#i used my phone hotspot which is NOT IDEAL...

[clannfearrunt]

hacked the burner 3ds tonight. genuinely was really easy and the part that took the longest was removing the fucking parental controls from this forgotten 3ds and then trying to remember the wifi password (failed). tomorrow I need to find out the wifi password so I can hack my main 3ds

[draganwhorror]

Fate and Fortune Cookies

Note: This is a Wes (from Supernatural) one-shot. It features an OC, and it's basically porn with very little plot. I have the story set in 2008, which is when the episode of Supernatural premiered, so instead of the advanced smartphones and dating apps of today, Wes has a cell phone with email capabilities and has to deal with navigating dating websites (like Match).

Also, I'm dedicating this story to @clifftopenow. I hope it was okay to use your name for the fic. 🫣 And I hope you like it! 🤞

Inspo gif:

Wesley Mondale was disappointed. But what else was new? He sighed as he exited out of the email app he’d just been looking at. He’d set it up when he’d signed up for a dating website, hoping it would be an easy way to get messages from possible matches, but so far, it had been crickets. But it was starting to feel pointless checking it every day. It wasn’t like any woman would ever be interested in him…or so it seemed. He knew it was probably a combination of things that were working against him. His age, for one. He wasn’t that old—only in his early 40s—but still. It seemed a lot of women on dating websites were younger than him, and even though he knew some women did like older men, he obviously wasn’t lucky enough to be the type of older man they wanted.

He was between jobs right now. He collected coins. He enjoyed watching old black-and-white TV shows. And…

Well, he knew he wasn’t ideal-looking. His dark hair was starting to thin, and a bald spot had become slightly noticeable at the top of his head. He wore glasses, and perhaps his choice of clothing didn’t exactly scream “hip with the times” or whatever it was the younger crowd said these days.

But there had to be someone out there for a guy like Wes…right?

He glanced at his reflection in the darkened phone screen. His own sad eyes stared back at him, and he rubbed a hand through his thinning hair self-consciously before he set his phone back down.

The smell of Chinese food filled his nostrils as he gazed around the nearly empty restaurant.

Lucky Chin’s wasn’t exactly a hotspot for singles, but it was Wes’s home away from home. The beige booths, the red and gold color theme, and the tacky decor all felt…comforting to Wes. He didn’t feel so out of place there.

He picked at his plate of food, having little appetite. The owner of the place, an older man with a kind smile, stopped next to Wes’s table to refill his water glass.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, fine, thanks,” Wes mumbled, though they both knew he was lying. Wes had been coming to Lucky Chin’s by himself for months now, nursing his loneliness over plates of mediocre Chinese food.

The owner walked away, leaving Wes to his depressing thoughts. Wes sighed, reaching for the fortune cookie that had come with his meal. As he cracked it open and unfolded the slip of paper inside, he wondered if he should just give up on trying to find someone. Maybe he was meant to be alone.

Glancing down at his fortune, Wes saw it said: “Love is just around the corner.”

Scoffing, he wadded up the piece of paper and set it on his plate. Fortune cookies always said the most inane things.

Wes motioned the owner over a moment later and asked for his bill. After he paid, he got up and slipped his tan jacket back on, stuffing his phone into his pocket. Then he made his way out to the street, feeling dejected. He shuffled along down the sidewalk, lost in thought.

Maybe I should delete my dating profile. No one is interested, so why bother having one? I guess I’m not meant to find someone…

Not paying attention, Wes turned the corner to head down the street that would lead towards home and bumped into someone coming the other direction.

“Oof.”

Startled, Wes blinked and looked at the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen standing in front of him. He opened his mouth to apologize, but his brain chose that moment to completely shut down, and nothing came out other than an “uh” sound.

“I’m so sorry!” the woman said, her cheeks pink. “I should have been watching where I was going. I’m such a klutz sometimes. Are you okay?”

Wes stood there like a deer in headlights, staring at her as she looked at him, a worried expression on her face.

“I, uh… I-I'm f-fine," Wes finally managed to stutter, embarrassed by his inability to speak normally. "It was my fault. I wasn't paying attention."

The woman smiled, and Wes felt his heart skip a beat. She had pretty brown eyes and a face framed by wavy brown hair.

"I'm glad you're okay," she told him. "I'm Steph, by the way."

"W-Wesley," he replied, nervously adjusting his glasses. "But, uh, most people call me Wes."

Steph's eyes lit up. "Oh, like Wesley Crusher from Star Trek? I love that show!"

Wes looked surprised. "You like Star Trek?"

"I'm a total Trekkie!" Steph laughed. "You're a fan too?"

"I, um… I can’t say I’m a fan, but I've seen a couple of episodes before," Wes admitted, a shy smile forming on his face.

"Really? That's so cool!" Steph exclaimed.

Wes felt a little unsure about Steph's enthusiasm. He couldn't remember the last time a woman seemed interested in talking to him.

"I-I actually prefer the original series," he told her hesitantly, wondering if maybe she was one of those fans who liked one of the other series. "The episodes I’ve seen were all really good."

Steph's eyes widened. "Yes! The classic series is the best. Have you seen The City on the Edge of Forever? It's my favorite!"

Wes nodded, relaxing a little now that he had something to discuss, even though he didn’t know too much about the show. "That's a good one. My favorite is… The Trouble with Tribbles."

They both laughed, and Wes couldn’t believe how much he was enjoying standing here talking to this woman.

"Hey, so…" Steph tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I was just heading to grab a bite to eat. Would you like to join me? We could talk some more…if you’d like?”

Wes stood there, that deer-in-the-headlights look on his face again.

Is this really happening?

Realizing this beautiful woman was actually asking him out, he managed to say, “Oh, um, I already ate. I just… I was on my way home.”

He immediately kicked himself mentally. Why was he turning her down?

“Oh,” Steph mumbled, her face showcasing her disappointment. “Another time?”

Wes’s brain finally caught up to what was happening, and he flushed, his cheeks pink as he blurted out, “You want to come back to my place for dessert?”

Steph’s brow furrowed as she stared at Wes. Realizing what he had just said, he blushed even harder. “Oh, um, no. Wait… That’s…that’s not what I meant. I… I, um… I meant cake. I have cake. And…and coffee.”

Steph grinned at Wes’s embarrassment, reaching for his hand. "Cake and coffee sounds really good, honestly. Lead the way, good sir."

Wes thought his heart might explode out of his chest. Or maybe his brain would explode out of his ears. This woman—this absolutely stunning woman—was holding his hand. She was coming home with him. He swallowed nervously, hoping he didn’t screw this up.

"Tell me more about yourself, Wes," Steph said, glancing at him with curious eyes.

"Oh, um, well..." Wes adjusted his glasses. "I collect coins. And I like old TV shows. Black and white ones, mostly."

"That's neat," Steph exclaimed, sounding more enthusiastic than he’d expected her to. "I love hearing about unique hobbies. What got you into coin collecting?"

As Wes explained about inheriting his grandfather's collection, he felt his anxiety lessening. This was a topic he felt comfortable talking about, and it eased his mind as Steph listened to him with rapt attention, asking a few more questions before they arrived at his house.

"This is me," Wes said, gesturing to the small one-bedroom home.

They climbed the stairs to the porch, and Wes's hands shook slightly as he fumbled with his keys. Finally, he got the front door open and motioned for Steph to go ahead of him.

"Make yourself comfortable," he said, taking off his coat and gesturing to his well-worn couch and the recliner he usually napped in. "I'll get some coffee started."

In the kitchen, Wes took a deep breath. He couldn't believe this was real. That this was actually happening.

Wes measured out the coffee grounds carefully, trying not to spill any on the counter. He could hear Steph moving around in the living room, probably looking at his shelves of coin collections and old TV memorabilia.

What if she thought his place was a dump? What if he didn’t have any cake? What if he said something stupid and ruined everything?

He forced himself to take another deep breath as he started the coffee maker, the familiar gurgling sound helping to calm him down a bit. He opened the fridge, seeing that he actually did have some cake left. It was a slightly stale chocolate cake, but it would have to do.

He cut two slices and put them on mismatched plates, carrying them out to the living room. Then he went back into the kitchen to pour them both some coffee. When he returned, he saw Steph was holding a framed photo of him as a kid. He was grinning with a gap-toothed smile and holding up a shiny coin.

"Hey, Wes, is this you?"

"Oh, um, y-yes," he stammered. "That was when I got my first rare penny. I was eight."

Steph smiled at him. "You were adorable. Still are, to be honest."

Wes felt his whole body heat up, his cheeks flaming red. Was she flirting with him? He had no idea how to respond.

"I, uh... thank you," he mumbled, nervously pushing his glasses up his nose and almost spilling coffee in the process. "You're... you're really pretty, too."

As soon as the words left his mouth, he wanted to crawl under the couch and die of embarrassment. But Steph just laughed, a sound that made his heart flutter in his chest.

"You're sweet," she told him, setting down the photo and moving closer to him. "And you’re cute when you blush."

Wes swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing. She was so close he could smell her perfume, a subtle scent of something fruity. Cherries, perhaps?

As Steph moved even closer, her eyes locked on his, Wes thought he might faint. His palms grew sweaty, and he worried he might drop the coffee mugs he was still holding.

"Maybe we should skip the coffee," Steph murmured, taking the mugs carefully from his hands and setting them on the nearby end table.

"O-oh, um…" Wes stuttered. "What… Um, what would you like instead?"

Steph winked, smirking at him. "I think you know what I want, Wes."

Before he could react or respond, she leaned in and pressed her lips to his. Wes froze, shocked by the sudden kiss. But then instinct took over, and he kissed her back, his hands hovering at his sides.

Steph’s lips were soft and warm, and she tasted like cherries. Or maybe that was just her perfume. Her hands came up to rest on his cheeks, and her tongue brushed against his mouth. He parted his lips, letting her in.

Wes felt dizzy. He had to be dreaming. There was no way this was actually happening. No way a gorgeous woman was standing in his living room kissing him breathless.

When Steph broke the kiss, stepping back a little to gaze into Wes’s dark eyes, she whispered, "I've been wanting to do that since I bumped into you."

"R-really?"

She nodded, biting her lip. "There's just something about you, Wes. The moment we collided, it felt like…like we were meant to be together. I wanted you from that very moment.”

“Oh. Uh…”

Wes’s brain had short-circuited. He had no idea what to say. How to respond to her words. She had to be lying…right? No woman had ever shown any interest in Wes, let alone wanted him as badly as Steph seemed to want him.

I have to be dreaming. This can’t be real. But if I am dreaming, please don’t wake me up…

“Wanna show me your bedroom?” Steph asked after a moment of silence.

Unwilling to burst whatever bubble he was currently living in, Wes nodded and took her hand, leading her down the hallway to his room. This was actually happening. To him. To plain, boring Wesley Mondale.

He flicked on the light as they entered the bedroom, revealing his small, slightly messy space. A full-size bed with navy sheets took up most of the room, along with a nightstand and dresser.

"Sorry it's a bit messy," he mumbled, suddenly self-conscious about how his room might look to her.

"It’s cozy," Steph said, easing some of his nervousness. She turned to face Wes, reaching up to remove his glasses. "You have beautiful eyes."

Wes blinked, his vision slightly blurry without his glasses.

"Uh…thank you.” Steph set his glasses on the nightstand, then began pulling her t-shirt off over her head. Wes watched in awe as she tossed it to the floor, revealing a lacy black bra. His mouth went dry.

"Your turn.” She winked at him.

Wes's hands shook as he fumbled with the buttons of his shirt. Steph moved closer, gently pushing his hands away. "Let me."

She made quick work of the buttons, pushing the shirt off his shoulders and tugging at the t-shirt underneath. When she had them both off, she ran her hands over his chest. Wes shivered at her touch.

"You're so sexy," Steph whispered, gazing up at him with hooded eyes.

Wes had nothing to say to that. No one had ever called him sexy before. No one had ever called him anything other than ‘nerd’ or ‘loser’ before, in all honesty.

He tentatively placed his hands on Steph's waist, surprised by the softness of her skin. He was still convinced he had to be dreaming.

She pressed her body against his and captured his lips in another hungry kiss, and Wes moaned softly as her tongue brushed against his.

Steph's fingers were light as a feather as she ran them down Wes's bare back, eliciting a shiver from him. Wes felt like he might faint. He followed her motion, sliding his hands up her back, savoring the warmth of her skin.

"Mmm," Steph murmured against his lips. She broke the kiss and looked up at him with desire written all over her face. "Wanna get more comfortable?"

Without waiting for a response, she gently pushed Wes backwards until the backs of his knees hit the bed. He sat down on the edge of the mattress, gazing at her as she reached behind her back to unhook her bra. Wes's breath hitched as she let it fall to the floor, revealing her perfect breasts. Well, he thought they were perfect, although he still couldn’t see all that well without his glasses.

"You can touch me," Steph said, noticing his hesitation.

Wes swallowed hard and slowly reached out, cupping her breasts almost reverently. They were so soft, and they were the perfect size for his hands. He gave them a soft squeeze, and Steph let out a little gasp as he brushed his thumbs over her nipples.

"That feels good," she whispered.

Encouraged by her response, Wes leaned forward and placed a kiss on her left breast. Steph's fingers threaded through his thinning hair, her back arching. He swirled his tongue around her nipple, and a delighted moan fell from her lips.

"Oh, Wes…”

The sound of his name on her lips sent a jolt of arousal down his spine, and his cock twitched eagerly. Wes had never heard anyone say his name like that before—like it was something desirable. Like he was something desirable.

Steph pushed him back onto the bed, climbing on top of him and straddling his hips. Her weight on his lap felt right. Like she belonged there. She leaned down, her hair brushing against his face as she kissed him.

"I-I should tell you," Wes mumbled when she pulled back from his lips. "I… I haven't done this in... a while."

Steph smiled, trailing her fingers down his chest. "That's okay. We can go slow if you want."

As she started grinding her hips against his, creating an exquisite friction through their clothing, Wes reached over and grabbed his glasses off the nightstand, slipping them back on, needing to see all of her. His hands then slid up to cup her breasts once more as she moved atop him, and his hips began to lift, matching her rhythm.

"You're doing everything right," she murmured in his ear, making him tingle with pleasure. "Everything."

Her hands moved to his belt, unfastening it and sliding it from the loops. Wes held his breath as he watched her unbutton his khakis and slowly pull down the zipper. He was both extremely aroused and embarrassed as she moved off to the side and began to slide his pants down his legs.

"Lift up," she instructed, and he obeyed, allowing her to pull his pants off completely.

Wes felt shy and awkward lying there in just his boxers, his obvious bulge making him blush.

Steph’s eyes roamed over his body for a moment. "You're already so hard for me."

"S-sorry," Wes stammered.

"Don't apologize," she whispered, her fingers tracing the outline of his erection through the cotton. "I love knowing I turn you on."

Wes moaned softly as she continued to touch him, exploring his length with gentle strokes. Her touch was tentative at first, but she grew more bold as she realized he was enjoying it. He couldn't help the way his hips bucked when she squeezed him lightly.

"I want to see all of you," Steph said, tugging at his boxers before Wes could stop her. Not that he wanted to.

She slid them down his legs, and his cock sprang free. He had to resist the urge to cover himself. No woman had seen him naked in years, and even then, it had been because of a dare. His cheeks burned as he tried not to think about that.

But the look in Steph's eyes wasn't disappointment or ridicule—it was pure, unadulterated lust.

"You're perfect," she whispered, wrapping her fingers around him.

Wes closed his eyes, the sensation of her hand on him making him twitch with need. She began to stroke him from base to tip in a steady rhythm, and he groaned.

"I-I don't think I'll last long if you keep doing that.”

Steph slowed her movements but didn’t let go. “Then I should probably stop. I want this to last.”

She eased herself off the bed, and Wes watched with hungry eyes as she unbuttoned her jeans and pushed them down her legs, revealing a pair of black panties. His mouth watered at the sight of her standing there in just her underwear, looking like something out of one of his fantasies.

"You're so beautiful," he murmured, his tone sincere.

"Thank you," she replied with a grin, hooking her thumbs in the waistband of her panties. She slid them down slowly, teasingly, until she stood completely naked before him. Wes couldn't help but stare, taking in the sight of her nude body.

She crawled back onto the bed, moving to hover over him. "Do you have protection?" she asked as she stared down at him.

"I, uh... I think so," Wes said, reaching over to fumble in his nightstand drawer. He found a condom that was thankfully still within its expiration date, holding it up to show her.

Steph took it from him, tearing open the package. "Let me.” She rolled the condom down his length, then gave him a playful wink.

"Is this really happening?" he mumbled to himself, still unable to believe his luck.

"It's happening, Wes. I want you."

She positioned herself above his erection, then guided his hand to her hips. Wes held her, unable to believe this woman was about to make love to him.

Steph lowered herself down onto him slowly, letting out a soft “oh” as he entered her. Wes thought he might pass out from the feeling of her wet warmth surrounding him.

His eyes fluttered closed, but he opened them again a second later, realizing he didn’t want to miss one single second of her riding him.

“Oh, god…” he breathed out as she took him fully inside her. “You feel amazing.” It had been so long—too long—since he'd done anything like this.

Steph began to move, rising up before sliding back down in a rhythm that made Wes's toes curl. His fingers dug into her hips as he began to thrust up into her.

"That's it," she encouraged, bracing her hands on his chest. "You're so good, Wes. You fill me so well.”

Her praise sent a thrill through him. No one had ever told him he was good at anything like this before. He watched her as she moved above him, her breasts bouncing with each movement. Needing to touch her, his hands moved from her hips, reaching up to cup her breasts, and she moaned in appreciation.

"Yes, just like that. Touch me, Wes.”

Wes was overwhelmed. Everything that was happening was too much—the sight of her above him, the sound of her moans, the way it felt to be inside her…

He pinched her nipples gently between his fingers, and she arched her back, a cry of pleasure falling from her lips.

“Wes… Oh, Wes…” she panted. “That feels…so good…”

Wes hoped he was pleasing her. He wanted—no, needed—to make sure she was satisfied after she’d so willingly given herself to him like this. His hands found their way to her ass, helping to guide her movements. He could feel himself getting close to the edge, and he knew he wasn’t going to last much longer.

“I… I’m going to…”

“Not yet.”

Steph leaned down and captured his lips in a passionate kiss, slowing her pace for a moment before lifting off of him. Wes groaned, but he watched curiously as she moved beside him, positioning herself on her hands and knees.

“Will you take me from behind?”

Wes hesitated, staring at her on all fours as she waited for him. His glasses had slid down his nose slightly, and he pushed them back up with a shaky hand.

“You…you want me to…?”

“I want you inside me again, Wes,” Steph told him. “Please?”

He nodded, pushing himself up and moving behind her, positioning himself at her entrance. He gripped her hips once more, pulling her back as he slid into her, both of them moaning at the sensation.

“Oh, fuck,” Wes gasped. “This feels even better than before.”

Steph pushed back against him, urging him to start moving. “Don’t hold back, Wes. I want to feel all of you.”

He began to thrust, slowly at first, but as she pushed back harder against him, a primal need ignited inside him. He began to move faster now, the sound of their skin slapping together filling the room, along with their heavy breathing.

“Yes!” Steph exclaimed, her fingers gripping the sheets tightly.

Wes was still struggling with the fact that this was really happening. He knew it was, but it still felt surreal to him. Here he was, the guy who no woman had ever looked at twice, making this beautiful woman moan his name as he watched his cock disappear inside her again and again.

“Harder!” she begged, dropping to her elbows, and the change in angle made Wes falter for a moment. “Please, Wes, harder!”

All the years of loneliness, rejection, and self-doubt seemed to fuel him now at the sound of her pleading. He began to thrust into her with a force he hadn’t known he was capable of, his fingers digging into the soft flesh of her hips.

"Oh god, yes!" Steph cried out, her voice muffled as she pressed her face into the pillow. "Just like that!"

Wes felt powerful. He was making this woman feel good. She wanted him. Him, Wesley Mondale, the shy coin collector who couldn't even talk to a woman without stuttering half the time.

"You like that?" he asked, surprising himself with his sudden boldness.

"Yes!" she moaned. "Don't stop, Wes. Please don't stop."

The sight of her beneath him, taking every inch of him, was almost too much for Wes to handle.

“I…I’m close,” he told her, feeling the familiar tightening in his balls.

“Me too,” she responded breathlessly. “Touch me, Wes.”

Understanding what she was asking, he reached around, sliding his hand between her legs to find that sensitive bundle of nerves. He’d read enough to know where to touch, even if his experience was limited. When his fingers made contact with her clit, Steph’s entire body tensed, and she let out a sound that was almost a sob as her inner walls began to clench around him.

Her orgasm triggered his own, and his hips jerked erratically as he emptied himself into the condom, groaning in pleasure.

For a moment, Wes couldn't move. He couldn't think. He stayed there, still joined with Steph, his mind blank. Then, carefully, he came back to himself, pulling out and collapsing beside her on the bed.

"That was..." he started, unable to find the right words.

"Amazing," Steph offered, lying down next to Wes with a satisfied smile. She reached out to touch his face, carefully removing his glasses, which had fogged up a little. "You're amazing, Wes."

He blushed, unsure how to respond to such praise.

"I, uh... I wasn't too... I mean, it's been a while. But… I should, um... I should take care of this," he mumbled, gesturing to the condom.

He got out of bed and made his way into the bathroom to dispose of the condom. When he returned a minute later, he half-expected Steph to be gone, their whole encounter nothing more than a fantasy brought on by… well, Wes wasn’t sure what would have made him imagine something so wonderful, but still, the thought was there. But there she was, sprawled out in his bed, the top sheet pulled loosely over her naked body. She grinned when she saw him, and his heart beat a little faster in his chest. For the first time in what seemed like forever, he didn't feel like a loser.

"Come back to bed," she said, patting the space beside her.

Wes slid under the sheets next to her, still feeling shy even after what they'd just done. Steph immediately curled against his side, resting her head on his chest.

"I can hear your heart beating," she murmured. "It's going really fast."

"Sorry.”

"You really should stop apologizing," she reprimanded him gently. "You have nothing to be sorry for."

Wes lay there, staring at the ceiling, his arm hesitantly coming to rest around her shoulders. The weight of her against him felt…perfect. He was afraid to speak, afraid to break whatever spell had brought this beautiful woman into his life.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked after a few moments of silence.

"I'm thinking..." Wes swallowed nervously. "I'm thinking this has to be a dream. Things like this don't happen to guys like me."

Steph propped herself up on one elbow, looking down at him with those beautiful brown eyes. Without his glasses, she was slightly blurry, but he could see the frown on her face.

"What do you mean, guys like you?"

Wes shrugged, feeling self-conscious. "You know... nerdy guys. Unemployed guys who collect coins and watch old TV shows. Guys who can't even talk to a pretty girl without stumbling over their words."

"I think it’s adorable," she said, leaning down to place a soft kiss on his lips. "And I happen to be really attracted to coin collectors. I think you’re a very handsome man."

Wes couldn't help but laugh. "Now I know you're lying."

"I'm not," she insisted, her expression serious. "Wes, I know it’s going to sound crazy, but…”

Now it was her turn to hesitate. To feel reluctant about saying what was on her mind. With a sigh, though, she continued on. “The other day, I ordered some Chinese food, and my fortune cookie’s slip of paper read: ‘Love is just around the corner.’ I think the universe was guiding me to you.”

Wes’s eyes widened, and he sat up. “Your cookie said that?”

Steph nodded. “Yeah, why?”

Wes let out a breath. “I was at Lucky Chin’s right before I ran into you. My fortune cookie said the same exact thing.”

"No way! You don't think it's just a coincidence, do you?”

Wes shook his head slowly. "I…I don't know what to think. I mean, what are the odds? I literally turned the corner and bumped into you on my way home, and now…here we are."

They stared at each other for a moment before they both laughed.

"Maybe fortune cookies aren't so stupid after all," Wes muttered, thinking about how he’d brushed off the slip of paper and its silly little words of fate.

"Maybe not,” Steph agreed. "But I do want to get to know you better, Wesley Mondale. All of you."

"Even the boring parts?" he asked jokingly.

"Especially those parts," she replied. "I want to see your coin collection. I want to watch old TV shows with you. I want to hear about all the things that make you…you.”

Wes chuckled. “Okay.”

“Right now, though… Now, I want to have that cake and coffee you promised me.”

“The coffee’s probably cold, and the cake is probably even more stale.”

Steph shrugged. “Then maybe we should skip it and…go for round two?”

Her words made Wes tingle, and he could feel his desire for this woman rekindling.

"I'd like that," he murmured, hoping he wouldn’t disappoint her. "And maybe tomorrow... dinner? A proper date?"

Steph's eyes lit up. "I'd love that, Wes."

She leaned in, pressing her lips to his once more, and Wes felt his hope for having found true love growing with each kiss. Maybe his fortune hadn't been wrong after all. Maybe love really had been waiting just around the corner.

[your-local-squip-fanatic]

I have really bad news, guys.

For some fucking reason, the Internet isn't working on my laptop. I'm forced to use my phone's hotspot for Wifi, but it's data internet and not actually Wifi. And things eventually got slow on my laptop, until I couldn't even access my docs for my stories anymore. I knew it would eventually get slow, but that's not the worst of it.

Now my Chromebook is useless without internet, and my phone refuses to let me turn the hotspot back on. No clue why.

This means that until I can somehow figure out how to fix this and speed up the internet again to actually USE it, I have to type up Lesterverse and Shatterverse on my phone, which is NOT ideal. Chapters are going to take much longer to do. I sooo much prefer a physical keyboard rather than a tiny digital one.

Trust me everyone, this is worse on me than you. I want to share my stories with you all, but right now I have to use an alternative I don't like using. I wanted ch 3 of the AU out already, but this seriously affected its progress. I'm hoping you guys understand and be patient, and PLEASE, if anyone can help me figure out how to fix this I will be grateful.

Until then, time to get used to making fics on my phone... this will suck ngl

[tcawirelespearlcity]

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Family plans allow multiple lines under one account, making it a cost-effective option for families or groups who want to share data and minutes.

Pros:

Shared data and minutes across users

Discounts for adding multiple lines

Simplified billing process

Cons:

Potential for overage charges if the shared data is exceeded

Requires coordination among users to avoid excess usage

4. Unlimited Plans

Unlimited plans are perfect for those who need a lot of data, talk time, and texting. These plans are especially suitable for users who stream videos, play online games, or use their phones for work.

Pros:

No worries about hitting data limits

Ideal for heavy users

Cons:

Often more expensive than other plans

Potential for data throttling after reaching a high usage level

Evaluating Network Coverage

Network coverage is a crucial factor when choosing a phone plan. Ensure that the carrier you choose offers strong and reliable coverage in your area. You can check coverage maps provided by carriers or use third-party apps to verify signal strength in your specific locations.

Comparing Costs and Value

When considering different phone plans, it’s important to take all potential costs into account:

Monthly fees

Charges for exceeding data or minute limits

Activation fees

Taxes and additional surcharges

By calculating the total cost, you can better avoid unexpected charges on your bill.

Additional Features to Consider

Many phone plans offer extra features that can enhance your experience, such as:

Free subscriptions to streaming services

International calling options

Mobile hotspot data

Evaluate these features to determine which ones are most important to you when selecting your plan.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can I switch plans if my needs change? A: Yes, most carriers allow you to change plans, but it’s important to check for any potential fees or contract stipulations before doing so.

Q: Do prepaid plans offer the same coverage as postpaid plans? A: Generally, yes. Both prepaid and postpaid plans from the same carrier usually offer the same network coverage.

Q: Are family plans cheaper than individual plans? A: Often, yes. Family plans usually offer discounts for multiple lines, making them more cost-effective than separate individual plans.

Q: What is data throttling? A: Data throttling occurs when your carrier slows down your internet speed after you’ve used a certain amount of data, even on an unlimited plan.

Q: Can I keep my current phone number when switching plans? A: Yes, most carriers allow you to port your existing number to your new plan. Check with your new carrier for the specific process.

Conclusion

Selecting the right phone plan requires careful consideration of your usage habits, budget, and the additional features that are important to you. Whether you prefer a prepaid, postpaid, family, or unlimited plan, there’s an option that will meet your needs. At Aloha Phone Repair, we’re committed to helping you with not only phone repair, screen repair, and iPhone repair, but also with selecting the best phone plan.

Call to Action: Need assistance in choosing the right phone plan or have a device that needs repair? Visit us at Aloha Phone Repair by TCA Wireless - Pearl City or give us a call at +1 (808) 944-8886 today. Stay connected with us on Facebook and Instagram for tips and updates. If you’re considering upgrading your device, check out the Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus—a powerful smartphone that offers exceptional performance and features.

[christmascocos2023]

Wednesday 23rd August

Well I was supposed to be home but still on Cocos! As usual my good fortune stayed with me and I have a lovely room and verandah overlooking the sea. Directly opposite airport and the places we can get food so ideal! Had vouchers for food so had a really good hot breakfast and should also get a good lunch. I didn’t sleep well as I had had a big coffee a few hours before bed to keep me going☹️. However I was happy to enjoy the bed and nice accommodation. Funny how your perspective changes with the circumstances 😂

We have just been advised of our return flight which leaves 1525 from here and arrives Perth 2120. The arrival time is much more civilised than the original flight which was midnight!

Also my good fortune and good planning meant I had paid for a gig of wifi in hotspots on the island so I had some away from my accommodation. It can only be used on one device so I chose I pad. In my accommodation the wifi worked on both devices so could use my phone on wifi calling which I have with my provider Telstra. Doesn’t work on hotspot wifi because it only works on I pad. As a result of my hotspot wifi I can use it at the Club and the airport and because my current accommodation is so close to both it works here. Definitely have fallen on my feet with the food I packed yesterday, the wifi I decided to get on arrival and last nights accommodation. Made the disruption a lot less disruptive than it has been for others.

Miracles of miracles I am now sitting on the plane waiting for refuelling to finish and then we are off. We had a good breakfast and lunch at Virgin’s expense so not worried about eating and am aiming for a sleep or a nap.

The original plane is still on the tarmac being gone over by engineers with the hope they can fly it crew only back to Perth. Fortunately today’s flight is not full so there is plenty of room for most people to have a spare seat in their row unless they choose not too eg families.

Meant to leave 1525 and we are on take off 1540 so pretty good.

Good flight and only about 15mins late. Good to be home😁

[not-poignant]

Schedule update

Possible breaks in the writing update schedule for March D:

Hi folks, technically my internet shouldn't be working right now, and I'm taking this small window of it being up to let everyone know that there's an internet/phone outage in our area that's not planned to be fixed until March 29th.

As a result, I don't know when I'll have internet, or how often, and the schedule may be completely ruined because of it. I'm hoping I still get windows of being able to use it, like right now, but it's looking like peak times for me (when I normally update) are going to be rocky for internet at all, so chapters may come later, or earlier, and I may not be able to notify folks as much on other social media. In an ideal world, hopefully I won't be that affected by it! Because it's kind of a pill (I get my groceries online, I do my writing online etc.)

If it looks like things are getting dire I'll make another update, but for now just please be patient we have no idea what happened and Telstra isn't giving us any info. We know it's a lot of people in our suburb, which means everyone is now hotspotting off the mobile phone tower/s and we only have 4G here, so that's also been a bit of a joke tonight sdlkajfsa

Anyway! Fingers crossed it's not too interrupty! But just in case, this is the post saying things might be hinky for the next week and a half.

[accidental-memory]

Internet security for those who really, really need it:

QUICK LIST:

Use 2FA and don’t sign into accounts on public OR SHARED computers.

Smart phones aren’t off ‘til the battery’s out.

Smart phones randomly record your voice.

Smart phones regularly record your location using GPS, cell towers, and wi-fi hotspots.

Websites and ad firms create profiles of your “digital fingerprint” from things as innocuous as the list of fonts installed on your computer.

Any device with a built-in webcam should have a webcam cover.

Never use biometrics -- that is fingerprint, voice, and facial recognition.

Faraday bags are not enough.

Sensitive activities should be done on public wifi with a device that does not use a SIM card and is never used for any other purpose in any other scenarios, including being powered on.

Non-sensitive activities should be done on private wired network or private wifi, with devices that never leave that environment.

cipher.exe

Dispose of any IoT devices you own. Unplug network printers when not in use. Do not print anything sensitive or incriminating on a color printer.

Passwords and 2FA: You should enable two-factor authentication (2FA) for every account that you possibly can. This requires an extra step behind a separate and ideally-protected device or account in order to log into any account. Do not use 2FA in a way that makes all 2FA fall apart from one single point of failure. ...Actually if anyone can figure out how to activate 2FA on Venmo, that'd be amazing. It doesn't seem to exist and that seems fully insane. Two big issues with choosing passwords:1. If your password is simple, it's easy. The most common passwords are things like "password," "aaaa," "1234," etc.2. If your password is used across multiple accounts, then compromising one compromises all of them. If you use a password manager, it can create very powerful passwords but also centralizes the passwords to one location that, if accessed, compromises literally every one of your accounts instantly. If you don't want to go the password manager route, think of a short phrase with punctuation and proper nouns in it that you can use for your passwords.

Webcam: On laptops and phones, get physical covers for your webcams, up to and including black tape; on desktops, make disconnecting the webcam as convenient as possible. (For example, I have a USB hub affixed to my monitor, which is what I plug my webcam into)

Biometrics and Device Locking: Do not give ANY biometric data to your devices. Ever. No fingerprint unlock. No facial ID. No Windows Hello. If you can make your unlock combination number longer, do it.

Signal Tracking: FARADAY BAGS DON'T WORK RELIABLY ANYMORE AGAINST CELL SIGNALS. If you've heard someone (such as myself mere days ago) recommend a Faraday bag, RFID bag, EMF bag, or some similar product designed to block radio signals for cell towers, bluetooth, and GPS, then please be advised that these used to work like 7-10 years ago but apparently do not work reliably to block cell signals anymore.

Some phones track you even when you've powered them off; and some phones record your voice (continuously or randomly), even when you power them off. As Edward Snowden once said: Your phone is not off until the battery is removed. And I don’t know of a single modern phone you can take the battery out of.

Remember: some phones track you, even when you power them off; and some phones record your voice (continuously or randomly), even when you power them off. As Edward Snowden once said: Your phone is not off until the battery is removed. And I don’t know of a single modern phone you can take the battery out of.

Account Tracking: If you're concerned about account tracking, then get more than one phone and more than one account. Split your time meaningfully between which phone you use. At worst, get a burner phone.

PC Thumbprint Tracking: Split your time on the internet between a public wi-fi device and a private network device. Counterintuitively, perform sensitive but unidentifiable activities on public wifi with a device you've designated for the purpose, and identifiable but mundane activities on private internet. The public device should be powered down (and wrapped in RFID bag if it's a phone) when you leave.

On public wifi devices, create unique accounts from the private network devices. Nary should these two things interface, no matter the distance. If you need to move files from one to another, an intermediate device such as a USB drive should be used.

Websites and apps can track you with cookies and IP addresses. But even beyond that, it can track you with installed fonts, installed mouse cursors, etc. Any basic computer settings your computer has, websites can track -- AND THEY DO.

Data Security: Deleting data off your computer does not actually erase that data. It simply marks the sectors that the data is written to as "marked for deletion," meaning other programs that need the space can freely overwrite those sectors. There is software that can un-delete files -- one of which back in the day was literally just called undelete.

If you need to make sure that data from a hard drive or solid state drive is erased to the point of unrecoverability, you have two options:

Full physical destruction -- but, I mean, you probably still wanna use that drive, right?

The cipher command.

Windows comes with a command called cipher, which writes 0's, then 1's, then random numbers, over every empty or marked-for-deletion sector of your drive. Simply type:

cipher /w:[Drive Letter]

For example, to use it on drive C:, you would type:

cipher /w:C

You can also encrypt your data using cipher, but I've never gone that far. To do so, you would type:

cipher /e [folder\subfolder] (this encrypts only the specified folder or subfolder)

cipher /e /s:[folder] (this encrypts the specified folder and all of its subfolders)

If you don't want to have any data at all left on the drive, you should format the drive, and then run cipher /w on it.

You don't want to use cipher on hard drives regularly, mind you; every time you do this, you cause millions of writes onto your drive, which lowers the lifespan of that drive.

Printers and Smart Devices: If you own anything that exists on the Internet of Things, destroy it. That's not hyperbole. If you have a smart device, do not in any way give it access your computer network; that includes smart TVs.

If you must have a network printer, whether you think it's a particularly "intelligent" printer or not, unplug it fully from the wall whenever it is not in use. Printers are one of the more common back-door points of entry, and they are pretty frequently running unsecured UNIX.

If you are printing sensitive documents, do not print them on a color printer, even if you’re printing in black-and-white. Color printers have identifying yellow dots that they print onto each document. This is how they got Reality Winner. If you think I’m joking, look it up.

... Anyway, don't ask me what brought all this on. Nothing in the news or anything, nope.

[louiseleblancdiggory]

TS EPIPHANY!!! FOR ROWAELIN!! please make it angsty but don't fully break my heart

You know what moving means? Means no internet for a few days. I am so sorry that it’s taking so long to post but I am using my phone’s hotspot for this and it doesn’t load. The OUAD chapter 5 is done but I can’t post it because it’s too big. I’ll probably have a better internet tmr and the posts will go back to normal. Anyways, enjoy this one!!

Warnings: death, car crashes, loss of baby

Epiphany

--

Aelin’s hands were drenched in blood.

Her heart rate picked up, and although she was trained not to lose focus, not to let emotions take over, Aelin could feel the panic creeping into her mind. She didn’t know that to do, not this time, and that final sense of powerlessness was gut wrenching.

She had felt that many times before, but this one situation was different.

This was a kid.

“Doctor Whitethorn.” Aelin spoke, raising her eyes from the little girl on the operating table. She stared at man in front of her, only his deep pine green eyes showing above his mask. He didn’t even blink at what was happening, didn’t even comment on the slight tremor on her voice. He just looked back down, an almost imperceptible crease forming between his brows.

She had gotten a position at Orynth Medical Center a few months ago, and since she had been planning on going back home from Rifthold for ages, she took up the opportunity. The surgical department was amazing, twice as big as Rifthold’s one and three times better equipped. Everything in the hospital looked new and well treated, and the doctors gave their lives to make sure all the patients were treated well. Everyone had been welcoming, and she already had friends at the hospital.

Whitethorn, however, wasn’t one of them.

It’s not that Aelin didn’t like him, or that he didn’t like her. It was just that he was an extremely reserved and quiet man. No one in their department really knew the guy, and he had only a handful of colleagues he bothered talking sometimes in the whole hospital. He and Aelin had had numerous surgeries together since she transferred and he was always professionally polite, never undermining her work or suggestions even though he was years her senior and definitely had been to more surgeries than she had. No, Doctor Whitethorn was a good work partner, just not a friend. Not that Aelin cared, to be honest.

Although having friends at the hospital and a good work partner were good things, that really wasn’t the thing she mostly focused on. That particular thing would be the fact that she was finally working at the OMC. It was what she had dreamed since she was fourteen and had decided she was going to be a surgeon, and after seventeen she was finally there.

Aelin loved being a surgeon. She loved the challenge, loved the science of it. Above all, she loved helping. After losing her parents at the age of thirteen, Aelin had felt an immense and almost incurable sense of defeat and powerlessness. The type of feeling that made your whole body seem heavy and light at the same time, like you were drowning into your own emotions and everything you wanted to do was to curl in your bed and try to keep your head above the water just enough to survive. She had hated that feeling, and hated death.

The moment her parents died in a car accident and she survived, Aelin Galathynius decided she hated death.

She hated that there was no coming back. Hated that there was nothing left after it. She hated the fear that her love for her parents would diminish after the years wore on her, hated the fear that she would forget her mom’s laugh or her dad’s smiles. She had videos and photos, yes, but then there was the fact that she would never feel her dad’s embrace again, or her mom’s soft fingers through her golden waves. The more Aelin thought of it, the more she realized how much of her parents she had lost that day, how much of it would only be a dying ember in her memory instead of a lively flame in her life.

And so, at the age of fourteen, Aelin had had her first epiphany. Her parents couldn’t have been saved, but she would give her life and soul in making sure that no one would go through the pain and deep mourning she went through.

But now it was happening again.

As Aelin looked at the little girl on the table, she had to bite her lower lip to keep the emotions in. She had to focus solely on the technical part of it, because if she didn’t, Aelin would picture herself on that table, small and fragile as she had been almost twenty years ago.

She and Rowan, along with their team, were trying frantically to stop the bleeding. Frantically trying to wipe it out so they could see the organs, could see what needed to be fixed. She heard some residents talking among themselves, heard Whitethorn giving them orders. Everything was too loud and too muffled at the same time, the beeping of the machines wails against her ears.

“Doc, I think she’s crashing out.” Her throat was burning, and Aelin had the urge to scream. “Whitethorn, I think—“

She choked on her own words. There were things that even she couldn’t speak about. That she couldn’t say out loud.

The girl was bleeding out, and there was nothing left to do. It was supposed to be a happy day, Aelin had heard the mom lamenting as they rushed the girl in. It was her birthday, and they had spent the whole day at the beach celebrating. They were leaving to go get dinner when it happened. The crash had been straight into the back of the car, where she had been sitting, and there was only as much as they could do to try to save her.

So Aelin watched her breathing in and watched her breathing out.

Watched her bleeding out.

And watched her die.

The moment the machine made that hellish sound, Aelin just wanted to lay down and cry.

“Time of death, seven forty three, pm.” Doctor Whitethorn announced, taking a step back from the body. Aelin was still holding the little girl’s body, her eyes fixated on her. “I’ll let the residents close her up, but Doctor Allsbrook if you could please supervise it.”

Aelin didn’t know if he had given her any orders. She just stopped listening, only half paying attention to the people walking around her. It was so different from most days, the days when they succeeded. Normally, the residents would be excited about doing some work, but today they just seemed… tired.

Aelin was also tired.

“Galathynius?” Aelin felt a big hand on her shoulder, making her turn her head to the side to encounter Whitethorn’s eyes.

She shook herself, taking several steps back. She didn’t say a word, didn’t reply to his silent inquire. She just rushed into the cleaning room, taking off all the bloodied scrubs and gloves. She ripped her mask away from her face, not looking back at the door that would take to the operation room.

She knew she should tell the family, knew she should be professional, knew that death was a natural thing.

Knew that it came with the job.

Knew all that, but it didn’t make it hurt less.

So she just exited the room, almost running to one of the most silent and secluded hallways in the whole building. It was mostly used to storage of tables and chairs, and doctors rarely used it. Patients weren’t even allowed.

She didn’t want to talk, she didn’t want to deal with anything. She just wanted silence for five minutes while fighting a pain that threatened to drag her to a place she had spent so long trying to crawl out of.

She rested against one of the walls, slowly sitting down. She hugged her knees, putting her head down and finally letting the burning tears fall.

It wasn’t that she had never lost a patient before. But car crashes and kids always got to her, and both together were enough to make her almost reconsider everything. Looking at the girl made her remember when it was her parents on those tables, both not coming back. Hearing the mom’s screams made her think of what would have happened if she had died and her parents hadn’t.

Made her wonder if she would have preferred that.

Aelin lost track of time, sitting there for minutes or maybe hours. She only bothered to raise her head when she heard quiet and steady footsteps coming her direction. She felt more than saw a body sitting by her side, and a small part of her mustered energy enough to feel slightly embarrassed by the fact Doctor Whitethorn was seeing her like this.

She was also confused why he was there. They weren’t friends, had never talked outside of work hours about, well, work. Actually, Aelin didn’t think she had ever said his first name, or heard him saying hers.

“Does it get easier, Rowan?” Aelin asked, resting her head against the wall. Since she arrived, she had made sure to always seem confident and professional. She was young and a woman, she didn’t need more reasons to be undermined. But she was so tired right now, and he had been there with her.

“Some do.” He said, his voice cold as always, but without its harshness. “Ones like today? No. No, I don’t think so.”

“Which ones do?” Aelin said, turning her head to Rowan.

“When the person is old, when you know they lived a good and full life. When you know that death is a better alternative than living forever in pain.” He shrugged, sighing. “Death is never easy but some… some are easier.”

“Do you wish all of them were?” Aelin wasn’t thinking about what she was asking, and maybe she would regret this later. She had never thought she would have such conversation with Rowan Whitethorn.

“I think that for some people, death is technical. Not ideal, but it happens, so what?” He rested his head against the wall too. “But I think that if death doesn’t affect you anymore, you have been numbed by all of this. And it doesn’t matter what they tell you in med school, Aelin, feeling are always important when you work daily with people’s lives.”

Aelin felt tears pricking her eyes, and she bit her cheeks. “She was a kid.”

He nodded mournfully. “Kids are never easy.”

“I don’t know her name.” She whispered.

“Elena.” Rowan said, empathy showing on his green eyes. “Her name was Elena and today was her eight birthday.”

At that, Aelin felt the tears falling down her face again. Normally, she would have wiped them off, especially because she was in front if her senior coworker. But she just couldn’t bring herself to do it, and she had the feeling Rowan didn’t really mind it. He just let her cry, keeping her silent company as she felt the tears taking away some of the weight off of her body.

“Aren’t you gonna give a hard time about professionalism?” Aelin asked when the tears ended, her mind a lot clearer.

She could have sworn Rowan’s mouth pulled into a small smile. “You’re a doctor, Aelin. A human doctor, not a robot. I’m not gonna fight with you about being sad about a kid passing away in front of you. You are alive and dealing with death daily, of course you will fear and hate it. I just hope you don’t forget to enjoy the rest of the job or even your life because of it.”

Something in those words made Aelin relax, all the tension slowly leaving her body. She was still mourning the little girl, but it didn’t feel like it was going to crush her. It had been so long since Aelin had stopped therapy, so long since someone reminded her that she was still supposed to live.

“Have you ever cried?”

“Yes, of course.” Rowan’s brows furrowed. “Something med school doesn’t cover is that the patients, the people we have to save, are someone’s daughter or mother. I mean, they do, but also don’t. Speaking doesn’t cover a shred of the feeling that losing a patient is. I have been here for six years as a doctor, longer than that because of residency,, and some cases still manage to get to me.”

Aelin nodded, understanding what he meant even though she had been there for less than two years plus residency.

“My parents died in a car accident when I was fourteen.” She blurted out. She was a very secretive person about her past, and couldn’t understand what had gotten into her to tell Rowan who was basically a stranger. “I— I was there. Car crashes usually get to me very personally.”

“Oh.” That was all he said about it, and something warmed inside Aelin’s chest. She hated all the pity glances and sorries she always got whenever she told it to someone. She hated the I-understand-yous. Rowan just sitting in silence with her, keeping her company while she recomposed herself was everything she wished people would do. She didn’t need pity, only empathy. “Is that why you became a doctor?”

“I hated death, so I decided to go into the field that would help me stop it.”

He nodded, spreading his legs in front of him. “My ex girlfriend got pregnant when we were seventeen. We were young but I was still ecstatic about being a dad. The baby died during birth, and that moment I think I hated death too. I was going to business school and changed to pre med the day I had forces enough to get out of bed. Kids usually get to me very personally.”

Aelin’s throat tightened at that, and she almost started crying again. Gods, she needed to get a grip on herself.

Just as he had sat there silently as she cried, Aelin sat silently as he mourned his baby. She laid her head on his shoulder, and Rowan adjusted himself to make her more comfortable.

They just sat there in silent, both lost in their own thoughts but keeping each other company.

Maybe she should have tried befriending Rowan before. It would make sense that he was the one who really understood her— they were both doctors, both in the same department. Aelin had thought that because their personalities were so different, they couldn’t really have anything to talk about.

Apparently she was wrong.

Aelin might even have dozed off for twenty minutes, her dreams filled with the faces of her parents and Elena and every single other patients she had lost. In her dreams, Aelin could hear Rowan’s words over and over about how she was alive and how she had to enjoy life even if she feared and hated death constantly. Even with the faces of the people she lost taunting her, Aelin wasn’t nervous or tense or sad, Rowan’s words soothing her even in her dreams.

And like it had happened when she was fourteen, Aelin had her second epiphany. She had the sudden and deep realization that life was fleeting. She knew that, of course, since she worked with life and death everyday, but she had never actually understood it. She realized that Rowan had been right since the beginning, deaths are easier to accept when you knew a person lived their life to the fullest, and that’s what Aelin wanted to herself.

“Galathynius.” Rowan muttered, and Aelin snapped her eyes open. “Time to go home.”

She took her head from his shoulders, staring at him as he got up. “You want me to talk to the parents with you?”

“I already did that.”

She nodded, smiling a little at him. “Thank you.”

Rowan scratched the back of his neck. “Don’t worry. Really.”

Aelin got up, running her hands through her hair to pull it from her bun. “You’re nicer than I thought you would be.”

Rowan scoffed, walking by her side as they went to the lockers to get their belongings and go home. “Wouldn’t be the first person at the hospital to think I’m an asshole, don’t worry.”

Aelin laughed, attracting the eyes of a few nurses and doctors standing nearby. They watched as Aelin talked to Rowan, their faces drawn in shock. Rowan tensed, moving his shoulders uncomfortably.

“I didn’t think you were an asshole. Just quiet.” Aelin smiled humorously. “And obviously not a great appreciator of being the center of attention.”

Rowan relaxed slightly, smiling a bit at her. “Different from you, I assume.”

“I am a young soul.”

“Are you implying I am old?”

“You are six years older than me.” She was fully smiling now.

“Five. You’re on your first year, I’m on my sixth. It’s a five year difference.” He was smiling more broadly now.

“I skipped eight grade.” She smirked at him, dramatically throwing her hair as their entered the locker room. “A genius, I know.”

Rowan snorted, grabbing his things as Aelin grabbed hers. She finished before he did, and a strange feeling took upon her. Should she wait for him? Juts because he was friendly towards her, did that mean they were becoming friends? And even if they were, was she supposed to walk out with him? Maybe he was only being nice to take her out of her misery, and honestly didn’t actually want to spend time with her.

Aelin considered only waving goodbye and going to her car, but the prospect of being alone made her nervous. It’s not like she felt as if she was gonna drown if she was left alone with her thoughts anymore, but having company as a distraction was nice. She didn’t want to go to her apartment and eat takeout alone just yet. She wanted to live a little, take her mind out of work and enjoy normal, simple moments.

Maybe that’s why, without thinking further, Aelin walked to the door and stopped, turning back to Rowan. “Hey, wanna grab a beer or something? I don’t want to go home and drown in my own misery just yet.”

She should have been more delicate about it, but Rowan had seen her cry and talk about her past trauma already. He certainly could guess what Aelin would do if she was left alone.

He closed his locker, putting on his glasses and a jacket. He stared at her, giving another one of his small smiles before gesturing forward with a hand. “Lead the way, Galathynius.”

Tags:

@in-love-with-caramel-macchiato @jlinez @courtofjurdan @aelinfeyreeleven945tbln @ladywitchling @lexflame @sleeping-and-books @annejulianneh111 @perseusannabeth @linshryver @mu-si-ca-l @camilamartinezdunne @dank-queen7 @minaidss @starborn-faerie-queen @booksofthemoon @loveofbooksandwine @jesstargaryenqueen @abookishfreak @faerie-queen-fireheart @maastrash @morganofthewildfire @queen-of-glass @heirofthenightcourt

[queensarticle]

What is Blog? Who is Blogger? How Blogging Works? Instructions to Create A Blog Free | Blogging Tips

In the present age, practically all individuals are utilizing the Internet. The convenient cell phones, rapid web, they used to invest the majority of the energy on the web, regardless of whether it is about from sharing the photographs, posting recordings or distributing any media documents on informal communication destinations or simply looking with regards to what they need to investigate or in any event, for selling or purchasing, shopping the things, date visiting, and so on Likewise, BLOGGING is additionally sort of things where you share and distribute your things, information and mastery. The individual what shares' identity is known as a blogger, and the page where he shares is known as a blog. Across the board, the BLOGGER begins sharing his insight by composing the BLOG to MAKE MONEY BLOGGING. Here is a speedy aide that assists you with thinking better with regards to sites, bloggers, and contributing to a blog. Lucrative Blogging —

Individuals used to ask; what is the importance of a blog? How to turn into a blogger? How might affect anybody? How to begin my own blog? How writing for a blog help to bring in cash on the web? Would you be able to bring in cash writing for a blog? Do bloggers get compensated for writing for a blog? How to make your own blog page? What number of bloggers get compensated? How would you bring in cash writing for a blog? How to figure out how to bring in cash contributing to a blog? What the most ideal approaches to bring in cash on the web? This aide is expected for every individual who is searching for a response to these inquiries.

Each time individuals utilize the web to get what they need as opposed to moving a solitary advance, actually like willing to do everything exclusively by sitting in the seat. Presently you may be thinking, why I am telling this, as you most likely are aware all well indeed. The just and the significant explanation is that; alongside every one of the online things, you can share your contemplations and thoughts online through a medium called as a "BLOG." And today I will investigate one of the essential yet key parts to thoroughly understand writing for a blog. This is a definitive aide that going to depict — what is a blog? Who is the blogger? What is publishing content to a blog? How contributing to a blog functions? How to begin a fruitful blog?

The main thing you MUST note that; these are NO any speedy approaches to get rich quick; and in the event that you are need to know such sort of plans to get rich rapidly for bringing in cash on the web, then, at that point you have shown up at some unacceptable spot. In a basic and clear manner, BLOGGING IS NOT A SHORTCUT AND QUICK WAY TO MAKE MONEY on the web and disconnected.

The time you settled on the choice to begin a blog to bring in cash, you're presently don't stay simply a blogger; simultaneously, you additionally become an expert, and your blog turns into your online private venture.

Here I will share some yet essential advances and simple to follow manual for start your own blog and assist you with bringing in cash. A considerable lot of these methods need some venture of time, cash, and persistence to begin and to be 1,000,000 dollar blogger.

This is again New Year, and the contributing to a blog has developed as one of the most productive online callings to bring in cash. However long you're prepared to put forth the attempt, you'll get the prize. Simply continue to peruse this page to find out with regards to how cash making writing for a blog works and how to begin a blog effectively. By perusing this instructional exercise, you'll take the significant move for beginning a blog that can fabricate a pay hotspot for you forever.

What is Blog? What's more, Blogging?

The blog is a medium used to share your insight, thoughts, and encounters or in addition, news, refreshes through online pages.

The Blogging is the most ideal approach to remain refreshed and associated with from one side of the planet to the other. Distribute your considerations and every one of your pursuers, supporters, and crowd will prepare to examine and share your pages. It's an extraordinary method to advance and market every one of your thoughts on this World Wide Web.

So we should view what really I got while discovering what is a "blog"?

In short and basic words;

A "blog" is an online journal/diary/scratch pad that contains a total/definite data about a specific theme which ought to be refreshed consistently.

A "blog" is an individual site where you share your important contemplations/thoughts with people groups around the world. It incorporates pages call blog entries, and it shows a latest post to be first (sequential request) on the landing page of your site.

An online medium through which an online creator (blogger) speaks with a great many crowd.

In 1997 the essayist of Robot Wisdom — John Barger, first developed the word 'weblog' so he could get regarding individuals identifying with his work. Later in 1999, Peter Merholz adjusted 'weblog' to 'blog'. To be reasonable, what are you perusing right presently is just a "blog." And you will get bunches of pages and their sites like this page while looking on the Google.

Then, at that point what are you sitting stressed for? Demanding you not recently read, make your own blog and begin sharing your insight and data that you have inside you; I will portray to you here on the most proficient method to assemble a blog.

How to Create a Successful Blog?

In the wake of finding out about contributing to a blog tips and what a blog work for? Somebody like you will get eager to begin a blog. So have some tea or espresso, breath in-and-out a profound, get loose and be arranged on the grounds that you are only a couple of steps away to make a blog.

You can make a blog by going through each segment displayed underneath:

Stage 1: Reason to begin a blog

Stage 2: Subject of your blog

Stage 3: Select a publishing content to a blog stage

Stage 4: Choose an area name

Stage 5: Pick a web have

Stage 6: Log in and begin writing for a blog. Reed more...

[etraytin]

Quarantine, Days 276-280

December 13-17 Maybe I just haven't had too much to say lately, or maybe I have just been hit with the one-two punch of ennui and busyness. We were supposed to leave yesterday for our trip to North Carolina, so I spent several days getting ready for that. The only thing worse than trying to get the house set up for a trip of several weeks in length is doing it knowing that people are going to come in while we're gone. I was able to put off the pest control people by telling them we were quarantining, which had the advantage of being absolutely true, but it also gave me extra time to clean the kitchen and the bathrooms which were the places they wanted to spray. Thank god we don't actually have bugs, those sprayings are much more invasive. This time I didn't have to empty out the cabinets or anything, just clean stuff. So a lot of time the past few days has been spent packing and cleaning. I even got down on my literal hands and knees to wash the kitchen floor. (My kitchen is so small that it doesn't make a lot of sense to use a mop.) It looks nicer now than it has in ages, tbh, just in time for us to be gone. Those pest control folks had better be very impressed. I also did more advanced planning for this trip than I usually do, packing my yarn bags and the toiletries kit several days in advance instead of my usual strategy of throwing in anything that is around on my way out the door. I was so proud of myself! Even my suitcase looks nice, everything folded and in the right place, and with the straps on to make sure it doesn't shift around too much.  Then Wednesday rolled around  and we didn't go. See it turns out that Kiddo had a standardized test to do that afternoon, the MAP test for those of you who follow such things. I cannot begin to express what kind of bullshit it is to make the kids do  standardized tests in a year like this, but it is what it is. We could've just ignored it, but I want to take the kiddo to the sea island where my folks spend the late winter for a little bit in February, and we will be better positioned to do that if we don't piss off the school too much with absences. Wednesdays are supposed to be asynchronous learning days, ideal for traveling, but instead we'd have had to stick around until nearly 3pm before heading out for a six and a half hour drive. Couple that with a gnarly winter storm weather forecast and we elected to push the trip forward by a day.  It was the right decision, but it did mean that the kiddo missed a partial day since my hotspot could not keep up with streaming his classwork once we left. He was there in the morning though, and that's when they take attendance. I made sure he did his homework. Tomorrow is the last day before break anyway, I doubt they were piling too much new stuff on. We had a brief scare when the car threw us a "bad key" error as we were trying to leave, but got it resolved and made excellent time with only one stop along the way. There was a lot of traffic! I listened to the entire soundtrack of 10 Things I Hate About You, my favorite 90s nostalgia album. Every song a banger, I tell you what. Anyway, we arrived about an hour before it started to snow, and early enough so that we could help MIL get into her book club Zoom meeting, so that was good.  Man, computers have really been a thing this week. The Red Cross rolled out a new system for getting people hooked up with services and emergency funds after a disaster, and it is _fucking awful._ It is so, so, so bad. It went live on Tuesday, and wouldn't you know it, Tuesday night I had my first call of the week. It wasn't a great call to start with, not a lot of information, some of it thirdhand, fire department no longer on scene. It's the sort of call where I would usually have to do a little extra poking the system and maybe make a couple extra calls to get everything perfect, but where it wouldn't be too big a deal. But because I marked one checkbox incorrectly on one page of this 25 page one-way flow, the system wouldn't let me set up the financial aid and it wouldn't tell me what was wrong or how to fix it.  I had to apologize to the client and tell him I would call him back because I had to figure out what was wrong. Figuring out what was wrong required contacting my coordinator, who three way called me with our area leader, who eventually put me into a Teams meeting via phone with two of her supervisors, while one person in that meeting simultaneously connected to the national watch floor so somebody could give us some goddamned technical support. (I tried calling the new tech support hotline, but they said they couldn't help me and I'd have to talk to my supervisor who had told me to call them in the first place.) So this all takes about an hour, which is actually pretty fast given all the moving parts involved and the fact that nobody knows shit about this one-day-old system, but is a long time when you have just had a fire and have young children and no place to stay. Finally, about a zillion steps up the Red Cross food chain from me, somebody is able to access the system and do the required approval (I had put a 1 instead of a 2 in what was apparently an extremely important box), and the financial assistance went through. I was able to help the client and it turned out okay, but it was HORRIBLE. I have done another call and talked to several people since then, and none of us can find one thing that the new system has made better, only things that are worse. It sucks. At least I go off shift for the month tonight.  Anyway, that was my week, but we finished our quarantine and now I am in North Carolina and that is good. MIL is happy for the company and Victoria and Tanika the cats have not tried to kill each other yet, and it's nice. Tomorrow we pickup groceries and try to get a Christmas tree, which are in short supply this year. But for now, rest! 

[christmascocos2023]

Wednesday 23rd August

Well I was supposed to be home but still on Cocos! As usual my good fortune stayed with me and I have a lovely room and verandah overlooking the sea. Directly opposite airport and the places we can get food so ideal! Had vouchers for food so had a really good hot breakfast and should also get a good lunch. I didn’t sleep well as I had had a big coffee a few hours before bed to keep me going☹️. However I was happy to enjoy the bed and nice accommodation. Funny how your perspective changes with the circumstances 😂

We have just been advised of our return flight which leaves 1525 from here and arrives Perth 2120. The arrival time is much more civilised than the original flight which was midnight!

Also my good fortune and good planning meant I had paid for a gig of wifi in hotspots on the island so I had some away from my accommodation. It can only be used on one device so I chose I pad. In my accommodation the wifi worked on both devices so could use my phone on wifi calling which I have with my provider Telstra. Doesn’t work on hotspot wifi because it only works on I pad. As a result of my hotspot wifi I can use it at the Club and the airport and because my current accommodation is so close to both it works here. Definitely have fallen on my feet with the food I packed yesterday, the wifi I decided to get on arrival and last nights accommodation. Made the disruption a lot less disruptive than it has been for others.

[ex-atomos-ooc]

Changes

In case anyone is wondering why I seem so afk lately... for health and financial reasons, I’ll be moving in with my dad and stepmom later this summer. This means getting rid of nearly everything I own (cause they’re hoarders) and a lot of back and forth trips between here and there (they live 2+ hours from where I am now.) In addition, I can’t haul my tv and ps4 back and forth with me every time, so am playing on my laptop (which is less than ideal for my blind ass) and have to use my phone as a wifi hotspot in order to go online (long story and hopefully a temporary problem). 

Things will even out at some point I hope, but in the meantime I won’t be online quite as much.

[doodledex-project]

Internet’s still down. Provider’s definitely aware of it, so it looks like it’s something that’s taking a while to fix… man, been a while since we had a multi-day outage like this. (Which is a good thing… the current outage is not!)

I have been stuck using my phone hotspot on my laptop and it’s, uh… not ideal!

[nickjurista]

Vanilla JS and CustomElements

A couple years ago, I wrote a post about the distance of sports teams from a given location. Then I wrote a little JS that ordered teams for you based on where you were.

At the time, I just did it with basic DOM. No frameworks, no libraries, nothing special. Just DOM elements with regular manipulation. It worked fine, but it was a bit clunky. So then I rewrote it in React. It's a better experience all around. But that's because the basic DOM and the APIs that go along with it are not that great to work with.

We had some winter storms here over the weekend that knocked power out, which left me with a whole lot of nothing to do, but a laptop that had power and a phone hotspot that let me have a little bit of internet access. I decided to try to do something new with the HTML CustomElements since I haven't given them a real sporting chance. That led to me rewriting the distomatic yet again, this time with CustomElements.

My first impression was that it's a huge step up from the old way of doing DOM manipulation. It's pretty much night and day, encapsulating your logic within a component similar to how a React component would work (at least back when React was "class-based"). There are a handful of lifecycle callbacks that are available and they're pretty useful.

When it comes to rendering, you have the optional of directly adding HTML to the light DOM or by creating a shadow DOM node to attach everything on. If you go the latter route, global CSS becomes a bit of a hassle. That seems most ideal for a shared library where you have no control over the global styles. Any CSS you include or inline within your element will be strictly scoped to your component. Pretty nifty.

But sometimes it's really not ideal to keep repeating styles over and over. Let's say you have inputs on your page and you want them all to have the same style. You could create an Input custom element that has the style associated, which you then include in every other component. But what if your inputs have no shared functionality? What if they're strictly shared styles? You'd probably want to go with a global set of styles.

So you go with the light DOM! That's what I ended up doing. It made it easier for me to reuse the existing CSS and not have to deal with extranneous elements just for styling things. I wanted things to stay simple.

Overall, it was a pretty good experience, but it's easy to see why React (and other libraries) are still the go-to when you're firing up a new client-side JS application. It can be complex when you break out of the default create-react-app experience, but once you get used to the build system, it's really not that difficult to keep up with. The biggest issues I have with libraries like React is that they change the fundamental way of writing apps and don't necessarily provide the best reasoning or documentation around it.

If you want to have a modern site without the complex build system, your browser supports more than you'd think out of the box. You can do it with CustomElements and still have an easy to reason about codebase.

[dipulb3]

2020 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody review: Meaner and more agile

New Post has been published on https://appradab.com/2020-dodge-charger-srt-hellcat-widebody-review-meaner-and-more-agile-2/

2020 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody review: Meaner and more agile

The Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody gives Dodge something no other American rival offers: a full-size sedan with astronomical horsepower. Ford is getting out of the sedan business altogether and Chevrolet is trimming back its portfolio, with both companies shifting focus towards crossovers and SUVs. Thankfully, Dodge isn’t following that lead.

Like

Mighty supercharged V8

Improved handling dynamics

Meaner looks

Don’t Like

Aging cabin

Dreaded fuel economy

Lacks driver-assistance features

More than wider hips

The new-for-2020 Widebody adds 3.5 inches of width compared to the standard Charger. In addition to the fender flares, the Widebody gets a unique front fascia with a mail-slot grille providing more direct route radiator cooling, as well as a new rear spoiler and side sills to better blend with the added width. The result is a more menacing design that gets many nods of approval wherever this sedan goes.

Besides a more hulking stance, the wider exterior shell allows for the installation of thicker wheels and tires. In the Hellcat’s case, the previously standard 20-by-9.5-inch wheels wrapped with 275/40-series tires are replaced by 20-by-11-inch wheels covered in 305/50-series rubber.

2020 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody: Sharper looks and handling

See all photos

A new wheel and tire package also means the engineers had to rework the Hellcat’s suspension, resulting in new tuning for the three-mode Bilstein adaptive dampers, 32% stiffer front springs and larger anti-roll bars. Other chassis tweaks include a multimode electric power steering system in place of the old full-hydraulic setup, as well as brake upgrades with six-piston front Brembo calipers biting down on 15.4-inch, two-piece rotors.

What’s the result of chassis revisions and meatier rubber? A much more competent Charger that instills more confidence through corners. With Track mode activated, steering response is nearly immediate, and the dampers keep the 4,587-pound big boy from being clumsy in turns. The Pirelli P Zero tires’ wider contact patches give the Charger commendable stick before the fronts begin plowing forward, and brake muscle is stout, quickly getting the car slowed down. Where the Charger’s size can’t be disguised is under braking and side-to-side weight transfers, but avoid slalom exercises and you’ll be fine.

The Hellcat Widebody is stiff in Track mode, transmitting impacts from every road rut into the cabin. Additionally, in Track mode, the steering weight is on the heavy side for street use — unless you want Popeye-sized forearms. Summon the Hellcat’s Sport setting for the best balance of performance and comfort. You’ll want Street mode for the gentlest behavior, but be forewarned that ride quality isn’t magic-carpet cushy and the steering still has quite a bit of weight with a small dead spot on center.

A wider body allows for the installation of wider tires.

Jon Wong/Roadshow

Supercharged centerpiece

Visual and handling changes aside, the main reason anyone buys a Hellcat is for the 6.2-liter supercharged Hemi V8 under the hood. It still makes 707 horsepower and 650 pound-feet of torque for 2020, but hold out for a 2021 model and you’ll get 717 hp in the Hellcat and 797 hp in the new Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye. 

The more powerful 2021 SRT Chargers won’t arrive in dealers until Spring, meaning if you want a Hellcat now, it’s going to be an example with 707 horses, which is difficult to pooh-pooh. Not with a 0-to-60-mph time of 3.6 seconds and a 10.96-second quarter-mile run. The Charger Hellcat is a brute that makes the right noises burbling at idle, which becomes supercharger whine during acceleration with a menacing exhaust note to boot. Throttle response is nearly instant, and a tidal wave of power is available at all parts of the rev band to forcefully push this sedan forward or spin the rear tires for smokey burnouts and donuts.

The supercharged V8 is still the star of the Hellcat show.

Jon Wong/Roadshow

Power is routed to the Hellcat’s rear wheels through an eight-speed automatic transmission that, in Track mode, rips off rapid but not completely seamless shifts. You can shift it yourself with the steering wheel-mounted paddles, which offer respectable response to commands and rev-matching on downshifts. My advice is to let the computer do all the shifting, though, because the transmission is nicely programmed. 

For the times you aren’t trying to find a nice piece of pavement on which to perform smoke shows, the Street setting gives the drivetrain a more mellow personality. Gearbox shifts are smoother and slightly muted. Not surprisingly, the biggest strike against the Charger SRT is poor fuel economy, which is apparent with how rapidly the fuel gauge needle drops. EPA fuel economy estimates have this 707-hp beast returning 12 miles per gallon in the city and 21 mpg on the highway — numbers low enough for the Charger to be slapped with a $2,100 gas guzzler tax. Does that matter to a typical Hellcat shopper? Not likely.

Same as it ever was

Inside is where the Charger is showing its age. It’s roomy, with a straightforward layout and clearly marked controls. The front bucket seats are comfortable with generous side bolsters and trimmed with nice leather, while lots of soft-touch surfaces, an optional suede headliner and real carbon fiber trim bring some premium touches to this test car. There’s also a nice big trunk in the back with 16.5 cubic feet of space. Unfortunately, the interior design is a bit stale now and there are some budget-rate areas, such as the hollow window controls and flimsy plastic lower door panel compartments.

The cabin is getting long in tooth, but the infotainment technology is still on point.

Jon Wong/Roadshow

What isn’t stale is the Uconnect infotainment system with its crisp-looking and responsive 8.4-inch touchscreen controlling a bumping 19-speaker Harman Kardon audio setup, navigation system that quickly calculates routes, Wi-Fi hotspot, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. And to keep anyone phones or tablets from going dead in the Charger, there are numerous USB and 12-volt outlets within easy reach of people in both rows of seats. 

Sadly, anyone looking for a big driver-assistance tech menu will be disappointed. The Charger Hellcat comes with the federally mandated backup camera and standard blind-spot monitoring and that’s it. Things like adaptive cruise control, lane-departure warning and forward-collision warning are not available.

Big performance bang for your buck

Really, when you think about what the 2020 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody brings to the table for $73,590 (including $1,495 for destination and gas guzzler tax), it’s a performance bargain. And that’s even truer with the Widebody, which allows the Charger to take corners in a respectable fashion thanks to its suspension changes and bigger tires.

The Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody will set you back $73,590 to start. 

Jon Wong/Roadshow

The Hellcat Widebody tester pictured here stickers for $83,150 with a handful of options that I’d gladly leave off, such as different wheels, a sunroof and some small visual upgrades. My ideal car keeps the frostbite paint job seen here, though, as well as the $1,595 carbon-suede interior package. I’ll also keep the great $1,995 Harman Kardon Audio Group, bringing my ideal car’s bottom line to $77,180.

Yes, the Charger Hellcat Widebody has plenty of shortcomings, but when I walk towards this menacing machine in the parking lot, I don’t think about them. When I engage launch control and let the supercharged V8 rocket me forward, I also don’t think about them because I’m too busy laughing with glee. The Charger Hellcat Widebody is an immensely entertaining machine.