#unfortunately when you get to the point where all you have is apple products it’s very difficult to move away from them

[bog-horse]

i really want to upgrade my ipad to one of the new pro models bc it’s starting to freeze and stop responding while i draw (which is Big Sucky) but. god. Expensive.

[waddlewaddlewaddlewaddle]

ᵤₙfₒᵣₜᵤₙₐₜₑₗy ₛₘᵢₜₜₑₙ ₍ₘₐfᵢₐ bₒₛₛ! Gₒⱼₒ ₓ ᵣₑₐdₑᵣ₎

₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊

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Pilot!

Summary: Life leads you to treacherous roads after deciding to enter the dangerous life you knew well not to follow.Having gojo by your side inviting you deeper and deeper into all that’s wrong in the world, inciting you to be selfish and carefree wasn’t supposed to be to your liking, so why do you shiver with adrenaline every time he decides to be the devil on your shoulder?

Contents: Mafia boss gojo x secretary reader.(civilian au ig)

Gojo being an egocentric bitch! Wealthy gojo! X no nonsense reader.

Warnings: trigger warning if you’re not interested in anything mafia related. The narration of this story is inspired by Latin and Asian mafia.

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It was a usual lovely Sunday night, you stepped out of the shower after carefully washing yourself with the most luxurious products money could by, the sage burning on top of the marble sink is enticing all your senses into pure relaxation.

You stepped out of the shower to your cozy heated floors and quickly threw on your fluffy bathrobe, god forbid your body ever threatens to even shiver. Your gorgeous figure is seen walking to your sink to plug in your airwrap so you could dry your Fresh deep conditioned hair so you could prep your hair for work tomorrow.

You were about to turn on your hair dryer when you heard a easily recognizable motorcycle exhaust pipe roar near your street, you chuckled to your self seems like some neighbor of yours managed to get a Harley Road glide cvo for themselves. You cringe at yourself after recognizing some work vehicles on your day off. After visibly shaking your head , your hands seem to newly glide towards the dyson but unfortunately a knock on your door seems to disrupt your short lived peace.

You slip on some Sanrio themed slippers and head to the door, thinking that maybe it’s your new neighbor, Alyssa; a mid aged single mom that always seemed to be missing a cup of sugar or a stick of butter to which you always glad fully gave some to.

But to your surprise, when you open the door your gaze is set upon a black suit with a gray dress shirt underneath, your nose is immediately hit with the smell of a jean Paul Gaultier perfume as the notes of bergamot , orange and amber hit your nose, you painfully raise your head to meet the eyes of the owner of the eccentric aura that is invading your foyer.

His eyes are cold and dead;hidden behind some luscious white lashes. His skin white as a ghost you wouldn’t want to approach in your worst nightmare , as your vision started to descend you crossed his tall nose bridged and visually visited his plump pink lips. Naturally this is where you would stop staring but you couldn’t help but notice how beautifully your bossess sharp jawline decorated his Addams apple.

There were few times you stood this close to him,then you realized. He was at your house,as reality set in you took a step back as fear slowly flooded your system, but for the sake of your job you couldn’t show it; so you quickly put on your resting bitch face and crossed your arms.

You sigh.

-“Where’s your god mother?”- you ask referring to where’s his body guard. He points his head to the motorcycle parked behind the 2024 BMW 7 series sedan. Geto always trailed behind your boss vehicle like a shadow; ironic considering the roar the motorcycles emits is similar to that of a lions.

After returning his gaze to you he trails his eyes from the crown of your head to your freshly manicured toes while lifting the corner of his lips.

-“The more important question is, did you get all dolled up, so pretty, just for me?”- He asked with a smug expression adorning his face.

When you started the job as his secretary, you were freshly graduated from business school. Plenty of companies were desperate to have you as their employee after some internships. But you were set on owning your own company that was until one morning on your door arrived a fruit basket adorned with a letter made out of thick and soft boujee ass paper, all that was written on it was the address of the restaurant of the city and a time stamp. You decided to go out of pure curiosity. As soon as you arrived you were led to a private room that’s where you met the curious man that’s currently crouching under your door frame.

As you sat down and talked , he talked about his business, all was well until he mentioned his business was humbly the proud owner of the tittle of the biggest drug exporter to south east Asia.

You did what any rational person would do , calmly get up and book it to the door but before you could reach your destiny , your now boss clicked his fingers and a pair of gorillas came and grabbed you by your arms and forced you to sit down.

Gojo smiled cynically while laying down your 2 options.

1.You ratting your meeting out to the feds and having your pretty little pink tongue off.

2.Accepting the job offer to be his secretary earning a ridiculously high salary , health care , pension anything you could think of.

You decided for the latter.

Getting back to reality;you had to figure out what to do with the sexy giant at your door.

-“Gojo you know my boundaries, no out of office meetings and no Gore-y things in front of me.Cmon dude you’re better than this. Plus how did you even find me I’ve moved like twice in the last 2 years.”- you muttered looking at his serious face.

After finishing your dialogue you couldn’t help but notice a hint of uneasiness, he couldn’t be mad at you for reminding him your boundaries, right? You know him, you know him like the palm of your hand, or so you thought.

-“I have my ways. Aren’t you going to let me in? You hiding something?”- He says leaning forward scoping your house out.

-“Um, fuck , mean yeah sure go ahead.”- You responded moving to the side letting his breeze by you.

His tall figure literally invaded you apartment, he rested his hands in his pockets as he examined your living space, after memorizing you living room he sat down on your puffy jade sofa.

-“So this is what they call a woman’s touch huh, I’ll be brief, I need you to take your little bathrobe off and put on some decent clothes and pack your little passport and follow me to the car.We’re going to Shanghai baby ,I’ll explain later.”-He ordered wishing you would run to obey his every command

You cackled in disbelief. Truth be told you were scared of the business you were in ,that’s why to protect yourself you set up a rule that you wouldn’t work outside of an office or a meeting room. For the moment you were only used to having reunions with new money idiots who wanted to get even richer fast. You knew nothing good waited for you in Shanghai.

You weren’t afraid to joke around him and push his buttons, he made it clear he needed you, his business flourished the minute you stepped in, you organized his accounting’s in many banks over seas , you created plenty of paper companies to launder his money , you charmed his business associates into shady business and secured international funding. He could never dream of hurting you. Well, not in a way you wouldn’t like of course.

-“I think you’re tripping balls man, no fucking way.Why would I ever do that?”-You striked back as you violently shake your head.

He grinned at the way you thought you could say no to him, he also grinned at the sight of your robe becoming loose.

-“I’ll pay you triple your hourly wage , 5 personal staff , 2 bullet proof trucks for the duration of the trip and all the arrangements paid by me of course. And since I’m feeling nice I’ll even throw in a shopping spree so you don’t have to worry that cute head of yours on packing clothes.”- He smiled being charmed by his own charisma.

You scrunched your eyebrows and turned around having your hair flip behind you.

-“Call Geto in to help me with his bags.”

-“Yes, mam.”

Gojo’s ears glowed red after realizing he could virtually get you to do anything to satiate his desires.

You had no idea about what’s about to come.

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A/n: hello, I literally started writing this frantically at 12 am knowing I had class from how inspired I was , I plan this to be a full story ig idk how to describe itanyways , suggestions or request accepted!! Comments are appreciated!!!😘

[strawberryxfieldz]

Garden of Eden (Wally x Reader)

a fluffy Wally/Reader one-shot I posted on my AO3 and figured I’d post on Tumblr!

since my main Wally/Reader fic has a darker plot, I really wanted to write some fluff for the puppet man. no experiencing the dreadful horrors here! Just pure fluff and stuff. short and sweet! Enjoy! @:)

CW for eye contact (yknow how it is)

Welcome Home Masterlist

When you wake up in the morning, you always have the assurance of Wally’s presence beside you. He had a sleep mask on and pajamas but you knew he wasn’t really asleep. Wally didn’t really understand the concept of sleep and took to repeating “I’m sleeping” over and over again in a hushed whisper that lulled you to sleep at night. Right now, though, he was simply smiling, hands folded on his chest.

You leaned over to pull his sleep mask off his face and press a gentle kiss to his forehead. “Hey, sleepyhead.”

“Oh!” His face lit up with delight. “You’re awake!”

You cuddled into his side, resting your head in the space between his neck and shoulder. He smiled and put an arm around you, hugging you closer.

“Yeah…” you replied with a tired groan. “Five more minutes before we get out of bed, though. I’m still sleepy.”

“Take your time, my love.” Wally kissed your head as you lay there, peaceful and happy in his arms.

You weren’t sure what you did to deserve this life with Wally but you certainly knew you loved it. You loved that you realized your feelings for each other, that you moved into Home with him, and that you were able to start off every morning like this.

Soon, you’d be out of bed and in the kitchen, helping each other make pancakes. Perhaps some would burn—Wally wasn’t the greatest cook—but you would laugh it off. At some point, you’d push back Wally’s long blue hair that liked to cover half of his face when down. He didn’t enjoy having to go without his pompadour (he used to hate you seeing him like that especially) but he was used to it now. You’d told him enough about how pretty you found him without all his hair products until he believed it. When his whole face was revealed, you gave him a loving, sweet kiss that he'd lean into with a smile.

After, you’d find yourselves underneath the big apple tree in your yard, humming songs and telling stories. Wally’s hair was done by now, and he had a sketchbook in his lap as he doodled many things, including you. You, meanwhile, were doing your best to make a flower crown. Julie taught you how to the other day. Unfortunately, you didn’t seem to be a quick learner.

“It’s not coming out right,” you whined, disappointment high in your voice.

Wally glanced up from his drawing to look at you. “Here. Let me see.”

You handed him your sad attempt at a flower crown with a frown. Wally didn’t hesitate to put it on his head and he gave you a small smile.

“How do I look?” he asked.

You suppressed a laugh at seeing the ridiculous mess of already-unwinding flowers sat atop him.

“The most.” You leaned over and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Just as always.”

Wally smiled warmly at you, a bit lovestruck, and you couldn’t help but kiss him again, this time on his mouth.

Being a puppet, Wally didn’t exactly have lips to kiss, just felt. It also meant he didn’t understand the concept of kissing. He knew it was a declaration of love and, by now, he knew it was one of your favorite ways of giving affection. Still, he didn’t actually kiss back so much as press his face against yours as best as possible and make a ‘mwah’ sound when you leaned away. You considered it kissing, though, even if he did it wrong. He was just too adorable.

“You’re the one who's the most, darling,” he cooed.

You felt something ignite in your chest when he called you that. ‘Darling’ being his surname made it all the more flustering.

“But you’re so beautiful,” you insisted. You moved to cradle his face with your hands and he instantly stilled. “Here…” You kissed his forehead. “…here…” You kissed the space between his eyes where a nose would be. “…and here…!” You quickly pressed another kiss to his mouth.

“Mwah!” Wally said enthusiastically when you pulled back.

You giggled and scooted closer beside him. He rested against your side, leaning his head against your arm.

"What're you drawing there?" you hummed after another minute or two.

Wally held up his sketchpad proudly. He was only working with a few crayons and there was nothing but scribbles on the page, yet you were able to recognize your likeness pretty well between the lines. 

"You!" he replied with a sappy smile. "It's my favorite thing to draw, after all!"

You immediately threw him into a hug. Wally was much more accustomed to hugs thanks to his fellow neighbors but still went limp in them. It was like embracing a warm ragdoll, and you'd think Wally didn't like it from his lack of reciprocation if it weren't for the happy hum he made when his face was pressed against your shoulder. 

"Wally, you're so talented," you told him as you leaned away. "I'm so lucky."

Wally beamed back at you before continuing to color, content. You let him draw, relaxing in the relative silence between you, mind still whirring. As peaceful as the moment was, you couldn't help feeling dismayed. 

Wally did too much for you. He was always making art for you, his greatest muse, and he learned your ways of physical affection for you, even if he still didn't understand it all too well. There had to be something you could do for him in return before you felt like a totally inadequate partner to him. You racked your brain as you sat there, quiet, listening only to the sound of Wally's crayons moving against paper. That gave you an idea and you bit back a cheery smile as you made sure to store it away in your thoughts for later.

A few days later, you found yourself in the living room of Home, putting the finishing touches on your masterpiece. Well, okay, 'masterpiece' was a bit of an overstatement. In front of you, sitting atop a pile of old newspapers was a lump of clay very generously deemed a ceramic sculpture of an apple. There were too many bumps in the wrong places and the stem was leaning too far in one direction, making it askew, but it was still an apple!

At least, this is what you told yourself as you leaned back to examine your work. You put a finger to your mouth thoughtfully.

"I don't know..." you talked out loud to yourself. Then, remembering who you were with, asked, "What do you think, Home?"

Home made a sound that sounded like a door squeaking. You were pretty sure that was a good thing.

But, before you could mull over it any longer, you heard the front door open. You shot up from your spot on the couch, taking the ceramic in your hands and hiding it behind your back. A moment later, Wally walked in, a slight smile on his face that grew bigger upon seeing you.

"Hi, love!" you greeted, trying to seem as not suspicious as possible. "How was hanging out with Julie and Frank?"

"Fun." Wally nodded. "We chased a lot of butterflies. Frank got mad when I asked if I could keep them."

"Aw, I'm sorry."

"It's alright." Wally shrugged. "Friends shouldn't be caged in anyway. They should be flying free."

You smiled at the sentiment and leaned in to kiss his cheek, only to stop when he spoke again.

"What do you have behind you?" he asked, genuinely curious. 

You leaned back suddenly with a nervous smile. "Huh? Oh, nothing!"

"Can I see it?"

You rolled the ceramic in your hand, feeling every lump and crevice with a frown. Yet, you looked into Wally's big, black eyes, soft and caring as they stared back at you intently, and couldn't help but give in.

"Okay. Fine..." you sighed as you pulled the apple out from behind you. "It's, um, a thing I made for you."

You held it out to him so he could see it, bracing yourself for his reaction. 

Wally's eyes widened and his mouth parted with a small gasp. "An apple?"

"Yeah! It's made out of clay," you explained. You watched as he studied it before carefully taking it into his own hands. "You know, I figured since you like staring at your apples but they eventually all go bad... I'd make you one that never goes bad!"

Wally was quiet for a moment and his whole face brightened. "It's perfect!"

He walked over to the mantel and placed the ceramic there gently as you continued.

"Really?" Your smile twitched. "I know art is kind of your thing, I'm not as good at it but I just thought I'd do something for you since you do so much for me and-"

Wally smiled before pressing his mouth against the side of your face, effectively cutting off your rambling. You relaxed when he made a 'mwah!' sound as he leaned away. 

"I love it," he reassured you, voice soft. 

"Oh." You let out a sigh of relief. "Good."

"But why would you think you have to make something for me, silly?" Wally tilted his head. 

You looked down, suddenly feeling sheepish. Wally gingerly took one of your hands with his, giving you an encouraging nod. In return, you gave him a warm smile.

"I don't want you to think I'm inadequate," you replied with a shrug. "Because you're so talented and nice to me and all these other things and you deserve the best!"

Wally chuckled. You couldn't help but smile more at the sound of it, slow and monotone. You loved his laugh.

"You are the best," he told you, rubbing your hand with his thumb. "You're the most, darling. Your love is more than enough."

You felt a bundle of emotions begin to take over you, all so overwhelmingly happy you could hardly even fathom it. Gratitude, comfort, and pure love rushed through you as you continued to stare adoringly into those beautiful eyes. You wanted to jump for joy, hold Wally close to you and never, ever let go, and see to it that you made every day of the rest of his life perfect and full of love. Maybe then he would be able to feel a fraction of the amount of adoration you had for him and understand just how much he meant to you. 

Instead, you frowned playfully. "See what I mean?! You're too kind! It's not fair!"

Wally just laughed again. 

[dreamhacker606]

Your Boyfriend Fangame

Alright listen up folks:

I have an idea related to the Your Boyfriend game and our beloved Peter.

For context, recently I found out that the plot of Peter and MC ended up getting really toxic and terrible. Like into territory that just doesn’t seem as characteristic to the Peter we were introduced to in the beginning. I understand that’s the whole point, but I feel like it really could’ve gone better and we could’ve had a choice to fix things or whatever.

Then there’s the issue with Fuboo. I dunno what it is about creators of horror games/comics/etc being child groomers/predators, but it’s becoming too much of a theme nowadays. Y’all can correct me if this is wrong and provide evidence against the accusations. I still feel like my idea will really help bring the YB fandom back up again because goddammit I adore the characters.

Anyways here’s the idea:

We get introduced to the characters as usual like it is in the first chapter. However, rather than the story focusing on Peter, we get the choice to go into other characters as well, such as getting to know our roomie, Lucy, more or getting to hang out with TK. Maybe even cracking the hard exterior of Don.

What I’m saying is…

I want a dating sim.

It would be great! Think about it: we get the chance to romance Peter, our stalker, and maybe help him out in the end. However, we still get the chance to date the other characters if we wanted to if we make the right choices as the MC. Think about it:

Lucy, partygirl and nympho, is actually really shy and sweet when you get to know her more. She loves something nerdy or bookish, like LotR or Classic Novels.

TK becomes more than a best friend/coworker as you hang out more (I feel like he’d be a total hipster into arcade games and antiques ngl).

Don, our landlord daddy, ends up being a real sweetheart and we get to see him crack a smile or laugh if we say the right thing.

This could really work. Also, of course, MC has the choice of being referred to as she/her, he/him, they/them, etc. as well as whatever name they choose.

I’m kind of pulling my ideas from DDLC (Doki Dokie Lit. Club) and The Arcana, but I still feel like it would work.

The only thing we might have issues with is that Fuboo or whoever else created the game might use copyright rules or whatever because it’s be their original idea.

However, I feel like if this is just a fangame and, unfortunately, give credit to a child groomer, this would still work. The credit would just go to the character ideas and game, but the rest would be an original plot.

But Sage, what about the horror aspect of the game?

Well, we can still add that. Maybe Peter, when you date the others, can still be like Monika in DDLC where she kills off the other interests. He doesn’t actually do it but we could make sure we protect TK, Lucy, and/or Don. Peter’s route would just be us dealing with him directly.

Also, if we have good or bad endings, we could still have the horror aspect, like having murder or something.

I just really miss YB content and I hate to know that, once again, a creator couldn’t just be a decent human.

I think that’s all I have for now at least. Please let me know if you’d be interested in working on this. I’d love to help out anyway I can.

Disclaimer: I am (currently) not making the fangame. I will see if I can with the resources I have available, but I’m ngl Apple products are not creator friendly.

Edit:

Ahah so this keeps getting a fair amount of notes. I just have a question: how do I develop a game like this?

[numinousnumbat]

HI! For the "Finding Joey" saga... Years ago Katherine had a podcast on Shadow Hunters. In a episode with Michael Reisz (writer ad executive producer), she was literally dragged into giving at least a hint about her love life. She is clearly embarrassed and didn't expect it, but she gives a little hint about when they met and how since then work has no longer been the number one priority in her life. In those days no one had any idea who the mysterious guy was and as "social" as she may seem, she never spoke about her private life. You can listen to the podcast episode on Apple Music/Spotify, minute 37.50, published on August 31, 2022.

Thank you for this! Anon put everything important in their message, but I made a quick transcript if anyone prefers.

Return to the Shadows with Katherine McNamara and Dominic Sherwood podcast, Episode “Michael Reisz”, air date 8/31/2022.

Kat and Dom (who played Jace) are talking with Michael Reisz (a writer and executive director for Shadowhunters).

Transcription note: Kat and Michael are Americans with American accents and Dom is English with an English accent.

[Dom has just talked about meeting his girlfriend on a dating app.]

Michael: And Kat, what about you?

Kat: Ummmmm, yeah, I’m -

Michael: You didn't expect it to go this way, did ya!

Kat: No, I didn't, no I didn’t, but, uh, but yeah, I'm - aside from work - I’m really happy.

Michael (crosstalking): Good.

Kat: I’m in a lovely, dating a lovely guy, and it's, uh, it's really fantastic.

Michael (crosstalking): I love that.

Dom: Wooooo!

Kat: I know, I haven't even talked to you about this yet, Dom.

Michael: Oh my god, I'm sorry, by the way if any of this is none of my business, I just feel like -

Dom (crosstalking): No, this is news to me.

Kat: No, it's great, it's funny.

Dom (crosstalking): Exclusive.

Kat: It's funny because looking back on Shadowhunters and like all the relationships that developed, and you know, it really taught us a lot about relationships. And I think the pandemic, too, because my, my boyfriend and I met during the pandemic and it's one of those things where you just you meet the right person, and the pandemic kind of showed us how important those human connections are and how important it is to just focus on life as well as work, which is something I never really did.

Michael: Well, you know what, because - and I find this in a lot of actors - and maybe you guys can tell me, it's all consuming at some point, in a lot of ways where you're selling yourself, like you're, you're creating this business, you're selling a product, the product is you. And you're trying to make that product better and better and better. And there's so many elements to that, both the acting and then you get to a certain point where you have to do the publicity and this, and then unfortunately, the loss of a certain sense of privacy where that also then starts invading things. Finding that balance. It's really important, I think, to always say, I'm really fortunate and I really love what I do professionally, but the other cup has to be full or else things are just gonna get out of whack. You know the high and I'm so glad had to hear you both are navigating that beautifully. It's really really nice to see.

Dom: And you as well, man. Honestly, it's made my heart feel really full.

Michael: Ahhh.

[envihellbender]

VIVISECTION COMMITTED TO A CUTE BOY

Characters: Innocence (Avatar to the Slaughter), Carlin (OCs)

Verse: The Magnus Archives

Content: extreme gore

Innocence put a lot of work and effort into their production. The intro music, for example, was a deceptively simple tune - it was important that it stuck into the minds of everyone who heard it. However, it also had to be impossible to mimic, Innocence had an Aerophone AE-10 that they loved that they perfected the sound on. It was almost like the traditional bagpipes, but not quite. It was more upbeat and thus cuter, that was particularly important. Everything Innocence did was about aesthetics, down to their military uniform and pins in their long blond hair.

They spent hours setting up each streaming set, and of course each instrument used was state of the art or specially built. They whistled as they made sure everything was in place, when they were adjusting their ring light and all they could hear was yelling and screaming was when their smile started to falter. They turned to their co-star and scowled. The young man they’d chosen was extremely pretty, his best feature was his lips which were unfortunately hidden by duct tape for the time being. His eyelashes were thick, and his curls were dishevelled and had a week’s worth of greasy clinging to them. He’d been a model, and his starved body wasn’t doing much to help him now. Innocence wrapped the young man on his knuckles with their favourite iridescent scalpel whilst tutting.

“I’m trying to focus. I really don’t wanna cut your tongue out … but if I have to I will, even if it ruins the show,” they said before sticking their tongue out. The young man screamed again and as a result Innocence shoved the scalpel into his mouth in one swift movement. The edge cut open the roof of his mouth and the sharp point hit his uvula. He let out a whining whimper and Innocence raised their eyebrows as he did. “Are you going to behave?” He nodded. Innocence quickly pulled the scalpel from his mouth and sighed in annoyance. “Ugh. Stop bleeding. We’ve not started yet.” The young man spluttered as the blood from his mouth seemed to recede from its wound, pooling and congealing around his tongue. Innocence finished setting up the lights and camera, cleared their throat and began.

“Hiiiiiiii!” Innocence sang into the lense, their hands making a heart into the camera as they bat their eyelashes, with stars drawn on their cheeks in black eyeliner. They lowered their hands and then pressed their index fingers together. “So many new subscribers to our exclusive little club! Thank you so much to everyone who’s got the word out! Every link shared really helps me to make more content!

“Today we’re doing something a little different, I know you usually get to see me work on a group, but today I’m going to focus all my efforts on this one boy in particular,” Innocence said. They spun round and faced the second camera that was pointed directly at their co-star. His naked thin torso had lines of black marker drawn on him. They were more for appearances than anything else, Innocence knew instinctively where to cut and didn’t need a guide. “So, every day to celebrate spooky month, I’m going to perform a live vivisection on a new performer!”

“It’s okay, you don’t need to do anything. You just need to lie there and look pretty,” Innocence said in response to Carlin’s spluttering. “To begin with we have this young man, sorry his gag is torn up, monsters, he couldn’t stop yapping.” Innocence giggled and slipped out their iridescent scalpel with daisies clipped to the handle from their coat pocket. They rested the blade on the model’s Adam’s apple before ripping the gag from his mouth. “Some of you more eagle eyed viewers might recognise him from his cute AF TikTok videos or London Fashion week! It’s Carlin Rider, owner of the best lips and eyelashes in the business. I bet his organs are even cuter! Which one first, monsters?” Innocence looked up to a screen off camera and grinned.

“Intestines? So early in the game? Don’t be silly!! Those are going to be much later-” Carlin began to yell again causing Innocence to sigh and roll their eyes. They stared at their lips and mentally filled Carlin’s mouth with blood until he spluttered and whimpered. “Sorry monsters, we’ve got a chatterbox today! I think that answers our question though. He can’t talk if he’s missing his larynx!” Innocence spun their scalpel over their fingers and cut a smooth straight line from the bottom of Carlin’s chin to the space between his collar bones. Innocence then carefully slipped their fingers into his wounds and expertly pulled his larynx out, blood spurted from Carlin’s throat almost like a comical fountain. “Told ya! Look how cute that is!” Innocence said triumphantly, posing in front of the camera with it. “That’ll keep him quiet, look at this pretty brown eyes! Looking around the room so desperate for help.” Innocence stroked Carlin’s curls, he gasped silently and shook his head desperately trying to resist Innocence’s touch. They held the larynx up to the camera again this time turning it this way and that so the viewers could get a good look at it. Carlin was starting to grow pale and weak, Innocence exhaled in annoyance.

“Oh my, thought he was stronger than that.” They spun on their heel and returned to their desk, picked up their Aerophone and played the similar tune. The result was the wound on Carlin’s throat sewed itself back up without the larynx and colour and life began to return to his face. Innocence gleefully ran their fingers down his throat. “Sooooo pretty. I did such a good job. You can barely tell it’s gone.” Carlin opened his mouth as he attempted to respond, a croaking, quiet, and desperate gasp being all that left his mouth. Tears began falling down his temples and pooling by his ears.

“Good boy. Precious baby. Isn’t he a cutie everyone,” Innocence said, flicking their hair behind one shoulder, a couple of strands getting caught in their military jacket’s shoulder pads. “Next we’re gonna dooooo… Hmm, aw heck let’s take out a portion of is intestines. As a special treat for everyone sitting at home.” Innocence winked deliberately at the camera. They took out the same iridescent scalpel they’d used to open his throat and licked it clean. It didn’t matter if Carlin got an infection, that always made the future streams way more interesting. They pressed the scalpel into Carlin’s pale torso, and wriggled it into his guts. They had a little bit of a dig around until they found a nice thick bit of intestines and snipped it from the rest of them, giggling as Carlin silently screamed, unable to make a noise, and bled out. The yellow fat from his small belly dripped out making Innocence gasp in delight. They held up the bit of Carlin’s guts to the camera and twirled it around. “How pretty are his organs?! I love them. I’m definitely gonna cut up this cutie again. I might even have him long term. Wouldn’t that be fun, monsters?”

Innocence took a bite down on the intestines and sucked the blood and digested food out of the organ.

“Well, if we’re gonna get this babe done by the end of the day we better get going, huh?” Innocence sang, then flicked a peace sign at the camera with a grin.

[davidmariottecomics]

Tools of the Trade

Hello hello! 

I'm *hoping* this'll be a pretty quick blog today because I have a lot of ideas kicking around my head and want to focus on trying to write some of 'em! But inspired by the new Creator's Guide to Comics Devices (we'll get to that in a sec), I want to talk about some resources that I've accumulated over the years that can help with everything from the fundamentals of comics storytelling to good reference to software and fonts and printers and distribution platforms and more! 

As a disclaimer right up top, some of these resources I have not personally used--I haven't done a lot of crowdfunding, I haven't worked with some of these smaller printers, etc--though I will say that these are things that're coming recommended to me and I'm passing along that recommendation. If you've had a really bad experience with one of these, or know some dirt, let me know! I'm always happy to stand corrected on this sort of thing. 

Lastly, a number of these things I'll point out specifically as an alternative to other software or expected resources. Alright, let's boogie! 

Making Art Not being an artist, I can't speak exactly to what tools will work best for you! The good news is, as an artist, you probably already know that and don't need me to tell you what sort of pencils, pens, brushes, inks, etc work best for your style. However, I will say, I've seen some glowing recs for Eon paper. If you're working traditionally in any way (I know some people work hybrid), good paper is important. 

If you are working digitally, I think the two sort of biggest contenders outside of Photoshop right now are Procreate and Clipstudio. Becca uses Procreate and really likes it. The downsides are that I believe it is Apple exclusive (and not on desktop) and while I've seen plenty of pages come out just fine that were in part or fully produced in Procreate, it does sometimes lack some of the functionalities for what you might need--I know folks who've had trouble doing clean flats, for example. I know a lot of folks use Clipstudio with great success, but I also know there's a bit of controversy around some of their 2.0+ updates including only working on a subscription fee if you want to use it on a tablet or non-desktop device (and/or want the updates they release) and something about like, it not working if you aren't on wifi? 

I personally have had good experience with Affinity's Designer and Photo. But I am not an artist, so while I think they're good for doing some of the production side of art--I've used them for lettering and prepping files and making little social graphics and stuff--I can't speak to how helpful they are as a full art tool. I will also say, as long as I'm talking about Affinity, their Publisher tool is pretty good too and with the Affinity suite, you can get a lot of what you would want out of the Adobe suite. 

Art Reference

Look, you're smart. You don't need me telling you where and how to find reference. It's all over. There are hundreds of books and websites and resources for artist reference. You can go find some live models or pose one of those weird little wooden dolls or turn around a toy or whatever. 

But! With that said, here're a couple big ones. Blender is itself an art tool! It's a lot less common for comic art to be fully produced in Blender than, say, animation, but Blender can be a really helpful way to put together thumbnails or consistent backgrounds. You can build a room and move it around for what you'd need to see in a panel and have that as a base when doing your art. You can use it for lighting studies. Lotta possibilities! 

If you can be cool, you can maybe get access to Fat Photo Ref. It's what the name says, an archive of photo reference by and of fat people, who unfortunately are often not included in your standard art reference collections and books. I'll also plug that the Morpho art book series has a very well regarded Fat and Skin Folds volume. Linking specifically to that one, but you can find the whole series from the link and get it from an indie bookstore! 

And as someone who has long pointed people to things like Wally Wood's 22 Panels that Always Work and Steve Lieber's 12 point portfolio critique without even looking (which I riffed on for writers here and also talk about like... finding agents) and all the thoughtful analysis on the craft and creation of the medium from Scott McCloud (I'm not linking Understanding Comics... you probably already have it), I think that the aforementioned Creator's Guide to Comics Devices is the logical progression of all of that. It is a free collaborative resource about the way comics storytelling works. 

Writing, Lettering, and Additional Craft 

I believe I've shared this before, and have said it's not my actual preferred format when I write, but Steenz and Camilla Zhang created a standard script template for comics. I think this is very helpful for people who don't know what a script looks like and, obviously, if you find yourself wanting to modify it to better suit your needs, you can! But this gives a really clear picture of what the general form will look like for maximum sharability with your collaborators. 

Comicraft and Blambot are two of my favorite font houses (and lettering houses)! They have fonts that you see in your favorite comics for reasonable prices, including often big discounts or fonts that are free for indie use (though obvs read the terms and conditions). They have packs including like premade balloons that can help ya get started easier. Both of their books on comic lettering, Comic Book Lettering the Comicraft Way and The Essential Guide to Comic Book Lettering, are excellent and should be considered the tomes they are. Sara Linsley's fonts are also great, particularly if you're doing more manga or webcomics inspired books.  And if you don't want to be a person who has to spend a lot of time thinking about fonts and getting MainType or another font management software (I don't do a lot of it, but I've gotten really into teaching myself lettering and I do think it's pretty fun), do us both a favor and just hire a letterer. 

But if you want to learn more about lettering, Todd Klein also has a really amazing blog! 

Printing

There are a lot of professional printers that print comics. Many of them that are printing for publishers have a very high threshold for minimum orders. If you aren't printing 2K copies, they aren't going to print your book at all because that's how they have to ration their paper and run their business. 

But I know of a couple of printers that do smaller print runs for indie comics. I've heard really good things about RA Direct and about Comix Well Spring. Something I'll flag right here and now is that whether it's one of these or another printer, early in the process--before you pay for anything--you should take some time to email the printer about any potential issues you might have. This can be anything from confirming your specs are correct and you've got the right overprint on your blacks to checking if the printer has any sort of issue printing 18+ sexual material or dismemberment or if you have anything that might be on the line of fair use. Like, it'll help you both out to get that sorted early and easily. 

As a brief detour, I've also heard good things about both Alibaba and have used Vograce with Becca, if you're looking for merch for shows--y'know, keychains and pillow covers and pens and pins and whatever else you may want to create with your art that is not strictly comics themselves. 

Distribution - Subscriptions

I'm talking specifically digital subscription platforms that are not webcomics hosting sites and that are subscription sites of any sort, not just stores/places your art lives. So no like Webtoon or Artstation or Shopify or whatever. Basically, your Patreons (you know Patreon, but you could sub to mine) and uhh... Substacks. But maybe better than those options... 

I host this blog on Patreon, that's true. I also have it on Tumblr and on my website. And I sent it out as a newsletter through Buttondown! They are super friendly and concerned with making the service work! It's awesome and I highly recommend it over Substack which, as you may recall, I have some issues with. My Buttondown is free, but you can have paid subscriptions. I've also heard some folks say good things about Ghost as a similar sort of alternative. I can't speak to that the same as I can Buttondown, which, again, I really like, but I know some people who use Ghost. 

In terms of Patreon alts, options are not great, TBH. Kofi has memberships (plugging mine which is membership-less). But I believe Kofi is also a lot stricter about what sort of content you can post and host--similar to the sorts of questions I was suggesting you ask a printer about earlier. Fanbox through Pixiv is something I see some folks use. I think it's largely international folks. I also, again, think it has some content restrictions though I'm not entirely sure how enforced they are. I feel guilty enough using Patreon (lol this being posted there), but I really can't recommend Subscribestar. I've heard good things about them as an alternative--like, I hear they're maybe the closest in practical functionality and are a lot more adult material friendly than some competitors, but I have a lot of the same problems I have with Substack and Patreon with them. Like, Patreon isn't perfect, but some of the more horrific elements of humanity that cannot operate on Patreon have found a home there and that stinks. 

The one non-subscription option I will highlight is, and again, I don't think it's perfect, but I know people who have had good experiences with itch.io. If you're looking for a place to sell some digital comics outside of your own website, there are far worse options. 

Crowdfunding 

I think we've all ceded IndieGogo to the worst parts of comics. Obviously, Kickstarter is still the big one that people really think of and like many of these prominent versions of the service, it has its good and bad. There is name recognition and a track record of projects getting funded and paid and completed, and there are criticisms. But that's true of lots of things. 

There are also a few options that're a bit newer in the space. Backerkit has been a part of a lot of fulfilment of Kickstarter campaigns for a long time and now operate their own crowdfunding platform. I know Iron Circus uses them. I've heard a little bit about Crowdfundr and am pretty sure I know some folks who've given that a shot. And I know one of the co-founders of Zoop and they've been helping get a lot of really cool projects made recently. 

Final Recs

BLEH! This ended up taking a lot longer than I expected! Oh well. You don't know. You're reading this and it is not happening in the realtime it took to write it. So, final resources I'm going to throw your way as jumping off points for more! 

1. Cartoonist Cooperative! Guess what, for basically everything I just said, they have EVEN MORE RESOURCES! They also do mutual promotions and support and are a really great community based initiative! 

2. Creator Resource! Similarly, they also have even more resources! Their database/articles include a lot of stuff like more about finding agents and publishers and page rates and marketing and this that and the other thing. Between the two of those, you're going to have a lot of whatever you would need to get started and have not just a rounded out knowledge, but access to a knowledgeable community. 

3. Curiosity's Corner from Wildstar Press! Wildstar's mission is really cool. They're an indie publisher that focuses on helping new creators get their first publishing credits and work they can share to get more jobs. And they've recently started a guide that's not dissimilar to this blog on how to get started on having a comics career. 

4. This is just a general reminder. Make a website that has a way to contact you. Make an email that maybe can be public facing but that you're comfortable using for work and dedicate it to that. If you're going any place where you think you might make industry contacts, bring business cards. We live in the future and you can put your portfolio or samples on a QR code on your card. Find or make communities. I'm not great about it myself, TBH (and that's a little intentional because being an editor, working at a publisher, there are reasons on both sides to create this distance), but like... I dunno. Get on Discord or something. Have a group text. Like, have a way to reach out to your peers. 

Like I said earlier, if you have corrections to be like "nah, this thing sucks, don't recommend it" or if you have additional recommendations, please share them! Don't DM me because I've been very bad about answering those because I am going to be shuttering Twitter soon, but y'know, if it's something you can share publicly, reply on post where you saw it or on the website (comments in a rare move are open on this unless something happens). If you want to share anonymously (or like... invite me to a Discord or something), there's always my contact page. 

Okay, I'm off to write fiction now! And should probably reach out to some folks to draw it soon. 

L8rs!

What I enjoyed this week: Blank Check (Podcast), Solve This Murder (Podcast), One Piece (Manga), Sonic Superstars (Video game), The Archive Undying by Emma Mieko Candon (Book), Reverse 1999 (Video Game), Yu-Gi-Oh: Duel Links (Video game), Last Week Tonight (TV show), The Simpsons (TV show), I said Thirsty last week, but I meant Steamy, the last book in the trilogy from Space Between, but it did make me go back and read Thirsty and Cheeky again too (Comics - Adults only), Five Nights at Freddy's was fine but like... I don't think I'm the target audience and we only saw it because we pay for Peacock and didn't give additional money to the bad man creator (Movie), Phantom of the Paradise (Movie), Scream 3 & 4 (Movies), Batman: The Brave and the Bold (Cartoon), Joe Pera Talks with You (TV show), Witch Watch (Manga), Halloween, Godzilla Day, Spooky's Jump Scare Mansion (Video game... well, until I got too spooked), wanting to write. 

New Releases this week (11/1/2023): No new books from me this week. Don't worry, next week makes up for it. 

Final Order Cut-Off next week (11/6/2023): Godzilla Rivals: Jet Jaguar vs. Megalon (Editor)

New Releases next week (11/8/2023): Godzilla Rivals: Round Two (Editor on most of it) Sonic the Hedgehog #66 (Editor) Sonic the Hedgehog: Knuckles' Greatest Hits (Editor) Sonic the Hedgehog: The IDW Art Collection (Editor)

Announcements: I might be done for the year? If you'd like to have me on your podcast, Twitch stream, at your convention, signing at your store, talking to your students, whatever, feel free to hit me up, but I don't think I have anything else public for the rest of the year, though knowing us, Becca and I will probably a local market or something. 

Wanna support me? Visit my webstore, the previously linked Patreon or Kofi, or my eBay. And you can always visit Becca's portfolio/shop/Patreon/Twitch streams too. Streams will be returning soon. Been having technical difficulties of late. 

And of course, things are bad. Call for a ceasefire and urge your reps to stop the Palestinian genocide. Fight back against whatever terrible policies are currently up in your local or national area--from trying to ban books to criminalizing transness to further criminalizing homelessness to whatever. Support SAG-AFTRA as they're still on strike, and support all the other strikes and union actions happening across the country and across the world. Just be kind to people. 

Pic of the Week: It's my favorite green heroes, the Warrior Mans! 

[gaykarstaagforever]

Here is an article from Variety about how the writers' / actors' strike will probably lead to Apple buying everything like Shudder, while CBS and Disney will continue to lose market share and money:

I post the link because I think the author is correct about the market impact, generally.

Now the problems with it.

1. Her premise is that the strike is hitting the billion-dollar content dragons "at the worst possible time," as they bravely fire people and purge IP to make more money for shareholders. The narrative that this is all some unfortunate act of nature is utter bullshit. They all did this to themselves, and are ONLY doing this to themselves because of greed and lies fueled by greed. Zaslav is the one who promised everybody that his company owning 47 others would lead to good times that will never end. That wasn't "market forces" or "the wind." This is Smaug laying upon his Golden Hoard, bemoaning the apparent death of the world because it isn't making any more gold for him to steal...because he's already stolen it all. Then set the mines on fire. What a shock that Variety, a trade publication, would pretend like the market leaders in that trade are downtrodden simpletons just tryin' to make their way through this mixed up ol' world. But they are decidedly not.

2. Traditional or "Grandpa Media", your network television goons / Disney / Paramount, haven't been in a position to blow money on stuff that can't compete with offerings from Netflix or Amazon for like more than a decade now, yet they are continually eager to keep trying. So maybe stop wasting money on that? Like I don't believe you are in actual dire straights when you've refused to steer out of then for 12 years. And keep trying to build a house there.

Paramount should have given up on their grey water service ages ago, but are seemingly refusing to out of spite. The networks are spending tons maintaining free ad-supported services that are destined to never be profitable, because no one under the age of 70 is willing to put up with this goofy format to watch even more tepid CSI knockoffs.

Why are these companies investors allowing them to keep doing this? It is YOUR money they are flushing away on bad ideas, guys. This is why everything is a mess. It isn't because a staff writer wants rent money for churning out bad dialog for some shit G-rated fireman show only 6 dads watch. Again, you people fucked this all up from the front end.

3. If motherfucking Disney, with all of their billions and monopolization of IPs, haven't figured out how to make streaming work yet, they are never going to. At least not with this leadership.

You brought Iger back. He oversaw the first Disney stumbles into streaming, where they did whatever and it worked because they are Disney and people were willing to put up with whatever. That "successful formula" isn't going to work again. You actually have to fix that godforsaken broken POS app and put shows on it that aren't Mandalorian Season 3. And the confused old man who basically led to all this of happening in the first place is in no position to fix it.

4. The demands of the striking talent are not grandiose. They are asking for living wages and humane working conditions and being valued as creatives and artists by the corporations making billions from their work. Regardless of the market, this is baseline stuff they should have had already. The writer of the article knows this, but still seems to bemoan the timing, like this will hurt their chances of getting concessions.

Lady. They ALREADY HADN'T GOTTEN THE CONCESSIONS. When times were good. Obviously it doesn't matter, because the companies aren't interested in doing what is right. So what the hell does it matter?

Maybe kicking them when they are down, because they've already kicked themselves, is a better strategy. Because with all the talk of AI and CG doing everything, that is being said by people who barely understand what those are, who STILL NEED TO PAY PEOPLE TO DO THOSE, the cheat code they think they have to beat the system isn't a cheat code. ChatGPT can't make a show anyone with a brain would watch. And you have to pay people to composite actors in. And because you low-ball the rates for that, you're burning through the companies that can do that: they keep going out of business. This isn't sustainable, or even fundamentally doable.

The companies are wounded animals, and their fix for it is to chew off another limb. That isn't a position of strength. Striking writers can go get other jobs if they have to. But what is NBCUniversal if there are no new episodes of...let me look it up here...Chicago Med? They are an entertainment company. They can't transition into a lumber yard or something.

I realize they are owned by Comcast who has a monopoly on paid internet and cable TV in a bunch of US markets. But Comcast isn't going to keep them if they aren't profitable. They're all at risk if they don't settle with talent and make more shows thst someone, apparently, is watching.

[netscapenavigator-official]

I FEEL you so hard. Have had my iphone XR since 2019 and it works ok (battery life is still ok and it doesn’t crash ALL the time) but i can’t wait until it’s practically a brick so i can switch to an android without guilt. The faceID kills me and I’m practically never using it (got a thin scratch in the glass above the selfie camera 2 years ago, so i have to make sure no light is randomly bouncing on the scratch when I unlock my phone, or the halo blocks everything) and it’s like having a babysitter version of a phone. I’m not allowed to use any applications not vetoed by Apple Inc. and almost all features are so much less customisable… sure, and iphone is great in some regards (5S and XR have been surprisingly good models in my experience) but for the past 3 years I’ve felt soo limited by Apple’s philosophy

Well, good news (or bad depending on how long you want to keep that phone), the iPhone XR is most likely next on Apple's chopping block of support. The iPhone 8, 8 Plus, and X were all dropped with the release of iOS 17, last September. If Apple keeps on their linear path, this September, with the release of iOS 18, the iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max will all be dropped. Apple usually gives phones two years of security patches after they're dropped, however, so it depends on what you consider a "brick." I, unfortunately, have an iPhone 12-series phone, so I've got at least two more years of updates left, four if I wanna push my goal to the security update deadline.

Also, for the Face ID issue, idk if you've tried this, but try doing a rescan. Go to Settings > Face ID & Passcode, and click "Set Up an Alternate Appearance." I don't know if all iPhones have this. I think they may have added it for the iPhone 12-series and newer, but if you have it, give it a try and see if it helps smooth over Face ID. By teaching it what you look like with the scratch interfering, it may be able to better compensate for it. If you're phone doesn't have that, you could always try tapping "Reset Face ID," too, to force it to re-scan. Although, with damaged glass, I don't know if it'll let you.

The App Store is another point of contention for me, too. I have a 2011 MacBook Pro that's been "obsolete" since 2017, when macOS High Sierra stopped getting updates. I wiped the drive clean and put Linux (Zorin OS) on it, and it's actually been really great. It runs like it's native. The problem, though, is that using Linux has opened my eyes to just how few free & open-source apps support iOS because of Apple's bullshit App Store requirements and $99/year developer fee. A lot of the apps I use on this computer are great, and they support Android, but they don't support iOS. It's a real bummer, and I'm just tired, in general, of not being able to do the things I want with my phone, so unless Apple decides to get really cool, really fast, this will certainly be my last iPhone. (Especially with iOS 18 coming with RCS Message support, almost entirely eliminating the difference between iMessage and Android to iPhone messaging.)

And I'm not trying to shit on Apple too much because Google is worse in plenty of ways. I have plenty of Apple devices from an iPhone, to an M1 iMac, to an Apple TV, etc. Apple makes really good hardware (with the exception of its repairability). Their problem is that they hold themselves back with their own greed. We've seen it with plenty of devices. The Apple Vision Pro is a great example. Apple thought they could use their brand image to make the device successful, but they recently had to cut production in half because demand fell off so steeply. If VisionOS was open and easy to develop for, then I'm sure it could've been a success, but Apple's desire to control everything has gotten in its way. I mean, who wants to develop for a $3,500 headset where you have to pay $99/year for a developer account, and then $400 for an Apple Vision Proprietary Port to USB-C adapter?

The Mac is honestly in the same boat. I saw a YouTube Short of a developer explaining why they dropped Mac Support, and it makes sense. To make an app on each platform you have to:

Windows

Have a PC

Code the app in any application of your preference.

Compile for Windows

Linux

Have the same PC

Code the app in any application of your preference.

Start a Virtual Machine and open the project inside it.

Compile for Linux

macOS

Buy Mac hardware ($600 for the base model Mac mini)

Pay Apple $99/year for a developer account

Code the app in Apple's Xcode

Acquire and add a Code Signature to the app so that macOS doesn't throw a fake error when attempting to open it.

Compile for macOS

If you want to upload your app to the Mac App Store, get Apple's blessing that it follows their guidelines.

Wait at least 24-hours before updates are published so Apple can approve them.

Give Apple a 15-30% cut of any money made from the App.

I used to thing that macOS had shit app support because developers just didn't want to support a niche market, but now I know it's the opposite that is true. Even if Linux has an even smaller market, it's as easy as clicking another button or booting up a free Virtual Machine and then clicking said button. You can use all the same hardware and programs. It's literally free to compile for Linux, and it expands your user base.

Meanwhile, for macOS, you have to spend a minimum of $700 just to make the app. Then, if you're not an A-List developer, you have to give a portion of your proceeds to Apple so you can put your app on their App Store for the exposure. Who the fuck would wanna do that?

Apple's death grip on their products worked for the iPhone and Apple Watch because they were both relatively new products to their respective category, but in a market where technology is starting to plateau, I'm simply no longer interested in supporting this behavior, mostly because I want to be able to use my favorite FOSS on all my devices, not just the non-Apple ones.

[galacsin]

I have stumbled onto a project promising to grant buyers "real ownership" of their e-books called book.io

From their website:

"Currently when you buy an eBook or Audiobook, you do not own it – you only bought a license to view it. And it’s stuck forever on that retailer’s platform. You can never give it away or sell it. Readers deserve to truly own the digital goods they purchase."

Rant about DRM, Crypto shitcoin bullshit and crypto evangelists inability to understand what owning a thing means under the read more.

Which is true, I agree with the sentiment, but their solution is blockchain theology, and encrypted nfts. I have listened to two interviews with a dev and then with one of the founders so I could understand how their business works. Unsurprisingly they are talking about it as "the future of publishing". The underlying technology might be impressive, but I didn't care much about the details, besides getting the gist of it.

In order to "own your copy", you have to go to a coin exchange to buy your funny money, then you have to have a wallet browser extension to facilitate the exchange of shitcoin so you can get your "NFT book". This is the method recommended by their own FAQ .Every title has a limited amounts of "unique copies" you can mint, (there was talk about having unlimited mints, because even they realize , that having a limited amount of eBooks is counter intuitive to the whole idea of having eBooks.) Most of their catalogue so far are works in the public domain, you can download for free from project Gutenberg and like half a dozen authors I have never heard about, and after seeing their names, will never care about. The site was launched in 2020, I think. Great catalogue, I bet people who prefer eBooks and who have never bought an NFT will just swarm the site for it.

As far as I was able to tell, the price is higher than what you would pay for a book on any vendor website (in some chases twice as much) . Most importantly (this was the point where I was feeling the veins in my brain popping ) You can only read your books in your browser or on the book.io phone app. The website specifies, that this is an anonymous reading app. What makes it so, who knows, but don't worry nobody will spy on you, while you open your very unique copy of Peter Pan, I guess. I would rather open my books in my very anonymous Calibre library on my very private personal computer, but thanks.

Functionally this is no different from Amazon's or Adobe's product, but special web 3 encryption DRM bullshit this time. (The founder called it DRM)

The reason, the very tool which with big vendors like Amazon Apple and Google wish to lock you into their ecosystem is the fucking DRM. I only own a file if it sits in my storage that I own, and can be moved and opened whenever and however I want it to open. If anything breaks in the chain that connects me to the content hosted on the IPFS server, they graciously provide an encryption key for, I loose my file the same way people lost their purchases when Microsoft closed up their e-book store. In other words , I do not fucking own it.

I have already own all of my e-books, I do not have one thing in my possession that has DRM on it. Some publishers/authors do not treat their readers as criminals, and put the books up for sale without it. It is unfortunate that this is not the standard practice in the industry. The rest I had to wrangle the "protection" off myself.

There is of course the usual bullshit with "collectible AI generated covers" and "reselling your purchase" thing going on, but they are a different topic, and are not connected to the topic at hand.

In any chase why are these people obsessed with the reseal value of every stuff they own. They fundamentally do not understand why people buy books, or most consumer products.

[grayson-winters]

[ Rafael Silva | 30 | cis man | he/him ] Hey, look! It’s [GRAYSON WINTERS] at [SNOWCAPS KARAOKE BAR]. Did you know they [WORK] there as a [OWNER]? I guess they’re from [BOSTON, MA] and have been in town for [6 MONTHS], living in [MOUNT ASTON]. I also heard they’re a little [OBSESSIVE], but also very [COMPASSIONATE] which definitely makes sense.

Name: Grayson Winters Age: Thirty  Date Of Birth: June 4, 1992 Occupation: Owner of Snowcaps Karaoke Bar Childhood Home: Boston, Massachusetts Current Home: Mount Aston, East Haven, Vermont + Personality Traits: Creative & Passionate & Quick Paced - Personality Traits: Secretive & Easily Discouraged & Closed-Off Aesthetics: Iced Coffee, Airpods, Ripped Skinny Jeans, Apple Products, Band T-Shirts, Hair Gel, Versace Cologne, & Plaid Height: 6’2" Eye Color: Blue Hair Color: Dirty Blond Relationship Status: Single Sexuality: Bisexual Parents: Hannah & Delilah Winters Siblings:  Shea Winters, Logan Winters, Spencer Winters, Skylar Winters, Coraline Winters, & Sam Winters Favorite Candy: Sweet Tarts Favorite Chocolate: Reeses Favorite Fruit: Pineapple Favorite Vegetable: Broccoli Favorite Dish: Spaghetti & Meatballs Favorite Drink: Bubly Blueberry Pomegranate Seltzer Favorite Alcoholic Beverage: Tequila Seltzer With A Splash Of Cranberry Favorite Movie: 10 Things I Hate About You Favorite TV Show: The Masked Singer Favorite Animated Show: Bobs Burgers Favorite Disney Movie: Aladdin Favorite Pixar Movie: Toy Story 2 Favorite Jewel: Diamonds Favorite Animal: Penguins Favorite Band: Falling In Reverse Favorite Artist: Dua Lipa

Biography: tw; death, tw; cancer

Hannah and Delilah were loving mothers and they loved all of their children equally. They didn’t care whether they were blood related or adopted, it was all the same to them. They were known for fostering kids and then ending up adopting them. Of course they fostered and let some go because they aged out of the system and there was no point or they even went back to their blood families. The two didn’t care what happened, they were just happy to be a part of the journey. 

Grayson was birthed into the family. They got a donor and they were able to do it all on their own. He didn’t know which mom was his blood mom but that didn’t matter. They were both his moms regardless. He was happy to have two parents that cared for him. There were lots of siblings running around the Winters’ house and sometimes it could be considered crazy but at the end of the day they were all family. Grayson was the oldest of all the kids so he didn’t mind taking on the responsibility of the big brother. 

While sports were incredibly important to him, being home and helping his moms out was just as important. If he wasn’t practicing, he was home. He also began to find the love for singing and that’s when he decided to join the choir. And he was good at it too. Him and his one mom, Hannah definitely shared the love of music. Not that Delilah ever got jealous because they could see the two had a bond with one another that was undeniable. However though, some of his siblings became a little jealous of the closeness. 

While Grayson was an athletic kid, and a singer, he was also quite intellectual and he managed to get himself a full scholarship to college for business administration. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with his life, but business covered enough that he figured it was a safe major for him. 

Grayson decided to move to East haven to start his own life and that's where he met Kodiak. He was the man of Grayson's dreams and he thought he was going to spend the rest of his life with him. Unfortunately Kodi became distant and their relationship started to fail so he moved back to Boston to be with his parents.

One day though the family received the worst news in the world, Hannah was sick and there was no treatment for it. It had been too long for them to do anything and it felt like Grayson’s heart was breaking into two. He couldn’t believe the news and it killed him on the inside. She passed not too long after and Grayson remained home so that he could help his mom out but eventually she knew she needed to be on her own and so she told him to go live his life. That’s when Grayson found East Haven and decided to come there and they had a karaoke bar for sale and he thought it would be the perfect homage to his mom. He decided to buy it and he’s been happy about it since. 

[centenarybank]

15 Eye-opening Online Shopping Statistics For 2022

Several further states have lately added online buying as a shopping choice in their state. There are at present no states/territories which have been accredited to maneuver forward however are not but live. But of course in actual life, Nagle admits, “if you probably did that, it might take you all day to go to the grocery retailer.” Disregarding the digits to the best facet of the decimal point allows you to get house and make dinner. Would the price tag be totally different should you lived within the suburbs?

At LOCALiQ, we imagine digital marketing doesn’t need to be complicated and massive objectives aren’t only for huge businesses. LOCALiQ supplies the platform, expertise, and providers you want to attain your biggest goals. The supply zip codes out there are those where retailers are capable of present their full line of groceries, which includes the power to ship perishable objects to that space. We can’t course of each piece of price data thrown our means.

You even have the right to object at any time to any use of your personal info for direct advertising and associated profiling. To discover out more about how we use your personal information and your rights, please see our Privacy Notice. Get early access to all gross online shopping sales, unique content and see new collections before anybody else. To be taught extra about the means to begin qualifying toward special pricing, talk to an Apple Specialist in a retailer or give us a call at 1‑800‑MY‑APPLE.

The pilot will involve a minimal of 5 online retailers in a minimum of three states. The aim is to ensure that the foundational infrastructure necessary for running SNAP transactions online operates in a secure and safe method. Given the lack of capacity to examine merchandise before buy, consumers are at larger threat of fraud than face-to-face transactions.

Savvy hackers could possibly be hijacking the Wi-Fi signal and even establishing their own to trick you into using it. And they'll see everything you do on your cellular system or laptop computer. That means when you sign in to an internet banking account or retailer web site, the hacker will acquire your username and password. If a specific online shopping retailer has a pattern of evaluations that appear too good to be true or lack detail, attempt to verify the source and hearken to your instincts. Some might routinely refund your cash whenever you report an issue with your buy; others might require you to return the product first.

For instance, Hawthorne, a company that sells private care objects for men, uses this retargeted advert on Facebook to seize the attention of previous visitors and direct them back to their site. Unfortunately, no matter how great online shopping your e-commerce store is, 92 percent of buyers aren’t to purchase right off the bat. That’s why it’s important to be transparent about these prices, and provide free transport every time possible.

[designlabpune]

Everything you've ever wanted to know about branding for businesses

Small businesses, non-profits, and start-ups are among our clients. We make our living by bringing the branding and marketing tools and tricks used by big brands and Fortune 500 companies to organisations that cannot normally afford them.

Unfortunately, many people who work with small businesses, non-profits, and start-ups don't seem to understand the principles of branding, and those who do tend to chase money and target big brands and Fortune 500 companies.

Another notable difference I see between marketing professionals who work with big brands and Fortune 500 companies and those who work

Step 1: Research your competitors

Discover what they do well and what they do badly. You need to know what they do well because you want to be at least as good as them. You must understand what they do poorly because this represents an opportunity.

This is referred to as "landscape analysis." It is an understanding of the competitive landscape.

Step 2: After learning about your competitors, articulate what you do differently and better

It's as simple as that. If you can do this, it's just a matter of getting your brand in front of as many people as possible, and there have never been more people or more places to do this in history.

But don't mix up simple and easy. This is similar to the game of Go in that it takes a second to explain but a lifetime to master. This is known as a "value proposition." People will want to work with you, buy your products, or join your organisation because of it.

Step 3: Make it plausible

This is where your story enters the picture. Explain to others why you do things differently and better. However, be cautious: while focusing solely on the story may be interesting and pleasant, if it does not support your value proposition, people will remember you but not buy your products or services or join your organisation.

Most agencies refer to this as a "brand story." That term irritates me because the acronym is BS. We prefer "organisational story" because, when done correctly,

Step 4: Make your name do some of the heavy lifting

Naming is one of the most difficult tasks we face because everyone tries to make it personal. They want the name of their organisation to be meaningful to them. And yes, you can use a personal name. Personal names have certainly been used successfully by organisations such as Walmart and McDonald's, but it's much easier if you make your name meaningful to your customers, as Apple, Nike, and Tesla do.

Step 5: Apply the "different and better" filter to your slogan

A good rule of thumb is that your name is what people remember you by, and your slogan is what sells you. "Think Different," a slogan created by TBWA/Chiat/Day for Apple, is my all-time favourite.

Step 6: Put your logo through it as well

I am not saying a logo isn't necessary. A great logo has the potential to become iconic. It is not your brand, but rather an expression of it. It bears your seal of approval. And when you run the logo through the "different and better" filter, you get something truly unique. Take, for example, the Nike swoosh. When asked what the now-famous swoosh means, Nike co-founder Phil Knight replied, "It's the sound of someone going past you."

Step 7: Create a fantastic website

People frequently ask me why we build websites, and my response is always the same: Because it is frequently the first point of contact people have with your brand, your website is the most important communication tool your organisation has. If you get this wrong, the first six steps are meaningless.

One of the most common mistakes that businesses make with their websites is to use the valuable real estate above the fold to explain what they do or why they are needed.

Treating your website as an infomercial for your brand is an extremely effective strategy. To save space, have the menu at the top tell people what you do, and then use the banner and headline to communicate what you do differently and better. Then, as they scroll down the page, have the next section give another reason why you are different and better, and so on and so forth.

Step 9: Increase your visibility

Another advantage of investing in consistent branding is that it makes your brand more memorable. Customers become more familiar with your company when they can identify it based on physical, visual, and auditory cues. This builds trust, which 81% of customers rely on when making a purchasing decision. Customers' recall and engagement with your content, emails, or advertisements may also be influenced by brand recognition.

Step 10: Employee recruitment and retention

According to LinkedIn, companies with a strong employer brand will attract 50% more qualified candidates 1-2 times faster than others.They will also recruit at a 50% lower cost per hire. Moving down the line, your current and former employees' experiences, as well as how they spread the word, have an impact on your workplace reputation and employee retention rates.

Actively managing your brand is not an option if you want to hire skilled developers and other specialists or keep your best talent away from competitors. It is a

Conclusion

The importance of relatable content cannot be overstated. Understand your target audience and create engaging content that can elicit emotions and help you build a relationship with them.

As you can see, developing your brand does not have to be difficult or expensive. The majority of these suggestions are free or low-cost. You can begin with a small budget and gradually increase your branding efforts as your company grows. To brand your company, follow these seven simple steps:

• Determine your intended audience.

• Develop your value proposition.

• Choose your mission.

• Define the personality of your brand.

• Create brand assets.

• Integrate them into all your channels.

• Maintain consistency.

Brands should be "refreshed" every five years or so, according to marketing industry standards, and your messaging, marketing campaigns, and overall goals will change as your company does. Developing a strong brand, even if it takes time, implies that your target audience can grow and change with you. Please contact DesignLab if you require any additional information or wish to learn more about our services.

[amarabhilash]

Chromebook Laptops

iPad

Which hybrid tablet is best for the back-to-school crowd?

Hybrid tablets can save your life on campus, but which is right for you?

Whether you're in the midst of the oddest school year of your life or you're just getting ready to start, you're going to need a device for your academic activities. Thankfully, shoppingmode Apple and shoppingmode Lenovo both have some solid options for you.

On the Lenovo side, we've got a nifty little hybrid laptop/tablet called the Chromebook Duet. Starting at $279, it comes with both a tablet and a detachable keyboard for any serious work that needs to get done. Staring down the Chromebook Duet is Apple's latest entry-level iPad, a 10.2-inch tablet with a full suite of Apple apps and services, and a higher price tag ($329 at bare minimum).

Both may be tablets with fully functional keyboard accessories, but their differences outweigh their similarities. If you're scratching your head because you can't figure out which tablet is best for you, allow us to help.

Which tablet has the best display?

Whether your dorm roommates are hogging the TV or you just don't feel like getting out of bed, it's reasonable to assume that you'll eventually use either the Chromebook Duet or the shoppingmode iPad to watch movies or TV. After all, why get a tablet if not to take advantage of its bigger screen compared to a phone?

In this regard, the Chromebook Duet and shoppingmode iPad are fairly similar, but one just barely takes the top prize.

Lenovo's tablet has a marginally smaller display than the iPad at 10.1 inches, with a 1900 x 1200 resolution and 400 nits of brightness to keep things looking relatively sharp and readable. ("Nits," by the way, is the unit of measurement for brightness. If you didn't know that before, you learned something new today. Congratulations!)

Those are pretty decent screen specs for a sub-$300 device. Unfortunately for shoppingmode Lenovo, shoppingmode Apple has it beat with the pricier shoppingmode iPad. Its 10.2-inch display is bolstered by a superior 2160 x 1620 resolution and 500 nits of brightness. It's (slightly) bigger, sharper, and brighter.

Winner: shoppingmode iPad

Related Video: shoppingmode Apple has a lot of new products, so we ranked them

Which tablet has the better performance?

The Chromebook Duet is a largely excellent little device, with a battery promising 10 hours of use that should get you through a whole work or school day before it needs to be charged again. Unfortunately, moment-to-moment performance is one area where Lenovo's enticingly low price rears its head.

As I mentioned in my review, the Duet always feels like it's hovering at or slightly below the speed limit without ever kicking things into high gear. You can absolutely use it for daily web browsing or school tasks without encountering huge problems, but it never quite feels buttery smooth. Open too many tabs and it'll probably slow down a bit.

It's just hard to compete with Apple when it comes to performance. The relatively old A10 Fusion chip inside the basic iPad means it won't be on par with the newer iPad Pro, but the general smoothness that you get with any modern Apple product puts the iPad over the top in this category.

Winner: iPad

Are the detachable keyboards any good?

There are plenty of small differences between these two tablets, but Lenovo and Apple have one major breaking point as it pertains to our comparison: The Chromebook Duet is meant to be used as a laptop, while the iPad can be used as one. This difference is key to understanding which one is a better purchase for you.

Specifically, the Chromebook Duet comes packaged with a keyboard that attaches magnetically and includes a trackpad for mouse movement. The keyboard is a little small in order to accommodate the meager size of the tablet itself, so people with larger hands should be prepared to screw up while typing as they get used to it. Aside from that, it does the job admirably.

Apple's problem here isn't one of build quality so much as one of availability. The regular iPad doesn't come with the Smart Keyboard attachment, as Apple charges $159 for the privilege of having a keyboard at all. That keyboard, by the way, doesn't have a built-in trackpad. Instead of turning the iPad into a laptop, it turns the iPad into a tablet with a keyboard. Still extremely useful for plenty of day-to-day tasks, but Lenovo is just a little more committed when it comes to keyboard support.

Winner: Chromebook Duet

Okay, so tell me: Are there any special features?

The largest software difference between the Chromebook Duet and the 10.2-inch iPad lies in their respective operating systems. Your personal preference here could go a long way to determining which tablet is right for you.

Lenovo's device runs on Chrome OS, like all Chromebooks. It's a Google operating system, meaning you'll use Chrome and Google's related suite of apps for everything. If you already live a life centered around Gmail, Google Drive, Google Calendar, and Google Meet, you'll fit right in here. It's all built-in, and if you log in with your Google account, everything you have in cloud storage will be immediately accessible.

Of course, the iPad runs on iPadOS. It's like the iOS that fuels your iPhone, except for iPads. You get access to all of Apple's fancy features, including app multitasking and FaceTime. It's worth noting that a Chromebook can multitask, too. But on the software level, whether you're bought into Google's ecosystem or Apple's should factor into your decision.

In terms of hardware features, both tablets support styluses like the HP USI stylus for the Duet or the first-gen Apple Pencil for the iPad, but neither comes packed with one in the box.

The biggest advantage Apple has in this category, and the reason it has to win, is SIM support. The iPad can connect to cellular networks if you're willing to pay at least $459 for it. That's huge, especially on a campus where WiFi might not always be ideal.

Winner: iPad

So which tablet offers the best value?

We like Apple products around here, but even the most devoted Apple-head has to acknowledge that you pay a premium to get the company's hardware. In simpler terms, sometimes Apple charges a little bit too much for things. Lenovo, at least in this case, didn't do that.

The Chromebook Duet comes in two configurations, a 64GB model for $279 and a 128GB model for $299. Otherwise, the two models are the same. It's a fantastic price point for a tablet that doesn't pack in a ton of processing power but is more than strong enough to act as a daily portal to the internet and word processors.

We can't really say the same for the iPad. Its $329 starting price is pretty great for an Apple tablet, but that's just for the 32GB version with no extra features. If you want 128GB of storage and cellular network coverage, it balloons all the way up to $559, which doesn't include the cost of getting a keyboard. That's not exorbitant by tablet standards, but it's almost twice as much as the most expensive Chromebook Duet configuration.

Lenovo dunks all over Apple when it comes to value.

Winner: Chromebook Duet

The Verdict

The Chromebook Duet and 10.2-inch iPad are different products that serve slightly different audiences. Lenovo's offering is weaker as a pure tablet, but Chrome OS and a packed-in keyboard and trackpad turn it into a decent little schoolwork machine that you can slip into a small bag. It's also truly affordable, giving users plenty of versatility without bankrupting them.

Apple's basic iPad is a worthy contender by most standards, too. The screen is brighter and sharper than the Chromebook Duet, and Apple always makes sure its devices have quick and breezy performance. SIM support is also clutch, especially on a campus, but the price jump might be too much for some students to handle.

Unfortunately for Apple, the iPad's advantages aren't enough to offset Lenovo's wins on value and school day functionality. The Chromebook Duet can get you a lot more storage, and a totally usable keyboard and trackpad for much less money. The iPad might be a better device overall, but for people who need a little laptop that won't get in the way or ruin their day, the Chromebook Duet is tough to beat.

Winner: Chromebook Duet

[praveenjohny0]

Best Practices For User Experience Design

The Importance of a User Centered Design

How do you feel when you use an Apple product? Most will say that they love using their iPhone, iPad, or whatever Apple device they have. Apple products are designed to be intuitive and create great experiences. According to the iOS 7 developer library, Apple’s latest operating system embodies a design with three themes: deference, clarity, and depth. These three themes focus on the user and helps us understand and interact with content. With all its products, Apple understands the importance of a user centered design.

Discover the Best Mobile Application Development Company

On the flip side, have you ever ridden around on a Segway? You may have seen some tourists doing a city tour on these electric vehicles. It can be fun for a little bit, but then you might start feeling a bit exposed to traffic and the pavement. Steve Jobs once commented, the Segway was supposed to make us rethink and redesign the way we built our cities. The Segway was an engineering marvel; unfortunately, it wasn’t designed to live up to its potential. Riding a Segway can be dangerous and in an ironic twist, the product caused the death of James W. Heselden, the owner of Segway after he rode it off a 30-foot cliff in 2010.

Ok, so what is the common theme between Apple and Segway? Both companies used technology and design to create a product, but Segway didn’t consider the user when designing its product. The Segway can’t be ridden on the road, will not keep you dry if it is raining, and you can’t even carry anything while riding one. Even though the technology was interesting, people didn’t know where they could really use it. The Segway taught us a lesson on the importance of creating a user centered design with your application, product, service, etc.

Find out the Experienced Web Application or Website Development Company

What is User Experience and What Does It Mean?

With that in mind, how do you get the most out of your design interactions? To understand this, you will need to understand what the user experience or UX means and its importance. The user experience focuses on people, thinks beyond digital solutions, and is how technology creates a holistic experience that ties all the points that a user comes in contact with together. UX is not wireframes, an interface or UI, usability, and not just about technology. UX initially began as something that “encompasses all aspects of the end-user’s interaction with the company, its services, and its products” (Nielsen Norman Group). The term has since evolved and now considers the holistic experience around a software product. In addition, user experience design and experience design are melding together since artifacts and their environments are becoming increasingly integrated. The user experience involves the offline as well as the online experience and spans over digital, physical, and service-based interactions.

User Experience Design Best Practices

To design a great experience that is centered around the user, we recommend checking out some of these best practices:

Reframe the problem in human terms

For your research, check out what fringe users are doing (ex. Why is the user the fastest to learn the software?)

Gather your insights and find themes and structures that the problems fall in

Try to come up with solutions to these problems and start creating prototypes

Learn more about Leading Software Development Company

[greyslogic]

Mac game store app..com

Mac game store app..com android#

Mac game store app..com download#

Or look at Russia, where alternative methods of mobile payments represent more than 75 percent of total revenue for some game developers. In Brazil, for example: Local payment method, Boleto Bancário, represents nearly 30 percent of local online transactions. The functionalities of providing local payment methods become obvious when looking at the fastest growing markets. Based on this, to make big money on a game or app does depend on the ability to accept multiple forms of payment A recent report by Javelin Strategy & Research noted that 46 percent of global online consumers have used an alternative form of payment within the past year, in lieu of a credit card. If you plan to release your game or app to a wider international audience, various payment methods need to be taken into consideration. There is also no restriction regarding what payment methods to offer the end-user, which is actually quite a big deal when you utilize the app store – after all, not every country relies on credit cards such as the U.S. The developer has the freedom to integrate and market their games with the audience that developer would want to attract. Internet, or browser-based games, allow developers to produce their product as they see fit, not as it fits Apple or Google. Will this mean the end for smaller game studios in the current app economy? So, for a 99 cent app, well, you do the math. The current cost per installation offer is between $1 to $2. With the App Store and Google Play set to reach 1 million apps each, it's natural to project that having a greater selection will drive competition for the shelf space and increase user acquisition costs. This has become increasingly difficult and especially noteworthy with Apple's infamous booting of AppGratis from iOS. Therefore, your app might not be compliant based on policy changes, which puts you at risk. Understand the App Store barriers realize the market is shiftingĪt any point App Stores have the right to alter or refine their policies. Without any in-store feature or promotion from Google and Apple, 30 percent of revenue is significant, especially considering the odds are stacked against you.ģ. Allow for 30 percent of profits to be taken upfrontĪpp stores will keep about one-third of your earnings, which may not seem that bad until you realize the actual costs of developing and marketing your own product. At the end of the day, if your application doesn't perform well enough to cover user acquisition costs, you'll simply run out of money.Ģ.

Mac game store app..com download#

In other words, you have to continue to buy traffic (users) to download your application.

Mac game store app..com android#

In reality, Top Charts in both Android and Apple Stores are so dynamic that keeping lucrative positions will require significant investment. Unbeknownst to many, there's a gatekeeper who controls the subsequent fate of developers.Īnother common misconception is that organic growth will bring you to the top. The key is to appeal to the store content moderation teams that manage digital shelf placement. The remaining 5 percent are catching the attention of consumers and proving its worth to investors. Unless the developer has deep enough pockets to invest in marketing, the sad reality is they'll fail 95 percent of the time – mainly for not demonstrating a reasonable return on investment. Be prepared to invest in marketing, OR plan to add it to your daily tasks It's a harsh reality for developers to consider from the get-go, so be aware of the following inevitable challenges you may face.ġ. They're downloading cool games, discovering new tools or simply perusing the vast marketplace for the hottest finds. Worldwide, hundreds of thousands of people access app stores every hour - Apple boasts 400 million user accounts alone. It's a recipe for success, right? Unfortunately, many developers expect that by submitting an Android or iOS application, it naturally attracts millions of users. App stores with millions of users, and a huge appetite for products, seem to provide the perfect ecosystem for game developers.