#gave coloured text a go... very finicky...

[sinisterness]

SEVEN DEADLY SINS

RULES: Bold what applies most. Repost do not Reblog.

LUST

desire for connection, pursuit of pleasure, emotional intelligence, obsessive, lovesick, one-night stand, seductive encounter, flirtatious conversation, erotic party, seductive attire, revealing clothing, passionate gaze, provocative makeup, sensual expressions, suggestive gestures, flirtatious smiles, lingerie, love letters, perfumes, provocative behavior, love poems, erotic art

GLUTTONY

indulgence in experiences, savoring moments, hospitality, generosity, hedonism, culinary expertise, wine tasting, excessive snacking, overloaded plates, excessive portions, bloated stomachs, messy eating, greasy fingers, full tables, indulgent spreads, overflowing cups, satisfied expressions, wine bottles, can't get enough, fast food wrappers

ENVY

motivation, competitive spirit, strategic planning, observational skills, bitter, rivalry contest, envious gossip, resentment-filled argument, social media jealousy, furrowed brows, clenched jaws, side-eye looks, pursed lips, tense posture, whispering behind backs, crossed arms, gossip magazines, keeping up with the Joneses, the grass is always greener, feeling inadequate

GREED

resourcefulness, entrepreneurial spirit, negotiation, materialistic, aggressive investment, lavish spending spree, resource hoarding, get-rich-quick scheme, auction bidding war, property acquisition, piles of money, overflowing wallets, luxury items, locked safes, penny-pinching, rare collectibles, selfishness, unwillingness to share

SLOTH

calmness, stress management, nonchalance, relaxation techniques, lethargic, apathetic, inactive, lazy weekend, binge-watching marathon, neglected chores, skipped workout, long nap, lounging on the couch, missed deadline, unkempt appearance, messy hair, pajamas, blankets, slippers, procrastination station, self-care routines

PRIDE

confidence, self-assurance, self-respect, dignity, public speaking, self-promotion, arrogant, conceited, egotistical, self-important, vain, boastful speech, puffed chest, raised chin, smug smiles, spotlight, tooting your own horn, showing off, refusing to admit mistakes, feeling entitled, personal branding, leadership development

WRATH

assertiveness, decisiveness, strength, intensity, boundary setting, courage, indignant, heated argument, road rage incident, physical altercation, angry outburst, clenched fists, glaring eyes, tense muscles, raised voices, reddened faces, aggressive gestures, stormy demeanor, intense frowns, destructive actions, broken objects, punching bag, out for blood, fists, simmering anger

tagged by: @nameaprice tagging: @dolls-runeterran-dollhouse, @umbane, @lvnarii, @trifarian, & you if you wish .

[little-inkstone]

A Fate Sealed with String Part 2

Summery:  After meeting the man her parents have arranged for her to marry, Belle decides she’ll take her own fate into her hands.  Literally, with the help of a charmed piece of thread that will lead her to her true love.

AN: Thanks to everyone that listened to be try and brainstorm what happened next! @still-searching47, @annythecat and @handwithquill you guys are great!

Part One

AO3

Once Belle returned to her room she angrily removed the thread connecting her to Rumplestiltskin and threw herself on her bed.  For a long moment she glared at the wall, simply allowing herself to feel irate. The only explanation that made any sense was that he had used his magic to change the course of the red string. Somehow he must have known she would use it.  Or perhaps he had been walking the halls when he’d seen it going about the business of finding her real true love.  Shoving her face in her pillow she let out a string of curses unbefitting for a Princess. The heated words were followed by frustrated tears as she held her pillow.

Now that her first plan had been thwarted she needed to come up with a different idea, but for the moment she let out her pent up annoyance.  Belle thought she’d made peace with marrying someone she didn’t love, but now that she had been so close to finding love she felt the painful stab of disappointment all over again.  Rolling over she let out an unhappy sigh, throwing her hand over her eyes to block out the early morning light.  She frowned when something like rough yarn brushed her cheek.  Her frown deepened when she realized the thread was wrapped around her finger again.  Belle thought she had removed it from her hand when she’d entered her room, was it possible she’d been mistaken?

A thought occurred to her and she sat up quickly, her heart pounding.  Was it possible that the trick Rumplestiltskin had used had come to an end?  Did that mean her real true love was at the other end of this string now?  She closed her eyes and clenched her fists.  No, she knew better, her was still there, with his smug smile and fake charm.  No matter how she wished he wasn’t the one the string had pointed to he still was.  There must be another reason why it had reattached itself to her.  The mystery gave her something to focus on beside her disappointment and frustration. For the second time that day she left her room, but this time she made her way to her mother’s library instead of following the charmed thread.  Her mother had a whole collection of texts on magic and simple charms that would be able to tell her what was going on.

The library was always a soothing place for her.  Whenever she was having a hard time she knew she could visit this sanctuary of books and immediately feel better.  Taking a deep breath she began to feel calmer and more in control.  Everything was going to be okay.  She began to pick through the collection of fairy texts and spell books until she found a promising tome that was about simple charms to help around the home and to find love and luck.  Belle curled up with the book in a large comfy chair and began to scan the contents of the books to see if it would have the spell she wanted.

To Find Love with Thread

Was written three fourths down the page and she smiled when she saw it.  Flipping to the marked page she scanned the spell quickly, confirming it was the enchantment she had used and then she began to read in earnest.  The first part of the spell detailed what would be needed and what to expect while casting it as well as how long to expect the spell to last.  Since it was a charm that was attached to an object instead of a person it would last for years upon years, but when the coloured dulled it would need to be recast.  Belle eyed the string around her finger critically, noting that it was still bright and flashy.  She kept reading, frowning when she saw the next line.

If the thread is tampered with in anyway it will turn black and fall off from the tied finger.  This includes if it is bewitched while it is winding its way to one’s true love.

Belle’s stomach began to sink as she looked at the words.  They had to be a lie; it wasn’t possible, he hadn’t cheated in some way. The spell must have messed up in some way, but that didn’t explain why the thread had returned to her hand. Maybe she had been right, perhaps it had been a mistake and now her real true love was waiting for her.  Magic was a finicky art; it was possible the person that had cast the charm had made a mistake.  She didn’t want to hope, but she couldn’t help it, her heart was a hopeful thing and now that she had come up with a solution to her obvious problem she couldn’t help but cling to it.  That still left the matter of removing the string; something the book said could only be done by a kiss shared between those it was tied to.  That idea made two red spots appear on Belle’s cheeks from embarrassment and irritation.

There seemed to be nothing for it, the book said no more about the subject.  Belle looked at the string and sighed.  Perhaps it would fall off by itself, and if not she would always have to kiss him during their wedding.  One way, or another, this string would be removed.  Of course she couldn’t help but wish the thread would turn black and remove itself, freeing her to refuse the suit of Lord Rumplestiltskin and either pick a more suitable husband herself, or may even get lucky enough to find her real true love.  At the moment she couldn’t do anything else, so she put the spell book away and grabbed an old favourite to calm her mind.  Her Handsome Hero never failed to immerse her in its story and always made her feel better.

She intended to spend the rest of the day doing a bit of reading, and perhaps a bit of pouting as well, but as she looked up she found her fiancé standing in the door way. He smiled at her in that infuriatingly charming way.  She forced out her own smile and then buried her nose in the book to look as if she were frightfully busy so he knew not to bother her.  She chewed her lip when it became clear he was going to stay where he was, her irritation beginning to grow.  Was it not enough that they were going to be wed, did he need to follow her around as well? Didn’t his Lordship have something else to do with his time?  He had seemed to take to Lady Cora the night before, why couldn’t he go see if she required anymore of his overly charismatic attention.  Finally it was too much and she closes her book with a sharp crack.

“Is there a reason you’re here?”  She snapped.

“Your mother suggested we spend some time together.”  He replied with a sheepish smile.

“And you thought the best way to do that was to haunt my every step on this pleasant morning?” Belle asked, trying to remain polite but totally failing.  Just because her fiancé was a heel didn’t mean she had to be, and yet here she was.

“No, I just…” He shrugged and tried to smile at her in a way that no doubt melted more than one cold heart; it would not melt hers. “I didn’t want to interrupt you if what you were doing was important, but…”  He shrugged again.

Belle sighed and crossed her arms.  “What did you have in mind for today?”

“Perhaps a walk in the gardens, and then maybe a trip into town?”  He suggested as the thumb and forefinger of his right hand rubbing together as he asked.

The idea wasn’t very appealing, but it would be rude to say now, so Belle sighed and set her book aside.  “That sounds like it would be a wonderful way to spend the day.”

“That’s wonderful, thank you!  I mean, would you like to go now?”  Lord Rumplestiltskin stumbled over himself.

Arm in arm they walked around the garden, an awkward silence having settled heavily onto them. Belle wasn’t particularly thrilled with a silent walk among the shrubbery, but Rumplestiltskin seemed to be just as uncomfortable.  As she studied him from out of the corner of her eye she wondered for the first time why he had agreed to this arrangement.  Both her mother and father believed that he would be a good match for her, something that she couldn’t fathom, given how he had so far treated her.  She wasn’t especially fond of knights and lords, and certainly not ones that acted the way he did.  Belle frowned as she remembered the way he had flirted with Lady Cora at supper the night before and she turned away to focus on the flowers.

This wasn’t going to work.  She looked down at the bright red string still attached to her and then allowed her eyes to wander to where the second end was still attached to her fiancé. How was it possible this man was her true love?  He was so arrogant and self centered, she could clearly tell his smile and charm was all fake; he was hiding something, his mask was as clear as day to her. Everyone said the Light One was a hero that had saved countless people and had a good and noble heart, but this man looked more interested in polishing his armour.

“Will you take a seat, my Princess?”  He asked, pulling her from her thoughts and motioning to a stone bench on the side of the path.

“If it pleases you, my Lord.”  She replied, sitting down, making sure to move her skirts so there was room enough for him to sit beside her, even though she’d rather he not.

No doubt this was when he would try to steal a kiss she was not willing to give.  Instead he took her by surprise, choosing to kneel in front of her and gently taking her hands in his.

“Princess Belle,” Rumplestiltskin began, stopping to clear his throat.  “Your parents have given me permission to take your hand in marriage, but I want to ask you myself, will you have me as your husband?”

Belle’s eyes widened at the sudden turn of events.  This was her chance, she could tell him no and it would be his own fault. No doubt this was all for show and he would marry her no matter what, but if she rejected him and he pushed the issue she would know his true self.  At the same time he was looking at her so hopefully, a flash of vulnerability in his eyes.  Her heart flipped oddly and she worried her lower lip.

“Before I answer, will you answer a question for me?”  She asked.

“Of course, anything.”  He replied with a genuine smile.

“Why do you want to marry me?”  Belle whispered, looking away from him self-consciously.

“Being a knight of the realm is lonely, and…”  His voice caught and then he cleared his throat.  Belle turned back to look at him, he seemed to be debating telling her something and she couldn’t help but hope he would be honest with her.  “Terrifying.”  He finished. “I’ve been hoping to find someone that I could share my life with, but there has been no one that suits.  I’m told you are kind and brave and well read; those are all the things I wish for in a bride.  That is why I want to marry you, my Princess.”

Her cheeks began to heat as she looked down at the man before her.  How was she to reply to such sweet words?  Impulsively she used his hold on her hands to pull him up and press a kiss to his lips.  It was quick, over almost as soon as it had begun, but it made her shiver and her cheeks grow even hotter.  Belle stood quickly feeling completely foolish and picked up her skirts to run, leaving her fiancé behind her without another word.  She had a lot of things to think about and she couldn’t sort out any of those things while he was looking at her with such naked admiration.

Perhaps she had been mistaken about him, or perhaps not and he was simply fooling her as well as he fooled everyone else.  She couldn’t decide which would be worse.

[ravikherva]

HIGHLIGHTS

Realme U1 is the first phone to sport the MediaTek Helio P70 SoC

Gaming performance is very good but the cameras struggle in low light

Realme U1 price in India starts at Rs. 11,999

The mainstream smartphone market might seem saturated with Xiaomi and Honor usually dominating this space, but up-and-coming-brands such as Realme have proven that there is still room to grow. A recent report has pegged the company as one of the top emerging bands in India, thanks to aggressive pricing and a rapidly expanding portfolio.

Realme is adding another series to its portfolio, and the first model to debut is the Realme U1₹ 11,999 — the company's first ‘Selfie Pro' smartphone. Given how popular Oppo's F series has been, it's no surprise that the once sub-brand of Oppo is adopting a similar strategy. Other than having a high-resolution front camera, the Realme U1 is also the first phone to debut MediaTek's Helio P70 SoC, which is said to be more powerful and efficient than its predecessor, the Helio P60.

The Realme U1 will compete with Xiaomi's Redmi Y series, which is another line of selfie-focused smartphones, and of course other notables such as the Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1₹ 8,199 (Review) and Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro₹ 13,999 (Review) in the sub-Rs. 15,000 price band. Let's see if it's worth recommending over such strong competitors.

Realme U1 design

The Realme U1 looks very similar to the recently launched Realme 2 Pro₹ 13,990 (Review), and that's not a bad thing. The rounded edges offer good grip, and the matte finish of the rear means it's not slippery. The display is raised a bit from the rest of the body, so its edges don't seamlessly blend with the sides of the body. The same goes for the laminated rear panel. Thankfully, the back of this phone didn't pick up any scuff marks during the course of our review, which is a good sign. At 8mm thick, the Realme U1 is comfortable to hold and isn't too heavy at 168g either.

Button placement is good, and with typical use, we were able to reach the power and volume buttons without trouble. The SIM tray on the left can accommodate two Nano-SIMs and a microSD card, so you need not sacrifice one for the other. At the bottom of the Realme U1 we have a speaker grille, a Micro-USB port, and a 3.5mm headphone socket. Once again, the lack of USB Type-C is a bit disappointing. Our main issue is with the placement of the speaker grille, because it can easily be blocked the moment you hold the phone horizontally. This means that audio sounds muffled when playing games and watching videos, if you're not careful.

The 6.3-inch display on the Realme U1 has a 450nit maximum brightness, which makes it very legible under direct sunlight. It's an IPS panel with a 1080x2340-pixel resolution, which means you get sharp images and vivid colours. You also get a basic colour temperature adjustment slider in the Settings app. Realme has used Corning Gorilla Glass 3 for the front of this phone, which is a somewhat old generation, but it's better than nothing. The phone is also comes with a screen guard pre-applied, and ours picked up dings and scratches quite easily. The screen guard is a massive fingerprint magnet and so is the laminated back, so keeping the Realme U1 looking spotless can be a real chore.

The waterdrop or dewdrop notch looks pretty, and is a minimal hindrance in full-screen apps. Still, if you find it getting in the way, you can flip a switch in the Settings to mask it for individual apps. There's a single camera in the notch, as the earpiece and a group of sensors are above it. Due to the limited space, there's no notification LED.

The laminated back has a nice visual effect when light bounces off it. We have an ‘Ambitious Black' unit for review, but you can also get the Realme U1 in ‘Brave Blue' and ‘Fiery Gold'. The dual camera module on the rear doesn't bulge out too much, and the chrome trim held up well during our review period. The fingerprint sensor works well and is quick at authentication. It also has a slightly different texture than the rest of the back, making it easy to find. Face unlock is still very quick and inflow-light, the display lights up to compensate for the lack of good light.

The Realme U1 ships with a 10W power adapter, USB charging cable, silicone case, SIM eject tool, and the usual warranty and quick-start guides. The quality of the accessories is good, and Realme's packaging seems to have improved too, compared to its earlier offerings.

Realme U1 specifications and software

One of the main highlights of the Realme U1 is the new MediaTek Helio P70 SoC, which is a speedier version of the Helio P60. According to Realme, this new chip should provide up to 13 percent better performance compared to its predecessor. It also has an improved version of MediaTek's on-chip AI processing engine, which is said to be more efficient.

In benchmarks, the Realme U1 posted pretty good scores. It managed 1,44,161 points in AnTuTu, and in Geekbench, we got 1,573 and 5,828 in the single- and multi-threaded tests respectively. These numbers are better than what we've seen from most Helio P60-based phones we've tested such as the Oppo F7₹ 17,199 (Review) and Oppo F9₹ 16,141 (Review), and even edge out some Snapdragon 660-based phones too, such as the Realme 2 Pro. The integrated GPU gave us an average framerate of 35fps in the T-Rex graphics test of GFXbench. This is a bit lower than the Realme 2 Pro's score of 39fps in the same test.

Our review unit had 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, but you can also opt for a variant with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. Other features include dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.2, USB-OTG, FM radio, GPS, and GLONASS. Dual 4G with dual VoLTE is supported. This phone's sensors include a proximity sensor, gyroscope, compass, ambient light sensor, and accelerometer.

The Realme U1 still uses ColorOS 5.2 which is based on Android 8.1 Oreo, just like the Realme 2 Pro. It also has the fairly recent October 2018 security patch, and according to the company, we should expect an update to Android Pie “early next year.” ColorOS on this phone does have some new tweaks and features. Realme has finally fixed the annoying two-step process needed for dismissing notifications, and you can now do it with a single right-swipe.

You get the Realme U1 with a bunch of preloaded apps, most of which can be uninstalled if not needed. There are gestures for navigation, taking screenshots, and enabling split-screen mode. Smart Scan and ORoaming are two interesting features that we've seen before on Chinese versions of Oppo phones, and are now supported in India.

Smart Scan now supports Hindi in addition to German, Italian, Spanish, French, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese. Using this app, you can scan a document with text written in Hindi and have it converted into editable Hindi text. In our experience, it worked quite well, and you don't need an active Internet connection. However, you do need Internet access to use the ‘Scan and translate' feature which translates small snippets of text between Hindi and English in real-time as you hover the camera over it. The ‘Shoot and translate' feature lets you take photos of entire pages and convert them into editable text.

ORoaming generates a virtual SIM card on your phone so you can use local data services (not voice or SMS) in countries you're travelling to without having to switch SIM cards or use international roaming. Prices range between $11 and $21 for a week, depending on the country. ORoaming covers most major countries and regions, but the choice of available data packages seems a bit limited. The largest package for most countries tops out at 1GB for a week, with some exceptions such as Australia and Hong Kong, that go up to 4GB. This service is available because of a partnership between Realme and Redtea Mobile, an eSIM solutions provider. We couldn't actually test ORoaming to see how well it works or not since it would require physically travelling to one of the supported countries.

Realme U1 performance, cameras, and battery life

The Realme U1 didn't give us any unpleasant surprises during day-to-day usage and it performed just as we expected it to. Cleaning up fingerprint smudges is an uphill battle on this phone, so if you're the finicky type then we suggest using the bundled case. The display is lively, and viewing angles are pretty good too. We didn't have any issues with call quality either, and the phone runs cool for the most part.

The Helio P70 easily chomped though most games and managed to deliver solid framerates. Asphalt 9: Legends didn't seem to faze it one bit, even on the ‘High' graphics preset. PUBG Mobile also ran smoothly, but at the ‘Medium' setting. The slim borders of the display and the tiny notch give you better immersion in your content, which is nice. The phone does get slightly warm when gaming or with heavy camera use, which is normal.

Most popular audio and video file formats play just fine. The stock music player supports sound enhancements by Dirac Research, which can be enabled if you use wired headphones. The speaker gets fairly loud too, but we would have swapped its place with the headphone socket, as it's easily blocked when the phone is held in landscape mode.

Since this is a selfie-focused phone, let's start with the front camera. It's a 25-megapixel Sony IMX 576 sensor with an f/2 aperture, which we've previously seen in the Oppo F7. In daylight, the Realme U1captures detailed selfies, with good skin tones and colours in general. The AI beauty mode isn't too aggressive, and does a good job in smoothening your skin most of the time.

You might like the Super Vivid mode if you're into highly saturated colours. You can enable the depth effect, which does a decent job of blurring the background. In the latter mode, the camera uses a four-in-one pixel binning technique to give you better detail by trading off the resolution, so you get a 8-megapixel shot. When shooting against bright light, you get a real-time preview of what the HDR version of your image would look like.

In low light, we found the camera struggling to capture clean and detailed shots. Surprisingly, it still shoots at the full 25-megapixel resolution rather than defaulting to the pixel binning technique. As a result, selfies look grainy and HDR isn't of much help, as bright lights in the background looked burnt out. Edge detection isn't too accurate under dim lighting in depth mode. Realme has stated that an update to improve the front camera bokeh' mode will be released by the time this phone goes on sale.

The primary13-megapixel sensor on the rear has a f/2.2 aperture. It does a fairly good job with detail under natural light, but struggles in low light. Autofocus is not the quickest, as this camera has to hunt for about a second before locking focus. The Super Vivid mode is handy in some situations, especially when you want a little more ‘pop' in the colours. HDR works satisfactorily too, and you get the standard shooting modes such as anorama, Timelapse, Professional, and Portrait. The latter works decently well on objects too, thanks to the dedicated 2-megapixel depth sensor.

Video recording tops out at 1080p and there's no electronic stabilisation to smoothen out hand shakes. The quality is decent, but since the autofocus isn't very quick, we noticed a bit of hunting as we moved about. The framerate is fairly solid though, and low-light footage isn't too noisy. Despite the powerful SoC, the rear camera doesn't shoot 4K video, which is a shame since many phones in this segment can do that. According to Realme, this resolution has been left out since the sensor doesn't support it.

The 3500mAh battery easily lasts a full day on a single charge. We also got a good runtime in our HD video loop test, where the U1 ran an HD video non-stop for 14 hours and 56 minutes. There's no fast charging, but the included 10W adapter helps speed up the charging process a bit.

Verdict The Realme U1 starts at a price of Rs. 11,999 for the variant with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. That's not bad, considering it has a pretty powerful SoC and delivers very good battery life — a winning combo that not many in this segment have pulled off. It's roughly the same price as the 4GB version of the Xiaomi Redmi Y2₹ 9,260 (Review), but considering that the front cameras of both phones have a tough time in low light, we think you're better off with the Realme U1, which has a more modern design and more powerful internals.

The 4GB RAM version that we tested is priced at Rs. 14,499, which puts it smack against the base variant of Realme's own Realme 2 Pro (Review). The latter has a better rear camera and supports 4K video, so if that's your priority then we'd recommend it over the U1. At the time of publishing this review, none of the Realme 2 variants were in stock. The company has told us that the phone will continue be sold though flash sales every Friday, but it hasn't specified whether that means all variants will still be available. We just wish the Realme U1 had similar or better cameras than the Realme 2 Pro. At around this price, you also have phones like the Redmi Note 6 Pro (Review) and Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 (6GB) (Review), which offer good all-round performance.

The Realme U1 misses out a few things like video stabilisation, and the low-light performance of its front as well as rear cameras is average at best. On the other hand, it does have many upsides such as a powerful processor, good battery life, a sharp display, and nice aesthetics. It also takes good pictures in daylight, which makes it worth recommending.