#one day I’ll get a good recording setup

[rosesofenvy]

ɪ ᴄᴀɴ’ᴛ ꜰᴏʀɢᴇᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ɴɪɢʜᴛ ɪ ᴍᴇᴛ ʏᴏᴜ

ᴛʜᴀᴛ’ꜱ ᴀʟʟ ɪ’ᴍ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍɪɴɢ ᴏꜰ

ᴀɴᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ᴄᴀʟʟ ɪᴛ ᴍᴀᴅɴᴇꜱꜱ

ᴀʜ, ʙᴜᴛ ɪ ᴄᴀʟʟ ɪᴛ ʟᴏᴠᴇ

This handwritten transcription is not very rhythmically accurate but the notes are correct - I’m working on getting it into musescore :)

[sweetcomicval]

𝐓𝐈𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐎𝐍 | 𝐉𝐉𝐇

pairing: jeong jaehyun x fem!reader song choice: rockin’ around the christmas tree - miley cyrus word count: 1.2 k PEACH & PINE MASTERPOST

As the evening settled in, Jaehyun tucked Teo into bed, the soft glow of the nightlight casting shadows on the walls. Gazing up at his dad with his droopy eyes, Teo spoke up with a yawn, “Dad, can we decorate for Christmas tomorrow? Please?”

Jaehyun smiled, gently brushing a stray lock of hair from Teo’s forehead. “Of course. We’ll start when Mommy gets home, and I’ll have everything ready, okay?” Teo's eyes fluttered open a bit wider, a hint of his usual energy peeking through his sleepy exterior, and he nodded. Jaehyun leaned closer, pressing a tender kiss to his forehead. "Good night, little man."

By the next morning, Teo was practically bouncing with energy, but before the holiday fun could start, there was daycare. As Jaehyun secured him into his car seat, Teo’s little face turned serious. “Don’t forget the decorations, Dad,” he said, his voice all business.

Jaehyun laughed, giving him a playful wink. “I won’t forget. Pinky promise.” After buckling Teo in, Jaehyun walked to your window with a teasing smile. “Have a good day, love. I'll handle the Christmas prep.”

You glanced up at him, a grin tugging at your lips. “You better. And don’t break anything!”. Jaehyun chuckled, leaning in for a quick kiss. “I'll try my best. Drive safe.”

With a wave, he stepped back, watching as you and Teo pulled out of the driveway, off to start your day.

Having the house all to himself, Jaehyun got to work. He dug out the storage boxes, each one packed with ornaments, garlands, lights, and memories of your little family. He spent the better part of the morning carefully collecting everything, checking that the lights worked, and making sure none of the fragile ornaments were damaged. He couldn’t wait to see Teo’s face when he returned home.

Later, the front door burst open, and Teo came charging in, his little feet thumping against the wooden floor. He stopped as he spotted the tall Christmas tree, standing proudly but still bare in the corner of the living room.

“Dad! The tree!” Teo yelled, running over to take a closer look, his excitement bubbling over.

Jaehyun smiled, kneeling down next to him. “I know! It’s all ready for us to decorate,” he said, a twinkle of pride in his eyes. Teo's features brightened with happiness. “Can we start now?”

Jaehyun chuckled, tickling his tummy. “First, we need to eat lunch, and we should wait for Mommy to get home from work, too.”

Teo’s shoulders drooped for a moment, but he quickly perked up. “Did you make jumeokbap?” he asked, already imagining the rice balls.

As they ate lunch, Teo suddenly remembered. “Oh! Dad, do you want to listen to the gift Mommy and I got for you?”

Jaehyun smiled widely at his son, warmth spreading through him. “I’d love to, baby,” he replied, wiping some stray rice off Teo’s chin with a napkin.

Teo followed Jaehyun over to the music setup, a cozy corner of the living room. Jaehyun gently lowered the needle onto the edge of the vinyl record, and the melodies of “O Tannenbaum” filled the room. Teo’s mouth dropped open as the record spun, the music wrapping around them like magic. Jaehyun smiled softly at Teo, his heart swelling with affection. “Thank you so much, my Teo. It’s a wonderful gift.”

By the time the sun started setting, Jaehyun heard the front door creak open. You stepped inside, cheeks flushed from the cold, looking a bit tired but still glowing.

“Mommy!” Teo shouted, leaping up from his toys and running straight to you, “You’re back!”. You knelt down to scoop him into a hug, your heart melting at his enthusiasm. “Yes, sweetheart! I know you’ve been waiting for me to decorate the tree. Let’s do it now!” You kissed his cheek, smiling as his joy lit up the room.

Teo grabbed your hand, practically pulling you into the living room. “Mommy, look at the tree!” he said, bouncing up and down; his excitement was palpable as he pointed to the Christmas tree still bare in the corner. Jaehyun looked up from the boxes, showing you his dimpled smile. “What do you think?”

“Looks like you’ve been busy,” you said with a playful grin as you set your bag down. Jaehyun walked over, leaning in to give you a quick kiss. “All set, just like I promised. And so far, nothing’s broken.”

You and Jaehyun started unpacking the decorations, spreading them out on the coffee table. Teo jumped right in to help, carefully hanging the ornaments on the lower branches of the tree. “How does this one look, Mommy?” he asked, pointing proudly to a slightly crooked ornament.

You smiled warmly, crouching down to get a closer look. “It looks perfect, Teo. You’re doing an amazing job!”

As you all worked together, Jaehyun couldn’t help but pause for a moment, watching Teo concentrate on hanging each ornament to the best of his ability. It reminded him of doing the same with his parents, and now he was able to share this experience with his own family.

The tree was almost done—just a few more ornaments left and the star. But as Jaehyun reached for another box, he heard a loud crunch that seemed to echo through the room. His face froze as he looked down—he had stepped on the star.

“Jaehyun!” you gasped, holding back a laugh. “The star!” Your hands covering your mouth as Jaehyun winced, holding up the now-bent star.

“Teo, I’m so sorry,” Jaehyun knelt beside him, guilt washing over him. “I didn’t mean to break our star.” He looked genuinely apologetic, holding the bent piece up for Teo to see.

You stifled a laugh, walking over and patting Jaehyun’s shoulder. “It’s okay. We can get a new one.”

Teo looked up, a small frown creasing his brow. "Don’t worry, Dad," he mumbled, attempting to sound more courageous than he felt. "Maybe we can make a new one!" He gave a tentative smile, hoping to cheer his dad up with his cute dimples. “You want to make a new star?” Jaehyun talked to Teo in a pout.

Teo nodded, a hint of excitement in his voice. "Yeah! In art class, we made ornaments with paper, glue and glitter. I can show you how!"

Jaehyun smiled back at him, his shoulders relaxing. “Alright, Teo. Let’s make the coolest star ever.” He gave Teo a high five, his earlier guilt fading.

The three of you gathered around the table, with some glitter foam and other craft supplies you had laying around. Jaehyun cut out the shape, you stitched it together with a needle and golden thread, and Teo added some stickers, resembling a face. It wasn’t a stylish tree topper, but it was perfect for you all.

You suggested ordering pizza for dinner, and after a quick clean-up, you all sat comfortably in the living room to order. “What should we get on the pizza?” Jaehyun asked, looking at Teo. “Cherry tomatoes! And extra cheese!” Teo shouted excitedly. You smiled and chimed in, “Can we get one with Beyond Meat for me too, please, love?”

Later, with full stomachs and the tree glowing softly beside you, Jaehyun wrapped his arms around both you and Teo. “You know, I think this might be the best Christmas yet,” he whispered, his voice warm and content.

With Teo on his shoulders, Jaehyun carefully placed the new and shiny handmade star on top of the tree. Despite the earlier mishap, it felt like the perfect start to the holiday season—maybe even better because of it.

a/n: things are starting to look festive! reblogs and comments are appreciated ☺️ the divider is from @enchanthings 💘

[bengiyo]

My Love Mix Up TH: The Adaptation Changes to the Class Play

I’m generally in favor of the cross-cultural adaptations of BL. I am on record saying plainly that I think the Thai version of Cherry Magic is the best version of the story we’ve seen brought to screen. However, I do not like what’s happening in My Love Mix Up and I need to talk about it. I’ve been thinking about the class play storyline since last Friday, and it bothers me because they fundamentally changed the messaging and themes around that sequence. 

I want to take the time to compare and contrast both versions of this because after two episodes, the Thai version is basically in the same place as the beginning of episode 3 of the Japanese live action.

Kieta Hatsukoi’s Take

We begin episode 2 with Aoki sorting the love triangle he’s suddenly found himself in, before committing to helping Hashimoto connect with Ida even if he confused Ida by claiming the eraser was his.

Seeing an opportunity, Aoki accidentally signs himself up alongside Ida to help on stage setup.

Before our complications ensue, there’s only 1 day left before they put on the show.

I’ll skip over the portion where they’re working on the stage stuff for brevity.

The next day, the leads reveal that they can’t perform because they got sick, and so the class has to scramble, and pragmatically decide that the stage design team doesn’t have any other responsibilities during the play and have the time to fill in the role. The class suggests Hashimoto but she’s clearly nervous.

Aoki, wanting to help her, volunteers to play Cinderella.

The class decides to let him play and agrees as a group.

Aida suggests Ida play the prince.

The class rallies to prep cue cards quickly so they can still do the play.

Aoki is not a great actor, but he commits to the bit and is willing to wear the drag required for the role.

Ida is also not that great of an actor, but he looks good!

After the play, Aoki has changed back into his uniform during the class party, but Ida is still taking pictures with people at the class’s request.

The class president starts a celebration of Aoki and Ida, but then the jokes take a turn and make Aoki uncomfortable.

The teacher, Aida, and Ida are uncomfortable about this.

Ida chides the class for teasing Aoki, reminds them that he did it for their sake, and leaves an uncomfortable silence. Aoki breaks the tension with a joke about himself, and the teacher shuffles the class out.

Finally, Ida checks on Aoki.

The My Love Mix Up TH Take

The Thai version opens directly with the class play organization before doing a simplified voiceover to check in with Atom, who says he wants to help them.

I’ll skip over the same stage prep stuff, and the leads calling in. The class suggests Mudmee play the role, but she is nervous about being on stage.

Atom tries to volunteer instead, and is immediately shot down for gendered reasons by the female director and then the rest of the class.

Half encourages them to select Kongthap as the Prince because he says Atom gets tongue-tied when he’s nervous.

We aren’t given a sense of the timeline, but it feels like they have a few days to work on this since Mudmee leaves rehearsal. 

Atom then stays behind to help Kongthap on his practice.

The day of the play, Mudmee’s stage fright gets the better of her, and so Atom takes the stage on his own.

The class rolls with it, and then two fill-in actors (one of which wasn’t recommended as an option because he gets too nervous and tongue tied) go on to nail three musical numbers that also include a dance.

Afterwards, Mudmee apologizes, and the female director says it was the class’s fault, so now is the time to celebrate.

Next, three boys begin to tease Atom in a most homophobic way.

Atom is uncomfortable, and Kongthap gets angry on Atom’s behalf. He chides them for teasing Atom who saved the class.

The female director then comes back, tells Kongthap he spoke well, and then kicks out the other three boys and their ‘toxic masculinity.’ 

After an awkward pause, the class is shuffled out for fireworks by another student, and Atom checks on Kongthap.

Why Point Out These Changes?

The reason why I’m so bothered about these changes is that it removes the collective responsibility from the story. 

In the Japanese version, Aoki volunteers and the class agrees to support his choice. It then requires them to work together to scramble and make sure the play is as much of a success as it can be with two unprepared actors in the lead roles. It also means that Aoki and Ida aren’t actually great at either role, but Ida is attractive in his prince outfit, while Aoki is funny in his drag. The play is a success! However, it is also the class that begins to collectively tease Aoki in a somewhat homophobic way. The teacher looks on, uncertain, and it’s Ida who chides the class for giving Aoki a hard time after doing something to help them. 

The fact that the whole class signed on to make Aoki Cinderella, and then teased him for playing an apparent queer role as a class matters! This works as a commentary about how we don’t mind enjoying queerness as entertainment, but then make fun of people for actually doing it. This lands especially hard because Aoki did this for Hashimoto’s sake, and he’s going through his own queer awakening. The role of collective homophobia, and how he is incapable of really hiding anything about himself, is a critical piece of the story to come. 

In the Thai version, the class explicitly rejects Atom and highlights his faults for why he isn’t a good choice. He then goes on to defy them, I guess, to help Mudmee anyway? It ends up not working for me because I don’t see what the point of Atom being secretly good at acting and singing contributes here when the play is just an activity they’re doing for their class. I don’t know what role exceptionalism is meant to play here because he ends up defying the class to help them instead. Moreover, the play has been the most well-funded and stylish part of the show so far, and felt out of place for a small class production.

Perhaps I’m overthinking it. Because these are the leads from My School President, and GMMTV has concerts to put on, they need to amplify these school play scenes to sell tickets later. Is the brand management around Fourth the reason they didn’t have the class sign on because then they would have to put him in drag? Director Au was an AD and performer on Bad Buddy where they decided to do an m/m version of a classic play. Why not do the same here?

I also find it disingenuous that the female director is the first person to shoot down Atom for not being a girl as Cinderella, and then is the one to kick out the three boys for their apparent toxic masculinity. I think by making it Atom’s choice to take the stage, the boys’ choice to troll Atom, and the director’s choice to get rid of them, it reduces the social politics of socialized homophobia down to an individual problem. By removing the collective role of the class in this situation, the show loses the potency of the role we all play in the consumption and production of queer media and the tension between wanting these shows for entertainment while holding homophobic viewpoints. 

I have other issues with this episode as an adaptation, but I wanted to focus on the big writing changes here. It’s frustrating because in a side by side comparison, the Thai show hits many of the same moments as the source material and the Japanese live action, but then it goes on to change and add things that generally confuse the story, and I wonder if that’s what contributed to some of the confusion in scenes I’m seeing from the actors in some of the new content (who I actually think are doing fine to good with the content). I also worry that removing some of the collectivist messaging and the supervisory role of a teacher is going to weaken a key storyline that should be coming in the future. 

[cyberl6ve]

𝐒𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐎𝐋𝐎 𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐓𝐒 ─ 𝐁𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐇𝐃𝐀𝐘

CHECK 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 FOR MORE!! (SFW!!)

𓈒⠀𓂃⠀⠀˖⠀𓇬⠀˖⠀⠀𓂃⠀𓈒

── .✦ : For the Triplets' birthday, their best friend Y/N planned the ultimate surprise. She convinced Nick, Matt, and Chris they had a routine meeting, then used the time to deck out their house with festive decorations. When the triplets arrived home, they were met with a "Surprise!" and a vibrant party scene, complete with balloons and their favorite treats. The triplets were overjoyed and grateful, celebrating their special day with laughter and fun, all thanks to Y/N’s thoughtful planning.

· · ─ ·𖥸· ─ · · 𝐁𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐇𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋 !! · · ─ ·𖥸· ─ · ·

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

⊱ ۫ ׅ ✧ : 𝐀𝐬 𝐈 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐬’ 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞, I could hear the boys' voices coming from inside. They were getting ready for the “meeting” I had told them about— a cover-up for the surprise birthday party I had planned. With anticipation, I took a deep breath and prepared to knock on the door.

As I entered the house, I stepped into the living room and saw Matt sitting at the table, checking his phone. Nick was standing nearby, looking in the fridge for a drink. Chris was making his way up the stairs when suddenly, I exclaimed, “Happy birthday, you three!”

With a smile on my face, I walked over to each of them, one by one, enveloping them in warm hugs.

“How does it feel to be a year older,” I quipped, playfully ruffling Matt's hair.

“Watch it,” Matt warned with a smirk, returning my affection with a small punch on the arm.

I chuckled, then turned to Nick, who was still searching the fridge. “Nick, you’re not getting any younger, you know.”

Nick glanced over at me, his lips curving into a lazy smile. “Thanks for reminding me, Sherlock.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at Nick’s dry humor. Turning to Chris, who had now joined us, I raised an eyebrow. “And you, birthday boy, how does it feel to be another year older?”

Chris gave me a sheepish grin. “Honestly? Kinda the same.” I laughed, giving his shoulder a reassuring pat. “Well, at least you’re aging gracefully.”

I glanced at my phone, making sure everything was on track. “Alright, guys, I hate to cut this short, but you’ve got a ‘meeting’ to catch.”

The three boys exchanged glances, their faces feigning mock disappointment. Matt even faked a pout.

“Yeah, yeah,” I teased, grinning at their theatrics. “You’d better get going. I’ll see you guys later.”

The trio each gave me a goodbye wave, walking down the stairs and out the garage door, leaving me alone in the house to prepare the ultimate surprise.

After the boys had left, I walked out of the house, heading towards the back of my car. With a sense of anticipation, I opened the back door and began to take out all the decorations I had prepared. Boxes of balloons, colorful streamers, and even a cake were carefully placed in my arms. I couldn't wait to transform their house into a birthday paradise.

With each item retrieved, my excitement grew. I had thought of every detail to make this party special for the triplets. The balloons would add a festive touch, the streamers would create a vibrant atmosphere, and the cake would be the centerpiece of the celebration.

Closing the car door, I carried the decorations to the front door, a mixture of nerves and excitement coursing through me. I knew the boys would be surprised and happy once they saw what I had done. As I stepped inside, I began the task of turning their house into a birthday haven, decorating every corner with care and precision.

As I continued to decorate, I glanced at my vlog camera resting on the table. An idea struck me— why not film a short video documenting the surprise party setup for my YouTube channel?

It would be a fun way to capture the journey and document the boys' reaction when they returned home. With a smile, I picked up the camera and hit record.

“Good morning, everyone! I'm here at the triplets house preparing a surprise birthday party for them” I explained into the camera, trying to contain my excitement. “Right now they off to a fake meeting, but little do they know, their house will be transformed into a birthday wonderland.”

I continued filming, showing the various decorations I had prepared— the colorful balloons, the long streamers, and the birthday cake sitting proudly in the middle of the kitchen table. “I can't wait to see their faces when they arrive home,” I whispered, a smile playing on my lips.

I looked into the camera, my smile widening. “I’m going to try my best to hide this camera so I can capture their reactions when they walk in and see the surprise.”

An hour or two had past and I heard the sound of the car pulling into the driveway, my heart started racing. I quickly placed the camera on the windowsill in a spot where it would capture the perfect angle, making sure it was well hidden from sight.

With a deep breath, I clutched a confetti canon tightly in my hand, ready for the big moment when they would walk in.

I waited anxiously, hearing the boys' faint giggles as they approached inside the house. My heart was beating faster with every second, my hand gripping the canon tightly. Then, suddenly, I caught a glimpse of them walking up the stairs.

With a loud cheer, I yelled, “Happy birthday!!” and twisted the confetti canon, sending a shower of colorful confetti flying everywhere.

The boys froze in surprise, their jaws dropping as the confetti rained down around them. They stared at the scene before them, a mix of shock and joy etched on their faces.

Their eyes widened as they took in the sight of the house transformed into a birthday paradise. The balloons, the streamers, the cake— it was all there, screaming “Happy Birthday!”.

Chris, being the most exuberant of the triplets, was the first to respond. Without a word, he darted towards me, a huge smile on his face. Before I knew what was happening, he scooped me up and spun me around, his strong arms lifting me off the ground with ease.

Caught off guard by Chris's sudden action, I instinctively wrapped my legs around his waist and draped my arms around his neck, holding onto him tightly. With a mischievous laugh, he continued carrying me towards the main room, his grip steady and secure.

Nick, ever the observant one, smirked and crossed his arms. “I knew you were up to something.”

Matt, still trying to process the situation, looked at me with disbelief. “So that meeting was fake?”

I chuckled, enjoying their reactions. “Yeah, I came up with the idea the other day. You guys are so easy to fool.”

Chris, who was still holding me, let out a hearty laugh. “You really got us good this time, Y/N.”

I grinned, feeling proud of my sneaky plan. “Well, you three should know by now that I always have surprises up my sleeve.”

Unaware of the camera still rolling, Chris carefully set me down onto my feet, but not before I noticed the tears welling up in his eyes.

I raised an eyebrow, concerned. “Chris, why are you crying?”

He gave me a sheepish smile, trying to shrug it off. “It's nothing, it's just... This is the best birthday surprise”

His words hit me in the chest, causing my heart to swell with affection. The sight of tears in his eyes, despite his attempt to hide them, spoke volumes about his gratitude and emotion right now.

“Oh, Chris,” I whispered, bringing my hands up to his face and gently wiping away his tears with my thumbs. “You guys deserve the best.”

Seeing Chris emotional, I gently motioned towards Nick and Matt. Understanding my cue, they approached us, wrapping their arms around me and Chris, enveloping us in a group hug.

Chris leaned into the embrace, his tears slowly subsiding as he felt the love and support from his brothers and me.

We stood there for a moment, wrapped in a tight embrace, the warmth and comfort of the hug washing away any remaining tension and sadness. I could feel Chris's breathing slow down as he found solace in our circle of friendship and solidarity.

As we released the hug, I took a step back, noticing the camera still recording on the windowsill. I chuckled softly under my breath, realizing that none of the boys had noticed it.

With a sly smile, I walked over to the camera, picking it up before turning to the boys. Their eyes widened in surprise, realizing that the camera had been filming the whole time.

Matt broke the silence first, his eyebrows raised in surprise. “How long has that been there?”

I shrugged, holding the camera up in the air. “Long enough to capture your priceless faces.”

Nick let out a low whistle. “Damn, we really didn't notice it, huh?”

I nodded, a mischievous glint in my eyes. “You guys were too caught up in the surprise to notice anything else.”

Chris, regaining his composure, wiped away the last remnants of tears and chuckled softly. “I can't believe the camera caught me in that state.”

He glanced at the camera, a mix of embarrassment and amusement on his face. “You gotta make sure you edit that out, Y/N.”

I chuckled, knowing full well that I had no intention of editing out Chris's emotional moment. I looked directly into the camera, giving it a sly wink.

“Don't worry, I'll make sure to leave that bit in,” I replied with a smirk, making no promises to actually edit it out.

With the camera safely resting on the tripod, I gathered the attention of the boys once more. I picked up the beautifully decorated cake, now adorned with lit candles, and stood before them.

Taking a deep breath, I began to sing “Happy Birthday” in a soft, melodic voice, the flickering candlelight casting a warm glow on their faces. The three boys joined in, adding their voices to the birthday song and creating a moment of joyful harmony.

As the song came to an end, they blew out the candles in unison, extinguishing the tiny flames and sending wisps of smoke into the air. A ripple of applause filled the room, as we all celebrated the successful surprise and the beginning of another year for the triplets.

This birthday marked a significant milestone for the triplets! Turning 21 is a special event, opening up a world of new experiences and possibilities. With each passing year, they continued to grow and embrace the adventures that life had in store for them.

As they now stood at the threshold of adulthood, it was a time for reflection, celebration, and looking ahead to what lay beyond. The triplets would undoubtedly embark on new journeys, armed with the wisdom, resilience, and strong bond they had forged over the years.

At 21, the boys had come a long way, their lives filled with laughter, friendship, and achievements. It was a time to celebrate not just the number, but the incredible people they had become and the memories they had shared up until this point.

Matt was the first to speak up, a wide grin plastered on his face. “Can you believe we're finally 21?”

Nick chimed in, a playful twinkle in his eyes. “Yeah, we can legally do so much now. What's the first thing on the agenda?”

Chris, always the thoughtful one, added, “We’ve come a long way, and I couldn't ask for a better best friend and brothers to share this journey with.”

The three of them smiled at each other, each one reflecting on the growth and experiences they had shared over the years.

They were not just triplets, but three best friends who had been through ups and downs together, supporting and encouraging one another every step of the way.

As their conversation wound down, the focus turned to the delicious cake sitting on the table, a testament to the thought and care that had gone into the surprise party.

Nick, always one for a sweet treat, eagerly rubbed his hands together. “Alright, enough talking, let's dig into that cake!”

Matt nodded eagerly, his mouth watering at the sight of the cake. “You don't have to tell me twice.”

Chris chuckled, agreeing. “Yeah, Y/N went through all this effort to prepare this delicious cake for us. We can't let it go to waste.”

With excitement, the boys gathered around the table, each one anticipating the first bite of the freshly baked cake. They knew that every bite would be infused with love, celebration, and the sweetness of another year of friendship and fun memories.

Authors note: HAPPY STURNIOLO DAY!!! these boys mean so much to me and clicking on that video three years ago has been the best choice of my life. watching their videos make me feel so warm and loved and i can’t thank them enough for brightening up my darkest days <3

© CYBERL6VE

[malice-death]

Murder Drones College/Human au Pt.3

The Cafe Setup/Strangers Meet.

Nathaniel enjoyed many things about his job at JcJenson’s (In Spaaace) Cafe.

He started working over two years ago, and hadn’t found any reason to leave.

Truth be told though, the cafe isn’t really on campus per-say, but since it was so close to Copper Nine University, located within the city of Copper 9, people just say it’s the campus’s cafe.

On the more important parts he worked hard to maintain a great record at his job, and he hoped to one day admit to his crush about his feelings.

Still he parked in the back, and got, while rain started to pour.

Having given his only umbrella to Cynthia, he just ran to the back door, since it lead to the locker room.

Once he inside he could hear the infamous arguing of J and V in the front, as he traded his jacket for his apron in his locker.

Walking to the front, he found J and V at their respective locations in the cafe, and hollering at each other.

Customers came and went, as they did orders, and while almost always Nathaniel ran the cash register with V.

Vanessa Cutters, was his long term childhood friend, who he had a crush on since forever, but has never done much about his feelings.

Humming along to the song that was playing, he turned his head towards V.

“Crazy weather today, am I right?”

V regarded him through squinted eyes, before shrugging.

“I guess, it didn’t really start until now though.”

Chuckling nervously Nathaniel rubbed the back of his head.

“Yeah you’re right. Hey do you happen to have a spare umbrella?”

V shook her head as she prepared another order.

“No, I happen to have left my spare back at my lodgings. Have you checked with J to see if you could borrow one of her several umbrellas?”

Jessica whipped her head around at the statement, stopping her assault on the older coffee machine.

“No one has earned the right to even touch my branded umbrellas, you can just suffer in the rain N!”

With a huff she returned to trying to fix the machine. It was a good thing that had two more coffee machines.

Sighing, he hadn’t wanted to get fully soaked, but at least he knew that Cynthia wouldn’t be soaked.

“Thanks anyway guys.”

The doors open to another customer, and he continued on with his work. Chatting with V, as she ranted about the unfairness of college exams.

————————————————————————

It was only when it came time for him to head to his class that he clocked out of work.

Jessica knew he would be back tomorrow like always, and with that he left to get to his class, the only problem was that his building was a hour’s walk from the cafe, but it was still pouring like crazy.

He debated taking his car, but remembered he would need to come back for his stuff from his locker anyway.

Rubbing his chin he took care of a few more orders, with V still working on cleaning up the tables.

It was only when he was wiping down the counters when a new person walked, and it almost seemed like she changed the whole atmosphere of the cafe.

Many patrons only snuck a glance, and than resumed to what they were doing.

The stranger was shorter than him, even shorter than V, but she gave off an aura of danger.

Nathaniel didn’t feel what everyone else was feeling, instead he gave his usual smile, and greeeted her.

“Hello miss, what can I get for you today?”

The woman just shrugged, that even looking at him, as she pulled out her wallet.

“Largest size of black coffee that you have.”

Nathaniel blinked at the statement, typing in the order.

“I’ll make that a large thank you, are you sure you don’t want anything with that miss?”

The woman looked at him, dark amethyst eyes peered up at him puzzlement.

“Yes, I’m quite certain with my order.”

Nathaniel nodded, as he totaled up her order.

“Alright that will be 8.24.”

The woman just pulled out a ten, and passed it to him.

“Keep the change.”

She moved out of the way for the next customer, but J took over for him as he went to make the order.

It had been a while since he made a simple black coffee, but that gave him an idea.

Once he wa done with the order he looked to see where the woman went, only to see her typing away on a laptop at one of the further back tables.

Smiling he walked over to her, and set down the coffee.

The woman muttered a thanks and went back to typing away.

It was only when he took two steps before he heard the annoyed cough of the woman behind.

Turning aroubd to see her glaring at him.

She held up the cup as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

“Why did you put cinnamon in my coffee?”

Nathaniel blinked before remembering what he had done, giving her a sheepish smile, scratching the back of his head.

“I had a random thought and wanted to see if it would taste good, I really hadn’t meant to put it in your coffee, but it’s what I drink sometimes when I’m studying.”

The woman frowned at the statement, taking another sip of the coffee.

Nathaniel tilted his head slightly.

“Do you like it?”

The woman shrugged, “Bite me” was all she said in response.

Nathaniel nodded, and than gestured to the window next to her.

“You wouldn’t happen to be staying for the next few hours right?”

The woman raised a single brow, but nodded.

“Yeah, just until the rain lets up, can’t really bike when it’s raining.”

Taking that as an opportunity he sat across from her.

“I’m Nathaniel by the way, but you can call me N if you need something easier to say.”

He gave her a false salute, in response though the woman just nodded, her mouth a thin line.

“I’m Uzi.”

She didn’t offer for a hand shake or anything, so he proceeded.

“I was wondering if you would allow me to use your umbrella?”

The woman, or Uzi just frowned deeper, but before Nathaniel could take back his words, she pulled out a purple umbrella with crows all over it.

She held it out to him, with a stern look.

“I’ll expect this back when the rain’s done.”

With that she placed it on his side of the table. He could sense that she was hesitant to pass the umbrella to him, but he gave her one more salute.

“I Nathaniel Sillious Wolfmoore, promise to return your umbrella the next time we meet in this cafe.”

He placed a hand over his heart to make sure that she knew how serious he was, he glanced at her to see her simply nod.

“I’ll hold you to it.” She said, a trace of a smile one her face.

He counted as a win, and rose to his feet.

“Alright, I’ll see you around Uzi.”

Uzi waved back, more confused if anything.

But with that he left, the rain still pouring endless, and it made Nathaniel glad that his and Cynthia apartment was on the second floor.

When he checked his phone for the time and saw that he was going to be close to being late he hastened his pace, making sure that the umbrella was aloft above him.

Still he’ll remember his promise.

Thank you for reading. See you in part three

[undreaming-fanfiction]

With This Ring (11)

Chapter 10 here, Ao3 here

They met Dart and Ozzy in front of the Buckley house. The elderly cat just announced that everything was in order, and that he was too old for all this excitement. “I’m going to take a nap home before Dustin organizes a search party for me,” he yawned. “Ozzy will stay with you. I’ll come to check on you around lunchtime, so no more scandals and escapades, please.” 

Eddie crouched to scratch his head as a thank you. “Sleep well, Dart.” He then picked up Ozzy and safely stashed him in his usual pocket. 

Robin’s house was, as always, peaceful. The sight of the imperfect garden made to be used, not just viewed, the peeling window paint, the weird gnome statuettes peeking from random corners, it all made Steve feel more at home than he’d ever been in his own house. The woods by the back window were dark and quiet. If they were careful, they wouldn’t be heard or seen by anyone.

The whole house was dark too. Steve was confused, Robin should have been home, but maybe she had a sleepover with Nancy, you know, to console her friend after the groom had disappeared. He hoped that was the case. 

Eddie was eyeing the colorful front door. “Do you want me to break in? If you have a hairpin or something like that, I’m like ninety percent confident I could pick the lock.”

Steve laughed out loud. “While it sounds absolutely charming, we’re trying to look inconspicous. Let’s go for the boring solution instead.” With that, he reached under the ugliest gnome statuette - it had amanitas growing out of its beard, why? - and produced the key.

“You really know how to show a guy a good time,” grumbled Eddie, but followed him through the door anyway. 

Not even an hour later, they were ready to start recording. Steve brewed a huge pot of coffee to keep him awake. He didn’t think he could sleep anyway, but Eddie was giving him secret guilty looks at every suppressed yawn, even suggesting Steve could take a nap, that Eddie would keep watch, no worries. “I haven’t slept in a year, so I didn’t realize,” he muttered through a strand of hair he was chewing on. “I don’t want you fainting mid-song, and that couch looks comfy enough, so how about it?” 

Steve just gave him a blank stare and downed a massive mug of coffee in one go, almost burning his tongue on it. As if he’d waste a single second he could spend with Eddie. 

Their setup was small, but Steve thought it didn’t need anything else. The beauty of Eddie’s music was that it didn’t require a huge band or an orchestra to pull on the listener’s heartstrings. Eddie didn’t have any formal musical education, he didn’t know all the fancy words like legato, crescendo or forte. But he had a feel for music so great that even his high school music teacher who otherwise hated his guts had to admit he had potential. 

When they were still allowed to meet, younger, enamored with music and each other’s company, Eddie would hum his melodies, usually choosing the acoustic guitar to carry the main tune. He kept playing them over and over again, giving Steve space to experiment with potential accompaniments. He only occasionally took over the piano and gave instructions such as “I thought this part could use a bit more force, you know. I’ll go quieter on the guitar, and the piano will become the main instrument until the next verse, what do you think? It should be something like a dialogue between the two instruments. Imagine I’m rambling, and you really want to say something, so you start speaking at the same time and going louder and louder, hoping I’ll get the drift and shut up.” 

He trusted Steve with this work, and Steve was so grateful. He vowed never to disappoint Eddie, and to that day he hoped he hadn’t, at least not when it came to music. 

As he sat down at the piano, he gently stroked the familiar keys. His eyes were burning again. He’d prayed for the day when he’d be able to do this with Eddie again, only to realize that this would be the last time they’d ever play together. 

Eddie had just finished tuning the guitar to his liking. He shifted on the stool to face Steve and smiled. “I missed this, you know.” 

Steve returned the smile as well as he could. “Me too. It hadn’t been the same without you.” 

Shrugging, Eddie ran his fingers across the strings, stretching and adjusting his grip. “Eh, I think you were doing just fine without me. I liked your adjustments to the chorus of “Remains of the day”, they make it sound a bit more playful. The original sound was a bit too creepy.” 

His tone was flat, as if it was just a simple observation. But Steve’s hands stilled over the keyboard, staring at Eddie with mouth wide open. “How…” he choked out, “...how do you know? I made them only a few months back. You’ve never...I mean, you were already-” 

“Steve.” There was no malice in Eddie’s words, but his smile faltered. It was still there, yet somehow sad. “Are you telling me you haven’t noticed?” 

“Noticed what?” 

The dead man pointed towards the dark trees behind the window glass. “Where this window leads.” 

Steve’s eyes finally betrayed him. He rapidly blinked, but one tear made it out and rolled down his cheek, between his lips. He tasted the salt as he remembered all the times he’d sat here, playing Eddie’s melodies from memory whenever Nancy and Robin decided to go upstairs to have more privacy. 

There wasn’t a single visit when he wouldn’t play them. Steve felt the constant urge to keep repeating them, committing them to memory. He wanted to burn them into his brain so he could never lose a single detail. Maybe one day, when he’d succeeded begging Eddie for his forgiveness, he’d play them for him. He would show Eddie that he never let himself forget, never stopped thinking about him . 

He pictured himself sitting there, tens, hundreds of times. The window was usually open to sell the illusion that Robin was playing during their visits. And even in the dark, Steve realized where the narrow path between the trees led - to the small clearing in the woods, to the freshly dug hole in the ground where someone had buried Steve’s heart. 

“No way,” he whispered. The taste of salt on his lips didn’t relent, and he didn’t try to control it any longer. “You heard me? You heard me all this time when…?” 

Eddie nodded. For a moment, it seemed like he wanted to get up, maybe join Steve at the piano, but then he changed his mind. Instead, he started fidgeting with his rings again. “Yeah. Not to inflate your ego, Steve, but oh well. We’ve come this far. You were my main reason for not moving on.” 

He huffed a short laugh when Steve gave him a confused, teary-eyed look. “It’s true. I was lying there for a while, and you know how much I hate staying still. I was considering giving up and just moving on for quite a while. But whenever I thought I could give it all up, just forget my dreams and all that was keeping me here, I heard you. It was like a part of me was still up here, waiting to be reclaimed. You were safeguarding my songs, and I of course knew I could never come back, but somehow…I just hoped, Steve. I didn’t think, I just…hope isn’t the correct word. I yearned to come back, that’s it. Because there was someone calling me back every single day.” 

Steve’s eyes didn’t leave him for a second. “But everyone down there said…they said that you were playing all the time. Practicing.” 

“I did. And it drove me crazy that my own songs didn’t sound right anymore. I tried replicating everything I’d heard from you, but…” Fondness crept into Eddie’s voice, as if he was recalling a precious memory. “It never sounded right. I blamed it on the corpse fingers, the stiffness of dead muscles, but I guess I was lying to myself. Playing these songs by myself just wouldn’t do because you became a part of them. They weren’t complete without you.” 

“Eddie…” 

Eddie shushed him. “And if you think that I was listening to you just because I had nothing better to do, well, you might be partially right. But also…I’d known you kept playing my songs long before I died, you know. Why do you think I was in the woods the day I died? It’s not like I’m one of those crazy fans of nature who love walking in the woods, getting all muddy and wet and collecting ticks and other bloodsucking creatures. I’d known about your playing for months, Steve. And I…uh.” He pulled a strand of hair in front of his face, hiding his expression. “I actually kept going there a lot. I sat on that tree stump, listening to my, well, our songs. I still hated your guts, but a part of me felt so happy that you seemed to have as much trouble letting me go as I had you.” 

Steve was hit with a sudden wave of nausea and numbness. His fingers were still laid on the keyboard, but their feel was now uncertain, foreign. “So you're telling me that all this time it was me?” he whispered. It hurt to even voice his thoughts. “It was me who kept you trapped in that grave? Who…who lured you there to be killed?! If I let you go, you could have had peace. You…you could have even lived! Eddie, I don’t even know how to begin to say how sorry I am. Nothing I say will ever be enough.” Steve withdrew his hands from the piano, wrapping them around his body. “You gave me so much and I…I made things worse every single time. I caused this. All of this.” 

He didn’t see it when Eddie set down his guitar, but he heard the hollow thunk of it. The clinking of Eddie’s metal chain, the squeaking of his old sneakers, it used to feel so right. But now…

Eddie nudged his side and squeezed next to him onto the wide stool. “Hey, Steve. Let me say something. Sure, we’ve had our not so great moments, with your dad’s blackmail and stuff like that. But, and get your eyes up here, Harrington, I’m being earnest and I demand an audience for it!” 

When Steve’s wet eyes found his, Eddie snuck his arm around Steve’s shoulders and pulled him close. Steve leaned into the embrace with a quiet sob, clutching Eddie’s band t-shirt. Eddie didn’t seem to mind. “Apart from the whole protecting me and Wayne through being a dick, you didn’t cause me any pain. Really. You have no idea how much our friendship meant to me.” 

Steve’s face was buried in Eddie’s jacket, but he still managed to produce a “huh?” sound. 

“It did. When I moved here, I didn’t know anyone, and Wayne was trying to figure out how to make it work with the plant shifts and stuff. I was bullied all the time, I wasn’t much of a looker without my hair. So I just thought I’d spend all the time until my graduation keeping to myself, which was lonely as hell. The music room helped. And then one day…a pretty boy who had to have tens of friends approached me and asked me to teach him. I felt so lucky.”

Steve still wouldn’t show his face, but his arms around Eddie’s waist tightened. “Pretty sure it was me who was lucky. You changed my life.”

Eddie squeezed his shoulders, cradling Steve close. “Shush. This is my life changing story, get your own. For some reason, that pretty boy chose me. Even though I was mostly flying through the playing and teaching blind, he kept coming back. Not just that - he actually listened to me. He heard my rambling, all those unrealistic plans, dreams, the outrageous ideas, and he believed in me.”

Steve had finally settled against him, his breathing under control again. Eddie continued. “Do you remember when we started playing together, Steve? I was so freaking anxious because I realized I couldn’t possibly play both instruments at the same time when I finally got to record my stuff. And I couldn’t ask anyone because I couldn’t write or read the stupid sheet music. Still can’t, by the way. But you just sat down at the piano and told me: “Tell me what you need me to play. I’ll do it.” You said it as if it was the most natural thing in the world, to spend all your free afternoons playing what I threw at you. As if you didn’t have anything better, more important to do.” 

That finally made Steve stir in Eddie’s arms. He straightened his back and looked Eddie in the eyes, wiping away the rogue tears. “I didn’t. It was the most important thing to me, Eddie. And still is. Likely will always be.”

Eddie wasn’t really thinking, he just reached out and ruffled Steve’s hair. It was so different with all the product in it, but there was a touching familiarity in the gesture. They used to ruffle each other’s hair when Eddie’s finally decided to grow out and looked like a wild nest of curls. “No neat hairstyles in my music class, Harrington! Go wild and go home!” he’d say.

“I’m glad to hear that,” whispered Eddie and god, he wasn’t lying. Being an important part of Steve Harrington’s life was addictive. Intoxicating. “So how about a small practice before we start recording, big boy? I recall you liking that four hand piece we adapted from Back to the Future.” He extended his hand, as if he was asking Steve to dance. “Accompany my beloved nerdy music, my liege?” 

Steve beamed at him. “My pleasure, lord Edward,” he said and took his hand. 

The night was long and Steve gradually drank the whole pot of coffee. He couldn’t imagine preferring sleep to this. The moment they both sat down at the piano, it was as if they were two puzzle pieces that belonged together. Something clicked, and Steve felt whole again. Compared to that, sleep was ridiculously overrated. 

Not everything went smoothly, of course. Eddie had made some adjustments to the music during their time apart, and it took Steve a while to catch up, to bridge the gaps. They mused and tried out new passages, re-did the old ones, played around with the cassette recorder to get the perfect balance for both instruments. But most of all, they just revisited the past and brought back the best of it. 

The recording was supposed to take long hours, but Steve supposed theirs was an exception. After all, what was there to improve on when all of these songs had been cherished, perfected and preserved over many long years? Eddie’s more recent changes made sense to Steve, it was enough to hear them just once, twice, and then they blended into what he’d already known. His ankle still hurt as he used the pedals, but Bob’s bandage kept it fixed in place well enough. 

Not all of Eddie’s songs had lyrics, but for the ones that had, Steve admired how Eddie’s voice had grown into them. It was more hoarse and less polished than when they’d practiced the last time, but there was emotion and maturity that the sixteen year old Eddie Munson hadn’t possessed. Now, his voice was perfect. 

They only had a few breaks, a bunch for coffee, one for Steve to take a quick shower to make sure he was fully alert, and then one to share a cigarette outside. Eddie complained about not having had a smoke for over a year. Steve got up and reached blindly behind a potted plant to produce a well-concealed pack of cigarettes and a lighter. With an awestruck expression, Eddie grasped his hand and squeezed it. “I could just marry you right here, Steve Harrington. Oh wait!” he laughed and wiggled his ringed finger at him. Steve’s heart didn’t beat faster after that, nope, not at all.

Eventually, they saw the sun rise through the trees. They’d just finished going through their final recording, with Eddie’s comments and introductions before each song. Steve squeezed Eddie’s hand. “If that Craig guy doesn’t love it, he has no taste,” he announced. He felt ridiculously proud. 

“One can only hope.” Eddie shrugged off his jacket and, after an annoyed squeak, removed Ozzy from the comfort of the chest pocket. “Hey, do you think the Buckleys have some fruit they could spare? Ozzy gets really bitchy when he’s hungry.” 

Steve laughed at that and dragged Eddie towards the kitchen. “Don’t we all? Let me just open a window, the air here is horrible.” 

Leaving the living room to breathe a little, they made their way to the kitchen’s fruit bowl. “He likes sweet apples,” muttered Eddie as he dug through the neatly arranged pile of produce. “Does this look sweet to you?” 

Steve took the apple from him and bit into it. “Yep, sweet. Let me cut it for him.” Noticing Eddie’s confused look, he laughed again. “What, you don’t think Ozzy is important enough to have his own taste tester?” 

“I do now.” 

Steve switched the kettle on again. It wasn’t that he needed another cup of coffee, but it was morning, and as they say, old habits die hard. He worked fast with the knife, chopping the apple into small cubes. The sound of water boiling was familiar and comforting, and having Eddie by his side in the kitchen when he was preparing breakfast? It could have been the only thing he needed in his life, he thought. 

There was a quiet sound behind them, but it got drowned out by the kettle. Maybe a draft from the open window rustled the torn plastic wrap of the tape they used. 

“So…” began Eddie, playing with his rings again. “What now? When does the post open?” 

“I took one of those padded envelopes with us, and a bunch of stamps my dad had in his office. So if you know the address, we can just pack it and send it through that collection box we passed yesterday. Do you want to add some sort of an introduction, a letter or something?” 

Eddie rubbed his temples, sighing. “I should. Let me do that. You have a paper and a pen in that magical bag of yours?” 

“Sure do.” 

They made their way back to the living room. While Steve served Ozzy a bowl of neatly cut fruit, Eddie sat down to the decorative table and started writing, his tongue sticking out in concentration. “Dear…Craig. I hope…you didn’t forget about me. Here’s…the demo…I promised. You can…do whatever you want…with it, I don’t think I’ll be able…to work on it again. But…if it makes any money…my part goes to Wayne. You know Wayne. And…you won’t be a dick to Wayne, will you?” He paused, tapping his pen against the paper. Then he added: “Thanks for giving me a chance, I appreciate it. Take care…Eddie Munson.” 

While he was writing, Steve was carefully walking around the room, cleaning the mess they’d made. He was just picking up the torn plastic wrap and got stuck thinking that it seemed too much? They only opened one tape. It was probably normal and he was just tired. He also swept up the dirt and a bunch of small feathers they must have brought from their smoke break. His father called it a stupid itch, but cleaning gave him a purpose and clarity. 

He also tried to nudge Ozzy away from the half-eaten bowl of fruit to clean under him, but the small creature wouldn’t budge. He was splayed on the table and playfully bit into Steve’s finger when he attempted to move him. Message received loud and clear. 

As he finished putting the room to its original state, Eddie was already standing by the door, envelope in hand. “Shall we?” he asked.

Steve wanted nothing less than to walk out of that door. It was yet another step towards losing Eddie forever, but it was the right thing to do. “Sure,” he nodded and grabbed the keys. “Ozzy, are you coming?” 

The small bat squeaked at him, and while Steve still couldn’t understand what he was saying, the tone was clear. Ozzy was still lying on the table, flat as a pancake, and moving him would probably start another world war. 

Eddie patted Steve’s shoulder. “The window is open, he’ll let himself out when he wants to. Plus I’m sure he still has some fruit there. See you later, buddy!” 

With an awkward wave at their winged friend, they left Robin’s house and locked the door. 

Steve didn’t know what to expect from the rest of his day. Dropping the envelope in the collection box was the only clear point in his future. He remembered staring at the yellow package, at Eddie’s wild handwriting, and he felt an overwhelming urge to tear it out of Eddie’s hands and stomp on it. He wanted to keep Eddie right here with him, tell him that they could actually do better, they could stay for a few days, weeks, months to practice, to improve their work. Maybe people wouldn’t be able to tell Eddie was dead. Maybe he could still achieve his dreams, if only-

But then Eddie dropped the envelope in the box and that potential future, the future where Eddie finally achieved what he’d dreamed of for over a decade, dissolved in front of Steve’s eyes. 

From Eddie’s sad smile, his thoughts followed a similar pattern. “It’s going to be okay,” he told Steve, maybe himself too. 

Just as they were about to walk back and go collect the stuff they had left at the Buckley house, Steve heard a shout. “You! Steve!” 

It wasn’t excited or joyful. Or even angry. Robin’s voice was shaking, and it sounded like she was battling a panic attack. 

Steve turned around and hobbled towards her. She was still wearing yesterday’s clothes and was disheveled, even for her standards. “Robin? What’s wrong?” 

She sprinted to him and hit his chest, again and again, and it took Steve a moment to realize she was crying. “Where…the fuck…have you been?!” she snapped at him with each hit. “We were so worried! I thought…I…”

Eddie quietly joined them. He didn’t say anything, just observed. 

Robin finally stopped hitting him and collapsed against Steve in a forceful hug, burying her face in his chest. “Everything went so wrong, Steve,” she whispered. “So wrong. We weren’t careful enough, Nancy’s dad, he…he found out. He’s furious. He locked Nancy in her room and had his friend’s son keep watch over her window so she wouldn’t escape. He also kept me in their house until he could reach my parents in the morning to tell them how I…” she grimaced, “...how I ruined his daughter.” 

Steve was stroking her back, his thoughts racing. “But your parents know. They don’t care, right?” 

“They don’t. When he couldn’t get them to be angry about it, he kicked me out of his house. Just now. But Ted fucking Wheeler can’t have a queer daughter.” She was crying even harder now, hands grasping at Steve’s t-shirt. “He told her she’ll get married no matter what. But not to you, because he knows how you covered for us. He doesn’t trust you to fix her.” She spat out the last sentence in helpless anger. 

“That guy’s a monster,” Eddie whispered. Steve wholeheartedly agreed. 

Robin kept on rambling, and every word she uttered made Steve’s heart sink even more. “She’s still getting married, he made sure to arrange that, and as soon as possible. It’s today…in an hour. He told her that if she doesn’t comply, she’ll be dead to him and will never be allowed to see her siblings again. She loves Mike and Holly, Steve, she couldn’t live without them. She…I think she’s going to go through with it. Maybe she’ll think of something, but I couldn’t get to her, I couldn’t even talk to her, and there is no time, Steve. Nancy is so smart, but I can’t see a way out of this that won’t destroy her life.” 

“I’m so sorry, Robs. Robin…” Steve squeezed her shoulders and pulled her away, just to see her face. “Robin. This is important. Who is she marrying?” 

Her lip wobbled as she said, “Jason Carver. Apparently his parents are eager to find him a good wife and forget the whole Chrissy fiasco.” 

A loud gasp made both Robin and Steve snap out of their misery. Eddie was staring past them, eyes open wide in his shock. “Not him,” he whispered. “Anyone but him.” 

Steve turned to Eddie, still keeping an arm around Robin. “Have you met him?” he asked. 

“Oh, I have.” Eddie’s mouth pressed into a thin line. “He’s a good Christian boy, that’s for sure. If Wheeler marries him, he’ll never let her go. He knows what life’s supposed to look like, and if she happens to disagree? Tough luck. Especially in Hawkins.” 

Robin stared at Eddie and something dawned behind her eyes. “You…Eddie, right? Are you…okay? You don’t seem okay. When did you even come back to Hawkins?” 

Eddie opened his mouth to answer, but Steve took both of their hands and tugged them forward to get them moving. “Can you give Robin the short version while we’re walking, Eddie? I’m afraid we’re on a tight schedule. We have a wedding to crash.” 

Eddie grinned at him. “I take my sarcasm back, Harrington. You really do know how to show a guy a good time.” 

Chapter 12 here

[twistedtummies2]

Gathering of the Greatest Gumshoes - Number 12

Welcome to A Gathering of the Greatest Gumshoes! During this month-long event, I’ll be counting my Top 31 Favorite Fictional Detectives, from movies, television, literature, video games, and more!

SLEUTH-OF-THE-DAY’S QUOTE: “There’s an old saying: ‘Don’t change anything. Ever.’”

Number 12 is…Adrian Monk, from Monk.

“Monk” premiered in 2002, at a time when I often feel good old-fashioned detective shows were on their way out, at least in the United States. Classic series like “Murder, She Wrote” and “Columbo” were nearing the end of their respective runs, and more and more people were gravitating towards what might be termed crime drama rather than Whodunnit storylines and Sherlock-Holmes-esque antics. With that said, it’s remarkable that Monk lasted as long as it did. The show ran for seven full years of straight television airtime, and was even briefly revitalized for a TV movie spin-off just last year: proof that the show’s legacy has not faded away, even after it ended nearly 15 years prior. Considering the final episode of the series broke the world record for the most viewings in cable television history at the time (a record which has, I should clarify, since been surpassed), it’s clear the series struck a chord with audiences.

I think a big part of the reason why comes from the title character: Adrian Monk himself. Monk is one of the funniest and most interesting detective characters in television history, in my opinion. He was a very different kind of sleuth, some would argue, compared to many popular detectives of the past. The humor of Monk, you see, is different from that of characters like the aforementioned Columbo or Sherlock Holmes. In those cases, these were characters who, for better or worse, everyone knew could get the job done. If they did have a silly side, it was usually either a façade to hide their inner steel, or it came from their own passions creating chaos for those around them. Monk is slightly in the latter category, but in a different way. Monk, you see…is a man who lives in fear of his own shadow. And I don’t think I mean that entirely figuratively. Sometime before the start of the series, you see, he lost his wife in a mysterious car bombing incident. The event caused an already mentally fragile Adrian to have a complete nervous breakdown, and he still hasn’t quite come out of it. As a result, Adrian Monk has become a man who is paranoid about just about everything around him. He’s a hypochondriac, has severe OCD, and his mind contains more phobias than you can really list in any concise way. Some are rational, but many are completely unfounded. He’s scared of snakes, needles, heights, enclosed spaces…even MILK he looks at with a sense of dread. Milk, I say! And that’s just to name a few!

The humor of Monk, as a result, comes from watching this man battle his own constant fear of the UNIVERSE, as he panics his way through every situation, fretting and fussing and cowering even as he scopes out scenes and picks out clues. It’s not surprising that his enemies underestimate him or that others around him get annoyed, because he’s not just pretending to be a buffoon: he’s legitimately just a constant wreck! However, through all the goofiness this setup presents – and there is a LOT of goofiness to be found – Monk is NOT an idiot. All of his overwhelming fears and nervous habits come from a very sad and fundamentally broken place, and there are times, throughout the series, where Monk shows not only a tragic vulnerability, but also a sort of inner fire and strength. When the situation calls for it, Adrian can be brought out of his shell, and shows there’s a lot more to him than just a whimpering clown. I think this is the crux of what makes the character so much fun to watch: we know he isn’t faking all this lunacy, but we also know that, at the end of the day, Monk will make the right choice, and will find some way of bringing the criminals involved in any case to justice. Many actors were considered for the role of Monk, a lot of them really big names. Some include Alfred Molina, Stanley Tucci, and the late John Ritter. In the end, the role went to Tony Shalhoub, who was sort of an actor-on-the-rise at the time. It was Monk that made Shalhoub recognized nationwide, however, and is the role he is likely best known for to this day. It’s not hard to see way: Shalhoub handles every scene absolutely perfectly, making Adrian just as sympathetic and heroic as he is absolutely ridiculous. The result is one of the most wonderfully comedic, but still competent and fascinating, characters in detective fiction, in my opinion. From battles with Tim Curry to solving the case of his late wife’s murder to trying to figure out if he’s scared of blankets or not (yes, really), Adrian Monk may not be the bravest of super sleuths…but he's certainly one of the greatest.

Tomorrow, the countdown continues with Number 11!

CLUE: “It really is very dangerous to believe people. I never have for years.”

[enneamage]

I got an ask asking about the Nikifold breakup timeline but I accidentally deleted it, so this was the response that was meant to be attached to it.

(Archive readers, I got cold feet on the post that this was a response to saying that it’s looking like the Nikifold relationship ended in cheating. It’s still a possibility, but as I sat on it for longer I got lost in the possible loose ends so I nuked the initial post and went over the source videos again.)

It was, at least, a suspiciously close shave. It might be safter to say that the thing that burned the Nikifold /p bridge for good was the relationship between Jack and Eleanor. I’m not the best at keeping track of solid timelines when it comes down to it but there have been suspicious breadcrumbs along the way that suggest that some interest was shown before Jack and Niki properly separated, and that there was some overlap there.

My read on nikifold was that it was a situationship or had some ambiguity attached to it rather than a straightforward relationship-- the kind of setup that gives you feelings but no solid container to put them in. I want to say that they went abruptly sour around July-August. If I go back to the ‘large, unlabeled blowout’ theory, there was a severing point where things became quite abruptly not good between them. The simplest answer may be that this was Jack and Eleanor having flirtations, but it could be more textured than that and they only started moving closer together after that point rather than that being the turning point itself. I have kept in mind that the cheek kiss video (July 2022) probably introduced a lot of pressure into their dynamic and the question of being public or ‘official’ started hanging over them a lot more aggressively, throwing fuel on the fire.

(Edit from future: Between Jack saying that his ex girlfriend hexed him and Niki saying she burnt the scrapbook of her previous relationship because he cheated, this looks more like a traditional hidden relationship that ended in cheating. hindsight is 2020.)

I’ll show my work so you get what I’m trying to interpret:

“we’ve been together nearly six months” -Jack “I have a girlfriend” VOD, uploaded February 20th 2023. Jack states that they got together in August after not speaking since their first meetup at a party in June 2022. Both agreed that their first dates could be described as parties that they happened to both be at where they spent the majority of their time together.

August 2022 feels like the action zone. A lot of the timestamps are imprecise because it takes a while for vods to get posted and vlogs to get edited, but things seemed normal-ish until around this month.

August 16th, Niki posted this tiktok, what a way to begin the end. (Another edit: I remember Niki wearing this exact outfit a bit before this was posted, and the longer I’ve sat on it the more it seems like she make this tiktok draft privately for fun and then posted it on the day that ‘something happened.’)

Jack and Niki Willingly spent time together for the Sleepover vlog posted on August 20th, clip on the ranboo vods channel places the filming time around august 13th, probably even earlier than that – Them moving at the same time in the same direction in the vlog felt very “duo-y” to me, and backs up that the final stream together wasn’t just a fulfilled obligation to stream.  

Vod from when they last streamed together posted August 28th likely streamed earlier in the month, Streaming isn’t dating but going from how bad their public separation got there’s at least some significance to this. (Edit: had a look at a website that marked this as August 12th, an interestingly wide delay between recording and upload)

Niki does a stream about going on break for her mental health (briefly, not the focus of the stream at all) brings up being single and how she has wanted to avoid the feelings of dependency that relationships bring due to BPD. A lot of people relate to this as one of the big separation landmarks. - Very quick clip channels date this around the 29th, Niki states that she took two weeks off where she didn’t have any contact with the internet, which would ballpark the start of the break around the 16th.

Disclaimer is that I don’t want to completely attribute the state of Niki’s mental health to the state of her relationships, she’s got an enormous amount on her plate with or without her romantic life. It’s just that this seemed to be a turning point in the timeline where the before and after of her and Jack seems to abruptly shift and get progressively worse from there, it’s still hard to play ‘chicken or the egg’ from outside.

“The second time we met up and I slept here is when the queen died” – Jack, talking about September 8th 2022, a very solid time stamp because of the world event attached to it. Both at a boat party where they spent the majority of their time together the day before. Jack says that this was when they were still trying to figure out if they were together or if this would just be a series of hookups, which means that they were ‘together’ at least once before.

“I got three new tattoos and a piercing this week” – September 15th TikTok from Niki, strongly suggesting that they were related to recent emotional turmoil.

This toktok from Eleanor is interesting because it suggests that Jack was a “Guy she told her ex not to worry about.” I don’t know what her personal breakup timeline was but that could give some more detail to when they came in contact and what their chemistry was at the time.

Something happened that caused raw feelings, most people following the story seem to agree with that. If it was only the fallout from the video causing the meltdown I’m compelled to believe things would have been somewhat more sympathetic than they turned out to be. Niki has been peaceful with exes before so it seems that there’s a schism here that goes beyond a mutually agreed upon separation.

The fork in the road keeps presenting itself, either this was a breakup quickly followed by Jack and Eleanor becoming an item or there was some overlap. The thing that’s driving me crazy is I swore that somewhere along the way I saw a post where Niki overtly said something along the lines of wanting a BF who doesn’t cheat, but I can’t find it for the life of me, so the situation stays murky in my brain.   

[saintzenni]

Hey have been asking enterprise writers these questions from the fanfic asks going around, feel free to answer or not! (I just like hearing how people write). 🖖

What’s your favourite line you’ve written in a fic? 

What is your ideal writing set up? 

What is your favourite fic you’ve written and why?

Any advice for writers working through writers block or burnout? 

oooo first ask!!! this is so exciting hehehe

what is your favourite line you've written in a fic?

that is a very good question. i think probably this one:

“Captain Reed was sombre, never speaking more than he needed to, and he carried himself with a martial erectness that made his eyes alert and watchful, as if he was concerned that one of the women in their satins and leg-of-mutton sleeves would suddenly draw a bayonet on him; his collar was crisp and unwieldy on his neck and the pin on his cravat was simple, just a tear-drop pearl.”

from “Danse Macabre” or this one:

“Garak doesn’t answer, instead watching the slow march of the stars like arachnids across the windowpane.”

from “Cobwebs on the Windowpane,” but it’s really hard to choose!! i have a few others i constantly re-use lol, which i guess are kind of my favourites in a different way? for example, i say “clavicle” an ungodly amount, lol.

what is your ideal writing setup?

i’m pretty low-maintenance when it comes to my writing setup. usually i like to write sitting in my bed (because it’s warm and comfy). i always prefer to have a big glass of water with me and a snack nearby so i don’t have to get up while i’m in the zone lol. i tend to slouch real bad over my laptop oops

i use word on my laptop almost exclusively (times new roman, 12pt font, 8pt spacing between indented paragraphs. i am begging ao3 to let us indent our paragraphs PLEASE). i barely ever write on my phone except to record small notes for ideas that come to me during the day.

what is your favourite fic you've written and why?

this is really tough because i go through phases with almost all of my stories where i intermittently think they’re the best thing i’ve ever written and then i hate them. i think right now i love rereading “Sing Me Lullabies in Form of Your Catcalls” probably the most out of any of my stories. i'm really like “Daydreams (Are a Mild Form of Dissociation)” because it’s the longest thing i’ve written in years and i’m really proud of myself for sticking with it even when i felt like giving up. i think “Danse Macabre” is also up there for me because it’s so out of my comfort zone but i don’t think it can be at the top yet because i’ve only written one chapter of the story, haha. and of course i loved collaborating with @glitter-and-metal on “You and Me”! it was really neat seeing how other people work :)

any advice for writers working through writer's block or burnout?

when i’m having a period of writer’s block, i tend to try to do other things that don’t involve writing. i go out with friends, focus on schoolwork, and try to enjoy myself. sometimes, in the process of living my life, ideas will come to me and i’m inspired to write them down! also i find taking a long ass shower and just thinking helps. watching the show i’m writing for inspires me when i’m stuck on stuff like dialogue or characterization. but sometimes, all i can do is sit down and pound something out, sod how good it is. that works best i find when i’m really in a funk, because at least then when i come back to it, i’ll have something to work off of.

thanks so much for asking me!! it’s really nice of you <33 i hope i answered your questions well enough and i wasn’t too verbose lmfao

[glapplebloom]

Sheriff Hitch on the job.

Foal Me Once

Maretime Bay has recently been hit with a crime spree and it's Hitch’s job to find the culprit. Zipp comes in when he is literally tied up with phone calls about it. She suggests he really should get a new deputy after the last guy tried to start a war while he was away but Hitch is too busy to look for that right now. We also see his animal friends worried about him.

While investigating, we see some easter eggs in the background in the Art Museum. Two different arts depicting Tree Hugger and one of Rainbow Dash as the Scream. Not sure about the others but it is hard to miss those two. Back with Hitch, he is gathering all the clues and is trying to make a connection. But when he got thirsty, his favorite drink was on the desk. 

The next day, Hitch wakes up ready to find the stolen stuff and who is responsible but to his surprise he finds all the stolen stuff in his closet. He makes the rational conclusion and presumes he’s sleepwalking, stealing everything. Zipp shows up when Hitch places himself in jail. Zipp, seeing the connections, sees that they’re all his favorite things and suspects a setup. While you can say this is bad for Hitch, this actually shows a specific trait in Zipp that will come in later...

Zipp is more likely to blame someone else than Hitch, which is why she is so frikkin suspicious of Misty despite having nothing other than a mistrust. Hitch is trusting of his friends and fellow citizens, so he’s more likely to think he’s the thief before accusing his friends. Between that and being locked up yet still getting his favorite drink, he finally figured out who was behind it.

His animal friends: who were missing him since he was on the job. Hitch commands them to return all the things they stole and they did. He apologizes to them for ignoring them, but arrests them since they did commit the crime. It's a fine episode that shows Hitch is still worthy of being a sheriff and probably the only time Zipp’s detective skills are actually good.

Clip Trot

We’re seeing a viral video about the Bunny Hop and Pipp wants her and her friends to do it. They don’t do it and instead do their own dances. When Pipp tries to show them how it is done, they bail on her. Pipp gets Jazzy to help record the video for her. Sadly, that’s when Posey delivers the bad news to Pipp: the trend is over. Apparently Pipp and the others were away for the week the Bunny Hop got big (and no Canternet), so Pipp became Linkara where old memes go to die.

But Pipp is a Trend Setter and that won’ do. So when Posey said that they’re waiting for the next big thing, Pipp realizes she already got it: the dance her friends were making. The Pony Hop is now the big trend and it seems everyone is enjoying it. So when they see the Pipsqueaks want to imitate it, it's Pipp that lets them know that the best thing is to be yourself. Sadly, this is not an episode for me since it is heavily focused on memes.

Which is funny because by the time of this writing a Leaked Animatic came out called Magic Mirror and its leagues better than this episode. Though funny enough probably thanks to this episode that Pipp goes in the direction she does. But I’ll talk about that when I get to it.

[world-visual-media]

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Other IPTV Service Providers (But With More Downsides) ⚠️

Not all IPTV services live up to the hype. Some might look good on paper but come with hidden drawbacks. Here’s a look at a few well-known ones:

Here are some other IPTV providers that claim to be the best but come with more cons than pros.

 OTTOcean IPTV – Looks Good, But...

Pros: 

✔️ Large channel library 

✔️ Cloud-based locker 

✔️ Anti-freeze technology

Cons: 

❌ Requires high internet speed (16 Mbps+) 

❌ Limited customer support 

❌ Premium channels often buffer

 Worthystream IPTV – Good for Sports, But...

Pros: 

✔️ Gigabit bandwidth & fast servers 

✔️ Extensive sports coverage 

✔️ 24/7 live chat support

Cons: 

❌ Lacks variety in regional content 

❌ UI feels outdated 

❌ Customer support response is slow

DigitaLizard IPTV – Affordable, But...

Pros: 

✔️ Budget-friendly pricing 

✔️ Instant activation 

✔️ Multiple connections

Cons: 

❌ Requires a VPN for blocked content 

❌ Limited trial period (Only 2 hours) 

❌ Reports of server downtime

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Both IPTVUSAFHD and Aris IPTV offer 20,000+ live channels, premium sports, and on-demand movies. Whether you love action, drama, or live sports, they’ve got you covered.

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[booksbydlwhite]

Leave the Thrillers, Take the Romance: A Mid-January Update

Hey friends! Welcome to episode 107 of The Bookcast. I'm recording today with a bit of a cold, so I sound funny, but I'm here and that's all that matters.  I  had to come in and share a mid-month update on my latest reads, writing efforts and author wins with you. Also, it snowed in Atlanta, a thing that only happens every few years, so there's that.   

Book Report

I have read 14 of 100 books. I'm well ahead of my challenge and as per usual, I'll re-evaluate mid year. SO FAR it looks like I am going to be bumping up the goal much earlier. I just love reading. Here's what I've read so far this month- note I was on vacation for the first six days of the month.  I'm trying something new by tracking on both Goodreads and StoryGraph. I don't personally enjoy storygraph but I want to stick it out to see if I get good reporting at the end of the year. Goodreads is very social but not good at reporting. 

Track Her Down by Melinda Leigh (Bree Taggart #10)

A Winter Crest Christmas Reloaded: Mia and Zen by Cordae

One More to Die by Joy Ellis (Audible Original)

Tell Her Story by Margo Hunt (Audible Original)

The Family Lies by Angela Henry

The Setup by Falguni Kothari

Lacey James series by Chris Patchell

Shooting the Moon by Brenda Novak

Westmoreland Legacy series bundle by Brenda Jackson: 

The Rancher Returns

His Secret Son

An Honorable Seduction

The Secret Witness by Victor Methos

More Than Friends by Reese Ryan (Love and Music Suite #3)

Writing Updates:

Currently working on a Valentine's Day story titled Rules in Romance

Calculated Risk is with my editor and due end of February

Missing Persons is complete but needs editing

Still plugging away at my Berkeley Sisters trilogy

Writing fan fiction on my Substack (short fiction by dlwhite.substack.com)

I ended the episode asking how you all are planning to get through these interesting times ahead. Drop me a line - I'd love to hear from you!

Support the show

Support this show with a recurring gift at bookcast.buzzsprout.com. Follow my substack at authordlwhite.substack.com Buy books by DL White at https://payhip.com/booksbydlwhite Buy Merch by DLWhite at my spreadshop. Find the Bookcast on booksbydlwhite.com/bookcast or your fave podcast app: Apple Podcasts | Spotify |Overcast | Podlink| Youtube

TRANSCRIPT

DL White [00:00:14]:

Hello. Good morning. Good afternoon. Good evening. Happy Sunday or whatever day or time of day you might be listening to this podcast. Welcome back to the book cast. I am so glad you are here, boos and bros, book pals, fans of the written word. I'm a little bit loopy.

DL White [00:00:34]:

I know you can hear it in my voice. I got a lot of nasally things going on. I do have a cold. I think I am on the end of it, but I am very coffee, sneezy, sniffly, and I have not taken any cold meds because I'm weird. So I think after I record, I may actually take cold meds. So, anyhow, welcome back to the book cast. I am DL White, your host. I am an Atlanta based author of 15 published novels, 16 written ones that you'll hear about calculated risk later this year.

DL White [00:01:14]:

Actually, I think it's more than 16 because I have also finished missing persons. I don't know. I've lost count now is where I'm at. I know I'm not at 20 yet. Anyway, novels, short stories, fan fiction, I write them. I also read. I'm a reader first. So we begin with the book report as always, and then we talk about writing and topics of the day.

DL White [00:01:40]:

I no longer plan out this podcast, so that's why I'm rambling. And perhaps I should go back to planning out the podcast, but, honestly, I feel like it goes so much better when I'm just I get up. I look at the my my, book report information, my Goodreads challenge mainly, figure out where I'm at for the month so I can report, look at my sales to see, like, do I have anything to talk about? Yes? No? Maybe? Is it exciting, or is it meh? Look at my writing stats. How's that going? And, and then I I press record. And I was using Riverside, and I still have my my I still have, like, a login there, but it's just like an extra step. Like, all I need is Audacity. I just open Audacity, and I start recording. So I feel like it's going a little bit better, actually.

DL White [00:02:36]:

I don't have to script out every word I need to say. So, you know, we're gonna do what works until it doesn't work anymore. Anyway, I don't think this episode is going to be long, but who knows? Because I didn't script it out. So it could be 40 minutes of me yammering about books. Who knows? Anyhow, so let's get rolling. We're gonna have a little coffee break. And And then after the jump, we're gonna talk about books and writing. Today is Sunday, January 12th.

DL White [00:03:07]:

It is 8:11 AM. There is snow on the ground here in Atlanta, which I'm very surprised about. I actually figured it would be gone, like, by tomorrow, but it is cold outside. I took some garbage out this morning, and, it's it's it's chilly. Hopefully, we get above 40 degrees today and this stuff starts melting because Monday Friday are work from home days for us. But if this stuff is still on the ground on Tuesday, I ain't going nowhere. Nowhere. Anyhow, let's have some coffee and then come back to talk about books.

DL White [00:04:22]:

Okay. And we are back. Let us begin with the book report. Let me get to my tab because I didn't write any of this down because I'm smart. We are 12 days into the year, and I haven't done an update since January 1. So we are just gonna call this, like, for the year at, 14 books completed. I am 11 books ahead of schedule. My goal is, of course, set at 100 books as always.

DL White [00:04:55]:

I always set it at a 100 on January 1, and we see where we are by, you know, midyear, like the end of June, I'll evaluate. Maybe I will raise it to 150, 175. Last year, I ended up with 225 books. I had a lot that I needed to hide from, and, that worked out really well for me, actually. This year, I'm doing a little something different. I'm trying trying to duplicate my books on the StoryGraph because I wanna see, like, all the pretty graphs and whatever. There's a lot that goes into, tracking a book on StoryGraph, and I literally I just wanna track the book and the dates that I read them. I don't I don't wanna fill out all this extra information, so I'm really not doing all that.

DL White [00:05:51]:

So I don't know how pretty my charts are gonna look, but Goodreads doesn't do very good reporting to me. And I like numbers, and I like reports and graphs and pie charts and bar charts. So I am not actually a big fan of the story graph. It's too plain for me. Like, it it simultaneously does too much and not enough and, that I don't like the interface. I can't see what all my friends are reading. It's not very social. Goodreads is, like, very social.

DL White [00:06:24]:

I can see what everybody else is reading, what everybody else is reviewing, what everybody else is, you know, adding what, you know, what, what do they call them? What, shelves everybody's adding their books to? Like, Goodreads is very social to me, and I've been saying this for a long time. I'm not giving up anything that makes my life easier and enjoyable. I do not care what Jeff Bezos is doing. I don't. He owns 8% of Amazon. 8. If I'm not participating in Amazon stuff, like me not sending him 14 99 a month for Prime isn't going to make him less of a billionaire. So I'm not making my life harder to stand arm and arm with people who can't even get in the booth with me.

DL White [00:07:10]:

I don't I don't care. So that's my stance on it. I'm at Goodreads. I enjoy Goodreads. I'm duplicating at the story graph so I can participate in a couple of challenges that are hosted there and also just so I can see, you know, what my reading year is gonna look like graph wise. So I'm at 14 books for the year. A lot of that is audio, I'm pretty sure, and let's just take a look at, what I have been reading this year. Melinda Lee, track her down.

DL White [00:07:47]:

This is number 10 in the Bree Taggart series. Bree Taggart is a, like, of course, a female sheriff out in the northwest. I believe it's the, Oregon area. I love this series, and I've been gobbling them down. I need Melinda Lee and Kendra Elliott to write many, many books much faster. And then I, caught up a little bit on some holiday reading, A Winter Crest Christmas Reloaded, Mia and Zen by an author named Cordae. This was, I think this was like a, like, a urban urban romance is what they call it. It's one of those, like, you can tell by the cover, by the font, and how they're it's all, like, shiny and whatever.

DL White [00:08:34]:

One of those, there was a lot of sex in it, so there's that, if that's something that interests you. It's a thing that doesn't really interest me much anymore. Like, I like reading sex in a novel as much as the next guy, but after, like, the first two scenes, I get it. They like each other. I'm I'm good. Like, I I like that it's there. Like, if I wanna go back and read a sex scene, I know where to find it. But, I don't read books for the sex, so I wanna know how like, does the plot sizzle as much as those bedroom scenes sizzle? And sometimes, the plot don't be sizzling the plot don't be sizzling.

DL White [00:09:17]:

So, like, a lot of times when I I write, I write the story to make sure the story has legs, and I already know, like, this scene is gonna lead to sex. That scene's gonna be, like, suggestive, but I can close the door that one. But I already know which scenes are gonna have sex in them, but I leave that out. And then in draft 2 is when I go through front to back. I'm writing, I'm rewriting, I'm fluffing, I'm adding, and every time I go through that book, I am adding more to each scene so that it's full and it's fleshed out. That's how I do it and, like, you know, I know I am not one of them popular girls out here, but I feel like my books like, they work out it works out good for me. I wanna make sure that the the story is about the story and the sex is an added benefit. That's an obvious part of a modern adult relationship.

DL White [00:10:23]:

Anyway, I picked up 2 Audible originals, 1 More TO Die by Joy Ellis and Tell Her Story by Margo Hunt. I honestly don't remember what these books were about. They were short, like, 2 hours and whatever. I read those on the second or listened to those on the second. And then The Family Lies by Angela Henry, I believe publishes January 14th. So this coming up, so I had this as an arc. Like, this was really good until it was not. Angela Henry is a new to me author.

DL White [00:10:59]:

I think I started following her on TikTok around, like, 2023, and she had, it's not her first book, but the first book I know by her called The Perfect Ties or something like that. And that book was pretty good, but she gets to a point in her book where it kinda jumps off a cliff, and then it just becomes entirely too complicated, and I can't follow the story. This story, it was it was actually it was actually pretty good about a woman that gets a job managing, the, personal library of this very wealthy family. And there's just, like, a bunch of, like, not creepy, but, like, weird stuff that's happening in the house. Like, she has to live in the house. The dude that, owns the house and is, like, the patriarch of the family, I guess, that hires her. He's got, like, some weird stuff going on. It was, like, it was really good, and then, like, the last 4th of the book was just a lot of what? Wait.

DL White [00:12:07]:

What? What? So I think I gave it 3 stars. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't, like, the most amazing book I've I've ever read. The Family Lies by Angela Henry. And then I listened to The Setup by Falguni Kothari. This was pretty good. This was like it was an audible original about I believe they are a Daisy family and grandpa, I believe, or an uncle, I couldn't I I can't remember, is trying to set a young woman up with, a man so she can get married. And at first, they don't like each other, and then they start to grow on each other. It was really cute, and it was, you know, it's an audible original, so it was pretty short.

DL White [00:12:58]:

Then I stumbled upon this series, and I ate it all the way up. The Lacey James series by Chris Patchell. Lacey James is a I believe she's a young, investigator, detective. And, I found the first one, which I think is, find her, and it's been, I don't know, 10 days since I read this book, so I don't remember the exact, the, you know, the synopsis of the book. It's a police procedural, which is my absolute catnip. I ran through all 4 of the books in this series, in 2 days, which I'm want to do. Hello, Robert Dugoni, Kendra Elliott, Melinda Lee. I'm all over it.

DL White [00:13:52]:

So this series is really good. I really, really enjoyed it. All of these books, I believe, are available on Everand. If you are a member, I think they're also at Chirp if you wanna just buy them outright. I think I borrowed them not borrowed, but think I got them at Libro. I don't remember. Or maybe it was Everand. I don't know.

DL White [00:14:13]:

Can't remember. But Chris Patchell, really good series, and I think there is another coming out in that series in a few weeks, so I'm excited about that. And then I grabbed Brenda Novak shooting the moon from NetGalley. This is an audible, audio arc, and I take all the audio arcs I can get because I wanna keep getting more. This is a audio release of an old Brenda Novak book, and it showed it did not age well. It was rather uninteresting, but, it was a story about a guy who comes back to his hometown to claim the son that he, quote, unquote, left behind. The mother of his child died in a car accident, I believe, and his, mother's the the mother's the child's aunt has been raising him, and grandparents have, like, been taking over since the child's mother died. Like, way way back when they were dating, he was quote, unquote bad news from the other side of the tracks, and dad paid him to go away.

DL White [00:15:34]:

And he comes back like, hey. I need access to my son. And yeah. It's I mean oh, gosh. Yeah. White author's romance doesn't hit me at all anymore. It just doesn't it just doesn't do anything for me. But I listened to it.

DL White [00:15:56]:

I got all the way through it. Gotta send my review off to NetGalley, and we're done with that. And that's that's just gonna be the last that we're gonna do of that. And then I got Brenda Jackson released the first three books in the Westmoreland legacy series, The Rancher Returns, His Secret Son, and An Honorable Seduction in 1 bundle. So this was like a long listen. This took me, like, a couple days to get through. I put this on Blue Sky. Whenever I think that I have put too much sex in a book, I am just going to refer to Brenda Jackson romance because I promise you once her characters start having sex, it's sex in every chapter.

DL White [00:16:48]:

But the thing that miss Jackson does is that story is tight. There is a beginning and there is a climax and there is an end. That story is tight. The sex isn't like, the book the this the story isn't the sex. The story is the story and the sex enhances. There just is a lot of it. So I just sometimes, like, I I'm reading and I'm like, again? Oh my goodness. Whoo.

DL White [00:17:17]:

Lord. So I'm to the point where I kinda skip through a lot of that, and I just I just wanna know what happens in the story. Thankfully, there's so much pleasure in reading the story itself. So those 3 I got through. I can't say I will ever listen to 3 audiobooks in one bundle at a time ever again, but Brenda Jackson is not a bad way to spend a couple of days. And then had a couple days off from reading because that was a lot that was a lot of reading in 9 days. And then yesterday, I, picked up on well, actually, Friday, I picked up, The Secret Witness by Victor Methos because I was want I wanted to read book 2 then realized I hadn't read book 1, which was the secret witness, so I picked that up. It wasn't the best book I ever read.

DL White [00:18:11]:

I like Victor Methos, and I see why I started this and then stopped reading it because it was a little bit boring. But I did wanna read book 1 before I read book 2, so now I'm gonna pick up book 2. I don't even remember what the name of book 2 is, but I got that out of the way. So I can pick up book 2 now. So I got that, and then I read yesterday. I I have been so deep in thriller, suspense, mystery since January 1. I needed some romance. I woke up yesterday like I need a romance immediately.

DL White [00:18:44]:

And Rhys Ryan just released book 3 in the Love and Music Suite series. I believe this is her 1st self published series, and she's doing such an amazing job with it. I'm like I am so pleased and proud of this work that Ries Ryan has been doing. More than Friends is this, friends to lovers romance. And it's a second chance because they dated in high school and decided that they would rather be friends, except one of them did not really want to stay friends. And hence, like, that's how friends to lovers always is, which kinda ticks me off. Like, one of them is always, like like, hanging out in the cut, hoping the situation will change. Meanwhile, I will just take your friendship as a consolation prize.

DL White [00:19:32]:

It's never that they're, like, actual, like, friends. And then one day, they look at each other and they're like, hey. So, why haven't we ever like, that's the Friends to Lovers I wanna read. That's a Friends to Lovers I would write. So I got that read yesterday. It was excellent. Excellent. Like, when I am reading and talking back to the book and highlighting things, it's a good, good read.

DL White [00:20:01]:

I really, really enjoyed it. It's fun. It's set in Atlanta, which I like, a lot, and, I just really enjoyed it. It's very good. More Than Friends, A Second Chance, Friends To Love is Romance by Rhys Ryan. Like, I love a Rhys Ryan book. She is like a Sunday afternoon snuggle down with a book kind of author for me. I have several of those, like, Synthia Williams, Delaney Diamond, Sharon c Cooper, Nia Forester.

DL White [00:20:27]:

Like, if I have a Sunday afternoon and I need to fill it with a book, I will dig through their catalog for something I haven't read. Turn on, like, the fire channel on YouTube, or lately, I've been listening to, like, this lo fi channel and grab me a snack, a beverage, and I'm out. I am out, and that is the best day for me. So that was the 14 books I've read so far in January. I am, of course, not done reading because come on. But it's been a good look so far. I've been I've been happy with my reading. So moving on super quickly to books.

DL White [00:21:07]:

Sales have dropped considerably since the holidays. Of course, things really slow down when the kids go back to school and the earth catches on fire and or freezes. There's been a lot going on, so sales have been a little slow. I'm not promoting as much. There's not there's not a whole lot going on, but it'll pick up hopefully toward, like, the second half of the month. My books are in a book funnel promo. It's an indie sales promo, which is gonna move a lot slower, I think, than a, like, a giveaway, but this is definitely, geared toward supporting indie author sales. So that's at BookFunnel.

DL White [00:21:49]:

I'll be talking about that in my newsletter this week. Also, in my newsletter, I will be talking about, I think I told you guys I wrote a newsletter magnet, like a little a short little story that you can only get in my newsletter. You can now also get it if you are a paid subscriber to my short fiction substack at short fiction dot substack short fiction by dlwhite.substack.com. That's also loaded up there. If you are a paid subscriber, you have automatic access to that as well as my weekly serial. Same time next week, which is actually almost done. I have maybe 4 chapters, which is, like, 2 days worth of posting. That's almost almost done.

DL White [00:22:33]:

So if you were waiting to subscribe until same time next week was already all loaded up, you might as well go and subscribe now. It's $5 a month. Short fiction by dlwhite.substack.com. Get into it, same time next week is a serial. It's a interracial I should actually say it's, yeah, it's a interracial rock star romance that I wrote. It was fan fiction, and then it was original fiction, and I unpublished it because it's interracial. And I'd be writing black on black Negro nosed romance. So, I brought it back as a serial because, it's already written, and I have been publishing it twice a week in theory on my short fiction substack.

DL White [00:23:17]:

It is, paid access only. I do have some free stuff on there. I also have a fan fiction story that I started writing. I actually started writing it in August and kinda lost the plot and stopped updating. And then I got a email from a reader that said they had started it and wondered if I was going to finish it. And I was like, what? So I went back to the archive. I was like, oh, yeah. I did start this, and then I started getting ideas.

DL White [00:23:46]:

And so I have been updating that, and so that's really fun. And that one is that is a fun one about a woman named Zoe Chapman. She is an aspiring songwriter, and, she gets a chance to attend a songwriter's retreat with, JC Chasez. And this is a thing that he does, except I think he usually does it in Nashville. The story is called Music on My Heart because it was the only song title I could think of, which is weird. I'm trying to bring it up so I can, so I can read the synopsis. When aspiring songwriter Zoe Chapman joins JC Chasez's exclusive mountain retreat, she's looking for a musical mentorship, not to fall for the man behind the legend. But as the late night studio sessions blur the lines between professional and personal, they discover their hearts might be writing a very different song.

DL White [00:24:44]:

So, I started writing this in August, and I picked it up in December. It's just like some fun fan fiction stuff if you have any interest in in single whatsoever. I, almost exclusively write JC. He's just a very interesting character to me, especially JC in his forties as opposed to JC in his teens and twenties. It's been very fun to watch him grow as an artist, as a writer, as a person. And so writing this older, more mature mentor type person who still is susceptible to meeting someone amazing that they should probably avoid but can't. I like it a lot. So that's going on my short fiction substack.

DL White [00:25:36]:

Fan fiction is always free, and I have a couple I do have some fan fiction stories that are written there. And, I also I have the serial that's there. I believe I have one serial that's free there on the short fiction substack. That is the story of Kate, which I really, really, really loved writing. And, like, writing that really helped me write missing persons because I needed to kinda turn I just needed to turn my brain toward something that isn't so, like, lovey dovey soft place to landy. So there's the story of Kate that's up there. I really enjoyed writing. The photograph is, up there.

DL White [00:26:17]:

That's a 4 part series that I wrote for the podcast last year. Really enjoyed writing that, and all of those really helped push me toward writing missing persons, which is done, but I do need to go through, like, edits and rewrites and fluffing and adding and verify things I just made up because it sounded good. So very exciting things going on on the substack, but I was talking about book sales. So I'm at 5446 for the year. Sales are spread across basically Amazon and Draft2Digital, then I have 21/21 sales through book funnel, which is direct sales. So 21 sales through my, channels. But a lot of those were free, copies of The Guy Next Door. I was giving that away in audio.

DL White [00:27:08]:

For some reason, I can't remember. So most of those are giveaways. The sales through Amazon and Draft2Digital are, sales that have actual royalties attached to them. Biggest sellers this month are Leslie's Curl and Die in audio, The Guy Next Door, an ebook Home for the Holidays, like, 11 I sold 11 copies of Home for the Holidays in January, which is darn good. A thin line dinner at Sam's, and then I have a couple of sales of pearl at Black Diamond Bay and Elysium Black Diamond Vacation Romance. Those are both part of the Black Diamond series. And then a couple of straggler orders for a second time around, the guy next door and the WANSA brunch. That's kind of how my sales are.

DL White [00:28:00]:

And then, like, a couple sales, I guess, for hay lovers. So that's kinda how my sales are breaking down for the month. Not too bad. I mean, not great, but, like, not too bad so far. I am it's before 15th. So, like, if I hit if I hit $50 before 15th, it bodes well for the rest of the month. So I'm at 54.46. I'm just honestly, I just try to make a $100 a month.

DL White [00:28:29]:

That covers a lot of the subscriptions that I'm paying for, although I subsidize a lot of that with my own money. And then I have a I have, like, my Substack subscriptions and my BuzzFeed subscriptions that helps also pay some costs. But a lot of the costs of being an author and running a podcast, I am paying for out of pocket. And so what what I'm getting in royalties and subscriptions is actually reimbursing me for stuff I've already paid for. That's neither here nor there. You know what I'm saying? Get out of my pocket. So that's what's going on with book sales. Writing wise, it's been kinda slow.

DL White [00:29:15]:

I have been trying to write this Valentine's Day piece for a minute, and it's kinda not coming together. And I'm a little upset about it. Like, I I keep keep keeping changing the title because I can't even decide what the title should be, but I I don't know. We'll see we'll see how it goes. It just is not it's not really coming together. It's kind of a jumbled mess. I'm on, like, chapter 3, and I just keep going back to chapters 1 and 2 and fixing things because if it doesn't start right, then I I set off again on the wrong foot. It's currently called Rules in Romance.

DL White [00:29:53]:

It is kind of an opposites attract grumpy sunshine kind of thing. It's set in Atlanta in the tech space, which I really enjoy writing because I just like writing smart people. And, my characters happen to meet in the cafe at the co working space where they both work at. Sterling has just relocated to Atlanta from New York, and Simone lives in Atlanta. And she works for a tech company, and it's her job to, put together this hiring platform that her company is, putting together, and they're gonna premiere it at this big gala. And, Simone is very much an introvert. Probably not as bad as Esme in the Neverlist, but as an introvert, I do find myself writing introverts because I know them very well. So it's like like, I I want to write it.

DL White [00:30:45]:

I want it to come together, but I also want it to be short. And it just in my mind, it just keeps I feel like when I write short, I leave so much out, but I also don't want to write a 75,000 word novel. You know? I just want this to be like a cute short that's gonna be out for Valentine's Day. I'm gonna take a look at it later. We'll see how it shakes out. I might just need to give it some time and, you know, hit it really hard, toward the end of January. I don't really have time. I don't have time.

DL White [00:31:19]:

I don't I don't have time really to get it to my editor. I needed to be reading writing this in November in order for her to have it in January, but here's where we are. So I don't know what I'm gonna do about that. I know she listens to the podcast. This is not any pressure. This is not, an editor Kai problem. This is a d l white problem. So I may not get it written in time.

DL White [00:31:46]:

It may be something I write and shoot out, and, y'all just have fun with all the typos in it. I'll I would never do that, maybe. I don't know. I I just wanna be I I wanna write more. I wanna publish more, and I just wanna be less rigid about how it has to come out. You know? Like, it doesn't have to be perfect. It doesn't have to be edited to the nth degree. And editing is editing is not terribly expensive because I have a very good editor who is cognizant of how much indie authors have to put their own money into their writing.

DL White [00:32:25]:

This is not absolutely not sucking up to my editor. We have had this conversation. But, also, I wanna reserve those funds for my full length projects that desperately need an extra eye. So these things where it's gonna be 5 or 8 chapters, you know, and I'm gonna sell it for 99¢. I'm not gonna spend on editing it. I'm just I'm I'm just not. And, you know, sue me, but I'm just not. So that's kinda where that is.

DL White [00:32:58]:

It's currently called rules and romance. Maybe I'll switch the maybe I'll switch the order and it could be romance and rules, but I don't like that. The idea is that it's kind of an opposite to attract kinda thing, and so I wanna I wanna play on the two sides of this equation. Like, you know, it's a it's a very grumpy sunshine kind of thing. So I may change the name again. I I don't know. So there's there's there's that. The other thing I'm writing is the fan fiction story, and I just published chapter 7 on Friday.

DL White [00:33:35]:

I don't know that I have another chapter in me this weekend. I wanna think about what the next chapter entails. It's a little bit of a field trip, and I just need to I need to think about it and put it together. So I'm probably gonna think about that this week and probably write it Thursday and post it Friday. That's used to be my old, fan fiction publishing schedule. I usually write on the weekends, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, then I edit, think about what I'm gonna write post. So that way, readers always have a week to, like, read it, react to it, you know, offer comments and feedback, etcetera. Meanwhile, I'm thinking about and writing the next chapter.

DL White [00:34:21]:

And I kind of have adapted that also to writing my books and my commercial fiction. So there's that. What else do I have going on? Let me open up Dabble here and see what's popping. I do have, the Berkeley sisters, which is the sisters trilogy I've been yammering about for, like, 2 years now. Missing persons, which I still need to get into. Calculated risk is in here. That's with the editor. I have to turn that in at the end of February.

DL White [00:34:49]:

Again, that's part of a group project. Still I arise, I haven't touched. I did add, like I don't know. I tried to do some editing on it, and I, like, I feel like I added, like, half a chapter to that in the last year, but it's still on the docket. And, I also was trying to do an epilogue to the never list, and I can't even tell you the title because that would be a spoiler. But, I wanna dig back into that and see if I could just do a fun little 5 chapter update to that story because I just love Esme and Trey, and I have the perfect little update to that couple. I just gotta I just have to get it out of my brain. You know? So that's what's happening over here.

DL White [00:35:36]:

Ain't nothing going on with the rent is what my mama would say. Yeah. That's what's happening here at Books by DL White. I am reading a lot. I am writing a lot. I am you know, I'm just trying to make it. I'm just trying to make it over here. I feel like I'm doing better than I was in November December, but I am kind of dreading the back half of January.

DL White [00:36:02]:

I just know I'm gonna be digging hard into reading, into writing, working, getting the work done. I'm somewhat unmotivated. It could have a lot to do with this cold, but also, like, that vacation was long, and it was really, really needed, and I hated to come back. Even though I really like my job, I hated to come back and, like, dig back into work and meetings and scheduling things, and the emails were flying. I definitely just eased eased real slow, nice and slow back into the year. So it is Sunday. I have coffee. I went through my, my planner and all of my streaming channels, and I wrote down all of the things that I have saved in my watch later cues and wrote them all down.

DL White [00:36:56]:

So I have lists on lists on lists of things I can be watching besides the news, things I can be looking at besides doomscrolling on all the social media sites, things I can be reading, writing, or watching for this next however long. That's how I'm gonna be making it through. I am so very interested in your plan for the next few years, how you are going to be pulling yourself through what I feel are gonna be some very interesting, and by interesting, I mean terrible times. So feel free to shout me out a holler. This episode will be on my website at books by d l white dot bookcast.com/107. You can also hit this episode on my substack, or you can shoot me an email. It's author d l white at books by d l white dot com. I'm sorry.

DL White [00:37:54]:

It's author d l at books by d l white dot com. I welcome your comments, questions, feedback, what have you. That brings us to the end of today's show. So I will bid you adieu, but not before thanking you so much for joining me for today's chat. I really enjoy having you here. Again, I welcome any comments or feedback at books by dlwhite.com/bookcast/107. You'll find full show notes, links to all the things I talked about if they're relevant, and a transcript for today's show. Please share the podcast if you really enjoyed the sound of my voice as I appear to.

DL White [00:38:37]:

And if you listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Substack, give a girl a rating, a comment, a hand clap, a re a repost, restack. I really appreciate it. Do not forget, you can support this podcast with your book purchases at payhipdot com slash books by dlwhite by spreading the good word, like repost all my social media, what have you, by joining the newsletter or the substack. The links will be on my website at books by dlwhite.com/linkinbio. You can also buy you can also throw some coins in the hat at book cast.buzzprout.com. Thank you so much to my monthly supporters. Your gift covers my Buzzsprout subscription. I really appreciate the support and as a thank you, I have added you to comped users at short fiction by dlwhite.substack.com.

DL White [00:39:31]:

So people who support the pod people who support the podcast with their funds are automatically added to subscribers on the short fiction substack, so they get access to everything that is available to paid subscribers over there. I figured that would be a nice little perk. The broadcast is written, produced, and edited by me, d r White. Our theme music and any sound effects are provided by. I will be back next week. Until then, please enjoy your weekend. Have a superlative week, and we'll chat again soon. Bye bye.

[gizopedia]

Xiaomi Redmi 14C Review: A Mid-Range Marvel So, here we are diving into the latest from Xiaomi’s lineup—the Xiaomi Redmi 14C. Why this phone? Well, Xiaomi’s been knocking it out of the park lately, especially with their budget-to-midrange devices. And that’s exactly where this one fits. It’s not your flagship contender, but it’s packing enough to make waves in the consumer electronics space, especially if you’re into decent performance without burning a hole in your wallet. Who’s this phone for? If you’re someone who’s after a solid phone for everyday use—texting, browsing, streaming, and maybe a little bit of gaming—this device might just have your name written on it. It’s perfect for casual users, budget-conscious buyers, or those who want to dip their toes into tech without splurging on the high-end stuff. Let me break it all down for you—why this phone stands out and whether it’s worth your cash or not. Stay tuned for the juicy details! Key Features & Specifications of the Xiaomi Redmi 14C Alright, let’s get into what matters—the features. I’ll keep it simple, ‘cause who’s got time for all the technical mumbo jumbo? Here’s what the Xiaomi Redmi 14C brings to the table. Processor & Performance This phone runs on a MediaTek Helio G81-Ultra processor. Sounds fancy, right? What you need to know is it’s got enough horsepower to keep things smooth, whether you're switching between apps, watching YouTube, or checking out some games. It’s paired with a Cortex-A75 and Cortex-A55 setup, maxing out at 2.0GHz, which just means it’ll handle most everyday tasks like a champ. Graphics? That’s handled by the Mali-G52 MC2 GPU—so gaming will feel fluid, though it’s not built for heavy-duty stuff. Storage & RAM Options Here’s where things get flexible. The Redmi 14C offers multiple configurations to fit your storage and speed needs: 4GB RAM + 128GB Storage 4GB RAM + 256GB Storage 6GB RAM + 128GB Storage 8GB RAM + 256GB Storage It even supports memory extensions up to 16GB. This means you can squeeze a bit more performance out of it if you need to. Though, heads up—part of that storage will be eaten up by the system. Display The screen’s a 6.88-inch Dot Drop Display, and with a resolution of 1640x720 and 260 ppi, it’s clear and crisp enough for watching videos and scrolling through socials. The 120Hz refresh rate is a sweet bonus, making everything look smoother. Plus, it’s got a solid 450 nits of brightness that goes up to 600 nits in high-brightness mode—meaning it’ll still look good even outdoors. Cameras Now, cameras! This phone packs a 50MP main camera. Yep, 50 megapixels. Expect sharp, detailed photos, especially in good lighting. There’s also a 13MP front camera for your selfies and video calls, which is decent for this price range. Both cameras come with modes like Night Mode, Portrait Mode, and even a Time-lapse feature. You can also record videos in 1080p at 30fps, which is decent enough for day-to-day use. Battery Life & Charging Battery life? You’ll get a solid day with its 5160mAh battery. Xiaomi throws in support for 18W fast charging, so you won’t be sitting around forever waiting for it to juice back up. But heads up—no power adapter in the box, so you’ll need to grab your own. Security & Extras In terms of security, you’ve got a side fingerprint sensor and AI face unlock, which is quick and handy. Oh, and if you’re into contactless payments, the NFC support is there (though it might vary depending on where you’re located). Network & Connectivity It’s got dual SIM support and even a microSD card slot. Connectivity-wise, you get 4G support, Bluetooth 5.4, and Wi-Fi for seamless internet and streaming. There’s also a 3.5mm headphone jack for those who like their wired earphones. Yep, no need for a dongle. In short, the Xiaomi Redmi 14C is designed to give you a little bit of everything—solid performance, decent cameras, and all the extras you'd expect from a modern smartphone, but without the heavy price tag.

Performance & User Experience: What’s it Really Like? Now, you might be wondering—sure, specs sound good on paper, but how does the Xiaomi Redmi 14C feel when you’re using it? Well, let’s dig into that. Smooth Everyday Performance With that MediaTek Helio G81-Ultra processor, day-to-day tasks are handled without a hitch. Browsing, chatting, or watching a few YouTube videos? It’s all buttery smooth. Multitasking is decent too, especially if you go for the 6GB or 8GB RAM versions. No lag when switching apps or jumping between tasks. So whether you're scrolling through socials or catching up on emails, it’s snappy and responsive. Light gaming also holds up fine. You won’t be running the latest high-end games at max settings, but for casual gaming, it’s plenty capable. You can easily kick back with your favorite mobile games, and the Mali-G52 MC2 GPU does a decent job of keeping the visuals looking smooth. Display Experience The 6.88" Dot Drop Display is a standout for this price range. Sure, it’s not an ultra-high-end AMOLED, but at 1640x720 and with a 120Hz refresh rate, things look pretty slick. The 240Hz touch sampling rate adds a responsive feel when you’re gaming or navigating. Whether you're watching videos or just reading, everything’s clear, colorful, and smooth. Plus, that 450 nits of brightness is bright enough for indoor use, and when you head outside, it cranks up to 600 nits so it doesn’t look washed out in sunlight. Camera Quality The 50MP main camera delivers in most scenarios. Daylight shots? Crisp, detailed, and vibrant. The Night Mode does a decent job too, pulling out details even when the lighting’s not ideal. If you're into portrait shots, it can handle those nicely, with solid edge detection. For the selfie lovers, the 13MP front camera does a fair job—nothing mind-blowing, but good enough for those Instagram stories or video calls. If you’re after more casual shots and don't expect DSLR quality, it’s a solid performer. Battery Life Here’s where the Xiaomi Redmi 14C shines—the 5160mAh battery keeps you going for a full day, easily. Even with moderate use, you’re not gonna be reaching for the charger halfway through your day. If you’re just casually browsing or watching a few videos, it can stretch to the next day. And when you do need a top-up, the 18W fast charging gets you back in action fairly quickly. User Interface Running Xiaomi HyperOS, the experience feels snappy and lightweight. It’s clean, with minimal bloatware, so you’re not bogged down with unnecessary apps. Plus, it’s got a few handy customization options to tweak the UI to your liking. Whether you're a long-time Xiaomi user or coming over from another brand, the learning curve isn’t too steep, and you’ll feel at home in no time. Final Thoughts on Performance The Xiaomi Redmi 14C might not be a powerhouse, but for what you’re paying, it delivers a solid, reliable experience. It’s perfect for the everyday user who doesn’t need ultra-fast performance but wants a phone that just works—whether that’s streaming, snapping pics, or browsing the web. Sure, if you're into heavy-duty gaming or content creation, you might need something beefier. But for the average user? It’s more than enough. Value for Money: Is the Xiaomi Redmi 14C Worth It? Let’s cut to the chase—when it comes to bang for your buck, the Xiaomi Redmi 14C holds its ground. Depending on the configuration you pick, prices hover around $150 to $200, which, considering what it offers, is a pretty sweet deal. You’re getting a decent processor, a 50MP camera, a large battery, and a slick display—all at a price that’s not going to hurt your wallet. Now, are there other phones in this price range? For sure. But Xiaomi’s got a rep for packing features that punch above their price. Compared to competitors like Realme or Samsung's budget lines, the Redmi 14C’s 120Hz display, 50MP camera, and solid battery life make it stand out. If you catch any deals, especially during sales or promotions, it’s a no-brainer for those on a budget.

Bottom line? If you’re after a phone that’s reliable for everyday use and doesn’t skimp on features—without making your bank account cry—this one’s a solid pick. Conclusion: Is the Xiaomi Redmi 14C for You? To sum it up, the Xiaomi Redmi 14C is a great choice if you’re in the market for an affordable phone with solid specs. It’s got a smooth performance for the price, a good display, and enough storage and RAM options to fit different needs. The camera setup is a nice bonus for the price point, and the 5160mAh battery is perfect for users who hate being tethered to a charger all day. If you’re someone who uses their phone mostly for casual browsing, streaming, and snapping some decent pics, this one is definitely worth considering. On the flip side, if you’re looking for a gaming beast or a phone with pro-level photography features, you might want to look elsewhere. Here's a sample trending FAQ outline for the Redmi 14C to engage readers and cover essential questions: FAQ 1. What is the Redmi 14C? The Redmi 14C is Xiaomi's latest budget-friendly smartphone designed for everyday tasks with a focus on affordability and essential features. 2. What are the key features of the Redmi 14C? Highlights include a large HD+ display, a long-lasting battery, a multi-camera setup, and expandable storage. 3. How good is the battery life on the Redmi 14C? With a sizable battery, the Redmi 14C is designed to last a full day on moderate use. Ideal for streaming, social media, and light gaming. 4. What camera setup does the Redmi 14C have? The phone features a multi-camera system with a primary sensor, allowing decent shots in well-lit conditions, especially considering its budget price. 5. Is the Redmi 14C good for gaming? Suitable for casual gaming and basic apps, but it may struggle with heavy-duty games due to its budget hardware. 6. Does Redmi 14C have 5G support? The Redmi 14C focuses on affordability and may lack 5G, instead supporting 4G for standard internet browsing and streaming needs. 7. Can you expand the storage on the Redmi 14C? Yes, the Redmi 14C includes a microSD slot, so you can easily expand storage to accommodate more photos, apps, and files. 8. What colors are available for the Redmi 14C? Typically, the Redmi 14C is available in various vibrant and classic colors like black, blue, and green. 9. How does the Redmi 14C compare with other budget phones? In its price range, the Redmi 14C balances key features with affordability, making it a solid choice against similar budget smartphones. 10. Where can I buy the Redmi 14C? The Redmi 14C is available on Xiaomi’s official website, select online retailers, and local stores in many regions. Overall, the Xiaomi Redmi 14C delivers more than enough for its price, making it a strong contender in the budget-to-midrange smartphone arena.

[cahouser]

I’m Hiring a YouTube Producer in Hong Kong 🎥

Hey friends 👋

I'm on the hunt for a full-time YouTube Producer based in Hong Kong to join my team. This role is crucial in managing and elevating our YouTube channel's content and strategy to help make videos that inspire & educate hundreds of millions of people, and involves working with me in-person 9am-5pm (ish) most days. If that sounds like your idea of fun, please read on :)

Hours: Full-Time

Location: Hong Kong - This is essential. I’m not looking for someone remote and I've moved to Hong Kong for at least the next year. I’m looking for someone I work with IRL pretty much everyday.

Salary: $500,000 HKD+ per year, negotiable depending on how good you are - This is one of the highest leverage roles in the business, and drives the entire business. I’m pretty much willing to pay whatever it takes to get the absolute best person for the role.

This job was posted on 9 Oct 2024 if you’re seeing this, it’s still open, so you’re welcome to apply 😊 I’ll take this posting down as soon as I’ve found the right person.

Your Role as YouTube Producer

Tintin, our current YouTube Producer, has been in the role for 2 years, and is keen to move on to setup his own business 🙂 For the record, this is something I very much encourage, as you’ll know if you watch anything on the channel. Hence why we’re hiring for this role.

Anyway, as our YouTube Producer, you'll be the driving force behind our channel's success. Here's what you'll do:

📅 Content Strategy: You’ll create and manage a 2-3 month content plan (with flexibility for up to 6 months). The goal is to balance planned videos with some room for spontaneity, so that I have both freedom to film what I want but also have space to take a break.

🎬 Video Production: You’ll oversee the entire production process, from ideation to publishing. This means generating ideas, finalising titles and thumbnails, writing and reviewing scripts, reviewing edits, manage YouTube studio and working with sponsors. I only want to be involved in ideation, a bit of script preparation, and filming. You’ll manage my random ideas and filter the best ones for quick action, work with our thumbnail designer, and manage the workload of our 3 full-time editors to make sure the videos come out :)

💡 Creative Input: You’ll proactively research and suggest ideas for both long-form and short-form videos. Present these ideas with research, titles, and thumbnail concepts, even for topics I haven't considered.

🔍 YouTube Expertise: You’ll be the expert on what drives clicks, engagement, and retention. You need to stay up-to-date with YouTube trends, algorithm changes, and best practices, keeping me informed about crucial updates.

📊 Analytics and Performance: You’ll understand our channel's analytics in depth and balance performance metrics with content I enjoy making. You’ll also appreciate the concept of slow productivity and optimising for long-term success, particularly in relation to brand which is one of the most valuable parts of this business.

✅ Quality Control: You’ll review and quality-check scripts, research, and edits from our team. I typically don’t review any videos before they get published, so you need to have an eye for details and make sure all content meets our high standards and aligns with my expectations.

🚀 Channel Management: You’ll manage the channel YT studio. This include scheduling content, writing descriptions, linking correctly to our products, adding end screens, and cards etc. The goal is to publish 1-2 long-form videos and 3-5 shorts per week.

🤝 Sponsorship Coordination: You’ll need to work with sponsors to post content a) when they want it posted and b) that they’re happy with. You won’t be involved in winning sponsorship contracts, just fulfilling on the agreements we made. This means writing sponsor scripts based on sponsorship briefs, communicating with brands strategically and nicely, and ensuring well-placed integration without disrupting our creative process. And ideally do all this without involving me too much in the process 👀

🤼 Team Collaboration: You’ll lead the YouTube team, working closely with editors, researchers and writers, thumbnail designers and me, to ensure smooth content production and a high performing YouTube team.

😁 Great to Work With: Finally, you also need to be great to work with and a nice person in general. A key part of this role is keeping me happy lol and enjoying filming videos. We need to vibe in person and have fun while we’re working, because that’s what I’m all about (if you’ve read my book you’ll know all about this 😉)

Requirements

You're able to speak and write fluent English and Cantonese.

You love YouTube. You spend lots of time on YouTube, you understand the personal development space and are familiar with lots of the YouTubers in it, and you love the idea of helping create educational videos that are seen by tens of millions of people.

You have excellent writing and editing skills, capable of crafting compelling titles, hooks and scripts.

You're highly organised and can manage multiple projects simultaneously without dropping the ball.

You're data-savvy and can interpret YouTube analytics to inform content strategy.

You're able to think creatively and strategically about content and channel growth.

You’re a fun, nice person that I get along with.

Important Notes

This is an in-person role, and you'll be working directly with me in Hong Kong (Happy Valley / Causeway Bay area), typically from 10am-6pm on weekdays.

You should be comfortable with occasional contact outside of standard working hours if needed.

Once a quarter, you'll join me in flying to a random place in the world for a team offsite (all expenses paid, of course).

How to Apply

Application Form - Please fill out your details and answer the various questions in this application form 🚀

Required Questions on the form 👇

⭐ Full Name

🗺️ Location

⏰ When's the earliest you could start working with us?

📃 CV / Resume

🎬 Please record a Loom (no longer than 2 minutes) explaining why you're the absolute best person to be our new YouTube Producer.

💡 Pitch 3 video ideas that you think our audience will like

✨ Here's your last chance to do something to show us why you're the one for us

Next Steps - Once your application's in, we'll review it and if we think you'll be a good fit, we'll ask you to do a trial task, and then a final interview.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Closing Date

Deadline for applications is Friday 25 October 2024 23:59pm BST.

[thestylesindependent]

What’s funny about that song is it was just one of a few songs written that day. It’s funny because some of these get written in such a quick window that you don’t know what they’re going to be at the time. That was just song two or three that day, and now it’s “As It Was,” with this whole other meaning. It’s become such a big song this year, and it’s definitely not what any of us thought it was going to be, which almost makes it more special.

We recorded the song at [Sony Music Entertainment CEO] Rob Stringer’s house in England. We moved all the furniture out and put a drum kit in the TV room. “As It Was” was done in that setup. Harry came in with a riff idea, and we ran with it. It’s a funny one because it happened so quickly that I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to recreate that magic again — it was just so good.

Lyrically, what I love about Harry on this whole album, is that he has a lot to say but he can tease meaning. What’s going on in his life is intertwined in that song, and in that line, “Harry, you’re no good alone.”

I love the way he built the lyrics across his whole record, so when I think about “As It Was” I think about the whole album, to be honest. He can come across as a bit guarded sometimes, but I think he’s just a very mellow, thoughtful person. His music is the context for him to say things. With having his goddaughter on there, it all becomes really personal, which is sort of crazy when it comes to such a huge song.

I remember, production-wise, spending ages with the drums. I’ve had a lot of producer friends reach out about it — if you heard the drums in that room, the TV room, they sounded so awful we had to work around them. We had to record each part individually and make it sound good, so it’s a weird hybrid of it not really being a live drum kit but it still being a complete drum kit.

The song has become such a big thing in my life. And, I get to enjoy it and all the success it has with two of my best friends. I’m blessed to be able to enjoy it in that way.