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radiant-reid · 2 years ago

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Hot wife request:

A photo of Reid’s hot wife just walking down the street or grocery shopping or doing whatever goes viral online. He obviously doesn’t know cuz he doesn’t use socials. The team discusses this beautiful lady only to find out she’s Reid’s wife when she stops by with the glasses he left at home.

gosh i love how much y'all have gotten into this because me too

also, this is set with him ↓ but modern

It's not unusual for Penelope to send Morgan TikToks while the BAU is off working a case somewhere around the country. Usually, they're cute ones of puppies, other animals, or babies. Today, though, it's a video of her current favorite Tiktoker who she caught onto just as she started blowing up.

The it's.y/nnnn account now has 500 thousand followers, and Penelope might be one of her biggest fans. She found the account on one of the first videos Y/n posted, a highlight reel of her best pictures in October. From there, it transformed into her doing trends and talking about her fabulous life while maintaining a healthy balance of being real, an incredibly rare feat.

Morgan watches it immediately, understanding Penelope's next message- OH MY GOD!!!- when he recognizes the street and suburb 18th Street NW, Adams Morgan. It's a video review of a Mexican restaurant, one he and Penelope had been at a week prior.

JJ and Elle, sitting with him at the boardroom table, notice his amusement. "What is it?" JJ asks.

"Penelope's favorite TikToker lives in DC." He reports, handing over his phone so they can see the video and read Penelope's following texts voicing her excitement. "Someone find Reid so I can tell her how many people live in DC and that it's not that surprising."

"Wait, no, this is good," Elle tells him, taking the phone from JJ's hand and scrolling through some of the other videos from the creator. She's heard Penelope hyping this girl up, but she wasn't curious until now. "Do you know if she's... you know?"

Morgan laughs. "What, you're going to go and stake out the restaurant and then hit on her?" He asks.

"She's hot." Elle shrugs. "You would if you had a chance."

That offends him, and he scoffs. "I absolutely would have a chance."

"Bullshit." She calls. "She's too hot for you."

Playfully wounded, he places a hand over his chest. "I'm wounded. JJ, back me up."

JJ looks like she doesn't want to pick sides, but since he's making her, she's honest with her answer. "I mean, she is really pretty."

Determined to validate himself, he asks the next person that walks in. Unfortunately, that's Hotch who's forced to watch three videos. "Do you think she'd get with me?" Morgan questions his boss.

Hotch gives him a hardened stare. "I think you should do your work." He states firmly, in his scary tone, and takes a seat before adding his answer in a whisper. "And no, I don't."

He gives up after that, not wanting to damage his ego further, and texts Penelope that he, too, is very excited by the revelation.

Every morning, Penelope gives the three of them an update on any developments she's found out, and every morning Morgan and Elle compete about who would be able to land her. Hotch quickly bans her from misusing FBI technology to uncover any personal information about a stranger and forbids her from printing memos for everyone.

She almost faints when the Y/n gets out of the elevator one morning, having to pinch herself, take off her glasses, and put them back on to make sure she isn't dreaming or hallucinating.

When she determines she's not, she rushes over, not going to miss her chance. "Oh my gosh, you're you!" She squeals, clearly catching Y/n off guard from the way she jumps.

"I'm sorry, have we met?" Y/n asks awkwardly, hating when situations like this occur.

"Oh. Oh, no, but I'm a massive fan." Penelope gushes. "Your page is seriously my life goals. I'm Penelope."

She smiles gratefully. "Thank you so much." It feels weird for her to be recognized in public, especially when she's come to her husband's workplace.

It's then that Penelope notices the massive engagement ring on her finger next to the wedding band. "Oh my gosh, you're married?!" She asks excitedly, completely forgetting to ask a question about why an influencer is standing in the BAU. Y/n nods happily looking down at the ring. "To who?"

With near-perfect timing, Spencer walks through the glass doors and notices his wife and his colleague talking, frowning at them.

"Well, actually, to him." Y/n answers, nodding at her husband who's walking over to them.

"Hey, sweetheart." He greets her nonchalantly, coming to stand by her side and wrapping his arm around her waist. He then notices Penelope's shocked face, something he's never seen so intensely. "What's going on?"

She's practically speechless, but she doesn't need to speak when Elle, JJ, and Morgan turn up. "What's going on?" Morgan repeats the same question as Spencer, stunned like Elle is.

"Hey, I'm Y/n Reid." She introduces herself, shaking their hands.

"Wait, you have a sister?" Morgan asks. They don't look related but there's no chance in his mind that they're not dating.

Spencer completely misses the intention of the question. "No. Well, not that I know of, but I guess there's a chance I could have a half-sibling, but you'd tell me, right, Garcia?"

His wife rests her hand on his chest, signaling for him to stop while showing off her ring. "We're married."

"No shit," Elle remarks, raising her eyebrows.

Spencer's not only married, but he's married to a popular, stunning woman.

"Mhm." Spencer doesn't pick up on the looks being exchanged between the four of them as they try to work out how their relationship happened. She's model-level gorgeous, and Spencer, although they love him and know he's attractive, does not seem like he'd be her type. "I forgot my glasses." He informs them as Y/n takes them out of her handbag and gives the case to him.

"You've got to stay for lunch." JJ insists. "We have so such to ask you."

Morgan nods in agreement. "Like, if you weren't married to Pretty Boy, would you date me?"

#spencer reid #spencer reid x reader #criminal minds #spencer reid x y/n #spencer reid fandom #spencer reid x you #spencer reid blurb

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definitelynotafurinasimp · 2 years ago

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How they like to spend your time together

Characters: Inazuma women x gn!reader (seperate)

Warnings: none, just fluff

a/n: Wanted to write something for Heizou, ended up writing all female Inazuma characters, but no Heizou instead. Sometimes my genius is… it’s almost frightening.

Call me sleep deprived, because I am-... sleep deprived.

Anyway, hope you enjoy!

Ayaka

Ayaka never had many people close to her, so simply having you around her was enough to make her day seem better in retrospect, that being said, there were a lot of things she’d like to try with you. She had always been a fan of the arts, and while writing poetry, learning dances and playing music alone already brought her joy, she always wondered how it would be to share her interests with others.

Whenever neither of you were busy, you’d meet up and write poems together, and while you weren’t exactly confident in your writing at the beginning, Ayaka did an excellent job at easing you in, all the while giving you small tips for how to improve yourself.

“This is even better than the last one, although you might want to try structure it like this next time. From my experience, it makes the poem sound smoother”, she recommended before showing you her piece of paper, all the while wearing a small, but genuine smile, reflecting how excited she felt about having someone to share her experience in writing with.

Kujou Sara

While there were many things Sara did outside of work, none of them could compare when it came to the time, she’d spend trying to better her skills with the bow. So, when you asked her if she’d have time to teach it to you, she was quick to accept. And while her behaviour during your lessons often resembled how she’d teach archery to her soldiers, she’d feel much prouder and happier whenever she noticed you improving. Was it because you were much closer to her than her soldiers or just because of your terrible skill in the beginning.

When you were taking aim, Sara quickly positioned herself behind you, only to stop you before you could let the arrow loose, grabbing the arm with which you held the bow before adjusting its angle.

“Hold the bow like this or the bowstring might hit your forearm”, she stated, only for you to nod, aim once more and let the bowstring go, and while you were far from hitting the bullseye, you, for the first time, didn’t miss, causing you to excitedly turn to Sara, only to be greeted by a barely visible smile and a look of approval.

Kuki Shinobu

There was no-one in the whole of Inazuma whose amount of certificates could rival Shinobu’s. After all, while some would collect coins or other things as a hobby, she seemed to do the same with degrees, seemingly never going a long time between taking exams for different certificates. All of that made it fair to say that there probably wasn’t a better person to ask for help than her, and while she’d probably be able to explain everything from accounting to architecture to you, the two of you often found yourself cooking together, with her telling you how to make different dishes while you followed her commands.

Not only was it a easy enough thing to learn to hold a conversation while doing so, but you’d also automatically be rewarded with something to eat if you succeeded.

“Okay, next you take the roasted lavender melon and cut it in pieces”, Shinobu stated, only for both of you to realise that the purple fruit was nowhere to be seen. “Wait. You didn’t leave it over the fire, did you?”, she questioned, the answer to her question coming moments later as you began smelling something burned, causing you to rush over and try your best at damage control.

There weren’t exactly things Ei would call “her hobbies”, having spent the last 500 years in her Plane of Euthymia, and while training her fighting skills was something she liked doing before she sealed herself away, she knew well enough that training with you would only result in disaster, no matter how good you were. And so, she’d simply let you take the lead, participating in whatever activities you wanted the two of you to do.

Most of the time, the two of you would take small trips around Inazuma, no matter if it was inside the city, with you looking through the different stores as you showed her whatever new inventions or products made their way into the nation, or outside of it, taking in the beautiful nature that Ei hadn’t realised she missed so much.

“How does it taste?”, you asked Ei as she took a sip of the new drink being sold at your favourite shop, not having to wait long for a response, as Ei made a small nod before responding.

“Delicious, I can’t remember this being sold the last time we were here, is it new?”

“Mhm, it’s a recipe from a Mondstadt, they call it Barbatos’ tears of joy”, you stated, only for Ei to slightly cringe at the mention of the Anemo archon before acting as if nothing happened before you had the chance to say something.

“Good to know, let’s visit the next store.”

Kokomi

Kokomi, being the divine priestess of Watatsumi Island, had a lot of things to do during her day, was it managing the Island, or helping the residents whenever they asked her for help. So, whenever she was done with work, she’d simply find a quiet place to read or rest in. And while relaxing alone was a good way to regain her energy points, when you were with her, she felt herself recharge even more efficiently than alone.

And while it was enough for you to just sit in the same room as her and silently do things on your own, there would be times during which Kokomi would feel too tired to read on her own, only for you to take her book and read it out loud for her. And while you didn’t exactly understand tactics and strategies for warfare, causing you to have little idea what you were reciting, it nevertheless worked.

“Are you feeling better now?”, you asked while closing the book, having finally finished it, glancing over to Kokomi, slumped over her desk, obviously having been exhausted by work, only for her to silently hum in response.

“Much better, just give me… 3 more minutes”, she mumbled out loud before growing silent again. And while it took you some time to realise that she had fallen asleep, you decided not to wake her, remaining on your seat to make sure nothing happened to her, sure that she’d wake up after a while.

She woke up several hours later

Yae Miko

While Yae loved to tease you, your reactions being even more amusing to her than others, not every moment the two of you spent together would be filled with her teasing. There were many occasions the two of you would just silently sit in the same room while reading whatever novels her publishing house was about to release, the comfortable silence being enough to make you forget about Yae’s other favourite activity besides reading.

Most of the times, that’d be the moment in which she struck, your reaction being enough to instantly improve her mood, no matter what genre she was reading, only to instantly shift her focus back to her novel, continuing to read as if nothing happened.

“That’s the novel everybody is talking about isn’t it?”, Yae’s voice rang out without warning, causing you to quickly look at her before nodding your head with a small smile, only for it to vanish once you saw her smug expression. “I heard it has a Kitsune in it. Is there something you want to tell me?”, she asked in her usual teasing voice, and while you ought to have grown accustomed to it by now, you still felt you face heat up, only for your thoughts to be disrupted by her laugh.

Yoimiya

Hanging out with Yoimiya always made for a day full of surprises, the energetic girl knowing a plethora of fun ways to spend time together, from just telling each other stories to playing with the many children she called her friends or testing out firework together. All in all, there wasn’t any activity the two of you did more frequently than others, that was with one exception.

Whenever a festival took place, you’d go. That was something like an unspoken rule between the two of you. No matter how much work both of you had to do first, you’d finish it and attend the festival, no matter how small.

“Wait, you are already done?”, Yoimiya asked while sticking her head out of her door, having summoned by you knocking on her door, and while she seemed to be in a rush, unfortunately for her, you had no idea what she was talking about.

“Done with what? I just thought we could hang out today”, you questioned in return, only for her to tell you to wait for a moment before vanishing back into her home, returning with a calendar. The entire following week being filled with different smaller festivals, suddenly making you realise what she had meant.

“Now that I think about it, there’s work left for me to finish, good luck!”, you said your goodbye before quickly making your way home.

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jovaybluejay · 4 years ago

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Dumb Ways to Die Spoof Character Sheet

Flighty (Stand in the path of a plane’s flight)

A hurricane could happen around Flighty and he wouldn’t notice a thing. That’s how oblivious Flighty is to his surroundings, just happily wandering around without a care in the world. He also tends to wander into places he shouldn’t be in. Unfortunately, one of those places ended up being a runway at an airport.

Blight (Play around on a building site)

Blight loves to play. In fact, just about any place in the world can turn into a playground for her. She especially enjoys playing around in high places and her favorite type of game is balancing on things. So when Blight came across a building site, there would only be so many ways that this could play out. It ended the worst possible way.

Goofus (Step into a lion’s cage at the zoo)

Goofus loves cats. To him, cats are sweet, cuddly and great companions. Goofus simply couldn’t get enough of the furry felines and loves all types, big and small. So when Goofus went to the zoo one day, Goofus couldn’t resist wanting to give a caged lion all of his love and affection. The lion did not feel the same way.

Kook (Use too much gas for your barbecue)

Kook was never good at math. When he ordered a pizza to be delivered to him, he gave the pizza delivery guy $500 when the pizza only cost ten. So when Kook was hosting a barbecue, Kook couldn’t figure out how much gas to use, so Kook decided to just use up an entire gallon. The idea blew up in his face.

Loone (Wear a jellyfish as a hat)

A trendsetter with an eye for fashion, there wasn’t anything Loone wouldn’t wear. Loone wore a dress made of flowers and used duct tape rolls as stilettos and gained a small following as a result. However, that style became so yesterday very fast, so Loone decided to set another trend by using a jellyfish as a hat. The fact that the idea did not catch on stung a lot.

Muggin (Rob a gun store with a baseball bat)

Muggin was never the brightest bulb, which was how he ended up becoming broke and destitute. Desperate for cash, Muggin decided to turn to a life of crime and decided to rob the first store he saw and stormed into the place with a baseball bat. Sadly for Muggin, that store was a gun store. Muggin took a shot at crime and failed while the store owner took a shot and succeeded.

Bozo (Throw a knife straight up in the air)

Being a member of a circus was Bozo’s dream job. However, Bozo would have to train for that if he were to achieve that goal. Within weeks, Bozo mastered all sorts of performances such as tightroping, unicycling, and acrobatics. Now all that was left was to master the art of juggling. Bozo wanted to practice with knives and decided to start off with juggling a single knife. Bozo wanted to join the circus, but he was already a clown.

Cretin (Go out in the snow in your underwear)

There are two things in life that Cretin enjoys the most. One of those things is going out in only his underwear as Cretin believes that clothes are too restricting for him. The other thing was snow. One day Cretin decided to put both of those things together. Being in his underwear in public that day, bystanders weren’t the only ones giving Cretin the cold shoulder.

Galah (Try to surf on a tidal wave)

When it came to surfing, Galah was the queen. When it came to having brains, Galah was the fool. Whether the day was rainy, windy, or snowy, Galah didn’t care. Any day was a good day for surfing, including the day a siren for an incoming tidal wave was announced. On the plus side, she certainly had one gnarly ride.

Divvy (Go explore inside a wolf’s cave)

Divvy worked in accounting, but was an adventurer at heart. Divvy had fantasies of going out and exploring the natural wonders of the world. So when Divvy took a vacation, she decided to spend that time exploring different areas, including a wolf’s cave. Also being a canine lover, Divvy assumed that wolves were just big dogs. The ones she encountered were definitely not man’s best friend.

Clunk (While there’s lightning climb a pole made of steel)

Clunk was an athlete and excelled in all things physical where his favorite activity was climbing. During his school days, P.E. was the only class he passed at. One of those classes that Clunk flunked in was science, so when a thunderstorm occurred during his attempt to climb a steel pole, the lesson on what happens when lightning makes contact with metal was very shocking to Clunk.

Dolt (Use a chainsaw to prepare your meal)

Dolt loved to cook, but he was constantly looking for various ways to improve his cooking. Dolt felt like his kitchen knives were too dull and inefficient with chopping ingredients. This led to Dolt using a different tool for cooking: a chainsaw. The chainsaw ended up fulfilling what it was meant to do, which was cutting things.

Klutz (Deep-sea dive with no air tank)

Klutz loved the ocean and everything that has to do with it. Klutz decided to get a good view of what the ocean had to offer by going deep-sea diving. However, Klutz was very forgetful, so in his excitement, Klutz forgot to pack an oxygen tank to go along with his diving suit. He also forgot that his diving suit did not have an unlimited supply of air.

Bogan (Scare an armed man as a prank)

If the dictionary were to come out with a new edition, Bogan’s picture should come up as the definition for “troublemaker”. Bogan is a massive prankster and no one is safe from his shenanigans. Bogan also has no consideration for the consequences of his actions, so when he blasted an air horn to scare an armed soldier, Bogan would not be having the last laugh.

Kuckoo (Let a giant snake creep around your waist)

When Kuckoo adopted a giant snake, the two really hit it off. It was a relationship that would not be broken easily. Kucko would let her reptilian friend wrap around her all the time. Their love was strong, but unfortunately for Kuckoo, so was her pet snake. Turns out her snake was an affectionate hugger who didn’t like letting go.

Noddy (“I wonder how this will taste?”)

Noddy was a curious individual. Even if it might end badly, she wanted to know the outcome for everything. Noddy was also quick to assume, so when she found a bottle, she assumed that the bottle was a drink and wanted to know what it tasted like. Spoiler alert, the taste was not good and neither was the aftermath.

Palooka (Take a hike up a steep unstable mountain)

Palooka was a bit of a daredevil who wanted to live life to the fullest. However, Palooka was also bad at judgement, like how he judged badly on which mountain to climb and chose a steep one. Palooka was also pretty clumsy and made another made judgement that a simple walking stick would be all that he’d to fix that. Once again, it was a bad judgement call.

Schlepper (Experiment with lots of deadly poison)

A science fanatic, Schlepper was obsessed with doing different lab experiments. He wasn’t trying to invent a cure for cancer or a new hair formula or anything like that. Schlepper just liked messing around with different chemicals and seeing what they could do. What Schlepper should have focused a bit more on, however, was lab SAFETY. Especially when he worked with poison.

Ditzy (Text and drive on an interstate freeway)

Whoever introduced Ditzy to texting probably regrets it right now. With texting, she discovered social media and became obsessed with taking photos of herself and posting and texting them to other people. She did it wherever and whenever she could, including on the interstate freeway.

Mutton (Drag race inside a tight-spaced area)

Mutton was a showoff, but the thing he loved showing off the most was his car and how fast it could go. Mutton was normally the winner of the drag races he participated in. One of the tracks took place in a tight-spaced suburban neighborhood and like any other race, Mutton burned rubber. In the end, Mutton lost and was crushed.

Chump (Merge into a busy lane without signaling)

Chump was a high-ranking member in the corporate world and didn’t feel like he had to play by the rules. He felt like he could do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted to without anything bad happening to him, such as merging into another lane without using his turn signals. However, Chump ended up getting a crash course in why you should use turn signals, especially on busy roads.

Dumb Ways tp Die belongs to Metro and Tangerine Kitty Made using Krita

#dumb ways to die #spoof #fanmade characters #character sheet

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hammerlocke-stadium · 5 years ago

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C i j o for Raihan pliz? Also congratulations for hitting 500 followers!!!!! You totally deserve more!!!! :)

@ Anon 1: Thank you so much for your kind words I’m!!!

@ Anon 2: fluffaphet is such a cute shorthand for it omg

there was a couple more anons but i just deleted them bc theres so many asks already kjbbvkdjfv (to the anons that complimented me w ur raihan requests i would die for you)

Activities - What do they like to do with their s/o? How do they spend their free time with them?

Raihan loves going on runs and walks with his s/o, basically anything active really! But he also loves going on picnics in the wild area with them as well.

Beauty - What do they admire about their s/o? What do they think is beautiful about them?

He admires how strong they are emotionally! Dating someone who’s as famous as him is tough when the paparazzi try and ambush dates after all! Raihan thinks everything is beautiful about them but his favourite thing is their smile, especially when he’s the cause of it!

Comfort - How would they help their s/o when they feel down/have a panic attack etc.?

Starts of by holding their hands and talking about anything he can think of, and when they start calming down Raihan gets closer and pulls them into his arms.

Dreams - How do they picture their future with their s/o?

Lots of cuddles, making meals together and surprising each other with gifts, helping each other groom their pokemon and being happy and in love until they die.

Equal - Are they the dominant one in the relationship, or rather passive?

Raihan is pretty dominant! But he’s willing to bow to what his s/o wants if his enthusiasm is making them uncomfortable, all Raihan wants is them to be happy with him after all!

Fight - Would they be easy to forgive their s/o? How are they fighting?

When he’s fighting with his s/o Raihan tends to storm off to blow steam in the Wild Area so he can avoid saying anything he’d regret later in his anger. As long as his partner is willing to talk everything out, and have both of them walk out if they start getting angry again, then Raihan is pretty forgiving! He’s super big on communication.

Gratitude - How grateful are they in general? Are they aware of what their s/o is doing for them?

Raihan is grateful everyday that his partner stays with him despite all the fans and paparazzi that follow him around so much. His partner tries to make him dinner everyday and swipes his laundry to do while he’s gone to lighten the load of what he has to do at home, Raihan’s heart bursts with love every time he comes home and finds them snoozing in a half folded basket of clothes.

Honesty - Do they have secrets they hide from their s/o? Or do they share everything?

Raihan shares most things with his s/o! But with things like the dynamaxed pokemon on the loose he doesn’t tell them until after its over with because then they don’t have to worry for hours or days or even weeks until the situation is dealt with; telling them after it’s done means they can get all the worry over in a day.

Inspiration - Did their s/o change them somehow, or the other way around? Like trying out new things or helped them overcome personal problems?

His partner makes me him slow down and look at the things and people around him, he appreciates his friends a lot more upon realising how much attention is heaped on them just for knowing him. Raihan helps his s/o with being more confidant with them self.

Jealousy - Do they get jealous easily? How do they deal with it?

He’s pretty confidant with his relationship! But if someone starts flirting with his s/o and doesn’t stop when they’ve told them that they’re already taken his jealousy rears its ugly head and he swans in to take his partner’s hand and walk away.

Kiss - Are they a good kisser? What was the first kiss like?

I’m bias but he is absolutely a good kisser. The first kiss with Raihan is rushed and giggly, he’s so excited they return his feelings he ends up bumping noses with them and laughing as they kiss.

Love Confession - How would they confess to their s/o?

He’d do it in private, probably with a letter and some of their favourite flavours or if they’re allergic to flowers then their favourite food. Raihan would make sure they know that no matter their answer he still wants to be friends though.

Marriage - Do they want to get married? How do they propose? What would the marriage be like?

Yeah Raihan wants to get married someday, he really wants to find someone he loves and loves him back enough to spend the rest of his life with. Raihan would propose with an Applin! Instead of an evolution item it would be holding a ring though. Marriage with him would be full of fun little games and spontaneous dates! It would probably feel like being in their honeymoon forever.

Nicknames - What do they call their s/o?

Babe, Love, Hun, Fae (bc they’re his greatest weakness ;) lmao).

On Cloud Nine - What are they like when they are in love? Is it obvious for others? How do they express their feelings?

He’s naturally very touchy feely already so unless they’ve known him for a while they won’t notice that he’s in love.

PDA - Are they upfront about their relationship? Do they brag with their s/o in front of others? Or are they rather shy to kiss etc. when others are watching?

Raihan doesn’t care about anyone’s opinion but his s/o’s about the pda but he refuses to hide their relationship like a dirty secret he loves them to much to pretend like they aren’t together.

Quirk - Some random ability they have that’s beneficial in a relationship.

He’s got a godly ability to open cans without the pin breaking off.

Romance - How romantic are they? What would they do to make their s/o happy? Cliché or rather creative?

He can be super romantic! Raihan once wore one of those tuxedo graphic tees because his partner was sick and walked into the bedroom with a tray of soup (badly) pretending to be their personal butler because he knew it would make them laugh.

Support - Are they helping their s/o achieve their goals? Do they believe in them?

Raihan absolutely and unashamedly boosts his s/o’s endeavours on his social media accounts, he is their number one believer.

Thrill - Do they need to try out new things to spice out your relationship? Or do they prefer a certain routine?

Both? He likes trying new things out with his s/o but doing something they know they both enjoy is just as fun.

Understanding - How good do they know their partner? Are they empathetic?

Raihan knows his partner very well!! And he’s very empathetic, in fact he’s an empathetic crier so when his s/o get teary its tissue hell.

Value - How important is the relationship to them? What is it’s worth in comparison to other things in their life?

His relationship is very important to Raihan, sure he loves being a gym leader and he’s honoured to be the one in charge of protecting the Hammerlocke vault but Raihan will drop those without a single thought if it meant he had a chance to be with his s/o for the rest of his life.

Wild Card - A random Fluff Headcanon.

Raihan will unzip his hoodie wrap it around his s/o’s front then re-zip it up so they’re trapped in it with him.

XOXO - Are they very affectionate? Do they love to kiss and cuddle?

He’s very, very affectionate! Raihan loves kissing and cuddling but if his partner gets overwhelmed he’s happy too stop until they’re okay again.

Yearning - How will they cope when they’re missing their partner?

He sulks all the time while they’re gone, and channels all his energy into gym matches and training to distract himself from watching the clock to count the minutes until they’re home.

Zeal - Are they willing to go to great lengths for the relationship? If so, what kind of?

Yell heah he is! As stated before Raihan is willing to drop his job as gym leader and protector of the vault if it means he can stay with his s/o for the rest of his life. In his opinion having someone to love and be loved by for his entire life is more important than being recognised as strong or famous.

#500 Special #Gym Leader Raihan #Raihan #Hcs #msdmsndbf yall are so raihan thirsty i love it

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misti2460 · 4 years ago

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Thusly, inbound associating is essential. Getting back-associations may be the hugest of SEO. On a fundamental level, in any case, a site owner shouldn't have to 'scout' or 'pursue' for joins. In case the presented content is of interest, important, or conceivably huge, there is a trademark penchant among web customers to association with information. Underneath I will give you ten phases to help you map out your course about Is Search Engine Submission Necessary? Likewise, dismiss you from the right way. It isn't all that you need to know in any capacity whatsoever, anyway it will give you a fundamental foundation to develop.

With all due respect, introducing your webpage to the web crawlers can't do any damage. Also, it simply includes around 5 minutes of added work expecting you simply submit to the colossal people. Moreover, once is adequate… you don't need to introduce your site more than once. It doesn't help or get your site crawled any quicker or even more oftentimes. It should be seen that introducing your site to Google, Yahoo, MSN, and various others doesn't cost a charge. Various SEO associations express that you need to pay to be recorded. This isn't the circumstance and I would maintain a strategic distance from these associations. They are money hungry and aren't paying unique brain to your prosperity.

Would you really consider going on a move away the country over without bringing a guide? It is adequately difficult to find your way in specific spots with a guide. How hard would it be if you endeavored this experience without one? Nonetheless, this is really what people do every single day in the online world. They endeavored to collect their associations online without having a manual for progress. By then, after months or significant stretches of basically wandering around on the web, they give up in disappointment and quit. They leave saying that the Internet doesn't work for them. The clarification it didn't work is that they didn't get a guide and follow it!

1. Pick a zeroed in on market

Is Search Engine Submission Necessary? The best misunderstanding by far most make when starting a business is that they pick a thing and a while later endeavor to find people who need to get it. If that is the heading you are starting from on your trip, by then you are going the alternate path from your target. Keen associations work from a substitute thought. They pick a market first, and subsequently they pick a thing those people are searching for. With everything taken into account, instead of endeavoring to find prompts offer their thing to, they find zeroed in on leads and a while later ask them what they are expecting to buy.

Make an effort not to attempt to consider starting a business until you know accurately where you will get your leads from. Consider zeroed in on customers first. By then, you can think about a thing for those individuals. Would you rather have 1,000 hits each day at your site of a general group OR 10 hits each day of people who are tense and ready to finish on any expense to buy your things? If you are sagacious, you will pick people who are set up to buy!

2. Develop a Product | Is Search Engine Submission Necessary?

At that point, you need to develop a thing or organization for this market. Don't just jump aboard with the pattern of partner projects when you bring about these current conditions step. There are three huge techniques for selling a thing on the web:

a. You make your prohibitive thing.

This is the most obvious opportunity you have. If you develop your thing, you can pick it the worth, sell duplicate rights to others, set up an accomplice program, etc Try not to uncover to me you can't do this. A colossal number of creative financial specialists have used their information things to kick their callings off. You can also.

For the length of your life, I am sure that there is something you have found that you can participate in a How-To thing. Maybe you know someone else who has the right data for a How-To thing and you could offer to help them with making a thing if you both shared the rights to it. Don't just ricochet past this opportunity and say it is beyond the realm of imagination.

b. You buy the rights to a thing or you JV for a detached thing.

You can buy the rights to successful things for $500 – $20,000. In case someone else has caused a thing that you to understand your zeroed in on market is excited about, offer them an immense ahead of time charge for the rights to it. This way you can get your thing and never need to pay a penny in eminences. You can moreover glance through magazines your zeroed in on market examines and look for things people are selling. By then, consider them and solicitation the first class Internet rights to their thing for a particular level of the advantages or an ahead of time cost.

c. You join an auxiliary program.

If you are just start on the web, this can be a good choice. You do have to recollect anyway that it doesn't offer a staggering advantage potential that making your thing or getting rights to one has. While picking a branch program, guarantee that it is something you’re centered around market can't be without. They should have it. Also, give remarkable thought to the advantages you get from each arrangement.

If you are simply be paid 5% commissions on the arrangements of $10 books, you may be making 50 pennies for every customer. It would take 2,000 customers just to make $1,000 in advantages. You can't get money like this on the web! Quest for all the more exorbitant things and higher commissions… especially commissions in the 25% or higher reach.

3. Make a USP

Is Search Engine Submission Necessary? Make a Unique Selling Position for your thing or organization. A particularly number of associations are just endeavoring to be me-additionally associations on the web. You can't be a lot of equivalent to any other person and desire to make an advantage in an overall economy. Just going to coming up next individual's site to orchestrate is unreasonably straightforward for your customers.

You need to make Uniqueness for your thing or offer. What might you have the option to offer that no one else can? Would you have the option to offer better guarantees, better customer help, more specific assistance, speedier conveyance, or lower costs? Consider something that will isolate you from the aggregate of your online opponents and tell in complete detail what it is.

4. Pick a Domain Name and Hosting Service

The accompanying stage is to pick a space name that depicts your association, USP, and offer. Endeavor to keep them as short and connecting with about your business as could be considered typical. Do whatever it takes not to use runs or wrong spellings of your thing. Both of these things will make people leave out piece of your space if they type it in. Someone else will get free traffic that you tried to get.

For encouraging, I choose to use Virtualis since they have the Fastest customer help and concentrated assistance in the business. Test them out. They will respond to you inside the hour… at whatever point 24 hours consistently. No other association I have ever been with has even drawn nearer!

5. Develop a Customer Friendly Site

The ensuing stage in the process is to develop your site and put it up for the world to see. In case you are needing to guarantee a full-time Internet business, I endorse that you sort out some way to design the site yourself using one of the numerous undertakings that are instantly open at any item store. You will put aside such a ton of cash if you can achieve the work yourself on the changing alone as your site creates. If your principal business is separated and you are basically adding an assistant compensation, by then you may have to consider having a specialist do your site for you.

When arranging your site, recall the customer reliably. Give demand designs to online Mastercard orders. Make the sum of the associations direct. Endeavor to keep your site essential. Embrace the point of view of a customer, not the business person. Your customers are not almost as enthusiastic about your business as you are. Attempt to put the benefits of your site and your USP straightforwardly on top of the site. Most of the web surfers never drop down past the chief screen stacked with information. Thusly, you need to give them the information they need as quick as could be considered typical. The principles for a business are Benefits, Benefits, and more Benefits.

6. Offer a Freebie

Is Search Engine Submission Necessary? digital marketing agency in singapore has one of the huge keys to making traffic and arrangements at your site are to reliably offer some sort of blessing as a drawing factor. For example, I offer many free reports, environment projections, news, to say the very least. My most conspicuous drawing factor all through the past 8 months anyway has been the two free computerized books that we offer on our site to people who purchase in to this notice.

#Search Engine Submission #digital marketing

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wangtaeil · 6 years ago

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wow. hello everyone! i cant believe i really get to say this, but i just hit 3,500 followers. w o w. i've been making ateez gifs for exactly 3 months now and in those 3 short months i have gained over 500 followers, bringing me to an amount i am totally undeserving of. i honestly have no idea how this happened but i am so grateful for each and every one of you i didnt know what i should do to celebrate this amazing milestone. i considered opening requests for gifs or moodboards, maybe even start taking requests for the amazing writing skills i've developed recently. that might still happen (and would probably be for mutuals only i'm afraid) but for now i want to just give a shout out to my amazing mutuals who make being here worth it. its gonna get loooong so its under the cut thank you all so much for this, i love you all

here we gooo....

@cryiingemoji if i said everything i want to say to you here, it would take up this entire post. luckily you already know it all because its been 700 years lol. speak to you soon, ily 💚

@sooncheolie i’ve said it a thousand times in the what, 3 years we’ve been friends? but you are one of my closest friends on here, and i’d like to think that if we knew each other in the real world we would be basically best friends. you’re amazing and i’m so glad we stumbled into each other’s lives back when we were just imhobi and jinjackson. you got me into seventeen and taught me all their names, now i just have to get you into ateez... ily 💚

@mauloveskpop miss mau, anyone that is lucky enough to call you a friend is truly blessed. we’ve known each other for years and i’ve loved every damn second of it. you’re amazing and so hard working, a real treasure. i’ve discovered a lot of groups through you and learned how to gif by watching you grow, ily 💚

@1oonar my daughter... you’ve been gone for over a month now but i still think about you every day. i hope you are well and i will be here waiting when you get back, ily 💚

@whiteconfession laura, honestly, i’d be lost without you. you’re an absolute riot to talk to, every time i see your name come up in my dm’s i know i’m about to lol in real life. i’m so proud of you for all your achievements, not that i ever had any doubts. and its not that long until sungyeol returns woo! ily 💚

@visualsan i dont know that i’d be writing all of this right now if it wasnt for you and your sister, i think its all down to you two that the amount of atinys that follow me are following me. i remember being really scared to talk to you at first because i’d admired your blog for a while and i actually freaked out a little when you followed me. i’m so glad we became friends, you’re so wonderful, ily 💚

@smol-joong like i said to bea, i wouldnt be able to write a 3.5k follower post if it hadnt been for you. you told people to follow me and then everything just blew up. you did that for me, i cannot thank you enough. you’re very special to me and i’d take a bullet for you (or take a buffet for you as my sister would say...). ily 💚

@prettyseonghwa wow, where do i start with you miss yasmin? you are an actual angel. i dont know what i did to deserve you but i’m so thankful for you. you’ve been there to talk me through some rough times and you handle everything with such maturity. you’re so thoughtful and caring, even when you’re struggling yourself. i wish i could do for you what you have done for me. ily 💚

@softmingis wonderful miss luna. you were one of the people i was most intimidated by when i first became part of atinyblr. no matter what you say, to me you are a big account and i was scared to approach you. but look at us now! you’re one of my favourite people here and i love talking to you. i’m so happy you came back, ily 💚

@doorootu res, i’m so happy to have met you. your finals are almost over and i’m so proud of you! soon you will be all over my dash again and i cannot wait! ily 💚

@omg-gyu i’ve missed you while you’ve been away taking your exams, i hope everything is going well for you. i was honoured to be the one you asked for advice when getting into ateez, i hope you’ve been enjoying this comeback, ily 💚

@honeyboysan jules, i admire you so much. your love of all things nature is so pure and wholesome and its a joy to see. you’re so thoughtful towards other people’s feelings and weird phobias. allowing myself and your followers to share your nb journey is inspiring, i wish you nothing but happiness, ily 💚

@cherryjoong honestly maggie, you’re some kind of chaotic good, you’re the human embodiment of your ateez crack moodboards, so much fun and i love interacting with you. also you and jules are so EFFIN cute i cannot handle it. ily 💚

@moonctzen you’re so much fun and you’re taeil biased so that automatically means you’re awesome. i know we dont interact that much but i thoroughly enjoy seeing you on my dash. ily 💚

@moonitaeil we dont interact much but your posts on my dash brighten my day. i’m glad we share a love of taeil, ily 💚

@127-mile emilie, you’re a very talented writer and you bring so much joy to so many people with your au’s. i hope you continue to write and grow for many many years, ily 💚

@softforyunho it says it right there in your url, you are the softest. so lovable and seeing you share your love for yunho is heartwarming. ily 💚

@jaehyunay you are hilarious, i love talking to you and seeing all of your lovely wallpapers that you make. keep up the good work! ily 💚

@meinyunho natali you’re so lovely. watching your adventures in gif making has been a pleasure. you’re doing so well and i hope you continue. you’re doing so well, i’m proud of you, ily 💚

@honeyjoongie elli, you’ve been gone for so long but its like you’re still here because of the amazing queue you set up. its so thoughtful and you’ve really made everyone so happy with the posts you’ve tagged them in. you even remembered who my stray kids bias is, you’re so powerful and you dont even realise it. everyone is so excited for you to come back, including me. i hope your exams went well, ily 💚

@missminji miss harleigh. you are another person i was quite intimidated by when i first got into the fandom, but looking back i have no idea why. you’re wonderful and totally deserve to see your bias yuto when you go to see pentagon. ily 💚

@wooyuong inna inna inna... you are the one i was the most intimidated by. literally everyone i know already knew you, even people not in atinyblr knew you and i once posted that i wanted to be friends with you and then immediately deleted the post because i was scared you’d see it. but it turns out you’re not scary, you’re infact very cute and adorable and lovable and i might adopt you. ily 💚

@choisansbitch we dont know each other very well, but maybe that will change one day. you are chaotic, but sometimes we all need a little chaos in our lives. you’re fun, i like it. ily 💚

@dearmingi you are someone i would like to get to know better because i dont think we know each other too well just yet. that being said, i do love seeing you on my dash. lets talk more, ily 💚

@sonqmingi definitely was intimidated by you at first and tbh still am a little and i dont know why. you’re awesome though and i’d love to get to know you more, ily 💚

@soulofatiny an angel in disguise. you are so wonderful and kind and caring and i wish there were more people like you in the world. it would be a much kinder place is there were. ily 💚

@woovoung another little bit of much needed chaos on my dash. we dont really know each other that well, but you’re definitely fun. ily 💚

@multidino sometimes i feel like i can actually hear your posts. you’re always there and always first to interact when i say i’m bored for which i’m always grateful. ily 💚

@jonghostation i was a little intimidated by you at first because even before i followed you you were always all over my dash interacting with everyone. i hope we can become friends, ily 💚

@celestial-yunho the last of the people i was most intimidated by. you have such a big presence within the fandom that i didnt think you’d even notice if i followed you. i’d love to get to know you more! ily 💚

@kqyvnho we’ve been mutuals for 2 whole days but i didnt want to leave you out! i hope we can become friends! ily 💚

so there we go! thank you all so much for everything 💚💚💚

#this is so loooong omg #i'm sorry if i missed anyone

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newstfionline · 7 years ago

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How’s Life in the War Zone? Not Great

By Alisa Sopova, NY Times, May 26, 2018

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--I have a strong accent. When I say hello, people ask where I’m from. Ukraine, I answer. The eastern part not controlled by the government. The so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, from which I recently returned after a three-month visit.

Invariably, the next questions are: “Oh, what’s happening there? Is there a war still going on?” This indicates a failure of media coverage. We write about things extensively while they are new and exciting--and drop them as soon as they get boring.

The war in Ukraine has become boring. So I answer:

Well, it’s still taking lives at an average of one to two people every day. However, it has become so static that it’s sort of weird. Two armies sit before each other, sometimes just 100 feet apart. Bound by the Minsk truce agreements of 2014 and 2015, they cannot really fight each other. But without a political solution, they cannot leave. Sometimes they exchange fire, mostly at night while international monitors sleep. Mostly it’s just to let off steam.

Recently, violence has escalated, but the world has hardly noticed. This happens from time to time, without bringing any change. Then comes a new period of simmering.

Because the fighting is so ritualized, predictable and low-profile, civilian life is returning near the front lines, where war and peace coexist bizarrely and uneasily. I’ve seen a school that operates 500 feet from the front. Children are bused there along a narrow road through minefields. I’ve heard that another school was shelled earlier this month. The windows were blown out while 370 children were inside. Four days later, the glass was fixed and the classes resumed. War is war, but you’ve got to go to school.

I’ve seen people fishing and picnicking close to the front line, taking short breaks if shelling starts--if it “becomes loud,” as they say.

One man I met lives in his bathroom because it’s the only part of his house that has survived the shelling, which was most intense early in the war, in 2014 and 2015. Another man is rebuilding his house a mile from the Donetsk airport, where fighting reignites now and then. His house has taken five hits, but the foundation is O.K. and the owner is optimistic. “Why are you doing it?” I asked. “Well,” he said, “I am an old man, and I have two daughters. I want to leave the house for them in good condition, but if I wait for the war to end I might not live that long.”

When I tell these stories, people ask if I still have family there. Yes, my family remains in Donetsk. What’s life like? It’s hard to explain. But I try:

When you think of war, you imagine terror, action and panicked people enduring bombings and shootings. There, it’s different. In downtown Donetsk, life looks pretty normal: hipster coffee shops, mothers pushing strollers, and in spring blossoming lilacs and roses.

But life is hard for other reasons.

Ukraine’s breakaway territory is the size of New York State, with about four million inhabitants facing impossible choices. Held hostage by opportunistic separatist authorities, they are simultaneously cast as outlaws by the Ukrainian government--as separatist sympathizers and disloyal citizens, whose sin was having been taken hostage. Even when they leave, as I did, accusations of treason and collaboration follow them.

As a result, these people have trouble receiving pensions, traveling to “mainland” Ukraine and back, obtaining passports, working or voting. Locked in a ghettoized quasi-state, they are torn between both sides’ unclear and repressive rules.

One of my relatives runs a small business in Donetsk but finds it difficult. Ukraine’s government has imposed an economic blockade on local businesses that are accountable only to the Ministry of Finance of the breakaway republic. The chairman of this ministry is known not by his given name, but by a nom de guerre--Tashkent.

Every two months, my grandmother must travel to government-controlled territory to claim her pension. The trip is not fun: You spend a whole day waiting in maddeningly slow lines at multiple checkpoints. People swarm on a narrow road that bisects a minefield. Because of the lack of facilities, they use roadside bushes as lavatories and occasionally become land-mine casualties. You can avoid this by traveling with a smuggler, who bribes the checkpoint bureaucrats to skip the lines. But that costs a whole month’s pension. You get to choose.

A friend of mine had a grandmother who wasn’t receiving her pension because she was too old for the grueling trip. She died recently. The death certificate issued by separatist authorities has no legal force, and there is no mechanism to issue a Ukrainian one for people who lived in uncontrolled territory. When my friend sought help in court, the judge demanded evidence--three witnesses to grandma’s death, or a video of the funeral. So goes the surrealism of life in this war.

Soon enough, the final question comes: So, whom do local people support--the separatists or the government? My answer disappoints everyone: Most support neither. It’s tempting to root for good guys against bad guys in a conflict on TV, especially if Russia is involved. But when you find soldiers digging trenches in your backyard, you suddenly don’t care if they are good or bad soldiers. You just want them out.

Our real-life choices are seldom political. People choose to stay in the war zone for many reasons--work, property, old age, disability, sentimental attachment to home. The lack of support from the state and the stigma attached elsewhere to being a displaced person also make it sensible to stay put.

Those who remain hope that somehow something will change. But hope is gradually yielding to despair and fatalism. The conflict is at a geopolitical deadlock in which everyone seems more satisfied with the status quo than with any proposed solution. Everyone except the people who must pay the price.

Recently, a thoughtful interlocutor who pursued a conversation like this concluded by telling me: “Frankly speaking, people in the U.S. are tired of hearing about this chronic conflict in Ukraine poisoned by corruption and the lack of political will to move anywhere.”

All I could say was, “If you are tired, imagine how tired we are.”

#Ukraine #Eastern Ukraine #Donetsk People’s Republic #life in war zone

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maned-cerdae · 7 years ago

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Namesakes

“fav! you wrote lore for the first time in forever! whats it about?”

“yeah its like 2000 years into the future and-”

“EXCUSE ME”

“Now come away from the window, or you’ll break the glass and fall through. Besides, today we’re learning about your namesake. Aren’t you interested in learning more about her?”

Ayla turned towards her tutor, fins flicking in annoyance. “But I don’t wanna learn anything today! I want to look at the pretty clouds. Besides, these windows haven’t been made with glass for like, 500 years or something.”

Her tutor raised one eyebrow and took another puff of his pipe, and Ayla sighed and sat back down with a huff.

“Good good. Well then. Today we’re gonna be learning about the formative years of the Democratic Republic of Akkure Loham, and it’s effects on larger Sorneith as a whole. Now, open your book to chapter... Ayla, you’re not listening to me again.”

The fae had turned her head back to the window, craning her neck to try and see the clouds just below the flying home. She jumped at hearing her name and sunk down in her seat. “I don’t want to learn anything! I want to look at the clouds and play my new game! Why do I have to learn about some dusty old dead dragon who lived like, ten million years ago probably!”

“Ten million? Ayla dear, this is only about 2000 years ago. This is recent history.” He took another puff. “How about this? I can ask your parents if we could go to the capital. I heard that the other cloud dragons there make the ‘prettiest clouds ever’ in the public squares, and you can see all the monuments too. There’s tons of them named after dragons from this period. If you find all of them and tell me why that dragon was important, you can see one of the professional cloud dancers.”

Ayla’s eyes lit up. “A professional cloud dancer? Can I use a map? Can I look up a map of the monuments at least pleeasseee? I’ll find all of them and do research and everything! I promise!”

He laughed. “Go ahead.” The second the words left his mouth, Ayla was already racing out of the room and down the steps to look up a map on her computer.

Ayla wiggled impatiently in her seat, map and monument list clutched to her chest. The airship crept forward an inch and she finally whined. “Can I go onto the deck? The airship is like, barely moving! So it would be safe, right? Pleaaasseeeee.”

Her tutor looked over at the driver, and they shrugged. “With traffic like this, might as well take the opportunity. Looks like it won’t be clearing up anytime soon,” they answered, and Ayla turned her best puppy eyes to her tutor.

He finally sighed. “Go on then.” Ayla squeaked and shoved her papers at him. “Thank you thank you thank you Mr. A! I’ll be good, I promise!”

She scrambled out of the cockpit and onto the deck. All around her were other airships, six lanes in total. Ayla crept over to the railing and looked down. There were several more tiers below her, all feeding into different levels of the city. She had never seen so many other dragons in her life, and she wanted to shift and leap into an excited flight right then and there. Her parents would kill her though, if Mr. A didn’t do it first on their behalf.

She looked back up, and saw on the airship across from her other hatchlings also scrambling on their deck. Three coatl siblings practically tumbled over each other in excitement, and a small pearlcatcher crept out cautiously, clutching a pearl tightly to their chest. Rounding out the little parade was an older guardian, holding the pearlcatcher’s shoulder encouragingly.

One of the coatls noticed her looking and ran over to the railing, waving enthusiastically. The other followed. Now that they were closer, she could see their eyes. For a second she thought plague, but they were a tinge too dark. Ayla wracked her minds for the element list her tutor had made her memorize ages ago, and fell upon blood. The smallest of the three had one eye of brilliant ice blue however. The pearlcatcher shrank back against their guardian and pouted. They were too far away to see still.

“-ello! Hello! Hi!” The voice of the first coatl barely carried across the distance and over the hum of hundreds on engines. Ayla raised a hand in greeting back.

“My name’s Rhosyn! My sister is named after the dragon that made shampoo!”

The smallest coatl with the ice heterochromia shrieked loud enough that it carried clearly and started hitting them. They laughed even as their sister yelled. “YOU! ARE! SO! MEAN!!!!!”

“Hi Rhosyn! I’m Ayla! Did you mean your sister is named Akako?”

The coatl stopped hitting her sibling and turned to Ayla, puffing out her chest proudly. “Yes, and she didn’t invent shampoo! I saw it on the computers, but Rhosyn doesn’t believe me even though it was on original Akako’s page thing!”

The pearlcatcher finally handed over the pearl to the guardian, and the second they were close enough they grabbed onto Rhosyn’s arm, though the one that had just been waled on. Rhosyn winced, and the pearlcatcher jumped back hurriedly. Akako grabbed their sleeve and pulled them back towards the railing.

“No, stay with us Ayla! Look, there’s another girl with your name on the other ship!”

Ayla found herself looking at another set of pale white eyes and burst out laughing. The other girl tried to jump back again. Akako kept her still stubbornly. “You’re a cloud dragon too!” Ayla wheezed. “Oh my gods!”

The three coatls immediately turned on the other Ayla to check like they had never seen her before. She frowned over the gap, practically saying Why did you do this to me with her eyes. Rhosyn started laughing as well. “You two are like long lost sisters!”

The third sibling, who hadn’t spoken yet, turned away from the chaos of his siblings. “Ay- The other Ayla, you, what are you going to the city for?”

“I’m seeing a bunch of monuments and maybe a professional cloud dancer with my teacher! Why are you going?”

“I think it’s because my parents bought a new winter home here so they want us to be there earlier than usual so they can throw a bunch of parties.” He shrugged, before his feathers popped up in realization. “Oh! I forgot. My name’s Roscato. Our parents are like, huge history nerds you know? Mom does work at the university though for history but... you know?”

Ayla turned her heard in confusion. “What university? There’s like, a lot, like, everywhere.”

Roscato opened his mouth like he was gonna reply, but his feathers suddenly dropped as he realized he didn’t know the answer. He tugged Rhosyn’s sleeve. “Hey Rhosyn, where does Mom work again? Like, the name?”

Rhosyn looked away from where they had been in a tug of war over a very stressed pearlcatcher Ayla, accidentally letting Akako get the upper hand who then wrapped her arms around around her ‘prize’ in triumph. “Why?”

“The other Ayla wants to know.”

Rhosyn hummed thoughtfully, and open their mouth to reply before… realizing they didn’t know either. “Akako, do you know?”

“Do I know what?” She was still clutching the other Ayla, who very much looked like she would rather jump over the railing then deal with this right now.

“The name of the university Mom works at.”

The other Ayla pulled herself free and matched over to her guard, before stopping and running back. “Gods! The name is the Ayla Tieren School of Advanced Learning! You are talking to two, TWO!! Dragons named Ayla and you forgot??”

The siblings all winced, and simultaneously muttered “maybe”.

Ayla perked up at the name. “Oh, I know that one! My parents spoke there a few times, but I’ve never seen it. I’ve only seen like, the very upper levels of the city. But! Mr. A says for my project I can visit all the levels, even Level D, since that’s where the original Ayla lived as a kid and you can tour it and everything!”

The other Ayla’s eyes widened, and she opened her mouth to say something. However, traffic decided that moment to start crawling forward again. She yelled and flung her arms around Rhosyn for support. It slowed to a stop and she cautiously perked over Rhosyn’s shoulder. “You’re Ayla Tieren, the chancellor’s daughter! I knew you looked familiar; I was forced to read a really old news story about your first birthday once.”

Rhosyn frowned. “I thought that the chancellor didn’t have any children?”

The other Ayla pulled away with a huff. “It’s like, a secret or something. But not a secret. She’s not supposed to come out in the open because there was a threat against her when she was a little hatchling or something.” She squinted across the gap. “If you are her, why are you being let to go to Level D? That’s where criminals live.”

Ayla paled. A threat against me? She made a mental note to look it up later. “Y-yeah, the chancellor is my mom. And... well. I’m not sure?”

Before the conversation could continue, a shadow fell over the group of hatchlings. Ayla looked up and saw a massive floating gate that separated each lane in two. The guardian sighed and started herding the hatchlings on the other ship back inside.

Rhosyn waved frantically. “Ayla, Ayla, the other one, hey! Do you have Courier? Add our Ayla on there! She’s Ayla Ceniceros, like the company Ceniceros! She’ll be the easiest to find so I’ll just break into her account and request you on everyone’s accounts! Bye!”

With that, Rhosyn followed the others back inside. Ayla blinked and peered past the gates, and what she saw took her breath away.

The city spiraled miles into the air, tiers of floating platforms and ships connecting the surface, and even below the surface, to areas so high up they were obscured by clouds. Faint swirling specks hinted at dragons in flight, some circling the perimeter for protection while others traced lazy loops and played games. She had never seen anything below the Cloud Layer before, and it was nothing like she imagined.

Her moment of awe was popped by another dragon clearing their throat. She turned to around to see a kind old skydancer looking at her from a window in what she had thought was a support pillar for the gate. “I wouldn’t recommend being out on the deck much longer, hun. Traffic speeds up quite a bit after here and I wouldn’t want a little thing like you flying off!”

Ayla nodded, running back inside. The driver had a side window open and was handing papers to the skydancer, who stamped them and handed them back. “Have a nice visit little one!” The skydancer chirped at her, and Ayla felt the airship start picking up speed considerably. She retrieved her map and list from Mr. A and found an old pencil down the crack in her seat, hurriedly scribbling “Ayla Ceniceros” and “threat on me when young??” on the back of one before she could forget.

#flight rising #main lore #pure unfiltered barely proof read lore bottled at the discord source

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wineanddinosaur · 4 years ago

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How Breweries Can Stand Out in a Spectrum of Hazy IPAs

Joe Whitney has a story he likes to tell about an IPA drinker and peer pressure. Seven or maybe six years ago, Whitney, Sierra Nevada Brewing’s chief commercial officer, was at a hop harvest and talking to a guy in his 20s who was mostly consuming double IPAs. Following the era’s fashion, the IPAs were likely strong, aggressively bitter, and as approachable as a pissed-off porcupine.

“I was like, ‘Have you always loved IPAs?’” Whitney says. “He was like, ‘No! I hated them, but my friends were drinking them. I forced myself to drink them for, like, two years until I learned to like them.’”

He passed on the anecdote to the brewing and marketing team at Sierra Nevada, which made the piney, assertive Torpedo IPA. Its firm bitterness served as a virtue — the beer is one of the brewery’s best sellers — and a cross to bear. “We shouldn’t torture people for two years so they can have the ability to drink our beers,” Whitney says.

Sierra Nevada dug into R&D and developed the Hazy Little Thing IPA, released at the end of 2017. The lullaby-soft, lightly filtered Thing balances candied orange rinds and ripe pineapple with a bass line of bitterness, an IPA that’s easy to love at first sip. This month, in October, Hazy Little Thing passed Lagunitas IPA as America’s top-selling IPA, according to Nielsen. “Hazy Little Thing is leading our growth,” Whitney says.

A half-decade ago, the hazy IPA hit the industry like a sticky tidal wave made from pineapple, mango, and orange juices. Lined up alongside the resinous, resoundingly bitter, and filtered West Coast IPAs, the foggy, fruity IPAs of Vermont and the larger Northeast were not so clearly different. Beer geeks paid pilgrimages to The Alchemist, Tree House, and Hill Farmstead, returning home with suitcases and trunks stuffed with New England IPAs (NEIPAs), more often referred to now as hazy IPAs.

Now, opaque IPAs that taste like pillows plumped with fruit juice are the norm, sold cold at grocery stores — and selling well. Year to date (through Sept. 5), hazy IPAs account for 6.5 percent of craft dollars, according to Nielsen, an increase of 81 percent from 2019.

“Hazy IPAs have experienced more than two years of strong growth, which typically is an indication that they will not be a ‘boom, splat’ phenomenon,” says Danelle Kosmal, Nielsen’s vice president of beverage alcohol.

The category is still growing, but “we most likely have reached the saturation point” on new brands, she adds. Nielsen now measures more than 500 hazy IPAs in its off-premise channels, meaning that new entrants “will need to find ways to clearly differentiate themselves.”

A Matter of Selection

In search of a flavorful edge, breweries are focusing on sourcing the choicest hops. Agriculture is variable, and a variety’s profile can annually vary from farm to farm. One batch of Mosaic might evoke sun-ripened blueberries, while another could smell like gasoline-spritzed raw onions. “The biggest thing for IPA producers is hop selection,” says Sam Richardson, a founder of Brooklyn’s Other Half Brewing. “We take that very seriously.”

Since opening in early 2014, Other Half has built its name on IPAs with huge, hop-derived fragrances and flavors. A triple dry-hopped triple IPA is nothing unusual. “We cater to a more niche demographic that is really looking for that big hop character,” he says.

A little milk can also go a long way to setting hazy IPAs apart. Brewers started using lactose, an unfermentable milk sugar, to lend IPAs a sweet lushness and create the so-called “milkshake IPA” variant. To find white space amid the haze, Dogfish Head leaned on an alternative: Oat milk.

The brewery spent a year formulating Hazy-O!, an IPA containing four forms of oats: Rolled, naked, malted, and milk. They create a silky, creamy IPA complemented by coconut-y Sabro hops and other tropical varietals, as well as a vegan-friendly health veneer: Oat milk sales have increased more than 300 percent this year, becoming America’s second-most-popular alternative milk, after almond.

Dogfish Head will release Hazy-O! IPA nationally in the new year, and the beer’s price point — around $10 for a 6-pack — and flavor profile augur well for success. “It has the potential to grow to a top-five American hazy IPA in volume,” Sam Calagione, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery’s founder, says.

Semantics can also be a selling point as brewers looking to rebrand the haze. Thirsty Bear of San Francisco crafts “foggy IPAs,” a tip to the city’s weather, while Pure Project in San Diego makes so-called “murky” IPAs that are impenetrable to light and look like “a solid in a glass,” says Winslow Sawyer, Pure Project’s head brewer and a partner.

“Haze is a spectrum, but murk is opaque,” he says. “We wanted to make a callout and brand it in a certain way and own it.”

What’s in Store

No matter what you call them, hazy IPAs are driving sales at specialty beer stores. At City Beer Store in San Francisco, “hazy IPA are dominating our shelves and the market,” says Beth Wathen, who owns the store and bar with her husband, Craig. They regularly stock IPAs from California standouts, including Alvarado Street Brewery in Monterey and San Francisco’s Cellarmaker, as well as Equilibrium Brewery from Middletown, N.Y. “There’s an excitement when we pop up a true East Coast-style IPA,” Beth says. “It’s from the motherland.”

IPAs make up more than 85 percent of the dollar sales at Bier Cellar, which has two locations in and around Portland, Maine.

“IPAs in Portland are hazy IPAs,” says Greg Norton, the president of Bier Cellar. “It’s become the de facto standard.” IPAs from Maine breweries such as Bissell Brothers, Battery Steele, and Orono regularly top his sales charts. A year and a half ago, Norton says, he was talking to a brewer buying a couple of German lagers, and lamenting the store’s many IPAs. Simultaneously, two customers rang out with three cases of New England-style IPAs. Each. “Their total was $600,” Norton says. “What do you think I’m going to stock more of? Customers run the market.”

Essential to the hazy IPA’s sales appeal is its eternal ephemerality. Breweries can alter hop combos, swap yeast strains, and rejigger grain bills to create fresh haze, attracting customers chasing “the ethereal IPA that’s way better than the one they’ve had before,” Norton says.

After nearly nine years in business, though, Norton is noticing fatigue. “We have 24- and 25-year-old customers that are burnt out,” he says. “They did it for two years, spent thousands of dollars, and can’t taste anything anymore. They’ve moved to high-end lagers.”

Nothing in brewing is eternal. Today’s trends are tomorrow’s recycling. With hazy IPAs, we’re witnessing an ascendant category that’s splintering to satisfy different needs, both economically and aromatically. You can choose from widely available offerings like Bell’s Official Hazy IPA, or Dogfish Head’s forthcoming Hazy-O!, sold for $10 a 6-pack; or a $20 4-pack of Other Half IPA, its intense scent perfuming a room.

“You’re going to pay more for more hops,” Richardson says. “When people go into a wine shop, they don’t get nitpicky over the prices of different wines. They just choose the wine at the price point they want.”

For its part, Sierra Nevada is enjoying the unlikely rise of Hazy Little Thing, a beer never meant for a national star turn. “We were only going to sell it on draft in Northern California,” Whitney says. More than 40 years ago, the brewery’s Pale Ale helped redefine American beer. Now the future might be Hazy.

“It’s not inconceivable to think it’ll pass Pale Ale one day,” Whitney says.

The article How Breweries Can Stand Out in a Spectrum of Hazy IPAs appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/hazy-ipa-brand-growth/

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johnboothus · 4 years ago

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How Breweries Can Stand Out in a Spectrum of Hazy IPAs

A Matter of Selection

“Haze is a spectrum, but murk is opaque,” he says. “We wanted to make a callout and brand it in a certain way and own it.”

What’s in Store

IPAs make up more than 85 percent of the dollar sales at Bier Cellar, which has two locations in and around Portland, Maine.

“It’s not inconceivable to think it’ll pass Pale Ale one day,” Whitney says.

The article How Breweries Can Stand Out in a Spectrum of Hazy IPAs appeared first on VinePair.

Via https://vinepair.com/articles/hazy-ipa-brand-growth/

source https://vinology1.weebly.com/blog/how-breweries-can-stand-out-in-a-spectrum-of-hazy-ipas

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just-jordie-things · 7 years ago

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Dreaming of Us - Allison Argent

word count: 1882 warnings: swearing

(prompt forty four)

[ love is not just talk, but action ]

You sat on your apartment’s couch, leaning your head as far back as it could go and closed your eyes. While you enjoyed your freedom, that of owning an apartment that was 100% yours and living in Oregon during your college years and truly becoming an adult, it was getting hard.

Bills, rent, gas, groceries, and not to mention the expense of college, made a serious dent in your bank account. No, you weren’t really the type to go on a huge shopping spree with your girlfriend every weekend, so at first you didn’t think that being independant could really be that hard. But boy were you wrong. In fact you couldn’t possibly be more wrong.

Classes were beginning to stress you out, you didn’t need all the extra anxiety of getting kicked out of your complex added to it.

Just as you were ready to cry to relieve the stressors (which no, you admitted was not healthy but there wasn’t much of another option) there was a knocking on your door.

“Please don’t be the and lord please don’t be the landlord” You mumbled to yourself repeatedly, your fingers crossing as you walked to your door and opened it up with shut tight eyes.

“Hey n/n how’re you- why’re your eyes closed?” The sweet sound of Allison’s voice prompted you to open your eyes, a smile growing on your lips in relief that it was only your girlfriend, and not security ready to drag you off of the premises.

“Oh thank god, I thought you were gonna be a guy with an eviction notice” You breathed, stepping aside to let her in. Allison gave you a wide eyed confused look as she took he boots off, setting them neatly by your door and hanging her coat up on her hook, the same way she always did when she came over.

“Eviction? What are you running a drug cartel here that you aren’t telling me about?” She asked with a chuckle, but concerned laced through her words. You shook your head, shutting and locking the door.

“No, it’s just my rent is due in two days and I don’t even have half of it” You groaned, wandering towards the couch and collapsing onto it dramatically.

“Well how much of it do you need?” Allison pondered, making her way towards the couch as you squirmed around to get comfortable.

“A thousand. A thousand dollars” You said in a monotone voice, dragging your hands from your eyes and dragging your skin all the way down to your chin before your limbs fell bonelessly onto the sofa cushions.

“Okay” Allison propped your head up to sit on the seat below, placing your head gently onto her lap as she thought. “How about I just spot you the cash until you can pay me back?” She offered sweetly as she ran her fingers through your hair to calm you down. It worked, and soon you were breathing softly out of content by the action.

“I don’t wanna take money from you Al, I promised I wasn’t gonna borrow money from friends” You told her.

“Okay, but I don’t want you to be kicked out of here. I like it here, why else would I come here every day?” She asked and you looked up at her with playfully narrowed eyes.

“Because you love me and love spending time with your amazingly perfect and beautiful and talented and… smart… girlfriend?” You retorted sarcastically, but she didn’t nod and shrug like you thought she would’ve. Instead she pretended to think about your response, eventually shaking her head.

“No, I think not” She said simply, and you rolled your eyes.

“Bitch” You muttered, and she chuckled.

“A bitch you’re head over heels in love with” She responded, and you smiled at her, leaning up to peck her lips quickly before laying back down. Allison gave you a wink and went back to petting your hair.

“That I am” You sighed, nuzzling into her and curling up on the couch more into her body. “But I’m also about to go broke” She let out a soft chuckle, her hands trailing to your face to stroke her fingers gently over your skin.

“I won’t let that happen” She hummed, and you sighed.

“I’m not sure I’ve got much of a choice” You groaned. Where were you supposed to get the other $500 by the end of the week?

“You’ll figure it out, you always do” She said softly, back to running her fingers through your hair and slowly untangling it. “Why don’t you just rest, I’ll help you figure all this out when you wake up okay?” She offered gently, and you nodded. Allison smiled softly as your eyes fluttered shut.

She continued her delicate caress on you as you fell asleep in her arms. And soon she was beginning to drift off as well, so she wiggled out from under you, and laid down against the back of the couch, still holding onto you as she was comforted by your warmth. You mumbled something in a content sigh and wrapped your arms around her middle, stroking her back ever so gently before falling right back into sleep again.

You laughed as Allison danced around the apartment, holding a box labeled CLOTHES by a thick black sharpie. She carried it back to the room while you went through the both of yours’ dishes and silverware, deciding what you needed and what you could sell. A song you didn’t know but had a joyful melody was blasting through the flat as the both of you unpacked your girlfriend’s things together.

“Hey, when we break, we seriously need to have a talk about this painting” You called to her, and she came out of the bedroom while tying her hair up into a messy bun.

“What painting?” She replied, and you held up the one that she had to have known you were speaking of. Allison pouted. “What’s there to talk about? Isn’t it awesome?”

You raised an inquisitive brow and looked at the elaborate painting of a wolf howling to a full moon, a very dramatic portrait if you do say so.

“What? Lydia made it for Scott” Allison couldn’t say it with a straight face. Both of your brows shot up as you looked between her and the large frame in your hands.

“Then why do you have it?” You asked and Allison pursed her lips.

“Lost a bet” She responded and you let out a laugh.

“Well why don’t you go win a bet and ship it back to them because it is not going up on the walls of our home” Allison smiled brightly at the words, even though you denied the work of art that she’d been stuck with. “What? Oh god what’s that look for?” You asked, a slight wince taking over your features as you visibly deflated, preparing yourself for her argument as to why the painting was staying.

“As long as it’s our home,” Allison walked over and set the frame on the counter, taking both of your hands in hers. “I don’t care what stays or goes” A big grin tugged on your lips as you pushed forward and kissed her softly, your hands releasing hers to cup around her face. When you parted Allison’s doe eyes batted lovingly as she pulled you back in for a quick kiss and a tight embrace.

“I’m so happy about this, I’m so happy about us” You told her, and she planted a few little kisses up and down the side of your face.

“I’m happy about this too. This is good for us, a new step” She pulled away to look at you, the both of you smiling like you were newlyweds.

Your eyes opened, almost quickly enough to make Allison jump. She’d been cuddling with you not having slept for very long, but you’d stayed passed out in her arms for a while.

“You gave me a start” She chuckled softly as she pushed your hair out of your face. “Did you have a bad dream babe?” You shook your head, he corners of your lips beginning to turn up into a brilliant smile.

“No, not at all” You whispered, and Allison raised a curious brow as to what your wide smile and sparkling eyes were hiding.

“What’re you up to? Why’re you looking at me like that?” She asked, but you just laid silently staring at her. Allison grew anxious as she laughed nervously. “y/n what is it? What’re you thinking abou-”

“Move in with me” The brunette huntress blinked, absolute shock crashing over her in an intense wave, and a watery smile began to ease onto her lips.

“Really?” She murmured, and you nodded gently.

“Really” You assured, and she let out a laugh, a sound of excitement that was like music to your ears as her hold on you tightened. “Allison you’re the one I want to spend the rest of my life with, I love you, you’re here all the time why not just take the step? We’ll split rent it’ll be so much cheaper for the both of us” You went on and on about all the great reasoning and Allison’s heart fluttered at every one of them. “Alli, I love you, I want this, I really want this with you”

There were tears streaming down her cheeks.

“I want this with you too” She cried, kissing you tentatively, and you chuckled, wiping her lips of her salty tears with your thumb, before sliding your lips against hers again “I love you” She whispered, her arms wrapping around your neck and tangling into your hair. “I love you so much” She cried between sweet kisses and you pulled her further against you.

But you pulled a little to quickly and you both rolled off of the sofa, luckily missing hitting your heads on the coffee table, but not so lucky as you landed with a thump on the ground. You groaned as your back hit the floor, Allison lying with her chest over yours, also groaning in pain as her legs landed awkwardly in the space between yours.

“Well that wasn’t as romantic as I was hoping for” You grumbled, rubbing the back of your head. Allison chuckled, holding her wait over you and leaning down to kiss your lips gently, her long hair cascading onto your shoulders and pooling on the carpeted floor.

“I don’t care” She whispered. “I’m still too happy” Your eyes shut as you winced.

“Well I’m just gonna be happy and in pain” You mumbled, and Allison’s eyes rolled at your dramatics. She stood up off of you and helped you to your feet.

“Come on drama queen, we gotta go buy some moving boxes” She said with an eager skip in her step as she went towards your door for her shoes and coat. The ache in your body went away as you followed her.

This was maybe the best choice you could’ve made, and as you watched Allison skip out into the hallway towards the elevator, it only confirmed your thoughts.

It was almost simple, the way that she was the one for you.

here’s the prompt list and feel free to request sweeties!!!!

xoxo ~ jordie

#teen wolf #teen wolf x reader #teen wolf fanfiction #teen wolf scenario #teen wolf imagine #allison argent #allison argent x reader #allison argent fanfiction #allison argent imagine #allison argent scenario #crystal reed #crystal reed imagine #crystal reed fanfiction #crystal reed scenario #crystal reed x reader

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oneweekoneband · 7 years ago

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Why Did It Take Me So Long To Notice That The Word Is “Fury” Not “Furry”?

Hello again. While I must admit to mild surprise at Dinosaur Jr.’s absence from the constantly growing roster of artists covered on OWOB, I should also state my attempted approach to writing about a band with no lack of wordage already available on its behalf. Though potentially futile, I will be trying to write something that benefits a cross-section of readers, from the unfamiliar but curious to the currently dismissive therefore purposely detached to the self-appointed superfan. All of this being stated, please understand that “attempted” carries one hell of an implied emphasis.

As covered in the previous post, I’m an active writer with many years in the trenches, though at least a half-decade in between my first toe-dips into this endeavor and the formative teenage moment when exposure to two Dinosaur Jr. albums (1987’s You’re Living All Over Me and 1991’s Green Mind, their second and fourth, respectively) combined to transform a fervent interest in underground music into a terminal, all-consuming obsession that almost seems to have dictated, in some way, shape or form, each lifting of a finger since.

I’ve had a fair amount of writing published on the subject of this band, but most of it appeared during the first half of my now 18 years in this racket, barring the entries about several Dinosaur Jr. albums did make it into my second (and most recent) book, which carried the subtitle of 500 Essential American Underground Rock Albums 1981 - 1996 and a title that I absolutely hate so it shall not be revisited. On that note, attacks of full-body cringe have become as reliable as Christmas upon revisiting older writings, therefore I did not in order to guarantee no points or angles reiterated. But for what it’s worth, at some point in the early-00s, I did a long and embarrassing tribute to You’re Living All Over Me for the Perfect Sound Forever website as my first piece of writing on the band. Then once the spotlight was aimed backwards and topically in 2004-2006 for that period’s two-tiered reissue and reunion activity, I wrote a bunch of features about the Homestead and SST years (plus the early run of reunion shows) for several outlets. I interviewed both Mascis and Barlow, twice each if I remember correctly, and essentially felt like I said everything there was to possibly say about this band whose music more or less put me on a personal and professional course that continues to this day. I don’t feel like that anymore.

Two things to take into account before we move on: First, none of the subsequent entries will be this long, or at least that’s the plan. Secondly, this week will feature very little writing on the four albums of new material Dinosaur Jr. has released since the original lineup of J. Mascis, Lou Barlow, and Emmett Jefferson Murphy III (almost exclusively known as “Murph” but I find his full given name to be amusing) reunited in 2005…will be of the unflattering comparative variety. However popular it might be to jump to black-and-white, definitive conclusions, do not take this to mean I consider these albums to be bad or boring or anything of the sort. But do know that they are, despite what the rest of the world seemingly believes, inferior when placed against what I will be trying to push into your ears and lives going forward. And understand that Dinosaur Jr.’s major-label era (1991 - 1997) will be explored in a nooks-and-crannies fashion (meaning, we’re going to get into Mike Johnson’s discography), as I feel there’s a nice chunk of amazing music hidden in there that has been largely overlooked or misunderstood.

I am about as obsessed with music as I am the non-fiction ghetto in which I operate. Therefore it might or might not behoove me to do something no one outside of this little world should waste their time with, and that would be lot of overthinking about a couple of crucial elements of artistic criticism and appreciation that appear to be under constant attack these days: context and nuance. There is no such thing as good-to-great creative nonfiction or journalism that lacks or misuses either, and the most difficult to translate of the two is, of course, context.

These days it seems every talking head (or every record-store loiterer or live show barnacle) of similar vintage to myself should be wearing a t-shirt or rocking a bumper-sticker that says, “Ask Me What It Was Like Before The Internet!”. This is something for which I harbor a visceral and distinct distaste if not great embarrassment. Any historically-precise party line of assumed profundity is going to fail at transmitting the intended impact for two reasons. First is the obvious neutering of any meaning or relevance when beating a cultural audience over the head with something, year after year, generation after generation. The second is more problematic, as I’m not certain that being present during its heyday or for a following period of linear influence is necessitated so as to provide fundamental context needed to understand how or why a band was groundbreaking or brain-rearranging or whatnot.

For example, Dinosaur Jr. was four albums and seven years active once its music entered my life in earnest. Still, when it comes to blanket mantras of the reality-removed like, “This Was Before The Internet!” or “We Didn’t Have Cell Phones” battle stories, usually issued as some delusional badge of struggle or evidence of authenticity, we’re talking something that means far less than is assumed to a recipient without the same experiential history. I usually cringe when I witness someone else trying to get this across to a younger generation, though I have yet to figure out myself how to do it effectively.

Conversely, there are examples of past underground rock prescience (well beyond the legendary trio of albums released by Dinosaur Jr. between 1985 and 1988) such as Mission of Burma, Black Flag, NEU!, Brian Eno’s “Third Uncle”, The Feelies, The Embarrassment, Can, This Heat, The Fall, mid-period Sonic Youth, Husker Du’s SST years, Black Sabbath, Slayer, mid-80s Swans, and Miles Davis’ 1970 - 1975 output, to name but a few, that occurred long before I developed anything close to refined taste or the ability to let music have an impact on a deep emotional and intellectual level. Or, for that matter, the ability to breath air outside of the womb in some of those cases.

Still, once properly blown away, I could easily wrap my head around how each example was way ahead of the curve, or scared the shit out of most listeners who came in contact with it in real time. Of course, it helps if the music in question resides in the exclusive canon reserved for that which is genuinely timeless. If it falls short of timeless it sure as hell better be a high quality, well-aged specimen of music that’s nonetheless easily identifiable as being from a certain era of yore. Much of material released by Dinosaur Jr.’s during the band’s first two phases of activity, which together span 1985 until 1997, fits into one of those two categories.

My first meaningful introduction to Dinosaur Jr. essentially played out in similar a similar fashion to formative life-altering moments spun by many writers, musicians, and fans of my generation or older. I suppose a warning should now be issued that you’re about to read yet another account of someone taping episodes of MTV’s 120 Minutes. I had a habit of setting the recording time to the shittiest quality of six hours and fitting three episodes of said show onto my parents’ VHS copies of HBO and Cinemax films like The Cotton Club and Bill Cosby’s Himself. Some time after its parent album (You’re Living All Over Me) was released, on a Christmas night when I was in my early teens, the video for “Little Fury Things” ran between a Michelle Shocked number and The Cure’s infuriatingly awful “Let’s Go To Bed” (that goes for the video and the song). At first I focused on other future life-alterers like the clip for The Fall’s “New Big Prinz” and Sonic Youth’s iconic “Teenage Riot” video, as Dinosaur Jr.’s idea of a video and that song were just too fucking dark and ominous for my young teenage mind.

But because I had to fast forward or rewind through multiple Christmas-special live-in-the-studio tomfoolery from hosts They Might Be Giants along with crap that was somehow already “not for me” like Fishbone, Camouflage, Translator, and the not-that-bad-but-long-as-hell video for Love And Rockets’ “Dog End Of A Day Gone By”, I eventually came around to the three minutes and change that was the “Little Fury Things” video….like a moth to flame. I still have the very VHS tape I used to play and rewind repeatedly while my parents were at work during the day, blasting it through the shitty speakers of our 27” Sony Trinitron and running all over the floorplans of the three houses (well, one house and two apartments, if we’re to split hairs) I lived in during my high school years. The beginning of the video goes blank for a few seconds because I accidentally hit “record” on the remote amidst some furious bouncing all over the couches and chairs.

I seriously doubt there’s a song I’ve listened to, on my own accord, more times than this one and it still delivers a palpable, albeit much different due to time passed, charge as it plays at this very moment. The sonic dichotomy that makes this track exciting- powerful noise/distortion married to a huge, highly emotive pop hook-happens to be another dragon I chase to this day and in general has been one of the crucial elements of forward movement undertaken by post-hardcore, proto and first-gen indie-rock, punk rock, shoegaze and underground metal over the last 30 years. Because I still run into music obsessives, mostly younger, who are unaware of Dinosaur Jr.’s legacy and historical place as a paramount force of innovation, influence and well-aged listening excitement, I’ll close this entry with the aforementioned video despite it visually communicating far less than it does musically.

Much has been written (years ago by myself and more recently in Nick Atfield’s 33 ⅓ book on the album it opens) about attempting to decipher or assign one’s own meaning and words to what is probably a bunch of lyrical nonsense. I think that’s organically symptomatic of anything that hits with this kind of power and non-cheesy melancholic punch. A personal fave, however, would have to go to the one-off “Hallelujah, the sunlight brings the red out in your eyes” line that opens the gate for an instrumental mid-section of riffs (where a guitar solo might normally be).

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“Little Fury Things” official video from 1987′s You’re Living All Over Me

And here’s a couple of clips that hopefully illustrate how insanely loud and air-moving Dinosaur Jr. Mach I must have been as a live band, especially considering the average age of the members was 20 to 22.

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1986 at UMass…

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Germany, 1988, full set. Pretty good sound given the age/era.

#dinosaur jr

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news-mashable-yahoopartner-blog · 6 years ago

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Forest is a useful app that helps you go phone-free by inspiring you to plant trees

I'm obsessed with my phone. Addicted to it, really. It's not something I'm proud of, but alas, it's true.

I've tried my fair share of productivity apps in hopes of cutting down on screen time, and while many have helped me hone my organizational skills, apps rarely hold users like me accountable if we don't follow through. That's what makes the Forest app so refreshingly different.

With a simple mission to help users "stay focused" and "be present," Forest trains people to manage their time and become less dependent on their phones in a fun, purposeful way. By spending time away from their phones, users grow virtual trees and earn coins, which can then be saved up and used to help plant real trees in five countries in Africa — Cameroon, Kenya, Senegal, Uganda, and Tanzania. The app also gently shames you if you don't successfully complete your goal, which is apparently the component I've always been missing.

In an ideal world, I'd spend less time glued to my iPhone on the weekends. I'd give dining companions my full attention during meals rather than rudely checking incoming push notifications. I'd spend my commute deeply immersed in a book instead of pausing to check social media every ten minutes, and I'd drift off to sleep in the dark without having exposed my retinas to a half hour of blue light beforehand. I downloaded Forest in hopes that it would help turn my unplugged dreams into a reality, and to my great surprise, it did.

SEE ALSO: The Hear app makes trippy sounds, but it probably won't help you concentrate

Forest can be purchased on iOS devices for $1.99, and though there are several in-app purchases that help you receive more coins per virtual tree planted— $0.99 for a bottle of Sunshine Elixir, or $1.99 for a box of Sunshine Elixir — you can definitely enjoy the app without them.

To plant real trees across the world, the app partners with Trees for the Future — a nonprofit organization that works to end hunger and poverty by planting trees that help feed families in need. But understanding how the partnership and the app itself work takes a bit of explaining, so let's dive in.

Welcome to the Forest

After downloading Forest, all first-time users are welcomed with a simple set of instructions. The app explains that it will encourage users to stay focused and be more present in their daily lives by planting virtual trees. The trees planted in the app take a certain amount of time to grow — which you can customize depending on how long you want to abstain from your device — but because the trees can only grow if the app remains open, people have to put down their phones if they want to add to their virtual forests.

Before you get started, I recommend visiting the settings page in the app and creating an account so all of your data will be tracked. After that, you're ready to grow.

Image: mashable composite: forest app

To plant a virtual tree, set a timer by dragging the green button around the circular photo of a plant on the app's homepage. The app allows you to set the timer for a minimum of 10 minutes, a maximum of 120 minutes, or any 5-minute increments in between. During the set time, your virtual tree will grow provided you keep the app open, and it will die if you exit the app or attempt to use any outside feature on your phone for longer than a few seconds.

While the death of a digital tree is obviously very low-stakes, and there are no real consequences if you let it bite the dust, over the course of a week using the app I learned that just knowing a few measly minutes away from your phone is all it takes to save a life — even that of a fake tree — is a surprisingly successful motivational tactic.

Planting a virtual tree

When it came time to plant my first virtual tree I wanted to get the feel of the app, so I only set the timer for 10 minutes.

Once you hit the "plant" button, Forest graciously gives you 10 seconds to cancel your impending phone-free commitment, just in case you want to send an important text first, or realize you've made a horrible mistake and aren't ready to unplug, but don't want to put a virtual tree's life at risk.

After embarking on my first Forest experience, I noticed that after the 10-second grace period expires, the cancel countdown is replaced with a button that straight-up says, "Give Up." You can press this at any time during the run of your timer to abandon your mindfulness mission, but just know that doing so will prompt the guilt-ridden question: "Are you sure you want to give up? Your cute little tree will die." 💔

If you're not the type to admit defeat via Give Up button, you always have the option of leaving the app of your own free will — which I will admit I did several times accidentally, simply because I'm so addicted to using my phone. But before killing your tree, Forest gives you a chance to redeem yourself.

The app will send a push notification seconds after you leave, which reads, "Go back to Forest immediately to prevent the tree from dying!" You have less than a minute to return to the app and save your tree, and if you fail to do so, the next time you open Forest, an image of your sad-looking husk of a tree will appear alongside the words: "Oops! you can do better next time!"

Image: MASHABLE COMPOSITE: FOREST

Should you fail to wait out your full timer, a dead tree will show up in your virtual forest to serve as a reminder that you gave up. You won't receive any coins for the minutes you remained in the app before abandoning it, but they will be counted towards your total daily focus time, which is nice.

Planting my first tree was a delightful experience until I received a measly THREE COINS as a reward! After playing around with the app, it appears the maximum reward users can receive for a single plant (without the help of in-app purchases) is 43 coins from a 120-minute timer, which wouldn't be so disheartening if a real-life tree didn't cost a whopping 2,500 coins to plant.

Planting a real tree

If you're downloading the app with the goal of planting real trees, it can definitely be done, but it's going to take a bit of time (or additional money invested in the app) to save up the necessary coins.

The way the system works is that each time a user spends 2,500 virtual coins on a real tree, Forest donates real money to Trees for the Future, which uses that money to plant a tree in Africa.

Unfortunately, due to "budget constraint," the number of real trees each user can currently plant using the app is limited to five. Forest assures users that there will be "limited time events that will allow users to plant more real trees" in the future, though, and planting five trees is still far more productive than not planting any.

Image: forest

Features galore

While the app's teal home page presents an extremely minimalist design, Forest is full of elaborate features.

For starters, by using the notch located in the upper center of the screen, users can switch from planting solo to planting with friends or family. Enabling the app's Plant Together feature syncs several Forest accounts and raises the stakes by challenging everyone to go phone-free simultaneously. If one person in the group uses their phone, everyone's trees will die, which makes it perfect for group dinners or movie nights.

In the upper left of the app's home screen lies the main menu, which offers a trove of customizable options. It includes nine expandable features: Forest, Timeline, Tags, Friend, Achievements, Store, Real Forest, News, and Settings. Each has the potential to enhance your in-app experience, should you take advantage of them, but I want to highlight the most important.

Image: Forest

The "Forest" option in the Forest app is where you can see all the virtual trees you’ve planted so far. You can use it to track your visual progress over days, weeks, months, or years, and use more specific filters to review your historical app data.

The Tags feature allows you to search more specifically, by the labels you use to tag your plants, such as Work, Study, Social, Rest, Entertainment, and more. This is especially helpful if you’re curious about which types of activities you spend the most time on when you’re not glued to your phone screen.

Achievements allow you to keep track of all your performance awards, such as when you reach four hours of focus time. (These rewards are extra fun because they come with coins.) And the Real Forest page is where you go to turn your coins into real life trees, should you ever reach that impressive milestone. The page also reveals that many real trees have been planted as a result of the app. (At the time of writing, Forest and Trees for the Future had planted 434,459 trees around the world.)

Image: mashable composite: forest

For those of you itching to blow your coins as you earn them, however, the store is the place for you. Forest's in-app store allows users to unlock different species of virtual bushes and trees in hopes of making the virtual gardens more exciting.

Each additional plant — from virtual cacti and trees to flowers and more — takes 500 coins to unlock, and you can also use coins to unlock ambient sounds like "Café in Paris," "Rain and thunder," and "Times Square" to turn phone-free time into a more meditative experience. To listen to an ambient sound while planting a tree, simply press and hold the headphone icon in the upper righthand corner of the app screen.

The verdict

Up until a week ago, I seriously struggled to separate myself from my phone. Now, I'm free from my mobile device whenever I want to be — even if it's only 10 minutes a day.

After using Forest for just a few days, I felt transformed. I used the app at a restaurant one night and it helped me fight the temptation to periodically check my phone. I turned on timers when I wanted to watch television or read books and successfully did so distraction-free. And right before bed, I'd set a 120-minute timer to prevent me from falling into the vicious cycle of late-night social media scrolling. (The creators of Forest have another app called SleepTown that was specifically created to help build more healthy sleep patterns.)

I love that Forest lets users categorize each break they take, and add descriptions — this way I can track whether I spend more time working or binge-watching Queer Eye. And I had some fun with the personalized message feature, which lets you write your own encouraging phrases that pop up throughout your phone-free journey.

Image: forest

The app also lets you set up to five Planting Reminders during a day, so you don't forget to unplug, and I discovered that if you really need to send a timely text message in the middle of a Forest timer, you can cheat the system.

By quickly leaving and returning to the app a few times, you can manage to type and send a text without sacrificing your plant progress. It's not a loophole I abuse often, but it's one I do like knowing exists. There's also an additional "Work With Phone" option on the settings page that allows users to leave the app without killing plants, but you have to sacrifice half of the final reward and the tree will not be counted towards the leaderboard.

Ultimately, I think the app is well worth the money, and I have very few complaints, but I would like Forest's timers to show up on my lock screen when the app is in use like a regular iPhone timer does.

If there's a setting to make that happen I haven't found it yet, but when I'm in the focus zone I'd rather be able to tap my home button and see how much time I have left until my tree grows than unlock my phone and go back into the app.

Otherwise, Forest exceeded my expectations and genuinely helped me unplug during times when I desperately wanted to but didn't know how. It's an uplifting app that celebrates and rewards you for the time spent away from your phone, rather than trying to curb your phone addiction by highlighting all time you do spend using social media and other apps.

If you have a healthy conscience, the low-stakes death of a virtual tree will be enough to inspire you to focus. And the thought of working toward planting a real tree should successfully motivate you to commit the app for the long haul.

WATCH: 11 meditation apps to help you de-stress

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andrewdburton · 6 years ago

Text

I’ve updated my best-selling book. Here’s what’s new and what to expect

Ten years ago, I published my book, “I Will Teach You to Be Rich.”

Do you remember what also happened 10 years ago?

In March 2009, we were in the depths of a once-in-a-lifetime financial crisis and full-blown recession. Chances are, you know someone who was laid off.

In fact, it was so bad that, as The New York Times noted:

On March 9, 2009, the day the bull market was born, the stock market, like the economy, was in deep, seemingly existential distress. The S&P 500 was down 57 percent from its 2007 peak.

Compounding the pain was the nationwide collapse in home prices, which landed a direct hit on most households’ greatest source of wealth.

Yes, my book was published at the bottom of the worst financial crisis of our generation.

The day it launched, it became the #1 book on all of Amazon, then sold out within hours, and became an instant New York Times best-seller.

That was what happened in public, but behind closed doors…

…my publisher was freaking out. Before the book went to print, they frantically asked me if I wanted to change any of my advice because of the recession.

I was like, “Why would I? Long-term investing doesn’t change.” They were concerned.

If you bought the first edition of “I Will Teach You to Be Rich” and applied the book’s lessons when it was released, you’re financially set for life.

And now, after receiving the 19,435th email correcting or yelling at me about the interest rates I published in the book, I am thrilled to say that the new, updated version of the IWT book is here!

You can pre-order it on Amazon here.

In the 10 years since the first edition, I’ve added 80 pages with new tools, new insights on money and psychology (including why millennials continue to believe buying a house is always the best investment — untrue), a greater focus on managing money when you have a part-time side gig, and integrating money and relationships.

A majority of the things I said in the book 10 years ago still hold true today.

I’m proud that the advice I gave in the first edition stood the test of time (I’ve included dozens of real reader testimonials in the new book to show it). That’s the kind of advice I like — timeless advice that doesn’t fall apart after a few years. It doesn’t change with the whims of the market.

Below is a Q&A I put together as part of my publisher’s press kit, and I wanted to share my answers on what’s new, what I’ve learned, and what’s changed with you too.

Fortune called you “the new finance guru,” but your background is in technology and psychology — how did you come to occupy this spot within the world of personal finance?

Anyone who chooses to write about personal finance is a little weird. In my case, I don’t really get that excited learning the intricacies of Roth IRAs any more. But ever since I was a kid, I’ve been fascinated by human behavior — today more than ever.

Why do we claim we want to do something, then do exactly the opposite? (In the book, I explore the similarities between fitness and finance.)

When does it make sense to let peer pressure affect us — and when should we ignore it? (Should you buy a house? What if you want to spend $1,000/month on clothes, or eating out, or traveling? I show you how to decide.)

Most of all, understanding psychology taught me why most personal finance advice (like “stop spending money on lattes” and “keep a budget”) is forever doomed to failure. There is a better way.

Reaching financial independence seems like it takes a lot of work — what are the first steps you recommend readers take?

The good news is you don’t have to be the smartest person in the room to be rich — you just have to get started. Follow the automation system in the book, which will automatically move your money to save, invest, and give you guilt-free spending every month.

I show you exactly where to start, including the best accounts to use (and the ones to avoid), where your money should go first, then second, and so on … and finally, how to invest your money for real growth.

Plus, answers to questions like “What’s the best way to get free vacations using points?” and “Am I too late to start investing?”

The real fun comes in deciding what your Rich Life looks like: Do you want to pay off your debt years faster? Or travel for 4 weeks every year? You decide. Then use your money to create your Rich Life.

“I Will Teach You to Be Rich” features real reader results and testimonials throughout the book. What have your readers found to be the most effective during their personal finance journey?

I love this question. We included an incredible number of reader stories in the book, showing how they used this book to create their Rich Lives:

Notice when you look at their photos — they’re men, women, young, old, black, white, and every possible combination. The diversity is breathtaking. And representation is important. I want every reader to know that there is someone out there who looks like you and talks like you … who created their own Rich Life.

How has the insurgence of cryptocurrency, robo-advisors, and more shifted the way money is used and the relationship between money and technology?

What’s funny is if you ask most bitcoin speculators what the rest of their portfolio looks like, they’ll give you a blank stare back. “What? Portfolio? LOL, what a Luddite.”

I have zero tolerance for scams and fads that deprive ordinary people of their money. As an investment, bitcoin is great — only after you’ve already built a diversified portfolio.

In reality, if you want to make high-risk investments, it’s important to have a diversified portfolio first. Then, you can take 5-10% of your investments and go high-risk. I show you how and when it’s appropriate. Sadly, for the vast majority of bitcoin speculators, they fell all in with yet another fad.

Robo-advisors are a real presence, especially for my readers. I cover my thoughts in the book, including when to use a robo-advisor vs. a traditional advisor (and the exact accounts I use).

In the book, you focus on the importance of having the right mindset to attain a Rich Life. Why is that mindset important?

Think about the invisible money messages you grew up with. For example, how many of us had parents who said, “We don’t talk about money in this family.” Or “Easy come, easy go.”

In the book, you’ll be surprised to discover that your own spending behavior might be guided by the phrases you heard decades ago.

And once you understand your own behavior, you can change it. I’ll show you exactly how to rewrite your invisible money scripts and focus on the future.

What have you learned about integrating finances when marrying since your recent nuptials?

I’m still learning!

This was one of the most eye-opening financial journeys I’ve ever been on. I had to learn to compromise and to see money as a team. Along the way, my wife and I had a lot of tough conversations: How do we see money? How do we want to use money? Should we sign a prenup? I cover this in Chapter 9.

What do you hope readers walk away with after reading the second edition of “I Will Teach You to Be Rich”?

I’ve always wanted people to know a few key things about money:

You can spend extravagantly on the things you love, as long as you cut costs mercilessly on the things you don’t.

Buy as many lattes as you want. Get the 10 Big Wins right, and you’ll never worry about $5 expenses.

Don’t listen to everyone. Buying a house isn’t always the best investment.

It’s not too late. You can take control of your money this week. Nobody is going to do it for you.

Most people say money is about “no”: no lattes, no vacations, no fun. I want to show you how to reframe money to saying “yes”: YES, I can take an extravagant vacation. YES, I can pay off debt years faster. And YES, I can decide on my Rich Life — and use this book to create it.

Mark your calendars: The book officially comes out on May 14, 2019! Preorder the book now on Amazon.

Thank you for reading, and if you’re a long-time reader, for your support all these years.

I’ve updated my best-selling book. Here’s what’s new and what to expect is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

from Finance https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/ive-updated-my-best-selling-book-heres-whats-new-and-what-to-expect/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

0 notes

samuelfields · 6 years ago

Text

I’ve updated my best-selling book. Here’s what’s new and what to expect

Ten years ago, I published my book, “I Will Teach You to Be Rich.”

Do you remember what also happened 10 years ago?

In March 2009, we were in the depths of a once-in-a-lifetime financial crisis and full-blown recession. Chances are, you know someone who was laid off.

In fact, it was so bad that, as The New York Times noted:

On March 9, 2009, the day the bull market was born, the stock market, like the economy, was in deep, seemingly existential distress. The S&P 500 was down 57 percent from its 2007 peak.

Compounding the pain was the nationwide collapse in home prices, which landed a direct hit on most households’ greatest source of wealth.

Yes, my book was published at the bottom of the worst financial crisis of our generation.

The day it launched, it became the #1 book on all of Amazon, then sold out within hours, and became an instant New York Times best-seller.

That was what happened in public, but behind closed doors…

…my publisher was freaking out. Before the book went to print, they frantically asked me if I wanted to change any of my advice because of the recession.

I was like, “Why would I? Long-term investing doesn’t change.” They were concerned.

If you bought the first edition of “I Will Teach You to Be Rich” and applied the book’s lessons when it was released, you’re financially set for life.

And now, after receiving the 19,435th email correcting or yelling at me about the interest rates I published in the book, I am thrilled to say that the new, updated version of the IWT book is here!