#then i go on their instagram and see that they deleted all their fashion photography??

[zhongguochic]

Chinese fashion brand ANDWANG

#chinese fashion #cfashion #i love their style but i am so confused about this brand's direction... #they changed their name from andlottie to andwang #then expanded into japan and had a whole fashion show there with influencers like 997 #then i go on their instagram and see that they deleted all their fashion photography??

[sgntaeho]

❱❭ sgn task #01 ; “kiss me thru the phone"

a peak into kwon taeho’s phone;

✦ what kind of cell phone do you have? ⁠ iphone 11 pro, midnight green

✦ how often do you use your cell phone? no more and no less than the average person my age. honestly depends on how much i’m not paying attention in class or other involuntary functions

✦ what is your phone’s lock screen photo? (see above)

✦ what is your phone’s home screen photo? (see above); just trying to catch some summer vibes, ya feel?

✦ how many contacts do you have in your phone? around 400? only cause i don’t bother to clear things out. i can’t remember who half of them are, and i definitely won’t be hitting them up anytime in this lifetime

✦ do you customize contact names or enter as given names? mostly given names; unless we’re close (or you’re a memorable character), in which case you’ll get a spirit emoji or something tacked onto the end. i’m not slick with nicknames, so unless you set one for yourself, i’d rather not try

✦ what is their default ringtone? whatever the factory setting is

✦ do you have personalized ringtones for your contacts or does everyone use the default ringtone? everyone on default; too much of a hassle otherwise, and i don’t take enough calls or have my volume up for it to matter anyways

✦ how many alarms do you have set and why? i only have one actively set for the morning but have way too many saved, for nearly every time of day. i’m a weirdo who’d rather spend 30 seconds scrolling through my endless list of alarms instead of just setting a new one for the time i need. also times always set on odd numbers (xx:01, xx:09, xx:13, etc.) and never on nice times that end in xx:00, xx:15, x:30, etc. because i hate even or clean-cut numbers

✦ what are your top 3 most used apps? imessage (+ other messaging apps), instagram, spotify

✦ what are your favorite apps? reddit is my guilty pleasure and safe space. twitter is fun even though i personally don’t tweet much (or else i’d spend all day fighting people on there, and i get enough of that in real life). also spotify because i’m almost always listening to something and can’t stand being idle in silence

✦ what are your last 3 google searches or the last 3 things you’ve asked your built in ai? ⮕ "memento movie ending interpretations” ⮕ "do you get notifications if someone screenshots your instagram story” ⮕ "can i feed my cat grapes”

✦ do you delete your internet search history or use incognito mode? if so, how often, and why? i’ll use incognito; not because i feel the need to hide anything, but because i don’t want too many one-time searches polluting my ‘recommended’ results later on. that shit’s the worst

✦ do you download music or use a streaming app? if so, which one and why? self-proclaimed spotify supremacist here. they have a comprehensive stock of both korean and non-korean stuff, which is a must. plus it’s so much easier to curate playlists, jump around, and discover new music without me having to fully commit to buying and downloading something (...does this say something more about me as a person?)

✦ what are the last 3 songs you’ve listen to on your phone? ♫ ‘error’ by ash island ft. loopy ♫ ‘all day (band ver.)’ by giriboy ♫ ‘please love me’ by colde (yeah, i’m a sucker for k-hiphop/rnb)

✦ what does your photo album consist of? it’s a pretty scary and eclectic place in there. to start, i take a lot of screenshots: receipts of when my friends say stupid things, school stuff, cocktail recipes, the outright ridiculous shit my dad’s various news outlets will put out (which i subsequently flame him for whenever we actually have to talk). so. many. cat. pics — but they’re fucking cute, alright? some random fit pics and fashion inspo. to be completely frank, there are more selfies than i’d like to admit and some... highly cringe gym pics. but none of that is being sent for anyone else’s eyes, so it’s chill. totally chill... and of course, i have a lot of stuff for photography club in the cloud.

✦ what is your texting style? do you reply quickly or are you a slow texter? do you send several messages at a time or paragraphs? i’m not the type to be texting a million people at once, so if we’re talking, i’ll probably reply pretty promptly. sometimes i’ll drop off the face of the earth, but try not to take it too personally. i definitely tend to spam send multiple, shorter messages as opposed to a single longer one. chaotic thoughts, grammar, and structure alike

✦ what are the last 3 texts you’ve sent? ⮕ vince: "is this dry needling thing supposed to be hurting still? it’s been a whole ass week...” ⮕ junhyung: "stop texting me” ⮕ hyunjoo: "hey, do you know when my mom is getting back home?”

✦ who do you text the most? couldn’t really tell you for sure. i’m not the type of person who needs to live update their life over text to somebody, and i’m not particularly invested in every little thing someone else is doing either, no offense. among my guy friends, we can maintain friendships without a whole lot of constant talking. so if i’m texting someone in high volume and frequency, it’s probably because we’re arguing over something (i’m sure you aren’t even surprised by now). or, it could be a girl i’m interested in and that’s like... not so common either.

✦ what are your top 6 used emojis? 😤 🙃 🥴 👀 🤷‍♂️ 😈

✦ how often do you call others? i hate phone calls. they’re clunky af, and you always have to awkwardly go “i-- oh-- no you go ahead” because you’re always interrupting each other. quite often people call me and i purposely watch it go to voicemail and text them back some time after, because i don’t want to pick up. so really, i only call when it’s really necessary. i think facetime is better and cool for casual though, so i’ll do that with friends instead.

✦ who were the last 3 calls made to and why? assuming you mean traditional phone calls... ⮕ dad (well more like my dad’s assistant) — to tell him to gtfo of my school life and stop signing on to throw money at (or ‘sponsor’) things without telling me. i can already tell he’s gearing up to pitch me the ‘you should take over the company’ case again when i get home for break ⮕ older sister — just to make sure she’s alive or well or whatever. total nuisance ⮕ campus police — i just had to... test a little something about their alarm infrastructure. please don’t ask any more

✦ who do you call the most? again, i don’t like calling people — few things in life are that urgent. but my mom, i guess. she calls me a lot when she’s not shooting for something, but i think it’s just to make herself feel like she’s doing the most as a mother

✦ do you have someone blocked? if so, who and why? no. i’m not petty or proactive enough to do something like that, even to the most annoying of people... now that i think about it, i should probably block an ex or two, just so drunk me won’t even get the chance to do anything stupid. but it’s not like i’ve ever done anything like that before, so whatever.

✦ are you apart of any group chats? with whom? just what you’d expect: swim team, photography club, people in my major, friends i’ll go out with on weekends, and so forth. albeit i’m that guy who shamelessly has the group on mute, so you’re probably going to have to aggressively @ me if you want me. then there’s the family group chat, which is mostly my parents getting on my case and making sure i have family obligations marked on my calendar while my sister sits back and laughs at my pain.  

✦ do you use the notes app? yep... i have a lot of thoughts, okay?

#{ tasks } #sgn:task01 #(/irrelevant title but had to pay tribute to a throwback jam lol)

[gotatext]

                   hllo ! i’m nora ( she / her, 24, gmt ) crawling back to this rp once more like the dirty sewer slug i am !! i just can’t get enough, baybeyyy ! u may remember me frm such roles as alma putnam, rory bergstrom, bridget matusiak or greta o’driscoll 2 name jst a few.... sure there were more over these long years, bt the show must go on.... this is mimi, she’s dogmatic, tenacious n single-minded 2 the point of recklessness, she doesn’t like handouts n she’s funding her degree through her onlyfans account n moaning abt shit on tiktok. we love 2 see it !!  slam that like button n i’ll creep into ur DMs like the slippery worm i am   OR u can discord me at that bitch carole baskin#8664.   a humble pinterest.

『ALEXA DEMIE ❙ CIS-FEMALE 』 ⟿ looks like MIMI MARTÍNEZ is here for HER SOPHOMORE year as an ARCHITECTURE AND SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY student. SHE is 22 years old & known to be STRONG-WILLED, GOAL-ORIENTED, ARROGANT & EASILY BORED. They’re living in MORIS, so if you’re there, watch out for them. ⬳ nora. 24. gmt. she/her.

this is p embarassing but i actually originally wrote mimi for a discord rp based around love island asgjag dont laugh at me but it was so chaotic n someone deleted it w-out telling any of us so i lost her bio.... all her threads....e verythin.... it was mad. but anyway we startin from scratch w this intro so bare with

mimi is a really extra character so when trying to flesh her out i thot of the most extra thing i could do n made a colour coded mindmap with watercolour paints detailing her values, aesthetics and early life. shoot me

background: she grew up in a trailer home in boulder city, abt half an hour from vegas. her mom had worked in a vegas casino for most of her 20s but relocated to boulder city for a slower pace of life / lower crime rate when she started having kids. mimi has 2 older brothers n she’s the youngest. has that invulnerable younger sibling complex n basically thinks nothing can touch her. very confident in her own intelligence and her ability to get shit done 

has mexican ancestry on her mom’s side. doesn’t know her dad. was raised with spanish catholic principals n found it all very stained glass windows and extra n that’s why she was kinda drawn to the decadence of vegas and all these massively high key aesthetics, like dia de les muertos was her fave thing growin up just bcos the pure feel of the festival and painting a sugar skull on her face n being able to party on the streets in a flower crown where everyone was kinda anonymous but together in this celebration

in boulder city her mom worked as a carer as there’s a lot of retirees there. mimi really resented the slow pace of life, longed for some fucking energy n life. she was a cheerleader in school but outside of school there wsn’t much to do except practise stunts and go on bike rides.  occasionally they’d get dressed up and catch a bus to henderson, the next biggest city for them to get tht sweet night life

her teenage years consisted mostly of hanging around the renovated motel blocks used as housing projects n tanning by the pool. very florida project if you’ve seen that. she reminds me a lot of the mum in that. also she started working as an avon rep going door-to-door when she was 16 bcos she wanted to have her own income. like as young as 14 she’d decided she was smart enough to go to college but she didn’t have the money n her family didn’t really see it as a worthwhile thing, her mom was very like the mom from matilda “you chose books.... i chose looks!” which i think is where a lot of mimi’s more shallow / appearance-driven traits come from

wasn’t really ‘cool’ until high school. before that she was a bit of a lisa simpson type. won a spelling bee when she was 9. was in the mathletes squad in middle school. when she went from middle school to high school she started cheer and tried to reinvent herself basically. always been very concerned with social mobility and keen to socially climb, like when she enters a new situation she’ll find out who the alphas are and quickly try n befriend them

when she turned 18 she moved out and went to vegas despite her mom hating the idea bcos it was everything she’d tried to get her kids away from. she worked in the clubs there for several years as a shot girl, a table dancer, n eventually she started workin behind the bar in a strip club. in the club it ws really hard to resist becoming a dancer bcos of the sheer amount they made in tips. no one really pressured her into it she just eventually decided tht it was way more logical to do it while she was young n fit and had the stamina and ppl were willing to pay to see her body so she started taking pole fitness lessons. she also started working as a cam girl around this time

working in vegas strip clubs is basically whats paid for uni. like she didn’t go at 18 like most of her friends did bcos she didn’t have the money and she didn’t want to feel indebted to a college like she had to compete for her place and not put a toe out of line bcos she was on a scholarship. she was determined to pay her own way and it took 4 years of working really hard and saving n even tho she was working in vegas she basically never went out bcos every penny she had needed to go on uni n thts how we get to radcliffe baybeeyy

part 2  - interior / values / personality

values: the aesthetic !! literally loves the aesthetic so much. everything she owns is super embellished, she’s a pop socket gal, her dell laptop is covered in glitzy stickers, she always has acrylics n probs makes nail art videos on tiktok. really tuned into tiny details like painting a little hello kitty above her eye which translates into her degree when she’s doing small-scale mockups of town plans n stuff... she jst puts so much detail into them. ppl often get surprised when she tells them she does architecture but it makes so much sense bcos she grew up in a trailer park n was always thinking about ways the space could be more efficiently used, like she loves re-conceptualising neighbourhoods, definitely spent hours on sims as a kid. she also grew up near hoover dam n so loads of school trips they just took them there n she was like.... this is tight but it could be cooler.... where’s the passion....

massively into photography, has such a neat instagram feed like everything just compliments the tones in the next post like mMMM. idk if any of u know any architecture students but this is literally the one constant i can find…. like they all have super good instagrams feeds. is that bitch that will take 40 fake candids of u in a row at different angles to get u the perfect profile picture cos she understands the importance of marketing urself and having an online #brand

has wire rimmed glasses that she doesn’t need to see BUT they r like a magnifying glass for when she’s working with really small materials to do a mock up of an urban plan, and also just sometimes wears them for the aesthetic bc she’s such a pinterest bitch

assassination nation is such a big mood. literally the aesthetics of that and lily colson’s whole brand of feminism and nudity not being inherently sexual but at the same time wanting to profit off that bcos why the fuck shouldnt she use a corrupt system to her advantage is incredibly mimi

literally a human personification of a bratz doll both in attitude and fashion sense

somehow simultaneously gansey in the raven cycle AND elle woods in legally blonde? the two genders 

values cont bc i started rambling: her independence and freedom. being the best at any given task she sets her mind to accomplish because she is unable to accept failure. social mobility. sexual liberation. interested in the psychology of sub-cultures and how ppl form groups and interact w each other and cult identities which is why she minors in anthropology. pro-choice. pro-weed legalisation. pro-sex worker rights. very activist.

aesthetics tht remind me of her: von dutch. a strappy cami top that says ‘please do not do coke in the bathroom’. low-waisted jeans that show off her belly button piercing. acrylic nails tapping against a heavily embellished second-hand dell laptop. heart shaped sunglasses in every colour. translucent stripper heels with barbie doll heads and plastic spiders in the heel. spraying champagne you cant afford all over the walls. narcotics in a heart shaped locket. an amazon wishlist full of lingerie linked on your tinder profile. sex tapes recorded on VCR. a religious devotion to waxing clinics. necking shots like you were born to do it.

she’s an enfj type which makes her pretty charismatic and confidence, like she has a fierce kind of energy to her, but she’s also super unwilling to accept criticism, dogmatic and can only really see her own way of thinking, quite ruthless when it comes 2 other ppls emotions despite having a poor control of her own and being prone to turbulence / throwin a bitch fit in the craft lab. easily bored. competitive. self-assured to the point of arrogance. forceful. adaptable. usually more rational than emotional but occasionally loses the ability to make rational decisions when blinded by a need for perfectionism.

very goal-oriented. money motivates her. money and clothes. she wants to look bomb while earning big bucks. when she gets her mind set on a project it literally consumes her she will forget to eat and sleep? i don’t know her.  like when a final design project is due for architecture she’ll be up all night doing adderall and speed to keep her awake working on the placement of a single tree for ages cos its gotta be perfect

loves chaos. will spill your secrets and pretend it was an accident. will always be that gif of kim kardashian sipping her tea while drama unfolds around her. lives for the drama like that gifset of bratz when she comes running and gets her phone out to record a fight.

im makin her sound like a really bad person but hopefully she’ll be somewhat likeable she can be very charismatic and endearing and she’s naturally quite funny. also now she’s finally in college and doesn’t have to worry so much about money she actually allows herself to party n bcos she denied herself of it for so long she kinda makes up for it by going p wild like will be the girl climbing on to stage to crowd surf at gigs or doing a summersault off the bar and being escorted out by bouncers, thats the energy were looking at, pure dionysian hedonistic impulse

really gd at talking her way out of shit like parking fines. so good at being an ‘im baby’ girl and often dumbs herself down to figures of authority to appear less like a threatening ball-breaker and more like a confused fiat 500 girl who didn’t know red meant stop she thought it meant slow down

listens almost exclusively to female artists. has fergalicious on repeat when she does squats infront of the mirror n just the biggest fergie stan. also lana del rey’s whole vibe is massive mimi energy

ok ya thats all i have for now..... hopefully this is somewhat coherent and not just garbage.

#radintro #plot w me bitches #im fun n love quarantine sadness

[peaches-of-1]

Peachtober | Day 14: Overgrown

Black!Reader x Monster Woo

Summary: Monster Woo is a simple man who sells flowers for a living and you are an Instagram photographer. Your models’ faces are better known than you yourself, but Woo wants to see what’s behind the camera.

Genre: Fluff

Moodboard and reaction requests open! Mstrlst in bio!

During a sunny Spring Day, a new shipment of flowers come in at 꽃벌 (play on words of flower and bee). It is the largest one since it is the start of the season. Valentine's Day is long gone, and White Day was a hit. All of the red and white roses being 70% of the seasonal inventory and now going back to its regular 40% since roses would sell no matter what season or occasion.

Youngwoo rolled up his burgundy sleeves to help the part time worker carry large sacks of fertilizer and dirt into the back while she balanced seedlings and vases under her arms and even atop her coily buzzcut.

“Naveah, once you’re done bringing in all the pots, can you start organizing them please?” He asked.

“Sure, Big Daddy.” She replied.

The tall man sighed, “I told you to stop calling me that.”

Naveah just smiled in response and continued to carry the rest of the product until the truck was empty. Then she began sorting pots by height and material while Woo worked on answering calls and writing down some new clients and jobs they were wanted for. A few weddings, a birthday, two divorce parties. One he turned down because they were planning on burning flowers, and he could never imagine putting his beautiful gifts through that.

A young woman about 20 or older came in dressed in purple slacks, heels to match, and a white shirt. Her typha colored hand reaching into her purse for her phone to check if she was at the right location.

She entered the store and Woo told the woman on the phone, “One second.”

“Hello.”

“Hello, I am Y/N and I run a photography blog. I was wondering if you would be interested in hiring me to take pictures of your flowers for advertising. I have experience with both still life and live models.” She said, setting her card down on the desk.

Woo picked it up and read the Hangul and the English translation. She was a photographer for sure.

“Why does your name seem so familiar?”

She gave a smile, “A few of my models have walked during Seoul Fashion Week this past bit cuz they saw my photos.”

He smiled, “Ah, right. It seems like  with a face like yours, you would be the one in front of the camera.”

Y/N began to blush, “Oh, um. Thank you.”

The two just stared at each other and smiled for a moment before she spoke up.

“Well, I should get going. You have a phone call to get back to.”

Woo nodded, “Oh, right. Yes. It was nice meeting you and I will be in contact.”

The woman left and the florist finished the call, thankful they hadn't hung up. Y/N...jeez she was beautiful.

The sound of a glass vase breaking snapped the tall man out of his daze. He sighed and called out the worker's name before heading over to get the broom to hand to her.

After work, Woo locked up and said farewell to his worker before taking a taxi home. Before going to bed, he looked up the Instagram page that was on the card Y/N gave him.

She was really good. Like, it was so much better than he had expected. Pictures of flowers in vases and people and so many beautiful faces. A lot of her stuff was currently flower based. It seemed she didn’t delete the stuff from her early days either. The camera quality had gome up so much too. Woo couldn’t help but like one of them that made him think of a tattoo. Wait, no.

It was from 4 years ago! She was going to think he was a creep! No, no. Y/N wouldn’t do that, right? It was just a possible employer checking out an employee’s past work to see if it would affect his current business. He made up his mind. Woo would hire the beautiful black girl to work for his company. All of his current photos were taken by him and Naveah, so they weren’t that great. If they could up the photo quality of the inventory, then they would sell more.

The large man soon fell asleep thinking about what floral arrangements he would make for each tier. Each one was linked with a color, so he could make it monochrome. Or maybe most of that color. Y/N looked really cute in purple. Hair like an allium.

The next day at the shop, Youngwoo called her while setting up the flowers he would use for this week’s specialty arrangement.

“Hello, this is Photobomb Productions, Y/N speaking.” She said in English and then repeated it in Korean.

Woo smiled, “Hello. This is Youngwoo from 꽃벌. I would like to take you up on your offer of becoming our floral photographer. I have been meaning to take some new pics for some summer deals.”

He could hear her squaling out of excitement in the background and then she cleared her throat and talked professionally, “That is great to hear. What day or time would the photographic subjects be ready for me to photograph?”

“Today is Friday, so I will be busy all weekend. I can get them done by either Tuesday or Wednesday since I already have sketches. All I have to do it put them together.”

“Perfecto! How does Tuesday at 2pm sound?” Y/N asked.

Woo looked at his schedule, “I have a delivery at 1:30 in the afternoon, but I will probably have my worker handle that one.”

“I see. Alright, well, I will see you then. Do not hesitate to call me if we have to move it to Wednesday. Have a nice day.”

“You too.” Woo replied and the woman hung up.

“Who was that, Big Daddy?” his worker asked, carrying in a box of seeds to set up in the seed bin near the front.

He rolled his eyes, “That woman who came in yesterday. A photographer. She’s gonna take photos for us from now on. I’m gonna be up late drafting up a contract and then we’ve gotta--” The tattooed florist sighed. “I shouldn’t bore you with technicalities. Let’s get these arrangements done.”

“Let me bring over the vases.” The short haired woman said.

Woo looked at the workbench, “Neveah, where are the Calla Lilies?” he asked after her.

“We had two weddings that wanted them, so we are getting an emergency shipment in, but not until tomorrow.” She replied, making sure the seed packets fell flat before adding more on.

He nodded, “Right. Right. Um…” then he remembered the thought he had last night and went to a sky blue bucket and picked out a bulbous purple flower with a long stem. “We’ll use these today instead.”

And so for the next few minutes before the sign was flipped, the two made matching arrangements. Neveah had always wanted to do more now that her probation was up. Woo’s shop was known for flowers and arrangements, served weddings of all types and even funerals. The most important thing about it was who it employed, however. Former convicts and people who were needed someplace to work while on probation.

Youngwoo believed that everyone deserved a second chance and that humans could change, which is why he hired who he did.

“Ah, it didn’t come out as well as yours.” Neveah said as hers had a bit of a bend in the long stem and just seemed overall more messy than the one her boss made.

“Don’t worry about it. This is only the third one you’ve ever made, so I think you did really well. In fact, yours will go on the box instead of mine so people will see it first.” The man set hers onto the white wooden box in the window and placed his next to it.

Dark pink roses and sunflowers graced the top of the white vase with solid aster placed in here and there. The allium rested above each one like a proud head. They would stay in the front for the week and then they would be dead and turned into compost for a nearby flower nursery.

The woman smiled and then it was time to flip the sign. Business didn’t pick up until around lunch which was the usual thing. People buying either a single flower or a dozen on the way to a date. When Neveah left for the day, Yieun clocked in and hugged Woo having started this business together before she tried and failed to become an idol.

“Is the car filled up yet? Remember, I have to drop off some stuff for a business meeting and a 16th birthday today.” She said.

“It’s all packed up and ready to go. Feel free to double check, but it had been pretty quiet today.” He replied. “Ah, are there business cards still inside?”

Tuesday came, and Woo was nervous to see her again. They had talked over the phone for the past couple of days to finalize things. Y/N was really kind but he could tell how much her work meant to her. It was a small business that she was ultimately running on her own and often didn’t get paid for her time because people hardly ever took the arts seriously. Photography was no exception.

People thought it was just sitting in good lighting, point and click, which it wasn’t.

Woo had three different arrangements made for each color level. White, green, purple, and yellow. Each added the amount of flower types and the default price was a clear glass vase. A custom vase color/type would cost $3 extra. The second and third were in custom vases and set up in the workshop.

It was extra clean for today and there were no arrangements to be made. Mondays through Wednesdays were the slowest of the slow most of the time. That meant today was perfect for Y/N to come in.

She arrived right on time in a yellow long sleeve top tucked into a rainbow skirt and white and rainbow shoes. Rainbow accessories too, but carrying a duffle bag of work stuff.

Yieun was out on her current delivery, so Woo fixed his brows and hair before greeting her with a poliot bow.

“Hello, Y/N. How are you doing today? Have you eaten?” He asked.

“I am doing well, and yes I have. I went to a taco place. It was good, but the sauce stained the jacket I was wearing.” The woman sighed, tying her hair back before she set up everything.

It wasn’t the most glamorous thing, but Woo asked if he could watch. She said as long as he stayed behind the camera, it was ok. However, the man wasn’t watching the flowers, but instead watched how she worked. The way she bent over to get a better angle from her tripod and set up the lights.

She seemed so delicate, like she herself was a rose petal in need of much care. However, they way she pursed her lips seemed to go perfectly like thorns. The man knew she wasn’t thinking about him. Her eyes were on the flowers, but at the same time, Y/N was all he could think about for the past week.

Sometimes his imagination would try to run away with the idea of her, but that wasn’t fair to her. He barely knew her last name.

The shy and strong Woo was enchanted by the photographer. Ah, he wanted to say something to her. To ask her out, but she was so professional. This was just work for her, and he didn’t want to get in the way of her job. Still, wasn’t it worth a chance to at least get a proper answer instead of wondering “What if?”

“No, no.”

“Um, Youngwoo? Can you help raise this up a bit more?” She reached her brown hand towards the top of the light.

As the taller man helped her, he decided to just go for it, “Hey, um, Y/N. Feel free to say no, but I was um. I was wondering if you would possibly maybe want to go on a sort of kind of date with me?”

“Oh, um, sure. Right there is good.”

Woo tightened the stand, and she began taking pictures again.

“What kind of place were you thinking?” She asked. “Y’know, for our date? Dinner and a movie?”

“I’d like to take you on a picnic. I know it’s sort of cliche, but Han River is really nice and there’s usually some nice busking that goes on there.” He said was her felt his heart beat outside of his chest, “I am leaving the shop to Yieun and a part timer this weekend. We can do it then.”

Y/N smiled up at him as she stood on the other side of the arrangement, “Sounds like a plan, Youngwoo. I shall wear a dress.”

“You can wear anything you want. I’m sure you’ll look great.” The man answered earnestly.

A surprised smile before Yieun called for him. Woo said he’d be right back and went to go talk to his co-worker about what had to be done. It wasn’t much. Just a bit of organizing here and there and sweeping. Simple things that took a while.

“By the way~” She whispered. “Did you ask her out? Niveah said she’s all you talk about.”

“I did.” He replied, playing coy.

“And? Did she say yes?”

A smile broke out on his face, “She did.”

Yieun put her hands up for a high five and asked for details one their hands met in celebration.

The following days, Woo kept sending his friend photos for potential outfits. She kept telling him to ditch the dress shirts because he looked awkward in them. It was just a casual thing, so he went with some gray sneakers, khakis, and a black and white striped top. Because of the pollen forecast, he opted out of contacts and just wore his glasses. The most expensive thing he wore was his gold watch from a birthday.

He had decided on a simple picnic instead of the ferry for dinner. Maybe if things went well, but he didn't wanna look too far ahead. He knew of a spot away from the main busy area where a few weeping willows provided the perfect shade.

“Youngwoo-ssi!” Her familiar voice called.

The man was breathless as could be as Y/N walked towards him, her copper skin covered in a blue and white dress that allowed for her arm to be bare except for a gold and white bracelet. Simple makeup other than a pink matte lip that accented her smile.

They bowed and greeted each other.

“You look...amazing.” He couldn’t help but stared.

“Thank you. You look great, too. I think this is my first time seeing you without an apron on.” She replied.

Woo smiled in response, “Thank you. I have a super special spot for us. A friend told me about it.”

She smiled, “Sounds great.”

“Have you had any other clients lately?” He asked.

“Oh my gosh, so I had this really sweet woman come in yesterday with her pregnant wife so that we can do the pregnancy announcement pictures and stuff. This is fine. I had it set up and such for that because she made an appointment.”

The tall man smiled, “Oh, that is really nice.”

“However, she went into labor in the middle of me taking the photos.”

“She what?”

“Right?

Woo asked, “Did she not know she was going to give birth?”

Y/N shrugged dramatically, “I guess not, but luckily, my next door neighbor is in her last year of training to become a nurse. She helped to deliver the baby in my bathtub.” She laughed. “I spent most of the day cleaning it.”

Both of them laughed at the whole story. That’s what it was like to have an at home studio as a photographer.

“Ah, here it is.”

Behind the leaves of a willow tree, there was a perfect little alcove where a red gingham blanket was spread out and food was separated between the two in the form of sandwiches. Conversation flowed smoothly as the overgrown tree provided shade for the couple that fate decided to put together. They talked about work and of family.

Kim Youngwoo blushed when she complimented him on being a good person, taking in people society had rejected because of a series of bad mistakes.

He told her about how he just wanted to help people like him, how the U.S. basically deported him back to Korea because of--

“I don’t care what you did, Youngwoo.” Y/N said honestly. “You’re obviously not the same person you were back then, or at least you are doing much better. Besides, that isn’t the person I’m starting fall for.”

“Who are you starting to fall for?” Woo asked, hoping his heart was beating for all the right reasons.

She bit her lip and then looked up at him after hesitating to say the truth, “You.”

#Monster Woo #Woo Fam #Kim Youngwoo #Monster Woo x Reader #Reader x Monster Woo #Youngwoo x Reader #Reader x Youngwoo #Florist!AU #Black!Reader #Female!Reader #Photographer!Reader #Instagram #Fluff #cuteness #Peachtober #Inktober '19 #Inktober #Inktober 2019

[cindylouwho-2]

RECENT NEWS, RESOURCES & STUDIES, early February 2020

Welcome to my latest summary of recent ecommerce news, resources & studies including search, analytics, content marketing, social media & Etsy! This covers articles I came across since the late January report, although some may be older than that. Report is a bit short because I was sick this last week; don’t worry, I used hand sanitizer before typing this up, so you are all safe 🤒

I am currently looking into setting up a new ecommerce business forum where we can discuss this sort of news, as well as any day-to-day issues we face. I need some good suggestions for a cheap or free forum space that has some editing tools, is fairly intuitive for inexperienced members, and is accessible. If you have any suggestions, please reply to this post, email me on my website, or send me a tweet. (I will put out a survey once we narrow this down to some good candidates, but if you have any other comments on what you want from such a forum, please include those too!)

As always, if you see any stories I might be interested in, please let me know!

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES 

Searchmetrics says Etsy did quite well [podcast & text] in the Google January Core Update, while both Amazon and Walmart lost a little bit. “Who won January? I’m going to say Etsy. Etsy has really done a tremendous job [with Google visibility] over the last two years. Sure, they’ve been on the winning side of the algorithm update, but consistently, being in that a position, from my experience, isn’t by chance.” Here’s more analysis listing the US winners and losers, including by subject category (sadly, not shopping sites). Marie Haynes says that the update likely targeted sites that aren’t properly disclosing affiliate links, as well as some pet health sites. 

Since a quarter of Americans have a disability, your website, your products & your marketing should be more accessible. Lots of good ideas in here! 

ETSY NEWS 

TOU alert: Etsy has banned the sale of spent bullet casings (often used as craft supplies). It’s not clear why. There is a thread from a seller whose listings were pulled here.

The 2020 wedding trends blog post is one of those pieces that is useful to sellers & buyers alike, and is also good for Etsy because it attracts outside articles and links. Some trend & keyword info of interest: ”there has been a 171% increase in searches on Etsy for bridesman items and a 72% increase in searches for best woman items”... “searches for ‘70s invitations increase 18% and searches for disco ball items increase 18%” ...”24% increase in searches for bridal jackets and a 4% increase in searches for women’s pantsuits” …”searches for reused, recycled, or reclaimed wedding items increasing 7%” in the last six months (compared to the same time the previous year).

Etsy released its annual diversity & inclusion report on January 29, getting some media coverage along the way, for example here, here and here.

Reverb hired David Mandelbrot as their new CEO; he most recently ran Indiegogo. (Etsy bought Reverb last year.)

The 4th quarter 2019 results will be out Feb. 26. I am currently planning on doing my usual summary thread in the forum. 

Decent overview of product photography for beginners, with some pointers on what Etsy wants you to do with photos. For example, “The recommended size for listing images is 2000px for the shortest side of the image, and a resolution of 72PPI.”

SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES 

So you know what Etsy tags are, but you get confused when people talk about tags for search engines? Read this beginners guide to SEO meta tags. (not needed for Etsy shops, but it is terminology used by some website builder sites, as well as coders of course.)

Data provider Jumpshot will be closing due to the controversies over the revelation that their parent company Avast (the anti-virus software) provided user activity to Jumpshot while perhaps not always fully disclosing this to the users. This will affect some SEO tools that relied on these click stats to generate estimates for traffic & search term use, Hitwise & Moz among them.  “In all likelihood, Avast took the action to protect its core business, as multiple articles, including from Consumer Reports, called out the company for its data collection practices, while some called for the uninstallation of the Avast software. This is probably as much PR damage control as it is driven by any principled position.”

Forbes appears to have been hit by some Google search issue, but it happened later than the Core Update, so no one is sure what is going on.They were previously penalized for selling links, but that was years ago.   

John Mueller listed all of the big Google search news from January in this almost 9 minute video. Click to see the detailed info under the video, because they helpfully summarized the important topics by timestamp, and linked to text resources as well. (Some of it is technical/coding relating; you have been warned!)

There may be another big Google ranking update happening right now (Feb. 9), as tracked by Search Engine Roundtable. Check that site over the next few days for any updates. 

CONTENT MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA (includes blogging & emails) 

The time you send your marketing emails matters, although it’s going to vary more than this article lets on. Keep track of your own stats. 

Debunking some myths about Instagram, including the importance of your follower count. “...your follower count isn’t the most important metric on Instagram. Your engagement rate is. Your engagement rate (which is found by calculating the number of engagements you receive divided by EITHER the number of people who saw it OR your total followers, depending on who you ask) is crucial.”

If you use the app Social Captain for Instagram, be aware that your Instagram password was publicly available in the source code. 

Facebook’s algorithm has a lot of different factors controlling who sees your posts, including actually having conversations with others, and including “quality, original videos.”

Facebook’s revenue was up 25% in the 4th quarter of 2019, to $21.1 billion, but they expect the privacy controversies to cut into growth this year.

Pinterest is testing an augmented reality tool called “Try On” that allows users to see what they will look like with specific lipstick colours. 

ONLINE ADVERTISING (SEARCH ENGINES, SOCIAL MEDIA, & OTHERS) 

Google Shopping Ads will soon be shown in Gmail accounts, YouTube and the Discover feed, starting March 4th. Note that “Retailers have been steadily shifty more of their search budgets from text to Shopping ads.”

A comparison of Google Ads vs. Facebook Ads, with plenty of tips. According to them, if you are seriously considering one, you should probably do both. “When we talk about Facebook, we’re also talking about Instagram, What’sApp, and Facebook Messenger. Google also includes YouTube, the second-most trafficked site in the world (behind Google itself).”

Google’s revenue was up 17% in the 4th quarter in 2019, almost all of it from advertising. YouTube makes more on ads than Amazon does. 

ECOMMERCE NEWS, IDEAS, TRENDS 

eBay released its 4th quarter results for 2019 on January 28, with revenue down 2% and gross merchandise value down 5%. Amazon’s sales were up 21% for the 4th quarter. 

BigCommerce now allows customers to check out in over 100 currencies, integrated with several different payment processors. 

Wondering what a good conversion rate would be for different ecommerce pages? Here’s a brief overview of the known stats, with some tips on improving.. (Note that any action can be counted as a conversion, including signing up for an email list, so this isn’t just about purchases.)

BUSINESS & CONSUMER STUDIES, STATS & REPORTS; SOCIOLOGY & PSYCHOLOGY, CUSTOMER SERVICE 

Are you marketing to Generation Z, or think you should be? Here are 52 facts (with the citations); some highlights: Gen Z has more members than millennials do, and “As of 2020, Gen Z makes up more than 40% of U.S. consumers.” and finally “When shopping online or in stores, 65% of Gen Z prefers to see as few items as possible out of stock” (that last one explains a feedback I received, I think LOL Kind of hard on Etsy when you might have a listing with multiple choices & you only have the one left.)

A study of Cyber Week email open & click rates shows that it might be better not to mention the holidays or discounts. 

This article warns consumers of the tricks ecommerce sites use to nudge people to buy more, including some clear examples of deception. “A study by Princeton University and the University of Chicago singled out online clothing seller Fashion Nova, which tells customers that items in their cart “are in high demand.” The problem? The message appears for any item that’s added to the cart. Fashion Nova’s cart also tells shoppers that their items are being “reserved” for 10 minutes. But nothing happens to the items after the 10 minutes are up.”

MISCELLANEOUS 

YouTube wants Clearview AI’s face recognition program to stop scraping its videos for content, and to delete anything it has already collected. (Twitter did the same last month.)

#CindyLouWho2NewsUpdates #SEO #search engine optimization #search engine marketing #EtsyNews #etsy #Social media #contentmarketing #content marketing #Ecommerce #smallbiz #SEOTips #customer service #ppc advertising #Onlinemarketing #ecommercetips #emailmarketing #socialmedianews

[tsgnorthwestarkansas]

Engagement Season Advice from NWA’s Wedding Expert Amanda Reed

Photo credit: Max Grubb for Miles Witt Boyer Photographic Collective

‘Tis the season—engagement season, that is. For those in the wedding industry, the officially unofficial season when a large percentage of couples become engaged begins on Thanksgiving, lasts through the holidays and ends with a bang on Valentine’s Day. And the calls start once couples realize they don’t want to do this alone (or have the time to tackle it on their own). . .

“Between Christmas Eve and mid-February, I will get several inquiries per day and sometimes I’m seeing dozens of proposals a day on my social media feeds,” says wedding planner Amanda Reed, of  Amanda Reed Weddings.

To help all the lovebirds out there feeling overwhelmed by the task of setting a date and planning a wedding, Amanda shares her engagement season advice with us, below.

Photo credit: Max Grubb for Miles Witt Boyer Photography Collective

Yes, take your time celebrating and enjoying your engagement, but before long the questions will start to roll in. . .What are your colors? Have you picked a date? Is your third cousin twice removed in your house party? How many carats is that ring (yes, they will SO ask that)?!? Here’s how to get started on the zillion decisions you have to make while wedding planning.

Set a budget. At least a starter budget. Having a clear idea of the amount of money you want to spend on your wedding will be important from the jump. The number of guests you can truly afford hinges on this number. Caterers charge per person, after all — and chairs, tablecloths, flowers — all those things have exponential costs. We preach daily to clients that the single easiest way to save money is to cut that guest list! Know how much you can spend, and then work backwards.

Start pinning. Everybody’s had a dream-wedding Pinterest board for as long as they can remember. Curate what you’ve already pinned and create a board you can bring to meetings with your vendors. We love to see our brides’ boards before we get started with the planning. Now’s the time to get it right. Delete those fairy dresses you pinned when you were 16, and if you’re not feeling the beach vibe, it’s okay to delete the seashell place card photos too. Focus on what you want now, and happy pinning! 

Get that bling insured. Your fiancé just spent a big chunk of change on that gorgeous ring, so let’s make sure you take good care of it. Your insurance agent will have all the details for adding the ring to your policy, so give them a call. And while we’re talking about rings, we always send couples to Blakeman’s for their bands. Their selection of men’s bands is classic (We’re a little partial to the David Yurman choices, personally!).

Your bridesmaids will be there for you through one of the most exciting and important times of your life. Amanda is seeing more and more brides take the time to really make bridal party requests extra special. It makes the day that much more memorable! Photo credit: Meredith Benton Photography.

Propose to your wedding party. Maybe he got to have all the fun planning his proposal, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have the chance to get down on one knee, too! So many brides and grooms are posting the most picture-perfect wedding party proposals all over Instagram these days. We love simple proposals where the bride gifts her friends with a nicely packaged box full of adorable gifts like a pretty lipstick and nail polish, a little bottle of champagne and a handwritten note. Locally, Shindig Paperie has beautiful boxes and stationery for this. (While you’re there, you’ll want some extra stationery for all the thank you cards you’ll be writing this year!)  Riffraff also has a killer selection of bridesmaids gifts and tees!

Bella Figura letterpress invitation with custom calligraphy from Janna Wilson. Photo credit: The Montoya Collective

Set a realistic timeline. You may have to swap a season to get the right timeline, or swap a venue to get the right season. Your first choice photographer may not be available on the same date as your first choice band. Some venues book a year to 18 months out. Think about what’s most important to you and where you are willing to compromise before you start to meet with vendors. You can always consider alternate days of the week. Fridays are popular and we love an old-fashioned Sunday brunch wedding. 

Start shopping for that dress.  Wedding gowns can take a lot longer to get in than you may think, so it’s never too early to try them on! Plus, right now is a great time for sample sales. A lot of boutiques will have holiday sales, too. We have wonderful wedding gown shops locally like Tesori and Joon Bridal. For the guys, we’re seeing custom suiting more than tuxedos, which is fantastic because the groom can keep wearing it after the big day — often, it’s his first legit suit. Walker Brothers is a fantastic local place to shop for custom suiting.

Just look at this gorgeous Oscar de la Renta dress waiting for its big day. Amanda recommends ordering your wedding dress early in the planning process to ensure there is time to get the fit just perfect. Photo credit: The Montoya Collective

Make a fitness plan. You want to look good in that dress? We have many brides who start with Pure Barre Fayetteville (and also the newly opened studio at Pinnacle Hills!) the moment they get a ring so that they can really focus on toning and shaping up for their big day. We also love the facial packages at Premier Dermatology to get that blushing bridal glow. 

Plan for the marriage. Where else to begin than with the honeymoon, naturally? Global luxury travel advisor Michele MacDonald of The Core Traveler can really help with all the details if you want to do something exquisite. She has planned some out-of-this-world honeymoons for our clients, and will even go above and beyond to include mementos from wedding days, gifts from parents and friends and other really romantic and special details into the perfect honeymoon for just the two of you.

Look before you leap! We’ve seen so many couples get so excited after getting engaged that they immediately start signing contracts, writing checks and running cards just because they think they have to...and then experience the worst buyer’s remorse! Take a breath, find your focus, and then you can start making choices.

How perfect is this elaborate engagement scene? We love it! Photo credit:  Lauren Blair Photography

Finding an expert with years of experience and connections within the wedding realm can really help you sort through your options, and find the best fit within each wedding vendor category. Follow Amanda’s expert advice and get glimpses of weddings she’s planned here and book a consultation to get her personalized insight. . .you’ll head into wedding season with your best bridal foot forward!

#bridal #wedding #weddingplanner #bride #weddingplanning #tsgnwarkansas #thescoutguide #engagement

[madelainesvixens]

Choni: 62&17

This one is a bit shorter than what I usually write, I hope you still like it, xx

Please continue to sent requests from this list of prompt!

17. “I wish I could go back in time but I can’t…”

62. “You should’ve been there.”

.

To celebrate the big eighteen, Cheryl went all out. It was Riverdale’s version of MTV’s My Sweet Sixteen. The entirety of Thornhill had been decorated with party lights, fancy flower arrangements, balloons and even a lightning dancefloor had been installed in the living room, creating a club-like ambiance. Let’s not forget the photo-booth too!

With a birthday party like this, Cheryl was going to be the talk of the town for a couple weeks - months even.

She even convinced Josie and her Pussycats to go on stage for a special performance. The three girls hadn’t gone on stage since Josie’s departure from the band and won’t be anytime soon given they all will be separating for college in a couple months. They will sing an array of old covers and new compositions from Josie herself. It’s gonna be a hit.

Talking about Josie, here she was, hair pulled back into a low ponytail, looking as gorgeous as always.

“Happy birthday, Cher!” she said, pulling her best friend into a hug the second she found her by the victorian stairs, sipping some champagne off a flute.

“Thanks, Josie,” Cheryl replied. “You look fab in this dress.”

The singer born did a small twirl, the glittery skirt of her dress flowing as she moved. “Have you seen yourself though? I bet Toni can’t take her eyes off you.”

Cheryl sighed sadly, wondering where her absent girlfriend was. “If only she was here…”

Josie furrowed her eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

The redhead froze, realizing she had voiced her thoughts out loud. “I…”

Just in cue, Veronica appeared at her side, mimicking Josie’s actions and wishing the redhead a happy birthday. They chatted for a moment and took some selfies for Instagram and, when Beyoncé’s latest hit resonated through the house and both girls dragged Cheryl to the dancefloor, moving their hips to the beat.

For a few minutes, Cheryl was able to forget about her absent girlfriend but, it didn’t last long because every time her eyes would land on the door, her heart would pick up, wishing Toni would walk in.  

She didn’t.

Cheryl put on a happy face and repeated herself the same mentra: she’ll come, she said she would.

It got harder as the night went on, seeing all the couples kissing, dancing and being glued onto each other. Josie was getting ready with the Pussycats for their performance, needing a moment to sober up before going on stage - she shouldn’t have drank all that champagne. Veronica had joined Reggie’s side, Betty and Kevin doing the same with their respective lovers, leaving Cheryl alone with her thoughts.

Was this karma for being a bitch to everyone all of her life? Was this life’s revenge on her?

Or, was she being delusional about she and Toni’s relationship? Maybe this time it was more than just a rough patch- No. She shook her head, chasing away that negative thought. They’ll be okay, she repeated herself.

Straightening her back, Cheryl walked around the house, making small talk and spent time with party guests that weren’t behaving like rabbits during mating season. She tried to put on a face and have fun but it was hard for her to concentrate on the present moment and enjoy her night because she was so wrapped up in her thoughts of her.

Cheryl watched as Toni gathered her things and put them in her backpack. She was supposed to spend the another night at Cheryl’s but, after finding out her Cheryl went through her emails and sneakily deleted Toni’s email from the photography school she applied to, she was furious and needed to leave.

Like a lot of couples, college caused friction in Cheryl and Toni’s relationship. Toni wanted to study photography in New York while Cheryl wanted to go to UCLA to pursue her actin dream. Being colleges on both extremities of the country, Cheryl was not happy about it. Sha had planned to have an apartment off campus with Toni and live together - just the two of them - for the first time. She wanted Toni to come to her mini movie screenings and be the Serpent’s muse for her portfolio. She had it all planned out.

Until she saw that email.

“You don’t get to make choices for me, Cheryl. I get that we’re dating and you don’t like the idea of me going to college across the country - I don’t like that either - but, this is my dream school. If you get to follow your dreams, I should too.”

“I’m sorry,” she apologized, looking down. “I can go to New York if you want-”

Toni shook her head, sitting on the bed and grabbing her girlfriend’s hands. “No, Babe. I don’t want you to give up your dreams for me.”

“There’s acting schools in New York too.”

“I know…but you hate New York.”

“I don’t want us to be so far away, TT.”

Truth was, Cheryl was afraid Toni would find a prettier girl in New York, someone who had better hair than her, wasn’t as cligny and was a better chief…and break up. So, Cheryl vowed herself to do everything in her power to keep Toni by her side even if it meant betraying her lover’s trust and deleting an email from New York’s Visual Art Institute.

Love makes you do crazy thing, as they say.

Toni released Cheryl’s hands and stood up, finishing packing her things. “I need to take my distance for a moment..to think.”

“Are you still going to come tomorrow?” Cheryl asked, referring to her birthday party.

Toni looked up, a faint smile on her plump lips. “I said I would, didn’t I?”

It was almost midnight and there was still no sign of Toni Topaz. Her hopes lessened and her broke more as the hours passed.

A hand on her arm pulled Cheryl out of her head. “It’s time for the cake,” Veronica said, pulling the birthday girl to the table where the three story red velvet cake was presented, a big candle with the number 18 on top.

As all of her friends sung ‘happy birthday’ to her, she had to force a smile and swallow her tears, trying to not fall apart while her guests were there. Cheryl blew her candles and everyone clapped and cheered. Flashes of cameras attacked her, going blind for a few seconds from the bright light. She put on a fake smile for the photos, knowing they will be on social media when all she wanted to do was curl up in her bed and cry.

She didn’t come.  

All night she made up scenarios in her head. She imagined Toni bursting through the doors and kissing her, them dancing together to old Madonna hits and, later on, sharing a piece of her birthday cake. But, none of that happened.

While Betty was on cake duty and everyone’s attention was off her, Cheryl eclipsed herself to the bathroom. She couldn’t hold it in anymore.

She climbed the stairs, hurrying to her quarters, heels clicking on the floor. Cheryl tried closing the door but someone slipped in behind her.

Josie.

The raven haired girl had followed her to the bathroom, having noticed the sadness in her eyes as she blew off her candles.

“She said she’d be here.”

As soon as the words left her lips, tears overflowed and streamed down her porcelaine face. Without saying anything, Josie pulled the redhead into a hug as her body shook with sobs.

For once in her lifetime, Cheryl didn’t want anything elaborate or expensive gifts for her birthday, she just wanted Toni’s presence in her life. She would’ve been so happy but, alas, that was the one thing the pink haired Serpent couldn’t give her.

“What do you do when the one who means the most to you is the one who didn’t show?” she asked quietly, her words breaking Josie’s heart.

Josie held her best friend tighter, not knowing what to say.

.

After everyone left, Cheryl removed her party dress and red lipstick, changing into silk sleepwear. She slipped under her covers and, just as she was about to call it a night, she got a call from Toni.

“Happy birthday, Babe.”

All night, Cheryl had imagined made up scenarios of Toni bursting through the door and kissing her, them dancing together to old Madonna hits and, later during the night, sharing a piece of cake.

But, none of that happened. Because Toni didn’t show up.

It’s crazy how something so simple could do so much hurt.

“You’re an hour late,” Cheryl pointed in her true fashion. “You should’ve been there. You said you would.”

Toni sighed on the other side:  she was right. “I know. I long hesitated to come or not but, when I made my decision, it was already too late,” she explained. “I’m sorry, I didn’t make it. I wish I could go back in time but I can’t.”

“I’m sorry too.”

#choni #cheryl blossom #toni topaz #choni prompt #choni prompts #riverdale prompts

[femnet]

Tumblr, its anonymity and transparency. Curse or blessing?

Internet safety. We've all heard of it! Some of us were taught about it in school and I'm going to say 99% of what we were taught was absolute nonsense, taught by a person over the age of 50 who has no idea what the internet is capable of these days because they stopped paying attention in 2005, thinking it wasn't going to last and that it was just one of those pop culture phenomenons that die down over the years.

But with Tumblr, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter on the rise (to name just a few), the wave of social media and websites that allow a certain degree of self-representation unfortunately isn't going to die down anytime soon. Those websites open new doors for everyone, not just adults, but teens as well. Young people, sometimes under the age of 18, who, especially on Tumblr, want to find a place where they can express their creativity, their love for movies and TV shows, for photography, music and fashion. Tumblr is one of those websites that allow a certain degree of anonymity, because no one is going to be able to find you through your url. It's unique and you make it up. It could be short and sweet and easily identifiable – like FemNet – or it could be harrypottertwilightfan2009 (if this happens to be your url, this is totally by chance! I'm sure you're awesome!). With personal blogs, the chances of anyone finding out about it if not through your personal search history or because they happen to have their own blog and stumble upon yours or search for you by using your e-mail address (who does that?) are slim to none!

That doesn't keep any of us safe from online predators or just plain weirdos, though. Sometimes you don't have to be a p*dophile or a "predator" to be creepy and to make people feel unsafe. I've been very active on Tumblr for eight years, I've had a ton of followers, I've deleted and come back and still come across this phenomenon that I am going to tell you about. Don't be one of these people!

If you have a Tumblr blog, people kind of automatically expect us to be super transparent. Because it's Tumblr, right? This is what we're like. We're the safe space, the place people go when they feel misunderstood in the real world and they want to vent to those who really get them. Right?

You make a blog, you tell people a little bit about yourself, share a personal post here and there. And then people might want to connect with you more, outside of Tumblr. They'll want to see what you look like. When you tell them you don't want to share your private information – this might be your phone number, other social media accounts that you keep private, maybe an E-mail address for iMessage or FaceTime – suddenly you seem suspicious to them. Why don't you want to share what you look like with the world? Why are you so afraid of sharing your Twitter handle? It's just Twitter, why worry? It's just Facebook, why act so weird about sharing it?

We make the person unwilling to share their private information feel bad for wanting to keep their privacy. We think, because they're on Tumblr and this website is somewhat transparent, and because if I share a picture of myself (or more than one), why wouldn't they do the same thing? It's not bad for me, why are they acting so strange about it?

It's 2019 – stop making people feel bad for wanting to keep their private, offline life private! Especially if they're under the age of 18. You have no idea how they grew up, what their rules at home are, their reasons for not wanting to share their most private information. Once your picture is out there, it's out there forever. If it gets reblogged, it'll be on people's blogs until they delete it and even then it's not truly gone. Your phone number can be used for a lot of things if someone really wants to be mean, even if it's just a "hey I gave person xy your number, I hope that's ok with you, they're on Tumblr as well" – stop it. Don't do that. Maybe you have family on your private Facebook account that you connect with every now and then, and then suddenly a complete stranger comes into your life and knows all about your life and theirs as well. If it's not family, it might be a close friend. You have no idea what someone has gone through for them to decide to be so private. Maybe they were absued and want to make sure that abuser doesn't find them while still having the chance of sharing their love for pop culture online and just enjoying the "normal" and "calm" life, and then some internet a-hole comes around to make them feel bad for only using a nickname and not posting pictures? I don't think so.

Your privacy is yours to decide over. YOU decide how private you want to be, or in cases of minors it's your parents who get to make that decision for you. Being on Tumblr (specifically) and having followers does not give them the right to know everything about you. YOU get to share as much of yourself or as little as you desire. It's only your choice to make. Don't let anyone make you feel bad or even call you a "fake" for not posting a picture of yourself, not telling people where you're from, maybe even using a nickname instead of your full name. Your privacy is sacred. Don't let people make you feel bad for not sharing things with them. The online world is big and much bigger than any of us are capable of understanding. We've had accounts hacked and we've had Facebook sell our information for their own personal gain. Let people regain control over their privacy in 2019 if they want to. It's ours to keep. It's not for you to decide what we need to share with strangers on the internet.

#by Elle #March 2019 #real life #education #internet safety #online

[undertheinfluencerd]

https://ift.tt/3gWJj71 #

Marvel Studios had been wanting to make Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings for almost 20 years, and it wasn’t until Destin Daniel Cretton boarded the project as director that things finally got underway. Cretton created a story with his fellow screenwriters that brought Shang-Chi’s world to life on the big screen, and in an impressive way.

Overall, everything Cretton and the studio wanted to do with Shang-Chi was accomplished. There’s room for more stories and possibly Shang-Chi sequels, but whether or not Cretton returns to helm those future movies remains to be seen.

Related: Every Marvel Cinematic Universe Movie, Ranked Worst To Best

Ahead of Shang-Chi‘s release, Cretton spoke to Screen Rant about the action sequences, properly showcasing the martial arts, and what he hopes the impact will be with audiences.

Screen Rant: One of the most talked-about and praised elements of this film so far is the action. But there’s also two types of action; there’s one that’s more mystical with the people of Ta-Lo, and then another one that’s more grounded with Shang-Chi and the Death Dealer. What was your approach like with both styles of action? And was there anything you were trying to incorporate or anything you were trying to avoid?

Destin Daniel Cretton: It was an important story-point to have those two different types of martial arts styles sung throughout the journey of Shang-Chi in this movie. One style is obviously from his mother, and then the other, more forceful traditional martial arts style is from his dad. What was really important to us was making sure that those styles felt right and authentic. Brad Allan, our stunt coordinator and the head of our stunt team, put together a pretty amazing team of choreographers that had their own personal experience in those types of movements. Some came from Jackie Chan’s camp – he had a choreographer from mainland China who took a lot of inspiration from movies like Jet Li’s Tai Chi Master to create these scenes that you could describe as elegant and beautiful and even emotional. To be able to see those two drastically different types of styles come together and feel cohesive in this movie was really exciting.

Right now, things are a bit different with Marvel and their Phase 4. It’s no longer about setting up direct sequels for movies; it’s more about one character moving from one film to TV, or from one film to another character’s film. So for you, in making this – I’m not even sure if you would come back for a sequel – but where would you like to see the character go next?

Destin Daniel Cretton: I think, by the end of this movie, there are some pretty clear arrows pointing in the directions that we would love to take the character – and not only Shang-Chi, but I’m really excited to see all of these characters start to interact with the other members of the MCU and go to places that we haven’t gone before. We’re all very excited at the doors that were open because of this movie.

There are a lot of moving parts in this film – there’s Shang-Chi’s story, Katy’s family, the people of Ta-Lo, the Ten Rings – there’s a lot going on and it all comes together quite well. But in making it, was there anything you realized wouldn’t have worked and you had to drop the idea? Or was there something you wished you could’ve included in some way?

Destin Daniel Cretton: I mean, the list of things you drop on the editing floor in every movie is just so long. It would just be boring to go through all of it. But yeah, the process of finding the movie in the edit, to me, is the most important part of making a movie; it’s when you really hone in on the performances, it’s when you really find the essence of the characters and their relationships. And the truth is, the things that we end up cutting typically aren’t things that I even imagine are in the movie anymore, so I don’t regret them at all, because the movie that we discovered just feels like the movie. But there will be a number of pretty fun and exciting deleted scenes that you’ll be able to see whenever those things are released.

Could you give me an example of one?

Destin Daniel Cretton: Of a deleted scene? I’m trying to… I honestly cannot think of any right now, I’m sorry.

That’s totally fine; onto a different topic. The reactions to this film so far have been quite effusive. What does all of that mean to you and what kind of impact would you like to see from this film?

Destin Daniel Cretton: We made this movie with Marvel fans at the front of our mind, from the very beginning to the end. So to be able to go to a premiere that was packed full of people who were eagerly staring at all the details of our movie and they understood how it pieces all together to the bigger MCU, to hear the reaction from those fans in that premiere was really special and very exciting. I can’t wait for more people to see it, and see what the reaction is.

Even more important than the reaction, I get such a kick out of how much interaction there is between Marvel fans and the movies. It’s such a unique relationship between the filmmakers and the fans because there’s so much more dialogue that happens between the fans and the movies than most movies that are coming out. So to be a part of it is really exciting.

This film has been in some stage of development for many years, and I know you weren’t part of that the whole time, but at what point did it finally get underway? What was the impetus to getting it into pre-production and production?

Destin Daniel Cretton: I wasn’t there for all of that previous development, so I don’t really know. When I was brought on, we developed this idea from scratch. There wasn’t a script that was sitting there for us to start rewriting on. So when I came on, I was writing in the room with Dave Callaham and our producer, Jonathan Schwartz; we were kind of starting from a blank page and deciding what this movie was going to be.

Next: Every Upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe Movie

#marvel #avengers #marvelcomics #spiderman #mcu #ironman #comics #captainamerica #thor #avengersendgame #marvelstudios #xmen #dc #marveluniverse #art #cosplay #tomholland #hulk #disney #comicbooks #dccomics #peterparker #tonystark #blackwidow #marvellegends #endgame #deadpool #marvelcinematicuniverse #loki #bhfyp

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#Undertheinfluencerd

[joannecharlesunit10]

Evaluation

Behance allows people with photography skills/careers and wed design careers to show their portfolios of visual work such as illustration, graphic design, fashion , photography and a lot more.The advantages of behance is that it is very easy and straight forward to use and I think it is very easy to get notice by a lot of other people on the site. The engagement on behance is very high so people are more likely going to be commenting on your work, following you and liking your work.

This past year, I have been taking a lot more photographs to add to my portfolio so more people can see my work. I have been leaving my comfort zone in some photographs and been taking photographs of things i would not normally take photographs of as i only really like taking portraits of people and doing studio work.

I am not using any other platforms to show my work other than behance , I did have a photography account on Instagram as you can see below to show my work but I recently deleted it.

University

I will not be going university for photography so i do not have any  application screenshots. I will be doing online university but on a whole different subject.

About my client project

For my client project, I worked for my step-dad who owns his own business called ‘Mace Agencies’. To work with him on this project, I asked if I could take some photographs in the office he works at of all his stuff which he agreed too.

The photographs I was taking was of the textiles, mainly the teatowels and how they get packaged to get sent of to the shops. I took photographs of the teatowels and how they got packaged as my final idea because most people do not know what goes on before the products get sent to the shops.

Shooting the photographs for the client project was very different for me as I was in a totally different location and was not used to shooting teatowels so I did not know how I would go about it but eventually I got more confident with taking the photographs.

The challenges I faced were that the lighting was very different in the different places I was in the office so I had to change my camera setting quite often to suit the lighting I was in.in my opinion, I didn’t face any other challenges other than that.

I have become a lot more confident in taking a variety of different photographs and would be a lot more confident if another company asked me to take photographs for them.

[circumswoop]

Space Oddities Doing Barrel Rolls/So Long at the Fair

Space Oddities Doing Barrel Rolls

They call you single so you will feel worth exactly one dollar. We cut our pants off above the ankles so that we may fashion the cuttings into tourniquets. We bleed in headshots and cutaways, in scenes from the guillotine floor. There must always be a wealth of deletion either clockwise or counterclockwise from us, a surplus of editorial, preferably that the crowd controls. Executions have never felt fancier. Mock trials are so first-year; we have graduated to mock executions. We walk around with low-level dread, which feels like walking around with cum in your hair. And you don’t know whose it is.

I endorse the recent rebrand of singles as solos. If you’re not on a mission exactly, you’re definitely making some kind of record.

Since the Great Depression was already taken, historians will call this period the Great Anxiety. People were trying to make the case that they were cocooning, or on another of their expressionistic jags, when clearly they have sociality to your exclusion. I have flattened my substance abuse into a tether no one’s holding the other end of, in which analogy I bump comfortably against the ship in its gravitational pull until slowly one of us gives up.

Until there is a proper map of space, we rely on datasets that are of private interpretation. The theoretical artist and data-planner Laura Kurgan, who works with high-resolution satellite imagery and urban-conflict landscapes, said the following in her Bomb interview: “People often think that layers of a map simply add facts. In reality, each layer is a story about its own dataset.” We discover a new row of planet-like things and all we can talk abt is what if lifelike things are on them, which is roughly like the head of Price Waterhouse Cooper comparing the recent Oscars mistake to Janet Jackson at the Super Bowl. Which he did. So much science is pushed like propaganda, it’s no wonder ppl push back. Climate change, for instance, is reduced to either a wardrobe malfunction, or the wrong envelope handed over in a moment of data-seeking behavior. Open it and see a nipple for a scandalizing second, or a trillion miles of posthuman hope extradited by an advertising mentality.

Scientists and entrepreneurs have no brains in their tongues; their taglines are more tethers no one’s holding the other end of. Life in space must exist, we are told, for more loner-shaming reasons no doubt. This kind of faith is always open-sourced, which is strange since it’s so blind. The official at NASA who spoke to the New York Times about the Trappist-orbiting planets plagiarized, or at least pasted, the term “leap forward” in his copy, which I don’t think means what he thinks it means. Hope is regressive, in the taxation sense: it takes the most from those least equipped. Pulled along in wakes of ships, wearing funeral clothes, we think we can leverage science into feeling less like abuse when it is always, always killing us. Is it infantile to claim nothing’s as cold as warmth withheld? I’m afraid hoping for another life-supporting planet, much less real life on it, is for that person who never has enough casual friends, whose influence must constantly be spinning radially outward. Who wants to proceed from the particular to the universal anyway?

But I’m also afraid I may be that person. Here is my most recent text: Anyway, sorry I couldn’t make it. You looked good. Before the surveillance safety net, the crossed references in that text are like an Argento screenshot. Now we spy on our friends day and night so we know who looked good and who didn’t at the function, even if we weren’t there. The kind of bulwarking it takes to send a text like that could be confused for isolationism, or manipulation, but I’ve realized recently that I don’t exactly bestow attention with the hope that attention will be bestowed upon me. I rarely need to be the radius in anyone’s life, but I do need to be one of the equi-angular spokes. Looking at any NASA star plot, you can determine the most desirable data to be in the center, although improvement in one metric often means disimprovement in another. This is why a perfect multivariate balance of friends is so hard to pull off, and why I won’t cop to being an attention whore: I can really only handle three or four personalities at a time and I don’t know how everyone else does it.

So Long at the Fair

At the LA Art Book Fair, aka Instagram Live!, aka the nonholding center: competing clauses of DIY scrolled endlessly in a gallery space that as its day job marries museum culture to Little Tokyo culture, bringing white people together. There were not many solos at the LA Art Book Fair. The art world pretends to be all abt weirdos and loners; they even built that phrase like a dome of inclusion, but the art world is no world. It doesn’t have 7 billion people, just 7 billion microaggressions. There were stated or posted references to nobody owning the beach, which is clearly false: the beautiful people own the beach. I snagged a Cash For Your Warhol sticker from the free media table; “when they go low, we go high!” was the dek so never think memes actually die. They just reoccupy. Taking notes on Instagram, I discovered that when pressed to decide between committing earnestly to LAABF’s excesses and making fun of said excesses, it’s okay to do both.

Nevertheless we stanned over Dodie Bellamy working the Semiotext(e) table: how we got 3 books for the price of 2 or a free poster copped like the setlist from the stage. Don’t semiosext(e) me bro, Ben texted. Patrick got the poster. The three Semiotext(e) titles I got were: Atta by Jarett Kobek (Intervention, Series 9); The Coming Insurrection by The Invisible Committee (Intervention, Series 1); and Communists Like Us by Felix Guattari and Toni Negri (Foreign Agents). These items from my most loved label will live forever in my collection, or at least longer than the fancy zine I nearly dropped $20 on that was just curated McDonald’s-themed photography would have. On the other hand, the new Mac Jr. is beyond reproach.

At the afterparty, Sara texted wya? do you have drugs? find us if yes. The answer was no, but she and Chloe found me anyway before I cld text something bitchy.

#writing

[ralphlayton]

Applying On-Page SEO Principles For Pinterest Success

Pinterest is one part social media and one part search engine, which makes it a powerful tool for individuals and businesses alike to build their brands and drive traffic to their websites. Recently, we have decided to throw our hat in the ring and apply our expert on-page SEO techniques to Pinterest in order to take full advantage of this growing platform.

Traditionally, Pinterest has been the home of DIYers, fashion bloggers, and photographers who enjoyed the platform’s use of large attractive graphics and simplistic interface. Unlike popular social media channels like Facebook and Twitter, Pinterest doesn’t have very many options and doesn’t focus so much on follower counts and likes as it does on serving quality content to those who are searching for it.

The overall atmosphere of Pinterest has shifted in recent years. What was once a website full of random, albeit attractive, images has since transformed into a high-quality source for finding the best blog content on the web. Although basic photography is still an important component of the platform, there has been an upswell of purposefully crafted graphics designed specifically for the blogs they link to. These pins convey important information and help Pinterest decide who to serve them to according to specific search queries.

Using what we know about on-page SEO, we have been able to skyrocket our Pinterest engagement in just a few short months, and have learned a thing or two about what makes a great pin and how this platform can best be used for both lead generation as well as eCommerce.

  We’ll be taking a look at the steps we took to reignite our Pinterest, where we are now, and where we expect to be in the future as we continue to refine our efforts.

How Pinterest Behaves Like a Search Engine

Pinterest is a powerful platform that can be used to drive traffic to your blog, offers, products, and more, using the same basic principles that search engines use to help users find what they are looking for. Pinterest users can pick a topic that interests them and search for information on it just as they would on Google.

The difference here is that rather than text-based links like you would see on Google, everything on Pinterest is visual. While every pin has its own title and description much in the way a web page does, it’s the pin itself that is most important. This is what will ultimately encourage a user to either save or click the pin.

While saving or “repinning” a pin is good for its impressions, the quality of a pin is often decided by its SEO relevancy. Pinterest relies on optimized titles and descriptions in order to best serve its users, which means you must use appropriate long-tail keywords and a supporting description.

In this search for “seo tips,” we can see an array of highly targeted results that rely on a properly constructed title and an attractive pin that is easy to read and describes the content that it is pointing to. Pinterest can “read” the text that is present on an image and will take this information into account when serving results.

Just like Google, you can get more out of Pinterest by using long-tail keywords and related search terms to find exactly what you’re looking for with ease. The great thing about Pinterest is that you can create boards centered around your favorite topics and save the pins you find for later use, or simply to help your own followers find them.

Pinterest doesn’t simply rely on the title and description of a pin when taking its relevancy into account, but also the board on which it was originally pinned to, and that board’s description as well. Both of these areas should use the proper keywords as well in order to maximize your chances of your pin becoming popular.

Like any social media, Pinterest is looking for users who create and cultivate the highest quality content. If the content is high enough in quality it has a chance of going “viral.” However, it also functions just like a search engine, in that if you apply the right SEO techniques when creating your pins, they are all but guaranteed to gain authority over time and rank. These two forces combine to create a platform that has massive potential to drive traffic, leads, and sales to any website, so long as there is value present.

There is one important thing to note about the way Pinterest functions in relation to certain niches. Unlike Google, which applies to the whole web, Pinterest really only to very specific topics. While some niches such as SEO, blogging tips, DIY crafts, recipes, fashion, fitness, and health are very popular and ubiquitous on the platform, other niches are not represented whatsoever. You have to use your best judgment and run some initial searches to determine if you can make inroads on the platform using the techniques we implemented.

The Anatomy of an Effective Pinterest Pin

There are some challenges to overcome if you want to construct the perfect pin. Some of the techniques that work well elsewhere on the web don’t apply to Pinterest, while some of what works boils down to common sense. The most essential components of an effective pin are a bold and easy to read title, eye-catching color, and a reason to click.

Here is an example of one of our highest performing pins from the last month. It has received over five hundred impressions and ten saves by itself.

This pin covers the essentials: the title is large and easy to read, the colors pop, and there is an incentive for users to click if they want to know more about SEO. These elements are supported by a high-quality image, secondary copy that builds on the theme, and a title and description that match what the pin says.

There’s no magic sauce when it comes to building a great pin, you simply have to focus on these areas and be consistent. Make sure your copy is well-written and that you start with a solid foundation by leaning on a keyword that is being searched for. In this case, our keyword in question is “ecommerce seo.”

Before we took our Pinterest campaign seriously, we were only uploading images such as webpage designs, photos of our office, and the occasional infographic. Without optimized titles and descriptions and without contextual copy on the pins themselves, there was no way for Pinterest to understand what to do with these pins, and so our impressions remained quite low for years.

It wasn’t until recently when we finally decided to take the platform seriously and apply our on-page SEO techniques to our pins while taking the time to design high-quality pin graphics that would catch our users’ attention. Since we implemented these changes we’ve seen a complete transformation in the way our Pinterest performs. The way you design your pin matters, it’s the backbone of the platform.

If you want to use Pinterest for your business or eCommerce efforts, start with a few of your most important keywords and do some research into the search intent behind them. Construct high-quality graphics that plainly describe the content that is being linked to, and keep in mind that you ideally want users to save these pins to their own boards as well. This is one reason why you don’t see an overabundance of branding on Pinterest.

In terms of showing off your brand through your pins, you want to do so through the general aesthetic you choose. While logos and watermarks are fine and expected, no one is going to pin your pin if it has giant corporate branding all over it. Users want pins that they can “claim” and place on their boards almost as if they were their own. The composition of your pin, your fonts and colors, and your imagery should do the talking for your brand.

Week 1 vs. Week 12

When developing our newly refined Pinterest presence, we first had to decide what our goals were for the platform and settle on a theme. We wanted to provide valuable information on search engine optimization, digital marketing, and eCommerce that users could use to help them with their online business pursuits, while also attracting anyone who might be interested in our services as well.

To that end, we spent a couple of weeks crafting a line of templates that went through several rounds of revision until we were satisfied with them. Overseen by our knowledgeable design team, we focused on synthesizing a friendly and informative feel with our enterprise agency reputation, so that our pins would at once convey professionalism and accessible information that anyone could use.

After we were happy with our initial results, we began to jump into a regular pinning schedule. When we first began this new campaign, our account was not seeing substantial activity, averaging about 175 total impressions per month. I knew that to turn the ship around we had to start from the bottom up, so I deleted several boards and renamed others to include relevant keywords, and improved some of our older pins with optimized descriptions.

After the first full week of implementing our new Pinterest campaign, the results were already pouring in. While we only added a few pins in total that week, the changes to our board titles and other SEO optimizations that we performed was enough to revitalize our account and get some traction.

It’s important to make a note here about pin longevity. Unlike traditional social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, where posts lose relevancy very fast, a pin may take weeks or even months to gain traction, not unlike a web page. It’s all a matter of who finds it and saves it, and how the algorithm interprets what it sees. If you follow through with the right on-page SEO techniques, a pin that has been dormant for months can suddenly spring to life.

This is one of the reasons why Pinterest as a platform to drive targeted traffic is so powerful. Every pin that you create and add has SEO staying power that can one day translate into more traffic or even sales for your business. During our first week implementing this new campaign, a couple of the old pins that had been completely dormant on our account stirred and gained new impressions, and they are now performing better than ever. SEO techniques work extremely well on Pinterest and can drive a substantial amount of traffic if you are consistent and keep feeding the platform with quality content.

On that note, here is where we found ourselves after the first month of running our new campaign. Keep in mind that we were adding only two or three pins per day, and usually only on weekdays.

We accrued a staggering 12,411% increase in impressions, with over 500 engagements. This includes users clicking on pins, commenting on them, liking them, repinning them, or clicking our links. As you can see from the graph, we even had a couple of pins go semi-viral, amassing several thousand impressions and several saves and link clicks all on their own.

As we analyzed the results we were getting from our initial efforts, we began to double down on what was working, creating better-looking pins with catchier pin titles. When it comes to Pinterest, you can’t be afraid to drop what isn’t working and embrace what is. Some of our initial pin templates flopped, which forced us to refocus on what was working and apply those specific techniques to the rest of our pins.

We also saw a period of reduced impressions in late April that I attributed to lazy descriptions. I went through dozens of our older pins and some of our newer ones, and added optimized copy where needed, while also enhancing our boards with better titles and covers. We also created a few new templates, which turned out to be just what we needed.

Over the course of three months of adapting and experimenting, we have amassed some impressive results.

Not only have we accrued well over 100 saves, but we have more than doubled our followers. This not only means our individual pieces of content are “pin-worthy,” but in general we are doing what we set out to do: provide valuable high-level information to our users.

It’s clear that by implementing the proper SEO techniques on Pinterest, you can dramatically increase your engagement, drive traffic, and build a following. As you expand your Pinterest outreach, always keep in mind that for the best results, make sure your website is following SEO best practices as well and has plenty of relevant and valuable information for anyone who is clicking on your pins. Just like Google, Pinterest takes into account metrics such as bounce rate, session time, and whether or not your users are making purchases or signing up for your mailing list, as well as other actions. Take care of your SEO on all fronts and you will get the results you’re looking for.

If you are interested in improving your online presence with SEO, we here at 1DigitalⓇ can help you out. Our team of expert SEO technicians and writers can drive traffic to your website and keep it there through an array of on-page optimizations and attention-grabbing content. We are a results-driven agency that will work hard to increase your conversions and grow your business. Give us a call today at 215-809-1567 and find out how we can best address your needs.

You can learn more about how we apply SEO principles to help clients find success by reading more of our case studies featured here and if you’re on Pinterest too, give us a follow.

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Applying On-Page SEO Principles For Pinterest Success published first on yhttps://improfitninja.blogspot.com/

[jessicakehoe]

Photo Tricks From the Front Row: Our Editors Share Their Best Tips for Getting a Good Shot at a Fashion Show

Fashion week is a heck of a whirlwind. A series of back-to-back shows, presentations, parties and events that, by the end of the week, blur into one long, sleep-deprived memory. Fortunately, there’s an easy way to quickly recall the standout shows, the must-have pieces, and the moments that defined the week—scrolling through our phone’s photo albums. And of course, as the editors of FASHION who attend these fashion weeks each season, it falls upon us to document everything we see and experience for our readers and followers. Which means, those photos and videos we snapped and recorded endlessly? They better be good.

From each FASHION editor covering fashion week, here are some tips and tricks we use for getting great photos, along with some handy things we learned at a ‘Today at Apple’ class on photo skills at the brand’s Eaton Centre store the week before fashion month began.

Pahull Bains, London Fashion Week

For me, the biggest challenge during runway shows is getting shots that capture the details of what a model is wearing in the few seconds as she passes by your seat. More often than not, these images are over- or under-exposed and extremely blurry. (Models walk fast.) Focusing on elements like shoes, jewellery or head accessories can be even trickier, but these three iPhone features helped me up my photo game this season.

Photography by Pahull Bains

Photography by Pahull Bains

Photography by Pahull Bains

1/3

London Fashion Week

Burst mode This was probably my biggest saviour, and helped me capture this beautiful close-up of a textural, technicolour Mary Katrantzou dress. Holding down the shutter button allows you to capture literally dozens of shots of a moving scene instead of just a blurry few. When you go back and look at each frame captured in these “bursts,” chances are you’ll find at least one great shot buried in there. You can select the frames you like best, and then the iPhone gives you the option of keeping just those selected shots and deleting the rest, or keeping them all.

2/3

London Fashion Week

Slow mo videos Slow motion videos are perfect for capturing dramatic details. This is something I’d figured out at fashion weeks past, and used extensively to record things like fringed dresses, metallic details and flowing silhouettes. What I didn’t know, though, was that these slow motion videos could be manipulated to extend, shorten or change the slowed-down portion so you don’t end up with a too-long, painfully drawn-out video. Game changer. It’s how I got a great look at these embellished booties at Erdem.

3/3

London Fashion Week

Preserve camera settings Another challenge during runway shows is the lighting, which varies from show to show and location to location. If you’re facing spotlights, chances are your images will be mightily over-exposed. Luckily, there’s a way around it: by adjusting the light and exposure settings of the camera. Just tap anywhere on the screen and you’ll see a square yellow box with a yellow sun icon next to it. Drag your finger up and down to adjust the light in the photo. When you reach a level that works for the current scenario, press and hold for 3 seconds: it’ll lock and preserve those settings. This is a handy trick because it means you won’t have to re-adjust the settings every time you need to take a photo or video. It’s also a huge time-saver, as I learned during the Vivienne Westwood show, where I was seated directly across from giant floodlights.

Isabel Slone, New York Fashion Week

I like to self-identify as the ‘world’s worst photographer’ — seriously, whenever tourists ask me to snap a photo of them I decline out of respect — so when I was assigned the task of documenting the greatest moments of New York Fashion Week using the new iPhone XR camera, I was intimidated, to say the least. Luckily, the camera was able to do most of the heavy lifting – all I had to do was notice something interesting and the camera was there to get the shot.

  Photography by Isabel Slone

Photography by Isabel Slone

Photography by Isabel Slone

1/3

New York Fashion Week

Portrait Mode

Before I took my seat at the Badgley Mischka show, (where I spotted Molly Shannon and Tess Holliday in the front row), I had to go over and compliment this woman on her incredible gothic –meets-Rainbow Brite outfit. Turns out she’s a rapper/model who goes by ‘JZL the Empress’ and walked in the Nicole Miller show later in that week. I nabbed this photo of her taking a selfie with another showgoer using Portrait mode, where the studio lighting setting illuminated her skin and highlighted the bright colours in her outfit.

2/3

New York Fashion Week

Swipe to Open Camera

My most exciting discovery of New York Fashion Week was the work of Caroline Hu, a Chinese designer who designs under the label Caroline Qiqi. I was blown away by her tragically beautiful broken doll couture, which reminded me a lot of what Rodarte was doing circa 2006. I was so taken by the combination of natural light and the beautiful gown that I was able to snap this photo quickly by swiping left on the iPhone lock screen, which is so much easier than fumbling through the apps to open the camera.

3/3

New York Fashion Week

Zoom

One of the best aspects of fashion week hands-down is the people watching. I spotted this dynamic duo at Spring Studios and was transfixed by how diametrically opposite their styles were, and yet they were interacting like best friends. The show was about to start before I took the photo, so I used the iPhone pinch zoom feature to frame the photo without having to get out of my seat.

  Noreen Flanagan, Milan Fashion Week

After each show, I love knitting together quick videos on my iPhone XS Max either using iMovie or Videoshop. (This last app is great if you need to edit vertical clips for Instagram stories.) But there’s still nothing more satisfying than capturing a still image that captures—and freezes—the details and moments that inspire you at fashion week.

Photography by Noreen Flanagan

Photography by Noreen Flanagan

Photography by Noreen Flanagan

1/3

Milan Fashion Week

Up Close and Personal Portrait mode isn’t only useful for humans! I use it when I want to play with the depth of field so some parts of the picture are blurred. This helps to draw attention to the detail that has caught my eye, but layers in some context for where the shot is being taken. (In this case, it was at the resee for Gucci.)

2/3

Milan Fashion Week

Detail Orientated I love the tap and zoom feature. Being able to zoom from 1X to 10X with just my thumb, vs using two fingers to pinch, is faster and more stable because I don’t have to switch hands. (This is a close up of the quirky bespoke stitching at Gucci.)

3/3

Milan Fashion Week

On the Grid When the models are flying by—like they were at Missoni—it’s hard to know when you should snap that perfect 1/3-2/3 shot. The rule of thirds, which is a classic composition technique, is a whole lot easier to nail when you have the grid turned on. (To turn it on, go to Settings, select Camera and the make sure the Grid option is green.)

Eliza Grossman, Paris Fashion Week

Although it’s nine days long, Paris Fashion Week feels more like two.  A jam-packed schedule means that even the most memorable collections can be hard to recall. The photos I take at each showroom appointment and runway show are a constant reference point as I map out the magazine’s fashion coverage, so clear detailed shots are a must. Tapping subjects to focus and brightening images have become game changers when it comes to getting the perfect shot on the first try.

Photography by Eliza Grossman

Photography by Eliza Grossman

Photography by Eliza Grossman

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Paris Fashion Week

Panorama

The pano mode in the camera app helps capture beautiful wide shots. Once in pano you can steadily mode your cameral left to right to capture an extended view. Paris is the perfect backdrop for pano since every inch of the city seems magical. This shot was captured leaving the Louis Vuitton show at the Louvre. It’s quiet and eerie as the crowd exits the last show of the week.

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Paris Fashion Week

Rule of Thirds

This Chanel clutch caught my eye on the runway so when I visited the showroom the next day it was on my list of things to see. To capture all of the detail I used the grid on the camera app to centre it in the frame and get up close and personal.

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Paris Fashion Week

Slow-Mo

As the models at the Stella McCartney marched towards me I switched my Iphone into slow-mo to capture the details of the look. Watching back the clip I can see how everything moves especially these dangling, paperclip earrings.

  The post Photo Tricks From the Front Row: Our Editors Share Their Best Tips for Getting a Good Shot at a Fashion Show appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

Photo Tricks From the Front Row: Our Editors Share Their Best Tips for Getting a Good Shot at a Fashion Show published first on https://borboletabags.tumblr.com/

[thepennydarling]

Happy Monday, ya’ll!

As you can tell by EVERYTHING you’ve seen on the internet today, it’s April Fool’s Day! Lots of people are announcing that they’re moving/getting a new job/pregnant/engaged/etc.

I have no intentions on any tricks today, simply just some treats!

Now, when I started this off, I did NOT consider myself a model. I know what angles look good for me, and how to get the shot focused, but I’m still an AWKWARD AF human.

I trip a lot. Like sometimes I literally lose my balance standing still. Sometimes I’m making a mad face at nature (if I have a scrunched up face, it was the weather). Sometimes I’m crying in the middle of photos. More often, I’m talking in the middle of photos. Sometimes I stick my tongue out when I focus. Sometimes Preston snaps candid shots of me in between poses. Sometimes my mom is there and she’s a huge dork that can’t focus or stop being silly.

I used to just delete this pictures, thinking they would never make it to Instagram, but here we are, April Fool’s Day, 2019, and I am going to bless you with every blooper I could find on my computer. I hope you can laugh as much as I did finding them!

Let me just sneak the boring stuff so we can get to the goods! Check me out on Instagram here!  I also have a selling Instagram page where I sell some of my old clothes/styles so that I don’t drown in my own wardrobe. I just listed a few new things – so check that out!

  Love you all! Hope this made you chuckle! Happy April Fool’s Day, don’t believe anything you read online today!

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  SO HERE’S THE “END OF BLOG” SPIEL!

If you are at all interested in doing a collab or working with me – please feel free to check out my new Contact Me! page! I also do social media consulting and photography, so please reach out! Let’s work together!

Follow me on Instagram: @thepennydarling

Like my Facebook page here!

Follow me on Twitter here!

Subscribe for updates!

Check out my Gwynnie Bee affiliate page here! (Free month trial if you use my code!)

If you’d like to donate to help me keep Penny Darling going – click here!

Comment for topics you would like to see me cover! Like to help my self esteem! What do you think so far? More fashion? More lifestyle? Do you like the mix?

Thank you for all that you do. You are truly extraordinary.

Love all you wonderful ladies (and gents!) out there!

How Very,

Abby

April Fool's Day: Blooper Edition - if you can't laugh at yourself...don't worry, everyone else will! Happy Monday, ya'll! As you can tell by EVERYTHING you've seen on the internet today, it's April Fool's Day!

[pauldeckerus]

Thunderball Clothing Shuttered Due to Outrage from Arch Enemy Photo Ban

Photographer J Salmeron of Metal Blast sparked a huge outpouring of support from other photographers and creatives last week after he shared how he was blacklisted by the band Arch Enemy while trying to protect his copyright. Now the clothing business at the center of the controversy has closed up shop in response to all the “hate and threats” it has received.

Salmeron originally shared how he discovered that Thunderball Clothing was using one of his photos without his permission to promote its products.

The (now deleted) re-post of my work by Thunderball Clothing.

The photographer offered to let Thunderball use the photo and keep the post up by retroactively licensing it through a €100 donation to the Dutch Cancer Foundation.

Instead of responding directly to Salmeron, Thunderball (i.e. fashion designer Marta Gabriel) decided to turn to Arch Enemy instead. After a little back and forth with the band, manager Angela Gossow (who was the previous lead singer) informed Salmeron that he has been blacklisted from all future performances.

“We have immediately removed the picture you took at FortaRock,” Gossow wrote. “By the way, we are sure you don’t mind that you are not welcome anymore to take pictures of Arch Enemy performances in the future, at festivals or solo performances.

“I have copied in the label reps and booking agent who will inform promoters – no band wants to have photographers on site who later send such threatening correspondence to monetise on their images.”

Unhappy about how the whole situation unfolded, Salmeron turned to the Web to share what happened. His post then went viral in not only the world of photography but in the music world as well.

Less than 48 hours later, current Arch Enemy lead sinder Alissa White-Gluz posted the following statement to her Facebook page defending both Thunderball’s actions and Arch Enemy’s right to ban Salmeron:

“The photographer of this particular photo was ALWAYS fully credited for the ENTIRE duration of his photo being on my Instagram and Marta’s,” White-Gluz wrote. “As soon as he expressed discontent the posts were immediately removed. There was never ANY attempt made by Thunderball or Arch Enemy to use that photo for commercial use, and certainly not without compensation. […]

“We reserve the right, however, to decide who is allowed to photograph our shows and after having corresponded with him we didn’t want any more issues like this in the future, especially when passes are limited and we know so many photographers who love having the opportunity to get a photo pass and have fun with us at shows.

“In conclusion, no one from Arch Enemy nor Thunderball ever denied paying the photographer in question for the commercial use of his photo: We simply did not use it.”

This response didn’t sit well with people, and White-Gluz’s has been flooded with angry comments and reactions.

The next day, Thunderball Clothing issued an apology:

View this post on Instagram

THUNDERBALL CLOTHING – STATEMENT / APOLOGY I would like to publicly apologise Mr J. Salmeron for reposting one of the photos he took, on my Instagram page, without having his permission. When few months ago I was reposting his photo from the Instagram page of the Arch Enemy singer Alissa White-Gluz, I was simply proud that such a great artist is wearing a clothing piece that I made, and wanted to share these news with my followers. As I did the repost with an app that included all original credits and watermarks, I thought that it's OK. I meant no harm, and it wasn't my intention to promote any product, however, I do agree that it might looked like that, and I understand that the author of the photography could feel upset about it. And I am sorry about it. After I received an email message from J. Salmeron, who introduced himself as a lawyer and author of the photography, I interpreted it as another spam or scam (well, all of us receive this kind of emails all the time). I saw the amount of 500 Euro and the name of Alissa White-Gluz, from whom I reposted mentioned photo, so without going deeper into that message, I did what I thought was most logic – I contacted her, forwarded the original message that I got, and asked her what to do. I was instructed to take down the photo (what I immediatelly did), and was informed that someone else will take care of it. That again seemed logic, as I was aware that I'm not at the position of taking any actions on behalf of Arch Enemy, nor their members. I had no other contact with J. Salmeron, I haven't heard from him since then, and to be honest, for the last 6 months I had no idea that something is wrong, especially as the photo was taken down. That being said, I would like to apologise J. Salmeron once again. Not only I'm willing to discuss with him how to compenaste him and fix the situation, but also how to make sure similar situation won't happen ever again. After all, we're all playing in the same team, and we all have one thing in common. We love music. Marta Gabriel, Thunderball Clothing

A post shared by Thunderball Clothing (@thunderballclothing) on Dec 28, 2018 at 5:45am PST

“I would like to publicly apologise Mr J. Salmeron for reposting one of the photos he took, on my Instagram page, without having his permission,” Gabriel wrote. “[…] As I did the repost with an app that included all original credits and watermarks, I thought that it’s OK. I meant no harm, and it wasn’t my intention to promote any product, however, I do agree that it might looked like that, and I understand that the author of the photography could feel upset about it. And I am sorry about it.”

Gabriel also states that she interpreted his original copyright infringement notice email as spam or a scam, so she decided to contact the band about it.

“Not only I’m willing to discuss with him how to compensate him and fix the situation, but also how to make sure similar situation won’t happen ever again,” Gabriel writes. “After all, we’re all playing in the same team, and we all have one thing in common. We love music.”

But the next day, Gabriel announced that she has shuttered Thunderball Clothing:

View this post on Instagram

STATEMENT 30/12/2018 – UPDATE / THE END OF THUNDERBALL CLOTHING * As many of you seems to follow this story, here's an update, and a final statement (you can see my previous statement and an apology from December 28 in my previous post). * The photographer, J. Salmeron, accepted my apology for reposting the photo he took, without having his permission, and as this was his request, I made a donation to the charity organization of his choice (the Dutch Cancer Society). I believe we can say this ends the dispute between us. * However, as I'm not able to handle the amount of hate and threats that I received and keep on receiving, I decided to do what I think is best in this situation. To end the being known as Thunderball Clothing (it's hard to use a word "company" here, as since day one it was just one person – me). I apologise for not being strong enough, and for not being next Internet hero that keep on saying "haters gonna hate". Within last 2 days I received literally hundreds of comments and messages that I'm a whore, a nazi, a communist, a worthless cunt, and that I either should quickly die, or that I should kill myself. There is no anger in me, and I apologise everyone that felt hurt or upset by this situation. Anyway, there is no Thunderball Clothing anymore. You won. * Marta Gabriel, Thunderball Clothing

A post shared by Thunderball Clothing (@thunderballclothing) on Dec 30, 2018 at 2:11am PST

“The photographer, J. Salmeron, accepted my apology for reposting the photo he took, without having his permission, and as this was his request, I made a donation to the charity organization of his choice (the Dutch Cancer Society),” Gabriel states. “I believe we can say this ends the dispute between us.”

But it’s the flood of “hate and threads” that she is unable to handle, the fashion designer says.

“Within last 2 days I received literally hundreds of comments and messages that I’m a whore, a nazi, a communist, a worthless cunt, and that I either should quickly die, or that I should kill myself,” she writes. “There is no anger in me, and I apologise everyone that felt hurt or upset by this situation. Anyway, there is no Thunderball Clothing anymore. You won.”

Here’s Salmeron’s response to the news of Thunderball’s closure:

“What Marta made was a mistake, a mistake that in no way justifies her losing her livelihood or seeing her life negatively impacted to this level,” Salmeron writes. “She deserves, like all the rest of us, the opportunity to move on from it and to continue her creative career.”

“[W]hile we sincerely appreciate the support that we have received from thousands of people from around the world, we categorically and absolutely reject any and all threats of any kind made against Marta, Alissa, Angela or, frankly, anybody else. Nobody deserves to be terrorized, or to fear for their safety, because of things like these.”

Salmeron notes that he too has received death threats — from supporters of the band — and that he will be passing the messages on to authorities.

Band manager Gossow also took to social media to weigh in after Thunderball’s announcement.

“I am reacting to the bully rally this photographer has set lose with his well crafted (he took 6 months to get it done and released), well timed mash up of different subjects at hand,” Gossow writes. “The details often get lost in the emotion of the narrative – and the narrative is often controlled by who presents the story first. Mr photographer threw a bunch of different things into one pot and highly emotionalized it.”

Gossow writes that (1) Arch Enemy didn’t infringe upon any copyright and wasn’t involved at all in that core aspect of the controversy, (2) Salmeron should have billed Gabriel directly and donated to charity himself, (3) she didn’t ask anyone outside her “circle of people” to blacklist Salmeron, and (4) Salmeron threatened Gossow with legal action over parts of her original public statement, which led her to edit the post.

“I took away the word sheep because those people who damaged Marta beyond repair, who are threatening Alissa and me in very serious ways are not sheep – they are much worse. They are bullies,” Gossow writes. “We wish to move on from this and wish Mr Photographer the best with the career.”

Gossow left the comments section open to promote discourse, but she’s still being slammed for her handling of the situation and blamed for the outcome.

“Because of the way you ‘handled’ this fiasco from the start, an actual good person, Marta Gabriel (who was the only one to apologize for the error) is now ending her clothing company,” writes a Matt Vicente in the most popular comment. “Nice job. And you STILL don’t get it.”

from Photography News https://petapixel.com/2018/12/31/thunderball-clothing-shuttered-due-to-outrage-from-arch-enemy-photo-ban/