#take me back to the pre-cell phone era PLEASE

[nikidanger]

I low key hate it when I be so busy that I don’t have a single moment to look at my phone for like 7/8hrs straight, but then when I FINALLY get a moment to try to catch up, all the messages are so freakin overwhelming that I just wanna turn the shit off completely. 🥺🥺

#ima go get me a dumb phone & disappear in the Caribbean yall #see u next year #lmfaooo can I just pay someone to do this for me? #I get it #I truly do #phones #ugh #take me back to the pre-cell phone era PLEASE #like …1991 will do

[metalbvcky]

*Shows up late to the Stucky/Marvel fandom Post-EG with Starbucks and dozens of fics that I’ve read in hand* So you guys like fanfiction?

Yeah so, because of quarantine I’ve been consuming a ton of fic. I’ve probably read over 1.5 million words in just a couple months. So why not share what I’ve been reading! Note that some of these are older (popular) fics so veteran Stucky peeps will probably know of them since I not too recently delved into the realm that is Stucky fanfic. :)  

Down below are over a dozen fics with different tropes, Canon/AU’s, and what not. Please do heed the tags on some of these. For the curious: My AO3 bookmarks. 

Also shoutout to @stuckylibrary, the mods over there are doing the lords work. 

Key:  ♥ = My fave, S = Smut, DS = Dom/Sub 

Heroes are Easy, People are Hard ♥ by Halbereth, Lorien - Words: 152,284 | CW Fix It, Slight Canon Divergence, Recovery, Slow Burn

Shuri and Wanda cleared Bucky's triggers shortly after Killmonger's attempted coup, and he and Steve went on the run. But it turns out there's more to "fixing Bucky's head" than "getting Hydra out of it." When a group of rogue scientists manage to neutralize the serum and make Steve very sick--pre-serum "this is bad" kind of sick--and they're cut off from contact with Wakanda, Bucky knows only one person with resources to help. He calls Tony and surrenders on the condition that Tony tries to help Steve.

From there, it's basically three variously messed-up guys’ trajectories from "This Is Fine", "Reasonably Speaking I Know It’s Fine", "I Will Be Fine With It" to actually being fine, guest-starring a far-better-adjusted teenage boy who climbs walls, a 1957 Ford Thunderbird, two women with a keen sense of the absurd, and Bruce, the Zen master of “it’s fine that it’s not fine.” Add in the fact that Bucky's been secretly in love with Steve since the thirties and things only get harder. Learning to be a person is the hardest thing Bucky Barnes will ever have to do--but he's got company along the way.

Reap The Whirlwind by Cristinuke - Words: 18,221 | Canon Universe, Post CW, Domestic 

Bucky finds a cat. Or rather, a cat finds him.

Your Favorite Ghost by augustbird - Words: 21,013 |  Canon Divergence, Post TWS

It's harder than Steve ever expected to bring Bucky home.

Despite the threatening sky and shuddering earth (they remained) ♥ by praximeter (Zimario) - Words: 71,532 | Canon Divergence TWS, Body Modifications 

“They really didn’t want the mask to come off.” Hill thumbed through the scans, and pulled out a film that she then handed over to Sam, face mostly expressionless but for the flat line of her pursed lips.

Sam accepted the film and held it up to the light, angling so both he and Steve could see it, squinting at the outline of the Winter Soldier’s skull, and the blips of unnatural white that showed up, God, in his brain, not to mention about half his teeth, plus the mask, with its thin protrusions—

“Those are pins,” Steve realized. He looked over at Hill. “The mask—it’s nailed to his face.”

Hill’s face was as unmoved as ever. “Like I said. They really didn’t want it coming off.”

This city bleeds its aching heart ♥ by Renne - Words: 34,537 | Canon Universe, Fake/Pretend Relationship 

The one where Steve and Bucky pose as a happily married couple while on a mission for SHIELD, to catch an international arms dealer hiding in a suburban neighbourhood.

The Best Way to Wake ♥ by LeeHan - Words: 42,293 | Post TFA, Canon Divergence TWS, Recovery 

James Buchanan Barnes lay in a glass pod in the middle of the table, frozen since he fell. Steve’s hands were on the glass before he realized he’d moved. “Wait, Captain!” “Get him out,” Steve whispered, his hands searching for a clasp, a keypad, something. “Captain, we need to keep him in stasis—“ “I said get him out!”

Infinite Coffee and Protection Detail ♥ series by owlet - Words: 264,438 | Canon Divergence (sort of) 

The mission resets abruptly, from objective: kill to objective: protect

Undersell, overcommit by silentwalrus - Words: 10,222 | Canon Universe 

Steve goes so hard for Bucky that he becomes a licensed, practicing massage therapist.

Sparked Up Like a Book of Matches by Sena - Words: 26,734 | Post-TWS, Canon Universe 

Steve lives in Stark Tower and doesn't have much to do when he's not going after Hydra strongholds. He attends charity events to make Pepper happy. He goes hiking with Sam. He hangs out with Clint in Bed-Stuy and watches Dog Cops. Sometimes Tony gives him super alcohol in a sippy cup. Sometimes he sees Bucky out of the corner of his eye and wonders if it's real or if he's starting to lose his mind.

Alternately, the one with terrible jokes, a foot chase through the Lower East Side, and a tiny little robot named Shitcan.

Sugar Sweet ♥ from the Red Velvet series by ColorCoated - Words: 173,400 | Modern/Sugar Daddy AU, Age Difference, Slow Burn

"What's your name?" It wasn't even a line. He was just pretty and Bucky wanted a name to go with that face. With that strong jawline. With those deep blue eyes. A little smirk, "Steve."

Awww, Steve. He looked like a Steve. Bucky pursed his lips in a way he hoped was attractive, "You should buy me a drink."

College Student Bucky finds himself immediately attracted to Steve. He knows that Steve's a bit older than him, and that Steve himself is put off by the age difference. . . But that doesn't stop Bucky from wanting to climb him like a tree.

Steve and Bucky Go Away for the Weekend (and cook a lot) ♥ by E_Greer -  Words: 30,126 | Canon Universe, Domestic 

In which Steve coaxes Bucky out of the Tower for a birthday weekend away and sweet, fluffy domesticity ensues. Phlintasha helps keep Bucky calm, Steve has Opinions about how you set the table, stories are told, greenhouses are toured, baths are had, books are read, tears are shed, stars are gazed upon, and everyone makes Bucky feel loved. Includes Friday night dinner, Saturday morning breakfast, Saturday lunch, Saturday dinner, and Sunday brunch.

Dona Nobis Pacem by thegraytigress - Words: 65,214 | Canon Universe, Recovery 

"This job... We try to save as many people as we can. Sometimes it doesn't mean everybody, but if we can't find a way to live with that... Next time maybe nobody gets saved."

An incident on the battlefield exposes how much Steve's falling apart under the crushing weight of leading the Avengers after Sokovia. Now Bucky's adopting a new mission: save Steve before he destroys himself completely, even if it means the end of Captain America.

Give 'Em Hope ♥ by L1av - Words: 130,022 | Modern/Hospital AU, UA/Age Difference 

Dr. Steve Rogers likes to think that if his patients have hope- their chances of survival will increase. Bucky Barnes has a 20% chance of survival and a desperate yearning to experience life. Against Steve's better judgment, he develops a relationship with his patient. It's illegal. It's wrong. But it's giving Bucky the hope to keep going, so Steve's going to keep giving it, because he wants Bucky to survive. He needs him to.

You belong (to me) by hermionesmydawg - Words: 29,759 | S, DS, Canon Compliant, Post CW

"Hold on." Bucky lifted a finger and backed out of the doorway, returning a moment later with his cell phone. He snapped a photo of Steve, typed a few words, and then returned to his apple. "What the hell were you doing at a sex club last night?"

"Not having sex, if that's what you're wondering." An alert sounded from Steve's nightstand - a new Snapchat message. He rolled his eyes and unlocked his phone. Sam was always sending stupid Snapchats and frankly, Steve couldn't figure that goddamn app out and cursed whoever created that piece of shit.

The chat wasn't from Sam this time, however. It was a picture of himself, not looking guilty at all, with the caption "when your buddy catches you looking at p*rn."

Circling Back from the It’s Not Linear series by chaya - Words: 59,642 (Series Total: 136,782) | Canon Divergence

Steve looks for Bucky, Bucky finds Steve, Steve tries desperately to put Bucky back together. Bucky tries desperately to let him.

Continuing Education by 743ish, romanticalgirl - Words: 14,443 | S, Canon Universe/College, Shrunkyclunks 

Steve is invited to be a guest lecturer on the WWII unit for Bucky's college course. Bucky's more than happy to glean any extra knowledge (in more than just history) from Steve, and Steve's happy to eductate him. But then Bucky has to decide if he can handle the fact that Steve throws himself into danger, and if the sex is worth it. Or if it's not just sex anymore.

Salt & Sugar by GoldBlooded, stfustucky - Words: 19,598 | Modern/Restaurant AU

Steve Rogers is a bigshot celebrity chef in New York City, and Bucky Barnes is a classically trained pastry chef in Moscow.

When billionaire and mutual friend Natasha Romanoff calls on them to collaborate for her Memorial Day Benefit Gala, they both brace themselves to spend the week working with some jerk they're bound to hate. Except... Steve makes a burger that could bring Bucky to tears, and Bucky makes tartlets so beautiful Steve's sure they qualify as art. Maybe, just maybe, together they could make this a night to remember.

@/sgtbarnes1917 and @/cptrogers1918 by BayleyWinchester - Words: 114,203 | Canon Universe, Social Media Fic 

Bucky Barnes broke Twitter with one photo

Proprietary Information ♥ from the Additional Information series by notlucy - Words: 85,141 (Series Total: 165,871) | Modern AU, Age difference, Slow Burn

Okay, so Bucky Barnes has a crush on Steve Rogers. The guy's gorgeous, talented and, oh yeah, the Chief Design Officer of the biggest tech company in the world. In other words: he's so far out of Bucky's league that he might as well be in a different stratosphere.

Deep in the Woods (Where My Heart Has Been Waiting) by SilverMyfanwy - Words: 15,353 | Pioneer-AU, Shrinkyclinks 

Steve Rogers gets lost in the woods in a snowstorm. Bucky Barnes takes him in. Pioneer-era AU ish with Shrinkyclinks, evil chickens and a cabin in the woods.

A Bucky Odyssey by inediblesushi, thorstbench - Words: 9,952 | Shrinkyclinks,  Cap!Bucky, Nurse!Steve  

Bucky Barnes, Captain America, has a plan to make Steve Rogers, SHIELD nurse, fall in love with him. Confiding in the Internet might not be the best idea, though. So when the bad pick up lines do not work and Steve looks determined to staying single, he decides to be more himself and less what he thinks he should be.

At first I wanted to wait to post this until I finished a few more fics from my ever growing read-later list but what the heck, now or never! I’ll probably end up making a part 2 reclist by the amount of fic I’m reading these days. 

Happy reading and stay safe out there fellow Stucky trash members!!

#stucky #stucky fanfic #stucky fic rec #stucky fanfic rec #stucky fic #stucky fanfiction #stucky au #marvel fanfic #steve x bucky #my reclist #long post for ts #wow this is over a million words worth of fic + that doesnt include everything else ive read omg #the amount of talent in the destiel and stucky fandoms are insanely incredible #a total of 21 fics and at least 5 are apart of a series ... thats a lot of words

[novantinuum]

Intake (SUF one-shot)

Fandom: Steven Universe

Rating: Teen Audiences (TW: brief discussion of mental illness related topics like suicide ideation and intrusive thoughts.)

Words: 2800

Summary: Steven fills out an important form.

This is set multiple months pre The Future, and is a small glimpse into Steven’s journey to find a therapist.

If you read this and enjoy, I’d greatly appreciate your support through reblogs here, or kudos/comments on AO3 as well. AO3 link will be provided in the reblogs. Thank you! <3

____

His leg bounces with a restless fervor as he slumps in the waiting room chair, clutching the clipboard and pencil the receptionist gave him with a white knuckled grip. Gaze hardened, he takes a good long look at the other patients spread across the room, a few of them appearing equally as spent and fidgety as him, and hunches over the intake form so his answers will be conclusively obscured from their view.

He grimaces. Ugh. Why would a place like this lay out their chairs so close, anyways? Why even give people the option of being nosey? He may be stuck seeing this therapist Connie’s mom recommended because he’s all messed up in the head, but it’s not like he wants the whole planet to know about it. Goodness knows all of Beach City and Little Homeworld already does thanks to his little ‘incident’ a month back. That’s bad enough.

His chest almost feeling hollow as he sighs, he scrawls in his name, his birthday, his cell number, address, and an emergency contact (Dad, who left for the car to give him privacy after signing a few forms he can’t fill out as a minor) on the lines indicated. He leaves out his many middle names for once, all of them leaving a bitter taste in his mouth at this present moment. Briefly, he wonders if this will be a problem, as these past few weeks Dr. Maheswaran assisted his dad in finally acquiring legal documentation and health insurance for him, and per those records he’s officially ‘Steven Quartz Universe’ in the eyes of the law.

Eventually he shrugs, figuring the likelihood of there being another sixteen-year-old ‘Steven Universe’ here today to confuse him with is nearing zero.

Okay, what’s next?

He briefly skims over the next few passages— a bunch of legalese about the terms of counselor-patient confidentiality and when they might have to breach that for safety reasons— and signs where indicated so they know he looked over it.

Someone sitting two chairs away coughs. He can’t help but flinch at the sudden noise, and folds himself tighter in his own seat as he flips over the first page of the form and continues to read.

In a few words, explain why you’ve chosen to reach out to us today. How can we help you?

Steven frowns, fingers twitching around the shaft of the pencil as he contemplates how to respond. For whatever reason, the question “explain why you’re here” feels very blunt and antagonistic to him in a way he can’t quite ascertain. Like... in a “give the wrong answer, get booted right out the door” sorta way. He lifts his head, peering at all the humans spread across the room, each and every one with their own story, the central character of their own worlds. Some are texting on their phones as they wait for the receptionist to call their names, others are filling out forms as well. What brought these people here, he wonders? Surely there’s plenty of people having a worse time than him right now. Surely there’s people with real problems, people who are literally struggling just to stay alive from day-to-day. He’s not like that, right? Besides that one little wobble a month back, he’s been handling his problems on his own fairly okay. Hasn’t he? So what makes him selfish enough to think that he’s worth anyone’s time?

In his pocket his phone vibrates, knocking him back into reality. He yanks it out and switches it on to look at the new text splashed across the lock screen:

Dad: Hey Schtu-ball, just wanna let you know that I’m proud of you and love you very much. You’ve got this!

He stares at these words for a good minute, the kind sentiment— despite reading as a little hopelessly over-encouraging— filling the hollow space in his chest partway. Even if his dad’s been a bit overbearing in his affections this past month, it’s clear he means well.

So. Why am I here today, he thinks, reading the question over again. He folds his fingers up into a stiff fist, pulling his thumb across his knuckles. After licking his chapped lips and shoving his phone back in his pocket, he scribbles a hasty reply.

I feel really angry and empty and tense and just want to be better.

The teen pauses, allowing those words to echo over and over in his mind, to truly sink in. It’s such a succinct and to-the-point admission that he suddenly wonders why he ever doubted he was less deserving of aid than anyone else in this waiting room.

His countenance a little lighter now and his shoulders growing less stiff, he moves on to the next section.

To aid our counselors in providing you the best possible care, please rate the following statements on a scale from zero to four, zero meaning “not at all like me,” and four meaning “extremely like me.”

Steven’s eyes dart across the length of the massive table below these instructions, his previous anxiety rushing back into his brittle bones as if it’d never left. Each row is host to a short sentence and five blank boxes, numbered zero to four. Read it and rate yourself, right? Should be simple enough. But as his glance flits over these statements and he understands the sort of personal, probing questions they’re asking through them, he begins to mistrust his previous burst of optimism. Dread floods his system, making his cheeks flush bright pink. Heart pounding at the mere thought of people staring, he drops his head lower, successfully hiding most of his face behind the clipboard until he can coax that betraying glow into fading away.

In the end, this goes to prove that it doesn’t matter if everyone says therapy will be ‘helpful’ for him; reflecting on all this junk is still gonna suck.

Quietly, he takes a steadying breath and forces himself to read on, to crack open the hornet’s nest that is the depths of his crap brain.

1. I am shy around others.

He considers this for a moment. Shy. Historically, this has never been a word people would use to describe him. For years he reveled in the thrill of meeting new people, new Gems. His childhood eagerness to engage in fellowship with those around is half the reason Era 3 even exists. And he’s fine around people he knows. Like, on a rare good day he has no problem playing board games or watching cheesy soap operas with his friends. But to be fair... as of late, his eagerness to meet anyone new feels like it’s all but vanished. Is that being shy? Or is that just him failing to care for anyone beyond his inner circle?

With a small shrug he checks the box for one, and moves on.

2. I don’t enjoy being around people as much as I used to.

Hmm. Probably a three. People are unintentionally exhausting these days. He used to be energized by social interaction, and now it just leaves him sucked dry. Most days he’d rather stick to his room.

3. I feel isolated and alone.

The weight of the diamond embedded in his belly— something he normally barely notices— grows ever more apparent as he marks off a four.

4. My heart often races for no good reason.

Uh, yeah. What happened just a minute ago is a pretty good tell. Four.

5. I have spells of terror or panic.

Another four.

6. I am anxious that I might have a panic attack while in public.

Four once more. He holds his pencil tighter, squirming in his seat as he tries (and fails) not to think about the pale scars spread across his back, hidden in his hairline, and on the underside of his arms, indentations that once marked the base of the crystalline spines that jut out from between his scales.

7. I think about food more than I’d like to.

Steven pauses at this one. For once, he’s not sure he can say this statement applies to him. Truth be told, he only started caring about what he put in his mouth earlier this year, when he cut meat and fish out of his diet. And that’s not... a bad thing? It’s not bad to want to consider the impact your food choices have on the environment? He definitely didn’t choose to do so for self-denying reasons, and that’s probably what they’re asking about. He checks zero, and moves on.

8. I feel out of control when I eat.

He almost checks another zero, but then he remembers that day after the proposal... and the week after his incident. And he decides that even if he doesn’t consciously obsess over the food he eats, there’s still a few occasions where once he starts snacking he finds it difficult to stop. A one it is, then.

9. I have sleep difficulties.

This statement nearly makes him laugh. Does he have sleep difficulties. Hah. He doesn’t think he’s gotten a truly restful night of sleep since he sacrificed himself to Homeworld at fourteen.

A solid four. No question.

10. My thoughts are racing.

Four.

11. I feel uncomfortable around people I don’t know.

Hmm. Two.

12. I drink alcohol frequently.

The only alcohol he’s ever had is a tiny sip of his dad’s with permission at Garnet’s wedding reception, and it tasted terrible. He has no interest in drinking again. Zero.

13. When I drink alcohol I can’t remember what happened.

Zero.

14. I drink more than I should.

Zero again.

15. I have done something I have regretted because of drinking.

Another zero. It almost makes him feel better, just knowing there’s a decent number of lines on this paper that aren’t a carbon copy of his lived experience.

16. I feel sad all the time.

Aaaand back to “the story of his life.” Briefly, he wonders if ‘feeling sad’ is the same thing as feeling nothing at all. But then again, does the difference really matter? He checks the box for three.

17. I am concerned that other people don’t like me.

Three. Although honestly, he’s even more concerned that people continue to like him after everything he’s done.

18. I feel worthless.

Steven nibbles at the inside of his cheek as he reads this statement, memories automatically flashing through the pathetic events of the last few weeks, through all the days he barely crawled out from under his covers, all the days he didn’t even manage to brush his teeth or run his fingers through his greasy, knotted hair, all those awful days he couldn’t so much as play one of his video games without growing tired of it in minutes and taking a restless nap for the rest of the afternoon instead.

Four.

19. I feel helpless.

Two. Everyday affairs are a drag, but at the very least he knows he can fight his way out of danger in a pinch. He wouldn’t call that helpless.

20. I have thoughts of ending my life.

He freezes. Goes back, reads this line again. Reads it a third time to make sure he’s not horrendously misconstruing the prompt he’s been given.

(Tries not to think too deeply about the graphic images that flood his imagination some nights. It’s just stray thoughts, though. He’s fine.)

One, he marks, although his muscles can’t help but twitch as he shifts his wrist, as if deep down he knows he’s underplaying his answer.

21. I feel tense.

Steven gives a small snort under his breath. Yeah, he outright admitted as much earlier in this form. Four.

22. I get angry easily.

His grip tightens.

Four.

23. I have difficulty controlling my temper.

He swallows hard, his mouth feeling abnormally dry. He’s not sure he likes how blunt and probing this questionnaire is becoming.

Four...

24. I sometimes feel like breaking or smashing things.

His knuckles go white around his pencil, and he only barely resists the temptation to snap it in half as he feels a rush of hard light flow the distance from his gem through the veins of his arm. Geeze, it’s not like he means to break things! It’s just that all of his stupid powers are linked with his emotions, and whenever he gets even marginally upset now things start to splinter, crack in half, and inevitably end up broken. Just another sign he’s fated to ruin everything around him forever, and that his intent doesn’t matter. Why do they have to pry into this? He already feels terrible enough for thinking these things.

Three, he checks, his eyes damp, but mostly because he’s too scared what their response will be otherwise.

25. I am not able to concentrate as well as usual.

He takes a deep breath, coaxing his body to return to a baseline state. Eh. He’ll give this a two.

26. I feel self-conscious around others.

His glance skirts over the edge of the clipboard to monitor the four others currently spread out across the room. One’s rhythmically swinging their legs, another is still filling out a form like him, but sitting criss-cross on the chair, and the other two are quietly typing on their phones. Thankfully none of them are pressing an ounce of attention his way, (at least, not right now), but that doesn’t stop him from feeling like an exposed nerve. Three.

27. I am afraid I may lose control and act violently.

The raw memories hit like lightning before he can even think to prepare.

Flashes of Pink. Orange fragments, cold and slick in his palms. Thunder splits the skies overhead, each cacophonous sound manifesting in perfect synchronicity with his erratic heartbeat, with each tidal wave of thoughts gushing like a maelstrom through his head: SHATTERER, I’m a shatterer, I’m—

Feeling almost dizzy from the intensity of his heart’s pulse, he knows with full certainty that his cheeks are glowing bright pink again. All he can do is clench his fists, suck down whatever amount of fresh air his lungs will allow, and pray to the very stars themselves that it’ll fade away before it garners the attention of every last human in this place.

He checks the box for four, pencil marking so hard that slivers of graphite splinter off onto the page, and moves on before he can be cowardly enough to change his answer.

28. I have thoughts of hurting others.

His fingernails claw into the thin denim at his knee, limbs outright quivering as he stews in his seat, as he’s forced to reflect upon all the ugly, ugly thoughts that have flit across his awareness over the past weeks. Thoughts about one Gem specifically. He’s... always been angry, always harbored deep resentment... but ever since his most recent trip to visit Her, he hasn’t been able to shake this awful idea: a vision of him standing over the remnants of her gemstone, shattered, fragments spilled across the otherwise pristine floors of Homeworld. He... he didn’t do it when he had the chance. He wouldn’t do it, would he?

(Orange fragments, cold and slick...)

Would he??

And yet nevertheless, the thought tortures him with its frequency, makes him feel downright nauseous at every turn. He doesn’t want it. He doesn’t want to feel this way at all.

Four.

29. I am unable to keep up with my schoolwork.

Stop. Sharp inhale. Staccato, shaky exhale. Repeat, deeper this time. Repeat.

(He can no longer see neon pink reflecting in the smooth metal clasp at the top of his clipboard.)

Okay. Schoolwork.

N/A, he writes in one of the boxes, arm still trembling from the last two questions despite his attempt at cool-down exercises. Not applicable. He hasn’t even been to school, and dreads the inevitability of this therapist asking about that mess.

30. It’s hard to stay motivated for my classes.

N/A.

31. I feel confident that I can succeed academically.

N/A, once more.

And like that, the questionnaire is over. Steven is quick to hide his answers behind the front page, and slides the pencil through the length of the metal clip. He glances around him, drinking in his surroundings with pinpoint precision. Despite his earlier concerns, no one is maliciously staring. No one’s whispering. He internally wrestled with a few challenging subjects and what do you know, it didn’t end in an embarrassingly public meltdown. He— he wipes a stray tear from his eye with the butt of his palm— he took a solid step forward today.

Coercing his body to move, he pulls himself out of the cushioned chair and crosses the room.

“I finished,” he says softly, proudly, as he hands the clipboard and pencil to the receptionist. She smiles and accepts his hard-fought offering.

For the first time in a while, the smile he instinctively flashes back almost feels genuine.

I want to be better, he thinks. I will be better.

____

Notes:

This fic is loosely based on my own experience of the intake process, and the questionnaire I had to fill out. No two intake experiences are the same though, of course. This is merely one possibility. I also take personal liberties on the way I depict Steven’s struggle with mental health, and acknowledge and respect that no two fans’ interpretation will be the same.

Additional notes: -Steven’s still a minor, so he can’t actually sign contracts. I figure Greg signed a handful of forms beforehand as his guardian, and then left to allow his son a bit of privacy with filling out the questionnaire stuff. Since he's a teen, they're still giving him the full confidentiality clauses to look over so he's wholly aware how that works, though.

-To expand on a brief comment made in the midst of this, I headcanon that Steven cut both meat and fish out of his diet, and thus actually slipped up on his vegetarian diet when he was training with Jasper. I interpret this as further showcasing how the poor kid— due to being mentally vulnerable at the time and thus liable to coercion/unwise decisions— began to take actions that went against much of his established morality. He ended up sacrificing his dietary choices during those days, just like he briefly sacrificed his pacifistic views to fight Jasper.

-I also headcanon that the therapist Steven is going in to see after this isn’t the one he eventually sticks with and mentions as “my new therapist” in The Future. It’s totally normal and okay to try a few different people to find someone who you click with, after all.

Thank you for reading!

#su #su future #steven universe #su fanfiction #my writing stuff #okay the official crosspost #here you go #i keep switching how i post fics here hhh #i LIKE having the ao3 link in the post itself #but when i do that the fic almost never shows up in tags so *shrugs*

[schrijverr]

Get out of jail for free-card

Stanford-era Sam gets a call from Dean, who has been arrested and needs him to bust him out. Jess insits on coming with him and is in for a bit of a surprise with the revelations that come with meeting Dean.

On AO3.

Ships: Sam x Jess

Warnings: Their childhood. Tell me if I missed anything or if you want me to tag something!

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

It was Friday, which meant drinking and having fun for Sam and his friends. Jess was just asking what everyone wanted to drink when a phone rang. It took a few seconds before Sam realized it was his. He shot a confused look to his friends and picked up: “Uh, hello, this is Sam Winchester speaking?”

“Sammy, thank God.”, came Deans voice from the other side.

Shocked Sam said: “Dean?”

“Yeah, it's me, already forgotten the sound of my beautiful voice?” Sam practically heard the smirk in that statement.

He couldn't help the bitch face as he answered: “How could I ever forget that annoying sound. But why the fuck are you calling me?”

Tom raised his brows to Jess who gave him a confused look back, Sam wasn't known to swear and neither had ever heard of this Dean person. They were pulled back to the phone call when Sam exclaimed: “What do you mean you got arrested.”

The comment got Jess to give him A Look, so Sam told Dean: “Wait a sec, gotta move.”

Then he waved at them and said: “Sorry have to take this, you guys go and start the movie.”

Jess frowned, but Sam didn't notice as he was saying: “Yes, Dean, movie night, normal people do that sort of thing on Friday. And don't call me Samantha. Now why are you arrested again?”

“Grave desecration, not really a good excuse for that, you know.” Dean said.

Sam rubbed his forehead and asked: “And why is this my problem again?”

“Dad's in Ohio together with Bobby, a demon, he wouldn't take me, so I got an easy salt 'n burn in San Francisco, but I got busted.” Dean replied.

“Do you need bail money or do you need to be saved?” Sam asked with a tired voice.

“I'm no Disney Princess, dude.” Dean said, “Psh, getting saved. But no, no bail for me, just heard you're pre-law now.”

Sam sighed as he read between the lines, Dean needed Sam to bust him out of a holding cell. He said: “Tell them you called a lawyer and won't do anything until he's there. And what name are you going by right now?”

“Phil Rudd.” Dean said, of course it was a rock star name.

He sighed again and said: “I’ll be there in 50.”

“Thank you, Sammy.”

“It’s Sam.” Sam bitched back, then he hung up and snagged a tie out of his closet along with a dress shirt.

He walked back into the room, where no one had started the movie and everyone was ready to pounce him with questions. “Who’s Dean?” Jess asked.

“And why is he arrested.” Tom added.

Sam grimaced and awkwardly said: “He's my brother, so I'm gonna go pick him up at the police station.”

“And why is he arrested?” Jess asked with an intense look.

“Uhhh,” Sam looked away with an embarrassed flush and said: “Grave desecration.”

“He did what!” Jess exclaimed, “That's terrible! Why would he do that?”

“He has his reasons.” Sam said curtly, then he realized that that didn't help the situation, so he went on: “Look he's a good guy, honestly, just a shitty past that he didn't shake off as well as I did. If you'd meet him, you would know.”

“Then take me with you.” Jess demanded.

Their friends had been watching the discussion like it was a tennis match and in the tense silence that followed they kept their eyes on Sam. Sam, who was having a small crises. On one hand he didn't want to fuck up his relationship with Jessica because he didn't take her with him, but on the other hand he also didn't want to fuck it up because he was busting his brother out, illegally.

When the silence dragged on Jess said: “I’m not letting this go, Samuel, take me with you or this is over.”

And that made the decision for him, he said: “Okay, let’s go, I told him I'd be there as fast as I could.”

~

The ride was silent and tense for the first 15 minutes, then Jess said: “I don’t want to meet your brother with just a bad image, so what's your best memory?”

“Huh?” Sam asked dumbly.

“What's your best memory of you and Dean?”

Sam smiled softly and said: “Where do I start? God, he was always there for me for a start, according to him my first words were “Bean” in an attempt to say his name, he says he cried.”

He thought some more before saying: “I know it sounds weird, but with Dad almost always gone and mom dead, while constantly on the road, Dean was my everything. He was my brother, best friend and mom all rolled into one. We were SamnDean, no spaces between us.”

Jess shot him a look, but didn’t say anything and he didn’t either, he just looked at the road and thought back to the times were this sight was his daily view, just from the backseat, with two pairs of shoulders and two heads blocking his view.

~

When they arrived Sam turned to Jess and said: “I need you to stay in the car, please?”

Then he got out of his flannel and buttoned up the dress shirt and put on the tie. Jess frowned at that and asked: “Why? What's going on, Sam?”

“It’s kinda hard to explain, but you have to believe me when I say I hate this as much as you will. Just stay in the car. Me and Dean will be here in a few minutes.” He gave her his best puppy eyes and she relented with an “I don’t like this.”

He gave her a peck on the cheek and said: “I don’t either. See you in a bit.”

Then he was out the car and walking into the station.

Half of the scam was the confidence, so Sam strutted up to the front desk and said: “I’m John Singer, I'm here for Phil Rudd.”

The lady gave him a one over and raised a brow. He knew he was still wearing his shaggy shoes and jeans, plus he looked very young. So he kinds dropped the confidence a bit and said: “I’m just the intern, but my boss, Simon Wright, is out of town, so I’m taking the calls right now.”

A look or pity showed up on the ladies face as she said: “Didn’t expect a call this late, did ya?”

He nodded and said: “I haven’t done this before, sorry, could you point me in the right direction?”

She smiled and quickly walked him through what was expected of him. He thanked her profusely as he walked away.

~

Dean greeted him with a smirk and said: “Hey, man, what’s the plan?”

Sam gave him a bitch face and said: “I’m risking a lot by being here, so don’t try anything, okay? Jess is waiting in the car, so lets make this quick.”

“Wait a minute. Who’s Jess?” Dean said.

“My girlfriend, now pay attention we can talk later.” Sam said.

Dean whistled impressed, but stayed quiet while Sam explained: “They think I’m an intern, so a newbie. You are going to punch me and then use this time window of no surveillance you've created to escape and hide in the back of Jess’s car, okay? It’s the blue crappy Honda.”

Dean chuckled, but nodded. He got ready to punch but Sam held up his hand and quickly sent Jess a text: ‘Dean will join you in the car shortly, don't say anything to anyone. See you in a few.’

Then he allowed Dean to punch him. He waited until Dean was out the window before he yelled: “Help! He punched me and he's gone!”

Soon the whole room was filled with police. His statement was taken and he was checked over, but after 15 minutes they'd let him go while he gave them Bobby's number for if they wanted more info.

On his way out he texted Bobby about it with a side note not to tell Dad, while he ignored Jessica's messages about how this wasn’t funny.

He got into the car and was immediately slapped by an angry Jess. He looked to Dean who was lying on the back seat to stay out of sight, but he just shot him a ‘hey-don't-look-at-me-dude-this-is-your-problem’ look.

When he said nothing she said: “What took you so long?”

He told her the truth: “They still needed my statement.”

She looked even more angry and said: “Then why is he telling me you busted him out. Illegally!”

He whipped around to give Dean a look and said: “Because he is an idiot.”

“Hey! You brought her with you and told her about your plan. I thought she knew, don’t blame me!” Dean defended himself.

“Why would she know?” Sam said frustrated.

“I don’t know, maybe because she is here and you texted her your plan?”

“God, this is just like Seibert.” Sam gave him an angry look.

Dean got angry as well and loudly replied: “How is this anything like Seibert?”

“Your lack of filter almost fucked me over that’s how.” Sam had a full on bitch face now.

“I told you back then that a twelve-year-old isn’t as convincing as an crying ‘help me I’m lost kid’ than an eight-year-old.”

“And I told you that someone smaller was better for sneaking around, you’re lucky they caught me after I had given dad the keys.”

“I was trying to buy you time, which was my task in the plan.”

“And telling them I was there seemed smart when my task was to remain unseen?”

With every comment their voices got louder and angrier, but before the fight could escalate any further Jess cut in: “What are you even talking about?”

“1991, we were staying in Seibert, but Dad got arrested.” Dean began.

Sam interrupted: “Since when are you such a sharer?”

“Since I’m trying to save your relationship here dude. Look at her, she wants the truth lets give it to her.” Dean shot back.

Sam looked at Jess, who he saw was siding with Dean on the subject. He crossed his arms and muttered: “Like that isn’t gonna ruin everything.”

Then he started up the car and said: “I’m dropping you off at your car hopefully you haven’t lost that too.”

“No, baby is still at my motel, Civic Center Inn, you can drop me there.” Dean said, Jess marveled at how quickly the two calmed down, then Dean turned back to her and said: “So, 1991, Seibert Colorado. Dad had gotten arrested, this wasn’t the first time, so me and Sammy go and bust him out.”

“It’s Sam.”

“Yeah, whatever. So, my plan was that he goes in and acts like he’s lost, creating a diversion for me so that I can sneak dad the keys of his cell.” Dean explained, “Except Sam didn’t agree with that, said I had to play lost, because he was smaller and therefore would be able to sneak better.”

“Which is true.” Sam commented.

“No, it’s not, because it almost went wrong.” Dean jibed.

“And that was your fault.” Sam said.

“No, it’s wasn’t.” Dean started up the discussion again.

Jess just wanted to know what had happened, so she interrupted: “Let it go, both of you.”

“Sorry.” Sam said immediately.

Dean coughed, but Jess was certain she heard “Whipped”, Sam probably did too, because his lips tightened, but he didn’t say a thing.

Dean went on: “Anyway, I go in and start crying telling them I’m lost and it does create a diversion, but not long enough, so I also tell them I lost my younger brother while I was supposed to be watching him. That does work, a small child is lost, so everyone there starts looking and it the end they find him. He tells them he was looking for the bathroom and wondered away and we get dropped off at a random house, which we tell them is ours. Then we walk to the motel where our father joins us shortly after.”

“We skipped town that night.” Sam finished.

Jess sat quietly for a second as she takes everything in, finally she said: “I’m sorry, Sam, that sounds horrible.”

Sam just shrugged and said: “I’ve never known different, so I never missed it. I’ve been helping in illegal scams since I was three or something. That’s just life.”

“Not that he ever liked it.” Dean felt the need to insert himself into the conversation, “He and dad were always fighting.”

Sam rolled his eyes and said: “Yeah, he didn’t want me to go to college and get a normal life, sorry for wanting to be like everyone else.”

“That didn’t mean you had to fight with him about every little thing, Sam.” Dean said.

Jess sat there awkwardly, feeling that this was a whole other set of issues. She quietly asked: “Is that why you never talk about your family?”

Sam sighed sadly: “Yeah, the last words my dad said to me were: “If you go, don’t come back.” not really heartwarming, is it?”

Dean flopped backwards and said: “Our whole family is shit.”

Sam looked over his shoulder with a surprised look and said: “Didn’t think you would say that.”

Dean shrugged and said: “Doesn’t mean you’re not part of it, Sammy. Just call from time to time, okay? Oh, look there’s the turn.”

Sam turned onto the parking of the motel and Dean got out of the car. Before he slammed the door he said: “Jess, that’s your name right? Yeah, okay, Jess, don’t judge Sam for something he never wanted to be a part of. And Sammy? Sammy you don’t let her go, she’s cool. See you next time, nerd.”

Then he was gone.

Sam sat quietly for a minute then he drove off. They didn’t say anything until they were near San Mateo, then Jess carefully said: “Are you going to call him?”

Sam looked at her and said: “He knows we can’t call each other, he didn’t even give me his number to pretend. We’re never gonna talk again and that’s okay, life happens.”

Jess gave him a pained look, but she didn’t know what to say about it.

Sam asked: “Are we over?”

“No, Sam, we aren’t, just, just be more honest about your life to me, okay?” she said with a sigh.

“Are you gonna tell everyone I broke him out instead of paying a bail that didn’t exist.” Sam asked after a moment of silence.

Jess thought about it for a second. Then she shook her head and told him: “No that’s between you and your brother. I just waited in the car and we had a nice chat about you on the way to his motel, nothing peculiar happened.”

Sam grinned: “What would I do without you?”

Jess smirked back: “Crash and burn.”

~

When Dean broke in to Sams house two years later, he was glad to see that Sam had listened and hadn’t let Jess go.

#RR writing #supernatural #Supernatural pre-series #Sam Winchester #sam and dean #Sam and dean wierd childhood #dean winchester #Jessica Moore #Stanford-era #supernatual stanford-era

[altumvidetur]

MCU: Stucky Fic Recs

MCU FIc Recs Masterpost

So, I was thinking about the coronavirus pandemic and what I could do to help people out. I’m isolated because I’m at higher risk, so I can’t really offer to go out for my elderly neighbors or my family… but I thought I could try to help keep people entertained.

Because I don’t have an AO3 account right now, I’ve been compiling fic recs for my own amusement for a year or so. And I thought – maybe that’s the time to share these with everyone? So everyone will have plenty of things to read while they have to stay at home, or even to escape anxiety a little bit if you’re forced to go out.

Of course, these cater to my own tastes, so you may find stuff you don’t like around here. I never include works in progress. The Mature and Explicit works will be in italic. I ask you to READ THE WORK’S TAGS before continuing, so you won’t find anything that makes you uncomfortable.

I’m not even close to reading the whole Stucky tag in AO3, and I lost my wind a little bit with Endgame, so this is an incomplete list at best. I hope you enjoy it anyway!

Not Easily Conquered, by dropdeaddream and WhatAreFears

Summary by me: AU in which Steve wasn’t frozen and Bucky wrote letters to him during the war confessing his love. 

Induction, by windsweptfic

For a prompt at Livejournal's capkink community: 'pre-serum!Steve/Bucky, hypnosis'.

In Love and War, Don’t Seek Counsel, by sinuous_curve

Most of being Steve’s -- or Captain America’s, really -- right hand man entails busting into Hydra weapons factories and blowing them to hell with stolen Hydra weapons, making sure that Cap has room to use his superpowers to the greatest effect while no one on their side gets killed in the process. Bucky used to be afraid every single time he heard the sharp report of gunfire, but since Cap came and pulled him out of a very literal hell, there isn’t much room left in Bucky for something like fear. Dying can’t be worse than what Schmidt’s pet scientist did for kicks. And being a part of a team as special as the one he’s on now keeps him feeling like he’s varnished in heroism. It’s more brilliant explosions and less humping it through sticky mud in the rain.

The Soft Darkness, by sinuous_curve

He’s not going to tell Steve that of everything that got lost between docking in England and where they were, he never lost the packet of letters Steve wrote. He understands, now, the oddity to them that he could never place. The reason it seemed like Steve was talking around his life rather than about it is because he was. Bucky wants to ask about the chunks he neglected to mention, but won’t. Can’t. Has no reason, to, because there are things Bucky omitted in his letters back.

Beneath a Blue Umbrella Sky, by victoria_p

Steve's been to Coney Island before.

That Heart of Yours Could Crumble Kings, by CallMeBombshell

But then, Steve’s always been a better man than Bucky, always been the better of the two of them, and Bucky thinks that Steve can handle it, can handle the weight and the pressure and the responsibility of it all, because for as much as Steve carries the world, Bucky has always carried Steve.

It Wakes The Seeds, by Sharksdontsleep

They still call him a sharpshooter, even if they let Bucky bring his own rifle, not a Sharp, a nine-pound breech-loader that feels like certainty when he slings it across his back.

Bucky and Steve, becoming who they become. Civil War era AU. Thanks to figletofvenice for the lovely and thoughtful beta, and to the long-suffering marycontraire for hand-holding and head pats. See end notes for (slightly) spoilery warnings. Title from Wilfred Owen's 'Futility.'

The Spin I’m In, by victoria_p

Five times Bucky kissed Steve because of ~reasons~, and one time Steve finally believed he really meant it.

Alarm, by pollitt

Despite the vast and mind-boggling technological advances that happen in the 60 years that Steve had been frozen, there are a lot of things that make sense. Security doors, codes, things like that.

Cell phone alarm clocks, though, not so much.

A Place Called Home, by Renne

New Years Eve. Suits. Party at Stark's place. Honesty happens.

The curves of your lips rewrite history, by victoria_p

Five times Steve was distracted by Bucky's mouth.

i like my body when it is with your, by unfinishedidea

Steve is jealous of the people Bucky goes to visit at night.

space!military au, by Renne

Fics set in an alternate future universe with the queer-friendly space military. The Allies vs. Hydra. Steve is the poster boy for humanity, Bucky is a flying ace. It all unfolds as it has before, with pain and loss and a slow, difficult return. For the full rambling plot full of ridiculous angst and pain see here.

Nothing But the Rain (The Quit Your Grinning and Drop Your Linen Overdub), by victoria_p

We have to get out of these wet clothes.

Our history is just in our blood (history, like love, is never enough), by victoria_p

Steve is sure the guy working the morning rush at Starbucks is Bucky. Unfortunately, the guy doesn't seem to know that.

People and Things, by quigonejinn

Steve, Natasha, the past. The smell in the room is indescribable; the way it looks is indescribable, too.

The Finish Line., by quigonejinn

Your best friend comes back from the factory camp, walks thirty-five miles next to you, and you aren't sure what is wrong with him.

Flesh Seven Ways., by quigonejinn

Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes walk into a brothel. Seven variations.

Beast of Burden., by quigonejinn

There is a SHIELD response team all over the apartment. Steve rubs his face with both hands, asks if he can go ahead and use the kitchen. They say that he can.

Avengers, reframed.

Why Then Oh Why Can’t I? (or, 5 Times Steve Rogers Felt Awkward Talking About Sex, and One Time He Stopped Talking Altogether), by ladyblahblah

“You really never did grow up all the way, did you, Steve? Of course it changes things. But hey.” He lifts his glass, and Steve reluctantly lets go to join in the toast. “Who says change has to be bad?”

Here Where We Stand, by orphan_account

Steve helps Bucky acclimate to the modern day era.

Our Carnival Life, by victoria_p

Bucky is the best gift he's ever gotten, every time.

Kind Men, by quigonejinn

D/s-ish-verse retelling of Captain America: The First Avenger. When the time comes, Erskine doesn't throw a grenade onto the training ground.

Fortunate Son, by orphan_account

Bucky wakes up in the future to a world that needs Captain America; meanwhile, a Cold War-era supersoldier assassin emerges.

Counting Backwards, by honeypuffed

It's not exactly friends, but it's not exactly more than that either.

eye of the beholder, by attice

Bucky doesn’t like Steve’s drawings. Not the way everyone else does, at least.

Pictures of You, by Sarah K

Bucky wants a souvenir to take to war with him.

Беда́ не прихо́дит одна́ (trouble never comes alone), by postcardmystery

There’s a tracking device beneath his skin, wrapped around his carotid artery, and if he pulls it out, he’ll die in seconds. They’ve got a wolf on a leash and he’s never heard them so pleased with themselves, so sure that this is the only weapon they’re ever going to need. They did not win the first war in Chechnya, but a second time and the story is rewritten. (He knows that this is a thing they truly believe. He’s lived more history than they have. He knows better.) He rides on tanks, jumps from helicopters onto ground solid with snow. He stands, ringed by ruins, in a capital that burns. He lost his last war in Grozny. This time, he slings his rifle on his back, breathes smoke, knows what it is to watch history being made.

but hey, you’re all right, by beardsley

'This is not my fault,' Tony lies. 'It was supposed to be a joke! Christ.'

'Thanks to your joke,' says Coulson, 'we now have a code three-four-delta, with the variable being a Russian immigrant. We're checking his background right now, but it might take a while. Meanwhile, I suggest you civilian-proof the Tower. If any SHIELD intelligence is compromised, I will hurt you.'

Yes, this is the story where the Winter Soldier is a Russian mail-order bride. Everything goes about as well as you'd expect.

he likes a boy in uniform, by lazulisong

Bucky's always been better than Steve at things like this; at pulling his collar just so and making his tie sit right. Bucky always looks sharp, a real dapper dresser.

Gone Quiet, by victoria_p

Three times Steve and Bucky comforted/quieted each other.

in my fortress alone until you came, by haipollai

Steve murmurs Bucky's name. He wants to list off every time Bucky woke up feeling like he couldn't breathe because of Steve, but he knows Bucky wouldn't listen. The metal arm is between them and Steve doesn't touch more than necessary. He knows Bucky doesn't like it being touched. Doesn't like Steve touching it; he's seen Bucky and Natasha grapple enough to know that Bucky doesn't mind when others touch it.

It's just Steve.

Eisner Award for Best Writer and Artist, by orphan_account

(Summary by me: ComicWriter!AU, with actual ray of sunshine artist!Steve and grumpy, disillusioned writer!Bucky.)

with the lights out, it’s less dangerous, by victoria_p

Bucky says it's what friends do, they help each other out, and it's their little secret, right?

i’m no angel, by haipollai

His first instinct is to tease Steve for jerking off to one of his own drawings but then he sees what the drawing is.

Who it is.

You’ve Got Me In Between, by Renne

In a gross lapse of judgment, Professor Rogers takes one of his students home. Sex (and guilt) ensues.

#mcu #stucky #steve rogers #bucky barnes #fic recs #please warn me if any links are broken #and reblog it if you can so more people will see it #otp: not without you #arghhhhh #there's nothing like the pain of an otp destroyed

[postmodernmulticoloredcloak]

I found a WIP post about 11x07 in the depths of my laptop, I’ll copy&paste it here so I won’t feel bad about deleting the file :p

Have a look if you want to be astral projected back into November 2015, I guess?

Man on TV: This is their second drive in overtime, with both teams having possessed the ball. The next score wins.

This is their second round at the Apocalypse, this time in the era after the Kripke one.

Both teams have had sexual relations with Dean Winchester.

The next person that will get Dean’s heart will win him. There will be Amara trying to get Dean, but the person that will “score” is Cas, clearly. Also see the double meaning of score *sly face*.

Man: Every play becomes…

What’s the endgame?

Oh!

[ Sighs ]

We aren’t going to get the endgame any soon. (well, it’s called endgame for a reason.)

Man: 1st and 10 from the 32-yard line. 8:21 in O.T…

I don’t know how this game works lol so I don't know if there’s some specific meaning to this line. What I know is that 1 - 10 - 3 - 2: either 1x10 Asylum and 3x02 The Kids Are Alright, or 1x03 Dead In Water and 10x02 Reichenbach. In the first case, we’re talking about an episode where Dean and Sam aren’t “alright”, they are not in a good moment of their relationship, and well, literally an episode called “the kids aren't alright’, aka Dean and Sam have something wrong with them right now. In the second case, we have two episodes dealing with death, water (sea/ocean symbology?) and falling (or better, jumping yourself) and corruption of soul.

8x21 is The Great Escapist. Dean is escaping, he’s playing dead like a possum, he’s telling Sam to just ignore the visions and do nothing, he’s the one fear makes do nothing. But it’s over the time to do nothing, it’s too late, they’re in too deep. (“What do you wanna do? Sit back? Ignore him? Do nothing?” “No, that's — that's not what I'm saying.” aka yes, that’s what he’s saying…)

Stan! Can you take out the trash?

Winchester brothers! Can you take the toxic elements out of your relationship and your lives?

[ Sighs ]

He is running left. Ohh! He gets…

Dean is running to the devil’s side, aka the gay side! Ohh! He gets [angel cake *cough*]

Stinks to high heaven.

Speaking of angel cake, he’s not really an angel anymore, because he doesn’t belong to heaven. Heaven stinks.

[ Lowered voice ] It's your cooking that stinks.

No Castiel, it’s your Dean Winchester that is just a mud monkey.

[ Dish thuds ] What was that, honey?

What did you say about Dean? *goes in ‘flower meme’ mode*

Nothing, dear.

Ehm, nothing, nothing, Castiel. *sweats nervously*

2nd and…

Who’s on second? What is second?

The game's in O.T., can't it wait?

We’re already in season 11, but the endgame still isn't close. We’re getting at least a season 12 I guess.

...backs him into center, slowly defends...

Dean is backing to the center, he tries to defend himself, but the “defensive center” is the clear area at the center of the smoke.

[ Speaks indistinctly ] [ Sighs ] [ Grunting ] [ Crowd cheering ] [ Groans ] [ Men speaking indistinctly ] [ Door creaks ] [ Men continue speaking indistinctly ] [ Door creaks ] [ Rattling and clinking ] [ Lid bangs ] [ Dog barking in distance ] [ Rattling and clinking ] [ Door creaks open ]

Hey, hon, bring me another brewski.

Rude. Cas goes getting the brewskis himself.

[ Door closes ] [ Refrigerator door opens, bottles clink ] [ Refrigerator door closes ]

He's flushed out of the pocket.

I don’t know what this means lol. Is it something about getting sent out from the field or something? Is it Cas, that is now currently away from the bunker, or Dean, who’s “flushing” himself out of the battlefield?

Hey, thanks, babe.

Who brings you a brewski is you babe.

He's got a man open…

Cas has made Dean open up. It’s also a pun about stabbing the guy, I know, which is also a pun for ～stabbing a guy～… I mean, I guess “get a man open” has different meanings…)

[ Gasps ]

Throws… And it's caught by… [ Cheering, whistle blows ]

Dean throws himself to damnation, but he gets caught by Cas — every time.

[ Glass shatters ]

Uhh! Don't need possum traps, huh?

The possum is Dean, and apparently someone believes there’s no need to trap him, although the lady thinks so. The lady is Dean here I guess, the one that takes out the trash, albeit reluctantly, but who doesn’t trust himself and prefers to “do nothing”, keep himself in check, “trap” himself in a corner. Or the lady is Sam, trying to take out the trash, but who deep down doesn’t trust Dean, thinks he should be kept in check, or will think Dean should be kept in check after he finds out about his “bond” with Amara.

[ Lid bangs, glass clinks ] [ Screaming ] [ Squishing ] [ Groaning ] [ Screams ]

————

So, uh… on the off chance that you're actually listening, uh…  Uh, I gotta be real honest. The visions aren't making a whole lot of sense to me. Truth is… I don't know what's what. Please. [ Exhales sharply ] What are you trying to say? [ Exhales ]

I don’t know you, but I find this hilarious. “Send me a message please” *gets incomprehensible message* “What the fuck god”

Really? I mean, really?

I think Dean is scared of Sam contacting God. God is the John Winchester on a macroscopic level, and he makes Dean uneasy. When you need his help, he doesn’t show. You’re dying and you call him for help, he doesn’t show, and you have to save your life yourself. You’re upset and afraid and he doesn’t even drop a word, and you have to face your fears alone. Dean feels abandoned and betrayed by God just like he felt abandoned and betrayed by John, except John did show up now and then and upset Dean, while God never shows up and that allows Dean to talk badly of him, because he feels safe to do so. He didn’t feel safe criticizing John, of course, because John might have been absent when Dean would need his help, but he’d always be present when it came to mistreat Dean. And Dean is afraid that if God shows up, it’ll be the same — God will punish him, humiliate him, force him to be someone else than he really is and do something he doesn’t really want to do.

You ever hear of privacy?

Sam feels more and more suffocated by Dean’s presence. He feels like the bunker is too small for the two of them, so to speak. He’s always lived in a car or in motel rooms with no privacy at all, now he’s been dangled the piece of meat in front of his face, and now he’s gotten… fond of privacy. He’s been craving privacy for his whole life, and now that he can have it, he’s quite “possessive” of it.

Hey, you want privacy, close your door.

@domlerrys and I laughed at this because we’d just commented the same thing right before Dean said it himself.

It’s not a good thing for their relationship in the short term, but a good thing in the long term. Closing the door means isolating yourself from the other, which is not a good thing to do now that they’re neck deep in huge problems (both external and of communication between the two of them), but it’ll be a good thing eventually because they need to stop being “conjoined twins” and live their own autonomous lives.

Thought we talked about this.

Dean, you talked to Sam about this. Sam has no intention of believing you, and will continue believing the visions are coming from God… until it’ll be too late and he’ll pay the price of his ingenuity.

Yeah, we did, Dean. But why is it so hard to believe that God could be sending me visions about the darkness?

Because the visions are not about the Darkness in the slightest and you know it, dumbass. But at the end of the episode Sam admits it to Dean — the visions are about the Cage, not the Darkness.

You kidding me? He didn't feel the need to show up for the Apocalypse. Why would he give a crap now?

“Dad didn’t show up when we were working that case in Lawrence, he didn’t show up when I was dying of heart failure, he didn’t show up so many times when we needed him. God is the same, Sammy. I know a thing or two about absent fathers.”

There’s also a Destiel element — Dean feels strongly that God is like John because he and Cas first bonded deeply over absent fathers, thus the connection between their fathers that has formed in Dean’s mind.

I don't know. Maybe because she's his sister? What do you wanna do? Sit back? Ignore him? Do nothing?

Well, that’s exactly what Dean is doing. The episode later tells us that it’s because fear is paralyzing him, but I think it’s not just about that. Dean has a keen sense of self-preservation — apparently that happens when you’re abused as a kid — and it only looks like he hasn’t because he fights against them because he cares too much about others and always puts others first. The first episodes of season 10 showed this quite clearly — when he was a demon and he didn’t care about others, his self-preservation instincts ran free and he even tried to kill Sam to protect himself from getting pulled into the “family business” again.

No, that's — that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying, don't count on God. Okay? Count on us.

I suspect Dean is highly right here…

Right. Oh, this is everything Cas dug up in Gaza, every last bit of pre-biblical lore.

“Where do we put Cas now that the brothers are in the bunker? We can’t stick him in front of the tv set, because if Dean is present he doesn’t stare at a screen, he stares at Dean.” “Let’s have him help from outside of the bunker.” “Why would he? The lore is inside the bunker.” “Then let’s have him seek out further lore… directly from the source!” It makes sense. And it is useful to explain why Cas isn't around for more than one episode — he’s traveling the world doing research. And since he doesn’t have functioning wings, he can’t just make a quick detour like he did to Jerusalem in Free to Be You and Me. He needs to take planes. I believe there’s no doubt about it, he’s traveling human-style.

Hmm.

Half of it I couldn't read. It's in Aramaic. And the other half… [ Cell phone rings ] Nada. [ Ring ] Not a single mention of the darkness, so… [ Ring ]

Miscommunication happens because Sam and Dean are speaking different languages, metaphorically speaking. And even when they speak the same language… still nada, like when Sam confesses the visions are about the Cage — Dean shuts him off because he’s too scared to deal with what Sam has just told him.

Well, I'll be damned. [ Cell phone beeps ] Huh? Donna, what's shakin’?

[ Lowered voice ] Fat sucker Donna?

Dean is much closer to Donna than Sam is, although Dean hasn’t really spent more time with her than Sam has. But Dean has connected with her deeply, while Sam hasn’t, because Donna is female Dean, pretty much.

What do you mean “Killer bunny”?

#spn 11x07 #my spn thoughts #spn

[pienerd55]

Avatar one-shot

               So I dusted this from 2015 and decided to ge give it a good edit and rather than let it collect more dust I'll share it here. I wanted to write about an Avatar from a more present time i.e pre smartphone era and social media 2000s. Well here goes nothing

Episode 1

                Prologue

Air Water Earth Fire. Only the Avatar can master all four elements. Thirty years ago, calamity arose in the independent states of the Earth Nation. Distrust grew amongst the states as they competed in all things: military, resources, alliances, and technology. The Spirits became affected as well bringing the whole world on the brink of destruction. Only the Avatar could unite the nations to confront the more pressing threat and save the world. His actions ended with a grave sacrifice.

    Our sacrifice bought us many years of peace. But peace is fleeting and the flames of contention begin anew. Like the seasons, the cycle of the Avatar began anew and gave rise to a new Avatar dedicated to mastering all forms of the elements as she works to end the war. But this story is not about her, this story is about a young man named Eiji, unbeknownst to him, a great destiny lies ahead.  

                        Episode 1

    Lut: A town located in the city state of Jinbu, located in the independent states of the Earth Nation. This town is known for supplying much of the metal that is traded with the United Republic of Nations and has a steady flow of tourism as well. Named for the dirt and the mud caked on the hair and the bodies of the miners who live and work there. Although many technological advances had happened in the past couple of decades, this town still carried on a proud sense of family and tradition and the people would pass on these values to their children.

The sky was overcast and the rain was pouring. Two men, clad in protective gear sparred with each other undeterred by the rain outside of a dojo . The trainer, a middle aged man with a spring in his step hurled boulders one after another at another younger man, his student. An amateur might have thought the young man to be freakishly fast, but in actuality the student anticipated each and every attack. Undeterred, the young man moved closer and closer till he stood right in front of his trainer. Before he could react, the student kicked at his neck, stopping only an inch from the trainer’s torso.

“Ha! I got you now old man!” In response, the trainer scoffed. Behind his back, he held another boulder suspended in the air. He threw the boulder into his student's stomach, leaving him gasping for air.

“What...was... that for?” Eiji asked between pants.

“Hesitation will be your undoing Eiji. Never forget that. I expect you to keep this in mind for our rematch next week.” his teacher replied.

Eiji sighed and replied, “Yes, Sifu Cheng” He extended his hand to his student and the two walked inside to dry off.

Eiji smirked, “That match wasn’t bad for an old man.”

“Need I remind you, this old man just pummeled you into the ground” the trainer laughed in retort.

“Only because I let you win!” Eiji smirked.

“Keep thinking that mop head!” Sifu yang said, making fun of Eiji’s shaggy hairdo.

“Give it a week, I'll bring you down a peg or two.” Eiji replied. A cell phone faintly rang in the background. Eiji walked over to his bag, then he removed his glasses from one of the bag pockets and put them on.

“Well, that’s my cue to get to work. See ya tonight teach!” He waved at his teacher.

Sifu Cheng looked at him, satisfied and waved back.

The rain had finally let up into a light drizzle. Eiji got on his bike and began to ride to work. As he rode, a passing car splashed water all over him.

“Great, the boss won’t like her floor wet.” He frowned and rode about another five minutes to get to work. He hoped that he wouldn’t get noticed too much if he ran to the back door, but his hopes were dashed once he was caught by his manager.

“Song Min just called in sick… Why are you getting my floor wet? Whatever, I have a spare uniform in the break room. After you put it on, I’ll need you to wait tables with me tonight because it’s getting busy.” With a stressed look, she tossed him a small towel.

Eiji went into the breakroom and quickly got dressed. When he walked out, his boss yelled, “I’m going to need you to wait on tables three, five, and seven.”

Eiji sighed at the thought of the extra work  He grabbed a notebook and with a smile he walked over to the lone customer at table five and asked,

“Hi, welcome to The Smoked Moosow, My name is Eiji and I’ll be your server. What can I get you to drink?” he asked.

“I'll just have a water. And make sure to leave me the pitcher.” The short, bulky man flashed a crooked smile at him.

Eiji returned the smile back at the rude man out of courtesy,

“Of course sir.” He walked to a nearby water station and did as the man instructed .

    The restaurant’s telephone rang and the manager quickly ran to the kitchen as if she was expecting the call.

“Hello, yes this is The Smoked Moosow. Will you be dining in or taking out today?”

She nodded a few times. “President Fukuhara, I'm afraid the VIP room is closed due to repairs… You still wish to come? I’ll be sure to reserve a booth in the front room. I apologize again. Okay, I’ll see you soon.”

Five minutes later, an affluent group came inside. They consisted President Fukuhara, the CEO of the hotel chain The Four Elements, his young daughter Ami who couldn't be more than twelve years old, as well as a small business owner.

As they sat down, Fukuhara began a pitch to the small business owner. As soon as he began speaking, he immediately captured the attention of the small business owner and talked of a merger.

    Thirty minutes had passed and Ami’s cell phone rang. She apologized and silenced her phone. The phone incessantly lit up again, she flipped it open and noticed an important number.

“I better take this.” she promptly excused herself. She looked around and tapped Eiji on the shoulder.

    “Excuse me, can you tell me where I might find the bathroom?” she asked.

    Eii set down his tray and gestured toward the back of the restaurant.

    “The bathroom is the first door on the right at that back corridor.” He responded.

    “Thank you.” Ami slightly nodded and walked to the bathroom.

    Eiji picked up his notebook and looked for the man with the crooked teeth. As he walked to the table, he noticed that the man wasn’t there and that his pitcher and cup were empty. He shrugged and moved on to the next table.

    In the back corridor, the young woman bumped into the man with the crooked teeth.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”Before Ami woman could finish her sentence, she looked upward in horror as several sharp icicles hung in the air pointed at her.

“Now don’t say a word. I’ve got    some unfinished business with your daddy.” He put his arm around her and said,

“Come with me”.

Ami followed him to the front of the restaurant, her knees buckling.

    At the front, Fukuhara continued his pitch until he was interrupted by a scream from one of the other diners. What he saw was his worst fear, several sharp icicles suspended in the air a precious few inches from his daughter’s neck.

Eiji ran to the kitchen and watched carefully. He had a chance to leave but he couldn't knowing he unwittingly provided ammo.

    He angrily stood up and slammed his hands on the table.

    “What’s the meaning of this?!” he demanded.

    The man used his free hand and threw one of the icicles at Fukuhara’s neck suspending it in the air just like he had done with the daughter.

“So noisy, I'll tell you when you sit down” The assailant said irritated.

Fukuhara reluctantly sat down in response.  

“If you look under the table, you’ll find a laptop computer ready for you to transfer 30 million yuan to my account. If you do that, your daughter will remain unharmed.” The assailant instructed.

“Why are you asking for such a thing?” the CEO asked.

“You fired me for no good reason! My son is dying. And now I can't afford the treatment I need for him!” The assailant yelled.

“I have done nothing of the sort, you're anger is misdirected. Please leave my daughter alone and I promise I'll have internal affairs look into this for you.” The CEO said as he tried to sympathize.

In response, the assailant moved the icicle from the front of the CEO’s neck to the top of his head and melted the water.

“I don’t want your sympathy or your excuses. Just finish the transfer.” The assailant said as he looked at the CEO condescendingly.

The CEO sighed and completed the transfer on the laptop.

“It’s done. Now please, let my daughter go.” the CEO said.

“Now now, I’ll be the judge of that.” The assailant said with a smile on his face. He picked up the laptop and as he turned around, Fukuhara attempted to send a message with his cell phone.

The assailant glanced behind him and found out. “Didn’t think that I would catch on to your plan to alert the police? I was going to see how much more use I could get out of her but all you’ve managed to do is tick me off!” he yelled, breaking the phone in half.

The situation was escalating and Eiji felt he had to do something or they could all be hurt. He knew that he needed to direct the assailant’s attention from the customers to himself. He stepped out front while clenching his tray and said condescendingly,

“However messed up you think your life is, you are only making it worse. He's saying he'll help you.”

The assailant turned toward Eiji and scoffed.

“Beat it kid! This has nothing to do with you.”

“You brought me into it the moment you barged into my workplace and threatened these people. You’re nothing but a coward!” Eiji retorted.

“That’s it! You’ve got on my last nerve!” the assailant yelled irritated,

Eiji saw the icicles beginning to move from the daughter toward him and he smiled because he accomplished his goal.

“Run!” Eiji yelled. In response, the diners scrambled to leave.

Eiji blocked each icicle flung in his direction using his metal serving tray as a shield and ran into a corner of the flooded VIP room, his assailant in pursuit.

As he entered into the room, he asked “Are you an idiot or do you have a death wish?”

“I think you're the bigger idiot. They're gone.” Eiji said.

The assailant yelled, “ I'm gonna kill you!”

“I bet you can't hit me with those things!” Eji goaded. He knew that if his assailant bent water, he could be done for.

Water droplets ascended from the floor and Eiji smiled. He still had a chance. Before the icicles started falling, he charged forward icicles narrowly missing him and scratching him in the face. Others flew into the wall causing cracks.

 Ignoring the blood flowing, Eiji had closed their range. Unable to focus on using the room against Eiji, the assailant could only launch any additional icicles forward. After raising his makeshift shield once more to block, he hurled his tray at the assailant’s bending arm before he could launch another assault. The assailant screamed out in pain, unable to bend.

He pulled out a knife with his good arm angrily thrusting at Eiji. Eiji dodged, quickly placed his arm under the assailant’s arm and in a swirling motion disarmed him.

The assailant yelled in pain and moved to counter with his left hand closed with his fist. Eiji sprang up, batted the assailant’s arm away, and roundhouse kicked him in the face knocking him into the tables and knocking the chairs over. Eiji exhaled and relaxed his body.

         The moment of peace was short-lived as the manager had gone back inside of the restaurant. “What's going on?! Why would you do something so stupid? I just got off of the phone and they'll want you to make a statement.”

She took a look at Eiji’s bleeding face,

“What's that?! Go to the breakroom and take care of that. After that I need you to come to my office.” She walked to her office while Eiji went to the breakroom.

Eiji found some tissues and pressed them against his face to stop his bleeding. When he got it under control, he disinfected his scratch and bandaged it and walked to the office as instructed.

“There’s no easy way for me to say this, but I’m going to have to let you go. I'll make sure to mail you you're last check.”

“You’re firing me?” Eiji asked bewildered.

“I’m letting you go. Our business has a strict anti-violence policy and you clearly violated it with your actions earlier. ” She said with her arms folded.

“I saved that girl. Are you saying that I shouldn’t have?” Eiji retorted.

“I’m not saying that. What you did was both heroic and stupid. You don't know what kind of tricks that man had rolled up his sleeves. We have this rule in place to protect our employees. In all fairness, that's just how it is.” She took a second look at his wound and said, “Make sure to keep that clean and covered.”

“I understand.” Eii said relentingly.

The police soon arrived and brought the unconscious waterbender into custody. Eiji and his manager walked to the front of the restaurant to give their statements. President Fukuhara returned to the restaurant because he wanted to give as detailed a statement as possible. After talking to them, he left in his car.

“You’re the one who knocked that guy out?” the officer asked.

“Yeah.” Eiji nodded.

“And I can gather from these testimonies that you’re a nonbender?” The officer asked while glancing at his notepad.

“Yes sir.” Eii replied.

“You know that was a very dangerous thing you did there. You could’ve gotten seriously hurt.” The officer remarked.

“I’m used to sparring with benders. All I knew was that no matter what, he was going to hurt the girl and I had to stop him.” Eiji said.

The officer raised his eyebrows impressed.

“Great job kid. Who’s your teacher?” he asked.

“Sifu Cheng.” Eii answered.

“The Sifu Cheng? The one who helped Avatar Weisheng before he…” the officer stopped before the conversation could take an awkward, darker turn.  

“That’s him.” Eiji said with a hint of annoyance in his voice. Avatar Weisheng was a sensitive subject for many, especially him.

“I better get going before he gets worried.” Eiji said.

“Would you like a ride home?” the officer offered.

“No thanks. I’ll ride my bike home.” Eiji said while excusing himself.

    As he rode home, Eiji felt annoyed that he lost his job. He’d have to rely on his teacher as he would look for a new job and if anything, Eiji hated feeling like a burden. He looked upward to the stars for comfort and he felt the strength to ride home.

He sighed after glancing and thought,

“At least I’ll finally have time to watch my remastered Nuktuk mover box set.”

              Eiji soon arrived at his teacher’s house. He walked inside and took off his shoes. From the front room, Eiji could hear his teacher’s voice and two other voices talking with him. After taking a glance at his teacher, he saw that his teacher and two guests were seated in the front room on cushions drinking tea from the table. President Fukuhara and his daughter Ami had sat wrapped in blankets talking to Sifu Cheng.

Eiji didn’t feel like meeting any new people or talking about what happened since he was mentally and physically exhausted from the day’s events. He decided not to go into the front room and tried to sneak his way upstairs. Before his foot could touch the first step, he heard his teacher say,

“Ah Eiji, come and meet our guests. I hear they’ve really been looking forward to meeting you.”

Eiji looked annoyed as he heard his teacher. He quickly replaced his annoyed look with a smile and walked into the front room.

“Now Eiji, I’d like you to meet President Fukuhara and his daughter Ami.” Sifu Cheng said smiling.

“It’s nice to finally meet you young man! I’m sorry to stop by unannounced, but my daughter has something she’d like to say to you.” He looked at his daughter, but she remained silent.

He placed his hand on her shoulder encouragingly

“Come now, don’t be shy. Tell him like we practiced.”

Ami looked up and slightly smiled.

“Thank you for saving me and I'm sorry you got hurt” She said.  

“You're welcome and it's not your fault. I'm happy you're ok.” Eiji said reassuringly.

“Isn’t there something else you’d like to add?” her father asked.

“And will you escort me to the grand opening of the SS Four Elements?” She asked while brushing her wet hair behind her ear.

Eiji felt like her invitation put him on the spot. He searched his mind wondering how to respond and looked at his teacher for help. Sifu Cheng quickly returned his glance with a look that said, “Refuse her and you’re dead.”

Eiji said,

“I’d really like to, but I’ve got an exam coming up at the dojo.”

“ According to what they told me, you just passed it” Sifu Cheng responded.

Eiji looked at him and asked,

“Arent there any places hiring?”

“Nope, they just did all their hiring. We've got the new year holiday coming up.” He said with a smug look on his face.

“Then it’s settled. Meet me at the airport in the morning!” President Fukuhara said enthusiastically. He looked down at his watch and said,

“Well we’ve got to get going now!” and heartily shook Sifu Cheng’s hand. “Thank you for having us tonight!”

“It was my pleasure.” Sifu Cheng said while escorting the guests out.

#avatar the last airbender #atla #avatar fanfiction

[theweekendbriefs]

Weekend Briefs - 17 July 2020

Hey Everyone!

I can imagine the relief and happiness when a lot of my colleagues type “ Weekend is Here” followed by emoticons of dancing men and women on our WhatsApp conversations. I experience the same joy when I write a new edition of the Weekend Briefs, and the weekend only begins when the publish button is clicked. 

Anyways, the week as usual has been filled with unexpected surprises and the bare mention of paper sizes below A4 can tip off my colleagues. Amidst all the chaos & confusion , novelty filled playlists, light yet touching words of encouragement, the afternoon rains , and good food has helped me muddle through the weekend. Without much adieu, lets move onto our reading lists for the weekend...

Image courtesy : Johan Papin

King without a Kingdom in a new republic

I have been reading a near personal and heroic narrative of V P Menon  , the sidekick to the great Sardar Vallabhai Patel, who was a tough negotiator and got all the princely states to agree to accede to India. However, many of these princely kingdoms were annexed by the British and plundered to be mere sources of income for the British Raj and the departure of the British could have signaled a reign of autonomous rule for these kingdoms but those plans were foiled by the Patel-Menon duo resulting in an India we see today. Interestingly, one such kingdom was the Kingdom of Oudh in Lucknow, which was annexed by the British but had much regal splendor and fame in the United Provinces back in the day. Now, imagine a royal descendant turns up at gates of the Government of India and announces all the royalties and titles taken away from them to be restored to them. NYT’s Ellen Barry captures an interesting tale of an eccentric family of desposed royals who lived in near isolation and obscurity in Delhi’s Malcha Mahal. The family still believed they were royals in every sense of the term and how equally tragic their life was. Read this extremely engaging and informative piece about a family and a king without a kingdom. To be honest, this was one of the finest pieces  I have read in recent times. You can read this here. 

Image courtesy : NYT

WE CONQUERED THE MECCA OF CRICKET!

For the  Indian cricket fan, nostalgia of a bygone era involves some fine moments in the history of the game. Sharjah 1999, Eden Gardens 2001, Lords 2003, Multan 2004 and many more. Here was a new team with a nice mix of young and experienced, under the agile captaincy of Sourav Ganguly, shrugging off the blemishes of a match fixing and corruption scandal and playing directly to the hearts and minds of a billion people. All of the above mentioned moments are uniquely special but if there is an image to show India had truly arrived at the cricket scene, it is the image of a defiant Ganguly swirling his jersey on the balcony of the Lord’s Cricket stadium. 18 years have passed since that memorable evening at Lords, and Indian cricket has changed way beyond recognition. Indian Express takes a walk down the memory lane with Mohammed Kaif, who was the unsung hero of the run chase. You can read his interview and listen to him recollect those fond memories here. 

P.S If you wish to revisit the  Lord’s victory ( what ECB even calls as ‘One of the Greatest ODI Matches ever’ ) you can watch it here. 

Image Courtesy : India Today

In a world for/of men, the woman stands out !

The world is now opening up to the revelation, how the world is designed by and for to be used by men. Look around at every single utility ever designed. The dimensions of a cell phone are designed so it fits into the palm of a man, desks are made believing the end user is always a man. In several silent ways, these daily inequities play out against women even though proven research says women do much more unpaid work than men and have to muddle through to a career while rearing children, making a home and many other chores. This week NYT’s Program launches a unique column titled, “ In Her Words ; 7 Days, 7 Issues “ highlighting the many inequities women face in 7 beautifully illustrated and concisely written articles. What struck the most with me was the following few lines from the first issue written by Emma Goldberg. 

“Researchers at Boston University and Microsoft found that a software program trained on text from Google News was also more likely to link women with domestic activities. When asked to complete the statement “Man is to computer programmer as woman is to X,” the program responded: “homemaker.”

You can read the entire series here. 

Enough of the readings... Tell us something to watch

Taking a cue from the above, imagine if a movie spoke to you about gender abuse, fused it with a few supernatural occurring and set in the pre-independece era India.  Bulbbul ( Streaming currently on Netflix ) does this concoction of themes quite poignantly. Directed by Anvita Dutt Guptan, produced by Anushka Sharma, Bulbbul boasts of an ensemble cast of Tripti Dimri, Rahul Bose, Paoli Dam who give riveting performance to make this an engaging watch. With just over 95 minutes and soaked in a visual palette of crimson, Bulbbul is a quick and promising watch. Several scenes are beautifully composed and the soundscape of the movie captures the elegant yet scary forests where the movie is set in. Watch it for the brilliant performances of Rahul Bose and Tripti Damri. 

Source : Netflix India

WFH WFH WFH by Apple

Ever since the Weekend Briefs began, there is a healthy obsession over the most trendy word of the year WFH ( Work from Home ). Apple captures the drama and many nuances of the Underdogs working from home and how WFH is transforming our lives in this era. This 6-minute mini, is enjoyable, effable and an elaborate Apple product placement video. Good marketing and the increasing human connection to its products has always been a forte of the chaps at Cupertino. You can watch this short here.

Image Courtesy : YouTube 

Tell us something to listen to...

History of India podcast by Kit Patrick is a light, educational podcast chronicling the many historicities of India from 6th century BCE. This extremely grounded podcast by Kit focuses on why Indian history plays a pivotal role in understanding how the history of the world. You can catch Kit’s podcast on major podcast streams and read the exclusive review by first post here. 

Meanwhile, we have been listening to this incredible playlist called Groove on Apple Music. Filled with deep, techno tracks , this is a finely curated playlist from Apple Dance Music can help you get into the ‘groove’ when doing mindless tasks such as figuring out on scaling a powerpoint to newer ratios or V-looking up an excel spreadsheet. You can catch the playlist here. 

_____

Well that’s all from the Weekend Briefs for this weekend. I am off to begin my weekend, by cooking dinner! 

If you would like to feature/suggest for the upcoming editions for Weekend Briefs, please ping us on our Instagram page.

We would like to thank Umesh S for his podcast recommendations this week. 

Hope you all have the best weekend of fun and frolic. 

Happy Weekend!

Signing off,

The Weekend Briefs.

[evenstevensranked]

#35: Season 1, Episode 4 - “What’ll Idol Do?”

Ren gets a pre-high school mentor (is that really necessary? lol) named June Marie. She’s clearly evil and fake as a 3 dollar bill, but Ren thinks she’s the cat’s pajamas because of her scholastic accomplishments. Meanwhile, Louis is obsessing over someone stealing one of his beloved VHS tapes of an SNL episode. And you know how much I love Louis The Aspiring Comedian... :) 

The episode opens with Louis reading a book called "The Art of the Joke." Wait a minute... Louis Stevens... READING?! Yep. When I was younger, Season 3 Louis was always my fave. But, looking back.. Season 1 Louis was amazing. He had so much ambition and a real goal to become a comic, much like Shia. So much so, he was actually reading and researching about it!! That pretty much tapers off eventually and he just becomes a little zany -- Also like Shia...? lol. It's not a bad thing by any means. I'm just realizing exactly how much I miss this more restrained, "real," smart and subtly sarcastic Louis. He retains these qualities throughout the series, they’re just highlighted more/better in the early episodes.

He’s literally skipping dinner to read here. Incredible. He’s also seen reading this book in “All About Yvette.” I think it must’ve been Season 1 Louis’ bible.

Anyway, Louis takes a break from reading and goes to watch a VHS tape of a 1995 Saturday Night Live episode ft. Mike Myers... when he discovers it’s missing! We see the rest of the family at dinner downstairs, being forced to listen to Ren talking up some chick June Marie like she’s the second coming of Jesus. She explains that June is her ~idol~ and will be acting as her “Pre-High School mentor.” Right away you get the sense that this is sketchy. Even though Ren Stevens is, well... Ren Stevens... We see her relying SO MUCH on June to help elevate her status once she gets to High School. Obviously Ren could easily achieve high ranking status herself -- And would most likely take pride in that. It feels a little bit out of character. Even Eileen seems very suspicious about it. We also find out that June is in Geometry class with Donnie. This is important information!

Louis barges into dinner, turning the missing tape situation into a major mystery case. He’s basically accusing someone in the family of stealing it. Aside from this scene going on just a tad too long, I still think it’s entertaining. Louis says a great line: “I’m not a detective. But I did watch 10 whole minutes of Nash Bridges once” which I freaking love. The entire family claims to have no idea what he’s talking about and they’re so fed up with him and his Dramatics™ -- it’s kinda hilarious. With every overly serious thing he says, they’re all just groaning like “oh my god.....” It gets me. The scene ends with Ren saying “Mother, may I please have permission to FedEx Louis to Timbuktu before June Marie gets here?!” And Eileen says “Absolutely not! ........UPS is so much cheaper.” I’m only mentioning this because I caught a rerun of the episode on Freeform recently, and this bit was mysteriously missing! I’m assuming it was cut out for “FedEx” and “UPS” copyright reasons? No idea. Idk man. I always kinda liked that part, and I was like ???????? Where’d it go?!

Ren practices in the mirror how she’s gonna greet June before she gets there and it’s too much. We finally see this June Marie character and her personality is so ugly. She seems like a rich, entitled snob. (Trust me on this, I have very good judgement.) Ren is in awe though and desperate for June to like her. Again, this seems a little out of character. But she wants to achieve flawless academic success in high school and believes June can help her do that. Ren is a perfectionist, sooooo. 

June is seriously the fakest person I’ve ever seen and Ren is looking at her like she is her savior. I’m sad. 

Oh yeah.. Did I mention that June Marie is also a creep? It almost seems like she's coming onto Ren at one point. I'm actually uncomfortable watching this. She’s so clearly up to something.

She’s saying “Could you imagine what we could accomplish on the high school yearbook staff together?” in a suggestive voice. Tell me this isn’t creepy as hell. Run, Ren... Run for the hills. 

At school the next day, Louis is complaining to Tawny about the missing tape now. She, too, is so done with his drama lol. I love this bit because he actually references the sketch “The Whiners” as a major influence of his and that the missing tape is what made him want to be funny. Awwwwww! Dear, god. I seriously love this so much. Even though according to Wiki, “The Whiners” was a skit from 1982-84. So, this tape definitely doesn’t exist irl. But, still! Tom overhears the crisis and offers to set up an audio/video home surveillance system in Louis’ house in an attempt to catch the possible tape thief. Tom is the best. He always has great lines and actor Fred Meyers’ delivery always makes me smile. Later that day, he ultimately sets up the system for Louis! He offers to set up one for Tawny as well and Louis says “Tawny doesn’t have a home. She lives on her bike. It’s a long story. It’s very tragic.” I always loved this. 

lol at Tom listening in. Also, I love how Louis and Tawny are such a couple’a outcasts honestly. They’re so perfect! 

Ren tells her placeholder best friend Jewel about June.. and I swear it’s like everyone somehow knows that June is trash, but they don’t want to burst Ren’s bubble. Jewel is clearly thinking “.....yikes! not gonna say anything”:

The “yikes” face is even punctuated by a suspicious dominant chord... just so there’s no confusion. What is UP with that hair, btw??? The Early 2000s were a mystical time in history...

While spying on the family from his room, (see cover image) Louis ends up overhearing the real juicy drama. Forget the tape! June Marie is over and meticulously quizzing Ren about high school stuff (”Details, woman! This ain’t junior high!!!” lol chill) when suddenly Donnie walks in and tells Ren she has a phone call -- which ends up leaving June and Donnie alone. Remember how I said they have geometry class together? Yeah. They have a small talk conversation about class - and as soon as Donnie leaves the room, June whips out a bulky Y2K cell phone (I knew she was rich) and calls her friend freaking out over talking to THE Donnie Stevens. She admits to having a plan to make Donnie ask her out, and that’s the only reason she’s hanging out with “his lame sister.” What a loser, for real. Thank the lawwd for Louis’ hidden cameras.

Louis is upset and tries subtly telling Ren by warning her that June “isn’t as cool as you think she is.” But of course Ren is all “JUNE MARIE IS THE COOLEST PERSON I KNOW!!!!!!!” - I hate when people refuse to listen to other people like their own family members when they're trying to help them. I wanna slap Ren. 

We get a mirror talk mid-episode from Louis in the bathroom about how he has to find some clever way to tell Ren to make her believe him. Yay! Caring Louis looking out for his big sis! His deep speech (accompanied by sad piano) ends with a curveball joke. (”...The worst part is........ I got a zit the size of a volkswagen.”) Shia's phrasing is always on point. I laughed. The joke helps saves the scene from becoming an overly sentimental, cheesy parody of itself.

We find out that Steve and Eileen have Louis’ tape and....... they accidentally taped over it. THE HORROR!!! If you lived through the era of VHS tapes, you understand. There's no "undo" option, people! This scene gets me so mad every time. Of course Louis is asleep when this is revealed on hidden camera. Louis is so smart, but he spends the rest of the episode completely oblivious to the fact that the tape is right under his nose. It’s cute.

Louis decides to write June Marie a note signed “Donnie” asking her to come over for a date. She shows up right on time, overly eager and dressed for the Oscars -- coming onto Donnie full-force. 

I just noticed it looks like they’re actually at the real house for this shot??? Or that could just be a painting in the background. Probably. 

Louis set everything up so that he could show Ren the live stream of June being a [Raven Voice] ‘lil nasty. She’s curling into Donnie’s side on the couch saying “I’m so glad we finally got together. I only became Ren’s mentor to get to know you better.” 

Ren gets so heated, she marches downstairs and tells June Marie offffffff for being a two-faced liar and a terrible role model. Donnie’s caught in the middle of it and has absolutely no idea what’s going on: 

Same, Donnie.

But, yaaaaassss Louis for #exposing June Marie. And yaaaaaassss Ren for confronting her. (”I got news for you, Little Miss Pretentious... I can get that job on the yearbook without your help.”) The sass level is through the roof. I love it. It's always satisfying to see a snake like June get rightfully stepped on. 

Ren yells at Louis for not telling her about June but....... he did tell you, Ren!! That’s what you get for not listening to your family. 

The scene that follows feels like an ad-lib. Shia and Christy are genuinely laughing. I’ve mentioned this a million times before, but according to Shia they ad-lib’d quite a bit on this show. I think this is one of those instances. It’s great. 

The episode ends with Eileen telling Steve to burn Louis’ tape. Meanwhile, Louis is still hoping to get it back. It’s supposed to be funny, but it honestly makes my skin crawl. I'm so sad for him D:

And that’s it! I remembered not being all that crazy about this one simply because it’s clear in my memory due to it airing very frequently. But it's actually a pretty satisfying and slightly scandalous story, haha. My only issue is that this episode is incrediblyyy slow paced. In most cases, that’s one of the things I love about the first season. But, here it just kinda draaags on a bit. 

The best aspect, of course, is Louis wanting to help Ren. Whenever they focus on the brother/sister dynamic, the show really shines because that is the foundation! Like, hello! Louis and Ren are the Stevens who are constantly trying to... get Even! So, yeah. I like when their relationship is highlighted in some way. For a more Ren-Centric episode, this one is pretty good. Although, this is another episode that involves a one-off character. This is something we see a lot in the first season, which I don’t understand??? The freaking premiere episode was about a random guy. This episode is about some random chick. The next episode is about Yvette. The episode after that is about some random dude. Like..... who decided that a chunk of Season 1, a.k.a. everyone’s first exposure to Even Stevens, should basically not fully focus on the main characters? Idgi. Might just be a symptom of the show trying to find its legs.

At least this is a case where they found a seamless way to combine the two plot lines. A story like this also helps Louis come across as endearing. So that’s good. :)

Thanks for reading! Thoughts? Leave them below! 

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#rank #season 1 #even stevens #disney channel #review #2000s #shia labeouf #christy carlson romano #ren stevens #mirror talk #louis the aspiring comedian #louis stevens #donnie stevens

[spycamp]

From: Alex Erickson Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2018 11:30 PM To: [email protected]; NASA Recruiting <[email protected]>; KNOX <[email protected]>; Bryan Winterstein <[email protected]>; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: RE: Introduction to The Briefcase Project

 Please see initialed black and white copy.

 From: Alex Erickson Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2018 11:21 PM To: [email protected]; NASA Recruiting <[email protected]>; KNOX <[email protected]>; Bryan Winterstein <[email protected]>; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: Introduction to The Briefcase Project

 May 15, 2018

TO: Ben Affleck

Distribution List: Federal Bureau of Investigation (F.B.I..gov), National Security Agency (nsa.gov), United States Department of The Treasury (treasury.gov)

Regarding: Introduction of The Briefcase Project

Greetings, When Ben Affleck completed the film Argo I thought maybe I could use him as a National Security Asset in order to break my cover someday.  I have many projects that loop through offices, agencies, and corporation of every variety, and I have developed a disciplined method of receiving follow through intelligence simply called military briefings; I go into detail about the military briefing folders, the briefcase, and checkbook herein.

Acquiring this Briefcase will be the first progression in my career as a Federal Agent.  When I visited Virginia in October 2013 I went through a brain scan analysis and began my recruitment into the Central Intelligence Agency.  Immediately, I began self-identifying repeatedly in my writing “I am the Head of The International Central Intelligence Agency.”  After the clandestine recruiting events I began often stating to people directly “I am going back to California to either get my PhD at Stanford in Communications or fix the mental health system in Santa Clara County.”  These moments in time were as earth shattering as Noah building the ark.  When I was unable to get good quality letters of reference for my Stanford application, I decided to take full stock of me as a Human Being and begin a plan to develop as an elite world leader.

My vision is a twenty-year life span with this briefcase to be used inside of Washington DC regarding The Federal Farming Opioid Epidemic Review and around the globe on business of The Federal Government.  The Federal Farming Review is going to be examining the farming and farm subsidy structures of The Federal Government and how they interact with the pharmaceutical industry.  The Review will also include itemization of all Federal Farm equipment, and contract review for maintenance and equipment.  I am privately performing this audit to figure out the supply chain one hundred years from now when I want to introduce fifteen heavy flight farm vehicles into the Federal Farming supply chain for Planet Earth.  In brief this Federal Farm Review will secretly be planning Star Trek.  Contained within the briefcase will be folders prepared as military briefings for business that the F.B.I. specifically is securing with me personally.  Initially, I am requesting the military briefings to be 110KEYSTROKES, DHSHDS, and PrinterPsych.

Inside of the briefcase I want account information and checks for a personal or business or government checking account.   The purpose is that this briefcase has financial support and is equipped with a financial instrument.  My agenda is very aggressive spending much of the first year travelling to meet with spies and slaves around the globe with The United Nations.  During this trip I plan on travelling with the briefcase and using it for business related back to Washington DC.  When I return from my trip I will have completed, with a lot of help from others, a pocket-sized accountants dictionary for The United States House of Congress and The United Nations to use for economic reference during trade negotiations and budget planning that involve spies and slaves.

The weeks approaching the departure for this trip will be hectic.  Before we depart, I will speak at The United Nations in New York after spending a week shopping.  Before that is Boston City Planning Week with public relations and science experiments and custody meetings and planning for the trip.  This time period will be spent figuring out roles and responsibilities within my entire leadership corps of people and The Briefcase will be completely prepared and functional.  The week prior to Boston City Planning is a road trip to collect people and to tour facilities and locations with printing, publishing, and human resources research, all which will be accessing the PrinterPsych military briefing folder. 

I am requesting three military briefs included with the briefcase upon delivery.  I have been writing and working as a spy author since 2014 and have developed a habit of talking about keyboards and designing exotic printers.  My closest connection to working for the Federal Government was when I applied to work for The Department of Homeland Security to work for the Port Authority in San Francisco.  I was recruited by my brother in law while I was visiting him near Savannah, GA.  I am designing three military briefings that I need assembled and inserted into the briefcase.

A military briefing is a file folder that provides contacts and leads that are related to the folder names purpose.  The purpose is to create a duality with the information that relieves calendar pressure on top secret business.  As a spy I am able to be briefed with this method providing increases information security and economic timing.  The system works by having me work on a civilian oriented series of tasks.  During these tasks I will be briefed as a spy on top secret business.  Those civilian tasks are designed to eventually integrate with the military briefing topics and personnel.  Providing me the security to keep working through the folder of tasks.  The folder can contain the military intelligence needed to begin clearing me as a spy. 

110KEYSTROKES a Military Briefing Folder.  I desire to enter the keyboard market.  I am designing a keyboard that programs satellites with International Standard harmonics.  This programming keyboard will be a mechanical keyboard, music box, and recorder.   There are trickle down consumer products planned to include something I call a Device of the Court.  A keyboard and keyboard reporting tool that can replay document creation keystrokes.  I am also building a chess set that is investigating manufacturing, communications, and mirrored board match play chess.  As a designer I am trying to build a boutique ten-year pre-pay cell phone.  All of this will be available for sale at boutique airport retail stores. I have been working as a spy regarding The Federal Prison System.  I am awaiting intelligence progress reports on Russia.  I am concerned about keyboards and soft keyboards use in brain scan programming.  And I am interested in protecting all employees of the Federal Government from chemical and biological warfare at shopping centers. 

DHSHDS a Military Briefing Folder.  I am working on an artificial intelligence recipe I call Atlanta Hustle.  The company is called AIME: Artificial Intelligence Military Excellence, Advanced Industry Mechanical Engineering, Automatic Integrating Mapped Endeavors.  This project requires actual secrecy and will be moving along behind the agenda until it is leading the agenda.  I claim to have been recruited as a spy by The Port Authority in the Spring of 2012 in the State of Georgia.  Near Atlanta Georgia I am planning a Port of Entry for the United Nations codenamed GLYNCO2.  This port of entry will have an advanced era manufacturing storage and maintenance facility for advanced weaponry and communications.  Beyond its mystical ai products AIME is going to provide large basin density supplies for elements, vitamins, and oils for global supply chains. 

PrinterPsych is a folder of access and information regarding printers and human resources.  As a spy I became fond of innovating in the printer industry.  I am planning an entire culture around a FIRM in New Jersey called My_NASA_IBM_RocketPlane_3D_Printer_Spy_Family.  In addition, I am planning a printer with the F.B.I. that will print out my top secret doctoral dissertation for IBM called #AUTOCADCAPACITY.  I have planned a publishing company.  I have also planned a newspaper called The Kansas City Staple.  Additionally, I have been researching biological mapping and printing as it relates to human anatomy and psychology.  Finally, I have extended myself professionally and socially; I am going to need a way to review and access human resources information.

Three briefings and a checkbook in a briefcase.  Previous iterations have included plans and permitting information for Federal Buildings.  Such as, everything I would need to travel to Kansas City and open an F.B.I. Office or a branch of The Federal Reserve.  A briefcase, three folders of contacts and information resources, and a checkbook.

The Department of Defense will likely be building the folders and will require a drop off and exchange method with The F.B.I..  If I had something to drop off I would likely go to the Pentagon, since I have something to pick up I am expecting that I am going to start everything inside The Department of Defense in Washington DC.  I expect I could work inside The Department of Defense on organizing and planning while the military briefs are getting pieced together.

I am recruiting The National Security Agency to process Ben Affleck through to the dramatical assembly and delivery of the briefcase to me at Arlington Cemetery.  I believe in the star power of momentum and having Ben Affleck arrive in Washington DC to plan and then assemble and deliver the briefcase builds belief.  This is not a transfer of power; The Briefcase is a trail guide for me to develop as New Leadership.  My gathering is that www.nsa.gov would be the appropriate agency to confirm worldwide agreement and future compliance with the AWE629 plans.

On my calendar things commence as follows:  The United States Army provides me an escort to The Department of Defense in Washington DC.  At that location I will finalize the Nickels, Dimes, Quarters Plan that will formally begin my career.  I need plans and agreements to receive transportation and transit security by The United States Marines Corps or Quarters, narcotics allowances from The Drug Enforcement Agency or Dimes, and maps to get through career maneuvers by The United States Army or Nickels.  When those are in place; I am planning thirty days of commuting into The Department of Defense in Washington DC where we will be finalizing travel plans, itineraries, and rosters.  I will then spend two weeks at home working through Requests for Information; and then road trip to Boston City Planning Week will begin.

Outside of the Briefcase my operations value is contingent upon my business plan for INTERTECHT LLC a New Jersey Small Business, my plans surrounding the Original Content CIA Office Café, TabletOne partnership with The World Intellectual Property Organization, and Music Match a F.B.I. Undercover Operations Headquarters and advertising business. The plans for all of these will be developed through indirect written communication like this and word puzzles I build on the internet.  Follow the hashtag #AlexanderWilliamErickson for more reference documents.

This briefcase is the beginning to The Flying Car and Star Trek Farming Vehicles for Planet Earth. 

With All My Best,

 Alexander William Erickson

#AWE629 #SCOTUS #WIPO #BankofJapan

[graphicdesignerforrealestat-blog]

Graphic Design For Oakhill Properties, NB - Actual Estate

I imagine that a real property advert needs at the very least one photograph used giant to capture the attention of viewers. Probably every agent has used their iPhone, Android, or different smartphone to seize actual property listing pictures — and it’s simple to understand why. It’s vital to build a reputation as an agent or broker with the client’s pursuits at coronary heart. An agent that sells multi-million greenback properties will hopefully spend money on an experienced professional actual estate photographer who has the talent and the right equipment to create spectacular magazine high quality photos for the itemizing. To his credit he continues his skilled improvement and keeping up with know-how to supply the very best service to us. If you can't see the face of knowledgeable athlete, it's best to not take the shot. Use the very best printing material obtainable. The natural light faculty says: use a tripod so you should utilize long exposure occasions and then do some publish processing in Photoshop to make interior pictures vivid enough.

As a result of 3D Virtual Tours are a lot totally different than 2D photos and Video, you have been utilizing the flexibility to make things like closet doorways opening provides you a whole new perspective. Be certain to seek out out what kind of lens your real state photographer uses and don’t allow them to present up with a inventory 18mm zoom lens. Is Real Property Pictures costly? Professional pictures can actually persuade the purchaser even earlier than he/she walks in the entrance door about the quality of the property. All professional photography is just not created equal. Free Infographic: Professional Images Nets You Extra For Your house! An expert Real Estate Photographer has the data and expertise to emphasize the great thing about a house at any time of day and at any time of year. Several professional photos with proper angles and lighting will encourage consumers to view your own home in person. Potential tenants and patrons are able to view the 3D simulation using virtual actuality software applications on a phone, computer, or pill.

Due to this, it's a warm invitation to view the property without blasting your eyes with unnecessary shade. That first visual impression of a home on the market is crucial to driving and maintaining interest in a property. Try our Austin Dwelling Sellers part to search out out why the properties we listing promote sooner and for more cash. Top Snap is pioneering in the following era of real property advertising with a robust online advertising instrument - 3D Virtual Tours that allow your potential consumers to experience your property as in the event that they have been physically there. There are a number of alternative ways of finding discount realty savings, or working with low cost Realtors. As a baby growing up, there were so many video games to play together with your friends…unlike today’s glued-to-a-display screen era. You can export the finished product as excessive decision JPEG and PNG information. One can create advanced 3D fashions from easy primitives using this software.

Website Design by barzin1370 http://ift.tt/2D6knnQ I need a website designer who can make a real estate rental marketplace. examples: http://uniplaces.com http://housinganywhere.com (Budget: $750 - $1500 USD, Jobs: Graphic design for Real Estate Businesses Design, HTML, PHP, Website Design, WordPress)

— join da hunt (@JoindaHunt) December 19, 2017

A quick Google search turned up only one photographer utilizing UAVs for real estate images in Australia. One quick sidenote in regards to the retouching in the second image. Please submit your designs for an actual property website via PDF of picture. It’s fairly simple really…either pay for the photographs on your real estate webpage or take them your self! Unfortunately, no. Because of the high quantity of photos I take for every shoot, wherever from 300-500 pictures, there’s no efficient option to share and choose photos in a well timed trend. I went in desiring to making a photograph, not simply to take a picture or a snapshot. Showcase your properties to the fullest with our excessive definition real estate virtual tours. Our 360° virtual tours for real estate presents the very best high quality and design. We deliver captivating pictures and digital tours of properties and businesses. Unlimited Fashion Real Property Pictures is a boutique images studio primarily based out of Los Angeles and is out there for journey worldwide. Big model. We examined a mid-range model and while it price a meaty £2,699 you get a 512GB SSD, an Intel Core i7 CPU running at 2.6GHz, 16GB of RAM and a discrete GPU (with 2GB RAM).

Flash - Get your self at the very least one good-quality flash, as your DSLR’s pop-up flash merely won’t lower it. The first, and maybe the least critical, is time. At this time we shoot in Baltimore, Harford, and Cecil countys. We’ve taken images classes, seminars, and learned to use photograph methods most different brokerages are unwilling to take a position the time in understanding. I am additionally a rabid trivia junky and considered one of my favorite each day activities is spending time with Alex Trebek (watching Jeopardy), with my husband and my 17 yr outdated Yorkie. Now, it’s your turn: What’s your favorite real estate pictures tip? Gensler architects labored up mockups of the area, recognized in actual property parlance as check suits; these pc-aided design (CAD) drawings were tweaked and handed over to a different company, which developed a VR tour. National chain Imoto affords New Orleans real property professionals listing images, Matterport tours, videos, floorplans, and digital twilight images. To be a leader within the business of still photography, videography, and net design.

Amenities photographs for condo and property managers.

For industrial promoting sports images, enough lighting and a camera with lengthy lens will are available in handy. On any given day we could also be photographing a wedding, luxurious seaside condo, products for a catalog, corporate head shot, sports activities portrait, industrial warehouse or a casual family photograph session on the seaside. Publisher: BrianGarvin Read this outstanding Community Advertising and marketing Article under, then please contact us and let us know what you thought about it. Drip advertising and marketing emails are pre-written messages that get sent routinely to your leads. These portraits are often used in College reports and newsletters. These recruiters are located solely in san francisco, new york, and los angeles. Are you seeking to promote your automobile shortly? I assure all of my work, money again if you are not blissful. I couldn't consider they obtained my images back to me so soon. Amenities pictures for condo and property managers. You need to always have earlier than and after pictures from the identical angles.

When you comply with the advice above, you need to by no means have to worry about asking for refunds. You possibly can create a digital tour or have one created. They need to have a newer model digital camera. Third, photograph everyday, even if it is with an cell phone; visualizing and composing ought to change into second nature. Outstanding service and even higher pictures. Although it’s free topost adverts on craigslist, it is advisable to be careful that you just makepostings properly. This guide covers all the important thing basic Web optimization parts, which is able to aid you generate extra free traffic from serps. Generally, all of these can be cheaper than hiring a helicopter. It aids give the impression that your online business card is one thing crucial. It happens instantly and that’s your fi rst impression. Is Graphic Design For Oakhill Properties in forty six Chaparral Rd Waasis, NB NB E3B 0G9 your enterprise? General, the 21.5-inch iMac - and certainly its dearer 27-inch counterpart - is a implausible desktop choice for any graphic designer. It might also come in as a very handy option the place price range constraints are tight.

[changesmymind-blog1]

Android vs iOS: Which is Better? (v7 vs v10)

Give me a chance to begin with a basic truth, I am a fanatic of Android. I have such an energy for Google's portable working framework that I worked my way to an occupation where I get the chance to play with Android throughout the day, and offer my encounters with you, our loyal perusers. Today I am will discuss iOS also, and I may need to state some pleasant things, keep it together and we'll traverse this together.

In all seriousness, Android and iOS are the unmistakable pioneers in versatile working frameworks around the world, and the thought for each is to give the speediest, smoothest and most strong execution and components as could reasonably be expected. With various ways to deal with these undertakings, it is about time we did an official Android versus iOS examination.

The contrasts between these two working frameworks goes well past the bits and bytes of everything, Android and Apple have both developed solid supporters, please take note of that I said "Apple" intentionally, as "iOS" is not the term utilized with enthusiasm very to such an extent. This addresses a bigger contrast in these two biological communities, where Android clients are faithful to the working framework, yet iOS clients are faithful to the organization behind the OS, we'll clarify more in a bit.

These fans are individuals that will stay outdoors for a considerable length of time to get the following gadget, individuals that will burn through hundreds, if not a large number of dollars to appreciate the most recent and most noteworthy telephones and tablets with every OS. Sadly, this additionally implies there are clients on the two sides that rush to disparage the other. We are happy to see an incredibly decreased recurrence of such upheavals, yet there was a period that you could frequently discover unrefined and disgusting discussions between the enthusiasts of every OS.

The general question in days past is precisely what influences these two working frameworks to emerge from each other. On one hand, Android is a profoundly adjustable framework, with establishes in Linux and code that can be found in the Open Source space for all to take and develop. On the other side, iOS is a shut working framework. Without taking extraordinary activities, the normal client will never comprehend what tweaking the OS or exchange variants of the OS would resemble.

Taking it back profoundly of the client encounter, Android is a fantastic OS for those that get a kick out of the chance to take care of business with their gadgets, where iOS is made for effortlessness, turn on any Apple cell phone and appreciate precisely the same. There is no set in stone choice for every one of the, one must choose what they need and requirement for themselves, at that point read articles like this one to realize which framework will suit them best.

Late updates to both working frameworks have included a huge amount of new usefulness and elements that out-do their individual antecedents. Multi-entrusting is the name of the diversion on Android and APIs for Siri are the enormous news on the iOS side. There is much more to every OS refresh, yet these are, I trust, the key elements.

Beginning with iOS 10, which started hitting gadgets in September, there were numerous little upgrades and more than a couple of updates to framework applications like Safari, News, Music and the sky is the limit from there. Lift to wake utilizes sensors to recognize when you lift the gadget up to confront you, turning the show on for you. Convenient, in any case, truth told, an element that has been around in Android for some time, if just a chosen few gadgets.

APIs are the enormous victor here. to the extent iOS 10 refreshes go, APIs are exhausting news at the present time for the a large portion of us, however the new combination with Siri implies that the majority of your most loved applications can incorporate voice input usefulness with the Siri input. Rather than Siri serving minimal more than a voice look instruments, with the capacity to open a couple of applications and other generally constrained usefulness, stay tuned for the capacity to save a table, arrange a burrito thus substantially more by voice, transforming Siri into an individual partner ready to control things past the gadget in your grasp.

Moving over to Android Nougat, and all the more particularly Androi 7.1 as found on the Pixel telephone reported in October, the individual right hand subject wins with Google Assistant. What you may know as Google Now, a voice seek device with some fundamental usefulness past inquiry, the knock up to Assistant takes things to a correspondingly new world. We've been tending to this since Google prodded it at Google I/O prior in the year, a voice seek device that can live on something other than your handheld gadget – search for Google Home and the sky is the limit from there – that can deal with everything from understanding you the news, reminding you your calendar for the day, as far as possible up to playing music or throwing your most loved motion picture on the wide screen.

Android 7.1 Nougat might be the most elite as of now, however Android 7.0 is the best to be found on non-Pixel telephones. Updates to the OS, which are just a month old themselves, incorporate muti-entrusting highlights that incorporate split-screen usefulness, for some applications at any rate, and new usefulness to the Recents catch – simply twofold tap to hop between your two most as of late utilized applications. The Notification Shade, Quick Settings and fundamental Settings have been redone for simpler route and customization too.

It would not be right of me to jump into the specialized subtle elements on this next point, however specify that Google has picked to adjust better between ART with its pre-stack aggregating and the more customary JIT assembling. In plain terms, Android 6.x would pre-stack the vast majority of the OS and your applications into RAM when the gadget began up, I'm certain you review the screen that just said "Upgrading application 73 of 210." The new setup will make them go speedier, doing this pre-stack out of sight as the OS winds up plainly accessible to you sooner. The best of the two universes, I assume.

Android's twofold edged open source sword

The capacity to take the base rendition of Android and develop it has brought about brilliant and different gadget encounters. Unfortunately, this has likewise implied some truly interesting and hazardous circumstances. At the center of it is what is called AOSP, the Android Open Source Project, manufactured and kept up basically by Google.

AOSP is, as the name infers, a free and open working framework that anybody is allowed to take and adjust. This is most usually performed by our most loved gadget makers. Indeed, even Google builds up the Nexus program, which is a genuinely vanilla ordeal, just with the expansion of Google's own suite of applications and administrations, which are not incorporated with AOSP.

Notwithstanding the producers making one of a kind skins for the OS, there is a lively group of littler players influencing third-to party (in a manner of speaking) ROMs for well known Android gadgets. For those new, a ROM is the thing that we commonly allude to as the genuine code for an Android OS, and it is conceivable to introduce this code to an Android gadget by a methods called Flashing. Each one of these ROMs offers a one of a kind and adaptable arrangement of plan and components set over the center layer of Android.

While I trust that having alternatives is something worth being thankful for, there are those that vibe that there are recently an excessive number of choices accessible under the Android pennant. With something north of 5000 one of a kind Android gadgets accessible for procurement, it is no big surprise that there is some perplexity for shoppers. Tragically, there is likewise nothing unexpected that more than a couple of these gadgets and ROMs are completely pointless. Yet, that is the reason you are here, to gain the great from the awful, isn't that so?

The "iSheep" circumstance

A usually utilized term, implied as a censorious depiction of an Apple client, "iSheep" suggests that a man aimlessly takes after wherever they are advised to run with their iOS controlled cell phones. A conspicuous difference to the plenty of choices on Android, iOS clients have only a couple of choices before them. Indeed, I could name every last cell phone made by Apple appropriate here, and you wouldn't be overpowered.

With now two current era cell phones, yet five available to be purchased on their site, in addition to three sizes of their tablet, Apple's most recent and most noteworthy offerings are anything but difficult to browse. For some, there is no requirement for choices or factors, they simply need a basic gadget that takes care of business. As a rule, a man obtaining a more up to date iPhone or iPad will be found to officially possess a more seasoned form of the gadget. It is not necessarily the case that they are aimlessly following, recently that they are alright with the kind of gadget that they have, however require a more up to date form in an alternate size or with somewhat more drive.

Here and there these people "require" another variant of their iPhone or iPad on the grounds that they've been told the updated one is recently better, however that remains constant of leader Android gadgets also, isn't that right? The principle contrast, in any event in our little universe of Android fandom here at Android Authority and TabTimes, is that us Android clients think about the specs inside the gadgets, though, the normal iOS client that I know by and by simply needs the gadget to have the capacity to stay aware of them, in any case on the off chance that it has Intel, Snapdragon, Exynos, MediaTek, Kirin or Apple processor. Clue, your Apple item is probably going to just contain one of these processors, would you be able to figure which one?

Enough with the hypothesis, we should take a gander at the genuine programming.

The rudiments

The essential programming knowledge is quite comparable amongst Android and iOS. Beside the underlying setup, clients are welcomed by a bolt screen, requiring a swipe signal or confirmation test to enter the framework. Once inside, you get a Homescreen or two and some applications. Everything from your framework settings to your most loved diversion or web-based social networking program is made accessible through separately introduced and updateable projects, and every biological community has a connected store to introduce from an accumulation of over a million different applications.

Applications by and large keep running in fullscreen mode and, generally, you can just truly utilize one application at any given moment. Saying this doesn't imply that that you can't multi-undertaking, only that without the most recent of iOS programming and gadgets, particular applications on Android or the most recent Android 7 Nougat introduced, just a single application shows on screen, your other 'multi-entrusting' applications should keep running out of sight. This is perfect for music players or record downloads, however implies you can't, as a rule, have a spreadsheet and a content report on screen in the meantime. Fortunately, this is changing, as the most recent variants of both working frameworks are fusing part screen application use.

One can rapidly see their as of late utilized applications from a devoted rundown. This current applications list likewise enables one to adequately close an application by swiping the application off of the screen from the rundown.

Swipe down from the highest point of the screen to get to what Android calls the Notification Shade. This is a drop down menu that houses current notices from the applications and administrations on your gadget. Android incorporates a speedy settings menu at the best, from a moment descending swipe, and iOS put their snappy settings  panel at the bottom.

Do you get my point yet? In the master plan, things are fundamentally the same as, much similarly that most all autos out and about have four tires and a controlling wheel. The distinctions are in the points of interest. Where one can discover alternatives for fuel proficient little autos completely through to fly motor prepared creature trucks, actually, so also would one be able to discover numerous distinctions in Android and iOS gadgets.

Home screens

The default area for the majority of your processing is the homescreen. Both Android and iOS have Home screens, and on every you can put connects to applications, organizers and the sky is the limit from there. The biggest contrast, in any event for the time being, is that most Android manufactures incorporate an application drawer in which the OS stores the greater part of your application symbols, however there are special cases, with the LG G5 going totally application drawer-less, for instance. As opposed to "stock" Android, iOS essentially dumps all your applications onto the Home screen as a matter of course. Each working framework incorporates organizers for better administration and will include additional screens as required on the off chance that you go over the default sum.

Favorable position Android – Launchers. One key element of Android, which goes well past the Homescreen, is the capacity to introduce outsider Launchers. A Launcher is a full desktop condition for your gadget, you may have heard the expression "skin" also, which is fittingly illustrative of how a Launcher functions. Giving extraordinary and additional apparatuses to controlling applications, symbols, envelopes, number of screens on your Homescreen design and the sky is the limit from there, Launchers open a radical new world to the Android encounter.

The best part is that Android clients can get their hands individually Pixel Launcher too. In the past know as the Nexus Launcher, this is the home scree condition that Google has worked for their Pixel telephones, including a sideways swipe to a devoted Google Search center point and page, known as Google Now and now Google Assistant. iOS additionally has a sideways swipe to a Siri controlled news and inquiry page, so this point is a tie, contingent upon your biological community of decision, obviously.

Preferred standpoint Android – Widgets. Conceding that iOS has made a few walks in this division, Android is as yet ruler of customization, especially homescreen customization and utilities through intuitive components called gadgets. Maybe the best cases of gadgets are a clock gadget and a music gadget. Where there is an undeniable application in the back end for the clock and music playback, gadgets put little intuitive graphical windows on your homescreen for snappy activities like review the time or essentially controlling your music playback.

Lockscreen

The bolt screen is really unimportant place on a cell phone today. The essentials of a bolt screen is to give a tiny bit of data, at the end of the day to give a verification screen before getting to your telephone or tablet. For a few, this is a completely significant viewpoint to their registering knowledge, and a few gadgets now utilize biometrics, similar to unique finger impression scanners, for verification. For the less extraordinary, set up a stick, password, watchword or on Android you can set an example by coming to an obvious conclusion on a network.

Beside protecting your information, the bolt screen likewise anticipates butt-dials on telephones.

The experience is quite direct on iOS, however Android permits outsider applications and more to switch up the experience, including new confirmation systems, additional usefulness, for example, music playback controls, and, well, gadgets. In spite of the fact that, gadgets are never again bolstered as a matter of course on Android, so there again one must depend on the flourishing modding group.

Warnings

For our present versatile experience, we as a whole yet rely upon notices to keep us ticking along. Gone are the times of physically signing in and clicking a catch to influence your gadget to check for new messages, we now get notices over the greater part of our gadgets, and some of them figure out how to remain in a state of harmony, so we can expel that new email warning on one gadget and it leaves on the others.

Apple and Google both utilize a drop down warning apparatus, intended to aggregate together current notices until the point that you can get around to checking them all. Android calls this the Notification Shade. Simply ahead and attempt it on any of your gadgets, simply swipe down from the highest point of the show. Beside the notice drop down, the two frameworks utilize popup warnings the minute another message or call arrives.

Google has actualized rich notices, permitting the position of significant catches on every warning. Appreciate snappy answers to messages, music playback controls and all the more all without having to really open the applications being referred to.

Notwithstanding the fundamental warnings, simply ahead and pull down again on the notice shade on Android to get to Quick Settings, a short rundown of switches and sliders to control things like show splendor, volumes, turn on or off WiFi, Bluetooth and that's only the tip of the iceberg.

iOS has part up this kind of usefulness, while swiping down gives you your warnings, swipe up from the base rather to get to the brisk settings. We can't deny that we like that the iOS fast settings bar incorporates committed media playback controls, yet we do wish we could slide in from any piece of the show, not only the flawlessly focused with the little pointer bolt.

Google Play Store versus the App Store

I trust you know at this point the genuine energy of any versatile working framework is in the applications and administrations behind them. Around these parts you'll be taking a gander at the Google Play Store to introduce applications on your Android gadget. iOS has the Apple App Store. Made to give a similar safe place to discover and introduce applications for your telephones and tablets, there are a couple of significant contrasts between the two, and in the working frameworks themselves, to consider.

We should begin with iOS. Regarding being really versatile, Apple's items have a couple of impediments. Presently, it is conceivable to possess and work an iPhone or iPad without a PC, yet you will never have the capacity to get full usefulness of administrations without an old program many have known about, iTunes. Not only to buy music, iTunes is the program on your PC that will take into account full gadget reinforcement and recuperation, synchronizing of applications and melodies thus substantially more. Without it, the sum total of what you have is the Apple App Store on your gadget and the capacity to do some essential reinforcements and synchronizing through iCloud.

The Apple App Store contains, finally official recorded measure, 1.5 million applications. Numerous applications are free, however numerous more will run you in any event $0.99. As said, simply ahead and introduce them specifically from your cell phone and match up with iCloud, yet there is very little more you can manage without an associated PC.

The Google Play Store, finally measure, contains more than 1.6 million applications. Notwithstanding introducing these applications specifically from your gadget, you can really introduce from the web. There is no requirement for the normal client to ever associate their Android gadget to a PC, on the off chance that they would prefer not to. All application introduces, reinforcements and recuperations thus significantly more would all be able to be dealt with from the telephone or tablet close by.

Maybe the best preferred standpoint to the Android application circumstance is for the brave to effectively side-stack applications specifically on their gadget. I'm not discussing the capacity to root and ROM the gadgets, more essential than that, any of us can compose our own applications and introduce them on our gadgets. This is not so on iOS, there is no alternative in the settings, as there is on Android, to permit side-stacking applications, in any event not as effectively.

We won't get into the particulars, yet the general thought is that, without jailbreaking your Apple item, you'll require a paid designer account and to run your applications through the App Store to get them onto your gadget. Clearly the inconvenience was justified, despite all the trouble for 1.5 million application designers.

Then again, the 1.6 million applications on Android is quite recently the check from the Google Play Store. Only I have made around twelve straightforward applications (that are not worth discussing, believe me) that will never check toward that aggregate. Anybody following along our engineer extends or are taking even the most essential of application improvement course will have some of their own also. This side-stacking process even enables you to add completely extraordinary application stores to your gadget like Amazon's AppStore, which contains its own particular library of applications.

Point is, with regards to being free and open, with every one of the upsides and downsides that that involves, Android is lord when contrasted with iOS.

Execution

A perilous subject for any PC related engineer, client, analyzer or more, 'what makes a gadget decent?' and 'is yours sufficient?' Better yet, 'device's identity's better?' There are two extremely particular speculations at work when you think about Android and iOS for execution, with Apple's tight control over all parts of equipment and programming contrasting incredibly from Google's approach of building an OS and simply putting it out there for the equipment makers to mess around with.

In the event that you've invested any energy in our locales, you know as of now that there are in the ballpark of 5000 exceptional Android gadgets available. Yet, you most likely likewise realize that there are just a modest bunch of incredible gadgets, the leads that shape the era, every year. Apple's approach keeps away from the unessential gadgets, concentrating just on the best telephones and tablets that they can offer, however most would agree that Apple's ideal and Android leaders are in a similar group for execution.

When we put the normal iOS fueled gadget next to a normal Android gadget, despite everything we can't genuinely look at them reasonably. Android producers, following up on their own, and not generally to the greatest advantage of Google and Android, have the flexibility to introduce any adaptation of Android they wish, refresh it as they wish, and include their own particular arrangements of applications and components. There are a couple of guidelines to take after to be qualified for Google's applications and administrations, yet that takes this point too profound for the present correlation.

Truly, for the normal client who surfs the web, registers with online networking a couple of times each day, pulls up a guide and plays a little amusement or two, there is no point doing any execution fights. Your normal iOS or Android gadget will work fine and dandy.

It's fortunate we are not your normal clients around here, how about we make a plunge. To begin with up, we should talk equipment.

Searching for a 64-bit quad-center or bigger processor, designs processor prepared to do effortlessly running full HD and past presentations, 4GB of RAM, 64GB or perhaps 128GB of inward storage room, fingprint scanners, a 12MP or more prominent camera sensor equipped for 4K video catch? Shouldn't something be said about high-constancy sound? Correct, Android and iOS have all that. Generally, at any rate.

You truly need to begin taking a gander at a portion of the contrivances and gathering traps of every gadget to choose what is more imperative to you for general execution, yet in all actuality, where it counts where it really matters, the equipment accessible to Android and iOS clients is to a great extent the same.

On the off chance that the equipment is the same, the execution ought to likewise be equivalent, correct? Not a chance! Try not to be tricked by the spec sheets, and all that garbage I just let you know, there is a distinction in execution over the gadgets. Sensational contrasts, really.

We see this all the time just in Android gadgets, we'll have a Snapdragon controlled gadget next to each other a Kirin or MediaTek gadget. On paper the processors might be "equivalent," however genuine utilization of the processors recounts an altogether extraordinary story.

iPhones have for quite some time been touted as the best telephones for photography, while that may have been valid for some time, Android gadgets are starting to take that thunder. Notwithstanding, the 12MP, 16MP and even 21MP or bigger camera sensors on these contending Android gadgets could be considered needless excess contrasted with the long running 5MP, 8MP and now 12MP sensors on the Apple gadgets. We should not get into it all, I simply needed to call attention to that Apple has made sense of a trap, if just in the product side of things, that numerous Android makers have either never irritated with or are just as of late making sense of also. A similar detail does not mean you'll see a similar execution.

As should be obvious, for essential everyday assignments, our example iOS and Android gadgets perform outstandingly. You have to take care of business, by stacking overwhelming diversions or other huge applications, previously you truly figure out the distinction in execution here. Apple's most recent outperforms a one year old Kirin gadget and a fresh out of the box new Intel fueled gadget, yet that edge is decreased enormously when leader Android gadgets are considered.

Kindly do remember that, in spite of the fact that the speed tests above were executed as reasonable and exact as we might, we be able to did not represent numerous outside components, for example, arrange execution, gadget up-time or measure of different applications running and that's just the beginning. Point is: our tests are defective from numerous points of view, however they are incredible markers of certifiable execution as figured without any than a fundamental stop watch. Additionally, the initial 5 gadgets were tried by me, yet the Note 5 and iPhone 6S were each tried by different colleagues, may fluctuate contingent upon how they played out these tests. Main concern, we can't authoritatively report a best telephone or OS here, please simply utilize the information for some viewpoint.

I've included circumstances for the iPhone 7. I know things look befuddling in view of this chart, yet there is a hindrance over the more established iPhone 6S, and we're really awed by it. We'll make sure to hop back when we find the opportunity to test the Pixel telephone to round out your point of view.

Conclusions

As we have said on numerous occasions, your favored environment for applications and administrations ought to be your main factor between an Android or an iOS gadget buy. Clearly, we incline toward Android around here. We're expecting that a large portion of you on our Android fan site are additionally Android fans, not that that issues. With two profoundly fit working frameworks available to you, we really feel the main motivation to pick one over the other is out of individual inclination, simply please invest the effort to make sense of what will fit your needs best before you spend a huge amount of cash on a gadget and extras.

While we incline toward Android essentially on account of its capacity to form to our enjoying, we can't rebate the incentive in the effortlessness of iOS. Conceding that there is as yet an expectation to absorb information, and that the normal Android client might be disappointed with the absence of elements and choices, numerous clients out there value the recognition and negligence of utilizing iOS.

Give me a chance to state this again in one final way, this is something that I have been saying in regards to Android versus iOS since the times of Froyo and is less genuine today that it was at that point, yet despite everything I stay with it: With iOS, you ask what your gadget can do and you stay with that, with Android, you ask yourself what you need to happen, at that point discover how Android can do it. Primary concern, iOS is a capable apparatus, on the off chance that you need to do what it needs to do, Android is an intense instrument regardless of what you need to do.

Last note: I trust that we've given an exhaustive outline of the real similarities and contrasts amongst Android and iOS. We perceive that there is quite a lot more to every biological system than what we discussed here today, we likewise perceive that we are genuinely one-sided for Android, we can't resist, that is our obsession. It would be ideal if you recollect these things as you consider the distinctions in these working frameworks, fortunately it is as simple as ever to ricochet forward and backward between the two nowadays, so don't be hesitant to test.

No matter what your pick is, these two are a little expensive for their flagship devices. Therefore you need to have some online deals to reduce the price of your phone. These deals can be found at dealsstreet.com. 

It's your turn, go along with us in the remarks underneath for an attentive and considerate discussion, even level headed discussion, over these two effective working frameworks. What do you think, Android versus iOS?

#android ios mobile smartphone bestsmartphone

[ronaldmrashid]

Confessions From An Angry Retail Banker

Every time I’m waiting in line to deposit a check at a bank, I wonder what the hell is taking so long. Who are these people with huge envelopes full of cash? Why does the elderly lady always have to argue with the teller about why her ATM card isn’t working? What are tellers thinking when they see massive bank accounts from punk kids? I’ve invited a blogging buddy to share his insights. Enjoy!

RAARGH!!!! I’m ARB, the Angry Retail Banker!

Over at my blog, I offer “An Insider’s Take On Retail Banking.” But today, I’m going to talk about people instead.

People. The general public. The customers who bring us the moolah. When you work with them and their money, you get to know them a bit.

I’ve been in banking for ten years. I’ve seen and dealt with people from all races, religions, and socioeconomic classes. And when you work in retail banking, you start to get insights into how people work.

Money is the most powerful force in the universe, right up there with gravity, compounding, and bacon. It finances wars and it finances dreams. Having it can buy you freedom and your life; the lack of it can make you a slave to strangers. People’s relationship with their money is very complex, and nowhere does a person interact with their money more than at a bank.

Because of this, you can learn a lot more about people when working in retail banking than most other places, because a few numbers on the screen can tell one hell of a story if you take the time to read it.

We Financially Neglect Ourselves

Sam recently asked if Americans are so financially unprepared that they couldn’t even meet a $400 emergency expense. It’s true; we are financially unprepared. But it goes beyond simply not having an emergency savings account.

We treat opening up a bank account like ordering food at McDonald’s: “I just want a checking account and a debit card. Just give me whatever account has the lowest minimum. How long is this going to take? Because I’m meeting a friend for lunch at McDonald’s in fifteen minutes where I’m going to put way more thought into what I want for lunch than anything I get from here.”

Because we’re not taught in schools the importance of managing and moving our money properly, we don’t treat its movement and management with any sort of care. No talking with a loan officer about protective lines of credit or an investment advisor about socking money away for retirement. No talking about how to protect your money from bank fees or how to safely use your debit card without the risk of it being compromised. People don’t even consider putting beneficiaries on their high balance accounts!

No wonder global card fraud damages are estimated to reach nearly $28 billion this year and upwards of $32 billion by 2019 according to The Nilson Report. We don’t even take a look at our bank statements unless they come in the mail! To say nothing of quickly checking an ATM for a skimming device. How do people know if their money was stolen?

Between the lack of financial education and the lack of financial caring, the typical retail banking client digs themselves into a financial hole.

We Are All Living In The Past

When it comes to our financial habits, we are stuck in the past.

Look at retirement savings. People still think that the way to retire is to throw their money in a savings account, despite a decade of historically low rates. They think their pensions will take care of them and 10% CDs are right around the corner!

“When are rates going back up?” is a coming question I get. Never. Sorry.

This is why traditional retirement might be a thing of the past. Check out this heartbreaking story about retirees now living in poverty after the Teamsters Local 707 pension fund dried up. The scariest part about this story is that more pensions are going to follow suit—including state funded pensions—leaving millions without retirement funds despite decades of work.

I guarantee you not one of these people ever saved for retirement because they they thought they’d have their pensions and Social Security to live off of forever. It’s why I deal with 50+ year olds with $18,000 IRAs earning 0.1%.

Well, the current generation isn’t too far off. So many Millennials don’t even invest in their 401k’s and are expecting massive inheritances to bail them out when the retirement age comes. Sure, their parents are the wealthiest generation ever, but what if they decide to leave the money to someone more deserving?

We live in the past; we see that the government and the retirement plans just “took care” of our parents and grandparents when they retired and figure everything will just turn out alright. We don’t realize that we live in a different reality where you must save diligently, invest intelligently, and work on your side hustles or else we will work for an employer until the day we die.

And you wouldn’t believe how many people have never started saving for retirement. I know because I get people in their fifties coming in looking for advice so they can start saving for retirement.

Comply, Please?

It’s not just in these manners that we are stuck in the past. People also don’t seem to realize that the heavy financial regulations that they demanded be put on the banks actually exist.

Customers refuse to comply with our AML (Anti-Money Laundering) regulations, claiming that as a customer they have every right to exchange thousands of dollars in cash without a paper trail (they don’t).

Business customers get testy during the opening process when we need more documentation or information about their businesses, claiming that it’s none of our business (it is). We’ve got to follow KYC (Know Your Customer) laws.

Decades ago, you could open a bank account with an out-of-state ID. Now? We need valid ID with a local address, a utility bill, and business formation documents with a full explanation of how you do business and proof of business (if your account is a business account).

People don’t seem to realize the golden age of the pre-9/11 world and the pre-Great Recession era is gone forever. We asked for regulations; we got them.

Combine that with people clinging to their paper statements, paper checks, and bank tellers, and is it any wonder why some people take forever?

Related: How Much Should I Have Saved By Age?

People Have More Than You Think

When you think of rich people, you think of fancy suits and Maseratis, right?

What you don’t realize is that many people are practicing Stealth Wealth, quietly saving and investing their money while keeping the appearance of an Average Joe or a Plain Jane.

Or they’re some bats***t crazy psychos who fell into money because “the Lord works in mysterious ways” (translation: “God hates you”).

If there was a person who I would never have believed had a six figure bank account, it’s the nutter in this story. Short version: A chronic alcoholic threatens to physically beat up my supervisor, forcing me to call the police. The guy had been a regular customer up until that point. He looked, sounded, smelled, acted, and really smelled like an alcoholic, but had over $100,000 in his bank account at all times. What the hell!?

While this was the only rich alcoholic that I ever had to deal with, he wasn’t the only person woefully unqualified and undeserving of the amount of money they had. It’s amazing to deal with a person with over a quarter of a million dollars in a savings account who can barely understand simple sentences.

Or when someone with over $400,000 in an account thinks that it’s okay to pee on a teller’s car “because I’m a premier customer.” That actually happened, by the way.

Fortunately, real Stealth Wealth is also practiced by seemingly ordinary people. It’s refreshing to meet someone who’s normal, friendly, and down-to-earth, who drove to the bank in a “regular” car or came by public transportation, and then open their customer profile to see a million bucks sitting in a number of different savings accounts.

I’ve spoken to a number of these people, and there seem to be a few themes common among all the customers with tons of money in the bank.

1) They tend to be very financially savvy and experienced. They are far from investment professionals, but tend to know about the stock market, municipal bonds, and various financial instruments. They like to have interest and growth calculations done before investing their money into any financial solution. They know all the pros and cons of different types of investments.

2) They tend to not just own their primary residence, but to have either bought it entirely in cash or made accelerated principal payments to the point where the property is paid off ridiculously early. More than once, I’ve spoken to couples who have only been in their homes a couple years and yet own them free and clear.

3) They tend to own their own businesses. Multiple businesses. This is the big one. Rarely do my high income customers make tons of money from a W2 salary. Very often, these are investment properties held in LLCs, but they can be anything. Consultancies, management companies, wholesalers, you name it. Anything that often requires them to yell at somebody over their cell phone mid-conversation. Then there’s blogging as the best business in the world.

When it comes right down to it, working in retail banking has taught me that you can never judge a person’s financial worth by the clothes they wear, the car they drive, or even their bank account balance. Or, as it sometimes seems, by their mental state.

People Think They’re Smarter Than The Professionals

Just recently, a woman came in to pay her $32 charge off so that she could open a new account. I noticed that she had two Social Security numbers on our system. The one she gave me had an account sent to collections in which she owed that $32; the other one had an account under it in which she owed $986.

She was “shocked” and said she didn’t know about this and would come in the next day to speak to the manager. I never saw her again, just as I predicted. I also took the time to note everything on her account so that she doesn’t get one over on the bank, opening up a new account when she still owes us money.

People in this country don’t have respect for the time or wisdom of a professional. They speak to a financial advisor and decide that the advisor doesn’t know what he/she is talking about because they can’t offer a double digit guaranteed interest rate in this low rate environment.

At best, they hold the expectations of professionals to be Law And Order caliber experts who can deliver fantasies. At worst, a professional in their minds is some MIT/Harvard suit with no knowledge of how the real world works.

This isn’t native to banking, but here, it leads to people trying to scam the bank because they think we don’t know things or share information.

It’s why people fight to deposit other people’s checks, or convince us their fee is a “bank error,” or get us to open accounts for fake businesses.

Why is that people think their doctor never knows what he’s talking about, or why all lawyers are shady and immoral, and why they think they can trick the bank.

They think they are. They aren’t. See: Dunning-Kruger Disease

Tips For Being A Happy Retail Banking Customer

What sort of Angry Retail Banker would I be if we parted ways without giving you some tips on how to be a happy retail banking customer? Your happiness erases my Anger (capital “A” is intentional).

1) Minimize Fees

First off, fees. Very easy to avoid. Says who? Says you, according to a survey by the American Bankers Association in which 55% of you say you pay zero bank fees.

Pat yourselves on the back, everybody!

So for the 45% of you who are still inexplicably handing your bank your hard earned cash, here’s my advice. First, stop using non-bank ATMs. Don’t even use a competitors’ ATM. Use only your own. Chase will charge you a fee if you use a Citibank ATM, but not if you use a Chase ATM. Brilliant, right? Right.

Next, overdraft protection. Have it. Overdraft protection is not the thing that allows your debit card to put your account negative when you have no money. Overdraft protection is the thing where if you spend more money in your account than you have, money sweeps into your account automatically to cover the shortfall. There will likely be a transfer fee involved, but it’s better than the $35 fee per item.

Next, higher level accounts. These are great things to have, if you can afford them. Because you know what’s cooler than a low monthly minimum? Having an account where you still stay above that minimum, but pay nothing for checkbooks, bank checks, stop payments, and wire transfers. Listen to us when we recommend you put your money into the right account, not just the cheapest.

And last, take care of yourselves financially by checking your statements periodically and reporting unauthorized charges to the bank. We’ve learned today that people don’t do that, and by being the exception to that rule, you can avoid the fees that come from someone else using your money.

2) Know How Much Of Your Funds Are Available 

Second, we’re going to talk about funds availability, or not spending money you don’t have.

You see, your bank may make that check available next day, but the money isn’t really there. The check isn’t clear yet. It can still bounce.

That’s why your teller won’t give you the money. We can’t authorize debits on funds that we know can still bounce.

My advice? Give your checks at least three business days to clear before you spend any money. And understand that the bank has every right to put an extended hold on checks if they have any reason to suspect that the check might not be paid. Because in the end, a check is just a fancy IOU with no guarantees behind it. And nothing more. Just a piece of paper with stuff that could easily be put on a Post It note.

3) Omni-Channel Banking

Believe it or not, all banks have multiple channels available for you to use for your daily banking needs. Branches, telephone, ATM, online, and mobile.

Use them!

Sometimes one isn’t available. The ATM’s down, you forgot your online banking password, the branch is short staffed.

It’s channel diversification.

Too many people don’t know how much money they have because their paper statements haven’t arrived in the mail yet. It’s 2017; this is unacceptable.

Too many people come into the branch and wait for me to finish dealing with a long line of customers and a giant stack of time-sensitive paperwork, instead of just calling the 800 number. Call.

Making use of all banking channels available to you will make your banking experience that much easier.

Gain Control Of Your Financial Life

Having a job in retail banking has given me a lot of insights about people, for better and for worse. Many people are spoiled or clueless because they’ve never worked a minimum wage job or a job that forces them to deal with people. I’m glad I have ten years experience in retail banking because it’s given me valuable insights into other people.

And learning about other people is how you make yourself a better person. If you have any questions about retail banking, feel free to ask!

– The Angry Retail Banker

from http://www.financialsamurai.com/confessions-from-an-angry-retail-banker/

#Financial Samurai