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gamestreamingsetup · 5 years

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Guide To Twitch Streaming

Who wants to sit and watch people play video games all day? Millions of people, it turns out. Live-streaming website Twitch is one of the biggest things in games, with 15 million daily viewers who come to watch the wealth of professional tournaments, gaming talk shows and casual solo sessions that the site's 2-million-plus broadcasters offer.

Twitch's biggest streamers are a new breed of Internet celebrity, with legions of dedicated fans who tune in daily to watch them dominate Fortnite matches or hilariously scream their way through horror games. Many of these personalities have a litany of sponsors and hundreds of thousands of social media followers — two traits more typical of a pro athlete than someone who plays video games for a living.

But while only a lucky few make it to the NBA or the NFL, anyone with a decent gaming PC or modern game console can be a Twitch streamer. If you want to take a shot at Twitch stardom, here's everything you need to know about how to become a Twitch streamer, from basic hardware requirements to tips from the pros on keeping viewers happy.

What You Need to Become a Twitch Streamer A Good Computer

Although there are a few exceptions I'll outline below, you'll likely be doing most of your streaming from a gaming laptop or gaming desktop PC. As far as specs go, Twitch recommends having at least an Intel Core i5-4670 processor (or its AMD equivalent), 8GB of RAM and Windows 7 or newer. (Don't worry; you can stream from a Mac, too.)

If you're streaming PC games, you'll need a graphics card strong enough to support whatever you're playing and, ideally, one that supports DirectX 10 and up. The faster your Internet connection, the better — you should probably aim to have an upload speed of at least 3MB per second, which should be attainable on most home Internet connections or even via mobile.

While we recommend streaming from a desktop if possible, going live from a laptop is totally doable with the right specs. If you want to go the mobile route, be sure to check out our guide to streaming to Twitch from a laptop.

One PC or two?

While Twitch's core system requirements are pretty forgiving, streaming and playing graphically intense games at the same time can put quite the load on your computer. Some popular streamers remedy this by using two PCs at once — one for gaming, and another for broadcasting. If that sounds too complicated, you can check out desktops such as CyberPower's Pro Streamer, which houses two complete PCs in a single body.

Fortunately, thanks to to recent strides made by Nvidia, creating a high-quality stream from a single PC is becoming more feasible. If you own a gaming desktop or laptop with one of Nvidia's new RTX graphics cards, you'll be able to take advantage of Nvidia's dedicated hardware encoder that's built into each card. This essentially relieves your CPU of having to do too much of the heavy lifting.

Open Broadcaster Software, which we'll touch on below, is optimized for the new Nvidia cards, meaning that it's quite easy to get a smooth single-PC stream going so long as you've got OBS as well as a system with an RTX 2060, 2070, 2080 or 2080 GPU.

A Twitch account

You can visit Twitch.tv to join for free, and you should probably add a custom avatar, banner and description so that viewers can learn a little bit about you. If you want to make sure that all of your broadcasts are temporarily archived for later viewing, you can head to Settings > Channel & Videos > Archive Broadcasts.

Streaming Software

The most essential part of any streamer's tool kit, broadcasting software lets you show your gameplay to the world. The two most commonly used streaming programs are Open Broadcasting Software (OBS), which is completely free, and XSplit, which has a highly intuitive interface but requires a paid subscription in order to use its key features.

Regardless of your choice of software, setting up your stream consists of the same general steps: picking your sources (such as your computer monitor, gameplay feed or webcam), laying out how they'll all appear for the viewer, and finally, syncing up your Twitch account and going live.

Microphone and Camera

While you can technically get by with a gaming headset, you'll want a dedicated microphone so that your viewers can hear you clearly. The $129 Blue Yeti is our favorite USB mic thanks to its crisp audio quality and adjustable pickup modes. If you're on a tight budget, consider the $36 Samson Go Mic; for something more portable, check out the $99 Blue Yeti Nano. For more on microphones, be sure to also check out our podcasting guide.

If you don't already have a webcam and want to show your face, the $49 Logitech HD Pro C920 is our top overall pick thanks to its sharp 1080p capture quality and wide field of view. The $99 Logitech C922 offers the same quality but with automatic background removal, which allows you to superimpose yourself onto your game without the need for a green screen. There's also the $99 Razer Kiyo, which is similarly sharp and offers a built-in ring light for illuminating your face.

Streaming from Consoles

If you're wondering how to become a Twitch streamer without any fancy PC hardware, both the Xbox One and PS4 let you stream directly from your console, without any extra devices or software. On Xbox One, you'll just need the free Twitch app; on PS4, you can go live right from the system's Share menu. Folks on Xbox can also stream directly to Microsoft's Mixer platform, which is just as easy to set up. While you won't get to customize your stream the way you would from your PC, console streaming is still a great way to get your feet wet.

If you want to stream from your Nintendo Switch or any other console (or just want more control over your broadcast), you'll need a capture card that records your console gameplay to your PC.

The most popular capture card option out there is the $129 Elgato Game Capture HD, which seamlessly records 1080p video from Xbox One/360, PS4/PS3, Wii U and just about any other system with an HDMI output. It also has a Component adapter, in case you want to stream from one of your dusty retro consoles. If you want smoother, 60-frame-per-second streams, you can step up to the $151 Elgato HD60.

Twitch is home to a growing stable of bona fide gaming celebrities who make their living broadcasting — but not just because they play the latest games or have a fancy stream setup. The top Twitch streamers are true entertainers; some are known for their incredible Call of Duty headshots, while others are famous for blowing through entire Zelda games in 20 minutes. But more than that, they're just great personalities.

"[Our top streamers] are humble, friendly, highly interactive and treat the people in their chat as if they are the stars of the show," said Chase (yep, just Chase), Twitch’s director of public relations.

If you're looking to get into the finer points of growing an audience, popular Hearthstone player Jeffrey "Trump" Shih's "Streaming 101" video is an excellent place to start. Shih neatly breaks down the core components of streaming into an acronym he calls OPTICS (Opportunity, Presence, Technology, Interaction, Consistency and Skill), noting that focusing on any number of these factors could help you make a name for yourself.

Grow big enough on Twitch, and you just might be offered a partnership, which allows you to get a cut of broadcast revenue and offer your viewers exclusive perks in exchange for a monthly subscription fee. No matter what level of Twitch stardom you're shooting for, here are tips from some of the streamers who do it best.

Find Your Niche / Games You Enjoy Playing

How do you stand out among Twitch's 2 million streamers? For Burke Black, all it took was a pirate hat and lots of patience. After two years of steady streaming, Black is now a partnered broadcaster with more than 23,000 followers that tune in to catch his late-night, swashbuckling-themed antics.

Fire up any of Black's broadcasts, and you'll see him in full brown-and-beige pirate garb, complete with a skull-and-crossbones bandana and an epic beard to match. The 36-year-old is the farthest thing from imposing, though, as he giggles and cheers his way through anything from Grand Theft Auto V to Pirates! (naturally) while enthusiastically chatting with his viewers.

"I consider it a show, not just some dude streaming games," Black said. "People come in because they like the atmosphere … [it's a] nice friendly environment where they can come and have a good time with some cheesy pirate stuff going on."

Becoming a pirate isn't the only way to stand out on Twitch. Perhaps you're exceptionally skilled at the world's most obscure platformer, or you have a really cute dog you can put in front of the camera while you blast through Counter-Strike matches. Find your specialty, and run with it.

Be Consistent

Consistency is crucial — just as people tune in to their favorite TV shows at the same time every night, they should know exactly when you'll be live on Twitch. Whether you broadcast in the afternoon or the wee hours of the morning, stick to your schedule, and make sure it's prominently displayed across both your Twitch page and social media sites.

"You will never get the same viewers if you stream at random times when you are just starting out," said That's Cat, a 26-year-old streamer that specializes in survival games and has almost 30,000 followers.

Make Some Friends

Sonja "OMGitsfirefoxx" Reid is one of Twitch's biggest stars, with more than 631,000 followers and her own merchandise store. While much of her success can be attributed to her unfiltered sense of humor and constant interaction with her viewers, one of her biggest breaks came from working with others.

"We started a daily Minecraft stream, with the idea of just playing some Minecraft with friends and hanging out," said Reid of "Mianite," a series in which she and other popular Twitch stars broadcast their daily hijinks in the popular crafting game. "It blew up, and turned into a huge series, which is going into its third season."

That's Cat also made a name for herself by playing with other broadcasters. In fact, the streamer had 500 Twitch followers before she even went live on her own channel, simply because she made plenty of friends beforehand.

"I ended up having over 80 viewers [on] my first stream, because of my presence in the community prior to streaming," said Cat, who got offered a partnership after just three months of broadcasting.

Be Very Interactive w/ Your Audience

What sets Twitch streams apart from other forms of entertainment is that the audience is almost always a key part of the experience. All Twitch broadcasts are accompanied by a chat room, which allows streamers to interact directly with the people who support them. The more you make your viewers feel like they're sitting on the couch with you while you play, the better chance you have at building a loyal following.

Reid affectionately refers to her fans as her "foxx family." Even with hundreds of thousands of followers, she makes sure to keep things personal.

"I get to know a lot of my [viewers], and remember what's going on in their lives and chat with them about it in stream," she said. "Having a community that really feels like a family is really important to me."

Audience interaction is a top priority for Black, who has a monitor dedicated solely to viewing his Twitch chat. Black also does frequent giveaways, which, according to the streamer, helps encourage fans to come back every night.

That's Cat's following has grown so loyal that she can count on having viewers no matter how obscure the game she's playing.

"I literally played Barbie's Dream house and still had my entire community cheering me on," she said.

Don't Stress About Your Gear (At First)

Just because your favorite streamer has a super-sharp webcam and a fancy green screen and streams from two high-end PCs at once doesn't mean you have to — at least at first. Twitch's system requirements are quite lenient, which means you should focus on growing an audience before you spend thousands turning your bedroom into an all-out studio.

MORE: The Best Gaming Keyboard You Can Buy

"I started streaming on an old HP laptop that overheated to the point of burning my hand, and an old foldout chair from Walmart," said Reid, who's been able to upgrade to a decidedly better setup as her channel grew.

Be Patient, and Have Fun!

As with any type of success, "making it" on Twitch takes lots of patience and hard work.

"If you're doing [this] just to make money, you'll usually fizzle out in the first three or so months," Black said. "For the first six months, it was just awful because I didn't know what I was doing. Try not to get discouraged, because everyone's been that way."

Black's patience is now paying off; the streamer is closing in on 24,000 followers, and his Twitter feed is full of pictures of loyal fans wearing T-shirts with his name on them. Black, who currently works in photography, is considering becoming a full-time streamer once he hits 500 paid subscribers.

Reid stressed the importance of relishing every viewer, no matter how few there are in the beginning.

"Even if you have three viewers, or 30 or 300, there are people that are choosing to hang out and watch you," Reid noted.

In the end, it's important to remember that we're all still playing video games. Whether it's a hobby or something you hope to make into a career, streaming should be fun — the more you enjoy yourself, the more everyone watching you probably will, too.

#Twitch #Stadia #Game #Gaming #Gamer #Gamers #Microsoft #Sony #Nintendo #Stream #Streaming #Streamers #YouTube

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chloes-yellow-cup · 6 years

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Leap of Faith

Oneshot Bechloe Neighbor AU for @lilhan. Happy Birthday and thank you for your constant support of me and this fandom!

Prompt: Your window was open and you live across from me so I saw and heard you in your underwear, singing and dancing ridiculously and I really wanna get to know you cause you're pretty hot and I might have a crush on you AU.

As always, thank you to my Beta for making sure I don't screw this up.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, literally nothing.

Words: 8146

Mature, cause it’s me.

On AO3 and FFN

My other works.

Chloe broke down the last of her move-in boxes with a feeling of accomplishment. Though, since she technically moved in eight months ago, she figured ‘accomplished’ probably wasn’t the right word.

She stacked it with the other cardboard she’d emptied that night and surveyed her bedroom, making sure she hadn’t left an errant one untouched. But the room was clear of clutter and she was finally glad to have all her things out of boxes. She checked her watch and was surprised to see that it was already 1 AM. At least it was Friday and she didn’t have to work tomorrow.

Chloe had moved to LA on basically a whim, some instinct telling her that it was important. She’d seen an ad for “Dance Instructor Needed” and hadn’t been able to get it out of her mind. It helped that her best friend from college had moved here two years ago to be a lawyer in some firm specializing in the entertainment business. She’d stayed with Aubrey for a few weeks while she applied for the job and then again while she looked for an apartment to rent once she’d gotten hired.

She’d been given the evening classes, and while she traditionally was more a morning person, she found she liked the hours just fine. The classes were usually fun, and so far she’d kept mostly the same group of ten to fourteen year olds for most of those eight months.

So she’d rotated her daily schedule a bit, getting up later than she ever really had before, and suddenly Chloe understood the appeal of sleeping until noon. There was no rush, no timetable except “be at work by six” and the freedom to do whatever else she wanted felt amazing.

Thinking that Aubrey would finally have to stop teasing her about not fully unpacking, Chloe pulled out a pair of shorts and an oversized shirt before stepping back to flip off her light. While it may be the middle of the night, you never knew who might be watching and she currently had her window and curtains open to try and cool the place off. She’d wiggled out of her pants and just pulled her shirt off over her head when a sudden light from across the way caught her eye.

Her building was one side of a narrow but pretty, courtyard that led to a shared pool area. While the space was larger than an alley, it still felt tight in terms of prying eyes from neighbors. The buildings were three stories and fairly uniform, which meant the windows from the bedroom and the living area were lined up pretty exact. Since she lived on the top floor she at least didn’t have to worry about anyone but those immediately across from her.

As an admitted people watcher, Chloe spent a lot of time perched in her bedroom window nook, sipping tea and people watching in the courtyard. She tried not to pry and look into windows, but she figured the public spaces were fair game. That’s where she first noticed the beautiful woman across the way, actually. She’d seen a short brunette hauling what looked like three cases loaded down with a laptop and various electronics shortly after Chloe had moved in and, at the time only gave a moment’s thought on what she possibly could need all that for.

A week later she noticed that same woman in the bedroom across from hers, sitting at a desk positioned by the window and working on a laptop. All Chloe could see was the profile, but she remembered thinking she seemed attractive.

Two weeks after that, they’d passed each other in the courtyard on the way to their respective buildings and Chloe had automatically smiled at her when their eyes met. It’s just who Chloe was. She smiled at people. She was very thankful for her dancer training as the second their eyes met, Chloe almost tripped over her own feet. As it was, she stumbled a little, her expression freezing in an unusual burst of gay panic as she almost lurched into the other woman. Who, Chloe noted even while flustered, was gorgeous, had the darkest blue eyes Chloe had ever seen, the prettiest smile and had automatically put her hands out to catch Chloe. But Chloe had merely looked away, muttered ‘Sorry’ and continued on her way, mortified at the entire encounter.

In the intervening months, they’d had a few more chance meetings like that – though thankfully Chloe had no more balance mishaps – but they had never spoken beyond that one word. Chloe had seen her with a few other people; a loud blonde whose accent in the courtyard betrayed her Australian origins, a taller brunette who caused other people to careen off things like the hedges lining the path when she walked by, and an attractive guy with short dark hair.

Chloe wasn’t sure why she’d never talked to the other woman, they’d seen each other in passing at least a dozen times, if not more. But something in her held her back, and since she’d moved to LA at the urging of feelings like that, she listened to it. So she went on random coffee dates with other people, sometimes to dinner but none of them ever stuck. But she wasn’t unhappy, merely felt like she was… waiting.

And it wasn’t like Chloe spent time watching through the other bedroom window, she really didn’t. But when it was late at night and that was the only window with a light – even if it was just the glow of a couple monitors on a desk – she couldn’t help it that her eye was sometimes drawn to it. So what if she noticed that none of the people she’d seen ever stayed the night? At least not in that way. She’d seen them crowded around the desktop setup that seemed to gain more equipment as the months wore on; listening to something through speakers or headphones, but that seemed to be the extent of the bedroom activity. But Chloe wasn’t watching, really. Probably.

Though… when she did happen to look over, most of the time the brunette was working at her desk of equipment through all hours of the evening and into the morning. Chloe may also have noticed that a few times she seemed to fall asleep at her desk, slumped over in a boneless way that didn’t look comfortable when Chloe sometimes woke up early in the morning to go for a jog. And, okay, maybe she’d been paying enough attention in those dark nights to notice the woman hold up what appeared to be a green something and talk to it. She tried not to judge that, honestly.

She’d never actually seen anything inappropriate in the room across the way ; it’s not like Chloe lurked in the dark with binoculars like the horror stories Aubrey had tried to scare her with about apartment living. Chloe just lived her day, walking in and out of her room, with her own light on or off. Though – admittedly, Chloe did change with the light off, because why invite things like that. Most of the time.

So it was with great surprise that, when out of instinct she looked over at the flare of light, she saw the brunette dancing around the room in her underwear with a large pair of headphones over her ears.

Unconsciously Chloe drifted closer to the window, watching as the other woman danced with abandon around her room, one hand holding the headphones in place and the other guiding the overly long headphone cable around herself. At one point Chloe was convinced the she’d wrapped herself too tight, like a mummy, and at any moment was going to fall over, but with a sharp twirl, the brunette twisted herself out of it and across the room to let it unspool.

As Chloe leaned against the wall, she could hear, faintly, that the woman was singing along, though what it was she couldn’t tell at first. Then there was a lull in the outside noise and a few lines drifted through, as the brunette got louder briefly as she let herself really get into it and let go. Chloe could tell even from this distance that she’d lost herself in the song and felt a kinship for that kind of simple joy. She let the lyrics play back and smiled. Sia’s ‘Cheap Thrills’ was a favorite of hers too.

Chloe had gotten so lost in watching the other woman that she forgot she herself was also mostly naked and standing in her window. And while the light down in the courtyard was far enough away that it didn’t cause problems for her at night, it did somewhat light up the window nook where she was now lounging. A fact that was brought home when the brunette across the way suddenly stopped and stared directly at her.

Chloe froze, her first thought being ‘Oh thank god it’s dark out.’ Her second, when looking down and seeing that she was clearly visible, mostly naked with her forgotten shirt in her hand, was ‘Oh fuck.’ Because while Chloe was totally confident about her body, she was also totally embarrassed at being caught staring when it wasn’t implicitly invited. Not that she’d really done more than thought ‘Wow, she’s super fit and toned’ while watching. Okay, and so maybe somewhere, there was a small voice thinking ‘Damn she’s gorgeous!’ But for the most part, it wasn’t like that. As a dance instructor and former a capella singer, it simply made her incredibly happy to see people lose themselves in music. There was nothing more beautiful than watching someone forget anyone else could be watching – though admittedly at this hour of the morning, there usually wouldn’t be anyone watching – and just feel.

But now, here she was, panic creeping over her again as the brunette slowly slipped the headphones to rest around her neck. Chloe watched her step closer to the window, her lips twitching into a smirk that Chloe could see clearly as the other woman raised her hand and waved.

Chloe snapped back to herself and stepped back and to the side. “Oh my god.” She blinked rapidly in the dark of her room. “Oh my god, I’m a perv. I’ve turned into one of those people Aubrey tried to scare me with.” She dropped her shirt and ran her hands through her hair. “Oh my god.” She paced back and forth for a second before spinning suddenly and pulling her sleep clothing off her bed and stepped into them quickly. “Oh my – how can I even see her in the courtyard after this?” Chloe shook her head. “I’m going to have to move and I just finished unpacking.”

She turned to look at the window. “And that’s gotta be covered until I move.” She steeled herself. “Don’t you look. Just walk over. Close it. Go to bed. Look for another apartment tomorrow.” She knew she was blowing it out of proportion and being illogical, but she was mortified at being caught staring, which she wasn’t even doing. Or hadn’t meant to! “Right.” She took the two steps to the window and reached for the curtain. ‘Do not look. Do not look. Do not lo-‘ But of course she looked. She just had to top off the humiliating evening with one more awkward glance.

The first thing she noticed, to her embarrassment, was that the other woman was still in her bra and underwear. The second thing she noticed was that the woman’s laptop had been turned to face the window. The third thing Chloe noticed was the smile that spread across the brunette’s face as she reached over and tapped the top of her screen with one hand, drawing Chloe’s gaze.

A giant “3” filled the screen. Chloe’s brows drew together as the woman touched a key on her keyboard and a “6” replaced it, followed by a “0.” She looked back up at the woman when she paused, and Chloe saw a phone in her other hand. She wiggled it at Chloe, her finger once more tapping on the monitor.

‘Oh shit. She’s giving me her number?’ Chloe bit her lip as she tried to work through what this meant. It was either a precursor to chewing her out via text or… Chloe swallowed, trying not to let her eyes linger on the body on display across the way.. She turned and walked to her dresser, pulling her phone off of it and unlocking it. Taking a deep breath and a leap of faith, she headed back to her window, phone in hand. Opening the text app, she quickly entered the three numbers she’d already been given and looked back up. ‘Did… did she just wink at me?’ The shadows made it unclear, but she was pretty sure the brunette had winked at her. Chloe still wasn’t sure where this was going to lead, but she knew what it meant when she winked, so it was hard not to think the same when people did it to her.

Awkwardly flustered, she looked back at the screen and carefully entered the numbers one at a time. When she thought she had it – and honestly, every second of this encounter was never going to be forgotten, even if it was thought of with nothing but panic – she bit her lip and stared at her phone. She looked back up and pointed at the laptop and then twirled her finger once, hoping the brunette understood she was asking her to repeat it. Chloe would hate to have the number wrong simply because she mistyped it with hands that were suddenly shaking. With a nod, the woman ran them backward and then forward again until Chloe had the whole number.

Chloe took a deep breath and her mind blanked a bit. What does one text when one is caught staring like a dirty peeper?

Chloe: ‘I’m sorry’ seems like an incredibly lame thing to say right now. Maybe I should start with ‘Hi, I’m Chloe, your inappropriate neighbor.’

She looked up as she hit send, her heart rate spiking to an all-time nervous high, as the brunette looked down at her own phone. In its glow, Chloe could see the smile still hovering over her lips as she typed out a response and looked back up. Chloe’s phone chimed softly in her hand.

Unknown: Hello Chloe, I’m Beca. And I’m not sorry at all.

Chloe blinked at it, relief flooding through her even as a new, though more familiar, tension began low in her belly. She was changing the name in her phone to match when it vibrated again.

Beca: I’ve seen you around a lot, but you always looked so busy I didn’t want to bother you.

Chloe frowned briefly. Well that certainly wasn’t the aura she ever thought she projected and definitely didn’t want in this case. But she felt her usual confidence slowly creeping back.

Chloe: Well, then I’m sorry about that too.

Chloe: Guess I’ll have to make several things up to you. Over coffee perhaps?

She looked over as she sent the second one, surprised to find the brunette already typing out a message.

Beca: I’ve got a pot going right now. 3B.

Chloe swallowed her first instinct to jump up and yell ‘YES!’ at the top of her lungs. She looked over but the brunette had vanished from the window, though the light remained on. She took a deep breath and stood up from the window nook, not even really having realized she’d sat down in the first place.

After a surprisingly brief conversation with herself – most of which were arguments she expected to use later when Aubrey was yelling at her: ‘For serious, Chloe! This is how kidnappings that lead to murders happen! You need to stop thinking with your toner!’ – she’d slipped into a pair of sandals, thrown her wallet and phone in a small clutch purse and, after a brief panicked thought for the hour, quickly brushed her teeth. Quicker than she’d have thought, Chloe found herself locking her door and heading downstairs.

The night was still warm as she exited the building and into the courtyard she so frequently watched. Trying not to look like she was hurrying, wondering if she was only imagining the eyes watching her from above, she crossed and hit the button for 3B. A quiet buzzer sounded after a second and she opened the door and stepped in.

It seemed like all she did was blink and she was standing in front of the door wondering if she was knocking already or if that was just her heart she was hearing. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door and it swung open almost immediately. Suddenly she was face to face with the brunette – Beca – that she’d been crushing on for months. And had just been busted spying on through the window.

‘She invited you over, remember? It’s probably not because she wants to punch you in the face. Maybe.’ Chloe thought to herself, her eyes flicking briefly down then up as she took note that Beca’s feet were bare and she’d thrown on a long black and blue baseball tee. Chloe tried really hard to not to wonder if there were shorts under there.

Beca smiled and stepped back, opening the door further. “Come in.” Her voice was warm and inviting and Chloe found herself returning the smile easily and stepping past into an apartment that was mirror to her own.

The couch was black and looked worn and comfortable, the table in front of it covered with music magazines and the walls were covered with framed concert posters and albums.; music played lightly in the background from somewhere. Chloe loved it immediately and, without thinking, sat herself down on one end of the sofa.

“I was going to say make yourself at home, but…” Beca chuckled. “No, no.” She waved as Chloe started to stand, an apology already on her lips. “It’s fine.” She paused and looked Chloe over, this time a bit slower. “You look good on my couch.” Chloe blushed but thankfully Beca had turned toward the kitchen. “How do you take your coffee?”

“Um,” Chloe cleared her throat again. “Two spoons of sugar and some cream, if you have it. Otherwise, uh. Just the sugar.” She tried to cool her cheeks. “Thank you.” Usually she was the forward one in her flirtations, at least to start, and it was taking her a bit to get into the game though she finally felt herself rallying. “Though, I don’t think it counts as me apologizing over coffee if I’m not the one supplying or buying.” She watched Beca over the counter that opened into the kitchen, trying not to focus on how smooth her movements were as she went between fridge and counter. Except she was totally watching the other woman and it wasn’t just out of professional habit. Suddenly her eyes snapped up and met Beca’s, the knowing smirk let her know she’d been caught. Again.

“Guess we’ll just have to do this again at your place next time.” Beca smiled. “Should be easy enough, we’ve got the same taste in how we take our coffee.” Beca lifted two oversized mugs and walked back into the living room. Chloe smiled her thanks as she took one and Beca sunk down onto the couch next to her, one leg gracefully curled beneath her. “We can send paper airplanes across the way.” She sipped slowly as she watched Chloe intently over the rim. “Or I can just leave the blinds up and dance around in my underwear.”

Chloe winced. “I am…” She took a deep breath, ignoring the way her heart suddenly panged at the idea of seeing that show again. “Sorry. I swear, I don’t normally – it was just it was dark, there was light.” She felt herself speeding up and frantically tried to shut up. “And I’m a dance instructor and you were so lost in the music and it made me happy…” A sudden warmth on her bare knee brought her words to a halt and her gaze down. A slender fingered hand squeezed lightly, the thumb brushing over her skin almost absently.

“Chloe.” Beca’s voice brought her gaze back up and Chloe got lost again in the cobalt gaze in front of her. “I didn’t mind.” She watched as Beca licked her lips, thinking how much she loved the sound of her name slipping over them. “I don’t mind.” She blinked, uncertainty crossing her face for the first time. “I mean, not that I often go dancing around in my underwear hoping people are watching me.” She suddenly flashed a grin that Chloe already wanted to see more of. “Or at least I didn’t.”

Chloe merely sipped her coffee, her confidence settling over her like a comfortable shirt. “Too bad, it was quite the view.”

“Can I be honest?” Beca waited until Chloe nodded. “I… may have seen you over the past few months. In your window.” She grinned. “Not in your underwear until tonight, but…” She shrugged. “I’ve seen you watching people outside, or reading in the window nook. Unpacking boxes for the past however many months…” she teased.

Chloe just sniffed and tried for an air of aloofness. “I believe in taking my time to make sure things are done right.” She didn’t think about how that sounded until after, but she merely drank her coffee and tried not to smirk.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Beca’s voice dropped just enough that it wrapped around Chloe and pulled until she had to fight the urge to move closer. But then Beca’s hand slipped from her knee and her voice turned sly. “I always wanted to say hi, after that first time when you almost fell over. And you say you’re a… dance instructor?”

Chloe set down her coffee as she laughed; her cheeks warm in embarrassment again. “I am.” She decided to take the leap her heart was telling her to. She slipped off her sandals and pulled her legs up to wrap her arms around them. “Since we’re being honest… I totally tripped over my own feet.” She rested her cheek on her knee.

“Why…?” Beca trailed off and her hand pulled through the air to encourage Chloe to continue.

“Did I trip?” At Beca’s nod, Chloe smiled again. “Because you have the most beautiful eyes that I have ever seen.” She reached over and picked up her coffee again, needing something to wet her suddenly dry mouth. “Being a dancer was the only thing that saved me from literally falling at your feet.”

“More’s the pity,” Beca muttered to herself and Chloe felt another thread pull between them. “So, imagine my surprise when mystery girl ended up being my neighbor, sort of. Not that I spent a lot of time looking.” She said quickly.

“Right.” Chloe nodded. “It’s just, our windows are right across from each other.”

“So it’s only natural that things happen. And it’s not like I close my blinds all that often.” Beca grimaced. “Mostly because half the time they get stuck and I spend an inordinate amount of time trying to get them closed again.”

“That’s why I put up curtains instead,” Chloe laughed. “I got tired of the constant fight. Whoever invented those things should be fired.”

Beca chuckled as she nodded. “Stupid blinds fuckery.” She smiled when Chloe laughed again. “You’ve got a great laugh.”

“Thanks.” Chloe turned sideways on the couch, her knees still drawn up as she leaned against it, unable to stop herself from feeling like she belonged. “So now that you know what I do... What do you do with all that equipment on your desk?”

“Ah, super spy. I like it.” Beca angled to face her, though her left foot remained on the floor. “I’m a junior music producer by day, but by night I like to DJ.”

Chloe bounced in place. “Really? I love music! Where have you DJ’d?” And they were immediately lost in discussion in the merits of certain clubs and artists Beca had worked with.

Chloe lost track of time as she and Beca got to know each other, both sharing little bits and pieces of themselves, already as comfortable as if they’d known each other for years. Neither acknowledged the fact that they were also getting physically closer as they talked, pulled by the endless threads they created with each shared laugh and half whispered confession. Chloe’s left leg ended up curled under her, but the two of them were so close that it pressed against Beca’s right, as her own right leg was stretched out over Beca’s lap. But Chloe was very aware of the fact that Beca’s left hand was casually resting on Chloe’s right thigh. On the outside, sure, but her fingertips were just under the edge of Chloe’s shorts, occasionally stroking tiny circles into her skin.

She told Beca a bit about the Bellas, a bit more about Aubrey and found out that Beca sometimes released her mixes onto a YouTube channel that Chloe actually frequented, mostly because of the name she used: DJ Titanium. Beca had laughed when Chloe quizzed her on whatever it was on her desk she sometimes talked to.

“My grasshopper stapler.” Beca closed one eye and looked at her sideways out of the other.

“Your… what?” Chloe laughed with her. “Your stapler?”

“Yeah, it’s shaped like a grasshopper and sometimes when I’m stuck in a song…” Beca trailed off, looking embarrassed. “I give myself a pep talk from it?”

“That is… utterly adorable and I’m probably going to make you demonstrate that later.” Chloe squeezed Beca’s calf. “Please.” She grinned and changed the subject when Beca’s eyes rolled though she nodded.

Sometime after their second cup of coffee was finished, Chloe stood up, not admitting how much she liked the small sound of disappointment that Beca made when she did so. “Sorry, I need to stretch. But I think if I drink any more coffee, I’m not sleeping until Sunday.”

Beca nodded. “Yeah, me too.” She looked at her watch. “It’s 3:30 already…”

Chloe looked over from where she’d just stretched out her back, groaning from relief as several spots in her spine popped. Beca’s eyes had lost focus as she stared at Chloe, tracing up and down the torso that had just arched backward. Smirking, Chloe leaned over and picked up both their mugs. “I’ll take these in and rinse them.”

“Okay.” Beca’s voice was a bit distant and though her eyes remained on Chloe, they were more inward focused. Chloe stepped lightly into the kitchen and to the sink. Rinsing out one mug, then the other, she set them both against one side of the sink to be washed later.

In her admittedly short twenty seven years on this earth, Chloe had never felt so comfortable with someone in so short a time. They were surprisingly compatible in their love of music and Beca had been extremely interested to hear of Chloe’s time with the Bellas at Barden. Ironically, Beca had almost attended Barden but was able to convince her dad to send her to LA so she could get started on the career she’d been dreaming of since she was an angsty teen. At twenty four, Beca was one of the youngest junior producers at the LA branch of Residual Heat, thanks to her drive and focus.

Briefly Chloe lamented that Beca hadn’t actually gone to Barden, as they would have crossed in Chloe’s senior year. Ultimately she’d decided that it would have been worse for her, now, to know that Beca had been on campus if they had never met. It was almost bad enough that they had grown up so close together, Chloe in Portland and Beca in Seattle, though, realistically, she knew the odds of them ever meeting were slim. Though, she supposed, looking at them now… Stranger things had happened.

Walking back into the living room, she paused as a new song came on and laughed. Beca looked up at her in askance and their ongoing honesty all night made Chloe say, “This song is my jam.” She winked. “My lady jam.” She bit her lip as Beca’s mouth dropped a bit. “Sorry, that might have been too much oversharing.”

“No, that’s-” Beca shook her head as if to clear it. “No, that’s… fine.” But her expression gave away a lot more and Chloe would have bet a week’s pay that Beca had just dropped into the gutter, something she’d done a few times already in the night as they teased their way through coffee.

But now Chloe had the memory of another Sia song in her head and she was asking without thinking. “Can you sing it for me?”

“Dude!” Beca barked out a laugh.

“Not for that reason.” Chloe stopped. ‘Probably.’ “I heard you, a bit at least, singing ‘Cheap Thrills’ and would like to hear you sing again.” She paused again. “That... that also sounds super forward.”

“Maybe.” Beca stood and walked over to stand in front of Chloe. “But I kind of like it.” Closing her eyes, she waited a beat for the chorus Chloe knew was coming; then Chloe forgot everything else around them when Beca opened her eyes and began to sing. “I’m bulletproof, nothing to lose.”

Chloe couldn’t help it, she hadn’t sung with anyone in a long time – she and Aubrey didn’t have nearly enough weekends off together – but the next thing she knew, she was singing with Beca.

“Fire away, fire away Ricochet, you take your aim Fire away, fire away Shoot me down but I won’t fall, I am titanium Shoot me down but I won’t fall, I am titanium”

They trailed off at the same time, gazing into each other’s eyes as they smiled; Beca’s was full of astonishment; Chloe’s wide and happy. While she knew their voices would blend together, she never imagined it would sound so perfect. Then Beca was moving, one hand slipping around Chloe’s waist, pulling their bodies together and the other around her neck, bringing Chloe down to her.

The first brush of their lips was soft, tentative. It didn’t even occur to Chloe to resist; instead she sank into it, her arms immediately mirroring Beca’s. She wound her fingers through soft locks, trying to pull Beca closer even though there was already no space between them. Beca tilted her head, changing the angle, and the sensation of her lips sliding along Chloe’s drew a soft moan from her throat. Before she even had the chance to be embarrassed by how needy she already sounded, Beca teeth closed on her lower lip, tugging gently. Chloe gasped, her knees going watery, and Beca’s tongue slipped between her lips. The last thing Chloe heard before she lost track of everything but Beca was the opening lyrics of Taylor Swift’s ‘Delicate’ and she thought it seemed kind of perfect. Then she stopped thinking entirely.

Beca’s kiss was everything Chloe had dreamed it would be, when she had allowed herself to daydream about it. Soft and gentle, yet firm and commanding – Chloe felt like she could stand here forever, tasting this beautiful woman and lose herself, their tongues vying for control. Her hand fisted in Beca’s hair, pulling her closer, always closer – but never feeling like it was close enough.

Their hands began to wander, caressing a neck, a shoulder, before Chloe’s hand dropped low from Beca’s waist and slid up the outside of her thigh, pushing the shirt up. She realized with a thrill that Beca was definitely not wearing shorts and at the first touch of lacy fabric her mind presented her with a single image: Beca, dancing around in her bedroom, in what appeared to be a black bra and panty set. Even as her hand slid under the band from below, splaying across Beca’s hip, Chloe pulled back a little to see if this was ok. This had definitely not been what she’d been thinking of for a first coffee date.

Beca was already nodding at the question in her eyes, her lips darting back to capture Chloe’s, licking slowly into her mouth; her own hands pushed their way under Chloe’s shirt and gently raked her nails down Chloe’s back. Chloe gasped, arching and Beca’s lips fastened at her pulse point, sucking lightly as both of them groaned in appreciation at the sensation. Chloe shifted and her leg ended up between Beca’s thighs and she wished she had a better angle to press upward, but they were still standing in the entryway to Beca’s kitchen.

This was already so much more than Chloe had expected, had even dreamed. Not just the physical need – she’d had encounters that had moved somewhat as quickly, though not really – but the emotions crashing over her were new. Later, she’d realize that she’d never felt like this around anyone before – this comfortable, this sense of home. This desperate for Beca’s touch, needing more even as each brush of bare skin felt like sparks spreading fire through her body.

Beca began to back up and Chloe was ready to protest when she felt Beca’s hands on her hips, tugging her forward. She followed obediently, pressing her mouth to Beca’s and pushing her way in. She let herself be positioned as Beca began to move them.

“I don’t usually do this.” Chloe said against Beca’s lips as she let herself be guided backwards down the hall. Her steps were sure, the layout so similar to her own she could have walked to the bedroom with her eyes closed. Which, she guessed, was exactly what she was doing in a way.

“What? Kiss like you’ve dedicated your life to it?” Beca’s breath was fast, her lips just as insistent in the way they moved. While teasing, her voice had an edge of desperation to it that Chloe felt burning in her own veins. “Because the way you kiss is making me forget my own name.”

Chloe’s heart gave a hard thump she was sure that Beca could feel. “Fall into bed with a neighbor.” Chloe whimpered as Beca’s hands pushed under her shorts as she felt the space open behind them. Pausing briefly, Beca pushed them down until they pooled at Chloe’s feet, then resumed walking her backward through the doorway, her hand reaching out to turn off the light that was still on. Chloe chuckled softly. “Thank you.”

Chloe felt Beca’s smirk against her lips before Beca pulled back only as much as required to pull in air. “If it helps at all, I’ve been thinking of this – you – for months.” She dipped down and ran her tongue along the column of Chloe’s throat. “So far, this is even better than I imagined.” She pulled them to a stop just as Chloe felt the firm edge of a bed frame against her leg. “But, if you…”

Chloe stopped her with another kiss, then leaned back to pull off her shirt. “I’ve been thinking about this too.” She was realizing she must have been thinking about Beca even more than she’d really admitted if she was already wet from simply kissing her.

Swallowing heavily as Chloe stood before her in matching blue bra and panties, Beca’s eyes still twinkled. “While you were listening to your lady jam?” She reached for the bottom of her shirt.

Chloe bit her lip. “Maybe.” And while she also maybe really enjoyed the way Beca’s jaw dropped at the thought, her own followed when Beca let her top fall to the floor. Chloe had already known she looked good, even from a distance, but she was unprepared for just how good she looked close up. Beca’s limbs were slender but Chloe could see the definition in them, as well as the faint outline of newly emerging abs. She reached out and traced them with one finger. “Someone works out.” And the tattoos – they were parts of Beca that she found she couldn’t wait to hear the story behind.

“Some.” Beca shrugged one shoulder, her breath hitching at the touch. “Not a lot. I mostly refuse to take the elevator at work and hauling all my equipment up and down stairs-” She hissed out a breath as Chloe flattened her hand and slid it along Beca’s ribs until she gripped high up on her side. “- here and there, helps.”

“Mm.” Chloe pulled Beca closer and closed her eyes as their skin really slid together for the first time. “God you feel good.” She felt Beca nod against her shoulder just before her mouth nipped at Chloe’s collarbone. “Please.” She didn’t even know what she was asking for but Beca responded by reaching around and undoing Chloe’s bra. She whimpered as Beca’s hands ran up to her shoulders and down her arms, pushing the straps down as she stepped back and pulled it free, her eyes on Chloe’s before she let them drop lower.

Beca whispered. “You’re so beautiful, Chlo.” The nickname, whispered so reverently, slid along her heart like a brand and Chloe forgot to feel shy at being mostly naked in front of someone for the first time. Beca’s hands reached out and gently traced the outer swell of her breasts before cupping them gently. “So beautiful.” Chloe couldn’t help the arch to her back, bringing her more fully into Beca’s palms.

Then Beca’s thumbs firmly ran over Chloe’s already taut nipples and Chloe cried out as lightning shot through her. Her hands wrapped around Beca’s upper arms to keep her upright as her already shaky knees threatened to give out. She met the intense midnight eyes so close to hers, actually watching them dilate as the pupils became blown with desire. “Beca…” She let it slip away, words feeling inadequate to what she was feeling. Instead, she just lowered herself down to the bed, surprised when it moved beneath her. “A waterbed?” Chloe couldn’t help the laugh that broke free. “I did not peg you for a waterbed type.”

Beca smirked as she watched Chloe slide backward into the center. “I like to be different.” She followed Chloe onto the bed, stalking forward in a way that didn’t jostle them too much. Beca settled over Chloe’s thighs and sat back. “Plus I like it hot.” She slowly reached behind her and undid her bra, freezing when Chloe suddenly sat up, unable to resist the pull to get closer.

Chloe put her hands on Beca’s shoulders. “Becs, you’re already hot. Too much and I’m going to spontaneously combust.” She slid the straps down Beca’s arms, eyes hungrily devouring every inch until suddenly it was off and she tossed it aside. Her fingertips skated downward, chasing shivers she could see as well as feel, until her palms rested over Beca’s nipples, feeling them press against her. She inhaled as she squeezed gently before giving in and leaning forward to pull one into her mouth. Beca’s hands immediately threaded into her hair and pulled her closer.

Chloe rolled her tongue around it, feeling the skin pebble under her touch before she began to suck lightly. She whimpered – or was it Beca? – as she gripped Beca’s hips and shifted her further up Chloe’s legs. She couldn’t get close enough and if she could find a way to pull Beca into her skin, she would. She didn’t understand how the attraction had gone from seventy five to a thousand so fast, but she was long past the point of caring about it. She just wanted more as she shifted her attentions to the other breast, Beca’s hips beginning to roll against her.

Suddenly she was flat on her back, the bed moving beneath her as Beca lifted off long enough to tug Chloe’s underwear off and drop them beside the bed. Then, after a moment’s thought and in a move that should’ve been awkward but wasn’t, Beca sat beside her briefly and worked the last of her clothing off as well, dropping her underwear to join Chloe’s. In a second she was back over Chloe, but had nudged her knees apart to fit herself between them. They both sighed softly at this new contact even as Chloe wrapped her legs around Beca to pull her tight.

Beca’s lips found hers again, soft once more, nipping and pulling before dipping back in languidly. Chloe was content to let it stoke the fire in her body, more than willing to be consumed by the flames the next time they flared up. Her hands roamed over Beca’s skin, finding spots where she thought Beca might be ticklish, what made her arc into Chloe’s body, learning how well they fit together. Then Beca was moving lower, her voice rough as she said “I need to taste you. Now.” Chloe felt her body rise almost off the bed as it clenched at the desire laced through Beca’s words.

Beca kissed her way down Chloe’s body in a way that felt much too slow for what Chloe was feeling at that moment, but she was more than willing to let Beca lead. She paused to strengthen the mark at Chloe’s pulse point before moving down to take first one breast, then the other into her mouth, lavishing equal attention on both. Chloe was writhing at the end of it, rolling herself against that toned stomach in search of friction, desperate to feel Beca’s tongue elsewhere. Then Beca was moving again, trailing her tongue down Chloe’s ribs to dip briefly in her belly button before finally, after what felt like a hundred years, settling her shoulders firmly between Chloe’s thighs.

Beca pulled Chloe’s left leg over her shoulder and placed a kiss on it even as she lightly nudged the right further aside. Then she looked up and Chloe lost herself in the need in those eyes. She swallowed thickly, her chest rising and falling even as she gave a small, tiny and probably unneeded nod saying that it was okay, that she wanted this. She didn’t think she’d ever wanted anyone so much in her life. Eyes still focused on hers, Beca slowly licked up the length of Chloe’s folds, from her entrance to her clit, with a single broad flat stroke of her tongue. Chloe’s eyes wanted to close but their locked gaze demanded she keep them open; she felt her toes curl as she let out a guttural moan. The flame they’d been playing with burst into a firestorm and she let it consume her.

Then Beca slid one finger inside and Chloe lost her battle, letting her eyes close as her back arched. A soft voice wrenched them open again. “Look at me, Chlo.” Beca slid out and then back in with a second, then a third finger and Chloe cried out at being so filled by her. “I want you to watch me while I’m inside you.” Chloe whimpered, high and desperate as she rose to meet Beca’s steady thrusts. “You’re so beautiful, Chlo. Even more than I imagined after almost running into you that day.”

“Bec…” Chloe’s voice broke as Beca gave a sharp thrust, searching with her fingertips until she found what she was looking for and she began to rub lightly. “Oh fuck.” Chloe wasn’t going to be able to keep her eyes open if Beca was going to do that. She had to force them open as the wave that almost washed over her receded briefly. She fisted her hands in the bedding below her, needing something to anchor herself. “God, you feel so… I need…” She bit her lip hard enough to draw blood as Beca’s mouth lowered and covered Chloe’s clit. She sucked lightly then with more force as she continued to run her finger forcefully over that sensitive spot inside and Chloe was gone faster than she had ever been before or dreamed was possible. She cried out, her hips rolling as her head thrashed on Beca’s pillows, the sight of Beca’s eyes still on her seared into the backs of her eyelids as her climax swept her away.

Beca eased her through it with fingers and tongue, slowing both as Chloe collapsed weakly upon the bed. “Holy shit,” she panted, a little embarrassed and feeling like she needed to apologize for being a two second woman. But ‘holy shit’ indeed; that had been amazing and the aftershocks still quaked through her. “Beca, that was… I’ve never… You are…” She trailed off as she pried her eyes open yet again, the word ‘amazing’ dying on her tongue as she watched Beca slowly roll the tip of her tongue over her bottom lip before sucking on it lightly. Chloe’s muscles clenched around the fingers still lazily moving inside her and Beca smirked.

“I’m not done yet.” Beca shifted Chloe’s leg off her shoulder then moved upward, her hand still between Chloe’s legs. “I don’t think I will ever be done making love to you.”

As Beca’s lips covered her own, Chloe muttered a quiet “Oh… Fuck.” And then she was silenced as Beca’s tongue slipped inside and she tasted herself. She whimpered again, pushing herself closer even as she clutched Beca’s hip and tugged her down.

When they finally broke, Beca pulled back enough to say, “That’s the plan.” And while the words were cocky, Chloe could hear the hint of wonder in them.

“Oh really?” But Chloe felt it too, a sort of awe at being so connected to someone the instant she met them. That she had found her one. She thought it probably had a lot to do with why she had tripped that day. It was a cliché she’d wanted to believe in her whole life, but the rational side – that suspiciously sounded like Aubrey most of the time – told her didn’t really happen in the real world. But it was a leap of faith she was willing to make.

“Oh yeah.” Beca’s lips captured her again and her hand picked up speed. “I don’t have anywhere to be until Monday.”

Chloe said for the third time, but definitely not the last that night, “Oh. Fuck.”

When Chloe woke sometime after noon, she smiled at the rise and fall of the slumbering chest underneath her head. She had lost count of the number of times Beca had played her body like an instrument or the number of times Chloe had reciprocated. She stretched in place, not even remotely upset about muscles that were sore in all the right places. She hummed in appreciation as lips lazily nibbled her jaw.

Beca’s voice was still heavy with sleep, but it wound through Chloe like a comforting full body hug. “I don’t usually do this.”

Chloe licked down into her mouth, losing herself once more in the taste of Beca. “What’s that? Fall into bed after two cups of coffee?”

Beca’s lips twitched but her eyes were serious as she sought out Chloe’s own. “Fall in love with the girl next door.”

Chloe felt the truth in the words down to her bones, though she hadn’t let herself think them until now. “That’s okay.” She placed a chaste kiss to Beca’s lips. “She’d catch you – except she’s falling too.”

“I’m good with falling together.” Beca’s hands slid around her and hugged her tightly.

“Yeah?” Chloe put her head down on Beca’s shoulder and snuggled in. She felt Beca’s strong heartbeat against her own, not surprised when she noticed that, somehow, they were beating in sync. She let it lull her a bit, floating on the tide of emotions shifting between them even though they weren’t fully awake and sleep was tugging at her again.

Beca pressed a kiss to her forehead and sighed in contentment as Chloe wiggled somehow closer. “Oh yeah.”

Chloe paused for a minute, grinning to herself. “I feel I should at least ask your last name before we go apartment hunting.”

Beca sounded half asleep when she answered, her voice fading but certain. “Doesn’t matter, I’ll change it when we get married.” Like it wasn’t even a question whose answer she was worried about.

Chloe’s heart leapt again, feeling a soft yet crucial click at the center of her being, but she kept her voice quiet, unwilling to leave this sleepy haze they were in. “We’ll discuss that. Hyphenation is totes still a thing.”

Beca’s only answer was a soft ‘mph’ that could mean any number of things, already asleep again. Chloe let herself set into a feeling of peace she’d never felt before.

Moving to LA had been a leap of faith, but so worth it.

Even if Aubrey was going to kill her. Probably.

#bechloe fanfiction #bechloe #beca mitchell #chloe beale #bechloe au #bechloe fic #bechloe fluff #bechloe smut #wlw #anna kendrick #brittany snow #cyc oneshots #cyc writes

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38sr · 6 years

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Cintiq VS iPad (9.7 inch)

So it’s been almost a week since I bought myself an iPad and I figured, why not make a post comparing both my Cintiq and new iPad? I always get asked about what tablets I work with and which is better etc etc etc. Now, these aren’t the only options in terms of buying a drawing tablet. In fact, I’ve bought and used tablets under $100 when I first started digital art (in ye old middle school days). The real goal is to find what works for you and for me these two tablets are what suit my tastes and needs. And more importantly, having expensive tools doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll make you draw better. You need to draw more and experiment a lot in order for your drawing to improve.

With that, let’s get into it.

Cintiq 13HD (No-Touch) Price: $900

So, I’ve actually had my Cintiq for almost 2 years now (received in 2016) and it was Christmas present that took 2 years prior to that to happen (part of it was constantly bombarding my parents with how much I need it and saving up the money). There are 2 versions of this tablet: No-Touch and Touch. Personally, I like to place my hand on whatever surface I’m drawing or writing on. I couldn’t tell you why, I just do it. I know some people can write without doing that and it feels weird for me to try and do that. I need to have my hand on the surface to feel out the motions I guess. So, I opted to buy the No-Touch version, which only responds to my stylus pen and nothing else.

If you’re an artist that loves drawing on surface and feels like they can execute better with drawing on-screen, then this tablet is for you. I’ve used tablets that aren’t on-screen drawing types and let me tell you, it’s a hassle to draw like that. Now, there are plenty of great digital artists who use these types of tablets and can make beautiful art, you go and props to you. But personally, again, I need to be able to draw on the surface to really feel what I’m making.

Pros:

Great for stationery studio work that requires more hours for completion

Pen pressure sensitivity is great

Little to no lagging while drawing

Can use as a second screen display (wanna watch Hulu while drawing? Now you can! )

Stylus pen has little button that’s really helpful for changing colors without having to the color wheel to eye dropper tool, just click and go

Compatible with both Macs and PCs

Comes with driver updates once installed so you don’t have to go the website and all that

Don’t have to charge any battery of sorts, it’s simply a second monitor screen

Comes with extra pen nibs, pen case and tablet stand

Cons:

Not portable and needs to be connected to a desktop of laptop in order to draw

May need an adapter for the port since some computers don’t all have HMDI ports yet (mine doesn’t and I needed an adapter)

Cables can get wonky if you continuously unplug and re-plug from moving to different locations, hence why it’s best for you to have a stationery studio to leave the Cintiq to preserve the cables better

Monitor screen slightly washes out colors, so make sure to look at the illustration on your main screen to check if your colors are okay.

Mini Express-Key pad is difficult to use (it’s customizable but you’re better off just using your hotkeys in my opinion)

Tablet stand isn’t the best, too much pressure can make it fall (but for the most part it does the job)

NEEDS TO BE UPDATED OR ELSE YOUR PEN WON’T WORK JUST TRUST ME

Expensive (current listing now is $800 after 2 years)

iPad (9.7 inch) & Apple Pencil Price: $530

Let me start off saying that I actually bought the iPad and Apple Pencil together on sale. This price doesn’t include any accessories like a tablet case and pen case. I’m saving up to buy those things later, but for right now I only paid for the tablet and pen. In addition, the Apple Pencil I bought was also refurbished so it was $10 less that original price ($99).

My iPad Specs

9.7 inch

128GB

Wi-Fi

No cellular

Rose Gold version

1 year warantee

I already own an iPhone so I don’t have a need to call or text people on my iPad. The reason I bought this was so that I’m able to draw on the go more or less. I don’t need cellular to draw on the go. Also, the 9.7 inch iPad has 2 versions: 32GB or 128GB. If you want more space, then you have to pay an extra $100 (which I did cause I’m gonna be drawing and CLIP files can get pretty big).

In reality, had I bought this tablet and Apple Pencil together when it initially came out, I would have paid $700-$800 dollars. That’s like buying a Cintiq but for a smaller screen. So, I waited until prices dropped over time and tried out my friends’ iPads just to get comfortable before I bought mine. I suggest doing this if you want an iPad but not sure if you want to make that jump yet. It took me 3-4 months to save up for this purchase (cause I had a job in my school and started doing commissions, so I was able to save money faster than I did 2 years ago)

Pros:

Portable and easy to store in your bookbag as long as you have a case

Practically no lagging when it comes to drawing

Pen pressure sensitivity is great (like too great, it can go so light that it beats out Cintiq pen pressure sensitivity)

Just like an iPhone, can switch between horizontal and vertical views so you can choose which is comfortable

Extremely lightweight

Colors are great and not washed out

AIRDROP IS GODSENT (wanna finish that sketch you made earlier? AirDrop it to your Mac and finish it on your Cintiq)

Long battery life (I’ve only charged it once so far)

Apple Pencil also has long battery life

Apple Pencil is bluetooth so it connects once you set it up the first time

Rose gold is a cute color

More affordable

Cons:

Apple Pencil needs to be charged and doesn’t have a way of showing when it’s at 100% (gotta hope for the best honestly, but on your iPad it’ll tell you when your Pencil is at 5%)

When needed, it takes almost a day to fully charge iPad

Not suited for work that requires a lot of time, so it’s more of a sketchbook if anything else

If you choose to not have cellular, you can’t really use any apps that require Wi-Fi

Don’t have hotkeys for my drawing program, it’s pretty much manual

Touch sensitive to both Apple Pencil and hands, so yeah it’s a bit of hassle when drawing and my resting palm makes unnecessary marks

So that’s pretty much all I have to say about both tablets in regards to pros and cons. Of course, these aren’t only tablets you can use if you want to do digital drawing. I’m just simply sharing my experiences and thoughts on these particular tablets since I use them. Now, Cintiqs are studio standard equipment (if you wanna work in animation that is) so that’s really the reason why I own one (since I am an animator). I bought the iPad cause I dislike not being able to digitally draw anywhere outside of my room (which is my studio). Or when I go for meetings with my clients for freelance projects and having to use a napkin for drawing. It’s more or less a sketchbook for me. But I do highly recommend the iPad for it’s price since it’s almost $300 less than the smallest Cintiq (which is the 13HD). Also, you can still use your favorite drawing programs (except for SAI I think) and it doesn’t feel any different.

Hope this post was helpful to someone!

#digital art #digital illustration #digital animation #ipad #apple pencil #cintiq #review #digital drawing tablet #tablets #txt

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columbushunter489 · 2 years

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Get your hands on the most advanced MAC monitoring solution and keep tabs on computer usage of your children and workforce. Remotely monitor and operate the desktop and laptop computers running different versions of the MAC operating system. Closely watch out the online and offline activities of your concerned ones and keep them from unproductive acts, malice and wrongdoings. Get the computer screens recorded; keep an eye on surroundings; find whereabouts and create online data backup with the high-tech Undetectable MAC spy software.

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Compare the best Network Monitoring software for Mac of 2021 for your business. Find the highest rated Network Monitoring software for Mac pricing, reviews, free demos, trials, and more. InterGuard is an easy-to-use employee monitoring software that lets you track productivity, investigate HR issues, monitor web browsing and get alerted to insider security threats. InterGuard is installed directly onto the employees device (PC, Mac, iOS, Android, Chromebook, Virtual Desktop) and keeps monitoring even when the employee is. It is 100% free to download. Paessler PRTG Network Monitor (FREE TRIAL) The PRTG tool contains a large number of sensors, among which are NetFlow and sFlow monitors. SoftPerfect NetWorx Free for 30 days, this tool for Windows, Mac OS, and Linux would be perfect for monitoring small networks. IMonitor Mac Keylogger is a powerful Mac keylogger software for Mac OS, Mac Monitoring Software to record email, chat, keystrokes, screenshots, website and other all user activities on Mac computer. Ping monitor is not only the simplest form of monitoring, but it’s also possibly the oldest as well. And to this day, it is still in widespread use. For those in need of answers read on as we’ve found some of the best free and open-source ping monitoring tools and are about to review them.

Macs are powerful devices, and with the introduction of the custom Apple silicon M1 Macs and MacBooks, it has become more imperative that you manage the background apps and monitor power consumption.

Don’t get us wrong, the M1 SOC is fast and is the fastest of the chips that we’ve ever seen, but that doesn’t mean that you should leave everything to the computer and not do anything as it will consistently deliver poor results and keep on getting slower over time. However, using a system monitor brings a lot of benefits, and they are:

In-depth monitoring of apps and processes.

Maintaining a smooth user experience.

Helps terminate unresponsive and unwanted tasks and applications.

Are you currently taking full advantage of all the techy help you can get?

If you are not sure, I’m glad you are here. As a Mac geek, I have been testing some system monitoring tools and I’m happy to share my favorites with you.

Quick jump to…

Let’s start with the standard: Activity Monitor

Your Mac comes with a built-in system monitoring application known as Activity Monitor. It is excellent for closing unresponsive applications and seeing real-time CPU, Network, Disk status or Energy usage. So, how do you access the Activity Monitor? – Follow the steps below to get the activity monitor running for you.

Firstly, Go to your “Applications” folder and then to the “Utility” folder.

Then double-click on the “Activity Monitor”, which will bring up a window.

This is the Activity Monitor app, and here you’ll see five tabs and a list of entries that changes every few seconds. The Tabs contain the following information – CPU, Memory, Energy, Disk Usage and Network.

Note: The Activity Monitor shows you real-time usage and power consumption. It also allows you to close and terminate all unresponsive tasks or tasks, hogging up too much performance.

Is the built-in Activity Monitor good enough?

The Activity Monitor is a decent app from Apple and is ideally suited to beginners. However, if you want to have extra control over what you’re doing and the processes running, you would have to opt for the third-party solutions listed below.

The Activity monitor helps you by displaying the main processes and the percentage load on the CPU and GPU. It can also force-quit any unresponsive application and help recover your Mac to a normal running state. However, there are many features and information that it misses or hides due to Apple’s clutter-free and simple design idealogy. Hence, third-party applications are better alternatives for the program.

Therefore, the built-in Activity is popular with beginners and casual users, while professionals use 3rd-party apps with more functionality and readily available data.

Try a better monitor: iStat Menus

Pricing: Free for seven days and then a $9.99 per month Setapp subscription, or you can purchase it for $14.15 and can be upgraded for $11.79 (includes six months of weather data)

iStat Menus is genuinely outstanding and deliver some of the best user experience possible. When it boils down to which app provides a better and robust customizable app experience, then the iStat menu shines the brightest and helps you monitor the system performance of your Mac. It works with recognizing all apps and integrating the charts in the menu bar on top of your Mac to access the numbers quickly. It is also lightweight and runs in the background with zero to no performance hit.

You can get started using the app by downloading and installing the app from the link above. After you’re done installing, you will be greeted with a pop-up window for all the settings and customizations that you can do. However, the main feature of monitoring will help you readily keep track of your Mac’s performance and allow you to see if anything is hindering it or not. Here is the complete list of items that iStat Menus keep tracks of and help monitor:

Disk Usage

Memory Consumption and Availability

CPU and GPU performance

Battery and Power Information

Displaying data such as Weather, Network information and Sensor state

How can you use iStat Menus to manage processes?

iStat Menus has a straightforward UI that can help you manage operations and terminate unresponsive tasks or background running apps that hog up performance and memory. In addition, we use it to check the background apps and maintain all the processes that impact the performance. This helps us optimizing and planning our workflow and better improve the overall UI experience.

It also has a comprehensive graph page that helps us monitor the total time spent working and gaming, and this data helps me out by analyzing and taking out time for other day to day stuff. Finally, the weather information panel that we’ll discuss shortly works excellent to help us plan our day and move forward with our day.

You can also do this and enable the settings to make it more productive by:

Go into the app and look for the CPU and GPU tab on the left-hand side of your screen.

Click on the tab and now look for ‘Processes’ and clear any unwanted task or process you want to.

Note: You can also visit the other tabs. We recommend you check out the Memory tab to quickly and efficiently manage all the different processes and apps that can limit your performance by staying in memory.

Customization Options

iStat Menus use a menu bar integration method to display all the information. This can lead to problems such as a cluttered menu bar or accessibility concerns. However, you can lay these concerns to rest as iStat Menus is highly customizable. You can choose what to display on the menu bar and what to hide on the menu bar. You also have the option to hide the icons from your menu bar temporarily and customize the update frequency so that the icons aren’t disturbing.

It also allows the app’s accent colours and personalizes the icons according to your liking and preferences. The total amount of customizations it provides is immense, and you can change the menu bar colours, borders, and even the slightest of details in the shade of the drop-down that highlights the graphs and other information. The interface highlights how changing the colours will affect the app and the menu bar, and with this much customization at hand, iStat Menus becomes the go-to option for a distraction-free and clean activity-monitoring app.

Performance Monitoring

As we have already discussed, the CPU and GPU tab helps you manage your processes and activities. Finally, the memory tab enables you to manage RAM consumption to improve performance and responsiveness all around the UI.

However, this is the basic that iStat Menus is capable of. iStat Menus can also display various graphs and infographics of your workload so that you can manage and learn about your usage and ample insight on how your apps behave. The app is also quite a haven for developers and can help them check and stress test their app performance and requirements on the Mac.

Notifications and Weather Information

Finally, iStat Menus also provides many customization options for what notifications you want to receive. The notification feature allows you to have reports every time your Mac hits a specific condition or issue. For example, it helps you by notifying if your Mac heats up, overuses the CPU, or saturates the memory with background apps.

It also features a built-in weather information widget to help you monitor your area’s current and upcoming weather condition. However, some of the weather tool features are locked behind a paid upgrade which is a bummer considering it is handy. The module displays the daily forecast along with the maximum and minimum temperature based on your preferred units. Oh, and if you are a weather buff, you also get to see the dew point, wind’s speed and direction.

Oh, and the cherry on the cake is that the custom notifications settings and preferences also work with the weather module, which means if you are working on your Mac and the weather suddenly turns grey and stormy, a message pops up right away notifying you of the condition.

Pros and Cons of using iStat Menus

Pros

It is feature-rich and can help you monitor a lot of stuff at once

It has a menu integration system that displays data directly on every screen

You can also set custom notifications, and it has a lot of customization settings for personalization

Cons

The Pro package can get a little pricy

Weather Information and Notifications can feel a little cluttered

The design can feel a little dated and doesn’t fit in with the new macOS Big Sur menu icon set

In Short, iStat Menus is the perfect app if you want to monitor all your process activity and keep your device optimized for best performance at all times. In addition, it helps save battery and improves responsiveness across the UI.

Also great: iStatistica Pro for Mac

Pricing: Free – Trial Version with limited features, $5.99 – Full Package

iStatistica Pro is an excellent alternative for iStat Menus, but it lacks the customization options that iStat Menus provide. It also includes a widget and a status bar menu that comes in handly while displaying a lot of information at once. So, if you don’t need the customization settings and don’t mind downloading a plugin for additional features, then, by all means, get iStatistica Pro.

The full version for iStatistica Pro has a lot of features and can help you manage the following:

A complete System Monitor dashboard

Bluetooth device battery information

Sensors and Fans data

Network activity monitoring

Remote access through your iPhone

Widgets and instant notifications

How can you use iStatistica Pro to manage processes?

iStatistica Pro has many monitoring features to help you manage your apps to the fans on your Mac. So, how do you so?

Well, Firstly, you need to download and install the app

Secondly, you would be greeted with a homepage that would allow you to access all your data on a single screen

Note: You can access all the device information on a single screen which can be a little clunky, but after a bit of experience, you would easily be able to navigate the entire UI and understand all the information.

App Management

App Management is simple and straightforward, with the main features directly being listed on the app’s home page. Here you can manage all the settings and even kill misbehaving or performance hogging apps running in the foreground or the background. You also get a detailed analysis report for all the performance hits and CPU and Memory utilization. Finally, it has graphs and other information related to battery and temperature that can help you better analyze and monitor your Mac apps. We also enjoy the fact that you can manage all the tasks under the same section, and it proves helpful in killing apps and maintain good performance overall. Oh, and did we mention it also has fan controls and temperature monitoring capabilities for all the CPU cores, GPU and other inbuilt hardware.

Alerts and Notifications

Alert and Notifications are a big part of monitoring and getting crucial information right at your fingertips, and iStatistica Pro has a robust alert management system that allows you to get notifications regarding the CPU utilization limit and memory utilization limit instantly notify you if your device hits that threshold. Finally, you also get a companion app for your iPhone, and it lets you remotely access all the monitoring data right on your phone. It also has webhook commands and additional notification plugins, but it can get a little confusing for beginners, so try that when you get comfortable using the app.

Widgets

Widgets are a big thing for macOS, and iStatistica makes full use of them. It has multiple widgets that go on your home screen and provide you with crucial information regarding app, CPU and memory utilization. It also helps track your storage data and network connectivity with download and upload speeds for the entire time you’re using your device. You can also add additional devices for monitoring, such as your Bluetooth connected Apple Watch and headphones for easier access and battery management on the home screen.

Pros and Cons of using iStatistica Pro

Free Spy Software For Mac

Pros

Easy and seamless widget integration

Powerful alerts and notification options

A clubbed intuitive app management and data monitoring system

Cons

The initial experience using the app may feel a little clunky

Most features are locked behind a payment

Other alternatives

MenuBar Stats ($4.99) – MenuBar Stats helps you monitor the performance of your Mac in a clean, sleek and straightforward interface. It has been ‘completely re-written from the ground’ and comes with modules such as CPU, disk, network, Bluetooth, fan, and more. Each of these modules can be accessed front he menu bar and/or the notification center of your Mac OS.

TG Pro ($10) – TG Pro is a diagnostics app that works the best with monitoring temperature and fan data. However, it also has system monitoring capabilities with CPU, GPU, Battery and storage information that helps you maintain your device with ease. Finally, it is the only app on the list that can accurately display all the temperature information for the new M1 Macs, including any older gen models.

Mac Employee Monitoring Software

XRG for Mac (free) – Talking about open sources, XRG for Mac is a functional system monitor tool that you could try if you do want to monitor your Mac’s performance for free. The UI is complex and needs a lot of time to get used to, and it also looks like something straight out of the 2000s era. This app lets you monitor your CPU and GPU activity, memory usage, machine temperature, battery status, network activity, disk I/O, stock market data, and current weather.

App Tamer ($14.95) – helps you tame the apps that hog your CPU. It’s a lightweight menu bar utility with the ability to detect the average percentage of your processor(s) being used by each app, or access a graphical history or your CPU usage.

Monity ($4.99) – Monity is an excellent app for those who want infographics to work as a widget. It is available in the ‘Today View’ section of your macOS UI and can oversee various device hardware components. Monity does not have menu bars and displays information straight through the widget without cluttering your menubar workspace. The app comes in fifteen languages and can be purchased from the app store for $4.99.

coconutBattery3 ($12) – coconutBattery has been around the battery monitoring space since 2005 and does a fine job displaying the health of your Mac’s battery. It also comes with a companion app for your iPad and iPhone to track and manage their batteries as well. However, it is strictly a battery-monitoring app and cannot work as a fully functional activity manager.

SMART Utility ($25) – All new Macs come with faster SSDs with high data transfer speeds and fantastic read and write rates, sometimes leading to drive management issues. SMART Utility is built to keep track of the health of all your drives and to diagnose any problem that may arise. It can also get information such as drive temperature, capacity, and health, making it great for Disk Utility software.

MenuMeters (free) – Finally, taking a look at MenuMeters, which looks like a simple Aciitiivty manager application but can get seriously complex and feature-rich with use. It has unique features and customization options and details every activity and process with graphs and memory colours.

FAQs

iStat Menus vs iStatistica Pro?

iStat Menus is a great Activity Monitoring application, and compared to iStatistica Pro can be a lot feature-rich. So, we would recommend you to stick with iStat Menus as it is impressive with what it does and is lightweight enough not to be a problem with the performance. See the detailed comparison here.

Why is my MacBook Pro so hot?

There can be multiple reasons for your MacBook Pro getting so hot, but the primary one is that it’s being stressed with all the performance demands from applications and tasks. So, a quick fix is to use an Activity Monitoring app to identify the most demanding app and terminate it for your device to cool down and regain all the performance is lost.

What should the CPU usage percentage be for my Mac?

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There is no set rule for what CPU usage percentage should be good for your Mac, but anything over 80% usage should be a cause for concern, and generally, you should max out the CPU at around 70-80% load and not more.

How to fix kernel_task CPU usage on Big Sur?

kernel_task is a variety of low-level processes that allow your computer to work and is a part of macOS. It won’t generally concern you, but it can sometimes be the biggest culprit of slowing down your Mac with utilizing the CPU to the max. However, you can fix this by restarting your Mac and updating it to the latest software update available.

Monitoring Software For Mac Free Downloads

How to get CPU temperature for the new M1 Macs?

The new M1 Macs aren’t compatible with most apps for temperature monitoring, but TG Pro works perfectly. So, you can download TG Pro from the link above and monitor your M1 Mac without and compatibility issues.

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Before you go

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After spending over 20 years working with Macs, both old and new, there’s a premium tool I think would be useful to every Mac owner who is experiencing performance issues.

CleanMyMac X is highest rated all-round cleaning app, it can quickly diagnose and solve a whole plethora of common (but sometimes tedious to fix) issues at the click of a button. It also just happens to make it very easy to free up disk space on your Mac by identifying junk files and allowing you to get rid of them with a click, so Download CleanMyMac X to get your Mac back up to speed today.

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glitched-reflections-blog · 6 years

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Hacker Matsu Headcanons

It baffles me that there's very little Hacker Matsus content on here... So allow me to contribute! I might also be a bit biased considering I preordered their merch (like my Hacker!Ichi phone case I got last week that I love dearly). These headcanons got a little out of hand so this post is a tad long.

All Matsus

- In this AU, they're just as likely to not to go out looking for jobs. Not because of laziness, but due to being awkward shut ins figuratively trapped within their computer screens. They still go out into the city for errands sometimes.

- Each of the brothers have their own desktop that they decorate according to their tastes. It's rather easy to tell whose setup is whose from a glance.

- Prone to being forgetful about basic needs such as eating. Hey, we've all been there, right? They're lucky to have a caring mother to remind them every now and then. She even installed alarms with helpful messages that are often... shut off and forgotten, as is tradition with anyone who uses them.

- True to their nature as computer enthusiasts, they would much rather rely on powerful hardware they can mod at any time over flimsy laptops that are catered for people who seek convenience rather than strong performance.

- ...That's what they want you to believe, but sometimes when you need some well deserved "privacy", a laptop gets the job done. Moving a tower along with your screen to another room is more trouble than it's worth.

OSMT

- Probably the least interested in learning how to hack but what he does know, he does extremely well. He's not very serious about it. The potential is there though.

- Refuses to pay for quality porn and has a whole database dedicated to falsified information such as credit card accounts, emails, and physical addresses. Uses these for online shopping as well.

- Oso's desktop is the sloppiest. Mountains of beer cans, empty chip bags, candy wrappers are piled on top with reckless abandon. The only thing that's clearly visible is a small calendar with women in various styles of lingerie. Todomatsu doesn't understand the need for it - the date's already there on the bottom right!

- Several attempts were made to date people online using matchup sites but his overall writing ability and photoshopped pictures were never well received. Naturally, he keeps getting banned over and over. This is the main cause for his numerous email accounts.

- Knows every single one of his brother's passwords and can bypass their security protocols. He leaves them surprises that range from replacing their wallpapers to embarrassing candid pictures or jumpscare videos when clicking a certain file.

KRMT

- Relishes in customizing his equipment. There are glowing, sparkling lights emanating from his tower that serve no purpose whatsoever. His keyboard is covered with a tacky blue flame skin that he likes to pretend is caused by his "fingers being so fast that it leaves a blazing trail".

- At one point, when you opened the CD drive, it used to play a random sound file of his own voice. Jyushimatsu broke it once from having it open continuously by button mashing. It was fixed by a begrudging Ichi who unceremoniously replaced it with an out of tune rendition of Shooting Stars by Bag Raiders.

- Likes to create his own viruses in hopes of becoming famous on the internet. They've all failed except for one: malware that causes one's computer to just display Karamatsu's face on your screen, with the option to buy one of his painful shirts. Buying does nothing to get rid of it.

- Kara owns illegally downloaded synthesizer programs. Has an extensive library of remixed music and original content.

CRMT

- Out of all the brothers, this is one hacker you should not mess with. He has every single tool imaginable at his disposal and his knowledge of them is unparalleled.

- However, Choromatsu dreams of being hired as a proud white hat hacker one day and to be recognized by a bigwig company.

- Unfortunately, he spends most of his days cheating in his favourite MMOs. He loves exploiting in game currency and dominating level rankings. Not averse to hate messages from fellow players. Lucky for Choro, he can just delete their accounts if they get on his last nerve.

- His desktop is plain but clean. It's the largest in the room, to compensate for his two high definition monitors surrounded with idol merchandise steadily amassing around them. There are countless books stacked next to his chair.

- The third brother's rival is his eldest brother, who chastises him for not taking consideration in his hacking because he secretly admires his hidden expertise.

ICMT

- Similar to Osomatsu, he only joined their destructive antics to fit in and doesn't care much about the hobby.

- More of a traditional user that surfs incognito on the web. He's good at hiding his tracks.

- Uses his hacking to target individuals and organizations that are not above endorsing animal cruelty for their selfish gains. If Ichimatsu has his eyes on you, be prepared for a life of absolute hell. He is merciless in his methods. Good luck shaking him off. You probaby will never see the end of your nightmare.

- Quite talented with a tablet and uploads his work to dedicated art websites. Never interacts with his fans but appreciates their feedback.

- Always has a cat on his lap. Or several. They love stepping all over his keyboard, shutting his computer down, and knocking off his knick knacks onto the floor in an effort to win his undivided attention. He'll usually give up and lay on the floor with his feline friends.

- The sextuplets have designated him as their personal resident computer technician because he knows his way around their parts along with their individual functions. Makes his repairs on Karamatsu's exceptionally faulty on purpose.

JSMT

- Loves playing FPS games and anything that can be modded for his own amusement. The master at finding game breaking bugs. Quite a few well known game developers have approached him for testing that he simply does for free. It's not as if he finds bugs on purpose!

- Most likely to burst out laughing by himself at a funny meme or video. He'll instantly message his brothers on Skype to send them the links even if they're two feet away.

- Big screen for watching the good ol' baseball game. The size makes his eyes cross-eyed.

- Hijacked a news site with Ichimatsu's help to make his own article detailing the cuteness of harp seals and the importance of wild animal conservation in Japan. There's an abundant use of caps lock and exclamation points.

- Jyushi doesn't spend his days inside the house as much as the rest do. Staying fit is still a crucial aspect of his life. If he wasn't so bent on becoming a baseball player, his brothers would most likely never see the light of day - he forcefully drags them outside for fresh air when he thinks they need it.

- Loves spinning on his computer chair.

TDMT

- It's not hard to imagine Totty as anything but a social media expert. He is on every popular website available, his cute and sly face everywhere you look.

- Blogs about multiple subjects to expand his horizons. His favourite is his photography blog that is updated on a daily basis. He specializes in countryside landscapes and food pictures. Of course, his selfies make their way on there too...

- Has the means to destroy your hard earned online reputation should you think of crossing him. Stay on his good side and he might let it slide. Emphasis on the word might. He's capable of tapping into your cellphone to edit information, including abuse of paid services to rack up your bills to dizzying numbers.

- A part-time graphic designer who created the Matsuno Brothers Cyber Hacking Project logo and its overall aesthetic. It's thanks to Todomatsu that they all have stylish sweaters to show off.

- The second most secretive of his hacker identity next to Ichi. His reasons differ in that he hides it to protect his social standing within his circle of real life acquaintances.

#osomatsu san #hacker matsus #hacker osomatsu #hacker karamatsu #hacker choromatsu #hacker ichimatsu #hacker jyushimatsu #hacker todomatsu #osomatsu san headcanons #my writing #osomatsu #karamatsu #choromatsu #ichimatsu #jyushimatsu #todomatsu

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davidcarner · 6 years

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Hotel California Ch 1, Bartowski, IT

A/N: Fanfic community after canceled intervention: Thank God, we've got him down to four ongoing.

Me: NEVER! *pushes publish to get reaction from everyone on this being an ongoing and skips out of the room*

A/N 2: A few notes before we start. This fic will be (not this chapter, but down the road) a little more…saucy, spicy, than things I've done before. It's still T but, I'm going to take it up one or two notches. This fic takes place current time, Chuck is approximately 26 years old. Welcome to Hotel California Ch 1, Bartowski, IT

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck, but I do own several copies of Hotel California.

He felt the eyes on his back watching his every move. This had required more than he thought it would when she brought him the laptop. Most men were scared of her beauty, but he wasn't. It was a weird friendship, but one just the same. They teased each other….well, she teased him, and he laughed about it. They were on the same page about the important things. He felt her over his shoulder.

"What's wrong, Chuckles," Carina said breathily into his ear. Her breath was making it hard to concentrate, but that was Carina's game. She loved making Chuck uncomfortable. She probably loved making all men uncomfortable, but he had no empirical data to support that theory. "Have I corrupted the hard drive? Please don't ask me to turn off, because you already have me so turned on." Chuck turned toward her slowly.

"Carina, I'm pretty sure that's sexual harassment," Chuck said, an amused smile on her face.

"What you gonna do, report me to myself? I am HR," she replied, bending back over his shoulder to watch him work on her laptop.

"Carina, you are in benefits until they hire someone," Chuck said, chuckling. "You're the Director of Operations."

"And I'm trying to let you enjoy some benefits," she said with a smirk. Chuck stopped in mid turn of the screw on her laptop. "Well, finish screwing me."

"I swear I keep walking right into these," he said, finishing putting the case back on. He plugged it in, hit the power button, and sat back, bumping Carina because she was so close.

"Chuck are you trying to touch me?" Carina asked.

"Keep it up and I won't fix this," he said. She jerked her hands back in a defensive posture. He paused, unsure if he should say anything or not, but it was her, so he went ahead. "Carina, there was some interesting porn on there." She looked at him. "I'm pretty sure it wasn't yours."

"Chuck, you think you know what I want to see?" Carina asked, with a coy smile. He looked at her with no humor on his face.

"It was furry porn," he said. She closed her eyes, and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Let me guess, some guy you were seeing used it." She nodded, opened her eyes and looked at him.

"Explains why he wanted the costumes," she mumbled under her breath. Chuck shuddered. The computer started up, and she hugged him. "You are the best, Chuck. Can I pay you?"

"Nope," he said, unhooking everything, giving her the laptop, standing up, and walking with her to the door. "You could tone down the innuendos."

"But then how will I see you blush?" she asked. "I love to see you blush, all the way down to the roots of your hair." She looked him up and down, slowly, and not even trying to hide what she was doing. "I wonder if you blush…everywhere?" With that, Chuck began to blush. "Hmmmm." She gave him a grin that looked nearly predatory. "Hey, I have an idea."

"Nope, no, not a happening," Chuck said, shaking his head. She reached up and moved his hair around, fixing it the way she wanted it. He looked up at her hand, back at her, and she finally stopped, satisfied with how it looked. "No blind dates, especially when they're probably with you," he said, grinning.

"You don't know the blind date I was gonna set you up on was gonna be with me," Carian said. He gave her a look and she bounced a shoulder. "Fine, but you're missing out." The look on his face was "here we go again." "I swear one night with me would ruin you for all other women."

"Is that what you really want, Carina, me at your door step every night playing bad love songs to win you?" Chuck asked, amused. She rolled her eyes.

"You would too, wouldn't you," she said, laughing. Chuck leaned against the door frame and gave her a look. She thought she might melt.

"Well, you want to ruin me," Chuck said, waggling his eyebrows. She gasped.

"Chuck Bartwoski, are you flirting?" she asked. Chuck grinned at her, and winked. She hugged him, gave him a kiss on the cheek, and watched as he turned and started back to his desk. She couldn't help herself, and slapped him on the back side causing him to whoop and high step for a second.

"Seriously, HR!" he said, with a grin. She winked, spun, and strutted out of the room as only Carina could. Chuck shook his head. "That woman is twenty pounds of crazy in a five pound bag," he said to himself.

-ooooo-

Carina returned to her office and shut the door. She liked Chuck, he was a sweet guy, but he was also one of those forever, with a house, 2.3 kids, a dog, and a white picket fence. Carina was not in to that, today. Someday, maybe, but today, today she wanted to have fun. She sighed and pulled out a folder that she needed to turn in before the day was over before Zondra gave her grief. Well, not too much grief, because Zondra knew Carina would get things done. Her thoughts returned to Chuck. She felt bad for the guy. It was a few months ago that she was talking to Martin in the kitchen, or was it Morgan, she wasn't sure. Whatever his name was, he had told her how his friend Chuck had been screwed over by Bryce. Bryce had framed Chuck at Stanford and gotten him kicked out of college. Bryce denied it, but Martin swore Chuck wasn't that guy. They needed someone in IT, and Carina was intrigued. She thought Bryce was a tool as well, so that's why she went to scope out Chuck at the Buy More. She tried to flirt with him, but he basically was nothing but super professional and excused himself when some idiot father forgot to load tape into his camera to record his daughter's ballet recital.

Carina told Zondra about Chuck, but left out everything about Bryce. Zondra called him, offered him an interview, and Carina asked if she could take care of it. She and Chuck had a long talk more than an interview. The reason for hiring him was two-fold, one, it might upset Bryce. Two, he was good, real good. She had called around and asked those who used the Buy More if there was a technician they would recommend, and all the recommendations came back as one Charles 'Chuck" Bartowski. She had to admit, she was pissed at Bryce for hurting Sarah, and if this would upset Bryce, all the better. Bryce might be the Hotel General Manger, but Carina wasn't scared of him. His parents loved her too much to fire her, and that's who she was worried about, the Larkins.

Zondra tried to remind Carina that they needed to keep their personal lives out of this, and it was somewhat Sarah's fault for dating the boss. Zondra thought Sarah knew better, and she did. But, Carina had encouraged Sarah to date Bryce, and that had been an absolute disaster. Sarah thought they were in a relationship, and Bryce thought they were casual. She caught him with someone, Sarah never would say who, and that was the end of Sarah and Bryce. Sarah refused to date coworkers now, and since she didn't want to go clubbing much anymore, Carina was determined to find her someone. Chuck wouldn't bite, Sarah wouldn't bite, so somehow she had to get the two together. How? And that's when it hit her. She picked up the phone and made a call.

"Hey, Reg, it's Catrina," she said smiling. "Did I say Reg, I meant Rick, sorry." Whoops. "So, I got my laptop fixed. You know the one you visited the furry porn site with. Yeah, Rick, that one. Well, there's a real simple way to make it up to me. Tell me the site name. No, I'm not kidding. I met a cute IT guy and I want him to come scrub my hard drive. I know that sounds dirty, I said it." She wrote down the website address. "Thanks Rick. No, I don't want to dress up. Good-bye." She hung up, a grin on her face. She knew just what to do.

-ooooo-

Sarah came in the next morning, tired. She had stayed up most of the night watching old movies on the old movie channel. She liked her job, loved it actually, and especially the people she worked with. She liked them all, except for Bryce Larkin, the biggest cheat that ever cheated. "We're causal," she said, in a low mocking voice, twisting her face. The thing was, she didn't miss him, she was upset at how bad she had gotten burnt. She swore it would never happen again. No guy was going to hurt her, and definitely no guy at work. She turned on her computer and waited for it to warm up as she drank her coffee. Maybe she'd get lucky and someone would pull the fire alarm today and she could watch the firemen come in. She always enjoyed that. She shook her head as she logged into her computer. She waited a minute and realized it was acting very weird. There was a strange icon on her desktop. She double clicked it to see what it was.

"OH GOD!" she screamed and turned off the monitor. She looked around to see if anyone had seen that and then she remembered she was in her office, and no one could see what had happened. The backs of the monitors were facing the doorway…what was that noise. THE SOUND! She turned the monitor back on, found the sound bar, and muted it. She took a deep breath, and nearly jumped out of her seat when there was a knocking sound on the door.

"Hey," Carina said. She took a good look at Sarah and had to fight not laugh. Sarah looked beautiful as usual, her blond hair just past the shoulder with that slight curl, the simple blue top and the black jeans. She looked elegant, and frazzled as can be, all at the same time. "Something wrong?"

"Uh, well," she began.

"Oh, before I forget, there's been a slight porn problem on some computers. If you have any problem, call down to IT and ask for Bartowski," Carina said. "Skip is a good guy and all, but Bartowski is the one you want."

"Have you had any problems?" Sarah asked, nervously.

"Oh, no," Carina said. "Gotta run," and she was gone. Sarah took a deep breath and composed herself. She picked up the phone, put down the phone, walked over to her door, shut it, locked it, and called IT.

"Bartowski, IT," the voice on the other end answered. Sarah smiled at the soothing voice.

"Hi, this is Sarah Walker," she said trying to have steel in her voice.

"Hello, Sarah Walker, are you okay?" he asked.

"Why do you ask?" Oh no. Was she so shook up over this that this guy could tell? What was he gonna think? She had to get control of the situation. "I need help and so help me God, if you tell me to turn it off and turn it back on, I will come down there and…"

"Well, that answers that question. You don't sound like things are going well, and that's never good," he said. "What's wrong?"

"There's this weird thing on my computer," she said with a low voice, still snapping. She didn't care if he thought she was an awful person, but she couldn't have him thinking she was looking at porn at work. "Carina told me to call you to get it off."

"Carina Miller?" he said with a hint of laughter. "Okay, so we're probably going to be at this for a bit, my name is Chuck."

"Chuck?" she asked, her tone changing to curiosity.

"Yeah, my parents were sadists," he said. She laughed. She couldn't help herself. "But, I've managed to make my way in this world despite it." She was wrapping the cord around her finger, and feeling better just talking to him.

"Chuck, I'm sorry," she said. "Things….well…"

"Something went wrong, you snapped and I happened to be the first person you talked to," he said. She winced. She bet that happened a lot.

"No one calls you to say thanks for making everything run smooth, do they?" she asked. Chuck laughed.

"Nope," he said quickly. "So, what happened?"

"Well, I started my computer, and it was running weird, slow," she began. "There was this weird icon…."

"You clicked on it didn't you?" he asked. She heard the humor in voice.

"I was very tired and not thinking clearly," she said waspishly. She huffed. "Again, I'm sorry, I'm just having a very bad day."

"Hey, I'll fix it," Chuck said. "And I won't judge." She looked guilty and was glad no one could see her. "You have no idea how many people get things on their computer and call me wanting me to fix it and are in the foulest mood because they think I'm going to judge them."

"I don't watch that stuff," she said softly.

"You said Carina told you to call me?" he asked. "Is it a certain type of porn?"

"Yes," she said, burying head in her hand.

"Well the good news is I can fix it quick," Chuck said. "But I'm going to have to come up there."

"I've got a meeting, do you think you do it while I'm gone?" she asked.

"Sure," Chuck said cheerfully. "Go to your meeting, and when you get back it will be fixed. Sound good?"

"Sounds great," she said. "And, Chuck, I'm sorry I was a jerk."

"Don't worry about it," Chuck said. "Bye," and with that, he disconnected.

-ooooo-

Chuck pulled up today's calendar and made sure and waited five minutes after the meeting started before he headed to Sarah's office. The last thing he needed was to be yelled at by some crazy woman because she had double clicked an icon that wasn't on her desktop the night before. He had already reformatted a hard drive and loaded her backup from the night before. This would literally take minutes, and then he would reformat the original hard drive and use it down the road. He checked his watch, saw he had some time, and accessed the log-in system. Her computer had been accessed last night by Carina after Sarah had logged off for the evening. What was Carina doing? Chuck thought about the blind date thing Carina had mentioned yesterday. He closed his eyes and had a bad idea as to what was going on. She was going to try to pawn another insane person off on him. What did he do to deserve this?

He appreciated all that Carina had done for him, most of all getting him this job. He sat back in his chair, wasting ten more minutes. He thought about that day they met for the interview, and how she told him about her friend who Bryce had screwed over. Join the club, he though. She told him about how she wanted someone she could trust in IT. She wasn't saying Bryce was doing anything wrong, but she wondered how he had some of the ideas he came up with. Bryce was a lot of things, but his new hotel security internet system made her scratch her head. Chuck's ears perked up when he heard that. He had been working on a project for a class. It was unfinished, but the security system would have been full proof by the time he was done. He asked if he could see it, and with a grin, Carina told him she couldn't allow him to see it unless he was hired. He took the job immediately. When she logged him in and let him access the system, he became sick to his stomach. It was his system, exactly the way he left it, and more importantly it wasn't finished and there were security holes. He told Carina and she could only shake her head. She told him to keep his head down and do his job.

A few days later he got walked up to Bryce's office by Casey, head of security. Chuck figured he was fired. When he sat down Bryce grinned at him like they were old pals. Bryce said he was glad he could give Chuck one last chance, and he really hoped Chuck didn't blow it. If Chuck did well, Bryce could give him all the recommendations to clear that little snafu at Stanford and Larkin Hotel and Resort would gladly pay his tuition to finish up his degree. Chuck started to say something, but realized it was his word against Bryce's, again, and that had gone so well last time. Bryce told him if something happened here like it did at Stanford, the Buy More would be the only place he would work for the rest of his life. Chuck just stared at him, but knew he couldn't win this fight. He simply nodded, thanked him for his time, and got up to leave. Bryce had asked him how Ellie was. Chuck stopped, turned, smiled, and said, she hates your guts and if you ever enter her house she knows over one hundred painful ways to kill you. Bryce blinked and Chuck walked out, grinning.

He looked at the clock, got up, and headed upstairs to the offices. He entered Sarah's office, and quickly took apart her computer, swapped out the hard drive, put it back together, turned it on, check it out to make sure it was alright, logged off, and started to leave. He paused, that was unprofessional. He left her a note to say if anything was wrong, make sure and call and ask for him. He looked at it, smiled, and started out the door, when he nearly ran into the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life. Chuck was tall, but so was she, only a few inches shorter than he was. She had blond hair, and stormy blue eyes. He was transfixed.

"Chuck?" she said again.

"Hey, that's me," he said, grinning. "Got your corrupted old drive here," he said, holding it up. "Give it a whirl and if you need anything just give me a jingle," he said, holding his hand up to his ear like a phone and internally wincing. Jingle? Who the hell says jingle?

Sarah meanwhile was trying to hold down a giggle, wondering when the last time she had giggled. Who had hidden tall and dark-haired curly down in IT? Get ahold of yourself, she thought. She scolded herself. No more interoffice relationships. Besides, what could they possibly have in common. He was a nerd and she was a conman's daughter who was lucky enough to get out of the life her father had tried to drag her into and make her way through college working odd jobs.

"So it's fixed?" she asked.

"I believe so," Chuck replied. He stood there staring at her, and that's when he realized he was standing in her office. "Soooo, guess I'll be going," he said, pointing out of the office. She was blocking his way.

"Oh, yes, of course," she said, and stepped aside. "If I need anything I'll give you a jingle," she said as he was walking away. He paused, looked over his shoulder and saw her biting her bottom lip so as not to laugh. He smiled and headed on, determined to have words with Carina.

-ooooo-

"What do you think you're doing?" Chuck hissed, coming into Carina's office.

"Well hello to you too, Handsome?" Carina said. "Miss me?" she asked with a wink.

"Carina, why did you put porn on Sarah's computer?" Chuck asked. Carina studied him a minute. "I have log-in access," he reminded her.

"Oh, yeah," she said, grinning and shrugging. "So, how was it?"

"She's crazy," Chuck said. "She double-clicked the icon you installed on her computer and then yelled at me about it."

"But, Chuck," Carina began.

"No, no, no," Chuck said. "I am not dealing with a crazy lady, no matter how attractive she is and how soothing her voice is."

"Her voice is soothing?" Carina asked, an eyebrow raised. Chuck glared at her.

"Carina, I'm telling you, NO!" he said, and headed out her door. Carina sat there a minute, thinking.

"Well, I'm just gonna have to try this a different way," Carina said, grinning.

A/N: Shrugs...Welp...that one has been sitting in todo folder for months. I finished chapter 2 yesterday and thought I'd give this a test run. Like Chuck V2 (the previously known as Chuck 2.0) I'm just putting it out there to see...I have two more fics in reserve as well...Reviews, PMs, and anything, are always appreciated…take care…see you soon…til next time.

#Chuck #Sarah #Charah #fanfic #fanfiction #Hotel California

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bi-writes · 7 years

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clarity — stupid (iv)

clarity masterlist masterlist here

previously: doesn’t spider-man have better things to do? continuing: maybe you’re just looking at it all wrong

third person, peter parker x soulmate!reader warnings: maybe language, fluff word count: 2,626 4:23 pm | something is missing

Your hunt for your soulmate was slowing becoming a humiliating and embarrassing job. Every place you marked off your list was another failure to add, and you would be lying if you said the encounters weren’t awkward and completely misunderstood. You felt stupider each time you left your soulmate candidates behind you.

The bell rang as you opened the door. Your heels echoed along the sidewalk as you sulked away from the coffee shop, swallowing hard in disappointment. When you felt movement beside you, you knew he was there already, waiting for you to say something.

“So…anything?” Spider-Man pressed. You sniffled as you adjusted your glasses, shaking your head. You wiped at your eyes to rid yourself of any sadness.

“He just looked at me like I was stupid and showed me his dumb brand,” you complained, shaking your head again. Spider-Man sighed beside you, shrugging his shoulders. “He was cute, too, I was really hoping he was gonna be it.”

“Well, to be honest, (y/n), you’re supposed to feel something when you see them,” he explained. You made a sour face and stuck your tongue out at him. The whites of his mask narrowed at you.

“Oh, yeah? What makes you such an expert?” You taunted. He chuckled a little beside you, and you rolled your eyes when you realized your mistake. Of course Spider-Man had a soulmate. He was perfect. “I should’ve known.”

“W-What?”

“That you had a soulmate,” you finished. Spider-Man walked with you as you turned onto your apartment block. You had finished the list for Wednesday by now, and you needed to pick up the Thursday list. You only had a couple more days to go through, but you knew in your heart by this point that it was unlikely he was in any of the places you listed. You were sure you had met him on Tuesday. Nothing made sense now.

“I didn’t mean to…rub it in,” Spider-Man tried to apologize. You smiled sadly to yourself. You were sorry, too. It wasn’t Spider-Man’s fault that you had the worst luck in the entire world. It wasn’t his fault that the only person he couldn’t help was you; maybe the universe had lessened the whole in your heart in an attempt at pitying you. Maybe she pitied you because she knew you would be alone forever.

“No, it’s okay,” you assured him. “I figured you had one.”

“Why do you say that?” “You’re a hero. And you got…really nice things going on,” you gestured to his physique, making him laugh again. “So, I’m not surprised.”

You made it to the column of stairs that made up what was the fire escape, and you shut your eyes. Spider-Man reached out and pulled you into his chest, where you buried your forehead as he raised the two of you up to your floor. You finally opened them, hurrying inside to escape the autumn cold.

Spider-Man shut the window behind you, and something inside him stung as he watched you slump into your desk chair. He slid his backpack off, resting on the floor. You two had come to an agreement that he would sit on the floor now after you caught him the other day swinging out of a dumpster.

“What’s it like?” You asked suddenly. You kept your eyes on your board as you pinned the finished Wednesday list to it. You ripped the Thursday one off, examining the list. Spider-Man’s ears perked up at the question.

“What?”

“What’s it like? To have a soulmate?”

Spider-Man looked down at his hands, smiling underneath his mask. You set the list down as you began to fiddle with the tech on your desk.

“I-I don’t think it’s a good idea to talk about that,” he concluded. You pried open one of the damaged hard drives on your desk with the flat edge of a screwdriver, shaking your head.

“No, please…I would love to hear it,” you pleaded. Spider-Man laid onto his back, folding his hands over his stomach. He stared up at the ceiling, flickering his gaze from you to the ceiling and back again. You waited patiently as you popped the top off of the hard drive. Your longing desire to find your soulmate made you wild for affection, even if it wasn’t your own, and even if it was someone else’s story.

“Well…she’s so pretty,” he said softly. Your smile grew a little, your heart swelling. “She has this amazing smile. A-And the first time I saw her…I don’t know what came over me.”

“What do you mean?” You tried, using the flat screwdriver to carefully unscrew the hardware from the hard drive’s inside. Spider-Man watched carefully.

“When I got these powers, they fixed my eyesight. I-I always had to wear glasses before,” he informed you. You nodded, thinking to yourself. Tell me about it. “And then I saw her. And it was like I went blind all over again. A-And when I could finally see again…it was like all I could see was her.”

You stopped what you were doing, looking over at him. Spider-Man was already staring at you, and you gave him a sweet grin.

“What’s she like?” You asked. Spider-Man laughed, his limbs tingling as he thought about his girl. You turned back to your hard drive, discarding of the plastic covering and laying out the parts in front of you.

“She’s…she’s great. She’s super smart, smarter than me,” he gushed. You giggled out of skepticism. “No, really! S-She’s so smart, always wanting the next best computer o-or getting that new book. She really likes staying up to date.”

Your eyes scanned over the magazines on your shelf. You pushed your glasses up your nose, your eyes scanning over the technology magazines and books and even entertainment magazines littered around. From the new iPhone and its unique specs to the Kardashian sisters, there was a piece for it all.

“I hope you’ll introduce her to me sometime,” you sighed. “I feel like we’d get along real well.”

“Y-You don’t even know,” Spider-Man whispered. You lifted the spark ignitor, a small metal needle. You had it hooked up to a switch. You were going to test the drive’s electrical currents to see where it sparked. You wanted to find the problem.

“Have you kissed her yet?” You teased, and Spider-Man sat up, leaning back on the palms of his hand. He crossed his legs, shaking his head.

“No, we haven’t.”

“Why not?” “S-She doesn’t even know it’s me.”

“Well, that makes two of us,” you joked, sending him a wink. He chuckled nervously, and you let out a little squeal as the metal in front of you sparked loudly. Spider-Man stood up quickly, but you assured him you were okay. Suddenly, he had an idea.

“You wanna help me with something?” He asked. You adjusted your glasses, shrugging your shoulders.

“Sure, what is it?”

“Well, my suit has got a lotta code and programming in it, and I’ve been meaning to go to my friend so he could help me adjust some stuff,” Spider-Man explained. “But, you look like you could use a distraction, so will you help me?”

“Sure,” you replied, giving him a small smile. You pushed your things to the side, shutting off the ignitor as you watched Spider-Man dig through his backpack. He pulled out a pair of sweats and a T-shirt, and you tilted your head to the side in confusion. “What are you doing?”

“Well, I gotta take the suit off,” he said. Your eyes widened, and you nodded.

“O-Oh, yeah…” You trailed off. You paused for a second, your eyes scanning over his arms, the spectacle the red and blue really made him, the curves of his legs. You didn’t notice he was speaking to you, but he smirked to himself when he could hear your heartbeat quickening.

“Hey, earth to (y/n)?”

You jumped a little, turning around as your cheeks went red. You forgot he needed a little privacy. When your head was turned the other way, he loosened the suit around his body. You bit your lip as you dared to peek, and you were so glad you did. Olive and tan smooth skin appeared underneath the red and blue, exquisite around those toned muscles. You could only see his back for the most part, but your mouth was agape either way.

He slid out of the suit, and your eyes rolled back in your head a little at the sight. He looked incredible, of course, and you had to suppress a whine as he pulled a pair of sweats over his legs. You turned away as he tugged his shirt over his still-masked head.

“Okay, here,” Spider-Man called out. When you turned, his suit fell into your lap. You turned it over, examining the inside as your hands felt for the end of any wires.

“Still got the mask on?” You giggled. He sat back down on the floor, shrugging his shoulders.

“As much as I consider you my friend, it’s just better if you don’t know who I am,” he explained. You nodded your head.

“You don’t have to explain anything to me,” you said softly. You met his gaze, smiling soft. “When you’re ready, you’ll tell me.”

“A-And why are you so sure that I will?”

“I’m not,” you replied. You found a micro-USB end on one of the hidden wires, and you quickly connected it to your laptop. You powered it up, waiting for your computer to recognize the suit’s presence. “But I also don’t think that this is the last time that we’ll see each other. So…I’m just gonna hope.”

There was silence between the two of you now. It wasn’t a tense silence, it was rather comfortable. You watched as the terminal and activity monitor of the suit suddenly opened over your desktop, and you bit your lip.

“Jesus, this thing is amazing,” you whispered as you scrolled through the terminal. Spider-Man stood beside you as your eyes went over the subsystems and coding. “So what is it I need to help you with?”

“There should be something in there…called the…”

“Called the what?”

“Baby monitor protocol,” Spider-Man said through gritted teeth. You laughed a little, but quickly shut your mouth when the eyes of his mask narrowed at you. You giggled under your breath when you turned away from him, finding the subsystem and placing your hands over the keyboard.

“And what do I do with it?”

“Can you make it so that it only records when I ask it to?” “Yeah.”

You let your coding do the work, quickly adjusting it as he leaned over your shoulder. He tilted his head to look at you better, tongue between your teeth, hair spilling in waves behind your shoulders, lips pursed in concentration. You looked beautiful in the retina display light.

“Done,” you said after a few minutes. You ejected the micro-USB from the suit, turning quickly. You hadn’t realized that Spider-Man was so close to you. Your breath was against where you guessed his mouth was, and you could feel the warmth radiating off of him. You thrusted the suit into his hands, sucking in your breath at the contact. Without his suit, he was without gloves. Your bare fingers were brushing against his, and something delicate went through you that you couldn’t explain.

You turned away as quick as it happened. You knew it was wrong. Spider-Man had a soulmate, and you couldn’t get swept up in silly romances when you had your own to worry about. Your suddenly retraction from him made his insides curl with disappointment, with desire. He craved your touch more than ever now, but he refused to give into you.

You made him feel stupidly out of control, furiously mad with romantic thoughts. Spider-Man couldn’t help but resist the aching in his fingers as they moved towards you. But the battle he was having within himself was beginning to end, and he was losing. He was losing because love made him feel like he knew everything about nothing, and nothing about everything.

“H-Hey, I got a really important thing to do tonight,” Spider-Man said nervously. You nodded, turning your back to him as he changed back into his suit. When he touched your shoulder, you turned back to see him looking as lovely as ever in the suit. “Can you help me tonight?”

“What do you mean?” You wondered.

“I’m usually, you know, after a guy in the chair,” he chuckled. His voice was sporadic and nervous, shaky and embarrassed. You thought it was adorable.

“Oh, yeah? And how can I help with that?”

“I think I’d much rather prefer a girl in the chair.”

You smiled up at him, biting your lip as you looked at your laptop.

“Okay, Spider-Man. What’s the plan?”

You listened patiently as Spider-Man explained to you his ordeal. You watched him talk, heard the soothing melody of his voice. He was typing on your computer now, helping you connect to the coms in his ear. Your mind wandered away for a few seconds.

You wondered what your soulmate was doing at the hour. You wondered if he was looking for you as thoroughly as you were looking for him. You were convinced he was; love was stupidly difficult to fight. You were convinced that he was looking for his perfect girl, for the woman he would call his for the rest of his life. You were convinced because you knew admitting you had no soulmate at all was the worst thing you could think of.

The universe would not have given you such a drive if it meant you were waiting for no one. The universe would not have made you what you are if it meant you were looking for a ghost.

Your eyes wandered over to your board, and you recited the areas from Tuesday to Thursday in your head again, trying to find where you went wrong. The whole situation was making you feel so inferior, so stupid, but you figured that’s just what love did to people like you. Your eyes scanned over the lists, your eyes adjusted to Tuesday again.

You were almost positive that Tuesday was the day that you had felt that ignition inside of you. You were almost sure that Tuesday was it. Your gut instinct was clawing at that day, urging your fingers to brush over all the crossed out locations.

peppermint mocha across the street

met spider-boy

milk and cookies at the corner store

spare key from receptionist in lobby

mail from lobby

thai noodles from that place on 54th

mashable magazine from that stand on melrose

What were you missing? What were you not seeing? What was slipping right over your head?

Before you could contemplate your questions, Spider-Man was giving you a salute as he started for your window.

“Ready?” He asked you nervously. You rested your head in your hands, nodding.

“Yeah, superhero. You can count on me.”

Before you could say another word, he bent his head down and kissed your forehead through the mask. You sighed at the feeling, your lashes fluttering shut at the gentleness. When you opened your eyes, he was gone.

You adjusted your glasses, brushed a hand over your flushed cheeks, and let your fingers hover over your cell phone for Spider-Man’s cue.

part 5

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beztsvetochkov · 6 years

Text

June 6th, 22:12

Some people are intimidated by the hospital-like wagons in Seoul metro. However, Taehyun wasn't one of them: the vision of bright splashes of ultramarine among an otherwise sterile interior was a reason to celebrate; she had survived another day in the office, after all! The only thing left to do now is to stop checking Telegram.me for sudden inquiries from her Bosszilla and get a normal commute for once.

She told herself, "It all can wait until you get home and only find out that there is another emergency at work. There are other things you can think of, like finally finishing season three of Breaking Mad or the ways to make a drone actually behave. Let’s hope that this material thinking bullshit is a thing."

Frankly speaking, anything, even trashy memes and wine, would do for her; it just had to be something that didn't have anything to do with frostbitten punks of the Internet that have become an eyesore to Taehyun by now.

However, these dreams were never supposed to come true; it was at the moment of changing lines that Taehyun heard the dreaded notification ring through her earphones and knew: unwinding will have to be postponed by another day. Apparently, some mad-handed hoodlums right from the depths of Sagechan had decided that practicing hacking on the servers of her company would be just the right thing to do tonight. And the boss must have thought that Taehyun is the best babysitter for amateur hackers in the whole office. And this was the kind of superlative no one would want to have; not when you're being called back to work in the most ridiculous times of a day because of it, at least.

Mere half an hour later, Taehyun stepped into the office, praying that it wasn't a networm. The room was completely empty save for her boss, who was sitting at one of the desktops, massaging his temples and tapping his feet so loudly that it may or may not be heard in the hall. It was code red; things were about to get hard enough to make anyone think that Hell is a sanatorium... or so they had already been.

"Mr. Lee, what's there?" asked Taehyun, marching to the desk her boss was sitting at.

"Another DDoS attack, I guess. But look at the load!" He turned the monitor to Taehyun a bit and almost rubbed her nose into the screen, which didn't make her see anything except for one line in front of her eyes.

"I really can't make it out. Can I download the logs onto my phone real quick?"

"Sure. You have the cord, right?"

Reading logs without someone pushing you into the screen is much better, indeed. However, that way it's so much easier to understand how big the shit storm the company had gotten into is. The attack was almost as big as those Softhub had fallen victim to. The servers were bombed by a maximum of 1.05 terabytes of flood per second. No wonder they can't get up.

"Shit," Taehyun mouthed.

"Language, Park," hissed Mr. Lee. Oddly enough, he still can care about profanity at this time. "You better use your mouth to tell me what you see."

"Well, basically, we're getting memcrashed."

"Mem-what?"

"Memcrashed. It's when your memcashed protocol is being abused. Like an amplification DDoS, but on steroids."

"So we do it as always," summed up Mr. Lee.

And this was the reason Taehyun hated dealing with attacks so much. For some unknown reason, 'doing it as always' meant getting ready for a sprint to catch the bus that offers the shortest route to the server farm. The problem is, missing it would mean having to wait for half an hour and one of their most important clients losing about three milliards. Which was why Mr. Lee only bothered to hibernate the computer and Taehyun changed into her special sneakers.

When the two entered the bus, they were soaked because nobody had the time to get an umbrella. thus, using a laptop to get at least something done was off limits. Taehyun, however, had already started writing the affected servers' numbers down so that there was less work when they arrived. Mr. Lee was sitting in silence, gazing at Taehyun.

"What is it, Mr. Lee?" asked Taehyun, having felt she was looked at.

"It's nothing, really. You're just always thinking about work and only work. I'd never seen you procrastinate once! I mean, how is that possible?"

Taehyun only shrugged. She didn't even notice not having any personal life. Not that it mattered to her boss, anyway.

"In my opinion, you should do more things that normal youths do. You know, going to singing rooms, attending clubs, playing some games, after all! But not those boyfriend simulators, I beg you! You don't have that much time left, you know."

Shit, he's on it again, thought Taehyun. You're already twenty-five, gotta get married before you start crumbling and losing your youth, forty cats, blah-blah-blah. Been there, listened to that. But what if she only cares about getting a man to wed later when she's being heckled on the topic? Your career won't ever wake up and say that you are obliged to do certain things that you don't want, anyway. And if a boyfriend is needed just for the tick, she'll freaking get herself a dating simulator with CGs and multiple endings per route and no one will tell her this isn't a thing! Just need to stop the attack first...

Half an hour later, the servers were still down and LOLOL players flooded social networks like the attacker the servers because they still were unable to play. Taehyun could only sigh every time she took a look at her phone and internally ask them to stop. Sometimes the Internet really was making her sick.

The solution was pretty easy: first, drop the affected servers into a blackhole and switch onto reserves like in the case of a generic DDoS; then firewall the memcached servers and close at least the port 11211 for the love of technology (also changing the provider would be nice) so that this kind of attack could never happen again. Knowing Mr. Lee's stubbornness, the latter would need quite some convincing unless Taehyun takes the 'first do, then explain' road, which may or may not jeopardize her job.

However, the risks were calculated and Taehyun was on top of her class at math, so she matter-of-factly told the service farm workers that certain changes in the settings are also to be made. Mr. Lee hasn't even choked on his energy drink while definitely having heard Taehyun.

"So, the servers up and running aren't under attack. It's all right now," said Taehyun. "Should I stay, Mr. Lee?"

"No, you can go. Goodnight, then. By the way, set the marker back to zero if I don't do it tomorrow, okay?"

Taehyun bowed and went to the elevators right afterward, not waiting for Mr. Lee to change his mind.

Sitting in the metro wagon, Taehyun suddenly remembered about her dating simulator plans. She had little to no experience in them but definitely knew a person who was a fan of such games. Of course, they are departing back to Korea in several hours, but could never get any shut-eye before the flight anyway. Hence, Taehyun could write a message or two without any guilty conscience.

Taehyun: Hey sis! You up?

Taeyeon: sure, just watching some dramas till it's time to go. and why are YOU up?

Taehyun: Had another attack at work, already on my way home tho. But I'm coming to you for otome advice. I don't care if it's F2P, freemium or pay-to-play.

Taeyeon: really comprehensive. i'll tell you about this new one i like, ok?

Taeyeon: it's basically a chat, but with romance. looks really cool + the guys are 11/10.

Taehyun: So it's like the chat in Gintle? I hope there are no dick pics or any dick stuff in general.

Taeyeon: no, nothing like that! it's only a t.

Taeyeon: here's the link if you're interested.

Taeyeon: [click link]

Taehyun: Thanks. Call me when you land, okay?

"Well, the world of fictional romance, here I go," said Taehyun to herself, opening the link.

#mysme #mystic messenger #mysme fic #there are ocs deal with it

2 notes · View notes

lauramcdphotography · 3 years

Text

Stop Motion Technical

What are the four most important rules for creating stop motions?

DON'T bump the camera.

DON'T change your camera settings.

DON'T alter your lighting.

DO shoot some test frames.

DO try to complete each scene without interruption.

DO take more shots than you think you'll need.

What equipment do you need?

You need your props (subject of the video) could be food, an ornament etc, you need a tripod to stop any uneven or any bumpy photographs, you need a table or a steady surface to place your objects on and you may also use an app on your phone to control your camera settings so you don't have to touch your camera which may cause shaking.

What are the standard resolutions for (resolution Width x Height e.g. 6000 x 4000):

• a TV at home -

480p Standard 720x480

• HD (high Definition TV) -

The most common native resolution for a high-definition TV screen is 1920 x 1080.

• UHD (Ultra High Definition TV) -

3840 x 2160 (UHD) resolutions as standard

• a Laptop you use-

MacBook Air models introduced in 2018 or later. Native resolution: 2560 x 1600 at 227 pixels per inch.

• a Desktop PC you use-

19-inch screen (standard ratio): 1280 x 1024 pixels. 20-inch screen (standard ratio): 1600 x 1200 pixels.

• a top spec iMac-

The 5K 27-inch ‌iMac‌ has a resolution of 5120 by 2880, while the 4K 21.5-inch ‌iMac‌ has a resolution of 4096 x 2304, and both models feature 500 nits brightness and wide color support for vivid, vibrant colors and impeccable picture quality.

• a smart Phone you use?

The iPhone 8 Plus has a 5.5-inch screen, which isn't especially big by today's standards. The iPhone 8 Plus' resolution is 1,920 x 1,080 with a pixel density of 401ppi.

What does the term ‘Aspect Ratio’ mean?

The ratio of the width to the height of an image or screen.

For the below screens, what are the different aspect ratio’s?

• a TV at home-

All TVs sold today have an aspect ratio of 16:9, which means that if the width is divided into 16 equal parts, the height of the TV or picture should be 9 parts

• HD (high Definition TV)-

16:9 (1.77:1) is a widescreen aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9.

• UHD (Ultra High Definition TV)

On the television side, Ultra-High Definition (UHD) was developed using the same number of horizontal lines of resolution as 4K (2160), but using the standard HDTV aspect ratio of 16:9 (or about 1.78:1). So the full resolution of a UHD display is 3840 by 2160 (or 256 pixels narrower than Cinema 4K).9 Sept 2015.

• a Laptop you use

Most current Macbook laptops other than the 11" Air use 16:10.

• a Desktop PC you use

As of 2016, most computer monitors use widescreen displays with an aspect ratio of 16:9, although some portable PCs use narrower aspect ratios like 3:2 and 16:10 while some high-end desktop monitors have adopted ultrawide displays.

• a top spec iMac

The 27" iMac display has a physical size of approximately 23.5" x 13.2" which is 16:9 aspect ratio.

• a smart Phone you use?

iPhone 8 Plus - 736 × 414 (16:9)

What is the PPI for the below devices?

• a TV at home -

13.3"

PPI

262.25

Resolution -3200 x 1800

Device - Samsung Ativ Q

• HD (high Definition TV) -

A 24 inches display that shows a Full HD image (1920×1080) has a density equal to 91,79 PPI.

• UHD (Ultra High Definition TV)-

At 100% magnification, the 3840 x 2160 pixel UHD 4K resolution can be fully utilised, but the pixel density is around 140 ppi, and the pixel pitch is about 0.18 mm

• a Laptop you use

MacBook Air 11 11.6 1366x768 (135.094)

• a Desktop PC you use-

When it comes to PC displays, most products have a pixel density of about 96 ppi to match the display density of 96 dpi (dots per inch) which has been the standard for the Windows desktop UI.

• a top spec iMac

iMac 27 27 2560x1440 (108.786)

• a smart Phone you use?

iPhone 7/8 Plus 5.5 1920x1080 (400.528)

The number of Frames Per Second (FPS) can vary, research commonly used FPS for Stop Motion / Animation / Video and consider the effect this has visually?

Most moving images you watch are shot at 24 frames per second or thirty frames per second. Which give a smoother, more steady effect when watching your film. When you're shooting stop motion, you might not have time to shoot that many, but you can get away with shooting 12 frames per second or even 7-10 frames per second if you are okay with a little bit of a jerky style.

The most common use of Stop Motion is probably in Social Media, what are the recommended aspect ratios & Resolutions & FPS for the below:

• Instagram -

Videos should be vertical (not landscape) with an aspect ratio of 9:16. Videos should have a minimum frame rate of 30 FPS (frames per second) and minimum resolution of 720 pixels. The maximum file size is 4 GB.

• Facebook

Minimum width: 120 pixels

Supported aspect ratios: 16:9 (horizontal) to 9:16 (full portrait)

Facebook recommends uploading videos in .MP4 and .MOV format with H.264 compression, square pixels, fixed frame rate, progressive scan, and stereo AAC audio compression at 128kbps+. Videos can be up to 240 minutes long, up to 4GB large, and have a maximum frame rate of 30fps.

• YouTube

Content should be encoded and uploaded in the same frame rate it was recorded. Common frame rates include 24, 25, 30, 48, 50, 60 frames per second (other frame rates are also acceptable).

The standard aspect ratio for YouTube on a computer is 16:9.

Interlaced content should be deinterlaced before uploading.

• Vimeo

Your video's resolution can vary, but most videos will fit a standard definition (SD) resolution of 640 x 480 (4:3 aspect ratio) or 640 x 360 (16:9 aspect ratio), 720p HD resolution of 1280 x 720 (16:9 aspect ratio), or a 1080p HD resolution of 1920 × 1080 (16:9 aspect ratio).

What would happen if you had too many pixels (resolution & PPI) when playing your Stop Motion on the above devices?

Instagram -

Instagram can often reduce the quality of your images during uploads for a wide number of reasons, but if you're looking to maintain quality then you should look to upload a high-quality, compressed JPEG file (max resolution: 1080 x 1350px) directly from your mobile or tablet to avoid any further compression.

Facebook -

Videos must be less than 240 minutes long. The longer your video is, the larger its file size will be. This may affect the quality of the video and the time it takes to upload. Lots of times I see people say they uploaded a 1080 video, and Facebook only lets them view it in 720.

While you can upload videos of virtually any aspect ratio, anything other than full portrait (9:16) will shrink your video and add unused space (colored gradient bars) to the top and bottom of the screen.

Youtube -

If you upload videos with a different aspect ratio, the player will “automatically frame them to ensure they are displayed correctly, without cropping or stretching, regardless of the size of the video or player.”For different aspects ratios, such as 9:16 (vertical videos on desktop browsers), YouTube will "add padding for optimal viewing. The padding is white by default, and dark gray when you use the Dark theme."

Vimeo -

If your footage exceeds 60 FPS, they will automatically reduce the frame rate.

Not all programs or websites can play back variable frame rate videos, and the audio can fall out-of-sync.

What does a TV do if it doesn’t have enough pixels & what is Photoshops equivalent?

In theory, the more pixels there are then the better the picture will be - as we will be able to see more detail.Now, you don't see each pixel at work as they are too small to see from a distance, but if you go up very close to your TV screen you will see how the image is built from this grid of small coloured dots. Any images that aren't actually in high-definition will just look slightly 'softer' and lack the sharpness you get with an HD image.The non-HD image will have always looked this way - it is just your new big-screen high-resolution TV that will highlight the low image resolution, and you will just notice it more.

Photoshop: Pixel Aspect Ratio: If you display rectangular pixels on a square-pixel monitor without alteration, images appear distorted; for example, circles distort into ovals. However, when displayed on a broadcast monitor, the images appear correctly proportioned because broadcast monitors use rectangular pixels.

When copying or importing images into a nonsquare pixel document, Photoshop automatically converts and scales the image to the pixel aspect ratio of the document. Images imported from Adobe Illustrator are also properly scaled.

How many pixels (resolution WxH e.g. 6000 x 4000) does your camera have:

Canon EOS 800D - 6000 × 4000 pixels

What is the resolution (WxH) of the recommended Stop Motion Brief?

1080 x 1920

What is the aspect ratio of the Brief submission?

Ratio 16:9

Draw a proportional sketch (or print from PhotoShop) of the difference between your camera aspect ratio and the brief submission.

How much of the image area do you need to crop out from your camera image

I had to crop about 1/3 of my full image out of the frame.

Does your camera allow you to change the aspect ratio so you can see the crop in camera when shooting?

My camera doesn't allow me to do this when shooting but when I view my images after I can use the crop tool to change the aspect ratio.

#preproduction #stopmotion

0 notes

techcrunchappcom · 4 years

Photo

New Post has been published on https://techcrunchapp.com/its-a-tough-sell-technology-news-firstpost/

It's a tough sell- Technology News, Firstpost

Anirudh RegidiJul 03, 2020 15:06:29 IST

I’m not entirely sold on the idea of the ASUS TUG Gaming A15 FA566IU.

Superficially, it’s a great laptop and it ticks all the right boxes. At just under a lakh, you’re getting a powerful AMD Ryzen 7 CPU (the first of its kind in India), an excellent mid-range GPU, a ‘fast’ 144 Hz display, a thermal design that won’t roast your palms or thighs, good battery life, and a very decent aesthetic.

Sadly, odd pricing and a couple of rather unusual design decisions means I just can’t recommend this specific model outright.

The A15’s Achiles Heel is its display.

Specs: A tad unbalanced

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 4800H

GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti with 6 GB VRAM

RAM: 16 GB DDR4 RAM @ 3,200 MHz

Storage: 512 GB SSD + 1 TB HDD

Display: 15.6” 1080p @ 144 Hz with Adaptive Sync

Ports: 1x USB-A 2.0 (450 Mbps), 2x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps), 1x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) with DP 1.4, 1x HDMI 2.0b out, 1x RJ45 Ethernet, 1x 3.5 mm combo jack

Battery: 48 Wh capacity, 180 W charger

Price: Rs 95,000

This is a good config for the price, but there are three issues here:

First, that Ryzen 7 4800H is overkill. It’s one of the most powerful mobile CPUs you can buy today. In fact, it’ll put many mid-range desktop PCs to shame. The problem is that it’s paired with a mid-range graphics card — the 1660 Ti — which is simply never going to push that CPU to its limits. I’d have preferred a mid-range CPU with a more powerful GPU…

… which brings me neatly to issue #2.

For Rs 5,000 more, you can get a similar config with the more powerful, and feature-rich, Nvidia RTX 2060 GPU. That’s a 5 percent increase in price for dramatically improved performance in certain scenarios.

The third, and I believe the most egregious flaw, is the display. Sure, it’s a 144 Hz panel with Adaptive Sync (that translates to no visual tearing in games), but the panel is rated at 45 percent NTSC, which means its colour accuracy is garbage. To add to this, this specific panel has a pixel response time of 18-22 ms, nullifying any advantage that 144 Hz refresh rate brings. More on that later.

A fourth potential issue is thermal management, but it’s a relatively minor issue compared to the three aforementioned ones.

I like the look and feel of the laptop. It feels rugged.

Performance: Wasted potential

When it comes to gaming laptops, the purpose of a CPU is to not bottleneck the GPU. Gaming performance is almost always determined purely by the GPU, especially in budget systems.

It simply makes more sense to pair a Rs 60,000 GPU with a Rs 10,000 CPU than it does to pair a Rs 30,000 CPU with a Rs 40,000 GPU. Gaming performance scales linearly with faster GPUs, not CPUs.

A good CPU has its uses of course. If you’re a programmer or content creator, having additional cores or a faster CPU will significantly speed up your work, but we’re talking gaming laptops here, and in that regard, the FA566IU is just so much wasted potential.

This is the first Ryzen 7-powered laptop in India

See, the CPU in this laptop is fantastic. It’s a game-changer. Looking at my data, the 4800H’s performance is only challenged by the MSI GT76 Titan, a beast of a machine that costs Rs 4 lakh, and which, with its fans running at full tilt, sounds like it’s preparing for lift-off.

The CPU in the TUF A15 threw up a score of 3,957 in Cinebench R20 (vs 4,324 on the MSI GT76 Titan) and completed our standard video conversion test in a mere 20 minutes (18 min on the Titan) when using CPU encoding.

The Mozilla Firefox compile test is relatively new, and the 4800H managed 31 minutes here, which is more than twice as fast as the average Ultrabook.

This CPU is good. It’s very good.

But then we come to the GPU. The 1660 Ti is great, but it’s still a mid-range card.

The AMD Ryzen 7 4800H is seriously impressive. It’s too bad that the GPU just can’t keep up.

Every game I tested was bottle-necked at the GPU level. In fact, I never saw CPU load exceed 83 percent in any title. In most titles, the load was limited to under 70 percent.

To top it off, the 1660 Ti lacks proper support for ray-tracing features (i.e. RTX) and DLSS (Deep Learning Super-Sampling).

RTX is Nvidia-speak for a graphics rendering technique that generates realistic lighting in games. Once you’ve seen a game running with RTX enabled, you can’t go back.

DLSS is an Nvidia RTX-specific feature that intelligently and dynamically upscales graphics resolution to give you better performance at little to no perceivable loss in quality. Combined, these features make for a fantastic gaming experience.

While this particular model didn’t make the cut, the rest of the TUF line is certainly worth looking at.

Nvidia’s GTX cards like the 1660 do support RTX in some games, but at a tremendous performance penalty that makes the feature useless for anything but a demo. For instance, turning RTX on dropped Metro Exodus performance to sub-20 fps with the 1660 Ti. An RTX 2060 manages 40+ fps at the same settings.

Benchmark figures are otherwise quite nice. You’re getting 50 fps in Shadow of the Tomb Raider at max settings, 70+ in Metro Exodus at the ‘normal’ preset with RTX off, 52 fps in The Division 2 at Ultra, 60 fps in Borderlands 3 at high, 60 fps in Red Dead Redemption 2 using the ‘quality’ preset, and so on. It could even manage 60 fps at med-high settings in Call of Duty Modern Warfare with RTX off.

This is good stuff and I’d normally be happy with these scores, but the lack of RTX does sting when you know the feature can be had for just Rs 5,000 more. As a gamer, I see no reason to subject myself to a less than ideal experience.

Clearly, this config is unbalanced for gaming. ASUS should have offered a cheaper Ryzen 3 or 5 with the 1660 Ti and RTX 2060, and used the savings to offer a better display.

Display woes

This display sucks. Big time. At about 60 percent sRGB coverage, you’re looking at a budget laptop-grade colour gamut (the Rs 40,000 Mi Notebook shows slightly better colours). Reds look orange, greens don’t pop, and in-game enemies meld into the background in fast-paced shooters.

The movie-watching experience is passable, and you just can’t edit photos and videos without worrying about colour accuracy.

It’s 2020, we should be demanding higher quality displays in our laptops.

Many laptop displays in this price range have the same awful colour gamut, however, so it’s not like we gamers are spoilt for choice in this segment.

Anyway, the laptop’s 144 Hz display does sound good on paper, but then the monitor’s response time is a terrible 18 ms. At 144 Hz, you can’t settle for anything less than 10 ms. 5 ms or lower would be ideal.

The refresh rate is the number of times per second that your monitor can update the image.

The response time is the amount of time it takes a single pixel on your monitor to transition from one colour to another. Usually, this is measured as the time taken for a pixel to go from grey to white to grey again.

While an image can refresh faster than the response time of a pixel, those images you’re seeing will not have accurate colours. And you’ll see ghosting.

The images below should illustrate why this is a problem. The first is an image shot on this review laptop while the UFO is scrolling horizontally at 144 fps and 7 pixels per frame.

The panel claims to be 144 Hz but with a response time this bad, there’s really no point.

The second is an image shot on a BenQ EX2780q also at 144 fps. The EX2780q is a 144 Hz panel with a rated response time of 5 ms.

As you can see, the ASUS shows significantly longer trailing ‘ghosts’ behind the UFO. This ghosting, as the phenomenon is aptly titled, is the bane of gamers everywhere. Heavier ghosting means blurrier movement, which means it’s that much harder to track and hit moving targets.

A higher quality 60 Hz panel, would, I think, have been a far better option in this case. For one thing, at least the multimedia experience would have been great. And for another, gaming would have been a more pleasant experience, at least in single-player titles.

Miscellaneous: Speakers, fan noise, design

The rest of the spec is fine. Speakers are louder than what I’ve heard on gaming laptops in this price range, and the fan isn’t so loud as to drown out the speakers, even when running at max speed.

The cooling system isn’t ideal, but it does the job.

The thermal design of this laptop has attracted some amount of controversy for allegedly being inadequate. Personally, I think the design, while not ideal (no heat sinks on VRMs, SSD placed directly under a heat pipe), does the job well enough to not need to worry about thermals.

SSD placement in Asus TUF Gaming A15. Image: Anirudh Regidi/tech2

In my testing, the laptop routinely hit 85° C on the CPU and GPU, but in both cases, the components were power limited and not thermally throttled. The temps are indeed high, but no higher than what I’ve experienced on many gaming laptops in this form factor.

The NVMe SSD in the TUF-A15 is quite capable. it does run a bit hot though, most likely owing to its placement under the heat pipes.

Maybe I was lucky, or maybe ASUS did some tweaking on the initial design that went out to reviewers. I honestly don’t know. I just know that thermally speaking, my unit performed at par or better than laptops in a similar form factor.

Honestly, I think the poor-quality display is a bigger issue than thermal management.

Verdict: To game or not to game

This brings me to my biggest issue with the machine: I don’t know who it’s for.

For gamers, the configuration isn’t good value. The CPU is overkill and the more powerful and capable RTX 2060 GPU option is just five percent more expensive. The display is also a problem because it lacks in both colour gamut and response time. Given the number of reports I’m seeing about thermal issues with the design, I also can’t blindly recommend the RTX 2060 option (which should run hotter) without thoroughly examining its performance. This 1660 Ti model is already nearing its thermal design limit.

For content creators, performance is excellent, but the display is a poor choice. There’s absolutely no way you can edit anything on this machine without wondering if you’ve screwed up the colours.

If you don’t mind investing in an external display, or already have access to a good one, you can get away with buying the A15. And even then, I’d very strongly suggest you skip this model and go for the Rs 1,00,000 RTX 2060 model instead.

Personally, I’m waiting on MSI, Dell, Lenovo, and the like, to refresh their gaming line-up to see if they have a better-specced machine on offer. ASUS’s own updated Zephyrus range should also be arriving soon. If you can wait, wait.

Note: ASUS tells us that COVID-19 issues have affected logistics, which is why we don’t have the RTX 2060 model for review yet.

Find latest and upcoming tech gadgets online on Tech2 Gadgets. Get technology news, gadgets reviews & ratings. Popular gadgets including laptop, tablet and mobile specifications, features, prices, comparison.

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#Technology

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lolbtsaus · 7 years

Note

(1/14) another long one but I quite like this one, not sure how you feel about it tho! hacker and thief au with jimin. BTS is a crew of thieves who steal anything and everything for anyone who had the funds to hire them. They live a lavish life from the riches they earn off their crimes, indulging in partying, exotic cars and of course Gucci for th. you on the other hand, is a legend within the cyber world as one of the top black hat hackers who also works for hire. So when a kingpin of a

(2/14) syndicate hires both you and BTS for a joint operation, you meet jm for the first time through the cctv footage displayed on your desktop. Meeting at some secretive warehouse, BTS was expecting to be introduced to their employer and co-worker for this assignment, but was however met with a stack of files in an empty room and a huge computer screen. With the use of voice distortion, you briefed the crew on their hit job and monitored from your screen. But what had caught your eye was this

(3/14) striking young man with silver hair that did not say a single word throughout the whole duration but just continuously and knowingly stared into the cctv camera as if he knew there was someone on the other side watching. tbh it kind of made you uncomfortable but you gotta admit he was cute, I mean it’s not often that you get an assignment with 7 really hot guys. Anyhow, on the day of the mission, you supervise from your den, hacking into security systems and monitoring the surroundings

(4/14) while BTS begin to infiltrate and steal the subject. Occasionally you’ll inform them of a bogey through their earpieces and quite often you’ll hear dad jokes (courteously of jin) and video game commentary (who else but jk) from the boys as they move through the building. Tbh they’re quite entertaining and you can’t help but smile a little, by far the best co-workers you’ve had. The boys have retrieved the subject and have all returned to the haven of their cars, except jm & th. th

(5/14) goes out of sight on your screen and he doesn’t respond to your calling. Your desperately trying to find out whats happened to th and the boys have gone dead silent and nothing can be heard except the sound of your fingers rapidly hitting keys. That is until you hear this grunting from jm’s piece followed by not so pleasant sounds of possibly fractured bones and groaning from a foreign person. and not soon after that, you catch vision of a bloody nosed th and a disgruntled jm dashing out

(6/14) of the building before joining the boys in their cars and zooming away. You must say, jm took you by surprise, you did not expect that little lump of fluff to have that much spunk, because I mean, last time you peeked *hacked* into their lounge at the top floor of some luxury hotel, you found the mochi curled up in a ball on the sofa playing with jk’s hair as he and th played video games. Basically ya’ll did such a good job that the kingpin decided to get you guys together again for a

(7/14)another mission, obviously with higher commission because dollar dollar bruh! anyhow, many missions later (commissioned or independant), BTS obviously become curious about your identity and you’ve accumulated enough funds that you have excess for a new apartment. and coincidentally (what a lie), you move into the building adjacent to theirs, where your balcony has a direct view of jm’s balcony. and of course, jm’s caught sight of you a few times sipping on some tea and browsing on a laptop

(8/14) on a late afternoon and tbh he’s been secretly enjoying the view for a while now. Okay so you guys happen to get another assignment and from the beginning you were a bit angsty for this one because there were just so many inconsistent factors, but you guys decide to go ahead with the plan anyways. So all is going okay until, you hear shots. 3 rounds fired total and your body freezes. The image of jm taking a bullet to the shoulder is fixated on your screen and you’re at a loss for words.

(9/14) when jm is hoisted out of the building by nj and jin with the rest of the crew scrambling to cover their asses, youre dead silent and focused on solely your job of navigating them to a hospital. At the sound of tyres squealing to a stop, doors slamming close and the gps locator indicating that they’ve arrived at the nearby hospital, you reach out to switch off your entire system. Only after a few days do you find the courage to dial the digits of jm’s cell. A croaky voice picks up and you

(10/14) freeze for a second. only after the second hello? do you muster up the courage to reply to him and ask in a soft voice how he’s holding up. and tbh he’s shocked, because 1. some random stranger is calling him and knows he’s been shot which probably means they know his identity, 2. this stranger has a really nice voice and 3. - wait hang on, he knows this tone of speech, hang on could this possibly be….? jm’s just like, omg i finally figured out who mastermind behind our missions and oml

(11/14) it’s a girl, a girl with a really soothing voice and this boy is a bit in love. and jm unconsciously finds himself dialling or texting this number every once in a while when he just needs someone to speak to or after a mission where he’ll brag about his skills like hey did you see the way i shimmied past that laser in the hallway of the museum? and ur just like yeah jm, i saw because i was the one that was monitoring you and making sure your ass doesn’t trigger the alarm. BTS kind of

(12/14)catch on that their jm is acting a bit strange, often hiding in his room to make phone calls or smiling at his phone. That and the fact that at every assignment briefing, jm seems to be very comfortable with the mysterious hacker. Only one day does jm blurt out your name and everyone is like eh?! and jms just like dude just drop the voice distorter already your voice is beautiful without that stupid thing. and BTS is like EHHH?! and jm is like oh crap that wasn’t meant to come out whoops.

(13/14) but you end up getting rid of the voice distorter and crew is just like holy crap its a girl, and regretting all the stupid shit they’ve said on their missions that you must’ve heard (but we all know yg was secretly regretting that one time he stopped to pet that puppy on the street, completely cooing over it forgetting that he had his ear piece on and that you were sitting on your balcony watching his every move taping the whole thing for future black mail uses). anyhow, one day, you’re

(14/14) sitting on your balcony sipping on some tea when you get a text from jm. a lil smile appears on your face and you continue to exchange. But little did you know that jm, who coincidentally happened to be looking out his balcony window, noticed that every time he sent a text to you, the girl in sitting across from him picks up her phone. highly suspicious, he dials and only when you pick up, he opens the door and steps out to his balcony and you guys lock eyes. (I cant write fluff 😅) -🥀

oh my g o d I love this so much I want all of it rn plz and thnx

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sending-the-message · 6 years

Text

Why I stopped hacking. For good. Part 2. by Menmaro

Allow me to preface this second part by thanking those who read my first part and enjoyed it. I would like to apologise for any poor grammar/spelling or formatting as I am writing this on my on my phone so formatting is extremely difficult. My laptop is in another country at the moment so when I return home I will format these stories and future ones properly. Please bear with me and enjoy part 2.

I would also like to add that this tale is of an encounter of a friend of mine. I did not experience this first hand and thus I have to make up what his thoughts were (some are his exact thoughts) to what I would have expected him to feel from knowing him. This story is how he told me so as far as I know it is true. He has stopped hacking and spends most of his time gaming and working.

Continued.

I stood frozen in horror. Panic swept over my body and thoughts flooded my mind. What happened to my mother? Is she OK? What is this son of a bitch doing with her phone? I knew I had to calm down, something didn't seem right. I picked up the phone and looked at the caller ID. It just said mum, no number. Fuck, how could I be so stupid, he was just masking his caller ID, must be to throw me off balance. I'll play along, there must be something I'm missing.

"Wh.. What are you doing with my mum's phone? Where is she? Is she OK?"

A laugh came from the other end, a deep, disgusting laugh. I decided to record the call, maybe I can play around with the recording and find this caller’s real voice. It may not be much, but this asshole knows where I live and probably who my parents are. He starts talking.

"Danni, Danni, Danni. The safety of your mother depends on the outcome of our little game. I told you one's life is on the line but, I should have elaborated and said it shouldn't necessarily be the player's life. So, are you ready to play?"

At this point I had a thought; How can James see me? I have no cameras connected to the WiFi, my desktop camera is disconnected and I ripped out my laptop camera when I got the damn thing. Another option would be he broke into my apartment and installed cameras when I was out. But why would he risk getting caught like that. I may have cameras at home and catch him doing it. No he must be using one of my devices.

“Doesn't seem like I have a choice James. Let's fucking play.”

I braced myself for what he would say. We’ve all watched those horror movies, these games weren’t exactly Mario Kart sort of level. Suddenly I knew, I wanted to throw myself from my apartment for how stupid I'd been. In my hand I held the single device that had a camera and was connected to my WiFi. My fucking phone. I didn't want to jump to the conclusion that that was the only camera that was being used, so I decided to test it. Before I do anything though, he begins to speak.

“Well well Danni, I must say, you’ve got balls. Most guys would have started to cry or beg me to stop. This will most certainly be fun.”

I've had enough of this shit. I start to test my theory. I started googling shit like “how to track a phone call”, and “how to find cameras in a house”. I wanted to see if he could see my screen and sure enough the confirmation came through.

“Oh Danni, it’s cute you’re still trying to fight back. But I can assure you, you will not be able to track this call and you will not find out how I can see you.”

Challenge accepted dickhead. I angle my phone away from my bag and take out a USB dongle. If this asshole is on my WiFi I'm gonna make him think he's controlling all of my devices. I look for my laptop whilst trying to make as little noise as possible and again, angling the phone away from what I am doing. I find my laptop, boot it up and plug my dongle into it.

“Yeah well, I'm one tough son of a bitch… so when we playing James? And do go over the rules properly yeah? I'd like to whoop your ass playing by your rules dipshit.”

My strategy was to show no fear. In truth, I was terrified. But I knew the instant he smelled fear, he would have total control over me, and I'd fuck up and forget basic stuff like I had when this shit show first started. My laptop finished booting up. Excellent. I knew this fucker was using my network somehow. So I decided to hack my own network and see how he got in. Maybe he left something behind.

“The rules are simple Danni. You wanted to play judge, jury and executioner. We are going to go through your history of white knight justice, and see just how much of a hero you really are.”

Hero… huh… there was a time when I thought I was a hero… maybe it was when I made that child molestor end his own life. I told myself I was a hero because he wouldn't hurt another child. In truth, was I a murderer? Was this my past coming to haunt me? No time to think about this. It isn't just my life on the line here, everyone I care about is in danger and there's no time to be selfish.

“Ha… hero… that’s cute James, but I’ve always known I was the devil. A necessary evil. But sure, let's take a walk down memory lane. Maybe that will remind you who the fuck you’re dealing with.”

My attempts were bringing up nothing. I managed to break into my own network many times but I couldn't find a trace of another device, not a trace of information transfer. Wait… information transfer. Outgoing and incoming traffic. Fuck I'm stupid. He can see a stream of my screen which means I have outgoing traffic somewhere right? I start monitoring my outgoing traffic. Encrypted of course but there was still an address. A server that this information was going through. I find the address of the server and decide to do something extremely stupid and might sentence myself to prison or worse, no access to a computer. But I decide that is a small price to pay for the safety of my family.

“Well well Danni, watch your screen as the images pop up. Leeeeets roll the tape ladies and gentlemen.”

What a fucking psycho, I don't pay much attention to the tone of his voice as I set up my botnet for a distributed denial of service attack. My hope is that if I bring down the server for a bit, I'll be able to see where the requests are coming from and track it from there. It is a long shot but it might work. As I'm doing this I also stop recording the call and send the recording over to my laptop. All the while I’m angling my phone away from my laptop, and since he hasn't spoken of it, my theory that the only camera being my phone turns out to be correct. I finally feel like I'm making the right moves in this twisted game of chess, I'm just hoping I'll be the one to say checkmate at the end though.

“Victim number one; Brock. 16 years old. You destroyed his relationship and got him kicked out of his home. He spent 3 years on the streets before overdosing on heroine. That wasn’t a nice thing to do Danni.”

A picture of 16 year old Brock pops up. He died? Fuck, he was an asshole but didn't deserve to die. I went to far… I went to far… but I couldn't admit it. Not to this psycho. I had to show him that I had no heart.

“Well life sucks, survival of the fittest and all that shit. Maybe he should have been careful with whom he messed with.”

Another disgusting laugh. James is enjoying himself… should I be? No time for that right now. I put the phone on loudspeaker and placed it on my desk, weary that the front camera may be used I kept it well out of my sight and put an earphone into my left ear. Time to tweak around with this recording and “unmodulate” this voice.

“Danni, this isn't gonna end up well if you show no remorse. Now the fun begins. Remember his girlfriend? It’s confession time Danniiiii.”

As if it were alive, my PC opened up Skype and auto signed in. Fuck I'm so stupid, was I really that lazy? A number is entered into it and it starts dialling. Ring ring…

“What do you want me to do James? Tell her the online babe was me and Brock wasn't a cheating dickhead? What's that going to change?”

My botnet was ready and I started my attack on the server address instantly. I then watched my incoming and outgoing traffic closely. All I needed was a hiccup, something that will lead me to James. In that moment it was like the entire world grinded to a halt. In that moment, it wouldn't matter to me if the moon was crashing down onto the Earth to end all life as we knew it. All that mattered was this stream of information. Tick tock tick tock tick tock. I could hear the second hand on my watch ticking…

There! A clue… phew, was starting to lose hope. I start work on it, did James notice? I'd imagine his connection to my network might have dropped since I saw a request ping but nothing going back. Was he too busy trying to guilt trip me that he got too cocky and didn't notice? My Skype was still ringing was she going to pick up?

“Hello?” A girl's voice. She sounds kinda cute actually, is James hooking us up? Wrong time for jokes there.

James speaks to me “Go on Danni, answer her. Tell her your name and what you did to Brock.”

I decide to play along, true he didn't call me from my mum’s number, but that doesn't mean he still can't hurt her.

“Liz? It’s Daniel Kurt. We went to school together with Brock.”

There was a pause, I can't imagine how awkward this must be for her. I didn't have time to care though, I ran a search on the address and whilst that was going on, I continued tweaking with the recording.

“Danni? That loony kid that used to get beaten up all the time?”

Ahhh what a bitch. Hooking us up my ass. I had to fight back the urge to shout and educate her ignorant ass on what autism was. Whatever though, not my concern. At least breaking this news to here won't be as painful to me as I thought.

“Yeah that's me, the loony kid.” I laughed and I could swear I heard James laughing too. Asshole. “So listen, don't suppose you remember Brock Leland? You kinda slept with him at that time.” Maybe not the best choice of words.

“Yeah I remember him, I heard he died from drug overdose, makes me feel horrible breaking up with him…” another pause, “why?”

Fuck. How do I say this? This is a confession, if she takes this to the police I'm fucking screwed. Fuck any chance I have of getting away with this. I was 16 though, does it matter? I read somewhere that crimes committed before 18 aren't dealt with anymore. I was just a kid? Damn it. To hell with this, I need to stop this madness before he makes me call a victim of an attack I committed after 18.

“Yeah well, it’s my fault he did this. He made my life shit for when I was at school. So I decided to fight back. He never cheated on you, I made it look like he was.”

A really long pause. Gives me time to work on this recording. Nothing remotely human yet. Still searching that address, why is it taking forever?

“Danni.” Her voice was extremely soft. I was expecting something else. An angrier tone would have made more sense.

“Yeah...?”

“I know.”

#reddit #nosleep #scary #story

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seungsols · 7 years

Text

[A] We Could Have (Fallen in Love)

Title: We Could Have (Fallen in Love) Pairing: Gyukwan (Mingyu x Seungkwan) Length: 6,986 words Summary: Seungkwan thought he was out of his mind to fall for someone like Mingyu, but it turned out he was just out of time.

Everyday feels like a Monday to Seungkwan.

In the aspect that Monday meant the dread of waking up from such a nice, relaxing Sunday off from work and a slap back into the reality of constant routines that consisted of getting ready for work, working, and getting off from work. He was in no rush when his alarm rang at the side of his bed on the desktop he would eventually clean. The annoying and constant beep were what motivated him to turn it off and sit up in bed.

Seungkwan left the coffee machine on with the mug his best friend, Choi Hansol, gifted him for his birthday as he was humming to himself in the shower. After the quick rinse, he dressed up in his usual work attire—white dress shirt, black dress pants, Oxfords (with brogues), and his messenger bag. With his coffee mug finished and in the sink, he headed out from his quiet, little abode to the loud, large city that surrounded him.

He took his usual route as he checked his phone with his left hand as his right one was shoved into his pocket. Jihoon emailed him that there was a meeting this morning at ten o’clock sharp, making the Jeju boy grimace as he quickened his pace a bit. He wasn’t used to cities and their fast pace, they were nothing like his hometown. Seungkwan couldn’t do anything about it though, there was no point in complaining. He had no time to complain anyway.

With his foot through the meeting room of his company building in the nick of time, Jihoon nodded as he motioned Seungkwan to sit down while he started his presentation.

He sat down next to Hansol as he shuffled quickly to open his laptop to the page of notes that he had made—bullshitted— the night before about the last customers with the problems and solutions he had encountered.

“You’re usually not this late,” Hansol whispered as he kept his eyes on his own laptop while he was typing what Jihoon was saying. “Subway jam?”

“Backed up more than usual,” Seungkwan sighed quietly as he began typing as well. “How were your clients last week?”

“They were alright,” Hansol shrugged. “I had to reboot this one therapist’s whole hard drive and that took me the whole day on Wednesday.”

“Yikes.”

“It wasn’t too bad. He paid for my lunch and even offered to buy me dinner, which, of course, I gladly accepted. I can’t deny free food.”

Seungkwan rolled his eyes.

“Oh, shush. It wasn’t a date. You know I’m not into that scene.”

With Jihoon quickly wrapping up his presentation—which was surprisingly only twenty slides compared to his usual thirty—he assigned his employees their clients for the week. Seungkwan left to go to his desk as Lee Chan, one of their newer employees, complained about one of the clients. Jihoon sighed and nodded before patting Seungkwan’s back at a job well done for last week’s performance.

“Keep it up,” Jihoon whispered with a smile before he continued to walk.

Seungkwan sat at his desk and looked at his client’s name for a moment of silence before pulling up his email and proceeded typing up an introduction before listing the appointment times.

Kim Mingyu Cookbook Developer

Surprisingly, the client replied to the email within the next ten minutes. (Seungkwan’s previous client was rather bad at responding to emails, hence his need to call them to realize that they were unable to attend to their emails because of their computer. He made sure to attend to the client immediately.)

They scheduled for an appointment the day after tomorrow, giving Seungkwan enough time to ready himself as he began scheduling two other appointments following it. They were minor problems since he could access the computers’ remotely, but he preferred to do it days apart and one at a time.

Mingyu’s problem seemed more severe than usual, a case of a virus that infiltrated the user’s hard drive and deleted all the files. Though it was not uncommon, Seungkwan rarely had such cases.

He whined when Hansol threw a piece of paper at him over the cubicle. He pouted and threw it back over as he stood up to look at Hansol. “First of all, that’s rude,” Seungkwan scrunched his nose. “Second of all, why?”

“One, I’m your best friend, I do this all the time.” Hansol grinned as the other rolled his eyes. “Two, this client just emailed me again asking if I wanted to join him for lunch—what do I do?”

“Don’t you always accept free food?”

“When there’s nothing attached.” Hansol stood up as he watched Seungkwan sit back down at his seat. He leaned over and watched his friend type away, still waiting for a solution.

“You’re basically friends with benefits but the benefit is a meal.”

“True, that sounds very accurate. But… I feel bad making him pay again... especially since I know that it’s not because I just rebooted his driver.”

“Well,” Seungkwan stopped typing to look at his dumbfounded co-worker, “let’s just discuss this over lunch.”

“So you two already did it…” Seungkwan glared at Hansol as the spoon fell from his right hand and slipped into his bowl of soup. He grumbled as Hansol just rubbed the back of his neck and tried to reason it out while trying to grab the spoon out of the broth.

“It… just one thing led to another—”

“I really thought you just got food and then he fell for you. But, no, you made things more complicated by actually sleeping with him? Hansol Vernon Choi—”

Hansol whined as he picked his bowl up and slurped it loudly as an attempt to tune out Seungkwan’s lecture. There was no use though since Seungkwan paused and continued when Hansol put the bowl down. “I just wanted to vent, I didn’t want a lecture…”

Seungkwan rolled his eyes as he continued to swirl around the noodles in his bowl that was reaching room temperature. “You need a lecture, you dumbass.”

“Well, what do I do then?”

“Do you like him?”

“I don’t know.”

“What did you say to him in the email?”

Hansol blinked. “Huh?”

“You replied back to the lunch email… right?” The silence and blank expression on Hansol’s face was enough for Seungkwan to stand up and flick his friend’s forehead across the table. “You really are an ass. You should make it up to him.”

Hansol grumbled as he rubbed his forehead and nodded. “Fine, fine. I’ll see if we can do dinner tonight… what about you, Boo?”

“What about me?”

“Anything going on in that part of your life?”

“My love life is dryer than the stale bread I found under your couch last Saturday.” Hansol snickered even though that was a direct attack at him and Seungkwan shrugged. “Guess it’s not my time yet?”

Hansol shrugged back. “Who knows? Maybe you’ll have a thing with your client too.”

Seungkwan arrived at the client’s address the next day five ‘til noon. Walking in quietly, he was surprised by how brightly lit the hallway and foyer were, compared to what he was used to with his dimly lit apartment and office. The assistant at the desk led him down the hallway filled with various pictures of whom appeared the be his client with chefs.

He eventually was on his own after the assistant knocked on the door and left, leaving Seungkwan a bit uneasy being so deep in a building he was unfamiliar with. His body jolted when he heard the gears of the doorknob turn and it opened as a man about the same stature as him stood before him and pushed up his glasses over the bridge of his nose.

They greeted each other formally with a polite bow and handshake before Seungkwan was invited into Mingyu’s workspace. Just as the rest of the building, it was brightly lit, something Seungkwan was beginning to envy. The natural light from the window that stretched from the ceiling to the floor lit the books sprawled over Mingyu’s desk as he unlocked his desktop for Seungkwan to see the problem.

“I haven’t been able to access my files since three days ago,” Mingyu ruffled his hair before coughing and fixing his glasses once more. “It’s a good thing the book draft isn’t due anytime soon but, y’know, the sooner the files can be recovered, the better.”

Seungkwan nodded as Mingyu stood up from his seat and Seungkwan sat down, scooting the chair much closer than originally. Mingyu leaned in with his left hand on the desk as Seungkwan placed a thumbdrive into the monitor and began installing the company’s software. Mingyu nodded as Seungkwan explained what the software does with its algorithms that look into every piece of information left on the hard drive to see where the files were physically stored.

But he wasn’t paying much attention to that. His eyes were caught by how the sun that filtered into the room lit Seungkwan’s hair to a soft beige, much like latte photos he shot last week. The way the worker’s hair swirled reminded him of the caramel swirl that was also prevalent in the photoshoot. It was a habit that only photographers in his field could relate to, but Mingyu’s comparisons had him entranced to Seungkwan.

“So, what exactly do you do?” Seungkwan coughed as he kept scrolling through the coding on the screen in front of him to break the awkward silence.

Mingyu shook his head to fall back into reality as he coughed in reply. “Oh, I’m a cookbook developer.”

Seungkwan glanced over and blinked in confusion, the two of them sharing a quick glance, before he quickly looked back at the screen. “So… you take pictures?”

“Not only that. I work with chefs, try their food, and watch them create their recipes step-by-step in order to make it easy to follow for average kitchen experimenters.”

“You sound like you’ve answered that question before,” Seungkwan snickered as Mingyu smiled back and joined in. “That sounds pretty cool though.”

“Yeah, it’s not a common job to have. But it is pretty nice.”

“Seems nicer than my job,” Seungkwan sighed.

“But you make a good amount of money, right? I bet you have a lot of clients as well since you guys are a software company.”

“I suppose. It puts bread on the table, but it isn’t anything exciting.”

Mingyu tapped the pads of his fingers on his thigh as he leaned over a bit more, close enough to properly observe the monitor and computer technician but far enough to keep a respectable distance. He wasn’t really sure why, but there was a comforting aura that Seungkwan emitted that filled Mingyu’s office space with something undeniably yet unknowingly serene.

Seungkwan leaned back in the seat as he watched the monitor restart and Mingyu gasped in excitement as he saw his desktop appear back to normal with the files present as if they were never deleted.

“Wow, thank you so much!” Mingyu gasped in relief as they traded spots again, Mingyu scrolling through, making sure every single file he needed was located. Seungkwan nodded as he pulled his jacket from the back of the chair and began putting his arms through his sleeves.

Mingyu smiled to fill the awkward silence as he led Seungkwan out of the room towards the exit. They walked somewhat side by side, Mingyu a step ahead as he was the one who mastered maneuvering through his building with Seungkwan following him. As Mingyu glanced back, Seungkwan’s gaze was glued to his phone as he looked up slightly to follow Mingyu’s shoes against the hardwood.

“Am I your only client today?” Mingyu asked, an attempt to start a conversation.

Seungkwan looked up and nodded. “Well, the only client who scheduled an appointment. I might be assigned someone else when I get back.”

“Why don’t I treat you out to lunch?” Mingyu offered. Seungkwan looked up and the two made eye contact, the younger holding a surprised facial expression.

“Oh, you don’t really need to, I can just grab a bite to eat nearby.”

“No, please, let me. It’s the least I could do for what you did for me. Plus, I know a great restaurant. Believe me, I personally know the chef.”

He knows better, Seungkwan definitely knows better since this is how Hansol’s love life ignited. He kept his eye contact duration at a minimum as he did not want to spark any interest in Mingyu. But it was free food, he would be a fool to throw that offer out the window.

It was one lunch date with a client. It was barely a date, it was just an outing. A professional outing with a purpose of gratitude. Surely this couldn’t lead to anything more serious to Seungkwan.

But surely, Seungkwan was wrong.

The following week, Seungkwan had Thursday off and decided to pay a visit to Soonyoung who relocated to Mapo for a job promotion. He knew he could trust him with these thoughts of Mingyu that raced through his head, especially since he had too much pride to admit to Hansol that they were in a similar situation. It has only been less than a week and yet Seungkwan can’t get the lunch date—he admits it being a date now— with Mingyu out of his mind.

During the lunch date with Mingyu, Seungkwan made a promise to himself not to allude to any future meetings with each other, which was quickly broken when him and Mingyu started to talk about themselves.

Seungkwan was surprised that Mingyu opened up to him—a data recovery employee he had just met a few hours ago. “I really love to cook,” Mingyu smiles as the two of them were waiting for their food to arrive at their table. “I’ve always been interested by it, it’s fascinating how I could combine a few ingredients together to create something new—a totally new creation.”

Mingyu grinned and Seungkwan couldn’t help but smile back. “Sounds like you’re really passionate… but, then, if you don’t mind me asking, why didn’t you become a chef?”

“Money,” Mingyu sighed. Seungkwan nodded in understanding. The taller one sipped his water and placed it on the table gently, sliding it back to its original position as he pulled his hand back and rubbed it on his thigh. “Plus, I lived with my grandma when I was younger so she couldn’t really afford to pay for culinary school… but I enjoyed my time cooking with her when she was alive.”

Seungkwan pouted. “Condolences.”

“Thank you, but she’s in a better place.” Mingyu smiled. “I got a communications degree at university and somehow ended up being hired by a company that develops cookbooks.” He chuckled a bit. “It’s pretty ironic, isn’t it?” The two nodded before Mingyu blinked and shook his head. “Oh, gosh, sorry. I’m talking too much about myself— what about you?”

“Me?” Seungkwan blinked. He shrugged before putting his water down. “I… there isn’t much really. I like computers and went to university with my best friend for it and now we work for a software company.”

“That’s pretty exciting,” Mingyu nodded. “I’m pretty bad at computers… hence, why we came into contact in the first place.” They shared a laugh before their waitress came over with their plates of food. Seungkwan oohed at how ornamented the food was displayed when it was set down on the placemats. They thanked her before Seungkwan grabbed his fork excitedly. “Wait!” Mingyu gasped.

Seungkwan blinked up and froze in his position and watched as Mingyu took out his phone while standing up before reorganizing their plates as he began shooting photos. “Um…” Seungkwan coughed, still in position, “what are you doing?”

“Oh, sorry,” Mingyu hummed as he walked around the table for a better photo angle, “this is something I do a lot… I appreciate the aesthetics of food as much as the creation of it.”

As intriguing as it sounded and as attractive as Mingyu looked while he was passionately taking photos of Seungkwan’s pasta, Seungkwan’s stomach had a mind of its own as it kept rumbling. He continuously rubbed it before Mingyu sat down and they could proceed eating. Sighing in relief, the younger one started eating and his eyes widened at how delicious the dish he ordered satisfied his taste buds.

Seeing the reaction, Mingyu grinned as he began eating his own food. “Good, huh?”

“Really good!” Seungkwan exclaimed with a mouth full of food. Mingyu snickered, Seungkwan blushing in embarrassment but also from Mingyu’s adorable expressions—which he didn’t admit until hours later.

The second Seungkwan stepped back into his apartment, it quickly dawned upon him that his routine had been broken. The Monday vibes that followed him throughout the week came to a halt when he finally realized it was only Wednesday afternoon and he had just came back from a lunch date with his client.

“It wasn’t a date,” he kept mumbling to himself as he set his bag down in its usual spot as he walked to his closet to change into more comfortable clothes. He came out in jogging pants as he went back to the kitchen, catching himself off-guard when he searched on his phone for pasta recipes for tonight’s dinner. He knew his usual routine of ordering jajjangmyeon is unhealthy but it was his routine. Cooking was not his routine. Neither was thinking of someone—whom he just met that day—the entire day.

Mingyu was not part of his routine.

But he could be.

When Soonyoung heard about his younger friend’s intuitive thoughts he gasped happily and hugged him tightly. “A-ah, hyung—” Seungkwan heaved as he felt the oxygen being squeezed out of him.

“Sorry, sorry!” Soonyoung giggled as he pulled back and fixed Seungkwan’s shirt. “I’m just really happy for you.” They continued their conversation at a nearby cafe as Soonyoung was on an hour break anyway. “You should stay the night,” Soonyoung hummed as he offered a spoonful of the bingsoo to his friend. “The subway ride isn’t that bad here, right?”

“It’s only an hour.” Seungkwan nodded as he opened his mouth and let his hyung feed him.

“Perfect! I’ll pull out the couch for you. So this guy, Mingyu, right?”

“Y-yeah that’s his name… Hyung, it’s weird though… I shouldn’t fall for someone so fast, right? Shouldn’t it take some time?”

Soonyoung paused with the spoon hovering over his tongue as he smiled cheekily. “So you admit you fell for him?”

Realizing the words that had just escaped his mouth, Seungkwan dropped his own spoon on the table and rubbed his cheeks. “Shit… Hyung, I’m really new to this.”

“I can tell. Do you want to talk to Junnie about it? He’s better at this sort of thing than me.”

Seungkwan shrugged. “Ah, maybe… but I’d rather just keep it between us. I don’t really want anyone else to know. Hansol doesn’t even know.”

Gasping, Soonyoung held his shirt dramatically as his chair scooted back a bit. “Really? I know before your best friend?” He pretended to sniffle and dabbed the napkin over his eyes. “I’m so touched, I really am your favourite hyung.”

“You’re about to me second after Jihoon hyung,” Seungkwan grumbled as he picked his spoon back up and kept eating. “Should I ask for a second date?”

“Do you have his number?”

“I have… his email.”

“That’s a bit weird, don’t you think? Shouldn’t emails be, y’know, professional?”

“It’s all I have.” Seungkwan pouted. “What? Should I personally ask him at his work building?”

“That’s a good idea!”

“Wha— no, Hyung that’s a terrible idea! And I’ll tell you why!”

“I’m listening,” Soonyoung leaned over and grinned to tease Seungkwan. Seungkwan pouted in response. Before looking down and silently admitting defeat. “I know you’re shy and emailing seems like the best way to handle this, but maybe you should do it in person. It shows you’re more interested too.”

Seungkwan never really believed in pep talks, especially ones to himself, but he constantly gave himself pep talks the whole way back to Gangnam. From his subway stop to the next subway line towards Mingyu’s building, with the five minute walk in between before reaching the actual address. He stood in front of the door, just like the first time he had, and took a deep breath before marching in with the plan of walking straight to Mingyu’s office.

He forgot about the front desk as soon as he stepped in and sheepishly walked over to her to ask for Mingyu. She replied that he was out of the office and at a restaurant working with a chef at their restaurant as they currently speak. A bit discouraged, Seungkwan was about to give up but he boldly asked for the location address, which she kindly gave to him.

It took another forty-five minute subway ride as Seungkwan attempted to casually walk by the restaurant before he almost lost his balance when he saw Mingyu through the window plating a dish with cameras and lighting surrounding the table. Thankfully, Mingyu spotted him and waved him to come inside so Seungkwan wouldn’t make a fool of himself.

The hug—the warm and secure hug—that Mingyu greeted Seungkwan with was surprisingly pleasant and left him dazed as Mingyu pulled back. “Funny seeing you here, I’m just getting ready this plate of food ready for its shoot.”

“I thought you just write cookbooks.”

Mingyu shook his head before shrugging. “Well, I do do that, but I also do this on the side for another company. Funny, my whole life revolves around food,” he chuckled. Seungkwan blushed a bit and nodded.

He took a deep breath before sighing. “Actually, I was wondering… are you… when… um… I… what are you doing after this?”

“Um… probably going to just head back to my place and edit these pictures… why, do you have plans?”

Seungkwan shook his head. “I… do you want to go to dinner? I mean— out to dinner? Or maybe into dinner? If we decide to go to my place… oh gosh—” he turned his head and coughed as Mingyu smiled.

“I’d love to have dinner with you. Actually, maybe I can cook something for you and bring it over? I love cooking for people.”

“I love eating other people’s cooking,” Seungkwan joked, smiling when Mingyu laughed at his at attempt of a corny joke. They exchanged numbers and Seungkwan sent him his address before he waved at Mingyu to leave him to his business. “I’ll see you at seven?”

“Seven’s good for me,” Mingyu grinned.

“You usually don’t call this early,” Junhui snickered into the receiver as Seungkwan grasped on the other line. “Soonyoung’s still asleep and he left his phone in the kitchen to charge.”

“Ah… Hyung… I was just—”

“Dont worry, he told me everything. You know your Hyung.” Seungkwan groaned but accepted it as Junhui hummed. “So? How was your home dinner with Mingyu, was it?”

“Yeah, his name is Mingyu,” Seungkwan nodded before sighing. “Hyung, I think he’s too perfect for me.”

“What do you mean?” Junhui asked as he unplugged the phone and walked back to the bedroom and smiled when he saw Soonyoung sprawled across their bed. “I don’t think anyone can be too perfect, Seungkwan.”

“Hyung, you haven’t met Kim Mingyu. He can cook, he can clean, he’s tall, he’s handsome, he’s—everything.”

Junhui chuckled. “I don’t think that’s everything, Seungkwan,” he replied as he fixed the blanket and pulled it up to Soonyoung’s shoulder as he sat down next to him. “But it seems like you really like him.”

Seungkwan whined as he lied back down on his own mattress as he turned his head to look at the kitchen where he remembered when Mingyu taught him how to cut tomatoes properly the night before. “I just… maybe I need to slow my roll.”

“Did he spend the night?”

“No, he has another restaurant photoshoot thing in the morning. I would have let him stay though otherwise. Or is that moving things too soon? Oh my gosh, Hyung, this is so hard.”

“Just breathe, Seungkwan,” Junhui suggested as he continued to stroke Soonyoung’s head as he scooted closer to Junhui on the mattress. “Are you guys official yet?”

“What does that mean?”

“Y’know, you’re actually dating? An official couple? Though, I take it from that question that you two aren’t.”

“We… aren’t.” Seungkwan sighed.

“Do you want to be official?”

“I don’t know, Hyung. I just… don’t know.”

“Still no response?” Seokmin asked, pouring a cup of tea in the kitchen as Mingyu leaned back against the couch and sighed before locking his phone.

“Nothing. Won’t even respond to my texts even though I know he read them.”

Seokmin walked over with the two mugs to accompany his friend. Mingyu pulled out the coasters before Seokmin set them down on the table. “Maybe he’s busy?”

“I don’t think it’s possible to be busy enough to ignore someone’s messages and phone calls for practically a month.” Mingyu sighed and blew on the tea before sipping it carefully, feeling the warmth distribute throughout his entire body. “I think… he got over me.”

“Mingyu, don’t say that,” Seokmin frowned as he held his own cup of tea, keeping his palms warm. “I’m sure there’s more to this than you think.”

Sitting up and placing the mug back on the coaster, Mingyu shook his head. “You’re giving him too much benefit of the doubt, Seok. I wanted to tell him so much, I thought we… I thought we clicked really well, but I guess the feelings died down on his end.”

“Well,” Seokmin sighed as he rubbed the taller one’s back, “what about that job interview you have next week? What if you get it?”

“It’s my dream job. I want it more than anything,” Mingyu exhaled before turning his head to look over at his friend’s sympathetic expression before smiling. “If I get it, it’s surely meant to be. But… I just wish that I’d get his opinion on it. It would mean a lot to me.”

“You don’t have to be strapped down for someone, you know that.”

“I know that. I definitely know that. But… I just… Seok, I would stay for him.”

“Wow, this is really something, huh?” Seokmin asked, smiling when Mingyu shyly nodded before rubbing the back of his neck. “You know normally, I would have texted Minghao to come over and smack sense into you, but I think he would be behind me when I say that if you really like him, then let’s see what happens then.”

“You mean—?”

“I mean, if you get the job and he answers your call and convinces you to stay, then we won’t stop you from staying for him.”

“—and for you guys—”

“No, you know we’d always stay in contact with you,” Seokmin grinned. “If you and Seungkwan are meant to be, then let’s wait until after that interview.”

“You’re awfully quiet these days during lunch, even for you,” Hansol observed as he nudged Seungkwan by kicking his ankle under the table. Seungkwan shook out of his train of thought and shrugged as he went back to eating his food. “And you don’t really eat anything except salads either… Are you… okay?”

“I’m peachy,” Seungkwan responded with a mouth full of lettuce in his mouth.

Hansol snickered and offered a napkin when part of the dressing dripped from Seungkwan’s fork. He watched his friend wipe it before he pouted a bit. “You’re not telling me something.”

“I tell you everything.”

“Except whatever’s on your mind right now, apparently.”

“There’s nothing on my mind now.”

“You ignored my whole spiel of how Seungcheol Hyung and I are official.” Hansol pouted before jumping when Seungkwan dropped his fork on the floor and his eye twitched. “Something’s definitely going through your mind, Boo.” He offered to help clean up but frowned when Seungkwan nudged him not to as he cleaned up the spill and fork off the floor. “Seungkwan…”

“I fell in love with a client too,” Seungkwan confessed.

Hansol blinked. “Oh, you did? That one you had like two months ago?”

“Yeah, that’s the guy. Kim Mingyu. Mr. Perfect. He’s so perfect, Hansol, oh my gosh—”

Processing the information, Hansol gradually smiled. “Well, I’m happy for you—”

“We haven’t talked in three weeks,” the other sighed. He began eating his salad once again as Hansol pushed his plate of pasta on the side before leaning his elbows on the table.

“Why?”

“Did you not hear what I said? He’s so perfect… I can’t fall in love with someone like that. Not someone like me.”

“Whoa whoa, slow down,” Hansol leaned in closer and patted his best friend’s arm. “Nobody said anything about falling in love yet. Just if you like him and he likes you back.”

“That’s the problem… I think we like each other but I don’t think we should fall in love with each other.”

It was silent for the rest of the lunch break. Hansol didn’t want to push Seungkwan too far with questions and Seungkwan didn’t want to vent that much about the subject. This was new to them, being quiet to each other, but they began to open up into conversation again as they headed back to the office.

“Has he been trying to talk to you?”

“I’ve been ignoring his texts and calls…”

“Seungkwan… that’s not how relationships work.”

“I know—no, actually no. I don’t know how relationships work. I don’t know how any of this shit works!” Seungkwan ruffled his hair as Hansol patted his back. He sighed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to tell you earlier but… it might be too late now.”

“You know it’s never too late to fix this, right? And, who knows— maybe he feels the same way about you.”

He took a long and thoughtful look at his best friend before Seungkwan shook his head back to reality. “I’m sorry, I’m just surprised that you actually gave me good and legitimate advice.”

“Oh, fuck you too,” Hansol grunted before the two of them laughed together. “Let me stay over, it’s been awhile since I have and I want to be there for you when you talk to Mingyu.” Seungkwan raised an eyebrow at Hansol’s kind gesture before his friend sighed. “Yeah, okay, Seungcheol might be out of town for the weekend and I might need company so—” Seungkwan snickered as Hansol’s cheeks turned red out of embarrassment before smiling when Seungkwan offered his place.

“That’s strange,” Seungkwan grumbled as he was brushing his teeth in the bathroom while pulling the phone away from his left ear.

“What strange?” Hansol asked loudly from the living room, causing Seungkwan to jump surprised.

“He isn’t picking up. His phone leads straight to voicemail.”

“Why would you call him while brushing your teeth?” Hansol laughed. “Were you really going to talk to him with all that foam in your mouth?”

Seungkwan spit out the toothpaste in his mouth before rinsing and walking out with a pout towards the couch where his best friend was settled with a blanket and extra pillow. He sat down and whined. “I can just spit out the foam, you know…” He sighed. “He really didn’t pick up though.”

“Well, maybe his phone died,” suggested Hansol. Seungkwan sighed and nodded, mumbling how he’ll call in the morning before Hansol looked over and saw the voicemail icon on the status bar. “Have you not checked your voicemail.”

“You know I never check my voicemail.”

“Do you see how much voicemail you have?” Hansol gasped as he picked up Seungkwan’s phone. “There’s so many! These are all probably Mingyu Hyung too, I think you should listen to them. He probably wanted to tell you a lot… It would also be polite to when he picks up the phone tomorrow morning.”

“Y-yeah… I guess that’s fair,” Seungkwan nodded as he picked up his phone and put it to his ear to hear the messages. He felt his heart melt at the sound of Mingyu’s voice, but that smile began to fade with every message he heard.

“Hey, Kwannie. I had a really fun night cooking for you at your place last week. I’m really sorry I couldn’t stay over. I would have loved to. Maybe we could do it again? I was thinking this weekend. Let me know!”

“You’re pretty bad at responding these days,” Mingyu chuckled. “I hope you’re doing well. Anyway, I was really inspired by all of the encouragement you gave me the other night and, well, I decided that I was going to pursue cooking again. Not only for my grandma, but for you as well. I’ve been talking to the chefs I work with to help me see what I can do. Ah, I just wanted to thank you again for that. I hope I can repay you for this.”

“Are you doing okay? I don’t really hear from you as much. Or at all,” Mingyu mumbled. “Anyway, I have an interview in two days and, well, it would mean a lot if I could get your opinion on it? The job, I mean. It’s just that, if I get it then it means that I would leave the country to pursue culinary school. The chefs put in a good word for me too, so I might actually have a chance but I don’t want to make a decision before I hear your input because, well, it means a lot to me. I hope you call me back.”

Seungkwan never bothered hearing the last message in his inbox as he threw his phone onto the loveseat adjacent to the couch, making Hansol squeal at the action before he saw Seungkwan sniffling, tears dripping onto his thighs.

“Kwan?” Hansol softly called out as he frowned and saw Seungkwan burst into tears. He quickly scooted over and threw the blanket over the crying one’s shoulders and pulled him closer. He rubbed his shoulders and let Seungkwan lean on his own. “Kwan, what happened?”

“I’m such a dumbass… he… he really felt the same way.”

He couldn’t stand seeing his friend like this. “Then, l-let’s camp out of his company building tonight!” Seungkwan looked up, shocked, while wiping the continuous tears rolling down his cheek. “I’m serious! Since you don’t know where he lives, at least you know where he works, right? We’ll just wait there until he comes to work! And then— then, you two can work things out, okay?” Seungkwan couldn’t speak but just nodded as Hansol stood up and pulled the blanket off the two of them and went to get their shoes. “We’ll make it work, Kwan.”

Seungkwan was surprised to wake up to the front desk worker nudging him as he leaned against the building, sitting on the concrete floor covered in a blanket with Hansol sleeping on his shoulder. “Oh good,” she sighed in relief. “I just came to open up and— are you looking for Mingyu?” Seungkwan’s eyes quickly widened after he rubbed his eyes to adjust to the bright atmosphere before he felt his heart drop as her smile changed. “He doesn’t work here anymore.”

“W-what?” Seungkwan asked in disbelief. “B-but— w-what happened?”

“Did he not tell you?” she pouted as she kneeled down to his eye-level. “He got a new job—his dream job—so he resigned here and moved just this morning.”

From the conversation, Hansol woke up and was also surprised to see the worker in front of them. He pouted when he looked over at Seungkwan and saw how much his hands were shaking while gripping his legs tightly close to his chest.

“W-where did he move?”

“Paris.”

Hansol blinked. “Mingyu moved to Paris?”

“That’s right. One of the chefs here gave a recommendation to his alma mater about Mingyu and they accepted him just two days ago.” Before Seungkwan could ask where Mingyu went, she stood up when her alarm went off as she bid the two farewell and entered the building. Seungkwan sat completely still, processing what had just happened before he frantically pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed Mingyu’s number.

The number you have reached is unavailable as it is no longer in service.

“Fuck, no,” Seungkwan’s voice trembled. He redialed at least four times, persistently hearing the same message before Hansol grabbed the phone out of his hands. Seungkwan covered his face and began to sob. “I’m… too late…”

“No, no don’t say that. We’ll find a way, Kwan—”

“I don’t think... there are anymore... ways around this, Sol,” Seungkwan shook his head while still covering his face, both of them paying no attention to the increasing number of bystanders that kept glancing at them as the morning rush came around. “We really weren’t meant to be…”

Hansol frowned before gripping onto Seungkwan’s shoulders and shaking him. “Kwan, listen to yourself, you sound like a complete fool!”

“I am a fool!” Seungkwan wailed. “A fool who was in love and a fool who let that all slip away from such stupid and foolish thoughts!” Hansol let Seungkwan cry on his shoulder, rubbing his back as an affectionate sign of solace—the only thing he could offer at this time. The two headed back to Seungkwan’s apartment, thankful that they both had the day off.

Looking over, seeing his friend mumbling to himself—of probably negative thoughts—Hansol nudged him. “Seungkwan…” the other looked up as Hansol sighed. “We’ll find a way, okay?”

“Okay…” Seungkwan replied hopelessly.

“Hey… if you two were really meant to be, it’ll happen. It was just the wrong time.”

Seungkwan sighed. “Sol, I told you before. I don’t think we’re meant to be together.”

“Yes, Hyung, I heard you loud and clear,” Seungkwan rolled his eyes as he was filing through paperwork on his desk that Jihoon handed him just this morning. “I’m almost done with this and then I’ll go grab the other files from the third floor after lunch.” After Jihoon gave more instructions, Seungkwan sighed in relief as he hung up his phone. He checked his watch and grumbled how he had to meet Hansol downstairs in a few minutes for lunch.

He rushed down after going through all the papers, thankful that Chan was his assistant now so that he could finish the job for him. After being promoted two ranks, Seungkwan’s focus from work transitioned from client work to paperwork. He didn’t mind though, he didn’t have to run in and out of the building every other day, but he shifted between the third and fourth floor constantly. It was less of a demanding task to his mind and body though.

Seungkwan managed to walk out of the building just in time as Hansol showed up outside the door. “Hey, wow, look at you with your cool pin Jihoon hyung gave you,” Hansol snickered as Seungkwan pushed his face away.

The two walked to the new restaurant that had just opened last week that became a local favourite to their little pocket of town. Hansol managed to squeeze a reservation last minute thanks to Seungcheol for knowing the management. They both oohed at the sight of the building’s interior as the host led them to their table.

“Shit,” Seungkwan whispered, “the food here must be really expensive then.”

“Good think you’re paying then, huh?” Hansol snickered as they both sat down. After looking over at the menu and ordering their food, they began catching up as Hansol was complaining about graduate school. “Yeah, it’s been rough,” Hansol sighed as he rubbed his neck, “but Cheol hyung has been a really good support line… I mean, you know, besides my best friend.”

“Yeah, you better not forget about me!” Seungkwan rolled his eyes. “Leaving me and going back to school to pursue a master’s degree? I mean, who does that?” Hansol raised his hand and laughed when Seungkwan kicked his leg under the table before sighing. “I’m happy for you though, Sol. You two seem serious too, huh?”

“Thank you,” Hansol smiled. “Yeah, Hyung and I moved in together just last month. It was a big step for the two of us but… we’re happy. I’m happy for you too. You’ve been doing alright, right?”

Seungkwan shrugged, eyeing the food coming over to their table before smiling. “Yeah, more or less. Same old, same old.” Before eating, Seungkwan told Hansol to freeze, causing him to squeal, only to sigh and chuckle when he watched Seungkwan take his phone out and stand up, rearranging the plates before taking multiple pictures.

“Wow, you still do this?” Hansol snickered.

“Old habits, I guess,” Seungkwan hummed before he sat back down and Hansol started scarfing down his food. Just by the mere smell of the food, Seungkwan felt a sense of comfort, a sense of familiarity, a sense of love. Then again, he was probably just hungry. With that first bite, he paused. Hansol looked over while wiping his mouth and blinked at his friend’s blank expression. Seungkwan, shaking out of his trance, called over their waiter. “C-can you send my compliments to the chef? Or can I… possibly see the chef?”

“Well,” the waiter hummed, “since this is still considered opening week, let me call him out for you.” Seungkwan smiled thankfully as the waiter left, leaving Hansol puzzled.

The second those double doors opened and their eyes met, Seungkwan’s heart started racing just as it did before. Hansol, still confused, turned around to see the sous chef— fitting a familiar description of someone Seungkwan had met and grew fond of years ago. Hansol snickered and nudged Seungkwan under the table. “Great timing, huh?”

#seventeen fanfics #seventeen #17writernet #fluff #angst #gyukwan #mingyu #seungkwan

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themoneybuff-blog · 5 years

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The pros and cons of Personal Capital

If you've read money blogs over the past five years, you've heard about Personal Capital. Personal Capital is a free money-tracking tool with a beautiful interface and gasp no advertising. (One of my big complains about Mint is that it shoves ads in your face.) Many of my friends and colleagues promote the hell out of Personal Capital because the company pays good money when people sign up. (And yes, links to Personal Capital in this review absolutely put money in my pocket. But any Personal Capital link you see anywhere on the web puts money in somebody's pocket.) I sometimes wonder, though, if any of my pals actually uses Personal Capital, you know? All of their reviews are glowing. While I like Personal Capital, I've been frustrated by the app in the past. Even today, I find that it's not as useful as I'd like. What are my issues with Personal Capital? For a long time, I was frustrated trying to get Personal Capital to connect to my accounts. It still won't connect to my credit union, but that's fine. I can enter my balance manually. It was frustrating, though, that for years I couldn't get Personal Capital to connect to my Fidelity investment accounts. They work nowbut I'm always worried that they won't. The app still won't connect to my Capital One credit card and hasn't for over a year, which I find mind-blowing.

Personal Capital, as an app, isn't robust enough to replace something like Quicken or You Need a Budget. The latter tools allow you to track and manage your money on a transaction by transaction level. Okay, maybe you can track your transactions, but you can't do anything meaningful with them, the same way you could with Quicken or YNAB.The phone calls! My god, the phone calls! Here's a not-so-secret secret: The Personal Capital app while beautiful and useful is actually bait. It's a lure. Its aim is to attract high net-worth users to connect their accounts. When they do, Personal Capital (the company) begins a phone campaign in an attempt to recruit the users as clients. Personal Capital isn't actually an app company; it's a wealth-management company. They want people with lots of money to sign up. (I can't comment on whether this is a good deal or not. I don't want a financial advisor. I ignore all of the calls from Personal Capital.)

Personal Capital has pretty reports, but there aren't enough of them. My copy of Quicken 2007 ugly as it is has 23 different reports and 10 different graphs. (Plus, you can customize many more.) Personal Capital has maybenine ways to look at your money? (I can't tell for sure.)The security is over the top. I suppose I should be happy about this, but I'm not. It feels like I'm constantly having to verify my identity via email or text message. Some of my other accounts make me do this occasionally, but it feels like Personal Capital does this multiple times per week. That's crazy! Now, these complaints aside, here's a confession: I've been using the Personal Capital app for 5+ years. For real. I can't remember when I started, but I do remember being cranky because a Personal Capital rep didn't know who I was at Fincon 2013 in St. Louis. I use your app, I told him. And I have a big blog. (I wince now at the thought of my arrogance.) Despite the drawbacks, there must be something to it. Right? Today using my current financial situation let's look at the pros and cons of Personal Capital. Quicken 2007 vs. Personal Capital As regular readers know, I'm an old fogey. My money management tool of choice is an antiquated copy of Quicken for Mac 2007. This tool is so important to me, in fact, that I'm currently refusing to update my system software to the latest version (Mac OS Mojave) because I'm afraid it'll break Quicken. (Other user experiences are mixed.) How important is Quicken 2007 to me? No joke: I would buy a used Mac laptop just to run that software. As much as I love Quicken, it has its drawbacks. One of those is that it's a pre-mobile app. Quicken 2007 is almost as old as this blog. It came out roughly one year before the first iPhone. (Get Rich Slowly launched on 15 April 2006. I can't find a release date for Quicken 2007, but it was available by at least 30 August 2006. The iPhone launched on 29 June 2007.) If I want to interact with Quicken, I have to sit down at my desktop computer. Because I'm a nerd, I'm attached to my mobile devices. I have an iPad. And an iPhone. And an Apple Watch. (Why isn't it an iWatch? I don't know. Apple doesn't give a fig about consistency.) I want to be able to track my money from my mobile devices. Trust me: I've tried tons of other mobile apps. I don't really like any of them. I do, however, like Personal Capitalwarts and all. I would never ever use it as my only money management tool, but as one piece of a bigger package, it'a actually kind of awesome. Personal Capital is the only mobile money management app that I use. There are others out there, sure, but for my needs, Personal Capital fills a nicheand fills it well. Personal Capital as Daily Money Tracker I use Personal Capital as a daily tracker. Quicken 2007 is my actual go-to tool for entering and analyzing my data, but Personal Capital is what I've used for the past five years to check on my accounts to make sure everything is okay. Believe it or not, Personal Capital has saved my bacon several times. What? My credit card payment is due today? Whoops! I'd better go pay it. Wait! What's this strange charge on my account? That's not me. Let me call my bank. Whoa! I forgot to pay my garbage bill. I'd better handle that when I get home. Because Personal Capital connects to (most of) my accounts, I'm able to look at everything from a unified dashboard. I don't have to log in to each credit card and bank account to verify everything. I can do it from one place. (Okay, not my credit union. I still have to go check that separately.) Here, for instance, is a look at my recent transactions. (I have no idea what the graph is tracking. I'm not sure I care.)

When I shared my financial situation recently, a few readers wondered why I don't count my business finances when tracking my entire money picture. Well, in Personal Capital I do. Because I can connect the app to both personal and business accounts, I can get an idea of the Big Picture. Here you can see that most of my expenses for January so far have been blog related.

I'll admit, it's very nice to have a single app where I can view all of my recent transactions, both personal and business. Although I only take action on this info maybe twice per year, it sets my mind at ease. It takes thirty seconds of my time each day, but that's thirty seconds I'm happy to spend. Personal Capital as Investment Tracker Honestly, though, Personal Capital isn't meant to be a daily money-management tool. For that, I'd use something like You Need a Budget. Personal Capital is specifically designed to monitor your investments. Because of this, the Personal Capital app has a variety of tools to help investors. First up, there's the plain ol' portfolio view:

Nothing special here, right? You get a list of your investments and a graph of their performance over the past 90 days. Nothing special, but still easier for me than logging into the Fidelity website (or app). (As a passive investor, though, I don't actually look at investment performance that often. I might check it once per weekbut a couple of times per month is more likely.) You can also get a breakdown of your asset allocation:

The Personal Capital app also offers something interesting something I think Vanguard and Fidelity should offer. They have a tool that analyzes the fees on your investment accounts. As you probably know, fees are one of the top drags on the average investor's performance. Too many suckers pay 1% or 2% per year (or more!) in mutual fund costs. Index funds have risen to prominence because they promise management fees of 0.20% or 0.10% (or lower). Personal Capital makes it clear just how much you're paying in fees.

In my case, I'm doing fairly well except in my rollover IRA. But I'm okay with that. That rollover IRA is 100% invested in a real-estate investment trust (or REIT), and those carry higher expense ratios. (True story: That REIT is actually my highest performing investment over the past decade!) Personal Capital's Retirement Calculator All of these other features are great, but there's one main reason I continue to use Personal Capital: its retirement calculator. As I mentioned the other day, I hate most retirement calculators. They're overly simplistic. Their assumptions are bogus. They're designed to get users to save more than they need. The Personal Capital retirement calculator isn't the best tool on the market we'll look at two better tools during the next week but it's pretty damn good for something that's free and built into an otherwise useful app. This section is going to be the biggest part of this review, and it's going to contain plenty of screenshots. You've been warned. First up, here's a look at my own personal financial situation as of this morning. (Sorry for the mute notification in the middle of the screenshot. My bad. Not sure why I was muting my iPad, but I can't fix it now.)

Based on my current situation $736,170 in liquid investments and roughly $60,000 of annual expenses Personal Capital says I'll run out of money at 62. This doesn't differ much from other retirement calculators I've looked at. But here is where Personal Capital gets fun (and the reason I'm obsessed with it). Do you see those + signs across from Investment Events and Spending Goals? If you click on those, you can add new events. (And if you click on existing events, you can modify those.) This means you can tweak your parameters over and over and over again. What if, for instance, I decreased my spending from $60,000 per year to $42,000 per year? (This is my aim for 2019.)

Well, look at that. If I re-embrace frugality, my money will likely last until I'm 72 instead of 62. Nice! And now that I'm back to work at the box factory, what if I stay there for ten years and earn $20,000 annually?

Holy cats! As you can see, working part-time makes a ginormous difference. If I reduce my spending to $3500 per month while earning $20,000 per year, I'm golden. I shouldn't run out of money before my projected age of demise. (Even in a worst-case scenario, my money would last until age 67.) And if I end up with an inheritance? Party time!

Okay, maybe I'm getting a little too out of control there. Let's dial things back. Let's get rid of the inheritance and bring my spending back to current levels. If I work part-time for ten years, what then?

Hm. Not enough to get me to where I want to go, is it? (Plus, I was muting the sound again. What the heck?) Okay, what if I decide to sell this house at some point in the next ten years. What then?

Okay, not bad. That makes me wonder, though, what if I did not decide to go back to work for the family business. What then?

Well, I guess that's not bad, but it's not nearly as good as if I'm bringing in some sort of income. Okay, let's look at the ultimate optimistic scenario. Let's say I trim my spending from $60,000 per year to $42,000 per year. Let's assume I spend the next decade at the box factory earning $20,000 per year. Let's assume that my mother dies in ten years or so and leaves me an inheritance. Let's assume that Kim and I sell this place after increasing frustration with the never-ending repairs, then move into a rented apartment. After all those assumptions, what does my future look like?

But that's a future that's far too rosy than the one I think lies ahead. You get the point, though. Even without the app's other features, I'd love Personal Capital just for its retirement calculator. It's more fun and flexible than 95% of the other retirement calculators on the market. (As I mentioned, we'll take a peek at the 5% that are better over the next few days.) The Bottom Line I have been using Personal Capital for five years now. It's nowhere near a complete money-management tool, and I know that. But I don't care. I don't expect it to be the biggest and bestest. I accept it for what it is. Personal Capital is great at a few things: Monitoring your money on a daily basis.Tracking (and analyzing) your investment portfolio.Playing with various retirement scenarios. If you're not interested in these three tasks, Personal Capital probably isn't right for you. If you want a lot of detail and analysis, Personal Capital probably isn't right for you. If you have a lot of money invested and don't want people to pester you with phone calls, Personal Capital probably isn't right for you. For everyone else, though, Personal Capital is a useful (if imperfect) tool. If you decide to use it, just be aware of its limitations. As I say, I've been using it for five years. It's not my top tool, but it's the one I access most often. That's worth something, I guess. I'm curious, though. Many GRS readers must also be using Personal Capital. What are your experiences like? Do you recommend it? What are your favorite features? What do you not like? Would you recommend Personal Capital to a friend?

Author: J.D. Roth In 2006, J.D. founded Get Rich Slowly to document his quest to get out of debt. Over time, he learned how to save and how to invest. Today, he's managed to reach early retirement! He wants to help you master your money and your life. No scams. No gimmicks. Just smart money advice to help you reach your goals. https://www.getrichslowly.org/personal-capital/

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