiant. no—divine. like maybe, just maybe, the universe finally realized he was long overdue for a reward. the heavens cracked open and dropped a sliver of grace into his tragic academic life. him. you. a shared task. fate?

he didn’t even hear the rest of the professor’s words. everything around him muffled, cinematic, like one of those indie films with vintage filters and gentle piano playing in the background. his brain replaced reality with a movie trailer: you, laughing in a library corner with a sticky note on your nose; him, sliding his favorite pen your way (the smoothest gel ink, obviously); your fingers brushing; eye contact lingering; maybe you’ll say something soft like, “you’re not as unbearable as i thought.”

full delulu hour. male manipulator 2025 core. capital "m" Manifestation. someone get this man a tiktok edit.

and to be fair, it wasn’t entirely his fault. you had the sleeves he liked—oversized and always tugged over your hands, especially when you were anxious. you had the habit of barely looking at people when you spoke, except him. sometimes. maybe. he was 98% sure. 87% on bad days. but still. it counted.

he’d already picked out the hoodie to lend you when the aircon got too cold (dark gray, faint scent of fresh laundry and whatever cologne he'd overused during orientation week). he imagined the part where you fall asleep beside him while he heroically carried the emotional weight of the powerpoint. he’d nudge you awake with a smug grin and say something dumb like, “hey, sleeping beauty, we still gotta format this.”

except.

six hours later, he got a text:

hey! sorry, i think i’m gonna do the project solo if that’s ok? i work better alone :P

:P??!

satoru stared at the message like it had just called him ugly and then kicked him in the shins. he clutched his phone like it had personally betrayed him. his glasses slid slightly down the bridge of his nose, but he didn’t push them back up. not out of drama. just despair.

he immediately spiraled. went through the five stages of grief before his bubble tea turned room temperature and his straw grew tragically limp.

denial: “she’s joking. this is banter. our bit. classic.”

anger: “i am so fun to work with. i carry projects. she’s clearly ungrateful. possibly allergic to joy.”

bargaining: “what if i just do the citations? and she does, like, literally everything else? teamwork!”

depression: curled up in bed, chewing on stale pocky, dramatic sighs included. spotify playing nothing but sad lo-fi and a taylor swift playlist he pretended wasn’t his.

acceptance: (just kidding he never got to that part).

he begged the professor. like, begged.

he showed up during office hours, dropped the charm like a molotov cocktail, and spun the tale with wide eyes and practiced sincerity. “professor,” he said solemnly, leaning forward like a man on a mission, “she’s brilliant, sure, but she’s an island. she needs a partner. for balance. i’m the balance.”

(he was not the balance. he was delusional. dangerously.)

and of course, you found out.

“are you serious?” you hissed the next day, cornering him by the vending machines like a feral academic ghost. arms crossed so tightly he could see the tension bunching in your hoodie sleeves. your brows were knit hard enough to form permanent creases. your lips were tight. your jaw? locked like you were prepping for combat.

satoru blinked, startled. you were close. too close. his glasses fogged slightly. he fidgeted, fingers brushing over the strap of his bag. “what? i—i thought we were vibing?”

“we weren’t.”

a gut punch. no, a tactical missile to the ego. his smile faltered, slumped. “but you borrowed my pen last week,” he said, voice cracking around the edges of his carefully curated confidence.

“i was desperate,” you muttered flatly, but your eyes flicked away. just for a second.

he noticed. of course he noticed. he noticed everything.

your thumbs rubbed the inside of your sleeves—nervous. your gaze didn’t meet his. your weight shifted to one leg, like you were bracing for something. your lip twitched, barely, like you wanted to say more but bit it back.

“i just don’t like people relying on me, okay?” you added after a beat, voice quieter, more brittle, barely above the hum of the vending machine. the softness caught him off guard.

his panic reflex activated.

with no grace whatsoever, he dug into his bag and pulled out the sacred emergency mochi pack—strawberry, matcha, red bean. the good ones. he held them out like an offering. a truce. a pathetic, sugar-filled truce.

“uh. peace offering?”

you stared at him like he’d grown a second head.

then you sniffled.

then, with the weary gravitas of someone reluctantly forgiving an idiot, you took the strawberry one.

satoru let out a breath like he’d just disarmed a nuclear warhead. slowly—so slowly he looked like a sim glitching—he reached out and patted your head. the motion was awkward. stiff. his fingers hovered too long, then retracted like he’d touched a stove.

“you’re not mad?” he tried, voice hopeful. tentative.

“i still think you’re annoying,” you muttered, eyes pointedly focused on the mochi, not him. your face was slightly pink now. not that he was staring. (he was definitely staring.)

he grinned. a real, full grin. teeth and everything. his hand hovered at the back of his neck, scratching sheepishly.

his heart was doing cartwheels. backflips. olympic-level gymnastics. the kind of acrobatics that spelled disaster.

because here’s the thing: for someone who supposedly didn’t care, you always sat near him when the seat was free. you always looked down when you laughed too hard. your legs bounced when he was too close. your voice dipped when you were embarrassed, and you never interrupted him, even when he rambled. you blinked more when he complimented you, tugged at your sleeves when you felt too exposed.

and maybe you weren’t fooling anyone. maybe satoru saw through all of it. maybe he wasn’t just being delusional. maybe.

he watched you walk away again—slower this time, shoulders looser, fingers still curled tight around the mochi—and whispered to no one:

“i don’t like her. i just… find her interesting.”

(ten minutes later, he’s already googling "cute cafes with study-friendly outlets" and watching three different youtube videos on how to make the perfect iced matcha latte at home. like the absolute clown he was. complete with subtitles. and timestamps. and saved recipes.)

[copperbadge]

Thank you so much for your post on ADHD and managing communication. It was really interesting see your thought process and an example of how you set up systems that work for you. I was wondering if you'd mind sharing a little about how you handle task management (the “make sure you do the tasks promptly” part). This is something I (also only diagnosed with ADHD as an adult) feel like I really struggle with, especially at work. Thanks!

I wish I had as...systematic an explanation for that as I do for other aspects of my work and life management, to be honest. For me the most important part is remembering that I even need to do the thing in the first place, so I always focus on systems that will help with that. While I do have trouble starting projects sometimes, I rarely have trouble finishing them, so that aspect is not the most significant part of the struggle for me and not something I've spent as much time on. Still, I do have some advice!

For me the problem, when it happens, is almost always with getting started. I have a few strategies for that. The very first is to remind myself that it's never going to take as long or be as hard as I think it is. That kind of reminder has to feel true and that truth really only comes with time -- you have to be taught over and over, through experience, that "the task isn't that awful". For this the best I can recommend is, every time you finish something, take a moment to stop and reflect how hard it was to get started, and how once you got started it was actually much easier than you thought it would be. If you can identify "being scared of starting" as being the hardest part, eventually you can come to believe that the fear is normal and can be ignored because it's also your brain lying to you.

Another thing I do very often is break tasks I don't want to do (or am struggling to start) into extremely granular portions. If I have to make a powerpoint presentation, and I'm struggling to know where to begin, I'll take it really small steps at a time. Like, my to-do list for the presentation might read:

Open Powerpoint

Fill out the title slide

Gather all research into a folder (do not open any of it)

Start reviewing your research one file at a time

Start sorting your research into appropriate groups based on subject matter or where in the presentation they'll go

Look at the way your research is grouped, just look for a while

Which part of the research would you tell someone to start with if they're new to the subject matter?

That's slide one.

Usually at that point I'm in the "flow" enough that I can stop looking at those granular steps, but it's also fucking astonishing how often just opening the program I need to do the thing in can drop me into the project so deep I'll surface hours later having nearly completed it.

So my first step for any task, once I know it's time to work on it, is just to open the program needed and gather all my resources in one place and give myself permission to ONLY do that. Those two things, which are easy in themselves (they usually don't need much thought) trigger that "this is what I'm doing now" state and even if I don't finish the project, I will at least make headway. This works in non-digital, non-work ways too -- if you're going to paint a wall, gather all your supplies first in one place and make sure you have everything you need. In the process of doing that you start to become more at ease with the idea of actually doing it, and even if you don't do it right that minute, now you're actually feeling prepared for when you do.

And honestly even knowing all that I still struggle sometimes. That's just the nature of the beast. Adderall helps a lot, and age has helped because I know what I'm capable of and it's often more than I believe at the start. But it's just always going to take more energy for me than for some people. Making sure I'm fed, rested, clean, and medicated helps a great deal, so I recommend looking after yourself when you DON'T have a project looming, but I also recommend giving yourself some grace when you do -- these things are just the challenges we face.

[zeestarfishalien]

Unwanted Farewells

[Day 5 DPxDC Week: Jason Todd // Soulmate AU // Funeral Rites ]

• Anger Management ship (Jasmine Fenton x Jason Todd) No relevant warnings beyond the usual DP stuff

Jazz has always had it the worst. Danny might have been the one to die but Jazz is the one who lost not only her soulmate, but her little brother too. It doesn’t matter that he’s still around, he knows the grief weighs on her sometimes. She overcompensates by being a massive mother hen and general pain in the neck but he tries not to get too upset with her about it.

With Dani with an “i” fresh out of high school and Jazz’s birthday coming up soon, he wants to do something special. He spends a lot of time bribing Ghost Writer in order to research his idea out.

It’s probably the most time and effort he’s put into a project that wasn’t about space.

Proposing the idea to her is the one big thing this all hinges on. He’s not 100% sure she’ll be on board with this but he’d like to try.

And trying is what kicks off the first part of his plan. It’s a little awkward to bring up the fact that he doesn’t have a grave and would like one. It’s almost physically painful to see the grief it brings to Jazz’s eyes. She tries to hide it but Danny has always been able to read her better than he lets on. It’s part of the process though. He needs her to see how this goes and feels. How it’s a celebration of life and honoring those who have passed and not just a somber reminder to the living of what they’ve lost. He needs her to see what it means to him. And what it would mean to her soulmate.

He makes the grave marker of course. They’re not about to buy one when he has the strength and abilities to carve it out himself. He makes sure that it’s vague unless you know him. No names, no identifying markers like age or dates. It’s simple and meaningful for him.

{May he rest here between walks among the stars, our friend and brother beloved}

From there it’s pretty much all fun and games. Literally.

Same brings the games while she has Tucker pack out the food. It’s a combination of some of Grandma Ida’s homemade desserts and various junk foods. Even Tucker brings some cookies his mom helped him figure out how to make.

Jazz is in charge of the drinks while Danny and Dani handled all the decorating. It’s a combination of solidified ectoplasm, his ice, and various flowers they’ve gathered and strung together in a flower chain.

It’s a smashing success and he sees something in Jazz release. Some niggling worry or grief she carried that is no longer there.

Now, he decides, it’s time for part two.

What throws part two for a loop is when Dani with an “i” brings up that she’d like a grave and proper funeral rites as well.

It’s not a setback. Definitely not when he sees how much more relaxed and content Jazz is at Dani with an i’s wake.

It’s only a couple days from her birthday when he brings it up. The funeral practices for soulmates are as varied as they are sacred. He proposes her options via a PowerPoint he put far too many hours into.

By the time he finishes rambling, she’s got this sort of startled look on her face.

He twists his shirt in his hands as he stands awaiting her judgement. The longer she’s silent, the more convinced Danny is that she’ll reject the whole thing and not talk to him for a month.

Okay, maybe a week but still a week is a long time.

Suddenly Jazz is crying and oh ancients he’s really messed up this time. She’s not even mad just straight up upset by his offer.

But then she’s hugging him, telling him she loves him, and thanking him.

It’s not as hard as Danny feared to actually track down the location of a Jason Todd who died before Jazz reached 16 (she never wanted to look him up before, didn’t want to know what she was missing) and the day before her 25th birthday Danny, Dani, and Jazz all pile into her little car to make the drive to Gotham, homemade foods in tow.

Danny and Dani made sure to swipe one of Vlad’s special rich dude credit cards to fund their trip and the stop at multiple flower shops to get enough flowers to make flower chains and crowns for all of them.

It’s closing in on evening, the day of Jazz’s birthday when they finally roll up and upload everything. They didn’t bring any lights, but none of them really need much light to see for eating food and drinking sodas. Jazz brought some jasmine tea and an extra cup to place on Jason’s grave. They make a funky, dark evening of it, but finally Jazz grows more somber and keeps taking long looks at the gravestone so Danny and Dani decide to make themselves scarce.

They’re about halfway across the cemetery when out of the shadows steps the looming menace of Red Hood.

“The fuck are you doing at that grave?”

It’s not his voice or his tone, but the sub vocal ghost speak that makes Danny and Dani freeze up ramrod straight.

That’s a revenant and they’re trespassing on his resting place without permission.

So of course like any sane person, Danny says something stupid. But he just can’t believe out of all the ridiculous coincidences to exist in the world, that Jazz’s soulmate is undead like him seems just too far to believe.

“Jason?”

Almost late despite having the day off work bc I had to go shopping and bc of where I live, shopping is essentially a full day affair. This is shorter than I’d like it but I also kinda enjoy where it ends XD imagine their next moments however you please or feel free to add onto this.

[mindfulstudyquest]

❥﹒♡﹒☕﹒ 𝗽𝗿𝗼 𝘁𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗮'𝘀

having good grades doesn't necessarily mean you're smart, a test or exam can't always determine someone's intelligence, but it's academic validation we crave, right? so here are some tips thanks to which you will get straight a's.

𝟭. understand what the professor wants ( 🪼 )

learning the entire book by heart is tiring and basically useless. we take our education seriously, but it's impossible to know everything about everything, so inevitably there will be topics we can gloss over. check old tests, listen to the teacher during the lecture, talk to students who have already attended the course and passed the exam. understand which aspects your professor particularly cares about and concentrate on those, your exam will certainly go well.

𝟮. strengthen your memorization ( 🦋 )

very often the amount of things to study is just too much and, even though you spend all day in the library rereading the topics again and again, you feel that it is not enough. you get confused, you forget steps, you get lost in the labyrinth of the subject. investing in understanding your form of memorization will benefit you in the long run. identify your type of memory (spatial, photographic, echoic, etc.) and focus on how to improve it. having a good memory will make your studying for the exam much faster and easier.

𝟯. pay attention in class ( 🫧 )

attend all lectures and take notes. much of your studying comes from your professor's lecture. underline the important things in your textbook, carefully follow their speech and - if there are any - their powerpoint slides, writing only the things that the teacher adds and which are not written either in the book or in the extra material, if necessary, record the lesson so you can listen to it again at a later time.

𝟰. organize your notes the same day ( 🧃 )

when i take notes in class i write badly and quickly to keep up with the teacher, shortening words or omitting passages.  by reorganizing your notes that same evening (at most the next day, if you really don't have time) you can revise your work when the lesson is still fresh in your mind; if you wait too long, you will forget most of the things and you will find yourself staring blankly at pages of notes which, at that point, will seem more like hieroglyphics to you than anything else.

𝟱. use ai responsibly ( 🪴 )

artificial intelligence is everywhere nowadays and why not use it to our advantage? of course i'm not suggesting that you let an ai take care of all your tests and essays, it wouldn't make sense, however very often it helped me make a list of key points to develop in a research paper, or gave me excellent ideas and insights for projects. they can also be used to create flashcards, summarize and simplify articles, or create practice tests based on the material you will have to study.

𝟲. delve deeper into your “whys” ( 🌾 )

sometimes when i study i stare into space and wonder why i am studying something that seems completely irrelevant to my path. i'm sure it happens to you too, don't ignore this feeling. don't be afraid to explore themes and topics that aren't clear to you, if two statements seem contradictory ask yourself why, if you don't understand some passages, don't be afraid to ask a question. we study for ourselves, before studying to graduate, to work. there is no shame in not understanding, your intelligence lies in striving to clarify what seems obscure.

[maypop-the-dragon]

PSA: Free Software

Reading this may really save your time, privacy, and money! Reblog or share to spread awareness!

Folks often use software that’s expensive and sometimes even inferior because they don’t know there are alternatives. So to those unfamiliar: basically, free and open-source (FOSS) or "libre" software is free to use and anyone can access the original code to make their own version or work on fixing problems.

That does not mean anyone can randomly add a virus and give it to everyone—any respectable libre project has checks in place to make sure changes to the official version are good! Libre software is typically developed by communities who really care about the quality of the software as a goal in itself.

There are libre alternatives to many well-known programs that do everything an average user needs (find out more under the cut!) for free with no DRM, license keys, or subscriptions.

Using libre software when possible is an easy way to fight against and free yourself from corporate greed while actually being more convenient in many cases! If you need an app to do something, perhaps try searching online for things like:

foss [whatever it is]

libre [whatever it is]

open source [whatever it is]

Feel free to recommend more libre software in the tags, replies, comments, or whatever you freaks like to do!

Some Libre Software I Personally Enjoy…

LibreOffice

LibreOffice is an office suite, much like Microsoft Office. It includes equivalents for apps like Word, Excel, and Powerpoint, which can view and edit files created for those apps.

I can't say I've used it much myself yet. I do not personally like using office software except when I have to for school.

OpenShot

OpenShot Video Editor is, as the name suggests, a video editing program. It has industry-standard features like splicing, layering, transitions, and greenscreen.

I've only made one video with it so far, but I'm already very happy with it. I had already paid for a video editor (Cyberlink PowerDirector Pro), but I needed to reinstall it and I didn't remember how. Out of desperation, I searched up "FOSS video editor" and I'm so glad I did. There's no launcher, there's no promotion of other apps and asset packs—it's just a video editor with a normal installer.

GIMP

GNU Image Manipulation Program is an image editor, much like Photoshop. Originally created for Linux but also available for Windows and MacOS, it provides plenty of functionality for editing images. It is a bit unintuitive to learn at first, though.

I've used it to create and modify images for years, including logos, really bad traceover art, and Minecraft textures. It doesn't have certain advanced tech like AI paint-in, but it has served my purposes well and it might just work for yours!

(Be sure to go to Windows > Dockable Dialogs > Colors. I have no idea why that's not enabled by default.)

Audacity

Audacity is an audio editing program. It can record, load, splice, and layer audio files and apply effects to them.

Audacity is another program I've used for a long time. It is not designed to compose music, but it is great for podcasts, simple edits, and loading legacy MS Paint to hear cool noises.

7-Zip

7-Zip is a file manager and archive tool. It supports many archive types including ZIP, RAR, TAR, and its own format, 7Z. It can view and modify the contents of archives, encrypt and decrypt archives, and all that good stuff.

Personally, I use 7-Zip to look inside JAR files for Minecraft reasons. I must admit that its UI is ugly.

Firefox

Firefox is an internet browser, much like Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, or Safari. While browsers are free, many of them include tracking or other anti-consumer practices. For example, Google plans to release an update to Chromium (the base that most browsers are built from these days) that makes ad blockers less effective by removing the APIs they currently rely on.

Aside from fighting monopolies, benefits include: support for animated themes (the one in the picture is Purple Night Theme), good ad blockers forever, an (albeit hidden) compact UI option (available on about:config), and a cute fox icon.

uBlock Origin

As far as I know, uBlock Origin is one of the best ad blockers there is.

I was on a sketchy website with my brother, and he was using Opera GX's ad blocker. Much of the time when he clicked on anything, it would take us to a random sponsored page. I suggested that he try uBlock Origin, and with uBlock Origin, that didn't happen anymore.

Linux

Linux is a kernel, but the term is often used to refer to operating systems (much like Windows or MacOS) built on it. There are many different Linux-based operating systems (or "distros") to choose from, but apps made for Linux usually work on most popular distros. You can also use many normally Windows-only apps on Linux through compatibility layers like WINE.

I don't have all four of these, so the images are from Wikipedia. I tried to show a variety of Linux distros made for different kinds of users.

If you want to replace your operating system, I recommend being very careful because you can end up breaking things. Many computer manufacturers don't care about supporting Linux, meaning that things may not work (Nvidia graphic cards notoriously have issues on Linux, for example).

Personally, I tried installing Pop!_OS on a laptop, and the sound output mysteriously doesn't work. I may try switching to Arch Linux, since it is extremely customizable and I might be able to experiment until I find a configuration where the audio works.

Many Linux distros offer "Live USB" functionality, which works as both a demo and an installer. You should thoroughly test your distro on a Live USB session before you actually install it to be absolutely sure that everything works. Even if it seems fine, you should probably look into dual-booting with your existing operating system, just in case you need it for some reason.

Happy computering!

[sigynpenniman]

Something that frustrates me about a lot of open-source advocacy is that it often refuses to engage with the needs of the real & professional worlds & the fact that not everyone is a computer wizard, and that even the “easy to use” open source softwares like Ubuntu and LibreOffice are often significantly more difficult and confusing to use than their paid alternatives. I’m reminded of when @hylianengineer posted something about wanting to be a Linux person and just not being able to. I appreciate hating Microsoft and their ethics and data theivery and prices, but the reality is that even Ubuntu is massively confusing and difficult to use for a large percentage of people, especially if they’re not computer savvy or are moderately computer savvy, but only inasmuch as they know where the buttons are in windows to do what they want. The space between “only wants to browse the internet” and “person who knows how to code” (two classes of people who can use Linux perfectly for their needs) is huge and unfortunately contains 90% of people. I am an IT technician with half a decade of professional experience and another half decade of personal submergence in computers in general. I am perfectly comfortable in the command line and I understand computers better than people. I find every Linux distro I’ve ever tried to use, even the “use friendly” ones, to be absolutely impenetrable. The simplest of tasks are easy - the internet works great. The most complex of tasks are easy - and sometimes only possible in Linux. I have an Ubuntu VM specifically for mass downloading from the Internet archive. The moderate tasks, like installing software, are often infuriatingly difficult, largely due Linux’s tendency to product the nightmarish Cascading Dependency Error, in which you try to sudo-apt-get something and end up getting an error about a missing dependency, trying to install which gets you another error about a missing dependency, and before you know it you’re 15 minutes deep in a “simple” software install.

This is just not gonna work for most people.

This also ignores the fact that if you use any professional software for your job, like Photoshop, Word, etc, you need it to work, and often “Just use LibreOffice” isn’t the answer. If everyone you work with uses PowerPoint, you can’t necessarily afford to risk that LibreOffice is interpreting and displaying things differently than power point is going to when you send the file to your CoWorkers.

Open source software is great, but it just does not work for a lot of people and in a lot of contexts, and smugly replying “Well you should just use LibreOffice” to posts complaining about the price and problems with the Office suite is just not helpful.

And if you’re going to comment on this post and call me stupid or say all of this is made up, I need you to understand something, and I say this with love: if Linux and its surrounding software is easy for you, it is not because it is actually easy. It is because you are good at computers and have a brain that finds that sort of thing easy to parse. It’s not that it’s easy to use, it’s that you’ve become so accustomed to using it that you have, without realizing, become unable to accurately project yourself into the experience of someone who doesn’t have that skill. Being Good At Computers has a way of very silently and slowly making you literally unable to accurately imagine the perspective of people who aren’t - I know this, because I have this problem.

I don’t know where I’m going with this, beyond just - as a literal computer person, I’m growing tired of the call to “Just Go Open Source” as a solution to problems with first party software. It really only works in specific places, and for specific people, and people who don’t fit into that narrow window have the right to complain about those things because they don’t have a lot of good alternatives

[mariacallous]

In 2019, a government contractor and technologist named Mike Yeagley began making the rounds in Washington, DC. He had a blunt warning for anyone in the country’s national security establishment who would listen: The US government had a Grindr problem.

A popular dating and hookup app, Grindr relied on the GPS capabilities of modern smartphones to connect potential partners in the same city, neighborhood, or even building. The app can show how far away a potential partner is in real time, down to the foot.

In its 10 years of operation, Grindr had amassed millions of users and become a central cog in gay culture around the globe.

But to Yeagley, Grindr was something else: one of the tens of thousands of carelessly designed mobile phone apps that leaked massive amounts of data into the opaque world of online advertisers. That data, Yeagley knew, was easily accessible by anyone with a little technical know-how. So Yeagley—a technology consultant then in his late forties who had worked in and around government projects nearly his entire career—made a PowerPoint presentation and went out to demonstrate precisely how that data was a serious national security risk.

As he would explain in a succession of bland government conference rooms, Yeagley was able to access the geolocation data on Grindr users through a hidden but ubiquitous entry point: the digital advertising exchanges that serve up the little digital banner ads along the top of Grindr and nearly every other ad-supported mobile app and website. This was possible because of the way online ad space is sold, through near-instantaneous auctions in a process called real-time bidding. Those auctions were rife with surveillance potential. You know that ad that seems to follow you around the internet? It’s tracking you in more ways than one. In some cases, it’s making your precise location available in near-real time to both advertisers and people like Mike Yeagley, who specialized in obtaining unique data sets for government agencies.

Working with Grindr data, Yeagley began drawing geofences—creating virtual boundaries in geographical data sets—around buildings belonging to government agencies that do national security work. That allowed Yeagley to see what phones were in certain buildings at certain times, and where they went afterwards. He was looking for phones belonging to Grindr users who spent their daytime hours at government office buildings. If the device spent most workdays at the Pentagon, the FBI headquarters, or the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency building at Fort Belvoir, for example, there was a good chance its owner worked for one of those agencies. Then he started looking at the movement of those phones through the Grindr data. When they weren’t at their offices, where did they go? A small number of them had lingered at highway rest stops in the DC area at the same time and in proximity to other Grindr users—sometimes during the workday and sometimes while in transit between government facilities. For other Grindr users, he could infer where they lived, see where they traveled, even guess at whom they were dating.

Intelligence agencies have a long and unfortunate history of trying to root out LGBTQ Americans from their workforce, but this wasn’t Yeagley’s intent. He didn’t want anyone to get in trouble. No disciplinary actions were taken against any employee of the federal government based on Yeagley’s presentation. His aim was to show that buried in the seemingly innocuous technical data that comes off every cell phone in the world is a rich story—one that people might prefer to keep quiet. Or at the very least, not broadcast to the whole world. And that each of these intelligence and national security agencies had employees who were recklessly, if obliviously, broadcasting intimate details of their lives to anyone who knew where to look.

As Yeagley showed, all that information was available for sale, for cheap. And it wasn’t just Grindr, but rather any app that had access to a user’s precise location—other dating apps, weather apps, games. Yeagley chose Grindr because it happened to generate a particularly rich set of data and its user base might be uniquely vulnerable. A Chinese company had obtained a majority stake in Grindr beginning in 2016—amping up fears among Yeagley and others in Washington that the data could be misused by a geopolitical foe. (Until 1995, gay men and women were banned from having security clearances owing in part to a belief among government counterintelligence agents that their identities might make them vulnerable to being leveraged by an adversary—a belief that persists today.)

But Yeagley’s point in these sessions wasn’t just to argue that advertising data presented a threat to the security of the United States and the privacy of its citizens. It was to demonstrate that these sources also presented an enormous opportunity in the right hands, used for the right purpose. When speaking to a bunch of intelligence agencies, there’s no way to get their attention quite like showing them a tool capable of revealing when their agents are visiting highway rest stops.

Mike Yeagley saw both the promise and the pitfalls of advertising data because he’d played a key role in bringing advertising data into government in the first place. His 2019 road show was an attempt to spread awareness across the diverse and often siloed workforces in US intelligence. But by then, a few select corners of the intel world were already very familiar with his work, and were actively making use of it.

Yeagley had spent years working as a technology “scout”—looking for capabilities or data sets that existed in the private sector and helping to bring them into government. He’d helped pioneer a technique that some of its practitioners would jokingly come to call “ADINT”—a play on the intelligence community’s jargon for different sources of intelligence, like the SIGINT (signals intelligence) that became synonymous with the rise of codebreaking and tapped phone lines in the 20th century, and the OSINT (open source intelligence) of the internet era, of which ADINT was a form. More often, though, ADINT was known in government circles as adtech data.

Adtech uses the basic lifeblood of digital commerce—the trail of data that comes off nearly all mobile phones—to deliver valuable intelligence information. Edward Snowden’s 2013 leaks showed that, for a time, spy agencies could get data from digital advertisers by tapping fiber-optic cables or internet choke points. But in the post-Snowden world, more and more traffic like that was being encrypted; no longer could the National Security Agency pull data from advertisers by eavesdropping. So it was a revelation—especially given the public outcry over Snowden’s leaks—that agencies could just buy some of the data they needed straight from commercial entities. One technology consultant who works on projects for the US government explained it this way to me: “The advertising technology ecosystem is the largest information-gathering enterprise ever conceived by man. And it wasn’t built by the government.”

Everyone who possesses an iPhone or Android phone has been given an “anonymized” advertising ID by Apple or Google. That number is used to track our real-world movement, our internet browsing behavior, the apps we put on our phone, and much more. Billions of dollars have been poured into this system by America’s largest corporations. Faced with a commercially available repository of data this rich and detailed, the world’s governments have increasingly opened up their wallets to buy up this information on everyone, rather than hacking it or getting it through secret court orders.

Here’s how it works. Imagine a woman named Marcela. She has a Google Pixel phone with the Weather Channel app installed. As she heads out the door to go on a jog, she sees overcast skies. So Marcela opens the app to check if the forecast calls for rain.

By clicking on the Weather Channel’s blue icon, Marcela triggers a frenzy of digital activity aimed at serving her a personalized ad. It begins with an entity called an advertising exchange, basically a massive marketplace where billions of mobile devices and computers notify a centralized server whenever they have an open ad space.

In less than the blink of an eye, the Weather Channel app shares a ream of data with this ad exchange, including the IP address of Marcela’s phone, the version of Android it's running, her carrier, plus an array of technical data about how the phone is configured, down to what resolution the screen resolution is set to. Most valuable of all, the app shares the precise GPS coordinates of Marcela’s phone and the pseudonymized advertising ID number that Google has assigned to her, called an AAID. (On Apple devices, it’s called an IDFA.)

To the layperson, an advertising ID is a string of gibberish, something like bdca712j-fb3c-33ad-2324-0794d394m912. To advertisers, it’s a gold mine. They know that bdca712j-fb3c-33ad-2324-0794d394m912 owns a Google Pixel device with the Nike Run Club app. They know that bdca712j-fb3c-33ad-2324-0794d394m912 often frequents Runnersworld.com. And they know that bdca712j-fb3c-33ad-2324-0794d394m912 has been lusting after a pair of new Vaporfly racing shoes. They know this because Nike, Runnersworld.com, and Google are all plugged into the same advertising ecosystem, all aimed at understanding what consumers are interested in.

Advertisers use that information as they shape and deploy their ads. Say both Nike and Brooks, another running shoe brand, are trying to reach female running aficionados in a certain income bracket or in certain zip codes. Based on the huge amounts of data they can pull from the ether, they might build an “audience”—essentially a huge list of ad IDs of customers known or suspected to be in the market for running shoes. Then in an instantaneous, automated, real-time auction, advertisers tell a digital ad exchange how much they’re willing to pay to reach those consumers every time they load an app or a web page.

There are some limits and safeguards on all this data. Technically, a user can reset their assigned advertising ID number (though few people do so—or even know they have one). And users do have some control over what they share, via their app settings. If consumers don’t allow the app they’re using to access GPS, the ad exchange can’t pull the phone’s GPS location, for example. (Or at least they aren’t supposed to. Not all apps follow the rules, and they are sometimes not properly vetted once they are in app stores.)

Moreover, ad exchange bidding platforms do minimal due diligence on the hundreds or even thousands of entities that have a presence on their servers. So even the losing bidders still have access to all the consumer data that came off the phone during the bid request. An entire business model has been built on this: siphoning data off the real-time bidding networks, packaging it up, and reselling it to help businesses understand consumer behavior.

Geolocation is the single most valuable piece of commercial data to come off those devices. Understanding the movement of phones is now a multibillion-dollar industry. It can be used to deliver targeted advertising based on location for, say, a restaurant chain that wants to deliver targeted ads to people nearby. It can be used to measure consumer behavior and the effectiveness of advertising. How many people saw an ad and later visited a store? And the analytics can be used for planning and investment decisions. Where is the best location to put a new store? Will there be enough foot traffic to sustain such a business? Is the number of people visiting a certain retailer going up or down this month, and what does that mean for the retailer’s stock price?

But this kind of data is good for something else. It has remarkable surveillance potential. Why? Because what we do in the world with our devices cannot truly be anonymized. The fact that advertisers know Marcela as bdca712j-fb3c-33ad-2324-0794d394m912 as they’re watching her move around the online and offline worlds offers her almost no privacy protection. Taken together, her habits and routines are unique to her. Our real-world movement is highly specific and personal to all of us. For many years, I lived in a small 13-unit walk-up in Washington, DC. I was the only person waking up every morning at that address and going to The Wall Street Journal’s offices. Even if I was just an anonymized number, my behavior was as unique as a fingerprint even in a sea of hundreds of millions of others. There was no way to anonymize my identity in a data set like geolocation. Where a phone spends most of its evenings is a good proxy for where its owner lives. Advertisers know this.

Governments know this too. And Yeagley was part of a team that would try to find out how they could exploit it.

In 2015, a company called PlaceIQ hired Yeagley. PlaceIQ was an early mover in the location data market. Back in the mid-2000s, its founder, Duncan McCall, had participated in an overland driving race from London to Gambia across the land-mine-strewn Western Sahara. He had eschewed the usual practice of hiring an expensive Bedouin guide to help ensure safe passage through the area. Instead, he found online a GPS route that someone else had posted from a few days earlier on a message board. McCall was able to download the route, load it into his own GPS device, and follow the same safe path. On that drive through the Western Sahara, McCall recalled dreaming up the idea for what would become PlaceIQ to capture all of the geospatial data that consumers were emitting and generate insights. At first the company used data from the photo-sharing website Flickr, but eventually PlaceIQ started tapping mobile ad exchanges. It would be the start of a new business model—one that would prove highly successful.

Yeagley was hired after PlaceIQ got an investment from the CIA’s venture capital arm, In-Q-Tel. Just as it had poured money into numerous social media monitoring services, geospatial data had also attracted In-Q-Tel’s interest. The CIA was interested in software that could analyze and understand the geographic movement of people and things. It wanted to be able to decipher when, say, two people were trying to conceal that they were traveling together. The CIA had planned to use the software with its own proprietary data, but government agencies of all kinds eventually became interested in the kind of raw data that commercial entities like PlaceIQ had—it was available through a straightforward commercial transaction and came with fewer restrictions on use inside government than secret intercepts.

While working there, Yeagley realized that the data itself might be valuable to the government, too. PlaceIQ was fine selling software to the government but was not prepared to sell its data to the feds. So Yeagley approached a different company called PlanetRisk—one of the hundreds and hundreds of tiny startups with ties to the US government dotted around office parks in Northern Virginia. In theory, a government defense contractor offered a more secure environment than a civilian company like PlaceIQ to do the kind of work he had in mind.

PlanetRisk straddled the corporate world and the government contracting space—building products that were aimed at helping customers understand the relative dangers of various spots around the world. For example, a company that wanted to establish a store or an office somewhere in the world might turn to PlanetRisk to analyze data on crime, civil unrest, and extreme weather as they vary geographically.

PlanetRisk hired Yeagley in 2016 as vice president of global defense—essentially a sales and business development job. The aim was for him to develop his adtech technology inside the contractor, which might try to sell it to various government agencies. Yeagley brought with him some government funding from his relationships around town in the defense and intelligence research communities.

PlanetRisk’s earliest sales demo was about Syria: quantifying the crush of refugees flowing out of Syria after years of civil war and the advancing ISIS forces. From a commercial data broker called UberMedia, PlanetRisk had obtained location data on Aleppo—the besieged Syrian city that had been at the center of some of the fiercest fighting between government forces and US-backed rebels. It was an experiment in understanding what was possible. Could you even obtain location information on mobile phones in Syria? Surely a war zone was no hot spot for mobile advertising.

But to the company’s surprise, the answer was yes. There were 168,786 mobile devices present in the city of Aleppo in UberMedia’s data set, which measured mobile phone movements during the month of December 2015. And from that data, they could see the movement of refugees around the world.

The discovery that there was extensive data in Syria was a watershed. No longer was advertising merely a way to sell products; it was a way to peer into the habits and routines of billions. “Mobile devices are the lifeline for everyone, even refugees,” Yeagley said.

PlanetRisk had sampled data from a range of location brokers—Cuebiq, X-Mode, SafeGraph, PlaceIQ, and Gravy Analytics—before settling on UberMedia. (The company has no relation to the rideshare app Uber.) UberMedia was started by the veteran advertising and technology executive Bill Gross, who had helped invent keyword-targeted ads—the kinds of ads that appear on Google when you search a specific term. UberMedia had started out as an advertising company that helped brands reach customers on Twitter. But over time, like many other companies in this space, UberMedia realized that it could do more than just target consumers with advertising. With access to several ad exchanges, it could save bid requests that contained geolocation information, and then it could sell that data. Now, this was technically against the rules of most ad exchanges, but there was little way to police the practice. At its peak, UberMedia was collecting about 200,000 bid requests per second on mobile devices around the world.

Just as UberMedia was operating in a bit of a gray zone, PlanetRisk had likewise not been entirely forthright with UberMedia. To get the Aleppo data, Yeagley told UberMedia that he needed the data as part of PlanetRisk’s work with a humanitarian organization—when in fact the client was a defense contractor doing research work funded by the Pentagon. (UberMedia’s CEO would later learn the truth about what Mike Yeagley wanted the data for. And others in the company had their own suspicions. “Humanitarian purposes” was a line met with a wink and nod around the company among employees who knew or suspected what was going on with Yeagley’s data contracts.) Either way, UberMedia wasn’t vetting its customers closely. It appeared to be more eager to make a sale than it was concerned about the privacy implications of selling the movement patterns of millions of people.

When it came time to produce a demo of PlanetRisk’s commercial phone-tracking product, Yeagley’s 10-year-old daughter helped him come up with a name. They called the program Locomotive—a portmanteau of location and motive. The total cost to build out a small demo was about $600,000, put up entirely by a couple of Pentagon research funding arms. As the PlanetRisk team put Locomotive through the paces and dug into the data, they found one interesting story after another.

In one instance they could see a device moving back and forth between Syria and the West—a potential concern given ISIS’s interest in recruiting Westerners, training them, and sending them back to carry out terrorist attacks. But as the PlanetRisk team took a closer look, the pattern of the device’s behavior indicated that it likely belonged to a humanitarian aid worker. They could track that person’s device to UN facilities and a refugee camp, unlikely locales for Islamic State fighters to hang out.

They realized they could track world leaders through Locomotive, too. After acquiring a data set on Russia, the team realized they could track phones in the Russian president Vladimir Putin’s entourage. The phones moved everywhere that Putin did. They concluded the devices in question did not actually belong to Putin himself; Russian state security and counterintelligence were better than that. Instead, they believed the devices belonged to the drivers, the security personnel, the political aides, and other support staff around the Russian president; those people’s phones were trackable in the advertising data. As a result, PlanetRisk knew where Putin was going and who was in his entourage.

There were other oddities. In one data set, they found one phone kept transiting between the United States and North Korea. The device would attend a Korean church in the United States on Sundays. Its owner appeared to work at a GE factory, a prominent American corporation with significant intellectual property and technology that a regime like Pyongyang would be interested in. Why was it traveling back and forth between the United States and North Korea, not exactly known as a tourist destination? PlanetRisk considered raising the issue with either the US intelligence agencies or the company but ultimately decided there wasn’t much they could do. And they didn’t necessarily want their phone-tracking tool to be widely known. They never got to the bottom of it.

Most alarmingly, PlanetRisk began seeing evidence of the US military’s own missions in the Locomotive data. Phones would appear at American military installations such as Fort Bragg in North Carolina and MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida—home of some of the most skilled US special operators with the Joint Special Operations Command and other US Special Operations Command units. They would then transit through third-party countries like Turkey and Canada before eventually arriving in northern Syria, where they were clustering at the abandoned Lafarge cement factory outside the town of Kobane.

It dawned on the PlanetRisk team that these were US special operators converging at an unannounced military facility. Months later, their suspicions would be publicly confirmed; eventually the US government would acknowledge the facility was a forward operating base for personnel deployed in the anti-ISIS campaign.

Even worse, through Locomotive, they were getting data in pretty close to real time. UberMedia’s data was usually updated every 24 hours or so. But sometimes, they saw movement that had occurred as recently as 15 or 30 minutes earlier. Here were some of the best-trained special operations units in the world, operating at an unannounced base. Yet their precise, shifting coordinates were showing up in UberMedia’s advertising data. While Locomotive was a closely held project meant for government use, UberMedia’s data was available for purchase by anyone who could come up with a plausible excuse. It wouldn’t be difficult for the Chinese or Russian government to get this kind of data by setting up a shell company with a cover story, just as Mike Yeagley had done.

Initially, PlanetRisk was sampling data country by country, but it didn’t take long for the team to wonder what it would cost to buy the entire world. The sales rep at UberMedia provided the answer: For a few hundred thousand dollars a month, the company would provide a global feed of every phone on earth that the company could collect on. The economics were impressive. For the military and intelligence community, a few hundred thousand a month was essentially a rounding error—in 2020, the intelligence budget was $62.7 billion. Here was a powerful intelligence tool for peanuts.

Locomotive, the first version of which was coded in 2016, blew away Pentagon brass. One government official demanded midway through the demo that the rest of it be conducted inside a SCIF, a secure government facility where classified information could be discussed. The official didn’t understand how or what PlanetRisk was doing but assumed it must be a secret. A PlanetRisk employee at the briefing was mystified. “We were like, well, this is just stuff we’ve seen commercially,” they recall. “We just licensed the data.” After all, how could marketing data be classified?

Government officials were so enthralled by the capability that PlanetRisk was asked to keep Locomotive quiet. It wouldn’t be classified, but the company would be asked to tightly control word of the capability to give the military time to take advantage of public ignorance of this kind of data and turn it into an operational surveillance program.

And the same executive remembered leaving another meeting with a different government official. They were on the elevator together when one official asked, could you figure out who is cheating on their spouse?

Yeah, I guess you could, the PlanetRisk executive answered.

But Mike Yeagley wouldn’t last at PlanetRisk.

As the company looked to turn Locomotive from a demo into a live product, Yeagley started to believe that his employer was taking the wrong approach. It was looking to build a data visualization platform for the government. Yet again, Yeagley thought it would be better to provide the raw data to the government and let them visualize it in any way they choose. Rather than make money off of the number of users inside government that buy a software license, Mike Yeagley wanted to just sell the government the data for a flat fee.

So Yeagley and PlanetRisk parted ways. He took his business relationship with UberMedia with him. PlanetRisk moved on to other lines of work and was eventually sold off in pieces to other defense contractors. Yeagley would land at a company called Aelius Exploitation Technologies, where he would go about trying to turn Locomotive into an actual government program for the Joint Special Operations Command—the terrorist-hunting elite special operations force that killed Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al Zarqawi and spent the past few years dismantling ISIS.

Locomotive was renamed VISR, which stood for Virtual Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance. It would be used as part of an interagency program and would be shared widely inside the US intelligence community as a tool to generate leads.

By the time Yeagley went out to warn various security agencies about Grindr in 2019, VISR had been used domestically, too—at least for a short period of time when the FBI wanted to test its usefulness in domestic criminal cases. (In 2018, the FBI backed out of the program.) The Defense Intelligence Agency, another agency that had access to the VISR data, has also acknowledged that it used the tool on five separate occasions to look inside the United States as part of intelligence-related investigations.

But VISR, by now, is only one product among others that sell adtech data to intelligence agencies. The Department of Homeland Security has been a particularly enthusiastic adopter of this kind of data. Three of its components—US Customs and Border Protection, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the US Secret Service —have bought more than 200 licenses from commercial ad tech vendors since 2019. They would use this data for finding border tunnels, tracking down unauthorized immigrants, and trying to solve domestic crimes. In 2023, a government inspector general chastised DHS over the use of adtech, saying that the department did not have adequate privacy safeguards in place and recommending that the data stop being used until policies were drawn. The DHS told the inspector general that they would continue to use the data. Adtech “is an important mission contributor to the ICE investigative process as, in combination with other information and investigative methods, it can fill knowledge gaps and produce investigative leads that might otherwise remain hidden,” the agency wrote in response.

Other governments’ intelligence agencies have access to this data as well. Several Israeli companies—Insanet, Patternz, and Rayzone—have built similar tools to VISR and sell it to national security and public safety entities around the world, according to reports. Rayzone has even developed the capability to deliver malware through targeted ads, according to Haaretz.

Which is to say, none of this is an abstract concern—even if you’re just a private citizen. I’m here to tell you if you’ve ever been on a dating app that wanted your location or if you ever granted a weather app permission to know where you are 24/7, there is a good chance a detailed log of your precise movement patterns has been vacuumed up and saved in some data bank somewhere that tens of thousands of total strangers have access to. That includes intelligence agencies. It includes foreign governments. It includes private investigators. It even includes nosy journalists. (In 2021, a small conservative Catholic blog named The Pillar reported that Jeffrey Burrill, the secretary general of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, was a regular user of Grindr. The publication reported that Burrill “visited gay bars and private residences while using a location-based hookup app” and described its source as “commercially available records of app signal data obtained by The Pillar.”)

If you cheated on your spouse in the past few years and you were careless about your location data settings, there is a good chance there is evidence of that in data that is available for purchase. If you checked yourself into an inpatient drug rehab, that data is probably sitting in a data bank somewhere. If you told your boss you took a sick day and interviewed at a rival company, that could be in there. If you threw a brick through a storefront window during the George Floyd protests, well, your cell phone might link you to that bit of vandalism. And if you once had a few pints before causing a car crash and drove off without calling the police, data telling that story likely still exists somewhere.

We all have a vague sense that our cell phone carriers have this data about us. But law enforcement generally needs to go get a court order to get that. And it takes evidence of a crime to get such an order. This is a different kind of privacy nightmare.

I once met a disgruntled former employee of a company that competed against UberMedia and PlaceIQ. He had absconded with several gigabytes of data from his former company. It was only a small sampling of data, but it represented the comprehensive movements of tens of thousands of people for a few weeks. Lots of those people could be traced back to a residential address with a great deal of confidence. He offered me the data so I could see how invasive and powerful it was.

What can I do with this—hypothetically? I asked. In theory, could you help me draw geofences around mental hospitals? Abortion clinics? Could you look at phones that checked into a motel midday and stayed for less than two hours?

Easily, he answered.

I never went down that road.

[vacantgodling]

The Fool, The Magicuan, The Emperor, The Lovers, Justice, and The Sun !!

(Might send another ask later. It was a long list and I'm currently at a lecture lmao)

HENRIKEEEE firstly thank u secondly LMAO felt i usually do most of my tumblring whilst at work 💀

00. THE FOOL: BEGINNINGS (What is the opening line to your current work?) 

hilarious cuz i haven’t written the first chapter of paramour yet. however i am counting cage as a current novel/project (it’s gonna have 20 chapters so 💀 fanfiction be damned that’s a fucking book LMAO) so here’s the first line from that (and shameless plug u can read it here!

Sometime closer to dusk when the number of airplanes he could make out crossing the horizon was fewer and fewer, and the lights of Gibraltar’s closest neighboring city La Linea began to kiss the night with her bright lights, Lena came to find him.

01. THE MAGICIAN: SPARK OF MAGIC (What inspired you to write your novel?) 

going back to paramour tho honestly the biggest jumping off point where it slowly began to take shape was crimson peak. i remember really distinctly wanting to want a story of that vibe, with ghosts and mystery but then it eventually evolved into the form it’s in now by drawing from other inspiration sources. like it’s very much Not like how i initially thought it would be LMAO but i love this version more 💛

i’m just gonna put my influences slide from my powerpoint to fully illustrate but yeah like A Lot went into getting this wip started.

a lot of it also hinges on the development of both hya as a character (being the first Real Asshole i’ve allowed myself to write as a protagonist) and his relationship with amon—also my desire to write a romance on My Terms just for me that I Liked. ive always felt like i had to write what other people wanted to see or what was good and wholesome but like. i can write whatever i want and this story was the first step in doing that.

04. THE EMPEROR: STRUCTURE (How do you plot your novels?) 

this is a bit of a complicated question only because it’s kind of… all over the place. but in general what i usually do is i make a VERY detailed outline of all the events i want to happen in the book. chapter by chapter the whole nine. like down to adding bits of dialogue, plugging in any exploratory pieces i wrote before hand for context or to add structure

(and what i mean by exploratory is like basically i don’t tend to plot immediately, i write small blurbs to understand the vibes and feels. a old piece on this blog somewhere (perhaps) is when i wrote about hya asking amon to come to the masquerade reception with him in an extremely roundabout way, but that was written WAAAAY back when i was first trying to understand their dynamic; hell amon didn’t even have a name! and now that scene has a proper slot in the outline in chapter 9 lmao).

but i literally do this so i can KNOW what the hell im doing. i’m not a pants-person by any means literally or figuratively, so i need to be able to see the vision.

once i have an outline fully written out i can either write from the beginning down (like i’m doing with cage rn) or i can do what i’m doing with paramour and write based on interest level. writing based on interest level is probably going to be how i write my original novels just because whenever i’ve tried to write straight down (like i have with donut wip) i tend to get mad stuck. and i think it’s because especially in first drafts of my original novels i tend to have certain scenes… fuzzier than others. i need the context of the other scenes around them to build them up. or those are worldbuilding holes etc etc. either way my og novels i tend to get stuck in cuz there’s more thinking involved lmao.

06. THE LOVERS: RELATIONSHIPS (What are your favorite relationships to write about, whether romantic, familial, or platonic?) 

romantic >>>>>>> familial/platonic.

i’m just a romantic at heart generally speaking.

but on a deep level i have a weird personal struggle (it’s the ‘ism) with family and friends so like… i just find them more difficult to write because i don’t really experience them “easily” in my own life? — or at the bare minimum they just spark less joy to me than romance to me. i want to get better at writing other kinds of relationships but i also think writing them just makes me feel lonely lmao.

11. JUSTICE: TRUTH (What is the 'truth' of your novel i.e the prevalent themes or overarching motifs?) 

🤔 i think the most prevalent theme of paramour is truth itself tbh. finding truth yes, and the power of truth in itself sure, but also cultivating the truth within yourself—you’ll only be happy when you live truthfully to your desires yknow?

19. THE SUN: POSITIVITY (What is your greatest writing strength or skill?)

pretty prose in itself. i think i’m really good at creating saccharine, deep descriptions of emotions and those kinds of sentences long winding and emotional really tickle my brain personally so i put the most OOMPH into them.

[steelthroat]

Your art school characters - are there any really good things/people as well as the really annoying ones?

Heyyyyyy, first of all, thanks for your question!!

You know... that makes me reflect a lot. Let me make a small parenthesis about the annoying one first:

There are many nice people here, even those "characters" let's say, their default setting is "ok"... maybe even actually good, but- then they start acting in a way that makes me go:

"Why did you do that? All this could have been prevented. It was easily avoidable..." like in a disappointed way more than an angry one(most of the times)

I would like to defend them and give them the benefit of the doubt, but I can't. Sometimes discovering some people I really looked up to were... not that good hurt, but I also acknowledge that they're painfully human.

Then there are some people that are... I don't know but I would kill my firstborn for them ahahah.

My histoy and Italian literature professor, for example, MY GOD THAT MAN IS PRECIOUS. Seriously he's like a father to me, he's great and is one of those professors that actually cares about his job and his students. No one and believe me when I say literally NO ONE in my entire institute has ever criticized him EVER. He makes us students care for his subjects,even those who don't like studying don't want to disappoint him.

There is my old sculpture teacher, she was awesome too, once she left me an anonymous note on a big project of mine telling me "this is beautiful you're going to do great things in life". And it helped me so so so so much having someone believing in me when most people thought that I couldn't be able to do something like that yet.

My (old) art history teacher (we have some kind of curse with this subject, the professors change every year lol) she explained her subject in a suuuuuper clear way and helped us with notes and PowerPoint (useful ones, not lazy ones)

My classmates/colleagues (ifk what's more appropriate) are also great. Tbh, these years have been very hard, but overall, it has been a satisfying experience, and hopefully, this last year will confirm it(pleasepleaseplease)

[aelfgiure]

Ah, the start of another term. All these bright faces, a little nervous, a little excited, staring up at you from the class as you approach your desk. Some of the students are giving the other class members the side-eye, unsure how to interact with them.

"Welcome, students! Welcome to the first day of Practical Matters." The confusion on the children's faces was something that always amused you, every year. "I hope you all took a moment to look over the syllabus and get vaguely acquainted with the curriculum.

"First things first, my office hours and contact information are on the last page, as well as my IN CASE OF DIREST EMERGENCY numbers. I'm trusting to your discretion with this information - in the decades that I've been teaching here, only three students have ever used the Direst Numbers. They're alive and well today because of it so keep that in mind."

There was a mutter from the class, and you hid your grin. Yes, the stories had gotten around. Good! Better to have them all a little on edge rather than foolishly complacent.

"Okay, now -" you pull down the projection screen and switch on your computer, letting the students see the blow up of the syllabus "- now let's talk about the different sections of the class, and if you have questions, save them until the end of the section so we can deal with them all at once. Please take notes, they'll help later. Remember, your final exam is a practical demonstration of skills, not a written test!"

You advance the powerpoint to the next slide, the chapter headings for the course. Cooking Without Fear, Basic First Aid, How to Survive in the Woods (without getting caught), Living in the City and Leaving No Trace...

"Ma'am?" a young man, obviously uncomfortable with the class, was brave enough to speak up. "This is all... without using magic? How?!"

Someone else piped up "and Why?"

Every year. Every single year, those two questions come up, and you actually remember to make a note to add them to the intro of your class before you answer.

"A legitimate question, both of them." You nod at the two, smiling to show that you took no offense. "There will come times when you either cannot or should not use magic - and this class will help you get through those times. When you're undercover, or pregnant, or ill, any of those times magic can be dangerous. This class will teach you how to pass as a null human.

"Plus, you all need to know how to cook, clean, do your own damn laundry, if only so you can appreciate what your household staff does for you."

There was a ripple of laughter from the class, some nods of agreement, Good! You hoped this year would be one of the more receptive ones. Sometimes you had to bust out the practical attention getter, and the headmaster was firm that it was blanks only for the first years.

You teach at a magic school, but you do not teach any magic. In fact, you are not even a mage. Yet your classes are among the few that every student has to take, no matter what kind of magic they are studying.

[brokenlookingglassupdatea]

Chapter 4: The Quirk History Presentation™

Word Count: 4820 words

Author's Notes:

I was soooo excited for this scene in the original draft. I just love silly powerpoints. I literally do them with my friends way too much and was definitely inspired by those nights to write this sequence.

As far as editing goes, this chapter took almost no editing. There was a little bit, especially at the ending sequence because I was unsure of the kind of inner monologue I wanted Alain to have but I ended up landing on something pretty solid. Plus I like releasing some of the angst. You can't continue building without releasing a little bit. Otherwise the story falls a bit flat.

As for the rest of stuff goes, I really liked the inclusion of Kaminari with the Pokemon thing. It's the whole start of the possible identity crisis Alain might have but that's fine. I think its fun and it helps tether Alain a little more to My Hero, since he's such a Pokemon character.

Plus, we get to see him a little more in his element, dealing out Pokemon info and talking about his favorite 'mon (the Chars :D). Gives him a friend a bit more than those he's interacted with.

The ending also sticks with me a bit more. Just there listening to the convos on others. I'm quite a bit of a people watcher myself and sometimes just enjoy listening to others yap about their lives and the interesting things they do, especially when I'm tired. I don't know how much Alain enjoys it, but he likes that he doesn't have to go back to his room with only his thoughts to keep him company.

[pbandjesse]

I just been writing a very sappy email. I was given the photos from the restoration of my very first large scale sculpture. Henry is around. I made him I believe in 2010. But he has needed some repair for a while now. And my former professor John Burns and a crew of a few people that I know and some that I didn't spend a few days over the last two weeks fixing my giraffe! Reroping him and getting a new landscaping. And I'm just so thankful that they cared enough to fix him rather than tearing him down. And John was such an important person in my life and I'm so excited that we have an open line of communication again. He has a big Santa Claus beard now and it's incredible. And I'm hoping to visit them in the fall and he wants me to give an artist talk and I haven't done one of those in a long time so I am just excited to get to put together a PowerPoint presentation about my artistic career.

Today was all of my jobs though. I really truly felt like I hit every single one. Because I started the day on ships with camp then I led an art project then I was an event specialist. I was a vendor coordinator. I was a people mover. And then I was cleaning up the harbor. I was doing it all.

I slept okay but Sylvie woke up at like 3:00 a.m. with boogers coming out of her nose and then sucking them in and choking on them and then crying she was terrified. I felt awful. I sat up and was like whoa whoa what and I was trying to wipe her face but she was crying and so upset and confused. I told James to go get the bulk thing and her nose does let you get them in there now but it's still so tiny It wasn't helping as much as I was hoping. And we got her to calm down. I passed her over to James. And they rocked her for a while and I laid back down and felt like I couldn't fall asleep for a Long time because I was just listening to her breathe to make sure she was okay again. But she would sleep for a while and then James would take her and I moved to the other side of the bed and was able to go to sleep.

I needed to be at living classrooms for the educational boat ride at 9:30 so I wasn't in a rush at all. I got up and I got dressed and I felt very cute in my outfit. I do need to go and fix the under arms that are both torn because it was too tight in the boobs when I got it. And then I made sure I had to watch and my jewelry and my backpack and my drink and a snack. James made me an egg sandwich and we sat together on the couch with baby. She looks so cute this morning and was all smiles. But soon I was heading out.

I had an exactly known when I should leave so I planned on leaving a little early to give myself time. Because it was also street parking. And when I got outside there was a truck blocking my car. Again. And it ended up being the delivery people for the cafe that is getting doors put in. And the guy said it was going to be like 5 minutes and I was like it's totally fine I'm not in a rush I was leaving 20 minutes early but while I was sitting there the contractor Foreman came over to talk to me because he was wondering if I was the one that he spoke to on the phone the other day that had a lot of complaints about the company vehicles and I was like oh no absolutely not. Not only am I super excited that you guys are moving here. I hope that it puts a light in on the corner. And my dad's retired construction worker and I know that sometimes when you're doing construction and revitalizing a community you're going to have to put up with some annoyances while they're building. And the guy just seemed a little taken aback that I was just like so excited and chatty. But I wasn't a great mood and I really am excited for another business to open. I hope they thrive.

I drove down to the inner harbor and then drove past where the group was waiting and getting off the bus. It made me feel a little rushed but I knew that they weren't going to leave without me so I wasn't that worried. I got a parking space pretty easily and paid. Camp is going to pay me back. Which is very nice of them. And It was very warm out. But we had coolers and water and everyone remembered to wear sunscreen. And nurse Joan had more. I would get a little bit of color on my arms. And it made my rashes look a little worse but I tried very hard to not itch them. And chase the shadow / shade around the ship what we were on it.

And it was so fun. I love being on a boat and I love being on the water. So I was just having so much fun. Like even before we got on the boat I was just telling people how excited I was and talking to the students. None of them really talk to you. There's one or two that will but it's stunted. Lot of single word questions. But they're also fun and so sweet. I worry sometimes about how you act with them. But all of them are very kind in the way that they're capable.

I love talking to all the people who work on the boat. The captain's name was LC. And she was really cool. There were four staff members and three of them were liveaboards. And all of them are from places far away so this was all new experience for our climate and animals and the water. And it was just really fun getting to like talk about boat stuff. Because like I have enough knowledge to hold a conversation and I can talk a little bit about the history. And I have some fun facts. Like that The USS constellation has 20 miles of line on it. That's so much! We were on the lady Maryland and the crew did not know how many miles but they thought it was probably only one. Which is fair it's a much smaller boat.

We would go out towards the key bridge. Which was pretty powerful to see up close. Just seeing how large it is. And we had the kids doing some activities like looking at a mud crab and some kind of fish. I think it was called a gooby? That can't be right. But it was fun looking at the little teeny tiny mud crab and the shrimps. And the staff was just really nice. Some of the kids yell or get really upset about things. Textures and sounds. But honestly I think everyone was just really enjoying being on the water. When we were out there there was a really good breeze. It was still hot in the sun but it was much nicer being out there then I expected. And I had a great time. I just love being on the water and looking at the water. And I took lots of pictures. Like 230 pictures of the kids interacting and looking through binoculars and looking at stuff and it was just really cool to see them and get to experience that with them.

I would sit and take a break for a while when it got too hot. And we were out there for about 2 hours and I felt super blessed. Like I get to have all these cool experiences and just really love living my life. Like I know some of it is still hard and scary and I wish we had more money so that we could feel more secure. But I'm just so happy with my life and it's just really awesome to be able to sit here and recognize that.

Once we got back to land. It took a while to pull our ship in. We had our group split into two and the smaller group would go on a smaller boat. And I don't remember what their boat was called but it was a woman's name. And Sarah was on that one. And they didn't have as much shade cover so it was a little bit hard being in the midday sun. We all would get a little color I'm sure. But we were all still in really good spirits. And I loved watching them throw the ropes to come in to dock.

Once we got back on land and said thank you and goodbye. I invited all of the staff to come to the BMI and to tell my husband that they met me. And I help nurse Joan carry the coolers back to the bus. But then me and Sarah would drive together over to the BMI. For the next half of our program.

It was nice hanging out with Sarah. We don't really have a ton in common besides camp but it was really nice to talk to her about different staff members and people who come back or not. And it's funny because we both have different opinions about different people. Like one counselor I was surprised they hired back because I had seen her be really freaked out about a lot of stuff and while she was great with the kids I just didn't know if her personality was going to continue to mash. Sarah thinks she is the greatest counselor she's ever had and hopes that she thrives in overnight because she was really good in day camp. And she was. But I think at first I was thinking of a different person so I was a little surprised and then I was like oh wait this is who you mean. So I'm glad it all is going to be a great summer and we can kind of both watch out for the two people that we both are concerned about being back at camp. But it was nice having company on the commute to the other side of the water.

When we got there juneteenth's picnic was already popping off. It was just getting started but there were so many people. And it was great. Like I love when there is like a public event at the museum because I love seeing the types of people that come that might never get to experience the museum itself. And you get a huge different demographic of people as well. And then today it was almost 100% black. It was awesome to see. Like people were coming in the museum and actually engaging with the space and the ones that had kids were asking our kids questions and I was just looking at all these beautiful beautiful people. And they were just celebrating and the air was so good.

But I couldn't focus on that until later. We had to set up the craft project. I had paper and crayons that I would go borrow from education. And I would set up mod podge and cups and blue brushes and then we put cups down that had little tiny pieces of tissue paper. And it took a little while for the bus to get there and apparently struggled to turn in the parking lot but Jessica and the other BMI staff members that were there helped direct the buses in and the security guards made sure that they got all the help they need to turning and I was just very appreciative to my coworkers even though I don't get to work with them all the time anymore I just really appreciate them.

Right before they came over though I would run out to grab lunch. I ordered food on my phone and walked up the two blocks to the restaurant and was back before the bus got there. But like right before.

And I felt like the program went really well. I found out later from Abby, the lead for the group, that when they're at school they do everything in 15 minutes so making me try to fill an hour and a half is not fair without that information! But I kind of figured out that the attention span for projects is pretty short so I got to talk about the oysters with them and their job and that's how I related it back to industry. And then I had there adult helper come up and get the supplies and then they went to town making their little shells. And it was really great and I think they did a great job and I showed them some stippling techniques with the brush so that your pieces didn't get torn or moved around. And while a lot of them needed help they were all making their own thing and it was great.

But then I felt like he had a lot of down time but they had snack and I just have to be okay with them not feeling all of the time that that's okay and normal. And now that camp is getting started again for real I have to get that through my head again. It is not a failing if they are not constantly doing.

So I would get some snack as well. I would save my food for later on because I knew that the afternoon was going to be pretty hectic. And that was 100% the right call. I also had Chex mix but I actually wouldn't eat it.

After they were done their project we had a little difficulty figuring out getting their buses back but it was decided we would use the back door garage to get everybody out to the street because the Juneteenth parking situation was just a little outrageous and there was a lot of people so it worked out really well. And actually made things a lot easier. And then we say goodbye. I walked out with Heather Sophie and Sarah and told him I would see them tomorrow and wish them luck on their lunch trip to Little Havana.

I had to switch gears into event specialist mode. I forgot my name tag but me and Jesse have the same name so he gave me one of his. And I got to be Jesse ( male).

It was such a good energy like I said though. Well there was some issues. It was a million degrees outside and there were so many people and because they were so many people and only so many food trucks the lines were pretty long. But everyone was beautiful and just seemed full of joy and it was just really nice. And they were all also gorgeous. Like I had so much fun looking at the outfits today everyone was so cool and well put together and It was just such a beautiful moment living in this city that I love so much.

It was not without his problems. It was too hot. But mostly it was great. And we were chatting because we knew a storm was coming and we wanted to make sure everybody was prepared.

So we spend a bunch of time figuring out how to make everything safe. I went to all of the vendors on the pier and worked on moving our high tops inside. And then I went around to all the vendors I could to warn them. And once I was done the ones I was assigned to do I would do some of Jules aera as well. Once I was done that I picked up much trash and then I decided it would be a good idea to warn any families that had small children in case the storm got really bad and people started running I didn't want anyone to trample their kids.

Vendors were all very thankful for the warning and some decided that they were packing up early and that's fine. But it was really just a lot of watching the sky turning darker and warning people and desperately not wanting to get trapped out there. I was very worried about a crowd rush and bottlenecking at the doors because people were entering for the window wall. And so I made the decision that if the rain started I would open up the garage door and catering day so that there was another way for people get to get in that had more space.

Not ended up being the correct move because all of a sudden the temperature dropped like 15° and the sky got incredibly dark and then it was raining. And the first it wasn't so bad. But then it was very bad.

Honestly a little scary. It was like white out conditions but it was rain. You couldn't see past the tugboat. It was wild watching the water and the harbor and the skyline completely disappearing into just a mist. And people were running but thankfully we had directed enough people into the museum already and warned the vendors with enough time that most people were in a position to be all right. We got people undercover and safe and I don't think anyone got hurt and no one that I spoke to lost in a merchandise except for a few mirrors that were her display purposes.

But it was honestly amazing seeing the rain. Seeing the win the parking lot flood and it was just so much so fast. I would text Ann to see how baby was. And she let me know that she had been leaving as the storm started. So it was a pretty scary drive home. I'm not thrilled to know that she was driving out in that but I'm glad she got home safe.

The rain was still going but it was much softer I would go outside and walk around and it collecting trash so that it wouldn't get washed into the harbor. And while I probably shouldn't have been walking around in the rain it honestly did make me feel a little bit better after being so sweaty and hot all day long.

I ended up feeling three trash bags. And James let me know at the end of the night that they had to pick up so much trash still and I was like but I had done at such a good job cleaning. But more came in. And I'm sure I didn't get everything. I was trying very hard though. The whole day I was just picking up stuff so that it wouldn't accumulate later on. And it was a lot of people packing up but I also checked in with vendors to make sure they were okay and it was decided that they were going to move the final act, who was a DJ, who was performing inside. And that was a huge undertaking. But we worked together and got it accomplished.

I would spend more time collecting trash. Talking to vendors. Problem solving. But it was good. It was fun. And I worked until.my back hurt to much to go on.

I had also visited James a lot during all of this. Slowly ate my food. Chatted. Organized my thoughts. It was fun and good.

But I was at the end of my energy. And was very ready to go home. I waited a little because I had wanted to talk to Jesse about the security team and how good I thought they were. And if we are looking for new security, they were a good pick.

But I would text that instead. And went home so I could see my baby before it was time to go to bed. And I'm glad I did.

Grace and David were hanging out with baby when I got there. And I was thrilled to see them. They told me about baby's evening. And let me know about her not feeling to good. Snotty. They were glad I already knew and wasn't upset.

They would leave and I got comfy and sat with Sylvie for a bit. I was so happy to see her. I would give her a million kisses. And changed her into jammies. She had her bottle. And some baby Tylenol. Then a little more bottle. And then bed.

And once she was in bed I would do some things around the house. Put out her outfit for tomorrow. Put some stuff away. Ran the dishwasher.

Eventually I would work on this post. I wanted to get it done before James got home but I ended up just talking for too long while using talk to text and this has become incredibly long so James is now home and taking a shower. And once they're done I'm going to do the same. And then I'm going to go to sleep because man I am exhausted.

Tomorrow is the last day of putah Camp training and setup. I'm hoping that more of my specialty staff is there so we can get everything figured out. And I am just very excited for a good day. Though it's going to be very warm it's not going to be as hot as today was. So let's hope that's true. I hope you all have a great night tonight. Good night.

[beyondblogs786]

Essential Tools and Resources to Excel in a Hackathon

Competing in a hackathon requires more than just coding skills. Success depends on how well you leverage the right tools and resources to collaborate, build, and present your project within a limited time. Platforms like Hack4Purpose provide exciting challenges, but it’s your preparation that will give you an edge.

Here’s a comprehensive list of essential tools and resources to help you excel in your next hackathon.

1. Code Collaboration Platforms

Working as a team demands smooth code sharing and version control.

GitHub / GitLab / Bitbucket: Popular platforms for hosting code repositories and managing versions.

Use branching and pull requests for organized teamwork.

2. Communication Tools

Effective communication keeps your team aligned and productive.

Slack / Discord / Microsoft Teams: Real-time chat and voice/video calls.

Create dedicated channels for different tasks or discussions.

3. Cloud Development Environments

Setting up local environments can waste precious time.

Replit / Gitpod / Codespaces: Online IDEs that allow instant coding from anywhere.

Perfect for remote or virtual hackathons.

4. Project Management and Organization

Keep track of tasks, deadlines, and ideas efficiently.

Trello / Asana / Notion: Visual boards and to-do lists to organize workflows.

Assign roles and deadlines to team members.

5. Design and Prototyping Tools

Presenting a polished UI/UX enhances your project’s appeal.

Figma / Adobe XD / Sketch: Collaborative tools for designing wireframes and prototypes.

Rapid prototyping helps clarify ideas quickly.

6. APIs and SDKs

Many hackathons, including those by Hack4Purpose, offer APIs and SDKs to build on existing platforms.

Explore these tools beforehand to integrate powerful features effortlessly.

7. Presentation Tools

Your final pitch is crucial.

Google Slides / PowerPoint / Canva: Create engaging presentations that highlight your solution.

Prepare a demo video or live walkthrough to impress judges.

8. Learning Resources

Sometimes you need quick tutorials or documentation.

Stack Overflow / MDN Web Docs / YouTube tutorials: Instant help for coding issues and concept clarity.

Bookmark relevant resources related to your tech stack.

Final Thoughts

Being equipped with the right tools and knowing how to use them effectively can significantly boost your performance in a hackathon.

Check out upcoming events at Hack4Purpose and get ready to innovate with confidence!

[mianacholia]

The Sound of Bracelets and Stress ★ˎˊ˗

*picture from pinterest*

ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁

21/05/25 𓆉

☾☼ It’s hard to be consistent with writing every single day! Sometimes I feel like I have nothing to write, even though I have a million things to say. I don’t know how to explain it.

☾☼ Today I had an oral exam in English. I can’t wait for the baccalauréat to be over (no idea how you say that in English). And for the school year to end too!

☾☼ I was supposed to arrive 15 minutes early, but I got there like 25 minutes early—and the teachers were still late. Which only made my stress worse.

☾☼ But they were teachers I already knew, so it wasn’t that stressful while I was speaking. I managed to keep eye contact and point at stuff on the slides without stuttering too much.

☾☼ I think it’s just during the discussion part, after I finished presenting my project, that I got a little stressed—because I had to keep talking and thinking in English. And anticipate the questions, give decent answers, etc.

But hey, it’s done!

☾☼ Well… not really. I have another oral exam tomorrow… which I’ve only started revising for today. And it’s longer and harder than the English one.

☾☼ But it doesn’t count!! It’s just practice for the real one, which is in less than a month.

☾☼ Unlike today’s exam, this time there’ll be four people judging me: two teachers and two students. Our teachers said it’s so we can see how others handle it and figure out what works and what doesn’t.

☾☼ To change the subject (because I feel like I only ever talk about school), my mom bought me new jewelry!! The bracelets are so cute—I love the sound they make when I move.

☾☼ Back to school stuff though (hehe), after my English oral, I spent almost three hours doing absolutely nothing in the cafeteria, pretending to revise for my next oral.

☾☼ Am I the only one who learns their oral presentations by heart?? Like, I’ve always done it that way, so I just can’t find another method. Even if I’ve written tens of pages, I will memorize those tens of pages…

☾☼ And I’m suffering the consequences as we speak. I’m two PowerPoints away from becoming a presentation myself. If I start speaking in slides, send help.

⋆˚࿔ ⋆˚࿔ ⋆˚࿔

[bangcreative]

Why We Don’t Send Clients Raw Files (And Why That’s a Good Thing)

If you’ve ever worked with a design firm, you may have wondered why you only receive final PDF files for print and not the raw, editable working files. It’s a common question, the short answer is – professional design standards – intellectual property rights – maintaining brand integrity – maintaining the profession.

Who Owns the Working Files?

In the design industry, working files—such as Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, or InDesign files—are typically considered the property of the designer or the design firm. According to AIGA (the American Institute of Graphic Arts), designers own the source files they create unless an agreement specifies otherwise. Clients pay for the final product, not the tools used to create them. (Source: AIGA).  When you buy a car you don’t get all the schematics, drawings and raw materials, you get the car, the finished product. 

Why We Keep the Raw Files

Protecting Design Integrity

Working files are layered, complex, and contain technical settings that ensure high-quality results. If a client or a someone else makes edits without understanding the design structure, or knowing the brand intent. it can lead to poor-quality graphics that no longer reflect the original vision.

Intellectual Property & Licensing

Design projects often incorporate licensed assets like stock images, fonts, and graphics that the designer has rights to use—but can’t legally transfer to another organization to use independently. Professional organizations like the Registered Graphic Designers (RGD) of Ontario emphasize the importance of sustainability and ethical best practices in design, which includes respecting intellectual property rights. (Source: RGD)

Software & Technical Barriers

Many clients don’t have the required software to open or edit raw design files. Programs like Adobe InDesign or Photoshop require expertise to navigate, and without the right fonts, linked images, or plugins, the file won’t display correctly.

Maintaining a Professional Relationship

Many design firms offer ongoing support for branding and marketing materials. Providing raw files could lead to inconsistent changes by different designers, damaging brand consistency. Instead, firms like ours prefer to make necessary updates to ensure quality and alignment with your brand.

What We Provide Instead

At BANG! creative, we ensure that our clients receive everything they need to use their designs effectively:

Print Ready, High-resolution final files (PDF, PNG, JPG, SVG, etc.)

Print-ready and web-ready versions of those final files

When/where applicable a style guide to maintain brand consistency

Templates in Canva, Word, PowerPoint

If you require working files, let’s talk. Sometimes studios provide working files for an additional fee, depending on the project and licensing agreements. The key is clear communication and setting expectations upfront.

Final Thoughts

Design is more than just files—it’s about strategy, execution, and maintaining a strong brand presence. By keeping working files in the hands of the experts, we ensure the best possible outcome for our clients. Too many times we have seen good designs bad, and that can be an unfortunate circumstance of the DIY mentality, but thats another story. If you have questions about your design project, reach out—we’re happy to help!

Sources:

AIGA: Does a Designer Have to Turn Over Source Files?

AIGA: Standard Form of Agreement for Design Services

RGD: Sustainability Guidelines for Creatives

Partner with BANG! creative 

At BANG! creative, we are passionate about helping businesses build strong, strategic brands that stand out in the marketplace. By thinking first and designing second, we ensure that every marketing effort is not only creative but also grounded in a deep understanding of your unique needs.

Ready to take your brand to the next level? Let’s start with a conversation. Visit creativitygoesbang.com to learn more about our strategic approach and how we can help your business achieve its goals.

Remember, true innovation begins with thoughtful strategy. Let’s build something extraordinary together.

[corereports]

Outsourcing vs. In-House: Should You Hire an Annual Report Design Agency?

An annual report is not a stack of financials. It is your year in a nutshell — the battles fought, the lessons learned, and the milestones that made it all worth it. It is not a bunch of numbers. It is the story of your organization. 

But what about turning that story into a polished, professional report? That is a whole different beast. Suddenly, the excitement of showcasing your growth is drowned out by the stress of piecing it all together.

You are faced with the classic dilemma: Should your team tackle it in-house, or is it time to call in the pros — an annual report design agency?

Let us talk about it with no jargon and fluff. You will get an honest look at what is really at stake.

The In-House Struggle: When Good Intentions Meet Reality

Picture this: Your finance team wraps up the numbers, your marketing crew offers to polish the content, and someone from design raises their hand to take a crack at the visuals. It all sounds manageable. After all, you know your business best.

But then it starts.

The numbers get confusing.

The design drafts feel “off.”

The words do not quite capture the spirit of what you have accomplished.

Soon, the energy shifts. What was once a project full of promise is now dragging. Everyone is juggling deadlines and second-guessing their choices.

The worst part is that creeping fear that you are not doing your story justice.

Time Becomes Your Enemy

Annual reports are not quick jobs. They are not a “few hours here and there” kind of task. They demand focus — from financial accuracy to creative storytelling.

And while your team might have the best intentions, the hours add up. Late nights. Missed family dinners. Frustration that seeps into other tasks.

Time spent scrambling over page layouts is time not spent on the work that truly moves your business forward.

Design Without a Story is Just Decoration

Let us face it. Not everyone can design like a pro. Sure, the in-house team may know how to whip up a solid PowerPoint. But making an annual report that’s both beautiful and impactful? That is a whole other league.

Design agencies do not “make things pretty.” They transform your data into a visual story. Every chart, color choice, and font selection is intentional. They know how to draw the eye, build momentum, and leave readers with the exact feeling you want.

That is what professionals do.

The Agency Advantage: Why Outsourcing Makes Sense

Now imagine this: You hand off your financials and key insights to an annual report design agency. You breathe. You focus on what you do best.

And in return? You get a report that makes people sit up and pay attention.

1. They See What You Cannot

You are in the trenches every day. You know your company inside and out. But sometimes, that closeness makes it hard to see the bigger picture.

An agency brings fresh eyes. They ask the right questions. They pull out the stories you didn’t realize were worth telling. And they shape them into something unforgettable.

2. No More “Is This Good Enough?” Moments

Every company has those moments — when the internal team sends around a report draft with a half-hearted, “What do you think?”

Agencies do not deal in half-hearted. They operate with confidence because they have done this before. Over and over. They know what works, what does not, and how to craft a report that earns nods of approval from your stakeholders.

3. Compliance Without the Chaos

Mess up a social media post, and it is no big deal. Mess up an annual report, and it is a different story. Compliance is non-negotiable.

Design agencies live and breathe the rules. They catch what you might miss — from financial terminology to legal formatting. That safety net alone is worth its weight in gold.

But What About the Cost?

Yes, hiring an annual report design company costs money. But what is the cost of a report that falls flat? What is the price of wasted time, internal frustration, and missed opportunities?

A clean, clear, beautifully crafted report builds confidence. It reassures investors. It inspires employees. It becomes a document people want to read — not just skim.

When you outsource, you are not paying for design. You are paying for peace of mind.

When In-House Might Actually Work? 

To be fair, there are times when going in-house makes sense.

Maybe you are a small startup with simple financials.

Maybe your internal team has experience in corporate reporting.

Maybe budgets are too tight to justify an agency (and you are okay with a more straightforward report).

But even then, the stress can creep in. And if things go sideways, you might end up spending more to fix mistakes than if you’d outsourced in the first place.

The Emotional Weight of an Annual Report

Here is what most people do not say out loud: Annual reports carry emotional weight.

It is not about data. It is the story of your company’s resilience. The risks you took. The wins you celebrated. The moments that made you stronger.

When you read a good annual report, you feel it.

A great design agency knows how to capture that emotion. They use color to represent growth. They turn financial milestones into visual celebrations. They weave your story into something people want to read — and remember.

And that? That is what makes an annual report design company worth it.

Making the Choice

So here you are. The decision is yours.

You could go the in-house route. Annual report design will take time. It will probably cause a little stress. But if your team is equipped and ready, it might work out.

Or you could bring in an annual report design agency. Let the experts take the wheel. Let them turn your numbers into narratives. Let them create a report that you’re genuinely proud to share.

Either way, your story deserves to be told — the right way.

And if a design agency can help you do that without the headaches? Maybe it is time to make that call.