#which isn’t ideal because of the time it’ll take to install them

[the-winds-of-destiny-xxx]

.

[tainbocuailnge]

fgo criticisms have been flaring up in the wake of dw’s sakura wars mobile game quitting after only half a year but I have a disease that makes me get defensive when people try to rip fgo apart as this uniquely terrible game with uniquely terrible devs so i’m going to complain about people who are complaining for a bit.

i hadn’t heard of the sakura wars game before it shut down but from what i’ve been able to find it suffered from a lot of the same problems as (launch) fgo, terrible gacha rates with no pity, slow ap recovery rates, barebones repetitive gameplay. so i guess seeing how fast sakura wars was shut down people feel like it’s only the fate name holding up fgo and in the early launch days of barely playable fgo that was definitely the case but I don’t think it’s fair to fgo to act like people only continue to play it because it’s fate, and “being like fgo” wasn’t the only problem with sakura wars either. sakura wars is a vn/dating sim series that attempted to revive the series with a mobile game that featured none of the original cast that fans cared about while fate was already a series with new characters and a new setting every instalment and the thing that stood out in this new game was actually that it DID have characters from previous fates available. hell, it’s not fair to sakura wars to claim that its series name is simply weaker than fate’s when there were other factors involved in its failure beyond “being a delightworks game”

fgo DOES improve, launch fgo is unrecognisable compared to current fgo in a good way. events have become more streamlined (events have mid- to lategame enemy hp scaling but feature damage ce’s to let newer players keep up, mission events are set up so that they basically clear themselves just by farming the most recently unlocked node), they experiment with new game modes and gameplay mechanics on the regular, they’re taking more care to make viable permanent servants and buff the older ones, and the past few months there’s also been a noticeable effort to throw out random banners for minor things as an excuse to rerun old limited servants more often. I’ll admit the bar is on the low side (strengthening quests are a ridiculous model, there shouldn’t be this many limiteds to need reruns in the first place, etc) and progress is slower than many people are willing to put up with, and I’m not saying anyone Has to put up with it or they’re a fake fan or whatever, but like, granblue fantasy is seven years old and still doesn’t have the ability to uncap a weapon multiple stages at a time when its entire gameplay loop centers around farming and uncapping weapons and they’ve buffed heles like 7 times but she’s still shit, none of fgo’s problems are exclusive to fgo.

i LIKE playing fgo. i like tapping the cards and watching my little guys go and coming up with different teams to make them go harder or just look good together or even lean into the Themes. and this is going a little bit on a tangent but i have this post window open anyway i was talking with friends earlier that one problem that a lot of mobile games seem to have is that they use “making the game play itself” as substitute for “making the game fun to play”. the only game with autobattle functionality (out of the ones I play, i don’t know everything that’s out there of course) that I feel DOESN’T do this is arknights, where you solve the puzzle that the stage presents in order to earn the right to not have to solve the puzzle every single time you play the stage and coming up with different efficient or perhaps ridiculous ways to solve the puzzle is part of playing the game. the worst case I know is dragalia lost which upon realizing that playing it sucks implemented an item to just let you skip playing stages altogether. “this game is good because you don’t have to play it” is not the selling point some people (and devs) think it is, and fgo refuses to fall into that trap - something I believe is an intentional decision because of their explicit refusal to implement NP skip.

one big advantage that fgo has over the other mobile games i’ve played is that it’s entirely turn based with no real time elements beyond start and end times of events. fgo doesn’t NEED to continue playing itself when you look away because looking away has no bearing whatsoever on your ability to clear the quest, fgo doesn’t give a shit if you look away for six hours and then close the game and only reopen it another ten hours later, you can continue right where you left off. the problem is not that you have to manually play the quest, because as far as the system is concerned you can take as much time as you like to clear that quest, it’s that the greater structure of the game wants you to repeatedly manually clear the same low-stakes quest for disproportionately small rewards. this one’s easy enough to solve by just increasing material droprates across the board. repeat clearing a low level quest is much less frustrating if you actually get drops every other clear.

but that’s a bandaid solution, because related to the issue of having to manually farm low-stakes quests is the lack of high-stakes quests to do when you want to do something a little more engaging than routine farming. outside of event challenge quests with their time limited availability, certain main story chapters that you can’t replay, and recently on JP the permanently available kiara challenge quest in the main interlude, there simply isn’t any difficult content to play. you could argue about fgo’s merit as strategy rpg in the first place i suppose but if you ask me it does have that merit and there is a clear effort from dw’s part to improve the depth of fgo’s strategy elements, the issue is that there is simply not that much content available to unleash those strategies on. of course you’re gonna get bored if all there is to do is either brainlessly repeat the same quest for minimal rewards or play the specific challenge quest that the game hands you right this moment regardless of whether that’s the kind of challenge you feel like facing right now. the solution to this one, although it’s likely going to take some significant effort on dw’s side to implement, is to make main story quests replayable.

you want to flex your brain muscles but there’s no challenge event right now? you stomped on a boss by using overpowered servants the first time but want to challenge yourself with some 3* this time? or the other way around, you beat a boss by the skin of your teeth the first time but want to stomp all over them now that you rolled some bitching 5*? you rolled a servant that’s not that suitable for day to day farming but would really shine in more difficult content and you want to try them out? you have a silly strategy in mind that would only work against certain story enemies? you’re like me and just really crave the shimosa duels? all of this involves content that already exists and is available in the game, dw would just have to figure out a way to let you access it again after clearing the chapter. and of course ideally this extends to event story quests once they’re added to the main interlude

i guess another way to put it is that i think the reason a lot of people say fgo has bad gameplay is not that its gameplay system is actually bad, in fact it has the potential to be very engaging, but rather that it’s a system that is set up to respect your time through the ability to put down the game absolutely whenever you want without being penalised, only for the game around it to go and penalise you for putting it down anyway. if you don’t diligently spend all your ap farming this quest you won’t get single damn material drop, and if you don’t play the event while it‘s happening you’re going to miss out because you can’t be sure when if ever it’ll return. so the number one way to solve the problem of fgo’s “bad gameplay” is not to make the game play itself whenever it tells you to play, but rather to make content more easily available so you don’t have to play if you don’t want to and CAN play if you do want to. thank you for coming to my ted talk i suppose

[jingabitch]

Lit Up

Summary: Christmas drabble in the Fucked Up verse, in which you leave the house to prepare a Christmas surprise for the boys, who come home early and discover you gone.

Warnings: yandere | explicit language | explicit descriptions of sexual acts | dark shit | reader has major issues

Rating: E

Pairings: mainly Yoongi x reader; bg ot7 x reader

Word count: 4.3k

Series index

Christmas is one of your favourite times of the year. It always has been, since you were a child. You have few fond memories of your childhood, but Christmas had always been nice, and you remember spending time with your family. Back before the drinking and debt and screaming, but even after all that had started, at least at the beginning, your parents had made an effort to have nice Christmas celebrations.

This Christmas, the boys are back home - and so are you. It doesn’t mean that they have the day off, much to your displeasure, but they’d promised to be back in time for dinner. Seokjin bought a ham and there are ingredients for all sorts of delicious side dishes in the fridge. It’s going to be a feast, and you can’t wait.

Still, though. Food does not a Christmas party make. With the boys so busy, you hadn’t dared broach the subject of gifts or decorations, knowing there was no way any of them had the time to accompany you to various stores to pick up everything. Sure, you could order whatever it is you wanted online, but part of the fun of Christmas is the actual shopping, and it’s something you so badly want to share with them.

Fantasies of them coming home to a Christmas tree, all ready for you to decorate together, and prettily wrapped gifts, fill you with delight. It’ll be so much fun, you think, almost clapping your hands with excitement. They aren’t supposed to be home till six, were going to have a late dinner since Seokjin wanted to cook even though he was going to be arriving back at the same time as them… you have plenty of time. You know they would worry if they come back and find you missing, but they won’t be mad if you’re already back, and they see that nothing bad happened to you.

With that thought in mind, you get ready for your first solo trip outside the apartment since you arrived here. As much as you love this place, the thought of going out alone, like you used to, is a heady one. You’ve not even really explored the streets in your neighbourhood, and you used to like taking long walks.

Well, they became a lot more fun when you knew Yoongi was walking with you.

Dressing in your warmest clothes (and filching Yoongi’s scarf because you like the way he smells, okay?) you grab all of the emergency cash in the drawer on your way out, and the keys to Jeongguk’s car. Driving in Seoul isn’t the easiest, but you don’t see any other way to get all the ornaments and gifts, not to mention the tree.

Sitting in the driver’s seat, your overcoat carelessly tossed into the passenger seat, you unlock your phone and deactivate the spyware they’d installed to keep tabs on what you search and where you are. Won’t do to have them figuring out your surprise from you using Google Maps to navigate the city, after all.

Humming under your breath, you turn on the radio absently as you key in the name of the shop you want to go to. You’ve gotten your ornaments from this little hole in the wall since before the boys, since your first Christmas alone in Seoul. It hadn’t been as much fun only buying enough decorations for just your mini-tree and studio apartment, but it had been all right. The handmade items made by the kindly middle-aged lady were pretty enough to make up for it.

As you make your way to the store, the radio starts playing a radio interview with BTS and you giggle to yourself. Your boys are so prim and proper on the air, no one would ever guess that Namjoon wrote half the songs of their latest comeback with his cock tucked inside you, or that Jimin and Taehyung’s friendship is based on commonalities far greater (and kinkier) than both being members of the 95 line.

All those secrets are yours and yours alone, and you smile contentedly as you listen to their nonsensical answers to the question of what their ideal type is, because it’s all bullshit. You know what their ideal type is; because you’ve put in a lot of effort to be that for every one of them.

Parking the car in a roadside lot, you get out and grab all your stuff, spending a minute putting your coat and scarf back on, before locking the door and walking the few doors down to the shop.

“Good morning, aunty!” you say cheerily as you duck slightly to avoid hitting your head on the wind chimes she’d hung over the door.

“Ah, Y/N, hello, sweetheart. I haven’t seen you around recently; you didn’t even come to buy Christmas ornaments last year.” As your eyes adjust to the relative darkness of the store after being outside in the sun, you spot the shopkeeper standing behind the counter.

“Yeah, I was travelling last Christmas, aunty. I came to get new ones this year, though! I moved into a bigger place and need more this time,” you inform her delightedly, looking around the store. Spotting some delicate crystal ornaments, you move closer to them, and pick one up, a pretty snowflake.

The shopkeeper, seeing what caught your fancy, smiles. “I should have known you’d go for those,” she says. “You might like these to go with that too,” she directs your attention to some sparkly baubles and a wreath that’s white and black instead of the usual green.

Once you’ve bought almost all the snow- and winter-themed decorations in stock, you go all over Seoul buying presents for the boys - an expensive kitchen knife with his initials carved into the handle for Seokjin, a first-edition of one of Namjoon’s favourite books, accessories, clothing and shoes for the more fashion-oriented boys, and so on.

For Yoongi, though, your precious Yoongi, regular gifts will not be enough. What do you buy for the man who gave you everything?

Humming in deep thought, you spin in a circle in the middle of Myeongdong. What should you get? You check the time - it’s already three in the afternoon, and you only have three hours to get his gift, the Christmas tree, and haul ass back to the apartment.

Sighing, you head dejectedly back to the car. There has to be something special you can get for him.

There’s a place that sells Christmas trees near the outskirts of Seoul, and you drive there, humming along to the radio. Christmas really is your favourite time of the year, you think, smiling at the cover of Jingle Bell Rock currently playing. Maybe you’ll be able to persuade some of the boys to serenade you tonight, not that it’s ever difficult to.

On your way to the store, you drive past a tattoo and piercing store and inspiration suddenly strikes you. On a whim, you decide to get your ears pierced to match Yoongi’s. It’s not much, but it’ll be cute, you think, matching his accessories. It can be your little thing, even if no one will ever know since you’ll never be seen in public together.

You only have the basic lobe piercings, so you end up getting three additional holes punched into your earlobes, although thankfully he let his helix piercing close up so you don’t have to do anything like that.

It doesn’t take too long, and before you know it you’re back on track, going to pick up a Christmas tree. You’re just pulling into the parking lot when your phone dies, and you huff. It’s been long enough not going out for a long time, or alone, that you’ve completely forgotten basic things like bringing along a power bank, so you suppose you’ll just have to make do until you get home.

It won’t be that bad - you know the way home, at least - but it makes you a little antsy not being contactable, so you resolve to hurry up so you can go home soon.

There’s just one hitch in your plans, though - the boys got home two hours early. Which you didn’t know, because your phone died and you had no idea they were even blowing it up.

While you were excitedly choosing a pretty tree that you genuinely had no idea how you would muscle up from the garage into the apartment, the boys are walking into said apartment, full of anticipation for your delighted response to them coming back early to spend more of Christmas with you, because of course they know of your love for the holiday.

Yoongi tries (and fails) to hide his excitement as he toes off his shoes before opening the door to the apartment. The others follow more sedately, content to let Yoongi be the one to announce their arrival.

The moment he steps into the apartment, though, he can tell that something is wrong. You don’t appear from behind a corner, or even call out a greeting, as is usual for you. It’s the middle of the day, so you haven’t gone to sleep yet.

Yeontan comes bounding out to greet the boys, but he’s conspicuously alone.

“Y/N?” Yoongi calls, unease slithering down his spine. Yeontan barks, turning around in a circle, and Taehyung picks the dog up.

“Hyung, why are you just standing there?” Hoseok asks, and Yoongi takes a few steps forward so that the rest of the boys can come into the apartment too.

He calls your name again as he walks through the hallway to the living room, then, not finding you, pops his head into the kitchen and then to the bedrooms. The others cotton on fairly quickly to the issue, and help out, opening the doors to their own bedrooms to see if you’re in there.

It becomes obvious that you’re not in the apartment, and this results in chaos and panic among the boys. Yoongi is, of course, the worst off, barely able to comprehend that you would leave. You’d given no indication of being unhappy or dissatisfied, and things had been going great recently. Your relationship is, in every aspect, unusual, but it works for all parties involved - or so he’d thought.

Namjoon, seeing that Yoongi is on the verge of a breakdown, quickly intervenes, guiding the older man to the couch and sitting him down on it.

“Don’t worry,” he reassures him. “We’ll find her, okay? There’s no way she can get away from us all.”

Indeed, the others are already leaping into action. Jeongguk, the one who installed the spy software on your phone, is already booting up his computer to track your location, and the other boys are tearing the apartment apart searching for clues.

“Shit, she took all the money in the drawer,” Hoseok curses as he opens said drawer in the kitchen to check.

“How much was in there?” Jimin asks, looking over his roommate’s shoulder.

Hoseok shrugs and looks over at Namjoon. “I don’t know… I just put some in whenever I had cash on me that I didn’t want to bring out,” he says, and the other boys nod and murmur their agreement.

Concluding that this means you have a lot of cash at your disposal, they sigh heavily and stare despondently at each other. Yoongi looks like he’s about to burst into tears, and Jimin and Taehyung sit next to each other, sulking.

The bad news isn’t done coming, though. Jeongguk stumbles out of his bedroom in shock. “I can’t track her phone,” he breathes, blinking in bewilderment. The others’ gazes snap towards him immediately.

“What do you mean, you can’t track her?” Namjoon demands, hurrying over to push Jeongguk back into his room so they can see his computer.

“Look, the last traced location of her phone is the apartment complex, and that was in the morning,” he explains. “She’s gone off the grid all day.”

“Is the phone off? Did she manage to disable it?” Hoseok asks, peering over the maknae’s shoulder.

“I’ll need to ask my friend, he’s the one who would know how to check.”

“All right, let’s go then.”

Before long, all of them have their marching orders. Jeongguk is going to seek out the friend that wrote the software for him, Namjoon, Hoseok and Jin are going to the bus and train terminals and the airport to see if she left by any of those means, and Taehyung and Jimin are going to review the footage on all the CCTVs installed in and around their apartment complex to see if they have any clues about where you went.

As for Yoongi - Namjoon tells him to stay in the apartment and try to find any clues as to what happened to cause her to suddenly take flight, since he’s the one who knows her best, but really, he looks like such utter shit, barely able to keep himself together, that none of them think it’s a good idea for him to be out in public right now.

Blissfully unaware of all the chaos you’ve caused in your home, you hum along to the song playing on the radio as you return to the apartment complex, zipping neatly into Jeongguk’s designated parking lot. As you climb out of the car, you hum thoughtfully to yourself as you eye the tree shoved into the backseat and think about all the packages in the boot. There’s no way you’ll be able to bring it all up in one go, and you sigh as you wish for a moment that the boys had come with you, because all that muscle would sure come in handy right about now.

With a sigh, you yank open the car door and wrestle the tree out of the backseat, bumping the door shut with your hip after. Somehow managing to get it to the lift lobby, you heave out a breath and press the button for the elevator. 

By the time you push, pull and pivot your way back to the apartment, you’ve broken out in a sweat and your muscles are screaming. Putting the tree down, you key in the code for the lock, taking the opportunity to lean against the door. When the lock makes that little jingle and you hear the door unlock, you pull it open and push it carefully so it stays that way, retrieving the tree and bringing it into the entryway.

You’re taking your shoes off and getting ready to open the door into the apartment proper when it bursts open unexpectedly. With a little squeak of surprise, you take a step back, looking up with wide eyes.

“Yoongi-oppa…” you greet him out of habit, although your voice trails off uncertainly as you take in the expression on his face. “What are you doing home so early?”

He glares at you, his arms crossed over his chest, although when you look closer, you can see that although he tries to look steely and furious, his hair is a mess from his hands running through it, parts of his shirt are soaked through with sweat, and it looks like there are tear streaks on his face.

“Are you okay?” you ask in concern, letting go of the tree to take a step towards him.

“Where have you been?” he spits out instead of answering your question, in a tone you’ve never heard from him before. It’s husky and soft, almost wavering like he’s in anguish, but dangerous, a thread of steel running through it. 

Shit. You don’t know what happened while you were gone, but with the way he looks and sounds, you can tell you’re going to be in for a rough time. “Oppa - ” you say, holding your hands out placatingly, but he’s having none of it as he grabs your wrist and yanks you to him. You stumble up the step leading into the apartment and crash ungracefully into him, your free hand going to his waist to stabilize yourself.

“Who told you you could leave without permission?” he grinds out, the hand that doesn’t have a death grip on your wrist going to grasp your face, his long fingers stretching over your jawline as he holds you fast, making sure you couldn’t look away from him if you tried.

“I… I wanted to surprise you, oppa, with Christmas gifts and a tree for everyone,” you try to explain meekly, although your words come out a little muffled because he’s still gripping your jaw. His grip tightens a little, and you wince. “Oppa, you’re hurting me,” you protest.

“I’m hurting you?!” he exclaims incredulously. “Do you fucking know what you’ve done? Everyone is out there looking for you, because you vanished without a word. Do you know how…” he pulls you further into the apartment, into the hallway just past the entrance, “worried,” he pushes you to the floor roughly, “we all were?!” His hands on your hips flip you around so you’re on all fours, desperately craning your neck back to see him.

His expression is pinched as he glares down at you, his throat working convulsively as he swallows. His eyes, though - they make you clench down on yourself almost involuntarily. His gaze is so intense, swirling with anger and something like despair, and yet another emotion that you can’t quite place. The lust, though, is extremely evident in both his eyes and the set of his jaw.

Rooting in his pocket for his phone, he slides it across the floor to you. “Call Namjoon now and tell him where you’ve been,” he orders tightly.

You’re confused - everything has been happening so damn quickly - but the way he unbuckles his belt clarifies things for you real quick. It feels a little wrong for you to be reacting so quickly and viscerally, especially when you know that Yoongi isn’t in the best state emotionally, but you can’t help it.

“I don’t hear you calling him,” he bites out, fighting with the layers of clothing you have on. It must be a comical sight, you’re sure - the long coat half flipped over your back, your upper half still completely clothed and looking like a puffy dumpling as he fiercely tugs the pants and leggings over your legs. It’s getting a little warm, and you balance yourself with one hand as you unwrap Yoongi’s scarf with the other, dropping it carelessly on the ground next to you. You try to fiddle with the overcoat, but before you have a chance to do anything more than unzip it, Yoongi yanks the clothing covering your legs all the way off and you squeal in surprise as your knees go flying, causing your entire body to drop to the ground.

You barely have time to register the pain, however, because the next thing you know, Yoongi’s fingers are thrusting harshly into you. As wet as you are, you aren’t quite ready and the pain ricochets through your body, causing you to clamp down hard as your brow furrows in discomfort.

“Why are you so wet, hmm? Does it turn you on to run away from me?” Yoongi hisses, fingering you roughly to open you up even as he knocks your knees apart further and gets into position behind you.

“I - what?” Bewildered, you try to sit back to ask him why he was so upset, but he pushes you back down with his hand between your shoulder blades, sliding it up to grip the back of your neck as he lines himself up and thrusts savagely into you, bottoming out in one stroke.

You cry out, your hands clenching into fists as you turn to press your face against the smooth material of your jacket. With your face buried in your shoulder like that, your cries are muffled, but he’s not having any of it, gripping your hair into a loose ponytail with the hand that was on your neck and yanking your head back.

“Call. Namjoon,” he orders, punctuating every word with a snap of his hips. Bracing yourself by lowering your elbows onto the ground, you fiddle with his phone with shaky hands, barely able to handle it with the punishing pace he’s set, jostling you around like that.

When you finally manage to call Namjoon, you drop it on the floor between your fists, letting the phone ring on speaker.

“Hyung, what’s up?” comes Namjoon’s harried voice.

If you thought that Yoongi would let up on you a little, so you could actually speak to Namjoon the way he seemed to want, you’re wrong.

“Joonie-oppa, I- agh.” Whatever you were about to say cuts off in a garbled moan as Yoongi takes the opportunity to slam into you, harder than ever before. You skid across the floor, not helped by the fact that you’re still wrapped up in your coat which doesn’t allow you to get a good grip on the marble.

“Y/N?! Is that you?” Namjoon demands.

“Ye - ngh - yes.” Your mewl, coupled with the rhythmic grunts and groans Yoongi is releasing as he presses his chest to your back, sucking livid marks into your neck, give Namjoon a fairly clear idea of what’s going on.

“Jesus, Y/N, are you at home? Where the hell have you been?”

Your attempt to reply is foiled by Yoongi sneaking a hand down your body to strum at your clit, causing your mind to blank as you clench down on him, causing both of you to groan in unison.

“Jesus,” Namjoon mutters. “I’ll talk to you when I get home,” he says before hanging up.

With that out of the way, Yoongi redoubles his efforts to work you over, fucking you hard and fast even as he continues his ministrations on your clit. “No one else can fuck you this good, can they? Only I can make you feel like this,” he growls in your ear.

You’re so lost in the onslaught of sensation he’s forcing onto you that you don’t answer him fast enough for his liking, and he retaliates with a pinch to your clit. “Can they?!” he repeats in a hard voice, and you cry, “No, only you!”

That seems to satisfy him, and he rewards you by driving you up to orgasm faster than has ever happened before, but right before you’re about to tumble headfirst into ecstasy, he slows down, so the orgasm hovers right out of your grasp. Holding you still as you writhe and cry in protest, he asks, in the same harsh tone as before, but with a strange note of vulnerability threaded through it, “You won’t leave me again, will you? You’ll stay with me always?”

Confused again, and barely able to marshal your senses to figure out why he was being like that, you sob in frustration. If he wants to have a serious conversation, why now? Why does he sound so pained, desperate, anguished?

“Y/N!” he cries out, and you can physically feel him holding his orgasm back as he waits for your response.

“No, I won’t leave,” you finally force out, and immediately he slams back into you, biting down savagely on your neck as he comes harder than you ever recall. Feeling him release into you triggers your own orgasm, and you press your cheek to the ground as you keen.

When it’s over, you slump to the ground, now uncomfortably sticky in your clothes but lacking the coordination and strength to remove the layers. Yoongi, still breathing hard, helps flip you over onto your back and pushes the coat off your shoulders, holding it still while you wriggle your arms out of it.

Now far more comfortable, you shed the other layers you were wearing, only stopping when you’re lying nude on the floor, blinking up at Yoongi, who’s still fully dressed. He stares down at you with an inscrutable gaze, and you hold your arms out for him, inviting him to cuddle.

He looks hesitant, but ultimately can’t resist and lies down on the ground next to you, reaching over to pull you closer into his side.

“I’m sorry I was so rough earlier,” he apologizes. “I just got a little crazy at the thought that you had run away.”

Your heart breaks at that. “Oh, sweetie - I never wanted to run away. I was just getting presents and a tree so we could have a nice Christmas celebration,” you explain. “Besides, it’s nothing I couldn’t handle,” you reassure him with a squeeze of his hand, referencing some of the other boys’ rougher proclivities.

“Still,” he persists, brushing your sweaty hair away from your forehead. “You were just gone when we came back, and all the money in the drawer was too, and then Jeongguk said he couldn’t trace-” Suddenly aware that he’s said too much, he clams up.

“Oh, I had to deactivate the tracker or else it wouldn’t have been a surprise, then my phone died,” you explain with a little wave of your hand. “Speaking of which-” You sit up and dig around in your purse, which had been dropped carelessly on the ground. Finding your phone, you get up and go to the bedroom you share with Yoongi to plug it in.

He follows you, looking slightly lost. “You knew about the tracker?”

You turn and smirk at him. “Have you forgotten what my job was?” A former programmer, you’d realised the day they installed the software that it was there.

“Oh,” was all he could think to say.

You can hear his busy little brain buzzing as you fuss with the items on your bedside table, but it’s still completely unexpected when you turn around to find him on one knee, holding a ring in his hands.

“Will you marry us?”

[brand-it]

How to Mine Ergo Coins On PC (Step-by-Step Guide) 2021

I wrote this article on July 17th, 2017, at the time; one Ergo coin was worth $14.88. (10-09-21). The equivalent of $100 in Ergo coins will be worth $1287.14 in 2026. That is really significant! You're completely broke. While you learn about Ergo coin mining using your PC in this article, you can also be certain that it will provide answers to your mining questions and how this can help you get some money in your pockets.

My ERG is .832, and I'm well aware that it's quite low. So earning potential depends on the CPU and GPU within your desktop or laptop.

If you are looking to generate a lot of money, consider making your mining rig larger. I'm hoping that I've been clear about it. So, before we talk about mining Ergo coins, we need to learn how to do it easily.

How to Mine Ergo Coins on PC in 2021

To get started, you'll need to set up a wallet for sending and receiving cryptocurrency. A mining pool is the second stage of the process, which involves connecting your PC.

And that's all there is to it! For the safety of your computer, the third step is to monitor the GPU temperature.

How to mine Ergo on a PC:

Create a wallet

Get involved in a mining pool.

Begin generating ERGs and keeping an eye on the GPU temperature.

It's time to start with the first step, so let's begin.

1. Make a Yoroi Wallet.

Just like a conventional wallet, a crypto wallet stores your money. Digital wallets allow you to use digital money, like bitcoin, to transfer and receive funds. Moreover, they aid you in checking your balance, finding and sharing your wallet address for your transaction.

One should look for a crypto wallet that is lightweight and safe. Yoroi Wallet offers both of these qualities, and it is a relief. I choose it because of that. I'm going to provide you some information about it and explain why you should utilize it.

Why Use Yoroi Wallet?

The Yoroi Cardano wallet is both a browser extension and a mobile app. The Yoroi Wallet is unlike other wallets in that it does not sync or download the blockchain. Furthermore, you may see and pay bills when you access your wallet.

Additionally, Yoroi is a lightweight (HD) wallet for Ada (cryptocurrency) that runs as a Chrome addon.

You may use Yoroi on any device supporting Chrome and Google Chrome extensions. In addition, Yoroi is compatible with many operating systems, including Linux, Mac OS, and Windows. It is also possible to share your wallet's contents with someone else.

The installation process for Yoroi is concise and thus requires just a tiny amount of bandwidth. In addition, Yoroi is an extremely lightweight wallet that doesn't need you to download the entire blockchain, which saves you on bandwidth.

If you're thinking of mining with Ergo or another cryptocurrency, you'll want to get a Yoroi. We need to get started with installation right now.

How to Make Yoroi Wallet?

1. Visit yoroi-wallet.com and click ‘Download' from the options on the page.

2. You may choose from the list below. Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Android, and iOS are all available. And everyone is well taken care of because of it.

3. If you're using Google Chrome like me, I recommend adding it to your Chrome browser. It'll be an add-on to your browser. Make sure you're ready before proceeding with the ‘Add extension' option.

4. Navigate to the Yoroi logo on the Google Chrome extension's toolbar. You will be able to continue after you choose your language and agree to the terms and conditions. Now choose the ‘Simple' wallet.

5. You may skip the next option, or you can enable the option to enable Cardano payment URLs. After this, you will be able to set up your hardware wallet, restore an existing one, and create a new one.

6. If you wish to mine Ergo coins, choose ‘Ergo.' Then, click on ‘Create Wallet'.

7. Enter your wallet details here. Once you've established your own recovery phrase, do so. However, remember to use it afterward for any secure transactions you make.

Hooray! You have created Yoroi's brand-new wallet. Now is the moment to plug your computer into a mining pool. It's best if we do it immediately.

2. Set Up Nanopool for Mining

For every coin, you have two choices for mining:

Mining rig or Miner

Mining pool

Mining rigs and miners cost a fortune. I've written this article to use a PC to mine Ergo Coins. In this case, I will choose the second choice. So what exactly is a mining pool?

What are mining pools?

Many obstacles complicate the challenge of solo mining. As a result, miners have developed a strategy to improve the odds of discovering fresh deposits by pooling the hash power of individual miners.

Suppose you can, a picture of a handful of small-scale miners combining their computer power to pool it. Then, honestly, they could make the same production levels as big farms do or perhaps beat them. ‍

When these miners participate in pools, they each receive less since the pool members split the benefits. However, even if the return is modest and constant, we should still appreciate it, given that alone miner has a hard time mining even a single block.

Mining pools that ensure payments are prompt and on time are more attractive and profitable. Nanonpool has an important role to play.

Why use NanoPool?

The specialty of Nanopool is cryptocurrencies, which are exclusive of use to video graphic cards. However, you may use it for mining at present:

Ethereum (ETH)

Ethereum Classic (ETC)

ZCash (ZEC)

Monero (XMR)

Raven (RVN)

Conflux (CFX)

Ergo (ERGO)

You may concurrently mine two different currencies using the pool. Nanopool uses powerful video cards and GPUs to mine digital currencies with huge farms.

Mining Ergo Coins on Nanopool

1. Visit nanopool.org and choose a cryptocurrency of your liking.

2. To start mining, click on the Quick Start button.

3. Get the miner as a zip file.

4. Extract the archive into any location on your PC. And then set up the minor.

5. Open the file and enter your wallet address in the place of the existing wallet address. Save the data in this format.

6. Save the ‘configure ergo' file after entering the mining rig information.

7. Go ahead and run the ‘nanominer' program now and wait a moment.

Here is how you mine Ergo coins on PC without the need for full-fledged mining equipment.

3. Use MSI Afterburner to monitor the temperature.

You must monitor temperatures in hardware. You risk ruining your computer if you don't take the appropriate steps. For that, the MSI Afterburner utility is a fantastic help.

What is MSI Afterburner, and why is it the best choice?

Afterburner is a free, third-party utility that MSI has created. Those that have GPUs utilize it to manage them. In addition, you may alter your GPU, VRAM, voltage, and other aspects of your graphics card via overclocking.

MSI Afterburner is a popular tool for enthusiasts since it serves a wide range of functions. For example, it's possible to monitor GPUs, VRAM, and temperatures using it.

But are you able to check the CPU temperature using MSI Afterburner? I'm happy to say yes. MSI Afterburner has no ties to the central processing unit. It may also be used to track the temperature of the CPU and GPU settings.

Monitoring GPU Temps with MSI Afterburner

You may get the MSI Afterburner file from MSI's website. First, unzip the download, double-click the executable file, and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.

After the installation, run MSI Afterburner. To check GPU temperature and performance, go to the ‘General' page. The ideal GPU mining temperature is 70 degrees Celsius. However, I still think you should maintain it at the lowest level feasible.

Final Thoughts on How to Mine Ergo Coins on a PC

Now more than ever, mining cryptocurrency is simple. The mining pool Nanopool allows you to mine the Ergo currencies that have a crypto-like quality. The procedure includes three fundamental actions:

Create a wallet for yourself (using yoroi-wallet.com)

Mining pools provide entrance to cryptocurrency (on Nanopool)

Stay on top of the temperature (using MSI Afterburner)

That's the crux of the matter! After 48 hours, I've earned around .832 Ergo coins. It's true that it's tiny if you think so.

It's better to create something than to produce nothing, isn't it? Your total Ergo Coin amount may be increased if you have a higher powerful PC than I have.

[purplesurveys]

1120

[created by: vyvyan86]

What do you do for work? I work at a public relations agency, so I handle servicing for a good number of clients across different industries. PR is basically like the extroverted sibling of journalism; and since I turned out to not enjoy journ, I gave PR a try halfway through my time in college and ended up liking it more.

What would you ideally like to do for work? I actually really enjoy what I do, like getting to work directly with big local and even international brands. I’m glad I made the decision to make the career shift because I can’t imagine how miserable I would be in a newsroom.

What are you doing in order to achieve this? I’m already where I want to be, at least for now. I don’t see it changing any time soon because I’m nowhere near tired of the work yet.

What is the meaning of your life? What is it that you really live for? Erm I don’t really try to define it or have an answer to this right away because I feel like it puts a lot of unwanted pressure on me, by me. As long as I’m satisfied in the present, I shouldn’t be worrying for whom or what my life is ultimately supposed to be.

Have you ever REALLY thought what it means to have children? Yup. Having kids would be the perfect life, but realistically speaking I am not at all ready to start that particular chapter. I don’t make enough money to be able to build a family, and I’ve never even tried changing a diaper yet...then you have to think about weekly formulas, what school to enroll them in, building a nursery...it’s all very hectic and stressful and it’s definitely not a priority as of the moment.

Are you planning to have children anyway? It would be nice, but I still don’t know if it’s in my future.

What is the most awful thing about the world today? I doooooooooon’t understand racism. It’s those videos of white people being caught on tape harassing POCs without a care in the world that get to me the most. It’s horrifying and it’s made me have close to zero plans to travel to the places where the videos usually come from. It’s happened too many times and too many clips have gone viral, that I can’t help but think it would happen to me and my family as well. What do you think is the worst being on the planet? Abusive and/or neglectful parents.

Have you ever been arrested? If so, what for? Nopes.

Have you ever been in court? If so, in which role? Definitely not.

Which do you think is a more valuable being, a human or an animal? I don’t think it’s fair to compare. A life is a life.

What, in your opinion, will cause the end of the world? I’m gonna let science answer this and refer to whatever predictions they have for the future based on their calculations. 

What does your mother do for work? She works in an international hotel chain as an executive secretary, but work is actually kind of slippery for her at the moment because of Covid. There are only certain days in the week where she’s called in to report for work, and there is a chance those requests will stop coming in at a certain point.

^If she's a homemaker, any specific reason for this? She’s not anymore but she did enjoy a brief period of being a homemaker after resigning from her previous workplace back in likeeeee 2013 I’d say? which according to her had increasingly turned into a toxic environment after 20+ years of working there.

What about your father? What does he do? He is an executive sous chef. Cruise ship industry, so his situation is also actually quite bleak. Fortunately the job security with his company is a lot stronger and more guaranteed.

How do you like your coffee? I like it sweet and for its color to be light brown.

If you're of age, what's your favorite alcoholic drink? Tequila shots if we’re going hard. Long Island Iced Tea or Zombie if I’m looking to have a chill session with friends. Red Horse is fine as well, whatever. I hate beer with a passion but I’d drink it if everyone in the table is having a bottle.

If you're under-aged, what is your favorite soft drink? Bold of you to assume all minors like soda hahaha. I don’t, though.

Do you smoke? Yeah, just super seldom though because I don’t want to form a habit. I had the opportunity to last Friday but voluntarily skipped out on it, but that was also because I already had a vape pen on me.

^If so, did you start when you were 18 or were you younger? My first cigarette was when I was 21. Start of 2020.

Did your parents approve of your smoking/alcohol use before you turned 18? They wouldn’t have approved of it at all. And I wouldn’t have let myself either.

Do you have siblings? If not, skip the next few questions. Yeup.

Are you eldest, in the middle or youngest? I’m the eldest of two siblings.

How big an age gap is between you and your siblings? With my sister, 2 years. With my brother, 5 years.

Do/did your siblings cause trouble? Not at all, actually. We were all well-behaved, aka the three of us were always too shy to do anything bad or mischevious. I guess the biggest issues with each of us were - I was very messy with my stuff and ignored all my homework; Nina was a crybaby and would get into tears over literally any inconvenience; and my brother was a violent crybaby, which means he is Nina but always ready to punch you in the face, kick you in the neck or stomach, scream into your ear, etc.

If your siblings are old enough, what do they do for work? My sister is taking up digital filmmaking in an art school; my brother is only in his junior year of high school.

Have you ever been jealous of your siblings? I’m not jealous of her, but Nina is amazing at art and drawing and painting and all that stuff and I always wish I shared even like 1/98th of her skills, hahah.

Do you still live with your parent/s or do you live alone/with a partner? I live with my family, yeah. I’m nowhere near ready to start being on my own.

What do you think about growing up? Like what Paramore said (heheh), has to happen sometimes.

What about having responsibilities? I don’t really think anything of them? They’re kind of expected.

Do you know how to cook? Nope.

^If so, what's your favorite thing to cook? I don’t know how to make anything yet, but some dishes I would love to be able to master are risotto and paella. I’d also love to inherit my grandma’s kare-kare recipe but I’m already 300% sure from this early that I’ll never be able to make it as good as she does.

What about baking? I also can’t bake but some stuff I’d want to learn how to make are cupcakes, macarons, cheesecake, and a chocolate chip cookie recipe so good that my kids would literally bring their friends over to our house just to make them try it.

Do you ever drink tea? Iced tea for the most part. If I do ever drink the traditional hot tea, it’s usually because it’s served either at a hotel I’m staying at, or at an Asian restaurant.

Have you ever followed any of these fad diets that go around? I don’t follow a diet. I’m usually open to trying out foods that are packaged to fall under a certain diet, though – paleo, keto, etc. - just to experience how much different it could possibly taste from the food I typically have.

What do you usually order at your favorite restaurant? I usually get rosu, a type of tonkatsu cut that has a lining of fat on its side. My favorite restaurant then provides unlimited rice, miso soup, and cabbage with my order.

Do you prefer a proper restaurant to a fast food place? Not necessarily. I love a lot of either.

What's your dream vehicle? A Mini Countryman.

What about your dream house? I don’t have an exact image of it yet, but I always said that my dream house, wherever and whatever it might be, must have a room for all the wrestling memorabilia I plan to collect in the future. It’ll be like a ~mancave~  as I also plan to have a couch and a big TV in it so I can watch documentaries and pay-per-views there.

What is the biggest dream of your life? Right now, I would say the ‘biggest’ - since I’ve established it since I was a kid - is to go to the 50th installment of Wrestlemania, which is like the Superbowl of wrestling. This year it’ll be the 37th, so I have 13 years left to plan the dream out and save up and stuff.

If you could travel to another country right now, where would you go? Morocco.

What is a country you'd never ever visit? There isn’t a country I wouldn’t want to visit at least once. I’d probably avoid the ones that have dangerous political situations or are literally at war at the moment, but it doesn’t mean I don’t ever want to step foot in them.

Are you good at taking care of your finances? I’m getting there! I was able to have a good amount of savings this month :) My finances were shit for the first two months of my job because there was immediately soooooooo much to pay for, but I’m glad everything is on track now.

Have you ever had any trouble paying your bills? Well no, because I don’t pay my own yet. I do hand a portion of my allowance to my parents every payday so that I can help out with the family bills, though.

What about your rent? We don’t have rent.

What do you think is the best thing about being an adult? The freedom that comes with it is very empowering. I don’t technically have to ask permission to go out with friends anymore, or be scared of a curfew (but my mom still imposes one, LOL. It’ll mellow it within time though, I’m sure); I make my own money and can spend it however way I want while the rest I can save; I can take a drive or book an entire trip altogether as long as I can afford it...it’s letting me get to know myself even more, in a way that college and my teenage years weren’t able to do.

What about the worst? Being expected to have my shit together when I’m very clueless still about so many things in life. I make fuckups at work at least once a week and I always feel like I’m going to get fired with every mistake, lol.

Is there a person in your life, who wastes their life somehow? Hmm, I don’t think so. I have an uncle who had seemed to be headed nowhere before, but I think he’s slowly getting back on track. I think. At least I don’t hear anything about him anymore.

^If so, how are they wasting their life? Never had a stable job, was a neglectful husband and father (I think he still is), was never able to secure a house and even a car for his family, and deals with his problems by drinking...and worse, drunk-driving, sometimes. It’s an embarrassment and I don’t care if my grandma tells me off for giving him the cold shoulder every family gathering. I’m not gonna get close to someone who negatively affects my mood and my energy.

What is something you need to do, but you keep postponing it? Getting a new pair of glasses. Booking an appointment is a Newly-Unlocked Adult Thing that I’ve never done yet, so I’m nervous and I keep putting it off, hahaha.

Do you think life should just hand things to you? Not at all.

Or should you earn the things you want and need with hard work? Yeah, there you go.

Would you rather live off government benefits or earn your own money? Earn on my own, as much as possible. But some balance would be nice as well so that I can start feeling as if the government is actually helping and serving me.

When you take a survey, do you skip questions? Typically, no. But some of the older ones I’ve seen made by, like, 15 year olds of the time will have nonsense, downright immature, or lowkey racist/homophobic questions that I will have no problem deleting altogether as I think no one here would have any interest in answering them either.

Why, do you think, people write lyrics as the title for a survey? To be creative and catchy, I guess. And it works - I do tend to click on surveys that use lyrics.

If you have a Facebook, what do you use it for? Look for things to share, mainly. I’m fully back on it now after going a way for a bit to do some healing on my own.

If you have a Twitter, what do you use it for? As a space to let out literally all my thoughts and brianfarts. No one cares on Twitter, so it’s the perfect space to make a mess and be a mess.

If you have a Tumblr, what do you use it for? I used to have a wrestling-themed Tumblr (and before that, many more other themed Tumblrs), but when my interest died down I soon switched to using Tumblr for my surveys and being more lowkey altogether on here.

If you have an iPhone, why? I find it easier to use, and I like the interface more. The camera’s features are also more to my liking.

If you have an iPad, why? We have a really old model of it, and we bought that because iPads were all the rage at the time. It had been the newest concept from Apple and most people felt they had to have one, including my family. We definitely don’t feel the need to get another tablet anytime soon since it just functions like a giant phone for the most part.

If you have the latest electronic gadgets, did you pay for them yourself? I’ve never paid for a gadget before.

Do you always put your litter in a trashcan? Of course. I know how to pick up after myself like a respectful human. < Yup.

When you walk/ride your bike/drive your car, are you careful? Yeah, unless I’m mad. Sometimes road rage will take over me tbh, especially if other people on the road have been stupid for quite some time.

What is the rudest thing a person could do or say to you? Something phobic after seeing Jess and I together. < This reminds me of when my ex and I used to get stares or whispers in public. But to be honest, I actually enjoyed those encounters because it only served as fuel for me to get even more affectionate and piss them off more, lol. Good times. 

Anyway, the rudest thing I can think of at the moment is being cut while in line. Some people do it so subtly too, and their shy, careful shuffle to get in front of me is what irritates me the most because THEY KNOW they’re doing something shitty and yet are being so sneaky about it.

Have you ever been that rude to someone else? I have never cut in line, never will.

Do you think your parents are proud of you and what you do with your life? I don’t know. I hope so. I don’t know if they’re expecting me to move out at this point, but I hope they’re at least proud of the fact that their first kid managed to land a job, especially considering we’re living in Covid times.

Which would you rather be, famous or a "nobody"? Why? Can’t I be somewhere in between? When it boils down to it, I’d probably go with being a nobody...I’d miss the socialization and having friends, but at least it means I can get away with more.

Do you need to have the latest fashion in clothes and accessories? It would be nice, but I’m not desperate to have them.

If you have a job, do you get along with your co-workers? Yeah, I’d say so. I definitely have never fought with anyone yet. It’s hard to gauge my relationship with each of them because I entered the workplace while we’re under WFH so I’ve only gotten to talk to most of them through Viber; but so far, so good.

What kind of hobbies do you have? I like traveling and learning, so anything that’s got to do with those - going to museums, visiting ancestral houses, trying local art forms - I would definitely dive into. But if I’m not in a new province or country altogether, I like trying out new food and new restaurants, embroidering, watching my favorite shows, coloring, painting, and reading essays about history. :)

Would anything in the whole world make you give up any of those hobbies? I’m not super attached to painting anymore, so I guess.

Have you had/do you have any pets? I currently have two dogs. In the past we’ve had a cat, a rabbit, two birds, and several goldfish.

Do you even like animals? I love them, except insects.

If you aren't already, would you ever get married? It would be a nice thing to tick off my life event list.

If you are already married, what was the ultimate reason for the marriage? -

As a child, did you do anything really bad? I was raised in a highly violent household with the worst influences as my elders. Yes, I managed to squeeze in some horrible stuff when no one was looking.

^If so, what was it? What were the consequences? I was violent towards my brother but won’t get into it. The only thing I’ll mention is that I used to chase him around with a knife whenever he’d start becoming too much of a headache.

As a teenager, did you do anything really bad? I don’t think so. I was well-traumatized and abused by the time I was a teenager so I was afraid of fucking anything up and being in more trouble.

^If so, what was it? What were the consequences? The worst thing I did was lie about my performance in school, honestly. Which, looking back now, doesn’t even seem like a big deal considering I was only in high school then and grades from there barely matter.

Do you have a problem with authority? Nope. Well, a good number of my teachers didn’t seem to like me for some reason. I’d say it’s their problem though since I never did anything to raise hell in school, ever.

What's your favorite comic strip? I don’t have one.

Is there a piece of clothing you absolutely must wear every day Underwear... < Yep.

Has a doctor ever told you to lose weight? No. I’ve always been on the lighter side so that has never been a comment given to me by anyone.

Have you ever been diagnosed with a lifelong disease? Isn’t scoliosis a lifelong thing? If it is, then yes I have been.

What is something you absolutely hate? Fruits.

What about something you absolutely love? Seafood! Which is why I have spicy tuna salad and dynamite rolls with me at the moment :)

[poolshopnearme]

pool shop near me

Poolwise living is a web pool shop located in Perth that delivers swimming bath and spa care chemicals, pumps, filters, and other pool equipment to your door. We are an enormous Australian pool chemical manufacturer, so buying directly from us saves you money and ensures the standard and safety of the products you're purchasing.

At our retail pool shop near me, we've most sorts of pumps, chlorinators, and a spread of pool cleaners and filters. Best price pool equipment is found in Perth, and that we provide our clients with the simplest products and customer service, ensuring that your pools are well-maintained and enjoyable to swim in.

Why do numerous Australians want us as their destination?

·         High-quality pieces with warranties

·         Quick delivery to your home

·         Tailored facilities from the simplest workers

·         High-quality establishments during a sort of locations

Equipment for the Pool

Single and variable speed pumps, sand filters, salt chlorinators, pool cleaners, automatic pool cleaners, chemicals, and lots of other parts are all available from us. We sell pool heaters and solar-powered heating regulators, for instance. We sell pool covers, rollers, and a spread of other accessories.

Pool Equipment Replacement

It's best to contact us first once you got to replace your pool equipment. This way, we'll discuss what you have already got and what the equivalent replacement would be. There's nothing worse than replacing your pool's products with something less expensive; it is vital to your pool's and family's health that each one pool hardware is correctly measured so we will achieve the right sterilization levels to stay your pool clean and hassle-free throughout the year.

Pumps for Swimming Pools

Our range of high-quality Australian-made pool pumps is right for your pool. We’ve a Davey pump line that includes:

·         Davey

·         Zodiac

·         Waterco

·         Onga Pentair

Chlorinators are devices that remove chlorine from water

Keep your pool sparkling with our range of Davey Chloromatic Advanced Digital Salt Chlorinators, which are the simplest and easiest to use. We also carry a good sort of other brands.

There will be no more liquid chlorine added

The absence of hypochlorite, or fluid chlorine because it is more commonly called, provides the foremost leeway. Most pool owners who don't have a salt water chlorine generator system believe fluid chlorine to take care of sanitizer levels in their pools. Although appealing, buying, moving, storing, and using fluid chlorine isn't an enjoyable experience because the fluid is unstable, loses strength quickly, and is hazardous to skin, eyes, and relaxation. Without a doubt, this is often not a perfect item to effect on a daily basis. While a salt water pool's chlorine levels can got to be physically adjusted from time to time, this is often usually through with puck or granular chlorine, with the intention of avoiding the utilization of fluid chlorine altogether.

What causes you to think it'll work?

Is it true that salt is employed to stabilize the bottom which chlorine is obtained from it? Since salt doesn't dissipate within the water like other synthetic chemicals, the underlying portion of salt that you simply put in your pool will remain there throughout the season and into subsequent. Does one lower the salt concentration levels only the pool is totally barren of water? During a typical pool season, you'll got to add one pack or two of salt to end off your system to stay the salt within the 3000ppm range. Indeed, you'll only got to add a few of sacks to start out the subsequent season.

The Best for Your Eyes

The most common benefit mentioned by salt water pool owners is that salt water pools are much gentler on the eyes and far less drying to the skin than traditional chlorine pools. There are a couple of explanations for this, the primary is that the salt within the pool water, which is on the brink of 3000ppm, is gentle on the skin and can actually assist you stay hydrated instead of drying you out as chlorinated water does. Individuals with skin problems or swimmers who are sensitive to chlorine, like red eyes, are acutely conscious of the advantages of salt water frameworks.

Types of Pool Filters

When choosing the proper pool filter, take under consideration the quantity of maintenance needed, the moderateness of the choices available to you, and therefore the proficiency of the choices available to you. You’ll want to believe a sand pool filter, which is trouble-free and cheap. They seem to be a popular option for in-ground pools in residential areas. Pool Equipment Price has the most important selection of sand filters in Perth, including top-of-the-line brands. Zodiac Sand Filters are the right option for reliable, easy-to-use pool filters. We also offer tons of Series filters, which are Australian-designed and have proven to be a reliable option for pools in recent years.

If you are looking for a quick thanks to save water, consider one among our cartridge filters. They do not have to waste pool water when conserving your liters. They will also filter twice the maximum amount dirt and debris as sand filters. For smaller baths, above-ground pools, and spas, cartridge filters are ideal.

Pool cleaner for robotics

Pool robot cleaners are considered to be simpler than other sorts of automatic pool cleaners. Robotic Pool Cleaners Perth is one among the foremost rapidly growing product categories in my local pool shop near me. It’s the foremost innovative and steadfast meeting of pool owners in Australia. With numerous new robots on the market, it's worth asking why this is often happening and what makes robots better than other cleaning products. A monetary reward is one solution. In comparison to any remaining pool cleaners, robots have a plethora of end-client benefits.

Capacity for cleaning

Many robot cleaners are extremely accurate. Those that are deliberate accompany pre-assembled hardware, including sensors, logic, and controls that enable the robot to explore the pool. Whenever they're added, the higher ones truly map the pool. This suggests they provide priority to inclusion instead of stalling out.

Brushing and cleaning

Robots are designed to not only suck garbage from a bathtub, but also to scour the ground. Some have external brushes that operate independently and at high speeds.

Filtration that's autonomous

Robots may have their own sifting system on board. When it travels, it removes garbage from the water and channels. In comparison to pressure cleaners, correlations show that this is often at an exceptionally high degree. Robots even have a robust attraction capacity, with capacities of up to 250 liters per second. In certain lakes, this is often an equivalent because the main channel syphon.

Robotic Pool Cleaner Zodiac VX55

The Vortex-Pro VX55 4WD outperforms the competition. It had been created to supply the simplest pool cleaning experience possible. The Zodiac VX55 4WD is provided with the foremost cutting-edge technology for commercial and personal pools, making pool cleaning easier and simpler. Pool cleaners from Zodiac are simple to use and maintain. It are often utilized in any quite in-ground pool.

·         All surfaces and forms for in-ground baths.

·         Comes with a 21-meter cable

·         Appropriate for pools up to fifteen x 7 metres

Installation or Delivery

If you discover a pool shop near me, you've got the choice of requesting and learning your items at our Perth store, or getting them delivered to your house. We provide knowledgeable installation service. At our Morley (Perth, WA) shop, we feature a number of the foremost well-known brands of pool equipment and accessories. If you reside within the Perth metro region, we guarantee everyday low prices on all pool items that we stock and deliver right to your door.

Visit our website: https://poolwiseliving.com.au/

[jumukus]

A3! Event: Starring Party ‘Stories of ‘24′ 2′ Translation

Let’s watch the video messages from everyone! p.s. the words in italic mean they’re taken from the video.

Citron: Hello, I'm Citron~! I played Tennis Saionji in Spring Troupe's sixth play "Harugaoka Quartet".

Izumi: It's Enis Saionji!

Citron: Oops, I said it wrong.

Banri: We're going hard right from the start, huh.

Citron: So I'm the first one!

Kazunari: I compiled the videos in reverse order.

Citron: I had a lot of fun when my turn to be the lead actor finally came. After all, I was merely an extra in our first play. I thought I was being bullied!

Tsuzuru: That's because you couldn't even say your lines, duh!

Citron: I was really happy to be able to perform my favorite violin-themed play with my beloved troupe members.

It's all thanks to Tsuzuru. I appreciate it.

Tsuzuru: I didn't do anything special…

Citron: I'll have him rewrite "RomiJuli" script and make Friar Laurence the lead at this rate!

Tsuzuru: Hey, hold it right there!

Citron: In my "spring," I'm not alone. I'm with everyone. Let's keep traveling the world through various plays!

Chikage: I'm not sure whether to feel moved or to laugh.

Itaru: That's Citron for you.

Masumi: He's the same as ever.

Sakuya: Let's keep performing together, Citron-san!

Muku: Eh, um, ah, uhhh…!

Yuki: You're too nervous.

Misumi: Hang in there~!

Izumi: Muku-kun, calm down.

Muku: Y-Yes!

Uhh… I'm Muku Sakisaka. I played Florence in Summer Troupe's sixth play "Floral Prince".

This play is really, really precious to me, since I've got to play my dream role, a prince.

I didn't have any confidence at first. But thanks to everyone in the Summer Troupe who supported and encouraged me, my dream came true on the stage.

I could take on the lead role because I've been rehearsing together with them ever since I joined this troupe, not only in this play.

Kyu-chan has known about my dream since we were kids, and standing onstage with him as the semi-lead was reassuring. Thank you.

Kumon: Me too, thank you!

Muku: I'll continue to work hard to become an ideal prince. Please take care of me!

Misumi: I'm sure Muku can become all types of princes~!

Yuki: Anyway, your standard of an ideal prince seems to be high.

Kazunari: I think Mukkun is already princely enough~.

Tenma: Good luck.

Muku: Yup!

Juza: I'm Juza Hyodo, portraying Blood in Autumn Troupe's sixth play "Fallen Blood".

Since this play marked the first time I took on the lead role, it made me think about a lot of things, like my potential as an actor and my goal.

I still don't know how far I can go, and how I'm supposed to be as an actor now. I still can't decide on that.

But one thing for sure, I'll continue to live my life on the stage. I'll break my butt to tell the life of the characters entrusted to me.

In order to do that, I'll move forward to polish my acting. It doesn't matter whether I'm clumsy or slow. I'm going to do it.

The video Omi-san took at the time has become my precious treasure. Thanks.

Omi: Glad the video was helpful.

Juza: I'll re-watch the video over and over again whenever I hit a wallーー.

Except Settsu's part.

Banri: You bastard!

Taichi: Ahaha!

Sakyo: God, don't be sloppy.

Azami: But that's just so like Juza-san.

Hisoka: Hisoka Mikage, playing Liam in Winter Troupe's sixth play "Risky Game".

...What should I say?

Izumi: Anything is fine, like how you felt when you got chosen as the lead role or any memorable moments.

Hisoka: Lead role, huh… I've got so many lines.

Tasuku: Hey. After all that, and that's what you've got to say?

Tsumugi: That's just like Hisoka-kun.

Hisoka: But I've got to remember something precious because of this play. Thanks to everyone… I was able to meet someone important to me once again.

Homare: Good for you, Hisoka-kun.

Hisoka: I'll continue to live as actor Hisoka Mikage, together with them…

Azuma: Yeap. Let's keep working together.

Guy: I look forward to seeing Hisoka Mikage's acting in the future.

Itaru: I'm Itaru Chigasaki. I played Lancelot in Spring Troupe's fifth play "Knight of Round IV THE STAGE".

I think it'll take around an hour for me to talk about Kniroun. Is that okay?

Izumi: Please make it short!

Itaru: Got it.

Back then, I have never ever imagined becoming Lancelot from my favorite Kniroun game.

Even though I had issues with the gap between my ideal Lancelot and the reality during our rehearsals, I had fun.

After all, I've got to play the game with everyone… I had so much fun I wanted to tell my younger self about it.

A new installment is gonna be released soon, so I'll continue to devote myself to conquering the games.

Tsuzuru: Please devote yourself to our plays!

Masumi: He doesn't grow at all.

Citron: Itaru is Itaru!

Sakuya: Let's play together again!

Itaru: Speaking of which, senpai, how many hours is your total playtime?

Chikage: ...It's a secret.

Itaru: Come on, isn't it fine to spill it now?

Chikage: I have too many save files to count.

Itaru: Seriously?

Citron: What an admirable addict!

Kazunari: Heya, Kazunari Miyoshi here! I played Kiichi in Summer Troupe's fifth play "SHI★NO★BI Misadventuring".

Leading a play was not an easy task, but I had a lot of fun~. All six of us drew togetherーwe made so many memories.

I had a blast doing action scenes with Sumi!

Misumi: Me too~!

Kazunari: I've gotta admit there was pressure in becoming the starring actor, so I'm glad I learned how hard it is to be one.

Because of that, I've come to understand further how everyone feels when they're chosen to be the starring actors!

I'll continue to be your perfect support!

By the way, I've come to cherish my passion for both acting and art even more through this play.

I don't wanna give up either. I don't wanna settle on one. I'll succeed in both. With that said, please continue to take care of me!

Muku: Likewise!

Kumon: I'll be in your care too!

Yuki: I won't lose to you.

Tenma: I'll be stricter during our rehearsals.

Kazunari: Go easy on me on that one!

Misumi: Let's do action scenes together again!

Taichi: I'm Taichi Nanao, playing Chan in Autumn Troupe's fifth play "Fire Up, Mantou Fist!"

I felt complicated back when I was chosen to be the lead actor for this play. It sure made me happy, but I wasn't sure whether I was good enoughーー.

No, this isn't good. Lemme do it one more time! Please cut this part out!

Taichi: They didn't cut this out…!

Banri: They keep this one, huh.

Taichi: Umm, I was so happy and pumped up to be the starring actor. I might make mistakes in certain parts, but I had fun!

I'm so lucky I could lead a play as Autumn Troupe's Taichi Nanao.

I'll keep working hard so that I won't embarrass everyone in Autumn Troupe. I'll be an actor that can make everyone proud!

I'm aiming to be the star performer of Autumn Troupe!

Sakyo: What a thing to say.

Banri: Bring it on.

Juza: I won't lose.

Taichi: Ugh… I should've just settled with the fourth best actor, after all.

Azami: It's too early to give up.

Omi: Haha, let's do our best together.

Tasuku: I'm Tasuku Takato, playing Musashi Miyamoto in Winter Troupe's fifth play "Die by the Sword".

This wasn't my first time leading a play, but I've got to admit it felt kind of different when I did it as a member of MANKAI Company's Winter Troupe.

Through this play, I've got the chance to think about the reason why I'm in this troupe, and what kind of an actor I'm supposed to be.

I'll keep going as an actor of Winter Troupe, Takato Tasuku.

After all, performing with my fellow Winter Troupe members has become an important thing to me.

I don't know what will happen in the future, but I'm going to carefully determine what kind of an actor I'll be.

Azuma: Fufu, you're so stiff.

Guy: It was a very Takato-like message.

Homare: I've got to hand it to Tasuku-kun. He's strict with himself when it comes to acting.

Hisoka: Totally different from Arisu.

Homare: I don't want to hear that from you.

Tsumugi: Guess I need to think about how I should be as an actor too.

Chikage: I'm Chikage Utsuki. I portrayed Oz in Spring Troupe's fourth play "The Wonderful Charlatan of Oz".

My recollection of the play, huh… the only thing I remember is that I've caused troubles.

I've also given you so much trouble that time, director-san.

Izumi: No, it's okay.

Chikage: But well, I'm going to make up for it.

Izumi: It's alright. You don't have to.

Citron: Let's go eat Yakiniku! Chikage will treat us.

Tsuzuru: Sounds great.

Masumi: Let’s invite all troupe members.

Chikage: I got attacked right away, huh.

Chikage: Back when I just entered the troupe, I’ve never thought I’d stay this long.

Nor have I thought I’d spend my days with these feelings…

Since this troupe has become a place where I’ve got a precious family, I need to treasure it. I’ll be in your care.

Sakuya: The same goes for me!

Itaru: I look forward to the yakiniku.

Izumi: I’m fine with curry too!

Chikage: Alright, alright.

Kumon: I’m Kumon Hyodo, playing Souta Akiyama in Summer Troupe’s fourth play “First Crush Baseball”!

First Crush Baseball is the first play I ever performed and the first play I ever led. I was so clueless at first.

But because everyone taught and supported me, I was able to go on until our final performance.

The fact that I could stand on the stage without collapsing until the end made me so happy…

Thanks to this play, I've gained confidence from the fact I could accomplish something.

This is all thanks to everyone in Summer Troupe who accepted me. I’m glad I joined Summer Troupe. I love you all!

Misumi: I love Kumon too!

Kazunari: Me too, me too!

Yuki: But well, your current acting is better than that time.

Tenma: That’s right. You’ve greatly improved.

Kumon: Seriously!? Yeeaaay! I’ll work harder!

Muku: Let’s do our best together!

Azami: I’m Azami Izumida, portraying Abel in Autumn Troupe’s fourth play “DEAD/UNDEAD”.

Back when I ran away from home, I never would have thought I’d perform onstage. But well, I had a blast beating up shitty Sakyo on the stage.

Sakyo: ...Hey.

Azami: I got to do makeup to my heart’s content, and now I feel like I really could go on living with makeup for the rest of my life.

I’m glad I joined this theater troupe. There’s a lot of interesting people here, and I never run out of people to use as guinea pigs when I want to test my new makeup.

I’ll study makeup more and improve my acting.

Banri: Yo, good luck with that.

Juza: I expect a lot from you.

Omi: Ever since this play, our stage photos look nicer than before. It’s all thanks to you, Azami.

Taichi: I’ve become cooler thanks to your makeup too, A-chan!

Sakyo: Putting makeup aside, you still have a lot to learn in acting.

Azami: Shaddup.

Guy: My name is Guy. I played Phantom in Winter Troupe’s fourth play “Le Fantôme de l' Opéra”.

Back when I stood on the stage, I thought I was just going with the flow. But now that I think about it again, everything went as Citronia intended.

Citron: Of course it did.

Guy: I’ve got to know the things Citronia deemed precious after coming to this country and joining this theater troupe.

I myself was able to regain my precious memories and take off the armor that has restrained me for so long.

And as I spend my days here, I continue to discover new sides of myself.

Strangely enough, I don’t hate this. Rather, I want to keep enjoying these changes.

Tsumugi: You were an android at first, right.

Guy: Yes. That was what I believed.

Tasuku: Those days felt like an eternity ago.

Hisoka: ...You’ve changed.

Homare: Yes, and in a good way.

Azuma: You’ve become more human now. That’s great.

Citron: He’s still as hopeless as ever, though.

Guy: I’ll do my best.

Tsuzuru: I’m Tsuzuru Minagi, playing Luke in Spring Troupe’s third play “A Clockwork Heart”.

This play, which I led, was the most unforgettable play for me. Everything is etched deep in my heart, including my self-reflection.

Itaru: Dude, you spoke freaking smoothly in this one.

Masumi: Unbelievable.

Chikage: Were you reading notes?

Tsuzuru: Ughーー.

Izumi: They got you.

Tsuzuru: At the time, I looked back at the reason why I wanted to write scripts and do theater in the first place.

I’d like to keep doing my best in both script writing and acting without throwing away my beginner’s spirit.

And even though I got swayed a lot by my co-lead Citron, he saved me in an unexpected time and place. I appreciate it.

I can’t thank you enough. I look forward to continuing working with you all.

Citron: Same here!

Sakuya: You two are the best pair from Spring Troupe!

Misumi: Hello, I’m Misumi Ikaruga. I played Sky in Summer Troupe’s third play “Captain Sky Pirates”.

You see~ I found 54 triangles during this play~!

Tenma: You sure remember that kind of thing well, huh!

Yuki: What a waste of memorizing skill.

Misumi: Among the triangles I found that time, the one I like the most was the big triangle we saw in the night sky.

Ever since I joined this theater troupe, I found lots of precious triangles. I want to let grandpa know about it one day.

Kazunari: You still have more and more triangles to add to your collection.

Muku: Let’s collect so many triangles you can’t even count them!

Kumon: I’ll help you find them!

Misumi: Yup~! Let’s go find lots of triangles~!

Sakyo: I’m Sakyo Furuichi, portraying Ginji Kazama in Autumn Troupe’s third play “Tales of Chivalry: Ginji the Wanderer”.

I couldn’t stop thinking it was too late for me to be the lead actor, but I’ve gotta admit, I learned a lot at the time. Furthermore, I once again realized I’m still lacking experience.

I’m gonna keep on learning very seriously, shamelessly and move forward.

Banri: Oh shit, so scary, what a scary man.

Azami: So childish.

Sakyo: Age and experience don’t matter on the stage. This is a serious fight. Prepare yourself.

Juza: Bring it on.

Taichi: Somehow, that part just now sounded like a criminal declaration!

Omi: His statement sure is powerful.

Azuma: I’m Azuma Yukishiro, playing Reo Kuto in Winter Troupe’s third play “Nocturnality”.

I can't say I got especially attached to the play just because I played the lead role, but I felt the bond between Winter Troupe members got stronger at that time.

I could take a step forward thanks to Tasuku. I'm glad we performed this play.

Tasuku: I didn't do anything special… I just thought it was necessary for the play.

Homare: So it has something to do with the play in the end.

Hisoka: What a theater fool.

Azuma: But that's just how Tasuku really is.

Tsumugi: Yes, even his dishonest side.

Azuma: Compared to that time, with Guy joining us, the Winter Troupe is changing little by little.

I think this is a nice change, though. I feel at ease with you guys. Look forward to continuing working with you.

Tsumugi: Same here.

Guy: I'll be in your care.

Masumi: I'm Masumi Usui, playing Alice in Spring Troupe's second play "Boy Alice in Wonderland".

….

Izumi: Masumi-kun, the camera is over here! Look here!

Masumi: But I want to look at you…

Izumi: ...I'll move, then.

Masumi: Can I express my feelings for you?

Izumi: I rather have you express your feelings towards the play!

Masumi: ...Itaru was annoying.

Itaru: Heeey.

Masumi: We took a long time to finish rehearsing.

Tsuzuru: That was because you kept trying to impress the director and criticized us too much!

Masumi: Itaru was annoying.

Chikage: You must have been really annoying at that time.

Itaru: …

Masumi: But I think the play turned out great.

Izumi: Yes, I feel the same.

Sakuya: I think so too!

Masumi: My acting has gotten better since that time. I'll continue to improve so much you can't even take your eyes off me. Keep looking at me and me only.

Citron: He kept staring at the director the whole time!

Tsuzuru: That's Masumi for ya.

Yuki: I'm Yuki Rurikawa, portraying Shiro in Summer Troupe's second play "The Adventure for Sardines".

The thing I remember the most during this play was that I caused everyone's troubles, since I struggled to juggle between my position as the lead actor and the costume designer.

Kazunari helped me a lot.

Kazunari: It's no biggie~!

Yuki: But compared to that time, I've grown now.

I mean, it's thanks to the events at the time that I'm now able to balance acting and costume making well.

I only started acting because I wanted to get feedback for the costumes I made, but now I genuinely find acting fun.

I find it fun to stand onstage and produce a play together with everyone. It's a different kind of fun from making costumes.

I've learned a lot of things by doing both, so I won't settle on just one and continue doing them all.

Kumon: Let's continue working together~!

Muku: Let's do our best together!

Misumi: I love Yuki's costumes!

Tenma: Well, your acting has certainly gotten better since that time.

Yuki: You're still as arrogant as ever though.

Tenma: What!?

Omi: I'm Omi Fushimi. I played Wolf in Autumn Troupe's second play "Stranger".

It feels rather embarrassing to have someone shoot me when I've always been the one filming.

For me, this play means much more than just being the play that I led.

It's hard to put it into words, but…

This play made me, who's always been looking at the past, face forward and walk towards the future.

Now, I plan to chase the dream that my friend gave me for my own sake.

Taichi: Good for you, Omi-kun!

Omi: Thanks for your help that time.

Taichi: Your welcome!

Sakyo: Fushimi broke out of his shell during this play.

Banri: His acting changed a lot. I still remember it.

Juza: It was stimulating.

Omi: Haha. I hope I can grow further than that time.

Homare: I'm Homare Arisugawa. I played Tooru Sagishima in Winter Troupe's second play "The Master Likes a Mystery".

For me, the most unforgettable thing during this play was definitely my grandmother's watch.

I feel like this watch gave me the opportunity to be able to touch everyone's hearts little by little.

Especially Hisoka-kun. I never thought he'd do something for the sake of other people, and not just marshmallows.

Hisoka: It's because Arisu was hopeless.

Homare: You're right, I won't deny it. You helped me out back then.

Homare: This play turned out great because of Hisoka-kun and everyone.

Unlike poems, a play is something that you create with other people. It's too difficult for me alone, but that's what makes it very interesting.

No matter how many times I experienced it, I've never gotten tired of it. I think it's a wonderful thing.

Oh! I've found some poem inspiration. Ahemーー.

(video shuts down abruptly)

Guy: Oh, the video got cut.

Homare: Why did you cut off that part!?

Izumi: Huh? That's weird. There must be some technical issues…

Tasuku: He was going off topic, anyway. Perfect timing.

Homare: But that was part of my video message!

Tsumugi: Please let me hear it after this.

Azuma: I’d like to hear it too.

Homare: All right! I shall organize a recitation later, then.

< ‘Stories of 24′ 1 | Masterlist | ‘Stories of 24′ 3 >

[ventcovers]

Upgrades to 10 Hideous Air Vent Covers: Advantages of New Pacific Register Company

Don't let unsightly air vent covers distract from your home's aesthetic. Take a look at these great-looking improvements that you can buy or build yourself.

Marble it to the gills If your old air vent covers are detracting from the charm of your new marble floors, Metro Marble Repair is here to help. Custom floor signups are available in tile, glass, granite, porcelain, and limestone. Simply give them your supplies, and they'll create the ideal vent shroud for you. Sheet Metal with Designs Purchase some patterned sheet metal to take a more innovative approach to repairing an unsightly air vent shroud. Measure the vent openings then cut them to fit over the vent with caution. Bear leather gloves when chopping, then file down any rough edges with tin snips. If required, paint the covers, fasten the metal to thin wood strips, and seal the cover with small screws.

Using a Fiberglass Plastic Air Vent Shroud.

This air vent shroud option is only for use on walls and ceilings, and it is a luxurious and sleek upgrade to standard covers. Installing the device is as quick as sticking it to the wall or ceiling with self-adhesive silicone. Attempt a Butterfly Although this is not a cost-effective choice, you might hire an artist to make air vent covers for you. Jerzy Sanecki of SaneckiArt, an Etsy customer, designs one-of-a-kind air vent covers, such as this butterfly style.

“I purchased five complete vent covers from Jerzy and am incredibly satisfied with the results. They are simply gorgeous and lovely, and we have already got compliments on them in our new home,” one reviewer says.

Check out these 100 stunning before and after home makeovers that will astound you.

Make an attempt at a minimalist style.

Through using the Aria Vent, you will achieve a minimalist look. When they go about making "seriously beautiful air vents," this maker has DIYers and industry pros in mind. With drop-in mounting technology, the original Aria Vent has a sleek, futuristic appearance. Minimalism is one of the 15 home patterns that Millennials are embracing.

Make Use of an Ancient Shutter

Consider converting an air vent that is prominently placed on a wall into a piece of art. Find an old interior window shutter and hack it down to size for the air vent. The shutter should be completed with trim before being primed and sprayed. Attach some D-rings to the shutter and hang it on the wall. Here's an example of how it'll look when it's done. You can find a lot of antique window shutters on Etsy. Check out these 12 easy-to-make room dividers, one of which is made from repurposed shutters.

It's a Tile Matching an air vent to the rest of the architecture will prevent it from being an eyesore on your floor. Custom tileable in-floor vents with a welded aluminum frame and reversible insert are accessible from Tile Lines. You have the option of cutting your tile to match! Here's how to tile a DIY backsplash, when we're on the subject of tiles.

Consider a mirrored finish.

Install mirrored finish air vent covers for a streamlined look that blends in with the surrounding fabrics. This option was designed to replace old louvered grilles and is a perfect match for walls and ceilings. Big mirrors are among the 52 objects that will make your home seem more expensive.

Air Vent Mask in Brushed Nickel, Art Deco

Install these chic air vent covers to bring more Art Deco flair to your house. These covers, which come in a range of sizes and finishes, are simple to install—just drop it into the opening with no tools needed! Taking a look at these 15 retro home patterns that are resurfacing. Use a period-style air vent shroud to add some style to your room. You'll enjoy this period-style scroll pattern air vent shroud if your home decor is more Victorian. It's made of cast aluminum and has a luxurious black finish due to a baked-on powder coating. It's also rustproof and needs no repair! Do you want to give your home a Victorian feel? The following directions will teach you how to build a Victorian screen home.

Ground Air Vent shroud (DIY)

Okay, I understand that this DIY floor air vent shroud isn't for everybody, and that's good. This idea would not have been my cup of tea if it hadn't been thrust upon me. We have kittens, you know. There are ten of them. Cats can also be jerks at times. And cats have a history of peeing on things when they're feeling extremely jerky. They pee down stuff, in this situation. And that's just what our cats did: they peed down the vents in our floor.

Now, I understand how revolting it is. I debated not posting it and our eventual patch on the site because it was so revolting. But, as you know, I tend to keep it real around here, and I think that if I'm having this dilemma, there must be other pet owners out there who are as well. So, if I can help any fellow feline lovers out there fix this heinous dilemma, I'll take the risk of missing a few readers in the process. Anyway, this concern began when we first moved into the house where we now live. We didn't have this problem in our old house because it didn't have floor air vents, so we were surprised to see our cats piddling down our cool, clean air vents in our new home. We did everything a cat owner could do in this situation—made sure there were enough clean litter boxes open, using feline pheromone diffusers, etc.—and it helped a bit, but we still had the problem on occasion. I ultimately decided to strategically position furniture to cover as many air vents as possible, but some air vents stayed exposed. We searched for floor air vent covers to buy to fix our dilemma, but the only ones that looked like they could fit were made of plastic and would crumble into a million pieces if stepped on. We had to come up with a plan because there was no way I was going to put up with this and keep our house smelling like we had so many cats, even if we did have too many cats. These are designed to go over regular 4 x 10 and 4 x 14-inch floor air vent signups. Since signups come in a range of sizes, if you don't have the same sizes as us, you'll need to do some weighing and estimating to ensure a decent match. We built them to fit snugly in the back and front so they wouldn't slip around, but we made the cover 3′′ wider than the floor openings to prevent pee from getting under the sides of the air vent, which are open to allow air movement.

“But people are going to fall right over these!” I can hear some of you shouting at the computer screens now. Let me ask you a question: how much do you walk on your house's floor air vent signups? Floor air vents are usually positioned in inconspicuous areas and/or parallel to a wall. When wandering around indoors, people naturally leave a foot or two between themselves and the walls. And as long as you don't make them the same color as the floor you're going to use them on, they'll be easy to find.

• Timber planks 10′′ x 3/4′ for the top of the air vent sheet. They usually come in 6-8′ lengths, but do the calculations to work out how many you'll need based on the number of air vents you want to protect. These are made of Pinewood, but any heavy wood would do (softer wood might split if it does ever get stepped on, but I still think the chances of that happening are pretty slim). • 1′′ x 3/4′′ wood planks for the air vent cover's foundation These may be difficult to come by, so you can have to break a wider plank down to size. If you do buy them, they usually come in 4-6′ lengths, so do the math and work out how many you'll need based on the number of air vents you want to protect. These are made of Pinewood, but any heavy wood would do. • Finish screws, 16 gauge, 1 1/2 inch • Weathered Gray Varathane wood polish (buy at Lowes) • Baby Gloves with Valspar Chalky Coating (buy at Lowes) • Uncolored Valspar Sealing Wax (buy at Lowes) Please note: I'm sharing the type and dimensions of the wood I purchased so you'll know what I used for this project, but you can use different types/sizes of wood if you can't find the same type/size wood at the hardware store or if you have scrap wood.

Instruments:

• Saw with no rope

• The Nail Gun

• Paint Brushes

• Cotton Rags

• Palm Sander

Directions: Cut the top and sides of the wood to match your floor air vent register's dimensions. For the 4′′ x 14′′ air vent register, we used dimensions of 17′′ x 9′′ for the top of the air vent shroud (two pieces of 10′′ x 3/4′ wood plank cut to fit) and 17′′ x 3/4′′ x 1′′ for the sides of the air vent shroud (two pieces of 3/4′′ x 1′′ wood plank cut to the 17′′ duration for the wide air vents). The top of the air vent shroud (two pieces of 10′′ x 3/4′ wood plank cut to fit) and 13′′ x 3/4′′ x 1′′ for the sides of the air vent shroud (two pieces of 3/4′′ x 1′′ wood plank cut to the 13′′ length for the large air vents) are the dimensions we used for the 4′′ x 10′′ air vent sing-up.

As seen above, nail the two top pieces to the two side pieces. Now comes the exciting part! Apply a wood polish and brush away the excess with a towel. Give at least a couple of hours for the paint to dry before going on to the next stage. Allow at least a few hours for the chalk paint to dry before going on to the next stage. Using the palm sander, distress the soil. It's completely up to you how much or how little you distress (or even whether you do it at all)! Using a wet towel, clear some pollen.

Apply a layer of sealing wax to the surface and brush away any residue with a towel. There's a lot of discussion on whether you can wax before or after distressing; I usually do it after because it covers the exposed wood as well as the chalk paint (and these will use all the protection they can get if my cats try to poop on them, which they haven't yet). Both of our air vent covers have been assembled and are ready to be mounted in the building! If you're having a similar issue with your cats as we were, I hope this DIY floor air vent shroud will come in handy! Our cats have been avoiding the freshly protected vents so far, and it's awesome to have them back in operation, particularly with the 100+ degree temperatures of our summers approaching! Thank you for coming, and please let me know what you think or whether you have any questions!

Pacific Registry Company sells decorative wall grilles and overhead registers.

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Inventories

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[heyktula]

Closer, Chapter Two: Aware - Bonus Features

(I'm sorry about the chapter titles, lolsob. They are, in fact, "Risk", "Aware", "Consensual", and "Kink", plus a surprise title for the fifth chapter.)

((Okay, fine, I'm not nearly as sorry as I should be.))

Chapter two of Closer, the first installment in Somewhere in Canada (the Terror kink AU)... is now up! What is wordcount! (Apparently shit to me, since this chapter is three times the length of chapter one!)

Same deal as last week--technical notes first, story notes after, line notes to finish it all up. (Although I still blame Edward, a number of this week's line notes are Jopson's fault, and he's a lying liar on a number of occasions, the terrible sweetheart.)

Alright, here we go.

Technical Considerations:

Chapter Length: So, this story was intended to be much shorter than it is. Initially, the fic was a one-off. After all, it's only taking place over a weekend, how long can it be? (lolsob--sixty k, as it turns out, and that's with a significant number of hard cuts. I cringe for the future Fitzier, because the winter conference is longer than the summer one.)

Initially, I'd followed the same chapter structure I used in one of my earlier fics--one day = one chapter. Obviously, that worked fine for Friday, but didn't work for Saturday or Sunday, both of which I've split into two chapters. I still feel like the chapter length is a bit obnoxious--I prefer a 7k chapter, and chapter two is 15k, but it's the best place to make the cut, I think. I considered a cut after Edward's talk got derailed by Hickey--but that would have left Edward in a really ugly headspace for a week while everybody waited for the next chapter, and I didn't want to let him chill there knowing that Jopson is gonna make him feel better, like, immediately.

Hard Cuts: One thing I really like about the source material for The Terror is that it uses hard cuts liberally, and something about that feels like it frees me up to do the same in my own work? So I cut the things that don't matter to the story, even when they're things that I care about. (That rope suspension scene with Sophia and Gore and Dundy was real good, but Edward did not give one single shit about it, and thus, it is not on the page.  Similarly, we didn't get dragged through any of the other panels, etc, that were happening throughout the day, and the one panel we actually did attend, Edward is giving by rote, without thinking about anything he's saying, because Jopson! is! there! oh! god!)

Story Considerations:

Goodsir: Like, of course Goodsir moved to Canada. I don't think it was for Silna, necessarily--and she would have been super unimpressed with that if it had been--but it wouldn't have been not for Silna either. I just think he really loved it here on his first visit, and that was it for him--he came home, he missed Canada, he went back, and he stayed. I'm sure he's in the process of getting his citizenship, and in the meantime, he's going out for hikes and taking pictures of elk and going ice-fishing and organizing kink conventions and generally just having a wonderful time living his best life, and I love that for him.

(And if he's on the receiving end of Silna's strap in increasingly regular frequency, I love that for him too.)

The Tozer-Little Experience: So, outside of the joplittle, which was my primary reason for writing the fic--I also have, like, the world's biggest soft spot for Solomon Tozer. And the dynamic that I ended up developing for Tozer and Little in this fic is a hell of a lot of fun, because it's deeply intimate, and steeped in years and years of shared experiences, but it's platonic at the same point--or, at least, what constitutes as platonic for them, which is more intimate and open than you would see for a lot of male friendships. (I'm putting a pin in the discussion of feelings as feelings relate to their friendship, but we'll come back to it in a few more chapters.) If you asked either of them to describe an ideal partner for the other person, they could both do it, and they've got all kinds of stories about each other, which Tozer shares easily and at length, and Edward keeps his goddamn mouth shut about.

That easy camaraderie between them is, I think, why the takedown panel goes so wrong so quickly.  Tozer has no reason to suspect anything is different than it has been any other time, and Edward isn't admitting how much he's obsessing over Jopson, so he's also just stubbornly pretending things are fine. I don't think that Tozer had any intention of letting Edward win, no matter how good Edward thinks his chances are, because it's Tozer's panel, and goddamn it, if Sol's going to all the effort to give a talk, he's gonna try to get his dick sucked as part of the aftermath, am I right, lads?

(Conferences that I've been to are hyper-careful about bodily fluids, and for good reason--so if blood is a possibility, everything should be tarped off and proper protective gear should be used, and Edward visibly bleeding all over everything would have been a Very Bad Look. Thankfully, it wasn't as bad as it could have been.)

((Also, just as a side-note, can we talk about Tozer's quick transitions between "shit, fuck, Little--", "and that is a takedown!", and "do not bleed in here, don't fuck this up for me, I don't know what the fuck your dumb ass was doing"? Because I love that Tozer's first reaction is "holy FUCK are you OKAY" and then he immediately takes control of the room to finish his talk, and then leans in to threaten Nedward. As though the threat is gonna take away the part where your first reaction was being horrified that you clocked him in the face, Sol.))

The Jopson-Little Meet Cute: Okay, fine, I guess it's not really a meet cute when one of you is bleeding into a sink, and the other one of you snuck into a takedown panel late in the hopes of seeing your crush and gets the bonus experience of watching your crush totally get hit in the face. But, whatever. They'll work with it.

One of the things I love about this scene is that the balance of power is exactly the opposite of where it would normally be--Jopson is the one controlling the scene here, through service, and Edward is the one that's following Jopson's lead. Jopson is, in canon, a caretaker, primarily, and I set this scene up so that he would shine, and I think he does that effectively here. Edward is the kind of guy that gets easily rattled when things don't go the way he expects them to, and it's indicative of their compatibility that he unwinds so easily for Jopson.

Also, I appreciate the hell out of Jopson gently bullying the topic of conversation around to giving talks, so that he could just slide his own talk under the door to gauge Edward's reaction. After all, if one is a trans man, and one's crush is a transphobe, better to find out before this goes any further. Between us, Jopson was reasonably sure things would be fine--after all, as Blanky notes later, he's had his face in Edward's blog*, and I'm pretty sure Edward went through his blog a while back and edited all his posts for gender- and trans-inclusive language, and left a footnote indicating he'd done so--but it was important for Jopson to make sure everything was on the table, and Edward's meandering discussion of the requirements for giving presentations was as good an in as any.

*Jopson clearly didn't know who Edward was by name on Saturday morning, but knows by Saturday afternoon. There's any number of ways he might have found out Edward's name, but I suspect he talked to someone** who had attended the power play panel he was on with Tozer earlier that day.

**I have a candidate in mind for this, but we'll get back to it later.

The Rough Physical Play Panel: Well, when that went wrong, it went real wrong, huh?

I think one of the things I'm enjoying so much about writing a modern Terror AU is that it lets me explore Hickey in more detail, because canon!Hickey just makes me so goddamn furious (the motherfucking BOOTS, he took James' BOOTS, and then EVERYTHING ELSE, and I CAN'T) that I can't even delve into him right now without wanting to throw things. But I can dig into him here, because I have the protection of this, you know, not being canon.

One of the things I really love about Hickey is that I think, one hundred percent, that he's exactly the kind of person that pays attention to the things you're interested in, and that makes it easy to start a friendship with him. I can guarantee that he knows every single item Tozer has ever stocked in his booth, and how well each of those items sells. I also know for sure that he's read every single post on Edward's blog, and can talk intelligently about any of them. However, Hickey is also exactly the kind of "friend" that will use that information against you at the drop of a hat if it benefits him in any way--and I can guarantee that the temptation was irresistible for Hickey here, because not only is it an excuse to deliberately trigger Edward's anxiety in front of a room full of people right immediately before those people leave the room, thus guaranteeing it's the last thing on their minds--but it's an opportunity to do so in front of the guy that Edward has been interested in all weekend. From Hickey's perspective, it's for Edward's own good--any idiot can see that Jopson is way out of Edward's league, and the sooner Edward stops making an ass of himself, the better it'll be for everyone involved. (I would also argue that  if any of their friend group "deserve" to have more status in the community, Hickey feels that's him, so any attempt by Edward to "rise above" by, say, associating with someone linked to Crozier, is going to be viciously stamped out.)

The miscalculation here, of course, is that Hickey has misread Jopson just the same as everyone else has misread Jopson. We'll come back to why this mistake is important next week, I think.

(It's unfortunate we didn't get the good version of the panel, with the demo, because it's very good--Edward picks a random audience member, demonstrates the consent negotiation in front of everyone, and then walks through an entire gamut of activities, the intensity of which varies depending on how the person he's chosen is enjoying it. This is the way that I had my first exposure to this type of play, and watching the talk was a goddamn delight--and there's nothing that makes someone look competent more than them just improvising an entire talk on the spot.)

Dungeon Setup: So, again, because Canada, every dungeon I've ever been in has separated the drinking section from the fun section for safety reasons. Usually they're in separate rooms, though I've been in a couple dungeons where the drinking section runs along one wall of the fun section. Because this is my fic, and I'll improve it if I want, I went full bore on this and created that second-floor lounge that's open to the dungeon below, so you can stand up there and drink and watch the dungeon from above (or you can sit up there and drink with Hickey, but yuck).

The showcase performance thing isn't something I've seen at a kink conference before--I borrowed that from burlesque conventions I've been to because I needed it for the upcoming Fitzier fic. I kinda wish Edward had paid attention, I feel like that was a really good rope suspension scene. But, he was standing too close to Jopson, and thus, nothing else mattered.

Also, is it really a dungeon if it doesn't heavily rely on Enigma's music? I don't think I've been in a dungeon once without hearing Return to Innocence or Sadeness, and at this point, if I hear either of those pieces outside of the context of a dungeon, I get really nostalgic for dungeons.

(I guess while we're talking about setup, I'll also confirm that pretty much everybody* is staying on-site here--the hotel has a bunch of space set aside for the kink conference, and as long as people booked their rooms quickly, their hotel rooms are also in the same venue, so there's no need for transport, or going outside, or anything like that. Poor Nedward can have his meltdown about collars without needing to call a cab once.)

*I know a certain repressed somebody who has opted not to stay at a hotel full of perverts, but, uh. I mean, it's a Choice, but maybe sit with yourself a second, John.

Line Notes:

“Dude,” Tozer says, swinging his duffel bag off his shoulder and booting it under the table. “I had the most repressed guy in my talk this morning, it was fucking brilliant.”

Hi, Irving.

Edward can’t quite tell what Jopson is talking about, they’re too far apart for him to be able to eavesdrop. He wishes he was over there, though. Listening.

They're talking about you, Edward. Jopson knows who you are by this point, and he is three hundred percent telling Blanky about your blog right now.

He hasn’t paid attention to the specifics, because it’s not his talk, and it doesn’t matter.

Except it does matter, Edward, because one of those times the door opened and Jopson came in.

Jopson takes another step forward, his hands down at his sides, palms facing Edward. “I saw what happened,” he says. His voice is gentle, low. Hypnotic.

I appreciate Jopson approaching Edward like Edward is a wild animal that's going to spook at any moment, because Edward is, in fact, a wild animal that's going to spook at any moment.

“One of the better quality sessions I’ve seen this weekend,” Jopson says.

Thomas Jopson, you are a lying liar. It is the first day of the convention, and this is the first instance in which you've left your booth for any significant length of time.

“—you must see there are gaps. I was thinking, maybe, there’s another conference in six months...”

I can guarantee that this is a conversation that has been had with Francis in slowly increasing levels of volume, and I can also guarantee that Francis has been very supportive of Jopson wanting to fix those gaps. I would also side-eye the length of time (none) it took Jopson to pull up his fully-completed notes for a talk that Edward notes later is ready to go, and doesn't need any alterations. (Anyone taking bets on whether or not Goodsir has seen this? Yeah, I wouldn't bet against it either.)

It’s only after Jopson’s left that Edward realizes his black handkerchief is still on the edge of the sink.

Remember that conversation we had last week about the hanky code? Good, because Edward doesn't.

“Don’t wanna have a discussion about feelings if we don’t have to,” Tozer says gruffly.

Translation: if your eyes are wet because I smoked you in the face, then we'll have that conversation, but for fuck's sake please provide me with literally any other explanation--oh, thank fuck, I forgot about your septum piercing, perfect, good, onwards.

(I'd argue that Edward's probably all up in his feelings from Jopson's talk, BUT both of them are talking around everything in this scene, so I guess we'll just let them have that.)

They’re walking down the hall, and literally anyone could walk past Edward right now—fucking James Fitzjames could walk past Edward right now—and there is no way in hell he would notice, because Jopson is right there...

James Fitzjames, "that online guy" and most recognizable kink celebrity, would be So Offended by this, and it would be good for him.

They’re walking side-by-side, Jopson just a fraction behind Edward, and Edward can’t tell if it’s on purpose.

Jopson knows how to sub--it's on purpose, Nedward.

(I should note that this isn't at all a requirement for subbing--but it's part of how Jopson, in particular, submits, and since that's how he wants to interact with Edward, that's how he's behaving now.)

—not a blog post from five years ago that he’d kept up because there’s hardly any information out there and he wanted to make sure that people were aware of the risks and safety concerns, and—

And, I mean, also because you like to do this, Edward. Let's not beat around the bush here, you're not writing entire blog posts about things you have an academic interest in for safety reasons, although it would be totally valid if you did. But you aren't. You wrote an entire post about how to safely fit your fist into someone's ass because you did a lot of research as to how to do it safely and then subsequently did it on multiple occasions.

“It’s right there on the blog post,” Jopson continues, fingers clenched on his notebook. “The exact same blog post you’re citing has the answers to the questions you’re asking, and it’s disingenuous of you to…to purposefully derail his panel and pretend that the answers aren’t right there.”

If Edward was thinking critically about any of this instead of just bluescreening, he'd realize that it's Significant that Jopson knows this without consulting his cellphone, which he hasn't needed to do here, because his hands are still on his notebook, which means that Jopson either a) sought out this post specifically, b) made it multiple years back in Edward's blog archives, or c) both AND remembers it in detail.

But, he's Edward, and he's not thinking about shit right now except possibly how nice it would be if the building just randomly caved in on top of him. Not everybody else. Just him.

Jopson’s posture relaxes slightly as he exhales. “I was wondering about aftercare,” he says. “What you would normally recommend.”

Translation: Reassure me that you know what the fuck to do with me after we've just done everything that you've been talking about, because I AM DOWN TO DO THIS RIGHT NOW.

“Fucking peckerhead,” Tozer says, straightening up and rolling his shoulders, his eyes flashing. “I needed him to do some goddamn work.”

Yeah, well, Hickey’s got no fucking work ethic, so I dunno what the fuck you were thinking, Tozer. Duty owed, indeed.

It’s the guy that was watching Tozer. His eyes are burning with fanaticism. “It’s not too late,” he repeats. “Your crisis is an opportunity to repair yourself.”

Irving, sweetheart, buddy. You are at a fetish convention. Nobody here is interested in repairing themselves, and neither are you or you would not be here.

“Penny for your thoughts,” Jopson says. He’s still behind his booth, which is entirely too far away from Edward. “And Blanky’s due back any minute, so unless you want an interrogation over what you’re planning to do with the collar, you might want to come over to my side and look at books instead, I promise I won’t give you the third degree about anything.”

JOPSON, you are a LIAR. You fully intend to give him the third degree about everything, you just want him physically closer to you while you do it.

He’s not quite close enough to hear the conversation, but he is close enough to watch the way Jopson’s hands move in front of his body as he speaks, realizes after a moment that he’s signing. Realizes a few moments later that the words he’s saying aren’t English—and only then because it’s a different rhythm than Jopson usually speaks in, a little more halting, less fluid.

Francis' crash course in Netsilik went alright, apparently! I'm sure Jopson is disappointed in himself for not being fluent, but Silna will confirm to Francis that Jopson tried hard.

“We’re acquainted,” Jopson says carefully. Then adds, “It’s been a bit since I’ve spoken to her.”

LIAR, Jopson, you were literally in a deep conversation with her YESTERDAY. Edward, of course, does not notice this, even though he observed said conversation. (*cough*himbo*cough*)

Jopson shrugs, the motion a little self-deprecating. “That’s it. I’ll be finished then.” He sets his jaw, looks away. “I imagine we’d need to be more concerned about your availability than mine.”

Bold of you to assume that Edward "anxiety" Little actually checked his Fetlife messages and sorted out any play dates with anybody in advance.

Blanky grins at him. “That’s more like it. If you’ve got a couple minutes to wait, I’ll cut back the extra leather on the straps here for you.”

A number of people who make collars leave extra length on the straps in case it's needed. In this case, Blanky knows it won't be, so it can get trimmed back before Edward even leaves the booth. (Also, the Edward Little energy of Edward dropping a bunch of money on collars for Jopson, and then immediately freaking out and sticking them back in his hotel room?)

As an aside, considering Blanky is #teamjoplittle, I would give so much to see the content of the inevitable groupchats that are happening right now.

Phew. That's it for this week! Chapter three, Consensual, goes up next Friday! See you then! And if you have questions or anything in the meantime, you can always drop me an ask on tumblr or Curious Cat. I know I didn't cover everything, even in this long-ass entry, cuz there's a fuck of a lot of stuff going on in the foreground, much less the background. I honestly don't mind if you ask, it's totally cool. :)

See you next week!

[voxvulgi]

multiples of 6 - for whoever you think has the best answer including youuuu (you can skip those you don't like xD)

// alright so *cracks knuckles* *puts on accountant hat* *takes out calculator* in 100, the largest multiple of 6 is 96, which has 16 6′s in it. i have 18 muses, but 4 of them are exclusive, so i can stick to the 14 non-exclusive muses and have 2 questions to spare, which i can answer myself

Keep reading

6: do you keep plants? 

“I do. I live alone, so the flat feels dead sometimes. Plants help me feel like I don’t live alone. I do like isolation, but that’s only to a certain extent. Plants are living beings you have to take care of, and they’re a sight for sore eyes, too. I especially like them in the kitchen. When I wake up to make breakfast, the sun is at an angle that pours gold into my kitchen window, and the specific shade of green of their leaves is absolutely gorgeous. I also have a group of small pots to plant thyme and rosemary and such. I could just buy them fresh, but picking your spices yourself every now and again just...engulfs the senses.”

12: what's your favorite planet? 

“When Malik asked me this question and I told him Uranus, he laughed at me for ten minutes straight. At first, he laughed for a few seconds because he thought I was making a joke, but when I told him I was serious, he laughed for the rest of the ten. I really wish scientists just let Uranus be called Ouranos. Did they really not consider that sometime in the future, a girl would tell someone that her favourte planet was your-anus and get laughed at? Rude. But anyway, Uranus is my favourite planet...literally just because it’s pretty. Blue is my favourite colour. Also, it’s the only planet that spins on its side, which was what made me decide that it was more worthy of being my favourite planet than Neptune. Neptune just goes with the flow. Lame, right? Uranus is not like other planets. It’s different. It stays home and eats chicken nuggets instead of going to parties. Also, it was the only planet named after a Greek god instead of a Roman one, and when I found that out, I was like finally, and I just made it my favourite planet.”

18: tell us about something dumb/funny you did that has since gone down in history between you and your friends and is always brought up.

“I live with my cousins, alright? They own a pub. So, basically, we live upstairs, and the pub is downstairs and open until late. My cousins don’t have a problem with this because they set their won work hours and wake and sleep as they please and all, but I have to attend work with the local herbalist sometimes because she trains me. So, one night, the pub was open well after the usual closing time because some man was getting married in a few days and wanted to celebrate with his friends. I’m not the kind of person to tell people how to live their lives and how late to go to bed, but I was irritated and went downstairs to ask my cousin when this would be over. You know, just so I could get a good idea of when I’ll finally be able to sleep. When I got there, the man to be married was flirting with the barmaid. I would have ignored it, but she looked terribly uncomfortable. I told him off first, and it didn’t work-- obviously. So I went back to my room and gathered some leftover poison ivy powder. I went back downstairs, flirted with him, and unbuckled his belt in front of all his friends. They ooh’ed and ahh’ed because they’re idiots, then I tugged on the back of his waistband and left him with poison ivy all over his arse. I waited until his face twisted and he started drunkenly panicking, then I left. That man didn’t know I’m related to the owners since my cousins are white and all, so there was no harm done to the pub’s reputation, but my cousins and the pub workers -- even the barmaid -- now keep asking me not to hide poison ivy in their pants whenever I look even mildly disapproving.”

24: is there someone out there you would trust with every single one of your secrets?

“I’d trust Alan with every one of my secrets. Except if I do something that isn’t actually worrying but I think might worry him anyway. Because he’s a worrier. That’s not technically a secret.”

30: think of it: have you ever been truly scared?

“Look, I think everyone has been truly scared. There’s always a moment in their life that really scares them, and just because it isn’t as scared as they can psychologically be doesn’t mean it wasn’t true scared. So yes, I have been truly scared. The most scared I’ve ever been was, obviously enough, when I got the phone call from my mother about Joseph.”

36: which band's sound would fit your mood right now?

“Branches. They’re upbeat but at the same time make me feel calm and relaxed, which is thankfully my mood in general.”

42: do you have a favorite coffee shop? describe it!

“My favourite coffee shop is a block down from my work. I rarely take work there, usually just buy a coffee and leave or stay for a while and lounge. It’s my favourite because they make the coffee taste how it smells. If coffee doesn’t taste the way it smells, you might as well be drinking mud water. They practically have walls instead of windows, and there’s this terrace on the second floor. It gives you a good view of the street. Looks best in the morning because there’s a park just a street away and people everywhere. The coffee shop itself -- the interior, I mean -- is just clean and tidy. Their seats are comfortable but don’t look like something a wannabe hippie would own. They like their plants in moderation. Their tables are glass, not metal or wood. They don’t have puns or cheesy quotes anywhere. I like that.”

48: what was your biggest fear as a kid? is it the same today?

“My biggest fear was that a dragon would kidnap my mom and hide her in a tower. I thought and still think that my mom is so pretty! So I figured that if a dragon was going to kidnap someone, it would be my mom. I don’t have that fear now, but I’m...well, I’m really afraid of Jace dying.”

54: who's the last person you saw with a true look of sadness on their face?

“Jenny and Dean last father’s day. Their dad’s already been dead for about a year at that point, but...hell, it’s their dad. I probably looked really sad, too, and he wasn’t even my biological dad.”

60: do you like poetry? what are some of your faves?

“I do like poetry. Not big on the older stuff, mostly because of the language barrier. The modern stuff is easier to understand. I actually prefer confessional poetry because it’s like looking into the dark corners of someone’s mind, and not in this romanticised way. Not for me, at least. This certain kind makes me feel seen because when someone shares their experiences from behind their own eyes, in their own shoes, they experience emotions and thoughts that are so raw and human that I feel less alone reading them. I haven’t read that much, to be honest, so I don’t have favourites. I’ve only read the more popular ones that have been coming out in the past decade, so I think picking a favourite is unfair because my pool is so small.”

66: what would your ideal flower crown look like? 

“I don’t know. I’ve never worn a flower crown, but I suppose that if I were given one, I’d like for it to have a good amount of leaves along with the flowers. Green is my favourite colour. The flowers can be anything, but I think open ones look better. Maybe daisies-- they sound perfect. Yellows and pinks and reds would be welcome, too, as long as there’s a good amount of white daisies.”

72: are you a person who needs to note everything down or else you'll forget it?

“I would not say I forget easily, but I note everything down, just in case. Some things are too important to get wrong, while others just cause avoidable inconvenience. It helps me organise my time and prioritise, too, so I just opt for making notes.”

78: are you in the minion hateclub or fanclub?

“Fanclub! They’re very cute. I only saw them in that movie called Despicable Me. Most of the time, Ivan and I aren’t allowed to use the TV, but it was on one of the days we were allowed, so we watched it. I liked it a lot. The minions are so full of energy and happy and stuff.”

84: are you planning on getting tattoos? which ones?

“Ooooh, yes!! I’m gonna get a bunch of tattoos! They won’t be anything fancy, though. Just some stars and smiley faces here and there. They’ll all be in colour. Nothing black or white. There’s probably gonna be some small dinosaurs. And music notes. Oh, and rocket ships! I’ll just get a tattoo every time I think of something. They’ll be small. Like, and inch or something, so there’s plenty of room!”

90: talk about one of your favorite cities.

“Paris is my favourite city. The thing about it is...it loves you. That’s how I can describe it. It’s a very old city, okay? A lot of shit went down in it. There were wars and revolutions and all that. I admit that I don’t know much about the historical details because I sucked ass in history class, but I just feel like Paris was founded on fighting, and people fight for their rights and the things they love. So...I think that every building in Paris was made with love and built with a purpose. I don’t like New York because I feel like it just wants to eat you. Paris loves you. I’m very appreciative of that, and I’m appreciative of the buildings most of all. Especially the old ones are gorgeous. I try to incorporate as much of Paris into my architecture models as I could.”

96: do you install your computer updates really quickly or do you procrastinate on them a lot?

“Not really quickly. If I just got on my computer and it tells me it needs to update, I wait until I’m done with my task before I update it. Otherwise, it’ll keep bothering me about it, so I just like to get it over with. Similar thing with my phone. I postpone the update until bedtime then let it update while I sleep. No need to let it disturb the flow of my day, you know? But I’m still gonna do it. I’m not a big procrastinator.”

[laurancewine]

10 Tips to Assist You Use Specialist Internet Dating Providers

For people on a budget plan, there are free dating sites like plentyoffish and okCupid. For those thinking about paying a little bit a lot more, there are paid websites like Lavalife as well as Match.com. As well as for those that are short on schedule and going to pay for the privilege of conserving a few of that time, there are professional dating solutions. Made to be one-stop-shops for people trying to find a connection, expert dating solutions care for every element of setting up date. They discover what you're seeking in a companion, look for that sort of individual, coordinate your routines, set up the day ... and normally coordinate everything to ensure that all you need to do is appear. It's not for everybody, and also it's pricey, but it's additionally extremely hassle-free. Over the following few days I'll go over some recommendations to assist you obtain the most for your money if you choose to seek an expert dating service.

Tip # 1: Take your time as well as pick wisely.

Dating services stand apart as a choice for conference individuals for several factors. One of them is the easy reality that they can be pricey. Therefore, take your time and consider all the companies out there prior to selecting one as well as forking over your hard-earned cash. A respectable company must make the effort to deal with you on a one-to-one basis, so you need to think about exactly how you want to work and pick a company as necessary. For example, do you favor lunch dates throughout the week, or weekend dinner dates? Likewise, you need to think of the type of individual you're looking for. Agencies have a particular clientele, so ensure that your demands match what they can use. Spending a lot of time considering these aspects upfront will save you a lot of migraines - and cash - in the future.

Pointer # 2: Establish on your own a spending plan prior to beginning.

When you've selected some dating solutions that you believe are a good fit, starting comparing costs. While you shouldn't shy away from a fascinating choice just because it's a bit more costly than the others, you definitely want to have a spending plan in mind. This budget ought to be a kind of "testing" budget plan. Simply put, ask on your own just how much you're willing to "lose" in order to explore a dating solution. While you need to never think the most awful, you have to presume that you're mosting likely to need to invest some cash before you discover your soulmate. By establishing on your own a spending plan, you'll come to be more comfortable with spending a bit of cash on a dating solution, and also you'll likewise establish yourself a factor at which you'll stop if it simply isn't working for you.

Tip # 3: Jot down a description of what you're trying to find in a soulmate.

The very first step of a starting with a dating solution is a meeting where you'll be asked inquiries concerning yourself, and what you're seeking. You wish to take advantage of the meeting, since that's just how the dating solution will look for songs for you. So it's a good suggestion to make a note of what you're searching for before you start. By taking the time to actually consider what your excellent date would be like, and afterwards composing it down, you're mosting likely to paint a clearer photo of what you actually want in a soulmate. The better this photo is - and the closer it is to what you REQUIRED in partner, and not what you DESIRE in one - the far better your dates will certainly be.

Idea # 4: Obtain some top quality face-time with a potential service provider.

Among the wonderful features of dating solutions is that you obtain something which is getting really unusual these days: top quality face-to-face time with a person (or at the very least, phone-to-phone time). This in person time usually takes the form of an "interview," where the dating solution gets to know what you're looking for. Ensure to press all you can from this interview. Individualized service is great, so do not allow on your own be rushed at any kind of point. Respond to all the inquiries they have for you honestly, but likewise, ask them anything you desire. Take your time. Get their recommendations. You never recognize what you may discover, and also the even more they learn about you, the much better your suits will certainly be.

Suggestion # 5: You're the boss, so see to it they do the help you.

A dating service is just that: a service. You're paying somebody to search for possible suits for you - so make sure they look hard. Do not be afraid to ask inquiries, to be crucial of matches they've made, to provide constructive responses, and also to do anything else that you feel will certainly help them locate excellent dates for you ... which will certainly make your life a little easier. Remember, a dating solution can be a great time saver if you place the onus on them to strive for you. And they're not simply there to listen: so do not fail to remember to ask concerns. Pick their minds and also squeeze them for everything they've obtained ... it is among the nice rewards of working with a dating service.

Suggestion # 6: Be ahead of time concerning the truth that you're making use of a dating solution.

Don't be timid concerning the fact that you're utilizing a dating solution, either with the people you meet on that solution, or with your buddies or family members. Rather, take pride in the truth that you're taking issues right into your own hands, and also taking a really aggressive method to conference individuals. By taking this position, you'll come across as being positive, instead of being unconfident. This will certainly aid you on the days you survive your solution: by being ahead of time and confident concerning the truth that you're making use of a dating service, you'll put your date (that may be troubled regarding it) secure, and instantly start a conversation. Enjoy with it. Laugh about it. It'll make your day that far more positive.

Suggestion # 7: Make certain your habits on a date is in line with your dating service.

Make certain your behavior on a day remains in line with your dating solution. What does that indicate? Quite just this: if you determine to select a dating solution designed for young business professionals, do not reveal to as much as a day you got with your service dressed in ripped jeans as well as an old tee shirt. Keep in mind that by definition, a dating solution is matching you up with various other participants of that solution, which suggests that you're joining a group of like-minded individuals. This is one of the large advantages of opting for a service, because you have a pretty good idea of what type of individuals you're mosting likely to be matched with. So ensure that you fit in to that group.

Suggestion # 8: give feedback to your service provider after a day.

Do not be afraid to supply your dating service with responses. Their task is to match you with ideal people, and also while they ought to be proficient at that (it is, nevertheless, their resources), something they can not do is read minds. That indicates that if you take place a date, and also the individual you were paired up with just wasn't your kind, you have to inform your dating solution. Tell them precisely why the fit had not been great: give as numerous examples as you can. The much better your solution understands your preferences, the better they'll go to getting you on dates with possible soulmates.

Tip # 9: Don't be afraid to request a credit report or refund.

It'll spend some time, and a great deal of useful criticism in order for your dating service to get to know what you're looking for. So anticipate a couple dates that simply will not exercise, due to the fact that the individual just isn't ideal for you. That's flawlessly regular. However if you take place a number of dates, and they're all with people that just aren't right for you, and also you have actually given what you feel is a reasonable a place of responses, after that don't hesitate to request for something back. It's reasonable to ask for a credit report, or even a refund. If the service is a specialist one, they must give it to you, because the last thing they want is an unhappy consumer.

Suggestion # 10: if it really did not work for you, attempt another one.

If your dating service aided you find your soulmate, after that give them a big thank you. Yet if they weren't able to find you a person, then evaluate your experience prior to surrendering on the idea of a dating service. If you mored than happy with the process, after that attempt another one. There are several sort of services out there which cater to different demographics. Each has a different group of members, and also one of those participants could be your soulmate. So try another one, preferably with a different ideology. As an example, if you attempted a business-oriented solution like It's Just Lunch then try a more common solution to see what it does for you.

Mitch Conway is the writer of The Go-Getter's Overview To Searching for Your Soulmate, the initial dating guide developed to aid singles conserve time and come to be extra positive at meeting people.

Mitch Conway is the author of The Go-Getter's Overview to Finding Your Soulmate, the first installation in the Go-Getter's Guides collection. Mr. Conway explains himself as having actually been an "average solitary person" that decided to take a practical as well as structured technique to finding his soulmate. His methods and also guidance were assembled over a period of three years right into what is currently The Go-Getter's Overview to Finding Your Soulmate.

[ravenwings-noyreallyback]

Emotions and socialist theory

This is long as fuck but I think it's important and it's broken up by topic. Tldr stop telling people they need to read a book, stop shitting on potential allies, and start asking them what they're thinking about, what worries them, and appeal to those feelings with emotionally honest radical wholesomeness of your own.

---

I want to do something in the local person to person community that gets to people. Something to get people interested and invested in small ways that can grow legs and develop something good, and isn't bogged down in Party Politics.

People know the world's bad. They know capitalism sucks. They don't need a book or a working theory. They need hope and action.

The situation

People are feeling shock, panic, depression about the news in general. Nothing can be done etc.

People feel a sense of being a burden on others when they express that. People want to tip toe around things so as not to freak everyone out. To avoid the morbid grief and anger and fear. They still have it but nobody wants to talk about it in a personal way.

People have a need to express that fear but not in a therapy kinda way, or rather the therapy way would make it very very difficult to maintain and do appropriately for even skilled activists. Folks talk about not pouring from an empty cup? This is like trying to fill a bathtub with a cup and the tub isn't plugged.

Marx wrote a lot about alienation from daily life, not just economic job alienation. Similar to today?

People like radical compassionate sensitivity. There's a need for that.

People don't want a fuckin art installation theatre play or a communist party paper article thing they won't read. If you're reading this it's a fucking miracle. Nobody wants "here's the economic theory about why you're sad and what to do about it maybe it'll work if literally everyone does it" tbh. They engage in memes, in self destructive self care, hedonistic stress eating, drinking, sex etc. And that's okay. That's honestly probably good. Better than being depressed and doing nothing. But they can't go too hard because they don't have to put much time into because life's busy. Fuck is it busy. And every moment you try to get someone to go do theory based activism that isn't Shock and Awe or Radical Wholesomeness, it's just a dull hell grind.

The dsa in the states and corbynism in the uk is good actually, fuck it, for all their problems the ndp in Canada are worth working with. Leftists saying they're all bad because they're socdem really discount a couple things.

A, the massive political emotional energy behind those movements lately.

B, the people in those movements that are absolutely skeptical at least of capitalism. And many are legitimately radical but sticking with it because it's a structure to organize in.

Some history

Marx wrote during a time where theorists were bogged up in utopian socialism, where there were ideals of the kind of world they wanted to live in, but no means to make it happen. Marx wrote it to apply to everyday life in the industrial revolution, and establish an actionable plan for a better world.

Now today, things are in the rosiest of terms, not looking better in a lot of ways, and not optimistic in any. People are almost crying out for some emotional honesty and vulnerability and wholesomeness and just general heartfelt spirituality and human connection in uncertain times. Do I need to tell you how much the youth of today like games and shows that have this zeal of positivity these days? How much energy there is in queer movements? (oh yeah if you're anti LGBT, or honestly even just passively okay with it but not enthusiastic in your socialism, you will be left in the dust by today's movements tbh.)

Marx of course wrote a bit about that alienation shallowness of society thing in terms of talking about cultural alienation (more than just jobs) and the use of religion to people who have nothing else, etc.

Current responses

Today in response to that alienation, we've got irony poisoned reactionaries who don't want to engage with reality, and when they do, hide behind layers of "just kidding" etc and generally want to distance themselves from their victims. Big focus on nostalgia for when things made more sense, idealistic past worlds that never really existed in the first place. Maga and qanon conspiracies about how it all fits together and there's actually a pattern in the chaos. They end up isolated from all but their echo chambers until the pain of not being able to relate to society in healthy ways makes them go and do terrorism out of their conviction that the world is so broken and their way is right.

Meanwhile, good voices with good spiritually connective ideas like the almost saturday morning shoujo cartoon optimism and heart of Marianne Williamson connects with people, but offers no substance (and is backwards as fuck when it does) and proposes a world where if we hope hard enough, we can stop hurricanes and shootings. All for the benefit of selling self help books and crystals. But people still eat that up because it's hopeful and optimistic and fuckin romantic. People go nuts for that kind of optimism. Why don't we have that with good faith?

We do, but not enough of it. Artists and people who are out there pouring their hearts out are doing that good shit. But we need more of that. Hell the dsa is better at inspiring people to get involved with it than the left is.

Voices combining hope and reason and sincerity like AOC and the squad bring what people need, but tearing them down for not being radical enough is kind of stupid. The far left isn't organizing to connect this message of hope to people. We've got cynical takes and hell world worst timeline jokes. We've got theory as dry as Lenin's preserved corpse. We're right about the world being this awful, but God damn that's depressing.

Good responses in the past and today

I think the black panthers got this. They knew this and spoke to it. It was community solidarity first and foremost. People joined up and felt good about it being the right thing to do. It threatened the government in ways no internal western movement ever has, except probably the IRA but I'm not that spicy.

Regardless black panthers good. Standing rock good. Ferguson good. Unist'ot'en good. Antifa good. Soup kitchens and food banks good. Unions good when they actually stand up and challenge unfairness beyond their immediate industry connections. But throwing books by musty ass old men (and Rosa) hasn't worked. Even when they're right and relevant is still an implicit way of just saying "read more and maybe once enough people understand the theory, the revolution will come".

Still read, but don't tell other people to read unless they ask is all. Reading won't inspire revolution. Newspapers and blogs won't either. Informative podcasts aren't.

It's not gonna come that way. People don't respond to theory. Fuck, people barely care about facts.

Idea

Anti theory Theory: peoples' desires for emotionally honest and sensitive narratives isn't reflected in our theory at present. Potentially in part due to the materialist foundations of marxism, and certainly in the often dry motivations and spurs to resistance and revolution, which seems far off and at odds with the timeline of climate change that is weighing on peoples minds. Yes making good differences isn't a timeline thing, but people feel pressure to do it, which makes them even less effective at doing community action. Fear of collapse replaces will to revolt. People want to do something certainly, but lack the emotional connection to revolution. You could say something about base and superstructure being at odds, but I'm not as fluent in those ideas as I'd have to be to articulate.

Regardless, people want hope. Not as a slogan or buzzword, but as an action and a personal connection. They know society's in a bad place. They know there's something deeply wrong with capitalism, if not in general then at least with how it's being used right now. But when theory speaks mostly of society, or our place in it, but never asks "hey, you seem kinda hurt... how are you doing? What's on your mind? Can I listen?", people feel disenfranchised.

So on that hopeless emotional raw angst? Maybe folks just want to be heard and given permission to talk about the things they're told not to talk about? Climate anxiety, job stress, wanting someone to just talk to because social media is alienating and brief and temporal. Like, I'm not gonna interview them, but the right wing reactionaries are scared too. That's why they do what they do. Or at least that's what leads them into the irony poisoned spaces they go to.

Maybe some kind of local project of interviews in a humans of new york kinda way, or a postsecret way, or some other kind of way to ask and get people to tell us "here's what I'm thinking about that I'm afraid to tell even my best friend or my wife" "here's what scares me" "here's what I care about".

Maybe take some time to map out the things people are talking about? Use that as a source of identifying needs. Any excuse to get out there and listen to people instead of telling them things, which they won't always be ready for anyway.

Dunno how much solidarity it would build or who it would reach but it can open up conversations, not to radicalize but just to build a sense of human compassion and connection? Because really, if there's gonna be a left movement that takes off and gets things done, it's not coming from the communist parties, it's not coming from existing anarchist movements, it's gonna be something new and multilateral. People don't respond to theory they respond to emotions and passion projects and stories that get to them and tell them they're not alone. Hell, people say populism is bad? No, it's been used by bad people, but it's just another tool to get people on your side. And thinly veiled racism is only one direction it can take. Populism can help us if we're just straight up about compassion and empathy and listening.

Just fucking close your mouth and open your ears I guess is the point. If we want to be vanguards, we want to know where the movements are, facilitating them, not creating them ourselves.

And that takes listening.

[templified]

Best WordPress eCommerce Themes for Bold, Effective Online Shops | Templified

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Best WordPress eCommerce Themes for Bold, Effective Online Shops

You’ve got plenty of options when searching for the best WordPress eCommerce themes..  For many, it can be time consuming to wade through allthese themes to find a real winner.  We’v done the hard work for you.  Our goal in creating this collection of WordPress eCommerce themes was to pick out the best.  Themes that look great and perform even better.

WordPress is the most popular blogging platform anywhere.  It’s dominant and it powers almost one third of the web.  Many of those websites are eCommerce sites.  No matter which eCommerce plugin you use, WordPress can handle the job with ease.  Some folks swear by WooCommerce, some by Easy Digital Downloads.  Some go with Cart66 or the eCommerce Shopping Cart.  That list isn’t exhaustive.  There are tons of other carts available like Ecwid, PayPal, Ecommerce WD or the Selz Cart.  Whatever you choose, this list of themes is going to rock your world. With that  rise in popularity, there’s been a rise in the number of themes available.  You just have to pick the right one.  Some of these themes are useful and  functional.  Some are not so good.  We’ve set about trying to find the  best themes and put them in this collection.

Every one of these themes is responsive and they each offer a little something different.  Style, features, audience, functionality.  There’s a  lot of variety out there.  I hope there’s something for everybody in this incredible collection.

Divi

Divi is a theme that can simply do anything you ask it to do, so we’ve included it in this eCommerce WordPress themes collection.  I couldn’t find a great example in Elegant Themes demo section, so I found one out in the wild.  This is an actual real live use of Divi by a buyer of the theme.  It looks pretty nice as a watch shop, so I’m imagining it’ll look pretty sweet for just about any product.  You’ve probably already heard about how powerful Divi’s drag and drop page builder can be, but page builders can scare some people off.  While the flexibility is nice, it can be intimidating to attempt to design your website from the ground up.  Luckily, there are tons of pre-designed layouts you can choose from if you’re worries you won’t be able to set your eCommerce site up yourself.  This theme is likeable for many reasons, swift support, succinct documentation, handsome designs and the fact that any style website is possible.

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Space

This well built, easy to use, adaptable, modern and stunning theme enables you to contact customers, supervise shipping and your stock, market brand new products, expand your small business and market old products and a lot more.

WordPress is an excellent method to start or rebrand a business online, even if you don’t happen to be a specialist in programming, because it may be straightforwardly adjusted to match your preferences. This modern style looks exceptional on any device since it’s designed to be responsive. If you’re setting up an online business, potential customers are obviously vital and enabling them to gain access to your website at anyplace at any time is crucial.

WooCommerce offers all the equipment that you need to start a business fast and effectively and this eye-catching, well-designed and trendy eCommerce template is the 1st step on a path to developing your own business. No matter if you are selling boots or shoes, clothes, gadgets, downloadable items like films, video, mp3s or software program, this theme is an ideal selection because it’s so flexible.

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MF

Okay, here we go, the highest rated WordPress business theme.  It’s called MF and it’s a clean, corporate style WordPress theme for any sort of business.   MF theme has been  updated often since its initial release.  That means that it has kept up with the times and with recent WordPress changes.  Keeping up to date is  important for a WordPress theme, so MF covers that base.

There are quite a few homepage Styles included.  Each of them has the same flat, corporate style.  But, they all deliver a little different look and feel for your website. Each demo style is easy to install.  It just takes a couple of clicks.  If that’s too much, the developer even offers free theme and a demo installation. That’s a  nice feature that can help you get started with a clean, corporate website.  If you are a beginner at WordPress, it’s worth looking into. I remember the first time I tried to install a theme, I wasn’t sure what I was doing. For many of you, that might not be an issue.  It’s nice to have as a fallback, just in case you should happen to need that service.

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Buyvilla

For folks who are looking to set up an online e-commerce shop, WooCommerce is often the tool of choice. There’s a good reason for that, working with WooCommerce, you can establish any sort of online shopping center that you want. The tools are flexible and dynamic, easy to use and Powerful. Ultimately, you can extend WooCommerce with dozens of different add-ons, giving you all the tools you need to have a truly professional shop. You could spend thousands on a proprietary system, but the free WooCommerce setup is a really nice option, particularly for people who are just beginning the process of setting up a shop.

If you want to see more of the best WooCommerce agency themes, check out our full collection of themes.  The themes in that collection all offer a smooth user experience, they are the absolute top themes that you can download. If you want to achieve your goals, finding a theme that is acceptable is the first step. I believe there WordPress theme is a critical component of any successful business. If you are theme is not well put together, if it is scattered and unpleasant to look at, if it is not adaptable or user-friendly, what good does it do you? The first step is always the hardest, but bringing visitors to your site and showing them unorganized, feature filled website can keep them interested in what you have to offer. Making a fantastic first impression is what these themes are all about, and that is a big part of the battle.

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UX Shop

UX Shop shop delivers a fantastic experience for buyers and sellers alike. This theme, which has a perfect five star rating on ThemeForest by the way, allows you to create a multi-vendor Marketplace. That means you can’t allow visitors to register and sell products on your website, sort of like Etsy or eBay. That’s a new trend over the last few years but it’s growing in popularity.

This responsive business theme is an all-around eCommerce solution with Page Builder and responsive design. This theme support touch sliders, typekit, WC vendors and visual composer two. The awesome design quality of this WordPress theme has the potential to help your website perform better than you could have possibly imagined. Not only is it incredibly clean and easy to use this shopping cart theme, but the development support is fast and friendly too.

The UX Shop WordPress theme as an incredible design places to work from, it has the ability to mold itself too many different styles, so it really doesn’t matter what you are selling with this template. There are product slider images, One Click demo data import, support for type kit, WPML support and content sliders 2. The products list are clean and well-organized, there’s an advanced grid system for your shop and this theme is incredibly developer-friendly too. It’s well-documented, the support is fantastic and I think the same could be used for any purpose.

Well I think this template is very, very attractive, the fact remains that not all themes are perfect for every one out there. We all have different wants and needs and new theme is guaranteed to deliver everything to everyone. That’s why we’ve created so many incredibly large and thoroughly researched theme collections.

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Oxygen

Oxygen is one of the best simple, clean and elegant themes I’ve ever seen. This Oxygen theme can be used for nearly any type of eCommerce site. Fashion or electronic gadgets, hand crafted gifts or jewelry, it hardly matters what kind of product you’re selling. The overall style is so clean and fresh, your products will look incredible.  It’s a very big challenge running your own online store so Oxygen helps you make the most of your precious time by making it whole process of managing your store as easy as possible.  You have tons of options to create a custom look for your store with multiple headers, almost unlimited typography choices, unique layouts and more.  Oxygen has been sold over 3,000 times and it’s rating is 4.86 so you can tell this is a high quality theme.

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Marketify

Marketify was one of the first WordPress multi vendor marketplace themes and it’s still among the very best.  Marketify is the premier solution for creating a bold, daring, professional and well-appointed multi-vendor WordPress marketplace and we’d love to show you what this theme is all about.  With thousands of sales already under their belt, Astoundify (that’s the folks who made the theme) have released version 2.0 and it’s got even more great features.  The responsive layout was completely revamped, the latest EDD extension w06ere updated, security was tightened and a lot more.  Marketify is completely loaded with layout possibilities (they actually use widgets instead of a plugin like Visual Composer), so you still have the flexibility to create more awesome designs.  Easy Digital Downloads is supported of course, with it’s front end submissions, commission settings, reviews, a store wallet system, recommended products and wish lists, just to name a few great features.

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MartFury

Hey there, this is another review of a high quality multivendor WordPress theme that we’ve just discovered.  It’s been around for a while now, but it’s new to me.  It’s name is MartFury.

MartFury is a very popular and highly rated multivendor Marketplace team that was released in early 2018. So far, it’s proven to be among the most popular and well-respected Marketplace themes around. This team has been downloaded well over a thousand times and its rating is almost 4.9. MartFury  is modern, it’s flexible and it harnesses the power of WooCommerce to allow you to create a dynamic and fun Marketplace to sell products. It really doesn’t matter what type of stuff you want to market on your website, MartFury works perfectly. With Dokan, WC Vendors, WC Marketplace or any of the other leading multivendor Marketplace plugins, you can establish professional site quickly.

Here’s what the developer has to say about MartFury.

Martfury is a modern and flexible WooCommerce Marketplace WordPress theme. This theme is suited for multi vendor marketplace, electronics store, furnitures store, clothings store, hitech store and accessories store… With the theme, you can create your own marketplace and allow vendors to sell just like Amazon, Envato, eBay.

Here’s another set of themes that might interest you, it’s our collection of multi vendor themes and it’s a great place to find just what you’re looking for.  We’re adding more and more themes every month, so check back to see what’s new!  Perhaps you’d rather see some more outstanding WooCommerce themes?  No matter which collection you look at, you’re going to have a wide array of high quality themes from which to choose.  So, why not get started today?

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Oshine

Oshine is a theme that gets a lot of attention on ThemeForest and I think it deserves to.  There are a lot of reasons why and we’ll get into a lot of them.  This theme is a true multipurpose theme with dozens and dozens of demo sites to show what Oshine is capable of.  There’s a photography demo site that comes with just about every theme, right?  Well Oshine gives you several, there’s a minimalist style, a full screen photography style, designer portfolio and ‘new style’ portfolio and video agency portfolio and a bunch more too.  There are plenty more, creative agencies, modern business, restaurant and café sites, winery, gym, multiple different creative agencies, app landing pages, wedding templates too.  You get a ton of demo sites and every one is eCommerce ready to help you start your online shop.

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Material

Material is a nicely crafted theme that uses WooCommerce, or the shopping cart of your choice, to allow you to sell most any type of product you want.  It was designed with electronics stores and gadget sellers in mind, but why stop there?  Any online store that wants a clean, sleek look will love this theme.  Responsive, well organized and modern, Material is the kind of theme that can be adjusted to fit the look of an existing brand.  So if you already have a brick and mortar presence and you’re looking to expand to eCommerce, this theme can really help you get the job done.  Material’s developer, JWS Themes, has fantastic support and documentation to go with all their themes and Material is no exception.  They’ve included a lot of nice touches like one click demo data installation, three pre-made homepages, a robust theme options panel and tons more.  Worth checking into!

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Slikk

Slikk was designed by Wolf Themes, a developer with well over 20,000 sales on ThemeForest so far and they’re sure to add to that total with Slikk.  They create world class themes and plugins for all sorts of folks in all kinds of industries.  Slikk has several homepage demo sites, I’ve included a couple of them above.  There’s a lookbook home page, coming soon countdown clock page, blogs, grid shops, plenty of internal pages and so much more.  Oh, fine, here’s one more, it’s called the presentation panel.

For more outstanding fashion WordPress themes, you should really have a look at our collection. We’ve got dozens of the very best fashion themes around and we keep adding to that collection as often as we find a new great looking theme that. You can really stretch your legs in that collection, finding pleasurable and encouraging themes that can make your readers jump for joy. Or maybe it’s minimalist WordPress themes you’re searching for?  Either way, our collections of themes are the biggest and best on the web, so you’ll definitely find something you love in one of them.  Style is incredibly important for fashion magazines and eCommerce sites, which is why we’ve done our best to select only the most modern and tasteful, stylish and presentable themes for all of our collections. If you don’t see what you’re looking for there, we might recommend our collection of WooCommerce themes. These juicy themes are knowledgeable and different, we have tried to create a nice blend of WordPress themes that can serve a lot of different content for any type of site.

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Diamond

Diamond is an attractive WordPress eCommerce theme that uses WooCommerce to help you set up a great-looking online shop. This theme was specifically built for watch shops and jewelry stores, though I think that it’s clean look makes it great for selling just about anything. I think that it would also work really well as a fashion store. This is 100% responsive theme offers Mega menu in local menu, Parallax background images, magnify zoom and other image slider features, product tab grid, list of options, there is a post type for building a team profile, employees basically. There is a brand logo slider, infinite product loading option, portfolio post type, testimonials custom post type and a wishlist option. Steam has a little bit of everything and I think that it could work great for any sort of eCommerce project.

If you’d like a little bit of guidance to help you find a fantastic e-commerce theme, have a look at our collection. The topic is a rich one, there are thousands and thousands of different themes out there, each one with a slightly different style and many of them offering unique and popular features. We have gathered up all of the best WordPress Ecommerce themes that we could find and that collection is great place to start to find a wonderful template to build your business. If you see a theme in our collection, you can be guaranteed that it is a high-quality template that’s going to work perfectly for your needs. Also, you might want to take a look at our WooCommerce theme collection. WooCommerce is great for both tangible goods and digital download products, there are a variety of payment gateways available to you and WooCommerce is a very extendable. You can download quite a number of add-ons and aftermarket features that don’t come with the vanilla version, making it one of the most popular and Powerful shopping carts for any content management system.

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Neto

Neto is a flexible, flat styled WordPress Theme specially designed to support e-commerce functions of websites. The theme is compatible with various WordPress business plugins like WooCommerce. It can also be used alongside theme builders to help create comprehensive product layouts and descriptions.

The Neto WordPress Theme is also highly customizable. It allows the use of shortcodes, widgets, and the ability to create unlimited templates. The theme boasts of access to appearance settings that allows changes to the overall color scheme without altering codes. It also allows users to personalize background images, logos, and even add a favicon.

Another business-friendly feature of the Neto theme is its easy integration with social media. With this, guests can easily share content on their profiles which, in effect, helps the business reach a wider audience. The theme is also specially optimized for optimum performance and to obtain higher ranks in search engines. It is also translation ready for the benefit of foreign guests.  The theme’s responsive design also allows access to different devices without sacrificing its functionality. It is both mobile friendly and retina ready to ensure quality display. Finally, Neto promises to deliver constant updates to ensure the theme’s compatibility with the latest versions of WordPress.

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Jevelin

Jevelin is one of the best selling WordPress themes on ThemeForest with over 5,000 sales.  It sports a solid 4.6 rating on ThemeForest too, so I think it’s worthy of inclusion in this list of the best eCommerce WordPress themes.  Built on the Unyson framework with Bootstrap code, Jevelin is compatible with all the plugins and shopping carts you’ll need to run a successful WordPress based store.  Jevelin is perfectly responsive, it’s mobile friendly for both blogging and eCommerce, it’s very well organized for SEO and creating a successful online brand is relatively easy, thanks to the number of custom options you can choose from setting up your store.  You’ll love the nimble style of this theme, the encouraging documentation, the dashing features and the alluring price.

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Float

With an attractive design, plentiful features and a full service eCommerce store, lots of folks have chosen to use the Float WordPress theme to build their online store.  Many WordPress eCommerce templates have static, plain designs and I haven’t seen too many that use parallax, but Float does.  I think it pulls it off quite well too.  With float, you can create a modern, slick looking WooCommerce shop, but if you want to sell digital products, you could choose to go with Easy Digital Downloads too.  I think Float would work particularly well as a digital downloads store.  Right now, if you purchase Float, you actually get a bonus theme for free.  Float offers a 30 day money back guarantee, you can use this GPL theme on as many sites as you want to and you get a full year of support and updates.

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Uncode

This theme is called Uncode, you may have heard of it.  With around 40,000 sales and a near-perfect rating on ThemeForest, plenty of people have.  Built to impress, to showcase products, to help you build a business, Uncode is a high performance miracle of a theme.  With a very fast page load speed, clean code and an even cleaner design, Uncode has carved out a place in history as one of the best themes ever made.  Uncode has so many demo sites to take a look at, it’s kind of ridiculous.  It’s a totally multipurpose eCommerce shop in a box.  The theme options are plentiful and easy to use, the support staff is fast and friendly, this trendy and contemporary theme is simply among the best eCommerce WordPress templates around.

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Shop Isle Pro

This is Shop Isle Pro, another great WooCommerce ready WP theme from Theme Isle.  Shop Isle Pro is responsive, it’s multipurpose and it’s perfect for all sorts of online shops, no matter what kind of product you’re selling.  You can create an awesome front page for your online webstore in just minutes, customizing any setting you want to customize.  While WooCommerce is powerful right out of the box, you can also add on some great functionality with extensions like product addons, affiliate programs, PayPal by Braintree, Stripe or Amazon Pay gateways, WooSubscriptions, coupons, dynamic pricing, shipment tracing and a whole lot more.

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Underwood

Looking for a simple, stylish blog that’s also ready to help you set up a WooCommerce powered online shop?  Well, Underwood may be a great choice for you.  This theme is simple to use, yet incredibly powerful.  Built using the latest Bootstrap code, Underwood is a fine example of a modern, clean and simple multipurpose theme.  With parallax effects, custom color and font selections all powered by a live customizer, you can take Underwood and make it look exactly like you want it to look.  Underwood is optimized for great SEO, it’s got tons of widgetized areas for adding functionality and it’s incredibly user friendly for webmaster and reader alike.  ThemeShift has been around since 2009, so they’re not going anywhere anytime soon and their support is known to be among the best around.

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Hestia Pro

Hestia Pro is a nice looking material design theme for WordPress and it offers eCommerce too, so whatever WordPress shopping cart you choose to employ, Hestia Pro will help you make a successful place on the internet.  I don’t think it matters what kind of products you’re selling, though Hestia Pro’s material design style might lend itself to things like software or SEO services.  Building a WordPress shop doesn’t have to be difficult and with Hestia Pro, it isn’t.  For startups or established businesses, the parallax scrolling, one page layout helps to highlight each section of your content and make it shine.  This theme is well worth having a look at.

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Wright

Wright is an ultra-minimalist theme that’s a solid blend of blog, eCommerce and portfolio.  I really like the minimalist design and all the benefits you get from having a minimalist site.  It doesn’t mean that your website will lack features, but it does mean it will load up lightning fast and look great on any size screen.  That provides a great user experience and makes it more likely that you can convert traffic into sales.  That’s the big thing, if somebody ends up on your website, that’s the hard part.  You really don’t want to lose that sale because your site loads slow or looks janky on somebody’s mobile phone.  That won’t happen with Wright, because it is a completely mobile friendly experience and that makes for the best user experience possible.  Wright could be the best eCommerce minimalist theme around.  To see more clean WordPress themes, check out our collection.

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Kalium

Kalium is a premium theme for WordPress that’s been the choice for thousands of business owners who have also wanted to set up an online eCommerce store, just like you.  Kalium is very popular thanks to it’s simple, modern and clean design, sleek arrangement of content, powerful features and bold typography.  The shopping cart itself is every bit as stylish and with Kalium, your website and your products will look amazing on all devices, because this theme is totally mobile friendly.  Kalium supports WooCommerce of course, but every other shopping cart can work with it too, so don’t feel like you need to be tied to one cart.  With so many out there, a little variety could be just what you need to stand out from the crowd.

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Studio 8

Studio 8 is like a might oak, it’s strong an powerfully built, it’s full of strong branches that can be loaded with tons of products?  Stuff?  I guess maybe it’s not like an oak after all, but it is a well designed WooCommerce WordPress theme that I’m happy to recommend.  There’s a gigantic amounts of features that make for a really enthusiastic reader, or buyer in the case of eCommerce, when they make it to your website.  The design is clean and agreeable, the layout is never jumbled and untidy, and this cheerful design is one that makes your shop like electric, professional and useful.  No matter what type of product, it’s unquestionable that the Studio 8 WordPress theme will never leave you wanting.  You’ll be able to generate a dramatic and exultant WordPress eCommerce site.  There’s no utopia in WordPress themes, but the Studio 8 theme comes close to creating perfection.

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ReHub

ReHub is a wonderful wordpress theme for building a multi-vendor marketplace website.  Let users create an account, log in and sell their products on your website.  Pretty neat trick, right?  I think so too.  Using the Dokan multvendor plugin for WordPress, you can easily do all of that and more.  But ReHub isn’t just a multivendor theme, it’s great for price comparisons, product reviews, gift ideas and shopping, daily deals sites, directories and a whole bunch more.  What can’t you do with ReHub, that’s really the question.  It’s modern, it’s professional and it can do anything you need to do to build a really successful online business.

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Massive Dynamic

Massive Dynamic has proven to be among the most popular themes for building a great online shop.  No matter which eCommerce cart you choose, Massive Dynamic works great.  Easy Digital Downloads, Cart66, Ecwid, WordPress Simple Paypal Shopping cart or the biggest and best of all, WordPress.  No matter which you choose, Massive Dynamic has the style, the tools and the functionality to make a great experience for buyer and seller alike.  Sometimes, multipurpose eCommerce themes can try to do too much, they try to be everything to everyone, but Massive Dynamic walks that fine line with ease.  This theme has several pre-made demo sites and each one can be used to sell products.  Each one is also installable with just a few clicks, which can help speed up the process of starting your website.  If you’re not familiar with how to set up an eCommerce cart, that can be a lifesaver.  For business or blogging, creative portfolios and personal websites, Massive Dynamic is a theme that’s well worth considering.

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Composition

Composition is a little different than many of the other themes in this collection, since it was built to work with the Sell Media plugin.  That’s sort of like Easy Digital Downloads, it’s an eCommerce plugin that allows you to sell digital files, prints and other stuff.  So, it’s one way to build a store online, but there’s a lot more going on with Composition.  This theme is really simple to customize, you’ll have the ability to visually arrange your blog, portfolio and more, making the perfect homepage to welcome your visitors and turn them into customers.  There are unlimited galleries, plentiful widgetized areas and automatic updates to make sure your site works perfectly with WordPress, every time.  Add in a clean, responsive design and you’ve got a full featured, user friendly theme that’s perfect for a stock photography store.

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Kleanity

Less is more, that’s an old saying and sometimes it can be true with regard to web design. A simple design, like the one offered with this theme, can allow your users to find exactly what they’re looking for without any sort of distraction. This template is great for businesses that want a clean and corporate style theme, it showcases your content with a minimal style that squarely focuses your readers attention on the products that you have to sell. I love the good layers page builder, it’s one of the best Drag and Drop content Builders around. It’s incredibly simple to use and can produce a very high quality shopping website. There are multiple headers and Footers, an infinite amount of layouts possible and each and every design produces a fluid and mobile-friendly, Unforgettable user experience.

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Arnold

The Arnold WordPress theme is a minimal portfolio template for Creative people who want to blend and attractive and simple looking for folio with the power of WooCommerce. Actually, with this Arnold WordPress theme, you can create a clean and beautiful online shop using any of the most popular shopping cart plugins. If you’d like to sell digital products, you might prefer to use Easy Digital downloads, probably the leading cart for that type of product. No matter which shopping cart you choose, this clean and modern template allows you to build beautiful portfolios, have an amazing blog and sell some stuff too.

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CoupShop

ThemesKingdom has made several really attractive themes for eCommerce sites and none has has more of an impact that CoupShop.  The CoupShop WordPress theme was inspired by glossy print magazines and with all the white space, the typography centered layouts, big and impactful images and thoughtfully placed calls to action, it’s a very successful theme.  It can be a real challenge to run your own eCommerce website so picking the right theme is critical.  With CoupShop, you get a platform that’s stable, attractive and flexible enough to work for nearly any sort of product.  CoupShop has what it takes to be a sort of partner for you in building a very successful online business.

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LaBomba

LaBomba is a WooCommerce based theme that looks a little different than many other eCommerce themes, so I though it might be worth highlighting what this theme can accomplish.  Specifically built for fashion trends and online clothing shops, LaBomba is perfect for creating a combination lookbook, portfolio and blog in one finely knitted package.  I couldn’t think of any other clothing reference, let me know if you think of something better.  Okay, so for a fashion store, you get multiple headers to choose from, unlimited colors too.  There are almost two dozen different home page layouts and Visual Composer support means you can build even more, if you want to.  I think the clean design and the number of features make it a really good eCommerce template.

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Ultra

This is Ultra, a premium quality WordPress theme with the ability to let you create a full functioning multivendor marketplace using Dokan, a premium quality but free WordPress multivendor plugin.  Ultra is incredibly flexible, because it’s powered by Themify’s flexible drag and drop page builder and framework.  That lets you create a site that perfectly fits your needs, not making you adapt to a pre-made theme that has no flexibility.  With Dokan installed, you can instantly turn your site into a complete multivendor site.  It may take you a while to compete with sites like Amazon, Shopify, eBay or Magento, but Dokan does make it possible to get your foot in the door.  Dokan is fast and easy to use, integrates with WooCommerce, BigCommerce or Easy Digital Downloads, it’s reliable and growing in popularity.  The combination is a powerful one and you may find that Ultra, plus Dokan, is the solution you’ve been waiting for.

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Create

ThemeTrust has made their finest theme yet, a powerful new one called Create, and it’s a multi-purpose theme, WooCommerce ready with a fantastic page builder option built in.  Create has a slick, modern look and there’s no amount of customization that you can’t do.  Everything is on the table, and with WooCommerce installed, you’ll be able to set up an online shop with ease.  There are a ton of functions in this template.  The drag and drop page builder kicks things off with a wide variety of layout designs at your fingertips.  Then there’s the retina ready and responsive design, always a huge hit.  There are multiple headers available, a powerful options panel on the back end and a built in mega-menu for delightfully intuitive navigation.  The blog can be standard, masonry or full width, which gives you flexibility to design the website you’ve always wanted, not what you can because of design limitations of the theme itself.

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EmallShop

Compatible with the latest versions of both WooCommerce and WordPress, the eMall Shop WordPress theme was built with Bootstrap for fast loading and incredible SEO performance.  This template is incredibly flexible, since it works hand in hand with Visual Composer to make your site looks just the way you need it to look.  Multilingual support, RTL too, that means eMall Shop can help you sell products all around the world.  I love themes that come complete with one click demo data installation and that’s what eMallShop brings to the table.  For general products of all kinds, sports stores, beauty shops, kids toy stores and plenty more, eMall Shop works for any type of website that you can imagine.  If it’s in the mall, it could be on your computer instead.

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Goodstore

With almost two dozen demo sites, Good Store is just that, a good store theme for any type of products and some of the designs showcase fashion, shoes, electronics, handbags and plenty more.  The options are limitless.  The great thing about this theme, it’s complete flexibility.  That means style, features and layout, they can all be adapted and adjusted until you have a website that’s exactly what you’re looking for.  There’s demo content available to install, fourteen translations are already included, so this is a theme that’s made for international audiences.  SEO optimized for fast load times and great rankings on the SERPs, this theme is easy to customize and, of course, it’s responsive and mobile friendly too.

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Shop, Ultra Simple eCommerce WordPress Theme

Shop calls itself the ultimate e-commerce team. Well, I’ll be the judge of that. I do think that it has a slim and trim style that could be great for almost any sort of project. If you’re selling fashion, tech gadgets or even digitally downloadable products, Shop is a fine example of what is possible with woocommerce or your favorite e-commerce plugin. This template has a variety of short codes, tons of different page templates and a responsive grid style that is fabulous. There are featured videos, gravity forms compatibility and a ton more. If you want to make selling products easy as it is profitable, this theme is a great starting point. If you need to customize, easy to use and it delivers a massive amount of user experience right out of the box. You don’t even need a lot of extra plugins to achieve a great-looking website with this template.

Created by Organic Themes, here’s what the developer has to say about their template. I couldn’t agree more with everything they have to say about it. I think this theme is a really fantastic example of modern e-commerce themes. Sometimes, themes rely too much on page builder plugins and that is not a trap that organic themes falls into. Organic Themes uses their own proprietary system to create delightful end results.

Shop was created to work with the popular and free WooCommerce and Exchange plugins. Creating a beautiful storefront has never been easier. Begin selling products within moments after setting up the theme.

The design is clean, modern and flexible — accommodating a wide variety of brands and products. The featured slider is capable of showcasing products or posts with the simple switch of an option. The theme is constructed from our Seed framework — featuring a responsive grid, retina optimization, a variety of page templates, shortcodes, featured videos, WooCommerce and Gravity Forms compatibility and much more. Shop makes selling products online easy as pie.

Okay, so that is someone out of words describing this theme, but what about the looks? It’s really important to have a stylish looking theme, even if it has tons of features. Features aren’t everything, looks or something. I’m not sure what any of that means. I really don’t care.

You know how much we love a great eCommerce theme, that’s why we have taken the time to select dozens of fantastic options for you if that’s what you’re looking for. All we do, all day, day after day, we find amazing Ecommerce themes to help you run a successful business. That’s it, that’s all. Seriously, that’s all we do. Sometimes it gets to be a bit of a grind, but we just keep at it. If you need a fantastic theme to sell some products online, Shop is a fantastic option. I like to say fantastic, fantastic is a fantastic work. Anyway, I think that you will enjoy this theme, however, there are multiple other e-commerce options out there that could fit the bill for what you were looking for. That’s why they invented horse racing, that’s a phrase that I’ve heard in the past. I’m not sure that it actually is. Anyway, have a look at that collection, I’m sure there’s something that you might enjoy.

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X

Want a true powerhouse of a responsive WordPress theme?  Want the absolute best in documentation, support, features and options?  Then you may want X, which is another powerhouse of a WordPress theme that can be used to create any type of website with WordPress.  It really is that feature filled.

X is one among the hottest, most powerfully dominant, special and superbly created WordPress templates you can get. But yet those terms cannot tell the full, unabridged story describing precisely what is possible with X.  X is a fairly in demand for a lot of good reasons, let’s address some of them. This responsive, incredibly powerful theme is 100% fluid, permits you to modify the delightful typography fast and without much trouble, gives crystal clear website navigation, is incredible if you want to create a one webpage web sites and tons more brilliant capabilities

This ultra powerful as well as stylish WordPress theme is extremely adaptable in the way it’s built, lets you create customized background patterns or images and a lot more.  One can fashion outstanding portfolios and it’s also eCommerce friendly to promote wonderful things over the internet.  This stunning responsive, multipurpose website theme is completely Retina display friendly, rapidly responsive and gives you stunning BuddyPress compatibility also.  X presents a powerful end user experience and also an incredible admin experience too, as it’s quite well built to seem amazing on any gadget and extraordinarily hassle-free to tailor-make to look and feel just like you want it to appear.

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[virmillion]

Ibytm - T minus 45 seconds

Masterpost - Previous Chapter - Next Chapter - ao3

Words: 3,576

On a normal day, Logan will rise long before the sun, smiling at the sound of his pinging alarm clock and taking a luxurious moment to stretch his rested limbs before greeting the world with open arms.

Today is not a normal day.

His eyes stay stubbornly shut as his tingling hand fumbles around in the mess of blankets for his blaring phone. Virgil grunts softly from somewhere under the mound, and in the weak pre-dawn light, Logan can only just make out the ball curled up under the sheets.

When his fingers finally brush over his phone, sending shivers down his spine with the vibrations, he does his best impression of scrambling to turn it off. His sleep-addled body translates this command as wobbly sliding around for the snooze button, stubbornly ignoring the requirement to finish a set of math problems before the noise will stop.

“Should’ve never installed that fancy alarmy app,” Virgil grumbles as the ball shrinks in on itself. Logan squints at the full-brightness screen and scowls, mumbling the two digit multiplication problems to himself. Finally he succeeds, dropping the bedroom back into silence. An arm snakes out from the blankets and pats along Logan’s leg. “Good job, so smart. Go crush that meeting.”

Logan lifts Virgil’s jand and presses a kiss to his fingers, lingering in the moment for just a few more seconds. His own hand feels impossibly cold and empty as he changes and strides out of the room.

The kitchen—more of a kitchenette, really, but who’s keeping track?—is surprisingly high quality, given the deal Virgil managed to land on this place. Granted, it’s all a little cramped and bland, but Logan likes to think of it as ‘begging for an impromptu remodel.’ Which he manages to pull off, all in one go, as the broken keurig sputters to life, shooting wads of coffee grounds along the underside of the microwave.

Logan does not have the energy for it this morning.

He sets on a pot of real coffee to brew in time for Virgil to wake up and transfers the keurig disaster to his own travel mug, slipping in more sugar than it probably needs. He’s in for a long day.

Even the neighborhood is pretty nice, which was Virgil’s main concern when they were scoping out options. Compared to the people on those over-the-top reality shows, Logan thinks their requests were pretty darn reasonable. Close enough to the office to walk, in a nice part of town, and close enough to uber to the museum without completely punching a hole through their wallets. One downside to being so near to the office, though, is that Logan can never be that far from work. Not that this is a bad thing, per se—it’s just that, on the two days a year where he actually wants a break, he has to try that much harder to actually achieve it.

There are worse problems in the world to have, he supposes.

His work building looms tall and grey against the cold morning skyline, and the mere sight of it is enough to make him draw his shoulders to his ears. While he’s dressed nice enough for the meeting that could make or break his future, Virgil convinced him to wear the leather jacket over it.

“It’ll make you feel tough,” Virgil insisted, shoving the bundle of well-worn material into Logan’s arms the previous night. “Just enough of a confidence boost for you to nail the crap out of that meeting.”

Virgil wasn’t wrong, of course. Logan finds a certain bounce in his step as he bursts into the stale air conditioning and starts up the stairs. More of a placebo effect than anything else, but he’ll take what he can get. Especially today.

“Hey, Lo!” Micah exclaims, stumbling over his own feet as he bounds down the stairs.

“Gan. Logan,” Logan supplies, reaching out a hand to steady the overstuffed cardboard box in Micah’s arms. “Last trip?”

“Yeah, Alex is gonna bring home stuff I forgot as they find it. Half their desk is mine, basically.” Micah shoulders the drawstring bag around his back to the side, squeezing past Logan to get to the first floor landing. “It’s been a pretty solid run, though. Almost four years? That’s a good record for our floor managing to not kill each other.”

“That it is,” Logan agrees, almost to the next landing by now. It's a shame to see a good guy like Micah go, but internships aren’t permanent, and promotions aren’t guaranteed.

“Hey, wait!” Micah calls. Logan peeks over the spiral railing, now well on his way to the third floor. “Isn’t your big hunga chunga interview today?”

“Yeah, it is, actually. I don’t know when, though.”

“Well, whatever time they come for ya, best of luck. You deserve it.” Micah grins at Logan before scooting out of the stairwell, staggering under his box. Logan smiles to himself, forgetting to remove the expression before he exits onto the fifth floor. The first step in what could very well be a long line of mistakes.

“What’re you so happy about, specs?” Roman asks, appearing at Logan’s side and following him to his desk. “The only times I’ve seen you smile are when you’re with that museum guy.”

Logan takes a moment to breathe, reminding himself that it’s typically frowned upon to sock your coworkers in the jaw. “As I’ve told you several times now, his name is Virgil, and he’s not just some guy, he’s my boyfriend. There years not long enough for you to process that?”

“In my defense, we don’t hang out enough to be familiar.”

“We had lunch with you and Patton last week!”

“Yeah, yeah, bad short term memory.”

“Long term memory.” Logan slides open the third drawer on the right of his desk and pulls out a thick binder, filled to the brim and then some with papers and folders and cascading tab dividers. “Do you want to go to your own desk now?”

“Not really.” Regardless, Roman swings around to the desk that used to be Micah’s—with the intern moving on after more than four years of work, his prime spot desk was highly coveted real estate. The only reason Logan didn’t get it—by seniority, he had first dibs—was because he was used to his current desk. Not to mention the meeting coming up, of course. Ideally, he won’t even need his current desk after today.

Roman pops his head over the partition between Micah’s old desk and Logan’s, undoubtedly standing on the swivel chair for a better vantage point. “So, whatcha doin’?”

“Get off that chair before you hurt yourself. I’m going over major old assignments.” Logan regrets being honest the moment he says it. Now it’s a near guarantee that Roman will try to distract him. He was undoubtedly going to already, but still.

“Oh, right, you’ve got that huge meeting today! I completely forgot.” Roman folds his arms up over his chin, staying shockingly quiet as Logan riffles through the binder. “Hey, wait, that’s that dumb Neptune Theseus riddle!”

“Never did figure that one out,” Logan agrees absently. His eyes linger on the answer circled at the bottom, but he still isn’t convinced he had it right. He pulls the paper out farther.

“We’re seriously gonna get stuck on the Neptune thing again? Are we really digging up that horse to beat it some more? Hasn’t it suffered enough?” Alex groans, rolling over on their squeaky desk chair. While the office sprang for new furniture last year, they didn’t spring very far, since ‘gently used furniture from someone else is still new to you.’ This was met with no small amount of grumbles and dissent, all of which fell on deaf ears.

“No rehashing old riddles!” Cassidy chimes in. As her desk is now right beside Logan’s—replacing Joy’s old spot—she doesn’t have to move far to notice his overfilled binder. “Last minute studying?”

“Lil’ Lolo has his big ol’ test today,” Alex singsongs. “Watch him get higher than Mx. Oatmeal.”

“As if,” Logan scoffs, flipping to a different assignment. Calculating the landing point of a rocket being pulled down from orbit at a given time, assuming this malfunction and that overcorrection. He still isn’t completely convinced they didn’t just rip the problem wholesale from Hidden Figures. “And it’s not a test, it’s just a meeting to discuss my upward prospects. Don’t oversell it.”

“I promise nothing of the sort,” Cassidy says. “How much you wanna bet the promotion hinges on that Neptune riddle?”

“Gambling, I like it.” Roman reaches down the partition to snatch up the binder, ignoring Logan’s protests. “Woah, you’ve got things in here from your first week? You know that was all busy work, right? To scare off newbies who wouldn’t put in the work when it counted?”

“Give that back,” Logan demands, reaching toward Roman’s face. He easily holds the binder out of reach, still snooping through its contents.

“Wow, your handwriting really sucks, you know that?”

“Shut up, my mind moves too fast to bother with legibility.” It’s all Logan can do not to stand on his chair and grab back the binder. He’s smart, of course—there’s nothing incriminating on those pages—but he still doesn’t appreciate Roman invading his space like this.

“Illegible handwriting?” Alex repeats. “Sounds like you’re already one of them. Bet you’ll even surpass Joy.” The mention of her name draws the attention of some of the newer interns, whose names Logan hasn’t yet managed (or bothered) to learn. It wasn’t too long ago that Joy got promoted—in the last few months, actually—but she was still on the floor long enough to gain a reputation among the newbies. Her sudden promotion, completely unprompted, elevated her to a godlike status in the eyes of the new kids, all fresh to the inner workings of the program. At least, that’s why Logan assumes they looked up at her name.

He isn’t sure whether he’d love it or hate it if all these little interns would worship him like that.

Before Roman can pitch in his own two cents about the first inexplicable promotion situation, the elevator doors ping open, revealing Joy leaning against the mirrored wall. Cassidy leaps to her feet and sprints across the floor, wrapping her friend in a tight hug.

“You need to come visit us more,” Cassidy says sternly, pushing Joy back by the shoulders to fix her with a pinched stare.

“Acknowledged,” Joy says, barely lifting her chin. The cold silence lasts only a few moments before her facade cracks, revealing a bright smile as she squeezes Cassidy in a close embrace. “Butterfingers around here?”

Logan scrambles to yank his binder back from Roman and hide it in its usual drawer before answering, “I’m over here.”

Joy nods brightly as Cassidy carefully extricates herself from the boa constrictor hug. “Well, better get going, if you’re ready. They bumped the meeting from seventh to ninth, by the way.” She waits patiently for Logan to join her in the elevator, seeming to not notice the awed stares from the newbies. Logan isn’t particularly fond of the sustained silences from his more seasoned coworkers, either.

“Actually, I’d rather take the stairs, if it’s all the same to you.” Though Logan has historically taken the stairs for the exercise, he has a running promise with Virgil to avoid the elevator whenever possible. Virgil refused to specify why, but even if he’d never find out, Logan has no intention to go breaking promises when people aren’t looking. “I’ll just meet you up there?”

Joy hesitates, and Logan wonders whether he just completely screwed himself over, but her expression finally dissolves back into a grin. “Works for me.”

Logan takes the stairs two at a time, chased by the encouragement of his floormates. With every step, he jumps from one irrational worry to another. What if Joy thinks he thinks she stinks? What if she thinks he’s being uncooperative? What if she thinks he’s claustrophobic, and won’t be able to handle something so confined as a rocket? What if this is all a test, and he already failed?

He almost misses the ninth landing as his thoughts swarm. All that piloting time, straight down the drain.

The door can’t open fast enough.

Logan has just barely managed to force his breathing down to a normal level when the elevator door slides open, revealing Joy and—oh, great.

“She said I should come along!” Roman exclaims, bursting out of the elevator and jumping to Logan’s side. “That they might like a second opinion during your meeting.”

“Oh, great.”

“Yes, well, best be going,” Joy says, leading the boys down the hall to a set of floor to ceiling glass windows. Just beyond the frames is a long oak desk, ringed with cushy black office chairs. Logan wonders how many years it'll be until those become hand-me-downs for the fifth floor.

“I’m so excited,” Roman whisper-shouts. “I’ve never been up here before, besides for coffee runs.”

“This is where I leave you,” Joy says. She holds open the door and waves the boys in, patting Logan on the shoulder as he passes. “Good luck. You’re gonna crush it.”

“Fingers crossed.”

“Butterfingers?”

“Almond Joy.” A small smile spreads across Logan’s face as the door softly clicks shut behind them. Across the room is Mx. Oatmeal’s boss’s boss’s boss, Miss Katie-Lee, who literally and figuratively holds Logan’s future in her hands.

That is to say, she’s holding a model rocketship.

“Logan, please, have a seat.” She gestures to one of the several chairs, inclining her head slightly as Logan shakes her hand before sitting. “Oh, good, Roman, are you the second opinion I asked Joy to bring?”

“I am indeed,” Roman confirms, shaking her hand as well before sitting on Logan’s right. “Happy to be here, happy to help.”

“Happy to hear it,” Miss Katie-Lee says, taking her own seat opposite the boys. She pulls a stack of papers and folders from a nearby stool and spreads them out over the table. “Well, well, well, Logan, you sure have been busy these last few years, haven’t you? And I see here you have a change of mailing address, as well as the supplementary switch forms, very good, that’s what we like to see.” Miss Katie-Lee traces her finger down a bulleted list, mumbling to herself as she does. “Tuh tuh tuh, already a good amount of calculations under your belt, mostly correct, that’s always nice. Well on your way to completing the piloting hours, good to know you’re keeping that up. Recent physical on file, yes, sure deal, that makes this several worlds easier.”

She continues talking to herself, flipping between pages and glancing at Logan every so often for a nod of confirmation. “And Roman, you’ve worked closely with Logan, yes? Do you have any pertinent information to share regarding his performance?” She taps a little plastic cube set to the side meaningfully. “This is all being recorded, by the way. My apologies for not saying so sooner.”

Roman sits up straighter in his chair, and Logan immediately wishes he were a popsicle under the California sun. Oh, to be a puddle on the floor, free of the trials and tribulations involved in adult life.

“All on the record?”

“All on the record.”

Roman gives Logan a long look before opening his mouth again. Puddles would be a blessing at this point, Logan thinks. Logan would be wrong. “Logan is the single best intern I have ever seen working on the fifth floor. He easily works twice as hard as anyone on a higher floor—no offense—and I never see him without ink staining his fingers. He’s organized down to having a color coding system with his pens based on the difficulty and priority of his work. He’s the first one into the office and the last one out, and all the time in between is time he spends doing the best he possibly can.”

Roman laughs a little, and Logan finally feels his muscles relax, just the slightest bit. “I literally had to personally convince everyone to show up half an hour early today so we could beat him to being early. Basically, Logan is just a guy who really, really cares about what he does. There’s no one else I’d rather see at the top of this field.” Roman hesitates, glancing at Miss Katie-Lee. “Oh, um, not that you aren’t already doing a great—”

Miss Katie-Lee waves it off with a smile. “Thank you, Roman, that was more than sufficient. You can head back down to the fifth floor now.” Logan is still somewhere between numb and frozen as he watches Roman excuse himself, still processing the parade of compliments. He’d always assumed Roman merely tolerated his presence, since it would make being floormates easier than if they hated each other. Huh.

Shuffling the papers back into a neat pile, Miss Katie-Lee switches her gaze from the closing door to Logan. “Can I tell you a secret?” Logan nods, dumbfounded. “I already knew all that.” Logan blinks. “I’ve heard your praises sung by everyone in this building, from Mx. Oatmeal to Joy, to Micah at his resignation, all the way to the janitorial staff. They go out of their way to compliment how much easier you make their jobs, sticking around late to clean up after your floormates. To tell the truth, we’ve wanted to get you up here for a long while, but we just haven’t had an opening. A few transfers, a few drops, and now we find ourselves here.” Miss Katie-Lee folds her hands on the table, leaning in closer. “We want to start training you on level with Mr. Jolenta’s work.” Mr. Jolenta. Mx. Oatmeal’s boss. Logan feels more than a little light headed. “You would see an increase in pay, to be determined at a later date, as well as an increase in workload and hours. On the right path and at the right pace, I think we can get you where you want to go.” Logan nods dumbly, not completely processing her words. “So, what do you say?”

A million things race through Logan’s mind, each slipping out of his hands like an ice cube into boiling water when he tries to grab it. More pay. More hours. Less time with Virgil. A chance at the stars. A chance to move up. Time away from Virgil. Time away from home. Time, time, time. Never enough to give, never enough to take.

“I’d be happy to give you some time to consider—”

“I’m in,” Logan interrupts. His mouth didn’t even wait for his mind to decide, much less his heart. He’ll have to learn to get that under control.

“Well, we’re happy to have you on board,” Miss Katie-Lee says, standing and brushing off the front of her shirt. Logan shakes her hand firmly, thanking her for the opportunity and accepting a spotless new folder from her. He pulls the door shut as he leaves, determined to wait until he reaches his desk before looking at the papers.

The determination does not last longer than two minutes.

New benefits, new hours, new responsibilities, new calculation basics, new new new. The words and numbers and symbols flit around Logan’s mind, a deafening roar that blocks out the curiosity of his fellow fifth floor interns.

Can he call them his fellow interns anymore? He’ll have to ask Roman about that.

“So how’d it go?” Cassidy demands, slamming her hands on his desk and getting uncomfortably close to his face. Logan glances at Roman, whose face flushes pink when they make eye contact. He drops behind the partition.

“Spill it,” Alex adds, leaning on Logan’s chair. “It’s not like we didn’t notice that fancy new folder, or that almost smile on your face.”

Cassidy somehow manages to get even closer, and it’s a wonder Logan doesn’t flinch. “Stop the presses, Alex, I think that might be a genuine smile there.”

“Great Scott, she’s right! It’s a real smile! This is one for the papers, folks!”

Logan rolls his eyes and shakes his head good-naturedly, careful to keep the folder pinched shut. “Miss Katie-Lee just offered me a promotion, and Roman helped back up my credibility a little bit. It’s nothing major, really.”

“How high’s the promotion?” Roman’s voice asks. He’s still hiding behind the partition.

Logan glances around, well aware of the newer interns listening closely while doing a terrible job of pretending not to. “It, um, it’s on par with Mr. Jolenta?” It’s not a question, but he manages to make it one, anyway.

The floor is silent for a moment, two, as his words sink in. Alex breaks the silence first.

“Dude, nice!” This call is echoed across the floor, several voices tripping over each other to congratulate Logan. He nods, wearing a small smile and picturing how Virgil’s face will look when he shares the news. Or, wait, no, he’s supposed to be teaching Virgil how to make fettuccine alfredo tonight. That should obviously take precedence.

Then again, a promotion is pretty big. So is getting to cook with his boyfriend. Maybe he’ll tell him over dinner. Just imagining the look on Virgil’s face when he tells him is more than enough to double the size of Logan’s smile.

[nikxation]

Entry #00

Summary: Every good thing has to start somewhere, and sometimes the best, most unexpected outcomes start with nothing more than a nervous gift in a local diner.

Or: How I imagine WWTD began.

Word Count: 2441

Warnings: None

Additional Notes: Written for the 1-year anniversary of @fordanoia‘s RP blog @whatwouldteslado.

AO3 Link

“What… is it?” Ford turns the device in his hand, the hard, plastic outer case warm from the stifling summer heat (or, more likely, from being stored in Fiddleford’s pocket for hike from the house to the diner). Whatever kind of electronic it is, it’s remarkably small, able to fit comfortably in his palm. Boxy, but still rounded at the edges in an almost-ergonomic way. When he flips it, he realizes that the other side seems to have a small glass display, a small keyboard taking up the bottom half just below it, a circular dial of some sort between the two with four rectangular buttons lined up on its sides.

“I call it the Accelerated Logger: Experimental XML edition,” Fiddleford beams at him from across the table. “The ALEX device for short. I’m still fanoodling with the name though, since I reckon giving it a human name is a little creepy.” Ford flips it around a few times in his hands, getting a feel for the weight, pressing a few of the buttons on the keyboard, seeing if he can’t get the little glass screen to do something.

“But what exactly is it?” Ford repeats. “What does it do?”

“Oh right, right. It’s a new journal.” Ford glances back up, not sure whether or not he’s joking, since this device obviously isn’t a journal. The confusion must read on his face, because Fiddleford backtracks. “Well, sorta. It’s like a miniature computer that you only write entries in and— here let me show you.” Fiddleford takes the device back and holds down what seems to be a small button on the top of the device, one Ford hadn’t noticed. “So, this here’s the power button.” He sets the device down on the table between them as the screen flickers to life, the screen lit but dark. “It’s also the sleep button to shut off the screen when you’re not using it. Saves battery, but God willing, I don’t see you killing it any time soon. This high-powered interdimensional residual schism-based collision heap power cell’s got more energy than a kindergarten classroom the day after Halloween. But that’s besides the point.”

“It’s powered by interdimensi—”

“This here is your home screen,” Fiddleford continues on, unimpeded. “You can create a new entry by pressing this button here,” he presses one of the four buttons lined up just above the keyboard, the one on the left with the pencil on it, and a pop-up box appears on the screen with the prompt Type new entry here above it, “then you type in whatever you reckon to record. And then you can push this button," he pushes the next adjacent button, which has a pound (#) sign on it, and a smaller pop-up appears, “to add tags to the post. On the home screen, that same one lets you search through all your tags real fast, that way you can find specific entries without having to flip a bazillion pages crazier than a chicken with its head cut off when you need to find something. This one is the back button,” he presses the button to the left of the circle pad, and the tag pop-up disappears, “which will back you out of any screen until you get back to the home screen. But if you wanted to make a post, just type it in here” using the keypad, he quickly types in Test post 1, “and then press the center button,” he presses the button in the center of the circle, and the post disappears, replaced by a small box on the top of the screen that reads the same text he typed. “And there it is! You can also add titles to posts and stylize the text all fancy-like. And when you have loads of posts, you can scroll through them chronologically using the trackpad—"

“Fiddleford, this is very kind of you—”

“Oh! But this button here,” he presses the one unused button of the tray of four, and Ford’s not even sure his friend heard him, he’s so caught up in his excitement. “Well, by all means, it doesn’t do diddley-squat right now. But eventually, I want to make it to where we can each have a device and type messages to one another, sorta like instant messaging! And this button would take you to your inbox to see—"

He’s not sure how to say that, while the gift is nice, he just personally prefers his journal. There’s something about just writing with paper and pen that an electronic could never duplicate. But Fiddleford seems so excited over it, and he’s never been one for tact, that’s for sure. Maybe if he just…

“Look, Fiddleford, I really appreciate the thought—”

“And I know you still have Journal 3 to finish,” Fiddledord barrels right on, and for the first time, Ford notices the there’s a slight tapping sound coming from under the table. A shoe hitting the ground increasingly faster. “So if you wanna finish it out, I understand that. I just know you’ve always been a worry-wort about your book getting damaged by rain and all, so I figured this would help fix that. All the posts store in an empty pocket dimension, so there’s no chance of them getting destroyed or nothing. And even if the device gets damaged, I can make a new one and reconnect to the same dimension. And I also installed a camera so you can take pictures of anomalies instead of having to sketch them all the time and… And…”

Fiddleford trails off, though he’s still smiling and expectantly looking at Ford, as if waiting for a reaction.

His foot taps even faster under the table.

Five beats per second. Maybe six.

“What do ya think?” he asks.

It’ll be a while before I finish Journal 3. Maybe by then he’ll forget.

Ford sighs.

“I think it’s an amazing little piece of tech,” he says, picking it up and giving it an appreciative once over. “I’ll try it out after I’m finished with Journal 3. Thank you.” The tapping goes silent, and Fiddleford smiles.

“Well, I’m glad you like it!”

“Could you tell me more about this interdimensional power cell that you said powers it? It sounds intriguing.”

“Oh, it is!” Fiddleford says. “Obviously it’s based on the portal research, just on a much smaller, easier-to-stabilize scale. When I made the hole for the memory storage, I realized there was a dang near infinite amount of energy flowing from it, so I finoodled a way to back-harness it…”

~ ~ ~

Ford pours himself his sixth cup of coffee of the morning. Well, he hasn’t slept in… he can’t remember how many days, so thinking of it with respect to the morning can’t make much sense. Not in the colloquial sense. All he knows is that the sun started peeking through the snow-laden treetops over an hour ago, and he’s on his sixth cup of coffee since then.

It’s working well enough, he guesses.

He’s still awake, as far as he knows.

Not like he can really fall asleep now-a-days.

Can’t risk Bill…

He takes a sip from the mug, lukewarm black coffee even more bitter than the last cup, and yet somehow more familiar. Ever since the incident last week, this has become his norm, that bitter roasted taste a constant in the back of his throat.

He’s not sure how long he can keep this up.

Ideally, just long enough to get everything taken care of.

After that…

The Journal is sitting on the dining room counter, gold hand glinting at him in the morning light.

He doesn’t think he can trust a word in that thing anymore. Not after everything Bill has done. Not after learning what he now knows.

He’s not sure he can bring himself to open it again.

That’s ridiculous. It’s just a book.

Then why does the mere thought of it make him want to throw up?

He tops off his mug and heads back to the elevator, ready to continue his work. The portal has long since been shut down, but he swears he’s been hearing sounds coming from it. Which is concerning considering the nature of the machine and what lays on the other side. The room should be silent. Unsettlingly so. But when he’s down there, he swears he hears something.

Something like voices.

Which he knows is absurd.

He ignores them for the most part.

He has research to do. He needs to figure out how to keep Bill out. Either temporarily, or for good. And while initial attempts have been unsuccessful, he hopes knows he’s developed a plan of action that has a reasonable chance of success.

The elevator doors open, and he finds himself in the bottom floor of the basement.

He doesn’t know why he keeps insisting on bringing himself down here.

Maybe as penance?

Maybe out of some sense that he needs to guard it?

Maybe because he simultaneously enjoys and hates the way it makes his gut turn at the mere sight of it, something rotten and aching churning just below the surface.

Part of him… part of him wants to tear the damn thing apart. Some small voice in the back of his head says it’s the best idea, that it’s the only rational idea, that leaving it standing the next room over is dangerous and reckless, especially when it will never be turned on again. That it would be the ultimate way to rub Bill’s betrayal in his face.

But…

Because of course there’s a “but”, otherwise he would have torn it down already

But he can’t bring himself to do it. Not to something he spent months of his life on. Not to something that could still be the answer to all his questions. Not to what he knows is the single greatest piece of engineering this world has ever seen. Not when he’s scared of the aftermath the next time he falls asleep.

And so, he finds himself at a stalemate. Locked in a dilemma he can’t seem to reason his way out of. It leaves him staring through the safety test window, watching the monument as it stands proudly the next room over, fluorescent lights glaring off it.

It’s like some sick joke that he never even learned the punchline to. That there was never a punchline for to begin with. Something he had hoped would be beautiful and wound up causing nothing but pain and destruction.

It leaves something bitter in the back of his throat.

It’s almost familiar.

He takes another sip of the coffee. It’s cool now, the basement sapping every bit of warmth right out of the room, the winter ice settling deep into the dirt.

Maybe he likes that the cold helps keep him awake?

He sits down at the desk, aimlessly leafing through the pages strewn across it, hoping some spark of inspiration will flash across them and tell him what to do.

He moves a diagram to the side and uncovers something from what feels like eons ago.

The device Fiddleford gave him, before everything went bad, back when they went to Greasy’s Diner for breakfast from time to time and life wasn’t completely consumed by the portal.

Back when everything was still okay.

He picks it up off the desk, the device still fitting comfortably in his hand like he remembers it did, hard plastic cold against his palm.

The Accelerated Logistic—no, the Accelerated Log… Logging… Logger?

It was so long ago. He barely remembers…

He finds the button on the side and holds it down, the screen miraculously flickering to life moments later.

After I’m finished with Journal 3…

He knows he has a better time thinking through his problems when he can write them down.

Maybe this will be a good replacement for the journal.

Maybe.

He clicks on the button Fiddleford showed him all those months ago, but instead of the expected pop-up, he gets an error of some sort, asking for a “blog username”.

Why am I doing this? This is pointless.

You need to get your head on straight. Think through this all rationally. This will help.

It’s just another Journal!

What if I can’t fix this?

What if I can’t get him out?

A username.

Back in college, he remembers one physics professor introducing him to the work of Nikola Tesla, and there’s one story he always remembers in particular.

Tesla once built a great machine, an oscillator, meant to change the way electricity was produced and revolutionize the way steam engines operated. Tesla claimed that, during a certain experiment, the device began to vibrate at the resonant frequency of the building he was in, causing the whole building to shudder and quake, compromising the structural safety of the building and risking the lives of its occupants.

He took a sledgehammer to the device to end it.

Or so he claimed.

Ford wonders how true the story is, whether the machine really went unstable, whether Tesla was really able to simply destroy his work so easily.

He wonders what Tesla would do if he were in his own shoes, a literal demon tormenting him, his machine standing between him and the end of the world, or maybe all the answers he ever hoped for. A chance to be somebody and do something important.

Knowing something is the right thing to do, but just feeling deep down like it’s wrong. That there are other solutions.

A username?

He quickly types in the first thing that comes to mind:

whatwouldteslado

When he clicks enter, the pop-up disappears, and the screen is back to how he remembers.

Perhaps Fiddleford updated it while I wasn’t using it.

He shakes the thoughts off and starts typing, the click of the keys echoing through the room.

He’s not sure why… And he’s not sure how to describe it…

But as unfamiliar as it is, something about the device almost feels… promising. Like a new beginning. Some distant light at the end of an impossibly long tunnel.

It’s a good feeling to hold onto for now.

And so, he types.

~ ~ ~

Entry #01.

This is the first entry that will hopefully be of but only a small handful.

I am livid…. Among quite a number of other things, but I need to go about this in a rational manner.

I have recently come up with a rather simple solution to my main issue. Deploying it will not be easy, but I have already faced difficult challenges and I have no doubt that I can successfully carry this out on my own.

…

Post.

[interiordesigntorontonews]

How to Photograph Interiors - Part 2: Photography

Welcome to the second installment of our in a three-part series on How to Photograph Interiors. In Part 1 of the series, our amazing author Janet Kwan of Janet Kwan Photography gave us a lesson on how to prepare your interior for an interior photo shoot. After working through her prep checklist, Janet has got us ready to start taking pictures.

So get your camera ready and let’s dive into Janet’s second lesson on how to photograph interiors….

Part 2: Photography

Welcome to the second instalment of How to Photograph Interiors. In part 1, I shared a checklist on how to prepare for a shoot. Once you’ve gone through that list, you’re now ready to shoot.

Photographed for The Kwendy Home

Equipment

It’s important to use the appropriate equipment for a professional photography assignment. But I want to emphasize that it’s crucial to learn the proper technique (eg. lighting and composition) first before investing in expensive gear. The best equipment can’t save a poorly-photographed, out-of-focus image.

Camera

With that said, a full-frame camera is recommended because it has a larger sensor than a crop sensor camera. Because of this, it will perform better in low-light situations. It’ll also give your camera the ability to use lenses to their full potential. In this article, we’ll be referring to a full-frame camera and FX lenses.

Lens

I use prime lenses (ie. fixed focal length) so they don’t zoom in or out. I prefer prime lenses over zoom lenses because of the range of work I shoot. The smaller size and weight of these lenses plus their wider apertures make them better suited for my style of photography. But you may find that zooms work better for you because you don’t have to switch lenses as often.

Here are some of the common lenses used in interior photography:

Wide Lens

Use a wide lens with a focal length of 24mm to capture the entire room. For example, a 24mm or 24-70mm lens (used at 24mm).

You could use an even wider lens such as the 16-35mm in some situations, but I’d avoid an ultra-wide lens like a 12-24mm. If you must use it, use it sparingly and be aware of distortion towards the corners of the photo. It’ll stretch the room and create an unwanted warping effect. In that case, you may need to adjust the perspective or crop the photo in post-processing to remove the stretched part of the image.

Medium Lens

A 35mm lens is one of my go-to lenses because it captures the scene with a similar focal length to the human eye. This gives the viewer an accurate idea of what they would see if they were in the room. The 35mm doesn’t create a lot of distortion either, which is a big advantage over ultra-wide lenses.

For mid-range details, the 50mm lens is great for the job. It’s not too wide and not too tight so you can focus on an area while still capturing the environment for context.

Long Lens

For detail shots, an 85mm or 24-70mm (used at 70mm) is useful to create vignettes within a room. They allow you to highlight specific objects or features of the room.

Tilt-Shift Lens

If you’re serious about interior and architectural photography, consider investing in a specialty tilt-shift lens with a focal length of 19mm or 24mm. A tilt-shift lens has the ability to both tilt and shift which allows the camera body to remain level while the lens changes the focusing plane. For example, if you’re photographing a tall building, the camera does not need to point up or down to capture the entire building because the lens will correct that angle.

Tripod

A sturdy tripod is highly recommended, especially in low-light situations where you may need to use a slower shutter (eg. 1/80s, 1/30s, etc.) to keep the camera in the same position when exposure bracketing. It will also save your back from having to crouch or bend down constantly to get a shot.

Tether Cable

Shooting tethered is beneficial for you and your client because the screen on the back of your camera is small. These small details can go unnoticed at first glance. With the camera tethered to a laptop, you’re able to zoom into different areas of the image to see if you need to make any changes before moving on.

Photographed for Oak and Isaac/Kelly Johnson

Camera Settings

File Format

Shoot in RAW format (instead of JPG or other formats) so that the files are uncompressed versions. Depending on the camera brand, they may have a different file extension like .NEF or .CR2). These RAW files give you the most flexibility and control when capturing a wide range of lighting and when editing in post-processing.

ISO

Generally, you want to maintain a low ISO to prevent grain (also known as digital noise) from appearing in the image. The ideal ISO is between 100-400. If there isn’t enough light, you’ll have to make adjustments to either your shutter speed, aperture or introduce artificial light.

Aperture

For shots of large spaces with a lot of depth, use a smaller aperture so that everything from the foreground to the background is in focus. An aperture in the range of f8-f11 is ideal but sometimes you may need to open up the aperture a bit to f5.6 to keep your ISO between 100-400.

When shooting details and vignettes, you can use a wider aperture (around f2.0-f3.5) to create bokeh in the image.

Shutter Speed

Out of the 3 main camera settings we talk about (ISO, aperture, shutter speed) your shutter speed is the most flexible if you have a tripod. If you’re in a low-light situation and your ISO is at 400 and your aperture is at f5.6 already, you can slow your shutter speed to allow more light into the camera. In those situations, it’s important to use a tripod and the camera’s timer or a remote trigger to prevent camera shake.

White Balance

Most of the time, the camera’s auto white balance does a good job of capturing the overall colour temperature. However, if the room has colourful walls, wallpaper or furniture, they might reflect those colours back into the room. This will affect the white balance. For example, if the wall is green, it could cause the room to have a slightly green hue in the photo. To correct this, first use a grey card to set the white balance in your camera or adjust the white balance temperature in Kelvin. The white balance can also be corrected in post-processing if you don’t have a grey card.

Photographed for The Kwendy Home

Lighting

Time of Day

Find out which direction each room faces and pick a time of day where the light will be even in that room. For north and south-facing rooms, choose a time when there is the most light. For east and west-facing rooms, avoid shooting when the sun is shining directly into the room, which can cause glare and hot spots on surfaces. I generally shoot between 10am-2pm if I want even lighting. In some cases, I may shoot when there is more light streaming in through the windows if I’m going for a specific look.

Exterior photos can be taken outside of those times, at sunrise or sunset, when the sun is lower on the horizon, creating a nice glow without harsh light.

Keep in mind that these times will change slightly depending on the season and location as the sun will rise and set differently. If possible, scout the location ahead of time or ask the homeowner to take a few photos on their phone at different times of the day so you know what you’re working with.

Natural Light v Artificial Light

There are different views on this, but ultimately it depends on the style and look that you and the client are going for.

Natural light is great for interior photography and is often used to feature a room during the day. Turn off lamps or overhead lights to avoid mixed lighting, which can cast colours and shadows. If a certain spot in the room is darker than you’d like, try using a large reflector to bounce light. On the other hand, if there is too much light coming in from one area off-camera, use a large diffuser to soften the light. These reflectors can be found on Amazon or used from other photographers. They’re a powerful and affordable way to shape light in many situations.

When you need to use artificial light, a flash unit with a shoot-through umbrella can help fill in the shadows. Make sure the flash doesn’t overpower the rest of the room. You don’t want the artificial light to be a distraction and take the attention away from the room.

It may make sense to turn on a lamp or overhead lights if it adds to the ambiance of the room. But be sure to keep the lighting consistent if you go that route.

Bracketing

The amount of light within a room will vary. The windows may be blown out while a corner will be dark. This is where bracketing can even out the light so that every part of the room is exposed properly. Bracketing is when you take a minimum of 3 photos at different exposures and merge them in post-processing.

First, take a photo that is exposed for somewhere in the middle. That means that the meter in the camera is in the centre. Then take a photo that is underexposed. Usually, this is where you properly expose for the windows to get the details back. For this shot, don't worry about the rest of the room being too dark. Then take an overexposed photo, where you properly expose for the darker areas of the room. In this shot, the bright areas of the room will likely be blown out.

We’ll talk about what to do with these photos in the post-processing part of this series.

Photographed for Jennifer McLean

Composition

Hero Shot

Start with the wide establishing shot by picking out one perspective that will be your hero shot. This is the shot that sets the scene and is the best representation of the room. If the space is huge, there might be two hero shots from different angles.

Make sure to take your time with this shot. Walk around to all corners of the room to select the best angle. Remember that what you see in person can look different in the camera so use your viewfinder or live view.

Watch out for items that are misaligned or appear to be overlapping another object. Refer to the checklist in Part 1 of this series.

Angle

The 2 most common wide shots are:

Shoot the entire room with your camera parallel to the far wall and

Shoot with the corner of the room in your frame.

Aside from detail and vignette shots, photos of a room should show at least some of the floor in the frame.

Shoot from an approximately mid-level height of the room or commonly referred to as waist level. This depends on the room though. For the living room, shoot from waist height will work well, but you may need to shoot a bit higher in the kitchen because of the countertop. The idea is that you want to capture the height of the room evenly without pointing the camera up or down into a room. The grid in your camera’s viewfinder or live view screen should be parallel to the walls and perpendicular to the ground and ceiling.

Use the level on the tripod or get a small hotshoe bubble level to ensure that the camera isn’t crooked. This will save you a lot of time in post-processing.

If you’re shooting a room with a table (eg. dining table, coffee table, kitchen countertop), make sure the camera is not shooting below the horizon of that surface, otherwise, the focus will be on what’s under the table.

Take a variety of landscape (horizontal) and portrait (vertical) shots so that you have options for websites, social media channels or print publications. Use objects, furniture and walls to guide the viewer’s eye to what you want them to see.

Use symmetry and negative space in your composition.

As mentioned in Part 1, interior photography showcases the room and its design as opposed to the scale of the space so you don’t always have to capture everything in the room at one time.

Photographed for Vintage and Teak

Details

Once the overview shots are done, move in to take some mid-range and detail photos, also known as vignettes. Focus on a smaller area of the room (eg. shelf, fireplace, stove, side table) and then followed by details (eg. hardware, decor). Create a different feel by taking the shot from a different angle.

Focus

Choose your subject in the room to focus the camera on, such as the couch, bed or dining table. Make sure it’s completely in focus before taking the photo. When the camera is set to autofocus, look for an autofocus indicator light in the viewfinder or screen (usually a small solid circle). This indicator will light up when properly focussed on the subject.

Reflections

As you’re shooting, look out for reflective surfaces so that you or your camera gear don’t appear in a mirror or a shiny object.

Review

After taking the standard photos of the room, go over your photos in-camera to make sure you’ve taken enough to fully capture the space before moving on. The next step in your photo shoot - Post-Processing - will be covered in part 3 of the How to Photograph Interiors series!

Stay tuned.

LINKS

Part 1: Preparation

Part 2: Photography

Part 3: Post-Processing

Glossary of Terms

Full frame vs cropped sensor – A full frame sensor is roughly the size as the “old” 35mm frame of film. Lenses are made to create a circle of light just large enough to cover that area (covering power). In a cropped sensor camera the physical size of the sensor is smaller so it only captures a portion of the entire image the lens is projecting, effectively cropping part of the image out. For more information on this see “Crop factor explained“. Common crop factors are 1.5 or 1.6x so if you put on a 50mm lens it is more like a 75mm with a 1.5x crop factor.

Popular full frame cameras

Budget friendly full frame cameras

DX and FX Format Lenses - In digital SLR cameras, the camera's format refers to the size of its image sensor. Nikon and other manufacturers make both DX-format sensors and FX-format sensors. The DX-format is the smaller sensor at 24x16mm; the larger FX-format sensor measures 36x24mm which is approximately the same size as 35mm film.

Prime Lenses - A prime lens is one that has just one focal length only (in contrast to a zoom lens that covers a wider range of lengths).

Prime lenses come in a wide range of focal lengths from wide angles through to the very longest of tele-photo lenses used by many sports photographers and paparazzi.

Tripods - The primary purpose of the tripod is to hold a camera completely steady—zero movement and vibration. However, the tripod is far from a one-size-fits-all-photographic accessory. Although they all look about the same—three legs and a part where the camera attaches, etc., there are many brands, styles, and variations. Some differences are centered on personal preference such as color; others are more purpose-driven. Manfrotto tripods are probably the most popular and highly recommended among professionals. More info on tripods.

Tether Tools is the most popular brand of tethering cable. Third party ones can be found for a fraction of the price, but the build quality and reliability of data transfer may not be as good.

ISO – stands for International Standards Organization and represents the sensitivity of your camera’s digital sensor to light. The lower the number (ISO 100), the less sensitive, the higher the number (ISO 3200) the more sensitive. A higher ISO allows you to shoot in low light conditions. Learn more about ISO and how to use it in your photography.

Aperture – the variable opening in the lens through which light passes to the film or digital sensor. Measured in f-stops. I like to compare it to your pupil which opens and closes to allow more or less light to enter your eye depending on the brightness level of the room. Learn more about Aperture and how to use it here.

Shutter speed – the amount of time the shutter is opened during an exposure. The shutter speed controls motion. Use a fast speed (like 1/2000th of a second) to freeze motion, or a slow one (1/4 of a second or longer) to blur moving objects. Learn more about shutter speed and how to control it in this article from www.digital-photography-school.com.

Kelvin – is the absolute measurement of colour temperature. On your camera under the White Balance settings you make see a “K” setting. This allows you to adjust the colour manually by degrees kelvin. The lower numbers represent warmer colours like orange (tungsten light) and the higher numbers are cooler (blues). Play with this scale to create different affects.

Hot shoe bubble level - A hot shoe bubble level mounts onto any standard hot shoe on a camera. It allows you to precisely align the camera on two planes, to ensure that the horizon line is absolutely straight.

Hot shoe - A hot shoe is a connector on a digital or analog camera. It is used to connect a variety of devices that communicate with the camera. If the hot shoe has a metal contact, the device can then ‘talk’ to the camera. You will usually find the hot shoe on the highest point of the camera when held upright. For most DSLRs, it is located above the pop-up flash, and directly in the center.

Vignette photography is defined as a reduction of an image's brightness or saturation toward the periphery compared to the image center. This technique is best know in portrait photographs that are clear at the center and fade off toward the edges.

About the Author

Janet is a lifestyle photographer based in Toronto, Canada, specializing in business branding, interior and product photography. She works with small to large companies to create custom professional photos for their branding and marketing needs. Her work has been published in Apartment Therapy and The Jungalow. Some of her past clients include Airbnb, McDonald's Canada, Vichy, Haagen-Dazs, The Distillery Historic District and more. She loves The Office, sunsets and exploring the different neighbourhoods in Toronto.

Contact the Author

Website: https://www.janetkwan.com Instagram: @janetkwan