#but i might push it back and not rollover for a day or two

[wakeupfreanz]

Hey frean! Two questions tonight 🧘🏽

Do you think jyp’s A2K project and TV show are gonna do well? Tons of people complained about the he range which is understandable. I just don’t know what they’re aiming for with such young girls ☠️ like who’s gonna tune in? what’s the concept?

also hybe x geffen global girl group.. when could we expect that to air? will there be actual diversity or is it just gonna be a bunch of wasians. Will they even be as successful as their kpop group counterparts?

Hi! Let's get into it, I remember the announcement, but it's been REAL quiet as for any updates recently. Let's see what goes on.

A2K Airing?: Aries Season, Fire sign season BIG, Sagittarius or Scorpio season. The 9th month, September during a transitional period. It feels like production is running very quickly, if any content is going to be made public, we will either see it very soon or will have to wait quite a bit like during Virgo season. I can see JYP himself being the final decision to slow things down and push it to a Virgo season if it doesn't feel like the right day during Aries season. If it does not come to us in this year, I can foresee the project being pushed 2-3 years further out to reserve more time for training/polishing.

A2K Audience?: QoC, Chariot, 8oC, HM. There are likely to be a lot of rollover fans. Lots, a LOT of stays and onces are going to be very interested in them. I can see them having a LOT of company stans hanging around them, which might entice external stans and new people to check them out. The fans are likely going to end up hard carrying half of the promo it seems.

A2K Concept?: 4oC, HM, 9oS, 3oW. Teen angst is going to be big for them it seems. The pain, depth of emotion, the pain of growing and the worldview for adolescence is going to be what follows them likely through their career. They're projecting for the younger audience in an attempt to grow up with them it seems.

A2K Success Projection?: 9oW, 5oC, Moon rev, KnoW. It's going to be veeeeeeery strange in the beginning? If at all, you're going to see the gaps in talent before they're able to fuse together and improve. This could mean that we're going to be seeing the vast expanse of their training period. Their struggling of all kinds is going to be on display which is going to attract others via sympathy and upset others because it will seem like exploitation. It's going to be a shaky start, but they're going to become a fast stallion and charge their way up relentlessly. It would not be fair to compare them to anyone else under the JYP label it seems since their full success has not been shown to me yet. Ask me this again later on.

Any JYP idol cameos in A2K?: 6oS, likely yes. (COUGH COUGH BANG CHAN AHEM!)

Hybe x Geffen Airing?: Taurus season is a iffy maybe. Fire is also present here but not quite as strongly? Leo season, Late October. Earlier earth sign seasons. It seems like they might be waiting for their competition to make the first move before they make a hard decision. They wanna play some games with clout it seems. They might also consider a period where the sign is feminine like Taurus more heavily because they want the masses to be a bit more malleable and develop some sympathy point for them.

Hybe x Geffen Diversity?: 6oP rev, it's erring toward likely not. Something strange like more diverse people might audition but there's something that they're "missing" that might not get them a spot in the lineup. Don't like how that sounds. Come back and ask this question again later.

Hybe x Geffen Success Projection?: KoS, KnoP, PoC, 2oS. There are some people who are gonna wanna hate them SO bad, but lowkey enjoy them. They wont be lacking in talent this time, but it seems like each member or the collective group is going to lack something fundamental that makes people stick to them immediately. They're going to take off and ride a good successful wave. The missing fundamental is a healthy does of struggle/suffering, but they are going to be very grounded in terms of being relatable like people. The public might also be able to feel that they're like coworkers in the beginning before they might get closer to each other. They also might have a concept that appears to be a suggestion at times instead of being part of the brand, but that is likely not going to be a big deal. I don't think I can compare them to their counterparts in a positive or negative way, it just seems like they will unlock a pathway for the in between audience, thus meaning they will not be a flop by any means, but they won't be a cultural phenomena and have an ungodly amount of viewers like bts. But they will be successful. Come back and ask this again further down the road.

[laynefaire]

I’m sure I’ve been tagged multiple times - but you have to actually come on the website to find them - and right now I don’t have the time to go looking to see who might have done it. So - if you tagged me - congrats, your tagged back. If you want to post a snippet, consider yourself tagged, too. 

Enjoy, while I get back to writing.  

Shadow Dancing - coming soon

Zayn walked slowly toward the door, pressing the latch and pushing it open. The room was dark, only one soft light on over the rolling desk holding the computer terminal. The curtain was pulled across, obscuring the bed and it’s occupant from view. Zayn took hold of the fabric, giving it a soft tug to move it aside.

 Liam lay flat on his back, his head slightly elevated. A large bandage covered his right temple, the skin a mottled purple around it. Gauze had been wrapped around his head, protecting the burned skin around his eyes. His right hand laid on his stomach, also covered in gauze, the fabric stark white against the tan Liam had acquired over the summer. Tubes ran from his nose, supplying the oxygen the doctor had told them about downstairs. The monitors beeped, Liam’s heart rate showing on the screen, as well as his pulse. The cuff wrapped around his arm began to inflate, the machine clicking as it measured his blood pressure. 

Zayn felt a hand on his shoulder. 

“Here-” Louis pulled a chair closer to the bed. “Take this one. I’ll grab the one on the other side.” 

Taking a seat, Zayn leaned over to carefully slide his fingers around Liam’s. 

“Oh, babe.” Zayn sighed. “I should have told you I was going to Mari’s. This is all my fault.” 

“What?” Louis’ head shot up. “Zayn, no. He was doing his job. He’d have done the same thing, even if it hadn’t been your flat.” 

“But you said he shouldn’t have been there.” 

“Because its your flat, and you’re dating. It would have been the same if it had been Harry’s flat, or his parents’ house.” Louis placed his chair on the other side of Liam’s bed. “We’re not supposed to respond to a fire when it involves close friends or family. It’s protocol, because they worry about the firefighter’s emotional state. Liam stayed calm through the whole thing, though he may have reacted faster than usual. He did everything by the book. We were on our way out when the roof collapsed. There was no way to predict what happened. There was a rollover - it’s almost like a backdraft, but at the ceiling instead of a door.” 

I hate this.” Zayn muttered. “He’s so still. It’s not right. Even when he’s asleep, you can feel the life in him. But this…” 

“I’m sure they’ve given him something for the pain. Between the burns and the concussion, it’s better for him to be out right now. It probably makes monitoring his lungs easier, too.”

Zayn dropped his head, resting it on the mattress next to Liam’s thigh. 

“What’s the code for his phone? I want to try calling Karen.” 

Zayn leaned his head to the side to look at Louis. “It’s his birthday. Year, day, month. Two digits for each. You’ll let me know if you reach her?” 

“Yeah. Is there anyone else you need me to call? Your mum? Your sister?”

“No. Not tonight. Having a stranger call them at this time of night would only cause them to panic. There’s nothing they can do, and there’s no use in them being up all night worrying, too. I’ll call Mum first thing in the morning.” 

“Okay. I’ll be back in a few.” Louis touched Zayn’s shoulder as he passed by. “He’s a fighter, Zee. In more ways than one. He’ll be fine. I promise.”  

Zayn heard the gentle click of the door closing behind Louis. He scooched the chair closer to the bed. 

“I’ve never been more grateful for you being a fighter than I am right now, love.” Zayn whispered. “So fight, Liam. Come back to me.”

#shadow dancing #onedirectionbigbang #round 4 #ziam fanfiction #snippet

[step-on-me-khun]

Hi, can I request a romantic smutty scenario with Khun? Maybe they get alone time after a while and they take advantage of it by taking their time live making. 😘😘

I got a bit carried away with writing this, I seem to do that a lot when I get too into it

It had been a crazy couple of weeks, every day there was something new to stress over. It seemed like it was never-ending. Any peace that you finally got was disrupted by something that would eventually make things worse again.

You felt yourself get sucked into something that felt like a whirlpool of worry, depression, and stress. You wanted just one moment of peace, but that was something that was a long way away.

But it might have come to you, the day hadn't been as busy and disruptive like it normally was.

You were in your own room, splayed out across your bed, embracing the peace and quiet. While it lasted.

You were deep in thought, a bit too deep as you didn't take any notice when Khun entered the room.

You were lying on your right side, looking out the window. You felt Khun hug you from behind, a little bit more tense than normal, you leaned back onto his front. Peeking over your shoulder, you saw nothing but his hair, your shoulder covered his eyes. You could tell he was tired of everything.

You turned to face him, his arms still wrapped around you, you moved so that you were the one holding him; him being on top of you, his head resting on your chest. You could only hear his breathing.

Your hand reached into his hair, gently rubbing your fingertips on his scalp, making him more relaxed. You were so busy holding onto him that you didn't really realize the position you were in, but Khun did.

You were too relaxed to notice anything. You felt Khun shift, moving above you, looking directly into your eyes. His arms were either side of you, one of your hand holding to his left arm. His forehead rested against you, his breathing hitting your face, his mouth moved closer to yours, you closed your eyes as they finally touched.

It had been a while since you two had a moment to yourselves, something that was made more obvious the longer you kissed, it becoming more passionate and heated by the second. You could tell he wasn't in the mood to go rough on you, if he was, he would be inside you by now.

Your legs wrapped around his waist, pulling him closer to you, and to your lower region.

His mouth lets go of yours, gently pulling the hem of your top up, you move your arms up, enabling him to remove it. Khun plants soft kisses on your stomach. You wanted to hide the fact that you were flustered.

Khun reaches behind you, unclasping your bra and throwing it somewhere. You reach up to take a hold of his top, pulling it over his head.

Your arms wrap around his neck, bringing his face closer to yours. "I've waited so long for you," you say, "I've missed you."

Khun smiles and closes his eyes, his forehead again on yours. "I know, I wish we could've been together more." He says.

Khun's mouth moves back to your own, giving you a quick peck before heading lower, giving quick kisses to your neck and collarbone, before kissing your chest, then your nipples. You couldn't help but let out a moan, and a couple of giggles. Khun's hands then reached down to your jeans, unbuttoning them, then pulling them and your panties down together.

Your hands reached to unbutton Khun's trousers, you pulled them down to his hip, then he took over and removed them himself, then placed himself back where he was a few minutes ago.

One of Khun's hands rested on your face, he looked into your eyes as he pushed himself into you, one of your hands clung onto the bed, the other on his arm. You bit down on your lip and let out your moans. Khun's thumb outlined under your eye, you smiled at him.

He moved in and out of you slowly, his head hid in the crook of your neck, his arms wrapped behind yours his hands holding onto your shoulders. Your right arm wrapped around his back, your left hand running through Khun's hair again, your fingers undoing the tie that was in it.

It wasn't often that he was gentle with you, but you loved it when he had you like this, he was always a lot softer.

Khun's pace quickened, he pulls his head up slightly. You could hear his groans and hissed, something that was being held back by your shoulder.

"A-Aguero," you moan, catching his attention, his head moves above your own, capturing your lips, you tightened your hold on him. Khun sped up again, causing you to arch your back up, your body pushed upon him.

You couldn't help but be a bit more vocal, his movements drove you crazy. The hand that you placed on his back tried to hold on to him, leaving scratches on him, he lets out a hiss as you do so.

"Fuck," Khun groans, his teeth took a hold of your lower lip, his moves get rougher, making you cry out.

"Oh my god," you quietly moan.

Khun releases your lip, kissing your cheek then resting his forehead on your collarbone. His own groans were mixing with the sound of your moans, you felt your release closing in.

"Mmm, Aguero," you cry.

"I know," he groans quietly.

His pace quickened until you reached your end, your legs released Khun's waist, you clung onto him again.

Khun's hands released your shoulders and were resting by your sides, his head on your right shoulder.

"I love you so fucking much," Khun says quietly, you hold onto him tightly.

"I appreciate your existence too," Khun then moves up and glares at you. "I love you too," you giggle.

Khun's mouth moves down to kiss your own. "You don't think this is over yet, do you?" Your eyes stay on his, "rollover."

You do as he says, rolling onto your front. Khun's front was now placed on your back, you could feel his length against your ass. His face moved down to kiss your hair, then pushed himself inside you again.

You fold your arms in front of you, resting your head just under them. Khun placed his head on your shoulder, his arms wrap around your own, his hand grabbing your wrists.

"Don't hide from me," he says quietly, waiting for you to turn to look at him.

Your eyes caught a glimpse of Khun's, which were even more beautiful now that it was beginning to get dark outside.

You move your head up, continuing to look into his eyes.

"Don't look away from me," he commands.

"I don't plan to," you respond, you both smile at each other.

His speed wasn't as slow as it was before, but it wasn't as fast as he goes when he goes rough either. You could hear the slapping of skin the more Khun moved.

"Fuck," you moan, struggling to keep your eyes on his. Khun's left hand left your wrist and moved up to gently grab your jaw, then kissing around your face. He could be ridiculously affectionate when he wanted to be.

"You feel so damn good," Khun moans, his left arms move from your jaw and moves back to your hand linking your fingers together. He pulls himself up, resting his right hand onto your hip, holding you down while he picked up the pace and got a bit harder than before.

You bury your face in the bed below you, snuffling out a few of your moans, you turn your head to the side, looking at the hand that was gripping on to the bed.

"Ah," you cried loudly, "I'm close again."

Khun didn't say anything, he just kept thrusting into you.

You squeeze your toes and moan out his names as you came on him, Khun lasted a few more thrust before doing the same.

Khun lay down on your back again, wrapping his arms around you before pulling you onto your right side.

The stress you had before had left your mind, you were relaxed and comfortable with where you were right now. It had been a while since you two spent time together.

Khun places a kiss on your shoulder. You turn around to face him, burying your head in his chest. You had never felt safer.

#tower of god #khun aguero agnis #khun x reader

[thecleverdame]

The Oath - 14

Parings: Dark!Alpha!Sam x Omega!Reader

Story Master List

Summary: After an unsuccessful escape attempt, the reader finds herself taken as a spoil of war. She ends up in the bed of a ruthless Alpha, the son of John Winchester, leader of the kingdom of Gilead. She struggles to conceal her true identity and navigate a society where being an Omega means nothing more than serving at the pleasure of powerful men.

Warnings: non-con, sexual assault, rape, attempted suicide, sexual slavery, branding, torture, ownership, voyeurism, anal play, smut, violence, and murder.

Sam is dark in this story. If any of the warnings are triggers for you, I would suggest skipping this one. Please read and heed all the warnings.

Beta: ilikaicalie

Support my Patreon and get access to exclusive stories.  CLICK HERE

-

The looming threat of John Winchester grows ever closer. 

For a few days, you have Greta as a company. She’s constantly angry, hovering somewhere on the verge of defeat but she talks to you like you're a person. It’s mostly just her exposition on how much she hates Dean and what she’ll do to him one day when she takes her revenge, but you don’t mind listening. She makes you feel alive and like you’re not in this alone. 

And then one day she’s gone. Dean leaves early one morning taking her with him and you’re again commended to the solitary life of waiting for a stoic Sam who makes ill-suited company. 

-

“Let me see.” Sam sits shirtless on the edge of the bed. He’s covered in a thin layer of dirt and bruises over this chest and arms. He’s been spending long days with the troops. The hoots and hollers can be heard all across the camp. Men fighting each other for sport, and Sam is no exception. He loves a good brawl more than any of them and he often comes bearing the marks of another man’s knife or fist. 

Tonight he waits patiently as you pull up your nightgown and rollover. 

Since the branding, your spirit has taken a blow. Most days you do nothing more than lie in bed. At first, it was to alleviate the pain, but now it’s to alleviate the stark surroundings of your reality. His fingers trail over the mark on your backside, but he says nothing. With a tap at your hip, you roll over and let him inspect the brand on your inner thigh. He unwraps the bandage while you stare at the ceiling. 

“What do you think of it?” he asks with interest. As if you should admire his handiwork. 

“I haven’t looked,” you admit.

“Haven’t looked?” he balks. “It’s been nearly two weeks.” 

“I haven’t been able to bring myself to do it.” 

“Then look now, while I’m here.” When you close your eyes he sighs, wrapping a large, wide hand around your knee and squeezing. “Look at it.” 

Pushing down the dread you prop yourself up, taking a breath before looking down. The flesh is pink, raised and newly healed. It’s a thin outline of the letters S and W with the small recreation of his family’s crest below. 

“Why?” you whisper, staring at the wound. “Why did you do this to me?”

Sam’s confused, a genuine perplexity settles over his face. 

“Because you’re mine.” 

You laugh out of exasperation. This is what life has come to. He marked you because you’re his. It’s so simple. He thinks you should already understand. 

“And to keep you safe,” he continues. “There are countless men, Alphas, that will never see an Omega in the flesh. I don’t want anyone thinking they can just take you. My mark would make any man think twice.”

“Oh,” you counter, anger bubbling up faster than you can suppress it. “That’s why it’s between my legs? So if another man tries to force himself on me he’ll see it?”

“Yes.” He ignores your frustrations and gets up. “You don’t understand it, but you will. That mark is a gift. If you were taken, any man who found you would know who to return you to.”

“You think someone is going to take me?”

“We’re at war. There are no absolutes. Circumstances change in the blink of an eye. Anything can happen.” The muscles of his back flex, growing bruises bleeding into yellowing healed spots from the week before. 

There’s no point in entertaining this conversation. In his mind you should be grateful he’s taken such care to leave you with this declaration of ownership. Luckily, you’ve become a master of redirecting the moment. 

Clearing your throat, you sit up and adjust your skirt. 

“Would you like me to wash you?” you ask, nodding toward the tub from your afternoon bath. “It’s probably still warm. I’ll put some water on the fire to warm it up.”

You’ve discovered over the last month that he responds favorably when you present your plans instead of ask. So you set water to warm. Sam strips down and sinks into the bath without a word. Once the pot is steaming you carefully carry it over to him and pour it near his feet then sit at the side of the tub, taking a cloth and washing his back. 

There’s a deep scar along the right side of his spine. You’ve spent hours looking at it while he’s sleeping and always wondered how it got there. 

“How did you get this?” you ask, a finger trailing over the flesh. 

“My father tried to kill me. Well, actually, he wanted Dean to do it. But of course Dean would never go through with it, so John tried himself.”

“Why would he want to kill you?”

“Because he thought I was something evil. No longer a man.” Sam shrugs. “He’s not wrong.”

“He had to have cut you deep, this scar is massive.”

“It should have killed me outright. But I’m not sure I can die again. I recovered quickly. And my father learned his place in the order of things.”

As the water turns brown, his skin comes clean. The awful scents of other men’s sweat and blood wash away, leaving nothing but Sam. A strong scent that gives a preview of what’s to come. 

“Your rut is coming?” you ask for confirmation. 

“Yes.” He closes his eyes as you rub a cloth across his back, watching the water rolling across taught muscle. “Does that worry you?”

“A bit. I’ve just heard…”

“What have you heard?”

“Sometimes Alphas can’t control themselves. Especially older...I mean...unmated ones.”

He chuckles, breaking into a smile and turns to look at you. 

“Are you calling me old?”

“No, I, no…”

“It’s alright little bird. I am older than most to be unmated. That’s a fair statement. But you don’t need to be worried. I control myself better than most men. You might even enjoy it.”

Two Days Later

His rut overtakes you both. For Sam it’s an animalistic need to have you. And for you it’s desire beyond reason. His scent curls inside you, vibrating, coming alive until you think you might burst if you can’t have him inside you. 

-

You wake up out of a dead sleep, body so stiff you can hardly move. Sam is beside you, tossing and turning in his sleep, his face creased in distress. 

You imagine you seem just as desperate in a heat. Lust and pain and desire all coming together in an animal need for each other. You could fight this feeling; resist giving in to what you want and he needs, but there’s no point. Physical pleasure has become the last ray of hope and you might as well hang on to it for as long as you can. 

“Sam,” you murmur, getting to your knees and lifting a leg over his waist. His naked cock is thick and tall, hot skin thumping against your stomach as you straddle him. 

His eyes are still closed, body radiating the heat of his rut like a fever that’s about to break. His head presses back into the pillow when you wrap a hand around his shaft, stroking down and then up under the head of his cock. Precum drips from the head, and you wipe it away with your thumb. 

In one motion, you lift up and sink back down with him inside you. That familiar stretch sending pings of pleasure out in all directions. 

His eyes pop open, meeting yours in a surprised look before dropping down to where your bodies are joined together. Both hands curl over your hips, fingers sinking into flesh as he rolls you quickly onto your back, sinking balls deep back into your cunt with one powerful thrust. 

The connection you felt to him before is nothing compared to the growing desperation you feel for each other in this moment. There’s an energy building in your chest, pressure swelling as he moves faster, his hips slapping against your thighs. 

Your clit is throbbing, just a feather’s touch away from sending you over the edge.

Sam squeezes his eyes shut in concentration as sweat drips from the end of his nose, landing on your stomach. 

“Please,” you find yourself begging without even trying to speak. 

His eyes open again, looking down at you. With one hand he pushes soaked hair away from his forehead. The room feels as if it’s spinning, the moment careening out of control. 

“I’m going to claim you,” he explains, his eyes just as hungry as every other part of his body. 

“I want it,” you nod vigorously. With one hand you reach up, sliding a hand around the back of his neck and pulling him down for a messy kiss. His tongue glides over yours, tasting, searching, before pulling back. “Please.”

The rest is a blur. His knot thickens, and just as you cum his teeth sink into your neck. His bite is deep but the pain is tempered by the pleasure of your climax. You shake around him, wrapping your arms over his back and holding him as close as you can. 

His dead drops into the crook of your neck, hips still moving until he’s got nothing left to give. There’s hot breath at your pulse point while he licks at the wound. His tongue seals the open flesh, sucking and teasing until he’s as boneless as you and collapses on the bed at your side. 

-

Sam stares at the ceiling of the tent, one hand behind his head and the other wrapped around you where you’re curled into his side. 

He shouldn’t have done it. 

Alphas in Gilead don’t claim Omega’s outside of marriage. You’re meant to be a part of the ceremony, a wedding where he’ll be wed to a Beta of high social standing. Only then would he have the blessing of his father to claim you. 

What the hell happened to his self-control? One moment it was fucking the next minute you were...everything. The whole world narrowed down to the woman in his bed, asking to be his. 

He has to own it, he has no choice. If anyone senses even a hint of trepidation, they’ll take you from him. It’s what should happen, what the law demands. The offending Alpha is beheaded and the Omega paired off with some Alpha who’ll get what he can before she begins to fade. Without her mate, the Omega dies a slow death that sometimes takes years but always kills in the end. 

It’s not that he doesn’t want you. He does. Sam has zero interest in an uptight Beta, but he also knows he should have waited. He’s just created a whole host of complications and his father will be all too happy to find a reason to reprimand him. 

-

You stir at his side, waking up slowly as your eyes flutter open. You’re not truly awake as your mouth curls into a sleepy smile, eyes closing again as you nuzzle closer until your face is pressed into the side of his neck. 

That’s when he feels it, a pang in his stomach that’s there for a second and then gone. He shifts, pulling your body into his, skin on skin while you purr like a happy cat at his side. This isn’t a bad feeling. He doesn’t mind you being bonded to him in such a permanent way and if it keeps you more content, then it’s worth it. But it certainly does impose a whole set of complications he wasn’t anticipating. 

-

“Did you kill her?” Dean inspects your lifeless form, nodding from the bloody sheets, to his brother. 

“No.” Sam looks at you as well, gaze lingering longer than it should. “I claimed her.”

Dean’s eyes go wide, but he doesn’t say anything. He stews in silence for some time. 

“Are you trying to create a situation? You know how dad is going to-”

“I know.” Sam raises a hand. 

“At first I thought she was good for you. You were less agitated, not so much of a temper, but she’s proving to be a problem.”

“She’s my problem then,” Sam snaps back.

#SOULLESS SAM #sam winchester fanfiction #alpha!sam x omega!reader #sam winchester smut

[vivxwrites]

Happy Tears

*not my gif*

Word Count: 2024

Summary: You’ve been dating Carol for five years and you’re finally pregnant! Everything would be great if you hadn’t been hiding your relationship from your dad.

Warnings: Pregnancy talk, light angst

Pairing: Carol Danvers x Reader, Tony Stark x Daughter! Reader

A/N: This fic was requested by @lundqvistisgod and I hope I did it justice. I love Tony Stank and Carol Danvers so combine that together and it’s perfection. Enjoy friends :)

Happy tears slid down your face as you glanced at the two lines that appeared on the pregnancy test that you had just taken. The lines were the same two lines that were present on the other two pregnancy tests that were taken prior to the most recent one. After two and a half years of trying, you and your girlfriend of five years, Carol, were finally pregnant. You were the happiest you had been in a long time as you sat on the bathroom floor, tears flowing freely while you rocked yourself back and forth on the cool tiles. All of your woes had faded away and in that moment you felt like you had found your purpose in life: the however many weeks old embryo that was attached to your uterine lining. 

You couldn’t stay in your dream state forever as reality and its never ending nagging took over. Your thoughts drifted to the guilt that always weighed down your shoulders at the double life your cowardice had forced you to live. After five years with Carol you loved her and you honestly couldn’t see yourself with anyone else. She was your endgame and you were hers. The problem with your relationship had nothing to do with Carol, no it had to do with the fact that even after five years you still hadn’t told your dad. Of course being Tony Stark’s daughter had its many perks, like being able to buy anything you could possibly want and having the avengers as your extended family, but it also forced you to be in the public eye your entire life. You had absolutely zero privacy, everything you did outside of the tower was documented by a flashing camera or a cell phone. Because of that, you felt that every decision you made in life would reflect on your father’s image and so you found yourself getting progressively better at hiding things.

You meant to tell your father, you really did, but you were terrified that he wouldn’t see you as his little princess anymore. You didn’t want him to look at you the way he looked at Steve, eyes filled with distrust and betrayal and hurt. When you were only a baby, your mother had dropped you off at your father’s Malibu mansion with only a post-it note attached to your forehead that read ‘My greatest disappointment in life was sleeping with you, Tony Stark, and as this child reflects that, she’s all yours.’ You feared that your being in a relationship with another woman would crush him and he was the only parent you ever had. Losing him in any way would destroy you, even more so if he disowned you than if he were to pass away. So you did what you do best, you hid your relationship with Carol from him as long as you possibly could. The guilt of lying to your father for five whole years always ate away at you but the pure terror you had of disappointing him outweighed the guilt every single time. 

Now though, you had a baby on the way and there was no way you could hide the truth any longer. You wanted your child to be surrounded with love in all the forms that it came in and your dad was included in that too. You felt a headache forming from all the stress you were feeling so you decided to do something to distract yourself, like making dinner for Carol, who was scheduled to return from a mission this evening. After looking through the ingredients you were pleasantly surprised to find that you had everything you needed to make your famous loaded macaroni and cheese dish, which also doubled as one of Carol’s favorite comfort foods. After the oven was preheated you popped in the dish to let it bake and got started on setting the table. You were just finishing up lighting the candles when you heard the sound of the door opening and the telltale clunk of Carol’s combat boots being set on the shoe rack. You could tell the mission was a grueling one by the fact that she hadn’t called out to you in greeting and your suspicions were confirmed when she came up behind you, wrapped her arms around your waist, and set her head on your shoulder with a heavy sigh. 

“Hard day at work?” Her reply to your question was only a nod. “I have something that might cheer you up.” 

Her face lit up like a child’s on Christmas morning at the hint of a surprise. She narrowed her eyes at you in question, trying to expose your surprise before you had a chance to reveal it. A smirk danced on her features while she spoke, “You know I can smell that mac, right babe? I’d know that smell anywhere.” 

You only laughed at her words and gave her a small shrug. “Maybe that’s not the surprise.” She pouted at you and gave you her puppy dog eyes. Your lips curled up into a teasing smile while you reached up and pretended to sip your lips shut and throw away the key. Carol whined and you saw her pout deepen, if that was even possible. She looked adorable when she pouted and you couldn’t stop yourself from pressing a quick kiss to her lips. She grumbled at you and you responded with a poke to her ribs, right on her ticklish spot. She squirmed away from you and you gave her a bright smile in return.

After the two of you finished eating you dragged Carol over to the couch and pushed her onto it. “Stay put,” you picked up her hands and placed them over her eyes, “and no peeking!” You dashed off to the bathroom and picked up the pregnancy test that you took earlier. You walked back to the living room and gave Carol some new instructions. “Ok, take your hands off of your eyes and hold them out in front of you. Keep your eyes closed though, ‘kay babe?”

Carol hummed in agreement and did as you asked of her. You gently set the test into her hands and took a step back, biting your lip anxiously. “You can open them now.” You watched as Carol hesitantly opened her eyes and glanced down at her hands in question. She inhaled sharply when she finally processed what was sitting in her hands and she flicked her eyes from the test to you. You saw tears swimming in her brown eyes as she cradled the test in wonder. She approached you slowly and you saw the first few tears trickle down her cheeks. You were pulled into her arms and she buried her face into your neck, sobbing silently. Carol sunk down to her knees and hugged your waist lovingly. After hiking up your shirt, she pressed quick, butterfly kisses along the surface of your stomach and murmured a quiet, “I love you.” 

Hours later the two of you were situated in bed, spooning under the covers. She was littering soft kisses along the back of your neck while you were deep in thought. “I have to tell him Carol.” You spoke softly as you timidly approached a tense subject between you two. 

“(Y/N) look at me,” you rollover to face her and the amount of love that was displayed on her face made your heart race. “No matter what happens, I’ll be here for you. Do you want me to come with you?” You could only swallow thickly and shake your head no. She pulled you into her and whispered reassurances into your hair until you drifted off to sleep.

You dragged your feet through the corridors of the tower, en route to your dad’s engineering lab. You wanted so badly to chicken out and run away from your fears but your dad deserved better. He deserved the truth and this talk would bring it to him. Five years of your life went to hiding your relationship with Carol from your dad and you had only delayed the inevitable. This talk was inevitable. 

You meekly peeked into the lab and saw your dad tinkering away at his newest project. You took in the sight of him before you made your presence known, not knowing if you would be able to see him this peaceful ever again. “Hey dad,” he glanced up at you and smiled brightly. You took a few breaths to steady yourself and continued, “I need to tell you something.”

He sensed your hesitation right away and gave you his full, undivided attention. “You can tell me anything, princess.” He was so sincere in his statement that you couldn’t help but start choking up. He face was full of concern and he reached out to you only to find that you had stepped back, out of his reach.

“God I’m so sorry dad, I’m so sorry.” The guilt that you had been suppressing for years had finally crawled its way to the surface and made its presence known. 

“(Y/N) whatever it is that’s bothering you, you can tell me.” He was confused and concerned, you had never acted this way, not even that one time that you had crashed his favorite custom Lamborghini. 

“Dad,” you sniffled and hiccuped, “I’m dating Carol.” You squeezed your eyes shut, not wanting to see his reaction. What was only a minute felt like days to you, as you stood with your arms wrapped around your middle. You flinched when you felt your dad’s arms wrap around you and you sunk into his embrace. 

“Hey, kid, it doesn’t bother me that you’re dating a woman. That’s just one more thing we have in common.” You would have laughed at his statement and cheesy wink if you didn’t have more to say.

You separate yourself from your dad as you glance down at your feet. “That’s not even the worst part dad,” you found yourself sobbing as you worked up the courage to tell him, “I’ve been dating her for five years.” He said nothing as he stared at you, stuck in a stupor. Your crying picked up as he said nothing. “I know you’re mad at me but I’m sorry! Please, I promise I was going to tell you, I was just scared.”

“No, no sweetheart I’m not mad. I was just surprised is all.” He pressed a kiss to the top of your head, like he used to do when you had a hard day at school. 

You looked up at him, eyes full of emotion. “I’m sorry I never told you.”

He smiled softly at you and pulled you into another hug, “Water under the bridge.” 

“There is one more thing I have to tell you.” Your palms sweat nervously, he had taken the news of you dating Carol and hiding it from him well, but how would he react to finding out you were pregnant?

“Hit me.”

“I’m pregnant.” You muttered it quietly to him and his eyes widened almost comically.

“Ok.” He looked lost as he chattered to himself and looked from you to your stomach.

“Dad,” you spoke slowly and cautiously, “are you okay?”

“Mhm yeah, this is just a lot to take in right now.”

“Are you mad?”

“No I don’t think so. Just a bit overwhelmed is all. Could you say it again, this time slower please.”

You shot him a confused look but complied with his request, “I’m pregnant.” Before you could process what was happening your dad had swept you up in his arms and was holding you up in the air. “Put me down,” you squealed and giggled.

“I’m gonna be a grandpa! I’ll have a second little peanut to spoil!” He twirled you around in the air and you laughed at him all the way. You had all that you wanted in life: your dad, a loving girlfriend (soon to be fiance, then wife), and a baby on the way. Life as (Y/N) Stark certainly wasn’t perfect, but it was everything you could ever hope it would be.

A/N: This was my last request so as always, feel free to send some in. I’ll do my best at writing any character as well. Feedback is much appreciated and you can also check out my other fics. Y’all I’m about to pop off, coming next I have part 2 of What’s Wrong With Your Face and a little surprise ;). Thanks, Viv :)

#carol danvers x reader #captain marvel x reader #carol danvers imagine #tony stark x daughter!reader #tony stark x reader #my fic

[silentwhispofhope]

Paroxyism (Leon Kennedy X Reader) Report 3

Last Chapter <> Next Chapter

You hand began to shake rapidly, making the hand gun harder to hold. Slowly, a figure came out. He held his hands up as he began to stand up. The black man wore a blue police uniform. Gazing to his chest, you noticed a gold badge with bright blue text. LIEUTENANT RACCOON CITY.

"Lieutenant Branagh?" You asked.

The man gave you a small nod. Dropping the gun to your side, he lowered his arms.

"Who are you?"

"(F/N) (L/N). I was sent to see why we haven't been getting any reports from here," you told him. You muttered under your breath, "Power outage my ass."

A sharp feeling surged up you injured side. Dropping to the ground, you gripped your side. Pain raced through you. How did you not feel this before? Footsteps rushed towards you from who you presumed was Branagh.

"Where you bitten?" He urgently asked you as he gripped your shoulders.

"What? No! My car rollover on the way here," you replied.

Lieutenant Branagh scooped his arm under your uninjured one. You flinched in response.

"Elliot, get your ass over here," he demanded.

Out of the corner of your eye, you spotted a brunet come out from a police desk. You quickly recognized the police uniform to be the same as Branagh's. Soon, both of the men were carrying you to table. Elliot quickly pushed everything off, and you were sent down as gently as possible. In reality, you landed with a hard thud.

"There's a first aid kit in my pocket," you recalled.

As one of them pulled the kit out, you pulled your shirt. You let out a grunt in pain as you saw a large red bruise sprawled out on your skin. Purple splotches littered it. You could faintly see it wrap around your side. Hitting your head back on the table, you knew there wasn't much you could do about it. Elliot lifted your shoulder as he attempted to take off your sweatshirt.

"Holy crap," you heard him mutter.

Glancing to your arm, shards of glass poked out. You quickly rested your uninjured arm over your eyes.

"We need to remove the glass," Branagh states somewhere from your right.

"There's tweezers in the kit," you replied.

Branagh took this as a sign to go ahead. Your body stiffened up as you anticipated the pain to come. Before you could register your thoughts, you felt pressure on a glass shard. You bit the inside of your mouth to keep yourself from yelling in agony. This didn't go unnoticed as the two cops began to talk.

"Elliot, distract her."

"Ah- shit. Okay. Okay, um, so state police huh?" You heard him stutter.

You let out a raspy laugh at his poor attempt at starting a conversation. It instantly stopped when you felt another shard be pulled out. "I'm actually a forensic scientist."

"Really?"

"Yes. I knew I would be dealing with dead bodies, but this is ridiculous," you joked and prepared yourself once again. A small smile graced your face. It quickly disappeared.

"Why would they send you?"

"Apparently everyone else was busy, and I'm one of the rookies." You grimaced. The pressure on your arm disappeared. Some of the pain was replaced by a stinging sensation. Lifting up your uninjured arm, you were temporary blinded by the light.

“You think you can do the rest, (F/N)?" Branagh asked?

You shakily nodded your head. As you attempted to sit up, the two cops helped. Rotating on your butt, your legs dangled over the side of the table. You felt you should save the gauze. Something was telling you would need it later.

As you grabbed several bandaids and Neosporin, you asked, "How long has it been like this?"

"Over a week," Lieutenant Branagh replied, crossing his arms.

"Shit," you croaked. "I wish I would've come sooner."

You continued to ask questions to the police officers as continued to dress your wounds. You learned that they didn't know how many survivors there were and Chief Irons had isolated himself in his offices. You could tell the two were pissed off. They also told you that there was one other cop, but the two haven't seen him in several hours. By the time you had finished bandaging yourself, very few bandaids were left over. Letting out a small curse, you would have to remember to get more. As you were about to hop off the desk, Branagh set his hand on your shoulder.

“It would be best if you didn't move. Here."

The Lieutenant held out his hands. In one was a water bottle and in the other was a blue pill. You quickly realized it to be a painkiller. Gladly, you took them and chugged the water. Leaving some in the bottle, you took the opportunity to wash off the zombie saliva on your cheek. You watched as Elliot pulled over Branagh, and whispered something in his ear. The lieutenant nodded his head, and the cop disappeared from sight. You saw him exit through what you presumed was the east section of the building. Raising an eyebrow, Branagh answered you with a cross of his arms.

Shrugging your sweatshirt back on, you finally began to look at the room you were in. A soft, yellow glow lit the room and provide a heavy mood. It was almost religiously decorated with wood furniture. Papers laid scattered across the floor and desks, and several electrical panels were duct tape shut. Finally, you gazed at the statue above you. Made of a pearly, white marble, it stood with grace. It almost reminded you of the Statue of Liberty and probably belonged in a museum. What struck you peculiarly was the base at which it stood on. You could see very faint cracks in it. A small panel was also set in it. Before you could analyze it further, a cough caught your attention. You turned you attention back Branagh.

"Get some rest rookie. You're going to need it."

There it was. That stupid nickname. You refrained yourself from rolling your eyes an agreed to his idea. Exhaustion had swept over you. Sleep sounded great right now. You slowly slid down from the table, trying to worsen your injuries. As you laid on the floor, a grumble rumbled from your stomach. You mentally groaned as you realized you had skipped lunch.  The lieutenant quickly took noticed of this.

"I'll go get you some food."

"You really don't need to do that," you replied quickly.

"We needed to go get some anyways," he turned away. "You'll be safe in here, just don't go out exploring."

The man quickly vanished, and you suddenly realized how terrifying the atmosphere was. The building would occasionally groan, and you could hear deadly groans in the distance. Flipping up your hood, you leaned back on the receptionist desk. You brought your knees to your chest and placed you head on them. You let out a shaky breath as you closed your eyes. This was not how you imagined your day was going to go. Gradually, you drifted off to sleep.

You were abruptly awaken by the sounds of gunshots. Jumping slightly, you barely recognized the place you were in. Then it dawned on you. Raccoon City. The car crash. The zombies. You groaned out loud when you realized that not of this was a dream. The shots had stopped, which sent you into a small panic. Scrambling onto your feet, you tried to determine where the sound had come from. You turned towards a nearby computer and rushed towards it. Your navy hood fell in the process. Quickly pulling up the camera feed, you saw Branagh fighting off a hoard of zombies. At the top of the corner, you saw the camera was recording from the west section. You grabbed your gun and sprinted towards his location. The light flickered off, and you had to resort to using your flash light. Resting it under your gun, you continued to search for the policeman. Eventually, you stumbled upon a wooden door with scratch marks. Slamming the door open, you pointed your gun around wildly. You quickly saw the familiar man as he struggled.

“Get down!" You yelled.

He quickly did as he was told as you hastily shot at the creatures around him. When the last one had fallen, you rushed over to Lieutenant Branagh. Before you could say anything, you saw the growing red spot on his stomach. Claw and teeth marks dug deep into the wound.

"Shit," you muttered as you realized you weren't fast enough to save him.

"Help me get back to the main hall," he groaned out in pain.

You looked at him with concern and reluctantly nodded. As you were about for take the lead, you felt Branagh place a hand on your shoulder. He held out a small knife.

"Use this. It'll attract less of those things," he told you.

Taking the melee weapon, you set your gun in its holster. You continued in front of him. You quickly took out as many as could, refraining from physically touching the zombies. The sounds of metal sinking into flesh made you cringe. You had to internally remind yourself that these people weren't alive anymore. They were monsters that could harm and kill more. Eventually, the two exited the west section of the building. But before you could let out a sigh of relief, sounds of panic came from the monitoring computer. Hurrying towards it, you flicked through the cameras before finally settling on one with a man running in panic. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw the lieutenant close the gate from the area you came from.

"What is it?" Branagh asked.

"Someone's in the east hall, but I don't know exactly where. It looks like he's another survivor," you trailed off for a moment.   "And several zombies are chasing him."

You quickly pulled up the map and attempted to find familiar landmarks that might help identify where he was. As you continued to search, you noticed the sounds of familiar sounds of death. Glancing up from your computer, you noticed Branagh already heading towards gate in a back room marked with 'KEEP OUT' in bold letters. Following after him, you saw the man from the camera attempt to crawl out as a zombie grabbed at him.

"God dammit!" He yelled out in frustration.

The two of you quickly jumped into action. You quickly grabbed his arms and pulled him out of the creature's reach.

"Watch out!"

"Got it!" Branagh responded.

Branagh grabbed the large rolling door, and smashed the zombie's head with force. Blood and tissue flew onto the floor. It look like it's head had exploded. Heavy breathing came from all of you.

"You're safe...for now," the cop told the stranger. Branagh grimaced in pain as he fell back onto the door for support.

"Thanks," the dirty blonde stranger uttered.

"Marvin Branagh."

"Leon Kennedy."

The man you now knew as Leon Kennedy turned towards you, waiting for a response.

"(F/N) (L/N)," you replied.

~~~

A/N: I hope you all really enjoyed the chapter! I feel really brain dead now. Just this week I had to write three essays for school.  Drama club just started back up, and I'm a head for costumes once again! I'll try to update as much as possible! Anyways, thank you once again!

Tag list: @kaelyn-lobrutto24

#resident evil #resident evil 2 remake #leon kennedy x reader #leon kennedy imagine #leon kennedy #ready player 1 #reader insert #zombie apocalypse #horror #action #adventure

[johnmauldin]

The 2020s: Two Recessions, Higher Taxes, and Japan-Like Flat Markets

I’m slowly losing confidence in the economy. 

I still think the economy is okay for now. But I also see recession odds rising considerably in 2020. Maybe it will get pushed back another year or two, but at some point, this growth phase will end.

It will be either recession or an extended flat period (even flatter than the last decade, which says a lot). On top of that, we are headed toward a global credit crisis I’ve dubbed The Great Reset.

Let me give you the CliffsNotes version of how I think the next decade will play out.

A $6 trillion $10 Trillion Federal Reserve Balance Sheet

We already see the major developed economies beginning to slow and likely to enter a global recession by the end of the year.

That will drag the US into a recession soon after unless the Fed quickly loosens policy to prolong the current growth cycle.

Other central banks will respond with lower rates and ever-larger rounds of quantitative easing.

If that sounds crazy to you, think about it…

Before 2008, no one expected zero rates in the US, negative rates for $11 trillion worth of government bonds globally, negative rates out of the ECB and the Swiss National Bank, etc.

Things like TARP, QE, and ZIRP were nowhere on the radar just months before they happened. Numerous times, markets closed on Friday only to open in a whole new world on Monday.

In the next crisis, central banks and governments will again resort to unprecedented balance sheet expansions. And it will have less effect than they want.

Those reserves will simply pile up on the balance sheets of commercial banks, which will put them right back into reserves at their respective central banks.

I will admit the Fed’s $4 trillion balance sheet expansion surprised me at the time. Fool me once, shame on you. We’ve now seen the new playbook.

At a minimum, they will keep the balance sheet at its present, barely-diminished size and eventually add a lot more when we go into recession.

I think $10 trillion is almost a sure thing by the mid-2020s for a couple of reasons.

The US government debt will be north of $30 trillion. On top of that, in the next five years, the credit markets have to fund $5 trillion of corporate debt rollovers, plus new debt, plus state and local debt.

It won’t be coming from outside the US and there is only so much that banks and big pension funds and individuals can do.

Unless the Federal Reserve steps in, interest rates will soar and the crisis will become much worse. It will have little choice but to step in and buy US government debt.

The Second Recession Will Bring Unprecedented Policies

In the 2020s, we’ll see a new government at some point that raises taxes enough to actually send a still-weak economy into another recession. That’s pure speculation on my part but is what I foresee.

What assets will the Fed buy? Under current law, that’s pretty predictable: Treasury securities and a few other government-backed issues like certain mortgage bonds.

That’s all the law allows. But laws can change and I think there is a real chance they will—regardless of which party holds the White House and Congress.

In a crisis, people act in previously unthinkable ways. Think 2008–2009. When there is a true crisis, politicians will be looking for action, and “do nothing” will not be an option.

Maybe it should be, but that is a metaphysical argument for another day. They will do something. Quantitative easing is now on the table and I think will be almost a reflexive move during the next recession/crisis.

So, will we have Japan-like flat markets and low growth for years on end? Will we create a demographic crisis by limiting immigration?

Public pensions and insurers are already struggling to meet obligations after years of low rates. Those betting on 7% returns (and many are) won’t make anything close to that.

This will make government debt and state/local pension fund obligations a massive problem that the Federal Reserve and the US government right now are not politically or legally capable of handling.

Will we change the rules in the future? Tell me who’s going to be in charge during that crisis… and then let’s ask the question.

But will it play out over a longer period of time than we might think now? Almost surely. Yet the world will not end and, for those paying attention, it will be a better world.

The Great Reset: The Collapse of the Biggest Bubble in History

New York Times best seller and renowned financial expert John Mauldin predicts an unprecedented financial crisis that could be triggered in the next five years. Most investors seem completely unaware of the relentless pressure that’s building right now. Learn more here.

#Recession #us recession #japan economy

[bettycooperthefirst]

Bughead AU: Betty Cooper’s job as a NYC journalist is more stressful than she ever could have imagined, so she starts baking to decompress. There are only two problems with this: 1. Any time she uses her oven, even on the lowest possible setting, her smoke alarm seems to go off and 2. the dark haired boy who lives across the hall does not like being woken up at three in the morning. 

Betty Cooper was stressed out of her mind. Being a journalist in the biggest city in America wasn’t easy, as her mother had warned her just about a million times before she moved to New York. It meant new stories constantly popping up and overruling the last. And as a young 23 year old who had only been with the company for a year, she was still trying to get her footing among the hot shots who still only saw her as a kid. Today she had walked into the office with a great scoop, and as soon as she finished the article (an impressive 10 minutes later, ready for print), it had already been released by an opposing publication and an hour later, undermined by new evidence in the case. 

She was tired. Her feet hurt from the heels she chose to wear today- black and strappy and an inch taller than usual, but they were on sale and cute and she thought she could make it work. But after she ate her dinner, after she showered off the day, she didn’t sit back down. She didn’t lay down in her bed to sleep. She opened the small pantry in her New York apartment and did what she always did when she was stressed: she started to bake.

***

The smoke alarm was going off. This was the 2nd time this week and the 5th time this month. Unfortunately, this seemed to always happen in the middle of the night. When Betty baked during the day, she was on her game, she didn’t let things like that happen. But once it got to be past midnight, mistakes were made. A loud pounding came from the door. Betty looked at the clock: 3 AM. She thought that if she personally heard a smoke alarm go off at 3 AM she’d probably just wait for it to stop, rollover and go back to sleep, no matter how irritated she was. But she knew exactly who was at her door. She had met him 3 nights ago when she burned her chocolate chip cookies. An angry boy about her age, jet black hair stuffed under a grey hat on his head, went by the name of Jughead. He had moved into the apartment across the hall from her about two months ago and anytime she saw him around the building he looked irritated. On the night in question, he had obviously just rolled out of bed to come yell at her. And yell at her he did. And of course she had handled it the way she had been taught to: all “I’m sorry for the disturbance Mr. Jones. There was this lovely recipe…” with a sweet smile and an offering of one of the less burnt cookies.

But something was different tonight. Not only had Betty been unable to enjoy the singed cookies from her last stress-bake, she’d had to shower in cold water for the last two days due to terrible building management, lost the aforementioned story and broken her purse strap on the subway, sending all her personal belongings flying out onto the floor. The cherry on top was the guy two desks over at work asking her out for the 3rd time and telling her she was “an ugly prude anyway. I was just trying to be nice to you” upon her denial. As if she owed him something for being a nice enough guy. Which he apparently wasn’t anyway. It had been a long day on top of a long week, and as much as she knew it was her own fault that smoke alarm was going off, she also knew that it was clearly defective. The only time it had gone off when there was actually smoke was 3 nights ago. Every other time, she had no idea what it was doing and she’d been waiting almost six weeks for the super to come take a look at it. So she wasn’t in the mood for some angst ridden guy to tell her off and she sure wasn’t in the mood to take it politely. in fact, now would be a good time to unleash her anger.

“Are you SERIOUS right now?” he started immediately after the door opened. “It’s three in the damn morning! What could possibly be so important that you need to be baking right now?” It was a bit hard to take him seriously, with that dumb beanie on his head. There was that same fire in his eyes, and she just knew that he was expecting the same response from her that he’d gotten the last time he was here, but she wasn’t feeling like following the Alice Cooper Handbook right now. She took a deep breath and responded. “Are YOU serious right now? It’s three in the damn morning! What could possibly be so important that you need to come and knock on my fucking door and tell me what to do?” His eyes widened, but she only continued. She was shorter than him and having to look up to yell at him only made her more angry. “Oh right, the smoke alarm. The same smoke alarm that I turned off within 10 seconds, therefore only causing you minor irritation through which any normal, sane adult would just go back to sleep. But not you. Of course not you. Not Jughead Jones.” “Whoa, slow down.” She could see the boys expression changing, but it was unclear to what. Could that be worry pulling his eyebrows together? “What?” She snapped. “Listen, I still think that you need to be more careful with your smoke detector but, I’ve seen you around here, in the hallway, at the mailroom, and you never seem upset. Or even remotely angry. Mr. Johanssen spit on you while he was talking the other day, a giant spit blob, and you literally smiled even bigger at him.” “And?” “And… I came over here because I’m always up at this time writing and the last few times your alarm went off it completely broke my focus so yeah, I was pissed, but now I’m honestly a bit concerned.” He was cute, she thought, if he would just be like calmer like this all the time. To be fair, it was 3 AM and she had just set off the fire alarm… “I’m sorry. It’s been a long week for me and when I get stressed out I like to bake. Sometimes I forget to keep track of time and my smoke alarm is defective. And by the way, Mr. Johanssen is the nicest old man I’ve ever met. I can’t let him know that he constantly salivates like that, it would only embarrass him.” His mouth twitched up for a millisecond but the concern in his eyes only deepened. “This has happened at least once a week for a month. Twice in the past 3 days. You’ve been stressed out that often?” “Um. I guess so.” He nodded. “When I get stressed I usually write.” He looked down at the floor. “What I’m trying to say is I get what you’re doing. I just don’t particularly love the sound of that alarm in my ears.” “Me neither. It’s really touchy in here. My carrot cake isn’t even burnt and there’s no visible smoke but it still went off all weee-oooo-weeee-ooo.” Betty could feel the time of night catching up with her mind and making her nonsensical, but Jughead smiled. He looked good when he smiled. And it didn’t seem like something he did particularly often. “Wait. You’re a writer?” “Kind of. I mean I try, but I don’t know if I’m any good.” He pushed his hands in his pockets and his cheeks seemed to redden. “I’m a writer too.” She offered. “Or. A journalist. Kind of. I usually just help to edit other peoples articles but I’m trying to be a writer.” His smile came back, even bigger this time. “I’m sure you’re already ten times better than all the other people in your office. They should probably promote you, I mean after all, you’re also a professional baker. Don’t sell yourself short.”

***

Two nights later, Betty was up again at 2 in the morning. This time she wasn’t baking. She was thinking about the boy who lived across the hall. Jughead Jones. The way he softened once they started an actual conversation. The flannel pajama pants and wrinkled grey t shirt. That smile. And she thought about how now that they had an understanding she might never talk to him again. She hadn’t before. And it didn’t bother her before. What had changed? Right then, the fire alarm went off, and Betty sat up quick on her couch. She naturally looked at the oven, but this time it wasn’t her. And it wasn’t stopping. Confused, she stepped out into her hallway. And there he was. “Betty.” He said. “Jughead… what’s going on?” She looked at the plate of burnt cookies in his hands. “I decided to try baking. Not as easy as it seems. Not a de-stresser for me personally, but to each their own.” “Okay…” “See, the thing is, you said your smoke detecter was touchy but apparently mine isn’t. I’ve been trying to set it off baking but I ended up just holding a lighter up to it.” His cheeks were getting red, she noticed, and for the first time he wasn’t wearing that stupid hat. Even though he did kind of make it work. “Why are you trying to set your fire alarm off?” “Well for one, I think it’s time that building management takes a look at the fire alarms in this building.” He took a cautious step forward. “But mostly, I needed an excuse to see you again. There’s something I needed to ask you.” She felt a flip in her chest and tried to keep her feelings under control. “Which is?” “Would you like to go out to dinner with me one of these days?” She let out a breath that she hadn’t realized she was holding. He was asking her on a date. He had made her cookies and tried to do a romantic gesture and no one had ever done anything like this for her before. “Or breakfast or something, I mean I don’t know your daily schedule.” The way he was starting to freak out made her realize that she was waiting much too long to answer him. “I’m actually more of a midnight snack kind of girl, if that’s alright with you.” She took a step closer to him and picked up a cookie off the tray. It actually didn’t look too bad. The edges were a little bit burnt but the rest of the cookie looked like just the right consistency. But Jughead seemed nervous. “The cookies were just a bit. You don’t actually have to eat them.” She gave him a confident smile. “Don’t sell yourself short.”

#bughead #bughead au #betty cooper #jughead jones #betty x jughead #riverdale #riverdale au #mine #my writing

[orbemnews]

Did You Miss Out on Trip This 12 months? You’re Not Alone In a typical 12 months, New York workers of the journal writer Condé Nast should use their trip days earlier than late December or lose them — a typical coverage throughout company America. However early this month, the corporate despatched workers an e-mail saying they might carry as much as 5 trip days into subsequent 12 months, an obvious acknowledgment that many scrimped on days off amid the lengthy hours and journey restrictions imposed by the pandemic. “The carry-over will likely be computerized, and there may be nothing additional you could do,” the e-mail stated. Condé Nast was not alone in scrambling to make end-of-year preparations for vacation-deprived staff. Some employers, nonetheless, have been much less accommodating. “It’s an enormous concern we’re seeing now — competing requests for time without work over the subsequent two weeks,” stated Allan S. Bloom, an employment lawyer at Proskauer in New York. “Purchasers are struggling to determine it out.” Mr. Bloom and different attorneys and human sources specialists stated there was no clear sample in how employers had been dealing with the problem. Many firms that already permit workers to hold trip days into the subsequent 12 months — like Goldman Sachs (usually as much as 10) and Spotify (usually as much as 10) — haven’t felt the necessity to change their insurance policies. The identical is true for some firms that pay staff for his or her unused trip days. Neither Common Motors nor Ford Motor, whose hourly staff can money out unused trip days on the finish of the 12 months, is making adjustments this 12 months. However many staff could discover themselves unable to take holidays that they postponed: Salaried staff at each automakers ordinarily lose unused trip days on the finish of the 12 months with out compensation. Different firms have taken steps that might defuse a possible human sources headache and, they are saying, profit their work forces in troublesome instances. Financial institution of America, which usually requires its U.S. workers to take all their trip earlier than the tip of the 12 months, stated in June that it will permit them to push as much as 5 days into the primary quarter of 2021. Citigroup has sometimes allowed its U.S. workers to hold trip days into the primary quarter of the subsequent 12 months, however in July it added an inducement: Staff obtain an additional trip day subsequent 12 months in the event that they use all of their 2020 trip time this 12 months. Smaller firms have made comparable modifications. Latshaw Drilling, an oil service firm primarily based in Tulsa, Okla., sometimes permits workplace staff to roll over as much as three weeks of trip time. In December, Latshaw advised its workplace workers that it will purchase as much as one week of unused time past that quantity, which they’d have in any other case misplaced. “Since this 12 months was so loopy and other people had been afraid to journey, we made a one-time change,” stated Trent Latshaw, the corporate’s founder and president. A number of specialists stated a philosophical query loomed over trip advantages: Is the purpose to make sure that staff take time without work? Or are trip days merely another type of compensation that staff can use as they see match, whether or not to chill out away from the job, to complement their earnings or to pull round with them till the tip of time, as a monument to their productiveness? An employer’s insurance policies can mirror its views on this query: For all their drawbacks, use-it-or-lose-it guidelines may also help make sure that staff take time without work, stated Jackie Reinberg, who heads the absence and incapacity apply of the consulting agency Willis Towers Watson. In contrast, rollover and cash-out choices indicate that trip is an asset they’re entitled to regulate. Nonetheless, for a lot of staff, the problem in the course of the pandemic shouldn’t be unused trip days a lot as inadequate trip days. Jonathan Williams, communications director for United Meals and Industrial Staff Native 400, which represents grocery retailer staff in Mid-Atlantic States, stated staff had generally been pressured to attract down their reserves of paid time without work in the event that they had been requested to quarantine a second time after a doable coronavirus publicity. Solely the primary quarantine is usually lined by the employer, Mr. Williams stated. And a few workers have issue benefiting from the beneficiant trip insurance policies their firms supply. Up to date  Dec. 28, 2020, 3:18 p.m. ET A Goal spokeswoman stated the corporate had elevated the holiday days that each hourly and salaried staff may roll over into the subsequent 12 months, primarily based on the worker’s position and tenure. However in keeping with Adam Ryan, who works for Goal in Christiansburg, Va., many workers wrestle to qualify for advantages like trip days. Mr. Ryan stated in a textual content message that he had been with the corporate for 3 years however sometimes averaged lower than 20 hours per week. “That method I don’t get any trip or paid sick days, no actual advantages of any form,” he stated. The Goal spokeswoman stated workers may choose up extra hours below its vacation staffing association. A number of union officers, employers and human-resources specialists stated monetary concerns drove many choices about trip insurance policies in the course of the pandemic. Toyota usually permits hourly and lots of salaried workers in the USA to money out as much as two weeks of unused trip days. This 12 months, the corporate lowered the cap to at least one week, a change {that a} spokeswoman stated was meant to assist avert layoffs. The concerns develop into much more difficult for days that staff push into future years. In line with Ms. Reinberg, permitting staff to roll over days can create a pile of liabilities owed to staff that many employers are loath to hold on their books. A union official on the information group Reuters stated the corporate cited accounting issues in sticking with its use-it-or-lose-it coverage this 12 months. The union had pleaded for leniency, noting that its contract permits administration to approve a rollover of trip days in “distinctive circumstances.” “If this 12 months has not been distinctive, I don’t know what the hell has been,” stated the union official, Dan Grebler, an editor who’s chair of the employees’ bargaining unit at Reuters. “The response was: ‘No, we are able to’t try this. There can be difficult bookkeeping concerned.’” Mr. Grebler stated Reuters had begun urging staff to take days off this calendar 12 months across the identical time it had rebuffed him. A Reuters spokeswoman stated that “our coverage for U.S. workers for some years has not allowed for unused trip days to be rolled over” and that “workers have been recurrently reminded because the first half of this 12 months.” Unionized workers at The New York Instances, comparable to reporters, are inspired to make use of trip days in the course of the 12 months by which they accrue the times however can usually carry them over till March 1 of the subsequent 12 months. Days they don’t use by that time are paid out in money. An organization spokeswoman stated the coverage had not modified this 12 months. By each regulation and customized, many People have come to see trip days extra as compensation than as a mandate to take time without work. In a survey by Willis Towers Watson in April, greater than half of employers that made or deliberate to make adjustments to their trip advantages stated they had been doing so as a result of they didn’t anticipate staff to make use of all their days. About one-third that deliberate adjustments stated the profit had develop into too expensive. A number of states, like California and Montana, basically codify the property-right view of trip by outlawing use-it-or-lose-it insurance policies. (Corporations with use-it-or-lose-it or strict rollover insurance policies should exempt staff in these states.) Such legal guidelines shield staff from successfully being disadvantaged of trip days which are troublesome to make use of in the course of the 12 months solely to have them expire at 12 months’s finish. However these legal guidelines may subtly discourage holidays by making them simpler to redeem for cash or postpone indefinitely. “To me as an advocate, you have to be ready by regulation to maintain unused trip time,” stated Peter Romer-Friedman, an employment lawyer at Gupta Wessler. “However I’m undecided that creates a great incentive.” To that finish, quite a few firms, many within the tech business, have seized on the pandemic as a possibility to verify their staff are decompressing. Within the spring, the software program firm GitLab responded to a big rise in hours put in by its greater than 1,000 staff with so-called friends-and-family days, by which the corporate shuts right down to discourage folks from logging in. Google, Slack and the software program firm Cloudera have began comparable insurance policies — none of which rely in opposition to staff’ paid days off. Automattic, the maker of the website-building software WordPress.com, has gone even additional, encouraging workers who work collectively to coordinate their holidays as a approach to get rid of friction that daunts breaks. “We’ve been experimenting with whole groups taking time without work concurrently,” Lori McLeese, the corporate’s head of human sources, wrote in an e-mail. “We’re hoping that this will cut back the quantity of ‘catch up’ work workers sometimes return to after taking a trip, making their transition again much less aggravating or overwhelming.” Peter Eavis and Clifford Krauss contributed reporting. Supply hyperlink #vacation #Year #youre

[bellatrixobsessed1]

Uliuli Iwi (Part 2)

Behold the longest chapter I have ever written for a fanfiction!

Zuko carries the last of his belongings aboard the ship and watches Ursa carry Kiyi up the steps. Kiyi barely moves, she breaths shallowly and labored. Katara squeezes his arm, and apologize for a second time that Sokka, Aang, and Toph can't be there to support him too. When Ursa catches up to him he begins to walk with her across the deck in silence. The sailors raise the anchors and they depart. He watches the waves lap against the boat as they pick up speed.

 “She’s going to be okay, Zuko. I don’t know how, but I know that she will be.” Katara takes his hand.

 Kiyi lets out a sharp yelp and puts a hand on her head. Katara bends some water out of the ocean, purifies it, and holds it at the girl’s temples until she goes lax again. Zuko can’t help but grimace; why is it that only he is unable to help her. Ursa’s lullaby’s even sooth her, where Zuko’s voice cannot.

 “So how are we going to find this Uliuli anyways?” Katara asks. Now that her water is gone, Ursa is back to rocking Kiyi on her lap.

 “Word of the mouth I guess.” Zuko replies. All he has to go on is what the commoner girl had told him. That Uliuli Iwi resides on eastern Ember Island and that he’ll know the place when he sees it. He wishes that she hadn’t been so mysterious. But for some reason, whenever there’s any talk of any kind about shamans, there’s always a shroud of mystery.

 Katara offers her own advice, “look in houses by the beach, most healers like to have a good supply of water.”

 “Most healers are waterbenders.” He wants to say. “A fire mystic isn’t going to have much use for it.” But he bites his tongue, he knows that he only thinks this out of irritation. Instead he just says, “yeah, maybe.” He looks at his hands and twiddles his thumbs. Katara tries to make small talk, but he doesn’t have the energy to contribute, so eventually she trails off and watches the waves spray by.

 The sun hangs low and a few stars are already announcing themselves, twinkling overhead, by the time Ember Island is in view. He can see the rocky rims and palm dotted trunks of volcanos that have lay dormant for decades. The ashy shore approaches quickly. When the boat finally makes port, night has fully fallen. He sees fire pits and touches aglow all across the town. Though quite late, the town is alive with festivity. Mostly rollover activity from daytime parties that have yet to disperse.

They are far from his vacation home so instead of asking around for this mysterious Uliuli Iwi, they are forced to scope out a vacant inn. Eventually they come across a place, it’s small but it will suffice. Zuko tucks Kyi in and tells her a story. He can’t tell if she is can hear him or not through her fever delirium. But he keeps speaking until his eyelids grow heavy and he can speak no more. He falls asleep near Kiyi. And despite his stresses, he’s able to do it restfully.

 “Just stay and watch Kiyi until I find Uliuli.” Zuko commands. The argument ensued as soon as he woke up. The first thing he heard that morning was Katara talking about how far it could be for them to walk. There was no way that he would let Kiyi go anywhere and someone had to stay with her. He was going alone.

 “But Zuko.” Katara begins to protest.

 “My mother needs to watch Kiyi and if Kiyi needs soothing, you need to be there.” Zuko deflects. “I can find her on my own, Ember Island isn’t that big.”

 “I could use the help.” Ursa gives a warm smile. “Kiyi doesn’t like to be alone, so while I cook she can use your company.”

 Katara looks over to Zuko. “Alright, fine, but if anything goes wrong, please come and get us as soon as you can.

 Zuko can’t foresee any problems other than getting lost. He kisses Kiyi on the cheek, “don’t worry you’ll have help very soon.” He leaves the hotel and takes to the streets. He breaths in the salty sent of island morning air. He looks to the left and right for someone who seems approachable. All of the faces he sees, look friendly enough. So he picks a man about his age and inquires, “how much do you know about the mystic Uliuli Iwi?”

 “I know of her.” The man says. “My cousin Riki knows her. She works as a fruit vendor a little way down the road, if you’d like to talk to her. Tell her Tiango sent you.”

 “Thank you.” Zuko nods. He follows the road, taking in its many spectacles. A man sells ornate wooden sculptures and coconuts with drawings etched into them. A male and female duo partake in some kind of island fire dance. And just passed a small shop with a colorful sign reading, ‘Riki’s Fruits and Fauna’, are a group of street performers putting on a play. Realizing what he had just passed, he reverses his direction and stands in a sizable line to talk to Riki. It moves painfully slow, apparently this Riki is a chatter. At last he stands before her.

 “Hello! What can I get for you? Today’s special is mango and banana juice with a spray of passionfruit.” Riki greets.

 He’s curious and tempted and eventually gives in. He might as well give her some cash in exchange for the information. “I’ll take one but I’m not here for fruit.”

 She turns around and blends a few fruits, topping the coconut cup with a small hibiscus. “Hibiscus is on the house.”

 Zuko reaches for his beverage.

 “Ah, ah! Not done!” She snatches it out of his reach.

 “Your cousin, Tiango told me that you can help me. I’m looking for a woman named, Uliuli Iwi.”

 Riki’s face brightens. “Uli! Yeah, I know Uli. She’s wonderful. I was hit with a wild case of Dragonpox,” she shivers, “but Uli gave me this ointment that fixed it right away.” She begins mashing another mango. “A few years ago, there was a plague in this town. A lot of people…” she trails off. “I was so close to dying too, and no one knew how to help. We’d all given up at that point. And then Uli came to our village with odd potions and remedies. They worked on most people, but not me. I went away with Uli up into the mountains where you can practically touch the sea and the sky. She burned incense to and called on the spirits for power. They must have given it to her because a few days later the sickness left. I stayed with her until I was strong enough to walk again and then she took me home.” She drops the beverage into Zuko’s hand. “I named very first after her.”

 “She’s really important to you, isn’t she?” Zuko asked.

 “I visit her every summer solstice and take her to the summer solstice festival.” Riki claps her hands together.

 “Where can I find her?” Zuko asks.

 Riki looks at the growing line. “She lives on the mountain conjoined with the volcano. Her house faces the sunset. You’ll know you’re on the right track when you pass the waterfall and see the beads.”

 Zuko tips her another coin and hurries off, ignoring the annoyed grumbles of other customers.

 .oOo.

 A trail of hibiscus and firelily perfumes the air as Zuko treks the mountain side. He almost regrets not bringing Katara along. She would have been a lot of help with navigating the jungle. He follows a rugged handmade trail, pushing fern and palm fronds aside. He is thankful for the sun dimming canopy which keeps the heat from making his journey that much harder. The jungle around him is alive with hog monkey yaps and various bird calls. It is strangely serene, he almost wouldn’t mind getting lost. A bug whizzes past. It is harder for him to enjoy the lush greenery around him though, when he feels so breathless from such a long hike. He finally reaches the base of the mountain and considers himself lucky that the ancients—likely earthbenders had taken the time to carve a path up it. He has never seen anything quite like this path that resembled a cave with a missing wall. Aside from some vines and weeds, the rocks are void of green. His hand touches a blanket of moss. He beams from ear to ear at the sound of rushing water. He is on the right track!

It is under the falls when he learns what Riki meant by ‘beads’. He was dreading the walk under the falls since he set foot in the jungle—it would be undoubtedly perilous. He’s heard tales of journeymen slipping and careening over rocky ledges. He doesn’t wish to become one of them. But as he draws nearer to the falls he notices a railing. The rocks are just as slippery as he feared, but he had a wooden railing to take hold of. He thanks the ancients a twelfth time for carving stairs into the mountain and thanks the more modern folk for installing the railing. He is now behind the falls, staring at the most crystalline and pure water he’s ever seen. Various classes of fungi, in many sizes and colors, cling to the mountain wall behind him and some splotches of agley hang from the wood. He is careful not to get a handful of it. He is half way to the exit when he spots them. A string of beads tied to a hook that is wedged into a crack in the stones. Teal, red brown, and green. He touches each bead. And now he sees them everywhere as he continues up and around the mountainside. They hang in trees and on the railing. In fronds and around rocks. Some of clams and shells in the mix. From this height he can see the ocean and the silhouette of a bungalow against the sun. But he is nowhere near the top of the mountain. He realizes that the house rests on a natural bridge of sorts; a spacious column that connects the mountain to the volcano. On this stretch of the mountain the trees grow abundantly and various flora flourish. He spots a banana tree just in front of the bungalow. He has two options, he can go to the house or he can continue his hike up the mountain, where the cave-like path continues. A little way ahead the rocks jut out into a series of inviting hot springs hot springs, layered one on top of the other, creating their own small waterfalls. All over these walls he can see childish drawings. He almost wants to keep going up, but his choice is obvious. He came here for Uliuli Iwi.

 He sets foot on what he considers to be her yard. It must be, for the gardening is magnificent and those strings of bead and shell are everywhere. He reaches out and touches a dream catcher that is carefully tied onto a low reaching palm. As he draws closer to the door the path leading up to the house becomes spotted with glittering gems and polished rocks. He finds it hard to believe that this woman would just leave them out in the open like that. He gives the bamboo door a few knocks and waits, listening to the soothing tolls of a few wind chimes. He spots them and decides that they must be handmade.

 He tries knocking again, and still no one answers. But the door falls slightly ajar. It has been unlocked this whole time. He wonders if he should just go in. After another round of knocking and waiting, he enters. The dwelling is spacious and breezy. He realizes with fascination that the walls of the house are practically just huge windows.  He inspects the place more closely and realizes that there are in fact walls but the widows take up most of them on the ocean side—and they are all open, leading out to a huge balcony. He hears rustling and clicking and looks up to find more dream catchers and strings of beads all over the wooden rafters on the ceiling. The clicking noise comes from strings of small polished jade knocking against each other. There are a few wind chimes scattered among them as well as some strands of blue lace, and some other swishing ornaments that he can’t identify. He is so completely mesmerized that he doesn’t notice Uliuli Iwi.

 She Iwi sits cross legged on one of the many colorful woven mats. She stares at them intensely with bright gold eyes, her head slightly cocked so that her bangs and the beads strung into them fall into her face. For a moment Zuko thinks she is going to stand, but instead she crosses her arms over her chest. This motion draws his attention is drawn to the many accessories on her arms. On her right wrist she wears a bracelet of shell and bead, and what appears to be a crab claw. Intertwined with that one is a feathery bracelet.  Golden bangles rest heavy on her left wrist. He follows the length of her arm and finds another bangle on her bicep. He has seen this one before. These though, aren’t her most intriguing pieces of jewelry. What captivates him are her earrings. The first he notices is a cuff-style earring that clings onto the bone near the top of her ear; three eel shark teeth bound to a chip of coconut. He lowers his stare to see a gaping hole in her left ear. It isn’t unsettlingly wide, but he believes that he can fit his smallest coin into it. He has never seen such an oddity. Her right ear is much the same, but she has fit another larger eel shark tooth into it.

Zuko assesses that he should probably stop starring. But he can’t bring himself to do so; he hasn’t seen anything like her before. Her face is decorated with white dots and horizontal lines. The dots are painted mostly under her eyes—three each. But there are a few near her ears, one at the bottom of her chin, and one at her right brow. Her forehead and lips bare two parallel vertical lines—two running from her hair line to where her nose begins, and the other two running from the top of her lips to the dot on her chin. Zuko believes that he can make out a pair of horizontal lines painted over her cheeks. Coupled with those earrings, she looks to him like something out of an ancient tribal painting.

Uliuli seems unphased by his gaze and he wonders if she is used to people starring or if most people are accustomed to her physical appearance and her style of dress. Or lack thereof—she wears only a beaded loincloth. She could easily cover up by undoing her pony tail and letting her thick black hair fall over her breasts, but modesty seems lost on her. Part of him is glad for it; if she covered up he wouldn’t have gotten to see the intricate markings all over her body. Most of them are simply a series of more lines identical to the ones on her face, these take up her arms, legs, and stomach. At her right hip, collar, and on her chest it becomes more complex. Her hip depicts what seems to be a brown outline of what looks like an erupting volcano.  Her collarbone sports a similar brown outline, but this time of a crashing wave against a rock. A few birds rest above that. He doesn’t look for too long at her chest because it doesn’t feel right to do so, but somehow he feels that she doesn’t care. The markings on her chest display the outlines of a sort of ritual; three silhouetted women with feathers in their hair standing around a fire, their hands in the air. One holds a staff of some sort. Beneath them are a series of runes as well as the insignias of the four elements.

He can’t tell if these are composed of paint or a mural of tattoos. Something tells him that they are tattoos. He want to reach out to touch her arm and find out if the markings will come away with his fingers. He keeps his hands to himself. He doesn’t know what to say, because the strange woman before him—looking exactly the same and completely different all at once—is his sister.

 As always, she speaks first. He thinks that she going to berate him for coming into the house without waiting for an answer. Instead she says, “you’re desperate, aren’t you?”

 He can’t tell if she’s asking because he’s standing before her as a mystic or because he’s standing before her in general. Her gaze grows heavier on him as she waits for him to talk. And just as when they were children, he struggles to string them together. “Kiyi has been sick for a while…”

 “Naturally.” Her expression remains stoic.

 “I know, I know, ‘I wouldn’t be here if she wasn’t’.” He fills in.

 “Your words.” She shrugs.

 Zuko opens up his mouth to speak but this time she fills in his words for him, “but I have nowhere else to turn.” Disturbingly he can’t detect even the slightest hint of bitterness or satisfaction from her, the statement was just as impassive as the others.

 “A commoner told me about you. A girl—bright red hair—”

 “Onha.” Azula declares. “I know her family well.”

 She waits for him to continue his request but he doesn’t know how to tell her what needs fixing. He hasn’t yet figured it out. So he just asks instead, “c-can you save her?” He holds out a palm full of glittering coins. “There’s more, a lot more. You know there is.”

 “Generous.” She pushes his hand away.

 He knows now that her words had been bitter. “I’m offering you this much and you still refuse to help me!?”

 “You’re mistaken.” Azula says.

 “Mistaken?”

 “I seldom charge for my services.” Azula replies. “I don’t really have any use for coins anyhow these days. I mostly deal in food and trinkets—things I find fascinating.” She motions to a shelf of knickknacks; weirdly shaped and colored shells, deep-ocean rocks, pearls, and handmade sculptures among other things. She repositions the string of shells she has tied around her ankle, “if you want my help you will fix me something to eat and find me a nice rock or something, like everyone else.”

 Zuko tucks his coins back into his pocket.

 With her face tilted towards the ceiling and a snobbish look on her face, she waved him off. “Go on them, get to it.”

 This is a game to her, he realizes. Perhaps not on principle, but she’s making one of it.

#azula #zuko #kiyi #Avatar The Last Airbender #avatar #fanfiction

[elizabethcariasa]

10 year-end tax moves to make now

November is the place for perfectly roasted Thanksgiving bird, not the many tax turkeys that can gobble up your money. These monthly tax moves are a great garnish as you finalize your 2019 tax year menu.

Turkey attack from South Park via GIPHY

It's November. You know what that means. Year-end tax move time.

Oh yeah, and holiday plans.

I hear ya. It's that crazy hectic part of the year, whether you're the host/hostess with the most/mostest or planning to travel to your Thanksgiving festivities.

But you also need to add taxes to the mix. Now. Before you get all involved in Turkey Day and then, right on its heels since it's Nov. 28 this year, Christmas or Hanukkah or Mawlid an Nabi or whatever is your faith's end-of-year holy day.

If you don't get tax task proactive now, all the other important non-tax stuff that demands your attention this time of year will take over and you'll miss out making some tax-smart tax actions.

Here are 10 tax things to consider and, wherever applicable, complete ASAP. Then you can get back to your holiday planning.

1. Consider crossover tax effects. At this time of year, you're obviously focusing on ways to reduce your 2019 tax bill. But with 2020 looming, you also should look at what moves you make in the next two months might do to your 2020 taxes, too.

The best of both tax worlds is to reduce your taxes in both years.

So dust off your crystal ball and look at what your income is so far, what it will be by the end of 2019 (end-of-year workplace bonus, investment year-end payouts) and what you expect it to be in 2020 (same, more, less). That will give you an idea of whether you need to defer current taxable income and/or accelerate write-offs and into 2019 or vice versa.

2. Compare itemized vs. standard deduction options. Your two-year tax analysis also entails consideration of whether you want to itemize or use the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act's (TCJA) larger standard deduction amounts. For the 2019 tax year, it's $12,200 for single filers and twice that for married couples filing jointly.

If, however, you can write off more by filing a Schedule A, make the most of the still-available itemized deductions.

Mortgage interest remains fully deductible, so you make your January 2020 payment before the end of the year and claim it on your 2019 return.

Also look at medical expenses. If you've spent a lot on health care this year — a lot per the TCJA rules is more than 10 percent or your adjusted gross income (AGI) … unless Congress acts on extenders that could keep that AGI threshold at 7.5 percent — or will by Dec. 31, think about getting and paying for elective medical procedures this year to bump up this deduction.

Also look into bunching as much health-related costs (an extra pair of prescription contact lenses, medicine that can be refilled now instead of waiting until 2020) that can help you bulk up your medical itemized deduction for 2019. Then by pulling these costs into this tax year, you can claim the standard deduction in 2020.

3. Fine tune your Form W-4. By now, you should be aware of how the TCJA changed tax rates and the income amounts taxed under them. You also might have had a bad surprise this last filing season when your refund wasn't what you expected or worse, you owed the Internal Revenue Service more.

To avoid that again, use the IRS' updated withholding calculator to do a paycheck checkup now. Making any changes in November will spread out the changes over several paychecks, reducing any possible cash flow issues if you need to have more withheld.

4. Spend down your FSA. Sticking with tax health for a minute, take a look at your medical flexible spending account (FSA). These workplace accounts offer a great way to set aside pre-tax dollars you can spend on medical expenses that aren't covered by your insurance. But they have one big drawback. Many still require you to use up all of your FSA money by the end of the benefits year, which is Dec. 31 for most companies, or you'll lose them.

Some companies give FSA owners a grace period until March 15 to use the money. Others allow a rollover of at least some of the accounts' funds. But your best bet is to spend down your FSA completely to ensure that it's not wasted. Making those decisions in November can help you avoid panic FSA spending at the end of the year.

5. Be charitable. During the traditional gift-giving season, many folks make giving to charities part of their holiday celebrations. In addition to making you feel good, such contributions are still deductible under the new tax law.

The most common ways of giving to an IRS-approved nonprofit is by writing a check or charging your donation to your credit card. You also can donate clothing or household items and deduct the value of your old property.

There also are other more creative ways to give. Donate appreciated stock that, in your portfolio evaluation, you decided no longer fit your overall investing plan.

And if you're age 70½ and are facing a required minimum distribution (RMD) that could push you into a higher tax bracket, consider directly transferring that RMD amount (up to $100,000) to your charity of choice. It allows you to meet the withdrawal rule without having to pay tax on the amount. While an RMD direct donation means no charitable tax deduction on your tax return, you do avoid a chunk of taxable income and that's a pretty darn good tax break.

You can make your Thanksgiving-related donations this month. But make a note that you can give more as the December holidays near.

Checks to charities that are mailed by Dec. 31 will count as a 2019 deduction even though they will be delivered to your favorite nonprofit next year. The same deduction timing applies to credit card donations. You can write off the charitable gift charged to a bank credit card in the year you made the charge.

6. Make tax-favored gifts to family. The annual gift tax exclusion provides a great way for people of means to give to those close to them in the context of reducing a potential estate tax down the road. Under this tax provision, you can give a sizable amount — it's $15,000 per person in 2019 — each tax year without paying gift tax or tapping your lifetime estate and gift tax exemption.

Your spouse can also give $15,000 to the same donee in 2019. That's a $30,000 tax-free gift for wealthy couples.

If you don't use the gift tax exclusion in a tax year, it's gone forever. So if you've got it, share it while you're still around to get the thanks and hugs.

Just don't be too generous here. Annual gifts that exceed the exclusion amount will trigger the filing of a gift tax return for the year. But no gift tax will be due unless your total lifetime gifts exceed $11,400,000; that's the estate tax exemption amount for 2019.

You also can use the exclusion to contribute to 529 plans to help your children or grandkids pay for their educations. You're allowed to put in up to $75,000 in a single year per beneficiary; $150,000 if your spouse wants to give, too. If you put in the maximum, the IRS considers you as giving $15,000 (or $30,000 from you and your husband or wife) to that beneficiary in 2019 and in each of the next four years (2020 through 2023).

This bulk 529 pay-in process is excluded from your estate as long as you live through the fifth year.

7. Feather your nest eggs. It's great that you're such a generous parent or grandparent. But don't overlook your financial and tax needs. Add as much as you can to your retirement accounts by year's end. This is a perennial suggestion, as far too many taxpayers fail to make the most of their 401(k)s and other savings accounts.

Yes, you do have until next April 15 to make IRA contributions, either traditional or Roth, for the 2019 tax year. But the sooner you get your money into the account, the sooner it has the potential to start to grow tax-deferred. And if your traditional IRA is deductible, that will reduce your taxable income for the year.

When it comes to workplace retirement plans, Dec. 31 is the last day you can put money for the current tax year into your 401(k) or similar plan. So get to your benefits office now to bump up your contributions for the final pay periods of the year. This post on 2019 inflation adjustments for retirement plans has specifics on how much you can put into your nest eggs this year.

8. Harvest your investment tax losses. The stock market has been on a bit of roller coaster ride in 2019. So what else is new?

Sure, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both traded in record territory in the past week. And the Dow, which closed Nov. 1 above the 27,000 mark, could be just days away from its own new high. FYI, the Dow Jones Industrial Average reached an all-time high of 27,398.68 in July of 2019. Its record low was 28.48 in August of 1896.

But as the year-to-date graphic below shows, there were some market down days this year.

Source: MarketWatch

If you didn't escape a market dive or simply have some dogs in your portfolio, it might be a good idea, as part of your overall asset analysis, to sell some of the holdings that haven't done so well this year. This stock loss harvesting can be used to offset any gains you made on other sales this year.

Yes, it is hard to admit you made a bad investment decision. I've been there. Most of us have. But there's a school of financial thought that you should realize your losses sooner rather than later. Investors who wait until the very end of the tax year are likely to pay more taxes than those who realize losses when they occur, says , says Mier Dr. Statman, the Glenn Klimek professor of finance at Santa Clara University's Leavey School of Business. If you wait until December, says Statman, the share prices might increase to what you paid for them, or more, and the opportunity for a tax deduction would disappear.

Capital losses also could be especially beneficial to higher income taxpayers facing the 3.8 percent Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT). This surtax, part of the Affordable Care Act, is still in the tax code. It applies to the unearned income, not adjusted for inflation, of single or head of household filers with modified adjusted gross incomes (MAGIs) of more than $200,000 and married joint filers earning $250,000 (or $125,000 if married and filing separately). Harvesting losses can help high earners reduce their NIIT amount.

And if in taking those losses you discover you have more of them than gains, you can claim up to $3,000 in bad investments against your ordinary income to help lower that taxable amount. Then get a new financial adviser!

9. Collect your cryptocurrency documents. You'll need this paper trail if you buy, sell or mine cryptocurrency for an accurate record of what you owe on this property. Yes, that's how the IRS views Bitcoin and its digital brethren.

And yes, the IRS is serious about tracking these investments. Earlier this year, it launched a concerted effort to get the taxes it says are due from Bitcoin et al owners. Uncle Sam's tax collector sent letters to more than 10,000 taxpayers it says completed virtual currency transactions and then failed to report the resulting income and pay the appropriate tax or didn't report those transactions properly.

To avoid upping the IRS' literal not virtual ire, start collecting all the info related to your cryptocurrency activity now. If you don't have complete and correct records of your transactions, you could be subject to added attention from the IRS and possibly face a bigger tax bill that you expected.

10. Pay attention to passthrough issues. If you're a small business owner who's eligible for the TCJA's new Section 199A tax deduction for passthrough entities, take it. Just be careful. This is one of the most convoluted, confusing portions of the new tax law. Heck, it took the IRS more than a year after the TCJA's passage to issue official guidance on the 20 percent tax break and its many permutations.

In addition to determining just how much the new deduction can save your company, you need to ensure that your business qualifies and find out whether you need to make any changes to your compensation structure to maximize the tax break. So if you don't have a tax professional to guide you through this new tax break, hire one now.

More November tax moves: And that wraps the 10 tax moves to make, or at least start looking into, this November.

I know. That's a lot of tax tasks to shoehorn into one of the craziest months of the year. But if any or all of them apply to your financial and tax situations, check into them. They could make a valuable difference to your tax liability.

If, however, you're a tax glutton, you can find some more November-specific tax moves over in the ol' blog's right column. They're under the bright red November Tax Moves heading, just below the countdown clock ticking off the time left here in tax year 2019.

Once all this tax stuff is done, you still have time to work on your Turkey Day and beyond holiday celebrations. And you'll be able to do without that nagging tax voice in your head.

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[torentialtribute]

Partick’s new Moneyball owners could have seismic implications for the Glasgow club

It's a question that has been asked during the pub quizzes in the West End on at any time: What do you think of Barnsley and the former Maryhill church do they all have in common?

Every time the answer can become obvious. And for supporters of Partick Thistle, it has the potential to turn their world upside down.

Sportsmail today can unveil that takeover talks between the current Firhill board and a consortium that already owns the French and English clubs are at an advanced stage.

<img id = "i-43c085cdb6658878" src = "https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/06/21/00/15060720 -0-image-a-18_1561072309336.jpg "height =" 419 "width =" 634 "alt =" Partick Thistle are the target of an acquisition of a rich international consortium "class =" blkBorder img-share "

Partick Thistle is the target of a takeover by a rich international consortium

Barring the last-minute hit, the Great Glasgow Alternative, the thistle proudly invoices itself, will begin what might be the most extraordinary chapter are in its 143-year history.

The consortium is led by billionaire entrepreneur Chien Lee, founder of the NewCity Capital investment firm and American businessman Paul Conway.

A Sino-American, private investment company Lee founded in 2013, includes real estate, hospitality, retail, and sports. He is the founding member of CS China Acquisition Corp., director of Asian Coast Development (Canada) Ltd, the developer of The Grand Ho Tram Strip, a luxury resort in Vietnam, and founder of the 7 Days Inn budget hotel chain

Conway earned his money through the Pacific Media Group, a Hong Kong-based company that distributes Western sports, film, and TV shows in Asia, and also collaborates with partners to acquire media across the continent, with deals often more than nine-figure figures

<img id = "i-85e1a106c660269b" src = "https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/06/ 21/00 / 15060752-0-image-a-19_1561072318956.jpg "height =" 423 "width =" 634 "alt =" <img id = "i-85e1a106c660269b" src = "https://i.dailymail.co .uk / 1s / 2019/06/21/00 / 15060752-0-image-a-19_1561072318956.jpg "height =" 423 "width =" 634 "alt =" Sino-American entrepreneur Chien Lee already owns French side Nice and Barnsley French side Nice and Barnsley

Chinese-American entrepreneur Chien Lee already owns French side Nice and Barnsley

Their buyout of Barnsley at the end of 2017 came too late in the season to prevent the club from relegating from the championship, but last season they pushed back impressively to finish second in League One and are now preparing for the Premiership.

But if the motivation for controlling controlling interests in two clubs or already in one of Europ

Because frankly, if larger clubs in the upper regions of the Scottish game find it almost impossible to end

So why would men with combined wealth, measured in billions instead of millions, give it a second thought? Why thistle?

Nice, now under the tutelage of Patrick Vieira, his state of affairs, the main concern, with Barnsley in line.

Thistle will effectively become the third component of the business model. In the same way that players and expertise will flow from the Allianz Riviera to Oakwell, they will drip into Firhill.

The great advantage of the Glasgow club is that they gain access to a hugely superior pool of players than they could have dreamed of now.

Nice and Barnsley, meanwhile, can expose fringe and developing players to first-team football in Scotland. In theory everyone is a winner. For all extraordinary estimates of the net profit of the consortium, to be clear, their modus operandi is not signing blank checks when searching for & # 39; overnight & # 39; good luck. They are not Roman Abramovich or Sheikh Mansour.

<img id = "i-4f9c5a1261358b1d" src = "https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/06/21/00/15060988-0- image-a-34_1561072721137.jpg "height =" 357 "width =" 634 "alt =" <img id = "i-4f9c5a1261358b1d" src = "https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/06 /21/00/15060988-0-image-a-34_1561072721137.jpg "height =" 357 "width =" 634 "alt =" The implications for the Great Glasgow Alternative may well be long-term seismic Barnsley & # 39; s transactions

The implications for the Great Glasgow Alternative can be quite seismic in the long term summer underlined the point. Of the eight signed players, five were free transfers.

The same discipline on the market applies in Nice.

The same discipline on the market applies in Nice. Only £ 2.2 million was spent on seven players in the first transfer window they accompanied. Lee and Conway did not get rich by giving away money.

In a rare interview after the takeover by Barnsley, Lee made it clear that his approach differs from the scatter-cash one of the many owners of English clubs.

I am a long-term investor, he explained. & # 39; So there is no rush. Let's stabilize and then move on step by step. & # 39; As he expanded about what he had to notice before he sank into his pocket, I added: “You need to know what to buy, how to buy and buy smart.

& # 39; You don't just want to buy a club

& # 39; Is there synergy with your existing company? & # 39; For me, why I don't buy is why others buy it. I see the business opportunity. I invest in different industries … hospitality, sports … I like challenges. If there is no challenge, I will not invest. & # 39;

Although there is no suggestion that he is actively involved in the Thistle buyout, one of Lee's co-investors in Yorkshire is Billy Beane, the inspiration behind the 2011 movie Moneyball.

<img id = "i-ff735a1235234871" src = "https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/06/21/00/15060984-0- image-a-33_1561072671370.jpg "height =" 913 "width =" 634 "alt =" <img id = "i-ff735a1235234871" src = "https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/06 /21/00/15060984-0-image-a-33_1561072671370.jpg "height =" 913 "width =" 634 "alt =" Billy Beane, of Moneyball's fame, has a backseat role with similarly owned Barnsley

Billy Beane, of Moneyball's fame, has a backseat role with similarly owned Barnsley

Brad Pitt in the lead role tells the story of how Beane brought success to the Major League Baseball team Use Oakland Athletics by the date to scout and recruit undervalued players in the league.

& # 39; We will expand what Barnsley has done in recent years & lt; 39 added Lee. Their strategy was focused on England. So now we are going to expand this base to Germany, France, the Netherlands, Portugal … South Africa. This includes analyzing the players – and how to choose players, using big data. & # 39;

Whether done locally or for them in southern France or Yorkshire, this scientific crunching of the numbers is likely to become part of Thistle & # 39; s DNA as its famous red-yellow sweater

]

What is more difficult to determine at the moment is Lee and Conway's estimate of the club's long-term potential. Lee certainly has set no limits on how high both Nice and Barnsley can fly.

I love the culture of Barnsley, he said. The club is the largest possession. It is a small town, so the football club is his identity.

& # 39; My goal is to work with the fans, work with the city council, work together to promote Barnsley and the city at the same time.

& # 39; We Will Try to Barnsley & # 39; internationalize & # 39 ;, as we did with Nice. Before we invested in Nice, not many people in Asia had heard of them. Now in Asia – in China – people know the club. & # 39;

& # 39; Here are more than a billion people and they have that historical relationship with England & # 39 ;, he said. & # 39; So I see that as a big market. If we can bring more sponsorship from India – and China – to Barnsley, we will improve. & # 39;

Although there is no suggestion that the current manager's job would be purely threatened

The couple who owns the house and the house of the owner of the house.

The couple who won £ 161 million at the EuroMillions in 2011 invested a total of £ 1.85 million in the club's academy and are involved in the construction of a 4-meter training academy, the details of which are still always be sketchy.

It has now been four years since the news of the Water Board became known & financial support from Thistle became public. That day the passive supporters felt that they had won the lottery. If it continues, the Sino-US deal begs for the rollover to land.

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#Partick’s new Moneyball owners could have seismic implications for the Glasgow club"

[nawafithme]

A Week In Austin, TX, On A $99,000 Joint Salary

Welcome toMoney Diaries , where we’re tackling what might be the last taboo facing modern working women: money. We’re asking millennials how they spend their hard-earned money during a seven-day period — and we’re tracking every last dollar.

Calling all entrepreneurs: We want to hear from you! If you’re a freelancer or self-employed, we’d love to feature your Money Diary. Submit here.

Today: an executive assistant working in manufacturing who makes $59,000 per year ($99,000 when combined with her husband) and spends some of her money this week on Cherry Coke Zero. We previously published a diary from this OP back in December 2017.

Occupation: Executive Assistant Industry: Manufacturing Age: 29 Location: Austin, TX My Salary: $59,000 My Husband’s Salary: $40,000 My Paycheck Amount (Biweekly): $1,660 (not including quarterly bonus) My Husband’s Paycheck Amount (Biweekly): $1,300

Monthly Expenses Mortgage: $1,550 (This includes property taxes and insurance.) Loans: $990 for two cars and one motorcycle and $100 for solar panels Electricity: $20 Gas: $15 Netflix: $12 (I share this with my BFF, and she shares her Hulu account with me.) Cell Phones: $100 Vivint Home Monitoring: $90 Car Insurance: $195 (Mine is $75, and my husband’s is $120.) Health Insurance: $32 (Through my work; covers me and my husband, plus a $20/paycheck contribution to HSA. My company puts $1,000/year in our HSA as well.) Husband’s Pension: This is awful but I don’t actually know how much they take from his check. He’s a firefighter and has no say in what gets taken out. I don’t contribute to my company’s 401(k) anymore. I previously did, but once my husband became a firefighter and gained the pension, I stopped. Savings: We have ~$20,000 in direct savings and ~$350,000 invested. The investment money came directly from an inheritance I received.

8:15 a.m. — Got to sleep in this morning because I have a doctor’s appointment. Normally I am onsite at work from 8 to 5, so I’ve low-key enjoyed having morning appointments during my pregnancy because I’ve gotten to sleep in. My husband hasn’t attended the majority of my appointments, but after a bit of arguing, he’s requested I schedule them when he isn’t working. So we get up and let the dogs out, I make myself a small breakfast of two turkey sausage links and a Babybel cheese, and then we head out. We drive separately because my doctor’s office is just down the road from my work.

9:30 a.m. — I check in at the doctor, and they ask if I’d like to make a payment. I know our HSA is basically empty since my company contribution has not yet hit, so I decide to just pay $125 today out of pocket. I know the $1,000 my company contributes to my HSA won’t cover these last two months of my pregnancy or the birth, so it makes no real difference if we pay out of pocket now or later. Luckily, my insurance has a $3,000 deductible and a $6,000 max out of pocket. So no matter what, these visits and the birth will be cheaper than my gallbladder surgery a few years ago. (I had horrific insurance then.) $125

10:30 a.m. — All done! This doctor is a MFM (Maternal Fetal Medicine) specialist, because I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes at 23 weeks. My husband had never even been to her office yet, so this was a first for him. They do a full ultrasound every visit, and he very much enjoyed getting a glimpse of our baby girl. I’m 31 weeks as of today, so there was a lot to see compared to the last scan he saw at 20 weeks.

11 a.m. — I arrive at work just in time for lunch. I get to my desk, check to make sure I don’t have any urgent emails or IMs, and then head to the cafeteria. My company gives us $30 for lunch per month and then matches an additional $30, so my lunch doesn’t cost me anything. I haven’t had to pay $30 yet this month because last month was so full of catering that I had a significant amount of rollover. Today, the options are carbs, carbs, and more carbs. So, bunless burger and side salad for me. People have a ton of different opinions and advice on how to manage gestational diabetes. My specialist told me that if the only way I can manage during the day without meds is to eat minimal carbs, I should do that. As long as I’m eating and getting nutrients, the baby and I will be fine. I find my body can handle certain carbs (rice, corn, potatoes) way better than bread or pasta. If I have any bread, my levels are through the roof. ($5.75 expensed)

12:15 p.m. — I finally waddle my way back to my desk. I’ve started waddling over the last week or so, and it’s made me move even slower. My office is almost a quarter mile from the cafeteria. It’s good exercise for me and baby girl, but also UGH, I’m exhausted. I plop down in my chair, turn on my heater because pregnant me is always cold, and start checking my email.

5 p.m. — I’M OUT! I used to spend a lot of money randomly online shopping, but ever since I got pregnant, I haven’t had much to stuff to buy. We don’t want to buy too much before our shower next month.

5:30 p.m. — I need gas. I absolutely hate getting gas. I’m one of those people who is literally zero miles from empty before filling up. I’m almost home and want to just get gas in the morning, but I also don’t want to be out of gas and pregnant at 7 a.m. when my husband is an hour away at work. So I opt to not push my luck. $32.18

9 p.m. — After getting home, cooking dinner (carnitas in the Instant Pot), and watching a couple episodes of The Magicians with my husband, we start our bedtime routine. I got bangs a while back so I can no longer wash my hair at night, so I opt for just a body shower to make tomorrow morning go faster, wash my face with an H-E-B makeup remover wipe, and then slap on some random moisturizer. My skin is wicked dry always, so I’m currently using some random lotion from LUSH on my face. It was a gift, and all I know is my face isn’t super flakey. Luckily I haven’t had to deal with any hormonal acne *knock on wood*. Lights are out by 9:30.

Daily Total: $157.18

5:15 a.m. — My husband’s alarm goes off. Since my last Money Diary, he went through the Fire Academy and became a firefighter/EMT in a city about an hour away. I’m incredibly proud of him, but his schedule has been tough to get used to. He works 24 hours and then has 48 hours off. He has to be at the station by 6:45, which means he is always there no later than 6:35. He gets up and tries his best to get ready quietly, but I always wake up to give him a hug and a kiss and to say I love you and to tell him to be safe. He’s been working on shift for seven months and hasn’t seen a fire yet, but I always want him to stay safe out there. The problem is I can never fall asleep after he leaves. I used to, but this far along in pregnancy, as soon as I wake up I become harshly aware of all the pain in my hips and just lie there snuggling the dog until 6 when I get up and get ready.

8:15 a.m. — Nothing I had at home for breakfast sounded good, so I waddle over to the cafeteria for breakfast. I opt for a scoop of eggs, a sausage patty, and a Cherry Coke Zero. People have lots of opinions on diet soda to begin with, and it gets super extra if you’re pregnant. Step off world, pregnancy is hard enough as it is. ($2.75 expensed)

11 a.m. — Lunchtime. I waddle over to the cafeteria. Taco Tuesday, FTW! I get mine in a bowl with rice, chicken, pico, pickled red onions, and sour cream. Delicious. ($7.52 expensed)

2 p.m. — My baby shower is coming up, and I would ideally like to wear a new dress. I browse the internet’s pathetic selection of maternity clothes and find a dress that miiight work. $14.12

5:45 p.m. — Get home and let the dogs out. We have two rescue dogs, and they are our everything. They used to spend every day in their crates, but since my husband’s schedule has him home quite a bit, they only spend a max of two days a week in their crates. They are both crate-trained and have no issues in them — they are loved, spoiled, and very content with their lives.

8 p.m. — I let the dogs out, clean up from my dinner (meatballs and marinara), and within five minutes they’re both at the door like MOM IT’S BEDTIME LET’S GOOOO. We all head upstairs. I turn on the TV in our room, do some general cleaning, and then crawl in bed by 8:45. I call my husband to tell him goodnight, and we are all one big snuggle puddle all night long.

Daily Total: $14.12

6:30 a.m. — I get up, get ready, and let the dogs out. Then I heat up the last of the low-carb pumpkin muffins I made last week for breakfast. I let the dogs in and let them roam instead of putting them in their crates, since my husband will be home by 8 a.m. This is mostly because it’s still so early for them that they will just go upstairs and get back in bed. They can’t be trusted alone for more than about 45 minutes, though.

11 a.m. — My morning flies by. Out CEO is coming in a few days, and this morning my boss asked me to create some slides for a presentation for him. It’s kind of wild to know that you’re creating something that will be shown to the CEO. It is also a great confidence booster that he trusts me to create this content. I finish by lunchtime and then waddle over to the cafeteria. Options look bleh, so I just do salad bar. Spring mix, mushrooms, hard-boiled egg, and ranch. It’s fine. ($4.18 expensed)

5 p.m. — I try to not take the toll road very often because I discovered the hard way how much the bill can add up. But I miss my husband and want to get home ASAP, so here I come toll road and 80 mph speed limit. $2.07

5:25 p.m. — I get home in 25 minutes, and my husband immediately asks if I took the toll because I’m so early. He then asks what’s for dinner, because he’s been hungry for the last hour but didn’t want to ruin dinner by snacking. Dinner is chicken thighs stuffed with cheese and bacon, plus Brussels sprouts for me and broccoli cheddar pasta for him. It’s easy, and he helps make it all, so I don’t have to stand for 30 minutes. I normally do 95% of the cooking, because when we met, his philosophy about food was that he only cooked things that took less time to cook than to eat. He’s a big fan of Chef Mic(rowave).

9 p.m. — BEDTIME! Yes, even when neither of us has to get up before 6:30, we go to bed at 9 p.m. I don’t function well on less than eight hours of sleep. Having a newborn is gonna be awesome.

Daily Total: $2.07

7:30 a.m. — Sausage links and a Cherry Coke Zero on the drive to work this morning. There’s a ton of fog, and it takes longer than normal to get to work. Feeling grateful no one actually cares/notices if I’m 10 minutes late.

9:30 a.m. — Breakfast did not cut it this morning, and I’m desperate for a snack. I grab a mini Kind bar.

11 a.m. — Y’all know what time it is. Waddle over. Beef and broccoli it is. I want another Coke Zero, but I opt for water. I normally drink four bottles (20 ounces) of water a day at work plus random amounts at home, but I’ve found this hasn’t been enough and need to start drinking more. Have I mentioned I’m pregnant, and that it’s a pure joy? Ugh. ($6.86 expensed)

2 p.m. — The baby has decided to stretch in a way that genuinely feels like her tiny hand might pop out down there. This is wildly uncomfortable as you might imagine, so I get up and waddle around the office hoping she changes positions. It works, kind of. She moves but only to a mildly less uncomfortable position. I try to stretch a little, and my boss notices. He asks how I’m doing and asks if there’s anything I need to help make working less of a pain. He’s a nice guy.

5 p.m. — Headed home. I don’t have to cook tonight because we are having steak, the one thing I trust my husband to cook completely with no supervision. I get home, love on dogs, love on husband, and plop my ass on the couch. He lets me know when they’re almost done so I can get up and prep my salad. I have a steak Caesar, and it hits the spot. It’s also low enough in carbs and sugar and all that so I can have a spoonful of peanut butter for "dessert." In case you were wondering, one of my Christmas gifts was literally a full cheesecake that is waiting patiently in my freezer for my return from giving birth.

9 p.m. — Bedtime routine. Husband works tomorrow, and I feel like I’ve barely seen him. I get pouty and hormonal and proceed to cry in bed for a bit. It’s unproductive since there’s literally nothing we can do about it, but he snuggles me until I fall asleep.

Daily Total: $0

7:30 a.m. — TGIF! Drive to work, settle in, check email, and do general admin work things.

11 a.m. — Waddle waddle. Pork loin, salad, green beans for lunch. ($7.35 expensed)

3:30 p.m. — My husband is off all weekend, which is GREAT and only happens like once a month, so I order groceries online for curbside pickup tomorrow because I don’t want to spend an hour shopping. I’d rather spend the time doing something together. I order chicken thighs, breakfast sausage, eggs, milk, cheese, produce, soda, chips, etc. It adds up to almost $90 somehow, but our soft grocery budget is $125/week, so whatever. I fight my impulse to add stuff I want but don’t need since I’m under budget. I remind myself that as soon as I can drink again, these savings will come in handy. $87.35

5 p.m. — My best friend is coming over for dinner and works closer to my house than I do, so I take the toll road home so I can beat her there. We eat pesto chicken and stuffed mushrooms, chat about nothing, and lounge around. She’s that awesome friend who is happy to come over and do nothing with me. She’s also that friend who understands that taking off your pants definitely means you aren’t leaving the house again. My husband texts that he’s jealous he’s missing out because even though he’s generally not very social, he really likes my best friend because she’s entertaining AF and always has stories to tell. $2.07

8:45 p.m. — I guess I yawned one too many times, and my friend insists on going home so I can go to bed. I keep saying I’m not tired, but I’m not fooling anyone. Say goodbye, let dogs out, and crawl in bed.

Daily Total: $89.42

7:58 a.m. — Our girl dog can hear my husband’s car when it enters the neighborhood, and she immediately jumps up in excitement. DAD’S HOME! He comes in, comes upstairs, and crawls in bed with me. We proceed to sleep for another hour or so.

9:30 a.m. — We finally get out of bed and decide since it’s nice out we’ll take the dogs for a walk instead of just letting them run in the backyard. We don’t walk them much because our yard is very large, and they get plenty of exercise. Also, one of them has severe anxiety and walks can be super fun until they are super not. We take the small loop around the neighborhood. It’s about a half mile and about all I can handle. Pups don’t encounter any other pups or people, so anxiety stays at bay.

1 p.m. — Neither of us feel like cooking, so when I suggest Chipotle my husband is super down. We get in the car and drive over there. My husband inhales his burrito in three minutes. $19.45

2:30 p.m. — I drag my husband to Target after we eat because we need new bedding. Well, we don’t actually NEED it, but I hate what we have and want all-white bedding because I can bleach it if the dogs make a mess and my husband agrees. Of course, one cannot simply go to Target and get only what one came for, so we leave with new sheets, new slippers, a bath mat, a dog toy, and a super cute onesie for baby girl. $185.22

5 p.m. — After a few hours doing absolutely nothing, I decide to start dinner. Lemon chicken in the Instant Pot. My mom got me an Instant Pot for Christmas. I didn’t ask for it, but she thought it would come in handy when the baby comes, and she was right. This thing is awesome, and I love it. Thanks, Mom! You da best.

9 p.m. — We take bedtime super seriously in my house. And by we, I mean me and the dogs. 9 p.m. rolls around and to bed we go. My husband is playing computer games and says he will join us after one more. I throw a fit because apparently that’s who I am now. I cry and cry about how I go to bed alone when he works and I don’t want to do it if I don’t have to. I surprise myself with valid points, but he apologizes and admits he didn’t even think about that. He crawls in bed for snuggles and that’s that.

Daily Total: $204.67

9:30 a.m. — And we’re up. I let the dogs out and start cleaning. When my husband has Sundays off, we have a group of friends over to play Dungeons & Dragons. I’m not that nerdy and was never interested, but after my husband asked me for literally years to give it a shot, I finally said yes. It’s fun. I don’t love it the way he does, but I enjoy it enough to spend my Sunday playing it. We literally play all day. Everyone brings their own lunch usually and then we provide dinner for the group.

8:30 p.m. — Everyone has left for the evening. It was a fun day — we recently added my sister-in-law’s husband to our group, and he’s proven to be an awesome addition. My husband and I do our bedtime routine and discuss how the game went today. Lights out by 9:30.

Daily Total: $0

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HP Omen 15 2018 Review

HP is prominent for its collection of enterprise computers. HP tends to make almost everything from portable notebooks like the Envy thirteen to effective cellular workstations just like the ZBook collection, nonetheless, a further kind of notebooks have gained reputation lately. We're speaking concerning the Omen gaming sequence which has been established over the final few many years like a reliable gaming resolution.Right now we are going to check out the latest iteration of your collection - the HP Omen 15 2018. Equipped with all the new eighth gen Intel processors and up to a GTX 1070 Max-Q, the Omen fifteen Batteria HP fifteen G208AX pumps some serious horsepower. Perhaps the 144Hz show can established it aside from the competitors or possibly it will win our hearts with its performance. Let's find out.

Design

Although meaner and leaner, this year's HP Omen fifteen doesn't actually buck the development nor break away from the blueprint of last year's model. Positive, the bezels are thinner. And the new HP Omen fifteen does utilises Nvidia's Max Q graphics caricabatterie hp 72109 001 configuration to some impact.Straight held against its predecessor, it offers greater thermal-dynamics along with a smaller sized physical footprint. Nonetheless, when compared with the remainder of your Max-Q group, it does nevertheless arrive off just a little cumbersome and heavy. The entire thing can be a small much more restrained relative to the other neon-lit-death-machines competing for focus inside the space. Nonetheless, both beneath and outside the hood, the Omen 15 feels drearily iterative. It really is greater, but this superiority doesn't feel borne of particular ambition. It really is just by-the-numbers.And it is telling that even the pain-points within this year's HP Omen 15 feel slightly recycled. The trackpad is iffy in its responsiveness and also the mushy keyboard isn't a lot greater. The HP Omen comes with 26-key rollover caricabatterie asus f554la and lights customizability, but it really is subject to a bunch of limits that most of its competition has transcended in recent years. Certain - if you're not an RGB lights particular person, that's definitely not likely to be as a lot of a large offer. All the exact same, it's possibly improved to possess a gaming laptop computer with these abilities than one particular with out them.

The keyboard turned out to be extremely respectable. Additionally to the single-stage multi-color backlight we had been particularly fond with the new color for that labels, which experienced a enormous effect on legibility. Typing was respectable and can likely satisfy most customers. Never expect top-class overall performance regarding accentuation point or suggestions, although.Regardless of the general fairly narrow situation HP has managed to fit a numpad next towards the regular-sized chiclet-style keyboard. Having said that, the layout was a little of a problem because it deviated significantly in the default German keyboard layout. Have a look at for example the single-row Return important, the relocated crucial, or the lacking right CTRL essential. Basically, HP took the frequent US QWERTY layout and just remapped some keys in place of adjusting the layout accordingly. US shoppers caricabatterie hp dv6 will come across a frequent QWERTY keyboard layout with teeny-tiny cursor keys which might be practically impossible to make use of for gaming.The silver-framed and slightly recessed touchpad was inconspicuous by and substantial. To put it differently: It was neither especially superior nor especially undesirable. That not only utilized to precision but also to smoothness. Gestures usually worked very well, despite the fact that we noticed a minor enter lag when executing them.At 10.two x five.7 cm (four x two.two inches) the touchpad was sufficiently sized for a 15-inch notebook. As opposed to a lot of other producers HP has opted towards a ClickPad and for 2 dedicated mouse buttons beneath the touch area, which improved overall precision noticeably.The Omen 15 employs a fifteen.6" diagonal higher definition display caricabatterie acer e5 with 1080p resolution and WLED backlighting. In addition, it has a higher 144Hz refresh price which makes it an ideal selection for gaming.Overall I identified the display on this laptop computer to become very exceptional. It includes a extremely slender bezel which provides towards the aesthetic charm when gaming or viewing online video. Additionally, it has a broad viewing angle as well as small reflective glare. In most environments I had been able to take pleasure in the fantastic visual quality of the show with no worrying about interference from external lights.

Performance

This Omen deploys Nvidia GTX 1060 graphics. It is a tweaked version from the mobile model of the chip using a greater clock speed, and it really is got 6GB of memory. The GTX 1060 returned framerates of 85fps and 67fps in Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor and Increase of the Tomb Raider, with each video games running at 1080p and their greatest high-quality ranges.That's speedy adequate to play any of today's top titles devoid of dialling down the graphics. It is also adequate speed to handle every single esports video game, but remember that the 144Hz G-Sync tech Caricabatterie Dell 1536 is not working using an unstoppable chip. If you want to get full advantage you'll occasionally must tone down the high quality, and this really is an issue that will only be exacerbated as future releases turn into a lot more demanding.The graphics core is paired with the Intel Core i7-8750H processor. It's a monster cellular chip, with Intel's most up-to-date Espresso Lake architecture and 6 cores. It runs at two.2GHz with a enormous Turbo peak of four.1GHz. Its single-core Geekbench outcome of four,668 is not noticeably various from top desktop chips, and its multi-core outcome of seventeen,011 isn't much behind eight-core desktop behemoths. Inside the actual globe, the CPU Caricabatterie Lenovo X240 will under no circumstances lead to gaming bottlenecks. It'll deal with every single day-to-day process, general-purpose multi-tasking, as well as the vast majority of hard-nosed productiveness applications.The Samsung SSD is solid, having a good read speed of 3,079MB/s and also a middling write pace of 1,217MB/s. My only component qualm may be the memory: whilst 8GB of DDR4 is enough, the Omen has it in single-channel mode - an odd selection that may hinder performance. The HP's thermal functionality isn't the most effective, both. In the course of a gaming check it produced obvious admirer sound Caricabatterie np350v5c and its CPU and GPU temperatures pretty much hit 80°and this barrier was smashed in a full-system stress-test. The sounds was louder right here, as well, plus the keyboard was as well scorching in both tests.

The HP isn't the loudest or hottest laptop, but you are going to certainly notice those followers except if you're sporting a headset. If you are concerned about warmth or sound, other machines are quieter. Battery life isn't specifically superior, either. Within an application check the HP lasted for 2 and a fifty percent hours, nevertheless it could only handle 90 minutes when pushed in hard video games. If you're itching for any lengthy gaming session, make sure you happen to be plugged in.Quite a few other specs are out there if this specific Omen model doesn't consider your extravagant. A system with GTX 1070 graphics Caricabatterie VPCEB1J1E costs €1,499 and will do a greater task of maxing out the G-Sync screen. If you would like to go the other way, then the €1,099 model drops G-Sync, halves the SSD and deploys a weaker GTX 1060. A €999 product keeps the Core i7 chip and 144Hz display but uses a GTX 1050 Ti graphics main, although the entry-level €799 notebook has the GTX 1050 GPU and also a Core i5 CPU together with the 144Hz display. TThey're undeniably odd specifications. These equipment would still be great with a Core i5 processor, and deploying those less costly chips would free up a lot more budget for beefier graphics chips that will make improved use of the 144Hz panel.One of the most significant tests for any gaming laptop computer is its cooling system. The needs for high resolution Pc gaming Caricabatterie Toshiba L500D normally tax the GPU drastically, causing extra heat. Persistent overheating can have an effect on overall performance and wear down elements more than time.The HP Omen 15 has two cooling supporters that vent primarily through the underside, but additionally through the back of the notebook. They typically do a very good career of keeping the machine amazing, especially when permitting the underside openings space to breathe.My longest constant play session together with the Omen fifteen was around three hours. In the course of this time I played the team-based shooter Overwatch Batteria Yoga 500 on high options. Inside the course of the session the notebook managed to stay within affordable temperatures (about 60-65 levels F), but a rise in heat emanating in the area on the GPU was nonetheless obvious.Overall I'd state that the Omen 15 does a good career of keeping neat. However I would nonetheless advise further actions for example a cooling pad if probable for extended marathon gaming periods.

Battery

In phrases of battery, the HP Omen fifteen comes with a 4-cell 70Whr battery that lasts decently extended sufficient. In ideal battery daily life manner together with the brightness established to 50%, the Omen fifteen lasted me an easy 3 hrs which is pretty respectable by gaming notebook standards. In the course of that time I applied the notebook as my typical operate notebook which indicates writing some posts, obtaining around 15-20 tabs open up of Firefox Quantum at any provided time, and Adobe Photoshop CC running alongside for that showcased photos and stuff... as well as a YouTube tab Batteria GE62 6QD161 playing songs within the background.In greatest efficiency mode the battery lasts to get a considerably less quantity of time, that is anticipated, but nonetheless beneath the same workload I used to be able to thrust the laptop to about two hours of utilization ahead of plugging it.I consider it's a quite decent battery. Certainly, it doesn't final even near to what you would get from ultrabooks, but that's because this isn't an ultrabook. This is a gaming laptop having a GTX 1070 within it, and three hours of battery is really a quite decent quantity to have with that. Also, as a gamer, you would not be utilizing it with no plugging it in so it truly won't make a lot of the distinction.Charging up the laptop computer requires considerable time, with it taking about 2 hrs (give or consider) to acquire from 10% to a 100% cost when plugged in and not in use. That is really a great deal, but taking into consideration that it has a significantly bigger 70Whr battery, I'd say it really is all right.General, the battery efficiency from the Omen fifteen is fairly satisfactory, and a lot like practically every little thing else about the laptop computer, I do not have something bad to state about it.Regrettably gaming laptops Batteria NP350E4C A02 often endure from their heightened power needs in the form of lesser battery existence. The HP Omen fifteen is no exception.Outside of gaming, I had been capable to get about 3.5 hours of battery daily life. This integrated just casual actions for instance searching the world wide web and streaming some movie content material. I will also note this was having a factory default environment of about 2/3 complete brightness around the display.

While gaming, this statistic went down considerably. I was only capable to squeeze about 90 minutes of constant video game outing from the battery prior to I ran from juice.The Omen 15 can manage intermittent bursts of gaming action around the go. For a lot of, a single hour to an hour or so and also a 50 % is really a decent quantity of time to sneak within a few rounds in their favourite game. Having said that, in most situations players will choose to ensure that they've a energy supply available to help keep the notebook charged up throughout play.If you're a gamer, then you probably count on - and possibly even favor - your transportable gaming rig to come back outfitted using a Complete Hd (one,920 x one,080) show. HP will accommodate you just good, but if you'd like a 4K UHD show for watching the occasional Netflix movie on your Omen fifteen, then the company is pleased to oblige. Our critique device arrived with 4K, and we experienced higher hopes of some real show qualityAs it turns out, our anticipations were mostly fulfilled. The 4K panel Batteria SVF15A1S2RS that HP chosen for that Omen 15 is about par for your course, with typical contrast at 740:one, a somewhat below-average but perfectly acceptable AdobeRGB color gamut, and typical color accuracy for your course. Brightness can also be completely wonderful at 315 nits.They are excellent scores in comparison to notebook displays just some many years in the past, and they are certainly terrific final results to get a gaming notebook, particularly 1 that is offered under $2,000.Toss in the truth that our review Omen fifteen comes using a 4K UHD show, and also you possess a device that not only appears fantastic when enjoying games, but is also fairly pleasurable for productivity work and for viewing video. Benchmark benefits apart, the visible experience remaining us with nothing at all to complain about.

Sensibly, most of the HP Omen 15's ports have also been relocated towards the again on the chassis, assisting to maintain your cables good and tidy on your desk should you find yourself connecting it to an exterior show or Ethernet cable. You will nevertheless find two USB3 Batteria Toshiba L850-1DQ ports on the aspect, along with individual headphone and microphone jacks, however the relaxation are all squeezed in in between its rear vents. These include a full-sized HDMI port, mini DisplayPort, a third USB3 port along with a USB Type-C port, in addition your Gigabit Ethernet.All in all, I'm very substantially seeking ahead to putting the Omen 15 through its paces when it at some point rocks up in the subsequent couple of months. Let's just hope its screen isn't as diabolical as almost each and every other gaming notebook I have examined not too long ago, and that its tempting Activity Stream tech is as superior because it sounds.