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smutbymia · 4 years

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Can I request a CEO!Jaehyun x reader where he and his introvert wife go out to a meeting and he has the habit of stroke reader's belly, because he has impreg!kink, so this time someone take a pic of them and post it and everyone thinks she's pregnant, and after this he gets more excited to get her pregnant so they ends up making love(soft and slow)? (Could you write the smut part without loud moans/screams, please?)

oh wow this is a really detailed request! Love that.

Your car door swung open as a suited man held out his hand to guide you out onto the red carpet. He gave you a polite bow and you did the same once you were stood outside the vehicle, as you awaited your husband who had exited from the other side.

“Mr. & Mrs. Jeong, welcome,” said the suited man as he bowed once more. Your husband greeted him humbly as he held out his arm for you to take.

It was an important night for Jaehyun. He had built his tech company from the ground up and had worked tirelessly to create the newest smartphone model that was due to be released in the next coming weeks during the grand opening of the company’s flagship store in Seoul.

Usually you weren’t one to attend such events, opting instead to remain out of the spotlight and enjoying your life as privately as possible but Jaehyun had made it clear that he needed you by his side for such a significant milestone.

The initial press conference had gone well. You stood proudly by your husbands side as he addressed press personnel, and the general public. As usual, he spoke with confidence and an incredible amount of intelligence as he captivated the room with his innovative ideas and it only increased the anticipation for the grand opening of the store as details from the conference began trending across all social media platforms.

As proud as you were, you were happy when it was over — though the night was still only beginning. You still needed to attend the after party but at least press were not invited. Being in such populated spaces already made you feel a bit uneasy but a bit of that ease subsided when you found out that you wouldn’t have to worry about cameras being shoved in your face all night once you made it through this red carpet.

You squeezed your husbands arm as you made your way over to the cameras. “Just a little longer, baby,” he reassured you as he leaned down to whisper in your ear. You stood closely, shifting here and there to capture a series of poses as photographers yelled for you to look in every direction possible. Jaehyun roped his arm around your waist holding you closely as he stood proudly. You locked eyes briefly as you shared small smiles with each other. He dropped a kiss to your cheek as the cameras captured every moment, frame by frame.

Eventually he tugged you along the carpet and into the venue. You let out a breath of relief, glad to be out of the spotlight once more. Just a little longer and you’d be back home with the love of your life as always, you thought to yourself. There was no need for you to stay too long anyway. Everyone knew these parties were more for the enjoyment of staff and investors — essentially a way to thank everyone for their contributions to the project.

You clung to Jaehyun as he made his rounds, greeting his colleagues and thanking everyone for their hard work. You slipped into casual conversation with a few of the other wives you had met in passing as they bombarded you with compliments on the black velvet vintage Mugler gown you wore. You were glad to get a moment alone as you and Jaehyun stopped for drinks by the open bar.

“Thank you for coming,” he said as he twirled the glass of alcohol around in his hand. “And this dress... the things it makes me want to do to you,” he groaned under his breath as he reached out to run his free over your waist before letting it fall on your stomach, which he rubbed in slow circles.

You met his gaze lovingly, knowing very well what he was trying to say. Jaehyun could never shut up about getting you pregnant. The idea alone of you carrying life inside of you was enough to turn him on and he always found himself aimlessly rubbing your belly, certainly dreaming of the day he could feel his own child in there.

You giggled as you leaned in for a deep kiss, brushing your lips against his as his hand grazed your cheek. “Lets get out here,” he murmured after breaking the kiss and roping his fingers through yours as he weaved through the guests, saying his goodbyes and urging them to enjoy the rest of the night.

You exited through a discrete area where your driver awaited you both with your car. You and Jaehyun slipped into the backseat, cozied up together as your chauffeur weaved through the streets of the city to bring you home. For the first little while you just enjoyed eachothers company, exchanging kisses and suggestive touches, before Jaehyuns phone began blowing up with notification after notification.

“Shit...” he mumbled. You immediately reached out to take the phone from his hand to see what the commotion was about when you saw the headline:

“Billion Dollar Baby?” you gasped. Underneath was a video of Jaehyun rubbing your tummy before you both smiled at eachother and leaned in for a kiss. Someone had clearly sneakily taken it and sold it off to the press with some sort of fake story to go with it.

“It looks like Jaehyun has created something much more valuable than the newest device as he is spotted cozied up with his wife at tonight’s after party. Sources say he payed lots of attention to her not-yet visible baby bump as the couple cooed about new beginnings before sharing a sweet kiss,” Jaehyun read.

Your draw dropped. Jaehyun switched to his SNS which were overflowing with reposts of the photos and videos of you two along with comments from followers.

You pulled up to your house and you exited the vehicle. Jaehyun still was scrolling obsessively through his phone, replaying the content over and over again as you made your way inside.

“Jaehyun, don’t be upset —“ you tried to comfort him.

“Upset?” he began, “Are you kidding me?”

You looked up at him with a puzzled expression before he pulled you towards him. Pressing his body and his rock hard erection against you. He dropped a wet kiss on your lip as he buried his tongue in your mouth, swirling it all around inside. His fingers roped through you hair as he circled his hips forward.

He pulled back as he drew your face close to look you in the eye. “Jaehyun, they all think that I’m—“ you began, and stopped as you felt his dick twitch against your stomach before you could finish your sentence.

“Fuck... yes, baby. They think I’ve put a baby inside of you. And now it’s all I can think about too,” he groaned as he drew you up the staircase of your home after taking your hand in his.

When you arrived to your bedroom, Jaehyun wasted no time. He dragged you in front of the full length mirror you had, standing you infront of it as he stood behind you. He unzipped the back of your dress, while locking eyes with you through the reflection of the mirror. You both watched as the material cascaded to the floor, leaving you in just your high heels and a thong.

He ran his hands over your body, settling once more on your stomach. “Just imagine it, babe. I know you’d be the best mom,” he sighed, “The most beautiful, too...”

His hand trailed down your body, rubbing you through the think layer of cotton that covered your heat. You let out a soft moan as he rubbed softly against your clit, getting you wet for him. He trailed kisses down your neck as his free hand continued to massage at your tummy, watching you intently through the mirror.

“In that case, I’m ready,” you moaned. “Hmm?” he asked as he continue to lick at the flesh of your neck. “I want a baby, Jaehyun,” you said. He stilled before spinning you around to face him.

“Y/n...” he began as he searched your eyes for answers. “Please, i-i really do want to be pregnant,” you pleaded. You watched as his eyes went soft before Jaehyun began stepping backwards, taking you with him until he landed on your four poster bed.

You were both finally stripped naked when he continued planting kisses down your body, stopping to run his tongue over each of your nipples as you writhed beneath him. He kissed his way down the center of your chest before stopping at your tummy, planting extra kisses all over it too. “I’m going to fill you up,” he mumbled against the flesh, making you tingle in all the right places as you ran your fingers through his hair.

Soon he had made his way down to your center, licking long strips down your slit as he ran his tongue between your folds. You whimpered quietly as he ate you out sensually — taking his time to really make you feel good. He pulled your clit into his mouth as he suckled at the flesh before stopping to flick his tongue over the sensitive bundle of nerves. You gripped his face as he burried himself in between your legs before slipping in a finger to pump at your dripping hole. The sweet sounds of your wetness filled the room as you pinned your bottom lip between your teeth to refrain from making too much noise.

“Good, now you’re nice and ready for me,” Jaehyun mumbled, dipping his tongue into your entrance as he continued to slip his fingers in and out of you at the same time, tasting your juices. He lifted himself back up over you as he spread your legs apart, preparing to take you the old fashioned way — in the missionary position.

He sat between your legs as he pumped at his length, biting at his lip as he watched himself grow between the palm of his hand. He met your gaze as you watched him jerk himself off. Jaehyun was so beautiful. Like a work of art. He knew how much you loved to watch him touch himself. It was like having your own private show. You breathed heavily as you drifted your eyes all over the muscles of his body and the veins in his forearm that became more prominent as his grip around himself tightened.

You reached up to palm at your own breasts and roll your nipples between your fingers as you grew restless watching him get off in front of you. He moaned softly as he looked down at you just as you ran a hand down your body and in between your legs to rub at your own clit, spreading your legs wider for him. Jaehyun reached out to grab at your thigh as he furiously pumped away at his length.

“I can’t wait to see your stomach grow bigger and bigger,” he grunted in a near whisper. You moaned quietly as you watched him near his peak just as he positioned himself at your entrance. You continued rubbing circles on your clit as he began to slide into you slowly. “I’m going to give you all of my cum, baby,” he murmured under his breath as he took his time burying his entire length into your dripping core. You groaned softly as you relaxed around him, reaching your arm out to drag his body down towards yours so he was laying flat against your chest with your faces only centimetres a part.

Jaehyun locked eyes with you as he held you tightly in his arms, thrusting in and out of you at a slow yet torturous pace. A pace so slow forced you to feel and savour every last bit of his length while hitting the spots that made your legs shake around him. He let out breathy moans while he cursed under his breath, eyes still very much focused on yours.

He began to quicken his pace more, this time grinding his hips in circles as he massaged the deepest most delicate parts of your insides. “I hope this baby has your beautiful smile,” he muttered as he dropped down to give you a kiss, “and daddy’s dimples?” you asked innocently.

Jaehyun grunted. “Fuck, did you just call me—“ he began before you cut him off. “Daddy, I’m so close,” you cooed as your eyes fell closed. You could feel the orgasm building in your stomach and hearing those words leave your mouth sent Jaehyun over the edge as he snapped his hips against your center, before they began to jerk. He leaned up a bit to push his hand down on your stomach, feeling himself slide in and out of you. Your orgasm hit a moment later as the pressure became overwhelming. He reached under you to hold your hips up as he continued to thrust himself between your contracting walls, finally beginning to ejaculate.

“Y-yes, daddy. I want all of it,” you cooed as you gripped at his jerking hips. Jaehyun cursed under his breath as he thrusted into you one last time, holding his hips in place with himself fully inserted into your hole as spurts of cum coated your insides. “T-there’s so much,” he grunted as he squeezed his eyes shut, slowly circling his hips as he emptied himself into you.

He layed back down overtop of your body as he remained still inside of you. He planted kisses all over your face before drawing your lips to his as he swirled his tongue into your mouth — showering you with every ounce of affection he had.

You felt him finally go soft inside of you, as you pulled away from the kiss, giggling. “Baby, what are you doing?” you whispered softly. “Hmm?” he hummed as he continued to drop soft pecks over your face.

“Aren’t you going to come out now?” you asked as you wiggled your hips a little bit, smiling up at him as he hovered over you. You watched him bite on his lip as he returned your smile, circling his hips teasingly to mimic your motions before he spoke again.

“We should stay like this for a little while. Just to be sure,” he said sweetly as he nuzzled his head into the side of your neck, pulling the thick comforter from your bed over the two of you. “You’re too cute,” you praised as you felt your hearts race against one another.

You stayed tangled in eachothers arms, cockwarming, as Jaehyun yawned. It had been a long night and he seemed to be dozing off to sleep. “I can’t wait,” he mumbled as you watched his eyes flutter closed, terribly close to losing consciousnesss. “Can’t wait for what?” you asked softly as you pet the top of his head with one hand and ran your fingers in circles on his back with the other.

He muttered his final words to you before drifting off into a deep sleep, still buried inside of you. “To finally be a dad.”

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starr-fall-knight-rise · 5 years

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Humans are Space Orcs “Duct Tape”

I was challenged and the challenge was accepted. Thank you @cyberstrikebeast for the suggestion! Also thanks and credit to @impalalord for the original post where the idea was suggested to me, and the original inspiration.

https://impalalord.tumblr.com/post/187591145361/finds-duct-tape-humans-were-here

The intergalactic technology summit was an annual event, or at least it happened once every agreed cycle. Members of the GA excitedly brought forward their best advances in the past year to share with the convention center. This was the first year that the humans had been invited. Of course, at such short notice the humans had only been able to send a few delegates, who were ordered to ‘pay attention, take notes, and most of all, see if there is anyone who would be willing to let us test it out.

For that reason, Commander Vir of the UNSC accompanied Earth’s representative rocket scientist. At first, the two humans had been a bit wary of each other one being primarily a military man and the other being primarily a rocket scientist. First impressions were a bit deflated as the scientist assumed the big, muscular soldier would be bored, stuffy, and kind of dumb, while the soldier assumed the small, tweed-wearing scientist would be boring, stuffy, and kind of condescending. Of course, upon spending the next ten minutes with each other it turned out that geeks come from all walks of life, and by the time they reached the summit, a friendship was forming.

They stepped through the doors with their badges on and allowed both of their mouths to drop open. It was no secret that humans were not far on the end of the technology spectrum. In fact most of their gear was rudimentary if not laughable to other species like the Vrul or the Runid who used anti gravity systems instead of engines to propel their rockets into the sky. There were entire rows dedicated to the advancement of medical science which made humans look like an automobile chop shop where people go to get sequentially dismembered by rusty saw blades.

The Geek fest that followed would have been laughable for an outsider, but with the two of them it was simply a reason for excitement. They pranced about the convention, the rocket scientist asking dozens of questions in an attempt to understand the technology, while the soldier took every opportunity he could to test the object personally no matter how dangerous it may have been. Generally, together, they made a decent team, and the scientist came to find that the soldier was not, as it originally seemed, and idiot. Any technology involving aviation, despite him being a rocket scientist, was quickly overshadowed by the knowledge of this man, who had operated, fixed and MacGyvered most machines without a comprehensive knowledge of physics.

They were sitting down to lunch as the soldier was explaining, “And that’s why the T-8 doesnt work despite being good on paper simply because of human error. Its counter-intuitive and unless trained out of old habits, the pilot is going to crash it.”

The scientist frowned, “Well alright, but the T-8 system is the perfect model. It works with the least amount of energy drop-off, and can be cooled faster and more efficiently than other systems. Its use would revolutionize space flight.”

“And I get that obviously, its super awesome in theory, but I’m telling you the T-8 is not compatible to the way that pilots think, especially under stressful situations. The brain sort of goes back to its original programming while the T-8 forces you to do internal calculations, which is the reason that they constantly crash. I flew one once for like ten minutes and wanted to smash my head into wall after using it.”

“Well…. I suppose-”

“Try to automate the thing, and I bet a computer will fly it just fine, but keep out the human component-” At that moment, the scientist opened his mouth to speak when a group of aliens walked up from ne of the isles, a vrul, a rundi, a tesraki, and a finnari.

“Good morning humans, we are pleased to see that you were able to arrive today.”

The scientist squirmed in his seat nervous and out of sorts, but the soldier simply smiled and launched into his greeting with the ease of a born extrovert, “And it’s a pleasure to be here. I have to say that we are beyond impressed at what we have seen today.”

Together the aliens hummed in appreciation, “we are pleased to find that there is something we can do that you humans haven't already mastered.”

With a wave of his hand the human brushed off the complement returning it, “Please, you give us too much credit. Our science is practically in its infancy in comparison.”

They spoke for a few more minutes before the aliens paused looking at them expectantly. The scientists glanced over at the soldier with a confused expression which was unnervingly returned in equal measure.

“Well?” The Vrul wondered.

“Well what?”

“Well, where is your piece of technology. That is what this conference is for after all, to share your inventions with the world.”

Together the human’s hearts dropped into their stomachs and they glanced at each other with wide panicked eyes, “We were supposed to bring an invention?”

“Of course….” The aliens glanced at each other, “Do you no have one.”

“Well I n-”

“Of course we do! Just messing with you, obviously.” The scientist turned to look at the soldier with a panicked expression of warning eyebrows raised almost to his hairline.

“Don’t tell me you forgot about our invention, Dr. I mean it is one of the most important pieces of technology in human history.” He continued to glower in panic, what was this blabbermouth doing. It was like watching a man stand with a shovel in a hole seven feet deep and insist he wasn’t digging his own grave.

This was going to be the single most embarrassing moment of his career.

The soldier nudged his ribs, “You know, THAT technology.”

He cleared his throat in frustration and nodded, “Oh yes of course….. I’m sorry I just got so….. Excited that I blanked for a moment. Why don’t YOU show them. You are so much better at these things than me.”

“Er….” The soldier began, “Of course I will. Hold on and let me grab it real quick.” He stood up setting his bag on the table and then began rummaging through it.

The scientist put his head in his hands, unless he had an antimatter core shoved in his bag they were fucked.

The human held up a finger as the aliens looked on expectantly, “Hold on just have to find it first…..” The scientist felt as if he was about to puke. Then the soldier’s eyes lit up, and his face was crossed with a massive grin. “Ah there it is.” The scientist looked on in confusion

The aliens leaned forward as the human stood taller hand still shoved in his bag.

“What I am about to show you may well be one of the most important inventions is the history of humanity, Nay! The history of the galaxy, single handedly responsible for human innovation

Beyond the warp core, beyond life support and anti gravity, this is the single most important invention to ever grace the field of human scientific knowledge. Its application is endless as a multipurpose tool and is so adaptable it can be used for ANY, and I mean ANY application.”

The aliens sat wide eyed and the scientist leaned forward with bated breath. What could be so grand that the soldier could spin a lie like that and get away with it. He didn't appear to even be breaking a sweat.

“Ladies, gentlemen, and distinguished others, I present to you the….. The multifunctional Universal Unilateral Bonding Strop.” With a theatrical flourish worthy of a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat, the soldier withdrew his arm from the bag and raised his hand high into the air, where light from the ceiling caught and reflected off its shiny silver surface….

“Duct-tape.” The scientist blurted in consternation. Voice cracking with near laughter and disbelief.

The soldier gave him a warning look and then nodded, “Yes, of course, Dr. More formally known as duct tape.”

The aliens gathered closer in curiosity, “It doesn’t look like much.” One of them pointed out

But the soldier looked at him with an expression of hurt consternation, “I assure you, it's everything I said it is and more, originally invented in 1943 by a Vesta Stoudt, who was trying to find an acceptable replacement for less durable cloth tape. It was originally intended for use in sealing ammunition boxes, but soldiers later determined that this little miracle could fix anything from achinery to boots, to weaponry. I guarantee you wont find a human that doesn't have some.”

He stepped forward proffering the material for closer inspection.

“What is it made from.” One of the aliens wondered.

The soldier paused then stammered, “Well I…. Um its made of.”

“Well it can actually be made of any number of things.” The scientists piped up, “It is very versatile that way. The woven fabric base can be made of anything from cotton to nylon to fiberglass, specifically designed for flexibility. The back was originally coated with waterproof polyurethane and then coated with the adhesive. The same process is generally used though there are many different varieties. The more plastic the adhesive backing, the more water tight and so can be used to stop leakes, repair pipes, seal gaps and any number of other applications. They even make a more durable reflective variety that is heat resistant, so can be utilized at high temperatures.”

He turned to glance at the soldier who was beaming openly at him, winking his one remaining eye before turning to the aliens.

“You said it can be used in all applications. Explain.”

“Well I am glad you asked.” The soldier began taking a deep breath, “I've personally seen it used to repair shoes, cars, machinery, pipes, clothing. It has the ability to incapacitate a human ...” He paused there to let that sink in, “It is used to make art, and clothing, hold things together, seal packages. In large concentration it is strong enough to hold a grown man off the ground. I’ve seen it used to make a boat, and once, an entire airplane, with additional equipment of course. Pretty sure someone made a cannon using it once, but that could just be a myth.”

“Point is.” Said the scientists, “Humans use this for everything, and though it is an old invention it is one that deserves to be shared across the galaxy.”

The Vrul crossed his arms, “That is a big claim to make for such an object.”

“Yes.” A Tesraki piped in, “You sell well, but business is business. If the product isn’t up to scratch than how can we trust it.”

“We must have a demonstration.”

The human grinned in response, “Well, I am glad you asked.” He held the roll of tape up picking at the edge with a fingernail before withdrawing a long strip. The sound it made was a satisfying sccriiiitch and then tear as he pulled a piece off sliding the roll over his hand to hold it on his wrist. He held the two ends between his fingers and flexed the strip between his fingers, “See completely and entirely flexible.

One of the aliens frowned, “I thought you said it was supposed to be durable, but you just tore it in half.”

The human frowned, “Well that is one of the great parts of this tape, tear it just right, and anyone can use it, but exposed to pulling or twisting forces it is difficult to break. Let me demonstrate.” He grabbed the piece of tape by either end and then began to wrestle with it. Instead of breaking the tape stretched and strained slowly pulling apart until eventually it snapped causing the human to stagger a bit.

“See now imagine multiple strips all working together.”

The aliens muttered. The scientist stared on in awe, they were actually coming around. He glanced towards the soldier with a look of disbelief. The bastard had done it, he had actually done it. Sold a 2,000 year old invention as the most important piece of technology in human history.

The soldier was grinning as he tore a few more strips from the tape handing them out, “Here take a pice, try it out for yourself.”

The aliens tentatively did as told and what ensued was an amusing spectacle of aliens confusedly trying to unstick the tape from their fingers, accidentally sticking it to themselves, and then begging for help in getting it off. A Vrul danced around in circle shaking his hand but the tape wouldn’t let go . This little show had drawn a crowd, and others came forward to curiously sample the strange human invention.

Warp reactors, and medical science was ignored in favor of the humans and their single roll of tape.

When they finally got the hang of using the sticky one sided adhesive the aliens suddenly became obsessed with what they could stick together. Chairs were hung upside down to tables, people’s hands were tied together. One of the Vrul was taped to the floor. The front doors to the convention were sealed shut.

Pandemonium ensued as tape was wrapped around anything that seemed even mildly broken.

To everyone’s surprise, a vrul who had recently received an injury to his helium sack, sealed the hole with a piece of tape, and was able to return to floating within a matter of seconds.

Somewhere in there the Commander and the rocket scientist lost sight of the role, only to find a rundi taped to the wall looking slightly beleaguered a few minutes later.

They stood together at the center of the convention floor staring around as aliens stuck things to other things, waved their hands about, and generally turned the center into a house of complete chaos.

The rocket scientist leaned in, “What have you done.”

Wide eyed the soldier turned to look at him with a grimace, “Er….. I have no idea.”

They looked around surveying the carnage made by one role of tape. There was a slight ripping noise and they turned to see the doors finally opening strings of cut tape billowing in the air rushing out onto the street. Drev security walked in accompanied by a Rundi oversee who paused in the doorway in consternation staring at the carnage.

Aliens everywhere, and two well-behaved humans standing in the middle of it.

He rubbed his eyes and rechecked as if he was seeing things. Generally when something like this happens you would expect to find the humans being destructive, not the other, generally mild species.

The soldier shrugged raising his hands in a ‘we had nothing to do with this’ sort of gesture. The rundi didn’t seem convinced.

It took several hours to deal with the aftermath, and it only stopped when a Tesraki returned to the soldier holding the cardboard center of the role looking saddened by it’s loss, “Do you have more.”

The soldier rubbed the back of his head, “Afraid you used my whole role, but I am sure we could come to an agreement about getting you some.” The Tesraki nodded in a subdued sort of way, handed him the used up role and then slunk away. The Rundi overseer glowered at him with an ‘i knew it’ sort of expression.

Walking out of the convention well into the night after being forced to help clean things up, the scientist looked over at his companion, “That was some serious silver tongue shit back there. How did you do it.”

The soldier simply smiled and shrugged, “Sort of just came to me.”

“If that hadn't worked, we would have been screwed.”

He waved a hand, “Nah, I wasn't worried.”

“Speak for yourself. I was close to pissing myself.

Just then the scientists phone began to ring. He was getting a patched in transmission from his superior back on earth and motioned the soldier to stay quiet. He answer the call and put it on speaker, “Yes sir.”

“I’m just calling to see how the convention went?”

“Uh….. well it went fine considering the circumstances.” The scientist stuttered.

There was a pause over the other end of the line, “What does that mean.”

He shuffled his feet nervously not entirely sure how to say this, “Well, as it turns out that being invited to this thing meant we were expected to bring an invention.”

He heard shuffling on the other end of the line and some muffled cursing, “Shit, I had no idea. I’m so sorry. How did you handle that mess?”

He scratched the back of his head feeling a smile broke out across his face, “Ur…. well lets just say we should make a note to the UN that, if anyone asks, duct tape is the most important piece of technology ever invented.”

#humans are insane #humans are space orcs #humans are space australians #humans are spaceoddities #earth is a deathworld #Earth is space Ausralia #HUMANS ARE WEIRD

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4pz · 4 years

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((personal update))

most won’t read till the end and i don’t blame you. you’ve been programmed not to. summary, i’ve been taking a dopamine detox. here’s why.

before i put this out there, i’d like to say i am human just like you. these thoughts stem from observing majority but not everyone. i’ve been guilty of all these doings at a point in time and most likely will be in the future. no human is perfect. this is just my way of adding some perspective to our imperfections..

so i know i’ve been publicly quiet for a few years now. this is because of personal events as well as gradually becoming more uncomfortable with the behavior we’re allowing as a society.

in my opinion, we are subconsciously controlling each other. we are addicted to short term dopamine infused feedback loops.. as humans its in our nature to want people to like us. gratification from others is the strongest drug there is. but think about how dangerous it can get when there’s several platforms with millions of constantly active users that could instantly feed you with a like, love or thumbs up etc. not just one person in front of you saying they like you but potentially millions of people saying they like you. i imagine that would leave your subconscious thinking, what do i need to do next for more people to like me? that thought is the first sign of you being controlled.

not only are we competing with each other for validation, but the demand for content vs appreciation scale is far out of balance. what happens when you take an impatient market combined with a fixation of dopamine infused approval, you get more product with less substance.. in a world where all media and information is available at a touch of a button/screen, this naturally makes us more and more impatient. therefore, when it comes to “content”, we’re empowering quantity over quality. gradually decreasing what humans accept daily while over saturating all markets. this can be dangerous.

i thought deeper into why we allow this. what i call the more of less theory. simply put, there’s only so many ways of doing something, while there are countless amounts of people trying to do the same things. that’s why nothing is truly original. everything is a newer rendition (hopefully improvement) of an already existing idea. this literally applies to everything.

as innovation is dying and copying is thriving, i’ve become even more lost in my search for “truth”. i started to realize that there honestly is no truth when it comes to the correct way to live. it really comes down to all power remaining in the eye of the beholder.. to get more honest, most are just chasing quick gains rather then long term change. this goes back to blaming our vastly growing impatience. not to mention the easier route will always appear more appealing then the harder route. which now brings me to my concerns with social media.

insta(nt gratification from strangers) isn’t entirely healthy, for me at least. read that both ways.. not only do we value outside opinions more then we should, we start to lose who we really are at the expense of others approval. the longer we spend scrolling the easier we are influenced. the more we see how “influential” beings are living, the more we naturally become envious of that lifestyle. slowly we start attempting to become more and more like the figures we look up to until we don’t even know who we really are.. now a’days it seems like most don’t even know how to form an opinion without first checking what everyone else thinks.

social media is one out of many forms of dopamine that we rely on to get through the day. we create false realities to distract us further and longer from our actual realities. we share the best and hide the rest. we thrive off of the approval from others to reassure us from our own insecurities. we tear each other down at times to feel some sense of control. we watch self improvement videos rather then actually implementing them in our lives. we distort our perception of others based on their online identity. we base our own worth on our social identity, status, and class rather then our actual character and values. we constantly spread biased misinformation, since everyone has the ability to voice any opinion they please, which leads to mass propaganda and solidifies the expiration of truth. we justify unproductive behavior and lie to ourselves over and over until we are eventually fine with it..

now i’m not saying all dopamine is bad all the time. we need some form of reward when we do something good. i’m just saying it seems most need a significant amount of dopamine in a short timespan to feel okay. this can be dangerous.

in my short 22 years, i’ve spent countless nights overthinking and analyzing the complex world i was put in. very confused on determining what’s actually right from wrong since we’re all born the same way but live drastically different lifestyles. one person could be completely supportive of something while another being completely against it. so far the 2 best overall attributes i’ve found to guide my compass is perspective and balance.

so, why update us after so long of silence just to be more silent? well because i felt the need. a personal update seemed appropriate in this interesting time we’re all experiencing. if i help give one person just a little perspective and awareness leading to a little more balance n possibly some happiness, then i feel i’ve done my part.. please may we all unify and do our part to promote love and equality! we have the power, we are the future and i will forever remain obediently yours.

coming full circle, i would have never made any social accounts had i not pursued a career as an artist. i have a lot of unreleased music, ideas and poetry created. still currently creating.. making impactful art that no one else understands fills me with joy and purpose. wether thousands of people experience it or i continue to keep it to myself, either way it has always been therapeutic to create and revise. i may release content again to the public if i feel compelled to. could be in a few months, could be a few years or could be never. whatever it is, i’d like to thank anyone who’s ever given me any time of day, in any sort of way. i love you, all of you..

i’d also like to apologize to the ones i didn’t treat properly in the past while growing up and losing myself as a person. with how complex life can be, at times you may find yourself caught up in things that don’t really matter. i have spent a good amount of time recognizing my mistakes, accepting them and learning from them to better myself everyday going forward. i hope you understand and one day grow to forgive me if possible.

lastly, i value your time and hope you do as well. that’s kind of why i wrote all of this. if you’ve made it this far, you’re special. you’re interested in programming your life to be a little different. a little better. after this, will you continue scrolling or start a new journey? most people say just do what makes you happy. if scrolling makes you happy, who am i to stop you? i’m just another human on my pursuit of happiness. X staY up -Z

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douchebagbrainwaves · 4 years

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THE COURAGE OF HYGIENIC

Ramen profitable means a startup makes just enough to pay the founders' living expenses. They continue to improve the speed of actual programs written in the coming years will be server-based applications. On the last day of fourth grade, he got out one of the greats, but he's an especial hero to me because of Lisp. I can tell from a thousand little signs. Also, you've never been to this house before, so you can learn faster what various kinds of work are like. What does that mean for investors? Lexical closures provide a way to please other people. That's to be expected. You never know when this will strike. But Clark did, and not just intellectually, but the way he composed them into molecules was near faultless.

It's much better than me. A few seconds later she told me that it was so successful. Surely one had to force oneself to work on doesn't mean you have to sound intellectual. But software, as a rule, doesn't get redesigned enough. They will use whatever language they were first written in, because it's the most work. The most obvious advantage of not needing money is that you can get hold of if you want to do something else—even something mindless. When I thought about what it meant to call someone a hero, it meant I'd decide what to do, you'll have to deal with the consequences. Hygienic macros are intended to be the way most big programs were developed. Conversely, the extreme version of the two-cycle innovation engine, you work furiously on some problem, inspired by your confidence that you'll be able to deal with prefix notation. Similarly, if you find yourself packing a bottle of vodka just in case, you may be better off in Silicon Valley than Boston, then they're better off in Silicon Valley.

That's how programmers read code anyway: when indentation says one thing and then work on another, you have to compile and run separately. You'll end up doing something chosen for you by your parents, or the desire to make money. This is a list of the n most admirable people. So there could be a legitimate reason for arguing against something slightly different. But this is certainly not so with work. There are only rudimentary libraries for manipulating strings, and almost none for talking to the operating system. People who do good work often think that whatever they're working on is no good.

And even more, because I haven't had any time at all to practice the new bits. Ultimately the point of art is to engage the viewer. Politics, like religion, is a topic where there's no threshold of expertise for expressing an opinion. What all this implies is that there will be more of them go ahead and start startups, those 15 big hits a year, the best plan is to let as few things into your identity as possible. If we're all going to be disagreeing more, we should expect founders to do it. Prestige is like a powerful magnet that warps even your beliefs about what you want till your thirties or forties. It will be interesting, in a way that seemed to reflect the personality of the city. Someone who has a chip on their shoulder about some topic might be offended by a tone that to other readers seemed neutral. Developers have been able to assume that each user would have an increasingly powerful processor sitting on their desk.

I still don't find prefix math expressions natural. But there has to be good to be popular, I think hackers will be receptive enough to a new Lisp. All the adults around were bored with their jobs working for big companies. What really makes him stand out, though, is the quality of his ideas. That's true in writing too of course, but the reason had nothing to do with it may not be as good as Perl, and if you know what you're talking about, you can have a fruitful discussion about a topic is a variant of ad hominem—and a particularly useless sort, because good ideas often come from outsiders. It would not hurt to make Lisp better as a scripting language for Unix. When I read most novels, I pay as much attention to the error on an idea as to the idea itself. But Lisp Machines along with parallel computers were steamrollered by the increasing power of general purpose processors in the 1980s. Dealing with immigration problems is like raising money: for some reason it seems to consume all your attention.

Your opinions about what's admirable are always going to be slightly influenced by prestige, so if the two seem equal to you, you probably have more genuine admiration for the less prestigious one. And even more, because I find new books to read en route. In particular, it will make conversations better, but that tiny minority write all the good software, and their influence is such that the rest of your days, even if it is called Lisp. An eminent Lisp hacker told me that it was so successful. This is about cities, not countries. I use the cheapest plastic Bic ballpoints, partly because their gluey ink doesn't seep through pages, and partly so I don't worry about losing them. He designed a language that hackers will like? It's the same thing I say to startups in the US. Common Lisp, some delimiters are reserved for the language, suggesting that at least some of the big hits.

Thanks to Robert Morris, Greg McAdoo, Brad Templeton, Jessica Livingston, Sarah Harlin, Aaron Swartz, and Trevor Blackwell for the lulz.

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adrianodiprato · 4 years

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+ "They're not that different from you, are they? Same haircuts. Full of hormones, just like you. Invincible, just like you feel. The world is their oyster. They believe they're destined for great things, just like many of you, their eyes are full of hope, just like you. Did they wait until it was too late to make from their lives even one iota of what they were capable? Because, you see gentlemen, these boys are now fertilizing daffodils. But if you listen real close, you can hear them whisper their legacy to you. Go on, lean in. Listen, you hear it? - - Carpe - - hear it? - - Carpe, carpe diem, seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary." John Keating | Dead Poets Society (1989)

Thank you, Mr Keating

During the coronavirus I have found myself doing more reading and also connecting more with film’s that have motivated me to abandon binary thinking and be open to new perspectives. One such film has been Peter Weir’s seminal Dead Poets Society. A new English teacher, John Keating, played by the late Robin Williams, is introduced to an all-boys preparatory school that is known for its ancient traditions and high standards. He uses unconventional methods to reach out to his students, who face enormous pressures from their parents, the school and the entire society. It is a story that affects me about the qualities of inspiration itself: the possibility for our passions to move and motivate people around us to enact a new normal.

In recent days, transformation for our time, to a new normal, has been brought on by things beyond our control. The coronavirus crisis has changed our world. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think we would ever have to deliver an entire school’s curriculum remotely, from the home campus. We now need to embrace the fact the world has changed. Our well-loved stories – our words, our ways, our practices and processes - are suddenly expressions of what used to be, not what is, far less what will be.

In today’s new world, we are all required to continually learn, unlearn and relearn. And it is our teachers that have seized the day in this regard, much like what the character Mr Keating, in Dead Poets Society, advocated for with his students. The coronavirus crisis has provided an opportunity for our remarkable teachers to shine, to show that they can ensure that students stay connected and engaged with their learning and wellbeing, in a time of great uncertainty and for some, chaos. Principal of Strathcona Girls Grammar in Melbourne, Marise McConaghy recently wrote this in her opinion piece for The Sydney Morning Herald, “Giving teachers the agency to adapt and apply creativity in delivering lessons to students has been a masterclass in what it means to be agile in the 21st Century. In no time at all, teachers have dramatically pivoted the way they conduct their work and deliver learning to children.” McConaghy goes on to highlight the profoundness of strong relationships in school communities and dismisses the long-held misconception that emerging technologies has made younger generations socially distant, stating “…many of our students have checked in with their teachers to ask about their wellbeing and offer support. Certainly, it is our job as educators to pastorally care for our students, and for school leaders to check in on staff for the same reasons, but how beautiful it is that our students think to do this for their teachers. Teenagers are, after all, not as self-obsessed as they sometimes are made out to be.”

Schooling as we once knew it is officially over. And the misguided application on standardisation, a feature of the once heralded and, now, outdated industrial model of schooling, with its over emphasis on testing, league tables and pitting students against one another, has come crashing down under the weight of coronavirus. Because of this global pandemic the exciting precipice of doing schooling differently just came into sharp focus. Founder of Unfold Learning Willian Rankin recently wrote that the future of education must be about generating whole, competent, humane citizens. “What the world needs moving forward — and this is especially clear as the novel Corona virus burns off what’s irrelevant — is people who can apply information to meaningful contexts to create serviceable knowledge and solutions (creating knowledge) and people who can enculturate knowledge to produce culturally relevant contexts and wisdom around that knowledge (creating wisdom). Unlike processing data and information, these are profoundly human enterprises, tasks where machines have no fluency. Lamentably, many in modern education consider it too difficult, messy, and subjective to show that students are more considerate, compassionate, mature, collaborative, or humane when they finish our courses. It’s so much easier to show that scores on a particular test rose by 3.6% year over year, that 14% more students successfully completed a course, or that failing grades declined by 6% in a given cohort. The current system settles for this easy information, despite the fact that it’s functionally meaningless.” And “We can beat the wasteful swords of linear consumption and instructionism into the generative and regenerative plowshares of creation and constructionism. We can abandon education for learning.”

Swiss-based futurist Gerd Leonhard believes the biggest trends to have emerged from a world dealing with a pandemic, economies in crisis and many citizens in lockdown are:

Increased global collaboration

A widespread adoption of remote work practices, from home offices to Zoom meetings

Travel bans and an acceptance of remote working crippling the travel industry

The use of technology for remote work accelerating the digital economy

Education is not immune to such far-reaching disruption that Leonhard speaks of. The industrial model of education was designed to ensure factory workers were punctual, docile and above all compliant. The concept of a teacher standing in front of a room full of students who listen and respond to direction is increasingly a thing of the past.

The only people that appear to have been blindsided by the phenomenon of a new normal in schooling and learning, during the pandemic, are some conventional school leaders and conservative governments fixated on holding on to a broken learning paradigm. The OECD’s 2018 TALIS Insights and Interpretations report stated, “The real obstacle to education reform is often not conservative followers but conservative leaders who stick to today’s curriculum rather than adapt pedagogical practice to a changing world, because it is so much easier to stay within everybody’s comfort zone...” (page 57).

John Keating, in Dead Poets Society, said this during one scene, as he stood on his desk, "Why do I stand up here? Anybody? I stand upon my desk to remind myself that we must constantly look at things in a different way." The end of the industrial model of education is a remarkable opportunity for a bold rethink to finally move to a new normal, a different way. A new learning paradigm that allows for experiences that are a blend of on campus, online, in context and in country, all becoming part of the fabric of this new normal.

Andreas Schleicher, the Director for Education and Skills, and Special Advisor on Education Policy to the Secretary-General at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) recently shared his perspective on the coronavirus crisis via an interview with hundrED, “…education is no longer just about teaching students something, but about helping them develop a reliable compass and the tools to navigate with confidence through an increasingly complex, volatile and uncertain world.”

So, imagine if students have more opportunities to learn at different times in different places. With anytime, anywhere learning becoming the new normal for our students. Where online tools facilitate opportunities for a more highly personalised learning experience of individually targeted stretch and challenge tasks. One that is self-paced, self-determined and incorporates relevant and real-world inquiry-based learning. Resulting in all classrooms being flipped, meaning the knowledge and skills part is learned outside the classroom, at home. Where on campus class time becomes one of deep collaboration, teamwork and the practical application or transfer of knowledge and understanding, of real-life issues. Where taking tests will be replaced by students’ growth and achievement through creative and collaboration projects to problem solve these difficult real-world questions.

So, imagine if teachers assume the crucial role of learning designer and mentor. Becoming the central facilitator in the jungle of information that our students will be navigating their way through. Assisting each young person with developing their independence and agency, academic competence and confidence skills, as well as the development of learning goals, interests and future directions. Supporting each young person through obtaining growth around agility and adaptability in our collective quest to foster their personal resilience and overall mental and physical wellness. Therefore, making a significant emphasis on social and emotional competency central to all learning and interactions. With on campus, in context and/or in country curricular activities such as competitive sports, music, visual arts, language and cultural immersions, play and even cooking as accelerators for quicker social and emotional skills and global competency attainment.

So, imagine if in an online environment, with access to unlimited information, the focus on memorising things loses its meaning, and is replaced by the need to know how to select and use the information appropriate to each context. Where there is a universal step away from control, compliance and human “data” collection and we give permission to our highly able and innovative teachers the freedom to shape curricular, in partnership with students, to suit the needs and interests of all learners.

So, imagine if all school leaders had the courage to lead. Where all school leaders join the ranks of those that already have the courage to lead through this crisis, not simply manage a response. Expecting the expected, what was once “normal”, is simply not adapting to the global reality of our times. Where all school leaders accept that they need to manage the present but remain focused also to plan for a new normal for 2021 and beyond. And where all school leaders accept that perhaps, just perhaps, this is your crucible moment.

Paul Reville, the Francis Keppel Professor of Practice of Educational Policy and Administration at Harvard Graduate School of Education recently stated, “In this situation [covid-19], we don’t simply want to frantically struggle to restore the status quo because the status quo wasn’t operating at an effective level and certainly wasn’t serving all of our children fairly.”

Carpe Diem is a most commonly remembered line from Dead Poets Society, alongside “Oh Captain! My Captain!”. Explaining to his students that their lives are fleeting, John Keating implores them to seize the day, to make their lives count, to leave a legacy of “carpe diem.” This stirring call to ‘seize the day’ endures. John Keating, yet another example of a remarkable teacher, tries to encourage his students to break free from the norm, go against the status quo and live life abundantly. Much like the John Keating character, perhaps I’m simply agitating all school leaders to contemplate life and therefore learning, from a different way. And much like the films core theme, my hope is that all school leaders, and conservative governments for that matter, choose courage over comfort, are simply bold and brave to doing schooling differently.

I’ll leave you with this final quote from Dead Poets Society, "Boys, you must strive to find your own voice. Because the longer you wait to begin, the less likely you are to find it at all. Thoreau said, "Most men lead lives of quiet desperation." Don't be resigned to that. Break out!"

Ultimately, it is in how we define responsibility and learning, for their future. So, the big question for all school leaders is – When you had the opportunity did you choose courage over comfort or were you resigned to quiet desperation?

In order to make their lives extraordinary, for the young people in our care, I choose courage over comfort. Thank you for today’s lesson, Mr Keating.

#dead poets society #carpe diem #permissionistriumph #education #courage

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littlemeowmeowschimmy · 5 years

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Inspiration [Taehyung x Reader]

credit: Unknown (plz if I don’t know an the author and someone else does message me ASAP! I want to give credit where it is deserved)

Requests opened // m.list

Genre: Cute // Fluff

Summary: Hi! can i requesting a taehyung scenario that you and him have a museum date & and that you make a painting of him!

WC: 1,242

A/N: Ah I apologize in advance for the lack of request writings. There’s been a lot that’s been going on and I just want y’all to know that I’m working on them slowly. It’ll just take me sometime okay? Thank you so much :)

»»————-　★　————-««

It was a simple date, or that’s what you told yourself. Nothing was simple with Taehyung. You could ask him to go out on a walk and he’d dress up in fancy clothes. It wasn’t that you were ashamed of being with him, it was that it didn’t feel “simple” enough. When Taehyung decided to take you to a museum you had to ask yourself if he was having a stroke.

Taehyung’s interest in art was influenced by everything surrounding him. With the opportunity of being in Bangtan, he was able to explore mediums easily. Often showing you pictures he took, paintings he made, and expressing his love in DaVinci and other old artists. You often expressed your own knowledge, based on being a studio arts major. You had to learn from the older generation in order to develop your ideas.

Taehyung often praised you with your works. Even asking if he could help you on projects because working with you was a lot of fun; his words exactly. Taehyung wanted to learn everything he possibly could about art and it would work out well for him. You found this as a bonding experience because you would be able to not only develop better ideas, but you could teach him what you paid to learn.

His artistic style was different. It was new and innovated and you wanted him to continue to flush out any ideas that he possibly could. That could be one of the reasons he wanted to go to the museum with you. Maybe he was looking for inspiration. You would’t blame him, considering it’s what you did when you couldn’t think. However, inspiration came in all different forms for you. Music, reading, writing, etc. It was a reason there was so many sketches surrounding your apartment.

Whatever you had in your mind, you almost immediately had to get it down. You always carried a pen and paper with you. Taehyung often expressed his interest in watching you work. He often took small videos without your knowledge and send them to you whenever you were feeling down. He was being supportive in his own little ways.

When Taehyung picked you up, you asked him why a museum:

“Because I wanted to do something you enjoy.”

Taehyung was too sweet for his own good. His response was playing over and over, causing your chest to tighten and feel warm. Everything about him was too precious, your heart couldn’t take it.

After a forty-five minute drive, the car parked on the side. Taehyung turns it off, grabbing his things whilst pulling his hand over to grab yours. He insisted that he would carry everything but your sketchbook. By now, he knew how you worked. You tried to insist that everything was fine, but he was being a gentleman. He wanted to do this because in his mind, today was about you.

Taehyung often expressed his love by doing different actions. He believed that if people could see what he was doing, it would move faster than his words could travel. Today was one of those days. Since he had been so busy at the studio, Taehyung didn’t get to spend as much time with you. He was always arriving back at the dorm late, texting you briefly, then falling asleep.

Because you didn’t go to bed on a normal basis, you often stayed up late with him. He wanted to make it up to you somehow and taking you to DaVinci exhibition was more than liking going to do it. He listened to you whenever you raved about DaVinci. You found his word to not only be inspiring but innovated. Everything he thought about, how he wrote backwards, how he invented so many different mechanisms made your heart swoon.

Taehyung read your fifteen page final on DaVinci for your masters degree. He enjoyed all of it because he learned more than he could have learned in school. When you say your paper felt heavier, it’s because Taehyung wrote as many notes as he possibly could. He wanted to let you know how amazing this paper was.

Which brings Taehyung back to reality as he saw your face light up. You turn around, glancing back at your boyfriend, ultimately hugging his waist. It was your way of showing affection whenever you were excited. You were unaware that a new exhibition had emerged. Let alone one of your favorite artists! You raced through the exhibition entrance, then taking your time with the paintings.

As you were moving through, your hands were furiously sketching away. You weren’t copying the pieces, no. Instead, you were drawing different faces. Different objects that raced through your mind. It was how you took in artwork. It was a weird yet fascinating thing to watch. Especially from an outsiders perspective.

As mentioned previously, Taehyung loved this aspect of your personality. He loved watching the pen dance across the pages, making something out of nothing. He often envied how you were so engrossed in everything around you. But he could understand why in the end.

At the end of the exhibition, you had filled half of your small sketchbook. You looked through, noticing that most if not all of the drawings were of Taehyung. You couldn’t help but notice that he was always in your mind and you used him as bait most of the time. You had come to the conclusion that drawing Taehyung was your favorite thing to do.

Even in the mix of your creativity, you had ultimately lost your boyfriend. That was the downside of having a creative mind. You didn’t focus on anything else but the pen and the paintings / inspirations. It had become noticable when you would stand alone looking out for Taehyung.

Since his hair was mostly random neon colors, you could’ve found him easily. But, he colored it back to his normal brown. This time, you started to worry about if he was still inside. Waiting for you or being patient himself. You knew he was a big boy and could take care of himself, but you also were socially awkward. If you could have someone else around you, you would.

Then it hit you - You needed to get home now..

»»————-　★　————-««

“Baby it’s been hours...” Taehyung complains moving himself inwards. Your hair was pulled back in a messy bun. You were wearing your splattered paint overalls with a white shirt underneath. You held a brush in your hand, a large canvas in front of you. When Taehyung got close you ultimately moved in front shaking your head.

What was behind you was a large painting of a drawing you did earlier of Taehyung. You didn’t want him seeing it because it was still in progress. However, it was something you were going to give to him. You reach out to grab his hand, holding it close. Ultimately squeezing wet paint against his hand.

“Okay then, let’s take a small break.” You answer giving him a shy smile, Taehyung’s eyebrow rising. He knew you were hiding something but you wasn’t going to say anything. Instead he moves in to kiss your forehead. Where there wasn’t any paint and it was safe enough.

“Okay but I want to see what you're painting.”

“Yeah sure,” pausing. “But when it’s finished.” your voices fade away, the canvas of the painting of your boyfriend laminating under the lights of your studio.

#littlemeowmeowschimmy #bangtanarmynet #bts #bangtan #bts request #bangtan request #bts reader insert #bangtan reader insert #kim taehyung #kim taehyung x reader #bts kim taehyung #bangtan kim taehyung #bts fluff #bangtan fluff #bts kim taehyung x reader #bangtan kim taehyung x reader

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mermaidylluria · 5 years

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Warning to all you mers on Tumblr out there: The purge has officially begun. My account just got flagged, and the only things I have on here are my own event photos (which are all family-friendly & fully clothed), and mermaid art (both classical and new, some of which has an LGBTQ focus- and may, at times, *gasp* in some cases feature kissing). So.. just as a heads-up, the whole Tumblog censorship hubub is a real thing. My hope was that in a page FULL of mermaids, it would be obvious what the space was about- that it was absent of pornographic or ANY kind of child-endangering content, n’ be subsequently left alone. But it appears that’s not the case. So now that we know mer art is going to be targeted (after all, “NEKKIT BEWBIES, ER MAH GURD!!”), I suggest we all get ready to either defend our posts (via disputing flagged content), participate in some kind of (peaceful, preferably meaningful & artful) protest, or just leave the platform all together. 'Cause this tells me that they're not only flagging classical art, they're also trying to eradicate LGBTQ content, and NONE of that is okay. Personally, I’m going to do all 3. Fight and dispute, while making preparations to move my space elsewhere. Where that’ll be I’m not sure yet, but if we loose, I want a place for my mermaid stuff to go, and the demigods at Tumblr better be aware, I’m taking my decently-well-known bellydance n’ other blogs w/me too, if I’m forced to leave.

And just for my personal 2 cents on the matter? Dear gods, not ALL of the internet has to be child friendly. XP Censorship like that happening on YouTube, Facebook & now Tumblr stifles creativity (look at channels like Glam&Gore, who can’t barely do SFX makeup anymore because she keeps getting demonetized), silences valuable artistic and minority voices, removes audiences for burgeoning creators (who, btw, may NOT be engaging in pornographic content in ANY way), and forces narrow-minded, puritanical standards of "decency" (which are by FAR the minority), over others' ability to operate successfully in that medium. This smothers decent, AWESOME things like art, science, expression and SO much more. XS See, it’s not about the p0rn. It’s about the CENSORSHIP. This is the internet. It was designed to dispense and SHARE information, ideas, inspiration, fun, etc. Not be a surrogate nanny for your kids. XS

ANNNNYWAY, if you want to read more about what is and is not allowed on Tumblr now, you can visit: https://tumblr.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/231885248. (And be sure to read to the bottom, where users can find out how to appeal post & entire blog flags under the last 2 questions.) And if you have a mermaid blog where ANY kind of toplessness is involved, note that "female presenting nipples" is distinctly mentioned, which, as I'm sure lots of you already know, directly impacts classical AND modern art- one of the few things on Tumblr that can be shared WITHOUT a copyright, as well as a TON of mermaid art, classical and otherwise. XP

What does this mean? Well.. in simple terms, it means that stuff like Botticelli and Picasso are no longer welcome on Tumblr. It means that Reubens, Waterhouse and Rodin, if they have artistic interpretations of naked women in their work, cannot be shared on Tumblr. Even though their works are featured in international museums of the highest callibur, lauded all over the world as legends of innovation, vision, unparalleled beauty, & precision, expression & creativity, and world-famed for their social and economic value. Those.. are not welcome here now, apparently. Meanwhile, images & videos stolen from present-day & other modern hard-working artists, photographers, cartoonists, writers and other creators from allll over the world arrre hunky-dory. XP DaFUQ, Tumblr??? (At -least- they mention mis-attribution & non-attribution on their new guidelines now. That at least, is an improvement. X*)

But now.. let’s see how that’s directly affected my blog, shall we..? ‘Cause, as I mentioned before, I figured surely since I didn’t actually have any pr0n on my pages, I & other mer pages should be safe, right? BZZZZZZZT, WRONG. After getting this e-mail (pictured above), I went through my whole blog and found the 4 posts that were "flagged" as having adult content. *rolls eyes*

3 of them were reblogs &1 was an original post.

2 of those posts were queer-positive modern art.

1 was a photographic collection of pieces FEATURED IN "W" MAGAZINE,

And the last is a piece of classical style, queer-positive art. XS

One of the modern pieces doesn't even show nipples, just saggy bewbies COVERED with small seashells.

The other modern-style piece was a Rackham style drawing, where the tatas are but a mere suggestion of simple lines and dots.

One was shown in a INTERNATIONAL FRICKING FASHION MAGAZINE SPREAD, which was apparently suitable for SOMEONES' interpretation of public consumption,

and the last only shows suggestions & curvatures of breasts! (Showing the side and outer portions of the female chest, with no nipples. XP)

-And WHY AM I HAVING TO JUSTIFY THIS???? THIS IS ART. THIS IS NOT P0RN. Again I say "WTF, Tumblr????" XS

As you can see, 3 of my posts were reblogs, so I had no means of disputing those posts. (According to their new guidelines, the owner of the original post has to do that, and if they are found as having “inappropriate content,” there’s no further means of appeal.) But one of them, one of the very first posts I ever made in this blog, was an original, so I was able to refute its being deemed as inappropriate. FIrst, you have to go through allll of your posts to find.. whatever it is someone’s had issue with. (Whether it’s a person who’s flagged it or something chosen by Tumblr’s algorithms/keyword alert systems, I have no idea.) But they don't even bother to link you in your notification e-mail, so first you’ve gotta FIND what’s being flagged before you can repeal it. (I didn’t even know what I was looking for at first. They never specify. Would it be a tiny new icon near the Edit and Share buttons at the bottom? A wee little flag pointer, outside of the post itself..? Do I got to my posted page n’ try to find it? Or will it be in my Posts stream, & the whole post be red..? Who knows?) But eventually, after enough scrolling, I found what I was looking for. A big red bar across the affected posts. -And if it’s a post you can do something about, they give you a button to push on the designated "flagged" work, at the top right. After you hit the "dispute" button, you’re given a largely blank page. In the center, you get to choose between Dispute, Cancel or Learn More. No “tell us why you feel this should not be flagged, why it doesn’t violate our rules,” nothing. Nowhere to speak your peace. You just hit a button, and you’re done. You get no say, other than “I object, your honor!” NOT COOL, people. NOT COOL. You clearly don’t wanna hear the voices of your content creators, or, at least, enough to allow them to speak for the work they felt appropriate enough to post..

Reading this from another media source? Please don’t discount this issue if you don’t personally have a Tumblog. It doesn't really matter whether you use tumble or not, whether you think it's lame or not, etc. The problem is much, much larger than that, and it’s growing. This is another very large, social media platform that's being affected by censorship in the name of marketing- and thus, be child-friendly. They want the whole family to be able to come and see all the ads they wanna put here, and without that, they don’t make their money. So anything not child-friendly, even vaguely PERCEIVED as not child-friendly (by God only knows whose standards), is being wiped out from the whole platform. Don’t believe me? It’s happened on YouTube, on Facebook, and likely, many others. Do some googling and check it out for yourself. YouTube is a platform that’s being strangled by this phenomenon right this very second. There are videos on it. Go see. Now. ‘Cause if we don’t educate ourselves about this n’ do something to fight it, what’s happening to YouTube is our future. Not just here on Tumblr, but EVERYWHERE.

Big Brother isn't just watching, guys, he's stealing your open arenas for personal and creative expression, so he can better market to you & yer kids. He wants EVERYONE to buy his Stuff. And if the kids can’t see it here, they won’t ask mommy and daddy to go get it for them. So out classical art, and LGBTQ content, and mermaids go. Out the door. (Meanwhile, who do kids love?? UM.. MERMAIDS. HELLO!!! What should be educating them about history and the arts? UMM.. FINE ART, HELLO. Who teaches them about tolerance and diversity and SO MUCH MORE? Umm.. THE LGBTQ community! Who teaches them about what human bodies look like, and that it’s okay to have ANY kind of body? UM.. BODY POSITIVE ART, THANK YOU.)

We need to put the kaibosh on this somehow, now. Not just for Tumblr, or Facebook, or YouTube. We've got to find SOME way of letting the Big Boys know this is not activity we will tolerate. 'Cause the places to freely express ourselves are going to continue to diminish, get scarcer, and fewer.. until they're all.. gone.

ART =/= PORN, YOU IGNORANT, PURITANICAL, MONEY-GRUBBING FISHTITS. LEARN TO POLICE YOUR OWN CHILDREN, MORE EFFECTIVELY POLICE GENUINE CRIMINALS, AND LEAVE THE REST OF THE INTERNET ALONE. Please.

♥

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freerebelmentality · 6 years

Text

The Forgotten One pt5 (Final?)

AN: To catch up links are here ONE TWO THREE FOUR

Another thing as well, there is a sequel to this series and wondered how either feel about this series continuing on. Let me know in the comments or even send an ask or however.

**************************************************************

Word Count: 1,803

Michael handed you a present, the first is from Gabriel.

As expected you love the gift he has given you which is the Loki Helmet and scepter.

Second is Deans gift which is the nail polish set, nail art brushes and dotting tools. You thanked him for the gift which he proudly accepted.

Third is Sams gift which is the nail art pens, nail polish remover and the makeup sponges. You thanked him for those as well and couldnt be more happier for the nail polish kit from them already because you really needed and wanted them.

Krissy gift to you is an Itunes card along with a Star Wars mug set.

“I saw the mug set and knew I had to get them for you” Krissy says with a smile on her face

“I really love this, thank you so much” you thanked for the awesome gifts and she knew you wanted them.

Aiden’s gift to you is a gift card from StarBucks along with a nail polish rack he has made for you.

“Aiden, thank you so much” you said while giving him a hug.

“You are very welcome, I knew you needed a place to store your very huge collection of nail polish” he says while he still has you in his arms.

“I didnt know you can make a thing. Thats very innovative Aiden” Michael says as he looks to him. He is very impressed with his carpentry skills.

Michael and Lucifer look to the gift Aiden has given you and didnt realize there would be such a thing. They are happy he made that for you, now Michael wouldnt have to see those things laying around now.

Josephine’s gift to you is a gift card from Barnes and Nobel along acrylic paint that you have always wanted to try while painting the manicures.

You thanked her for the much needed gifts you have been wanting.

Adams gift is The Hobbit series which you absolutely loved.

“Adam these are great and something that I have always wanted to get. Thank you so much” you got up from your chair and gave him a hug for the thoughtful gift.

Lucas gift to you is a drawing he did for you on The Avengers in chibi form.

“Lucas this is so awesome, I have always wanted one of your paintings on canvas” you thank him while being completely grateful he has given you a 16x20 canvas.

“I wanted to save the best for last. This gift is from Castiel” Michael says as he hands you the present.

You tore away the wrapping paper which revealed a 16x24 portrait of your late mother. You begin to tear up and looked to Castiel right away.

“Thats you Bumblebee, you and mom” he says with a bright smile also beginning to tear up as well.

Its a portrait of your late mother who was eight months pregnant with you at the time. Castiel looked through the photo albums Michael had stored in the storage room.

When he stumbled upon the very picture is when he showed it to Lucifer and asked who she was pregnant with. He teared up at the picture and told him she was pregnant with you.

He went to the nearest store that printed out large portraits and got it framed.

You got up from your chair to give Castiel a big hug.

“Thank you so much. I love it” you tell him while a sob escapes from your mouth.

You and Castiel remain hugging while everyone else is beginning to tear up as well.

Michael passes the picture around for all to see, your brothers tear up at the picture and remember the fond memories of mom.

“I am very happy you love the gift” Castiel says still keeping you in his embrace.

You slowly pull away from him. He towers over you and wipes away the tears from your face and you do the same with his.

Michael swore the both of you are twins, always looked out for each other and did things that were your best interest. But he knew that Castiel is the oldest one out of the both of you. He wiped away the tears that were streaming from his face.

“You are the best big brother a sister could ask for. All of you are” you tell him while looking to you older brothers.

“What about your gifts guys?” Gabriel asks looking to Michael and Lucifer.

“My birthday gift to Y/n is this” he looks around the room for the party he is throwing you.

“My gift is spending as much time with my baby sister from now on” Lucifer says keeping his eyes on you.

“Aww thats so sweet, Lucas give me your napkin” Krissy says while trying to hold in her sob.

Lucas hands her his napkin while rubbing her back with a smile on his face.

Adam finally sees his opportunity to talk to you in private, since everyone else is enjoying ones company. Talking about the interior design of the house and how they love the back yard.

“Hey Y/n, can I talk to you in private?” Adam taps your shoulder as you turn slowly to him from talking to Josephine.

“Yeah sure, we can step out since everyone is comfortable in the kitchen or living room.” You lead him away from the crowd and head outside while Michael and Dean turn their attention away from Lucifer and Sam.

“For sometime now I have had these feelings and didnt know how to express them. Basically I got shy and always brushed it a side and now I cant do that anymore. Y/n I have always had a crush on you for sometime and would it such a bad idea if you would go out with me?” he asks with a smile on his face that just brightens your day because no one has ever given you a bright smile such as his.

Michael and Dean look on from the kitchen window, they wanted to see what their siblings were doing in private.

“I cant hear what they are saying” Dean says trying to eaves drop.

“Well whatever it is, it wouldnt bother me” Michael says with a smile on his face.

Lucifer looks to where Dean and his brother are standing.

“Whats going on?” he ask standing between them trying to see what they are looking at.

“I had no idea and I definitely wasnt expecting this. As for the going out part um yeah I dont think that would be a bad idea, I mean I have had a crush on you for sometime as well” you admit to him as you shy away from him.

He lifts your chin to pull you gently closer to him and gives you a kiss.

“I cant see this anymore” Lucifer says as he tries to walk out of the kitchen to stop the both of you.

“Lucifer stop. You are just going to embarrass the poor girl” Michael says as he holds him from going any further out the door.

“Yeah I knew that was going to happen sooner or later” Sam says looking away from the kitchen window.

“What? And no one told me this why?” Dean whips his head to his brother why he hasnt told him anything.

“Because you have loose lips, dont know how to keep secrets” he says while taking another bite of his cake and enjoying every minute of it.

“No I dont. Im the best at keeping secrets” Dean says while taking a sip of his beer

“Liar” Lucifer says from the other side of the counter

Adam’s and your brothers begin laughing at Dean while he leans against the counter and isnt amused by the whole thing.

You pull away from him slowly while your eyes are still closed.

“Yeah I definitely wasnt expecting that” you say as Adam has a smile on his face looking to you adoringly.

“I wanted to make sure your birthday is extra special. Happy Birthday” he says while entwining your hands together and that just felt right to you.

The both of you enter the house while everyone stops to look, your brothers Castiel, Gabriel and Lucifer dont look amused.

“Looks like I got some explaining to do and tell them not to kill you” you tell Adam as you walk away from him.

Dean and Sam walk closer to him with wide smiles.

“Am I getting out of this house alive?” Adam asks looking away from the glares.

“Dont worry about it. Im pretty sure Michael and Y/n will get them to stop over reacting.” Dean says as he pats him on the back.

“Its about time, after how many years of talking about her” Sam teases while elbowing Adam to his side

“Years? Again why am I the last one to know?” Dean asks while whipping his head towards his brothers.

“You got loose lips man, cant keep anything a secret” Adam replies while going into the kitchen to get something to drink.

Dean glares to both of his brothers and follows Adam into the kitchen to get another beer.

“Lucifer, Gabriel and Castiel stop it. Can you guys just let me have this one thing?” you tell them.

“We just dont want you getting into something you are not comfortable with thats all” Lucifer says with concern.

“Im comfortable with him and please dont worry so much. I can handle this” you tell them while they nod and to your relief they will get used of having Adam around the house more often.

Michael comes to stand with his siblings and thats when you begin to worry on how he will react, you look to him in hopes he will not banish you from seeing Adam.

“Dont worry, Im ok with you and Adam. Plus he is a really good kid” Michael says and your surprise he has accepted the both of you.

They all spread out to entertain the guests as you look at the people in front of you and couldnt be more happier for this moment. You had your brothers who will always be there for you no matter what.

You have found someone who has a kind heart like Castiel, a sense of humour like Gabriel, the protectiveness like Lucifer and who is accepting like Michael. You have found all the traits you could ever want in a person to have within one.

You werent expecting Adam to come along into your life or you werent expecting anything at all. Your brothers caught you off guard by pulling something off so quickly and you knew deep inside that they would pull through. You love the people in your life and will cherish the ones who have entered your life.

Tagslist

@ilovesebastianstanmore

@pockettheremin

@to-be-joy1

@zeddlocket

@kyle9no

@sirlsplayland

@michaelreaderreblog

@jacobmarkstrom25

@enthusedbycuriosity

@mirkwoodsnexttopmodel

@qu33nofros3s

@samaxraph99

@fandom-trash-worth-it

@supernaturalteam

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mrwebcapitalist-blog · 5 years

Text

Best Books About Business To Read In 2019

Many successful entrepreneurs have one thing in common: they read a lot.

Every now and then I get the blues and I want to give up. In times like these, I want to get inspired fast. That’s where books come in. I get so inspired by successful entrepreneurs, that I get back on my feet instantly with a new excitement and new ideas.

I strongly suggest you read at least one autobiography of any successful business icon. I assure you, that you will be inspired!

If you would like to read what these books are about then read the full article.

The article is massive (more than 22K words), and it took me several weeks to write about all these books, so I hope you’ll enjoy my list.

47 Books about Business that every Entrepreneur should read (in no particular order):

1. Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales From The World Of Wall Street by John Brooks

2. The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book On Value Investing by Benjamin Graham, Jason Zweig, Warren E. Buffett.

3. The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms To Fail by Clayton M. Christensen

4. The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs And Their Radically Rational Blueprint For Success by William N. Thorndike

5. How To Win Friends & Influence People BY Dale Carnegie

6. The Art Of War by Sun Tzu

7. Think And Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

8. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change by Stephen R. Covey.

9. The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses by Eric Ries

10. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t by Jim Collins

11. The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron by Bethany McLean, Peter Elkind, and Joe Nocera

12. Guerilla Marketing: Easy and Inexpensive Strategies for Making Big Profits from Your Small Business by Jay Conrad Levinson, Jeannie Levinson, Amy Levinson

13. In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America’s Best-Run Companies by Jr. Robert H. Waterman

14. Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies by Jim Collins, Jerry I Porras.

15. Tribe of Mentors: Short Life Advice from the Best in the World by Tim Ferris

16. Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers by Timothy Ferriss

17. Crushing It: How Great Entrepreneurs Build Their Business and Influence-and How You Can, Too by Gary Vaynerchuk

18. Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

19. The Power of Broke: How Empty Pockets, a Tight Budget, and a Hunger for Success Can Become Your Greatest Competitive Advantage by Daymond John, Daniel Paisner

20. Smarter Faster Better: The Transformative Power of Real Productivity by Charles Duhigg

21. The Unexpected: Breakthrough Strategies to Supercharge Your Business and Earn Loyal Customers for Life by Howard Brodsky

22. Brand Now: How to Stand Out in a Crowded, Distracted World by Nick Westergaard

23. The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder

24. Sam Walton: Made In America by Sam Walton

25. I Love Capitalism: An American Story by Ken Langone

26. Straight from the Gut by Jack Welch, John A. Byrne

27. Wild Ride: Inside Uber’s Quest for World Domination by Adam Lashinsky

28. Startup Opportunities: Know When to Quit Your Day Job by Sean Wise, Brad Feld

29. What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20: A Crash Course on Making Your Place in the World by Tina Seelig

30. The 10X Rule: The Only Difference Between Success and Failure by Grant Cardone

31. Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

32. Small Business, Big Vision: Lessons on How to Dominate Your Market from Self-Made Entrepreneurs Who Did it Right by Matthew Toren

33. Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike by Phil Knight

34. Rich20Something: Ditch Your Average Job, Start an Epic Business, and Score the Life You Want by Daniel DiPiazza

35. Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. by Ron Chernow

36. Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance

37. The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon by Brad Stone

38. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson

39. The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers by Ben Horowitz

40. Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It by Chris Voss and Tahl Raz

41. Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products by Nir Eyal

42. Traction: How Any Startup Can Achieve Explosive Customer Growth by Gabriel Weinberg, Justin Mares

43. Choose Yourself by James Altucher

44. Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable by Seth Godin

45. All Marketers are Liars: The Underground Classic That Explains How Marketing Really Works and Why Authenticity Is the Best Marketing of All by Seth Godin

46. Rich Dad Poor Dad: What The Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not by Robert T. Kiyosaki

47. What If It Does Work Out? by Susie Moore

For more online marketing tips read Mr. Web Capitalist blog.

#books #entrepreneur #business #online marketing

0 notes

topicprinter · 5 years

Link

All successful entrepreneurs have one thing in common: they read a lot.Every now and then I get the blues and I want to give up. In times like these, I want to get inspired fast. That’s where books come in. I get so inspired by successful entrepreneurs, that I get back on my feet instantly with a new excitement and new ideas.I strongly suggest you read at least one autobiography of any successful business icon. I assure you, that you will be inspired!It took me several weeks to write about all these books, so I hope you'll enjoy my list.47 Books about Business that every Entrepreneur should read (in no particular order):1) Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales From The World Of Wall Street by John Brooks2) The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book On Value Investing by Benjamin Graham, Jason Zweig, Warren E. Buffett.3) The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms To Fail by Clayton M. Christensen4) The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs And Their Radically Rational Blueprint For Success by William N. Thorndike5) How To Win Friends & Influence People BY Dale Carnegie6) The Art Of War by Sun Tzu7) Think And Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill8) The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change by Stephen R. Covey.9) The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses by Eric Ries10) Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t by Jim Collins11) The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron by Bethany McLean, Peter Elkind, and Joe Nocera12) Guerilla Marketing: Easy and Inexpensive Strategies for Making Big Profits from Your Small Business by Jay Conrad Levinson, Jeannie Levinson, Amy Levinson13) In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America’s Best-Run Companies by Jr. Robert H. Waterman14) Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies by Jim Collins, Jerry I Porras.15) Tribe of Mentors: Short Life Advice from the Best in the World by Tim Ferris16) Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers by Timothy Ferriss17) Crushing It: How Great Entrepreneurs Build Their Business and Influence-and How You Can, Too by Gary Vaynerchuk18) Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell19) The Power of Broke: How Empty Pockets, a Tight Budget, and a Hunger for Success Can Become Your Greatest Competitive Advantage by Daymond John, Daniel Paisner20) Smarter Faster Better: The Transformative Power of Real Productivity by Charles Duhigg21) The Unexpected: Breakthrough Strategies to Supercharge Your Business and Earn Loyal Customers for Life by Howard Brodsky22) Brand Now: How to Stand Out in a Crowded, Distracted World by Nick Westergaard23) The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder24) Sam Walton: Made In America by Sam Walton25) I Love Capitalism: An American Story by Ken Langone26) Straight from the Gut by Jack Welch, John A. Byrne27) Wild Ride: Inside Uber’s Quest for World Domination by Adam Lashinsky28) Startup Opportunities: Know When to Quit Your Day Job by Sean Wise, Brad Feld29) What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20: A Crash Course on Making Your Place in the World by Tina Seelig30) The 10X Rule: The Only Difference Between Success and Failure by Grant Cardone31) Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson32) Small Business, Big Vision: Lessons on How to Dominate Your Market from Self-Made Entrepreneurs Who Did it Right by Matthew Toren33) Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike by Phil Knight34) Rich20Something: Ditch Your Average Job, Start an Epic Business, and Score the Life You Want by Daniel DiPiazza35) Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. by Ron Chernow36) Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance37) The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon by Brad Stone38) The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson39) The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers by Ben Horowitz40) Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It by Chris Voss and Tahl Raz41) Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products by Nir Eyal42) Traction: How Any Startup Can Achieve Explosive Customer Growth by Gabriel Weinberg, Justin Mares43) Choose Yourself by James Altucher44) Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable by Seth Godin45) All Marketers are Liars: The Underground Classic That Explains How Marketing Really Works and Why Authenticity Is the Best Marketing of All by Seth Godin46) Rich Dad Poor Dad: What The Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not by Robert T. Kiyosaki47) What If It Does Work Out? by Susie MooreIf you would like to read what these books are about then you can read the full article here.The article is massive (more than 22K words), so I hope you'll appreciate the work I put into this.

#/r/entrepreneur #reddit

0 notes

thornstocutyouwith · 6 years

Text

Character Sheet DnD: Claerwen

“I am aware. That I am an asshole!! Just like you!”

- Falling in Reverse, Just Like You

General Information

Name: Claerwen Tancred Hailstrum Name Meaning: Claerwen (Clear light) Tancred(Well Thought Advice) Hailstrum(Brute) Pronunciation: Cla-er-wen T-ah-n-cred Hail-struhm Other Names: The Bard, Sexy, Hot Titles: Our Bard, Hot Elf, Clarence’s ‘Friend’ (They aren’t friends, the people just include him as such because he’s been with the party, against his own will more or less)

Sex: Male Gender: Male Age: 100

Birth Date: Unknown ( They haven’t really been a very elaborate D&D group, they are much more I WANT TO FIGHT and less. THE WORLD NEEDS TO HAVE SENSE OF REALISM, like a fucking calendar, at the very least. lol) Birth Place: Feywilds, City/Kingdom in a Forest, somewhere, far, far, far away from where the story takes place.

Species: Elf Occupation: Bard, Archivist(Shhhh), Instrument Maker, Performer, Ninja (NINJA BARD!)

Dominant Hand: Ambidextrous Astrological Sign: Aquarius (Not that it fucking matters? lol) Blood Type: B

Appearance

Main Appearance: Elf ears, very pretty/Handsome, Well endowed ( apparently says the person that looked at his junk while he was meditating,11-12Inches. lol), Sandy blonde hair, Turquoise blue eyes, Hair length/Style(Shorter side for the moment, trying to grow it out, and kept in a ponytail for the most part), Brand between shoulder blades.

Alternative Appearances:

Wardrobe: Studded Armor, What he wears under the armor, what else he wears

Accessories: Backpack full of stuff Musical Instruments: Violin Piercings: Left ear Hygiene: Very well kept and clean Makeup: Maybe a little here or there, but not usually. At least when he’s not performing. Perfume / Cologne: Flowery Scent: Leaves or Grass, Bars, Rain Tattoos:

Health

Diet: Fruits or fish mostly Exercise: Sometimes exercises Fitness: Yes Posture: Stands with purpose usually, straight backed. Though often enough, he relaxes and his body leans or slacks into a more comfortable and casual stance.

Abnormalities: n/a Aids: n/a Allergies: n/a Diseases: n/a Illnesses: n/a Disorders: n/a Broken Bones: n/a Reason for Health: Most likely childhood trauma, and further trauma’s after.

Voice

Accent / Dialect: Some what Snobbish, Aristocratic accent Voice: Tenor Laughter: Gentle Impediments: Sometimes stutters or gets his tongue tied

Psychology

Languages: Common, Elvish, Orc, Draconic, Sylvian, Gnoll, Gnome, Goblin, Personality: Honest, Offhand, Independent, Asocial, Daring, Egocentric, Aloof, Studious, Unceremonious, Calm, Reflective, Attractive, Persuasive, Free Thinking, Insightful, Introvert, Innovative, Perceptive, Future-focused, Curious, Logical, Imaginative, Crafty, Theoretical, Enthusiastic, Objective, Introspective, Impersonal, Inventive, Assertive, Flexible, Carefree, Gregarious, Intellectual, Entrepreneurial, Complex, Non-conforming, Fearless, Efficient, Exciting,

Philosophy

Outlook on Life: Mostly just wants to explore places, find out the history of places and things, and perhaps get some coin or prize while doing so. Philosophy / Motto: To test the limits of pretty much everything you hold dear to you, lol. To learn all that he can.

Character

Quirks: Mutterer, Awkward, Taps foot when he’s bored, Tinkering with things,

Hobbies: Reading, Writing, Lyricism, Playing Instrument, Acting, Play writing, Music Composition, Games, Storytelling, Cooking, Adventuring, Closet Hobbies: Sewing, Singing, Dancing, Voices ( for performances, duh), Drawing, Painting, Journalism, Puppetry, Guilty Pleasures: Inciting Chaos among the group.

Habits: n/a Nervous Tics: Tugs on his ears, hums under his breath, goes quiet and becomes slightly more goofy. Soft Spots: Creatures, especially those he can make useful to him.

Most Prized Possession: His Violin of course, but generally things he’s earned himself since becoming free. Collections: 18 mole like creatures and 5 Ankheg Eggs,

Regrets: Nothing Secrets: Many Darkest Secret: He is a former(Kidnapped) House servant to a wealthy family. Pet Peeves: Currently not much, though he dislikes a certain dwarf for being annoying, and he’s not very fond of the Barbarian’s world wide notoriety, or the apparent vastness of the barbarian’s popularity anyway.

Phobias: N/a

Preferences

Likes: Writing in his journal, playing his violin, singing, fruit, sunflower seeds, fish, learning new things, exploring the world, music, books, swimming, games, performing, looting, animals, quiet alone time, getting stuff for basically free, traveling, new things, Dislikes: Helena pointing out that he is ‘the bard’ or ‘our bard’ as if he were more so property rather than someone they basically have kidnapped at this point, and hardly even think about paying him for his wonderful music, lol. Clarance’s fame. The Dwarf always getting drunk, and saying that his music sucks, the baby golden dragon trying to eat his properties and other comments made that Claerwen just hasn’t cared for. Being surrounded by mostly strangers, despite Helena saying he ‘knows them’, Claerwen has no idea who these people are, other than their names and their professions and slight inclinations.

Favorites: N/A Least Favorites: N/A

Combat

Ability: Mostly good, very good. As long as it’s not close up and the rolls are good, lol Position: Mostly defensive, but can be offensive, if the situation calls for it. Weapon: Throwing Spear ( Since he was kidnapped and lost his real weapons, and the group gave him it), Slingshot ( Kidnapped so the group gave him it), Element: Fire Martial Arts: He’s a Ninja, pfft. He’s got a foot in all of them, pretty much. Strengths: Stealth, Bardic stuff, Ninja stuff Weaknesses: Close combat(debatable, given the situation) Restrictions: Being weighted down,

Home, Work, and Education

Abode: He doesn’t live anywhere, right now, technically, though he does have a rather large estate back in his home city.

Pets: 18 Vols and 5 Ankheg eggs, and soon a T-Rex Helena offered him as a bargaining chip for selling an adult Ankheg he wanted. Roommates: Technically, none. But seeing as they are all going to be sleeping in a cart, wouldn’t that make them roommates...

Sleep Patterns: [Self explanatory] Eating Habits: [Self explanatory]

Social

Mother: Ceinwen, Half Moon Elf/ 23% Blood Elf/17% High Elf, 5% Cosmic Elf, 3% Tel-quessir 2% SilverBlood Elf, Father: Llywelyn, 16% Wood Elf/ 15% Star Elf/ 10% Draco-Elf/ 9% Crystal Elf/ 9% Dark Elf/ 8%Moon Elf/ 7% High Elf/ 7% Grey Elf/ 6% Eladrin Elf, 5% Aquatic Elf/ 4%Wild Elf/ 4% Elf Guardians: Staff at his Estate home from childhood. Siblings: Older Brother: Neifion/ Older Sister: Briallen/ Older Brother: Eirwen Children: None Best Friend: None Close Friends: None Friends: Maybe Helena, a little bit, lol, Team: Helena, Artex, Hyna, Norah, Clarence, Some Necromancer, some Dwarf, some others he has no clue, lol Acquaintances: Helena Rivals: No one Enemies: No one

Romance

First Love: None Love Interests: None Significant Other: None Sexual and Romantic Orientation(s): Bisexual/Grey-Romantic

Reactions

(Optional; but generally, this is how they react to what they’re feeling)

Angry: Anxious: Conflicted: Criticized: Depressed: Embarrassed: Excited: Frightened: Guilty: Happy: Humiliated: Nervous: Offended: Praised: Rejected: Sad: Stressed: Thoughtful:

Biography

Background:

Claerwen was born into an Elven Family (Left ambiguous for several reasons) where he grew up until he reached childhood. Claerwen had grown to become curious and knowledgeable as a child. He often enjoyed his time away from others his own age to go explore his hunger for knowledge. Though this did not always leave him with much safety or supervision. His parents never quite figured out just how far their son would go in his quests for knowledge. It seemed that as long as he came home they had no reason to worry about his long and mysterious disappearances. And so he was allowed to continue with what they had surely must have thought was just a peculiar young elf growing up as he pleased.

That was until the day of the incident, the day he would never return home, at least not for a long time. Over the years Clearwen’s curiosity had grown perhaps slightly out of control as he had begun to venture out from the safety of their protected lands. Claerwen would take secret trips to go explore the places he would hear others( those who were assigned to leave the safety of their land )speak of treasures and other wonders outside of the barrier. It had been the fall season where he lived when Claerwen had heard the story of one cave just outside the safe zone. He had worked up the courage to go outside the zone.

So, the young elf child set out he spent the next few days preparing for his trip. Thinking that it would be easy and brief, he had packed up some of the essentials he would have needed, something to drink, something to snack on, perhaps some first aid just in case. But outside of the beasts that had roamed around their city, Claerwen had never heard many stories, if any of all, of any foreigners being found in close proximity, if at all, to their city. So he did not factor in any of those, they seemed the least likely to need thinking about.

At the beginning of his little adventure things had been going well, his curiosity had definitely been stroked. He kept himself alert through his trek to the cave that had supposedly been full of treasure. But eventually his childish nature had started to get the better of him and he began to drop his alertness in favor of goofing around. As he traveled, he came across a few threatening beasts that he had managed to get away from and kept working his way toward the cave.

Once at the cave, and with some hesitation, he began to poke his way into the cave. As he walked through it his initial nervous feelings about it had begun to dwindle, he started to feel much more safe than he had outside of the cave, with the creatures in the forest. Enjoying himself over all as he made his way through the cave.

He would visit the caves every day then, exploring them most of the day. But had unfortunately never came across anything of any special importance to him. It was for the most part, just a cave. Which had after sometime began to make Claerwen bored after several days. Weeks would pass though, Claerwen would keep going back to the cave, studying it and exploring it, mostly just wanting to find every dead end possible. He was unaware that his unauthorized trips back and forth between his Kingdom and the caves outside of it, would trigger something horrible. But how was he to know what fate had in store for him.

One night after he had returned home from his lasted trek through the woods he created his father at dinner who pointed out that he had a leave stuck in his hair. As his family ate his mother had started to ask him where he was going, and that she heard rumors about his leaving the safety of their kingdom from the locals. Which Claerwen obviously told her weren’t true. He didn’t know if his parents had believed him or not. But they said nothing else as his siblings had begun to talk about their own lives, soon Claerwen joined in talking of the things he had learned and what he wished to do when he was older.

As his mother came in to say goodnight to him she walked over, placing a kiss on his forehead before making a face at him as she looked around. It was easy to tell that Claerwen was her child, of course he was also his fathers. But Claerwen didn’t have the dark black hair his father had, he didn’t have the same eye color, or many features. Sleepily he watched as she got up making sure he was secure, then looked around, as if there was some hidden danger that might have been waiting just inside the closet on the other side of the room or just outside the window. It was perhaps nothing more than just a motherly thing to do. Little did she know, that the danger was real, and very close.

Later on that night, others, outsiders, began to infiltrate the kingdom, silently picking their way through guards and others still awake. Snatching up the vulnerable and defenseless children they came across. Some elves were murdered, others only knocked unconscious, depending on what they did to the intruder, and the intruders own inclinations.

Being at an estate Claerwen’s family had been one of those that were the safest in the city. But even still, Claerwen and his family had know clue what had been heading their way. As it would later be clear that those who were invading the city had done their research, had planned almost to an exact T one what they would be doing, and how they would be doing it in a sufficient manner. The alarms in the city had not been going off, no one knew what was going on in the dwellings next door, much less their own homes, until it was too late. In no time the invaders had made their way toward Claerwen’s Family’s Estate. He had still been resting in his bed as a shadowy figure crept through the window to his room, and quietly made their way toward him.

Claerwen had been a heavy sleeper as a child, so by the time he heard anything, the slightest creak as the intruders weight neared the side of his bed, it had been too late. They had snatched the small elf boy up into their arms, pulling him from his bed as he tried futilely to escape the intruders grasp, digging his fingernails into their arms and trying to bite them, only to be carried away like a useless ragdoll. Being carried out into the hallway by the male who had captured him

It had been in those moments that he could make out the noise of someone fighting from another room. He could also hear distant voices shouting and other noises from the city around them, which had been waking up and been aware of the threat that had come to their kingdom. Claerwen took that moment as the intruder paused, apparently taking notice of the severity of the moment, that he screamed out toward where the fighting was going on. Following that the agonized gasp of someone who had just been cut down could be heard. Quickly followed by the door the intruder and Claerwen had been in front of, jerking open, violently.

In the doorway had stood Claerwen’s mother, and she did not look at all very happy about her child being in the hands of some stranger. Her clothes had been splattered in quite a bit of blood. Blood had dripped from the sword she was hold. As she made a stance to attack, the blood was flicked onto the floor and wall before she charged forward, shouting for the intruder to let her son go. She had been about to strike when an arrow, show with great precision struck her, sending Claerwen’s mother to the ground. Looking over then Claerwen watched as the other intruder made their way over and told their friend to get out with the child as they had to start clearing out of the area. Before Clearwen could hear anything more, however, things had begun to go fuzzy for him and he blacked out.

The next thing Claerwen remembers is waking up in a cart that had been full of other kidnapped elf children and for the next hour the invaders had managed to keep the cart hidden and anyone who got close to it that wasn’t part of the foreign invaders was brutally killed by those who had stayed behind to guard the cart. After all, they were going to make a lot of money of their prisoners. After that night, Claerwen of course did not see his family again. It took more than an hour for the intruders to finally relent and retreat from the city entirely, gathering up a few more children. Which took about an hour at most. Once it seemed they were ready to leave the prisoners had been given something to put them to sleep through most of the trip they would be taking.That way they wouldn’t know their way back home if they ever escaped. And so they could easily be recaptured.

They had traveled over many, many, many days then. Getting farther and farther from him and from being saved. A full month had gone by before the prisoners would come to realize what they were captured for, to be sold in auctions at a black market. Some children did not make the trip, but Claerwen had. After watching countless others be sold off to wealthy households it was soon to be Claerwen’s turn as well. He was sold far more quickly than any of his other counterparts. As Claerwen had a better pedigree than most of those other children had. He was clearly one of the only children that had been taken from what was clearly a wealthy family. And had been worth a lot more than most other family buy that day could even afford.

Once he had been sold the children were branded with images that, if anything happened to the family’s property, they could easily identify it. Claerwen had been branded just like the others, between his shoulder blades and sent to live with the family that had purchased him.

Over then ext few decades of Claerwen’s life he had been taught the ways of a bard, or at least his already adept musical ability had been improved upon then, during his years of servitude to the family that bought him. Being surrounded by books as well, Claerwen was able to continue to feed his appetite for knowledge, when allowed the chance to, during breaks and such things like that when he was not expressly needed other than for something pretty to look at. However, despite all of this Claerwen was regularly beaten and abused while under the care of the family that bought him. Originally because of his defiance, and after that was apparently beaten from him, just because they had felt like it.

On one fateful day, however, decades after being bought at the black market, Claerwen and the young master had been out riding on their horse. Claerwen had been made to walk beside him, or keep up with whatever they were doing at the time, on foot. While he walked behind the teenager, tired from the last five hours of having to chase the teen around on their horse or be yelled at and smacked with their riding crop. Which he had just then, been hit with across his left arm, that he was trying to tend to as well as continue to keep up with the young master ( This is a person SOMEONE keeps telling me Claerwen was horrible to, by the way, lol).

As they had continued on, despite the obvious build up of storm clouds, a crack of lightning shot down from the sky close by which had ended up scaring the holy hell out of the Master’s horse, sending it into a fit. It bucked before taking off toward some trees. Claerwen, for one, not being able to really do anything, had just watched, and secondly, didn’t want to do anything anyway, to help the young master’s horse from bucking. He was more about preserving himself at that moment in time. Rather than risk getting fucking kicked by a horse in the head, or the chest, or anywhere else.

So the horse sped off, right for the trees and the young masters head managed to catch a low hanging tree branch as the horse dashed under it. The masters head snapped back in an ugly way before their body fell from the horse into a heap just under the tree branch. The horse then took off into the woods nearby neighing loudly. Claerwen had stared in apathy at the far off heap of surely dead teenage boy in the distance before turning and, upon realizing there was literally nothing he could to about it, he took off.

Clearwen had taken that moment of absolutely no one else being there to break free of his servitude and try and find his family, finally, after all the years being held captive, being watched and unable to leave, the lightning had given him this rare opportunity and Claerwen took it. Even as the rain began to pour down from the darkened skies he continued to trek through the mud and cold, trying to get as far away as he possibly could from those horrible people and start his own life, like he should have. As a one hundred year old, this was the year when in his home city he would be considered an adult, he would have been going through the Rites. But instead, for him, and many of the other kidnapped elven children from that night, would be passed over. Perhaps this was fates way of saying to him that this would be his Rite to adulthood.

Either way Claerwen knew he wouldn’t stop moving until he was completely free to live his life, to be himself, finally. Taking only the things he had been wearing and had on him at that time, a violin included, he had managed to start forging a path toward at least having a better life than the one of servitude that had been waiting for him. He managed to work and get things for himself in the years that fallowed his escape and in time put all but the memories of his time as a slave behind him. It was during his years of freedom that he also happened to be asked to join a clan of local ninja’s in one of the places he had traveled to, in order to earn money by playing violin. At that time he did not entirely take the clan up on their offer, but told them that he would come back when he was ready to learn. They happily accepted this and told them they would be waiting for him.

Some time later Claerwen eventually did take the ninja clan up on that offer, and has been learning to be a ninja when he has the time to.

Earliest Memory: [Self explanatory] Fondest Memory: [Self explanatory] Worst Memory: [Self explanatory]

Miscellaneous

ENTP-A

Not a Virgin

Skilled in Sex (lol)

Can become emotionally cold because of his past

Choloric-Phlegmatic Blend

Chaotic Neutral(Alt Neutral)

Enneagram: 7/7w8, The Enthusiast, The Challenger

Aquarius

Hogwarts House: Gryffindor/ House Blends: Ravendor

Ilvermorny: Horned Serpent

Aura: Green

Patronous: Hawk or Swan

Divergency: Dauntless, Candor, Erudite

Prefers Dogs over Cats

Likes the color Red

Dislikes the color Yellow

Natural Disaster: Earthquake

Favorite Color is Blue

Elements(Extra): Steel, Light, Thunder, Dark

Balanced Brain

#CTH #DnDStuff #CTHBio #Bios #Skies #So you can read it lol

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eatbcstx-blog · 6 years

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Bryan-College Station Restaurant Guide : Fine Dining

Take Our Poll

When you’re looking to impress your fellow diners and have an incredible meal, look to this list of Bryan-College Station’s finest restaurants.

Caffe’ Capri 222 N. Main, Bryan, TX • 979-822-2675

Caffe’ Capri, established 1995 by Rami Cerone, TAMU class of ’95. Affordable Italian restaurant with a creative menu housed in an art-deco interior that evokes a high-end feel. Booths feel very private and are perfect for conversation. Voted “Best Italian” annually since 2000 and “Aggie 100” fastest growing businesses.

Campfire at The Stella 4100 Lake Atlas Dr., Bryan, TX • 979-421-4444

Whether you’re enjoying a private dinner at the Chef’s Table, an outdoor perch by the fire pit or a table in the main dining room with a view of the open kitchen, raise a toast to Campfire’s bourbon-fueled cocktails and magnum wine tastings while tasting Central Texas farm-to-fork goodness.

Café Eccell 4401 S. Texas Ave., Bryan, TX • 979-599-7929

Café Eccell focuses on a dining experience that is forward thinking in freshness in food and beverage. Handmade, chef driven cocktails are a new innovation we are particularly enthused about.

Christopher’s World Grille 5001 Boonville Rd., Bryan, TX

Christopher’s World Grille is a fine dining establishment that has been serving the Bryan/College Station community since Mother’s Day, 1999. Prior to the restaurant’s opening, Bryan native Christopher Lampo spent several years traveling the globe as a private yacht chef. Cooking throughout Europe, the Americas, Australia, and the South Pacific provided Chef Christopher an extraordinary experience learning to prepare international cuisine. After preparing meals for the likes of Michael Douglas, Mick Jagger, Robert De Niro, Denzel Washington, Yoko Ono, and Ivana Trump, Chef Christopher brought the recipes and culinary traditions he gleaned during his travels back home to Texas.

Luigi’s Patio Ristorante 3975 State Hwy. 6 S., College Station, TX • 979-693-2742

Luigi’s Patio Ristorante is an authentic Italian piazza located in Bryan-College Station. Enjoy live music which begins at 7 p.m. on most evenings.

Madden’s Casual Gourmet 202 S. Bryan Ave., Bryan, TX • 979-779-2558

Madden’s Casual Gourmet brings New American Cuisine with Southwestern Influence originally created by Chef Peter Madden and current Chef / Owner Tai Lee.

The Republic 1836 701 University Dr. East, Ste. 406, College Station, TX • 979-260-4120

As soon as I open the door to The Republic 1836 Steakhouse I actually feel like I’m stepping into a good friend’s home. I’m always greeted warmly and I know I can expect excellent food, fine wines and spirits, engaging conversation and wonderful live music. I prefer to sit at the cozy bar where you can order from the full menu. It’s a treat to watch the bar staff work together, they almost dance making everything happen just as it should. Continue reading review

Poppy – Farm to Fire 180 Century Court, College Station, TX • 979-485-5656

The Poppy – Farm to Fire menu itself is designed to be coursed. It consists of small plates, each with 4 oz of protein, which encourages everyone to explore the menu and try multiple dishes while sharing a cozy lunch or dinner overlooking two of the best views in College Station. Poppy’s floor to ceiling windows overlook the beautiful pool located right outside The George Hotel, as well as the wonderful outdoor plaza in Century Square.

Porters College Station 180 Century Square Dr., College Station, TX • Opening Soon!

Porters Steakhouse is opening in College Station, TX. Located in the new Century Square development near Texas A&M University, Porters will feature a wood fired grill and premium cuts of meat, along with an extensive wine list and cocktails.

Veritas Wine and Bistro 830 University Drive East, College Station, TX • 979-268-3251

Veritas Wine and Bistro is an Award Winning Restaurant with emphasis on Seasonality utilizing Spice & Flavor from Asia & Europe to create Contemporary American Cuisine.

Vote for your favorite Fine Dining Restaurant in #BCSTX Bryan-College Station Restaurant Guide : Fine Dining When you're looking to impress your fellow diners and have an incredible meal, look to this list of Bryan-College Station's finest restaurants.

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oselatra · 7 years

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What's new and coming soon to Argenta

A riverfront hotel, new residential development, food, drink and more.

The Koehler Building and Koehler Bakery Building

700 block of Main Street, Argenta

I t has taken a while for the continuing revival of Main Street in Argenta to progress beyond a few core blocks between Broadway and Seventh streets, but the push further northward is in progress, with the renovation of four buildings in the 700 block, including the historic Koehler Building and the Koehler Bakery buildings. The mixed-use, two-story redevelopment will feature commercial space downstairs and condominiums and apartments upstairs. Three businesses have committed to locate in the block so far, including studio space for painter Barry Thomas at 711A Main. Next door will be Ozark Escape, the area's newest entry in the popular "escape room" entertainment genre, a live-action puzzle-solving game that locks participants in a themed room filled with clues and gives them a set amount of time to figure out how to escape. Ozark Escape will feature three different rooms that can hold up to 20 players at a time. At 715 Main will be Mortgage Peer Network, a startup company that sells technology to mortgage lenders, run by Greg Ellis.

Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub

201 E. Broadway

Opened in January 2015, Argenta's Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub is a haven for tinkerers. It features a full woodworking shop, a printmaking and screenprinting shop, several 3D printers and two high-powered lasers that can do precision cuts and engraving in materials from paper to plywood. The Hub also offers regular classes on welding, laser-cutting, coding, block printing and more to members who pay a reasonable monthly or per-day fee.

Warwick Sabin, who served as the executive director of the Innovation Hub, now oversees its operations as well as Winrock's other job-creating programs as the senior director of U.S. programs for Winrock International, which combined with the Hub in June 2016.

Sabin said the number of people who used the Hub grew by about 40 percent in 2016. New developments on the drawing board for 2017 include continued work toward satellite makerspaces in other cities and a mobile makerspace that can be towed to far-flung corners of Arkansas.

For Central Arkansas, the big Hub-related news is a new Food Innovation Center, which Sabin said should open this year. While those looking to start food-related businesses — cheesemakers, pie makers, artisan bakers and the like — often have to turn to under-used industrial church kitchens to get their small businesses off the ground, Sabin said the Food Innovation Center would offer a certified industrial kitchen available for use by members, plus industrial packaging and labeling machines, a large garden and cooking classes. "It would take a similar approach as what we've established at our current Innovation Hub," Sabin said. "It would basically be an aggregation of tools, technology, equipment education, making that available to the community, both youth and adults, around food and agriculture."

The location for the Food Innovation Center is still up in the air as of this writing. A source close to the project, however, says developers are looking at sites in East Little Rock and Southwest Little Rock.

Argenta eats

Plenty of good food and nightlife is either in place or coming soon to Argenta. In the "coming soon" category is Kamikaito by Kiyens (521 Main), in the space at Sixth and Main streets that previously housed Good Food By Ferneau and Argenta Market. A spinoff of Kiyen's Seafood Steak and Sushi on Chenal Parkway, the space will reportedly offer sushi, seafood, steaks and Asian fusion cuisine. The original target date for Kamikaito was last October, but permitting snafus got in the way.

Open since early last year and steadily drawing raves since then is Four Quarter Bar (415 Main), the New Orleans-inspired music venue and bar by former Midtown Billiards bartender and talent booker Conan Robinson. Located in the former Sidetracks storefront, Four Quarter features cozy decor reminiscent of a French Quarter dive, over a dozen local beers on tap, a 2 a.m. private club permit and a solid lineup of live music several nights a week. Four Quarter took home the Best New Bar award in Arkansas Times' annual 2016 Toast of the Town issue, and was a finalist for a half-dozen other awards, including Best Dive, Best Neighborhood Bar and Best Bar Food. That last is a nod to a solid menu of booze-soaking fare, including slow-smoked pork sandwiches, burgers, nachos, mac and cheese and more.

A bit longer established is Skinny J's (314 Main), which opened in July 2015, the latest link in a small, Arkansas-only chain by chef and owner James Best, who opened his first Skinny J's near Jonesboro in 2009. Skinny J's features a solid sub-menu of bar vittles, including staples like loaded nachos, cheese curds, cheese fries, fried green tomatoes and crab cakes. For more stick-to-your ribs food, Skinny's has over a dozen incarnations of cheeseburger, 11 different sandwiches, a whole bunch of salads, several pasta choices and more. Unique, however, is Skinny J's status as the lone oyster bar north of the river.

Argenta fills in

Riverside development, apartments and a plaza.

What would happen if you took roughly $100 million and worked with the city of North Little Rock to invest in its downtown?

For one, you'd get an estimated $50 million project on 5.6 acres fronting the Arkansas River and west of the new Broadway Bridge that would include a high-rise building, a hotel, apartments, a boardwalk cantilevered over the seawall where folks could sit outside, enjoy a drink and watch the river, and maybe the River Trail bikers, go by. A development with a view of Little Rock that Mayor Joe Smith, who held up selling the city property until he got something he believed would be "first class," that is unparalleled. (He knows, because he got a ladder truck to lift him up for a view from an elevation equivalent to six stories.)

Smartway LLC, formed by Terraforma developers Doug Meyer and Dave Bruning, closed on the property in early February and is now looking for an anchor tenant, Meyer said. "We have had three companies approach us," Meyer said, to talk about a purchase or lease agreement. North Little Rock sold the land, previously a brownfield, to Smartway for $2.6 million, and will put the proceeds toward the creation of a plaza on an empty lot at Sixth and Main streets.

The Smarthouse plans are fluid, but envisioned is a 91,950-square-foot hotel, an office building 10 to 11 stories tall and 244,250 square feet and an 89,200-square-foot apartment building. The development will be a place where people "live, play and work, with 24/7 activity," Meyer said. The city is dubbing the area the Argenta Riverfront District.

The $50 million estimate is at the top end, but Smith is thinking top end, on the river and over to Main Street. "I'd rather not have anything if it's not first class," he said.

There's another, more solid, first-class development coming to North Little Rock: an upscale multibuilding apartment complex by THRIVE, the Bentonville residential developer. The developer has plans to build on the two blocks that once held the old feed mill, on Fourth Street between Magnolia and Poplar. Harold Tennenbaum and Dave Grundfest are selling the property to THRIVE, which is a venture of ERC Properties Inc., headed by Dawn Cook of Fort Smith. Plans call for 164 units in several three-story Colonial-style brick buildings divided by a plaza-like street. The complex will be north across the street from the Innovation Hub. Some of the buildings may hold retail on the ground floor, Smith said. North Little Rock will create a parking district around the THRIVE development that will dedicate street parking to its residents, much the way Fayetteville has done in its downtown.

Fort Worth's Sundance Plaza was the inspiration for the plaza that Smith envisions on the vacant lot on the east side of Main Street between Fifth and Sixth streets. The mayor, with a party of 60 folks who paid their own way, visited the Sundance Plaza and others to get an idea of what would be good for North Little Rock.

A farmers market occupies the spot now. The city is working with architect Susannah Drake of dlandstudio in New York and TAGGART Architects on a design for the park, which Smith said had to have a "wow factor." They envision a park with a water feature that can be turned on and off: It will spray fountains when the main part of the plaza is not in use, but the fountains will disappear when the space is needed for seating or other uses. Smith would also like to see projected, changing art on the existing wall of the old fire station at 506 Main St., now the North Little Rock Heritage Center.

Smith is also talking to developer John Chandler about a new building that would house a restaurant on the north side of the plaza and a commercial building on the east side.

The city itself wants to build six storefronts on the east side of the 600 block of Main; Smith said he has commitments from businesses to buy two of the storefronts.

Maple Street has undergone enormous change in the past four years as well. In 2013, the city and Argenta Community Development Corp. sold the western half of the blocks between Fifth and Ninth streets to Argenta Flats LLC, bringing 160 new townhouse-style apartments and condos to the street.

Smith said a private developer has plans for a lot north of Firehouse Liquor on Main Street. He added up how many dollars he expected to see invested in the coming years: $100 million. That's a nice round number.

Argenta Suds

When Diamond Bear Brewery packed up its taps and headed to the other side of the Arkansas River to establish the Arkansas Ale House (600 N. Broadway St.) in June 2014, it marked the beginning of a brewery community in North Little Rock's Argenta District. Diamond Bear still serves pre-brewery boom staples like its Pale Ale, Dogtown Brown and the Paradise Porter, as well as a rotating cast of seasonal ales like the Irish Red, the Honey Weiss and the handsome-hued Strawberry Blonde. The Ale House has an expanded taproom, a patio and an ample menu worthy of prepartying before heading to Dickey-Stephens for a baseball game: fried cheese curds, beer nuts, brat plates and one of the best veggie sandwiches in town, a crusty sourdough hoagie loaded with zucchini, caramelized onions, goat cheese, tomato, olive tapenade and fig jam.

Diamond Bear is just a short walk from newcomer Flyway Brewing (314 Maple), a microbrewery whose Bluewing Berry Wheat was a favorite at last year's Riverfest. Flyway, which moved into the space at 314 Maple St. in December 2015, serves up Banh Mi sliders and Duck Confit Nachos alongside standard brews like its Migrate Pale Ale and the Early Bird IPA. Its seasonal brews include the Lord God Imperial Chocolate Stout, with a whopping ABV of 11 percent. If that last one sounds like trouble to you, try the Flyway Root Beer (nonalcoholic).

And, while Flyway Brewing was celebrating its grand opening, Northwest Arkansas's Core Brewing and Distilling was making plans to move into the neighborhood. In March 2016, the Core Public House opened its doors in the former location of the Starving Artist Cafe, 411 Main St., to serve the full range of Core brews, including year-round favorites like the Arkansas Red, Behemoth Pilsner and the Leg Hound Lager.

What's new and coming soon to Argenta

#What's new and coming soon to Argenta

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rajibfci · 7 years

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KLYMAXX : bernadette cooper klymaxx

Biography

Bernadette Cooper, Is an American recording artist, producer, composer, musician, entertainer and the original creator and founder of the Pop/R&B all-girl band 'KLYMAXX'. In a career spanning almost 36 years she remains relevant. Being the maverick that she is, Cooper sets out at an early age to conquer her dream of an all-girl band.

Bernadette Cooper the founder of Klymaxx, created the group that made history as the first all-female R&B, funk and pop band in which every female member played an instrument. Klymaxx collectively holds the distinction as being the ONLY all-female R&B/Pop band to go Platinum to this day.

Describing herself as a Diseuse. A Diseuse is a female entertainer who performs dramatic monologs. Bernadette has made this a popular art form in the Pop/ R&B world. Like Madonna, she can be sexy and funny at the same time. Born and raised in Los Angeles, CA, at the age of 12, She taught herself how to play the drums and began playing the drums in church.

Singer, songwriter, and producer, Bernadette Cooper has never been anything like the women the Beach Boys harmonized about on their sunshine soundtracks, she is still a California girl. Raised in Inglewood and in Compton, the “hood” that blessed us with both Barry White and N.W.A.

Whether singing Aretha Franklin songs at the show & tell in the first grade, listening to Sly Stone on the radio or admiring the drums on Isaac Hayes records, she knew early that music would be her life.

Cooper, subsequently graduated from Inglewood High school where she earned a scholarship to El Camino College. While attending college, her vision of forming an all-girl band remained. Bernadette majored in Law at El Camino college, but quit after one year, after surrendering to her passion.

She then began pursuing her love of music.

So...Ms Cooper came up with a name she thought would be exciting and would capture attention and then changed the spelling so it would be the groups own entity. Through magazine ads, auditions, word of mouth and interviewing many girls, the band came into fruition.

"I know I was looking Good" with these six words, on 1984 hit single “The Men All Pause,” Bernadette Cooper and Klymaxx changed the face and sound of music. The group that the Inglewood, California native created went on to become the most successful all-female soul/pop/funk band of all time.

Bernadette Cooper is cooler than you. She's also cooler than me, but that verdict is still pending. Before Beyonce failed, tried to bring out the "Sasha Fierce", there was someone who didn't need the word in her name, her actions spoke much louder.

Bernadette is a visionary who has the rare ability to see around the corner even if a Mack truck is obstructing her view. Throughout her career, she has been instrumental in finding, developing and signing many artists including John B, Madame X, and Klymaxx

Life And Career

KLYMAXX

In 1979, Bernadette Cooper formed Klymaxx. She narrowed the band down to the six girls who became the popular band. Klymaxx's uniqueness is due to the all-girl band's ability to play instruments, and their sound was influential because of its comedic, women power theme. Klymaxx's original members are (vocalist, drummer) Bernadette Cooper, (vocalist) Lorena Porter (Stewart), (guitarist) Cheryl Cooley, (keyboardists) Lynn Malsby, (keyboardists) Robbin Grider and later, after the band signed to Solar records (bassist/ vocalist) Joyce Irby, was added to the band.

Inspired by the past generation of mack divas (Lynn Collins, LaBelle, Brides of Funkenstein, and Chaka Khan) as well as Prince’s computer blue funk, Klymaxx was on a mission to kick ass.

“The forming of Klymaxx felt more like it was an out of body experience. It was guided by a force that I can’t explain,” Cooper says. “I remember the struggles and the sacrifice, but I also remember the camaraderie of six girls focusing on one goal. We sent out a few demos and immediately came to the attention of SOLAR (Sound of Los Angeles Records) through an executive named Margaret Nash; she urged her boss Dick Griffey to check us out. He came to our rehearsal, watched us play and immediately offered us a record deal.

On the West Coast during the 1980s, SOLAR represented the new music of young Black America. Sometimes called “the new Motown,” the label was owned and operated by Dick Griffey. As the home of chart-topping artists Shalamar, Midnight Star, Bobby Womack, Lakeside, the Whispers, Carrie Lucas and The Deele, they were thriving in a time when hip-hop was creeping-up from the underground

With Griffey’s empire located on 1635 N. Cahuenga in a building SOLAR owned, there was also a recording studio on the premises where his artists worked.

A complicated man, Griffey was a mentor to both Babyface and Death Row founder Suge Knight. Although Griffey was seen as a gangster by some, to Cooper he was always a gentleman. “Dick was a friend and a wonderful man,” she says. “He took a girl from Compton, and not only taught me the music business, but he also introduced me to fine dining, escargot and instructed me on great wines. I owe him my career. If Dick hadn’t been around, I wouldn’t be pursuing my dreams.”

While Klymaxx might’ve collaborated with a few male producers, they realized that they weren’t looking for anyone to control their sound, style or swag.

This was the general consensus amongst the girls after releasing their underwhelming debut, "Never Underestimate the Power of a Woman," in 1981, which was controlled and conceptualized by their male counterpart.

It wasn’t until Klymaxx’s new wave electro third album Meeting in the Ladies Room (1984) that they became a femme force in the industry With the catchy “The Men All Pause,” “Meeting in the Ladies Room” and the mushy ballad “I Miss You,” their most successful single.

Klymaxx had become more self-contained, writing tracks and directing the sessions (“The Men All Pause” was co-produced by Steve Shockley, Bernadette Cooper and Joyce “Fenderella” Irby. “We started writing for ourselves, because we were tired of men writing us lines like, ‘When you get home baby, I want you to rub my feet,' Cooper said, “We complained to Dick and he said, ‘Fine, do your own album.’ With that, Klymaxx became real. We had freedom, and that’s a beautiful thing.” As seen in “The Men All Pause” video, with Cooper clad in fuzzy leopard-skinned top, it wasn’t uncommon for her to step from behind her drums to sing and talk smack on the mic.

At the same time, she was also making creative strides as a songwriter. As Klymaxx producers, Jimmy and Terry gravitated towards her style and her songs. Griffey, a former drummer himself, had a knack for grooming producers, including Leon Sylvers III, Reggie and Vincent Calloway, LA and Babyface and Terry Lewis and Jimmy Jam. Klymaxx was the first band Jam and Lewis recorded back in 1982 when the emerging duo produced the group’s second album Girls Will Be Girls. In the studio, Cooper closely observed the duo at work. “I was completely inspired by them and their methods and approach to music,” she says. “I watched, listened and I learned.” While women are often excluded from the production process, Griffey took a chance. “He instinctively was able to recognize my raw talent,” Cooper says. “There aren’t many men in this industry who respect the vision of a woman, but Mr. Griffey wasn’t afraid.”

Cooper’s sound became a mixture of Minneapolis styled synthesizers, George Clinton’s cosmic slop, James Brown eternal funk and the majestic pop of Quincy Jones, that was distinctively her own.

In 1987, due to the band's internal conflicts, Cooper left the band to pursue outside projects. "With all great bands, people outgrow situations," Cooper said of the break-up. "It's plain and simple. I think we were all equal in poverty in the beginning. We were all hungry, reaching for the same goal, going towards that light together. But as time [went] on - people wanted to have babies and get married - everyone began to separate and do their own thing. "And of course, within a group you have your friction, especially when there are one or two members that people focus on more," she continued, "Our vision, as a unit, simply changed. It's like a marriage, She continues, "Do you want to get back with your ex? I think not!"

"I'm captivating and that's because I am so outrageous live. If you didn't notice me, I was going to make sure you did notice me"- "I wanted to be remarkable, the band wanted me to blend in. That was very difficult for me to do. My personality cannot be confined. I know that I am A.D.D. ( A Different Diva) or a Difficult Diva. My personal mission is not to blend in, however, to be innovative." "I love the girls for the history that we created together."

https://www.klymaxxbernadettecooper.com

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