#and about 20 unfinished stories with a bunch of world building

[chiefcj]

My first post

  Hey all. This is my first time using this platform. I heard about it from Gary Vaynerchuk in his book Crush IT. I had never heard of this place before and I thinks it’s pretty cool so far, especially since I’m trying to start my own blog. If you are into books for self improvement or business check out my blog on blogger.com  “10 Books For a Better You”. Check it out and let me know what you think. I value your opinions. 

    So real quick, a little about me, I come from a very modest upbringing in a middle American industry town. I have traveled all over the country before joining the Navy right out of high school. Since then I have traveled the world, met new people and learned a lot. I’ve been in the Navy now for 24 years. I’m a division commander (that’s basically a drill instructor) who motivates, coaches, teaches, and mentors fresh college students, developing them into newly minted Naval Officers or Junior Staff Corps Officers. I enjoy teaching and mentoring in the ways of leadership, management, and self betterment. It is said that leaders are readers and I have made it a goal to read 1 book per week. That is a challenge for me considering I’m a slow reader. But I haven’t let that stop me. As a matter of fact it has made me want to read more because of my curious nature. It also helps me be a better instructor when I know the subject. So, a lot of my content will be about the books that I’ve read and the lessons that I’ve learned, and hopefully I will inspire some of you to be successful. This journey of mine is an attempt at breaking free from the confines of a 9-5 J.O.B. and break out on my own as an entrepreneur. I’ll take y’all along with me and share the things that I have learned so hopefully, you can apply the same techniques and create your own bit of fortune. 

     On my journey I have read up on many successful business executives, influencers, and entrepreneurs to see how they made it. I was reading The 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris, and he talked about having a good morning routine. This became a recurring theme with top performers, so I figured there must be something to it. I found some great books on morning routines to get me going. The 5 AM Club, The Miracle Morning, and The Compound Effect are all great books on the positive effects of a strong morning routine. Your morning routine sets the tone for your whole day and helps you get the most out of it. I can honestly say that I accomplish more with my morning before most people are even out of bed. 

    The 5 AM Club talks about the 20/20/20 principle, where you get up at 5 am and spend that first hour split into three 20 minute periods of “Move, Reflect, and Grow”. The first 20 minutes should be spent on some type of exercise (Move), the second 20 minutes is to reflect with either journaling or meditation. And, the last 20 minutes is to Grow your mind with a good non-fiction book about your interests to improve your skills and learn something. There is sooooo much more packed into this book, but if you take nothing else away from this book, that should be it. Now I know, some of you are cringing at the thought of getting up at 5 AM. It’s ok. It’s not that bad. Trust me. 

    The Miracle Morning takes a little different approach with the acronym S.A.V.E.R.S. which stands for Silence, Affirmations, Visualization, Exercise, Reading, Scribing (Journaling). I really like this one because it starts your day off with meditation. Meditation has become a big part of my life. It helps me to get my mind focused and primed for the day, and often times I find answers to questions I’ve had, simply pop into my head and I can bang out some new ideas. It’s really been transformational for me. I used to think it was a bunch of hippy hocus pocus junk, but when many of the top performers and millionaires do it, I figured there must be something to it. So, I gave it a shot. Now I do it every day without fail. The Navy is even teaching a form of mindfulness called Warrior Toughness and has even integrated it into our routines. You can imagine my delight when they asked me to teach it to the new Officers. 

   The Compound Effect gets a little more in depth on the morning routine to include gratitude, reviewing your goals, and making your to-do list to get the most out of your day, week, month, and life. There is more great content in this book than just the morning routine, and is great for making major impacts on your life just by changing the way you look at things. This one is definitely a must read. 

   I have adopted a combination of the three methods to form my own morning routine and I block my time so nothing else gets in the way of making moves in the right direction. I start my day off early, before anyone else is up, with 20 minutes of meditation, followed by 30 minutes of reading, (I’m currently reading Tony Robbins’ Awaken The Giant Within, this one will change your life, really I mean it. I’ll write more about this one in another post). I write in my journal about whatever I’m thinking that morning, usually questions I’ve had running around in my head and answers that have come to me during meditation, or what I want to do. But, I always finish it off with 3 things I’m grateful for, 3 things that will make today awesome, and my daily affirmations (thanks Tim Ferris, that one’s from you). I cap my morning off with a dedicated hour of working on my immediate goal or project that will be the most productive for me that day. And then it’s off to get in some PT (Physical Training), usually a 2.5 mile run with my dog or some calisthenics and kettle bell exercises.

      By incorporating these things into my morning routine it helps me to build good habits and make the most out of my day. In the past I was just all over the place and couldn’t seem to get much accomplished. I’d have a bunch of projects started, but never finished any of them. I’d have all these unfinished jobs around the house and my wife would hound me to get something done so our home didn’t look like a construction zone. I would spread myself too thin at work and miss deadlines. And, I would constantly get distracted by unimportant things that would monopolize my time and at the end of the day, regardless of how “busy” I was, it seemed like nothing got accomplished. I couldn’t focus and I would forget things all the time. Since I have taken back my mornings and prioritized things, I have taken my time sacred to focus on what is truly important and impactful so I can start moving forward in life instead of getting stuck in neutral with my engine redlining. 

    It has been a huge change for me and an exciting journey that is just beginning. I’ve read way more books, learned so much, turned around my finances, and checked off many of my projects. Things are looking up. As an educator my aim is to inspire you and show you how you take back your life and make a change for the positive. I hope that my story has been an inspiration to be great. I will be sharing more on here as I learn more and figure things out. So stick around and let’s make things happen. Thanks for being a sounding board and go ahead and leave me a note. I’d love to hear your stories too. We can be an inspiration to each other and change the world, one success at a time. And I’d love to know what books you are reading. Jim Rohn once said “What books are you reading to move you toward your goal?”

    I have linked all of the books that I have read in this post so you too can take advantage of the great lessons and content they have to offer. A big thanks to the authors who have taken the time to write these books and make it possible for us to prosper. Until next time, Peace Y’all.

Chief C.J.    

#books #morning routine #meditation #journaling #exercise #crush it #garyvaynerchuk #tony robbins #tim ferriss #robin sharma #hal elrod #darren hardy #the 5am club #the miracle morning #the compound effect #awaken the giant within #jim rohn #the 4 hour work week #success #focus #motivation #self improvement

[shadowofthelamp]

I’ve been meaning to write this for a few weeks, but haven’t really had the chance, and figure I might as well do it now. Writing out things about how and why I relate to/like characters is something that’s always helped me when creating my own projects, both character-based fanfiction and original stuff because it shakes out what appeals to me and why.

Anyways, this is a specific analysis of why IZ matters to me, a lot. Strap in y’all, you’re getting context. 1500 words of it. Warnings for uh.... bullying, mental illness, that whole shebang. If you could like if you read I’d appreciate it.

It’s a bit difficult to detangle exactly how you felt years ago, especially when you had undiagnosed mental illness at the time. The concrete details are this: I found IZ when I was about 11/12 years old, because some kids in my class wore Gir shirts a lot. (Thanks, guys, for being polite and explaining it to me when I asked about them!)

Something about it just clicked. The only fandom I’d been involved in before that point was Sonic, and then, it was pretty one-sided: I would consume content, but only occasionally made any of my own, and I never talked to anyone. It mattered to me sure, probably almost as much as IZ did, but for different reasons that aren’t really relevant here.

To set the scene: I was 12, bullied, depressed because of said being bullied, anxious for the same reason, and the only friends I had were all just the losers nobody else would talk to. One regularly physically pushed me around and bit me and I took it because everyone else thought I was a weirdo freak, and the other two were mostly just her friends and tolerated me. (Sidenote: Turns out she had mental stuff of her own, but geez, she needed to be helped because it was never a secret she was hurting me.)

Teachers were somewhat torn on me most of the time, because I was clearly very smart and participated in class often, but had a trigger temper that other students used to bully me, and often the teacher’s response was to blame both of us if someone riled me up to the point of snapping back. I still have problems with trusting any authority figures with any problems because of this.

I was also taught to not trust people who are being nice to me, because again, I was desperate for social interaction that wasn’t Bitey the One Friend, and that was used to pretend to compliment or talk to me and then laugh behind my back about it. I’m still seriously working through this one. I probably should talk to someone about it, honestly.

So, uh. Yeah, with that as a guideline, it’s not really a surprise I latched on to IZ. Dib was the smart yet neurotic one that was desperate to prove himself to adults that never listened, and Zim was loud and aggressive and everyone seemed to hate him even as he stumbled through everything, never really realizing just how broken he was. I’d never seen characters like that before, and I especially related to Dib.

The setting also was something I hadn’t really seen before, and it got to me in a way I can’t fully explain. It was dirty and angry and stupid and sad and felt the way I did. This was how the world came across to me at the time, as something broken and unfair, with everyone in power either willfully ignoring me yelling that something was wrong, that either everything around me was broken or I was.

I joke constantly about Dib’s Birthday, the first IZ fic I ever wrote. I’m probably never going to reread it and it’s going to rot unfinished on ffnet until the servers crash, but I found a doc where I went through the first two chapters before dying of Old Writing-Itis, and... honestly, from what I do remember? It was using the characters specifically to work through this stuff that I didn’t have any other outlet for at the time. I had a brother who knew/cared so little about me that years later he told me he never knew I ever had any problems despite the fact that I was by 14, before I started getting meds and therapy, somewhat suicidal. (The bullying had eased as I’d forced myself to blend into the background and no one cared about me anymore, but the ‘no friends and depression’ hadn’t.)

And this is where we get to the shipping stuff. ‘The world is terrible and our brains are fucked and kinda broken but at least I have you, someone who understands me’ honest to god was a lifeline at that point to me, and I don’t think anything else could have delivered it quite like Za/Dr did. I don’t doubt a lot of the fics were people channeling stuff, same way I was. I’ve noticed that, much like Yugioh, this is a fandom with a lot of people that have Stuff Going On they put in, because mental illness is a theme in the show, as little as it’s thoughtfully explored. Sort of a ‘well, we’ve got the blocks, let’s take it and use it to build our own catharsis.’

I’ve also noticed I tend to keep them the age I am- when I was about 13, they were show-aged. The one I found from when I was 14, I made Dib 14/15. And I’ve expressed I kind of regret not making Dib in AiP match my age now- 20, going on 21.

I feel like I’m exaggerating a little, and maybe I am since this is my experiences told through the funhouse mirror of fractured memory, but I also talked to myself. Like, a fair amount. Out loud. I could go entire days without talking to any other students unless I was forced to, because no one would ever talk to me first or respond if I tried, so I was sort of in a ‘why even bother?’ mode by freshman year. Everyone knew me, and already was afraid of or weirded out by me because of how often I was in and out of the principal’s office. 

(The biggest chunk of the bullying, besides name-calling and the other typical stuff, was riling me up and then getting me in trouble for snapping back. It was the same people over and over, so it took less and less to get me angry over time, so by fourth or fifth grade I was going off over seemingly nothing, but really, it was just piling a bunch of sticks on top of every other thing that had already been hurled at me, so I looked like rigged dynamite but they never looked who was lighting the matches.)

JTHM was pretty important to me for similar reasons as IZ, although that was more catharsis, the idea of just being able to get rid of people who were hurting me. I’ve said before the ‘I wish someone would just turn me off and... fix me’ panel was another one of those ‘holy shit someone else knows this feeling’ moments.

Things finally started turning around for me at about 15 when I just broke down crying at a family event and my mom pulled me aside and I was sent to therapy and got medication. Long story short, it worked, and I’m mostly better on the depression front.

Bringing this back around to IZ, it’s been kind of incredible to come back and have the fandom be- well, honestly, I can’t ever remember it being this active. I was terrified to interact directly in a way that wasn’t reading things and pushing my own content out into the void, not talking to anyone one on one. By 13, I was better about it, and soon before 14 was when I made my tumblr and started actually talking to people. I recently stumbled across age discourse from that time through tumblr’s ‘more posts like this’ function and it kind of surprised me, but I guess it’s always been there.

I’ve said before that when I remove the rose-colored glasses, my experiences weren’t always great. FC hate was something that kept me from making ocs until just a few years ago, and shipping hate was often homophobia-related. But death threats and shit were not as common, nor was the rigid 'if you like this you’re a terrible person’.

I’m just gonna end this with saying yeah, without this series I may not have had the feeling of being genuinely understood or the outlet I needed for a bunch of shit going on at the time, so IZ is really really important to me and people who shit on a ship that helped me a lot because of something that the creator said nearly 20 years after the fact can eat my ass.

#this ends kinda ship discourse related but uh #yeah #iz blogging #iz

[kpopisthereasonihavenolife]

Off Limits

Monsta X

Im Changkyun/Reader [F]

Genre: High School AU, Rebellious, Drabble

Warnings?: Smoking, Disregard for rules, Swearing, Inappropriate language

Words: 1.5k

“Hurry your bitch ass up, I’m not getting any younger out here while your dick is stuck in some Spencer’s purchased, unsanitized fleshlight.”

“I’ve never been more offended or proud of you for your onslaught of insults lately,” Changkyun said back to your obviously fake rage over the phone.  “Besides, if anyone’s bought anything from Spencer’s, we both know it's you.  How else can we explain that kinky set up in your closet, hmm?”  He chided as you promptly hung up on him without a word. 

Slotting his phone back into his ripped jean pocket, he stuck his AirPods in his ears, blasting whatever edgy band he was into these days.  He found himself listening more to edgy American labels more than most these days, his time in America really laying into his DNA, despite not being born there. That is one more thing you never let him live down, his Western like behavior. 

You’ve claimed to be ‘scarred for life’ when you walked in on him in the middle of a keyboard smashing, screeching deathmatch in Overwatch while he was stark-ass naked at 3 AM. In your house mind you. Seeing his fake American Tit-Tat was one thing in life you never planned on seeing. ��

You had to buy a whole ass new computer chair after that night, too traumatized with the imprint of his naked arse in your sweet leather seat to ever sit in it again.  You had half a mind to call a priest and have it excised, but you couldn’t afford a whole Holy Man in garbs, so new chair it was. Thankfully, as compensation, Changkyun pitched in on half the bill for it. 

He walked a bit further down the ever darkening roadside as he soon watched light post after light post flicker on.  Some with working lights, some with new LED lights that not only allow you to see below you but apparently 30 feet in every other direct resulting in direct blindless for 5 minutes if stared directly into. 

He soon rounded a corner as he saw your silhouette not too far off.  He watched your arm raise to your mouth, stay for a moment only to drop and a puff of smoke push past your lips.  It looked like you were wearing a jean jacket he got for you for no other reason than you looked good in it.  Jeans that nicely rounded your ass, even from his distance, and he could guess what shirt you were wearing.  Probably something about aliens if he had to guess. 

He reached for his phone, just before stopping and plucking one AirPod from his ear to hear his footsteps.  He had to be quiet; yes, very very quiet.  He moved along a barely holding together brick wall and slid along it, looking like a blond fool at dusk where he was still pretty much 90% visible.  

Taking step by step in his torn up, ankle black Harley Davidson biker boots, he held his partially painted finger in front of him.  Tiptoeing like some cartoon character, he stood nearly directly behind you now.  He waited, watched you take a breath of your nearly finished cigarette and once your hand was dropped to your side, he jumped into action.  

“HOWDY!”  He screeched into your ear as you whirled.  You swung your arm behind you, your stupid best friend ducking down, safely out of the way while your unfinished, but small cigarette fell to the ground. He looked up at you, seeing your shirt.  Black with white writing saying “I bEliEvE” in a pretty awful font.  Not at all pleasing to the eyes.  “Alien shirt, I knew it.”  You were quick to kick out your converse covered foot and push his squatted ass into the ground. 

He teetered over as you stood over him with your arms cross.  Hair hanging in tangling in front of your chest as you looked down at him. To any stranger, you would seem to be bullying the blond high schooler, but you two were fairly well known in your small town.  He pushed himself up on his elbows.  

“I always knew you were the ringleader of every relationship you’ve been in.  PUshing people down, oof.”  You rolled your eyes as you stepped over him. Not quite disregarding his chide. 

“This is why you can’t get a girlfriend.  You suck,” you groaned back as you stepped on your still smoking cig with the toe of your shoe. He hopped up like he wasn’t on the ground to begin with. 

You and Changkyun have known each other since middle school when you first showed up in his rinky-dink little town. Officially attached at the hip when you flashed your chest to some stuck up jock and got picture proof to frame him for sexual harassment, all because he kept making jabs about your ass. 

If one were to drive through your town and blink, you’d be in and out in a flash.  Population a whopping 500.  Everyone knew everyone, stories of “I taught so-so’s parent in school too” coming from every old and rotting teacher on school property.  

Not that either of you heard it much.  Neither of you really care much for the school scene.  Not fitting in with the small school system.  You’d think such a small town would go to a bigger town for schooling via bus, but no.  School houses were built, and by houses I mean houses.  You swore they held lectures in superstores, they were that small.  

It’s not like school was important.  Even in a small town, no one cared about grades or success.  It was all about who was wearing what.  The TV programs on the night before. Jocks trying to win over hearts of adolescent girls thirsting for whatever they could get for a night and $20. Or who was fucking who in the public bathroom at lunchtime. 

So, you both stayed in your world.  A world of bad choices, smoking, drinking having the time of your lives regardless of the opinions around you.  Some adults couldn’t wait for you both to just up and vacate town.  Maybe then they’d stop hearing about what you both did the night before.  

One time it was graffiti on the side of the doctors building.  Another it was tying every cart in the supermarket together with zip-ties.  One night you both decided to paint on your face and start a bond fire in a vacant abandoned lot and acted like fools.  Life was never dull with the two of you, that's why it was thrilling. 

“What’s the plan tonight then?” 

“Fuck if I know.  You’ve killed my last cigarette and I can’t afford another pack right now.”  You whined as he plucked a fresh pack from his back pocket.  

“Ah, my mistake.  Madam Piss-Poss needs a cigarette like an alcoholic need beer.  Just where have my manners gone to.” Packing the box in his palm you rolled your eyes.  

“you’re just as bad as I am.  Shut your mouth before you choke on my fist.”

“I’m not into  your kinky stuff, Y/n.” 

“You’re pushing it.”

“Pushing what?  Your buttons?  I suspect you only have 2, and they’re named as such:” He poked at your breasts. “Nip and Nap.”  

“You are such a pig!”  You whack at his head.  He swirls around completely unbothered as you fix your shirt he had bunched up. He tore off the plastic around his pack of cigs as he pulled one to place between his lips and offered you one more. 

“Pig that you can’t stand to be without.  How precious, you might be pulling at my heartstrings.” 

Although you gratefully accept the toxic stick of tobacco, you still get in one last jab.  “Don’t imply I make you horny,” you finished.  He chuckled as he plucked his lighter from the side of his boot.  You never understood why he kept it there, it always smelt of feet. He offered you the light, but you shook your head.  “I don’t want your smelly foot lighter.” 

Changkyun rolled his eyes.  “Then let me light it, baby.”  He stepped closer to you as you tipped your cigarette between your lips up with your tongue.  He always does this.  He grabbed the back of your neck with one hand as he steadied his light with the other between his black-tipped fingers. Pushing the fiery ash against the tip of your cigarette, it took a moment but soon you were huffing in the toxic fumes, same as he. 

It was stupidly intimate, but it was your thing. It was the thing between you two.

You refused to label it, as did he.  There were no titles, no distinguished relationship status: they were off limits.  You two were the pair who did everything together.  You’d hold hands, you’d hold each other, you’d ugly sob and get drunk together in an abandoned building.  You’d even get lost in lust from time to time; greed and lust were no exception to human nature. 

You both even sat at each other’s side and hyped one another up when you both got your first tattoo’s and piercings that continued to grow in number as the years ticked by.

Yet, you were also the pair who would call each other ‘pussy’ just because someone didn’t make a crumbled up burger wrapper into the nearest trash can.  Insults were compliments, and if a compliment was truly shared, then your bond grew tenfold.  There were no hurt feelings, no titles, no words to describe you both. 

You were just Y/n and Changkyun, just two humans living their lives. The words ‘I love you’ were strictly off limits.

#this is actually really lame i'm sorry lol #this only happened because of changkyuns hair and nails and i'm suffering #im changkyun #changkyun #IM #monsta x #monsta x im #monsta x changkyun #high school au #high school #au #disregarding rules #swearing #a lot of swearing #rebel #rebellious #bad students #smoking #changkyun fic #changkyun fanfic #changkyun fanfiction #reader #reader insert #female reader #x reader #changkyun x reader #im x reader #rated m guys #lol #m

[wroef]

Do you have any headcannons or imagines for marrying into the finch family or what it would be like being the youngest sibling of each generation like your younger then let’s say Edith Lewis and Milton and how you died eventually in the weird finch way?

Oh no, I totally have never thought of any of the Finches in a romantic way ever. Nope. Not even once. *cough* Anyway, as much as I love this family, I feel like marrying into it would be incredibly stressful? Like whether you believe in the curse or not they have a very high mortality rate. And I don't have any kids of my own, but I can only imagine the paranoia and fear that would come with that knowledge looming over your head all the time. Like, being a parent is already pretty hard, y'know? And while one could argue that some of those deaths could have been prevented with a little more careful planning, you have Dawn who went above and beyond to what would seem like an extreme amount to an outsider to keep her kids safe and still lost two of her three kids. And then you have the creators confirming that Milton disappeared into the world of The Unfinished Swan, which means there very is likely at least some supernatural element at play (though if you ask me it's still 99% irresponsible parenting). As far as like, marriage itself and what kind of partner they would be? That kind of depends on which Finch you'd be pursuing. Like Lewis I think would probably be like a dorky loving cheeseball boyfriend/husband, Dawn would be strict but also caring and warm, Sam would be very traditional, probably adhering to gender roles that existed during his time, Edie would be whatever the 40's version of a manic pixie dream girl would be. And as sad as it is to say, I can't really see Walter as he was ever trusting anyone enough to develop romantic feelings. If he did he'd probably be super shy and let his partner take the lead.The other part of your question also kind of depends because each Finch parent has a different style of raising their kids.Edie was carefree and reckless with her kids. She and her husband built a swing dangling over a cliff with a piss poor fence as the only thing keeping you from launching yourself off the edge. She put poisonous berries in her hungry child's room. But I feel like she and Sven loved their children a lot and were probably very kind, warm parents. And obviously she loved to share stories about her family's history, so this is the generation where you would get the most exposure to that.Sam was much stricter with his children. It's obvious from the conversations he has with his daughter in his story and dialogue from Edith when she's in his room that he didn't expect (or maybe didn't want) to live very long, and so he wanted to make sure his children were strong and ready for anything at any time. Unfortunately, his methods of doing so did not endear him to his children. I can't say I blame them, but I can also see where he was coming from. I also think losing his sons softened him a bit, because he's very patient with Dawn during their trip. Even though he obviously wants to leave with his daughter having shot something, he never forces her or orders her to, in fact he says the opposite to her multiple times instead! I don't think Sam was a GOOD father per se but I do think he was trying, especially towards the end. Dawn, as Edith points out, was also strict, but in a different way. Whereas Sam's plan to keep his children safe was to teach them how to be strong, Dawn tried to shield her kids from any apparent and or/possible danger. Tragically, her best efforts weren't enough. I feel so awful for her, really. The Finches went nearly 20 years without a death after she moved to India with Sanjay. I bet she thought she'd beaten the curse for a while. Then she loses her husband, moves back into her childhood death home, a year later her youngest son disappears, then 2 years later Walter dies, and then 5 years after that she loses her other son. Like, I really can't fault Dawn for hating that house. As soon as moved back in it was like the deaths were trying to make up for lost time. Meanwhile Grandma's chilling with her oxygen tank seemingly reveling in it all, making silly or elaborated stories about real life people, their shared flesh and blood. I can see how that could be insulting or feel like a mockery of their lives. I can see how once it got to her own sons, she would reach a breaking point.With ALL that being said, Dawn seemed like a compassionate, caring person. She volunteered to build houses, she taught children, the bible verses on that post it in her room are about The Good Samaritan. I feel like she was someone who expected the best out of her kids but would also help them reach her standards as much as they needed. Probably the best parent out of the bunch.As for the sibling part; maybe this is my oldest sibling bias showing but I can't see where you fit in the ranks mattering much other than maybe in terms of fashion and/or what you would remember. Like Walter is the youngest of Edie's kids and obviously dealing the deaths of his siblings and the threat of a curse looming over him caused him to cave in on himself, which is a scenario that obviously wouldn't apply to say, Dawn's kids, who she attempted to shoo away from the concept of a curse to the best of her ability. If Gregory had just managed to outlive his father, he would have been 7 or 8, not really old enough yet to go through the intense kind of training his oldest siblings were. He probably would have had a much softer view of his father than they would have because of that. That's something that could potentially cause strain between them. And of course Edith knows almost nothing about her family history because that was the way Dawn wanted it. So obviously a child that came after her would know even less. It's highly likely that they would never set foot in India depending on when Dawn gave birth.I hate to leave on a boring note but I... really can't think of a creative Finch like death for myself lol. If I'm being honest, Lewis' death felt more like that something that would happen to me than anything I could possibly imagine, so. Take that for what it's worth, I suppose.Hope this was in depth enough for you otherwise!-Mod Edith

#what remains of edith finch #wroef #anonymous #Mod Edith #Edie Finch #Sanjay Kumar #Sven Hoffstad Finch #Dawn Finch #Sam Finch #Gregory Finch #Walter Finch #Lewis Finch #Edith Finch #holy cow sorry for the essay y'all #Anonymous

[aion-rsa]

Dungeons and Dragons: Dark Alliance Review Roundup

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Developer Tuque Games’ Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance is one of the most anticipated games of 2021 for many of those who grew up with the original Baldur’s Gate Action-RPG spinoff series and fondly remember those games as some of the best co-op console dungeon crawlers ever made.

A lot has changed since Dark Alliance first stole our hearts in 2001, but given that the original games got so much mileage out of intelligently reimagining Diablo-style gameplay for consoles while brilliantly utilizing the incredible universe they were based on, many hope this new Dark Alliance would be able to revive that series’ best qualities while incorporating elements of modern game design.

Well, the first Dark Alliance reviews seem to agree that the game suffers from quite a few technical and design problems, but it feels like there’s a bit of a divide forming in regards to how much they will impact your ability to enjoy the overall experience. Here’s what critics are saying about the game:

Travis Northup, IGN:

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

“I badly wanted Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance to be an awesome co-op version of the pencil-and-paper tabletop RPGs I’ve loved for decades, but it just isn’t. It’s a bland, boring trek through repetitive encounters that’s filled with bugs and annoying design choices, and though it allows you to play alone you absolutely should not do that because it’s an imbalanced nightmare. I can praise its faithful look and feel, which captures much of what makes Forgotten Realms a great setting, but there’s very little else to recommend about this unpolished mess of a hack-and-slash RPG.”

Score: 4/10

Andy Kelly, PC Gamer:

“But bugs aside, Dark Alliance is a blast. It brings the world of Dungeons & Dragons to life brilliantly, with meaty combat, a gorgeous world, and some truly despicable monsters to carve up. It’s a reminder of what makes the Forgotten Realms such a great fantasy setting, and a welcome chance to return to Icewind Dale, a place a lot of PC gamers, myself included, love. If you’re more of an RPG fan, you might find the non-stop combat a bit much. This is a game about killing monsters above all—and it’s some of the most joyously brutal monster-killin’ on PC, even if you don’t have anyone else to slay with.”

Score: 82/100

Jason Wilson, VentureBeat:

“The more I think about my 20-or-so hours with Dark Alliance, the more I wonder if Tuque picked the right package for its good story about these characters. I get it wants to capture the flow-and-rush of combat that comes with Salvatore’s books, but do games both heavy in story and combat combos work? In this case, they don’t, because the combat doesn’t live to the story’s ambitions.

But what if this was a top-down action-RPG in the vein of Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance or even Diablo? Would that work better, focusing more on the interlocking systems of combat than the rush? Tuque looks like it has the chops to do a good RPG well — maybe something along the lines of a third-person RPG would’ve worked better? It’s interesting to consider…For now, Dark Alliance feels like many D&D adventures: Sometimes, you gotta slog through some combat in order to learn more about the world and enjoy a good story.”

Score: 3/5

Donovan Erskine, Shacknews:

“Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance delivers a solid D&D adventure, with exciting combat and a slew of monsters to take down. Though my experience was a bit dulled by crashes and some minor bugs, it certainly didn’t ruin the game for me. Dark Alliance fits in nicely in the pantheon of Dungeons and Dragons games.”

Score: 7/10

Samantha Nelson, Windows Central:

“Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance will be available on Xbox Game Pass on launch day, so if you have the service to play the best Xbox Game Pass games you might as well fire it up and give the game a try. It’s a decent casual hack and slash title to share with friends, though even then you might want to wait until Tuque fixes the enemy banter so you get a more entertaining experience.

It’s really hard to justify paying the full $40 for a game that seems to be relying on a license to build an audience without really living up to the Dungeons & Dragons name. With a thin plot, no character development, fairly repetitive gameplay, and a bunch of content that needs fixing or won’t be delivered until a paid expansion, Dark Alliance feels like an unfinished experience rather than a robust adventure.”

Score: 3/5

Garri Bagdasarov, PlayStation Universe:

“Dark Alliance is the type of game for people looking to blow off steam with their friends. It’s such an exploration ride that I just wanted to keep playing it all day long. The fun combat and loot system kept me coming back even if it is a shame the story set in the D&D universe written by a prolific writer fails to live up to its potential. It’s also baffling that almost no love was given to the game on the PS5 to utilize its power or even the DualSense controller. At $40 though almost all of its flaws can be overlooked for just plain old fun.”

Score: 8/10

The post Dungeons and Dragons: Dark Alliance Review Roundup appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/35IX3fB

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

[ricekrispyjoints]

author about me

Tagged by @frenchibi​ !!!

1. How did you come up with your username and what does it mean?

no it’s not about weed my dad used to call me ricekrispies because of how easily i can crack a lot of my joints. he said i “snap crackle and pop”. so that’s me !

2. Which fanfic of yours has the most feedback? (bookmarks/subscriptions/hits/kudos)

my absolute fave iwaoi piece that i’ve written, Learning to Walk (So that We Can Run) i’m so proud of it and so glad that it’s gotten so much love

3. What is your AO3 profile icon, and why did you choose it?

it’s a manga cap of oikawa going “so fun~” bc i love my son xD

4. Do you have any regular/favourite commenters?

i’ve had a few people who will like, go through and read all my stuff in one go? and tbh i don’t get a lot of comments so really my favorite is everyone who decides to actually comment xD

5. Is there a fanfic that you keep going back to read again and again?

There’s like. so many. i have literally over a hundred haikyuu fics bookmarked alone.

6. How many stories are you subscribed to? How many do you have bookmarked?

according to ao3 i have 12 pages of subscriptions xD some of those have been abandoned i fear but i refuse to unsubscribe in case they return from the dead! bookmarks i have..... idk probably about 200 across all fandoms? the majority of that is haikyuu, but my yoi collection is growing.

7. Which AU do you find yourself writing the most?

i’m not really sure... lately i’ve been working on a lot of trans hc’s, but of my published stuff idk if there’s really a pattern

8. How many people are subscribed and bookmarked to you in total? (you can view this on the stats page)

116 user subs, 1936 bookmarks

9. Is there something you’d like to write about but are afraid of people judging you for it? (Feeling brave? If so, share it!)

at this point i’ve already crossed into writing smut, which was like fear #1 xD

10. Is there anything you would like to be better at? Writing certain scenes or genres, replying to comments, updating better, etc.

I just want to get more stuff written and published! i have so many more ideas than what i’ve actually put out there because I tend to bite off more than i can chew with some AUs...

11. Do you write rarepairs or popular ships more often?

i feel like i write majority iwaoi but of my published stuff it’s only 5/14 haikyuu fics?? xD my drafts folder, on the other hand.... i have a couple “rarepair” ships that i’ve written for (kurodai, hanamatsu) but i think the majority is popular ships

12. How many stories have you posted on AO3 to this day (finished and unfinished)?

19 (but i orphaned a bunch of old johnlock fics lolll): 14 haikyuu, 3 snk, 2 yoi

13. How many stories do you have saved in/with your writing program?

uhhh 122 for fanfic, 84 original

14. Do you write down story ideas, or just keep them in your head?

usually write them down, but sometimes i like to leave them in my head while i kind of play with different ideas, before it becomes a solid story

15. Have you ever co-authored a story?

not yet, but @frenchibi​ and i are gonna do something together !!

16. How did you discover AO3?

probably through tumblr? bc i was living my life on ff.net until suddently ao3 was like. everywhere xD

17. Do you consider yourself to be a popular or famous author in your fandom(s) on AO3?

lmao no not at all xD

18. Do you have a nickname or fandom name for your readers?

pfft no

19. Was there an author who inspired or encouraged you to write?

i don’t really remember? i’ve been writing (non-fandom) since i was a kid, but i don’t know what got me started. childhood is kinda hazy for me D: now, my friends have been a huge inspiration to keep me going, helped beta things for me, bounce ideas around... that kind of thing :)

20. What writing advice would you give to a beginning author?

start small. i mean yes, there are people who are successful at like “this is my first fic ever! it’s an 80k wip!!” but i highly recommend starting with shorter stuff. get a feel for world building, character development (esp if it’s original writing!), and oh my gosh endings ?? the worst.

also just write what you love. if you want to hc everyone in the entire show as a bunch of trans gay people, then do it. who cares if that’s “unrealistic”. who cares! if it makes you happy, do it.

21. Do you plot out your stories, or do you just figure it out as you go?

depends. for short one shots, it’s usually like “oh what if this happened!” and then i just write it all out. for longer things or multi-chapters, i like to outline where i’m going, major plot points, etc. for my longest fic to date (152k) i had a separate like 20k document of backstory, character info, etc.

22. Have you ever gotten a bad comment on a story? If so, what did you do?

happily, no. i’ve had a couple of comments with like, suggestions or polite criticism, but never of the work in general and always really kind and well-meaning.

23. Is there a certain type of scene that you have a hard time writing? (action, smut, etc..)

smut continues to be a challenge, tho i like to think i’m getting better at it? and angst. i love to read it, but i don’t think i’m so good at writing it.

24. What story(s) are you working on now?

currently editing my nanowrimo project, rising, which i have now posted chapter 1 of!

25. Do you plan your next project(s) before you finish your current ongoing story(s)?

i have so many pans in the fire it’s crazy but i do prioritize one particular story at a time

26. Do you have a daily writing goal set for yourself?

honestly no. during nanowrimo i did, but i’m in grad school and unfortunately personal writing has taken a back seat to that

27. Do you think you’ve improved as a writer since you first started?

oh my gosh yes yes yes. a million times. i started when i was like. a child. i have read some of my old stuff and Y I K E S. cringey.

28. What is your favorite story that you’ve written?

definitely my knee surgery recovery fic, but followed closely by an original piece i wrote about my mental illness.

29. What is your least favorite story that you’ve written?

um anything i wrote for the bbc sherlock fandom i orphaned many moons ago. xD

30. Where do you see yourself (as a writer) in 5 years?

i want to get back into a little of my original stuff again, but hopefully continue writing fanfic.

31. What is the easiest thing about writing?

sometimes when you just get into the flow of it and it feels like no time has passed but you’ve written like 4k in one go xD

32. What is the hardest thing about writing?

endings. i don’t know how to finish a story. two of my nanowrimo projects (original fiction) just. are sitting on my comp. unfinished. it hurts :(

33. Why do you write?

because i think language is amazing and i like bending it to what i want to express

thank you so much for tagging me, this was fun and a great way to procrastinate my homework

i don’t really know a lot of authors?? so if you are an author and want to do this, i am officially tagging you :D

#my writing #tag games #about me

[drundertalescum]

Unfinished Writing Requests List

I wanted to see just how deep i am so i made a list of every writing request i haven't finished and my excuse for why i haven’t finished them

below cut because its really more for my reference

AO3 Requests

1 . (War Vets AU)

PROBLEM: I couldn't narrow down an idea! Too many things I want to write but none stands above the others enough to call to me

2. Building Bridges

Sans in Deitale

PROBLEM: trying to keep canon compliance with the AU and make it interesting. It's probably publishable with like 2 more scenes written but i don't remember the filename and I feel like perfectionism is going to strike when I open it

3. The Message

The Ruins spiders send the message to Muffet

PROBLEM:  got sidetracked world building spider society. Had a newer/cooler idea recently but didn't pounce on it fast enough before inspiration dried up

4. Goldfish

Bad Brother AU

PROBLEM: holy fuck is this a darkfic. It's... actually darker than I really feel comfortable writing???? I was going to do it anyway but then a highly publicized news story broke and it made things even more uncomfortable and I didn't want to seem like I was cashing in on that or commenting on it on any way and the (loose) similarities actually made me feel sick? I'll try to finish this for October because that's a good time for darkfics

5. Jetplane

Papyrus has a nervous breakdown in front of Asgore

PROBLEM: I couldn't get the inspiration back for what I was going for one I lost it and the result was that it felt very stilted and forced and lacked the thing that made the idea appealing to me. It's really hard to recapture because it's such a difficult thing to describe. As a bonus, this feeling I'm chasing for this one is the same one rocktale is about.

6. Ambassador Papyrus Fic

PROBLEM: I think I had this started but it's the direct sequel to Jetplane, and less developed because I haven't quite figured out a good direction for it.

7. Ghost Dinners

Ghost family dinner

PROBLEM: Worldbuilding hell, but also I just don't really know the direction I want to take it

8. Waterfall Wanderer

Frisk gets lost in Waterfall only to be saved by Sans

PROBLEM: Somehow I wrote this entirely in my head, like, word for word? Like in an hour. A thousand words. I could probably quote it. BUT I DIDN'T ACTUALLY WRITE IT DOWN AND IT FEELS SO WEIRD TO TRY. So the problem here is extreme laziness. Sans would be proud.

9. Fired

Toriel/Alphys friendship

Problem: this has to be early post-pacifist and that's hard because I need to figure out a lot of world building. This will probably be a part of Jetplane’s series because of that.

10. Underfell fic:

PROBLEM: I only just realised this was what that Underfell snippet I posted was trying to fill. So the problem here is I forgot I got this request and will probably do it soon (and lol I even posted an Underfell fic after getting this but it wasn't for this)

11. Muffet Chopping Wood

Problem: I just don't have any ideas. I really LOVE that this one was very specific because I usually work better with specific scenarios but for some reason I'm blanking hard on writing this out

12. Mountain Showdown

Sequel to “Voicemail”

Problem: I don't want to write this battle out and I also want it to be a 3 part drabble like the first but I'm not sure the best format to make that work

Ficlets of July (or, you know, 2017 hopefully)

13. Feverish Papyrus being cared for by Undyne

Problem: This just doesn’t want to flow for me. Also worldbuilding trap.  It’s also part 2 of another ficlet

14. Swap!Papyrus trying to be cool

Problem: I considered this filled by the SwapPap and Undyne one, but I also really want to write more of the swap bros so when that urge bites this one is getting filled

15. Undyne goes grocery shopping:

Problem: This is mostly done!!! I just got sidetracked

16. Childhood Undyne scene

Problem: burden of choice

17. Mercyplates birthday party

Problem: I couldn’t decide which version of mercyplates I wanted to use

18. Flowey gets a thornicure

Problem: Scene-setting hell

19. Underswap!sans x underfell!sans

Problem: I got this before I ruled out self-cest so I was going to write bonding scenes between them but I just kinda… realized it was taking too long for something that would satisfy neither the asker nor myself and it wasn’t quite the version of swap sans i wanted to use and it was just kind of weird. I do want to finish it because the concept was kinda weird and interesting but its currently lowest priority

Angst prompts fics

(I just straight up forgot about these when I had a brief angst burnout i’m sorry)

20. PAPYRUS - “I’m trying, can’t you see? Isn’t that enough for you?”

I think I started this or it may have just been a personal WIP? Even if it was the personal WIP, it’s the most likely to get written

21. SANS + TORIEL OR PAPYRUS “For once, stop pretending you’re okay! Just talk to me!”

I can’t decide the combination I want is the problem

22. Sans + Papyrus - “I don’t need you. I don’t need any of you.”

I have no idea but i really wish i did

23. Undyne - “I don’t love you. I never have.”

I can think of so many things and yet so few things

There’s also a bunch of fuzzy wuzzy and echo stuff and some other stuff and my own stuff but yeah, all the requests i didn’t do yet. If I missed yours, that mean I never got it or I forgot a batch of requests being opened.

#my fics

[samuelmmarcus]

Beautiful Homes of Instagram: How to Build your own Home

  Beautiful Homes of Instagram is truly one of my favorite type of posts I publish on Home Bunch. It’s certainly not the easiest, but it’s a favorite and I hope it is for you too. I feel very proud to be featuring so many talented homeowners and be able to not only see their homes but especially know their story and the process of designing their space.

I am very happy to have Kristin of @kristin_kgdesigns on the blog today and I really think you will feel inspired by her beautiful home, especially if you dream of building your own home but feel intimated by this big task. Here, the homeowner shares more details and some encouragement:

  Hi everyone! Luciane asked me to write up my “story”… so it all began back in the late 1970’s when little Kristin came into the world… kidding. No one needs to hear that! Let’s talk about my house building story, shall we?

That story starts about 3.5 years ago. We were living in our dream house we had built ourselves and had worked so hard on. It was on 5 wooded acres and we loved it. Then my oldest started kindergarten. We loved our house and property but we were not in the best area and certainly not a good school district. I thought we could stick it out for another few years but after one day of volunteering in his class I came home and told my husband we had to move. He nearly killed me…but he eventually acquiesced and we decided to start looking in the “good” school district. Lucky for us one of the top districts in the state was only a 20 minute move.

We sold our dream house and started looking for a house in the area we wanted to be in. Turns out we totally couldn’t afford the area we wanted to be in. So that meant we’d have to build again to get the kind of house and property we wanted our kids to grow up in. We found a gorgeous 5 acre property that had a 1962 ranch house that had never been updated and had an unfinished basement. We bought that property and did a boundary line adjustment so that we had two separate properties. We lived in the ranch house while designing and permitting our new house on our own. We literally designed every inch of this new house ourselves. While doing this (and both working full time), we gutted and completely remodeled the ranch house.

Permitting took us 15 months to complete and we broke ground in August of 2017. We moved in 10 months later. We were the general contractor and my husband built most of the house while I was his laborer. We both worked full time during all of this so we would get home every night and walk out to the new house to work until bedtime. For over two years we said no to almost every social invitation we received. We worked on this labor of love every day. And we couldn’t be happier. We love this house and can’t wait to raise our kids here.

    Beautiful Homes of Instagram: How to Build your own Home

This is Kristin, a talented landscape architect, with her beautiful family!

Front Porch

A cross fence-style railing adds a farmhouse feel to the exterior of Kristin’s home. Exterior paint color is Sherwin Williams Extra White.

Welcome mat from Target.

Rug under welcome mat from Target as well.

Raised Metal Planters: CB2.

The rocking chairs from Wayfair.

Home-Sweet-Home

What a dreamy foyer! I love how serene this space feels. Wall paint color is Agreeable Gray by Sherwin Williams.

Trim paint color: Extra White by Sherwin Williams.

Bench: HomeGoods – similar here.

Front entry rug: Target.

Similar Barn Artwork: here.

Front Door Paint Color

The front door paint color is Tricorn Black by Sherwin Williams.

Foyer Lighting: Wayfair.

Kitchen

We went with a simple shaker style in white for the kitchen cabinets.

Cabinets: Canyon Creek Cabinet Company.

Lighting & Pot Filler

The pot filler is from Wayfair.

Kitchen Lighting: Capital Lighting.

Kitchen Backsplash

The backsplash is a subway tile in a matte finish with a medium gray grout.

Refrigerator & Countertop

“I wanted to give you one of the best cost saving tips if you’re building or remodeling a kitchen. Our fridge looks and functions like an expensive unit but it’s really just two separate, simple units with a trim piece attached. Ours is by Frigidaire and we love it! Saved us a bunch of money but we still have the look and function of something much more expensive.”

Get the Look: Refrigerator, Freezer & Trim.

Quartz countertops: Coastal Gray from Pental Quartz.

Kitchen Hardware

The kitchen hardware is from Ikea BAGGANÄS Handle, black.

Runner carpets are from Target. Other Lovely Runners: here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here & here.

All appliances are LG.

Counterstools

Counterstools are from Target. They’re so sleek and practical!

Flooring

Flooring is DuChateau Youngscombe vinyl plank- similar here.

Ceiling Beams

The cathedral ceiling features beams and shiplap. Beams Old World Traditions – The Magnolia Faux Beam in Light Oak – similar here.

Windows are black painted vinyl by Prime Windows with a custom interior grid.

Dining Room

A warm and welcoming dining room is located between the kitchen and the family room.

Dining chairs are from Crate and Barrel.

Chandelier

Chandelier is by Capital Lighting.

Dining Table

From this angle you can see the beautiful combination of shiplap cathedral ceiling with the board and batten fireplace. This is an idea to keep in mind!

Dining table is from Crate and Barrel.

Living Room Console table: Silviano 84” Iron Console Table by Crate and Barrel.

Barn lights are from Recesso Lighting – similar here.

Living Room

Different types textures bring the right amount of warmth to this space. The leather section is a practical and timeless choice.

Leather Sectional: Custom-made by local company to the exact dimensions of the RH Maxwell – similar here & here.

Coffee Table: Drum Reclaimed Woodblock Barrel Coffee Table – similar here.

Chairs

Accent Chairs: Esters Wood Armchair by Project 62 in Millbrook Husk.

Mantel & Rug

The mantel was a DIY project the homeowner did from a Douglas Fir.

Rug was a find at Homegoods – Beautiful Rugs: here, here, here, here, here, here, here & here (my dream rug

).

Tile is Statements tile, Wide in color Fog – similar here.

Hallway Console Table

Console Table: Target.

Mirror: Here.

Powder Room

This is a dresser from Wayfair that my husband cut a hole in and installed this sink. It works just like I hoped it would!

Vanity is a retrofitted dresser from Wayfair.

Pendant light is from Wayfair.

Mirror: Here.

Sink & Faucet

Sink is from Wayfair.

Faucet: Derengge – similar here.

Home Office

The home office paint color is Dovetail by Sherwin Williams. The quartz countertop on built-in is Pental Quartz ‘Icelake’.

Round black table in the center is from Target.

Office desk is from Wayfair.

Office chairs are also from Wayfair.

Wall Gallery

Photos are from Shutterfly.

Bonus Room

Upstairs you will find a bonus room with plenty of space for entertaining.

Round table from Target.

Ping Pong table is from Wayfair.

Metal Dressers are from Urban Outfitters.

Brass round mirrors from Target.

Daughter’s Bedroom

Wall is a decal from Innovative Stencils (she loves owls and wanted a brown wall with a forest).

Bed is from Ikea – similar here.

Dresser

Dresser is by Tvilum.

Master Bedroom

Kristin’s bedroom features many great architectural details. Main wall color is Agreeable Gray by Sherwin Williams.

Lighting: Wayfair.

Barn Doors

The antique doors are from a local Architectural salvage store.

Bed & Nightstand

Bed is from Crate and Barrel.

Nightstands are from Crate and Barrel.

Table Lamps: Target.

Grid Board & Batten

Accent Wall: my husband built it by attaching trim in a grid right on to our textured, sheet- rocked walls and painting it all the same color. Accent wall color is Dovetail by Sherwin Williams.

Rug is from West Elm.

Bedding

Bedding is Nate Berkus for Target.

Master Bathroom

This master bathroom is all about symmetry and beauty. Now… imagine taking a bath with that peaceful view. I feel more relaxed just by looking at this picture.

Freestanding Tub: Anzzi.

Tub Filler: Vanity Art.

Lighting

Chandelier is from Wayfair.

Sconces are also from Wayfair.

Vanities

Vanities are the 60” Malibu vanity by James Martin – available here in 48″.

Flooring & Wall Tile

Tile is Statements tile, Wide in color Fog – similar here.

Accent tile is a subway tile.

Mirrors: Here.

Mudroom

This is the kind mudroom / laundry room that anyone would love to have. It is almost the size of a NYC apartment!

Faux leather storage bins from Target.

Mudroom Bench & Windows

The mudroom bench is actually Ikea butcher block. Brilliant!

Lighting: Wayfair.

Floor Tile

Tile is Statements tile, Wide in color Fog – similar here.

Paint Color

The paint color is Sherwin Williams Agreeable Gray.

The laundry room backsplash tile is Bedrosians Enchante Charm.

Outdoor Dining

The living room opens to a very spacious back porch.

Picnic Table: Cost Plus.

Dining Bench: Cost Plus.

Dining chairs are from CB2.

Chandelier

Chandelier from Wayfair.

Outdoor Fireplace

The outdoor fireplace mimics the living room’s fireplace, featuring tile and board and batten paneling.

  Many thanks to Kristin for sharing the details above. Make sure to follow her on Instagram to see more pictures of her stunning home!

Have a Blessed week, my friends!

  Best Sales of the Month:

Thank you for shopping through Home Bunch. I would be happy to assist you if you have any questions or are looking for something in particular. Feel free to contact me and always make sure to check dimensions before ordering. Happy shopping!

  Wayfair: Up to 70% OFF Black Friday in July!!!

  Serena & Lily: 30% OFF Pillows and 20% OFF Custom Furniture!

  Joss & Main: Up to 70% off “Don’t Think Twice Sale”!

  Pottery Barn: 20% OFF your order plus free shipping. Use code: SUMMER.

  One Kings Lane :20% Off on order over $600 with code OKLSTYLISH20

  West Elm: 30% Off Bedding, Bath, Rugs & more!

  Anthropologie: Take an Extra 50% Off Sale!

  Urban Outfitters: Take an extra 40% off all sale items.

  Horchow: Up to 30% off the entire site!

  Neiman Marcus: Take an Extra 40 to 50% off !!!

  Saks Fifth Avenue: The Designer Sale: up to 75% off!

  Nordstrom: Anniversary Sale – Incredible Prices!!!

  Posts of the Week:

Florida Beach Cottage.

  2019 New Year Home Tour.

Classic Colonial Home Design.

Empty-Nester Modern Farmhouse.

Interior Design Ideas: Home Renovation.

Stone Lake House.

Beautiful Homes of Instagram: Building a Forever Home.

Newport Island Beach House.

Belgian-style Modern Farmhouse.

Stone Cottage-style Home Design.

New Year, New Beautiful Homes of Instagram.

Before & After Home Renovation.

California Duplex Home Design.

Australian Beach House.

Family-friendly Home Design.

Beautiful Homes of Instagram: Canada.

Beautiful Homes of Instagram.

Georgian-Style Manor with Traditional Interiors.

Transitional Home Design.

Interior Design Ideas.

Grey Kitchen Paint Colors.

Beautiful Homes of Instagram: California Beach House.

Follow me on Instagram: @HomeBunch

You can follow my pins here: Pinterest/HomeBunch

See more Inspiring Interior Design Ideas in my Archives.

“Dear God,

If I am wrong, right me. If I am lost, guide me. If I start to give-up, keep me going.

Lead me in Light and Love”.

Have a wonderful day, my friends and we’ll talk again tomorrow.”

with Love,

Luciane from HomeBunch.com

Come Follow me on

Come Follow me on

Get Home Bunch Posts Via Email

Contact Luciane

“For your shopping convenience, this post might contain links to retailers where you can purchase the products (or similar) featured. I make a small commission if you use these links to make your purchase so thank you for your support!”

from Home http://www.homebunch.com/beautiful-homes-of-instagram-how-to-build-your-own-home/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

[slapegg]

Quick Critique: Battle Chasers: Nightwar

Before I even get to the meat of this: DO NOT BUY THIS GAME, IT IS VERY BROKEN. Again, even if you loved the comic and love turn-based RPGS: DO NOT GIVE THIS COMPANY MONEY, THEY RELEASED A BROKEN GAME.

Joe Mad is one of my favorite artists and I read the Battle Chasers comic pretty much just to see him draw pretty things. I only just read it a year or two ago, so I thankfully avoided the whole incident of him bailing on the series and leaving it unfinished after a main plot twist. The actual story (and most of the writing) is kind of just Dungeons and Dragons meets generic anime stuff, but it had enough moments and unique ideas here and there to make the comic series worth it, even this many years after its initial release. So Battle Chasers the comic is pretty good. Battle Chasers the video game, however, is a steaming pile of garbage.

This game is so unfinished and slapped together that I'm just going to list out a stream of the constant issues it has: It crashes. A LOT. It's not just one thing going wrong, it crashes all over the place and multiple times at different spots (inventory screen, leaving a dungeon, changing screens, and so on) I actually had a crash during the ending credits It locks up every time I try to enter the Arena forcing me to force close the game I finally managed to enter the Arena (apparently some of the difficulties work and others don't), it's a series of battles with a 20 minute time limit, I'm doing the hardest difficulty to get the final prizes, get through multiple rounds where I'm one turn away from the entire party dying or I lucked out and a character dodged an instant kill move, I'm at the last boss with 2 minutes left on the clock, deliver the killing blow with 23 seconds left on the clock, I get the Playstation level trophy for completing the Arena, the game showers me with prizes, I leave the Arena, I open the menu, the game crashes and upon relaunching sets me back at the beginning of the Arena having made no progress at all and with none of the prizes. I think I just instantly skipped over anger, sunk back in my chair, and whispered "mother fuckers" to myself for a few minutes After a battle, I lost the ability to interact with any objects. Seeing as how the dungeon required me to flip a switch to advance, I had to quit the game. This happened multiple times Frequent hitches and freezing for a second on the map, exploring, and in battle Menus aren't responsive for a few seconds after opening them I had a story scene fail to load and the game just displayed a screen full of that "missing image" pink I had a different story scene fail to load but I still got the subtitles. This one was a major story sequence so it wasn't repeatable the next time I played the dungeon so I would have liked to have seen that The voice acting is Sega Saturn levels of bad. They're horrible choices for the characters but then poorly acted on top of that. And they apply random odd filters over the readings. There's a scene in the open air in a town where your characters talk to each other but Gully sounds like her lines were recorded in a particularly echo-y bathroom. The only character I cared for was The Collector, a sinister but gleeful little monster that is likely eating the remains of dead bosses that you bring it. The Collector deserves to be in a better game than this one The text size is WAY too small The walking speed is slow. If you doubled the walking speed, it would still be too slow Battles are slow both in animation and action speed and how many hits it takes to kill a grunt enemy The core combat system is tedious and relies far too much on crits and applying status effects. Most end game fights devolve into who can apply the most debuffs to the other team and then spamming special moves that gain extra traits if the enemy has specific debuffs The music is so laid back that it (rightfully) just seems uninterested in being a part of this game, even during battles. The soundtrack is so forgettable and uninteresting that I usually turned the game audio almost off and listened to the BBC while I played. The Shipping Report pretty much matches the pace and excitement of this game Totally unnecessary crafting mechanics By the time you get enough crafting materials to build a weapon, it's worse than what you get from dungeon crawling You can't sort your crafting materials alphabetically, so when you're looking up how many of a quest item you need, have fun sorting through that mess Totally unnecessary fishing mini-game Every time you enter battle, the UI flashes a move description. I think it's loading the last thing you used in the previous battle Occasional multiple second pauses at the start of a battle before the UI will display or you can interact with it in any way Clunky menu UI Loot-based drops that do nothing to make the game more interesting Loot that isn't even interesting or exciting because most of the equipment is very similar and the vast majority of what you find is just crafting materials you won't use Major side-quests and items that are gated by random loot drops. You have to hope the characters show up on the map and then hope they drop the item you need (usually multiple times) or else start a dungeon from scratch and do it all over again Semi-randomized dungeons where the actual rooms barely change but their order does, so combined with the need to grind, the dungeons get really boring and just have you looking for the exits rather than rewarding you for exploring. Later dungeons even repeat pieces of earlier dungeons Items in shops are stupidly expensive for how little they change your stats and for the piddly amount enemies actually pay out or what items sell for. While spending a night at the inn cost me 40 coins, selling a purple rank weapon only got me 17 coins. It's actually faster to play through the whole first dungeon and get the health and mana refill before the boss than it is to grind out the money to stay a night at the inn for a large chunk of the game Just about every item you find in the wild will raise one stat but then lower multiple other ones so you kind of just have to pick one stat for a character to use and min/max the hell out of it Items in your inventory will mark themselves as new even though you've seen them before Items in the world will still sparkle as if they're unchecked even though you already have them If you have to close and restart a dungeon (say because the game crashed or locked up), it will acknowledge that you've been through the rooms but respawn the enemies past a seemingly random point. I had one dungeon where the objective was to kill two mini-bosses, I did so, saved the game in case it crashed at the boss, and upon reloading it, the mini-bosses respawned even though I had the objective that said they were dead checked off Every time the game crashes, it resets your super meter. So you can go through a dungeon, build up your meter, save it for the boss fight, the game crashes, you reload at the boss, and now you have no meter and you're at a serious disadvantage Perks and equipment will unequip themselves (this may be related to all the crashes) I met an enemy without warning that was vastly stronger than anything I'd seen in the game before, I could only do 80 damage to it per turn, and every turn it could heal itself for 84 health. And for some reason I wasn't allowed to run away from the fight so I had to sit there for 10 minutes turn by turn hitting the enemy, watching it heal, and letting it whittle down my party's health. Dying then made me lose a chunk of my money Apparently those are special enemies that offer a special reward if beaten, but it wasn't until I was at the final dungeon that I ever saw them again. I don't know if the game was broken and would no longer spawn them or what Another dungeon had a bunch of enemies that I tore through with no problem, and then I got to the boss and it killed each member of my party in 1 hit. Dying, again, made me lose a chunk of my money. So the lesson is to never sell anything until you can fully afford the thing you're trying to buy because you never know when the game is going to throw balancing out the window and punish YOU for it I don't think you can manually save without quitting the game. But quitting the game dumps everything it loaded into memory or something because when you load the game back up, it can take 40 seconds to load into your first battle. Given all the crashes, you have to save and quit often, so get used to watching the first 15 seconds or so of the opening cutscene because you can't skip to the title screen until that plays out The trophies aren't properly proofread and sometimes won't award when you earn them and instead pop the next time you load the game If a character dies from a status effect at the start of their turn, the UI is not graceful I would love to hear some kind of justification on the game's balancing because the way it's set up is that you beat a dungeon, unlock the next story dungeon, but you're not actually strong enough to progress the story yet, so you have to go back and grind the dungeon a you've already finished to level up a bit. You pretty much have to beat each level on each difficulty before you can move ahead, so by the time you're ready to move the story along, you're really, really sick of the previous dungeon Characters not in your party don't gain any experience from battle, so the game actively discourages you from trying new characters. I was level 10 when I unlocked Knolan, but he was only level 9 and the more I use my normal team, the further Knolan falls behind, so I have no reason to ever add him to my party. Changing team members just means you have to redo all the grinding you've done to level them up and hope you get some loot drops for them. Maybe it's just how I play the game, but there's really only one viable team. You HAVE to have Calibretto on your team because he's the only decent healer. Garrison is the only one that can do any decent damage. Gully is slow and focuses on defense, while Monika has high evasion, good damage, and can bog enemies down with stat debuffs so Monika is way more useful Doing end game clean up, I used my weaker teammates because my main team stopped earning experience from the early dungeons, I met those special pirate enemies with this team, was happy to have a chance to fight them, but the pirates scale to your strongest team not the team you're actually using so my level 9, 12, and 17 characters got destroooyed by the level 30 enemies The team couldn't even do New Game + properly. Starting NG+ causes you to lose all your items, so all that time you spent on random drops to get the ultimate weapons and armor was totally wasted. It's completely unnecessary to do this because all the weapons are level gated. So if you reset the character levels, you stop them from having access to the top gear from the start, but once they level up, they get their hard earned weapons back. That would have been the competent way to handle NG+ here New Game + starts you off with the whole team, but it doesn't properly handle that you've unlocked characters before their normal unlocking event, so the shops won't sell you their perk bonus or costume items. Even if you come back at the end of the game when you'd normally have those characters, the game still treats them like they haven't been unlocked yet

Even with its many, MANY glaring flaws, they have the audacity to not actually finish the game's story. You slog through all of this, beat the final boss, and the ending is barely more than "hey, buy some DLC or a sequel".

So, yeah, don't spend money on this game. The perk system is kind of neat though. You get points when you level up and you can cash them in on an attack path or a defense path. As you buy perks on each path, every 20 points you spend unlocks a bonus perk that can offer some substantial stat boosts. You can respec for free, so you can mess around with different choices as you slooowly grind out levels or boss fight currency to get more points.

Battle Chasers is bad but not in the way that most low budget games are bad. The art's great so the game looks fantastic and draws you in. It's the quality design sensibilities and usability in the game that are godawful, the gameplay is as dry as it comes, and it's an unfinished mess. Everything about this screams that the team got a slew of crowdfunding money but then nobody on the team actually knew how to make a good video game so this got rushed out the door without proper testing or fixes to hit a deadline. Battle Chasers makes me question whether Playstation cert matters. If this game, with its constant crashes and 100% reproducible lock-ups, can be released for sale, then clearly nobody is checking the actual game or doing anything remotely resembling quality control.

#Battle Chasers #nightwar #battle chasers: nightwar #airship syndicate

[minthalo]

All of the fanfiction asks!

oh boy okay here we go

1. What was your first fic and could you stand to reread it today?

my first fic was “Do you want to build a Sand Castle With Me?” and I can reread it only because i rewrote it a few months ago and posted over the original 

2. What’s your most recent fic and how far do you think you’ve come?

my most recent fic is “Cobrababy Nate” and I think i’ve improved a lot since the first fics i’ve written... at least i hope i have

3. In your opinion, what’s your best fic?

my favorite fic has to be “Meet me by the lake”

4. In your opinion and without looking at any numbers, what’s your most popular fic?

Probably my first fic “Do you want to build a sand castle with me?”

5. Is there any fic that makes you super happy to reread and remember you wrote that?

Yes!!! my favorite one is “You have a nice voice”

6. Is there any fic that makes you super embarrassed to reread and remember you wrote that?

Y e s and it’s “Ooh Santa Travie”

7. What’s the fic you most want to continue (unfinished or no)?

I have this one Joncer au that i’ve never posted and I’m in Love With but i can’t find the motivation to write anything lately so it’s just sitting in my google drive unfinished staring at me until i complete it

8. What’s the oldest (longest since last update) fic you most want to continue (unfinished or no)?

hmmm I have this one Brencer au that i never posted that i haven’t touched in Forever so probably that one, i really want to finish it

9. Have you ever written for a fandom without watching/reading/playing the source material?

no but i’ve thought about it

10. Have you ever written for a fandom without reading other fanfic for it?

no i usually read a bunch of fics before writing my own

11. Have you ever written a fic for a concept you know someone else has done before? How did it impact your writing process or feelings after posting?

Yeah, i used to take prompts off those big posts full of them, and I know there are a million more popular fics with the same idea. I usually try to let it not bother me too much

12. Have you ever written a fic and decided never to publish it? Why?

Yes, i wasn’t comfortable with people reading that side of my writing. Maybe one day it’ll change

13. What’s the biggest change between your style when you started in fandom and today?

I use proper grammar

14. What’s the biggest change in your taste between when you started in fandom and today?

I look for more short and sweet fics rather than long ones like i used to

15. Have you ever purposefully written one fandom/fic idea over another because you knew it’d be more popular?

Yup, i would write frerard fics because i knew it would get a lot of attention even though i wasnt really into that ship

16. Have you ever stopped writing a fic/for a fandom because it wasn’t receiving enough attention?

yup. I love rywalk but no one reads it so i stopped writing for that pairing

17. In your opinion, what’s your most overrated fic?

“Hot Shirtless Plant Guy” its like the second fic i ever wrote and its not very good. I went back and rewrote it because it was so bad

18. What’s your most underrated fic?

literally any of my rywalk fics. they deserve better

19. If you had to pick one fic/scene/chapter of your work to describe your entire portfolio to a stranger, which would you pick?

Shit i dont know, maybe the scene in “Do you want to build a sand castle with me” where Pete wakes Mikey up and they walk around their neighborhood in the middle of the night. I like that scene

20. Have/Would you ever rewrite a fic? If yes, would you take the original down?

Yes i have. I posted over most of my old fics with revised versions of them because the originals were so bad. I didn’t change much, just fixed the Many spelling and grammar errors 

21. If someone starts kudosing and commenting your fics in a spree and has a few works of their own, would you go look through theirs?

Yes!! if they have an account i always go on it to see their fics and if it is in a fandom i like i’ll try to read them

22. Has there ever been anyone who’s made you freak out because they read your work and followed/favorited/reviewed?

Y E S theres this one fic “Fragile Capricorn” and the author left kudos on my santa travie fic and i freaked out but also cried because thats the worst fic i’ve ever written but thats the one fic they read

23. What’s the nicest review you’ve ever gotten?

literally all my reviews are nice it makes me cry but my favorite was one on “Phone Call” and it was “ THIS. this is the fic that got me into joetrick a while ago. thank u for showing me the light.” it makes me so happy i can convert people to ships i like

24. What’s the meanest review you’ve ever gotten? Do you think the reviewer intended it?

I’ve never gotten a mean review on my fics but i have gotten people sending me anon hate here for them, and yeah i do think that person meant for it to be insulting.

25. What constructive criticism, however well-meaning, always makes you feel bad when you see it in a review?

“Please update faster!!” I know they mean well but writing is hard

26. What aspect of your writing do you most enjoy to see praised?

that I write well at all because I have a million doubts in my head that my fics are shit

27. If you could only ever write crossovers or single-fandom fics ever again, which would you pick?

single fandom fics

28. if you could only ever write for a single crossover or a single fandom again, which would you pick?

probably bandom

29. Does the division of your writing across fandoms line up with your reading? What’s the biggest discrepancy?

I like to think so but alot of these fics are amazing and Im just like,, basic

30. Do you continue to write for a fandom after you’ve moved on or do you focus solely on the new one?

I jump between fandoms for a while before stopping and moving on, its usually a slow change

31. Who’s the one character you’ve just never managed to get perfectly right?

Mikey way tbh

32. Who’s the one character who shines without you even trying?

literally none of them theyre all so hard to write

33. Is there any particular character whose scenes always wind up being longer/more frequent than you expected? Does the quality hold up?

not really

34. Was there any fic that you wrote that really surprised you in the fandom reaction? Was it just by the numbers or did they take it an entirely different way?

Yes my first Joetrick fic is one of my most popular fics and I didn’t expect that at all, I never realized how popular that ship is

35. Have you ever written a ship into a fic without meaning to?

surprisingly no, all my ships are planned out

36. Have you ever sincerely written a ship you do not support into a fic?

Yes. I hate ryden and i put it in my first fic for the sole purpose to break them up in a horrible way

37. Have you ever purposefully bashed a character/ship in a fic?

Yes. I hate ryden and i put them in “Do you want to build a sand castle with me?” only to break them up

38. Have you ever purposefully written something you know your readers would find uncomfortable/would not enjoy? If yes, why?

yes. I write in sad things because i know itll make readers sad

39. Do you consider yourself to have a readership?

My ao3 stats say I have 16 people subscribed to my account but i have a hard time believing that many people like my fics that much

40. Do you feel like you put out enough content?

No. I have major writers block (and also depression) so i never have motivation to write fics even though i really want to, i never feel like i put out enough fics

41. If you cross-post your fics on multiple sites, do you have a favorite? Are there certain fics you would only post on certain site?

I dont cross post but my favorite site is ao3

42. How many views has your most popular fic gotten?

most popular fic is “Do you want to build a sand castle with me?” and it has 1,922 hits on ao3 

43. Your least popular?

Least popular fic is “What could have been” and it has 56 hits on ao3

44. Do you follow/favorite/kudos/comment/review more stories than you have received?

I think so. I kudos every fic i read

45. If you had to call yourself an author of a single genre (besides fanfic) what label would you give yourself?

romance definitely  

46. Do you consider yourself a diverse author?

Not really i write pretty basic stuff

47. If someone you know in real life who isn’t involved in fandoms asked to read your work, would you let them? If yes, what would you recommend they read first?

depends who they are but mostly yes, I would probably give them either “meet me by the lake” or “Do you want to build a sand castle with me?”

48. Does anyone you know from outside of fandom know you write fanfic? Are they involved in the same fandom too?

Yes all my friends know I write fanfiction. It’s not really something I’m ashamed of, and they usually think its less weird after I tell them I dont write porn

49. Has anyone in your life ever read your fanfic just because you wrote it?

Yes!! My friend Veronica reads all my fics because I wrote them!! she barley even know the fandoms I write for

50. Has writing fanfic had a significant impact on your life? Would you say it’s entirely positive?

Yes it has had a big impact on my life, and I say its mostly positive. I’ve met some of my best friends because of writing fanfiction and that means the world to me

You can find all of my fics on ao3 Here!!

#asks #ask #anon #anonymous #thank u for asking!! i loved this so much #Anonymous

[mybrendanthehuntress137]

[Sneak Peek]Walt Disney World vs Disneyland Space mountain. Which is Better?

I feel like I should put this out, Space mountain is one of my favorite roller coaster of all time. But the question is; Which one is the best one: The one in Disneyland or the one in Walt Disney World? Well lets take a look. This my new series where I compare which one is better.

First lets look at the history of how this mountain came to be

During the Space age in the 50′s, Walt Disney was making a documentary on television about the potentials of space travel. While working on Disneyland in Anaheim. Walt Disney had help from a Disney animator John Hench. He and Walt wanted to make a land called ‘Tomorrowland’, a futuristic land of the year 1986, being educational and preparing others for the future. When Disneyland opened in July 17 of 1955, it was a big success. In Tomorrowland, their most thrilling attraction was Rocket to the Moon: a space themed ride which gave guests a thrilling sneak peak of commercial space flight that would be popular in the future. While Disneyland was a huge hit in its first year of operation, Tomorrowland would never be completed. The problem with Tomorrowland is that tomorrow will always come, new ideas for the future will always come, and Tomorrowland would be outdated.

 This is what Tomorrowland used to look like in the 50′s in Disneyland

In 1959, Disneyland got its first expansion with the Monorail, The Submarine Voyage, and the Matterhorn Bobsleds ride, this would make Matterhorn the world’s first steel roller coaster. During the 60′s, Walt Disney replaced Rocket to the Moon with The Flying saucers in 1961 which closed in 1966 due to technical issues. He decide to get help with the other artists to plan a Major overhaul for Tomorrowland showcasing new ideas and technology for the future.

Concept art for the New Tomorrowland

In 1964, The World’s fair was showcased, showing newer technology. When Matterhorn was a big hit, Walt Disney said to the imagineers “Why can’t we have a ‘Space mountain’ ride?” With these words and the many artistic lessons learned in The World’s Fair, John Hench would work with Walt Disney once again on the land that challenged him and Walt from the very beginning. But how would he capture a lasting mystery and intrigue within an ever-changing land how would the danger and thrill of space travel be captured in a theme park attraction? John Hench had the solution, he just didn’t know it in 1964.

The New York World’s fair ran thru 1964-1965

With the New York World’s fair come and gone but what remained as a profound purpose and vision for Disneyland. While the discoveries made in New York were inspirational to Walt and his artists. It would inspire more for the vision for a newly realized Tomorrowland. Not that much imagineers seemed to solve John Hench's problem by bringing a so-called Space Mountain real in a land that focused on making the future a tangible reality. Outer space was still a intangible mystery to the American public. Not only that but the technology required to make an indoor space themed roller coaster was non-exsistent. 

This is the original Concept art for Space Mountain

The original idea for this so-called ‘Space mountain’ was expanding Matterhorn’s format by having a single car coaster to run on four separate tracks in a futuristic alien-like mountainous structure. During development on this space roller coaster, the original name for it was going to be called ‘Space Voyage’. This is where the technological issues lied. But primarily, Walt Disney swept the project away by the creation of Pirates of the Caribbean for the newly minted New Orleans Square. But Hench kept working on the ‘Space Voyage’ project, designing concepts for the future attraction that would be part of a major part of the new planned Tomorrowland. 

Walt Disney showing E.p.c.o.t. (Experimental. Prototype. Community. Of. Tomorrow.) for his new project for the Florida project (Plans for building Walt Disney World)

Unfortunately, in late 1966, Walt Disney past away. And with him went the vision and advocacy for new and daring attractions and projects, the space thrill ride would have to be delayed for the new Tomorrowland in 1967 would open without Walt’s Space Mountain.

Opening ceremony for the New Tomorrowland in 1967

Vintage footage of the New Tomorrowland in Disneyland

The New Tomorrowland was a big success and became one of the most popular lands in the park, but now WED Enterprises (Walt Disney Imagineering) would be occupied by bringing Walt’s dying vision to fruition: Walt Disney World. While the Magic Kingdom’s Tomorrowland in California would serve the same philosophical function as it’s Disneyland counterpart in Florida, WED was partnering up with different companies to sponsor brand new attractions. Just like when Disneyland opened in 1955, Tomorrowland would prove to be the hardest land to plan and design. WED decided to open Tomorrowland attractions in a series of different phases. And so, Walt Disney World opened on Oct 1, 1971 with a very unfinished Tomorrowland.

A picture of the Tomorrowland’s Grand Prix Raceway in Walt Disney World in 1971.

For the next phases, WED would seek out bigger and better projects. Marty Sklar and John Hench approached RCA (System Communication Center) to sponsor an attraction for Tomorrowland. Because RCA was an electric company, Sklar and Hench began work on designing a computer themed attraction. But when they finally met with the company had to pitch the idea, it resulted into an absolute failure. So they went back to the drawing board, this time, they noticed an overwhelming lack of thrill rides in the park because there was no room to build a Florida version of the Matterhorn. It then became clear that this might be the perfect opportunity to bring Walt’s Space Mountain to life. And so, they did. George McGinnis would help design the attraction, along with former pilot Bill Watkins. Together. They would design the ride system that would perfect with the Matterhorn attempted; less than 20 years earlier. And so, after many many MANY YEARS, Space mountain would finally begin construction in 1972.

Pictures of Space Mountain’s construction updates in Walt Disney World

Space Mountain finally opened at Walt Disney World on Jan 15, 1975, with a huge ceremony and would forever change the definition of thrill ride. This would declare Space mountain the World’s first fully indoor roller coaster.

Picture of the grand opening of Space mountain on Jan 15, 1975

Six months later; work began immediately on bringing a version of this attraction, where it was originally attended. Disneyland. Because of space issues, the ride would have to go from having two track to just one. But with the technological advances made with the Orlando version, the team of artists and imagineers would be able to consolidate and perfect the tubular steel roller coaster and even increase capacity.

Pictures of Space Mountain’s construction updates at Disneyland

Space mountain in Disneyland opened on May 27, 1977 [two days after the movie Star Wars premiered] on the site of the former flying saucers. Like the other space mountain in Florida, it was a phenomenon. With a line stretching all the way to the parks main entrance. 

Original pictures of Space mountain in 1977 (top): The original loading station for guests to go on their rocket ships and blast off into space.

But could it last long? What would happen to the excitement over the Space age die out from the American people? Could a space-themed thrill ride survive the event relevant cultural trend, or would it have to go to the way of many of its Tomorrowland predecessors? Not only with the public demuth a staple of the theme park experience, the future generations of artists would find themselves itching to breathe new life into this journey into the unknown

I’m going to have to tell more history of Space mountain in Disneyland because theres more story to it.

in 1996, Space mountain got some speakers on the sides of the vehicles to amplify music. The song is made by Dick Dale Combining a sci fi horror feel and a surf song as well.

Original ride vehicle with speakers on the side

Then on 1998, they redid the dome to make it a bronze color, because Originally In the 90′s, Disney was trying to be cool and hip, a bunch of projects were scrapped due to EuroDisneyLand’s (Disneyland Paris) massive failure but we’ll get to that later. They tried to make Tomorrowland 2055, a very great renovation, but we got this instead due to their low budget.

Original concept

What we got

Space mountain closed in 2003 to refurbish the ride. Luckily, the exterior would be restored. And a new music track was put in to replace Dick Dale’s version. This new soundtrack is composed by Micheal Giacchino.

Pictures of the dome getting back to its white color and ride vehicle were refurbished to look more space themed

in 2005, for Disneyland’s 50th anniversary, Space Mountain re-opened to the public. The loading station has now a different spaceship hanging from above and a bunch of set pieces were redesigned.

In 2009, Space Mountain got its first seasonal overlay called Ghost Galaxy on Halloween seasons. The screen on the front of the station is all glitched and corrupted, giving the illusion that a ghost is lurking. And in 2014, they made the station lighting to green

In 2015, to help promote the new Star Wars movie ‘The Force Awakens’, they themed Tomorrowland into “Star Wars: Season of the force” putting Star Wars music around the land. And Space Mountain was seasoned to Hyperspace Mountain, where you have to help the rebellion fight off the Galactic Empire from invading Jakku. This season wouldn’t change back to the original version till 2017 for both Star Wars’s and Space Mountain’s 40th anniversary. Space Mountain would return to its original ride. 

Front entrance shows the sign for Hyperspace mountain (left) and the theater entrance shows a theater saying “Star Wars: Path of The Jedi” (right)

This would also be the last time that the inventor of Space Mountain; 87 year-old Bill Watkins would ride it for the last time.

87 year-old Bill Watkins the guy who came up with Space Mountain rides it one final time

In 2018, a new queue was added, this had a satellite for hanging and some LED lights on the ceilings

New queue area in the standby line.

In 2019, Disneyland had to temporarily closed Space Mountain, two weeks after a man climbed out of one of the roller coaster cars while the ride was still in motion, ABC Newsthis link opens in a new tab reported.The incident happened on Tuesday, but unfortunately, Disneyland park-goers were still unable to ride the indoor roller coaster as of Thursday.According to The Orange County Registerthis link opens in a new tab, the man, in his 20s, was uninjured but was guided to safety by employees in order to receive first aid and was taken to the hospital later as a precaution.The man has some cognitive disabilities and was moving around in the dark during a slower part of the ride when he was able to get around the safety mechanism and climb out of the car, The Orange County Register reported. Once employees realized he was not in the car, they stopped the ride to find him.

Thanks for reading the history of Space Mountain. I’m sorry this had little to comparing and which one was better. But I wanted this to be a little history behind this roller coaster. But this took me SO LONG TO DO!!!! I was working on this for 10 HOURS TODAY TILL 12 AM!!!!!! 10 HOURRRRRRRRRSSSSSSSSSS OF SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUFFERING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I promise that I will do a comparison with Disney World and Disneyland to see which one is better. As a bonus, I will also compare the one from Disneyland to Disneyland Paris to see which ones are better. I’ll also do a little bit of history on the one in Disneyland Paris since I rode on it and I thought it was amazing. But which one will be more supremer? Find Out next time when I talk about “Which Is Better?”. I do not own any of these photos, they belong to these rightful owners in the links. I don’t know all the owners but I got a few of them.

http://matterhorn1959.blogspot.com/

http://www.imagineeringdisney.com/

https://davelandblog.blogspot.com/

Again thank you guys so much for supporting this! I can’t wait to do more episodes of this. And let me know on the comment section what is your favorite Space Mountain ride and to see who you think will win. Have a good day!

#disney #space mountain #disneyland #disney world #compare #preview #history #longest post I've ever done #I might do it again

[dawnjeman]

Beautiful Homes of Instagram: How to Build your own Home

  Beautiful Homes of Instagram is truly one of my favorite type of posts I publish on Home Bunch. It’s certainly not the easiest, but it’s a favorite and I hope it is for you too. I feel very proud to be featuring so many talented homeowners and be able to not only see their homes but especially know their story and the process of designing their space.

I am very happy to have Kristin of @kristin_kgdesigns on the blog today and I really think you will feel inspired by her beautiful home, especially if you dream of building your own home but feel intimated by this big task. Here, the homeowner shares more details and some encouragement:

  Hi everyone! Luciane asked me to write up my “story”… so it all began back in the late 1970’s when little Kristin came into the world… kidding. No one needs to hear that! Let’s talk about my house building story, shall we?

That story starts about 3.5 years ago. We were living in our dream house we had built ourselves and had worked so hard on. It was on 5 wooded acres and we loved it. Then my oldest started kindergarten. We loved our house and property but we were not in the best area and certainly not a good school district. I thought we could stick it out for another few years but after one day of volunteering in his class I came home and told my husband we had to move. He nearly killed me…but he eventually acquiesced and we decided to start looking in the “good” school district. Lucky for us one of the top districts in the state was only a 20 minute move.

We sold our dream house and started looking for a house in the area we wanted to be in. Turns out we totally couldn’t afford the area we wanted to be in. So that meant we’d have to build again to get the kind of house and property we wanted our kids to grow up in. We found a gorgeous 5 acre property that had a 1962 ranch house that had never been updated and had an unfinished basement. We bought that property and did a boundary line adjustment so that we had two separate properties. We lived in the ranch house while designing and permitting our new house on our own. We literally designed every inch of this new house ourselves. While doing this (and both working full time), we gutted and completely remodeled the ranch house.

Permitting took us 15 months to complete and we broke ground in August of 2017. We moved in 10 months later. We were the general contractor and my husband built most of the house while I was his laborer. We both worked full time during all of this so we would get home every night and walk out to the new house to work until bedtime. For over two years we said no to almost every social invitation we received. We worked on this labor of love every day. And we couldn’t be happier. We love this house and can’t wait to raise our kids here.

    Beautiful Homes of Instagram: How to Build your own Home

This is Kristin, a talented landscape architect, with her beautiful family!

Front Porch

A cross fence-style railing adds a farmhouse feel to the exterior of Kristin’s home. Exterior paint color is Sherwin Williams Extra White.

Welcome mat from Target.

Rug under welcome mat from Target as well.

Raised Metal Planters: CB2.

The rocking chairs from Wayfair.

Home-Sweet-Home

What a dreamy foyer! I love how serene this space feels. Wall paint color is Agreeable Gray by Sherwin Williams.

Trim paint color: Extra White by Sherwin Williams.

Front entry rug: Target.

Similar Barn Artwork: here.

Front Door Paint Color

The front door paint color is Tricorn Black by Sherwin Williams.

Foyer Lighting: Wayfair.

Kitchen

We went with a simple shaker style in white for the kitchen cabinets.

Cabinets: Canyon Creek Cabinet Company.

Lighting & Pot Filler

The pot filler is from Wayfair.

Kitchen Lighting: Capital Lighting.

Kitchen Backsplash

The backsplash is a subway tile in a matte finish with a medium gray grout.

Refrigerator & Countertop

“I wanted to give you one of the best cost saving tips if you’re building or remodeling a kitchen. Our fridge looks and functions like an expensive unit but it’s really just two separate, simple units with a trim piece attached. Ours is by Frigidaire and we love it! Saved us a bunch of money but we still have the look and function of something much more expensive.”

Get the Look: Refrigerator, Freezer & Trim.

Quartz countertops: Coastal Gray from Pental Quartz.

Kitchen Hardware

The kitchen hardware is from Ikea BAGGANÄS Handle, black.

Runner carpets are from Target. Other Lovely Runners: here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here & here.

All appliances are LG.

Counterstools

Counterstools are from Target. They’re so sleek and practical!

Flooring

Flooring is DuChateau Youngscombe vinyl plank- similar here.

Ceiling Beams

The cathedral ceiling features beams and shiplap. Beams Old World Traditions – The Magnolia Faux Beam in Light Oak – similar here.

Windows are black painted vinyl by Prime Windows with a custom interior grid.

Dining Room

A warm and welcoming dining room is located between the kitchen and the family room.

Dining chairs are from Crate and Barrel.

Chandelier

Chandelier is by Capital Lighting.

Dining Table

From this angle you can see the beautiful combination of shiplap cathedral ceiling with the board and batten fireplace. This is an idea to keep in mind!

Dining table is from Crate and Barrel.

Living Room Console table: Silviano 84” Iron Console Table by Crate and Barrel.

Barn lights are from Recesso Lighting – similar here.

Living Room

Different types textures bring the right amount of warmth to this space. The leather section is a practical and timeless choice.

Leather Sectional: Custom-made by local company to the exact dimensions of the RH Maxwell – similar here & here.

Coffee Table: Drum Reclaimed Woodblock Barrel Coffee Table – similar here.

Chairs

Accent Chairs: Esters Wood Armchair by Project 62 for Target in Millbrook Husk.

Mantel & Rug

The mantel was a DIY project the homeowner did from a Douglas Fir.

Rug was a find at Homegoods – Beautiful Rugs: here, here, here, here, here, here, here & here (my dream rug

).

Tile is Statements tile, Wide in color Fog – similar here.

Hallway Console Table

Console Table: Target.

Mirror: Here.

Powder Room

This is a dresser from Wayfair that my husband cut a hole in and installed this sink. It works just like I hoped it would!

Vanity is a retrofitted dresser from Wayfair.

Pendant light is from Wayfair.

Mirror: Here.

Sink & Faucet

Sink is from Wayfair.

Faucet: Derengge – similar here.

Home Office

The home office paint color is Dovetail by Sherwin Williams. The quartz countertop on built-in is Pental Quartz ‘Icelake’.

Round black table in the center is from Target.

Office desk is from Wayfair.

Office chairs are also from Wayfair.

Wall Gallery

Photos are from Shutterfly.

Bonus Room

Upstairs you will find a bonus room with plenty of space for entertaining.

Round table from Target.

Ping Pong table is from Wayfair.

Metal Dressers are from Urban Outfitters.

Brass round mirrors from Target.

Daughter’s Bedroom

Wall is a decal from Innovative Stencils (she loves owls and wanted a brown wall with a forest).

Bed is from Ikea – similar here.

Dresser

Dresser is by Tvilum.

Master Bedroom

Kristin’s bedroom features many great architectural details. Main wall color is Agreeable Gray by Sherwin Williams.

Lighting: Wayfair.

Barn Doors

The antique doors are from a local Architectural salvage store.

Bed & Nightstand

Bed is from Crate and Barrel.

Nightstands are from Crate and Barrel.

Table Lamps: Target.

Grid Board & Batten

Accent Wall: my husband built it by attaching trim in a grid right on to our textured, sheet- rocked walls and painting it all the same color. Accent wall color is Dovetail by Sherwin Williams.

Rug is from West Elm.

Bedding

Bedding is Nate Berkus for Target.

Master Bathroom

This master bathroom is all about symmetry and beauty. Now… imagine taking a bath with that peaceful view. I feel more relaxed just by looking at this picture.

Freestanding Tub: Anzzi.

Tub Filler: Vanity Art.

Lighting

Chandelier is from Wayfair.

Sconces are also from Wayfair.

Vanities

Vanities are the 60” Malibu vanity by James Martin – available here in 48″.

Flooring & Wall Tile

Tile is Statements tile, Wide in color Fog – similar here.

Accent tile is a subway tile.

Mirrors: Here.

Mudroom

This is the kind mudroom / laundry room that anyone would love to have. It is almost the size of a NYC apartment!

Faux leather storage bins from Target.

Mudroom Bench & Windows

The mudroom bench is actually Ikea butcher block. Brilliant!

Lighting: Wayfair.

Floor Tile

Tile is Statements tile, Wide in color Fog – similar here.

Paint Color

The paint color is Sherwin Williams Agreeable Gray.

The laundry room backsplash tile is Bedrosians Enchante Charm.

Outdoor Dining

The living room opens to a very spacious back porch.

Picnic Table: Cost Plus.

Dining Bench: Cost Plus.

Dining chairs are from CB2.

Chandelier

Chandelier from Wayfair.

Outdoor Fireplace

The outdoor fireplace mimics the living room’s fireplace, featuring tile and board and batten paneling.

  Many thanks to Kristin for sharing the details above. Make sure to follow her on Instagram to see more pictures of her stunning home!

Have a Blessed week, my friends!

  Best Sales of the Month:

Thank you for shopping through Home Bunch. I would be happy to assist you if you have any questions or are looking for something in particular. Feel free to contact me and always make sure to check dimensions before ordering. Happy shopping!

  Serena & Lily: Free Shipping on Everything with code: NEWGOALS

  Wayfair: Massive Rug Sale! Up to 75% OFF!

  One Kings Lane: Take an EXTRA 20% Off Sale Items with Code OKL20MORE for Savings of Up to 70%! Limited time only.

  Joss & Main: Up to 80% Off on Clearance

  Pottery Barn:Mega Sale: Up to 60% OFF Plus Free Shipping

  West Elm: New Items on sale – Free Shipping with code: FREERIDE

  Horchow: Free Shipping with code: FREESHIP

  Anthropologie: Extra 50% OFF Sale Items!

  Posts of the Week:

2019 New Year Home Tour.

Classic Colonial Home Design.

Empty-Nester Modern Farmhouse.

Interior Design Ideas: Home Renovation.

Stone Lake House.

Beautiful Homes of Instagram: Building a Forever Home.

Newport Island Beach House.

Belgian-style Modern Farmhouse.

Stone Cottage-style Home Design.

New Year, New Beautiful Homes of Instagram.

Before & After Home Renovation.

California Duplex Home Design.

Australian Beach House.

Family-friendly Home Design.

Beautiful Homes of Instagram: Canada.

Beautiful Homes of Instagram.

Georgian-Style Manor with Traditional Interiors.

Transitional Home Design.

Interior Design Ideas.

Grey Kitchen Paint Colors.

Beautiful Homes of Instagram: California Beach House.

Follow me on Instagram: @HomeBunch

You can follow my pins here: Pinterest/HomeBunch

See more Inspiring Interior Design Ideas in my Archives.

“Dear God,

If I am wrong, right me. If I am lost, guide me. If I start to give-up, keep me going.

Lead me in Light and Love”.

Have a wonderful day, my friends and we’ll talk again tomorrow.”

with Love,

Luciane from HomeBunch.com

Come Follow me on

Come Follow me on

Get Home Bunch Posts Via Email

Contact Luciane

“For your shopping convenience, this post might contain links to retailers where you can purchase the products (or similar) featured. I make a small commission if you use these links to make your purchase so thank you for your support!”

from Home http://www.homebunch.com/beautiful-homes-of-instagram-how-to-build-your-own-home/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

[procrastinista]

All I Want...

I think I realized a Writing Thing: If I take too long to write a scene once I’ve imagined it, I’ll get bored and then feel like there’s something vaguely wrong with it. I’ll struggle to come up with a new “fresh” approach to recapture my attention, but often times after experimenting with a bunch of different ideas, I wind up going back to the original plan because it’s really what makes the most sense for the story.

So, knowing that, I’m going to attempt to not fall into that trap again. Kind of a small Writing Thing, but a Thing nonetheless.

Ok, now onto bigger writing news. For 2017 my only resolution is this: I will do what I *want* to do, not what I have “have to” or “need to” do.

This is a mindset that my therapist has suggested I adopt in general, and the more I do it, the more I like it. It helps me evaluate what I really want to do with my time, and consider what is the most important activity for any moment. And it’s ok if what I really want to do is nothing but scroll Tumblr or browse social media or watch Netflix shows--just so long as I can voice that and believe it, it’s alright.

So what do I *want* to do in 2017? I definitely want to write more. I want to want to write more! In this vein, I’m going to try to spend time writing every day. And any writing is writing--if I want to write political rants or if I want to write a review of my latest Netflix obsession or if I want to write about how I am feeling about writing--it doesn’t matter. Everything counts.

Because last year, if I look at my fiction writing I wind up disappointed with myself. But, if I look at everything I wrote, and not just one subset, I feel quite a bit better. I’ve done a decent job of communicating in my writing, and earned some appreciative comments for my efforts. Not that comments are everything, of course, but I’ve realized that I can do more than simply work on one thing at a time. (Mainly, my super long Dragon Age fanfic, documented under ‘my writing’ on my DA sideblog).

Oh yeah, in that vein, I’m going to write about writing here more, instead of restricting it to ThinkDragonAGe. Since I was primarily focused on fanfiction before (and on only one of my stories, to be honest), I kept all my writing talk over there before. But now I’m trying to be less compartmentalized in my life. I’m trying to share more of myself at a time, instead of partitioning off the segments of my personality that don’t fit in everywhere. So I’m going to write about writing more on the blog that is most intimately connected with my “real” self… if that makes any sense.

I’m also going to let myself write whatever my imagination feels like settling on. If that means starting 20+ original projects at once, so be it. I have had a good number of ideas for original stories lately, but sometimes I am susceptible to a form of tunnel vision when it comes to my writing projects. I still have a major goal I want to accomplish: finishing Poison and Wine. But that doesn’t mean I must forgo any other writing project while that remains unfinished. Just because I’m not working on it at any given moment does not mean that I’m giving up on it. It just means that I’m working on more than one thing at once. And that’s good! Because I want to write much more than just one story.

Part of this latest revelation comes from my time spent playing Minecraft, if you can believe that. I only recently discovered the joys of that game. It’s hard for me to describe exactly what is so appealing about the open-ended, sandbox environment Minecraft provides, because nothing I’d read or heard before I played it truly captures the experience. But I can try to illustrate my revelation anyway.

Minecraft is a totally open-ended, sandbox style game. It has two modes: Survival and Creative. My daughter adores creative, but my brother has always waxed on about the joys of survival.

I have played both versions and they are both quite appealing. The godlike power of having complete control over your environment that Creative offers can lead to some truly impressive constructions. My brother and daughter have been playing for so long that they’ve become accomplished builders in their own ways. Jane comes up with giant elaborate castles, along with fantastical creatures flying in the sky -- the mermaid and unicorn were favorites of mine. My brother builds very attractive, realistic looking buildings, like an ultra modern mansion or an elaborate cathedral.

In Survival, just making it through each day and night without dying leads to more limited designs. But, again, Jane and David knew things I didn’t, and were able to quickly create structures that were both visually appealing and extremely functional and safe.

I wound up playing quite a bit of single player once I learned enough to manage on my own. I wanted the challenge of doing everything myself, for I figured that would teach me more than just being told what to do by more experienced players. And that’s when the game really sunk its teeth into me.

I had no one I was accountable to but myself and the monsters who would try to eat me each night. Other than survival, I had no larger quest or mission to worry about: the world would be as big or as small as I made it.

I spent hours creating my home, coming up with a design beyond a simple boxlike structure, all the while using the materials available nearby, in the place I chose to settle. Then, when it felt like I’d spent too much time in my little patch of the world, I started venturing out--always building a road so I could easily return home at night.

I found myself starting a dozen projects at once. I’d bounce around like a pinball to each partially finished job--it was easy to start mining and lose myself in underground exploration, finding rarer and more powerful minerals the further I delved. Or, I’d set out on my boat and zip around the continent, discovering new biomes as I went, gathering new resources to experiment with and learning new crafting recipes as I researched each material. I could lose myself simply tweaking my homestead, adding more details as I learned to craft a wider variety of items. And then I might spend an hour rearranging my inventory until it was in a perfectly pleasing and efficient configuration.

And all that bouncing around made me think a lot about writing. Because I so often tie myself to one goal at a time, and force myself to keep working even when it isn’t that fun anymore. It made me realize that part of the reason I did that was fear--fear that if I didn’t keep plugging ahead with one goal at a time that I’d never finish it. But guess what? Even as I bounced from project to project in Minecraft, I still finished things. And I learned and explored so much of the world by simply following what was fun at the time, and not worrying about only one mission or goal given to me from on high.

What if writing could be more like that? What if I started working on whatever was really fun for me to think about at any given moment? I bet I might become just as enthralled with writing if I were to allow myself to have more FUN with it, and explore a heck of a lot more. Because it’s more than just work! It’s… it’s what I love to do more than anything else I’ve tried in these 43 years.

It’s what I truly and deeply *want* to do with my life.

So there… that’s a lot of writing about writing for today. I’ve got some work to attend to (which I want to do b/c I want to make money and continue to be employed), but I’m glad I took the time to put this all in writing. It feels good to write what I want, for a change. It’s the only resolution I care to make this year.

#writing is fun #what i want #2017

[everydayhybridity]

366 Days of Music - A Social Media Experiment

I began the year with an absurd and largely pointless resolution. This was partly my desire to rebel against the vacuous resolutions of losing weight, and giving up smoking. I wanted to commit to something daft. I decided to post a song on my Facebook page everyday for a year. So, the task was not entirely pointless. I also wanted to resist the way in which we have become accustomed to posting certain things on certain social media platforms. The occasional song on Facebook is appreciated. But a year of them. My wife said ‘people will unfriend you.’ Perhaps they would.

So it occurred to me that this would ultimately be a social experiment. Could I do the whole year? Would people become irritated with me? Would people enjoy the music? Would I start to pander to the taste of my audience? and also how many people would also acknowledge the project in real life.

Early I found that I was actually caring about my audience more than I had considered. I wanted to present a range of music so people would not get bored of the same types of artists. I did however commit to only posting songs I really liked. No fads, but songs I had committed to and enjoyed. 

Early in January during the commute to work I had my music on shuffle and I listened to David Bowie’s cover of ‘ I know its going to happen Someday’...I hadn’t heard it for ages and I thought I must post this, but I already had another track in mind for that day. As a matter of coincidence I found out a few hours later that Bowie had died. A coincidence, and an oddity that I had not posted the song. But then everyone was posting Bowie’s music on Facebook... My experiment became lost in the sea of music I would scroll through in my feed. Within a few days it had all calmed down again. I continued.

By Day 40 my enthusiasm wavered and I queued up a few posts on Buffer so I could ride out the Chinese New Year holiday without forgetting to post. Over this period I got a few responses from friends. People were asking me about songs and some friends even took to posting a song or two also. It was at this moment that I had a peculiar thought. Why is there such reticence to share the music your love on Facebook in contrast to the pictures of our daily life, or favourite pop culture news, recipes, or political convictions? Facebook, again and again seems to be a platform of managed self presentation, not so much earnest and impassioned sharing. This is underlined even more when you try to resist the ways in which Facebook is used. i.e. for self display. Sharing music you love almost seems to be more intimate than family photos. Lets be honest here, those family photos are the ones you have selected, the selfies are the ones you have posed for numerous times - but I can’t do much about my love for 80′s Pop, Shoegazers, and Vanessa Carlton. I began to think. Is posting music too honest?

It was around this stage I embraced a sense of abandon. I am thinking less and less about my audience. This mirrored an experience I had at the skatepark where I had my spotify playing on random. A whole bunch of gnarly tracks which were great to skate to were flowing. Then suddenly Beyonce’s ‘Single Ladies’ comes on. Not the sort of track one listens to at the skatepark? I decided to embrace it. If I can listen to Beyonce at the skatepark, I should cater even less to the Facebook audience and embrace the freedom that this project provides.

By day 50 I was in full swing. One friend had asked me to add all the tracks onto a Spotify playlist. It was good to get such feedback. The thing that I wasn’t enjoying was the fact that I was spending more time on Facebook than ever before. Using it consistently everyday made me use it even more than the simple posting of tracks. This was not my plan. I engaged in the project to disrupt the banality of Facebook not become more immersed. I was uncomfortable with this. By day 53 I got the tragic news that a friend had a freak accident and died. Social Media always seems most trivial at these times. But it was a lifeline in communicating with friends, and my late friend’s wife. Even so this was the moment that I wanted to leave Facebook. Social Media is not a place to mourn. It was my stubborn commitment to the music project that made me stay. I immersed myself in a few days of Jazz...It appears that my friends don't seem to like Jazz.

What happened after that is a little unclear. I continued until day 84, March 24. Then I just stopped outright. The project failed. and like so many new year’s resolutions it did not endure. I felt imprisoned by the task a totally ill at ease with Facebook. I remain on Facebook in an uneasy peace, mostly because I have too many research contacts through Facebook. I cant afford to lose these. 

I had some great exchanges with people I seldom communicated with. people shared stories of tracks they really loved, or memories of songs. It was a fun experiment until it became a prison.

In order to complete the experiment and to document the task, I kept a list of all the songs I posted up to the end. Here they are. Farewell 2016.

Day 1- Mega City Four - New Year’s Day 

Day 2 - Miles Davis - Flamenco Sketches 

Day 3 - Lissie - Pursuit of Happiness 

Day 4 - Stevie Wonder - Blame it on the Sun 

Day 5 - Public Enemy - Don’t Believe the Hype 

Day 6 - Rodrigo y Gabriela - Tamacun 

Day 7 - Curve - Coast is Clear 

Day 8 - Tom Jones - Tower of Song 

Day 9 - Bob Dylan - Maggie’s Farm 

Day 10 - Le Tigre - Deceptacon 

Day 11 - Submotion Orchestra - All Yours 

Day 12 - David Bowie - Lazarus 

Day 13 - Herbaliser - 8 Point Agenda 

Day 14 - Louis Armstrong - I Can’t Believe That You’re In Love With Me 

Day 15 - Papa Brittle - Twisted and Feckless 

Day 16 - Marlena Shaw - California Soul 

Day 17 - Eurythmics - Here Comes The Rain Again 

Day 18 - RZA Bobby Digital - Build Strong 

Day 19 - Portishead - Glory Box 

Day 20 - Rolling Stones - Wild Horses 

Day 21 - Heart - Barracuda 

Day 22 - Ben E King - This Magic Moment 

Day 23 - Husker Du - Ice Cold Ice 

Day 24 - Massive Attack - Unfinished Sympathy 

Day 25 - Mega City Four - January 

Day 26 - T-Rex - Suneye 

Day 27 - Rainer Maria - Long Knives 

Day 28 - Art Blakey - Moanin’ 

Day 29 - Temple of the Dog - Hunger Strike 

Day 30 - Supergrass - Late in the Day 

Day 31 - Janis Joplin - Piece of my Heart 

Day 32 - Bone Thugs n Harmony - 1st of tha Month 

Day 33 - My Bloody Valentine - Only Shallow 

Day 34 - Rahat Fateh Ali Khan - Man Ki Lagan

Day 35 - Kate Nash - Foundations

Day 36 - Nine - Fo’eva Blunted

Day 37 - Earth, Wind and Fire - September

Day 38 - Vanilla Fudge - You Keep Me Hangin On

Day 39 - Husker Du - New Day Rising

Day 40 - Death - Politicians In My Eyes

Day 41 - Pharcyde - Runnin'

Day 42 - Louis Armstrong - Perdido Street Blues

Day 43 - Leatherface - I Want The Moon

Day 44 - Elvis Costello - A Good Year For The Roses

Day 45 - Vanessa Carlton - I Don’t Want To Be A Bride

Day 46 - Men Without Hats - Safety Dance

Day 47 - Charli XCX - Superlove

Day 48 - Bruce Springsteen - The River

Day 49 - Bomb the Bass - Winter in July

Day 50 - Midway Still - Boys of Summer

Day 51 - Teenage Fanclub - Mellow Doubt

Day 52 - Phoenix - Summer Days

Day 53 - George Lewis - Burgundy Street Blues

Day 54 - Thelonious Monk - Sweet and Lovely

Day 55 - Salt N Peppa - Shoop

Day 56 - McRad - Weakness

Day 57 - The Strokes - Under Cover of Darkness

Day 58 - Stevie Wonder - We Can Work It Out

Day 59 - Tricky - Black Steel

Day 60 - Ride - Dreams Burn Down

Day 61 - Whitney Houston - I Wanna Dance With Somebody

Day 62 - Cornershop - Norwegian Wood

Day 63 - Bullet For My Valentine - Waking The Demon

Day 64 - Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy - Television The Drug Of the Nation

Day 65 - Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong - The Frim Fram Sauce

Day 66 - Soundgarden - The Day I Tried To Live

Day 67 - Operation Ivy - Take Warning

Day 68 - Nas - If I Ruled The World 

Day 69 - Public Enemy - Fight The Power

Day 70 - My Chemical Romance - I'm Not Okay

Day 71 - The Flirtations - Nothing But A Heartache

Day 72 - The Subways - Alright

Day 73 - Alicia Keys - Reckless Love

Day 74 - Queen - The Hero

Day 75 - This Will Destroy You - I Believe In Your Victory

Day 76 - RJD2 - Making Days Longer

Day 77 - Martika - Toy  Soldiers

Day 78 - Buzzcocks - Ever Fallen In Love

Day 79 - Rainer Maria - Breakfast of Champions

Day 80 - PWEI - Wise Up Sucker

Day 81 - Sloan - Underwhelmed

Day 82 - Bessie Smith - Reckless Blues

Day 83 - Clifford Gilberto - Restless

Day 84 - The Four Tops - I Can’t Help Myself

#2016 #new years resolution #music #social experiment #social media experiment

[somar78]

How I Designed A Supercar Beater For Coffee Money – The Story Of The Burton Trackster

This article was written by the remarkable Daniel Burton, an inspiring young man living with Asperger’s who has spent years carefully designing his own road-legal race car. The design is now ready for testing and final tweaks before being built.

If you would like to contact Daniel regarding the Burton Trackster and you think you can help, please use the contact form on Silodrome here and we’ll connect you to him.

A Little Bit About Me

Bit of a cliché headline, but it’s true and it was born out of necessity! I happen to have High Functioning Asperger’s and due to the difficulties associated with that I cannot stay employed by a regular company. Luckily, Australia happens to have a welfare program for folks like me.

I am considered disabled by the government, so I get paid a modest sum to look after myself, my wife and my daughter. In between looking for a suitable employer and doing small jobs for my company, Burton’s Tube Worx, I put my versatility and ability to learn very quickly to good use inventing and designing things. I don’t see myself as disabled, I’m just not able to meet the status quo!

I enjoy prototyping and have developed skills and collected equipment to help me with the task. A VR helmet, a DSLR camera for photogrammetry, a Lulzbot Taz6 3D printer, a fast laptop for CAD/FEA/CFD and an old laptop for literature. With this equipment I have managed to develop a whole heap of products. Most need a prototype made, patents sought, testing performed and to be put to manufacture.

Just a matter of saving enough money or finding an investor or consortium to make them happen. It can be disheartening at times having done so much work and not being able to show people, so when I went to my first hill climb with my dad at Collingrove in the Barossa Valley, I found a new product to work on.

The hill climb was great, dad and I couldn’t stop talking about building a car of some kind. I remember there was quite some conjecture as to what kind. Dad liked the Ariel Atom and Exocet style cars. They typically run a car engine and transmission, and this seemed like a massive waste of weight for a hill climb vehicle. Not only that but the suspension kinematics were compromised by the chassis shape, a two-seater.

I personally liked the Formula Libre cars. Not just because they were the fastest, but the aero and engineering looked much more complex and interesting! Bell cranks, bike engines and chain drives. These cars made sense to me. They were made fit for the purpose of hill climb! My dad on the other hand had passengers in mind. He wanted to be able to scare mum and get sideways. I wanted to go as fast as I could up the hill, I had to make a choice on what path to take.

The Initial Concept

I ended up choosing the Formula Libre cars at first. The crazy aero and the chance to dominate with clever engineering was far too attractive and on top of all that, because my Asperger’s sometimes rules the day, the Libre cars were stuck in my head. So that’s where I began. At that stage I had a few of the needed skills for designing a car. I was a metal fabricator with a basic machining background and with something in the region of 20 years’ experience on different CAD systems, I felt like I had a good starting point for the chassis.

I ended up drawing about 8 different Formula Libre chassis’ before I realised, this was outside the scope of my skills. I was putting lifted noses, ground effect tunnels and all sorts on. Nothing looked how it should! CAD is not like pencil and paper which is guided by art and flow. CAD is driven by math and constraints so I had to tell the program how high that lift should be or how wide and long that tunnel should look. I wasn’t informed enough to make those decisions yet. It is for those reasons I shifted the design over to a two-seater that was less dependent on aero and more about learning instead.

The Learning Process

Something like 80% of the information was still outside my knowledge base and I had no clue where to start. I ended up doing the millennial thing and Googled it! I found a lot of information, too much information actually and most of it was aimed at the layman! This wasn’t going to get me anywhere! I needed hard data from a good source! Race engineering books where the next natural progression, but on my budget, very costly. I would struggle to gather one book every 2 months. That was when I found an online book depository for quite a cheap fee. Full of research papers and books to fill my appetite. It really took off from there.

I began reading while at the same time doing detailed examinations of images related to that area of the car. A picture for my brain, is like a book! I can glean far more information from a picture than I can from a piece of literature. For the average person the writing is the main information and the image is the supplement. For my brain it works backwards. The image is far more useful, and I find them easy to recall. A very handy skill for my chosen line of interests.

I ended up with a bunch of ideas in my head from this cavalcade of information and from all those years of driving and tuning virtual cars. It was gratifying to be able to tell myself that all those years of playing video games and reading magazines in school was paying off. It had informed me quite thoroughly and not much in these technical books came as a surprise to me (except all that algebra).

I was able to verify my understanding of the science behind these racing cars rather than just my assumptions gleaned from unreliable sources. It was at this stage that I began writing down a spec sheet to form the basis of my drawings. It is surprising what can be gleaned from this short list of specifications.

Designing The Supercar Beater – The Burton Trackster

After making this database of cars in the same class as mine, I looked to the rule of thirds (the track width is equal to 2/3 the wheelbase length). It is derived from the golden mean, which is a composition and ratio guideline based on the Fibonacci sequence. The Fibonacci sequence is found all through nature, from a snail’s shell all the way up to a hurricane. This is where art and maths combine, just like in the best car designs.

From my examination of my new database I landed at a wheelbase of 2560mm and a 1705mm track at first. This quickly changed to accommodate the cars modular design and I ended up finishing at a wheelbase length of 2560mm and a track width of around 1850mm. A bit more over-square than I was after but this has the advantage of less load transfer to the outside wheels allowing quicker cornering. It also allows room for a “utilities” tunnel through the centre of the car and room for two large people.

These people can have a maximum 550mm width at the shoulders and a maximum height of 6’6” or 2011mm. The average human is 460mm across the shoulders and only 5’10” or 155mm. Plenty of room for the larger person which is a common gripe. Boutique sports cars are renowned for this problem. Only designing for the 95th percentile. I prefer to have my cake and eat it too. Clever packaging is how this was eventually achieved.

Safety and comfort seem to be an after thought in a good deal of boutique vehicles. It’s an inherent part of some designs and makes them look great but leaves the occupants quite vulnerable in the event of an impact or roll over event. Even though motorsport is inherently dangerous, I felt that safety should not be sacrificed for performance. Far too many deaths have occurred, and lessons learned to ignored them! It would be an insult to the memories of some amazing men and women! This though process has guided the chassis design quite significantly. High chassis sides were a must, along with an internal divider that separates the driver and passenger compartments.

The angle of the occupant’s legs, neck and spine was also looked at. The shape and cushioning used in the seating has a marked effect on the occupant’s injury rate as show by the research paper conducted by Toyota’s WEC racing program. I chose the safest of the options which will likely be adopted in the 2021 WEC regulations. The internal carbon tub that fits inside the chassis is unfinished in the images presented. It will eventually feature a fixed moulded seat that can be tailored to suit each driver with a polyurethane foam seat insert.

This type of seating style is markedly stronger than a separate seat bolted to the chassis and keeps the driver in the optimum zone of safety under the roll over protection system. To adjust for different driver heights the pedals move to your feet on a rail system. This has the added benefit of keeping the weight balance at its optimum point no matter the driver’s weight and height.

The engine and transmission were the next fork in the road. Front? Rear? Middle-front? Middle-rear? North-South? East-West? The typical road to travel in this niche is either the mid-rear mounted East-West route or the mid-front mounted North-South route. Confused? These are all reasonably efficient ways to go for a boutique car, but after much research they all presented draw backs that were not present with a mid-rear mounted North-South configuration. Compromised suspension kinematics, compromised engine placement, driver comfort and weight balance issues were all things that presented themselves. These were all unacceptable to me and drove my choice to the rear mounted North-South configuration!

Choosing The Engine

Realistically this car can use any engine from the family of inline engines. Due to the high availability of GM LS series engines around the world it was the first engine I looked at. They are quite heavy but being a pushrod engine and having a steep V-angle they are compact. That works very well for diffuser tunnel placement and exhaust routing.

I also looked at the Honda K24 crate engine which is a good compromise between weight, power, packaging and availability. The massive unseen downside to the rear mounted North-South configuration is that a transaxle that is also a structural member is upwards of $20,000 AUD. A big kick in the budget. My prototype needed a cheaper way to get drive and power but still retain the ability to use a transaxle for road legal engines when the time comes.

I considered motorcycle engines back when it was to be a Formula Libre car. The inspiration for my idea came from a combination of Formula Libre and Formula 1000. They use a faux transaxle to contain the chain driven differential, the adjustment mechanism for chain tension and all the associated suspension mounts. I designed something very similar to this and mounted it to a torque plate/bulkhead on the rear of the chassis.

To get the packaging I was after I used a double reduction chain drive. The chain tension adjustment comes in the form of a pair of eccentric bearing mounts that rotate the secondary shaft to properly tension both chains at once. This gives room to optimize the suspension kinematics and allows a quick change of the gearing and chain tension from outside the case. By replacing the sprocket sizes up or down you get a different top speed.

The front suspension system was designed last and mounts on a bulkhead. The main reason for using a bulkhead is suspension kinematics. Normally you would design to mount near or on a tube node and attempt to drive your arms from these nodes or points to the wheel upright. These points can only be placed in certain areas before it starts looking weird from a design perspective and terrible from a kinematics perspective. To overcome this problem, I used a bulkhead and suspension mounting frame that bolts to it. This gives me complete freedom to optimise the front suspension to match the rear.

Once I finish the modelling of the vehicle, I need FEA, CFD, and suspension simulations performed on my model. There is a saying I like and feel applies here. Garbage in, Garbage out! I could do these tests myself, but I am not experienced enough to deliver a guaranteed result without correlating to some type of physical testing. A company that has experience in these respective motorsport professions will be needed. The great thing is that I have developed my model so it can change to be optimised easily.

Hopefully costing less in the long run for testing. Suspension kinematics analysis, torsional rigidity and beaming test, FIA ROPS certification and Aero optimisation are all in my sights. When the optimisation is complete, I will need to purchase some quality sim racing gear and upload the model to R Factor 2 to test drive it. This will help to tell me if all the parameters are correct and show that it performs as I expect it too. This will not only be an interesting test of the car but a verification of my design skills. Any flaws in my ideology or that of the testing companies’ skills should show up here.

Now a few things that don’t really fit into a paragraph anywhere. How much does the weight balance change when going from the bike engine to the LS engine? It goes rearward from 55% to 60% which is inside the typical range of this type of vehicle. It is also easily returned to 55% with a bit of ballast in the nose of the vehicle. How much does the car change across engine types? The suspension kinematics stay the same from the faux transaxle to the real transaxle.

The radiator configuration is situated in the nose for the bike engine and K24 engine. Side pods are added for the LS engine. Container sizes change for the engine’s ancillaries. A new torque plate and engine cradle. Rebuilt dampers with new springs. Larger discs and callipers. Etc. This entire platform allows a system for cost and skills progression. Increase power, aero or grip at a rate that is comfortable for the driver’s skill set and bank account.

The Future Of The Project

I wish I could give some kind of delivery date. But a lack of money could see this project never leave the ground! I have pushed it as a far as I can with next to nothing. At this stage I really need to find a backer that sees the potential of the car and wants to go into business. The big problem there is that people always want to change your designs intent. It would need to be someone who understands that kind of laser focused thinking. Which I feel is a rare thing. Or I need to win the lottery!

If you would like to contact Daniel regarding the Burton Trackster and you think you can help, please use the contact form on Silodrome here and we’ll connect you to him.

The post How I Designed A Supercar Beater For Coffee Money – The Story Of The Burton Trackster appeared first on Silodrome.

source https://silodrome.com/burton-trackster/

#cars

[krystinkrebsinteriors]

Find Out What Interior Design Style is Best For You!

There are so many different types of Interior Design styles, it hard to keep up. So I have outlined some of the most common (and some of my favorite) styles to help you narrow down your favorite style! 

Mid-Century

The mid-1900s produced some of the most iconic pieces in modern design. Often referred to as Mid-Century Modern because it derives its influences from the modern art movement that preceded modern design, it is characterized by refined lines, minimalist silhouettes, and natural shapes. Woods, plastics, glossy metals including stainless steel and glass are common materials found in Mid-Century Furniture.

Tip: I would recommend mixing in elements from other design styles to keep your home looking fresh.

  Industrial

Industrial design is popular for decorating lofts and old buildings converted into living spaces, although it can be used for traditional apartments and houses too. What you need for this style is to create an illusion of rough surfaces and materials that suggest an industrial past. The simplest way to show roughness is to leave some walls or surfaces unfinished. Exposed bricks, steel beams or columns, exposed concrete, unfinished wood, and stainless steel work well for this style. In addition to some rough metal elements that will create an industrial atmosphere, you are looking for old industrial-looking objects that are made from steel, metal or wood. These items are preferably worn down or have been salvaged and recycled. Your color palette should steer clear of bright, bold colors; instead you should look for warm, neutral tones to fill your space. Shades and tones of gray work well when mixed with white to add a crisp, clean look.

Tip: Industrial decor ranges from modern rustic with cleaner lines to rugged vintage with elaborate ornamentations. Depending on your tastes, you can opt for a lighter, chic look or a darker, antique design.

  Natural Coastal

Not sure what natural coastal looks like? Think New England beach house and you would be on the right track; unfinished or light color woods, white furnishings, soft linen fabrics, woven-wicker decor. Accents often include found objects from the beach like seashells, glass, jute rope, sailboats, navigational maps, and even rowing oars. This interior design style is based on white or sand colored foundation, with a range of blues as the accent colors.

Tip: Don’t go overboard with any theme. Pick a few keys pieces for each room and let those pieces nod to your style. Your room doesn’t need to scream “Under the Sea!” when you walk in, otherwise it will feel like you are at a theme park.  

  Traditional

Traditional Design covers anything from 1700’s-1900’s and includes many different styles like French Victorian and Baroque, Greek/Roman, Italian Tuscan, American Colonial- all of which reflect classic European decor. Trademarks of this style generally include deep wood tones, architectural details, and elegant furnishings. One of the most important facets of traditional interior design is the silhouettes, also called the lines, of the furnishings. Wing-backed chairs, claw footed tables, and curved furniture pieces are examples of this. Common models for such traditional furniture are pieces attributed to the Queen Anne or Chippendale styles. Antiques are also often integrated into this design style, but many companies sell new pieces that mimic the lines of the old. Dark woods like cherry, maple, and mahogany are typically used in furniture pieces of this style. These are often carved and lacquered to give them a luxurious, elegant feel. Wood floors are also considered a standard for this decor, although tile and carpet are often used as well. Architectural embellishments are widely used in this type of interior design. These can include elaborate moldings, beveled wood paneling, and intricate tile and wood floor patterns. Arches, columns, and built-in cabinetry are also frequent features of this type of design.

 Tip: Traditional Design is all about creating a sense of charm and history through old eclectic pieces. By adding antiques, collectibles, flea market finds, and estate sale items you can develop a vintage atmosphere.

Already have traditional furniture, but want to give it an update? Simply change the fabric to a more modern print or solid, or paint the frame a color- perhaps bright green, or maybe just white, you pick!

  Scandinavian

An off-shoot of the mid-century movement, Scandinavian design was introduced in the 1930’s. Although most people associate it with IKEA, there are a variety of subset looks within Scandinavian design itself. there are two interior design styles that are Scandinavian design: Scandinavian Modern interior design is centered around warm functionality, clean lines, flawless craftsmanship and understated elegance. Whereas Scandinavian Country interior design (Sometimes referred to as Belgian Interior Design to differentiate it from the Modern Scandinavian style) is a mixture gentle contours, playful accent colors, and a balance of engineered and organic materials. Many Scandinavian-styled homes are characterized by the use of earthy muted tones, natural materials and minimal ornamentation.

there are two interior design styles that are Scandinavian design:

 Tip: To stay truly Scandinavian stick with light colored woods, minimal metals, strong lines, and neutral colors.   

  Bohemian

Bohemian decor captures the free spirited, adventurous collector’s lifestyle. It features rich patterns, vibrant colors, and layers of textiles (tapestry, pillows, throws, rugs). The furniture is often handmade or vintage and has a history or story which makes it uniquely personal to whomever possesses it. Often these types of furnishings are ethnic or tribal inspired like Moroccan, Southwestern, or Indian.   

Tip: Look for color-rich textiles, a variety of wood tones, animal hides, and warm metallic accents like gold, copper, or brass.

  Rustic Shabby Chic Farmhouse

This style is known as several styles: Rustic, Shabby Chic, and Farmhouse. It is mainly cabin-inspired, with some traditional French Provence elements mixed in. The furniture is characterized by family heirlooms, flea market finds, DIY projects, folk art, collections, found items and vintage pieces. Often the wood furniture is distressed wood or covered in sanded milk paint to show signs of wear and tear. The fabrics are often neutral color linens and cottons.

Tip: Get some dried lavender bunches and other greeneries and place them in vintage vases to add a little charm and great scent to your home. The rustic shabby chic farmhouse look often features wooden beams and columns as well as hardwood or stone flooring. If you don’t have these elements in your home, it is possible to put up faux beams or columns to achieve the look.

Modern

One of the most important elements in modern interior design is form. Modern design uses geometric shapes, including rigid squares and rectangles along with smooth curves (“clean lines”). Perfect circles and ovals are also common in modern interior design. Walls are minimal and often empty, and colors are usually very neutral with a few pops of color. Art is also usually very large in scale and minimal. The less furniture the better! Think of which furniture can be eliminated without sacrificing comfort and livability. Floors can generally be anything (hardwood, concrete, etc.), but should be completely clean with one rug to add color and create a focal point for the room. Modern Design is all about spare and streamlined while still being inviting, so the less clutter to wade through and mentally process, the more beauty of each piece of furniture really starts to stand out.

Tip: Choose a general muted color to be the default of your space, and an accent color or two to highlight furniture and other accessories. Keep your space very minimal, keep only the essentials and store everything out of sight. This means you will most likely need to get creative with storage. When you are out shopping think of all the “hidden” places you could put storage containers – under the sink, under the bed, under the sofa, etc. Keep all surfaces clear and free of clutter.

  Ethnic

 Ethnic Design refers to anything with strong tribal patterns including Native American, Mexican, Indian, Moroccan, and many more. All of these ethnic styles have a common use of rich colors, dynamic contrasts, traditional patterns, and the unique decorations and accessories. Exotic plants, tiles and textured walls all tie the experience and “ethnic” atmosphere together. These styles can often be found blended together in Bohemian Interior Design.  

Tip: The quickest way to incorporate ethnic interior design is by using bright and colorful wool rugs, kilims or thin large rugs with traditional geometric patterns. Stick to deep, burnt shades rather than bright, bold colors for a warm look. Also use fabrics that integrate pattern and textured into your space.

 Hollywood Regency

This style is mainly associated with the World War I to World War II time periods, this style embodies the essence of the Roaring 20’s, exuding bold and flashy elegance. The most defining aspects are polished and shiny chrome or brass fixtures, geometric shapes, angular patterns, and bold curves. The furniture was often dark lacquered wood, and glossy paint combine for a slick and gleaming effect, sometimes with mirrored pieces attached to the surfaces. Fabrics were usually a mix of vinyl, silk and sati.

Tip: Choose rugs, carpets and upholstery with geometric, rhythmic motifs.

 Eclectic

A Mixture of all the following styles: Traditional, Mid-Century, Transitional, Bohemian, Hollywood Regency, Modern, Industrial, Rustic Shabby Chic Farmhouse, Natural Coastal, Contemporary, and Scandinavian. 

 Transitional

This is the most popular style in America. It is the type of furniture that you find most commonly at Pottery Barn and Ethan Allen. It is a refined take on traditional shapes with round, soft curved lines.  

 Contemporary

Contemporary Interior Design consists of straight lines, sharp corners, wide curves, sphere shapes, bold monochromatic solid colors, high contrast, minimal walls, and mixed metals. It has refined the shape of traditional furniture so much that it borders on Modern design with its simplified shapes. This style is the second most popular style, next to transitional, since these furnishings can go with just about any design.       

#styles of interior design #style