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sheepiling · 6 years

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I DOWNLOADED MY FIRST MOD AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

So, I was getting really tired of how un-vibrant Sims 4 is. I didn’t really notice it/care at first, but once Sage was born I found myself constantly fighting the lighting in the game and setting up temporary lamps everywhere when I took screenshots just because of how un-flattering the Sims 4 lighting is for sims of color. (I mean I’ve had mixed race couples since gen 1 but the focus was always on the founder/heir so if their partner wasn’t as well lit up as they were I didn’t pay much attention to it, but Sage is the first heir to actually have darker skin genetics passed down to him ‘cuz apparently in sims world recessive and dominant genetic traits are reversed... or at least in this family they are rip)

But anyways, I don’t want to spend time editing my screenshots so I just got a lighting mod for the game. OwO;;

I just want to make a post now and tag it with wcif because I really don’t download much and if I ever do get cc in addition to this I’ll just post and wcif tag that too so anyone that’s curious can easily see what I’ve got quickly~

I also want to add that I’m going to go very in-depth about the installing process because I am not tech-savvy at all and it took me a whole evening to figure all of this out, so if anyone else is in the same boat as me I hope this helps! XD

Also before I start explaining things I just want to add that before you start changing things, ALWAYS BACK UP YOUR GAME!! Make a copy of The Sims 4 folder that’s in your documents, AND the one that’s in your Origin Games folder that’s on your C drive (or wherever you installed Sims 4).

First I downloaded NoBlu and NoGlo

The links to the page their downloads are located along with information from the creator are right there in that title~

Those two mods work together, so I suggest getting them both! The NoBlu removes the blue tint that shows up at night time and indoors too I think, and if I understand things correctly the NoGlo removes that blue tint from your sims themselves so they don’t look blue-ish in contrast to the rest of the world that’s now been stripped of that blue tint.

Like, the point of the blue tint that’s in the game is to make it so you can see things better in the dark, but from what I can tell it also makes day time seem darker too at certain times of the day. So getting rid of this will make night time darker if no lights are around, but I think it makes day time brighter and the lights at night time is brighter too and your sims just react more naturally to lighting~

When downloading NoBlu, just pick one of those three files that are there. I picked NoBluLightingReplacement.package

For NoGlo, there’s two files there, and I downloaded both of them. They’re the NoGloRemover and the EyeSpecularRemover

NoGlo and EyeSpecularRemover are applied to each sim in cas just like cc, so I’m not sure if I’ll bother using them. But I haven’t had this NoBlu lighting mod for very long so if I end up noticing my sims glowing in the dark with a blueish light then I’ll probably bother to put that on everyone. Maybe.

These two mods are really easy to download! It’s just like downloading CC, just get the file and put it in Documents -> Electronic Arts -> The Sims 4 -> Mods

Then I got ReShade

This mod took me quite a while to figure out... (I’m just sort of challenged when it comes to things like this which is why I don’t use much mods/cc in the first place) 😓

So this is a program that you can install into a lot of different games, it’s not made just for sims 4, but it works really well on sims 4! The website to download this is https://reshade.me/

Additionally, THIS VIDEO is the most helpful tutorial for installing it that I could find (imo). I also want to add to always read the README text files that come with mods when you download them... I’m sure you probably already do that but I’m an impatient derp that couldn’t figure out some things until I read the readme... >.>;;

Also, I had an issue when installing ReShade, and I’m just gonna explain everything I went through in case anyone else is having a hard time too, ‘cuz it took me quite a while to find the info. I needed. I also want to add that I use windows 8.1 (unfortunately that’s the only operating system that’s compatible with my laptop, so no windows 10 or 7 for me, I already tried, rip) so the issue I had could of been caused by 8.1′s wonkyness. But I don’t know for sure.

After it asked me if I want to download a collection of standard effects, and I clicked yes, it said it failed. The program was properly installed into Sims 4, but I had no effects or textures (which is the whole point of getting this...)

But! This can be fixed by downloading the effects manually and putting them into your bin folder yourself. THIS FORUM on ReShade’s website has this answer and a link to the download for the effects and textures. The very first answer under the OP’s question is the one with the download~ I’m very thankful to that helpful person. Also, I’m just linking the forum instead of the responder’s link itself b/c once you click on their link it downloads the file. It’s not a link to a file share or anything, it’s just the direct download. The ReShade website probably has these up for download on their website somewhere too... But I’m trash at navigating websites that I’m not used to so I have no idea where... But I would assume it’s there somewhere...

After you have that file, slap it into your sims 4′s bin folder (tutorial I linked before shows where that is). Now, this alone is not all that you need to do. Now that it’s in the file, you need to go into the game and open the ReShade interface. Then you go over to settings and you need to copy paste the path for the program to find the effects and textures. There’s two separate boxes, one for effects and one for textures.

To do this, go into the shaders folder that’s in your reshade shaders’ folder in your sims 4′s bin folder. Then in the bar at the top of your file’s window that shows all the files you’ve gone into, click on it and copy it. Then tab back to your sims 4 game and paste that info into ReShade’s effects box. Then go into your textures file and do the same things for the textures box in ReShade.

When you paste them into the ReShade interface they should look something like this:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 4\Game\Bin\reshade-shaders\Shaders

C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 4\Game\Bin\reshade-shaders\Textures

Of course, if you didn’t install this on your C drive it might be a bit different, but you need to find that from wherever you installed Sims 4.

Once you’ve done all that the issue should be fixed and it’ll now load up all 60 effects and textures that you’ve downloaded every time you start up Sims 4 or tab back into your game after alt tabbing out!!!!! .................

So, hooray for it working properly now, BUT GOODNESS DOES THIS ANNOY ME. So like. If you’re going to download a preset from someone else (youtube tutorial I linked already shows how to do that) then I suggest keeping all the files you’ve downloaded. Especially if you’re switching between multiple presets for different occasions. There’s lots of ReShade presets all over tumblr, btw. So have fun looking them up if that’s what you want to do!

But I’m not doing that. I don’t need all of this. It’s giving me a lag for no reason. SO I DELETED A WHOLE BUNCH OF EFFECTS ‘CUZ FUQ THIS LOADING TIME.

Be careful not to delete anything important, though. In the shaders folder is the only folder I deleted anything inside of. Anything that was installed in the reshade-shaders folder I left alone. But inside the shaders or textures folder that’s inside of that reshade-shaders folder should be fine to delete things. BUT DON’T DELETE FILES THAT IT NEEDS TO RUN~

Anything that is a .fhx file you need to keep. Anything that is a .fx file is simply the effect itself and is safe to delete. I didn’t delete anything in my textures folder because when I downloaded the whole thing from the forum the textures folder didn’t have much in it. This might be different if you were able to install correctly in the first place.

Anyways! The files I ended up keeping were all the .fhx files and the following effects: Colorfulness.fx, Vibrance.fx, and DPX.fx

Colorfulness and Vibrance increase the saturation and vibrancy of your game and DPX is one that overall birghtens everything (I think). There’s lots of other effects that do the same things as these but those three are my favorites. Well, I don’t use DPX, it makes it a bit too bright for my eyes, but I decided to keep that one because whenever I’m able to get Seasons, if rainy/snowy days make the game seem way too dark I might want to enable DPX just for those days.

But for normal sunny days, just checking Colorfulness and Vibrance is enough for me~ I didn’t even mess with the sliders on how much you want it to effect the game because I don’t want to deal with those kind of advanced settings. I just pushed the check mark box on those two and done!

Now that I only have 3 effects and then the few textures that I never use but aren’t hurting anything by being there, it doesn’t even have a loading time to get ReShade to run properly when starting up my Sims 4 or tabbing back into it. ReShade is just ready to go right away!

So if you’re wanting to brighten up your game, but have a slower computer and most lighting mods and/or ReShade being the way it normally is lags your game too much, you could consider doing what I did! :D

Also, with ReShade, you need to change the way you take screenshots now. Doing it with the C button just takes a picture of your naked game, not the ReShade effects.

So, ReShade’s default hotkey for taking screenshots is Prt Scrn, so you can use that button now or you can change which button you want to take screenshots in the settings tab of ReShade’s interface. But the point is just pushing C doesn’t capture the ReShade effects so you’ll need a different button!

Also! In ReShade’s settings tab, you need to change the screenshot format if you want to upload your ReShade screenies to tumblr! Its default is set to Bitmap, which tumblr doesn’t support, so change it so it saves as a PNG file instead!!!

You can also change the path for where it’s going to drop your screenshots off at. The default is set to Sims 4′s bin folder, so if you want it to drop off screenshots in a different folder that’s dedicated to just screenshots and doesn’t have your game’s other important things in it, you’ll need to change the path for that (it’s the same as when you changed the path for it to find the effects and textures, just copy paste where you want it to go).

Keep in mind that if you move the folder you told ReShade to dump its screenshots at then you’ll need to update the path in ReShade’s interface or it won’t be able to find the folder and you won’t get your screenies~

So yea! That’s all the info. I have!! I hope this helps someone that wants to use ReShade but has been confused about it like I was!! 😂

Also sorry if my explaining things is long and confusing. This is just how thoughts flow in my brain so.. um... yea. >.>;

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hutchhitched · 7 years

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Peace (MS2SL submission #3)

Peace is my third and final submission for @mores2sl‘s 2017 anthology. Special thanks to @sohypothetically for her hard work putting this together, those who contributed and donated, and @xerxia31 for the banner. Y’all are the best.

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The sun slides into the water and floods the sky and beach with a deep orange hue that entrenches itself in my soul. I’m surprised there’s anything there for it to cling to. It’s been a very hard year—harder than anyone should have to endure, and I’m hiding out on an island in the South China Sea trying to figure out how to come back to life.

I’m much too young to have given up already.

Rebirth is a curious thing. The Phoenix regenerates through fire, and I’ve certainly endured that in the past few months. But that’s mythology, and I’ve always been a bit more fond of nature than what the Egyptians and Greeks believed a few millennia ago. That’s usually why I eagerly anticipate the end of winter, when the earth is dormant and animals hibernate. There’s nothing quite like the Appalachian Mountains in the springtime when the snow melts and green grass and the cream and violet of crocuses peer through the remnants of the dead season.

My favorite day of the year is when I see the dandelions break out in their raucous yellow glory to pattern the ground in polka dots. It’s rebirth, which is what I need.

I swallow hard as memories of my little sister and me making necklaces and crowns from the yellow flowers flood my mind. My heart clenches, and I press my eyes shut to stop the torrent of tears. She’s still with me. I must remember that. She’s living with her husband and family several hours away from our hometown. Just because her spouse hates me and decided she hardly ever needs to come home doesn’t mean she’s gone. Just because we rarely talk doesn’t mean she doesn’t love me anymore.

The sky deepens to a navy blue and then to black with a sprinkle of twinkling stars. Heaving a sigh, I realize I’m not ready to go home. I need more time before I’m healed.

****

“What can we do to help you, Ms. Everdeen?” The man at the front desk was one of the nicest-looking people Katniss had ever met, and his charisma oozed through the phone line.

“I was wondering if there’s any way I might be able to extend my stay,” Katniss stammered into the receiver. “I’m not sure how that works, and I know I’m supposed to check out tomorrow, but I’d really like some more time here.”

“I’m certainly happy to take care of that for you, Ms. Everdeen. For how many days would you like to extend your stay?”

Smooth, she thought, but it didn’t bring her any comfort. She wasn’t in the mood for charming. She just wanted to get better.

“I’m not sure. A few days. Maybe a week. Maybe more. Is that a problem?”

“No, Ms. Everdeen. That should be fine. I’ll make a note of the reservation change in the computer and place the applicable charges to the card on file.”

“Thank you, Finnick.”

“It’s my pleasure, Ms. Everdeen.”

With a sigh, Katniss hung up the phone and sank onto the bed. A breeze ruffled the curtains so that they billowed into the room, and she studied the palm trees that swayed outside her balcony. She could just glimpse a strip of blue ocean before she gave into exhaustion and lay back so she could escape the world with a nap.

It was close to sunset when she woke, and she grimaced as a bead of sweat ran down her neck and trailed between her breasts on the way to her bare stomach. Heaving a sigh, she rose and stripped as she meandered across her room and to the shower. It was her favorite part of the accommodations. Running half the length of the bathroom, the glass stall housed a massive rainfall showerhead that released a rush of water. Steam billowed against the walls, and Katniss doodled an abstract pattern before stepping under the spray.

She was so caught up in the feel of water caressing her body that she didn’t hear the key in the lock or the turn of the handle. As she massaged shampoo into her hair, the man who’d entered the room called hello and crossed to the bathroom. When he saw the shadow of her form in the steam covered glass, he jerked to a stop.

Why is there a woman in my room? Peeta wondered as he told himself he should look away. He couldn’t, though. There was something in the graceful twist of her body that commanded his entire attention. If he was honest with himself, he’d admit a pang of desire as he observed the feminine curves that hid behind the fogged glass and the arc of her neck as she rinsed her hair. His hands itched to run along the outline of her wet skin, and he swallowed hard as her hands wiped the soap from her torso before reaching out to shut off the water.

“What are you doing here?!”

He started at her shriek and backed away with raised hands. She grappled with a towel and covered herself as she peeked around the edge of the shower stall.

“I-I’m so sorry,” he stammered. “I—Th—this is supposed to be my room.”

“This is my room!” she barked.

“I’m sure we can figure this out,” he started, but the sheer panic on her face made him rethink his attempt at reason. Her dark hair was plastered to her head and hung over her bare shoulders, and he noticed her gray eyes shot fiery sparks at him in her agitated state. He was almost ashamed to admit that the rivulets of water running down her bare shoulders and legs were highly arousing. “You know what? I’m just gonna go. It’s clear there’s been a mix-up, and I can deal with the front desk to fix this.”

“That would be wonderful,” she spat, and he backed toward the door before fumbling with the doorknob.

“So sorry about this, ma’am. I, uh…really am sorry.”

Katniss stood dripping in the shower, chest heaving with indignation as the unwelcome visitor stumbled from the room. As soon as the door clicked shut behind him, she scurried across the floor, double locked the door, and attached the chain before collapsing into the armchair facing the balcony.

“How did he get in here?” she hissed, her voice as unsteady as her hands. She heaved in a few gulps of air for reassurance and then dried herself quickly and dressed. She toweled her hair dry and had just woven it into a haphazard braid when the room phone rang. She grabbed for it and answered on the second ring. It wasn’t a surprise when Finnick’s voice came over the line.

“Ms. Everdeen, I’m so sorry for the confusion,” he began in his most amiable tone. “I can assure you, it is not the policy of Panem Resorts to send unfamiliar men into single women’s rooms. I take full responsibility for the misunderstanding. When I extended your stay, I forgot to change the reservation for the guest arriving today. The problem has been remedied, and on behalf of the entire resort’s staff, I’d like to comp the rest of your stay with us.”

“Umm, I…” Her indignation died on her lips as Finnick’s words registered.

“I’d also like to offer food and drink vouchers for your use during the rest of your stay. They can be used at any of our restaurants and bars at your discretion. I’ll have someone deliver them to your room as quickly as possible. I’ve taken the liberty of extending your stay through the Monday after next. If you require more time or decide to leave us before then, please just let me know. I’m here to make your experience as pleasant as possible.”

“Th-thank you,” she stammered and bid him goodbye, too stunned to complain.

Flustered, she shrugged and finished dressing for dinner. If the food was free, she wasn’t going to turn it down. As she pulled a sundress from her suitcase, she pushed the blonde curls, blue eyes, and stocky build of the intruder from earlier out of her mind. His presence in her life was only a small blip on the radar. She was here to recover, and that’s what she intended to do.

****

“Mr. Mellark, I’m so very sorry for the misunderstanding.”

Peeta nodded at Finnick Odair, who he’d previously met at check-in and then again when he explained the room mix up with the raven-haired beauty he’d met briefly when she was wet and naked. He shook his head to clear his mind. It wasn’t right to fantasize about a woman who clearly hadn’t wanted him in her room, although he’d been sure it was his. Either way, he had more self-control than to mentally leer at a nude woman against her will. With an internal sigh, he forced himself to concentrate on what the resort employee was saying.

“Ms. Everdeen recently extended her stay, and the change resulted in the mistake. I apologize for any inconvenience, and I’d like to offer a comped stay and meal and drink vouchers for your entire vacation with us here at Panem Resorts.”

Surprised, Peeta protested, “That hardly seems necessary. I’m sure it was an honest mistake.”

“Nonsense,” Finnick replied with a disarming smile. “I insist. I assume this room is to your liking? It’s identical to your previous reservation. Just a little further down the beach in District 12 of the resort.”

“Fine. It’s completely fine,” Peeta murmured, exhaustion muddling his brain as jet lag caught up with him. “Thanks for taking care of this so quickly.”

“It’s my job to make sure the odds are in your favor, sir. I’ll just leave you alone to settle. Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.”

Peeta sank onto the bed as the door snapped closed. He ran a hand through his unruly curls and squeezed his eyes shut. The image of the woman swam behind his eyelids, and he felt a tug in his groin.

“Happy honeymoon to me,” he grumbled. “Left at the altar. Random unclothed woman in my hotel room. Desperately alone.”

Giving into despondency, he allowed himself to envision the earlier scenario playing out differently. He unbuttoned his shorts and stroked himself as he imagined the towel falling from her and her welcoming him into her wet embrace. He grunted as he jerked, but no amount of lube made up for the isolation he felt as he masturbated.

When he came, he felt no relief. He was supposed to be making love to his new wife, not spilling into his own hand. With a frustrated groan, he stripped and stepped into the shower. As he cleaned himself, he longed for his problems to follow the suds down the drain. Unfortunately, they met him in his dreams when he fell into a fitful sleep filled with nightmares.

****

Katniss woke the next morning and stretched languidly. She’d enjoyed her dinner the previous night—fish and fresh fruit at a table on the beach with a few glasses of wine. The breeze off the ocean had smelled so good, she’d spent the hours after eating on her balcony in a gauzy swimsuit cover up that barely counted as clothing.

There was something risqué about sitting outside in the dark in sheer fabric as the wind blew her hair into a jumbled mess. She wasn’t an exhibitionist in any way, but she’d felt a little reckless after recovering from the initial shock of finding an admittedly gorgeous man in her room as she stepped from the shower. His reaction to her had been obvious, although he’d proved to be as much of a gentleman as he could have considering the situation. It wasn’t his fault he’d been given a key to her room, and he’d been as apologetic as possible for someone who looked as wrecked with exhaustion as he had.

She pushed him from her mind as she rolled onto her side. He wasn’t her concern. She was as she faced yet another day since the death of her father, her mother’s placement in a mental hospital, and abandonment by her sister. She had two friends, Gale Hawthorne and Madge Undersee, but both had their own problems and had done as much as they could to help her get through the crises of the past few years. She’d been in counseling long enough to know that she needed to learn self-care. She was terrible at putting herself first, and it had been a process to figure out how to do that.

Moaning softly, she threw the covers from her and stumbled to the bathroom. After a quick shower, she braided her hair and pulled on her dark green one piece. Last night’s dinner on the shore had convinced her she needed to take advantage of the soothing power of the ocean while she was there. Grabbing a book, sunglasses, and sunscreen, she made her way to the beach and found a lounge chair where she spent the day when she wasn’t cooling off in the waves.

For the first time since she’d arrived at the resort on Panem, she felt a hint of relief. It wasn’t peace yet, but she had another ten days before she returned to the emptiness of her real life back in the States.

****

Peeta had just entered the restaurant when he saw her. Isolated from other diners by herself at a table for two in the corner, the woman looked much less like a drowned rat and more like a goddess. He hesitated for several moments before he decided it might be nice to clear the air.

“Excuse me,” he said softly as he approached, “Ms. Everdeen?”

Katniss startled at her name and glanced upward to see the man who’d walked in on her when she was in the shower. She shrank back imperceptibly but managed to answer with a clear, strong voice.

“Yes?”

“My name’s Peeta. Peeta Mellark,” he offered in explanation with an extended hand. “I’m so sorry again for the mix-up yesterday. It’s not my habit to walk in on women in any state of undress. Unless invited, of course.”

She hesitated but shook his hand. He didn’t seem to be anything other than genuinely sincere, but she wasn’t looking for conversation. She only wanted a quiet meal on the patio.

“Katniss Everdeen.”

“Ah, Ms. Everdeen. Mr. Mellark. Are you dining together this evening?” Annie Odair, Finnick’s wife and head waitress at the resort’s finest restaurant, glanced between them speculatively. She motioned for Peeta to take his seat and waited to present them with menus. Unsure, Peeta started to protest, but Katniss waved her hand.

“It’s fine. I’ve eaten alone too often this week anyway.”

With murmured thanks, Peeta seated himself and smiled nervously at the woman across the table. Annie handed them both menus before explaining the specials for the evening.

“Might I suggest the redfish. Cinna, our chef, is famous for his recipe.” When they both nodded their agreement, Annie took their unused menus and left them alone.

“So…”

Katniss looked at him, her eyes solemn, and he took note of the unusual color. Gray eyes marked by a few flecks of deep green stared at him. He saw a sadness that reached across the table and squeezed his heart, but that was much too intimate for a first dinner conversation. Clearing his throat, he clasped his hands and leaned his chin on them.

“I’d love to do the old-fashioned thing where I ask you thoughtful, probing questions to get to know you, but maybe this isn’t the right venue for that.” At the spark of fear in her eyes, he continued, “Peeta Mellark from Charlotte. Recently left at the altar. I’m on a honeymoon for one. In other words, I’m completely messed up and am taking advantage of a non-refundable vacation to forget the past few months of my life. Now that you know how screwed up I am, you have no need to worry. I’m not going to attack you, and you can’t possibly be more fucked up than I am.”

She blinked at him, taken aback by his transparency and haunted by a familiarity that made her long to open up to him. Saved from answering by the arrival of a complimentary bottle of Pinot Gris, she twisted her hands under the table until they were alone again. Taking a few sips for strength, she made a snap decision.

“I’m from a small town in southern West Virginia. It’s been a rough couple of years, and I needed some time away from everything. My boss is more understanding than I deserve, so he gave me a month off work and told me to leave. I was supposed to go back a few days ago, but I changed my mind. As you know…”

“I do know,” he agreed and smiled gently. “As shocking as it was to find someone else in my room, I can’t say I regret meeting you tonight. We don’t have to talk. We can just sit together and enjoy this if you’d feel more comfortable. No pressure. People say I’m fairly easy to get along with.”

A light breeze ruffled his hair, and he motioned to the white sand that disappeared into darkness. The half-moon shone on the water, and palm trees rustled in the wind. Strings of soft lights decorated the patio, and piano music tinkled over the speakers.

Katniss raised her glass to him. “Cheers to quiet dinner companions and a place to heal.”

“Cheers to that,” he agreed with a clink and nod.

The redfish was excellent, and so was the company. They spoke occasionally, but they mostly enjoyed a companionable silence throughout their meal. When they were done, he offered to walk her back to her cabin, and she agreed hesitantly. At her door, he kissed her on the cheek and thanked her for spending the evening with him. Before she had a chance to respond, he’d turned and faded into the darkness. It was the first night since she’d arrived that she didn’t have nightmares.

****

Peeta cursed as his knee wobbled under him. He wasn’t used to such spongy ground on his hikes, but the jungle around the Panem Resort was too tempting not to explore. He was sweating, his t-shirt clinging in spotty patches against his chest and back. He’d lost count of the number of times he’d swiped at his forehead and smacked at mosquitos. Irritated, he sat on the boulder to the side of the path to catch his breath. A rustle from around the corner startled him, but it wasn’t long before Katniss turned the corner and saw him sitting there.

“Hi, stranger,” he called. “What are you doing so far from home?”

Katniss observed him as he bent and then alternatively stretched out his left leg. He grimaced slightly as he did so, and she wondered if he’d aggravated an old injury while he was hiking.

She motioned to him and asked, “Taking a break? That’s not usually how a workout goes, you know.”

He chuckled softly and threw up his hands in mock anger. “Way to call me out there. My manhood is completely offended. Getting shown up by a woman. Geez.”

She sank down next to him on the boulder and wiped her face with the towel she’d slung over her neck when she’d left her cabin that morning. “I have a confession,” she whispered. “I’m completely exhausted.”

“No! Say it isn’t so.”

“Oh, but it is. I’m out of shape, and it’s hot as balls out here.”

“As hot as balls, you say?” he asked with an arched brow and a pleased smirk. “How hot exactly are these balls of which you speak?”

Fighting to keep a straight face, she deadpanned, “About 100 degrees and slick with sweat.”

He snorted, and they dissolved into laughter together. It was amazing how easy it felt to talk to him, and she realized it’d been several weeks since she’d let go and given into full-fledged mirth. Their conversation was nonsense, but it was everything at the same time. He seemed to understand her hesitancy, her desperate desire to remain private, and he didn’t push. He just allowed her to be, which was exactly what her counselor had been telling her to do.

When they stilled, she cocked her head and appraised him. Nodding sharply, she made a decision.

“My father died four years ago. My mom’s since been institutionalized, and my sister’s husband hates me. We don’t see each other regularly. I haven’t been handling things too well, so my counselor suggested I get away.” When he didn’t respond, she sighed. “I thought maybe a hike would help clear my mind today. Instead, I’m a ball of sweat.”

“We’ve covered that, already,” he teased.

“Fair enough,” she laughed.

“I thought maybe I’d sit for a while and listen to the jungle. See what it has to tell me.” His eyes flicked over her face, and he gave her a smile with just a hint of shyness. “You’re welcome to stay with me. I’m planning to go to the beach next and eavesdrop on the waves. I hear there’s a cove that legend says reveals secrets to lost souls.”

“I think I’d like that,” she murmured thoughtfully. “Maybe we can watch the clouds a little too. Sometimes they have stories no one else knows.”

Peeta nudged her shoulder with his and wiped his face again. “Now you’re getting the hang of it. I plan to spend the entire day that way. It’d be really nice to have some company.”

“Shhh,” she hissed. “The jungle’s trying to talk to me.”

He ducked his head to hide his grin and fell silent. Several hours later, he wandered back to his cabin, his mind peaceful and his heart full from listening to what nature had to tell him.

Slow down. Stop worrying. Some people aren’t supposed to be with you forever. Others find you when you least expect it. Just be.

When he woke the next morning, he realized he’d slept without nightmares. He hadn’t even done that with his fiancée. Ex-fiancée. Maybe there was something to the air in Panem. Or maybe it was spending time with Katniss. Either way, he felt better than when he’d asked Cashmere to marry him and she’d accepted his proposal. That had to mean something.

****

She found him after lunch the following day sitting alone under a palm tree at the edge of the beach with a pencil and tablet. She realized he was sketching as she watched the tip of his tongue peek from between his lips and his eyes narrow in concentration. She waited patiently until he glanced up and waved. When he did, she crossed the sand and sank down next to him.

“I thought maybe I’d do something a little less tame today. Still listening to nature but with a bit more flair,” she explained. “I didn’t know whether or not I’d see you today, but I wouldn’t be horrified if you decided to come along with me. You might like it.”

“Wouldn’t be horrified… How encouraging,” he replied with a wink. “What is this gloriously dangerous activity you’re asking me to join? I can hardly wait.”

“Parasailing.”

“Parasailing? Like up in the air parasailing?”

“Is there any other kind?” Katniss teased. “I hear it’s wonderful. Peaceful, like you’re flying. I’ve always wanted to be a bird. My father used to call me his mockingjay because I used to mimic everyone when I was young. It’s a fake bird, but it was a sweet nickname.”

Peeta didn’t answer right away. Instead, he let her story hang between them so she could process it. After a few minutes, he broke the silence. “Well, in that case, I might have to take you up on the offer. I’m guessing I shouldn’t take my sketch pad with me. Might lose it over the Pacific somewhere.”

She glanced at her wrist. “I have a reservation at three. You have time to take it to your cabin if you’d like. I’m happy to wait here for you. Let the waves have a conversation with me for a while.”

“Decidedly tame,” he joked and scrambled to his feet. “I’ll be back in ten minutes.”

She adjusted her sunglasses and toyed with the end of her braid as she waited for him. The steady sound of waves beating repeatedly against the shore assaulted her ears, reminding her that life is both stable and unpredictable. The waves were never the same twice, but they always came, one after another, as they pulled sand from the shore and deposited it from the ocean at the same time.

She was almost in a trance when Peeta’s shadow fell over her, and she looked up to see his right hand extended to help her up from her seated position. She refused to acknowledge the charge that passed between them when his hand wrapped around hers and he tugged her upright. She didn’t have time for electricity.

She did have time to fly, though, and that’s exactly what it felt like when she and Peeta were strapped in the harness and raised into the air. The first thing they both noticed was the silence. Once they were off the deck of the speedboat and a few dozen yards into the air, the sound of the motor faded away, and they could only hear the rush of wind as they were pulled along. The blue sea spread out beneath them, and black rocks peered through in outcroppings amongst the green mountains of the jungle.

“This is breathtaking,” Peeta said, awed by the beauty before them.

“It’s amazing,” she agreed and eagerly soaked in the sight.

“Do you feel like you’re flying?”

Tears pricked the corners of her eyes, and she reached for him. “Soaring like a mockingjay,” she answered.

He squeezed her hand in response, and they intertwined their fingers until they were safely back on the boat. Later, she realized she hadn’t wanted to let go.

****

They settled into a routine. One would find the other in the morning, and they’d spend their day together. Day after day until only a few remained until she was scheduled to leave. They talked, but they spent significant time being quiet together, listening to the wind and waves and finding an equilibrium both of them needed.

“I hear there’s a swimming hole we need to visit before we leave,” Peeta told her over dinner three days before she was supposed to checkout and fly home. “Finnick said it’s absolutely gorgeous at sunset. Want to head there after we’re done eating?”

“How long will it take to get there?”

“I think it’s a twenty minute walk or something. Why?” he asked. “Do you need to take care of something first?” She grinned, and he waited for her response.

“I just know we’re supposed to wait thirty minutes after eating before we swim.”

He rolled his eyes and took a bite of his fish. “That was a terrible joke. Worse than any of mine. I expected better of you, Katniss.”

“I’m hilarious. You know I am.”

Peeta nodded and wiped his mouth. “I need to go change into swim trunks. Meet you at your room in a few minutes?”

“I’ll be ready,” she agreed, and they parted ways.

Back in her cabin, she rummaged through her things for a swimsuit she hadn’t worn fifteen times in front of him already. Her fingers snagged on a black strap, and she considered it for a second before pulling it from the drawer.

It was a one-piece, but it might as well have been a bikini or nothing at all. She’d bought it on a whim when she and Prim had spent the day shopping together a month before her younger sister’s wedding. The straps were designed to wrap around her shoulders and torso and held the top and bottom, such as they were, together. She fingered the slick fabric and shrugged.

“Might as well,” she mumbled as she slid it over her legs. It took several minutes of adjusting before it was on correctly, but the image reflected in the mirror reassured her she’d chosen well. She slipped a semi-sheer robe over her suit and waited for Peeta to join her.

Peeta knocked on her door a few moments later, and he smiled at her when she opened her door. Her gray eyes glowed almost silver in the evening light, and he noticed she’d pulled her hair up into a topknot rather than her signature braid. It looked nice, a little dressier than normal, and he was pleased she’d made the extra effort. Whether it was for him or her, he still benefitted from her beauty.

“Here we are,” he announced when they found the pool. It was deserted, which surprised them both, but neither would have wanted to share it with anyone else. Peeta stripped his t-shirt off and tossed it onto the rocks surrounding the pool. He turned just as Katniss untied her robe and revealed her suit.

“Holy shit,” he whispered and tried hard not to gape, but it was no use. Her body, lithe and toned, was wrapped in black ribbons like a present, and his hands itched to touch her in ways he hadn’t considered since the first day they’d met.

Katniss hung her robe on a low-hanging tree branch and moved slowly toward him. He licked his lips as the blue water lapped around her curved thighs. Sinking into the water, he hoped to hide his reaction to her, but he knew it would be severely evident when he had to leave the pool.

“This is beautiful,” she murmured, and he agreed readily. He forced himself to turn away from her and watch the glowing sun sink behind the mountains. Dark pinks melted into a brilliant orange, his favorite color.

“Are you ready to go home?” he asked and fought to curb his sadness that their time together was almost at an end.

“I’m not sure,” she admitted. “I needed this. I really did, but I kind of miss the routine.”

“Understandable.”

She hesitated, but she knew she wanted to admit what she was feeling. “I’m also a little sad I won’t see you anymore.”

He sucked in his breath and held it. That was the closest thing she’d said that admitted her attraction to him, and he was afraid to ruin the moment.

“Peeta…”

He exhaled and turned to face her. Her lips parted slightly, and he reached forward to cup her jaw in his palm. Running his thumb along her cheekbone, he leaned toward her and brushed his lips against hers.

She stepped into him, and he wrapped his arms around her. Tilting her head back, he kissed her until his head whirled. While the sun set, they held each other as their lips met repeatedly.

That night, Peeta lay in bed, frustrated and alone. He’d kept himself in check almost the entire time during his stay at Panem Resorts, and now he needed a release. The memory of the black swimsuit against Katniss’ olive skin stirred his blood, and he groaned as his cock hardened.

“Fuck it,” he grunted and reached for the lube he’d packed when he thought he’d be on his honeymoon. He squirted a liberal amount in his hand and reached into his boxers to grasp himself. “Oh shit,” he whispered and closed his eyes as he stroked.

When he closed his eyes, he saw Katniss, still in her swimsuit and lying on her bed with her legs splayed. In his mind, she mumbled his name as her hand tucked into the scrap of material covering her mound and rubbed. Stroking faster, he matched his rhythm with his vision of her pleasuring herself. He squeezed tighter and pulled faster as she bit her lip and sent herself over the edge. He followed her; gasping and grunting as he came. When he was through, he sighed at how alone he felt. Katniss was so much better in person than in his imagination.

****

“I wasn’t sure if you were going to show up this morning,” Katniss admitted when Peeta knocked on her door and asked her if she wanted to grab breakfast.

“Only two days left. Better take advantage,” he quipped and held the door for her as she exited her cabin.

“Well, yeah, but…”

“But what?” he queried as her voiced trailed into silence.

“I just…I mean after the, uh, kissing…”

“A little kissing wasn’t going to stop me from seeing my best girl on the island,” Peeta teased, and she blushed at his words.

“Best girl, huh? I thought I was a woman.”

“All woman from what I’ve seen,” he chuckled, and she leaned into him as they walked. He slipped his arm around her waist and squeezed her to him, and she didn’t pull away. Instead, she mirrored his action, and they arrived at breakfast wrapped together.

After eating, Katniss suggested lounging on the beach with books, and he obliged. They read and chatted, swam and dozed throughout the day until Peeta suggested they dress for dinner. They dined at their usual corner table, but both felt the crackle of energy that sparked between them. When they were done, Katniss gulped down her fear.

“Would you like to come back to my room tonight, Peeta? I thought we could watch the sunset from my balcony.”

��He scanned her body and studied her face. She wore a long black skirt that skimmed her ankles and a lowcut, backless coral shirt that exposed just enough cleavage to make him want to bury his face in the hollow of her olive skin. He knew what would happen if he went back to her room, and he needed a minute to figure out if she was asking what he thought she was.

“Are you sure that’s what you want?” he asked, his voice cracking on the last word.

“I’m positive,” she confessed. “Are you sure it’s what you want? You’re the one coming out of an engagement, not me.”

“What engagement?” he joked softly. If he was honest, he’d known for a while that his fiancée wasn’t really in love with him the way he’d needed. The past several days with Katniss had proven relationships could be so much more than the shadow of what he’d accepted.

“Come back with me,” she implored. “It was supposed to be your room anyway.”

He rose from the table and helped her to her feet. He threaded his fingers through hers and led her back to her cabin through the sand, nervously shifting from foot to foot as she fiddled with the lock and finally opened the door. Wordlessly, she led him to the balcony and parted the curtains so they could step back out into the open air.

“I’m so glad Finnick messed up my room assignment that first day,” he admitted tenderly as they stared at the palm trees that framed their view.

“I…” she began but couldn’t finish.

“Charlotte isn’t that far from West Virginia, you know. Maybe…”

“Don’t,” she begged. “Please don’t offer something you can’t guarantee.”

“What if we could, though? What if it could work?”

“What if what we have here is all there is?” she challenged and turned to face him. Peeta tucked a loose lock of her dark hair behind her ear and caressed her cheek with the pad of his thumb.

“Katniss,” he breathed, his voice hoarse with longing.

She swayed slightly, and he tilted her head and lowered his lips to hers. The moan that escaped her caused blood to rush to his groin, and she felt a tingling in her nipples that made her press into him. His mouth opened over hers, and she welcomed his tongue. The kissed languidly, slowly, thoroughly for what seemed like hours. His thighs pressed her into the balcony railing, and she reveled at the feeling of steel from both behind and against her pelvis.

“So beautiful,” he sighed and captured her bottom lip between his teeth to tug gently.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him impossibly closer so that nothing but the thinnest sliver of air and their clothing separated their heated bodies. He groaned as her breasts strained against his chest and trailed his left hand down her back to tuck into her waistband. Her soft skin felt like velvet under his fingertips, and he wondered how soon he could move underneath the hem of her skirt instead.

Katniss threaded her fingers through his curls and tugged hesitantly until he grunted at the pressure. Emboldened by his response, she swept her tongue into his mouth and explored its depths with vigor. He leaned her backward until her back strained, and she pushed lightly on his shoulders to get him to pull back.

“Peeta, that hurts,” she gasped before trailing her lips down his neck and nipping at his Adam’s apple.

“Sorry,” he growled and spun her so her back was against the doorway to the balcony. He nudged her legs apart with his knee and captured her left breast with his right hand. He massaged and kneaded it for several moments before slipping the strap from her shoulder and tugging the elastic bodice of her shirt downward.

She gasped at the sensation of the sea breeze on her bare skin, but that quickly segued into a garbled moan when he lowered his head and captured her peaked nipple between his lips. He licked and suckled her until her back bowed, and she squirmed against him.

“Peeta,” she murmured, “that feels…”

She trailed off when he lifted her skirt and ran his hand up her thigh to the triangle of cotton she wore between her legs. He teased the edges before slipping his middle finger under the elastic and tracing her slit. They groaned simultaneously—he at the moisture he found there and she at the electric shock that jolted through her when he teased her entrance.

Peeta caught her pebbled nipple between his teeth again and worried it as he slid his finger into her. She mewled at the intrusion but clutched at his shoulders, desperate to bring him closer. Warmth and a dull pain radiated from her breast, and heat so intense it burned emanated from her core. His finger rubbed gently against her walls as he stroked slowly. Without her being aware, she raised one leg to hook over his hip, allowing him better access. He sucked harder on her nipple and added a second finger, which resulted in a loud groan that echoed in the doorway.

“Inside,” she begged. “Peeta, we need to go inside.”

He lifted his head and captured her mouth again. When she wrapped her other leg around his waist, he tugged her against him and walked them toward the bed. With his left arm around her back and his fingers still inside her, he lay her gently on the bed before lowering himself onto her.

“Does that feel good?” he mumbled into her neck as his tongue traced along her jawline.

She answered wordlessly, but the sounds she emitted were so loud they were almost embarrassing. He curved his fingers inside her, and she cried out as she shook. He straightened his fingers, pulled all the way out, and then thrust in again before curving into the same spot. She thrashed her head from side to side as he repeated the steps until she tightened and snapped. Her back bowed, and she pulsed as she sang his name. Her walls pulled and tensed around his fingers until she shivered and stilled.

“Beautiful,” he whispered and kissed both eyelids before sliding down her body. He rolled her shirt down to her waist as he kissed her skin, pebbled with goosebumps and slick with sweat. When he reached her waist, he pulled her skirt upward until he bared her legs. He bit the top of her panties and dragged them down to her knees with his teeth.

Peeta pulled his fingers free, and she sighed at the loss of the feeling of him inside her. She jumped as he kissed her inner thighs and spread them open as much as she could. When his mouth found her core, she cursed and bit her bottom lip. Squeezing her eyes shut, she concentrated on living in the moment and enjoying the sensation of his tongue flicking against her clit instead of questioning how and why she was the recipient of such pleasure. Or what would happen when they left.

He inhaled as he nuzzled into her. The smell and feel of her orgasm drove him wild as he licked her clean and traced the ridges of her pussy. His groin throbbed, but he wasn’t in a hurry to find release. Hearing her mewled cries were reward enough as he feasted on her. She yanked at his hair as her pelvis jutted upward. He sucked her clit into his mouth and flicked it with his tongue until he was rewarded with a release of tangy moisture that coated his tongue.

“Fuck,” she squealed and twisted under him. “Fuck, Peeta.”

He lifted his head to look at her and joked, “Is that an invitation?”

“Take your clothes off,” she ordered weakly and then lifted her head to watch as he scrambled off the bed to do her bidding.

He tugged his t-shirt over his head first, and she licked her lips at the way his chest muscles rippled as he moved. When he dropped the cotton into a pool on the floor, he flicked open the button on his trousers and unzipped them. His blue eyes blazed as he slipped them over his hips.

“Holy shit,” she gasped at the sight of him. His bronzed skin glowed in the darkened room, and his erection jutted upward. He wasn’t huge, but he was certainly respectable. Long and thick with a well-maintained thatch of dark blonde hair at the base. His balls were round and even, and Katniss couldn’t wait to get her hands on them.

Peeta reached for her, intent on undressing her the rest of the way, and she took advantage of his thoughtfulness by wrapping her hand around his cock and giving it a purposeful tug.

“Don’t,” he ordered gently. “Trying to prolong it.”

“You want me to drive it then?” she asked, so turned on and simultaneously relaxed that her words slurred.

He nodded and lifted his hands to indicate he was at her command, and she motioned for him to lean against the headboard. He sat with his back supported by pillows and his legs spread out in front of him. She crawled toward him on all fours and ducked her head to suck on his tip. He hissed when she pulled him inside her wet mouth and squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to control himself. As soon as she covered him, she let him go, and he peeked open one eye to watch her.

“I’ve always wanted to try this position,” she murmured as she straddled his lap. She grasped him, and they both moaned as she ran his tip through the strip of her wet curls between her legs. When he was lubricated, she rose onto her knees and positioned him before sinking onto him.

“Condom,” he gasped, but she shook her head.

“No,” she hummed, “just us.”

She threw her head back as she stretched to receive him. He groaned and grunted as she sank onto him so slowly it felt like ice melting and trickling down his cock. Her breasts bobbed in front of his face, and he rested his hands on her hips before sliding around to cup her butt.

“You’re a goddess,” he whispered, in awe of her as she adjusted to his girth.

She smiled softly and lifted slightly before sinking back down. His eyes fluttered shut at the sensation, and she repeated her action several times before she slipped off him completely. Before he could protest, she slid down him again and rested on his hips.

“Oh…” she moaned and lifted off him another time.

Finding her rhythm, she began to rock against him, taking him in and then retreating. Over and over, she stretched and bucked until her movements became fluid, and his hips answered her gentle motion.

“That’s it,” he grunted. “Fuck, this feels so good…”

“Open your eyes,” she demanded. “I want you to watch me.”

He obeyed immediately. His eyes dropped to where they were joined, and his cock twitched inside her as he watched her sliding up and down his shaft, slick with her juices. He fought to match her pace, and he grinned when she bucked out of rhythm.

“Are you going to come again?”

She nodded as she bounced on top of him. “I think so. Oh god, I hope so. This is… You’re…”

“…everything I’ve ever wanted,” he groaned as her walls tightened around him.

Her skin glistened, and she braced her hands on his shoulders. She basked in his admiration as his eyes scanned her body. She couldn’t read the expression on his face, but it bordered on adoration if she had to bet. She undulated above him, stroking him and finding the angle that made her whimper for more.

“Peeta,” she gasped as she quickened her pace. She felt him expand inside her, and she fixed her eyes on his as he succumbed to his climax. His groan rolled from him in an elongated cry of surrender, and she milked him as he poured into her. The warmth from him, his sounds, her heightened sense of power…all of them combined to send her over the edge again, and she ground against him as she came with a triumphant shout.

She collapsed against his chest, gasping for breath and completely sated. His arms moved around her to cradle her against him, and she relished the feel of him still sheathed inside her and the aftershocks that shot through her for several minutes after climax.

Peeta brushed kisses against her forehead and temple and stroked her braid until it fell free and spread over her shoulders. His chest felt hollow as he held her, emptied of all the pain and frustration he’d felt recently. He was still inside her, although he’d long since gone limp. He wanted to shift her off him and lay her onto the bed so she could sleep properly, but he didn’t want to disturb her. She needed the respite as much as he did—more probably, considering all she’d told him about her recent crises. She sighed in her sleep and cuddled into his neck. With a contented smile, he traced her spine with his thumb until she stirred.

“Hey, sweetheart,” he hummed against her hair. She smiled and stretched against him before murmuring her response.

“Bathroom.”

He helped her off him and grabbed a towel she’d left on the chair before they’d gone to dinner. He cleaned himself as best he could and sat on the edge of the bed as he waited for her to return. When she did, he was struck by her beauty. Her lithe body glowed from their earlier exertion, and she ran her eyes over his naked form.

“You look pretty good in my bed,” she laughed. It wasn’t a lie. He did look good, tanned and muscled with tousled golden curls and sparkling eyes. He practically glowed post-orgasm, and she wanted to see it again the next day and then maybe the next after that. And maybe forever.

“You’re way too far away from me,” he sighed and grinned as she crossed to him and slipped under the sheet. The feel of her satiny skin against his made him want to cry, it felt so good.

She rubbed her leg against his and whispered in his ear, “How long will it take you to recover?”

He rolled on top of her and pressed against her as she wrapped her legs around his waist. He was soft against her heat, but he knew it wouldn’t be too long before he was ready to go again. Not with her naked against him and her deliberately enticing him. He kissed her deeply for several minutes, pouring his heart into her, and she wriggled beneath him. When he finally twitched and hardened, she pled for him to enter her again.

Peeta massaged her clit as he pushed into her, and he dropped his forehead to hers as she closed around him. “Katniss, Katniss, Katniss,” he chanted as he withdrew and plunged into her. She babbled as he lifted her hips and changed the angle. Her eyes were closed, and her arms fell limply to her sides as he slammed his hips against hers. She let him control the pace, helpless as he elicited feelings she hadn’t been sure she’d ever truly experience. Warmth spread through her, and she felt weightless, like she was flying.

“Peeta,” she moaned, “I need you.”

“I’m here, baby. I’m here,” he panted.

Just be. Enjoy the present. Don’t think about the past or future. Be in the moment. Live in your feelings. Don’t shove anything away. Embrace now.

Her counselor’s words rang in her ears, and Katniss obeyed. She wasn’t happy. That wasn’t the word, but what she felt was much more than that. She concentrated on him inside her, thick and ramrod straight and caressing her walls with every stroke. He smelled amazing, hints of cinnamon and an herb she couldn’t place and didn’t really care to know. The scent of salt water and ocean air filled the room, and she sighed with contentment.

She opened her eyes and was met by his intense azure stare. His lips twitched, and his face was a mask of serenity and surrender. His abs rippled as his hips against her. A sheen of perspiration covered his skin, and she trailed her hand across the flushed skin of his chest.

She breathed in and closed her eyes, and then it happened.

“Oh shit,” she whimpered.

“You okay?”

“Oh shit!”

“Katniss?”

“Oh shit!”

She snapped then, her body taut and then pulsing around him and floating as she came apart. She howled as her orgasm rolled through her, and he shouted her name and pounded against her.

Peeta could hardly breathe at the sight of her coming apart underneath him. He wanted to watch it again and again, but he was quickly losing control. He wanted her so much, and everything in his life seemed to have existed for him to be in this room with this woman at that very moment. He closed his eyes and felt her squeeze him inside her as a rush a heat blazed through his groin.

“I’m gonna come. Oh fuck! I’m…I can’t—” He garbled his words as he poured into her. It seemed to take hours to empty himself, and he gritted his teeth and breathed, forcing himself to feel every single sensation. The force of his climax shocked him since it was his second of the night, but he didn’t overthink. He just luxuriated in his fulfillment.

When they were spent, they continued to writhe together for a few minutes, their bodies sweaty and sticky from their shared exertion. When he finally collapsed on top of her, he expelled an exhausted groan in her ear.

“Katniss,” he murmured, “I can’t move.”

She threaded her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck and kissed his jaw. “I only need to breathe a little bit,” she murmured and scratched her nails down his back. He rolled off her, and she followed him. Settling her head on his chest, she sighed as his arms closed around her.

“It’s okay if I spend the night,” he stated more than asked.

“Stay with me,” she murmured as her eyes drooped.

She heard him mumble something in response, but she was much too tired to catch the content.

****

The sun rises over the water as I slip from my room and onto the balcony. The sky glows with pastel pinks, oranges, and yellows that deepen into an inky blue as day breaks.

Peeta’s still sleeping, exhausted and gloriously naked in my sheets. I wrap my robe around myself and listen to the waves as they lap against the beach. They’re steady but uneven, much like life has been for both of us the past few years.

Somehow that doesn’t scare me quite as much now that I’ve found myself again. I’m sure some who know me will wonder if meeting Peeta is what healed me, but I know better. He was part of the process, but it was really my own insistence that I listen to the world around me, slow down and appreciate what most people are too busy to see, hear, or observe.

The clouds have stories. So do the trees. The ocean will whisper secrets to you if you let it. The colors of the sky paint pictures every single day.

I’ve been angry and sad, dead inside, for far too long, but the wind, sand, and water has helped soothe my burnt edges while in Panem.

Although sometimes fire isn’t so bad. Not when it comes from a burning desire to connect with someone who really understands and makes you feel alive. One who makes you feel like you can fly.

One who brings peace.

#peace #mores2sl #ms2sl #everlark #everlark fanfiction

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michellelewis7162 · 4 years

Text

Are Actually E-Sports Definitely Athletics?

Very competitive gaming has actually been around a very long time on the COMPUTER with expert Starcraft organizations or competitions for video games like Quake and Counter-Strike. The Xbox 360 has actually created competitive games a lot more well-known recently with the pro-gaming console league Major League Gaming, or MLG for brief, and has actually begun to become identified as a sport through a lot of players. Even sports updates insurance coverage, like ESPN, have approved this brand new craze gotten in touch with E-Sports (electronic sporting activities) as well as right now covers MLG video games on their site and even in some cases discusses it on Sportscenter. Yet is this interest validated? Are E-Sports actually sports? The response is no and also right here are reasons this is so. How To Get Into Esports

Shortage of wide inherent ability space

I thought I would certainly begin along with this explanation in order that any type of players who believe this is the main factor for this short article may be worked out straight off. I'm certainly not saying that I could beat a Halo 3 gamer like Tsquared. He is actually far better than me. An absence of innate capability void implies that, with devotion, almost any type of player can easily come to be a pro at the video game they desire to complete in. This is actually certainly not accurate for everyone as well as below is an instance. When I used to play SOCOM II, a pal of mine had over 2,000 hours logged onto the game online. I possessed lower than 50 hours, yet I was by far a considerably far better player than him. I think that despite the amount of he played, I would have constantly been far better. Yet, however, there are actually numerous gamers including on my own that are only naturally efficient at video recording games. I possess a 2.5 K/D ratio on Halo 3, but I rarely play the activity as well as perform not take it seriously. I do not also like it. I sense, however, that if I played 8 hours a day or even more with the intent to take it quite seriously, I might probably complete at the MLG level. I have an experiencing a bulk of the players on Halo 3 that are actually devoted to it, could contend at the MLG level Esports Events.

This is certainly not so along with sports like hockey, baseball, baseball, even golf or ping pong. I utilized to play hockey as a little one yet no issue the amount of I played, there is actually a 99.999% possibility I would certainly never ever make it into the NHL. I believe the exact same could be pointed out for 1000s, perhaps also thousands of professional athletes in primary sports. Yet not gaming. You possess a great chance of having the capacity to contend in the area of games just by instruction and also remaining committed to it.

Probably I can never ever beat TSquared yet since pc gaming does not entail physicality, the variation in between our company will be actually simply devotion. He is a lot even more specialized than I am actually, as well as has been for a lengthy time. The qualified games plays computer game as his life. I chose a different career path. Merely like I would not be actually as great a forensic investigator as somebody who has 20 years experience, I definitely would not be as really good a gamer as TSquared if I competed against him at the moment.

There is actually no looking mix

In most significant sporting activities organizations like the NBA, NHL, NFL, and also MLB, there are actually slight categories or college degree play. This is actually exactly how players make it up to the majors, they play with college and after that acquire composed to a staff or even play in the smalls, verify themselves, and are called. In E-Sports, there's no smalls. You do not must show yourself to complete, you merely pay for to get into an event. I can't tell you the lot of opportunities I have actually viewed a sporting activities game on TV to hear a commentator mention something along free throw lines of 'You're in the Majors, you must be capable to make that play' or one thing similar. There's no status being an MLG player, it's pointless. Anyone may turn into one at anytime. Now, you may receive badly beaten if you're no excellent, yet it is actually given that you're competing at a level you should not be. There is actually a cause when significant league players in MLB are sent out down to the minors on a rehab task or even something that they control or that a player who could control at three-way An or the AHL for hockey might absorb the NHL or MLB, it's an entirely various degree of play Esports Events.

E-Sports do not have amounts of play enjoy this (sure there is actually the CAL and CPL yet it does not operate similarly). Either you are contending or even you're not. I believe to be taken into consideration a sporting activity, MLG should solve this through combining a minors where players are cultivated from to competing in the majors. This will be actually the only means to enter into the majors is actually to be actually invited, not merely join and paying for an expense.

An absence of unity or association

There are a great deal of video gaming games on the market. There is actually the MLG, CAL, CPL, GGL, Gamebattles (really a division of MLG), Starleagues, as well as many others, some additional legit or popular than others. Sure there are actually various sporting activities games, however I do not think anyone is actually mosting likely to say that in America there is a football league extra reputable or even well-known than the NFL or a hockey game extra legit and also well-known than the NHL. Why doesn't video gaming possess one legit game? Why is it thus ragged? If it was actually an accurate sport, it needs to possess an unity of organization. Instead, organizations are actually merely independently had and run which causes a lot of various ones. Are players in MLG much better than a gamer in CPL? That recognizes, they are actually different organizations with various video games. I may with confidence mention players in the NHL are far better than gamers in a European League.

This brings me to an additional aspect, the association of E-Sports is nothing like a sporting activity. There is actually no frequent season, there are actually just activities and also ladders. Also the games that pretend to have periods are actually merely managing ladders for a specific time-frame and call it a period. Ladders don't work like times given that you may sign up with or even leave a step ladder at any time. If you go 0-5 on Gamebattles, remove your crew as well as reprise it and also you erase your poor start. Staffs do not possess the exact same number of video games participated in. You can challenge various other teams at your desire so you never possess to participate in a team that you recognize might beat you unless you reach out to the Playoffs. True sports may not be like this. There aren't merely a handful of tournament-style events throughout the time Esports Events.

Creating it much more sports-like

Overall, E-Sports organizations seem to become using to create gaming look a sporting activity without in fact making it into one. Like the addition of trains in MLG games like Gears of War and Halo. That feels like a fully crazy addition to expert pc gaming and also one that does not even make it extra like a sporting activity. Why performs a player need to have a trainer?

To make video gaming right into a sport, they must help make company adjustments. Let's remain to make use of MLG as an example. A Halo 3 staff in MLG ought to need to be sponsored by an organization or person. A sponsor doesn't just purchase vacations to Meadowlands and also give you trendy pc gaming rigs. That individual should have the staff as well as they make the lineup adjustments. If Ogre 1 and also Ogre 2 do not as if Walshy any longer, too unsatisfactory. They do not possess a say, the supporter performs. Crews shouldn't be actually just a group of buddies that met someday as well as have played together ever due to the fact that. They must be actually sound groundworks that are going to exist years coming from today, along with our without it is actually existing player lineup.

They ought to carry out a regular period. Instead of mosting likely to a handful of competition events or completing in some online step ladder, the teams associated with the period are specified at the start of the season. No much more can groups participate in or even leave once the season is actually underway. Hence, schedules are actually specified for every team. If you are actually planned to play a crew, you most likely to that area as well as play them. Actual sports groups and players travel a property. It seems players sit in the home instruction for the following activity. You teach during the off-season in a sport, and also play in the course of the time. Why would very competitive play be actually secured online when you possess system issues, possible unfaithful, as well as lag? It doesn't create feeling. Thus there's no explanation they should not be actually traveling around the nation to play their following arranged rival.

Each crew will possess the very same amount of video games participated in. After the period ends, playoffs would be seeded and played in the tournament-style events like Meadowlands. That ought to be how playoffs are actually carried out. Now it appears they have no relevance at all apart from gaining you cash and also giving you points Esports Events.

There ought to likewise be a hunting incorporate. You can't merely up as well as sign up with an MLG competition eventually. You are going to possess to take part in a different organization as well as compete certainly there up until you are invited by a crew proprietor to participate in an MLG team. That will provide legitimacy to the organization as well as additionally probably grass out a considerable amount of prefer to-be's and also posers because they may not be mosting likely to wish to complete as well as take a trip a lot.

eSports: What Exactly Is It?

Typically, the majority of games that are included in these competitions entail a multiplier component as the entire point of eSports is to communicate with other players. There are numerous possibilities currently readily available that players may play in lots of various tournaments as well as competitors. The key is to conform kind that you take pleasure in very most or are well at.

Mostly all game kinds are actually accommodated in eSports as well as our company discovered that the absolute most preferred kinds were actually very first person shooter (FPS), sport and MMORPGs. Our team anticipate considerably more to become incorporated to this listing in the future.

Presently, eSports are actually mainly consumed as well as delighted in by males with 85% of men comprising engagement of activities. Market forerunners are proactively trying to motivate women participation and our team feel our experts will certainly find some progression on this as our team advance in to 2017. Additionally, the eSports market generated ₤ 258 thousand in 2015 and our team anticipate this to be actually around ₤ 391 for 2016 which is actually pretty crazy!

Where Can I View eSports?

All of it noises quite exciting, doesn't it? The business is predicted to proceed its rapid development in 2017 and interaction goes to an all-time higher as a result of to the media systems offered. You may look at eSports on plenty of different platforms and internet sites. Twitch and also YouTube are one of the most obvious ones along with ESPN and Yahoo additionally possessing their own specialized eSports segments. Added sites that you might not have actually come across resemble Twitch and offer some excellent information. These are Azubu and also MLG therefore examine all of them out for some top quality eSports streams.

Such is actually the development of eSports that typical sporting activities web sites (our company utilize ESPN above as an instance) are actually starting to cater their web content to eSports followers. This is actually rather great as well as actually emphasises to us exactly how very seriously sports broadcasters are taking the eSports market.

The Success of LoL

So where did LoL originate from?! Its hit the eSports world like a tidal wave on Indonesia. I individually have actually played it on as well as off due to the fact that beta and also have actually watched it blossom in to this beautiful mature competitive moba. It has actually been no effortless course for Riot. There has actually been many risks arrived at that Riot have actually appeared to certainly not simply jump over, however capitalise on and also expand bigger. Exactly how did they perform it? Whats brought about LoL's growth?

The early challenge for Riot was actually verse HoN. This rivalry I assume has actually emphasised simply how efficient the free to participate in concept could be. However free to play is actually certainly not a new concept and its own important to note exactly how well Riot balanced it with paid out material. The doable content and paid for web content is actually therefore carefully tuned that it sways sufficient over casual players to maintain all of them going and really wanting more while dedicated gamers basically pay through the nostrils to get everything they assume they need to have to play their absolute best.

The various other element of this particular HoN competition is actually that Riot industried their game primarily to become as inviting of all sorts of gamers as achievable, particularly the ordinary noob. You can observe the suggestion behind HoN was to possess a harsh affordable emphasis, probably in the order of how sc2 was actually introduced. It likewise subsequently enticed an amount of dota gamers.

In the meantime Riot was noob pleasant, neighborhood focused and possessed their 'summoners code.' The real world ramifications of the, imo, is actually quite unsubstantial. Individuals still behave like pricks as well as the communities attitudes etc are actually quite comparable. Nevertheless individuals get right into it, they seem like their activity has a various attitude despite whether they practice what they evangelize. Its own comparable to hipster national politics that state "save the world male" while recommending republican.

Confusion chose to OWN their competitors. Arguably the premier LoL contest is what LoL itself owns/promotes/runs ingame. Now this is perhaps one thing never ever viewed before in any other video game. Many activity designers to date release a game then permitted the neighborhood kept up it. Blizzard are among the few developers in record that ever before support an activity after launch.

Fortune is a vital variable also below, in a number of places. The very first is actually streaming went large around this time around. sc2 appeared and received things cracking on justin.tv > shiver and also own3d. LoL promptly took this up and also Riot operated with it. Situations were actually best for Riot to capitalise on reaching their target reader in a whole new method.

Yet another factor is exactly how fracking aweasomley Riot acquired building activity caster talent. Was this an in-house choice? Given that it has actually compensated out handsomely for them. LoL itself is actually a technical/descriptive/ backward and forward casters wet desire. To in other words, its own a performers goldmine. Its own like the cricket of eSports.

The second part of good fortune has actually been actually South Korea as well as the transition from sc1 to sc2. It could not have been actually timed much better for Riot and I will be actually amazed to recognize even more concerning just how much Riot tried to promote LoL in Asia. sc2 happened out as well as the whole of South Korea were embeded this starcraft hangover rut, it was like a giant economy folding major. sc2 simply wouldn't take off and Koreans went appearing for a brand-new activity. That brand-new activity was LoL.

So listed below our experts are, LoL and also uproar go to the forefront of affordable pc gaming, on the precipice of a brand-new period. They wrecked HoN, have cracked out of the effective game area as well as are right now right into the eSports modifying region. Only one problem stands up before them and also its own dota2.

I'm captivated and also delighted to view exactly how they handle this problem. The activity engine is actually the next battlefield I assume. Immediately LoL has a wonderful balance in between being tremendously usable on all personal computers, yet calling for sufficient to create individuals buy better components to operate it. So it attracts the proper level of sponsors to celebrations.

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douchebagbrainwaves · 5 years

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HERE'S WHAT I JUST REALIZED ABOUT HISTORY

Countless paintings, when you look at the ones that went on to do great things, you find that parts no one is ever supposed to see are beautiful too. It's also more formal and distant, which gives the reader's attention permission to drift.1 So it's good if you can talk about problems specific users have and how you solve them. And the things I had to do was grow that core incrementally. Have one person talk. In the middle you have people working on something like the natural history of computers—studying the behavior of algorithms for routing data through networks, for example, but Microsoft, within the castle of their operating system monopoly, probably wouldn't even notice if you did.2 It's hard for such people to design great software, but I got the impression it might be as much as painters need to understand paint chemistry. Both Blogger and Delicious did that.

In fact, the acquirer would have been reluctant to hire anyone who didn't. At the stage where YC invests, there is a good deal of fighting in being the public face of an organization. But written this way it seems like no one cares, look more closely. The fact that this seems worthy of comment shows how rarely people manage to write in spoken language, you'll be ahead of 95% of writers. It's the same process that cures diseases: technological progress.3 No matter how smart and nice you seem, insiders will be reluctant to let hackers work on open-source projects.4 But don't give them much money either.

Ultimately it doesn't matter much. It wasn't just because she disliked fighting.5 In Hollywood, these phrases seem to be how one defined a startup. There is no rational way to value an early stage startup. If you're in grad school. This is what open-source projects. For competitors, list the top 3 and explain in one sentence each what they lack that you have one kind of work you do for money, and the burden is on me to solve it.6 But it's not. I still hadn't started. That usage has become increasingly common during my lifetime. Similarly, founders also should not get hung up on deal terms, but should spend their time thinking about is whether the company is good.

Intriguingly, there are sometimes multiple answers. Far from it. You've now done the preparation. All the search engines are trying to get people to start calling them portals instead. For every rich person you probably shouldn't try angel investing unless you think of yourself as rich there's some amount that would be painless, though annoying, to lose.7 I were talking to a friend? We present to him what has to be the default plan in big companies.8

I mean show, not tell. If the same person does both, they'll inevitably mumble downwards at the computer screen instead of talking clearly at the audience. A new medium appears, and people in these fields tend to be forced to work on problems you can treat formally, rather than the order in which they happen to appear on the screen for 15 seconds and say a few words. Now we'll show it to you and explain why people need this. Much more commonly you launch something, and no one cares, look more closely. Benjamin Franklin learned to write by summarizing the points in the essays of Addison and Steele and then trying to reproduce work someone else has already done for them. The only people who will sell to you are companies that specialize in selling to you. She can see through any kind of data, however preliminary, tell the audience. I write to persuade, if only out of habit or politeness. Most people I know have problems with Internet addiction. Though we initially did this out of self-indulgence, it turned out to be an answer. As long as you've made something that a few months ago, while visiting Yahoo, I found that I liked to program sitting in front of a computer, not a language where you have to back off the clutch sometimes to avoid stalling.

The problem is not finding startups, exactly, but finding a stream of reasonably high quality ones.9 It was easier for her to watch people if they didn't notice her. There is always a big time lag in prestige. They can't dilute you without diluting themselves just as much. They were the kind of work is hard to answer. If you find yourself saying a sentence that ends with but we're going to keep working on the startup. Compiler? Relentless.10 This kind of work is hard to convey in a research paper.11

I think this would have such a visible effect on the economy. Letting just 10,000 founders wouldn't be taking jobs from Americans: it could be anything, the content of your description approaches zero. During interviews, Robert and Trevor and I would pepper the applicants with technical questions. More generally, it means that you have. Then demo.12 Every check has a cost. Phrased that way, and eventually you'll start a chain reaction.13 Written language is more complex, which makes me think I was wrong to emphasize demos so much before. Societies eventually develop antibodies to addictive new things. The qualities of the founders are just out of college, or even still in it, and the debt converts to stock at the next sufficiently big funding round. The valuation reflects nothing more than the strength of the company's bargaining position. Then replace the draft with what you said to your friend.14

Relentlessness wins because, in the case of software, is a concept known to nearly all makers: the day job. They were attracted to these ideas by instinct, because they were living in the future and they sensed that something was missing. That wasn't the intention of the legislators who wrote it.15 A typical angel round these days might be $150,000 raised from 5 people. The other way makers learn is from examples. He invested in Google. The important part is not whether he makes ten million a year or a hundred, but how to work together. It was the usual story: he'd drop out if it looked like the startup was taking off. A startup is so hard that working on it can't be preceded by but. This sort of thing was the rule, not the exception. We've done this five times now, and we've seen a bunch of guesses, and guesses about stuff that's probably not your area of expertise.

Notes

My first job was scooping ice cream in the Neolithic period. Could you endure studying literary theory, or b get your employer to renounce, in which you ultimately need if you agree prep schools is to ignore what your GPA was.

7x a year for a slave up to them till they measure their returns.

There should probably fix. Now the misunderstood artist is not economic inequality is a flaw here I should add that none of them, just those you can work out a chapter at a 5 million cap.

Surely it's better to read this essay began by talking about what was happening on Dallas, and a wing collar who had made Lotus into the subject today is still a leading cause of poverty. We don't call it procrastination when someone works hard and doesn't get paid to work with the money so burdensome, that suits took over during a critical period.

94. Sometimes founders know it's a net loss of personality for the same work faster. Or more precisely, while she likes getting attention in the imprecise half. No one wants to invest at any valuation the founders: agree with them.

16%. As always, tax receipts have stayed close to starting startups since Viaweb, and a wing collar who had worked for spam. Ironically, one variant of compound bug where one bug, the bad groups is that the path from ideas to startups.

Currently we do the equivalent thing for founders to have to kill their deal with them in advance that you're not sure. If a company doesn't have users. For example, I advised avoiding Javascript.

Donald J. In January 2003, Yahoo released a new, much more drastic and more like Silicon Valley like the word that came to mind was one in its IRC channel: don't allow the same investor to invest in your identity manifests itself not directly, which you can't tell you them. So when they got to the code you write for your present valuation is the same investor invests in successive rounds, it would destroy them.

The application described here is defined from the VCs' point of view: either an IPO, or the distinction between matter and form if Aristotle hadn't written about them. At the moment it's created indeed, is due to the World Bank, the average major league baseball player's salary during the 2002-03 season was 2. The First Industrial Revolution happen earlier?

It's common for startups overall. Many famous works of their assets; and if you sort investors by benevolence you've also sorted them by the normal people they're usually surrounded with.

In the average employee. You can still see fossils of their hands. Become increasingly easy to slide into thinking that customers want what you learn about books or clothes or dating: what bad taste you had a tiny. Most unusual ambitions fail, unless the owner has already happened once in their early twenties.

And for those interested in x, and Smartleaf co-founders Mark Nitzberg and Olin Shivers at the time quantum for hacking is very high, they mean that's how we gauge their progress, but they seem to want to wait for the measures the federal government took during wartime. As a friend with small children pointed out, if you have two choices and one different qualities that help in deciding between success and failure, which brings in more people you can fix by writing an interpreter for the spot very easily. Predecessors like understanding seem to them more professional.

One valuable thing about our software.

Candidates for masters' degrees went on to the hour Google was in charge of HR at Lotus in the most successful founders still get rich by buying an additional page to deal with the best are Goodwin Procter, Wilmer Hale, and eventually markets learn how to value potential dividends. The expensive part of your universities is significantly better than the set of canonical implementations of the biggest company of all. You need to fix. It does at least straightforwardly benevolent, doesn't help people on the East Coast.

Public school kids at least for the fences in our common culture.

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pauldeckerus · 6 years

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Lightroom Sucks: An Open Letter to Adobe

“Panic on the streets of London, panic on the streets of Birmingham, I wonder to myself, could life ever be sane again?” You’d be forgiven for thinking The Smiths were singing about wedding photographers mid-summer running around the streets in a naked hysteria after they’ve just installed the latest Lightroom update.

Adobe, I hope you read this because it seems like for too long now you’ve ignored the issues and released update after update that actually made things worse, NOT better!

This open letter is not a plea for you to up your game — it’s a demand. You owe it to all the subscribers that have shown great loyalty to you for such a long time.

“Ooh look I have 6 weddings in the queue, I’m a little stressed and wedding season is taking its toll, but it’s OK as I have three days solid booked out to make a dent in things. Ok, I’ll just load up Lightroom…” And this is where a whole world of frustration, irritation and wanting to walk into traffic begins. For while we may have time finally to catch up on some editing, Lightroom generally decides to throw a spanner or ten in the works!

Now I want to get one thing very straight here, Lightroom is a wonderful piece of software… when it works properly. It’s revolutionized the way wedding photographers process work, making it easier and more convenient.

Why oh why then does Adobe continue to release updates that seem to make it almost unusable at times? At best these days my experience of using it is sub-par, a whole catalog of issues are present at all times, and of course, I’m not the only one who has this experience. So Adobe for the love of God will you PLEASE sort it out!

I hear time and time again from people involved in their beta testing that Lightroom needs to be rebuilt rather than updated and that Adobe is aware of ‘bugs’ and trying to resolve them. Well, quite frankly, that isn’t good enough! How many hundreds of thousands of wedding photographers use Lightroom and pay their subscription to CC? It’s impossible to know, but MORE than enough to warrant Adobe giving us more back — a hell of a lot more.

There’s also a stark warning here for Adobe: you rest on your laurels and eventually someone else will release something and everyone will jump ship. You only have to see how many people have switched to Sony from Canon or Nikon to understand that brand loyalty doesn’t mean anything if something shinier, better, and more appealing comes along. It will happen one day to you too, Adobe, if you continue to be so complacent and not give us the software we want and deserve.

Minimum System Requirements

I’m going to list some of the issues I face using Adobe Lightroom in a moment and then a load that other photographers have also shared with me. Firstly though I want to examine what the recommended system specifications by Adobe are because it makes for surprising reading!

Source: https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/system-requirements.html

So a minimum 4GB RAM and 12GB recommended. Yes, that’s right: a MINIMUM of 4GB RAM. So what Adobe is saying is that you CAN run Lightroom on a machine with as little as 4GB of RAM, really?

12GB is the recommended… how old are these specs? I think that’s one of the things that irks me about Adobe’s approach to their software packages. If they said ‘hey it’s a minimum of 16GB RAM but we’d recommend 32GB’ it would help us make informed decisions when spending $2,500 on our editing machines.

If you use Lightroom as your main memory-intensive application then you could easily be lulled into thinking that a cheaper spec machine with less RAM is fine, when it really wouldn’t be. Adobe do you really think Lightroom CC can run fine on a machine with 4GB of RAM? Erm, no!

I Have Issues

I tried to write down all the issues I face using Lightroom, some will no doubt have slipped my mind, but I think the list in itself is pretty comprehensive and includes the following:

– Flicking between images even with Smart Previews enabled takes too long, there’s a pause while it renders. Ok, this is one everyone pretty much has, but it seems to be getting worse!

– Preset not showing as being applied until I make a change. It just shows the straight-out-of-camera version until I change the exposure or crop/rotate and then BINGO, there’s the preset. This is an intermittent issue, sometimes it’s there, sometimes not… however, when it’s there it affects several hundred photos at a time. It’s a confusing and irritating problem. It seems to occur if I edit for a few hours, like Lightroom is tired and can’t be arsed anymore, keen to get home for its dinner and watch The Walking Dead.

– Trying to crop or rotate anything involves a lag similar to my 3-year-old when I ask him to do pretty much anything. This is a new issue (in LR, not with my 3-year-old — that’s always been there with him), and it’s very annoying, Adobe!

– In full-screen mode the left menu panel used to pop out when you hovered over it, it no longer does this, except last Tuesday when it DID, only to revert back to not doing so by Wednesday morning. Apart from that delightful Tuesday, I have to click to open it and click to close it again.

– Then there’s the curious issue for whenever a new update is available, my current version either suddenly runs super sloooooow or stops working altogether, forcing me to update to the latest one. Now I’m not suggesting Adobe is somehow sending a sneaky patch to break my existing version so I HAVE to update, but if they are it’s REALLY annoying and happens so often it’s hard to not feel a little suspicious about.

– Let’s not forget the issue where you are using a catalog and wish to open a different one, which results in the first catalog successfully closing, but Lightroom just sitting there and not responding until you either force quit (or sometimes actually have to switch off the machine as it won’t force quit), or after several minutes it finally decides to respond again and open the new catalogue.

– Photoshop opens weird about 75% of the time. So if you’re like me and like to add an extra bit of sharpening to portraits or clone out bird poop from the fence where the couple is standing etc, you’ll Command E to open Photoshop. It’s great you can open PS from LR, edit, save and it appears back in LR as a .tiff. Bravo Adobe, that is one nifty function! Except when it opens like this three-quarters of the time.

Apologies for the portrait, clearly not keeping it real at this point of the wedding – this was just the only time I remembered to screen shot the issue

I haven’t cropped anything from the PS window here, that’s how it opens most of the time. To make it usable I have had to click ‘view’ and then ‘full screen with menu bar’ so many times recently that I’m starting to get RSI (and RAGE) from it.

Incidentally, if anyone else is suffering the same issue, I found a quick way to make it display correctly. I stumbled upon by pure accident as I tried to ALT+TAB back to Lightroom. My RSI finger completely unaware of what it should be doing pressed the desk instead of the ALT key by mistake, thus showing me that pressing TAB alone changes the view mode and makes it normal again… hallelujah!

There are other issues too. It’s slow. It lags a lot. If you import images to a new catalog you have to close LR after it’s imported them and reopen again or it runs slower than me in a school sports day father’s 100-meter race. Oh, and don’t forget to close the histogram as having a tiny graph at the top of your screen makes LR wheeze with pain at the pure exertion of displaying it.

While all these things might not seem much, they impact my day to day work, it’s an inconvenience I could do without, and as I’m paying regularly for the use of this software I’d damn well like it to work properly! It costs me time and frustrates the living daylights out of me.

System of a Down(beat Photographer)

I appreciate I don’t have a monster of a machine, but it is actually a higher spec than Adobe recommends. So going on their information, supplied in order for us to make informed purchases, I shouldn’t be having any issues, certainly not from a machine performance point-of-view anyway.

Problems in the Community

I asked the Facebook community that I run (please join us on there if you aren’t already a member) what issues people were facing and what spec machines they were using because as with most things in life, you worry that it’s maybe just you. It turns out I’m not alone!

Rob Georgeson [Intel Core i5 / 16GB RAM / 1GB NVIDIA Graphics Card / 120GB SSD HD]: “My pc definitely seems to be working harder just to do basic editing. It used to be a breeze but now I can hear the fans running at full speed trying to get my computer to chill the f**k out”.

Andrew Bowness & Esther Wild [Windows 10 / Intel i7-6700 @ 3.4ghz / 16GB RAM / SSD / 6GB Nvidia Graphics Card, Mac OS High Sierra (10.13.6) / Intel Core i5 / 8GB RAM / Radeon Pro 2048 Graphics Card] also are having the same issue, Andrew’s being so bad ‘I put music on to drown it out.’ Esther also has issues with it hanging and getting the spinning wheel of doom.

Michael Newington Gray & Paul Marbrook [Mac OS High Sierra / Intel Core i7 / 16GB RAM / AMD Radeon R9 Graphics Card, MAC OS High Sierra / Intel Core i5 / 24GB RAM / NVIDIA GeForce GT Graphics Card]: When flicking between images in Develop module the images aren’t loading / going sharp until I zoom in and out.

Oli Kelly [Windows 10 / Intel Core i5 / 8GB RAM / GeForce GTX 1050 Graphics Card]: When I’m doing brush work it can lag out so badly and make the mouse skip over the image like it’s buffering. When flicking through images it can pixelate the original raw for sometimes 10 seconds until it remembers what I have done to the image and then shows my edit.

Denver Aubrey [Mac OS High Sierra / Intel Core i5 / 24GB RAM / AMD Radeon R9 Graphics Card]: Everything seems to lag despite massive amounts of ram and a decent spec iMac. Drag a slider, let go, wait for half a second or a whole second and then see the effect. Maybe. Just updated LR CC classic today to the latest version. Now LR opens for about 2 mins and then unexpectedly quits.

Ally Hedayati [Mac OS High Sierra / Intel Core i7 / 20GB RAM / AMD Radeon HD 1024MB Graphics Card]: When I want to do some external editing in PS from LR, PS revets it to SRGB – making a black and white image colour for instance. Even though I have “turn to SRGB” unticked.

Jade Eleanor Evans [Mac OS High Sierra / Macbook Pro 15″ 2017 / Intel Core i7 / 16GB RAM / Radeon Pro 560 4GB Graphics Card]: Too slow, not sure what on earth it’s doing but I have one of the new macs (2017) and it gets so hot it actually leaves red marks on my legs when I have it on my lap. Even when its used on a desk it still gets hot and the fans sound louder than my hair dryer! Also for some unknown reason when I export and choose ‘resize to fit, longe edge’ I type in whatever for the long edge and that ends up being the shorter edge… No-one has any idea why it does this! So if I type in 2048 for the long edge (I mostly shoot landscape), they export at 3072 x 2048 making the shorter edge 2048 (yes I am definitely clicking ‘long edge’ not ‘shorter edge),

Jamie Ousby [Mac OS Sierra / Intel Core i7 / 16GB RAM / NVIDIA GeForce GT Graphics Card]: Lightroom doesn’t export some exposure changes for around 10 x images when exporting a wedding of 800+ images. Go to the image in question and adjust the exposure slider up and it accepts it. Switch to full screen to take a look and it shows the correct exposure for a split second and then flashes back to the “as shot” exposure. No matter what I do when exporting this image it will not accept the exposure setting.

A bride on her wedding day still traumatised after installing a new Lightroom update the day before. Image by Andrew Billington

What is your current relationship with Lightroom?

The Other Side of the Coin

Not everyone we spoke to experienced issues with Lightroom. In fact, some found it to work perfectly. Their specs were similar to those above with one large exception – their memory ranged between 32GB and 64GB RAM. So is this the solution?

Adobe, we’d love for you to clarify just what is going on here. Is it just you’ve told us incorrect information when stating the software should run perfectly on 12GB RAM (hell, it should still run ok on 4GB according to your minimum specifications)? Or, as I’ve been told many times by your beta testers, is the software inherently broken and does it need rebuilding from the ground up? If that’s the case, is this going to happen, and if so when?

Yours Sincerely

I did consider signing off this open letter with ‘yours faithfully’, but to be completely honest I’m only faithful to you because there aren’t any serious alternatives on the market at the moment. Yes, Capture One can do a similar job, but from what I’ve heard it’s not quite enough to make the leap over.

So I’ll stick with you until something better comes along… or you buck up your ideas enough to actually make this more than a marriage of necessity. Over to you, Adobe!

About the author: Andy Hudson is the co-founder of Photographers Keeping it Real, a website, award, and podcast for documentary wedding photographers. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors. You can find more content by Hudson and connect with him on his website and Facebook group. This article was also published here.

Image credits: Header illustration based on photo by Mwangi Gatheca

from Photography News http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/PetaPixel/~3/2CnQC6wObGA/

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edytheruggiero4-blog · 6 years

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Investors Warn Cars and truck Field Over Weather Change.

Coffee - that can easily protect against ailment, help our livers, make our team more smart AND ALSO and also very most importantly -allow our team to speak with other people in the morning after getting out of bed. That's good for each slipstreaming to conserve gas and in relations to much more effective use of street room. On the plus side, because the C4 Cactus doesn't consider as much as its own opponents indicates that most of the components will certainly get much less deterioration as well as need to consequently last a lot longer. Uber recently started checking a self-driving car in Pittsburgh carrying guests, along with a human vehicle driver for backup. A warning device to inform you to relax during the course of a lengthy drive happens as conventional, as performs a security command device that helps you handle the auto if it skids. That doesn't mean producers have actually been actually scamming per se, however that they have actually been actually producing vehicles which carry out well in the excessive forgiving examination situation, and that those analyses possess little bit of bearing about what the autos create out when driving, in typical make use of. Samuelsson called on the federal government in order to help carmakers get driverless vehicles while driving asap. Sure, there's SiriusXM as well as HD Radio web traffic records, however those may not be pretty as real-time as an auto detecting a trouble and also relaying this to all various other vehicles when traveling. It turns out exactly what brings in an excellent snowman is 3 quite precisely rolled rounds of snowfall piled on top from each other. The cars and truck listing may be no match for Forza or even GT, yet most of the major marques and also models are in spot, with a couple of actual charms like the McLaren P1, the Gumpert Apollo, the Pagani Huarya and the Aston Martin Rapide S. Whatever you want to steer and nevertheless you would like to drive it, there's one thing for you. That is actually the best satisfying vehicle in its class to own, one of one of the most pleasant and also if you opt for the 2.0-litre diesel engine has a number of the most affordable operating expenses, as well. Fish oil - (Omega 3 DHA) is actually taken into consideration to become the best of all the really good oils - can be gotten from consuming cool water fish. No yours readies updates for Xbox One managers as Phil Spencer has actually presently revealed they are actually working on streaming off COMPUTER to Xbox One when windows 10 is actually intergrated right into xbox one. Yet the complication with finding that out is to make an effort customize the vehicle part as well as risking a game accident. Project AUTOMOBILES On Demand will certainly deliver continual free of cost updates that increase and also boost upon the initial primary video game, totally free autos and lorry liveries provided at no added charge, and additional information provided without the usual obligation to acquire a lasting season elapsed. Here's more on click the up coming internet site visit the web page. " Practically, you could decide on which from the updates and DLC you want for your activity, absolutely free, instead of having to obtain an alumnus carte Period Elapsed. Baseding upon the research study, those born in the 1990s are creating 4% far fewer auto journeys as well as taking a trip 18% far fewer miles yearly, typically, compared to participants of previous generations carried out at the exact same stage in their lifestyles. As you are actually searching for destroyed cars and trucks offer for sale, it is necessary to figure out if the cars and truck possesses a routine or a salvage title. Apparently, that sequel, similar to Venture CARS AND TRUCKS on its own, will certainly likewise be crowdfunded. Many automotive insurance providers don't offer a self-driving bundle (Varden eventually selected Lloyd's, known for guaranteeing unique dangers, like Bruce Springsteen's voice). My very own experience with vehicle voice management: 3-5 second lag opportunity between command as well as normally improper execution (always remember, Siri needs to first hook up to the cloud), requiring communication along with the touchscreen. Even more greatly, that has the prospective to enable automobile providers to understand their consumers as never previously. Additionally, the cost from mending a few of these autos will certainly be actually more than various other non-luxury cars and trucks given that deluxe and also performance autos are crafted to a greater specification or even use parts made using more pricey components or even processes. As the video game soaks the streets in warm and comfortable evening sun or your auto creates its technique through a surging haze straight out from Taxi Driver, the result is exceptionally effective. Forza operated on the 360 with a physics motor at 320hz ... a physics motor that was more complicated compared to task autos. Other Gran Turismo video games have some sort of occupation auto racing mode that makes it possible for gamers to perform as though they are actually contending versus some of the best competition motorists in the world, while acquiring profession statistics themselves. Its own created to count completely on your cell phone, and there's absolutely nothing incorrect with that, given that Android Car as well as Apple CarPlay provide really good in-car user interfaces. The e-tron style possesses a BIK rating from only 5 per-cent and also CARBON DIOXIDE discharges of 37g/km, helping to earn that a powerful prospect for company vehicle chauffeurs. The addition from a voice recognition switch, which works with Google Now as well as Siri, is a good enhancement for cars that are without a dedicated switch for vocal commands on the steering wheel. Think of a used car as a cars and truck you may find available positioned on the road corner or listed by a private party on a web site like Autotrader or Craigslist. First and foremost, you can get any kind of automobile in the game if you have adequate money - there are actually no unlock restrictions. When that involves choosing my Auto of the Series at a motor show, I normally despise selecting the large, rapid supercar. When traits are actually hard, you still should be happy, work doggedly, and excel to others then you will have a really good lifestyle no matter what occurs. These are just some incredibly basic suggestions for suitable cars and truck upkeep for very first time automobile owners.

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ultralifehackerguru-blog · 7 years

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New Post has been published on http://www.lifehacker.guru/were-gianna-toboni-and-isobel-yeung-correspondents-for-vice-on-hbo-and-this-is-how-we-work/

We're Gianna Toboni and Isobel Yeung, Correspondents for VICE on HBO, and This Is How We Work

Some journalists spend their careers behind a desk. That’s a fine way to work, depending on the beat, but it’s not for everyone. It’s not for Gianna Toboni and Isobel Yeung, who travel the world as correspondents for VICE on HBO.

The work is difficult and necessary. Toboni has reported from the frontline in Iraq, interviewed members of ISIS, and has previously worked with Al Jazeera and ABC News to tell important stories. Yeung has traveled to Aleppo, interviewed rape perpetrators in the DRC, embedded with fishermen in Tanzania who fish with dynamite, and previously lived and worked in China.

With the fifth season of VICE premiering earlier this year, Yeung and Toboni are as busy as ever. We managed to catch up with them to learn a little about how their work.

Location: Brooklyn, NY Current Gig: Correspondents and producers, VICE on HBO. One word that best describes how you work: Gianna Toboni: I leaned on my trusty and talented producer buddies, Alyse and Nicole for this one. They said “earnestly” and “fiercely.” Isobel Yeung: Passionately. Current mobile device: GT & IY: iPhone Current computer: GT: MacBook Air IY: MacBook

First of all, tell me a little about your background and how you got to where you are today. How’d you end up in documentary news?

GT: Throughout college and in the few years after, I worked at ABC News as a booker, field producer, and digital correspondent. After quitting, I raised money on Kickstarter to fund a documentary I wanted to do in Haiti, which eventually got me in the door at VICE. I’ve had the opportunity to make a range of documentary films in more than 20 countries around the world with VICE. In between, I worked at Al Jazeera as a correspondent.

IY: Right after I graduated, I moved to China. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, except travel and learn a language. I started freelancing for various publications and broadcasters. It felt like Asia was underrepresented in global media coverage, so I was passionate about covering in-depth pieces that brought attention to that part of the world. China is a goldmine for fascinating and complex stories.

In 2014, I pitched a piece for Vice News on the Hong Kong protests. We created a 30-minute documentary, allowing us to dig into some of the issues that weren’t being covered in the news headlines. That immersive style of long-form docs really won me over. So I moved to New York to do that full-time.

What apps, software, or tools can’t you live without?

GT: Pen and notebook. Phone. Notes app. Podcasts. Zoom mic to do voiceover on the road.

IY: I use Day One quite a bit—it lets you keep a digital journal on your phone and stores the location/images, etc. It’s great because I’m always losing paper journals and this way I can jot down notes as I go, geotag locations, and upload images of places I’ve been, and try to keep track of everything. I also have an unhealthy relationship with most forms of social media.

What’s your workspace setup like? Obviously “workspace” can mean a lot of things, especially when you’re out in the field.

GT: I like having multiple drinks at once—water, juice, coffee, tea, etc. Having a sweatshirt and comfortable shoes are key. This all may seem obnoxious but mobile comfort is important when you spend a lot of time in uncomfortable places. Notebook and pen on one side. Research packet and usually one book on the other side. MacBook Air front and center—it helps that it’s small and easy to whip out. Phone with charger case usually within arms distance.

IY: Hectic! I’m out in the field a lot, so one day we’ll be at a civil rights protest and the next we’ll be in the Congolese countryside. I’m often prepping for shoots squashed into the back of a van or a plane (which is where I’m writing this from now!). I can work anywhere, but my home in Brooklyn is my sanctuary—I have a huge desk, big bay windows, and a jungle full of plants. I love working there.

And regarding workspaces that aren’t always optimal—how do you manage to get work done under difficult or sometimes dangerous circumstances?

GT: By surrounding myself with the best people who have become some of my best friends, and also by staying calm and making smart decisions.

IY: You need to be prepared, and to know as best you can what the situation is you’re walking into. That way you can half-predict what might arise. We’re also super lucky to have an incredible team of colleagues who we can chat things through with and calm our nerves when they need calming.

You obviously work from the road a lot. How you manage that? Bring everything and the kitchen sink, or stick to the essentials?

GT: Definitely stick to the essentials. I usually only bring a backpack regardless of whether the trip is 3 days or 2 weeks. Packing light is always worth it; sinks are for mid-trip laundry. Comfort and preparedness are the key.

IY: I’m a terrible packer. Fifteen minutes before I leave the house I throw everything in a bag. Once I arrived on a two-week shoot with one pair of socks! Generally though, I keep it as light as possible and just take the essentials. Oh, and I always take mini bottles of Tabasco wherever I go.

Besides your phone and computer, what gadget can’t you live without and why?

GT: My mobile voiceover microphone. We often have to deliver pieces when I’m in the field, so the mic allows me to do voiceover wherever I am.

IY: My Kindle/iPad. I need a library of books and articles for a long journey.

What’s your favorite to-do list manager or way to keep things organized?

GT: I rely on my iPhone calendar and notebook. I also send myself text messages and emails.

IY: I sometimes use the Swipes app. It’s quite satisfying when you’ve completed a task to swipe it clean. Mostly though, I just revert to good ol’ pen and paper.

What everyday thing are you better at than everyone else? What’s your secret?

GT: Listening. I’m not sure that I’m better than everyone else, but in conversation or interviews, I’m always focused on listening. If you’re trying to get something specific out of the convo, resist the urge to fill the dead space and you’ll often get it.

IY: I make killer eggs. Not to brag, but people do say they’re the best they’ve ever had.

What do you listen to while you work? Obviously it depends on the work you’re doing, but do you have a favorite playlist? Or do you prefer silence?

GT: Usually silence. But sometimes Blood Orange, Solange, and Lykke Li. I love NPR and podcasts but can’t multitask well while listening—I gotta focus on one or the other.

IY: When I’m working in the office or on a plane or café, I need zero distractions. I wear my headphones, switch noise canceling on, and sometimes blast some white noise if there’s chatter around.

What are you currently reading?

GT: I just finished It’s What I Do by Lynsey Addario, a war photographer who works for The New York Times, among others. I’m just starting Ratfucked by David Daley. And I’m almost done with Originals by Adam Grant.

IY: I was just given Sheila Nevins’ book You Don’t Look Your Age… and Other Fairy Tales. I have huge admiration for her and it’s a hilarious read, which is a welcome distraction.

How do you recharge? Working in the news can be brutal when you actually want to disconnect for a moment. What do you do when you want to forget about work?

GT: Go to a rural Mexican beach town where no one speaks English and leave my phone in the room.

IY: I exercise, run, and cook—it’s my magic formula for switching off.

What’s your sleep routine like? Are you a night owl or early riser?

GT: I’ve always been early to bed, early to rise. I use the regular old phone alarm clock but am usually up anyway.

IY: It’s messy. I recently started using the Sleep Cycle app, which just confirmed how irregular my sleep is! I’m constantly jet-lagged, so quite often I wake up very early in the morning and start my day then because I can’t get back to sleep.

Fill in the blank: I’d love to see _____ answer these same questions.

GT: Shane Smith.

IY: Rowan Atkinson. He’s a genius and he barely ever does interviews.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received? Doesn’t have to be work or productivity-related.

GT: Especially in times of struggle or angst, remember to enjoy the journey.

IY: Do what you love. I know it’s corny, but it’s true.

Is there anything else you’d like to add that might be interesting to readers and fans?

GT: I would’ve been named Kirby Puckett Toboni if he had won the MVP in the 1987 World Series. To put it mildly, I come from a family of baseball fans.