#working on tags while my stream is buffering

[dream-in-a-jar]

BBC Merlin - S5E6 "The Dark Tower" live blog(-ish)

Ominous title, I like it

Morgana up to her shenanigans again and Merlin reassuring Arthur that they'll find Gwen -> we are so back!!

I'm worried Morgana is giving Gwen poisoned water but lets give her the benefit of the doubt for now...

Oh she's humiliating her :(

Where tf did that desert come from, I dont think we've seen this landscape before

Uhmmm looking at the landscapes I actually think shes very far, Arthur 😭😭

Noooo not the tortured screams, poor Gwen 😢😢

Elyan must be rly worried and filled with guilt too

Is it just me or have the night scenes become darker since S1? Not that its a bad thing, stuff is still visible, I just feel like night scenes in S1 through S3 perhaps? almost looked like day lol so the more pronounced darkness/blue tinge is a bit unfamiliar

Ooooh the snake bites poisoned them and gives them nightmares

Gwaines dream sounds nice ngl Id love a cheese tasting like apple pie (?)

Ewwww yucky stuff, is that one of those roots again?? Mandrake root or smth?

Oh poor Gwen :((

Arthur: It's dangerous at the Dark Tower, I'll go there alone. All the knights: Yeah, bet.

I think this is the first time Arthur actually would have allowed Merlin to turn back lol (and also the first time? maybe? that Merlin doesnt say he wants to turn back)

Yeah that forest does look quite impenetrable

Gwaines having beef with the vines and the others are looking at him like "are you good mate? ఠ_ఠ"

Holy fuck that scared me

Free my girl Gwen, she doesnt deserve this horror :((

How the fuck did those branches break an entire sword whatㅡ

Also not sure if you can actually tell north from south by the saturation of ivy leaves but it sounds like it could be true and thats dope

Sudden ominous music???

Oh now shes seeing visions of Merlin scaring her as well :((

Morgana you're a cruel woman

I dont think they've actually gone in circles, I think the forest is tricking them... Im not convinced that that sword is broken either ngl

Merlin is the team morale atp

"Food always makes me feel better." YOU PUT HER IN THIS AWFUL SITUATION 😭😭😭 also this table looks massively unappetizing what with the 500 cobwebs and shit

Morgana sweet-talking Gwen as if she isnt the one putting her through torture..... oh, how I miss the days of their friendship :'((

Hang on, rewind, when was Morgana shackled at the bottom of a pit for two years?? I lowkey dont remember that?? Like its in-between seasons presumably but which seasons?? After S2 Morgause takes her away and (I assume) takes care of her and teaches her sorcery and at the end of S3 Morgana takes Morgause away and uuuh idk what theyre doing then but I dont see who would shackle her in a pit? And at the end of S4 Aithusa revives her but after that we dont know what happened to her, right? Plz help ;;

Oh not the snakes again? Merlins instincts woke him up, bless

The FUCK is this now??

"I am the spirit of [...] all the places that bring despair to men's hearts" Ok she's kinda iconic

Wait what does she mean one of them will not return. Hello???? QUEEN MAB COME BACK, DONT LEAVE US HANGING 😭😭

Oh no, now Im scared that one of the knights will die :( ...but I choose to believe that Gwen is safe (for now)

Merlin needs a degree in bullshittery lol

Love that they trust him tho <3 ㅡ and he can use his minds eye now 👀

Ayeeeee Merlin the GOAT lead them safely through the forest !!

Prediction: When the knights (+Merlin, I count him as one of the knights) do eventually arrive, Gwen wont believe its actually them at first bc of the visions she keeps having

They've gotta stop with the jump scares oh my God, its almost midnight here and I need to sLEEP later

Morgana talking about them being friends... My Lady, do you see the irony here?

Ooooh my God that was close!!! We're not losing Merlin, I know that 😤 Don't play games with me, writers!!

The pale light of the apparitions is so spooky... and the evil laughter echoing, aaaaah gives me the creeps!!

Ok so if the tower isnt real then how are they gonna get inside? And how is Gwen inside?

The scenes with Gwen in the room and the screams and laughter and echoes and apparitions are actually so well-made, the production rly came a long way I think

Morgana is using some manipulation tactic Im sure, put Gwen through terrible agony and then comfort her and act like you want to help her and repent for your actions?? Uhmmmm sus

Yeah she wants to pull Gwen to her side :/// the others taunt her BC THEYRE NOT REAL 😭😭 Gwen dont fall for that plz, you know better than to believe Morganas lies :((

My smart Queen, I hope they get to her fast before Morgana does actually kill her :((

Smh Arthur you should know to trust Merlins instincts by now

Oh shit Percival!! I wonder if he's the one who will die :((

Elyan stay safe plz :(( considering its a British show... it's likely they'll kill him before the others (no offense but I feel like in DW black characters are often the first to die)

Uhmmm random floating sword?? Ok.

I wonder if the Gwen Elyan sees is also an apparition?? Bc I dont think Gwen would act like that upon seeing her brother coming to rescue her... I do think she would probably think he's not real at first

Oh fuck.

The floating sword struck Elyan but he tricked it into flying out the window?? Oh shoot it came backㅡ but I think its stuck in the door now?

Nooooo Elyan dont die :((((

Still not convinced this is Gwen.... maybe its Morgana, with a spell to look like Gwen???

Nooooooo cmon Elyan, Im sure you've survived worse :'(((((

Oh no its the sad soundtrack, he's a goner :'((((

And it turned out to be the real Gwen after all, sorry I doubted you Queen

Elyans funeral :'(((((

Poor Gwen, she went through so much :'((

Wait where is she goingㅡ

Wait !!!!! Gwen is actually on Morganas side now????? That cant be real D: she must be enchanted, right??? Or broken bc of what Morgana did to her, but theres no way thats our Gwen, right? :((((

Whew what an episode!! Poor Gwen went through it and switched sides apparently, and Sir Elyan died :((( Will continue watching tomorrow hopefully, to see what shenanigans Gwen will pull now...

[atalossofwords]

YOU TASTE THE SILVER - IvanTill WIP (Part 5&6)

And we have two more POVs on this one! I was posting just one at a time to give myself a buffer to posting on AO3, but I wrote more than I expected haha.

That's right! The first chapter is now up on ao3 on this link. Please come by and leave some kudos!!

part one - part two - part three - part four

Things move on smoothly for Till. He's used to his new apartment, his set-up is pinterest-worthy if Hyuna has anything to say about it, and he's even opened his PO box again, warning his fans to only send letters and small packages, since he really enjoyed reading what everyone had to say.

(He's actually working on a collage of sorts, decking out one wall of his office with the letters. He always feels warm, looking at them. Kirby sent a really cute letter full of mongmong stickers, Bonbon's kid drew a really cute crayon rendition of his dad peering at his phone while vacuuming, and Jaewoon sent about 5 different drawings he treasures greatly.)

Leaving his PO box open, however, also means Navi has been sending a never-ending stream of little gifts. Almost none of them come with letters, or if they do, they're brief and printed from a computer. Apparently, since Till only comments on the contents of the gifts if he happens to wear them on-stream and said viewer comments on it, Navi decided that's the perfect excuse to spoil Till without making him lose his composure on-stream.

So far, Till has gotten; a new sweater, a varied collection of rings, a bundle of cellphone charms after he commented the string he looped through the case to hold his phone in case it falls frayed away.

Apparently, Navi also managed to walk around the "small package" limitation by sending gift cards for several stores. Till had no idea furniture stores even did gift cards.

He felt… sort of warm. If it was just an old man looking to spend his money or lure Till in, they'd probably insist on more diamonds or expensive stuff, right? Or insist Till comment on the gifts live, if it was some sort of sasaeng looking for attention.

Navi never did any of those things. After the diamonds, the gifts were never something Till would consider super expansive, unless you counted the frequency of them. The rings were silver, but none had jewels, the phone charms looked like something Till himself could get online, except the tags on them showed they were bought in Taiwan. The gift cards were weirder, but nothing more expensive than what Navi would donate over the course of one or two streams.

That is, until this latest gift.

Till stares at it, feeling the bottom of his stomach give out. He's in his kitchen, back from a supermarket run after he picked his latest batch of letters. He was going to read them while he ate lunch, but he feels 0 interest in his food right now.

He's holding two tickets for Mizi's concert, in the VIP section. One of those that comes attached to a meet-and-greet.

Clipped to them in an inconspicuous pink paperclip is a note.

I don't know if you got tickets for yourself, but I won these and will be out of the country at the time. I hope you can enjoy them with someone else. If the staff needs any information about the VIP status, here's my number. (xx) xxx-xxx. - Navi.

It is a handwritten note, written with a black pen in a hurry, so much so Till has to squint to make some of it out. The handwriting looks like someone who's not used to writing, with lots of places where the pen left marks as it hovered over the page without gliding, except the signature, which looks practed and neat.

Till has no idea what to do about this.

He calls Hyuna.

"Hi, I'm live." She answers, and he swears. He forgot to account for her streaming hours. He must sound agitated enough it worries her, because there's the sound of a few buttons being pressed, probably muting herself. "Till?"

He takes a deep breath.

"Sorry, I can call later." He says, putting the tickets down carefully and taking his lunch to the sink. He won't finish it.

"It's fine, what happened?"

"Navi sent in another gift." He can practically feel her rolling her eyes equal parts exasperated and relieved.

"Till, if you called me to fawn over your potential sugar daddy–"

"It's two tickets to Mizi's concert, VIP, with a meet-and-greet. And a number to contact if there's problems getting in." He says quickly, interrupting her. He runs one hand through his hair, starting to get stressed. Is this a trick? Is Navi going to be waiting on the seat besides these, corner Till in the show? No, they wouldn't send two tickets if this was the case.

"Holy shit." Hyuna says, entirely surprised. He makes a little agreeable noise. "Holy shit, Till, these aren't just expensive, they're like, hard to get. Did you message them yet?"

Till shakes his head, then realizes she can't see it. "No, I didn't call or message. Should I?" On the other side of the line Hyuna makes a tsk sound.

"No, don't call or message it. Let me finish the stream normally, and then we can look into it, okay? You said two tickets right? If you decide to go, take me or Isaac, and it should be alright." Till hums his agreement, and lets Hyuna go to finish her stream. It's a good plan, Hyuna can and has punched guys who harassed her, and Isaac is built like a brick house, no way a weirdo is getting close to him with Isaac there.

Dewey is probably a bad idea, he's more likely to punch first and ask questions never.

Till sighs, puts the tickets back on the envelope and goes take a bath, hoping it'll help him relax and maybe bring back his appetite.

Ivan is taking a water break from rehearsals when his phone chimes with a notification from an unknown number.

He immediately feels dread, did his number get leaked? He sits up, putting his water bottle down and opening the message.

Unknown [ 3:24PM ] Is this Navi?

Ivan blinks at the message, not understanding it for a long second. And then he is hit with the memories of staying up at night some days ago, reviewing the footage from the day's shoot and going over the script time and time again, because his performance was horrible and the whole scene had to be scrapped and he was so frustrated, and…

And Sua sent a message asking if he'd meet her for Mandated Lunch Time before Mizi's concert next month, and he remembered he couldn't make it since he'd be shooting that day, and he thought.

Till likes Mizi. Ivan has Mizi tickets.

He doesn't even remember what he wrote on the damn letter, oh god, did he sign with his name? Plaster his address on it??

This is fine. Ivan is fine. He asks one of the fight coordinators for five minutes and heads into the bathroom.

You [ 3:25PM ] Yes, who is it?

Better to see what they know before saying anything incriminating.

Unknow [ 3:25PM ] This is Till. Did you really send me Mizi tickets? How did you even get them?

Okay. Deep breaths, Ivan. You can do it. Say this is Navi, you really sent the tickets and that it's no big deal, and you got them… How did you get them? You can't say your real name, and saying you bought them for Till would sound weird, these really are expansive.

Ivan takes a deep breath, and sits on the toilet's lid, crossing his legs to rest his elbows on his knees.

You [ 3:26PM ] Hyung, you always said you liked them, and I happened across these as a job perk. I'll be out of the country, so it was no problem to give them to you.

Unknow [ 3:26PM ] A job perk? Even if that's true, they can't have been cheap. I've already told you, there's no need to keep wasting money on me.

You [ 3:27PM ] It's not wasting money, hyung. I really enjoy your lives, and it makes me happy knowing you're enjoying yourself. I work in the industry, so I know some people who are much less talented than you with a lot more opportunities. I just wanted to give you something to enjoy.

Ivan's fingers are flying over the keyboard before he's even conscious of it, indignation flaring up in his chest. Till works so much, he produces and sings and plays the guitar and drums, he writes his own lyrics, he's so incredibly talented and it makes Ivan furious to know he doesn't see it.

Ivan's been in the spotlight since he was a child acting on toy commercials, met even more people when he and Sua acted together as the twins of a famous singer on a period drama, and there's so many of these so-called "idols" that have a pretty voice and body and nothing else to give. So many actors bank on their looks and have 0 dedication to the craft. It makes Ivan livid.

You [ 3:27PM ] Hyung is so hard-working, and I really wish you'd see it. Your music deserves to be sold on albums and people should praise you so much more for how good your lyrics are. The people I work with don't put half the effort Hyung does, and they get to go to shows and afterparties all the time. I just want to let Hyung see his Idol and have a good time, since I won't use the tickets anyway. Is that bad?

Ivan is… breathing hard. He's somehow lost his cool. He watches as the three dots appear and disappear, and decides to get up. He exits the stall, splashes some water on his face, combs his hair back. Does a breathing exercise his mother taught him and Sua when his father and Sua's mom were fighting, and looks back at his phone.

Unknow [ 3:28PM ] Thank you. I'll enjoy the show.

Unknow [ 3:29PM ] Can I still message this number after it?

Ivan lets out an entirely undignified squeal, and almost does a little victory dance, all previous frustration wipes clean. Till wants to keep talking! Till isn't rejecting him!! Ivan has Till's phone number!!

You [ 3:29PM ] Yes! Hyung can message me whenever <3 I'll do my best to answer!

Unknow [ 3:30PM ] Great. I'll let you know how the show goes, then.

Ivan may be getting ready for a heart attack at the tender age of 22, but he's never regretted anything, in his life, ever.

part seven

[music-industry-updates]

Common Mistakes in Video Optimization and How to Avoid Them

In today’s digital music landscape, videos are an essential part of an artist’s promotional toolkit. They provide a powerful medium to convey stories, enhance music, and connect with audiences visually. But simply creating a high-quality video is not enough. For your video to reach its full potential, especially across multiple platforms, it needs to be properly optimized. This guide will walk you through the crucial steps to optimize your music video for maximum performance on platforms supported by Deliver My Tune.

Understanding Platform Requirements

Every platform has its own set of video requirements. Whether you’re distributing your video to YouTube, Vevo, or streaming it on social media platforms, understanding the unique demands of each service is essential to ensure your content is delivered in the highest quality.

Platforms like YouTube typically recommend a resolution of 1080p or higher for optimal quality, while others like Instagram may prefer videos formatted for mobile devices. On platforms where mobile-first audiences dominate, such as Instagram and TikTok, videos in vertical formats (9:16 aspect ratio) perform better. Meanwhile, YouTube and other desktop-centric platforms thrive on landscape formats (16:9).

Apart from video format and resolution, understanding bitrate requirements is crucial. High-bitrate videos result in better quality, but may also lead to longer buffering times on slower networks. Finding a balance between quality and speed is key for a smooth viewing experience. Each platform has its guidelines regarding optimal bitrates, and sticking to these recommendations ensures your video is always presented at its best.

Best Practices for Uploading Videos

When uploading your video, there are several technical considerations to keep in mind to guarantee that it meets the platform’s standards and performs well. Let’s break down the main points:

Resolution: As previously mentioned, resolution matters. Aim for a minimum of 1080p (Full HD), which provides a crisp, clear image on most devices. For those who want the best possible quality, 4K (2160p) is now widely accepted, but make sure that the platform you’re uploading to supports 4K playback.

Aspect Ratio: Different platforms call for different aspect ratios. For traditional music videos, a 16:9 aspect ratio is often ideal for platforms like YouTube, Vevo, and Facebook. Meanwhile, social media apps such as Instagram Stories and TikTok work better with a 9:16 aspect ratio.

File Format: MP4 is the most widely accepted format across platforms, thanks to its combination of high-quality video and relatively small file size. Make sure your video is in MP4 format, and use the H.264 codec for compatibility with most streaming platforms.

Compression: When uploading, use a compressed video file to avoid excessively large file sizes that could impact upload speed and buffer times. However, it’s important to compress without sacrificing too much quality. Tools like HandBrake or Adobe Premiere offer options to reduce file size while maintaining high resolution.

Ensuring Consistency in Metadata

Video optimization goes beyond just technical specifications — it extends to how your video is presented through metadata. Metadata includes the title, description, tags, and other relevant information that help platforms categorize and surface your video to the right audience.

Title Optimization: Your video’s title is the first thing a viewer will see. Make it compelling, descriptive, and clear. Avoid clickbait, but do ensure that it’s engaging enough to encourage a click. Including keywords in your title can help with search engine optimization (SEO) and improve your video’s discoverability.

Tags and Keywords: Most platforms allow you to tag your video with relevant keywords. This is especially important for making your video discoverable in search results. Include both general tags, such as your genre or video type, and specific tags, like the names of artists, songs, or themes featured in the video.

Description: The video description offers a chance to provide additional context, promote your social media links, and offer more information about the song, video concept, or the artists involved. The description is also a great place to add keywords to enhance SEO.

Thumbnail: Don’t underestimate the power of a good thumbnail. It’s often the deciding factor for whether someone clicks on your video. Use a high-resolution, captivating image that accurately represents your video content. Text overlays on thumbnails, especially ones highlighting the video’s theme or song title, can also help attract more clicks.

Cross-Platform Considerations

One of the greatest challenges in video optimization is ensuring that the video performs well across multiple platforms. When optimizing your music video for Deliver My Tune’s supported platforms, ensure that you’re not just tailoring the video to one platform’s specifications but considering the broader distribution.

Mobile vs. Desktop Optimization: With more users consuming content on mobile devices, it’s important to ensure that your video is optimized for smaller screens. This includes paying attention to aspect ratios, video file sizes, and thumbnail visibility on mobile.

Playback and Buffering Issues: A large video file size can cause buffering problems for users with slower internet connections. Ensuring that the video is compressed without losing too much quality is critical for offering a seamless viewing experience on all devices.

Platform-Specific Features: Some platforms offer additional features like closed captions, end screens, or cards (on YouTube) that can further engage viewers. These elements should be considered part of your overall video optimization strategy.

Conclusion: Key Takeaways for Seamless Video Distribution

Optimizing your music video across multiple platforms may seem like a daunting task, but by following these best practices, you can ensure your video performs well and reaches the maximum number of viewers. From choosing the right resolution and format to perfecting your metadata and ensuring cross-platform compatibility, every step plays a crucial role in how your video is presented and consumed.

Remember, Deliver My Tune supports a variety of platforms, so staying consistent with your video specifications and metadata can help guarantee your music gets the visibility and engagement it deserves. By taking the time to properly optimize, you’ll improve the chances of your video reaching a wider audience and creating a lasting impact.

[keefiswhoiam]

January 29 - 2024 Monday

11:04pm

5/10

This morning I picked things up and vacuumed real good. I made spam and spicy ramen for breakfast which might have bit me in the ass later. I tried watching some Band of Brothers before stream but I couldn't finish a whole episode. On stream I warmed up with commission sketches and finished the YCH for Tag. Since my usual cartoon site was down, we watched Barbie A Christmas Carol instead. Towards the end I worked on Pink's drawing. I was having fun and didn't want to end but I had to. After stream I uploaded the pics and remade my NSFW commission sheet since Google forced it to be private. For lunch I made pasta shells with sauce and meatballs. My tummy was feeling weird around this time but I ate anyways. I was trying to finish that episode of Band of Brothers but I literally had to buffer more than I was watching so I gave up. I tried joining David's VC while working on today's request but I was kinda irritated and my tummy hurt so I left. I didn't enjoy drawing a pokemon for the request and it kinda came out bad. Afterward instead of working on projects for an hour, I was trying to figure out how I could re-organize all my ideas before my therapy appointment. My tummy hurt bad but it calmed down before appointment time. We talked a lot about work and my relationship to it. We also discussed how I could keep getting out of my social comfort zone. For the next 2 weeks the thing to focus on is continuing to make the work/play distinction and trying to do something entirely for my pleasure without considering the payoff. Just after that I did Just Dance with Daisy and really tried to get into it. I got the most tired I've ever been from JD because I went hard. When she moved downstairs, we watched a short Chris Chan reading and some out of context barbie while she painted her nails. Then she played a little Zelda and found the last 2 gorons which only resulted in getting a 4th bottle. In bed I played Kingdom Hearts for awhile and beat the Halloween world.

Im stressed because of how hard it is to to be myself and figure out how to have fun again. I also know it takes time.

[captainxsassafras]

Showered in Love

E voila! My first piece of filth (hopefully of many, regardless of how long it takes my dumb ass to write it!)! I have no excuses, no reason other than I just want to take care of one (1) beautiful, dumb birdbrain. In whatever way possible. But we all came here to be horny, so horny it is! 🤣🤣🤣

But seriously, I hope you enjoy this entirely self-indulgent smut! I tried to keep the reader pretty neutral physicaly and focus more on the feeling, but please let me know if you notice anything there I might have missed or that I could improve on! Ask or dm, just please be respectful and polite! I'm new so I'm sure I have ways I could improve and I'm open to editing/updating to make it more inclusive! 💗

Warnings: explicit, handjob, shower sex, very subby Keigo, nipple play, body worship (?), real tender smut, comfort sex

And here you go! Tagging some people who might be interested!

@queensynderella @heyitswhiplash @lovekeigo @keilemlucent @keiqos

It had been a hard day.

Not for you. Your day had been ordinary in every sense. Nothing alarming or even really exciting had interrupted the normal scheme of your work schedule. You had arrived home a bit tired, but in an innocuously pleasant mood and put an easy to make casserole in the oven before working on the various little chores that helped keep the apartment clean.

You had been in the middle of moving the laundry from the washer to the dryer when he’d come in.

He had used the window.

That wasn’t ominous by itself. He used the window more often than not. The large window with the spacious balcony had been a must have when the two of you had bought the place and was a much more frequent feature of take off than the intended front door to the place. You probably would have been more concerned if he’d actually used that door.

Ok, that wasn’t true. You were just making morbid mental jokes to ease your own tension.

You weren’t scared.

You were worried.

You were sad.

You were hurting.

Because… he was.

An anxious little ball was twisting knots in your stomach. Crinkles marked the edges of your eyes as you turned off the oven and stood at the counter, contemplating his arrival.

He didn’t call out to you when he came in.

That should have been the first clue.

Keigo always called out to you when he arrived home unless he knew you were already asleep. It amazed you that he was constantly excited to see you when he got home. The light in his eyes traveled across his entire voice and even lightened his voice, taking his normal boyish sarcasm and lifting it to almost child-like wonder. The happy way he greeted you made your heart dance like a butterfly every single time.

But he didn’t this time.

He’d surprised you. You’d nearly jumped out of your skin when he first walked by. Silent as a ghost, you’d only noticed the movement out of the very corner of your eye and adrenaline had shot through your veins. You whipped around into a low stance, ready to fight God and the universe if they were attacking you in your own home. But God was nowhere to be found.

Keigo had stood, frozen to the spot, looking at you with blank eyes and an uncomprehending expression. It felt like the world had stopped. Not in a figurative, emotional sense. He had just been so still that you weren’t sure the world hadn’t stopped with him. You stood, unmoving and waiting for Keigo to move. Say hello. Give you a hug. Anything.

He didn’t.

And you knew something was wrong.

“Kei,” you’d breathed, moving to rush over to him and engulf him in your arms.

“Dove.”

You stopped.

The strangled, heavy sound of his voice sent a shiver down your back even now. God, it grated on your heart. Simultaneously beaten by an unspeakable harshness and weighed down by all the abyssal truths you knew he carried like Atlas.

Without another word he’d passed by, red wings trailing on the floor behind him in evidence of his exhaustion. That was… different.

The click of the bathroom door closing had broke your heart to pieces.

The sound of the shower starting was normally soothing, but today it was just another layer to the tension that had swept into the apartment on crimson wings.

And now he had been in there for twenty minutes.

Keigo was not a long shower person. Didn’t like wasting water. Which was a convenient excuse to shower together, but also how he really felt about it. He was just too impatient and showering wasn’t one of those things he liked to devote his sparse time to.

But he was still in there.

With pursed lips, you took the casserole from the oven and found a spot in the fridge. Another night. The dryer was started and before you could let the hurt surrounding Keigo scare you off, you went to him.

The bathroom door opened noiselessly to your touch. A waft of steam wet your face and you could feel the intense heat of the room within seconds. A purring, mechanic whirr from the fan masked the sound of the door closing, but you were sure Keigo knew you were in there. His feathers wouldn’t have missed the vibrations of the door, even dampened by the buffer of the water.

You were quiet as you undressed. Eyeing his clothes piled randomly across the floor, you went to the cabinet in the corner and brought out something you’d been saving for a treat. Tender eyes flicked to Keigo.

A spike of worry knotted your chest.

He hadn’t moved since you’d entered the bathroom.

He was just standing, water colliding with his bare skin and streaming down his frame to join the small pool at his feet. You wished you could fully appreciate the sight of his naked body. You wished you felt better about being able to see drop after drop caress every plane and curve of his skin. He was so gorgeous.

But your heart wasn’t in the heated looks you wanted to send.

You entered the shower slowly, taking care not to slip on slick tiles. The extra treat was deposited on the shelf full of soap, shampoo, and other hygiene products.

He was so warm as you slipped your arms around his torso and molded your body into the curve of his back. Your hands clasped, pulling him close. And for a moment you just stood, as close physically as you possibly could be. It didn’t feel like enough. His mind was far away still, lost in the echoes of some terrible, terrible secret he could never tell you. Soft cadences of breathe left you drowning in the feeling of him, letting your mind drift away from the thoughts of those secrets and bringing your own worries back to the very real man held so closely before you.

Keigo often complained about his lack of height and how he wished he had more back muscle, but you loved the lean, corded muscles. They were perfect to you. You also loved the fact that you could lay your head perfectly into the curve at the back of his neck and murmur into his ear.

“Hey there, feathers.”

He pooled into your touch and the tension drained away with those wandering rivulets of water. It wasn’t completely gone but the edge was softened. It was a butter knife now, useful but it wasn’t going to cut you for getting too close.

“Dooove.”

This time, when his voice came out strangled it was less… heartbreaking.

“Yes, love?”

No answer. Maybe he needed a bit of help.

“Do you need something.”

A single, slow nod.

You breathed into the feel of him. “Do you need me to take care of you?”

Oh god. The tiniest, strangled whimper kissed your ears as Keigo nodded again, leaning back into your frame. The shower-wet feathers of his wings pressed themselves into your body. You could feel them against every warm, vulnerable inch of flesh. A quick shift left your wandering fingers trailing downward across his abdomen dangerously. Feathers ruffling against your body had you biting your lip and holding back a moan. Those fingers found the wet, curled hairs that framed his groin and the moan ripped free, settling on the weight of anticipation. The feathers on his wings positively shivered while you traced the tight swoops of those golden curls. You knew them well, but still loved twirling your hands through them. A bit more wiry than the hair on his head, they were still surprisingly soft and springy. Keigo assured you he loved your own curls, but the downy feel of his never ceased to make you the slightest bit jealous.

Wet flashes of red spun out the corners of your eyes as his wings shuddered and shifted against the onslaught of your hands teasing through Keigo’s hair. He cried out as your left hand reached up to card through the wet hair on his head. You matched the twirling of each hand, one at his brow and one at his groin and groaned loudly into the crook of his neck. His feathers were dancing against your skin.

Fortunately, you weren’t the only one making noise.

Pain mixed with pleasure as you kneaded your bottom lip. You reveled in the sweet, sweet noises that left Keigo’s throat with each tender swirl of your hand. They were soft, high, and so very needy. So very perfect.

“Keigo.” You placed gentle kisses into the space behind his ear. “I’m here to help, to take care of you. But I need to know what you need.” More kisses. “Do you want me to wrap you up in a blanket and feed you your favorite food? Or do you need to fuck this out?”

A moan escaped that was dangerously close to a whine.

“Ohhh, I love it when you cry for me, babe. But I need your words right now.”

“Fucking.” His words were full of heat and light with breathlessness.

“Ok, love. What kind? Fuck me senseless?” You paused, waiting for a reaction. Nothing notable. Your tongue found your lips as you considered your next words and the actions they might lead to. “Do I need to take care of my good boy?”

He went still. The sound that echoed across the empty bathroom tiles was the stuff of fantasy. You felt yourself clench and knew at that moment exactly what he needed.

“Mm, ok.” You moved away and delighted in the way Keigo’s entire body followed, trying to sink back into your hold. “I’ve got you. Let me take care of you, love.”

And he stayed where he was, so still you couldn’t believe it save for the heaving of his chest and nearly imperceptible trembling of his wings. You placed a kiss to the edge of his feathers and reached blindly behind you to grab the treat from before.

He sighed into the contact.

It wasn’t anything quite that special. Just a body wash that you knew Keigo particularly liked. The smell always had him burying his head in whatever piece of skin was available, to fold himself in the scent. It had been backordered for several months and you’d gotten your hands on it as a surprise for your lover. You’d planned to bring it out on some sort of special, happy day, but today it seemed like the perfect little surprise to pamper him with.

Covering your hands with the gel, you encompassed him again and started with washing his shoulders. Gentle hands smoothed over hot skin and worked at the tight muscles.

A gasp ran through his body when the smell reached him.

“Dove, you’re spoiling me.”

Hands slid to his back, carefully avoiding the sodden wings. Those got a special treatment and didn’t take well to body wash. Not friends with the mundane, human hygiene products.

“And?” You nearly sang. His tight ass was next and you knelt behind him to take your time carefully washing down each leg. Every curve and crevice was gently attended to. He whined as you swept your hands within touch of each area he wanted you to stroke most. Naturally, you pulled away as soon as it seemed like you might actually touch him there. Deep melodious laughter filled the spaces between his high, endless keening. You could tell the moment he felt your breath smoothing over the supple curve of his ass. The resounding whines cut off abruptly and the intense, broad heaves of his chest quickened and almost fluttered.

You hovered.

He stopped breathing entirely.

You began to stand and as you did, you placed a sweet, yet scorching kiss to the soft plane of each beautiful, taut, trembling ass cheek.

That earned you a whiny, desperate laugh. The chuckle choked off as soon as you melded into his body again, hands sliding around to cup his pecs.

You breathed into his ear and with each gentle word, your hands swept across his chest in ever tightening circles, slowly closing in on the sweet little jewels at the center. “If I’m taking care of you, it’s my job to spoil you. Don’t you think?” Tender fingers found his nipples, already pert and ready, and rolled the little buds in soapy circles.

His moans strangled and stuttered. Grasping hands reached back, clawing at something, anything, to hold to. He needed an anchor. He needed grounding in the midst of every bit of mind-numbing pleasure roiling and writhing through his weary nerves. He found your hips and clung like a man drowning, gasping for air and up to his head in a river of luxuriant ecstasy. He never wanted to surface again. He would drown in this flood of euphoria if you’d let him.

You slowed with his nipples when you felt his hips begin to make messy, haphazard, not-quite thrusts into thin air.

You knew without a doubt that your beautiful bird could and would cum right here without a single bit of direct stimulation to his cock. He was so worked up, you could see clearly in your mind the moment he’d burst, spreading hot cum all over from just the endless, maddening rolling of his nipples. It made you clench and squeeze like mad just to think of it.

But that wasn’t quite what you wanted. And you could tell it wasn’t quite what Keigo needed. Ok, you thought it wasn’t the right thing for him, but you felt like you had a pretty good grip on what this wonderful man needed at the moment. And he had put his trust in you. He had given over to you the gift of taking care of him. He had surrendered the responsibility of deciding himself what he needed and given that to you. You would never betray that trust by doing something you didn’t think was to his direct and utmost benefit. Or to his highest pleasure.

Your boy trusted you and you were going to take care of him thoroughly.

Previous conversations and past experience had revealed that, while the nipple orgasms were overwhelming and utterly consumed him with rolling, trembling waves pleasure, they weren’t as wholly sating as direct stimulation. They left him boneless and weak, but not finished.

You wanted him absolutely wrung out.

Those half thrusts quickened and you left his nipples alone.

He was too overwhelmed to even complain.

“Good boy.” Wandering hands ventured south. “My sweet, wonderful good boy.”

His head lolled back and wings twitched weakly at the feeling of your fingers in his curls again. However, you didn’t linger in those cute little whirls of hair for long. You had a prize to find.

And find it you did.

He was so hard you couldn’t help but bite your lip in excitement. Deep, reaching breaths wracked his torso as your hands moved down his cock at a torturous pace. As it was, several seconds passes before you found your way to the very tip. God, he was leaking. Mapping out the contours of his gorgeous, aching cock, you felt around the head and spent the time to rub at the slit as slowly as possible. Back and forth, over and over, relishing the tiny, twitchy thrusts that accompanied the motion.

A long, shaky, drawn-out whine from Keigo filled your head and you nearly lost it as the feeling of a fresh spurt of precum met your thumb.

“Oh, oh. My precious, precious boy. You like that so much, don’t you?”

“Yee-eeees!” Without warning, his hips canted forward just the slightest creating friction across the tip.

Oh, that was enough. He was ready to burst and deserved the reward of a full-force orgasm. What a magnificent, wonderful man. And he was all yours to equally ruin and cherish with each maddening stroke.

Without warning, you began the move your hands up and down the length of his cock.

Keigo’s reaction was instant. The long, never-ending whines raised in pitch and shortened, creating a rhythm in time with your stroking. His breathing became chaotic, devolving into a staccato mess of sharp, desperate gasps and bone-deep, shuddering exhales that reached into your core and drove you wild. And through it all, his wings pitched in erratic, arrhythmic twitches he couldn’t even begin to control. Starting at the top, where you nibbled and teased the sensitive skin connecting back to wing, they ruffled and writhed in waves all the way down to the feathers at the very tips.

It was a wonder to watch, but your attention was soon drawn back to his face. You could only see the edges standing behind him, but you knew your bird and you knew what he looked like when he was lost like this. His faces were rapturous. Brow scrunched, eyebrows tilted up. If his eyes were open, they’d be lifted skyward like he was praying to some unknown god of divine ecstasy. If they were closed, the corners would be crinkled. Every now and then, they’d crinkle even more, squeezing tight as he was undone by his own body. His head was angled back, leaning against your shoulder. He was too encompassed by the feel of your hands on his cock to keep his head up. But that was ok. More than ok. He didn’t need to keep himself up. That’s what you were here for.

His mouth was hanging open. That you could see. Soft, lush lips slack and loosing the melodic aria of fucked out whines to cascade around you like a filthy sonnet.

Those adorable, overwhelmed whines reverberated through Keigo and into your frame, consuming your mind with the sensuous joy of utterly ruining the gorgeous man leaning against you. The one struggling not to fuck himself into your hands. He was so good.

“C’mon, big boy, move for me.”

And he did, like the perfect man he was.

God, you loved to see him fuck himself senseless into your hands. You loved seeing him drive himself to that ultimate high while you got to coo praise into his ear and feel the way he throbbed and thrust with each tender, adoring word.

One of your hands left his dick and returned to torture his nipple.

God, you almost came right there.

Everything synced.

The stroking of your hand across the length of his aching cock, the squeezing of his sensitive, budded nipple, the endless, rasping circle of reaching breaths. The instant your hand found that pretty little bud, the thrusting of his hips shifted into a circular, full torso roll. They undulated in an involuntary, uninhibited dance of fucked out delirium. And the uncontrolled twitching of his wings changed to match, exactly, the rhythm of his hips. They beat in overwhelmed circles perfectly in sync with the smooth, svelte, seeking roll of Keigo’s hips into the tight grip of your hand.

And then he was lost.

He shattered. He was consumed.

A thousand pieces of brilliant, fiery, piercing pleasure shot through him and wrapped around his very center. A glorious flood overtook his senses and it was all he could do to stay upright with each roiling wave stronger than the last. Hot, white cum shot out and coated the shower wall and floor, rope after rope arcing with the crest of each radiant spike of pleasure.

As for you?

You came almost in unison, the orgasm a pleasant surprise. When Keigo came, his wings went utterly wild; shivering, shaking, twisting, ruffling, writhing. The sudden friction of unexpected stimulation combined with the height of desire you achieved from driving Keigo to Nirvana pushed you over that knife’s edge into a slow, deep, yet surprisingly powerful orgasm.

And there the two of you were, both glued to each other, hips undulating in a carnal dance of mind-numbing orgasm until finally, finally the two of you slowly began the careful descent from bliss. You buried your face in his neck and focused on the sensual feeling of two bodies moving against each other, labored breaths adding extra friction in the aftermath. Warm, milky cum gushed over your hand. Keigo’s cock was still oozing and his hips still jerking in tiny, uncoordinated rolls.

Humming into his skin, you relaxed into the cool down. That was so fucking sexy.

You let go of his softening dick before he could accidentally overstim himself. Not tonight.

However, you couldn’t help but keep your hand on his nipple, twisting and peeking down to see how his hips jolted weakly with each tweak of the perky bud.

You clenched as you caught sight of his softened cock spurting little bursts of seed with each tweak.

After a minute or so, you let up. It was time to let him come down.

But you didn’t let go of him. Instead you wrapped your hands tight around him, reveling in the feel of his breath slowing. A final, deep, shuddering exhale had him leaning back against you, completely boneless in your tender arms.

“Dove.” Keigo’s head turned and he leaned his forehead against yours. “Thank you,” he breathed against your skin.

“Mmm, don’t mention it.” Tired arms squeezed a little tighter in their embrace. “You all good? Or do you need to be fucked up a little bit more?”

His chuckle danced through both of your bodies. “I’m good, lovebird. You got me real good.” He wiggled around to face you. It was his turn to circle you in his arms, pull you close, bask in the way you molded to his body, melting into his hold. He kissed your hair and the two of your stayed that way for a while, spent and sated and utterly content together.

Keigo broke your silence, low voice weaving through the sound of the shower and caressing your ears.

“You know what I am good for though?” He paused, but didn’t wait for a real response. Which was good, because you hadn’t planned on anything beyond a wordless grunt. “You, me, some delivery, no clothes, and the fluffiest blankets we own.”

You hummed into his neck.

“Lights down low, we eat some food, then we snuggle together as close as two people can without fucking.”

A peal of laughter caught the tired edges of your voice. “Ah, you almost made that sweet.”

He spluttered. “That was super sweet!”

“Almost.”

“Entirely.”

“Mmm.” You dipped your head without warning and took his sensitive nipple into your mouth, pulling at it lightly with your teeth.

Keigo’s entire body spasmed, still sensitive in the wake of his earlier orgasm. His dick twitched against your torso as he groaned deep down inside his throat.

“Careful, babybird, or I’ll ruin you again.”

He whined at the pet name and crushed your body even closer.

Looks like he wasn’t as fucked out as he thought.

Your lips twitched in a small smile as you grabbed his ass, pulling him almost unbearably tight against you, and continued teasing his nipple with your teeth. Grinding slowly on his hardening cock, you drowned yourself in the sublime sound of his resounding moans.

[chibirenamon]

A Hearth's Warming Buyout (Chapter 1)

Fandom: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

Rating: T

Keywords: F/F, Rarity/Applejack, Gilda/Rainbow Dash, Twilight/Trixie, Comedy, Romance

Read it on: Fimfiction, Fanfiction.net, AO3

Summary:

It's the week before Hearth's Warming, and Rarity and Gilda are being sent to Ponyville. But their mission involves less holiday cheer and more "buy the entire place, then bulldoze it to secure a promotion". Applejack of course has a few (impolite) things to say about this plan, even if she can't quite will herself to hate the unicorn in the expensive dress. And Rarity and Gilda are not the only ones with an agenda...

Notes:

Soooooooooo. Way back in January 2020, @earthsong9405 was working on one of my commissions on stream (this one for Rock The Carousel, to be precise), and I joked during the sketch phase (before the violin was added) that "Successful-but-tired manager Fluttershy is checking her mails on her phone before going on a business trip during Christmas (a Hallmark movie)". For some reason, my dormant plotbunny army interpreted that as a request and immediately got to work. The idea refused to go away, and so I started to write it. And while the fic is not finished yet, I built up a hopefully sufficient buffer to be able to post about a chapter per month from now until next Christmas.

This is going to be a long one... and also a silly one where I allowed myself to just have fun. You can check the "chibi's mystery project" tag to see some snippets of future chapters to get a taste if you like.

Temporary cover art by Earthsong - this is actually "just" a character piece for it, but (a) it's GORGEOUS and everybody needs to see it because holy heck, and (b) Earth is on a (slightly involuntary) Christmas break, so the proper cover commission will go up with one of the next updates.

[fbaccountsselling]

Importance of Social Media promoting

Importance of Social Media promoting

Social media promoting provides your business with one in every of the foremost direct lines of communication beside your audience potential. having the flexibility to connect with customers, answer their queries and address their issues in real time is valuable, particularly whereas customers ar disbursal longer on-line than ever. Before we tend to break down the importance of social media promoting,

let’s discuss some overarching benefits:

If you’re providing groundbreaking merchandise with top-of-the-line client service however your audience hasn’t detected of you, will your business very exist? Technically affirmative – however not at intervals the minds of your ideal patronage. believe however times you’ve created a procurement supported name recognition alone, or what share times you’ve aforesaid “I simply saw an advert for that on Facebook!”

Having a broad digital footprint is correct for businesses of all sizes altogether industries as a result of it will increase your complete awareness on the web and on the far side. whenever a social media follower shares one in every of your posts, your business is being place directly prior their distinctive social network, exposing your complete to new populations World Health Organization won't have discovered your business otherwise. this sort of fast and widespread organic exposure would value a wonderful deal of it slow and cash to duplicate through alternative promoting mediums, however social media affords it to you at very little to no value.

It Puts You wherever Your Customers are

Approximately several folks use social media worldwide, that variety is foreseen to grow to most by 2025. whereas it’s exhausting to say uncalled-for to mention , one might create associate degree enlightened guess that your business’ web site in all probability isn’t receiving three.8 billion distinctive visits once a year .

“Build it which they're going to come” doesn’t importance apply to businesses. Instead, meet your audience wherever they are . customers utilize social media to make enlightened getting selections, notably with relation to the manner a complete interacts with their followers at the side of reviews left by previous customers. Some social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram even enable e-commerce businesses to connect their look to their profile. This simplifies the sales funnel by enabling customers to make instant in-app purchases. It’s necessary to note that your business doesn’t essentially ought to have a presence on each social media platform, however a lot of on that later.

It Provides You With Insights

How do you really skills impactful your digital promoting efforts ar if you don’t have the numbers to back it up? fortunately, you’re in luck – most social media platforms offer businesses with the analytics behind their posts.

What: What quite posts ar liked , shared and commented on the foremost oftentimes – photos, videos or text-based?

When: Do your posts perform higher or worse hoping on the day or time of day they are posted?

Where: ar your posts generating interest throughout a selected state, region or country?

Having these analytics offered provides you with the valuable insights required to tailor your social media promoting campaign around what’s already operating and wherever there is area for improvement.

Which Social Media Platforms ar Right For My Business?

Not all social media platforms ar created equal. As antecedently mentioned, your business will not fancy having a presence on each social media platform offered. Before you produce associate degree account on each social app at intervals the app store, let’s take a deep dive into four social media powerhouses to figure out which could be the foremost impactful for your business needs:

Facebook

What It Is:

When you think about social media promoting for businesses, Facebook is maybe the first platform that involves mind. With 2.8 billion users each single month, Facebook is unarguably the foremost common social media platform at intervals the planet. what is it that makes Facebook therefore popular? There ar several factors that contribute to Facebook’s world success, however one in every of the foremost impactful ones is it’s temperament to evolve to satisfy the wants of its users. Facebook has evolved so much on the far side the primary days wherever the app’s primary purpose was to stay in-tuned with previous classmates and distant relatives. Today, Facebook users believe the platform to remain up with the news, watch video amusement and inform their getting selections.

Why It Matters:

Facebook provides businesses with a large platform from that to connect and act with current and potential customers. There area unit sixty million active business accounts on Facebook as of 2019. As if that wasn’t reason enough to trust change of integrity, 2 thirds of Facebook users admit to visiting a district business’ Facebook page a minimum of once each week . Simply put, if your business isn’t on Facebook, you will be missing out on virtually several potential customers.

Vary Your Content: one thing that sets Facebook apart from alternative social media platforms is that it isn’t glorious for one kind of post – it really will host virtually each kind offered. From text posts to picture posts and video posts to live streams, Facebook provides your business with a large chance to examine the waters with the forms of content that resonate along with your audience. Vary your content, and keep tabs on your analytics to establish that of them generate the best possible engagement and click-through rates.

Twitter

What It Is:

Twitter is that the last word platform for short-form content. With simply 280 characters at your disposal, Twitter is supposed throughout the way that encourages compendious electronic messaging at a fast hearth pace. usually|this can be} often a winning formula for his or her 326 million monthly users worldwide UN agency use Twitter to remain up with breaking news stories quite the opposite platform. Like Facebook, Twitter is free however offers users the selection to amplify their reach through paid advertising.

Why It Matters:

93% of users UN agency follow a whole on Twitter conceive to purchase from them, and sixty seven of them have already. That’s large. Secure a follow on Twitter, and your business is nearer to securing a conversion than on the opposite social media platform. Twitter is especially helpful for B2B corporations, and seventy fifth of B2Bs utilize it already. this implies if your business isn’t interacting along with your audience there, your competitors most likely area unit.

How To appear the fodder Well

Post Often: The period of time of a tweet is simply concerning eighteen minutes – the shortest of any social media post. this implies if your company solely tweets once per day, you are allotting yourself however twenty minutes to make a unforgettable impression before your message is buried. Social media powerhouse Buffer suggests five tweets per day is that the sweet spot to maximise your visibility while not turning off your followers by posting too ofttimes.

Engage along with your Followers: The informal nature of Twitter provides businesses with an opportunity to act with their customers a lot of|much more|way more} informally than they might on more structured forms of social media. This opens the door to humanizing your whole. often check the “mentions” section of your notifications possibility, reply & retweet any post wherever your company’s handle is mentioned. simply confirm to need the time to with expertise craft your response before you respond – you'd presumably dream of obtaining your microorganism Twitter moment, however the last item you'd like is for it to be for the inaccurate reasons.

Engage With alternative Brands: Curating the proper Twitter feed for your whole is kind of simply what you post – it’s additionally what you share. If another company links to a motivating web log on their account, retweet it. If you discover a cool piece of interactive content kind of a calculator or infographic, tweet it bent your followers and “@” tag the company that denote it originally. Building this sense of sociableness and familiarity with similar (though not competing) brands at intervals the Twittersphere will increase the chance that they are about to share your tweets reciprocally , that expands your reach to their network of followers.

The importance of social media doesn’t solely reach Facebook, Reddit, Instagram and LinkedIn. Your business ought to have a social media presence on whichever apps your audience spends the foremost time, which could embrace rising platforms like TikTok or Pinterest. Trouble is, several digital promoting agencies area unit unwilling to expand their social media services on the far side the “big four” platforms. If you discover yourself throughout this example, it's about to be time to work with a digital promoting agency with the pliability to expand your social media strategy.

[deputyrhiannonhale]

Nodus Tollens Chapter 1

(A/N and ooc) ok everyone, here is my first chapter to my Far Cry 5 fic with my OC Rhiannon Hale. I've worked really hard on this character and I hope everyone enjoys her and her adventure!

I will add trigger warnings for each specific chapter, but the general triggers are: toxic relationship, canon-like violence, and mentions of abuse.

Also, if you want to be added to the tag list, just let me know!

*****

Two years. That's all the time that had passed since Rhi left Hope County, to go back to Billings to settle her affairs and continue her training to become a police officer. Two years isn't long, especially not long enough for what Earl was telling her about how much had changed.

When she was recovering from her injuries and her step brother Deeter's death, she knew there was a, for lack of better terms, cult settling in the county. She had only had the one run in with a religious zealot, trying to tell her that her loved ones were in a better place, and now she's learning there had been plenty more and they had now been kidnapping people, buying up land, basically taking over.

Right now, she was even watching a video on her phone that got leaked of a "sermon"-Rhi uses that term loosely-where the leader gouged out the mans eyes who had been recording this video.

The streaming video started to buffer and finally cut off and Rhi made a frustrated sound. Earl tapped her knee, an amused smile on his face.

"I know, Unk, no service." Rhi stated on a scoff before he had the chance, as she put her phone back into the depths of her pocket. It was one of the things she didn't care for in this part of the state. Spotty cell phone service, and at the same time, it made her more uneasy this time around. She shook off her anxious feeling, assuming it was just first job jitters.

Rhi looked out of the helicopter, seeing a giant statue of the leader himself; Joseph Seed. 

"Wait...what is his last name?" Rhi asked, her head turning back so she could look between Burke and Earl.

"Seed?" Burke answered, his tone overly confused, and Rhi's blood ran cold causing her to shiver.

No, that had to be just a coincidence, right? Was Seed a common last name? Certainly John wasn't a part of this? He couldn't be...how could he have hidden something like this from her for literal months? Rhi shook her head again. Of course it was impossible. 

She looked down at her right forearm, her gloved hand tracing along the momento mori tattoo her John had given her back during those months. He's not related to this crazy man, she thought to herself, completely galvanized in her decision.

Rhi watched the ground as the helicopter slowly descended towards it, everything suddenly seeming surreal. A religious cult? It's something she'd only ever heard of when watching documentaries, never something she thought she would actually be face-to-face with.

She followed along behind Earl, Burke and Hudson, her head on a swivel, watching all of the Project members sizing them up. Rhi jumped when a dog began barking, causing her to curse under her breath. 

"Goddamnit, calm down!" She commanded herself, even though she had every right to be on edge, the air was thick with tension. Quickening her pace to catch up with the others at the church doors, Burke and Earl were still bickering as Joey touched Rhi's shoulder.

"You'll be fine." She encouraged, Rhi gave her a small lopsided smile before taking a deep breath and walking through the double doors.  

Rhi's heart was pounding, not really from nerves now, but from adrenaline, as the Project members slowly turned in their seats, eyeing the trio as they walked by. Rhi's body tensed, ready for a fight if needed, her eyes scanned the small room, taking it all in and that's when she saw him. Her body had NOT been ready for that.

John.

It had been her John all along. She felt her heart sink to her knees, her stomach was in knots, stinging of tears threatened however a more familiar feeling washed over her: anger.

He seemed just as taken aback to see her waltzing into the church dressed as a deputy, however, John quickly regained his composure, looking away from Rhi, which caused her anger to rise more. Why was he looking away from her? Acting like he doesn't know her? She watched as he moved to stand behind Joseph. She gritted her teeth, her tiny fists clenched at her sides, not even hearing what was being said anymore. She was fully aware of the tension building all around them as the church members gathered, she could hear the voices raising and she could feel her body temperature elevating, her cheeks were warm, her heartbeat was thumping loudly in her ears. All she was focused on was John though.

How the fuck could he lie to her about his involvement with this? Why the fuck did he hide this from her? What the fuck was the reasoning behind it? Or even his approaching her to begin with? The gears were turning a millions miles a minute as she began connecting dots.

John approached Rhi a day after her run in with who she now realizes was Joseph. She was mad and hurt about Deeter's suicide, and she was being irreverent towards Joseph trying to use religion to help her feel better.

Of course.

"John, what the fuck?!" Rhi's outburst was unexpected, causing Earl and Burke to look at her wildly, as she stepped forward, not even looking at them, her hazel eyes only glaring daggers at the youngest Seed brother. She felt Earl place a hand on her shoulder, not understanding how she even knows John Seed personally enough to speak to him like she has. She could see the tall red headed man-he had to be Jacob-flanking on Joseph's right side give John a confused glance, but John didn't take his eyes off Rhi, her nostrils flared at his silence.

Rhi twisted away from Earl's touch, shooting him a quick, don't touch me look, before turning her attention back over Joseph's shoulder to glare at John once more. 

"How could you not tell me about this, huh?" She shouted, waving her hand around, gesturing towards Joseph and the church. "Was it all fun for you? Did you guys have a good laugh at the poor girl who was dealing with her step brother's death?" Rhi continued, her hand on her hip as her free hand was still motioning around wildly. Joseph looked over his shoulder at John, a clear frown on his face, he didn't approve of whatever was going down here between them.

"Rhi…" Earl's voice finally broke through her anger and she turned her glare onto her uncle, but seeing his face, which was a mix of confusion, disapproval and disappointment in her actions, the wrath left her veins immediately replaced by embarrassment over her scene. "Do you want to just cuff him, rookie?" Earl's tone was enough to get Rhi to focus back in what they were here for. Joseph's arms were still extended out to her, her outburst happening so quickly, no one really had a chance to fully process it.

"God will not let you take me." Joseph promised, and Rhi scoffed before she squared her shoulders and cleared her throat, as she grabbed the handcuffs from her belt and clicked them onto Joseph's wrists all while keeping eye contact with John. She could see his jaw muscles flexing and bunching as he witnessed his brother being arrested by the woman he had grown so close too. Jacob looked over at his brother and quickly shook his head, and John lowered his eyes to the floor as Rhi pushed Joseph out in front of her and placed her hand firmly on his shoulder and led him out of the church.

"Sometimes the best thing to do...is walk away." Joseph whispered softly, Rhi just rolled her eyes, and forcefully pressed her hand on his shoulder.

Rhi was so furious at John she barely paid attention to the members surrounding them as she paraded Joseph to the helicopter, she was muttering to herself, as if she was still fussing at John.

"You've grown close to my brother, my child?" Joseph's voice broke into her train of thoughts and she glared at the back of his head.

"Don't call me that." Rhi snapped, rolled her eyes, and she heard him chuckle, tightening her grip on his shoulder. She didn't want his eyes on her again. That intense stare really unnerves her. "Like you don't fucking know." She muttered under her breath, putting emphasis on her lewd word just for him. 

"I had sent him to you, yes, to bring you to us. I could see in your eyes you needed a family to love you unconditionally." Joseph admitted, softly, and Rhi's breath hitched in her throat at his words. 

"Yeah, well, he failed. Now shut up and just walk." Rhi retorted in lame attempt to sound tough, but he had hit a nerve. How could he have seen so much in her? Was she that easy to read? She had spent so much of her life building a wall around herself, she hated to know she was still so transparent, even if it had been noticed during her time of mourning.

It wasn't until they nearly made it to the chopper and a rock being thrown at Burke brought her back to her senses. It all turned into a blur of screaming and Rhi being forced into the helicopter with Joseph and the others.

All she could focus on was the creepy way Joseph was singing Amazing Grace, was this song supposed to be comforting? Maybe it was just his calmness in this distressing moment, she realized then he fully believed God would stop this.

Rhi's body was being jostled around as she tried to hurriedly fasten the safety belt around her waist after shoving away a woman with a shaved head, other project members throwing themselves at the helicopter, trying to pull Joseph out, trying to bring the chopper down? Who knew at this point. Rhi was beginning to panic just as the alarm bells started sounding off as the helicopter lost control as she grabbed a hold of her seat and they all braced for impact.

~~

Rhi groaned and slowly opened her eyes, hearing different voices that were distorted, like she was hearing them from underwater. She was looking around trying to get her bearings, the others were knocked unconscious still, and she touched Joey's neck to make sure she was still alive, she was met with a steady heartbeat and she sighed in relief. Rhi fully snapped to her senses, realizing everything was upside down, and finally looked to where her safety belt was the only thing that was keeping her from being on the upper part of the helicopter. It was cutting into her and she fumbled with it, trying to unbuckle it when she heard Nancy calling over the radio.

"Nancy!" She called out hopefully, reaching out in vain trying to grab the dangling headset before her. "Oh come the fuck on!" Rhi growled out, her fingers were nearly on it when a hand grabbed her wrist firmly. She screamed in surprise as Joseph's visage came into view, his blue eyes focused on her hazel ones intensely as he grabbed the headset for himself. 

It was almost as if static was filling her ears, she couldn't believe what she was hearing as she listened to the exchange between the Father and Nancy...she was in on all of this?! That fucking traitor. Rhi's blood began to boil again, as Joseph leaned in closer to her face.

"No one is coming to save you." A chill shot down Rhi's spine at his soft spoken promise, and she watched him as he was climbing out of the helicopter.

Rhi began to scramble, trying to undo her safety belt but it was jammed. Panic caused a bad taste at the back of her throat as she periodically looked back to the cult as Joseph was babbling about starting some reaping. 

The group came back towards the chopper, grabbing everyone in it, Joey began screaming, trying to get away, as Rhi grabbed onto her leg trying to save her, but it was a worthless attempt.

"EARL!" Rhi shouted, as her hands went back to the buckle at her waist, watching helplessly as her still unconscious uncle was dragged away from her. "UNK WAKE UP!" She was on the verge of tears, as Burke got her attention.

"We gotta get outta here!" He shouted to her and she growled.

"Nah shit!" She spat at him as she continued to struggle, watching as he got free and just ran, her jaw slackened by the fact that he ran off without trying to help her.

A rush of adrenaline got her focused and she finally got herself free and she crashed onto the top of the helicopter hard. She grunted, holding her elbow tenderly before that little voice in her head yelled 'RUN'.

Like a bolt of lightning, Rhi shot out of the chopper, stumbling slightly as she ran towards the wooded area where she had seen Burke disappear.

She had no idea where she was going as she heard bullets whizzing by her head, she ducked and weaved through the trees, her lungs burning as she willed her legs to pump harder. Rhi was putting as much distance between her and her pursuers as she possibly could. There were so many of them and only one of her. 

Rhi came to a drop off that landed her in a small pond. The water was cool against her flushed skin from her run, but she didn't give herself time to enjoy it before she was out and jogging again.

"Hello, is anyone there?" It was Burke's voice on her radio, she pulled it from the clip on her belt, and was about to chuck it into a tree out of pure spite against him for leaving her for dead, but the logical side of her brain told her that he may be her only way of getting out of this mess.

Rhi listened and followed where he gave his location.

Instead of unloading onto Burke all her thoughts of him, she just stewed in it as she ran to find the trailer he was talking about. How could he have left her for dead like that? He better have a damn good reason behind it. Maybe she should have told him she was on her way?

That thought came a little too late as she opened the door and Burke attacked her.

"Hey asshole, it's me!" Rhi shouted, swinging back at him out of instinct, and he made an audible noise and backed off.

"Rook, oh god, it's you." He said relieved and she rolled her eyes, straightening her jacket back out.

"Yeah, it's me. Fuck dude." Rhi understood why he'd attacked her, he did send a message out over the radio, probably an unsecured line and yeah she also realized that she should have told him she was coming. They were both a little at fault here.

Rhi checked the rooms as Burke explained that there was a truck outside and that they needed to get out and back to Missoula before coming back and saving the others. Rhi wasn't 100% that they should leave the others behind right now, but what choice did she really have?

"Ok, I'll guard at the window and if any of those Peggies show up, I'll cover you while you get the truck going." Rhi agreed as she picked up the nearby rifle, checking to see if it was loaded. 

She watched as Burke left the trailer and she shattered the glass with the butt of the rifle, positioning herself comfortably at the window, looking through the scope, she began firing on the cult members that emerged from the woods.

Rhi ducked down from the opening to reload her gun, taking a deep breath to clear the thoughts from her head. She was so worried about her uncle, she knew he could take care of himself, but she just couldn't handle the thought of another family member being hurt. Rhi kept hearing Deeter's voice in her head: 'Just relax. Picture the gun as an extension of you. An extension of your arm. Imagine the bullet as part of you, straight from your arm until it lodges into the target.' She was zoned in when she lined her shot back up, taking a few more out when Burke finally blew the truck horn to get her attention. After popping off a few more rounds to buy herself time, Rhi left her position, breaking another window, she hurtled herself out of the house and into the truck with Burke.

"GET THE FUCK OFF US!" Rhi screamed as she leaned out of the window, firing more shots at the tires of the trucks following them, trying to get the cult off their tail.

"Fuckin' Nancy…" She heard Burke mummer under his breath as she finally sat down in the seat. Rhi took several deep breaths, getting a moment to relax. "Damn, they've blocked the road!" He shouted and Rhi scoffed, wiping the sweat off her brow.

"Of course they fucking have. Just bust the fuck through it!" Rhi demanded, leaning back out of the window, spraying bullets and watching the Peggies scatter to take cover as Burke sped the truck up.

"There's dynamite in the back! Use it!" He screamed at Rhi, who nodded and grabbed several of the sticks as gently as she could, she leaned back inside long enough to get Deeter's lighter from her pocket, lit the first stick, and chucked it into the cab of the truck closest to them.

The Peggies in the truck cursed and bailed from the vehicle moments before the dynamite exploded and Rhi laughed, before a light above her got her attention, she rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated growl before flipping back into her seat, placing the lighter lovingly back into her pocket, patting it before turning to face Burke and pointing out the back window at the helicopter hovering them. 

"Oh fuck me running! They have air support too? What the actual fuck man?!" Burke looked into the rearview and cursed loudly, slapping the steering wheel hard. 

"They're in front of us too!" He pointed out, and Rhi looked in front of them as they were getting ready to cross the bridge that would lead to their freedom. Rhi once again leaned out the window, shooting the man who was manning the mounted gun, but she knew they didn't stand a chance when the bridge exploded and Burke jerked the wheel to the right and they plummeted from the bridge into the river below.

*****

Tagging: @ja-crispea @returnofthepd3 @dieguzguz @shelliechen @f0xyboxes @ramadiiiisme @hopecountygazette (lemme know if you dont want to be tagged)

[secret-engima]

Hello again. I have another question regarding Nox-verse. I was scrolling through the tag (again) and I came across the adopted/adapted hc about death/near death scars noticeably glowing when near the crystal. And I was wondering, how does everyone react the first time Nox and Ardyn are close enough to the crystal for scars(and conspicuous non-scars) to be affected? Does anyone know what that means beforehand, or do the people who know about Ardyns scar figure it out based on context clues?

Ohhhhhhhhhh tricky question. Imma probably ramble buckle up:

-Setting aside the fact that Ardyn and Nox were NOT enthused with the idea of getting within four hundred feet of the Crystal, let alone close enough for the glow, the first sign of it is from Ardyn, because he has the most scars and his brand is more than happy to go off like a lightshow near the Crystal. They see the brand glowing the closer Ardyn reluctantly inches toward the Crystal and Regis’s stomach drops a little. He doesn’t make Ardyn go closer, and Ardyn is relieved to stop just on the edge of the effect, where it ... lights more than just the brand. The Brand is the only one that has a noticeable blue tint even in normal lighting, but this close older things, things the scourge mostly sealed up and ate away the glow of, start to shine too. This was the man who was tortured by LCs after all, a lot of his wounds were inflicted by LC hands if not magic-imbued weapons.

-It makes Regis feel ill, to see so many places where Ardyn glows through his layers and it makes Titus’s mouth thin in suppressed fury. They’ve seen his non-glowing scars, they “know” what Mors did to him (or so they think) but to see it outlined in magic like this is ... it makes it worse somehow.

-Then they notice that Nox hasn’t stopped. He’s getting closer and closer dragged on as if in a daze toward the Crystal, and with each step his magic unspools like heavy fog.

-Every step closer and the place on his back and chest, right over his heart and lungs and vitals, but especially where his skin is conspicuously NOT scarred, begins to glow like a beacon. Far brighter than Ardyn’s, because his was not just one strike to the heart, it was the Royal Arms, each charged with the magic of an entire lifetime.

-Ardyn is the one who bolts forward to catch Nox before he can actually get in touching distance of the Crystal, primally afraid of what might happen if Nox does, but by that point he’s so close Regis can see- can see-

-Blades. Ghostly outlines of blades. Like an armiger but WRONG because these do not spin about his son in Protection-Strength-Memory, these shimmer from his skin and out of his back and chest like some kind of macabre, horrific painting. Every breathe Nox takes makes the chest not-a-wound glow and dim and dim and glow like a faltering heartbeat, every shiver of his son’s lungs make the ghostly impressions of blades and shuriken and axes and maces shift, like they are still stuck in his skin, magic slowly dripping down from where they seem to enter his skin, like blood made of blue crystals, shimmering in rivers down his back and front in streams that are blue instead of scarlet but no less terrible to behold.

-Regis is horrified. Everyone is horrified. The silence as Ardyn gently pulls Nox back to a safe distance is thick with it. With the shock and regret and outrage (who would do this? WHO WOULD DO THIS TO REGIS’S SON?)

-The ornate sword (that looks both familiar and unfamiliar, its outline too hazy for Regis to quite make it out) stabbed straight through the center of Nox’s heart and out the other side takes the longest to fade and all Regis can think of is how Phoenix Downs work and how, if applied soon enough, they will heal the wound in its entirety, leave skin unmarred and good as new.

-Unmarred and good as new.

-Even if the skin was originally covered in older scars.

-Just like Nox and his conspicuous patch of untouched skin where smaller scars stopped short and the shape was a little too perfectly blade shaped to be natural.

-Regis feels like he’s going to be sick, and Clarus and Cor are not any better off. Axis all but vibrates at Nox’s side, spitting furious and holding it back only because Nox has that Look in his eyes, like he’s about to fall into a Quiet Week rather than just a Quiet Day and Axis doesn’t want to tip him over the edge.

-Nox sags quietly against his Uncle as the last ghostly blade slowly fades away, looks so very tired as Cor, ever the one to ask the questions no one else dares to, quietly demands to know what that was about. What that meant (because only the scars inflicted by an LC’s hand glowed on Ardyn, so what does it MEAN that Nox is even WORSE???)

-”There’s a price,” Nox whispers into Ardyn’s shoulder, carefully not looking at anyone in the room, “to magic. The deeper you go, the higher the cost. They ... they wanted me to go deeper. Always deeper. As deep as I could go. But when you go too far ... the price is more than anyone alive can pay.”

-Anyone alive. The implication is so clear Regis wants to break something. Wants to go out and wage war, level mountains, because too many things are clicking into place about his son, about how he always seems to understand his Uncle even though Mors died the same year Nox was born and couldn’t have laid a hand on Regis’s son.

-He knows how cruel the Ring of the Lucii can be. How the memories within can reach out and touch-burn-destroy the living if they so desire, has read the stories of prices too steep and crowns too heavy. And that is with the Ring acting as a limiter, a focal point for them that also serves to keep them in check so that only someone wearing the ring will be within their reach. How much worse for someone who is forced to dive so deep into magic without that buffer, without the ring that was forged after the Founder King rather than before, that they stumble across the place where those memories lurk? Without the Ring to prove their bloodline and keep the worst of the magical memories tempers in check?

-”Who are they?” Axis growls through teeth locked tight together fury. Because Nox would not have dived so deep alone. Even if he had not already admitted as such, there was no way a child could know or want to go that deep into magic. Someone had to have forced him. Driven him and pushed him and tormented him until he reached for every scrap of power his connection to the Crystal could offer and ended up grabbing too much and attracting the wrong attentions.

-Ardyn’s gaze flashes gold before he buries his face in Nox’s hair and Nox still won’t look at anyone as he whispers the answer Regis wanted to hear the least.

-”My family. All of them but Uncle.”

-And oh Regis has to lean against Clarus, has to grip his Shield’s arm with white knuckles to keep from either collapsing or screaming under the weight of his fury. Ardyn glances up for the briefest of moments, eyes an eerie, hateful gold and Regis can see Horrible Truth in the other man’s eyes.

-Nox was had been an orphan before Regis found him for a reason.

-Ardyn was that reason.

-Somehow Regis can’t bring himself to feel regret at the thought of it. Not with this evidence, not with the sudden meaning behind Nox’s not-scar.

-”Don’t make me go near the Crystal again. Please, Dad?” It’s the first time Nox has called him “dad” instead of “father” and in any other circumstance, Regis would celebrate. But right now all he can do is tentatively approach and gingerly wrap his arms around his son and his half-brother both, trying to convey without words that they would never go through anything like that again. Not while he still breathed.

-”Of course, Nox. Neither of you have to go near it if you don’t want to.” And he means it. Blast tradition into the ether Regis is never wants to see ghostly blades in Nox’s body or crystalline magic blood drip-drip-dripping down his shirt ever again.

[the-lightning-strikes-again]

Quarantine Tech Tip: How to Stream Movies/Shows/Videos with Friends and Family Online (no matter how far apart you are!)

Hi, all! Coronavirus continues to sweep the world. One way to keep socializing with your friends and family is to stream content together online.

There’s a lot of different programs that allow you to watch things together in perfect synchronization, and to use text/voice chat while viewing. Some of the basic options include:

https://www.watch2gether.com/ - where you can enjoy Youtube, Vimeo, Soundcloud, and Dailymotion content together, or shop together on Amazon using an integrated chat room. It creates an instant chat/viewing room without registration.

https://www.mycircle.tv/ - where you can watch things like YouTube, Vimeo, Soundcloud, and possibly even twitch.tv together. It creates an instant chat/viewing room without registration. You can create a whole playlist of videos to watch.

https://www.netflixparty.com/ - an extension ONLY for Chrome, which allows you to sync up your Netflix viewing with others and message together while watching. The only downside is that you must have Netflix yourself for it to work, even if you’re just the one viewing. Another issue is that you have to create a new session for each episode you watch. 

https://picarto.tv/ - where you can watch artists streaming as they screenshare and work on their projects. This is not optimized for viewing shows/movies together, but I wanted to add it because it’s fun to watch people draw and interact with artists!

But what about being able to sync up over content available on Netflix, Hulu, or even videos on your own computer desktop?

Over the last couple of days, some friends and I have been testing some of the more agile programs that allow you to have greater control over the websites you can share and the ways you can interact. Those programs include:

Kast: https://kast.gg/

TwoSeven: https://twoseven.xyz/

To stream content, both of these programs require that you 1) sign up with a free account, and 2) that you use certain technology to ensure it functions:  

KAST

Kast is the new version of the old Rabbit app, available at: https://kast.gg/. You can watch movies with 100+ friends online while chatting through voice/video or text. There doesn’t appear to be a limit in terms of what you can watch through this. You can share:

Your entire screen

Any application window (website tabs, desktop programs, you name it--including Netflix and other streaming services that your viewers may not have while you do)

Your webcam

Other advantages:

Kast has several personalization features and supports a lot of languages.

You can invite people by sharing a link to your party room.

Your party room is automatically private, unless you change settings to make it fully public.

You can create multiple parties to enjoy things with different people.

You can add moderators, or kick/ban/block people.

You can access a list of other people’s public parties and search by tags to find content you want.

You can use emoji reactions in chat.

You have a lot of control over how to send or receive sound.

Their privacy policy is pretty expansive with lots of ways for you to contact them.

Kast has a help desk/troubleshooting site if you need it: https://kast.zendesk.com/hc/en-us 

Kast is very quick to show content (very little loading/buffering time)

Its app is optimized for either Windows or Mac.

You can download the app here (recommended): https://kast.gg/download.html

Or if you just want to view someone else’s stream, you can use the web version through a Chrome browser. If you are joining a stream, you may have to sit through a brief advertisement to gain access to the streaming room.

Kast caveats:

You have to be 13 years of age to sign up and use the app, according to Terms of Service: https://kast.gg/legal/Kast_Terms_of_Service.htm

Kast retains the right to use any of your posted content for its own self-promotion opportunities, according to its Terms of Service. 

Kast screens/monitors content according to its Terms of Service, to ensure legal compliance. 

Kast technical disadvantages:

You have to download the app to actively stream content. The web version does not support voice/video streaming—it just allows you to join other streams.

It might not be the most optimized for mobile use. (In testing, my friends and I struggled to get audio to work.)

You may experience some lag at random times. But in general, we had a very smooth, in-sync stream while watching most of a movie. It glitched only once and that was because the movie file itself had a glitch.  

To get movie audio to play for others, your own audio settings as a streamer MUST be set to Computer Audio. So this means if you get pings on Discord, others can hear it. Ideally, you’d also want to use the text-chat function instead of voice while viewing, to avoid feedback issues.

Depending on your tech, you might experience a black-screen when trying to share something. This didn’t happen during our test while using the app and VLC Player/Youtube/Netflix, but Kast does have a troubleshooting section on their site: https://kast.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/sections/360006131691-Video-issues

TwoSeven

Another free streaming service is TwoSeven (or, 27), available at: https://twoseven.xyz. 

TwoSeven is another very impressive service that is entirely based online (no app needed to stream). Once you sign up for a free account, you can easily create a room and stream content from a variety of places, including:

Youtube

Netflix

Amazon

HBO

VIMEO

Personal (files on your desktop)

Web

TwoSeven advantages:

Intuitive, simple interface that exists fully online (no downloadable app required)

Audio/text function works while viewing video content.

You can share your webcam.

Videos stream with high-quality picture.

You can toggle who is able to adjust video controls.

People who receive the link to your stream room do not need to sign up to use the interface.

TwoSeven caveats:

Minors (people under the age of 18) are prohibited in the Terms of Service from using this website.

The service reserves the right to use any of Your Content, according to the Terms and Conditions: https://twoseven.xyz/help/terms-and-conditions.html. I would assume most likely for promotion, but it’s silent on its purposes.

The website reserves the right to kick you for not complying with its rules, but it oddly doesn’t say how it would know. Odds are, it engages in some kind of monitoring/recording of content as well.

TwoSeven disadvantages:

You need to download an extension to get the website to work well with sharing online content outside of YouTube. Otherwise, you may be left in a permanent buffering purgatory.

It’s not optimized for sharing your computer screen; the Personal option requires that you upload a video to share, and the buffering for that can take several minutes.

It requires all users to have accounts on the streaming service that they're using. So if you want to watch Netflix together, each viewer will need an account (or a Netflix profile if your account supports multiple profiles).

It cannot bypass regional restrictions for video content.

We experienced an issue where audio was out of sync with visuals on longer files.

Some people experienced audio issues depending on their headset.

There is no option to make your streaming public. So you’d have to post the link in a public place to drive traffic to it.

It is not connected to any other streams, so you’re unable to join other streaming communities through TwoSeven.

Conclusion

There are always advantages or disadvantages to any service you use. I wanted to share all this to bring awareness to the possibilities, as well as their capabilities and limitations. Nothing’s ever perfect, lol. But I hope this information can help you all find the best streaming service for your interests/needs, and that streaming can help you stay connected with friends and family!

(Note: This post was made based off of personal experiences using the Kast and TwoSeven systems and others. I’m not under any incentive to market these programs, and I welcome anyone to correct or add to my suggestions. Some regions of the world may be unable to access these programs.)

Special thanks to @lunar-magnolia and @weebleswrites for helping me test and @crystal-rebellion for alerting me to the existence of TwoSeven.

[cancerbiophd]

Quarantine Tag

Tagged by @docresa (you tagged my main blog jncera but i’m gonna post it here) and @miss-biophys. thank you both!

I’m not really in quarantine (I still go to lab every day) but I guess some of the questions still apply. Also I want to fill this out so I can tag others bc I’m curious what everyone’s been up to!

Are you staying home from work/school? Nope! We got a waiver to continue on as essential lab research, so I’m still here baby. But I literally only go from home to work back to home again so still sorta in the #quarantinemood.

If you’re staying home, who’s there with you? My husband. He’s exclusively WFH and has become my 1950′s housewife

Do you have pets to keep you company? Our dog Lemmy! (link to pic)

Who do you miss the most? The rest of my family. We just had a stream of March and April birthdays of myself and my husband and a bunch of siblings and it just sucks that we couldn’t all hang out together for them. 

When was the last time you left your home? This morn to come to lab

What was the last thing you bought? A cardigan from amazon that i wanted but probably didn’t need bc something’s got to fill the void

Is quarantine driving you insane or are you finally relaxed? Idk neither? tho I think it’s making me more stressed out because I just feel really terrible for all the bad things it’s causing, like layoffs and people being stuck with abusers, etc. and yes, i know it’s better than people dying but still terrible to go through!

Are you a homebody? Absolutely. My weekend plans haven’t changed too much lol

What movies have you watched recently? We just watched 1917 and Birds of Prey (rented on Amazon). Both are really good!!

An event that you were looking forward to that got cancelled? MY GRADUATION CEREMONY T_T 4th time i cried in grad school

What’s the worst thing that you’ve had to cancel? def the graduation. but other than that.. not much, since i don’t make a lot of plans to begin with lol i’m boring

What’s the best thing you’ve had to cancel? I was supposed to go to an awards luncheon for a fellowship I got and would’ve had to present my entire research in 5 measly minutes and honestly I was not looking forward to making that presentation.

Do you have any new hobbies? No time to make new hobbies :( 

What are you out of? sanity umm nothing atm for personal use. for lab use i’m desperately waiting on some stripping buffer so i can finish my western blots /twiddles gloved thumbs

What music are you listening to? omg when the covid panic was at its worst here in the US mid-march i listened exclusively to 90′s boy band music bc i was seriously craving that familiar sense of comfort. 

What shows are you watching? we’re currently watching Black Sails (just started S2)! is billy coming back :(

What are you reading? Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch and American Buffalo: In Search of a Lost Icon by Steven Rinella (on audiobook).

What are you doing for self-care? A better sleep-schedule, and the majority of weekday evenings off from doing anything work-related (unless it’s super necessary/easy). 

Are you exercising? am i what? i can’t read all of a sudden.gif

How’s your toilet paper supply? good! it just so happened that i had to get more tp right before the panic buying started, so we’re good for a while. and worst case scenario there’s always kimwipes from the lab right

Have you made any changes to your hair during quarantine? no but i wish i had gotten a hair-cut before all this because it is getting waaayy too long. boob-length is my limit!

I tag: @fragileanimal, @cytostorm, @queenofthebench, @immuno-studies, @symbiotic-science, @skinny-little-nobody, @immunologic, @phdstudyblr, @biopsychs, @sacardia, @astoryofej, @fudeh, @nerdgirlnarrates, @quinazoline, @astudyinphd, @scienceshenanigans

[wolfpawn]

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 26

Story Summary - Based on an idea I had that I submitted to Imagine Loki. Imagine Loki was raised on Jotunheim as Laufey’s son after the war, but an agreement was then made that he would wed Odin’s daughter so Odin could secure the alliance of Jotunheim through the marriage. Loki, in turn, was raised to be king of Jotunheim, but how he views Asgard is far different from how Odin’s daughter is raised leading to a clash of cultures as well as uncertainty between the pair of betrothed youths.

Chapter Summary -  The Jotnar barely make it off Vanaheim without incident with Nigel, but something far worse awaits Loki on his return home.

Previous Chapter

Tags - @peppermint-j @damalseer @perpetual-fangirl @tinchentitri @inspired-snowflace @raphaelaisabella @alexakeyloveloki @caffiend-queen @devilbat @nonsensicalobsessions @skulliebythesea @majoringinlife @salempoe @lotus-eyedindiangoddess @rookienumber98 @emily-s1263 @ivytoh

Request if you wish to be tagged

Note - Sorry about the delay with this chapter, I wanted to strike the balance right with time on Vanaheim because the situation with Nigel will be dealt more with in the future. 

The Jotnar were tactical with their interactions with Nigel. They ensured they were never alone in his company and that those who were there as their buffers were not allied to his as personal friends. Thor ensured he was included in the group to assist the Jotnar when he was present.

Ella’s knowledge of Vanaheim assisted the Jotnar in what little talks they had with them. It was not the time for trade agreements, but celebration, though that did not prevent such talks. No sooner did the Vanir realise that Ella had informed her husband of their supplies and their worth, they ceased all pretences and spoke plainly, allowing there to be preliminary discussions and a further date set to address said trade better. Loki thanked his wife for her information, Ella elated to hear she had been of assistance.

The trip to Vanaheim was a successful one, the Jotnar had to agree. It was uncomfortable for them in many respects, the heat was something they had never had to endure before and had Ella not assisted them so diligently with her seidr, it would have been a horrific experience for them, far too hot and humid.

The different customs they learned whilst there were a shock for them also, especially as a lot of them did not make any sense. Loki did note the act of kissing more after Ella pointed it out to him, so too did he point it out to Helbindi, who found himself more intrigued than his brother by the act, even using the fact it was not a Jotnar custom to convince a pretty Light Elf not much older than himself to allow him to learn with her. Loki used the comments Ella made on the Light Elves liking the kiss on the hand to charm a Lord and Lady of Alfheim adequately enough for them to wish to discuss ice for their home with the Jotnar. He realised quickly his wife held information of great value to the realm, even on matters of other realms. He also noted her comments on being a stranger on a new realm rang true. It was harder than he would care to admit, trying to ascertain what was the correct thing to say to not offend, that was the most difficult, more than once Ella had used her seidr to whisper in his ear what would be deemed an impertinence to one realm was a compliment on another and when such was applicable. He also noticed that there was a never-ending stream of people who wished to introduce themselves to him. He never knew who they were, but they knew him and more concerning, they knew a lot about him that he was uncertain how they could know. But again, Ella was in his ear, giving names, titles and realms as they met them, all of them seemingly knowing her, and to his surprise, her knowing details on them, even ones that he would have thought inconsequential. He realised then that her comments on remaining quiet and listening to Thor were solid advice. She rarely said anything on herself, instead, permitting others to speak about themselves, something most seemed more than happy to allow. He watched as she soaked in their information, most of which he knew would never be of any relevance, but nonetheless, she did so. It taught him more of her character as he observed her.

She stood beside him throughout any formal event, the picture of a perfect royal wife in many’s eyes, his own included. He was not blind, he knew she was good at what she had to do, even if their marriage was a complex one. The few nights of sharing a room with her had not been entirely terrible either. She kept to her side of the bed, was quiet and respectful of his space and did not insist on taking over any particular part of the room as he had heard some women were prone to doing. Their shared rooms also had them talk more and in doing so, allowed him to learn more of the woman he was forced to call his wife.

As much as the trip to Vanaheim was good for relations and though they would most certainly be going back in the near future for true agreements and talks, Loki was elated when the day came to go back to Jotunheim. Being gone from his home realm for ten days was incredibly difficult when he had never done so before, it also came with the added strain of being on a new realm that was entirely too hot, the customs were so vastly different, as were the people and to add to his worries, he had a Vanir prince trying to cause issues for them throughout. It was, without doubt, more stressful than even having the Allfather on Jotunheim, at least with that, he was safely at home, here, he was entirely out of his element. Seeing everything be readied for their return to Jotunheim settled his anxiousness substantially. He noted that everything for Ella was readied and boxed before noting something on the top of her luggage. A letter with her name on it in writing he had not seen before. The only reason he had half an inkling whom it was from was because of the large embossed seal on it, showing two ravens and a horned helmet, indicative of Odin's seal. He wondered if the Allfather had truly been ill before the festival or if there was something more to his reasoning for not being there. He knew that the absence of the Aesir royals broke Ella's heart in some manner, she clearly missed her home and family, she confessed even missing Thor some bit through everything so if the Aesir royal had lied if his reasoning for not being there, he knew she would be severely affected by it. The seal had been broken and were he to be so inclined it would be easy for him to read it, but he did not wish to do so. He was trying to build something with her, as Ella had stated, all they had at present was honesty, he would not jeopardise it, not for a letter that he doubted had any importance. Instead, he turned away, thinking of what else he needed to organise for himself.

“Nigel is livid.” He turned to see Ella close by. “Warn everyone.”

“What happened?”

“King Wilhelm found out he wanted to give us a less than pleasant parting gift.” She informed him.

“What did we ever do to deserve this?” Loki felt himself getting angry. “I understand the anger for the war, but this…”

Ella gave him a sympathetic look before gently putting her hand on his arm. “Some people are just asses.” He looked at her. “There’s nothing we can do about them, we can only deal with us. We do not start anything but ensure they rue the day they think to do this. It’s not fair that it is you but you are strong of mind, I fear if he were to go for one less mentally strong. Perhaps that is the only good thing in this.”

Loki eyed her carefully. For a moment, he thought she was glad to feel Nigel was bothering him, but he could see she was worried for him. Inhaling deeply, he nodded. “We keep composure and we go home, away from this monster.”

“Have you everything packed?” She asked.

“Yes, you?”

“Yes, I just need to burn something.” Loki’s brow furrowed at her comment. He watched as she took the letter with her father’s seal on it and it burst into flames in his hands. For a moment, he was terrified she would burn herself, but the flames did not seem to bother her. “It’s seidr fire, harmless to me.” She assured him on seeing his concerned face. “I burn anything with my father’s seal, if someone were able to place it on a document of note, it would cause terrible issues. That and I do not wish to allow people to see private matters between my parents and myself.”

“That is both wise and your own business,” Loki stated diplomatically. “So long as everything is alright.”

Ella gave him a small smile. “It is fine, thank you. Thor had a letter with him from them, simply explaining that they were sorry to not be here. Father is still getting his legs back under him and Mother is dealing with the realm in his sickness. Thor is good at doing it for short periods, but he is still learning, so they rather he does not see it too much now, he will realise it is not as fun as he thinks it is and would be at risk of abdicating.”

“There are days I feel similar.”

“Though you have your moments, you are far more mature than he could ever wish to be. You are ready to take the throne tomorrow, him….maybe in a millennium, with a lot of work on his behalf.” Loki raised a brow. “My father has not even got that left in him, I think, as does Mother, that he is holding on simply to prevent Thor from getting it too soon.”

“I can see his reasoning.” Was all Loki could reply, not wanting to insult Ella too greatly.

*

Loki felt relief surge through him as the cold winds of Jotunheim blew across his face. Beside him, Ella had removed the spell she had cast to not allow the Jotnar feel as hot as the Vanir temperature would otherwise make them feel while also casting one on herself to allow her deal with the Jotunn climate. Part of her was happy to be back also. With everything she and Loki had learnt of one another from their time off realm, she felt there was so much more could be achieved now they were back on Jotunheim. They all walked to the palace with purpose, Loki keeping in stride with Ella, understanding that her shorter legs made things difficult for her, though she never stated anything regarding it.

They made their way to the palace and to their rooms. Ella’s room was the first one so with an arrangement to meet for dinner, she bade farewell and went into her rooms. Loki walked to his own, not making any mention of the peculiar feeling he had as he did so.

He had barely placed his hand on the door when he noted a shadow to his side. “If you still have the energy to come see me on my return, you have not spent the last week well.” He jested as he turned to smile at his older brother. When Býleistr did not return his smile, he frowned. “What?”

“I need to speak with you Loki, in private.”

Seeing his brother look at him so coyly caused Loki to become even more concerned. “Father?”

“Father is fine.” The cold tone which Býleistr used was easily noted. “He and I had an argument this morning. With the manner in which he tore into me would suggest his health is fine.”

Loki sighed and folded his arms. “What did you do this time? Honestly, you are supposed to be the oldest of us yet you are so often the least mature.”

Býleistr glared at his brother for a moment before he thought about what he had to say again. “You know I love you Brother, don’t you?”

“Leist, cease dancing around whatever it is and just tell me.”

“My mate, my new one.”

“Yes, what of her? I have to say, I am a little hurt you did not introduce her to us before now.” His eyes widened slightly. “She is not some poor young creature barely old enough to even have a heat, is she? Please don’t tell me she is barely ceased being a child, ‘Leist, that is terrible. I cannot stand by you for that.”

“No, she is legal, I swear.”

“Then what, you stole her for another?”

“No, not exactly.”

“In other words, yes.” Loki shook his head. “Only you could get into these sorts of positions, Brother. Who was the man she was supposed to mate with?”

“You.” Býleistr could not look at Loki.

“Me?” Loki scoffed for a moment before he realised what his brother was saying. “You mean....?” He rushed passed his brother to his brother’s rooms, his head shaking at what he was thinking. He entered them to see alma, Býleistr’s first mate there, and beside her, not the least bit concerned, was Angrboða.

Býleistr rushed in after his brother. “Loki, I am sorry, Brother, I know it is an unwritten rule, but…”

“There is no ‘But’ for this. This is a betrayal of the highest order.”

“You decided…”

“To tend to the realm over my own happiness, that is what I decided, and this is how my own kin sees to thank my sacrifices for Jotunheim? Swoop in and betray me, like this.” He shook his head. “You are no brother to me, not after this.” His pain blatant as he looked Býleistr in the eye, his agony clear to see as his heart shattered like fragile ice in his chest. Turning to face Angrboða again, she seemed to note his pain too. “You really are the Bringer of Grief.” With that, he turned and left the room.

[coffee-lapin-blog]

the video is uploaded

However, if the bit rate were to become too high, buffering would of course have to be done. At this stage, the original video seems to be played, I've been waiting for this for a long time. A short while ago I was still nagging that one of my videos on YouTube would look like shit because of the bit rate. This plugin has not been tested with the 3 most recent major versions of WordPress. To prevent the Linguee database from being read out automatically, Linguee only allows a certain number of requests per user. HoHoHo, dear Megaherz friends, we wish you happy holidays and a peaceful celebration. TV commercial that ran in the commercial breaks during the individual episodes of "THE WALKING DEAD" - Free TV Premiere, RTLII Season 4. All your video recordings are uploaded to the cloud and saved by your Axis service provider. The truth is, videos are uploaded and removed frequently - either by the user or by the website itself for usage violations. PENDING The video is being queued for upload or metadata is being updated.

The comet tour goes into the second round - duration: 88 seconds

but there is a lot of bit rate used. But I can clearly see how YouTube is reaching its limits with your video. Here also a decrease in the CPU load when loading the video. Clearly jerk-free loading process, which no longer loads the entire CPU with both cores at 100%. Can at least still write here (during the loading process), which was not possible before. Now also video fps while charging, which triggers a real feeling of happiness. Did you finish loading the video? Charging alone can put a considerable load on the CPU.

later set the bitrate pitifully low when it is uploaded because apparently it does that with every vid that is not offered "original".

It's good that the original mode is hardly used yet.

For me, this only seems to happen if the video doesn't run in full screen.

So that's why the costs are nonsense.

IETF voice tags (BCP 47) are processed correctly. This document explains how to embed a YouTube player in your application. Read the upload settings with media info under the video. I just surfed a little bit on Dailymotion. The video was then uploaded to YouTube sometime in February 2018 and became an internet phenomenon. This video shows the paratroopers' advance from the 247th Airborne Regiment in the Donbas (the video was uploaded on October 26, 2014). After the customer uploads the video, it is automatically transcoded, i.e. converted to different video formats and saved in the required formats on the APA-IT streaming platform. The second parameter in the video player constructor is an object that specifies player options. I have already uploaded the video twice because there were artifacts the first time. You can't say that, I think. Because the h.264 codec is also based on motion detection, however, the lower the frame rate, the worse it is with fast movements. I know but want a real demo and see how it works on Youtube. I won't upload much I think.

[ladyfl4me]

A,E,F,G,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,Q,R,S,T,U,V,W,X,Y,Z ;o

Okay *cracks knuckles* let’s go! F, M, and S have already been taken from this list, so feel free to send in... B, C, D, or H, I guess. Yeehaw. This is really fucking long.

A: How did you come up with the title to [TMWCIFTC]? -- It started, as many things do, as a bad pun. The novel The Spy who Came In from the Cold was a cold-war spy thriller, about a British spy who goes over to East Germany as an apparent defect, except he’s actually there to spread misinformation and fuck shit up. He falls in love, becomes disillusioned with his superiors, and is shot dead over the corpse of his lover after climbing over to the east side of the wall. Needless to say, this is nowhere close to what happens in TMWCIFTC. I chose it early on because of the literal meaning: there’s a moth(man), he’s coming in from the cold WV weather, boom shaka laka, we have a title. Over time, though, it’s evolved into another meaning. Indrid himself is coming in from an isolated, lonely existence: he’s rejoining the family that cut ties with him, he’s in love, he’s warm and safe. The moth sure did come in from the cold, and hopefully he stays that way.

E: If you wrote a sequel to [TMWCIFTC], what would it be about? -- Hm. Considering my entire TAZ fic career is a tangled hairball of sequels and prequels, I kind of have this base covered. At the moment, TCOS - aka The Children of Sylvain, the sequel to TMWCIFTC - is about three things: a Pine Guard road trip race against time and the feds, the Spanish Sylvan Inquisition That Nobody Expected (least of all Jake and Hollis, who have to set aside their differences and past conflicts to save Kepler - and who knows, maybe they’ll fall in love along the way), and Alexandra the Interpreter getting woke to Sylvan politics and doing what she can from the inside to change them. In other words, it’s going to be a massive sequel that is the finale of the Amnesty alternate universe I’ve created. It’s this series’ Endgame. (That reminds me, I need an actual title for this collection of stories I’m writing. The “Tin Cinematic Universe” doesn’t quite have the ring to it that I’d like.)

G: Do you write your story from start to finish, or do you write the scenes out of order? -- eh, it kind of depends. It’s like a buffering bar on Youtube videos. I outline what I can until I run out of ideas, then start writing, then add outlines to the end, until the outline is complete and I just have to keep writing.

I: Do you have a guilty pleasure in fic (reading or writing)? -- I don’t have one for reading, but for writing, I fucking love structuring chapters around songs. Classical or otherwise, I love music. All my stories play in my head like a movie screen, and I just do my best to describe what I’m seeing in my head with an accompanying score. It’s not so much a guilty pleasure as it is a writing process. Frankly, I don’t think I actually have a guilty pleasure; the act of writing itself is all the happiness I need.

J: Write or describe an alternative ending to [insert fic]. -- An alternate ending for The Devil Went Down To Georgia would be... interesting. It ended with Boyd-as-Jersey-Devil scaring the pants off some poor broke college kid, who stole his worthless fiddle; then he changed back, and he and Ned went on their merry way to go break into Aubrey’s house and send everything down the drain. If there was one thing that I could change in there, it would be how fast Ned ran. If he ran a little faster, he would have seen the alley; he would have witnessed Boyd turning into the Jersey Devil, or at least turning back into himself; and he’d get a very rude awakening as to what Sylvans are and that his partner (in crime, and everything that mattered) was a fucking cryptid. God, that’d be a fun AU to write. Who knows, I might go do that someday.

K: What’s the angstiest idea you’ve ever come up with? -- At the moment, the only angsty idea that I’m actually conceptualizing is a Hollis/Jake angsty breakup for TSG. (Spoilers, I guess.) I once wrote a very grimdark ending to TMWCIFTC where everyone fell through the ice and drowned. It wasn’t fun. I’ve also mentally killed off each Amnesty protagonist and NPC in various ways, but I never felt comfortable writing them down. I only write angst with a happy ending because those are the kinds of stories I need to hear.

L: How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting? -- 9 times out of 10, I just throw it into the void. I write as much as I can in big chunks, and then kind of hope for the best. TMWCIFTC, for example, is a completely unedited, unbetaed vomit draft. I usually do a quick reread of my oneshots to catch grammar and spelling errors, but other than that I just trust myself that it’s fine.

N: Is there a fic you wish someone else would write (or finish) for you? -- Can I get some kind of resolution for To the Edge of Night? Can I please get some kind of resolution for To the Edge of Night??? I was 14 chapters into that bastard before I a) became a more casual MCU fan and b) discovered TAZ. It was such a niche fic with such a niche structure - LOTR as galactic Asgardian propaganda to cover up Odin’s mistakes - that at some point I lost interest in it. I just saw Endgame though, so now I might get some inspiration for stuff to bastardize.

O: How do you begin a story–with the plot, or the characters? -- Characters. When coming up with character backstories, I can usually find ways to slot their lives together that necessitate a plot. I love character-driven stories, where their actions actually do shit and their words actually mean something, in favor of getting dragged along behind the plot like tin cans behind a car.

P: Are you what George R. R. Martin would call an “architect” or a “gardener”? (How much do you plan in advance, versus letting the story unfold as you go?) -- I’m definitely an architect, but in a really messy way. My friends can attest that I do an insane amount of planning for each story - often in their DMs, sorry about that, Fae, Cro, Indy and Aline ��� - and all that usually ends up in a stream-of-consciousness rant outline on Google Drive. Knowing where the story is going helps me a lot, but the planning I do is definitely just building flower beds in which to sow seeds. Or building a greenhouse. I plan the bare bones of a story, and things get really wild within it, but it does follow a logical plot structure.

Q: How do you feel about collaborations? -- I have a lot of respect for the people who can successfully pull it off, but idk if i’d ever want to do one myself. I get really possessive of my stories and ideas and like to be the one in charge of their execution. That being said, some collabs have produced amazing stories. I don’t mind reading collab fics, but actually being in a collab grates on me more than it should.

R: Are there any writers (fanfic or otherwise) you consider an influence? -- I’m definitely influenced heavily by Neil Gaiman. I read American Gods and Good Omens a lot while I was trying to write TMWCIFTC; not only was it a good brain break, but I was able to pick up a lot of tips on scene pacing, concise yet expressive language, and character interactions. My creative wriitng professors have always told us to read so we know what to steal - not in terms of content, but in execution. 

On the fanfic side, @miamaroo is a huge inspiration for me. I’ve been reading Northern Migration a lot recently, and I love how its canon divergence is so worldshaking and so complex, but is still familiar in nostalgic yet terrifying ways. I read it back in October, went, “Huh, I wanna do something that wild. And if miamaroo can do it then I sure as fuck can too,” and I started planning TMWCIFTC during that one month dead zone the McElroys took last year. Northern Migration is one of the best, most coherent, most stunning, and most incredibly written TAZ Balance AUs I’ve ever read, and if I hadn’t read it, I wouldn’t have been inspired to take the fuckall huge plunge into TMWCIFTC.

S: Any fandom tropes you can’t resist? -- Bed sharing and cuddling, hand kissing, wrist kissing, whump, sympathetic villains. Canon divergent AUs are my absolute favorite things to both read and write. Anything that would turn me into Charlie Kelly slamming his finger on a bulletin board screaming, “CAROL,” is a fic I would give my life for. 

T: Any fandom tropes you can’t stand? -- Not a fan of a) woobification and b) flat villain characterization, to the point where the story is riding on villain tropes instead of an actual person or plot. Character nuance is always something I look for when I read. I don’t usually get bitter about tropes, though; some stuff, when subverted, works really well. I fully subscribe to don’t like, don’t read, don’t write, which is why I don’t write anything that warrants AO3 content warning tags or an Explicit rating, in favor of focusing on plot. Every author has a reason for what they write and how - be it their level of experience, personal preference, or simply the joy of writing something and getting it out there - and I respect that. Within reason, of course.

U: Share three of your favorite fic writers and why you like them so much. -- 

@miamaroo, for reasons I’ve already discussed. My favorite TAZ Balance author hands down. Read Northern Migration and give it the love it deserves, or I’m replacing all the faucets in your house with silly straws.

@transagentstern. Fae has a bunch of absolutely incredible fics and an amazing grasp on characterization. We come from the same place with AUs, in that canon is but the bare planks on which we put the drywall of our plot an characterization. They structure AUs and character backstories from the ground up in believable and emotionally raw ways. Also they have great music taste. I especially like their interpretation of Indrid in Moth to the Flame; he, like all the other characters in the story, is far from perfect, and his character arc is explored in relatable ways that I love to read. 

@keplersheetz. Aline - theneonpineapple on AO3 - researches like a motherfucker and has a wealth of knowledge/experience/viewpoints to draw on, making author-author interactions with her an absolute delight. She’s also doing the lord’s work with rarepairs. Spin a wheel, find a ship, and she’s probably written for it or at least conceptualized it. Reading her character studies and stories of the old Pine Guard - aka Mama’s original crew, before the current PCs joined - is always a delight. I’ve also hashed out a lot of details for The Children of Sylvain, especially for Mr. Boyd Mosche, guilt-wracked Jersey Devil extraordinaire, with her help. 

V: If you could write the sequel (or prequel) to any fic out there not written by yourself, which would you choose? -- Not gonna lie, I’m fine with a lot of stuff that’s out there right now. It’s been a hot few months since I’ve actually stopped to read fic, but from what I recall, most of the fics I’ve read have done a good job of keeping things intact.

W: Do you like more general prompts, or more specific ones? -- The vaguer, the better. With really specific prompts, it usually feels as if the story’s been written for me already; with vague, general prompts, I have more agency to explore my own ideas. Some accompanying detail is usually nice, though. For example, the coffee shop/college/flower shop AUs that @transagentstern​ wrote are my ideal prompt for drabbles: premise, a little bit of open-ended detail, clear explanation of what’s going to happen while leaving the rest up to the imagination. Good stuff. If it’s for a long-form piece, though, I prefer full agency, or even just some time to lie facedown in the dirt and wait for an idea to strike me.

X: A character you enjoy making suffer. -- Yes.

Y: A character you want to protect. -- Tim.

Z: Major character death–do you ever write/read it? Is there a character whose death you can’t tolerate? -- I do read lots of major character death, yeah, though not always for TAZ. There’s something cathartic about seeing a character die, but sometimes it sits wrong with me in ways that I don’t like. As for writing, I’d rather kill a character for a reason rather than for shock value/for the Feels, though said Feels can accompany the reason. 

[iwishiwereasleep]

22 tag game

Tagged by: @pomegranateanarchist​ 

Nicknames: abby, (google, ng, bing)

Zodiac sign: cancer

Height: 5′3″ish 

Last movie I saw: ?? last in theatres was also Spiderverse I think? Otherwise maybe searching? i’ve just been binging new girl on netflix so

Favorite musician: idk some musical person probably 

Song stuck in my head: Cheetah Sisters it is part of our dessert theatre they have jumpsuits and matching headbands

Following: ooh lots one sec 430

Followers: 104 haha I have not been popular since pinterest

Do I get asks: nope but i do sometimes message with people i used to be better about it but yes that happens much more than asks

Amount of sleep I get: the goal each night is 7.5 hours the reality recently is 6ish? i track this i should know but my phone is just a whole foot away from my hand so

Lucky numbers: none? i don’t think (my soccer number was 3 when I was like 7, 42 is just a good number cause hitchhiker, 21 is my choir number take your pick)

What am I wearing: not quite pajamas which means i’m still in my school polo because I haven’t showered yet

Dream job: astronaut? thats an actual dream like I don’t think i’d genuinely enjoy it i am to aware about the actual work and this dumb extrovert would probably die

going into cs though maybe a startup would be fun but also crazy stressful so maybe not? 

Dream trip: yes

Favorite food: potatoes, but also rendang which is this lovely beef curry from indonesia and it burns your mouth but it is completely worth it 

Instruments: the larynx not anymore but also kinda barely violin and piano and flute and uke and saxophone (though the first two were for over 5 years of classical training each and the last few were like a few months of playing around and I also haven’t played anything serious in a long time)

and the recorder. I got an award and also just went to the all east national honors ensembles for choir and left with a catalog of recorders that someone thought I needed so i guess that one’s not dead. 

Languages: English, also I took 7 years of spanish and can’t remember any of it so. and pig latin

Favorite song: ?? help idk I’ve been feeling newsies lately because dessert theatre time but an actual song nah 

Random fact: i’m really bad at these okay wait this isn’t really a fact but I just went to see the pittsburgh symphony orchestra because whoo all east honors ensembles i’m good at music i swear and the timpanist would play and then stop really really suddenly like his entire body would freeze and i don’t know where my brain was at that moment but I was watching him and he stopped and my brain went “oh my video buffered that hasn’t happened in a while” and apparently my brain just doesn’t work well at all i misspell words while i’m writing and call them typos please let me outside 

i also sometimes hate that i type like this (bonus fact my wpm is over 100 whoa how are you so cool abby its because i would practice during classes and also make sure my screen brightness was up so that the guys behind me could see that i was superior to them in every way including typing like the dumb idiot freshman me was) what is this dumb stream of consciousness lack of punctuation mess you will regret it in a year.  

Tagging: hello old friends its been a while you know the drill ignore this if you like i miss you all 

@followedbytherain @zoetriestobecoolbutnope @short-blonde-andaverage

@queenmalomar @clementinethecapricorn @butchesss @damisalghul @ronmiones <-- also just visited your actual like blog site for the first in forever and it is still the most charming little thing i love it it was like a wave of calm and aesthetics and then also the textposts i’m too dumb to allow on my aesthetics blog so thank you

[easywebinarhangouts]

HTML5 Rewrites Proving Difficult For Flash Webinar Vendors

In the past two weeks, I have seen preview demos from two well-known, established web conferencing software vendors who have stable, flexible, powerful webinar products that can handle just about any kind of content and web event interaction my clients might think up. Unfortunately, both products rely on Adobe Flash as the underlying communications/application protocol, so the vendors have been forced to rewrite their webinar products from the ground up using HTML5.

Flash goes away completely in 2020, but many companies have already forbidden it on employee computers because of security concerns. So webcast/webinar vendors have no choice but to rewrite their code using the new communications protocol of choice for the web… HTML5. 

I have not been involved in the engineering and programming side of this forced conversion (thank goodness!), but I can tell it’s been a harder struggle than the vendors thought it would be, as announced delivery dates get pushed back further and further, with pieces of functionality promised for “a future release.” This does not bode well for power users who have come to rely on specific features of their favorite products.

What kinds of things are proving the most difficult?

Vendors that previously relied on an upload/convert step to turn PowerPoint slides into Flash animations for display in a conference now need to change this to an HTML5-compatible conversion process. Getting native PowerPoint animations, timings, and slide transition effects to appear properly in the conference is proving tricky. I have seen several vendors effectively give up, telling customers that if they want to show slide decks with effects, they should run them in slide show mode and use screen sharing to display the slides. Maybe the vendors will add the ability to reproduce animations and transitions in their upload/convert process later, maybe not. I have also seen instances of reduced functionality in direct access display of slides outside of a simple “previous/next slide” capability.

Both the vendors I just saw make a selling point of the fact that their Flash-based products can record web conferences not just as “view-only” audio/video files, but as fully interactive replays with the ability for on-demand viewers to do the same things that live attendees can do… Download files, click on interactive hyperlinks, respond to polls, and so on. That is apparently more difficult with the new HTML5 releases, and I’m hearing that it will be a while (if ever) before they can provide the same functionality. Instead, recordings are being captured as simple MP4 video files in their new releases.

Phone/streaming audio integration is also proving tricky for some code rewrites. At least one vendor has banished the phone integration they used to support, requiring presenters and attendees to use only computer audio inputs and outputs. Others seem to have conquered the issue, but users have to deal with long (10-30 second) buffer delays before the audio/video content is seen on attendee computers. This makes quick two-way interactions very difficult.

I have also noticed cases of reduced functionality dealing with chat management and question management in some new HTML5 rewrites. The most common design style I see now is made to look like instant messaging displays that mobile device users are familiar with. I am not a fan of this design style for managing large numbers of simultaneous typed interactions from diverse audience members. I want to retain the ability to delete, copy, paste, highlight, or prioritize individual typed submissions. Some of my preview sessions indicated those capabilities going away.

Then you get into all kinds of specialized functionality that may or may not be supported. Maps, timers, fancy types of polls and graphical displays may be amenable to re-creation in HTML5 and then again, they may not be. I know that in my preview sessions I heard several instances of “not in this first release” and “coming later.” These kinds of compromises and staggered functionality introduction are fine and expected for new products being designed from the ground up, but existing customers are less willing to accept them as dropped functionality in a redesign of something they are already using.

I feel immensely sorry for the affected vendors. They devoted huge numbers of person-hours in development over many years and many release upgrades to get to the current level of sophisticated, advanced functionality. Now the underlying infrastructure has been yanked away, leaving the vendors rushing to re-create their offerings on a platform that wasn’t designed to handle the same capabilities. All while continuing to support and maintain the existing Flash versions. It’s a terrible situation. But sympathy does not mean turning a blind eye to the realities of the situation for customers. If your web conferencing vendor has created a new HTML5 version of their product, test it thoroughly and make sure you know its new set of capabilities and limitations. Make no assumptions that things will work just the same as they had.

Technorati Tags: HTML5,Adobe Flash,web conference,web conferencing,webinar,web seminar,webcast,webcasting,web collaboration,online collaboration,web meeting,online meeting

      Related Stories

Zoom Preparing For IPO?

Even More Webex Frustrations

How Cisco Ruined Webex Meetings