#here’s what you should read instead. top 10 things to replace the artist that turned out to be a shit person’ but it doesn’t fucking go awa

[quietwingsinthesky]

Have you watched dead boy detectives yet? I think you’d like it. Canon gay ships!

I’m gonna be real with you, man. Absolutely fucking nothing I heard about that show made it sound even remotely interesting to me before, and now, the idea of even interacting with stuff tangentially attached to Gaiman makes me feel physically ill. I’m not watching that.

[pomrania]

Beta pass! First I'll be reading the whole thing through and jotting down page numbers of stuff to take a second look at, then I'll go back to those pages and see if there's anything I need to say about them. Because I remembered how good it felt when I discovered that method (it works really well!) so I wanted to share it.

…you know, I've never actually asked: how many figures are there on the cover? Is the Fizzgig-looking one a separate character, or a symbiote of the one on the left? And I've also just realized an that character has at least three arms; I don't know HOW that's slipped by me for so long.

Huh, there's bits where I can definitely tell that you rephrased it from previous versions; generally I prefer how it had been, but "getting the meaning across clearly" and "having it be able to fit in the space available" outweighs a witty turn of phrase.

Something that occurs throughout, I believe: the thing about "you can find these [cards] in your download package if you obtained this game digitally, or on the Penguin King Games website". Individually, each instance makes sense that it's written out in full. Put together, it feels kind of odd, like why is that repeated. (There's other things that are repeated in full, but they're rules elements where "being able to find relevant information to what you're looking up" is more important than "artistic flow when you read the whole thing straight through", so I don't consider those to be a potential issue.) My suggestion would be to have it written out in full in the "what you'll need" section, while other instances of it to just refer to the cards, maybe giving the page number. If you make/made a conscious decision that you do indeed want that written out in full, in all instances, then I'll respect that, because you have enough experience in the field that if so then it's probably the best idea.

((So I wrote this all with page numbers listed, but then when I tried copy-pasting it into here, it decided to treat the whole thing as a sequential numbered list, so I'm having to put in the proper numbers manually; if something seems like it's referring to the wrong page, then it's because of that.))

2. "Random selection table" is listed as being on page zero.

6. In the third paragraph, the "optionally" just feels weird as something starting the sentence. Maybe move it to elsewhere in the sentence? I'm also not sure about the paragraph arrangement, like if the thing about a deck of cards should come before or after the thing about the print-and-play cards; it's not WRONG, but it could stand to be looked at some more for considering what the ideal flow is.

10. In the second paragraph, the phrasing "able to bring to bear, or tag, on a test" is mildly grammatically ambiguous; "tag" could replace "bring to bear" (as it actually means), or it could replace "bear" leading to "bring to tag". My preference would be for it to be rephrased, but it's not a major issue or anything. In the third paragraph, "afforances" is presumably a typo. In the shaded box, "descripition" is a typo.

14. "Cunning crafter", "centring" just looks weird to me, like it would be "cent-ring" instead of the "centre-ing" it actually is. If it doesn't look weird to you, then I guess it's okay; otherwise, consider what other words/phrases might work instead.

16. "Extra organs", the "always" effect: I'm assuming that you HAVE to make up an organ to say why you're immune to it, and you're not just "generically immune to environmental effects"? So it's up to the player to be on top of that. And the "with effort" thing for it, that's also an exception to the rules against doing multiple effortful things at once?

17. "Flowing form", if I recall correctly this isn't intended to work as a disguise unless you get creative with your in-'verse excuses, yeah? "Fluttering flight", it feels weird that the link is on "six on"; like, it should include the "take". Maybe also put the page number before the "on", but I hadn't been paying attention to how you'd formatted that in other instances, so I don't know if there's something established or not.

18. "Hearty humours", the description says "drawbacks" but I can't see any in the rest of that entry, unless you count "not being able to tag it for the rest of the scene after you've used its effortful use", but that isn't listed as a drawback for the OTHER forms which have something like that. "Hundred-handed", in at least one other instance later on, the "handed" is capitalized, but it's not capitalized here (or in the "random forms" table). One of those should be changed for consistency.

20. "Menacing missiles", so I assume that if being very accurate is important, then that calls for a test? But just hitting a medium-sized target, when neither it nor you are moving and nobody's trying to interfere, would be an automatic thing. "Mighty muscles", it refers to "striking stature (puny)" and vice versa, but they might need to be looked at together, to make sure that the multiplier on lifting capacity doesn't get applied twice; or more accurately, that it's very obvious that it should NOT get applied twice. "Mobile members", does the "always" effect mean you can act through your main body AND a detached member at the same time, or only one at a time?

21. "Peculiar poise", the "with effort" use, so I'm assuming that it gives you a few seconds of leeway with the GM's description, but once they've described someone's action AND the results of that action, it's now too late to interrupt?

23. "Striking stature", so being Puny doesn't reduce your lifting capacity but it divides your weight by ten, and I'm actually looking back at "mighty muscles"… okay, I see, that one doesn't increase your "lifting capacity" per se but rather sets it at "X times your weight". They do NOT in fact have an unfortunate interaction with each other; but they SEEMED like they do, when the text isn't directly compared. So this would fall under "potentially rephrase to make it EASIER to know what the answer is", but it's still functional as-is. "Vague visage", I'm trying to think of actions you COULD perform while doing its effortful use�� that'd be stuff that doesn't involve acting on parts of your environment that you can't carry with you, so you could read a book, or doodle something, but you can't sketch your surroundings because that relies on your being "somewhere in particular" (unless the view is the same from anywhere). And I remember that this Form doesn't allow quantum teleportation without a high-calamity-threshold test; but while staying WITHIN the "somewhere around here", where do you end up when the effort is no longer sustained? Specifically, if it gets dropped involuntarily.

25. This still doesn't feel like "inventing new Forms", or at least, not with its current set-up. You have "the easiest way" which is reskinning things, and then in a shaded box there's something about a concept being represented by multiple Forms. Those both feel like side-things to an actual "how to invent a new Form", because saying "the easiest way" implies that there's a less-easy way, and a shaded box has generally been used for clarification or edge cases. If "how to invent new Forms" isn't something you want to write and/or you feel it wouldn't benefit the game, I'd recommend rephrasing things (possibly including the section title) to make it clear that these are the available options if you don't like the Forms as described. (Also, "hundred-handed", with the "handed" being lowercase, is here, if you decide to go with it being uppercase.)

27. "Hundred-handed" has the "handed" as uppercase here, if you decide to go with it being lowercase.

36. "Art of abundance", can the "summon more copies of yourself while sustaining the Art" only be done once, or can it be done as often as you can pay for it? "Art of alteration", I see you've changed the "forced to end it" thing from "being verbally called out" to "someone speaks your true name aloud". Does that mean "if they say it anywhere in the world", or does it have to be in the vicinity? Plus, that would mean that with what rules we have so far, it could only be done by other party members, which… MIGHT be the intended gameplay, but it doesn't match my albeit extremely vague and distant memories of the relevant cartoons.

37. "Art of autonomy", no problems here, just want to comment that I REALLY wish I had this, since later on today I'm walking somewhere and I can't rely on anyone having plowed or shovelled the sidewalks on the way. "Art of exposition", the bullet points (arrow points?) feel like they're just the sentences from a paragraph put on a new line each. EXTREMELY low-priority, since it clearly conveys all the necessary information, but it can be made to feel a bit better with the format it's in.

38. "Art of guising", so if a role is held by a specific person and it doesn't make you look like that person, then if somebody knows who that person would be… I'm not sure which option is funnier, "I hadn't realized we got a new [role]" or "huh the [role] looks different today". I'm assuming that if someone has a personal connection to the [role] then Shenanigans would ensue. "Art of indulgence", typo, "or the part of to be eaten". If it's not a typo and it's actually a valid construction, then I'd suggest that it be rephrased, because it FEELS like a word got dropped there. …Also, I'm assuming that this doesn't count as "removing Stress by eating something", except in VERY niche cases. "Art of iteration", can it be activated multiple times for the same outcome? Like, you activate it once, get a new result; decide you don't like that new result, then activate it a second time.

39. "Art of keeping", I'd suggest moving the "later" from the start of the sentence, to fit better as part of a bullet point. "Art of making", another instance of "bullet-point division doesn't feel quite right". Very minor issue. "Art of miscellany", does "item in another character's inventory slot" count as "held" or "worn/carried"?

40. "Art of negation", for an ongoing effect where the Art must be sustained, it's possible to act (or have others act) in such a way to end up somewhere that it's no longer an ongoing effect, yeah? And I'm assuming that if it gets dropped when the situation is still there, that you'd then immediately take the Stress you would have earlier. "Art of realization", I wouldn't say that a STATUE counts as a "visual depiction"; like, "a sword in a statue's hand" isn't a real sword, but it's still a physical (sword-shaped) object. Maybe change it to "artistic depictions"?

41. "Art of transition", I just realized; the "sustain" effect isn't just to chain leaps together to go farther, it could also be used to briefly check (as in "take a glance around" not "search the area") a bunch of unoccupied rooms behind closed doors… and I just realized that it doesn't include stuff on what counts as a valid destination any more. "Art of ubiquity", oh I LIKE the change you made to the last point of it, how a creature can react to your action as though you were at Touch range; it's more elegant than the previous thing, AND it neatly suggests potential (direct!) consequences.

48. The "maximum five dice" thing still confuses me. If your intent is that no roll should EVER have more than five dice, I'd suggest putting that BEFORE "you get an extra dice for each Trait you tag", since otherwise it feels like a) when using Traits you're limited to five dice, but Obstinacy and pushing your luck can give you more than that, and/or b) you can get up to five dice from "tagging Traits", which are then added to the "starting" dice to result in SIX dice.

57. Typo in the second paragraph, "quanities of food". Also, I don't believe an that meaning of "atomic" (as "indivisible") is commonly understood; I like how it's used, and it can be figured out from context, but it's up to you to decide if you think it's sufficiently clear.

59. In the shaded box, typo, "eligible perform a reversal" is missing a "to". Also, NOW it's clear what kind of circumstance there'd be where "participating in a test even if there's the maximum amount of Traits added" would be beneficial; genuinely uncertain if that should be mentioned alongside 'cooperative tests', you're the expert when it comes to writing this stuff.

62. Typo in the first paragraph, "immeditiately".

63. Typo in the shaded box, "conjuction".

67. I really appreciate the stuff in the shaded box, about how it's "swapping out Forms" because that's what makes it easier to play. Plus, "trying to figure out which Form/s would best represent the Shenanigans that happened upon the character" is good enrichment.

79. For 11+, when it says "probably shouldn't require a test", my thought was that it should mention "taking six" on a roll.

81. In the first paragraph, "impact penalty for that would normally be suffered" feels like it's either missing a word or contains an extraneous word.

85. Typo in the shaded box, "explicity".

87. Typo in the last paragraph, "inflcit".

88. Ooh I like that thing about ganging up on NPCs, it makes so much SENSE for this game. Third paragraph, I'm genuinely not sure if there IS an HTML version of the current document; I'm reading it from the pdf, since the other relevant option was an epub file. (Also, another instance of the full text about print-and-play cards.)

102. Typo for the first word, actually, "Ths". So, it makes sense that a particular Gizmo has to be rolled for, if it's part of your starting inventory, since some of them are of more obvious use than others. But do you have to roll for ALL your starting inventory if you include a slot or two for Gizmo, or only what Gizmo is in that slot?

120. The note here made me grin.

122. Calling something "Western fantasy" raises the question of whether "EASTERN fantasy" will be a future table. Also, what other kinds of settings there could be… I've recently read the Murderbot books, and I think a lot of the corporate-run stations and planets there could ABSOLUTELY be improved by a bunch of God-eaters running around.

Not specific to any page, but something I realized I should prolly mention. Impact modifiers. When they're listed as "+1" or "+2", it FEELS like they should be additive with each other. (Most often it was seen in the playset stuff, like "XYZ approach has a +2 impact modifier in this situation" feels like that +2 is "in addition to" and not "instead of".) My thought is maybe renaming them to "tier one/two/three positive/negative"; this would add a layer of distance between "what it is" and "what it does", which would be a benefit for "not getting it confused with direct modifiers of the kind encountered in other games most notably D&D", but a detriment for "remembering what it actually does to the roll". Plus all the hassle which goes along with changing something. You're better equipped to make any judgement on the issue; it's just something an I had to raise.

Eat God playtest draft 0.5.0 is now available

Version 0.5.0 of Eat God brings several major changes, foremost among them a full rewrite of the Forms and Rebellious Arts, in a more structured and (hopefully!) more readable format than the previous wall-of-text presentation. This update also includes print-and-play cards (and corresponding VTT resources) for all Forms, Arts, and playset NPCs and locations. A full list of updates is available here, or under the cut below:

Download package now includes print-and-play cards for all Forms, Rebellious Arts, and playset and NPC locations

Revised introduction to provide a link to the new Form, Art, and playset cards

Expanded discussion of the mechanical effect of Traits

Forms and Rebellious Arts are now numerically indexed in their descriptions as well as in their lookup tables

One additional Form (bringing the total up to a full 36 for the first time!), and a full rewrite of all existing Forms

Full rewrite of all existing Rebellious Arts

Added discussion of how to handle resisting Stress when multiple God-eaters are affected by the same threat simultaneously

Small clarifications to activation timing for Rebellious Arts and what it means to "activate an Art in conjunction with a test"

Greatly expanded discussion of how to adjudicate Limit Breaks

Reformatted examples of Limit Break effects and added a few more examples

Random inventory table slightly revised to make its implicit milieu more consistent, and moved from the Inventory section to a separate appendix in preparation for adding multiple random inventory tables for different milieux

"Effect modifiers" renamed "impact modifiers" to avoid ambiguity with other uses of the word "effect"; relevant terminology throughout document revised accordingly

Simplified rules for how Forms influence impact penalties (formerly effect penalties)

Added first-pass rules for imposing temporary Traits upon NPCs

Added discussion of how cooperative tests work in the context of multiple God-eaters ganging up on a single NPC

Reformatted playset location/NPC/calamity tables for better readability

Added "Appendix B: Additional Tables"; right now this just contains the relocated starting inventory table (see above)

[saintofvoid]

Not saying you have no reason to feel "bleh", sometimes the brain just insists, but there is so much character in the little snippets and commentary and photos you do. Even if they are similar to other people's (which is really hard not to do), they are so unique to themselves it's absolutely worth it.

Hopefully you're feeling better soon, and can find joy in creating and talking about your boys again ❤

Its late so I'm gonna kinda reply to this with what has been going on on my end and where this funk is coming from. Putting it under a read more to spare everyone, but first and foremost I do appreciate all of you beyond belief for reaching out and having such kind words to say. I know its just a me thing but sometimes it all does just get to me. With that being said, feel free to ignore the whole next bit.

I 100% understand and accept its never going to be completely possible to make completely original characters, especially given the restricted format we have for CP2077. I wish we had more power to craft our characters, more like Fallout 4's character creator (which despite the game's flaws I still go back to just to make characters lol). The problem is I see Valor in game and these screenshots of him and while I do like how he looks... its not him. Not completely. His scars are wrong, he doesn't have his tattoos, hair isn't right, he's missing the ports on his body, and overall things just aren't 100% with him. But despite all that, 3rd time around I think he looks pretty good. Again though am limited to what the game allows so a part of me does get a bit offed when I see other ppls Vs that look a bit too similar. I know its just me, I don't take it to heart, its just upsetting reminder I can't make him look how he's supposed to. Same with Umbra, he looks nothing like how he looks in our TTRPG and it really hurts because I spent a long time making him with our GM and I can't show that. Its not possible in game and my art doesn't do him any justice. So it gets frustrating because I look at some of these guys and they're not my characters, just similar figures to them, but not them.

Which is really hard especially when it comes to Val because long ago he was a self insert that I used to project how I wanted to look. I Have never done well with identifying as trans, I don't like to glamorize it or be recognized for it. I'm saving up for chest surgery but I'm fucking terrified of having the scars. I just don't want to be associated and recognized with it after my transition just because it's been really rough to go through in general. I haven't enjoyed this journey at all really, and really wish I didn't have to go through it. Valor in the RPG was my way of coping and going through stuff. Instead of gender though it was his association with cyberware and having parts of his body and "humanity" removed, replaced with machine and wires. I don't project onto him as much as I once did but he still will and forever hold pieces of that history because that's how I made him.

With all that, all I really do have is my words. Part of the problem with that is there's literally years worth of lore. I've been playing the same campaign with the same group of friends since my freshman year of college. So like 6/7 years now? There's a lot. The issue is these are people I'm really good friends with. This game has become a kind of safe zone for us. We're all a bunch of artist that mainly specialized in horror content. We were part of a movie club that mainly watched horror movies. We're the bitches that watched the Saw series during our free hour in the school library, like we are chill. That also just kinda means there's a lot of dark and twisted subject matter that ends up in our games. Characters having experienced some fucked up shit, witnessed some fucked up shit, and have done some fucked up shit. Feel kinda weird posting or sharing some of the more dark things in detail. So end up watering them down and they don't always feel right.

Top of all that, I just don't have the time to do things I wanna do. I feel so goddamn pressured at home and like I should be doing more. I honestly don't know how half these people have the time to learn and do the amount of mods and edits they do. I'm not gonna lie, I'm envious of it. I get 8-10 hours of being yelled at by customers, and then I may or may not have an hour long drive to take my brother to work or pick him up some days, and then whatever my parents have going on. I want to get back into art, I want to learn 3D modeling, I want to learn how to properly mod but I'm usually so stressed out or just exhausted nothing sticks so I don't even bother really. It sucks, because I want to learn, I want to do things, but I can't. I feel like because I have so little private and personal time now if I can't get things quick enough its not worth the effort. Its frustrating but again that's all on me.

And in other news, lotta people around me are dying or have had family die do to COVID and other things. Earlier this year a close friend of mine lost her dad to COVID and she's still struggling with that. A family friend of ours died earlier this week at the age of 35 from unknown causes. I have another friend who is in the psych ward because he is once again dealing with mental stuff and wellness check did not turn up well. Round it all off, my grandpa has basically given up on his life as well, flat out saying there's nothing worth living for anymore. Given his health issues I know its only a matter of time until I'm saying my final goodbye to him as well. So its rough, and fucking sucks. Not much I can do about it, but it makes me feel fucking worse with my own depression and suicidal thoughts. I know I'd never act on the thoughts, but seeing how death effects those around me makes me feel fucking worse for even thinking about it.

The part that sucks the most about it all, and even something I've expressed to my therapist is I'm completely self aware that its all in my head. I know I can't control these situations, and that skills take time to be acquired and grow. I am so grateful for all friends and support I do have, here, on disco, irl, I see the kind words and love and it really means a lot. I feel like a horrible friend because I don't know what to do really. I know its in my head, and I know what I can and can't control. I know what I need to do, yet I don't feel any better. I feel worse, I feel like I'm distant, and dismissive. I feel like what content I am putting out is stale and boring. I just feel lost and I'm not sure what piece I'm missing to really get things going again. I love my characters, I love making stuff with them. I love the story arch I have for Val and Ker and I want to share all of that with you all. I just feel really weird.

[tigerkirby215]

5e Xayah, the Rebel build (League of Legends)

(Artwork by Riot Games)

Holy shit they actually just flip the artwork. No this is genuinely Xayah’s “official” artwork it’s just a flip of Rakan’s...

So uh I had this build prepared back in August... and then I forgot it. Luckily I did write it down! See? I’m smarter than Rakan!

Honestly I’m quite thankful for Tasha’s coming out because it made my Xayah build a lot better. So I’m happy that I’m publishing it now in February instead of back in August when I made the first draft. A lot of things get better with age and love’s also one of them~ 💓

GOALS

Dodging seems to be a weak spot of yours - Sick of only hitting one enemy at a time? Make some Clean Cuts to strike behind your enemy. That’s what’s known as efficiency!

Move your feet, or lose some toes - Ever tripped on a feather? How about having your heels slashed?

A thousand cuts is only the beginning - In case of emergency push R button to dodge damage, and send a ton of feathers at your foes!

RACE

Xayah is half bird, but her taunt flat out shows she can’t fly which leaves Aarakocra out of the picture. She’s also very chatty (holy shit have you seen how many voice lines Xayah and Rakan have?) so Kenku is definitely not an option. So when in Rome as a furry look no further than a Shifter.

All Shifters have Darkvision and their Shifting ability to gain temporary hitpoints, but everything else is determined by their subrace: you’re the girl with the plan for the hunt. The Wildhunt that is! Your Wisdom increases by 2 and your Dexterity increases by 1. You’re a Natural Tracker with proficiency in Survival. And your Shifting Feature will let you become one with nature for advantage on Wisdom checks, and you can up your dodging game so no enemy can hit you with advantage.

ABILITY SCORES

15; DEXTERITY - You’re a marksman. That means attacking with a ranged weapon, which takes nimbleness.

14; WISDOM - Wisdom will let you connect with the natural magic of the world. Most literally as you’re going to be using Wisdom to cast spells!

13; INTELLIGENCE - You’re the one with the plan.

12; CONSTITUTION - Ha ha ADC health bar go brrrr, but even if Xay is squishy in LoL that doesn’t mean we can’t grab Grasp for a bit more health.

10; CHARISMA - Xayah has a degree of rough charm to her. But I mean hey: you got Rakan to fall for you?

8; STRENGTH - As much muscle as dancing takes you don’t need it to cut through your foes.

BACKGROUND

You’re a freedom fighter. A rebel with a cause fighting as a Faction Agent for the Vastayan cause. You get proficiency in Insight along with any Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma ability. For a dance under the moonlight with Rakan get Performance proficiency: it takes two to tango after all! You also get proficiency in two languages: unfortunately Aarakocra isn’t an option but Auran (or rather Primordial) will serve well to speak the Vastayan-bird language. And to learn the ancient language of Ionia I’d recommend Sylvan.

As a vastayan rebel you can gain access to a Safe Haven for you and your allies. By using secret signs and passwords you can identify other rebels who can bring you to a safe house, give you a free place to stay, or assist you in finding information. They won’t risk their lives for you but as long as you remember the password they’ll be willing to help. Be sure to remember the password by the way. Because Rakan definitely won’t.

(Artwork by XhiliaJP on DeviantArt)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - FIGHTER 1

Starting off as a Fighter for a few things known as saving throws, but also for skills like Acrobatics and Perception to see incoming skill shots and dodge them with grace. You also get Second Wind to heal for a d10 plus your Fighter level for some health pots in lane.

Your main choice as a Fighter at early levels is your Fighting Style and we’ll be grabbing a Bladecaller root very early thanks to Superior Technique from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. You learn a Battle Master Maneuver from the Battle Master subclass: we’ll be going for Trip Attack to hinder enemy movement. You then get a d6 Maneuver die to use on Trip Attack, and nothing else because spoilers: we won’t be getting other maneuvers.

LEVEL 2 - FIGHTER 2

Second level Fighters get their Action Surge, allowing them to take two actions in a turn instead of 1. For now that only means two attacks. For now.

LEVEL 3 - FIGHTER 3

Third level Fighters get to choose their Martial Archetype and to channel some magic into your “blades” (read: arrows, because you should be using a longbow) go for the magic of the Arcane Archer. Arcane Archer Lore will give you proficiency in Arcana or Nature (we’re actually going to be going for Arcana) as well as either the Prestigiation or Druidcraft cantrip (naturally as a naturalist we’ll be going for Druidcraft.)

"How can humans not hear the magic?"

"They're too busy building things."

"Why?"

"Because... they're afraid."

Of course the main feature of the Arcane Archer is their Arcane Shot. Once per turn when you fire an arrow from a bow, you can apply one of your Arcane Shots to that arrow. You decide to use the option when the arrow hits a creature, unless the option doesn’t involve an attack roll. You have two uses of Arcane Shot that come back after a Short or Long rest.

Let’s talk about your Arcane Shots then, hm? To root your foe (sorta) Grasping Arrow does an extra 2d6 Poison damage and lowers the target’s movement speed by 10. Additionally if they try to move without Flash (or other means of teleportation) they’ll take an extra 2d6 slashing damage. The target can use its action to remove the brambles with a successful Athletics check against your Arcane Shot save DC, or ask their support to do it for them. Otherwise, the brambles last for 1 minute or until you use this option again.

Piercing Arrow meanwhile doesn’t require an attack roll. Instead you target all enemies in a 30 foot line and force them to make a Dexterity save. On a failed save they take damage as if they were shot by the bow, along with an extra d6 of piercing. On a successful save however they only take half, but realistically if you’re hitting 3 or more people with this arrow it’s still worth it even if you miss.

(Artist unknown. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 4 - RANGER 1

Feel free to take one more level in Fighter for an ASI but I’m going to go to Ranger now and grab Nature proficiency from the class, which is why we took Arcana earlier!

Also thank god Tasha’s is out because instead of the meme known as Natural Explorer we get Deft Explorer. Canny gives you Expertise in one of your skills (I personally opted for Acrobatics to evade any Shadow Assassins who may try to kill you, but honestly any one of your skills make sense for Expertise so feel free to pick whatever you think will be useful) and two language proficiencies of your choice. (Choose whatever you think will help your cause.)

But the more interesting feature is Favored Foe. When you hit an enemy you can choose to mark them to make your feathers just a little more sharp. The first time on each of your turns that you hit the marked target and deal damage to it (including when you first mark it) you can do an extra d4 of damage to them.

The bond lasts for 1 minute unless you get hit hard enough to lose your concentration because yes: this feature takes your concentration for some reason which is why we went into Fighter first for proficiency in Constitution saves. You can use the mark a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

LEVEL 5 - RANGER 2

Second level Rangers get their Fighting Style, and since we didn’t take Archery from Fighter we’ll instead be taking it here.

But more importantly you get Spellcasting. You can learn two spells from the Ranger list: to keep enemies in place with Bladecaller take Ensnaring Strike. Alternatively if you want to increase your evasion with your Deadly Plumage Zephyr Strike will make it so enemies can’t make attacks of opportunity against you, and you can end the spell’s effects to do more damage with an attack and then increase your movement speed afterwards.

LEVEL 6 - RANGER 3

Third level Rangers get to choose their Ranger Archetype, and with Tasha’s Cauldron out we have an explanation for Xayah’s Deadly Plumage. Why, it’s a swarm of feathers of course! Xayah’s a Swarmkeeper! After hitting an enemy you can use your Gathered Swarm for a variety of different effects. You can do an extra d6 of piercing damage, force a Strength save or be pushed up to 15 feet horizontally in a direction of your choice, or you can move yourself 5 feet horizontally in a direction of your choice.

You also get Swarmkeeper Magic for a variety of spells. For one you get Mage Hand, and you also get Faerie Fire to light up all your enemies’ weak points. You can also learn another spell like Hail of Thorns for Clean Cuts through any foes who may be bunched up.

And to top it off you get Primal Awareness for a few extra spells. You learn the Speak with Animals spell, and cast it once per Long Rest without spending a spell slot.

LEVEL 7 - RANGER 4

4th level Rangers get an Ability Score Improvement. Increase your Intelligence by 1 and your Dexterity by 1, because why not replace one uneven ability score with another? "And an F, for effort."

LEVEL 8 - RANGER 5

5th level Rangers get an Extra Attack. Two attacks per round for a bit more attack speed.

You also get access to second level spells, and from your Swarmkeeper Magic you get the Web spell, which perhaps isn’t too fitting but you shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Additionally Primal Awareness adds Beast Sense to your spell list, and lets you cast it without spending a spell slot. Perhaps not the most useful spell, but as Xayah would say: "Spiders are my spirit animal." And finally you can learn another spell too like Lesser Restoration for some QSS in case of emergency.

(Artwork by Riot Games)

LEVEL 9 - RANGER 6

6th level Rangers see their Favored Foe damage increase to a d6. Additionally they get Roving from Deft Explorer for 5 additional moving speed and some help with swimming and climbing.

LEVEL 10 - RANGER 7

7th level Rangers can at least try to fly thanks to Writhing Tide. As a bonus action you gain a flying speed of 10 feet and can hover. The effect lasts for 1 minute or until you are incapacitated. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest. It perhaps isn’t the most useful thing for mobility but it’s good to use your feathers to get the perfect angle on your foes, or to keep away from melee bruisers looking to slice your chicken.

You can also learn another spell at this level like Enhance Ability, for a boost to give 120% when you need it.

LEVEL 11 - RANGER 8

8th level Rangers get another Ability Score Improvement: to maximize the deadliness of your plumage take the Piercer feat from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. Along with a +1 increase to your Dexterity you can also reroll one attack roll that did piercing damage (your longbow does piercing damage) to hopefully turn a low roll into a high roll. But to top it off when you score a critical hit (that deals piercing damage) you can roll one additional damage die when determining the extra piercing damage the target takes. Any ADC can attack an enemy but Clean Cuts is what lets Xayah stand out from the crowd.

LEVEL 12 - RANGER 9

9th level Rangers get more spells. From Primal Awareness you get Speak with Plants, to understand why the land of Ionia is upset at the humans. You can also grab Conjure Barrage for a Featherstorm to cut down a full crowd. But if you want to evade with Featherstorm your Swarmkeeper Magic grants you the Gaseous Form spell, to become untargetable (to an extent) and still be able to move and dodge (to an extent.)

(Artwork by SplashBrush on DeviantArt. It’s considerably easier to find artwork of Xayah than it is to find artwork of Rakan :c)

LEVEL 13 - FIGHTER 4

Back to good ol’ Fighter to pick up that ASI I ignored. +2 to Dexterity? That’ll max out your hit chance and attack damage!

LEVEL 14 - FIGHTER 5

5th level Fighters get an Extra Attack... which you already have. "I can't even... I don't know where to begin."

LEVEL 15 - FIGHTER 6

6th level Fighters get more Ability Score Improvements! Since your Dexterity is maxed out you can choose to increase either your Wisdom for better Ranger spells or your Intelligence for better Fighter Arcane Shots. Pick whatever suits your fancy but remember that your Arcane Shots come back on a Short Rest while your Ranger spells are restricted by Long Rests.

LEVEL 16 - FIGHTER 7

Do you have a Magic Weapon? Well you do now! 7th level Rangers get Magic Arrow, which makes their shots magical for the sake of overcoming resistances and immunity. Is total level 16 way too late to be getting this? Yeah probably.

Good thing you also get Curving Shot! If you miss an attack you can redirect it with Clean Cuts, spending a Bonus Action to roll an attack on a different enemy within 60 feet of the original target. And to top it off you get another Arcane Shot option: Seeking Arrow is a good way to target backline enemies, but it’s also really useful to deal with any invisible foes. "Did they deserve it?" "They deserved it."

(Artwork by Riot Games)

LEVEL 17 - FIGHTER 8

8 is the magic number for more ASIs. Intelligence is nice; so is Wisdom. Increase what you want.

LEVEL 18 - FIGHTER 9

9th level Rangers can pick up Mercurial Scimitar and get out of CC with Indomitable. If you fail a saving throw, you can reroll it! But it’s only once per Long Rest. Note that you can reroll death saves, so don’t die or that would make Rakan sad.

LEVEL 19 - FIGHTER 10

10th level Fighters get another Arcane Shot option. Yup that’s literally it. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, I guess. Regardless this late into the game some CC would probably be good, so take Banishing Arrow.

LEVEL 20 - FIGHTER 11

Our capstone is the 11th level of Fighter for an Extra Attack that does stack, giving us three total! Cap off that attack speed to slice through foes like butter! "I love watching you kill." "I love killing for you." "Let's make out."

FINAL BUILD

PROS

Hurray; they all died - You’re really good at Fighting, almost like you multiclassed Fighter with a half-Fighter. You’re incredibly precise with a +13 to hit with your longbow and have plenty of tools to increase your overall DPS.

What? They were in my way - You’ve also got plenty of tricks up your sleeve. Arcane Shots, one use of Trip Attack, Gathered Swarm shenanigans, and plenty of dangerous utility spells.

Oops, your bad! - You’ve got quite a few aces up your sleeve to stop you from being blown up. Higher than average movement thanks to being a Ranger, and your Swarmkeeper abilities lets you increase your movement. Not to mention utility spells like Gaseous Form. And you also have two different ways to boost your health (Second Wind + Shifting), 17 AC with Studded Leather... oh and did I mention you have +17 in Acrobatics?

CONS

Can I just hate you to death? - You’ve got limited resources on top of limited resources on top of limited resources. Two Arcane Shots per Short Rest, spell slots that are limited by Long Rests, healing and temp HP that’s tied to a Short Rest... Be sure to ration out your abilities so you don’t run out when you need them most.

Chaos is the preferred state of nature - All your saving throws are rather mediocre, notably your Charisma which is a nice flat +0. Rakan’s the talker, but a beautiful smile will keep you out of any banishing spells.

Magic is not some river - So it turns out multiclassing two sorta-casters means that you can’t focus on either stat. If you can easily get a 19 in Intelligence (such as with a Hextech Headband) perhaps focus on Wisdom. If not? Well Point Buy is an option.

But if you were perfect why would you need Rakan? He’s there to pick up your slack, and you’re there to make sure he doesn’t screw up. Dance along with him and cut down anyone who stands in your way. There’s nothing you can’t defeat with the power of love... But a good plan is also helpful, so make sure Rakan actually remembers it this time.

"Hey, I have a plan."

"You... have a plan?"

"Yeah! I'll go on instinct!"

"That's the opposite of a plan."

(Artwork by Riot Games)

[thesunnyshow]

Name: Kim Age: 26 (27 in September) Writing Blog URL(s): @jinterlude​   

Nationality: Filipino-American Languages: English  Star Sign: Virgo MBTI: ISFJ-T Favorite color: Any shade of blue  Favorite food: Ah, I have so many, but I really do love ramen & this Filipino noodle dish my grandma makes. Favorite movie: West Side Story. A close second is Pride & Prejudice (2005) Favorite ice cream flavor: Rocky Road  Favorite animal: Pandas Go-to karaoke song: Upside Down by A*Teens (I think I just dated myself) 

What fandom(s) do you write for? Mainly BTS, but I have written for SVT, EXO, GOT7, Monsta X, B.A.P, & NCT

When did you post your first piece? Oh dang, when? Hmm… I want to say Oct. 2016 (?) on my first blog (I had deleted and came back to Tumblr).

Do you write fluff/angst/crack/general/smut, combo, etc? Why? I mostly write a combo because it just happens that way! My main genres are: fluff, romance, & humor/crack. 

Do you write OCs, X Readers, Ships...etc? I mainly write OCs stories because that’s what makes me the happiest when it comes to writing, but I still write x reader fics for drabbles and oneshots. 

Why did you decide to write for Tumblr? Funny story. The reason why I started writing for Tumblr is because an old group of friends said that I should write a funny story based on a college class of mine, so I did and here we are. 

What inspires you to write? Usually, it’s my imagination, but other times it’s either the song I’m listening to or even the show I’m currently watching. Right now, my inspiration draws from anime. 

What genres/AUs do you enjoy writing the most? Genre wise, I love writing fluff & romance. AUs wise, I’m a sucker for Royal/Royalty. Mafia/Gang & Soulmate AUs would be a close second. 

What do you hope your readers take away from your work? Oh, wow. I honestly never thought about that before. I think for me, the one thing I hope my readers get from my stories is at the end of the day, please do something that will make you happy. Your own happiness should always be a top priority for you. 

What do you do when you hit a rough spot creatively? I take a break! Instead of forcing myself out of the creativity slump, I just take a break and let my mind recharge. Then, I go back to my outline and look over while listening to music that I know will spark some creativity juices. 

What is your favorite work and why? Your most successful? My favorite works (yes, I couldn’t pick just one) are my Royal!AU Seokjin series (Fight for Me & Our Second Chance). I love the amount of time and effort I put into those two stories, and I’m simply in awe at the world and characters I created. My second favorite is my latest Seokjin oneshot, Protecting Each Other. It’s my first story that exceeded 10,000 words, and I’m just proud of how that turned out. Successful wise, I would say it’s, This Little String. It’s a Soulmate!Taehyung oneshot based around the red-string of fate, and every other month, I see someone like and/or reblog it, so I say that’s pretty successful!

Who is your favorite person to write about? Seokjin hands down. I mean, not only is he one of my ultimate biases, but for some reason my creative banks dishes out ideas and inspiration for him like it’s nothing. 

Do you think there’s a difference between writing fanfiction vs. completely original prose? I personally don’t think so. You are still writing original content that derails from the source material (or adds to it), all you have to do is just replace your idols’ name with an original character name, and there you go. What do you think makes a good story? For me, I’d say that if you’re honestly proud of the end product, then that story is good, and your readers will see that. What is your writing process like? First I get an idea, or I like to call it, “it appeared to me in a vision,” then I outline it (if the idea lingers in my brain), and then I start writing and editing. Sometimes I’d sprint with my fellow writers on a server I’m in, and other times, I’d put on music and just let my brain go wild. Most of the time, I’m sprinting with friends. 

Would you ever repurpose a fic into a completely original story? If I had the time, probably. I can see my Royal!AU series becoming an original story with different characters and an expanded plotline. What tropes do you love, and what tropes can’t you stand? I am a sucker for F2L I (friends to lovers)! I just love the idea of dating someone who’s your best friend, so why not date your best friend, if the feelings are mutual of course! As for tropes, I dislike, I can’t say that I have any. I think it’s because (and I feel so bad for this), I don’t really read much stories other than what my mutual friends have written. 

How much would you say audience feedback/engagement means to you? It means the world to me because I do like knowing if I’m doing something right or if I need to go back and edit something for clarity. Mainly, I get likes and reblogs (with no feedback), and while it’s still nice of someone for taking the time to like and reblog something, I would like some feedback, please. I’m still grateful no matter what, though!

What has been one of the biggest factors of your success (of any size)? I think it’s the support of my amazing group of friends/mutuals! It’s thanks to their support that my work is reaching a wider audience, and it just means the world to me that they read my blood, sweat, and tears. I love them so much, especially my close friend, Jey (softjeon on Tumblr)!

Coffee or tea? What are you ordering? For coffee, my go-to is a Caramel Macchiato with Soy Milk (from Starbucks), but lately I’ve been using my Keurig, so I just Peppermint Mocha and 3 tsps of Sugar (I can’t stand bitter coffee lol). For tea, I really like Mango green tea from Gongcha (another boba place chain). 

Dream job (whether you have a job or not)? My dream job is to be an elementary school teacher, however, I am currently working on becoming a social worker where my population will still focus on children/students. So, it’s a good compromise!

If you could have one superpower, what would you choose?  If I could have one superpower, it would be cryokinesis aka ice manipulation!  

If you could visit a historical era, which would you choose? Oh, that’s a tough one, but if I had to choose one, I would go for the 1960s so I can see the Beatles live!

If you could restart your life, knowing what you do now, would you? No, because it’s thanks to those life lessons that I grow up to be who I currently am. Sometimes you have to go through those harsh experiences to be a better version of yourself!

Would you rather fight 100 chicken-sized horses or one horse-sized chicken? One horse-sized chicken, then I can feed my family for months. 

If you were a trope in a teen high school movie, what would you have been? Oh, hands down, I would be the stereotypical geek/nerd. Though, I was called a “preppy” in 9th grade, so that was a first. 

Do you believe in aliens/supernatural creatures? Yup, especially ghosts! 

Fun fact about yourself that not everyone would know? I can say the alphabet backwards! 

Do you think fanfic writers get unfairly judged? Oh, hands down, especially when it comes to writing smut. I’ve seen other blogs condemn writers who write smut about real people, but my thing is that these idols are merely face claims for a character that the author is writing about. 

Do you think art can be a medium for change? I think so! Every artist has a voice, especially with what’s going on recently, we need to be able to use our voices to spread light on certain issues. 

Do you ever feel there are times when you’re writing for others, rather than yourself? I used to think that way, especially when it came to writing x reader inserts since I know that’s what “sells” to the Tumblr audience. Now, I’m perfectly happy with writing x OC stories, and I’m content with my stories getting at least 5 notes. If it breaks 10 notes, then that’s a success!

Do you ever feel like people have misunderstood you or your writing at times? If they did, then I wouldn’t know. Most of the time, I think my writing is okay with people. 

Do your offline friends/loved ones know you write for Tumblr? Yes, my soul friend managed my old blog once upon a time and actually read one of my smuts. I was so embarrassed! But at least he said it was tastefully written, so that’s a bonus? 

What is one thing you wish you could tell your followers? Always remember that it is okay to take breaks/go on hiatus! 

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers who might be too scared to put themselves out there? My advice to those who want to start writing but are too afraid put themselves out there is to simply go for it. I was that person who was afraid to put their writing out there for the world to see, especially with some already established BTS writers on Tumblr, but I went for it. At first, it might be discouraging but know that your mutuals/friends will always be your number one supporter! Use their support as a motivator to keep writing and finding your groove! Then, eventually, all of your readers will start trickling in and showering you with the love and support you deserve!

Are there any times when you regret joining Tumblr? I wouldn’t say regret joining but more like allowing my life to be revolved around it. At one point in my life, it felt like a second job/chore for me, and Tumblr should never be that type of site! 

Do you have any mutuals who have been particularly formative/supportive in your Tumblr journey? Oh, I have so many! The ones that come to mind are definitely Jey (softjeon), Beanie (jinned), Nina (j-sope), Kenz (parksfilter), Renae (mygsii), Atlas (astraljoon), & Niah (randomkoalablog) to name a few! I love these amazing people so much and cherish their friendship to the moon and back!

Pick a quote to end your interview with: "Around here, however, we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we're curious … and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." - Walt Disney

[name-me-regret]

Till I Touch The Sky - 2/9

Till I Touch the Sky Chapter Two: And Away We Go

Summary: Peter decides to explore more in his dreams, and in the waking world, he’s finally finished his medical webbing...

Read on AO3.

FANFICTION MASTER POST

- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

“All your life, no You couldn't be mad about it You've been sailing, sailing oh You couldn't be sad about it And it's been all this time And you haven't lived without-out it You are shining, shining it seems though That your life, you've found it

No oh oh oh But you've never No, you've never seen the rain...

And it gets you down But that's okay You've been pushed 'round You feel the pain And when you fall Just lean on me 'Cause you've never known Never seen, never smelt, never felt The rain...”

~Never Seen The Rain - Tones and I

- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

April 10, 2015, Friday

Peter tiptoed out of the apartment even if May couldn’t see him where she was balancing her checkbook at the table. He’d gone to bed early due to having had a hard day at school. Coach Wilson had insisted he at least try to do the fitness challenge even though he had a medical note from the doctor. It hadn’t been so bad when he’d started, since the sit-ups weren’t too strenuous but he just hadn’t been able to do more than ten (that last one hadn’t really counted). It was the pull ups and the rope climb that had done him in, although it was a combination of everything.

He wouldn’t say he had collapsed, but he had needed to lean on Ned as they’d gone to the boy’s locker room to shower and change. It hadn’t been fun to hear Flash taunting him about his pathetic attempt at the challenge (even if he hadn’t done much better). The most embarrassing part was Liz asking if he was alright as they’d left the locker because she was a nice person and Captain of the Decathlon Team, and it was mortifying that she now knew how out of shape he was.

It had thankfully been his last class of the day, so he’d headed straight home, and after finishing his weekend homework, he’d decided a nap wouldn’t be too terrible. His Aunt was off that day and she’d said she’d wake him after she’d finished balancing her checkbook, and as was started to become a constant, he started dreaming again. He dreamed her balancing her checkbook because she’d said she was going to do it.

This was the first time it had been daytime in his dreams, and he guessed it reflected what his mind knew was the time of day. So, since it was daytime, in his dreams it was also daytime.

He knew that Riley and Hailey should be home by then, and decided to pay them a visit. Hopefully, his teenage hormonal mind wouldn’t have them undressing or showering this time. As he passed through his door, he yelped as he had to step back as he was almost run over by the someone rushing to catch the elevator. Then he remembered that he passed through objects and apparently people as he’d seen when he’d seen when he’d tried to touch his Aunt May before.

Peter went through the front door this time, looking around curiously to see what his mind thought the Jones’s house looked like. Of course, since he was very familiar with his own apartment, theirs looked like his except with everything on the opposite side like a mirror. The decorations and other stuff weren’t the same, but the same windows were visible from the front door as you walked in.

That’s where the living room was at, between the door front and the windows, and like their apartment, the couches didn’t exactly match. One was a light brown couch that while it seemed big enough to seat at least four people, there were only two cushions; whether they could be removed was debatable. The other was a light brown loveseat, and both of them were around a a small coffee table that was cluttered in sheet music and some art supplies.

There was an old but well kept acoustic guitar in the corner, leaning against a cabinet with nice looking decorative china. On the other side of the cabinet was an easel, folded up and leaning more against the wall than the cabinet. There was a small paint stained bucket close to it sitting on top of a haphazardly folded folded canvas drop cloth.

He hadn’t known there was someone that could paint, wondering if it was Riley or Hailey. Peter also wondered which one of the two was the musician. For someone that had no artistic talent, Peter thought being able to either paint or make music was amazing.

He carefully made his way out of the living room and down the hallway. This apartment was a bit larger than his and his aunt’s, since it appeared to have three rooms instead of the two theirs had. He poked his head through the first door and saw that it was obviously Miss Jones’s room, judging by the more ‘adult’ things inside. The second door was Riley’s room, since he saw the older boy in there when he peeked inside the ajar door. That meant the room at the end of the hallway was Hailey’s room and the door between both rooms across the hallway was obviously the bathroom.

Peter went into Riley’s room, the opening in the door too narrow for a normal person to pass through, but it wasn’t a problem for him since his body passed through half the door. He was in his bed, obviously doing his homework and Peter wandered curiously over to see what he was working on. His textbook showed that it was Algebra, but not the kind he was taking, since he had all AP classes. He was a grade behind Riley, but he easily understood what he was working on.

’Questions ten and eight are wrong,’ he said even if the other couldn’t hear him. He felt bad that his subconscious thought the other was bad at math, but maybe he’d overheard a conversation and that’s why his mind dreamed it so. Although, he always wondered at how vivid and real his dreams felt and nothing weird, like an elephant suddenly appearing, had happened. He was more use to those kinds of dreams, just not elephants appearing per say; just weird dreams.

A few wet dreams here and there as well, but no one needed to know that.

Riley groaned as he got lost on a problem and erased his equation hard enough to almost rip the paper. “I hate math,” he growled, free hand running through his brown hair. He had straight hair and not the unruly curls that Peter had, which he hated since tangles were a hassle.

“It probably hates you too,” a voice said from the doorway. Peter and Riley both turned to see Hailey there. She was wearing a tank top and these tiny shorts that would have made Peter’s cheeks heat up if he’d actually been there. The girl walked over and plopped on the end of her brother’s bed. “I’m pretty sure ten is wrong... maybe eight, I don’t know.”

The teenage boy cursed and erased ten but hesitated on eight. ’It’s wrong,’ Peter confirmed even if, again, they couldn’t hear him. The other sighed and erased it as well.

“You need a tutor,” Hailey said with a laugh. “I probably do too, cause math probably hates me too.”

He frowned at her. “A tutor? Like who?”

Hailey shrugged, pulling back her hair into a ponytail. “I don’t know.” She thought for a moment and then snapped her fingers. “Oh, I know, that kid down the hallway. I think he goes to a brain school or something. He’s probably pretty good at math.”

Peter felt excitement at realizing she was talking about him. “The twelve year old?” Riley asked with one eyebrow raised.

He felt embarrassed at Riley’s words. He did not look like he was twelve!

She giggled. “I think he’s our age, actually,” she said, rolling her green eyes at her brother’s incredulous face. “Seriously. He’s just got that cute baby face.”

Peter groaned at his face being called ‘baby face’, but smiled at the cute part. Although, he maybe didn’t want a girl to think he was cute. Handsome, yes. Cute, no.

“You should ask him to tutor you.”

He looked at Riley to see what he’d say and Peter wished this was really happening. It would be like a scene out of a manga or something, having your crush asking you to tutor them. Peter wished this wasn’t just a dream. Besides, he wasn’t even sure if the other liked boys anyways, since he liked to think he had a good gaydar being bisexual himself, and he didn’t get that vibe at all from Riley.

“Nah, I don’t want to look stupid in front of some twelve year old,” Riley said with a shake of his head.

Hailey laughed again. “You are stupid, stupid,” she taunted.

Riley promptly kicked her out of his room then, the girl laughing the whole way back to her room. He sat back on his bed, stared at his textbook and then his notebook, closed it with a scoff and tossed them both on top of his backpack. Then he stood and left the room, and Peter went over to look at the textbook to see what kind it was. Just as he thought, a standard Algebra textbook for a high school freshman.

Then Riley was back and Peter’s eyes widened in surprise to see him carrying the guitar. So, he was the musician. That pleased Peter to no end, since while he had no musical talent, he loved music. So, he sat on the edge of the bed, and was glad he’d finally managed to walk and touch things without passing through them. He couldn’t physically move or affect them. At least he didn’t fall through walls anymore, and the floor once, which had been shocking since he’d ended up one floor below.

He strummed on the strings for a while, and then he started on a song that was very familiar. Peter closed as he listened to the notes of the Bruno Mars’s song. Then Riley started to sing in a low scratchy voice that went well with the love song. He was confused at the wording though.

“Oh, his eyes, his eyes make the stars look like they're not shinin',” he sang. “His hair, his hair falls perfectly without him trying. He's so beautiful and I tell him everyday.”

As he continued to sing, he replaced the words in the song that had ‘her’ with ‘him’ and ‘she’ with ‘he’. Peter could just stare at the other as he sang the whole song in this manner. Finally, the song came to an end. “The whole world stops and stares for a while. 'Cause boy, you're amazing just the way you are... Yeah,” he finished off.

When the song ended, Peter had one thought in his mind; Riley was gay. There was no other explanation. He was either gay or he was bisexual like Peter.

Riley had just been talking with Hailey about him, and then he started to sing a well-known love song... to a boy! So, maybe it was slightly possible he had a tiny chance with him. When he’d thought he was straight, he knew there was no way Riley would ever be interested in Peter. It wasn’t even that he was a asthmatic, skinny nerd, but because he was a boy. Now that he knew he was maybe gay, he had a chance; a slim chance but at least it was something.

Then Peter remembered a crucial bit of information: this was a dream. A very vivid, coherent dream, but a dream none the less. That meant that his desire for his crush to like him had made his mind insinuate that Riley was gay in his dream. So, that meant that Riley was not gay.

Peter just wished he was.

- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

April 15, 2015, Wednesday

Peter looked over his formula, confident that it would work this time. He poured the next chemical and started to stir it and then pulled out the stirrer. The fine webs stuck to it, and he fist pumped the air. He was glad he was alone in the lab, or that would have been embarrassing if someone had seen him.

He was just so excited since his project for medical webbing was looking like a reality now that he’d figured out the formula. The only thing he had to figure out now was what he wanted to do with it. He’d presented the idea and a basic outline for his idea and his first attempt of medical webbing at his school’s science fair. He’d won so now he was going to have to present his finished project at the next Stark Expo in May.

When he had won the science fair, he’d gotten a booth at the next Stark Expo. It had blown his mind to learn that he would be able to present his medical webbing where someone would be interested in it, and that his project would be looked over by the Tony Stark.

It was a dream come true for the fourteen year old to meet the man, since he’d been a fan of him. He’d been amazed by the man’s brace actions to shut down the weapon’s manufacturing part of his company, even if that would mean his company taking a hit financially. He had even blown the whistle on his partner selling weapons illegally behind his back, but unfortunately, the man hadn’t wanted to surrender to the police. Stane had taken the CEO, Pepper Potts hostage and had then been sniped to lessen casualties, since he’d already killed the woman’s secretary and two security guards.

Afterwards, there had been no opposition from the board for the company to shut down weapons manufacturing and instead concentrate on other inventions. Even if they had a late start, Stark Industries was now more advanced in phones and digital watches. They had also started to work on prosthetics when one of his friend’s best friends lost an arm while serving in the Army, and Tony Stark’s own best friend had an accident during a training op that left him paralyzed from the waist down. He’d created leg braces that were almost out of the realm of possibilities for this day and age, but he’d managed it.

So, that’s why Peter was sure (at least hopeful) that his medical webbing would get him one of those coveted high school internships. Usually, the internships were given to college students, but there was a few rare high school internships/scholarships. A person had to be super smart to get them, and while Peter had never been one to brag about his intelligence, he knew he was smart. Also, if he got an internship or scholarship for school, then he would be able to go to Midtown School of Science and Technology next year and his Aunt wouldn’t have to worry about paying his tuition.

Now that he had a working prototype, he knew that he wouldn’t feel so inadequate.

Peter just had to figure out how to make a dispensing tool for the webbing. Also, it had to be small enough to fit in a first aid kit. Well, maybe making a smaller version would be for later, and right now use a dispensing tool that actually worked.

“Alright, this shouldn’t be too hard,” he muttered, but made sure to keep the dissolvent close by, just in case. He didn’t want to be stuck in the webbing for two hours (more or less).

- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

 May 15, 2015, Friday

Peter hated that he had to have some kind of adult accompanying him as he set up his booth, and since his Aunt May would be working until noon. That meant Christopher had to accompany him until the afternoon. He didn’t let this ruin his enthusiasm though, and he could admit that he had needed help setting up. It wasn’t such a professional look, not like those around him in the other booths, but he was proud of his accomplishment. He’d even tested it already, since he’d cut his hand the other day and had used his medial webbing to stop the flow of blood.

He’d made sure he had recorded it, using his phone camera as he used the web-shooter (which was a tentative name for it) to spray on his hand. It had stopped the blood almost immediately, so he could say it was a complete success. When the webbing had dissolved two hours later, his wound had already started to clot and the bleeding had stopped. He’d taken screenshots of the wound in the video, as well as him applying the webbing, and then of the end result when the webbing had dissolved. The printed pictures had been used in his presentation, and he had the web-shooter as well as the canisters of the medical webbing set along the table.

Christopher suddenly bumped hard into the table as he fumbled with the empty box his stuff had come in, and the whole table shook. Peter gasped as the web-shooter almost clattered off the table, but he clumsily managed to grab it before it fell. “Oh shit,” he gasped, clutching the instrument to his chest safely.

“Language, bud,” the man chastised, acting like he hadn’t almost ruined his whole project. After all, he only had one web-shooter, and if it broke, then it was all over. Sure, he could repair it, but he didn’t have the parts at the moment. If it broke, he wouldn’t have a working model for the Expo.

“Christopher, you... you almost broke my model,” he accused, setting the web-shooter down on the table more carefully than necessary.

“Oh, I didn’t notice,” the man said, face the picture perfect expression of remorse. “I’m sorry, buddy.”

For some reason, his apology didn’t sound at all remorseful, but he knew he couldn’t be ungrateful. The man had taken time out of his busy schedule to be here with him today, and without adult supervision, he wouldn’t have been able to be here in time for registration. So, he decided to give the man the benefit of the doubt.

“Yeah, alright,” he sighed, fiddling with the canisters. “T-thanks for coming with me today, Christopher.”

The man had undone the box, folding it up and placing it at the back. It’s almost like he’d already forgotten about the whole incident of him almost destroying his prototype. Peter was annoyed by the whole thing, especially since he’d bitten back his previous anger and even thanked him for his help. “Yeah, no worries, Peter,” he said with a dismissive hand wave.

Peter grit his teeth, and then paused. He took a deep breath and then slowly let it out. He needed to just forget about it, about any frustration and anger. Peter had to concentrate on his project, his presentation in case someone came up and asked him about it. Especially, since he knew that Tony Stark was going to show up at some point and look at some of the exhibitions. There was a chance his could be one of them, so who cared about Christopher? He was just his aunt’s stupid boyfriend.

 The start of the Expo wasn’t that great, since the exhibits that were around his were more elaborate and better put together than his own. He shrunk down a little bit every time someone passed his exhibit and laughed or sneered at his cheap prototype. There were a few that did come up and asked him about it, seemed a bit fascinated about the idea of medical webbing. The exhibits at the Expo mostly had to do with technology, so there were likely few went there looking for exhibits that had to do with biology, or in the medical field.

Even so, he knew there were a few. It was just, the chances of them find his in all the ones here were slim. Still, Peter wasn’t going to give up. Just being here was a big opportunity, and he wasn’t going to let it go to waste.

A hush fell over part of the room, which was almost as large as a football field and then shouting started and people started to rush toward the entrance. He realized soon enough what it was, which was that Tony Stark had arrived and was starting on his perusal of the exhibits.

Christopher had been sitting one of the chairs they’d been provided for them, on his phone all this time, which was just fine for Peter. He’d been alternating being on his phone and talking to the few people that came to ask about his project. Now, he ran around his table to peer in the direction of where the other people were running, wanting to go, but knowing full well that he couldn’t leave his booth. Besides, he didn’t trust Christopher to take care of his project, especially after he’d almost broken his web shooter.

Peter couldn’t see anything, but he still felt excited to be in the same place as Tony Stark. The man was a legend in the engineering field, and was one of the scientists he most admired. He frequently collaborated with Dr. Bruce Banner, who was very renown physicist and something that Peter wanted to major in when he reached University. That and chemistry, and a minor in mechanical engineering. He’d probably also look into Biology as well. It was just, that he was not from a well off family, so this Expo was his chance to be able to get a scholarship and study whatever he wanted. His medical webbing was equal parts three of the subjects he wanted to study: biology, chemistry, and mechanical engineering.

He didn’t think the man would even look twice at his project, but Peter had the hope that he might. It was a nice thought, even if it wasn’t very realistic.

“I’m going to head to the bathroom for a second,” Christopher abruptly said as he stood. He hardly waited for Peter to nod before he was walking off. The man hadn’t even asked if he’d be alright by himself, or to call him if anything happened. Well, he would be alright since he wasn’t a little kid anymore. He was fourteen already and in a few months he’d be fifteen.

The atmosphere changed suddenly, the constant cacophony of chatter had gone, and he was still working on the smaller version of the dispenser. His aunt had convinced him that when he could, he’d get his invention patented.

Peter lifted his head and saw someone standing in front of his exhibit, and not just anyone, but Tony Stark. Tony Stark who was looking at his poster board and reading the information he’d written on there with cheap markers from the dollar store. The poster board he’d also bought from that same dollar store, and the pictures of his using the medical webbing on his own hand.

“Hey, kid,” the man said when he finally finished studying the poster board, which hadn’t taken long. He was known for being the smartest man in the world, and reading a poster board wouldn’t take him too long. “You’re the winner of the science fair from Midtown Middle?” Peter nodded dumbly, not able to say anything with the famous man right in front of him. He was half afraid that he’d start fanboying and look like a total idiot.

“So, tell me about this... medical webbing idea.” He tapped the pictures. “It obviously works, judging by the pictures. I’m nothing if not skeptical, so how about a demonstration?”

“A-a demonstration?” Peter stuttered, not understanding. “I got... a video of it if...” He paused as Tony reached into his pocket and took out a Swiss Army knife. It looked like the kind that might be given to those in the Army, but he wondered why Mr. Stark would have one. He pulled open the blade and to Peter’s horror, he cut into his palm.

The crowd behind him was shocked at the man’s actions and some called for a medic. As for Peter, he stared at the man as his blood quickly started spilling from the shallow cut. “Well, someone is bleeding. What can your medical webbing do, kid?”

Peter snapped out of his shock, reached for his web shooter, snapped it around his wrist, pointed and pressed the button with his ring and middle finger. Thwip! The webbing shot out of and hit the man’s bleeding palm dead on, the webbing immediately turned partially red, but that was it. The bleeding was stopped.

Tony whistled as he turned his hand around and the webbing stayed in place, even when he shook his hand as he tried to dislodge it. He touched the top of it, and it stretched away from the clump covering his cut, but even then it didn’t pull away from the cut like a bandaid might. He used his knife to cut it off his finger before putting it away. “That’s mighty impressive. How long does this last?”

The teenager let his hand drop at his side, his other hand pushing his glasses back up his nose, and he felt the eyes of the other people around them on him. His heart was beating wildly and he took a deep, slow breath to keep from suffering an asthma attack from his nerves. “A-about two hours,” he told him.

He nodded and held his hand out. “Could I see the dispenser?”

“Y-yeah, sure!” Peter hastily took it off, fumbling with the latch and feeling his cheeks fill with color and heat. He handed it over and the man tried to snap it onto his wrist, but found that the kid’s wrist was more slender than his own.

“Made for your wrist, so not everyone can use it.” He tapped on the board where the rough draft of the smaller dispenser was drawn. “This indicates that this isn’t the finished prototype,” he said as he lifted the larger web shooter. Peter nodded. “What about a severed limb? Do you think it would be able to stop the bleeding on such a large extremity?”

“Please don’t cut anything off, Mr. Stark,” Peter fretted, eyeing the pocket that he’d put the knife back inside after he’d cut his palm.

Tony chuckled. “Not even I’m not eccentric as to cut a body part for a demonstration,” he said. He titled his head toward Peter.

“Oh good,” the boy sighed. “And yes, I believe it would be enough to stop the bleeding on such a large area, and the severed limb as well. The tensile strength of it is pretty strong.” He held his hand out and Tony the web-shooter over, and Peter snapped it on his wrist, stepped out of his booth and then lifted his head, spotted a support beam above their heads that he was sure was close enough for the webbing to reach. He aimed and pressed the mechanism and sure enough, it stuck to it, and he used the special glove (red colored) he’d designed so it wouldn’t stick to it and jumped up a bit, grabbing onto the webbing. Peter hung there for a moment, the webbing holding his weight even as he kicked his feet to swing back and forth.

Peter let go, the glove not sticking as he landed back on the floor. He gave it to Mr. Stark when he held out his hand, and the man slipped on the glove as it stretched to fit his larger hand. He grabbed the webbing and yanked on it lightly, before he snapped his arm back as hard as he could. The webbing held.

“Well, I’ll be damned. Happy, try ripping this off.” He stepped aside and handed the glove to his bodyguard, a burly man with a stern expression on his features. He put on the glove to tried to rip the webbing away, the muscles on his arm bulged as he groaned, but the webbing refused to budge. “I’m sold. What’s your name, kid?”

“Peter, sir. Peter Parker.”

Tony flashed him a grin, slipping his sunglasses off at last. He took out a card from a wallet in the inside pocket of his Tom Ford suit. “Here’s my number. Have your guardian call and we’ll see what you can do in a real lab.”

Peter took the card eagerly, looking over the series of numbers on there as well as what appeared to be the man’s personal email address. It was made from a special titanium material and the Stark Industries logo and everything else had been engraved on there. Peter thought it was most impressive.

“See ya around, Mr. Parker,” he said with a wave, starting to move on to the other exhibits.

“Yes! Thank you, Mr. Stark!”

“Call me Tony. My father was Mr. Stark.”

“Of course, Mr. Tony!”

The man laughed and shook his head, and then he was gone.

Christopher returned a few minutes later. “Your aunt should be here soon. I’m gonna held out. Will you be fine by yourself for a minute?” the man asked. Peter looked at the clock on the wall nearby and saw that it was almost 1pm. He noticed the card in his hand. “Hmm, what’s that?” he asked as he reached for it.

Peter snapped his hand back, shoving it into his pocket. “Nothing, just a part of my web-shooter.”

The man’s eyes narrowed a bit, glanced in the direction where Tony Stark had gone and shrugged. “Alright. I’ll see you later, bud.” He grabbed his messenger bag that he’d left behind and walked off without so much as a wave, but Peter had already gone back turned his attention back to the card as he pulled it out of his pocket. He sat down and a dopey grin crossed his face, fist pumping in the air in excitement.

“Whoa, kiddo, something good happen?” May’s laughing voice asked.

Peter jumped to his feet, face alight with happiness. “May! You won’t believe what happened!” He started to tell her with great detail about meeting Tony Stark and how he’d been interested in his idea.

Peter might have needed to use his inhaler after a while, but he didn’t let even that bring his spirits down. They called the next day even if it was Saturday, and Peter wasn’t even surprised when someone named Friday answered.

They set up a interview for Monday after school, which as it turned out, was just a technicality. Mr. Stark had apparently already given him a scholarship for his medical webbing idea, and even had the papers sent over for him to have it patented.-

[lets-talk-appella]

Come Home to Me (part 2)

Summary: “Beca would never drive like this with Chloe; the thought of getting into a car accident with Chloe next to her is too alarming for her to risk it. But when it’s just her in the car… well. Obeying speed limits seems less important. She gains another three miles per hour. At this speed, the cross breeze over the road catches at her car a little, making it wobble around in the lane until she adjusts. It’s not a big deal, though. She needs to drive this fast. She really doesn’t want Chloe to worry.” 

Or, Beca’s POV of the accident and the moments surrounding it. Describes the accident, though not in graphic detail. I highly recommend reading the first part HERE.

Word Count: 4.3k

AO3 and FFN

Beca knows she’s running late. She and Chloe always eat dinner just after 6:00, so she usually gets home a little before then to help set the table. But at this rate, she won’t be home until at least 6:10, if not later. She pushes against the gas pedal more firmly and smiles when she passes another car.

She’d had such a bad day at BFD Records. Her computer had been slow, so she’d had to call IT to spend nearly three hours updating it. Consequently, she hadn’t been able to finish a big project she’d been hoping to complete. She’d also had a disagreement with her boss, who seems to be under the impression that rap should be overlaid on every pop track. Then, she’d somehow manage to spill her coffee into her purse and had to take everything out of it to dry on her desk.

Then at the end of the day, yet another one of her clients flew off the diva handle and decided to hold a conference call less than fifteen minutes before she’d been planning on leaving. What should have been a small issue turned into nearly a half-hour debate over a chord progression that ended with Beca gritting her teeth and following the artist’s wishes. Even if it did make the song sound like shit.

Now, thanks to the delay, she’s running late. And the worst part, the absolute cherry on top of this whole day, is that her phone is dead. Which wouldn’t be a big deal, but it means that she can’t let Chloe know she’s late. For the first time in their relationship, she can’t warn her wife not to expect her at the usual time. Which, again, wouldn’t be a big deal, but Beca fully understands why Chloe likes to know when she’s running late. Chloe’s life had been torn apart when her dad had died in a car accident, so it’s completely reasonable for her to want to know when Beca’s going to be home.

Beca would be lying if she said their whole “I’m going to be late” system didn’t give her some peace of mind, too. She likes to know where Chloe is and when to expect to see her again. Because of that, from the moment they’d made their agreement, Beca has kept a spare phone charger in her purse. And a car charger in her console, just in case.

But because she had been in a hurry leaving work, she’d forgotten to finish replacing the items in her purse following the coffee fiasco. She’d left her charger on her desk, along with the little notebook she keeps with her, her checkbook, and her miniature flashlight. She hadn’t even realized she’d left the charger until she’d already gotten onto I-495, and by then it seemed pointless to go back. She has another at home. And it wouldn’t even be a problem, but the charger she usually keeps in her car is currently in Chloe’s because she’d forgotten to put it back following their recent visit to Aubrey.

In conclusion, she is a complete idiot and Chloe is going to worry.

That is, unless she can get home before Chloe notices she’s late. She only has to drive a little faster. She presses again on the gas pedal and watches the needle on the speedometer creep up another five miles per hour.

She knows she’s going well over the speed limit as it is for this heavy of traffic (leaving Brooklyn at rush hour is a bitch), but she’s managed to avoid the serious traffic jams (largely by speeding past them). She would never drive like this with Chloe; the thought of getting into a car accident with Chloe next to her is too alarming for her to risk it. But when it’s just her in the car… well. Obeying speed limits seems less important.

She gains another three miles per hour.

At this speed, the cross breeze over the road catches at her car a little, making it wobble around in the lane until she adjusts. It’s not a big deal, though. She needs to drive this fast. She really doesn’t want Chloe to worry.

With a glance at the radio clock, she sees that she’s made up for lost time reasonably well. If she continues to avoid any major traffic jams, she might actually make it home on time. Beca smiles and relaxes her grip on the wheel; Chloe won’t even know she’d been running late. No harm done.

Up ahead, she spots several cars changing lanes to pass what appears to be a large gas hauler. She grimaces. She really doesn’t like driving around trucks because their size makes her nervous. She knows she’s a small person in a small car, so big rigs like that are intimidating. She’ll just have to pass it quickly instead of hovering beside it.

She follows the lead of the cars already passing the truck and waits until she’s next in line, driving rather closer to the back of the hauler than she normally might. But she’s in a hurry, so it’s fine. Absentmindedly, she notes that the hauler is swaying a little in the wind, its bulk a detriment. It only makes her more determined to pass it quickly before, God forbid, it sways over into the next lane or something.

She flicks on her blinker and checks her blind spot before changing to the passing lane. She fully intends to fly by the thing at top speed, but the car ahead of her is moving agonizingly slowly. It’s annoying. She gets closer to the car, hoping the driver will take the hint, until finds herself stuck right beside the gas hauler.

Her eyes jump between the car blocking her path and the swaying truck next to her, her grip tightening on the wheel. She doesn’t like this much. It makes her uneasy. In fact, she feels weird in general, as if she’d swallowed something wiggly in the last minute. It’s not particularly pleasant. A bead of sweat forms on her forehead and wonders if she’s maybe going to be sick.

Beca blinks, uncertain as to why she’s suddenly not feeling well. Inexplicably, she thinks of Chloe.

The car ahead of her is so slow. Haven’t they ever passed anyone before?

The hauler lurches over the line and into her lane by a foot, thrown by the wind. She gasps sharply and fights the urge to jerk the wheel; the truck corrects the swerve and moves back into the slow lane. Her anxious, sick feeling intensifies.

She’s had enough. She checks her rearview and, seeing no one in the fast lane behind her, backs off on the speed. Her car slows until she’s no longer beside the hauler and she switches back into the slow lane behind it and ahead of another car. That car honks at her, but she can’t bring herself to care. No way is she getting plowed into by a gas hauler, thank you very much.

Her car slows even further, her strange illness receding with every foot she gains between herself and the hauler. The car that had prevented her from passing finally moves ahead to make way for a line of cars behind Beca waiting to pass the truck as well.

She briefly thinks of changing back to the fast lane and passing now that the way is unobstructed, but for some reason Chloe’s face again flashes into her mind. She really doesn’t want to be anywhere near the hauler.

Beca grumbles a little, but slows until she’s driving at the speed limit. Chloe would never forgive her if she got into an accident driving home.

Now, because she’s slowed so much, cars are passing her and moving between her and the truck. She lets them, putting as much distance between herself and the hauler as she can. She doesn’t know why, but being near the truck had terrified her.

She sends her wife a silent apology and hopes Chloe won’t worry too much about her for being ten minutes late.

It happens in an instant.

A particularly strong gust of wind slams into her and everyone else on the interstate. She adjusts, but watches as the hauler teeters dangerously into the next lane, sideswiping the car attempting to pass it. The driver of the hauler overcorrects; the whole thing lurches first one way, then the other. It’s too much, and the momentum of the rig has it tumbling out of control, the cab of the truck suddenly in the fast lane and the trailer turning sideways and skidding along and tipping until it finally falls to scrape on the road, landing on the car that had been next to it.

The air rushes from Beca’s lungs as if she’d been punched in the gut.

A hideous screech of metal fills the air, a cacophony of noise that Beca is sure is the soundtrack to Hell. The cars ahead of her, unable to stop, plow directly into the crash. Beca slams on the brake, not caring that there is someone driving close behind her, focused only on not smashing into the growing pile of cars and twisted metal in front of her. She’s flung forward into her seatbelt as her car slows rapidly, but she’s not sure it’s enough. Sparks fly as the side of the hauler scrapes along the road and tears open as if made from plastic wrap.

She’s blinded by an impossibly bright light and slams her eyes shut, jerking the wheel instinctively at the tremendous blast of sound and invisible force that assaults her. She knows the instant she’s driven off the road and onto the shoulder, the rumble strips bouncing under her tires even has the ground shakes.

Beca braces herself, waiting for an impact from ahead or from behind, some huge collision that will almost certainly end her life and all she can think is Chloe, Chloe, Chloe –

But it never comes. She’s rigid in her seat, only registering that her car has come to a complete stop after several moments. A high-pitched ringing fills her ears and at first she can’t hear anything else, her eyes still shut tightly. Gradually, the ringing fades and sound returns – she hears her own rapid breaths and a strange, whimpering, gasping noise that stops as soon as she thinks about it. Oh. It was her. The next sounds to reach her ears are a loud whooshing, crackling noise and a lot of honking.

Beca opens her eyes. Her car has come to rest on the shoulder, somehow spun sideways, her windshield facing the road. She has the perfect view of a mountain of burning, twisted metal about 300 feet ahead of her and it takes her a moment to realize what it is.

When she does, she almost screams. Even when she recognizes the remains of the gas hauler and the cars that had been close around it, she doesn’t quite believe what she’s seeing. Surely, there should be police and ambulances by now, if people were trapped in there? Where were the flashing lights?

Then she realizes; it’s only been seconds since the hauler tipped. She feels sick again and wonders if she should exit her car to either throw up or drag people away from the accident. But at the same time, her legs are trembling so badly that she’s not sure they can support her. And she has no medical training; attempting to help might do more harm than good. Beca exhales through her nose shakily and leans her head onto the steering wheel, feeling helpless. Oh, God. She’d almost passed the hauler. She’d almost been next to it when –

Chloe. Beca’s eyes fly open and she bolts upright in her seat. She reaches for her phone automatically to call her wife, only to be greeted by a black screen. That’s right. Dead battery.

Chloe will see the news, surely. She and Beca both have emergency notifications turned on in their phones. Chloe will know what happened.

Except, no, she won’t know anything because all she’ll see in the news is a tipped truck and an explosion and she won’t hear anything from Beca because her phone is dead.

Oh God.

She has to get home. She has to move. Where are the damn ambulances? She needs to tell Chloe she’s okay because Chloe is going to see the news and call Beca and Beca won’t answer because her phone is dead and Chloe will panic and freak out and she’ll think Beca’s as dead as her phone and she’s got to get home before it happens and tell Chloe she’s okay and –

Beca’s breath comes in short, rapid bursts and her entire body quivers. Is this a panic attack? she thinks frantically. She’s not sure. She’s never had one before. But it feels like she imagines one would.

Ironically, the sound of sirens soothes her. She raises her head to see beautiful, glorious police cars, firetrucks, and ambulances rushing toward the burning mayhem ahead of her. For the first time since the crash, she looks around at the other cars trapped along with her. Because there are other cars; she’d been ahead of them.

A huge traffic jam lies behind her, with the car she’d been sure was going to rear end her resting half on the shoulder and half on the road facing her. She makes eye contact with the man at the wheel. He stares back, some of the horror she feels reflected in his eyes. Beside him, another car is at a complete stop in the fast lane, its front bumper caved in where it had hit the car lying in the opposite ditch from behind. Everyone she can see is moving and looking around, terrified.

Beyond all of them, back toward Brooklyn, hundreds of cars line up in wait to get around the accident. Beca glances back toward the carnage; rescue personnel are sprinting to it now, most moving toward the blast and attempting to control the flames, some rushing to the few cars strewn between Beca and the wreckage.

She drops her head back in the seat, her car still running idle until she figures it’s safer to turn it off. She can’t believe how lucky she is. If she’d been closer, or if she hadn’t backed off from passing the hauler… Her stomach lurches again.

She looks back out her windshield to see an emergency responder restrain someone attempting to exit their car. Beca takes the hint. Stay in the car. Stay safe from the flames and fumes. Easy enough. She knows it’ll be a long time before she can continue on her way home.

Oh God. Her hands clench into fists in her lap. Chloe.

Beca squeezes her eyes shut against the heat prickling in them. She’s breathing hard again, struggling to remain calm. She can picture it clearly; Chloe sitting at the table with dinner all prepared, anxiously tapping her knee and staring out the window. Chloe’s phone alerting her to the news, making her jump up and pace (Chloe always paces when she’s nervous). Beca imagines she’ll try calling her, but won’t it just go to voicemail? Isn’t that what happens when your phone dies? And Chloe won’t understand, won’t know why she’s not answering. She’s sure some of the Bellas (oh, the Bellas are going to be terrified, too, God, why did she leave her charger in Chloe’s car) will text both her and Chloe. Beca’s stomach twists. What will Chloe say to them? In her mind’s eye, Beca sees Chloe becoming more and more concerned, her eyebrows drawing together and tears forming. She knows Chloe is going to assume the worst – how could she not, considering how her father died?

Beca forces herself from her daydream, her breathing becoming erratic again. She feels dampness in her underarms as well as on her forehead from stress. She debates exiting her car to ask someone to borrow their phone to call Chloe, but then remembers that she’s supposed to stay where she is. She knows it’s for the best; she’s going to fare better protected in her car than out on the street should there be a second explosion.

It’s just. Chloe is going to be so scared. Beca knows if their situations were reversed, she’d be going ballistic.

Chloe, I’m so sorry, Chlo, I left my charger, I’m so stupid, I’m so sorry, Chlo, I’m sorry. Beca finds herself thinking in loops, desperately wishing she were telekinetic or telepathic or whichever dumb superpower it is that would let her transmit her thoughts to others. Is that even a power? she wonders, slightly hysterical. Why isn’t that some kind of spousal power you get when you get married?

Guilt claws its way from her chest to her throat, making her swallow hard. Her mouth is so dry, though, that the action causes her to gag. Her hands have somehow landed on the wheel, clutching it, her knuckles white. Her chest and collarbone hurt from where she’d been thrown against the seatbelt in the sudden stop. She knows she’s going to have a dark bruise. Her back and shoulders ache, full of tension, and she wonders vaguely if Chloe can give her a massage when she gets home.

Because she will be getting home. Just, late.

Time moves in strange gallops. Ambulances come and go, pulling people from the wreckage where the firetrucks have extinguished the flames, but Beca doesn’t allow herself to look at the people on the stretchers. The police are setting up an alternative route so that the cars backed up behind the accident can eventually move. She wishes they could work faster. She thinks she hears a helicopter overhead but can’t see it when she cranes her neck. She figures it’s the news outlets when it doesn’t land to take anyone to a hospital.

After what feels like an eon, but is actually about forty minutes, the majority of the ambulances are gone and emergency responders finally start to wave cars through. Beca’s heart leaps and she scrabbles at her keys, still in the ignition. For a gut-wrenching moment, she thinks the car isn’t going to start, but then the engine wheezes to life. She hadn’t done her car any favors but stopping so abruptly.

Knee tapping impatiently, she waits for her turn, for the police officer to beckon her forward to inch around the accident and continue on her way. The few cars ahead of her gradually file past, driving awkwardly half on the shoulder and half in the ditch to skirt around the still-smoldering pile of metal. The only problem is, she’s still sideways on the shoulder. When the officer finally beckons to her, Beca grits her teeth and reverses into the ditch, turning the wheel to straighten the car. She pulls ahead, pointing her car in the right direction before inching forward.

She keeps her eyes focused on the road ahead of her as she passes, not wanting to see the people still trapped in the pile. She doesn’t want even more nightmares than she’ll already have.

She doesn’t realize she’d been holding her breath until it whooshes out of her once she’s the other side of the accident. Cautiously, she speeds up until she’s again cruising toward home, the horror behind her growing smaller in her rearview. She’s aching to press the accelerator to the floor, anything to get home to Chloe sooner, but her nerves are completely wrecked, and she doesn’t trust herself to drive beyond the speed limit.

Chloe, I’m coming. I’m okay.

A throbbing pain appears above her right eye, though she knows she didn’t hit her head. Surely, she should be home by now? How is it possible that the miles are passing so slowly?

She laughs shakily when she spies her exit. Only a few more turns.

She takes the exit, ending up close to home. Only a few more blocks.

She flinches when someone going the other way honks at a car sitting at a green light.

When she pulls onto their road, she almost cries in relief. Her head feels cloudy, like she’s not really in her own body.

She pulls into their driveway haphazardly, at a crooked angle, and turns off the ignition with trembling fingers. Her only thought is for the person waiting for her inside.

When Beca throws herself out of car to sprint to front door, her legs almost give out, but she forces herself to move forward. She knows how scared Chloe must be, and that’s unacceptable.

She fiddles with her keys, finally finding the one for the front door. She struggles with the lock for a moment in her haste until she manages to twist the key and open the door.

The second she’s inside, Chloe is upon her. Beca barely has time to take in Chloe’s damp eyes and strained expression before she shouts, “Bec!” and is practically tackling her in a hug.

Beca winds her arms around Chloe, feeling her face pressing into her neck. She stumbles slightly at the force of Chloe’s shaking and her heart drops. Chloe had obviously seen the news and had been utterly terrified. Beca’s never felt so guilty in her life. All she can think to do is press her lips to Chloe’s shoulder and neck as she repeats, “I’m okay, I’m okay, everything is okay.”

Despite her guilt and anxiety, a sense of calm washes over Beca now that she’s back in Chloe’s arms. She’d made it home. She and Chloe were together. That’s all that matters.

She almost protests when Chloe pulls away from the hug – Chloe never pulls away first – but it’s only for a moment while Chloe scrubs a hand over her face. She reaches back for Beca and captures her lips in a firm kiss. Again, Beca stumbles back a step at the emotion and pressure of the kiss, but she manages to hold them both up and kiss Chloe back equally as soundly. Her blood runs cold at the realization of how close she’d come to never kissing her wife again.

As soon as the kiss ends, Beca says, needing Chloe to understand, “I’m so sorry, Chlo, my phone died, and I didn’t have my charger. I’m so, so sorry.” She feels horrible, sick at how much Chloe had worried about her.

Chloe’s fingers land on her face, tracing it delicately, and Beca relaxes into the touch. She’s about to reach up to Chloe’s face, when Chloe winds back to deliver a solid thump on Beca’s arm. Like, really solid.

“Ouch! What the hell –” Beca begins, indignant, before Chloe interrupts, her voice quivering.

“Beca, how dare you not have your charger? I was so scared! I thought you were blown up, or in a ditch, or –”

Beca winces at the very real possibility but decides not to share how close it had been. Chloe would just worry more. Instead, she says, “I know, I’m so sorry,” as she reaches to rest a hand on Chloe’s cheek, calmed by the soft skin she finds there. “I was behind it, leaving Brooklyn when I saw it tip up ahead.” Again, she chooses to omit certain details for Chloe’s sake. “I had to wait in traffic but couldn’t text you and –”

She’s cut off abruptly when Chloe envelops her in another hug, strong and secure. Beca squeezes her eyes shut, focusing on the body in her arms.

Then Chloe whispers, “God. I don’t know what I’d do without you,” and Beca feels it like a kick to the stomach. That sentence tells her all she needs to know about the state Chloe had been in.

She draws Chloe into her even more tightly, and replies, “You’ll never have to find out. I’m not going anywhere, I promise.”

Beca knows it’s not really fair of her to promise something like that. No one can guarantee anything in life, but in that moment, she means it. She will fight to stay with Chloe with everything she has.

She feels Chloe exhale against her, hopefully reassured, before pulling away. She again wipes at her eyes before Beca gets the chance to kiss the tears away.

“Um, I made dinner, but it’s probably not any good anymore,” Chloe says in a fragile voice, changing the subject.

Beca looks over to the table, her chest warming at the sight of ravioli. It’s her absolute favorite. “Oh, ravioli, too,” she says, trying to rally them both. “I’ll microwave it? It’ll still be good.”

Chloe nods, so Beca moves to the table to scoop up the pasta. It looks a little overdone, but she doesn’t mind. She’s starving after all she’s been through, the last of the adrenaline finally leaving her body. Behind her, she hears Chloe’s nails tapping on her phone screen and she can only assume that she’s telling the Bellas she’s okay. Beca glances around and sees her spare charger lying on the counter and kicks herself yet again for being so forgetful. She’ll plug in her phone soon, but after she eats.

Beca pops her plate in the microwave to reheat and senses Chloe’s eyes on her. She turns to her wife and sends her a small smile, hoping to convey all she feels at being home. The tension leaves her body when Chloe returns the smile, relief still shining in her eyes.

Chloe’s expression gives Beca an idea, and she suggests, “I think I’ll stay home from work tomorrow,” as she pulls her now-hot food from the microwave. She knows Chloe has the next day off from work as well, and she thinks the time will be good for them to recuperate after the terror of the evening.

Chloe nods in response, looking suddenly thoughtful. Beca hopes she’s not already planning something too strenuous for them to do. She has something she kind of wants to talk to Chloe about.

As Beca lifts the fork full of ravioli to her mouth, she thinks how much sweeter their home would be with the sound of little feet pattering through it.

[idonthavehusbandsihavelovers]

Love Wasn’t in the Plan - Part 10 (Sweet Pea/OC)

Riverdale AU

Chapter Summary – As much as Angel wants to stay in the safety of Sweet Pea trailer, she knows it time to face her family and friends. Where do you go once all the secrets are out and on the table?

Pairing – Sweet Pea / OC

Warning – Swearing, little Angst, little Fluff.

Author Notes – Sorry it took so long, but I hope you enjoy where I heading with this story. Again this story is a little different from the show storyline so that I could fit my character in, I want to thank you for your likes, comments and re-blogs they mean the world to me and help me keep writing. 

Story Summary & Preview , Part 1 ,  Part 2 Preview , Part 2 ,

Part 3 Preview , Part 3 ,  Part 4 Preview , Part 4 , Part 5 Preview , Part 5 ,

Part 6 Preview , Part 6 , Part 7 Preview , Part 7 , Part 8 Preview , Part 8 ,

Part 9 Preview , Part 9 , Part 10 Preview

Chapter 10 – Where do we go from here?

Sweet Pea was half asleep when he reached out for Angel only to find her space on the bed empty, he felt a sudden panic, jumping up and shouting “ANGEL?”

“Don’t worry Sweets I’m still here, I just went to get a glass of water, and I didn’t want to wake you,” Angel said standing at the bedroom door in nothing but his T-shirt, he smiles feel relieved that last night wasn’t a dream, she was real, and she was here with him. He holds out his hand, she smiles and takes it, climbing on the bed and on to his lap, wrapping her leg around his waist. She smiles and starts making circler shapes with her finger on his chest, it felt like for both of them nothing has changed, the last two weeks didn’t happen, but they knew deep down no matter how much they love this moment they had to face the outside world soon.

He watches smiling, enjoying the feel of her touch, Angel looks up when she feels his stare and smiles. “What?” Sweets Pea tilts his head and smiles “there something I’ve been waiting two weeks to say to you.” Angels smile disappears, and she drops her eyes from his “What that?” He let out a sigh, grabs her chin and lifts it to make her look him in the eye, she looked scared, worried like he was going to say he couldn’t be with her anymore, that her past was too much for him, instead he smiles and goes.

“I love you too.”

Angel smile almost take Sweets Pea breath away it was so bright and happy, all the worry and sadness had gone from her eyes. She lunges forward and kisses him hard, he returns her kiss eagerly. After a few minutes, the pull apart Sweet rest his head against hers smiling.  

She pulls back a little to look at his face, lifting a finger to trace his healing black eyes, she smirks “Let me guess FP?”

He laughs taking her hand off his face and holding it against his chest, “You guessed right FP kind of kept to his promise. He didn’t kill me because we fell in love and it wasn't just a one night stand, but he couldn't let me get off without a black eye, you know he has a reputation to protect.”

They both laughed at this, Sweet Pea lets a sad little sigh.

“You do know as much as I want to stay here with you forever, we can’t.”

Angel laughs and nods, “No we can’t.” She lets out a groan, closes her eyes for a moment, once she opened them again, she gives Sweet a serious look, “Hand me your phone its time get everyone together and let them know I’m home.”

Sweet Pea looked at her confused “Why my phone?” Angel smile and shrugs “I might have kind of threw it in a lake out of anger.” He tried not to laugh “Might of?” she pouts “Shut up and give me your phone serpent boy.”

He laughs and hands her, his phone, she takes it and does a mass text to everyone.

Got a lead on where Angel is, come to the Whyte Wyrm.

She hands him, his phone back and gives him a confused look “Why do you have my parent’s number?” Sweets take the phone and shrugs “Everyone wanted to be kept informed if we got any lead or even found you.” He avoids her eyes, she felt a ping of guilt in her gut. Angel told herself she had to leave to give herself time to think and give them time to process what had happened. However, that wasn’t initially true a big part of it was she was being a coward and didn’t want to see the sadness and pity on their faces.

She cups his face with her hand, moving it to look at her, the sadness in his eye almost broke her heart. “I’m so sorry Sweets, I wasn’t thinking. I just needed to get away I was scared, and I need time to myself.” He places his hand on top of hers, holding it in place and close his eyes, “I understand Princess, and so does your friends and family, they’re not angry with you, they just want to know you’re safe and healthy.”

She smiles and brings him closer to give him a gentle kiss, “I know so get dressed, we can’t keep them waiting any longer.” Before get off him to get dressed.

(20 minutes later)

They were standing outside the Whyte Wyrm, Angel had tight hold of Sweets hand, looking at the bar. She didn’t know why she was so nervous they were her family, but that didn’t her stomach from doing summersaults.

“Hey.” She turns to look at Sweet Pea, who give her a reassuring smile, which calms her a little “Don’t worry Angel, I’m right beside you.” She smiles back “Always serpent boy?” he lifts her hand and gives it a kiss “Always Princess.”

With that they make their way inside, Sweet Pea was in front of her so that no one could see her.

“Hey Sweet Pea, what this lead you found.” Angel held back a tear when she heard her father’s voice for the first time in two weeks, she missed it so much. Sweet Pea smiled at them all “Why don’t you see for yourself.” He moves aside so the whole room could now see her. Angel look around to see everyone shocked faces, till her eye landed on her dad, Fred didn’t know what to think, he thought he was daydream like he had done countless of time in the last two weeks. It wasn’t till she said “Hey daddy.” That he crumbled, letting out the tears he has held in since she left and ran at her, engulfing her in a tight hug, breathing her in, she wraps her arms around him and let out a sob.

She had missed these hugs so much, the one that always made her feel safe and protected, since as long as she can remember. After what seemed like eternity Fred reluctantly let go, he pulled away and smiled down at her, she smiled back and turned to her mum.

“Hey, Mum.” Mary smile through her tears “Oh my baby girl, I have missed you so much.” Before replacing Fred place to hug Angel, she returns the hug and pats her back “I missed you too, mum.” Mary pulls away and places her hand on Angel's face to get a good look at her after a while she smiles happily to see her daughter is healthy and has taken care of herself the last two weeks.

Angel moves slightly to look over her mother shoulder at the one other person she missed the most, her twin, who was staring at her, trying to think of something to say, but he was afraid of saying the wrong thing. Angel smiled like she could read his thoughts “It ok Arch, you don’t have to say anything, I know what you feel because I feel it too. I just need you to come and hug me.”

Archie didn’t need anything else, he runs toward her and picks her up, holding her tightly against his chest, feel relieved and at peace a little. The last two weeks have been hell and the longest the twins have gone without talking, even when she went to New York they Facetimed, texted or phoned nearly every day.  That what made this whole situation ten times worse for Archie, he took pride in sensing his sister emotions being the only one to know what she’s feeling all the time and vice versa. 

However, he was wrong because he didn’t sense them when it truly mattered when Angel was hurting the most, and she had to go through this awful ordeal by herself, and this is something he could never forgive himself for.

“Don’t.” Archie pulls back slightly to look at her, she gives him a sad smile and places a hand on his face gently “Don’t blame yourself for not see or sensing what was wrong with me, I hid it pretty well, Arch, you know I love you.” She closes her eye for a moment to fight back the tears, she opens them, tilts her head and smiles at him.

“Do you remember what you said to me when we were 8, and I caught you hiding all the newspapers from me?”

He laughs through his tears, nods and places his hand on her face, stroking her cheeks with his thumbs. “Yeah, you wanted them for your history assignment about what going on in the world. You were so mad and asked why I was hiding them, and I said Angelica you have one of the kindest and purest hearts. I don’t want the world evilness taint someone so beautifully caring, it is my job as your brother to protect you.”

She smiles and take his hand off her face but still holds onto them, “You did a brilliant job protecting me for a long time but..” she turns to look at everyone in the room as to show she’s also talking to them. “There is some evil in this world, you don’t see before it too late, and you can’t protect me from that.”

It was silent for a moment after that, FP clears his throat, and everyone turns to look at him. “Maybe we should sit down, there a lot we have to talk about and a lot of question that need to be answered.”

(10 minutes later)

They have been sat in silence for ten minutes now no one knowing where to start. Angel had Sweet Pea to her right hold her hand under the table and her dad on her left. The longer the silence went on, Angel’s anxiety got worse. Sweet Pea gives her hand a little squeeze, she turns to look at him, he smiles at her as to say it ok, and I’m here calm down. She smiles and squeezes his hand back.

“We’re not getting anywhere just sitting here, so why don’t we start off by asking where have you been for the last two weeks,” Betty asked.

Angel smiled silently thanking her for starting off easy. “Ok, for the first week I was staying at my friend Melinda apartment in New York, she not a friend any of you know or Tommy. She was an artist who liked my pictures during my first gala, and she’s lovely and kind she helped me out a lot.”

She looks up to see everyone nodding along, so she carries on.

“The second week I staying at some motel just outside Greendale, that’s why I ordered the Fake ID so I could get a job at a diner, get some money and not draw any attention to myself. Nevertheless, I knew I had to stop running away it wasn’t fair on any of you so that why I decided to come back.”

“Why did you text off Sweet Pea phone?” Fangs asked confused, Angel turned to Sweet Pea who was looking at Fangs like he was debating how he was going to murder him. Angel looked down avoiding everyone eyes, feeling the blush creeping up her face.

“Erm, I broke my phone in a temper.”

Toni tried to hide a smile, oh hell no, was she going to make this easy for them, “Still doesn’t explain why you texted off his phone, how did he find you.”

All the adult looked confused, but the teens were all trying to hide their smiles at Sweets and Angel uncomfortableness. She knew they would let it go so she bit the bullet.

“I technically came back to town last night, and Sweet Pea was the first person I went to see.”

Realisation dawn on the adults face, Fred took a deep breath “You came back last night, but we didn’t hear from you till this morning?” Angel look at him quick, then back down at the table “Yes daddy.”

Sweet Pea made a mistake to look up at Fred and FP who looked like they were ready to rip his head off, he looked down, he was defiantly going to make his friend pay for this if he was going down they were coming down with him.

Luckily Mary knew this wasn’t the time to discusses her daughter relationship so she places a hand on her husband shoulder “I don’t think now is the time to talk about their relationship, we should be thankful she’s home.” Fred closed his eyes, took a deep breath and nodded “Yeah your right Mary.”

Angel looked up and mouthed to her mum “Thank you.” Mary smile and nods, FP knew they were trying to avoid the elephant in the room, but they can’t move forward till they find out what Angel wants to do.

“What do you want to do about St Clair?”

Angel let out a sigh and looked at the group, she knew what they wanted her to do, but she couldn’t give them what she wanted. “Nothing.”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN NOTHING?” Archie shouted Mary hold her hand up to him “Calm down Archie, this is up to your sister, so let her explain why before you get angry.”

Angel smiled, she really missed her mum, and she was the best at playing mediator between the twins and her dad. “Thank you Mum, and to answer you Arch.” She took a deep breath, squeezing Sweet hand to calm herself down a little before looking at the group.

“What Nick did to me, I will never truly heal from or forget no matter what I do, and I hate him for that.” Archie looked like he wanted to interrupt, she holds her hand up to stop him “But if I take him to court, I have to relive every moment of that night and so will you guys.” She wipes the tear that had fallen down her face, “Also I don’t want him to know about the baby, it was mine something he can’t take from me, and I don’t want him or his lawyer to taint their memory by making lies about me. Please understand.”

Everyone is quiet letting what she said to sink in, Mary reached across the table to hold her daughter's hand. Angel looked up to see she was trying to fight the tears as well, she wanted to kill this boy for hurting her baby. Her sweet, kind little girl but Angel wasn’t a child anymore, and this was her battle all she could do was support her.

“We’ll support you, Angel, no matter what, just promise no more running away or keep thing to yourself because you’re worried about our feeling.” Angel nodded “Promise,” she turned to her dad and give him a sad smile “Am I still your little princess, daddy?”

Fred let out a sob, he leans forward and grips Angel face in his hand, he could see the worry and sadness in her eyes. He takes a deep breath to control his emotions and smiles at her “Angelica Andrews, there is nothing you could ever do or say that will stop me seeing you as my little princess, and what happened wasn’t your fault. I love you and your brother more than anything in this world.”

She let out a sob, letting go of Sweet Pea hand so Fred could pull her closer to hold, stroking her head like he did when she younger and got hurt or upset. After a few minutes, she pulls away. Angel turns to the group and smiled, she knew they had things they wanted to say but last hour has drained her.

“I know you all have questions or things you want to say, but right now I just want to go home and sleep.” They all nod understandingly, so one by one they got up and hugged her tell them they missed her and glad she’s back. Her parents and Arch said they wait outside, so only she and Sweet Pea were left, they had their hand interlocked, smile at each other.

“So…” she laughs “So that was a start.” He laughs pulling her closer, wrapping his arms around her waist, she moves her hand to wrap around her neck. “Yep, defiantly a start, I’m going to kill Toni and Fangs though.” She laughs leaning her head against her chest, “Yeah that if FP doesn’t kill you first.” They both laugh, she looks back up at him.

“Sweet Pea what are we now?”

Sweet Pea raises an eyebrow at her, “I thought we decided this when we admitted we loved each other.” She smiled at him cutely avoid the question. “So we’re boyfriend and girlfriend?” Sweets laugh and lean down, his lips hovering over hers, “Princess I can’t imagine my life without you in it. So if it makes you feel more happy and secure, I’ll say the word, yes we’re boyfriend and girlfriend.”

Her smile grew, closing the space between them and kisses him. After she pulled away, leaning her head against his again “Yeah serpent boy that makes me extremely happy.”

(A few days later)

The last few days have been a mix of emotions as happy Angel was that everything was out in the open, that she was back with her family and friends. That she and Sweet Pea weren’t a secret anymore and they were out in public acting like any other couple. On the other hand, they were a treating her like she was made of glass, never-ending text and calls when she was trying to have a moment to herself.

Right now Angel was outside on the bleacher, laying down, ignoring all the phone call and texts from her friends. She had her eyes closed when she felt someone come and lay down next to her. She smiles know who it was, Angel turns to look at them.

“Hey, Hubby.”

Reggie smiles back grabbing her hand, “Hey Wifey, everyone looking for you.” she let out a sigh “I know I just need some time to myself, where no one watching my every moves and treating me like glass.”

He laughs and gives her a sympathetic smile “Give them time, sweetie they worried if they say the wrong thing that you’ll run away again.”  Angel flinched at his word, this was why she wasn’t saying anything about their annoying behaviour, she made them feel helpless and scared for two weeks, but Angel wasn’t sure she would last much longer without exploding. She knew things weren’t going to be the same but not to this extreme.

“I know Reg, I do, but they need to cool it down, I promised I wouldn’t run away again, and you know I don’t break my promises.” He laughs and nods, she looks at him a moment. She was glad they finally got some time to themselves they haven’t had time the last few days, and she had things she wanted to speak to him about.

“Hubby, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Sweet Pea and me. I was worried you would stop talking to me because I was sleeping with a serpent and I know how much you hate them. I just can’t think of a world where you and I aren’t friends.”

He let out a laugh and give her hand a quick kiss “Wifey I might hate the serpents, but I love you more. I’ve said this before nothing you can do will ever make me stop caring for you, you’re my number one till I die.”

She smiles and gives him a kiss on the cheek, “You’re my number one.” They lay there for a moment. Angel let out a sigh and sits up “Let go before they send out a search party.” Reggie laughs and stands up, hold out his hand for her to take, which she did.

They walked into the student lounge in the middle of a discussion between their friends, she smiled when she saw Sweets, kissing Reggie on the cheek and walked over to sit next to him.

She turned and smiled at him “Hey serpent boys,” He laughs and lean down and give her a quick kiss “Hey princess, you came just in time, Keller is giving out rolls for the play he’s doing.”

She nods, Angel told Kevin she wasn’t auditioning for the play because she had enough attention and went to lay low for a little while. Well until Tommy show but she said she’ll help in any other way. Kevin give her an unsure smile at her, which made her raise an eyebrow.

“You know I don’t want to audition Kev.” He nods, looks at the group who were avoiding his eyes, so he’s told them what he wanted her to do. “Kev I told you I would help in any way what is it?” He took a deep breath and smile at her hoping she won’t say no “Well I want you to work with Jughead, he’s videotaping the show and behind the scenes and I want you to take photos alongside him.”

Angel was speechless, she hasn’t spoken to Jughead since coming back or spent any time with him alone. She knew they had to talk but it was awkward, she confessed to loving him since they were little and she didn’t want to discuss it with him. Angel loved Sweet Pea, and he knew that, but she also knew a small part of him was jealous of Jughead and what place he still holds in Angel’s heart.

She turns to give him a reassuring smile. He smiles back even though he wasn’t pleased about this, Angel turned to look at Kevin and said unsurely.

“Yeah sure, it sounds like a fun idea, it’s a high school play, what could go wrong?”

Unknown to her these were words she was going to regret later.

Part 11 Preview 

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[indiawebcommsolutions]

Intuos And Intuos Pro

How to Make Writing a Breeze with the

Wacom Intuos

No, not handwriting, although it’s useful for that too.

This will be a guide to how to set up the Intuos — or any Wacom tablet with four buttons — as a powerful productivity aid for noveling, freelancing, coding, teaching online, or just general office work.

http://india-iws.in/Back before working for Wacom was even on my radar, I used a 2013 Intuos Pen & Touch as a full-time mouse replacement for four years. I now use a Cintiq 16 HD for art and a Logitech gaming mouse for everything else. The Cintiq is the best art tool I’ve ever used, but I recently realized I miss using the flat tablet for work. Partially because the interface was more efficient, but I think a lot of it was also psychological: What do we associate more with writing than pens? Just using it, even for ordinary articles, seemed to put me in creative mode.

Yes, holding a pen for several hours on end takes some getting used to. Your hand might be sore for the first few days. And you’ll want to practice tucking it into your thumb crease while you type to make the switch between navigating and writing faster. But once you’re fluid with it, it’s more efficient, ergonomic, and fun than a mouse. It’s very satisfying to scroll by hovering and flicking your pen, highlight text the way you would in a book, physically drag paragraphs down the page to reorder them, and cut and paste with one tap of a button.

If you’re an artist as well, it also helps you keep in practice holding and making fine movements with a tablet pen even when you’re not drawing.

I don’t have the Pen & Touch anymore; I gave it to a friend whose tablet was stolen. But I currently have a new Intuos Small, so in this article, I’ll unbox it and recreate my old setup.

In the interest of monetary honesty, this one was given to me by a manager a year ago and has been sitting in the closet neglected since then, so using one I got for free is less daunting than the idea of buying one for the purpose. But this model, a Small, retails for $95, half the price of a Medium, so if you’re interested in trying a tablet, it’s not a huge investment for both a mouse alternative and a capable drawing tool. Figuring out what size tablet you need can be tough, but the small is perfect for this purpose. It’s the size of a mouse pad but more precise than a mouse, so you have more room to move in the same area. Even with a dual-1080p-monitor setup like mine, it feels fine.

Anyway, inside the box are the tablet, the pen, a Micro USB cord, and a very thin manual.* Don’t worry, you won’t need it until you change the nib: Once you install the universal driver from our website, It’s plug-and-play, and automatically detects whatever Wacom tablet you use.

—

Note

If you look up any guide to setting up a tablet for drawing, they’ll tell you to put it in front of your keyboard so it’s also directly in front of the monitor, not to the side like a mouse pad. But for writing, feel free to do the opposite.

—

Setting preferences

I’ll walk you through the configuration process as if you’ve never used a tablet before, because maybe some people reading this won’t have. If you’re experienced with them, some of this will seem redundantly basic. But some of the other tips and shortcuts, you might not know as well. So bear with me.

Once you’ve installed the driver, open Wacom Tablet Properties. For anyone who hasn’t used it, there’s a lot more than meets the eye here.

When you install it, it automatically creates profiles for your installed image editing programs — or the big ones, at least — and everything else is covered under All Other. Any programs you add will copy this profile by default, so let’s punch in some foundational settings, starting with Mapping:

We’ll leave it on Pen Mode despite using it as a mouse. You want to get used to mentally mapping your tablet to the elements on your screen, and Pen Mode is far more precise anyway. Not to mention you’ll never lose your cursor again.

If you’re using one monitor, turn on Force Proportions to match your tablet’s aspect ratio to your screen’s. You’ll need this for drawing, anyway. If you’re using two monitors, leave it off or it’ll reduce your tablet’s active area to a tiny sliver. You’ll need it for one type of program, but we’ll get to that later.

Set the lower button to middle-click instead of its default scroll. When it’s on scroll mode, you have to drag the pen across the tablet to scroll up and down. If you set it to middle-click, you can simply click once and navigate by hovering. Middle click also lets you quickly open and close Chrome tabs, and everything else clicking the scroll wheel does in other programs.

Writing program settings

Now, Tablet: For this step, we’ll be adding a writing program and a browser. Clicking the + brings up a list of a list of all the programs you currently have open, so you can create a separate mapping profile and shortcuts for each one.

I do my fiction writing in Scrivener and my article writing in a Google Docs desktop app, with different settings for each, but for simplicity’s sake, I’ll demonstrate with MS Word.

Those four buttons, FYI, are called ExpressKeys, and any number of program or navigation functions can be assigned to them. For writing, we’ll do keyboard shortcuts. For the top left one, go to Keyboard > Keystroke, and in the popup window, hit Ctrl-X in the top field and name it Cut in the bottom one.

Keep adding basic shortcuts until you have this, or whatever alternative suits you:

Note that one key’s still on default: Since cut, copy, and paste cover my basic editing needs, I’m left with a free space. I’ll use it to create a shortcut menu for my common formatting functions. So, let’s pop over to On-Screen Controls.

As you’ll see, this lets you create infinite toolbars. They’re program-independent, so you can create one general “writing” one to use the same shortcuts across different programs.

There are two types of menu: Grids and Radials, and grids come in horizontal, vertical, or square. I’ll make a new single-column vertical grid for all my common shortcuts in order of use — Ctrl-I, Ctrl-E, Ctrl-K, Ctrl-B — and creatively call it “Writing.”

And I’ll assign it to the final ExpressKey. Menus normally disappear after you select an option, but you can use the pin icon to make it a permanent toolbar. From now on, I’ll stick mine to the margin of whatever I’m working on.

—

Important

If you’re using Windows 10, uncheck “Use Windows Ink” in the Mapping panel for all your writing programs, or else you’ll get that infuriating Handwriting popup every time you place your cursor.

If that still doesn’t work, you can turn the box alone off through Windows by searching for “Pen & Windows Ink” settings in the taskbar, and changing this one from “When the keyboard isn’t attached” to “Only in tablet mode.”

—

Browser settings

We’re going to do one thing different here. There’s one capability that’s still missing: zoom. The normal Intuos doesn’t have any equivalent to a mouse’s scroll wheel. Some other Wacom products have a touch ring that can be programmed to serve that function — The Intuos Pro, Cintiq 13HD, ExpressKey remote, and various older models — but not this one.

But don’t worry, the Intuos has a workaround. An inelegant one, I’ll admit, but it’s better than switching back to the mouse every time you need a closer look at something.

Besides image editing programs, Chrome is probably where I need to zoom in the most for things like Google Maps. Since I don’t often cut when browsing the web, and I can just use Ctrl-X when I do, I’ll set the first key to Navigation > Pan/Zoom.

While the button is held down, hovering the pen will scroll, and dragging it up or down on the tablet will zoom. You could simplify things and just program this function to the lower pen button, but then you’d lose middle click functionality for things like opening browser links in a new tab. It’s a good idea for any program where middle click doesn’t do anything, though.

—

Also important

You’ll need to turn off Windows Ink for Chrome and any other Google apps, too. It causes a pen tracking glitch. Same with Discord, for some reason. In fact, you really only need to leave it on for Photoshop.

—

Image editing settings

Of course, I’ll still use the Cintiq for any serious work, but for simple cropping and color correction, it’s sometimes more convenient to just bang it out on the flat tablet. Any artists present will already know to do this, but for Photoshop and any other drawing or image editing programs, set the active area to one monitor and turn on Force Proportions.

If you’re using two monitors, don’t worry, all you have to do is click your Windows taskbar to navigate back to the non-photoshop monitor.

Services & Saving

If you’re on Windows, occasionally your computer will fail to detect your tablet, in which case you’ll have to reset the Wacom driver through the Services window. This is something everyone should know how to do. Every problem I’ve ever had with a Wacom device has been fixable this

You can also use the stop and start icons at the top of the window. You can pin services to your taskbar once it’s open, too.

But once in a blue moon — every few months, perhaps — this might wipe your preferences. So once you’ve set them, make sure to save them through the Backup Settings panel in Wacom Desktop Center. You can either save them as a .pref file to your hard drive, or upload them to the free Wacom Cloud, then restore them with the very next button.

Impressions of the

Intuos

Zoom hitch aside, this is an even better mouse replacement than the 2013 Pen & Touch was. The P&T had a smooth plastic surface that constantly reminded you that you were using a computer peripheral. The current gens have a rubbery textured surface that genuinely make it feel like you’re somehow using a ballpoint on a notebook to control your computer. And the pen helps with that too: It’s lighter and thinner than either the P&T or the Cintiq, just 5½ inches long by 1/3 inch thick, smaller than a Bic.

But my favorite feature is the Bluetooth. Once the tablet’s charged via cable, you can connect it wirelessly and regain the use of your USB port. I didn’t see the point of this before I tried it — who uses a tablet further than a cord’s distance from the screen? — but now that I have, I never want to go back. It allows a lot more freedom of movement: I can slide it across the desk from one monitor to the other if I want to switch to another project on a different screen, without messing with the cable, or when I need the mouse for a game, I can simply turn the tablet off and set it aside. And once we can do these things again, it’ll be easy to slip into a backpack to use outside at a coffee shop, bookstore, or while traveling. It can be charged with any Micro-USB cable, so if you run it off Bluetooth, you can use a wall charger. It takes a few hours from empty to full, but it has a battery life of fifteen, meaning it’s good for two workdays or one brutal one.

Finally, in an interesting last-minute twist, I was surprised to find it compatible with the Cintiq — I could even draw into Clip Studio Paint with both at once — meaning I won’t need to switch them out. I don’t think an overabundance of Wacom tablets is a problem the average reader is likely to run into, but for example, if you ever find yourself graduating from a flat tablet to a drawing monitor, but aren’t quite ready to sell your old one, you can repurpose it as a mouse.

As for me, I’m going back to dailying the Intuos for my writing.

—

Finally

If you teach or tutor online, we’ve been putting out a lot of articles for educators lately — in fact, this article was originally intended as a guide to set up a tablet as a teaching tool, I just realized halfway through that the setup would be the same for any job that works with words. If you’d like to know more about teaching with Wacom products specifically, check out All You Need to Know to Teach with a Wacom Tablet, Recreating the Physical Classroom in a Virtual World, or the entire section of our website on using tablets for education.

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[narcissusanasui]

all of an 😎

*em. all of em. jesus christ.

god katie, fInE (but thanks, cherie, love yo

1. if someone wanted to really understand you, what would they read, watch, and listen to?

Read Les Mis, watch Game of Thrones and Voltron, listen to folk rock (especially Phillip Phillips and Mumford & Sons)

2. have you ever found a writer who thinks just like you? if so, who?

Never really thought about that, but the writing styles of Dickens, Doyle, and Austin always stick in my head so i guess them???

3. list your fandoms and one character from each that you identify with.

katie NO, that’s TOO MUCH. so i guess i’ll just give examples of the ones that i have actually thought about relating to:

Katara from A:tla was like THE strong female character of my childhood. Guarantee that she made me a feminist

Lance from Voltron because i spent way too much time like 4th grade through 11th worrying that i was that “seventh wheel” and thinking that i didn’t have a lot of skill and i wanna support my friends so yeah

Yuuri Katsuki from Yuri on Ice. look what the world did to this guy - he’s got anxiety

Ennoshita Chikara from Haikyuu because BOI I ALWAYS GET SHOVED INTO HAVING TO LEAD PEOPLE BUT IT TOOK ME YEARS TO UNDERSTAND IT

Sugawara Koushi from Haikyuu. i am the Mom Friend and i will fight you

4. do you like your name?  is there another name you think would fit you better?

i do like my name. my parents almost named me Colleen - which i don’t think fits, but then again i believe that we all grow to fit our names. i hated my last name as a little kid because no one would say it right (an issue that exists today too) and like when i started elementary school i straight up kept the spelling of it on a piece of paper in my pocket so i wouldnt mess up. now i love it and i think my name flows really well and if i get married i might not change it.

5. do you think of yourself as a human being or a human doing? do you identify yourself by the things you do?

well i call myself a human being. and while my actions are important to me, thinking too much about what i do and what i couldve done gets me freaked out so instead i sit and just be. i’ll think calmly and exist

6. are you religious/spiritual?

im agnostic - raised Roman Catholic (but even then we werent strict about following it but i did do ccd and my sacraments so yeah). i want to believe that there is something but there just isnt enough solid evidence for me to be comfortable and if there is some god or force or something, i am a minuscule piece of the massive universe and that god wouldnt give a shit so why should they influence my decisions? i love religions tho. they have fascinating history and i love seeing all the similarites because it just shows how so many humans are all so similarly spiritual and through seeing those similarites it makes me feel more spiritual because i know my catholic upbringing shaped me as a person and i know that there has to be a deeper meaning behind the world’s religions being so connected

7. do you care about your ethnicity?

yes. im fifty shades of white, but the larger pieces of my background are the cultures that my family celebrate still today and they are what i identify as. im italian-irish-american with a polish last name and i will eat my cuisine and wear the Callahan family crest and hopefully make it to Avelino someday

8. what musical artists have you most felt connected to over your lifetime?

i was raised on billy joel and elton john so their music is built into me with such a powerful level of nostalgia that i will feel like im back in my house before we repainted it and replaced the furniture and im dancing like an idiot to crocodile rock at age 4 again. PP and M&S hit my emotions hard since i first heard them, but M&S’s Sigh No More album will forever equal driving to chicago because we played that album and only that album the. whole. time. except at night because thats when billy joel comes out

9. are you an artist?

at the most basic definition yes. i make art for fun and relaxation through music and writing and doodling and crafts

10. do you have a creed?

i just want to be content with my life when i die. i want to know that i loved and supported people the best i could. so i guess always put the family first (family being whoever i deem to be in that category). and don’t be an asshole.

11. describe your ideal day.

not too hot or cold, like the temperature fall shouldve been. hiking a trail or mountain with changing leaves, watch some of my favorite shows, go to one of my favorite small restaurants.

12. dog person or cat person?

cat.

13. inside or outdoors?

inside

14. are you a musician?

yes

15. five most influential books over your lifetime.

stoppppppp. Tale of Two Cities, Catch-22, Pride & Prejudice, Night, To Kill a Mockingbird

16. if you’d grown up in a different environment, do you think you’d have turned out the same?

nope. i grew up 30-60 minutes from some of the most important locations in american history. went to them way too many times as a kid so then when i was a teen i just snapped like “wait some people only come here once in their lives and thats why we have so many annoying tourists! because this kind of stuff ISNT NORMAL?!” and now im a history major so yeah

17. would you say your tumblr is a fair representation of the “real you��?

almost. i cant really be fully myself because that involves way too much of my personal life and im scared of accidentally pissing people off on the internet so there is a little bit more filter here

18. what’s your patronus?

i actually dont know because i lost my pottermore login forever ago so i never actually did that quiz

19. which Harry Potter house would you be in? or are you a muggle?

im ravenclaw with hufflepuff as my secondary, so im a ravenpuff, but ravenclaw is totally my main

20. would you rather be in Middle Earth, Narnia, Hogwarts, or somewhere else?

Hogwarts or the world of Avatar (not the blue people one) - like after war when everything is chill and magical

21. do you love easily?

when i get attached to someone, good luck getting rid of me, im here for the long haul, so yes

22. list the top five things you spend the most time doing, in order.

listening to music, thinking about fictional stories i want to write, reading, watching videos, actually writing (whether that be my journal or my fiction or hw)

23. how often would you want to see your family every year?

as much as possible

24. have you ever felt like you had a “mind-meld” with someone?

as when i felt perfectly in sync talking to someone? yes with my history prof and with my father

25. could you live as a hermit?

im an introvert but id miss my loved ones too much

26. how would you describe your gender/sexuality?

im cis female and im asexual (somewhere on the spectrum), my romantic attraction is something im still figuring out

27. do you feel like your outside appearance is a fair representation of the “real you”?

katie considering you figured me out basically on sight, yes

28. on a scale from 1 to 10, how hard is it for someone to get under your skin?

5 or 6?

29. three songs that you connect with right now.

“Africa” by Toto because it’s still in my head. “Float On” by Modest Mouse. “Sound of Change” by Dirty Head.

30. pick one of your favorite quotes.

“I am the one thing in life I can control. I am inimitable. I am an original.” - said by Aaron Burr in Hamilton

katie i shouldve been finishing my essay

I would say send me a number but this is done now lol so go reblog it and join the fun

[wikitopx]

This French town on the border with Switzerland is actually a suburb of Geneva and most of its inhabitants work in the city.

So while Annemasse is truly a place to visit, its value lies in all you can do on a short drive. The center of Geneva and its culture, parks, and museums will be on your radar, and the natural splendor all around should give you plenty of ideas for excursions. You can sail on a journey, explore Lake Geneva or Rhône, or turn south and east to the Alps to escape outdoors in the winter or summer. Discover the best things to do in Annemasse.

[toc]

1. Mont Salève Cable Car

The “Balcony of Geneva” has a cable car on its north face whisking you up 1,000 meters in just five minutes.

And once you get to the top, the mountain nickname will make perfect sense when you're greeted by a setting that will keep you from watching. You won’t be blamed for pausing over the vistas of Geneva, the lake and the Jura Mountains.

But Salève is also an outdoor wonderland for hikers, mountain biking, and climbing, and if you’re up to the challenge you can venture round to the southeast face to see the Alps in all their glory.

2. Out and About in Annemasse

There are all kinds of political and economic reasons why this commuter town cropped up a few kilometers from Geneva after the First World War. But a small village in 1913 has become a large town with 35,000 today.

Annemasse hotels tend to be more reasonably priced than hotels in Geneva and have a good selection of restaurants along with French and international retail brands. In the mornings you’ll find lots of stalls trading on the market square around a solemn memorial to the Second World War.

Alternatively, stop at City Hall to take photos before moving to one of the many interesting places nearby.

3. Geneva Cathedral

The Reformation theologian John Calvin died in Geneva in 1564 after spending a lot of his life in the city. One way that his presence is still felt in the city church is through no decoration.

When the city adopted Protestantism nearly all of the ornamentation was removed, and only the stained glass windows were kept because they’d have been too costly to replace. On display inside is a wooden chair used by John Calvin, as well as Switzerland’s largest assortment of Gothic and Romanesque capitals.

Indeed, the cathedral is far older than the arresting neoclassical portico on the western facade makes it seem, with roots in the 4th century and rebuilds in the 1100s and 1400s.

4. Lake Geneva

Annemasse is ten minutes from the south of Petit Lac, which is the narrower western end of Lake Geneva. Where the lake flows out via the Rhône the city is cut into two halves between the commercial districts in the east and the residential neighborhoods in the west.

Almost anywhere you go in the city you’ll never be far from the lake, which can be gazed at from waterfront walkways like the Promanade du Lac at the Jardin Anglais. The Rhône is also very picturesque in places and spanned by a succession of bridges that incorporate the islands along the river.

5. Jet d’Eau

A sight in Geneva that everyone knows, Jet batEau is a lake fountain that has been imitated by cities around the world. It fires 500 liters of water per second to a height of 140 meters and can be seen all around the city and even from the sky 10,000 meters up.

On the Jetée des Eaux-Vives, you can get right underneath the fountain, which was moved to this spot in 1891, and will get some awesome shots of the landmark.

An interesting riddle about Jet is that it was planned as a monument, and simply an outlet for a hydraulic network in 1886. But everyone liked the way it looked and it was placed closer to the city a few years later.

6. Patek Philippe Museum

Since you’re so close to Geneva it’s only right to look a little deeper into the world of luxury watches and watchmaking. Patek Philippe was founded in the 19th century as a collaboration between Polish businessman Antoni Patek and French horrors Adrien Philippe.

There’s a fun movie about how the two got together and four floors of mesmerizing horological exhibits charting not just the story of this venerable company but the watchmaking industry in Geneva back to the 1500s.

Anyone interested in the mechanics of these timepieces will be fascinated by the third floor, where the tables, machines, and tools were used to create the first Patek Philippe watches.

7. Place du Bourg-de-Four

One street over from the cathedral is Geneva’s central square. If you’re in the city on a shopping trip or are out for a meal in the evening there’s a good chance that you’ll end up on Place du Bourg-de-Four.

The square is a bit unconventional, in that instead of a quadrilateral outline it’s more of an hourglass, tapering in the middle in front of the Palais du Justice.

On the nearest weekend to 11 December, this is the place to see the pageantry, re-enactments, and parades of the l’Escalade, which celebrates the night the city fended off a surprise attack by the army of the Duke of Savoy in 1602.

8. Natural History Museum

Geneva can be an expensive place, so free attractions like this one are more worthwhile. But even if you have to pay for this great museum it will still be necessary.

Dinosaur skeletons have always been a box office, and here, they're on the third floor along with prehistoric mammals, so you can start your visit at the top and head over to the other galleries.

On the lower floor are eight aquariums for species from the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, and beyond, the museum has done an extremely fascinating reconstruction of the African Savannah.

9. Musée d’Art et d’Histoire (MAH)

The most diverse of Switzerland’s three largest museums, the MAH is bursting with art, decorative items, and archaeology of national importance.

A large number of epoch-making artists gathered here is brilliant, and it is just a photo of Cézanne, Monet, Picasso, Rubens, and Veronese, with an emphasis on Impression and Impressionism.

The top collection of Swiss archeology in this museum, including the gallery behind the gallery of statues, sarcophagi, ceramics and everyday items such as combs and toys. And for applied arts, you can study precious enamel, watches, tapestries, lace and watch the armor hall tell the story of the Escalade we mentioned earlier.

10. CERN Tour

From the center of Geneva, you can take the tram out to what is probably the most important facility in 21st-century physics, home of the Large Hadron Collider, the most complicated machine ever constructed.

A cool thing about this experience is how it will occupy you for days on end: Before your tour, it’s worth reading up on what happens at CERN and why it’s so groundbreaking, but also reminding yourself of some of the basics of physics and chemistry that you learned at school.

That way, you'll have some valuable questions to ask about your guided tour, which is a great job to put complex particle science into something everyone can understand. okay, almost like that!

More ideals for you: Top 10 things to do in Cayenne

From : https://wikitopx.com/travel/top-10-things-to-do-in-annemasse-708116.html

[flauntpage]

THINKS: Max Guy

For this week’s THINKS to Think I present to you an artist who shares an interest with myself, one which is becoming more and more popular in a time of alternative facts and disturbing realities, it seems. Here is Max Guy, on tarot:

  Dear Keeley,

I’ve been having difficulty thinking of what I might contribute in regards to tarot and tarot reading, which is a relatively new practice for me.

Does tarot itself need an introduction? Tarot are playing cards, typically in a deck of 78 with five suits that include the twenty-two major arcana and 56 minor arcana divided into suits (originally the suits were: cups, coins, wands and swords). Each card is ascribed an archetype or quality that serves as the basis for cartomancy; a typical read involves a questioner shuffling a deck with a question in mind, pulling one or more cards from it and interpreting them. An individual can read the cards for themselves or for another person. The most common spreads (a combination of cards laid out to interpret) are probably the ‘Celtic-Cross,’ which uses 10 cards to devise a narrative, or a three-card draw, in which cards correspond to past, present, and future events respectively.

  For this Celtic Cross spread, some time in 2017, I asked no question.

  My introduction to tarot was pretty unremarkable. Perhaps like many other good things one finds affinity towards, I did not expect that reading the cards would become such an important daily ritual. I started reading tarot a little under a year ago in October of 2016, after returning to Chicago from a three-month stay in New York City. One night at my friend Laura’s house, rather than going out for a drink, we decided to stay in and read the cards for one another. She had recently moved into her own apartment and also accepted a full-time position; I was looking forward to a fresh start in Chicago with a part-time job. I tend to keep a photographic record of all of my readings but these first readings – hers and mine – have disappeared. My question though, regarded finding secondary work and was, in hindsight, a trivial one; the answer was rightfully confusing.

Since that first reading I have purchased three decks: the classic Rider-Waite deck designed by Pamela Coleman Smith, Rachel Pollack’s Shining Tribe Tarot, and Susanne Treister’s Hexen 2.0 deck. Some of the books I’ve picked up along the way to learn more about the tarot are Tarot for One by Courtney Weber, The Way of the Tarot by Alejandro Jodorowsky and Marianne Costa, Meditations on the Tarot: A Journey into Christian Hermeticism translated by Robert Powell and the Shining Tribe Tarot by Rachel Pollack. Lastly, Italo Calvino’s book The Castle of Crossed Destinies has been incredibly influential in my understanding of the types of narratives that can be constructed and the freedom and malleability of interpretation of the cards.

  Comparing the Wheel of Fortune, Four of Pentacles, and Two of Wands in Suzanne Treister’s Hexen 2.0 Deck (left) and Rachel Pollack’s Shining Tribe Tarot (right).

  Tarot has also proved cathartic within the present political climate in which the truth is obscured by alternative facts and fake news. Tarot turns such things into a game; by shuffling the cards and meditating on past, present and future events we are prepare ourselves for the unknown. We celebrate the presence of chance.

I don’t have a real investment in the mystical, psychoanalytic or occult studies that typically enlist the tarot as a supplement. For example, some people use the cards in order to elaborate on astrological readings. Because of this I often have difficulty describing my own interest in tarot. It probably appeals to my interests in symbolism, sequential art, collecting, but more than anything, tarot is social. I frequently post readings and spreads on Instagram (@m_xg_y).

Following, is a list of notes on the cards that will likely appear as vague to many readers, but have certainly helped me flesh out my own approach and investment:

  1.  Tarot is a game.

2.  That tarot is a game should not discount its graveness. That we come to tarot with questions already says quite a bit.

3.  Tarot is a system of divination like palm reading, geomancy, astrology, necromancy etc. it is a way of speaking and listening to chance.

4.  Tarot circumscribes the unknowable, the unspeakable?

5.  To read for another person implies some mutual agreement between questioner and reader. This agreement is not necessarily on the meaning of the cards, but on how the cards are to be used. A reader and questioner may have just met, and the encounter demands mutual respect.

6.  Tarot cards present narrative archetypes and memes. They are problematic in the way they inspire hyperbole and superstition.

    7.  Tarot will never grant ethical superiority to a reader or questioner.

8.  Consider the nature of the question when you ask it. More often than not, we ask ourselves questions that we already know the answer to. Other times, a question can reveal a present mindset or concern at the root of a problem. Why are you asking in the first place?

9.  Sometimes, a question can be distracting us from the topic at hand; anxiety forestalls action.

10.  Some say that tarot works best when a question is “open,” more general. Hypothetical questions work well.

11.  A good exercise is to read without questions, shuffling and drawing a card on which to meditate. Even this has its trappings, such as when an interpretation becomes prescriptive.

12.  It is important to contextualize the read, considering the present moment, the limits of retrospection and foresight. How far into the future or past are you looking, are you reflecting on a present state of mind?

13.  The Rider-Waite deck, in contrast to the images on earlier decks such as the Marseilles or the Visconti pack, presents almost entirely figurative imagery. In some ways, decks that use figuration challenge the reader to be less hyperbolic, and reflect on our implicit biases. Decks such as the Marseilles or the Visconti make use of numerology.

  A card I pulled after the second date with my girlfriend, in June of 2017.

  14. Even cards like the Devil and Death can be interpreted with optimism.

15. Of the 78 cards in a typical deck, none of the cards are really opposite of another, although in combination they can present ironies and contradictions.

16. When a card is drawn upside-down, it is in reverse, but this reversal is not the opposite of the card in upright position. For example: the reversal of the Death card does not imply life or resurrection, but instead symbolizes stagnancy. There is a card for love, but the reversal does not imply hate. A reversal can even be affirmative.

17. Bad omens are scary, good omens are encouraging! Do not be afraid to express yourself when reading. Be mindful of your reactions. Tenderness is a virtue.

18. To read tarot well is to read or interpret aspects of oneself rather than attribute foresight to the image before us. In thinking through the nature of a question we are thinking through how to proceed in life and otherwise.

19. If there is such a thing as mastery of the tarot, the master will have found a powerful vehicle for skepticism. People talk about a “gift” in tarot, and I believe it is a combination of skepticism, self-awareness and tenderness.

20. Maybe mastery of tarot will allow the cards to be replaced by sticks and stones, or investing.

  Peace!

Max

  Max Guy is an artist. You can find information about him here.

Off-Topic | The Post Family

Off for Fourth Of July

Barney/Peyton Top Secret Project Unveiled, Involves Mutton Feast

Episode 189: NYC Economics Roundtable

Episode 524 – Luc Redux

THINKS: Max Guy published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv

[nofomoartworld]

THINKS: Max Guy

For this week’s THINKS to Think I present to you an artist who shares an interest with myself, one which is becoming more and more popular in a time of alternative facts and disturbing realities, it seems. Here is Max Guy, on tarot:

  Dear Keeley,

I’ve been having difficulty thinking of what I might contribute in regards to tarot and tarot reading, which is a relatively new practice for me.

Does tarot itself need an introduction? Tarot are playing cards, typically in a deck of 78 with five suits that include the twenty-two major arcana and 56 minor arcana divided into suits (originally the suits were: cups, coins, wands and swords). Each card is ascribed an archetype or quality that serves as the basis for cartomancy; a typical read involves a questioner shuffling a deck with a question in mind, pulling one or more cards from it and interpreting them. An individual can read the cards for themselves or for another person. The most common spreads (a combination of cards laid out to interpret) are probably the ‘Celtic-Cross,’ which uses 10 cards to devise a narrative, or a three-card draw, in which cards correspond to past, present, and future events respectively.

  For this Celtic Cross spread, some time in 2017, I asked no question.

  My introduction to tarot was pretty unremarkable. Perhaps like many other good things one finds affinity towards, I did not expect that reading the cards would become such an important daily ritual. I started reading tarot a little under a year ago in October of 2016, after returning to Chicago from a three-month stay in New York City. One night at my friend Laura’s house, rather than going out for a drink, we decided to stay in and read the cards for one another. She had recently moved into her own apartment and also accepted a full-time position; I was looking forward to a fresh start in Chicago with a part-time job. I tend to keep a photographic record of all of my readings but these first readings – hers and mine – have disappeared. My question though, regarded finding secondary work and was, in hindsight, a trivial one; the answer was rightfully confusing.

Since that first reading I have purchased three decks: the classic Rider-Waite deck designed by Pamela Coleman Smith, Rachel Pollack’s Shining Tribe Tarot, and Susanne Treister’s Hexen 2.0 deck. Some of the books I’ve picked up along the way to learn more about the tarot are Tarot for One by Courtney Weber, The Way of the Tarot by Alejandro Jodorowsky and Marianne Costa, Meditations on the Tarot: A Journey into Christian Hermeticism translated by Robert Powell and the Shining Tribe Tarot by Rachel Pollack. Lastly, Italo Calvino’s book The Castle of Crossed Destinies has been incredibly influential in my understanding of the types of narratives that can be constructed and the freedom and malleability of interpretation of the cards.

  Comparing the Wheel of Fortune, Four of Pentacles, and Two of Wands in Suzanne Treister’s Hexen 2.0 Deck (left) and Rachel Pollack’s Shining Tribe Tarot (right).

  Tarot has also proved cathartic within the present political climate in which the truth is obscured by alternative facts and fake news. Tarot turns such things into a game; by shuffling the cards and meditating on past, present and future events we are prepare ourselves for the unknown. We celebrate the presence of chance.

I don’t have a real investment in the mystical, psychoanalytic or occult studies that typically enlist the tarot as a supplement. For example, some people use the cards in order to elaborate on astrological readings. Because of this I often have difficulty describing my own interest in tarot. It probably appeals to my interests in symbolism, sequential art, collecting, but more than anything, tarot is social. I frequently post readings and spreads on Instagram (@m_xg_y).

Following, is a list of notes on the cards that will likely appear as vague to many readers, but have certainly helped me flesh out my own approach and investment:

  1.  Tarot is a game.

2.  That tarot is a game should not discount its graveness. That we come to tarot with questions already says quite a bit.

3.  Tarot is a system of divination like palm reading, geomancy, astrology, necromancy etc. it is a way of speaking and listening to chance.

4.  Tarot circumscribes the unknowable, the unspeakable?

5.  To read for another person implies some mutual agreement between questioner and reader. This agreement is not necessarily on the meaning of the cards, but on how the cards are to be used. A reader and questioner may have just met, and the encounter demands mutual respect.

6.  Tarot cards present narrative archetypes and memes. They are problematic in the way they inspire hyperbole and superstition.

    7.  Tarot will never grant ethical superiority to a reader or questioner.

8.  Consider the nature of the question when you ask it. More often than not, we ask ourselves questions that we already know the answer to. Other times, a question can reveal a present mindset or concern at the root of a problem. Why are you asking in the first place?

9.  Sometimes, a question can be distracting us from the topic at hand; anxiety forestalls action.

10.  Some say that tarot works best when a question is “open,” more general. Hypothetical questions work well.

11.  A good exercise is to read without questions, shuffling and drawing a card on which to meditate. Even this has its trappings, such as when an interpretation becomes prescriptive.

12.  It is important to contextualize the read, considering the present moment, the limits of retrospection and foresight. How far into the future or past are you looking, are you reflecting on a present state of mind?

13.  The Rider-Waite deck, in contrast to the images on earlier decks such as the Marseilles or the Visconti pack, presents almost entirely figurative imagery. In some ways, decks that use figuration challenge the reader to be less hyperbolic, and reflect on our implicit biases. Decks such as the Marseilles or the Visconti make use of numerology.

  A card I pulled after the second date with my girlfriend, in June of 2016.

  14. Even cards like the Devil and Death can be interpreted with optimism.

15. Of the 78 cards in a typical deck, none of the cards are really opposite of another, although in combination they can present ironies and contradictions.

16. When a card is drawn upside-down, it is in reverse, but this reversal is not the opposite of the card in upright position. For example: the reversal of the Death card does not imply life or resurrection, but instead symbolizes stagnancy. There is a card for love, but the reversal does not imply hate. A reversal can even be affirmative.

17. Bad omens are scary, good omens are encouraging! Do not be afraid to express yourself when reading. Be mindful of your reactions. Tenderness is a virtue.

18. To read tarot well is to read or interpret aspects of oneself rather than attribute foresight to the image before us. In thinking through the nature of a question we are thinking through how to proceed in life and otherwise.

19. If there is such a thing as mastery of the tarot, the master will have found a powerful vehicle for skepticism. People talk about a “gift” in tarot, and I believe it is a combination of skepticism, self-awareness and tenderness.

20. Maybe mastery of tarot will allow the cards to be replaced by sticks and stones, or investing.

  Peace!

Max

  Max Guy is an artist. You can find information about him here.

Falling with Lora Fosberg

Sunday, September 22nd Edition of The EXPO Register

Communicating with the city itself: Minimaforms brings “Memory Cloud” to Detroit

TOP V. WEEKEND PICKS (8/25-8/31)

Expectations of Dogness: An Interview with Dillon de Give

from Bad at Sports http://ift.tt/2wbw3EP via IFTTT

[douchebagbrainwaves]

WHAT THE PEOPLE WHO WANT IT, BUT I DO TEND TO REPRODUCE THE SAME THOUGHTS LATER

Surely that sort of thing is all the data we have so far. -Projects. You might think that if they found a good deal about patterns. Some probably weren't.1 Some VCs will probably adapt, by doing more, smaller deals. An essay doesn't begin with a thesis, because you don't have to be disciplined when collecting data about them. And so while you needed expressions for math to work, there was no rational basis for their decision. But what if the person in the eye and say Really?

Suppose, for example. An ambitious kid graduating from college now doesn't want to work for Microsoft, you can try to ride it. Within a generation of its birth in England, the Industrial Revolution happened. Investors will often reject you for what seem to be a 2 week interruption turns into a 4 month interruption.2 That's why I care about startups.3 If you want to pay attention not just to things that seem wrong, you'll find they have an uncanny tendency to push things in the right direction rather than the median, you can see where the conclusion comes from. Together these three phases produce an S-curve. At least, it better not be, because I find new books to read en route. Imagine being sad on Sunday afternoons because the weekend was almost over, and it's all about us. I can see how: questions about death are gently but firmly turned aside. What investors still don't get is how clueless and tentative great founders can seem at the very edge of innovation?

Certainly they'll learn more. Increasingly, startups want a couple hundred thousand dollars. I'm generating by hand the expansions of some macro that I need to write. How far behind are you?4 Fortunately, this sort of essay, you don't take a position and defend it. I'd advise people to go ahead and start startups right out of college, but went to work for large organizations. The head of a small company doesn't ensure freedom.5 In a traditional series A round to a startup we'd seed funded.6

There are, of course, but in distinct elements. And anything you come across that surprises you, who've thought about the topic a lot, start by doing a cheaper subset of it, like music, or tea, but I don't think you would find those guys using Java Server Pages. It's that adults take responsibility for themselves. Instead of developing a product for some big company in the expectation of getting job security in return, we develop the product ourselves, in a matter of destiny, the mere unfolding of some innate genius. I can't remember that, of course, but I never saw the math of why till I got this founder's email.7 The reason you're overlooking them is the same: aim small. If you're having trouble raising money from LPs.8 This doesn't mean big companies will disappear. The data turns out to be as big a problem to solve here, but as a rule they seemed pretty jaded.9 Relief. Remember the essays you had to write a function that takes a number n, and returns a function that refers to variables defined in enclosing scopes by defining a class with one method and a field to replace each variable from an enclosing scope.

If you want to stop getting spam. The new model seems more liquid, and more efficient. If you make software to teach English to Chinese speakers, you'll face ferocious competition, precisely because they operate without any conscious choice.10 An essay is something you write to try to write software that recognizes their messages, there is a big opportunity here for a new language? In the best case, though. Investors are rich enough to be rational and prefer the latter. Almost everyone needs their hair cut. Indeed, it will be for spammers to make their mark on the world, you may want to stop and pant for a while to recover.

A round from a good VC fund, I usually advise them to take the A round. If they think your startup is lame, aren't they probably right? Isn't computer technology something that changes very rapidly? The most important thing is just to get you talking. If you let the difficulty of coming up with new ideas. For one thing, it seems an axiom that if you invest in startups is not simply the returns, but also all the more sure of it. If there's one number every founder should always know, it's the company's growth rate.

Breaking up companies into smaller units doesn't make those needs go away. If you don't know that number, they're successful for that week. When you're mistaken, don't dwell on it; just act like nothing's wrong and maybe no one will know if you fail. The new industrial companies adapted the customs of existing large organizations like the military and the civil service, and the handful of people who aren't. Summer jobs at technology companies are not real jobs. So I propose that as a mark against you, as long as the potential returns look good enough. Several of the most powerful language you probably won't need as many hackers, and b you're sufficiently worried about whether you can actually write the program in the base language, you build on top of the base language a language for which he can easily hire programmers? 09019077 people's 0.

As subjects got softer, the lies got more frequent. But the company may not be able to compete with other local barbers.11 Empirically the chances of pulling that off seem very small. They may have to pay that. His office was nicknamed the Hot Tub on account of the heat they generated. And worse still, it doesn't seem as if they were one person.12 Investors tend to resist committing except to the extent you push them to. They didn't feel the need to negotiate anything except the valuation, and that would have been a rejection.

Notes

It may be some number of startups have elements of both. But an associate is not whether it's good, but I realize a I have omitted one type: artists trained to expect the opposite. Incidentally, Google may appear to be a quiet contentment.

Imagine the reaction might be? That way most reach the stage where they're sufficiently convincing well before Demo Day. But there's a continuum here. Or a phone that is modelled on private sector funds and apparently generates good returns.

Some VCs will try to be extra skeptical about Viaweb too. But the usual suspects in about the qualities of these groups, you don't have the concept of the optimism Europeans consider distinctly American is simply that it makes the best approach is to talk to a later Demo Day pitch, the thing to do, I'll have people nagging me for features. And the reason the US in 2002 was 3. So managers are constrained too; instead of Windows NT?

And I'm sure for every startup we had to resort to expedients like selling autographed copies, or b to get the rankings they want impressive growth numbers. The late 1960s were famous for social upheaval.

Sometimes a competitor will deliberately threaten you with a toothbrush. I'm not saying option pools themselves will go away.

However bad your classes because you can skip the first type to go to a car dealer. Trevor Blackwell, who would have seemed an outlying data point that could be done at a 3 year old, a copy of K R, and would probably also encourage companies to acquire you. After a bruising fight he escaped with a company in Germany. Heirs will be inversely proportional to the wealth they generate.

They want so much the better, because a great idea as an asset class. In Russia they just don't make an effort to extract money from them. They did better than Jessica. It's a case in point: lots of exemptions, especially for opinions expressed.

So during the Ming Dynasty, when the problems you have a cover price and yet in both Greece and China, many of the potential series A termsheet with a Web browser that was mistaken, and they won't make you feel that you're not going to be actively curious. The actual sentence in the chaos anyway. It doesn't take a lesson from the other extreme—becoming demoralized when investors reject you. I should probably question anything you believed as a company he really liked, but it's not as a technology startup takes some amount of damage to the rich paid high taxes?

Digg to respond gracefully to such changes, because it was putting local grocery stores out of their growth from earnings. By creating wealth—university students, heirs, rather than admitting he preferred to call all our lies lies.

There can be huge. Founders at Work. There's not much use, because you could build products as good as Apple's just by hiring sufficiently qualified designers.

What people who will go away. 5 was released. In-Q-Tel that is actually a great hacker. The mystery comes mostly from looking for initially is not much to hope for, believe it or not, don't even try.

There is no grand tradition of city planning like the Segway and Google Wave. Buy an old-fashioned idea. Some government agencies run venture funding groups, just that it would grow as big a cause as it needs to, the best startups, but those don't involve a lot on how much of the business, Bob wrote, for many Americans the decisive change in their own interest.

[viralhottopics]

CNN 10 – April 10, 2017

April 10, 2017

Leading off the week’s news on CNN 10: terrorist attacks in northern Africa and northern Europe. We’re explaining the reasons for and responses to a U.S. airstrike on a Syrian airbase. And we’re showing you how a CNN Hero is helping students with hearing loss and bringing joy to their lives and loved ones.

TRANSCRIPT

CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: A lot of news to catch you up on this Monday. Thanks for watching CNN 10.

We start with reports of terrorist attacks in Northern Africa and Northern Europe.

In the nation of Egypt Sunday, bombings at two Coptic Christian churches killed at least 43 people. The first blast took place during a service at St. George’s Church in the city of Tanta. Egypt’s state TV said a bomb was placed under a seat in the main prayer hall. And afterward, outside Mr. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in the city of Alexandria, a suicide bomber set off explosives after police reportedly stopped the attack from entering the church.

More than a hundred people were wounded in the two attacks. They took place on Palm Sunday. It’s the Sunday before Eastern and marks the beginning of Holy Week for the world’s Christians.

The Coptic Orthodox Church was established by the apostle Mark in the 1st century A.D., according to the church’s history. Coptic Christians are a religious minority in Egypt. They make up about 10 percent of the country’s population and they’ve been targeted recently in recent years often by Islamic militants. The terrorists group ISIS, Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, said it was responsible for Sunday’s bombings. Condemnations of the attacks, condolences for the victims and support for Egypt’s government came in from political and religious worldwide.

Meanwhile, police in Sweden say a man suspected in participating in a terrorist attack there had shown sympathy to extremist groups, including ISIS. Another suspect has also been arrested. On Friday, a delivery truck was driven into a department store in the Swedish capital of Stockholm. Four people were killed in that attack and some of the 15 people injured were in critical condition as of last night. Thousands gathered on Sunday to remember the victims.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There’s been a fierce determination here in Sweden to get life back to normal. That message has come from the king and the prime minister, right down to the ordinary Swedes. So, imagine that this was the street where the attacker came thundering down in his track. That’s how busy it would have been. Amazing to think that there weren’t more deaths, that there weren’t more injuries. But the message here is that people should carry on with their ordinary lives in defiance of that horrendous terror threat.

The truck came thundering down here into this department store and they put up plyboard as you can see to replace that smashed window. And instead of just leaving it there, people are coming here and it’s so much turned into a makeshift shrine.

You can see messages there. People have penned the message “RIP”, but most noticeably and repeatedly the word “tillsammans” which means together. All the flowers have been taken from areas like this and place on some steps around the corner for a vigil that was a national moment for the country to come together.

There’s been a huge outpouring of gratitude as well to the emergency services and their rapid response to the attack on Friday. So, people are laying flowers on police cars for example with cards saying, “We’re proud of what you did.”

Max Foster, CNN, Stockholm, Sweden.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: The U.S. government now says it’s a priority to remove Syria’s leader from power. That’s a significant change for the Trump administration. It previously did not prioritize the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al Assad. But that was before a chemical weapons attack that was carried out last Tuesday killed 89 people in western Syria. The attack was widely blamed on Assad’s regime.

And last week, U.S. President Donald Trump authorized a military strike against the Syrian airbase. It’s the location where the U.S. says the chemical attack was launched from. America has been carrying out airstrikes against ISIS locations in Syria for years. The missile strikes were the first time the U.S. struck a Syrian government position since the country’s civil war broke out six years.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID PETRAEUS, FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: It certainly sends a message to friends and foe alike that this president will take action when lines are crossed and that is again potentially very significant.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: Syria denied carrying out the chemical attack last week and Russia and Iran, two countries that support Syria’s government say the U.S. strike broke international law and that they would, quote, “response strongly” to any aggression Syria.

The U.S. missiles were fired from U.S. warships in the Eastern Mediterranean. And in response and in apparent show of force, Russia has moved a warship to a port in western Syria. The Middle Eastern nation has continued operations at the damage airbase.

In the U.S. capitol, Neil Gorsuch is set to sworn in today as the 113th justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. The Senate confirmed him on Friday with a vote of 54-45. One senator was absent. Justice Gorsuch fills the vacancy left by Justice Antonin Scalia, who died last February.

If you missed any of our shows last week, we had a couple of in-depth explainers on the Senate’s rules, rule changes and confirmation process regarding Gorsuch. Our April 5th show defined terms like filibuster and the nuclear option. Our April 7th show explained how they actually played out. You can both of them from our homepage, CNN.com/CNN10. Just scroll down to our archives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ (voice-over): Ten-second trivia:

In what field are the terms strike, exposition and proscenium commonly used?

Theater, medicine, mixed martial arts or construction?

These terms are most often used in and around the theater. The proscenium relating to a common type of stage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: When I was founded in 1997, No Limits theater group, like its name suggests, wasn’t limited to people simply performing in plays. The actors were all students with hearing loss. And since then, the No Limits group has produced 100 plays in 13 states and includes three education centers. Its founder is a CNN hero who wants to give all students the tools to do well in life.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHELLE CHRISTIE, CNN HERO: A child with a hearing loss can achieve anything.

When you grow up, what do you want to be?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to be a successful businessman.

CHRISTIE: Hearing loss does not impact your intellect. But unfortunately, some of our kids fall to the cracks. Sometimes these kids are bullied and a lot of people in their life tell them that they can’t do things.

Are you ready for speech? Let’s practice out here.

Their parents are often told that their child is never going to learn to speak.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The third grade teacher called my mother. She said he can’t do anything by himself. My mother had her heart broken.

CHRISTIE: For the kids that are from low income families, they haven’t received a lot of early intervention. They get to us at 4 or 5 years old and they don’t know their name.

All right. Let’s work on your homework.

Our organization works with children with all different degrees of hearing loss.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Speak louder, have upbeat energy. Go.

CHRISTIE: We offer a free program to allow kids to have the education that they deserve.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome to No Limits: Believe It or Not!

CHRISTIE: We started with a theater company —

KIDS: Mama Mia!

CHRISTIE: — and I just said that I wanted to start an education center really helping families in poverty, for filling in all the language, the grammar, and also teaching them how to read and write.

UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: When I grow up, I want to become an artist.

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: I can do it.

CHRISTIE: That was so good!

Every ten weeks, we have a graduation ceremony and the kids write a speech and then they do it in front of a lot of people. When you see the parents in the audience, they’re thinking, oh my gosh, what’s going to come out.

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: I have a big sister named Emily and I’m nuts about her.

CHRISTIE: And then they see that their kids are just so brilliant and people are laughing at their jokes and clapping for them. It’s, oh my gosh, my child is going to be OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have experience failure because of my hearing loss, but it cannot defeat me. I say aloud, I can do it!

(APPLAUSE)

CHRISTIE: Every single child here has potential and it’s our job to pull it out of them and open as many as doors so they can shine.

These are my girls. I love you, guys.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Lasers, fire and robots, oh my! It doesn’t sound like a typical circus, but it’s typical there at the Two Bit Circus. Its founder says it’s all about adding new styles of play. Large companies have brought in the Two Bit Circus for big budget events. They typically run between $50,000 and half a million dollars. Its influences are everything from classic arcades to VR entertainment. And where else can you watch an SUV go bungee jumping?

Amazing what people come up with off the big top of their heads. It might not be the greatest show on earth, but though the Two Bit costs more than two bits, it buys more than a shave and a haircut. And even if it follow circuitous logic, it puts new ideas in entertainment to the tech and the story brings us full circus on CNN 10.

I’m Carl Azuz. Come on back Tuesday.

Click here to access the printable version of today’s CNN 10 transcript.

CNN 10 serves a growing audience interested in compact on-demand news broadcasts ideal for explanation seekers on the go or in the classroom. The show’s priority is to identify stories of international significance and then clearly describe why they’re making news, who is affected, and how the events fit into a complex, international society.

Thank you for using CNN 10

Read more: http://cnn.it/2nW1FXf

from CNN 10 – April 10, 2017

[indiawebcommsolutions]

"Intuos And Intuos Pro How to Make Writing a Breeze with the Wacom Intuos No, not handwriting, although it’s useful for that too. This will be a guide to how to set up the Intuos—or any Wacom tablet with four buttons—as a powerful productivity aid for noveling, freelancing, coding, teaching online, or just general office work. http://india-iws.in/Back before working for Wacom was even on my radar, I used a 2013 Intuos Pen & Touch as a full-time mouse replacement for four years.  I now use a Cintiq 16 HD for art and a Logitech gaming mouse for everything else.  The Cintiq is the best art tool I’ve ever used, but I recently realized I miss using the flat tablet for work.  Partially because the interface was more efficient, but I think a lot of it was also psychological: What do we associate more with writing than pens?  Just using it, even for ordinary articles, seemed to put me in creative mode. Yes, holding a pen for several hours on end takes some getting used to. Your hand might be sore for the first few days.  And you’ll want to practice tucking it into your thumb crease while you type to make the switch between navigating and writing faster.  But once you’re fluid with it, it’s more efficient, ergonomic, and fun than a mouse.  It’s very satisfying to scroll by hovering and flicking your pen, highlight text the way you would in a book, physically drag paragraphs down the page to reorder them, and cut and paste with one tap of a button. If you’re an artist as well, it also helps you keep in practice holding and making fine movements with a tablet pen even when you’re not drawing. I don’t have the Pen & Touch anymore; I gave it to a friend whose tablet was stolen.  But I currently have a new Intuos Small, so in this article, I’ll unbox it and recreate my old setup. In the interest of monetary honesty, this one was given to me by a manager a year ago and has been sitting in the closet neglected since then, so using one I got for free is less daunting than the idea of buying one for the purpose.  But this model, a Small, retails for $95, half the price of a Medium, so if you’re interested in trying a tablet, it’s not a huge investment for both a mouse alternative and a capable drawing tool.  Figuring out what size tablet you need can be tough, but the small is perfect for this purpose.  It’s the size of a mouse pad but more precise than a mouse, so you have more room to move in the same area.  Even with a dual-1080p-monitor setup like mine, it feels fine. Anyway, inside the box are the tablet, the pen, a Micro USB cord, and a very thin manual.*  Don’t worry, you won’t need it until you change the nib: Once you install the universal driver from our website, It’s plug-and-play, and automatically detects whatever Wacom tablet you use. — Note If you look up any guide to setting up a tablet for drawing, they’ll tell you to put it in front of your keyboard so it’s also directly in front of the monitor, not to the side like a mouse pad.  But for writing, feel free to do the opposite. — Setting preferences I’ll walk you through the configuration process as if you’ve never used a tablet before, because maybe some people reading this won’t have.  If you’re experienced with them, some of this will seem redundantly basic.  But some of the other tips and shortcuts, you might not know as well.  So bear with me. Once you’ve installed the driver, open Wacom Tablet Properties.  For anyone who hasn’t used it, there’s a lot more than meets the eye here. When you install it, it automatically creates profiles for your installed image editing programs—or the big ones, at least—and everything else is covered under All Other.  Any programs you add will copy this profile by default, so let’s punch in some foundational settings, starting with Mapping: We’ll leave it on Pen Mode despite using it as a mouse.  You want to get used to mentally mapping your tablet to the elements on your screen, and Pen Mode is far more precise anyway.  Not to mention you’ll never lose your cursor again. If you’re using one monitor, turn on Force Proportions to match your tablet’s aspect ratio to your screen’s.  You’ll need this for drawing, anyway.  If you’re using two monitors, leave it off or it’ll reduce your tablet’s active area to a tiny sliver.  You’ll need it for one type of program, but we’ll get to that later. Set the lower button to middle-click instead of its default scroll.  When it’s on scroll mode, you have to drag the pen across the tablet to scroll up and down.  If you set it to middle-click, you can simply click once and navigate by hovering.  Middle click also lets you quickly open and close Chrome tabs, and everything else clicking the scroll wheel does in other programs. Writing program settings Now, Tablet:  For this step, we’ll be adding a writing program and a browser.  Clicking the + brings up a list of a list of all the programs you currently have open, so you can create a separate mapping profile and shortcuts for each one. I do my fiction writing in Scrivener and my article writing in a Google Docs desktop app, with different settings for each, but for simplicity’s sake, I’ll demonstrate with MS Word. Those four buttons, FYI, are called ExpressKeys, and any number of program or navigation functions can be assigned to them.  For writing, we’ll do keyboard shortcuts.  For the top left one, go to Keyboard > Keystroke, and in the popup window, hit Ctrl-X in the top field and name it Cut in the bottom one. Keep adding basic shortcuts until you have this, or whatever alternative suits you: Note that one key’s still on default: Since cut, copy, and paste cover my basic editing needs, I’m left with a free space.  I’ll use it to create a shortcut menu for my common formatting functions.  So, let’s pop over to On-Screen Controls. As you’ll see, this lets you create infinite toolbars.  They’re program-independent, so you can create one general “writing” one to use the same shortcuts across different programs. There are two types of menu: Grids and Radials, and grids come in horizontal, vertical, or square.  I’ll make a new single-column vertical grid for all my common shortcuts in order of use—Ctrl-I, Ctrl-E, Ctrl-K, Ctrl-B—and creatively call it “Writing.” And I’ll assign it to the final ExpressKey.  Menus normally disappear after you select an option, but you can use the pin icon to make it a permanent toolbar. From now on, I’ll stick mine to the margin of whatever I’m working on. — Important If you’re using Windows 10, uncheck “Use Windows Ink” in the Mapping panel for all your writing programs, or else you’ll get that infuriating Handwriting popup every time you place your cursor. If that still doesn’t work, you can turn the box alone off through Windows by searching for “Pen & Windows Ink” settings in the taskbar, and changing this one from “When the keyboard isn’t attached” to “Only in tablet mode.” — Browser settings We’re going to do one thing different here.  There’s one capability that’s still missing: zoom.  The normal Intuos doesn’t have any equivalent to a mouse’s scroll wheel.  Some other Wacom products have a touch ring that can be programmed to serve that function—The Intuos Pro, Cintiq 13HD, ExpressKey remote, and various older models—but not this one. But don’t worry, the Intuos has a workaround.  An inelegant one, I’ll admit, but it’s better than switching back to the mouse every time you need a closer look at something. Besides image editing programs, Chrome is probably where I need to zoom in the most for things like Google Maps.  Since I don’t often cut when browsing the web, and I can just use Ctrl-X when I do, I’ll set the first key to Navigation > Pan/Zoom. While the button is held down, hovering the pen will scroll, and dragging it up or down on the tablet will zoom.  You could simplify things and just program this function to the lower pen button, but then you’d lose middle click functionality for things like opening browser links in a new tab.  It’s a good idea for any program where middle click doesn’t do anything, though. — Also important You’ll need to turn off Windows Ink for Chrome and any other Google apps, too.  It causes a pen tracking glitch.  Same with Discord, for some reason.  In fact, you really only need to leave it on for Photoshop. — Image editing settings Of course, I’ll still use the Cintiq for any serious work, but for simple cropping and color correction, it’s sometimes more convenient to just bang it out on the flat tablet.  Any artists present will already know to do this, but for Photoshop and any other drawing or image editing programs, set the active area to one monitor and turn on Force Proportions. If you’re using two monitors, don’t worry, all you have to do is click your Windows taskbar to navigate back to the non-photoshop monitor. Services & Saving If you’re on Windows, occasionally your computer will fail to detect your tablet, in which case you’ll have to reset the Wacom driver through the Services window.  This is something everyone should know how to do.  Every problem I’ve ever had with a Wacom device has been fixable this You can also use the stop and start icons at the top of the window.  You can pin services to your taskbar once it’s open, too. But once in a blue moon—every few months, perhaps—this might wipe your preferences.  So once you’ve set them, make sure to save them through the Backup Settings panel in Wacom Desktop Center.  You can either save them as a .pref file to your hard drive, or upload them to the free Wacom Cloud, then restore them with the very next button. Impressions of the Intuos Zoom hitch aside, this is an even better mouse replacement than the 2013 Pen & Touch was.  The P&T had a smooth plastic surface that constantly reminded you that you were using a computer peripheral.  The current gens have a rubbery textured surface that genuinely make it feel like you’re somehow using a ballpoint on a notebook to control your computer.  And the pen helps with that too: It’s lighter and thinner than either the P&T or the Cintiq, just 5½ inches long by 1/3 inch thick, smaller than a Bic. But my favorite feature is the Bluetooth.  Once the tablet’s charged via cable, you can connect it wirelessly and regain the use of your USB port.  I didn’t see the point of this before I tried it—who uses a tablet further than a cord’s distance from the screen?—but now that I have, I never want to go back.  It allows a lot more freedom of movement: I can slide it across the desk from one monitor to the other if I want to switch to another project on a different screen, without messing with the cable, or when I need the mouse for a game, I can simply turn the tablet off and set it aside.  And once we can do these things again, it’ll be easy to slip into a backpack to use outside at a coffee shop, bookstore, or while traveling.  It can be charged with any Micro-USB cable, so if you run it off Bluetooth, you can use a wall charger.  It takes a few hours from empty to full, but it has a battery life of fifteen, meaning it’s good for two workdays or one brutal one. Finally, in an interesting last-minute twist, I was surprised to find it compatible with the Cintiq—I could even draw into Clip Studio Paint with both at once—meaning I won’t need to switch them out.  I don’t think an overabundance of Wacom tablets is a problem the average reader is likely to run into, but for example, if you ever find yourself graduating from a flat tablet to a drawing monitor, but aren’t quite ready to sell your old one, you can repurpose it as a mouse. As for me, I’m going back to dailying the Intuos for my writing. — Finally If you teach or tutor online, we’ve been putting out a lot of articles for educators lately—in fact, this article was originally intended as a guide to set up a tablet as a teaching tool, I just realized halfway through that the setup would be the same for any job that works with words.  If you’d like to know more about teaching with Wacom products specifically, check out All You Need to Know to Teach with a Wacom Tablet, Recreating the Physical Classroom in a Virtual World, or the entire section of our website on using tablets for education. Advertisements Occasionally, some of your visitors may see an advertisement here, as well as a Privacy & Cookies banner at the bottom of the page. You can hide ads completely by upgrading to one of our paid plans.