#they all have a certain aesthetic and colors that both 1. fit together nicely and 2. give an idea of their character

[peapod20001]

Anyways before I forget again,

Does anyone else have meanings behind oc color pallets? Both for an individual character and when they’re part of a group??

[kiribaku-queen]

Secret Hero [5/10]

Pairing: Bakugou x reader, Ushijima x reader

Angst, Drama, AU

Word Count: 2.8K

A/N: very Ushijima focused this chapter. I loved seeing all the guesses and everyone pretty much guessed right! Great detectives skills, loves! Please let me know if you want to be added to the tag list!

Summary:  After becoming the number 2 hero, Bakugou accomplished everything he ever wanted. He beat Deku in a few matches, even if he wasn’t the number 1 hero. He got all the fame, beat countless villains, was acknowledged by all his friends and family. But he wasn’t satisfied. He wasn’t happy. Bakugou realized that this wasn’t the life he wanted. So he left the life of a hero and decided to hide to live the rest of his life as a normal person.

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]

After lunch with your family, it was clear that you were not feeling the best. All those comments about your weight and your career and everything you were doing wrong was going to your head. You cut breakfast out of your daily routine, as well as lunch. Even if you did eat lunch, you ate very minimal. Dinner was a different story. You were eating a normal portion but never to the point where you were stuffed. Your days were very fatigued and you could feel yourself losing energy to perform simple tasks. But if that’s what you had to do to get skinny, then you would do it. Beauty is pain, as one would say.

But your mother couldn’t get the hint. Since you took up on her offer to meet the boy she wants you to meet oh so badly, she’s been bugging you nonstop to meet him and his mother for a nice lunch. And so here you were, standing in front of the restaurant your mother picked.

“Be on your best behavior, dear,” your mother warned. You knew she wanted this meeting to go well, but now you were starting to take back your words. You were nervous for sure. You had no idea who this guy was. You didn’t know what he looked like, what he did for a living, his hobbies, nothing. Your mom left it to be a surprise till the very end and the anticipation was killing you.

“I know, mother,” you say. Well, time to put your mask on. All you had to do was meet this guy for your mother’s sake and hope that after this, she will leave you alone. Or not. But you would worry about that later.

You enter the beautifully aesthetic restaurant. Colors of gold and white covered the walls and ceiling, a chandelier hung in the middle of the room. Each table was organized neatly with the correct silverware, napkin and plates. Bouquets of fresh flowers sat at each table which set the atmosphere nicely. The waitress took you two to a private area where you were to meet this boy. As you walked to your destination, you looked around the restaurant. Neat, organized, everything looked exactly the same. Someone who was not raised in this environment might think coming here was a treat and would be lucky to dine here. But no matter how beautiful everything might look, you felt it was suffocating. Like you always had to act a certain way because you lived in luxury. But that wasn’t you.

You and your mother arrived at the private room, your guests waiting patiently for you. As soon as you guys opened the door, the man and his mother stood up to greet you two. Your mother and the other woman happily greeted each other, giving each other a hug and a kiss on each cheek. The man you were meeting bowed to show his respect and softly introduced himself.

“Ushijima Wakatoshi,” you heard him say.

“Yes, and this is my daughter, (y/n),” your mother introduced you. But when she saw you still standing by the door, she clicked her tongue in disapproval, snapping you out of your daze. “Honey, come introduce yourself.” You bowed back at both of them and finally looked up to introduce yourself.

“(y/n), pleasure to meet you,” you say in your most fake voice. It took you years to perfect it and people believed it every time. You looked at the other mother and she came to embrace you in a hug.

“You are more gorgeous in real life than in your pictures,” she complimented you. Yikes, they’ve seen pictures of you? You bet that they just really want you two to be together, that’s why she’s complimenting you so graciously. Your gaze moves from the woman to the man you were supposed to meet. And boy oh boy were you in for a surprise. You tried not to show it, but your eyes widened slightly when you saw who you were meeting.

Tall. Stoic face. Olive brown hair. He was the guy who ran into you the other day! And didn’t apologize! Your mom wanted you to meet this guy? This was going to be an awkward lunch.

“Nice to meet you,” you say to Ushijima, despite starting to have petty feelings for him.

“Likewise,” he says back with his deep ass voice.

“Let’s order, shall we?” your mother clapped her hands, clearly very excited for this encounter to finally happen. Every is in agreeance and takes a seat at the table. But before you could sit down, Ushijima comes over to your side to pull out your chair for you. That made both women very excited.

“My, what a gentleman!” your mother in absolutely in love right now. You accept his offer with an awkward smile and sit down, Ushijima scooting your seat in at the same time. He goes back around to sit back in his seat, but is keeping eye contact with you the entire time. It makes you start having cold sweat. Does he recognize you? Does he remember how you acted and practically embarrassed yourself that day? You pray that that wasn’t the case.

“Tell us, Ushijima. How is your work life?” your mother started the conversation. If you knew any better, she was basically interviewing him.

“I just got promoted at my father’s company. So I am head of the new office in town that I believe (y/n) resides in,” Ushijima informs. Upon hearing your name, you look up at him only to find him already looking at you. That got you embarrassed and so you immediately looked back down.

“Ah, is it that new office that Momo works at?” your mother was starting to connect the dots.

“Momo Yaoyorozu? She is actually my secretary.” Oh perfect. He’s already come into contact with the gorgeous Momo. There’s no way he was falling for you now. You might as well stop trying because you already lost, again.

“I’d actually like to know what Miss (y/n) does for a living,” Ushijima turns his attention to you, waiting for your answer. You looked surprised, not expecting for him to take any interest in you.

“Oh, uhm. I’m a teacher,” you quietly say, a bit embarrassed that you had to say what your profession was. You were already put down by your family for that. You didn’t need to hear it again, especially from strangers that you just met and who don’t even know you.

“So you like kids?” he asks.

“Yeah, I do. I love being around them,” you started to get excited. You loved talking about your kids and how proud they made you. But you physically had to stop yourself. He probably wasn’t interested in hearing your stories anyway.

“I think that’s very admirable,” Ushijima compliments you, giving you an encouraging smile. And that threw you off guard. It actually made you more nervous. “Tell me more.” He insisted. You looked and your mother and then at Ushijima’s mother. They were both looking at you as if to say that they were interesting in hearing more from you.

So you gave a few stories about the kids in your classroom. How sometimes they can make your stomach hurt from laughter or how proud you were every time they learned something new. With each story, your eyes lightened up and Ushijima was silently listening to every word that you were saying. You were surprised that he didn’t interrupt one bit because you were just so excited to talk about something you were just so passionate in.

“You two fit so well. I think this is going to be a beautiful marriage,” Ushijima’s mother clapped her hands in satisfaction. Your mouth dropped and your eyes immediately went to your mother, who was actively avoiding you.

“Mother,” you harshly whispered her name. You simply just wanted to meet him, not get engaged with him. And she knew that, yet she just pulled you right into her trap.

“Why don’t you two take a walk in the garden. Get some alone time,” your mother was avoiding the situation. She looked pleadingly at Ushijima who got the hint. He stood up and made his way to you, sticking out his hand for you to take. You groan internally, taking a mental note to confront your mother later. You take his hand as he escorts you out into the garden. The mothers watch as their children walk away.

“They’ll be fine,” they reassured themselves, taking a sip of tea and starting their own conversations.

Ushijima takes you around the small garden they had in the back of the restaurant. Of course they had something like this. Flowers and plants engulfed you at every which angle. The beauty in front of you doesn’t distract you from what his mother just announced. An engagement?

“I’m so sorry. They must have forced you into this too,” you assumed, apologizing for this situation. But why were you even apologizing. You didn’t have anything to do with this. Just like him, you were also the victim.

“Just a little bit,” he confessed, rubbing the back of his neck. “But, I’m willing to try if you are.” You stop in your tracks to snap your head to see if he was joking. It was hard to tell by the poker face he was wearing.

“You actually want to do this?” you question his mentality.

“Why not? We both can’t find someone, so why not do the alternative?” he shrugs it off like it was nothing. But you still couldn’t wrap your head around in.

“How do you know I can’t find someone?” you challenge him, feeling a bit insulted. You mean… it’s true but he didn’t have to call you out like that.

“Then why would your parents put you up to something like this,” he points out. Yeah, he had a point. But still! You didn’t want to admit that you couldn’t find someone in your life. But if this was the only way…

“Mhm, I can try. But I can’t guarantee that anything will happen,” you gave him a fair warning.

“That’s okay,” he says and moves so that he’s in front of you. “Because I want to make this work. And then I’m going to make you fall in love with me. And repropose when it’s the right time.” You stared into his olive brown eyes. He meant every word of it. And as sweet and romantic that may sound, your heart didn’t skip a beat. You wanted it to so badly, but it doesn’t.

 “Mother isn’t this a bit too soon?” you asked your mother on the phone. You were standing outside what you thought was an office building, but it instead wounded up to be a bridal boutique.

“Well if I told you, then you wouldn’t have gone! Hurry inside, your appointment should be starting soon,” and hung up soon after. You sighed, putting your phone away in your purse. You’ve only met your fiancé for a few weeks now and you’re already trying on wedding dresses so soon? Not only did you not feel confident, but you were discouraged because you were alone. You didn’t have anybody by your side, not even your mother. It was very tempting to leave and come back sometime later, but you could never go against your mother. If she found out that you missed your appointment, she would go ballistic on you. With a regretful sigh, you entered the boutique.

“Welcome!” the lady at the front desk greeted you.

“Uhm, hi. I have an appointment,” you say very softly.

“(y/n) right?” she asks, like she knew who you were already. You nodded your head, confused and shocked how she knew your name.

“Perfect, right this way!” her cheery voice rang in your ear. It was the same fake voice you used whenever you are with your family. Gross. She takes you over to a private room where many dresses are already laid out.

“Now, (y/n). What kind of dress are we looking for?” she asks. And it left you wondering. What did you want? The news of marriage was so sudden that you didn’t have time to think of what you wanted. You just assumed that the older adults would take care of it and you were just there for the ride.

“I’m actually not sure,” you say embarrassed. Your consultant was probably judging you by now.

“That’s okay! We can try on a few and decide what you like and don’t like and go from there.” The consultant smiled at you, not a single ounce of judgment on her face.

So you tried on many dresses. The big, poofy, traditional style wedding dresses looked horrendous on you. The fishtail was interesting but you didn’t like it. Lace looked old. You were starting to feel like finding a nice dress for you was hopeless.

“So, tell me about the groom,” your consultant started a conversation while fitting you into your next dress. Gosh, what do you say to that? Do you just confess and say that, oh it was an arranged marriage I don’t know this man at all?

“He’s very handsome and nice,” you decided to say. You weren’t wrong. Ushijima was very handsome and from those interaction that you did have with him, he was pretty nice. So technically, you weren’t lying.

“Are you excited for your wedding?” she asks another question.

“Not really,” you blurted out without even thinking. You realized your mistake, now having said too much and covered your mouth. She starts to laugh which throws your off guard.

“I can tell,” she says. It was like the information you told her didn’t surprise her at all.

“You can?”

“Of course. The look on your face as you came in today, the way you talked about your husband and the fact that you brought nobody with you? It was clear as day, honey. But we get those kinds of brides all the time. You may not love the man you’re about to marry, but you still deserve to look beautiful on your wedding day.” She advices, tightening up the last bit of the dress.

“Okay, how about this one?” your consultant backed away and you saw yourself in the mirror. It had a corset bodice that hugged your waist beautifully. Embroidered flowers covered the top, all the way down to half of the dress and slowly faded out. The skirt was flowy and had a long train. The dress was beyond gorgeous. And for once, you thought you looked really pretty. You couldn’t stop looking at yourself in the mirror.

“Wow,” you breathed. You looked completely different, like you haven’t seen this side of you before.

“I knew you’d like it. I’ll be right back. I’m going to bring a veil to bring the whole thing together,” she says and quickly runs out of the private dressing room to retrieve the item. You’re left mesmerized by the sight of you that you didn’t even notice someone come in.

“You look stunning,” a deep voice comes out of nowhere, scaring the living shit out of you. You turn around and Ushijima is standing there with his arms crossed, an amused look on his face.

“Ushijima!” you scream his name, covering your heart with your hand. “You scared me!” He laughs at your response, a chuckle coming from deep in his throat.

“Sorry,” he simply said, making his way to stand next to you. He looked like he just got out of work since he was wearing a suit. He looked clean and well put together. And when he stood next to you, it was like seeing you already at the wedding.

“Is this what we are going to look like at the wedding?” you joke. You thought it was funny how you two looked dressed for the occasion.

“No,” he said, wrapped his arms around your waist from behind. “Because you’re going to look even more gorgeous than you do now.” His low, deep voice tickled your ear, making you feel a little nervous. You get a glimpse of him in the mirror and you had to look away when you saw that he was staring right back at you.

“Okay, I think this one oh-” your consultant comes back in with the veil and is surprised to see that you have company. And it looks like she was ruining a special moment too. “I can just come back.” She says as she’s already backing out the door.

“Oh, no it’s fine,” you reassure her, slapping Ushijima’s hands away.

“We’ll take it,” he tells the consultant and gives her his credit card. She gladly accepts and is about to ring up the charge. While you were getting changed into your regular clothes, Ushijima was walking around the part of the shop where they sell other kinds of dresses. He comes across this one blue, off the shoulder dress and picks it up. Then he’s on his way back to the register with the dress in hand.

“This one as well,” he puts the dress on the counter. It might have been an impulse buy but he knew that it was going to look amazing on you at the party.

A/N: Let me know if you want to be added to the tag list!

Starting from tomorrow, I will be releasing those requests every day until they are all out there. So look forward to much content from me this week. And as always, I’d love to hear what you have to say or what you think about the chapter :)

Tagged: @superblyspeedydragon @simpforeveryone @bakasbitch18 @sam-i-am-1025

[tenshindon]

Hi :)

just some quick stuff ‘bout Yamcha and Bulma’s relationship in the manga under the cut

So I was going to save this for until after I watched the anime too but I mean that’s not going to be for a while- plus I just wanted to share what little things I ended up finding.

And when I say little things I’m not exaggerating the slightest; Yamcha and Bulma seldom appear together in the same scene, let alone even talk to or about each other. When I was getting ready to start my note taking, I actually had a number of colored tabs I wanted to attribute to specific things I found:

Blue tabs would be for anytime Bulma did or said something questionable

Green tabs would be for anytime Bulma did or said something nice/sweet

Orange tabs would be for anytime Yamcha did or said something questionable

Yellow tabs would be for anytime Yamcha did or said something nice/sweet

And throughout five-and-a-half 3-1 volumes? I only used 8, which is definitely foreshadowing how much different the anime is going to be from the manga as I can already think of at least three more scenarios involving these two.

Nevertheless, on to what I actually found. I’m going to elaborate on my thought process on all the scenes afterwards. Points with asterisks next to them mean I’m relatively indecisive as whether what they did was good, bad, or neutral.

*The first yellow tab goes to Yamcha when he reunites with Krillin and Goku at the first tournament of the series. In the specific manga I have, Yamcha mentions that Bulma was “bugging” him about how long hair was no longer in fashion in the city, so he either cut his hair himself or let Bulma cut it so it would be short.

The second tab is a blue tab about a chapter or two later when Yamcha and Jackie Chun are about to start their match, to which Bulma’s already wondering if Chun is attractive. Oolong makes a point to bring up her relationship with Yamcha, to which she retorts with “I can look, can’t I?” After Jackie Chun steps out and it’s discovered he’s an old man, Bulma is immediately disappointed and decides to cheer for Yamcha instead.

The third tab is a blue tab again; when Goku visits Bulma to have the dragon radar repaired, Panchy comments on Bulma and Yamcha’s tumultuous relationship and how Bulma was jealous of Yamcha’s popularity with girls. At that, Bulma gets upset and pledges to accompany Goku on his quest to find the Dragon Balls- either to wish for a better boyfriend, or to coincidentally find a new boyfriend while hunting for them

The fourth tab is- again, a blue tab, where Bulma openly (and honestly aggressively) flirts with General Blue as he and the Red Ribbon army pursue them for the Dragon Ball. When Blue rejects her, she doesn’t persist but rather remarks that he’s probably not attracted to girls if he wasn’t attracted to her. Later on, in an attempt to save her life, she again tries to seduce him- more so for strategic purposes this time.

Tab number five and blue tab number four happens after Yamcha just barely escapes death from fighting Bandages. While Krillin, Goku, Upa, and Puar fret over Yamcha’s safety, Bulma remarks that the fight was pathetic and Bandages was already damaged (though Krillin’s quick to point out his wrappings weren’t because he was hurt).

Things start to turn up on Bulma’s part with a couple of green tabs; as Yamcha is prepared to fight Tien, Bulma’s fairly excited to see him come out on stage. *The next tab I decided to note was Bulma covering her eyes right before Tien breaks Yamcha’s leg, and the final tab goes to her being the first person to exclaim that she would be following Yamcha to the hospital.

I actually used a purple tab for this next one since it didn’t fit either yellow or orange. It’s a small thing too as neither character actively does anything to warrant it, as for the first time in the character biographies at the beginning of the books, Yamcha is described as “Bulma’s on-and-off boyfriend.”

The last tab is one more blue tab that comes as a result of Bulma fawning over Goku’s growth and how much he had changed. Oolong solidifies that she’s head-over-heels for him by calling her a “fickle wench.”

OK discussion time class :)

1.) I put this act as questionable because I wasn’t sure if Yamcha cut his hair for Bulma’s sake or because he wanted to fit in to the aesthetic of city life and just followed Bulma’s advice. But considering he generally preferred to have longer hair for the majority of Dragon Ball/Z/Super, I’m going to wager and say he was willing to change his appearance for Bulma.

2.) So far, Bulma and Yamcha had been dating for around one year and at this point Bulma’s already prepared to ogle other men. I have a couple points I want to make on Bulma and her perception of men but I’m going to save that for The Bigger Analysis.

3.) We have no idea how Yamcha behaves around these other girls as there’s never an indication he reciprocates their affection or just ignores them, but either way trying to replace your boyfriend like he’s a used-up car is pretty bad. We can assume Yamcha doesn’t react positively to the attention considering he never positively comments on any woman in the series- Bulma included.

4.) This one’s pretty self explanatory; I don’t really need to explain this. I’ll try to give Bulma some leeway and say she and Yamcha were on a break as Panchy points out they were fighting, but “fighting” is not the same as “being on break,” never mind it is actually never explicitly stated or implied that the two go on a mutual break. The most prominent existence of a break exists in Yamcha leaving to train at Korin Tower and to train alone.

5.) Bulma doesn’t offer an ounce of care at the fact Yamcha was literally hanging over death and even insults his capability as a fighter while his friends do all the worrying for her. For someone who’s supposed to be your lover and partner, Bulma doesn’t really show any concern for Yamcha’s safety.

6.) Bulma’s actually being a supportive girlfriend during the Tien saga which was a nice relief from seeing her being so dismissive- this is the first time she’s actually cheered for Yamcha in any fight since the first tournament too (every other time, she would collectively congratulate and root for her friends). 

I put an asterisk next to Bulma covering her eyes before Yamcha’s leg is snapped in half because she could have just been scared to see it, but I want to be nice to her and say she didn’t want to see Yamcha get hurt. 

As for Bulma being prepared to go to the hospital with Yamcha, she’s the absolute first one: whether she’s grown since the Bandages fight or it just dawned on her just how much danger Yamcha was in, she now starts to show care and worry over him. This is further shown after Krillin is killed and Yamcha offers to take revenge for him, to which Bulma scolds him- both for the fact he was still recovering from his injury and reminding him of his inability to be able to do anything, and because he was willing to easily add himself to the growing body count started by Piccolo and his children.

7.) Again, no explanation needed. This change in Yamcha’s biography gives clarity on the fact Yamcha and Bulma have taken enough breaks from each other for him to be considered an “on-and-off boyfriend.”

8.) It’s been a while at this point since Bulma’s looked at another man affectionately- both manga duration wise and in-universe time. Still, it reminds the reader that Bulma’s fairly fickle when it comes to men.

Couple extra things I just want to talk about:

Like I said before, Yamcha never looks twice at another woman- he even points out that Chun’s behavior was lecherous towards Ranfan (though this could have just been portrayed so Yamcha could put the pieces together that Roshi and Chun were the same person). Meanwhile Bulma seems to be poised to pick up another man in case things don’t work out between them. I would attribute this to Bulma being young, but she maintains this behavior for years- even into DBZ where she’s in her late-twenties.

As far as we know, Bulma and Yamcha never kiss. At least they don’t kiss for as long as the General Blue saga, as Bulma points out she’s going to die before having her first kiss. Of course, you don’t have to kiss to be dating someone. I just found it a little interesting.

Yamcha attends school by the time he moves to the city with Bulma, and possibly lives with her and her family at Capsule Corp, as Bulma’s easily able to get a hold of him when she calls her dad and asks him to put him on the phone.

The majority of this list comes in the form of Bulma’s flirtatious nature with other men. Aside from that, she and Yamcha are pretty casual with each other, her only other fault being her apathy towards Yamcha against Bandages.

Toriyama’s stated in a Q&A that Bulma was a “harsh and selfish” person.

I’m fairly certain Toriyama’s pointed out he isn’t sure how to write romance and I personally can’t blame him for that: love’s a complicated thing that I don’t even know how to portray.

That’s all I have now. I’ll be back with more notes about the anime’s portrayal of these two. I think I’ll make a post like this one for the anime, then I’ll gather everything I’ve collected and write a big piece about it.

If you have any questions, comments, or just want to talk about this with me feel free to shoot me a message :)

[jadekitty777]

Snapshot Aesthetics

OKAY BUT FG WEEKEND? WHO’S CRAZY IDEA WAS THAT.

You better know I want to participate though xD I didn’t plan to have an entry for today but, well, things change lol

Day 1: Outfits

Rating: K

Words: 2.2k

Summary: Clover's job was simple: Get the model to pose properly, smile, and take the shot. But the new hire, Qrow, was about to throw a wrench into that simplicity... in more ways than one. [Fashion Model AU]

Ao3 Link: Snapshot Aesthetics

~

Snap!

The sound of his camera shutter going off was almost inaudible under the early morning hustle that had overtaken the studio. Clover inspected the shot of Elm displaying back on his LCD screen. He shook his head, calling to the stagehand, “Lower the forelights! There’s too much washout!”

“You got it boss.” She saluted, stepping off the scene to go tinker with the fluorescents.

Th telltale sound of stilettos had his head turning, seeing Willow striding over, lips pursed with annoyance. “Are we ready yet?”

“Almost.” He assured, showing her the picture. “Just a bit more tweaking on the lights and we’ll be good to go.”

She placed a hand on her hip, scanning the team critically. “Good.”

“Everything alright? You look…” He mulled over all his safe adjective options, “Unhappy.”

She sighed exasperatedly. “Qrow is causing a bit of a ruckus back in dress. Won’t let Kali even do his makeup.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “I don’t know what I was thinking, listening to Taiyang.”

“It’s probably because the new guy’s pretty.” And related to Raven, he thought but didn’t dare utter the runway model’s name aloud. If he did, then it would make his manager think of her ex-husband and Raven’s agent, Jacques Schnee. That was a nasty pandora’s box he’d rather keep closed.

Nevertheless, it certainly wouldn’t be the first time she hired someone simply based on an affiliation they had to someone in Jacques’ team, thinking it as some retroactive way of getting back at him. Taiyang himself was one such decision, also ironically due his connection with Raven. Though, he’d heard the two’s relationship had been more… carnal in nature.

The plus was, Taiyang had worked out great. He was handsome and jovial and easy to direct on set. Clover’s only hope when he learned of the new hire was that the same could be said for Qrow; but, it was sounding like he had his twin sister’s notorious diva-like personality, if Willow’s frustration was anything to go by. Which meant he was in for a long day.

“Light check!” Elm called, flexing both arms proudly like a muscle builder.

He snapped the shot, then nodded at the quality. “Perfect!”

Willow swiveled, heading for the door. “Let’s get started then.”

~

Over the course of the seven years Clover had worked for Trendy magazine, he’d discovered that each fashion designer had a specific ‘taste’ they were going for when it came to showing off their line-up and he’d learned to pose the models accordingly to keep their clients happy and coming back for each issue. So, he kept certain things in mind with each designer’s desires, like how Sienna preferred her poses to be as dynamic and wild as possible and Camilla wanted proper posture and a bit of elegance.

Unfortunately, today’s clothing line was from Roman and Neo. Which meant balancing the two designers’ conflicting requirements of flamboyance and subtlety into one picture. It tended to lead to a lot of small changes for limb placement and expression before he ever even rose his camera.

So, it tended to be a relief when the snap sounded off and he said, “Alright, you’re done!”

“Oh, thank god!” Tai slumped over immediately, rolling out his shoulders. “I think my neck has a crick in it.”

Clover snorted. “Alright drama king. Go take a break.” He turned towards the doorway, calling, “Who’s next up?”

He heard Kali’s faint, “Get in there. And stop messing with your hair!”

A gruff voice he didn’t recognize replied, “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Before Qrow Branwen walked into the room and stole his breath away.

Though he’d joked before, Clover hadn’t actually known what the man had looked like. He rarely did see new models before their first shoot. But now that he was, it had to be said that maybe Willow had indeed hired Qrow simply for his beauty. In almost every way, he was like a softer version of his sister. Where her skin was striking alabaster white, his had more of a welcoming ivory tone. Where her eyes were bright scarlet, his were a gentle vermillion. And where her hair was an ink black, his held streaks of dusty grey that somehow was just enough to make him appear refined, but not old.

Combine that with Roman and Neo’s classy “modern early-1900’s” style, and he looked absolutely dazzling. It was one of their simpler pieces, but dress had made sure he wore it well, especially with the plain, long-sleeved, white dress shirt that someone had decided to undo the top few buttons off to frame a cross necklace hanging sideways. Pulled over that and adding some muted color was a double-layered vest that buttoned from the bottom of the ribs down. The inner layer was a slate grey while the outer layer was a deep charcoal and had a tasteful embroidery design flowing down the sides. The matching dark grey slacks were fairly standard but nicely fitting to the man’s ridiculously long legs. Completing the picture were some shiny cap-toed black dress shoes.

“So uh, how do you want me?” Qrow asked, fidgeting with the cross-shaped cufflinks of his shirt.

Splayed across my bed. Clover shook himself of any indecent thoughts, nodding towards the set that mimicked an old parlor room. “Center stage, leaning back on the table.”

He nodded, crossing the room.

As they passed each other, Tai offered a thumb’s up and a cheery, “Good luck!”

The little half-grin Qrow offered his friend left Clover floating.

Not that the other man was going to need any well wishes, as he’d decided on something fairly simplistic. As Qrow took position, he directed, “Alright, I want you to rest your hands on the table, in view. Keep your fingers spread out.”

“Like this?” He settled them by his hips.

“Mm no. Spread your arms further apart. Position your hands the other way, pointing opposite directions. Yeah – like that! A little more for the right hand. Relax your shoulders more. No, no not that much.” And on and on it went, as Clover altered each little angle and body part until he had the exact position in mind. Yet, despite the ease of what he was asking for, Qrow’s inexperience meant he had to spend twice as long getting things just right.

It quickly became clear by his 60th order that the older man was growing a bit exasperated.

Clover eyed him up and down. Hummed thoughtfully at the position of where his ankles crossed, the toe of one dress shoe pointed down. “Okay, tilt your left heel just a bit more.”

“Is all this really necessary?” Qrow grumbled, trying not to move anything else but his foot.

“When the client is picky, yeah. And stop clawing your fingers. Keep them flat.”

The other man breathed in and out slowly, carefully resting down his hands.

He gave him another once over. Frowned.

The tension he could easily see doubled as Qrow demanded, “What now?”

“Maybe we should try something different.” He considered.

The words were met with Qrow groaning out, “You got to be kidding me.”

And Willow cutting in, “Go with it. We got to get this shoot done before noon!”

He glanced at his wristwatch. Shit, was it really almost eleven? He still had four other designs to go. “Yeah, alright. Qrow, just try to relax your muscles a bit.” He rose his camera. “Alright, now smile.”

He did, stretching it as big as he could.

Clover looked at him over the lens, raising a brow. “I said smile, not look like you’re trying to imitate clown make-up.” Ignoring the other’s sarcastic laughter, he mulled it over, then snapped his fingers. “Ah, I know! Give me the same one you gave to Tai when you first walked in.”

He could tell it wasn’t quite right when it didn’t have the same cloud nine effect on him as before, but with the clock ticking in his head, he took the shot.

“Alright, that’ll do.” Clover said.

“We’re done?” Qrow asked, not moving an inch, as if worried he’d change his mind.

“Yep. You’re free as a bird.”

That earned him a real laugh. “That was awful!”

For the hell of it, he took another shot.

~

There was always such a sense of relief when Clover submitted the photos to processing. From there the team would do whatever touch ups were necessary before it went in for print. Normally, the rest of his day was done, but he had another engagement at a rally across town that would keep him busy well into the evening. So, he found himself stepping into the break room, intent on grabbing a cup of coffee and heading on his way.

He was surprised to find Qrow there, huddled in one of the corner tables. He was dressed down, back in his casuals, but still managed to make a t-shirt and some slacks look like runway material. They met gazes briefly, before the elder man’s eyes dropped back to his phone, not saying a word.

Already short on time, Clover was content to leave it like that, but as he finished mixing his coffee together, guilt seeped in. If they were going to be working together, then one of them had to take the first step and it was much harder for the new guy to take it.

“You did good today.” He spoke.

Qrow scoffed. “You kidding? I was a disaster.” He groaned, running a hand through his hair. “I’ll be lucky if they ask me to come back.”

Ah. So, he wasn’t a snob - he was insecure. Clover could work with that.

“Ah come on. It wasn’t that bad.” He crossed the room, turning the opposite chair sideways and falling into it. “You’re just a little stiff. A few more of these and you’ll relax.” He paused, then added, “Oh, and take it a little easy on the people in dress.”

“They were trying to poke my eye out! Whoever invented eyeliner is a demon.”

He guffawed heartily. “It’s not that bad.”

Qrow sighed, ruffling a hand through his hair. “Still, I don’t know what I was thinking, letting Tai convince me to take this job.”

Seemed Tai was doing a lot of that lately.

“I’m not a model. That’s my sister’s gig. And…” Qrow gestured to himself. “I mean, look at me.”

“Oh yeah, I’m sure it must get tiring getting all those calls from Mr. Universe asking you to come reclaim your crown.” He countered.

“Tch, if anyone’s got a crown to go reclaim, it’s probably you.” A second later, he seemed to realize what he said and hid his face in his hand. “Oh my god, I didn’t just- I’m sorry, that was inappropriate.”

Clover couldn’t stop grinning. “Relax gorgeous. You’re in the right business to be making comments like that.” He took a sip of his coffee. “Don’t feel so bad, either. You’re not the only one self-conscious around here. Winter? Breaks out before every shoot. James? Has a scar right here.” He ran a finger above the line of his right eyebrow. “And by now, we’ve got to be giving Tai a complex with how much gets altered in processing.”

“He certainly had a lot to say about last month’s issue.”

“Well, you know, we gotta follow those trends and freckles are in.” He was sure there was a lot of talk on the questionable ethics of digitally changing people’s appearances to portray an unobtainable beauty, but it was a topic he wasn’t too interested in engaging with. In the end, it all just came down to the paycheck and keeping people’s jobs. Because if a model couldn’t sell the clothes they were wearing, then they weren’t going to get to keep modeling them.

Qrow leant back, crossing his arms. “Wonder how much they’ll change about me.”

“Well, they’ll definitely take out those cute wrinkles you get around your eyes when you laugh.”

“I wasn’t laughing?”

“Not in the first shot. But I may have…” He shrugged sheepishly. “Taken another one, right at the end? You looked more natural.”

Qrow blinked. “Well. Alright then. Guess that’s why you’re the expert.” His gaze drifted past Clover’s shoulder at about the same time he heard the footsteps. “Hey Tai. All done?”

“Yeah.” The blond replied as he stopped at their table, eyeing him suspiciously. “Hopefully the company flirt wasn’t giving you trouble.”

“Oh sunshine,” Clover drawled, playing it up as he bat his eyelashes at the other man. “I hope you know you’re my one and only.”

He snorted, rolling his eyes. “Save it for the guys actually swinging your way.” He nodded to his friend. “Come on, we better get moving if we want to get the girls on time.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Qrow stood. “It was nice meeting you Clover.”

“Same here. Looking forward to working with you.” He replied sincerely. A pleasant little warmth tingled through him when the sentiment earned him an adorable smile.

As he watched him go, Clover cast his earlier worries aside and decided that this truly was the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

[princesses-and-pioneers]

Towards a Rules-Lite Star Wars

(This is a really good show and this poster slaps. Fight me. Also the Rebels cast is super OSR.)

It’s been a hot minute since I’ve posted on here, with the everything that’s been happening this year. Been mostly working on other stuff, but I’ve got a post or two of RPG content built up now.

I’ve been on a Clone Wars/Rebels kick lately, and now I have an itch to run a Star Wars game. I was looking for something short, free, and easy to learn, so first I checked out Hyperspace D6, a streamlined version of WEG’s Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game. It’s very self-contained and the pieces all fit together nicely, but there’s a lot of numbers to track, some skills are way more relevant than others, and combat is still too complicated for my tastes. Reminds me of GURPS, which I do like, but not for a sit-down-and-play kind of game.

Eventually I circled back around to Moonhop, the lovely little system which I am the proud godmother(?) of. It’s sci-fi/science fantasy, very light and modular, and has a similar race/career setup to Hyperspace D6 that works well for Star Wars. Combat sequences in Star Wars tend to have rapid exchanges of blaster fire or lightsaber strikes, with a lot of near misses and glancing blows that are well represented by Moonhop’s HP as Hit Protection.

So here are some ideas for adapting Moonhop to a Star Wars game:

Character Generation

4th stat: Technical (TEC), for hacking, piloting, mechanical repair, and operating complex computer systems.

Races can be used as-is, with colorful humans being flavored as near-human races like Mirialans, Pantorans, or Zabrak. Use the right half of failed career table only and reflavor as needed. New races and failed careers can be easily made up following the table’s template. Examples:

Race: astromech droid Internal hacking and mechanical tool storage, short, no arms

Race: Twi’lek CHA save to sense nearby emotions, Disadv if lekku damaged

Failed career: bounty hunter Concealable blaster (d6 xlpd 6, OH), cool multi-purpose clothing accessory

Failed career: Jedi padawan Lightsaber (d8, MH), Jedi robes

And of course everything is BLASTERS and VIBRO-BLADES instead of guns and swords.

The Force

Instead of MD, Force sensitives gain 1 Force Die (FD) per level, which are used to power all active Force abilities. They are expended on a 4-6 and recovered overnight as normal, or through a good meditation session. Multiple willing force sensitives can pool FD to accomplish joint tasks.

Force sensitives also start with an additional FD, the Dark Side Die (DD), which only expends on a 6. You can choose to roll one or more DD alongside your normal FD at any time, but you must roll at least one every time you use the Force in anger or for ill. If the result of a DD matches any other DD or FD you roll, your Sanity decreases by 1 and you must pass a Sanity save (as per Moonhop’s MD rules). On a failure, one of your FD becomes a DD as you draw closer to the dark side.

d20 Example Force abilities

Heightened athletics: superhuman jump, flip, wall run, slow fall, etc.

Heightened senses: hyperawareness of surroundings

Combat attunement: deflecting blasters and other lightsaber tricks

Mind shielding: advantage on resisting mental manipulation

Local empathy: sense and project emotions in nearby creatures

Force visions: ask yes/no questions about a concrete thing

Clairvoyance: observe a previously visited location 

Precognition: know any immediate threats in time to react to them

Entity location: know the exact location of something

Telepathy: communicate with a willing nearby creature

Mind probe: pull information from a creature’s mind

Telekinesis, gross: exert push/pull force, strength scales

Telekinesis, fine: manipulate levers, unlock doors, etc., precision scales

Force stasis: stop the motion of something, strength scales

Mind trick: influence a creature through psychic suggestion

Emotion manipulation: control the emotions of a single creature

Environment manipulation: break objects, generate local weather, etc.

Energy deflection: exert push/pull force on explosion, energy bolts, etc.

Force healing: transfer your own vitality to heal an injured creature

Force lightning: a direct, deadly ranged attack, explicitly Dark Side

Vehicle Rules

Vehicles can be classified as one of two categories, land (speeders, speederbikes, walkers) and ships (fighters, shuttles, light freighters). Anything the size of a hammerhead corvette or bigger is really a building with engines and guns and I’m not gonna try to model it here. All vehicles have the following stats, ranging from 1-20 (the stat caps at 20 for simplicity even if it should realistically be bigger):

Size: The number of people the vehicle is designed to carry. Vehicles can effectively ignore soft obstacles 1/5 their Size or smaller.

Defense: The strength of the vehicle’s hull, shields, or both. Vehicles reduce any damage taken by their Defense, analogous to person-scale Armor.

Speed: How many times faster the vehicle is than a person on foot. Pilots can roll under Speed to evade or outrun opponents.

When operating a vehicle, especially at a combat timescale, players can occupy certain roles to take certain actions within the vehicle. One person can only occupy one role in a vehicle at a time, though they can swap roles at the start of their turn if feasible. For larger vehicles, there may not be enough roles for everyone aboard. Essentially, the more roles on a vehicle are occupied, the more actions the vehicle can take each round.

Pilot (max 1): Roll to execute tricky piloting maneuvers like evading fire or navigating obstacles.

Co-pilot/Navigator (max 1): Perform pilot actions not directly related to flying, like angling shields, scanning, and calculating hyperspace jumps.

Gunner (max varies by vehicle): Man one of the vehicles’ weapons systems to attack opponents.

Engineer (max varies by vehicle): Fix damaged systems on the vehicle.

These rules are very loose and I don’t have a lot of numbers attached, but I think I’ve managed to streamline some of the general Star Wars aesthetic. If anyone wants to try these out or has other ideas/suggestions, feel free to share!

[writingismyhappytime]

Crime and Punishment (Part 1)

Chris Cerulli x Reader

Warning: language, vampires, witches, Magic.

A/N: hi guys! Here's something new I hope you like, it's going to be a little different from the recent fics I've been posting. Let me know what you think!

Description: Vampire King Cerulli and you, the witch coven leader, have to team up to take down something attacking both of your people in the city you coexist in. You don't exactly get along, but with the help of his trainee vampire Vinny, and your ghost Claudette, you're sure you can work together long enough to figure it out, or die trying.

You hate waiting, especially in lobbies with the fluorescent lights and elevator music. It's been a long enough day as is, and now you've been drug to the museum over some nonsense you're sure.

You cut your eyes at the vampire standing a few feet from you, a bored expression on his face as he typed on his phone. He looks more like a businessman than the king of the undead, black coat with the collar flipped, tie the color of blood.

"You look nice today," you say after a moment, your voice full of sarcasm. "Drink enough virgins dry? You have a little color in your cheeks."

Cerulli glances at you. "I can see the sacrifice of children has done nothing for your personality."

You snort, crossing your arms as you stand beside him.

You're a witch, a snooty, brazen one at that. You lead the strongest coven that has ever graced the world, and therefore, you're sort of the wiccan leader. Your kind looks up to you for advice and leadership, which you've always been rather reluctant to give; you didn't exactly want to be the boss, but it sort of happened.

Cerulli is the vampire king; tall, dark, and handsome, he looks like he stepped right out of a Dracula movie.

You're not sure how old he is, you've never asked, but his mannerisms remind you of someone from the eighteen hundreds. You know he only became the king after his creator died, passing the unfortunate title off to him. He's always so cold, unreachable, it's like you're talking to a brick wall most times.

But then there are other moments when those hazel eyes of his seem so soft, so... human.

But he's about as human as a bear is.

"So, to what do I owe the misfortune of being in your presence?" You say after a moment, glancing over at him beneath black lashes. You don't dress like a typical witch leader, Cerulli will give you that. Your hair is long and loose, you wear many bracelets, but you don't wear flowing skirts or walk around burning sage; he's seen you most often in combat boots and clothing fit more for a rock concert. How you've been successfully leading anyone for the past thirty years is beyond him, but somehow you seem to make it work.

He knew your mother, Clarissa, and he respected her. She built the coven you now rule from nothing, finding stray witches and building bonds with them. She was a people person, full of laughter and sunshine, where you're like a beam of darkness bouncing off the walls. No one knows who your father is, not even you do he supposes, and Cerulli thinks the poor man probably got off easy escaping while he had the chance.

"Charles called a meeting for us, obviously." Cerulli responds, checking his silver cuff links. His black hair is slicked back, revealing the unnatural paleness of his skin, only made more obvious by the ink coursing it. He's always dressed so sophisticated, you look out of place standing beside him in his immaculate suit and tie, spikes jutting out the many piercings in his ears.

You wonder what he was like as a human.

"Charles never calls us in together, though. What do you think is happening?" You respect Cerulli, he's smart and conniving --- the only disappointment in your mind is that he's the stereotypical brooding, dark vampire and has absolutely no personality! He could like kittens, or enjoy knitting, or something interesting! Instead, you're fairly certain he lives in a cave with bats hanging from the ceiling, skulls and other bones skittered about and maybe a harem of enthralled groupies in chains for aesthetic.

"If I knew, I wouldn't be here," he responds coolly, arching one black brow down at you. Doesn't help the bastard is so tall, he towers over everyone. You don't like him glowering down at you all the time, but even in the most tolerable heels you can't reach his height.

"Right. Because you have so much to be doing right now." You scoff, tapping your nails impatiently; it's so easy to insult him. "Got fresh meat waiting for you back home?"

He rolls his eyes. "You're insufferable."

"Thanks, do my best."

"Chris! (Y/N)! Wonderful the two of you could make it!"

You and Cerulli look over, spotting the smaller man standing in the doorway opposite of where you bicker. He's only about four feet tall, with wide rimmed black glasses and a beaming white smile. His hair is thinning in the middle, gray mixing in with the white, and you can practically smell the stress rolling off of him despite his misleading smile.

"We didn't have much of a choice, you summoned us." You say after a moment, straightening. You know you and Cerulli are standing rather close, and despite the fact you tease and torture him, you don't dislike him entirely. You trust him if it comes down to it, against yours and everyone else's better judgment.

You're sure he can hold his own, he's lived as long as he has for a reason.

"Oh, (Y/N), I know you wouldn't have come if you didn't want too," Charles sighs, and turns, walking back into his office, leaving the door open in invitation. You and Cerulli exchange a look before following him, the heavy double doors shutting behind you by themselves.

You glance around the small office, noticing the files piling up on the oak desk, how the bookshelves in the corner are in disarray. There's a potted plant turned over, some papers still in the floor on the red rug that has... scorch marks?

"It smells of magic in here," Cerulli says after a moment, his nose curling at the acrid scent. He raises a hand to his mouth against the hideous smell. "What's happened?"

"We were robbed last night," Charles answers, pressing stubby fingers against his suit jacket. He adjusts his glasses before he goes to his chair, sitting down rather heavily and disappearing from sight. You give it a moment before the chair slowly rises, making it possible for him to sit at a normal height and see the two of you. "Someone broke into the museum."

"What could you guys possibly have in this place someone would want?" You ask skeptically, your skin prickling. What would someone want with dusty old artifacts? Everything in the museum is from the humans, nothing magical --- anything with any sort of magic tie is immediately turned over to the community it belonged too, whether it be witch, vampire, or etc. The museum is more like a tomb, full of artifacts from long lost civilizations. Charles runs it, and typically during the day, it's open to the public and bustling with humans. You don't visit often, you don't see a point in revisiting the boring past, and Charles rarely asks you too.

This must be extreme circumstances.

You're sure Cerulli must love walking down memory lane when the dinosaurs roamed and virgins were sacrificed in flames.

"I'll have you know, this museum is very interesting!" The shorter man huffs indignantly at your comment, displeased; must you always toss on his career? "We are keeping history alive here, reminding everyone of where they came from! You might find no use in it, but others disagree!"

"Charles, what has been taken?" Cerulli asks, irritated; is it possible for anyone to stay on task? He has important matters that are being postponed due to this meeting, he doesn't have time for it to take much longer! He wants to know what was taken and how it pertains to him. Listening to you agg on the short man will only lead the conversation to hell!

"Well," Charles fidgets slightly in his chair, causing the metal to creak as it rocks back and forth. "As you both know, we were housing a very special artifact from the medieval era."

How are you supposed to know that? "Okay, and?"

"This artifact was made by Aradia."

You straighten immediately at the familiar name. Aradia, the original witch from Tuscany, is basically looked as the "mother" of all witches for lack of a better term. Most think she's just a myth, but you're a descendant of her line, your family tree is so detailed it dates back to her... just nothing before her. It's as if everything started with her, that magic suddenly existed only once her presence became known to the world.

"You had something made by her and you didn't tell me?" You demand, staring at the smaller man incredulously. The hell? He's supposed to tell you when something comes in, that's the agreement! Why else would your coven still be offering funds to keep his stupid tomb of artifacts going? "Why would you keep this from me? She's ---."

"We were studying the artifact, it just arrived two days ago." The museum curator interrupts quickly before your rant can get started; he'll never get a word in edgewise if he let's you go too long. "We were still unsure of its connection, I didn't honestly believe it held any connection to her until it was taken, only suspicions!"

"Are you kidding me!? You should have told me the instant that thing arrived so I could have protected it! Anything made by Aradia is sacred, it's powerful and needs protection --- no wonder the blasted thing was stolen!" You fume; how could he not tell you? You're the leader of the witches, you're supposed to protect them and magic from any and all threats, and there was an artifact who belonged to the mother of all witches in town and you didn't even know!

"What, exactly, is the artifact you keep speaking of?" Cerulli asks after a moment of silence. He's heard the name Aradia before, but it holds no significance to him. He doesn't care of its origin, only its supposed worth. He checks his watch. "And what does it do?"

"It's a goblet, made of immaculate wood. We think it's dated back to the original times, and the condition," the curator starts, only to stop at the two very unimpressed expressions he receives. He sighs, then continues. "It was excavated out of an old abandoned site in Tuscany, where the supposed goddess lived."

"She wasn't supposed," you snap, your hands going to your hips; everyone always wants to speculate if she was real or not, when obviously, she existed. She wouldn't be written as so and hailed in so many oral stories if she didn't have some origin. "She's as real as you and I!"

"I never said she wasn't real, obviously she was." Charles says calmly, the light glinting off his glasses as he adjusts them nervously. "Not much is known about Aradia except she taught witchcraft."

"She was a goddess, the mother of all witches. Without her, I'm not sure that any of us would know about magic," you respond, frowning. "Why were you excavating a site in Tuscany, anyway?"

"We were just doing some digging, you know how it is. Harmless, really, just searching for any treasures that may have been overlooked by the human eye." Charles quickly brushes off the question, which immediately annoys you. "We found the goblet buried deep within the earth."

"How do you know it was hers?"

"You can feel the magic on it, even now. It makes the skin prickle, which means it holds some sort of significance."

"Maybe. Doesn't necessarily mean that she made it, now does it?" You're skeptical. "There's been many powerful beings throughout the ages. Besides, Aradia was poor, she ---."

"Are you really arguing with me about this? I know it's an artifact, it came from a very popular place she used to visit. Can you just take my word for once?" Charles interrupts, looking annoyed. "Point is, it's been stolen, and was the only thing as well. They tore up my office until they found the file on it, got it out of the wards, and disappeared with it!"

"Well, see if you'd told me about it, I could have put up stronger wards," you grouch, not about to be deterred. "Being robbed is your own damned fault, and I hope you haven't doomed all of us because of it! Really, Charles ---."

"Don't patronize me, I was going to tell you eventually! I just wanted to be sure!"

"Eventually isn't good enough!"

Cerulli groans out loud, leaning back on his heels as he casts his eyes to the heavens.

"Enough of this bickering!" He snaps, interrupting the two of you mid-hiss. He glares at you before turning his black gaze on the curator. "Why does this pertain to me in any damned way?"

"Oh, well, we're pretty sure it was a vampire who took it." Charles shrugs, as if the words aren't going to completely upset the man standing in front of him. He actually summoned you both at once so he wouldn't have to face you separately, at least the presence of the other is sort of a damper.

Cerulli's expression darkens. "You think it was one of mine?"

"Well, not necessarily yours," Charles fidgets uncomfortably; this is the part he was dreading. Cerulli rules his roost with an iron fist, and anyone who crosses him doesn't have a happy fate. He's not known for his mercy or his kindness, and Charles isn't necessarily saying that it was one of his vampires that stole the goblet, just... "Just... a vampire."

"And you've proof of this?" It's quite brazen to accuse a vampire of such theft, especially in the king's district.

"Whoever stole the goblet may have been quick, but they obviously didn't think about the security cameras." Charles turns, and he opens the drawer of his desk, lifting out a remote and clicking one of the buttons. You turn, eyes flicking to the wall where a painting slowly rises, revealing a TV hidden behind it.

Fancy.

The screen is in color, and you can see the warehouse where the artifacts are stored. The lights are still on, as they always are, crates and other large boxes dotting the concrete ground, a light flickering in one corner as it goes out. There's some statues covered in white sheets, which you find creepy, and some empty glass cases.

You don't immediately notice anything, and you wait impatiently, wondering when the thief is going to strike.

"You see, it was around midnight when he took the goblet, right out of that crate. I had wards all throughout that warehouse, there's no way he could have gotten through unless he was thoroughly educated in their removal. Even then." Charles sighs as he takes his glasses off, rubbing his tired eyes.

You purse your lips.

Did you miss something?

"I can see why you would think it was one of my kind, but I can assure you, none of my brood would be so foolish as to touch an object such as that. Should it not be cursed, it would be of no use to us." Cerulli scowls, displeased; he saw the vampire moving across the screen, much too fast for the regular eye. To any mortal watching, it would have just seemed like the lid of the crate moved an inch, nothing more. "However, I know of no rogue vampires in the city either."

"So it seems we have a mystery on our hands then," Charles sighs, nudging his glasses back up his thin nose. "A witch object, stolen by a vampire. You two must understand why I wanted you directly to be here, not one of your advisers."

You didn't even see anything get stolen!

Shit, maybe you should invest in some glasses. You glance back at the screen unhappily, but you know there's no way you'll see what they did. Vampires move so quickly, it's hard for your kind to even see them, unfortunately.

"I wish you'd told me of this sooner," you finally say, your voice completely serious this time. You're troubled over this. "I wish I had known."

"I know, and I apologize. I meant no disrespect, I was just unsure if it held any magical qualities that would be of any interest." Charles says as sincerely as he can muster; he'd been worried, admittedly, about the consequences of this conversation. He knew it could go one of several different ways, most of them ending with his head on a plate or turned into a tree, which seems to be your fondest type of torture.

Where Cerulli is known for his merciless kills, you... rather like to be creative with them.

What a pair of leaders you two make.

You run your ringed fingers through your hair with a sigh.

"Alright, so take me to the warehouse, I need see what I can find out. If he broke the wards, there's going to be some sort of trace of it." Honestly, vampires are not handy with magic, so you figure he didn't do the job alone. There had to be someone else who broke the wards, meaning another witch, meaning one of yours. You're sure Cerulli has already made the connection, although he would never mention anything to you; well, he avoids talking to you if he can, so anything he finds out, he's not going to share no matter how significant.

You doubt this is going to go well.

~~~~~~~~

Cerulli is silent as he watches you pace around the box where the goblet was stolen. He'd decided to accompany you to the warehouse, leaving Charles back in his office. He stands completely still, watching you just out of the circle of light zeroed in on the crate. His hands are clasped behind his back, and he's just... waiting.

Your face is serious for once as you pace, and he can tell you're doing something. Your fingers are trailing above the box, never quite touching it, light glinting off your painted nails. Your brows are creased in concentration, and your lips are moving wordlessly.

He can feel your magic, it makes his skin prickle and burn, and he much dislikes the scent of it. He can smell it all throughout the warehouse, it makes his nose feel numb it's so strong here. He knows he shouldn't linger, he has a very important meeting in an hour, but curiosity has gotten the best of him.

"Alright, so every single ward on this warehouse is gone," you say after a moment, your fingers finally going still. "Whoever was with the vampire made sure he wouldn't trigger a single one to alert anyone to his theft."

Ah, so you've caught on that there must have been an accomplice, good for you.

"So a witch then," Cerulli says after a moment, seeing your nose curl. He says it quite point blank, but not with any judgment.

"Possibly." You allow, disliking the thought of one of your own being so deceitful. "It's the only explanation for the way the wards were broken. It's darker magic that did this, anyway."

"Why do you say so?"

"Well, these wards," you gesture vaguely, glancing suspiciously at the sheets covering the statues; you have this phobia of them moving beneath them, that really there's someone standing there and you just don't know it. They're suspicious and you've seen your fair share of horror movies. Being a witch won't stop someone from shanking you, after all. "They're powerful, Charles doesn't mess around. Whoever did this knew where they all were and were very meticulous in canceling out every single one. But there's no way they could have known where they all were unless they've been scouting the place a week, but..."

But Charles said he's only had the artifact two days, which doesn't make sense. So either Charles lied to you, or... well, he probably just lied to you to cover his own ass, which only pisses you off more.

There's no telling what he just let happen.

If the object does belong to your ancestor and used in any ritual, it's sacred, and it has the residue of her power. The mother of all witches has been dead since the 1300's, and you'd prefer she stayed that way; the only reason someone would want a possession of hers is to either resurrect her for worship, resurrect her and steal her power, or something just as bad!.

You chew your lip worriedly; this is... a really bad situation.

"I'll inquire around my brood," Cerulli says after a moment, reluctantly gliding forward after a moment. He comes to a stop beside you, sniffing slightly; he can smell the vampire that was here, but he doesn't know the scent as one of his. "Find out if there's a stray in my area."

"Alright." You rub the back of your neck, grimacing. "I'll check around too."

Cerulli inclines his head. He doesn't honestly intend to keep in touch with you, there's no point. Any information he finds he will relay to Charles directly, or at least, that's what he would typically do. However...

"I find it strange that they were able to cancel out every ward," he comments after a moment, leaning back on his heels. "Don't you?"

You send him a look. "Obviously."

His lips twitch. Perhaps you're not as dim as you act, if you've already caught on that this was an inside job. He just can't understand why Charles would bring the two of you into the fold and go through so much trouble; obviously he could have kept the artifact hidden and neither of you would have ever known.

Interesting.

"Well, I must be going," Cerulli glances at the silver and black watch on his wrist for probably the hundredth time. "I have appointments to keep."

"Guess you can't leave those virgins waiting, huh?" You say thoughtlessly, seeing his eye twitch just the slightest; okay, so you don't mean to be snotty towards him all the time, sometimes it just comes out. You pick at him, you try to rile him up so he can have some personality! He doesn't need to be so stoic and stereotypical all the time.

"Goodnight, (Y/N)," He mutters, turning on his heel sharply. You sigh as he stalks off, heading for the open bay doors where his town car sits, lights on and the engine rumbling. Of course he has a driver, waiting for him behind the wheel.

Cerulli glances back at you as he gets into the car, opening his own door instead of waiting for someone else to do it like you expect.

You're not looking at him anymore, you're gazing down into the crate where the goblet once was, lost in your own thoughts.

Sometimes, he feels bad for you, thinking about your life. Only daughter of renowned Clarissa, a descendant of the mother of witches, you never stood a chance at being average. He wasn't surprised when you took over the leadership of the coven, just pleasantly amused when you actually did well and keep everyone in line.

Discipline is never easy but always needed.

Still, there's something about you --- you're more than you appear to be.

Perhaps he will keep in touch after all.

Perhaps.

~~~~~~~~ "My lady, I do not think this is wise," the ghost worries, wringing her hands as she follows you back and forth across the room. You're gathering your clothes together, shoving them in an overnight bag. You have intentions of paying a visit to an old friend, one whose magic you easily recognized from the scene of last nights crime. You'd kept the information to yourself, you didn't want Cerulli knowing about it.

"You never think anything is wise, Claudette," you grumble, zipping your bag. Claudette is the ghost of a housemaid, who died at an unfortunately young age and has haunted the house for as long as you remember. When times are peaceful, she's transparent, but the ghost can almost pass for human when she tries. She was your nanny when you were young, keeping you out of trouble while your mother ran the coven and the front of a bookstore.

"I am cautious and concerned of your well being is all," the ghost reminds, clasping her hands in front of her. She wears a dress from the 1800's, with a high black collar and long sleeves, a white apron over her clothing. Her dark hair is wound up into a tight bun at her head, and her eyes were once a pretty green. You're fond of her, one of the reasons you've not vanquished her or sent her soul on to the afterlife when you're perfectly capable of doing so.

Your house was once the home to a wealthy gentleman, complete with chandeliers and gas lamps that are pure decoration now. Claudette may keep it spotless, but you can't imagine she enjoys being in the home that she died in, especially since her late employer stabbed her to death with a fire poker in the upstairs study and shoved her out a window; lots of laudanum will make you go a bit bonkers.

"I know, and I appreciate it. I really don't know what I would do without you," you say, giving her a genuine smile as you slip your bag over your shoulder. "I'm just going overnight, I won't be gone long, so don't worry. Just keep the house safe and I'll be back before you know it."

Claudette frowns. "What if you are gone longer and some of the witches notice? You know one of them will fight for your position!"

"You act as if I'm going to the Bermuda Triangle." You shake your head. "I'm just going out of town like four hours drive, tops. I just need to check on Lydia."

"Lydia is a troublemaker, my lady. Tis why your mother banished her," Claudette warns. "She's not one to be trifled with."

"I know." You remember Lydia from when you were young. Her and your mother were close when you were a child, but then she just suddenly disappeared. It was only later when you realized she had been banished. Your mother never worried about just having one type of witch in her coven, she didn't discriminate between light or dark, and somehow the mixture has always worked. Lydia just couldn't get along with the other witches, and would use her powers to torment them instead of playing by the rules.

You understand why she was banished, although she obviously didn't go far from the city. You could have picked out her magic anywhere, it was so unique. She's the one who deactivated all of the wards meticulously, that much is clear to you.

Just not why.

Is she after a relic of Aradia, hoping it will give her a power boost? Does she intend to put it on the black market?

Why is she involving herself with vampires after she spoke against them for so many years?

That's what you're going to find out.

"I'll be back tomorrow. Should anyone ask, tell them I had to make a trip and they can always reach me." It's like Claudette ignores the existence of cell phones. "Alright?"

"Yes," Claudette says reluctantly, following you out of your bedroom and towards the front of the manor. "Although I still do not believe it wise. Those who are banished should not be brought back into the fold."

"I'm not bringing her back in, I'm just going to visit," you respond; you're not an idiot. You haven't been leading the coven for thirty years just on luck.

You turn just as you reach the front doors, looking at your friendly ghost.

"You're going to be alright for a night, aren't you? No more staring forlornly out the attic window and causing more rumors?" you say lightly; everyone believes the place haunted, and they're not wrong, it's the entire reason your mother decided to move in. What better place to live then somewhere no one wants to visit?

Claudette looks miffed. "That was a hard time, I was trying to come to terms with my situation! You try being dead and trapped in the same house forever!"

"I grew up here, I know it can be a prison." you shrug, shifting the weight of the bag on your shoulder. "Just keep it safe for me while I'm gone."

"As you wish," Claudette bobs her head. "Just be safe, and protect your amulet."

Your hand rises automatically. The gold amulet you wear is always tucked beneath your clothing, out of mind, out of sight. It's the entire reason you're not aging, why you still look young and not in your fifties. It belonged to your mother, and kept her alive and youthful for a good hundred years before she was killed. Of course it went to you, and it keeps you going. Should you take it off, you would begin to age like normal again, but you'd rather not. You're not ready to give up on life just yet.

You're sure others know about the amulet, but it's not something that's to be brought up in casual conversation. You don't mention it, and so no one else does. Not even the vampires question why you stay so young and leading your coven whereas the members themselves age and die off.

Circle of life, unfortunately.

Ah, well.

You'd better go witch hunting.

~~~~~~~~

"Allen, you say?" Cerulli says the name, disliking the taste of it. He stands at his study window, overlooking the fountain in the center of his garden. His hands are tucked carefully into his suit pockets, eyes thoughtful. "He's the stray?"

"He's not entered the city that we know of, sire. He's always stayed on the outskirts, so we took no worry of him," Vinny says hesitantly, unsure of his king's response. He's new to the position of the messenger to the king, as the last one died rather abruptly when he forgot to inform the King of some crucial news.

"Well, it seems he has entered the city under our watch, which is rather unfortunate." Cerulli mutters, glancing over his shoulder.

Vinny flinches.

Cerulli is in his office, where he conducts all of his business. The window he stands at leads out to a small balcony, the black curtains drawn back to allow the moonlight inside the room. Thick carpet covers the floor, wooden bookshelves lining every wall covered in tomes and manuscripts of old. Strange, unorthodox skeletons in little glass cases dot every other surface, and a large globe of the world stands as decoration at the far side of the room. A red velvet sofa sits against the wall below a painting of Cerulli in his youth, as a human, and before his large curving desk sits two more antique chairs.

The room fits him entirely, and Vinny always feels out of place when he has to come inside.

"Where has he been lurking? What is the residence?" Cerulli asks, his voice sharp. He's impatient to know what's going on and how it's connected to the witches, he certainly doesn't want any trouble. It's hard enough keeping a pack of vampires peaceful and not ripping out the throats of humans every time they lose their temper --- cleaning up the mess is such a hassle. He certainly doesn't want a war with your kind, you more specifically.

You're both leaders, of course of completely different kingdoms, but uneasy allies just the same. He has to admit, he's used to you leading the witches at this point and can't imagine a new monarch, he doesn't like change. He wants this situation to go away quickly and quietly.

"Some house out near the swampland, I can get the address."

"Who lives at this house?"

"Lydia St. Thames, I think."

"Is she human?"

"Witch, but banished." Vinny only learned all of this a few minutes ago, and he quells before Cerulli's withering look.

"One of our kind has been fraternizing with a witch and I was not told of it?" He hisses, turning abruptly to leave the moon at his back. He glares at the quivering vampire a few feet away from him. "How incompetent are you fools!?"

"We, we were unaware of her status! Our scouts didn't feel the information pertinent as the vampire was just supposed to be passing through!" Vinny gasps, holding up his hands in a placating manner. "I'm sorry, my king ---."

"Excuses! Have the scouts brought in immediately and questioned of all their knowledge on the witch and the vampire! I want to know everything about them by the time I return!"

"Return?" the messenger squawks in surprise, watching as the King strides towards the door.

"Yes. I'm leaving. Don't disappoint me." Cerulli growls, his black eyes brushing over the other vampire and making him feel very, very small.

"Yes, sir." Vinny wouldn't dare.

Vinny lets his breath go the moment the king leaves the room, pressing his hands against his knees as he tries not to panic. How he got stuck with this job, he'll never understand, he's new anyway! Only around a decade old, and he only transferred here because his maker was disappointed that he didn't quite turn out as planned, that he wasn't vicious and wanting to rip the throats out of virgins or steal candy from babies.

He literally got kicked out of the nest, and Cerulli took him as a favor, he knows that. The king hasn't been terrible to him, he's actually a decent guy, but yeesh, can he be terrifying! It's those black eyes, the barely controlled rage that sometimes pushes at the precarious hold Cerulli has against it.

Vinny isn't sure why the king is always so on edge and ready for a fight, but he has more self-control than the young vampire has ever seen in anyone. The king always just breezes through, pretending he's calm and calculated, amused at certain situations and not at all affected, but Vinny's been around him long enough to know that's not the case.

The king is ruthless, and the fact he actually let his anger show makes Vinny even more concerned about what might be happening.

What's so important about a banished witch, anyway?

Is she going to herald the end of their world as they know it?

Vinny sighs, and runs his hands through his brown, frizzy hair, trying to smooth it out of his face. He better do as the king said, bring all those scouts in for questioning. Pity the poor vampires who didn't relay the important information the king wanted. At least he's not one of them.

He never wants to be on the receiving end of the king's wrath.

[suhaybcooley-blog]

Reasons why You Have to Employ An Interior Designer

1. It saves Time and expense: Although it is strange, employing an interior designer would actually conserve your funds. It will save you from doing costly design mistakes. Budgeting and Planning: An artist will the budgeting and saves your effort and here we are at the same. Be crystal clear with your budgeting and trust the designer to really make the your main budget. The designer could save you from paying an excessive amount of for something you'd 've got at half the cost you paid. Increased Sale or Resale value: Employing a designer allows you improve the sale or resale valuation on your property. Saving time: Even if you feel that it is possible to decorate your house yourself, remember that you have to pull this with the limited spare time you have. Everything will be performed faster you may have less head-ache in the event you use a professional. 2. Professional Assessment is way better: It is known that, "Incredible designing doesn't happen by chance." You will need a professional if you'd like quality work. Professional designer would have a solid method which would enable you to spend efficiently too. Trained eyes can help you avoid some common mistakes and they also can notice certain details that had been overlooked by you. A number of details to be verified by an expert. As an illustration, the living room furniture must be symmetrical, the table should be in the right dimension, the rug flooring must be suitable, art around the left must fit in with the doors about the right. "Harmony is beauty", when it comes to interiors and designers learn how to make things aesthetically appealing. Employing a professional may not only ensure that your interior decorating doesn't always have mismatching vibes however it would also ensure your home is 'vaastu' complaint too. An advanced believer this might matter and yes it helps in adding resale also. Ordering incorrect size, hiring random electricians who're not aware of the current trends, choosing indifferent wall colors, buying ill-fitting furniture are some of the common costly errors which can be avoided by seeking specialist.

DIY or 'Do It Yourself', is a western trend. However, if it comes to remodeling your home possibly even, it is usually easier to seek specialist help because you might find yourself paying more for fixing issues that you wrongly broke. This runs specifically true if you are planning to move walls. 3. Get Liaison: An artist may be the bridge between both you and your architect or construction contractor. It's extremely crucial that the sunlight and furnishing needs are addressed before construction. As an example, your family area sofa have to have proper lighting and matching floor tiles. The designer can co-ordinate better with sub-departments with the construction team. When you are renovating the first time, you want someone to fight for you. Managing contractors in addition to their team could be pretty taxing. It is good to have a intermediary. Customers are usually overtly nice and they hesitate to require more than they are provided. Designers can bridge this gap. 4. Better Contacts: Connections are a thing that one develops with time. It would not be brought. Employing an interior designer will indirectly link assembling your project with all his professional contacts as well as bring a lot of skilled persons on your project. A designer knows in which to go for resources. If he doesn't, he can do the research to suit your needs. It's best to delegate. 5. Another umpire: Let's boost the comfort! You, your better half and the rest of the loved ones could have different opinions on home interiors. In order to make important decisions, it is best to find a vacation that is an experienced in this domain. 6. Amazing finish and artistic look: Employing a designer brings the "wow" step to any project. They often think as they are, spatially and the top picture in the mind, always. They may be likely to artistically enhance the space and also the quality you have ever had in that space. Good designers usually don't let you down. They convert the house in a home! Creativity: Most difficult course of action while decorating an area would be to fit as much as possible together. If you have old home interior goods that ensure let it go, then fitting it in a newly designed space might be an issue. An interior designer is loaded with lots of tricks up his sleeve anf the husband is the best bet to fix these challenges. 7. The personal touch: You need a designer who understands your personality. The golden rule isn't to simply hire any designer! You need to meet him for supper or so to see how you get along. They must design the space to match your personality. When choosing a design, please share all the information as possible so your designer  gets your point of view. Please follow the above steps to select the best interior designers. Check out about thiet ke noi that nha pho webpage: check it out.

[sonicfanj]

Why a Leotard for Rosy

Current Status: Done Draft No.: -- Story Idea: SonicFanJ – Based on the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise Main Author: SonicFanJ Secondary Author(s): None Currently Story Expanding Author(s): -- Editors: --

Chapter Number: -- Chapter Title: -- Primary Chapter Author: SonicFanJ Secondary Chapter Author(s): -- Chapter Idea: SonicFanJ – Based on the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise 

Chapter Synopsis: A question I frequently get involving my Rosy redesign is why I opted for a leotard with the most common criticism being that it makes her look incomplete without shorts or a skirt. It is kind of a long story in its entirety as to why and ties into the entire redesign on a whole but for the sake of brevity I’ll try to break it down by point by point after the break.

INSIGHT INTO A REDESIGN

PART 1: THE INSPIRATION TO REDESIGN

     So first and foremost, let me address the history points that made me want to try redesigning Amy.

·        I’ve always preferred Amy’s classic design and wanted to see it brought back.

·        While on a forum I saw a frequent complaint against Amy’s design was panty shots and a desire to have her redesigned to avoid them.

·        On the same forum I had frequent arguments about rolling gameplay versus hammer gameplay with a common excuse for Amy not to roll being that she wore a dress.

·        I was growing tired of the insistence that a hedgehog in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise should not be able to curl into a ball and roll, no less that a hedgehog should be deprived of their natural ability to curl into a ball to defend themselves.

     The above points were the primary things that led to me wanting to redesign Amy to address my concerns as well as the concerns of others.

PART 2: WHY A LEOTARD

     Motivated to redesign her I needed something that would tie all of my thoughts on the matter together and also feel in character enough to be believable. A leotard proved the ideal starting place to me for the following reasons.

·        The choice for a leotard had actually started long before any of the arguments that got me started as there had been a pic on DeviantArt with Amy in a white leotard that struck me in just the right way and stuck with me for a long time.

·        As rolling was a major component of most of my arguments I found a leotard was an immediate visual cue that implied tumbling and acrobatics to which rolling and curling into a ball is a natural part of.

·        As athletic wear a leotard is meant to be seen and to show off the figure in motion meaning that there would be no modesty problems like with a skirt.

·        I found that a leotard simplified Amy’s design and silhouette and allowed her to better blend in with Sonic and Tails without being too busy. Or breaking SEGA’s need to have female characters dressed.

·        Another benefit to the leotard design was the similarity to one-piece swimsuits which can be worn as a triathlon suit which fit for Amy being an adventurer going through numerous environments of which swimming was a part as well as running.

·        Character-wise, Amy is supposedly a tomboy so a leotard would be slightly questionable on its own but I found her love of retro tidbits such as old cars and her go-go boots made 80’s leotard fashions something she would buy into.

·        Originally introduced as an 8yo Amy is typically a little girl who is as a girly as she is tomboyish and I’ve seen many a little girl proudly run around in public after dance class in nothing more than a leotard so I found that to be something that a small girl like Amy would do as well.

·         As a Phantasy Star fan back in the day I was aware that after the original all of the main heroines (Nei, Mieu, and Rika)

wore leotards while adventuring and thought since Amy is supposed to be the main heroine of the Sonic franchise that it’d be a nice tribute to Phantasy Star.

     So, for the most part those are the primary reasons as to why I settled on a leotard and did not add shorts or a skirt to my redesign. The imagery of a leotard and everything it represents would be lost if I added garments that obscured it thus defeating the point of using one in the first place.

 PART 3: OTHER DESIGN DECISIONS

Obviously there was more to my redesign than just putting Amy in a leotard and all of those reasons tie back to making her look like rolling should never be a problem for her as well as making her fit aesthetically more with Sonic and Tails.

·        For my redesign I brought back Amy’s original quills, and have since made them slightly different from Sonic’s, both because I prefer it and because it makes her look like a Sonic franchise hedgehog which makes it easier to believe that she can curl into a ball and roll.

·        I changed Amy’s original back quill to a pair to match the other hedgehogs, also because I find the symmetry more aesthetically pleasing.

·        Sticking with Amy’s modern hairband was to keep her design sleeker and less cluttered which was also the thought process for using her original bangle-less gloves.

·        With Amy’s eyes I opted to use her original shape as it felt softer and less aggressive which I felt better fit with her being cheerful and energetic.

·        The blue color of her eyes is meant to match Sonic’s fur color as she is always looking towards him and is based on Yuji Uekawa stating he made Sonic’s eyes green to reflect the scenery of where he normally runs.

I changed Amy’s eyelashes from long and slender to a more bubbly, chubby, and blocky design inspired by the character Narugino Mikatan 

from the anime Punchline (please don’t judge me, it’s a really good story) as I felt the effect was more childish and bubblier which better fit Amy’s personality and age.

·        Another thing I brought back for my redesign was Amy’s original nose both for species consistency and as I feel it balances out the weight of the head in the front with the quills in the back.

·        The white color of the leotard was inspired by the same picture that had put the idea of a leotard in my head in the first as the color contrast between the pink and white I found striking, but also to imply a certain degree of purity to Amy’s character as an optimistic Genki Girl.

·        The puffy sleeves and collar of her leotard were taken directly from her classic design as again it was my preferred design but also to add some character to the design while making it easier to tell that she was wearing something. Additionally, the puffy sleeves tied into Amy’s girliness and brought that element back to her design.

·        For my redesign I have taken to having her tail wagging to add a constant visible element emphasizing her energy and good cheer.

·        Her shoes were inspired by her Olympic Game slippers for her gymnastic and swimwear as I both fell in love with the design and because it tied back into the tumbling mentality of putting her in a leotard. The socks were added primarily to make her match Sonic and Tails and their aesthetic.

·        Lastly, I chose to use her Rosy the Rascal name as I felt it better fit her playful and tomboyish nature as well as being a name that better implied that she would have no problems tumbling and rolling about as well as describing her constant disposition. Changing to using her Rosy name was also a way to differentiate my redesign from the Amy Rose that everyone normally thinks of.

—–-––

      And that on a whole is the basic rundown behind the thought process that gave birth to my redesign of Amy into my version of Rosy. There have been continual tweaks to the design since I created it based on feedback from other artists as well, but the foundation has not changed nor will it. I hope this as brief as I could manage list of points helps answer any and all questions about my design process and why I actively choose to leave her “incomplete” by not adding a skirt or shorts.

 ANSWER SESSION CLEARED Why a Leotard for Rosy, End

[simonwilliamsonn]

10 Best Soundproofing Materials

There are lots of soundproofing elements on the market today. At the best, many are great products and really useful for soundproofing, and at most severe, some are regarding questionable advantage to property owners and companies.

We’ve compacted those items into a listing of what we think about to be the 15 materials for you to soundproof an area in your home. Many of these products are easily found online, whilst a few tend to be more specialized and can require a unique order.

1. Acoustic Foam (Auralex Studiofoam Wedges)

Very best Use: Regarding improving requirements in up-and-coming small to medium locations, like producing studios, manage boardrooms, and also small household theaters.

Auralex is a nicely know otic foam brand name that has a large number of foam size and shapes that are ideal for musicians, taking artists, podcasters, and home entertainment lovers. Studiofoam is their own most popular merchandise, and the 2” wedges might be best sellers.

Studiofoam Wedges come with an NRC ranking of zero. 8 and also the anechoic sand iron can considerably cut down reverberation, slap, together with flutter. The very 2” cells are Class-A fire rated for each ASTM E-84.

Use 3M Command strip, hook and loop tape, or apply adhesive to help mount it to your room’s walls as well as the ceiling. Should you ever plan on relocating them, it is highly recommended to make use of the detachable type of inspissated strips to create removal simpler.

2. Sound Absorbing Foam (Pro Studio Acoustics Tiles)

Best Work with: Use instead of the Auralex panels. They provide multiple appealing colors in order to up with the particular charcoal which looks fantastic in any area.

Pro Facility wedges are created in the USA from the high-quality audible foam. The main wedges could be installed on wall space where racket reflection can be a problem, as well as roof tiles to slice down replicate and reverberation. Pro Recording studio foam is not any comparison towards the cheap “egg crate” range foam.

Many people use the Professional Studio Audile foam systems for reading and absorbing sound both in a home and also professional utilize. The vibrant colors spice up theater places, gaming houses, voice booths, and companies while dissipating sound and eliminating echoes.

3. Acoustic Panels (ATS Acoustics)

Best Apply: Acoustic solar cells are best for rooms where the look of pitching wedge and pyramid foam will be undesirable. The wood presented panels appear more like any decoration or simply large image frame than the usual sound researching panel.

Intended for rooms just where foam simply won’t slice it aesthetically, acoustic panels are there that will fill typically the void. OBTAIN panels are made from Roxul ABF mineral made of wool and a wood frame. These people finish off often the panel by having an all jute fabric handle to make it an awesome piece.

Almost all that’s remaining is to hang up them around the wall using the included equipment. It’s vital that you note the exact ATS Supersonic panels are offered as solitary panels, you could always purchase multiple sections at one time to reduce shipping expenses.

Also, check out: Acoustics Cyprus and Acoustic Materials Cyprus are professionally supported by http://www.phiacoustics.com/

4. Acoustic Curtains (Utopia Thermal Blackout Curtains)

Ideal Use: Blackout curtains are fantastic for decreasing the music coming in and also getting out through windows and doors. Make use of them in a bedroom, home theater, setting, or where ever a little silent is needed.

A normal acoustic drape uses top quality, heavyweight, luxurious fabrics mixed soundproofing resources like bulk loaded vinyl fabric to lower sound and decrease echo. Whilst these blinds are usually special-order products, the very best alternative meant for home would be to buy quality, world blackout shutters

For the dwelling, acoustic window curtains are meant to enhance the sound within a room, instead of blocking seem from leaving behind or getting into. Our favorite acoustic curtains would be the Utopia Bed linens Blackout Drapes. For more info, take a look at our instructions on acoustic curtains for your home theaters.

5. Moving Blankets (Sure Max Heavy Duty)

Best Usage: Good, heavy moving blanket can be used for a few sound assimilations when finances are restricted.

Moving bedding has always been used for reasons other than pushed furniture. The solid plush cloth of an umbrella like the Certain Max High-quality blankets may be used to absorb appear. You can hold them about the walls, more than windows and doors, and in many cases enclose an audio booth for recording.

The actual Sure Greatest extent blankets are manufactured from plush 100 % cotton batting along with polyester support and consider over your five pounds every. They don’t possess grommets with regard to easy dangling, but the products are very good for some affordable sound absorbing setups.

6. Door Sealing Gasket & Sweep Kit

Best Implement: Foam gaskets are a great low-priced material regarding filling in the area on front door frames exactly where noise likes to leak to and from of areas.

Gaps between door quickly pull and doorstep is perfect paths intended for unwanted noise to travel. Compressible foam gasket material assists seal up the very gap in addition to absorb a few of the sounds. The doorway sweep part is to close off the floor portion of the door, particularly on difficult floors.

Is considered just one bit of the challenge when it comes to soundproofing doors, nevertheless. A cheap hollowed outdoor continues to be going to transfer sound despite a gasket and entry sweep, thus problem areas may require acoustic drapes or comforters added to work.

7. Mineral Wool (Rockwool Rockboard)

Employs: Rockboard is often a rigid, fire-resistant mineral fleece insulation useful for both traditional acoustic and energy insulation greatest used in home and industrial buildings.

Rockwool Rockboard is surely an awesome efficiency board solution ideally best for improving the main acoustic insulating material of houses and properties. The mineral fleece jacket is an organic material, and you may even generate LEED factors for its set up. It’s inflexible, easy to trim to form, and is dampness and fireplace resistant as much as 2150°F.

Additional use of Rockwool is to choose an own traditional panel plus bass tiger traps. All you have to perform is create a wood framework, fit the Rockwool forums, and deal with it having a nice textile.

Rockwool Safe’ N’Sound is a great substitute for Rockboard is usually a high-performance soundproofing insulation substance, ideal for soundproofing walls and even ceilings. It is very soft and versatile, making it simple to tightly things the batts into regular stud walls cavities. In contrast to other types of soundproofing insulation, Safe’N’Sound is not available on the internet.

8. Soundproof Fiberglass (Owens Corning 703)

Uses: Owens Corning 703 fiberglass snowboards are commonly employed for making audile panels to get home broadcasters, commercial complexes, churches, together with theaters.

703 fiberglass decks are great for toning down high-frequency noises in family home theaters, creating rooms, and any other placed the acoustics have to be improved. 705 boards are more effective at the lower frequencies required for a largemouth bass trap.

Create your own wooden frames as well as space all of them around the place, and over offending sound sources. If you need to cut the actual boards, make sure to handle the product with care because fiberglass can be an irritant and you ought to use the correct personal protection equipment.

9. Mass Loaded Vinyl (Dynamat Xtreme)

Functions: Rolls involving MLV such as Dynamat Xtreme and Nico can be used to sounds proof vehicles, machinery, and also appliances. Their own flexible character and putty backing allow it to be easy to ensure almost any surface area.

Dynamat Xtreme is the precious metal standard with regards to automotive soundproofing. They are bought from bulk packages of linens as well as a number of kits particular to doorways, trunks, along with speaker containers.

Dynamat ought to be installed straight onto the particular metal kind of the vehicle and is also completely concealed once the vehicle trim is usually put together again. The aluminum backing coating also displays heat, maintaining your car awesome.

Nico Seem Deadening Pads are a great low-cost Dynamat option. It’s. 080” thick with the embosses metal liner. The particular embossing will act as a visual indication of whether typically the sheet continues to be installed correctly when folded flat generally there won’t become wrinkles.

10. Floor Underlayment (Roberts Super Felt)

Works by using: Use a good quality underlayment to lessen sound transmitting of hardwood and manufactured floors.

Roberts Super Experienced underlayment is a superb choice pertaining to noise-proofing the floor, especially along with laminates, wood, and building wood. Typically the felt is made of recycled materials, compressed in addition to heat handled to form some sort of rich tone absorbing stuff.

The move of material offers adhesive bunches on one part, you simply place it straight down over the underfloor with a 1-3/4” overlap. There exists a built-in water vapor barrier, and so no need to be worried about moisture or possibly smells taking in into the experienced.

Roberts Excellent Felt is an excellent product to improve the feel plus sound decrease qualities of the new ground installation. It has tough, fall easy, which is simply a wonderful soundproofing device.

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #189

“why are the children all marching into the desert to die?”

What does your trick-or-treat bag or pail look like? Pretty sure mine was usually just a plastic orange pumpkin. How old will you turn on your next birthday? 23, wow-ie. What are your plans to celebrate? Dinner with the fam, and I don't think I could possibly pass a birthday without getting a tattoo. :') Which X Factor audition(s) was/were your favorite? Don't watch it. Were you a straight A student in spelling and grammar? Yes. Were you a straight A student in math? No, I got Bs sometimes. Were you abused or do you know anyone who was abused? I know people who were. What is the name of your favorite coffee shop in your town? N/A What is fall weather usually like where you live? Usually warmish and breezy, but sometimes super cold. Do you think you have an accent? Very slightly. Do you use plastic, wooden, or wire hangers? Plastic. What is your favorite shade of yellow? Pastel. Are there any shades of blue that you don’t like? If so, which ones? No. Are you afraid of getting yelled at? YES YES YES YES I WILL CRY PLEASE DON'T Who has the best-decorated house in your town? *shrugs* What is your favorite part of Halloween? Dressing up. Is there a cemetery in your backyard? No. Did you decorate a pumpkin this year? No. ;_; What are some fall activities you would do with your kids? If I actually wanted them, take them on a hay ride (spooky one if they're older and want to), decorate pumpkins together, obviously go trick-or-treating, let 'em play in leaf piles. Have you ever seen a fox? Yes. What color are the squirrels where you live? Brown. Is there anything about Halloween you find offensive? Um no. What do the trees look like where you live? There's basically a shitload of pine trees, some dogwoods in spring (which fucking stink, btw), and then there's other trees idk the name of. Did you like field trips when you were a kid? YESSSSSSSSSSSS Do you find museums boring or interesting? Interesting! What was your school’s rival team’s mascot? Uhhhhh idr. What are three issues you are passionate about? Gay rights, gun control, and immigration. Would you ever wear a shirt with your country’s flag on it? I mean if I had to? What’s a medicine that makes you sleepy? Klonopin, back when I had to take two a day. I was just barely able to function at all on three. Do you like bath bombs? Never used one, but sure. What was your favorite girl group when you were growing up? Pussycat Dolls lmaoooooooo Do you like Disney movies? Only heathens don't. In what type of area was your first sexual encounter? A house. What do you occupy your time with on flights? Listen to my iPod. Do you ever realize how ridiculous you’re being yet continue on anyway? Sometimes in anxiety-type situations. Have you ever seriously vandalized someone else’s property? No. Have you ever been punched? No. What do you usually order from Olive Garden?
 Spicy shrimp fritas oh my gaaaaaaaaaaaah How do you like your steak cooked?
 Medium well. How do you feel about bats? I'm love them. Is anyone in your family artistic? Me. Have you ever suspected anyone of cheating on you? No. Are you emo/gothic/punk? I AM the Thicc Goth GF in my head. I'm just too poor and lazy for the wardrobe. :^) Would you date someone 20 years older than you? Nooooooooooo that's way too big a difference for me. What is your father’s middle name? John. What was the last food you got a random craving for? Sour gummy worms lmao. What is something you enjoy doing, but aren’t good at? Singing, sometimes. Name some healthy foods that you enjoy eating. Strawberries, apples, peaches, corn, cucumbers, green beans, bananas... What is your favorite Studio Ghibli film? Don't think I've watched any. If your best friend was a fictional character, who would he/she be? Why? This requires too much thinking. What was the last song you listened to? Does it mean anything to you? Ninja Sex Party's cover of "Africa" is on now. No. What flavor was the last cupcake you ate? Chocolate. When was the last time you complimented a stranger? Idk. Do you know how to text without looking? Not well. What about typing without looking? Yup. Have you ever thrown rocks at a girl/guy’s window? No. When was the last time you bought a bathing suit? Like, a year back? Do you like eggnog? NOOOOOOOOOOO. How often do you see your mother? Every day. When was the last time your living room furniture was rearranged? Long time ago. When you were little, did you like watching Cartoon Network, Disney or Nickelodeon more? Disney. When is the last time that you experienced rejection–literal or imagined? By no means /serious/ rejection, but I suppose it fits the definition. Asked the tat/piercing parlor I go to about working there at the desk (the place isn't busy and I'm v comfortable there, so I think I easily could), but they let me know they currently didn't need anyone. When you are feeling down are you more likely to cheer yourself up by shopping, eating, or drinking? I've gotten loads better about it, but eating. Do you think there will be a time when our current age of rapid innovation comes to a standstill? What do you think is the limit of human technological advancement? No, honestly. It may stall, but I don't see it stopping any time soon. In hindsight, what was the most misguided/unhelpful assignment you had to do in school or college? Uhhhh idk. On any blogs or social media you may have, do you try to maintain a certain aesthetic or persona? Is this consistent across platforms or just specific to one? Not really. My less-appropriate sense of humor comes out more on Tumblr, and in some areas I type in all lowercase because I find it more aesthetically pleasing. Is there an artist or celebrity whom you admire for their craft but take issue with their personality or politics? Marilyn Manson, very easily. He's talented and unapologetically unique as all hell, but I do noooot like him as a person from what I know. What is the last party or event you were invited to but declined? Why? Are there certain events that you might be invited to which you are likely to decline? An old friend's Thanksgiving-ish friends party. I was tempted, but it was explicitly stated to BYOB and weed and I just didn't want to be in an environment where there was lots of drinking and smoking something that's still illegal in the state. I was already uncomfortable enough last time I went to a party at her house and there was so much smoking. You were also supposed to bring a piece of Thanksgiving food to contribute, but I can't cook and I didn't wanna bother Mom about it. For the last question, it's just about a "never" situation where I'm invited to a real event besides family birthday parties or meet-ups with Dad and his wife. Off the top of my head, I'd never go to a club if I was invited. Imagine your life three years from now as if things have gone perfectly, better than you would typically predict. What do you see? Living with a happy Sara in the mountains, very successful in photography and thus financially stable (or hopefully a bit beyond that), excelling in school, back to my healthy weight, my mental health is great and I'm on way fewer meds, Sara's able to breed snakes and write as a real career, COVER ME IN TATS BITCH, more piercings, a treatment/medication for hypotonia has been discovered, my niece and nephew have met Sara and been taught our relationship is not wrong (I doubt it though :x), I'm happy, it'd be nice to write with more people, I have at least one poem published, Teddy, Venus, Kaiju, Roman, Mitsu (now totally comfortable being held), and Sara's babies are still alive and kickin', Venus and Crowley have had a clutch, Sara's PMDD is under control, Dad's stopped smoking, Mom is in a healthy, fulfilling relationship, both Mom and Sara are at the weights they aim for, Nicole is with a guy she truly loves and he reciprocates properly, Mom has been treated for depression and has forgiven Dad... Man, lots of things. This question really made me look forward to creating this future. What about your personality makes you good at your job? Alternatively, why do you find yourself uniquely suited for or drawn to your ideal career path? No job, so I'll just respond to the second. Photography is pretty surprising as it requires serious communication, which y'all know isn't my forte in the least. However, I'm so passionate about it and feel knowledgeable enough on it to be confident. Plus I just love showing how beautiful the world is capable of being. Do you find it valuable or important to respect those in positions of authority simply because of their position? Does this vary based on what that position is? Nope. I'm not gonna respect an absolute asshole just because you're of a high position. It doesn't vary to me, either. Do you find that you often desire and/or enjoy sex? If not, why not and how do you negotiate those feelings with your partner? If so, what is it that you enjoy about it in particular? I'd say I desire it to a normal degree, and yeah, I enjoy it. Why, #1, it's such a passionate and intimate way to communicate how much you love and trust your partner. Then I mean it feels good so. How many times have you seriously injured yourself? Idk. Seriously... three? When was the last time you were a passenger in a car and sat in the back? In the back, idk. Did you attend Sunday School as a child? Yes. Are/were you in the school band, and if so, what instrument did you play? Yes, flute. What is the best thing you’ve ever bought at a thrift shop? This cool crashed ship lamp! It's beside my bed. Have you ever ordered an unusual drink at a bar? No. What is your favorite thing about summer? Swimming. That's it. When was the last time you went to your local library? Whew, years. Can you do a proper cartwheel? No. Have you ever been pulled aside by security at the airport? No. Are you a fast-thinker or a slow-thinker? Slow. If you were to donate to charity today, what would you donate to? The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention or The Trevor Project. What is your favorite card game and when was the last time you played it? Magic: The Gathering and not since my PS3 broke (I had the Duel of the Planeswalkers store game on there and I WANT IT BACK). Who was the last person you cuddled with? Sara. Did you ever go to summer camp when you were younger? No. What is your favorite seasonal candy? (only available at certain times) Gingerbread men!! Are there any television shows you own in entirety on DVD or VHS? Meerkat Manor. How far away from your house is the nearest gas station? Like, two minutes. Do you know anyone who is fluent in a second-tongue? Yeah. What is the scariest movie you’ve ever seen and who did you watch it with? The Rite, but only because the whole "raped and impregnated by a demon" shtick is a fuck to the no from me. Watched it with my younger sis years ago. When was the last time you had a bubble bath? A looooooooong time ago, I don't like baths. What was the last strong scent you smelled? Poop. Good job, Bentley. What did you buy the last time you went shopping for new clothes? A bra, I think? How did you discover your favorite band? Mom's CDs. When I was getting into my rock and metal love, I went through them and listened to albums with cool covers or bands I knew she loved, and the first happened to be Ozzy. :') Does the weather affect your mood? If so, in what ways? Yes. I have a greater tendency to feel down when it's real cloudy and sometimes rainy. If it's really hot, I'm in a worse/cranky mood. When are you most likely to be bored? Late afternoon/evening. What was the last big decision you made? Hmmm. Going back to school, maybe? Where was the last place you traveled to, and what did you do while there? Illinois. Hang out with my bby. :') What is your favorite thing to go shopping for? Clothes at Hot Topic ahhhhh. What was the last thing you received in the mail? Something for VR. What is one of your wildest dreams or ambitions? Become a well-known photographer. When was the last time you performed in front of a group of people? Years ago for dance. Who was the last person to upset you? How about the last person to cheer you up? Mom; Sara. Is there anything or anyone you’re trying to get over or let go of? No. What was the subject of your last phone conversation? Uhhh something short with Ma that I don't remember. How close do you have to be with someone before you’ll consider them a friend? I have to feel decently comfortable around them. How do you feel when a mostly unheard of band (or tv show, movie, etc.) that you love suddenly starts to gain popularity? I'm happy for them! I just hope they don't change. When was the last time you listened to new music? Uhhh recently. Do you think it is strange when a couple says “we are pregnant” rather than “I am pregnant” or “my girlfriend is pregnant”? No, I actually prefer it. You're in that shit together. Do you ever feel like you were born in the wrong era? What decade would you most like to have grown up in? No. I'm good with the '90s. What was your most memorable concert experience? Only been to one. :| But Alice was great. If you have any, are you close with your sibling(s)? Has it always been that way? Not very, and no, at least with my younger sister. We were pretty close. Do you require “closure” after things like break-ups or do you move on easily? I. Need. Closure. How long does it take for someone to earn your trust? Good luck. Do you like peanut butter? Yesssss. Have you ever had to wear a uniform to school? Do/did you prefer wearing it than regular clothes? In middle school. Hell no. What’s the last thing you got really excited over? Going to Sara's. Is there a genre of movie that you just can’t watch? Action-y. What was the last song to give you nostalgia? "Holiday" by Green Day. Do you have a certain color grape you like the most? Purple. What’s your signature thing you do when drinking that will make your friends say, “Alright, they’re drunk”? N/A Have you ever been on a hot air balloon? No. What’s your definition of weird? I try to keep the mindset that "weird" doesn't exist as I'm not one to talk about things being so, yet I'm hypocritical about it and do find some things, ex. fetishes, extremely weird. Do you use shaving cream? For my legs. When was the last time you cleaned your room? Is your room clean? I dusted my whole room a while back. I need to vacuum baaadly, but ours is broken. ;-; Have you ever personally known any girl who shaved their head? Yes. Have you ever known anyone who committed suicide? Sadly. Have you ever tried to commit suicide? Yes. Have you ever coughed up blood? No. How do you wish you could die? Surrounded by family and painless. Do you have any apps on your Facebook? If so, what? No. What kind of mouse pad do you have? Don't have one. What color is your mouse? Pink. Do you know any who might be anorexic? Do you know anyone who has bulimia? Maybe? Did you ever want a pony when you were little? Idr. What’s your favorite dessert food? Ice cream. What is the closest thing to you right now that is alive? My dog. Do you exercise? I'm starting to again. Do you dislike writing school essays? Not if it's a subject I like. Are you a very open-minded person? Yes. Are you modest? I believe I am. Do you skate? No. Are you in a band? No. If you were to make it big with your own band, what would its name be? *shrugs* It depends on the members. Would you rather a friend come over to your house or you go over there? I go over there. Have you ever had rabies? No. Do you know anyone who ever had to get a rabies shot? Idk. Have you ever gone hunting? No, never would. Ever eaten deer? Duck? Squirrel? How about lamb? No. Have you ever received a note in your locker? I think once from Aaron?

[quousque]

11 Tag

(Rules: Answer eleven questions, make eleven questions and tag eleven people)

Thanks @forgetting-how-to-breathe for tagging me!

What’s your favourite genre of music?

I like a lot of stuff, tbh, but my favorite is stuff I can sing along to. I listen to a lot of classic rock (first radio station I found when I moved to Missoula and I never changed it), and old country music (Kingston Trio, thanks mom)

What’s your favourite kind of book to read? (This doesn’t have to be restricted to genre answers)

I read a lot of fantasy books, but lately I’ve been gravitating towards informative nonfiction, like books on Roman/Greek history and culture, or books about specific topics (e.g. history of spinning, weaving, and fiber crafts).

Do you prefer TV series or films?

Series, because there’s so much more material for the fandom to work with, so there’s usually a greater variety and abundance of ships, headcanons, etc. And the fandoms stay more active for longer, because of the extended release of content.

Do you have a favourite place?

Interlochen, Michigan would have to be high up there. My grandparents have a cottage on a lake and my family visited every summer when I was a kid. 

Do you have a fairly set day to day routine or do you fly be the seat of your pants?

A mix of both. I have a set routine for getting ready in the morning, and a set routine for getting ready for the next day (if I don’t pack everything I need for the next day the night before, I am 100% guaranteed to forget something AND be late). My going to bed routine is a mess, but better than it was. If one tiny thing in the sleep routine goes wrong, all of my routines fall apart and it takes weeks to put it back together. So I work really hard to safeguard my routines, but I end up flying by the seat of my pants a lot anyway.

What’s one thing you wish you could change? (About yourself, the world, the universe, whatever)

I would want to not have ADHD. If someone offered to snap their fingers and cure it instantly, literally reform my brain so it worked properly, I would say yes with no hesitation. It’s a debilitating disability that affects literally every aspect of my life, and is indirectly responsible for a lot of emotional and physical pain. 

How would you describe your sense of style?

mix of form-fitting (ish) athletic wear because I do some form of sports 6 days a week, graphic tshirts from when I was dressing exclusively in loose, baggy men’s clothing, and beginning to branch out into more standard women’s clothes (for instance, I own one (1) pair of jeans. Sure they’re men’s skinny jeans, but they fit me better than any women’s jeans I’ve ever worn). The unifying factor is that everything I wear has POCKETS.

How would you describe the aesthetic of your living space? Is it different or the same from your goal aesthetic?

nonexistent, as I’m between places currently. But judging by my last place, the aesthetic is Workbench in the Corner, Knick-knacks on the Shelves, Lots of Stuff, and also Where is the Floor, Why is your Room Carpeted in Clothes and Piles of Paper?. I’ve been working really hard on not having a constant mess, and though no one would call me neat, I’ve improved a lot. Hopefully one day I’ll have a lot less stuff (keeping the knick-knacks tho), and I won’t leave a whole bunch of shit on the floor all the time.

Do you have any odd hobbies or skills? (Odd here can be defined in a broad sense, or in a “I’m the only one of my friends that knows how to__” kind of way)

I’m a fencer, which isn’t too common. I also like to construct costumes, but, like, out of random shit I find lying around and almost always last-minute. Last-minute costuming on the cheap is my jam. I’m also into storytelling, LARP/roleplaying (improv acting, even though I’ve never actually taken an improv class), and solving random problems by building something. I often see something and think “I could do that better” or “No one does this in a way that’s perfect for me, so I guess I will”. Thus, I’ve made my own shoes, sports bras, fencing chest protector, fencing test box socket adaptor, extra tall workbench so I can stand while I work, etc.

What is your dream job?

Maybe a therapist? Or an ADHD coach. Something that involves helping people, in a teaching kind of way, but where I’m providing the environment and coaching for them to figure it out themselves. I want to help people non-neurotypical people who struggle with things that other people don’t struggle with, because I know that struggle, I know how hard it is. And I’m pretty good at listening to people and making them feel understood, which is a skill I’d like to build on. I also want a job where I can set my own schedule, take large chunks of time off, leaves room for lots of hobbies, pays well enough, and is engaging so that there’s always a new problem to solve, but not so demanding that I end up dedicating all my time and energy to it.

Another dream job would be designing gear- for fencing, hiking/backpacking, travel, etc.

What would your dream home look like?

Small and easy to maintain, with a small work out area and a large workshop. Far away from traffic noise, with a nice view and a nice yard. Preferably next to open space. Walking distance from grocery stores, job, most places I’d need to go. Not more than 20 minute drive away from friends, work, etc. Any color except beige.

I’m tagging @olofahere , @terpsikeraunos , @persian-slipper , @freeformtarsier , @bee-fabulous , @punk-lucifer , @oddchelonian , @lost-in-pink , @shadowmaat, @aethersea , and @anexperimentallife !

Questions for y’all to answer:

1. Would you rather have ripped arms, or really jacked legs? Why?

2. If you could instantly become pretty good (like, won state high school championships good, not olympic good) at any sport or other activity, what would you choose?

3. Ideal living situation, in terms of people you’re living with. Alone? Nuclear family? Just significant other? Roommates? Platonic life partners? Three generations of family? Polycule? You and 500 cats?

4. If you could change one thing about your town/city/place of habitation, what would you change?

5. If your current country of residence were to decide to move its capitol, where do you think they should put it, and why?

6. What thing have you done this past week that you are most proud of?

7. What was the most confusing, perplexing, or befuddling thing that happened to you in the past week?

8. What are you most looking forward to in the coming week?

9. If you are in any fandoms, what is the fandom you are currently most active in? What do you like best about it? What would you change? 

10. stupidest reason you’ve ever decided you like something?

11. A unicorn bewitches you such that every time you hear someone snap their fingers, you turn into a certain animal (and back when you hear another snap). What animal would you choose to turn into?

[wackygoofball]

I really like your moodboard/aesthetics and they’ve been inspiring me to try my own hand at creating some. Only, I’m not sure where to start? Would you have any tips?

Hi, thank you very much, @idontwantto10! ♥

Glad to hear that my little moodboards sparked your own creativity. The more the merrier, after all. ☺

To give this fair warning… I don’t have a particular technique or anything, I mostly just play around with effects or themes until something comes out that I enjoy.

So… I will start out saying what I tend to do, and maybe you can take something from that:

The first step is to get an idea for the theme (at least that is my starting point). Sometimes, I will have an idea in the back of my head already. Sometimes it’s a fanfic I actually have in mind, so it’s rather fleshed-out and I will have specific ideas of what it will look like, which can be both a blessing and a curse, because that may be limiting when you can’t find images that correlate with your mental image. And sometimes… I don’t know what I am up to, so I just start brainstorming.

I keep lists of ideas, that helps a great deal - because I tend to forget a lot. Sometimes it’s just a key word or the basic plot for the moodboard-story.

But if I don’t have a plan? I just check out pictures to get some inspiration. Or I google movie lists to get an idea for an AU.

1. Image Hunt

The first step in the actual creation process for me is finding fitting pictures. I normally use pixabay.com because they feature a whole lot of free images. I also recently started using some Pinterest images, but for those, I include the links to the pins in the “Additonal Image Sources” section featuring in most of my moodboard text posts. On that same note, I try my best to link to the image sources I have available to me. The one thing where I normally don’t have the image sources anymore is the Nik and Gwen images I have because I just have soooooooo many of them in my files that I can’t keep track anymore, to be honest.

Generally, I have a huge file full of all kinds of images, so I have a base to fetch from without image-hunting *everything* over and over again. So when I have an idea for a certain theme, I will start out searching for images relating to that specific theme. If we take the military-themed moodboard I did ages ago as an example, I will search for images about “war,” “soldiers,” “guns,” “rifles,” “training,” etc. (whatever key words I can come up with) until I have a workable number of results. Naturally, that depends on the size of the collage and how many images the collage requires. Those images, for me, are the way to transmit the theme to others so that they know what that is about even without having to read the text post below.

Then I ask myself the question: What are the emotions of the characters (in my case… JB always, duh). Are they depressed somehow or at some point? Then I may want to include images transmitting that. Is this a happy moodboard? Then maybe I wnat to look for images that show Gwen and Nik laughing (or free images of people looking similar or where you can’t really tell what the person looks like).

Beside that, my JB Moodboards, for the sake of their sweet, sweet love, will also require images that give me the romantic vibe. Hence, having a solid base of images of kisses and hugs and all that is almost inevitable for my way of moodboarding.

And yeah, JB image hunting... that’s a thing of its own. I have soooo many imgaes saved to my computer by now, it’s pretty insane, but naturally, you can’t make a JB moodboard without them (unless it were solely book!Jaime and book!Brienne related). So yeah, a solid base of them is also necessary. I am always looking for images that display different kinds of mood and emotions or feature different settings.

So now, after the image hunt is over and stored on the computer, the next step is in place.

2. Piecing Together

Generally, what I do is decide on how I am going about this. Do I want to include gifs or just still images? If I include gifs, I have to think about the file sizes, I have to think about how to fit it with other images. If I want to include still images, do I want to piece them together individually or do I simply want to have them made into a collage (for which there are numerous websites out there that will do the job for you)?

As for my personal prefences, I like mixing up the way of arranging singular images, that some are bigger, some are smaller, some square, some rectangle. Others may enjoy the more focused and reduced moodboards more (and I love them as well, but for the story-themed moodboards, those work best for me personally), but I like to have some variations between the collages, especially since it allows for aligning the text (later step) in different ways.

But yeah, that’s a thing of taste, really.

So, for the sake of making an example, let’s stick to the idea that I want to do (another) military-themed moodboard for JB and that I want to have collages using a website. Then I piece them together on the website (depends on which one you are using) and see how things look harmonic to me.

Hence, I have to decide on how many Jaime and Brienne images I want per frame, how many theme-images I want to include in one collage, if I want to include a kiss or a hug picture in that image, and if so, where.

I I have a certain story in mind with the moodboard, I am trying to have a kind of narrative trajectory. I will start out introducing the theme (hence some of the themed images always go in the first panel) and link it to Jaime and Brienne, whom I will introduce (say, Jaime as the commander of the squad and Brienne as one of the team members). Then I may do another collage that shows their struggling (depressed-themed images) and then move over to mixing in romantic images in one of the following panels.

In the end, it depends on the images I find and how they look right to me. That doesn’t mean that they look right to other people, but that is then what I have in my mind.

After that is done and saved to my computer, the next step is in place:

3. Effects

Yet again, that depends on the programs or websites you are choosing. Googling around will give you a manifold of options to fetch from. I do a lot of editing with GIMP, though I also rely on websites where they have preset color-effects to fetch from. Again, it’s worth googling to see what you like best.

Anyway, sticking with the idea of the military-themed moodboard, that may set the color palette for most of the images. I would likely include collages that feature earth/green color tints or black and white images, or darker effects to help intensify the mood and unify the images of the moodboard (which is a great way to make it seem like they actually form a unity and aren’t just images you put together for the sake of it).

4. Text

That’s optional. I tend to add text to convey the story I am trying to tell. Yet again, there are online services that will do that, or you can use editing programs such as GIMP for the task. The advantage of GIMP etc. is that those programs will mostly offer a vast array of options to fetch from, since you can easily download fonts that fit your theme. For military-themed moodboards, all sorts of typewriter fonts look really well to me.

As I hinted at above, the way the collage is set up will in some way determine the way the text will be set. Personally, I like to use different fonts and put the text boxes in varied spots (sometimes I will have one in the upper left corner and one in the lower right corner, one time it may be at the center, another time it may be in the middle of one particular image within the collage, it really depends).

As to the content… well, it always depends on the moodboard itself, of course. I often like to include sort of “quotes” of what I believe JB would say in the story I am trying to tell through the images. I sometimes give further exposition by simply adding JB’s names and their function in the moodboard (are they officers, are they married, is one of them a scientist or a thief, etc.?).

Basically… it’s about making explicit those kinds of part of the story that the images cannot convey in its specificity or that help set the mood. The text can also link images together or bridge between one part of the collage and the next.

But yeah, in the end, it really depends on the story you want to tell and to what extent you want to explicitly narrate it through text. Sometimes just the images are more telling than any written text.

So… that is basically the motions I go through when piecing a moodboard together, but another chronology or take on it may well work better for you, so that really depends on your own preferences.

As to the technicalities… it yet again really depends on the programs you are using. My approach is always… trying things out, really. Do I like this effect they offer as a preset in GIMP? Do I like one from a website that offers effecs more? Do I want to overlay it with a blurred image to create this “bloom” effect? Do I want to add a bokeh effect? Do I want to layer it with a texture? Those are the kinds of things I can only advise to honestly try out (if you want to try them out - I mean… you can also simply put the images together, effects are not mandatory by any means). That is how I learned more about GIMP and how to use it. So yeah, it’s a bit of trial-and-error for me. I play around with effects and settings of text until I personally find it fitting.

In the end, it really is a matter of taste, so I can’t give any specific tutorial or walkthrough for how to get a nice moodboard. This is my way of going about it, yours may be vastly different.

But yeah, I hope this was of some help regardlessly.

Thanks another time for the compliment and that you reach out to me.

Much love! ♥ ♥ ♥

And I am looking forward to your own creations!

[smoketexture]

Hello everyone! These are some tips I wish I had known when I first got into the community. Warning: this got longer than intended, sorry! I tried to divide it into well separated sections, so it’d be easier for you to read only the parts that interest you!

Original content:

I think the best way to get your studyblr known is by posting original content, this can be either pictures of your journal, your notes, your stationery, etc. If you don’t feel like pictures are your thing, you could make advice masterposts or share little tricks and hacks that have helped you through your studies or your life in general.

Take nice pictures: 1) The trick here is to take your pictures near a window where the sun isn’t hitting directly on what you want to photograph (you can try direct sunlight as well, but I think if the sun’s too bright then you won’t be able to see what’s written on white paper). 2) A nice background makes all the difference. I personally prefer white backgrounds, so I just use my desk. BUT if you don’t have any white surfaces, you can create one by just laying down a few sheets of paper (that’s what I did for this post). Lots of people also use their bed sheets or duvets as background and it looks amazing as well! 3) Flatlays seem to be quite popular and they make the picture look very neat, aand you don’t need many photographic skills to pull it off, so I’d say it’s the best choice for taking pictures.

Edit pictures: If you’ve already taken your picture next to a window or in a well lighten environment, then you probably don’t need to edit it all that much (not that you ever have to edit your pictures, but it does make them look a bit more aesthetically pleasing and professional I’d say?). So if you still want to edit them (which I do), then I’d recommend the Snapseed app (available for Apple and Android), that’s the one I use, It’s free and it has a LOT of editing options. I also have the VSCO app (x x), which I downloaded because a lot of people here have recommended it, but I don’t really use it. You can play around with both apps and decide which one works best for you! (Oh and yes, like most of use here, I use my phone to take pictures).

Tag other blogs: Some people track a specific tag (usually their blog url, but not always, in which case they tend to clarify it somewhere in their blog). This is a great way for people to check out your content and then they might share it if they like it. There are some blogs who reblog everything they are tagged in, but I’d say this is the minority. If you’re not sure whether someone tracks their tag, then you can always ask them!

Trends: In the studyblr community there tend to be certain trends, such as a specific type of calligraphy, specific brands, etc. So there’s basically two paths here: You can choose to follow these trends and make your bujo spreads look like most journals look at that moment. This probably will make people reblog your stuff because that’s what everyone’s into. Another option is to go on the exact opposite direction and make your content completely different than everyone else’s in order to make it stand out more. Honestly, I don’t think one way’s better than the other, you’ll slowly figure out what makes you feel happier about your journal/notes. However, DO NOT copy someone else’s work and claim it as your own. You can get inspired by certain styles, yes, but if you replicate something somebody else made, then that’s stealing. That being said, lots of people recreate a bujo spread (for example) and then properly credit the person who originally made it, in which case I think it’s okay, but it’s always safer to ask for permission first.

Masterposts: There’s mainly two ways to make a masterpost: 1) You can make an original one with recommendations or tips you come up with yourself. My advice here would be to think of actually useful tips, do not just write whatever seems like the right thing to say, but instead use your own experience to think of tips that have indeed helped you in the past. 2) If coming up with advice is not your thing, you can gather around other people’s advice and provide links to their posts (they don’t even need to be from Tumblr blogs) in an organized structure that makes it easy for people to skim through and find what they’re looking for! Btw, even if you’re a studyblr, your posts don’t have to be all exclusively study related. There are some really good masterposts about mental health, moving out on your own, meal recipes, etc.

Stay visible:

One of the good things about the studyblr community is that most people won’t unfollow you just because you weren’t active for a certain period of time, we all understand that sometimes life (study related or not) just gets busy and it’s okay to take some time for yourself. BUT at the same time it’s true that in order to get your content around, you need to stay active to a certain extent.

Queue your posts: You can even do some research to find out when it’s the best time of the day to post something and on which days of the week and set your queue to those hours.

Interact with others: This helps to get your blog known AND it’s a great way to meet people in the community! There are loads of ways in which to do this: 1) Simply send someone a message and start a conversation with them, ask them about their day or tell them about yours. 2) Join a network. I’ve never been in one myself (bc shyness hey) but they do sound fun! 3) Try doing other people’s “challenges”, for which they usually provide a tag for you to use so they can check out your posts for the challenge. 4) Tag people in these little games that go around, like this bold tag thingy (I think that’s the only example I have).

Blog aesthetics:

In order to make your blog more appealing, make sure you spend some time on your theme and icon. If they go well together, it will create an organized layout, which tends to catch people’s eyes and make it more likely for them to check out your content.

Theme: The possibilities are endless. Whichever style you prefer, there’s definitely a theme that goes with it. Personally speaking, I love neat, soft-colored themes. I believe organization is key, if your links and information are easily accesible, then that adds up to your blog for sure! Here are a few theme makers whose content I’ve been using lately: @acuite, @cyantists, @felinum, @odeysseus, @pohroro​, @roxiestheme​. In addition, you can find a lot of great themes here: @theme-hunter​ (they even classify the themes by style, post size, etc.).

Icon: This is the door to your blog, people see it on their dash and use it to identify you. Some people make free icons for you to use, but I personally prefer making my own. Don’t worry, you don’t need to be super skilled or even use Photoshop for this. 1) I usually use Canva to make my icons or banners. They have lots of templates for you to use as a guide, or you can start your design from scratch. They do require you to register with an email, but it’s free yay (unless you want to pay for some special designs, but, honestly, their free stuff is more than enough to create whatever you need). 2) Flaticon is another website which provides a TON of icons and pictures that you can use (you do not have to pay to download the images, but you DO have to properly credit whoever made them).

Be consistent: Choose whichever content you’d like to post and stick to it. Not everyone is this picky, but some people only follow blogs whose posts belong to a certain category (studyblr, fandoms, fitness, clothes, etc.). This doesn’t mean you can’t post an occasional random post, though. Don’t restrict yourself, but do try to keep you content consistent.

Balance:

Life’s all about balance. Regarding your studyblr, I think there are mainly two aspects in which you need to apply this.

Studying vs. keeping a blog: Yes, studyblrs can be helpful when it comes to your studies (there is a lot of advice going around and, personally, it helps me to stay motivated and makes me want to do better). However, at the end of the day it’s still a Tumblr blog, which means you can spend hours and hours here without even realizing it, so be careful not to lose yourself in the wonderful journals and unbelievably neat notes that the community has to offer, because then you won’t end up doing any of your work.

Aesthetics vs. functionality: You’ve probably seen those posts which reassure you that your notes & journal are made to increase your productivity so there’s no need for you to make them pretty if that’s not your thing. I’m not going to preach you on that, we all know it’s true. However, It frustrates me a little bit that on that kind of posts, they never seem to acknowledge the fact that some of us spend time making our notes and journals pretty because it’s actually helpful for us. I’m less likely to want to study from my notes if they’re all messy and lifeless, so I spend time on them. Regarding my journal, whether I keep it extremely simple or make it super fancy and decorated, it would serve its purpose either way. BUT, spending time decorating my journal is what helps me unwind at the end of the week. So, no, I don’t spend time on my journal because that’s going to help me achieve my goals, I spend time on it because it helps me to relax and get away from the world for a little while. Not everything we do needs to have an academic purpose.

Hope you can take some advice from this and that you all have a lovely day! 🌿

[vicostoness]

The Quartz Countertop Overlay Game

Quartz Countertop Overlay for Dummies

Home Depot typically uses Silestone that is a quartz material in accordance with Zodiaq or HanStone. It is simply not possible for the typical DIYer. Countertop artists also have been playing with objects to impress in the concrete. Granite isn't naturally stain-resistant. At the same time, quite frequently you will have to ask whether the installation is built into the price tag you're being presented or not. 1 distributor will provide you a price that has the installation while another keeps it separate. Granite tile is the very best option for a lower-cost choice. Quartz countertops are an excellent option not just for the fact they provide timeless beauty and luxury but in addition because it provides unusual strength and endurance.

Using Quartz Countertop Overlay

It makes a statement in both traditional and contemporary kitchens, large and little. The exact same usually goes for outside corners also. Our kitchen appears beautiful. As soon as your tile layout for a corner was determined, precut those tiles and after that check your cuts to determine if they match your layout. But if your concrete countertop will be white or light colours, or you require it to be easily dyed or stained, you might be better suited to pick a white Portland cement. Now is an excellent time to learn more about the stunning manners of quartz countertops offered and to imagine the unbelievable possibilities for your kitchen and bathrooms. Taking the additional care required will keep the all-natural beauty you would like for your house. If you're creative kind of person and truly feel adventurous enough to create your own customized countertop resurfacing kit, than you've come to the proper place. Drying time varies but in some instances, it may take up to 12 hours. This list is the very best DIY countertops around the webyou are guaranteed to discover the perfect one for whatever room you're working on!

The Dirty Facts on Quartz Countertop Overlay

And if you've resolved to go for quartz, you'll need to figure out with surface fits your vision. Therefore, granite and several quartz surfaces frequently have very similar aesthetic qualities speckled, neutral tones and can on occasion be tough to tell apart from a distance. It's really the surface appearance. Besides being aesthetically pleasing, it's resistant to heat, stains, and any form of liquid. The manufacturing procedure enables a much wider assortment of colors than you'll see in natural stones like marble or granite. Maintain a dishrag handy to wash stains immediately.

Ideas, Formulas and Shortcuts for Quartz Countertop Overlay

There are a lot of factors that may increase the price of Silestone itself. This prevents bacterial growth, which might be more problematic with different varieties of countertops. The ease in keeping the cleanliness of quartz countertops is among the main reasons that they're preferred by parents with young kids and also earn more sense for elderly who could be susceptible to viruses and bacteria. Granite It requires a lot of energy to mine and transport large parts of pure stone. They ought to be a perfect mix of beauty and strength.

Top Quartz Countertop Overlay Choices

Where those 2 points intersect is where angle cuts are wanted. Now let's also review a number of the cons. However, they must be sealed regularly so as to keep them in good form. Some places will show you a little sample, but the true slab appears much different once you find the bigger piece of it. Slide the massive piece into position. This two step procedure will take your project info and match this up with licensed professionals in your region. They must be managed with care and installed using expert strategies. There are an assortment of techniques used to attain a particular color in a concrete countertop. Be certain that you check rules and suggestions for each one of these techniques before attempting.

Here's What I Know About Quartz Countertop Overlay

Since a great deal of the sales people do work on commissions, you might just be offered a particular deal that you merely can't turn down! Furthermore, it doesn't provide a lot of color alternatives. When you're receiving these quotes, let the business know that you require everything broken down in a very simple way so you can compare quotes. But no worries... even if you've got a tight budget that you still have a lot of alternatives to satisfy your design dreams.

The Bizarre Secret of Quartz Countertop Overlay

I used ton't need to go to four different stone yards or a lot of different tile shops. However, there are a number of fundamental differences. When you get a straight region to cover, you can spread out the thin-set over the whole area at the same time. The basin region of the bathroom is frequently a focal point and particularly so in more compact spaces. Soapstone is quite good too. Quartz countertops are excellent and essentially perform together with granite, thus we highly suggest them. It is usually cheaper than granite.

Life, Death, and Quartz Countertop Overlay

Both of them are very good looking. Additionally, it works nicely as a desk for a house office. Whether it's a simple rounded edge or a distinctive design made particularly for your house, we can create it for you! This is a smooth countertop that's elegant for your house and is tough against the wears and tears of your daily cooking, together with being kid friendly. Possessing a fabulous kitchen can drastically enhance the look and feel of your whole home. Whether you need a pure look in your house, or something different completely, there's a very good chance you'll locate the color you desire. While we offer prices that you are able to afford, we also understand the worth of having time to think through your options prior to making a commitment to purchase something. Here's everything you ever wished to know about them so you may make an educated choice. If you're looking for a top that will be easily stained dark colours, or in case you want to leave the concrete countertops the natural, grey color, then regular Portland is the correct selection for the undertaking. However, it is dependent upon what desire look you desire. This is the part at which you can get creative and produce your very own special design for your tile countertop. No matter whether you're replacing your bathroom or kitchen countertop, you are able to choose from numerous materials. Those are the best benefits of stainless steel countertops. Things to bear in mind when installing granite overlay countertops Granite must be suitably sealed before it's installed. Tiled Kitchen countertop creates this task creative yet robust and long lasting by employing natural stone or ceramic tile countertop together with granite or quartz countertops. Before grouting, test a region to make certain that the stone surface won't scratch. It's not as costly than marble, but it's more costly than laminates or strong surface. Use a latex modified thin-set adhesive for this sort of application. Consulting a professional for estimates and tips is an excellent place to begin, particularly if you are designing on a budget. Although Silestone is really low-maintenance, per its site, homeowners should bear in mind that some harsh household cleaners can damage the top layer of the material. If you are able to, use a local firm. " " Read the full article

[jasminegibsonloh-blog]

Quality XiaoMi Roborock S50 S55 Low Yat Plaza

In 63.8 decibels, the Roborock S5 was clearly louder than the Shark Ion R85 (59.2). We were able to have a conversation although the vacuum worked around us but undoubtedly raised our voices. Much like the program that accompanies the Mi Home program, the Eufy Robovac 30C is designed to control home devices. While the app's vacuum part is robust, the design isn't intuitive. We were impressed with how the Roborock S5 approached walls and barriers. The bumper on the Roomba 690 seemed to announce it hit something with clunk; the S5 was more polite.

The robot slows its own strategy and its own brush before gingerly approaching an obstaclenonetheless, once the S5 decided an item was approachable, it approached gusto. The S5 pushed chairs and dog bowls around the floor over the Shark Ion R85 and the Neato Botvac D7. It wasn't harmful, but I would not leave a vase on a lightweight plant stand around during a cleanup. The Roborock S5 may also be controlled via Amazon Alexa and Google Home. However, don't expect to access any features the choices are On and Away, which prompts to bot to return to its foundation. Google Assistant adds"Return to Dock," which sends the robot house, rather than Cease, which pauses the vacuum in its paths. All in all, the Roborock S5 gathered an average of 86.8% of test debris on carpeting --a performance on a level with all the Neato Botvac D7, but well below the Shark Ion R85's 97.2 percent. The S5's hardwood performance told a similar tale, picking up an average of 83.9 percent of test debris. The Botvac D7 bested it by 12 percent. If you guessed the Go icon could initiate a basic cleaning cycle, you'd be wrong. Rather, God directs the S5 to a user-chosen point on the cleansing map for the bot to perform a spot cleaning. 

Activating the icon that is sterile starts a general vacuuming cycle. Buried in the Settings menu are five distinct Cleanup modes : Quiet, Balanced, Turbo, MAX and Mop. The program, and by extension, the vacuum, retains the mode last used. Flip the Roborock S5 above and you're going to discover two rubber wheels on either side, a wheel in front, and a three-spoke side brush to the leftside. Between the black wheels are the mix rubber and bristle roller brush. Though similar to the brush around the Eufy Robovac 30c, the S5's roller brush stayed remarkably free of hair and fuzz. Installation and app The main screen shows the area in meters, cleaning time and our piece of information. Along the bottom are icons for Go, Dock, Clean and Zoned Cleanup. What the Roborock S5 lacked in cleaning thoroughness, it made up for with speed, cleaning our hardwood and carpet test region at an average of 15 minutes and 22 seconds, nearly a full hour faster than the Roomba 690 and 45 minutes quickly than the Shark Ion R85. It was as fast as the Neato Botvac D7, that cleaned the evaluation region at an average of 10 minutes, 22 minutes. The manual recommends running a vacuum cycle . We did this, but it did not seem to help. The S5 abandoned the mopped area dull and somewhat sticky. When it had been possible to use something in addition to water in the mop tank, then maybe it would have performed better. Layout  According to a Roborock agent, though the Roborock S5 uses the exact same app made by Xiaomi since the S55 (Xiaomi is an investor in Roborock), map data is stored locally on the robot, and just goes into the Cloud when a user views the map onto the smartphone app. As much as 20 maps are stored in the Cloud in any certain time and so are automatically deleted after a year. When users delete a map it's also removed in the Cloud. The security firm assessed the security of four distinct robot vacuums, such as the Roborock S55 and the Roomba 980. The Roborock S55 performed the worst; AV-Test said that this was"Due partly to gross safety deficiencies in data transmission, the transfer of information to third parties, the app's unexplainable thirst for information, as well as a clear need for progress in the announcement on the handling of customer data." Notice that tabbed Saving Mode is currently in beta and have to be toggled on separately under Vacuum Settings in the program. 

We spent a few test runs re-mapping our floor due to this map not saving mechanically. Both the expensive iRobot Roomba and the D7 can save floor plans. Despite its size, the Roborock S5 deftly maneuvered through tight spaces. At 3.8 inches , the S5 sits straight between the 3.9-inch Botvac D7 and the 3.7-inch Roomba 690. While we do not love the elevated laser cover at the middle, the characteristic was less obtrusive than the one about the D7, which has a massive overhang and penchant for becoming stuck under living room seats. In our laboratory tests, the Roborock S5 performed nicely, but not outstandingly so. On hardwood and carpet, it picked up an average of 96.2 percent of those Cheerios strewn throughout the test region, which was marginally less than the iRobot Roomba 690 (99.5 percent), the Neato Botvac D7 (99.8) and the Shark Ion R85, that scooped a perfect 100 percent on this evaluation. In this robot's middle is a laser cover with a splash of orange underneath around the Neato Botvac D7. Over the cover are physical buttons for spot cleaning, on/off and recharging. Perhaps due to its white color, the wall detectors on front and side of the S5 are more noticeable than on other versions, but they don't detract from the bot's understated appearance. The Roborock S5 is primarily controlled through the Mi Home program (Android and iOS). Connecting the robot into the app and to our home wi-fi network took two attempts , largely because the directions for pairing the bot into the Wi-Fi network weren't too clear. Instructions quickly became a motif of this S5. "Starting the cleanup," a cheery voice announces from deep within the Roborock S5. Rather than a string of Morse code-like beeps and chimes employed by the Neato Botvac D7, the Shark Ion R85 and many other appliances, the S5 announces what it is going to do in easy-to-understand language prompts. Cleaning performance Security concerns You want it to look great -- particularly if it's docked in your living room, if you are adding a robot vacuum cleaner to your home. The Roborock S5 eschews the black-and-gray color scheme embraced by other vacuums for white, with muted silver trim around the rim. The Roborock S5 steps 13.8 inches in diameter, more than an inch bigger than the Shark Ion R85; it's also larger than the 13-inch iRobot Roomba 690 and the 13.2-inch Neato Botvac D7. When the Roborock S5 gets its bearings, it cleaned regions in a precise, back-and-forth snake layout. The robot vacuum found its way under our dining room tableweaving its way from 1 side of the room to another. We appreciated how tightly the S5 hewed to walls and around chair legs;it tackled walls and borders as the Neato Botvac D7.

 The van was also smart enough to completely avoid a thick pile rug that felled additional robot vacuums, but its taller height supposed it didn't fit under our chairs or our low-clearance sofa. One of our favorite design components of this Robovac S5 is its"hood." Flip the plastic piece that is up and you will come across the ample dustbin hidden in the middle, together with a indicator light and system reset button. The S5 was the robot vacuum we examined that had an space to maintain the differently easy-to-lose tool for cleaning the brush roll, a means to maintain functionality whilst improving the overall aesthetic. An section near the rear is supposed to maintain the microfiber mop module. The black-and-white dock for your Roborock S5 is just marginally taller than the vacuum itself. A large plastic mat attaches to the dock, but it's only needed if you're planning on utilizing the attachment. Mopping performance We were hesitant to provide the S5 free reign to wash if it decided to try and wash our rug, therefore we utilized the spot-cleaning manner, which cleans a 1.5- meter (4.9 ft ) area around wherever the S5 is placed. Turns our hesitations were unfounded. The Roborock S5 made about as much water on the floor as a wet Swiffer pad. If only it had cleaned as well as a Swiffer does. Picking up dog hair on both the hardwood and carpet stymied many of the robot vacuums we analyzed, such as the Roborock S5;it picked up only 79.5% of pet hair--10 percent less than the Botvac D7 and 8.5 percent less compared to Ion R85. On the other hand, the S5 did finest the Roomba 690's 73.3 percent pet hair pickup rate. We're enthused about zone cleaning on the Roborock S5, since it is a great way to perform a daily cleaning of a hall or kitchen. From the main display on the app, you can draw boxes across the map areas you need vacuumed. Contrary to the Roomba i7+ and the Neato Botvac D7, you can't save or name the zones, which means you have to redraw the area each time that you wish to wash them. Adding to the confusion is an Edit Map button on the primary display which allows you draw on virtual barrier tape and no-go zones. The Roborock S5 distinguishes itself using a mapping quality that's unique among the robot vacuums we analyzed, but unfortunately, its mopping art is much more of a novelty than truly helpful. A thin, half-moon-shaped disk using a microfiber pad attached with velcro clicks resides beneath the rear of the vacuum. Fill the disc using water, click it adjust the Cleanup mode in the app and you are ready to clean.

[yanmeisoong]

Amazing XiaoMi Roborock S50 S55 Marina South Singapore

In 63.8 decibels, the Roborock S5 was noticeably louder than the Shark Ion R85 (59.2). We were able to have a conversation because the vacuum worked around us but definitely raised our voices. Much like the app that communicates the Eufy Robovac 30C, the Mi Home app is designed to control multiple house devices. While the vacuum part of this app is robust, the design isn't intuitive. We were impressed with how the Roborock S5 approached walls and barriers. The bumper on the Roomba 690 seemed to announce that it hit something with clunk; the S5 was much more polite.

The robot slows its strategy and its own side brush before gingerly approaching an obstacle. The S5 pushed on seats and dog bowls than the Shark Ion R85 and also the Neato Botvac D7. It wasn't destructive, but I wouldn't leave a vase on a lightweight plant stand around during a cleaning. The Roborock S5 may also be controlled via Amazon Alexa and Google Home. However, don't expect to access any complex features using Alexa; the options are On and Off, which prompts to bot to return to its foundation. Google Assistant adds"Return to Dock," which sends the robot house, rather than Stop, which divides the vacuum in its paths.

 All in all, the Roborock S5 accumulated an average of 86.8% of all test debris on carpet--a performance on a level with the Neato Botvac D7, but well below the Shark Ion R85's 97.2 percent. The S5's hardwood performance told a similar tale, picking up an average of 83.9 percent of test debris. It was bested by the Botvac D7 by 12 percent. If you guessed the Go icon would initiate a fundamental cleaning cycle, you'd be wrong. Instead, Go directs the S5 to a user-chosen stage on the cleansing map for the bot to perform a spot cleaning. Activating the icon that is sterile initiates a vacuuming cycle. Buried in the Settings menu are five distinct Cleanup modes: Quiet, Balanced, Turbo, MAX and Mop. The app, and by extension, the vacuum, retain the mode last used. Flip the Roborock S5 above and you'll find two black rubber wheels on both sides, a multi-directional wheel at front, and a three-spoke side brush to the leftside. Between the wheels are the mix rubber and bristle roller brush. Though similar to the brush on the Eufy Robovac 30c, the S5's roller brush stayed remarkably free of hair and fuzz. Installation and program  The main screen shows the place in yards, cleaning time and our item of information--staying battery life. Along the base are icons for Go, Dock, Clean and Zoned Cleanup. What the Roborock S5 lacked cleaning thoroughness, it made up for with speed, cleaning our hardwood and carpet test area in an average of 15 minutes and 22 seconds, almost a complete hour faster than the Roomba 690 and 45 minutes fast compared to Shark Ion R85. It wasn't quite as quickly as the Neato Botvac D7, which cleaned the evaluation area in a mean of 10 minutes, 22 seconds. 

The manual recommends running a vacuum cycle that is regular within the area at least three times. We did so, but it did not appear to help. The S5 abandoned the mapped area dull and somewhat sticky. When it had been possible to use something along with water from the tank it could have performed better. Layout  As per a Roborock representative, though the Roborock S5 uses exactly the exact same app made by Xiaomi since the S55 (Xiaomi is an investor in Roborock), map information is saved locally on the robot and only enters the Cloud when an individual views the map onto the smartphone program. Up to 20 maps are saved in the Cloud at any certain time, and so are automatically deleted after a year. When users delete a map from the program, it's also removed from the Cloud. The security company assessed four distinct robot vacuums' safety, including the Roborock S55 and the Roomba 980. The Roborock S55 performed the worst; AV-Test explained this was"Due partly to gross security deficiencies in data transmission, the transfer of data to third parties, the app's unexplainable thirst for information, in addition to a clear need for progress in the statement on the handling of consumer data." Note that Map Saving Mode is currently in beta and have to be toggled on separately under Vacuum Settings in the app. We spent a few test runs re-mapping our first floor due to this map not saving mechanically. Both the iRobot Roomba i7+ and also the Botvac D7 are able to store multiple floor plans. Despite its larger size, the Roborock S5 deftly maneuvered through tight spaces. At 3.8 inches , the S5 sits straight between the 3.9-inch Botvac D7 and the 3.7-inch Roomba 690. While we don't love the laser cover at the center, the feature was significantly less obtrusive than the one on the D7, that has a large overhang and penchant for getting stuck beneath living room chairs. In our lab tests, the Roborock S5 performed nicely, but not outstandingly so. On hardwood and carpeting, it picked up an average of 96.2 percent of the Cheerios strewn throughout the test area, which was slightly less than the iRobot Roomba 690 (99.5 percent), the Neato Botvac D7 (99.8) and the Shark Ion R85, which scooped up a perfect 100 percent with this evaluation. At the center of this robot is a increased laser cover using a splash of beneath on the Neato Botvac D7. Above the cover are buttons for cleaning, on/off and recharging. Perhaps due to the colour, the wall sensors on the front and side of the S5 are more conspicuous than on other models, but they do not detract from the bot's understated appearance. The Roborock S5 is primarily controlled via the Mi Home program (Android and iOS). Connecting the robot to the app and also to our house wi-fi network took two attempts , mostly because the directions for pairing the bot into the Wi-Fi network weren't very apparent. Instructions quickly turned into a motif of the S5. "Starting the cleanup," a cheery voice announces from deep inside the Roborock S5. Rather than a string of Morse code-like beeps and chimes employed by the Neato Botvac D7, the Shark Ion R85 and lots of modern appliances, the S5 announces what it's likely to perform in easy-to-understand language prompts. Cleaning performance Security concerns You want it to look great -- particularly if it's docked in your living space, if you're adding a robot vacuum to your house. The Roborock S5 eschews the black-and-gray color scheme adopted by other vacuums for white, with muted silver trim around the rim. 

The Roborock S5 measures 13.8 inches in diameter, more than an inch bigger than the Shark Ion R85; it's also bigger than the 13-inch iRobot Roomba 690 and the 13.2-inch Neato Botvac D7. Once the Roborock S5 get its bearings, it cleaned areas in a thorough back-and-forth snake pattern. The robot vacuum immediately found its way beneath our dining room table, readily weaving its way to the other from 1 side of the room. We appreciated how hewed to walls and seat legs;it tackled walls and edges as tightly as the Neato Botvac D7. The van was also smart enough to completely avert a thick pile rug that felled other robot vacuums, but its taller elevation supposed it didn't fit under our seats or our low-clearance couch. Among our favourite design components of this Robovac S5 is its own"hood." Flip up the plastic piece and you'll find the dustbin concealed in the center, together with a Wi-Fi index light and program reset button. 

The S5 was the only real robot vacuum cleaner we reviewed that had an space to maintain the differently easy-to-lose tool for cleaning the brush roll, a way to maintain functionality while enhancing the general aesthetic. An indented section close to the rear is supposed to maintain the microfiber mop module. The black-and-white pier for the Roborock S5 is only slightly taller than the vacuum . It is only needed if you plan on utilizing the mop attachment, although A large, clear plastic mat attaches to the pier. Mopping performance We were reluctant to give the S5 free reign to mop in case it decided to test and wash our rug, therefore we used the spot-cleaning manner, which cleans a 1.5- meter (4.9 feet) area around where the S5 is placed. Turns out our hesitations were unfounded. The Roborock S5 produced about as much water as a wet Swiffer pad onto the ground. If it had cleaned as well as a Swiffer does. Picking pet hair on both the hardwood and carpeting stymied many of the robot vacuums we tested, such as the Roborock S5;it picked up only 79.5% of pet hair--10 percent less compared to Botvac D7 and 8.5 percent less compared to Ion R85. On the other hand, the S5 did finest the Roomba 690's 73.3 percent pet hair pickup speed. We're enthused about zone cleaning on the Roborock S5, as it is a wonderful way to perform a cleaning of hall or kitchen. From the main display on the app, you are able to draw boxes. Unlike the iRobot Roomba i7+ and the Neato Botvac D7, you cannot save or name the zones, which usually means you have to redraw each time to the place you wish to clean them. Adding to the confusion is an Edit Map button on the display which allows you draw virtual barrier tape and no-go zones. The Roborock S5 distinguishes itself with a mapping quality that's unique one of the robot vacuums we analyzed, but unfortunately, its own cleaning prowess is much more of a novelty than helpful. A half-inch slender disk using a microfiber pad resides beneath the rear of the vacuum. Fill out the dish with water, click it adjust the Cleanup manner and you are ready to clean.