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dweemeister · 3 years

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Best Live Action Short Film Nominees for the 93rd Academy Awards (2021, listed in order of appearance in the shorts package)

NOTE: For viewers in the United States (continental U.S., Alaska, and Hawai’i) who would like to watch the Oscar-nominated short film packages, click here. For virtual cinemas, you can purchase the packages individually or all three at once. You can find info about reopened theaters that are playing the packages in that link. Because moviegoing carries risks at this time, please remember to follow health and safety guidelines as outlined by your local, regional, and national health officials.

This blog, since 2013, has been the site of my write-ups to the Oscar-nominated short film packages. No pandemic was going to stop me this year, as I was able to view the short film packages virtually thanks to a local repertory, the Frida Cinema of Santa Ana, California. Without further ado, here are the nominees for the Best Live Action Short Film at this year’s Oscars. Films predominantly not in the English language are listed with their nation of origin.

The Present (2020, Palestine)

Since the 1990s, the Israeli military has set up hundreds of checkpoints within Palestine’s West Bank. These checkpoints have impeded Palestinian movement within the Israeli-occupied West Bank, supposedly to better protect the extraterritorial Israeli settlements there. Directed by Farah Nabulsi, The Present could have easily fell into an agitprop trap – leaning on political outrage rather than the individual emotions that power this film – but it deftly avoids doing so. On the day of his wedding anniversary with his wife, Yusef (Saleh Bakri) decides to go shopping with daughter Yasmine (Maryam Kanj). Yusef and Yasmine travel to and from Bethlehem (which is in Palestine, but is not easily accessible by Palestinians) to purchase a new refrigerator, groceries, and a few goodies for Yasmine. The process of traveling just a few miles from home proves onerous and humiliating.

Nabulsi’s film never feels like a lecture, instead preferring to juxtapose the cruel ironies that these Israeli checkpoints embody. The viewer intuits how militarized and confusing these checkpoints must be to the Palestinians. Israel’s apartheid mindset extends to the West Bank – the checkpoints have a single lane for Israeli drivers and a gated, narrow entryway specifically for the Palestinians. Past the checkpoint during their time shopping, life seems briefly normal. That Nabulsi can navigate the contrasting emotions between these scenes reflects the tautness of this film and its hints of Italian Neorealism. Bakri, as Yusef, is excellent during his tense conversations with the Israeli soldiers, even if some of these moments feel more stilted due to the actors playing the soldiers and the guerrilla filmmaking this piece employs. For Kanj, as Yasmine, one can see her anguish in seeing her father discriminated against on what should have been a special day. For Palestinian children, injustice is a rite of passage.

My rating: 8/10

Feeling Through (2019)

It is a chilly night in New York City at an hour where few are outside by choice. Teenager Tareek (Steven Prescod) is homeless. After saying good night to his friends, he happens upon Artie, a deafblind man (Robert Tarango, who is deafblind himself) holding up a sign requesting anyone to assist him. Curious and half-willing to help, Tareek taps Artie on the arm. Artie pulls out a tattered notepad and marker, asking for help to get to a bus stop. What follows is an uplifting connection between two cast-off souls, sharing each other’s good company and good humor if only for a brief time. Director Doug Roland based Feeling Through on an encounter he had with a deafblind man named Artemio. Roland’s film was accomplished in collaboration with the Hellen Keller Center.

Cynical viewers might view Feeling Through as syrupy, its swirling score too manipulative, the screenplay predictable, the filmmaking pedestrian. To different extents, each of those criticisms are true, but that does not undermine the raw inspiration responsible for this film’s pulse. It boasts solid performances from Prescod and Tarango – the latter a kitchen worker from Long Island and possibly the first deafblind actor in a lead role in film history. Roland’s screenplay beautifully strips away stereotypes of deafblind people. Tarango, as Artie, is neither overly dependent nor secluded from society. He knows that being deafblind sets him apart from those who can see and hear, and embraces the difference – lending a refreshing directness to how he communicates. Despite its lack of filmmaking or acting pedigree compared to its other nominees in this category, Feeling Through enters this Academy Awards season without a single loss in any of the film festivals that it screened in. No wonder: it is a crowd-pleaser in the best sense, without ever glossing over how difficult it is to be deafblind.

My rating: 9/10

Two Distant Strangers (2020)

Production on Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe’s Two Distant Strangers began in the shadow of George Floyd’s murder at the hands of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Its emotions are raw and there is no doubt behind the importance of the film’s messaging. Carter (rapper Joey Bada$$) has had some first date with Perri (Zaria Simone), and leaves in the morning to get home to his pet dog. Just outside the apartment building door, a police officer named Merk (Andrew Howard) stops Carter, profiles him, and ultimately kills Carter in cold blood. Once Carter dies, the film cuts to Carter and Perri in bed once again. Immediately, the viewer knows this film is a time loop a la Groundhog Day (1993), and, no matter what precautions he takes, Carter just cannot avoid execution from Merk’s hands. Through the film’s structure, Free and Roe capture the sinking, repetitive feeling that black Americans go through when hearing the news of yet another incident of police brutality.

Good intentions and urgency, however, do not necessarily make a worthy film. Some of the editing in Two Distant Strangers’ middle third shows too many images of Carter’s bullet-riddled body. After the first few instances of the time loop, the viewer does not need another glimpse of a lead-shredded corpse, blood splattering across pavement. The filmmaker’s fury towards Carter’s situation – that nothing will change – is already evident in the idea of such killings. Combined with the questionable dialogue in the final time loop and the mediocre acting, this all feels exploitative, an unwitting product of Hollywood’s history of fetishizing black trauma. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), historically, likes to reward films they perceive as demonstratively staged and thematically urgent. Two Distant Strangers meets both these criteria, but this material could have retained its rage without as much sensationalism.

My rating: 6/10

White Eye (2019, Israel)

Like Feeling Through, Tomer Shushan’s White Eye – the winner of the Narrative Short Film award at South by Southwest (SXSW) – was based on an actual encounter in its director’s life. Late at night in the streets of Tel Aviv, Omer (Daniel Gad) has spotted his stolen bicycle locked onto a rack. Omer lost his bike more than a month ago, has not filed a police report, and seeks to reclaim it as soon as possible. The police are of no help, and the people proximate to the intersection where these events take place are unwilling or hesitant to help. The now-owner of the bike is an Eritrean refugee named Yunes (Dawit Tekelaeb), and he insists to his manager (Reut Akkerman) and to Omer that he did not know that the bike was stolen property when he purchased it. And yet Omer’s tenacity and fit of passion spirals the situation beyond his or Yunes’ control.

White Eye is impressively staged, filmed in a single take – no cuts, no edits, all in real-time. To compare this film one last time to Feeling Through, White Eye accomplishes all it needs to say at a short film’s length. Some might claim Saar Mizrahi’s cinematography and 360º smooth-rotating is just another modern filmmaking gimmick; instead, it submerges the viewer into Omer’s mentality as he fights to retrieve his bike. The purposefully subjective framing questions the viewer on what our reactions might be in this situation, how deeply would we allow out outrage – and perhaps our ethnic/racial biases – to guide our actions. Shushan challenges the audience not to adopt Omer’s conclusions and emotions so readily, and he does a masterful job in appealing to and challenging one’s empathy as it becomes clear there will be no storybook ending.

My rating: 8/10

The Letter Room (2020)

By virtue of its central actor, The Letter Room is the most high-profile of this year’s nominees. Elvira Lind’s film is a dark comedy and its approach and tone are difficult to categorize. Richard (a mustached Oscar Isaac, who is Lind’s spouse) is a corrections officer who has requested a departmental transfer. With the transfer, he trades a more hands-on role for an office job. As the prison’s communications director, his responsibilities now entail filing through all of the prisoners’ incoming and outgoing mail – reading through all of the letters, reporting to his superiors for prison rules violations, censoring materials if necessary. At first, this role is as tedious as his previous position. But when Richard begins to read the histories of the prisoners and their loved ones, he becomes emotionally invested in a particular exchange between one death row inmate and his loved one (Alia Shawkat).

The Letter Room, despite a serviceable performance by Isaac as the unusual and stiff lead, has a milquetoast commentary about how the American criminal justice system imprisons more than just the inmates. These themes shambolically merge with Richard’s inherent loneliness, his inability to separate his own feelings from the voyeuristic work that his new position entails. This is a fellow looking for meaningful human connection, finding none, and attempting to understand something he has never found. The Letter Room curiously never questions the tricky ethics of Richard’s decision to intervene with the decisions made by Alia Shawkat’s character, and how the power disparities of his interactions color his life. The film’s conclusion is unearned, placing too neat a bow on a film that cannot balance its incongruous themes.

My rating: 6/10

^ All ratings based on my personal imdb rating. Half-points are always rounded down. My interpretation of that ratings system can be found in the “Ratings system” page on my blog (as of July 1, 2020, tumblr is not permitting certain posts with links to appear on tag pages, so I cannot provide the URL).

For more of my reviews tagged “My Movie Odyssey”, check out the tag of the same name on my blog.

From previous years: 85th Academy Awards (2013), 87th (2015), 88th (2016), 89th (2017), 90th (2018), 91st (2019), and 92nd (2020).

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skvaderarts · 3 years

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Hiraeth Chapter 22: Proposition

Masterlist can be found Here!

Chapter Twenty-Two: Proposition

Note: This entire chapter feels like a shitpost, and I love it. Also, dear god have I been busy working on things for a physical release of the fic! You’ll hear more about that next week on Wednesday, but if you are interested in beta reading, I have left a form below. Doing it myself is tricky, and there is a free copy in it for you bound in your choice of type (hardback, paperback, hardback with a paper cover, etc) and you will receive credit because I’m not a monster XD.

I think I want to do it as a charity thing, so suggest charities the proceeds should be donated to in the form below even if you’re not interested in being a beta reader! The size of the charity is irrelevant. They just have to be credible (IE not a nightmare like Autism Speaks or the Salvation Army, or PETA, not to get judgy or upset anyone. They just have a very bad rep.) Anyway, enough of that! Back to the story!

(-~-)

By all accounts, the initial plan had been simple enough. They were going to eat dinner and then see where the evening took them. The only issue was that not a single one of them had really thought the plan through. That was typical enough, all things considered, but none of them really considered the fact that accomplishing that goal might be a little bit harder than they had originally expected it to be. Namely because of one major problem.

While Sirrus’s intentions had been pure enough when he had offered to cook, and V’s had been equally so when he had agreed to allow him to do so, the execution of those plans had left much to be desired. Making plans without knowing the full extent of their impact seemed to be something that ran in the Sparda family, regardless of the context of the plan, and while this was a minor occurrence in a sea of what had otherwise been huge high stakes situations, that didn’t change the fact that it was literally impossible to cook without food. And if it wasn’t, no one present wanted to know how that was done.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems that you might be a little short on… everything at the moment.” Sirrus said as politely as he could, clearly amused by the utter emptiness that he was presented with when he opened the cabinet door. “Am I getting my hopes up by assuming that you have something in the refrigerator, or are we just going to have to make a run to the store? I mean, we’re probably going to have to for what I had in mind, but still.”

V felt himself die a little inside at his companion’s polite yet ruthless assessment of his current living situation. Sirrus was entirely correct, it was too much to hope for. He hadn’t really been home much recently, if at all since he had acquired the place, and as such, grocery shopping had been very low on his list of priorities. It had been easier to just grab something and call it a day in the two days that he had actually been in the house so far. He only wished that he had thought of that before he’d offered to allow Sirrus to cook! He could have saved himself a lot of unneeded embarrassment.

Was this what it felt like to be Dante? Because if it was, that was a tragedy. The only upside to his current situation was that Lucia, Nico, and Nero were in the next room talking, so they were not able to experience his deep loathing and shame first hand, not to mention the verbal beatdown that he had just suffered at Sirrus’s hands. Or should he say vocal cords? Either way, the point still stood that he did indeed need to procure food because the only thing available to consume in the house was peeling wallpaper, dried-out paint, and dust. And knowing V’s luck, Shadow had probably already consumed those already when he wasn’t looking. That was absolutely something she would do.

“I would say the latter is the most true, given the options at hand. That is not to say that the second option is not correct, as it absolutely is… but that’s not the type of narrative I’d like to weave at this juncture.” V “But the thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest, so it is probably best that I simply accompany you to the store so I can see to it that my cabinets are not as bare as Dante’s office is dark.”

Sirrus nodded as he closed a stary cabinet door, turning to fully face the slightly frazzled young man. “That seems agreeable enough. Hopefully my matter of fact, no-nonsense way of stating the obvious wasn’t as abrasive as it seems now that I am able to look back on it. Hindsight is 2020, as they say.” He straightened out his long shirt, adjusting his shoulders as he allowed his head to pull from side to side. He was slightly uncomfortable as, for the first time, he stepped close enough to V to notice that they were largely the same size and stature. What an eye-opening realization. “I’m sarcastic, some would even sardonic, but I like to think I’m not unfeeling. I’ve yet to lose my grip on the reality of the world around me and start to view the rest of the world with a sort of cold dissonance like so many around me have. What do people call that now? Being edgy? Somehow I am under the impression that that might not be the proper use of that term.”

V brushed him off, taking a step to the side instead of taking a step back. He wasn’t intimidated by the tall redhead despite the fact that he was sure that he probably had ample reason to be. There was a certain mysterious quality to him that was carefully outlined with a certain measure of involuntary menace that he couldn’t quite place, and his prior comments didn’t help in that regard. There was just something… feral about him, some sort of wild strength that he knew that his guest could reach into if he wished to do so and bring to bear against those he considered deserving of it. It was something that he could just feel in the pit of his stomach, a sort of primordial sense of strength and power that reminded him of his own family, but it was notably different in a way that was hard to describe. Was it darker somehow? Was that the right way to put it?

But that wondering was enough to keep him grounded in a situation like this. He seemed trustworthy, but he would still keep his guard up until he was absolutely sure, even if he wasn’t actively trying to do so. It was simply instinct, and going with his gut had kept him alive this long, so he was going to continue doing so. If it wasn’t broken, then he wasn’t going to fix it. “Think nothing of it. I take no offense to you stating the obvious. I don’t think that there has been food in this house in at least a decade.”

“Probably longer than that, if I remember correctly. This place has been empty for about fifteen years. After the will was read, Magnolia’s side of the family cleaned the place out as quickly as they could before they went their separate ways. Quite a lot of bad blood between them, from what I could tell. It was a shame how that all played out, but grief brings out the worst in people, especially when the root cause of that grief is so… unexpected.” The man with the long red hair peered out of the back door for a moment as though he were expecting something or perhaps had heard a commotion of some sort. He seemed to study the bushes against the back wall for a long moment before continuing. “As per your request… that is more than fine by me. I won’t, then. I shall pretend that we never mentioned the food in the first place.”

“You say that as though you were personally there to see it. You seem too young to have witnessed something of that nature, but you have first-hand knowledge of it from a viewpoint that would suggest that you were a neutral party witnessing it from within the inner circle of what was going on.” V was admittedly curious as to how Sirrus would explain something like that in a way that made sense. Or would it make sense at all? Who was to say. He would simply have to wait and find out. “I had assumed that we were quite close in age. But then again, everyone knows what they say about assuming things. I should have known better than to think that I know everything about someone that I barely know. My mistake.”

“Looks can be deceiving, as I’m sure you know first hand. Your family is quite literally living proof of that concept. I assure you however that I was present. I just seem younger than…” He stopped, catching himself as though he were about to say something that he didn’t mean to, waiving off both his near mistake and V’s apology casually. V was clever, something that he had pegged about him from the very first moment that they had made eye contact. It was something intrinsic in the way that he held himself, and every time that he had opened his mouth since then had only served to strengthen that notion. But now his keen intellect was becoming troublesome, not that it changed anything in the end either way. ”That quote from before about the harvest… William Blake, if I remember correctly? I’m quite fond of his works, especially the illustrations. Quite the brilliant man.” He stopped for a moment, seemingly considering something before looking over at the doorway. He then nodded quietly to himself before redirecting his attention towards V once more, finding his companion’s silence interesting. He seemed to be waiting for him to continue. “Personally, Mary Shelly is my all-time favorite. Frankenstein and all that. I have a more contemporary favorite as of late, but telling you that might say more about me than I mean for it to, so I’ll keep it to myself for now.

Now V had more questions than answers. Sirrus was a walking mystery, and the more that he spoke, the more V questioned his own perception and his impression of him changed. It was as fascinating as it was confounding, but he couldn’t say that he disliked it. There was just something captivating about not being able to read him, regardless of how hard he tried. A part of him wondered if anyone else in his family had this issue. He would ask them when presented with the chance to do so. Well then, back to what we were discussing before.”

“We were discussing something before? I can’t say that I remember anything. But I do recall you saying to “think nothing of it.” The playfully smug, all-knowing tone of voice that he spoke in was enough to make V shake his head and roll his eyes, but he resisted. It was a welcome juxtaposition to the conversation that they had just indulged in, and they were both somehow simultaneously relieved that they didn’t have to indulge in it any longer.

He couldn’t help but snicker somewhat at that response. Sirrus was endearingly hatstand, wasn’t he? Despite the unintentionally tense conversation that they had just indulged in, the white-haired summoner couldn’t help but be amused. It was complicated, and yet so very simple. “Let’s go to the store, Sirrus. I’ll tell the others that we will return shortly. You may accompany me if you’d like.”

Sirrus nodded politely, using both hands to signal to him that he was to walk first as he bowed lower than what was needed and stepped back out of his companion’s way. V scoffed in amusement but went along with his slightly antiquated gesture, admittedly entertained by it. Yes, this had to be what other people felt like when they met him for the first time. He understood why they looked at him like that now. Slowly but surely, it was all coming together.

(-~-)

From what they could tell, the store was mostly empty. It was nearly 9 o’clock at night, and it seemed that everyone who wanted to buy groceries had done so by then. While it was understandable that most people in the city wouldn’t want to start cooking this late, it was still a little bit surreal to see just how few people were willing to make a midnight dash to the supermarket to stock up on general goods and necessities. One could only imagine that recent events in the region had made people more than a little bit jumpy, but this was an entirely new level of silent unrest that made an already somewhat eerie environment that much more uncomfortable.

As the absentmindedly browsed the shelves in relative silence, V shifted in discomfort. He couldn’t shake the persistent feeling that something simply wasn’t right, and that he should go with his gut and leave this place before something happened. Although it was basically impossible to predict something like that, V was convinced that the persistent feeling of unrecognizable dread that he felt brewing in the very pit of his stomach was something more substantial than he was allowing himself to believe. And under the guise of trying not to seem silently panicked, he couldn’t help but feel a nameless terror overtake him. This feeling that he felt was familiar in the worst way possible. It reminded him of the train ride back in Lucia’s homeland, the strange subconscious sensation that he was no longer in the driver’s seat in regards to his own cognitive feedback. And the idea that his enemy might be trying to do something, anything at all, was not good. He needed to do something fast.

“I apologize if my being around you alone is subconsciously offputting. I get the impression that you are disturbed, and you probably aren’t sure what that is just yet. Let me assure you that it is in fact, me, and that I am not doing so intentionally.” Sirrus casually reached up and took a can down from a shelf, turning it over in his hands absentmindedly as he studied it to see if it was something that he could use. “But the disturbance that you feel is most certainly tangible. I recognized your specific gifts and aptitudes a while back. You have a heightened sensitivity to certain things. Very useful if utilized correctly.”

He paused for a moment to look at V, seemingly waiting for him to respond in some way. As he realized that his companion wasn’t speaking, he sighed with bated breath, looking slowly from side to side as he checked to make sure that no one was around them. Not that he needed his eyes to do that. It was more for V’s benefit than his own, in any case. “To someone with a trained eye, abilities like that stick out like a sore thumb, especially when the person in possession of them doesn’t yet know how to control them. But that is not to say that you don’t have amazing potential if only someone were to educate you as to how to do deliberately what already comes to you so naturally.”

“Gifts? What are you…” V paused as he considered what he wanted to say next. Sirrus could see something about him that the rest of the people he knew couldn’t? That was alarming to him for reasons that he couldn’t quite place at the moment. Was he that obvious? What else had he been doing that he just hadn’t noticed was a dead giveaway in regards to his true nature? Could anyone else tell, or was that something specific to Sirrus?

“Your grandfather is the Dark Knight Sparda, yes? I couldn’t help but notice your surname. He was a good man. And he was very powerful. I see things in both you and your brother that I do not see in your older relatives.” He seemed to be speaking carefully as he headed to the center aisle in his search for… whatever it was that he was looking for to cook dinner with. He seemed to notice V’s quiet, well-concealed panic, but the atmosphere had changed notably in the air around them. There was a certain latent hostility to V’s demeanor that hadn’t been there before, and for the first time since he’d arrived in town to carry out his mission, he felt genuinely threatened by someone. While he had indeed encountered resistance, nothing so far had felt so pure, so dynamic in its ability to utterly destroy him, and he got the impression that neither V nor himself truly knew what the young man with the white hair was capable of at that moment. And as exhilarating as that might be under most circumstances, this was far from the case at this moment in time.

It was time to start explaining himself.

“... Sometimes things skip a generation, carried in latent genes by your forebears. This may be one of those cases. That’s what makes me as powerful as I am in some regards. And it is why we have what I like to call Dry Generations; instances in which nothing particularly interesting happens.” The hostility level didn’t decrease much, and Sirrus took a mental note of that, preparing himself should the worst happen. And he hoped with every fiber of his being that it wouldn’t. Something told him that if he had to resort to that, Vergil wouldn’t appreciate him having to explain it after the fact, and the last thing he wanted to have to do was pry Yamato out of his own chest. Vergil had quite the throwing arm. And as fast as he was, he wasn’t sure he was quite that fast. “But when more interesting individuals are born, well, they are most certainly more… intriguing. You and Nero seem to fit that bill nicely.”

“Are you threatening me?” V asked point-blank, his posture slightly more straight than it had been a moment before. Perhaps without thinking it, V had shifted into a readied stance, unwilling to be taken off guard by any kind of sudden attack. Resorting to this kind of public display of power had to be against some code of ethics or something, but he wasn’t going to stand there and take something like that laying down if it came to it. He needed to make that clear, even if Magnolia probably wouldn’t appreciate him bringing Sirrus to her in the middle of the night filled with puncture wounds from Shadow and several broken bones from a trip off of a local roof, courtesy of Griffon. He just hoped that he wouldn’t need to do that. And although he was somewhat sure that he wouldn’t need to, that didn’t change the fact that he might still need to defend himself.

In a moment of self-awareness, Sirrus shook his head, stepping back slightly as he allowed his head to rest on the edge of the center bin that he stood next to. There was some kind of meat inside of it with a sale sign next to it, but that would only become relevant if they made it out of this encounter in one piece. What a fascinating reaction. I would have never thought that he was capable of actually being overtly aggressive considering his physical state and general disposition. He normally has such a mild mentality.” He thought to himself as he let his arms fall to his sides, wanting to demonstrate as clearly as possible that he was not trying to intimidate V or cause him any harm. One could only imagine what he had been through in his young life, and he wasn’t going to add to that pain and suffering if he could help it.

Maybe it was simply the demon side of him showing itself a little in that moment as a natural defense mechanism? He knew that they were not entirely human, after all, and he had no idea how much demonic blood ran through his veins. It mattered very little if he was being truthful with himself. His pedigree alone ensured that he was powerful, And that was something he could deeply sympathize with on an extremely personal level. He too carried his own darkness locked away deep within himself, even if it was a different form of it. He couldn’t judge him for the one time he slipped up. Hell, he’d give him a hug if he wasn’t so sure it would get him stabbed through the gut with V’s cane.

“Oh, perish the thought. Not even slightly. I wouldn’t dare. Though I do admit that it probably seems that way.” He watched V relax slightly, at least physically, sliding back into the comfortable leaning position that he was accustomed to associating with him. It made him wonder what the young summoner had been through that had made him this way, or if perhaps it was a one-off fluke reaction to this exact situation. Maybe he could ask him another time when he calmed all the way down. It seemed that he had at least a little bit of his father in him after all. “Quite the opposite though. I am extending an invitation. I would like to help you with that. Now, were you thinking fin or fang in regards to protein for this meal? It seems we have simpler choices to make this time around. But something tells me it won’t always be that way. Darkness looms on the horizon, and I have the feeling that something sinister might be readying itself just out of view.”

V gave him an apprehensive look, unsure as to what to really say to that. This entire conversation had certainly changed his outlook on a few things, to say nothing of how it had nearly taken a turn for the worst. He needed ample time to think things through. He was used to being the logical, level-headed one in situations like this. Something about that conversation had severely taken him out of his element, But at least a few of his questions had been answered, even if more now lingered in the back of his mind. And more importantly, there hadn’t been a public display of supernatural violence that could have destroyed both of them and the building along with them.

Sighing gently as if to physically rid himself of the toxic experience he had just suffered through, V looked at Sirrus, the both of them somehow knowing that the other regretted what had almost just happened even without saying it. It was best to leave things alone for now and just leave this store. Maybe the building itself was driving them both insane. “Fang.”

(-~-)

Gosh, writing this chapter makes me want to work on the story that I’ve been wanting to write for so long now. But not yet! I don’t pick projects up easily after I walk away from them, so for now, I will wait. There is still much to be done with this AU, but gosh writing Sirrus gets me in the mood for that. Let’s just say he doesn’t originate from this AU universe.

Here is the link to the form! It’s only 4 questions and should take about two minutes to answer. Thank you! You’re a big help to me. I want it to be clear that I’m not making anything from this fic, I just want to do something neat for charity and give you something cool in return.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1jD0AKYiX3EfLjt-M_Rk8CapJ0GdzVqB-9oDMhV3SG2A/edit?usp=sharing

Sorry for my rambling this week! I’m just excited, I guess! Also, a special thank you to the like 2 people on Tumblr that like my chapters every week. I like your energy =^~^=

#Hiraeth #V #Vitale #Devil May Cry AU #Sirrus #DMC #DMC5 #Post DMC5

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anjumaaboni · 3 years

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Commercial Refrigeration: The Best Option for Your Establishment

The season for keeping food and drinks cool or numb is here. It is imperative for any food launch to save food chilled of numb at the right temperature to ensure it remains well-ventilated and plenty for consumption. Commercial refrigeration is a pleasing obstinate and there are exchange options that are adequate for any sized food or drinks inauguration.

Staycold HD1140F – this is an upright freezer that has a double glass appreciation. The hermetically sealed glass right to use accumulate once the vertical layout and pliable shelving enables you to handily sky the contents through the habit in. It is 2020 millimetre tall and 1140 millimetres tall. This unit has an animatronics saving Eco mode and built in voltage auspices. It is suitable for larger kitchens that require a lot of freezer storage.

Staycold HD690F – this is the single glass gate report of the aforementioned upright freezer. Due to its narrower width of 690 millimetres it is more confirmed for medium sized kitchen set ups. It has same features to the double relationships outfit.

For more info commercial refrigeration in auckland

Upright Freezer 420L – this upright freezer is a single habit in unit gone a white exterior and four shelves. It measures 650 x 660 x 1980 millimetres in size which makes it to your liking for little kitchens still is broad sufficient later than a 420 litre carrying out.

Upright Freezer 289L – this upright freezer is a little vertical unit that proceedings 540 x 595 x 1980 millimetres in view of that it quite easily fits into a little kitchen. It has a 289 litre facility for that footnote it doesn’t adjunct happening as much as the 420 litre metaphor but it is ideal for cafes or coffee shops that don’t have as much food items to combined in the freezer.

Underbar Fridge Two and a Half Swing Door – this fridge has a 610 litre knack yet it fits under a counter. It events 1825 x 745 x 902 millimetres which makes it wide ample to accretion many food items in a in view of that positioned unit. It has a stainless steel body by now two and a half strong stainless steel doors. This commercial refrigeration unit is ideal for bars and coffee shops that ache to save the unit out of the customers’ view.

#commercial refrigeration in auckland

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ft-dads-au · 4 years

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Birthday Wish

A big thank you to @watcher-ofthe-sky for letting us use her fanart of Igneel’s scarf!

Natsu Day 2020 Pairing(s): Natsu & Erza, Natsu & Gildarts A collaboration by @mdelpin and @oryu404

AO3 | FF.Net

Summary: When Natsu wakes up on his birthday he has a simple wish: to spend a nice day with Erza and his father.

July 7, 2003

Natsu felt the warmth of the sun's early rays trickling through his bedroom window, signaling the start of a new day, but he ignored it, choosing to keep his eyes closed. Today was his birthday, but he had no idea what to expect.

Every year since he could remember, his parents would come into his bedroom on his birthday to wake him up. His father would sing Happy Birthday in Fiorean, and then he'd launch into renditions of birthday songs from his native Alvarez. Natsu had never really understood the words themselves, but he'd always enjoyed it regardless. It had always been one of his favorite parts of the day, and he found himself hoping for it, even though he knew that with his mother gone, it was unlikely.

Everything had changed since she'd died last August. His dad - who had always had a joke or a funny story at the ready - was now sad pretty much all the time. Whenever he wasn't at work, he spent most of his time sitting in an armchair and staring off into space.

His older sister Erza was doing her best to fill the void created by their mom's absence. She'd been learning how to cook, do laundry, and all the other chores their mom used to take care of. There was no more time for games or pretend, leaving Natsu feeling adrift. He tried to do as much as he could, helping out with the chores and attempting to put a smile on his dad's face, but nothing seemed to change.

Regardless, Natsu had always been a bit of an optimist, so he remained in his bed with his eyes closed.

Wishing.

Waiting.

Allowing himself the barest flicker of hope that his dad would walk into his room at any moment.

He wanted today to be a good day. He didn't even care about presents, although, of course, that would be nice. The only thing he craved this year was to have a nice day with his dad and sister. So he waited and waited and waited some more until the heat underneath the covers became stifling, and he had no choice but to admit that his dad wasn't going to come.

Trying not to let that affect him, Natsu got up, making his bed to keep Erza from having to do it. He decided to go to him instead. Maybe if he asked nicely, his dad would still do it. He rushed through brushing his teeth, thinking about the words he would say. Stepping out of the bathroom and into the hallway, he walked to his father's bedroom, working up his courage as he got nearer.

But he never got the chance as Erza came out of their father's bedroom and closed the door behind her, standing in front of it with a face Natsu had come to recognize. Erza was disappointed. Still, she smiled brightly when her gaze fell on him.

"There you are! I was getting ready to come get you!" she exclaimed, her voice too cheerful, her smile too quick for him to trust that everything was okay, "Happy Birthday, I can't believe you're nine already!"

As she led him away from the room and down the stairs, she chattered nonstop about everything they were going to do to celebrate. Natsu looked back at the door, an unexplainable sense of dread coming over him at the sight.

The next thing he knew, he was sitting at the breakfast nook, staring at a huge breakfast of pancakes and bacon.

"Isn't dad coming to eat?"

"Nah, he was tired, maybe he'll feel up to it later," Erza muttered in between bites, her eyes fixed on the pancakes on her plate.

"Okay," Natsu shrugged and dug in, it wouldn't be the first time that had happened.

They cleared the dishes, putting them in the dishwasher for later.

"Would you like your present?" Erza asked shyly.

"You didn't have to get me anything," Natsu replied, but his grin was enough to show he sure as hell didn't mind.

Erza rolled her eyes at him, grabbing some sort of wrapped cylinder from the coat closet at the foot of the stairs and shoving it at him.

Whatever it was, Natsu could tell she was really excited about it, reminding him of other birthdays. "It's not another dragon onesie, is it?" he teased, unwrapping the present as slowly as he could manage, knowing that it would drive her crazy.

He didn't last long, his curiosity and excitement overriding his need to be a brat, and soon he was looking at a foam practice sword like the ones that Erza used in her lessons.

"Wow! This is awesome!" Natsu moved it from arm to arm getting a feel for its weight, and soon he began making practice slashes.

"Wanna spar?" Erza asked, grabbing one of her swords from the same closet and pointing it at him.

"Sure!"

She taught him the basics, enough for them to play around, pretending to be pirates fighting over treasure. Their squeals of laughter getting louder and louder until Natsu had to ask, "Shouldn't we be quieter?"

"Oh, yeah," Erza agreed, but rather than being quiet, she stopped altogether. "We should get started on your cake."

Natsu followed her into the kitchen, "You're gonna let me help?!"

"Well yeah, Mom taught you all her tricks. We want it to be a yummy cake, don't we?"

Natsu nodded eagerly, "It's not hard, I'll show you!"

They worked together until they were both satisfied with the results, giggling at their batter covered faces. They cleaned up while the cake baked, with Erza fixing them sandwiches while they waited.

The cake came out looking pretty nice, and they set about making frosting, with Erza determined it needed to be pink to match his hair, although she had also pulled out some strawberries from the refrigerator to decorate the top.

It had been a great day, but there was still something missing, something he desperately wanted. He couldn't help thinking that as much fun as they'd had Erza had kept him busy every moment of the day, almost as if she were trying to keep him away from their dad. And shouldn't he have come down to eat at least? They'd had two meals already, and unlike at breakfast when there had been plenty of food for all three of them, Erza had only made sandwiches for the two of them.

That sense of foreboding came back even stronger as he wondered what Erza was trying to keep him from. So while she was putting frosting on the cake, he snuck away, wanting to find out what was going on and hoping desperately that all that was wrong was that his dad was hungover again.

He had reached the stairs when there was a knocking at the door. Natsu was surprised to see Erza answer, they weren't supposed to do that without an adult present.

Two people came in, one was a policewoman, the other a tall man who was studying Erza and him as well.

"Are you kids alright?" the policewoman asked his sister.

"Yes, we're fine," Erza sounded polite like she always did with adults, but all Natsu could do was watch in fascination and dread.

"Is there an adult here with you?"

Erza remained silent, and it was clear that she was struggling with what to say.

"Of course there is!" Natsu yelled, full of indignation at the implication, "Our dad is upstairs."

It was Erza's flinch that did it. Every single doubt he'd had that day returned full force, and no matter how much he struggled to quiet it, it wouldn't go away.

He had to go upstairs, needed to show these people that they could go wherever they came from because his dad was right there. And soon, he would come downstairs and sing him Happy Birthday, and they would eat the cake that Natsu and Erza had made together.

"Son, you need to come with us," the policewoman said, earning a glare from the other man.

"You don't need to do anything yet," the other man assured him, "My name is Gildarts Clive, I am a social worker from the Magnolia Department of Social Services. I've been sent here to make sure that you are safe and that there is someone here to take care of you. That's all."

He smiled at both of them, and Natsu relaxed slightly, "Now, what are your names?"

"I'm Erza Dragneel, and that's my little brother, Natsu," Erza answered for both of them, her voice sounding wooden, and just like when they were eating pancakes that morning, she wouldn't look at him.

"Tell you what, Natsu," Gildarts walked towards him slowly, holding both his hands in front of him, "Why don't you and I go upstairs to talk to your dad, and if he's there like you say, then we'll go right away, okay?"

Natsu thought it over and nodded, that sounded reasonable enough.

"If he isn't up there, though, I'm going to help you pick out some things, and we'll take you to stay somewhere safe until he returns."

That part not so much, but Natsu was sure he had nothing to worry about, so he once again nodded in agreement.

"Good man," Gildarts smiled and gestured at Natsu to lead the way to his father's room, following him up the stairs.

Natsu stood in front of the door, but he couldn't seem to make his hand move to open it. Gildarts knocked on it and waited for an answer. When none came, he called out.

"Mr. Dragneel, this is Gildarts Clive from the Magnolia Department of Social Services, if you're in there, I need you to answer me."

They both waited in tense silence, but once again, there was nothing, only the quiet sound of Erza crying as the policewoman asked her lots of questions.

"Alright, Mr. Dragneel, I'm going to have to open this door. I apologize for the intrusion," Gildarts peered down at Natsu as if waiting for his approval.

He must have done something for Gildarts was opening the door, and Natsu rushed in wishing to hear his father complain, but Erza's tears had been enough for him to realize what he would find. His father wasn't there. The black and white checkered scarf he always wore sat neatly folded on the bed, along with a gift-wrapped box and a card.

Natsu found he couldn't move, and as much as he hated to feel Gildarts' gaze on him, he was almost grateful when the man picked him up and sat him on the bed before inspecting his father's closet and bathroom.

"It looks like those are for you," Gildarts prodded, sitting next to him, "Don't you want to open them?"

He shook his head, "Not before he sings me Happy Birthday."

"It's your birthday today?"

Gildarts studied him again before sighing, "Why don't you show me to your room? I'll help you get some things together. We don't know where your dad is right now, but we'll leave a note downstairs and a card. If he comes back-"

"He's going to come back!" Natsu screamed, making Gildarts startle.

"Sorry, my bad, when he comes back, we'll have a talk with him and get this all sorted out, okay?"

Natsu could hear Erza coming up the stairs, the policewoman following close behind, and when they passed his room to get to hers, he wanted so much to be angry with her for keeping this from him. But he couldn't. She must have been upset too, but she'd spent all day trying to make his birthday the absolute best she could given what she'd known. How could he fault her for that?

Natsu followed Gildarts to his room, watching listlessly as he packed some of his clothes into a bag. He let his eyes wander over his walls, which were covered with posters of dragons of all kinds. Models he'd built with his dad over the years sat on his bookcase, all vestiges of happier times.

His throat felt like it had a weight on it, but still, he didn't cry. Just took everything in and wondered what had happened. How did everything go so wrong in such a short time? It wasn't that long ago that he'd had a mother who had loved him and a father who - hadn't needed to be found.

Natsu refused to believe that he was gone for good. This wasn't the first time he'd left for a couple of days. He always came back, bringing presents and apologizing for his absence, and then everything would be better for a few days.

Natsu had no idea where his father went during these times, but they seemed to do him good, and that's all that mattered to him. That's what this was, he was sure of it. And with that thought, he relaxed. He'd just have to make sure he was here when his father came back.

Natsu understood this wasn't a fight he could win. He had no choice but to go with these people, but that didn't mean he had to stay.

Once Gildarts was done, he offered him his hand, and Natsu took it, allowing himself to be led.

"Are you sure you don't want to open that present, kid?" Gildarts asked him again.

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"Alright, but at least take this," Gildarts left him in the hallway and Natsu waited patiently, confused when he saw the social worker holding his father's scarf, "It might make you feel better in a strange place."

Natsu doubted it, but he nodded and let Gildarts wrap it around his neck. He'd just give it back to his dad when he saw him.

Erza came out of her room with a bag of her own. She searched his eyes and then hid behind her bangs, "I'm so sorry, Natsu. I had to."

"It's okay," he assured her, and wanting to let her know how much he appreciated everything she'd done for him, he added, "I had fun today, thank you."

For some reason he didn't get that seemed to make her cry again. Gildarts walked over to her, whispering some words that Natsu didn't catch, but they seemed to make her feel better.

They were led out of their home and placed in the back of a vehicle. Gildarts had grabbed the cake and brought it along with them, but Natsu didn’t want it anymore. Erza seemed afraid, but Natsu wasn't worried. Everything would be fine as soon as their dad came back.

He was sure of it.

0-0

Gildarts had been right about one thing, wearing his father’s scarf did make him feel better. It reassured him whenever they were moved from house to house and he wore it all the time. Natsu didn’t feel at home anywhere, and soon he closed himself off to everyone but Erza and Gildarts. No matter how nice the people were, and sometimes they were, they weren’t his parents and he wanted no part of them.

For two years, he stubbornly ran away from every foster family social services placed him and Erza. It made no difference to him how far away it was, he would make his way back to Magnolia, returning to their real home, determined that his father would come back for them.

He'd fought anyone who said any different, including Gildarts, who had been on the receiving end of his anger more than once.

He was the one who would invariably come and drag Natsu back to his foster home, always managing to keep him out of trouble. It did nothing to lessen Natsu's determination, and no matter how much Erza begged him to stop, he couldn't let it go.

Until the night Makarov Dreyar had shown up in Gildarts' stead.

He introduced himself as Gildarts' father and explained that Gildarts had gone back into the military. He would no longer be able to protect Natsu from the consequences of his constant rule-breaking, so he'd made arrangements for his parents to become their new foster parents.

Makarov even promised to bring Natsu to the house whenever he wanted, as long as he promised to stop sneaking out in the middle of the night.

Natsu wanted to fight, to say that the only home he needed was right behind him, but he had to admit he was drained. The news that he wouldn't even have Gildarts anymore hit him hard. As much as he fought with the social worker, he couldn’t deny that he'd taken a liking to him. Gildarts had been a steady presence in his life, always willing to listen and Natsu had enjoyed the time he got to spend with him, even when he was in trouble.

Now he’d abandoned Natsu as well. But he knew that wasn't exactly fair. Gildarts had left, and it did hurt, but he’d made sure that in his absence, Natsu and Erza were taken care of by someone he trusted. Something their own father hadn't done.

And that's when Natsu remembered Erza's words the day they had been taken away, the apology he'd thought was for lying to him about their dad's absence. For not being able to give him the birthday he'd hoped for.

I'm so sorry, Natsu. I had to.

It had been Erza who had called Social Services on them.

Now that he thought about it, she hadn't acted at all surprised when they had shown up at their door. The realization dismayed him, but he knew in his heart that it was the truth. And he had to wonder why she’d done it.

Erza was not one to give up easily. She must have somehow recognized that Igneel wasn't coming back from wherever he went this time. Or maybe she just accepted that she couldn't take care of them on her own anymore. Either way, she had made the tough decision to ask for help, to ensure that they were cared for, just like Gildarts had.

Erza had accepted the truth two years ago, and Natsu realized that maybe it was time he did too.

If Igneel hadn't come back to them yet, it was quite likely he never would.

Erza had given them a chance at another life, and now Gildarts had offered them a home with his own family. But all Natsu had accomplished with his denial was to hurt himself and put them at risk of being separated. He didn’t want to do that anymore.

Natsu finally let himself cry for all the things he'd lost while Makarov comforted him as best he could.

"So, do we have a deal?" Makarov asked when Natsu was done.

“Yeah,” he sniffled, “There’s just something I want to get from inside.”

Makarov flashed him an approving grin and fished around in his pocket, extracting the house key and presenting it to him, “Gildarts hoped you’d say that.”

#fairy tail #ftdadsau #natsu dragneel #natsu & erza #natsu & gildarts #fics #natsu day

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haltandcatchfiretothemax · 4 years

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FEMSLASH FEBRUARY 2020 #9: in which Cameron checks on Donna (and Joanie and Haley)

[CN: spoilers for season 4 of Halt and Catch Fire; food/eating; grief]

At dinner, Alexa could tell that Cameron was distracted. Just after the salad course, she asked her, “So. Comet. Things must be intense there right now, I guess?”

“What?” Cameron looked up. “Oh, I guess? Actually, it’s not terrible there. It’s sad, but everyone is happy to work, I guess. It’s fine.”

“It seems like something is on your mind, though?” Alexa pressed her.

Their waiter brought out their entrees: a steak au poivre for Cameron, and chicken marengo for Alexa. They thanked him, and when he left them to their meal, Cameron said, “I haven’t talked to Donna or her and Gordon’s kids in a few weeks. I’m worried about them. I mean not worried, like, they’re not in danger.”

“But you’re thinking about them,” Alexa said. “I understand.” She poked a fork into her dinner. “I’m not completely heartless or single-minded, Cameron.”

Awkwardly, Cameron said, “Oh, I know, I mean I know you get it. I just haven’t been in touch with them.”

“Is there a reason for that? Just too much going on at Comet?”

“There isn’t really, though,” Cameron said. “I just haven’t known what to say. I know that there’s nothing I can say that will fix it. And I also know that they know that and that they don’t expect me to fix it. I just can’t get myself to go see them, though. Every time I think about going to their house I feel like I’m intruding.”

“Well, that’s silly,” Alexa deadpanned.

“I know,” Cameron nodded. “Just, can’t help it.”

“Then you should go,” Alexa shrugged. “Right now. Just go, don’t think about it.”

“What?” Cameron said. Before she could say anything else, Alexa was politely asking their waiter to wrap up their food and bring the check.

Alexa was signing the check as she said, “Cameron, sometimes the best way to get work done is to do something else. Clearly, to get anything done, you need to go see your friend. Which is fine. Go! Be a human person. Go see how she is.”

Thirty minutes later, Cameron was waiting on Donna’s doorstep, leftovers in hand, after ringing the bell so timidly that she thought that maybe it hadn’t sounded. But then, after a minute, she saw Donna, in her pajamas and a robe, walking toward her front door. When she saw Cameron, her eyes narrowed, as if she was confused, or didn’t quite believe that it was her.

Donna opened the door. “Hey,” she said softly. “What brings you to this neighborhood?”

“Uh. You,” Cameron said.

Donna grinned skeptically at her. “Really? Just me?”

“I was at dinner with Alexa, and I told her that I was worried about you. Or not worried, but, you know. And she said, ‘okay, then just go see her, I’ll call you later in the week, bye.’”

Donna looked at the leftovers. “What’s in the paper bag?”

“Steak au poivre?”

“Oh,” Donna said. “Fancy. Peppery.” When Cameron couldn’t think of a response, Donna asked, “You wanna come in?”

Relieved, Cameron said, “Yeah, sure.”

Cameron followed Donna up to the kitchen. “Want me to put that in the fridge?”

“That would probably be smart,” Cameron says, handing them over.”

Opening the refrigerator door, Donna asked, “Want some coffee? Or something? I’m thinking about making some tea.”

“Sure, I’ll have some tea,” Cameron sat down at the island. Donna closed the refrigerator door, and Cameron said, “I’m sorry to just show up here.”

“Well, Alexa gave you a direct order,” Donna smirked.

Cameron chuckled nervously. “Sort of. I’m glad she did, though. I’ve been meaning to call, but, I keep finding excuses not to. Not because I don’t want to, but just…because.”

Donna put her kettle on the stove, and switched on the burner. “You don’t have to explain. I get it. You wanna check on people, but it’s weird, because you already know that they’re not okay.” She sat down across from Cameron. “How are you guys?”

Cameron frowned. “We’re…hanging in there.” Donna smiled glumly at her. Cameron asked her, “how are you? Where are Haley and Joanie?”

Donna sighed. “Haley is holed up in her room, probably working at her computer. Joanie is working, she has a babysitting job tonight.”

“I’ve talked to them a few times,” Cameron said. “I email Haley, and she always answers very promptly. It seems like they’re doing as well as they can be, under the circumstances.”

“Sometimes I think they’re doing better than I am,” Donna said. “Which, is fine. I’m grateful they’re doing as well as they are.” She got up and went to the cabinet above the sink, and grabbed two mugs and set them down on the counter. Then she asked, “Hey, what kind of tea do you want?”

Cameron shrugged, “What kind? Oh, I don’t know, I can have whatever you’re having.”

“Okay,” Donna nodded. She pulled open a drawer and produced a small tin, opened it, fished out two tea bags, and dropped them into their respective mugs, and then put the tin back in the drawer, and closed it. She turned to face Cameron again, and asked, “How are things at Comet?”

Cameron sighed heavily.

Donna returned to the island and sat down. Sympathetically, she said, “I guess that’s probably a silly question, it must be tough at the office right now.”

“It’s actually not terrible,” Cameron smiles tentatively. “I mean, sure, everyone is sad, but it feels like everyone is motivated to work extra hard and really work together, because of it. It actually kind of reminds me of Mutiny.”

Donna smiled. “Does it really? Well, from how Haley used to talk about it, I suppose I can see that.”

In a faux condescending tone, Cameron said, “Well, nothing will ever actually be like Mutiny. Obviously. But, it’s the same kind of office. Everyone is a nerd, and everyone’s just glad to be there and getting paid to code and goof off all day.” Donna laughed quietly, but then Cameron continued, “I really, really wanted to avoid working that closely with, you know. The person I’m with, though.”

“Right,” Donna nodded. “I can understand that, with how that went the first time around.” Mildly desperate to lighten the mood, Donna tried to joke, “Any BIOS codes accidentally get erased?”

Cameron’s eyes darkened slightly. “Um. Did you know that he faked that whole thing?”

“I did, actually,” Donna said. “And you found out, too?”

“I did. And I punched him in the face for it.”

Donna let out a hoarse cackle. “I’m sorry that I didn’t get to see that.” The tea kettle started to whistle, and Donna got up and went to the stove, shut off the burner, grabbed a pot holder, and picked up and carefully poured out their mugs of tea.

With Donna’s back to her, Cameron confessed, “I don’t hate being at Comet or anything, at all. I just, I’m doing it as a favor, and I really, really wanna get back to my work.”

“I get that,” Donna said.

“I don’t mean to be selfish.”

“It’s not selfish,” Donna returned with their mugs, set them down, and sat down again. “You want to put your time and energy into your work, not someone else’s. That’s perfectly reasonable.” She reached over to the center of the island and grabbed a porcelain sugar bowl, and then got up again and grabbed some spoons from the refrigerator.

Miserably, Cameron says, “It feels selfish, though.”

“Don’t think of it is as selfish,” Donna said, offering Cameron a spoon. “Think of it as just, being excited for your project.”

Cameron took the spoon from her. “I’m sitting here talking about my problems like a jerk. How’s not being at work?”

“A relief, 98 per cent of the time,” Donna said. She took the top off the sugar bowl, scooped some sugar out with her spoon, and stirred it into her tea, and then pushed the bowl toward Cameron.

Cameron put three spoonfuls of sugar in her mug. “What about the other two per cent of the time?”

“The other two per cent of the time I wish I had a distraction,” Donna sighed.

“Yeah.” Cameron stirred her tea.

Before she could say anything else, a door slammed, and Joanie yelled, “I’m home!” and threw her backpack down on the couch and stomped into the kitchen. She stopped short when she saw Cameron. Agitated, she said, “She didn’t tell me you were coming over?” She looked at Donna, “Why didn’t you tell me she was coming over?”

“She didn’t know,” Cameron said, “I just came by unannounced.”

“Oh,” Joanie said. “Well, okay, I guess that’s cool.”

“Did you eat?” Donna asked her?

“No,” Joanie said, going to the refrigerator. She pulled open the door and started to rummage through it. “Do we even have anything?”

“We could order something, if you want,” Donna said.

Joanie pulled Cameron’s paper bag of leftovers out of the refrigerator. “What’s this?”

“It’s steak au poivre,” Cameron said. “Left over from the work dinner I was just at.”

Something about it belonging to Cameron made it interesting. “Oh. Can I try it?”

“Sure,” Cameron said.

“Let me heat that up,” Donna said, getting up. She took the leftovers from her, and took them to the microwave.

“So what was your work dinner about? Comet?” Joanie asked.

Before she could respond, Haley walked into the kitchen, “What about Comet? Oh, hey, Cameron….”

The microwave timer went off. Pulling out Joanie’s plate, Donna asked, “Hey sweetie, do you want anything? Are you hungry? I got more Bagel Bites.”

“What’s that?” Haley asked.

“Some steak thing that Cameron brought over,” Joanie said, watching Donna put it back into the microwave to heat for another minute and a half.

“That’s such a random thing to bring over,” Haley mused.

“It wasn’t planned,” Cameron said.

“It’s totally random,” Joanie said, sitting down next to Cameron, “but I still wanted to try it.”

“I can heat something for you next,” Donna offered, “and ordering takeout is still an option.”

“Maybe,” Haley shrugged. “Can I try the steak thing, though?”

Donna looked at Cameron and Joanie, as if she expected them to answer. Before they could, the microwave timer went off again, and Donna turned back to it, and carefully took the hot plate out of it, and turned and set it down on the island.

“Cool, hunks of steak!” Joanie yelled. “And potatoes.”

“Okay, okay,” Donna said, bringing over a handful of forks. “Calm down.”

Joanie pulled the plate over, grabbed a fork, and stabbed the steak with it. Donna sat down, and Haley sat down next to her. Joanie tasted the steak, and then Haley picked up one of the forks, pulled the plate to her and Donna’s side of the island. Donna grabbed one of the forks and waited for Haley to get some steak and potato on her fork before going in with her own fork.

‘I mean, it’s okay,” Joanie said. “Peppery, though.”

“I like it, it’s peppery in a good way,” Haley decided.

Joanie demolished one of the three medallions of steak on the plate, and then said, “Can we still get pizza?”

Exasperated, Donna said, “Well of course we can.”

“Extra cheese?” Haley suggested.

“Onions and peppers!” Joanie demanded.

Donna turned to Cameron. “What about you? Any special toppings? Do you even want pizza?”

Cameron grinned. “Honestly? I’d love some.”

#this one kind of got away from me!#blame the osc*rs and also early signs of daily writing burnout ack #NO REGRETS THOUGH it turned out way better than i thought it would!#femslash february #femslash february 2020 #fic #fan fiction #cameron howe #donna clark #donna emerson #haley clark #joanie clark

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smarthomefu · 4 years

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The Best Smart Home Products To Buy This Summer

The phrase "smart home" usually conjures images of stuff that goes inside a house -- an Alexa smart speaker, a Nest thermostat, a Samsung refrigerator. But more and more we're seeing products and even apps that can help beyond your front door. You can use a lot of this tech year-round, like a doorbell or an LED spotlight. Others are seasonal.

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Rachio

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Extend your Wi-Fi range

Netgear Orbi Outdoor

Chris Monroe/CNET A wireless access point, also called an extender, is a great way to get your Wi-Fi network outside, if you don't want an LTE camera or simply want to get internet out in the garden.

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We've covered indoor lighting extensively, but smart outdoor lighting is a relatively new space. Sure, you can control an outdoor light with an indoor wired Lutron switch, but what about smart LEDs that combat the elements?

There's good news on that front -- companies are beginning to introduce more outdoor-rated LEDs and fixtures, including this Ring outdoor light. The best smart lights of 2020.

Colin West McDonald/CNET

Yes, a garage isn't technically "outside," but it covers that space between your driveway and your home. For a lot of us, it's where we store the lawnmower and the garden tools. Smart garage door openers let you open and close your garage doors using an app or a voice command. They even send reminders to your phone to let you know when you've left the door open. The best smart garage door controllers for 2020.

Weather-tracking tech

BloomSky Sky2

Tyler Lizenby/CNET You can track the weather in your area with a quick Google search at any time, but smart weather stations are more customized. The BloomSky Sky2 Weather Camera Station tracks temperature, wind speed, and rain and air pressure right in your backyard. Whether you're a weather geek or want to monitor the latest forecast to determine when best to plant, water, and harvest plants in your garden, products like this might be a smart investment. BloomSky Sky2 review.

Sarah Tew/CNET Whether you're working in the yard or enjoying an evening cocktail on the porch, waterproof Bluetooth speakers bring your favorite music or podcasts to you.

We especially like the affordable Tribit MaxSound Plus. This $56 battery-powered speaker is supposed to last for up to 20 hours on a single charge. And, a bonus, it can survive rain storms and splashes from the pool because it's waterproof. Tribit MaxSound Plus review.

More awesome outdoor stuff Now playing: Watch this: Beautify your yard with online tools

#Smart #smart device #smart home

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icarusthebusinessman-blog1 · 4 years

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Best Refrigerators to Buy in 2020

On the off chance that the house is a family's universe, the cooler is the sun. Everything rotates around it, from morning meals to-go, solid snacks, and suppers around the table. That is the reason getting another cooler is somewhat of a serious deal. There are huge amounts of variables to consider — everything from design and measurements to completions and uncommon highlights. Obviously, there's no way to avoid the value: They're costly. However, on the off chance that you need a top pick from a solid brand that will stand consistent in your family's circle for a considerable length of time to come, you're in the ideal spot. click here

The Good Housekeeping Institute's Kitchen Appliances and Technology Lab assesses a wide range of kitchen machines yearly, from gas extents to blenders to toasters and past. We rate ice chests on their capacity to direct the best temperatures for basic food item list staples like lettuce, shop meat, and solidified nourishments. For each model, we score for consistency of temperatures from rack to retire in the fridge and cooler compartments, just as for temperature varieties in single regions after some time. We test ice chests' capacity to keep up dampness on both fridge racks and in crisper drawers. Likewise, we assess every fridge's convenience, including the support of the manual, the sort and usability of the controls and the solace of getting a handle on the entryway handles.

We score inside highlights remembering the kind of racks for the fridge cavity and on the entryways, the simplicity with which the cooler cabinet and bins could be opened, the nearness or nonattendance of crispers with stickiness controls and the nearness or nonappearance of a meat guardian or store cabinet with temperature controls. All eminent highlights including Wi-Fi availability were thought of yet not appraised.

Our top Lab pick is the GE Profile Series French-Door Refrigerator, complete with a Keurig K-Cup Brewing System. It scored most elevated on temperature support and consistency testing and wowed our Lab specialists with its shrewd structure highlights. It's additionally Wi-Fi empowered, so you can change settings, preheat water for espresso, and more with the downloadable application. Here's elite of the best fridges to purchase, as per testing:

Best Overall Refrigerator: GE Profile Series French-Door Refrigerator

Best Value Refrigerator: Maytag Wide French Door Refrigerator

Best Smudge-Proof Refrigerator: Kenmore Elite French Door

Best Door-in-Door Refrigerator: LG InstaView Door-in-Door

Best Counter-Depth Refrigerator: GE Café French-Door Refrigerator

Best Double Freezer Refrigerator: Miele PerfectCool Series

Best Side-by-Side Refrigerator: Whirlpool 36-Inch Side-by-Side Refrigerator

Best Top Freezer Refrigerator: Frigidaire Gallery 30-Inch Top Freezer Refrigerator

Best Bottom Freezer Refrigerator: LG 24.1-cu ft Bottom Freezer Refrigerator

Best Refrigerator for Families: Samsung Family Hub Refrigerator

Step by step instructions to locate the best cooler for you

When looking for another fridge on the web or in a store, these are the primary things you need to consider. When you make your pick, don't miss our Test Kitchen's definitive manual for sorting out your refrigerator.

Design: The enormous players are side-by-sides, top-coolers, and base coolers. Side-by-sides require less space for the ways to swing open, however you have to twist down to discover food at the base of the cooler and cooler. Base coolers (like French-entryway models) put the most-utilized compartment at eye level. Top-cooler refrigerators cost less however expect you to twist to get into the ice chest.

Measurements: Your ice chest ordinarily needs to fit between counter space, so you'll have to coordinate the width to the format of your kitchen. Fabricated ins and cupboard profundity models sit flush with counters and cupboards yet might be all the more exorbitant.

Completions: Stainless steel is the most famous on the grounds that it has a smooth yet-impartial look, yet some favor a white or dark ice chest (or the as of late mainstream dark hardened steel and even carbon fiber). Constructed ins regularly offer outside framing that coordinates your kitchen cupboards. Numerous advanced completions are unique mark safe. At the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show this year, we saw a great deal of adjustable examples, as well; a pattern to pay special mind to!

Highlights: Consider the racking and inside drawers to check whether they work for your family's dietary patterns. On the off chance that you like to store a couple of containers of wine in the refrigerator, ensure there's sufficient tallness and additionally flexible racking; on the off chance that you request pizza every now and again, you'll presumably need an ice chest that can fit the crate inside. A few refrigerators additionally offer dampness controls on crisper drawers, meat or shop drawers, and different highlights for keeping nourishments at the ideal stockpiling temp.

BEST OVERALL REFRIGERATOR

Arrangement French-Door Refrigerator

GE PROFILE

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$3,529.00

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The GE Profile Series French-Door Refrigerator with a Keurig K-Cup Brewing System got good grades for temperature support and consistency. It additionally wowed our Kitchen Appliance Lab specialists with its savvy configuration highlights: You get a first in class ice chest, in addition to an underlying Keurig coffeemaker in the entryway. It's Wi-Fi empowered, so after you download the application you can modify settings, preheat water for espresso, and get alarms if the entryway is open. It works with Amazon Echo, as well.

More subtleties:

• Dimensions: 36 x 36 x 70 inches

• Available completions: record, dark record, tempered steel, dark pure

• Energy Star ensured

BEST VALUE REFRIGERATOR

Wide French Door Refrigerator

HOME DEPOT

MAYTAG

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$2,299.00

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For a strong refrigerator without a robust sticker price, this Maytag model is the one to beat. It has slide-out racks and an implicit water and ice allocator with channel. In our tests, cooler and cooler temps held consistent and entryway racks were sufficiently cool to securely store dairy (which is an off limits on most refrigerators). Lettuce endured five days in the crisper, yet the controls were somewhat precarious to change so keep the manual convenient.

More subtleties:

• Dimensions: 36 x 70 x 35 inches

• Available completions: unique mark safe hardened steel, white, dark

• Energy Star confirmed

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BEST SMUDGE-PROOF REFRIGERATOR

French Door Refrigerator

KENMORE

KENMORE ELITE

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Notwithstanding consistent temps, Kenmore Elite's French entryway fridge is the ruler of compartments. It conveys huge amounts of extra room, racks you can alter for tall things, and two plate in addition to a cabinet in the cooler. Valuable atmosphere controlled containers help expand the life of produce, meat, poultry, and fish (in the crisper cabinet, lettuce remained as fresh as the day it was bought for a strong week). We particularly love the smear confirmation dark treated steel outside — it'll oppose fingerprints for quite a long time!

More subtleties:

•Dimensions: 36 x 70 x 36 inches

• Available completions: tempered steel, dark treated steel

• Energy Star affirmed

BEST DOOR-IN-DOOR REFRIGERATOR

InstaView Door-in-Door Refrigerator

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$2,159.10

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You can rely upon the LG InstaView Refrigerator to work admirably of keeping your food new, yet what truly recognizes it is the extraordinary entryway in-entryway highlight: The simple access compartment lets you rapidly snatch a bite or drink without opening the full entryway. The InstaView innovation lets you thump on the window of the transparent way to make the inside lights please.

More subtleties:

• Dimensions: 32 x 70 x 36 inches

• Available completions: hardened steel, dark treated steel

• Energy Star confirmed

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BEST COUNTER-DEPTH REFRIGERATOR

Bistro French-Door Refrigerator

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$3,084.99

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GE's most recent line of fridges stands apart gratitude to its extra rich (and adaptable) plan. Select a matte white or dark outside, at that point pick between brushed bronze, copper, dark, or hardened steel handles.

This present model's counter-profundity, so it'll fit flush with your kitchen's cabinetry and you can coordinate the bar handles to your cupboard pulls. The French-entryway Café model has an inside water gadget and is Wi-Fi associated, as well.

More subtleties:

• Dimensions: 36 x 70 x 31 inches

• Available completions: matte white, matte dark

• Energy Star affirmed read more

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rocketwerks · 4 years

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English Village

3418-3450 Grove Avenue

Built, 1927

Architect, Bascom J. Rowlett

VDHR 127-0374