#I can use my desktop computer but I wanted to see if still can handle rendering programs | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

ms-demeanor · 2 months ago

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So these computers will be mostly be used for CAD but also video editing. The time we are looking for is in the next few months. It will be running autodesk fusion which at minimum needs 2 cores, recommends 8 for cpu, needs 8gb of ram recommends 32gb, and needs aleast some sort of gpu and something like a nvidia quadro is recommended though I am mostly sure we would do fine with a 40s or 50s series GPU.

This is very funny to me because this is actually quite similar to the conundrum I had buying computers earlier today. Workstations are currently a bitch to get (and also that means that $1500 per device is somewhat unrealistic in the opposite direction of what I was initially thinking, especially given the graphics card)

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Hi Anon!

Thanks for the details! We're beginning to see some stock availability issues with hardware so I'm not finding anything that's a perfect match out-of-box for your needs but I believe I've found a solution that should be comfortably within budget as long as you've got in-house IT or an affordable contractor to help with the build.

What I've found is a Lenovo ThinkStation P3 Tiny that comes with a 20-Core, 14th gen i7 processor, 16GB DDR5 5600 MHz RAM (SoDIMM), and an Nvidia T400 4GB graphics card. The workstation includes an upgraded Lenovo Premiere warranty with next-day onsite service. The ThinkStation has one RAM module soldered to the motherboard but two free slots and can handle a max of 96GB, so I'd recommend purchasing this device and adding 16GB Crucial modules.

Just to be sure, I did verify that the graphics card with this device is on the list of compatible cards from Autodesk.

I'm finding the workstation available from a number of vendors at about $1200, and the RAM is available for around $50. With tax, that brings your per-unit cost to around $1400, leaving just under $100 per machine to account for the labor cost of installing the RAM.

Let me know if this sounds like a solution that works for you, or if you have any further questions.

Given your timeline, you could choose to place orders from vendors who are not carrying the full 30 machines right now, but considering the possibility of scarcity I'd recommend making a decision sooner rather than later.

Thanks! Ms-D

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Part of what I was struggling with on my quote today is that my employer doesn't want our techs mucking around with desktop hardware; we're not supposed to be ordering and upgrading before we send things out the door but that is not a limitation that an end purchaser has to live with so you (reader or anon) have more options and more flexibility when looking for computers than I do *IF* you make sure to check that you can do upgrades. It's not hard to add RAM to a desktop unless the RAM is soldered to the motherboard with no free slots, in which case it's impossible.

You can save a ridiculous amount of money on buying machines and have a LOT of options for dealing with scarcity if you know what kind of hardware is easy to fuck with.

In this instance, I wouldn't upgrade the GPU or by a card separate from the workstation (this computer has a 300W power supply and the computer itself is the size of most power supplies, so I wouldn't want to try to find something teeny tiny to work together), especially because there's a budget-friendly option that will allow the necessary programs to run available pre-built, but literally it would cost like five hundred dollars more to get something with more RAM. So save yourself a few hundred dollars by getting a fifty dollar RAM module and paying someone to install that in the machine or doing it yourself.

I don't think we're going to get to a point of completely empty shelves, but I do think we're likely to see fewer options that exactly match what we're looking for without doing some extra work. Large Bastard has been vaguely making noises about getting a new computer for the last two or three years and he's still on the fence and my comment to him was that I'm sure there's always going to be something available at a high enough cost, but there are going to be fewer choices if he has to replace a computer quickly (which, given the age of his desktop, he might have to at some point).

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inqroot · 4 months ago

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What if I took dkos and made him a shimeji lol

Let me start with, I think this can be interpreted as either post-epilogue or as part of an au. Salvation could be created from digital fragments of Dokja (like an avatar) or just born entirely from coding, for the sake of this lore/info dump I'm going with the "no-scenarios AU and Salvation is a smart AI somewhere between JARVIS from Iron Man and the Rotom phone/dex from Pokemon"

His "core" entity lives with Dokja and Joonghyuk, but kimcom, Uriel, and Persephone/Hades have copies of him as well (Dokja did offer to send Salvation to Lee Sookyung but she declined saying she doesn't like bothering with any more technology than needed) Demon King Of Salvation is his legal name, but default nicknames are Salvation, Guwon/91 (in english), 99 (pronounced ni-ni / night night, it became a pavlovian habit from when users go to bed)

Additional registered nicknames include- Squid (Joonghyuk, Sooyoung) Hyung (Gilyoung) Ahjussi (Yoosung, Mia) Rat (Sooyoung, Heewon) Problem (Joonghyuk) Bitch (Dokja, only when they're fighting) Dokja (Uriel, Persephone, Hyunsung, Sangah) (It..gets really confusing if the human Dokja is over)

Salvation has free access to the internet and can be used as a web search, but is usually responsible and only browses around if he's not actively performing a task Takes his data management role very seriously He can split himself and transfer admin copies to other computers/phones (They'll move/behave independently like the kkoma) but it slows down his processing and reaction time so he doesn't like to have more than two or three visual copies of himself at a time (He can still perform all functions while docked, it just creates a window for him to interact with vs having to physically move himself into that space) Everyone in kimcom has a copy of his source code that's automatically synced and backed up every night. Dokja had a scare after he had a laptop melt. Salvation was on Joonghyuk's pc at the time so it was fine but it put the fear of god in Dokja (the first time) Salvation only performs administrative duties as his active function for Dokja, Joonghyuk, Sooyoung, and Donghoon. While he CAN perform these tasks for everyone else, they seem to be content in just having him be a shimeji (kimcom likes to keep a shimeji running for Salvation bc a screen with a running program acts as his scenery. When they found out that Salvation's world is only as many screens as he's running as a shimeji on and is just an empty grid space otherwise, everyone started adding him to the startup programs)

When he's not in work mode, Salvation can get really spicy. With Dokja he commonly steals the cursor, moves windows, rearranges his desktop (not the files bc he's the one that organized them in the first place and gods be damned if he gives himself more work of having to put them back) and actively antagonizes him bc it's funny. A conversation Joonghyuk has heard while passing Dokja's office more than once is Kdj: put that back right now or so help me Dkos: or what, oh nooo don't put me in the recycling bins again I'll fucking eat my way out of it again >:/ Kdj: YOU LITTLE SHIT (Grabs him with cursor or finger if touch screen monitor/cursor is held hostage and just shakes the FUCK out of him) Dkos (while getting shaken like a paint can): I FuCkInG hAtE yOu

He's (usually) more well-behaved when it comes to idling on Joonghyuk's desktop, though. Joonghyuk uses Salvation to handle audio balancing while he's live, and doing program checks while setting up but otherwise leaves him be. Salvation in turn usually only terrorizes the screen when he's starting/ending and not when the game's actually live. Chat can see him and can interact with Salvation through an overlay to keep themselves entertained, he's gone to war with Joonghyuk's chat more than once tbh When Salvation gets too spicy, he'll usually just deal with it or call Dokja over if he's not busy to handle Salvation bc he doesn't want to accidentally hurt him (he's also too tired to deal with this bc Salvation has access to WAY too much shit). He'll switch to a just chatting screen and let Dokja and Salvation beef while he takes a break lmao These fights have happened more than once, so Dokja made an on-screen entity that he affectionately calls "Gay baby jail" (it's shaped like a child's playpen) where he puts Salvation in time out. For some reason Salvation can't physically remove himself from this and it pisses him off. Dokja made the mistake once with forgetting the AI has a MOUTH on him, so this was remedied by an auto-filter while in gay baby jail that converts his speech/dialogue swearing to rubber ducky noises and 🦆emojis Chat has a 500k point redeem that puts Salvation in gay baby jail for 5 minutes (Salvation is actively petitioning to make it 1m points, at LEAST. bc it's what he deserves). It's part of why he actively beefs with chat to keep himself occupied while Joonghyuk is live

He has a squid form that he uses when he goes online There's a menu option on his on-screen display to generate a dumpling for him to eat. He doesn't need food, to be clear, but he still likes eating the dumplings Because he was designed to be an administrative assistant, Salvation can innately defend himself (and his files) from viruses and such to a certain degree, but it's not his core function so he's not specialized in it. This gets remedied later after A Certain EventTM

#inkroot sketch #omniscient reader's viewpoint #orv #omniscient reader #kim dokja #demon king of salvation #shimeji au bc it's funny

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copperbadge · 2 years ago

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Well, Still Salty.

I was cranky yesterday and I thought a good night's sleep would provide some adjustment in perspective, but unfortunately "spending yesterday not on tumblr" also offered perspective and got there first.

Up front: feel free to comment or reblog on this post (replies may be heavily delayed) but if you feel the urge to Like, I'm going to ask you to take one more step and go to https://www.tumblr.com/support, select "feedback" as the category, and enter a line or two about the new dash. It can be as simple as "Your new dash design is difficult to use and is driving people off the site". I'm not asking everyone to do it, but if you're going to Like this post, that would be a helpful action in addition. You can delete any response they send; no reason to expose yourself to the unique combination of incompetence and condescension with which they handle feedback generally.

Also up front: yeah, if I find somewhere else to go and go there, I will certainly let you guys know beforehand, I'm not going to just evaporate. I'll be broadcasting about Tumblr's replacement on Tumblr very heavily. But I can't deny that it is now an active goal of mine to find a viable replacement for this site. (More on this in a moment.) You will always be able to find me on AO3 as copperbadge, or via [email protected]. (More on this in a moment also.)

This kind of thing is why I refuse to fuck with staff now or ever; I don't trust them and I never will. Watching @wip respond to almost every complaint or suggestion with "but that would be really hard" is telling. Whoever is pushing blocks around at Tumblr wants a lucrative site that's easy to code, but lucrative is hostile to community and code is difficult by nature, and when the architecture of the meeting hall is hostile and cheap, people don't stick around.

I've been watching the site as every change made it incrementally worse, from a buggy post window that doesn't allow ease of editing to the new dash (which is the reason I'm writing this in a text window off Tumblr). I genuinely do not think I can use desktop Tumblr like this unless I can install something that will put it back the way it was, and roughly 40% of the content you guys get HAS to come through desktop. It's impossible to do on a phone or so time-consuming it's not worth it. I cannot code Radio Free Monday on a phone; it's a struggle to code it on a single-monitor laptop (I usually write it on my work computer, where I have two monitors). Even writing image IDs on the phone is difficult and something I rarely do. Tumblr is becoming an actively difficult place for me to make content, introducing friction left and right.

But where does one go? I've tried other platforms and they're either worse to use or they don't have the constituency. The problem with a lot of discourse around internet addiction is that it often points out how glued people are to their phones without asking what it is they're doing on those phones. I'm not addicted to social media; I don't doomscroll, I don't care what celebrities have to say, I don't find 140 characters useful or interesting, I don’t find most “funny” videos very interesting. I create a lot of original content for public consumption, significantly more than many social media users, and if that becomes difficult, then the site suffers more than I do. But it's undeniable that social media, and this social media in specific, is where my people are, and yeah, I like seeing you all every day. It makes it difficult to leave even when Tumblr is the best of a bad set of options.

It seems like a lot of the internet, lately, is the best of a bad set of options.

All that said, Tumblr forced a sudden, unwanted, and unchangeable reskin on me a day after I listened to a two-hour podcast about addiction while working on building a newsletter system for my author site. I spent the evening before this happened in contemplation of my relationship to social media and to my readership and how I might alter it to my benefit regardless of whether that's also to Tumblr's detriment. Their poor timing, I suppose. A lot of the theories advanced on the podcast were, to put it kindly, bunk, but one of the suggestions for people questioning their relationship to an activity was a dopamine fast -- removing something in your life that gives you quick but unsustained dopamine hits, so that you can take some time to level out and examine your behaviors. On the one hand, that's not at all how dopamine works; from the jump it's a bad theory. But on the other, pulling back from something you think may be causing you difficulty is generally speaking a good tactic.

Removing myself from Tumblr yesterday was an active process: because I have ADHD and often will forget something exists if I don't systematize my engagement with it, Tumblr is normally pinned to my browser, with the app on my phone's top screen. Removing the app and closing the window meant that while I occasionally reached for Tumblr, it was less frequently than I expected, and the lack of access reminded me why I wasn't there. I missed you guys, but I didn't miss getting distracted from work by my dash, or the pressure to respond to the volume of communication I receive through the site daily. I don't think my use of tumblr as my sole social media has been unhealthy, per se, but certainly yesterday felt both quieter and calmer after I walked away.

But that's a temporary relief, because you are my community, and not only do I not want to leave my community, it's a resource for me. One of the reasons I do things like Radio Free Monday and the weekly Hug on Saturdays is that I try to make sure that resource is reciprocal. Leadership involves service. Leaving would be easy in the short term, but in the long term, leaving my community without having another place to meet it, or another community to go to, would be harmful to both of us. I'm already someone who isolates, and while I have a strong brickspace circle of friends, they fulfill sometimes different needs.

Though I do appreciate the wild vote of confidence from the comments to my last post telling me people would come with me where I went. That means a lot to me. I will attempt to make it either unnecessary or as painless as possible. Just know, I see your faith and friendship and I appreciate it.

Sometimes at my old job I'd be in very tumultuous meetings where a lot was discussed and not much agreed on, and the most useful thing to me was always to say, "What are our next steps? What would you like me to do because of this meeting?" So what are next steps, all this being the case?

First, I'm going to be off Tumblr, mostly, for another couple of days, because clearly I need the break and a few days won't matter too much. Again, I will be back either to continue on the site or to let you guys know, at length and volume, where I'm headed. The former is much more likely.

Second, I'm going to be actively looking for both a widget I can install to reset the dash (recommendations welcome, I currently don't even use xkit) and a wholly new platform that's a realistically viable alternative. Even if the dash gets reset, the shitty post editor is here for good. Attempts to source alternative platforms in the past have taught me that it needs to have a mobile-friendly site or an app, a similar structure to tumblr, and a reasonable chance of actually attracting users. That's a heavy venn diagram unlikely to be fulfilled anytime soon, but I'm now invested in finding it, instead of just passively waiting for it to happen to me (as Tumblr did when it pulled me off LJ).

Third, I do have an email newsletter in the works! I'm just wrestling currently with setting up how people sign up for it. This wasn't meant to be "my main broadcast platform"; it's meant to be a once-monthly email to share book news, targeted at people who aren't on socials or who just really love content from me, I guess. :D The plan was for me to assure Tumblr users that it was not extra content, just select content repackaged into a digest. But it will be one way to ensure that if I'm moving around outside of Tumblr, you'll know about it. I hope to have a link to a signup page soon. (I'm....dealing with some code issues.)

Fourth, I'm going to be combing through the last ten years I've spent here and pulling anything I think is of value into an archive. For now everything will remain here as well, and I'll let you guys know if I think that's going to change, but it's clear that this space is moving only one direction, towards a place I can't exist, and when/if it crumbles I want to have already evacuated what's important.

So there you go. I'll possibly be posting sporadically (the Saturday Hugs are queued six months in advance so that'll happen) but if nothing else and if not sooner, I'll be back full-time next week starting with Radio Free Monday. I appreciate your patience and your kindness in the meantime!

#tumblr #social media

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lilblucat · 2 years ago

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I just saw the ask by slushysblog. In response you sent a gif that blew me away:

You see, I'm just getting into digital art, and my PC can only handle about 5 or 6 layers before my graphics environment crashes. (Ofc this forces me to restart my PC and lose anything not saved.)

I've learned to work around this, my art isn't nearly so complex as yours, but I know if I want to continue I'll have to get a better computer at some point.

I was hoping you could tell me a bit about the technical side of your work. What are your PC specs? What software do you use? That sort of thing.

Thanks in advance! I love your art!

My set-up is complete overkill for art. It's a heavy gaming-ready desktop PC I got a few years back that I've upgraded the RAM and storage on over the years. I was doing fine with 16GB of RAM but I always have open a lot in CSP and other stuff so upgrading was definitely something I needed to do. 16GB should be fine for most people though.

You can also see that I run Arch Linux and uh yeahhhhhh it's a long story. The short of it is that my old laptop broke its Windows install during an update and I was completely unable to fix it so I just.... switched to Linux lol. I started out on Ubuntu and switched to Arch after a while. I don't rec using Arch unless you know what you're doing, Ubuntu is way easier.

What you might find more interesting is my away from home set up on my laptop since it's an older gaming laptop.

The graphics card is actually a NVIDIA Geforce 850 or something. It's so old that you can't play some games on it. However, I have no issues with it for art. I can open my comic project files in CSP fine on it. It's also running on Linux Mint, which isn't showing up on the little image for some reason. Both of my devices run Linux, but that's a me preference/need thing and I don't rec messing with your operating system if you don't know much about computers. It gives me a bit of an edge since the system doesn't use as much RAM as Windows but yeah don't touch unless you're committed to learn. Windows will serve you fine. Or MacOS even.

As for my program, I use Clip Studio Paint EX. I bought Pro a long time ago and upgraded to EX because of the extra tools for comics and animation (I've heard animators don't like CSP though, it's the BEST program for comics however). It's a really solid program but the recent changes to pricing and updates is really stupid. Fun fact: I use only default brushes and materials because getting it to run on Linux breaks the store. I also use an older version of it because of how I got it working on this system.

For my tablet I use an XP-Pen Artist 12 Pro. It's a pretty solid screen tablet on a budget (I bought it on a sale) and I have no issues with it. I actually partly got it because I thought it was cool that XP-Pen carries official drivers for Linux too, and this helped a bit since this was before Windows bricked on me and I switched to that. It was kinda weird how it played out lol. I would heavily not rec a Wacom tablet unless it's an older one for cheap. Wacom is stupidly expensive and you can get a better bang for your buck at other companies. My first tablet is a Wacom and it's still holding up pretty well but their quality on their new tablets isn't great. Check out XP-Pen, Gaomon, and Huion for better tablet options.

#not art #shortformdrip-blog

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secretariatess · 9 months ago

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So.

I have had four laptops in my time. I am on my fourth laptop.

The middle two laptops were a joke. I got them because they were HP and my first HP laptop was good enough for me to like the brand to stick with it. But the hard drives kept having issues, and both of them had issues with the hinge popping out of the base. The second HP laptop went because the hinge wouldn't stay glued and my last attempt ended up pinching a wire to the screen. It would give me a cracked screen effect and not work. The third laptop had to have the hard drive replaced a couple of times (as did the second) and when it started showing signs that there was an issue with the hard drive again, I said screw it. I was going with a gaming laptop because with the expenses I was putting into those cheaper laptops just to keep a good hard drive going, I might as well splurge on something that can handle more. Also, light up keyboard.

But my first laptop.

Mind you, I've kept all the laptops. One will be going to my nephew so he can pull it apart and put it back together. The third is used to prop up the fourth, and is kind of a back up I don't want to use because it's so freaking slow.

My first one, though?

I had to get a new laptop. My first laptop is now ten years old. When I replaced it, it was dead pixeling if you didn't have the screen in a very specific spot, the battery was dead so it worked on charger only, the keyboard was in need of a very good clean, and closing and opening the lid was a procedure because the hinge kept getting banged up because of the way I would carry it (it would knock into door frames). It still worked, but it needed to be hooked up to a monitor if you wanted to see what you were doing. It lost the ability to be portable.

Mind you, that's the reason it had to be replaced. It didn't stop working. It just couldn't be moved around anymore. It had to be treated kind of like a desktop.

It runs Windows 8 and hasn't had an update in years. It's probably too old for Edge, so it still has Internet Explorer on it. For some reason, probably because it's old, it won't load up Civ VI. It now has a broken fan it tells you about before you can go to the login screen. Every time you turn it on.

It still runs faster than the third laptop. It's never had a hard drive replaced. It was cheaper than the middle laptops and has more processors. I'm pretty sure the CD drive still works.

A couple of weeks ago, though, I thought I ended its existence.

I accidentally spilled root beer on it. Liquid and sugar- the death of computers, right?

When the spill first occurred, it could turn on, but I was like, "That's because the damage hasn't settled yet." Within a couple of days, I noticed that the charging light was spazzing, as though it wanted to indicate the computer was plugged in and getting power, but it couldn't figure out why it wasn't working. Laptop wouldn't turn on.

Ah well, I thought. I have been thinking of getting a tower, so I'd have more space for games and video editing programs and whatnot.

Today, I noticed that the charging light was solidly on.

????

Must be a fluke.

Pressed the on button anyways.

Computer turns on.

EDSR;OGAIHSR;GLAKDN;AOIDRNSG'Asdg????????

Now this is likely a false alarm, since I don't have it plugged into the monitor, so I don't know how far it can actually go and what kind of damage it sustained, but.. . .

IT TURNED ON????

IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!!!!!

#zombie computer over here showing weaker newer laptops how it's done #what the crap #A lesser computer wouldn't survive half of this thing's been through #if I plug this into the monitor I 100% expect there to be an issue right off the bat

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coffeeknife · 1 year ago

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blog reintroduction

the last time i used this account was when i was still a teenager. didn't feel like deleting and remaking on this handle though so uh. hey, i'm robin. i'm a married butch lesbian in mn. mostly logging back in so i can archive stuff on here where other people can see if they want

stuff i might post abt (under the cut)

managing physical/mental disability (my wife and i both have eds)

being broke and maintaining sanity/quality of life

it stuff. i have a cluster of servers at home running a lot of stuff to automate life. some stuff replaces subscriptions but i also do some budget smarthome stuff to make our living situation a little more accessible. i've also dabbled in backing up my personal healthcare record

more generally, extending the lifespan of (sometimes much older) tech & bending it to your will

some interests, though i tend to stay out of fandoms: trigun, dunmeshi, pokemon, ffxiv, persona series (but i dont touch that fandom with a ten foot pole) and a few others im sure i cant think of rn

also, feel free to send me asks about random tech things. i'll post some of my stuff later, but a quick rundown of my daily stuff

JUST replaced my phone. i only got my head out of the apple brainrot very recently, but my phone is a refurb'd note20 ultra that i intend to use for a very long time

desktop i built on the cheap. i5 (dont buy intel new, theyre zionists), intel arc graphics for video encoding

working on moving from a 2018-ish macbook air that's somehow barely runing to a 2010 thinkpad i salvaged from an ewaste bin. it's running pretty well on arch with a cheap SSD but it needs a new battery and a better display (and a modern wifi card eventually)

my server cluster that i've built over the last 10 years or so:

the manager computer is a 2017 imac i cut open to put more ram in. it was my primary computer until this year

2 raspberry pis that the manager dishes out tasks to. one is hooked up to an 8tb hard drive that it serves to the other 2 computers. the other has a zigbee receiver to handle cheap smarthome devices

3rd raspberry pi dedicated to networking. outside of the cluster, hosts a vpn so i can get into my stuff from anywhere without exposing it to the internet

salvaged two acer EEE laptops that i really want to convert into parts of the cluster bc i'm running out of cpu. they didn't come with power supplies and i have yet to get them to turn on

part of my goal for being active on here is to put some accessible resources on home servers out there. bc imo theyre insanely useful and learning how to do this stuff in general is good in the age of technological walled gardens

ok bye. follow me if you want ig, send me asks abt it stuff and i'll probably have something to say

#intro post #disability #tech stuff #hypermobile eds #money saving #anti consumerism

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nywxnn · 2 years ago

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Last Minute #01

This year, you had the amazing opportunity to organize the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting. As an event coordinator, this is something you had dreamed of doing since you got the job, as it would be a great opportunity to progress within the company. Making your way up to the top with nothing but your own hard work was motivation enough.

You thought back to the times when life was extremely hard. Living paycheck to paycheck, having to switch apartments regularly because the cost of living was beginning to be too much for you to handle. You remembered how your mother would always tell you, keep your head hung high, hard work pays off. You never wanted to admit it, but she was right. Hard work certainly was paying off.

You take a look at the picture frame on your cubicle desk where your mother was placing a soft kiss on your forehead, as you look embarrassingly at the camera. She would've been so proud of how far and hard you've worked to make it this far into your career.

Caller ID – Band

Your eyes fall down onto your phone, seeing the caller ID. The group must need help finding parking as, from your cubicle window, you can see how it's already starting to become crowded.

"Hello?" The caller on the other side questions, presumably the manager of the group.

"Hi, do you need help finding parking?" You continue looking out the window to see if you can spot any sort of parking that might be available for the group.

"I'm sorry, but the group will not be able to perform tonight. Jake, one of the members, is currently in the hospital after a fall accident." Hearing this, your heart is already dropping. You were so close to reaching a promotion, which would essentially make you the manager of your department. You know it was selfish of you to even think of your career when someone is currently in the hospital, seriously injured enough to not perform.

"Hello?" The caller from the other side questions after a long pause.

"Yes, I'm sorry, I hope Jake gets better. Please send my regards to them. As for the show, please do not worry. Thank you for your time." The manager and you exchange goodbyes over the phone. You hear the sound of the phone hanging up, slowly pulling it away from your ear, you know you're fucked.

You hear a tap on your cubicle walls, glancing over you see your boss with a small frown adoring his face. "I heard what happened."

You let out a much-needed sigh, "Yeah, one of the members had an accident and is currently in the hospital."

Your boss scans over your face for any signs of what he might presume as failure. He glances at the wall clock, before back at you, "You still have time to find a replacement before the event starts." Your boss walks away, leaving you even more anxious than before.

Disappointed with the amount of time and effort you placed into finding this band, you begin your search once again. You power up your desktop computer, typing in your password, you are met with your organized desktop home screen. You click on a folder listed as Singers for Events. You start your rampage of calling and messaging contacts to find anyone available this last minute. Contact after contact, everyone was either not answering or wasn't available this last minute.

After a whole twenty minutes of this process, you ended up on the last contact in the entire folder. Dialing in the number, you await anxiously for the caller to pick up.

Come on, Come on

"Hello?" The caller finally answers.

"Hello, this is Y/n speaking from the company NYE. There's an event for Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting today in forty minutes. Our band was forced to pull out at the last minute... Could you please consider singing for us tonight?" Knowing this is quite a lot to take in considering it's around 8, you give the caller a second to take everything in.

"I'll do it, I can pull off an acapella." Eyes widening at the answer, you silently cheer to yourself.

"Thank goodness—"

"You just need to go on a date with me after." He interrupts you.

"I'm sorry, what?" You raise an eyebrow at the compromise.

"If I'm going to perform, I want you to go on a date with me afterward." Glancing at the clock, you wavered your options. This event would definitely help your career, but did you really want to degrade yourself like that? Going on a date with a complete stranger? Not to mention, you already had your eyes on someone already.

"Fine, I'll go on a date with you after the event." Cringing at the way you said that out loud, you just hoped none of your coworkers heard you, especially your boss.

"Great! I'll see you in 15 minutes, babe." Ending the call, you fight the urge to just roll your eyes at this annoying man that better pull off the best acapella of his life.

Now having the event all settled for, you rush to the bathroom to touch up your makeup. Stepping into the bathroom, you overhear your coworkers talking. "Why did the boss let Y/n do this event? I heard the band had to bail out last minute."

The familiar voice of your coworker, Cecilia's obnoxious laugh, echoed throughout the bathroom, "Right! I heard she's sleeping with the boss, have you seen how they interact?"

Hearing the annoying conversation between your coworkers about you, you decide it's best to leave. Confrontation really was not your thing. It'd be stupid to get into a cat fight the day of this big event.

You promised yourself that once you got home you'd give yourself a nice long bubble bath complimented with your favorite wine and bath bomb.

⭑･ﾟﾟ･*:༅｡.｡༅:*ﾟ:*:✼✿　

With a small plate of a potato appetizer, you anxiously wait for the mysterious singer to show up. Taking the time to scroll through your socials, you stumble upon your best friends' posts.

'I love you more and more each day ♥'

Feeling a stinging pang in your heart as you continue to slide through the photos of your best friend and his girlfriend. As much as you didn't want to admit it, you felt hurt. Not by the fact that he's dating someone, but how he doesn't talk to you like he used to. The late night hangouts turned into ten minute calls if you were lucky enough.

You felt like you were slowly losing your best friend. The more you scrolled, you felt the tears slowly welling up in your eyes.

Fuck, why am I like this? You thought to yourself.

Glancing at the time, you realized that the event was set to start in exactly five minutes. Walking over to the center where all the skating equipment is kept, you dial up the number of the singer. Realizing you'd never gotten his name, you curse yourself for the minor mistake.

"Hey, babe. Miss me already?" Rolling your eyes at the pet name, you bark back,

"Stop calling me that. The event starts in five minutes, where are you?"

"Cool, ya tits, I'm at the front entrance."

"Okay, I'll meet you over there." Hanging up the phone, you rush over to the entrance of the center. Looking around, your eyes land upon a nicely dressed man. His hair tamed just enough to frame his gorgeous face, with silver jewelry adorning his body.

"Hey, are you the singer?" Getting up closer now, you could see how he easily towered over you. Gazing at your face for a few seconds, a smile formed on his face.

"Yes, I'm Jeon Jungkook." He held his hand out, offering his friendliness.

"I'm Y/n L/n. Pleasure meeting you, Jeon Jungkook." Accepting his handshake, complemented with a smile.

"What's with the formalities now, babe?"

"I'm professional, that's why. Now shall we?" He simply nods with a small grin on his face, following you as you lead the way.

⭑･ﾟﾟ･*:༅｡.｡༅:*ﾟ:*:✼✿　

Stepping onto the first stair leading up to the small stage, you started to feel the real pressure. You don't know whether it was because of your boss staring you down or the fact that there was a large crowd of people waiting.

Tightly gripping onto the dark metallic microphone, you take another step, reaching the top of the stage. Taking a deep breath; calming down your nerves, you began.

"Welcome, everyone, to the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting! I can't tell you how excited I am to be here with all of you tonight. This is such a special time of year, and I know we all have so much to be thankful for," Taking a pause, gazing over the crowd for a second, your eyes meet with your best friend standing wrapped up in the arms of his girlfriend.

Although you did briefly mention to him that you were organizing this event, you never expected him to show up considering how your relationship has been lately. His soft smile he gave you sent a warm feeling rushing down in your chest. "This year's tree is truly a sight to behold. It's a towering symbol of joy and hope, and it just radiates warmth and happiness. As we gather around it, I can't help but feel a sense of community and togetherness. On behalf of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting Committee, I want to thank all of you for joining us tonight. I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year."

"Without further ado, I invite you to join me in welcoming Jeon Jungkook to the stage! Jungkook is an incredible performer, and I know he will bring so much joy to this evening with his beautiful voice and talented music. So let's give him a warm welcome and get ready to be charmed by their incredible performance."

Clapping as you stepped off-stage to give Jungkook his space. He took the microphone from your hand, letting his touch linger for far too long. The crowd seemed to be in awe of his beauty, as they swooned when he flashed a smile. Frankly you were too, he is a very attractive man aside from the pet names he seemed to give you on just the first conversation. Clearing his voice, he began.

"Last Christmas I gave you my heart

But the very next day you gave it away"

The memories from last Christmas came rushing back. You'd spent your past Christmas breaks with your best friend almost every Christmas, but this year wouldn't be the same. You felt like an idiot, you did want your best friend to be happy, but the thought of not being able to spend time with him like you used to made you realize how dependent you were on him.

"This year, to save me from tears

I'll give it to someone special"

Last Christmas, there was a blizzard, and you were both cooped up inside, with nothing but messily scattered candles on top of the coffee table. As you look to your left, you see a beautiful tree, surrounded by twinkling lights. The air is filled with the scent of cinnamon and vanilla, as well as the sounds of Christmas carols playing in the background. You can't help but smile as you took it all in.

You were both bundled up on the couch, watching the newest Christmas movie. And yet, despite the simplicity of your surroundings, it was one of the most memorable Christmases. You laughed, as you both discussed every detail of the movie, and you both just enjoyed each other's company.

Feeling a hand gently rub your face, you're snapped out of your thoughts. "Was my singing that great?" Jungkook lightly jokes, grinning as he does.

You didn't realize you were crying, thinking about all your memories you had with your best friend. "Oh, shut up." You swat his hand away, before rubbing the rest of your tears away.

"Ouch babe." Still grinning at you as he tended to his slightly red hand. "So, what did you think?"

"It was a beautiful performance. Seems like everyone really enjoyed it." You offer a smile, seeing as it looks like you hit him a little too hard.

"I'm glad you liked it." Taking a pause as he looked you over carefully, "You want a hug? You look like you need it." Simply nodding your head as the tears began to flow back into your eyes. Entering his embrace felt like never ending warmth.

Gently rubbing your back as he hummed a foreign song to you. You didn't understand why he was treating you this way, but it felt nice to just have a hug from someone.

Jungkook didn't ask why you were crying, even though he was screaming internally yearning for the reason. The light sobs emanating from you were muffled by his chest. The once perfectly ironed dress shirt was now damp with your wet tears. Funny how you're practically wrapped up in the arms of a stranger, crying your eyes out. He offered you nothing but his support in silence.

Standing in this same position for nearly five minutes, you had failed to realize that your best friend was walking towards you. "Y/n?" His voice pierced through your ears like thunder.

Slightly pulling apart from the embrace to wipe your tears, you look up at Jungkook before completely pulling apart. Facing your best friend, you offer the best smile you could. "Oh, hi Matthew." Matthew looked at you for a while, glancing between you and Jungkook.

"Hi, who's he?" A small frown adored the face of Matthew. For the past few days, Matthew hasn't really heard from you. Rather, it's quite rare to hear from you nowadays. You no longer talked to him about how things were at work, how your coworkers treated you, or the simple things like what you plan to do on the weekends. He felt like your friendship was slowly drifting away, and seeing you here standing with this man wasn't helping.

You look up at Jungkook, not sure how to respond to the question. It wasn't like you were already friends, but the situation was already awkward enough. Looking back at Matthew, his dark brown eyes pierced through you, sending shivers down your spine.

"Ah, this is Jungkook, my friend." You take the chance to glance at Matthew's girlfriend, Remy. Her arm was laced with Matthew's as she gave you a smile, a smile you knew was all too fake.

"Oh, I came to congratulate you. You did a very good job on your speech." Loosening up the tension he had in his shoulders when he first arrived, he smiled.

"Thank you, I tried my best." You smiled back, trying to ignore the burning glare Remy was giving you. "Do you want to get a drink?" Still trying to ease off the awkwardness.

"I don't mind, what about you babe?" Matthew gazed at his girlfriend, awaiting her answer.

"Sure, it would be nice to get to know Y/n and her friend more." Her all too cheerful voice gave anyway her true intentions that Matthew seemed to be oblivious to.

"Jungkook, do you want to get a drink?" Slouching his arm around you, slightly leaning against you, he grins mischievously.

"Anywhere you're going, I'm going, babe."

⭑･ﾟﾟ･*:༅｡.｡༅:*ﾟ:*:✼✿

Ordering your drinks before taking a seat at a table large enough for you all. With Matthew and Remy sitting across from you and Jungkook, the tension was suddenly back. You tried not to look up at Matthew looking intently at you, probably wondering why he's never heard of your friend.

"So, Y/n how have things been? I feel like I haven't heard from you in a while." Matthew lets out a small chuckle to cover up the bitter taste he was feeling.

"Oh, you know, it's been good. I've just been really busy these past days with the event." Taking a sip of your wine, you loathe the way it tingles your throat going down.

"How do you two know each other?" A question Matthew had been wondering since meeting this friend of yours, came out rather bluntly than intended.

"We met at a coffee shop." Jungkook slyly buds in, stealing a glance at you before smirking back at Matthew. Matthew's eyes shifted between you and Jungkook, the way he looked at you two made it seem like he knew something more was going on.

Matthew hums in response, taking another sip of his drink. Rather than daunting it in front of everyone, he made a note to himself to ask you in a more private space.

"You two got any plans for the weekend?" Remy decides to chip into the conversation. It was clear she didn't like you at all or cared about what you had planned for the weekend, regardless of how you responded.

"Not really." You think about it for a second, but there's nothing you really want to do at the moment except relax.

"Did you already forget about our date, baby?" Jungkook's voice was somehow lower than before. His head resting slightly in the palm of his propped up hand. His gaze never leaving your face, the same ridiculous smirk on his face.

"Date?" You give him a questioning look.

"Don't tell me you already forgot?"

"I thought you said you guys were just friends?" Matthew interrupts whilst glaring at Jungkook. All you could do was awkwardly glance between Matthew and Jungkook.

"Yes, he's just talking about hanging out to celebrate today." You nudge Jungkook under the table as a sign not to try something like that again. Matthew simply nods his head with no other words.

"I'm sure you wouldn't mind me and Matthew tagging along with you, to celebrate." Remy suggested. You were taken aback by Remy's suggestion, as the girl doesn't like you or makes any attempts to get closer to you. All she sees you as is her boyfriends 'needy' best friend that needs to go soon.

"Sure, if you're not busy." No, you're not sure, but this is your best friend's girlfriend and the last thing you want to do is make him think you hate her...which isn't far from the truth.

"Cool, send us the details, we have to get going." Matthew and Remy bid their goodbyes, and it's just you and Jungkook left.

"So, you like him?" Jungkook asks once he's out of earshot.

"What?! No, of course not! What would make you think that?" You blabber out. Jungkook doesn't say anything, he just gazes over your features, taking in on the slight panic you have set on your face.

"Why are you so nervous then?" He grabs his drink, bringing it up to his lips.

"What do you mean? I'm not nervous."

"Y/n baby, I can see it written all over your face. It's pretty obvious you're jealous." Jungkook chuckles as he replays the previous events. "It's a natural thing, but over a guy like Matthew? You have to do better."

"I'm not jealous or nervous. Why am I even explaining this to you? Let's just go on our date and never speak again, okay?"

⭑･ﾟﾟ･*:༅｡.｡༅:*ﾟ:*:✼✿

As you reach your apartment, you kick off your shoes at the front entrance. You drop your things done onto the couch, walking over to the kitchen to give your puppy, Milo, food.

"Ah, Milo, it's been a long day today." You exclaim as you pour the fresh pebbles into Milo's dog bowl. Milo patiently waits for you to tell her to eat.

"You can eat now, Milo." You brush her fur over as she takes the first few bites of her food. You walk over to the bathroom to wash away the sorrows of today.

Standing underneath the shower, you finally let it all out, from the rumors about you and your boss to the situation with your best friend. Time and time again, you feel hopeless in every situation you're in. You have no idea how to handle any of it, it's not like there are guides or manuals to help through this.

As you step out of the shower, you feel slightly better, the hot water having washed away the physical and emotional tension. You look at yourself in the mirror, your wet skin glistening in the light. You know that you need to take care of yourself. You promise yourself that you will do better, that you will take control of your life, one step at a time. You take a deep breath and head to the bedroom, ready for a long and restful night of sleep.

You slip into your pajamas and walk into your bedroom, collapsing onto your bed with a heavy sigh. You look around the room, taking in the cozy atmosphere. Despite everything, you feel a sense of comfort knowing that you have a safe place to retreat to.

You feel much better after letting it all out. You're finally ready for bed, as you're about to close your eyes, you hear a ring coming from your bedside table. Looking at the phone, you see,

Caller ID – Partner in crime

⭑･ﾟﾟ･*:༅｡.｡༅:*ﾟ:*:✼✿

Word Count: 3.5k

Authors Note: Heyyy y'all this is my first time actually posting any sort of writing online. I'm doing this just for fun. If anyone is reading this please leave comments to lemme know what you think good or bad! I want to improve on my writing skills. It definitely helps with feedback. Please vote so I know that there are people reading this to continue it. Thank you!

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prismatoxic · 2 years ago

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rereading the story of that time in skyrim's development where the opening couldn't play bc the cart was being sent into the stratosphere by a single bee and remembering i experienced something marginally similar while modding the game

it's been a few years... but for some ungodly reason, i was going through the cart intro again instead of just loading into unbound (an alternate start mod). i guess i wanted to do the real intro again but didn't have an autosave after the ride ends? don't remember.

so, anyway, i was doing the cart ride, and about halfway into it, the game crashed to desktop. now this isn't terribly unusual for skyrim, and i was willing to move past it if it didn't happen again, but it did. and again, and again, and again...

so obviously i started futzing with my mods. i mean, clearly, that was the issue. i don't remember if i had 200 at the time but if i didn't, i still had a number well above 100. that's a lot to go through, and neither vortex nor LOOT indicated any issues, and SKSE wasn't showing me anything of use either. so what the fuck?

(fwiw, modding skyrim does involve multiple programs, but as the game was made with modding in mind, it's way easier than the majority of games that came out around the same time, let alone earlier.)

i think around this time i tried to load into unbound again, but the game crashed immediately when trying to do so. i had to find this issue if i wanted to play skyrim with my current mod loadout.

so i had a few options:

split my mods into batches and test each one until the crash occurred, then narrow it down until i knew the culprit

learn how to actually understand SKSE a little better and find the problem through it

load the game with NO mods and try to pinpoint what the issue could be to narrow it down immediately

believe it or not, i did all 3.

i started with the first, but iirc i only split my mods in half, and the way vortex works and the way things are divided made it a bit hard to do even that in a non-time consuming way. you can split up your mods but you also have to make sure each half has all relevant dependencies, you see, or the game's going to crash anyway. so i narrowed it down to half of my mods (the other half ran fine), and went from there.

this is where the last option comes in. frustrated, i loaded into the vanilla game, taking note of the setting right about where the crash always happened. i noticed that just when it tended to occur, a rabbit ran across the road. was that it? was that my culprit? i combed through the borked half of my mods, and sure enough, rabbit mod. except it was just a mesh restructuring that a different mod i actually cared about was dependent on. but hey, mods are weird, so i disabled it and ran the game.

nope. still crashed. not the rabbit.

now, i'd been hunting through reddit and the skyrim modding discord and nexus threads the entire time i was going through this ordeal. NO ONE was having the same issue i was. but there are a lot of troubleshooting tips out there for skyrim fuckery, and when several other steps had already failed, i turned to one i'd never tried before: coc riverwood.

"coc" means center on cell, and it's a console command to teleport you instantly to any cell in the game. notably, you can activate it without loading into a save. (i'm sure plenty of other commands can also do this, but i don't mess with the console much).

so riverwood is usually the location people use to check and see if the game is running well otherwise when the intro is bugging out. now, i'd been messing with this CTD issue for hours. i was convinced my game was just irreparably borked, somehow; maybe my computer simply couldn't handle the mod load. but i did try coc riverwood anyway, inputting it at the start menu, which either loads you into a default character or a character from one of your saves, i don't remember which.

and... the game ran fine. VERY fine. better than i was expecting. i wandered around riverwood, interacted with things, and saw no issues at all. so what the fuck? clearly, the crash wasn't a skyrim-wide issue, it was an issue with the cart ride.

and where is the cart ride going? helgen, of course.

so, on a hunch, i backtracked along the path i'd walked a dozen times with other characters, out of riverwood and towards the caves you use to escape helgen. i think i was just barely in view of the start of the reverse of that path when the game crashed.

so, problem (sort of) located: the helgen cell. (which would explain why unbound also didn't work: it loads you in on top of a tower in helgen when you're selecting your file options.)

so here's where that middle option came in. removing mods i knew for sure affected helgen didn't fix the issue, and i didn't even have that many of those, because why would i? helgen is destroyed and there's not a ton of reasons to go back to it outside of morbid curiosity, which i'd done enough times in other saves. that meant whatever file was the problem did not openly or obviously affect helgen, which in turn meant i would need to comb through the half of my mods that crashed the game in SKSE to figure out what was doing it.

this was at least easier than going into SKSE blind; i knew what i needed to look for. so i started looking. by loading all of those mods into the program and then looking specifically for effects or changes to the helgen cell, i could figure out what the issue was.

SKSE is color coded; i don't have it on my current desktop so i can't open it to look right now, but i know for sure that scripts causing no issues at all are green, and scripts causing issues are red. (there are also yellow/orange and grey ones, i think, but i don't remember what those mean.) usually red scripts mean conflicts, which can range from "negligible gameplay impairment" to "crash to desktop when the scripts meet for any reason", because modding is cool and fun.

so i think what i did was keyword search "helgen", and the results i got were largely just confusing for me, because i cannot wrap my mind around how SKSE works. but there was a very clear conflict in there. i just wasn't sure what it meant, or if it was actually my issue.

the script in question was from a mod that i cannot actually recall, but what i DO remember is that it was a mesh/texture optimization mod of some kind. like, the sort you install to make your game run better. it wasn't one of the big ones, i was just overcompensating for my poor old windows 7 desktop that had long since become obsolete for modern gaming, so i had a lot of them.

the specific script i was getting a conflict error on was some texture or mesh in helgen, likely an insignificant one based on what i remember... so i was unsure if it was the issue, but aware that it 100% could be.

and it was.

disabling the associated mod allowed me to enter and exit helgen as normal, with no crashes. i'm reasonably sure i did post about this issue in that mod's comments, or on r/skyrimmods, or... something. can't remember. i was also liveblogging it on twitter but no part of me wants to try and find that again (if it was even on my currently existing twitter and not the old suspended one)

i'm not sure if the mod itself was the issue or if my download of it had gotten corrupted in some way, but i never did try to use it again, so who knows.

skyrim modding is super fun when it works! and when it doesn't work, maybe take breaks while going through the arduous process of troubleshooting your obscure issue

#this is long and also uses a lot of modding jargon #sorry. i like modding pc games. especially bethesda ones #started my modding career with sims 2 and never looked back #tox.txt

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stream-academy · 2 years ago

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"My stream looks bad."

This is a pretty common issue that creators face and it all stems from one common misconception: 1080p doesn't mean quality.

The above video is in fact 1080p, but as you can see there's definitely something wrong about it. Here's that exact same freezeframe but at 480p:

So what's happening here? Bitrates.

A Crash Course Through Video Compression

Computer video has historically been a really hard problem to solve. Computers used to be slow (Like, really slow). Computer scientists (read: nerds) figured out that the human eye is bad and have developed techniques that abuse this fact.

Dithering tricks your eye into "seeing" more colors than are actually present. Here's a monotone (two colors!) that appears to also have shades of grey even though there aren't any:

Pretty cool, eh? By using clever placement of the black dots an entire range of grays emerge even though there aren't any.

You can even throw out little bits of detail to save space and the eye will be none the wiser. These are the core principles behind video compression.

Why do we even need to compress video anyways?

The short answer: internet speeds still aren't fast enough. The long answer: distribution costs.

If you are a video site, such as Twitch or YouTube, it is in your best interests to save as much money as possible for every live stream. So, every platform places limits on bitrate.

Okay, get to the point already. What is bitrate and how do I get my stream to look good?

Video compression usually has two modes: constant bitrate (CBR), and variable bitrate (VBR).

For regular video recordings it's usually recommended you use variable bitrate (note that CRF/CQ is a form of variable bitrate). This allows you to save space where you can but increase usage where it's necessary to help maintain visual quality.

But for live-streaming you use constant bitrate (the reason is due to how networks actually operate and how celluar/mobile networks handle streaming. It's complicated). With CBR, you tell the encoder that you want the result to always be at X bits per second regardless of the resulting quality (good or bad). So that means that during moments of low movement (in game, in an IRL setting, or even on your desktop) the encoder doesn't have to work nearly as hard to fit the current frame into the allotted rate. During high movement moments the encoder has to work extra hard to find those visual shortcuts — such as dithering, detail removal, or macroblocks (shudders) — to keep everything within bounds.

Obviously, removing detail will hurt the quality of an image. And doing that repeatedly will result in that reduced image quality you saw in the first 1080p screenshot. For that screenshot, I encoded the video at 500kbps, which is obviously way too low (I did that for for clickbait). For the 480p screenshot I encoded it using a VBR technique called Constant Quality. The size difference between those two files paints a better picture: the 480p version is 12x larger than the 1080p version despite 1080p having 8x as many pixels as 480p.

Alright, so what do you recommend I use?

Well factors like resolution, framerate, your internet, and your computer's hardware all play a role in determining what's best for you.

Here's a table bitrates for resolution and framerate.

Just note that your internet upload speed needs to be large enough for that bitrate AND whatever else you may use the internet for at the same time.

And that's it! Your stream should look loads better! And that's it for this installment of Stream Academy. Feel free to ask us questions about streaming or for help with any problems you've been having along the way. If you're looking for widgets and alerts for your live-stream journey, then you should look into using Casterlabs (that's us! 😁)

Image Sources

Throneful (2021, January 8th). "Apex Legends (2021) - Gameplay (PC UHD) [4K60FPS]" [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPtoIy-oPWQ

Renderedartwork (2012, December 21st). "Michelangelo's David dithered using the Void-and-Cluster technique." [Image]. Wikimedia Foundation. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Michelangelo%27s_David_-_Void-and-Cluster.png

#livestreaming #twitch #encoding #streamacademy

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cleverhottubmiracle · 2 months ago

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If you’re comparing it directly to the Oura Ring, one clear advantage is that it doesn’t require a subscription. But the app is messier, and the overall experience feels a little less refined. That said, I wore both rings side by side for weeks, and my sleep and recovery scores were consistently in sync.Best Sleep Tracker for Athletes: Whoop 5.0Want to sleep better to get more out of your workouts or PR your next race? You can learn a lot about your sleep, recovery, and overall health by wearing a Whoop. It’s built for people who want to track everything—training load, HRV, respiratory rate. The app gives you a recovery “Strain” score each morning, which pulls from those metrics and reflects how ready your body is to handle stress. Sleep tracking is part of that picture, with data on duration, disturbances, and consistency.The interface is perhaps the most polished of the bunch—it is screen free, but the visuals on the app are crisp and clean. The insights are useful and the habit logging feature is genuinely interesting if you use it consistently—it makes correlations between your recovery score and things like caffeine and alcohol intake. Compared to other wearables, the Whoop’s sensors are always on, constantly monitoring your heart rate and rhythms. (For this reason, it’s a great choice for medical insights, too—but you’ll have to pay a premium for the FDA-approved MG “medical grade” version.) Either way, be prepared to pay monthly: While the cost of the band is cheap, you’ll need a subscription to make any use of it.Best Fitness Tracker Sleep Tracker Combo: Garmin Venu 3This watch was built to do everything—and do it well. It’s a full-on fitness watch with GPS, heart rate, workout tracking, and a long list of sport modes. But the sleep tracking also holds its own. You’ll get a breakdown of sleep stages, HRV, breathing rate, and sleep temperature, all packaged nicely in a morning report. Throughout the day, you can reference your “Body Battery” score to see how your energy levels are holding up. And the sleep coach will gently tell you how much sleep you need based on your previous night’s schedule.The main trade-off is comfort. It’s bulkier than a ring or sensor pad, and if you’re not used to wearing a watch to bed, you’ll notice it. Still, if you want one device that does everything—track runs, log strength training, give you recovery data, and help you figure out why you feel like garbage after five hours of sleep—this one can handle it.Best Non-Wearable Sleep Tracker: Eight Sleep Pod 5 CoverEight Sleep tracks your sleep while adjusting bed temperature as you go, so it’s ideal for anyone who runs hot and doesn’t want to wear something to sleep. The app delivers core sleep data—total time, latency, HR, HRV—and also calculates a daily recovery score. Best of all, it’ll tell you how much you or your partner snores, and automatically adjust the head height to try to curb the noise. (You’ll need the Ultra model in this case.) If you're into automation, it’ll preheat your bed and cool it down based on your temperature and sleep cycle.But it’s quite pricey and the subscription is non-optional to access all of the functions. Plus, the whole system is overkill if you just want basic insights. It’s also the most involved setup on this list: The pod cover goes over your mattress, the hub is the size of a desktop computer, and you need a solid WiFi connection. Still, if you’re already thinking about a big bedroom upgrade and want sleep data without wearing a thing, this is the most feature-rich option out there. And will prevent those night sweats. You just can’t put a price tag on good sleep…..right?More Sleep Trackers We LoveSleepmeSleep TrackerIf you hate wearing things to bed but still want sleep data, Sleepme is one of the few non-wearable options that doesn’t totally suck. The setup includes a thin sensor pad that goes under your fitted sheet and connects to a small wire and hub. It’s not invisible—you’ll feel it a little if you’re sleeping on a bare mattress—but once you throw a mattress pad over it, it mostly disappears. The tracking itself is basic but functional. You get your sleep stages, total time in bed, actual sleep time, sleep latency (how fast you fell asleep), resting heart rate, and HRV. It won’t give you any slick recovery scores, but it gets the essentials right. Compared to my other trackers, all of the data was surprisingly consistent for something that doesn’t attach to your body. That said, it’s heavily reliant on a stable Wi-Fi connection. One night my router rebooted mid-sleep and I woke up to a blank dashboard. Other nights, my connection was iffy and I had large gaps in my sleep data. This isn’t the most detailed tracker on the list, but it’s ideal if you want low-effort, low-interference data without wearing a ring or strapping something to your wrist. (This is the sleep tracker I passed onto my parents, who wanted more sleep insights without worrying about wearing or charging a device.) ElemindElemindInstead of just tracking your sleep, Elemind’s headband is designed to improve it. The headband tracks your EEG brainwaves and plays short auditory pulses that supposedly sync with your personal rhythm, so you fall asleep faster. Does it work? Eh, unclear. Its effectiveness was demonstrated in preliminary clinical studies, but when I wore it, my sleep latency (the time it took to fall asleep) ranged from 4 to 16 minutes, according to the device’s app. That’s pretty on par with the numbers from my Oura ring on all other nights. The static sound can also be more distracting than soothing: The first night I wore it, I had to turn the volume all the way down, which negates the sleep-inducing benefits I was supposed to get. (The annoying pulses of static are apparently what stop your mind from wandering and put you to sleep.) And even at a lower volume, it took some getting used to. But the headband stayed on all night, felt comfortable and squishy (even as a side sleeper), and left only minor lines on my forehead by morning. Sleep tracking includes total time asleep, latency, sleep efficiency, restfulness, and basic stage data. It’s not nearly as detailed as some trackers (it doesn’t measure your heart rate), but it’s enough to get a sense of how your night went. If you’re curious about brain-based tech and struggle to fall asleep each night, it’s an interesting tool—and it could work for you better than it worked for me. Just know that you’ll need the subscription to unlock the sleep insights. What To Look For In a Sleep TrackerType of Device: There’s no one device that works for everyone. Rings are the most comfortable for many people, but they can get in the way during activities like lifting or climbing. Wrist wearables tend to be annoying for side sleepers, but if you already wear a watch every day, they might feel totally normal. And if you don’t want to wear anything at all, some sensors go directly on the mattress—but they’re generally less accurate than devices that pull data straight from your body. Source link

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norajworld · 2 months ago

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airaweeklyblog · 10 months ago

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Blog #1

Who Am I?

My name is Aira Therens, and for the last 8 months I’ve been attending SAIT for the Information Technology Services program.

Since I was a young boy, I had a fascination with computers and how the components inside of computers worked. This fascination only grew as time passed. I discovered new outlets to facilitate my interests. I started building my own computers at around the age of 13, which is when I really started to get into the PC building space. I watched lots of videos by Linus Tech Tips and others, played around with my own computer, taking it apart and trying to put it back together again. This is how I learned what I know now about computers, just trial and error, making sure that I remembered where each component is supposed to go, what each component is designed to do, the role each component has in a system. I learned very much from my first cheap little desktop computer.

As time passed, I wanted to expand my horizons, and I’d been watching people on YouTube buy and sell computers for cheap on a website called Kijiji, so I figured I might try to buy some new parts to play with and put together, and maybe even sell them in a complete package once I finished a build. I did this for a while, and I got pretty good at it too. I had a sort of little business going on where I would buy parts individually, and then combine them into a full system which I could sell again for a slight increase in price. This not only taught me even more about building computers through seeing all different kinds of components and configurations and unique situations, but it also gave me some financial profit just as a side effect of my curiosity.

By Christmas time of 2020, I had saved up enough money from doing this, to buy myself a brand-new full system from memory express, with premium components and the newest hardware available. Not only did I buy the system, but I bought it in individual components, so I didn’t just get to have the computer to play around on, but I also had the privilege of handling such expensive components and building it myself.

I believe this is why I decided to enter this program. There are a lot of different paths I could have possibly taken that also involve computers and such, but the Information Technology Services program just seemed like the natural next step for me in my journey.

Over the years I’ve developed some insight into what hardware and software are best for users, because I’ve had to cater to potential buyers’ interests, which are usually people looking not to have any hassle, they just want the working computer. I believe my strengths lie in my computer hardware ability, but I suppose where I am lacking more is on the software side of things. By this I mean software utilized to optimize the performance of the hardware. This is an area which I would like to develop further for myself. Similarly, learning more about networking and how Wi-Fi works is something I would like to learn more about as well, because bad Wi-Fi has always for some reason been a pain point of mine in my life. I have a good computer and everything, but not good enough internet connection to enjoy actually enjoy my time on my good computer.

Emerging technologies play a key role in what I have been interested in with building computers and such, because once a new generation of graphics cards is released for example, it changes the dynamic of the pricing scheme for the older cards, however capable they may still be, because they are older they naturally are lowered in value, which is important to someone like me because now I can use that to my advantage and still make a powerful machine, but for an even cheaper price.

I would define emerging technologies as the new wave of technology which changes the tide of the way things currently are. However, this is not necessarily a bad thing, it just means that for someone like me, it is important to keep an eye on things, know when the tide might shift, and be prepared to adjust myself accordingly. Emerging technologies pave the way forward for more advanced technologies. New developments that come out, can lead to even newer developments, and over time these new ideas compound, and we are left with something nobody could have ever imagined possible, so I do think that emerging technologies are very significant and should not be ridiculed so hastily, because who knows what those seemingly crazy ideas could lead to.

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nickgerlich · 1 year ago

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I'm The Taxman

The Apple Tax has proven to be one of the most lucrative propositions ever for Apple, specifically when it applies to in-app purchases made from our phones. While the EU is starting to attack them, they still have complete freedom in the US to levy this tax with ruthless cunning.

Here’s how it works: Every time you buy something on your iPhone, whether it is a game, an upgrade to a premium service, whatever, 30% of that price goes to Apple for the privilege granted to the app provider to exist in the Apple eco-system.

And I was today years old when I learned that when a business or even an individual opts to boost a post on Facebook or Instagram such that it becomes sponsored content, that too has the Apple Tax applied. Parent company Meta thus loses 30% of those sales (even though the company isn’t exactly hurting these days).

But now comes news that Meta is going to offload that burden to the buyers, rather than absorb it. In other words, if I or anyone else wants to boost a post or account, if the price is $100, then I will be charged $130 to cover the part going to Apple. Apple is assessing the fee at the cash till.

Meta, in its quest to appear less bad, has encouraged everyone to simply pay for boosting on a desktop computer instead of by phone, thereby dodging Apple. That will work. In fact, it would be pretty easy to do this in Facebook. On Instagram, though, I know there are a lot of users who do not even know you can access your account on a computer, because the platform was designed originally to be mobile-only.

So now we’re left trying to figure out who the bad company really is. Is it Meta for making its customers pay the fee? Or is it Apple for maintaining this fee structure in the first place?

I know. It’s kind of like asking if Ticketmaster is evil for handling concert ticket sales, and then passing along outrageous service fees for the privilege. We all know how a $100 ticket can wind up being more than $150 after all is said and done. If you want to see a super headliner like The Eagles, prepare to drop some major money, especially if you are taking a date.

My hunch is that, even with Meta’s encouragement to boost your posts via a computer, this is going to hurt them in the long run, and then Apple subsequently. This news makes us all aware of what is going on, because before all this, we just didn’t know. It’s not just paying $6 a month for personal MapMyRun MVP premium features, and maybe knowing that Apple takes a slice. Now we all know that those social media boosts have been a revenue stream not just for Meta, but also Apple.

Maybe we’ll all just stop the madness.

Although I doubt everyone will quit, I think the effective 30% increase in costs for the advertiser will cause many to reconsider. Small businesses and individuals, such as artists and musicians, will be affected most. Larger companies may just consider it the price of doing marketing.

Apple has had many long-running battles with some of its biggest app developers over the tax. It hindered Spotify’s ability to fully launch its audible books initiative, because it meant that Apple would get a huge chunk of every audio book a user purchased. Apparently Meta has just been sucking it up, even though it too has engaged in battle.

Now that the EU is clamping down on Apple, from power cords to revenue sharing, I suspect the time will come soon here in the States when our own regulators put their foot down as well. I realize that the business culture is very different here in the US than in Europe, and that we are far more laissez faire, it will depend on who is in office in Washington. Recall that President Biden is already trying to put his foot down on hidden charges we consumers endure, like overdraft and late payment fees. It wouldn’t be much of a stretch to follow the EU’s lead on Apple as well.

But is Apple being evil? After all, it is their platform. It’s just that they have a tight monopoly when it comes to apps. Yes, their testing and scrutiny give us a high degree of consumer safety, but they are a toll booth at the same time. And the toll to get across the bridge is just as steep as the bridge itself to get in the App Store.

In the end, our court system will have to resolve this one. But for now, those entities and individuals least able to spend large sums on marketing are going to feel the brunt of Meta’s latest action.

Dr “One For You, Nineteen For Me” Gerlich

Audio Blog

#marketing #Apple #Meta #app

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jtr-taonaw · 6 months ago

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System76 Thelio Mira First Impressions

I’ve been using my new System76 thelio mira b4-n3-NE since Friday, and I wanted to write a couple of lines about it.

The tech-specs:

Operating System: Linux Pop!OS 22.04 LTS with full disk-encryption

Processor: 6.0 GHz Core i9-14900K (24 Cores - 32 Threads 8P+16E) Memory: 64 GB DDR5 4800 MHz (2x32) Storage: 2 TB PCIe4 M.2 SSD Graphics: 16 GB NVIDIA Geforce RTX 4080 Super GPU Cooling: 120mm GPU Cool Air Intake Fan

The purpose of this desktop is mostly gaming and AI image generation, which I enjoy as a hobby.

I placed the order on Monday, 2024-12-16, and received it last Thursday, 2025-01-09. There was a longer delay because System76, as their helpful Representative told me via email, was very busy for the holidays. Apparently, many folks enjoy their Linux computers from this company, and I can definitely see the appeal.

I am currently able to play World of Warships and Helldivers 2 on this computer. This goes to show that, although both games are Windows-exclusive, I can enjoy them without Windows. Helldivers 2 is certainly benefiting from the RTX 4080 while running on max graphics settings.

After a firmware update1, Stable Diffusion (for AI generation) runs like butter for 1024x1024 images, and I can now handle three times the resolution. I can also use Flux now and upscale images up to four times their size, which was not possible on my older desktop2.

There were (and are) a couple of issues, however.

When I first powered it up, Thelio made a loud rattling sound, which any person who has ever built a computer recognizes immediately: a fan blade hitting something inside. I powered it off and found out that powering it up without the case (because of the way the power button is wired) is not easy. As a matter of fact, I gave up on powering up the computer without the case after more than half an hour of checking the manual, pictures, and YouTube videos.

There is an internal button somewhere on the board, but I couldn’t locate it. Instead, I tested each fan with my fingers until I found the problem: a side bracket had clamps holding onto the GPU’s side, and one pressed directly on the fan. Not good. Fortunately, it was easy to unscrew the clamp and re-screw it one notch wider. The sound is gone now. Nevertheless, I opened a ticket with support asking also for the location of the internal power button that I still can’t find.

At high usage, there’s a somewhat weaker rattling sound that seems to come from the fan at the bottom, right under the PSU. I will take care of this soon.

I’m also still getting used to Cosmic’s (Pop-OS’s Desktop environment) window tiling. It’s one of the features it’s known for, and overall, it seems like a very good idea, but I still find it confusing. Some windows will snap into tabs (for example, my browser and Signal will show in one window at the corner with a tab for each), while others snap neatly next to each other. It’s also annoying that Cosmic doesn’t remember the location of windows, so if I maximize one on purpose or by mistake, the window will tile to a different place on the screen when I resize it. These annoyances will go away though as I learn to use it better.

Overall, I am surprised with how quiet this computer is next to the old one and how amazingly buttery HellDivers 2 is… it’s spoiling me for sure. I can’t wait to explore more games and AI image generation on it. It is power effective and goes to hibernation when not in usage, which means I don’t need to turn it off when I go away; this makes it easier to use it as a server for IvokeAI, for example, or something else.

Footnotes

1 : Pop-OS comes with firmware updates, which is a nice thing to have next to the traditional apt-upgrade you’d find in other Debian distros (of course, you can also still run apt with all its variants)

2 : For those curious, I currently use InvokeAI. I’ve used ComfyUI before, which is where you can really do amazing things with images (and movie clips!) with AI, but it takes a lot of tinkering, which I don’t want to do at this point.

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iguessilovebakugou · 4 years ago

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Kill the Lights and Kiss My Eyes || Domestic!Bakugou x Wife!Reader [ +18 ]

I’ll be honest, I’m still so confused what HOH!* is, but...fuck, I know what domestic smut is. I guess it’s finally time I take the fucking plunge, baby.

Congrats Anon - this is my first smut drabble. I hope you're happy.

CW: NSFW, Oral, Cunnilingus, Rough Kinks: Lip biting, body worship, powerplays, Bakugou on his knees, Rougher Sex Word Count: 2.8K Pairings: Pro!Bakugou x F!Reader

“So moving forward, I really think we should start having the clients be aware of the changes before they even get to that portion of the contract.”

“I agree. I think that way, we’ll have ample time to inform them of the changes to how we handle their business.”

“Nng, Katsuki what the fuck?”

“Do you think we should create a contract specifically for this change? I think that might be best, that way they can’t say they never heard about it.”

“P-Please, I...I’m in a-”

“That’s probably a good idea. Mrs. Bakugou - what do you think? Is that something you could do?”

He had been a terror the second he got home...and he had only been home for all of 2 minutes.

He had been gone on some sort of mission for an entire month. The first week was fine, the second wasn’t so bad. The third? The third was torture. He would never say it, never admit it out loud, but he missed you. It was subtle ways - to mask the fact that you were all he could think about those past two days. Letting you know what time he would be arriving, complaining the whole ordeal was taking to long, and in the moments where he could - calling you and just letting the silence hang around you. Getting as close to you as he humanly possibly could.

The moment you heard that door open, you knew Katsuki would be...unruly, but this was...okay, it wasn’t entirely unexpected.

“I think her connection went down again.”

It happened a lot actually.

His nails drug down the skin of your thighs, leaving bright and angry pink marks until they his hands gripped your pelvis. With a yelp, you were tugged further down into your office chair - which was already pretty damp with his affections. You were left a groveling, mewling mess as he continued his attack. The knew position gave him ample room to lavish your clit with more attention, running the tip of his tongue over and around it in circles before diving back inside you. You tried to get a word out edge wise, but the moment his tongue slid against your walls, you were done.

“Fuck...fuck, babe.” A shiver shot up your spine as his tongue pushed further inside you. It reached as far as it could go, lapping at the very core of you. Each movement drew out the most desperate of cries. He had only just begun and already you were quickly dissolving into a pile of rather pathetic whimpers as you curled around him. "Please, I...I’m...”

“Mrs. Bakugou, can you hear us?”

If you didn’t respond, they would grow suspicious. You could get in trouble, you would have to try and explain why your connection only every had a problem on the days your husband got home. You reached, desperately for the spacebar on your desktop, trying to let them know you were in fact still there.

But Katsuki’s hand shot out, quickly abandoning your thigh and snatching your wrist. He didn’t pull away from you, refusing to slide his tongue out from inside you. You looked down at him, through lidded eyes. Another moan, fingers gripping the arms of your work chair when you felt the growl in his throat, felt the words he was trying to say against your lips. They sent shockwaves up to the top of your skull and curling your toes. You looked down at him through lidded eyes, desperate for some semblance of reprieve.

Don’t answer it.

“...ah.”

Fuck Katsuki Bakugou. Fuck the fact he knew just how to touch you, to melt your will just enough to mold you into whatever shape he desired. If he wanted to touch you, wanted to drive you over the edge at this very moment, who were you to deny him that? Without another moment’s hesitation, you reached over your chair and grabbed the cord connecting your computer to the outlet. With a grunt, you yanked, tugging the plug out of the wall and sending it scattering to the wooden floor with a Thud!

The voices from your meeting stopped and the screen behind you went dark. The only thing keeping your office lit was the sun, which was already starting to nestle behind the trees of your backyard. Katsuki paused, only a moment to watch what you were doing. His expression, while cautious, seemed...surprised. His eyes glowed in the light, his panting now more pronounced that the voices of your superiors weren’t droning on above it.

You swallowed, harshly. Your mouth was dry and your tongue felt like cotton. It was still hard to breathe, still hard to think - no hope for any sort of long winded sentences. But he had stopped, watching you now, and waiting - for you. He had been so terribly awful, but you could see the patience nestled in his face. He wasn’t going to make a move until you spoke.

Your voice was low, deep in your chest as your fingers found their way into his wild, blond hair.

“If you’re gonna fuck me - then fuck me. ”

It wasn’t a just an invitation - it was something that he loved almost as much as you: a challenge. His eyes turned more wild and with another guttural noise, his lips curled up into a smile.

“You’re gonna regret asking.”

If you had any doubt left in your mind that he was telling the truth, it was swiftly quelled. Katsuki shut his eyes and pushed back against you. Your chair - propelled by the sheer force of him - went crashing back against the wall. The action yanked a gasp from you as his tongue was forced further inside you, reaching a new depth you hadn’t expected. And then it was gone. Still, his mouth refused to leave you, his lips now wrapped around your clit. You felt empty, only for a moment - until two of his calloused fingers slide in deep and curled, rubbing your warmth quick and tight.

You cried out, wrapping your legs around his shoulders to draw him closer. To keep him right where the two of you wanted him to be. No longer inhibited by some meetings about contracts that didn’t matter, you let your cries be heard. You threw your head back against the window, resting it there while and moaned to your hearts content. Your neighbors would hear surely, but let them. It shouldn’t be a secret that your husband knew how to unravel you, that the man you loved had memorized every tiny spot that turned you into a puddle at his touch.

Katsuki’s eyes never left your face. You could feel him watching you. And when his fingers curled up further, tugging at your core - fireworks erupted. It wasn’t enough to send you over the edge, not just yet, but it was enough to draw your back up straight. Your fingers tightened around his hair, your legs wrapped tighter around him. “Keep...that...again...please.”

You could feel him chuckle against you. The whine came from you, even before he drew his fingers back. His tongue was drawn over the top of you. In another breath, his lips wrapped around your clit. And he started there again.

In moments like this, Katsuki never played fair. You were certain half of what he did was to torture you, while the other half was because he liked watching you squirm and wiggle under his touch. He would never say it out loud but you knew he adored seeing you like this, knowing full well no one else in the world got to see you such a begging, needy mess. It was his little secret to keep. And he was so very good at keeping secrets.

He deserved to be rewarded for it.

He didn’t expect you to reach out. He didn’t expect your fingers to trail under his jaw bone, to pull him up and away from you. For a moment, he snarled, not wanting to budge from his position. But then he felt the urgency and, albeit begrudgingly, he lifted his head. His eyebrow was cocked, his eyes narrowed and his glistening lips curled into a sneer. “What?”

You gripped him by the fabric of his shirt, tugging forward and up to meet you. The steadfast resolution to bring you to climax quickly faded as you pressed your lips to his. A chaste kiss at first, soft and sweet. One more, drawing him into you...

Your teeth found his bottom lip, gripping it and tugging it back, nipping hard enough to break the skin and draw a drop of blood against your tongue. You smirked at the sharp intake of his breath, the way his body tensed at the action. For as much as he knew how to unravel you, you equally knew the little notions that could ruin him. The right places to touch him to make his knees buckle, to make him chase you for more. And - like clockwork - the moment your fingers slid down his abdomen to run over the rise of him, Katsuki’s entire being shivered, his body leaned into your touch.

You had been with him long enough to know when the façade was crumbling to the ground. You could feel him twitch under you touch, feel the pulse of his desire. His hands against your thighs gripped you just a bit tighter, his skin grew a bit hotter, his kiss was just a bit deeper.

The groan you had elicited from Katsuki’s chest was intoxicating. You could feel the rumble underneath your skin, crawling up your veins and fogging your thoughts. The existence of you was his drug, just as he was to you.

You took advantage of his parted lips, sliding your tongue against his. He reciprocated in his own way, immediately fighting for dominance. The chair slammed back against the wall, but this time you were prepared and so was he. You slipped effortlessly out of your chair and into his lap. His hands, calloused and rough, gripped your ass to pull you tight against him. He grinded up against you in abandon, grunting softly against your lips. His hands on your ass squeezed, making sure to hold you taut against him as he desperately rutted against you.

The waiting was turning into madness - and judging by how quickly his hand reached for the hem of his pants - he readily agreed. It was difficult for him, fumbling with the buckle and edging the fabric down over his hips. You almost laughed, and would have if his mouth hadn’t captured yours before anything more than a gasp could escape.

And then you felt it: the head of him, dripping with want, press against your entrance. One final time, you felt his eyes on you. Behind his grunting and growling, behind his shaking fingers, he was asking. Making sure this was okay. If you were alright with this.

In response, you pressed down against him. “Please,” You begged, just a whisper in his ear. You felt him quake beneath you. “Fuck me, Katsuki.”

He drove up into you and the force of his weight inside of you - although familiar - always drew a cry. Katsuki paused, only for a moment, each breath he took shaking. In that moment, there was nothing but the weight of him inside you - every glorious inch of him. The world was empty - save for the two of you in that office. You opened your eyes, taking him in. The wild blonde hair, the rough skin dotted with sweat, the way his shoulders rose and fell as he tried to contain himself. As he tried to keep himself steady and not rut into you like an animal.

He wanted to make sure this lasted as long as possible. There was no telling when he would be dragged away from you again.

Your fingers ran through his hair, gently holding it to tug his face out from where it was buried in the nape of your neck. Gently, you peppered kisses over his face - across his forehead, over his eyes, on the tip of his nose. There was a moment his hips bucked, to try and reestablish who was in control...but it faltered quickly. He soaked in every ounce of affection, relished every gentle touch you bestowed upon him.

His voice, so quiet and ragged when he finally spoke, was not a surprise.

“I’m going to ruin you.”

You huffed, your lips against his temple, dragging against his skin. “Then ruin me.”

He was up in a flash. A moment later, your back was against the desk as his mouth resumed its assault on yours. It was smart - seeing as you cried out in absolute ecstasy when he began to pound into you.

As promised - Katsuki was most certainly trying to ruin you. Your hands scrambled, your fingers wrapped around his arms, gripping him as he began to pound into you. There was no hesitation - each thrust was deliberate, their soul purpose to drag each and every lewd noise from you that they could. And they did. While he refused to pull his mouth from yours, that didn’t stop you from moaning, gasping and mewling every time his cock buried itself inside you.

The sound of his hips hitting your ass with such force was almost enough to drown out the sound of the desk skirting across the floor. You paid no mind as the pictures lining it’s edge went clattering to the floor and shattering upon impact. You paid no mind as your phone - buzzing away on the other side - sliding off the desk as well. You tried to keep your mind straight, to try and stay grounded. But you couldn’t - Katsuki was too much.

His thrusts grew faster, less timed, erratic as he drew closer and closer to his breaking point. You finally opened your eyes, looking up to see him staring down at you. The smirk on his face was a perfect blend of frustrating and heart pounding. You greeted it with your own smile. “F-...fuck, babe...”

“Beg for it.”

You grunted when his hands joined in, slamming you down against his thrusts. You gritted your teeth, swearing again. “Fuck, fuck, fuck...” You gasped when he did it again...and again...and again.

“Beg. For. It.”

Each word was accentuated with a thrust. Each thrust was accentuated with a cry of pleasure. God he knew he was going to get his way. He knew that no matter what, you wanted the same thing as he did. He was just going to torture you until he heard you admit it out loud.

Just for him. Only for him.

“I...I want you to...Fuck, Katsuki!”

“What do you- ah...” His hips refused to slow as he let out a grunt. He lowered his body down, pressing his chest against yours and trapping you between him and the desk. His lips found their way to your ear, his voice low - barely above a growl. “What do you want me to do?”

He knew what you wanted him to do. “I...I want you to...”

Your arms wrapped around his neck, your face burying itself against his shoulder. Your mind was staring to go blank as you dissolved into a mess of curses and moans. But he wasn’t going to stop until you answered him.

“Cum...I want you to...cum...”

“Where?”

“Fucking damn it, Katsuki!”

“Where?”

The heat inside you was unbearable now. The pleasure was forcing all logical thought out the window.

“I...just...”

You weren’t going to last much longer at this rate.

“please...”

And judging by the absolute bliss in his eye, he wasn’t going to hold out much longer either.

“I-Inside! Cum inside me!!”

You allowed the pleasure to crash over you - the pent up frustration from Katsuki being gone for so long, the undeniable desire for him to touch you, to fuck you, to love you like only he could. With a final cry of his name and the arch of your back, it all went white.

You felt his arms wrap around you, pulling you close as he rode you through it. You’re still gasping for breath, the fog he lost you in starting to clear, when you realize his teeth are against you neck, muffling the . You can feel him erupting inside of you, grunting as he fills you.

The two of you are panting, sweating messes; your office is in an even worse state. You’re a tangled mess of limbs, of gentle touches and dragging nails and...

“Fuck...” He breathes, letting out another breath. He doesn’t speak again until he’s lifted you up off the desk, weakly lowering the both of you down onto the floor. You kiss him once more before he slips out of you, which he happily reciprocates. He pulls back, looking down at you, his crimson eyes flashing.

“I fucking missed you.”

So...first smut....I hope you liked it - cause like...fuck bro...

I drank tea and burned through 3 different candles trying to write this and I’m still not like...super okay with it.

Send me more smut asks - I need to get used to writing it.

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