#and then to have nona give us this totally new way of seeing the world again (i'm maybe 20% in i have my ideas abt who nona is)

[yeahx10]

nona the ninth is kinda like what if the world was so new and delightful and full of wonder. what if you lived on the brink of the apocalypse and destruction was imminent but you just felt lucky to have people caring for you every day. im into it

[cavewretch]

a meditation on my past three or so identity crises and vampire weekend's new album

i have been listening to vampire weekend for roughly 15 years (i am 25). i am third-generation croatian great famine irish co-opting italian americanness by way of childhood experience and ex roman catholicism. born and raised in jersey. elementary school bullies were generationally wealthy irish or italian kids. family trees of traitors, all of us. i was briefly obsessed with finding some sort of ancestral connection but i think whenever that impulse happens for white usamericans it’s misplaced. surely there’s goodness here! surely there’s shared struggle! surely one of you was a communist! but now i’m over it. whatever they’re dead i’m alive i’ll do it. my mother has dubbed me the family catalyst. the thing about being a catalyst is you have to set yourself on fire and burn away to fuel everyone else's fire.

my first encounter with vampire weekend was in 2007? 2008? (whenever they released their first self titled album). starbucks used to do this free song pick of week thing where they’d give you a card with your coffee order that let you download a song from itunes for free, and my dad got them sometimes on his way to work. we got cape cod kwassa kwassa that way, and i found it in the family library and put it on my little purple ipod shuffle. 

modern vampires of the city was released in 2013, and the first vampire weekend album i actually consciously sunk my teeth into the content of (lyrics, musicality, visuals). i think i got to it a year late, i wasn’t plugged into music release social media campaigns back then. i was 15 or 16. in 2014 i read the communist manifesto for the first time and told my teacher it sounded pretty good, and she told me it only worked on paper. i read it for a european history class which required i shove 700 years of history into my brain for an exam i then proceeded to fail. i'm “bad” at school but i built invaluable critical thinking and analysis skills from that class. and a disgust with enlightenment era philosophers. that part wasn't on my teachers list i don't think. that class had 9 people total in it, 2 of which were transfer students (and also my friends) from europe (one from belgium, one from albania). in that class i learned i was supposed to have feelings about serbia, bc of my very croatian last name, but i didn't. my family doesn't talk to each other like that, about real things. my reaction to finding out there were divisive wars in living memory involving part of my identity was to try and learn about yugoslavia on my own, not knowing that anything i got my hands on was filtered through lenses of anti communism and red scare sentiment. the yugoslav wars happened after my nono (grandfather) left, and ended when i was very very young. according to my mother though, he always had something to blame on the serbs. then it was jews. then the government. then hospitals. then my nona (grandmother). then my mother. now my dad. 

/you talk of serbians, whisper kosovar albanians/  /the boy’s romanian, third generation transylvanian/  /i see vampires walkin, don't be gripped by fear, you aren’t next/  /we’re all the sons and daughters of vampires who drained the old world’s necks/

in 2014 i went to croatia for the first (and probably last, given my finances) time and met my extended family there. on that trip i looped modern vampires of the city every day, both because i love that album and because i did not have internet access or cell service. two weeks on a farm on an island off the coast of croatia, with only my family. a teenager’s dream! i did really enjoy it though. i found it grounding to be living amongst memories of centuries before me. both architecturally, the buildings are older there than the united states (government) itself, but also in my ancestors' memories. i stayed in the house my nono grew up in, and the house that’s been in my family name for centuries. the house was built before the empire rose and still stands there today despite its inhabitants dead or emigrated. the us empire rose on the bones and blood of multiple civilizations, specifically and purposefully wiping them out and creating that cognitive dissonance i was facing for the first time as a teenager.

/in times of war the educated class knew what to do/ /the temple’s gone but still a single column stands today/ /that sinking feeling fades but never really goes away/ /a staircase up to nothingness inside your dna/ /well thats a bleak sunrise/

/i know what lies beneath manhattan/ /i know who's buried in grants tomb/

age 16, for anyone i think, is the peak of arguing with your parents. age 16 is the culmination of anger about not having agency over your own life . 16 is crying and screaming and fighting your patriarchal family, thinking if you can just explain things right you can undo generations of behavioral patterns and beliefs. 16 is for fighting your father and reading queer lit on the family shared kindle account. and diane young, evidently. 

in 2018 and 2019 i spent my summers in my professor’s studios (one in queens, the other in brooklyn) working for unpaid college credit as a studio assistant. i lost my wallet in brooklyn. i spent hours in the new york public library archives sifting through images of the city during the 70s and 80s for research. i took greyhound buses from south jersey/south philly to penn station.  i ate lunch in battery park in the rain, cried in bathroom stalls, and scrambled around mta carrying too much shit. 

/used to have a job at penn station/ (cue what sounds like the shrieking noise of a train coming in, what commuters blink at and tourists recoil from)

in 2019 father of the bride came out, about a month before i became chronically ill/disabled. i was supposed to see that tour. at the beginning of 2020, my final semester of college, i went on medical leave and moved back in with my parents (something i vowed to never do and something my therapist at the time strongly suggested i never do. life goes on.) 

2024. only god was above us. i will turn 26 in a couple months. this year my childhood dog died. i read state and revolution (lenin). i organized phone calls with my grandfather to learn about his life in croatia (and distract him from recovery from back surgery) (and give my grandmother a break). everyone’s forgotten about covid or actively doesn’t care. but everyone keeps getting sick isn’t that so strange. the weather is a trapeze artist but your average conversation regards it as strange this year, and nothing deeper. my grandfather disowned my father in a bout of rage last month. i keep collecting comorbidities like painful trinkets. my mother emailed me a list of things to write a book about, which reads more like questions she’s been meaning to ask me about my life. i have no interest in cracking open my ribcage so blatantly in something longer than an essay or blog post. i will pour myself into art and fiction and you can take what meanings and interpretations from it as you will. one of my favorite things about creating art is what people find in it afterward. this thing that was an expression, a release for me, has hidden meanings and images to other people that i will never predict and that’s absolutely thrilling to me. sometimes people ask me what things are in my drawings and i ask them what they think it is and it frustrates them to no avail. my mom found a jaguar in this drawing and i cheered but refused to confirm or deny. (after that i called the piece jungle, but it certainly never started that way. i’m not even sure if jaguar is the right cat. the spotted one? but not a cheetah.) 

i journey into only god was above us carrying the weight of cycles and behaviors, patriarchal abuse, research on the balkans, lenin on the brain, thinking about covid and palestine and sudan and every other nation the country i live in steps on the neck of and who’s blood has benefitted me in some way. my own madness, my sickness, my rage. ill mad and angry. genetic health conditions, family curses. writing a sci-fi something. thinking about the deep sea internet cables and growing up on the internet.

/the oceans churning, the cables stay in place/ 

coming from generations of mechanics and farmers and restaurant staff. stuck alone with my parents in the woods of south jersey. missing commute times and the clogged holland tunnel. dealing with multiple chronic conditions that render me at the mercy of corrupt broken state institutions, jumping through administrative hurdles to get care. facing eugenic and bioessentialist thought in every person i meet. wishing i could live elsewhere but knowing that’s precisely what my ancestors did that got me here in the first place. and wouldn’t that be shoving myself up the ladder in some way, stepping on whoever lives wherever i would want to go. continuing the line of betrayal. i’m tired of the us empire’s tendrils poisoning the globe and i want it to fall apart desperately but i also know that as it does my health will get worse without medications and i will be useless to any movement and no movement would have me . my brain creatures whisper i am a parasite and social norms reaffirm the whispers at every turn. the ascetic creature in my brain who sits in her wading pool and passes judgement on the rest of me (and herself) while seeking absolution for everything i cannot change refuses to allow the water to flow and instead needs it to fit in her palms. what was i talking about? vampire weekend. 

/your consciousness is not my problem/ /and i hope you know your brain’s not bulletproof/ (over what sounds to me like the din of squealing subway tunnels)

i have a notes app entry that’s just notes i took while listening to the album. i’ve interspersed some things in here, but here are some special mentions i can’t weave into my words, and then a whole frantic paragraph about the final song on the album because there’s a lot to talk about. time stamps included if you’re listening along at home. 

capricorn: i love the discordant WEE WAW WEE WAW that dominates and sweeps through the song’s entire sound after the second verse. also /sifting thru centuries for moments of your own/ really resonated with me. 

connect: lyrically this was really fun for me as someone who’s got a whole soap box notes app entry document on growing up online and the current online cultural landscape. /now is it strange i cant connect? it isn’t strange but i could check . walked around to where we kept the box of wires, and lately/ . also super thrilled about the deep sea internet cable mention in this song. and then something about the instrumental break at 3:22 reminds me of times square retail stores at christmas time. i can’t explain it. 

prep school gangsters: the emphasis and repeating of /its just something people say/ at the end makes me feel like this is not actually something people say, maybe people really do feel that way . 

the surfer: starts out like old school cool guy bopping down a city street, but then the second piano (a second piano has hit the-) kicks in (1:11) and suddenly it’s offputting and dreary. the extreme weather alert like siren after verse 1. /california king placed directly on the floor/ the selective luxury we all partake in as capitalism spins out around us. the line  /fake fortune teller scandalized by fate/ made me think of astrology and personality quizzes and pathologization taking over the social consciousness. the stunning horns at 3:32 that make me sweep my arms around every time i hear them, the climax of a movie, the height of the wave. 3:44 the wave breaks, and we coast with just a twang of surfer rock guitar. the radio static glitchiness because we are not surfing. we are not coasting. it is falling apart, we are wiping out. we’re headed back towards the beach at the end but the stunning horns return, muted a bit as a reminder of the adrenaline at the height of the wave. 

the chorus in gen x cops,  /each generation makes its own apology/ half of me reads it as healing and the other half reads it as the old person's refrain of not knowing any better. a half hearted apology from a parent, a “sorry you took it that way.” 

mary boone is funny because i /came in from jersey/ and did internships /the one from queens not from brooklyn/ . i also really love  /im on the dark side of your room/ because it makes me imagine the young struggling artist as the rich art critic/dealer/tax evader’s sleep paralysis demon. 

pravda: this one and the surfer are my favorite songs. verse 1 makes me think of when lenin was exiled for his revolutionary writings. sorry . and then something about /leaving at the rising of the moon/ and how revolutionary battles are named in history (bloody sunday for the russian revolution for example.) /your consciousness is not my problem/ thinking about your awareness of the world around you, your political consciousness, and also whether i knock you out or not. also after the lyrics mention hanging the family balalaika by the piano a little piano tinkles in and it’s fantastic. and with mentioning penn station the train squeals to arrive. to me. <3 

the final song is an 8 minute long track called hope and it's so haunting and sardonic and mildly threatening i’m obsessed with it. i was nervous hearing it out of the context of the album at first because i was like god please don't be a liberal nihilism song. but i think in the context of the rest of the album, and paying attention to the words and production, the “i hope you let it go” is like . i hope you let it die. i hope you let it end. i hope you let the insincere prophecy go and move on . the call keeps coming from inside , i hope you let it go (i hope you let it ring). your enemy’s invincible, i hope you let it go Could be (and Is, by genius song annotators who i have never agreed with on a single vampire weekend song) read as the enemy is too strong, give up. but i think of it as like. let it run itself in circles, it will destroy itself. the whole verse for emphasis:

/the prophet said we’d disappear /the prophets gone but we’re still here/ /his prophecy was insincere/ /i hope you let it go/ /the righteous rage was foolish pride/ /the conquerors did not divide /the calls keep coming from inside/ /i hope you let it go/

when it's all over, files declassified. your bag fell on the subway tracks, i hope you let it go and leave it there. embassy abandoned, flag on the ground, painting burned, statue drowned, killer freed, court adjourned. hope betrayed, lesson learned. the instrumental break feels galvanizing. angry. i turn my chin down into a kubrick stare as those horns build and drone on through the rest of the song. the last minute/outro of the song is angry, the pictures getting distorted, the piano/guitar still drone on but a subway passes by, horn blaring, massive distortive ruckus, and then it fades. and the album is over! and you sit .

thank you for reading :) there are things i couldn’t fit in this, can you believe it? even after i did the little list coda! but those will stay in my brain’s constant conversation with itself. the creatures chatter with me as we share a drink. this by no means was an album review. maybe it could be considered a love letter but i am not particularly interested in the band’s True Intention. what you take out of art is a credit to you as much as it is to the artist i think. i don’t want to have confirmation on what art is about. do not tell me the true meaning, let me discover my own. i give what i give receive what i receive . peace n love <3

highly recommend their music videos for this album btw, they use archival footage (and images) by steven siegel and it's cool stuff

[stephspurs]

A Family Affair | Euro 2020 Football Fanfiction

Hi besties!! here is the long awaited part 9!! I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did whilst writing it!! a big thank you goes to @emwritesfootball for proofing this part & making sure its up to scratch for all of you lovely readers! Let me know what you think babes hehehe!! Love Always, Steph xx

Part 9. | nona parte

word count; 2006. writing tools; third person until dashed line, first person thereafter. next update; Friday 13/08 5pm AEST. Updates are three times/week (Monday, Wednesday & Friday)! tags (as requested by users); @footballffbarbiex @obsesseds-world @abysshaven link to fic masterlist here

The season kicked off in the middle of August and Amelia had been more than prepared for her first match in the premier league. She spent day after day analysing the players in the first team, introducing them to the magical world of rehearsed tactics. It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows for the brilliant girl; she had to learn how to implement the plays coupled with the speed of the game. But so far, so good. Chelsea have been winning and her plays have been working, the boys were getting the hang of it - no matter how apprehensive they were at the start.

Jorgi played a big part in demonstrating the success of the play, performing best in his midfield role to guide the game and direct the change in play to his teammates. By the time they had played a few fixtures, they had really gotten the hang of her approach to set pieces and began to put their trust in the young girl. They were starting to see results and wanted to keep the winning streak going while they could. The fourth fixture in the new season was one that Amelia was looking forward to, personally: Chelsea v Aston Villa, Stamford Bridge, 3pm kick off.

Jack and Amelia had grown closer and closer, FaceTime‘dates’ as Jack would call them, a weekly occurrence. She had spoken to him just as much as she had spoken to Jorgi - and they were still carpooling to and from Cobham together. Her friendship with Jack was full of easy conversation and flirtatious banter, teetering over the line of friendship but being that they were kept physically apart, the friendship line remained largely intact. One person that had drifted even further away from her, despite her believing that it couldn't be possible, was Ben Chilwell.

Every time she walked into a room that he was in, if he didn't have to be there he would immediately leave. Amelia didn’t understand what the problem was. Yeah sure, they were flirty together in Mykonos but they never crossed a line together, no matter how many times the wine went straight to their heads. If anything, she should be the one running away from him. She was the one who sent him a couple of messages here and there that he just opened. She spoke to Mason, Jorgi, Billy Gilmour - who was another one of the boys she had developed a strong friendship with - and all of them insisted they didn’t understand their friend's strange behaviour.

On the evening before the Villa match, Amelia was laying on the couch in her townhouse binge watching yet another docu-series on Netflix when her doorbell rang. This was strange, most people that came past the house these days had their own set of keys (her parents, her brother, Jorgi) or they texted to let her know they were outside. Her townhouse was three stories high, so if she was upstairs on the top level vacuuming the chances of her hearing the door were slim to none. Either way, she got up off of her loveseat  and walked to the front door, peeking through the peephole - she lived in London, alone, she wasn’t opening that door until she knew exactly who was on the other side.

______________________________________________________________

“To what do I owe this visit, Benjamin?”

“Hi, Mils.”

“Wow, nickname basis already - I thought only friends called each other by their nicknames.”

“Did you think we weren’t friends?”

“Well, friends don’t treat friends the way you’ve treated me since the evening I left Mykonos.”

With a sigh, Ben looked down at his feet. I did feel a small bit of guilt for that one, but he deserved it. Continuing to find the cracks in the marble step of my door’s threshold more interesting than facing my expression, I took a step back and forced Ben to look up at me.

“Well, are you going to come inside? I’ve got the kettle on and a really good series going that I would like to get back to.”

With a charming smile, Ben took a step forward, took the door handle out of my hand and shut it behind him. Slipping out of his shoes, he followed me down the short hallway to my kitchen and pulled a seat out at the island bench.

“So, really now - why are you here? Nervous about tomorrow?” I questioned as I took two cups out of the cupboard and brewed one tea for him, one coffee for me. 3 years in Italy and coffee in the evening became the norm for me. It was my comfort drink.

“I’m here to apologise for the way I've been acting towards you for the past six weeks. I’ll be honest, I don’t know why I’ve been like this”

“Cut the crap Ben, you know exactly why you’ve been doing it. Now tell me the truth or, as far as I'm concerned, you never came here tonight and tomorrow we will be back to how we were yesterday - you running away from me and me pretending that it doesn't bother me. Even though all it does is bother me.” Not expecting that outburst to come out of me, and to be fair neither did I, Ben looked me in the eye and stayed silent, choosing his next words carefully.

“The first time I saw you, the night you told your brother off in the rec room at St. George’s Park, I thought you were the most determined woman I had ever seen in my life. Not scared of the 30 grown men who were very obviously all on the same side, literally. Then the next time I saw you, after the final match, how you comforted your brother when you were at the highest of highs and he was lower than low, I thought you had more compassion than every person in that stadium put together.”

“When you came to SGP again the next day and delivered the tactical analysis of the game you won, I thought ‘wow she is so intellectually brilliant’. And then when you turned up in Mykonos, all sunkissed and relaxed, sitting next to me and involving me in conversation with my pals but making me feel like you wanted my contribution...I remember it like it was yesterday. Amelia, you smiled at me and my heart did a somersault in my chest.”

“You shut me down outside the club that evening, and when we came back inside I caught the end of your conversation with Jorgi about Fede. Putting two and two together, I understood all that I needed to. The few days after that we carried on like normal. Then, you left and I didn't know if I would ever see you again to be fair. When you messaged me, I got too nervous to reply because I didn't know how to just be your friend. And then when I thought I had finally gotten through a day without thinking about my friend's little sister, you showed up at Cobham as my tactical analyst. I didn’t know what to do Mils, I don't know how to be just your friend when I've had nothing but unfriendly thoughts about you since the first time I saw you command that room of men you had never met in your life.”

The whistle of the kettle ringing out behind me is the only noise filling the kitchen. I’m staring at Ben; he’s staring back at me with nothing but truth behind his eyes and his heart on his sleeve.

“Benj, what you were feeling, what you are feeling is totally valid and I never want you to feel like you can’t share those feelings with me. You’re right, Mykonos changed things for me. What you were feeling was reciprocated, but Ben, I was going back to Italy. At that exact moment, I had no idea I would end up here. I thought I was enjoying a break before another high-intensity season in Italy. I wanted to kiss you so badly at the club that night, but I knew it would only hurt you. I’m used to being hurt, it's a feeling I've grown to expect. But you, you’re too pure to experience the kind of hurt that comes along with knowing you’re making a bad decision, but doing it anyway, because I wanted to be selfish with your heart.”

“Amelia, can I ask you something?” I nodded, holding my breath as I braced myself for the question poised behind his eyes. “If you were in the mood to be selfish, what would have come from that evening?”

“I can probably show you better than I can tell you,”

Walking around the island bench, I pulled the back of Ben’s chair slightly so he pivoted towards me. Standing in between his tracksuit-covered legs, I ran both hands up his arms until I got to his neck and finally beside his face. Threading my fingers through his hair, I pulled his face towards mine and our lips met. It was as soft as a butterfly kiss but as powerful as anything I had ever felt before. His hands wound around my waist and settled themselves on the small of my back before travelling down and giving my backside a gentle caress, forcing a laugh out of my lips and straight into his mouth. Pulling away slightly, so we both had a bit of breathing space to sort out our lightheadedness, Ben spoke his next words very softly.

“I need you to promise me something, Amelia.You need to promise me that you will stop thinking about my heart before your own. I am old enough to make my own decisions, and the decision to ignore you for these past few weeks has been one of the worst ones I've made in a really long time. But I did make it, and it was because I got scared, and I hurt you, and I am so sorry. The decision to come here tonight however, I feel like it more than makes up for that one very very stupid one”

“You’re such a smooth talker, Benj.”

“Say my name again, Mils, you don’t know what it does to me.”

“Down boy, your tea is going cold and I need to find out who killed Sophie in West Cork.Meet me in the lounge.”

A few hours had passed and it was nearing 10pm, well past Amelia’s bed time, but Ben was still sitting on her couch, feet on the table (despite her telling him to remove them) and arm around the back of her shoulders.

“Chilly, I don’t want you to think I'm not interested in you because I so am, I just don’t want to rush into anything. What I left behind in Italy was complicated and heavy; I'm still trying to learn how to exist without him if I'm honest. I want you to just give me the space I need to grow into my own here in the city, if that’s okay with you.”

“Of course it's okay, Mils. From what Jorgi has told me about Fede, I can understand why you want to take it slow now. But please, don’t call me Chilly. My friends call me Chilly, and Mills. I thought I made it clear before that I don’t want to be your friend.”

“To me, you’re Benj. Thank you. Wait - what do you mean what Jorgi has told you about Fede?”

“I may have asked a couple times about you, and for the record, he is team Bamelia.”

“Bamelia? That is the ugliest word I have ever heard. Never use it again.”

“How can it be ugly? It's mostly your name, and nothing associated with you could ever be considered anything less than beautiful.”

“Stop being so smooth Benj, you’re going to make me blush in a minute.”

“Good, can’t wait to see how you could possibly look even cuter than you do right now.”

“That’s enough Benjamin.”

“Okay I’m done now.”

Part 10. | parte dieci

[pl-panda]

To Marry a Vigilante: Part 3

MASTERLIST || First || Previous || Next

Disclaimer: Masterlist

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The dinner was an interesting affair. Everyone was gathered around a large table that could easily fit several more people. Marinette was sitting between Damian and her mother; on the opposite, Tim, Stephanie, and Cass took the seats. She was glad that they were all people she knew well enough. It was overwhelming. Before, Christmas was always just her and her parents. Occasionally, Nona came too. And there was this one time when she was five when her great-uncle visited. This was much too crowded. 

Damian gently squeezed her hand, reassuring her that it was alright. She ate some, but the nerves made her lose appetite quickly. She was in Gotham. Celebrating Christmas with her husband’s family. Husband… She was going to have a panic attack. She wasn’t ready. 

“Habibti. It’s okay. Everyone here’s a friend.” Damian whispered into her ear, seeing she was spiraling. “Nobody is going to judge us on anything.”

“But I didn’t make any gifts for the Kents. And I didn’t know your eldest brother had a daughter! And I’m a total klutz. I will probably knock over the tree and it will fall and set the house on fire and you will end up homeless or someone will get hurt and then your family will hate me and the Kents will hate me and I…” she kept whispering faster and faster until she was finally starting to feel the need to breathe or pass out. The jury was still out. 

Seeing her daughter’s panic, Sabine also grabbed her hand and squeezed it lightly. “Honey, let’s go get some fresh air.” She said loud enough for people close to them to hear before leading Marinette outside. Nobody batted an eye when the pair passed them. 

Once the two were in the back garden, Mari felt her legs give up under her and if not for her mother, she would have probably collapsed. The woman held her tight and led the girl toward the bench, which was luckily not covered in snow. 

“I’m so sorry, Maman. I don’t know… I just felt so overwhelmed. There were all these people and I was really meeting my husband’s family and friends for the first time and I guess I was not prepared for all this…” She was speaking fast. 

“Don’t worry sweetie. I understand. Did I tell you how, when I met your Nona for the first time, I accidentally flipped her over my shoulder and pinned her to the ground?” Sabine asked, smiling understandingly at her daughter. 

“No! Really?”

“Yes. Well, in my defense, she surprised me with a gun that shot candies.” 

Marinette couldn’t help but giggle at that. It did seem like something her Mémé would do. 

“She was shocked at first and I was afraid I hurt her. Instead, after that, she decided that I was apparently worthy of dating her boy and gave us her approval.” 

“So… the moral of this story is that I should flip Talia over for them to accept me?” Mari asked with a cheeky grin. 

“That too, sweetie. I can even lend you something from my bag if you want a more… permanent effect.” 

“Maman!” 

“Fine…” Sabine grumbled goodheartedly. “You don’t need to worry about fitting in or how they will perceive you. I’ve seen how that boy looks at you and I approve.” She smiled. “That’s all that should matter.”

“Thank you maman. I’m glad you’re here.” She hugged her mother as the two sat together on the bench, enjoying the evening chill until the cold became irritating instead of refreshing.

-------

When the two returned, the dinner was nearing the end. Marinette noted seven burning holes on the ceiling but didn’t comment. There was also a plate on fire next to Jason that he seemed adamant not to acknowledge. Also, Mar’i and Jon were levitating above the table and playing rock paper scissors, except they used the props. Silently, Marinette walked to take a seat next to Damian. Her mother went over to talk a bit with Bruce about something.

“Um… Why is Jason’s plate on fire?” She asked, very much confused. 

“Tt. He wanted a souffle on fire.” 

“We’re already at desserts?” The girl asked, surprised. In the corner of her eye, she saw Cass staring at Tim and Stephanie with a strange gaze. It wasn’t hostile, but rather, she couldn’t really name the emotions present. 

“Yes. I saved you some maracons. You love the strawberry ones, right?”

“You made me prefer lemon ones.” She smiled. “The subtle sourness really brings out the sweetness.” 

“Of course it does Angel.” He smiled. “Sadly, we sit next to Brown, who will devour anything with sugar in it.”

A devious grin appeared on Mari’s face. “Really now?” She reached over into her purse to pull a small box where she kept the power-up cookies for her Kwami. “Tikki… will you mind if I give her a burnt-red one? You know which…”

For a moment, it looked like the Kwami wanted to protest, but then the small goddess noticed the plate of cookies was empty. “Go for it, Marinette. It won’t hurt her.”

“Stephanie! I’ve got a spare macaron I can share,” she smiled at the blonde girl. 

“Gimme!” She almost leaped like a gremlin, her eyes in a slight daze.

“Uh-oh. She is experiencing a sugar rush. I think she ate the whole plate herself,” Tim spoke from his seat, eyes slightly worried. 

Mari handed over the macaron and watched as Steph ate it. It took only a moment for her face to flush red and tears to appear in her eyes. “Water!” She said with a hoarse throat. Tim handed her a glass, but when she downed it, the burning only increased.

“Oh no! I forgot to warn you! It was made with ground hot pepper instead of flour… silly me!” Mari said, keeping the cute smile on. “I would advise milk.”

When Stephanie ran to the kitchen, followed by Tim laughing and Cass and Damian smiling, the older boy turned to Marinette. “You are devious.” 

“She shouldn’t have eaten so many cookies,” the girl shrugged. After that, she actually started to enjoy the evening. It might have started a prank war later on, but for now, she was safe. 

---------

After dinner, the crowd moved to a large living room where adults took seats on the couches or chairs while most kids and teens sat on the fluffy carpet. Alfred was walking around and handing the wine glasses to adults and hot chocolate to the youngsters. Clark opted for hot chocolate as well, which earned him a round of teasing. 

Since everyone was staying the night, there was no need for designated drivers. When Tim and Stephanie tried to get their hands on alcohol, Alfred slapped their hands. More laughter followed. 

Marinette sat there, cuddled into one armchair with Damian, observing everything and looking cute. 

“...I’m just saying, Bruce. You could smile a bit more in costume too. It wouldn’t kill you.” Clark finished a short speech.

“Work and homelife should stay separate,” Tim spoke up from his spot on the floor.

“Which doesn’t stop you from smiling. You’re not a Buckingham Palace guard.” Lois pointed out.

“To be frank, you could smile a bit more often, B.” Dick supported the enemy.

“It would be bad for the image,” Bruce mumbled. “If anyone saw Batman smile, it would ruin my years of hard work.”

“Diana disagrees.” Kor’i smiled. “She actually said once that ‘a smiling bat looks pretty handsome’.”

“I’ve seen a smiling bat!” Mar’i shouted from her spot on Jon’s knees, the two of them acting like nice siblings. It secretly irked Damian, but he wouldn’t ever voice that thought. “There was a cartoon!” 

“That’s nice, sweetie.” Sabine couldn’t help but rub it into Bruce some more. “Did he also have a cape, like Bruce?”

“Yes! And he walked on two legs!” 

“See? I think your image doesn’t need to suffer.” Tom joined his wife. His English wasn’t that good, but he could get by. “Maybe you could get a cartoon about Batman? Ladybug had her own movie and a song dedicated to her.” 

“Ladybug?” Jonathan asked. Marinette immediately tensed at the mention of her superhero name. She definitely did not want to reveal herself to everyone here. It’s not that she didn’t trust any of them, since all of them knew about Batman and co., but she felt uneasy. The fewer people knew, the better. 

“Parisian superheroine.” Sabine clarified.

“We sure didn’t hear about her back in Smallville.” Martha insisted, smiling. “Then again, we don’t really keep with the news from the old world.”

“There was this terrorist in Paris that used magic to turn people into temporary villains. He was finally defeated recently. I think you’ve seen all the ladybug decorations.” Tim explained in broad terms. 

“Ah! Right. I was wondering about the ladybugs…” 

Damian noted that his beloved was tense and decided that it was a moment good as any other to spring up the surprise. He shifted slightly, signaling that he wanted to get up. Marinette, who was still holding her cup, immediately sprung onto her feet. She thought he maybe wanted to leave somewhere or speak with his father alone. 

Instead, Damian hit the side of his hot chocolate cup with a spoon three times, gathering everyone’s attention. 

“Tt. I wanted to say a few words. This will be important so shut up you lot.” He cleared his throat before continuing in a mostly emotionless voice that most people associated with his ‘Ice Prince’ persona. “Marinette. When I first met you, it was not from our own free will. The bitch that is my mother forced our hand and tied us together. But we got to know each other out of our own free will. Nobody forced me…” His head snapped toward Dick. “Tt. Don’t you dare, Grayson.” Seeing his brother raise his hands in a surrender gesture, he carried on. “Nobody forced me to come to Paris. Definitely, nobody forced you to actually accept my courting. To this day, I am left wondering why an Angel as you would actually agree to go out with me, but here we are.”

The people watched with rapt attention. Marinette just stood there, unable to voice a coherent thought. She had no idea what was happening, but a deep red blush had made its way onto her face when he praised her. 

“You were so full of passion and joy and it reminded me a bit of Jon, but without the irritating factors.” 

“Hey!” The boy protested. A murderous glare from Damian shut him up quickly. 

“As I was saying, you were perfect in my eyes. I was taken away by your kindness. There are no words to describe my feelings.” His tone was still emotionless and monotonous, but Marinette could see that he was doing his best to actually see this through. “I can say without a doubt that I love you, Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” 

All air was suddenly sucked from Mari’s lungs when he fell on one knee and pulled out a small black box. Inside was probably the most beautiful ring she had ever seen. There were three flowers on a golden band. In the center of each, there was a shining diamond, surrounded by smaller stones. The petals were made from pink stones that she suspected were also diamonds. Were there even pink diamonds? All in all, it looked beyond words. 

“Will you do me that honor and become my wife?” When he finally asked, she could feel the world spinning. This was… this was better than in any of her daydreams. And not only because instead of Adrien there was Damian. 

The words died in her throat. She had to sit down to not faint. “Yes…” She whispered weakly, so only Damian could hear. The boy smiled brightly (a rare sight to be sure) and put the ring on her finger. 

Her gaze fell on the band he had on his own hand. It was silver with a large black stone in the center of the band, surrounded by eight diamonds. The Black Cat Miraculous she realized. 

An applaud arose from several places in the room, but some of the guests were confused. 

“Aren’t you two too young to get married?” Johnathan asked, scratching his head. 

“Tt. Technically, we are already married where I come from. This is for my wife’s content and nothing else.”

“Married?!” The old farmer asked, scandalized. 

“Tt. That’s what I said. Now can someone please get my Angel some water? I think she is about to faint.” 

“Um… I would also be very interested in the story…” Clark joined his father. He wasn’t exactly that much scandalized, but confusion was clear on his face. 

“I promise I will explain everything. I think we should give the two some breathing space…” Bruce proposed hesitantly. 

“I will help get Mari to her room. I think she has had enough excitement for today,” Tom offered.

“I am also turning in for the night, Father. I trust that between you and Miss Cheng they will get a full story. Sans the private parts of course.” He glared at him. 

“I will make sure of that.” Sabine quickly cut any protests.

“Good. Good night everyone. And Merry Christmas or whatever.” With that, he left, wanting to catch up with Tom and Marinette.

----------------

Masterlist // Next

[crue-sixx]

Chasing Ghosts

Title: Chasing Ghosts

Fandom: The Dirt 

Summary: Frank comes to your door in tears, says nothing and takes you against the wall.

Warnings: Smut, violence, swearing, abuse mention.

Trigger Warning: Mentions of abuse so if this makes you uncomfortable then please do not read.

In the winter of your fourteenth year, you met Frankie Ferrana.  He was a rough and tumble kid from Seattle who at the time lived with his Nona and Grandpa Tom.  He at first wouldn't give you the time of day but when he saw all the bruises on your body he felt for you.  He gave you some lessons in self defense, if you ever gained enough courage to fight back against your father.  He regretted ever teaching you when you missed school for a week, him going to your house only to see your face busted up.

He eventually went behind your back and called child services on your dad, the day after they paid a visit your father made an executive decision to uproot the family from Seattle, Washington to Montgomery, Alabama.  When you told Frankie about it, he looked so disheartened that he just hugged you and whispered in your ear "Call me, anytime...I'll come get you" you knew his number by heart and you nodded.

The two of you stayed in touch for two years, making weekly phone calls.  When you missed his weekly call, he grew worried and begged Tom to take him to Alabama to come see you.  He declined, the loss of contact continuing for a month.  When the phone blared at 3 in the morning, he knew it was about you.  "Hello? Y/N?"

"No" your sister Gina said in a hushed tone, her being older than you by a few years.  "It's Gina, her sister.  You need to come get her..."

He was on alert now and said "What the fuck is going on?!"

"Last month our father got really mad at her" she was choking back silent sobs "he poured boiling oil on her while she was sleeping..."

Frank didn't know it was possible to have his blood freeze and boil at the same time.  "Where is she?" he said darkly.

"Saint Xavier's Hospital.  Third floor, room 403" she quickly said and hung up the phone.  In the background, he could hear their father demand to know who she was talking to.  Frank knew Tom wouldn't believe him without evidence, so he opted for the less legal option-he took the truck without telling Tom and drove from Seattle to Montgomery.  He gassed up a few times and just drove off without paying, time was of the essence.  He made the trip in just under 40 hours, using empty soda cans to piss in when he had to go.

He kicked the door open to your room, the place being empty save for the patient of course.  He didn't recoil from your burn, the bubbly skin on the right sight of your face and neck, just touching your shoulder.  He unhooked your IVs from your arm, taking the wheelchair from the corner and putting you in it to wheel you out without being caught.

He stopped dead in his tracks when a nurse turned the corner and stared at you both.  He was so afraid of being busted, but the nurse just smiled at him and put a finger to her lips, gesturing that she'd keep quiet about your location.  He nodded his thanks and went on his way with you.  You woke up a little, able to get up and climb into the truck on your own "You came...." you softly cried.

"Gina called" he drive off back to Seattle "Just rest now, Y/N...you need it..." he stroked your thigh, but not in a sexual way.  You laid your head on the window and slept the whole way back.  Tom and Nona were understandably pissed at Frank for stealing the truck, but recoiled the moment they saw your face.  

He let you share his bed with him, both of you needed each other close.  He was kicking himself for letting you leave with your father, wondering how many other injuries he had caused you to get.  While you were sound asleep and dead to the world, he brushed your hair from your face and said "You're so beautiful..." and planted a soft kiss on your lips.

Over the next year, you and Frank had moved to L.A., to get away from his mother, Deanna.  He made sure to include you in all his dealings, and shared his booze and drugs with you.  On many occasions, you two had even had drunken, drugged up sex, both of you too scared to admit having feelings for each other.

It was one night he asked you to be left alone, that he needed to do something by himself.  This was out of the ordinary for him, but  you obliged him.  He had done so much for you, and you granted him this one favor he asked of you.  He had left with a bottle of Jack Daniels in his hand, and was back in a few hours.  He banged on the door and when you opened it he pushed you back against the wall and started kissing you.

You returned the gesture, pulling away and seeing that he'd been crying "Frank?  What's wrong?"

He was breathing heavily as he tore off your shirt to kiss your breasts "No..." he pulled down your bra to get at the nipple, teasing it with his tongue "Don't call me Frank..."

You groaned in need, needing him to be inside you soon "What do you want me to call you then?"

"Babe" he reached down into your pants and inserted two fingers inside you "just call me Babe for the moment..."

"Babe..." you sighed, you feeling his fingers slipping in and out of you.  He then bought his fingers up to your lips, you licking one clean and him doing the same to the other "fuck me..."

"Yes, Ma'am" he used his switchblade knife to cut off your pants and panties, you spread your legs to allow him to enter you.  He stepped back to release his cock from his pants, the thing bouncing at the very sight of you naked in front of him.  He pressed you against the wall, and dove right in.  

"Fuck, Babe" you gasped as he roughly entered you.  You could smell the whiskey on his breath, the scent seeming to seep through his skin.  It turned you on even more, you wrapping one leg around his waist.

He grunted "You're always so fuckin' tight for me, Y/N..."

"That's cause nobody else will fuck me with this monster face" you said.  He suddenly stopped and gave you a stern look.

"You're beautiful" he gave a hard thrust, you squeaking from the sudden pressure "the way" another thrust "you are..." he took both your legs in his arms, him being strong enough to hold you up and thrust.

He'd never done this when you two fucked before, so the feeling was new to you.  "Jesus Fuckin' Christ Babe..." you clung onto his neck to help him hold you up "Keep that up, I'm gonna cum..."

"Me too..." a few thrusts later, you felt him twitch and release himself inside you, his hips shuddering as he did so and he let out a loud "Y/N!  FUCK!"

When you came right after him you bit into his shoulder, making him cum harder than he'd ever did while he was with you.  His cock pulsed a few times, releasing more of his semen.  When he caught his breath, he pulled out and let you down.  You reached up and gave him a tired kiss, the both of you having been spent.  You took his hand and went to the couch to cuddle, you in the nude and him having done up his pants.  After a few minutes of blissful silence you asked "What was that all about?"

"Me fuckin' your brains out?" he laughed softly.

"Yeah that," you caressed his thick arm "and why you were crying" you interlocked your fingers with his, allowing him to take his time with answering.

"I called my dad..." he finally said, you looking up at him in disbelief.

"Well what did he say?" you were anxious to hear all about it.

"He told me he didn't have a son" he sniffled "and to never call him again..."

"Oh Babe..." your eyes were sorrowful for him.  He'd told you that he wanted to have a relationship with his father all his life, him only showing up once in a blue moon.  The one time he actually remembered clearly that Big Frank gave him a birthday present was a sled when he was seven.

"I don't want my name anymore" he stated matter of fact "How do I change it?"

"Well you have to go down to the social security office and apply for a name change, bring your current ID and fill out what your name is and what you want to change it to" you had some working knowledge about the issue, you working at the post office in the back sorting mail for delivery.  "What do you want to change it to?"

"I dunno" he said, his mood and voice perking up a little "something cool!  I wanna be a rock star!"

You thought about your ex back in Alabama "Nicky Six?"

He looked down at you and asked "How is it spelled?"

"N-I-C-K-Y S-I-X"

"The name sounds cool, but not with that spelling" he pouted cutely.

"N-I-K-K-I S-I-X-X?" he grinned at you and kissed you again.

"That's so totally metal, Y/N" he put his arm around you, kissing you deeper now.  You could feel his hardening cock in his pants against your thigh.

"Again, Nikki?" you raised an eyebrow at him, he grinned at the use of his new name.

"You're just so gorgeous, Y/N" his hand moved down your body "I can't help it..." you obliged and wrapped your legs around him while lying on the couch.  "Hey..." he stopped, being serious "Wanna officially be my girl?"

"What?" you stopped too, suddenly getting self-conscience about your face "you want to be seen with a girl looking like Quasimodo?"

He sighed, exasperated that you still thought of yourself as unlovable even after he assured you multiple times you looked radiant. "Y/N.  You are perfect, the way you are...I will help you see that" he bent down to kiss you, this time making slow, sweet love instead of a tangled mess of sloppy fucking.

The next few months were peaceful, or as peaceful as they could be with Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee, Mick Mars and Vince Neil around as your lover and friends.  You were alone in the apartment one night, as you were fighting a bad cold when you heard a knock at the door.  "Guys, I can't believe you're home so early from a show!  Did you totally bomb?" you opened the door to see the man who struck fear into your soul for many years.

"Hey, my wayward daughter" he stepped in, you stepping back out of terror.

"I-I don't think you should be here, Daddy..." you stammered, tripping over the sofa.

"I'm here to take you back home, child" he grabbed at your hair and pulled you up to him.  You screamed and bit his arm, him releasing you from the pain.  You scrambled back to the couch, where you knew Nikki hid one of his hand guns.  He'd given you lessons on how to shoot, and they'd come in handy.  You grabbed the thing and your father had grabbed your leg and was dragging you backward.

"I'm not afraid of you anymore!" you shouted back to him.  "You have no power over me!"

"I am your father!  You are my property!  That burn on your face if proof of that!" he started to lunge forward, but from behind he was pulled back by Nikki, who held his switchblade to the older man's throat.

"She doesn't answer to you, asshole" his eyes were fully black, him pressing the blade to your father's neck drawing blood.  With three more men who were more than capable of kicking his ass behind him, your father relented and stepped back.

"This isn't over, Frankie" he scoffed.

"My name is Nikki" your boyfriend corrected him "and if we ever see your face again, I'll gut you like a fish."

Your father then left, you breathing a sigh of relief and saying "Thanks guys..." you didn't need to say anything else, all of them knowing full well that it was your father who burned your face.  Nikki helped you up.

"You okay, Y/N?" he gave you a once over "You're not hurt are you?"

"No, I'm fine" you assured them with confidence.  "Just shaken up is all" soon people started pouring in for the party, Nikki never leaving your side.  While you were making out with him later, you smelled the whiskey on him and grinned against his lips.

"Wanna fuck?" he asked, taking you to your room.

"Hell yeah!" you screamed against the music, then slamming the door for semi-privacy.

[simranger]

a somewhat comprehensive performance guide for the sims 3

what it says on the tin. i’m sticking everything under the cut to avoid clogging everyone’s dash because, hoo boy, this is a looong post

welcome to my kitchen, and hopefully i can help you get your game to run a bit better!

first, if you haven’t already, make sure to launch your game (i recommend just bg so it loads quickly) and check if you need to change your graphics settings. if you’re on windows and would like to play your game in windowed fullscreen: 

download and install this program (it’s safe, i promise)

open the program and you should get a notification that it’s running in your tray

with ts3 open (in it’s windowed mode), click on your tray and right click on the program’s icon, then select Add window

go back to ts3′s window and press F3 on your keyboard. you should get a notification that ts3 has been added to the program’s list, and you’re done!

you’ll also need an fps limiter to prevent the game from frying your video card. i use this one, set at 60fps. alternatively, you can download MATY’s fps limiter and place it in your game’s bin. (The Sims 3/Game/Bin)

is your game crashing on startup? check your DEP settings or try using 3booter.

some tips to help your game run better

have as few programs as possible running while ts3 is open.

run a 4gb patch on your game. download this, run the .exe, select the game’s executable (The Sims 3/Game/Bin/TS3W.exe for patch 1.69 or TS3.exe for patch 1.67), and click open. you’ll get a pop up saying it’s patched. please note that your computer needs to have over 2gb of RAM for this! (most do, but do check how much RAM you have!)

if you’d rather increase how much RAM the game uses yourself, follow this tutorial.

download razer game booster. this frees up some memory on your computer to increase performance.

check how much virtual memory your pc is using. follow this tutorial.

delete cache files. the game will generate new ones every time you open the game, so make sure to delete the following files before running the game: CASPartCache, compositorCache, scriptCache, simCompositorCache, socialCache. these files are found in Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3.

if you’re on pc, delete your WoldCaches folder. not everyone will have this folder, and the game may also regenerate the folder. (mine didn’t regenerate the folder, but it’s happened to others)  DO NOT do this if you’re on mac!!!!

disable your FeaturedItems folder. this prevents the game from generating a fuckton of store thumbnails you’ll never look at. follow this tutorial or just set the folder to be read only.

turn off the following in your game settings: shop mode, interactive loading screens, and online features. i also recommend turning off story progression and memories and using mods to handle these instead.

edit your GraphicsRules.sgr. this will help your game load textures faster. (it also helps how fast your sims change their clothes!) do it yourself by following these tutorials ( 1 + 2 ) or download avian’s graphics fix (v1.69) (v1.67). i recommend doing the latter more than doing it yourself!

modding your game: a quick crash course

yeah, i know most people know how to download and install custom content + mods, but this is still good to give a read for managing your sims 3 cc!

first, you’ll need a mods folder because ts3 won’t generate one by itself. i recommend you download this framework and follow MTS’ guide to setting it up. it comes with a nifty little no intro video mod!

use the compressorizer redux. you can extract it wherever you’d like, just make sure to keep all its files in the same folder. this program is pretty self-explanatory, it compresses .package and .sims3pack files. to use it, click Add Files to List, select the folder with your files (you can do this multiple times), and click GO! now, just let it do its thing! it may take a while to process everything if you have big files, but you’ll get a pop up saying how many MBs you saved when it’s done. you can also use decrapify mode on .sims3packs (useful for store content!)

i recommend downloading Delphy’s Sims3Pack Extractor. i avoid using the game launcher to manage my cc at all costs, and this tool is useful for extracting .package files from .sims3pack files. follow this tutorial to use it!

Delphy’s Dashboard Tool is also useful for finding any broken, duplicate, or conflicting cc. i don’t recommend using the fix all problems option, do it yourself instead to make sure you don’t delete anything you want to keep.

renaming cc files can also help with lag. follow this tutorial!

you can also merge your package files to help with lag and load times using this tutorial. i don’t do this personally, but my mods folder is pretty small too.

note: the game launcher can only load 500 .sims3pack files at a time. only use the launcher to install absolutely necessary items!

to help reduce lag and load times, you can delete everything in your DCBackup folder (Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3/DCBackup) EXCEPT for ccmerged.package. DO NOT delete ccmerged, it has all the cc installed through the launcher. (ps. you can safely use the compressorizer to compress your ccmerged file!)

final tip: try to control the amount of cc you have installed. i’ve noticed that the game takes a lot longer to load when my mods folder starts to reach a Gb. my mods folder is currently 368Mb, and it takes around 5 minutes to load any saves.

helpful mods for your game

the ETERNAL must have: nraas’ mastercontroller. you’ll need this to run all nraas mods! also be sure to grab overwatch and errortrap while you’re at it! these catch and clean any errors that happen in your game. i also recommend register and traffic.

no (or fewer) auto memories is SUPER useful for controlling memories in the game and helps with game performance. it’s super customizable!

ellacharmed’s world fixes. not really a traditional mod, but this helps with routing and camera control! note: don’t use these on preexisting saves! some lots have been moved and there will be little gaps in the world with preexisting saves.

routing fixes for schools + other lots. be sure to use nraas to reset your school lot after installing!

interaction on sloped terrain. this is mostly just a sanity saver, but very useful!

finally, i recommend grabbing awesome mod. it has a bunch of fixes and is very customizable!

reducing save game bloat

a.k.a. the steps i go through to make sure that my game loads relatively fast and runs with minimal lag. 

if i’ve taken any screenshots the last time i played the game, i move those out of ts3′s screenshots folder and into a separate folder.

i delete all generated cache files. see the tips section above for more info

i run kuree’s save cleaner on the save i’m planning on playing. if the latest version (2.1) doesn’t open/work, try using v1.1 instead. you can also do this manually, though i don’t recommend it for the sake of your sanity.

every couple of in-game weeks in a save i run a total reset on the world i’m playing in. this is done through nraas mastercontroller. click on your city hall from map view>nraas>mastercontroller>total reset

tip: to help prevent your saves from corrupting, use save as and keep multiple versions of your save. for example, i have 3 versions of my lepacy save. this way, if a save does corrupt, you have a backup! 

misc. ways to reduce lag

don’t run the game with all packs enabled. it’s going to murder your game. only run with packs you know you’ll use. you can also refer to this masterpost for bgc items if you only want certain items from a pack.

don’t keep tons of stuff in your sim’s inventory. use the fridge to keep fish and harvestables instead.

if your sim has the collection helper LTR in their inventory, make sure you have it set to none when you’re not using it.

i recommend downloading simborg’s CAS hiders, ILTS’ CAS Rehaul, and/or sweetdevil-sims’ CAS hiders to reduce CAS load times.

change CAS’ catalogs to show in compact form using nraas mastercontroller. select a sim>nraas>mastercontroller>settings>CAS and look for show in compact form options and set each to true

nona’s no limos mod can help nraas overwatch’s nightly clean up

make sure to turn off any build/buy cheats you activated when you go back into live mode. (even if it’s just to save)

if you’re using CAS a lot in a play session, it’s a good idea to quit to desktop and reload the game every once in a while

try to avoid saving presets and CASt swatches

disconnect from the internet. i don’t do this often because i usually have spotify or carl’s sims 3 guide open alongside ts3.

good resources to refer to

the sims wiki’s game guide to improving performace

nraas’ tips for better game performance

this thread @ MTS

optimization guide @ games4theworld

this post by darkfridaysims

that’s all folks!

if you’d like to know what cc and mods i’m using, here’s my resources page. thanks for reading all this, and if you need any clarification or have anything to add onto this, definitely hmu!

edits

*ps that i won’t be tagging people i credit so i don’t risk clogging their activity, i’ll still include a link to their blog!

the fps and 4Gb patch aren’t needed, it was fixed in a patch! (thank you, create-a-sim!)

[doomedandstoned]

Top 10 Albums Of The 2010′s

~By Calvin Lampert~

I think it is safe to say that underground metal has enjoyed a period of unprecedented growth and popularity in the last 10 years. But when I am saying this I am not only thinking about the heavy underground; those adherents of the Sabbath sound and this whole new wave of doom metal bands. I am thinking of the fact that (underground) metal has undergone a change in image, too.

Though frequently maligned as hipster bands (or metal for people who don't like metal), acts like Deafheaven have brought metal to a whole new audience and raised awareness of the genre as a genuine form of art that does not just exist for its own sake; that metal fans only go for gore, beer and self-referential horn-throwing. Not that Neurosis and Godflesh haven’t been ambassadors of this mindset for more than three decades already, but it feels that the understanding of metal as art seems to have finally broken through to an audience outside of the traditional metal subculture in the past decade.

I think it is in no small part thanks to some of the bands on this list I have assembled (though I may have forgone obvious picks like Alcest and Deafheaven for more personal choices). And in retrospect, it should’ve been a list of bands rather than records, as most of the artists on this list would’ve have had a claim to a spot on here, with any record they put out. Take that as a hurray for consistency. So, without further ado, my picks for the best and most remarkable records of the decade.

10. Akhlys – 'The Dreaming I' (Debemur Morti - 2015)

The Dreaming I by Akhlys

I can’t help but wonder if Naas Alcameth of AKHLYS (also of Nightbringer, Aoratos and Bestia Arcana) set out with the express intent to create what is essentially a nigh perfect atmospheric black metal record when he started working on The Dreaming I. It damn sure feels like, each strum, syllable, and beat sits at the right place; the pieces of this nightmarish puzzle fit with an unsettling ease.

Photograph by by Kuba Leszko

The sound really does justice to the underlying concept of dreams and nightmares, as you’ll rarely find a record with such an impenetrable atmosphere. Once you hit play you’re soon enveloped by countless layers of swirling guitars, all at the command of Naas Alcameth, and he seems hellbent on suffocating you with them. The Dreaming I is about as close as you can get sleep paralysis-made-music. If you put off black metal as spooky noise made by a bunch hooded esoteric nerds you might’ve found your match in Akhlys. They are just that, they’re dead serious, and the results are impressive.

9. Elephant Tree – 'Elephant Tree' (Magnetic Eye Records - 2016)

Elephant Tree by Elephant Tree

I’ve observed myself growing increasingly apart from most stoner rock as of late, sometimes even antagonizing the genre. I’m afraid I’m just burned out on it and grown embittered, so a record from those genres ending up on my Albums of the Decade list should give you a hint of just how special it really is.

That is not to say that there haven’t been some real stoner rock heavy hitters this decade, such as Gozus Revival, Valley of the Suns Sayings of the Seers or Lo-Pans Salvador, but there’s something to ELEPHANT TREE's self-titled record that just so narrowly sets it apart from the others.

Photograph by Phil Smithies

What that is I am still not quite sure, and I had my fair share of relistens. Maybe it is the tasteful balance act of the production that makes this record so wonderfully ethereal but also ridiculously crushing. Or the sleek as all hell songwriting where every hook fires but the flow remains impeccable. Or the gorgeous harmonic interplay of Jack Townley and Pete Hollands vocals. Or maybe really just the sum of it all.

Whatever it is, Elephant Tree get it so very right and it is a true joy to behold such a well-written and fine-tuned record in a genre that has become all too prone to shoddiness and idle Kyuss worship. If there is any justice in the world, Elephant Tree will be looked back as a classic of the genre.

8. Oranssi Pazuzu – 'Värähtelijä' (Svart Records/20 Buck Spin - 2016)

Värähtelijä by Oranssi Pazuzu

So many have tried to do it. Countless chonged out Hendrix worshippers. Australian neo-psych darlings. But they all failed. Turns out the holy grail of psychedelia was dug up by a bunch of dudes in the frozen wastes of Finland when they decided to throw together black metal and almost every imaginable psych rock permutation under the firmament. Absolute insanity inducing balls-to-the-wall trippiness ensues.

ORANSSI PAZUZU is their name, ego-death squared in hyperspace is their game and Värähtelijä is the latest in a slew of attempts to smear your brain across the event horizon, and their most accomplished one so far. Think Hawkwind trying to interpret the soundtrack of Interstellar with a guy being spaghettified by a black hole screaming on top of it. Huge, plodding riffs and spacey synth fuckery abound.

Film by Shelby Kray

This madness extends to their live shows, yours truly (being completely sober) suffered a sensory overload when they launched into the crescendo of the album opener "Saturaatio" at Roadburn 2016. This band is taking things to the next level, and something tells me that Värähtelijä is just another chapter in an increasingly maddening venture.

7. Conan – 'Blood Eagle' (Napalm Records - 2014)

You can’t really draw a picture of the doom scene in the '10s without CONAN. And I do mean that in quite the literal sense, as seemingly every self-respecting doom fan seems to own at least one Conan shirt and you can’t really go to a gig without seeing one.

By all accounts the band probably could’ve retired years ago and just live off those rad merch designs. But Conan knows no rest -- always writing, always touring, always scheming. Thus the band has fed a steady stream of releases to a cult-like following over the years and narrowing down the output of such an important band to just one record is no small task. My choice eventually fell on the fan favorite, 2014's Blood Eagle.

Photograph by Sally Townsend

Conan had already pretty much established themselves as the emergent sludge-doom act of the decade at that time, but as we know they’re not one to rest on their laurels and Blood Eagle was just them driving the point home and the stake deeper, solidifying a grasp on the scene that hasn’t waned ever since, and they did it oh so righteously, by the primordial might of tonal displacement and drop F glory.

Conan might have the closest thing to a universal doom appeal because they speak to your baser instincts. Songs like "Foehammer" or "Total Conquest" seem like trebuchets aimed at the synapses of your reptilian brain, and I can’t help but admire these noble DIY barbarians, who so deservedly have carved out their place in the canon of the genre.

6. SubRosa – 'More Constant than the Gods' (Profound Lore - 2013)

More Constant Than The Gods by SubRosa

SUBROSA was one of a kind. If one band calling it quits this decade broke my heart, it was them. But before doing so they gifted us three outstanding post-metal records, whose folk and chamber music flourishes felt completely unique, intimate, and anachronistic in a genre dominated by more vast and spacious narratives. They reached inward rather than outward and did so with a no-parts-wasted mentality.

In a world rife with one-trick bands, SubRosa's employ of multiple vocalists and two electric violins felt natural and unabashedly non-gimmicky, and they would reveal the true potential of their sound on 2013's harrowingly beautiful More Constant than the Gods.

Photograph by Alyssa Herrman

More Constant is remarkable for its elegant and restrained way of instilling dread. Hardly any harsh vocals, the tempo never goes beyond a steady stride, just those horrific and yet also beautiful violins, plodding guitars, and downright poetic lyrics. And SubRosa seem to feel right at home on either terrain, be it the skin-crawling lead guitar line of "Affliction" or the grandiose outro section of "Fat of the Ram." One can only hope that SubRosa will return one day. A band that was truly novel, and not just a novelty.

5. Tchornobog – 'Tchornobog' (Fallen Empire / I, Voidhanger - 2017)

TCHORNOBOG is many things. Among others, a dark, ancient Slavic deity. In the world of music, a monolithic amalgamation of extreme metal, some Eldritch chimera of cavernous black, death, and doom metal. And the beast of one Markov Soroka, though him stating that the Tchornobog inhabits his head begs the question who might really be in charge?

Photograph by Nona Limmen

Soroka does indeed seem to be guided by spirits since he started the project at the age 14, and eight years of gestation and arduous work culminated in one of the most engrossing, all-consuming records I have come across this decade. Far be it from me to reduce Tchornobog’s remarkability down to the young age of its creator, but Sorokas ambition and execution of those ambitions could run circles around a lot of veteran extreme metal bands. The man is just flat out talented. And that is not even taking his various other projects (Drown, Aureole, Krukh) into account, or his curation work through his own label, Vigor Deconstruct.

As such, Tchornobog ultimately is, among many other things, a bright spotlight shining on a young man who has all the makings of being the next big underground metal mastermind. I’m sure you’ll be inclined to agree as soon as Soroka brings out the grand piano and saxophone on "III: Non-Existence’s Warmth (Infinite Natality Psychosis)" to perform what I’d like to call Lovecraftian Lounge Music. He must have a thing for Demilich too, judging from those song titles.

4. Hell – 'III' (Lower Your Head / Pesanta Urfolk - 2012)

Hell III by Hell

There is a subtle power in melodies, particularly melancholic and sad ones. Doom, and more specifically funeral doom, have long since sought to harness the power of the melody, but I think nobody has been quite as effective or moved me so profoundly with a simple plucked melody as MSW, the singular mind of HELL.

Just one minute into Mourn, the opening (and penultimate) track of Hell III), I am already instilled with a deep sense of melancholy, but also foreboding doom. However, few songs can just thrive from having a good riff or lead -- and there’s 17 minutes yet to go. I’ll spoil you and say that in this time Hell shifts between doom, black metal, neoclassical music, and dark ambient. That’s a lot of territory to cover and it becomes apparent that for how meticulously well crafted its individual parts are, MSW never loses sight of the bigger picture and the transitions between these different sounds are seamless.

Film by Billy Goate

At the danger of sounding like a huge fucking nerd, I really am more inclined to refer to "Mourn" and its follow up "Decedere" as movements rather than songs and if the songwriting doesn’t clue you in you’ll be persuaded by the time Decedere breaks out the operatic vocals and a flute accompanied by a string ensemble. And no matter if he’s performing a contemplative acoustic piece or pounding you in the ground with some absolutely hellish (the band name is apt as can be) blackened doom, MSW always manages to maintain an aura of grandeur. MSW is not just a great songwriter, he’s a veritable composer, and III is his magnum opus.

3. Mizmor – 'Yodh' (Gilead Media - 2016)

Yodh by מזמור

If whatever has come before was bleak, then Yodh is pitch fucking black. This decade hasn’t lacked in dark records (not even taking metal into account -- Mount Eerie's A Crow Looked at Me, Nick Cave’s Skeleton Tree, or The Caretakers Everywhere at the End of Time), but taking on existential dread specifically (and thereby becoming a vessel for it) MIZMOR's Yodh remains unsurpassed in its sheer effectiveness to instill said dread in the listener and is possibly the most harrowing record of the last 10 years.

Photo by Kento Woolery

As befits the theme, Yodh genuinely sounds like the work of a broken man. A miserable slab of glacial funeral doom and grimy black metal, but delivered with a brute strength and conviction that really suggests more defiance than self-pity. I’d be remiss to not point out ALN's incredibly varied vocal performance, ranging from wretched snarls and air-starved bellows to what I can only describe as pterodactyl shrieks, all carrying the same biting vitriol as the instrumentals.

Film by Shelby Kray

Yet for all its doom and gloom, Yodh surprises with occasional moments of tenderness and outright (if melancholic) beauty, too, such as the acoustic intro of "II: A Semblance Waning" or the massive main riff of "III: The Serpent Eats Its Tail" that feels like the sort of thing Pallbearer would’ve come up with if they had been more into Mournful Congregation than Warning.

All these things combined with thoughtful, introspective lyrics make Yodh into an incredibly powerful and downright visceral record, and if for you the main draw of doom metal lies its emotional potency (as it does for me) then Yodh is an essential listen. Let ALN shout down the very pillars that uphold your personal beliefs of life’s meaning.

2. Pallbearer – 'Sorrow and Extinction' (Profound Lore - 2012)

Sorrow And Extinction by Pallbearer

Warning was the first band to try to bridge the gap between traditional and modern doom metal, and while Watching from a Distance might have a fair claim to be one of the saddest metal records out there, in my eyes it was PALLBEARER who took that formula even further and perfected it with their 2011 debut Sorrow and Extinction. To me, it’s a classic record in both senses. A landmark of post-millennium doom and a throwback to the days of yore, when Saint Vitus and Candlemass were in charge of bumming everyone out; while still maintaining the larger-than-life-feel and sonic heft of modern doom championed by bands like Yob or Neurosis.

Photo by Sally Townsend

But Sorrow and Extinction isn’t just some roided up epic doom sans the operatic vocals, Pallbearer are far too clever to suffer such a pitfall. Granted, Sorrow sounds huge, and while there’s plenty of the heavy stuff to go around what makes Sorrow so great is how catchy it is. There is no weak song on this record (admittedly there’s only five), and while most bands could only hope to one day write a riff as good as "Devoid of Redemption's" main theme, it seems like Pallbearer just comes up with them on a whim, and their ability to do so doesn’t seem to have faded three records into their career -- not even to speak of Brett Campbell's soulful lyrics and passionate delivery.

Film by Billy Goate

Then, of course, there’s the amazing guitar interplay between Campbell and Devin Holt, chiefly on the casket closer "Given to the Grave," whose second half essentially boils down to them constantly trading dramatic leads with each other like the world's most woeful ping pong game.

Sorrow and Extinction is not only a deeply moving yet utterly anthemic record, but also one that successfully marries the past and the present of doom. In that regard, it is a preciously rare and so far unsurpassed record.

1. YOB – 'Clearing the Path to Ascend' (Neurot Records - 2014)

Clearing The Path To Ascend by YOB

Writing about metal without resorting to superlatives is hard. Try to practice restraint in the presence of something whose very nature lacks restraint. I am definitely guilty of that lack of restraint; one has only got to scroll up again to confirm it. But luckily some records are so very superlative that I do not have to take that editorial high road and can fire all the “mosts” and “-ests” at will. In fact, they almost require you to use them. Clearing the Path to Ascend by YOB is one such record. Even among all these preceding superlative records it stands above and beyond.

Photo by Angelique Le Marchand

Clearing the Path to Ascend is so vast, it feels singular. It is one and it is all. When I think larger-than-life sound, Clearing comes to mind first. It has become the very benchmark with which I measure other records. Yob's big and beautiful only consists of four tracks, but they made each feel like a distinct part of a greater journey. "In Our Blood" opens with a recording of Alan Watts telling you it is "time to wake up," before the song slowly rises into a stretched-out draw and crash, eventually unfurling into a manic guitar line.

"Nothing to Win" feels like Yob's own take on Neurosis’ Through Silver in Blood. It is an unrelenting, steady 11-minute march down a highway of broken glass, utterly windswept and viciously hopeless. "Unmask the Spectre" seems to tread similarly bitter paths but manages to wrestle itself free into two grandiose spiraling crescendos.

Film by Billy Goate

The death knell of an album closer that is "Marrow" shouldn’t really need much of an introduction at this point. It still feels like I’ll see a link, post or share of it every other day. It has become an omnipresence in the doom scene, and deservingly so. Yob dials back on the gloom and shines all the brighter. "Marrow" is not just hopeful; it is downright ecstatic and by the time Mike Scheidt launches into the grand solo of the track (so very gracefully accompanied by a Hammond organ played by producer Billy Barnett) has ascended to a genuine sermon.

Though Clearing had its fair share of dark moments "Marrow" closes the record on a remarkably conciliatory note and I really think that speaks of Yob as a (metal) band. Call it a big move to offer closure -- a fitting end to such a big record. One that suits the title of ‘Album of the Decade,’ and embodies the spirit of metal that wants to be just more.

Calvin's Choice: 100 Best of the Decade

YOB - Clearing the Path to Ascend

Pallbearer - Sorrow and Extinction

Mizmor - Yodh

Hell - Hell III

Tchornobog - Tchornobog

SubRosa - More Constant Than The Gods

Conan - Blood Eagle

Oranssi Pazuzu - Värähtelijä

Elephant Tree - Elephant Tree

Akhlys - The Dreaming I

Clutch - Earth Rocker

Merkstave - Merkstave

Gozu - Revival

Chelsea Wolfe - Pain Is Beauty

Valley of the Sun - The Sayings of the Seers

Inter Arma - Paradise Gallows

Thou - Heathen

Om - Advaitic Songs

Bell Witch - Mirror Reaper

All Them Witches - Dying Surfer Meets His Maker

Horn of the Rhino - Weight of Coronation

Boss Keloid - Melted on the Inch

KALEIKR - Heart Of Lead

Jeremy Irons & The Ratgang Malibus - Spirit Knife

Woman is the Earth - Torch of Our Final Night

Weyes Blood - Titanic Rising

LINGUA IGNOTA - Caligula

Queens of the Stone Age - ...Like Clockwork

Messa - Feast for Water

Anna von Hausswolff - Dead Magic

Mamiffer - The World Unseen

Samothrace - Reverence to Stone

Primitive Man - Scorn

Fórn - The Departure of Consciousness

Khemmis - Absolution

Bongripper - Miserable

High on Fire - De Vermis Mysteriis

UN - Sentiment

Cult of Luna - Mariner

Slomatics - Future Echo Returns

MISTHYRMING - Söngvar elds og óreiðu

Dvne - Asheran

Earth - Primitive and Deadly

Mars Red Sky - Apex III (Praise For The Burning Soul)

The Midnight Ghost Train - Cypress Ave.

Panopticon - Panopticon - Roads to the North

Mare Cognitum - Phobos Monolith

Sólstafir - Ótta

Have a Nice Life - The Unnatural World

Furia - Księżyc Milczy Luty

Tardigrada - Emotionale Ödnis

Yellow Eyes - Immersion Trench Reverie

Stoned Jesus - Seven Thunders Roar

Höstblod - Mörkrets Intåg

Ulver - The Assassination of Julius Caesar

Zola Jesus - Okovi

Funereal Presence - Achatius

Wormlust - The Feral Wisdom

Daughters - You Won't Get What You Want

L'Acephale - L'Acéphale

40 Watt Sun - The Inside Room

Vilkacis - Beyond the Mortal Gate

Bossk - Audio Noir

Carpenter Brut - Trilogy

Sumac - What One Becomes

Death Grips - Exmilitary

Red Fang - Murder the Mountains

Lo-Pan - Salvador

Whores. - Gold

Truckfighters - Universe

Greenleaf - Trails & Passes

Bölzer - Aura

Monolord - Vaenir

Dead to a Dying World - Elegy

The Body - I Shall Die Here

Mutoid Man - War Moans

Neurosis - Fires Within Fires

Opeth - Pale Communion

Planning for Burial - Below the House

Triptykon - Melana Chasmata

Graveyard - Hisingen Blues

Saor - Aura

Windhand - Grief's Infernal Flower

Egypt - Endless Flight

Emma Ruth Rundle - Marked For Death

Deafheaven - Sunbather

Kadavar - Kadavar

Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats - Blood Lust

Vanum - Ageless Fire

Dai-Ichi - Dai-Ichi

Lord Mantis - Pervertor

Ne Obliviscaris - Portal Of I

Loss - Horizonless

Tome of the Unreplenished - Innerstanding

Elder - Lore

Witch Mountain - Cauldron of the Wild

Ahab - The Giant

Alcest - Kodama

The Dillinger Escape Plan - Dissociation

Sleep - The Sciences

[t-baba]

How to Add Plugins to WordPress

So, you’ve just created your first WordPress website—now what?

One of the best things about the WordPress platform are the thousands of free and premium plugins you'll have access to.

Plugins allow you to enhance any out-of-the-box WordPress website with a wide range of advanced, powerful and even niche features. With the right plugin, you can do everything from integrate your website with popular social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter; create a Google-style live search bar; add user registration and login functionality; or even start selling Amazon products via WordPress.

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Jessica Thornsby

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If you’re going to take your website to the next level, then you need to master the world of WordPress plugins, and in this tutorial I’ll show you how!  

By the end of this article, you’ll know how to install tens of thousands of free plugins using WordPress’ built-in plugin directory, how to upload premium plugins to your account, and even how to manually install plugins to wp-content using an FTP client—just in case your WordPress hosting provider’s file restrictions make it impossible to install plugins any other way. 

What Are WordPress Plugins, Anyway?

A WordPress plugin is a ready-made collection of code that you add to your website, in order to perform a task, add a feature or improve your site’s overall performance. For example, the popular Yoast plugin is designed to boost Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Akismet Anti-Spam protects against spammers, and W3 Total Cache can improve WordPress’ performance by adding browser, page, object and database caching.

While lots of WordPress plugins are safe, reliable and can add real value to your site, they’re still third party software, so you should always download your plugins from a reputable source.

For free plugins, the official WordPress plugin directory should be your go-to source, and can even be accessed directly from the WordPress user interface. 

If you’re purchasing a premium plugin from a marketplace or directly from the developer's website, then you should always check whether users have experienced any problems with this plugin. This research might involve reading user reviews, comments, searching for mentions of the plugin on social media, or even performing a quick Google search to see whether the plug is mentioned on any blogs or third party websites.  

Are You Using WordPress.com?

Before we start, it’s important to note that if you’re using WordPress.com then you cannot install WordPress plugins unless you upgrade to a business plan. 

If you downloaded the WordPress software from WordPress.org and installed it on your own server, then you can install plugins without purchasing any additional plans. 

Install a Plugin Using WordPress Plugin Search

The easiest way to install a free WordPress plugin is via the WordPress plugin directory, which at the time of writing provided easy access to almost 55,000 plugins. The downside is that this directory doesn’t contain any premium content, so if you’re interested in premium plugins then you’ll need to look elsewhere. 

To install a plugin via this directory, you’ll need to search for the name of the plugin in question. If you don’t already have a specific plugin in mind, then you may find it easier to explore the WordPress plugin directory in your web browser, until you find the plugin that’s right for you. 

To install your chosen plugin via the WordPress plugin directory:

Log into your WordPress account. 


In WordPress’ left-hand menu, select Plugins > Add New.

Search for the name of the plugin that you want to install. When your chosen plugin appears, click the Install Now button.

• When prompted, select Activate.

Depending on your chosen plugin, you may need to configure some settings before you can start using it. The location of a plugin’s settings may vary, but you can often locate them by selecting the plugin’s name from WordPress’ left-hand menu.

You may also be able to edit your plugin's settings by selecting Plugins > Installed Plugins from WordPress' left-hand menu.

Uploading a Plugin to Your WordPress Website

The WordPress plugin directory is restricted to free plugins, but you can find plenty of premium plugins in dedicated WordPress marketplaces such as CodeCanyon, premium plugin repositories, or by purchasing a plugin directly from the developer’s website.

Once you’ve chosen and purchased your premium plugin, it’s time to upload it to your WordPress account:

Download your chosen plugin from its source, which could be a marketplace, plugin repository or a third party website. This plugin should download to your computer as a ZIP file.  


Head over to your WordPress account and select Plugins > Add New from the left-hand menu.


Select the Upload Plugin button. 


Scroll to the If you have a plugin in a .zip format section, and select Choose file.


Select the ZIP file that you just downloaded.


Click Install Now and the plugin will be uploaded to your WordPress account.  


After a few moments, you should see a Plugin installed successfully message; select its accompanying Activate Plugin button. 


Once again, you may need to configure this plugin before you can use it. You’ll typically find a plugin’s settings by selecting its name in WordPress’ left-hand menu, and then looking for a dedicated Settings menu.

When you pay for a WordPress plugin, you’ll often get access to online documentation, FAQs, knowledge bases and sometimes even live tech support, so if you’re struggling to configure your plugin then it’s always worth checking the developer’s website to see what resources are available. 

How to Install a Plugin to wp-content Using FTP 

It’s possible that your WordPress hosting provider may have implemented file restrictions that prevent you from installing premium plugins via the Plugins > Add New menu.

If this is the case with your website, then you can install plugins manually using an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) client, which is a desktop application that connects your computer to your WordPress hosting account.

This method requires your FTP username and password, which you should have received in an email when you signed up for your web hosting account. If you’re using cPanel, then this information is also available via the cPanel dashboard. If you cannot locate your FTP username and password, then you should contact your WordPress hosting provider, as they should be able to help. 

To upload a plugin using FTP, first download the plugin’s source file, which will be in ZIP format. 
Unzip the file on your computer, which should create a new folder with the same name as the original ZIP; this is the file you’ll need to manually upload to your WordPress account. 


Now launch your FTP client and enter your username, password and host—which is typically your website’s URL—and click the Connect button. 
Navigate to the wp-content folder within your WordPress installation. This directory typically contains several items, including a plugin directory. The location of this folder tends to vary between hosting providers, so you may need to refer to your hosting provider’s documentation, or contact your provider directly for more information. 


Open the /wp-content/plugins/ directory and upload your unzipped plugin to that directory.
 To verify that your plugin had been uploaded successfully, switch back to your WordPress account and navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins. Your new plugin should now be listed in this section.


Give the plugin’s Activate link a click. 


As with all the previous methods, you may need to configure your plugin before you can use it, so spend some time exploring the plugin’s various settings; you can typically find a plugin’s settings by selecting its name in WordPress’ left-hand menu.

If your new plugin isn’t appearing in WordPress' Plugins > Installed Plugins section, then:

Switch back to your FTP client.


Navigate to the /wp-content/plugins/ directory.


Delete all the files you just uploaded, and then try re-uploading the plugin again.


How to Remove a Plugin From Your WordPress Website

At some point you may decide that you no longer want to use a particular plugin.

Plugins are third party software, so there’s always a chance that one plugin may clash with another, or an outdated plugin may even become incompatible with a newer version of WordPress. Or perhaps you got carried away installing plugins and desperately need to de-clutter your WordPress account.

If there’s a chance you may need a plugin again, then you can simply deactivate it, but if you want to permanently remove a plugin then you should deactivate and then delete it. 

To deactivate a plugin:

Select Plugins > Installed Plugins from WordPress’ left-hand menu.


Find the plugin in question, and select its accompanying Deactivate link. 


This plugin will now be deactivated. To reinstate the plugin, simply repeat the above steps but this time select the Activate link.

If you want to permanently delete a plugin, then deactivate it using the above steps. At this point you’ll gain access to a new Delete link; give it a click and the plugin in question will be gone forever.

Conclusion 

By following the instructions in this article, you can add any plugin to your WordPress website. With almost 55,000 free plugins available via the official WordPress plugin directory and 7,100 premium WordPress plugins available via CodeCanyon, you’ll be spoilt for choice! 

Do you have any favourite WordPress plugins? Be sure to let us know in the comments below! 

Here are some of the best plugins we've found in the most-used categories:

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20+ Best Popup & Opt-In WordPress Plugins

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by Jessica Thornsby via Envato Tuts+ Code https://ift.tt/2LRa8d3

[cover2covermom]

Today I am sharing a batch of mini book reviews from participating in #IronTomeAThon in the month of July.

*Books included in this batch of mini book reviews: Red Sister (Book of the Ancestor #1) by Mark Lawrence, American Gods (American Gods #1) by Neil Gaiman, Trail of Lightning (The Sixth World #1) by Rebecca Roanhorse, and A Natural History of Dragons (The Memoirs of Lady Trent #1) by Marie Brennan

» Red Sister (Book of the Ancestor #1) by Mark Lawrence

#IronTomeAThon

Red Sister is about a young girl named Nona who is beginning her training at Sweet Mercy, a convent that trains girls to become Sisters.  We follow Nona as she navigates her new life at the convent and the rigorous demands of her training.

 From the very first line, I was completely captivated by Red Sister.   The characters are complex.  The world is well developed and fascinating.  The plot was fast paced, action-packed, and an adventure from start to finish.  This book has everything I love in my fantasy books: bad ass leading lady, action, magic abilities, school/training setting, political drama, and an emphasis on friendships. 

One thing that Mark Lawrence did in Red Sister was take a few common tropes we see regularly in fantasy and flipped them into something unexpected.   You might think you know how a scenario might play out, but Mark Lawrence does a great job of keeping us on our toes throughout the entire book.

In my copy of Red Sister, Mark Lawrence included a glossary in the FRONT of the book, which I found very helpful.  More often than not, when these are included in the back of the book, I am not able to utilize it because I don’t realize the book includes a glossary until I’m finished.  This glossary included important information regarding the world, characters, etc.  I did not need to use this glossary aside from a time or two because everything is laid out clearly in the story, but I appreciated the inclusion.

One of my only complaints about Red Sister would be the fact that Nona was supposed to be a very young girl throughout much of the story.  Nona did NOT feel like a young girl of 9 or 10, but more like a girl of 14+ at the very youngest.  This does happen to be a pet peeve of mine in books.  While I do understand that this is a different world from our own thus a 9-year-old might mature faster than in our own world, it still bothered me slightly.

If you enjoy dark, gritty, and intense fantasy, I highly recommend Red Sister.   I read somewhere that someone described this book as “Arya Stark at Hogwarts,” and it really is an accurate statement.  Arya Stark is a character from Game of Thrones, and Hogwarts is the school setting in Harry Potter.  It also gave me The Name of the Wind and The Poppy War vibes.

***Trigger/content warning: graphic violence***

» American Gods (American Gods #1) by Neil Gaiman

#IronTomeAThon

American Gods is about our main character, Shadow, and how his world gets flipped upside-down when he get mixed up with a man called Mr. Wednesday, and begins working for him.  Wednesday insists that a storm of epic proportions is coming, and needs Shadow’s help rallying the troops.  Shadow & Wednesday set off on an epic journey across the U.S, where they come across eccentric characters, run into sticky situations, and see the different landscapes America has to offer.   Themes included throughout American Gods include identity, old ways vs. new ways, religion, belief, deception, etc.

I loved how Gaiman fused together ancient mythology with the modern, portraying the power struggle between the old ways vs. new ways.  He gives us classic examples of ancient mythological characters (i.e. Odin, Anansi, etc) and creates a few new gods (i.e. technology, media, etc.)  I enjoyed watching the rivalry and the build up to the big show down.  Furthermore, I also really appreciated that Gaiman’s cast of “old gods” represent many different cultures’ mythology.  For example, we see characters from Norse mythology, Slavic mythology, Ghanaian mythology, Egyptian mythology, Germanic mythology, etc.

Shadow was such an easy main character to root for.   Despite being thrown in the midst of chaos, he was very level-headed, loyal, and compassionate.  I could not help but love him and be invested in his journey.

American Gods is longer than Gaiman’s typical novels.  Coming in at around 630-ish pages in the paperback and just under 20 hours for the audiobook.  I listened to the audiobook, which was narrated by a full cast, and I really think this is how this story should be experienced.  I doubt I would have enjoyed this story as much had I read it in print form.

I can totally see where this book would not be for everyone.  If you’ve read a Neil Gaiman book before and not enjoyed his writing style, then you will most likely not enjoy this one.  Neil Gaiman’s books tend to be dark, fantastical, odd, and quirky, so if you don’t enjoy those types of stories, Gaiman is probably not the author for you.  Actually, if you’ve never read a Gaiman book before, I would recommend NOT making American Gods your first. 

Is American Gods my favorite Neil Gaiman book?  No.  Neverwhere, Stardust, and The Ocean at the End of the Lane still hold the top spots as my favorite Gaiman books.  Do I think it is still a very worthwhile book to read?  Absolutely!  As long as you know what you are getting yourself into going into the book 🙂

I’d recommend this book to those that enjoy mythology, folktales, and longer epic saga type stories.

» Trail of Lightning (The Sixth World #1) by Rebecca Roanhorse

#IronTomeAThon

Set in a post-apocalyptic world, Trail of Lightning is about a young monster hunter named Maggie.  Maggie is determined to uncover the truth behind a new breed of monster, but she quickly learns that the truth is much more evolved than she ever imagined.  Trail of Lightning features themes like survival, good vs. evil, what makes someone a “monster,” PTSD/anxiety, and morality. 

What really worked so well in Trail of Lightning was the post-apocalyptic world that Roanhorse creates.  In this story, a global flood has wiped out most of the population.  Dinétah, the former Navajo reservation before the “big water,” is such a cool backdrop for this story.  In this new world, mythological beings and monsters walk among the survivors.  I loved the infusion of Native American mythology within a post-apocalyptic world.  The concept behind the magic system, that certain individuals receive certain clan powers like speed, fighting, weather control, etc, was also intriguing.

Maggie, our main character, was a very complex character.  While she was courageous, fierce, & strong, she was also withdrawn and guarded.   I appreciated that she was not perfect, and struggled with her own morality throughout the novel.

I must admit, this was probably a 3.5 star read until the last 100 pages.  For only being  287 pages, the first half of the book was a slow build up.  The first two chapters were action-packed and brutal, but then things slow way down from there until the final 100 pages.  Since the book was so short, I feel like some of the plot and character development was a bit rushed.  Trail of Lightning could have been 100 pages LONGER to give more time to develop some of these elements.  The final 100 pages, the climax and resolution, were on point!  I look forward to reading the next installment in this series.

 I’d recommend this book if you like books that give you a western-ish feel, enjoy post-apocalyptic fiction, and books that feature Native American mythology.  Trail of Lightning also gave me similar vibes to the TV show Supernatural, so if you enjoy that show d I think you’d enjoy this book.

***Trigger/content warning: graphic violence***

» A Natural History of Dragons (The Memoirs of Lady Trent #1) by Marie Brennan

#IronTomeAThon

A Natural History of Dragons is told in a memoir style narrative of a prominent dragon natural scientist in her early years before she became “Lady Trent.”  As a young girl, Isabella dreams of studying the natural sciences, specifically dragons.  A Natural History of Dragons follows Isabella as she grows from a young girl with a dream, to becoming a young woman traveling to the far off mountains of Vystrana on an expedition to learn more about the creatures that have fascinated her for years.

There was so much that I loved about this story: the Victorian era setting, the feminist tones, the fantasy-historical fiction mash up, the challenging of gender norms, the focus on natural science, the mystery story line…

With a title like “A Natural History of Dragons,”  you’d think that the book would include a lot of dragons or interactions with dragons, but it really doesn’t…  A Natural History of Dragons is really more about Isabella, her early years, her early interest in the natural sciences, her courtship, the expedition, and the mystery surrounding the expedition.  While I was a tad disappointed that dragons were not featured more throughout the story, I highly enjoyed Isabella’s personal journey.  I’m hoping that this first book is setting up the subsequent books for more dragon action.

Isabella was an excellent female lead who wasn’t about to tolerate the gender norms of the times.  While other girls her age are dreaming of making a suitable marriage match, Isabella is stealing books from her father’s library.  She is intelligent, ambitious, energetic, and persistent in her pursuits.  I loved that she refused to settle for a provincial life, but thirsted for more.  I also really appreciated that Isabella was very flawed, and admitted when she made mistakes.  She felt very realistic, and as a 19-year-old character, felt age appropriate.

It was refreshing to read a book from a single first person perspective that followed a linear timeline.   The storyline was easy to follow because I was not distracted by POV switches or a nonlinear timeline.  Since we are given access into Isabella’s thoughts and feelings through this first person perspective, I felt very invested in her character.

If you are looking for a book with lots of action and dragons, then A Natural History of Dragons is not going to be it.  If you are looking for a book that features a young woman that is passionate about the natural sciences and her struggle to overcome the limitations on her gender in a Victorian era setting, then this book is for you.

  Have you read any of these books?  If so, what did you think?

Comment below & let me know 🙂

    Mini Book Reviews: August 2019 - Part 1 #BookReview #Books #Reading #BookBlogger #Bookworm #AmReading #Fantasy Today I am sharing a batch of mini book reviews from participating in #IronTomeAThon in the month of July.

[travellingthoughts]

Friday the 9th of June 2017

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE FELLAS 🎉 I'm in my home town, Greece, and I couldn't be happier tbh. I have never come to a country where A) I haven't had anxiety in the days leading up to me going and B) where I am completely calm upon arrival. Before that flight, during and after I experienced the most amazing feeling; the feeling of home 🏡 Every time I go to a new place I always get a bit nervy because you finally become comfortable somewhere and then you have to pack up and leave to somewhere completely unfamiliar. However for the first time in 3 months of visiting 16 different countries I wasn't nervous in the slightest. In fact I felt the complete the opposite with total calmness. The only time I felt nervous was when I had to pass through immigration and the officer was telling me that he wants me to marry his son 😂 I literally said in Greek 'thank you but can you please let me through the gates now' hahahah LEGIT. The minute that the plane touched the tarmac, the minute that I passed through immigration after the incident with the officer LOL, the minute I got on a bus and train with no aircon were the minutes I knew I was home. I honestly feel at home in Greece, and that might be because it is my home. My life, and my sister's lives, started in a small town just outside Athens called Marousi. It's where I would still be living if my Dad was actually a father. It's where I still would be living if my mum didn't have the balls to leave. They live in basic houses with a lifestyle I would have still been living. I'm not angry or anything about coming to Australia, I'm actually the complete opposite. I'm so blessed to have the opportunity to travel the world and come back to my homeland. And the beginning of the plentiful opportunities I have, started when my mum picked us three stooges up and chucked us all on a plane to Straya. The people here don't have those opportunities, the people who live in Greece at the moment are literally JUST making ends meet. Their wage is around €500 - €800 a month. That's max $1300 AUD a month. I was making that and more in 2 weeks in Australia. I get currency is relative but in Greece it genuinely doesn't add up. They pay taxes from the minute they make money, no $18000 threshold. They pay extraordinary taxes for literally everything they own. A car could cost €8000 in taxes every year. What the actual fuck. We pay a $800 rego and complain. It saddens me to know that all my aunties, uncles, cousins, god parents and friends have a financial fate that is written. I just wish I had all the money to help each of them out. Something that really inspired me though is that everyone is still happy. They understand that they will need to slave away for the rest of their lives but they're still kicking on in life. It's been incredible to hear stories from my family about how tough it is and how they just keep pushing through without giving up 🇬🇷 I'll be in Greece for the next 6 weeks, seeing the family on the mainland and venturing the islands. So fkn excited it's not even funny. The weather is perfect, like 30 degrees ish every day with pure Grecian sun. It ain't like no other I'll tell you that 😜 My time in Zografou has been fun, but I've been so exhausted that I've been sleeping in every day. I've been staying with my godparents and god brothers who I haven't seen in 12 long years. The boys have grown so much is crazy, I swear I never grew that much?!?! And Nona and Nouno are the exact same, an absolute laugh and so incredibly in love it's inspiring. My god brother Nikos has been with me every single day, and it's been awesome to be able to spend so much quality time with him. He badly sprained his ankle two weeks before I came so he hasn't been able to go to basketball training, which is unfortunate but so meant to be because he has been completely free and showing me around Athens. Alexandros (my younger god brother) is currently a little cheeky monkey who is crazy with energy like how someone has that energy is beyond me! If you follow me on snapchat 👻 you would have seen his crazy side #loveit!!! I absolutely love them all and loved my time in Athens with them! Next I was off to Zakynthos! It's an island also known as Zante. It's where the famous shipwreck beach; where the water is the brightest baby blue you'll ever see. The ship itself is fkn ugly lol but it's been there for 40 years and I'm sure has some amazing history that I'm yet to hear about. It also has these incredible blue caves where the water is a deeper blue but completely see-through. Unfortunately we couldn't stop the boat to swim there because the waves were HUGE so we went and swam somewhere similar but where we weren't going to die 😂 I stayed with my mums best friend Vera, her son and boyfriend! It was really nice to chill out and explore such a beautiful island with so many hidden treasures. I took a day trip to Kefalonia which is another Grecian island north from Zakynthos. You can literally tour the entire island in one day. We saw a honey demonstration (because the best honey is made on the island), we went to the Melissani cave where the sun shines through the top of the cave and makes the water a crazy turquoise colour (if you follow me on Insta you would have seen a photo) ☺️ We also saw mythos beach from above which is where the equivalent shipwreck beach is in Kefalonia and also visited some main churches and cities of the island. I'm going to stop there because if I continue it will be way too long and you will fall asleep on me 💙😘 Filakia xx

[afoolsingenuity]

Looking Forward // April 2017

I’m mixing things up a bit this month. Normally I only include books which I haven’t read yet and I am excited to read but this month I decided to include all the books I’ve both read and haven’t which are being released this month. I want to get folks excited for books and I want to make sure everyone wants to read too. Basically, I am attempting to spread the love whilst failing epically at talking myself out of spending money.

 Geekerella - Ashley Poston Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Retelling, Young Adult Release Date: 4th April 2017 Red Sister – Mark Lawrence Genre: Fantasy Release Date: 6th April 2017

Geek girl Elle Wittimer lives and breathes Starfield, the classic sci-fi series she grew up watching with her late father. So when she sees a cosplay contest for a new Starfield movie, she has to enter. The prize? An invitation to the ExcelsiCon Cosplay Ball, and a meet-and-greet with the actor slated to play Federation Prince Carmindor in the reboot. With savings from her gig at the Magic Pumpkin food truck (and her dad’s old costume), Elle’s determined to win…unless her stepsisters get there first.

Teen actor Darien Freeman used to live for cons—before he was famous. Now they’re nothing but autographs and awkward meet-and-greets. Playing Carmindor is all he’s ever wanted, but Starfield fandom has written him off as just another dumb heartthrob. As ExcelsiCon draws near, Darien feels more and more like a fake—until he meets a girl who shows him otherwise. But when she disappears at midnight, will he ever be able to find her again?

Part romance, part love letter to nerd culture, and all totally adorbs, Geekerella is a fairy tale for anyone who believes in the magic of fandom.

It's not until you're broken that you find your sharpest edge.

A brilliant new series from the bestselling author of PRINCE OF THORNS.

"I was born for killing – the gods made me to ruin"

At the Convent of Sweet Mercy young girls are raised to be killers. In a few the old bloods show, gifting talents rarely seen since the tribes beached their ships on Abeth. Sweet Mercy hones its novices’ skills to deadly effect: it takes ten years to educate a Red Sister in the ways of blade and fist.

But even the mistresses of sword and shadow don’t truly understand what they have purchased when Nona Grey is brought to their halls as a bloodstained child of eight, falsely accused of murder: guilty of worse.

Stolen from the shadow of the noose, Nona is sought by powerful enemies, and for good reason. Despite the security and isolation of the convent her secret and violent past will find her out. Beneath a dying sun that shines upon a crumbling empire, Nona Grey must come to terms with her demons and learn to become a deadly assassin if she is to survive…

A brilliant new series from the bestselling author of PRINCE OF THORNS.

Why Am I Excited?

Well, I’ve read it so it’s easy to give reasons why I’m excited for everyone else to get reading but it is one I want to get my own copy of. I mean, it’s a brilliant book and it’s one for all those who have been a part of any fandom ever. Also, I am very much in love with Darien and I’m not normally a fan of celebrities in books.

Why Am I Excited?

I got an ARC of this book in my Illumicrate box and I’ve not started yet but it sounds amazing. I’ve not read anything from Mark Lawrence before so I am a little nervous about it. It looks utterly awesome, though.

Letters to the Lost – Brigid Kemmerer Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult Release Date: 6th April 2017 Alex, Approximately – Jenn Bennett Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult Release Date: 6th April 2017

Juliet Young has always written letters to her mother, a world-traveling photojournalist. Even after her mother’s death, she leaves letters at her grave. It’s the only way Juliet can cope.

Declan Murphy isn’t the sort of guy you want to cross. In the midst of his court-ordered community service at the local cemetery, he’s trying to escape the demons of his past.

When Declan reads a haunting letter left beside a grave, he can't resist writing back. Soon, he’s opening up to a perfect stranger, and their connection is immediate. But neither of them knows that they're not actually strangers. When real life at school interferes with their secret life of letters, Juliet and Declan discover truths that might tear them apart. This emotional, compulsively-readable romance will sweep everyone off their feet.

Bailey “Mink” Rydell has met the boy of her dreams. They share a love of films and talk all day – Alex is perfect. Well, apart from the fact that they’ve never actually met . . . and neither of them knows the other’s real name.

When Bailey moves to sunny California to live with her dad, who happens to live in the same town as Alex, she decides to track him down. But finding someone based on online conversations alone proves harder than Bailey thought, and with her irritating but charismatic (and potentially attractive?) colleague Porter Roth distracting her at every turn, will she ever get to meet the mysterious Alex?

From the author of Night Owls comes a story of summer, first love and hidden identities . . .

Why Am I Excited?

Another book I have read already but had to make sure got a feature because it is an utterly amazing read. I know some people haven’t enjoyed it but I seriously loved this book. I loved the connection between Juliet and Declan and they were utterly adorable and then the book dealt with grief and a complicated relationship between parents and children. I just loved it.

Why Am I Excited?

I have been excited about this book for ages and all I see is rave reviews of this book. I want to read it so bad so I need to get a hold of a copy. I mean Jenn Bennett writes good books anyway but this is a sex positive books which everyone seems to have loved I want to read like last week.

Duels and Deceptions – Cindy Anstey Genre: Historical, Romance, Young Adult Release Date: 11th April 2017 The Upside of Unrequited – Becky Albertalli Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult Release Date: 11th April 2017

Miss Lydia Whitfield, heiress to the family fortune, has her future entirely planned out. She will run the family estate until she marries the man of her late father's choosing, and then she will spend the rest of her days as a devoted wife. Confident in those arrangements, Lydia has tasked her young law clerk, Mr. Robert Newton, to begin drawing up the marriage contracts. Everything is going according to plan.

Until Lydia—and Robert along with her—is kidnapped. Someone is after her fortune and won't hesitate to destroy her reputation to get it. With Robert's help, Lydia strives to keep her family's good name intact and expose whoever is behind the devious plot. But as their investigation delves deeper and their affections for each other grow, Lydia starts to wonder whether her carefully planned future is in fact what she truly wants…

Seventeen-year-old Molly Peskin-Suso knows all about unrequited love. No matter how many times her twin sister, Cassie, tells her to woman up, Molly can’t stomach the idea of rejection. So she’s careful. Fat girls always have to be careful.

Then a cute new girl enters Cassie’s orbit, and for the first time ever, Molly’s cynical twin is a lovesick mess. Meanwhile, Molly's totally not dying of loneliness—except for the part where she is. Luckily, Cassie's new girlfriend comes with a cute hipster-boy sidekick. If Molly can win him over, she'll get her first kiss and she'll get her twin back.

There's only one problem: Molly's coworker, Reid. He's a chubby Tolkien superfan with a season pass to the Ren Faire, and there's absolutely no way Molly could fall for him.

Right?

Why Am I Excited?

I mean, it’s a historical and a romance and it sounds awesome. I heard about this book last year and I’ve just been counting down to the release ever since. I have enjoyed all the Swoon Reads books I’ve gotten so I don’t doubt I will feel the same about this one. I just need it in my life already.

Why Am I Excited?

Another one I actually have an ARC of but I’ve not read it yet. I am so excited/nervous about this one as I’ve not actually read an Albertalli book before but I heard about this one at the beginning of the year and I wanted to get reading it.

Fireworks – Katie Cotugno Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult Release Date: 11th April 2017 It Happened on Love Street – Lia Riley Genre: Contemporary, Romance Release Date: 25th April 2017

From Katie Cotugno, bestselling author of 99 Days, comes Fireworks—about a girl who is competing with her best friend to become the new pop star of the moment—and all the drama and romance that comes with it—set in Orlando during the late-'90s boy-and-girl-band craze.

It was always meant to be Olivia. She was the talented one, the one who had been training to be a star her whole life. Her best friend, Dana, was the level-headed one, always on the sidelines, cheering her best friend along.

But everything changes when Dana tags along with Olivia to Orlando for the weekend, where superproducer Guy Monroe is holding auditions for a new singing group, and Dana is discovered too. Dana, who’s never sung more than Olivia’s backup. Dana, who wasn’t even looking for fame. Next thing she knows, she and Olivia are training to be pop stars, and Dana is falling for Alex, the earnest, endlessly talented boy who’s destined to be the next big thing.

It should be a dream come true, but as the days of grueling practice and constant competition take their toll, things between Olivia and Dana start to shift . . . and there’s only room at the top for one girl. For Olivia, it’s her chance at her dream. For Dana, it’s a chance to escape a future that seems to be closing in on her. And for these lifelong best friends, it’s the adventure of a lifetime—if they can make it through.

Set in evocative 1990s Orlando, New York Times bestselling author Katie Cotugno’s Fireworks brings to life the complexity of friendship, the excitement of first love, and the feeling of being on the verge of greatness.

The most romantic place she never wanted to be . . .

Pepper Knight moved to Everland, Georgia, as step one in her plan for a successful legal career. But after this big-city gal's plans go awry, going home with her tail between her legs isn't an option. So when the town vet-and her sexy new neighbor-offers Pepper a temporary dog-walking job, she jumps at the chance. No one needs to know that man's best friend is her worst nightmare . . . or that Everland's hot animal whisperer leaves her panting.

The last thing Rhett Valentine wants is to be the center of small-town gossip. After his first love left him at the altar, he's been there, done that. These days, life is simple, just the way he likes it. But sultry southern nights get complicated once sparks fly between him and the knockout next door. When she proposes a sexy, secret fling-all the deliciousness and none of the prying neighbors-it seems too good to be true. And it is. Because Pepper's determined to leave Love Street, and when she goes, she just might take his heart with her . . .

Why Am I Excited?

A book set in the 90s? I am totally down for that. I have enjoyed Cotugno’s past two books, I had issues with them but I enjoyed them and this is the last chance I’m giving her to totally impress me but I am excited. I think it’s the 90s setting, I am a 90s child after all.

Why Am I Excited?

I blame this one on Nick. All of it. She told me about this book on Twitter and then I got myself a review copy! What?!?! I am insanely excited to get reading but I’ve been waiting to read until it’s closer to the release because that’s how I roll. I adore romance and I trust Nick’s opinion absolutely.

And those are my books for April (maybe, if I can get them all anyway). Have you read any of these? Is there one I should read first? And have any missed any books because you know what I need is more books on my TBR?

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