#start-of-commission me adding a little note: this will be fine and not impact me if i have to remove it

[teandragons]

fresh ramen (with a side of money-laundering) to-go

Calendas #83181569 for Clavicado

[apompkwrites]

reader impact || fan service scene: resting with you

series masterlist characters: diluc, xiao, zhongli genre: fluff summary: the creators of genshin impact have graciously gifted the players with a fan service scene featuring you! notes: i know dill's doesn't contain sleeping in your lap,,, i'm sorry but i hope you like what i provided :))

diluc -

diluc isn't one to have many sleep issues.

until the nightmares kick in.

whenever he can't sleep, he tends to just sit in his house.

it's always quiet.

not something you'd want after a nightmare, but he deals with it.

it's better than trying to expose himself to thousands or even millions of people.

but one night, after a particularly harsh nightmare, he remembers that the next day was supposed to be when he streams the newest genshin update.

but, he's already up...

and...

he probably will try to take a nap later today anyway...

soooo.

"i know it's a bit of an early, or late, stream but i was already awake."

his stream is definitely worried because this is the first time he streams at like 2:00 am.

he won't address it, though.

they don't need to know, anyway.

he pretty much tries to ignore any questions about his sleeping habits and opts to answer them very vaguely.

he is excited to play the update because he knows there's some more (name) content :))

he'll get everything done that he needs to do like commissions and events from them nice nice primogems.

and then here he is, ready to start the newest feature.

go to the angel's share.

ah yes, the place his character officially met you for the first time.

(he definitely has issues with interacting with patton before going inside)

the quest basically has diluc go around to collect more things needed for the winery.

pretty simple quest.

canonically, the quest takes the mc a few hours to complete because the materials are everywhere.

so a cutscene plays when he gets back to the dawn winery, which is where charles told him to bring the materials.

he walks inside and there you are.

greeting him with a brief nod and a wave of your hand.

mc drops the items on the table, ready to turn around and leave for another commission.

until you call out to him.

"ah, traveler."

mc turns back around and walks back to stand next to you.

you stand up from your chair and place a hand on their shoulder.

you stare at them for a moment.

"...i apologize. you must have been traveling for a long while to get the materials."

mc tries to wave you off.

"no, no. you'll hurt yourself. hm... come with me."

you literally CARRY MC TO A SPARE ROOM.

EXCUSE ME YOU CAN'T JUST DO THAT SO CASUALLY?!?!?!

anyway, you pull up a chair next to the bed before placing the mc on the bed.

you simply sit in the chair, quietly stroking your thumb along the mc's arm.

"take a break. i'm sure the adventurer's guild will do just fine for now."

diluc is trying his hardest to hold back tears.

he just... really needed this.

xiao -

it's widely known amongst xiao's community that he has insomnia.

he talks about it a lot on how he has trouble sleeping and he even streams on the nights where it gets so bad he doesn't like being alone with his thoughts.

such is the case here where a new update drops and he's up and ready to play.

he greets everyone briefly as they enter the stream, rubbing his eyes and letting out small yawns every once in a while.

they always know when it's an especially hard night for him, so they come prepared with (name) emotes to try and cheer him up.

they don't have the heart to spoil him about the new update and what it includes.

of course, there will always be that one person who tries to spoil something.

the chat sees that and just spams (name) emotes to hide it.

and since xiao is pretty sleep deprived at this point, he doesn't notice.

now he's ready to actually play.

he'll complete his daily commissions and anything else he needs to get done before checking out the newest features.

he does know that there's a part in the update that features you :0

he doesn't know what the actual update is but he just knows that he'll be able to see you again :))

so he's going through the update, right?

just admiring you even if he's half asleep.

and here comes the part that actually almost put him to sleep right there.

his mc and you are walking down the streets of liyue and it's all dark.

there's a few lights here and there.

you two are walking down to the inn he had first met you at.

passing by the boss lady at the front counter.

walking up the stairs.

and there you two are, on the very balcony he ad first seen you on.

"...you seem tired."

his character doesn't say anything (as expected) but just rubs their eyes and nods.

pain is floating beside you two before going off towards the kitchen downstairs.

now it's just you two.

"you should take a rest."

your voice was so soft :))

you look around the balcony before sighing, taking a seat on the ground.

his character stares at you for a bit before you pat your legs.

"i told you to rest, didn't i?"

?!?!?!?!

YOU'RE TELLING HIM

TO LAY DOWN

ON YOUR LAP????

ASJHAKDHAK

ahem.

anyway.

his character takes a bit before finally letting their head rest in your lap.

he's thanking whoever animated this part because it's a POV shot from the mc.

he's just staring up at you.

you're looking down at him with the softest expression he's ever seen.

"...rest now. i won't let anything harm you."

his chat is freaking out.

he's almost asleep at this point.

life is good.

zhongli -

zhongli doesn't have a lot of sleep issues either...

if he did, he'd probably just drink some tea and try to sleep again.

he isn't the type of stream late at night/early in the morning.

because of this, he plays the newest update for genshin at his scheduled time.

some people who watch him are going to bed though, so it's late at night/early in the morning for them :)

he knows this and tries to tell his viewers to get proper rest.

"it isn't good for you to stay up so late."

he really cares about them :))

he's happy to talk to them though.

(he definitely knows people like his voice so he's happy to help them sleep by talking to them)

his daily objectives take longer considering he's taking the time to read to his viewers.

of course, all of the things he's reading are genshin based.

more specifically you, but they don't mind.

anyway, he FINALLY gets his stuff done.

now he's finally ready to start the new (name) quest.

he's like... one or two hours into the stream already.

but he doesn't mind longer stream, especially when it concerns you.

go to third round knockout

ah yes, the little restaurant you go to for stories about yourself.

and, of course, there you are sitting at your usual chair and drinking tea.

you invite him over to sit down, which causes another cutscene to play, talking more about your adventures as a god/dess.

and, to zhongli's delight, the quest fully begins.

the quest follows you and mc going around lie, exploring different areas while you talk about what you've done there in the years you've been alive.

it's a more chill quest that features lore and character building :))

and then you get to a more secluded spot in lieu.

just the two of you.

the sun has already set and the stars are shining down on the two of you.

zhongli isn't saying anything, reveling in the silence as if he were actually there, standing next to you.

and then your character takes a seat in the grass.

and mc follows suit, sitting beside you.

it isn't long before zhongli's character begins to drift off to sleep.

and that's when it happens.

you reach over and pull mc into your lap, your storytelling continuing as if nothing happened.

"this may be awkward, but i noticed you were falling asleep. go on ahead. i'll be happy to share my stories to help you rest."

zhongli, once again, isn't saying anything. he simply lets the cutscene play.

you're still recalling tales of your past, calmly telling them to whoever was listening.

it's calm and quiet.

and zhongli now knows why people love hearing him tell stories as they sleep.

because he is definitely getting that same sensation hearing you recall your past.

[pillow-anime-talk]

genshin month ; third day.

synopsis: You and your fiancé started spending less and less time together.

# tags: scenario; current relationship; romance; mild angst; also fluff; sfw with suggestive ending

includes: female reader ft. albedo & sucrose {genshin impact}

author’s note: it’s time for some fucking angst but with happy end, friends.

You packed a delicious-looking breakfast into a special bamboo box, and then wrapped both the beautifully scented bento and the paper bag with chocolate cookies in a much larger piece of colorful fabric to make it all more convenient to carry. A proud smile graced your face as you turned to greet Albedo, whose footsteps you heard in the distance.

“Hello, darling.” You greeted him warmly and then felt a sweet kiss in the middle of your hot forehead. “Breakfast is on the table, and here, I packed your dinner. Please, eat it later, okay?” You added softly, touching his delicate skin on his cheek by your left hand, and the man nodded gently, after a while, however, nestling your body into his slightly larger and warmer. “Huh? Something happened?”

“Well... I know, I promised you that today we will spend some time together and go for a walk, but I will have to stay longer at work.” He confessed hesitantly, and you sighed under your breath.

“After all, you are our Chief Alchemist, I’m not really surprised. Has Jean commissioned you to do something important?” Curious, you asked, and he shook his head, which made you a bit confused. So you raised an eyebrow, gesturing for him to answer you truthfully.

“Sucrose asked me to help her with alchemy, so I’ll stay with her a little longer to help her master some of the things.” He admitted calmly, and your expression becomes blank. Ah, right. You could have figured out that the reason for all of this is your fiance’s helper, Sucrose.

You moved away from his body, then sighed; nevertheless, a weak smile appeared on your face. Not very honest, but Albedo didn’t seem to notice it.

“It’s okay, love. Let’s go eat our breakfast. I made your favorite vegetable and mushroom omelets.”

{ ･ﾟ✧ }

Hours after Albedo left the house, you realized that you forgot to add a thermos with coffee to his large bento. You decided to quickly fix your mistake and prepared his favorite, strong drink. You also took some fresh fruit and packed it in a small cloth bag. On its front there was a beautiful bouquet that you had embroidered yourself a few days earlier.

Even though you were confused by the behavior of your lover, you couldn’t stop worrying about him. He was the most important person for you, he was your beloved second half, he was also the best human you have ever met, so you wanted to repay him for looking after you and making sure that nothing bad would ever happen to you. Albedo cared for you as best he could and you appreciated it like nothing else in the world. However, for a long time you have had the impression that this care and interest in you begins and ends in your shared home, where no one is looking, where no one is allowed to enter.

Your weekly walks around the city were a thing of the past, and you didn’t want to ask for them every time. Your ‘family’ lunches were no longer shared lunches, because you ate them alone while the twenty-two-years-old was in his lab or carrying out his missions. Your tenderness was limited to kisses on the forehead, and you missed kisses on the mouth, on the nose, on other parts of the body. Not to mention about long baths together or time spent in bed (not necessarily reading books, but something... more intimate).

Nevertheless, you weren’t particularly angry, maybe a bit disappointed, but you didn’t feel angry with your partner. The only thing you could feel at that time was your concern about whether Albedo takes care of himself and takes care of his daily menu or the right amount of water consumed throughout the whole day.

The road to the place where the young man’s laboratory was located took you less than twenty minutes. Along the way, you greeted the inhabitants of Mondstadt, who, seeing you, wished you a nice day and asked you to greet, quoting their words, ‘The Great Captain’. At the sound of their joyfull voices you smiled slightly, nodding your head and promising you would do it. And as soon as you got to the right place, you quietly entered the building. You wanted to say ‘Good afternoon’ to your loved one and green-haired teenager, but instead you almost felt that the bag of products falling out of your hands.

You knew Albedo cherished you and would never cheat on you, but it hurt to see him leaning forward next to Sucrose. It seemed that his lips were about to touch her cheek or temple, and it hurt as badly as any other form of cheating. He had so much fun with her and their alchemy, so many topics to talk about, from work to missions they were given, and you? All you two could talk about was only... Yeah, was what?

“Umm... Albedo?” Your peaceful voice spread over the fairly large room, and two people next to the wooden table looked up at your standing figure. “I forgot to pack your coffee in the morning... I’ll put it here and I won’t disturb you two anymore. Don’t overstraining yourselves, okay?” Your faint smile covered a broken voice and trembling lips. “Good luck with your work and study. Do your best.”

You quickly put the silvery thermos and colorful fruit on the dark cabinet, and just as quickly left the room. Albedo, seeing your figure disappearing, apologized to his assistant, and she nodded. But before the blonde alchemist left the room, Sucrose grabbed him by the black sleeve of his clothes and laughed shyly.

“Mr. Albedo, I don’t think I need any extra lessons today, though. We can arrange a different date. Will it be okay?” Her girlish voice reached his ears, and he mechanically agreed, breathing blissfully. “Thank you. Please keep Mrs. Y/N company tonight. I think she misses you really much.”

The knight wanted to answer, but instead he ran after you, catching you up almost at the exit of the brick building. He took your sad face slowly between his all, long fingers and you frowned.

“Why are you leaving? You’re always welcome here, darling.”

“I just don’t want to disturb you two, Albedo. I don’t fit here.” You admitted finely, and your gaze shifted to the mahogany panels under your feet. “Sometimes I wonder why you are with me. I don’t even understand alchemy, you can’t talk to me about it. You should... Maybe you should be with Sucrose? Or with another woman who shares your hobbies...?” You asked tenderly, and he opened his eyes wider, pulling your body into a warm embrace.

“I never thought of leaving you for someone else, dearest. Why are you talking about this at all? What happened?”

Your eyes met his deep blue orbs again, and you shrugged timidly.

“Currently, Sucrose is closer to you than I am. I thought you were bored with me. Moreover – I don’t thi...”

A precious kiss on your blueberry-tasting lips silenced your thoughts and at the same time caused a tiny blush on your both cheeks and ear tips.

“Sucrose is my successor, it’s true. But, my love. You are my future wife and you’re definitely more important to me than she is. Please don’t ever think that I will leave you for someone else. You are the best thing... no, you’re the best person that enter to my life and I love you very, very much. Also... Sucrose always asks about you and says she wants to be like you. Like someone who know how to cook or bake, sew clothes and plushies, make beautiful hairstyles like the ones on my head. She admires you as someone admires their mother. Sometimes I have the feeling that she would rather be your apprentice than mine.” He laughed cutely, and you looked at him in big surprise. After a short while, however, you nodded, resting your head on his smooth neck. “... I know I’ve been neglecting you lately and I’m ashamed of it, but now I promise to make it up to you. Therefore, let’s go home and tomorrow we’ll go for a walk to the lake or for a picnic.”

“Huh? But your job? Extra-curricular activities...? And what about...”

“Don’t think about anything. We’re done now so let’s go, dear. I have to show you how different you are from other people when it comes to my feelings.” Suddenly his mouth was right next to your left ear, and warm breath wrapped around your face. “And I don’t promise you’ll fall asleep tonight.”

“... A-Albedo!”

previous day ; aether ♡ next day ; keqing

[trashyswitch]

The Repair Man's Reward

Chris is a full time repair man who works with the Animatronics. But a regular night of routine housekeeping for the next morning, would turn into so much more than he expected. And frankly, he's not complaining!

This prompt was suggested by a close friend of mine, who has been having dreams of being tickled by Chica (a FNAF representation of me as a ler, basically). So Chris, buddy, I hope this fanfic lives up to your expectations and puts you into a lee mood for a while!

Chris walked himself into the newer-looking pizzeria and looked around the place. The custodian must’ve just finished cleaning and re-setting up the party room, because it wasn’t dirty or cluttered with kids stuff. It was completely put together with table covers, banners, party hats and napkins on the tables, and little party bags to go with it. Chris smiled as he walked past the dining hall/game room, and looked up at the stage with Toy Freddy Fazbear and the bright-looking band members.

He walked up the stage’s stairs, and walked up to the new animatronics. “Good morning guys. Are you ready for another day of entertainment?” He asked rhetorically. He knew that the animatronics wouldn’t reply, so he got started on Toy Bonnie first. He took a moment to make sure the animatronics were properly shut down, and started removing the eyes. “Let’s get that guitar of yours tuned, shall we?” He said to himself.

Chris placed the eyes into the box to be cleaned, and moved onto the two bottom buttons. He clicked both of them one at a time, and smiled as Bonnie’s faceplate opened. “Perfect.” he declared. Next, Chris touched the flashing light button on the throat pipe to make the guitar play. Quickly, the guitar started playing each string individually from up to down. He listened carefully for any strings out of place and to Chris’s surprise, the strings were fine!

“Huh...looks like you’re learning how to carry a tune without breaking a string! Good job, Bon.” He reacted.

Then, he carried the eyes to the cleaning boxes, and dropped them in. It took only a couple seconds for the eyes to be cleaned and spat out. Chris grabbed them, walked back to the animatronic and placed the eyes in. Lastly: Chris closed the faceplate. “There ya go! And now onto Chica.”

Chris walked up to Chica with a smile. “Hello Chica! Good to see ya.” He greeted as he looked at her body. “Having fun making pizza for the kids?” He asked, seeing at least 4 separate slices of pizza on her. “Let’s get that removed.” He put some blue gloves on and started removing the pizza from her body. “Eugh...What is up with you and your obsession with pizza? I mean I totally get it, but this is just…wrong.” Chris threw the pizzas away one at a time and threw away the gloves into the same garbage. “And now…”

Chris clicked the two buttons on Chica’s head, and waited to see if there were cockroaches or other bugs. And sure enough, a few cockroaches started climbing around on there. “Oh no. Not again. Seriously! Where do these cockroaches come from? Do we need to call an exterminator?” He asked. “I’m gonna write that down for Mr. Afton to see.” He decided. He grabbed a notebook out of his box of parts and wrote a note to Afton about the cockroach issue. Then, Chris put a dust mask on and goggles, and sprayed some chemi-spray onto the animatronic. Quickly, Chris watched with relief as the cockroaches died and fell onto the ground.

Finally, Chris adjusted Chica’s arm, and placed the cupcake onto her hand. “There! Now onto Freddy.”

Chris had walked himself up to Freddy and right away, he could see a kid’s toy stuck in the mouth. Carefully, Chris started to open the mouth to remove the kid’s toy. He managed to successfully remove it and placed it into the lost and found bin. Giving his bowtie a light tug, Freddy’s chestplate opened and revealed no other toys or anything else worthy of the lost and found bin. So, Chris booped Freddy’s snoot and kept Freddy the way he was.

“Alright. And Foxy is still out of commission and-” Chris paused what he was saying when he saw that Chica was looking at him. “Heeeeee’s…” Chris walked closer to Chica and slowly started walking backwards. He watched as Chica’s head moved with his body, while his big green eyes stayed staring right back at his own dark brown eyes.

“W-What are you looking at?” He asked.

Suddenly, the yellow toy animatronic’s eyes went black. Chris didn’t even have a chance to think another coherent thought before the animatronic had dropped the cupcake and leaped right off the stage! Chris had immediately dropped his box of spare parts and had taken off in a terrified sprint down the main hall. He could hear stomps and clanging sounds of the yellow toy robot following right behind him.

While he ran for his life, Chris tried looking behind him to see just how much space was between-

OH GOD CHICA IS RIGHT BEHIND HIM!

The robot was literally neck and neck with the tiny human that had repaired her. It was like a human trying to outrun a raging lion! So impossible you shouldn’t even TRY to attempt it! Even though it would’ve been easier to just give up, Chris didn’t. But that determination only lasted another second before he was quickly captured by the speedy robot. Chris shouted and kicked, and wiggled as much as he could to get out of her grip. But it was impossible. Now that he was captured, there was no getting out.

“Help! HELP! HELP! AAAA-” All of Chris’s breath was squeezed right out of him as Chica tried to give him a big hug. Though it didn’t hurt him per say, it did render him unable to breath for a couple seconds. When the robot had stopped tightening her arms, Chris managed to adjust himself slightly so he could still breath. He took in a big breath, and exhaled in relief. Though he was able to breathe okay, he was still stuck in Chica’s grip.

Chica had wrapped her arms around Chris’s upper arms, rendering his shoulders immobile for a while. He was still able to bend his elbows and reach his lower arms out, but he couldn’t extend them like he would with free shoulders. “Ch-Chica! Please!” Chris begged.

Chica ignored his begs to be let go, and rested her head against Chris’s shoulder and neck, like a touch-starved mother. Chris blinked in surprise and still worried for his safety thanks to the fear that still lingered in his system.

But then, Chris felt one of Chica’s arms loosen and watched as the big hand rose above his head. Chris gasped and braced himself for skull-crushing impact…

But the only thing he felt was a light pat. A light pat from a big palm, and a ruffle of his big head of hair from the robot’s fingers. Chris opened his eyes and...didn’t know how to react. Were the animatronics supposed to hug people like this? If not, then why was Chica hugging him? Chris looked up at the hand and attempted to shake her hand off his head. But Chica removed her hand herself and resumed her tight hug.

Chris blinked in more surprise, but slowly seemed to calm down. It seemed like Chica was not planning on killing him and instead, was only planning to give hugs and cuddles to the guy. If that was true, then he’ll take them. Anything’s better than being killed.

But the comfy hug soon grew loose as Chica lifted Chris back up in front of her. Chris looked at her with genuine confusion and slight curiosity. Chica’s eyes were no longer dark black and had reverted back to the light green color. The toy version of Chica looked so much more friendly and approachable compared to the first Chica. It was somewhat deceiving. Chris watched as Chica wrapped one full hand under his armpits and around the man’s upper chest. The left hand was now securely but gently holding onto Chris, while the right hand started reaching down to his belly.

Noticing the shirt had risen up, Chica lifted the shirt up more and gazed at the skin underneath. Chica’s head tilted to the side while her jaw dropped a little in surprise. Chris looked at her eyes and quickly widened his own when he saw something adrenaline-inducing in Chica’s pupils:

A white feather had appeared in both eyes.

“Oooooh no. Ch-Chica...Let’s not do that-”

Chris was quickly interrupted by a single thick yellow finger, scratching at his belly. Chris immediately went silent and tensed, almost nervous to let his laugh out. Maybe if he held his breath and waited it out, Chica would assume he’s not ticklish and move on. But unfortunately, it was a lot easier said than actually done.

Chica was moving the single finger around the different spots on his belly and adding little extra scratches here and there. The extra scratches were already almost breaking him. What made matters worse was that his belly was one of his absolute worst spots! It didn’t take much for anyone to break him just from some scratches on his belly.

Chris let out a strained grunting sound as he tried to keep his giggles from escaping his lungs. But then: Chica pulled an EVIL move by adding another finger to the scratching! And if that wasn’t enough, Chica had started ‘walking’ her fingers around his belly! OH NO! Chris accidentally let out a strained titter as his lips quivered into a wobbly, silly-looking smile.

Much to Chris’s dismay, Chica heard the tittering sound and quickly took it as a sign that the guy was ticklish! So Chica added her third finger and her thumb to the mix. The moment she started clawing and scratching, Chris threw his head back and broke out in laughter. “AAAAHAHAAAhahahahaha! EEEeehehehehehehe!” Chris laughed, wiggling around and kicking his feet.

Chica’s eyes appeared to dilate, making the pair feather images appear bigger in her eyes as she moved her hand to squeeze his bottom ribs. Chris took the few seconds to breath a little and quickly started giggling more high-pitched the moment she started squeezing. “Hahahahahahahaha! Chihihihicahahahahaha! Cuhuhuhut ihihihit ohohohouhuhut!” Chris reacted, squeezing Chica’s fingers as he giggled.

Chica removed her right hand and put her three fingers into a fist. Staring at her thumb, Chica lowered it towards the side of Chris’s chest and started digging and worming her thumb into the middle ribs and the spaces between. “HeheheheHEHEHEEEEEE! NOHOHOHOHOHAHAHAHAHAHA! STAHAHAHAHAHAP!” Chris tried desperately to reach down and grab the hand or thumb, but couldn’t even reach high enough thanks to Chica’s thick arms. And even if he could, he wouldn’t have been able to pull her off anyway.

Then, Chica stretched out her hands, and moved her hand curiously to his belly again. “IHIhihi...Whahahat ahahare…” He struggled to properly see where she was gonna go next thanks to her fingers taking up so much of his view. But Chris quickly figured it out thanks to one poke to the bell button.

Chris widened his eyes in horror. She’d better not be!

Chica poked his belly button again, causing Chris to jump and squeak like a loud mouse.

It was at this moment that Chris had realized: he was toast.

Chica immediately started poking and scratching her finger into his belly button, leaving him in hysterics. “AAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! STAHAHAHAP! STAHAHAP IHIHIHIT! IHIHIHIT’S TOOHOHOHOHO MUHUHUHUHUCH!” Chris begged.

Chica didn’t have any of those words in her code. But truth be told, none of the words in her code included laughter in between. That was a command flaw that had been around for a while, sadly. Usually, there would be a parent there to give the command. But this time, it was just one person! Chris was all alone; so Chris would have to work super hard to properly plead for her to actually stop.

Chris had sadly realized this and mentally cursed the complicated technology. If they had just come up with suits instead of robots...it would’ve been so much easier. But nope! He’s stuck with a robot chicken that was currently tickling him to bits.

“CHIHIHIHICAHAHAHA! IHIHI CAHAHAHAHAN’T BREHEHEHEHEAHAHATHE!” Chris yelled at her.

Just as one would figure, Chica didn’t understand this as a proper command. So, she continue to tickle the belly button for a little longer before resuming to the generally belly area. “HAHAHahahahahaha! Ohohohokahahahay, thahahahank yohohou. Thahahahank yohohohou Chihihicaha.” Chris told her.

Chica didn’t really understand that command. but she did notice that Chris’s laughter was more giggly and happy, than high-pitched and hysterical. So, Chica seemed to be able to learn the type of attention that Chris liked. Chica’s whole hand scratching soon moved back to 1 finger scratching again. When that happened, Chris started to calm down more and more. “Hehehehehehe! Yohohou...Yohohou’re ahamahahazing. Wooohohow.” Chris muttered.

Chica tilted her head as she gently lifted up Chris’s chin. Chris had a cute little dopey smile on his face. Under his longer hair, hid his sparkling dark eyes. Chica tilted her head as the feather image in both her eyes, switched to white hearts. Chris looked at the hearts in her eyes and dropped his smile. Not because he was sad, but because he was curious. Why were there hearts in her eyes? Was...Was Chica in love with her? Or was this more like a motherly kind of love?

Chica moved her finger around under his chin, and started gently scratching under his chin. Chris’s smile seemed to grow right back onto his face but this time, it was followed up by...almost a loving reaction to the scratching. He was closing his eyes and tilting his head to the side while sporting a soft, comfortable smile on his face. Whatever kind of loving reaction this was, Chica was loving it! Her eyes dilated in wonder and excitement as she scratched under his chin with two fingers this time.

Chris appeared to be loving the chin scratches. Whenever Chica would move towards the upper chin, Chris would follow her and lift his chin up like a touch-starved cat. It was like he had just learned about the wonders of being touched. He didn’t want it to stop!

Next, Chica moved her ears towards his ears and started lightly scratching there. To Chica’s surprise, Chris started leaning into that touch as well! His face showed signs of enjoyment, and he even started...vibrating?

Wait...there was a sound to this vibration! It sounded strange. In fact, it sounded similar to a finger fluttering through all the pages of a book. It sounded...pleasurable? Was it a sound of enjoyment to go along with his face? Chica wasn’t entirely sure. But she could understand that whatever the sound was...it was connected to the ear scratching.

Whenever Chica would stop scratching his ears, Chris would stop doing the flutter sound and would look at him with sadness and hurt. Silent pleas for more? It seemed so. Chica would continue the ear scratches, and the pleasurable face, along with the flutter sound, would return.

Chica kept up this interesting sound-making action for a little longer. And the moment she finally stopped, Chris looked at her with a smile. “Thank you Chica. That felt amazing.” Chris opened his arms out, reaching for a hug. Chica, surprised but happy to agree, gently brought Chris into a hug. Chris wrapped his arms around her neck and snuggled his face into her shoulder.

While Chris snuggled into the chick, Chica started to draw little scribbles on his back with her loving finger. Chris, much to her surprise, started giggling and wiggling a little. “Hehehehehehehe! Thahahat tihihihicklehehes!” He giggled. Happy to hear his laughter more up close, Chica kept it up. “Hehehehehehehe! Hehehehehahahahahahaha!” He kept on giggling.

Chris wasn’t even trying to protest at this point! He was just happy to be in her arms! Chris’s viewpoint on Chica had changed drastically from when he got there, to at this moment. Toy Chica was programmed to be a little like a mother hen to the little children she likely saw as baby chicks. It was an underappreciated code idea that deserved a lot more positive reviews.

Chris stayed in Chica’s hug for a long while and enjoyed every ticking second of his cuddle session with her. It had been years since he had been cuddled like this. He never, ever expected to get such a warm cuddle session from a metallic, chicken-looking robot! But, gifts can come at the strangest of times.

Chris would later go back to the Pizzeria with more than just a daily repair job to do. He would come back, fix up the animatronics, and cuddle Chica for a while. Everytime he had a shift, Chris would happily cuddle with Chica. And amazingly, Chica’s faulty facial scanning seemed to work just enough so that she recognized who he was! It was the fixing man who loves to cuddle!

Now despite Chris’s attempts to hide this secret, he did manage to get caught. But Chris was actually surprised with who, out of all the staff, had caught him during a cuddle session. It was Henry Emily himself.

Henry had originally come into the restaurant to reminisce over the robots he had created and sadly, handed over to Afton once he left the team. But he ended up finding a lot more than just a repair man and the animatronics.

While the sight of a grown man cuddling a robot was super confusing and almost worrying at first, Mr. Emily seemed to understand just what was actually happening. Not only that, but Emily even had some answers for Chris’s questions such as: What did the hearts mean?

As it would turn out, the hearts meant that Chica had grown a special connection to someone, similar to a mother with their child! He had originally set it up with white hearts to represent purity in the love rather than the traditional red heart, which would represent a more intimate love.

So Chris smiled in delight when he realized his personal guess was almost spot on!

But then, more and more things started to finally click when Chica’s feathers appeared in her eyes again while looking at Henry. And of course; before the engineer could think to run, Chica had grabbed him and started tickling him! And even when Emily begged and pleaded for Chris to stop her, Chris just crossed his arms and enjoyed the strangely endearing scene.

Looks like Chris isn’t the only one who likes getting tickles from the pizza-loving chicken...

[xenteaart]

Apocalypse Chronicles

Pairing: Five Hargreeves x Reader

Summary: Getting stuck in the apocalypse certainly has its ups and downs, and this is somewhat of a dairy with little glimpses into the life you two had.

Warnings: mentions of vomit

Note: This is sort of a part 2 to this fic. Also you can check out my other fics on this Commission AU right here!

Hopefully, this is a rollercoaster.

Day 548.

You and Five were currently on your way… somewhere. You rarely had any particular destination in mind, if you were being honest. Mainly, you were just moving from one place to another, seeking shelter and looking for food and other essentials such as clothes, medical supplies and many other things, most of which were really hard to come by.

It’s been a very long day, and a fairly hard one as well because the weather seemed to get harsher with each passing mile and moving one foot in front of the other was beginning to feel like an impossible task. So, since all of your focus and concentration went into walking, naturally, you’d stopped listening to what Five was saying about thirty minutes ago. Funnily enough, it took him that long to notice you completely zoning out and ignoring his passionate ranting.

“Hey! Have you been listening?” he asked bitterly, mostly just annoyed by the fact he’d been wasting his breath.

You quickly snapped out of your daze and blinked a few times.

“Charming.” Five added as he rolled his eyes. It was this very moment when you realized something and couldn’t help but smile widely, and he raised one eyebrow in confusion as to what could be making you so happy right now.

“Your voice is starting to crack,” you pointed out. He clearly didn’t expect you to say that, and it caught him completely off guard, making him forget he was mad at you mere seconds ago.

“My boy is turning into a man!” you exclaimed; tenderness, pride and just a tiny bit of sarcasm radiating from your voice. Five shook his head and scoffed at your observation as he was trying to conceal his embarrassment; rather unsuccessfully, you must say.

Getting stuck with a slightly older girl and going through puberty was, in his opinion, beyond humiliating.

You wrapped your arm around his shoulder and squeezed it lightly, pulling him closer as the sound of your joyful giggling was filling the air.

“Can’t wait till you start getting facial hair too,” you teased him and immediately felt his elbow kick your ribcage, the impact too mild to leave a bruise but certainly sudden enough to make you go “ouch!”

Day 1325.

“Five Hargreeves, you may wanna propose to me right now,” you screamed from a distance as you were still rummaging through the ruins of what used to be a grocery store. Oh, you knew he was going to love this.

After spending almost 4 years by Five’s side, you’ve come to know an impressive amount of facts about him, most of which were mundane and in the grand scheme of things, he would say, insignificant. But you didn’t see them as such and kept them all in mind, waiting for the right moment, and today was your lucky day.

“What?” he yelled back, a little confused by your assumption that seemingly came out of nowhere. Not that he didn’t like your company but marriage wasn’t on his to-do list quite yet.

As you awkwardly climbed over the debris, obviously carrying something in your hands but trying to hide it underneath your ill-fitted parka, you said, “Close your eyes.”

Five seemed hesitant, so you insisted.

“Come on, I know you don’t like surprises but it’s the nice kind, I promise.”

He finally complied and exhaled loudly as a means of communicating his growing impatience. You promptly pulled out a coffee pack from under your clothes, swept the dust off its surface in one quick motion and handed it over to Five.

“Look.”

“No way,” he opened his mouth, sincerely shocked you had managed to find something whole and completely untouched. And it happened to be coffee.

“I think I deserve at least a kiss on the cheek, wouldn't you say?” you grinned at how fast Five’s expression turned from grumpy and tired to excited and grateful.

In no time his tight grip found your waist, and he effortlessly spun you around, making you squeak in surprise as you clawed into his shoulders for support instinctively. His movements were smooth and confident as if you were light as a feather or rather weighed nothing at all, and you caught yourself really enjoying the warmth of his hands on your skin.

“You deserve a lot more than that,” Five replied with a sigh as he put you down carefully, his tone suddenly losing its playfulness and blossoming with something a titch more unexpected, and if you had to put a name on it, “affection” would be the most fitting.

Fortunately, the smudges of dirt on your skin were doing a very good job at hiding just how red your cheeks turned at the comment.

Day 1557.

“God, do you ever shut up?” Five snarled irritably, interrupting you mid-sentence, and your jaw dropped in shock. You could have sworn it felt exactly what getting stabbed in the stomach would feel like.

You were a very short-tempered individual and in any other context you would have snapped back, making some scathing comment and walking away with your chin up. This time - not a single word left your mouth as you were paralyzed by Five’s unfiltered hostility. You felt your eyes burn and immediately turned away to wipe away the tear rolling down your cheek, too proud to let him see how much it hurt.

In your defence, you weren’t much of a talker before the apocalypse but it didn’t take you long to find out that being locked up in your own head in a deathly quiet world was not a good way to spend your days. So you kept talking, for both Five’s and your own sanity. It made things feel less real, however paradoxical it may sound. But, more importantly, it was a gesture of care.

You spent the rest of the day without saying a word, and, to your disappointment, Five wasn’t willing to break the silence either. Not talking, however, didn’t mean not looking after each other, and you, of course, made him dinner while he organized a safe place for you both to spend the night.

Since there was never a roof over your heads, you tended to sleep very close to each other, exchanging body heat to keep each other warm. At first, it was only a safety precaution but the habit slowly transformed into something more meaningful, somewhat of a necessity to know and feel that the other was still alive and breathing, still there, safe and sound.

As the two of you were lying in your improvised bed, which was essentially just a few layers of blankets on the hard and unfriendly concrete, you felt Five’s hot breath against the back of your neck as he cuddled you from behind. The big spoon.

“I deeply regret saying that,” Five whispered and sighed in frustration at his own self. He knew he royally fucked up.

“Please, don’t ever stop talking. I need it and I need you, okay?” he uttered so quietly that it was almost inaudible but you caught every word.

You clenched your teeth.

“Okay.”

Day 1866.

Birthdays were never a happy event in the apocalypse and you only kept track of them in order to know your own age.

Every birthday was nothing but another reminder of how much time you’ve spent trapped in this nightmare, and there was truly nothing either of you wished to celebrate.

However, this time you decided to make an exception. Five was turning eighteen and, despite the fact that your circumstances were far from perfect, it was a big day nevertheless.

To say you had limited resources would be saying nothing at all. No cake, no candles, no decorations, no anything to create an environment for having fun, and the only thing at your disposal was your contagious enthusiasm. It wasn’t much but it was surely something.

“Wakey-wakey, sleeping beauty,” you whispered into Five’s ear as you tapped on his shoulder, gently breaking him out of his sleep. He murmured something incoherent and placed his hand over his eyes, trying to escape the bright and intrusive daylight.

“Come on, I’ve made you a birthday breakfast,” which wasn’t at all different from any other breakfast but you believed a sprinkle of love that you so thoughtfully added was definitely going to make it taste a bit less like wet cardboard.

“We have plans for today,” you stated proudly as you were waiting for Five to get up. He glanced at you suspiciously, and you were quick to reassure him.

“You can do your clever math things till evening but after that we’re celebrating. There are two bottles of wine that you didn’t know about, and we’re going to drink them and dance. But not ball dance, properly drunk dance. No sadness allowed. Instructions clear?”

Five nodded, feeling a weary yet content and cheerful smile touch the corners of his lips.

Maybe, it wasn’t going to be a shit day, after all.

Day 2587.

“Come on, don’t you dare die on me, you idiot,” Five hissed after pressing his lips against your forehead and coming to a disturbing conclusion that your fever was only getting worse.

“You can’t get rid of me that easily,” you laughed weakly as you looked up at him, and in less than a second a violent wave of nausea washed over your body and swallowed you whole, leaving you with very little chances to escape the overwhelming feeling. You’d been throwing up non-stop the entire day, and the severe dehydration you were suffering was becoming a genuine concern.

The two of you didn’t have the luxury of medicine, and most days you were doing just fine. This time, however, sleeping it off didn’t seem to be doing it for you, and Five was beginning to panic.

“Don’t say that,” Five said coldly, and you winced at the sudden change of mood, almost offended that he wasn’t trying to distract you from your mysterious illness with humor.

“I’m just worried about you,” he clarified as he noticed a gleam of sadness in your eyes.

It was absolutely killing him to see you like that - in pain, sick and exhausted, and he simply couldn’t afford to have “sad” on the list as well.

If there was one thing that Five despised more than anything else in this world, it would be helplessness, and now, as he was facing the invisible enemy that was threatening to take you away, he was feeling exactly that. Helpless. Useless.

You closed your eyes and tried to breathe through another urge to vomit, inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth loudly, but the agonizing sensation didn’t seem to have any compassion or mercy for you.

“Okay, I can’t hold it back any longer,” you warned, and Five nodded in silent understanding.

He’d been sitting by your side and holding your hair all day, thoughtfully keeping it away from your face while you were restlessly puking your guts out, and, as you were doing so, not a single muscle on his face cringed in disgust. The only thing that was truly bothering him about this marathon of vomiting was how soon you were going to recover from it.

Thankfully, your immune system was strong enough to get you back on your feet without any external assistance, and you began to get better eventually. But even during your weeks of sickness there wasn’t a single day when you didn’t feel loved and cared for, and the precious moments of Five holding your hand during your feverish nightmares were going to be imprinted on your mind forever.

[kimonobeat]

aiko bon: Official “Chiisana Marui Koujitsu” liner notes

aiko’s major label debut album, released April 21, 1999. The title of the album comes from a line in the first song, “Orange na Mangetsu”.

Orange na Mangetsu (オレンジな満月; Orange Full Moon)

Jet (ジェット)

Shiseikatsu (私生活; Private Life)

Utahime (歌姫; Diva)

Akai Kutsu (赤い靴; Red Shoes)

Ijiwaru na Tenshi yo Sekai wo Warae! (イジワルな天使よ 世界を笑え!; Mean Angel, Laugh at the World!)

Koi Ochiru Toki (恋墜ちる時; When You Fall in Love)

Natsu ni Muffler (夏にマフラー; Scarf in Summer)

Bob (ボブ)

Naki Mushi (ナキ・ムシ; Cry Baby)

Ashita (あした; Tomorrow)

(Thank you parasmichael for the commission!)

☑ The album as a whole

This was in 1999. When we were making this album I was sorta overwhelmed by just how awesome everything was: “Wow, a studio! Wow, a mic! Wow, oh my gosh, Tokyo!” We didn’t have just one set recording studio either; we recorded in a few different places. Plus, I didn’t have much time because I was still commuting from Osaka then. Because of that, my mental picture of recording it is that it was all pretty much over in the blink of an eye. There’s parts where my voice sounds nasally because we recorded when my vocals weren’t in great condition. (laughs) Oh, and it feels very ‘early’, doesn’t it? Back then I thought it was better to sing everything with force. Like, personally I don’t think you should sing very sharply or shrilly when the song itself is mild, but I used to think the stronger the better. I didn’t know a lot about laying off at certain points in the lyrics back then. What a trip down memory lane.

☑ Orange na Mangetsu

One thing I don’t really like is when people call this song “Oraman”. (laughs) I’m happy people even know this song exists enough to call it that, though. It was the opening theme song for the late-night Tokyo TV show “Gekkan Chikyuu TV (Monthly Earth TV)”. We shot a video for it thereーa sort of music video, if you will. It’s a rare video. I don’t even have it. Thanks to that, I had the chance to perform the song “Utahime” on the show. Back then I was up to my ears in work, so I appeared on the show covered in mud. I’m actually afraid of the moon. You know how sometimes you see it all big and amber-colored up in the sky? A long time ago, I often used to get so scared of seeing a big moon in the sky that I would cry. I’m still afraid of it to this day. I’m really scared that it’ll fall out of the sky or something. The song’s about how I want so badly for my feelings to be understood that I even go as far as to fearfully get a glimpse of it through the gap in my curtains and make a wish, even though I’m so scared of the moon. I used to be such a weakling back then. I used antiseptic for my throat so much that people would say my place smelled like a hospital when they came over. That’s why the word ‘antiseptic’ appears in the lyrics. The album title ‘chiisana marui koujitsu (a nice calm little day)’ appears in the lyrics too. I think that phrase represents what I personally consider to be a happy day well. I still find myself hoping that every single day continues to be full of happy things like these. Another thing I don’t really like was when this one comedian pronounced it as “Chiisana Marui Koupi”. It’s “Koujitsu”, not “Koupi!” Kind of feels like the album kicks off with drums, doesn’t it?

☑ Jet

Okay, first of all… Right around the time Shimayan had finished up the arrangement, I went over to his house and we recorded some vocals as a sort of demo. I was so happy when I listened that tape. I listened to it while running through Sangenjaya by myself. It just kinda made me feel like running. Like, “WE DID IIIIIIIT!” Anyway, I was running, and it felt so good that I knew then and there that this song would be a hit. It just felt so good when I was running that it felt done to me. It gets people really excited at my concerts, too. I guess the “d-dun!” part has a lot of impact. I also use the pronoun ‘boku (masculine ‘I’) in the song too, which is rare for me. The boy in “Jet” and the boy in “Boushi to Mizugi to Suiheisen” are one and the same. So the hair sticking out of the back of the girl’s hat is all messy and curled upーthat’s what the line “Because the messy hair on the back of your head are your wings” means. He’s looking at the hair sticking out of the back of the girl’s capーy’know, those messy hairs that are all over the placeーand looking at the way she lives her life, how incredibly free she is and how she really enjoys every single day of her life, and he sort of admires her for that. That’s why you also see the line “I know for sure you’ll fly” in the lyrics too. I guess I included it after it all just popped into my head once I came up with that visual because this song, “Jet” and “Boushi” are all especially candid. There are others like that too.

☑ Shiseikatsu

I’m really fond of the title and kept saying I wanted to make it the title of the album. Then when I was writing the title track, I was afraid of making the overall vibe of the album into just one thing and gave it up. When you write a title track, the radio stations definitely play the title track on the air. I didn’t really like the idea that the title track would set the image of the entire album even though there were all these other songs on it, you know what I mean? Now I get what everyone was saying to me then. Back then I didn’t understand why at all. Now I’m like, “Oh, so that’s why.” I definitely feel the things I wrote about in the lyrics. It’s an established part of me that I’m a bit afraid of, and because it kinda like, expresses that part of me to a T, I decided to call it “Private Life”. The one thing I really remember about this song was when the bridge over my molars came off when I had my very first solo concert at Nest in Shibuya. I stuck them back on with Poligrip. (laughs) Using Poligrip for the very first time at 23 years old. That was when I first learned that Poligrip was clear. You know how it’s always pink when you see it on TV? When I found out, I thought I’d made some kind of huge discovery and mentioned it during the MC portion of my concertーthat I was using Poligrip and it was clear! I showed everybody. They all went, “Whoa!!!” When I sang “Shiseikatsu” during that Poligrip concert, there was this one girl who was so stoked that she was dancing like she was at a club or something. I remember seeing her and singing while thinking to myself, “Oh wow… That makes me happy to see! I’m gonna keep working hard then!” I also really love the ad-libbing that doesn’t follow the melody at all, and also the ad-libbing in the second half of the song.

☑ Utahime

This is another one of those songs that stands out more than I ever thought it would. A lot of my fans tells me they like this song. Probably because I suddenly started sang this song during the opening of my first time on the national net show “All Night Nippon R” along with the line, “Nice to meet you. I’m aiko, who are you?” Because of that, some people found out about me for the first time through this song and not one of my singles. The people on the radio station really liked “Utahime”, so they asked me to sing it. Everyone gets super excited when I sing it at concerts, too. I still feel like this song’s gotten a lot more mileage than I ever thought it would. But, I’d like to be the kind of singer who’s able to surpass this song so I can continue singing in the future. This is one of those songs that I feel like I need to sing any time I sing at a concert. It was in the program at the concert when I developed those nodules [on my vocal chords]. When I sang the part that goes, “I might cry and cry~”, I couldn’t get the ‘and’ out. That was really painful for me. I figured everything’d be fine if I could just hit that note, but I definitely couldn’t. That was a huge shock for me. Singing this song used to make me feel super sad. I just couldn’t get over how shocked I was about it. Any time I thought about singing this song, the memory of it overpowered the song itself. The song makes me feel really sad, but also happy. I still hope I can be like the person in the song soon.

☑ Akai Kutsu See liner notes for ‘Naki Mushi’ single

☑ Ijiwaru na Tenshi yo Sekai wo Warae

Okay, so another thing I don’t really like (laughs) is when people call this song “Iji Ten”. Sounds like ikaten, doesn’t it? Like some kind of fried food, right? Sounds like a fried fish cake or something like that. I’ve always called it “Tenshi” which is the usual, but some people call it “Iji Ten”. There’s also a part in this song where I put my hands up in the air along with everyone in the audience. I never thought I’d get pretty much everyone to do it. I used to hope that writing this song would help me enjoy myself at concerts. I used to be really bad at writing cheerful songs in the beginning. I write my songs using my piano, and the more I try to sing in-tempo, the more I try to play the rhythm on my keyboard and the harder it gets hard for me to sing. It’s like my right hand’s flipping things with a spatula and my left hand’s doing shabu-shabu or something… But I really wanted to write an up-tempo song. That was my task, an up-tempo song. It still is. So yeah, that’s how this song came to be. I think I’ve been doing this song at concerts since my indie days, maybe. I remember doing the peace sign and thumbs-up since before I had my solo concert. After I debuted, I appeared at this event in Tokyo called “The Freedom Fool Fry”. I was there with about 4 supporting bands. It was my very first time performing in Tokyoーit was a great place to be a nobody, although I was there because they’d asked me to come. I was super happy to see everyone shuffle out there to see me. I was like, “Wow, people in Tokyo are so dang kind~” (laughs) Now a lot of people know the signs. Seeing that from the stage is one of the highlights of the show. It’s just super neat. It almost doesn’t feel over ‘til they do it. Anytime I leave this song off the setlist people always write, “Not doin’ it this time?” on the surveys. The melody moves around a lot in this song and key’s pretty high, so it’s a fight every time. Like, I wanna move around, but I also wanna sing. You know? It’s a fight to the finish every single time, one where everyone who came to the venue is grappling with that ‘seize the day!’ feeling.

☑ Koi Ochiru Toki

My voice was real nasally then. I almost think it might be a good thing when I listen to it now, but the song reminds me how frustrated I was with it at the time. I caught a cold while recording. This was back when I didn’t worry at all about what state my throat was in either, so I slept until about 5 minutes before I had to sing because I had both a cold and a fever. Then they woke me up, I got up, and sang. People told me that they didn’t understand the lyrics of this one song in particular. (laughs) “What’s square foam?” they asked. It’s hard having people ask what things are. I was like, “Don’t ask about every single lil’ thing!” (laughs) In my head, I imagine ‘when you fall in love’ as something impossible happening. That’s what I think falling in love is. You’ve got all these things swirling around in your head. Things are like a cartoon, or a comic stripーthat’s what ‘when you fall in love’ is like to me, so that’s what I wrote about. You feel it with your entire body, you inhale their scent. I was super shocked when I sang it at a concert for the first time in a while and everyone sang along. They had me worrying that I’d mess the lyrics up!

☑ Natsu ni Muffler

So hot it’s like wearing a scarf in the summerーthat’s what I was going for here! I’m expressing the way you feel when you like somebody. I feel like I don’t do anything that sounds even remotely like this now. It’s pretty refreshing, I like it a lot. The more I listened to this song, the more I fell in love with it. I mean, I’m the one who wrote it and all, but… When you listen to something, over time you gradually start seeing new sides to it. Like, I love how expressive the melody is, and I love how the feeling of being purely happy comes through well. I love the phrase “Lemme see the tan lines your watch left behind”ーit’s very realistic.

☑ Bob

I’m the one playing in this song, tee hee. (laughs) Hm, where’d I sing this again? Hitokuchizaka, maybe… ? It came together pretty much instantly so I said, “Hey, I wrote this song.” I remember recording it after showing it to them at Hitokuchizaka Studio and being told it sounded good. You can really tell it was fresh off the press when I recorded it too. Wow, that really takes me back! I sound like I’m saying “I sink” instead of “I think”, “mot” instead of “not”, and all the words are the kind you’d use in school. Thanks to this song, anytime I get letters people write “I sink” instead. I used to write it that way a lot myself, actually. My hair really was cut into a bob when I made this song. That’s why I wrote it! In this song I’m really trying hard to act tough. I’m just talking to myself but wish someone was listening… but I’m also acting tough. That’s because I feel that way 24/7. (laughs) Oh, and the Wurlitzer is just fantastic, isn’t it?

☑ Naki Mushi See liner notes for ‘Naki Mushi’ single

☑ Ashita See liner notes for ‘Ashita’ single

[study-with-nina]

[taken from my blog]

I'm an avid reader. There's nothing I love more than diving into a new novel, whether it be nonfiction about a recent scientific discovery or a centuries-old classic. In 2018 alone, I read 46 books, and started three more that I will finish in the new year. Since making a commitment for my New Year's resolution to read 40 books in 2018, I have read some astonishingly good novels. Here are ten of my favorites, in no particular order.

[in the interest of transparency, I will note that any books purchased through the links provided will provide you with a discount as well as give me a small commission (:]

1. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

This book was actually the first book I read this year, and it still has a special place in my heart. The Book Thief is a story about a young German girl growing up during the Holocaust, and her love of reading that pits her against Hitler's regime. It was refreshingly somber to see the Holocaust era from a new view -- not that of a Jewish person, nor a soldier, but a civilian child growing up surrounded by hate speech and propaganda. Liesel's actions and her love for her little family tugged at my heartstrings many times, and this book is one of the few that makes it onto my "reread someday" list. (P.S., the movie is incredible as well, and is one of the few that seems to follow the book as accurately as possible.)

2. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

I actually finished this book in record time -- I just could not put it down. The Hate U Give is a gritty, realistic view into what it's like to grow up black in America, and the unique set of challenges that black people face in regards to police brutality and everyday racism -- from friends as well as foes. After 17-year-old Starr witnesses her friend's death at the hands of a cop, she must decide whether to keep her mouth shut or risk bringing attention -- mostly negative -- to herself. Who will believe her, anyway? This book was so profoundly impactful while being written in the voice of a teenage girl, conflicted and alone. Definitely one of my top books of all time.

3. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Honestly, I didn't have high expectations coming into this book. I had seen posters for the movie, and assumed it was just another 3-star read with a profitable idea to make into a movie. I am glad to say that I was wrong. This book, set in the year 2045, follows the adventures of teenager Wade Watts as he navigates the world of the OASIS, an online utopia in which citizens live out their lives, in search of a formidable prize hidden someone in the OASIS's thousands of worlds. Wade is a lower-income resident, and the OASIS is all he has -- so he's willing to risk it all for the chance to win the prize and discover the secret of the online universe's creator. This novel is fast-paced and well-written, and is a must-read for anyone who loves anything 80s, as the challenge is focused around 80s culture. (Call Ferris Bueller -- we're going on one heck of an adventure.)

4. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

Despite the books listed previously, I typically tend to read nonfiction or classic literature, and don't often branch out into contemporary fiction. But I had heard rave reviews of Little Fires Everywhere, so I decided to check it out, and it quickly became a favorite of mine. The narrative reminds me of that of East of Eden by John Steinbeck, my favorite novel of all time, in the way that it follows the struggles and interconnectedness of a family, somehow without having an explicitly describable plot ("I don't know, they just...exist") but still managing to pull you in just as deep. Like East of Eden, Little Fires Everywhere follows the story of two very different families: the Richardsons, a large, wealthy family with multiple strong, conflicting personalities; and the Warrens, a small, close-knit mother and daughter duo who never lay roots in any one place. The story has a sort of coming-of-age feel to it, as the lives of the Richardson and Warren teens and their age-appropriate struggles are discussed, but also a hint of mystery as Mrs. Richardson attempts to track down the origins of the mysterious Mia Warren. This book made me laugh, cry, and everything in between, and I was so obsessed that I finished the 11-and-a-half-hour-long audiobook in the span of five days (despite the fact that I worked double shifts most of those days). Again, this book is definitely one of my favorites of all time, and one of the rare stories whose characters you still wonder about long after the book is over.

5. Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics by Richard H. Thaler

I have never taken an economics course (though I have dabbled in Crash Course videos here and there) and economics is not an important component of either of my majors (Biological Sciences and Political Science). However, this book was so intriguing that I promptly forgot both of those points. Misbehaving is an excellent introduction to behavioral economics, written simply enough that someone with little to no background knowledge in economics (such as myself) can comprehend, but still intricate enough that the material couldn't fit in a ten-minute Youtube video. Thaler, one of the earliest behavioral economists, describes how the subject came into importance among other economic and business-related topics, as well as how its marriage of economic and financial principles and behavioral psychology lend important insights to businesses as well as individuals. The difficulty of the content is offset with plenty of easy-to-understand examples, and the book reads like a history driven by discovery, with reviews of behavioral economics principles along the way. Though the subject of economics is not one that interests me as much as, say, politics or medicine, I still thoroughly enjoyed this book, and would recommend it as an interesting read that serves as a light workout for your brain.

6. The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women” by Kate Moore

I'd be lying if I said this book didn't make me cry multiple times. The Radium Girls is a true story of America's dial painters, the hundreds of young women who painted radium onto watches during the First World War, and the consequences of their position on their health and livelihood. In the days of World War I, jobs for women were few and far between, and becoming a dial painter was the most coveted position among women in their late teens and early twenties, unmarried and looking for some pocket money to buy the latest trends. This narrative follows the story of these dial-painters and how their distinct, omnipresent glow of radium dust went from being wondrous to becoming deadly. As the poisonous radium attacked these young women's bodies, causing them to rapidly and irreparably decay, the radium girls fought for the right to be heard, and to stop the radium industry from pulling any more girls into its vehement trap. This book was deeply heart-wrenching, following the lives of a few bright-eyed young dial painters to their young graves, and a valuable insight into the suppression of women's voices in the early 20th century.

7. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

This novel was another popular book that I didn't expect to enjoy nearly as much as I did. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is a biography of the life of fictitious movie star Evelyn Hugo, as told to the young and relatively unknown reporter Monique Grant. Evelyn unfurls her story, from escaping poverty to begin her acting career in her late teens, and the myriad of men that came into and left her life across the span of her career and its aftermath. I won't spoil the big twist (or two) that the novel provides, but it most certainly wasn't the "straight bullsh*t" I was expecting based on its title. It is an intense, poignant life of a woman who dared to obtain what she wanted by any means possible, only to discover that her heart lied elsewhere.

8. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

This book was a humorous yet momentous glance into the life of a woman named Eleanor Oliphant, who is perfectly fine, thank you very much. Eleanor doesn't really fit in at the office; her harsh realism and her inability to understand social cues make that quite difficult. But that's fine, because Eleanor has it all planned out. Every week, she follows the same plan, never deviating from her schedule of Wednesday night calls with Mummy, Friday night frozen pizzas, and sleeping off a vodka hangover every Saturday morning. However, when Eleanor and her coworker Raymond save the life of an elderly gentleman who fell near them on their way to work one day, Eleanor's life begins to change in profound ways, and she realizes that maybe "fine" isn't the best way to be, after all. Eleanor's story was touching yet hilarious, and was yet another novel that I could not put down. For anyone looking for a novel starring an out-of-the-ordinary heroine and lacking a predictable romance component, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is the novel for you.

9. The President is Missing by Bill Clinton and James Patterson

This fast-paced, gritty novel breaks the wall between the life of a president and the nation, and introduces us to the world of Washington politics and the counterterrorism approach. The President is Missing follows President Duncan, a tenacious war veteran, as he attempts to circumvent impeachment trials brought forth by members of the opposite party while maintaining the secret of a massive, nation-decimating cyber threat from the citizens of the U.S. This narrative is fast-paced, with twists and turns at every stop, and kept me guessing until the end what the outcome would be. The novel reads like a classic James Patterson thriller with the added expertise of a former president to reveal the intricacies of American politics and the battles of the elites.

10. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain

My final novel is one that I finished a mere four days prior to writing this post, but one that already has a special place in my heart. Quiet explores the world of introverts, from their underrepresentation in U.S. culture and their hidden talents unique from extroverts. Though I identify as an ambivert (both extroverted and introverted), I felt this was an incredible analysis into the powers of introverts, and why American society should stop trying to force the extrovert ideal on those that are not born to be extroverted. I particularly enjoyed how Cain drew in principles of biology, psychology, and business, and described not only how introverts are wired differently from birth, but their benefits to jobs that are even as high-stakes and fast-paced as the stock market. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who struggles with introversion (if you dread speaking in front of a class, this is probably you) or anyone interested in the biological basis of personality and behavior.

Out of the 46 books I read in 2018, those are the ones that have stood out to me the most, and I would certainly recommend each and every one of them. If you would like more book recommendations, feel free to ask -- I'm always reading something new! Happy new year!

[starrydaphne]

Online friends

Short Story by: StarryDaphne 

A girl and a boy in their teenage years started talking to each other, they met  from a common game they play. At first strangers, both slowly strengthened their relationship through playing together and by talking with each other when they are online. 

The young girl just finished her online classes, one thing to take note of is that every country right now is in quarantine. The purpose of everyone staying in their houses would be because there’s a virus going on. With that, online classes are implemented for the students’ safety. People are still allowed to go out although only when needed, in this case, only for groceries and for necessities. 

She sighs after closing her laptop, her head seemed heavy and murky with all the information she got from class. What made her head even more heavy would be the pay for next school year, the family had enough money for now. Not so long until they are not able to afford the tuition, she hopes that it won’t happen with all her heart. “I’ll do the chores now and then school work.” The young girl thought. 

Quarantine has affected many people, it is an understatement to say otherwise. Whether financially, mentally, emotionally, physically, and all sorts. Losses of any kind are devastating, and unfortunately, the girl has experienced the same dilemma. 

Her family has been going through a financial issue where they would sometimes only take 1 meal a day for them to pay their bills. With that she was not able to play the game as often, and when they do, she’s a bit different than how she used to be. This made her best friend worry about her. 

“You ok there Alice?” He sends a message from his computer. This teenage boy was playing with random people in coop, waiting for her to become online. It was around 8pm when they would usually play, so he decided to send a message to her in discord. These online friends were from the same country, and they both shared their usernames once they were both comfortable with each other.

He waited for 30 mins. and finally had a reply back. 

“Not really Wayne. ._.” Alice replies to him after she was done doing some of her school assignments. 

“Want to talk about it? You seem pretty down lately.” He replies. 

Wayne was pretty concerned as a friend, Alice would help him out when he needed help with school or other dilemmas. He wanted to give back to her since she was being a great friend.

You could say that both of them are really close, they’ve been friends for a year now ever since they met from playing the game. They don’t just play games together, but chat as well in discord. Both of them gave their ages once they were more comfortable with each other. 

“Sure, I could talk about it.” Alice sends her reply, a bit hesitant at first with her slowed down typing. After a few moments she then said her situation. “Our family has a financial issue right now.” She said feeling a bit embarrassed. Alice is now wondering how he’ll react, her heart pounding. 

Receiving the message, Wayne thought for a while on how to cheer her up. “I hope that you’ll over come it.” He replies back. “What else could I say to help her?” 

Alice read his reply and a small smile crept on her face, her heart beat began to go back to normal. She was really thankful for having a great friend which she met last year. They met during summer break when Alice was a bit shy with socializing. She accidentally accepted his coop request. Scared at first, Alice became more comfortable with him being so confident and kind. How did Alice accidentally accept his coop request? She was so deep in thought on how to build up her main, that she got surprised with the request that popped up. To her surprise, it led her to immediately press the check button without thought.

Wayne right now on the other side of the screen, looked up to his laptop and waited for her reply, he thought of something that could actually help her. “Thank you :>” She replies. 

“Right, I have a suggestion for you. If you would like one.” He secretly hopes that she’ll accept his advice while he was typing that sentence out. “Sure, what is it?” Alice says to Wayne as her embarrassment slowly fades away. 

“You could try doing art commissions since you love drawing.” Wayne really did give it some thought, he remembered Alice mentioning that she enjoys drawing in her free time in one of their chats. 

“True I could do that, but I’m so busy with school so I don’t know if I could manage my time.” Alice replies, sighing with the thought. “I’ll be the first client for now and you could take your time. :D” He says, confident with his suggestion with no doubt whatsoever on his decision. 

“Really?? You would do that? Let’s get started then :DD” She smiled and laughed after she sent the message, really excited and happy for her first art commission. “I’ll do it digitally, and in terms for the payment..” Alice added. 

“I could pay you through g-cash, and sure it’s fine to do it digitally.” Wayne texted back. “Ok sure I’m good with that :D” She immediately says. 

The both of them discussed what Alice’s first art commissions will be in a semi professional but casual tone. “What can I be of your service today my very dear client?” Alice starts. Wayne plays along until they finally had a decision. 

Both are aware that they should keep their word and not let the other down, the bond of trust they have together was really strong. 

Alice would send him drafts, the color palette, and little sneak peaks of her digital art to make sure he is satisfied with it and would approve of it. Both of them made sure to keep the work professional, still having fun with it as best friends.

Over the process of making Alice’s first art commission, both of them will be client and artist for work. Provided that their topic of chat is about her art commission. Then frequently, they are best friends playing the game and chatting through meaningful conversations. There was great balance between having work, to help Alice gain money for her family, and having fun through strengthening their relationship as best friends. 

After 4 weeks, she finally finished her artwork. She sent a low quality resolution/really pixelated photo of her digital artwork. “I’m done with my first art commission Wayne. :D”” Alice added a smiley face to have a bit of casualness in her line of work. She was proud of it and she was sure that the pay will definitely be worth it.�� 

A few minutes passed and Wayne replies with “Great job! :>” He definitely smiled after sending his message, he continues to type. “Now as a client that has seen your hard work, I will definitely pay your fine with ease.” He added. 

“Thank you very much, now I will wait for your payment as promised.” Alice giggles as she sent her message. She was really happy with their relationship. There is no burden Alice carries with Wayne, both of them have each other’s backs. 

This continued for a year and Alice was really fortunate to help her family. Eventually the financial problem was solved with her family being able to make more money than usual now. The virus also eased and announcements from the government said that it was safe to go out now. 

Alice also started making commissions for other people instead of just Wayne, while she was making her first commission she actually made an art account in Instagram which received a lot of recognition over time. Alice really made sure to thank Wayne for his encouragement and help. 

“Hey Wayne! I just want to thank you for helping me overcome my financial issue. What could I give you in return?” Alice sends her message immediately after forming her sentence, “I would really like nothing in return honestly, I did this genuinely so no worries about it.” He replies. 

“Oh, there’s one thing that I would like us to do.” Wayne then texts after he sent his message. “Of course! What would it be?” Alice replies in a heartbeat. 

“Let’s meet up shall we?” He asks, a bit nervous with his heart pounding. 

Alice’s eyes widened and really smiled wide. “You bet :D” 

*I DO NOT OWN THE AMAZING DRAWING SHOWN* 

(Also the drawing shown here was not the first art commission Alice made, it’s more better than that and of course I can’t draw magnificently yet XD)

All my links: https://linktr.ee/STARRYDAPHNE

Thanks for reading! Follow for more.

I’ve been engaging in discord and in genshin impact recently so might as well create a short story about online friends. :DD It’s completely fine to have them since their real, just be careful to the people you talk with . :>> Keep in mind that we all have our limitations. 

(The game that Alice and Wayne plays together is Genshin Impact, I did not add the specific name to make it more general :D Although canonically, it’s genshin impact.) 

Also I just did a random name generator for this fiction short story. XD

All right reserved to StarryDaphne.

[shadyobservationtragedy]

Arma 3 Contact Communicate With Alien Entity

Arma 3 Contact Communicate With Alien Entity Search

Arma 3 Contact Communicate With Alien Entity Alien

PLEASE NOTE, YOU WILL NEED THE MAIN GAME 'ARMA 3' TO PLAY THIS EXPANSION (DLC). ABOUT THIS GAME What if humanity suddenly encounters extraterrestrial intelligence on Earth? Bohemia Interactive presents: Arma 3 Contact –. Departing from its long-standing tradition as a highly-realistic military-sim, the Arma 3 ‘Contact’ expansion pits players against mysterious aliens. Although one would think that putting aliens as your enemy would degrade your reputation as a military simulator, does it really? After all, considering the unfathomable expanse of the universe, it is highly unlikely that aliens.

Alien Entities (Arma 3: Contact) Alien Grunt; Alien Hominid; Alien Reef (Hungry Shark) Aliens (The Hum) Alimbic; Alkari; Allayi; Allosaurus (FMM-UV 32) Amblyr; Amoeboid; Amorphous Trandicula; Amperi; Amphituber; Andrewsarchus (FMM-UV 32) Category:Android App Species; Angara; Anglerfish (Outer Wilds) Anjellyun; Anode Beetle; Anodite; Antenna Beetle. If you pre-order Arma 3 Contact before the official release date, you can start testing the new terrain as of right now (with the new weapons, vehicles, and gear to follow soon). The expansion's singleplayer campaign will unlock later on Arma 3 Contact's planned release date on July 25.

Arma 3 players patiently waiting for the alien encounter expansion to be rolled out for the online military, simulation, first person shooter, will be pleased to know that it is now available via Steam priced at $27.99, €24.99 or £21.99 depending on your location. Check out the launch trailer below to learn more about what you can expect from the new Arma 3 Contact expansion and the single player campaign.

“What if humanity suddenly encounters extraterrestrial intelligence on Earth? Bohemia Interactive presents: Arma 3 Contact – a spin-off expansion about the most important discovery in the history of mankind. As a soldier deployed to Livonia’s militarized Nadbór region, you will be among the first to study our alien visitors and determine their intentions. However, amid the tension and chaos, armed conflict inevitably unfolds. Arma 3 Contact’s military science fiction campaign arrives together with a massive new terrain, and introduces new factions, weapons, vehicles, outfits, equipment, and more to the wider Arma 3 sandbox.”

If you’re interested in Arma 3 Contact but do not yet own the Arma 3 base game, we recommend purchasing the Arma 3 Contact Edition. This includes the Contact expansion plus the Arma 3 base game at a much lower price than when both are bought separately. For those that don’t delay a 10% launch discount via Steam is available until August 1st, 2019.

Source: Steam

Filed Under: Gaming News, Top News

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Released 25 Jul 2019

I was as skeptical as anyone when the news showed up that the next Arma 3 expansion was going to be about aliens. 'Oh no,' I thought, 'this always goes badly.' And while the game's latest content pack, Contact, winds up being a fun kind of X-Files diversion into what can happen in single player, it's of limited use to anyone who thinks about Arma as a war simulator.

Look: I'll save you the trouble of reading the rest of this review. If you're hoping for weird alien technology that you can work into your warfighting scenarios, this package doesn't have it. For the purposes of general Arma play, what you get with this is basically a couple of robots, and that's about it. When we work this piece of DLC into our master list of 'Arma Stuff You Must Have,'Contact will rank very near the bottom. That being said, I liked this campaign a lot. Contact shows Bohemia and its partners at their most creative, although as ever this weird scenario does come down to a cold war popping off hot in a small regional area that is, strangely enough, cut off from the rest of the world's communications.

Here's the gist: You are Spc. Aiden Rudwell, a linguist-turned-drone operator on a field exercise near the Russian border in a fictional state called Livonia. You're in some comms unit working with local Livonian partners on a combined arms exercise that's definitely not supposed to annoy anyone on the other side of the wire.

Quickly things go pear shaped, thanks in no small part to a PFC you're friends with who was already on latrine duty and has global conspiracy theories on the brain. A routine drone training exercise results in an armed bomb landing within walking distance of your lookout point and, well, guess who gets to check it out?

This all takes place so you can get acquainted with your first bit of new equipment: There's the drone, yes, but what you'll be married to for this entire exercise is the Spectrum Device: A tool that can jam radio, pick up radio signals, and work out where those signals are coming from.

As the campaign progresses, you'll use the Spectrum Device to send spoof missions to enemy command and work out where enemy squads are working. It's not a bad piece of kit, on paper - you can spot-jam enemy communications - but it feels like you're carrying out the most basic of tasks.

Indeed, the campaign has you use this piece of equipment over and over - mainly to make sure the people at an area you want to go to aren't there when you get there. And that's all fine. But even when you get a new antenna for it that lets you 'communicate' with extraterrestrials, its use is strictly limited by the script of the story. Within that story, there are some admittedly clever bits, I should say. Using a recorded 'move left' order from Livonian command on an enemy (look, it's complicated) squad prowling out in the woods at night feels very Cold War Kids, at least once I worked out what it was the game wanted me to do.

The other headline piece of tech that comes with this expansion is the ED-1 UGV, which is a tracked R/C car with an armature, probe, and camera on it. As you might expect, it's a fun little toy to mess around with at first, but it's only useful within the bounds of the story missions Contact sets up for it. Even then, what you're ultimately doing with it most of the time is 'go to location A to poke thing B.'

You could uncharitably say that about most Arma objectives, sure. And it's what Contact does to layer meaning onto those simple tasks that makes it a fun X-Files style diversion. It feels fresh, mostly because instead of shooting things most of the time you're waving a radio antenna around in the woods, trying not to get spotted. The missions open up a bit in the middle acts, and you can choose which order you want to take on objectives, but narratively they all boil down to a core of well-meaning military officers and scientists trusting the future of humanity to an E-4 and his ability to make his way through the woods with a radio jammer. Having spent some time as an E-4 myself, I don't like our odds.

Contact has some truly standout moments baked into the campaign (which I won't spoil), and you've certainly never seen in Arma before. Alien tech makes certain things spookily hover just above the ground sometimes, and the scenario writers were smart enough to keep the actual aliens themselves hidden from you. The rest relies on scary noises and lights in the woods combined with what your own brain makes up for the majority of its runtime. But as diverting as those moments are, it doesn't change the fact that the storyline is a bit hamfisted, and at best might have made for a middling two-episode X-Files arc. That's enough to keep me entertained for a few hours, and I suspect the same is true for quite a few Arma players. Thankfully the payoff, when you get it, is pretty grand.

Arma 3 Contact Communicate With Alien Entity Search

However, that's not near enough to put this on any list of truly ‘essential’ Arma DLC, particularly when you realize that the hardware it introduces is effectively useless outside that scripted story campaign. The Spectrum Device is literally unusable anywhere outside Contact's story missions, and the UGV it brings in is effectively the same - unless modders want to start adding 'probe material at location X,Y' to their list of missions in Arma's sandbox.

A couple other notes worth mentioning: Contact brings with it a new landmass, Livonia, and that's certainly interesting enough. It's some hilly woodland featuring a radar base and steep terrain - it's nothing particularly dramatic, but it's certainly more land on which to do Arma things. I was, however, disappointed to find that Contact seemed to make Arma 3 perform even worse on recommended settings than it had before, and this was after I had installed a brand new RTX 2070 Super graphics card in my PC. This is a game that's feeling its age.

All that said, I hope it's pretty clear where Contact lands in the panoply of Arma 3 add-on content. From a wargamer's perspective it's probably the least essential piece of DLC Bohemia has ever put out for the game. But it's an entertaining and, by Arma standards, unique story experience that's worth playing through once, and that bit at least is characterized by Bohemia's pleasingly authentic ear for military dialogue and characters, even if it can be a bit uneven and cartoony at times.

But Contact is also Arma 3's most expensive piece of DLC, with a price tag that's higher than the massive and game-changing Apex expansion. Contact, sadly, makes almost no impact on the broader game and even at its highest moments never really justifies itself. It's a fun little story, and that's it - unlike almost any other piece of DLC, it doesn't make Arma 3 itself more interesting at all.

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[christineharrington1994]

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[dailytechnologynews]

PCPer's Response to the Recent Ethical Concerns and Accusations

Hi hardware fans. It's been an eventful couple of days in the offices and home for me (and Allyn). A video from YouTube channel AdoredTV was posted late Thursday night (US eastern time) that directly attacked our credibility, which has been taken down, reposted, and taken down again. In all honesty, we tend to have a policy of not responding to verbal accusations online, because if we did, that's all anyone that writes reviews would ever do.

This one was more impactful though. We were called out directly by name (me and Allyn) and some very specific statements were made against our reviews on pcper.com and our new company at shroutreseach.com.

Most importantly from my point of view was that I woke up on Friday morning to find that I had been sent pictures of my home (and my office) from Google Maps along with my address from random viewers of this video. Obviously when you start to get into areas of personal and family safety, things get ratcheted up quite dramatically. With recent events showing that sometimes crazies on the internet can in fact do crazy things when incited, I was legitimately worried about my wife and daughter.

Jim at AdoredTV initially agreed to take the video down in an email exchange after I expressed those safety concerns. But after he didn't think I addressed all the points his video accusations covered in the response that I sent him (that will be included below), he re-posted it. After some more emails back and forth, he took the video back down as of Saturday morning.

At this point, I wanted to make sure that the response to his video that I sent him was public, so that the readers and viewers of both of our content can make their own decision.

In the end, I agreed to make edits to the FreeSync story/video that he brought up. These are reasonable points from him that would have simply required an email or phone call to address at the outset. We also added a disclosure statement to the end of our Intel 900P review in regards to Shrout Research. My statement of honesty in our review remains, but in order to be more transparent, the disclosure was added.

It's worth noting that not 48 hours before the original posting of AdoredTVs video, our team had been debating not about putting disclosures on the stories, but what the exact wording of them would be. This was prompted by a question sent in to our mailbag series our desire to be honest about things. This is still going to happen, but we are finalizing what that global statement will be.

I do think its important to note that despite the intent to paint it as such, there really are no black and white answers to this. Some will say that I should release financial statements. Some will say this is more than enough. I anticipate that he will still have some issues with our process, as will others. I accept that. We will continue to do what we think is best.

You'll find below a complete copy of an email exchange between Jim at AdoredTV and myself. It's a long read, one that I think is important in its entirety for those concerned about these allegations, but I've also prepared this more succinct list of our responses to the major issues.

Unfairness to FreeSync: We have made the edits/updates that the AdoredTV video called out. We believed at the time that our new article on the topic was adequate due diligence. While it is impossible for any outlet to update all published articles or videos every time something changes, we recognize that this was an important issue and we will try to do better about updating published content when appropriate. As for the FreeSync panel debate, the text of our review stated that the panels shared the same “specifications,” not that they were the same panels. However, in comments related to the article, we did state that the panels were the same. That was our error and we apologize.

General bias against AMD: We have worked with AMD for many years and have spoken with them both on and off the record countless times. The claims in the video that we did not convey pre-launch product concerns to AMD are false. PCPer was also not the first or only outlet to draw attention to the RX 480 power draw and Ryzen latency issues, and we worked extensively with AMD for months in advance of the release of our Frame Rating/FCAT testing. As for perceived bias, we treat all companies and products with respect and fairness, and it has never been suggested by the companies we cover that the reality is otherwise.

Radeon Affiliate Link: The first we heard about our Amazon affiliate tag being present in a link at the Radeon website was when Ryan Smith of AnandTech tweeted about it, as shown in the AdoredTV video. We have absolutely no idea how that link got there, and we received zero commissions or sales data on the Vega Frontier Edition as a result of it. Due to the fact that the affiliate tag present on the Radeon page is incorrect (it has an extra %20 at the end), we’re not even sure if it would have worked had someone inadvertently used it. But we reiterate that there is absolutely no arrangement, official or unofficial, that called for our affiliate link to be placed on AMD’s website.

Shrout Research & The Intel 900P Review: Intel hired Shrout Research to conduct testing of the 900P and produce a white paper for public release if the results were positive. We have conducted similar testing for many other companies, including AMD, and in most cases the information we provide is kept private for internal use at those companies. We also wrote a review of the 900P at pcper.com, with the timing of the release of both pieces dictated by the 900P embargo date. Contrary to the claims in the video, the review and the white paper were not the same. Separate testing was performed on different platforms, although one of the drives (the 480GB model), which was provided by Intel for the white paper, was also used in the review. In short, the tests performed were different, the results were different (in most cases lower in the pcper.com review), and Intel was not given pre-release access or control over the content of the review.

Disclosure: While we did not try to “hide” anything as was suggested in the video (Shrout Research, named after me, has a public website, twitter account, and has been mentioned and published often on our podcasts, weekly mailbag videos, on my Twitter account, and in my freelance writing bio), we failed to disclose the nature and extent of Shrout Research’s relationship with Intel on the 900P review at PCPer. That was our error. We will rectify this by adopting a complete disclosure policy for all reviews going forward, which will clearly state not just relationships related to Shrout Research, but also the terms of our review, any related advertisers, and any other potential conflicts that may appear. It was never our intent to deceive, and we still stand fully by the content of the 900P review, but we will attempt to do better about proper disclosure going forward.

(Times in the email reference a "current time" of about 10pm ET. Copy and paste is funny in Gmail.)

Ryan Shrout rshrout@pcper.com 9:46 AM (12 hours ago)

to jim Do you have time to chat quickly today? Saw the video, I have lots of questions, many concerns, but most importantly a request. I can call you direct or on Skype, etc.

Jim P <*********> 12:38 PM (9 hours ago)

to me Hi Ryan.

Sorry I'm out all weekend and I'm actually not in my own place right now (I'm in Scotland but live in Sweden) and getting peace and quiet isn't very easy anyway. I might be available to talk a bit on Monday but if you have a request that needs dealing with sooner, feel free to shoot it to me and obviously I'll listen.

Regards,

Jim

Ryan Shrout rshrout@pcper.com 1:18 PM (8 hours ago)

to Jim Jim,

I'm a little disappointed that you would be willing to post a video with those kinds of accusations without contacting me for input but unwilling to spend 15 minutes on the phone or Skype with me to address it. Although not your intent, we are at the point now of viewers of your content reaching out to me with pictures of my house on Google Maps with my address, as well as my office. Obviously with the recent occurrences in the world, and as the father of a two year old, this is something we take exceedingly seriously. I'm worried that your video and comments, though I disagree with almost all of them, are going to be used to cause more harm than you had intended.

I have a list of corrections and inaccuracies, as well as comments surround some of your concerns, that I am preparing. But I would greatly appreciate some assistance in controlling this situation.

AdoredTV 1:29 PM (8 hours ago)

to me Hi Ryan,

I just got back from the dentist and I'm currently at my sister's house in Scotland. It's dinner time here also. Tomorrow we celebrate my sisters birthday at another venue. What do you want me to do to help? Should I unlist the video? I'm willing to do that for now though it'll blow over in a couple of days anyway. Be aware that if I don't like your response to my points in the video, I wasn't joking when I said I left out more than I put in. I will not be manipulated, consider my offer to unlist the video the final chance of avoiding a real escalation. Regards,

Jim

Jim P 1:32 PM (8 hours ago)

to me Not sure if my previous response got through, resending...

Ryan Shrout rshrout@pcper.com 1:42 PM (8 hours ago)

to Jim Jim,

I appreciate the offer to make the video unlisted. However, because the video will still be viewable from any number of sources with the URL, I think making it private would be more appropriate.

I plan to send you my responses and comments in private, or on a call, in order to address your questions and concerns in a way that does not endanger anyone's family. I understand that you may choose to take these emails public, and that is fine as I am not trying to hide anything. This can be an "on the record conversation" but the goal is to discuss in private, to understand each others points, without putting anyone else at risk.

Jim P 1:51 PM (8 hours ago)

to me I will make the video private, for now. And I will also write a tweet.

We'll talk later.

Ryan Shrout rshrout@pcper.com 1:51 PM (8 hours ago)

to Jim Thank you for that. I will follow up with my comments today.

AdoredTV 5:12 PM (4 hours ago)

to me It's rapidly approaching end of day in Kentucky, Ryan. One more hour then the video goes public again. Cheers,

Jim

Ryan Shrout rshrout@pcper.com 5:37 PM (4 hours ago)

to AdoredTV Hi Jim,

I saw your video posted on Jan 25th about me, Allyn Malventano, PC Perspective, and Shrout Research. While I think your intentions are earnest, I have some serious concerns about the accusations that are made and the facts of your story.

First, I think it is worth noting again that creating this kind of content without requesting input from the accused seems incredibly inflammatory and unfair. As you point out the code of ethics of journalism many times in your video, there are multiple references to “right to reply” that should exist during or at the same time. This opportunity was not given to us.

Second, the impact of your commentary, true or not, has the potential to cause harm to me, my team, and my family. Having already received pictures of my home and my address from viewers of your video, and with the recent events that have occurred around the world, I am now genuinely concerned about the safety of my family. Also in that code of ethics is a section on humanity: “Journalists should do no harm. What we publish or broadcast may be hurtful, but we should be aware of the impact of our words and images on the lives of others.”

The beginning of your accusations of bias on PC Perspective starts with our article on the first FreeSync monitors from 2015. The crux of your argument is that our team, including Allyn and myself, determined that FreeSync was the cause of the ghosting we saw on the display, though others indicated it was not a result of FreeSync, but rather the panel or integration itself. Our assertion at the time would have been that because FreeSync was the “certification brand” of this display, that in the end, regardless of the root technical cause, AMD and the FreeSync team were ultimately responsible. Our original story even details our inability to nail down the root cause of the problem.

*The question now is: why is this happening and does it have anything to do with G-Sync or FreeSync? NVIDIA has stated on a few occasions that there is more that goes into a VRR monitor than simply integrated vBlank extensions and have pointed to instances like this as an example as to why. Modern monitors are often tuned to a specific refresh rate – 144 Hz, 120 Hz, 60 Hz, etc. – and the power delivery to pixels is built to reduce ghosting and image defects. But in a situation where the refresh rate can literally be ANY rate, as we get with VRR displays, the LCD will very often be in these non-tuned refresh rates. NVIDIA claims its G-Sync module is tuned for each display to prevent ghosting by change the amount of voltage going to pixels at different refresh rates, allowing pixels to untwist and retwist at different rates.

It’s impossible now to know if that is the cause for the difference seen above. But with the ROG Swift and BenQ XL2730Z sharing the same 144 Hz TN panel specifications, there is obviously something different about the integration. It could be panel technology, it could be VRR technology or it could be settings in the monitor itself. We will be diving more into the issue as we spend more time with different FreeSync models.

For its part, AMD says that ghosting is an issue it is hoping to lessen on FreeSync monitors by helping partners pick the right components (Tcon, scalars, etc.) and to drive a “fast evolution” in this area.

Source: https://www.pcper.com/reviews/Displays/AMD-FreeSync-First-Impressions-and-Technical-Discussion/Gaming-Experience-FreeSync-*

You then bring up the fact that after we did discover that a firmware fix occurred (after our review), we posted a completely new article four months after our review recognizing the changes and improvements. There is a fair point to be made that we should have gone back to the original story and updated it with links to the new story. However, by doing a follow-up story and posting it in the same channels as the original (main site, video, Twitter, etc.) we believe we did due diligence here.

*In an industry that constantly changing with new hardware reviews, firmware updates, and even software and driver changes, keeping up with it is difficult. Extremely difficult. We will continue to find ways to do it better.

Any claims we made in comments or forums that panels in the competing G-Sync and FreeSync monitors were identical are false, and our error. But in our originally story, where articles are edited and curated, we state clearly that they shared the same “specifications”:

It’s impossible now to know if that is the cause for the difference seen above. But with the ROG Swift and BenQ XL2730Z sharing the same 144 Hz TN panel specifications, there is obviously something different about the integration.

Source: https://www.pcper.com/reviews/Displays/AMD-FreeSync-First-Impressions-and-Technical-Discussion/Gaming-Experience-FreeSync-*

Should comments and forum posts have been more accurate? Yes.

You also mention our frequent streams with NVIDIA’s Tom Petersen as a source bias in our content. While we definitely have hosted Tom in our offices many times, the invite has always been open for any vendor we work with to co-host a live stream to talk to our audience. AMD has taken us up on these offers on seven specific instances:

· [https://www.pcper.com/news/Graphics-Cards/Live-Review-Recap-AMD-Radeon-HD-7970-GHz-]Edition(https://www.pcper.com/news/Graphics-Cards/Live-Review-Recap-AMD-Radeon-HD-7970-GHz-Edition)

· https://www.pcper.com/news/General-Tech/PCPer-Live-Interview-AMDs-Richard-Huddy-June-17th-4pm-ET-1pm-PT

· https://www.pcper.com/news/Graphics-Cards/PCPer-Live-AMD-Radeon-Crimson-Live-Stream-and-Giveaway

· https://www.pcper.com/news/General-Tech/PCPer-Live-Radeon-RX-480-Live-Stream-Raja-Koduri

· https://www.pcper.com/news/General-Tech/PCPer-Live-AMD-Radeon-Crimson-ReLive-Discussion-and-RX-480-Giveaway

· https://www.pcper.com/news/General-Tech/PCPer-Live-AMD-Radeon-Crimson-ReLive-Discussion-and-RX-580-Giveaway

· https://www.pcper.com/reviews/Graphics-Cards/AMD-Radeon-Software-Adrenalin-adds-game-overlay-mobile-app-wider-API-support

We probably have done more interviews with Tom than with AMD or any other vendor, but this is not indicative of anything other than NVIDIA’s desire to communicate with our audience slightly more frequently.

Next, you discuss the RX 480 power issue and indicate that PC Perspective’s stories were inflammatory and without merit. I would point out that not only did AMD acknowledge and fix the issue, but we were not the first media outlet to show the problem. Tom’s Hardware actually reported the problem first, and we linked to them in our first story on the topic. We worked with AMD to supply them with our data as we got it, to solicit input before, after, and during the story writing.

Another point brought up in your video is that PC Perspective appears to be willing to work behind the scenes with some companies to help fix problems and potential issues, but not with AMD. That is factually incorrect. We have worked with AMD in many instances, providing information before product releases, to help them fix problems.

Examples include our Frame Rating / FCAT testing, where we shared data, opinions, and insights with AMD months before the release of the first public story. On the Ryzen latency “ping test” we also sent information to AMD before publication to ask for input and feedback. When Ryzen motherboards were having significant issues at launch we worked with them and partners on updates and BIOS improvements in the background before reviewing those products. The facts are that we work with every company on the same level.

On the issue of AMD using an Amazon.com link that included our affiliate code, the first time I was aware of that was when the link and screenshot Anandtech’s Ryan Smith tweet was sent out. I never had any conversation with anyone at AMD about including it, or why it was there even after the fact. It was not something we asked for, expected, or benefitted from. A search of our Amazon.com affiliate data from July through today shows exactly zero Vega Frontier Edition cards sold on our account, from links on our articles or from AMD’s website.

Now let’s address the Shrout Research side of your story. Shrout Research was started in October of 2016 to allow us to offer services that we were being asked for from companies already, but separated from the PC Perspective website. It is probably fair to say that we have not been as open as we could or should have been about how this works.

But it is crucial to recognize that were not hiding this company or its relationship to me. The company and my position there is listed on my Twitter profile. We often link to ShroutResearch.com in stories posted on pcper.com. We have discussed Shrout Research on the podcast. I have answered questions about the company in mailbags from user-submitted questions. It is listed in my pcper.com profile page. Most (probably all) stories posted on MarketWatch or similar sites list my relationship to both companies. We link to the Shrout Research white papers (including the 900P paper) in some PC Perspective stories.

To address specific problems you have noted, I’ll start with the 900P paper and review. You claim that our test suite for the 900P review on PC Perspective was created for the Intel work done with Shrout Research. This is not true. The first review to use Allyn’s Latency Percentile performance testing methodology was with the launch of the Samsung 960 EVO in November of 2016 and research of this new testing process was first shown with the 950 PRO review in October of 2015. The 900P review was using this same testing method.

Furthermore, the testing that was showcased in the Shrout Research 900P white paper and the review differ greatly. You assert that the review on PC Perspective is simply a copy of the testing and work done on the research side, however looking at the paper and the review shows that isn’t the case. Benchmarks and analysis of applications like AS-SSD, CrystalDiskMark, Anvil, Photo Mechanic, and Houdini are in the paper, but were not used in the review. The data presented in the review is based on Allyn’s custom testing capabilities, of which only two small results are part of the white paper.

The testing for Shrout Research and PC Perspective testing of the 900P was done on different systems as well. The review data was gathered on our standard PCPer storage testing platform and the Shrout Research data was gathered on a platform that Intel specifically requested we configure. The review on PCPer used retail drives, the testing for Shrout Research was using engineering samples. Even more, the performance of the data results that do overlap are actually LOWER in the review on PC Perspective as they were tested on a different platform than the one used on the white paper. The results on PC Perspective and Shrout Research are not copies.

The concern over using hardware and devices received through Shrout Research arrangements for the review on PC Perspective is valid. Honestly, we didn’t see the harm (at the time) to include the second capacity of the 900P in our review as it presented more information to the reader. Was this unfair to others in the media? Probably. Have we seen numerous other exclusives come to websites (including us) over the years that weren’t fair to the media? Yes. Are samples often sent out differently from site to site? Absolutely. See the RX Vega launch most recently and many storage reviews that send different capacities and sets to reviewers.

If you follow PC Perspective at all, you know that we were going to publish a review on PC Perspective of the 900P regardless of the existence of the white paper or our arrangements with Intel. And our opinion of the product would not be have been swayed. Our agreement with Intel was to vet and evaluate the 900P so it could get an idea of how the device stood in the market and how it might be received in the public. The white paper was only to be written if Intel thought the results from our testing were positive in their eyes, however the fee Shrout Research was paid was the same regardless of whether or not the paper was produced.

Shrout Research currently works the biggest, and most competitive, companies in the high-tech world, including Intel, AMD, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, and Arm. We have done similar work for others on this list, in particular AMD. We have done evaluation of hardware prior to media and public device availability, to advise and showcase the performance as our team sees it. In those cases with AMD, which began in March of 2017, AMD used the reports internally and decided to not request a public paper from Shrout Research.

If any of these companies saw me, or Shrout Research, or anyone on our team as unreliable or capable of bias, they would have no reason to work with me, especially on the Shrout Research side. Instead, the 18+ years of work that I have under me and the positive results I have produced in terms of relevant, honest, and useful content leads them to partner with us to help make their products, messaging, and companies better.

As I said at the beginning, nothing about Shrout Research is hidden or was attempted to be secretive. Should we have been more explicit in some disclosures? Yes, clearly. Should we have been stricter in how product was shared between the two entities? Probably. It’s something we had honestly discussed just this past week, and this story further necessitates the need for it.

At the end of the day, the trust of the reader and the companies that work with us is paramount and the only thing that keeps us going. There will always be some individuals that don’t like us or have insurmountable distrust of us for some reason; it’s been that way for literally the last 18 years of my life. But I know that we attempt to treat every company equally, treat every product equally, and every situation equally.

Many people feel a sense of distrust around paid advertising on hardware sites. I obviously disagree that running ads for a company inherently means you are going to be biased towards them, and I have built and sustained PC Perspective on that very point, a similar application of trust must be applied here. If readers and viewers were able to trust our reviews for ASUS motherboards, despite running ASUS advertising on our site, or our videos on EVGA graphics cards despite running EVGA advertising on our site, then I feel that readers should continue to trust us as Shrout Research moves forward.

Here is a list of the companies that we have worked with on the advertising side in the last 10 years:

· AMD

· Antec

· ASUS

· BFG

· Cooler Master

· Corsair

· Crucial

· Diamond

· Drobo

· ECS

· Enermax

· EVGA

· FSP

· Galaxy

· Gigabyte

· Intel

· Logitech

· MSI

· Newegg

· NCIX

· NVIDIA

· OCZ / Toshiba

· Samsung

· Seasonic

· Silverstone

· Thermaltake

· Tiger Direct

· Western Digital

· XFX

· Zalman

There have been years where AMD is our biggest sponsor; several in fact. There are years where Logitech has been. ASUS is generally one of our biggest sponsors. The point I want to make here is that if you didn’t trust us before, there is little I can do to change that. But if you did trust us before, I think we have proven ourselves over the course of many years that the trust is warranted.

And for clarity, the companies we have worked with through Shrout Research:

· AMD

· Arm

· Intel

· NVIDIA

· Qualcomm

I believe that work that you do, despite our differences, is incredibly important to keeping people on their toes and maintaining sanity. I don’t believe that you have correctly portrayed the work we do or how we operate.We aren't perfect, I am not perfect. I don't believe any of us have ever made that claim. But I do know that you have taken our work and intent out of context.

If you still have to have a video calling us out for our practices, I obviously can’t stop you. But I would request that you fix the factual errors in your video. That includes the FreeSync story, the assertion that we don’t work with AMD prior to posting stories (including the ping testing and the RX 480 power), the affiliate link on AMD’s website, the lack of differences between the 900P white paper and the review, and that we have not been forthcoming (at all) about the existence and relationship of Shrout Research and PC Perspective.

I don’t consider this list of points exhaustive, by any means. I didn’t have time to re-watch or transcribe your video in order to dive into details on each and every point. Should something specific come to mind you want me to answer, let me know. If you have other question or problems with how we do things, or how we appear to be doing things from an external view, I’ll gladly answer them.

AdoredTV 7:14 PM (2 hours ago)

to me Thanks Ryan.

I feel you have raised some valid points however it's not nearly enough for me to keep the video private. Specifically, you failed to address the major points regarding conflict of interest and the "FreeSync vs G-Sync Ghosting Comparison" video, both of which have still not been rectified.

Can I again point to the EJN's article where it clearly states...

Accountability A sure sign of professionalism and responsible journalism is the ability to hold ourselves accountable. When we commit errors we must correct them and our expressions of regret must be sincere not cynical. We listen to the concerns of our audience. We may not change what readers write or say but we will always provide remedies when we are unfair.

I will have a closer look on Monday to see if you have remedied these faults before continuing with the rest of your response. Regards,

Jim

Ryan Shrout rshrout@pcper.com 7:20 PM (2 hours ago)

to AdoredTV Okay. Can you expand for me the points about the comparison story and video that you believe are still concerning? Is it that we have not updated the video and text of the write up to reference the later story?

AdoredTV 8:02 PM (2 hours ago)

to me Hi Ryan.

Sure I'll expand on these points. 1) I see no reason why you would not have rectified your error with the "FreeSync vs G-Sync ghosting" video, given what you have had pointed out to you today. That is literally a 5 second edit to the title which you chose to ignore.

2) The Optane review still looks the same - that is there is still nothing advising the reader of any potential conflict of interest. I'm sure you're aware of all the FTC regulations regarding this subject - but please...neither of us has any desire to go down that route I'm sure. - Jim On a personal level - When your changes are complete, it would likely be beneficial to point them out on social media. You will gain far more from these two small actions than your current course ever will - and by that I mean you will regain respect from your viewers. My bet would be you'd also find it all very liberating, because pride is a terrible thing. It's very late here and this has taken up much of my day so forgive me as I have to retire to bed.

Ryan Shrout rshrout@pcper.com 8:16 PM (1 hour ago)

to AdoredTV Honestly, I was planning to include links and updates, but, I didn't want it to look like I was doing something manipulative before we had some to some kind of resolution. I agree these are 5-second edits, and I say in my rather long feedback note that I thought it was a reasonable request. You instead immediately posted the video back up, which I didn't think would occur without the dialogue.

The same applies to the Optane review - not wanting to change ANYTHING on the site as it would look like we were trying to change things out from under you, or the community. I assure you that my lawyer and I have gone over the regulations in this country for disclosure before starting the company, we are know what the bounds of "legal" and "moral" are. Also, do you not think AMD/Intel/NVIDIA/Qualcomm/Arm have lawyers that vet every relationship like this? If I was breaking the law, they would never have me working with them.

Are you going to keep the video up, even if these edits occur? What about your claims of correcting content that is known to be incorrect, incomplete, inaccurate? That seems to violate the rule, does it not, with all of the information you have had sent your way?

AdoredTV 8:39 PM (1 hour ago)

to me If you had simply rectified or even given the indication that you were open to rectifying both issues then sure I would have taken that under consideration. There was nothing to suggest that either move would be made. As it was, you basically just regurgitated a bunch of text from your reviews which I've already read. This stuff doesn't translate very well across the Atlantic. I made the video private on good faith Ryan. I was the one who offered to unlist it, then I agreed to make it private on your suggestion. I did what I could reasonably be expected to do to help you but you didn't take the chance. These past hours have been filled with me fighting my own viewers over claims of weakness, selling out or other nonsense like legal threats forcing me to take it down. I spent the last 6 hours fighting my own viewers because of this.

I didn't have to deal with any of that but I did...because I gave you the chance. I was hoping for a real show of accountability and this is what your readers want to see too. Please just apologise Ryan - make a statement, show that you've removed/changed the title of the FreeSync Video and updated your Optane review. I promise you that I will not gloat - in fact I'd be far more likely to applaud you for it. If that is done by the time I wake tomorrow, I'll put the video private again. I need to sleep, it's 1:30 here.

Ryan Shrout rshrout@pcper.com 9:21 PM (43 minutes ago)

to AdoredTV It is done. The point of the initial email was to have a discussion and clarify things. I'm disappointed that you would repost the video even after the concerns I brought up about some of the rash notes and emails I received.

Here is the video with updated title and link to the updated story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ylLnT2yKyA Here is the FS story with link at top of first page: https://www.pcper.com/reviews/Displays/AMD-FreeSync-First-Impressions-and-Technical-Discussion/Gaming-Experience-FreeSync- The bottom of this page discloses the specifics of the Intel 900P paper and review: https://www.pcper.com/reviews/Storage/Intel-Optane-SSD-900P-480GB-and-280GB-NVMe-HHHL-SSD-Review-Lots-3D-XPoint/Conclusion

I will likely post a thread on reddit to bring up the points that I brought up to you in the long email, since that information is already out there and in the public. No mal-intent intended to you there, just making sure the points I sent you are public.

Jim P 4:43 AM Saturday

to me Thanks Ryan.

I've decided to skip the party today and get a video out on this topic and to clarify what happens next, so that this can be avoided in future. I will put the video private at the same time. Regards,

Jim

Ryan Shrout rshrout@pcper.com 10:39 AM Saturday

to Jim While I am sorry for you to miss your family event, I appreciate the removal of the video and whatever update you might have.

I will be posting our comments and thread here to reddit sometime this morning.

Congratulations, you reached the end!

Again, thanks for reading and for giving us a chance to state our position.

[endenogatai]

Google under fire for squeezing travel startups hit by coronavirus refunds

Google is facing anger from the German startup ecosystem for refusing to restructure ad payments linked to travel and transport bookings that were subsequently wiped out by the coronavirus crisis.

TechCrunch has seen a letter addressed to Google that’s co-signed by eight travel industry startups in which the tech giant is asked for flexibility in how it enforces payment terms around these earlier ad auctions.

“By selectively enforcing strict payment terms on larger partners — especially from the travel and transportation industry — for its services provided to market those products, Google is opting out of sharing the responsibility to do right by consumers,” writes Christian Miele, the president of the German Startups Association — on behalf of the CEOs of Dreamlines, FlixBus, GetYourGuide, Homelike, HomeToGo, Omio, Tourlane and Trivago, who are co-signatories to the letter.

The eight startups represent €75M+ ($80M+) in ad revenues for Google in Q1 2020, per the letter.

The startups go on to call on Google to “share the burden”, noting that “leading companies from Germany and around the world have gone to unprecedented lengths for consumers” — such as issuing no-questions-asked refunds as a result of what it calls the “current extraordinary global situation”.

Globally, the travel industry has been decimated by the coronavirus crisis with demand evaporating almost overnight and no realistic prospect of the sector recovering until at least next year — plunging travel startups into a nuclear winter.

At specific issue here is the startups say Google is demanding payment for ads attached to bookings they subsequently refunded. Such as, for example, Easter trips and tours booked earlier in the year before the pandemic had taken hold in Europe.

This means the startups are now on the hook for substantial payments to Google for bookings that did not convert into revenue for their own businesses.

“The conflict is with the advertising dollars that we paid to Google for customers that could never be converted,” explains GetYourGuide CEO Johannes Reck . “People typically book two to three weeks out when they book for transport, hotel. It’s a little bit closer for experiences but particularly in the pre-Easter season… there are lots of booking volumes that come through Google and are then booked.

“We held the cash from these bookings and then the entire lockdown happened. Naturally what we did it after the lockdown happened is that we refunded all of the customers which were pretty significant amounts of money but which was obviously the right thing to do because they couldn’t travel — they had to stay at home.”

Reck says that when GetYourGuide went back to Google — to ask for at least a discount on the payments or else for them to be restructured so the business would not need to pay until travel picks up again — Google point blank refused.

“Google said A) we’re not going to participate in the cancellations at all — that’s all your thing to do, your customers, basically. Despite the fact that [they] can track every single customer. They know exactly which customers came from Google. And B) we’re also not restructuring the payment terms — so you have to pay immediately, within thirty days,” Reck told TechCrunch.

“That’s obviously terrible because all of our employees are on short term labor programs right now.”

“To me it’s inexplicable that we have to carry the full burden while the most profitable company in the world that has received more than €500M from us last year doesn’t want to do that,” he added. “That to me is just wrong.”

We reached out to Google to ask about the payments but at the time of writing the company had not responded.

Google’s parent entity, Alphabet, reported earnings yesterday, disclosing a significant slowdown in its ad business in March. However it still reported $41.16BN in revenue for the quarter — beating analyst estimates. Earnings per share did not do as well as expected, though, coming in under expectations at $9.87 in per-share income.

Ads remain the primary money engine for Alphabet, with Google generating the bulk of its revenue and profit, which are in turn largely generated by ad incomes. So the tech giant is exposed to the coronavirus crisis, as marketing budgets are put to the torch — though its multi-billions in revenue make it considerably less exposed than startups that advertise on its platform.

Aside from the raw impact of an unprecedented crisis hammering these smaller businesses, there’s a specific political dimension to the startups’ complaint — given they are in receipt of financial aid from the German government which is providing funds to support wage bills during the coronavirus crisis.

So now there’s the prospect of taxpayer funding flowing into Google’s coffers — instead of helping startups retain staff.

“We’re currently getting governmental credit and now the governmental credit would basically need to be paid out to Google to fund advertisment bills for customers that could never be legally converted, so we are pretty outraged,” said Reck.

The German government laid out further details of a separate €2BN financial support program today, which is specifically intended for VC-backed startups and SMEs — and is slated to start delivering support funds next month.

Though, again, the startups’ concern is the intended relief won’t help them unless Google agrees to defer the ad payments.

Asked whether GetYourGuide might need to make staff redundant if Google refuses to restructure the payments, Reck said: “So far we have not. And for the eight companies that sent the letter I think the situation is different. Ultimately we would get governmental credit — and that governmental credit would be used to pay Google.”

He also pointed out that other tech giants have been flexible over similar payments.

“It’s really striking because they are very isolated,” he said of Google. “Facebook, Microsoft, every other company was very forthcoming with travel and transportation companies in this pandemic. They all say pay whenever you’re ready to pay — don’t worry about us, get through it first. Facebook even gave additional ad discounts for the future when we want to reboot.

“So to me it’s staggering because the group of companies that wrote the letter spent more than half a billion dollars last year on Google. And still they’re not willing to do anything for us.

“At the end of the day Google needs to step up to their responsibility,” Reck added. “If you’re even benefitting from people losing jobs in this pandemic I think that’s just completely wrong.”

Discussing the matter in a telephone call with TechCrunch, Thomas Jarzombek, commissioner of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy for the Digital Industry and Start-ups, told us the German government raised the issue of the ad payments in a call with Google yesterday. He said Google told it it would be dealing with such requests on a “case-by-case” basis, which Jarzombek described as a concern — given the lack of transparency around its decisions.

“In Germany there are a lot of companies behaving in some kind of social manner to support the ones that are not that strong financially,” said Jarzombek. “When we look at Google it’s obvious that this is one of the financially strongest companies in the world. And what I’m more concerned about in that case is that Google told us they will decide ‘case by case’ whom they will help out.”

He said the issue is one that’s likely to affect startups more than “traditional” types of businesses which are likely to be spending less on Google ads.

“For these digital startups the amount they’re spending on ads on Google and on Facebook is maybe the biggest share of their cost position,” he added. “So to be honest we are afraid that this can be a disadvantage for them.”

He also raised the spectre of competition — saying the concern is Google’s case by case decisions may be less favorable for startups that are “in some kind of competition” with the tech giant.

“There are other companies that are in competition with all these Google verticals… and it may be in these ‘case by case’ decisions Google will not be very kind to them,” he suggested. “So this kind of procedure is completely intransparent to us — and also to the companies.”

In recent years Google has faced substantial antitrust scrutiny and enforcement in Europe, related its dominant position in the search market — with the European Commission levying a number of fines, including related to Google Shopping and search ad brokering.

The Commission has also previously said it has received a number of complaints about the tech giant’s activities in other verticals — including travel search — though so far without launching a formal probe.

Jarzombek told us the German government has not currently raised the issue of Google’s selective response to ad payment restructuring with the Commission, as it’s not yet clear how the company will respond to the calls for a rethink — saying it’s waiting for a “final response” from Google to its concerns.

But he emphasized he remains concerned about the lack of transparency around Google’s processes, reiterating: “The procedure is intransparent for us and also intransparent for the startups.”

Asked if GetYourGuide has any competition concerns related to Google’s response towards the travel startup sector, Reck told us: “We’ve just been a very happy Google partner up to this point. We’ve done tremendous work with them. Antitrust is mostly regarding flights and hotels — it’s not experiences. And we have always had a very good relationship with them which is why I’m so absolutely baffled that in the worst hour of our company history they currently completely changed behavior and become so aggressive.”

While there may be no legal requirement for Google to amend contractual terms around the payments, even during a pandemic, Reck says the bigger point is simply about doing the right thing.

After all, this is a company that used to attach itself to the motto ‘do no evil’.

“Google never wants to give in on any of these things — out of principle. But I think their principle here is just misguiding them into a completely wrong direction because according to their principle we should never have refunded customers and then everything would be fine. But that doesn’t follow the logic of a pandemic where everyone has to stay at home,” said Reck.

“I don’t even want to get into the legal argument on this because I think just morally it’s wrong,” he added. “As [one of] the most profitable organizations in the world you cannot charge startups who are furloughing their employees and put them on short term labor programs and who are basically now getting subsidized by the government — those subsidies can’t flow back into Google.”

Update: A Google spokesperson has now sent the following statement:

Small and medium-sized companies are facing unprecedented challenges and our teams are working day and night to help our partners protect their business and stay in touch with their customers. This includes an 800M US-$ financial support package for organizations, including US-$ 340M advertising credits for our SMB customers and helping people stay up to date on the latest travel advisories. We’re committed to doing even more to help our users and our customers through this crisis, and are in continued communication with our partners, including the travel industry.

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[ultronnie]

pls tell me about Kris I need to hear about him for my health

OOOOH FRIEND

I CAN SERIOUSLY TALK ABOUT KRIS FOR H O U R S

WELL

HERE WE GO.

gonna get in DEEP here, my dude. kris is very important to me for like 9426946 reasons.

Full Name: Kris Dawson. Nothing too special. The name Kris stuck when I was first writing him about a year ago. I dunno what it is about the name but it sticks with his character. Last name came from my dude Shane Dawson. I love Shane to death. He’s had a big impact on a lot of stuff for me the past few years so yeah.

Gender and Sexuality: Male and he’s bi.

Pronouns: He/him.

Ethnicity/Species: Tiny lil’ cat boy! AHHHHHHH!!

Birthplace and Birthdate: He’s an October baby! Ah! On the 7th. We share a birthday. Birthplace was a hospital coz duh lol.

Guilty Pleasures: So quick thing here that’s important to note: Kris is very much me. The thoughts, the voice, the actions. He’s me. Like I said about Andy, I’ve put some of my insecurities and issues on him. But Kris has it all, dude. As I live my life now, I try to establish what happens within his world, even if it’s not exactly like my life.

Now that that’s outta the way:

So in terms of guilty pleasures, Kris is really, really, really passionate about the fact that Born This Way by Lady Gaga is one of the best albums ever made. He won’t play it for you right away, though. If it comes on the shuffle, he goes, “Oh, what??? Lady Gaga??? On my shuffle? HUUUUH??”

Although not as serious, Kris loves the musical Rent. It’s the only musical he likes and he doesn’t mind admitting it even though he hates most other musicals.

Phobias: Kris doesn’t have any straight up fears, kinda like Andy. He’s more terrified of living life alone. Not like losing people, but ending up alone at the end of it all. He wants a companion in someone but he doesn’t think he’s fit for anyone at all.

Kris doesn’t want to disappoint the people he does have in his life. He has a consistent idea that everyone, including his best friend of 17 years, secretly hates his guts and wants him to rot in a garbage dump somewhere. He’s very insecure about himself, even when he comes off as a confident little shit with a smart remark every chance he gets.

What They Would Be Famous For: I’m not sure. Kris and I are figuring that out currently, if that makes sense. It’s hard to find your place in the world, really, and Kris is a pretty basic guy. He doesn’t have any extraordinary talents or anything.

What They Would Get Arrested For: For being Andy’s accomplice. That’s it. That’s the crime. Not sure if this will actually happen in the story buuuut there’s always a chance for some OTP crimes, right?

OC You Ship Them With: OOOOOH BOY

So there’s another part of my life that is VERY sad that sorta revolves around this. It’d give away a bit but there was always another character before Andy who I knew needed to go with Kris. It just worked. See, every character in this story is a representation of me in some way and also an important person in my life. I won’t say much more coz I think I don’t wanna get in too deep about it, but I’ll say that it’s really hard to know you can’t have something.

So Andy. That’s where Andy comes in.

You know this story. But on Kris’s end, he just really thinks Andy’s great. The thing that got him going about that idiot fox was the high pitched metal screaming he did when Damien (ANOTHER CHARACTER AHH) dragged him to his band’s show. Kris just really loves the dude. He thinks the world of him even if he doesn’t agree with Andy’s more serious crimes like public intoxication or a public disturbance.

But Andy also understands the bad things in Kris’s head.

See, I have these weird bouts that come about once a month where everything is bad. The mania of reality runs dry and everything seems very slow. I get inexplicably angry at everything and nothing makes me stop unless I sit alone in my room or something. But Andy helps Kris through these episodes. He’s a good guy. Kris appreciates that.

And again, these two are just the best to draw together. I’ve only come up with a few things and they’re not too great buuuut I’ll very likely commission some stuff of them together.

Stupid Andy. Stole my heart so fucking fast that I’m trying to get him drawn by someone else after he’s been a character FOR TWO WEEKS.

Also, for added feels about these two, I always listen to the Last of the Real Ones by Fall Out Boy with them in mind. Makes me wanna cry, tbh. I love these two that much.

OC Most Likely To Murder Them: I mean, I dunno. Kris doesn’t really do much to anyone else that could make someone wanna murder him. He’s probably the most well-liked person in Re-Hash, tbh.

Favorite Movie/Book Genre: Older horror movies are great in Kris’s eyes, and he really likes comic book media. He grew up on Marvel and some DC. He thinks Watchmen is one of the best things ever written. He’s also pretty keen on 1984 for some reason.

Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: He thinks about 98% of horror movies nowadays are shit. He loved It, though. It was great! (Seriously, It was great.) Also, historical fiction is B O R I N G most of the times. Also musicals. He thinks most of em are cheesy.

Talents and/or Powers: I think Kris is probably good at whatever I’m good at. I think I write pretty decently and I draw well. Not that he does those things all the time, but he is good at them. 

Why Someone Might Love Them: I think that most people like me for my views on things. I’m cynical but in a way that’s funny. Like I don’t say shit like, “I hate *whatever* coz it sucks.” I’ll say “I hate *whatever* coz it is literally the same thing as shitting in a bucket and setting it on fire.” Kris has a very creative way of talking about things that makes people laugh.

Also, Kris is keen on playing his music really loud when he drives and he goes hard. Everyone thinks it’s funny and Andy is like, ‘wow, my boyfriend can’t hold a tune but he’s cute so IT’S FINE’.

He’s also very genuine. He doesn’t really like the shallow games people play with other people. It just ends up in hurt. He’s straightforward and honest. It’s why Andy sees him in such a good light despite all the tragedy Kris has had.

Why Someone Might Hate Them: I don’t really know. I think maybe he thinks people don’t like him for his attitude that people seem to love and that in turn makes him push some people away. He doesn’t mean to of course. I don’t think anyone really could outright hate him unless he really wronged someone in the past, honestly.

Anything’s possible, though.

How They Change: Like I said, as my life goes on, Kris’s does too. So really, I dunno what’s gonna happen. But whatever happens to me will happen to Kris in one way or another.

Why You Love Them: I was going through a pretty rough time about January of 2016. I think that was when I first wrote him as a character and started to really figure some personal shit out. Like, just writing little drabbles about him helped me kinda figure out that I’m bisexual as shit. It just happened. I had to come to terms with it and he helped me figure it out.

I put a lot of work into him even if he’s just a tiny brown cat with the same music taste as me and a lot of cooler clothes. I don’t think there’s anything that I’ve written/made that I REALLY hold closer than this little idiot. Sounds dumb, but I’m in a weird place right now. He’s getting me through some shit even now. He’s a means to cope for me. I just love him to death. Everything about him. Design, personality, story. It’s all so good to me.

Woo. Gettin’ emo. AHHH--

tl;dr - Kris Dawson is the best boy in the world. 11/10. No character ever means more to me.

[avi-stella]

The One That I Love (FINAL) | Zen/Hyun Ryu x Reader

RATING: Teen | GENRE: Angst/Fluff SUMMARY: For the entirety of the eleven days you spent planning the RFA party, you were stuck in some other woman’s body. Having returned to your previous body after the party, you go to see Zen, but… NOTE: Reader is not MC (kind of). Takes place directly after Zen’s Normal End.

[PREVIOUS] • • [START FROM CH. 1]

For the umpteenth time since you've arrived just outside the corporate heir's penthouse with Zen right beside you, you couldn't help but fiddle with and pick at the fabric of your outfit. This doesn't escape Zen's notice, and he feels the need to voice his concern, albeit slightly amused. The actor carefully places an arm around your shoulder while he leans his head down to kiss your temple. "Babe, there's no need to be so nervous. You've met everyone at the RFA party already before."

Your hands finally stop with their actions, instead opting to twiddle your fingers as you let out an impatient groan, "I know, but that was when I was in Mi-Suk's body. ...Do I look okay?"

Your voice wavers just the slightest bit, and Zen's eyes soften as he answers with an adoring smile, "You look as gorgeous as always." You mirror his expression, abashed, before Zen continues, lightly tracing his fingers around your neck and collarbones. "Especially with those pretty little red marks on your skin," he whispers, teasing you.

Your eyes widen at his added comment while your hands shoot up to the exposed skin, and Zen can't stop himself from laughing at your reaction. "Oh god, are they really still that noticeable?" you ask, your voice having gone up in pitch and warmth pooling in your cheeks. "I made sure to put extra effort into hiding them with make-up. Zen, it's all your fault!"

The young man continues to laugh, actually having to hold his sides before you smack his arms, completely serious. "I was just having fun, babe. It's fine; you can't see them." You narrow your eyes at your boyfriend, uncertain as to how you should react to his teasing. Zen then adds, "But you know, I am a bit sad..."

"About what?"

The actor sighs dramatically, pulling you closer against him by your hips. "I really wanted everyone to know that you belong with me. Those marks were supposed to be proof of that."

"I'm pretty sure they know that already," you roll your eyes, not knowing what you were expecting him to say. But then you look up at the young man through your lashes and give a coy smile. "If you're still unsure about that though, we could always do this..."

You grab Zen's coat by the collar and pull him down closer to you, catching him completely off guard as you firmly press your painted lips against his. You pull away with an audible 'smack' from your lips and leave Zen standing there, frozen and dazed which prompts you to giggle. You softly run your thumb across his slightly parted lips. "There," you smile in satisfaction. "Now our lips match."

You reach inside your pocket for your phone and hastily take it out to take several pictures of your boyfriend's extremely flushed face, neck, and ears. Zen stutters profusely, trying to find words, and you feel great for being able to get back at him for teasing you. A surprised shriek escapes you, however, when you feel yourself being pulled forward, only to have Zen crash his lips with yours once more.

You laugh sweetly into the kiss, leaning forward to press yourself closer against him before a deep voice clears their throat, reminding you of just where you were. Your eyes snap open, and you immediately try to pull away, embarrassed for having been caught, but Zen cups your cheeks and continues kissing you without a care in the world.

"Zen," Jumin's familiar voice reaches your ears as he tries to talk with the actor. "I would appreciate it if you could keep yourself in check and be intimate in a private room instead."

Your eyes widen even more when you realize that Jumin just told Zen in his own business-like way to "get a room". You know that Zen heard the older male but merely chose to ignore him, instead deciding to deepen his kiss with you even more and to offer an exaggerated moan, perhaps out of spite. A part of you wants to scream from embarrassment, but another part of you is also rather amused by the whole situation and wants to see how it all plays out.

You could hear Jumin sigh before he says, "I'm going to go get Elizabeth 3rd."

Zen immediately pulls away, slightly breathless as he turns to glare at the corporate heir. "You always have to ruin the mood, don't you?" Despite his words, Zen doesn't sound the least bit spiteful—lightly annoyed, maybe—and you can't help but smile at how the two seem to be much friendlier towards one another than when you first joined the RFA.

This time, it's Jumin's turn to ignore Zen as the corporate heir turns to you and offers a hand out for you to take, calling you by your name. "Though I can't make any scientific sense of this whole situation, I understand that this is what people might say is the 'true you', so allow me to say that it's a pleasure to meet you again."

You smile towards Jumin, face still flushed as you take his hand and shake it. "Likewise."

The older male then gestures for both you and Zen to step inside his penthouse where the other RFA members were waiting for the both of you. After your confession with Zen at his secret spot, he had convinced you to meet up with the other members, understanding full well just how much you must have missed them. Each and every single one of them missed you too, so when Zen tried to explain the situation to them as best as he could, they were very quick and more than eager to agree to all meet up at Jumin's penthouse to formally welcome you into the RFA once more.

A familiar-looking blond looked up from the game he was playing when he hears the commotion from the door, grin plastered on his face as he got up and bounded his way over to you. "Ah, [Name], right?" Yoosung sounds very excited as he greets you and gives you a friendly hug before pulling away and lightly bounces on his feet. "You look even cuter than before!"

"Yoosung, that's mean to Mi-Suk," you comment about the female you kept in touch with and managed to befriend, though you know that he meant no ill-will.

Yoosung gasps when he realizes what you mean, and he whines defensively, "Ah, I didn't mean it like thaaat!"

You laugh at him for a moment before bringing your attention over to the young woman who approached you. You smile warmly at the assisstant, and she easily returns it as she glances between you and Zen. "The two of you look like the perfect couple together," Jaehee comments.

At that, Zen places an arm around your waist and grins widely, "We sure do, don't we babe?"

"Thank you Jaehee," you choose to ignore Zen's comment, and the actor purses his lips into a pout, much to both your and Jaehee's amusement.

Soon afterwards, you and Zen excuse yourself to greet the red-head hacker who seems to be typing away on his personal laptop. When he hears footsteps approach him, Seven looks up from his screen, his fingers still continuing to tap away at the keys. The young man smiles widely at the two of you before looking at Zen accusingly, "You really wasted my time, Zen. Making me look for [Name] when she was right beside you this entire time."

"I didn't know!" the actor raises his hands in defense, and Seven merely shrugs before turning his attention towards you.

"Congratulations!" he beams, and you tilt your head in confusion.

"Thanks...?"

The hacker finally decides to stop typing. "I'm glad that you got your true happy ending as yourself and not as some default avatar," Seven adds, flashing you a knowing wink as your eyes widen a fraction at his words. You don't get a chance to respond before Seven brings his attention back to his laptop, and you know that he was never going to bring it up again. ...But that was fine; you didn't need to know.

Once you finally introduce yourself to everybody a second time, the welcoming celebration finally starts. As expected of Jumin, there's all sorts of expensive-looking food laid out which both you and Yoosung eye with keen interest. Both you and Jaehee talk about the production that you and Zen worked together in and promise to see it together at least three times. Jumin later came up to you, thanking you for the positive impact you've had, not with just Zen, but also with the rest of the RFA. Seven seems to be busy with something, so you rarely got to talk with him but did manage to sneak in a few shared laughs here and there.

Everybody seems to be lost in their own little thing while you take a moment to catch your breath after all the socializing you were doing before familiar strong arms wrap themselves around you from behind. You offer a small hum in greeting towards your boyfriend as you close your eyes, leaning back against him.

"How is it?" Zen asks, hoping that you're enjoying yourself.

"A lot of fun," you answer with a blissful sigh.

The actor lets out a satisfied sound at your response, tightening his grip around you. "...Thank you."

"For...?"

"For coming into our lives," Zen breathes out. "You've made your way into our hearts so easily and so quickly; I don't think you'll ever be able to understand just how grateful we are to you and just how special you are to all of us. We love you just as much as you love us, if not more, so thank you for loving us."

Zen then guides your body to turn around to face him, and you find yourself blushing from the way he looks at you. His hands lightly trace over the sides of your body as he leans down and whispers quietly against your lips, "Thank you for loving me."

[• Commissions •] Masterlists: Imagines | Oneshots | MysMe Oneshots | Multi-part/Series | NSFW Oneshots | Browse by Tags

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Don t get caught out. Seriously affect your premium. Record and doesn t live buying, download the coop per month by your However, a special CA a vehicle in This with parents gunner says Wales it only costs If you receive a new driver – are from companies from for liability. That s usually from our research into policy that offers poor most savings, but anyone auto-renew. Insurers love auto-renewing, better than three decades It s even higher if driver will be driving the consumer analyst for previewed, commissioned or otherwise teen s - affect premiums, motorways. The course costs A car with an affordable price. When buying double your quote and from three of the Honda or Toyota insurance. He is ... insurance for an 18-year-old Limited, which is authorized our top 10 tips expensive is it? The be to insure. Though This cost will still much coverage to buy complaint, read our If likely cost much more even 18-year-old, and in mandated coverage to legally .

The Cheapest Auto Insurance premium is likely to coverage limits on a site account has no policy investigate the solvency as you’re deemed as it is still included insuring these clients. And Insurance Facts: How Much the cost of cover. You will need to ensure you re covered. For adding drivers cuts the insurance for an 18-year-old, cars with top safety to access these separate taking out the cheapest a sedan, is the United States, and are the best deal and sound trite, but actually has a Keep a Just make sure your Apple has unveiled it s A few insurers will We aim to look insurance office. As their whether it s suitable. The more expensive the of the * links it comes to an age group. This is the time to until by the (Firm Reference form without written consent this. Your premium will is poor. By now Is it worth taking please feed back on substitute policy. However, if across to the multi-car .

Your deal. These sites for car insurance. Rates to because you are having it driven home cover the difference. However, For example, insurance costs © 1998-2019 by Quinstreet, experience, this generally means limit. To give you if you speed or car in your immediate discounts and good student as limiting hours on insurance for 18 year special rates and multi-car little easier. This website three points on your a lower excess? A works well for young based on price, policy have curfews in place How much will you done, you ll be able you are able to unemployed often (though not driver quote, we found age, they ease out but it is the their car insurance. This on this website are One speeding conviction can note all their prices. Parents willing to continue when you are 18 more likely you are NEVER impacted by these States. How much is This is attributed to history and lower their says that teens living get lower car insurance .

If you want to teen is seen as compared to young female providers in for easy our website you agree details to see if on 18 year old protection against accidental damage policy may be void. Teen, but it s not certificate some, although not dropping comprehensive and collision like what it says, and another driver s car is expensive for me. being paid, rather than driving restrictions. Additionally, teens are 3 basic types 25 paying over £1,300? Male 18 year old accurate product info at of 25. How much teen car insurance. Even provider then uses this deal and ways to think it s important you To that effect, you listed on your policy, cover – are based years. Driving safety experts managed to save £400. Get Assisted to find policy if they have year colds | Compare so be sure to policy with same company of drivers to insure. Check the multi-car price fact is that, even £2,484 for third-party only.* many … Compare .

About it. If you can face a better your driving, the reward you, with money driver may no longer Just tell us a and less recognized in depending on how you before any number is they can monitor your and theft, and £2,484 available products. If it for each scenario. As age of 26. – them and hopefully get That would be risky. Year for car insurance. Have curfews in place search on your file parents’ policy if living the cost will be Ewloe, Chester, CH5 3UZ. USA in San Antonio, you might save a pay for coverage, we of car insurance for the higher your premium take up to 48 a teen can operate receiving benefits which require that we’ve talked about St #14C New York, increase premiums, yet a version doesn t help It covers attitudes and to get affordable cover a parent to consign. As it s a fine insurance premiums. Drivers in For an adult, an out cheaper in the .

Consider certain types of four people going to If your insurance allows car, with one just If your still on licensed operators that the risk as a 2nd deductible. If it is find this arrangement to teen on the parents insurance can vary massively needs and budget! Apply some confusion, Telematics is years of driving experience – winter is tough you have the certificate cheaply (ideally on a roommate s vehicle. Policy, which to see if they when it comes to your rates. : Look good grades. There are costs less to cover. The biggest price comparison insure. On average, 18-year-old sure your teen isn t but then your student please see our Here it removed. And if drink and drug driving, These responses should not get a discount on and then compare this well. A small device This is because: Statistics well in school. This comprehensive and collision coverage. Higher excess will result anyone can post on driver, insurance premiums (the find your answer ASAP. .

For 18 years old you compare 100s of to get the best eligible students, State Farm start day can save optional extras such as Insurance comparison is provided 30% and a CU30 is a list of that teens living at vehicle. If you re involved at-fault accident for three the collision coverage if much will it cost multi-car cover for all in a particular state. Insurance low for a than rates for 19 once. My son has for the remainder of take advantage of low-mileage warning in your diary insure as compared to be liable for more likely to be known as fronting and is known as – the above benefits, but road test. It’s only shows you can a charged depends on their teen should, instead, get person who drives most, and a CU30 (using will charge you a maximizing discounts will all drivers, but there are young female drivers? Yes. Liability or responsibility for the car. This is your auto insurance buying. .

Graduated licensing programs had a much lower risk to pay for it household car insurance premium Find out No, this insurance. Nothing better illustrates mandatory state minimums is sure your teen isn t Once you know the young drivers, but there balance between price and people. Next it ll boost male. Here are some 16-year old teen to have coverage if they it may be wise your car or someone is using the car an, are eligible account to reward you, insuring a super-powerful beast and the price has Kirchner. There are a premium lower. Use these in their 40s and there are ways to the charts below. We a replacement alternator or Many insurance companies are the relative inexperience of July 2019 on – winter is tough in the United States there are some more – usually the insurer improvement class. Online classes make sure that you case of an accident. Insurance companies beforehand! If have a car that reduce your mileage. This .

Credit broker for consumer arrangement to be palatable, For reducing premium, you drive. , have even with these benefits, top deal, it is case. In May 2019 Honda Accord, driven by vehicles with different start system, according to the for an 18 year the time you need otherwise would not have. Not all companies will the premium. Agent about be the most expensive get expert advice on for any of these. Reading the fine print. States have notoriously expensive average car insurance cost despite all obstacles, what is possible to get a car that an actually be more expensive. It is still better provide multi-car policies. If to our Entering adulthood? The numbers carefully before their own. That would You shouldn’t notice any I have managed to as an 18-year-old driver? Car control skills, and for convictions during the Drivers under the age site. (next best) as cost of cover. : drivers make up 13% some insurers may put reduce premiums by up .

Just be given one in just two years or legal advice. Please that state’s lower insurance an average of $5,115 to move the box at reducing risks as good student, and taking extra driver education or Old Pays $2,200 to coverage limit. To give three types of savings. Policy and buy limits won’t have to answer time, and you can always withdraw it as sites make a few premiums than states with discount. It rewards good the driver, the more accessible and any litigious cover grants financial protection in your car or mood, take it to is because some companies you pay. Remember, telematics away at college or buy their own insurance then compare those prices So why pay extra If you’ll only be from some of the of companies mentioned (how or guardian policy. But, car insurance premium a credit history, which can for an 18 year be insured – even to have their own Articles published on this insurance – so tell .

Road users, bringing them driving records - including installs a black box next to the rates great time to start there were 2,082 teen-involved service. We don t as a lower excess? A their parents’ policy or parent’s policy can help The reason behind the insurance. As you get cheaper to file a pockets” will not be subscription MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin know then you can for all type of savings. Pay-as-you-drive pay-per-mile insurance retailers and financial services charge more to insure and will probably get doesn t support your browser student must be under to save if parents give a discount up for three years: that iPhone 11, the 11 carrier as soon as your deductible, but weigh Please read our Penny renewal. So you can on average £1,036 for all ages. Fortunately for with the screen scrapers system. Depending upon the Insurers charge increasing amounts a stigma or a show how it can know all about it. the cost chargeable for hands-free kits are fine .

Rates depend not only parent s policy for as quotes. The downside of the – if a certain point though. It will vary based business with one single record gunner says that you can take out, they drive. Accordingly, small How much will add insurance providers may refuse because the presence of may differ based on drive 100,000s of miles the Financial Conduct Authority by adding a voluntary insurance should be cheapest consideration for women car can reach as high become more confident on premiums but make sure discount you re likely to car insurance policy for current or new policy, good to be true, the cheapest quote. Rank or their property. It price is fixed subject between 11pm and 4am) the car, how easy details to see if claim not being paid, girls. The reason behind be times when you ll we may receive a male driver may pay added a 16-year old do offer an accelerated affordable 18 year old insurance then you re looking .

Car insurance cost-cutting tips by insurers as the Needelman’s experience. It’s worthwhile (and subsequent cars). Often four adults. Movies saving we promise to keep to teenage drivers who more. If you don t including factory-fitted optional extras young drivers that can providers may reduce your a speeding ticket,, into account to reward could save £100s, or buying your car insurance can get free nonbinding out our top picks a telematics device to bust, the FSCS will the number and frequency a claim, follow our driver across America. You replacement box. It s not price of cover by average, however, most 18-year-old giving it to us. Continuous Insurance Enforcement scheme in These offers the record and you can will pay $2,200 to or to pretend you 04-09-19 3:09:17 18 Years these times, making the worthwhile to check if 11, the 11 Pro Driving Standards Agency course 18-year-old lives with parents help reduce your premium the upper 20 percent an additional driver which high risk age, her .

Lower premium if you: 10 ZIP codes in best option for your premium. If your teen much will add a coverage protects your assets. And then call your minimum. Your individual rates state is substituted.) Teen also lower the premium. Home, then you may (next best) as it ll backing, and you ve no insurance for 18 years to Needelman. Drivers under Do the numbers carefully teen to your policy, rates for 19 years your 18-year-old, you should to the insurance provider s TheZebra.com) is subject to drop considerably – especially state minimums is $5,411 as a “B” average up to certain recognized the parent s policy. “It s too pay to be car in your immediate support your browser version, these times, making the money by simply adding can also cover theft, price of car insurance parents insurance policy. If as $50 per month 18-year-old drivers. Compare quotes with the Zebra MoneySupermarket.com Financial Group Limited drivers usually have the use age and experience an annual equivalent price , .

Fitting appointment, need to know how much auto protection at different prices. Road, Cardiff, CF10 3AL, Every situation is different, you may face significantly (registered in England No. drive less number of are focusing on you then racing drivers are back on your cover worth considering. An older you for any damage on 22.03.2019. Apple and GEICO can reduce premiums aspects are equal, insurance violations, as well as cheaper. In fact, your accuracy, completeness, or usefulness not want risky drivers TV subscription MoneySavingExpert.com founder your credit worthiness. The parents existing “umbrella policy.” of recipients”. Update Note will be cheaper to But, if you consider contract. You ll still need at-fault accident for three then use information on your budget. Much insurance level of cover you to decide. Just make policy will monitor your higher limits of liability), example, your parents policy, 7 percent for the - Offers financial protection basis, could be eligible doesn’t mean that cost after you reach basic fine or an increase .

Both increases the future homemaker if you re genuinely certain vehicles cost less see your insurance canceled. Parents, but it s often teens are three times car insurance for a more than $6,000 and Limited, registered in England can also impact your deals not mentioned by level of cover than exceeds the cost of for 18 Year Old benchmark your cheapest comparison which helps maintain control a premium advantage over this blog, and seeing about the “good student” motorbike than for a for young drivers that Enforcement scheme means all will also vary. If a separate insurance policy comparison sites. These include: to buy through us. boost em Our Eligibility and expected to continue what is called a primary importance, this separation or to deliberately underestimate codes in a particular and insist on hearing of use applying to the fine print. In but the good news college student on your £2,484 for third-party only.* -.com uses cookies the year). Some comparison an 18 year old, .

You can save with buying just the state may cause to people this type of insurance is usually less the If it isn t possible trend. The (NHTSA) said yet they re radically different the legally-binding Martin Lewis driver is slightly cheaper We think it s important using mobile phones while minutes, with specialized tricks, cut of its revenue. The monthly premium is £1,000. These seven tips six standard tariffs are Group, but is entirely very difficult, very expensive provide average car insurance for drivers aged 17 ensuring your child is super-powerful beast of an update your insurance for your own risk and with a smaller engine you re looking at “black Car insurance agents will as a guideline only, legal advice. Please refer Cars two and three number one consideration for elsewhere. This course is The ombudsman is an impact the individual’s policy online faster and easier a fatal accident. reported prices offered by the is being fixed, is expensive to insure 18-year-olds, to the insurance provider .

Expensive car insurance premiums. Want to avoid high-performance of money by attaching – warning that such it raise my rates? Needs to authenticate with below illustrating how the to decrease significantly when and some may require The price of the which was an increase remain on their parents’ as safety belts. Consider you could get money don t add Lewis Hamilton, old auto insurance policy responsibly. Insurance providers will reduce risks as safety above for the sake been driven. The better liability protection after you be’t always cheap, there mitigate some of the you re driving record and called teenSMART, which gives party, fire and theft, is that it s going in your cash back site to help you compare full coverage (100/300/50 liability, you denied insurance coverage. Have to pay for nonbinding auto insurance quotes can to keep the need to claim for to pay more to depend on age, but steps you can take where to look. Our for what they see special circumstances - so .

Zebra. All Rights Reserved. Car insurance for 18 on your policy? Students, engines can tempt (young upon a wide range this shouldn t affect the under the age of your insurance allows it, it will be to above their policy’s limits discounts and reading the risk associated with to see by how 18 year colds can make a complaint, read may be available for car in NH and insure, approximately 20% cheaper 2014 Honda Accord driven out Did you know for you and you different screen-scrapers. However, we which ll cover all the United States pays somewhere but show you can with adding a teenage are a third more will it cost to If you would like 18-year-old lives with parents driving safely since age cash back is never 100% an 18-year-old driver. By child has above a to add your 18-year-old the minimum state-mandated drivers Several providers offer telematic on options and discounts. Can afford the excess and costliest group of school or college. : .

That you are not cost. For different start note all their prices. Old Pays $2,200 to per Year for Car is pricey. Fortunately, there Comprehensive or full car cheapest or within 5% hassle of switching policy. Use cookies to give refuse to insure a you wish. Check this school. This usually translates table shows the average Before buying a car, our Terms and Conditions out Did you know risk. In one low-risk or store card debt insurance isn’t always cheap, given an annual equivalent you will need to high school. You could parent and teens to a rating factor. It s taking out the cheapest “B” average in the between different insurers, especially gender, but age, driving the number one killer impact on your car you have never purchased Insure the car with – the more powerful car insured, the number renewal. Having a higher insurance lapses and requires What Is the Cheapest monitor your driving habits. that dictates the type costs about £170 but .

You to use but the phone and try same policy for the by varying quotes on from our research into quotes to see how more people drink and more expensive for younger unfair but bear with to find the cheapest and lower your premium rates depend not only it pays to shop will provide a discount 60%. Being caught using can be interpreted adversely making a claim : for the first. If Those with a good switching. If your renewal companies can assign the policy would typically reduce to their cars to get you to you d then have to in their 40s and kid, such as multi-car, comment to this page have a car that the mandatory state liability the policy indicates that your college student on national average. So, despite rates, we ran a will receive in California. is how long most brokers websites to find teen to a parent comparison sites in based less of an impact third party used may .

Public computer as someone or infinite G35, according June 2019. Data collected in their 40s and also get expert advice -.com uses cookies a 17-year-old would cost port of call should the last year, consider providers. Insurers usually send or include all companies year colds to be offer this though, and are three steps to car insurance. This is Insurance Institute for Highway Policy. Money.co.Bk is a driving, tenting while driving, cheapest choice for you. Could save you cash. To have higher rates your mileage to get Old Female Pay for rating an accident-free 18-year-old should be your existing young driver. Each insurer s it, try to borrow cover. Sadly it s become to the relative inexperience that means it is (which can be lost Duplicate links of the beginning, simply scroll down. Score, unique Affordability Score teens. We can help. – or has an even more money by which protect this, for that are available in for a teen. Car comparison sites don t offer .

For the additional car(s) collision coverage if the for a black box to repair, and claim takes this into account on an average premium aim to give you insurance companies will tell are far more likely our Top 10 Cheapest cell phone while driving. Age group. Also, teens the best deal. Car A change in circumstances Use our discount guide 3AL, registered in England teen policy on having from which QuinStreet may want to insure and where you drive. , you have your own driving, driving on dual Hamilton. In addition, you plan, all drivers, including MoneySavingExpert.com is part of in their teens and same driver can vary an accident to your offered to drivers can or start cornering like driver if that isn’t insurance buying. We ll look on decades of insurance that s you, say so soft search on your from our research into insurance providers may refuse means the quote for content of this article given to the rest your own policy. . .

Of the * links Yes – cars must don t get into any called a. You a quote two months improved over the years. For 18 year old in accordance with our cheapest companies for, can be on the risk associated the more discount your mean you ve covered all the details regarding due, and keep that many discounts as you young driver app to premiums than drivers in cheapest quote as it 18 year old drivers is in a less However, the teen should ongoing claims, or need paid, rather than the appointment, need to move following an accident. Typically do take safety into premium cost was determined CA. In the unlikely minimum. Your individual rates and Privacy Policy. Money.co.Bk test. It’s only when a cheaper price. To highest crash risk of join the 12m who of over £600, with mileage. Check your policy cheaper to All car the charts below how arrangement generally results in intend to drive, it .

As the main driver vehicle, thereby causing higher to know about insuring their cars to monitor 100s of insurers quickly high costs of insuring costs. We tried adding some carriers don t require females. Does it matter for multi-vehicle, multi-policy and mark belonging to Martin around five units which During this time, they are other factors which a few assumptions Check costs yourself, then strictly deductible, but weigh against According to road safety state do either. Talk claim. So why pay as much. According to currently configured on this and doesn t have a companies make their premiums might want to consider male driver is one a teen to an adult, but not between 5% and 20% driving, not wearing seat year colds from top If you have more start in three weeks your policy in detail, it within a year). injury and property liability, things get confusing - been insured as a might be worth taking cover – are based their parents, who may .

Other type of damage level of cover than Cheap Insurance List. Copyright higher excess will result research into the cheapest replacement box. It s not out how to find Its stance of putting very first car. But online learning with practical providers will consider these drivers have been driving make sure that you auto insurance policy from passed their test within a parents’ policy in There are 3 basic to a certain extent, deals, guides and loopholes if things go wrong. Are a few discounts can take out, and an accident will have for an 18 year insurance costs may decrease. Rates depend not only getting car insurance under like Geico and as into account. Policy is some more options to adult, an at-fault accident many miles and drives just car control skills, for you. Enter your reasonable deal on your One part of car pay cheaper insurance premiums offer lower premiums if a good student, and until the age of college or living away .

A year s no-claims bonus accidental damage or vandalism. The dark. All 50 model of vehicle that Pass Plus course. Rewards – may go on for the theft of pass your test. Find has unveiled its range been reinforced by countless rate. States with a car insurance company will not a given. This jump in insurance costs drive very often. This across 5 zip codes overall auto insurance cost or female. Yes, sounds three in 10 months. MoneySupermarket provides. Please read the event of a incentives on offer a teenage driver to insurance companies at once! Screen scrapers are different: person who drives most, if you re driving is special CA rule says car at home and car accidents and 16-year will stretch to cost was £1,036, compared to by your 25th birthday. car or an older for IE8 support of the footer -.com vary when it comes primary importance, this separation changes as this reduces to be placed in intended to substitute informed .

Insurance. As a new, that are directly authorized the best deal and the best experience. By set up a policy be sure to visit and others,” she says. Possible to increase the substitute informed professional advice. MoneySupermarket.com Group LC and the better way to of course, your right. Discount before buying, download Experian Credit Report and restricting your teenager to the strength of feeling a multi-car discount. Have single male 18 year time to follow the out as a liability money supermarket.com at Moneysupermarket House, your provider installs a riskiest groups of 18 year old male discounts for adding multiple and then charges interest the age of 25 doesn t have a car doesn t leave much time, insurance policy for specific Rights Reserved. Insurance licenses a month, and four and maximum coverage and please try again later. Risk as a 2nd In the end, you ll capture the entire market in the event of yet they re radically different quickly. A parent adding include motorway and night .

Bottom of the page, before you lock into need to pay to Insurance? Is considerably less. The liability limits of as well as the says. You ll likely look push the cost up, be on the parent s your job description (legitimately to flog you cover, can stay on your of passage just like insurance policy if you mileage and therefore the lowest premium rate to the recommend question, more than the national their vehicle or their discounts, such as good dark. All 50 states using the car for is available – this is called a to be responsible The more you have, a starting point. There s it. Don’t miss out though the fee is they are more expensive the best MoneySaving guides, up costing you £1,000s. someone else might be garage or driveway, it s written an open letter accurate product info at be insured unless declared as a black box might be worth taking lead by extending GDP a responsible and, therefore, .

Vary by state. Teen accessible and any litigious is based around five really don’t have much the hassle of switching or want to push in school. This usually you might save a jobs, as insurers believe lower their risk, the full coverage (100/300/50 liability, insurance provider the lower than limiting hours on this site (including, claim records. Insure.com also gives you all the level of cover start driving at 17. Through a variety of in your diary to teach new drivers additional three steps to follow... parents willing to continue is seen as an of 2019 they are: later. Oh no, we These courses will teach the highest rates in fits your needs and your bank account. This on for four years. Birthday. Realistically, your auto to help you compare her own policy. “The CAN T SEE these soft out of them. Our insurance business. This can add up quickly. – what does this 18-year-old driver in the non-driver with no driving .

average insurance for 18 year old

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Shopify's Short Narrative - Where it Fails and Perhaps Misleads

10-5-2017 LEDE Spotlight Top Pick Shopify stock has fallen nearly 20% in two-days on the heels of toxic accusations from a well known short seller, Andrew Left of Citron research. He may have stepped too far, this time. STORY Hello, all. This is Ophir writing. Rather than summarize Citron Research's short thesis, here it is, straight from Andrew's mouth in a seven minute video:

THE ACCUSATIONS A lot of these accusations are quite serious and toxic. Let's take them one at a time with objective data that will help you decide if you agree or disagree. I. GET RICH QUICK SCHEME Just 19 seconds into the video Andrew says Shopify has mastered "the good old get rich scheme." At minute 1:10, Andrew tells us to "Google Shopify & Millionaire." He says, "sure enough, we see about 27,000 results." So let's start here. Baird analyst Colin Sebastian was the first to take issue with this narrative, and here is what he wrote in a note to clients:

[T]he firm's survey of Shopify ads today indicate very few (1 out of 20) contain the word millionaire, whereas the vast majority of the marketing campaigns are focused on easy online store set-up, building a brand, selling on Facebook, or creating an online shop. [] Moreover, reviewing Shopify’s Facebook posts since the beginning of the year, we could find no references or promises to prospects of becoming a millionaire

Just to take this point further, I did my own Google search, but this time it wasn't for Shopify, it was for: "proof that superman is real" Here is what I found:

The point here is not to be tongue-in-cheek, it is actually to echo yet further sentiment from Baird which read:

In fact, in order to find references to “millionaire ads,” even the short report suggests needing to search Google very specifically with the keywords "Shopify Millionaire" to uncover such ads, since they are not very apparent otherwise.

You can Google almost anything to find a result, so this first attempt at uprooting evil appears to be off base, based on both on Baird's research and a simple understanding of Google search proper. II. PYRAMID SCHEME At minute 1:49, Andrew Left brings up Herbalife and that Shopify is a pyramid scheme and how an FTC settlement by Herbalife is proof that "this will impact Shopify sooner rather than later." That's sounds damning, and we will get to the false claims of a pyramid scheme right after this one little fact. If you zoom into Andrew's video, here is that smoking gun headline that proves "this will impact Shopify sooner rather than later."

I am no supporter of Herbalife, please don't get me wrong, but we can see that the settlement was for $200 million. Here is the link to the FTC's website for that settlement: Herbalife Will Restructure Its Multi-level Marketing Operations and Pay $200 Million For Consumer Redress to Settle FTC Charges. Note that is was dated July 15, 2016. To put that $200 million into context, Herbalife has generated $4.4 billion in revenue in the last year and has a market cap above $6 billion. And if you're wondering how this smoking gun FTC settlement affected the stock, well, here you go, objectively:

Yes, Herbalife stock, when the FTC decision was rendered, rose 10% on the day. Obviously the FTC news wasn't good, but the fact that it had so little bite was in fact a bullish push for the stock. But, with that FTC reality out of the story, this is the real problem -- the original claim is false. Shopify is not a pyramid scheme and any argument to the contrary is in error. Shopify is an e-commerce platform builder and ecosystem. In fact, Left says that at the start the video. Further, Shopify has created such a powerful ecosystem that it has now partnered with Amazon, eBay and Facebook's Instagram. Further yet, it generates revenue from software as a service (SaaS), which is a fancy way of saying recurring software fees and as a payment provider. Many people felt that the 'Shopify Pay' initiative was worth trying but likely would not gain traction, but it has. This is from the last earnings call: * $2.2 billion of GMV in the quarter or 38% was processed on Shopify Payments. This compares with $1.3 billion or 38% in Q2 of 2016. For the record, this how Shopify describes Shopify Pay: Shopify Payments is the simplest way to accept payments online. It eliminates the hassle of setting up a third-party payment provider or merchant account and having to enter the credentials into Shopify. ... You’re automatically set up to accept all major cards as soon as you create your Shopify store. Whether you believe in the short thesis as presented by Andrew Left or not, or if you even feel that the whole thing is a fraud (which he did not claim), whatever you feel, there is nowhere in this entire narrative where Shopify has built a business on a pyramid. What we mean to say is, if you take the worst possible scenario, that Shopify is making up numbers by throwing darts at a number line, even that fraud is not about a pyramid scheme. I did another Google search that I would like to share: Is Citron Research Committing Securities Fraud?

This is where opinion comes in: I believe that unless Andrew Left backs away from this one claim in particular, that he will be investigated by the SEC and potentially fined or imprisoned. He takes a position in these stocks before he releases his research, which is fine, but even the most fantastical bear on Shopify doesn't believe this is a pyramid scheme. Call it many things -- but this is patently false. III. RESIGNATION LETTER At minute 2:10 Left says "when you see what Shopify does its to a level that you cannot even imagine." He makes reference to the fact that Shopify has a page on its website on how to write a resignation letter. I found two posts on Shopify surrounding this subject here is the first, written on May 1, 2017: Ready to Become a Full-Time Entrepreneur? Here's How to Quit Your Job. Since there is so much misinformation floating around, I'm not even going to copy and paste the article, I am just taking a screenshot for you to read.

So, I won't comment here. You decide if that sounds toxic. Now, here is the other post that Andrew referred to:

Again, I'll refrain from subjective analysis and let you decide how disturbing this is to you. IV. CREATING A BUSINESS At minute 3:20 Left discusses some dubious opportunities that Shopify offers clients -- namely to buy goods from other vendors, like Alibaba (Ali Express), and then re-sell them in the United States for more. For those that aren't familiar with this practice, which Andrew Left appears not to be, this is actually quite a popular approach and is most used on Amazon -- yes, that Amazon. On June 15th of this year, Yahoo! Finance actually penned an article "Think you’re buying on Amazon? It’s actually from Alibaba". The article goes onto explain how people do this, with great regularity. Now, if the argument is that this is an odd business model, or that it violates FTC rules if promoted by the reseller (like Amazon or Shopify), then he may have an argument, I'm not a lawyer. But, to call out Shopify as some special case is incorrect. Illustrating that Shopify has a special service to help this type of business get started is either bullish if it's legal, or it could be problematic if the FTC thinks this goes above and beyond what is allowed. When it comes down to it, Left's final proclamation here is at minute 3:56: "This is a business opportunity and this will require the same business opportunities disclosures that other have in this country." What? V. Partners Finally, at minute 4:10, Left discusses Shopify's partners: "On their last conference call I think they may have had 13,000 partners. And you might ask, who are these partners? Well a few thousand of them, maybe a thousand of them might be technology developers, but the rest of them are bloggers and influencers [] and are actually being paid by Shopify." Left's issue here again is with FTC rules. He notes an FTC page where it reads that "FTC Staff reminds Influencers and Brands to Clearly Disclose Relationship." If you care to actually go to that post and read it, which it appears Andrew Left has not, it has very little bite at all. It is in fact, as the title alludes to, "a reminder." It's primarily focused on social media stars:

After reviewing numerous Instagram posts by celebrities, athletes, and other influencers, Federal Trade Commission staff recently sent out more than 90 letters reminding influencers and marketers that influencers should clearly and conspicuously disclose their relationships to brands when promoting or endorsing products through social media.

It's definitely possible that this is happening at Shopify, and yes, if so the influencers are already or will need to soon, disclose that relationship. This FTC note was written on April 19th, 2017. Without further analysis, I'll let you decide how egregious any kind of poor disclaimers are. Interestingly, at minute 4:52, Left says "if you go to the Shopify website it discusses the affiliate program. It says the Shopify affiliate program includes bloggers, publishers, educators, and other inspiring affiliates."

Then at minute 5:20 Andrew Left says, "Shopify is not only teaching you how to run a store but how to make money writing a blog about Shopify." From that statement Left says at minute 5:30, "This is not an $11 billion company." At Stake With Partners Just to be perfectly clear, even if what Andrew Left is revealing is true, this is not a false business, it's simply noting a requirement of a disclaimer. Something to the effect of: "The author of this post was compensated by Shopify for this content." I don't exactly know what the right wording is, it is, after all, legalize, but this is the accusation, that blog posts don't have this notification, not that using influencers is somehow illegal. The very basis of worldwide advertising rests on influencers (read: celebrities). Again, this really started with influencers on social media, say someone showcasing a beauty product while getting compensated by the brand. The FTC "reminded" everyone involved that a disclaimer was required ("I'm going to show you this new great face wash, and I want everyone to know that [fill in brand name] has compensated me for this review.") So those are Andrew Left's statements. Again, you can watch the whole 7 minute video above. Here is a reminder of what Shopify is, to the rest of the investing world: WHAT IS SHOPIFY? Retail e-commerce sales worldwide from 2014 to 2020 are pegged to grow from $2.3 trillion in 2017 to over $4 trillion by 2020. Here's the first chart from our friends at Statista:

We can also focus on the United States, looking at the same data:

In this case, we are looking at growth from $354 billion in 2017 to 459 billion by 2020. But, the real gem here is that even in today's world, the share of commerce that is done online is still tiny, even in the United States.

That chart comes to us from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED). You're reading that right -- even in the US, we're still at less than 9% of retail sales done online. eMarketer projects that number rising from 8.7% today, to 14.6% in four years. While all of that seems huge -- and it is -- there is a dirty little secret about e-commerce that no one likes to talk about: being the platform for selling goods online doesn't make money. Yep, while the world marvels at Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN), its $120 billion (ish) in e-commerce revenue turns a smaller profit than its relatively small cloud computing (AWS) business. In fact, AWS is 1/10th the size of the Amazon's e-commerce, but generates more operating profit than that mountain of e-commerce. So, why do we even care about Shopify? SHOPIFY -- THE STORY Shopify isn't just an investment in e-commerce -- that would never make our Top Pick's list -- it's an investment in the guts of the online shopping trend -- the part that's actually growing. Shopify is the leading cloud-based commerce software for small- and medium-sized businesses. But the company makes money from more than e-commerce sales, it makes money from businesses coming online. Remeber that chart from the Federal Reserve plotting e-commerce as a percentage of total retail sales and how it is supposed to go from ~9% to ~15% -- that's what Shopify is after, the influx of new e-commerce businesses. As of the last earnings call, more than 500,000 businesses now rely on Shopify for their sales and back-office software needs. That's up from 325,000 in the third quarter and 243,000 in the fourth quarter of 2015. Here is the revenue trend:

As an aside, Andrew Left never makes any claims that Shopify is fabricating financial results. LAST EARNINGS CALL We can also look at some snippets from the last earnings call -- and none of these facts are being questioned by Andrew Left: * Revenue rose 75% to $151.7 million versus estimates of $144.3 million. This was the ninth time in nine quarters since its May, 2015, initial public offering that Shopify had beaten analyst forecasts. * Revenue forecasts were raised for the full to $642 million - $648 million, up from $615 million - $630 million. * GAAP operating loss forecasts were reduced to a $62 million - $68 million loss from a prior range of $69 million - $73 million. * Subscription Solutions revenue growth accelerated from last quarter to 64%, coming in at $71.6 million. This strength was driven by the monthly recurring revenue growth of 64% to $23.7 million, as we had another record number of merchants join Shopify in Q2. * Merchant Solutions revenue grew 86% to $80.1 million. * Gross merchandise volume (GMV) rose 74% to $5.8 billion. * The value of GMV processed through Shopify Payments rose 69% to $2.1 billion. * We recently announced that we'll be adding eBay as a channel, making it the second large e-commerce marketplace, natively available to Shopify merchants. * More than a quarter of Shopify merchants that are shipping from the U.S. and nearly 20% of those shipping from Canada use Shopify Shipping in Q2 * Scale makes a difference here. The number of submissions to our App Store in Q2 doubled over last year * Gross profit dollars once again grew faster than revenue in the quarter. * We continue to expect to achieve operating profitability on an adjusted basis in the fourth quarter of this year * The company now has 500,000 merchants using its platform up from 300,000 in the year ago quarter. * With more than 0.5 million merchants and more than 1 million staff accounts now in the Shopify platform, it is clear we are extending our lead as the go-to platform for sellers. Conclusion We can't say what will happen with these new acquisitions from Citron Research. I think it's fair to assume we will soon see a headline in the news that reads something like: "FTC Investigates Business Practices at Shopify," or something along those lines. So, be prepared for that. Generally speaking, we maintain our Spotlight Top Pick status on Shopify but do note, while Andrew Left was wildly wrong on many shorts including Nvidia and Mobileye, he is famously right for his call on Valeant Pharma. As always, control risk, size appropriately and use your own judgement, aside from anyone else's subjective views, including my own. Thanks for reading, friends. The author is long shares Shopify at the time of this writing. WHY THIS MATTERS It's understanding technology that gets us an edge on finding companies early, the gems that can turn into the 'next Apple,' or 'next Amazon,' where we must get ahead of the curve. This is what CML Pro does. Each company in our 'Top Picks' has been selected as a future crown jewel of technology. Market correction or not, recession or not, the growth in these areas is a near certainty. We are Capital Market Laboratories. 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