#differences between clamshell and book

[zhalfirin-binds]

Detail shots of technical differences on Bionic Battle Granny the book and the clamshell box.

First up the inlay on the clamshell vs the onlay on the book.

The inset leather is (almost) even and level with the covering leather.

The onlay, though buffed and slightly rounded a bit along the edges, still adds visibly on the covering material. (Which is not a flaw! it's just the way onlays work.) The onlays were also part of why I decided to make the clamshell, the edges of the onlay could take damage when shoven between other books and in any case they'd be more susceptible to wear. Another reason was light and dust protection.

(I have no idea how to translate this, perhaps indrawn corners vs. cut corners would work best. Anyhow... )

Another part that differs are the corners. On the book I cut material off, pared the rest thinly and folded a tiny ledge over to cover the corner thoroughly (see the first two pictures). On the clamshell I cut some of the material off as well, but not closer to the corner. The remaining material of the turn-ins got pulled over the corner so there's only intact leather there. The downside of this is, there is too much material and it will set in folds even if spread as evenly as possible over the board. Those folds can be hammered down though and having the turn-ins pared thin helps too.

[ind-abd]

Best Foldable Phones: Are They Worth The Hype?  

Foldable smartphones have become one of the most exciting innovations in the tech world, offering a new way to experience mobile devices. With brands like Samsung, Motorola, and Huawei leading the charge, foldables promise larger screens in a compact form. But, with high price tags and some durability concerns, are they really worth the hype? Let’s dive into the best foldable phones of 2024 and see if they live up to the buzz.

What Are Foldable Phones?

Foldable phones feature flexible screens that can fold or unfold, giving users the best of both worlds: a large screen when needed, and portability when closed. There are two main types of foldables:

Clamshell foldables: These fold like a traditional flip phone, with a screen that folds inward. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip is a prime example.

Book-style foldables: These devices open up like a book, offering a tablet-like experience when unfolded. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold series fits this category.

Best Foldable Phones of 2024

1. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5

The Galaxy Z Fold 5 is Samsung’s flagship foldable, offering a 7.6-inch Dynamic AMOLED display when unfolded. This makes it perfect for multitasking and media consumption, while its 6.2-inch cover screen ensures it’s still usable without opening. The Z Fold 5 is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, providing top-tier performance.

Improvements over previous models include a more refined hinge, making the device feel thinner and more durable. It’s also IPX8-rated for water resistance, a significant step forward in foldable phone durability.

Pros:

Large internal display for multitasking

Improved hinge and build quality

Water-resistant

Cons:

Expensive

Heavier than traditional smartphones

Limited app optimization for the large screen

2. Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5

The Galaxy Z Flip 5 takes a different approach with its clamshell design. When unfolded, it reveals a 6.7-inch AMOLED display, offering a full smartphone experience. Its large external cover screen (3.4 inches) is a standout feature, allowing users to check notifications, use apps, and control music without opening the device.

Powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, the Z Flip 5 delivers excellent performance. Its sleek design and compact size make it a great choice for those who want a high-end, pocketable foldable phone.

Pros:

Compact and portable

Functional external screen

Excellent performance

Cons:

Smaller battery

Lacks water resistance

3. Motorola Razr+ (2023)

The Motorola Razr+ brings a nostalgic flip phone design with modern foldable technology. It features a 6.9-inch AMOLED display that folds inward, but its large external screen (3.6 inches) allows users to interact with notifications, apps, and even take photos without opening the phone. The Razr+ is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset, delivering reliable performance for everyday tasks.

The design is one of the best in the foldable market, with a slim profile and high-quality materials. It’s an attractive and functional device, ideal for users looking for a balance between innovation and style.

Pros:

Large and usable external screen

Sleek, pocketable design

Good performance for the price

Cons:

Lacks water resistance

No telephoto camera

4. Huawei Mate X3

For those seeking a book-style foldable, the Huawei Mate X3 offers a unique experience. It unfolds to reveal an 8-inch OLED display, making it one of the largest foldable screens available. Unlike the Z Fold series, the Mate X3’s display is outward-folding, so the large screen is always accessible, even when the phone is closed.

Powered by the Kirin 9000 chipset, the Mate X3 offers top-tier performance and excellent camera quality, thanks to its Leica-designed system. It’s also impressively thin and light for a foldable, making it a strong contender for those who prioritize design and portability.

Pros:

Large display always accessible

Exceptional camera quality

Lightweight and slim design

Cons:

Very expensive

Limited software support outside of China

Are Foldable Phones Worth The Hype?

Foldable phones bring exciting technology to the market, but they still have some hurdles to overcome.

1. Price: Foldable phones are significantly more expensive than traditional smartphones. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5, for example, costs around $1,800, making them a premium choice. For many, this price point is hard to justify, especially when non-foldable flagships like the iPhone 15 Pro or Samsung Galaxy S24 offer similar or better performance at a lower cost.

2. Durability: Despite improvements, foldable phones remain more fragile than conventional smartphones. The folding mechanism can degrade over time, and the screen is more prone to damage from dust and debris. However, brands like Samsung have made strides in improving durability with more robust hinges and water resistance.

3. Battery Life: Many foldable phones feature larger screens, but their battery sizes are typically smaller compared to non-foldables. This can lead to shorter battery life, especially when using the device’s larger screen for multitasking or media consumption.

4. App Optimization: Not all apps are optimized for foldable screens. While this is improving over time, users may still find that some apps don’t take full advantage of the larger screen, leading to less-than-ideal experiences in certain use cases.

Conclusion:

Foldable phones are an exciting peek into the future of mobile technology, offering innovative designs and new ways to interact with our devices. Devices like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Motorola Razr + push the boundaries of what smartphones can do, but their high prices and potential durability concerns may make them impractical for many users today. For those looking to experiment with cutting-edge tech and willing to pay a premium, foldables can be worth the hype. That said, if you're looking for a seamless tech experience without the high price tag of foldables, GoGizmo is the solution you’ve been waiting for. 

[farnet]

Surface Laptop vs. Surface Book: Which One Should You Choose?

Microsoft’s Surface series includes some of the most innovative and well-designed devices in the computing world. Among them, the Surface Laptop and Surface Book are standout models, each catering to different audiences and use cases. Although they share some core features, their differences in design, performance, and functionality make them distinct. If you’re torn between the two, here’s a detailed comparison to help you decide.

Design and Usability

The Surface Laptop is a sleek, lightweight laptop with a traditional clamshell design. Its slim aluminum body and Alcantara-covered keyboard exude elegance and comfort. This device is ideal for users who want a straightforward laptop experience without the added complexity of detachable parts.

Meanwhile, the Surface Book offers a more versatile approach. Its unique design features a detachable screen that transforms the laptop into a tablet. The dynamic fulcrum hinge allows for various modes, including laptop, tablet, and presentation configurations. While this adds flexibility, it also makes the Surface Book bulkier than the Surface Laptop.

Performance and Hardware

When it comes to performance, the Surface Laptop is tailored for productivity tasks. It is equipped with Intel Core i5 or i7 processors, integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics, and up to 32GB of RAM. These specifications make it perfect for activities like document editing, browsing, and light multitasking. However, it is not intended for heavy-duty workloads like video rendering or gaming.

The Surface Book, on the other hand, is a powerhouse. It offers dedicated NVIDIA GPUs in its higher-end configurations, along with Intel Core i7 processors and up to 32GB of RAM. This makes it a better choice for creative professionals and power users who need to run demanding applications such as CAD software, video editing suites, or 3D modeling programs.

Display Features

Both devices feature Microsoft’s PixelSense touchscreen displays with stunning resolution and vibrant colors. The Surface Laptop offers 13.5-inch and 15-inch models, delivering excellent color accuracy and clarity for general use. However, its fixed display limits its versatility.

The Surface Book elevates the display experience with its detachable screen. The high-resolution display doubles as a tablet and supports the Surface Pen, making it ideal for artists, designers, and other creatives. Its ability to detach and rotate adds a layer of functionality that the Surface Laptop cannot provide.

Battery Life

The Surface Laptop is designed to deliver consistent, long-lasting battery life, ensuring all-day usage for everyday tasks.

The Surface Book, with its dual-battery setup (one in the screen and one in the base), offers extended battery life in laptop mode. However, when used solely as a tablet, the battery drains faster. This tradeoff is worth considering if you plan to use the device heavily in tablet mode.

Price and Target Audience

The Surface Laptop is more budget-friendly, making it an excellent choice for students, professionals, and casual users who need a stylish and reliable laptop for everyday tasks.

The Surface Book is priced higher, reflecting its advanced hardware and hybrid design. It is tailored for power users, creative professionals, and those who need flexibility and high performance in a single device.

To know more details please visit https://farnet.io/1403/08/368572/comparing-surface-book-with-surface-laptop/

Conclusion

Choosing between the Surface Laptop and Surface Book ultimately depends on your specific needs and priorities. The Surface Laptop is perfect for those who prefer simplicity, portability, and affordability. On the other hand, the Surface Book is ideal for users seeking performance, versatility, and creative capabilities. By understanding their differences, you can make an informed decision that best fits your lifestyle and work requirements.

[spockandawe]

Here we go! I have some smaller books to share as well, but I've been absolutely VIBRATING with excitement to share a BIG one, and I'm going to indulge myself and post that today, then figure out words for the rest. Because I bound a new cnovel. Check it out, guys, I bound jwqs/clear and muddy loss of love :D

Let me indulge myself and backtrack a little! First, these are quarto books, so they're short. But I think these average a little under 500 pages each, and jwqs is a LONG book (my beloved), and this adds up to a total eleven inches of lesbians. More like twelve once they're in their cases. It's over a million characters in Chinese and I think the English translation comes in somewhere around 890k, it's HUGE

Making these books was SO FUN, I hadn't read jwqs and still haven't, and will probably read on my phone when I do. I don't have any exciting photos of the typesetting, but I knew this was an imperial succession story, and that made me nervous, those stories don't always click for me. Well, the process of typesetting and adding footnotes for this beast definitely confirmed that I'm going to have a good time with this thing when I have the time to read it, but there was also so much going on that only the vaguest of spoilers sank in. I went into an absolute FRENZY of typesetting, and after I printed, cut and folded it, well. That was one afternoon of sewing. You're looking at the reason I'm scrambling to make up a few hours of missed work, hahaha

After that, I needed cases. At the very beginning of march, I received a shipment of some FASCINATING bookcloth. It's called Duo, and it's made by layering a thin gauzy fabric of one color over paper of a different color. Depending on the combos, you get a really cool range of color-shifting effects. And they've gone out of production! But I was part of a group order to get some of the goods, and hadn't yet finished a new project. Reader, I went for it.

That purple and green is bananas!!!! It's so hard to photograph, this midnight picture of a few cases is one of my most successful attempts to capture the full range up close. Originally I'd been thinking of trying to evoke imperial gold, but I figured this was still the kind of drama and luxury suited the book, and also something something the hidden colors suited Qi Yan's character. I tied it back a little to the imperial gold with the endpapers, then titled them in silver foil, since the endpapers had silver in them.

But once the books were made, I felt like it wanted something... more. Something like a BOX!

And me, I chase novelty. A set this large would be tricky for anything clamshell, but a slipcase for all seven would leave books tipping all over if it was wide open, but putting walls between slots would be demanding in terms of precision and would risk similarly-sized books getting stuck in the wrong slots. Then I remembered learning about slipcases where you could put in a little insert to support the weight of the text block, and the concept SNAPPED into place.

Colors aren't going to photograph well at midnight, but I made the supports using the scraps and off-cuts from my endpapers, to tie it back into the bindings. The back of the case is lined in more of the duo, and the walls are lined with a faux leather bookcloth I like a lot, it feels buttery smooth and seemed like a good neutral material to tie the papers and bookcloth together. I listened to some of the DEEPEST layers from the nine-hour conspiracy theory iceberg video while I was working on this, haha, it was a TRIP.

And in the end, each of the supports is sized to comfortably sit in the smallest of the volumes, and evenly spaced, so I believe it will take the books in any order with no problems. It's easy to grab the books without having to cut notches into the walls to grab them from. And even though weight is less of an issue for quarto sizing, the books in here have their weight supported no matter what angle the box is at! I'm so, so pleased with how this concept worked out and definitely plan to do more with it in the future.

So there we are! Jing Wei Qing Shang! I had such a fabulous time with this project, and I'm so excited to get to share it with all of you. The story was fun to work with, the bindings and box were fun to make, and everything here came together just as well as I could possibly have hoped. I'm so proud of this, and incredibly, incredibly excited to show it to you!

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 6/13/2023

very games-centric week

listening

this opening bit samples bowie's life on mars and sounds like a piano cover of a half-remembered but still beloved childhood anime. like the kind you had a set of two VHS clamshells for but only episodes 4-6 and 10-12. it goes on the "lofi beats to data and entry to" playlist. spotify

-

reading

fallow week

-

watching

the folks at waypoint games, formerly vice's leftist games vertical, BOUGHT THE BRAND FROM VICE and are rebranding as remap. i wish them all the fuckin best and i hope they succeed but i feel like we have maybe six months of this before one of them goes literally bankrupt from a doctor's visit bc healthcare is such a fuckin nightmare in this country. im simply not excited for starfield. i am not interested in corporate nasa

anyway i enjoyed their commentary, excited for compulsion games' southern gothic action/adventure spellcaster South of Midnight

neutrally optimistic about obsidian's Avowed, bc i do love obsidian but i do not love sword and sorcery rpgs

there's airships in microsoft flight simulator so i may genuinely buy one month of gamepass to try that out

capcom's path of the goddess looks fucking gorgeous but i have never played more than half an hour of a capcom game and i expect i never will. is this topdown? is this isometric? what the fuck is the gameplay mode??? who could FUCKING say

also there's a new jersey fallout 76 expansion coming at some point. in real life i hate atlantic city and i don't really how know this will look or play differently from point lookout. i don't know if i want to play a much-reviled cash cow mmorpg just to get postapoc jersey lore. if this leads up to 5 being set in nyc im going to be real pissed off. go somewhere DIFFERENT. there are DIFFERENT PLACES on the east coast!!! blease

-

playing

viddy game can consistently turn my brain off enough that i forget im moving cross country in two weeks and can forcibly relax my body for twenty mintues at a time between packing boxes. so there's been a lot of pomodoro-ing, or my version which is: pack until i get so anxious i physically cannot pack anymore, go have a snack, go play twenty minutes of a video game, and then go pack until i am on the verge of a panic attack again. this is not healthy but all my books are packed. all of these were free on epic at some point btw which is why i own them

the first time i played Airborne Kingdom, i lost track of time and beat it in one sitting in eight hours. the second time i played Airship Kingdom, i replicated that exact experience. i have allied with all the kingdoms and have like two hundred souls on board but am not QUITE selfsufficient enough to take on the northern/artic sea DLC. stay tuned. soundtrack in this thing is great.

bounced VERY hard off Close to the Sun, a bioshock-lite i put about four hours/three levels into. a huge gilded age cruise ship where the science has Gone Wrong would normally be catnip to me, but the game did brutally kill the player character's sister in front of me in an unskippable cutscene so we're done with that game now THANK YOU. it is very slow, which i do like in a game that gives you this much stuff to look at, but there is no gamma control. this game is so fucking dark. i played it in a dark room with no lights and it was still too dark.

pinged off the typing exploration game Epistory despite its charming art, bc fast and accurate typing is something covid has taken from me.

rediscovered Carcassone (online) which is great bc i love Carcassone and own a physical copy of the board game but no one else in my life loves it. tile-building countryside-building game, seconds to learn, etc. thank you board game review even though there are no meeple in their natural habitat (the board) in this picture

-

making

it's gonna be putting things into boxes for the forseeable future (the next week) and then living out of them for a while (the next two weeks after that)

[jaykaymediapix]

UAL2 UNIT2 - HALF TERM 06/2022

At the PhotoBookCafe, in Shoreditch, London

At the Photographers' Gallery, London

At Maison Assouline bookstore/bar in Piccadilly, London

Lesson Half Term

For this lesson, I spent a day visiting a series of establishments to gain more experience in how to assess the physical printed image.

The first stop was to the PhotoBookCafé (pictured, above) in North London’s Shoreditch district. Its free library of photobooks and photozines offered a massive opportunity to browse through a wide range of eclectic works.

These included Lu Yang’s semi-erotica, video-game inspired self-portraits in the A4-sized King Kong zine; and the quirky realism in the 5A format zines published by Bump Books.

The informality of the photocopy-like paper used for the zines contrasted with the hard cover and thick matte paper used for images in Americans Parade by George Georgiou. His depiction of the peculiarities in ordinary Americans’ daily lives is comparable to the portrayal of the British by photographer Martin Parr.

Also fascinating was the variety of book formats used by publishers, such as the family album look for the compilation of different photographers’ work in Momentos, published by Monaris; the sophisticated hardback inside a slipcase for People of the Mud, by Berlin-based Luis Alberto Rodriguez, who homes in on the far-from sophisticated hard grind of the lives of a working class community in Ireland.

Equally intriguing was the almost large A3 size and newspaper-supplement style of 12-8 2017, William Mebane’s photographic coverage of the controversial rallies held by US President Donald Trump in Florida.

The PhotoBookCafé visit was followed by one to London’s Photographers’ Gallery and the exhibition called For the Record: Photography & the Art of the Album Cover. This was a visual feast for music fans. It focused on the symbiotic relationship between recorded music and photographic art.

The repertoire included iconic vinyl album covers influenced by or taken by famous artists (Andy Warhol), by famous photograph artists (Lee Friedlander), and covers imitating other album covers (the Clash’s London Calling encapsulating the rebelliousness of punk by imitating the cover of Elvis Presley’s debut album displaying the raucousness of 1950s rock ‘n roll.) (pictured, above).

My next stop was to Maison Assouline, the boutique luxury bookshop in London’s Piccadilly area. The photography books and art books cost between £75 and £20,000 each (pictured, above).

The management explained that the covers of the large limited-edition A3 size coffee-table books costing about £1,000 were specifically made from silk, hand-sewn and hand-bound in Italy before being exported to the UK in customised clamshell cases.

Each book’s cover is embossed in gold, silver and other highly specialised paint. Another Assouline book on Formula One motor-racing had its cover made from recycled F1 tyres (pictured, above).

It was hard to know whether the prices indicate excess just for the sake of it, whether the luxurious covers and paper used to display the photos enhanced the photos’ storytelling; or whether the high costs amounted to good photography’s deserved financial merit and value.

But the whole day’s experience illustrated the extraordinary wide range of print-publishing formats for photography.

[george-mackay-macfine]

Yes, Professor.

Requested

Synopsis: Y/N gets a new Professor, and she really wants to fuck him. 

Word Count: 3, 043

“Have you seen the new English Professor?” I looked up from my course book as Julian my best friend flounced up to my desk in the library. “I just saw him getting a tour of the school from the Dean, and boy,” He fanned his hand against his face dramatically. “The man could bend me over a table any day,”  

“Julian,” I gawked, “You can’t just say things like that, he’s a Professor, and last time I checked, sleeping with your Professor was still frowned upon,” 

“You didn’t see this man, Y/N.” He waved his hands about dramatically. “I would give up my degree and still pay the student loans for the chance to see that man naked, even once.” 

“You’re being ridiculous,” I scoffed, “He can’t be that hot,”

“You know how all the Romans of old had the hots for the chick who came out of the clamshell? Ya know, the one with the long hair?” 

“Yes, Julian,”

“He’s the male version of her,” I began to collect my things, as he continued to ramble. “He looked too good to be straight, but then again a lot of straight men these days have begun to dress better…”

“I’m going to go to class now… enjoy your fantasies.” 

“I’ll come,” 

“You don’t even take the class,”

“No better time to learn about English and books.”

“We’re studying Shakespeare, reading texts, today’s Romeo and Juliet.”

“Oh fuck me,” Julian bit his bottom lip, following me away from the table and towards the door. “Do you think he’ll be reading Romeo because, I swear to everything in Heaven, I swear on my mothers grave -.”

“Your mother isn’t dead,”

“I would die to hear that man utter sweet, sweet poetic moronic dribbling into my ears as he pounds into me,”

“You really have an issue, have you considered you know going on a date, maybe seeing if there’s someone out there who can cure the issues?” 

“They’re not issues,”

“No? Wanting your professor to lay you over his desk, pound into you while muttering Shakespeare into your ear isn’t an issue.” I chuckled as we reached the entrance to the lecture hall. 

“Ahem,” Julian and I froze, turning slowly to face the source of the intrusion. “Quiet… bold imagery there.” The man in front of me would have only been thirty tops, his hair was a dark brown, and his eyes the brightest blue I’d ever seen. He was dressed smartly, but not like the stuffy old Professors we were used too, he wore a white button-down, probably leaving one too many buttons undone to be deemed as more professional than a casual dress. He extended his hand towards me, “I’m Professor MacKay,” 

“I’m so sorry,” I began to mutter shuffling items to shake his hand, “That conversation, what you heard it was out of context, and I can promise you that you will never hear anything of the sort slip from my mouth again,” 

“Shame,” He muttered dropping his hand to his side, “I quite liked the bold imagery.” He looked down to his wristwatch, flashing Julian and I a toothy grin. “Best hurry, class starts in a minute,” Julian and I watched in two different emotions as Professor MacKay waltzed into the lecture hall. Julian was in a state of awe, his mind probably running over all the ways he could have Professor MacKay in his dirties dreams, whereas I was in a state of utter humiliation. Professor MacKay looked over at us once more sending me another smile as he dropped his satchel on the desk.

“You heard the man,” Julian pushed in front of me, “Best get a seat before they fill up.” I followed Julian into the lecture hall, my hair hanging in front of my eyes as I felt those of my new Professor on my body, wishing death upon Julian when he picked the seat right in front of Professor MacKay’s desk. 

“Really this one?” I hissed sliding in beside him, careful to keep my voice low in case a prying Professor was listening. 

“Wanted to be close to the front,” Julian’s eyes dragged over Professor MacKay’s frame, “Didn’t want to miss any learning,” 

“Oh, Fuck me,” I groaned head dropping back. 

“Really miss…” My head snapped up, eyes popping open as Professor MacKay knelt before me, his hands clasped together, a cheeky smile on his lips. 

“Her name is Y/F/N Y/L/N,” Julian pounced, “And I’m Julian,” He smirked lips pursing at the end. 

“Nice to meet you both,” He turned back to me, “I just wanted to make sure you were okay, you seem to be having an issue with your filthy language today,” 

“I promise, I'm not always like this…” I sat up straighter, “Normally I don’t even cuss, let alone speak how I did earlier,” 

“Relax, I’m teasing.” He stood up stopping when he was in front of my eyes, “But I want you to be careful, someone might take you up on the offer,” He bit his lip as he looked over me before walking back to his desk,

“Oh he wants the pussy,” Julian whispered in my ear, “Really bad,” 

“Shut up Julian,” I hissed, cheeks on fire. 

“But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?” Professor MacKay burst out, “It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.” He picked up a book sitting on the desk, “Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, Who is already sick and pale with grief,” I watched as he immersed himself in the poetry of the scene, “That thou her maid art far more fair than she: Be not her maid, since she is envious; Her vestal livery is but sick and green,” He looked at me as he continued, his eyes never straying from mine. “And none but fools do wear it; cast it off.” 

“Fuck yes,” Julian cried beginning to lead the class into loud applause for the new Professor, who had so quickly won over his audiences. 

“Thank you,” Professor MacKay raised his hand to hush the crowd, “My name is George MacKay, but the board doesn't take lightly to students calling their Professors by their ‘human’ names, so let’s stick with Professor,” He shuffled himself on the desk, “Now, who can tell me what Shakespeare meant when he wrote that passage?” 

“He wanted Romeo to fuck Juliet,” Someone called from the back of the room which caused half the rooms occupants, including George, Professor MacKay to snort out a couple seconds of laughter. 

“You’re not wrong,” George Professor MacKay confessed. “In this passage, Romeo uses an intricate conceit to express a simple desire, does anyone know what that desire is?” 

“To take Juliet’s virginity,” I voiced, 

“And how do you conclude that?” 

“Romeo begins by saying that the envious moon, Diana the Goddess of the moon, and patron of virgins, is jealous of her servant, Juliet’s radiance. He then goes on to beg Juliet to be Diana’s maid no longer, for the virginal uniform, vestal livery, she wears as a follower of Diana is sickly green in colour, and not to remove it.” 

“In lamens terms,” Julian questioned. 

“Romeo basically says to Juliet it would be foolish to remain a virgin,” I huffed, “Romeo, the frat boy of ye olden times,” I muttered much to the amusement of my Professor. 

“Correct, everything Ms Y/L/N said, was correct,” George. Professor MacKay clapped his hands together standing from the desk he began to bounce on his heels. “The phrase sick and green was hotly debated among early scholars, because of a discrepancy among the printed versions of the play.” He paused, “Can anyone tell me why?” He looked around the class, waiting for someone when no one answered he begun again. “In the first quarto of Romeo and Juliet in 1597, the line reads pale and green, which invites a new explanation of the lines,” He cleared his throat,  “Her vestal livery is but sick and green, And none but fools do wear it.” He picked up two of his books holding one in the air. “Some editors charge the compositors of the subsequent quartos and the First Folio where it appears as sick and green with carelessness, convinced that Shakespeare intended pale and green not to mean the green sickness of anaemia as is described three lines above, but to mean the colours of the uniform worn by Henry VIII's court jester – white and green. Thus, her vestal livery is the garb of a fool.” He held the second book up. “Others, not so much,” 

______________________________________________________________________

“I might need to consider taking this class,” Julian smirked as he waited for me to pack up my books. “Professor MacKay is not only delicious to look at, but he’s also extremely entertaining to watch,” 

“Julian,” I groaned, but I couldn’t deny it, George MacKay was delicious to look at, and I enjoyed the way his eyes looked at me, my face, body, lingering on my chest through the lecture. 

“I think you should try and seduce him,” 

“Julian…” 

“I dare you,” 

Those three little words were how it started, a game between Professor MacKay and I, except I, couldn’t be sure he knew he was participating. 

As the ‘game’ continued I upped the ante each lecture, it started off easy, low cut shirts, with lacy bra’s sticking out. 

Then it became low cut shirts with no bra, and with the lecture hall always being cold enough to harden my nipples I was sure Professor MacKay had gotten a good look at the pierced flesh, 

My next step was dressed, short ones that really shouldn’t be worn on campus, but I had a dare to win. 

I next resorted to wearing short skirts, tartan preferably but really anything that would allow me to teasingly spread my legs and give George a glimpse at my barley there underwear before I crossed my legs back over each other, pretending to be none the wiser to my Professor catching a glimpse of my hairless pussy, 

“Ms Y/L/N, can you stay a moment,” George called as the class began to pack up, it was Friday afternoon, and I was horny a week of teasing and I was in need of a good come down. 

“Can I help you, sir?” I asked once the last of my classmates had left the hall crossing my legs once again. George sat back on his desk, not even trying to hide that he was eyeing up my bare legs,  

“I thought you weren’t a fan of brave imagery,”  A smirk came to my lips, I couldn’t help it. “You think it’s funny?” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, sir,” 

“Fucking christ,” He groaned. “Sounds like Heaven when you say that,” I uncrossed my legs slowly, spreading them as I leant forward against the small wooden desk, breasts nearly spilling out of my shirt. 

“Sir?” 

“You’re enjoying the game aren’t you?”  George pushed away from his desk, striding over to me, he lent down so he was looking in my eyes. “Teasing me,” His squatted down, his hand starting at my ankle, running up my leg, unconsciously they opened wider, welcoming his hand against me. “Cunt’s dripping isn’t it?” I nodded, tongue dipping out to wet my lips. George’s hand hit home, his thumb against my clit teasing it. 

“F-F-fuck, George,” 

“Ah, ah…” He chided his finger leaving my clit, playing with the string of my underwear, “That’s not my name, is it?” 

“What do you want me to call you?” I whispered leaning forward, “Are you more of a sir, or should I call you Daddy?” 

“Fuck, you are a dirty girl,” George groaned, his hand leaving my clit, pushing my skirt up as he ran it up my body to my neck, “Call me sir,” He gave my neck a light squeeze, “You can call me Daddy next time,” 

“Yes, sir,” 

“Stand up,” He demanded standing himself upright, “You’ve been a brat lately haven’t you?” I nodded my head, standing upright myself, “And good girls are the ones who get fucked, what do the brats get?” 

“Punished,” 

“Punished, what?” 

“Sir,” I corrected, feeling a pool of wetness drip down my legs, “Sorry, sir.” 

“Good girl, now we’re learning.” He moved back to his desk, “Lose the shirt, and your skirt,” I quickly pulled the shirt over my head, throwing it to the ground. I took a little more time with the skirt twisting and twirling my hips as it dropped to the ground. “Turn around, over your desk,” I turned, bending over the desk I’d spent so much time teasing George from. “Going to take you here, so every time you have to sit here, you remember,” His hand came down on my ass, “How I spanked you,” Another “And how I fucked you,” Another spank “Okay,”

“Yes sir,” His hand went from my ass to my slit, fingers pushing inside of me, pumping once, twice, a third time before he withdrew them. 

“How does my little girl taste?” He pushed the fingers into my mouth, grabbing my hair with his free hand. Desperate to impress him I deep-throated them, imagining they were his cock, George pulled his hand out, pulling me to a stand, spinning me so my sensitive ass sat on the desk, He leaned down his lips meeting mine in a filthy kiss, his tongue shoving it’s way into my mouth, meeting mine dancing and twirling against one and other. He pulled away teeth gripping my bottom lip dragging it out before letting it go. “Taste good, Angel.” He kissed me again. “I could eat that little cunt out all day until your cried and begged me to stop…” I nodded, ready to beg him to. “But, you’re still in trouble for all your teasing, and I’m not sure if trouble makers deserve to have their cunts eaten out…” He pursed his lips “What do you think?”

“No, sir.” 

“See, you can be a good girl.” His fingers went back to my pussy pushing inside, my back arched towards him, his lips latching onto my nipples. 

“Fuck,” I moaned as he bit down, teeth teasing the bar pushed through the flesh. “I can be good,” I whined needing more of him. “Promise, I can be good.” His fingers continued to move inside me, unwavering. 

“Minute I saw those tits through your shirt, I knew I wanted to suck on them.” My thighs began to tremble from the pleasure he was giving me, “I’m going to fuck you, until you cry,” He murmured looking down at me with devilish eyes, “Maybe once you cry I’ll think about stopping.” His free hand went between us undoing his belt and zip before pulling my legs to his hips. “Keep them here,” 

“Yes sir,” I wrapped my legs around his waist, holding tightly as he reached between us again, grabbing at his cock. I felt it against me as he withdrew his fingers, pushing inside of me. He pressed in slowly at first, then all at once. I gasped out in shock, clenching down around him like a vice, fuck he was big. He looked down, at where he spread me open, tutting. 

“You haven’t even taken me in all the way, love.” 

“Big, sir.” 

“Too big?” I shook my head, 

“No sir,”  His hips pulled back and snapped forward, burying his length inside of me completely.

He was huge, wait until I told Julian about this, how good our Professor can fuck. 

“No one will hear you,” George growled into my ear as I let out a soft moan, “Louder,” 

“Fuck, Sir,” I groaned as he thrust harder. “You want everyone to find our your currently bottomed out in your student?” My question was accompanied by a moan. 

“Like I give a fuck,” He said lowly before he slowly pushed himself in, making me grip his shoulders tightly. He watched me through half-lidded eyes as I bit my lip, heavy breathing until he was fully settled deep inside of me once more. “And you're not just my student,” He groaned as I opened my eyes to look at him.

“No?” I asked sighing as he slowly began to move faster again.

“No.” He groaned, “You’re my little whore,” 

“Charming,”

“I try,” He groaned picking me up off the table, he laid me on the cold tile floor, his body quickly coming down onto of me. He took both of my arms and pinned them above me with his one hand.

“Fuck…” I moaned as I felt him fucking into me harder, chest to chest, his chest hair brushing over my hardened nipples. George let go of my wrists instead grabbing onto thighs sitting back on his as he thrust even deeper. 

“This is what you wanted all along wasn’t it?” He growled, his hand leaving my thigh coming down to circle on my clit. 

“Yes... Just like that...” I moaned, eyes rolling back as his fingers rubbed constantly over my clit. I could already feel the familiar warmth in my belly spreading. “You going to cum sir?”

“Waiting for you...” He smirked. He pushed harder, making me cry out as my orgasm washed over my body, sending tingles throughout. “Come again,” George groaned his grip lighting on my thigh, fingers continuing to work my clit, as he kept fucking me through my first orgasm straight into my second. My body exploded in pleasure as I felt George still deep inside of me, the warmth of his own orgasm making mine even more epic. 

“Holy fuck,” I groaned as George collapsed on top of me. I ran my hand through the sweaty hair at the nape of his neck. 

“You know how you’ll remember me spanking you on your desk?” I groaned in response, too fucked out to make any other words. “Well, I’m going to look at this spot and get hard every time because this is the place I made you squirt.” 

“Maybe next time I can do it on your face,” 

“How does later tonight sound?” 

[frenchfrysplash]

fic: between heaven, the sky, the earth

The Haunting of Bly Manor

Dani/Jamie

Chapter 3/10

Read on AO3 Here! Or you can continue into the Read More.

Summary: Jamie goes between one moment, and the next. Falling around her like rain, like snow.

She’s here for a reason. Here to help.

She just needs to remember.

Chapter Three: dearly departed

But even when one is dead and gone It still takes two to make a house a home Well I'm as lonesome as the catacombs I hear you call my name but no one's there

- The Shakey Graves, "Dearly Departed"

February 2001

"I think this is what you're looking for, Mrs. Clayton."

A plain clamshell box was placed gingerly in front of Jamie, the cardboard corners worn from being pushed and pulled to and fro a shelf for years. The archivist, a young blond woman with round-framed glasses, opened it carefully, and thumbed through the files. She glanced at Jamie, smiling uncertainly.

"It's not a lot," she said. "400 year old papers are fragile, and well, it's a miracle some of these have survived this long. We don't have the same kind of money for conservation as the big places. But this is what we have of the Lloyd papers."

"Right," Jamie stared at the box, apprehension brewing in her belly. She flexed her fingers against the foldable plastic table the archivist had set up for her, wedged in a corner of the tiny museum office. "So, have I got to wear gloves or something?"

"Oh, yes!" the archivist produced a pair of white cotton gloves, and laid them on the table next to box. "Now, these papers have survived pretty well, but they are fragile."

"Should I be worried about them crumbling in my hands?" Jamie asked.

"Nothing like that," the archivist shrugged. "They could tear though. Just be careful."

"Will do." Jamie pulled the gloves on.

"If you need anything, I'll be just over here," the archivist said, indicating the desk in the opposite corner.

"Thank you."

The archivist nodded, and made her way over to sit at her desk, sparing one last curious glance at her visitor. Jamie got the impression that this little museum and archives, hidden as it was in a tiny village in Devon, didn't really get all that many researchers. Especially ones specifically asking to see the papers of one Arthur Lloyd, whose trail she had been following like a dog with a bone for three months now.

She had started with one name - Viola. A Viola who had lived - and died - at Bly Manor, at some point in its long, dark past. It had seemed an impossibly thin lead, so she had called up Henry Wingrave, hoping he knew something of the history of his country home. He hadn't, not really, and Jamie was left to wonder if this was a fool's errand.

Until Flora had called.

"Uncle Henry said you were looking into the history of Bly Manor," she had said. "Specifically someone called Viola?"

"Yeah," Jamie had replied. "But he didn't know anything."

"No, he's not one for history," Flora had chuckled. "But that name sounded familiar. So I went looking through some of my old things, and guess what!"

"Flora."

"I have an old grave rubbing with that name on it! First name, last name, birth and death dates."

"Flora," Jamie had nearly dropped the phone in her excitement. "That's amazing!"

"I can send you a picture by e-mail?"

Jamie had blanched. "Can't you just tell me what it says?"

"Luddite."

And that conversation had led her to Viola Lloyd, born 1645, died 1680, who had lived at Bly Manor for the entirety of her short life, and had died and been buried there. From there, she was able to visit the local parish records office, and find a marriage record between one Arthur Lloyd and Viola Willoughby, in 1674. There hadn't been much else on Viola, but there was another marriage record for Arthur Lloyd, seven years later, to a Perdita Willoughby.

Scandalous.

Perdita had died too, according to the death record Jamie had found in the same Parish office. Plus, there had been a christening for a Lloyd baby in 1675, though the child's first name had been rendered illegible by the intervening years.

That had been it for the Parish records, but Jamie had something else now. Arthur Lloyd. A merchant, according to his marriage records. Born somewhere around 1640, but not buried at Bly Manor, or in the Parish cemetery. He'd probably left after the death of his second wife, then. But to where?

And that was the question that had led Jamie here, to this tiny museum. It hadn't been easy, and Jamie wasn't a natural researcher. But she was smart, and determined, and when the man at the National Archives had informed her he couldn't find any primary sources on Arthur Lloyd in the collection, but had found an obscure reference to a merchant named Lloyd in a book written in 1973 about the history of a little farming community in South Devon, well. Jamie had followed the lead, and been rewarded for her efforts.

Gingerly, she pulled out the first file, and flipped it open. The papers inside were yellowed, the handwriting looping and nearly impossible to read. Jamie sighed, glanced at the archivist again, and pulled her reading glasses out of her jacket pocket.

"I love when you wear those," Dani said from the other side of the table, resting her cheek on one hand, gazing at Jamie adoringly.

"I've had 'em for two years," Jamie replied, eyes scanning the pages in the front of her. "Thought you'd be used to it by now."

"You look so cute with them on."

"They make me feel old."

This file seemed to be mostly pages from Lloyd's ledgers, listing his business dealings, his trading in tobacco and spices and fine linens. Jamie's brow knotted together in concentration as she made her way through the rest of the pages.

"All good over here?"

Jamie looked up at the archivist, who stood in the spot Dani had been sitting, moments before.

"All good," she said. "I'll, uh, probably be a while, yeah?"

"Oh, of course!" The archivist smiled. "We're open until five. You're welcome to stay until then if you need to."

"Thanks," Jamie said, and took the next files from the box, wordlessly dismissing the archivist.

"You could be nicer," Dani chided from behind her.

"I'm busy," Jamie replied.

"She's just trying to be helpful."

Jamie sighed, and leaned forward, adjusting her glasses.

This file was more of the same, for the most part. And the next one was a deed to a cottage just outside the little village, as well as a few household expenses. Jamie tried not to feel frustrated.

"I don't even know what I'm looking for," she said, placing the file back in the box, and pulling the next one out.

"You'll know when you find it," Dani replied, voice more distant than it had been before.

Jamie paused, and looked back at Dani, who stood against the wall, smiling encouragingly. There was something off about her, and it took Jamie a moment to understand.

"You're fading," she said.

Dani blinked, and tilted her head, a frown appearing on her face. Confusion flashed through her eyes, and she glanced around, then focused back on Jamie

"Jamie," she said. "Where-?"

And she was gone.

Jamie's shoulders slumped, and she turned back to her table. The file in front of her was thicker than the others, and Jamie was extra careful opening it. Her eyes widened slightly as she took in the first page.

"Here we go," she whispered to herself.

Letters. Dozens of letters, spanning just as many years, from one Jonathan Lloyd, Vicar in Essex, to his brother Arthur, Merchant in Devon. As Jamie read through them, taking notes on a little notepad she'd brought, a puzzle began to take shape. So many pieces were missing, but there was a solid outline, as Jonathan asked after Arthur's ill wife, Viola; solemnly comforted him at her death; congratulated him on his second marriage; counselled him on his money problems; offered advice and support as Arthur decided to move away from Bly Manor; lamented how fast children grow as Arthur's daughter married a man called Norton.

A sound from behind her; someone shifting against the wall. A rustle of fabric, the squelch of mud against the floor, and a few drops of water hitting wood.

"Do you remember?" Jamie asked, not turning around. "Do you remember him?"

Wet footsteps moved forward, stopping right behind Jamie's right shoulder. A water droplet hit her notebook, and Jamie caught a glimpse of long black hair from the corner of her eye, as Viola leaned forward.

"His name was Arthur," Jamie continued. "He was your husband."

A low, guttural keening bubbled up from the woman at Jamie's shoulder, soft at first, but growing louder. Jamie whipped her head around, eyes widening as she saw the woman leaning over her shoulder. Her face was different than before, more human. Still no eyes, but the outline of her nose and brow was stronger, her mouth less a hole in her face as lips were now visible. A hand clutched at Jamie's shoulder as the keening reached a crescendo, and Jamie reeled from the rush of anguish that followed it. Memories of love and happiness, followed by betrayal and anger and bitterness, flitting through her as her vision turned black.

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

May 1995

The hand on Jamie's shoulder made her jump, and she nearly knocked the pan off the stove as she turned around. Dani shot her an amused smile, letting her hand slide down Jamie's arm. Her other arm wrapped around Jamie's waist, as she pressed herself against her fiancée and chuckled.

"Jumpy this morning?" She asked, leaning in to kiss Jamie on the cheek and rest her chin on her shoulder. "Mmm, bacon?"

"And eggs, and sausages, and beans, and mushrooms, and tomatoes, and toast." Jamie grinned that cocksure grin that Dani loved. "You're getting a full English this morning."

"You already had me full of English last night," Dani said, nuzzling under Jamie's ear.

Jamie groaned. "That was terrible. That doesn't even make sense."

"I'm loopy," Dani defended herself. "Because I love you. And I'm going to marry you."

"Oh?" Jamie put the spatula down, and turned in Dani's arms. She settled her arms on Dani's shoulders, and leaned in for a kiss.

"You'll burn the bacon," Dani mumbled against her lips, smiling, even as her fingers slipped beneath Jamie's shirt, skirting along her hips.

"You like burnt bacon," Jamie replied, dotting kisses along Dani's jaw.

"Do I?" Dani pulled back, eyebrow raised. "Or is it the only kind of bacon you know how to make?"

"Dani," Jamie whined, as Dani took a step back, a smirk on her face.

"I don't think I should distract you right now," Dani said, voice light. "You have to concentrate on not burning the apartment down."

"That's not fair!" But Jamie was already turning back to her pan, realizing that, indeed, the bacon was in danger of burning. Beside her, Dani poured herself a cup of coffee.

"Do you need my help?" She asked, taking a sip.

"No, no." Jamie waved her away. "You go sit down. I'm making you breakfast."

"Whatever you say," Dani said, shrugging and making her way over to the kitchen island. She sat down on the other side, hands encircling her coffee mug as she watched Jamie move around the kitchen.

"This is literally the only thing I know I can make well," Jamie said. She paused, and her voice was quiet for her next words. "My Dad used to make it for us, when he was home, rare as that was."

"I didn't know that,' Dani said, voice soft and careful.

Jamie hummed. "He used to burn the bacon too."

"Well," Dani tapped her fingers against her mug. "Maybe burnt bacon isn't so bad."

Jamie shot her a grin, and the couple lapsed into comfortable silence. Dani drank her coffee, enjoying the sight of Jamie working, the smell of sizzling food, and the warm feeling in the kitchen.

"Do you want to have a ceremony?" Dani asked suddenly.

Jamie turned around, eyebrows raised. "A ceremony?"

"Like, a wedding," Dani said. "I know it wouldn't be…legally binding, or whatever. But we could still have a ceremony. Invite the people we love, eat some cake, have a party."

Jamie turned back to the stove, falling quiet for a moment, absently stirring the mushrooms.

"Do you want that?" She asked.

Dani swallowed, smile dropping. She looked into her coffee for a moment, then shook herself.

"We don't need it," she said, the smile returning. "But we should go on a honeymoon."

"A honeymoon, eh?" Jamie had begun plating, and with a final, careful placement of some very unburnt bacon, she turned and brought breakfast over to Dani. "I like the sound of that."

"Yeah." Dani pulled her stool forward, picking up her fork. "Yeah! We could go to Paris."

"And never leave the hotel room?" Jamie waggled her eyebrows.

Dani laughed. "We have to at least see Owen."

"Oh, well," Jamie leaned forward on her elbows. "I suppose we can do that."

"And then spend the rest of the time in the hotel room." Dani said, taking a bite of the baked beans.

Jamie laughed, and Dani's eyes crinkled at the edges as she laughed with her.

"Oh." Jamie sighed, her smile fading as she gazed at Dani. "I was an idiot today, wasn't I?"

Dani frowned. "What?" She asked around a mouthful of beans.

"I wish I had said yes," Jamie said. "To a ceremony. To a party. To a wedding. With you."

"Jamie," Dani breathed, slowly lowering her fork.

"I know we called each other wife after this," Jamie said, reaching forward and grasping Dani's hand. "And I know when civil unions came about we got one. But we never celebrated, did we?"

Dani's eyes shone, and she clutched Jamie's hands between her own, tightly. "It didn't matter," she said softly. "The rings-"

"Enough for me, if they're enough for you?" Jamie turned Dani's hand over, running her thumb over the claddagh ring on her finger, the one that matched her own. She lifted it to her lips, and kissed it, shutting her eyes as tears ran down her cheeks.

"And they were, Jamie," Dani whispered fiercely. "You were enough for me, always enough for me."

"And you for me." Jamie opened her eyes. "But the truth is, the more time went on, the more I thought about it, the more I wished I had said yes to a celebration. I wished I could have stood up in front of our friends, and our family, and committed to always being there for you, to loving you."

"Flora could have been a bridesmaid," Dani said, a light smile on her lips.

"Owen could have been my best man," Jamie grinned. "Or I'd ask him to walk me down the aisle. I can't decide which one he would freak out about more."

Dani gasped. "Miles could bring his boyfriend!"

"Oh, yes, except," Jamie titled her head. "They weren't together yet, when this happened."

"Right," Dani nodded. "Miles wasn't even out yet, poor kid. But maybe if we'd done it when we got the civil union."

Jamie pointed at her. "The smart one, as usual." She glanced towards the windows, covered in plants. "I could do the flowers."

"You'd want to do your own flowers?"

"Who else could I trust to get it right?"

Dani laughed, clear and bright as a bell.

"I would have liked planning a wedding this time," she said. "If it were with you."

"I'd have helped more, for one thing," Jamie replied, tucking a strand of hair behind Dani's ear.

"That's true."

Jamie gazed at her for a moment, before her expression became more distant, eyes looking past Dani.

"They legalized gay marriage in the Netherlands, you know?" She said. "In April."

"They did?" Dani asked, eyes widening slightly.

"Yeah," Jamie nodded. "And there's talk in Canada. And other countries. It's happening, Dani. If we'd just-if you'd just-"

"If we'd had a little more time," Dani whispered, hands gripping Jamie's painfully tight. "Jamie, I'm so-"

"Don't," Jamie stopped her, a warning in her voice. "Don't apologize."

"But-"

"No."

Dani's brow was furrowed, staring at Jamie as though something about her was confusing her.

"This is strange," she muttered. "Something is…wrong."

"It's just a memory," Jamie said, dropping her gaze to their joined hands. "It's not even real. What did you say the kids called it? Dream hopping. This is all just my memory."

Dani shook her head. "But this is…there's something weird."

"It's ok, Dani." Jamie kissed her fingers again. "It's just a memory."

Dani continued to stare, blue eyes darting between Jamie's green ones. She was fading away, even as Jamie watched her, and Jamie found herself desperately holding on.

"Wait," she said, voice breaking. "Please don't - don't go. Not yet. I like this one. Can we just stay here for a bit? It's not enough time, I haven't had enough time."

"There's never enough time, is there?"

Dani was gone, but from the seat beside her vacated one, Viola Lloyd gazed sadly at Jamie.

She looked different, again. Still not completely human, hair and dress still damp. She had eyes now, though they were clouded over, and the rest of her face was unnaturally smooth, like a mannequin in a store front. She heaved a heavy sigh, eyes trailing back to where Dani had sat moments before.

"You took her from me," Jamie whispered, tears spilling over.

"I did," Viola said. Her voice was scratchy, disused. "Before her time. It was the same with me, I think."

Jamie opened her mouth to retort angrily, but caught herself. This isn't why you're here, she thought sternly. Closing her eyes for a moment, she steadied herself against the counter, and breathed in, out and in again.

"You were sick," she said finally, opening her eyes, her voice carefully even.

"Yes," Viola replied, turning her face towards Jamie. "Very sick. I should have died, really. But I didn't. I held on. Stubborn."

"You didn't want to leave your husband," Jamie said.

"No," Viola shook her head. "It wasn't fair. I had fought so hard for the life I had. And there it was, slipping through my fingers, like sand in an hourglass."

"You wanted more time with him."

"Not just him." Viola's brow furrowed. "There were others. A family, I had a family. A small family, but a family all the same."

Jamie nodded. "A sister, maybe?"

Viola's face turned towards Jamie so fast it seemed to blur, and something there twisted, mouth curling, eyes hardening.

"Yes," she said, the word coming out in a snarl. "A sister."

[realfuurikuuri]

Chapters: 12/? Fandom: Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart (Cartoon) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Mao Mao/Tanya Keys, Mao mao/badgerclops

MissingArm!AU: When escaping the cave, it wasn't his tail that got crushed. In exchange for his innocence, he gained a sordid past. The Pure Heart Valley seemed like a good place to escape. To start a new life with a new family to forge a new identity. However, when the past rears its ugly head Mao Mao's forced to step up or be put down.

AN:  We're back after a brief interlude, but here is the next chapter. The biggest deliberation writing this one was the ending. I was wondering if I should make it a new chapter, instead, I decided to include it in this one. Enjoy. The song of the day is RUn the Jewels #4. RTJ is a rap duo that released the new album for free on their website. Give it a download. Not that it has anything to do with the chapter I just love it. As always credits to @Spookylovesboba and enjoy the chapter.

Direct Link to chapter 13: XXXXX

Mao Mao sat on the couch. He had a book in his hands, but his eyes glazed over the words. Occasionally, he stole glances at the door, realized his mistake, and went back to the book he wasn’t reading. He considered looking up from the book, maybe time would go faster if he watched cartoons with Adorabat. He quickly realized that watching What’s New Lucky Ducky would only make him more impatient. Maybe he should try seeing what Badgerclops was up to? Granted, if it was anything technical, which it always was, he wouldn’t be able to help.

Ding-Dong!

Mao Mao looked to the monster alarm before remembering that Badgerclops installed a doorbell. He leaped to his feet and swung open the door, swiftly swiping the package from Mail-Mole’s hands. He set it down on the table and unsheathed a single claw.

“Hey, Mao Mao.”

He swung around to find Adorbat standing behind him.

“What’s in the package,” she asked, flying up to his shoulder.

“Oh. Its-,” Mao Mao hesitated, he was about to say nothing off of pure reflex, but he looked down at the package. He wasn’t at home anymore, he wasn’t bound by family either. There was no reason to hide it.

“It’s a… how to say this… a Rubber Ducky toy.”

“A toy! I wanna see! I wanna see!”

Mao Mao quickly snatched the contents from the box, holding it high in the air out of Adorabat’s reach.

“This isn’t just a toy. It was expensive. Be careful with it, okay?”  

“Fine,” she groaned.

Inside the package was another package. A box that was one of those hard, plastic clamshell things with a small egg-shaped thing sealed inside. He brought it down to Adorabat’s eye level as she began to read it over.

“Virtual Pet? Hey, I have one of these.”

“No, no, no. You may have one of the gatchis, maybe a rerelease, but this is different. Check this out,” Mao Mao pointed to a small worn sticker on the back. “See 1988. A sealed, first-generation, blue egg Ducky-Gatchi.”

“Wow. 1988… that’s almost as old as you,” she said.

“Yeah- wait, how old do you think I am?”

His question never got answered as their attention was pulled away by Badgerclops. “Hey, Mao, someone used one of your pointy things as a screwdriver and broke it,” he called out as he came up the stairs.

“You did what!”

Mao Mao inhaled sharply. He’d learned his lesson after yesterday’s stroke, besides he didn’t have health insurance.

“Watcha’ got there?”  Badgerclops leaned in for a closer look.”You buy Adorabat a new toy?”

“No, I didn’t buy it for Adorabat,” Mao Mao said in a small voice,” I bought it for myself.”

“Aren’t you a little too old to be playing with toys?”

“What? Are you crazy? I’m not playing with this! I spent $1000 on this!”

Oops.

Badgerclops slowly turned to Mao Mao. “Does this have anything to do with your Lucky Ducky obsession?”

“What? I don’t have a- haha, is it getting hot in here? I’m going to step out to get some air.”

Mao Mao was almost out the door when Badgerclops’ robotic arm grabbed him by the cape and pulled him back to the table.  “Why did you spend $1000 on a Ducky-Gatchi?”

“It’s not just a Ducky-Gatchi. It's from the first run of the product. The Ducky-Gatchis were released in eight colors with eight shapes. There’s supposed to be roughly a 6435 chance of any specific combination, but a manufacturer’s error made blue eggs even rarer than that. This blue egg gatchi is still sealed in the plastic, and it's been taken care of really well. The clamshell packaging hasn’t even started to yellow.”

Badgerclops frowned and crossed his arms. He held it for a few seconds before relenting with a heavy sigh. “Fine,” he groaned,” just don’t spend so much money on this stuff.”

“Hot dog! I knew you’d come around,” Mao Mao slapped Badgerclops on the back before going back to the Ducky-Gatchi,” still have to find a place to display this, though.”

“Hey Adorabat. Don't you--,” Mao Mao looked around to find Adorabat nowhere in sight.

“Where’d she go?”

“I don’t know She was here a moment ago,” Badgerclops.

“Hey, Mao Mao,” her voice called from the other room,” I told you I had one.”

* * *

Badgerclops watched Mao Mao head off into the bedroom. He picked up the Ducky-Gatchi he left on the table. This thing was definitely not worth $1000. He would have been madder if Mao Mao hadn’t looked so happy. The smile was different from the normal ones; it didn’t have any boastful pride, reckless ambition, or ego-saving denial. Badgerclops had traveled with Mao Mao for years yet this is the first time he’s seen a smile of indulgent joy. It was a good look on him and Badgerclops knew he ought to do what he can to make it more common. Although, Mao Mao could stand to learn some moderation.

He held the Duck-Gatchi up and did his best to see why he’d spend $1000 on it. Value is a subjective thing, so what value did this have to Mao Mao? It likely had something to do with his childhood (every odd thing about him did) so how did this relate back? Badgerclops first thought was Mao Mao’s father. He wasn’t like how Mao Mao described him. Badgerclops mind began to wander back to the night when Mao Mao had a stroke. And the night he met the root of Mao Mao’s problems.

* * *

Again, Badgerclops was spending the night in Camille’s tower. Again, he sat off to the side to watch Honey and Camille work. Again, he found himself powerless. The only thing different this time was that he did his best to ignore the infuriating metallic tap! tap! tap! from Mao Mao’s dad who crossed his arms and wouldn't stop tapping his finger. Badgerclops stole a glance  at him.

He could sort of see the resemblance between Mao Mao and his father. Shin had a more angled face and grayer fur, not to mention those golden eyes. First time he’s heard of a cat having eyes like that. There was little resemblance between him and his grandson. Granted, there wasn’t that much resemblance between Jǐngtì and his own father. The black and brown patterned fur, tufted arms, white stomach, and blue eyes were certainly from Jǐngtì’s mother. He only shared the round face and pointy ears with his father’s side. Shin was impressively tall. Neither Jǐngtì nor Mao Mao had that. Shin’s made Mao Mao look downright pathetic compared to him. Then again he would look pathetic compared to anyone when he was lying on a table.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

It’s a good thing that Adorabat wasn’t here, although he wasn’t sure if they’d make the play. Should he take her home after the play, or stop by with her in tow. Should he leave Mao Mao to attend the play alone and leave Mao Mao here, or should he wait here? It’d hurt to not have either of them show up for the play, but she would understand, right? Maybe he could

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Maybe he could talk to the teacher and pull Adorabat out of the play. This is an emergency.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Could he not be so fucking annoying?  Badgerclops sighed, trying to resume the line of thought, but found it fleeting. He was racking his brain until he was just trying to block Shin out, yet he kept tap! tap! tapping! away.

Eventually, it was too much. Badgerclops turned to Shin,” could you possibly be quiet for one second,” he snapped.

Shin seemed almost confused for a second, then he seemed indignant. “Excuse me for being worried about my son,” he shot back.

“For the first time,” Badgerclops mumbled.

“What was that, boy? I can’t hear you from down there.”

“I said that its a funny time to suddenly start caring about him!”

Shin stumbled back like he’d been hit in the chest. “That’s… that’s preposterous. Where would you even get that idea?” His words were shaky, lacking that artificial confident inflection that his son copied.

“I don’t know, maybe I’ve actually paid attention to anything he says for more than five minutes?”

"You're talking like you my son better than I do."

Before they could get any louder, they were interrupted by a loud “ahem” that turned their heads. Honey was pointing at the door with that placid look on her face; The mute’s message was heard loud in clear. Shin held the door open for Badgerclops as they took it into the hall outside. They didn’t start arguing again. The rising tension gave way to a sickening sense of shame. They both retreated to their own corners, to their own minds.

“What do you know about us,” Shin mumbled under his breath.

“Enough,” Badgerclops answered back.

Shin looked up, confused before he realized he was thinking out loud. He didn’t say anything back, instead, he dismissed Badgerclops with a grumble.

“Why did you do that?”

“Do what?”

“You saw him back there? Why’d you attack your son?”

“What are you talking about? I never attacked him. He attacked me!”

“How do you explain the broken bones, the bleeding, the bruising, the three-inch hole in his side?”

Shin didn’t snap back. His face went pale and it looked like he was about to vomit. “I.. have done no such thing.”

“Then who did? You were the only person at the house after that.”

“I don’t know. That’s not what happened?”

“Then what did happen?”

Shin reared up like he was going to say something back before his shoulders slumped as his gaze went to the floor. “I.. my wife said that I should visit, so I did. When I did show up Mao Mao was bleeding all over the place. I didn’t know what happened. He.. had some glass in his side. I got it out and then… I don’t know.”

“What happened?”

“We… got into an argument. A bad one. He chased me around the house, told me I was a grandfather, and then told me he didn’t want to see me again.”

“Is that it?”

“Yes! That’s what happened! I learned that my own son hates me more than anything in the world. There! Are you happy?”

Badgerclops examine Shin. His flicked back ears, averted gaze, thee closed hands, and receding posture.  It didn’t seem like he was lying. Which begs the question, what happened next? The timeline he had down states that he met Jǐngtì , which is where the glass came from. After that, he met Shin, who removed the glass, so how did he get the 3-inch hole in his side? Who else could have possibly visited?

“I think I should be going.”

“I don't think I’m the first thing my son wants to see when he wakes up,” Shin justified. It was aimed at Badgerclops but he could tell Shin was talking to himself.

Badgerclops was felt the urge to stop him. Not because he thought Shin was wrong, but because Shin was the only lead he had. He looked to Shin’s hands. They found the missing finger, so Shin was certainly there, but those claw marks didn’t fit those. They didn’t fit Mao Mao or Jǐngtì’s, so those claw marks belonged to someone else?

He had to rule out Shin, so Badgerclops let him go, watching him trudge down the hall.

Ironic, he thought becoming working in the Pure Heart valley would be tedious work, but here he is doing it of his own violation. Maybe Mao Mao would remember something when he woke up. He had to find out who. Who did this?

Badgerclops set the question aside, returning to the present. He’s dwelled on that question for hours already, and he’d dwell on it some more but right now he set the box back on the table. He titled his head to the other room to get a better look. Mao Mao and Adorabat have been in there a while. Long enough for him to dwell at least.

* * *

“Mao Mao,” he heard Badgerclops call out.

“Yeah,” he answered back, not taking his eyes off the screen.

He had a well-worn ducky-gatchi in his hands. The plastic had begun to chip, there was a scratch on the screen, and the sound chip or speakers must’ve broken cause it made no sound. Adorabat quietly watched Mao Mao over his shoulder. Mao Mao could hear Badgerclops’ heavy footsteps as he approached.

“What’re you doing,” he asked.

Mao Mao shook the ducky-gatchi in his hands. “She actually had one. Though it's out of package and heavily used so it’d be $300 at most.”

“I’d hate to interrupt you having fun, but we gotta make lunch.”

Mao Mao was going to disagree. It should be noon maybe a little after, but the pit in his stomach said otherwise. He might've played this longer than he thought. He passed it to Adorabat to follow Badgerclops to the Kitchen.

“What are we making,” he asked.

“Actually, I wanted to ask you something.”

Mao Mao paused. “What’s up,” he asked.

“Relax,” Badgerclops said,” you’re not in trouble or anything. I just want to make sure everything’s okay.”

“Why would anything not be okay,” he deflected.

"I just want to know why you bought the ducky-gatchi."

"Oh, that was just... something I've always wanted, but never actually got."

"Does it have to with your dad?"

"Yeah," he sighed," papa -er, Shin- never really approved of my... Lucky Ducky thing, so now I'm not involved with him anymore I thought-"

Badgerclops placed a hand on his shoulder," don't worry I'm not mad at you. Just try to be more careful with money."

Ring! Ring! Ring! The monster alarm blared on the wall.

“Yeah, thanks” Mao Mao,” Adorabat c’mon we got work to do.”

* * *

Mao Mao rode into the Valley Plaza only to be stricken with a bit of disappointment when he saw what it was. “You know you shoulda installed a second alarm during renovations.”

“Do we really need one though?”

“Well, one of us could be halfway done making lunch instead of dealing with this mess.”

Mao Mao pointed his thumb at the huddled, shouting mass of limbs that were the Sky Pirates' regular arguments. It got to the point they were actually kicking up a cloud of dust like this was a cartoon. Although… someone was missing.

He patted Badgerclops’ shoulder. “Hey, have you seen-”

“2nd store window. Three houses left.”

Mao Mao followed the instructions to find his son, lounging on windowsill, looking down on everything dispassionately. Almost everything. When he caught his eye he turned away. To think today started so well.

“That’s enough!”

Mao Mao turned to Orangusnake right in time to keep himself from being cleaved in two. He caught the strike with Geraldine locking blades for a second as the fight began, but something was different this time. Orangusnake’s blows were quicker, heavier. Each hit shook his sword like a bell. What was wrong? What was different?

Mao Mao blocked a strike that sent him crashing through police barriers. When did he set these up? He didn’t have time to think about it. Orangusnake was silhouetted in the sun with a war-ax brandished. Mao Mao stepped back to get out the way but stumbled. His foot was caught in something. A hole? What was a- oh no.

Clang!

Mao Mao had blocked the strike perfectly yet it sent tremors down his body and forced a web of cracks to snake across the ground. The police barriers were there for a reason. A reason he needed to address before someone got caught in it. The ground shook and shuddered as it began to give way, plunging Mao Mao and Orangusnake into the dark depths of the sinkhole.

[beautifultypewriter]

Soon ~ Fili ~ Part Two

Warnings: None

Word Count: 2,758

Pairing: Fili x fem!oc

Summary:  A Thumbelina AU. Áine is much smaller than the rest of her family and hopes that one day she’ll meet someone her own size. Her hopes are answered when she meets the Dwarven Prince, Fili.

Part One

A/N: The next part! I love this series, just in case anyone was wondering.  This story is based on the 1994 animated film Thumbelina. I’m going to be using some parts of the songs and I claim no ownership over them or any of the original story points or similar dialogue.

Áine spun one last time as her song came to an end. She hugged herself tightly as she stared at the picture of the happy couple. With a sigh and downcast eyes, she turned away from the book, her gaze moving over the window and landing on her clamshell bed. Her shoulders tensed as she turned back to the window. She could have sworn she saw… Áine gasped as she saw the figure again. Stumbling back, she turned her body towards Kili, keeping her eyes on the stranger in the window opening. Whatever it was, it moved forward quickly, stepping into the candlelight, its arms held out in front of its body and its eyes wide, “Please, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

 Áine halted herself, her mouth closing as she caught sight of the wings on the stranger’s back. Her eyes roved over the dragonfly shaped wings. They were a deep, rich purple color and the edges glimmered with a thin line of gold. Áine toyed with the ends of her hair as she stared at the wings, her eyes moving quickly to her book and back again. The stranger stepped forward again, “Are you alright?” 

Áine let her eyes move over the rest of the stranger, he wasn’t much taller than her, with broad shoulders and strong arms. She took note of his long blonde hair, adorned with several braids, and his half smile. Then her eyes met his and there was a rush of air around her. She felt like she was floating amongst the stars with only him to hold onto and she felt a warmth blooming in her chest. The stranger felt it too and he moved towards her again, his lips parting slightly as that same warmth flooded his own chest. This time Áine didn’t step back, but she moved forward as well, wanting to be closer to him. Neither of them knew what to do once they were stood directly in front of each other, still unable to fall from the reverie they had found themselves in. The stranger smiled as he reached out to tuck some of her hair behind her ear. Áine shivered when his fingertips grazed her cheek, leaving a tingling sensation in their wake.

 She was able to pull her eyes away at that moment and she glanced at the book again. The wings on the prince in the picture were the same shape as those of the man in front of her and both figment and reality had braids in their hair. She smiled at the stranger, her eyes widening, “You’re a dwarf.” She sighed as his fingers grazed her skin again before he pulled away from her, taking a step back.

 He nodded, “Fili,” he bowed at the waist, “at your service.” As he stood straight again, he gently grabbed her hand a placed a kiss on her knuckles.

 She blushed, “I’m Áine.” With her free hand, she grabbed the skirt of her nightdress and bowed her head as she gave a small curtsey.

 Fili chuckled, “Áine.”

 She nodded, her smile widening, “Fili.” He nodded back, still holding her hand in his. She smiled up at him, moving closer again. He leaned down, his senses flooding with her. He watched her eyes slip closed and he smiled.

 Then a loud snorting sound broke the moment and caused the two to jump apart. Áine’s hand slipped from Fili’s grip as she spun around to face the side of the room where Kili’s bed was. Fili drew his sword with one hand as he threw the other around the young woman’s waist. He pulled her close, holding his sword out, ready for whatever attacker had made that horrible sound. Áine placed her hand on Fili’s shoulder, “It’s alright. It’s just my brother.” She pointed to the bed where Kili was sprawled out and snoring, “His snoring sounds quite terrible, but he’s harmless.” She smiled up at Fili as he nodded and put his sword back in its sheath. He looked to the place where she pointed and saw what appeared to be a large lump laying in a human sized bed. The lump moved as it let out another loud sound. Áine started giggling and Fili turned to her quickly, a smile spreading over his lips as the sound reached his ears. He much preferred her sweet laugh to anything else.

 Fili nodded over at the lump, “Your brother, huh?” Áine nodded. Fili glanced between the two of them, “He’s not like you though.” It wasn’t a question, but still Áine nodded.

 She took a few steps away from Fili, walking towards that clothbound book that was still propped up on the table, the picture somehow paling in comparison to the dwarf in her room. She turned back to Fili, “Neither is my mother.” She looked down at her bare feet, rocking slightly, “I’m not like anyone else it seems,” she looked up at his beautiful purple wings, “not even like you.” Her sadness flooded his veins and he jumped up, his wings moving quickly to carry him over to her. As he landed, he took her in his arms, wanting her to go back to laughing and to dancing. She looked up at him, a sad smile on her face, “Is it wonderful having wings?”

 Fili breathed out a laugh as he nodded, “I won’t lie to you, it’s quite nice.” Áine nodded as she turned her head away from him. They may have been the same size, but she still was quite different from Fili. She was still the only person in the world who was just like her. Áine sighed, “I wish I knew what it was like.”

 Fili’s fingertips grazed her jaw, moving to rest on her chin. He turned her head, so that she was looking in his eyes again, “You never know, maybe one day you will.” He said it with so much assurance that she couldn’t help but believe that he knew something she didn’t. Áine pulled away from Fili when she heard a buzzing sound come from outside.

 She looked back at him, “Do you hear that?”

 Fili sighed as he closed his eyes, “Yeah, that’s just my bumble,” he nodded to the window, “Mithril, he uh, I guess he’s done resting.” Shaking his head, Fili chuckled, “He likes to make it known when he’s ready to move on.”

 Áine’s eyes lit up as she moved forward a step, “A bumble?” Turning back, she grabbed Fili’s hand and pulled him over to the window opening, “Come on.” She giggled as she squeezed out onto the windowsill, stopping when she saw a large bumblebee stepping in circles. The bumble stopped and jumped back when it noticed her standing there. Áine drew in a long breath, “He’s beautiful.” Fili stared at her, his eyes softening as hers lit up in wonder. Her jaw was dropped open as she watched Mithril move about.

 Fili stepped up next to her, “Want to go for a ride?” He nodded to Mithril, watching Áine carefully for her reaction. Her jaw dropped further as her head whipped over to him. She glanced back through the window, searching her bedroom briefly before she turned back to Fili.

 With a nod, she smiled, “Yes.” Fili grinned as he grabbed her hands and led her over to Mithril. The bumble moved back a few steps before he moved forward again. Fili patted his head before slowly helping Áine onto his back. Once she was situated, he climbed up in front of her, taking hold of Mithril’s antennae. He turned his head, “You may want to hold on.” Áine didn’t say anything as her arms encircled his waist, her hands clasping together and resting on his stomach. Fili placed one of his hands on her clasped ones before he gently kicked Mithril into motion. The bumble took off easily, soaring higher in the air as Áine’s grip on Fili tightened and her laughter rang in his ears.

 The wind blew through Áine’s hair as she held tightly to the dwarf in front of her. She had never felt so free as she did in that moment, and she wondered if Fili felt like this all the time. Mithril flew them over the low wall that stood between her home and the river, following the water downstream for a bit before Fili guided him over to the right. Áine gasped as they flew over a vast field of wildflowers. She could see every color flower imaginable in the light of the moon. They were low enough that she could reach over and brush her hands along the petals, so she did, laughing quietly at the softness of the flowers. Fili pulled Mithril to a stop before he quickly climbed down, his own wings fluttering to keep him hovering just above the flowers. He turned to Áine, holding his hands out to her. She stared at him, her smile dropping and her eyes widening.

 He chuckled, “Come on.” He beckoned her towards him, but she stayed where she was, glancing down to the ground, noting that it was a pretty far way to fall. Fili moved forward, taking one of her hands in his own, “I’ll be your wings.” Áine stared into his eyes and he nodded, “I’ll never let you fall.” Taking a deep breath, Áine pinched her eyes shut and grabbed Fili’s other hand, slipping from Mithril’s back. Fili’s arm went to her waist and held her tightly to his chest. Áine opened her eyes as she felt her body floating in one spot instead of falling and she looked down to see that the flower petals were brushing her feet. She looked up at Fili to see him grinning down at her. He held her easily, one arm around her waist and the other holding her hand out to the side. His wings fluttered, moving them in slow circles around the field. Áine laughed as the flowers brushed over her bare feet, Fili’s smile widening as she did so.

 They danced through the flowers, Fili holding her up as she hummed quietly in his ear. Fili sighed contentedly, nuzzling into Áine’s neck. She pulled away from him slightly, “Fili?” He hummed and she continued, “Are Ones real?”

 He pulled his head back completely, looking down into her nervous eyes, “Where’d you hear about Ones?”

 She blushed, “In a storybook.” Fili chuckled and she felt her blush spread down her neck. She looked down.

 He pressed his forehead against hers, trying to catch her eye, “They are.”

 She looked into his eyes again, “How do you know when you’ve found them?”

 Fili shook his head, “I’m not entirely sure myself. I’ve heard so many different descriptions of what it feels like. I’m starting to think it’s different for everyone.” He pressed a bit harder with his forehead, “It probably feels warm and it probably happens all at once when you see them.” He pulled her closer to his body, leaning down to whisper in her ear, “Áine, will you sing for me?” Fili leaned his head on her shoulder.

 She nodded, humming a quiet melody before starting her song, “You will be my wings. You will lift me high above.” Fili sighed as he continued to move them through the field, dancing through the air with her under the moonlight. Áine smiled, “Everything we’re dreaming of will soon be ours.” She ran her free hand through Fili’s hair, pulling away from him slightly. He put both of his hands on her waist and lifted her up, smiling as he spun her in circles.

 His movements got wider, and their dance picked up the pace a bit as he smiled at her, “Anything that you desire. Anything at all.” He pulled her close again as he flew upwards, away from the flowers, “Every day I’ll take you higher and I’ll never let you fall.”

 The pair floated gently back to the flowers, both oblivious to the dangers lurking in the darkness, instead completely wrapped up in the other. Fili was grinning and Áine was blushing as she sang quietly to him. Just below their feet, hidden among the stems and grass was a group of four goblins. All were enchanted by the young woman’s song, but one in particular was far gone. Without needing to say anything, the group decided that she was the missing piece to their musical collection. As the dwarven prince flew off with her, they watched his path, following quickly on foot.

 It took no time at all for Mithril to land on Áine’s windowsill once again. The young woman giggled as Fili helped her to her feet, twirling in his arms as his wings fluttered. He smiled down at her, “Áine, something’s happened tonight. I… I don’t know that I’ve ever felt this before.” He leaned closer to her, “There’s something about you, something special.” Áine looked down, but Fili was quick to lift her chin again, “Can I see you again?”

 She nodded, “Of course.” Fili opened his mouth, ready to say something else, but he was cut off by a far-off shout of his name. Áine looked in the direction of the shout, her eyebrows knitting together, “What’s going on? Who is that?” Fili groaned as he pulled her towards the window opening, successfully hiding her within the shadows.

 He ran a hand over his face, “That’s the king of the dwarves.” He waved a dismissive hand, “He’s my uncle.”

 Áine stared at him, “Your uncle?”

 Fili nodded, looking out into the night, “Yes, my uncle.” He turned back to Áine, rushing his words, knowing that he needed to get back to his uncle before he found him, “Can I see you tomorrow?”

 Áine’s head was spinning. She was sure that some of it had to do with Fili pulling her into a hiding place so quickly, but most of it had to do with the new information being presented to her. If Fili’s uncle was the king of the dwarves then he must be some sort of… Áine gasped, “But then you’re… tomorrow?”

 Fili chuckled quietly, “Yes, I’m a prince and yes, tomorrow.” He took her face in his hands, his thumbs rubbing over her cheekbones, “Will you welcome me tomorrow?” He searched her eyes for her answer, and he found it when they softened.

 She nodded, “Of course I will.” Fili breathed a sigh of relief, pressing his forehead to hers quickly before pulling back and sliding his fingers through her hair. With nimble fingers, he created a small plait behind her ear. Áine watched as he reached for one of his own braids, pulling the carved bead from the end of it. With a smile, he fastened the bead to her own hair, kissing her forehead as she stared up at him. Taking the end of the braid into her hands, she turned the bead over, smiling at the beautiful detail put into it. Fili watched her, wishing he could stay there with her forever. Áine looked up at him again and without a word, she pulled a pin from her own hair and tucked it into his. He glanced at the pin, seeing it decorated with glass forget-me-not flowers.

 Fili cupped her cheek, “I could never forget you.” Áine blushed as he kissed her forehead one more time. Then he stood from his crouched position and made his way back to the windowsill, rushing to Mithril, hopping onto the bumble’s back easily, and turned back and smiled at her, “Tomorrow.” She nodded as he took off into the night.

 She rushed from her place in the window opening and waved after him, “Tomorrow.” Smiling to herself, Áine squeezed back through the window opening and climbed back into bed. She sighed as she snuggled into her blankets, the only thoughts running through her head as she fell to sleep were of Fili.

 As both siblings slept, their bedroom window was pushed further open, a snarling goblin easing itself into the room. Glowing eyes moved around the room before they landed on the sleeping girl in the clamshell box turned into a bed. Rubbing his hands together, the goblin moved forward, circling the bed, and coming to a stop at the back of it. With a quiet chuckle, he snapped the lid of the box shut, reaching over to slide the latch into place. Then he heaved the box into his arms and moved to make his way back to the window.

[inksparkcrafts]

Jewelry Making: Because this stuff may not be as intuitive as I thought.

So first and foremost this post is in response to/inspired by @lunar-rose-witch who originally tagged a request for help as "#jewelry making" and fully caught my attention, inspiring me to not only give her some quick pointers but start writing a full-on-post in my craft blog for the first time in years. (Also I looked back and half my response dissipated into the ether, sorry!

Also I’m going to buck craft blog trend a bit: The personal backstory will bring up the rear of this piece, so you can get to the juicy info right away. Hit the read more for the full speech.

MASSIVE EDIT: Not all the techniques in this post work for all styles of jewelry. This is for the typical, “like what you can buy in the store” type techniques, but there are specific techniques and styles that don’t quite match the most specific, technique- and supply-based info here just due to the nature of their creation. (for good examples, look at macrame hemp jewelry or kandi, a style making primary use of elastic, monofilament, and plastic beads) A lot of the more basic info works, though, I just wanted to cover that.

So here’s how I’m going to structure it: Quick explanation, and then a “high-end” and “budget” approach if it applies, and then my recommendation which usually swings somewhere between the two. Rinse and repeat until we get to the bottom of my list of subjects. No time for questions, the area I’m writing in has spotty wifi!

Tips

(note: no high-end or budget options, this applies to everyone)

Full disclosure, this is upfront because if you’re confident in your jewelry-making you don’t need the other stuff.

The most important tip is to always have fun. You want to make something bright and colorful? Go ahead. You want to please a divine figure in your life with what you wear? That’s fine! You want to make an avant garde wearable piece? I fully support you! You want to make a way to carry something with you? I have a giant box-shaped “locket” I can’t be against that! You want to make it look like a cooking pan melted weird and wear it on your head? Please post pics! You want to incorporate the usb drive you use for school into your earrings? Let’s see someone knick it off you now! You want to make a hangman’s noose into a necklace? Stitch like 20 stitches of upholstery thread through that knot so you don’t actually strangle yourself. Once you’ve done that you do you boo. I digress, don’t hurt yourself, but do have fun with it. Most of the following information is for standard cold-connection (read: no sautering) jewelry making, which is a good foundation for your line of 30 ways to creatively use rope as a necklace.

My next tip connects nicely to the first: check your fit and watch your weight. Not your bodyweight, the weight of your piece. A few ounces on the body can be comforting, but a half pound on your wrist or neck is asking for pain later. Likewise with the fit, a snug princess fit may be nice, but a tight collar not so much. As you’re working, regularly check the fit, especially if 1) it’s a new design, and 2) you’re planning on wearing it. Especially especially if you’re wearing it to an event where you can’t easily ditch it. Put on your piece, move around a little to make sure it doesn’t fall off. That kind of thing. Never just do it and call it done.

For laying it out on your workspace, you may want to invest in a beading mat. This keeps things, especially small beads, from rolling around on you. A beading board or a necklace board is useful if you plan on making a lot of pieces with distinct focal points. For both home and travel, they sell little spiral clips called bead bugs or bead buddies that grip tightly to where you’re stringing and worth their weight in gold. (binder clips work ok for this, but tend to slip off more easily) If you do a lot of making on the go, a clamshell project carrier is kind of pricey but may be worth your while.

Things to learn asap: how to make a crimp, how to make an eye, fisherman’s knot. There are other things but these bits of knowledge are absolute workhorses.

For those of you with metal allergies, work around it where you can, get something that won’t hurt your skin where you can’t. I often use cord or beads because a lot of market chains irritate my skin, and I always get hypoallergenic earring findings. It’s just not worth the hassle not to.

Get a reference for default sizes. Just, even as a hobbyist. Trust me on this. It’s a good thing to know. Default sizes for necklaces, bracelets, rings, beads. Don’t even need to spend a lot of money, just print them from online. You’ll thank me later.

Info and Techniques

There are varying ways to learn more about jewelry making.

High-end: Buy every book on jewelry making you can. Take all the classes you can. Just absorb all the info you can!

Budget: Get a notebook and a pen and start taking some serious notes. You don’t need to draw well for this, but you see a technique you like? Jot it down. See a piece you think is cool? Make a quick sketch, try and figure out how to reverse engineer it. At the craft store and the employee tells you something you didn’t know? Into the book. Scour libraries, check the internet, fill that sucker with every little jewelry making thing that catches your interest.

My Recommendation: The budget solution, for sure, but I am also an avid Pinterest user. (I know Pinterest is free, but not everyone has regular access to a computer or the internet) I see a technique, I save it. The one risk is that you may spend more time pinning that you do making; thanks to the new feature of categories for each board, I’ve very recently started a private “projects” board, where I put all the stuff for a project I want to do. That way I don’t get distracted.

Sourcing Supplies

How and where you get your supplies is important for figuring out your project.

High-end: You can go to any jewelry making store and get the high-quality beads and findings, the strongest tools, and the stuff for the nicest setup. All your stuff, design aside, will be sturdy and high-quality. Go to the craft store for anything else.

Budget: Be an avid thrift-shopper. Buy old, cheap necklaces and harvest the beads. If the wire in the necklaces is still in decent condition, save that too. Same goes for particularly nice clasps. Use upholstery thread or, in a pinch, unscented dental floss. Some people use snaps for clasps, as they’re easier to maneuver. Wait for sales in your local craft store, and scrounge their clearance bins for some real gems. Make beads and focal-pieces from stuff around the house. Get creative!

My Recommendation: I swing wildly between the two. I have a metal allergy, meaning if I want to be able to wear my stuff I have to shell out for the hypo-allergenic stuff or find an alternative that won’t irritate my skin. But some of my best beads have come from $1 thrift store necklaces, and the better I get the more I can make on my own. I’ve made my own clasps before from shrink plastic, which- fun fact- can be scrounged from some plastic food containers, you don’t need to buy shrinky dinks! So, put down money on the part that’s important in your project, but you don’t need to spend a lot to make good jewelry when a bit of time investment will do the job.

Your Tools

Your toolset and supply choices will vary, from what you have to how you store it.

High-end: Get all the things! All the different types of pliers, beading needles, toolboxes, bead boards. If they sell it you can use it for something. The cool devices that make certain tasks easier to do, too.

Budget: One multi-tool. You can do everything from there.

My recommendation: Like with your supplies, put money where it matters. The biggest factor is how quickly a tool will wear down. Namely, don’t get too attached to your wire cutter because it’s going to go the way of all things way before anything else in your tool kit does. Here’s my basic list:

round nosed pliers

flat nosed pliers

wire cutters

bead bugs/bead buddies

a good pair of sharp scissors

large-eye beading needles (aint nobody got time for that tiny hole nonsense)

crimping tool

That last one is interesting and I want to point it out: a crimping tool is a little pair of pliers that help you fold crimps. (see Bracelets and Necklaces) It is the one tool that can’t really be used for anything else, except maybe helping with crimp covers. (there is also a pair of crimp cover pliers and... no. just no. save your money) This is the most specific tool I ever recommend because it is has one job and it is very good at it. If you’re planning on using a lot of beading wire, get a crimp tool. It’ll save you a headache later.

(finally, we get project specific)

Bracelets and Necklaces

For these kinds of projects, I always recommend beading wire. It’s sturdy and easy to use if you know how, and often lasts longer than string which can be affected by moisture, heat, and general wear and tear. The more strands it has, the more flexible it is. (i.e. 7 strands vs. 49 strands) Do not knot this material, always use a crimp bead or a crimp tube. Knots will come loose. I’m always surprised how many people don’t make this connection, as it is by name a wire, but now you know. You can use a pair of flat pliers to “seal” them, but I often recommend a crimping tool. (As I wrote above, a crimping tool is the most specific tool I will suggest you buy. It can do one thing but it’s damn good at that one thing.)

For those that want a more natural, or flexible, piece, thin cord or beading thread is where you’re going. Wildfire is pricey but lasts a long time and is a good beading thread. For beads with bigger holes, go for cotton, leather, or hemp beading cord.

An important note on this! Thin cord or silk cord is often used for stringing pearls. Should you find pearls interesting, a good technique to learn would be to knot inbetween each bead; this keeps the beads from grinding up against each other and getting damaged, and is also a good way to avoid losing your entire strand if the cord snaps at some point. My technique is this: string pearl. Start to tie a knot. Put a sewing pin or a needle into the knot and gently pull until the knot, needle and all, is pushing against your bead. Then tighten. Repeat.

Elastic and stretchy cord is ok? Better for lighter pieces. Personally I don’t like it because over time it will soak up the sweat and oils of your skin, which will promptly degrade it to the point it snaps. Better for young kids or people with less dexterity, since it’s easy to put on and take off. I used to use one, but then I’d be working and my necklace would get caught on something somehow for a second and then hit me in the neck or wrist. No thank you.

Monofilament is like fishing line and kind of tricky. It’s strong and can be used in the place of beading wire, but only up to a point. It has a bit of give which gives it weakness, but not enough to be stretchy. Still, it has good strength, is almost invisible, and if you’re thrifty can be bought as sturdy fishing line and save you some coin. If you ever see a piece with “floating” beads, they used a monofilament thread.

Chains are almost a topic all to themselves, since there’s such a wide variety. Your tools will open links on chains with defined links, but look carefully at chains like ball chains and snake chains, which need to be treated specially as they have no distinct links. Also, if you have a metal allergy, this is where money will go, that or only ever wear your piece with collared shirts or over sleeve cuffs.

Your clasps will vary, but I recommend against anything that will fall loose and cause your piece to fall off. I love toggles but if the piece is too light you’re asking to lose it. Lobster clasps are a solid go-to option, albeit a bit tricky on bracelets, where you may find a hook more your style. Those ridiculous barrel clasps are best on necklaces, where you can use both hands to full affect. The magnets are strong and very good, but I don’t use them much because I’m always worried I’ll Stick To Something Right When I Don’t Need To. Good if you or the recipient has dexterity issues since it’ll just snap together.

Be careful with your beads, especially on bracelets. Since they’re laying on a curved surface, how the beads will go together will vary. This is where “try on your piece” comes into play. And a word of advice, try not to go too wild in variation or with something too sharp, especially for your wrist. That hurts. Also, avoid going too heavy.

Rings and Earrings

This is where hypoallergenic stuff comes into play the most. (side note, if you don’t have any metal allergy, you can skip this paragraph you fortunate soul) You can weave or tie a ring, but you can’t do that with an earring finding. The big bucks will be put down on those, since depending on your sensitivity you may have to put down bigger bucks for 14k gold and sterling silver findings. The internet is a good resource for this, but always check reviews. Be careful in craft stores, since sometimes the packaging will be confusingly worded. You can temporarily get around this by putting the hook or post in antibiotic ointment right before putting it in your ear, but this is iffy for long-term use.

Make sure your posts have backings that stay on, usually those little curly things or the bullets. For fishhooks there’s a product called a hook keeper or something similar. You may have seen it on the back of earrings you just bought; they’re a little piece of rubber that keeps the hook from working its way out of your ear, good for active people. You can buy these suckers in bulk.

Before I move on to rings, earrings, are where the weight thing is the biggest issue; when I just got my ears pierced, I made a ton of earrings out of clay in preparation for being able to switch them out. One of them was a pair of massive and thick earrings based off a tv show, I think. This lead to Immediate Regret, as the earrings stretched my earlobes to the point of me supporting them with my hands while walking through Walmart to avoid the pain, before realizing how stupid that was and taking them out. Watch the weight, the lighter the better as most ear piercings go through the fleshiest, least structured part of your body. Just, in general, avoid too much weight on anything that uses a piercing. Unless that’s the point. (I see you guys with gauges)

As for rings! I honestly don’t make a lot since I don’t wear a lot, but here’s what I know: your base should either have some give (read: stretchy) or be adjustable. if it’s a fixed size, test the fit constantly while making it. You don’t want to spend that time and energy on something that either rattles around on your thumb or can barely fit your pinky. Always watch the fit on any of these; your fingers will turn white first if something is too tight, then slowly turn red. That is a bad fit, don’t wear it like that. Switch it to a different finger if you have to. You’ll see visible space if it’s too loose. Don’t wear it like that either, you’ll lose it or worse, get caught on something. I actually have an aunt that lost a whole finger that way. Don’t do that. (Maybe that’s the reason I don’t like rings?)

If your ring has to have a large profile (read: a lot of stuff on top) make sure it’s secure. Try to avoid little fiddly bits where you can, go for something like a mountain: large base. When possible, go for something like a coin; low profile, goes along the fingers, but with lots of room to create. Try not to have too many things going off it, either; anything that dangles off the ring really shouldn’t go farther than the side of your hand. This is as much safety as anything; you don’t want your ring to get caught on something and get ripped off your hand, or worse. Also, try to avoid anything too... bumpy? Like with too much variation on the side, the kind that will dig into the sides of your fingers. Not a fun time.

My Backstory

(aka the personal story I moved to the end so you could get to the juicy info)

I got into jewelry making literally by being asked to be the jewelry instructor. You’d think it was the other way around; nope! We needed a jewelry instructor and I was already making baby steps by gluing buttons to earring posts, so I agreed to learn to basics and help education out in the craft store where I worked. That lead to a fascination; there’s seriously so much stuff you can do if you just know where to look! I’ve been making my own jewelry ever since.

As such, I’ve put a lot of time into learning new techniques, which is where I am now. As anyone who’s decently good at something will tell you, the more you know the more you realize you don’t know. I am by no means an expert. The idea is to pass this info on to anyone who somehow knows less than me.

Thanks for reading! If there’s anything I missed or you want to know more about feel free to hit me up with an ask.

[socialwicked]

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 vs. Galaxy Z Fold 4: Every Big Difference You Should Know About

Samsung showed off the newest models of its fancy foldable phone lineups on Wednesday, in a continuation of its efforts to take bendable phones to the mainstream. The   Galaxy Z Fold 4   and   Galaxy Z Flip 4  , announced at the company’s annual  Unpacked event , were revealed alongside the Galaxy Watch 5 and   Galaxy Buds 2 Pro  . The Galaxy Fold 4 and Z Flip 4 will launch on Aug. 26, when they will start at $1,800 (£1,649, AU$2,499) and $1,000 (£999, AU$1,499), respectively — the same price as each of their predecessors.

 While both phones have a foldable design, the specific look and feel is different for each. The Z Flip 4 is a clamshell-style flip phone popularized by Motorola’s Razr. It’s compact, nostalgically cool and it targets online content creators, among other demographics. The Z Fold 4, on the other hand, is Samsung’s heftier book-style foldable. It’s nearly double the height of the Z Flip 4 when both are folded “closed.” When unfurled, Z Fold 4 expands into a tablet-sized interior screen that Samsung says is a powerful tool for multitasking, which is given a boost by 12GB of RAM. 

  More from Samsung Unpacked 

  With the Z Fold 4’s larger size (and higher price), comes a corresponding set of features. There are three rear cameras including a telephoto lens, compared with just two on the Z Flip 2. The Z Fold 4 also manages to cram in a larger battery. Their front displays are different, too. The Z Flip 4 has a petite display on the lower portion of the cover, which Samsung has made more useful with this iteration. The Z Fold 4’s display is nearly the size of a regular phone screen. 

 Despite their physical differences, perhaps Samsung’s biggest flex was software, and the changes affected both new models. Like the Z Fold 4, the Flip 4 gets the bottom-screen trackpad feature in its Flex Mode — that’s the feature that splits apps between top and bottom portions of the screen when it’s folded halfway. With the updates, you’ll be able to use the bottom half of the screen as a trackpad for navigating the top portion of the screen, supposedly making it easier to manipulate apps in Flex Mode. 

 Each model also receives nighttime photography improvements that were launched with the Galaxy S22, including night portrait-mode photos. These changes seem to underscore Samsung’s efforts to convince shoppers to switch to a foldable phone — or at the very least generate some interest in one.

 For more information on how the Z Flip 4 stacks up against the Z Fold 4, take a look at CNET’s specs chart below for a side-by-side comparison.

   Z Fold 4 vs. Z Flip 4                                                                                                                                                                 Galaxy Z Fold  4 5G                                                                                                                                                  Galaxy Z Flip 4                                                                                                                                                      Display size, resolution, aspect ratio                                                                                                                                                  Internal: 7.6-inch AMOLED (2176 x 1812 pixels) External: 6.2-inch HD Plus (2,316 x 904)                                                                                                                                                  Main Screen: 6.7-inch FHD+ (2,640 x 1080 pixels; 22:9) Cover Screen: 1.9-inch (260×512 pixels)                                                                                                                                                    Pixel density                                                                                                                                                  TBC                                              ��                                                                                                   TBC                                                                                                                                                    Dimensions (Millimeters)                                                                                                                                                  Folded: 67.1×155.1×15.8mm (Hinge) ~14.2mm (Sagging). Unfolded: 130.1×155.1×6.3mm                                                                                                                                                  Folded: 71.9×84.9×17.1mm (Hinge) ~15.9mm (Sagging). Unfolded: 71.9×165.2×6.9mm                                                                                                                                                    Weight (Ounces, Grams)                                                                                                                                                  9.27 oz; 263g                                                                                                                                                  187g; 6.59 oz                                                                                                                                                    Mobile software                                                                                                                                                  Android 12L                                                                                                                                                  Android 12                                                                                                                                                    Camera                                                                                                                                                  50-megapixel (main), 12-megapixel (ultra-wide), 10-megapixel (telephoto)                                                                                                                                                  12-megapixel (main), 12-megapixel (ultra-wide)                                                                                                                                                    Front-facing camera                                                                                                                                                  4-megapixel (under display), 10-megapixel (front cover)                                                                                                                                                  10-megapixel                                                                                                                                                    Video capture                                                                                                                                                  4K                                                                                                                                                  4K                                                                                                                                                    Processor                                                                                                                                                  Snapdragon 8 Gen Plus 1                                                                                                                                                  Snap 8 Plus Gen 1                                                                                                                                                    RAM/Storage                                                                                                                                                  12GB +  256GB/512GB/1TB                                                                                                                                                  8GB+ 128GB/256GB/512GB                                                                                                                                                    Expandable storage                                                                                                                                                  None                                                                                                                                                  None                                                                                                                                                    Battery/Charger                                                                                                                                                  4,400 mAh                                                                                                                                                  3,700 mAh                                                                                                                                                    Fingerprint sensor                                                                                                                                                  Side                                                                                                                                                  Side                                                                                                                                                    Connector                                                                                                                                                  USB-C                                                                                                                                                  USB-C                                                                                                                                                    Headphone jack                                                                                                                                                  None                                                                                                                                                  No                                                                                                                                                    Special features                                                                                                                                                  Foldable phone, 30x optical, 30x space zoom, IPX8, 25-watt fast-charging (no in-box charger)                                                                                                                                                  IPX67, 5G enabled, foldable display, wireless charging, 25W fast charging                                                                                                                                                    Price  (USD)                                                                                                                                                  $1,800 (256 GB); Pricing for other models TBC                                                                                                                                                  $999                                                                                                                                                    Price (GBP)                                                                                                                                                  £1,649 (256GB)                                                                                                                                                  £999                                                                                Price (AUD)                                                                                                                                                   AU$2,499 (256GB)                                                                              AU$1,499

https://socialwicked.com/samsung-galaxy-z-flip-4-vs-galaxy-z-fold-4-every-big-difference-you-should-know-about/

[sidharth-kumar]

Types of laptop you should have in 2021 according to your use

There are a lot of different types of laptop that you can have nowadays depended upon your work. Many types of laptops increase productivity accordingly.

Laptops now come with many different features and are divided into different segments of laptops. There are laptops for content creation and editing, there are specific laptops for gaming and the main focus is on the performance of the system, not the portability. There are laptops for business work where the main focus is on portability and battery backup so that you can work remotely.

Usually, gaming laptops are very heavy and don’t have a good battery backup as there are meant to be performed at their best which takes a lot of power. And the business laptops are always sleek, lightweight, and portable that can be taken to your workplaces easily.

Types of OS

Before you choose what type of laptop you should buy you need to choose the Operating System that you are comfortable working with. There are many OS in the markets like Windows, macOS, Linux, and ChromeOS.

WindowsOS

If you choose windows OS then you will have a lot of options as many companies use windows OS. Windows laptops come in a variety of shapes and sizes. A common clamshell design and a keyboard-mouse interface are easy to find. You can easily find touchscreen models of windows even at a lower price range. In hardware line-up also there is plenty of choices. Windows OS is more open-ended than any other OS many games and other software runs on windows, which helps for a larger software library.

macOS

This OS is only used in the Apple Ecosystem, as apple is very protective and prefers to use their software and hardware which makes MacOs Laptops very safe and can diagnose any problem that arises in the laptop. The Quality standard in apple is top-notch. They built and design the laptop to look elegant and feel premium, which leads to a much higher price tag than the windows or any other OS laptops.

Upgrading storage or installing third-party applications in macOS cannot be done the hardware given pre-built is what you will use and only the certified applications are installed in macOS that makes it very secure and protected. And there is still no touch screen model in MacOS.

ChromeOS

ChromeOS laptops are known as Chrome books and are a little different from windows and macOS. It is based on the chrome browser and is more focused on the web-based application. Though it also supports so desktop software and mobile apps that other OS do. Most of the chrome books are touch screen and which perform very well and looks premium. And are also available at a medium price segment.

Budget or entry-level laptops

To be a good-performing laptop would be expensive but the manufacturer companies know that everyone could not afford a laptop that is priced more than 1lac. As the buyers who need laptops for most basic purposes will not spend 1lac for a laptop. So, there are great budget laptops that can perform the basic tasks and are price below 50k.

Budget laptops are for those who don’t have much knowledge about laptops and they just need it to do some standard task. These laptops are built with minimalistic design and ergonomics sensible keyboards and touchpads.

These laptops do not have heavy hardware on them like you will not have more GB of RAMs or high-performance graphics, and gaming also be cannot be done properly with these laptops.

Mainstream or the mid range laptops

These segment laptops are the best as they have a high processor and high-end graphics with a little spike in the price tag. Here you will get much better hardware than the budget laptop although the price will be increased it is worth it.

In these segments, you will get business as well as gaming laptops. You can get light and portable laptops which will be best for business purposes and you will also get a laptop with high-performance systems which will be best for gaming purposes. These laptops come with great displays, a powerful processor, and great battery life. These laptops are priced between 80k-1.5lac.

Premium or high segment laptops

This segment contains the best and the top-notch laptops of the company manufacturers. Everything in these laptops is the best or top-notch. Like it has the best display with high resolution, with heavy graphics like loads of memory like High gigs of RAM and Graphics card, the best processor in the market. These laptops can do many intense tasks like run high-end editing applications or Run the latest AAA title games that need a powerful system to run them which these laptops are.

Gamers and those who like premium things always prefer this segment as they need high-end systems as they run high-end software and they want zero lag or framerate drops while they are gaming or working whatever they do on their laptop should be butter smooth and lag-free.

Get laptops even at a cheaper rate

So, wonder how you get these laptops at a cheaper price than the market price, well the answer is from the classified sites here you will find great deals on second hand laptops and the prices are very low and all these are almost like a new one. All the second hand or used laptops are not good but it is that you need to check them properly before buying them but yes there are many good deals out there in the classified sites it is just that you need to find them.

Things you need to check before buying second-hand laptops

Before you purchase a second-hand laptop you would like to see the laptop thoroughly because the laptop could also be a defective one and you'll be in trouble afterward. The laptop should be checked very smartly because it may have some internal damage which will be difficult to work out. Whenever you purchase a laptop you would like to see every single detail of the laptop from the hardware to software everything. Here’s how you ought to check a second hand laptop before buying it.

 ·         Check the laptop body: Always check the laptop in-person to thoroughly check the body of the laptop. confirm there are no cracks on the laptop and no sign of an impression on the laptop. Check if the hinge is functioning properly or not and for any loose parts that occur thanks to missing screws or the other defects.

·         Check the screen: Properly check the screen for any black spots, discoloured areas, and bad pixels. Play some videos on the laptop and check carefully every angle of the screen and for better understanding, you'll keep another laptop beside to match between them.

·         Check the keyboard and Trackpad: These are the foremost used parts of and laptop and therefore the intensity of using them is extremely high. So check for any broken key parts. Type for a few time and check the key travel of the keyboard. Check whether there's any lag while using the trackpad and inspect all the gestures like 2 fingers and three fingers.

·         Test all the ports: Test all the ports like USB ports, headphone jack, Ethernet port, HDMI, and other available inputs. And replacing these ports would be very costly as they're directly attached to the motherboards. So consider before buying a laptop with ports not working.

·         Check the connectivity: Check the wifi and the Bluetooth and the wifi connectivity as a laptop without internet is nothing. Everybody wants internet on their laptop and without it, it is just not done. And Bluetooth is also very important for some devices to connect.

·         Check the speaker: Many of us buy a laptop for entertainment purpose like for watching moves or playing games therefore the sound is extremely important when it involves gaming so you ought to check the speaker of the laptop is it loud enough with none distortion.

·         Check the webcam and mic: The webcam of the laptop is additionally very necessary as nowadays meetings are one via video calling that you would like a laptop with an honest webcam in order that you're visible to others. Check the mic whether it's capturing your voice properly or not.

·         Check the battery health: This is often vital for a laptop as a laptop is for carry them anywhere in order that you'll work remotely anywhere and anytime so for that you simply need an honest battery life as you can't connect your power line everywhere. to see you ought to use it with the battery at full until it drains completely in order that you'll check for a way many hours it can run on the battery.

·         Check the OS: Check, whether the OS installed, is genuine or not as some install pirated OS which isn't good for the laptop. Check the license of the software given to you.

What is a classified website?

A classified website is one among the platforms for online advertising to market products or services connecting both buyers and sellers in one single entity. A classified portal is customized and distinguished to permit the users to look for relevant categories and sub-categories.

You can also say that classified sites are the buying and selling of used or second user products and during this platform you be the customer also and the seller also. it's sort of a hub for buyers and sellers where you'll find almost everything you would like and also sell anything that you simply don’t want anymore. it's not just like the e-commerce sites it is a little different in-fact you'll get more at a classified site as you'll also find jobs from the classified sites, and different services also.

What happens on a classified site?

On a classified site, people post ads of their mobile phones to sell them as they're up for purchasing a replacement phone. The ads were shown to the buyers who looked for second-hand phones. So on a classified site the buying and selling of second-hand products continue , not only second handphones every second-hand product is listed on classified site like vehicles, furniture, laptops, etc. you'll even find jobs and services at classified sites.

How to buy used laptops from classified sites?

Buy used laptops online from classified sites as they are very secure nowadays and are the best way to buy used laptops. Buying from a classified site is not that ordered a laptop at it reached your place it a little different let us see how to buy from classified sites.

 ·         First thing sign-up on a classified site, the best one.

·         Select the category gadgets and then select the sub-category laptops.

·         Then a lot of ads from different sellers will be shown to you.

·         Then choose the ad which looks best to you and is all that you need.

·         Read the description of the ad check for the specification and contact the seller with the details given.

·         Meet with the seller check the laptop carefully and then finalize the deal.

What are the benefits to buy used laptops?

Despite being a used laptop there are many benefits of buying them buying and if you are buying a new laptop you are wasting money by spending a lot of extra money on unnecessary add-ons. But one thing you must keep in mind is you need to buy second hand laptops online smartly i.e., checking them thoroughly. The benefits of buying a used laptop are: -

·         Get the same specification laptop at a very low price compared to the market rate.

·         It saves a lot of money for you which you can save.

·         Can get you a good laptop even if your budget is low.

·         Some deals are too good to be true but are genuine deals as the seller has no idea how much the laptop is worth it.

·         In some deals, you will also have a warranty period for some months as they are almost new.

Choosing the right site

So, classified sites are the hub for Second-hand laptops, used laptops, and refurbished laptops, whether you want to buy or sell simply visit classified sites. There is a lot of classified site in the market and you have to choose the best site among the thousands of sites, as there are frauds in the market who can cheat on you by showing you fake deals and taking money from you in-fact there are many ways to cheat so you need to be aware of that and choose the best-classified site.

What do I mean when I say best-classified sites, the good classified sites are those sites that do not entertain fake profiles and crosscheck their users. Remove spams from their sites for better user experiences and warns you about the frauds and the scams, so that you will stay alert.

Buy or sell your laptop on the best-classified site to get the best deals on the laptop, it is very important to choose the right site on which you will buy or sell your laptop.

I would recommend Cifiyah, here you can post free ads and sell your laptops in no time. Here we do not entertain fake and unverified profiles so that every user should be genuine. All the latest gadgets like mobiles and laptops are available at Cifiyah. Best buying and selling is done with Cifiyah.

Buy or sell according to your city. If you are in Mumbai then get the best-used laptops in Mumbai. Or in Delhi then buy second-hand laptops in Delhi. Or in any city of India just set the region according to your city and get the latest gadgets at affordable prices.

[nelliievance]

My Current Training Plan

I’ve tweaked my training plan many times over the years and finally have one that is pretty good for me. I’m not a competitive athlete so what I’m after is optimizing the effect of my training on health. Occasionally I’ll have some sort of event or challenge I am pointing towards and will adjust to improve whatever skills are relevant.

Here are some of the principles behind this. I want to cover 3 major areas: aerobic endurance, speed (and I lump speed-endurance with that), and strength (and I lump strength-endurance with that). I also have activities that I enjoy, like biking, hiking, cross-country skiing, and paddling, and I like my training to keep me prepared for those. That makes it a lot more fun for me. But I also want my muscles to be balanced, so I’ll add the opposite movements. For example, canoe paddling is a pulling motion, so I’ll add in an opposite pushing movement. I also believe in the “easy day/hard day” principle, so I don’t train the same muscle groups hard more than one day in a row, to allow recovery. Finally, I like to split the hard training into “upper body days (I lump “core work” like abs and back into that)” and “leg days”.

This is what works best for me, but everyone is different. I thought by explaining the principles, it would be apparent for someone to adjust this for what works for them. Crossfitters, for example, sometimes do multiple hard days in a row followed by multiple recovery days. But they do techniques like foam rolling to help them recover. At the opposite end, someone I consider a mentor, Clarence Bass, still going strong in his early 80s, trains hard only a couple of times a week, with brisk walking in the hills above Albuquerque on the other days. And bodybuilders might not agree with my plan because it does hard aerobic training and strength training of the same body parts on the same day. I’ve discussed the possible interference effect between aerobics and strength previously. It depends on your objective. Mine is just to maintain muscle mass and strength as I age, and even slowly and gradually improve it as my age. Concurrent aerobics and strength does not prevent strength or muscle gains, it just can slow them down, which is ok with me.

So here goes with my program. “E” means easy day, “LH” is legs, hard day, and “UH” is upper body, hard day:

What’s very important is this is not carved in stone. If I don’t feel well, or not recovered enough, I can just skip a day entirely or replace a hard day with an easy day. Also, the volume here is pretty high, averaging two hours a day. This is not mandatory, I will shorten any day if the weather is bad, or I don’t feel like going long. On the other hand, I sometimes go even longer if it’s fun on a nice day. What’s very important is that easy days be really easy, you should be able to easily pass the “talk test”. A lot of people with competitive natures fail on this point, tending to go too hard on their easy days. Long term, that can be harmful, as discussed in the book The Haywire Heart which I covered here. In addition, it’s counterproductive for training improvements.

What many people forget is that training does not make you improve. It actually breaks you down. It is after subsequent recovery, which happens on the easy days, that improvement occurs. This is called the principle of supercompensation:

http://blog.mattwilpers.com/what-is-supercompensation-theory-and-why-should-you-care

Here is what I actually do right now on my hard days:

LH (hard leg day):

Long warmup. at least 15 minutes. I usually do this with easy spinning on my stationery bike

Hip physical therapy exercises (continuing rehab of my right piriformis injury, but I do these on both sides to stay balanced); all are with bands for resistance: clamshell, reverse clamshell hip flexion with bands, hip extension, hip abduction, hip adduction.

isometric calf raises (push up on door frame for resistance).

isometric partial dead-lift.

On-bike strength on bike (outdoors, standing in highest gear uphill, yank up on handlebars): 2 sets 12 reps.

4×3 min standing intervals.

8×1 min standing intervals.

8×3 30 sec standing sprints.

standing cooldown followed by longer seated cooldown

UH (hard upper body day). Resistance is either bodyweight, dumbbells, or resistance bands:

Warmup, walking with hand weights

Isometric Strength Training, 1 rep 30 secs:

rotator cuff

plank

yoga bow pose

1 arm chest press

row with bar

shoulder press

Pulldown

kayak trainer

Conventional Strength Training, 1 set 8 reps + 4 reps “breakdown” (breakdown means reduce resistance a bit and squeeze out a few more reps):

1 arm chest press,

row with bar

1 arm shoulder press

pulldown

kayak trainer

Intervals (30 seconds with 30 seconds rest):

double ski-poling with resistance bands

opposite to double ski-poling with dumbbells

kayak trainer

punches

seated canoe paddle motion

8x, double ski poling motion with hand weights

8x, with Nordic walking poles

Finish with long cooldown walking with hand weights.

In addition to all of the above, I always do about a 20 minute Yoga session for relaxation and static stretching every night.

Sorry this was so long. I mostly just wanted to give an idea of my reasoning. Do you really need to make this big a deal of it if you’re not an athlete? Probably not, but for healthy aging I think you at least need to make sure the bases of aerobics and strength training of major muscle groups are covered.

My Current Training Plan published first on https://steroidsca.tumblr.com/

[peterstestkitchen]

Circus Peanut Peanut Butter

Rating: 5/5 ~ 16 votes

Time: 5 minutes (omnivore, unhealthy version), 7 minutes (vegan, unhealthy version), 1 hour (vegan, healthy version)

Every Thursday when I was a kid, my mom would plop me and my brother down at the local library for children’s storytime. When it was over and the head librarian had dismissed us, I would roam the library in order to gaze upon my favorite library things: the model ships, the strange YA cartoon books, and the aisle where every book had a blue sticker of a man smoking a pipe. When mom showed up again and it was time to go, a video cassette—the Star Trek episode, “The Trouble with Tribbles,” usually—was clasped between my grubby paws. In my brother’s, the latest installment in the Hank the Cowdog children’s book series. Ahh… just thinking about the VHS section and I can smell the polypropylene-imbued air sure to be found when in close proximity to the clamshell case palisade!

Come spring, a box of circus tickets would appear on the library counter suspiciously close to the checkout machine. The circus was coming to town! ...And our parents would never let us go. ...Until the day they did.

In truth, I don’t remember much from the circus. It wasn’t in a tent, it was in the town’s hockey arena—and poodles took the place of elephants. In fact, I didn’t even eat circus peanuts while there! Get this, my dad bought a box of Cracker Jacks—for himself! However, this was the genesis of my love affair with the circus. Sorry, honey. There’s someone else… and his name is Barry Lubin! (Barry Lubin is a famous clown.)

Fast forward to the near present and after getting the quarantine spring jibblies, I finally snapped and declared, “If I can’t go to the circus, well, in fact, I’ll bring the circus to me!” (Side note: still to this very day I have only been to the circus once. It’s more about having the feeling that I could go to a circus if I wanted to, rather than the feeling of being barred from a yearly ritual. After all, circuses are generally banal and raise many animal treatment issues. Again, it’s the romanticized circus I like. The Idea of Circus.) So I decided to acquire some circus peanuts, having never actually tried them before.

“So, from where did circus peanuts first appear, even?” you ask. Well, it appears no one knows. They are believed to have come onto the confectionary colosseum sometime in the 1800s, making them one of the oldest continuously produced candies. Well, I shouldn’t say continuously produced, as they originally were a seasonal treat before better packaging techniques were invented! Thank you, science! :) My best guess is that they originated as an ersatz peanut product, similar to how the hazelnut was used as a filler with which to cut chocolate products during a cocoa scarcity in Italy during WWII. (More talk about hazelnut spreads below!) Whatever the case, this homemade recipe is on scale! :) Okay, so back to business.

Acquiring circus peanuts in quarantine was a bit harder than expected. Every store I visited was sold out: Fleet Farm, Walgreens, Kwik Trip—all out! Alas, toilet paper wasn’t the only thing people were snatching up! Curse you, omnivores! (Side note: lest we forget this pandemic would have never happened had the world been vegan. I don’t think it’s wrong of me to suggest that everyone who consumes animal products from factory farms should have to pay the unemployed vegans an extra $600 a month. Why should I, a humble plant eater, pay for the mess of the omnivores yet again? Stop eating meat, y’all! Factually stated, 41% of all land in the United States is used for livestock! What a fuckin’ waste! And excusez mon français!)

So instead of continuing on a wild goose chase to find these golden eggs, I decided to take a radical approach and make my own circus peanuts. (Plus, I found out after Googling around that circus peanuts aren’t even vegan! For shame!) This is where things start to get a little tricky. You see, I’m a bit of a health nut. Well, maybe a little more than a bit of one... I may be a full-on health peanut! Peanuts like me would never eat something so processed anyway... But who’s to say I can’t have a taste of the circus in a healthy, vegan way? Why not make homemade circus peanut peanut butter? And better yet, why not use duckweed as a base instead of circus peanuts? You get all the goodness of the circus but in a spreadable way with all the health benefits of the most nutrient dense plant known to humanity. For yumzeez! :)

World’s healthiest food

For those who only know duckweed from smelly retention ponds, duckweed (also known as water lentils) is actually a great food for humans. It has more protein than soy, has many antioxidants, and is a natural source of B12. Get this, the bacteria that make B12 grow in a symbiotic relationship with the plant! Question: How neat is that? Answer: That’s pretty neat! And by the way, omnis, B12 comes from bacteria in the dirt that vegan animals eat. Given that most cows and chickens eat feed that’s been washed, these animals too have to be given vitamins—the meat you eat is trash :) 

So I finnicked for a long time to get the duckweed circus peanut peanut butter spread consistency right (we’ll save that process for a different post!), bought some peanut-shaped molds from eBay, found some food coloring in the back of the cabinet, and I was off to the races! Err, Circus! I had done it! I had made circus peanut peanut butter! Granted, it tasted more like an artificially flavored banana salad than candy, but it’s the thought that counts!

So… days go by and I get tested and find out I don’t have the coronavirus. Yipee! Time to see my folks! ...But I couldn’t serve that to my family. They’d think I’d lost my marbles! So instead, I came up with a more palatable, albeit less healthy, option. Instead of duckweed, I would use Trader Joe’s brand vegan marshmallows, dye them to the proper color, and mold them in shape. Then I could serve my folks organic, gluten free, non-GMO circus peanuts, or I could blend them to make totally delicious circus peanut peanut butter. Then maybe make a circus-y themed fluffernutter? Mmmmm!

And there’s even an option for the omnis among us: get real circus peanuts and follow the same procedure. (Just know if you do that, the gelatin you’ll be consuming will be from the bones, skin, and hooves of dozens of different cows or pigs.) For simplicity’s sake and also because I am collaborating with an omni for this post, we ended up going with regular circus peanuts. She had already purchased the circus peanuts before I could alert her that it had to be vegan. My bad! :^O “’Tis better to use the food you have than to let it go to waste.” Plus, they were Spangler brand, the classic choice for circus peanuts!

Aforementioned, I called in the big guns: food stylist, chef, event planner, and artist, Kendal Kulley. Check her out on Instagram! She assisted me as we made her favorite sandwich with the addition of my favorite ingredient: the Circus Peanut Peanut Butter and Pudding and Chocolate Peanut Butter Sandwich! First, take lightly toasted Whole Wheat bread (100% whole wheat works best). Then, slather a thick layer of homemade circus peanut peanut butter followed by a smathering of lemon pudding (Snack pack brand is my favorite, lemon is her favorite flavor (within the Snack pack brand family)). Next, add a sprinkling of hemp hearts for a bit of protein and roughage—not to mention polyunsaturated fats!

After that, Kendal likes to add a squidge of chocolate flavored peanut butter or hazelnut spread to thicken the whole thing up. Please note that I do not condone the use of most flavored peanut butters or products like Nutella as they often contain palm oil, a cash crop leading to rainforest deforestation. The same goes for cocoa. Instead, I propose we continue to advocate that the UN apportion monies to residents of poorer rainforested countries so they can live comfortably and keep our biggest source of oxygen intact. I’m happy pitching in a handful of dollars every year if it means I can keep breathing clean air :)

Then, simply close it up and enjoy! Buuuuuuut, if you’re feeling really ambitious like we are, you can make… wait for it… a TRIPLE DECKER! Just repeat the process over again with a third slice and add it on top! YUM. Cut it in half and there you have it! A perfect guilt-free (provided you followed the vegan duckweed version and omitted the peanut butter and used a more hearty bread) lunch item! Bon appétit!

I hope you enjoy this recipe and let me know in the comments how it turned out! It shouldn’t take any more than five minutes if doing the omni method (grrrr!) and about one hour for the healthy vegan method. It makes one jar worth and will last three to five days in the refrigerator—but it never lasts that long! Oh, and if you do end up having sandwich leftovers, it works great for a morning hash! But again, I, for one, almost never have leftovers! :)

Peace!

Peter 

Omnivore version (unhealthy):

Ingredients:

1 package Spangler brand circus peanuts

4 tbsp water

If making chunky, set aside one circus peanut to mince in a food processor or with a knife. In a large bowl, add the circus peanuts and water. Microwave for two minutes on high or until the circus peanuts have expanded to twice their size. Serve immediately or add to an airtight container.

Vegan version (unhealthy):

Ingredients:

1 package Trader Joe’s brand vegan marshmallows

4 tbsp water

2 drops natural banana flavor

4 drops orange food coloring

In a large bowl, add the marshmallows and water. Microwave for two minutes on high or until the marshmallows have expanded and softened. Mix in the food coloring and natural flavor and microwave for another minute. Add to mold and set sit until at room temperature. When fully set, add to Vitamix and blend until desired peanut butter consistency is achieved. Serve immediately or add to an airtight container.

Vegan version (healthy):

Ingredients:

6 cups fresh duckweed

4 tbsp flaxseed meal.

4 drops natural banana flavor

12-18 drops orange food coloring

If making homemade duckweed, follow these instructions and skip the next step. If collecting from a pond, read on. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. In an Instant Pot or lesser pressure cooker, steam the duckweed for one minute on high pressure with the valve set to sealing. Do five minutes of natural pressure release. Blend in the Vitamix with food coloring, flaxseed meal, and banana flavor until it becomes a fine mush. Put in peanut mold. Place in the oven for 10 minutes, or until the peanuts have mostly dried out. Put back in the Vitamix and blend until you have the desired level of consistency. Serve immediately or add to an airtight container. 

Captions:

Oh look! An ant wanted to join us! Hello, little ant!

Comments:

Feel free to email me your comments and I will add them below :)

OMG this looks so goooood!

Thanks for the post, Peter! I just wanna say that I too used to go to the circus with my family every year and loved it! I will try this recipe ASAP.

[tech-battery]

LENOVO THINKPAD X1 FOLD REVIEW: A FOLDING SCREEN FILLED WITH POTENTIAL

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold is awesome… as a concept.

Come on, it’s a display that folds in half. You can carry it around like a tablet. You can prop it up and use it like a Surface Pro. You can fold it halfway and use it like a clamshell laptop. You can fold it slightly and hold it like a hardcover book. And everyone who sees you whip it out of your briefcase will ask “Wow, what’s that?” And you can tell them “Oh, nothing. Just the world’s first foldable PC.” Picture it. There’s no way you won’t feel like the coolest person in your meeting.

So should you buy it?

I mean, no. Before we get into this: definitely not. It’s a whopping $2,499, not including the stylus and keyboard. (Bundles with both accessories start at $2,749 on Lenovo’s website.) That’s more than anyone needs to spend even to get a very good laptop — and there are a few too many problems with the X1 Fold for me to put it in that category.

But! I do like the idea. The folding form factor certainly makes life easier, and I have no doubt that we’ll see more devices like this in the future — assuming manufacturers can work out some of the kinks.

A TRAVEL PRO

Here’s how a day with the X1 Fold went for me. In the morning, before signing on for work, I lay on the couch and used the Fold as a mini clamshell (that is, folded at 90 degrees with the keyboard on the bottom half of the screen) to catch up on emails. Someone had sent me an interesting YouTube video overnight. I unfolded the laptop into a 13.3-inch tablet, setting the keyboard aside, and watched it fullscreen.

Then, work time. I popped out the built-in kickstand and propped the unfolded ThinkPad up on my kitchen table, laying the keyboard out in front of it. I used multiple windows in split-screen, with Slack and Spotify over top, the way I’d use any standard 13-inch laptop. In the early afternoon, I had an hour-long Zoom meeting, so I headed back over to the couch and folded the thing into a book shape, with Zoom on one side and Slack on the other. After that, back to work — but I didn’t feel like going back to the table, so I folded the ThinkPad back into mini-clamshell mode and used it that way on the couch for the rest of the day.

This is all just to illustrate how many different uses there are for this form factor. I can’t say that a folding screen has ever been at the top of my “Laptop Features I Need” list — but after using the X1 Fold for a week, I would love to own one of these.

There’s no laptop I’d rather bring on a business trip than the X1 Fold, and that’s due to a couple of design choices in addition to the versatile form factor. For one: it’s really, really nice. The device is clad in an authentic black leather cover with a sturdy kickstand integrated into it. The ThinkPad logo adds a sleek splash of red. It all looked very out of place in my drab apartment. The only parts that look a tiny bit cheap are the bezels, which are large and rubber. Those are necessary to protect the sides of the display from clinking against each other, and they also give you something to hold while you’re using the Fold as a tablet.

A folding display also makes for a great travel companion. Folded in half, this ThinkPad is about the size of a hardcover book: 9.3 x 6.23 x 1.09 inches and 2.2 pounds (299.4 x 236 x 11.5 mm and 999g). The keyboard fits inside the folded device (magnets keep it secure), and it has a snug sleeve for the stylus on its side. I easily slipped the whole affair into my purse and would have loved carrying it around a trade show or conference under my arm. Any time I brought this somewhere, I thought, “Man, I wish I’d had this in college.”

And with the leather cover, I was never worried about bumping or scratching the Fold — something that can be stressful with devices this expensive. (Lenovo says its product underwent MIL-STD 810H testing and is resistant to conditions including humidity, dust, sand, extreme temperatures, and mechanical shock. This certainly promises a much higher level of durability than we’ve seen from folding phones thus far.)

THE FOLD

With foldable devices, there’s always one big question. The answer to that question is no: you can’t see the crease while you’re using the Fold (though it’s visible when the device is turned off). The exception is when it’s partially folded like a book. The lighting in the middle and the lighting on the sides is a bit uneven in that case. But credit where credit is due: when you’re using the Fold flat, there is no crease to be seen.

The hinge itself, which Lenovo says it spent years developing, is quite sturdy and didn’t give me any problems. The ThinkPad requires two hands and a bit of a firm tug to open. But on the plus side, it always stayed exactly in the position I put it in without any slips or wobbles.

Flat, the display is a 13.3-inch OLED with 2048 x 1536 resolution. That’s a 4:3 aspect ratio, which is unusual for a laptop but feels quite roomy compared to a traditional 16:9. I could easily stack two or even three Chrome windows side by side, often with Slack, Zoom, or another app over top, without having to zoom out. And I didn’t notice any jelly scroll (where one side of the screen is able to change pixels faster than the other side), which was a problem with some early foldable phones.

The viewing experience is a luxury. The panel reproduces 100 percent of the sRGB color gamut, 100 percent of Adobe RGB, and 95 percent of DCI-P3. It’s great for watching videos and movies; even the dock icons pop with color.

On the downside, good luck using this thing outside. Not only is it quite glossy, but it only reached 289 nits at maximum brightness. That’s not a problem for indoor work, but it’s still a bit of a letdown for the price since some premium business laptops offer 1,000-nit options for less.

PERFORMANCE AND SOFTWARE

Lenovo has come up with some neat software tricks to improve the Fold experience. There’s an app called Pen Settings where you can map the buttons on Lenovo’s stylus: they can do everything from copy / pasting to erasing, toggling music and volume, and pulling up various applications.

You can also use Lenovo’s Mode Switcher (which pops up whenever you fold or unfold the device) to split the screen in half, essentially creating two separate displays on either side of the crease. This is most useful in the mini-clamshell form if you want to have one application running up top and one on the bottom. But you can also use it when the Fold is flat, the same way you’d use the Windows split-screen feature. And if you split the screen in Mode Switcher, the Fold preserves that layout when you move between portrait and landscape orientations, whereas elaborate arrangements of tabs and apps sometimes get scattered everywhere otherwise.

These are nice touches, and they show that Lenovo has really thought through the potential this form factor has, rather than just slapping a hinge onto a Surface Pro. But when it comes to performance, there are signs that this product is still in an early stage.

There’s a lot to commend Lenovo for here. I get stressed out just thinking about the tasks this computer has. Not only does it need to know whether it’s in portrait or landscape mode (like any regular tablet), but it also has to detect whether it’s folded, how much it’s folded, and where the keyboard is — and then resize its interface accordingly. Given all that, I’m quite impressed that this thing (mostly) works.

Mostly. But it’s not seamless, and there are some areas where the Fold and Windows 10 aren’t quite seeing eye to eye yet.

For example: every so often when I had the Mini Keyboard connected, the Fold forgot it was there and sent up the on-screen keyboard anyway when I selected a textbox with the stylus. You can turn the on-screen keyboard off in Settings if this annoys you, but it’s still a glitch that’s disappointing to see. On the other hand, occasionally, the on-screen keyboard didn’t come up immediately when I wanted it to, and I’d have to prod the text box a few times before the Fold got the hint. And the little writing box, which is supposed to pop up whenever you tap a text field with the stylus, seemed to come somewhat randomly: it didn’t appear at some times when I wanted it, and it did pop up at some times when I didn’t (like if I had just highlighted something in a Google Doc).

There were two occasions, both after a restart, where the Fold didn’t realize it was in mini-laptop mode and tried to expand across the whole screen. I had to remove and replace the keyboard before the Fold detected it. (Lenovo is aware of that issue and says it’s working on a fix.)

Most annoyingly, I wasn’t able to video chat in Zoom or WebEx using mini-laptop mode because my video feed (like the tablet’s camera) was sideways. That’s not a Lenovo-specific problem — some other Windows convertibles also don’t properly rotate their cameras if you flip them around during video calls. But it’s still something I hope Zoom and WebEx are able to fix. Were it not for this issue, mini-laptop mode would be the ideal form factor for remote meetings (WebEx on the top half, notes on the bottom).

I have faith that Lenovo will iron out these kinks as time goes on. But at present, they are here.

The X1 Fold doesn’t have as heavy-duty of a processor as you’ll find in some other ThinkPads. It’s powered by the Intel Core i5-L16G7, one of Intel’s “Lakefield” CPUs. These are “hybrid” processors, efficient chips designed for small and light devices. They’re Intel’s answer to the Arm chips in phones, tablets, and now MacBooks. (Microsoft’s dual-screen Surface Neo is supposed to be getting one, too.)

Occasional glitches aside, I was pleasantly surprised by the performance here. Multitasking in a dozen apps and Chrome tabs was no problem, and I could do some scrolling and browsing during a long Zoom call without anything freezing up. Of course, that’s also true for plenty of devices you can get for a few hundred bucks.

And the Fold also dragged its feet on some tasks where other premium business laptops (not to mention high-end consumer laptops that are half this price) do better. It takes a good few seconds to boot up, for example, and I sometimes got impatient waiting for it to find things in File Explorer and send windows to fullscreen. Webpages were a bit slower than I’m used to. The ThinkPad also takes a few seconds to rearrange itself between modes — and mini-clamshell mode, in particular — but I’m willing to forgive that since it’s a brand-new use case for Windows 10.

Battery life, though, was quite disappointing. Running the X1 Fold through my sustained workload (around 12 Chrome tabs and apps, occasional Spotify and YouTube streaming and Zoom calls, 200 nits of brightness), I averaged four hours and 50 minutes on the Better Battery profile and five hours and 35 minutes on the Battery Saver profile (with Intel’s battery-saving features enabled). That’s not necessarily unexpected for a laptop with an OLED display and only a 50Whr battery. But it’s not good for a $2,500 device, especially one that’s meant to be used on the go. The Surface Pro 7, which has a higher-resolution screen, got seven to eight hours in our testing.

The final thing worth mentioning here is that Windows 10 is still a “meh” operating system for tablets. If you’ve never used a Windows tablet before, it’s quite different from using an iPad. Gesture controls are still fairly basic, especially compared to Apple’s shortcut offerings. Moreover, most Microsoft apps aren’t designed to be used on a tablet the way that iPad apps are, so you’ll be doing a lot of struggling to tap boxes and icons that are much smaller than your fingertip. And actions like rearranging tabs and dragging / dropping windows that are second-nature with a touchpad are difficult to do with your fingers.

Switching to Windows Tablet Mode helps with this a bit, but you have to dig into the Action Center to turn that on manually. The Fold doesn’t swap to it automatically when you disconnect the keyboard the way Surface Books do. (Again, it’s not a Fold-specific problem — in general, disconnecting Bluetooth keyboards from Windows convertibles doesn’t trigger Tablet Mode — but it’s inconvenient nonetheless.) And of course, Windows 10 doesn’t have any unique features that take advantage of the dual-screen setup; Microsoft is working on an operating system optimized for dual-screen hardware (including its own Surface Neo), but we don’t expect that to arrive until next spring.

The running theme here is that most of these issues are Microsoft’s fault, not Lenovo’s. The convertible laptops Microsoft makes use the same operating system. But the lack of tablet functionality makes more sense on Surface Books and Surface Pros, which can serve as tablets where needed but are still meant to function primarily as computers. The problem with the Fold is that it’s at its best as a tablet. The ideal X1 Fold customer will be using it as a tablet most of the time. Because there are two major reasons I don’t recommend this device as a primary laptop. Those reasons are...

THE KEYBOARD AND TOUCHPAD

The X1 Fold is beautiful to look at and, as a tablet, a marvel to use. But I still dreaded having to drive it for my actual work every day. That’s because the keyboard and touchpad are tiny.

Now, I understand why they’re tiny. Lenovo wanted to make a keyboard small enough to fit inside the folded device so it wouldn’t be an extra thing to carry around. And it certainly succeeded in making a keyboard that fits perfectly into the folded-up tablet. I was never concerned that it would fall out.

But I hate typing on it. The keys actually feel quite sturdy and have a satisfying click to them, but Lenovo essentially had to combine a number of keys to achieve its desired size. For example: the apostrophe / quotation key, usually to the left of Enter on a US keyboard, has been moved to the far right side of the keyboard above Enter. (It’s a half key, sharing a slot with colon / semicolon). Every time I needed to type an apostrophe, I had to consciously stretch my hand far to the right. Approximately 50 percent of my apostrophe attempts resulted in instinctively slamming Enter instead (as my colleagues who received numerous incomplete Slack messages can attest). I assume you’ll adjust to this after a while of using the Fold, but boy is there a learning curve.

It gets worse: Lenovo had to cram some keys that were already dual-purpose together, meaning that some buttons accommodate as many as four different symbols. Question mark / forward slash has been combined with period / greater than, so typing a question mark requires hitting all three of Shift, Fn, and period at the same time. Dash has been relegated to Fn+9, which also tripped me up. I had to go through this review and delete a bunch of accidental 9s I’d typed before I filed it. And backslash requires Fn+8, which would make the X1 Fold a huge pain for people in STEM fields who needs to use LaTeX and some other programming languages.

Again, I understand why the keyboard needed to be small. But I would rather carry the keyboard separately than have to press three keys to make a question mark. Lenovo could make a nice carrying case that fits the Fold, the keyboard, and the stylus, and I would be totally fine with that. The company could also create some more space by removing the touchpad — which it might as well because the touchpad is basically useless.

To put in context how tiny this thing is: if I place two fingers on it (and my fingers are quite small) there is almost no room above or below them. So as you can probably imagine, scrolling is a pain (you hit the plastic frame immediately) as is clicking / dragging, highlighting, and anything else that requires two moving fingers. (There’s nowhere close to enough room.) Laying out a big article, which involves copy-pasting text and moving a bunch of images around, was quite a struggle.

The touchpad also didn’t do what I needed it to as often as I wanted. It sometimes thought I was holding it down when I had let go, meaning I’d unintentionally move tabs around. And highlighting a segment of text or getting my cursor to land in an exact spot was often a trial-and-error process. Even with the touchpad on its lowest sensitivity, I rarely got the right location on the first go.

I don’t use third-party peripherals with laptops I review, but this touchpad pushed that principle to its limit: I have never been closer to saying “Screw it” and plugging in a mouse to give myself a break. I ended up using the stylus for most of my navigation, but that’s suboptimal for some actions (rearranging tabs, doing anything in Google Docs).

Overall, the X1 Fold is a spectacular device in a lot of ways. It’s good at the one thing it’s advertised for (folding). It’s beautiful, both to look at and to use. It’s sturdy. And the form factor is useful. It’s not a gimmick. I would love to own a tablet like this.

The key word there is “tablet.” The X1 Fold isn’t a tablet. It has a laptop operating system and — more importantly — it’s priced like a laptop. It’s priced like a very expensive laptop.

And it’s not ready to fill that role yet. The battery life isn’t there yet. The keyboard and touchpad aren’t there yet. The software integration, while commendable, isn’t there yet.

The key word there is “yet.” Because with all that being said, I can’t wait for the second generation. Samsung’s first foldable phones were riddled with issues — but just over a year and several iterations later, the company is selling a folding device that’s very usable (albeit pretty expensive). I’m sure that’s going to be the case with foldable laptops as well. Lenovo has a groundbreaking idea, with a strong foundation to build on. I really hope it’s able to patch the Fold’s glitches without compromising on the components that are already exceptional. That would be a breathtaking device, one that would earn my unambiguous recommendation.

AGREE TO CONTINUE: LENOVO THINKPAD X1 FOLD

Every smart device now requires you to agree to a series of terms and conditions before you can use it — contracts that no one actually reads. It’s impossible for us to read and analyze every single one of these agreements. But we started counting exactly how many times you have to hit “agree” to use devices when we review them since these are agreements most people don’t read and definitely can’t negotiate.

To start using the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold, you’ll need to agree to the following:

A request for your region and keyboard layout

Windows 10 license agreement, Lenovo privacy statement, and Lenovo limited warranty

PIN

You can also say yes or no to the following:

Wi-Fi

Microsoft account (can be bypassed if you stay offline)

Privacy settings (speech recognition, location, Find My Device, sharing diagnostic data, inking and typing, tailored experience, advertising ID)

Customize your device for gaming, schoolwork, entertainment, creativity, family, or business

Sync an Android phone

OneDrive backup

Office 365

Allow Microsoft to collect personal information for Cortana, including location and location history, contacts, voice input, speech and handwriting patterns, typing history, search history, calendar details, content and communication history from Microsoft services, messages, and apps.

Add a Lenovo ID profile

That’s six mandatory agreements and 15 optional agreements to use the ThinkPad X1 Fold.