#ace is cluster a btw

[apollotronica]

"manipulate"

[fanby-fckry]

Random Facts About UH3 Alastor:

His father was an on-again-off-again feature in his and his mother’s lives until Alastor was 12, and is a big part of why Alastor has BPD traits and gets along better with women than men.

(If you’re new to this AU, or missed my other Cluster B Alastor posts, hi! Author has BPD and accidentally projected onto Alastor. Now I write him as intentionally having multiple Cluster B traits that I do, as well as the ones implied by canon.)

His parents weren’t married – to each other; Alastor has a stepmother he’s never met and doesn’t want to meet.

He claims that drinking was more fun during Prohibition because it was illegal.

He has rose-colored glasses regarding the previous fact; Prohibition-era Alastor absolutely complained about how much harder it was to get alcohol after the ban went through.

He doesn’t view nudity as inherently sexual.

He’s still more comfortable with others’ nudity than his own because he equates it to vulnerability.

He’s panaesthetic and bisensual. He doesn’t know those terms even exist, but picking microlabels helps my writing stay more consistent.

His aesthetic attraction isn’t based at all on gender, but he tends to feel more comfortable with physical affection from women than from men, which skews the sensual attraction a bit.

He can be sensually attracted to men and is sensually attracted to Lucifer, but 1.) it’s rarer and/or takes longer for Alastor to develop sensual attraction to a man, and 2.) Lucifer isn’t a man in the human gender binary sense of the word.

Lucifer is the only nonbinary person Alastor has ever felt any kind of attraction to, but that has more to do with lack of exposure to nonbinary people than anything regarding Alastor’s tertiary orientations.

Alastor may or may not have some gender fuckery of his own going on, but I doubt I’ll ever be exploring that in the main series.

I would describe Alastor’s gender as “man by default.” He doesn’t think about it very often. He’s not exactly an egg; it’s not that he’s in denial or unaware that being something besides a man is an option, it’s that he doesn’t care enough to pick a different label. He’s not dysphoric about being a man, but he’s not supper attached to the idea, either.

I think if he was born into Gen Z, he might identify as agender or cassgender, but as it stands, he inhabits the liminal space between, “I don’t feel strongly about my gender, which means I’m cis,” and “I don’t feel strongly about my gender, which means I’m not cis.” (Both valid experiences, btw.)

He’s 100% the type of person to tell a traumatic story from his childhood as if it’s a funny one and not understand why everyone’s looking at him like that.

He legitimately thinks that these stories are funny, because he’s twisted them around in his mind as an attempt to cope, but they retain enough of the original detail that on the rare occasion he decides to joke about them out loud, people go, “that’s kinda fucked up, actually.”

He has low empathy, but not no empathy. Every now and again, he does actually get some empathy, and every time he does it feels like a slap in the face – surprising and very unpleasant. If he could turn it off entirely, he probably would.

Remorse is a similar ordeal, rare but not unheard of, and he actively denies feeling it.

I started to write more about Alastor’s relationship with the concept of remorse, and remorse vs regret, but honestly, it needs its own post.

I projected a lot of my ace experience onto him, including the idea that kissing is boring 9 times out of 10. Not necessarily unpleasant, just… Boring. If there’s blood or biting or some form of D/s element, then it can be exciting, but otherwise we don’t get it.

[expiredmannequin]

SHIPS, DYNAMICS & MY HEADCANONS PT.1

I'm posting this scared style since I know it's my own interpretation and all ,, I'm just super nervous to share out of fear people will beat me with a stick for my own opinions.

I'm being brave!!!!! Here's the first one: jirkdake

Text On The Images

Top Image:

Ship 1 → Jake & Dirk

Jake: “ HaHa! Good ole Strider! ”

Dirk: “ Shut up. ”

Dirk's Image:

Dirk Strider

- He/Him

- Unlabled, Agender Male, Ace-Spec

- 12mm Gauges

- Ocular Albinism; 20/70 Vision → Grew out of his eyes shaking → Prescribed sunglasses

- Autistic

- Cluster-B; Histrionic & Borderline Personality Disorder

Jake's Image:

Jake English

- He/They

- Nonbinary Masc, Achillean, DemiAroAce

- Cluster-C; OCD

→ Tan (outdoorsy)

→ chops!!!

→ overbite

I also decidee to take some creative liberty and move the skull imagery Jake usually has on hist shirt onto a belt buckle!

Just because I thought it'd be silly and that it weirdly would fit if he was just a belt collector in a silly way.

Anyways ,, I hope you guys (maybe) enjoyed this!!! I'm posting this super scared style trying to put my own ideas out there 😞!!!

I interperet characters several different ways though so this is just..one of hundreds of ways that I interperet just these two alone!!!!!!

I hope to try and do more like this soon <3!!!!!! But for now my back hurts like HELL so I'm gonna go rest up ^_^!

*BTW calling it jirkdake is a little joke ig I decided to incorporate in all of a sudden because I'm so exhausted I accidentally typed their names wrong T_T

~ EXP

[chaifootsteps]

Hi, hi! I've been a longtime follower of your blog, but this is my first time sending in an ask because of anxiety. You're the most consistent blog that keeps up to date with Viv and her work. As someone who first saw Viv through the Die Young animation, and watched the HH pilot when it was first released, I grew disillusioned as s1 of Helluva Boss slowly aired. It was mostly because I didn't really enjoy the Stolitz ship and I believe the Erin Frost drama had come out (god bless Erin - she, Ken and everyone else deserved so much better). Plus the world-building and character development was just so off.

I know people have said this before: the concept Viv has is good, but the execution sucks. There's a vision but the product is so damn juvenile. I'm ace, and I became attached to Alastor due to him being ace as well, but we all know how Viv responded when the ship wars were happening. I couldn't stand the constant sex jokes or swearing in HB since when was it required for an "adult" show to have that?

Thank you for the episode leaks. Only got to see ep 1 before they were removed. The only thing that made me laugh out loud was the Niffty gag where she stared dead into the camera. I also liked Adam a bit? Sure the "original dick" thing went on way too long, but he was funny too. I surprising enjoyed his song - the lil fist bump he did with Lute was cute, and I like Lute but knowing Viv's record... eh. There was this cool shot where Adam flew up and Lute and those golden angels go behind him and spread their wings making Adam look like the biblically accurate angel. Except Adam himself ruins the effect because what the ever-loving heck is he wearing? I hate it.

In terms of shipping, I wasn't into the Huskerdust interactions. Angel wasn't flirting, that was sexual harassment. In the pilot it was okay because their interaction was brief and Husk pushed Angel off. Chaggie was... something. I genuinely feel that Chaggie could've worked had they not been established as a couple in the first place. The reason why Charlastor (and I guess Charlentious?) happened is because they had chemistry and their interactions could be read as a romantic interest. Since Chaggie was already established, there was an expectation for them to have those, but they weren't delivered and we know well that they weren't supposed to be a thing in the first place. Have Vaggie still be her bff and bodyguard, but show those moments where she genuinely cares for Charlie's well-being that indicates she's in love with her, yet Charlie is completely oblivious to everything. Actually, reverse harem Charlie sounds pretty funny to me.

Btw, armchair psychology anon, as a person studying psychology in my final year of college, dw about people taking issues with your speculations. NPD and other personality disorders are ego-syntonic, which means that the individual's behaviours line up with their beliefs, hence why PDs are only diagnosed during adulthood once brain maturation and personality development is reached. The only exception to this is ASPD (which NPD shares a category with called Cluster B along with histrionic and BPD) as you can diagnose a child with conduct disorder that can become ASPD when they're adults. Cluster B PDs are terribly demonised by media and the public despite the volume of research (I blame misunderstanding and ignorance). Viv could have it or could not; it's just that she shows signs of having it, and that's it. Even if she doesn't, she's still an awful person. Idk what happened in her childhood or some point in her life for her to become like this, but it doesn't excuse treating people like crap - oh wait, ain't this her characters in a nutshell?

That's all I gotta say for now. I hope it's okay to send more like this in the future; I'd love to be a specific anon but idk what's already taken lol. Take care, Chai, and I hope you have a good day/evening.

By all means, send as many as you've got! Because this was a delight to read.

Let me know when you come up with a name. I'll give you a placeholder one for now.

[alexanderlightweight]

Prompt: Early on in their relationship, Magnus walks in on Alec masturbating and when Alec goes to stop, Magnus stops him from doing that and tells him to keep going. Magnus doesn't touch but he does watch. And *talk*.

So I think I forgot to actually ever reply to it. But this was one of my first prompts ever. And I did write and post it… on ao3. It’s possible I either forgot to post it, or that my anxiety didn’t let me publicly respond when I wrote it. I don’t remember how comfortable I was with posting explicit porn back then and ‘advertising it’.

Mostly, btw, cause people assume if you like writing porn, that you went to hear all about their personal sex drives and how they get horny. I am ace.

I don’t mind kinky requests btw. There is a cluster of us aces who love writing kinky AND sexy shit. And I like writing explicitly fictional sex, and being prompted with fictional stuff. I’ll set my own boundaries and hard limits as needed. I just don’t enjoy personal information about strangers sex lives being shared btw. I don’t care if people enjoy anything I write; I just don’t want to hear explicitly that they do.

Please just tell me you like the story or the way things are written or just that it’s ‘hot’ and that’s fine. But it makes me incredibly uncomfortable for people to reach out and praise my stuff because it ‘makes them horny’ or it ‘puts them in the mood’. Because of not just being ace but trauma; I am incredibly sex repulsed in RL. And when people say stuff like that, even when they don’t mean to put me in a bad place, I have to work my way into feeling comfortable enough to post smut again. Or even often to write it.

So people please refrain from that. Or @saeths will handle it so I don’t have anxiety spirals and stop writing…. Again.

[wastingoxygensince1983]

Alriiiight i finished season 1 of sense8! You're were right it's really good. The show has excellent representation, not only about different sexualities, but also about different cultures and various issues and honestly, very few shows would dare to include all these themes together in a show.

The cast is diverse and very talented and it is quite a feat to find eight different people to cast as leads that all have great chemistry with each other. But they did, and they managed to develop and explore everyone equally.

That's the thing i really liked about this show, they really took their time to introduce the characters and explore them. And they used the concept of the sensates to do exactly that. If this was, let's say, the cw, they would have used the characters as plot devices to move the plot along. But that didn't happen, despite the fact that the whole concept of the sensates and the whispers is fascinating and original so many writers would have rushed to move the plot forward. They used it to tell the characters' stories and establish the relationships between them. I mean I'm sure fans could have claimed that in many occasions, the show was "too slow" because there were episodes where people literally just stood around talking. But i really liked it. It was very refreshing, especially after watching supergirl.

I love all the members of the cluster equally, i think i have a soft spot for Sun, Riley and Capheus though. Capheus' scenes with both of them were amazing.

Also Lito, boy I love him. Tried to fight joaquin with two flower pots. He's so precious. And his relationship with hernando is just the best.

And that finale, man, it was soooo great!! The stakes where so high and the way they all connected....whoa. Nomi, wow is there anything she can't hack? Amazing. Everything was going great and then damn! Will looked Whispers in the eyes. (that's really creepy btw, reminds me of the wiping angels at doctor who). Don't know how they are gonna fix that, they can't keep him sedated forever.

So far only will and riley have met in person. I hope they all gather together at some point.

The dynamic of the cluster is what makes the show so special.

I’m really glad you enjoyed. Sometimes I feel bad to recommend shows because I’m not sure if the person is gonna like it or not; but sense8 is the only show I have recommend that everyone ends liking.

Everything you said is true. The chemistry, the characters treatment, the finale.

Season 1 was a perfect way to set the characters backstory giving each one of them enough plot to make us love equally, and even if we have favorites we can’t say we don’t like one of them.

I love the finale because it shows how each one of them can add something to the cluster, and how each one of them is important to the cluster.

Now season 2 is bigger and the plot is more global than in season 1.

Also, the actor that played Capheus resign between seasons, and they recast him with another for the start of season 2. I’m not sure why he resign; apparently he didn’t like to do the orgy scenes and that’s something important to express in the show; the fact that each one of them feels everything at the same time.

Even me as ace felt ok with those moments.

I recommend you to watch the Christmas special that is the first episode of season 2. It gives you an idea of how is gonna be the season, but also is a long episode(is basically a short movie).

Thank you for giving a try and I’m glad you like it.

That show deserves more recognition.

And like you said, I want people that watched supergirl to see how a show treat their characters with love and respect. Because is possible.

(I also sent you a question a few days ago, not sure if you received it, because tumblr is a mess sometimes)

[radiqueer]

u should def make a crash course in making moodboards!! Im v interested in that!!

ALRIGHT GEAR UP

Credentials: look thru my edits tags here and here. I don’t use photoshop and I work exclusively from my phone

color theory: the basics (just enough to make sure ur moodboard ain’t a clashy mess)

mild colors (white/grey/pastel shades) always look good but even a little contrast is noticeable. so if ur making a minimalist white moodboard, put it through a filter first, adjust for contrast and brightness to make sure the shade of white is the same throughout. 

shades of pastel are a little harder to adjust. mess with the settings until you get it right and don’t worry about not being perfect at the start.

grey + a bright color makes for a nice combo. alternate the photos. so for a 3x3 aesthetic you should have four of one and five of the other, in a grid.

keep your colors constant but don’t make it grating. it’s okay to switch things up in theme (we’ll talk about this a bit more later on) but if you’re making a neon red moodboard then you can also use a photo of a rose, blood, a sunset. not everything has be red and neon. switch it the fuck up - this gives you more leeway wrt to colours too.

if you follow that, then it stands that you can combine colour on grey/white background and colour on black background/plain colour. right? you see where this is going?

colours that work together: pastel + bright of the same colour, white + colour, black + colour, yellow + red/green, blue + purple/green, etc. look at your favourite moodboards and watch how they do stuff.

PSDs are really good for colour consistency if you can use photoshop. @yeahps is a good resource.

themes (how not be garish, heavy handed, and annoying as fuck)

let’s say you get a moodboard request that’s like - can I get a cozy moodboard with ace themes? and you go, sure! now how do you go about it?

don’t heavy-hand the colours. ace flag means you can assume they’re ace, so maybe have a photo of cat and person cuddling, desaturated (for grey). show flowers, for purple. have friendship themes (holding hands, shared food, if you look for friendship aesthetic on pinterest then you’ll get a good crop of images, click on an image you think is in the right direction and keep going.) 

have a white background for everything and then grey, black, and purple stuff. try to not to use the flag itself. think about things that are cozy - like apples, and bedsheets, and curtains, and search for those is purple and grey, and gear towards those with white backgrounds.

you see what I’m getting at here, right?

another thing: let’s say you’re making a 3x3 moodboard for a character and you have a photo of her face in profile, her holding hands with her partner (presumably) and a photo of her in ballet shoes. so far, so good. but how do you arrange these in between the other photos?

DO NOT CLUSTER. I REPEAT, NO CLUSTERING.

[clustering: putting photos with a similar theme (bodies, for example) around the same place. if all three photos involving body parts are in row 1, something is wrong. the moodboard should look balanced. do not cluster)

pictures of bodies, when we don’t cluster, would go in spots 1, 5, and 9. or 3, 5, and 7. it’s a good idea to center your facecast for the character. center is 5. this holds your moodboard together, so make it simple and make it count.

two photos of cake? 1 and 9/3 and 7. 4 and 6 is also good (for character moodboards, put stuff that is often seen with the character at 4 and 6. that’s right next to 5, which ideally represents your character. 2 and 8 will also do, in a pinch. 

ideally, there should be a color contrast between 5 and surrounding images. 5 should stand out, and colour contrast helps. so put brighter colours at odd numbers.

I basically combines theme and arrangement but shhh

Extra Tips:

pinterest hates most people but you - you are a friend. tack aesthetic at the end of every search on pinterest for better results. 

use pixlr collage to preview your moodboard and arrange things properly

crop your images 1:1 (square. that’s ratio-fancy for square) if you’re making a 3x3 moodboard, and 3:4 for a 3x2 moodboard

the snapseed app is good for filters but make a throwaway instagram and set it to save images after posting because nothing beats that

I use snapseed phonto for lyric edits btw

go forth and create!! remember to have fun!!! these are just aesthetic tips I picked up after doing this for nearly a year, and it’s no shame if you didn’t know this before. you do now. 

remember to have fun, seriously. none of this means shit unless you’re enjoying yourself.

[chronically-queer-clem]

Do not try to engage this blog in any kind of discourse.

Things I believe that I will not debate:

Inclusionist. Aces, aros, people anywhere on either of those spectrums, bi/pan/poly/omni/otherwise m-spec, trans, nonbinary, intersex, split attraction model, and anything else that is not cisgender AND heteroromantic AND heterosexual AND perisex AT THE SAME TIME belongs in the LGBTQIA+ community.

Btw trans and nonbinary people(separating them because not all nonbinary people identify as trans) are still trans and nonbinary with or without dysphoria.

Also there is more than one way to have dysphoria. It's not all just hating your genitalia or secondary sex characteristics like breasts or facial hair.

Euphoria is sometimes a better indicator that you're trans than dysphoria.

Kink belongs at pride.

There's more than one way to be plural and more than one way to get there.

People with cluster b disorders are not inherently abusive, manipulative, or otherwise bad people. Get out of here with you "BPD is a red flag" and "narcissistic abuse" bullshit.

Mental illnesses are not insults. Fat is not an insult. Neurodivergence is not an insult. Disabilities are not insults.

Christians in the west, particularly in America, are not persecuted or oppressed. I know. I'm American and while I am currently pagan, I was raised Christian so I've seen the persecution fetish they have from the inside. They're desperate to be oppressed and persecuted, but in this country they are not, no matter how much they whine about it.

MAPs/pedophiles are not welcome here. Get out.

Antis are also not welcome here. Get out.

I don't give a shit what anyone ships or does with the fiction they consume. It's fiction. As long as no REAL LIVING ACTUAL PEOPLE are being hurt or harassed, I don't care. Do what you want as long as you're not hurting anyone.

I am firm in my positions, you will not change my mind, I will probably not change your mind, so just leave me the fuck out of it. If you come in here looking to start shit with me, I'll just block you. You have been warned.

I do not have a carrd and if yours is too long(more than 2 pages) or hard to read(because you picked a tiny ass font in pastel colors against a background that is also pastel colors or anything like that), I won't bother. If you have "read my carrd before interacting" I probably won't follow you. I also probably won't follow you if you're under 21. This is a side blog so I can't follow from it anyway.

That said, welcome to my blog.

You can call me Clem. Not my real name but it'll do. Not new to Tumblr, I've been here about a decade, but I decided to make a side blog where I can post about my physical and mental health.

I am nonbinary and my pronouns are they/them and fae/faer.

I am hella queer.

Possibly plural, still looking into that. Don't fucking come at me with syscourse. Sysmeds gtfo or get blocked.

Current mental diagnoses:

ADHD (not that this is a mental illness but it is an issue that stems from my brain being Different so I'm putting it here)

Schizoaffective disorder, depressive type

Major depressive disorder

Generalized anxiety disorder

Excoriation disorder (known as dermatillomania to some folks)

Current physical diagnoses:

Severe scoliosis (I don't remember the degree of the curves but I've got it in the upper and lower spine and it's worse in the upper part and there's also a twist in the middle)

Classic migraine

Fibromyalgia

Possible future diagnoses that I'll find out with more doctor visits:

Endometriosis

I think there was another one but I can't remember lol I'll fix this when I think of it

If you want to help me pay medical bills and shit, my cashapp is $QueerlyClem

[livingcorner]

Best garden shredder 2021: rid your yard of branches, twigs and leaves

With this year’s dead bits hacked out, your garden is now trimmed and spruced in readiness for next spring. But what’ll you do with all those cuttings? Or perhaps you have a body to dispose of? Either way, that’s where the best garden shredders come in. 

To assist you, we’ve called in cluster of well-received domestic models and put them through their paces using a variety of pruned vegetation. And it’s okay; we were joking about disposing of bodies. These domestic machines are nowhere near powerful enough for that.

You're reading: Best garden shredder 2021: rid your yard of branches, twigs and leaves

As we do when we’re rating any sort of garden tool or piece of machinery, such as the best pressure washers, best cordless lawn mowers or best garden tools, we’ve also supplied some buying advice below on what you should be looking out for in a garden shredder. This will help you find the right product for your needs.

What is the best garden shredder?

All nine of the models tested are good machines but our top choice is the quiet and keenly-priced Cobra QS2500, a model that is very similar in both design and function to the doggedly determined Bosch AXT 25 TC but quite a bit cheaper.

If you’re on an even tighter budget, the Einhell GC-KS 2540 is surprisingly effective even if it does scream like a banshee. 

The petrol-powered Titan 15HP Petrol Chipper Shredder Mulcher, the mid-priced Bosch AXT RAPID 2200, the tall-standing Stihl GHE 355 and chunky Makita UD2500 all have their charms, too.

(Image credit: Cobra)

1. Cobra QS2500

The best garden shredder for value and performance

Specifications

Weight: 26.9kgs

Power source: Mains

Cutting capacity: 40mm

Collection box: 50 litres

Reasons to buy

+Great performance+Exceptionally quiet+Large collection box

Reasons to avoid

–Doesn’t cut some larger branches all the way though

Straight to the one spot with a silver bullet, the Cobra QS2500 is our new favourite garden shredder for performance, low noise level and price. Similar in both design and function to our former number one, the popular Bosch AXT 25 TC, this shredder impresses in a number of ways but mostly price, which is way below that of the Bosch.

This writer has used the Cobra QS2500 on a number of occasions and it has excelled every time. On at least two occasions I fed it about 25 beech tree branches with full foliage one after another and it just kept on churning, crucially without making a racket in the process. This model accepts branches of up to 4cm in diameter but I just rammed in any size of branch that fitted the portal. At no time did I have to reach for the reverse button to free up a jam.

Being of the drum variety, the Cobra is exceptionally quiet in operation – in fact it makes less noise than a cordless lawnmower. Its drum simply churns continuously, chucking the remnants of bushes and trees into its ample 50-litre collection box. 

Granted, the fully-leafed beech branches I tested it with remained in one mangled piece as opposed to being completely cut all the way through, but that didn’t bother me because I wasn’t considering using the mulched results as garden fertiliser. Instead I simply poured the contents into my garden-waste bin.

If you’re after a top-performing garden shredder that is almost as quiet as a field mouse while being relatively cheap to buy, then this one comes highly recommended.

2. Bosch AXT 25 TC

The best high-end garden shredder

Specifications

Weight: 30.5kgs

Power source: Mains

Cutting capacity: 45mm

Collection box: 53 litres

Reasons to buy

+Superbly efficient+Very quiet+Well designed

Reasons to avoid

–Heavy and ungainly–Not cheap

Bosch shredders dominate the market and with good reason. They’re very well built, efficient and generally reliable. Rather like an enormous, masticating juicer, this quiet, electric-powered 2,500 watt turbine model uses a bladed drum that spins relatively slowly under massive torque, trapping, crushing and cutting branches up to 45mm in diameter against a solid plate.

This model handles both wood and leafy material as was amply demonstrated when I fed it half a fig tree, green fruit and all. It chopped and crushed the whole thing into tiny pieces and deposited them into the box below ready for easy disposal in the garden bin or compost heap – some shredding aficionados will even spread the nutritious remains over flowerbeds.

Rather considerately of Bosch, this heavyweight model comes ready-built with the wheels already attached, so all you need to do is clip in the top hopper, ensure the 53-litre collection box is properly engaged, switch it on and shred. The top of the chute has a wider access than others in this roundup and that makes it generally easier to stuff in branches of a more unwieldy nature, while the included tamper helps release mutinous vegetation. 

Granted, it’s very top-heavy and quite tricky to move around the garden – the wheels aren’t really wide enough apart – but at least it splits in two for easier storage.

If you have a mixture of both woody and leafy materials, this Bosch is your best bet. It justifies its slightly higher price by being extremely effective, easy to use and quiet enough to not disturb the neighbours.

To see how this shredder fares against a top rival product, then take a look at T3’s Bosch AXT 25 TC vs Einhell GH-KS 2440 comparison feature.

(Image credit: Einhell)

Read more: How to Get Rid of Grasshoppers: Natural Grasshopper Control | Epic Gardening

3. Einhell Electric Shredder GC-KS 2540

An efficient budget-priced option for seasonal use

Specifications

Weight: 13.5kgs

Motor: 2,500 W

Power source: Mains

Cutting capacity: 40mm

Collection box: No

Reasons to buy

+Good price+Surprisingly effective+Easy to manoeuvre

Reasons to avoid

–Really noisy–Requires some assembly

You’re not going to get Bosch-like build quality at this price but what you will get is an extremely efficient multi-talented shredder that mulches both woody and leafy material in a thrice. Just be sure to keep tree branches below the 45mm maximum diameter and snip off any extraneous branches or they won’t fit through the feeder portal.

The 2,500-watt Einhell uses a pair of fast spinning blade to cut through vegetation but larger pieces of hardwood and too many leaves will likely block the chute which means reaching for the included tamper. It’s quite a scary machine, mind, since it literally slices through cuttings and branches in quite a violent and exceedingly noisy manner (thank heavens the blades are well out of ’arm’s way). Thankfully, a motor circuit breaker switch cuts in to protect it from overloading.

The Einhell performed surprisingly well when fed a pile of long, thick rose branches, chopping the whole lot up into small 5mm pieces with only the occasional hiccup. Although it’s equipped with a discharge funnel, you will need to place a sheet of tarpaulin or a large plastic trug (B&Q do an excellent range, btw) underneath the chute to catch all the clippings.

If you only do occasional pruning and don’t require the brute force of a Bosch or Titan, then this is a good budget-priced starting point. It’s light enough to easily wheel around the garden, small enough for shed storage and it performed better than some of the more expensive competition.

4. Bosch AXT Rapid 2200

Another, cheaper Bosch classic

Specifications

Weight: 12kgs

Power source: Mains

Cutting capacity: 40mm

Collection box: No

Reasons to buy

+Efficient chopper+Easy to manoeuvre

Reasons to avoid

–No collection box

If you can’t afford the all-conquering Bosch AXT 25 TC, give this cheaper but equally useful alternative a whirl. It’s a lot more mobile for start though you will need a box, tarpaulin or garden trug (one of those handy round soft plastic garden tidies that garden centres sell) underneath it to collect the ejected detritus.

The Rapid 2200 uses tough laser-cut blades to slice through vegetation (preferably of the harder, drier variety) in a thrice. It’ll happily swallow branches up to 40mm in diameter though you may need to trim a few stems in order to feed those branches of a more ungainly persuasion into the hopper.

This model is quite reminiscent of the much cheaper B&Q model we’re quite smitten with above. But, given it’s a Bosch with a whopping 2200 watt motor attached, we (perhaps ill advisedly) assume it will last quite a bit longer. But don’t take our word for it.

You can compare this garden shredder to the other top-rated Bosch unit in this guide in T3’s Bosch AXT 25 TC vs Bosch AXT Rapid 2200 comparison feature.

(Image credit: Ryobi)

5. Ryobi RSH3045U 3000W Silent Impact Shredder

A powerful garden shredder with large collection bin

Specifications

Brand: Ryobi

Maximum power: 3000W

Container size: 55L

Power source: AC

Colour: Hyper Green

Reasons to buy

+Mid-tier price point+Big 3000W shredding power+Large 55L collection bin

Reasons to avoid

–Not a looker

This Amazon exclusive garden shredder offers big shredding power and a large collection bin. It does so, too, for a very firmly mid-tier price point as well, meaning it can be bagged for much less than some other premium models.

With 3000W of cutting power at your disposal with the Ryobi RSH3045U 3000W Silent Impact Shredder, you’ve got enough grunt to go through all but the largest of garden detritus, with two reversible, hardened steel blades designed to shred branches, brambles, and shrubs to a fine mulch.

The mulch ends up in the collection bin, which as aforementioned is large, and there is a safety plunger that pushes any material fed into the machine into the its blades, thereby allowing the user’s fingers to stay well clear. A strong safety feature if ever we saw one.

The only real down side of this shredder is how it looks, which is not particularly premium, as too the fact that it certainly isn’t “silent”. You won’t need ear defenders or anything, but including silent in the name is definitely a bit cheeky.

Overall, though, a garden shredder that delivers plenty of bang for you buck.

(Image credit: Stihl)

6. Stihl GHE 355

Great multi-functional model for all garden materials

Specifications

Weight: 30kgs

Power source: Mains

Cutting capacity: 35mm

Collection box: No

Reasons to buy

+Tackles both woody and leafy stuff+Stihl efficiency and build+Easy to move around

Reasons to avoid

–Extremely tall–No chippings collection box–Makes quite a racket

Got a garden with a mixture of hard-wooded trees, firs, shrubs and rubbery plants? Step tight this way because this tall-standing, multi-functional model does the lot by dint of a unique ‘blade rotation reversal system’ that deals with both hard and soft materials. 

For leaves, twigs and palm fronds, flick the switch on the front and shove some greenery into the large opening. The blades spin at high speed ripping everything to shreds. Likewise, when it comes to the harder stuff, turn the knob to the branch setting, feed in anything up to 35mm in diameter and out comes a pile of tiny wood chippings ready for the compost heap, the borders or the green wheelie bin.

This model doesn’t come with a collection box though it does at least feature a guard hood. I’d advise placing a garden tarpaulin underneath the exit chute so you don’t end up with a garden full of chippings and mulched leaves.

The Stihl GHE 355 is an extremely efficient shredder-cum-chipper but it costs over £100 more than the Bosch and, at 1.41 metres, is taller and a whole lot louder. But, hey, it’s a Stihl so you can safely expect it to shred till the cows come home.

7. Dirty Pro Tools Garden Shredder

A lot of shredding power for very little money

Specifications

Weight: 15kgs

Power source: Mains

Cutting capacity: 40mm

Collection box: Yes

Read more: Tips On How To Keep Kangaroos Away: Learn About Plants Kangaroos Don’t Eat

Reasons to buy

+Cheap yet effective+Has collection box

Reasons to avoid

–Blades blunt quickly

Dirty Pro Tools probably had a massive laugh after they came up with their name, but it is now dawning on them that they are stuck with it forever.

Never mind, their ‘dirty’ garden shredder may or may not be ‘pro’ but it is equipped with a powerful 2,500 watt engine that should be able to shred most things short of a crowbar. 

Users queue up to applaud the way this cheap ’n’ chunky chaff chewer gulps down branches up to 40cm in diameter and then farts them out into a large 50-litre box as little wooden chips. 

Ironically, the more seemingly lightweight likes of leaves can cause it to choke, splutter and come to a halt, so stick to the heavy stuff. You can clear blockages easily enough by unscrewing a knob and gaining access to the blades. I’d advise doing this with the machine switched off, but it’s a free country. 

As is the case with most shredders, you’ll save a lot of hassle by just getting the ol’ leaf blower out, assembling them in a  neat pile, then bagging them up.

At this price you’re not going to be getting the best quality components and, sure enough, one common online complaint with this shredder is that its blades blunt quickly. On the other hand (which I thankfully still have), to get something that shreds as well as this for a shade over £100 is quite a rare treat.

8. Makita UD2500

Keenly-priced shredder with collection box

Specifications

Weight: 27.6kgs

Power source: Mains

Cutting capacity: 45mm

Collection box: 67 litres

Reasons to buy

+Pleasingly quiet+Large collection box

Reasons to avoid

–Struggles with moist materials–Pretty damn heavy

This smart-looking electric model is about same size and weight as the Bosch and just as well built, though some assembly is required, including fitting the wheels.

However, it doesn’t tackle as many different materials as the Bosch and struggles with anything that has high moisture content like large leaves and soft springy branches. In other words it’s best suited to harder woods and larger branches without too much greenery.

I fed it the same type of rose branches that the cheap B&Q model made such light work of and it jammed up a few times requiring me to hit the reverse button to free up some of the leafy congestion.

Also, it doesn’t come with a tamper which would have felt somewhat safer than using a stick to coax in some of the more rebellious stuff. It eventually swallowed the lot but closer inspection of the huge 67-litre collection bin revealed that it had simply crushed rather than cut the branches. And that meant I wasn’t able to spread the remnants over the flowerbeds.

However, it made a much better fist of dealing with a couple of 30mm hardwood branches – like the Bosch and B&Q, it accepts diameters of up to 45mm – once I’d cut off a few gnarly twigs to get the branch through the small hopper opening.

It was pretty quiet, too, which seemed to please the neighbours.

The Makita’s price falls somewhere between the Bosch and B&Q. It’s a Which? Best Buy but it loses a bit of ground for me due to its relative lack of versatility.

9. Titan Pro 15HP Petrol Chipper Shredder Mulcher

Multi-talented, petrol-powered behemoth

Specifications

Weight: 103kgs

Power source: Petrol

Cutting capacity: 75mm

Collection box: No

Reasons to buy

+Chips large branches+Tackles most foliage+Lots of power

Reasons to avoid

–Expensive–Huge and extremely heavy–Ear-shatteringly noisy

An altogether more serious proposition, this costly, petrol-driven brute annihilates anything up to 75mm in diameter. We’re talking proper tree branches here, the kind of stuff other domestic shredders fear. 

If you own your own forest, or at least have a very large garden with loads of trees and shrubs, this could well be the shredder for you. 

Just be sure you’re fit enough and have a decent sized outhouse or shed to store it in because, despite having wheels, the machine weighs 103kgs and the feed hopper is about head height. Also, it spits everything directly on to the ground so your best bet is to use a tarpaulin to collect all the chippings or you’ll make a right old mess of the lawn.

The Titan comes with two main portals. The top chute accommodates leaves and twigs up to 10mm and uses a ‘flail arm’ system to mulch them into tiny fragments. 

Look to the side and there’s a circular portal for branches up to 75mm diameter: simply shove in a branch and out comes a pile of wood chippings of near sawdust consistency. Unfortunately, the side chute only accepts straight branches so some sawing will inevitably be required.

The downside to all this is that the Titan is huge, heavy, ugly and noisy and it uses an electric-start 15hp four-stroke engine that will, at times, require some TLC. If you can stand the racket – and your closest neighbours are either a long way away, or profoundly deaf – then this beaver of the shredding community is right up your garden path.

How to buy the best garden shredder for you 

It’s one thing hacking away at your overgrown hedges, trees and shrubbery but another when you’re then faced with an unwieldy pile of branches, twigs, leaves and other garden detritus that somehow needs to be disposed of. You could spend ages snipping all the twigs and branches to a manageable size for disposal in the green waste bin or at your local council dump. Or you could invest in the best garden shredder. 

Let’s cut to the chase. These domestic shredders aren’t like those machines the council uses when pruning trees in the street, or like the one Peter Stormare feeds Steve Buscemi into in that memorable scene from Fargo. 

Most of the models here won’t handle anything thicker than 45mm in diameter so you can forget stuffing in a tree trunk. You will also need to snip off stiff twigs and large stubby bits or the branch simply won’t fit through the hopper’s opening slot. 

Think hard about whether you really need a shredder in the first place and whether you have room. Many people will likely only use it once a year and the rest of the time you’ll need somewhere to store it.

There are two main types of shredder: impact and drum. Impact shredders use sharp, fast-spinning blades to cut into garden waste and can process a wider variety of materials, including most hard wood branches and fresh, moist cuttings and leaves. However, they are extremely noisy and their blades will eventually blunt if used excessively. They can also jam up if asked to process too much at a time.

Drum (or quiet) shredders tend to crush the material using a slow rotating, bladed wheel that traps plant matter against a solid plate before cutting it into little pieces. Drum shredders make far less noise but aren’t considered as effective at dealing with leafy materials.

Most shredders are equipped with a reverse switch to release trapped vegetation (it happens a lot) and some are equipped with a handy tamper to help force undisciplined branches into the portal of death. 

Be careful how you insert branches as they jiggle about violently while they’re being swallowed. If it’s a thorn-covered branch and you’re holding on to it, lacerations are a real risk. You’re advised to wear gloves and goggles or sunglasses. A stylish, hi-viz jacket is optional.

These are the best pizza ovens

Source: https://livingcorner.com.au Category: Garden

source https://livingcorner.com.au/best-garden-shredder-2021-rid-your-yard-of-branches-twigs-and-leaves/

[swordandcat]

Three is a crowd but Nine is a party: Ch 4.  Big Changes

(AO3 Link)

Chapter 4 of Book 2 of the Legends series!

Ships: YouYoshi, with KanaDiaMari, ChikaRiko, RubyMaru on side

((Alt Title: Yoshiko is a game addict and Yo is a dumb jock, but somehow it works and they kiss, i guess))

Water rushed around her. Her arms sliced through the water’s surface, bringing with them a slew of bubbles. There was a muffled drone as the pumps brought water in and out of the pool, and the waves lapped gently, but insistently against the poolside.

Yo closed her eyes and was silent for a moment, before she pushed explosively off the wall, her body falling naturally into an aerodynamic form as she torpedoed forward in a stream of bubbles. She could feel the flow of currents all around her as she scythed through the water, legs pumping like the tail of a dolphin.

Sometimes she just swims. It helps her think.

She crossed the quarter line without even realizing it, not even running out of breath yet, but she still surfaced, taking a breath of fresh air and starting to move her arms, transitioning from the push-off into a proper crawl.

I’m going to take a break from Immortal Legends.

Yo couldn’t stop thinking about Yoshiko’s decision. It came as a shock to her, of course, and Yo couldn’t help but feel a little left out that Yoshiko had made this decision without her. It was a selfish feeling, for sure; Yoshiko didn’t owe anything to Yo to include her in these decisions. But still, Yoshiko had promised that they would try their hand at the tournament together, even if in different level divisions.

Beyond that, though, Yo can’t help but be worried. Even though Yoshiko promises that it’s going to make things better, Yo knows how much the game means to her. How much blood, sweat, and tears she poured into it. Putting aside whether it was a healthy habit or not, Yoshiko’s life once revolved around that game. The fact that Yoshiko was willing to stop playing Immortal Legends was… concerning.

But then there was the other thing.

I’d like to spend some more time with you.

Yo felt her stomach flutter just at the memory of Yoshiko’s reasoning for quitting Immortal Legends. She’d been too stunned by Yoshiko’s decisions to properly react to that at the time, but now that Yo’s had some time to think about it, she was surprised at how forward Yoshiko was.

…Yoshiko was trying her best to make their relationship work.

Yo exhaled, trailing bubbles in her wake. Yoshiko was always the one who was trying, the one moving forward. You were always too busy stuck in the past. Stuck in the long-dead hopes that something will happen as long as she pined after Chika for long enough.

Yo felt sick. Self-loathing was a feeling rarely felt by her, but there was no other way You could describe how she felt these few days.

“Watanabe!”

She could only hear the voice of her swim coach vaguely through the water, but it was enough to jolt her back to reality.

She had a split second to slow down before she smashed face first into the side of the pool. She still did smash face first into the tiles, but at least she managed to brake enough so the impact produced little more than a bruised forehead and a wounded ego.

Bobbing up to the surface, Yo laughed self-deprecatingly as she looked towards her coach. “Sorry, Coach Masuda. I was… uh, distracted.”

“No, really?” Masuda sighed, kneeling down by the poolside. “You’ve got to get your head in the game, Yo. Official competitions may be on hold but that doesn’t mean you get to rest on your laurels.”

She gestured for a timekeeper to approach and looked at Yo’s times. She frowned and turned back to Yo with a disappointed look on her face. “Your times have gotten worse by a few seconds. Is everything alright? Have you kept up with training?”

Yo cringed. She didn’t think it would be that bad. “No, Coach. I’ve been training every week. It… it’s probably just not my day.”

Masuda breathed out, and nodded, reaching down and patting Yo on the shoulder. “Let’s hope that’s the case. You’re our team ace, Yo. The first and second years look up to you as an example. Take care of yourself, okay?”

Yo nodded, giving Masuda a sharp, “Yes, ma’am.” Satisfied, Masuda gestured for the next batch of swimmers to enter the water. Yo clambered out of the pool, gratefully accepting a towel from a junior.

“Thanks, Ayane,” Yo smiled at her, eliciting an excited squeak.

“Y-You’re welcome!” The girl said. There was a long pause as the girl glanced towards her friends, who nodded encouragingly. She turned back to Yo and started hesitantly, “Er, Watanabe?”

“Yeah?” Yo tilted her head.

“Um… if you don’t mind me asking…” The first year leaned a little closer. “What… er, rather, how do you know Tsushima Yoshiko?”

Yo blinked. She didn’t expect that question. “Uh… come again?” She asked, thinking she may have heard wrong.

“It’s just… my friends are saying that they’ve seen you hang around Tsushima a lot recently, and they’re curious why that is.”

“Oh! I see,” Yo nodded. She paused for a moment, thinking of what to say. “We played the same MMORPG, is all, and there’s an event in the game that’s coming up.” Not technically a lie.

“Oh. So you’re just, er, gaming friends?” Yo nodded, and the first year breathed a sigh. “I see. Okay, sorry for taking up your time.”

“No problem,” You smiled, and wrapping the towel around her shoulders, she walked towards the changing rooms. Having done her reps and benchmarking tests, she was free to leave.

Just as well, she had something important she had to do.

* * * * *

Yousoro: Tank on left

BigBOI: on it

Yousoro: 10 sec CD on AOE

BigBOI: k

GngsKhan: aight

Yo breathed out, her eyes trained on the monitor. On it was the familiar visuals of Immortal Legends, showing Yo and her party mid-raid. It was a grey, gloomy dungeon, with aged stone bricks and mist drifting across the floor. Yo’s character stood side by side with another devil in heavy plate and an undead lich against a towering skeletal dragon and its horde of zombified dragonlings.

On Yo’s command, the plate warrior ran to the left, blocking off the advance of a small cluster of the dragonlings. By themselves the mobs were fragile, but because the dragon boss kept spawning them it became an uphill battle to hold them off while Yo and the lich kited the dragon to grind down its health pool.

Yo remembered Yohane telling her that most undead enemies had large HP reserves but low mana - once she could bait its strongest skills, it would be a long while until the dragon could perform them again.

Yousoro: baiting the breath attack

Yousoro: khan, refresh necro shield

The lich raised his skull-tipped staff, and an aura of grey particles surrounded Yo’s avatar. She immediately darted forward, using Blink to bypass the front guard of dragonlings and launching a fireball straight into the large dragon’s ribcage, detonating it once it’s inside. The dragon roared in pain, and Yo knew she’d attracted its aggression.

As soon as the fire effect faded away, the dragon hissed and suddenly reared back on its hind-legs, seeming to inhale deeply despite possessing no organs. Glowing black spots coalesced in its maw, and then it suddenly lurched forward, a spray of inky black fire surging from its jaws towards Yo’s avatar in retaliation. She immediately moved to dodge, but even then, the spray had too much spread, catching the lower half of her avatar as she rolled to the side.

Thankfully, with GngsKhan’s shield buff, the attack only took off about a quarter of Yo’s health, putting her in the perfect spot to counterattack. Activating one of the macros that Yohane had helped her set up, her character immediately launched an unavoidable volley of flame-jets, stunning the boss just long enough to set up for the big hit - an orb of lava that consumed most of Yo’s MP. When it hit, though, it clung to the boss’ frame, continuing to burn away at its health until it was easily dispatched by a few sword swings of BigBOI.

As the model of the dragon dissolved into dusty particles, and the spawned dragonlings disappeared as well, Yo let out a deep sigh, typing a quick congratulation into the chat.

Yousoro: Thanks for the assist, guys.

BigBOI: np

GngsKhan: im not gonna leave her highness’ apprentice hanging lol

Both of her party members were acquaintances of Yohane, who agreed to help Yo complete a quest she couldn’t clear on her own.

BigBOI: btw

BigBOI: yousoro

BigBOI: rumor has it that Yohane is quitting

BigBOI: cuz she got beaten by the american champion

BigBOI: is that true?

Yo sighed. BB wasn’t the first person to ask her about Yohane. It was fairly common knowledge at this point that Yohane had taken Yousoro under her wing, so when Yohane went missing for a day or two Yo started getting private messages in the dozens asking about Yohane. Yo answered them in the same way:

Yousoro: She’s taking a break for now.

Yousoro: I’m not at the liberty to say anymore.

BigBOI: i getcha

BigBOI: well if you ever talk to her just tell her we miss her

BigBOI: the raid scene just isn’t the same without her lol

With that, her party members teleported away, leaving her alone with her thoughts.

Yoshiko was a legend in the community. Or rather, Yohane was. Her legacy was much more than just her player character. She’d pioneered raid strategies, inspired top tier players, influenced the beta development of the game, even had a location named after her in honor of a record-breaking expansion raid.

Yo wanted to believe that Yoshiko wasn’t so fragile that a single defeat could make her abandon all that she’s accomplished. She desperately wanted to.

Eying the greyed out entry of Yohane in her friends list, though, Yo couldn’t help but feel a deep unease. She was missing something from the picture, something big. If only she’d looked a little harder…!

She blinked suddenly, as a message popped up on screen.

SakuraSketch: Hello?

SakuraSketch… They’re new. Yo didn’t recognize the name. She clicked open their character profile. Level 1. A complete newbie. They were wandering around the starting town for devils. Sighing, Yo quickly typed up a private message while teleporting to Gehenna.

Appearing in the travel hub of Gehenna, Yo looked around the map for SakuraSketch. After a while, Yo finally tracked them down to the Main Street where all the low- to mid-tier shops and services were provided. Summoning a fiery steed beneath her so she didn’t have to walk the whole way, Yo made her way to where SakuraSketch was on the map. She stopped a few paces away from SakuraSketch’s avatar - a succubus type demon with long dark-red hair and delicate wisp-like wings floating behind her.

Yousoro: Hello.

Yousoro: Is there something you need from me?

SakuraSketch turned around to face Yo.

SakuraSketch: As you can see, I’m just starting out…

SakuraSketch: A friend mentioned that you knew a lot of secrets about getting a good start…

A friend, huh. Yo breathed out, thinking the situation over. Not to brag, but she was one of the better known mid-tier players at this point; not just because of Yohane’s mentorship, but also through legitimate achievements. If SakuraSketch’s friend was someone familiar with the speed at which Yo climbed the ladder, it wasn’t entirely unfeasible.

Yousoro: I see.

Yousoro: Well, I guess I have some time to spare.

SakuraSketch: Thank you very much!

SakuraSketch: Once I’ve gotten used to the game, if there’s anything I can help with…

You sighed, smiling wryly to herself. The student had now become the teacher. Would Yoshiko be proud of her?

Yousoro: It’s fine, call it a welcome package.

Yousoro: I myself was taught by a friend anyway, so… let’s call it paying it forward.

Yousoro: When you get to grips with the game, you go help someone as well.

Yousoro: Anyway, let’s start with the basics…

* * * * *

“Ah~” Yo yawned. She ended up not getting much sleep at all. Even after Sakura had logged off, Yo kept playing, smashing herself uselessly against a dungeon boss. It was one that she had easily taken down with Yohane’s guidance, but now she found it an almost insurmountable challenge.

She’d been relying too much on Yohane as a safety net, maybe.

Shaking her head, Yo tried to stay awake as the bus made it’s way down the road leading through Uchiura, the gentle drone of the engines acting like a lullaby song to her sleep-deprived mind.

“Ah, there she is!”

Yo blinked, just about to slip into a nap when an energetic voice roused her from her sleep. Chika bounded onto the bus like an overactive puppy, running over to Yo and crashing into the seat next to her. “What’s cookin’ good lookin’?”

Riko trailed behind her, looking much less energetic than her girlfriend. Her eyes were slightly red, and she was rubbing at them and trying hard to stifle a yawn. “Chika, if you say that again we’re breaking up.”

“Aww.” Chika pouted, crossing her arms sulkily. “Fine.”

A few seconds later, though, it was like she’d forgotten about the scolding already. “Oh! Yo, have you heard? Apparently, we’re getting a new school director!”

You tilted her head. “…We had an old school director?”

“Well, obviously. All schools have a director,” Riko pointed out.

“Oh…” Yo nodded absentmindedly. “Right.”

Chika frowned. “Hey, are you okay? You seem down.”

Yo suppressed a flinch, looking away from Chika somewhat guiltily. “I… don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m fine! Just… tired.”

Riko eyed her nervously, while Chika just frowned deeper. “How come? I thought you were being careful, what with the friendly swim meet this Saturday.”

Yo sighed. That’s right. There’s going to be a swim meet in four days. She’d almost forgotten. “Oh, yeah. That.”

“Are you really okay?” Chika reached over, trying to feel Yo’s forehead. “Are you sick? You look kinda out of it.”

Yo shrank away from Chika’s touch, suddenly feeling a twisting in her gut. “I said I’m fine, Chika,” She snarled, a lot more aggressively than she’d intended.

Immediately she regretted her decision when Chika flinched back, a look of hurt crossing her normally sunny expression. “Crap- Chika, sorry. I’m just… a little busy right now. That’s all.”

Riko put a hand on Chika’s, giving it a gentle squeeze. “I’m sure Yo’s got things under control.”

Begrudgingly Chika nodded, apologizing quietly to Yo for prying. Yo shot Riko a quick look of gratitude, which she just responded with a small encouraging smile.

“Anyway!” And again Chika seemed to recover within moments of being down. “The new director!…”

While Chika blabbered away excitedly at the possibilities (“A secret government agent, looking for talented students to recruit into their top-secret spy project!” “An evil stuffed toy intent on pitting students against each other in a surreal killing game!” “A wizard!”) Yo tuned the conversation out again, unable to maintain her focus.

Everything was a mess. Yo and Yoshiko had bonded over Immortal Legends. But even if they did spend more time together now, after Yoshiko had quit the game, she just felt more distant than ever. Despite Chika and Riko becoming closer by the day, despite Yo giving them her full blessings, Yo still couldn’t let go of the part of her that wished it was her in Riko’s place.

Yo didn’t know what to do. She had no idea what she even could do. Life used to be simple, easy to understand. Now Yo just felt…

Lost.

“Hey.”

Yo looked up. Chika was looking at her with a pensive expression. It wasn’t her usual energy, but it wasn’t accusing or upset either; just, thoughtful. Gentle. “If there’s something bugging you, you can always talk to me about it. You know that, right?”

Yo closed her eyes for a moment, breathing out slowly.

“Yeah,” She nodded. “I know.”

“Okay.”

Chika nodded as well, turning back to face the front of the bus.

Yo felt a little after that. Maybe. She put her hand on her chest, thumbing the Anchor pendant beneath her uniform for comfort.

* * * * *

As it turned out, the new director of the school was not a secret government agent, nor an evil stuffed toy, not even a wizard.

She was a foreigner.

“Hi everybody~!” Ohara Mari said, from the stage in the auditorium. “My name is Ohara Mari, and I’m going to take over the directorial duties of this school starting today!”

It was announced during homeroom that there was going to be an assembly during the last periods of school, where the new director would be introduced and their ambitions for the school explained. Yo didn’t pay much attention to the details, but she probably should have.

Mari was the girl that Kanan was talking to the other day. Also, the girl who beat Yoshiko. And apparently, now she was also the director of the school.

Yo’s head was spinning.

“Now, some of you might be wondering why a student is the director, to which I raise you - screw the rules, I have money!” Mari laughed, and it was so absurd that a few students even started laughing along before Kurosawa Dia, who had been standing behind Mari, fixed the assembled students with her steely glare.

“Your goals, Ms. Ohara.” Dia coughed into a fist.

“Oh! Yes, that,” Mari nodded, shuffling through what looked like a stack of cue cards before losing track of the card she needed and just tossing the stack aside eventually. Clearing her throat, she paused for dramatic effect before launching into her speech.

“As some of you might be aware, our school is suffering from a crippling lack of new students. As part of my installment as director of the school, I am to bring this academy out of obscurity and into the limelight as one of the forward-thinking and modern educational institutions in the region!”

Yo snorted. Ura Girls was many things, but ‘forward-thinking’ and ‘modern’ were definitely not words Yo would have used to describe the school.

“Which is why I’m going to start by adding a multimedia room into the school, equipped with state-of-the-art audiovisual equipment, and an array of custom-build computers optimized for the most high-end tasks. I have also drafted up a ‘digital education’ syllabus which we will be implementing on a rotational trial basis, allowing students access to this multimedia room during class time.”

There was a murmur of approval that went through the assembled students. One of the biggest issues with the school was how backward it seemed, especially compared to some of the fancier schools in big cities like Tokyo, or heck, even Numazu.

“Of course, this means there’ll be free wifi for everyone in the school.”

A cheer erupted through the hall, though it was once again quickly silenced by Dia’s unrelenting glare.

“And the other thing this school needs is publicity. Whatever we implement into the school, this is still a small institution in an insignificant region of Japan. We won’t get many more students coming in if we don’t get the Ura Girls name out. In fact… there is a possibility that the school will be shut down if we don’t improve our school’s prospects.”

A ripple of concerned whispers went through the student body, but Mari just smiled confidently and cleared her throat again.

“This is where I come in. Not many of you may know, I transferred here from America. In America, I was involved in a video game - an MMORPG - called Immortal Legends. I was ranked first amongst some 6 million players in the US alone. There are four servers active for Immortal Legends: the US, China, Europe, and Japan. In returning to Japan, I also transferred my Immortal Legends character to the Japanese server.”

Oh.

Oh.

Yo could practically see all the pieces fitting into place. All the disparate events she’s witnessed over the past month were starting to come together.

She looked around wildly, trying to spot Yoshiko in the crowd.

“Upon arriving in the Japanese server, which has a healthy 1.5 million odd player base, I challenged the #1 player in Japan to a duel. I won that duel. It has been less than a week since then, and I have already received more than thirty interview invitations, and have been featured in a dozen large-scale publications. An estimated 30% of the Japanese population now know my name. Imagine the possibilities if we put that publicity towards this school!”

Yo couldn’t find Yoshiko - the first and second-year classes were too far apart. Yo bit her lip nervously and turned her attention back to Mari, who was still continuing with her presentation.

“But that’s not all. Why stop at myself? There is an event in the game coming up, a national tournament that will also attract the attention of gamers across the globe. In it, teams of nine players will be pitted against each other in glorious combat. Imagine the news, when a team comprised entirely of our school’s students beats out the nation’s best professional players in their own game! Not only will it bring raw publicity, it will also showcase our school’s willingness to embrace the future, demonstrating our openminded school spirit!”

Yo glanced at Dia. The girl looked faint, staring at Mari in abject horror. There was muttering in the crowd, equal parts excited and doubtful. But ignoring all that, Mari pushed on.

“Everyone, we stand at the threshold of greatness. The potential is there, I know it. Everyone in this school can shine and excel in their own way, but only if they’re given the chance to. This tournament is that chance. So I ask you, students of Uranohoshi Girl’s Academy: are you with me? To protect our school? Or are you willing to see the school fade forever into history?”

So that was Mari’s game this whole time.

It was a plan that Yo couldn’t even begin to imagine on her own. As she stared at the girl on stage, her image started to overlap with the confident, extravagant avatar she’d witnessed in Immortal Legends.

It was wildly ambitious, a borderline insane gamble. But… it might just work.

Mari stepped back, allowing Dia to take the mic. She stepped forward shakily, looking at Mari with wide eyes, before clearing her throat.

“Er… that was our new director… Ohara Mari.”

At first, it was just a lonesome clap, awkward and tentative. But then more students picked up the call, and soon there was a storm of furious applause as the girls cheered and clapped for their new, innovative school director.

“Shiny~☆” Mari waved at the cheering students as she exited the stage, disappearing backstage. Dia glanced at her, then at the clapping students, and eventually sighed and allowed them to work off their excitement as she followed Mari backstage.

Yo, however, was too busy pushing through the crowd in search of Yoshiko to notice. She managed to cross over to the first year section, locating Hanamaru and Ruby, who mostly just looked confused.

“Ruby! Hanamaru!” Yo said breathlessly, managing to find a spot next to them. They turned and nodded politely at Yo, though their expressions quickly shifted to concern at Yo’s anxiousness. “Have either of you seen Yoshiko around?”

Ruby moved to shake her head, but Hanamaru seemed to think for a moment. “I think I saw her leave a little bit before the end, zura.”

“Okay, thanks!” Yo said, and pushed back into the crowd towards the auditorium exit.

After a great deal of jostling and trying to avoid the flow of girls now starting to migrate towards the exit as well, Yo managed to get ahead of the crowd and ran out of the auditorium, running out into the school courtyard. She looked around, out of breath, only relaxing when she spotted a familiar cascade of dark blue hair from behind a bench.

Yo jogged up to Yoshiko, who was sitting quietly on the bench, her expression focused and contemplative. After a few moments, Yoshiko looked up at Yo and smiled faintly. “Hey. Why the hurry?”

“I—” Yo hesitated. “I wanted to talk to you. About… that. Just now.”

Yoshiko’s composed expression flickered, and Yo could definitely spot a flash of a grimace before she managed to recover.

“What about it? I think it’s a wonderful plan. I couldn’t have thought of it,” Yoshiko said, diplomatically. “I wouldn’t expect anything less from the woman who defeated me.”

Yo shook her head. That wasn’t what she wanted to hear. “That’s not… what I want to talk about, Yoshiko.”

“Then what do you want to talk about?” Yoshiko looked at Yo. There was a level of wariness, a guardedness to her, that made Yo feel ill. Like she’d been kicked in the guts.

Yo breathed in to steel her nerves. “Are… are you going to compete?”

Yoshiko stiffened, a myriad of emotions flashing across her face - surprise, hope, apprehension, sadness, then… then just tired resignation. “No. I said I was going to take a break, and I mean it. I’ve already been beaten, anyway. What’s the point?”

“But—” Yo tried to argue, but Yoshiko just stood up, her hands balled up into fists. “I said no, damn it!”

Yo stopped, staring at Yoshiko. Yoshiko stared back, breathing heavily.

“I’m…” Yoshiko’s gaze slowly dropped down to the ground. “I’m sorry.”

“N-No. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed the topic,” Yo shook her head. She reached out for Yoshiko’s hand, tentatively, but Yoshiko just shied away from the gesture.

Trying to ignore the stabbing pain in her chest, Yo closed her eyes and turned away from Yoshiko. “So, um… are you going to come to the swim-meet this Saturday?” Yo said, clumsily trying to change the subject.

“Uh.” Yoshiko had to take a moment to adjust to the new topic. “Yes. Er, if you want, I can come.”

“Please do.”

“I will, then…”

Yo nodded awkwardly. Yoshiko nodded as well, just as awkward.

“I…”

Yoshiko picked up her back, which was on the bench next to her. “I need to go.”

Yo didn’t try to stop Yoshiko as she walked away, her head down, her posture stiff.

Yo felt like she was about to cry.

Everything was a mess, and Yo had no idea what to do to fix it.

[lookitasari]

COME TO OUR NEW COFFEE SHOP!!

Good days!

Bagi kalian anak-anak gaul Bogor, suka vape, butuh tongkrongan baru, internet kenceng buat tanding dota, para penulis yang butuh tempat ena buat nulis, penikmat kopi dengan harga mahasiswa, Cafe yang mumpuni buat download film sepuasnya..

Well, Congrats! We Are Here Now!!

Cafe Kopipayu. Cafe yang baru berdiri beberapa bulan ke belakang ini ada di bilangan Taman Cimanggu, Bogor, selain menyuguhkan internet super cepat dan tentunya unlimited, kami juga tak luput menyediakan cita rasa kopi yang berani di adu dengan cafe Kopi lainnya.

Stop Kontak sedikit? Pffft, Cafe Kopipayu di desain khusus untuk kalian-kalian yang emang suka nongkrong dan open laptop untuk waktu yang lama, jadi kalau masalah stop kontak sih kami ada banyak. Belum juga bagi kalian yang suka nge-vape, kebetulan Cafe kami tepat berdiri di sebelah Toko Vapor juga.

Jadi, main dota bareng, internetan bareng, skripsian, sambil smoking, ngopi, atau nge-vape? Beuuuuh, kurang apalagi coba?

Tapi bagi kalian yang tidak nyaman dengan Smoking Area, kami juga mempunyai ruangan Non Smoking. Dengan Ac yang nyaman dan tempat duduk klasik, serta ruangan yang didesain ciamik banget, kalian akan betah kalau habis jalan-jalan menyusuri jalanan kota Bogor yang panasnya kaya Kuah Popmie itu.

Kopi buatan barista cantik Kopipayu menjamin bahwa rasa kopi yang pasti ke-ena-annya itu tak melulu menuntut harga yang mahal. Begitu juga dengan cemilannya. Pokoknya perut tenang untuk nongkrong yang cukup lama!!

BUT WAIT!!! Buat kamu yang bukan penikmat kopi, tidak suka minuman pahit, suka yang manis-manis… Santai!! We have all that you want too. Greentea, RedVelvet, Taro Latte, Lychee ice tea, and many more! So do not hesitate, come to us now!

Btw, karyawannya suka nonton Doraemon di youtube loh.

Kami nggak tau apakah informasi terakhir itu berguna apa engga, tapi kami sendiri suka ketawa kalau liat karyawan laki-laki tapi nontonnya Doraemon sambil cekikikan sendiri.

So, tunggu apalagi! Kami tunggu kedatangannya di cafe kami, Kopipayu!

Jl. Raya taman cimanggu, ruko cluster cimanggu grande no. 1 - Taman cimanggu, Bogor. Atau, kalau kamu naik gojek, grab, uber, bisa ketik locationnya KOPIPAYU langsung, nyampe! Bisa juga kalau naik kendaraan pribadi, location kami ada di waze atau google maps.

Btw, ada kabar burung kalau penulis buku Merayakan Kehilangan alias pemilik akun tumblr mbeeer.tumblr.com akan mengadakan meet and greet di tempat ini loh~ 

Cus!

[ben-winch-writer-rocker]

Last Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Album?

I’m trying to think why AC/DC’s Powerage is not in my Top 5. It may seem a trivial question, but what’s the point in a Top 5 if it doesn’t make you think about why what goes on the list goes on the list? I mean, MBV’s Loveless over Powerage, on a list of rock albums?! Powerage is the quintessential rock album. Loveless? It’s barely rock at all, which I guess is the point: I want a list that expands rock, that pulls it in all directions. Point One. And Point Two: it could be that Powerage is a little too infectious. Lately, several AC/DC classics have started to obsess me: “Sin City”, “Gone Shootin’”, “Gimme a Bullet”. Don’t get me wrong, these are great, great songs, but I guess it comes down to whether I want to be obsessed. I’ve learned most of the album on guitar—Malcolm Young’s parts, at least—whereas I’ve only ever taken half-hearted stabs at learning Loveless. (Then again, Kevin Shields’s parts are less-easily reproduced.) So I’m in a quandry. Powerage? Best rock album ever, I sometimes think. But then at other times I’ve had enough. 

It’s not mysterious, I guess that’s one thing. Aside from “Gone Shootin’”, every song here gives itself up immediately to deconstruction—you can pretty much see Malcolm’s fingers on the fretboard. It’s minimalist, aside from Angus’s solos, and that’s one of its strengths. It’s cooked down—pressure-cooked. As disciplined as Joy Division, as Slint—I really love that aspect. The clarity too—the lack of bullshit. It’s dry, clean, in-your-face but not too much so (not like Nirvana’s Nevermind, say—a cartoon, a video-game soundtrack; and hey, I like Nevermind). And it’s damn near incredible how many permutations AC/DC can manufacture from so few ingredients. If it’s innovative—and I think it is—it’s because of how much it achieves with so little. It’s refined, if you can believe that. And tasteful, in a way I don’t think AC/DC were before or have been since. (Highway to Hell, for eg, is far from tasteful: it’s just too obvious.)

Bon Scott’s in fine form here too. His lyrics are real-seeming, autobiographical; they tell a story. And though at first listen his melodies, such as they are, seem hewn from the same rock as always—minor pentatonic, rarely more than three notes clustered around the tonic, blurted phrases rather than fluid, long lines (unlike, say, “Smells Like teen Spirit”)—on the other hand his little curlicues and ad-libbed Major flourishes have real style. It’s a singalong album, if you can reach his range. Which of course could be said of all AC/DC albums—they are, in a sense, a pop band, if a diabolically heavy one—but here there’s just enough mystery to keep me coming back.

As to the heaviness, sure, I know these days that seems to mean a fat bottom-end, heavy-hitting, slow and ponderous. Sabbath has a lot to answer for (and despite AC/DC’s fame, I have to think Sabbath were more influential). But for straight-up adrenalised raw power, despite that drummer Phil Rudd plays sometimes so soft it’s like he’s using Rutes, this is seriously hard to beat. “Riff Raff”, man! The last mushroom trip I took—the bad one—I put on “Riff Raff” to try give me some balls and felt like I never came down again. It’s Chuck Berry to the power ten. But then Rudd can reign it right back in—like, say, in “Down Payment Blues”, which builds and explodes and then settles right back down; or “Sin City”, a masterclass in how simple dynamics (the slow-smashed intro, the cymbal-on-the-snare chorus, the kick-on-the-snare breakdown) can make a straightforward song a journey. How do they do it? Like, say, U2, this is a band that, on the surface, doesn’t have a whole lot of tricks in its arsenal. But dig deeper and every one of those simple, even hackneyed manoeuvres proves itself to be priceless. What they do, they do well, better than anyone. Best of all, they’re a team. They listen to each other. Every single player hangs back and holds the groove till he’s needed. Angus excepted, these are some of the most self-effacing players in rock history. And Angus? A virtuoso, a genius. The perfect blend of rootsy and histrionic—part Berry, part Beck. And the bit I like best: he’s not afraid to get crazy, to chuck in nasty bursts of noise (like his climbing up the neck at the climax of “Let There Be Rock”, a trick he repeats here in the fade-out to the brilliant “What’s Next to the Moon”). (Did I mention, it was actually the solo in “Riff Raff” that shot me to the sky. I can still hear it now, an infernal choir of unrelenting white noise.)

Conclusion? I guess it’s all down to what I think I’m doing here, what this blog is for, why I’m writing this. On the scale of “pure rock” albums, Powerage may well be #1, eclipsing even Raw Power (which, after all, is a kind of a prototype—unfinished, malformed—whereas Powerage is near-perfect). But maybe that’s the point: maybe I like prototypical: I like albums that suggest more than they achieve (like Loveless, which—I’m with Kevin Shields here—is to some extent a beautiful misfire, an idea of what a rock album could be, rather than that rock album itself). What this blog is, then, is theory—an attempt to ascertain what can be made from all this potential. Why is Joy Division’s Closer still my go-to genius album 30 years after I first heard it? Because I don’t think anyone’s really taken up its challenge. Powerage? To the casual listener it probably sounds just like every other AC/DC album. The fact that it’s more like the end of an era (the last album they’d record with George Young, for one thing, and btw George cooks on bass—he’s here, if you ask me, on “Gimme a Bullet” and “Gone Shootin’”) doesn’t lessen its impact. For the purposes of Rock Theory, it ain’t Top 5. But as far as rock history goes, it may be the last great rock ’n’ roll album.

[aokayinspace]

It’s game seven of the Cup Finals. The Aces are playing the Falcs. The score is 1-1 at the end of regulation bringing the game into overtime. Alexei scores the Falcs game winning goal, winning his first ever Stanley Cup. He locks eyes with Kent who is already halfway to nearly tackle hugging him in celebration, forgetting to be upset that his team just lost the Cup because his husband just scored the game winning goal to win his first cup. Neither teams is phased by this because they all know about their relationship, but the crowd is utterly shocked to see the lone black jersey mixed in with the white and blue cluster of a celly. Sports commentators don’t know what to say. The internet is going crazy. Finally a reporter comes over to talk to Mashkov about the game winning shot (Kent is still on the ice btw), then she mentions how unusual it is to be celebrating with the opposing team, motioning to Kent. Alexei just laughs and shrugs and replies “After buzzer he just husband and proud” and smiles his big, dorky Tater smile. And that is the story of how Kent and Alexei come out.

[infocampuspvt]

Data Structure Tricks For Java Developer

Java API gives worked in help to basic information structures, fundamental for composing programs for example cluster, connected rundown, map, set, stack and line. You don't have to actualize this information structure independent from anyone else, you can legitimately utilize it in your program, because of rich and proficient usage given by Java API. This is likewise one reason, to take Java Training in Bangalore. Since data structure is central to any program and decision of a specific information structure enormously influences both usefulness and execution of Java applications, it merits a push to investigate various data structure accessible in Java.

A considerable lot of this data structure is a piece of massively mainstream Java Collection Framework, and practically all Java projects might be, aside from his world utilize Collection in some structure.

In this Java instructional exercise, we will investigate regular information structure for example Cluster, connected rundown, Stack, Queue, Map, Set and How they are actualized in Java, alongside how to utilize them.

In the event that you are a finished amateur in the realm of information structure and calculations, at that point, I additionally propose you to initially experience a far-reaching course like Java Courses in Bangalore to learn nuts and bolts and ace it.

Information Structure and Algorithms are key for improving as a designer and any venture you make as far as your time, cash and learning exertion will pay you for quite a while to come.

Essential Data Structure in Java:

Here is my rundown of the principal information structure from standard Java API and programming language itself, since an exhibit is a piece of the programming language itself while others are a piece of the prominent Java Collection system.

With Java 8 thinking of Lambda articulation, Functional Interface, and Streams, which is going to give another life to Java Collection Framework, particularly with regards to utilizing the different center design of present-day CPU.

Ample opportunity has already past that fledglings make themselves mindful of essential information structure accessible in Java programming and utilize them.

1.       Cluster :

Java programming language gives worked in help to the exhibit in the language itself. It has an exceptional language structure to proclaim exhibit, for example, int[], which is a variety of int crude sort. You can make a variety of both reference type and natives.

Additionally dissimilar to C programming language, an exhibit in Java is limited and you will get ArrayIndexOutOfBoundException on the off chance that you are working with an invalid record.

Exhibit in Java are likewise homogeneous, you cannot store various kinds of the article in a cluster, for example, you can just store a String in a String[], in the event that you will attempt to store Integer, you will get ArrayStoreException at runtime.

You can check further check Java Training in Bangalore to study cluster information structure and how to utilize it in Java.

2.       Connected List:

Aside from the exhibit, a connected rundown is another essential information structure in programming. Java gives a doubly connected rundown usage as java.util.LinkedList, this class can be utilized, at whatever point a connected rundown information structure is required.

Since LinkedList is a piece of the Collection system, it executes Collection and Iterable interface too, which permits repeating over them. You can check this article to become familiar with LinkedList in Java.

3.       Hash table:

The Hash table, guide or word reference is a standout amongst the most adaptable information structure I have seen. I happen to utilize Map from time to time and luckily, Java API gives a few executions of Map information structure for various needs like HashMap, Hashtable, and ConcurrentHashMap.

It's otherwise called guide or word reference information structure, you may have found out about Dictionary in Python, which is equivalent to Map in Java.

A guide gives you O(1) usefulness for recovering a worth in the event that you know the key, which is an extremely common use case in the majority of the java application.

You can further check the Java Courses in Bangalore to become familiar with the Hash table, guide, or lexicon information structure in Java.

4.       Stack:

Java API additionally gives a Stack information structure executed as java.util.Stack. This class expands the heritage Vector class for putting away components. Since the stack is a LIFO (Last In, First Out) information structure, it gives push() technique to embed articles and pop() strategy to expend components from the top.

The stack is very prominent in various programming task, for example, assessing articulations. By the way don't befuddle Stack information structure with stack memory, which is utilized to store nearby factor and strategy outlines in Java.

Btw, in the event that you are reviving your information structure ideas for Interviews, I likewise propose you experience the Java Training in Bangalore to get ready well for your meeting.

5.       Queue:

The line information structure is additionally accessible in Java accumulation system as interface and few solid executions, for example, ArrayBlockingQueue, LinkedList and PriorityQueue.

In spite of the fact that you can likewise actualize Queue by utilizing LinkedList or exhibit, it's greatly improved to utilize existing classes, which are attempted and tried.

This diminishes improvement time as well as general code quality and execution of your application. BlockingQueue is a string safe augmentation of Queue interface and can be utilized to actualize produce shopper design in Java.

6.       Set:

Set is an extraordinary information structure, which doesn't permit copies. It's a decent information structure to store one of kind components for example IDs. Java Collection API gives two or three usages of Set like HashSet, TreeSet and LinkedHashSet, which is all that could possibly be needed for general circumstances. Those accumulations, separated structure start set additionally gives arranging and inclusion request.

That is about the absolute most fundamental Data Structure for Java engineers. Aside from these fundamental information structures, there are significantly more in the Java gathering system, including simultaneous information structure like BlockingQueue and ConcurrentHashMap. For a Java designer with any experience level, it's great to investigate new gathering classes presented in Java 5 and 6 for utilizing Java API.