#i feel like more neutral headphones are best for regular use because you get to hear the music the way it was intended

[runawayfuture]

it is once again time to be mentally unwell (playing lemon by kenshi yonezu on loop for several hours)

[jetaime-jespere]

Prompt #29/116

#29- Look at me/# 116. This wasn’t supposed to happen like this.

Aaron crossed the line of objectivity somewhere between Morgan screaming his name through the bullpen, and listening to Benjamin Cyrus unleash his wrath on Emily two days later. He clenched a set of headphones with shaking hands and a surge of rage coiling deep in his chest and coursing through his veins. He can’t bring himself to think of it, knowing it’s partly his fault in the first damn place for sending her and Reid there.

It wouldn’t be the only line that’s been crossed in the months since his divorce papers were finalized, and what happened before and after the disaster that was New York City. It happened once, until it happened twice, and before long it was happening whenever they could sneak a few hurried moments. It was never supposed to happen but it did, and it adds an entirely different layer of complications. Despite their best intentions, those complications are now starting to creep into their work on what seems like an all too regular basis. It can’t happen, but it keeps happening.

The aftermath of New York left him uncomfortably vulnerable like never before. Kate’s death rocked him, and it was Emily’s patience and quiet concern that kept him from spiraling out of control. He blamed himself; he felt responsible for not being able to save her from bleeding out on a Midtown street. It was Emily’s quiet whispers in the dark in the days after that reminded him sometimes, we can’t win them all.

Now it’s his turn in a game they never asked to play, a turning of the tables.

“We gotta go in,” he’d said to Dave, trying and failing to conceal the anger in his tone. It’s the only option while not being an option at all; one that will only bring a negative outcome. He knows that, but objectivity is a myth at this point.

“We’d be risking the lives of everybody in there.” Dave had been annoyingly rational and the picture of calm throughout the entire hellish experience. His suspicions are abundantly clear, even if he’s tight lipped and completely neutral. He’d seen what happened shortly after New York and in Ohio, and Dave has been around long enough to know how these things go. So he stays close to Aaron, leads the hostage negotiation response and never wavers once over the course of the few days that seemingly never end.

With whatever degree of composure Aaron has left - the rest of it waned as the time in Colorado dragged on - he blindly follows Dave across the grounds towards the explosion and flames. Swarms of people emerge from the burning building in varying states of duress. The Colorado police attempt to triage survivors and maintain some semblance of order. Aaron barely hears them, because as the space between them closes, he has to pull himself together.

They’re okay, thank God, despite being bruised, dirty, and exhausted. The extent of their injuries will be confirmed in the coming hours, but his initial inspection is one of immediate relief. “Are you alright?” He asks, and both nod even as though his question is directed at her, a secret they’re both all too aware of.

“Yeah,” Emily manages, dazed and confused, her face a canvas of purple and red splotches in the shape of angry fists. Up close, it’s clear whatever she suffered at the hands of Benjamin Cyrus will remain for awhile, on the inside and out. Aaron swallows, and resists the urge to move closer to her. Hugging her would make all of this too real, a confirmation of their closely guarded secret. So he settles on a quick nod of his head before turning back to Reid, who looks just a little more shaken up than Aaron is comfortable with. Sooner rather than later they’ll have to give their statements; he’ll learn the rest of the details in due time. For now, there are other concerns. “Everyone from the compound is accounted for?”

“Torres said all but one,” Morgan says ruefully with a heaviness in his voice. “Nothing we could have done.”

Watching Emily limp toward the girl’s grieving mother is enough to make his stomach churn. It’s a minimal loss, but a loss nonetheless - one they were never going to win at all, and the rest of them avert their eyes as the woman wails in Emily’s arms. From over Mrs. Evanson’s shoulder, Aaron meets her gaze, not even bothering to hide the relief spreading on his face.

With the scene almost cleared and his standard level of gravitas fully returned, Aaron demands they be taken to the hospital. It’s the tone of his voice that tells them both not to argue; it’s not a request but an order. There’s a passing glance between Emily and Reid, one that tells him everything he needs to know - that whatever happened in that compound - the things he didn’t hear, is something they’ll always carry, some twisted bond between then. It’s a sobering reminder of how lucky they got, how different this could have turned out, one that keeps him all but silent as he follows the ambulances to the hospital. There’s still work to be done and calls to make - all of that can be done from the waiting room and on the flight home.

It’s the first time he’s been in a hospital since New York; it’s an experience he could have done without. Aaron is grateful it’s relatively quiet at 4:30 AM; luckily Emily and Reid are seen by doctors almost immediately. But there’s nothing quite like the eerie stillness of a hospital, with nothing but the occasional alarm or PA announcement for company, and he finds himself staring at his watch and then the clock on the wall with a frustrated sigh.

“It’s only been a half hour, Hotch” Morgan reminds him patiently without even looking up from the three day old newspaper in his hands. “It’s gonna be awhile.”

Morgan is right, he thinks, holding the pen in his hand a little tighter.

...

Almost two hours after she disappeared with the exhausted but kind nurse, Aaron cautiously pushes open the door of the exam room, not knowing what he’ll find. She’s perched uncomfortably on the rickety bed, all bandaged and stitched, the dirt cleaned off her face. Still, it doesn’t quite hide the damage; the blood still stains her clothes and the pungent odor of smoke still lingers in the air.

“Well?” He asks expectantly, resisting the urge to reach for the discharge papers that sit on the small tray next to the bed.

“A broken cheekbone, bruised eye, some bruised rib and some stitches.” Emily runs through the list of her injuries as if reading a grocery list or something equally casual. The wince on her face when she moves a little too quickly is her giveaway that it’s a bit more than that.

“Bruised?” He challenges with a lifted eyebrow. No fucking way.

“Fine,” she concedes, biting her bottom lip. “Two fractured. Several bruised. All sore.”

The look on his face must give him away, because she smiles warily, as if she doesn’t quite believe her own words. “It looks a lot worse than it is, Aaron.” She’s putting on a brave front he can see right through, no matter how much she tries to hide it.

“Bullshit,” Aaron snaps back, just a little too harshly. “If I knew -”

“I heard you almost took out the Colorado Attorney General.” Emily says under her breath, even though they’re out of earshot. “When did that happen?” She looks almost amused, and it feels like a distant memory after the endless drag of the previous hours.

“When he was threatening to obstruct a federal investigation.”

“Sounds like I missed a lot,” she quips with a slightly wry grin, one that emphasizes the swelling of her face. “You’ll have to fill me in.”

“I’d rather not,” he says, and for the first time since their rescue, he brushes his knuckles across a small stripe of untouched skin on her cheek.

“Not here, Aaron,” Emily’s face reddens. “Please.”

“I wanted to go in,” he says a little too quickly. “To get you both. I couldn’t … listening to what -“

“I’m glad you didn’t.” Emily picks at the seam of the bandage on her arm, effectively cutting him off. “That would have compromised the whole operation.”

“I know.” He doesn’t care.

She folds her arms stubbornly and looks away, as if disappointed by his confession, his lack of objectivity. He takes it as a cue to leave, turning on his heel with a scrape of his shoe. “I’ll go check on Reid. I’m … it’s … “ he searches for words but they don’t quite materialize.

“Me too,” Emily says quietly before falling silent.

There will be time for talking later.

...

He shows up at her hotel room door, and even though she’s expecting him (she has been for awhile now),and she almost laughs at the irony of how the tables have turned in just weeks. It sends an ache through her chest, one that she’ll soon be used to. According to the ER doctor, it’ll take weeks for her ribs to heal. Now she sees the full extent of the burden of the last few days - the slight droop of his shoulders, the shadow of exhaustion leaving a pallor on his face.

“What’s so funny?” Aaron snaps, his jaw clenched tightly as he pushes past her, closing the door on his way. “Two of my agents almost got killed today.”  He doesn’t remind her that she is one of the two.

Well, okay then, Emily thinks with a huff, taking note of the fact he’s still wearing his button down shirt, the sleeves rolled to the elbows. How long has he been in these clothes?  “Did you show up to chastise me, Aaron, or is there a point?” She can’t hide the annoyance in her own voice. She’s just as cranky as he is, desperately in need of some food, and something tells her this hotel bed won’t be kind to her throbbing ribs.

He’s studying her, assessing the damage he can see, and what he can’t. “Show me,” he says, his voice simultaneously soft and firm. It’s not a request but not quite a demand, as if he’s not prepared to see what’s there. And yet, she knows he won’t leave until he gets what he came for.

“You already- “ she attempts.

“Emily.” This time his voice cracks just a little. “Please.”

With a soft sigh and roll of her eyes, she lifts the hem of the oversized shirt she’s wearing. It’s one of his - he notices for the first time - and peels away the wraps and bandages she’s acquired, like some kind of fucked up armor. Aaron takes it all in - every bruise, scrape, and stitch - each a reminder of his self-imposed culpability. His touch is gentle, overwhelmingly so, as he surveys each wound with defeat.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen like this.” His face is lined with unrelenting guilt, all consuming and real. “I shouldn’t have ever signed off on this. None of this would have happened.”

No, she thinks. “Look at me, Aaron” Emily says calmly, her voice steady with reason and logic as she shakes her head resoundingly. “I’m fine.” She pauses, running a hand through her hair. “Reid is fine too. It’ll take him a little while … to forgive himself,” she adds. “He blames himself. He shouldn’t, but he does.” Her assessment of him succinctly accurate, laced with compassion for him. She knows his mind like she knows her own. “But he got lucky today. We both did. You did all the right things. Sometimes … it just doesn’t go our way.”

“Hasn’t been going our way as of late , has it?”

He’s right. It’s been a shitty few months to say the least. Emily laughs softly, and when he wraps her into his embrace, carefully, she rests her weary head against his chest, it finally feels as if this whole miserable experience is over.

“There’s always tomorrow,” she says, voice muffled by his shirt. She doesn’t have to ask if he’s staying the night; it’s all but a given.

“When we get back,” Aaron murmurs, his chin tucked protectively over her head. “You still owe me that dinner you promised.”

She smiles even though he can’t see it. “Deal.”

[chans-baby-girl]

You’ll always have me!

Pairing: Felix x (Gender Neutral) Reader

Description: Fighting with your dad was regular thing but today he crossed a certain line and you need only person to cheer you up and one person only.

Word Count: 2.5k

Warnings: Verbals and Physical abuse (Slapping), bad parental relationships (father),mature language, established relationships, angst, fluff, mentions of depression but not explicitly stated.

~

“Don’t come back then!”

You wish you didn’t have to…you really did but sometimes things don’t work out the way you want them to. That’s what runs in your mind as you run out the door with your dog Kookies in tow. He looks at you and licks your face making you tear up with guilt for wanting to resent him a few minutes ago. He did start this after-all but he didn’t even know any better so it wasn’t like you could blame him.

“I just cleaned up his piss…”, your dad spat motioning to the now yellow stained wipe in his hand. “Next time you pick up after your own damn dog….What can’t hear or something?”

You barely heard half of that after removing your headphones that your dad didn’t notice you were wearing. But he had been with this sour mood all day so you were just offended?

“Who are you talking to?”, you reply seemingly forgetting you and him were the only ones in the room.

“So you think you’re being smart with me?” He walks closer to your bed anger lacing his tone.

“No I just don’t understand why you are taking it out on me I was in the bathroom you could’ve waited for me to finish and I would’ve cleaned it. So I’m just angry you are giving me attitude for something so childis-“ *SLAP*

“DON’T FUCKING TALK TO ME LIKE THAT YOU LITTLE SHIT IM YOUR DA-“

“WHAT SO JUST BECAUSE YOU ARE MY DAD YOU THINK YOU CAN PUT YOUR HANDS ON ME? DOES THAT MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER? STRONGER? HUH NOW THAT YOU HIT YOUR KID OH YOU ARE SO FUCKING TOUGH HUH? YOU FORGET IM A GROWN ADULT SO JUST LEAVE MY DOG ALONE THEN SINCE YOU DON’T LIKE MY DOG SO MUCH.”

You were so livid you couldn’t even see straight. Your vision began blurring, you started seeing red, and your ears even began ringing and you couldn’t even stop the words flowing out of your mouth. You were so sick and tired of how he treated you and him hitting you was crossing the line.

“ I DON’T WANT THAT DOG”

“I DON’T WANT YOU AND HERE WE ARE.”

“STOP TALKING TO ME LIKE THAT.”

“CAN’T HEAR YOU I HAVE HEADPHONES ON.”

You never shoved your AirPods in your ears faster hitting play and turning up the volume until you felt your phone fly out of your hand.

“FUCK THAT DOG I WANT IT GONE OK?”

“SAME TO YOU I HATE YOU!”

“FINE WITH ME UNGRATEFUL ASS ALL YOU DO IS FIGHT WITH ME I DO EVERYTHING FOR YOU! I FEED YOU LET YOU SEE YOUR BOYFRIEND I DONT HAVE TO DO ANY OF THAT.”

“I DON’T WANT ANYTHING FROM YOU THEN IF YOU ARE JUST GONNA GET LIKE THIS EVERY TIME AND YOU KNOW I HAVE MY OWN JOB SO STOP.” You swear your voice is going to give out and you tap your face and feel all the tears you didn’t even know were flowing. You felt hurt,angry, sad, until you just felt numb.

You ran and grabbed your dog and left with those last words echoing in your head.

“Don’t come back then!”

But you knew that it would be ok because you were almost there. You wished you could’ve let him know you were coming but your phone was back at your house. Soon enough you knock on an all too familiar door. You wipe your tears but you know you are probably going to cry again so it’s pointless to hide it. Kookies wags his tail in anticipation but the door never opens.

“Shit…is he not home?…”, you walk to his driveway and spot his parked car.

“…maybe he went to bed ….fuck fuck fuck….what do I do…what do we do?…”, you looked to Kookies who tilted his head in confusion and barked possessively.

You fought back tears until you choked on a sob and just cried loudly. It was uncontrollable at this point all the events leading up to this very moment have taken a toll and quite frankly it wasn’t something you wanted to deal with. You stepped away from the door and started walking towards the sidewalk. You didn’t know where else to go and you sure as hell didn’t wanna go home but you had no other choice.

You sobbed and started your walk home. Kookies whimpered at your sobbing features and licked your face in an attempt to soothe you but sadly, his efforts were futile. You barely made it 15 feet away from the house when Kookies began barking loudly. You pet him and told him that it was okay but he managed to wiggle his way out of his your grasp and ran towards the house once again.

“Kookies come back we have to go!”’ You cried as you reluctantly raced after him. He stopped at the door and sat there expectantly making you look at him in confused.

The door abruptly opened and there stood your boyfriend Felix clad in a oversized shirt that stuck to his seemingly damp frame with sweats underneath. His blond hair was tied back in a hair tie and it looked pretty frizzy. ‘Did he just…shower?’

You felt a bit dumb thinking he was asleep you kept your head down and didn’t say anything. Felix however studied your sad and exhausted appearance and put two and two together. This wasn’t the first time you’ve escaped to his house and in the 7 years he has been with you he knows the issue. He can still remember your broken face the first time you came over.

It was sophomore year and your dad had just yelled at you for not being home on time even though you told him that the city bus broke down and you had no other way home. He berated you and made you feel like it was all your fault so you ran to your boyfriends house for the first time. You were thankful he lived so close to you. He was shocked to see you appear unannounced at his doorstep and you had only been with him for a few months. Even then you never really told him what was going on in fear he would laugh too. It was far from what you expected though, he went out to get you snacks and made sure to make you comfy before wrapping you in his arms. He put on a movie and sat there without saying a word. He didn’t want to push you and waited for you to come out with it on your own. You did sure enough, and from then on it became a routine. His home became your home. He became your home.

Felix sighed before opening the door allowing you to step in. You put Kookies down and he went immediately to Felix, who happily let the dog jump in his arms and took him to his backyard before closing the door allowing Kookies to play with the toys Felix had out. You made your way to the couch that resides in the living room and sat on it without saying a word. Felix makes his way back to the living room and sat next to you. He opened his arms allowing you to rest your head on his shoulder. He placed his hands on your sides and gave you a reassuring squeeze.

You looked up at him with an unreadable expression and he just smiled softly at you because he just wanted you to feel safe. You broke down you couldn’t take it anymore you just let yourself cry and you let yourself be vulnerable around him. You knew that he was there even when your dad was going to be the worst Felix would always be the best. You eventually calmed down and Felix rocked you back and forth rubbing small circles to your back until you stop crying. It was silent for a few minutes more until you decided to speak: “He told me not to come back…even tho I know he said it because he was mad it hurt more than it should’ve…and idk Lix I just idk if I can t-take it anymore I’m so tired and exhausted.”, tears formed in your eyes and you pressed your head to his chest.

“I mean I said stupid shit to him too if I’m going to be fair so I am at fault for pissing him of-“

“YOU’RE at fault? YOU that’s ridiculous and fair????baby please don’t cover for him. Don’t defend him and don’t try to make yourself feel guilty that is what he is good at. Don’t do that to yourself love. It is not your fault and he has put you through hurt and suffering since before we even got together and you know it. His actions are inexcusable at this point and I am done sitting here and not being able to do anything about it. He said he doesn’t want you back and whether he means it or not you are staying with me. You know I have more than enough money for us and we can make this work. I promise love.”, he grabbed your hands and stared in your eyes and told you he loved you. You couldn’t help but get lost in his beautiful eyes and you couldn’t help but glance at his adorable freckles. You leaned in and pressed kisses to them which made him smile. You leaned I to him resting your head in the crook of his neck before replying with an ok.

“Hold that thought love ima go get Kookies since it’s darker outside now!” He gets up to go to the backyard only to return moments later with your furry companion.

“Anyways sweetheart I am so happy to hear that you wanna stay with me. Love I promise I’m going to take care of you here. Well you and Kookies how could I not he is so adorable and we both know he loves me more!”, he proclaims loudly puffing out his chest and donning one of his cheeky grins.

You scoff and roll your eyes.

“He does not”

“Does too”

“DOES NOT”

“DOES TOO”

“WHO DO YOU THINK GAVE BIRTH TO HIM!”

Felix bursts into laughter and squeals “NOT YOU!”

“HOW DARE YOU DO YOU EVEN VSCO?”, you shriek back and you’ve long forgotten what your dad even did.

Felix gets up and grabs Kookies,” You love me more right…give me a little kiss if you do!”

“HOW DARE YOU ASK HI-“

“SHHHH HE IS THINKING”, he replies causing you to stare at Kookies who has his head tilted. It took him a few moments to finally lick Felix’s cheek causing him to erupt in cheers while you in contrast feigned a hurt expression.

“Kookies how could you…don’t you remember where you came from!”, you fake cried. You and Felix both looked at each other and burst into a fit of giggles. Felix sat back down placing Kookies on the floor and hugged you tight. You sat in a comfortable silence until you spoke up.

“You know I still have to tell my dad I’m moving out?”

“Yes I do but I will be there with you ok love?”

“Yeah but I know he isn’t going to like me moving out on a whim I’m just a bit scared you know and I still have to get all of my stuff it’s just gonna be a mess.” You let out a heavy sigh and let your head fall in your hands. Felix shifts so you are in between his legs and starts to massage your back letting you relax in his hold. You always enjoyed his tender and relaxing massages from his tiny hands that worked wonders.

“I know things are going to go down but we need to get it done now or he is always going to do this to you and by staying you are just giving him that. I promise ima make it ok just trust me love.”

You nod with a smile and embrace him while kissing all over his face letting your hands roam to his sides to tickle him. He begins laughing uncontrollably squirming with tears forming in his eyes.

“YA STOP STOOOOOOP PLEASE”,he cries out pleading for mercy.

You smile widely letting your grin spread from ear to ear and mischievously reply,”Only if you make me brownies please please please.”

“YES YES OF COURSEEEEE PLEASE STAWWWWP.”

You smile with satisfaction and release him jumping up from the couch and start jumping up and down.

“My hero!”, you reply with a layer of sarcasm to which Felix merely smiled at before grabbing your hand and leading you to the kitchen.

To your surprise there are already ingredients for brownies laid on the counter. You gaze at Felix with a questioning look to which he simply shrugs.

“Actually I was already planning on making you brownies and bringing them over but fate was on my side as always.”, Felix grinned and wrapped his arm around your waist pulling you in front of him as he started preparing the mix. He made sure to keep you close because he loves inhaling your sweet scent. You turned around and smiled feeling so lucky have him. He made you feel so safe and secure. He made you feel loved and cared for which was something you lacked at home with your dad. Not that it was your real home because to you, you had found your real home in Felix and he found his home within you and that was all you needed.

“I am a bit sad though Lix cuz I don’t even have my dad to go to anymore.” You sighed wishing things could be different.

“I know but who cares even if the world turns against you…You’ll always have me!”, he grinned and turned you around so you could face him. You couldn’t help but smile back because he was right.

You pressed a kiss you his lips draping your arms around his neck to bring his closer. Quickly he wrapped his hands around your waist and moved his lips in sync with yours. You smiled into the kiss and started giggling randomly making Felix pull back and stare at you with a perplexed smile on his face.

“What? Do I have something on my face?” He began patting his face vigorously and let out an overly dramatic gasp. You rolled your eyes and hugged him instead pulling him close and squeezing him with the tightest grip you could muster.

“No you coconut I just…”, you sigh with a smile that he couldn’t see,”I just love you Felix I really love you. Thank you for always putting me first.”, you peck his lips and cup his face staring at his features and studying them like you’ll never see them again.

Felix beamed feeling a little proud of how good he is to you he peck your lips in response looking at you with his face full of love and care.

“I love you too forever and always.”

****************************************

Authors Note: just wanna say hi and welcome to my work I hope you enjoy and I just want y’all to know… I really tried 🤡 but if you like or if you want more stuff like this yk send asks :) anyways have an amazing day

[4lix]

hello, i’m so happy you’re making a comeback. since you’re in the mood to write abt chan, may i request a best friends to lovers trope?

friends to lovers ★ bang chan ↳ gender-neutral. fluff.

okay so falling in love with ur best friend is a big L but its one u are more than willing to take for christopher bang

first things first, chan loves people with his whole mf heart.

whether its family, friends, or romantic interests

so when it comes down to him falling for his best friend? idk if he’d really realize it unless someone literally spelled it out for him, he’d just mistake his affection towards you as just the same kind of best friend love he has for ˙his group members

he’d never think much about the fact that most of his song lyrics these days were getting oddly too specific in detail about a certain someone

or how whenever he felt down his gut reaction was to call you up because the sound of your voice seemed to make everything better

or how he really really likes cuddling with you after long days of practice

and when you stop by the studio when he’s stuck on a track and just pull him to the couch to lay down for a while to get a break from staring at that damned screen, he’d instantly relax in your hold, sighing in content as your fingers twirled around his curls

and yeah his stomach is filled with butterflies and his ears are all red all that corny stuff but you’re his best friend and best friends cuddle sometimes too right?

best friends also feel the urge to kiss one another on the cheeks? perhaps sometimes they fantasize about what it would be like to kiss each other on the lips?

ok maybe not.

chan knew some of his thoughts were a bit odd. but you were really pretty so it was understandable. you were his safe place and the closest thing he had to home besides his members.

unbeknownst to him, you were honestly no better, a bit more aware of the fact that you could possibly be in love with the idiot but you were still in denial nonethless

whenever felix or hyunjin would tease you about your relationship with chan you’d feign disgust like he’s my best friend that’s weird! but your cheeks are red anyways and you’re kind of stuttering and hey is it hot in here or what-

when you had tough days chan would spam you with encouraging texts, a million obnoxious emojis, memes, just anything to make you smile and it always always worked, just the sight of a notification from chan always made you light up but that’s what best friends are for right?  

friends make the world seem brighter, that’s all chan was to you, a friend.

and chan cared a lot about his friends, so it only made sense..

but unlike his other friends, you always got special treatment

he’d give you gifts for your friendship anniversary despite all the suggestive looks from his group members, kissed your forehead when bidding you goodbye and always sent you good morning and good night texts each and every single day

he’d go out of his way for you always and all of that just seemed normal, natural to him. because he loves with his whole heart and he doesn’t even realize it

he wouldn’t really come to terms with things until one of the members like screams at him to just stfu already because he won’t stop talking about you and he somehow makes everything about you and it’s driving them insane

they’d be like we get it you’re in love with y/n shut up already

and he’d just be a stuttering mess like !! no im not !! and yet his heart is racing in his chest and everyone looks at him with an unamused glare

changbin would be like “everything you’ve written these last few weeks are all about them-”

felix would chime in like “you killed your phone battery texting them all day and then used my phone to call them so you could talk for three hours straight.”

jisung is like “yeah and you bought like ten different gifts for your friendship  anniversary but you gave me a set of socks for my birthday-”

huh wait maybe he is in love with you.

“those socks were knitted and really nice.” would be his only line of defense

the rest of the afternoon the members would just tease him about all his lovesick puppy habits that he was completely unaware of

like how his face lights up the moment you walk into the room

or how he can never go shopping without picking up something for you because hey y/n would look really cute in this!

and that he even mumbles your name sometimes when he’s sleeping lord help the boy

things kind of go to hell because now he can’t look at you without blushing and stuttering

he’s panicking because how the hell could he have fallen in love with his best friend who probably only sees him as a brother? if you liked him back surely you would’ve let him know by now, i mean if he was as obvious as his members said he was with his feelings there’s no way you weren’t aware of his infatuation with you.

but you were on the same boat really, to you, it seemed as though chan was affectionate with everyone, he smooched jeongin’s cheeks every now and then, and the socks he got for jisung’s birthday were kind of nice? you weren’t that special right? there’s no way chan could fall in love with someone like you anyways... right?

you knew him better than you knew yourself so his odd behaviour definitely did not go unnoticed even tho your sheer lack of brain cells prevented you from realizing why he was acting odd in the first place

the good morning and good night texts stopped, the spams of memes stopped, it was just radio silence for a few days and it was starting to freak you out but it was close to the deadline for the new album so he could just be stressed and you could just be overreacting

you figured you’d stop by the studio at like ass o’clock like always with some takeout for chan because you knew he never ate much when he pulled all nighters, you even threw in some of his favorite snacks and energy drinks, bringing your laptop with you to get some work done of your own hopefully

you did your signature knock on the door before entering but chan still jumped at the sight of you, weirdly startled by your presence, avoiding your eyes and only managing to cough and give you a tilt of a nod in greeting before gluing his eyes back to his computer screen

your first initial reaction is did i do something wrong :( and you intend to ask chan about it but he puts his headphones in and seems rather busy, you remind yourself again that he’s just focused on the new album he’d never purposefully ignore you.

you’ll ask him later, taking a seat on the couch, scrolling through social media mindlessly as your thoughts can’t seem to drift away from the boy across from you and how fluffy and soft his hair looks today.

after a good fifteen minutes pass, chan still hasn’t touched the food you brought which leaves you no choice but to annoy him to ensure he takes proper care of himself. calling his name multiple times to no avail, you tap the space bar, pausing the track before removing his headphones.

“channie, you can ignore me if you want to but i won’t let you ignore getting your vitamins and nutrients. i know you didn’t eat dinner. so eat.” he’s still not looking at you, just nods, clearing his throat awkwardly before turning over towards the takeout you brought for him and taking a seat at the couch.

you follow behind him, sitting right beside him. just a week ago you were here with chan laying on your chest, watching tiktoks of cats but now here you were, in the same spot but this time chan was silent, closed off. the complete opposite to his usual warm and bubbly demeanor.

he didn’t even bother to deny the fact that he was ignoring you, he just ate silently and fear starts to consume you because maybe chan really was upset with you?

before you figured he was probably just stressed and overly focused on the track he was working on but now it seems obvious he’s blatantly ignoring you, not even sparing a thank you for the takeout which was really unlike him. he always thanked you for taking care of him with tight hugs and sloppy kisses on your forehead. now he didn’t even look at you.

half of you was agitated that he was giving you the silent treatment instead of just being honest with you about whatever was bothering him but the other half of you really wanted to smooch his chubby cheeks filled with rice because wow he looked really really cute.

as annoyed with him as you were, you couldn’t help but appreciate his bareface, it was you favorite look of all, when he didn’t look like a famous idol, instead just a regular boy with blemishes and unruly hair in grey sweats and a hoodie.

a grain of rice hugged the corner of his lip, you fought back the urge to kiss it away. he was so unfairly attractive it made you want to punch him

you lean forward, reaching out to him to wipe the stray food away but he evades your touch, leaving your hand raised awkwardly out in front of you in rejection. now he didn’t even want you to touch him?

“did i do something wrong?” you didn’t realize how hurt you were by his silence, by his disgust of you, how he felt like a stranger these days. you kicked yourself inwardly for sounding so broken but the tone of voice seemed to strike something in chan because he finally met eyes with you for the first time in what felt like forever.

“w-what no not at a-all what makes you think that?”

“chan you’ve ignored all my texts for the last three days. you haven’t talked to me in nearly a week and now you can’t even spare a hello when i come in? you’re even avoiding my touch like i have the plague or something.” guilt washes over him immediately and he puts down the plate of food and looks at you with those brown eyes that are all sad and regretful and you forgive him before he even opens his mouth because you’re just that helplessly in love with the idiot

“i-i’m sorry. i didn’t mean to, really, i just have a lot on my mind right now and i just...” he turns to look away again but you place your hand to his chin, turning him forward to meet eyes with you again, he doesn’t shy away from your touch this time

“chan if i said something or did something wrong that bothered you, y’know you can always talk to me right?” you said earnestly, cupping his cheek in your hand, he leaned into your touch, humming gently. relief enraptured your heart, along with warmth

“you didn’t do anything wrong, i promise.” his eyes don’t leave yours, nor does his voice waver, so you believe him

“then why are you ignoring me?”

“because...” he tries to get the words out but his brain is going a mile a minute and you’re really close to him. you’re turned to face him, sitting criss crossed, knees bumping against his, he can feel your body warmth and it’s kind of sending him into overdrive

“because?” you urge him further, unable to help your lips from curling downwards in worry. he’s silent still, biting his bottom lip anxiously and you consider giving up for a moment but then he pulls your hand away from his cheek, instead holding it tight in his.

“i realized something. the guys, they made me realize some things.” he starts, eyes flittering past each and every single one of your features, admiring them silently to himself. how did it take him so long to realize he was in love with you? you were beautiful, his best friend, his whole heart, his muse.

earlier, his eyes were glued to the screen because he was rereading the words he’s written over the last few weeks and he couldn’t quite believe he wrote lyrics that were literally entirely about you and he had no idea, just assumed he had some new rush of creativity or something.

of course he was in love with you, he always been in love with you.

“yeah?” you rub your thumb over his hand slowly in an attempt to ease some of his anxieties. whatever it was he needed to tell you, it was clearly taking a toll on him, he was fidgeting, sighing over in over again and shaking his head trying to clear his thoughts. you felt a bit bad, perhaps you were prying too much?

“look i just–– i know we’re best friends, and the last thing i want to do is jeopardize that so if what im about to say makes you uncomfortable or something j-just forget it ever happened okay?” unknowingly, you hold in you breath, fear for his next words knocking the wind out of you.

“i... i like you. like like you, and- i don’t know how to deal with it so i’ve just been avoiding you and i’m sorry- wait why are you laughing?” his eyebrows are all furrowed and his cheeks are bright red and he’s squeezing your hand in confusion and you just look at him and just die of laughter

why were you laughing? you weren’t sure. maybe it was relief? joy? just pure utter love for the idiot in front of you?

“channie-” you attempt, but your laughter still has control over your lungs so you just cling to the boy helplessly, looking up at him with so much happiness in your eyes that he can’t help but feel a bit hopeful that maybe this laughter is good laughter?

“why are you laughing! i just confessed to you, put my heart out on the line and your response is laughter?” he’s smiling despite the confused tone of his voice, nudging you playfully but you pull him into you, shoving your face in the crook of his neck trying your hardest to get out the last of your giggles. with one last deep sigh, you prepare yourself to finally give him a proper response

“i’m sorry for laughing channie i’m just really happy. and relieved.” you finally pull away from him, resting your forehead against his, cupping his face once again in your hands.

“i like you too chan, i’ve liked you for a really really long time.”

the smile that lights up his face is one you’ll never forget, his eyes practically disappear, his dimples protruding through those precious cheeks of his and you can’t help the small laugh in happiness at the sight

“thank god i was actually losing my mind you know, changbin and jisung have been making fun of me all week, clowning me for being a lovesick puppy.”

“is that why they’ve been wiggling their eyebrows whenever i walk by-”

“unfortunately yes.”

“chan you should’ve just told me!”

“yeah well! i thought you saw me as like a brother or something!”

“what- no! i’ve literally been in love with you since the moment we met you idiot-”

“yeah well i’ve been writing songs about you for the last month, songs that you helped with and you didn’t notice a thing-”

at that you just :O bc realization hits u like a train n yea wait a minute he was pretty obvious..

he just gets all red again and then you smile at him and he’s smiling back at you and with the dopiest grin on his face he’s like

“can i kiss u..” and u dont bother to reply you just grab his cheeks and connect your lips with his

the kiss is kind of a mess tho bc you’re both just so ridiculously happy that you can’t stop smiling so yea its not a proper kiss but its filled with giggles and each time you pull away chan only leans forward to peck you again and again because he cant seem to get enough really and he’s just so elated that he can finally do this as many times as he wants

in conclusion chan loml<3 

requests are open! :) ↳ notes: tysm for all the kind welcome back msgs ily all sm omg <3  i ended up combining two requests as they were a bit similar i hope thats okay hehe <3 also sry if this is sloppy this is my first post in a long time & im kind of rusty .. whew

[haus-of-wu]

The Evolution of “It’s You”

To be honest, I’m pretty sure “It’s You” was the first SJ song I went absolutely feral on, because the beat is so damn catchy, and best of all, it’s a SAD BOP!

If you’ve ever wanted a sad dance track with emotional vibes about how even after a breakup, the one in their heart will always be you (we appreciate a gender neutral love song), then this is the one.

“It’s You” holds a special place for being the last MV that all thirteen members are involved in. It also is the song that SJ was promoting while Kibum was taking a step back from singing (Kibum doesn’t have lines and is missing from promo activities because he was already pivoting to acting at this point in time) and Han Geng was filing his lawsuit. Super turbulent times in 2009.

I was going through all the different live performances of “It’s You” for nostalgia’s sake during these social distancing hours, and I was kinda punched in the gut at how much this song means to me as an ELF. I literally took an eight-year break from following anything k-pop related, yet somehow I ended back here, with Super Junior, as a full-ass adult. I’ve grown to love all the other parts of SMTown and a bunch of other groups and artists, but SJ will always be the one for me, no matter what (okay if anyone pulls something like seungri did they’re dead to me).

"It’s You” really highlights not only SJ’s versatility, but also their growth. Super Junior’s gone through so many line-up changes over the years, and no matter what version of the line distribution and choreo they perform, “It’s You” just continues to develop like fine wine. (How is this song ELEVEN YEARS OLD)

Come through under the cut for the masterlist of performance videos, what stood out to me about each of them, and to experience the evolution yourself! :)

ALSO - please send me song requests for more “Evolution of ___” type posts bc it’s just so much fun to see how performances change and age

SBS Inkigayo (May 17th, 2009)

The first performance of “It’s You”. Ever.

Donghae’s opening vocals were sooo iffy (especially if Ryeowook or Kyuhyun were juxtaposed in the verse right after) back in the day, it’s wild - but also have the time you gotta ask whether he was sick at the time or not smh

ELF are already serving the fan chant sing-along when the song had barely been out for a week - iconic, given the fact that you literally had to buy or pirate in 2009 bc streaming wasn’t a thing

What is Leeteuk’s ponytail

I miss the simplicity of 2nd gen choreo - like the whole vibe of this was “we’re going to move to the beat and make it very obvious via formation who is singing a verse/chorus (giant hint, it’s the center)”

Dance line’s (read: Eunhyuk and Shindong’s) chest pops hitting everyone in the feels - oh wait WTF this camera completely cuts off Eunhyuk and Shindong’s chest pop duet

2009 Eunhyuk and Shindong, don’t worry, your suave vocals will come soon, just give it a few more years

Yesung’s ad-lib solos during the last chorus were done standing up and off to the side - just wait for the the drama to escalate in later performances folks

 Music Core (May 30, 2009)

(I’m maxing out on the number of embedded videos so click the header for the link)

Not much different from the one above, just better camera angles and resolution, and the first(?) time Yesung does his ad-lib solos while kneeling on the floor, bc you gotta add some d r a m a

Music Core (June 6, 2009)

(Once again, click above for the link)

Don’t really know whether this one or the performance right below came first

But Han Geng is MIA bc of...Reasons™, so Siwon takes over his opening ad-libs

Yesung’s face has a blankness to it during his verse, which is just so sad; usually he has an aura of confidence but it was completely not there during this at all (literally just compare directly to the performance above and it’s SO different)

Leeteuk’s awkwardly like smiling during his verse? (It comes off like he’s trying too hard to make it look like things are fine) But it’s not his usual camera expression so you just know something is wrong

Ironically this is probably the stablest Eunhyuk’s vocals have been during 2009 for his line

It’s really obvious that Yesung is struggling to keep it together emotionally for this performance like good god, he’s really been blank-slating a lot of this performance

And then Heechul has to come in looking depressed as fuck (which is hella valid) for his solo and nails it (while looking like his cat died - long live han j(ae) heebum)

Siwon and Yesung bump into each other as they get into the ending pose

God I really could say more about how each member performs as they cope with this but I’ll refrain

Music Core (Sometime later, 2009)

(Once again, click above for the link)

Hella sad times because Hangeng is notably missing right from the get-go again, with Yesung taking his opening ad-libs

Also Kangin is missing but I cannot remember why - kudos to Sungmin for covering (but idk why he was trying so hard to sound raspier like Kangin bc that did not work for him)

Imagine having to rearrange all the formations and reassign parts to promote on a regular music show because you’re missing two whole members

Correction, THREE whole members because Heechul was so emotionally fucked up from Hangeng leaving

Kudos to Leeteuk for being that Bitch and delivering on Heechul’s solo

Like, this was the peak of 2009 turmoil for SJ

At least Yesung had some (angry) spark in him for this performance bc I would not be able to handle another sad/blank performance from him (that shit hurted ok)

This whole performance has a simultaneous sense of muted solemnity and (angry/petulant) fighting spirit to it bc they’re all trying real hard to compartmentalize the shit that’s happening outside of this stage

I think the phrase is more like “y’all think this shit is going to break us, but it’s not” which once again goes along with the whole “SJ is a bunch of veterans that will keep going on even if the road is barren/till the end of the line” concept that they’ve painted for themselves

Super Show 5 - Seoul (2013, no 83line)

The Super Show DVDs give such superior sound quality (infinitely better when listened to with headphones). You can really hear the distinct timbre among all their voices.

eunhyuk what are those glasses/shindong what is that hair

congrats to dance/rap line on their vocal growth !!

Leeteuk and Heechul were off in the military during SS5, which means that Ryeowook and Kyuhyun got to take over Heechul’s mid-song solo. (I honestly don’t think I would have survived had Ryeowook done the ending of that part, because he has the type of voice that pierces through your heart)

yesung going feral during his solo on the platform is everything tbh

Super Show 5 - Osaka (2013, no Yesung)

It’s the same tour, so most aspects of the performance are the same. Yesung’s absence (due to mandatory service) led to some interesting change-ups, namely:

Sungmin taking his first verse with his fresh clear vocals

Heechul pulling a Heechul, appearing on the platform and then promptly disappearing - king of GHOSTING

Ryeowook being in charge of the SCREAM solo. KRY have completely different timbres, and Ryeowook’s take on this solo gives a very different feel.

Yesung’s known for having the more soulful voice, whereas Ryeowook executes in a clearer manner that comes off as more technical/didactic way

KRY comeback next month guys it’s COMING

Super Show 7 - Seoul (2017)

(You’re gonna have to jump to 3:30 bc this is a 2-in-1 vid)

SS7 brought this hit back in a completely new way.

The blindfolds, guys... p l e a s e.

The original choreo relied a lot on the number of members. Even though the choreography has completely changed, and there’s only half the number of members, the song still hits.

Once again, not shutting up about how much Eunhyuk’s vocals have improved. Like...he really was out here during the 8th album/SS7 and taking over main vocal lines. He’s developed so much control over his voice, and the result we hear is a honey-sweet smooth timbre.

Chest pop dance break reinvented but still referencing the dance line duet

You barely notice when Siwon covers Kangin’s lines and Leeteuk covers Sungmin’s during the second verse, bc this time around they actually picked members with similar timbres (i am still ?? at why sungmin tried to emulate kangin’s voice to the point where it messed up his own verse during that 2009 performance)

Shindong leading a chorus, did 2009 us ever see this coming

The fact that Yesung finally does his kneeling scream solo smack in center sends

[dvp95]

quiet on widow’s peak (6)

pairing: dan howell/phil lester, pj liguori/sophie newton/chris kendall rating: teen & up tags: paranormal investigator, mystery, online friendship, slow burn, strangers to lovers, nonbinary character, trans character, background poly, phil does some buzzfeed unsolved shit and dan is a fan word count: 2.9k (this chapter), 19.7k (total) summary: Phil’s got a list of paranormal experiences a mile long that he likes to share with the world. Abandoned buildings, cemeteries, and ghost stories have always called his name, and a particular fan of his has a really, really good ghost story.

read this chapter on ao3 or here!

Hope my friends and I didn't make things weird for you yesterday. We're heading to the city around noon if you're still up for helping us with the boring part.

noon?? fucking alright i guess i gotta put pants on

lmao yeah, sorry. My parents woke us up at EIGHT like that's a normal time to be awake????

desgostang

What?

ill send u the link later and also no i didnt feel weird yesterday you guys are nice

That's good! And hey I wanted to ask. You were kind of put on the spot with introducing yourself, would you rather we called you Dan or Winnie? I just wanna make sure we aren't making you uncomfortable at all lmao

no its all fine you can call me dan idc and actually its best if you do call me dan when youre in my work lmao

Are you totally sure?

why would i lie abt this. dont be an idiot it isnt a good look on you

haha okay. I’ll see you around noon.

--

“Christopher is a nice boy,” Phil’s mum is telling him as she helps him with their fancy new coffeemaker. There are so many buttons and Phil is so, so tired. “And Sophie is lovely, such a soft-spoken thing. Why haven’t we met them before, dear?”

“Dunno,” Phil says instead of the truth, which is that he’d had no idea how he was supposed to introduce them. “You have now, though.”

His mum laughs and reaches up to pat his cheek. “True enough. I’m so happy that you’ve got good people around you, Philip. I’ve gotten quite worried about you down there by yourself, you know.”

“I’m not by myself,” says Phil. “I live with, like, thirty people.”

“Bunch of strangers, I’ll bet,” she says, because she knows him. “Aside from those three.”

The thing is, she’s not wrong. Phil’s obviously exaggerating about the number of people under the roof of the creaky Brighton house, but the truth is that he can’t keep track half the time. A lot of the rooms get sublet out randomly, or a significant other will start spending so much time around the place that they might as well pay rent, and Phil really isn’t good with new people. He gets along fine with Holly and Dave, but they’ve been there as long as he has and the closest they’ve ever come to a heart-to-heart was comparing anxiety meds over burned pancakes.

Chris and Sophie were there when Phil moved in, and they’d taken one look at him and decided to just keep shoving into his space until he liked having them there, like they were on a mission to adopt PJ’s sad, ghost-obsessed friend from the internet.

“You might be right,” Phil says, feeling a smile tug at his lips for the first time all morning. He’s already had a coffee - and a half, when PJ declared that not even Kath could make coffee taste good and shoved the rest of his Phil’s way - but he still doesn’t feel fully awake. “I’m only really friends with Chris and Soph because of PJ.”

“PJ is a good friend to you, isn’t he?” his mum hums. That slightly pointed tone doesn’t get to Phil the way it usually does, because he knows that she’s just trying to understand him.

It doesn’t escape Phil’s notice that he’s looking into a mirror whenever he sees his parents watching him carefully, waiting for him to tell them something he hasn’t explicitly said, because he’s been doing the exact same thing to his housemates for nearly two years.

Maybe he’ll tell his parents when he’s got someone serious or even, like, semi-serious. Longer than two dates would be a record at this point. But right now he already feels like he’s been one misstep away from disappointing them, and he doesn’t want to take the gamble that his sexuality will be that misstep.

He’s not up for this conversation, though, isn’t sure he’ll ever be, so he just says, “Yeah, he is.”

--

Dan is late. They’re so late, actually, that Phil’s wheel of worst case scenarios has been spinning silently and getting faster and faster the more caffeine he chugs. They roll in with flushed cheeks and a jacket that looks too thin, apologies on their shiny lips that Phil doesn’t even hear for a couple of seconds because he’s too busy staring at them.

“No worries,” Sophie says, interrupting their rambling before they lose another half hour to it. “You want something? I’m getting a refill.”

“No, no, let me,” says Dan. They shrug off their jacket and hang it on one of the empty chairs. Phil and his friends have co-opted the largest table in the place so they can spread out with their laptops and notebooks, and it doesn’t escape Phil’s notice that Dan has decided to sit next to him when they’ve got a couple of options. “I get free drinks if Gabe’s in a good mood. Anyone else need a refill?”

“Me,” Chris says, not looking up from his screen. “Not Phil. He’s cut off.”

“Hey,” Phil protests weakly. His heart rate really has picked up since they sat down, so he knows Chris has a point.

Dan grins, their soft cheeks giving way to the dimples that Phil is very quickly growing obsessed with. He just wants to make Dan smile and laugh constantly, to hear them cackle and see all the lines in their round face deepen with happiness.

Right. Phil watched a horror movie with PJ instead of unpacking this fluttering start of a crush last night, and now he’s just got to deal with it for the rest of the day.

As if it’s a compulsion, Dan clears the empty mugs from their table before heading up to the counter. Phil focuses on the EMF readings so he doesn’t get caught up on Dan holding four mugs by the handles with total ease.

PJ has got headphones on and his eyes closed, so he might not even have noticed that Dan is there. He’s been going through Sophie’s footage and his own audio recordings to try and find some anomalies while Chris looks for the weird visual stuff - they’re a great team at that, and it makes Phil feel like he’s not doing enough. Sure, he could find those things on his own, but not as quickly as they can when it’s a team effort, and they’re on a bit of a tight schedule here. Well, his housemates are. They’ve got actual jobs to get back to once the weekend is over.

Allegedly, Sophie is doing research on sigils, but it looks to Phil like she’s just doodling. Not that he really blames her if she is. He’s barely been paying attention to the chart he’s making of spikes in electromagnetism because he’s been so busy watching the door for Dan.

And Dan looks… good. They’re wearing chunky boots and a shirt that falls to their thighs - a dress, maybe, but it looks like a regular black t-shirt that got extended at the hem - with tight white jeans. The only colour on them is the plaid shirt around their waist and the shiny red product on their lips to match it. Phil watches them lean against the counter and grin at the older barista, and he’s so distracted by looking at their profile that he startles when a foot connects with his under the table.

“Stop staring,” Sophie says, quiet and smiling. “He’s going to notice.”

Phil considers correcting her, but then he remembers that he probably doesn’t have to. Dan had said any pronouns, that they didn’t care how they were referred to, so it would definitely be weirder to act like he knows better than Sophie.

He knows he won’t be able to use masculine terms for Dan. Not because they aren’t true, because he’s pretty sure they’re no less accurate than neutral or feminine would be, but because thinking of Dan as a maculine person is only going to allow Phil’s brain to fall into the familiar traps of gender in ways he doesn’t want to allow.

Gay monkey brain doesn’t need any more leeway in finding Dan attractive, that’s for damn sure.

“So, what are we doing?” Dan asks, interrupting Phil’s thoughts, and, wow, four mugs is a lot more impressive when they’re full of hot liquid. Phil marvels at Dan’s ability not to trip and spill it all as they dole out the coffee and teas.

“I’m doing the boring part,” says Phil. He turns his screen so Dan can see the Excel spreadsheet and laughs at the face they make. “Yeah. It's not glamorous, but it's the easiest way to find patterns in the EMF readings. Honestly, most of my job is just staring at things and finding patterns in them. Like, uh, what's that guy? With the butterfly splotches?"

"Worcestershire," Chris suggests.

"Rorschach," Dan corrects him, lips twitching like they aren't sure if they're allowed to laugh in Chris' face or not.

“That’s exactly what I said,” says Chris.

“You know EMF meters don’t have anything to do with ghosts, right?” Dan asks, ignoring Chris completely and leaning a bit closer to Phil to get a better look at his laptop. “I mean, none of this has anything to do with ghosts, really, but you’re more or less just measuring electricity.”

Phil is aware of that. He wonders if Dan thinks he just stumbles into haunted houses with equipment he hasn’t researched and waits to be spooked. He’s too distracted by how close Dan is and how good they smell to work up to proper offense, though. “Yeah,” he says simply. “But don’t you think it’s weird that the place still has electricity to begin with? Who’s paying for that?”

“A Wilkins, I’d imagine.”

“But why? If they’ve forgotten about the property or abandoned it on purpose, surely they wouldn’t still pay the bills.”

“Maybe they don’t handle their own finances,” Dan suggests. “How rich were these assholes?”

“I honestly don’t know,” says Phil. He taps his fingers in an erratic pattern on the edge of his laptop, trying to spark something in his mind.

It’s almost disappointing when Dan pulls away to dig out their own sleek Macbook out of their messenger bag, but Phil is also glad for it. He can think a lot easier when the warm scent of spice and mint isn’t clogging his brain.

Dan slots into the work as easily as if a space was left for them. They’ve got dozens of tabs open already and they start to go through them, cross-referencing magic things with Sophie in quiet tones and digging deeper into the Wilkins family than Phil ever would have thought to. Every so often they tap Phil on the arm and drag him into whatever rabbithole they’ve fallen down, chatting animatedly.

Phil knows, objectively, that Dan is a fan of his and that Dan is weird about research. It’s another thing entirely to watch it happen in real time, to see Dan pull up local census PDFs from the eighties and explain why chaos magic is bullshit in the same breath.

An hour or so goes by like that, all of them working on their own things with minimal words exchanged by everybody but Dan, and then Chris shouts loud enough to make the barista jump. Nobody else is in the coffee shop right now, which is lucky, because Dan’s got a hand over their chest and Sophie has slopped tea down her front. PJ, with his headphones on, simply cracks an eye open.

“What the fuck was that about?” Phil asks, putting his own palm against his chest to feel his heart race. Dan raises their eyebrows and looks at Phil, seemingly distracted from the startling, wordless exclamation.

They don’t get a chance to say whatever they’re thinking, though, because Chris is turning his laptop to the rest of the table and grinning wide like the Cheshire Cat. “I found something.”

Everybody gathers round, PJ getting up to lean over the back of Phil’s chair and Sophie getting so far into Dan’s personal space that Phil is certain they’re uncomfortable with it, and then Chris presses play upside down. It’s part of Sophie’s footage, Phil standing in the dim foyer and looking frustrated. Even without sound, Phil can tell that this is when he was arguing with Sophie about going upstairs. He squints, but he can’t see whatever it is that’s got Chris being so loud.

“What am I looking at?” PJ asks when the short clip ends, and Dan hums an agreement. Chris makes a frustrated noise like they’re being obtuse on purpose and rewinds to the beginning.

"There," Chris says, excited like he hasn't been since they got to Manchester. He taps his finger against the laptop screen. "D'you see it? D'you see the shadow?"

Now that Chris has pointed it out, Phil does see something. He moves his own laptop and notebook out of the way to pull Chris’ closer with a frown. Chris lets him do that, bouncing in his seat a little bit.

“That’s straight up a person,” Phil says slowly, tracing the outline of the shadow with the mouse. It’s behind him, in the entry to the kitchen, and it looks tall. Quite a bit taller than Phil, anyway, if he’s remembering that doorframe correctly. He decides to measure it next time they go so he isn’t going off memory. “I knew we weren’t alone in there. Like. I’m not crazy, that’s a human being.”

“That’s what I thought,” says Chris. “But press play.”

So Phil presses play. He watches the shadow stay perfectly still in the kitchen doorway until, suddenly, it’s not there anymore. He blinks, rewinds, and watches it disappear again.

Phil’s caffeinated brain is firing on all cylinders now. He grins and shoves his sleeves up to his elbows before he starts fiddling with the clip. The lighting gets played with until the shadow is more obvious and then he slows it down to 0.25 times speed to see if the shadow really just vanishes.

He presses play again. This time, with a very slow-motion Phil talking in the foreground, he sees the shadow move. It runs sideways, further into the house.

“What the fuck?” Dan breathes.

“We are not going back there without some serious protection,” PJ says, even firmer on the topic now.

“What, like sigils?” Dan asks, their pretty eyes wide even as they scoff. “You’d be better off with a fucking, like, baseball bat, mate. That doesn’t look like something that wants to be your friend.”

“I’ve got a crowbar in PJ’s trunk,” Phil says, absent-minded as he plays with the clip some more.

“Excuse me? When did you put that in my car?”

“Couple months ago.”

“Huh. How have I not noticed?”

“You’re not the most observant person I’ve ever met,” says Phil. He looks up at Chris, who’s got the same exhilarated look that Phil is sure he’s mirroring. They don’t get evidence like this very often, something so clearly there that it’s even got a skeptic’s mind racing. Phil exports the edited clip and then the original, putting them both into the Cloud and emailing them to himself. “Was this the only time you saw it?”

Chris nods, accepting his laptop back when Phil is done with it. “I’ll look through everything again, now that I know what I’m looking for and all, but I think that’s it.”

“Okay, cool.” Phil looks around at his friends and Dan, beaming. “Something weird is happening. I love it when something weird is happening.”

“I hate it when something weird is happening,” PJ says, which is a blatant lie.

“Well, we can’t go snooping around until it’s darker out, anyhow,” Sophie reminds them.

“Wait, we’re snooping?” Dan asks, their voice going up an entire octave in disbelief. “Like… you just saw that someone is there and probably not happy about people sneaking around, right? Don’t you have enough for a video already?”

“We’re spending the night,” says Phil. “It’s what we do.”

“It’s what you do,” PJ corrects him.

“Okay, yeah, you guys don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”

“No, I’m coming,” says PJ.

As if she can’t hear them bickering, Sophie turns to Dan with a sweet smile, her eyes twinkling with the same excitement in Chris’. They love this, just like Phil does. “What about you, Dan?” she asks. “Are you going to have a ghost sleepover with us?”

“There’s no such thing as ghosts,” Dan says, their eyes still glued to the back of Chris’ laptop like they can see the shadow through it.

“Guess you don’t have anything to be afraid of, then,” says Chris.

“Uh, axe murderers, maybe?”

“We know what we’re doing, Dan,” Phil reassures them. He reaches a hand out to pat at their arm, feeling a bit awkward about it. “But you don’t have to come with us if you’re scared.”

That makes Dan’s gaze shift. Suddenly, those brown eyes are staring right into Phil’s soul, defiant and beautiful and impossible to look away from.

“Who said I was fucking scared?”

[lightsburnbrite]

The Devil is in the Details: Part 4

When Karina walked into her office at the museum, Nena could only laugh at her. “You look like a woman who has just come back from her honeymoon.”  

“It wasn’t our honeymoon.” Karina smiled and corrected her as she sat down at her desk to check her email. “That is apparently coming in December. Leon needs to go to the Sates for about a week so he suggested we go to our place in Berchtesgaden for a couple of days.”

“And you look that happy returning from a little mid-week trip?” Nena pretended to scoff.

Karina responded with a shrug. “It’s a beautiful setting, lots of trees, and my housekeeper is a lovely Ukranian woman who is an amazing cook. So it was two days of good food, good alcohol, and great sex with my husband whom I love dearly.”

“Hang on to it, Karina.” Nena laughed. “Two divorces later and I’m definitely jealous of you.”

With a laugh, Karina just shook her head because she didn’t really know how else to respond. She had already planned to spend the day going through a bunch of pieces that had just come in from a private donor and was anticipating being able to just put headphones on and ignore everyone else.

Karina grabbed the DSLR and made sure her MacBook was in her bag before she started making her way to the archives.

“Hey, Karina!”

She knew instantly who it was and silently exhaled before turning around. “Hi Daniel.”

“Thanks for waiting.” He was clearly out of breath. “Nena said you could show me how you do the archiving. I’m kinda thinking I’d like to be a curator…like you.”

Karina made a mental note to talk to Nena about this. “Are you sure that’s something you want to do today? It’s pretty boring.”

“Well, yeah, I mean,” Daniel laughed nervously and Karina thought he looked flustered too. “Why not, right?”

“Ok.” Karina pressed her lips together. “Follow me then, I suppose.”

As they started to walk, Daniel wanted to make small talk but he eventually turned the conversation towards Karina. “So you’re pretty edgy, then.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Karina did her best to keep a neutral tone but she was finding Daniel to be increasingly annoying.

“Like, take your shoes for example.” Daniel shrugged. “It’s not an insult, I think you’re pretty cool.”

Karina looked down at her snakeskin Louboutin pumps with tiny gold spike along the top line and the top of the heel and felt uncomfortable with the idea that Daniel was paying a lot of attention to her appearence. “Do you have a pair of earbuds with you? I usually listen to some music to make it seem less tedious.”

“Oh, that’s cool. We can listen to whatever you want!” By this point Karina got the impression that Daniel would agree to whatever she said.

“On second thought,” She cleared her throat, “If you need to learn about the process, it might be distracting.”

Daniel frowned. “That’s too bad, I’d like to see what kinda of music you’re into.”

“I listen to a little bit of everything.” Karina was deliberately not looking at him. “It’s really not a big deal.”

Karina stopped once they made it to the archives.

“Ok….” Karina laid everything she had brought out on the desk in the front. “We’ll take a picture of the piece and then catalog it, I’ll need to make a note of if we need more information on the piece or not. Once that’s all finished, I either write up a quick description or do more research.”

Daniel glanced around and scratched the bak of his head. “That does seem…tedious.”

“Right, exactly.” At this point, she was finished with the niceties. “So why did you want to learn about archiving?”

Daniel shrugged. “Honestly? I was looking for a way to spend more time with you.”

“Listen, you seem like you’re a nice guy-” Karina wasn’t even able to finish before Daniel cut her off.

“But?” His shoulders immediately slumped and Karina had to fight back her initial guilt.

With a slight nod, she acknowledge that she was going to turn him down. “But I don’t appreciate you using your internship as a social foothold. It takes time out of my day to help you and if you’re really not interested in…archiving in this case, then it’s wasting my time.”

“I really do appreciate all that you’ve helped me with.” When he began shifting his weight nervously from foot to foot, Karina thought he looked more like an awkward teenager than a 21 year old adult. “Maybe I could buy you dinner some time, as an apology and a way to say thank you?”

Karina smiled in response. “That’s very nice of you, but it’s not necessary.”

“Alright.” He shifted his gaze downward. “I’m sorry I wasted your time then.”

Hardly waiting until he was out of sight, Karina finally pulled out her headphones and got to work.    

If Daniel showed up at the museum over the next few days, Karina didn’t see him there. She figured she had either scared him off or he was avoiding her, either way, she was fine with it.

Between her gallery and the archival work, Karina had plenty to keep her busy while Leon was away but that didn’t stop her from missing him at night. With the way the time difference worked out, they were able to speak first thing in the morning for Karina and last thing at the end of the day for Leon.  While she knew she wouldn’t want his longer travels to be a regular occurrence, Karina found that there was truth to the expression of absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Taking a few minutes to compose herself after they had hung up, Karina stared up at the ceiling and sighed before closing her eyes again. This was going to be a morning that she stopped at the cafe on the corner before going to work.

After placing her order at the counter, Karina sat down and pulled out a small notebook she used to help organize her thoughts. Mid sentence, she felt eyes on her and looked up only to see the waif like brunette standing in front of her, arms folded across her chest.

“What do you want?” Karina pretended to be pleasant the first time they had met but now she couldn’t be bothered.

Mathea shrugged. “I was in the area. Just seeing how you’re getting on, I suppose.”

“I’ve been fine, thanks for asking.” Karina glanced at her nails as if the entire premise of the conversation was boring her.

“I meant the two of you. I happened to run into Leon and his friends in Ibiza and I couldn’t help but notice that he was there without you.” Mathea smiled but Karina couldn’t quite figure out what her motive was.  

“Wonderful, I hope you had fun. Now, I’d apologize for being rude but I really don’t care anymore and I can assure you that anything between Leon and I is none of your business.” Opening her notebook, Karina began to flip through the pages, completely dismissing Mathea.

“Obviously, I’d understand if something had come between you.” She smirked now. “It’s not like you two have a lot in common. I’d hate to think it was only for your money.”

Karina looked up now. “You’re probably right. Maybe I’ll die under mysterious circumstances, then he can have my money and you two can finally be together. Wouldn’t that be perfect? Now, as much as I’ve enjoyed chatting with you, I’m sure you have better things to do with your time.”

With that, she turned her attention back to her work until she saw Mathea leave from the corner of her eye. Karina bit down on her lip, willing her body to shut down any sort of emotional response, until she tasted blood. It was easy for her to be cold and sharp in the moment, but she knew this conversation would linger with her for days, if not more. Then there was the question of is she should confront Leon over her accusations. Looking down at the chocolate chip scone that sat in front of her, Karina lost her appetite and asked for her coffee to be put in a travel cup.

“Hey, you feeling alright?” Nena was always the first to notice things, Karina had tried to avoid her for that specific reason, but was unsuccessful. “You look a little pale. I mean, I know you normally have the skin tone of a china doll but even for you.”

Karina smiled and gave her head a slight shake. “I’m fine, I’m just getting a cold or something.”

While her body always seemed to have a psychosomatic connection, everything seemed to be amplified in the last few years. Any time Karina was stressed about something, her stomach went into knots and her whole body ached. Now apparently she lost most of the color to her complexion as well.

Over the next two days, Karina had an internal dialog going as to if she should ask Leon about Mathea’s accusations, if he would be forthcoming, if she should ask her brother if he knew anything.

Karina sat on the sofa with her macbook after work one evening but found she couldn’t focus on anything. The longer she looked at a spreadsheet, the blurrier it became. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she sighed as she closed her eyes and rested her head against the cushion. She barely noticed when the door opened.

“Mausi?” Leon called out, unable to see Karina from where she was sitting. “I’m home.”

Sitting up taller, she smiled at him. “Hey. How was it?”

Leon joined Karina on the sofa, draping his arm around her shoulder and kissing her temple. “Hot. How have you been?”

“Fine.” Karina forced herself to smile. While she didn’t pull away, she didn’t return his embrace either.

He nodded and rested his head against her shoulder. “If you don’t want to tell me what’s bothering you, it’s ok but you don’t need to pretend that you’re fine.”

Biting down on her lip, she opened the previous day’s scab.

Leon searched her with his eyes, hoping that would prompt some sort of response from her. “You’re bleeding.”

He went to the kitchen and pulled a clean dish towel from the drawer, briefly running it under the faucet. Sitting back down in front of her, Leon gently took Karina’s chin and dabbed the towel over it. He examined her lip and once satisfied that it wasn’t actively dripping, returned the towel to the kitchen. Karina didn’t miss the look of disappointment on his face.

“Was Mathea with you in Ibiza?” She had deliberately waited until his back was towards her, rinsing the dish towel out in the sink.

Leon turned around, eyebrows raised. “What makes you ask that?”

She wanted to scream at him to just answer the fucking question but instead she willed herself to remain calm. “She’s here. Or, at least she was. I went to get coffee and she came up to me saying that she was there with you.”

“She was there, yes.” Leon cleared his throat. “But she wasn’t with me. I’m kinda predictable about going there so she probably just guessed that I’d be there. I never spoke to her, Marius saw her first and made her go away. I never saw her after that.”

By now, Leon had moved back to the sofa and Karina could tell that he was holding himself back. Closing her eyes, she allowed herself to lean against him and Leon instantly wrapped his arms around her. “What else did she say?”

“You were happier with her.” A wave of exhaustion fell over Karina and she couldn’t muster the energy to even open her eyes. “And that we have nothing in common so you’re probably only interested in-”

“Stop.” Leon shook his head. “You know that none of it is true.”

Karina frowned. “But why didn’t you say that she was there?”

“It just…” Leon looked away before looking back. “It didn’t seem like it was an issue, it could have been coincidence for all I knew and I didn’t want you to worry about it. Obviously that was the wrong thing to do.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t help it that-”

“No, I know.” Karina could hear the frustration in his voice and was now regretting even bringing the situation up. “Listen, I would really like to just sit here with you for a little bit and not have you over analyze things. Nothing good comes of that for you.”

Karina nodded and closed her eyes again as she leaned back into him.

They sat in silence for a while before Leon squeezed her shoulder. “You know, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”

[faces-in-unexpected-places]

Do You Have the Time? Episode 007: Family

[March 26th, 2018, 11:53]

Madison stood outside of the main chemistry building with her headphones on and scrolled through various apps on her phone. She had tied her windbreaker around her waist because the weather decided to cooperate half-way through the morning. March was never a predictable month where she lived. Some days were freezing, others were windy, some snowed, and even more variants were sunny. Today was supposed to be freezing, but all patches of snow were gone by 10:00. A glare pierced her retina, and she shielded her face with her free hand. And look who decided to come out today. Luckily for Madison, the impossible-to-perceive changes made by the climate’s spring season often left her backpack riddled with useful things. Usually they were left unintentionally hidden somewhere on account of the sudden need for some other seasonal accessory in the past, but she wasn’t about to start doubting her convenient and forgetful way for coming through for her future self now.

Madison rifled through the various pockets and compartments of her bag for her pair of sunglasses. Within the minute, she found them stowed away in some place she has no recollection of putting them in. In that moment, she could feel the sun. She put her Ray-Bans on.

People complimented her on her sunglasses a lot, which surprised her when she bought them. At first, she was worried that she might look too much like Harry Potter because the lenses were circular; but she later decided that it didn’t matter. Harry Potter was freaking awesome and if someone said that she did in fact look like him, then it would have been the kindest words they could have given her. She wondered if Harry wore round sunglasses just like his regular prescription. So long as he had a separate pair of sunglasses that were prescription and he didn’t have those clip-on lenses that old people use. Maybe sixty-year-old HP would use them.

Madison hummed in her thoughts and chuckled. 

She wondered if Leopold wore those kinds of glasses. Immediately after, Madison remembered that Leopold did not wear prescription glasses to begin with, so the clip-ons would be pointless. The clip-ons did seem useful, though. If she could pull off regular, circular sunglasses, maybe she could sport some prescription glasses with sunglass clip-ons. She supposed the only conflict standing in her way was that she had 20/20 vision.

She opened her web browser on her phone and typed ‘how to damage your eyesight’. Something about her train of thought and actions caused her to erupt in laughter. Surprisingly, the first few search results are exactly what she was ‘looking for’. She rolled her eyes at the idea, chuckled and returned to her various phone apps. Jeremy was four minutes late. Maybe she would hassle him for his obvious inaccuracy. Her grin strengthened on her face as she considered the idea. A message appeared at the top of her screen while she was on her entertainment high. The last thing she wanted to see at the moment.

‘General Chemistry I: Grade Posted 11:54’.

Her smile wore away and she opened up the notification. Might as well get it over with as soon as she could. The reason that she was let out early, that she hid from the group chat, was because today was an exam day. Her third exam out of five. And she also happened to be blessed with a professor who is so eager to mark all of her wrong answers that he does so before the official end of the class period. Exam III: 71%, C-.

Madison sighed and shut off the phone’s screen. Stuffing it back into her pocket felt like the best course of action in response to that news. Just in time, Jeremy pulled up in front of the chemistry building for her. Eager to leave campus, she leapt down the stairs and threw herself into the passenger seat of the car. Jeremy quietly acknowledged her and set them on course for home.

“So, what happened with the lab?” Madison asked, expecting further explanation from the group chat..

“Leslie and I made some headway before actual work started, but once it did, Sophia came in and shut it all down,” he replied flatly.

“God, what did she do?”

“Found a way to ‘evacuate’ us because of some suspected gas leak.”

“Damn. Is it legit, do you think?”

“Not sure. We didn’t have enough time to really investigate it. We just took everything we could and left before they kicked us out,” he explained, “I had to take IO to stay in the robotics lab.”

“Oh, poor little guy. That sucks.”

“The robotics lab… that Sophia volunteers in,” he said uncomfortably.

“What?” Madison yelped and turned towards him, “Why would you do that?”

“What else could I have done, Madison?” he replied, sharply, “I have no other spaces to keep IO in. You know what happens if we keep him in the apartment.”

“I know, but Sophia? Really?”

“She’s not the only one that works there. And she’s a volunteer anyway. I’ll keep in touch with IO the whole time our lab is closed.”

“Well, good luck. Hope the poor thing is okay.”

“Yeah, me too.”

There was a silent lull for a few minutes. Madison tensely looked out the window while Jeremy drove without uttering a word. She brainstormed ways to break the awkward static before they arrived at their apartment.

“So you and Les spent some alone time together this morning then, huh?” She joked.

“Madison, please.”

“Okay, okay, sorry.”

Another awkward silence. So, he definitely didn’t think that was funny.

“Are you excited for the research-dinner party?” She asked.

“I suppose,” he answered, “It’ll be nice to update Leopold on what Leslie and I put together. I’d really like to get this preliminary stuff out of the way, and start testing our hypotheses.”

“I’m excited to see Leslie’s place!” She added, “She’s so organised, I bet it will be super clean and stuff.”

“Yeah, I’m sure it will be,” Jeremy said in a lighter tone, “What do you think you’ll do in the meantime before it’s time to leave?”

“Ehh… not sure. Maybe dick around online for a bit. I can only take so much of being aggressively average at chemistry before I decide to give it a rest and waste my time on the computer.”

“Okay. Well, I’ll let you know when it’s time to go,” Jeremy said as he pulled into their parking space outside of their apartment complex.

It didn’t take long for Jeremy to disappear into his room after they managed to make their way up the stairs and into their apartment. Madison entered her own room, slumped down into her bed and rested her body. She could feel her limbs get heavy as she stared up at her ceiling mobile decorated with different coloured leaves. She felt that adult mobiles were a far under-appreciated invention. 

Despite the tense silences that happened in the car, she felt that her conversation with Jeremy ended on a definitively neutral tone, rather than a hostile one. She’d take neutral over that any day. The only thing left for her to do, that she could think of, was brush up on all board games that Leslie may have, so that she could wipe the floor with her, Jeremy and Leopold at the party.

Jeremy let his backpack plummet to the floor and settled onto his bed, facedown on the mattress. He laid still for a few minutes, simply letting the tension out of his limbs. It hadn’t occurred to him how stiff he was throughout the day. From working with Leslie, getting frustrated with GraviTime, having an altercation with Leslie, having numerous confusing altercations with Sophia, and then talking to Madison on the way home. Though thankfully, their last conversation didn’t seem as difficult as their previous ones.

He rolled over to the side of his bed to inspect the papers in his bag. There was a large folder that he had almost forgotten about. It was filled with lab reports from the 1 credit hour undergraduate physics lab course that he was a teaching assistant for. He was grateful that the university offered him a contract to TA one of the lab courses for money in addition to giving him a stipend. Renting his room in the apartment would have been difficult without the deal. Despite the variety of kids he saw in an introductory course, it was actually a refreshing way to spend his time. Grading needed to be finished by the 28th.

Before surrendering to the pull to the bed, Jeremy sluggishly ambled off of his bed and knelt down in front of his ant farm sitting on a small stand near his door. It looked like the microcosm might need some water soon. He wondered how ants were so structured and coordinated. As did everyone with an ant farm, he supposed. If these ants could thrive and build with only the limited resources provided in their space, then surely he and everyone else could function a few days without the lab. Maybe he would work on an idea for an alternate location to do work like Leslie did with her dinner party.

[March 26th, 2018, 14:40]

Leslie shambled up the last flight of stairs with various reusable grocery bags filling her hands and hanging off her body. She struggled down the hallway, huffing and contorting her body to keep the bags from tipping and spilling her dinner ingredients. At last, apartment 4 on the third floor. She beamed in relief, but the expression quickly faded. She needed to unlock the door. A faint sigh escaped as she shuffled her purse around until she could access it. With just a few seconds to spare, Leslie managed to unlock her door, get inside and drop half the bags down on her dining room table. Another moment, and there may have been a messy disaster. She relieved herself of the burden from the bags slung over her shoulders, and slumped down into one of the chairs at the dinning room table, rubbing her arms.

Looking about her apartment, she immediately began picking apart the things that needed to be fixed before her guests arrived. Too many objects on her coffee table in front of the couch, all surfaces needed dusting, dishes needed to be done, groceries to be put away. The list of things was never ending. Leslie was having difficulty with her living room for one major reason. Her television sat close to her front door; in front of it was her coffee table, and then the couch. And she had her matching ottoman off in the corner, because there was not enough room for everything. Her issue was that she spent very little time watching TV; and what if there was not enough room for everybody to sit after dinner? The TV might be in the way, or one of them could have to sit close to the door, and they might be uncomfortable with that. She could already feel the party was going to be a mess. She should just take that spot herself to circumnavigate any other disaster.

Leslie shook herself out of her ceaseless train of thought and switched on her ambient sound generator sitting on the bar that bordered the kitchen. She preferred to have some sort of noise while she was home, and music and TV were both too distracting. Would they think her sound generator was weird or uncomfortable without any other noise? Maybe she should play music for them. Her favourite soundscape came on and played sounds of ocean waves and a crackling fire. Tones like those swept her away into a peaceful future, lacking the constant stress and demand for work. She could float away for a moment or two. Maybe one day she could let go of it all. It could be her and Leopold sharing in the beauty as lifetime friends. Jeremy and Madison could come too if they wanted. She was sure that they would find a way to be content. Her cell phone suddenly blared its ringer. Leslie jumped right out of her daydream. She leapt back to the dining room table and scrambled for her phone. It rested between her ear and her shoulder as she hauled bags of groceries to the kitchen counter.

“Hi mom,” she said in her cheery voice, excited to talk. Conversation usually kept her worries at bay. She unpacked the bags and searched for the ingredients’ rightful places.

“Good afternoon, darling. How are you?” her mother responded with a warm and firm tone.

“Good! Just got back from the store with some food. I’m having a little get-together tonight, so I wanted to make a good meal for everyone. What do you need?” She asked, ready to help.

Mrs. Goodchild disregarded Leslie’s question by refusing to acknowledge it. A trace of grief was left in her tone, as she responded to her daughter.

“Oh, a get-together, huh?” she asked with hesitation, “That sounds like fun. What is the occasion?”

“It’s for work.”

“Oh. Well, good for you, sweetie. I’m sure Dr. Looney will be as big of a fan of your cooking as your father and I,” she said. Leslie pulled out the eggplants that she bought and set them off to the side on the counter.

“Aww, thanks mom. I’m glad you and dad liked it all so much. Thankfully the internet was passionate about making tutorials for so many dishes. It was a convenient hobby to have to hold down the fort for you two!”

The line went quiet and Leslie was perplexed. Her mother took a deep breath and cleared her throat.

“Yeah, Leslie, speaking of that…” 

“Yes?”

“Well, since you mentioned it… I’ve been thinking a lot about the way your father and I have been for a while. Our financial situation. And I wanted— uh, is now an okay time to talk, by the way?” 

“Yeah! Everything’s fine! I’m just cooking and cleaning, getting things ready for everyone later. I could use a bit of time away from the demands of science. What’s up?”

“I wanted to call and say that I’m sorry that we're still relying on you. I was thinking about how we still depend on you for things now, even though you moved out years ago. We shouldn’t have had to rely on you when you were just a little girl either, but we did. And I want to change that now. You were always a huge help to us both, and we we’re grateful for you stepping up, and being responsible and such a good sport. We still are! I’m just sorry that nothing has really changed, even though I said it would. I thought of something that I hope will make it up to you?” she said with uncertainty.

“I know that you’re sorry, mom, don’t worry. We’ve already talked it over before! It’s really okay, though. It was tough, and maybe I could have been doing other things in my spare time as a kid, but it was useful to me! Cooking and working aren’t such bad things. I like them enough to throw a party for my coworkers! And my house is always really clean because that’s what I did back home. It worked out for everyone!”

Milk in the fridge. Sauce in the fridge. Noodles go… they could go next to the eggplants.

Her mother sighed, and there was a moment of silence on the line.

“I understand, but. I just meant to call and say that it wasn’t fair for you. And maybe you can pursue some of the things you missed out on, now that you’re older and have the time,” she suggested, “My idea, if you wanted, is that you could move back to our house for a while to relax and not stress so much. We still have your room ready, and you wouldn’t be paying for rent in two different places, anymore…”

“It would be easier, but I do really like being out here, mom! I’m close to work and there’s more happening in the city. I’m happy to help you out!”

Bags get folded and placed in the cabinet furtherest from the dining room.

“Okay,” Mrs. Goodchild whispered, “Is there anything that dad or I could do for you?”

“No, I don’t think so!” Leslie said, absent-mindedly, “Is there anything I can do for you guys?”

“No, honey, thank you. You’ve done plenty for us.”

“Did you guys get my money transfer yet?” Leslie moved the conversation onward. She heard her mother shuffle some papers around and exhale.

“Yes, it’s right here. It’s a lot. You’re sure you won’t need at least some of this? It’s more than just the rent.”

“No, I’ll be fine! You guys need to fix one of the cars, right? You can put the rest towards that!”

“Your dad and I can handle those payments ourselves, Leslie.”

“Well, now you can handle them better! You’ll pay off the services faster.”

“Thank you, hun, that’s very sweet of you.”

“How has dad been?”

“Oh, you know your father. Still driving trucks for long hours. We’re hoping he gets a promotion soon, but… we’re not too sure. Time will tell, I suppose.”

“And you?” Leslie prodded.

“The restaurant hasn’t been getting as many customers as it did when we opened last year. I’ve been thinking about making a change, if things don’t look up soon.”

Leslie found the ground beef sitting out on the counter, and stuffed it in her fridge before she forgot again. She couldn’t remember how it got there.

“I’m sorry to hear that, mom. I hope things look up soon.”

“I hope so, too,” she said quietly.

“Maybe, to take your minds off of it, you can both make a trip out here and we’ll all spend the day together!” Leslie suggested with enthusiasm.

“That would be wonderful. Your father would be excited to do that.”

“Good! We should plan that soon!”

“Yes, we should. In the meantime though, I’ve got to start getting ready for work, okay?”

“Okay!”

“It was nice to hear your voice again, honey. Have fun with dinner and everyone tonight, and be sure to say hi and thank you again to Dr. Looney for all of his help.”

“I will! I always do,” she said with a sunny smile, “It was nice to talk to you too, mom. Have a good day at work, and I can’t wait to see you two again. Don’t worry too much about me!”

Mrs. Goodchild let out a breathy laugh.

“I’ll do my best, sweetheart. Don’t work too hard.”

“Impossible!” Leslie joked.

“Talk soon, darling. I love you.”

“I love you too! Bye-bye!”

Click.

Leslie leaned against the counter with a smile. She loved hearing from her parents. Especially her mom because she was always looking out for her. It was probably where Leslie got her consistently concerned disposition, too. Although, her mother is concerned with a serious undertone. The cheeriness likely came from her father, ultimately to form Leslie’s core expressions. Cheerful, concerned and eager to help. She chuckled as she thought about what an odd combination of traits that was to exhibit in someone. She wondered if anybody was ever perplexed at her demeanour. It wouldn’t surprise her. Leslie’s smile faded away as she kept her mother in her thoughts. It was flattering to be so concerned with Leslie’s wellness, but sometimes, she wished that her mom could relax about it. The hardest part for her was that she could do nothing to change her mother.

Leslie put her thoughts to rest again and distracted herself with the housework. If the house-party was going to be a success, she would have to hurry. The seating arrangement problem had been solved, but everything still needed to be dusted, and all clutter had to be organised and tidied. Disinfecting all surfaces would be a plus, although her time could run out before that happened. She scurried down the one hallway in her apartment that led past her bathroom, bedroom, and finally terminated at a small storage closet housing her cleaning supplies. Quickly, she delved into the tiny room dragging out a vacuum, a duster, and a spray bottle of disinfectant. The vacuum slipped away from her and swung the floor in her haste. Before she bent to pick it back up, a peculiar colour caught her eye. Something orange stuck to the door facing the inside of the closet. A post-it note. Leslie furrowed her brow and slowly picked it off the door.

“Relax and slow down. Try classical. Remember to have fun!”

The handwriting was awfully… chicken-scratchy. She wondered how long it had been in there. Maybe she’d been a little too focused on work and her parents lately to remember. Her apartment did need a decent cleaning up, so it could have been there for quite some time. There was certainly something vaguely familiar. Was it the colour? Or the placement? An involuntary sigh sheepishly escaped from her mouth. She should be able to keep track of her own house, she’s an adult. She escorted the note down the hall and into her room, which also needed cleaning. Maybe she’d just close the door before they arrived. If she ran short on time, of course. Leslie precariously hid the note away in her nightstand drawer and returned to her storage closet mess with a foggy mind.

“Classical what?” she asked aloud and glanced back to her bedroom door, as if there would be a response. She shrugged and dragged her cleaning supplies to the living room. The most efficient order of tasks would be… clutter, clean the surfaces, dirty dishes, vacuum, then cooking. And closing her bedroom door. Cooking was the most important, because it is not a dinner party without dinner. Her computer and notes needed to be easily accessible, too. It wasn’t a research dinner party without the research.

The top priority was supposed to be work, after all. Briefing Leopold on the progress that she and Jeremy made that morning. She wondered if Jeremy felt comfortable coming to her house. Partly because of the end of their last personal conversation, and partly because he seemed slightly uncomfortable with everything in general. She chuckled to herself. Hopefully everything would go well. Leslie resolved to simply make the most of the night to the best of her ability. Cooking, cleaning, research, activities, whatever got done would get done.

As long as the four of them were happy, she could consider the party a good one.

[03–26–2018; 18:12_Research_Video_Log_002_START]

“Doo doo-doo doo-dooooooo,” Madison sang and pranced behind Jeremy on the way to their car. Their apartment complex’s parking lot was decently packed, and the sky was a deep blue. The sun would be setting in about thirty minutes. Jeremy looked back at her.

“What are you doing?”

“I feel like you guys should be taking advantage of this camcorder by doing more science vlogs.”

“They’re research video logs,” he said.

“Yeah, same thing, nerd. You guys could be on YouTube!”

“Madison, we’re a theoretical physics laboratory, not a make-up tutorial channel.”

Her jaw dropped in surprise, she averted her eyes and her cheeks warmed up. “How did you know I watched those…” she asked quietly.

“I didn’t, it was just an example,” he said and shrugged as he climbed into the driver seat of their car.

“Oh, come on, that’s not fair!” Madison exclaimed, following his motions into the passenger side.

“You brought it on yourself.”

“And you brought this on yourself,” she laughed and zoomed the camera up on Jeremy’s face so that it covered the whole viewing window.”

“Please don’t do that.”

“Sorry, I can’t control it.”

“Yes, you can,” he replied tiredly as he started up the car and pulled out of the parking lot, “You do know that you’re wasting a lot of memory, right?”

“That’s what happens when you make a time travel documentary, Jeremy!”

“It’s not a time travel documentary. It’s supposed to be for recording our experiments and results.”

“A documentary is way cooler, though.”

“Okay, just… if you transfer that footage to your computer fast enough that running out of memory won’t be a problem in the lab, then you can make your time travel documentary.”

“YES,” she yelled, “You mean our documentary.

Jeremy sighed and groaned while coming to the first red light of the drive. “If I say yes, will you please just stop.”

“Okay, alright, fine, sorry,” she mocked, “…Can I interview you for the documentary?”

“I don’t promise accurate answers to ridiculous questions.”

Green light.

“So, mister, doctor Jeremy—”

“I’m not a doctor.”

“––what is your favourite thing about your amazing, one-of-a-kind sister?”

“How much she talks.”

“Really?!” she said with a laugh.

“No.”

“Oh,” she dismissed, “That’s lame!”

Jeremy kept his eyes on the road.

“Okay, how about this. What do you think Leslie is going to make for dinner?”

Jeremy furrowed his brow while he was thinking.

“Huh. I don’t know… maybe a family kind of dinner.”

“What? What even is that?” Madison asked.

He shrugged.

“I don’t know. Something families eat.”

“Wow, what an oddly vague and cryptic answer! As if family dinner food is somehow fundamentally different from everyone else's!”

“Whatever, Madison. I’m driving."

“Thank you for being here today mister, professor Jeremy—”

“Also not a professor.”

“—do you have any final words for the audience?”

“Not particularly,” he said.

“A man of few words, but eloquent, nonetheless.”

“Hey, look at the directions and tell me if that’s her apartment building,” Jeremy instructed, “I think it might be, but I want to be sure.”

“Oh, okay sure,” Madison said, as she distractedly pointed the view of the camera towards her lap to look at her phone.

[03–26–2018; 18:24_Research_Video_Log_002_END]

[xudiroco-blog]

Ultimate Guide to Choosing the Best Travel Purse

One of the biggest travel issues I have is how to conveniently carry everything I need without being bogged down, annoyed by, or frustrated with the unorganized mess of a travel purse I’ve put it all in. Finding the right travel purse was the best thing to happen to my travel satisfaction in a long time.

Over the years, I’ve bought many variations of travel purses for international travel that have all failed in one way or another. It’s not easy finding the perfect purse for travel when you don’t know how they’ll perform before buying it. Thus I went on a mission to find the best travel purse for international travel that I could find.

I’m going to give you a head start today, because I’ve already tried out many choices and narrowed down the winners.

To help you avoid the tribulations of finding the best travel purse, I’ve put together a guide to my top picks for best travel handbags to help you find them too!

Yes, we’re talking about travel handbags for ladies today, but we’ve also covered a few other travel issues you might be trying to solve, like how to find the best travel pants (which I now wear practically every day!) and our top carry on luggage choices for 2018. Also check out our guide on finding the best travel backpack.

How to Choose the Best Travel Purse 2018

There are definitely important criteria to look for in the best purse for travel. You’re going to be out and about most of the day carrying this bag, so you need it to be comfortable and effortless. The best travel purse holds everything you need to have with you in an organized fashion. It has a sturdy and comfortable strap that can’t easily be cut or snapped by a thief. And it’s weather proof.

Here are some questions to ask yourself when choosing the right travel purse for you:

·        Comfortable to carry. If you load it up, is it too heavy to comfortably carry around all day? Does the strap dig into your shoulder? Is the weight distributed well?

·        Holds everything you need. Is it too small or too big for the typical items you want to carry? Do you find yourself stuffing things in because there’s never enough space?

·        Provides good organization. Are there enough dividers and pockets to organize items? Are they proportioned well and are they functional in the way you want them to be?

·        Sturdy, theft-proof strap. Is the strap flimsy or thin? Could the strap easily be cut by a thief walking by? Is the strap the right length to enable you to protect the bag against your body or does it allow the purse to dangle at your side?

·        Weather proof. If you were caught in a sudden rain storm, would the bag become drenched on the outside and inside? Are there adequate zippers and flaps to protect the contents?

Types of Travel Purses

To make this quest a little more difficult, there’s not just one type of purse out there. There are many. Here is a breakdown of the most typical types of travel purses.

» Crossbody Bag

If I were to choose one type of bag that’s best for travel, it’s a crossbody bag. These bags have straps that are long enough to be worn across your body, so you have the added protection of the bag not dangling off your arm. While it can still be cut and taken by a thief, it can’t be snatched off your arm. Wearing the bag this way also allows you to protect the bag against your body. (Read more about cross body bags.)

» Messenger Bag

These bags tend to be larger than I would typically take on a trip, but they hold a lot more. They are also usually worn cross body and have sturdier straps. The benefit of a messenger bag is that it has a flap that comes over the top of the bag, which gives added protection against pick pockets.

» Shoulder Bag

Shoulder bags have longer straps that are intended to hang from one shoulder. These are the least-best type of bag to carry for travel because they leave you vulnerable to thieves who are really good at zipping by and snatching or cut the bag right off your shoulder. Because they’re just hanging from your shoulder, there’s pretty much no way you’ll be able to defend against it.

Top Travel Purse Brands

I’m always tempted to check out the travel purses in bag stores in touristy areas, mostly because you can pick up the bag and look inside it before you decide to buy, and because there’s always so many of them (they know how to tempt us travelers!). However, I would highly recommend buying a trusted brand instead. I’m not saying you can’t find a good bag in a touristy bag shop in Tokyo. I’m sure you can. But you might also be getting ripped off, or be getting an inferior product. I like to stick with the brands I know can deliver.

Here are a few of the top travel purse brands that you’ll find on Amazon and in major retail luggage stores. I like to stick with these brands, but I do have a few bags from other companies, like Rosetti, Samsonite, and Kenneth Cole. I would not suggest taking a major designer purse with you while traveling, so those brands are out.

·        Baggallini

·        eBags

·        Travelon

·        Pacsafe

TRAVEL PURSE REVIEWS 2018

Our Choices for Best Travel Purse 2018

There are two charts below, for each category of travel purse. I’ve evaluated smaller, mini-type shoulder bags, and larger day bags. If you’re like me, you don’t like to carry a lot of things and have a heavy bag to lug around, so the smaller sizes will be best for you. But if you do want to carry a lot of things, be able to stuff a laptop, water bottle, rain jacket, etc into the bag, then the larger size is for you. More on the choices after the charts…

I like Amazon because they often allow free returns if an item doesn’t meet your qualifications, which can be a huge benefit when there are so many choices. Lucky for you, it’s easy to get your hands on an of the travel bags I chose through the links below (note: they are affiliate links so we receive a small bonus when you use our links).

Plambag Canvas Messenger Bag Crossbody

                        They call this bag “small” but to me it’s anything but small. In fact, this is one of the biggest bags on this list. It’s a messenger bag and I think it’s a good bag for men and women, because it’s not at all flashy or feminine.

The best thing about this bag is the organization it offers. There are 9 pockets (7 zipped pockets and 2 external side pockets without zipper). You can stuff a lot of things inside this bag, including a 10″ tablet and a water bottle. There are 8 credit card slots on the inside, along with a place to tuck pens, keys, etc. There’s even a little hole that you can thread your headphones through. The flap is held shut with velcro. The bag itself is made with sturdy canvas.

Pros: Amazing amount of space inside, great organization, sturdy, gender neutral Cons: If you only pack a few things, it feels enormous. The front zipper flap is a bit floppy and can be annoying.

SALE

Baggallini Everywhere Travel Crossbody Bag

This is one of the best crossover bags for travel, in my opinion. There are two prevalant styles of purses, one that is tall and one that is wide. Depending on what you need to carry, one might be better than another. This Baggallini Everywhere bag is one of the few wide bags. It’s is 12 inches wide, versus the typical 9 inches.

There are multiple pockets in this bag, including two front pouches, one zips and one snaps. There’s a secondary front pocket, as well as the main compartment, which can easily fit an iPad and lots of other things. On the back of the purse, there is a thin pocket that spans the length of the bag that can be unzipped at the bottom that can slide on to the handle of luggage to hold it on in transport.

Travelon Anti-Theft Classic Messenger Bag

This bag has more protection against theft that includes an RFID blocker so your electronic cards can’t be read through the bag. It also has a slash-proof strap and material. The outside pockets have locking zippers. The strap is also hooked to the bag with a sturdy caribiner, so you can unclip it and secure it to something, like the table at a restaurant. For these reasons Travelon is one of the best bags to guard against theft.

The main inner pocket has a lot of space with pockets for organization. The back pocket has credit card slots and room for travel documents, including a dedicated passport pocket. There are also two side pockets. One can carry a small umbrella or water bottle, the other is good for sunglasses or a camera. I put my keys in there to keep them out of the way.

Pros: Strap can be shortened into regular shoulder-bag length, comes in tons of colors, has a passport slot, great theft-prevention. Cons: Strap may not come with the caribiner. Sizing seems inconsistent.

eBags Piazza Day Bag 2.0

Another great bag that includes RFID blocker, the eBags Piazza Day Bag 2.0 holds so much that it’s one of my favorite bags to have along on a trip when I need to have everything handy. The entire bag is lined with protective material, so everything inside the bag is RFID protected.

I also really love the soft material this bag is made of. It’s a soft nylon material that won’t get snagged or ripped easily. As I mentioned, there is a ton of space in this bag. It’s very well laid out with three exterior flat zip pockets, and two side pockets that are perfect for storing bottles of water or sunglasses. One of my typical gripes about purses is that the either the zipper or the pull tag on the zipper gets weak and breaks. The Piazza day bag has a well-made self-repairing YKK RC coil zippers, that promises not to break, and I’ve not had a problem with it yet, after many years of use.

Pros: Great RFID protection. Huge amount of space, with good organization. Convenient, slip in back pocket for easy access to mobile. Cons: Too big for some uses. Front flap can be annoying. Not available in the UK or Canada (substitution is given when you click our links).

Baggallini Pocket Crossbody Bag

The Baggallini pocket crossbody purse is just 8.5 inches wide and tall and 2 inches thick, but it comes packed with a zippered interior pocket, three exterior pockets and credit card slots for easy organization. It will fit a Kindle, but of course, not a tablet. It’s a great option because it’s streamlined and lightweight. If you’re expecting a lot of room, this is not it. The joy of this bag is how small it is.

This is one of the best crossbody bags for travel if you’re a light packer. The strap is adjustable so you can move it up or down for your comfort. It’s not an incredibly sturdy strap though, so you don’t have to be careful in certain situations. I really like that it has a removeable RFID wristlet included, so you can just carry your cards, if you want. The back pocket is just the right size to stash your smartphone so you don’t have to go through the interior pocket to get it.

Travelon Anti-Theft Classic Mini Shoulder Bag

If you’re worried about theft while carrying a purse, you can look no further than this Travelon Anti-Theft mini bag (if it’s too small for you, there’s a larger one in the next section). One of the features I love on this bag is the slash-proof strap. It has a locking main compartment and RFID card slots for added protection.

You know how you’re not supposed to leave your bag laying on the floor or on the chair in a restaurant, but it’s uncomfortable to rest it on your knee? The strap of this bag is made to be attached to a chair or small post so it can’t be stolen. This bag is also slightly larger than other bags in this category, with 9.5 inches of height, so you can fit a few more things inside. It’s not really large, but it does fit quite a bit inside, like passports, Kindle or iPad mini, smartphone, wallet, keys and sunglasses. There’s also a small LED light attached on the inside. AND the interior is a bright color so it’s easy to see what’s inside the bag.

Baggallini Triple Zip Crossbody Bag

This bag is the smallest that I’ve chosen for this list. I used to carry a bag like this one on every trip I took for more than 10 years and it served me well. It’s only 7 inches tall, so you lose an inch of space, but because it’s so small, it’s easy to pack into a backpack or another larger day bag, if necessary. The inner pockets aren’t bogged down with dividers so you can just stuff in what you need. It’s just the right size to fit a passport, a camera, keys and one or two other things.

The other unique thing about this bag is that the strap is detachable and there are belt loops on the back, so you can wear it as a side pack instead, or hook it onto another bag. Your smartphone will fit conveniently into the front zippered pocket.

eBags Villa Crossbody 2.0

This is one of the larger bags in this category at 10.5 inches tall and wide, and 2 inches thick. There is plenty of space inside for the essentials, even a book or tablet can fit inside. The bag has two zippered front pockets, a main top-zipping compartment and a u-zip rear compartments. If you’re looking for the best crossover travel bag for women, this is a very strong contender.

Inside the front compartment are two pockets that can hold your phone and sunglasses. One of them is fleece-lined, so you won’t end up scratching the face of your phone with your keys (like I’ve done before).

[flyingaroundinabusinesssuit]

Simplify How You Travel

With planes less comfortable and flying less glamorous, you need to simplify your travel plans. With the onslaught of COVID-19’s quarantine life, regular travel is no longer the norm. But soon we will all be emerging from our homes and need to meet with each other face-to-face. 

GETTING READY TO TRAVEL

The first step of a successful trip is planning the trip. Whether you have an assistant, use one of the many business travel agencies around or do it on your own, a checklist is essential so you don’t miss something important. Feel free to use this article as your new checklist.

Tickets

If you can’t squeeze business class out of your host or boss or get a great offer through a business travel planner like TravelManor, then pick a seat that allows you to get on and off quickly. I like the aisle seat near the front, but ensure there is a seat in front of you unless you have long legs. If you have a few extra bucks and really need to rest on a flight, always check to see how cheap the first or business class flights are the day you travel. 

TSA PreCheck

If you don’t have it, you are wasting about an hour or two every time you travel in security screening. Always bring two forms of ID. I suggest carrying your passport for domestic travel, just in case you get re-routed overseas on an emergency trip.

Rewards programs

It is nice to use the first-class lounge in an airport, but it is usually not worth paying money for it. If you can afford a credit card that gives you access, that is great. Buying access into lounges is not important unless you fly a lot and have long layovers. But, they do have free food, drink, and comfortable chairs…sometimes even showers and barbers. So, if you can swing it, enjoy. Sometimes you will travel with a colleague who is flying business or first class, and they can often bring one guest into a lounge. Be sure you sign up for the free airline loyalty programs and download their apps.

Luggage

This is the most important part of easy business travel, and while you will think I am crazy, you can easily travel for up to five days with just a backpack and one small carry on suitcase. NEVER check a bag when you arrive at the airport. This becomes painfully clear that first time you check a suitcase with all your business clothes, and it goes to another country, leaving you shopping for a few hundred dollars in new clothes. Besides a chance of losing a checked bag, you save hours on every trip by not having to check in a bag and wait for it at baggage claim on the other end. If you ever try to travel with me with a large check-bag suitcase, I will leave you and go to the hotel for a swim and a drink.

Packing

There are likely lots of small items you bring on every trip, so don’t scatter them around your home. I keep all mine in a box by my desk. You won’t need them all on every trip but having to hunt for any of them is stressful for you and your family. Some of those small items might include business cards in a hard carrier, headphones, chargers for all your devices, battery pack for emergency charging of phone, pens, notebook, small gifts to give your hosts, books to read, laptop, tablet, phone, passport, business credit cards, emergency cards, foreign currency, glasses, maps, breath mints, plastic envelope to hold all receipts, entry badges, and items specific to your career field. I always carry at least 200.00 in US cash with some small bills; this can cut down on credit card fraud.

Toiletry kit

Do not bring anything that your hotel will provide you for free because it is wasted space. On short trips, you won’t need much. If you are really pressed for space, buy items at the hotel or a nearby drug store upon arrival. I usually pack deodorant, toothbrush, toothpaste, razor, 2 blades, small shave gel, small lint roller, nail clippers, floss, comb/brush, medicines, and some q-tips. Use the smallest toiletry bag possible and pack it in your backpack or briefcase for easy access. You do not want to open a suitcase at the airport.

THE suitcase

I like a hard-shell, but a soft is fine too. Get one with great wheels—it will be stuffed at times and airports are a great place to walk for exercise at layovers; you will want to roll it and also strap your backpack/briefcase to the handle. Don’t use any suitcase or garment bag that cannot fit in an overhead bin, and don’t use a backpack/briefcase that cannot fit under a plane seat. Pack your most vital items in the backpack or briefcase. Buy durable suitcases and backpacks; not tactical…durable.

My rule of thumb is that for a one-to-two-day trip, I can live out of my backpack or briefcase, and for trips up to five days, I can live out of my carry-on suitcase. There will clearly be times you may need to check a large suitcase; however, with hotel cleaning services, I have lived for 10 days with a carry-on only.

DEPARTURE AIRPORT TO ARRIVAL AIRPORT IDEAS

Departure Airport

After you park, ensure you have an ID card ready and ensure the digital boarding pass you downloaded on your phone to your photos is the only thing open. Don’t arrive too early unless you need that time and can write or think well in an airport. I usually review my presentations upon arrival, so when I sleep on the plane, they are playing in my head. The seats are just too small now to comfortably work on a plane, so use your airport time wisely to get any work done.

Before you get on, see if they are doing plane-side valet of your carry-on bags. That means you drop them off and grab them right by the plane door. If you have a few minutes to spare, this is a good idea. It means you can board the plane last and don’t have to fight for overhead bin space since your backpack fits under the seat. It also means you don’t have to rush off the plane either. It can take some stress out of your trip, and sometimes they will give you priority boarding or even bump up your seat for being accommodating.

Flight and Layovers

On the plane I really just a snack, read, listen to music, or watch a film. The area is so cramped that it is more stressful to try to work than to just relax. Because you’re in tight quarters and you will always have some sick folks around you, I like to take an immune system booster the day before and on every day of my trip. Forget trying to recline on domestic flights unless you’re seated outside the main cabin seats. It might start a fight and make your trip more stressful. Just chill and snag an extra snack for the road.

Layovers are pretty common when you don’t book your own trips. I love a direct flight, but sometimes it doesn’t happen. I like to write on layovers, to get all the ideas that were flying around during the flight onto paper or on my laptop. My bosses were always editing, writing, or emailing on layovers. It passes the time. Be aware that Wi-Fi in some foreign nations is wide open, so use that with caution. VPN is a great tool to have on all your devices. If you are travelling in and out of combat zones, the layover is the perfect time to have a cold beverage or find some ice cream, or even a good salad. Get some of those cravings taken care of.

Arrival Airport

This goes for the whole trip, but it is best to always travel in clothes that don’t make you look important. You can’t always blend into the crowd, but don’t purposely stick out with your gear. Travel neutral. If you are an important person or easy target where you are travelling, this is the time that skipping the baggage claim pays off. Pull up your Uber-like app or go grab the hotel shuttle to your destination. Look like you know what you are doing and don’t hang around the airport tempting criminals or security officials. If you don’t need a rental car, skip it. If you do, ensure that you join their free loyalty programs and get an upgrade when you can.

AT THE HOTEL AND REVERSING YOUR TRAVEL

At the Hotel

Use the hotel and take a room on the floor you are advised to stay in by your organization. Depending on who you are, this is a risky place. You are not good looking, so don’t assume people who are interested in you think so. Use your ‘do not disturb’ sign during your stay; you don’t need the towels. Use the room safe when you go out. Mark your room in a few ways that will tell you if anyone has entered. Eat where you are safe and don’t get drunk by yourself. If you are travelling with a State Department guy, just know that when they offer to pay for a meal, it is because they know where the cheap meals are. They will stick you with the expensive ones…thanks Smudger, we will always have Tokyo.

Heading home

When it is all over, just do all of your steps in reverse. Don’t worry about packing carefully now because all of your clothes are dirty. Double-check that you are leaving nothing behind, and again, download that digital boarding pass on your phone and take a picture of it in case the reception sucks at the airport security line.

Always travel happy and calm, but keep your eyes and ears open because someone out there may be looking for you. With this, remember to ensure someone you know - family, friend, your business travel agency’s contact or a colleague know where and when you’re arriving, departing, boarding etc.

Article source: https://news.clearancejobs.com/2020/07/01/simplify-how-you-travel-tips-for-your-next-business-trip/

[bvstiens-blog]

(trigger warnings for mentions of violence, death, weed, murder, and if i need to mention anything else lemme know)

BASICS

Full name: Sebastien Park (Park being the name he was given as a form of ‘Doe’; his mother left him in Central Park a day after he was born and the officer who found him thought it was funny and everyone just continued to use it)

Any nicknames?: Bastien (his preferred and what he’d normally introduce himself as), Bash. (never call him Seb, ever. seriously. just don’t. it’s bad news bears for everyone involved.)

Age: 28

Birthday/Zodiac sign: March 25th, 1989 / Aries (with a Scorpio moon)

Height: Exactly 5'3" and 1.24 centimeters (and he’s kicked people in the face for making fun of that in the past; there’s a reason why he’s one of the Titans best after all)

Any tattoos, piercings?: Bastien does have a few tattoos, and as an idiot kid he did get his tongue pierced, and just recently got it re-pierced. The first tattoo he got was right after he got out of his last foster home, and it rests over his heart. It states very simply, “Rise up.” On his upper back (to the right) he has a small group of fireflies that, at first glance seem scattered but upon closer inspection form the constellation of Orion. Near this is a tiny alien, because Bastien believes. This tiny alien is holding up a peace sign and on his opposite shoulder he has an equally tiny spaceship with the words “I believe.” below it. On the inside of his left arm he has a chord progression tattooed (the beginnings of Landslide by Fleetwood Mac). His newest tattoo is on his right arm, and it’s entirely because of the second installment of the Last of Us series. xxx.

FAVORITES

Sound: For having lived in New York for almost his entire life, Bastien is so used to noise that quiet seems startling, strange. But his favorite noise was actually found in Germany, in the middle of a field with the sky spreading out for miles and miles. There was a road nearby, and it was the drag of tires on asphalt and tall grasses blowing in the wind, it was crickets chirping and somewhere a bird cooing as it settled down for the night. But, the sounds of New York City in the early morning are an especially close second, with his head leaning out his apartment window and people starting to wake up below.

Color: Bastien would normally say the bright green of the sour skittles package or that beautifully obnoxious fluorescent lighting of the bodega down the street from his apartment building, but in truth his favorite color is gold. Not yellow, but the warm gold of sunrises and sunsets and certain flowers.

Person: Do his cats count? He certainly loves them more than he loves a lot of people he encounters, and they’re far more entertaining. In all honesty, Bastien couldn’t say Denise; she’s become hazy in some places and his memories of her just don’t seem as clear anymore. Mikey has been traveling, so despite how much Bastien loves his foster brother, he barely knows him now as the person he’s grown up into. But if you got him drunk enough, Bastien could rant and rave about one person in particular until the sun rose and set again. He’ll sing his praises even if he’s not drunk, but it takes a little bit more to get to the depth and the breadth of how much Richard Johnson means to Bastien. It can be summed up in as simple a phrase as “He gave me Germany.” and it can go on for hours if Bastien is given the opportunity and trusts whoever he’s talking to enough. There’s a letter tucked away in his most precious and protected possessions, addressed to Richard that tells him these things out right. Bastien will likely never give it to him.

Memory: It’s late at night, cars are still honking and passing by like the world will end if they don’t get where they’re going. He is 19, and he has been on his own for almost a year now. There is a guitar strapped to his back and his feet are carrying him back towards his apartment from the bakery where he works. Like every other night he passes by, a coffee shop is open late, and there is live music playing inside. Sometimes it is good, and sometimes it is bad. Bastien finally decides to take a step inside, and maybe that’s why he brought his guitar with him. There’s a song playing over his headphones and that is what he sings when he finally goes up, and it feels like a dedication to Denise, the woman who got him started and reminded him that he was worth something before anyone else did. When everyone claps and cheers when he is done, Bastien smiles, and breathes in the scent of coffee and scones and feels solid in his skin, feels at peace. The next day is when he starts his first job running information.

Place: A hole in the wall dive bar called Down Under, up on East 5th Street. It has the best food he’s ever found, and even if his boss is a dick sometimes, Bastien finds genuine joy in going to work the few days out of the week he can manage it, and this is especially so if it’s on a Friday night and open mic night is running. It is a dive bar, the floors are sticky and it’s not high class, and the people are loud and sometimes the air is thick with the scent of sweat and cigarette smoke but it is so solidly safe in Bastien’s mind and the regulars there are just as comforting to him as the Titans.

Vice: Bastien so rarely drinks, and it’s even rarer that he smokes as that only happens when he’s had a few. He keeps a pack of cigarettes on him at all times despite this, but it’s a comfort and a reminder as opposed to an addiction. Some of his first memories are of cigarette smoke, and the scent of it has peppered his entire life. It reminds him of where he comes from, and so sometimes he’ll light one just to breathe it in even if it’ll never touch his lips. He does over-indulge in recklessness, in doing before thinking. The thrill, the adrenaline, the feeling of being alive with his heart pounding in his ears; Bastien is a bit of a thrill seeker when it comes down to it. This also isn’t counting how often he smokes weed (and uses it to bake with), because that is the good shit and almost as much fun as driving too fast too late at night. (And because I think it’s such a cool idea, and hopefully you won’t mind Madi!! I’m gonna do my favorite vice of his.) Bastien’s tendency towards stubbornness and hedonism is so much fun for me because once the man’s made up his mind about something, nobody will be able to change it but him. He’s almost stupid in his stubbornness; he doesn’t want anyone to make his choices for him and so even if sometimes it seems like a better idea, he’ll stick to his plan until he can make it seem like it wasn’t someone else’s idea in his head. As for his hedonism, Bastien didn’t have a lot growing up. Now that he’s older and he can, he’s seeking out things that feel good and make him happy. Sex, candy, good food, the most comfortable beds and sheets and blankets, anything that’ll make his life even the slightest bit more comfortable. As a kid who grew up with nothing, you get a little stingy and a little greedy when you’re older while still maintaining that penny pinching attitude, and it’s just such an interesting contrast for me.

HAVE THEY EVER…

Been in love?: Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. (Yes. Absolutely, without a doubt. There was a man he met at Down Under, one who tumbled into bed with him too fast and crept into his heart even faster. Bastien left for Germany and was forced to cut ties with him, and when he came back, Arthur was dead, a car crash not too long after Bastien had even left. Bastien still visits his grave, leaves flowers and wonders what could’ve caused Arthur, who was only in Down Under because he’d been dragged there by some buddies from work, to drink and drive. He tries not to think it’s because of him. Being apart for four years killed the romance, not to mention Arthur being dead, but Bastien questions whether he could’ve ever truly opened up to Arthur, who was so soft and so good.)

Done drugs?: Only weed, and it’s at least a twice a week occurrence. He refused to do any harder drugs after two of his foster siblings ended up dead from them; JaimeandJames were with him in his last home and they were two of his favorites, but they were always a little too close to the edge.

Killed someone?: It’s his job, after all, making people disappear, snuffing out the light of their life. He’d done a lot of terrible things, a neutral party that drifted to whoever needed a job done, until he heard word of Cronus’ son being in town and decided to make something of himself. If he was a murderer, shouldn’t he be a murderer with someone at his back?

Betrayed someone’s trust?: Bastien is unswervingly faithful. When it comes down to it, if you put your trust in him you can almost guarantee that he’s gonna uphold his end of the bargain until it’s finished. He’s stubborn in that way as well; if someone trusts him he doesn’t want to break that trust in any way.

Had their heart broken?: Every birthday, every time a family walked away with one of his foster siblings instead of him. Another year older, another year spent in the system, another year that he just wasn’t wanted. Bastien likes to put on the act of someone without a heart, the kind of person who just doesn’t give a fuck, and maybe sometimes that’s true, but Bastien’s heart is so big. Bastien loves so fiercely without even realizing it, and he could even be in love with someone without knowing it’s happening… hm. 👀👀👀

Lost someone?: Bastien lost so many of his siblings, whether they ended up as another statistic or simply vanished or decided that they didn’t want him in their lives anymore. The loss that rocked him to his core was the loss of his first foster mother, Denise. Even 18 years later he still remembers dancing to Fleetwood Mac in her kitchen with Mikey and her, remembers her laugh. He was with her long enough for it to form enough of his personality to stick, but it was ripped away from him and he was tossed into homes that didn’t care about him at all.

DO THEY…

Have any pets?: Bastien has three cats. He has an incredibly lazy tabby named Winston who wandered in through his window one day and decided that she was his, before he even left for Germany. For a while it was just the two of them, until about two years ago he saw a cat get hit on the street and ended up rescuing Nemo, a fluffy white cat who lost her leg in the accident. His most recent rescue is a tiny black kitten who he very aptly named Garbage, after finding her in a dumpster not too far from his apartment in New York.

Have a family they still talk to?: Mikey is the only foster sibling he’s still in contact with, but even that is sporadic, because the last thing he wants is to let Mikey get involved in the world he’s in now. Bastien has considered trying to use their resources to find his birth mother, but he’s never been drunk enough to bring it up in front of Richard. It’s not that he doesn’t trust Rich; he quite obviously does, but his issue lies in the mentality of a twelve year old boy being told he hadn’t been wanted by his drunken foster father, and Bastien still worries that he’s not wanted, deep down.

Have a best friend?: Aside from his cats? It’d have to be his boss at Down Under; Murdoch is an absolute fuck and the two butt heads almost as much as they laugh together but Bastien was able to walk back into Down Under after just vanishing one day and get his job back and I think that speaks volumes to how their friendship works.

Want to get married and/or have kids?: There are thousands of kids out there with dead eyes and no hope, thinking no one is ever going to want them. More than anything, Sebastien wants the chance to give them a home someday, to adopt children and foster them for as long as he can, to help save every child who was ever in his position. Marriage is…up for debate, until he confronts his own feelings, but it likely still wouldn’t even be on the table.

Want to leave?: New York is his home. New York is all he has ever known, except for those years in Germany. The only place he would want to go is Germany, but even then the city pounds the beat of Bastien’s heart and sings in his blood, and he could never truly leave it behind. As for this life? Bastien won’t ever turn his back on his people. The only thing that could make him leave the Titans or this life is a bullet to the brain.

THIS OR THAT?

Phone call or text? [insert that one Road to El Dorado gif here] Bastien has a group chat for the Titans very simply titled Big Dick and the Rockin Dick Band, and he’s the reason why everyone has their notifications for that particular chat turned off. (He sends so many memes y'all.) But there’s nothing as good to him as a phone call if he can’t be face to face, and sometimes he likes to call people just to chat; just to let their voice wash over him.

Wealth or loyalty? Bastien comes from nothing and he knows that wealth won’t do anything for him when this life finally kills him. He was born with nothing and he’ll die with nothing, physical at least. But loyalty will last him long after death, and when you make a friend in Bastien you have someone that would do anything for you, and he expects the same.

Love or lust? (Love love loveloveloveloveloveloveLOVE, please love this dude he’s so sad) Bastien would, in all honesty, just laugh if he was ever asked this question, maybe toss out lust just to say something but Bastien craves love and acceptance in the worst way but it’s never been really given to him? He doesn’t know how to have it, how to deal with it.

5 Friends or 100 Acquaintances? 5 friends can burn down the world if they try hard enough, and 100 acquaintances can wish you happy birthday on Facebook but never speak a word to you. So yeah, he’ll take true friends any day.

Summer or winter? They both have their beauty to Bastien, the tip of his nose red and cold in winter but the world seemingly stuck in a snow globe. With snow blanketing the ground, the world seems heavier and quieter, suspended in time. But with summer comes fireflies and music pouring out of open windows and maybe it’s hot so people are grumpy but Bastien feels the most himself during summer. (Bastien has a touch of seasonal affective disorder).

OTHERS:

Wanted plots/connections: xxx.

[wirelessheadphonesguru]

Beyerdynamic Amiron wireless vs. B&W PX

Ever since Apple did away with their headphone sockets, the demand for wireless headphones have risen. While the noise cancellation feature has now become a major pre-requisite of wireless headphones, the ones I am going to compare today belong to two different categories – the Beyerdynamic Amiron being a passive noise cancellation headphone while the Bowers & Wilkins PX being an active noise cancellation one. Without much ado, I will take the plunge to explore these two pairs of wireless headphones here.

The first look

Beyerdynamic Amiron is HUGE. After having a range of wired headphones, they have now come back with Beyerdynamic Amiron which is a Bluetooth wireless headphone. They are huge and makes you stand out in the crowd; forget about blending in, they are elephantine in proportion compared to the Bowers & Wilkins PX. People would notice the ‘BIG’ feature about the Beyerdynamic Amiron first thing when they set their eyes on it. The headphone does not bend or fold; it is a rigid one with a small swivel angle rotation for the ear cups.

Going on the physical patterns on the Bowers & Wilkins PX, I love the weave patterns on the headband and the best part, it is not just aesthetic but a bit practical too. The weave is made up of ballistic nylon and is one of the most durable and abrasion resistant fabrics available in the market.  On the sides are adjustable arms and have an all-metal construction with gracefully sliding earcups instead of the ratchety-clicky feel.  They do not slide automatically and stay in place while walking. Along the metal arms, the wire is braided and recessed and goes down into the earcups securely. Overall, these things look classy, gorgeous, and original in their own way. The overall quality in terms of looks and feel are premium.

Build quality

Beyerdynamic Amiron is built entirely in metal. This gives them a tough feel, heaviness and has an almost industrial design. The earcups and headband are both wrapped in plush foam that is insanely comfortable to wear. They are just soft enough to sit nicely on your head but firm enough that if you are wearing them, they make an excellent seal to block out background noise. They are not active noise canceling headphones but they do a great job at passive sound isolation.

Comfort

The padding all around the Beyerdynamic Amiron feels like they are wrapped in micro-fiber cloth or suede, which makes them super comfortable to wear for long listening sessions. That being said, in our tests, we found that when we move around our head vigorously or bend forward to look below, the Beyerdynamic Amiron slid from our ears and at times fell on our lap; a big NO-NO while walking on the road and looking around for traffic signals.

They are LARGE and the silhouette makes them even larger while wearing them; they weigh 384 grams and let you know its weight. Also, the metal on the headphones does attract oil and fingerprints and dust quite easily. They are comfortable all the same but the Beyerdynamic Amiron tends to get warm after continuous, especially when summer is on the way.

The Bowers & Wilkins PX have completely hollowed-out earcups and the ears do not touch the inside of the earcups at all. The earcups are very different from other brands like Audio Technica including our contender here. The ear pads are very thin and do a great job of staying fit around your ears without discomfort. It does warm up a little bit but that is barely noticeable. Thanks to this hollow earcup, there was minimal sound leakage during sound testing but more of it later down below. Last but not least, the ear cups are magnetized and can be pulled out for cleaning and they really hold on to the magnets without losing grip.

Controls

The volume controls on the Bowers & Wilkins PX are easy to find while wearing. They do have an extra button called environmental filter to adjust the active noise cancellation performance. Combine it with the use of the Bowers & Wilkins PX app, you can choose between different preset modes like Office, city, flight modes etc. to adjust the ANC. I tested it outdoors and found that when you use the city mode, it lets in the sounds of cars and other vehicles to keep you alert.

Functionally the Beyerdynamic Amiron wireless has a touchpad on the right ear cup to control your music. All of the buttons and also the inputs are on the right side; the left ear cup does not have anything except for the sound driver. The right ear cup has the power button/Bluetooth pairing button, 3.5mm audio jack input, USB Type C input, and the touch-sensitive pad on the side of the ear cup. Half-a-swipe and random fast gestures on the touchpad did not work for me.  You can also activate the personal assistant on your phone by tapping once on the touchpad. (Clue: Use the user manual to be acquainted with the moves; LOL)

Connectivity

Bluetooth 4.1 on the Bowers & Wilkins PX is pretty good and works with a 240 feet radius with a straight line of sight on the iPhone 10 that I am currently using. Within walled areas like my office, I managed to get 110 feet which beats other headphones in this category. You can pair multiple devices with the Bowers & Wilkins PX, though there is no voice prompt to tell you which devices it is connected to.

An additional feature with the Bowers & Wilkins PX is that they come with proximity sensors. They are useful when you lift the headphone or place them on your neck when you are not using them; they automatically pause and come back alive as soon as you keep them on your head. Phone calls are pretty clean too. They are located on the right ear cup and it also has a 3.5mm audio jack for wired connections and a USB type C charging port.

I had absolutely no issues with the Bluetooth connection on the Beyerdynamic Amiron either. They were strong and did not bicker at all.  As long as I stayed within the 30 feet range, I did not have a single stutter or drop-out with the Beyerdynamic Amiron. If you don’t feel like going wireless, then you can actually plug in the wire and use the headphones as a regular piece.

Battery

Battery life is usually 25 hours (25.27 hrs. to be precise) on mid volumes against the 22-hour claim on Bowers & Wilkins PX. This can be true because they are insanely loud on higher volumes for long periods. Overall, you can manage to get more battery life if you stay away from ANC, and the wired functionality improves it much further. I wish they included a better battery level indicator instead of the simple green light that they have on the headphone.

Beyerdynamic Amiron does not specify exactly how long the battery life is but they do mention that it has more than 30 hours of constant playback.

Audio Quality

I had some nit-picky complaints on the design, its bulk and other things about the Beyerdynamic Amiron, but here is the one thing that forgives them – These headphone sound really really good. They are a joy to listen to.

The audio delivery has a perfect amount of power and stays consistent through the complete performance. The lower notes do have a little bump to it, which to many will appear little bass-heavy. They do not overpower the mids and does register really well in your ears. Songs that were more instrument-based seemed to have more spacing between the instruments and the mids, while songs that were electronic or synth-heavy did not follow the suit. On the bright side, they have an impressive soundstage as if the entire thing had a drum-kit inside the headphone, making it feel lively.

Speaking of sound on the Bowers & Wilkins PX, it is a pair that sounds great, literally. Let me explain – I barely experienced any kind of air-cabin pressure and there is minor white noise that I heard when the ANC was on. With the music on, I could not hear them at all.

The sound is and I quote – LIVELY. The audio gives a spatial sound that brings in a great listening experience. The left and right audio channels were clean when it came to vocals and the instruments being heard in the distance gave a very lively real-life feel, especially songs that were live. You can also hear the live crowd around you quite distinctively. The Bowers & Wilkins PX were actually able to accentuate the directions, depth as well as the width of music with each genre. They are very loud on full volume and I recommend 50 to 60 %listening volume levels.

They are not bass-y but give a neutral tone. A natural sounding sound signature is what you get from Bowers & Wilkins PX. The mids, highs, and lows are great but folks who love bass may be a little disappointed (though they can be brought to the max with the equalizer settings) because of the neutral sound stage. However, the vocals, instrumental, rock and metal will be a great hearing experience on the Bowers & Wilkins PX.

A tabular comparison for the two is given below:

Brand Beyerdynamic Bowers & Wilkins Model Amiron PX Price

Build quality Premium and heavy Premium, strong, lighter Earcups Perfect fit but tends to fall off with head movements. Huge in size Hollowed ear cups, pressure on the crown. Average in size Gross Weight 384 grams 335 grams Type Wireless Wireless Controls Touch pad Traditional buttons Noise Cancellation Technology Passive Active ANC Performance – Excellent Battery (usage time) 30+ as per company claim 22 hours as per company Equalizer In built In built Mic Clear audio Excellent audio clarity Bluetooth Version 4.0 4.1 Bluetooth Range 30 feet 240 feet max. 110 min. Included in the box Type C USB charging cable and 3.5 mm audio jack Carry case, charging cable and 3.5 mm audio jack Sound Quality Excellent Excellent

  Bowers & Wilkins PX is a great pair of headphones to own and has Active noise cancellation. They are built well and have a great life span too with incredible aesthetics. However, the Beyerdynamic Amiron has only passive noise cancellation and therefore many people could find it a little less in their expectations when compared. Therefore, I would recommend the Bowers & Wilkins PX over the other as it stands out to be a great wireless headphones.

The post Beyerdynamic Amiron wireless vs. B&W PX appeared first on Wireless Headphones Guru.

from Wireless Headphones Guru https://wirelessheadphones.guru/facts/beyerdynamic-amiron-wireless-vs-bw-px/

[candelariakdp-blog]

Leading 10 Bollywood Actresses.

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[luxus4me]

The Verge http://j.mp/2kbG4ho

Here’s a question to ponder: when buying noise-cancelling (NC) headphones, should you choose the pair that sounds best or the one that’s best at neutralizing noise? The answer used to be obvious in the pre-2016 era of Bose domination: you just bought the latest QuietComfort pair, knowing that its noise cancelling was unmatched, and accepted whatever mediocre sound it gave you. But then Sony changed everything with its 1000X last year, giving you both the quiet and the comfort of Bose plus a kicking bassline.

The past year has turned noise-cancelling headphones from purely functional tools to help you survive a long flight or a tiring shift at the office into truly enjoyable music stations. Among my favorites have been the on-ear AKG N60 NC and the over-ear Bowers & Wilkins PX, both of which have elevated sound quality expectations from the wireless NC category. So now Sony’s second iteration of the 1000X, the $299.99 1000XM2, have to outdo not only Bose and Sony’s awesome first try but also a number of sweet-sounding alternatives from a suddenly highly competitive field.

When presented with a pair of the 1000XM2s, you’d struggle to identify the physical differences from the original 1000Xs. Sony really nailed the essential design with its first generation of these wireless cans, and so the reprise is almost total. The exceedingly comfortable pads and headband are back, and the whole thing still folds down into a compact shape and into a semi-rigid case. As far as long-wearing comfort and portability were concerned, there was nothing for Sony to fix here, and so it’s no surprise that the company is keeping what works.

One structural complaint that has arisen since my review of the 1000X — and has given rise to an 8-page thread on Sony’s support forums — is the headband of these headphones cracking easily. Since the design appears unchanged, it’s reasonable to extend that worry about durability to the present 1000XM2s as well, however it appears that Sony has narrowed down the problematic headbands to a particular batch of 1000X units. In all my testing with both models of 1000X cans, I’ve never come close to even hearing a creak from them, let alone finding a crack. I’m willing to trust in Sony’s engineers and warranty process here, and I don’t consider this potential issue a big risk to take.

The 1000XM2s are simply sumptuous to wear

Maybe if I hadn’t spent as much time as I have with the 1000X and their successors, I’d be less certain in my trust, but both pairs of these headphones have proven indispensable in my daily life. Got a meeting to commute to? I grab the Sonys on my way out. Need to keep warm while waiting for the bus in winter? I don’t have earmuffs, so Sonys it is. Unlike the Bowers & Wilkins PX, whose sound I am in deep and passionate love with, these Sony headphones never cause me any discomfort. Set aside the convenience of them being wireless or the utterly excellent noise cancelling, the 1000XM2s are simply sumptuous to wear.

On a recent trip to Madrid, I went a full five hours before I even had to adjust the M2s on my head. That’s all the way from my front door, through the London underground, past the security check at Heathrow (where I had to remove them briefly), up in the air and down again, and out into the Spanish sunlight. Any pair of headphones that effortless and unnoticeable to wear for that long is worth its weight in gold.

A big part of what’s supposed to distinguish the 1000XM2s from their predecessor is the audio self-adjustment that Sony has built into the new cans. This now includes “atmospheric pressure optimizing” that apparently adjusts to your altitude. Did I feel anything particularly special or noteworthy with this setting turned on during my flight? Nope. If you use Sony’s companion app, you can also activate Adaptive Sound Control, which is supposed to detect whether you’re walking, sitting, or traveling and tweak the NC accordingly. I found it a fiddly and inconsistent system, and since it reduces NC while you walk, which I don’t actually want, I left it off. It’s worth reiterating here that Sony’s noise cancelling tech is only rivaled by that of Bose: it really is a category leader, and many people consider both Sony and Bose’s NC to sometimes be too much. I’d just prefer to be able to toggle that manually rather than relying on an imperfect system.

My feeling about the automated tweaks that Sony is introducing with the M2s is similar to how I feel about the B&W PX and the way they automatically stop playing music when I take the headphones off. Both are good ideas in abstract, and would be desirable if they worked with reliable consistency, but both annoy me more than they help because of the false positives when they do something I don’t want them to.

The touch controls on the right ear cup are still unnecessarily fiddly

Sony’s touch controls on the right ear cup of the 1000XM2s are unchanged from the 1000X — which means my dissatisfaction with them remains as it was. I can make them work, but it requires more labor and precision than it should. A swipe up or down adjusts the volume, a swipe forward or back switches between tracks, and a double tap in the middle toggles playback.

More than once, my double taps weren’t registered and the M2s kept playing when I wanted them to stop. What’s wrong with having a real, physical button that lets me control that? Sony already has buttons on the left cup for power and noise cancelling, and a hard “play” button wouldn’t have broken any part of the design. It’s equally annoying when I find myself getting into a song and trying to turn it up, only to have the headphones register my swipe as forward rather than up and thus skipping ahead.

Last year, I celebrated the 1000X for being that rare pair of Bluetooth NC headphones that sounded great. This year, I think the 1000XM2s might sound just a tiny bit better, but I can’t be as forgiving in my judgment of their sound. Not after the Bowers & Wilkins PX swept through my life. So how do I feel about Sony’s M2 sound? In a word: conflicted. I don’t mean confused, I mean conflicted.

The M2s are heavily genre-dependent. Put on something rich on low notes and distortion, such as deadmau5’s W:/2016ALBUM/ and you’ll be rocking out to the deep, murderous, satisfying bass. But here’s the thing about deadmau5: his music doesn’t sound bad on any audio equipment, it welcomes and positively embraces distortion and imprecision. Blurryface by Twenty One Pilots is another album that pops and throbs in a satisfying fashion through the 1000XM2s, and I admit I enjoy the extra quantity of bass that these headphones deliver. But once I tread to more refined musical genres like classical or jazz, the muddy nature of the M2s’ low end is revealed and it’s not pretty.

Female vocals are an especially disappointing aspect of the M2s’ sound. I’ve recently gotten into listening to more from the likes of Kelela, Banks, Halsey, Willow, and Lorde, and the subtle emotive power of their voices is all but wiped out by the 1000XM2s. Where the Bowers & Wilkins PX would make me want to dance in the streets with its perfectly balanced highs and lows, Sony leans too heavily toward the low end, deadening the exact frequencies that make the PX feel alive and exciting.

Battery life is once again great, though the MicroUSB charging port should have been upgraded by now

Where Sony trumps Bowers & Wilkins, other than the more comfy design, is in having NFC-based pairing, which is simpler and easier than the usual Bluetooth malarkey. Both companies tout battery life numbers beyond 20 hours when the headphones are used wirelessly and with NC on. In my experience, the Sonys seemed to last a little bit longer, but it’s not enough for me to identify it as a meaningful advantage. Both the M2 and the PX last through a week of regular listening for me, which is plenty. I’d have liked to see Sony match B&W in having a USB-C charging port, but the M2s have to make do with the old MicroUSB connection — fine for most, but terrible for my “USB-C all the things” personal philosophy.

By now, you should be able to understand why I feel so torn. The 1000XM2s are some of the most comfortable headphones I’ve tested (and I’ve tested hundreds); they last a long time; they deliver solid wireless performance; and they outperform almost everything else out on the market. But I’ve heard the B&W PX, and I no longer love Sony’s sound the way I did when I reviewed the original 1000X. Hell, I don’t even find there’s much difference between the M2 and the first-gen headphones.

The key difference maker for me is the $299.99 price of the 1000XM2s. That’s at least $30 south of the Bose QuietComfort 35s — and I’m confident both 1000X models from Sony offer superior sound and performance than Bose — and a full $100 cheaper than the Bowers & Wilkins PX. If you’re budget-constrained or just can’t find a good fit with the PX, I’d immediately point you to Sony’s 1000X range. But which one of the two? The original 1000X is now $229.99 direct from Sony, and on the evidence of my review of the 1000XM2, I can’t say you’ll be missing out on much going for the older one. In any case, it’s safe to say that, for most people, either one of Sony’s 1000X variants is still the best set of wireless NC headphones available.

8.5 Verge Score

Good Stuff

Exceedingly comfortable

Noise cancelling doesn't get any better

Long battery life

Bad Stuff

Fiddly touch controls

Sound quality has been surpassed by better rivals

MicroUSB charging is so very 2016

http://j.mp/2ipwgjq via The Verge URL : http://j.mp/2r68aKz

[advanceddegreesls17-blog]

The library at SLS Law School

Most people say that the library becomes your second home during the LL.M. year. Ideally, it could become your first home. The workload is quite high during the academic year, and the best one can do is to find a quiet place to read and write. Preferably, I wouldn´t work at home, but I´ve felt forced to spend more time than I would like working in my bedroom, as I will detail below. 

The library at Stanford has many highlights: law students can print and scan for free, the book collection is good, the size is ok (it looks small, but there is always free space, at least during regular months) and, of course, the law school provides access to most databases. Notably, the scanners are super-fast and mostly automatic. You just leave the book open on the scanner’s surface, press a button, and voila! Your pdf is ready. You can feel the proximity with Silicon Valley. In addition, there is a coffee room where you may get free coffee and tea, from 5pm onwards during the weekdays, and all day long during the weekends. 

However, the library is particularly noisy. Eating, although officially prohibited, is a widespread practice among SLS students. And not cereal bars or food that may leave you to read in peace… people eat apples and chips. Also, people talk a lot. Because of this, it is necessary to bring earplugs to the library or listen to music with good headphones. There are many noise-canceling headphones in the market, and they are not particularly cheap. But that may save your attention and focus. At SLS, they appear to be a great investment. Another downside at SLS’s library is the lack of bathrooms. There are only 2 gender-neutral bathrooms with capacity for just 1 person. This means only 2 people can use the bathrooms at the same time. If you are in a rush, you have to walk for at least 5 minutes to find the closest alternative. 

The staff is great, though. If there is a problem they will quickly assist you with a smile. People are generally nice in California and the library staff is not an exception. I will get back to you soon with less nerdy stuff: The Fall has finally arrived in Stanford. Although not as charming as the pictures you may see in New England, it is still something worth writing about.

[luxus4me]

The Verge http://j.mp/2gAXiTR

Look, there are some things that will happen with this review that are outside of my control. Firstly, if you’ve ever seen an episode of Doctor Who, or if one has even aired somewhere in your vicinity, you’ll exclaim that this Bang & Olufsen speaker looks just like a Dalek. If you need time to make up a silly pun to celebrate that resemblance, please take a moment. I already have.

The other thing that will inevitably happen is you’ll guffaw at the price of $1,995. Most people can outfit their entire homes with Sonos speakers for less than this single chunk of B&O equipment costs. The BeoSound 2 is a hard sell as a regular 360-degree wireless speaker, because there are just so many competitive options out there. But the thing with Bang & Olufsen is that this company never tries to merely convince you through mere functionality. It does functional design, yes, but ultimately B&O is as much in the home furnishings and decoration business as it is in the tech realm.

This speaker has attracted as many admiring looks as it has questions about what the hell it is

Buying one of these speakers is as much about the highly distinctive aesthetics as it is about the musical performance. Over the two months I’ve had one for review in my home, the BeoSound 2 has attracted admiring looks, smiles, and questions about what it even is. It has also produced brilliant sound that’s left me deeply satisfied.

I’m not going to tell you that spending $2,000 on a pretty speaker is good and rational, but I’m not going to tell you that it’s dumb either. I really like this speaker, and I just can’t call something overpriced if I enjoy it as much as I’ve enjoyed my time with the BeoSound 2.

If we start with the design, the BeoSound 2 is a tapering cylinder that measures 43cm (nearly 17 inches) in height and 4.1kg (9lb) in weight. There are discreet ports in its base for an Ethernet cable or a 3.5mm analog audio connector. The primary method of connecting to it, though, is intended to be wireless: whether through Apple AirPlay, Google Cast, DLNA, Spotify Connect, or simple Bluetooth 4.1 pairing. Inside the thick aluminum shell reside four speakers: one tweeter, two for the mid-range, and one large woofer to provide low-end rumble.

Bang & Olufsen can do things with aluminum that no other company can achieve

The thing that will be hard to see in photos or appreciate from afar is just how good the B&O construction is. This is the first proper Bang & Olufsen product I’ve yet reviewed — all of the headphones I’ve had from the company have come from the more consumer-oriented B&O Play sub-brand — and it’s left a very positive impression on me. The aluminum BeoSound 2 enclosure looks smooth from a distance, but it actually has an almost microscopic pattern of horizontal ridging that gives its surface an appealingly rough texture. I can’t offer a functional reason for why this might be better, but it’s certainly different. There’s no chance of you accidentally coming across a surface that feels like this in your everyday life, and that just enhances the sense of alien technology that’s already conveyed by the visual design.

I really like the portability and adaptability of this speaker. It’s just as much at home residing on a living room floor as it is on a kitchen table or a bedroom desk. And when I want to move it around, its shape is convenient enough to carry with just one hand.

The volume control is an infinitely rotating knob at the top of the unit, which sits atop a thing Bang & Olufsen calls an acoustic lens. Basically, the tweeter fires down and its output is then diffused outward by the clever architecture of B&O’s design. This is an approach the company favors with its flagship speakers too, though I’m still not convinced that it’s necessary strictly for acoustics. I’m pretty sure the flamboyance of the appearance is part of the deal.

Behind the 360-degree grill that wraps around the BeoSound 2, you’ll find the two mid-range speakers, mounted back to back in order to provide the fullest and widest sound. The woofer is at the bottom, mounted upside down so as to make use of the full capacity of the cabinet. I’m describing these details without critiquing them, because I happen to agree with everything B&O has done in terms of acoustics. Every company will tell you that its design is optimized and optimal, but in the case of the BeoSound 2, the eventual performance really does agree with the marketing spiel about thoughtful design. This speaker can fill large rooms with sound easily, and it doesn’t feel like a single-point audio source either.

I find the BeoSound 2 sound lush. Take note that I’m not calling it accurate, neutral, faithful, or any of those other terms that are used to describe boring speakers. If this were a display, it’d be a richly saturated OLED screen that embraces its vividness rather than being embarrassed by it. There’s a real sense of dynamism and muscle coming out of this speaker. The bass is exaggerated and oh so satisfying. I make no apologies for loving this big bottom end. Watching movies, playing games, and listening to modern electronic music through the BeoSound 2 is just a pleasure. The elevated bass makes explosions and bass drops feel hefty and impactful, but it doesn’t impinge on the mids and highs in a way that would disturb or undermine vocals or on-screen dialogue.

Fans of classical or acoustic music would not be well served by a tuning such as the one Bang & Olufsen has devised for the BeoSound 2. If you want to hear the intricate detail of tweeting birds in a Japanese garden as a heartbroken ronin mournfully plucks the strings of a lute, you’re probably better off looking elsewhere. If, on the other hand, you just want to immerse yourself in some hour-long deadmau5 mix with a throbbing bassline, this B&O speaker is one of the best for that task. This isn’t a thinking person’s audio system, it’s a lazy person’s shortcut to just enjoying the simple pleasures of music.

This is an indulgence: of the senses and the wallet

Bang & Olufsen has a multiroom wireless solution and there’s a bevy of options for connecting up the BeoSound 2 to streaming apps and services, but I primarily used the wired and Bluetooth connectivity. As a PC speaker, this Dalek lookalike did a surprisingly good job, though I found myself preferring the wired connection to avoid lag between the video and audio. You can even game with it, though obviously you won’t get the same surround sound as you might from a multi-point speaker system or some good headphones. I just like that it worked at all. And as for more casual music and radio listening, the BeoSound 2 gives me no reasons to complain. The top of the unit functions as a play-pause button too, so I can do the essential volume and play toggling just with the hardware on the speaker itself.

BeoSound 2 next to Dell’s 32-inch 8K monitor

As Bluetooth speakers go, this Bang & Olufsen one is surely among the most indulgent. And if I could tell you that I can get the same sound pleasure out of some other competing speaker, I’d say B&O has overshot its pricing and needs to be more competitive. But I’ve listened to the entire range of Sonos speakers, I’ve spent a long time with the $999 Naim Mu-So Qb, and I’m familiar with the majority of other competitors too. None provide me with the warm, enveloping sound of the BeoSound 2, none play to my musical tastes in quite the same way.

We can joke about its robot invader appearance and we can poke fun at its $1,995 price (because, come on, who’s paying that much for a wireless speaker?), but we shouldn’t dismiss the BeoSound 2 as a bad product. Bang & Olufsen could have given us some anodyne, Bose-like sound and just relied on its branding and stellar reputation for aluminum craftsmanship to carry the BeoSound 2 sales into the luxury segment. But the company opted to win on sound quality as well: not by being the most faithful, but by being the most fun. The end result is a speaker that’s as desirable as it is unaffordable.

Photography by Vlad Savov

7.5 Verge Score

Good Stuff

Lush, room-filling sound

Exquisite aluminum craftsmanship

Adaptable to a wide range of uses and positions

Bad Stuff

Much pricier than most of its competition

Some sound fidelity sacrificed in the name of fun

The Dalek jokes will never end

http://j.mp/2gzvrDG via The Verge URL : http://j.mp/2r68aKz