#i guess the button is the timer on my phone that limits how much i open instagram today

[tarriecat]

I would like a button to press that says "I am already part of Marginalized Community X and active in Political Issue Y, please do not show me all the posts about horrible things happening to people like me and my loved ones that are directed at Dominant Group A to raise awareness, because I have already cried about Horrible Thing Z twice today, I do not need to be more aware."

That probably wouldn't fit on a button, huh.

#i guess the button is the timer on my phone that limits how much i open instagram today #just sucks that i also have to give up the cat photos and sewing inspiration

[frenchbreads-writing]

Happy birthday|{Tokoyami Fumikage}

Holy shit okay third time’s the charm

Happy Late Birthday to our favorite Prince of Darkness!

I wrote something for his birthday and I’m pretty sure we all have realized that I probably will never post on time for a character’s birthday lol anyway

I hope you enjoy!

Pairing: Tokoyami Fumikage x Male Reader

Words: 2.3k (2,305)

Warning(s): blood(it’s only a little)

Requests: Open

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Crap crap crap.

How could you not know this?

He’s your boyfriend!

You were pacing around your room. It was 9 pm on October 29th. The night right before Fumikage’s birthday.

And you had nothing to show for it.

You don’t even have a gift... You’ve got nothing to surprise him with.

It was too late in the night to leave the dorms and Fumikage was going to spend the whole day with you tomorrow in your dorm.

You had no decorations, no cake, and no gift.

You thought for a moment before coming up with a few solutions.

For decorations, you could go to Momo for that. For the cake, you’re sure you can convince Sato to help you make one.

But for a gift? it was too late to get permission from Aizawa to leave the dorms.

You sighed and glanced at the time on your phone.

9:43 pm.

If you were going to get help to set up something for his birthday you had to do it now.

You stood up and walked to the door, putting on your slippers and walking out.

First, you headed towards Sato’s room since it was closer.

Knocking on the door, you waited a moment before it swung open.

“(Y/N), What’s up?”

“Tomorrow is Tokoyami’s birthday and I was wondering if you could help me make a cake?”

He thought for a moment before looking at you apologetically.

“Sorry I can’t I need to study tonight.”

You sighed.

“That’s fine do you have any cake recipes that have apples?”

Sato retreated into his room for a minute before coming back with a piece of paper with ingredients and measurements.

“Thanks.”

You waved and walked away towards the elevator.

Pressing Momo’s floor you patiently waited until the ding and walked up to her door.

She had said she was with studying with Jirou so you wanted to make it quick.

Knocking on the door a blushing Momo popped her head out.

“Ah, how can I help you (Y/N)?”

You feel as if you interrupted something that was not studying.

“Yeah, I was wondering if you could do me a favor?”

“Uh yes, what do you need?”

“Could you make me some stuff for a birthday?”

She paused for a moment.

“I- um give me a moment please?”

She hastily shut the door leaving you standing in the hallway alone.

You had been standing there for a while and you were honestly debating just leaving. Until she opened the door again this time a bit wider and handed you a bag.

“H-here you go, good night!”

She closed the door before you could say anything.

“Um, thanks?”

You walked away and headed back to your room.

Just as you were about to open your door Kirishima’s door swung open and Bakugou walked out. The two of you made eye contact but your eyes strayed down to his shirt that you knew for certain belonged to Kirishima.

He blushed and grabbed onto the fabric over his chest.

“Not a damn word.”

You gave him an unimpressed look.

“Half of the class owes me money now so I don’t care, do what you want, or in this case who you want.”

You slipped into your room and shut the door the sound of explosions and Kirishima trying to calm Bakugou down made you snort.

Now, you need to set up the decorations.

You poured the stuff Momo made out of the bag and onto the floor. There wasn’t enough to cover the common room that you could tell from the small size.

So you were going to decorate your room and surprise him with that. Hopefully, it would suffice. There were also some cake decorations thrown in there.

Without wasting any more time you got to work.

About 2 hours and many ruined decorations later you admired your handiwork from the doorway. It wasn’t the best but with your limited resources, it would have to do.

You checked the time and it was already midnight which means everyone should be in their rooms so you should be able to make the cake without anyone knowing.

You walked into the kitchen area and reached into your pocket, taking out the list of ingredients and measurements Sato gave you.

You gathered all of the ingredients that you needed.

You were glad Kaminari and Sero forced Bakugou to help them bake stuff. Although after that the kitchen smelled weird for a few days and you had a suspicion about what they made.

You grabbed your phone and searched for a tutorial and got to work.

You were mixing the batter when the elevator dinged and out stepped your boyfriend.

He was about to round the corner when he heard you.

“Am I doing this right?”

Curious he peeked around the corner and saw you holding a mixing bowl and a cup with a cut-up apple inside staring at your phone screen.

“Mmm yea that’s right, this is easy, haha Fumi’s gonna love this!”

You proceeded to pour the apple slices into the batter and mix.

Fumikage felt his face grow warm.

You were making a cake for him?

“Duh, it’s for our birthday.”

Fumikage jumped as Dark shadow appeared and spoke.

He grabbed Dark shadow and covered his mouth with his hand.

The sound of your mixing stopped.

“Hello? Kirishima or Kaminari, if that’s you just know you’re not getting any so go away.”

The sound of your mixing resumed.

Fumikage released the breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“Don’t be so loud!”

He whisper-shouted at Dark shadow.

“Sorry, Fumi.”

He just sighed and peeked around the corner again to see you pouring out the batter into a pan.

He pulled back and hushed Dark Shadow and began tip-toeing back to the elevator.

You didn’t notice the elevator ding again as you were slipping the pan into the oven.

“Now I just have to wait until it’s done.”

You set a timer for 30 minutes and began searching up another tutorial for icing and began making it.

You had already made 1 color when you decided to check the time again: 2:30 am.

‘Already? But I basically just got here.’

You sighed and began mixing the icing a bit faster.

Around 3 more hours passed with you taking the cake out of the oven and taking your time to very carefully decorate it.

It looked a bit wonky but you’re sure he won’t mind.

You stretched out your limbs hearing the satisfying pops and stood up.

All you needed to do now was get it to your room and then you can surprise him with it.

You cleaned up your area and with one more look over to make sure you didn’t leave anything you picked up the tray with the cake and began walking towards the elevator.

Halfway there your fatigue finally began catching up with you.

You suddenly got hit by a wave of sleepiness and stumbled.

Oh no.

Your foot got stuck behind the other one and you watched as you tipped forward cake already sliding off of the plate.

It couldn’t have gotten any worse but just as you began falling the elevator doors opened revealing Fumikage.

And he witnessed the way you face planted and dropped the cake you spent so much time on onto the floor.

“Um, surprise?”

He looked at the cake and the black and purple icing now covering the floor.

He shook his head and rushed over to you helping you off the floor and pulling you into the kitchen. Making you sit at the counter while he grabbed a few paper towels making you lean down to his height to dab away the blood that’s currently dripping from your nose.

“I guess my surprise was a fail I’m sorry Fumi.”

“It’s okay (Y/N) It’s the thought that counts.”

You straightened up and looked into his eyes.

“But I really wanted to make something for you since I wasn’t able to get you a gift.”

The feathers on his cheeks ruffled as his face grew warmer.

“You don’t need to get me a gift, your presence is enough for me.”

Dark shadow appeared and bumped your hand.

“As long as you keep the head scratches coming I’m cool.”

You smiled and scratched under Dark shadows’ chin.

Fumikage stepped between your legs and wrapped his arms around your neck.

“I saw you last night making the cake I thought it was sweet that you thought of me.”

You looked down at him.

“That was you sneaking around?”

He looked at you sheepishly.

“It was an accident I didn’t know you were in here so late.”

You sighed and placed your hands on his waist placing a soft kiss on his beak.

“Well, at least I have one more surprise that you don’t know about.”

He looked at you with a questioning expression.

“I will show you after I clean up the cake that is currently covering the floor because Iida will probably burst a blood vessel.”

He snorted and let you go so you could grab some cleaning supplies.

After getting as much of the cake out of the carpet as you could, you led him to the elevator pressing the button to your floor.

When the elevator doors opened and you walked up to your door you covered his eyes with your hands.

“What are you doing?”

“It’s a surprise dummy so the two of you have to close your eyes.”

He chuckled.

“Alright, I’ll close my eyes.”

You let go and made sure he didn’t open his eyes and opened the door, grabbing his hand and pulled him inside.

“No peeking I just need to do something really quick.”

He hummed in acknowledgment.

You nodded and began lighting candles one by one.

“I thought you had already dropped the cake before do you have another one I don’t know about?”

“Haha no no just wait one more second, then you’ll see.”

“Hurry up (Y/N) I wanna see!”

Dark shadow cried out.

“Okay okay I’m done you can open your eyes.”

The two of them opened their eyes and dark shadow began laughing and Fumikage had an amused smile.

You had all of the generic birthday decorations like streamers, balloons(without helium), and a banner that said “Happy Birthday!” On it.

But what set them off was another banner that you spelled out his signature phrase “Revelry in the dark” in bright pink lettering. There were also many lit candles that he had given to you before that you haven’t really used. The window was also covered with blackout curtains so the room was dark.

“Tada, do you like it?”

“It’s perfect, thank you (Y/N).”

“Yeah yeah, it’s awesome!”

Fumikage walked up to you and gave you a tight hug. Dark shadow also hugged you from behind.

Sighing you hugged the shorter boy back placing your head on top of his.

“I’m so glad you like it and right now would usually be the part where I give you a gift but I don’t have one so I’m sorry. If I found out sooner I definitely would’ve gotten one.”

He gave his version of a kiss onto your cheek.

“That’s very thoughtful of you.”

“Well since it’s your birthday I’m all yours I’ll do anything you ask me to that’ll be my gift.”

“Well if you’ll do anything will you stay with me and be alone with me to celebrate this day?”

You chuckled and let go of the hug.

“Anything for you my prince of darkness.”

You placed another kiss onto his beak and in one swift motion, you lifted him and plopped him onto your bed.

You climbed on top of him and placed your head on his chest and laced your fingers together.

“You haven’t slept have you?”

“Ah no I haven’t I was up all night baking the cake.”

He looked down at you and placed his hands on your cheeks and using his thumbs to massage the forming bags under your eyes.

“Go to sleep my love, we can celebrate more later today.”

“Are you sure?”

He grabbed the blanket and draped it over the two of you and pulling you more on top of him.

“Yes, I’m sure.”

You looked at him for a moment before letting out an exhausted sigh.

“Okay, Fumi I will.”

“Hey! Don’t leave me out of this I want to hug (Y/N) it’s my birthday too!”

Dark shadow cried out before sliding under the blanked and placing himself on your back.

You chuckled at his antics before a large yawn made its way out of your mouth.

“Goodnight Fumi, goodnight Dark shadow.”

“Goodnight.”

They whispered back in unison as you fell asleep on his chest almost immediately.

Fumikage looked around the room illuminated by the candlelight seeing all of the decorations that you had obviously put thought into how you put them together.

“Hey, Fumi?”

He looked down at Dark shadow.

“I really like him.”

Fumikage looked at your sleeping face and felt something in his chest swell at the sight.

He looked back at Dark shadow and smiled at him.

“Me too.”

“Can we stay with him forever?”

“We’ll stay with him as long as he is willing to let us.”

Fumikage ran his fingers through your hair gently scratching your scalp. The action made you sigh and shift more into his grasp.

“Go to bed dark shadow, when we wake we can spend as much time as I know you want to with him.”

Dark shadow simply hummed and hugged you tighter.

Fumikage closed his eyes and sighed.

When he wakes, he will show you how much this meant to him.

How much you meant to him.

And with that he let your warmth and rhythmic breathing lull him into slumber.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

{Tag List}

@your-strangelove @yumeneji

To be added to the tag list send and ask or just add your username to the google doc in my pinned post.

#frenchbread's writing #bnha x male reader #bnha x reader #x male reader #x reader #bnha #mha #mha x male reader #mha x reader #tokoyami fumikage x reader #tokoyami fumikage x male reader #tokoyami fumikage #tokoyami #tokoyami x male reader #tokoyami x reader #FBW Happy Birthday

[one-with-the-floor]

Tuesday Morning Rush

Day 1 of @ineffablehusbandsweek!

Today’s meet cute features extremely competent Aziraphale, extremely sleep deprived Crowley, and poor Newt having no idea what’s going on. Also on AO3 right here!

“Anthony!”

Aziraphale set the paper cup on the serving counter and turned back to the kettle screaming at him. It was nine a.m. on a Tuesday, and everyone in London wanted their morning caffeine fix. Michael was handling the ordering station like the pro she was, and Uriel was making good use of their patented “hurry up and leave” look to keep the shop’s limited seating in rotation, but that left Aziraphale to man the coffee making on his own.

Not that he really minded it. He liked his job. It was quiet, sort of. No matter how loud the shop got, he’d learned to tune it out and go about his business behind the counter. Get an order, check off all the steps to make the drink, pop the cup up on the counter and shout the name on the cup. It didn’t take much thought anymore. He could run a Tuesday rush in his sleep by now.

“Er, excuse me? Sorry?” Aziraphale turned away from the milk steamer and nearly ran into a boy in an impressively stained apron. ‘Newt,’ his name tag read. Aziraphale wondered if that was the result of a prank someone was playing on the poor boy or just a name even less fortunate than his own.

“You’re the new lad, aren’t you?” Aziraphale asked. He always thought it was important to be polite, regardless of how many people were crowding the shop.

“I am, yeah, just started today. I’m meant to be barista…ing?”

Aziraphale looked Newt up and down. Besides the apron stains, his shirt buttons were askew, his hair was already escaping his cap, and there were no less than six plasters on his fingers and hands. Aziraphale glanced at the line of waiting customers. He looked back at Newt. “Right. Well, if you could just stand there, by the espresso machine—”

“Here?”

“That’s the steamer dear boy—no, no, that’ll do fine, just stand right there.” Aziraphale assessed his new co-worker, now standing squished between the back counter and the wall. “Perfect.”  A kettle started screaming, and Aziraphale threw himself back into his coffee making, darting around the little work space with ease.

“Tracy!” he called as he plopped the next drink on the counter. A boisterous shop regular in an orange wig bustled forward, and Aziraphale waved as she took her drink. Then he stopped, and frowned at the other cup still sat on the counter. He read the name on it. “Anthony!” he shouted again. Probably the man just hadn’t heard him the first time. It had gotten quite loud.

Aziraphale scanned the room. No one came forward to claim the cup. “Oh, dear,” he tsked. Some poor soul must’ve gotten pinned at the back of the crowd, or stuck on a distracting phone call. He glanced at Newt, still standing nervously in his assigned corner. “Mind your ears.”

“Huh?”

“Your ears, dear, cover them.”

Looking even more terrified than before, Newt did as he was told. Aziraphale took a deep, strong breath.

“ANTHONY!” The chatter of the shop hushed while Aziraphale’s shout rang through the room. He’d enjoyed theater in high school. Still had the booming stage voice to prove it. The noise picked up again a moment later, but Aziraphale noticed a tad smugly that a man in a soft grey beanie sitting in the back corner had startled and stumbled to his feet. He walked sheepishly up to the counter, smothering a yawn.

“Sorry,” he mumbled.

“No trouble,” Aziraphale said as he pushed the cup toward its owner. Anthony looked up, and Aziraphale saw deep circles under his eyes and a furrow down his brow. “Are you quite alright?”

Anthony tried to smile, but was defeated by another yawn. “Yeah, great, perfect. Totally fine, me.” He reached for his coffee and missed, jambing his fingers into the counter.

“Are… are you sure?” Aziraphale asked.

“Nope,” he popped. “But I gotta get to work, so. Y’know.”

Aziraphale did. He was an early bird by nature, but the early mornings and lack of sleep hit him sometimes, too. “Here,” he offered, handing over the cup. “Drink that up, take a nap if you can sneak one, and I’m sure you’ll be just fine.”

Anthony took the cup. He was staring at Aziraphale. “...thanks,” he said. “Been, uh. Been a rough week, I guess.”

Aziraphale was just about to commiserate when Anthony reached up to scratch his neck and knocked his beanie off kilter. He pulled the hat off, and suddenly there was a cascade of fire red curls tumbling down his back. Aziraphale stared. His mouth may have been open. He wasn’t sure, and couldn’t seem to care. The whole thing had seemed to be in slow motion, like something out of a movie.

Anthony was quick to bundle his hair back into a knot and tuck it into his hat again, snapping Aziraphale out of his head. But he couldn’t seem to leave the counter, despite the alarms and timers starting to go off behind him. He couldn’t make himself look away from Anthony’s face, his cheekbones, his beautiful golden-hazel eyes, made even brighter by the shadows under them, the little curve of his lips, the—grimace?

Anthony was taking a second sip of his coffee, a look of pain on his face. Aziraphale’s heart plummeted. “Sorry,” he said hurriedly, half reaching for the cup. “Is it wrong? I must’ve messed up the order, I’m so sorry, I promise this doesn’t happen—well, it, it does, it happened to you, but it won’t happen again I promise pleasedon’tnotcomebackI’msorry.”

Anthony blinked at him. Aziraphale could practically see the sleep clogged gears in his mind trying to parse what he’d said before he gave up with a shake of his head. “No, sorry, ‘s my fault. Could I… sorry, ‘s there any chance I could have just a little bit of milk in this?”

Aziraphale’s face went hot. “Yes,” he said quickly, snatching the cup away from Anthony so fast the man was left blinking at his empty hand. “I really am so sorry, your order said black coffee so that’s what I made, there must’ve been a mistake at the register or in the system—”

“Er. No, actually.” Anthony said sheepishly. He scratched the back of his neck again, and Aziraphale found himself slightly disappointed when his hat stayed in place. “I, um. I did order black coffee. Just. I don’t actually like it.”

“Oh! Oh,” Aziraphale said. The panic in his chest started to ease, replaced by a much more welcome feeling of amusement. He passed Anthony’s no-longer-black coffee back to him. “Have a reputation to uphold?” he teased.

To his delight, Anthony smiled. “That and a debilitating need to avoid long interactions with cashiers.” Aziraphale laughed. The tips of Anthony’s ears went red, but he looked pleased. Aziraphale wondered what that blush might look like with his hair hanging loose around his face.

Then the timer on the kettle right next to him went off, and they both jumped. Aziraphale glanced at the growing list of incoming orders, and Anthony checked the time on his phone. “I gotta run,” Anthony said, sounding disappointed in a way that went right to Aziraphale’s heart.

“I need to get back to work, too. But, um. I’ll see you another time?”

Anthony grinned. “Yeah. Think I might become a regular customer here.”

“Oh?”

“Well, y’know. They’ve got great service.”

Aziraphale thought he might start floating off the ground, he felt so giddy. Then Anthony tried to take another sip of coffee and very nearly missed his mouth entirely. “Oh, dear. Here.” Aziraphale passed him a large fistful of napkins.

Anthony blinked at them for a moment before his sleep deprived brain figured out where it was again. “Right,” he said. “Thanks. No more all-nighters, I’m getting too old for this.” He snapped open a pair of sunglasses and jammed the napkins into his pocket. “Thanks,” he said again, and flashed Aziraphale an exhausted but grateful smile before he took off. Aziraphale watched him go, wide eyed as he pushed through the crowd, wincing as he nearly tripped over air on his way out the door. The wind outside pulled a stray lock of red hair out of his hat as he turned down the sidewalk, and Aziraphale watched it bounce next to his ear until Anthony was out of sight.

“Oh, dear,” he said to himself. The man was pretty. The man was really pretty, and polite, and really rather sweet. Aziraphale was already thinking about whether he’d be back tomorrow. How many coffee orders was it considered appropriate to wait before writing one’s number on the cup?

“Er,” a voice said behind him. “Sorry, is there something I should be doing?”

Aziraphale blinked and snapped back into action. “No!” he said cheerfully. “No, my dear Newt, you are doing wonderfully just there. You keep doing as you are, and I’ll handle this.” He popped a cup out of the rack and swung it towards the coffee makers with ease, slapping on his work smile and getting back to business.

He didn’t stop thinking about him, though. It was ridiculous, falling into a crush so fast, but the heart would do as it would. Aziraphale let out a happy wiggle when he remembered he was working the same shift the next day. If he was lucky, he’d get a chance for a real conversation with Anthony tomorrow. Until then, he would make the coffee, and boil the tea, and reassure Newt that he was perfectly fine standing just there, really, just hold on till things slowed down a bit, and daydream about fire red hair as he worked.

#ineffable husbands au week #good omens #ineffable husbands #aziraphale #crowley #aziraphale/crowley #newton pulsifer #coffee shop au #my fic

[lukecastellandeservedbetter]

12. The Mom Interlude

a/n: this is a different pace, a different sort of fic. But I think it’s important, y’know? The action will pick up next fic. 

Read the others!: Masterlist

Sally was baking. 

Again. 

She had given all the cookies from before to Leo and Luke. Not that she minded. Paul was off at a teachers convention this weekend, which left her alone in the apartment. 

The apartment itself was not very big. It had limited square footage, and had to be kept in a particular order. It didn’t take very long for the place to seem cluttered and messy. The couch made it a little difficult to navigate through the living room with the new coffee table, and she had to be careful when she was taking the laundry to the rooms because the hallway was narrow, and if she moved the wrong way with the basket in her arms, the pictures could be knocked off the wall. In the kitchen, she had mastered the art of cleaning as she went when she cooked or baked anything, as well as the skill of stacking dishes. The table usually doubled as a desk for various degrees of homework, so they had a little shelf area that was always strewn with papers. It had been a stretch when Paul moved in with Sally and Percy, and Sally had to do some real rearranging in order to accommodate Luke. Sometimes, she felt like she was going to go crazy, living with so many people in such close quarters. 

With Percy and Luke gone, the apartment felt too big now. 

Sally was washing dishes, a little lost in thought while she waited for the timer on the last batch of chocolate chip cookies. 

She may have been wary about allowing the young man who spent nearly four years trying to kill her son to move in with them, but when she actually met Luke, she saw what Percy had meant when he had Iris-Messaged to ask her if it would be okay. 

Luke just needs someone who cares about him. 

Percy had given Sally the basic rundown about Luke, and his behaviour. What happened to Thalia, what happened with his mom, how long he had been at camp, his quest. From what Sally could tell, Luke had just been a kid who was angry and upset and manipulated by someone who had thousands of years to figure out how to get people to do what he wants. 

It hadn’t taken very long for Luke to feel like a second son. He was respectful, quiet, and a hard worker. He insisted on paying Sally back for the clothes and monthly transit pass she had purchased for him. Sometimes, she found Percy at the table with Luke, quietly explaining something to the older demigod. On those nights, she would be brutally reminded that Luke had run away at such a young age, he didn’t understand a lot of school concepts. And Percy might not be the most diligent student, but he was patient when he explained them. 

She smiled at the memory of Luke and Percy realizing that geometry could be used for swordplay and battle strategies. They must’ve sat there for an hour, a real feat for two demigods with ADHD and Dyslexia, mapping out ten different strategies together. 

The timer went and Sally shut off the water, drying her hands and put on her oven mitts, pulling the cookies out of the oven when the buzzer sounded. 

She shut the oven door and rushed over, just in case it was Percy, or Luke, or even Annabeth or Rachel, just, anyone with more information. Luke hadn’t given her a time frame, he merely told her soon. 

She pressed the speak button. “Hello?” She said quickly, trying not to sound excited. 

“Uh, hi, sorry, is this the Jackson residence?” An unfamiliar woman’s voice came through the speaker. 

Sally furrowed her eyebrows. “It’s Blofis actually, may I ask who is speaking?” She said slowly, glancing over at the celestial bronze sword Luke and Percy had insisted they leave with her and Paul in case of emergencies.  

“Oh, sorry, I must’ve got the wrong address from Chiron, I’m so sorry,” The woman apologized profusely. 

“Chiron?” Sally repeated, an image of the kind centaur flashed through her mind. “From Long Island?” She asked, still a little uneasy. 

“From Camp, yes,” The woman answered, a little more quiet. “He told me I could find my son here.” 

“Son?” Sally was bewildered at the statement. 

“Yes, my son, Luke. My name is May Castellan.” The woman told her. 

Sally stared at the receiver for a moment. May Castellan? How had she managed to get all the way here? From what Percy had told her, Luke’s mom was nearly incoherent in Connecticut, having been driven out of her mind by the curse on the Oracle of Delphi. 

“Hello, are you still there?” The woman claiming to be May Castellan spoke up again. 

“Yes, yes, sorry. Let me buzz you in.” Sally was pulled out of her reeling mind and buzzed her in, putting on a pot of coffee. 

It was quiet. And awkward. The two women sat at the table, coffees in hand and cookies on the table as the seconds ticked by. 

“So… you’re Luke’s mom then,” Sally said, looking down at the picture May had brought as proof of a young Luke and her. 

She almost didn’t recognize it as Luke, without the scar, but his eyes were the same, and his blonde hair. 

It was enough proof for her. 

“Yes, is he here?” She asked curiously. 

“I, uh, no, he isn’t.” Sally told her. “He’s off on a quest.” 

“A quest?” May repeated, leaning back in her chair. 

Sally nodded. “He’s going to save my son, Percy, and bring him home.” She explained. 

May was quiet for a moment. “And how long is that going to take?” She asked. 

Sally sighed. “I don’t know,” She admitted. “Luke told me they would be back soon. That’s all I know.” 

“When were you talking to Luke?” May asked, perking up a little bit. 

“Last night,” She told her honestly. “He stopped in with another camper and-”

“He was here?” May demanded, standing up. “Then he shouldn’t be far away, right? Is there a way to contact him? Can you bring him back, just for a minute?” She asked frantically. 

“May,” Sally stood up, gently taking her hand and sitting her down again. “Demigods can’t use phones, it attracts monsters. And we can’t Iris-message them, we can only accept.” 

“Maybe you can’t, but I-” 

“Have the sight?” Sally guessed. “I’m afraid it doesn’t work like that.”

May got quiet and sipped her coffee, eyeing the cookies. “Luke likes chocolate chip cookies.” She mumbled. “I always burnt them.” 

Sally watched the woman worriedly. “May, I don’t mean to be rude, but the last I heard, you were under a curse from the Oracle. How did you get here?” 

May sighed, like she had been expecting this question. “One day I woke up. There were sandwiches and cookies and juice boxes all over the kitchen. I… it’s murky. Time kind of just, blended together. I have a couple memories, one of Luke coming home, except he was older. He looked like his dad.” She paused. “And then his dad did show up, and he caught me up on a lot of it. He said Luke was safe. And put me in contact with Chiron.” She sighed, swirling the coffee in her mug. “Luke hates me, doesn’t he?” 

“We’ll be safe, don’t worry mom.” 

It echoed in Sally’s mind. She sighed and took one of the cookies off the plate. “I don’t think he does,” She told her softly. “I don’t mean to sound harsh, but if you were under the curse, I’m not sure Luke knows the real you enough to hate you.” 

May took a shaky breath and looked back down at her coffee. “I thought if I took on the Oracle, it would be easier on him. I could be in his world more.” 

Sally’s heart ached for the woman in front of her. “I know.” She whispered. “Why don’t you leave your number with me? When Luke comes home, I’ll have him give you a call. Or maybe we could drive out to Connecticut?” Sally offered. “He was studying for his learners permit before all of this, it might be good practice for him.” 

May nodded slowly and stood, collecting her jacket. “Thank you Sally, for… everything. For this. For looking after my boy. For accepting him into your home. For giving him a chance.” She said as she wrote her number on the paper Sally had placed in front of her. “If you talk to him… can you tell him I’m sorry. And I miss him. And I love him.” She begged. 

Sally nodded with a kind smile, walking May to the door. “Have a safe drive home May,” Sally told her. 

May nodded and shook her hand before heading out of the apartment and down the hall. 

Sally closed the door and took a seat in the chair Percy had occupied when he and Luke were reviewing the battle plans and sipped her coffee, staring at the chair across from her, eating another cookie thoughtlessly before her shoulders slumped forward. 

And Sally cried for the boys whom she missed very much, and wished she could hug them one more time. 

#Luke Castellan's Second Chance #luke castellan #percy jackson #Percy Jackson and the Olympians #pjo #hoo #Heroes of Olympus #May Castellan #Sally Jackson

[swervestrickland]

Yankee Candle, pt. 2

Part 1

(gif by @doedreamss)

____

“Time limit?”

“Fifteen minutes.”

He fumbled with his wrist watch, setting himself a timer for half past one. This was probably the most invested he’d ever been in a competition (and he was a wrestler!). Gazing down at this sweet, gorgeous woman next to him, Adam gave her a playful smile and steeled himself against her charms.

“So the rules are set. We have fifteen minutes to find a scent the other will like. No phone calls to friends or family, no checking google, no help of any kind. Just memory. That all right with you?” He raised a brow at Emi, who had already hardened herself and kept glancing at the glass doors of the candle store, eager to win the race and get the hell out of there.

“Perfectly fine, horse boy. Let’s go, let’s go!” She poked him playfully, bouncing up and down in a way that reminded him of his own jitter bugs at the start of a match.

“Okay, okay. Ready? Set. Go!” He sideswiped a man walking out of the door with his wife, leaving Emi in the dust.

She squealed to herself, hand curling into a fist at the thought of bein’ bamboozled. “Horse? More like an ass!” She mumbled quietly, wasting no more time in entering the candle establishment and positioning herself in the exact direction opposite where Adam found himself. She popped her head over the shelves, peering at the section he was in. She noted the candles were organized by overall comparable scents, and color. He had a blue candle in his hands.

Damn it, he knows me too well.

Turning around, she looked at the scents around her. They were all fruity. She picked out a red one, Sugared Cinnamon Apple, and smelled it. She noticed the apple first, then the cinnamon, and finally the sweet hints of vanilla and nutmeg. She closed her eyes, and she was instantly taken back to a Christmas long ago. She loved it, but maybe it was a bit much for the cowboy. She set it back down, and picked up another, but looked around first for her sweetheart.

Her eyes found him in line at the cash register, and her heart dropped unexpectedly. He was done? How was he done? How was that even possible?

“Babe?” She called out.

His curly lion’s mane quickly turned, revealing a satisfied grin on his face, his eyes filled with daring. “Yeah, sweetheart?”

God, he looked so good there. One hand resting at his belt buckle, the other firmly grasping the candle he’d chosen, his plaid long sleeved button-down and blue jeans hugging his thick body in a way only they could. Emi’s ears pricked up at the quiet gasps and murmurs of the women around her (and even the men?), trying their best not to sneak a peek at her hunk of a man, and failing miserably. She cleared her throat before speaking. “Um, you found the candle already?”

He looked down at the candle in his grip, and back at her with a smile. “Just got lucky I guess.”

“Damn you.”

“Whaaat.”

She gave him a frown.

“Better hurry, you only got twelve minutes left,” he looked down at his watch.

She frowned harder, and began searching frantically for the perfect scent. Given that it was nearing autumn, she found an entire section of autumn themed candles. Autumn Leaves, Spiced Pumpkin, and even a few Halloween ones. Her eyes landed on the deep purple wax of a new scent: Haunted Hayride. Emi picked it up, turning the jar around to get a view of the description.

This aromatic woody scent opens with a purifying charcoal accord and warming spice notes of black pepper and nutmeg.

She squealed internally. This sounded just like something he’d enjoy.

Opening the jar, she took in a deep breath through her nostrils. She smelled it, all right: the wood, the charcoal, the spices. Like something out of a chilly autumn afternoon when he cooked something on the grill, the few times they were home with his parents. This has to be it, she thought.

Pleased with herself, she made her way to the cash register, surprised to find him still waiting.

“Thought you’d be out of the line by now,” she observed audibly.

“Well, remember we have to smell the candles first. Then we buy’em if they’re good. Plus, I was kinda lettin’ everyone in front of me, I wanted to wait on you.”

“Oh,” she blushed. “Right.”

He beamed at her. “So? What’d you get? Last goes first.”

Confused by the rule he just made up but not entirely unwilling to go first, Emi showed him her candle.

He took it daintily from her hands and rotated it with his thick fingers. “Haunted Hayride, huh?”

“Yep.” She did her best to sound confident in her choice.

He pulled the top off slowly, so as to take his time. It just made her antsy, and she bobbed up and down. “Hurry!” she pleaded, tugging gently at his plaid sleeve.

“All right, sweetheart, all right. Relax.” He gave her a stern look, the same kind of look he gave his schoolkids once upon a time when they were being too much to handle. She immediately stopped, her chest swelling with an emotion she couldn’t quite comprehend. Was it getting hot in there?

“Hmm. I’m getting hints of. Something smoky.” He frowned, staring into the jar. “Is that—?” Another whiff. “Charcoal? And nutmeg?” His brows peaked on his forehead.

Her heart dropped. He didn’t like it.

“You don’t like it,” she said aloud, shoulders sagging.

“What? No,” he struggled to come up with the words, “it’s okay, but I don’t think that’s something I’d pick off the shelf, you know what I mean? Maybe for my dad. But not for me. It’s just not my kinda pop tart. Probably eat it if I had to, but it’s not a favorite.”

“I guess that makes sense.”

He quickly put the candle back where Emi found it and pulled her into a hug upon his return. “It’s okay, not everyone’s as good at picking out candles like I am.”

Emi pulled back a bit to look him in the eyes. “You’re so sure I’m going to like your candle, huh?”

Adam chuckled. “I mean, at this point it doesn’t really matter now, does it? I’ve already won my part. Now all that matters is whether you win yours.”

Emi mulled it over. “This system was rigged from the start.

Adam grinned, and handed her the blue candle. They were one person from the register, now. “For the record, I liked the color. Purple’s nice. A simple lilac would’ve sufficed on the scent, though.”

“I’ll take note for next time.” She checked the name of the candle. Turquoise Sky. “Fuck, that sounds perfect.” She took a deep breath of the aroma, and absolutely hated him for it. She could smell the ocean breeze, a soft hint of lilies, and that quiet, wooden scent. It was stunning. She wanted to punch him. “And. It’s perfect. I hate you.”

“You love me. Tell me, is there any other man in your life that knows how to pick candles like I do?” He held her close by the hips, tummy bumping into buckle, and the feel of something else beneath. She gazed into his eyes, taking note of something lustful that gathered there.

“Nobody can pick a candle like you can, Adam Page.”

“That’s Mister Hangman to you, miss.”

“Shut up, oh my goodness.” She pecked him sweetly on the nose.

“Next in line!” The cashier called, and they pulled apart, and paid for the candle.

Walking out of Yankee Candle, Emi started to pull him by the hand to the furniture store, but was shocked at his immobility. He wouldn’t budge.

“Adam, furniture time? Sheets? Home goods? For the house we never stay in?”

He shook his head, golden curls glistening in the light, framing his absolutely devilish smile. “Nuh-uh. We made a deal.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh, uh. About that…right now?”

He nodded silently, his eyes absolutely beaming with delight, and they made their way to the lingerie store.

“Okay, then. Right now.”

#mine #my fics #im baby for this man

[wizardessheart-sideb]

The latest episode is here! Below the cut is a transcription

HEWWO!

Hello everyone, welcome to Royal Magic Academy Radio, a podcast about Wizardess Heart. I’m your host, Mari. So uh. YEAH, we had a lot of big stuff happen since the last episode, so let’s get on with the show.

GAMING NEWS

Event-wise, we got a joint Romance Point slot that brings back some of Elias and Luca’s past stories AND CGs. So it’s a combo of two guys AND stories and CGs. There’s a new star collection event, All Aboard the Mystery Express. I have to say I never expected to get a mystery train event, but I’ll take it. I think it’s a good theme and I like Hugo’s story. I haven’t read any of the other stories because I don’t care about them and I don’t have Klaus’ yet. 

We got Joel’s sequel! His main route early bird is still running, so we’re getting like Double Joel. Or in my case, triple Joel since I’m transcribing his main route so. It’s Joel season y’all.

We also now have quite a few new features. After years of asking, we now have a greet all button. While I’m glad this is a thing since a lot of people are happy about it, I personally don’t use it because using greet all and then sending people messages for that extra 20 Lune is a nightmare. I did a time comparison using my personal account and then the one I use to screen record stuff for Ceragon Dubs, and if you use greet all and then go into your friend list to send messages it’s a lot longer. But it wasn’t as long as how much time I spent screen recording, logging in and out of facebook accounts, and video editing and breaking out my phone and screen recording that for a timer.

There’s also a new feature on consumable items. I mean, that’s the best way to describe it. So basically, there’s now a thing called limited time items. As the name suggests, they’re only available for about 15 days, and if you don’t use them in that time, they disappear. So far, we’ve seen this with Story Tickets and Muffins. I imagine it will probably go over to the other snack items, but I don’t know about the others consumables. Time will tell, I suppose.

FUTURE EVENTS/SPECULATION

Okay so since we’re now getting the next batch of sequels, if we’re going in the order of the poll, Hiro’s is next. That is all. Although I do think we're gonna get season 10 first. But yeah, Hiro's should be next. Sequel-wise, at least.

CALL AND RESPONSE

And now we have the long awaited response portion of call and response! Everyone’s favorite segment where I have no clue what I’m doing, I take shit from Love Live!, and I am met with the realization if I were an idol my call and response would be the worst because I can’t think of anything, which is why we make Love Live references. Ngl I feel like my call would be like “Who’s my favorite audience member?” and then the audience is like “me!” and I fake mishearing them and I’m like “memes?!” and then we all dab or some shit because that’s my brand. Dabbing at everything. Okay but yeah so. I asked you guys to rewrite character bios so. Let’s have some FUNNNNN.

Okay, and I sort have things in the correct places so I can just read them. I mean "sort of" because I have to go through DMs and stuff, but... Okay so our first one is from @nadia-the-wizardess. And hers is for Hugo which of course it is, I love you dude. So she submitted... And I'm not gonna try to be a complete ham. I'm gonna try and have some dignity while reading these. "Friend or foe? The masked man seemed to be at every turn, either helping us or using us to his advantage. He claims he has come from the future to help put us on the correct path and change our tragic destiny. We still don't know what Hugo is truly planning, but despite all this, I've decided to put my faith in him and join him in his journey through time and save his-- our future!" And then her sidenote, "(God I hope I did this right sbhdnsns)." You did! You are all good and I - you know I love Hugo, probably… well…  probably just as much as you. Hugo is my best boy, so.

Okay, so. God, this segment is cursed. I… This is literally the fifth time I;ve tried recording this one little story because like my mic just keeps like cutting out. I need a brand new mic like this one is not cutting it anymore but anyway. So this call and response has a funny story behind it. So essentially like when I first get responses, I don't necessarily read them carefully at first, like I'm just kind of aware. Like “okay, like some.” So when I first did the call and response a while ago, um, I was vaguely aware that I had two and one was from Nadia and the other was from an anon. And so obviously like I push it back and then, uh, me and my friend have been chatting, who's not Nadia. That's the only identity clue I will give you cuz I'm not going to say who it is but um, *laughs* she's gonna be so mad though. So anyway, so me and my friend were talking and she was like, “Oh hey, I have a question so ‘theoretically’” in quotes, if she had sent a call and response answer to me like, would she have to make a new one or like whatever, like trying to figure out what's going on. And I said like honestly I’ll use whatever you give me because I do literally like whatever people spend in and I will use so it's a free-for-all, like I’ll use anything. 

And then she told me that was good because she forgot what she, and I air quote this, “theoretically” sent. And I was like, “Well you”... This was before I checked my inbox cuz I was like, “Oh, I’ll just go in and like copy paste in and put in our chat. So I was just like “You could always ask me to send you things” like if you don't remember what you do - andthis goes for anyone. Like if you send a response by not DM by like inbox and you don't remember what you wrote like you can totally just message me and be like, “Hey I sent this, I don't remember how I worded it exactly I'm worried that I messed it up could you please tell me what it was” and like totally go ahead and do that like I don't mind. So then, you know, like I went into my inbox so I was like, “Okay let's see what she said” and um. This is what she said. “Call and response for Sigurd (Feat. Leslie) - Sigurd's the only student who can equally terrify the staff at Olive Garden along with Klaus. With his overbearing obsession and appetite for any sort of pasta, he's best known as Klaus' right-hand man when it comes to needing a bud for their 2 for $12 appetizer promotions.” Not sponsored by Olive Garden. “I hear even though he currently majors in Magical Creature Taming, rumor has it he'll be switching to Culinary Magic for... ‘Reasons.’ Personally, I'd rather not know,” Same. “but if you insist...*Shrug”

And anyway this is cursed and yeah, I can understand why my friend did not want to like, confront me about this. Oh God, RIP. We got through it, she's fine.

So our next one is from @uraminowaltz and she has two and they're both for Klaus because of course they are. I should just rename this segment to me roasting my friends. Okay, so her serious Klaus one is: “Likes: Tea, sweets, challenging games, cooking. Dislikes: Coffee, Zeus,” Girl me too. “Irresponsibility, abuse of authoritative power. Hobby: Cooking, inventing magical tools. Skills: Unintentional romantic gestures, endurance with magic, WORKAHOLIC.” Yeah I-I felt that. I felt that. So the joke one: “Likes: His giant personal ring of 500 different keys. Dislikes: Losing his keys.” Also same. “Hobby: Making copies of his keys. Skills: Losing his keys PLEASE HELP HIM FIND HIS KEYS HERE IS A CROWDFUNDING LINK TO FIND HIS KEYS IT'S FUNDED AT 60%.” Oh, Klaus. Klaus. Honestly though when they did the Klaus II profile and it was like, thing that worries him, uh, losing, uh, lost his keys I was like goddammit. Like it just… It was one of those things that I didn’t realize was on brand for him, but then once I read it and saw it, I was like “Oh God yeah yeah that's his brand that's his... poor baby, that's his brand.”

Okay so our second to-  Actually, it might second-to-last I haven't checked the notes of that post so I guess I have to do that too. Okay so anyway, @sigurdcurtisholdsmegentle said… uh, did some, and you're going to be surprised who it was for. It was for Sigurd. So their joke one and they said… Their personal note for this was “Please actually kill me for this.” No I will not. You must atone for your sins. Uh... “Likes: Pasta. Dislikes: People who don't like pasta. Hobby: Naming spices in the pasta sauce. Skill: Cooking Pasta.” I'm very glad you did not put anything else because I would not want to read that out loud and that is NOT a challenge to anybody *laughs* So their serious one is: “Likes: Jazz music, Puns, The Rain, Make up.” Hell yeah. “Dislikes: His father, Himself, Ch… *laughs* CHICA,” I… We’re going for it. We’re going for the discourse and controvershy. The controversy. I can’t talk. Uh. Also dislikes “Blood. Hobby: Writing letters, Playing trumpet, Playing chess with Klaus. Skill: Decorating, Well timed exits, Running on little to no sleep.” Poor baby. But yeah I mean yeah. That's him. So the next one is... that they did was for Mel so it's “Likes: Apple cider, Plants, Perserving wildlife. Dislikes: Time Magic, Sol Felia,” It’s feh-lia not fee-lia, right? Like it’s not… I don’t feel like it’s fee-lia? I’m like pretty sure it’s feh-lia. Okay, it’s feh-lia now, I’m making the executive decision. It’s feh-lia now. Uh. “Oranges, Explaining.” God I felt that like whenever I reread Sigurd’s route, Mel's like “I don't want to explain” I’m like please shut up stop it like please, just explain. Good God. Like you're just making more trouble for yourself my dude. “Hobby: Sleeping in the greenhouse, Reading lore. Skill: Botany, Making wands, Flower” Oh my God, flower arrangements, that’s so cute. Oh my God, I love that actually. Like, I mean honestly like I liked all of them, but like that's so cute. That was super cute, I really like that one.

So, I don't think my call and response post had any notes. Except from people just liking it but I'm going to double-check cuz I'm not 100% sure.

Okay so it's time for our final call and response which will be my own. I literally have to bring up the my inspiration, my muse to *laughs* to do this. Okay so like, my whole inspiration for this prompt was the fact that like Azusa never got like an actual profile. Like it's all just question marks and um, we're going to fix that. And that's why I got the idea like, “oh that be really funny like everyone just rewrote things.” Let's go for the serious one first. That way I can do that and then I can goof. So my serious profile rewrite for Azusa and I did not write this beforehand, so… yeah! Let’s see… “Likes: his brother. Dislikes: hypocrites, himself.” Uh, that’s such a… *laughs*

That's such a mood. Every dude in this game is like self-loathing and some way. But I mean that's just how people are so I mean I guess it's not actually like that much of a stretch. But anyway. “Hobby… ………” Uh. You know, it's bad that I can't think of anything not just because like, I can't think of anything, but because he's one of my favorites and I'm like, “does he even have hobbies” like I'm not - I'm sure he does but I mean… “Hobby: telling Randy to shut up” I don't know. Uh, “Skill: onmyojutsu” just because we're basic and that was our serious one. And now for the fun one.

Um…. okay so, “Likes: his family. Dislikes: people. Hobby: ……….. you know. Skill: being a jackass” I don't know. I'm not even going to try and improv a description. Oh, poor Azusa. Although I do wonder if- when he gets a sequel, I wonder if that… I wonder if they’re gonna, like, continue making the, you know, kinda like additional info thing or if we’re gonna get like, a real profile for- Okay like, okay. I would be so fucking mad if like once he gets his sequel and they put like his like, um, like second profile thing and it's literally just all *laughs* it’s all question marks. I would be so fucking mad. I’d be like “come on PLEASE. PLEASE DON’T DO THIS TO US.” Okay anyways, so that was call and response. Thank you guys for coming on this journey with me. Um, that was fraught with recording problems and I'm not looking forward to transcribing this, but sometimes you just got to do what you got to do.

ROUTE REVIEW

All right, so it’s time to review Sigurd’s route. His route had come out a bit before I started playing, and I vaguely remember getting a notification about it, but honestly I don’t remember too much about it. I was playing Yukiya at the time and while I thought Sigurd was cute, I was too lost in the Yukiya sauce to do anything but Yukiya-related stuff. 

It honestly took me a while to play Sigurd’s route, like i played it for the first time last year, and like. I just genuinely enjoy Sigurd so much. Like he’s such a funny guy and so sweet. Falling in love with a guy like that just feels natural. And the story handled it super well too. The story balances plot and romance very well and they feel very cohesive. 

The plot was really solid, with enough ends left to get resolved in Mel’s route. But then again, I’m very partial to this mystery series and no, I’m not just saying that bc I cosplay sol maiden!Liz. It’s a good story idea, bront. Not to mention there’s like, a lot of fluff in Sigurd’s. I mean it absolutely has upsetting moments, but it’s just. Okay like I don’t mean to get on a soapbox or whatever, but it’s just. I feel like my culture gets inundated with these images of cishet relationships where men don’t treasure their partners. I acknowledge it’s toxic and it’s a serious problem and all, trust me this sort of thing is something I’ve taken enough classes on to consider it an unofficial minor, but like I’M SO TIRED OF SEEING THESE CISHET MEN BE JERKS TO THEIR CISHET GIRLFRIENDS. Like really, we’re gonna romanticize a dude being a jerk to his girlfriend and not show the repercussions of this sort of behavior and act like it’s normal? Really? That’s what we’re gonna do? So like any media that portrays a guy as being loving and smitten and affectionate with his partner is just. That’s so refreshing and so WONDERFUL like I eat that stuff UP. Like it’s so clear Sigurd is so taken with the MC and it’s just like hot chocolate on a cold day. 

So yeah the plot’s good and Sigurd is just. Wonderful. But I also love how much lore we got in this route. We got country names, continent names, what sort of extra curriculars the academy has. Even some Goldstein lore. In my opinion, the best routes usually have some hella cool lore details and this route had a lot. 

And this is a minor thing but. As someone who was raised with their cousins and stuff, they just nailed the cousin interactions between Klaus and Sigurd. I have a cousin who, as of now actually since birthdays, is the same age as me, although usually I’m older. My cousin and I mess with each other all the time and he bullies me constantly. I’m just kidding, I’m definitely the Sigurd to his Klaus. And like Sigurd and Klaus, we actually play a lot of games together, or play the same game at once. We’re both really into video games and his latest hobby is bullying my brand new Fire Emblem husband Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd. But in all seriousness, the game handled then well and the only way they could’ve made it more realistic is if they kept poking each other and making weird noises at each other. I mean, do you REALLY have a cousin if you don’t greet them by screeching like a pterodactyl? 

Typing this all out makes me realize how weird my cousin and I are. 

Okay but anyway. This route is very good and Sigurd is just an absolute doll. I highly recommend reading.

BYE BYE!

And that’s it for us today!! Thank you guys for tuning in this week. I’m sorry this episode is late. I was going to record it yesterday but something happened and basically made me give up on doing anything I wanted to do yesterday. But anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this episode and hopefully next episode will be on time!! With that, have a great week! This is Mari, signing off.

#wizardess heart #shall we date wizardess heart #wizardess heart+ #shall we date wizardess

[dragonwitch77]

Subcon Apartment ch 3

Looking for a doctor was harder than anyone expected. Not to mention one that specialized for certain conditions the young girl portrayed.

For one thing, she clung to Snatcher’s side like a lifeline. Barely leaving his side even for a moment. He seemed to take it in stride, but they could see, or rather smell, his limitations when he did get those few rare moments away from her. Thankfully, Snatcher managed to be on his, surprisingly, best behavior with the child as she clinged to him.

“You’re taking this surprisingly well Snatcher darling.” Grooves commented at one time. He only got a gruff huff as a response from the taller male.

Another trait the child showed was that she liked to hide when Snatcher was out. It scared the living day lights out of everyone when it first happened, though she did reappear when Snatcher came back. He wasn’t joking when he said she was shy. The girl couldn’t look anyone in the eye much less say anything. Not even Grooves, a people person at heart, could get her to open up to him.

Cookie was the one who worried most about the young girl. She kept asking Snatcher questions like where did you find her? Which abandoned building was she in? Why is she so thin? What had you been feeding her? Where did she sleep? Is that shirt the only thing keeping her covered? Should we give her a bath? Does she tell you if her wounds hurt? Or where she got those scars? Why haven’t you wrapped them in bandages yet?

The look of annoyance was becoming a common look on Snatcher’s face. Even more than the Conductor’s.

However, her heart was in the right place for the young child. Cookie had made it her sole job to put some weight on the small girl and got every opportunity she could to make something for her to eat. Soft foods mostly. She was still worried about the child’s digestive track.

The job for searching for a doctor somehow landed on the Conductor. The old man had numbers of different doctors and specialists on hand. “Back problems. N’ a few accidents on set.” He handed Cookie a list of numbers. “They should be good ‘nough. Or at least know what tae do.” He pointed to the numbers that he circled that he deemed to be good enough to try.

“Thank you Conductor. Maybe we can try calling one of them later.”

“Or never! That’s an option!” The two adults glared into the living room. Snatcher was splayed out on the couch with the child resting on his chest. “What? If they aren’t good enough then we shouldn’t bother.” He shrugged, earning an eye roll and growl from the two.

*

It was midday on a Monday when a doctor was finally found. An old friend of the Conductor who had once been a doctor to his own kids long ago. He was pretty much retired but he still took house calls time to time.

The Conductor smiled as he opened the door. “Phylum! Nice tae see ya again ya old cougar!” Conductor pulled his old friend into a hearty hug.

“It’s nice to see you too you haywire.” Phylum smiled, patting the Conductor on the back. “So what’s with the sudden call out of the blue for medical attention? None of your little ones have gotten themselves hurt have they?”

“Pfft! Oh no! Not one of mine! They’re all big n’ have their own wee lil’ ones tae worry ‘bout.” The Conductor ushered his friend inside. “Sorry fer the call last night. Ah know it was late but the relief of findin’ a doctor kinda clouded me mind.”

“It’s fine. No troubles here.” Phylum looked about the living room. “So, where’s my patient? You didn’t give me much detail over the phone when we talked.”

“The spook has her.”

Phylum looked at his friend questionably. “Spook?”

“Snatcher. The one Ah told ya ‘bout last Thanksgivin’ visit.”

Phylum nodded his head slowly, humming in thought. “Ah, yes, him. You showed me that scar he gave you from a ‘little’ argument.”

The Conductor huffed but said nothing.

“So, my patient is a girl then? I hope you aren’t trying to set me up with anyone. Maisie wouldn’t be too happy about that.”

The Conductor scoffed, punching his friend’s shoulder in playful mannerism. “Yer awful ya old cougar! Besides, the lass is a weeeeee bit too young fer yer taste. Not tae mention she’s… uh… well… maybe it’s best tae see fer yerself.” He cupped his hands together around his mouth. “OI! SPOOK! THE DOCTOR IS HERE! GET YER SORRY BUM DOWN HERE WITH THE LASS!”

“Was that necessary?”

“Kind of.” Conductor shrugged, leading his friend to the couch. “He stays up in the upper floors sometimes, though most of the time he tends tae live in the basement.”

“Still not much of a people person I take it?”

“Not in the slightest. Can you believe that? N’ the nerve of him! If Ah had ownership of this place, he would be right out the door!”

Phylum chuckled a little. “I’m certain that he would be out on the streets given what you’ve told me. He certainly doesn’t sound like… like…” Phylum frowned, feeling a small cold shiver go up his spine. He glanced to the hallway, finding golden eyes glaring at him from around the corner.

Phylum jumped, his heart pounding in fear as the eyes bore deep into his very soul. “There ya are ya bum!” Conductor’s voice snapped Phylum out of his terror. “Took ya long enough tae get—!”

“Shh!” The other male hissed, stepping into full view. To Phylum’s surprise, this male was tall. Very tall. Seven feet in height or more in fact if he had to guess. His skin was pale and his build was thin. He seemed to have a theme for purple as his pants with a dark shade of violet and his vest was also a dark shade of purple over his white shirt. Shaggy dark hair reached past his shoulders, his bangs hanging over his eyes with their golden shine peeking through between strands.

The whole demeanor of this fellow screamed unwelcoming and danger all around him… had he not caught sight of a small bundle held in his long arms. “Kid’s asleep.” The man muttered darkly.

“Well the doctor’s here. She can sleep after he’s done lookin’ her over.” Conductor huffed, getting up from his spot on the couch and plopped down in a worn-down red armchair. “Best he gets it done n’ tell us what the damage is now then later.”

The younger male glared at the Conductor but said nothing as he took his spot on the couch, turning his focus on Phylum. The golden eyes looked at him questionably, darting up and down that made the old man feel… uncomfortable. “This guy is the one you had called up?”

“If yer questionin’ my choice in doctors, bum, Ah’ll have ya know he’s the best there ever is! Treated all my young ones when they were me grandkids age.” Conductor huffed, crossing his arms. “If there’s anyone we can trust with this, it’s him.”

“You really know how to put pressure on me old friend.” Phylum chuckled, though there was a hint of nervousness as he turned to the other occupant in the room. “You must be the infamous Snatcher my haywire friend spoke about.” He smiled politely, holding out a hand for him to shake.

“Uh, Phylum? Ah don’t want tae give ya any frights or nothin’ but best tae keep yerself a good distance away from him.” Phylum looked at the Conductor questionably. “New people tend tae make the spook a little edgy n’, eh, they tend tae… ‘lose’ a finger.” He quickly retracted his hand, looking at Snatcher frightfully.

The younger male stared at him before his mouth slowly went into a grin. And not the type of grin that Phylum liked. It was a type of grin that flashed all his teeth and the corners of his mouth reached to heights that he was sure were impossible for normal mouths to do when grinning. And the canines this man had were impressively long if not a little sharp looking.

This was a grin of trickster of dark deeds.

Phylum really didn’t want to be around this man alone.

It was at that moment that small bundle in Snatcher’s arms started moving. The younger adult quickly lost any interest in Phylum and turned his focus on the bundle. “Hey kiddo. Did the old timer wake you up?”

Phylum watched as Snatcher, ignoring the Conductor’s angry sputtering, pulled back some of the blanket aside and revealed a small tired face buried in the fabric. Blue eyes blinked tiredly up at Snatcher, letting out the biggest yawn. “I know I know. I don’t like my naps getting interrupted too. But the doc’s here, so you have to be awake just for a little while okay?”

The old doctor took a chance to scoot a tiny bit closer to Snatcher, adjusting his glasses on his face. From what he could see, her skin was pale too, though not as pale as Snatcher’s skin thank goodness. Her hair was a mess, short and dirty. He could see a scar behind her left ear, though he was sure that it would fade out with time. Little button nose, thin cheeks, dark bags under her eyes… this didn’t paint a nice picture.

*

“I’m surprised she’s even alive.” Snatcher frowned.

“What’d ya mean doc?”

“I mean with her condition she would likely be dead just about now.” Phylum answered as he set his stethoscope in his bag. “But most of that would be due to starvation. She’s very underweight, smaller than what children her age should be at, and these scars she has.” He took one of the kid’s arms, pointing at certain scars on her skin.  “They looked to have been done intentionally.”

Over in the kitchen, the Conductor did a spit take. “WHAT?!”

“Whoa whoa whoa! Hold up old timer! What do you mean intentionally?! You’re telling me someone do this—” Snatcher pointed to the wounds. “On purpose?!”

“Unless she did it to herself at a younger age with a steady grip, there’s no other explanation for them.” Phylum shook his head, letting on of her arm. “Thankfully those scars aren’t too deep. They’ll fade some in time, but I’m not sure if they’ll ever fully go away.”

Snatcher was in shock. “Someone… did this to her…” He looked down at the small child sitting on his lap. She was curled up with her legs tucked in, staring at the old doctor intently with caution and fear. If Snatcher wasn’t there, he was sure she would have taken off running.

“Peckin’ ifreann!” The Conductor cursed, stomping into the room and taking Phylum by the collar of his shirt. “This isn’t some sick joke tae ya is it Phylum?! No one in their right mind would do somthin’ like that tae a lil’ girl! Ah mean look at her! She’s jus’ a wee thin’! Who would be peckin’ stupid enough tae do such a thin’?!”

“I don’t know! What I do know is that someone did do this to her, and whoever did must be sick in their mind to do such a thing.” The Conductor stared at his friend for a while before releasing his grip, storming off in a fit.

Phylum watched as his friend disappeared behind the corner, sighing sadly before turning to the younger man seated on the couch. Snatcher had his arms wrapped around the girl, holding her close to his body. “… As far as I can tell, there seems to be nothing wrong with her. On the outside. I’ll have the blood samples taken to a lab to see if she has anything in her system we should worry about… If I may ask, how did you ever come across this child?”

Snatcher shrugged. “Found her in an abandoned building all alone. Couldn’t just leave her there ya know?”

Phylum hummed. “Well, it’s certainly a good thing you did. Otherwise who knows what would happen… anyways, I best be off and send these samples in soon. My recommendation would be to put some weight on her and keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary.”

Snatcher just huffed as the doctor left the small apartment.

#a hat in time #a hat in time au #ahit #ahit au #ahit fanfic #subcon apartment au #human snatcher #human conductor #human cooking cat #human dj grooves #hat kid #snatcher #conductor #cooking cat #dj grooves #child abuse mention

[avengerofyourheart]

Flour Girl {5} (Bucky x reader AU)

Characters: reader, Bucky (Jimmy), Wanda.

Summary: Discovering the cute guy you just flirted with is the heir of a rival bakery, you suddenly find yourself running into him all over the city. Can your small boutique bakery compete? And how do you deal with the guy who seems determined to make your life a living hell? Luckily you’re distracted by a secret admirer…But who is he? (Inspired by “You’ve Got Mail”, Enemies to Lovers)

Warnings: none! Mild swearing?

Word Count: 1.5k

A/N: Ahh!! I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all of your love and support for this series. it means the world to me. There’s a lot more snark and sweetness coming up and I can’t wait to hear what your thoughts are!! Any and all feedback is appreciated. i adore you all. <3

<<Part 4   Part 5   Part 6>> 

Flour Girl Series Masterlist

Full Masterlist

_______________________________________________________

It’s a rotten morning when you’re awake even before your 4:30am alarm, unclogging a toilet. Your life was so glamorous. Mrs. Carter in 3G had called multiple times in the middle of the night and you finally answered, since she clearly wasn’t giving up. By the time you got back to your apartment, it was almost 5am. You were exhausted and now running late. Wonderful.

A brief, hot shower later and you were walking through the bakery into the safe space of your kitchen. Baking always put you in a calmer state after such a frazzled morning. But first, coffee. You added fresh grounds to the reservoir and hit the button to brew before tying on your apron and washing your hands.

It was a croissant day, so you pulled your chilled dough from the fridge. Carefully, you rolled it into a perfect rectangle and then folded it into thirds before wrapping it again. One more hour in the fridge and it would be ready to turn into croissants. The oven was on with the usual pastries baking when you got a text from “B”, and this time with an image attached.

Your heart leapt into your throat as you opened the attachment, excited and nervous. It was of a mug of coffee, still steaming, with the caption “Most important meal of the day.” No identifiable clues as to who your mystery texter was, and for a split second you were disappointed. Did you really want to know who it was? What happens then? Would you share who YOU were? That was too much to worry about so early in the morning.

Shaking off the thoughts, you clicked the icon for your phone’s camera and snapped a photo of your own mug of coffee with one word added. “Agreed.” Before sending it, you made sure nothing in the background would give the receiver any idea of your location. You hit send.

The oven timer went off then and you went about finishing all the pastries to sell and deliver. Wanda texted that the train was delayed and she would be a little late, so you took down the chairs and got the pastry case ready for the shop to open. Fresh coffee was brewing as Wanda walked through the door.

“I’m so sorry, Y/N!” she exclaimed immediately upon entering.

“It’s fine, seriously, I have things handled,” you assured her with a smile. “But I might have to duck back upstairs in a little while for a nap. Today started even earlier than usual,” you said with a tired sigh.

“Ooh. I’m sorry. Tenant problems?” Wanda grimaced.

You just shrugged. “Nothing I can’t handle. I’m off to deliver. If I happen to be gone when the food delivery truck arrives, will you text me? I won’t be far away.”

“Of course,” she agreed, tying on her own cute apron and pulling her hair back.

“See you in a bit!”

_________________________

Your last stop of the day at the Nest proved a little more difficult, since the most convenient parking spot was currently occupied by a Barnes Bakery delivery van. Of course it was. Walking a little further than usual, you arrived slightly out of breath with arms aching as you pushed through the glass door. You staggered the last few feet and placed the two boxes on the counter with a huff. It was then that you noticed your nemesis leaning on said counter. Again.

“Morning, Y/N. Late start today?” he taunted with a grin.

You might have replied more honestly then, but Clint had arrived so you held your tongue. “Limited parking on the street this morning,” you said with a mild glare at the curly-haired brunet. He looked well-rested and perfected styled as usual. Jerk.

Clint looked over the pastries and signed the invoice as you absently rubbed at a stain on the sleeve of your sweatshirt.

“Everything looks good,” he replied, handing you the form. “I might have to change my order for next week, though. Just a few less items. I guess the more savory items like the bagels are selling better so I have a little less room for your stuff. Not to worry, though, people still like having options,” the blond patted your hand with a grin.

Trying to return the smile, you let out a shaky breath. “Of course, yeah. Send me an email of what you’d like to change. No problem.”

“Great. I’ll see you two later,” Clint waved before walking over to help a customer.

Jimmy said nothing, but felt content to linger and sip his cup of coffee without a care in the world.

Having recovered, you whirled toward him. “Feeling proud of yourself?” you asked with a withering glare.

He just shrugged with a smirk. “Well, I’m not unhappy with this turn of events. You know how it goes…supply and demand,” he annoyingly explained before taking another sip.

“Yes, I understand that concept. It doesn’t take a business degree to grasp it,” you spat back at him. “Did you have to hog the whole street, too?”

“Looks like I have another…” he glanced at his watch, “15 minutes before the meter runs out, so yeah, I do. No more deliveries, so I might just stay a little longer.” Jimmy pushed away from the counter and settled on a nearby chair.

Fists clenched at your sides, you took a deep breath and grabbed the invoice off the counter. One last glance his way and you left without a word. What an insufferable man. Reaching your car, you got a text and saw it was from Wanda. You rushed back to the bakery just in time to see a delivery truck double parked outside.

“Sam, hi!” you jogged up to meet the man on the sidewalk.

The handsome, dark-skinned man gave you a smile as you arrived. “Hey, Y/N. Just in time, any later and the company starts to charge for late deliveries,” Sam told you regretfully. He had been your regular driver since you had opened. He was always kind to you, but the company did have regulations to uphold.

Catching your breath, you replied. “I know, I’m sorry. Rough morning. I’ll get the cellar door open.”

Rushing through the bakery and briefly speaking to Wanda, you squeezed down the narrow stairs at the back of the kitchen hidden by a door and into the small cellar. Most business, especially food establishments, had to have a storage area but limited real estate meant it had to be underground. You could barely stand up in the cellar and hauling 50 pound bags of flour up the stairs wasn’t fun, but you made the most of it.

You unlocked the padlock from inside and knocked twice before pushing the heavy metal doors open. The knocking alerted anyone nearby to get out of the way. Sam assisted laying the doors flat and then climbed down to help set up the ramp along the stairs. The best way to get everything down the stairs, or at least the non-fragile items, was by sliding them down with someone who could catch them at the bottom. It also helped you check off ingredients as they arrived and you could make sure they were put away properly.

Sam hollered that he was ready to go and you gave him a shout that you were as well. It only took about 15 minutes to unload and catch the items, but by the end your arms were aching and your back was sore from bending down in the small space.

“That’s the last of it,” Sam called down to you, but your brow furrowed at that. Something didn’t add up.

Climbing up the stairs, you accepted the order invoice Sam handed you and you looked it over. “I’m missing a bag of flour,” you told him, concerned.

“Yeah, I know. It busted open all over my truck when I tried to lift it. The loading guys must have torn it. Sorry about that. We could try to get a bag to you tomorrow, but there would be a delivery charge,” he said apologetically.

Biting your lip, you weighed the possibilities. The delivery fee was a crazy amount of money just for one bag of flour and you just didn’t have the extra money. You always tried to order a little extra just in case, but without that bag of flour, you’d just have to cross your fingers that what you had would last you until next week.

“No, that’s okay. Just credit me the bag of flour and I’ll get more next week,” you decided.

“Alright,” he said, making the adjustments to your invoice. “Sign, please.”

After waving goodbye to Sam and locking the cellar doors, you checked in on Wanda at the front.

“Hey, Y/N. Business has been steady, but nothing I can’t handle if you want to take that nap?” she offered.

Pushing away the desire to sleep, you shook your head. “No. Thanks, though. I need to work on a few savory recipes I’ve been thinking about,” you said resolutely.

“Right now?” she asked, concerned.

“Right now,” you replied, squaring your shoulders.  

It was time to fight back.

________________

Part 6>> 

________________________________________________________

Oh, snap!! She’s ready to fight!! Ugh, Jimmy and is bagels. And a photo from “B”!! Ahh!! Turned out to just be coffee, but I’d be nervous, too! And Sam!! yayyy!!! I love him. Such a sweetheart. It also occurred to me while talking to Becca that some might not know how croissants are made! Or croissant dough, as mentioned, so I added a link to a youtube video and I’ll link it right here as well. Trust me when I say any homemade croissant you buy is worth every penny! I’ve also been thinking about sharing recipes and/or doing short videos about make the baked items I’ve mentioned. Let me know if that’s something you’d be interested in! I love you guys. Can’t wait to hear your thought!! Thank you for reading!! :)

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#bucky x reader #bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes fic #bakery au #reader x bucky #bucky fluff #bucky au #avengers au #reader x bucky barnes #bucky imagine #you've got mail #baking #marvel fan fic #avenger fan fic

[kinsie]

Overly Belated Game Impressions from PAX Aus 2018

Every year I go to PAX Aus with some close friends to check out the Incredible Future of Games that everyone else already checked out six months ago. This is usually coupled with checking out some wonderfully well-preserved old games and hardware, along with some typically wonderfully weird indie stuff I've never heard about before. Every year, I've written up a little review of things I've played (or watched get played) on an old private forum some friends maintain, but this year, I've figured, fuck it, I might as well post it publicly, right?

Not Indie Games

Super Smash Bros Ultimate sure is a Smash game. That's not a bad thing, but since this was the same demo build from E3 (so before the Castlevania reveals) there wasn't a huge amount of surprises - just a damn good fightfest. Amusingly, the demo booths were split into two groups - For Fun (items on, Switch Pro Controller) and For Glory (items off, the new Gamecube controllers). New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe has a nonsensical name and spawned an even more nonsensical meme. The demo had six levels to play - three from the base game, three from the Luigi expansion - with both the new and old characters to play. It doesn't look like anyone other than Toadette can get the meme crown, meaning players using that character won't have to jostle for powerups in multiplayer. I didn't play Pokemon Let's Go Eevee because the queue was like 90 minutes long, but my friend braved it and gave it a resounding "ehhhh" with a hand gesture resembling a teetering see-saw. Apparently the co-op stuff wasn’t available in the demo, either, which concerned my friend since that was specifically what he was interested in.

V-Rally 4 looks nice aesthetically, but the gameplay seems pretty "eh". The name seems to be about the most interesting part. Dragonball FighterZ for Switch seems like a pretty decent port. I don’t know much about the source material or original game, but it ran fast and I didn't notice any obvious hitching or whatever.

Luigi's Mansion for Nintendo 3DS is... a 3DS port of the Gamecube launch title. It ran at a solid 30fps... a whole lot better than I recall Luigi's Mansion 2/Dark Moon running, but I was also using a vanilla 3DS for that game while the demo units at PAX were New models.

Indie Stuff

The Xbox Adaptive Controller was present as part of a demo setup for a version of One More Line. I wasn't expecting to have to push the Big Novelty Button as hard as I did, I thought it'd be a lighter touch for some reason. Although I know the button kinda isn't the point of the thing...

Supertrucks Offroad is a PC adaption of a mobile take on old top-down racing games. There's promise here, but the current handling and physics leave a lot to be desired. Hopefully it continues to develop and evolve.

Infinity Heroes is a card game with some simplified mechanics and animated versions of all the card graphics. Has potential, but still plenty of rough edges and pre-alpha grit to sand out.

Metal Wolf Chaos XD sure is a port of an Xbox game. It feels pretty well done, all things considered - the framerate is great, the controls are responsive, and the English subtitles are sometimes even connected to what's being said by the characters!

Ghoul Britannia: Land of Hope and Gorey is a point-and-click adventure game that, unexpectedly, uses a Fallout-esque isometric perspective instead of the usual side-on.

Table of Tales is a VR tabletop RPG where you control an entire party of Scoundrels by moving pieces around a constantly-changing board and playing ability cards. Since it was a VR game, there was a long sign-up queue to play, so the developers set up a little booth where Arbitrix, the game's DM (and, incidentally, a mechanical talking bird), would cheerfully explain the game for you. He said my goatee was perfect for a pirate adventure. It was probably intended as a compliment.

Supermarket Shriek is very similar to a game I prototyped years ago, except it's got a Supermarket Sweep theme and shrieking goats. Also, it's actually getting finished and has more than one level, which is another differentiator. Use the shoulder triggers to make the characters inside a shopping trolley scream their lungs out, propelling the trolley and allowing you to steer it through silly retail-themed obstacle courses.

You probably think, based on the squat protagonist and camera angle, that Tunic is a riff on Zelda: A Link to the Past. Surprise! It's actually a riff on Zelda: Ocarina of Time! The combat is very similar, with a dodge/roll button and Z-targeting (although I guess it's more RT-targeting now) that jumps to the next enemy upon beating your current one. I can't say enough nice things about the graphics... One thing that's interesting is that the entire game is in a fictional language. This includes stuff like the pause menu!

Dash Blitz is a pretty amateurish attempt at a Smash-esque platform fighter. The "feel" just isn't there, sadly.

Nom Nom Apocalypse is a top-down dual-stick roguelite about fighting off food monsters. It looks pretty interesting, but sadly I didn’t get to go back and give it a hands-on look.

Henry Mosse and the Wormhole Conspiracy is a good old-fashioned point and click adventure. The graphics are wonderfully drawn in a cartoon style, but they suffer from really puppet-y animation like an old Flash cartoon, and it breaks my heart.

No Moss Studios bought along Beam Team, a couch co-op game about fighting a giant donut that I didn’t get to try, as well as a collection of weird little Patreon-funded oddities like Sprout Up, a simple little mobile game about weaving through vines, and My Magpie, a bird-aiding simulator of sorts. 

Little Reaper is a platformer with a fun movement twist in that you can throw your scythe - which travels in an arc like a hammer in Mario - and teleport to where it lands. I'll have to give this a closer look.

Mars Underground is an Earthbound-esque RPG-style adventure game with a Groundhog Day-style conceit of being stuck in a time-loop. I can't really say it struck me, to be honest.

Scout's Honor is a co-op party game where four players team up to set-up a camp-site in a limited amount of time while dealing with hazards and such. It looks kinda cute, reminds me of Overcooked a bit.

Ice Caves of Europa is a rather odd-controlling game where you pilot a hover-drone controlled by an artificial intelligence. This one probably takes a bit more time to wrap your head around than a convention center allows.

Introspect looks really cool - a Shadow of the Colossus-style boss rush with an emphasis on movement tricks and agility. I didn't get to play it while I was there, but the developers were handing out download codes for the show floor build. It seems pretty fun, although it still needs a good deal of polish.

Soundfall is a dual-stick rhythm-shooter where you have to get to the end of a course before the song ends, with rewards for shooting and slashing to the beat ala Crypt of the NecroDancer. One to watch. 

Ticket to Earth is a tactical strategy RPG ala Fire Emblem with a tile-matching mechanic that makes how you move to your enemies even more important by limiting your movement and charging your special abilities. The comic artwork is nice, although the talking heads only seem to have one or two facial expressions.

Nova Flow is a first-person speedrunner that reminds me of a blend of Mirror's Edge's DLC maps and that one paint game that got incorporated into Portal 2. One of the demo levels was apparently one of the hardest levels in the game, and the developer was quite impressed at my getting within inches of completing it before the demo timer ran out...

Dawnblade seems to be an attempt at doing the whole Diablo thing on a phone, with the player hacking their way through short, pre-made maps. Visually, it looks like any of a million other games riffing off of Warcraft 3, and it seems to have some weird mobile game trappings like a stamina system to limit the amount of time you can play in a period of time.

Little Bit Lost is a survival game where you've been shrunk down to the point where ants tower over you and are powerful monsters. This one felt real early. It has promise, but needs a lot of polish to truly deliver on it.

Rogue Singularity is a 3D platformer with procgen levels. The feel didn't gel with me, and I can't really say I liked it all that much. It didn't help that the Switch port I played seemed to lack anti-aliasing entirely, giving the entire scene an unpleasant jagged look.

Ashen looks utterly fascinating - an open-world Souls-esque action RPG with Journey-style "passive" co-op where you can occasionally meet other, anonymous players out in the world and either help them or leave them to their fate. It looks really pretty.

Speaking Simulator is a hilarious puzzler where you have to manually operate a human mouth in order to say Entirely Normal Phrases in order to convince people that you are absolutely a human and not a murder robot in disguise.

Untitled Goose Game had a massive queue that I was absolutely not going to fuck with. :(

yeop

#gaming #paxaus2018

[relanah-qahs]

IN THE HANDS OF THE ENEMY

Whumptober 2020 no.2 Title: Pick Who Dies Fandom: Final Fantasy VII Prompt: “Pick who dies” | Collars | Kidnapped Rating: T, Characters: Tseng, Reno Words 1645

Tags: Angst, Hurt No Comfort, Dropping the Plate, Guilt, metaphorical collars

AO3 Link.  FFNet Link

Summary: The Turks are forced to drop the Sector 7 Plate and be the ones responsible to kill over a hundred thousand civilians. Tseng would never make his fellow Turks suffer that burden...would he?

εγλ 0007 April 9. 10:45. Shinra Building, Executive Meeting Room.

Tseng sat ill-at-ease while scrolling through his phone, absentmindedly checking the status of each of his Turks. Reno was in the Sector 5 slums to check on Aerith today, Rude would join later. Cissnei was in Junon assisting the Vice president. 

Reeve sat next to Tseng at the conference table, his organized binder and clipboard neatly stacked in front of him, he lightly tapped his fingers on his pen in nervous anticipation while eyeing the clock. Scarlet sat across from them also scrolling through her phone, but appearing much more relaxed and smiling. Palmer was next to her with his nose in a newspaper, occasionally giggling or “ooh”-ing at something he read. 

The meeting was supposed to start already, but Heideggar and the President had yet to arrive. Tseng guessed this meeting had to do with last night’s bombing of the Sector 5 Reactor. Although AVALANCHE had taken the credit for this attack and the one on Sector 1, it was known to only a few select Shinra executives that it was actually Shinra weapons that caused the devastating explosions. Tseng wasn’t sure how many employees were aware of that fact; Scarlet certainly knew, Palmer probably wasn’t smart enough to pick up on it. Reeve probably suspected that it wasn’t only AVALANCHE responsible, in fact he had repeatedly mentioned in previous meetings that a small vigilante group with limited resources weren’t capable of the destruction that they were threatening. But there was no way for Reeve to confirm any of his suspicions that it was actually Shinra responsible. 

Tseng knew. He still remembered the sick feeling in his gut when Heideggar showed him the remote device connected to the Reactor’s core. Just push this button, and the gun turrets and other weapons will self-destruct, causing the reactor to overheat and react with the mako radiation. Although Tseng had killed for Shinra several times before, even he was horrified at the blatant display of wanton destruction and the indifference to the loss of innocent life. He kept his horror inside though, he didn’t dare show his superiors his true feelings on the matter.

Finally the President entered, escorted by two SOLDIER grunts, and Heideggar followed close behind with a wicked smile plastered on his face. The meeting began by following the usual routine of these board meetings. Tseng listened to the President’s speeches but never really processed them, instead he diligently scribbled the words onto his notepad. Today started out no differently, until something was said that made Tseng look up in horror.

“We know AVALANCHE’s base is located in Sector 7. We will separate the Sector 7 plate and crush out all resistance.”

“I object!” Reeve immediately shouted. “Mister President, there are over eighty thousand residents in the Sector 7 Undercity alone. We don’t have the resources to organize an evacuation on that scale and in such a short amount of time. And rebuilding the Plate along with the infrastructure lost will take years and billions of gil.”

Heideggar laughed. Palmer stared down at the table with a puzzled look on his face. Scarlet simply smirked. Tseng glanced back and forth to Reeve and the President.

“We won’t be evacuating,” the President said. A dead silence weighed heavy throughout the room. Tseng put his pen down and leaned back in his chair.

“Sector 7?” said Palmer. “Isn’t that where the employee housing district is? We won’t evacuate the Plate either?” 

“This is a necessary advancement for Shinra’s goals.” The President spoke calmly--too calmly, Tseng thought, for talking about the deaths of potentially over a hundred thousand people. “We will put the blame on AVALANCHE. The citizens of Midgar will put their trust in Shinra and we will unite against the common enemy: Those in the way of progress.”

“Tseng, gather your Turks here.” said Heideggar. “You will be the ones to carry this out.”

Tseng felt as though the air vacuumed out of his lungs, he gripped the arm of his chair so tightly his knuckles turned white. Years of meditation and psychological conditioning trained him to hide his emotions under any kind of pressure, but the audacity of this order was nearly enough to crack his mental shields. He looked to the President. “With all due respect, Sir, this task may be far above the Turks’ abilities.” 

“You are capable, and you will follow my orders.” The President said sternly while glowering at Tseng. “We have the Turks on our leash. Have you already forgotten? It is only because of mercy did we spare you and your subordinates from execution for treason. If you refuse this order, we will reorder execution for all of you. The SOLDIER operatives will take over from there. No matter what you decide, someone will drop the plate. I suggest you choose wisely.”

Tseng lowered his gaze to the table, letting the President’s threats sink in. Finally he spoke, “Understood, Sir. I’ll gather my men once this meeting is finished.” 

“A smart decision.” The President leaned back in his own chair and smiled to the other board members. “Scarlet will send you the details of the Plate defense system later today. This meeting is adjourned.”

“Sir, please,” Reeve begged. “I’m asking you, no, begging you to reconsider! Killing an entire ward’s worth of civilians over a small group of petty criminals is--”

“Quit bothering the President, Reeve!” Scarlet screeched, then let out her signature kya-ha-ha laugh.

“All those poor people in the slums.” Palmer shook his head and slowly got up from his chair and headed to the door. “And everyone in the employee housing district. How unfortunate.” 

Tseng paced in the Turks office. He was alone. He felt like he needed to scream. The Turks had murdered on behalf of Shinra before, they knew what the job entailed before enlisting. Every one of the people Tseng killed weighed so heavily on his conscience, their last moments often scenes in his nightmares. Tseng had learned to compartmentalize his guilt and his professional character over the years. The Turks were Shinra’s lapdogs, the dark suits their studded collars. But this order? This might be too much. 

After taking some deep breaths, Tseng texted Reno and Rude to report to their office ASAP. He checked his computer to find the encrypted email from Scarlet that had the instructions on the plate separation code. So it was only a matter of typing in a security code into the defense system terminal….Why was this so simple? Why was there a separation protocol already programmed into the system? 

It would be unlikely the Turk responsible would survive this mission without very careful planning. After entering the code, the self-destruct timer would automatically be set for ten minutes until detonation, which meant there wouldn’t be much time to retreat. He would need to send out a chopper to escape the sector before it collapsed. Tseng knew he wouldn’t have the skill nor the speed to save himself.

Reno is good with technical matters, and he is fast too. He can do this. 

Tseng shuddered at the intrusive thought. No, he couldn’t put Reno to this task. His second-in-command was a very dedicated and talented Turk, but was also the most empathetic of the group. Reno had a tendency to wear his heart on his sleeve and still managed to keep his kind heart even after years of working in a mercenary organization that necessitated selling one’s soul. 

He couldn’t ask Rude to do it either. Rude wasn’t as fast at Reno, and was unlikely to survive the retreat. Besides Rude, like his partner, also managed to keep a conscience despite his profession. Neither of the duo would forgive himself if he was forced to this task. 

So what could Tseng do? If any of them refused, that meant certain death for all of them. Out of the four Turks, only Reno and Cissnei were likely to survive the mission, and Cissnei was busy with her current assignment. 

Tseng buried his face in his hands. Him dropping the Plate meant almost-certain death, assigning Reno to the task meant condemning him to a lifetime of extreme guilt. Tseng knew what he had to do—he would spare Reno the burden of a guilty conscience. 

For an hour, Tseng practiced his words to his fellow Turks carefully. We have been tasked with separating the Sector 7 Plate. The President says if we refuse, we will be executed. I will enter the code and escape by helicopter. He took deep, even breaths and meditated for a bit to calm himself down. 

Reno was the first to arrive at the office. He was limping and his face had some dirt and scratches. Tseng was barely listening as Reno sprawled out on the couch and recalled his earlier assignment.

“So there was this spikey-haired guy with Aerith claiming to be a first class SOLDIER. Aerith called him her bodyguard. One thing led to another, and he starts attacking me and my squad. So of course I had to defend them and Aerith. He managed to get away with her, but I’m pretty sure she’ll be fine. Rude’s checking on her now.”

“Reno,” Tseng interrupted him. He looked at his desk, he couldn’t meet Reno’s eyes as he was about to say his piece. “We have been tasked with separating the Sector 7 Plate. The President says if we refuse, we will be executed,” Tseng gulped. He knew what he had to say next, that he was offering to be the one to press the button that would kill so many people. He heard his voice, but had no control over the words that came out of his mouth. “You are the best one for the job. You will enter the separation code and escape by helicopter.”

Tseng never corrected himself. 

#whumptober2020 #no.2 #pick who dies #final fantasy vii #ffvii #tseng ffvii #reno ffvii #fic

[subasekabang]

Title: Anything To Make you Stay, Chapter 8 Rating: T Word Count: Total: 15,761, chapter: 1,961 Characters: Joshua, Neku, Shiki, Eri, Beat, Rhyme, Hanekoma, Kariya, Uzuki. Pairings: Josh/Neku. Warnings: Suicide, Major Character Death, Depression, semi-detailed depiction of dead bodies, mentions of ableism, one minor allusion to transphobia Summary: Joshua and Neku have been best friends since they were 11, but their friendship starts to fall apart after Joshua goes missing for a week, soon after his 14th birthday. Lies corrode the bond, and Neku’s vivid nightmares of finding someone’s dead body does not help. A year and a half later, they hit the boiling point. Always look before crossing the road, kiddos. Author’s Note: Autistic Josh and Neku! Afab demiboy Josh! Agender Rhyme! Usage of sign language! This was a fun fic to write please enjoy it.

Chapter 8:

They wake up at the Concert Stage, because of course they do. It’s pitch black, and Josh groans. He shouldn’t use his power to light the place up, that would be irresponsible. So when he and Neku get the mission mail, Josh takes the longer time limit as an excuse to drag Neku around and go shopping.

First stop, Lapin Angelique. He insists on paying for everything, it’s only polite, of course. And it lets him dress Neku up in stat-boosting gothic lolita clothes like he’s always wanted to.

“Josh, is this really necessary?” Neku asks, as he tries on the vampire dress.

“Yes, it absolutely is. This is a Game, and the stuff you equip will effect your stats. We’ll be taking what we can get right now.” He grins, paying for the Bunny Parka and throwing it on. “We should also probably be level grinding, fighting more Noise and whatnot, getting the drops.”

“Whoever thought that making this work like a video game was a good idea is out of their mind,” Neku says, and Josh snorts. Neku’s got a point, it’s not something anyone would reasonably expect from the Reaper’s Game.

“That’d be the Composer you’re talking about. Head honcho here in the UG. The Composer is tied intimately to the city, unable to be separated from it. The Composer is the god of the UG in which they are connected to. They’re the one that brings the Players who win back to life.” Josh buys two capes, putting one on and tossing the other to Neku, who frowns, but puts it on.

Josh grabs the lace-up dress, rolling his eyes at Neku’s scrunched up face as he slips into a changing room to put it on.

“We both look ridiculous and this is awful,” Neku says, when he comes back out.

“You’re just annoyed because I can rock it better than you.” Josh smirks, before turning back to Princess K and chatting with her a bit, purchasing at least one of every pin in stock, tossing them to Neku as they leave. “Here, you should have a use for all those. I don’t use pins. I channel the pysch through my phone, and drop shit on the Noise.”

Neku takes the pins tossed at him, and follows Josh out the store. “How in the world did you learn to do that?”

“Just felt natural, I guess. I input commands by tapping some buttons, and the stuff I summon falls out of the sky and hits them. It’s very satisfying to see happen.”

As Josh steps out the door, a girl runs into him, and she steps back and yelps. “Oh gosh! I’m so sorry! I didn’t see you there!” It only takes a glance at her to know who she is, Shiki Misaki, and the other girl behind her must be Eri. Joshua had hoped those two would Partner up, it’d let them settle some issues.

He shrugs. “No worries. I’m Josh, that’s Neku, my Partner. I’m assuming you two are Partners as well?” he asks, and hides his laugh as both of them look at him in surprise, jaw dropped and eyebrows raised. It’s bizarre, seeing two people with the same body do that.

“Are you two like, twins, or something?” Neku asks.

Shiki shakes her head. “No, no, we’re not. Just friends. I had some… Jealousy problems, my Fee was my appearance. I’m Shiki, by the way. Eri’s fee was her voice,” she says, and motions to the pad of paper and the pen in her friend’s hand. “We picked that up so she could have some way to say stuff.”

“Useful, if you don’t know sign language, I guess. Neku and I both know sign, which was handy yesterday when I went nonverbal.” Neku rolls his eyes at the repeat of the pun, and Josh just gives him a grin. He slides out of the way of the door, standing to the side with Neku while they speak to the girls.

“Ooh, maybe you could teach us sometime!” Shiki says, and Eri nods.

“I’m not opposed to that. Neku?” he asks, looking over at him.

“Sure, whatever. How about after the mission?” he says, and Josh rolls his eyes.

“Fine with me. Do you ladies know anything about it yet?” Josh asks.

Shiki shakes her head. “Not much. There’s some guys hanging around front of the concert stage, they’re from a band. Their tech is missing, said he went off to get fuses and should’ve been back by now.”

“Makes sense, it’s dark as hell in there,” Neku says. “If the fuses blew, then no wonder we can’t see anything. Maybe if we get the lights working again, we’ll find whatever we need to fight.”

“Let’s split up, we can share any discoveries we make with each other, and do more apart than we could together. There’s another pair of people running around, Beat and Rhyme, if you see them, be sure to fill them in,” Josh says, and with a few quick goodbyes they part ways.

It takes some running around, and they stop by Sunshine and Dragon Couture for some food and threads. It’s here that they also run into Beat and Rhyme again.

They swap notes. Rhyme tells them about memes and Imprinting, Neku tells them about the tech and getting the lights back on.

They’re about to part ways when Josh speaks up. “Hey, Beat, can I have a chat with you?” he asks.

Beat frowns, but nods. “Sure, whatchu want?”

Josh looks over at Neku and Rhyme. “You two wanna go try Imprinting some people? I promise I’m not trying to pull anything, there’s just something I want to talk about, and I’m sure once Beat knows the topic, he’ll agree that the conversation should be private.”

It takes a moment, but both Neku and Rhyme agree to give them a bit of privacy. Once they’ve gone, Beat turns to him. “What’s this about, yo?”

“Rhyme’s your sibling, aren’t they?” he asks, blunt. He’s never understood why people would dance around a subject.

A look of shock crosses Beat’s face, eyes wide. “How’d ya know?”

“Resemblance, matching skull motif,” Josh flashes a grin, but drops it as he moves on. It’s not the time for humor. “The way you reacted when Rhyme said Partner, like you were hoping for a different word to come out of their mouth. Entry Fees can be nasty things. Seeing the most important person in your world forget about you? That’s a special type of pain. A jab to the heart anytime they can’t connect the dots between the missing memories and you.”

Beat flinches. “Shuddup. You got no clue what it’s like yo.”

“I’ve known Neku since we were both 11, he remembers nothing from before the Game,” Joshua deadpans. “Your experiences are not unique, there are others going through the same stuff as you. Take comfort in that, and know that you are not alone in what you feel.”

Before Beat can reply, Josh walks off to go see how Neku and Rhyme are doing. Which is bothering a business man, apparently. They’ve both taken to Imprinting what they have on him. Josh cracks a smile, grabs Neku, and decides that it’s time to visit Dogenzaka.

They find the tech at Ramen Don, and send him on his way to get the fuse. Then it’s just a matter of waiting until the boss appears.

When the bat does, Neku and Josh hop into battle. He has some fun throwing objects, while Neku pummels the big boss with fire and lightning.

They have a bit of time to spare, but the timer hasn’t disappeared yet. It doesn’t, not until Beat and Rhyme appear from their battle with the small, golden bat.

Things go fuzzy after that.

They all wake up at 104, and Josh has a chance to appreciate the fact that he budgeted a lazy day. Get to Towa Records, no time limit.

It’s a bit of a blur. Shiki and Eri rope them all into a ton of shopping, and Josh can’t deny he had a part in that. He’s not being stingy, tossing out yen pins to everyone. It’s not a blur like day 2 was, it’s exciting, he can feel the pulse of the city beneath him as they all take turns between battles. The rhythm vibrates through him, the Music flowing around them all like the wind, and really, how could he ever want to stay on the higher vibes, when the rush, the thrill of the Game had adrenaline coursing through his system.

Throughout the day, Neku and Josh show off some sign language, teaching the others some basics. They aren’t bothering with grammar for now, just showing the signs for what they encounter.

The flow comes to a halting, cacophonous, stop as they arrive at Towa Records.

Instruments tumble over, unsure of whether to continue, as Rhyme pushes Beat out of the way of the shark trap.

Time slows.

Time stops.

Rhyme is halfway static as the world goes grayscale and freezes. Joshua takes measured steps to her side. A simple zap of power to the Swing Shark vaporizes it, the static flowing past them, back into ambient Shibuya, as he presses a hand to Rhyme’s forehead, pulling their Music back into one place, rebinding the body and Soul. He lets Rhyme shift into timeless space with him, and they look around first, panic evident, and then at him.

“What did you just do?”

Josh shrugs. “Erased the Noise, froze time to do it, reassembled you. You were almost shark bait.” He pauses, lets out a short laugh. “This is why Composers shouldn’t Play in their own Game, huh? Getting attached isn’t good when you need to be an impartial judge.”

Rhyme’s eyes widen, mouth dropping. “You? Composer? What?”

He smiles. “For about a year and a half now. I’ve always seen the UG. I’ve been friends with Neku since we were 11, became Composer a few days after my 14th birthday. He died after we got in an argument, he marched off and into the road. I… owe it to him, to keep him safe. Didn’t expect to be doing that for others, but I don’t think I’m gonna regret this.”

“Does he know?” they ask, and Josh shakes his head.

“No. I’m planning on telling him everything after we win the Game, but his Fee was his memories of me. Gotta get him those back, first. So I’d appreciate it if you could keep this secret for me.”

They mime the motion for zipping their lips, and nod. “I won’t tell anyone. You have my word.”

Josh smiles, falling back into place with the others. Their minds will accommodate, Rhyme was a near miss, the shark disappeared when it failed, things happened too fast for everyone’s brain to process. He snaps his fingers, and time resumes.

“RHYME!” Beat shouts, as he lands on the ground. He’s on his feet in seconds, ready to do whatever it takes to protect Rhyme, no doubt, but instead he finds them brushing off their knees, otherwise uninjured.

Shiki and Eri run forward, Eri signing [Are you okay?] as Shiki asks it, hands and voice messy with worry.

Neku hangs back, but an aborted yell hangs heavy on his lips, eyes wide. Josh takes a singular step forward, playing the part of surprised and worried friend.

There’s a lot of hugging and worrying over Rhyme, but Joshua looks beyond, at the Reaper who placed the trap. Uzuki looks annoyed, yes, with an eyebrow twitching and frown set on her face, but she’s eyeing him. She suspects his intervention, no doubt.

Kariya must have informed her of their previous Partnership.

#fanfic #submission #TWEWY #TWEWY Bang 2017 #composerwithashotgun

[pogueman]

How Apple's iPhone has improved since its 2007 debut

These days, we yawn and roll our eyes at each new smartphone model. The changes seem to be tiny—evolutionary. Where are the big steps forward?

Well, it may be that there aren’t many big steps left to take. Every kind of machine evolves, finally reaching an ultimate incarnation of itself. How often, for example, do you replace your refrigerator? Or your air conditioner? There just aren’t many compelling new features left to add.

Even so, we’ve come a very long way since 2007, when Apple (AAPL) released the very first iPhone. Every year, there’s another model, each faster and loaded up with more features. As we prepare for the September 12 unveiling of the 10th-anniversary iPhone, here’s a chronology of what was new with each year’s iteration.

The iPhone gets a total body makeover every few years. This year, it’s time.

iPhone (June 2007)

The very first iPhone introduced a very long list of firsts. The big one, of course, was that it was all touchscreen—no typing keys. Not just a touchscreen—a multitouch screen, with all of those touch gestures we now take for granted, like “pinch to zoom” and swiping through lists.

It also introduced visual voicemail, where your messages appear in an inbox. Its email and web browser apps were full-fledged, showing all the formatting you’d see on a desktop computer—a first for phones.

It’s also worth remembering what the first iPhone didn’t have: A front camera. A camera flash. Video recording. Cut and paste. GPS. MMS (sending photos as text messages). A memory-card slot. Voice dialing. Word-complete suggestions. A choice of carrier (it was AT&T [T] only, and really slow).

And there was no app store. You got 16 apps, and you were happy.

The base model cost $500, and packed 4 gigabytes of storage.

As I wrote in my review in The New York Times: “The iPhone is revolutionary; it’s flawed. It’s substance; it’s style. It does things no phone has ever done before; it lacks features found even on the most basic phones.”

Here it is: The Apple product that not even Apple guessed would change the world.

iPhone 3G (July 2008)

The second iPhone was intended to address the first phone’s Achilles’ heel: Its excruciatingly slow internet. This model took advantage of AT&T’s 3G network, which was at least twice as fast as the old one.

The storage options doubled, to 8 and 16 GB. A white color option debuted. And the phone gained true GPS. (The original phone simulated GPS by triangulating from known WiFi hot spots and cell towers.)

This iPhone was called 3G because it could get onto the 3G cellular networks (and NOT because it was the third-generation iPhone; it wasn’t).

Software: Focusing on only the hardware of the iPhone is missing the bigger picture: Each new phone is accompanied by a new version of its system software, which we now call iOS. In general, each new iOS version’s features also work on earlier iPhone models.

The iPhone 3G, for example, was accompanied by the debut of the App Store, a single, central catalog of add-on apps. The idea that you could download new programs directly onto the iPhone, instead of having to transfer them from a computer, was a huge breakthrough at the time.

iPhone 3GS (June 2009)

The “S,” Steve Jobs said, stood for “speed.” This phone was faster in every way. Its camera got bumped up to three megapixels, and gained a long list of features: auto-focus, tap-to-focus, exposure lock, auto white balance, auto macro shots, “rule of thirds” grid lines, and a 5x digital zoom. A new magnetometer permitted the creation of the Compass app.

The S in “3GS” stood for speed.

Software: Video recording! And voice control of music playback and dialing.

iPhone 4 (June 2010)

The comfortable rounded plastic back disappeared in this redesigned model, which had crisp edges and hardened glass front and back panels—plus the first “Retina” screen (much higher resolution). A front-facing camera appeared on this model, plus, for the first time, an LED flash.

Apple also added a second microphone, at the top, for noise cancellation during calls, and a gyroscope, which can precisely calculate how you’re turning the phone in space (handy for games).

This was the first iPhone that could run on the CDMA cellular network, the one used by Verizon (VZ) and Sprint (S). Once Apple’s early exclusive contract with AT&T ended in 2011, the iPhone 4 became the first model offered by Verizon and other carriers.

No more rounded back in the iPhone 4.

Software: iOS 4 introduced FaceTime video conferencing (over WiFi only) and limited multitasking, including an app switcher.

iPhone 4S (October 2011)

This model introduced Siri, the voice assistant that paved the way for Microsoft’s (MSFT) Cortana, Google (GOOG, GOOGL) Assistant, Amazon (AMZN) Echo, and so on. The 4S was, of course, faster, and its camera received its usually resolution bump (to 8 megapixels, good for 1080p hi-def videos).

The iPhone 4s—starring Siri.

Software: iOS 5 was a big one. It introduced iMessages, the Notification Center, Reminders, built-in Twitter (TWTR), iCloud, and the ability to let nearby computers get online via tethering (Personal Hotspot).

iPhone 5 (September 2012)

The iPhone 5 had a thinner body and taller screen; compatibility with much faster LTE cellular data networks; and a faster, better camera, capable of snapping stills while recording video.

With this phone, Apple eliminated the 30-pin connector that it had used for charging and syncing all iPhones and iPads to date—and replaced it with the tiny Lightning connector. Millions of people had to buy and fuss with adapters.

The iPhone 5 introduced the Lightning connector for charging.

Software: iOS 6 introduced panorama mode for the Camera app, more Siri commands, one-tap responses to incoming texts and calls (like, “Driving—I’ll call you later”). Apple also replaced Google’s fantastic pre-installed Google Maps app with a shockingly incomplete Apple app. Its guidance was so poor, Apple CEO Tim Cook wound up apologizing for it and suggesting that people use Google Maps instead.

iPhone 5s (September 2013)

Apple’s fingerprint sensor, cleverly embedded in the Home button, let you unlock the phone without a password for the first time. As usual, the camera got better and the processor got faster—its A7 was the first 64-bit chip ever used in a phone. Apple replaced its time-honored, coin-shaped iPhone earbuds with the blobbier AirPods earbuds.

(A budget model, the iPhone 5C, came out at the same time, in a choice of five plastic colors. It was otherwise essentially identical to 2012’s iPhone 5.)

The iPhone 5s, starring the Touch ID fingerprint reader.

Software: iOS 7 was a huge software release. It introduced a massive and controversial redesign. Its sparse look eliminated “skeuomorphic” design elements, in which on-screen things depict real-world materials (lined yellow paper for Notes, leather binding for Calendar, wooden shelves for iBooks).

iOS 7 also came loaded with new features: AirDrop made it simple to shoot pictures, notes, and contacts among iPhones. Control Center is the panel that slides up from the bottom of the screen to offer commonly used settings. In the Camera app: slow-motion video, zooming while recording, photo filters, and 10-frames-a-second bursts.

iPhone 6 (September 2014)

With this model, Apple followed Samsung’s lead—and went for bigger screens. There were now, for the first time, two iPhones in the same line: the iPhone 6 and the larger 6 Plus. Both had faster chips and Apple Pay (wireless payments at special cash-register terminals). The 6 family gained a barometer to detect altitude changes (?!), and upgraded wireless components that permitted WiFi calling.

The upgraded cameras offered slow-mo video at 240 frames a second (quarter-speed), phase-detection autofocus (faster and more accurate), and optical image stabilization on the 6 Plus. The front-facing camera got better low-light capability, burst mode, and HDR (high dynamic range) ability.

The iPhone 6 dramatically increased the iPhone’s screen size—and body size

Software: In iOS 8, Apple finally added a row of three next-word guesses above the keyboard, to save typing. The Continuity feature permitted interaction between the phone and a Mac, like calling and texting from the Mac, or copying on one device and pasting on the other. Family Sharing allows up to six family members to share stuff they’ve bought from Apple (music, videos, apps, etc.).

The Camera app gained a self timer and a time-lapse mode, iCloud Drive (Apple’s version of Dropbox) debuted. Eventually, in iOS 8.4, Apple Music came along—its subscription music plan.

iPhone 6S and SE (September 2015)

In addition to the usual speed and camera-resolution enhancements (12 megapixels, 4K video), the 6S and 6S Plus introduced what Apple calls 3D Touch: a pressure-sensitive screen. You can press harder on an app to see a menu of common commands, or peek into links or lists without actually leaving the screen you’re on.

(The iPhone SE packed most of the same features of the 6S into a much smaller body—the traditional iPhone size—to the delight of the small-handed.)

The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus introduced a pressure-sensitive screen.

Software: The iOS 9 update introduced a front-facing “flash” that works by overcranking the front-facing screen by 3X. It also debuted Live Photos, which are three-second video clips that you can capture with every photo.

iPhone 7 (September 2016)

Most people will probably remember the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus primarily as the phones that killed off the headphone jack. But these models also gained waterproofing (up to 30 minutes under a meter of water), a larger battery, stabilized camera even on the smaller phone, better low-light photos, an array of four LED flashes on the back for greater brightness, stereo speakers, and a Home button that doesn’t actually move, but instead just simulates a click using a vibration motor.

On the iPhone 7 Plus, Apple installed two lenses: one wide-angle, one a 2X zoom. This is true, optical zoom, not the cruddy digital zoom on most previous phones.

The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus had no headphone jack. They’re shown here with what Apple hopes you’ll use instead: the AirPods.

Software: iOS 10 introduced a huge range of small tweaks, and a couple of big ones. First, there has been a colossal revamp of Messages, Apple’s text-messaging app, adding a wide range of visual treats, animations, and effects to dress up your message. Second, iOS 10 requires fewer steps to unlock the phone—for example, to check the latest alerts or fire up the camera.

iPhone 8 and 7S? (September 2017)

Nobody knows for sure what Apple will unveil in the new iPhones on September 12. But the rumor millers seem pretty confident about a few things:

A massive redesign. No more black panels above and below the screen. Instead, a gorgeous OLED screen will extend to all four edges of the phone.

No more Home button. You’ll have to get back to the Home screen, and perform other functions, using new swiping gestures on the screen. (Or maybe there’ll be an on-screen Home button.)

Face ID. You’ll be able to unlock the phone by looking at it.

Pad-based charging. As on the Samsung Galaxy, instead of plugging in a cable, you’ll have the option of setting it down on a pad) to charge. (That’s why front and back will be glass.)

AR features. Augmented reality means seeing graphics overlaid on the camera’s view of the world around you: arrows that show which way to walk to get to the nearest subway stop, for example, or info boxes that identify the prices of apartments in nearby buildings.

Nosebleed price. The number people are kicking around is $1,000. However, there’s also some intel that a less expensive iPhone model or two will be released simultaneously, without the OLED screen.

Software: We already know what iOS 11 will bring, because Apple’s told us! It will be a lot of nips and tucks, like auto-Do Not Disturb when you’re driving; a more real-sounding voice for Siri; screen recording; more compact photo and video formats to save space; and person-to-person payments within the Messages app, like Venmo.

Here’s my complete writeup of iOS 11.

See you on September 12!

We’ll be at Apple’s unveiling show at 10 a.m. Pacific time on September 12, live-blogging the event and posting a complete set of articles, photos, and videos about what’s new.

We’re pretty sure you won’t want to miss it!

  More from David Pogue:

Gulliver’s Gate is a $40 million world of miniatures in Times Square

The 5 best new features of this week’s YouTube redesign

Samsung’s Bixby voice assistant is ambitious, powerful, and half-baked

Is through-the-air charging a hoax?

Electrify your existing bike in 2 minutes with these ingenious wheels

Marty Cooper, inventor of the cellphone: The next step is implantables 

The David Pogue Review: Windows 10 Creators Update

Now I get it: Bitcoin

David Pogue’s search for the world’s best air-travel app

The little-known iPhone feature that lets blind people see with their fingers

David Pogue, tech columnist for Yahoo Finance, welcomes nontoxic comments in the comments section below. On the web, he’s davidpogue.com. On Twitter, he’s @pogue. On email, he’s [email protected]. You can read all his articles here, or you can sign up to get his columns by email. 

#tech #Pogue #$MSFT #$VZ #$S #$T #_lmsid:a077000000DAfMuAAL #David Pogue #$twtr #$GOOGL #_revsp:usnews.finance.yahoo.com #_uuid:789adc9c-d9dc-3009-a163-0a661c21d05b #$GOOG #$AAPL #_author:David Pogue #$AMZN

[sasuhinasno1fan]

A lifetime with you

So Taking Chances ended today, which makes me sad. @lightoflunaris did such an amazing job at this story and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next. I wanted to write a klance fic for today and I guess I realized, while there were many romantic moments between our favourite boys, we didn’t have their first valentines. So I’m going to do my very best to write something for them. I’m going by the seat of my pants here and from what she told me about their college life. I assumed they got engaged I guess, in February/March, maybe February 14, for the sake of being sentimental. I’m writing this on Valentine’s Day itself, hours after the last chapters went up, so we’ll see how this goes. Enjoy.

Lance closed the door to his apartment and noticed that there were no boots by the door. He sighed, good Keith wasn’t back yet. While they did attend the same college, Lance was majoring in education while Keith was taking to courses needed to help him become a pilot, so their schedules didn’t always match up. Lance couldn’t say he was surprised when Keith said he wanted to be a pilot. Keith loved going places and he enjoyed adventure. Lance just couldn’t wait to see him in a uniform.

Lance pulled off his shoes and ran to drop his things in the bedroom. The couple’s apartment they got in the campus village was pretty amazing. It reminded him of a hotel room a bit. When walking in, you were in the living room with the attached kitchen. Through another set of doors was the bedroom and bathroom. The laundry room was in the basement of the building. Thankfully, they only lived on the second floor and the elevator never broke down. Never doubt the complaining powers of a college student. They get shit done when they really want.

Pushing his glasses back up on his face, Lance opened the fridge and pulled out a plastic bag hiding in the back on the last shelf. He opened it, mentally checking off his checklist of the things he needed before slowly pouring the constance of the bag on the counter. He pulled bowls and utensils out and pulled out his phone. The limited edition Blue Paladin phone Shiro and Allura had gotten him for his birthday was still in very good condition, mostly because of the clear case he had on it to take the damage whenever he dropped it. Keith had let his surprise be known that the screen had yet to break. He pulled up Hunk’s number and hit the speaker button as he got things ready.

“Hey Lance. Is Keith there?”

“No and thank god. That boy can be so nosy. Thankfully he didn’t touch any of the things I made for this. You sent the recipe right?”

“Lance, you asked me this thousand times. The recipe is sitting in your email, like you checked. Unless you deleted it in two days.”

Lance scrambled for his phone, his heart pounding with fear at the thought. But there it was, sitting in his email, a starred and labelled email from Hunk with the subject line “Keith’s V-day present. DO NOT DELETE!” He let out a sigh of relief.

“Yeah, it’s there.”

“Lance, calm down. You’ll be fine. You said Keith might be working tonight right? So you have time.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s just…Hunk, you know what I’m going to give him tonight. What if it goes wrong?”

“Lance,” Hunk said slowly, trying to calm the brown haired boy down, “last year, you asked Keith something and did it go wrong?”

“No.”

“Has your feeling for him changed in anyway?”

“If I can’t fall in love even more than I already am, then, no.”

“Has he changed?”

“No.” Lance could tell that Hunk’s technique was working. All he could think about was how utterly in love he was with Keith. He never thought he’d be here 3 years ago, yet, here he was.

“There you go. You love Keith and Keith loves you. Take a deep breath, you can do this. You’ve been planning this almost as long as you planned to tell him you loved him back when we were in high school.”

Lance couldn’t help but smile like a flustered school girl as he remembered that moment. When he ordered the mug, when he made the specialty drink, when the picture with those words appeared and how Keith jumped him after they settled into his head. He could never forget that moment.

Lance took a deep breath, feeling calmer now. He could do this. He was on a time crunch yes, but Lance worked pretty well under pressure. He was going to do this. “I can do this.”

“Yes you can. I demand pictures when you’re done. I wanna show Shay how much you improved with my teachings.”

“Hey, I’m not that bad. I can bake you know.”

“Yes, but thanks to my teachings, you can bake better. Seriously though, I wanna know how things turn out. Pidge will kill you if you don’t tell us anything.”

“Yeah, I know. Alright, I’m gonna get started.”

“Do you need me to stay on the phone?”

Lance shook his head, even though Hunk couldn’t see him. “I got this. I will call if I need help. Hunk, thanks, really.”

“Just send me pictures, and we’re golden. Good luck.” With that Hunk hung up, leaving his email left up on the screen. Lance pulled up the email and looked over the recipe for red velvet cake, Keith’s favourite. It seemed like so long ago that Keith came to the Coffee Nook, wet from the rain, still placing himself with the wrong person and ordered an iced macchiato and a red velvet cake. After that, he kept crashing more and more into Lance’s life and he wouldn’t have it any other way. But it wasn’t the baking Lance was nervous about. He could bake just fine, it was he was giving with it as a present that had him a bit nervous, but like he told Hunk, he could do it.

He also planned on making what was his Coffee Nook speciality drink for Keith, and set aside those ingredients, focusing on the ones he needed to make the cake. He pulled up his Spotify to play music in the background as he worked. It took longer to make the whole thing from scratch, but he did it. Cracking eggs, pouring flour, adding oil, mixing, he did it all focused, wanting everything to be perfect. He poured the red batter into the round cake pan, getting everything in before making sure everything was even. Once he was satisfied, he popped the cake in the oven and set the timer. Just then, his music was interrupted as a text came through.

Hey, almost done with work, I’ll be home soon. My boss’s wife made a whole spread as a gift so I have leftovers for us.

Yum, no cooking. I did check and the Lion won’t be crowded since people are going off campus if you wanted to eat there.

I just want to snuggle and watch Space Rangers with you. We need to rewatch season 2, cause season 3 is taking forever.

Aww, aren’t you romantic? Aren’t you just going to yell at the Black Paladin again?

You want to yell at him too.

Though, I am sorry we can’t do much today. Not the best Valentine, I’m sure

Lance couldn’t help but laugh. Oh, if Keith only knew. Besides, just spending it with him was more than enough.

I’m with you, so I don’t care. Come back soon, I miss you.

I’ll be back in an hour. Love you.

Love you more! xox

Lance sighed. An hour. The cake wouldn’t take long and he did need to wait for it to cool to add the icing. He could do this. Lance cleaned the things he used to make the cake, towel drying the bowl and whisk for making the icing. He decided to wait until after the cake was done to make the icing and went back to his room. He went over to his side of the bed and opened the small bedside drawer inside was a red lion’s head, a Space Explorers lion to be exact. It was a small safety box and Lance twisted one of the ears to unlock it. He tilted it over and a small velvet box fell onto the bed. He started to feel nervous all over again as he opened it. Inside were two matching silver rings.

Lance had been working his butt off to get the money and had to do so much so Keith wouldn’t find out. It was mostly thanks to Shiro keeping Keith busy during one his parents’ visits, while he went with Allura to go pick them out. He was happy with what he picked and hoped Keith was as well. A year ago, pretty much in the early morning after Shiro and Allura said their ‘I do’s’, he and Keith went to their place at the beach and Lance asked Keith if he’d marry him. He didn’t have a ring then but his mom wasn’t proposed to with a ring, so he didn’t see the problem and neither did Keith. They did decide to wait until after they graduated to set the date and everything, but Lance wanted people to know. People knew that Allura’s necklace was her ring of getting engaged and Lanced wanted Keith to show something off. They weren’t flashy, which was fine, cause they never needed that. They were engraved on the inside. They said ‘taking chances’ because Lance took a chance on being nicer to Keith and helping him and Keith took a chance on changing and doing things he felt were right. Now Lance was taking a chance and hoping Keith still wanted to marry him. He closed the box and set it on the table, not wanting to take the chance of losing it in the apartment in the next few minutes.

He took a shower, getting off the stress from the day and any ingredients that stuck on from cooking. He got dressed in a pair of Keith’s black sweatpants and his own large cream sweater. The same one from that one night, Lance was hoping to get a good reaction. He cleaned up a bit and played around on his phone, his parents texting him asking if anything happened yet. Soon the cake was done and a clean knife confirmed everything. He let it sit and cool, while he made the icing. It took everything not to eat half of it while he waited. Minutes before Keith was due back, the cake was iced and sitting on a plate, the things for his drink waiting as well. Lance was back in their room on the bed, plugging his phone in when the door opened.

“Lance?”

“I’m in here.” Lance hid the box behind the lamp. He wanted to wait just a bit more. Lance turned on his back and watched Keith come in, pulling his jacket off. He fell into Lance’s open arms, snuggling close and hiding his face in Lance’s neck. Lance had to pull his glasses off so Keith didn’t knock them off his face. “Tired?”

Keith hummed, not moving much except maybe pull himself closer to Lance. “How was class?”

“Fine. I got an A on my quiz from that class, the one you helped me study for?”

Lance could feel the smile against his neck. “Nice to know I’m still a good study partner.”

“I should hope so. I couldn’t tell you this morning cause you left early, but happy valentine’s day.”

Keith finally moved to pull away and kissed Lance. “happy valentine’s day.” He rested his forehead against Lance’s, enjoying the calm after a hectic day. “So, was that red velvet cake I spotted on the coffee table?”

Lance laughed. “Yes, it’s for you and you get a special drink as well.”

“Really?” Keith pushed himself up, essentially straddling Lance. He picked at the sweater, “does a particular outfit go with it as well?”

“Let’s see where the night takes us. Come on, go sit on the couch. I need to get your gift.”

Kissing Lance one more time, Keith climbed off and went into the living room. Lance watched him go, putting his glasses back on and grabbing the box. He could do this.

With the box safely in his pocket, Lance laid out the drink pieces in front of Keith. The violet eyed boy watched the familiar scene as Lance put the drink together, pushing it towards him when he was done. “Here you go, one Sweet Confession.” Keith smiled at the name as he watched the cup turn white with those four words, ‘I love you Keith.’

“Looks amazing as always.” Keith took a bit out of the wafer, while Lance cut him a slice of cake. “Now to see if the cake stands up.”

Lance plopped himself next to Keith and watched as he cut a bit and ate it. He knew he did well when Keith closed his eyes and let out a moan. “So it’s good?”

“Give my compliments to Hunk, but yes, you did good nerd.”

Lance couldn’t help the big smile on his face as Keith ate the rest of his slice, allowing him to feed him a piece before Keith finished it. When he was done, the nerves came up again. He put his hand in his pocket when Keith pulled something up on his phone and showed it to Lance. It was a picture of a small Blue Russian kitten sitting on a blanket.

“Aww, so cute!”

“She’s ours.”

That stopped Lance. “What?”

“Our building allows pets and I know how much you like cats. I don’t mind them but you melt at the sight of them. My boss’s cat had kittens, so I get the chance to go after work to go see them. I really think you’ll like her. I couldn’t bring her back because she’s not ready to leave her mom yet but she’ll be soon.”

Letting out a squeal, Lance launched himself at Keith, almost knocking them over. “Thank you! Wait; will be able to actually take care of her? We have classes.”

“And break in two weeks. We’ll be fine.”

“Of course we will. Oh thank you.”

“You’re welcome. So, you have a gift for me?”

Lance sat up, letting Keith follow. He took another deep breath, putting his hand back in his pocket. “So you know how yesterday was mom and dad’s anniversary right? Do you remember what we did after the wedding?”

Keith got a very soft look on his face. “You caught the bouquet and we drove down to the beach and thought about the future.”

“Do you remember what we decided?”

“Together for a lifetime?”

Suddenly not feeling nervous anymore, Lance pulled out the box, opening it to Keith. “Together for a life time. I know we probably didn’t need it, but I wanna see you show off that you get to get married to me after.”

A gentle but large smile came to Keith’s face. “I would want nothing more.”

A similar smile on his face, Lance took Keith’s ring out and put it on the correct finger. “Does it fit ok?”

Keith nodded, “it’s a perfect fit. Here.” Keith took the other ring and put on Lance’s. He rubbed the fingers in his hand. Lance noticed Keith’s eyes filling with tears. Keith started to rub them away. “I don’t know why I’m crying. All it’s doing is making it official.”

“Hey, if it makes you feel better, I thought for a while that you wouldn’t want to marry me.”

“Lance.” Keith looked surprised before taking Lance’s face into his hands. “Trust me. There’s no one else I’d rather spend a lifetime with.” He pulled Lance into a kiss, this one last long and sweet. They pulled away enough for Keith to say, “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Lance replied before kissing his fiancée again. The kiss was about to before more when Lance pulled away. “So, you said something about my sweater, something about wearing it while doing something? What were you saying?”

With a smirk, Keith took Lance’s hand and pulled him from the couch. “How about I show you?”

As they disappeared into the bedroom for who knows how long, the mug started turning back to its usual black, hiding the words once again. But they didn’t need to see the mug just to know how much the loved each other. They knew and they’d know for a lifetime.

#klance #taking chances #plumeriafairy14 #valentine day

[foodforyourbody]

via RSS feed - SEOCheckOut Get this Video Course At a Fraction of the Online Price £199.99LearnMake pretty much any Android app you like (your only limit is your imagination)Submit your apps to Google Play and generate revenue with Google Pay and Google AdsBecome a professional app developer, take freelance gigs, and work from anywhere in the worldBored with the same old, same old? Apply for a new job in a software company as an Android developerAboutLearn Android App Development with Android 8.0 Oreo by building real apps including Twitter, Instagram, and Super Mario Run. Wish you'd thought of Whatsapp/ Instagram/ Google Maps? Me too. But until I work out how to build a time machine, this course is the next best thing - The Complete Android Oreo Developer Course. Kicking things up a notch from my smash-hit The Complete Android N Developer Course, my latest course is your fast-track, skip-the-queue ticket to building high-caliber Android apps. Because let's face it… you're busy. 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This is a rigorously tested, exhaustive (yet fun) course with a serious thud factor—our most extensive, thorough, and detailed course on Android EVER.FeaturesLearn all the new features in Android Oreo such as adaptive icons, picture-in-picture, downloadable fonts, and Virtual Reality with Daydream.Dive into Augmented Reality with our ARCore section. Learn how to mix the physical and digital world through the user's camera.Learn essential skills such as using Bluetooth, game development, and sending users notifications.Get your free mini course on Kotlin.Course Length37 hours 21 minutesHow will i receive and Download this Video course * Download link will be sent to your messages inbox within 12hrs of receipt of payment.* The size of all the theme files is 9 GB which have been separated into 24 zips.* Zip files can be extracted with Winrar or 7-zip. So, you need to install either Winrar or 7-zip on your PC to extract the zips.* These zip files can not be extracted on Server or Google Drive. You need to download these to your PC/Laptop and extract with Winrar/7-zip.* Download link would remain active for 10 days from the date of purchase. So, you need to download it within 10 days after sending you the download link.Please contact me if you don't understand or have any questions. Table of ContentsChapter 1 : What Does The Course Cover?1. What does the course cover? 00:01:092. How to Get All The Free Stuff 00:02:133. Asking Great Questions & Debugging Your Code 00:02:23Chapter 2 : Introduction to Android Studio1. Introduction 00:01:072. Installing Android Studio On MacOS 00:02:363. Installing Android Studio On Windows 00:02:044. Android Studio Overview 00:11:005. Opening Sample Projects 00:01:596. Formatting Text 00:14:097. Buttons 00:15:418. TextFields 00:17:379. Displaying Messages 00:09:3710. Images 00:14:2011. Currency Converter 00:18:50Chapter 3 : Java Deep Dive1. Introduction 00:01:222. Hello World With Java 00:17:083. Variables 00:18:514. Arrays And Maps 00:14:445. If Statements 00:10:276. Higher Or Lower 00:17:297. Loops 00:18:368. Classes And Objects 00:12:389. App Number Shapes 00:28:42Chapter 4 : Media: Images, Video and Sound1. Introduction 00:01:272. Layout 00:07:443. Fading Animations 00:12:554. Other Animations 00:09:105. Game Connect 3 00:45:146. Video 00:07:017. Controlling Audio 00:09:218. Audio Volume Seeking 00:19:549. Grid Layouts 00:04:5110. App Basic Phrases 00:12:22Chapter 5 : Advanced Android Features1. Introduction 00:01:332. List Views 00:22:353. Times Tables Apps 00:25:314. Timers In Android 00:11:275. App: Egg Timer 00:39:046. Showing & Hiding UI Elements 00:07:327. App: Brain Trainer 1:04:148. Try And Catch 00:08:589. Downloading Web Content 00:23:3010. Downloading Images 00:15:3711. Advanced String Manipulation 00:17:5712. App Guess The Celebrity 00:42:1213. Processing JSON Data 00:22:3814. App Whats The Weather 00:37:20Chapter 6 : Maps & Geolocation1. Introduction 00:00:532. Using Maps In Your Apps 00:07:533. Customising Your Maps 00:08:514. Getting The User's Location 00:17:135. Showing The Users Location On A Map 00:19:146. Getting Information About Locations 00:16:327. App: Hiker's Watch 00:40:338. Adding A New Activity 00:21:319. App: Memorable Places 1:00:21Chapter 7 : Permanent Data Storage1. Introduction 00:00:512. Storing Data Permanently 00:40:483. Customising The Action Bar 00:10:454. Using Alert Dialogs 00:26:025. App: Notes 00:43:286. SQLite Databases 00:28:097. Advanced SQLite 00:18:108. Webviews 00:07:469. App: News Reader 00:54:32Chapter 8 : Instagram Clone1. Introduction 00:00:302. Setting Up Parse Server On AWS 00:19:523. Advanced Parse Techniques 00:18:384. Advanced Queries 00:11:235. Parse Users 00:08:426. Login & Signup 00:30:217. Advanced Keyboard Management 00:10:308. Showing The User List 00:12:449. Importing Photos From The Camera 00:28:0910. Viewing Users' Feeds 00:22:29Chapter 9 : Kotlin1. Introduction 00:01:062. IntelliJ and Setup 00:08:353. Variables, Strings, and Ints 00:04:464. Math and Comments 00:06:005. If Statements and Booleans 00:04:346. Lists and Arrays 00:04:377. For Loops 00:05:518. Maps 00:05:319. Functions 00:07:0110. Classes 00:07:4611. Nullable 00:06:1012. Our First Kotlin App 00:10:5713. Java and Kotlin 00:06:28Chapter 10 : Bluetooth App1. Introduction 00:00:342. The Basics 00:11:103. Device Discovery 00:10:574. Device Detail 00:08:125. Listing Devices and RSSI 00:15:53Chapter 11 : Super Mario Run Clone1. Introduction 00:00:342. GDX Setup 00:08:043. Sprites 00:15:304. Jumping 00:06:375. Coins and Bombs 00:22:416. Game State 00:14:33Chapter 12 : The Extras1. Introduction 00:01:312. Adaptive Icons 00:07:253. Fonts - Downloadable and XML 00:09:004. Autofill and Autocomplete 00:11:285. Version Control 00:10:446. Picture in Picture 00:12:567. Introduction to Daydream 00:11:10Chapter 13 : Android Wear Mini Course1. Introduction 00:00:412. Hello World With Android Wear 00:07:503. Adapting Apps For Different Watch Faces 00:09:104. App People Counter 00:08:485. Working With Lists 00:05:436. Voice Input 00:06:337. Communicating With The User's Phone 00:14:348. Notifications 00:07:059. Custom Watch Faces 00:08:22Chapter 14 : Twitter Clone1. Introduction 00:00:352. Signup Login 00:22:063. Following & Unfollowing Users 00:23:494. Sending Tweets0:14:335. View Your Twitter Feed 00:19:40Chapter 15 : ARCore App1. Introduction 00:01:052. What is ARCore? 00:08:233. Exploring ARCore 00:07:03Chapter 16 : Submitting Your App To Google Play1. Introduction 00:00:332. How To Submit Your App To Google Play 00:14:23Chapter 17 : App Marketing1. Introduction 00:01:312. App Marketing 00:22:03Chapter 18 : Setting Up A Marketing Website1. Introduction 00:00:302. Setting Up Wordpress 00:11:273. Customising Your Site 00:13:13Chapter 19 : Snapchat Clone1. Introduction 00:00:402. Firebase and Auth 00:33:413. Uploading Images 00:33:264. Firebase Database 00:45:255. Deleting Snaps 00:26:28Chapter 20 : Where do you go from here?1. Where do you go from here? 00:01:43Chapter 21 : BONUS CHAPTER 1: Uber Clone1. Introduction 00:01:062. Introducing Uber 00:07:363. Uber Login Page 00:16:334. The Rider Activity 00:32:215. The Driver Activities 00:55:516. Showing The Driver's Location To The Rider 00:30:41Chapter 22 : BONUS CHAPTER 2: WhatsApp Clone1. Introduction 00:00:442. Login & Signup 00:25:033. The User List 00:12:074. The Chat Activity 00:19:30Chapter 23 : BONUS CHAPTER 3: Flappy Bird Clone1. Introducing GDX 00:07:372. Working with Sprites 00:14:273. Interacting with Sprites 00:12:534. Bringing In the Pipes 00:23:225. Collision Detection 00:19:226. Scoring 00:09:567. Game Over Screen 00:11:04 Delivery Fast and safe by: hariads Created: -- Category: Audio & Music Viewed: 17

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[plentypost-blog]

The Google Silentely Rollout Andriod 9Pie

The next generation of Android is on its way. And you guessed it -- the P is for Pie. Android Pie, the new version of Google's mobile operating system, previously called Android P, comes first to the search giant's Pixel smartphones starting Monday. Google initially announced a preview version of the software in March, then demoed some features at its annual I/O developer conference in May. The company has been testing the version of Android 9 with developers and beta testers since its developer conference in May and has finally decided the moment to unleash it has arrived. It has also upgraded the software's name from Android P to Android Pie.

Pie isn't filled with a ton of flashy new features, but instead is focusing on performance and reliability. Google doesn't want you to work hard adjusting settings when the expensive phone you're using can do this for you. In short, there are a lot of minor tweaks in this version of Android that promise to make your digital life easier. For now, these are some of Android Pie's new features you should be trying out:

Gesture navigation

Google has introduced the biggest change to the way you get around in Android since the traditional three buttons of home, back and overview (recently used apps). The new gesture navigation button occupies the same space as the traditional on-screen buttons, but the home button is now a pill-shape and it moves. Tap it to go home, flick it up to see recently used apps, swipe upwards twice or pull it up further to get to the app drawer, or hold it down to activate Google Assistant. You can also drag it to the right to switch to the last app (similar to the double tap of the overview button) or drag and hold to cycle through recently used apps. The back button still appears when needed, but the overview button has gone. The gestures are not activated by default for now, which means to try them out head to Settings > System > Gestures and toggle the “Swipe up on Home button” option.

Rotation suggestion

It’s a small change, but arguably the most useful. Now when you have rotation lock turned on to stop the screen rotating orientation accidentally, and you turn on your phone intentionally, a little button appears in the navigation bar. Tap the button to rotate the screen from portrait to landscape or vice versa – perfect for those few times that you actually want the screen to rotate but not, say, when you’re lying down in bed.

Time on the left for screen notches

Android 9 Pie has moved the time from the top right of the status bar to the top left. It may not seem the most dramatic of changes, but it makes room for screen cutouts called “notches”, as found on the OnePlus 6 and Huawei P20 Pro, among others. Google has decreed that only two notches may be used on one screen for it to be able to run its version of Android, so at least you won’t have to deal with one in each side of the screen.

Adaptive Battery and Brightness

Short of navigation gestures, Adaptive Battery is the biggest improvement to Android. Using systems developed by Alphabet’s AI-outfit DeepMind, Adaptive Battery learns an individual’s usage patterns and directs the power to only the apps you need at the time you need them for more predictable day-to-day battery life. So far users of the Android P beta programme on Google Pixels have found an increase in battery life in the region of 20%, which bodes well for longer-lasting Android smartphones. AI has also been integrated into Android Pie’s brightness control, so it will now learn from your manual adjustments – something you could be forgiven for thinking already happened.

Smart replies

Smart replies have been in several apps for a while, including Gmail and Google’s dedicated Smart Reply app. But now they’ll be pushed to more apps and accessible directly from the notifications for easy, one-button replies.

App actions

App actions is another AI-integration attempt by Google, which seeks to predict not only the app that you want at any particular moment but an action from within that app too. For example, I normally play my Discover Weekly playlist from Spotify in the mornings, so when I open the app drawer at about 8am it’s right there as a suggestion for one-tap access.

Text selection

Apple’s iOS has had a magnifying glass for text selection for ages – now Android does too. Tapping on a bit of text still selects it, but when you drag one of the text selection handles you now see a magnified box appear immediately above your finger to make fine grain selection easier, particularly with tiny text.

Privacy

Google is revamping the way Android handles background apps to better protect user privacy. Starting with Android P, apps given permission for location, the microphone, camera and network status will no longer be able to access them when idle in the background. This means it will be harder for rogue apps to spy on users without their knowledge. The changes follow a recent tightening of control over the running of apps that were made with Android Nougat and Android Oreo, primarily to prolong battery life and performance.

Slices

Slices displays information from apps directly within the Google search app, in a similar manner to the way Google displays snippets of information within boxes directly in web search results. Examples include showing photos taken in Bali from Google Photos, when searching for Bali, or live prices and times to get you home from Lyft when searching for the app.

Digital Wellbeing

Google’s anti-smartphone addiction tools, collectively called “Digital Wellbeing”, are currently in beta testing for a select number of users. They include Dashboard, which shows you how much time you’re spending on your phone and in apps; App Timer, which allows you to set time limits for certain apps; a beefed-up Do Not Disturb (DnD) function that silences both visual and audible alerts; and Wind Down, which switches on DnD and fades the screen to grayscale as bedtime approaches.   Use the comment section below and let us know what do you think about the Andriod 9 Pie and its features!   EDITOR: SINGH & SHAW TECHIE: GUPTA Read the full article

#ANDRIOD #DEVELOPER #FEATURE #GOOGLE #LAUNCH #PIE #RELEASE

[nervousrawb]

Stone Creek Church 3/4/18

Acts 9:1-15

I always glance at the prayer partners before I turn my back to leave. They stand in a loose convex arc around the base of the stage, feet spread wide, eyes scanning the crowd. I think a part of my has always wanted a reason to go talk to one of them; a part of me always wants to confide in a stranger and receive the singular comfort of anonymous compassion. Today, I finally went for it.

Much of the sermon hadn’t really been resonating; perhaps I had come today with expectations set too high, with the conviction that with such a momentous change in my world there had to be an equally inspiring and noticeably parallel rumbling in the world at large. With ten minutes left in the service, I resigned myself to my own presumptuousness and decided I was supposed to glean my spiritual grounding elsewhere today. I hadn’t been to church in so long, maybe it wasn’t fair for me to expect that I could just waltz in and hear a message from God? Typing that previous sentence made me realize that I just spoke to one of those misconceptions about God that pastors are always trying to steer us away from; God doesn’t work on a on a system of debts and dues. My not having been to church in the last two months has weighed on my own heart much more than it has on God’s heart (or whatever His Godly equivalent of a heart may be).

Last Friday I went to All-Campus Worship; the speaker that night was a man who works with one of the Christian fellowships on campus and whose eleven-year-old son died fourteen weeks ago. This was Friday, February 23rd. He spoke about the distinction and interplay of our earthly lives and our eternal lives. He asked us the following questions: How would you live your life if you knew you only had one year to live? Six months? Alternatively, how would you live if you knew you had eternal life stretching out before you? 

I wonder... what color is eternity? Does it drop off into a startlingly complete blackness? Or does it spread out all around you in a hazy, disorienting whiteness? Perhaps I shouldn’t think of it in such dichotomous terms; even the ocean is trillions of billions of millions of different drops, innumerably diverse and representing the most minute of gradations-- and yet we tell our children, “the ocean is blue,” and even the language of romance novels gives up with a “foamy, sea green ocean” setting for its cliche summer love story.

I have digressed. The point being that I cannot begin to guess what color eternity may be, let alone how I would approach my own existence if I knew that the murkiness of forever was stretching out in every direction. Maybe “forever” is best imagined as a circle, radiating outwards in all three hundred and sixty-five degrees from the single point of my own being. Maybe there are different versions of forever, too; maybe my ten-degree forever is wildly different from my one-hundred-and-tenth-degree forever which, in turn, is completely different from my two-hundred-and-tenth-degree forever. Maybe it’s these different forevers that are different colors.

I have distracted myself again. Forgive my abrupt return to the intended subject of this post: In the last ten minutes of today’s sermon, the pastor asked us what we would do if we knew we had only thirty-eight minutes left to live. Who would we call or text? What would we say to them? What sentiments would be weighing on our hearts, suddenly begging to be freed amidst the chaos of our last thirty-eight minutes? The pastor drew upon the specificity of thirty-eight minutes in light of the ballistic missile scare that occurred in Hawaii last month. Imagine: some random government worker pushes a single wrong button... and singlehandedly (or singlefingeredly?) winds the clock for thousands of people-- setting their Life Timers for a meager thirty-eight minutes. Imagine someone pushing fast forward on your life like that. What priorities would come into laser focus? What would you clamor to achieve in those remaining minutes of your life?

I received word that my grandmother had very little time left at 7:52 PM last night. She passed at 8:13 PM. My father called me at 8:42 PM with the news. The climax of a months-long struggle... and its unsurprising conclusion... was now something we spoke of in the past tense. Within an hour, instead of speaking in “what ifs” and “whens,” we were speaking in “now whats” and “will dos”. I learned that the grieving have a language all their own: it is comprised entirely of different intonations of saturated sighs-- the de facto alphabet of those whose emotions can no longer be contained within the confines of human speech.

It is small comfort to know that her final minutes were not wracked with internal conflict. Her last moments were not spent making frantic phone calls or pouring her heart out to loved ones. No, her final hour was spent in much the same manner as countless prior hours over the course of the past two months. She lay in her hospital bed, no longer able to talk or eat, her breathing labored by the fluid attempting to pool in her lungs.

However, it is greater comfort to know that she no longer has to exist within a failing human body-- that her mind, which has remained sharp even as the rest of her has withered away, could finally soar again. And she is now freed from so much more than her sickly body and weakening physical state; she is freed from all the restrictions of old age, she is freed from all human limitation, she is freed from this world.

I once read something about how death is only sad for those of us left behind. That the departed feel immense relief or happiness or something else entirely different from grief as concerns their new state of being. It is those of us left behind-- left to navigate a world in which we now have a hole in place of a friend, mentor, ally, father, mother; in short, left to navigate a world with one less tangible source of love and comfort-- that truly bemoan death.

My grandmother knew on Friday night. She knew when she started instructing my grandfather to take her items home from hospital room number 709. She knew when she asked her son to stay the night with her not once, but twice. She knew when she sent for her husband on Sunday morning. She knew she wanted both him and her son to be by her side when she passed. My grandmother loved to be correct about things; maybe she’s smiling now-- knowing that she would prove to be right one last time. She passed thirty minutes later.

I’ll se ya later, ばあば。I know you’re having a grand ol’ time up there-- catching up with your parents and siblings. Are they giving you a hard time for making them wait for you for so long? It’s not your fault your body was so strong, your mind so sharp, and your verve for life so powerful. To be honest, I thought you would live forever. That maybe we’d all have to sit you down and convince you to go, reassuring you over and over and over again that we would be alright without you. But this is okay too. We will still be okay, albeit somewhat shocked for a short time, but, ultimately, we will be okay. We will miss you. We will marvel at and sometimes question Fate. But we will be okay. I understand it was your time. Of course, I cannot explain why; but I know that it is not my place to be privy to such information. 

I hope you’re talking everybody’s ears off and eating all your favorite, super nutritious foods again. I imagine it is great fun to be physically unencumbered and young again. I don’t know what you enjoyed doing when you were a younger woman, but I hope you’re able to do all of these things. I am excited for what this new world holds for you. I don’t know if there’s any more need for you to be careful, but I’ll say it anyway: Be careful up there, ばあば.

That’s all for now, ばあば. See ya later <3

#devotional #love