#i feel like i should add that this picture is from 2022 or something

[hummingbooks]

Zack and Cody showing up at that restaurant at 7:30pm tonight:

[makeste]

[39 weeks later]

well all right then. I owe some explanations and some updates, so let's just get straight to that.

1. "what the hell, makeste. you can't just disappear for nine months and leave a sign on your blog that says "gone leavin'.'"

yeah I know. sorry guys.

so there are a lot of reasons for my long absence, but when you boil it all down, the essence is basically as follows: at its absolute max capacity, my ADHD brain is capable of keeping up with any two of the following: (1) work; (2) school; (3) tumblr. that's it. only two. no more and no less.

and for years this has not mattered at all because school was no longer in the picture! but as mentioned in my last two update posts, as of this past January, I had to start taking classes again for career advancement reasons, meaning my brain was quickly overloaded and something had to give. so yeah. I can assure you the past nine months have absolutely sucked and I am not AT ALL sure that it was worth it, but it is what it is.

I also want to add that I never intended to basically fall off the face of the earth anywhere near to this extent, let alone for this long. but in retrospect I probably should have seen it coming, seeing as this is not the first time it's happened, sob. and also in hindsight, towards the end of last year (during which I was already struggling to keep up with the weekly BnHA reactions) someone mentioned that it sounded like I was showing signs of being potentially close to burnout. turns out that observation was spot on lol.

so yeah. tl;dr, burnout + an obnoxiously busy real life schedule + a sprinkling of good old-fashioned ADHD "somehow I always underestimate how hard it is to restart something after taking a long break from it, and the longer I go without returning the worse it gets" brain shenanigans (more on that last part further down).

2. "MAKESTE. WHILE YOU WERE GONE, IN THE MANGA, THERE WAS A THING -- "

yes I have unfortunately been spoiled about The Thing.

3. "so wait, exactly how spoiled are you?? CAN WE TALK ABOUT THE THING"

I will make a separate post to talk about The Thing! I expect that many people will want to talk about this, and tbh I've really been wanting to talk about it too! I'm telling you, when I say the past nine months have sucked, I mean they have truly SUCKED, you guys. school is so fucking boring and I miss rambling about fandom stuff so fucking much.

anyway but with that said, ~*~PLEASE DO NOT TALK ABOUT ANY SPOILERS IN THIS POST~*~. I don't want to delete anybody's comments! but I will if necessary because I am a spoiler narc and I don't want to risk accidentally ruining stuff on the off chance that a non-spoiled person comes across this post. so yeah. however please do feel free to message me or comment in my other post (which I will link once it’s up; eta: here it is) if you do want to talk about The Thing.

4. "so aside from The Thing, are you otherwise caught up with the BnHA manga currently?"

so here's the hilarious part: no, I am not caught up. not even remotely. literally the last chapter of BnHA I read was chapter 339, which is the most recent chapter that I liveblogged, all the way back on December 31, 2021. I literally have not read a single new BnHA chapter in the year of our lord 2022 lol. :') basically for the same reasons I mentioned in my previous update post. tl;dr, reading/liveblogging a single new BnHA chapter is a minimum 4+ hour commitment for me, and by this point I have accrued a backlog of... oh sweet lord. 35 total chapters lol. so yeah. that's approximately 140 hours of catch-up that I need to do, which is paralyzing just to think about.

I do still plan on catching up, obviously! I'm just not sure how, lol. I may have some time to spare this weekend, so I might try to binge a few chapters and see how it goes. then I'll have to come up with some sort of sustainable posting schedule. I've been thinking about this for a while and I might try to do a Mon/Wed/Fri thing if I can swing it, but I don't want to commit to anything for sure yet until I see how those first few chapters go. fingers crossed, though.

anyway so I guess that's it. post is getting long. anything more will just be rambling.

sorry again, guys. how is everyone? what did I miss. aside from twitter dying and tumblr welcoming the refugees into our culture by inviting them to participate in the newly created fandom of a nonexistent 1970s mafia film.

[kolbisneat]

MONTHLY MEDIA: December 2023

And so the year draws to a close! Big movie month and hoping to carry that over into the new year.

……….FILM……….

Turning Red (2022) Late to the game on this but it’s so great! When they talk about the ritual and that the words to the music don’t matter, I knew it was gonna lead to 4*Town playing a key role, but what they did on top of that was a genuine surprise and what takes this to the next level: they embrace the obvious setups but add an extra twist to the payoffs. So great.

The Fate of the Furious (2017) Okay I really love the idea of evil Dom so this movie moooooostly works. I’m still getting caught up on the series but even knowing that Han is alive, it’s still baffling that Shaw is embraced by the crew. He killed that whole hospital wing! 

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2001) These are of course Christmas films and I’ve noticed a transition in myself having not seen them for many years. I once liked the earlier movies for how faithful they were to recreating the books, but I now see how that the accuracy is at the expense of the movie’s pacing. Still really impressed with how well cast the core trio is even at this age.

The Santa Clause (1994) Nostalgia overwhelms my perspective on this but, as far as I can tell, this holds up pretty well. Starting Scott off as just...kinda the worst makes his transition all the better and I think is where Tim Allen is at his best. Plus a lot of really great sight gags which I don’t really see anymore (like the Denny’s full of sad dads).

Confess, Fletch (2022) Fun and the sort of movie I wish got made more often. Not all of the humour really landed but the characters were engaging and the mystery lead to a lot of fun. Perfectly decent rainy day watch.

The Night Before (2015) A lot of ups and downs with this one. At it’s best it’s very funny but when it slows down it really grinds to a halt. I wonder if the hangover movies have the same challenge. Also 100% thought the steroid injection was insulin.

Frosty the Snowman (1969) and Santa Claus is Comin' to Town (1970) Two Rankin Bass classics that really highlight the best that this production company could do.

No Hard Feelings (2023) and Easy A (2010) The former was a pretty fun comedy that didn’t have a lot of comedy and the later was a comedy that I remember loving when it came out but not really connecting upon rewatch. Would I still recommend both? I think so, but only lightly.

……….TELEVISION……….

Blue Eye Samurai (Episode 1.01 to 1.04) A good chunk into the season and really digging it. The characters are rich and layered and the show is doing a good job of exploring those layers in an engaging story. Plus the setting/time period allows for a lot of really great visuals. Definitely making the most out of the premise and stoked for the rest of the season.

Poker Face (Episode 1.08 to 1.10) Such a satisfying series. The majority of the episodes stand on their own but the bigger picture occasionally pops up, until the end of the season where it becomes the main focus. Just like TV used to be! Really beautiful wardrobe and set design, all the actors seem to be having a great time, and each episode feels thoroughly realized. Big fan can’t recommend enough. 

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off (Episode 1.07 to 1.08) Came into it expecting something else and it’s gonna take some time to adjust to what it was. Gotta rewatch but really no complaints! 

……….YOUTUBE……….

Plagiarism and You(Tube) by hbomberguy Yes I did watch a 4 hour video on plagiarism and you should too. VIDEO

when the director is overqualified for the job by CinemaStix I never really considered how similar the early Harry Potter movies but it all makes sense. VIDEO

Stop Taking ANY Advice From TikTok by Extranet Shaquille A quick and light reminder that social media isn’t worried about truth or accuracy in any way. VIDEO

The Marvelization of Cinema by Stories of Old This succinctly explains (to me, at least) why some modern remakes/sequels/reimaginings land and some don’t. In short you gotta ask if it’s purpose is to tell a story or maintain a brand. VIDEO

……….READING……….

There is a Tide aka Taken at the Flood by Agatha Christie (Page 122 of 224) Picked up a bunch of old Agatha Christie books at a thrift store (partly because of the cool covers, partly cause I like mystery as a genre but never read it). Turns out this is EXACTLY what I needed right now. It’s been a while since I was this stoked to keep going with a story and this specific story feels like a great influence on the first Knives Out movie in that it’s centred around a lot of family drama vying for control of a deceased benefactor’s money. So stoked and gonna grab more of these when I can. Hey do you have old DELL copies of Christie novels you don’t want? Lemme know.

Tiger in the Stars by Zach Hughes (Complete) Okay so I picked this up while thrifting. There were DOZENS of these Laser Books and figured I’d try one and see what they were like. Turns out...not that great. Some fun ideas but moved at a snail’s pace and felt like there was a lot of padding. Something like this feels like a Goosebumps book (short, quick output, somewhat formulaic) but in comparison, I think I’d prefer R. L. Stein.

Delicious in Dungeon Vol. 2 by Ryoko Kui (Complete) Again rereading as the series draws to a close and it’s still such a joy. These characters are fully formed right from the beginning and it’s such a good study in dramatic escalation as right now it still feels light and fun and I love it.

The Michael Moorcock Library: The Chronicles of Corum Vol. 1: The Knight of Swords by Mike Baron, Mike Mignola, Rick Burchett, & Kelly Jones (Complete) Love these illustrated retellings of the old pulp fantasy novels. Sometimes the limited page count leads to pacing that feels rushed and a scale that feels smaller than the grandiosity of the subject matter, but every adaptation requires sacrifice. Gonna keep going with this series and also try to find the original books!

……….AUDIO……….

Cold & Blue All Over (Demo) by Blue Freezie (2023) A little punk, a little surf rock, a little rockabilly, and all a good time. Big fan of this album and hoping there’s more to come.

……….GAMING……….

Neverland: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) The Tuesday D&D crew is back in Neverland and sorting out this Elf problem! They’ve killed one and are on their way to killing some more. It’s more nuanced than that and you can read all about it here.

Oz: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) The Mof1 D&D crew just robbed a funeral and started a riot! Who knows what’s gonna happen next.

And that’s it. See you in January!

[catonatrain]

Hi, I hope you're doing well ! For the character ask game, what about Momoi Satsuki with 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 12, 16 & 23 ?

thank you for the questions !! finally able to finish this since i was a bit busy !!

everything will go under the cut because i ended up writing like a very mini essay

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

she is my daughter !! i rlly love the love she has to offer to the world !! and most importantly, i love her passion for basketball as well -- i rlly enjoyed how integral she was to the teams she was a manager to due to her data collecting, and how those analytical abilities made her a force to be reckoned with !! in conclusion, that's my girl !!

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

ok i do feel like i answered that in the last question, so i'll add that im absolutely so endeared by the fact she nicknames many people :] honestly kagamin and midorin are amongst my fav nicknames from her... think kagami and midorima won there

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

i don't have too much experience with the fandom -- since i got into knb in mid 2022 and rlly have only interacted with a few ppl on tumblr and my friends -- but from what ive seen, i rlly love the amount of love ive seen !! most people ive seen like her a lot and support her !! even those in other fandoms (looking at my beloved a3! fandom the most) -- when momoi's on polls (ex. @/girlygirltournament, @/girls-in-love-bracket, @/pinkandbluebracket) there's always a lot of support for her !!

quick fun fandom thing -- i do want to say that in the pink&blue poll, an alliance was made with a3! fans because both a3! fans and knb fans were super supportive of each other and had a fun competition and ever since then... they have been brother in arms 2 me...

and of course my favorite is still @/pinkhairswagtourney where we arranged for muku (the a3! pink haired boy ever, i even have a little can badge of him) and momoi to tie and be a team together !! and then they won the whole tournament... being able to beat madoka :D and i like to think it is bc of our shared love for charas

(also to anyone reading this, i think you guys should vote for a3! charas when u see them on polls)

THIS GOT REALLY LONG but essentially, momoi is very loved from what ive seen and even to those outside of the knb fandom and that is smth i like a lot :>

8. What's something the fandom when it comes to this character that you despite?

again, i don't really interact with fandom, but i can guess (based on most fandom patterns) that there are people who likely ignore her in favor of the other (most likely male) charas and that'd make me :(

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

i like to think she and takao will eventually become besties and have a very fun group with midorima and kise

16. What's your least favorite ship for this character?

i assume this question excludes ships you would have no real opinion on (so probably some pairs where they dont interact that much -- even tho i have shipped charas who have very little interactions it all depends on the vibes...)

anyways that makes it a tough question for me !! i personally do prefer aomine and momoi to be platonic, but like. i get it. theyre childhood friends who love each other a lot. inseparable... their bond is just very special to me...

this ended up being me talking abt how i like aomine and momoi's bond but i think that's ok even if i basically didnt answer the question because like. after writing all of this im like... yeah its not my least favorite but i already committed to writing this much

23. Favorite picture of this character?

THIS IS SO HARD... i love so many momois in da world... but ill choose this one for now because she looks soooo happy in it !! look at her smile, she is everything to me...

[xbunny-k]

The Actor & I: PART TWENTY-ONE – We Need To Talk, Now, Anastasia

This is part TWENTY ONE of a very long, SLOW BURN series on Austin Butler and a Production Assistant on set of Elvis (2022).

Masterlist here!

Anything italicized is main character’s thoughts!

Warnings: Drinking, Possessiveness, Smut, Fluff, eventual Spoilers for Elvis (2022), language (If i missed anything, please comment so i can add!)

Tags: @manddor @pumkiinpasties​ @its-funny-til-its-not​ @karamelcoveredolicity @butlerstyles @feral4austinbutler @mirandastuckinthe80s @emilykolchivans @atombombbibunny @francescababy @starry-night-20 @yeetfack-blog @milaa24 @londonalozzy @xo-aurora @chaoticbilly @mamaspresley @sageskywalker @cryingabtab (Let me know if you’d like to be added!)

Please, if you like this, share it, comment, like it and enjoy! xx

After Austin leaves, I decide against laying down on the couch and crying. I jump in the shower and slowly get ready for bed. It’s almost 8:30 PM by the time I’m done with my skincare and decide I’m tired enough for bed. I wake up to no texts from Austin the next day and I’m a little disappointed. I don’t want to be the first one to say anything, so I decide to just get ready for the day.

The next few days fly by at work and by the time it’s Friday, I still haven’t heard from Austin… I know tonight is the big premiere for “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.”

The premiere is a big deal for Austin; not only is it a huge accomplishment, I mean it’s a Quentin Tarantino movie with Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio, but it’s his first big even with the press since his casting as Elvis was announced. You decide to bite the bullet and send him a text. Have fun at the premiere tonight…miss you. No, don’t say that… Don’t be so desperate, Ana.

“Have fun at the premiere tonight, Mr. Presley! xx”

I type up the message and hit send. I don’t want to overthink it and put my phone away. Hours go by and Austin never texts back.

I wish he had his read receipts on… Did I do something to make him not want to talk to me? It’s been five full days… Not a peep since he left my place on Sunday…

Disappointment washes over me, but I look at the time on my computer and see it’s a little after 6 PM. I decide it’s a good time to leave work and begin to grab my things. As I’m putting away my laptop into my bag, my boss, Alison, walks by on her way out and stops by my desk, “Austin looks great at the premiere, which is great for us,” she says. “Oh, I haven’t seen any pictures yet. I wanna see!,” I giggle and pull out my phone.

What the… My heart sinks… Austin looks incredible, but he’s with Vanessa…

I thought he said they broke up… I knew they could get back together, but so quickly?

While I’m panicking in my head, I hear Alison cough. Yeah, Ana, your boss… This is WORK. “He looks great! I can’t wait to check out clips of him talking about his casting in Elvis. I should splice it together or something for Baz’s social media,” I say and smile up at her. Her eyes light up, “That would be incredible because ya know… the social team is already gone for the weekend. Speaking of, go home! It’s Friday night! Do you have plans?” I giggle and say, “No plans, but I feel like I should go out or something. I didn’t really do much last weekend since I had car trouble.”

We head out and when I get to my car, I text my friends asking to go out. I’m usually a homebody, so my friends are not used to me asking to go out. I could use a drink…or four. And a good time with my friends, just letting loose. Immediately, my best friend Kelsey answers, “YOU WANNA GO OUT??? YES LET’S GOOO ALLLLL OUT BBY!” I laugh and head home.

As I’m walking into my apartment, I see over 20 texts from my group chat with my friends. I giggle as I text back the only requirement is there’s alcohol, I don’t drive and it’s somewhere we can sit. I wanna dress up and wear heels, but I’m not about standing in them…

I head to the kitchen, grab some wine and head to my bathroom to shower and get ready for the night. Around 9:30, my friend Nicole texted me she was on her way in an Uber to pick me up. Shit, better get dressed. I head to my closet without a plan and grab a black leather mini skirt, black corset top and some black heels. When in doubt, we just wear all black.

I get dressed, put on some more lotion and perfume, and then go to head downstairs. As I’m finishing my drink, I hear my phone going off with a phone call, not a text. Okkkk Nicole, I’m coming!

I grab my phone, chug my wine and then grab my purse to head downstairs. I answer the phone as I’m headed down to my apartment’s entrance, “Nicole, I’m coming down. I’ll be there in a sec-“ I’m cut off midsentence and my heart falls into my stomach… “It’s uhh not Nicole. It’s Austin…,” says the deep voice on the other end of the phone.

Fuck Ana, why didn’t you check to see who it was? Why is he calling now? Shouldn’t he be with Vanessa? Damn, Ana, cool it. He’s a coworker, that’s it!

“Oh, sorry! Hi Austin! I’m headed out, can I text you tomorrow,” I ask dryly. Yeah, keep it professional… He sighs, “Oh, I guess it is Friday night. I just wanted to talk to you about some stuff…. I guess I can call you tomorrow.”

Don’t do it, Ana. Don’t give in. “Ok, talk to you tomorrow Aus…tin,” I say making sure I don’t call him a nickname and stick to formalities. As I’m saying bye to him and before I hang up, I hear my friend yelling from the Uber, “Dammmmn, Ana! I can’t go out with you dressed like THAT,” Nicole yells.

Before I manage to hang up, Austin groans and says, “Ana, where are you going?” I giggle and say, “I’m not sure, but I really have to go! I’ll text you later.” I hang up and am happy I had some wine before so I had the courage to stick to my guns with him.

I get in the Uber and head off to wherever my friends decided to go. We get to a nice bar and meet up with our other friends. As we’re walking to where they’re seated, my best friend Kelsey gets up and runs over to me, “Anaaaa, you’re here!” I laugh and realize my two glasses of wine have me behind everyone else. I grab my best friend and we head to the bar to get me caught up drink wise. As we’re headed back, my friend takes a video of me dancing with my martini and says, “Everyone on Instagram is about to reply to this shocked you’re out drinking, Ana!” I’m not a big social media user, but I see the video with our location tagged, decide I look good and repost it on my story. I put my phone back down on the table and just catch up with my friends as I unwind and try not to think about Austin with Vanessa. After a few more drinks, I realize my phone was going off. I have a missed call and now a text from… Mr. Presley.

I sigh and check my phone. As I’m reading the text, I gulp and I can feel my cheeks burning. Kelsey must gauge my reaction and she grabs my phone from my hands. I don’t even try to hide it from her and she reads the last message on my phone, grabs my hand and pulls me up dragging me away from our group.

“Ana, this text…. “Anastasia, I saw your post… I’m coming to see you” this is not a friendly text! He has a girlfriend! You work together,” Kelsey scolds me firmly, but quietly so strangers around us can’t overhear. I sigh and lean into whisper, “Can we get another drink? I need to catch you up….”

We head to the bar and as soon as I get a drink, I take a sip and then tell Kelsey everything. The flirting, Austin saying him and Vanessa broke up, him sleeping at my apartment, the way I straddled him, him saying nothing could happen and end with him ignoring my text about the premiere only for me to see photos of him with Vanessa on the red carpet…

Kelsey’s mouth is dropped and she orders us another round of drinks. Uhh, I feel a little drunk… I order a water and feel a bit better right away. Buzzed, but not too drunk.

As Kelsey is going on about how I need to forget about Austin and treat it like work, she stops midsentence. “Uhh, Ana, he’s really here,” she whispers. She plays it off cool, but I don’t. I turn around and see Austin right away. Tall, his dyed dark hair, in jeans and an opened buttondown and his icy blue eyes, which lock on me right away. He looks sad at first and then his eyes darken and he bites his bottom lip. He is definitely checking me out as he looks me up and down slowly. He looks like he’s drinking me in.

Fuck, what am I supposed to do now? I look at Kelsey and groan. I chug my drink and before I’m done, another espresso martini appears in front of me. I grab the drink and go to walk away from the bar back to our friends, but Austin steps right in front of me. Fuck, he’s so hot. I look up at him and he bites his lip while he caresses my cheek with his thumb, he leans down and whispers, “You look so fucking good, Anastasia.”

I have goosebumps everywhere. Why does he have this effect on me? I just wanna jump on him here, in front of everyone. I keep it together and say loudly, “Oh, nice to see you! I didn’t know I invited you. Where’s Vanessa?” He looks a bit taken aback by my words and I regret them right away. What are you doing, Ana?

I don’t know what to say next, but he grabs my chin and whispers into my ear, “We need to talk, now, Anastasia.”

[thefluffychipmunk]

Fruity Four Advent Day 5 - I Want to Grow Old With You

Fruity Four Advent Calendar day 5 - In the future, the holidays of ‘22. Just a short little ficlet today. Barely a thing. I was initially going to write this an AU where Steve avoids an office Christmas party and Eddie works tech support and has to fix his computer, with very heavy, very excessive flirting. After yesterday’s beast of a story, though, I needed something a little shorter, a little sweeter, a little easier (if you need clarification on any of the terms or language, send an ask and I’ll add them). So here we are. Chanukah 2022/5783

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

Eddie pulled into the driveway, slowly, avoiding the ice patch he still hadn't bothered to put litter on. His house was mostly dark, a soft glow coming from the kitchen in the back but otherwise devoid of the multicolored light every other house seemed to have.

He cracked his back as he got out of the car and grabbed the two bags of Chinese food. It was Christmas. It was their annual tradition, a tradition shared by Jews the whole country over. They’d been to the movies at lunch. They had to have Chinese food at dinner.

It was also the last night of Chanukah. He could smell the oil from outside. Steve was making latkes. He wasn’t sure how well that was going to match with lo mein and fried rice but oh well. If Steve wanted latkes, they would have latkes. Especially if he was the one to make them.

Eddie kicked his boots off in the mudroom and hung up his coat. His gloves and scarf were dropped haphazardly by the washing machine. He left the bags of food on the dining room table and made his way into the hot kitchen.

"I like when Chanukah falls during Christmas break. It's the only time I can do stuff like this before sunset." Steve said, slapping his hand away from the draining tray. There was already a huge pile of latkes, more than the two of them should ever eat in one sitting.

"You could retire." Eddie wrapped his arms around Steve's waist, careful of the hot stove, and rested his chin on his shoulder.

"I'm only 55. I can't afford it yet." Steve dropped the last little latkes into the pan, slowly, so Eddie could move with him and not have to let go.

"You've got your inheritance just sitting there, sweetheart. We could live off my salary plus that." He felt Steve frown, felt his shoulders tense and his back go rigid.

"I'm not living off my father's money ever again, not if I can help it. I can teach for another five or ten years." Eddie didn't push it. He knew better.

“Besides,” Steve continued, “your book sales are good enough. You could retire and just be an author.” Eddie squeezed Steve’s belly in mock shock.

“And abandon my little lost sheepies in their time of need? We haven’t even cast the spring musical yet! I could never.” Steve chuckled as he flipped the latkes. They’d had this conversation so many times. They would probably continue to have it every year as teaching got more and more difficult. 

He dropped a gentle kiss to Steve's neck and pulled away. He could at least plate the food and get the chanukiahs ready. 

He was placing the last of the candles in his own, having gotten Steve set up first, when Steve came in with the plate of latkes. They didn’t usually light in the dining room. There was a table in the living room window, the big picture one facing the street, set up specifically for the purpose of lighting the chanukiahs every year. But they didn’t use it this year. They didn’t feel like they could. Things were getting pretty bad again, worse than he could remember in a long time, and it just wasn’t safe. He wasn’t going to hide his Jewishness, but he wasn’t going to flaunt it either. 

Eddie lit the match and then each shamash. They lit the candles and sang the blessings together. Steve’s singing voice had surprised him, early on, when Steve was still learning how to be Jewish. They’d been together for years at that point but he’d never heard it, never even caught Steve so much as singing in the shower or along with the radio. But he had a good voice, a strong voice, and Eddie was able to harmonize with it easily. He loved to hear it now.

“Happy Chanukah, Love.” Steve raised his chopsticks to Eddie. Eddie raised his back in return.

“Chag sameach, Ahuvi.”

He’d spent thirty five years of holidays with the love of his life. He could only hope to have thirty five more.

[oldtvandcomics]

Happy Queer Media Monday!

Today: Paradise Lost (2018)

Most beautiful movie I’ve seen since The Blue Caftan.

(Picture taken from Netflix, because Google didn’t give me a lot to work with. This is Imã, in one of his performance costumes.)

Police officer Odair randomly ends up at a small bar called Paradise Lost, run by a family. The grandfather hires him as a bodyguard for Imã, his very effeminate (and gay) grandson, who runs a certain risk of getting hatecrimed. As he spends more time at the bar, Odair grows close to the different family members, who all have their own battles to fight, and discovers something about them that will also affect his own life.

This movie was SO BEAUTIFUL, I’m still not over it half a week after I watched it. The story is wonderfully human, but it’s the execution that makes it special. The way it’s shot is gorgeous, with some very good frames and great use of color. Then there is the music. The entire movie is carried by the songs sung by the different family members, which for one is good to listen to, but also adds so much intimacy to the whole thing.

If I find more movies like this and The Blue Caftan (2022) (another one so beautiful that I’m still not over it), I will have to make a separate category somewhere for “queer movies that are just too beautiful, in a very bittersweet way”.

Watch it. It’s on Netflix and Mubi. Also, here is the IMBD link.

Queer Media Monday is an action I started to talk about some important and/or interesting parts of our queer heritage, that people, especially young people who are only just beginning to discover the wealth of stories out there, should be aware of. Please feel free to join in on the fun and make your own posts about things you personally find important!

[miutonium]

I can't sleep because i am lowkey nervous about tomorrow but also I just want to show yall basically my art progress (in terms of rendering) in the spam of 1 year contracting Utonium brainrot hhhh it's so surreal to see how different both of them looked like ahaha

(for guide, first pic to last, 1st week july 2021>3rd week july 2021>21st Nov 2021>9th Apr 2022)

Also witness me talking about each journey of my progress undercut lol

I cAN TOTALLY EXPLAIN THE FIRST 2 PICS. The first one is exactly from a year ago when my brainrot just started and I was like "well fuck I guess I have a new f/o now". If you ever see or feel familiar about the first art even though you prooooobably never see it,

its because it was an original picture for this redraw a few months AFTER that pic

Also if you notice, the art style for that one is totally different from others and shhh the reason it was like that is because initially I want to draw them in my actual artstyle around that time and I dont want it to follow the same artstyle like in the show. My friend said Utonium kinda reminds them of that guy from clo.udy wi th a ch.ance of meatb.alls and im like "oH SHITTT". There's more drawings of Utonium pre-brainrot era with this kind of artstyle in my folder but I don't think the world is ready for that yet lol

Anyway as I progresses to the 2nd pic, I changed my mind and was like "wait I actually WANT them to look like they're in PPG and not my own artstyle" so I slowly draw both of them to look more like the ppg style if you understand what I mean??? Althoughhhh in the 2nd pic I still want him to look a bit like my own style with my own touch and despite how much I don't like the reboot, I actually like his gray hair on his sideburns??? So if yall remember that phase and followed me from way way in the early days of this blog, I used to draw Utonium with those streaks before I gradually stopped doing that because of.... actually idk why I stopped??? I should totally add the grays back because I love it actually lol but anywayyyyyy the 2nd pic was also around july too me think? So there's probably like a few weeks gap between the actual totally real not clickbait picture of Chloe and Utonium 'together'.

That was how my render looked like for a few months until november (the 3rd pic).

So in the 3rd pic, I discovered this very magical spectacular magnificent function on CSP called t E xt U r e and holy fuck, let me tell you, I feel like I am a changed person. I was never the cringe person with mediocre render like I was, this legit marked a cultural shift in me, I just feel like I've been blessed by god himself. I spammed the fUCK OUTTA THOSE TEXTURES like it was MY BUSINESS. i pAID CSP FOR FULL PRICE I HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO USE IT TO ITS FULL CAPABILITIES AND SQUEEZE IT OUT OF ALL IT'S WORTH. Although I must say, my render time after that significantly increases. By standard I used to render around 3 hours? Now this bitch took 6 fuckin hours to completely. It wasn't a daijobu era ngl 😔😔😔

And holy fuck do I have a fuckin field day with it. You think I was a changed man back then? I have ascended, I am now r e b o r n. My friends feared my, my peers stared at me, my teachers are baffled by the amount of brainrot I drew at that time. How am I real?

I rendered like that for around 4 months until I discovered something even more cooler:

B L E N D I N G M O D E

Okay jk but hhh anyway for my current render; it's kinda more like an accidental discovery? I wanted to look for ways to cut render time because it was really tiring for me to render with a fuckton of texture layers and I also wanted to emulate my fav artist's render style soooo bad (it was luoman if anyone asked) and I kinda figured out how they did it? I mean they still do it better but like I was really inspired to be like them and lemme tell you, I cried for 3 days 3 nights unpaid vacation time when I figured it out. I wasn't kidding when I say I feel like I am a new person. I am quite pessimistic tbh, I'm insecure about my art but like this is the first time in like 3 years ever I feel like I did a major progress and I feel really good.

Why did I made this post? I actually dont feel good about myself, maybe because I am nervous about my test tomorrow and I just need a quick mood boost from myself. I don't believe I did any progress. But now, after typing all of my thoughts at 3 am, after I just put art phases of my braunrot together, kinda believe I actually did progress and I am proud of myself ;w;

[marengogo]

So, been thinking about the lack of jikook spottings, and I have a different take on it. Maybe the reason we're seeing Jungkook out with Tae and Hobi is because they're not working together as much anymore, so he's making time to see them, like a good friend would. Whereas he's likely still seeing Jimin on a regular basis, no special outings required. But also, how often do we actually see jikook out together? Or Jimin at all? This year ain't no different from any other. Jikook are fine.

Welcome Anon, to my “... Should have answered you in 2022, I’m so sorry 🙏🏾” Series 😬.

I really do apologise, however let me tell you something. It would appear that the Universe has made it so that this and the other remaining 2022 ASKS is unfortunately very spot-on and relevant to what is going on lately; YET AGAIN.

I’d also add that your line of thought is actually very similar to mine NGL. Just yesterday one of my colleagues who also happens to be a very close friend of mine we’ve known each other for 5 years now and have been through a lot together suddenly found herself in a situation where all the power sockets in her house were not working and she wrote it on the work whatsapp group just to see if anyone had any suggestions as what she could do. 

All of the people in the group (we are a very small team) started worrying and some even wished her good luck she didn't need luck, she needed and electrician 😬😬😬. What did I do? I didn’t write anything in the group and called her instead right away. During my burned-out period last year she was part of the people who would also be around and would try to get me out as well, so I spent a lot of time with her at work and out. 

So when last Friday one of the younger people in the team invited me out to go to a museum exhibition, since we hadn’t had time to talk in a loooong time, and he needed to confide with me, I said yes because I could feel he really needed to spend time with me and it was my fault to begin with that I wasn’t in the best mental state to hangout all of last year not my fault per-say, but you know what I mean!. All of these just to say that yes, what you said makes sense and may be plausible. 

So thank you for stopping by Anon, I really like reading other people’s thoughts and opinions, particularly when they are presented in the way you did, so for real, thank you gurl/boi/enby!

And I’ll add even more! Except for BH/HYBE content, Twitter pre-July 2017 and GCFT, any time we’ve ever seen Jikook hangout has been because of clips and pictures taken without their consent on their private time. After GCFT, JK changed to only publicly disclose videos he filmed about all members keeping his Jimin selcas and videos on his phone to himself, little bugger … JM as well gradually stopped sharing; period he is living his best screenshotting life 😬😬😬. You could say that, like fine wine, the both have matured with time and have learned to better handle their status quo. I’ve actually kinda talked about it here, if you’d like to read about it 👇🏾

So thank you for stopping by Anon, I really like reading other people’s thoughts and opinions, particularly when they are presented in the way you did, so for real, thank you gurl/boi/enby!

Always respectfully yours 🫰🏾💜,

Marengo.

[cerberuscaeli]

I just need to rant, it will be unter the cut, so you can just ignore it if you don't want to read it. But also a quick thing, my next fic will be either an Xiao or Childe fic (or maybe Kaeya? Let me know which character you would prefer.) And will be a pretty self indulgant fic bc I need it. It'll be a bit angsty with some comfort, but I just need to figure out which char I want to pair up with. It will be about a reader that has difficulties sitting still and normally doesn't really get bothered by it until someone says something about it and reader gets insecure and the paired character being sweet and all comforting etc. ♡

Rant under the read more button. (You can just scroll away if you don't want to read it.)

I'll add dates to it to make it a bit clear.

Anyways, so thursday 16 June I had to let a CT scan taken for my lower jaw. I have a wisdom teeth that is growing wrongly and they needed pictures for the operation because the wisdom teeth is near a nerve and if it goes wrong I can lose feeling in my lower lip.

So, I am someone that cannot lay still or sit still. I always need something in my hands to fumble with, wether it is when I am walking, or when in class, if I don't have anything in my hands to fumble with I keep bouncing my legs or just keep changing positions I am sitting in.

Anyways, so I had to take that scan and needed to lay still for it. It normally doesn't take long. I had to do it 3 freaking times!! The first time the iron piece of my mask was on it so they had to take it away. Second time I apparantly swallowed when the picture got taken, swallowing also got count as movement (and the entire time I tried to lay still, but I kept getting twitches in my legs and head from forcing myself to lay still.)

So, the doctor taking those scans walked up to me, placed my head back right and I tried to keep the sticks in my mouth but not biting on it. (Idk why they gave me sticks to put under my teeth, probably to get a certain angle of my jaw.) And well I was already starting to panic, tears welling in my eyes but the doctor would tell me when I could swallow and when not.

So 3rd round finished and she told me I was done and did well and I once again told her I found it very difficult bc I can't lay still. Anyways, it was done and I could go home.

Friday 17th June we got a call from the hospital apparantly I had also moved on the 3rd!! round of taking the scan picture, I bursted out in crying!! I tried so hard to lay still only to hear it wasn't good and the soonest I could take a new scan would be end June.

So, I was in tears so my mom called around mainly to ask if I still could get my wisfom teeth get removed. Even when it would be just 1 or 2 out of those 4. They told me they would call back on Monday, June 20. My operation is supposed to be on Wednesday June 22.

My wisdom teeth have been hurting like a bitch since November 2021, we got me a dentist appointment somewhere on January 2022, and I got a scan in April and got the operation planned for this month. (For that scan I had to olace my chin on a holder and then the devide would turn around me. I once again had a hard time keeping my head still and to not move.)

And in the whole meantime the communication between the hospital and us sucked as fuck. They had papers for the CT scan but we didn't know anything about it!

Anyways, back to today (June 17.) I made an appointment with my doctor, luckily being able to go today and we told about everything that happened and how annoying and insecure it all made me. We talked about what it could be, if it could be of my medication I take for my epilepsy or if we should test me on ADHD, but then my doctor went all sweet!!

She asked me what I would get if I took the test and I said "Just a label," where she responded on that I said that well and she told me that I was just me. That those ticks (she called it them) were a part of me. That it is who I am and no one should say differently and that it was wrong from the hospital to act like that etc. And that it doesn't matter if I am a more of a restless or nervous person because that is what makes me 'me', and she for sure boosted my confidence back up, I'm so gratefull for that!!

Of course it still haunts me and is literally keeping me awake, even though my doctor is totally right, my ticks are a part of me. Not being able to sit still is a part of me. It's who I am. But well, knowing that it did mess up the 3 tries of the scan still weighs heavily on me.

I just hope the operantion can happen as I have been going through hell with the pain for months. I even took antibiotics twice! I'm just so done with it and just needed to get it off my chest.

So, lots of cookies to anyone that readnit ♡♡

[adelle-ein]

CSP 2.0 features test and rant

I bought my copy of CSP in 2022 due to a variety of Wacom-caused convoluted circumstances, meaning I get the "upgrade" to version 2.0 for free. So, because I enjoy talking about (and shittalking) digital art programs....my thoughts on the "upgrade." To summarize, this update is basically the same as various pre-2022 CSP updates, adding a handful of useful and some godly-sounding features. It doesn't change anything fundamental about the program, really, although allegedly background saves are faster and more reliable now (massive dick move to lock that behind a paywall!) On this PC, I really only get lag on background saves with huge files or if I haven't saved at all for hours, so I haven't really tested that aspect. Other features are: a new brush setting that allows for allegedly more realistic color mixing, a few new 3d model options, an AI auto-shading program, and ~*~align tools ~*~ which really should have been implemented like...five years ago minimum but hey. But, hey, are these features actually as ~life changing~ as Celsys makes them sound? Traditionally no but let's find out

Upon installation I was immediately greeted by said align tools. They were just...there.

Fantastic UI decision I love it. Anyway I couldn't get this stupid window to be part of a sidebar, or treated as a tool, or anything except for a floating window. God knows why it has to be its own "palette" instead of being just a regular tool like liquify etc, but I ended up getting rid of it. figure I'll put it back whenever I need it. It seems to work fine, though in usual CSP fashion it is excessively complicated if reasonably easy to figure out.

And now the new brush color mixing setting (new brushes on the right/bottom). This was the only feature I was personally really excited for. It's something of an improvement and feels a little closer to Krita's infinitely superior painting engines. There are replacements for nearly all of the "thick paint" default brushes, some pastels, and a few assorted others. The "wet wash" brush still lags horrifically at every size even on blank canvases, just fyi.

The updated brushes have the "ver 2.0" tag. And I'm not sure if this was added in a recent update or my own faulty memory, but you can add multiple default brushes from the "add defaults" window now, thank god. I remember having to reopen the damn thing and add them one by one.

I painted this Celica entirely using the new defaults (plus design pencil for the lineart and a custom watercolor for the background, but the painting is all the defaults.) It's definitely a step up, again it feels more like Krita which is my favorite program for painting. Is it worth the upgrade price, though? For me personally, not really.

The head model seems to work well enough, it has settings to let you adjust the features and seems nicer than the various user-made options on the asset store. That being said, using and manipulating the 3d assets is as obtuse and frustrating as ever, and I personally think they make my art look incredibly stiff and robotic, so idk if I'll be using this much.

Just to illustrate how little I use the models, apparently I didn't even have them installed. I had to redownload the entire default asset set to get my hands on them so I could test out the "hand pose" thing. Basically, CSP claims that you can take a picture of your hand and have the model instantly recreate that hand pose. It doesn't look like you can just...use an existing picture. Because that would be too useful. Get posing and upload yourself to the CSP AI instead.

No pictures, because I couldn't get a shot on my shitty webcam without my face in it, but it was unimpressive. The poses were...vaguely similar to the pictures, I guess, but not exactly the pinnacle of accuracy.

This was a straight-fingered peace sign, for example. It's in the general realm of correct, but...not what I was aiming for.

I never use the text tool, for the record - I don't really do comics, and also I hate it. Even with the update, it is still not...good. Better than Krita's, maybe? At least by a bit. But still quite awful. And that's bizarre to me, because this is what was originally *manga studio*, used and promoted primarily by manga and comic artists. But its text tools suck, as well as its general graphic design capabilities.

Trying out the new fog settings...it just looks like a gradient, honestly. I'm not sure why this would ever be helpful. School-live vibes from my little experiment here (i've never watched school-live lol)

Multilayer liquify actually works decently. There's a jolt of lag when you start it and at the end when your changes register, but the actual action of moving your cursor is fairly smooth, unexpectedly. I did it with a huge stack of layers and was pleasantly surprised by the results. That being said, liquify in CSP is really finicky, and even that little bit of lag might prevent it from being a consistently usable tool in my workflow. Not sure yet.

As for the AI shading assist....

I tried a bunch of old .csp drawings and the only one I could even get it to run on was the Eunie above. And it still looked like absolute shit no matter how I messed with the settings. I could have tried to do every layer individually but I just didn't have the patience for a feature I frankly don't want, AND that's not what it was advertised for so I don't see that as a valid test anyway. I just couldn't get this one working, it looks hideous, and I have no desire to have something be shaded for me automatically. Flatting, lineart cleanup, sure! Not the lighting and creativity and stuff that's actually fun! Hard pass.

There's also a fish-eye ruler. I don't see this ever being useful for me because I honestly don't like fish-eye perspective much. Meh.

So...yeah. That's all. That's the upgrade. It's not an impressive upgrade by any means, and clearly just a handful of assorted desirable features Celsys deliberately left out of the last year or so of updates in order to try and bill them as "2.0" now. No significant improvement to the base program, just assorted bells and whistles. And of course, even if you pony up for the flat upgrade fee, you do not get access to any new features going forward. Even if they finally drop a decent selection of filters or make the text tool workable, we plebians will have to pay if we want the goods. And get any features we don't continually pay for revoked.

Wait, how does that work? Yeah, Celsys has been incredibly bad at explaining their bizarre new plans. People have no idea what's going on -- they think CSP is sub-only now, that their copies of 1.0 will be revoked, that everyone's getting 2.0 for free, that they can pay for individual updates they want...nope. TLDR: You can pay a flat price to get version 2.0 now, either as a base program or an upgrade to 1.0. Users who bought 1.0 recently (roughly mid-2022 to 2023, I believe), like me, get that upgrade for free. Alternately, you can pay a yearly or monthly fee to get not only 2.0 but any other continuous upgrades Celsys rolls out between 2.0 and 3.0 (if, say, they add better filtering options or an automatic flatting tool, you must pay for the subscription to get them.) If you at any time end that subscription, ALL updates are revoked and you return to 2.0. 3.0 will be available eventually under the same system. Mmmm microtransaction art program (except worse, you can't even keep your microtransactions and this program ALREADY HAD microtransactions through premium assets to begin with! aaaaaaa why does ibispaint have a bad reputation and not this?)

Also, bear in mind that if you upgrade your 1.0 license to 2.0, you lose your 1.0 license immediately and permanently. 1.0 licenses are for two computers and 2.0 licenses are for one. Reddit confirms that you will be forced to uninstall from one computer if you upgrade the license. So if you have CSP installed on two computers, absolutely do not upgrade, you're essentially throwing away one copy of the program to add a small handful of mediocre features to your other copy. This might be one of the most disgusting parts of the whole deal, actually, because BOY they do not make this clear up front and their little stans are defending it tooth and nail.

So, what's the pricing plan for all this? Um...honestly, I'm not sure. I'm navigating the website right now trying to figure it out and I am totally, utterly lost. The plan is distributed across several pages, and I suspect Celsys is relying heavily on machine translation, so things are...slightly incoherent. I believe it's only $10/year for the PRO (not EX, which is $30) upgrade pass, which isn't unreasonable on the surface, but the "revoke features if you don't keep paying" bit sure is. Not to mention how many user-made assets will be inaccessible to those without the same versions as the creators, or how people's 2.1+ files may break if that person stops paying for their subscription...like, they don't deserve even $1 for pulling this shit and I'm really disappointed by the huge number of users I see not only buying into but defending this awful shit.

Celsys is clearly trying to be the next Adobe, gently easing their users into being forced to go fully subscription-only. We'll see how that works out for them, but I think they are drastically overestimating the loyalty of their userbase, the lack of alternatives, and their rate of use in the professional industry (unlike Adobe, nobody is mandating CSP in graphic design college courses....) They're slowly boiling the frog as we speak -- we'll see how long the userbase can stand it. Personally, I would suggest just waiting for 3.0 - nothing in this upgrade is exceptional, and I wouldn't assume anything else the devs put out for the next couple years is.

TLDR: mediocre update is mediocre, fuck celsys

[youmayfindmeontheroad]

As we enter a new year I get to think about everything that happened in the past 365 days. For sure I am not the same girl who began in 2022, so many things changed in my life but most importantly I think I changed so much, I grew and sorta find who I want to be I found my dream path in this life. I allowed myself to explore more and to, I know such a cliché, but to romanticize my life. I really lived this year as if it was a movie or a show, I appreciate every single moment and I know that's a lot of new years bullshit but I am sure this change of heart made all the difference. Sometimes I wonder why it seems so easy for so many people and yet so hard for others, but finally, I got to make peace with it. Being 26 changed so much on my view in life, I like to think it has something to do with the fact that my frontal lobe is finally fully developed, well at least I think it's a feeling I share with a lot of women my age, like the fog, is spreading and for the first time I got to see clearly, just like when I wore glasses for the first time, the bops were actually things.

Being in your 20's is so fucking weird you got friends getting married, having babies getting their big jobs with good money moving out of home, etc and on the other side of the spectrum you see friends who are lost, just bouncing from one situation from another, not knowing where the north is, avoiding at all cost turning into adults, and then there's me wondering in the middle, finally finding out what I wanna do with my life, actually working in this field professionally for a year, still figuring out the love thing cuz that's so messy I don't even know where to begin.

I used to think that by 25 you should have everything in life, the husband or wife, the degree, the house, the dog, and the car. But it turned out that didn't happen, well at least not for me, I have nothing on that list but I think it's totally ok. To be honest one thing that made me change my mind was Guillermo del Toro's speech about being 20 and how it's the most heartbreaking moment in life because you feel a ticking sound cuz it feels like by 30 you are not a successful person, whatever that means, you failed in life, when in fact you are just learning how to be an adult and let's add that we became adults in the middle of a pandemic where everything got really fucked up.

So now as we enter this new year and my 27th birthday is just four months away I am at ease trusting that the universe and God will take me where I need to go, with the people I need to meet, working hard but trusting the process I guess.

I am so excited and nervous as usual about what this new year will bring me.

Being said that the reason I came back to this corner of the internet after leaving like in 2016 ¿? is because I have this need to document my life now, it is happening so fast and I am afraid I will not have something to look back at. Two years ago I began an Instagram account that serves as my visual diary, I post a picture every day but I feel I need more, and I wanted somewhere I could scream and vent to a void where nobody will listen I guess and as nobody that I know follows me or anyone, to be honest, I think I might have some fun writing here.

-A

[avideomakr]

5 Reasons Your Business Needs Video Marketing

In 2021, video marketing will be one of the most effective ways to communicate with potential customers. Around 85% of users spend the majority of their time consuming video content. More significantly, most marketers and organizations are now actively engaging in video marketing in order to boost sales, brand awareness, and market share.

Experts anticipate that by 2022, video content will account for over 82 percent of all internet traffic. One of the main reasons for this is because social media platforms such as Netflix, Facebook, YouTube, and Tiktok have altered the way people consume information. Millennials and Gen-Z are now more likely to consume video material.

As a result, if you don't use video marketing in the future, you'll have to compete for fewer than 20% of online visitors. That is something that no brand wants.

Let’s talk about how video content may help with the five key marketing issues that most companies and startups face today.

1. Using video to build trust

Winning the trust of your customers and potential customers is the foundation of every strong brand. People are more inclined to share excellent word of mouth if they trust you and your product or service. And believe me when I say that there is no more natural approach to contact people than positive word of mouth.

However, establishing that trust may be challenging, particularly for new businesses. Scammers and hackers abound on the internet, making it difficult for most consumers to trust new companies. There's also the potential of poor customer service or a negative overall experience. They are unwilling to take such a risk.

So, where does video fit into the picture?

Consider this: selling a product is difficult, but proposing to add value is much simpler. First, your material should be focused on what the consumer would get from trusting your brand, not the other way around. Utilize video for successful storytelling once you've developed that technique. Videos are more intimate than any other content, with greater flexibility for creative vision and a faster connection with the viewer.

Take a look at this employee recruitment video I edited for Grain Millers. They've delivered their message and reasons to trust them as an employer in under two minutes, with a tinge of emotional appeal.

And there you have it: your video formula for building trust.

Remember that if consumers feel emotionally connected to your brand, they are more inclined to trust it. You may even utilize that trust to motivate social change or send forth corporate messaging.

Videos allows you to:

Make a straightforward statement.

Concentrate on what the consumer will get from it or the value you will provide them.

Create imaginative storylines or a story that your audience can relate to.

2. Creating a Brand Presence

So, after establishing trust, the next issue you'll likely encounter is increasing brand recognition. There are a plethora of practical and relevant approaches available now.

Optimize your content for search engines to improve your ranking.

Post educational and entertaining material to your social media accounts.

Create user-generated content by interacting with the audience.

Conduct surveys and make the results public.

Request testimonials from consumers.

While all of these methods are sound, they are best captured in video. When compared to other types of content, videos generate over 300% higher traffic. It's not just about the statistics, either. Greater traffic translates to more brand exposure and a higher possibility of establishing a brand presence across numerous platforms.

3. Increase SEO

Every day, Google receives over 6.9 billion searches. That means that if you don't operate differently than your competitors, you'll become lost in a sea of comparable products. At the same time, it provides an opportunity to stand out from the crowd of searchers.

That's significant because, as you probably already know, brands near the top of search engine results have a significant edge over their competitors.

Only 5.7% of new web pages will reach into the top ten Google searches in a year. Even if someone maintains their website on a regular basis, it might take up to 6 months to improve their ranking. And it effectively implies that either your content must be really outstanding and unique in order to rank quickly, or you must adopt a more cautious approach.

While I believe that both of these techniques are excellent, you may speed up the process by using video. If you have a video integrated on your website, your odds of appearing first in a Google search rise by about 53 times.

Similarly, having videos on YouTube can assist with search engine rankings when customers search for terms that are relevant to your video. It is advisable to include tags and descriptions for better results.

Instagram, for example, works in a similar way, prioritizing great videos above other forms of content.

4. Improving Conversion Rates

Your ideal consumer must comprehend the value and benefits of the items or services you're selling before you can potentially convert a lead.

Because your competitors are selling essentially the same product as you, your task is to promote yourself differently. Alternatively, you might position yourself as one of the best choices. It's no secret that we're constantly bombarded with information. Our brains process a lot of data, so it prefers to use shortcuts to make things simpler for itself. One of the possible effects of too much information is a reduced attention span.

The average time it takes for a person to leave your landing page is 3 to 5 seconds. So it's up to you to keep their attention for that amount of time. You may accomplish this in a variety of ways now. You can almost certainly offer them something, or your material can be so compelling that they can't help but read on.

However, videos have been shown to increase sales by 500%, and this is due to the fact that they are direct. Because the video's content is relevant, the client experiences real-life interaction and is more inclined to stay in the video.

5. Developing a Content Strategy

Finally, I arrive at the final key marketing problem that even large corporations must face: developing a content strategy.

Because various businesses and niches have distinct audience demographics, there is no hard and fast rule. And what works for one group of people might not work for another. So, before you begin developing a plan, you must first do an in-depth study of your consumer profile to determine the type of content strategy you require.

You'll be in a better position to include video content in your plan and make it stand out if you have that. Including videos in your creative approach can assist engage your audience while also adding diversity to your material stream. To provide an insight into the market, your company culture, or just a podcast, you may work with industry leaders, consumers, or even team members.

In fact, with the development of TikTok and Instagram's new Reel feature, the more video content you create, the more interaction you'll get from the younger demographic.

You may utilize technologies like Google Trends, SEMrush, Ahrefs, and BuzzSumo to figure out what kind of content you should be producing.

Last Words of Advice

So, beginning today, make an effort to incorporate more video material into your entire plan. You'll thank me!

And if everything above sounds great but you just don’t have time to implement it into your business, I’d be glad to talk with you how I can produce video for you so you can focus on your business.

[bhavishya-gautam]

15+ Best Tips To Earn Money From Instagram: (Easy & Simple) In 2022

How To Earn Money From Instagram

Introduction

Instagram has become the most popular social media platform in the world. Instagram is a great place to Make Money From Instagram your business and it doesn’t have to be hard. There are plenty of ways to get paid for posting on Instagram, in this article we’ll go over 15+ Best Tips To Earn Money From Instagram in detail now but you must know how the market works before diving in headfirst.

#1. Look to the Bible and not your feelings as the basis of the Christian life.

– Author: R.C. Sproul

How To Make Money From Instagram

How To Earn Money From Instagram | Make Money From Instagram | Earn Money From Instagram (With Or Without 10K Followers) | Earn Money From Instagram In 2022

Finding your Instagram Niche

Now that you have your Instagram bio, it’s time to start posting. There are many ways to make money on Instagram and the most effective way is by finding a niche that you are passionate about and then capitalizing on it. You can do this by creating a product or service that relates directly to your audience or niche community. The key here is consistency in branding, content creation, and promotion through consistent hashtags, links, and calls-to-action (CTAs).

If you want more tips on how to increase engagement on Instagram visit my website at [link].

Here are a few Tips to help you get started:

-Create a bio that is short, sweet, and clearly states what your content is about. If it’s too long people won’t read it! Try not to go over 75 characters in your bio.

-Create a catchy caption, that pulls the reader in and makes them want to click on your link.

-Use hashtags sparingly but make sure they are relevant to your post and not just used for self-promotion. Use no more than 3 hashtags per post and make sure they are not obscure or too long.

-Use images that are high quality, clear and interesting. Take your time to find a good photo you like and then optimize it by uploading it at a higher resolution than the original.

-Use the right tools. Many apps can help you with this including:

-Instagram

-Canva

-Hootsuite

-Buffer

-Spruce

-Gramfeed

-Tailwind

-Schedugram

#2. When I read something, I want to be surprised. So I read something and go, “Wow, I never, ever would have thought of playing this kind of role. This is exciting me, let’s go do this.”

– Author: Guy Pearce

Creating a killer profile

Use a good profile picture

Include a bio

Use hashtags

Add location tags, captions, and links to your website or other social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter)

Developing your Brand

A brand is the most important part of any business. It’s what makes you stand out from your competitors, so if you want to make money from Instagram, you must make sure that your brand reflects what makes you unique and special. Branding is about consistency—being consistent with your message, tone, and style; being consistent with who follows you on Instagram (and why); being consistent with how often and where they see the posts from their feed; being authentic when posting content; etc., etc., etc…

Bringing in the Crowds

Make your profile public. This is the first step to getting more followers on Instagram. Making your profile public means that anyone can see it and follow you, so don’t be shy about making sure this happens!

Share content on other social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter too! They have millions of users who will also see what you have to say if they are interested in similar topics as yours, so why not give them another reason why they should check out your account?

Use hashtags for visibility purposes: This is another thing that makes people want to spend time looking through photos or videos posted by others because it helps them find new content quickly when scrolling through their feed (and remember: more engagement = more views!). If someone posts something interesting but doesn’t use any hashtags at all then how will anyone know where else they might find similar things? So make sure each post includes at least one relevant hashtag—this way everyone knows exactly what kind of content was shared without having wasted any time searching futilely while waiting impatiently until someone else posts something new before realizing there wasn’t anything good enough yet!

#3. Everyone loves to dance. I’ve realize that’s a part of what I do more and more every day.

– Author: Ciara

Monetization Techniques

Photo by Andre Sebastian on Unsplash

There are many ways to make money from Instagram, including advertising and sponsorship. Here are some other ways to monetize your account:

Affiliate Marketing – You can link your account with an affiliate program so that when someone buys something through your link, you get paid a commission. This is also one of the best ways to make money on Instagram!

Product Placement – If you have an awesome product or service that people want but don’t know about yet (and if they’re like us), we recommend contacting companies directly about getting them featured on our feeds for free! We’ve had great success doing this ourselves—and it doesn’t take much time either! We’ve been able to get featured on tons of accounts without spending any money out-of-pocket (just our time).

Creating an income from Instagram takes time, but it is doable.

Create a Facebook page and/or Twitter account.

Create an Instagram account.

Use hashtags and add captions that are relevant to your industry, niche, and audience. Try using the same hashtags you use on other social media platforms so people who follow them will also see your posts on Instagram too!

Engage with followers by commenting on their photos or replying to comments left by others in the comments section of each post you make (this helps build relationships). Don’t forget about likes as well! You can see how many likes each post gets by scrolling through its feed within Instagram itself – if there’s anything worth sharing then chances are good that someone else already shared it before – check out those Top 10 Lists we mentioned earlier again if needed too!

Make money from your own Instagram posts.

When it comes to making money from Instagram, there are a few basic steps that you should take. These include creating a business account and profile, creating a hashtag for your product or service (if applicable), posting about your product or service on the platform itself, setting up landing pages with more information about those offerings, and sending out email newsletters to customers/clients in exchange for their addresses (and thus collecting emails), using social media as an advertising platform (such as Facebook) where they can engage directly with each other. And then there are even more options like:

Creating landing pages so people can buy products online right away without having to pay any extra fees – this is especially useful if someone buys several thousand dollars worth at once!

Sending out freebies like eBooks etcetera in exchange for their email address – again this helps increase traffic coming into websites because people will want information before making any purchases themselves…

#4. Self realization of strengths and weaknesses is the first step towards salvation.

– Author: Mayank S. Sengar

Become an influencer or a brand ambassador.

Becoming an influencer or brand ambassador is a great way to make money online. You can become an influencer by posting interesting content that your followers will like, and getting them to follow you on Instagram.

If you want to become an influencer, start with the basics: post photos of yourself doing something fun (like playing soccer), then tag it #instagoodmakemoneyontheinternet or #instagramidontknowifitsworkingbutthatsokaybecauseimnotgoingtogetpaidanywayiamjustmakingcontentinsteadsofthatlikethisideahereonthispage!

Once your account has more than 50 followers, start promoting other people’s products using hashtags such as:

#buymyproducttodayandgetfree shipping! People will see these posts and buy what is being advertised even though they don’t know who posted them (you!). You’ll get paid by advertisers and brands alike because everyone loves free stuff! You may also want to consider starting up YouTube channels or other social media platforms such as Facebook where there are lots of users who watch videos instead of reading text-based articles.”

Sell products on Instagram.

Use a hashtag that is relevant to your product.

Find a product that has a large following.

Find a product with high demand, but not too much competition.

Find an affordable item with high-profit margins for reselling on Instagram and make sure it fits into your niche!

Sell presets (filters) for Instagram photos.

A preset is a filter that you can add to your photo before posting it on Instagram. You can create presets by using an app or website called InstaPix.

You can make money from selling these filters in different ways:

Sell on Etsy, which is a popular place for people who are selling things online (like art or crafts)

Make money with affiliate marketing programs, where a company pays you when someone buys their product through your link (for example Amazon)

Grow other people’s accounts and get paid to do it.

#5. I still love to play chess. So I do not even spend a minute on the possibility to step back.

– Author: Anatoly Karpov

There are a couple of ways you can grow other people’s accounts, and get paid for it.

Find people with a large following on Instagram and reach out to them – make sure you have the right credentials to do this, like being able to provide proof that they have an audience interested in what they’re doing. You could also use tools like Instagress or Hootsuite (both free) to help manage your social media presence more effectively. If you’re looking for more advanced features such as analytics tracking or scheduling posts at specific times of day/weekend days then check out Crowdfire ($10/month).

Get paid for growing other people’s accounts – this is something I’ve personally done before but it’s important not only because it gives us something else besides just likes which isn’t necessarily what we want from our posts but also because if we build up our following then even though there may not be very many followers yet still earning money off each post makes sense since these numbers add up quickly over time!

Affiliate marketing on Instagram.

How to get started with affiliate marketing on Instagram:

Open an account at Marketo and set up your profile. When you’re ready, follow these steps:

Sign into your Marketo account and click “Help” in the top right corner of your screen. Then AAclick “Create Plan.”

Select “Start a New Campaign” from the menu that appears next to this option. You’ll be prompted for some basic information about yourself (name, email address), which we recommend filling out before proceeding further with this process. Once you’ve filled out all of these details successfully, click Save Changes when prompted by our system so we can encrypt them before storing them securely in our servers!

Sell your photography prints and products online with Printful and Instagram.

If you’re looking to get started in the world of affiliate marketing, Printful is a great place to start. Here’s what you need:

An account with Printful

A product you’d like to sell (or have already made)

An Instagram account and a connection between it and your Printful account.

Make sure you pay attention to the market and keep up with trends so your account stays popular.

Stay relevant by posting content that appeals to your followers, engaging with them regularly, and building a following of people related to your niche.

Be creative with your content (you can always find inspiration on Instagram). Posting new photos is also a good way of keeping people interested in your page!

#6. It is the winners who write history – their way.

– Author: Elaine Pagels

Read More:

7 Ways to Make Money on Instagram [2022 Update]

How to Make Money on Instagram: 5 Ways for 2022 - NerdWallet

How to Grow Your Instagram Followers Organically in 2022 - Business 2 Community

Conclusion

Instagram has become the most popular social media platform in the world. Instagram is a great place to find Opportunities and start making money from your photos. You can use it as a portfolio for your business, or you can make money selling products on Instagram. It’s also possible to get paid by affiliate marketing, or even grow other people’s accounts and get paid for doing so! If you’re interested in any of these options, follow all the steps outlined above until you find something that works for you.

Affiliate Disclosure :

This article contains Affiliate Links, If you purchase through our affiliate links, we get paid for the referral at no additional cost to you! For More Information Visit my Affiliate Disclosure Page. Check out The BhavishyaGautam.com blog!

[krakenartificer]

I posted 2,048 times in 2022

That's 356 more posts than 2021!

65 posts created (3%)

1,983 posts reblogged (97%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@oma-goodness

@turtletotem

@frenchtoastpanda

@ms-demeanor

@radwolf76

I tagged 2,044 of my posts in 2022

#too tired to tag - 319 posts

#laugh rule - 101 posts

#reblog - 95 posts

#undescribed - 92 posts

#video - 92 posts

#recovery - 72 posts

#leverage - 69 posts

#meme mutation - 57 posts

#gpoy - 55 posts

#read out loud to spouse rule - 49 posts

Longest Tag: 136 characters

#like. nerds feeling superior and basing their identity around being ‘smart’ is bad. but so is basing your identity around being ‘stupid’

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

I just watched a video clip of David Tennant being asked what “is the most Scottish thing that Captain America could shout from behind his shield”

And I’m re-reading the Tiffany Aching books

And now I really want to see Steve Rogers in a kilt yelling, like ,,, idk,,,, “Nae Fascism! Nae Genocide! Nae Nazis! We willna be fooled again!” or something like that

135 notes - Posted September 3, 2022

#4

Behold! The most uselessly complicated piece of fanart (I have) ever made!

(Minor spoilers for @derinthescarletpescatarian's web serial Curse Words)

Medium: macrame and embroidery Fiber: acrylic

What is it, you ask? Why, it's a picture of the lake monster's tentacle, magnified 80,000x!

The what? you ask. Well let me just let Max explain it:

The four materials detected by the enchanted microscope showed up in the photos as four distinct colours. Mostly blue and red, with a generous dash of green throughout and rare fine threads of yellow. With the four materials easily distinguished, the structure of the tentacles was obvious. A whole lot of long strands, twisted together. “It’s rope,” Kylie gasped. “Or thread or cotton, I guess, given how small it is.” “It’s much finer than thread or cotton,” Max said. “These filaments are subcellular in diameter.

But that's not all! The description goes on!

These parts are just twisted like rope,

See the full post

147 notes - Posted October 23, 2022

#3

Leverage fandom

There's an episode where someone else is running the briefing for some reason, and Nate gets impatient like "We know all this!" and Hardison says something like, "On the contrary, while you are familiar with this already, some of us have focused on technology and have no knowledge of {whatever it was}. This is new information, and I am fascinated, quite. Please, go on."

I would like a gif of "I am fascinated, quite. Please, go on." (or whatever the actual line is). Does anyone have one, or at least know which episode that is?

232 notes - Posted March 27, 2022

#2

As I was heading out the door to watch the Superbowl with parents-in-law, the image popped into my head of Eliot and Nate discussing the Big Game, and Parker saying "What big game?" and Hardison being like, "? ?? You don't know about the Superbowl?" and Parker being all scornful "Of course I know what the superbowl is." and then just as Eliot is calming down, she adds "It's the safest day of the year to steal stuff from a residential neighborhood."

(And then she totally misinterprets Sophie's astonished expression, and conscientiously adds "in the United States")

280 notes - Posted February 14, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

You know what Leverage needs?

A bibliography.

Like, obviously don't interrupt the show for it. But somewhere ... on a website, a wiki, something ... there should be links for all the outrageous bullshit the marks get up to.

When Breanna explains how an already-bad policy exacerbates racism? I would like a link for that.

When Harry explains the loophole in federal law that makes this theft legal? I would like a link for that.

When Eliot goes off about the ways working-class families are being harmed by something we consider "normal"? I would like a link for that.

And more than any of that, I would like a link to people who are working to change it. Like you know how we all got together and said "Yeah, medical debt is horrendous and this charity buys it up and then forgives it, be a superhero like Parker and delete someone's oncology bill!" -- could we do that for, like, all of this?

Just because I learned it from a TV show doesn't mean I don't want to share it with everyone I know. Quite the opposite, actually.

530 notes - Posted November 23, 2022

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