#happy at how high quality these are cause i’m posting from my laptop for once lol

[lycantropy14]

just some studies based off of kof concept art

#my art tag #king of fighters #kyo kusanagi #iori yagami #happy at how high quality these are cause i’m posting from my laptop for once lol #kof

[hayjeon]

Tips on creating fun fanfic headers!

i had so much fun writing the fanfic writing tips yesterday and i got a few more questions about header-making, and so i decided to make one more of these! i hope these tips help somebody out there! hope you enjoy :) 

p.s. these tips won’t require any hard editing skills or photoshop skills, nor any expensive tablets/apps! 

typically i spend around ~5-10 min creating one header, and that’s either after i think of/finish a fic. i have so much fun doing it and sharing it with you that i figured i’d share how i do it! 

why headers? 

as I talked about in my fic tips, one of the most eye-catching things about fics are headers. when i’m scrolling through a rec page, my home page, a tag, or even someone’s masterlist, i’m immediately drawn to well-made headers. that’s what captures my attention, and then i’m more drawn in by the content. so, you can say that headers is your own version of an ad for your own fic, or an extension of it (like the cover of a novel!) 

if you were writing your own book, imagine how much time you’d spend figuring out what you wanted your cover to look like. i try to have as much fun and invest as much time making my own headers because it’s just the cherry on top to my finished product :) 

disclaimer: BUT HEADERS ARE NOT NECESSARY/DO OR DIE! if you don’t feel like you want to do this, then keep writing! its ok! this is just a suggestion. i’ve seen plenty of well-written fics without headers at all, so don’t beat yourself up over not having one/not wanting to do one. this is truly just a fun, extra kind of thing, and only keep reading if you want to learn how i do it! :) 

tips for people who don’t want to make headers: if you still want something to make your fic stand out, use gifs! i use them in my drabbles a lot! this will at least give ur fic a lil boost! 

how to find pictures

I typically use unsplash, which is a free website in which photographers upload their HQ pics for free use. the pics are really high quality, typically stock photos, and don’t have any logos on them like other ones on google. unfortunately, you won’t find any pics of the members or anything, but you’ll find beautiful stock photos of typical scenes like “ocean scene” or “desert scene.” I found the stock photo for cut me open (shown below) on that site by just looking up “medical” or “doctor”. 

i used to use google a lot and just use keywords like “desert scene HQ” and edit the search settings to deliver HQ pics, and a minimum # of pixels, but unplash is definitely better in terms of quality, more aesthetic photos, and no logos/watermarks. 

on some occasions, i will screenshot some scenes of youtube videos, turning up the quality to 1080p or 4k and zooming in so that the pixelation is as crisp as possible, and then editing it later to look good (which i’ll explain in a second!) 

the above photo was a scene from the specific characters from the drama, “100 Days My Prince” that I screenshotted from a youtube video that TvN uploaded, recapping the drama. I cropped it just right so that their faces were left out, which i’ll also mention soon! 

things to look for when picking pictures: 

you want the picture to reflect a specific motif/theme from your fic! if its a moody fic, then try to find a moody scene that you can edit with filters/lighting to look even moodier; or if the characters’ jobs are a big portion of the fic (like cut me open/doctor theme) try to look for stock photos with that shown very clearly!

make sure its high quality: tumblr really dumbs down the quality of the photo when uploading it, so try your best to find something with a lot of pixels in it so that when you start editing, you don’t sacrifice too much of the quality already

try to look for something simple/clean: a picture with too much subject (ie. people in the background, or too much detail) may end up taking away from the main point of your header, which is your title. so find pics without too much clutter! 

try to make sure its landscape: which will help during editing to save some of the quality better. 

editing your pictures

now that you have a specific photo you want to use, now its time to edit! I use VSCO CAM (free app) and my own apple photos cropping tool for faster crops. 

crop/adjust: if your picture is too large/wide, crop it to at least a 16:9 ratio. i’d say aim for skinnier if you can, so that you don’t take up too much space (especially if you’re planning to add headers to your masterlist). also crop out any faces, any clutter, any unnecessary details, so you have a nice, clean slate to work on when adding text. 

contrast/sharpen/clarity/white balance/etc.: i’m not gonna give you a lesson on photography, but i’ll tell you I learned like 80% of everything that i know just by fiddling with it on VSCO! So just try it out and play with the app, see what you can make of it. i’d say a rule of thumb to follow is that you want happier fics with a brighter tone, and moodier/angsty fics with a darker tone so that it can reflect the nature of the fic further, without saying anything! 

if you wanna be extra af like me, then go a step further and photoshop your pics. this one is a good example; when i screenshotted this scene from another youtube video for my fic One Year My Love part 2, i was specifically looking for a scene that would showcase the ornate/regal details of their clothing/environment in contrast to part 1′s modest clothing/scene (the first header in this post). 

i found this scene, but actually, this scene portrays the Crown Prince and the Princess, not y/n. So, the actors weren’t smiling at all! They were actually frowning at eachother in this scene, to portray the tension between the two characters and their marriage. 

So, I took the extra step, adjusting the pic with VSCO so that their shoulders/chins were at the same level, cropped off their faces up until their lips, and then used the adobe photoshop free app to photoshop their lips to be SMILING at eachother!!!! subtle, but important! 

call me crazy for taking that much time but i’m so proud of how it turned out and i loved every second of making this one. that way, this scene makes it portray the happy ending for Jungkook and y/n! 

adding text to your header

you can use any app out there, but i really like Font Candy! I actually ended up buying the 2$ version of this and never regretted it, but you can actually find a lot of their basic fonts on the free version; I tend to use the fonts: OSTRICH SANS, BEBAS, TREND, and INTRO the most! these are pretty clean-looking, block letters that look good whenever i put them as my titles. 

I love this app too cause you can easily control the spacing between letters to make them take up more space, add shadows, or even make them contrast their background using the overlay feature; like this one i made for wildest dreams (see how the text changes depending on what part of the photo its on? amazing! it’s literally with a click of a button!!)

And i’ll always add “written by HAYJEON” or “by HAYEJON”, space it out, and add it somewhere underneath as my own branding.

orrrrrr 

if you want to be more creative, you can even go a step further and use whatever you have on hand to enhance whatever you’re trying to portray. 

for this one, i ended up finding this amazing photo on unsplash and i thought it would do a create job of portraying the “movie-set” quality of what wildest dreams is going to be about. this stock photo had someone else’s names on it, so i used my ipad, and used instagram to just erase the existing writing with the color of the background, and then wrote in my own title and url with my own handwriting/apple pen!!! 

i thought this was pretty cool because it’s like wildest dreams is its own movie/has its own movie set, which, once it’s out, you guys will see that it’s supposed to be! 

saving/uploading

this is pretty easy/obvious, but i figured i’d mention it. all the apps i mentioned are available on the appstore, and they will save directly to your photos. after doing that, i’ll just upload them into a special folder i have on my google drive so that when i’m finished writing a fic on tumblr using my laptop, i can easily download the photos without sacrificing quality. easy! 

and that way, i can save them forever; even if i have to delete them from my computer, i can always redownload them! 

side note: making text separators

i just recently started doing this, but ever since tumblr took down their text separators, i’ve just been cropping the bottom like 5-10 pixels of the header to use as my text separators! (with my laptop)

i saw some other writer doing it and thought that it looked better than what i had used previously (a cropped photo of a random line i found on google); i found that doing this tied my fics together a little better and just looked better aesthetically; 

so there it is! hope you enjoyed! :) i would love to see what other tips you guys have been using, feel free to send me an ask or reply to this post; and if you end up using any of my tips, please let me know! I love to hear from you guys all the time <3 

lots of love, especially during these times, 

hay <3 

#writing tips #story talk

[babblingblondegenius]

Happy Mancrush Monday!

Wow, what an amazing weekend!  Thanks to Stephen, Emily, and our awesome fandom for some quality content and great stories.  It was truly a much-needed reminder of why I loved Arrow and joined the fandom in the first place.  One of the highlights was SA saying Oliver loved Felicity ‘six, seven seconds after I first saw her.’  He didn’t specify which first encounter he meant so I’m gonna assume both and grin in sheer delight at what both those encounters had in common. ;)

Hard to top but not to be outdone, EBR’s response about their meet cute was a very special song lyric she created on the spot.... From the moment we met,

These are bullet holes and I love you 

While initially it just struck me as cute, funny, and catchy, it also got me thinking about how many times bullet holes have played in part in their relationship. 

I have no doubt that Oliver Queen would have searched every floor of Queen Consolidated and the world if need be to find the adorable blonde girl with the amazing legs who babbled at his picture and made him smile during one of the darkest times of his life.  But a bullet-ridden laptop sped up his search. 

Remember that the script said Felicity was the one who was supposed to be smitten in this moment?  LOL.  That boy was smoaked and there was no going back.  One of my favorite parts of this scene are Felicity’s first words to Oliver ‘I know who you are, Mr. Queen.’  Truly prophetic in nature that she would be the most instrumental person in helping Oliver see the hero within him. She has always been the one who lights his way and can get a smile out of him. Bless their organic chemistry that changed the trajectory of the entire show for the better.  And thank you Deadshot for the bullet holes. ;)

Emily then mentioned Oliver probably loved Felicity by the time he hides in the back of her Mini Cooper.  

Ironically, also because of a bullet hole from where his mother shot him.  

We knew that Oliver trusted Felicity’s expertise from the moment he met her.  But this scene took it to the next level.  Oliver trusts Felicity with his life, not to mention his secret identity and the location of his vigilante home base.  One that would feel more like a home once he asked Felicity to join the team and be an even more vital part of his mission and life.  Moira Queen did her son a solid. :)

So now that Steve and Em have confirmed Oliver and Felicity were in love with each other in season 1, these other bullet hole scenes carry a new significance.

Like when Count Vertigo kidnapped Felicity and Oliver left his mother’s trial in a rage.  He confronts The Count as an angry (and hot) amalgamation of the Arrow and Oliver Queen in the suit with the hood down.  Their verbal sparring takes a violent turn when the Count shoots at Oliver and grazes his arm.  But it isn’t until the Count directly threatens Felicity with a syringe of vertigo that Oliver responds with three rapid-fire arrows that send the Count out the window to the death.

Oliver immediately goes to check on Felicity and she immediately reaches for the wound but Oliver assures her ‘it’s nothing.’  Because in that moment, to him, all that matters is her.  He would do anything for her, including breaking a vow he made to himself.  There was no choice to make.  Kudos to you, Count Vertigo.

As much as Oliver tries to protect her, Felicity still has free will and she is a brave badass in her own right.  This is especially evident when Felicity jumps in front of Sara and takes a bullet in the shoulder.  We don’t get to see Oliver’s initial reaction while they are still out in the field, but the aftermath back at the lair once Diggle has given Felicity ‘aspirin’ for pain and Sara has stitched her up.

Oliver wasn’t just asking about her bullet wound here.  Felicity had been feeling left out and Oliver wanted nothing more than to assure her that no matter who else comes and goes, she would always be his girl.  

Full disclosure: I’m not crazy about this scene in the context of the show at the time for numerous reasons I won’t go into here.  But at face value, Oliver looking at Felicity with so much love and pride makes my heart melt.  The way he gently cups her face and talks to her in the soft tone that is reserved only for her makes all of me melt into a puddle of feels.  Thanks for your time, Clock King.

For a show called Arrow, Oliver did on occasion deviate from the norm by using other weapons.  Like LOA swords to dual the Demon’s Head, which did not well the first time and Oliver was stabbed and kicked off the side of a mountain.  No worries, Tatsu had penicillin tea so Oliver recovered so they could fight again a few months later (I would normally lol here but Felicity is not amused so I won’t).

 Our boy does much better this time, defeating Ra’s with his own maneuver.  It’s Arrow so he doesn’t have time to celebrate before snipers shoot at him and he is sent off the edge of a very high bridge since apparently the theme of season 3 was to wound Oliver and then have him fall from a great height.  But instead of a cold snowy ledge, his fall is averted by the Atom swooping Oliver out of danger.  I’m sure Oliver is a big enough man that he would have thanked Ray but he didn’t have to because it was his girl who saved him.  The girl who has always saved him.  His Felicity.  And his smile is pure awe, pride, and love just for her.   

To tell you the truth, I’m not sure that Oliver was actually struck with any of the bullets.  It looked like he was but then in the next scene back at QC/PT, he didn’t seem wounded other than his hand.  Either way, we appreciate your shipper service, incompetent Star City police force.  

This night started out so beautifully.  Oliver united the citizens of Star City to gather for a lighting of the Christmas tree as a symbol of hope against the forces of evil.  But Mayor Handsome had bigger plans as he took an unsuspecting Felicity on stage with him to ask if she would make him the happiest man on the face of the earth (as if he wasn’t already; look at that dork’s ginormous smile).   

Felicity said yes, like she told him she would and Oliver slid the big bling onto her finger.  They shared a sweet snug before running off to the waiting limo.  Which still makes me laugh.  I mean on one hand, f*** those ungrateful Star City bitches but Olicity didn’t even spare them a glance before they peaced out. LOL

More snugs followed in the limo and they were so soft with each other in a state of genuine bliss. But those forces of evil retaliated swiftly and Felicity was caught in the crossfire. Oliver went from serene to shock in a matter of moments.

The bullet damaged her spinal cord and caused paralysis in the lower half of her body.  Oliver was consumed with rage and guilt, leaving Felicity alone at a time when she was feeling incredibly vulnerable. When he finally comes to see her, they have an honest and open talk where Felicity shares her fear that Oliver wasn’t there because of her condition and she even gives him an out.  One that he absolutely does not want and proves it to her by pulling her engagement ring out of his pocket to place back on her finger with the words ‘for better or worse.’

I still think this scene was one of the most heartfelt and well-acted scenes of the entire series.  And this will always be their real wedding to me.  Just the two of them.  Making a vow to each other.  Finding strength in each other.  Always. <3

Whew!  I haven’t done a post like this in quite some time and I have to say, it feels good to feel good about Olicity again.  I hated that the show ruined my enjoyment of them for a while cause they really are a one-of-a-kind and once-in-a-lifetime pair.  I want to dedicate this post to @cruzrogue​ who seems to be enjoying the these are bullet holes and I love you hashtag as much as I am. :)  

Happy hugs for all of you, fam!  And tons of appreciation for the fandom’s talented gifmakers!  Gif credits to:  primogif.com for the Felicity babbles gif; and fanforum.com for the Felicity these look like bullet holes gif. 

#sorry it's late #RL interferes with fangirling again #olicity #these are bullet holes and i love you #oliver queen #mancrush monday #mancrush everyday #felicity smoak #Queen #stemily

[purplesurveys]

1068

What internet browser do you use?  Chrome. It’s what I’m used to, but I also think it looks the cleanest among the other available browsers.

What brand water do you drink? (Smart Water, Dasani, etc) I never reach for imported water brands like Evian because what is the point?? The local bottled water brands we have like Summit and Absolute work fine and already do a great job of quenching my thirst.

Do you have a job? Yes and I go back tomorrow and I’m cringing thinking about it. I love my job, but I wish it wasn’t so mercilessly hectic for 9 straight hours, 5 days a week. I like to think that I was hired right at the start of all the simultaneous Christmas campaigns of our clients which is why everything seemed busy; so I’m hoping the workload will start to die down a little bit now that all the holidays are over.

Are you full-time or part-time? Full-time.

Are you watching TV right now?  Nope. I was watching on YouTube earlier, but I decided to focus on this.

Or are you listening to music? No. It’s silent here in the living room, just the way I want it to currently be.

Would you go to jail for 3 years for $1,000,000? I don’t think that’s enough money for a dare that big.

When's your birthday?  April 21st.

Thoughts on kids?  I’m a lot less idealistic about them now. I used to want kids with my only formula being “I’ll do the exact opposite of what my mom did with me.” but I realized it’s so much more complicated than that. Raising a kid/kids is a whole damn job in itself and I see that with how my cousins of the same age, but from different families, have been acting. My cousins from one family are really spoiled and entitled, and I can’t last in a room with them for more than a minute; but my cousins in another family are so ridiculously well-behaved I can’t even start to fathom how respectful and kind they are. That observation has scared me away from kids in the meantime, because I still have to figure out how to not fuck such a responsibility up.

Worst punishment you've ever received by your parents?  The worst thing they ever did was take away my laptop privileges for an indefinite period when I was 11, when they caught me being a dumbass on social media and cursing all over the place. It’s a reasonable punishment per se, but that was also a time when the internet was starting to become a resource and requirement for homework and school projects; so my parents didn’t know how many things I failed to submit because they didn’t allow me on the internet.

Are you the type who is completely against abortion? I am pro-choice and pro-pregnant people should be allowed to make decisions about their own bodies. I don’t like the idea of abortion, but I’ve always believed people should have access to resources to learn more about it, to a healthy culture that embraces it as an option, and to actual facilities that will enable them to receive one if the need be.

Have you ever read a book that actually changed your outlook on life? No, I don’t think so. Not yet at least.

Does your favorite flower hold any meaning to you? Peonies don’t mean anything in particular. I just think they look pretty.

What would you do if your favorite animal became endangered?  I can’t imagine dogs ever getting endangered, but hypothetically I’d be crushed. I’d do the same thing I would do with other endangered animals, which is to spread the word about their situation and what can be done to save them from getting even fewer in number.

Have you ever owned an expensive eyeshadow palette?  No. I never cared for makeup. I’m turning 23 and still don’t feel the need to invest in it...should I be worried?

Do you own a tripod for your camera? We used to, but I have not seen it in a long time.

Are your nails always painted?  They never are.

What's one thing you've had a toxic reaction to? A breakup. < This was true for me too, at least for a time. Another one would be the barbecue that my uncle bought for a family gathering once that was definitely contaminated with something...shit gave me food poisoning at 3 AM and made me think my half-naked self was going to die right then and there in the bathroom.

Which holiday is your favorite to decorate for?  We only ever decorate for Christmas, so I guess it wins by default.

Were you popular in school? By the second half of high school I was hanging out with the popular groups and getting invited to popular kid things, but I never wanted to claim to be popular myself. I still liked letting my friends take the spotlight.

Are there any foods that often give you heartburn or indigestion?  Is there something you intend to buy in the near future?  Is anyone in your family artistically talented? What about musically? What cute behaviors or characteristics does/do your pet(s) have?  What's the screensaver on your computer?  Crossing these out as I believe this survey is a shuffle of questions from many different surveys...? and I have already answered these five in a past survey I recently finished.

What’s the sexiest thing about a guy? I don’t really care for guys, I think... I still haven’t made up my mind about them yet, but all I know is I definitely have not felt seriously attracted to any irl man my whole life.

What’s the sexiest thing about a girl?  THIGHS

Who were you with at midnight on January 1, 2021?  Who was the last person to send you a message on social media?  ^ What qualities does this person have, that you appreciate? What was the last thing that caused you to scowl, or frown?  Have you smiled at any point during the last hour?  What was the last thing you consulted Google for? So, did anyone send you a "Happy New Year" message when midnight hit? When was the last time you were on a carousel?  What is the closest you have ever been to an elephant? Have you ever played Halo?  Have you ever read a National Geographic magazine?  When was the last time you had a pillow fight?  Name somebody who you think deserves more respect: In your own words, define what the word sexy means.  What is the most popular tourist attraction where you live?  Without looking - do you know what brand your underwear is? Are you any good at volleyball?  Have you ever had a water balloon fight?  Same situation as above. What an interesting order of questions, hehe. Still having fun with this though!

Do you think some babies are ugly?  Newborns are super wrinkly and make the strangest facial expressions from time to time. That won’t stop me from cooing at them, though.

Don’t you miss Chuck E. Cheese? I’ve never been there. Is it like a standard birthday party events place for kids?

Do you think Fall Out Boy is gonna be a classic band, like Queen or AC/DC? In time, maybe. 

Do you love stuff-crusted pizza?  Yessssss.

Do you apply lotion after you bathe? I don’t, but I should probably pick it up as a habit seeing how dry my skin can get.

What’s your favorite color? Pastel pink. < Same!

Who did you have your most amazing kiss with? Gabie.

Has a YouTube video of yours ever gotten over 10,000 views? I’ve never even posted a video on YouTube.

Would you ever get a tattoo on your collar bone? Not my spot of choice, so maybe not.

Do you like Robert Frost poems?  I’m only familiar with one and I’m having a little trouble remembering it rn haha.

Do you go to church every Sunday?  We used to go to church, yeah; back when it was okay to. Our local church has allowed face-to-face masses again (but with very limited attendees) but my mom has preferred for us to stay home, so for the last few months we’ve been watching livestreams of Sunday mass every week.

Have you ever been in a relationship on-and-off for more than a year?  I would say Gab and I were on-and-off, but it went on a lot longer than a year. The total time would amount to six years.

If you had to get famous for one of the following, which would you choose: music, acting, writing, modeling? Writing. Or modeling, if I could only pull it off.

What do you think of girls with huge boobs that don’t wear bras in public? I seriously don’t care. I skip out on bras all the time because I honestly personally don’t need them, and everyone should be allowed to feel and act the same way.

What is the last thing you tried on in a store? I never do this. Even before Covid, I’ve felt iffy about trying clothes that many others have already put on and were probably not washed 100% well. I’d rather get something, try it on at home, decide if it’s a good fit or not, and then return it ASAP if it ends up being the latter.

Is sleeping naked more comfortable than in clothes?  My mom doesn’t knock so I’ve always been scared to try sleeping naked (and she also throws a fit if she catches me locking my door, which is like - then why did you even buy a doorknob with a lock??), but I definitely see the appeal.

Have you ever had a dream in which you were making out, or more, with someone?  Yes for the more part lmao, but I don’t know if I’ve ever made out in a dream.

Do you feel as though you have a good memory, or are you forgetful at times? Do you feel that your short-term memory or long-term memory is better? Have you ever had a concussion or some other sort of brain injury before?  Do you have any sort of mental illnesses or disorders? What do they involve?  What’s the longest that your hair has ever been? How about the shortest? When is the last time that you got it cut? What are some ways that you style your hair? Do you use any sorts of products in it?  Who was the last person to truly get on your nerves? What do you think caused you to feel that way? 

Do you recycle? Is this through choice or do you live somewhere where it’s compulsory? Through choice. Waste management is sadly not much of a priority here, if at all.

Do you prefer plain, carbonated, or flavored water? Do you think you drink enough water throughout the day?  I have never tried the latter two. Water has always been tasteless and plain to me, and I never understood the point of customizing something that’s meant to be tasteless and uncarbonated. There are days where I’m able to have several glasses and other days where I unconsciously skip out on water until dinner.

Have you ever needed to call the police, ambulance, or fire department? Fortunately I’ve never had to call any of these.

When was the last time you visited the library? What was the purpose of your visit? I wasssssss maybe having something printed? If it wasn’t that, I was probably returning a book.

Do you see a lot of wild animals where you live? Are any of them dangerous? None of that here, especially since I live in the city. A sighting of a wild animal outside of a zoo or eco-park would definitely make national news, like that time an ostrich was seen running around a private village many months ago.

Aside from when you were born, have you ever had to stay the night in the hospital? Yep, from a dengue scare that turned out to be just a simple low platelet count.

Have you ever experienced a panic attack?  Yes, but they are extremely rare. The last time I had one was maybe two or three years ago. Unfortunately I think all my panic attacks were caused by and involved my mom.

Would you ever want to go into the medical profession? Was your answer different pre-COVID?  For a time, when I was hating journalism in college, I was daydreaming about the idea of shifting to biology and making the drastic swerve to med school. But I knew a love of memorizing and biology topics won’t be enough for me to be successful in the medical field, so I quickly shot the idea down.

Where you live, are people paying attention to whatever restrictions are in place to help control COVID? Many? People are definitely following and have been obedient with protocol in different places. Some cities are also still strict with maintaining their checkpoints and banning tourists from entering their area just yet. It’s the government that hasn’t really been making the effort to put measures to contain the virus.

Do you get a real or artificial Christmas tree?  Artificial. I don’t know if getting real trees for Christmas trees is a thing here.

What’s your favourite type/flavor of popcorn?  Cheddar cheese.

Do you drink oat milk? Nopes. I’d like to try it just to say that I have (and I might end up loving it too), but I have yet to look up what foods or drinks it works best with.

Do you love thrifting?  Sure, sometimes I get good finds from it.

Do you consider using only lowercase letters your aesthetic?  Sometimes I’ll use it in a Powerpoint or a tweet, but I wouldn’t say it’s an aesthetic that defines me as a person.

Do you say “mood?”  Too much.

Do you own fairy lights?  No. I wanted those before, but I’m not so sure if I still do now.

Do you own glass straws because the metal ones kind of gross you out because you can’t tell if they are clean or not? I don’t own glass straws. Most places have changed their cups into a design that you can sip directly from, anyway.

Have you made a TikTok? No, don’t care.

Do you own airpods?  No, but would like a pair.

Are you afraid of Mercury in retrograde? I really don’t care.

Do you make life choices based on astrology?  No, I don’t believe in it. It scares me how much some people rely on it and use it as an actual moral compass or judgment system. It doesn’t harm anyone so I never actively speak out against astrology, but it scares me nonetheless.

How many pairs of converse shoes do you own?  One pair. I used to own another one, but my mom threw it out several years ago.

Number of jeans in your closet:  I would say like 10-12.

What accent do you have?  Philippine English/Americanized Filipino, I guess.

Do you have a big butt? I’d say it’s decently-sized.

Do you count how long you and your gf/bf have been together? Yeah, before.

Have you graduated?  Both high school and college, yup.

Rihanna or Lady GaGa?  I like Rihanna’s music more, but I love Gaga’s outfits, concepts, and stage presence more. Do you use fake eyelashes?  No. I had to use them twice, but I’d never seek them out on my own.

Which was the last book that really captivated you? It’s been a while since I encountered a book like this.

What makeup brands do you use?  I don’t use makeup.

#survey #surveys

[monofanii]

→ commissioned from artist. | HIGH QUALITY BC TUMBLR SUCKS.

If you remove this caption or artist credit, I’ll haunt you.

if i disappear / ¿ǝɯ ɹoɟ ʞool noʎ llᴉʍ       — together, or not at all.

Yagami Light & Makise Kurisu, Death Note & Steins;Gate.

My friend and I have crafted a crossover AU that we write together, thus how this commission was born. In which Kurisu and Light form an unexpected friendship and, in a plot that mashes together events of Steins;Gate & Death Note, jump from world line to world line to reach Stein’s Gate and find a reality where not only is the world saved from the destruction of the time machine race, but also where the two of them can survive together.

Tbh, my favorite AU / Crossover I’ve ever had the pleasure of writing with a friend and absolutely my favorite commission I’ve ever gotten, because the artist did SUCH an amazing job and I couldn’t have been happier. ♥ I got it a while back, but never posted it, so here it is now.

I’ll put a bit of (wordy) plot context under the cut because I think it’s a lot of fun and gives the commission more #insight, if anyone is interested, but I could talk about this AU we’ve written all day, so I’ll just leave it at an (as quick as possible) rundown of events in our story setup lmao.

THIS PLOT SUMMARY, THOUGH AN AU CROSSOVER, WILL SPOIL SOME CANON EVENTS FOR STEINS;GATE, STEINS;GATE 0 AND DEATH NOTE.

Light attends the Nakabachi conference Kurisu ends up running out of curiosity and is, at one point, overheard by Okabe Rintaro when he thinks he’s alone with Ryuk discussing his plans as Kira.

Light & Kurisu meet at this conference after her argument with Okabe. The two of them end up making a positive first impression on one-another due to their intellect and personalities & exchange contact information / begin talking.

Kurisu doesn’t die initially: she presents her research to her father, but Nakabachi is angry when she doesn’t hand it over solely to him and storms off without inciting violence.

The world line changes because of an unknown d-mail sent by Rintaro elsewhere, which contains information sensitive to leaking Kira’s identity, rearranging Light’s fate and alerting SERN.

Both Kurisu & Light realize something is wrong, but eventually shrug it off.

Kurisu still pursues Okabe and joins his lab due to his peculiar persona. Everything proceeds as per canon, with all the usual s;g lab members and their d-mail shenanigans, but Kurisu tells Light about the PhoneWave early on and he, too, becomes a lab mem alongside her, wondering if this supposed “time machine” can be used in the event he needs to dodge suspicion from the investigation team searching for Kira.

Through all those nifty plot setup chapters s;g has, Light and Kurisu begin to form an unexpectedly strong and very close friendship and end up spending the majority of their time together, both inside and outside of the lab.

She discovers Light’s identity as Kira after incidentally ending up in possession of his Death Note and its contents. This is on the night that Shit Gets Real(tm).

SERN invades the lab as per canon, but Light is the one who is shot and killed as opposed to Mayuri. Thus, Kurisu time leaps to the past using the PhoneWave.

Both Light and Kurisu retain their memories and are the only ones among the lab mems who have such a strong Reading Steiner, taking Okabe’s place, though Rintaro is still a prominent figure that Kurisu ends up confiding in.

In almost every attempt Kurisu makes to save Light’s life from SERN, the investigation team formerly led by L (already deceased), which has been given the information Rintaro leaked in his d-mail by SERN, is most often the cause of his death instead.

This is the ALPHA world line, where Kurisu survives the present, but Light is murdered by SERN and/or killed by the investigation team / Ryuk (as per DN canon) a few days after the PhoneWave is completed. Eventually, the world is trapped and cut off by SERN when Kurisu is taken hostage by them and forced to complete their time machine research (and later killed, framed as the “mother of the time machine” against her will.) In this world line, Kurisu has to time leap continuously in hopes of saving Light’s life and avoiding SERN / the IT.

During this time as they grow closer, Kurisu comes to terms with Light being Kira and promises to keep his secret even though she doesn’t agree with Kira’s ideals and doesn’t approve of his actions. In the ALPHA world line, their friendship steadily grows stronger until Light as a person becomes more important to her than the fact he’s Kira and because the friendship is mutual, he believes in her and trusts her with his secrets. Kurisu makes him promise he won’t lie to her anymore and when he says he won’t, she believes in him, too.

Kurisu ultimately does not waiver or give up because she refuses to leave a friend who has become so important to her to die. Like Rintaro with Mayuri, she cares less about the state of the future and more about saving a friend she’s come to love.

After much trial and error, by undoing all d-mails as per s;g canon, Kurisu eventually completely reverses the timeline by discovering and undoing the d-mail Rintaro sent regarding Kira, protecting Light’s identity from the IT moving back into the previous world line and preventing SERN from detecting the presence of a time machine.

Light gifts her an Upa phone charm he wins from an arcade machine after she demands he win her one to celebrate escaping the ALPHA world line. It’s a rare metal Upa, that later becomes relevant in Nakabachi’s role.

They reconnect with the lab members in this timeline.

All seems well for a few days, until Suzuha suddenly appears once more to warn them of an oncoming war and, almost two weeks later, after the PhoneWave has been recreated for the sole purpose of time leaping (no d-mail) as everyone figures out what to do, Kurisu is murdered by her father in her hotel room, who steals her research to frame as his own and flees the country.

This is the BETA world line, in which Light survives the present, but Kurisu is murdered by Nakabachi. The world erupts into World War III as countries war over Kurisu’s laptop and research to build the first time machine and, in the future, Light is eventually discovered to be Kira, captured, and executed. In this world line, Light is the one who must continuously time leap to save Kurisu’s life and stop WW3 from happening.

Kurisu gives Light permission to abandon her or do whatever he needs to in order to reach the utopia he dreams of creating with Kira if that’s what makes him happy. Light, however, refuses to leave her behind and presses forward not only for the sake of saving the world from its war-torn future so that he as Kira may thrive, but because Kira’s utopia no longer exists unless Kurisu is alive & part of it alongside him.

Stein’s Gate in this timeline constitutes a world line in which : the time machine is never built, detected or perfected, thus the race and war are completely prevented from happening and the world is in no greater danger in the future, Kurisu survives and is not killed by her father or external factors, Light survives and is not killed by SERN or external factors, and Light’s identity as Kira is ultimately protected by Kurisu, allowing him to evade discovery by the IT and escape execution by Ryuk.

Since both Light and Kurisu have worked together this entire time, retaining their memories with every time leap, and thus keeping all memories intact through the entire plot, their reunion upon reaching Stein’s Gate together is a heartfelt and familiar one, because they both remember everything / each other.

Upon reaching Stein’s Gate, Kurisu gifts Light a fairy Upa charm for his phone and tells him he’s only allowed to remove it if he finds another metal Upa, in which case he can have the metal one and she’ll take the fairy instead, so they can “match.”

That quick plot timeline is the gist of it, this is a massive AU with a lot of small details I just can’t fit here, but I’m so glad to get to write it with someone. Props to Biancnya, my lovely furry spouse, because without her, writing all the convoluted plot that comes along with this premise wouldn’t be nearly as enjoyable. ♥ Light and Kurisu’s friendship has been so much fun to explore and if you read my tldr summary, I hope you at least find it interesting, too!

Or at the very least enjoy this beautiful work of art.

#light yagami #makise kurisu #yagami light #death note #steins;gate #steins gate #crossover #au #fanart #dn #s;g #commission #save

[emilyplaysotome]

Chapter 8 - Hiding in Plain Sight

Catch up on Chapters 1 - 7 here! (or just Chapter 7)

I calmed myself down by reminding myself that Meg was no bright eyed fool.

She was a New Yorker in the most stereotypical sense - slightly cynical, (at the moment) jaded towards relationships, and completely self-sufficient. Her second year into her relationship with Noah, Meg had gotten laid off when a major brand had left the agency she was employed at.

Noah was an engineer and steadily rising in the corporate ranks at the time. He’d suggested that they move in together in order to take any pressure off of her, but Meg had flatly refused. She had appreciated the gesture but refused to allow herself to be rescued by some white knight. Instead, she revised her resume and updated her site, applying to jobs and freelancing before she was offered a creative director role at a superior agency than the one who laid her off.

With her upgraded title and upgraded employer, she then considered Noah’s offer to live together and rather than move into either of their apartments, they found a new place together that was also a considerable upgrade.

I remember secretly admiring how Meg had handled herself back then and wondered if I would have handled myself as well as she did. With that said, there was no way she would let her guard down (even in otome-ville) and certainly not with a PUA type like Baba.

Rather than get derailed with what ifs, I refocused on what I needed to do in order to get her home in a timely fashion. I pulled out my laptop and saw that Anita had sent me another message, “Naomi I know you’re sick but we couldn’t reschedule - can you do a video conference at 2? Please!?”

I’d hoped to sneak down to the Tribeca precinct that was dangerously close to my office during that time but with the realization that pressing pause on my life was impossible, I begrudgingly agreed to dial into the Zoom meeting. With an hour to kill I sent a flirty text to Hiroshi - confirming that we were still on for our date tomorrow in the park. 

He didn’t reply immediately and I wondered if this was thanks to his new persona, or if he was merely tied up at work.

As for Soryu, I was at a loss but figured it couldn’t hurt to take a closer look at Terek’s card. I noticed that there was a phone number and email address listed but waffled on whether or not emailing him would lead anywhere. Instead, I opted to google Soryu and his arrest information. I was surprised to find out that he’d posted bail - something that seemed off considering the fact that bail had been set fairly high and he had been mugging people on the train for spare change.

There was no further information as far as if he’d been the one to pay or if someone else had covered it, and before I knew it I had to stop sleuthing and instead dial into Anita’s video conference.

“Hey Naomi - are you with us?”

The quality of the feed made it hard to see who exactly was in the room, but it was clear that the office’s largest conference room was packed full of clients and coworkers.

“Yep! I’m here. Hello everyone.”

“Thanks for dialing in. I know you’re feeling under the weather but I wanted to make sure you were present for this discovery meeting,” Anita said, leading the meeting. “We’ve already done intros so when you’re back in person we’ll be sure to go through that again, but for now I’d like to make the most of our time together and dive in.”

“Sounds good. It’s nice to meet you all.”

I saw the pixilated people nod in acknowledgement and Anita let them know in a lighthearted way that I was 360i’s resident digital marketing expert before moving on to the brand discovery. 

I learned that this “new brand” Anita had been hinting at was actually a hospitality behemoth in Asia that was looking to break into the American market. At the moment their luxury hotel was almost ready to open in New York and they were looking to partner with an agency who could lead a successful digital marketing campaign that would help launch the brand.

We would have one month of prep and discovery (where we’d learn about the brand, their guidelines in order to formulate where in the NYC hospitality space there was a gap that they could fill), a pitch against two other agencies, and once awarded, only one month before the ribbon cutting ceremony.

The owner of the hotel (Hyun Kim) was a heavyset gentleman with salt and pepper hair who sat next to Anita taking notes on a sleek laptop. His fingers made an abnormally loud clacking sound on the keyboard, but his colleagues seemed used to it whereas I noticed a few of my coworkers glancing over from time to time.

Nothing was said during this initial discovery meeting that I found particularly meaningful. In general, I’d worked on and for several hospitality brands and they all required the same type of marketing. The only thing that stood out to me was the fact that this brand did not offer the standard amenities of a luxury hotel but also had created a “health and fitness” component.

LT Hotels was planning to roll out in addition to their spa offerings spin, barre, and yoga classes. Having just been reminded of how cramped NYC gyms tend to be, I silently wondered if there might be an opportunity in our NYC launch strategy by opening up these services to the public for a healthy fee. It seemed like a way not only to define LT Hotels (allowing them to keep half of the space in their classes for guests and half for local members) while maintaining the upper class, expensive and exclusive atmosphere.

I jotted down a small note to research luxury gyms in the city and get a cost estimate, also factoring in that members would have access to LT Hotels’ spa services at a discounted rate, should we propose something along those lines.

At the end of the hour, I thanked Mr. Kim and his team for their time and Anita brought the video meeting to a close. 

Just before she did, I caught a glimpse of some of the men who were on Mr. Kim’s team towards the back and noted that it was slightly ironic that a luxury hotel and spa brand that appealed primarily to women was headed up exclusively by men.

With my work obligation complete, I pulled out all the stops to find Namba knowing that once 6 pm hit I wouldn’t be able to find him until Monday, should he currently be working a 9-5. I raced down to the TriBeCa precinct (and by raced I mean hobbled seeing as how I was incredibly sore), and strolled right up to the front desk where a weathered, butch female officer asked, “How can I help ya hon?”

“I’m actually looking for someone who used to work here - Jin Namba?”

Unimpressed, she raised an eyebrow and said, “And who would you be?”

“Naomi Lee.”

“Hold.”

I watched as she dialed a few numbers on a beat up phone and gruffly said, “Yeah, Fitzgerald - do you remember Jin ever mentioning someone named Naomi Lee?”

There was a pause and she eyed me up and down before quietly saying, “I dunno, regular lookin’ for this area. Dark hair and eyes. Why? Ok. Ok…sure.”

She hung up and informed me to take a seat. 

I wasn’t entirely sure as to what was happening but after a short wait a burly, Irish cop in his 40s approached me. His ID revealed him as the man the woman at the front had been speaking with and with a smile he gave me a small wave.

“Hey there.”

“Hi,” I said, standing.

“Do you mind going for a walk with me?”

It was a little odd, but Officer Fitzgerald didn’t seem to be shady or scary and so, I followed him outside. We made small talk for a block and a half before he finally revealed that he wasn’t really supposed to say anything about Jin, but had remembered him talking about a girl he was crazy about.

“You’re that girl, aren’t you?”

I flushed and nodded, “I think so.”

“So why you lookin’ for him now when before you didn’t give him the time of day before?”

“Did he tell you I was engaged?”

“Was?”

“Yes, was.”

Officer Fitzgerald smiled, “Shit. I’m a sucker for a happy ending. I was gonna grill you but fuck it - he’s a PI now.”

“That’s a real thing?”

“Sure it is! You mean to tell me you thought it was only somethin’ in movies?”

Officer Fitzgerald let out a good natured tsk and with another grin told me the address of Jin’s office a few blocks away.

“You think I can just…go?”

“You better go! I expect to be the best man at this wedding, ya know.”

“Officer -”

“Call my Fitzy - all my friends do.”

There was something magical about a city where a tough looking man had a soft cuddly nickname and I found myself smiling as a result.

“Thanks Fitzy. I owe you one.”

“Hope it works out. Don’t break my dude’s heart, ok?”

I started to walk in the director of Jin’s office, but Fitzy stopped me by calling out, “And Naomi - if anyone asks…you didn’t hear any of this from me.”

“You got it,” I said and then picked up the pace towards Jin’s office in the west most section of TriBeCa.

“Can I help you?”

I found myself frozen standing in front of Jin Namba as the magic hour light flooded the large windows and illuminated his office, creating a warm glow around a man who still occupied a special place in my heart. He was the same Jin he’d always been - tall, serious, and eyes that had a hint of good natured mischief behind them.

Out of all of this world’s iterations, he was the closest to his original self - wearing a rumpled, outdated suit that was slightly too large as his five o’clock shadowed ventured on beard territory.

I think it was because of how familiar he currently felt to me that caused all these old feelings to come racing back and I found myself fighting back tears knowing that I wasn’t familiar to him at all.

“Miss - are you ok?” He asked cautiously.

“It’s Namoi,” I said. “Ami. Naomi. You don’t remember either one, do you?”

“Either? I don’t understand…”

“No, it’s nothing. I’m sorry.”

Jin ushered me to have a seat in his office. The space had a small waiting area, but there was no receptionist and from what I could see it was just Jin in an office resembled the one he’d occupied in Her Love in the Force. It was ironic that he’d lost his recollection of who he was, and yet had managed to recreate a space from his past.

He sat behind a large mahogany desk and I sat across from him and watched as he pulled out a vape pen and inhaled.

“So what brings you here?” He asked quietly, sensing my emotional upheaval.

“I’m looking for someone, but I don’t know who…”

Jin grinned and I felt my heart jump in my chest, “Sounds like quite the pickle Little Bird.”

“What did you just call me?”

For a moment, I could see in Jin’s eyes that he looked lost. He whispered the nickname to himself again and then apologized, noting that he couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but that there was something familiar about me. Hearing that made me feel received - as if for once, I wasn’t experiencing something that was completely one-sided.

It was strange that I felt so nostalgic now, seeing as how since our breakup, I’d never looked back.

I knew why I had chosen Zyg and had also not-so-secretly thought that Jin was slightly too old for me. Despite that, there was something about the fact that even the “changed” Jin at his core was so closely tied to the man he was that even the king himself failed to alter him drastically. Perhaps it due to his age that he had maintained this strong sense of “self” while his younger otome counterparts had been altered much more.

The utterance of his old nickname for me conjured a bunch of feelings in both of us, and he mentioned that he’d gotten into a skirmish at work and suffered a blow to the head which the doctor said caused temporary amnesia. 

I knew it was less of a blow to the head and more the doing of a nefarious king, but seeing as how Jin didn’t seem to want to go into detail he changed the subject and asked, “Anyway, how do you propose finding someone whose identity you don’t know?”

“I have no idea,” I said, “which is why I came to you hoping that you could help.”

“I mostly do cheating spouses, runaway kids, that kind of thing…this….”

“Why’d you quit the force?”

He paused, and I watched a flicker of curiosity flash through his gaze causing him to take another drag of his vape pen and avert his eyes before asking, “You knew me from before?”

“Something like that.”

“Being an officer in this city is dangerous. I’m gettin’ too old for that kind of thing. I thought tailing adulterers would be a bit safer and have far more job security.”

“That doesn’t sound like the person I knew.”

“How did we know each other Little Bird? I get the sense we weren’t just casual acquaintances.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Because when I look at you…no. Nothing.”

“No, what?”

I could feel myself leaning towards him with a seductive look that I hadn’t anticipated wearing. He grinned at me and ran his fingers through his hair and with that irresistible smirk of his playfully noted, “I gotta be on guard around you heartbreaker.”

I pretended that he didn’t, though of course I was planning to get that kiss. For now, I celebrated the fact that I’d found five of the six men and left his office fifteen minutes later, promising to compile a list as far as who my top suspects for the king’s mystery sixth person was in this world. 

As I stood in that small waiting area, I boarded the elevator feeling pretty good about this plan of Jin helping me locate this mystery man. However, when the elevator doors closed and I was alone once more, I realized that time was a flat circle and I had a legitimate, authentic crush on Jin Namba once more.

I managed not to run into any of my coworkers on the way home, and walked into my apartment tired but feeling on top of the world.

I collapsed on my couch and took out my planner to make sure I was on track to get Meg back (and also show the king who was boss). As I reviewed things, I also took notes with the hopes of brainstorming for situations that didn’t seem to have a clear answer at the moment.

Regardless though as drained as I was, I was also feeling very accomplished.

Tomorrow I was set to go out with Hiroshi. I’d met Soryu but had no idea as to his whereabouts. Thea’s contact information was in my phone and as much as it pained me, I could follow up and hopefully figure out what Zyglavis’ new life looked like. Hijikata had me popping Advil like they were candy but I was hopeful my haiku had started to thaw his heart. And finally, I was relieved to know that Jin hadn’t been transformed into some sexist, racist bad iteration of a NYPD cop.

Just as my guard started to come down there was a bright light and a snap and the King of the Heavens stood with an annoyed looking Meg standing next to him.

“Meg!”

I ran towards her and gave her a hug which she reciprocated.

“Ah tut tut,” the king said, gently separating us. “I’ll admit that I was amazed by your progress, but until you tell me the names and whereabouts of all the men you don’t get this one back.”

“Meg, are you-”

“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me…”

“Goldfish!” The king barked, “Names and whereabouts now or I send her back!”

“But I’ve only found five of the six.”

With a devilish grin the king laughed and noted, “Oh ho! I should have known you weren’t that clever.”

“Excuse me?”

“You didn’t even realize that you found the sixth man?!”

The king’s laughter grew from a chuckle into a hearty belly laugh and I racked my brain trying to think of all the places I’d gone today - from the subway, to the bodega, and even those at Hijikata’s gym. Either way, I’d been far too distracted to really notice and was beating myself up as a result.

Meg caught my attention by covertly waving her hands in the hopes of pulling me out of my stupor. She stood slightly behind the king (out of his eyeline) who was having a grand ol’ time at my expense, and mouthed something at me while pointing to her pocket. Before I could process everything that was happening the king snapped his fingers and she was gone once more.

“Just text me when you figure out the identity of the 6th man,” the king said flippantly, dabbing the tears that formed from laughter before snapping his fingers and leaving me alone again.

I let out an angry moan and collapsed on the couch once more, frustrated and wondering how it was possible that I could have met the last man without realizing. I had been so tired when I came in that I was still in my army jacket and as I slumped onto the couch I heard a crinkle and remembered Meg’s gesturing.

It was then that I reached into my pocket and discovered the list of possible suspects I’d written out before the king had taken her. My eyes widened as I saw that not only had Meg survived her time in the otome world, but she’d continued to be my ally as more than half of the names on my list were crossed out.

I now had three suspects for the mystery sixth man, and to be honest I wasn’t happy about who they were.

Chapter 9 here

If you’ve enjoyed the story, please show your support by sharing it with a friend or buying me a coffee!  

Thanks for reading :)

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#jin namba #her love in the force #her love in the force fanfiction #her love in the force fanfic #voltage fanfic #Voltage fan fiction #voltage fan #voltage fandom #voltage games #voltage inc #voltage romance sims

[vthunter956]

Best Free Torrents

Sep 17, 2019. Aug 31, 2020. 25 Best Torrent Websites in June 2020. In our selection, the authenticity of the torrent files listed, along with the safety of downloads, reliability of the listing directory, number of genuine torrents listed and the number of seeders were among the more important selection criteria we based our research on. Following a thorough assessment, we compiled a list of the best torrent websites up. Apr 05, 2020. Feb 04, 2020.

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Here is a list of the best torrent sites for books.

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When starting to look for ebooks different sites have different pros and cons. It’s important to know which ones are the safest fastest and most efficient.

Here is a table of some favorite options.

Download mac os high sierra dmg without app store free. When you finish downloading books make sure to get one of the best e-readers so you can take your library with you anywhere. We reviewed those too so check it out!

If you are looking to learn more about the best torrent sites, in general, make sure you keep on reading.

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Before I dive right in I want to mention that it’s extremely important to use a VPN when browsing and downloading torrents or books from websites. A VPN can help mask your identity, location and more. NordVPN (ref link with coupon) is solid. Your privacy is important. Save yourself the headache of potentially dealing with legal repercussions later on down the road.

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Without Library Genesis I’m not sure I would have made it through university. Thank you to Reddit for showing me the light.

Library Genesis pretty much has every single book known to man and it provides it all to you at your fingertips.

At first, it’s easy to be apprehensive about using library genesis because it looks like something you probably should not trust.

How to get free college textbooks

I first started using Library Genesis in College to get textbooks I would barely ever use. Textbooks were expensive and I could not justify the hassle of paying for them at the time when I knew every read I could possibly imagine was on the internet.

They may not have the most recent version of your college textbook but it should be able to get the job done for you.

Library Genesis can be a bit weird when it comes to downloading actual torrents. They don’t always have enough peers but it does seem that the direct downloads almost always work. Make sure you have proper security measures set up on your computer before downloading just in case. I have been using it for almost 5 years without any issues.

Library Genesis is great for finding an obscure pdf of your college textbook or other books most large torrent sites do not have.

I find that I end up just checking Library Genesis before any other source.

Once you find your books make sure you use something like Calibre, an open source project to manage your ebook library. It has options to help you go mobile like Calibre Companion.

Zlibrary is very similar to library Genesis with a much nicer user interface.

The site works extremely well and can provide you with all of your book downloading needs. the only difference here is that you need to make an account.

They allow you to download up to 10 books daily with a free account and are supported off of a donation system to raise your downloading limits. It’s a worthy cause to support in my opinion.

The only real downside is that they don’t have torrents and it’s only direct downloads. This actually makes the process much smoother and you end up happy as can be.

Pirate Bay was my first love and will always have a place in my heart. It all started back when I was 14 I became a hardened internet criminal pirating movies just because I could. The Pirate Bay was and still is the place to be when it comes to finding books and other types of torrents online.

You can easily search any title on there and you will be able to find almost any type of file you can possibly imagine.

There are so many people on Pirate Bay that the Top 100 ebooks page is basically a “best seller”/”Best stolen” list.

If you are looking for Manga, Comics or Graphic novels there are numerous top 100 pages for you to also browse through.

This is always a great choice when looking for popular ebooks. Having the ability to use a magnet link helps keep you safer as someone who is downloading a lot of links so make sure to use this benefit when using The Pirate Bay.

The rest of the list is where I enter the territory of “maybe I’ll just buy the book or maybe I won’t read it because no one cares about it enough to torrent it”.

The Image at the top of this post was the homepage of the Pirate Bay when the domain registrars were trying to take them down. This was a very cool response by them.

Kickass Torrents is a great backup to The Pirate Bay when looking for a book. Most of the time they will just have the same options but sometimes you can get lucky and find exactly what you are looking for that you could not find anywhere else.

They have gone downhill quite a bit probably from getting shut down and other random things.

Make sure to use magnet links to help protect yourself when using Kickass and always read the ratings. This goes without saying for any Torrent site honestly. If there aren’t numerous people thanking the uploader in the comments it can seem a bit fishy. But sometimes this social proof can be manufactured so be careful. It just comes with the territory of downloading things you probably shouldn’t be on the internet.

Torrentz

Download android apps on chromebook. Torrentz is the main Torrentz search engine that I use when looking for books when I’m willing to hunt a file a down.

This is truly your last resort. If you can’t find it here you should probably just stop and do a direct download from Library Genesis.

Conclusion

I’m sure you can guess what I am going to tell you next. Yes, use Library Genesis, Zlibrary, The Pirate Bay, Kickass then give up in that order.

If you are looking for something more specific for instance reading comics online. We went through all the best ways to read those too!

All opinions are my own and do not reflect the views of Calibre Companion.

Don’t forget to get the preliminary downloads before starting!

Best Free Torrent Sites For Movies

Do you want to make money writing articles like this one for the blog? Were looking for experienced writers! Email us some of your writing at [email protected] with the subject ” Torrent Writer”.

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Best Torrent Sites for Audiobooks

Best Free Torrents For Movies

Here is a list of the best way to download audiobooks for free.

When starting to look for audiobooks different sites have different pros and cons. It’s important to know which ones are the safest fastest and most efficient.

Below is a table of some favorite options

Audiobooks.com is the best for audiobooks. There is no question. They outperform Audible by a mile and have everything you could possibly need when audiobookbay doesn’t have what you are looking for.

We love using Audiobook Bay but at a certain point, the amount of money for the quality cloud service to access it on all my devices outweighed having to hunt for the books I needed.

[allskynostars]

Strong, Chapter 5; Closer.

Read on AO3; http://archiveofourown.org/works/11748321/chapters/27008199

IT’S 3.27AM AND I AM FINALLY UPDATING THIS DAMN FUCKING FIC..

Sorry for yelling but I’m so sorry this update took an age, I’ve been super busy and super uninspired lately but I was determined to post today so here we are. :)

I don’t even think I like a single part of this chapter, but oh well. It needed to go up. Hope at least some part of this super long update was worth the wait! Lemme know!

You will notice the quality drop dramatically the further along you get, and probably tense mistakes too but it’s nearly 4am and I do not have the energy nor patience to edit properly. Also I’m on mobile so sorry for the lack of read more break cause I know this is stupidly long, and messy links!! :( Also my bold/italic text probably won't work so I'll try fix that when I've had some sleep, lol. Also just need to mention yet another AMAZING aesthetic for this fic of mine by one of my favs to ever exist @rubyventure 💝 Look at it, it’s amazing, it’s gorgeous, it’s everything. Give it some love!

https://rubyventure.tumblr.com/post/164419495848/allskynostars-rubyventure-happy-birthday

**

“I miss you so much, Poll. You have no idea how good it is to see your face.” Betty smiled into the screen of her laptop, her sister mirroring her own position in a different bed, leaning against the bed frame. Two sisters, so alike in looks but not much else. One in potentially the smallest town to ever exist; Riverdale, and the other in one of the busiest cities in the world; London. “So, tell me everything!”

“Betty, I wish you were here. This place is amazing and I know you would love it.” Polly told Betty animatedly about the theatre that was just down the road from her place, and how every time she went she thought of her. “There’s just, god, there’s just so much <i>life</i> here Betty. There’s never a dull moment, there’s always something new happening somewhere.”

“Unlike here.” Betty sighed, pulling the pillow on her lap closer too her. “Literally, nothing has changed. Oh, wait, that’s a lie. Mum made apple instead of peach pie last night, can you believe it?” Pollys laugh flowed through the crappy speakers of Betty’s laptop, and she found herself wishing she could hear it properly. She ached to hold her sister, to have that companionship that only a fellow Cooper daughter could provide. Polly noticed the way Betty’s face had dropped, she tilted her head to the side slightly.

“You should be here, doing this with me.”

“I wish.” Betty replied, letting her mind wander for just a moment, while she played with a loose thread on the pillow in her lap, to what it could be like. Living in a new city, free to do as she pleased without the watchful eye of Alice Cooper judging her every movement.

“Do it.” Betty’s eyes flicked to Pollys through the screen, a questioning look on her face, to which her which her sister just shrugged. “Why not? It’s simple enough to get a visa, and you can stay with me. I could find you a job, it’s all so easy Betty. Why the hell not?” The excitement in Pollys voice at the thought of having her sister with her was building the more she tried to convince Betty.

“But. What, what about school? I got accepted into Med- ”

“Betty, university is not going anywhere. It’ll still be there when you’re done living a little.” Polly interrupted. “What do you have to stay for? You know that Veronica and Archie wouldn’t stop you. It’s not like you have a boyfriend. Right? If it’s just about Mum and Dad I wouldn’t ev.. Hold on.” Polly stopped mid sentence, watching the way Betty’s face changed at a certain word. “Oh my god, Betty. Do you have a boyfriend?” Polly repositioned herself, trying to get closer to the screen. “I don’t know if my contrast is too high but, are you <i>blushing?</i>” Betty could definitely feel her cheeks turning pink, but she wasn’t about to admit that out loud.

“No, I definitely do not.” She was looking anywhere but at the screen, deciding the lose thread on her pillow needed her full attention. “I would have told you that, Poll.”

“Betty?” The needy tone to her voice drew Betty’s eyes back to the screen. “Is there a boy?”

“I mean..” Betty trailed off, shrugging. She didn’t really know the answer herself. Her and Jughead had pretty much been in constant contact all week, but who knows what that could mean. Also, the fact that Betty was sleeping over at his place tonight was heavy in her mind. Even though she was just there to babysit Jellybean, she couldn’t help her mind from wondering. She liked Jughead, that much was apparent in the way her hands her clamming up just thinking about him. “I don’t really know, Polly. It’s early days, okay?”

“Okay.” Polly didn’t press the subject anymore, instead she just smiled at Betty and mimicked a zip closing her mouth. She started to type away at her keyboard, and then there was a ding to signal that Betty had a new message. She opened it up, and clicked on the link Polly had sent through. It took her to the visa page on the immigration website, which Betty bookmarked before reopening her video call. “Whatever happens, with school or with whoever..” She winked,“I really want you to think about what I said, about coming here. I think it could be really good for you, Betty.” The smile her sister was giving her warmed Betty’s chest. She nodded, smiling herself.

“Okay, I will. I promise.” Then Betty’s face dropped, the sound light footsteps up the stairs alerting her to Alice’s approach. “Shit, Mums coming.” Betty warned her sister.

“Okay, that’s my cue. I have to go to work anyway. Keep me updated, okay?”

“Of course, Poll.” Betty could hear her mother calling her name now.

“And think about it, please. I’ll call you soon, love you. Bye!” Betty didn’t have time to reply before the call was ended and the screen went black, just as Alice let herself in without knocking.

“Elizabeth, are your ears turned off or what? I was calling you from downstairs..” Her voice trailed off at the sight of Betty sitting cross legged on her bed, the laptop sat suspiciously in front her her. “What are you doing?” Betty scrambled to close the screen, not wanting her mum to figure out exactly what she had been doing. Polly and Alice hadn’t spoken in months, and even though it upset Betty, she wasn’t about to step on her sisters toes and blurt to their mother.

“Sorry, I was just doing some research, I was really engrossed in it I didn’t hear you calling out.” Betty knew how much of a shitty liar she was, and for a moment she almost expected Alice to confront her about it. But instead she just gave her a knowing smile.

“Good girl. Now, is it tonight you are staying over at the Jones’?” Betty nodded, getting slightly worried Alice was about to tell her she wasn’t allowed. “I’m not exactly happy about you staying over night on that side of town, but you’ve made a commitment, so. What time would you like me to take you?” Betty let out a breath she hadn’t really realised she’d been holding.

“JBs soccer match finishes after 3, so sometimes before that. Gladys left me a key, and I don’t really want to leave JB on her own at all.” Alice nodded, agreeing with Betty’s responsible reasoning.

“Okay, fine. Just let me know.” Alice made to leave her bedroom, turning her head round just as she got to the door. “Oh, and next time, please ask Polly to answer my calls.” And then she was gone. Betty fell back against her bed, letting out a deep sigh. Why couldn’t her family just be normal, just for once. She let her mind wonder to Pollys suggestion for a moment, thinking about how much fun it would be to live in a different country, let alone city. She had always wanted to go to London, and given that her sister was there, who she missed so much, it was certainly something worth considering. Not even to mention how the further away from Alice she was, the better she would feel. Betty couldn’t stop herself from getting excited, the thought of seeing so many sights and having so many new experiences was pulling on her heart strings. She was snapped out of her daze by a text alert.

<b>So, I hear you’re staying at my place tonight? </b>

Jugheads name on her screen was something else that pulled on her heart strings.

<b>She’s paying me double time, for both children.</b>

She laughed out loud as she sent her reply.

<b>So I watch JB, you watch me? </b>

Betty knew she was being baited, but she took it anyway.

<b>Something along those lines. </b>

But the irony wasn’t lost on Betty. She had wondered why on earth Gladys would ask her to stay and look after JB, when she had a brother who was perfectly capable. She filed the thought away, adding it to the pile of things that didn’t add up with the Jones family.

<b>When do I get my cut of the cash then, Coop? </b>

Betty bit her lip, trying to conjure up some witty reply.

<b>Oh no, does being a broody biker boy not pay too well? </b>

She just watched her screen, waiting for his reply.

<b>It’s a struggle out here.</b>

She smiled at the screen, but before she could type out a reply, he sent another.

<b>But I accept all major payment types ;) </b>

And there she was, blushing from a text. Just from some words on a tiny little screen. Normally Betty was repelling of mindless flirting from boys, but it seemed not the case for this one.

<b>Lesson number one: Don’t underestimate the other guy’s greed.” </b>

His reply was quick this time.

<b>Did you just quote Scarface? I think I might love you. </b>

Betty could feel her heart start to race beneath her ribs, as yet another blush creeped across her cheeks. She quickly threw her phone face down on her bed with a grin, thinking she might keep him hanging for a little while.

It was 11am now and she had more than enough time to get ready to leave. She glanced back at her phone before she quickly rose from her bed and made her way to the bathroom. She turned the shower on and made sure to grab her razor, she was definitely planning on wearing her shortest pair of pyjama pants tonight, so she needed to make sure she was prepared.

She climbed into the shower, letting her thoughts roam as the water beat into her back. Alice had no idea about Jughead, and Betty was pretty sure that she wouldn’t be so accepting of her staying the night if she did. Must remember not to slip up, she thought to herself.

And then Archie’s voice was in her head <i>“Just be careful.”</i> Careful of what? Jughead? She thought. Even though Betty knew how it would look to an outsider, she felt she knew Jughead well enough to know she didn’t need to be careful. He was not who everyone thought he was. And although she didn’t quite know just how far his charm has gotten him with other girls, she could only presume, there was no pressure.

She shook her head, flicking water everywhere. Of course there was no pressure, there was no nothing. She didn’t even know if he liked her, he could just be mindlessly flirting to pass the time. God knows she was making it easy for him. She couldn’t really lie to herself anymore, there was no denying the fact that she felt some kind of something for Jughead. And the thought of spending some time alone with just him made that fluttery feeling in her chest return tenfold. She sighed deeply before she reached for the vanilla body wash.

She made a beeline straight for her phone once she was back in her room, she had intended to drag it out a bit longer but she knew she was slightly pathetic and just couldn’t. Jughead had sent her another message.

<b>If you start quoting Quinten Tarantino I might just have to marry you right now. </b>

<b>Shall I get my Mia Wallace costume ready for the ceremony? </b>

They spent the next few hours throwing film references back and forward, and Betty was surprised how attractive she found his ability to just run quotes off at bay. They had made plans to watch a film later tonight when JB was asleep, and Betty couldn’t explain why she was so excited.

It was late evening and Betty was at the Jones household now, laid back on the couch watching some trashy reality TV with JB who was coming down from her victory high.

“Two goals, Jelly? That’s amazing.” Betty felt like a proud big sister, which was kind of ironic in a way. Jellybean beamed from the other side of the living room.

“Wish Jug would hurry up and get home so I can brag to him.” Betty laughed, she loved the playful relationship between the two. Jughead wasn’t home yet, although Betty wasn’t surprised. He had mentioned he would be out until late evening, and it was obviously one of those errands Betty wouldn’t dare ask about. Not that it was any of her business. She made her way to the kitchen and busied herself by making some dinner for Jellybean, Gladys had left out ingredients to make mac and cheese. It was almost too simple for Betty’s culinary talent, but she must have left out of her bio.

“I am old enough to feed myself, jeez Mum.” Jellybean sighed, coming into the kitchen behind Betty, she took a seat on one of the island stools. “I swear she still thinks I’m 8.”

“You’re the baby after all.” Betty joked, picking up the saucepan to drain the macaroni. She tried to ignore the way her pulse sped up at the distant sound of a motorbike approaching, then turning down the street.

“I don’t think Jug was ever a baby.” Jellybean pondered. “I swear he just walked out of the womb with that beanie on his head and that stupid scowl on his face.” Both girls burst out into laughter while Betty added the cheese sauce to the macaroni. Jellybeans laughter stopped almost instantly as the front door opened and Jughead lumbered in with his helmet under his arm.

“Oh my god, Jug? What the hell happened to you?” Jellybeans voice was laced with so much concern Betty’s head automatically whipped around to see what was wrong. Her heart leaped into her throat. He’d obviously been involved in some kind of fight, there was a graze on his cheek that was caked with dried blood, and his eye was turning a light purple colour. Jellybean rushed over to him, trying to get a closer look.

“It’s nothing.” Jughead shrugged, locking eyes with Betty before his gaze fell to the floor.

“It doesn’t look lik-”

“Forsythia, leave it.” He snapped, not giving anyone a second glance as he stormed into the hall. Betty was shocked, for more than one reason. She had ever heard Jughead raise his voice to JB like that, nor had she ever seen her look so hurt. And she was also surprised at the fact that Jughead had called her Forsythia, which Betty took at a guess was her real name. Betty cleared her throat before announcing that dinner was ready.

“Is it okay if I eat in my room? I’m kind of tired.” Jellybean sounded deflated, and Betty couldn’t help but wonder if Jughead showing up like this was something that happened regularly. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

“Of course. Are you alright, JB?” Betty asked as she handed her a bowl full of pasta. Jellybean just shrugged, accepting her dinner with a thanks she headed upstairs. Betty served herself a bowl, and took it into the lounge to eat. She flicked through a few channels, settling on some rom com so distract her. As she ate she couldn’t help feeling a little annoyed that her plans for the night had been soiled. Just as she thought about heading to the spare room herself, Jughead leaned around the doorway, a DVD copy of Inglorious Basterds sticking out between his crossed arms.

“I’m going to have to take back that proposal.” He said lightly, nodding toward the TV. “And here I was, thinking you had good taste.” Betty noticed he wouldn’t look directly at her face. She didn’t reply, instead just watched him as he came and sat beside her on the couch. She could see the tension in his shoulders. He sat on her right side, so she couldn’t see the gash on his face. His hair was damp, though, and she could smell the shampoo he had used. Betty reached out her hand to cradle his chin between her thumb and forefinger, slowly turning his face around so she could get a closer look. The cut was clean, all traces of the dried blood down the drain. Now it was clean Betty could see it wasn’t awfully big, relieved that it probably would heal quickly.

“Do you want some ice, for your eye?” She asked lowly. She could feel his breath on her face, and realising the proximity she dropped her hand from his chin and pulled back. Jughead just nodded slowly, swallowing hard.

“It really doesn’t hurt that bad, and it’s not swelling up. I’m fine, honestly.” He finally looked her in the eye then, and she could see the sincerity in them. “I’m sorry, about before. I didn’t mean to be an asshole.”

“I don’t think it’s me you need to apologise too.” Betty noted. Jughead groaned, dropping his head back against the couch. He brought his hands up to drag down his face.

“Fuck, and I called her by her real name. She’s going to kill me.” Betty couldn’t help but let out a light laugh at the fact that that was his main concern. “She’s going to tell you mine now. And eye for an eye.”

“Is it really that bad?” Betty asked, nudging his side with her shoulder. He gave her a look that gave her the answer.

“You basically already know, you just need to take away a few letters.” He watched her face for a moment, wondering is she was going to try and work it out. Instead she just shrugged.

“You can tell me when you’re ready.” He gave her a small smile, to which she responded with a smirk. “Unless Jellybean gets too it first, of course.” He groaned again. She pulled the DVD from his hand, waving it in front of him. “You still wanna watch this, then?”

“If you do, yeah.” He looked at her hopefully. She nodded quickly, throwing the case back into his lap.

“I’m going to go get changed. You put this in and make some popcorn.” She was leaving the room before he could reply, making her way upstairs to the spare room where she had put all her stuff. She quickly changed into her, almost too short, pyjama shorts and a white loose tank she used for sleeping. She took her hair out from its ponytail, running her fingers through it so it sat nicer. She glanced at herself in the mirror before leaving the room, wondering why the hell she cared so much what she looked in in pyjamas, for god sake. Jellybeans bedroom door is the last in the hall before the stairs, so Betty stood outside and knocked lightly.

“You okay, Jelly?” She calls through the door.

“Yeah, thanks Betty.” Came her reply. “I’m just going to get an early night.”

“Okay, see you in the morning.” Betty reminded herself to check on her again later, just to make double sure she was okay. She could smell the popcorn as she headed down the stairs, slightly surprised at what awaited her in the lounge.

Jughead had turned all the lights off, made the popcorn which was in a bowl in his lap that was covered with the soft throw from the back of the couch. He looked up from the TV where the opening menu was playing to Betty, smiling sweetly he pulled up a corner of the blanket, patting the spot next to him on the couch. She watched his eyes gaze down the length of her legs, feeling a smirk grow on her face at how his eyes lingered longer than they should have. She skipped over and climbed onto the couch next to him.

“You know this isn’t exactly a kind of snuggling film, right?” She teased, pulling the blanket over her legs.

“Oh, Coop. That is where you are mistaken.” He whispered as the film started, bringing his arm to rest against the back of the couch behind Betty. And as they watched Brad Pitt skin some nazis, Jugheads hand fell noticeably closer to Betty’s shoulder every so often, until she could feel his fingertips brushing her skin. He absentmindedly traced circles on the edge of her shoulder, causing goosebumps to rise along her arm. She shuddered at the feeling, and Jughead glanced down at her face.

“Are you cold?” He asked, and Betty could hear the smirk in his voice without even looking at him. She shook her head lightly, not wanting to look away from the screen. She could feel Jugheads gaze lingering on her face, causing the heat to rise in her chest. “You’re gorgeous, Betty. I just, I had to tell you that at least once.” The sentiment caught her by surprise, but she tried to mask it. She also tried to mask the rate at which her heart was beating considering he thought she was gorgeous.

“Just once?” She queried, shooting him some side eye. She saw him roll his eyes.

“Don’t push it, buttercup.” He joked before wrapping his arm around Betty completely and pulling her into his side. She snuggled her head into his chest, finding his heart beat was something that soothed her. The way it beat, hard and sure beneath her, confirming that she really was here. Somehow. She felt him sigh as his cheek came to rest against the top of her head. “Thanks for not asking any questions, about earlier.” He said quietly, into her hair.

“I figured I wouldn’t want to know anyway.” Betty whispered back, grasping at his shirt where her hand laid on his chest. He didn’t reply, instead he placed a light kiss into her hair. They stay like that until the movie finished, snuggled into one another. “Can you believe he worked on that script for nearly a decade?” Betty asked as she watched the credits roll down the screen.

“Yeah, that’s why it’s so good.” He laughed, more than a little biased. Betty poked her elbow into his side.

“Alright, Tarantino fanboy. Next time I get to choose, deal?” Betty crooked her neck to look up at Jughead, hoping like hell that he was on the same page as her. She would watch every film that’s ever been made if it meant she could lay into him like this, enclosed in his arm. He bopped the top of her nose with his finger.

“Deal. Thanks for babysitting me, Coop.” He smiled down at her as his fingers caressed her cheek. She took in a deep breath.

“Can I ask you something?”

“You’re going to anyway, aren’t you?” He joked, still smiling. Betty nodded her head slightly.

“It’s not that I’m complaining, because I’m having a lovely night.” She loved the way his eyes lit up the room, the depth of them emphasised by the low light in the room. “But, do I really need to be here? Can’t you watch JB?” She watched his face, waiting for a reaction, anxious that she may have poured salt into an unnecessary wound. She watched his shoulders deflate as his eyes flittered from her own, coming to focus on the wall behind her head.

“Ain’t that the million dollar question, huh?” He huffed out a humourless laugh. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but me and my Mum aren’t exactly best friends.” Betty snorted at the sarcasm, that fact sure wasn’t lost on her. His eyes fell back to hers. “But, long story short. She doesn’t trust me enough to look after Jellybean.” Now that he was looking at her again, she could see the ache that he buried deep. Betty’s brow furrowed.

“How could she not? You’re a great big brother.” Jughead widened his eyes at her, referencing back to earlier in the evening. Betty sighed and pulled away from him, choosing to sit up and face him directly. “Come on, Jug, anyone can see how much you freaking love your sister just by watching you with her. Surely you’re the one person in the world your Mum should trust her with?” She reached out and grasped his hand between her own and felt his fingers tighten around her own.

“I remind her too much of my Dad, Betts. I can see it whenever she looks at me. She’ll deny it if anyone asks, but I know it.” His grip on her hand tightened even more as he spoke, and his gaze was so heavy Betty could almost see it, a thick haze in the air. “I can fucking feel it. If she doesn’t hate me yet, she must be close too it.”

“Jug.. ” Betty’s voice is low. She hadn’t meant for her line of questioning to bring her here, but she wanted to know everything he was willing to tell her.

“I know, I know how it sounds but I can’t help feeling that way.” Jugheads voice comes out so weak that it physically hurts Betty to hear. She raised a hand to his face, caressing his cheek with her thumb. Her other was still grasped between Jugheads hands.

“You are justified to feel how you feel, Jughead.” Her voiced trailed off, wanting to ask a question that she already knew the answer too. But he hadn’t told her directly, and she wasn’t about to give away what she already knew. “Your Dad, is he..” Jughead swallowed hard before answering, his gaze fell to their clasped hands.

“He’s in prison, yeah. Mum just thinks I’m going to end up like him. Like I’m some kind of carbon copy. I look like him, I think my leather gives her some kind of fucking flashbacks.” His eyes flick back up to hers again, with so much heat it takes Betty by surprise. She swore almost feel the heat behind them, warming her skin. “But I’m not, Betty. Im not gonna end up like him.” He started to shake his head repeatedly, back and forth back and forth. Betty pulled her other hand from his grasp, bringing it to his other cheek so she could hold his face still.

“Hey, hey, I know.” Betty cooed, trying to reassure him.

“I love my Dad. I do. But I don’t want to be him. I’m not going to be him. I’m going to college, I’m going to get out.” He was still shaking, Betty’s hands didn’t do much in the way of stopping that but she sure wasn’t about to drop them. His voice was no longer weak, it came out sure, strong. There were tears in his eyes, but they were from anger. From frustration. “This is all just a means to and end. I swear it. I won’t be him. This won’t be my life.” And she believes it, she believes him.

“Juggie, hey, I know. I know.” Betty tried to calm him down, stroking her hands down his face. “You’re worth so much more than any of this, you know that. I know that. The people who matter, know that.” Her thumb caught a tear that betrayed him, trailing down his face. His eyes are trained on her face, tracing all her features before catching her gaze. The air was static between them. Betty was almost to afraid to move for for fear of being shocked. Jugheads tongue ran along his bottom lip as his gaze flicked between Betty’s eyes and her mouth. Suddenly Betty was parched and Jughead was the only means of survival she could see.

“I.. Betty,” His voice trailed off, silently asking permission. She gave it too him in the form of pressing her mouth to his. Softly at first, her fingertips pressing hard into the skin of his face. Their lips stick together slightly as she pulled away, and she opened her eyes in time to see a smile turning up the corners of his mouth. That was enough of an invitation for Betty to kiss him again, harder this time. More sure. And she must have done something right, because Jugheads hands suddenly gripped her waist tightly. Betty whimpered into his mouth at the pressure. He used his leverage to push her back against the couch, one of his hands came to grasp her neck, his fingers tangling into her hair, tugging lightly. She ran her tongue against his, willing to to tangle with his own. He’s hovered over her now, bracing himself on his forearms. But he’s not close enough for Betty’s liking, and she lets him know by wrapping her legs around his waist, locking them together and pulling him down on top of her.

She could feel him against her core, the friction making her burn. Bucking her hips up towards him, she rolled against the hardness in his jeans, revelling in the groan that grew in his throat. His mouth traced kisses along her jaw and down her neck, his teeth grazed against her collarbone.

“Jug, wait, hold on.” She pushed lightly against his chest, only wanting him take his weight from her. But Jughead sat up quickly, raising his hands up, palm out. She couldn’t help but miss him against her.

“We take this at your pace, Betty. Whatever you wanna do.” He said it so sincerely, Betty almost choked on her words. She hadn’t mean for him to take it that way, he wasn’t pushing her to do anything. Hell, she had kissed him first after all.

“I just, I’ve never..” She gave him a lopsided smile as she sat back up beside him.

“Anything?” He raised his brow, the surprise evident in his tone. She looked away shyly, shaking her head. It’s not that it was something to be embarrass about, she was only 16. But here, with Jughead, she was overwhelmed with the need to impress him. And it was ridiculous. He grabbed her face gently, pulling it back to his his own as he kissed her nose.

“There’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, it’s probably a good thing, because I can be pretty territorial..” He widened his eyes in suggestion, causing Betty to laugh lightly. Her voice was light, and she closer her eyes before she spoke.

“It’s just, I know you’ve probably got people to compare me too and I’m worried I won’t li-”

“Woah, hey.” He shook her head lightly between his hands. She opened her eyes to look at him, and his smile is almost too much. It was like looking directly into the sun. “Nobody compares to you, Coop. Trust me. And I mean,” He shrugged, “I’ve had a few starters but never a main course.”

She laughed, hard, “You what?” He shook his head.

“Sorry, crappy analogy. I’ve done other things, but I’ve never had sex before.” He said it just like that, he didn’t shy away from it.

“Really, seriously?” She was genuinely shocked. He laughed at the look on her face.

“Yes, Betty. I swear. Everything you may have heard has all been lies.” He winked. “Except I guess I am kinda cute.” She smacked his arm before pressing her mouth to his again, pulling away only for a moment.

“You’re cute as fuck, Jones. Now take me to bed. Doing this on your Mothers couch feels like a betrayal.” She faked a shudder before accepting the hand he held out for her. He stopped to kiss her so many times on the way to his bedroom it took nearly 10 minutes to get up the stairs. They finally made it to his room, and she only had a moment to take in his minimalist approach to décor before she’s pushed into his bed on her back. She took him in as he pulled off his t shirt, all his angles and dips of muscle. He was a hell of a lot leaner than that leather jacket would let you believe.

And then his mouth was on hers again, wet and heavy. He was being cautious, but Betty wanted none of that. She grabbed one of his hands from where it lay above her head, leading it down her side to rest against her thigh. He pulled away from her mouth to give her a look that said ever so clearly <i>are you sure? </i> She nodded so vigorously her head could have come away from her neck. He mouth was back on her neck, it seemed to be his favourite spot. The hand she had placed on her thigh trailed back up her side, snaking underneath her tank top. She was suddenly aware of every inch of her skin as his fingers caressed the skin underneath her breast.

He let his fingers wonder so slowly, Betty knew it was for her benefit. She could tell him to stop anytime, and of course he would. But she trusted him with this. With herself. So she welcomed the feeling that took over her whole body when his fingers danced over her nipple so slightly. She welcomed every feeling Jughead Jones would cause with open arms. He swept and pulled at her gently, and she could feel the heat polling between her thighs. She had never been overcome with such need in her entire life.

“Juggie.. Please.” She spoke so lightly into his mouth, raising her hips to meet his, letting him know just exactly what she was asking for. He led his hand back down to her thing, trailing along the her of her pyjama shorts.

“These legs, Coop.” He let out a low whisper and shook his head. “Honestly.”

Betty couldn’t really find any words to reply, instead using her tongue for another purpose. Her breath hitched as she felt his hand slip beneath her shorts. He ran his fingers along her lightly, groaning at the dampness of the material.

“Fucking hell, Betty.” He looked down at her and she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth shyly. He held eye contact as he quicker his pace, rubbing over the material of her panties. Betty’s eyes fluttered closed at the feeling, wondering why it never felt this good when she did it herself. She surprised herself with the moan that escaped her mouth as Jugheads fingers slipped underneath her panties.

There was no way she could ever put into words how this felt. Every nerve ending was standing upright, tingling every time he moved his fingers against her. Her head fell back against the pillow with a thud, giving Jughead full access to her neck yet again. He sucked on the base of her neck at the same time he slipped a single digit inside of her, slowly. The shock the pain and pleasure caused her eyes to open, her pupils blown wide. Jughead was looking down at her, the look on his face one Betty had never seen before.

“I’ll go slow,” He said softly, “If you need me to stop, you just tell me, okay?” Tears stung behind Betty’s eyes, not from the pain but instead from the way Jughead was looking at her. As if she was ethereal. “You are so beautiful.”

“Don’t.. Don’t stop.” Was all Betty could manage in reply. He peppered more kisses down her neck as added a second finger into her, moving slowly to let her adjust. When her moans became more certain, Jughead started to move his thumb against her clit. Then it was all over for Betty. “Jughead! Fuck, oh my..” He quickened his pace, curling his fingers inward slightly to hit that spot that made her cuss. His thumb worked quick circles against her clit. Given it was a first for Betty, all this partnered with Jughead sucking on the base of her neck meant she fell apart against his hand quicker than she would have liked. The scratches she left down his back evidence of how much she had enjoyed herself.

He wiped his fingers on the bed sheet before wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her against his side.

“You okay, baby?” He cooed, kissing her temple.

“Jughead.” She was still catching her breath. “That was.. I can’t find an appropriate enough word for whatever the hell that was. Except, thank you?” She felt him laugh against her. She couldn’t fight the yawn that escaped her, and Jughead pulled her even tighter against him. He placed another kiss on her forehead.

“You did so good. Let’s get you some rest, huh?” Suddenly Betty was exhausted, she didn’t even have enough energy to muster a response. Instead she just wrapped her arms around Jugheads middle and rest her head again his chest, letting the steady beat of his heart sing her to sleep. Just as the claws of sleep were pulling her in, she felt a Jughead whisper into her hair.

“You are something else, Betty Cooper.” He sighed. “I’m so done for.”

She fell asleep with what could possibly the happiest heart on the planet.

#strong #allskynostars fics #Bughead fanfic #bughead fanfiction #riverdale fanfiction #betty x jughead #betty cooper #jughead jones #bughead smut #bughead au

[hopefulbasementpeanut2]

Unit 9, Task 4

10.10.19:

I’ve started working on producing some renders and animations for my showreel. Yesterday I produced an animation as an example of the sort of work I could include. A screenshot and link to the animation on my YouTube channel can be found below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7mBVoEzoOM&feature=youtu.be

This is a 20 second animation but I could easily cut it down and include a shorter version of it in my showreel. I’ve also begun rendering out higher quality renders of my unit 6 scene, however I’m still unsure about whether to include still images or figure out a way to animate them, even if it’s just the camera panning around. Here’s an example of one of the higher quality renders, however, once again, I’m not sure whether to include it in the showreel or not:

If possible I’d like to have it be an even higher resolution, although this would mean having a much higher render time, especially for an animated version. I also still need to figure out how to render through a camera in the scene so I can move the camera around, since I’ve only used the viewport camera so far for my renders.

I have managed to create videos in which the camera appears to move around a landscape, however this was done by rotating the model of the landscape itself rather than moving the camera. I could use this technique for some of my renders, however I’ve had trouble using it for complex scenes since some of the models tend to move strangely when I move everything at once. Here is the link to an animation I made recently of the camera seemingly moving around a landscape:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23L5VwCIfC8&feature=youtu.be

As I mentioned in tasks 2 and 3, I’d like to try and focus on my modelling and texturing work. The first example in this post was textured purely with materials I could create in Maya, while the textures in the unit 6 project were mostly created in photoshop and put onto lambert materials. I like both techniques, however since I’ll most likely have to create a lot of my work at home, I’ll probably end up mostly using materials made in Maya for any new models I create.

In a lot of my work, I tend to use rampshaders with different colours and bump maps to create various effects, since these can look especially impressive as the camera moves around them. Unfortunately, this can make the projects take longer to render, especially if I also turn on raytracing. While this does make a lot of my renders look quite impressive, I’m a little concerned about giving the impression of a lack of variety in my work, which could be a problem when a potential employer sees the showreel. On the one hand, consistency can be a positive, especially if someone decides they like your particular art style, however having your models look too similar can put people off if they’re looking for someone with a range of skills. I also have this concern in regards to the models themselves as I tend to mostly create models in a low-poly style and sometimes struggle to produce work in other styles such as photorealistic models.

16.10.19:

Today I managed to render out another short clip, this time showing a low-poly style landscape with trees, a lake, and rocks, rotating. The scene uses rampshaders but without and bump maps. I had raytracing turned on so the clip took about 4 hours to render in total, however I’m happy with the way it turned out. I feel that the clip is visually interesting and is a good example of my work. The clip can be viewed here:

https://youtu.be/EqnFrAO-1PE

I’ve also looked back at some of my previous renders, such as this clip that used the low-poly bearded dragon model I made for my FMP game demo:

https://youtu.be/ARxvan82LXc

I feel that this clip or something similar to it could be used in the showreel, as it shows my ability to use things like particle systems in Maya. I have some other ideas for clips using particles that may be better examples to use. I’ll probably attempt to make them over the next few days if possible. One idea would be to try and create some feather in my the same low-poly style and use those instead of the lizards, and possibly have other objects in the scene as well.

Over the last few days I’ve attempted to record gameplay footage for some of my projects, however this has been difficult since I’ve had problems using screen recording software on my laptop at home, and haven’t been able to come into college. I’d like to get some footage of both my FMP game demo and an experimental project I made that has some interesting visuals. One key problem I’ve found with this however is that it’s difficult to get recordings that aren’t likely to cause motion sickness and that don’t have jittery camera movements. I’ll most likely have to experiment with different ways of moving around the scene to make the footage more comfortable to watch, and to properly showcase my work, since I mostly want to focus on the graphics within the games rather than the actual game mechanics.

13.10.19:

Due to unfortunate circumstances I have been mostly unable to complete any work for the last few weeks. I did manage to create another animation, this time in Blender rather than Maya. The animation can be viewed at the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4jZQX1jHU0

I feel like this is a good clip to use since it shows my ability to work with different software, although this wouldn’t necessarily be obvious to the viewer. The clip is a good example of the sort of abstract renders I often create, however those renders are usually still images, which I feels wouldn’t fit very well within my showreel.

Unfortunately, I’m still having trouble with OBS studio not recording in a high enough quality, meaning I’m unable to get suitable footage of my FMP game demo. Instead, I may try rendering out some of the assets, although I’m not entirely sure how I’d fit them into the showreel other than by rendering out short animations of them rotating, since I’d rather not include still images. The main downside to doing this would be the amount of time it would take. One of my animations already includes some of the FMP assets, such as trees, and one includes the bearded dragon model as a particle system, however I’m debating whether to include that specific animation or create another particle animation using a model that would look more appropriate floating around, such as a low-poly feather model. Once again, this would involve spending more time rendering, however this is unavoidable if I’m going to produce more clips to use in my showreel.

I have collaborated with another student (Connor Pugh) to create an animation, however I’m not sure whether I would be able to use this since I wasn’t the only person who worked on it. I created the textures/materials for the objects in the scene, while the other person created the actual models. The animation itself was quite simple however it’s quite visually impressive. I haven’t uploaded it to YouTube yet but I will post the link here when I do. In the meantime, Below are a few frames from the animation:

I feel that this does a good job of showing my ability to create materials and figure out the right render settings to make my renders look interesting. The student I worked with on this animation has given me permission to use it, however I’m unsure of whether to do so, and if I do use it, I intend to credit them somehow. The is also the issue of the background image being a HDRI downloaded from a website, so I would most likely have to credit that too.

14.11.19:

Yesterday I ended up working on a scene using assets from other projects. I also created new assets for it. I then rendered out an animation of the scene rotating. I haven’t uploaded the animation to YouTube yet so I can’t post the link here until later, however here are a few frames from the animation:

I feel that this animation would be good to include in my showreel as it shows my ability to create scenes with a variety of objects in them. It also does a good job of showing my ability to work with a range of materials other than ramp shaders and glass. The animation took around 9 hours to render overnight.

[believe-that-you-can-my-friend]

i loveeee your fics they're the best!! can you do one where since jughead is now living with archie him and betty are making out on archie's bed and archie walks in on them

Alright a little treat before the big comeback of the show!! *so excited* This has no plot whatsoever and it is not angsty at all!! It’s just pure fluff and full of banter and hilarious situations with Jughead being a happy and normal teenager for once, Archie being an awkward friend and Fred Andrews being an embarassing dad to both of them. Thank you for requesting and your kind words and I hope you like it, nonnie!!! Enjoy, all you amazing people!

 “Step away from the weights. Ipromise you, life’s sweet and you have a lot of reasons to not die today.”

Jughead scoffed at the teasingvoice behind him, a shake of his head indicating his mix of amusement at hersassy humor and irritation at her lack of confidence in him, plus the reasonthat made him come even remotely close to such atrocious fitness things, beforedropping to the floor with a tiny grunt the silver hand weight he has holdingwith both his own hands. That wasexercise enough for centuries in his books and his intention wasn’t, even tothe slightest, to work any of his perfectly, natural-grown muscles to beginwith, when he stomped into Archie’s room in fury.

“Hilarious input, BettyCooper.” He turned to face her, the blonde girl shrugging with a pleased smile.“Is stand-up comedy in your future plans or only we have the pleasure of beingblessed with your sardonic one-liners?” Snarky words and snarky raisedeyebrows, this right there was Jughead Jones 101 but not with Betty, never withher. The fact that he chose a witty comment over a lovely smirk or a mildteasing comeback was sign enough that something was off.

Thankfully, those days theirbiggest concern – well, his biggest concern, Betty was just collateral damageof her boyfriend’s venting – wasn’t their ignorant parents nor the Blossom case,that was put on hold temporarily, but something equally earth-shutteringaccording to bro-code; prank wars.

Betty sighed, her beautifulface dropping in order to showcase just how tired and how done she was withtheir ‘boys will be boys’ attitude. “What did he do this time?” she addedanother sigh at the end of her question, arms curling over her chest, preparingherself for the 8.5 minutes monologue of teenage angst from the raven hairedboy in front of her. She had timed it; it was always exactly 8.5 minutes of himspatting big fancy words in the form of insults and promises of avenginghimself and if she hadn’t already memorized his whole outrage by heart, shewould find it pretty hilarious to be honest.

“He has locked me out of myroom, stuffed gums inside the lock so for me not to be able to pick it and Idon’t even wanna know what he used to glue the window but it feels sticky andgross!” Jughead explained in exasperation, frown deep at how annoyed he was,Betty biting her down lip to cover her grin, not to aggravate him more. “And hedidn’t stop there, oh no.” he chuckled with no humor at all, hating his bestfriend with all his everything at the moment. “The bastard left my laptop onthe floor in front of my bedroom door with a post-it note “have fun, looking at a black screen”. The charger is in the room,Betty!” at that she lost it, throwing her head back and laughing loudly with asnort,  finding the image of Jughead comingface to face with his dead laptop hilarious, as well as the expression of angerand horror he was sporting now, the boy sending her a deadly glance beforehuffing loudly.

“But I’m getting that evilginger back, I swear! I came prepared!” the raven haired boy exclaimed intriumph, a wicked smirk curling his lips as he rose his arms, two large rollsof silver duct tape swaying from his fingers. “I’m going to duct tape his wholeroom! Clothes to hangers, all his mess to the floor, drawers closed, oh, andhis guitar against the ceiling. Yeah!” he laughed menacingly, causing Betty toraise an eyebrow at how creative he and Archie could be at such mischievouscircumstances.

“Isn’t that, I don’t know, a tad extreme?” hisgirlfriend pushed her lips together in thought, not getting the two boys andtheir obsession of continuing those shenanigans like they were five. Then againshe had read somewhere that a man’s brain reaches the level of a seven yearold’s maturity so that was explanation enough.

“After witnessing the chaos ofthese last two weeks you think that’s extreme?” Jughead raised his eyebrows ather in disbelief.

Amongst other minor incidentsand some pranks gone wrong, Jughead once had successfully redecorated Archie’sentire room, pushing all the furniture in inconvenient spots, even the bed againstthe doorframe and the wardrobe against the window, and misplacing all his stuffin drawers, closet and desk, causing Archie a whole three days to puteverything back in their original place, the redhead getting him back with awater balloon prank, stocking his whole room with blue balloons that he hadfilled with water threatening to pop and flood like wild waterfall the spareroom and eventually the whole house, if Jughead even made half a step inside hisbedroom. Not to mention Jughead’s next brilliant installation to their juvenilegames, him covering the bathroom floor with clear Jell-O along with balancing abucket of cold water over the door so for Archie to get soaked once he wouldland face first on the sticky tiles which unfortunately landed to both gettingan earful and two days of house arrest since Fred Andrews was the one to walkinto Jughead’s very organized and mean prank, mind you with only a bathrobe on.Yeah, duct taping Archie’s belongings was indeed average and Jughead couldsurely do better; not that Betty would let him know that.

“Whatever.” She huffed,dropping her hands to her sides in defeat. “I promised I’m not gonna get in themiddle of your male idiocy and bro-bonding so by all means” she pointed herarms to Archie’s closet, offering for him to go on with his plan “have at it.”

Jughead bit his lip, a tee-heegrin lighting his face naughtily. “Well, if you did get in the middle, youwould help me get it over with sooner?” he offered in a subtle plea.

“Oh, no, no, no, buddy” Bettygroaned amused, shaking her index vigorously to his face in a negative manner“this is between you and Archie, I’m just an entertained observant.”

“Come on!” he whined, taking astep closer to her. “Be a dear and help your amazing and ridiculously handsomeboyfriend out?” he gave her the boyish smirk that always made her a little weakin her knees, Betty rolling her smiley eyes at him and his sudden confident,and he took hold of her hips lightly, the rolls of duct tape sliding down todecorate his wrists like a new form of trendsetting bracelets.

“Sorry but no.” she swayed herhead from side to side in a goofy manner, giggling when he wrinkled his nose athow hard she was playing to get. “Call Kevin; he helped you the other time withthe moving things around prank.” Both boys had a hilarious case of lumbago thefollowing days after the incident but she wasn’t allowed to ever speak about this again, as herboyfriend and friend had insisted; little did they know that it was still anongoing inside joke between her and Veronica.

“Ugh, the traitor!” Jugheadexclaimed like the other boy had seriously offended him. “He distracted me withsome stupid fake theories that Sheriff Keller hypothetically had about Jason’smurder so for Archie to steal my laptop!” he explained in a high pitchedannoyed voice and wide eyes in shock and Betty opened her lips in mock scandal,enjoying his theatricals and how serious he was about this whole thing. “IsPolly home?” he wondered then, his eyes briefly darting to the window acrossArchie’s room, searching for the girl in question. The oldest Cooper was alwaysquite the prankster, as he could clearly remember Alice Cooper screaming at thetop of her lungs a plethora of times in the past, frustrated by her daughter’stomboyish behavior, and also Polly had taken a weird liking in him, the two ofthem growing closer once getting to know each other more, the boy knowing thatshe wouldn’t refuse to assist him in anything fun at the moment.

Betty shook her head no with awarm smile, happy that her two favorite people were getting along. “Doctor’sappointment with mom.” She let him know briefly, caressing up his arms untilher hands rested on his shoulders, the girl eyeing the movements of her palmsand appreciating the feel of his muscles under the soft fabric of his maroonsweater. She bit her lip at the instant flush that rose on her cheeks beforecontinuing.

“Which is why I came here to spend somedesperately missed quality time with my boyfriend but he seems interested in havingfun only with his best friend.” She complained with a small, girly groan, herneed for his attention to be solemnly on her becoming childish and one of awoman’s madly in love.

“So help me and then I’ll becompletely available to spend the rest of eternity with you?” Jughead bargainedplayfully, fingers tightening their hold of her dark blue denim over her hips,boyish smirk intact.

“Stop trying to be a charmer.”Betty narrowed her eyes at him, their banter going strong.

“Is it working?” he rose hiseyebrows amused, causing her to scoff and punch his chest lightly, a chucklevibrating against her knuckles.

“What’s in it for me?” shechallenged expertly, playful smirk dancing on her glossy lips too.

“Anything you want. Say it andit’s yours.” The raven haired boy replied in a heartbeat and in all honesty,dropping his forehead against hers and breathing in her intoxicated feminineperfume, his eyes flattering close at the amazing feeling her presence alwaysarose in his chest.

Betty’s eyes flattered closedtoo with a blissful smile, the girl feeling her heart combust at the uniquesensation of her chest heaving at just the sight of him. “Well, in that case…”she offered in almost a whisper, her alluring words dying on her lips as shecrossed her arms behind his neck, luscious lips inches away from his soft boyishones. “Can we fulfill my part of the deal first?” she asked with a desperatesigh, her breath caressing his parted lips before they brushed over themteasingly, Jughead instantly exhaling heavily at the intensity and intimacy ofthe situation.

“I love the way you’rethinking, Betts…” his husky tone of voice and closed eyes indicated that he wasalready in another world, a world of strawberries and sin that she only knewhow to create for them to escape, and Betty giggled breathlessly at his cheekyremark before leaning to close the gap between them completely.

Chaste kisses turned tofeverish ones, their soft lips dancing tentatively at first and savoring thetaste of one another until their hormones started to kick in, demanding moreand making the two teens crave bolder touches, like the ones they had timidlystarted to explore recently. It wasn’t something that major, just heavycaresses and the occasional removal of basic articles of clothing, such asshirts and, very lately, bras, the new-found territory of pleasure thoughmaking them excited to learn more with the help of the other and turning themhandsy and eager to get lost in each other more and more every time they weretogether. That’s why now Jughead’s hands were buried inside Betty’s wild curls,the boy having yanked her always perfect ponytail for her blonde tresses to belet loose and for him to turn them into a mess of gorgeous chaos with hisdesperate gasp on them in order to force her sinful lips more on his demandingones and control the angle of the kiss so for him to battle relentlessly withher wet tongue in the most sensual ways.

Betty’s palms ran from thesides of his neck all the way down to his chest, drawing some abstract shapeson his pectorals, feeling him sigh against her and cup her cheeks in a needyplea to have her closer, before her hands traveled more down to his waist. Herfingers curled around the belt loops of his jeans as a reflex when he delivereda sexy suck on her down lip and she gasped, their bodies rolling deliciouslyagainst each other. She sucked on his tongue as a payback and he groanedlightly, angling her head more and Betty shivering a little inside his arms atthe way his hard, masculine body felt against hers and the delicious sense ofhis teeth grazing the soft flesh of the inside of her mouth. She took half astep back, his lewd aura making her lose her balance and normal state of mind,and her knees collided with the twin bed behind her, the blonde girl losing herfooting and dropping back on the bed, taking Jughead with her as she clungdesperately to his waist, the two teens landing on the plaid blanket-coveredbed, one atop the other, with a surprised gasp from his side and a needy whinefrom hers.

One leg of his ended betweenher jean clad ones, her right one outstretched on the bed and her left bendedand hitched next to his hip, his right hand grabbed her thigh to steadyhimself, nails digging into the denim fabric, as Betty respondedenthusiastically too, arching her back and cradling his neck to keep himcaptured, small mewls and sighs leaving her lips in a sexual mantra while theirlips continued their sinful dance.

Jughead pulled backmomentarily, flushed cheeks and all, once registering what they were doing and,more specifically, where they weredoing it. “Making out on Archie’s bed is not one of our most profound ideas.”He blinked a couple of times to regain his calm, frowning at the currentsituation of him tarnishing his best friend’s bed with a girl, that girl beingBetty freaking Cooper. He felt ashamed and so awfully guilty.

Betty searched his lips witheyes still closed, shifting under him and rubbing her chest over his in need. “Well,you don’t have a bedroom, do you now?” she offered breathlessly, lipsbee-stung, dry now from any hint of shimmery lip-gloss and gorgeously dark pinkfrom all his nibbles and wild sucks. “Plus, I don’t think you’d appreciate Mr.Andrews’ bed more.” She offered back with eyebrows raised in a clever manor andhe wrinkled his nose in terrified disgust at the image, Betty giggling lightlyunder him.

“What Archie doesn’t know, it won’t kill him.”She went on in a whisper, before leaning more against her boyfriend to caresshis neck lovingly and start leaving butterfly kisses on his sensitive skinthere, the little minx vanishing his worries and second thoughts in a blink.

He reciprocated her affectionswith equal want, sliding his torso over her soft feminine curves and meltingagainst her, his left hand closing in a fist on the bed next to her head as hisstrong arm held half of his weight up so for him not to crash her, whereas hisother hand lazily explored every inch of her clothed body, caressing her thigh,her waist, her ribs and then again repeating the actions. Tiny gasps wereleaving her more and more opening lips, filling his own mouth and feeding thesweet torture that lit fire allover his body, and her slender fingers peekednaughtily under his sweater on his waist, closing around his belt and urginghis hips to ground more on the inside of her thigh, both of them groaninginside the kiss and adding a little extra steaminess in the wet battle of theirtongues.

“You are a menace, BettyCooper, you should know that.” Jughead murmured against her lips, the girloffering him a breathy giggle and a couple of pecks, before dropping her headback to rest on the elbow of his arm that lay on the bed, getting fullyenveloped in his strong arms.  He smiledat her, letting a cooing sigh to control the sexual tension between them,looking down at her all flushed and dizzy from his kisses and bringing hisother hand to caress her cheek and jawline feather-lightly with the pads of hisfingers.

Betty bit her lip. “What areyou talking about? I’m fairly innocent, Juggie.” Her expression of faux naivetyand the full of promises look under her eyelashes were anything but innocentand Jughead bit his own lip too, trying to hold his teenage self back andsoothe down the ridiculous beating of his heart at how amazing she was ineverything. “I just came here to show you a tiny trick of mine…” she went onwith her sugary sweet voice, eyes focused on her fingers that were playfullyfidgeting with the front of his sweater and Jughead raised an eyebrow intriguedand amused at her statement and girly demeanor.

“I have a feeling that you’lllike it.” She gave him a smooch, the poor boy leaning immediately forward tohave more of her tasty lips, but she pulled back and grinned shyly at him,green eyes clear and warm against his baby blue ones. Without breaking theireye contact, she raised her torso a little and sneaked her hands behind herback, Jughead frowning at the action and being totally clueless, before hewatched her sliding her bra straps off her arms and then reaching to the frontof her floral V-neck t-shirt, pulling something peachy from under it. To hisamazed and round eyes, the peachy thing turned out to be a very lacey and verygirly bra, now swinging lightly next to Betty’s glee-filled face as she held itup by its middle. Jughead gulped; damn was she a vixen.

“Oops!” her smirking lips leta tiny naughty giggle, the blond girl biting her down lip as she batted hereyes up at her boyfriend, faking innocence and being totally pleased withherself that brought him at such an awestruck state.

“Menace.” Jughead repeatedagain, in a breathless whisper this time that left his mouth involuntarilywithout him noticing, Betty giggling a little louder and making his head bounceback as he regained consciousness, his eyes darting from her face to the itemof clothing to her face again. “Did you learn this at Hogwarts or something?”he was flabbergasted by the years-long and ordinary action that every girl onthe planet was qualified to execute effortlessly without anyone ever showingthem exactly how.

Betty snorted a laugh at hisboyish appreciation. “Summer camp.” She shrugged adorably, thinking back to thefirst years of her wearing a bra and being petrified if someone caught a lookof it.

“Please tell me that DiltonDoiley didn’t have the pleasure of witnessing you ever doing that.” Jugheadinhaled sharply and closed his eyes, something kicking inside his chest at eventhe thought of the scout boy seeing his Betty like that.

“I reckon he might.” Sheflinched at the thought too, Jughead groaning in dislike on top of her, hatingDilton Doiley for a whole new reason right at that moment. “But I was alwaysbeing awkward and a spaz doing that on camp so he always ran away faster thanthe speed of sound.” Betty sent him a cute and funny grimace, the boy shakinghis head to disagree.

“Nothing about what I justwitnessed was awkward or repulsive, trustme.” He colored the last two words with a groan, his male tendencies comingto surface at anything Betty Cooper was doing to taunt him, teenage hormones onoverdrive once again. “I would like to find a way more courteous compliment butsexy is the only word I can think ofright now.” He breathed heavily, leaning more on her lips and digging his nailson her skin under her ribs involuntarily, Betty smirking at his words andtightening her hold around his neck.  

“Works fine by me.” She sighedwith a blissful smile and brushed the tip of her nose against his, before theirlips connected again with more urgency, the girl throwing recklessly her braover his back to get fully lost inside his intoxicated presence and body heat.

The battle of dominancestarted again, hot and heavy this time, bodies rolling against each other andsmall moans and groans fueling their actions. She was tugging at his down lipand he was fisting her hair fiercely, wanting to consume every inch of hervoluptuous lips, her nails digging on the back of his neck to force him closer,even though that was impossible. His other hand caressed lovingly her hip andthen dipped under the hem of her blouse, bony fingers skimming over her softstomach that flexed with anticipation under his ministrations, moving inch byinch up and up with every encouraging sigh or whine of hers inside their heatedkiss. And as the pads of his fingers danced over her ribs and reached theunderside of her now bare breast, Jughead groaning low in his chest at howheavy and soft it already felt without him even touching it properly yet, thesound of squeaky sneakers on hardware floor along with a familiar boyish voiceburst their amorous bubble violently.

“Dad seriously, stop messingaround with my st—oh!” the owner of the room and best friend of the two, ArchieAndrews, stormed inside annoyed at the thought of his dad once againtidying slash making a mess of his room, only for his light brown eyes to widen inshock, once taking in the scene of the couple tangled up on his bed. The couplethat now had jumped away from each other, Jughead retrieving violently his handfrom under her blouse like it had caught on fire and both sporting equal darkred faces of embarrassment.

“OH!” he exclaimed againlouder, snapping his head to the side, a rosy shade decorating his neck too. “Ew,ew, EW!” his disgust at the situationkicked in, the wheels in his head turning to envision all the scandalousscenarios, making him want to vomit at the thought of his two best friendsgetting down and dirty on his bed.

“Arch, it’s not wha—” Bettytook it upon herself to say something, seeing as Jughead was staring at theredhead in shock, wishing to disappear.

“For the love of God Betty,don’t tell me this cliché phrase ‘it’s not what you think it is’ because I’mnot stupid, I know what this is, I can see it, God, how can I un-see it?!” Archie ranted in a panickyvoice, a palm going to rub his forehead as if that was the efficient way for amemory loss, his face scrunched up uneasily.

Jughead cleared his throat,his turn for fast rumbling. “We were not gonna do anything overboard, I swear!”he exclaimed more loudly than necessary, his eyes still wide and alarmed. “Wejust got carried away a little, I guess.” He added with an embarrassed sigh,sharing a short glance with the girl on his left.

“In my room, Jughead?!” Archieexclaimed in exasperation, arms opening at his sides. “On my own freakingbed?!”

“Well, if I did have a room thenwe wouldn’t be here in the first place.” Jughead offered him a snarky murmurand a pointed look, his irritation about Archie’s latest prank still evident inhis voice.

“Dude, seriously? If this is about the prankwars, I declare defeat!” he raised his arms in surrender, the teenager feelingpersonally violated by the sight of them being all mushy in his personal space.It wasn’t the fact that he was jealous or anything, he truly was happy forthem; he would just appreciate it if they were in love somewhere else and notinside his childhood bedroom. “Please leave my bed pure and untouched!” hewhined loudly, thinking that he would definitely need to burn that blanketlater.

“We weren’t—” Jughead triedagain with a frustrated sigh but he got caught off by the ginger.

“IS THAT A BRA?!” Archiesqueaked as he pointed at Betty’s discarded underwear on the floor, eyes roundin horror and a frown of male discomfort, as he looked up again at the couplethat shifted awkwardly on their seats, looking sheepish.

“What bra?” Fred Andrews’voice came from the hallway and then his head popped from the half opened door,having just arrived from work and looking perplexed at the conversation betweenthe two boys.

“Oh God, kill me now!” Bettygroaned in utter embarrassment, dropping her head back against her boyfriend’sarm and covering her flaming face with both her hands.

“Fred, let me explain.”Jughead jumped up in horror, once seeing the older man’s face dropping at thescene in front of him. Two teenagers were lying awkwardly on the bed whereashis son was watching; and there he thought that Ms. Grundy was the most of hisworries.

“Yeah, Jug, I’d really like anexplanation about this. Plus, I would appreciate also knowing the reason why theside of my house under the spare room window is covered in construction glue,leaking all over the hood of my car and washing away its color, presumably halfthe day now.” Fred looked at his own son at that, the boy dropping his head toexamine his Converse sneakers guiltily, as the father walked further inside theroom, curling his arms over his chest in a parental authoritative manor.

Jughead sat up completely now,Betty doing the same but staying half behind him, looking up at the man infront of them with remorseful eyes, and using Jughead as a shield, first of allbecause she was borderline embarrassed and second of all because she knew heranatomy, her naturally more pointy than average nipples were certainly obviousunder her t-shirt and that wasn’t a sight she wanted to offer to the man thatalways paired up with her against the boys at all their Super Soaker battles inAndrews’ backyard when they were kids.  

“We weren’t doing anythingwrong.” Jughead flinched at his amazing and rich choice of words.

“You were hooking up ON MY BED!” Archie chipped in frustratedbehind his dad.

His friend sent him a glance. “Itwas just a kiss.”

Archie mirrored his stare. “It’snever just a kiss when you are alone with a girl.”

Jughead scoffed. “You wouldknow.”

Archie narrowed his eyes athim. “As I see it, you too.”

Betty and Fred was left therejust observing the word battle between the two friends, heads turning from sideto side in coordination with the shots they fired at each other.

“Oh, so you are the only oneallowed to have fun then?” Jughead faked ignorance, both of them butt-headingeach other just out of boyish spite.

“Well, you are having funevery night sneaking up into Betty’s room!” Archie’s mean reply drew a loudgasp out of Betty’s mouth, Jughead’s eyes fluttering for a moment under thefatherly look of slight disappointment Fred sent his way.

“And you are having fun everymorning that Valerie sneaks up into your room!” Jughead fired back and Fredaverted the same glare to his biological son this time, the raven haired boyfeeling a little relaxed that he wasn’t the only one in trouble.

“Enough!” Fred demanded withan imposing voice that didn’t leave any room for discussion, feeling his templesaching from the loud commotion of the boys’ voices and all the new-foundinformation. “You, grab some bed.” He ordered his son, he and Jughead lookingat each other reluctantly before the redhead half-heartedly went to take thetwo small steps to his bed.

“Alright, that’s my queue togo.” Betty felt a wave of relief as she slid to the end of the bed and gotready to flee as quickly as possible and go hide under her covers inembarrassment but Fred’s voice stopped her.

“Not so fast, Betty. What I’mabout to say applies to all three of you.” The old man clarified with a seriouslook and the blond girl nodded curtly, hunching her shoulders and slidingcloser to Jughead, as Archie took a seat next to her. Three teenagers sittingobediently in a small bed with heads hanging low was truly a comical sight.

“I think it’s time we all wentover the ground rules for this household, shall we?” he started, the threeteens sending side glances at each other. “Let’s get a few things straighthere; no girls in the bedrooms and with the door closed ever, no sneaking in,no sneaking out.” Fred looked from his son to the boy that he considered hisson too and vice versa. “Nine o’clock curfew on weekdays, midnight on weekends.If you’re out after ten I need a phone call because I need to know where youare.” Archie scoffed and went to complain about how ridiculous he sounded buthis dad cut him off with a glare as he continued. “My self phone will do verynicely, thank you.” The redhead huffed in defeat, slouching like Betty next tohim.

“No parties without parentalsupervision, no alcohol, no smoking—”

“We don’t even do that.”Jughead frowned as he stated how lame at being teenagers they truly were.

“Well, good for you then.”Fred shot back cleverly. “Do I need to go over the ground rules for sex?” hewent on with the same expression, the three teens across him bursting out ahorrified “no” in unison.

“Good.” He nodded with a hintof an amused smirk at their reaction. “Now…” he relaxed his posture, leaningback at Archie’s desk. “I know that you are not kids anymore and, even thoughyou don’t really believe it, I was your age once which means that I also knowvery well what changes you’re going through right now or what new experiencesyou desperately want to gain.” His voice was soft and soothing, like a good dadtrying to do its best for his kids and that held the teenagers’ attention.

“And you should gain them.But, at the same time, right now you are shaping your future. You get to makedecisions and map out your life the way you want or dream about. And you have tomake sure that any setbacks would not have you waking up someday in the futureand asking yourself what if.” Fred darted his eyes from one teen to the other,feeling pleased that all three of them were listening to what he was tellingthem and understanding his point. They were good kids; he never had any doubtsabout that. “So what I’m saying here is that those ground rules are not set toground you in a small, precious box or stop you from being normal teenagers,they are just here to make you responsible and give you the chance to accomplishyour dreams and your decisions. Live your life, fall in love, make mistakes buttake advice from us once in a while because we’re here to help you thriveand witness you become the best versions of yourselves.” He ended his smalllecture with a fatherly smile, receiving a sweet one back from Betty and atight one from his son in gratitude at how amazing of a dad he was being.Jughead just gulped and hang his head lower, feeling vulnerable and touched bythe affection in his words and deeply ashamed that he possibly mistreated histrust.

“Mr. Andrews I’m sorry.” Bettywhispered softly with one of her sweetest expressions, feeling the need toapologize for their previous reckless behavior that partly was fueled by her.She deeply wished her parents were anything like him and she appreciated somuch that fact that he treated her equally, just like his son. She saw Jugheadnodding with the corner of her eyes, agreeing with her statement and heremotional state, and the girl offered him a small smile of affection.

“I’m not expecting an apologyfrom you Betty” Fred chuckled lightly at how well-mannered and kind-hearted shewas “you didn’t do anything wrong.” He assured both her and Jughead. “And youknow that you are always welcomed in this house. But I would appreciate it, sinceyou and Jug are now together, your visits to be strictly between business hoursfrom now on.” Both teens nodded vigorously in agreement, Fred smiling at themand the couple doing the same, a silent confirmation that everything was okbetween the three of them. “Same goes for Valerie, son, if you let her know.”Archie nodded too with the same level of vigor, wanting to please his dad.

A wave of relief spread insidethe small bedroom as every tension was resolved before Fred Andrews spokeagain.

“Okay, now, Archie and I havealready had this conversation but since you two are starting to get intimate Iguess a repetition will not harm anyone. First and foremost; protection.” BothJughead’s and Betty’s jaws fell to the floor and their cheeks turned scarletred in a mere matter of seconds, the two teens drowning in embarrassment onceagain, as Archie groaned in complain dropping back on the bed, his headcolliding with the wall with a loud thud.

“We’re not doing that.” Jughead tried to save them boththe humiliation, his whole face scrunching up in a grimace that showcasedperfectly his uneasiness.

“Well, considering how wefound you today and the” Fred gulped a tad uneasily too “bra that is currently lying between us on the floor” Betty whinedat that, opening her mouth to say an excuse but in the end she just offered agrimace to the older man before hiding her face on Jughead’s shoulder, herboyfriend shifting uneasily too and averting his eyes to the window with a gulp“I’m guessing you are going to sooner or later.”

“Can I go?” Archie’s strainedvoice and tortured groan echoed from under a pillow that he had used to shieldhimself from the conversation.

“I don’t think listening tohow you can protect yourself and your significant other is going to bother youso much.” Fred replied to his son’s childish behavior.

“Mr. Andrews, we—” Betty foundher voice again and tried to secure hers and Jughead’s privacy but Fred cut heroff.

“You are teenagers and youfeel strange talking about such stuff with us grown-ups, I know.” He told hertruthfully. “But it’s all part of life, there’s nothing to feel ashamed about,and, again, we as parents need to give you advice. Now I get it that you, Betty,will feel more comfortable talking about sex with your mom or another femalefor that matter” the two teens in question were shifting uneasily and stealingglances of each other “but you, Jug, if you need anything to ask or you’rewondering about technics or, you know, practical stuff…” Jughead’s face was amask of horror and humiliation, the boy wishing for the ground to shallow himwhole at that very moment because, seriously, he was in a room with his bestfriend and his dream girlfriend and Fred Andrews was talking about dicks andhow to use them. His life couldn’t get more surreal than that.

“Dude, can you get your dad todraw a line?” he leaned forward to spat at his friend that was still coveredwith the pillow, desperately wishing to disappear too.

“Seriously dad, can you not?” Archieunburied his face, red from the pressure of the pillow and his blood pressure,huffing at his oblivious father. “Betty is in this room too, you know.” He backedup his friend, dreading even the thought of the roles being reversed and himbeing at Jughead’s shoes in front of Valerie or any girl he was interested in.The raven haired boy groaned a ‘thank you’ at Archie’s rarely correct input.

Fred seized the situation fora minute, looking at the two boys unsure, but hopefully he decided to drop it. “Fine.”He huffed and there was a synchronized relieved huff from the three teens infront of him too. “We can discuss this alone.” He turned to Jughead to warn himthat his torture was going to be prolonged, the boy just shaking his headaccepting his faith, at least grateful that Betty wasn’t going to be there towitness this sex talk of shame.

“Alright, enough with that, I’mgonna go get dinner ready.” Archie’s dad announced as he pushed himself off thedesk.

“And I think I’m going to headhome.” Betty stood up cautiously, awkward hand movements accompanying her wordsas she tried not to get caught in any crossfire again. She quickly snatched herundergarment from the floor in shame, closing it securely against her chest andstealing a last glance from Jughead, the two silently agreeing to call eachother later and vent about this whole situation they walked right in, beforeshe walked to the door.  

“Oh and Betty” her messy golden locks swayed violently as she turned in lightning speed at the mention of her name,halting her steps just as she was about to walk out “now that Jughead livesacross you too, can you please not flash him your underwear through the window?I would very much appreciate that too.” The older man said in a stoicexpression as Betty’s face lost its color, the girl shifting her weightuncomfortably from one leg to the other and Jughead dropped his head to thefloor once again with a huffing ‘oh man’ of despair. Seriously why Fred Andrewshad to be so observant and awake atnights?

The girl winced in remorse,opening her mouth to say something but only broken whines of uneasiness cameout. She finally settled for a forced and hesitant ‘ok’, cheeks rosy and all,before she practically run away, knowing that she would never be able to lookFred Andrews in the eye again.

He followed her lead with apromise to the boys to fix them their favorite meal, pizza, and the two friendsstayed in silence for a couple of minutes before Archie burst into loudlaughter.

“What?” Jughead frowned athim, still clearly irritated by the interruption of him and Betty and the hellthat followed after that.

“Nothing, everything.” Archieexclaimed through his chuckles. “It’s just hilarious having a brother.” He toldhim truthfully, the redhead boy feeling the happiest now that Jughead wasliving with them.

Jughead felt his heart swellat that; he always considered Archie something like a brother too and aftereverything that had gone down between them, he really did think that theirrelationship was in ruins, something that he terribly regretted. Hearing Archielabeling him as part of his family was moving, to say the least.

“Well brother, thanks for telling on me and making me an impotent writerby turning my laptop into a worthless piece of computer parts.” He fakedbitterness but the smirk that was dancing on his chapped lips indicated thatall was good between them and his sardonic self was back.

“You told on me too, remember?”Archie threw back in the same manor. “I guess we both screwed each other up andnow there’s no fun for either of us.” He shrugged feeling bummed at the wholesituation because the two of them had a plan and a secret bro arrangement as towho was sneaking in or out and when but after today this was going to have tochange.

Jughead sighed disappointedtoo, stealing a glance from Betty’s window across them and seeing it dimly litbut with the blinds shut, knowing that his girlfriend would be neck deep in embarrassmentat this point, meaning that he would not get his goodnight kiss through thewindow like always.

“Lucky for you, I am a goodperson.” Archie’s voice made him focus his attention back on his friend, seeingthe redhead reach his backpack and retrieve something from inside, beforeoffering it to Jughead with a sideways smile.

“No!” the boy exclaimed indelight at the sight of the charger of his laptop. “Archie Andrews, I take backwhichever mean thing I ever said to you! You are a legend!” he laughed happily,fidgeting with the black cable, still not believing it.

“Well, you could help mechange the lock in your room plus clean all the construction glue mess, becausedefinitely the old man is going to make me do it.” The redhead pleaded with ahopeful smile.

“Oh, he should.” Jughead stoodup to stroll lazily to the door. “You made the mess, I’m out of it.” He offeredhim a cocky smile.

“You’re awful.” Archienarrowed his eyes at him with a disbelieving scoff.

“Plan your pranks better.” Theraven haired boy said in an annoying sing-sung voice while exiting the room.

“Hide your girlfriend’s brasbetter.” The ginger used the same tone to aggravate him.

“I’M GONNA GET YOU HARD FORTHIS ONE, ANDREWS.” Jughead shouted from somewhere down the hall maliciously,before picking up his ringing phone and locking himself in the bathroom once hegreeted Betty with a silly smile.

“Oh, it’s so on!” Archie murmuredto himself with a laugh, taking hold of his guitar to practice some new tunes,happy that he had such awesome friends in his life.

#bughead #bughead fanfiction #bughead fic #bughead prompts #betty cooper #jughead jones #riverdale #riverdale ships #otp:sundaes & plaids #Anonymous #mywriting

[ellymackay]

How Does Reading Before Bed Affect My Sleep?

How Does Reading Before Bed Affect My Sleep? See more on: https://www.ellymackay.com/

I’m frequently asked about reading before bed and it’s a very interesting topic. Before I talk about that though, I wanted to say thank you.

I’m grateful to everyone who has taken my three question sleep survey about the content you’d like to see in these newsletters. If you haven’t had a chance yet, do me a favor and take it here and help me create the content you’d like to read.

Speaking of reading.

I am always excited to talk about the importance of an effective nighttime ritual and how it helps to prepare the body for sleep. This ritual can be composed of any number of small tasks like brushing your teeth, taking a bath or meditating. If you don’t have a ritual, my Power Down Hour makes a great guide. Just divide the last hour before bedtime into three 20-minute sections. The first 20-minute section should be spent taking care of any business than cannot wait until morning. The second should focus on hygiene: brush your teeth, wash your face, maybe a hot bath. During the final section, you should concentrate on something relaxing. Reading a book is a good choice. Reading, in itself, does not make you sleepy, but it distracts from the troubles of the day, making sleep easier.

I enjoy a book at bedtime and generally recommend that people read fiction at night rather than nonfiction. With fiction you are not being introspective or using a lot of brainpower, so it can be more relaxing. With nonfiction, the experience can feel more reflective and alerting. Here are a couple of other good rules for choosing a bedtime story. 

An exciting book might be memorable and fun, but a boring book will help you get to sleep faster. 

Avoid reading anything emotionally unsettling. 

Reading before bedtime may do more than help you get a good night’s sleep, too. According to a survey of 1,000 people by SleepJunkie, bedtime bookworms earned more money, made healthier choices and had a better outlook on life. Almost 50% of the survey participants cracked open a book before snoozing at least once a week and read for an average of 43 minutes. They said that reading books at night helped them to relax, increased their focus and improved their sleep. This might be why the book readers slept an hour and a half more per week than non-readers did. 

Readers also:  

Raked in the big bucks, making $3,705 more annually than their bookless counterparts. 

They were more likely to eat healthy foods and engage in healthy recreational activities.

Were more likely to see a doctor or a dentist on a regular basis. 

Seventy-nine percent of readers reported that they got the most out of themselves. Only 59% of non-readers made the same claim. 

Seventy percent of readers boasted they lived life to the fullest compared to 58% of non-readers. 

This survey paints readers in a very positive light, but I want to talk about another type of light that nighttime readers often find themselves under. That’s blue light. According to the very same survey, 72% of the survey respondents used technology in bed, and 61% said that technology caused them to stay up too late. Even the people who took the survey said that their technology was hurting their sleep quality. Seventy-four percent said that they were using too much tech in bed, and I agree with that 74% percent. 

Our phones, tablets and laptops emit blue light. This is not inherently a problem during the day because the sun also emits blue light, and it can even beneficial at the correct time. However, when someone is exposed to blue light at night it can suppress the production of the sleep hormone melatonin and alter circadian rhythms, leading to possible long-term health problems. People exposed to blue light at night tend to have more sleep interruptions and decreased sleep quality. 

I understand the convenience of reading a book on a phone or an e-reader. The dog is less likely to chew up your book, and electronic books are easier to transport when moving. However, paper books don’t emit blue light, so switching to old-fashioned books is a simple solution. If you want to stay high-tech, you can get a pair of blue light blocking glasses which allows you to read from your electronic devices in bed without suffering the negatives of nighttime blue light exposure. I developed high quality Sleep Doctor Glasses based on the most current research, which block blue light and fit conveniently on any nightstand or bedside table or in any travel bag. 

Personally, I read a lot of nonfiction during the day. Some of the recent books that I’ve read are Bad Blood, about the Theranos scandal, HYPE by Dr. Nina Shapiro and Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi. Before bed though, I enjoy good murder mysteries and spy novels. My current favorite is the Vince Flynn series.  

I hope that whatever you’re reading brings you success, happiness and a good night’s sleep. 

Sweet Dreams, Dr. Michael Breus

P.S. One of the things that surprised me most about the three question survey is that 50% of those who’ve responded said that they’d be buying a new pillow in the next 12 months. I’m excited to hear that because most people don’t replace their pillows often enough. A new pillow is the number one recommendation I have when people ask me what they can do to get a better night of sleep. Until I put together another article on pillows, I’d strongly suggest checking out Everpillow, it’s the pillow I sleep on and I love it because you can adjust the amount of fill (you can also buy additional or new fill which can extend the life of the pillow significantly)  and they even have a pillow called the Curve specifically designed for side sleepers.

The post How Does Reading Before Bed Affect My Sleep? appeared first on Your Guide to Better Sleep.

from Your Guide to Better Sleep https://thesleepdoctor.com/2019/09/15/how-does-reading-before-bed-affect-my-sleep/

from Elly Mackay - Feed https://www.ellymackay.com/2019/09/15/how-does-reading-before-bed-affect-my-sleep/

[flyrtreynolds]

Passion of The Weiss: “You Have to Make a Lot of Wack Shit to Make Good Shit”... An Interview with Channel Tres

His song “Controller” made me want to write about him immediately. Once again posting the full pre-edit version.

Before we speak, I spot Channel Tres in the groove.

Adorned in a vintage “Showtime”-era Lakers T-shirt and track pants, the 26 year old is skewing and swerving on the heels of his sneakers to “Got Me Coming Back Right Now,” the fizzling cut by house legend Moodymann. He appears to be alone in his bedroom, painted the archetypal Southern California egg shell, biting his lower lip in tunnel vision, an imaginary enclosure of clapping club goers forming around him.  

“Just warming up my legs,” he says when I tell him over the phone that I saw the performance broadcasted on his Instagram a few minutes prior. “Thank god for Moodymann -- that motherfucker changed my life.”

Tres, born Sheldon Young, points to the discovery of the Detroit DJ’s catalogue as a pivotal moment in his artistic trajectory, helping him evolve from pop songwriter to songleader, behind-the-scenes beatmaker to dance-floor commander. Moody’s influence is showcased proudly on “Controller,” a bass-throbbing, four-on-the-floor callback to classic Midwest dance music -- and Young’s first single on L.A. imprint Godmode Music. “Your body is a game, fuck the lames, fuck the fame, I am the controller,” he deadpans cooly before a sharp cymbal crash announces a palpitating low end, one that immediately inspires two-steps decorated with snaps and scrunched mugs.

Raised in Lynwood, Calif., right around the corner from the Compton Swap Meet, Young isn’t a native of the birth region of house music, but the genre runs deep in his genes. He discovered this only recently when his uncle, who he had little interaction with growing up, attended a DJ set at the University of Wisconsin and eagerly divulged to him that their “whole damn family is out here.” This floored Young, who always believed his now-deceased father’s side was from Kansas, a full day’s drive from the underground house shows that pulsated the Windy City in the late 1970s and early ’80s. “I didn’t know, and I had to prepare for [my next] DJ set so I was like, ‘Fuck it, I’m going to go through the history of the full thing.’”

Returning to L.A. galvanized by a deep dive into the genre, he locked himself in his room, a tiny upstairs space rented from an elderly artist in Silver Lake, and set out to create something wildly different than his past productions. Whereas his songwriting for ardent vocalists like Kehlani and Shamir was meditative and circuitous, here he went direct and authoritative, purring out catchy refrains into his laptop’s low-quality mic. And while his beats for frequent collaborator South Central rapper DUCKWRTH were mid-tempo bops, his new work upped the BPMs, aiming to inspire more movement of the lower body (i.e. the booty) than trap’s prototypical elbow flexing. “I was falling asleep, man. Everything was just emotional and slow....I wanted to pick shit up.”

The Silver Lake sessions materialized into an email blast containing a fully formed demo, packaged neatly with Photoshop’d artwork, which landed in the inbox of Godmode co-founder and former Capitol Records A&R Talya Elitzer. Upon hearing it, she quickly put Young in the studio with her partner Nick Sylvester, the executive producer of the label’s only release thus far, Yaeji’s ep2. Young calls Sylvester a “fucking genius” and happens to be on the way to meet him at the studio as we talk.

Today they’ll be working on a track called “Jet Black,” an ode to the superhero alter-ego Young invented on the crumbly plains of Oklahoma, where he went to college for music. In the lead up to class projects, he’d sport the same pitch-dark clothing — Jet Black’s inconspicuous uniform — nearly everyday as a means of preserving his brainpower solely for the grind, a form of zealotism that icons like Steve Jobs and Albert Einstein supposedly practiced. Young has a habit of looking to geniuses for guidance: As a teen he left behind the palm trees of SoCal for the scrub of the Sooner State after hearing a freshly signed Kendrick Lamar sermonize in an interview that one needs to escape their environment in order to grow.

The plan was always to come back, though. The Lynwood/Compton area is the star at the center of Young’s solar system, the place where he was raised by his great grandma, played drums in the church choir and once had a pistol pulled on him. Its mangy greenways, vibrant strip mall signage and skateparks make up the video for “Controller,” which also features Young’s childhood friends, each drumming little easter eggs of color on his chest. These are the people and places that shaped him, and he hopes his newly formed solo career will give him the chance to “actually do something” in return (namely, he wants to create a non-profit for local kids who have an interest in the arts).

This may sound like lofty rhetoric, dreams conjured by an artist following their first nibble of fame, but Young comes off earnest in his ambitions, namely for the fact that he seems to be in a perpetual metamorphosis, unafraid to reinvent himself through his music and selfhood. As he puts it: “I been through a lot of shit growing up so I just wanna be fucking happy. But I also want to be challenged in life.”

Leading up to this interview, I had a lot of trouble finding your previously released solo work. Why’d you wipe it clean?

Yeah, yeah [laughs]. It’s a restart; I had to reset. I wanted to present myself the right way. The last music was bedroom, high-ass music. It was good music, but I feel like right now I’m hitting my stride and really making records -- records that could really fucking change lives and do shit. I gave up a lot of my past and just let it all go. You have to make a lot of wack shit to make good shit.

Were you surprised when the email blast containing your demo got a response?

Hell yeah. Fuck yeah. Shit, I was about to be an EDM DJ. I was on my way there [laughs]. That’s just the people I was fucking with at the time. They was just around that, and they were interested, but I just couldn’t spend all my time on EDM drops and shit like that. Cause the way I make music is so free -- that’s why house music sticks out to me so much.

What about the tempo of house grabbed you?

I was falling asleep, man. I was smoking weed, falling asleep in the studio [laughs]. I was just half-assing shit, going to the studio and drinking, not working. I still love making pop music, but it was just the pace was so slow. I just wanted to pick that shit up. Everything was just emotional and slow. I’m a gemini, an air sign, so I love just feeling the wave and going. When I started listening to house, that shit just woke me the fuck up.

Do you feel like black artists have been forgotten as the originators of the genre?

Yeah, I feel like it’s amissed. I love trap music, but we’re half-timed out right now. The funk came from James Brown, four-on-the-floor. George Clinton. I feel like with the time, how everything changes, and with the kids, it’s just different. Everyone’s slowed down and half-timed out. I feel like we need to pick up the pace again and get it back.

I feel like it’s looked over, but that’s a whole conversation, bro. Cause you have the media not giving certain people shine. Like when disco was out, people were against disco like a motherfucker. I seen some shit where they burn records on the baseball field. I could ramble my ass off on this. But I guess we are overlooked in the genres.

I’ve heard you say you’re from both Compton and Lynwood.

Both, I stayed on Euclid and Long Beach Boulevard, that’s right around the corner from the Compton Swap Meet. If I walk to Long Beach Boulevard, I’m in Compton. But if I walk to the other corner of the street, I’m in Lynwood. All my high school stuff with the district...they said I was Lynwood. But my mom stayed in the projects not too far from my grandma. I was raised by my great grandma, then my other grandma she actually had a house in West Compton. So it was both. I like to say Lynwood because nobody really shouts out Lynwood or anything; it’s just a small city. Nobody really talks about it. They just say Compton. So I just wanted to give some love to the area because that’s where I went to school. I played drums in the choir.

What was life like growing up there?

Shit was like...I guess it’s a regular ghetto, like every other. I don’t want to sound typical, [but] I had the typical shit happen to me. Growing up I had a gun pulled out on me; I had drive-bys on my block. But me and my friends started dancing and skateboarding, you know what I’m saying? Then N.E.R.D. came out when I was like in 9th grade, so there was a group of us that just fucked with all that shit. We were all from the hood and shit, but we just made our own crew and clicked up. A lot of the time was spent going to church and then hanging out with the homies, dancing.

I saw that your childhood friends were the ones drumming on your chest in the video for “Controller.” If that was me, I’m pretty sure I would have fucked that up somehow.

One of the homies who was doing it, he’s fucking terrible at rhythm. I just told him it’s just, “One two, one two.”

Why’d you choose to go to school in Oklahoma of all places?

I wanted to stay, but I was around so many cool people that it was kind of hard to find my identity. Everybody was just like at a professional level already. I had the passion for it but didn’t have the skill level. I felt like I had to get away. Kendrick was talking about getting out the environment; he had to start going on tour and going around the world and blowing up. In his interviews he would talk about getting out of his environment and coming back a better person.

It feels good now because I came back now and can actually do something for my friends and the community. Not like I’m famous or nothing, but shit I’m doing something.

How do you see that “something” materializing in the next few years?

I made sure I didn’t travel to certain places because I wanted to experience them through music. I wanna be able to go somewhere and be in like Tokyo and have a show because if you experience everything through music it feels a lot better.

In three to four years, I’ll be better. I told myself three or four years ago that I’d be better, and I made those goals. So I just hope to have the resources to have my non-profit started. And also records, man...I hope that I’m making the magical records that I see myself making.

https://www.passionweiss.com/2018/05/13/channel-tres-interview/

#channel tres #house music #moodymann #god mode #Passion of the Weiss

[holankia]

Disclaimer : Just to let you all know that this will be an on going update where I will continue to update this review as I continue to use the phone.  So if you need me to test out any features or whatsoever feel free to do so in the comment, and I’ll get it tested out for you.

Introduction

For the last couple of weeks, my friend Joshua and I were researching on the possible types of phone we would get that can replace our current phone.  During that time I was using the Redmi 4X phone and had no complaints or whatsoever about it.  Was a good phone actually, but then I needed something that comes with a better camera instead.  The P10 Plus came into consideration, considering the P20 just came out so the price definitely dropped.  And unfortunately we missed out on the 11street sale the other day.  Never the less, I told Josh that the next phone I get must at least have a decent camera as I need to take pictures of the products I intend to sell online. Long story short, we’ve decided to get Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 China variant, which 12MP camera uses f/1.9, 1.4 μm instead of the f/2.2, 1.25 μm.

Comes with a free case, Redmi Note 5, USB Cable and 5V=2.0A charger

So Malaysia just officially released this phone on the 24th of April, which also uses f/1.9, 1.4 μm.  Currently they are offering 3GB & 4GB ram version.  So Josh said we should go for future proof and get the 6GB version instead.  So we went ahead as plan and got the China imported set instead.  Knowing that it will use, China ROM that comes with tons of bloatware both of us got it from Shopee.  Josh got his 3 days after the purchase, where as for me I got it 6 days later and that was with the help of Josh who went and self collected it on my behalf.  So here it is, with all it’s majestic glory I’ve finally received the Redmi Note 5.  And out of the box it comes with the free case, the phone, USB cable and 2 pin 5V=2.0A charger.

Specifications

The Snapdragon 636 did not fail me one bit, and considering how things runs better especially Mobile Legend and PUBG on this phone is way better as compared to my Redmi 4X previously.  Multitasking on this variant is smoother with the help of the 6GB of RAM.  Definitely this mid range phone really does wonders, and I really have no complaints with this.  Well minus the fact it was running using China ROM, there were a few bloatware I couldn’t uninstall.

Camera

Meet Josh my partner in crime

Now this is probably the main reason why I decided to get this phone in the very first place.  After numerous times being brainwashed by the Josh whom you can see here, and the price was irresistible.  So this was probably the first picture I took when I had this phone.  And it certainly did meet my expectation.  I’ll post a couple more pictures but it’s being compressed.  Never the less, you can be the judge on how this camera actually work.  And so far, after taking a few shots with this my products started selling almost instantly.  Wish I had this phone earlier, so would had taken better pictures during my Dad’s 70th birthday.  Never the less, all is good.

I can’t really much say about low light though, probably it will turn out better if I had a tripod and maybe see how things goes from there.  And as for the video, the EIS on this device really made a lot of difference when taking a video using handheld.  Can’t say much on the audio, but on the range of 1-10 I would probably give it a 7.  At least for now I think I’ll be able to take better and clearer videos whenever my kids are having performance.  Unfortunately they don’t support 4K recording, but it can be easily rectified by installing Open Camera.  So overall, I’m pretty happy with this phone and most likely I’ll stick to this for at least 3-4 years provided it doesn’t die out on me which pretty much would be a shame.  Never the less, if you’re planning to get a phone and not willingly forking out over RM1000 I would recommend to at least get the 4GB of Ram variant instead of the 3GB.  Please take note that I had to resize the following pictures, so quality may drop a little.

Without HDR

With HDR

HDR

With HDR

Without HDR

Portrait Mode

Portrait Mode

Portrait Mode

Portrait Mode

With HDR

Without HDR

Conclusion

Clear as it can get in this low light setting

A friend of mine told me last time, so long as you can see what’s inside the picture when taking a photo is good enough already.  We don’t need to spend so much, in getting super high quality cause once you’ve upload it onto social media you will end up losing all the qualities anyway.  Because of that I sold of my Samsung S7 Edge and got the Redmi 4X back then.  But boy was I wrong, I do miss out on taking good pictures of kids.  For places that has sufficient lights, it was fine.  But for places that had low light, I missed out a lot on those special moments.

Having said that, my brother once said “It’s only a phone, it’s not going to end wars or cure cancer”.  And it got me thinking, on how much one should actually spend on a phone.  So if a phone cost more than an i5 laptop, I think it would be over priced already.  But the problem with budget and mid range phones, you hardly can find any good alternatives.  But I seriously got to thank Xiaomi for keeping it real, considering how affordable they made their phones.

For the price I paid about less than 1/3 of the price of Huawei P20 Pro.  I’m actually getting good quality pictures that doesn’t lags when taking pictures.  And everything works just perfectly as it should, with the bigger screen it’s indeed a bonus.  Having said that, the Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 that has similar specs does sell cheaper as compared to Redmi Note 5 but its more of a gaming phone instead of photography. So if you’re someone who’s like me that are only interested in taking good photographs, I would highly recommend this phone to all of you.  But I do believe maybe in future updates, the Redmi Note 5 should be able to better optimize their apps so that games will run better. Not that I can tell much since PUBG and Mobile Legend still run perfectly fine for me.

Anyhow, if you’ve gotten a China ROM version and would like to flash to the global ROM do continue reading below and I’ve been using the “leaked” ROM for a few days already and it’s been fantastic!

Flashing to Global Rom Oreo 8.1

Josh told me someone managed to flash their China Variant phone to the latest Global Oreo ROM, as the current firmware on Xiaomi’s website is running on 7.1 that had problems with the camera.  But unfortunately, the original poster got taken down but that didn’t stopped us from trying to obtain the leaked ROM.  With the thanks of Google Cache we were able to download the ROM and successfully flash the global ROM onto our China Variant devices.  So Google works right out of the box, and everything works just the way it is.  From what I understand from Josh was that, network download speed seems to improved a lot.  I didn’t do the test before I flashed to the new rom so I wouldn’t know.

If you would like to try and flash this ROM, here are the steps.  And please take note that I will not be held responsible in the event if your phone get bricked or no longer work.  So if you’re not too sure what you’re doing I suggest you get someone else who knows to help you out.  Please do a full backup of your phone as this will wipe entirely everything from your phone.   I’ll break this into few parts :-

  Files Required

XiaoMiTools – https://xiaomitool.com/

TWRP Image File – https://androidfilehost.com/?fid=673956719939832671

ADB & Fastboot Installer – https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2588979

Redmi Note 5 Oreo Global Rom – http://bigota.d.miui.com/V9.5.6.0.OEIMIFA/miui_HMNote5HMNote5ProGlobal_V9.5.6.0.OEIMIFA_3b50aa3537_8.1.zip

Unlock Your Phone Boot loader

By default, your phone boot loader is locked.  Because we are required to flash an unapproved firmware by Xiaomi, we need to unlock it by sending a request here http://en.miui.com/unlock/.  You need to sign into your Mi Account (I suggest using your phone number), and once you are in it would ask you why you need to unlock your boot loader.  Just let them know you want to flash to a global rom which requires it to be unlocked.  Now for me it took about 20 minutes for them to approved, where as Josh got his unlock in less than 5 minutes.  Probably the main reason is that they were working that time, hence didn’t need to wait as long as other stated.  So once you received the text message stated your account has been given permission to unlock the boot loader.  Follow the instruction from the website, and your phone will be unlocked after that.

Downgrade to Nougat

To do this I had to use XiaoMiTool, which pretty much is automated.  But before you run this program, you need to make sure that you enabled USB Debugging under the developer option.  To access developer option you need to go into Settings –> About Phone –> Tap MIUI version 7 times to enable Developer Options –> Press Back one time –> Additional settings (Under System & Device) –> Developer Options  –> Enable USB debugging.

Once you enable USB Debugging, connect your phone to your PC and run the XiaoMiTool.  Please take note that it will prompt you to trust the device on your phone, just tap OK.  The software will then prompt you to select your device, so select your Redmi Note 5.  Here it will do some standard checking to see if your boot loader is unlocked and etc.  So don’t worry when your phone reboots a few times, as it’s perfectly fine. Because the phone got restarted, you may need to approve the access on your phone once again before proceeding to flash your phone.

Select Global Rom

Once it prompts you to select the ROM you want to install, choose the first one Global ROM Version 9.2.7.0 NEIMIEK. Then click on Select and you should be downloading the firmware and it will prompt you once again that it will flash your phone. Now in the event once Xiaomi officially release the Global ROM version 9.5.6.0 OEIMIFA, select that ROM instead and you don’t have to proceed anymore.

After you completed flashing your phone. Do a quick setup on your phone, so that you can get into the main home screen.  Don’t have to connect to wifi or set up your MI account for now.  Once you’re in, just copy the Oreo ROM onto the phone internal storage.  Once you’ve done that, it’s time to flash your phone.

Flashing Oreo Global ROM

Go into fastboot mode by doing the following.   1. Power off your phone 2. Press and hold Volume Down & Power Button. 3. It will then power up and boot into Fastboot mode. (A logo of the Xiaomi’s mascot operating on an android)

Boot into TWRP by doing the following 1. Open Command Prompt 2. Connect your phone to the PC 3. Go to the location of the TWRP image you downloaded. 4. Type in this command fastboot boot twrp-3.2.1-2-whyred.img 5. Your phone should restart and it will bring you into TWRP

TWRP Mode 1. Select Swipe to Allow modifications > Wipe > Advanced Wipe. 2. Select Dalvik/ART, Cache, Data, System, Vendor then Swipe to Wipe. 3. Go back and flash miui_HMNote5HMNote5ProGlobal_V9.5.6.0.OEIMIFA_3b50aa3537_8.1.zip 4. After flashing Wipe Cache and Reboot. DONE.

Once your phone restart, you can now set up accordingly.  Congratulations on Running Oreo 8.1 global rom version.

  Review : Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 The Camera Beast Disclaimer : Just to let you all know that this will be an on going update where I will continue to update this review as I continue to use the phone. 

#Note 5 #Note 5 Pro #Redmi #Xiaomi

[rollinbrigittenv8]

What’s Inside A Full-Time Traveler’s Suitcase

Wandering Earl

It turns out that a full-time traveler doesn’t really need much stuff.

One pair of ripped socks. Boxer shorts with a tear in the back (oh my, these are old). A yellow t-shirt with all kinds of Vietnamese soup stains on the front. Two small tin boxes I bought for no reason at an antique shop in India earlier this year. And a blue belt that I hadn’t seen in about 14 months.

That’s a quick glimpse of some of the stuff I just found when I gutted my suitcase this morning in preparation for this post.

In fact, I think it’s the first time I’ve taken absolutely everything out in about two years.

Did I say suitcase? Yes I did.

After spending my first 16 years or so as a full-time traveler using my trusty Kelty Redwing 44 liter backpack, I’ve now spent a good portion of the past 2 years traveling around with my Eagle Creek Load Warrior 42 liter rolling suitcase.

Have I gone mad? Perhaps.

All I know is that this little sturdy suitcase, which is indeed smaller than my Kelty backpack, helps me keep things more organized, it’s super easy to pull along wherever I go and it’s still compact enough to take as a carry-on. And as I get older, that all seems slightly more appealing than carrying my stuff on my back.

I still love my backpack but for the travel I do now, a 42-liter rolling suitcase suits my needs.

What I Pack as a Full-Time Traveler

After 18 years of travel, one might think that my possessions have gone through a series of transformations based on my travel style or needs. Well, apart from some more advanced technology that I carry today, things really aren’t too different now than from 1999 or 2003 and so on.

I’m not sure if I should be happy, embarrassed or sad about that.

Anyway, here is the complete list…

The Main Bag

3 pairs of shorts (one gray, one blue, one orange as I spend significant amounts of time in hot weather)

1 swimsuit (if there’s a beach nearby, I’m going…I actually had 2 swimsuits but some coconut oil leaked through my daypack last month and caused the red material of the bag to stain the swimsuit, so that one had to go)

2 pairs of jeans (1 blue, 1 black…I’ve tried wearing actual pants but always prefer my jeans in the end)

9 t-shirts (might sound like more than I need, but this full-time traveler spills a lot of soup on his t-shirts so I always need backups)

1 button down short sleeve shirt (I love this shirt but only really wear it when I need to look a tad more dressed up, which isn’t too often actually)

1 button down long sleeve shirt (I’ve been carrying this one around for the past 1.5 years and haven’t worn it once)

1 sweater (a recent purchase from when I was in Sweden last month and it was quite cold outside…haven’t used it since)

1 navy zipper hoodie (I wear this ALL the time…in fact, I probably should wash it soon)

Travel towel (I don’t know…about twice per year I find myself dripping with water and without a proper towel around…that’s when this thin travel towel comes to the rescue)

7 pairs of socks (you can’t wear flip-flops in European cities during the summer, you’ve got to put on some socks and shoes!)

8 underwear (yup, I do wear underwear and only one has a hole in it, I think)

1 pair of sandals (after spending many years only wearing Crocs Modi Flips or Hurley Phantom Free flip-flops, I recently purchased a pair of Sole sandals…oops, big mistake and when I get back to the US in a couple of weeks, I’ll be going back to one of my favorites)

1 pair of New Balance shoes (I’m a New Balance person – they’re comfortable, durable and they have an “N” for “nomad” on the side)

Sarong (the one thing I know I’ve carried with me from day 1 as a full-time traveler…it plays so many roles – sheet, beach blanket, bag, sweat rag, clothing, etc)

Amazon basics laundry bag (super sturdy, rolls up into nothing and well, pretty much does what you’d expect)

Shoe brush (with only 1 pair of shoes, they can get dirty, so from time to time I give them a scrub down…unfortunately, it doesn’t help remove the car oil stains that I somehow got on my shoes)

Bar of soap (some guesthouses/hotels/hostels/apartments don’t provide soap and I’ve realized this way too many times after getting under the water in the shower…so, I carry my own just in case)

Ohuhu toiletry bag (the best one I’ve found by far…fits everything, remains compact and is super easy to clean…why I need to carry around 3 things of deodorant is a different story)

Philips electric toothbrush (last year I made the switch to an electric toothbrush and naturally, it was a great decision… here’s a tip for travelers though…I went with Philips because it can be charged anywhere overseas…the ones from Braun require a voltage converter)

Contact lenses and contact lens solution (kind of a necessity)

Bag of money (not as exciting as that sounds…just a pile of currency from countries I think I might visit again soon…or just a pile of money that is getting dirtier and smellier as time goes on)

Small medicine pack (ibuprofen, Claritin, paracetamol…actually, I can’t find this thing right now so I might have lost it)

2 tiny tin boxes (no idea what I’m going to do with these things, probably just carry them around for a few years)

The Small Bag

In terms of a small bag, a couple of years ago I made the switch to a Timbuk2 messenger bag. For me, it’s more comfortable and holds everything I need in a more organized manner. And it’s red, which apparently nobody wants, because it was on sale for about 50% off the regular price.

Here’s what’s inside:

MacBook Pro laptop (can’t travel/work without it, and after 5 years, it’s still going strong)

Kindle (lately I haven’t been reading as much as I wish but do you have any book recommendations?)

Samsung Galaxy S7 (it’s my phone and my camera these days)

Credit card holders (I don’t use a wallet…I stuff money and the cards I need each day into my pocket…what I don’t need, I keep in these two things…no idea why I don’t use a different system…any good travel wallet recommendations?)

Pouch for SIM cards (when I saw this felt pouch in a tiny store in Karakol, Kyrgyzstan a few years ago, I thought to myself, “That would be a perfect SIM card holder”…well, not quite like that but I liked the pouch and that’s what it has become)

Symphonized NRG 3.0 earbuds (My Symphonized earbuds are one of my best ever gear purchases…for $25, the sound quality is simply awesome and as a bonus, I actually just used them last night as ear plugs due to the barking dogs and naying horses outside the window – don’t ask)

Business cards (Ah yes…I’ve been carrying around a couple of hundred business cards since 2012 and have probably handed out a grand total of 9)

ButterFox electronic gear case (it all fits inside – chargers, wireless mouse, small HDMI cable, plug adapters, laptop screen cleaner and these colorful little rubber twisty tie things that I thought would be useful but which I’ve never used)

And finally, I also carry around…

Passport (completely worn out, partly torn and with three extra sets of pages inside, two of which are sewn in and one which is taped in…talk about suspicious)

Yellow Fever certificate (only needed to use this once but good to have)

Sunglasses (for the first 35 years of my life, I never wore sunglasses but the last 5 years, I’ve worn them almost every day)

Pen (high-quality little pen I bought at a random pen shop in Singapore about 4 years ago)

USB stick (no idea what’s on this thing)

That’s everything!

Total weight:

Suitcase – 11 kg / 24 lbs Daypack – 5 kg / 13 lbs

And while all of the above might sound like a significant amount of stuff, here’s what it all looks like when nicely packed up:

Final Notes on Packing Carry on or checked luggage?

My current setup, whether with the backpack or suitcase, can always be taken as a carry-on. I usually take it as a carry-on if I am flying direct. If I have a layover somewhere, I check my backpack or suitcase simply because I don’t like to lug it around the airport. But I’ve never had any issues with size or weight when taking it as a carry-on, including on many budget airlines in Europe, Asia and Africa.

The good and the bad of packing light

Pros: My life fits into one small bag. It’s pretty simple, everything I need as a full-time traveler is right there and I can pack up and go in minutes if I’m being chased by local authorities …um, or I just suddenly decide to head to a new destination. There is also a sense of freedom involved with having such few possessions and having that ability to move around the globe so easily without having to think of what to do with excess stuff.

Cons: On the other hand, sometimes I wouldn’t mind some extra stuff. Another shirt or another pair of shoes, for example. I don’t need them but when you’re on the road for this long, some added variety wouldn’t hurt. Also, whenever I see something that I’d like to purchase, something that would look great in my home, I have to remind myself that I’m a full-time traveler that lives out of my suitcase and that there is no room in there for cool Moroccan lamps or a hand-woven Pakistani carpet.

Packing cubes

A friend and I have been going back and forth recently about the benefits of packing cubes. He sees a ton of benefits. I see zero benefits. I know they’re a popular thing but when a bag is all packed up with packing cubes, to me it just looks like my suitcase when it is all packed up, except that there are these cubes that now need to be opened in order for me to reach my stuff. Why have that extra step?

Is the above really all I own?

Pretty much, yes. I do have one box in a closet at my mom’s place that is filled with some extra clothes and a few gifts I’ve purchased for myself while traveling but I haven’t looked at it in a long time. It’s probably full of bugs. Apart from that, all of my possessions are literally in my suitcase and messenger bag.

So, the question is, could you live out of a suitcase? How do you pack, or think you’d pack, for your travels?

[bestnewsmag-blog]

New Post has been published on Bestnewsmag

New Post has been published on https://bestnewsmag.com/how-dating-apps-have-prevented-me-from-actually-dating/

How Dating Apps Have Prevented Me From Actually Dating

Despite the fact that courting apps are most famous amongst Millennials, consistent with a current SeatGeek survey of one,000 singles, 95 percentage could rather meet human beings IRL versus on-line or on an app.

It is why for the second year in a row, Bustle is deeming April, “App-much less April” and inspiring our team of workers and readers to delete their relationship apps for 30 days and meet people the a82ee8a4ee179e54beacaecce0423cb2 manner: offline. With members monitoring their development and hints and recommendations from relationship professionals, we’re going to be assisting you to sense empowered to meet people IRL all month lengthy.

“I can’t inform if you’re just the type of character who has a very good time playing out with everybody otherwise you truly like me.”

That become a textual content message I were given from a Dan* from Tinder after dates. He became smart, cute, funny and exciting, but it changed into best two dates, and I felt like I rarely knew him. Also, I used to be going on dates with different people on the time and that I wanted to continue seeing them, so I by no means went out with Dan again.

“You don’t seem very enthusiastic about *Ben.”

That’s what one of my pleasant friends stated to me about Ben from Hinge, who I had long past on approximately six dates with. The issue is, even after that many dates, I felt like I infrequently knew him.

“What are you looking for?” That’s what *Mike from The League asked me on our first date as we sat on a bench in Relevant Park this October. I didn’t have a solution for him — or for myself.

I began App-much less April, a challenge to delete your relationship apps, last 12 months with the purpose of meeting humans offline, something I had completely forgotten a way to do after years of swiping. Yet, for the second yr in a row, as I look lower back on how I spent the ultimate 30 days, assembly a person IRL *wasn’t* my recognition at some stage in my detox. It is something I’ve honestly gotten better at because of closing yr, however, nevertheless, I used this app much less time to reflect on my dating app behaviors over the previous few years, like a spring cleansing of my relationship existence. On apps, I used to be distant. Distracted. Full of courting FOMO. I wasn’t humanizing people. I wasn’t inclined. I failed to want to be susceptible.

but all for the duration of my time on dating apps, I hardly ever idea about why I was on them and what I desired from them. Perhaps meeting people IRL Additionally wasn’t a focus for me due to the fact I used to be courting a person for the duration of last year’s App-much less April and then this April, I continued placing out with a person I met earlier within the year. I do not think It’s an accident that during each App-less Aprils, I persisted seeing people longer than I’ve for the past 4 years. Without apps there to distract me, I may want to in reality date. “That’s how it’s miles with relationship apps — it’s created this impersonal element that’s purported to be private at the same time,” Dr. Emily Morse, a sex and dating professional and the host of sex With Emily, tells Bustle. “This way of speaking creates a ‘faux’ intimacy because we’re exchanging all of this statistics, But we don’t have any concept what this individual is actually about.” Newly unmarried and feeling like I have to likely ~mingle~, I downloaded Espresso Meets Bagel four years ago. Then Tinder. Then Hinge. Then Happy. Then The League. You already know the relaxation. After about a 12 months on apps, they speed went from being a supplement to my dating lifestyles to becoming my relationship existence. however all in the course of my time on apps, I hardly ever notion approximately why I used to be on them and what I simply wanted from them.

back after I joined them, I wasn’t searching out a courting, or even during the instances I concept That’s what I was seeking out, I Also by no means felt fully geared up —or felt like it could manifest on there. I used them while I used to be enthusiastic about being single, jaded, devastated after an encounter with an ex, and so forth. courting apps were high-quality tools for me in terms of meeting new humans and going on dates, however, I in no way genuinely felt like it is able to cause anything greater — and that’s probably because I was so wrapped up in the use of them to take everybody significantly. I’ve long gone on likely near seventy-five dates from courting apps in the last few years, but I have not in reality been the relationship.

whilst a very good first date did lead to extra dates, I might eventually count on that I just didn’t need a courting at that point or the timing becomes off. Maybe I’m just no longer emotionally to be had right now. Maybe I am just taking part in being single. Maybe I’m no longer equipped for a dedication. It turned into still amusing to fulfill humans, so I stayed on apps, went on first, 2d, and 0.33 dates, and endured to “date” Without transferring beyond the interview-like questions and honestly studying everybody. It felt formulaic, and I used to be so distracted via the countless alternatives that I never felt glad about the choices I made.

I’m not blaming the apps themselves because they’ve been a hit in phrases of what I used to be the usage of them for. I’m blaming how I — and in all likelihood, many other relationship apps addicted Millennials — have been the usage of them to keep away from dating.

Without courting apps distracting me, it made me realize that I am yearning connection, however, I have been so scared of it. “It’s now not necessarily their fault, however, relationship apps give the illusion that there may be a countless supply of capability mate alternatives, so why settle for one person when you could keep swiping (and quite simply avoid making an investment time and actual emotions in a single individual) while there may be just some other character a swipe away,” Camille Virginia, offline courting professional, tells Bustle. “However the fact is there may be a finite variety of human beings, not certainly one of them is ideal, and in some unspecified time in the future simply you decide and attempting to get invested in one character is what you need to do — otherwise, prepare to journey the relationship app rollercoaster indefinitely.” This App-much less April, I didn’t certainly miss being on my dating apps. Certain, I used to be curious about what forms of messages I was getting and who changed into contacting me to begin with, but in the direction of I pretty plenty forgot that desire overload, right swipes, and witty one-line bios was once a part of my daily recurring by using the stop of the month. I think the toughest part of being off them turned into figuring out how I was using them so mindlessly.

Being off apps and having a danger to take inventory of my dating life has made me understand that I’m craving connection but I’ve been so fearful of it. now not being distracted by way of my apps makes me need to do the 36 Questions That lead to Love and communicate about the five Love Languages on the first few dates — both of which I have achieved lately. Being app-less, present, and centered makes me want thus far. I experience like in terms of my relationship life, I just woke up.

I went into this yr’s App-much less April thinking it would result in some other wake-up call about how tons I love being single regardless of the stress I sense being on dating apps sometimes. And while of direction It is always a welcome lesson in my e-book, I Additionally found out that after four years on relationship apps, I am prepared to begin courting.

History of Computers – When Floppy Disks Actually Flopped

With the advent of early computers as far as the 80’s and beginning of 90’s, floppy disks were popular to store data. Everyone who handled computers also had access to these floppy disks. But technology advances all the time and it was time for floppy disks to flop. What did people prefer instead? Read on to find out.

Floppy disks could only store KB’s of data. But peoples’ demand for storing data was catapulting higher and higher. And CDROM disks were born. They could store several megabytes of data.

Now CD’s are also getting obsolete. It is the era of GB’s of data in flash drives and terabytes of data in portable hard disks.

So how did floppy disks which were once in great demand and popular become outdated? One reason I mentioned earlier is their much less storage capacity. The other reason is people no more found them enticing. CD’s, flash drives and portable hard disks seemed more promising and sophisticated.

I myself don’t like using CDs anymore. I only download whatever I need from the vast resource of an internet and if I have any data to store, I use flash drives.

So the trend was floppy disks, CDROM disks, flash drives and portable hard disks and yes in that order. What’s next? What have the great Tech guys out there have in mind? I am curious, really curious.

Surely, something more attractive and user-friendly with three-in-one facilities will turn up. For example, they can be connected to digital camera, laptops or computer and cell phones with the same size and design. Now that would be interesting. One gadget being able to do all three would be great. I am in anticipation of that day.

Summing up, this article’s focus was not actually on the history of computers but that of the accessories that can be connected to them. I hope Actually How to Prevented value in what I portrayed here.

[yes-dal456]

10 Habits That Will Dramatically Improve Your Life

In Hans Christian Andersen’s fable The Red Shoes, a young girl longs for a pair of pretty red shoes. She ultimately tricks the blind woman who cares for her into buying her a pair. Her love for the red shoes causes her to give them priority over the more important things in her life, and, as often happens in fables, karma is not on her side. The shoes become firmly stuck to her feet and force her to dance non-stop, to the point where she almost dies from exhaustion and starvation.

We can scoff at the little girl’s foolishness, but, in real life, we often do the same thing—we chase after the things that we think will make us happy and don’t realize that we’re heading down a dangerous path.

One study found that the people who experience the greatest job satisfaction aren’t the ones in the big, fancy offices; they’re the ones who approach their work as a calling, even when that work involves menial labor.

Another study found that simply seeing fast-food logos makes people impatient. It’s not that there’s some intrinsic characteristic of fast food that makes people impatient; it’s the habits we’ve come to associate with fast food, such as always being on the run, eating on the go, and never slowing down enough to enjoy a healthy meal, that bring out our impatience.

We have to be very careful in choosing our pursuits, because our habits make us. Cultivating the habits that follow will send you in the right direction. They’ll help you to lead a more meaningful and fulfilling life, whereby you cultivate the best within yourself.

1. Stay away from people who erode your quality of life. If merely seeing a logo for a fast-food company can make you feel impatient, just think how much more impact a toxic person can have on your life. They might be unhappy about your decision to stay away from them, and they might tell you very loudly just how unhappy they are, but isn’t avoiding them worth the cumulative effects of years of their negative influence? There are always going to be toxic people who have a way of getting under your skin and staying there. Each time you find yourself thinking about a coworker or person who makes your blood boil, practice being grateful for someone else in your life instead. There are plenty of people out there who deserve your attention, and the last thing you want to do is think about the people who don’t matter.

2. No more phone, tablet, or computer in bed. This is a big one, which most people don’t even realize harms their sleep and productivity. Short-wavelength blue light plays an important role in determining your mood, energy level, and sleep quality. In the morning, sunlight contains high concentrations of this blue light. When your eyes are exposed to it directly, it halts production of the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin and makes you feel alert. In the afternoon, the sun’s rays lose their blue light, which allows your body to produce melatonin and this starts making you sleepy. By the evening, your brain doesn’t expect any blue light exposure and is very sensitive to it. Most of our favorite evening devices—laptops, tablets, and mobile phones—emit short-wavelength blue light brightly and right in your face. This exposure impairs melatonin production and interferes with your ability to fall asleep, as well as with the quality of your sleep once you do nod off. As we’ve all experienced, poor nights’ sleep has disastrous effects. The best thing you can do is to avoid these devices after dinner (television is OK for most people, as long as they sit far enough away from the set). 

3. Appreciate the here and now. Gratitude is fundamental to peace and happiness—not wealth, glamour, adventure, or fast cars, but simple appreciation for what you have. Just because you can’t afford champagne and caviar doesn’t mean that you never enjoy a meal. Hot dogs and beer on the back deck with your friends taste just as good. So, don’t fool yourself into thinking that you need something that you don’t currently have in order to be happy, because the truth is that if you can’t appreciate what you have now, you won’t be able to appreciate the “good life” if you ever get it.

4. Realize that things aren’t always as you perceive them to be. This goes along with appreciating the here and now. That person you envy because they seem to have the perfect life might be dealing with all kinds of problems behind closed doors. That “perfection” could be a total mirage. Your employer’s decision to move the office might seem like a huge hassle when you first hear about it, but it could end up being one of the best things that ever happens to you. You’re not omniscient and you’re not a fortune-teller, so be open to the possibility that life might have some surprises in store, because what you see is not always what you get.

5. Get started, even though you might fail. Most writers spend countless hours brainstorming their characters and plots, and they even write page after page that they know they’ll never include in the books. They do this because they know that ideas need time to develop. We tend to freeze up when it’s time to get started because we know that our ideas aren’t perfect and that what we produce might not be any good. But how can you ever produce something great if you don’t get started and give your ideas time to evolve? Author Jodi Picoult summarized the importance of avoiding perfectionism perfectly: “You can edit a bad page, but you can’t edit a blank page.”

6. Get organized. People joke about new ideas being in short supply, but I think that the one resource that’s really scarce is spare time. Do you know anybody who has some? Yet we waste so much of it by not being organized. We touch things two or three times before we do something with them (like tossing the mail down on the counter then moving it to the table so we can cook dinner) and once we’ve put them away, we spend even more time looking for them. Have a place for all of those little things you need to take care of when you get a minute, whether it’s your child’s permission slip for a field trip or an overdue bill, and then get to them in a timely manner; otherwise you’ll be searching through a huge stack of stuff for the one thing you need.

7. Start a collection of the things that truly resonate with you. Have you ever come across a quote or a meme that so perfectly summed up your feelings that you wanted to keep it forever? You know that it’s in one of those coats you wore five winters ago, and you really hope it’s not the one you gave to Goodwill. When you come across something that resonates with you—whether it’s something that expresses who you are or who you want to be—have a central place to keep those gems. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a spiral notebook, a leather binder, or a folder on Evernote, have a place to collect the things that matter so that you can revisit them regularly.

8. Do something that reminds you who you are. We all joke about having “me” time, but what is that, really? It’s making time for those activities that we feel most authentically ourselves doing, when all the masks are off and we can just be. Whether it’s going for a run or dancing around with your 80s favorites blaring at top volume, make time for those moments. They’re incredibly rejuvenating.

9. Say no. Research conducted at the University of California in Berkeley shows that the more difficulty that you have saying no, the more likely you are to experience stress, burnout, and even depression, all of which erode self-control. Saying no is indeed a major self-control challenge for many people. “No” is a powerful word that you should not be afraid to wield. When it’s time to say no, emotionally intelligent people avoid phrases like “I don’t think I can” or “I’m not certain.” Saying no to a new commitment honors your existing commitments and gives you the opportunity to successfully fulfill them. Just remind yourself that saying no is an act of self-control now that will increase your future self-control by preventing the negative effects of over commitment. 

10. Stick to realistic goals. How many people start January by proclaiming, “I’m going to lose 30 pounds by March!”? Big, scary, crazy goals can be incredibly inspiring—until you fall short, and then, instead of inspiration, you’re left with disappointment and guilt. I’m certainly not suggesting that you stop setting goals that push and challenge you, just that you try to stick within the bounds of reality.

Bringing It All Together

Your character is determined by your attitude and how you spend your time, and so is happiness. Stop chasing the things that you think will make you happy, and start realizing that your peace and happiness are entirely up to you.

Ever tried any of these habits? Please share your thoughts in the comments section, as I learn just as much from you as you do from me.

If you’d like to learn more on this topic, consider my book Emotional Intelligence 2.0.

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