#best lightweight laptop

[muskan15]

Affordable Laptops for School - Lightweight & Efficient http://websiteone.thehrbeans.in/wp-admin/post.php?post=128&action=edit

[crazydiscostu]

PeakDo 4K HDMI to USB Type-C Adapter

The PeakDo 4K HDMI to USB Type-C Adapter has been tipped as the ultimate connectivity solution for AR Glasses and monitors, offering seamless connectivity between HDMI devices and USB-C interfaces. This adapter promises to elevate your experience with high-quality video output and effortless compatibility. Lets find out how. (Product suppiled for review purposes) Peakdo PeakDo, established in…

[techtoio]

How to Select the Perfect Laptop for Your Needs

Introduction

Choosing the right laptop can be overwhelming with so many options available in the market. Whether you need a laptop for work, school, gaming, or general use, it’s essential to pick one that fits your specific needs. In this guide, we’ll break down the key factors to consider when selecting the perfect laptop for you. Read to continue link

[shreyapost]

How To Style Your Office Look for A Meeting?

Most people don’t think about the design of their office when they are preparing for a meeting. However, the way your office looks can actually have an impact on how productive and professional your meeting turns out to be. In this article, we’ll give you some tips on how to design your office and look for a meeting so that it will be more successful.

How do you style your office for a meeting?

Most people spend a large chunk of their day at work. Because of this, it's important to have an office that is both functional and stylish. After all, you want your workspace to be a place where you can be productive and feel comfortable.

One way to make your office more stylish is to choose the best laptop backpack. A good laptop backpack will not only protect your computer, but also look good with your office attire. Also, it is a lightweight backpack. There are many different styles of laptop backpacks available, so you should take some time to find one that suits your needs.

When you are planning to meet with a client, the first thing they will notice is your office. It is important to make sure that your office look represents the image you want your company to have. There are a few things you can do to design your office and look for a meeting.

First, consider the colors of your walls and furniture. You want to choose colors that represent professionalism and trustworthiness. Blue and white are good choices for wall colors. For furniture, dark wood or leather chairs and couches create an air of sophistication.

Next, think about the layout of your furniture. You want to create a layout that is both inviting and functional. Place chairs and couches around coffee tables in conversation areas. If you have a reception area, make sure it is well-lit and welcoming.

Finally, add some personal touches to your office look with artwork, plants, or other decorations. This will help give your office personality and make it more memorable for clients. Choose decorations that fit with the overall style of your office look.

If you're looking to design your office for a meeting, there are a few things you should keep in mind. First, choose colors that are professional and easy on the eyes. Second, make sure your furniture is extra in terms of comfort and support overall. Third, be mindful of the lighting in your space - too much light can be harsh, but not enough light can make it difficult to focus. And finally, don't forget to add some personal touches to your space so that it feels like home. By following these tips, you'll be sure to create an office look that is both stylish and functional.

[sirfrogsworth]

Froggie's Guide to Budget Headphones

@nimrella I am more well versed in traditional audio and home theater with big honking speakers, so I don't have much personal experience with headphones and headphone accessories. But I can tell you what I've learned from other people who are in the headphone world. And since you are starting more within the "budget" range I think I am somewhat qualified to guide you at this level.

You have three paths to choose from...

Wireless, low impedance wired (no amplification required), and high impedance wired (amplification required).

Basically... easy, medium, and hard.

But also... good, better, best.

Wireless Headphones

Wireless headphones have come a long way. Audiophiles used to scoff at them but now there are options that really do sound fantastic and the Bluetooth data rates are good enough to deliver high resolution audio. They also have noise cancellation options which may be desirable. If you do not have a quiet, dedicated space for listening to music you might find high end noise cancellation a godsend. People love them especially for planes, trains, and automobiles.

I don't know if everyone knows how noise cancellation works or not, but basically the headphones have microphones that listen to the world around you. They measure the incoming sound and then generate an opposite sound that just about kills ambient noise. If you play the same sound 180 degrees out of phase it basically nullifies those sound waves. The tech works best between 50 Hz and 1000 Hz. For reference we hear between 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz (lower if you are old). So anything super high or super low pitched can still get through.

In any case, if that sounds appealing, wireless headphones should be a consideration.

The other advantage of wireless headphones would be the ease of use. They pair to your phone, your laptop, your TV. They have controls to help you pause and skip songs and change volume. Some allow you to take phone calls.

But the big downside is the sound quality takes a bit of a hit. As I said, the bluetooth standards have actually gotten very very good. (Though there are audiophiles who will swear it still sounds like a 1990s MP3.) So streaming the actual media files are not really an issue. But trying to cram all of that tech into lightweight headphones you can wear around town all day requires compromises and added expense. Not to mention the battery has a limited lifespan. You may have more limited or inconsistent frequency response, poor dynamic range, distortion problems, weak output, and a high noise floor. Wireless options still can't match wired headphone systems in the same price range. And the wireless options that come close are quite spendy.

Wireless Headphones Suggestions

In your price range the two wireless options that I hear mentioned over and over again are the Sony WH-1000 series and the Bose QuietComfort. They are both well regarded for having a good mix of sound quality and noise cancellation while also being a decent value. You might be able to visit a Best Buy and demo them to see if you prefer the sound and comfort of one over the other.

The Apple AirPods Max are said to work really well within the Apple ecosystem. They have some interesting spatial sound modes and very good audio quality. I've heard the noise cancellation is some of the best currently available. But they seem too expensive and a lot of people feel they are too heavy. I also suspect they are due for an update. That said, if you wait for the new ones to come out and buy used, they could come into your price range. I'd really only suggest these if you have multiple Apple products that you will be streaming sound from.

Before we move into wired headphones, let's go over some terms that you might see pop up when doing research and reading reviews.

Froggie's Glossary of Audiophile Terminology

Driver A speaker is made up of drivers. Some speakers have a woofer, a midrange, and a tweeter. Each individual thing is a driver. And with headphones you will often hear "headphone driver" instead of speaker because it is more specific. Headphones typically have an all-in-one driver that does all frequencies. A woofymidteet.

That's not a thing.

I made that up.

Frequency Response This is the range of frequencies produced by the drivers from low to high. You want to make sure your headphones have good, deep bass. That will make more of a difference than anything else. It's the foundation of all sound and what is sorely lacking in devices with small/cheap speakers.

Music typically doesn't go much below 40 Hz in the bass range. So if you are only interested in music listening, that is plenty deep. Movies can go down to 20 Hz, but this isn't necessary for a good immersive experience unless you have giant subwoofers. So if you find something that can play ~40 Hz with decent output, you should be all good. Every speaker has a frequency response curve. It looks something like this.

The X-axis represents the frequency and the Y-axis represents the volume in decibels. We are most concerned with the 40 to 10K Hz section, as most sound happens there.

I'm not going to go super in-depth and overwhelm everyone, but typically you want this graph to look fairly flat in that range. A flat-ish line will give you a "neutral" response.

The above graph gets a little bumpy in the high frequencies. That means those frequencies will have a higher volume than the lower frequencies. If a higher frequency has a big peak, that could make your sound seem too bright or tinny.

Or you could have the opposite problem. You could have a null in the bass where the output dips below everything else. This can make your sound a bit anemic and lacking punch.

Whereas a more flat speaker will output all frequencies at about the same volume and sound much more balanced and smooth.

Equalization or EQ A flat response is good because it will accept EQ well. Equalization is where you add peaks and dips in volume deliberately to taste.

This can be as simple as 3 knobs.

Or it can be a more complicated parametric EQ.

A lot of digital EQ methods have presets to help get you started. I promise it isn't as intimidating as it looks.

Some people like to buy speakers/headphones that are EQ'd how they prefer out of the box. (Or if you get Beats by Dre they just turn the bass all the way up and say "Fuck them other frequencies!") But this is often a bit of a crapshoot because it is hard to EQ a speaker that sounds good in every room or every environment or just to varying individual preferences.

By making the speaker more neutral, it can be much easier to equalize specifically to your needs and enjoyment.

So if you like the bass a little bassier and the mids a little quieter, you have the power to dial that in with great specificity on a neutral speaker. You can apply any EQ you wish and you won't be fighting the speaker's predetermined response.

Basically if you are reading reviews and the headphones are described as "flat" or "neutral" that's a good thing (in my opinion). Just remember nothing is going to be perfectly flat. We're shooting for flat-ish.

If you do decide to get a neutral sounding pair of headphones you may find them a little bland out of the box. Do not panic. You just need to learn a bit about how to apply EQ, but thankfully YouTube is plentiful with tutorials.

The Harman Curve was researched to be most liked by the most people, so you might start there. (Also, SoundSource is a very popular EQ app for Mac.)

Dynamic Range This is the spectrum of how quiet to loud something can get. If you have speakers that can render both a pin drop and a big explosion with great fidelity and proper intensity, you will be in audio heaven. There is so much emotion and drama that can be expressed by expansive dynamic range and most cheap speakers compress it to an inch of its life. When the soft and the loud sounds are the same you miss out on so much audio information intended by the composer.

Distortion This is just how loud a speaker can go without breaking up. Low distortion is good. While every driver distorts at some point, usually that is at a much higher volume than you will use. This typically only plagues cheap, tiny drivers.

Sound Pressure Level (SPL) This is a measurement of how loud a speaker can get. While you don't want to listen to anything louder than a sustained average decibel level of 80 to 85, you do want peaks over 100, especially in the bass. Bass is less damaging to ears and hearing damage is all about sustained volume rather than quick peaks here and there. Most headphones can comfortably do an SPL between 90 and 110 dB. The ability to go louder is good, but only because that expands headroom, not because you should actually listen to them that loud. So if the headphones can get super loud, that means they will have a much easier time delivering normal levels.

Noise Floor Every sound system has background noise. You know that static you hear when you turn a radio up really loud when there is no sound playing? That is your noise floor. You want that to be as quiet as possible because if you turn up the volume, you don't just turn up the volume of the sounds you want to hear, you also turn up the volume of that background noise.

If you can find a headphone system with a decent low noise floor and you can also find a very quiet space to listen in, you could have a religious experience. I don't think people realize how much the room you are in matters, even when listening to headphones. When you are in a quiet room, you can play at lower volumes. And that can mitigate a lot of the problems associated with cranking the volume. You won't damage your ears for one thing. But the speakers won't have to work as hard so you'll have less distortion and better clarity.

Noise mostly comes from the amplifier, which I will talk about later on.

Froggie Pro Tip: If you want cheap speakers to perform better, go to a quiet room and move them as close as possible. This allows you to play them at a lower output while maintaining your desired perceived volume.

Okay, now we can finally talk about...

Wired Headphones

You have open back and closed back styles.

Open back tends to have a more natural sound and feels more comfortable. Like listening to regular speakers. People generally feel they are able to listen to them longer because they don't create a seal and cause pressure on your ear drum. However, if sound can get out, it can also get in. So with open back headphones people nearby will be able to hear what you are listening to. And if you are not in a quiet room, all of that sound will leak in. Meaning you have to increase the volume and the noise floor and the distortion.

Closed back seals off your ears and gives you a quiet and immersive experience. You can be in a noisier room without having to crank the volume as much. Some prefer this style just because it helps them feel like they are going into their own personal dimension of sound. These are great for ASMR too. But ear fatigue can become an issue and you may need to take little breaks to let your ears breathe and your ear drums rest.

And the last thing we need to discuss is impedance.

The impedance of headphones mostly determines how hard they are to amplify. Impedance is measured in ohms which is this little horseshoe symbol... Ω.

Lower ohms means less electrical resistance and easier to amplify.

Higher ohms means more electrical resistance and difficult to amplify.

If you get headphones rated below 100 ohms, they can typically be driven by smartphones and laptops just by plugging into a standard headphone jack. Though depending on the device, 100 may sound a little quiet so you may want to go lower. 30 ohms is fairly typical if you plan to drive your headphones with everyday electronics.

Above 100 ohms you are going to need some sort of amplification—usually a DAC with a headphone amplifier. (There are DACs without amplification so be sure to check that.)

A DAC, or digital-to-analog converter, is already built into your phone and laptop. But those are very small, don't have a lot of power, and might have a higher noise floor due to interference from other components and heat and just a lot of electrical signals nearby.

By getting an external DAC w/amplifier you separate out the components, make them larger and more powerful, and typically improve the sound quality. Because it is more isolated, the amplification can be much quieter despite being more powerful.

If you plan to stay in a static location and you have high impedance headphones, you can get a little box DAC that sits on your desk. It works like an external sound card for your computer. If you record music or stream, a digital audio interface works great as well (remember to check the Ω).

But if you need to be more mobile with your headphones you can get a little USB dongle DAC, though you will probably not get the same sound quality and power.

Both will be superior to the internal DAC built into your computing devices.

So, low impedance headphones are easier if you need to move around.

High impedance headphones are better for staying put in a single location unless you get a dongle DAC.

Just remember, high and low impedance doesn't necessarily indicate quality. It's just that in order to drive high impedance headphones you need the larger amplifier with the nicer components and, by necessity, you automatically get that quality bump.

You can get very good low impedance headphones. However, if you power them *only* with a smartphone, you may not use them to their full potential. Which is why getting an external DAC is a good idea regardless.

But the nice thing about low impedance is you can get the headphones and still use them until you save up for the DAC. Or you can use them as normal while out and about and have a special listening spot at home with the DAC.

To review...

Low impedance and high impedance can both be high quality.

Low impedance (less than 100 ohms) works with anything.

High impedance (more than 100 ohms) requires amplification.

Both will be used to their full potential with a DAC/headphone amplifier of some kind.

Wired Headphones Suggestions

Again, I have not personally listened to any of these. I am just relaying what experts I trust have mentioned as being nice quality in your price range.

The beyerdynamic DT 770 headphones are some of the most well-regarded budget headphones I've heard of. They come in low and high impedance versions.

The Sennheiser HD 560 high impedance headphones are also praised for their value and performance.

If you can go a little pricier...

The HIFIMAN Sundara headphones have low impedance and can be driven easily by all your devices.

And the HIFIMAN Edition XS are even lower impedance and about the same price.

And if you want to try a DAC, I've heard good things about both Fosi and Schiit (yes, like the poopies), though there are many different brands. Just make sure the DAC has a headphone amplifier rated for the ohms you need.

The FOSI K5 Pro is a cheap "beginner" DAC that will power anything up to 300 ohms. This is the kind that sits on your desk.

And if you want a more portable dongle DAC, you can get something like the iFi Go Link.

I've also heard good things about the AudioQuest Dragonfly, though I hate recommending AudioQuest products due to them claiming they can do magical things. They use scientific gobbledygook to scam customers most of the time. That said, the DragonFly might be their only valid product.

Note from Future Froggie: AudioQuest just can't help themselves. While the Dragonfly itself is a good product and not a scam, they developed the "DragonTail", which is a scam.

It's just a USB A to C Adapter for the Dragonfly. But they have to find a way to justify 30 fucking dollars so they came up with this bullshit.

Definitely need to stabilize my geometry. If I have unstable geometry that could lead to quixotic trigonometry. And we all know that could introduce vertices into dodecahedrons. Which leads straight to accelerated cosmotic entropy catalyzing the heat death of the universe.

Fucking AudioQuest.

ANYWAY...

An inexpensive DAC may be all you ever need but DACs can get crazy expensive—just like headphones. And if you are really fancy you can get a DAC and a headphone amplifier as separate items. Audiophiles claim when you simplify components to a singular function you increase quality. While I think there is some small truth to that, I suspect they just think the tubes look neat.

Froggie's Disclaimer: I am not telling you to get these specific things, but I do think you'll probably be happy with anything I've suggested. But sound is a subjective experience and it is always best to test things out before you buy them, if possible. Or make sure there is a return policy. You might see if there is a brick-and-mortar store nearby that allows you to demo headphones. Remember that comfort can be just as crucial as sound quality for long listening sessions.

Final Thoughts

Good sound has been life changing for me. And I am excited when anyone goes down this journey. While the stuff mentioned is considered "budget" by audiophiles, this can give you a good starting point if you want to upgrade down the road. You'll get to know your preferences and get a better understanding of how this all works and choose your own adventure from there.

Though it is very possible you'll be quite content with "budget" and the sound quality is more than enough.

Personally, while I am very happy with my current home theater setup, I am hopeful one day I can upgrade one budget tier above where I currently am and that will be my endgame. I've heard $10,000 speakers and it is mostly a land of diminishing returns once you reach that level.

I'm fine in "budget" land.

Further Research

I didn't mention the different types of headphone drivers because I didn't want to put too much data in everyone's head. But if you want to do additional research you can learn about the 4 main types... dynamic, planar magnetic, electrostatic, and balanced armature.

[seeingivy]

3:45 am 

roommate eren x f!reader 

drunk eren is not your usual eren 

**mini series masterlist here

content: drinking, eren is a mess, kinda suggestive content, nervous asf reader, spooning :0, not THAT proofread my brain is still fried from finals

previous part linked here

- 

You’ve come to understand why Eren loves Wordscapes so much. The game is addicting, frustrating, and the best way to kill time at work when no one else is there. Eren’s been swamped with soccer season starting soon and Annie has practicals, which leaves you and Armin counting the minutes till you can leave work. 

You’re both currently sprawled on the carpeted floor, with you scrolling through your phone and Armin lifting his papers up in the air, trying to memorize all the steps of the Krebs cycle. 

“Is Eren a good roommate, Y/N? I hope you’re settling in okay.” 

You shift your position to face him, still focused on the stupid level you couldn’t beat. You take a screenshot of the level which was a bad habit of yours. You wouldn’t have made it through half of the levels if Eren didn’t help you first. 

“Yeah. He’s not around often because it’s soccer season, but besides that I think we’re getting along.”

He smiles, nodding in acknowledgement. You feel your phone buzz against your hand, Eren responding. 

the game isn’t fun if you cheat, dumbass

i literally helped you with the game the first time i met you. repay the favor you wench! 

the last word is ravine.  

ty ren ren <3 

shut up. 

“Has he come home drunk yet?” 

“No. I thought he doesn’t like to drink.” 

“He only does it when the season starts. They party after every game but he’s kind of a lightweight. Worse than Annie. His old roommate mentioned it was annoying at times, so I was just wondering.” 

He shifts back to his papers, whispering the steps of the Krebs cycle as you return to your game. You silently ponder Armin’s words, wondering what Eren could be like when he was drunk. 

Armin can surprisingly handle his drink really well. You wouldn’t even be able to tell that he was drunk if it wasn’t for the way his face flushed pink when he did. One sip and he was in a perpetual state of blushing. 

His roommate, Jean, was mildly decent, but way too energetic when he reached his peak. You distinctly remember him asking you to dance on top of a counter with him last week at Armin’s apartment. 

For some reason, Armin’s political science professor Erwin had gifted him three bottles of wine for the holidays, which you all decided to crack open at dinner. You would have danced on the table with him, considering you were just as plastered as him, but Eren stopped you from doing that all together by mentioning “he won’t take care of you if you break your neck falling.” 

You highly doubt that, because Eren took care of you that night, making sure you made it home with him, drank water, and weren’t nursing the worst hangover known to man when you went to work the next day.

You were slightly embarrassed but that went away entirely when you thought of Annie, who is a demon. Clingy, emotional, and horny. You can’t tell who was more embarrassed - Armin who was getting kisses pressed all over his cheeks at the dinner table or Annie who found out she did that the next day. 

- 

You’ve avoided going out all together since the beginning of the semester, in hopes to avoid seeing Nifa or any of your old friends. You had seen them at a kickback during syllabus week, which Annie had dragged you to, and decided then and there that you wouldn’t be going again. You’re not crazy about the party scene anyways. 

You’re currently nestled in your couch, huddled in blankets watching TV and working on your political science essay when you hear a loud amount of pounding on the door. You glance at the clock on the wall, the time reading 3:45 am. Who the hell was pounding on your door this late? 

You set your laptop down at the counter, putting your blanket down as you as you shuffle to the door. You unlock the door to find Eren leaning his forehead against the wall - cheeks pink, eyes glazer over, and the smell of beer pungent. Drunk Eren. 

You’ve opened the door, but he has yet to recognize your presence. His eyes are pressed closed. You silently wonder if he’s fall asleep standing up if you left him there. 

“Ren. Come inside!” you whisper, hoping not to wake up the girls living across the hall. 

He flutters his eyes open, a wide smile splitting across his face at the sight of you. He pulls you into embrace, heavily leaning all his weight against you now that the wall wasn’t supporting him.

“Hi princess. Did you miss me?” he slurs, his breath tickling against the side of your neck.

Princess? Maybe he could be worse than Annie.

You reach down, securing your hands around his shoulder as you guide him into the apartment, shutting the door behind you. 

You watch him lean against the wall in the kitchen, his head facing up towards the ceiling, panting at how out of breath he was. You quickly rush to fill a glass of water and bring it to his side, steadying it in his hand. 

“Drink the water, ‘Ren.” 

He leans over at the sound of your voice, plopping his head onto your shoulder. His hair is a mess, out of its usual hair tie and tangled over the side of his face. You reach forward, securing the loose strands by his ear, while lightly coaxing him to drink the water again. 

He lifts the glass up successfully for three seconds just to drop it, drenching both of you in cold water. You clench your fists, your hands getting tangled in his hair, where they were still resting. 

“Ss-orry.” 

His eyes are still clamped shut, his breaths getting deeper and deeper. It’s your fault for letting him hold the water by himself anyways.

You lift him up off the wall slowly, leading him to his bedroom. Eren quickly rushes into his bathroom and you can hear him retching in the bathroom. You look around his bedroom for a clean set of clothes and a towel to help him clean up before you put him to bed. You highly doubt he’s conscious enough to take a shower, so the clean clothes and mouthwash will have to do. 

As you rummage through his room, you realize you’ve never really been inside - just peaked your head in to ask him if he wanted anything for dinner or to say goodnight. His room is minimal, covered in posters and polaroids you’re certain Armin took on his camera. 

You drawn to the polaroids in the dead center, clearly taken from the dinner you all had at Armin’s last week. The picture on the left is one of him and Annie, arm wrestling on his kitchen counter. The one directly on the right is one of him, Jean, and Armin, the three of them staring directly into the camera without smiling. 

The one in the center is the one that catches you off guard. The picture is of you and Eren. He’s seated on the couch and you’re leaning over, your arms tangled around his necks. Your cheeks are pressed together, both of you smiling big with your eyes closed. You don’t remember taking the picture - or much of the dinner last week anyways - and make a mental note to ask Eren to remind you about it. 

You can hear Eren shuffling behind you and you rush forward to catch him while he is still awake. The room is still dark, the only light in the room from his lamp that he left before leaving. He leans against you, his forehead pressed against yours as he stands up. You can smell the minty mouthwash on his breath.

“Let me sleep now.” he murmurs, his breaths uneven, but calmer compared to earlier. 

“Your clothes are wet. You have to change and then I promise, you can sleep until tomorrow.” you whisper, hoping he has a little bit of consciousness left to do this. 

He attempts to stand up on his own, as he takes the clothes from you. He leans his forehead directly against your collarbone again, panting heavily. 

“H-help.” 

Fuck. Okay. This is fine. He’s just a boy. You’re just helping him change and it doesn’t mean anything. He probably won’t even remember this tomorrow. 

“Arms up, ‘Ren.” 

He raises his arms and you reach for the end of his shirt, pulling it off the top of his head on the tips of your toes. You ignore the pounding in your chest and burning in between your legs at the sight of his bare torso, pressed against yours, in the center of his bedroom. He has a silver necklace on, a small key charm in the dead center. 

You reach forward to examine the key, but you’re thrown off by his shoulder. You notice six identical, angry red marks on the left and reach forward to run your fingers across the marks. 

“Ren. What happened?” 

“Soccer cleats.” 

“Let me check on it tomorrow?” 

He nods, reaching up for your fingers that were still tracing the outlines of the marks. He locks his fingers in yours, squeezing twice. You take that as a sign to not talk about it and move to pull the other shirt over his head. He stops you, incoherently whispering about how it’s too hot. That’s fine. You can live with that. 

Your place your hand against the top of his knee, feeling the dampness on his pants. You can’t take his pants off for him. The shirt was one thing but the pants? You just can’t.

“Ren.” 

He doesn’t respond. 

“Eren. Can you…take your pants off? I can’t do that for you.” you whisper, your hands shaking where they're resting against his biceps. 

He nods and you turn around, hoping to maintain any sense of privacy that you and Eren had. You can hear his breathing race up again and can tell he’s moving erratically in your peripheral vision. 

“You okay, Ren?” 

“Fuck. My hands are shaking. Can you just help me with the button and I can do the rest?” 

You turn around, Eren’s green eyes boring into yours. You try to avoid the blood pulsating in your neck and keep your eyes from meeting his entirely. You can feel your breathing speeding up now, your fingers shaking as you reach for the button of his pants. 

When you finally unclasp the button and pull the zipper down, you let out a shaky breath. At that moment, Eren brings his hands up to your shoulders, squeezing hard. 

“Stop that.” 

“What?” 

“Those breathy little sounds while you’re unbuttoning my pants. Don’t. do. that.” 

You swallow, murmuring an apology as you turn back around. You can feel the heat rushing to your cheeks and sincerely hope that Eren remembers no part of this tomorrow. Did you really exhale that loudly? You hear him slip the shorts you left him on and you turn around to push him into his bed. 

You lean over, readjusting the sheets around him. You watch his eyes flutter closed and turn around on your heel. Thank god. He’s asleep. 

You feel Eren’s fingers clasp around your wrist, stopping you from moving any farther. 

“Stay, please. Can’t sleep without you..” 

You pause, staring down at his hands. He can’t be serious. He can sleep without you - he does it everyday. He’s just drunk and rambling, he won’t care if you walk away. 

“Being serious. Come to bed.” he murmurs, his head pushing further down into his pillow. 

Does being drunk make Eren read minds? 

“My shirt is still wet from the water, Ren. I have to change.” 

He leans over the side of the bed, reaching for the shirt you left out for him. You take the shirt from him, squeezing it in your hands as you move to the free side of the bed. He’s facing the other way, so you can sit on that side to put it on. 

You can sit next to him till he’s fast asleep and then silently run back over to your room to sleep in your bed. Yeah. Yeah, he’ll probably knock out fast and then you can run back over. You quickly pull the shirt off your body, discarding it on the side. 

Before you can pull Eren’s shirt over your head, you feel his fingers wrap around your wrist again, pulling on you. How many times was he going to do that? 

You look over to find his green eyes, still swollen pink, twisted in concern. He reaches over, his fingers ghosting over the side of your shoulder where your bralette strap was resting. He lightly pulls it to the side, leaving the scar indented on your shoulder on full display. You can feel his fingers ghosting over the scar tissue, his hand shaking. 

“What happened?”

“Oh, it’s from a few years ago. I just fell off my bike into the sidewalk.” 

He nods, his fingers sliding across the scar a few more times before moving the strap back into his place. You can feel your skin burning under his touch, the words dying in your throat. He shoves his head back into the pillow, scrunching his eyes shut. You pull the shirt over your head, Eren’s smell sticking to your skin, as you push yourself under the covers with him. 

You stare into the ceiling, waiting for Eren’s breaths to even out. What were you doing? Why are you in Eren’s bed, letting him run his fingers around your skin in the dark? 

The thought tangles in your stomach, your chest, your throat and you reach to your side to get up and leave now - surely Eren must be asleep by now. As your weight dips to the side, you feel Eren’s arm pull you closer into him, your face nestled into his chest. 

He murmurs against your hair, his arms trapping you in his embrace. 

“Stop thinking. Go to bed.” 

You realize quickly that any efforts you make to wriggle out of his embrace will be futile so you press your eyes closed, leaning into his touch as you fall asleep. You swear Eren presses his lips to your forehead, but you’re not awake enough to decide if it was real or not. You fall asleep, tangled in his arms, the sound of his heartbeat lulling you to sleep.

- 

next part linked here

taglist: @maliakealoha

pls let me know if you want to be added to the tag list!!! just reply to this post or leave ur @ in my asks box :D 

[suzukiblu]

For the WIP guessing game: alien

"Hey, would it be okay if I asked Tim to have sex with me sometime?" Kon asks, and Tim blinks and looks up from his seat on the couch and the case files cleverly disguised as Wayne Enterprise files he's currently reviewing on his laptop, because it sounds like Kon just said–

"Um, what?" Bernard says, staring blankly at Kon from the opposite side of the kitchen island, where he's doing college homework while Kon is elbow-deep in the dishes. Staring blankly at Conner, technically. Seeing as Bernard does not know Kon's actual name, or that he's Superboy, or that Tim is Robin, or–"Why?"

"I dunno," Kon replies with a careless shrug, turning over the empty glass in his hands. A minute ago there was orange juice in it, because it's ten AM and they just ate Bernard's very nicely-made brunch. "I just wanna try it, I guess."

"What, having sex with a guy?" Bernard assumes, looking mildly puzzled but at least not offended, which is good because Tim does not want to have to defuse this situation and doesn't even know how he would without being able to say "technically Conner is a superhero with unfathomably complicated alien DNA who was made in a cloning tube by an evil billionaire and an ethically dubious lab full of crazy people and he has some very, very weird understandings of conventional social norms like not just randomly asking your best friend's boyfriend for permission to fuck him". It just does not seem like it would go well. At all.

"Uh," Kon says. "Just . . . sex, actually."

Tim . . . blinks.

"You've had sex before," he says reflexively.

"No," Kon says, not looking at him or Bernard or anything but the empty glass he's washing. Tim frowns in confusion.

"You've told me you've had sex before," he half-protests in bemusement. Not that Kon doesn't frequently talk a big game, but he doesn't usually outright lie like that. Like, not unless it's to supervillains. Or Superman. Or–

He doesn't usually lie to him, is what Tim means.

. . . does he?

"I was lying," Kon says, putting the rinsed glass in the drying rack; picking up the next one. Tim has to reorient his whole entire view of the whole entire multiverse over their brunch dishes and Bernard's homework and his own disguised case files. "I mean–kinda."

"How do you 'kinda' lie about having sex?" Bernard asks skeptically. "That seems very black or white, as a thing."

"I don't know if getting raped counts," Kon says, just barely frowning. "Does it?"

Tim drops his laptop. It cracks against the coffee table and hits the floor. He doesn't even try to catch it.

"Oh," Bernard says.

"Sorry," Kon says, just looking fixedly at the glass he's very, very carefully scrubbing clean. "This is–weird and very fucked up, actually, I–"

"Who?" Tim cuts in, reflexive and useless and the least helpful thing to say or do, probably, but–

"Uh," Kon says to the dishes. "Well. Kay. And some . . . other people, I guess. But mostly her."

"'Mostly,'" Tim echoes numbly. Kon rinses the glass. Puts it in the drying rack. Picks up a plate.

Tim wants to throw up. Or break something. Like Knockout's face.

"Uh," Kon says, still talking to the dishes. "When I was–when I lived in–there were just some parties, sometimes, that my, uh, guardian back before I really knew you would have us go to, and once or twice . . . uh, just, I was kinda a lightweight at that age, so . . ."

"That age" being only a year old at best, Tim is very, very aware. And prior to the Kryptonian physiology coming in, while only physically in his mid-teens. Which means Kon could've gotten drunk or drugged very easily and lost the defense of his TTK, and . . .

Tim has no idea where Rex Leech is or what he's doing, but he's going to find out and make him regret his entire life.

[ms-demeanor]

i was recently recommended framework laptops by a full-time IT person, and i think understand the things they do well (being hella customizeable and repairable), but as a total layperson, would they be able to run video games like baldur’s gate 3? help me o tech muse so i may not waste a bunch of money on a not-powerful laptop (again)!

I honestly don't know enough about video games to answer this question; to my knowledge, Framework laptops are supposed to be slim and lightweight and that indicates to me that they probably don't have room for a decent graphics card so if you want to game on a laptop you're probably best sticking with brands known for that like MSI or Alienware. But being really really real I don't know enough to say, so possibly check with GamersNexus for recs or see if anyone in the notes of this post has some advice in this area.

[distrochooser]

best distro for an old, slow laptop running windows 8? already tried mint and its a bit slow itself

That's a great question, but it's missing a couple of key details. First of all, what flavor of mint were you using? If you were using cinnamon, I recommend the xfce variant. If you are willing to give it a shot, a WM may just be a great choice. My personal favorite is bspwm. In terms of lightweight distros, Arch and Gentoo are great choices, despite my problems with them in the past.

[returnsandreturns]

matt and foggy in college: matt, a a good catholic boy who has not partaken in the decils lettuce, foggy, not a stoner by any means, but practiced, foggy gets matt high and he's a lightweight! hilarious! that is.... until matt gives in to his urge to kiss foggy right on the mouth and high sex is best sex for fumbling college students

i'm going to post this with whatever i can write with my laptop at 5% before it dies:

"What are you laughing at?" Foggy asks, ruffling Matt's hair and attempting to just live in this moment with Matt's face buried in his shoulder, one arm wrapped around Foggy so they're basically cuddling.

"I. . .don't actually know," Matt says, lifting his head to smile at him.

"You having fun, lightweight?" Foggy asks.

"Am I being stupid?" Matt asks.

"No," Foggy says, immediately. "You're being adorable."

"Adorable," Matt repeats, softly.

". . .or whatever word isn't a weird thing to say to your roommate," Foggy says, laughing nervously, starting to move and gasping when Matt clumsily moves so he's straddling his lap. His fingers clench on Foggy's shoulders and his face is pink and Foggy is also pretty high so his brain can't decide what's about to happen. Because Matt could be about to murder him. He's pretty annoying and he can't seem to stop hitting on him and this would be the perfect way to distract him before trying to strangle him and--

"I'm gonna do something stupid," Matt murmurs, determined, immediately taking Foggy's face in his hands instead and leaning down to kiss him.

"Holy shit," Foggy says.

"You want that, right?" Matt asks, eyes wide and pupils blown, outrageously pretty up close like this. "You keep telling me I'm hot and that's--I mean, I normally want to kiss people when I think they're hot. Does that make sense?"

". . .do you think I'm hot?" Foggy asks, before he can help himself.

"Foggy," Matt says, laughing again, waiting to catch his breath before he continues, "I think you're so hot."

"Jesus Christ, I should have peer pressured you into doing drugs with me ages ago," Foggy says, lifting up enough to tip Matt backwards so he falls onto his back with a soft oof. Foggy gets a flash of another loopy smile before Matt immediately reaches up to grab him and pull him down on top of him.

[kyokosasagawa]

I started writing "4 srs" this month and I like how free and accessible writing is, so I'm recommending free software I've experimented with that might help people who want to get into the hobby!

“Specifically Created for Writing Stories”

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

Manuskript – Story organizer / word processor. Has an outliner and index card function, along with distraction free mode. Lets you switch between different templates such as a non-fiction mode or a short story.

Bibisco – Novel writing software that includes writing goals, world-building, distraction free mode, and a timeline.

“I Just Want to Write”

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

LibreOffice – Microsoft 365 alternative, but free! LibreOffice Writer is what I wrote this tumblr post in before I posted it. Also if you copy & paste the text into the Rich Text Editor on AO3, it seems that it actually converts it properly. Nice! No need for scripts.

Note-Taking

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

Zim Wiki - note taking application that is very, very lightweight (1.1mb). It functions with a tree structure, so I’d personally recommend it for world-building and character bios. There are built-in plugins that also turn it into a good software for task management (it even has a article on how to use it for GTD) and journalling. See also: CherryTree (2mb), which is a more outdated-looking app, but functions similarly.

Obsidian MD – The Big Boy. markdown note editor that has been adopted by personal knowledge management fans---if it doesn’t do something you want it to do, just look in the community plugins to see if someone has already done it. Some unique non-word processing related usages I’ve found is the ability to create a table of contents dashboard, a image gallery for images, embedding youtube videos and timestamping notes, so forth.

Logseq – A bullet point based markdown note editor that also has PDF annotations, Zotero integration, flashcard creation, and whiteboards. Best used for outlining projects due to the bullet point structure.

Joplin – A modern app comparable to Zim Wiki, it’s basically just a note-taking software that uses folders and tags to sort easier. Looks prettier than Zim Wiki and Cherry Tree

Notion – An online-only website that allows usage of different database types. Free for personal use. Note: I dislike the AI updates that have been making the app lag more. I prefer the others on this list.

Mind Maps

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

Freeplane – So much goddamn features, including a ton of add-ons. Looks somewhat ugly, but it works for anyone willing to spend a while learning how to use it.

Mermaid – Text-based diagram creator. Can be used in apps like Joplin, Notion, and Obsidian.

Obsidian’s Canvas – A core plugin for Obsidian, it deserves its own mention in that it allows you to create embedded notes of the mindmap nodes. Thus, if you want to create a 20-page long note and have it minimized to the size of a penny on the mindmap, you could.

Other Things That Might Be Of Interest

Syncthing - A free software that allows you to sync between two or more computers. Have a desktop but also laze around on a laptop in bed, coming up with ideas?? This is your buddy if you don't want to use a online software.

[bbanghiitomi]

| little miss tragic girl

synopsis: hanni consults an open forum to ask for help in dealing with anxiety and meets the love of her life.

— nonidol!phanni × nonidol!fem!reader

Ꮚ⁠˘⁠ ⁠ꈊ⁠ ⁠˘⁠ ⁠ᏊᏊ⁠˘⁠ ⁠ꈊ⁠ ⁠˘⁠ ⁠ᏊᏊ⁠˘⁠ ⁠ꈊ⁠ ⁠˘⁠ ⁠ᏊᏊ⁠˘⁠ ⁠ꈊ⁠ ⁠˘⁠ ⁠Ꮚ

open forum.com: panic attacks/anxiety

spam_honeybunch04 • 2hrs ago

hi guys, i've been dealing with panic attacks and anxiety for quite a long time and it's getting worse recently. i haven't been able to tell anybody about it, i'm scared they won't believe me. is there any tips you guys can suggest for when i have anxiety and panic attacks?

replies:

thegreateinstein • 1hr ago

hey miss, if ur seeing this, i suggest you don't keep those all to yourself. bottling up those problems and refusing to reach out is not good. i'm worried. but i have a suggestion that works always for my nephew. you can do the 3 3 3 rule + breathing.

try to focus on breathing first, then count if you can. look around you then identify 3 objects, 3 sounds that you can hear and then move 3 body parts. i can guarantee it works, i always use that when my 10 yrs old nephew gets panic attacks.

spam_honeybunch04 replied.

thanks for the advice, and i understand it's bad if i keep it to myself but i am still trying to find the right moment to reach out.

thegreateinstein replied.

don't worry, everything's gonna be alright. i promise, if you need help you can always reach out to me. hugs! (⁠つ⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)⁠つ

spam_honeybunch04 replied.

thank you so much (⁠っ⁠˘̩⁠╭⁠╮⁠˘̩⁠)⁠っ!!

hanni walks inside their classroom, with her bag on her shoulder. hanni's feet felt lightweight, she calculates every step she takes in order to calm herself. today is another one of those days. classes are extreme, from 2pm to 8pm with two hours vacant. hanni needed to take deep breaths while walking to her seat, she tried to brush all of it away but just taking deep breaths isn't enough.

hanni's shoulder felt heavy, it's like she's carrying the burden of the world on her shoulders — too much for her small figure to manage. when she took a seat, hanni tried her best not to slump her shoulders and let out a deep sigh.

she haven't been able to get enough sleep, with college beating her down and then her panic attacks inside her dorm. it's so hard, but lately — after her inquiry on the open forum website, she's been able to manage her panic attacks better than before.

all thanks to user thegreateinstein.

hanni felt relieved she had met someone like them in a forum full of assholes. honestly, she didn't think she'd get a decent answer but luckily someone smart was able to give her a good response. hanni kept thinking about thegreateinstein, their sheer intelligence, proven by their witty and helpful answers on the site.

hanni had been lucky to encounter such a human.

"hey, y/n! let's visit the internet cafe later, i'm gonna show you the new legendary skin i got." hanni heard a voice from somewhere, the call of your name and the familiar topic of video games — she's gotten used to your conversations with your friend about the rpg game that's currently the most popular thing in today's generation. as her seatmate, hanni had taught herself not to mind you and your friend's business.

you walked past hanni, then sat next to her, your eyes fixed on the person across the long table.

"already? wasn't the skin released like a few days ago?" you asked, pushing your specs up your nose bridge. hanni looks at you, then to your friend — then back to her laptop she placed on the shared table.

"i know! i checked the stats and it's o-p!" jayoon, your friend enthusiastically claimed. you laughed. hanni liked that, fighting the urge to smile. "oh really? you know it's gonna get nerfed right? that's what they always do, release o-p skins then nerf them on the next update."

hanni has not had much of a recollection of when she started liking you, she doesn't remember much but one day, you looked at her and smiled, then her world started revolving around you.

jayoon grimaced and pushed your shoulder as she propped her upper body on the wooden surface. "dude, just check it out! maybe help me build my main later, i'll send you coins."

after classes, you sat next to jayoon inside the internet cafe, your eyes reading the line of sentences on the screen. jayoon is busy playing on her pc. opening the game once again, you clicked your character icon and took a screenshot of it — exited the game to the open forum site and started typing away.

open forum.com: video game (rpg)

thegreateinstein • 30mins ago

does anyone here play RAN online?

[insert picture]

i have 1,000 worth of gemstones here. i play f2p on this account and was wondering if i could put these gems to good use.

replies:

kimmingki_04 • 3mins ago

broooo that's some good stuff there, you can use those gems to purchase level ups for your character! u sure you're f2p?

thegreateinstein replied.

yeah dude, i am. i got two accounts, one f2p and one for whaling. btw thanks, i'll use these to purchase level ups.

kittykangfroggy • 10mins ago

that's insane for f2p, you only have few skins too and your build is insane Ó⁠╭⁠╮⁠Ò

thegreateinstein replied.

yah, i barely touched my coins there and i got more free coins from friends.

you pulled your glasses away and rubbed your eyes. "hey, look y/n! this artifact i got is crazy." jayoon tapped your back. pushing the swivel gaming chair, you scoot closer to jayoon. you wore your glasses back and looked at her screen. "keep that, that's for crit rate." you pointed at the screen as you spoke, jayoon gave you a thumbs up and rolled back to your pc.

you got an email on your account and opened it to a message from spam_honeybunch04.

spam_honeybunch04:

hey, thanks for your advice.

it helped me.

you smiled, feeling the red painting your cheeks.

thegreateinstein:

that's great, glad it helped you.

you can always ask if you need help, some people will surely reach out to you.

spam_honeybunch04:

(⁠っ⁠.⁠❛⁠ ⁠ᴗ⁠ ⁠❛⁠.⁠)⁠っ

i wish i can help you with your questions too

(⁠;⁠ŏ⁠﹏⁠ŏ⁠)

thegreateinstein:

ey, it's fine.

it's just about a nerdy game.

you want to ask more questions?

go on.

spam_honeybunch04:

what do you do when you're sad?

you paused, darting your eyes everywhere, tapping your fingers on the surface below the keyboard.

what do i do when i'm sad?

i don't really know.

thegreateinstein:

anything,

i have no specific answers really

but i play guitar, listen to music and read books

why?

are you sad?

spam_honeybunch04:

yes, most of the time.

i'm lonely here in my dorm,

and i get stressed about college

thegreateinstein:

that's valid,

i think we all get stressed in college

pressure and stuff

i get lonely too sometimes

spam_honeybunch04:

do you like someone?

you do like someone.

thegreateinstein:

yeah, i do

i like this girl in my block

she's cute and nice

but she's quiet most of the time

spam_honeybunch04:

i do too,

same block too.

she's smart and funny.

i get nervous around her and stuff

thegreateinstein:

anxiety?

spam_honeybunch04:

yeah,

i don't think she knows

i can't find the courage to ask her out

thegreateinstein:

don't worry, i feel the same

i don't think she likes me

you know?

she's so pretty, lots of boys like her too

but i want to ask her out

spam _honeybunch04:

you won't lose anything if you try.

you watched as hanni entered inside the room, she's dressed so nice today, everyday. you like her black, long, and silky hair, this time it's tied into two pigtails, decorated with butterfly clips of different colors.

you looked down to the table, eyes darting at the scattered notes on your desk.

hanni sits beside you, placing her bag on the table. her attention immediately diverted to a guy standing by the door of the classroom. "hey hanni, i think that guy wants to ask you out." a blockmate pointed out, hanni smiled at them and stood up to approach the guy.

you watched as they converse, smiles plastered on their faces.

open forum.com: dating/relationships

thegreateinstein • 3hrs ago

how should i ask a girl out? simply telling them sounds lame, i want it to be more sincere. any ideas?

replies:

morethanmodani • 2hrs ago

oh naurrr! there's nothing wrong about just asking them out, face to face is the best way. as long as you're sincere with your feelings and you really want that girl then go for it!

thegreateinstein replied.

a lot of guys are asking her out too, how do i stand out from them?

morethanmodani repied.

do the things they don't do! check the patterns of those boys and do better! see more…

kimmingki_04 • 56mins ago

use sweet words bro, ask her out in an intimate place where it's only the two of you!

you received a message from spam_honeybunch04.

spam_honeybunch04:

i saw your post.

you're asking her out now?

thegreateinstein:

yeah, idk how.

there's an upcoming party for the year end. i want to ask her out that same night.

spam_honeybunch04:

oh right,

it's the year end season,

we also have a party.

why not by the end of the party?

thegreateinstein:

i thought of that too.

how about you?

spam_honeybunch04:

still not ready, lol.

thegreateinstein:

that's alright, hope you find the courage.

what should i tell her?

spam_honeybunch04:

idk, your feelings i guess.

how much you like her,

what she means to you.

then ask if her heart's available for love.

you stood in the middle of a crowd, there were a lot of students surrounding you inside the gymnasium court of your school, the stench of alcohol, body odor, and cologne wafted around you.

disgusting.

it made you sick, but your eyes are set on the shorter girl walking amongst the crowd. hanni wore a hoodie, zipped open but not wide, she wore a tank top inside, shorts, below the knees socks and nike dunk low. her hair is styled, flowing gently on her shoulders.

you followed her as she made her way inside the restroom, pushing through unfamiliar faces of students you don't care about. your head hangs low, your specs are tainted, moist by the sweat from the heat.

you needed air, and so did hanni.

when you got inside, all the stalls were open except for one, you can hear sobs and sniffles echoing. hanni's crying and carefully made your way to her stall.

open forum.com: panic attacks/anxiety

thegreateinstein • 20mins ago

hey guys, how do i comfort a girl crying inside a restroom stall in the middle of a party? i think she's having a hard time.

open forum.com: panic attacks/anxiety

spam_honeybunch04 • 25mins ago

i'm currently in the middle of a party, can't go home yet… having a panic attack. how do i deal with this?

sadly, you weren't able to see her post, neither did she with yours.

you approached the door and knocked. "miss? hanni? are you there?" you hear her sniffles, you can feel her breathing being unsteady, the way she sobbed hard. "hey, hanni. please answer." you leaned on the door. hanni had her hand clutching her chest, nails digging the cloth under her palm.

"y-yeah…" she answered. you pushed yourself off of the door, and looked up. "do you mind if you open the door? do you need help? i'm here." you told her, the music outside is muffled by the tiled walls, yet it rang inside hanni's head.

you can tell she's hesitant.

"i'm the only one here." you assured her. hanni felt her heart tightened, she couldn't breathe. reaching for the lock with her shaking hands, she pushed the door open and her eyes met yours, you can see the tear stains on her face. you frowned and let the girl reach for your frame, arms wrapping themselves to your torso.

you placed your hands on the top of her head and her back, gently rubbing her back as you rocked her — the same method you do to your nephew. "shh…" you whispered, pulling her close. you feel her bury her head on your shoulders, sobbing. "hey, what happened?" you asked.

"i — don't know, i just don't want to be here anymore."

you nodded. "hey, hey, hey hanni… breathe through your nose, gently, as slow as possible. deep. breaths." you whispered, as close as you can to her ears. you can feel her breathing, after a few minutes it becomes steady. "count to 10 okay?"

hanni nodded.

"1…"

"2…"

"3… 4…"

you started counting with her.

"5…" a gentle pat on her back.

"6… 7…"

hanni sobs.

"8… 9…"

"it's okay." you whispered.

"10…"

you wait for a minute before you continue.

"can you look around, give me 3 objects you can see."

hanni blinks. "a tissue holder."

"uh-huh."

"faucet… and your watch."

you smiled at her.

"3 things you can hear, hanni."

hanni nodded. "alright, the music outside. then, your voice…"

"and?"

hanni looked up at you. "your heartbeat."

you meet her gaze.

"does that count?" you chuckled, hanni laughed. "i don't know, but it's loud enough for me to hear." she replied.

"last, move 3 body parts of yours." hanni nodded, her feet stepping forward, her fingers trailed over your arms and hanni leaned her head on your chest.

you looked up and sighed. "you're so strong hanni." you told her, hanni smiled when her eyes saw your smile.

"you are stronger than me."

you shook your head and looked at her. "nah, it's you who faced everything. it's your battle and you fought very well. i'm here to help you, always. if you want i'll take you back to your place."

hanni looked down and chuckled. "it's too far from here—"

"it's alright, car. i have a car, you'll be safe inside your place."

hanni will forever be thankful for your existence, your smile when you dropped her off her dorm, your eyes when you looked at her.

she liked you before but now —

she's fallen in love, but this time she will never forget how.

spam_honeybunch04:

thank you

(⁠｡⁠･⁠ω⁠･⁠｡⁠)⁠ﾉ⁠♡

i love you.

open forum.com: dating/relationships

thegreateinstein • 2hrs ago

what is the best idea for a first date?

replies:

gracelee.008 • 23mins ago

weren't you just about to ask a girl out? lol you're so fast!!!!

[crazydiscostu]

XKM01 Tri-Fold Bluetooth Keyboard and Mouse Combo

Work can take us from the office to home and everywhere in between. Having the right tools to stay productive on the go is essential. A contender for this practicality top-spot is the Protoarc XKM01 Tri-Fold Bluetooth Keyboard and Mouse Combo – a compact yet powerful solution designed to meet the demands of modern professionals who need flexibility without sacrificing functionality. Who, what,…

[lupucs]

Do you have any recommendations for character modeling in blender?

Ooh boy I never know how to respond to questions like that, but I'm gonna try my best and list some stuff which helped me personally, so hopefully this will be helpful to you guys too.

A lot of what im gonna say is probably gonna sound really generic but generally speaking just watching one tutorial series and calling it a day isn't gonna cut it.

Something that helped me a whole lot was having a clear goal in mind (like I remember the first thing I wanted to do was translate my OCs in 3D). Picking something I was invested in is what pushed me to do my own research (and now its Deltarune fan animations lol). Knowing how to maintain motivation and going in with the right mindset is the most important thing imo.

I use Blender for my 3D work, which is free and open source. I personally prefer it over paid software like Maya or 3dsMax, especially for modeling and sculpting (I remember I had to use Max and Maya for a while but overall it was a pretty agonizing experience to be honest, so I switched back to Blender, which just feels a whole lot easier to use for me personally lol, but really at the end of the day just pick the software you want. This is just my personal preference). If you have a potato laptop like me, I definitely advise you to use Blender tho as it is very lightweight compared to other 3D programs, plus it can do the same things and then some. Not to mention there are way more free resources on Blender stuff so it's easier to get access to the info you need. Anyways Blender-simping over, moving on!

Tutorials are always a great idea, but you're also gonna have to learn how to do problem-solving. 3D can be a really technical and rigid medium, so being patient and knowing how to do independent learning is very important. Take a look at box-modeling, sculpting, texturing and procedural shading. Unfortunately that's gonna involve a lot of annoying situations and moments of immeasurable pain, but once you're more familiar with how things work, it's super fun and rewarding!

Don't forget to have fun and experiment! It's easy to get lost and overwhelmed by the technical aspects of 3D but it's important to just let go and make silly things. Also talking to other 3d artists with similar interests helps a ton, especially more experienced ones but I am aware not everyone has access to that (plus not everyone might want that, esp when you're an introvert like me haha!)

If you gotta sell your soul to a corporation then focusing on one particular subset is gonna be useful for animation jobs, as this is what most studios want. Some artists might like specializing into just one area, and that's totally fine but for me who prefers to be a generalist, it just kinda ruins my joy for 3D to restrict myself to just one part of it. Plus if you enjoy doing what you do, you tend to learn a lot faster anyway.

This might be a bit of an uncommon take, but one of the most stifling pieces of advice I have received from industry 3D artists is to only focus on one thing (as in, only skill up your UV-unwrapping, or only do rigging, only do hard-surface modeling, only do organic environment modeling and so on). NUH-UH! Just do what you want fam. Make the spoingle-boingles pet cats. Focus on the things you like. Make barney the dinosaur destroy the whole set. Model, rig and animate them if you want. Really, just have fun. Obviously you gotta do some self-checks and see where you need to improve, and where your strengths and weaknesses are, and focusing on those areas can be very helpful. Just make sure you're having a good time doing it, and don't be too harsh on yourself. Definitely take a break if you're overwhelmed.

You don't have to be able to draw to be good at character modeling but making turnaround sketches helps me a whole lot whenever I make 3D characters. Knowing how to draw will also benefit your sense of design and shapes, as you can use your drawing skills for texturing and adding your own flair to your models.

Another thing I would do is look at other people's 3D models and study the topology and the way they model things. This also helps a lot with motivation. Obviously you don't wanna copy, just study the way other people model things and see what other talented artists come up with! There are a bunch of free Blender rigs you can download and study on your own, not to mention useful videos and streams on YouTube. The Rain and Snow rigs are pretty awesome. Some of this stuff is behind a paywall but I recommend checking out the free resources of the "Settlers" project for highly cartoony modeling and rigging (this playlist is very useful, I didn't watch all of it but some parts have been pretty inspirational to me). Also just following 3D artists you like and looking at their art for inspiration will help you stay motivated.

Hope this is useful!

[doulayogimama]

I got my period today and the weather is crap. I had to spend the majority of my afternoon packing while caring for / entertaining my 3yo, so that took 5x longer than it should've, lol.

I am checking a large luggage at the check in counter.

I have a carry on backpack that will have my laptop, chargers, Sky's snack + entertainment bag, her book bag, and her insulated milk bag. My purse can be stuffed in that large book bag or I can wear it on my shoulder.

I was debating whether to bring her stroller or not, but I think I will. It's worth it. I'm just not sure if I'm going to stuff it into my checked bag or if I'm going to put it in my large carry on bookbag.

This stroller is the best parenting purchase I've ever made -- not ideal for a child under 1, but for a toddler, this is more than enough and it can literally fit in a shoulder bag once it's folded up. Used it the 4 months through Europe and it saved our lives. The only city I struggled using a stroller was Lisbon. We've used it in cities like NYC and Barcelona; this stroller was amazing and is 1000% worth the money (and this is cheap as far as travel strollers go).

[socially-awkward-skeleton]

Chapter 5

Summary: Rory is contacted by Laswell, and her journey to Urzikstan begins

Warnings/tags: Minors DNI - no major warnings for this chapter, character with trauma

Pairing: Captain John Price x Fem!OC (3rd person POV)

Word count: 1.8 k

[AO3]

October 28, 2019 - Fulham, London, UK

Her eyes opened slowly with the fluttering of lashes, her mouth dry with the acrid taste of hours-old whiskey sticking to her gums as sunlight streamed into the bedroom, burning with the intensity of the bright blue sky and the white clouds that blew past. The sounds of distant traffic carried in through her window, London had arisen from its grave – and it was about time she got up off her arse as well. Groaning feebly, Rory rolled over and slapped her hand around the surface of the bedside table in a half-hearted search for her phone, before finally finding it and checking the time. Bugger. 9 AM. Her hands dragged through her knotted, haphazard mess of hair as she opened the text notification she had received from Laswell: CC’d you as requested by John. Get back to me when you can. 

No rest for the wicked.

The crawl out of bed to head downstairs was painful. Drinking whiskey at three in the morning was hardly her most intelligent decision and despite not usually being a lightweight, she could feel it now – head banging, thoroughly dehydrated – rough was the best word to describe her. Her legs dragged as she set up her laptop at the kitchen island and peeled the wrapper off a blueberry muffin, biting into it as she opened her private email on a protected server. Clicking open the attached encrypted file, she was delivered the intel collected from Price and Garrick’s raid on the house in Camden Town. A plethora of gems that when dug through could take her in yet more directions, including possible leads into other terrorist cells across the west – but that would be better served for another time. 

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she focused her attention on the packet regarding ‘The Wolf’ AKA Omar Sulaman, her enemy number one for the last two years, a former freedom fighter in Urzikstan who had since begun his own terrorist organization with Al-Qatala. Rory sipped her tea and searched for some semblance of normality, a return to form as she buried herself in work, keeping her head just above water. The flinching in her muscles was an all too acute reminder of the desire she felt to be found useful, an unsteady leg shaking as she bounced her foot under the island. The creak of her stool under the relentless assault of her jittery leg was a piercing sting in her ears. Sitting still only worked for so long before restlessness took hold. 

Quick to unwrap her newest pack of smokes, Rory slipped a cigarette between her lips and walked out onto the cramped, enclosed patch of grass some would call a garden. Bringing the lighter to the tip, she let the flame dance back and forth against it as she lost herself in the thought of the regrettable conversation she would have to hold soon with her father. Heading off into another war zone, fighting side by side with Price, doing exactly what she had promised she wouldn’t. Rebellion through following orders. She kicked off her slippers and stepped out into the blades of grass hardened by the frost that had formed overnight and had yet to melt under the heat of the sun. Little needles stabbing into the soft undersides of her feet like a poor man’s acupuncture, forcing her to face reality – Grounding as she recalled it being referred to by her therapist. The repeated calls of the robins and sparrows was a friendly sound of things being restored to their rightful place instead of the dead silence that had loomed over the city. Tilting her face up towards the sun, the warmth was a comfort against her skin even as the cold breeze chapped her cheeks turning them ruddy. Not too much longer and she would be missing the rain, returning to the heat of the desert she seemed unable to escape from. 

Taking a long drag of her cigarette, the smoke curled in her lungs, constricting the passageways. Slowly choking herself just to feel alive. She sighed and a heavy plume of smoke drifted over her lips as her eyes closed, letting the stress release fully with each breath. Focus was a hard thing to achieve when her mind was buzzing, and yet forcing herself to pay attention to every sense, maintaining control over her body and mind did have the desired effect. Her brain wasn’t a rat race of a thousand thoughts and feelings, clarity had once more settled in her skin and the nerves that inhabited the layers between like a web. A spider, resting on the thin filaments, waiting for that subtle vibration of its prey making a false move was hidden at the core of her, biding its time.  Venom pulsed in her veins, a neurotoxin set to immobilize and stun. The tingle up her spine, that itchy sensation like a million crawling ants on her skin warned her that time was coming soon. Her intuition for knowing when to pull the trigger was rarely ever wrong. As another cloud of smoke puffed free from her lips, inside her mobile rang, buzzing against the island countertop in a drone. Glancing over her shoulder, Rory tossed her cigarette into an old planter filled with rainwater, letting it fizzle out as she headed back into the kitchen and scooped the phone up to her ear.

“ Good morning, Sergeant .” DC was five hours behind London, Laswell – as always – was hard at work. Her call sign Watcher-01 seemed to hold fast. Ever at the ready, especially during these chaotic times. 

“Bloody hell, Kate. Up early or just never went to bed?”

“ Still burning the midnight oil, I’m afraid .” The lack of sleep rasped at Kate’s voice. It was likely she was surviving on caffeine and cigarettes. “Best have some vacation days coming for you soon then.” Rory absent-mindedly scrolled through the downloaded files on her computer, her finger dragging back and forth against the touchpad. “What can I do for you?” “ Giving you the heads up, transfer’s gone through for you. Had a chat with the colonel, and as of… 26 minutes ago, you are no longer on personal leave. Need you to pack up and head out from Vauxhall Cross .” “MI6 building?” Rory hummed, “You really did go through the proper channels for this, eh?” “ Can’t use the back doors all the time. You’ve read the materials I sent ?”

“Glanced through some of it over breakfast, yeah.”

“ I need you to be well informed before you hit the ground in Urzikstan. Your flight’s set to depart at 1300 hours .” A heavy pause lay thick over the line before Laswell spoke once more, “ You deserve to be a part of this fight as much as anyone else, Rory. The hours you’ve put into all this… If anyone should be there, it’s you .” Sentiment wasn’t something often shared in their line of work, a testament to the working relationship they had built up together over the last two years. There was a certain allegiance there and while neither tried to let their business and personal lives collide, a blurring of lines came to pass against their wills. 

“Understood.” With a silent nod, she combed her fingers through the short waves of chestnut hair that framed her face, settling in for her assignment. “Right then, I suppose I’ve got several hours of reading ahead of me.” “ If everything goes according to plan, you should be there in time to speak with Sulaman yourself. Special Operations Force and Marines are in the process of collecting him from his last known position as we speak, taking him to the US Embassy for transfer afterwards .” “Look forward to it.” The darkness in Rory’s voice bled through like ink on cloth. She knew better than to make this a personal war, but she couldn’t deny the bitterness that controlled her. The need for revenge was an all too powerful weapon and one she was willing to keep in her arsenal.

October 28, 2019 17:45 - Turkish airspace

The ten and a half hour flight from London to Urzikstan was turbulent, an ill omen of what lay ahead for her. The lone passenger for much of her journey once transferred to a US military cargo plane in Germany, it was her one stop before she would reach the desert. Riding in style was never something she expected as a member of the military, comfort was a luxury rarely afforded, and one she was used to lacking in her years as an enlisted soldier. 

No longer in her civvies, packed and ready for a warzone, she sat on one of the benches, belted in. The engine roar around her was near deafening even with headphones in, barely able to make out the upbeat croon of Blondie in her ears as she leaned back against the hard metal of the cabin. Rivets protruded from the plates into her neck and shoulders, netting above her head rattled on its carabiners. With her mobile held in her hands, Rory stared at the contacts on the screen, her thumb hovering over her father’s number. Assessing the hazards ahead, listing pros and cons, she gritted her teeth. She could call him, but what would she say? 

You were right all along, dad. I feel more comfortable with blood on my hands than in the quiet, doing nothing. I believe it’s my right to go to war having been given the authority to make the enemy pay for their misdeeds. John Lennon was a lying fuck when he said “give peace a chance”.

That wasn’t her, not in her heart at least. Her head would tell her otherwise, doing what needed to be done to keep the rest of the world safe was a burden she had been cursed with to bear and it was one she took seriously. Her Sisyphean task, the weight of it crushing down upon her shoulders. Spurred on by a relationship with a man who had taken this form of thinking to heart, brainwashed to believe this was the only way of life for them both, the one that suited them best. 

Rory decided to text her father instead, a brief message, one that didn’t need a response. The safer option, really. She would be unable to be reached once she was in the thick of it anyway. This was the grenade, and she was pulling the pin, about to lob it away to deal with the explosive aftermath later, putting off the pain of an uncomfortable situation. Her father wouldn’t push, he never did, he simply swallowed it down and perhaps might snipe about it passive aggressively in the future – she could live with that. Leave canceled. Flying over Turkey now. Duty calls. Sorry dad xx

Straightforward, to the point, no beating around the bush. Her father preferred the direct approach when breaking bad news and that was one thing she was more than capable of doing – blunt just like the army had taught her, there was no time for wasted breath. Actions spoke louder than words anyway, and what she was doing was screaming from the rooftops about where her loyalties lay.