#Collaborator With Top Notch Idiots

[moorheadthanyoucanhandle]

DUMBDOG MILLIONAIRE

Now open in Phoenix; wide on October 6:

Dumb Money--As with 2015's The Big Short, there were plenty of twists and turns in this movie that my finance-challenged brain had to struggle to keep up with. Also like The Big Short, this chronicle of the weird January 2021 boom in GameStop stock is waggish fun. But it's easier to root for the heroes here, because, as least as this movie tells it, they're ordinary people sticking it to rich hedge fund jerks rather than rich hedge fund jerks sticking it to all of us.

GameStop, a Texas-based video game retailer that had been a mall mainstay since the '80s under one name or another, had been in decline since the rise of online game purchasing. The COVID pandemic seemed like the death knell for the company, and hedge fund short sellers were moving in.

Dumb Money's focus is on Keith Gill (Paul Dano), a small-potatoes analyst and broker from Brockton, Massachusetts. Gill had a day gig at MassMutual but spent his evenings in his basement making funny YouTube videos on investing, and posting on other social platforms that I don't understand. He believed that GameStop stock was undervalued, and his enthusiasm helped to cause an explosion in its price that made the short sellers sweat.

But the "dumb money"--apparently that's what hedge fund folk call individual small investors--was sweating too, of course. The movie, directed by Cruella's Craig Gillispie from a script by Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo (based on Ben Mezrich's's book The Antisocial Network), jumps around among a variety of GameStop investors who were riding the wave with Gill, and resisting the temptation to sell as a matter of economic principle, to the horror and bafflement of their families and friends. These include America Ferrera as a struggling Pittsburgh hospital worker and single mom; Talia Ryder and Myha'la Herrold as Texas college students besotted both with the investment and with each other, and Anthony Ramos as a GameStop employee who buys in.

I presume that some or all of these people are fictional "composites" representing the online rabble who collaborated on the short squeeze. They're nicely played and sympathetic. The millionaire and billionaire vultures are based on real players: Seth Rogen as Gabe Plotkin and Nick Offerman as Ken Griffin and Sebastian Shaw as Robinhood's Vlad Tenev and Vincent D'Onofrio, extra-creepy, as Steve Cohen. A scurvier bunch of parasitical cruds you'd have a hard time finding. Shailene Woodley is touching as Keith's supportive wife, Kate Burton and Clancy Brown are believable as his parents, and Pete Davidson is a perfect fit as the idiot brother.

Driven forward by a lot of stately, foul-mouthed hip-hop on the soundtrack and tricked out with split-screens and montages, Dumb Money cruises along absorbingly and, despite copious comedy, with an ambiguous tension--I wanted to see the hedge fund guys squirm, but I was anxious for the everyday people when they didn't sell. They, after all, need the money. The incidental backdrop of COVID adds to the unnerving atmosphere; the masks and empty malls and streets create an almost sci-fi flavor at times. It may be the first pandemic period piece.

Although the GameStop boom had fans as diverse as Elon Musk and AOC, I was never sure, watching this movie, that I wasn't falling for a simplistic interpretation of the events--the little guys banding together to take the big boys, who have rigged the system so only they can win, down a few notches. Is there another side here? I mean, no doubt GameStop was undervalued, but was it really that undervalued? Did this amount to a whimsical, sentiment-based pyramid scheme, even if it was motivated altruistically rather than as a con job?

One of the posters for the film reads "THE TOP 1% THINKS YOU'RE DUMB." No doubt they do, and as far as finance is concerned, in my case they aren't wrong. So if there's another, more negative, legitimately dumb side to this story, I'm not smart enough to see it.

In any case, I'm not prepared to shed a tear for the hedge funds. Despite the hit some of them took, in the end, the well-connected big investors appear to have pulled strings and avoided ruination; the film resigns itself to the game being rigged. But it also suggests that the big boys will think twice before they ignore the dumb money again, and it claims this as a triumph. As the movie presents the story, it's all but impossible not to invest in it--invest emotionally, that is.

#dumb money #paul dano #pete davidson #america ferrera #shailene woodley #seth rogen #craig gillespie #nick offerman #vincent d'onofrio #gamestop

[batmanbeyondrocks]

#Solene #Singer #Model #Collaborator With Top Notch Idiots #Anime #Anime Girl #IRL #That IRL Anime Girl #💜✨💖 S O L E N E // ソレ-ヌ 💖✨💜 #Instagram #IG:@solenevelvet #Fashion #Pink #Pink Fashion #Pink and Black

[waywardwrestlewritingwaif]

What a long strange trip...

One of the things about almost never being able to leave the house (even before COVID) is that it can be fun to binge on things. The last couple of weeks with wrestling, though, has been intense. I try to keep on top of things but damn... I guess I should thank the lads and lasses for keeping me entertained. Anyway, here are a few things that I liked and didn’t like that happened in the promotions I follow. 

Stuff I liked

Drew retaining the title against Randy Orton: I don’t kid myself, I know he’s losing it soon because Vince apparently wants to build to Orton v Edge at WM 37, but I’m going to be really sad when it happens and I don’t like being sad.

Asuka winning the Raw title: I absolutely adore Sasha but this was the right storyline move AND builds the storyline with her and Bayley. Also, we’re going to get Asuka vs Shayna WHICH WILL SLAY.

Brodie Lee beating Cody for the TNT title: It’s not just that it was time to put it on someone else but the way they did it was incredible. Completely unexpected. Also...

The elevation of Anna Jay: Girlfriend has had about a dozen matches IN HER LIFE. She’s ridiculously talented and on top of that, her wordless reactions have been top notch. Give her a few more months to get more experience and she is going to be a star. 

Hangman getting kicked out of The Elite: Just tear my heart out and stomp on it and then set it on fire, why don’t you? This story has been simmering for a YEAR. Hangman is this tragic hero figure who feels totally isolated and desperately wants to be loved. The split with the Bullet Club Ogs and the Marty getting left behind when AEW was formed has left him as the odd one out with the original BTE crew (Kenny and the Bucks). He doesn’t have the bond the way they do. (Plus he’s not straight edge the way they are.) FTR have seized on his vulnerability and made him feel like they get him. After All Out he’s going to be heartbroken and alone.

Naito winning back the Heavyweight and IC titles: The feeliest goodest moment. It’s like the whole Evil turn was done just to bring this about. 

Kenta winning the US title opportunity: Ok, I’ve had a thing for Kenta for ages but I also love the idea of him v Moxley. I also love the idea that this match *maybe might* happen on AEW. They teased collaborating with the Tanahashi/ Jericho match. Why not do this one instead.

Heel Roman? Ok, not 100% confirmed, but pretty much. I’ve wanted a Roman heel turn since the actual Roman Empire, I swear. 

Stuff I didn’t like

The whole Nia/ Shayna pairing: Ruby and Liv were RIGHT THERE, you idiot bookers. They have a story of strained friendship. How much more perfect could you get to square off against Sasha and Bayley. Shayna deserves a singles run with Asuka and Nia needs to do more training so she stops hurting people. 

Keith Lee debuting on Raw: New music sucks. Putting him in a shirt sucks. Setting him up to lose at Payback sucks. 

Hiromu losing the Junior Heavyweight Title: Sure, he’s had a great run but Ichimori, really? Don’t get me wrong, he’s a great wrestler but I thought whoever took down Hiromu would be a bigger star. (I absolutely love Shingo too, but it made more sense, him losing to Suzuki. Who the hell else was going to beat him?)

Britt Baker vs Big Swole: How the hell has AEW managed to screw this up? This was a super hot feud and somehow it just turned into nothing. A two minute match with a wrestler pretending she can’t wrestle and one participant who sits in a wheelchair even though she’s supposedly ok to fight at All Out? Ugh.

Jay White losing his first match back: This might have made a tiny bit of sense if the idea was to have Evil retain his titles so that there would be legit heat with him and Jay over who was the “real leader” of Bullet Club. But Jay lost on his first match and Evil lost too. So now, it’s like Taiji has the best claim to be the leader since he’s the one who has a title.

Toru Yano winning the KOPW tournament: First of all, it should have been Sanada. Sanada winning a tournament that was the brainchild of Okada? Still fuel in that feud. Look, I really like some of the NJ comedy stuff but Toru Yano gets on my last nerve. You had three aces to choose from and you gave it to the idiot. Way to devalue the whole tournament, New Japan.

Anyone else spent a lot of time watching wrestling recently? Anything you loved or that pissed you off? Agree or disagree with my choices? Come on, let me know!

#wwe #aew #njpw #king of pro wrestling #summer slam #aew dynamite #wwe raw #njpw summer struggle #njpw strong

[regular-irregularmafia]

NCT MAFIA pt. 2

so second part yeah, tumblr was a piece of shit for only limiting 10 gifs :((( or was it because i was using my ipad to write this ???

anyways this is ten, lucas, kun and nct dream yo they're just so adorable and sexy at the same time— im so confused UGH

〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️

NA JAEMIN - THE INTERROGATOR

jaemin is childish looking, he's all smiles and sarcastic jokes. you may not even think or give a second thought that he is the most brutal interrogator in the family. however, just like taeil, don't take their looks as who they are; the mafia world a dangerous place, and it's crawling with psychopaths and madmen who wear masks.

jaemin at first tries to make them talk by tongue twisting words, then if it doesn’t work he’ll start bringing out his knife and gun making them choose- even though either way they’re gonna die, then if that doesn’t work he’ll start to work around their heads; confusing them, he’ll make them lose their minds. jaemin will then start torturing them, with or without the use of any physical activities. he’ll make them forget their names, make them see whatever he says, make them cry with just a few breaths of words, until they’re begging and talking what he wants to hear.

“ alright stop, i get it. i’ll deal with him. it’s time for the magic man to work his dark magic.”

HUANG REN JUN - THE LEAD HACKER/CRYPTOLOGIST

renjun is the leader of the hackers in the family, he is in charge of gathering all the information from his researchers to bring to either jaehyun or doyoung so they could submit them to the leader and strategist. renjun’s job takes patience and experience; studying, deciphering, and writing secret codes from and for their allied forces and associates from far away countries. 

he also mans the security system in both the businesses and the mansion. renjun can see everything that’s happening, he basically has god’s eye however in limited areas only. he can tell if things are hacked into or are just screen recordings in security footage's. renjun is also capable of taking down the entire electrical system of any household or company, once he’s passed the security passwords and firewalls; he’s unstoppable. 

“ alright boys, it’s lights out and grab what you need in 3, 2, 1... GO ! “

WONG YUK-HEI - THE HACKER

just like any other hacker, lucas obviously hacks into computers and secret websites with ease. he has the ability to hack into the rivals bank account and take every penny in his safe and leave no trace of who or what did it. lucas takes the dirty side of hacking, taking money, stealing government plans, hacking into restricted and confidential documents, and even bankrupting an entire business. 

lucas also works for the chinese team, wayv. he takes part as the dealer of weapons and drugs in china, lucas does all the dirty work and always on check of the issues in other chinese mafia’s and gang groups. after his work there, he returns to New York and reports to taeyong. 

“ im part of the damn mafia, i say what i want and i get what i want. so i demand to get that last piece of chewing gum or i’ll kill ya. “

PARK JI SUNG - THE HACKER/MECHANIC

yes he's a hacker but, jisung is the one who goes out to break in codes in secret vaults, and security barriers. he also the one who invent new upgrades on weapons, new tricks and gadgets to add in to increase their advantage, jisung loves to mess around the old tech and stuff around him “outdated” he calls them. along with chenle and lucas, they also play around in the garage; ““shitting up ideas” of what also to change in our perfectly well cars”, quoted by haechan. 

he also has a little band of hackers outside of the mafia, his group of friends in his university. of course jisung pays them, but it majorly comes from taeyong and winwin. basically being the youngest, means every one of the elders goes to protect him and do a lot of things for him no matter what.  

“ ugh, what do you even do with this thing? it’s as outdated as you are. who even uses keypad phones in this generation? “

LEE JENO - THE SPY/ASSASIN

jeno is also one of the assasins who master martial arts in the family, he and yuta have been training ever since he was recruited. he’s yuta’s assistant in their assassinations and helps him in distracting their victim before knocking them into death. jeno is a charmer, an all smiles person; it’s a perfect cover for a deadly assassin. although jeno is not as brutal as yuta but he can be if yuta commands him to, jeno breaks their arms and legs to pin them down and then yuta does the rest.

jeno is also yuta’s P.A in the japanese business, although he doesn’t speak fluent japanese he’s pretty much just really silent around the japanese employees and dealers, only letting yuta do the talking. when yuta is training the recruits and mercenaries, jeno takes the responsibility to handle the business deals and issues.

“ yuta’s not here and i don’t even know how to say “i wanna kill you” in japanese ! how the hell am i supposed to be threatening to them? “

CHITTAPHON LEECHAIYAPORNKUL - THE MEDIC

ten was just a normal doctor, in a normal hospital. he was doing surgery to a man who had various gun shots on his body, however, his patient died. Not long after, he found out that this patient was leader of a criminal gang and ambushed him one night as he was going home. They mugged him and was about to kill him, when suddenly taeyong and yuta appeared and killed the men. ten was now indebted to them. 

taeyong made an offer, either join their mafia and they’ll help him get out of their hit list or he’ll be on his own, with no protection. of course he chose to join, for he had no choice. ten didn’t want to die, he had children to take care of since his wife left him. 

however, ten has not been in any fights, neither hand to hand nor gun fights. he was always on stand by in the van, only going out if someone was in need of medications and casts for injuries. he’s the cliche type of doctor who says, “i became a doctor to heal people, not kill them.” 

“ i hated seeing blood... it was one of my worst fears. however, i also hated seeing doctors who have the capacity to help but can’t just because they aren’t payed enough to. i forced myself to get used to seeing it. “

QIAN KUN - THE PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR/DETECTIVE

kun loves solving mysteries and looking for clues that are difficult for people to find. he loves the way people start to stress themselves out just because they couldn’t figure out the missing pieces of the puzzle; he figures them out in less than 3 minutes.

Like ten, he was recruited by taeyong. kun was a fan of the great sherlock holmes, he wanted to be like him. so kun turned into a smartass private detective who joined the police department in New York. kun was despised by everyone there but they needed him cause he was right all the time. until for a short time. taeyong was in search of the famous qian kun and found him investigating a murder in a factory. he offered kun a proposal, either join him and his family or stay with a bunch of mindless cops who do nothing but stab him in the back. 

he though about his reputation, what progress could it do if he just stayed with the police force taking all his credit? kun decided for himself that it would be the best strategy if he joined a top notch mafia to show those amateurs what he’s really capable of. 

now, teyong assigned him to lead their investigating team and collaborated with the same police department he was in before. this time he was making the rules.

“ no you idiotic blue uniformed baboon, he was obviously murdered. don’t you see the struggle within the room? the destroyed funiture? the broken window? the torn stained clothes for christ’s sake? jeez even a blind man can tell. “

ZHONG CHENLE - THE EXPLOSIVES EXPERT

now things that involve either blowing things up or just explosives alone, chenle is your man. he plants them just before missions start, chenle is always ready to make evidence disappear with just a press of a button or a push of a lever. he’s basically like an arsonist, just wilder and scarier. 

chenle holds so much explosives, it even makes the members think he’s a bomb himself. they even call him the “Cherry Bomb”, he’s sweet and fun to be with when he’s away from all the killing and violence, but in the battlefield- he becomes the definition of violence, the war machine. 

“ am i that scary? don’t worry, i’m just a harmless teenager ! nothing can ever happen as long as your not my enemy. “

#nct #nct dream #chittaphon leechaiyakpornkul #qian kun #wong yukhei #nct u #nct wayv #nct 2018

[charleighkordei]

Thoughts and Opinions on Normani (5H)

I don’t know if I really consider myself a harmonizer or not but I do love fifth harmony. I haven’t really been in to them for that long, it’s only basically been about a year. But from what I’ve seen so far from them especially from this year alone I like it and can’t wait to see what the next coming year will bring them. Now with that being said something that I notice a lot within this fandom is that Normani is the target of a lot of unjust, uncaused, and underserved hate that I really don’t understand. I have yet to see Normani in past or present do any problematic to receive as most hate as she does. I mean she literally doesn’t do anything but she is constantly under attack.

I have yet to see anyone who claims to not like her or to hate her give a legitimate reason to why. And I don’t wanna hear the tired and play out excuses that they give about her not being able to sing or being talentless because we all know it’s not true and just a bandwagon excuse. And it’s really sad to say but I think why all know why she faces so much hate and adversity as appose to the other three girls in the group and it’s not because she a bad person or can’t sing, sadly it’s because of the color of her skin. And from what I’ve seen past and present that’s the only thing people in and out of the fandom findto dislike about her, but try to disguise it as something else.

That’s one of the main reason why I don’t consider myself to be a harmonizer because let’s face it over half or not more of the fandom is racist or trying hide or justify their racist antics. And if you have ever been on stan twitter you have to realize it’s just a bunch of preteens, teenagers, and some adults who have nothing better to do with their life them trash talking and doing very childish and petty stunts. That’s makes you wonder if they have ever had any type of parental guidance at all in their life. Now I’m not saying that it’s all but it enough to leave a bad taste in your mouth. But then again I guess you could say is it really the harmonizers or is just two of the girls individual fans that are racist but they pose as harmonizers??

From as far as I seen it’s mostly Lauren’s stans that continuously attacks Normani and have something negative to say regarding her when she gets any type of solo attention apart from the group but they praise Lauren when it her getting the solo attention. They only time I see Lauren getting bashed is when it has something to do with Ty dolla sign and that’s just because her fan have this romanticized notation of who they want her be with or how they want her to be and sad to say a black man was not alert of their plans but I digress. The black lash that Normani receive from them when it’s only rumored or speculated about Normani having a solo project is unreal. They tear her down and then claim her to be unfocused on the group then in the next breathe praise when she actually does release some type of solo project. Because let’s be honest out of all of the girls Normani is the most loyal and group oriented. And let’s not forget the only one to yet release any type of solo music.

And to jump topic for a moment but can we discuss the solo music that the girls minus Normani has released. And I’m going to start with Ally first: Look at us now was actually a pretty good song and Ally sounded amazing on it but was it really a collaboration because her voice is the most prominent voice on it. Also I feel like the time frame in which this was release was horrible and not thought out especially with the group being a top priority it was released too soon after they released their first single of the year. Next I’m going to talk about Dinah’s song boom boom if I’m being completely honest as very lackluster and I didn’t like it and she was barley even on it but to be clear that is just my opinion on that matter I expected it to be better. Now Lauren four solo songs eh I only like two of them and that sranger and all night as for back to me and in your phone I honestly don’t care for them and have tried more than once to listen to them and give them a chance and it just doesn’t do it for me. Again I expected something better.

And also while we are on the topic of solo music can we talk about the pressure being placed on Normani for when her first single comes out compared to how the other girls received no pressure what so ever people were just genuinely excited about them release music apart from the group but when it comes to Normani has to be on top notch level for them to even consider it and she has no room for any type of error or mistakes while the others still are place on this type of standard. Can someone please tell me why that is?

But to go back to main reason and topic of these is Normani receives as much hate as she does because of the simple fact that she is black and not white looking or passing as the three girls. And those are facts. And before I finish these can we talk about one last thing? I was on a 5H forum last night and someone said something that I totally agree with it was along the lines of that Normani is criticized for her blackness while Lauren and Dinah reap the benefits of her blackness. Lauren can be aggressive as can Dinah and do quote on quote “black” things but if Normani does she is then perceive as the angry black women with the bad attitude and she too aggressive but when Lauren does she “woke” and it’s sexy that she doesn’t take the sh*t from anybody. Dinah gets the same passes but when Normani asserts herself then it’s a problem and she to aggressive and she mean and needs to tone it down and why is she being like that towards us. I’ve come to the conclusion that Normani will never be “white” enough or “black” enough for the fans and it completely idiotic and unfair.

Then people have the nerve to wonder why Normani micromanages herself and holds back the ways she does because when she speaks her mind on things or just vents in anyway it misconstrued and taking out context then she’s attacked.

#normanikordeihamilton #normanikordei #normani #5h #blackgirlmagic #melaninqueen #unpopular opinion

[gentlemenclubbbz]

your voice - Joji

Request in which you and Joji do a music collab. ^^ Hope it’s alright (i mean, it can be cheesy and lame sorry)! And uh, sorry for not being so active lately, school’s being a bitch V___V

***

“I should do a collab…” Joji absent-mindedly said one day (to no one in particular), as he was sitting in the studio after a session—simply staring at the ceiling, bored. He wasn’t feeling inspired lately and honestly, he wanted to create a more serious piece. But he had no idea, his head was empty. And it was ticking him off.

“Yoooo, that’s a great idea!” a random friend of his immediately jumped up, as if he had the greatest idea ever. Joji looked at him a bit sceptical, but he wasn’t one to refuse a path that could lead him to more success. “There’s this singer on Youtube, [name], and damn, they have such a great voice!” Joji cocked his head to the side, a bit intrigued—he never heard of this [name].

“Really?” he asked, wanting more details.

The friend was more than glad to provide “Dude, they’re so amazing! LIKE, they’re not that popular but fuck, they need the recognition they deserved! They’re going to sky-rocket if you collaborate with them!”

Joji pondered—he wasn’t going to refuse helping a fellow singer, but only if he felt like they deserve it. “Alright, lemme hear them,” he said and the friend immediately complied. He opened YouTube, quickly tipped the singer’s name and clicked the first video—probably the most viewed one out of all, but Joji saw that it wasn’t near enough.

And then you appeared on screen, wearing the most beautiful smile Joji has ever seen. You looked embarrassed but there was determination in your eyes as you waited your cue to start to sing. But Joji, somehow, was already completely taken in. When you opened your mouth and those sweet little lips started to sing, and he finally heard your smooth voice, he was blown aback. His eyes widened and inspiration came to him slowly, the more he heard you sing. He loved the way your voice sounded and the lyrics—the whole song was so well-written! He could never come up with such words, but if you did, on your own. Joji was impressed. And moved. And his heart started beating faster—and fuck, was this love?

No; that was ridiculous.

“Yo, dude! DUDE! GEORGE!” finally, he felt a hand on his shoulder that startled him immensely. He shook his head and unglued his eyes off the screen to stare at his friend, who looked slightly worried with a hint of cockiness on his friend’s expression. He knew what was going on. But Joji showed nothing on his face anymore—he didn’t want him to get the wrong idea. “Didja like it?”

“Yes.” Joji could simply say, holding back all of the feelings he was actually internally feeling. Words could not describe it all, so he just stared at your face on the screen, frozen in a proud grin. He wondered if you were as beautiful in real life or if your voice sounded as heaven-like—and he found himself anticipating the moment he’d see you. Joji was determined—he had to meet you, he wanted to confirm these feelings that were slowly blooming. “I’ll contact them…” he whispered to himself as he clicked on another video.

Fuck, he really hoped that you were somewhere near him or you accepted his proposal. He was sure that, with your music combined, you could create something magical.

 “Shitshitshitshitshitshitshitshit—“ the trail of curses went on and on as Joji was growing impatient, walking non-stop around the house and never stopping. He was anxious as hell, he was sick, he couldn’t eat—he was just waiting for you. The last couple of months, ever since he contacted you, you two have been talking on and on, about every little shit. He couldn’t believe how nice and cute you were, the way you were talking and your sense of humour was top-notch; it matched his. You had so many things in common, especially in music—that’s where you really clicked. You started to share impressions and he had access to your lyrics. That’s when he finally proposed to you to collaborate. He was taken aback by the fact that you so eagerly wanted this too, that he wasn’t the only one thinking about it.

And you weren’t far from him either; it took you only a couple of hours to come where he was living. ‘I have some business in NY too, so we can meet then!’

It was rather bold of you to suggest coming to the studio straight away and see what you could make; but maybe it was him acting all antsy. It was normal; how else would you have created a song if not in a studio? Maybe you’d immediately find the perfect idea…

But he couldn’t wait any longer. He wanted to hear your voice…

The moment he hears the door opening (he gave you careful instructions to where to come, expecting you to ask for his help and meet earlier), he feels his heart leap a thousand miles. He’s running to the entrance to greet you and there he finally sees you. Shyly poking your head inside, unsure. He stops for a second at the end of the corridor to admire you—but you quickly spot him and your whole face breaks into a wide smile.

“Joji, h-hi!” your voice slightly trembles from emotion as you come inside and slightly trip; but you don’t fall. Nonetheless, Joji was quickly by your side, unsure of where to start, if he was allowed to touch you.

“A-re you—“ he clears his throat because he sounded too awkward, trying to calm himself down. “You’re [name], no?” It was a stupid question, but whatever.

You giggled anyway “Yes, the one and only.” You hesitate for one brief second; but then you don’t. You got nothing else to lose because, the next moment, your arms are around him in a hug. His whole body freezes and his mind can’t comprehend what happened. He can only remember your sweet fragrance as you let him go with a blush. “I’ve always wanted to do that.”

“Y-Yeah...” he scratches the back of his head before recovering “Shall we go in?”

 “This is brilliant!” you exclaim, amazed by the prowess Joji possessed when coming up with lyrics. For the last couple of hours, you both forgot about time and indulged yourselves into composing. It all came natural and all at once—with you around, he felt most inspired. In fact, he could only come up with romantic lyrics, which you played along with—in the end, you guys settled to do a duet about two that don’t realize that they are in love yet. Or at least, somewhere along those lines. And it was all going so well; as if you were talking about yourselves.

“Right?!” Joji added, excited. Somehow, you both ended up on the floor, papers scattered all around you, but neither minded. “At that part, it should go like this ‘Tututu-TUU’, ya know?”

“Yeah! I can totally imagine that! And the beat!” You mimicked with your hands a drum set and it was true: Joji could picture the song perfectly inside his head.

So he grinned and said “Should we record it?”

 The song was not completed in one day—but your eagerness and the fact that you both had the same song inside your head made the job much easier. Neither of you minded to spend countless hours, from morning to evening, inside that studio, surviving on coffee and instant food. Of course, sometimes you wanted to take a break because you got stuck, so you went outside in the park and rejuvenated yourselves. You laughed and had the best time of your life; and the more time you spent together, the more each fell in love with the other. Joji was sold, but he had no idea what you were thinking, if that smile held more behind the first appearance.

He didn’t want this to end.

However, inevitably, the end came. The song was complete, one night—you were both tired, but determined to finish, which you did. You stood together, listening to the song and grinning like two idiots the more you listened to it. ‘It was perfect!’ was written on both your faces, getting lost in the rhythm of what you created. You felt the emotion in both your voices and how real the lyrics seemed to be, as if it was real. And in that moment, it was all real—you stared at Joji and he stared back into your eyes. The song slowed down in the background as you both reached out for one another. Your hands intertwined and your bodies got closer; but it was enough to show everything.

“I’m glad I met you,” you whisper and he squeezes your hand.

“Me too.”

And nothing else could’ve been said; you liked each other and you could figure things out later. Because…

“I fell in love with your voice

Then with you altogether”

#joji #joji miller #joji imagine #joji miller imagine #george miller #george miller imagine

[barbecuedphoenix]

Ahoy! I am new in this fandom and I have a request if you don't mind. :) How Ezarel would react if his Gardienne is a pest like him?

Well welcome to the fandom,Anon. You’ll never be bored between episodes again. ;)

Anyway, here’s the shortanswer to your question: El will never be the same again.  

Shiver me timbers.

—

From the moment the Guardianopens their mouth to sass one of his colleagues, Ezarel will think: “Finally: somebodyelse with a brain! Things are finally getting fun around here.”

But his enthusiasm plungesby several notches once they turn that same smart-mouth and prankster’s mind againsthim. It’s not that he that he’sinsulted by their jokes; you don’t get voted ‘El’s Most Insufferable GuardCommander’ without growing a thick-skin. Rather, he’s instinctively offended bytheir lack of respect for him and general refusal to concede to his points. Heis an elven noble with an educational background that a misplaced, plebianhuman can only dream of, and they have the gall to call him ‘Bitchy Blue’?! Theywould dare doodle in his notes?! Brainsor no, he’s putting his foot down! Some types of behavior are plainunacceptable from certain types of people.

Because even though Ez lovesto mess around with others, he does notaccept the same treatment in return. Like a typical noble. And if the (human!)rascal demonstrates a fast wit and flexible social mores like himself, then Ezarelinstinctively stiffens at the competition he’s facing; they won’t be nearly aseasy to trip up.  And from now on, he’llhave to run tests on whatever he’s drinking.

So within a few days oftheir arrival, Ezarel will declare war on the Guardian. Whatever wisecracks andpractical jokes they play on him, he’ll work to top them. He will show this human who’s the masterhere. So the sight of one or the other running around yelling in HQ, drippingin ice-cold water or with beakers stuck to their hands with glue, will become aregular event. People will learn not to invite the two of them to the samemeeting or staff party, because they’ll derail whatever conversations are goingon by sassing each other non-stop. And then deny all responsibility whensomebody else falls to the floor from the spiked drinks.    

Strangely enough, Ez willlearn to enjoy this ‘friendly rivalry’ with the Guardian once a few weeks goby (and they find that they’re both still alive). As infuriating as they canbe, they are without doubt his greatest challenge and source of fun in El. Conversationswith them are never dull (no tedious explanations required or feelings to tiptoe around). And he’ll recognizethat if they both happen to be working together on the same project (fromdifferent desks, under threat from Miiko to stay on task), they do share thesame work ethic. Maybe they aren’t so bad after all. So his banter with themwill gradually relax, until a few months after they arrive, his pride has healed enoughthat he calls a truce with the Guardian: every other week, they’ll have aceasefire, share a friendly drink, and turn their attentions on other people.

El will never know what hitit when two Ezarels begin working together.

After their first successfulcollaboration, the Guardian officially becomes a friend of Ezarel’s. Whom hewill still prank from time to time, and can’t exactly go to a party withwithout a referee, but on the whole, he finally approves of them, and will taketheir side more often if they ever cross Miiko.

Unfortunately, it’s easier to keep a snowball alive in hell rather than for Ezarel to develop tender feelings for this Guardian. (And vice versa.) Like does not attract like when it involves a pair of smart-ass scientists alchemists with a shared allergy for emotions and idiot-level EQ. They may have the highest respect for each other as colleagues, comedians, thinkers, and general partners-in-crime, but they can’t imagine sharing their shyer feelings with someone who’ll just echo the most critical voices in their own head. Gods, no; they’ll destroy each other. So if anything, they’ll only encourage each other to ‘stay their miserable selves, by themselves’ when love is involved. Maybe commiserate on how the heart is the biggest cosmic joke to visit intelligent life. 

Sometimes, you just need that one friend who’ll bring out the worst in you. 

—

Well that was fun. :) 

Now it’s back to the grindstone. :( 

#request #headcanon #Eldarya #Ezarel #prankster! Guardian

[tanmath3-blog]

It is no secret that I think Matt Hickman is an amazing writer. His book Amnesia was my number one book last year and for good reasons. If you haven’t read it you are really missing an awesome story. From his stories in anthologies to his writing with other authors one thing is certain he has wicked talent. I’m telling you he is one to watch. Not only is he a writer but he is a great friend and an incredible dad. His pictures with his kids always make me smile and bring back fond childhood memories. If you haven’t met him you need to do so right now. Please welcome Matt Hickman back again to Roadie Notes……

  1. It’s been awhile since we talked what new books do you have out now? Latest release? Since we last spoke I’ve released a collaboration with Stuart Keane called Gemini – a serial killer story that we wrote from the viewpoint of two opposing female characters. It was a really interesting book to write and Stuart was a pleasure to bounce ideas off. I’ve released Amnesia through Matt Shaw Publications which has been my most successful book so far, I was honoured to have a certain someone name it as their number one read of 2016, especially as I was concerned about people thinking the content was a little extreme. I’ve featured in a few anthologies, one named VS which was an interesting charity project where a load of British authors were teamed against a load of American authors to face off. I was drawn against talented authors, Melissa Lason and Michelle Garza – The Sisters of Slaughter. I can’t tell you which way the judges voted, but I couldn’t have been happier with who I got to face. They are a great talent and good friends of mine. In addition, I have also featured in another couple of charity anthologies – Bah Humbug, released by Matt Shaw Publications was a fun anti – Christmas project featuring some of the best names in horror, and a project called Dark Places, Evil Faces which has been compiled by Mark Lumby, which features some top authors such as Graham Masterton, Jack Ketchum and Ramsey Campbell. My last release was a collaboration with Matt Shaw called State of Decay, a really dark, gritty urban horror story about a man pushed over the edge by a society that’s falling apart around him. Matt is one of my contemporary writing heroes and I was stoked to share the covers with him.

2. If you could pick any author alive or dead to have lunch with who would it be? Why? Hhhhmmmmmmmm, I’ve shared lunch with a few authors over the past few years actually. I would probably say Richard Laymon. I would just love to get a glimpse inside that depraved mind to see how he conjured up his ideas and whether it was all as natural and seamless as it appears on the pages, or whether there were times that he struggled.

3. What is the strangest thing a fan has ever done? I hate the term fan. I don’t have them, I’m nowhere near big enough to consider using that word and even if I was, I still wouldn’t. The strangest thing was probably some guy who just kept on dropping me really strange, passive-aggressive comments on everything I put on social media. I had enough and confronted him, explaining that I had better things to do than mess about with him. I told him to pipe down or f**k off. He chose the latter. Strange boy.

4. What is the one thing you dread to do when writing? I used to dread the initial release of a book and receiving the first feedback. I’ve learned now to relax with the whole process and understand that one person’s point of view is exactly that. In some cases, negative feedback can be a whole spin on positive. I appreciate that I can’t please them all, so chill. I don’t dread anything else, I’m a pretty laid back little monkey. I love the whole thing.

5. Did you have imaginary friends growing up? Tell me about them No, I never did, however my daughter had one that she called Lucy Poo. My wife went to see a spiritual medium once who claimed that my daughter may have ‘the gift.’ I may consider this my retirement fund.

6. Do you go to conventions? If not why? I do go to conventions. I love them. I love going as a trader and meeting readers face to face. I’m still fairly new to them but I’m a fairly personable bloke and love having a good chin wag with anyone. I also love attending conventions from the other side of the table, its great meeting up with like-minded people from within this community. I have a few lined up this year.

7. How many times did you have to submit your first story before it was accepted? Once. It was a story called Anna which I submitted to Dark Chapter Press for an anthology called Kids. I haven’t really looked back since that acceptance.

8. Ever consider not writing? If so what made you continue? The only time that I’ve stopped was over the last month or so, while I’ve been getting a new job off the ground, where travelling and long days just didn’t leave me any chance. I’m back at it now, every night. I ignore people who claim they don’t have time for this and that. Nobody is ever going to do anything for you.

9. Ever thought about writing in a different category? A lot of the short stories I write lean towards humour, usually in a very, very dark way. In addition, I wrote a crime thriller, a collaboration with Andy Lennon called Bound where we threw in some very horrific elements. It worked well. I think I’d be fairly comfortable having a go at anything, I thrive on challenge.

10. Any new additions to the family? No. Two kids are more than enough for me. I did buy a new iron last week. I have to water it, does an iron count?

11. What is coming up next for you? Next up, I’m releasing my first collection of shorts called Sinister Scribblings. It’s all of my short stories so far that have been published elsewhere in one book, along with some bonus new material that I’ve thrown in. Next up, I’m finishing the sequel to Jeremy. I have a queue of people who are asking to collaborate with me, but I need to concentrate on my own stuff for the next few months.

12. Do you do release parties? Do you think they work? I do them because if nothing else they’re a great laugh. They can be stressful from this side of the screen but I believe they’re great for promotion. They can be an acquired taste, but I enjoy them. I love the fact that many of the readers who attend actually make new friends with other people that they’d never have bumped into.

13. Do you have crazy stalker fans? Have you ever had one you wish would go away? See above. If anyone needs to be forcibly removed, I’ll do so myself. I don’t suffer idiots too well and I’m too long in the tooth for childish antics. There can be the odd upstart within this community that decides they want to try to rock the boat, but they usually show themselves up fairly quickly and move themselves on. Most people in this community are to notch people.

14. Do you still have a “day job” ? If so what do you do? I’m a sales manager for a construction company. It’s a bit of an anorak job, but it pays the bills. It involves a lot of travelling, so at least I get to see our green and pleasant land, even if it is from standing traffic on the motorway.

15. What is your process for writing? Do you have a voice in your head? Not really, as soon as I have an embryo of an idea, I get down and start writing it. I make it up as I go. I don’t plan anything, even novels. I am the dictionary definition of winging it. In fact, if you look up winging it in a dictionary, there’s probably a picture of me looking gormless and picking my nose.

16. Is there a book you want to make a sequel to you haven’t yet? I’ve started work on a book called Becky which is a sequel to Jeremy, I have a good idea of how it’s going to pan out, and Jeremy will be back with an almighty bang. He’s the character that most people have said they would like to see return. I considered bringing a few of the characters from Amnesia back into stand-alone novellas of their own but doubt I’ll ever get round to it.

Thanks again to anyone that takes time to pick up my work and give it a go, you rock! It’s the best feeling in the world that people are enjoying something that you’ve created. Long may it continue. If you’re on Facebook, come and say hello, I don’t bite. Thanks to my wonderful friends and peers for their continued support and encouragement. Too many to mention individually, but you know who you are.

    You can connect with Matt Hickman here:

https://www.amazon.com/Matt-Hickman/e/B015RQBG1I/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_5?qid=1493363179&sr=1-5

Twitter: @Mathewhickma13

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/matthickmanauthor/

  Some of Matt Hickman’s books: 

  Getting even more personal with Matt Hickman It is no secret that I think Matt Hickman is an amazing writer. His book Amnesia was my number one book last year and for good reasons.

[techcentry-blog]

What we’ll be looking for in laptops for 2017

There's a pack of innovation that frameworks need to begin including.

Certain bits of innovation tend to stick around. USB has been the connector of decision for all way of peripherals for two decades, and ATA hard circles, first parallel and now serial, have a history back to 1986. In the course of the most recent couple of years, in any case, we've begun to see genuine other options to these advances hit the market, with NVMe stockpiling and Thunderbolt 3 for joining gadgets.

Essentially, touchpads have gone from idiotic mouse emulators (frequently utilizing the revered PS/2 interface) to complex multi-finger weight detecting gadgets with the Precision Touchpad detail.

We've likewise observed once in the past specialty abilities, for example, biometric confirmation, move into the standard. Both facial acknowledgment and fingerprints keep on becoming commonplace parts of the equipment scene.

As needs be, our non-romantic perfect of what a portable PC phone be has moved to some degree. As we head into 2017 and every one of the frameworks that will definitely be declared at CES, we felt it is helpful to depict what we're searching for. "Thin and light" is no sufficiently longer. Frameworks need to accomplish more than that to legitimize a top notch cost.

Connectors all around

Thunderbolt 3 is non-debatable. Intel's Alpine Ridge Thunderbolt 3 controllers include a huge amount of utility, and keeping in mind that you may not utilize each element, there's certain to be something that is significant. The feature ability, obviously, is the 40 gigabit for each second interconnect that is sufficiently quick to bolster docking stations that'll work with any Thunderbolt 3 machine, exotica, for example, outer video cards, or Thunderbolt pillars, for example, fast stockpiling clusters. The connector can likewise convey video signals, opening the way to 4K (or higher determination) screens that additionally brandish USB 3 ports. With power conveyance, the screen can even be utilized to power and charge the portable PC.

Elevated Ridge's Thunderbolt 3 yield can likewise be changed over to DisplayPort 1.2 or HDMI 2.0, with the last critical for 4K60 presentations.

What's more, regardless of the possibility that none of that matters, it has a last trap up its sleeve. The USB 3.1 controller coordinated into Intel's chipsets and frameworks on chips is, as of now, an era 1 controller, besting out at 5 gigabits for every second. The Alpine Ridge controller is an era 2 controller, for 10 gigabits for each second. Regardless of the possibility that you don't wind up constantly utilizing the favor Thunderbolt abilities, Thunderbolt 3 frameworks will be the best general USB frameworks for now.

As an inseparable unit with Thunderbolt 3 is USB Type-C, yet the do-it-all connector has some shocking complexities. While some Type-C ports are do-everything, offering Thunderbolt 3, DisplayPort, USB 3.1 era 2, and charging all from one port, others offer simply USB 3.1 era 1, with no genuine method for telling which will be which. We in any case feel that the time is ideal for the new connector. It is not necessarily the case that frameworks shouldn't ever incorporate the old Type-A connectors—there's an undoubted accommodation to having the capacity to utilize memory sticks and different peripherals without requiring any dongles—yet we'd get a kick out of the chance to see more than a solitary Type-C port, and we'd like it to offer more than USB 3.1 era 1.

We need to see an adjustment in how things are associated within, as well; SSDs ought to utilize the NVMe interface and not SATA 3. A few sellers, for example, Apple, have effectively done this in all cases, however from others despite everything we're seeing the more seasoned, slower interface flying up. In the beginning of NVMe, a few OEMs we addressed proposed that it was marginally more power hungry than SATA 3, in any case, with NVMe-prepared frameworks beating our battery life tests, we don't trust this to be a huge issue any more.

Info and validation

Windows has coordinated fundamental support for biometrics since Windows 7, yet it's with Windows 10 and its Hello ability that biometric validation feels like a completely incorporated working framework include. The facial acknowledgment frameworks utilized on, among others, Microsoft's Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book and HP's most recent Specter x360 is easy to utilize and beats the heck out of writing a long secret word each time you need to open. Current unique mark scanners are additionally simple to use, with none of the finicky swiping that they used to have; the ones in the new Mac Book Pros with Touch Bar are anything but difficult to use, for instance.

Thusly, there's truly no justifiable reason not to incorporate support on any new framework.

The Precision Touchpad spec makes PC touchpads more steady in their speeding up, affectability, and motions. Vitally, the spec additionally implies that touchpads really improve with overhauls: it pushes multitouch signal taking care of into the working framework, as opposed to doing it in gadget firmware and exclusive drivers. This implies new elements or algorithmic improvements can be included working framework redesigns, and Microsoft has utilized this capacity to add new components to reasonable frameworks with the Windows 10 Anniversary Update.

This blend of upgradeability and institutionalized signals—any Precision Touchpad framework underpins a similar scope of motions—makes it an absolute necessity have include. We would prefer not to see the Synaptics driver on new machines.

It might be viewed as somewhat hostile, yet we'd additionally hope to see touch screens as standard. Frameworks with 360-degree pivots or remove consoles will clearly meet this necessity, however touch screens are beneficial on ordinary portable PCs, as well. When you get into the propensity for looking over and tapping on-screen catches with touch, it's difficult to about-face. Touch won't ever be the essential method for collaborating with a tablet, yet a touchless machine feels lacking.

Striking that of 2016's portable PCs, even generally strong frameworks, similar to the Dell XPS 13 or HP Specter x360, are missing at least one of these capacities. We'd anticipate that less expensive machines will miss the mark regarding this perfect since investment funds must be made some place—Thunderbolt 3 includes $6-$8 for the controller alone, and that is a great deal for a $400 machine—however when you're paying $800, or even $1,800, for a PC, holding back in these territories is indefensible. What's more, in 2017, will quit pardoning it.