Hey there Backstage! Mr. Liquorice here with our second episode of Community Spotlight. We opted to do a typed thing for this one, to get a bit of insight from one of our most amazing users: LittleMako! My bias aside… answers from either of us are found in bold. Lines separate each response and question.

Hello there, Community Spotlight. Hehe, I've lost my voice due to a horrible cold, so here are some typed answers!

General Questions:

Describe yourself in a couple of words

Couple. So, I presume this means two words? Quiet and Anxious.

I can say my personality online is much like my real life personality, although on here I am more honest and sexually expressive.

This question reminds me of the time, Todd (Mr. notwhorosethinks) posted a lovely discussion on Backstage 2 years ago asking Backstage to tag themselves as an audio. I believe the tags I answered still describe me perfectly in the context of our community:

[F] Mako [vanilla with a variety of toppings] [ramble seeker] [pom-pom wielder] [short, shy anxious] [blanket burritos] [occasional pun giggles]

In real life, I would tag myself as such

[F] Mako [Awkward] [I'm not quiet, I just happen to be listening] [Mumble, mumble] [Smol, but will tackle you if need be] [The one in the Blanket Burrito/Giant Hoodie] [Perpetually sleepy] [PAAAAAANCAKES]

What is your most immediate general goal, and what is your primary long-term one?

Immediate general goal: Graduate! If that's too long a goal, then improve my handwriting.

Primary long-term one: Buy a house! Live a somewhat stable life.

Where did you first get the pom poms idea?

Cheerleaders have been around for so long and they wield pom-poms, a prop to get attention and emphasise their movements (showmanship). Ever since high school I have always thought pom-poms were the best tool to motivate despite that I have NEVER ever held any pom poms. You can wave them about and its a great way to motivate someone, (i.e. wave them and do a little dance).

What's the #1 audio you'd love to make given the chance? It could be anything for GWA, Backstage or otherwise.

1 audio:

GWA: A Tsundere or Yandere audio. If possible I'd do a series of audios revolving around the stages of becoming a Yandere. But for a single audio, I'd do an appreciation dungeon audio, where I constantly milk the listener.

GWAB: Single audio wise, I really need to verify on Backstage. Series of audios? If I had the time and privacy, I would love to do a podcast of interviewing various users. I miss podcasts with ridiculous questions, so I'd do a podcast based on coming up with scenarios in which the interviewee is in e.g. zombie apocalypse, stranded island etc.

Otherwise: A choose your own adventure audio, whether it be sexy or not. :3

If you designed a cheerleader outfit for GWA commenters, what would it look like? Colors, style, logo.

Wouldn't it just be everyone in their birthday suit with pom poms? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

If we're going for a default cheerleading outfit, a giant black hoodie (made from hypoallergenic cotton, unless the user prefers silk or velvet etc.) with the GoneWildAudio header across the front in the red, orange hue. The user's flair on the back of their hoodie, complete with with red and orange circular pom-poms. (The users can then choose what they wear underneath.)

I like to think the cheerleader outfits are completely personalised according to the users. As GWA commenters can vary from lurkers, serial commenters to fellow GWA performers. :)

For example, mine would just be a shark onesie with pom poms.

What is the ideal blanket for burrito-ing? Size, fabric, color/pattern.

I'm easy to please when it comes to burrito-ing.

• Size: Any blanket that you can wrap yourself in is suitable. Preferably, the larger the blanket, the easier to be engulfed in a blanket burrito. (Thin or thick is down to preference, personally, I go by weather/temperature, thinner blankets for warmer weather, then for colder weather I go for thicker blankets even duvets. Duvets just make it a thicker but light burrito. Either way keeps one comfy and warm.)

• Fabric: Hypoallergenic cotton or wool is my preference.

• Colour/Pattern: Solid colours or patterns. It doesn't really matter, for it is comfort over style. I tend to go for a minimalist style of solid colours, stripes or plaid. Yet, my present blanket is styled with a cartoon under the sea scene with lots of colourful fish and coral. :3 Go wild if you please.

GWA Questions:

How long have you been on GWA?

Four years. For one year, Mako was a lurker without an account. But it's been three years with a Reddit account, and for the last two years was Mako as a GWA performer. :)

What made you start on GWA?

Initially, I made an account to comment, to leave my appreciation on audios. Back then, my comments were minimalist and I didn't think to make acquaintances let alone friends in this community. I wanted to make sure the performer knew how much I appreciated their audio.

As a performer? I have no idea, I just decided one day to attempt making audios. Curiosity got the best of me.

Has GWA made any impact on your day to day life? How?

**GWA has made me appreciate listening skills more, I find that is much easier for me to listen when I can pause and rewind audios. But in real life, you don't have the ability to do that, so I have found that I attempt to be more attentive in listening. In day to day life, I continue to improve my listening skills.

Call it Pavlovian conditioning, in which my attention is drawn to any really nice voices I hear as it elicts immediate immature giggling. As weird as it sounds, I smile or giggle randomly when I hear a nice voice. The same could be said about certain phrases e.g. good girl, little one, Daddy etc.

What made you stay on GWA/GWAB?

The community. Many, many users and familiar names have disappeared from the community and it does make me miss specific people, audios and the 'warmth' in which they brought. But I stick around GWA for the creativity in which different users bring, even as people come and go <giggle> there are different ideas, concepts, perspectives and takes of audio. There are many voices out there!

I am driven to keep commenting on GWA and GWAB, recently I have not done that as much as I used to, but that alone is one of the main reasons I remain. There will be a constant need for feedback and comments.

I stayed on GWAB more than GWA as it is a open community, where we can talk about sex and whatever we want. I like reading discussions and listening to user's talents (music covers, performances etc), alongside podcasts etc. I feel as if the GWAB community is where I belong online. It is a lovely place of freedom online.

If there's one advice you can give to the community, whether it's about life, or audios, or enjoying their stay on Backstage, what would it be?

Life: Tell the people you love that you love them, one day, they may not be able to hear you say it.

Audio (Performing): Practise makes perfect! Audio (Listening): Leave a comment- the performer will thank you for it. Audio (Editing): Get a second opinion, another person's ears are useful!

Backstage: Get involved in discussions or posts. A simple, 'Hi' every now and then will make you recognisable. Easy way to make friends!

If you could change anything about GWABackstage other than rules, what would it be?

Can I have a button that goes to the first ever GWABackstage post? Being able to explore GWABackstage archives would be fun, the ability to sort posts from the oldest to newest posts!

There's not much to change about GWABackstage, although we should have more community events or something to bring about a community feel. :)

Thank you so much for the nomination for the Community Spotlight, It's a brilliant way to really showcase the wonderful users of our community. I will definitely check out past Community Spotlights! Thank you, Backstage, stay sweet and have a good day, evening or night! (´∀｀)♡

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And here are some responses from me:

I can say my personality online is much like my real life personality, although on here I am more honest and sexually expressive.

I would think a lot of us fall into that boat. Are you that positive in your IRL interactions though? People would love to have you around.

[F] Mako [vanilla with a variety of toppings] [ramble seeker] [pom-pom wielder] [short, shy anxious] [blanket burritos] [occasional pun giggles]

Ah, but how would any of us know you were short here? Rest of those are spot on. Ya missed [perfect] though.

In real life, I would tag myself as such:

[F] Mako [Awkward] [I'm not quiet, I just happen to be listening] [Mumble, mumble] [Smol, but will tackle you if need be] [The one in the Blanket Burrito/Giant Hoodie] [Perpetually sleepy] [PAAAAAANCAKES]

What conditions have to be met that necessitate tackling? For science. Also, tell me more about how much you love pancakes.

Immediate general goal: Graduate! If that's too long a goal, then improve my handwriting.

Primary long-term one: Buy a house! Live a somewhat stable life.

Graduating and getting a house are damn good ones. I respect your desire to improve your handwriting, it's an art that we are losing as time goes on.

Ever since high school I have always thought pom-poms were the best tool to motivate despite that I have NEVER ever held any pom poms. You can wave them about and its a great way to motivate someone, (i.e. wave them and do a little dance).

You have never held pom-poms? Sounds like I have Christmas arrangements to make for you.

1 audio:

GWA: A Tsundere or Yandere audio. If possible I'd do a series of audios revolving around the stages of becoming a Yandere. But for a single audio, I'd do an appreciation dungeon audio, where I constantly milk the listener.

Oh god a Mako tsundere audio would be the absolute cutest thing. A Mako yandere audio would be a force of nature though. I like the idea of a series of falling further into obsession.

GWAB: Single audio-wise, I really need to verify on Backstage. Series of audios? If I had the time and privacy, I would love to do a podcast of interviewing various users. I miss podcasts with ridiculous questions, so I'd do a podcast based on coming up with scenarios in which the interviewee is in e.g. zombie apocalypse, stranded island etc.

You are the best unverified user ever though! No bias whatsoever! People really do miss the podcasts, I was doing it for some time but now my schedule is less permissive at the same time I have regained some mojo. Hmm… wacky scenarios is a new take that I hadn't thought of before.

Otherwise: A choose your own adventure audio, whether it be sexy or not. :3

What sorts of options could we be talking here?

Wouldn't it just be everyone in their birthday suit with pom poms? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Now there's an audio idea!

If we're going for a default cheerleading outfit, a giant black hoodie (made from hypoallergenic cotton, unless the user prefers silk or velvet etc.) with the GoneWildAudio header across the front in the red, orange hue. The user's flair on the back of their hoodie, complete with with red and orange circular pom-poms. (The users can then choose what they wear underneath.)

If I didn't know better I'd say you had already put some thought into this one…

I like to think the cheerleader outfits are completely personalised according to the users. As GWA commenters can vary from lurkers, serial commenters to fellow GWA performers. :)

For example, mine would just be a shark onesie with pom poms.

Pug onesie seems pretty good for me. Black and red pom-poms.

I'm easy to please when it comes to burrito-ing.

Just in burrito-ing? 😈

Yet, my present blanket is styled with a cartoon under the sea scene with lots of colourful fish and coral. :3 Go wild if you please.

I just imagine a series from you titled “Blanket of the Month” where you detail your experiences with different blankets and the possible burritos.

Four years. For one year, Mako was a lurker without an account. But it's been three years with a Reddit account, and for the last two years was Mako as a GWA performer. :)

Four years…  time seems to fly. I also lurked for like a year before I finally got interested in joining. Ah, and Mako is a splendid performer. Mayhaps we will hear more of her someday!

Initially, I made an account to comment, to leave my appreciation on audios. Back then, my comments were minimalist and I didn't think to make acquaintances let alone friends in this community. I wanted to make sure the performer knew how much I appreciated their audio.

And then you became a staple of our community. As far as I am concerned, you still are.

As a performer? I have no idea, I just decided one day to attempt making audios. Curiosity got the best of me.

Took me like three months to finally record my verification as Anise. I am glad our curiosity got the better of us!

GWA has made me appreciate listening skills more, I find that is much easier for me to listen when I can pause and rewind audios. But in real life, you don't have the ability to do that, so I have found that I attempt to be more attentive in listening. In day to day life, I continue to improve my listening skills.

Commenting on audios especially on Backstage helped me considerably with separating parts out and taking notes. I figure it helped my listening too. Never considered that.

Call it Pavlovian conditioning, in which my attention is drawn to any really nice voices I hear as it elicts immediate immature giggling. As weird as it sounds, I smile or giggle randomly when I hear a nice voice. The same could be said about certain phrases e.g. good girl, little one, Daddy etc.

I have a similar conditioning but it is for when you comment. We do have some nice voices around these parts though!

The community.

It is the only reason I stick around to be sure.

I am driven to keep commenting on GWA and GWAB, recently I have not done that as much as I used to, but that alone is one of the main reasons I remain. There will be a constant need for feedback and comments.

We really don't deserve you Mako.

I stayed on GWAB more than GWA as it is a open community, where we can talk about sex and whatever we want. I like reading discussions and listening to user's talents (music covers, performances etc), alongside podcasts etc. I feel as if the GWAB community is where I belong online. It is a lovely place of freedom online.

GWAB was always the fun place. I miss the podcasts and the times when questionnaires were flourishing.

Life: Tell the people you love that you love them, one day, they may not be able to hear you say it.

God do I feel this so hard lately.

Can I have a button that goes to the first ever GWABackstage post? Being able to explore GWABackstage archives would be fun, the ability to sort posts from the oldest to newest posts!

We used to have some archive things that Cyalith curated like a year and a half ago for GWA stuff. Yeah seeing some older stuff would be neat.

There's not much to change about GWABackstage, although we should have more community events or something to bring about a community feel. :)

I think some events or challenges would be awesome. None of us would be able to keep up doing them though and we have a stance that curating events should fall on more active community members. I already help curate Two Tartes and I have to rush to comment on that nowadays with my current job.

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And we have some more responses from Mako:

Are you that positive in your IRL interactions though?

I wish I was more honest and straight forward in real life, but in real life there's a lot of factors to do with social context and etiquette. I try to be positive whenever I can when it comes down to interactions, here that positivity can be focused on audios, whereas in real life I can only be so positive to an extent.

Ah, but how would any of us know you were short here?

It is in my username after all. Mako is little in height, than little being my title/role.

What conditions have to be met that necessitate tackling? For science.

Depends on the who, what, when, where and why. :3

Who: So long as we're acquaintanced and I know you're okay with being tackled. If we're comfortable with one another, one is guaranteed a tackle.

What: Me tackling [you] a person. A short person launching themselves at [you] a person from a running start.

When: Whenever appropriate but it could be a surprise.

Where: Anywhere appropriate. My hands and arms will either go for the neck, shoulders or waist.

Why: Why not? It's an affectionate way to greet friends. But I may tackle out of frustration, I once tackled a friend for stealing my shoe- they weren't hurt. Just surprised a tiny little shark took them down teehee.

Also, tell me more about how much you love pancakes.

I love pancakes! I love thick, soft, fluffy pancakes. They're so buttery and delicious! Big or small, thin or thick. Or crepes, they're lovely and crisp. I could eat so many stacks of pancakes. Circular cakes that smell of warm butter and sugar, soft and easily cut, fried to a perfect golden brown. They're so yummy and my comfort food. Not to mention they're versatile! They can be ate with toppings, or there can be fillings in the pancakes themselves. I personally love pancakes with maple syrup, or pancakes with lemon. Mmm…

You have never held pom-poms?

**Never!

What sorts of options could we be talking here?

Non-sexy wise, it'd be similar to games like, Life is Strange or Until Dawn where you get control of the plot and characters. This would be quite the audio to make if I were to make so many plots, characters and choices.

Sexy version: Okay, a long while back, there was supposed to be this large collaboration, where food was personified. Two other lovely performers, (who are now gone, but not forgotten) and I were going to personify the different types of chocolate. Milk, Dark and White Chocolate. Each portraying the flavour according to what the flavour is like, e.g. dark chocolate being the tsundere dom. The choices being what sexy acts were to occur or whom you'd want to try first if not all three. Although, vore was one of the endings - with one of the chocolate's being devoured or all of the chocolates eating the listener. HAHA. Sounds impossible now that I think of it.

Pug onesie seems pretty good for me. Black and red pom-poms.

Hehe, perfect.

Just in burrito-ing? 😈

HAHA. YES.

Sex wise? I have zero clue, still haven't made my sexy debut.

I just imagine a series from you titled “Blanket of the Month” where you detail your experiences with different blankets and the possible burritos.

Now this sounds like a series I could do. Sounds comedic.

Mako is a splendid performer. Mayhaps we will hear more of her someday!

When I graduate! I will have a lot of time on my hands, so I hope to return to making more audios!

Really hope you guys enjoy the read! I know it's been a while since I did the last one. We do need some nominations from you guys if you're interested in seeing this series continue. You can find all relevant information for doing so here.