I kind of want to do a temperature blanket, but I don't care about the temperature, so I'm trying to think of something along the same format that's not as boring as temperature. I'm thinking maybe moon phases? I considered sunrise and sunset time, but it would require a lot of yarn and I'm not sure exactly how I would format it. Any ideas?

so for this year i wanted to do some kind of 365 day long project like the temperature blanket but definitely not the temperature blanket (they all kinda look the same and the colours tend to cluster around the seasons (all the same colours in summer and all the same colours in winter etc) and i want all the colours to be present throughout the year)

first i thought about doing a mood blanket, but honestly i've been feeling so down lately (actually, try for months if not years) that the prospect of having a physical manifestation of my depression seems.... depressing. and i wanna have fun with this project and be excited about it!

so i thought about what kinds of things i could possibly track and remembered that i'd planned to keep a reading journal, or at least keep track of how many and what kinds of fics i read this year - and boom! i was obsessed.

now i've got some ideas on how to go about it but i'm not sure what exactly i want to do! this is what i've got so far:

different colours for the genre/tags/~vibes~, so for example: red for smut, green for fantasy au, yellow for fluff, light blue for a two person love triangle, purple for canon verse, grey for rereading an old fave, etc.

i might try to decide on one colour for each day depending on what mood i'm in (that way i'll do a red row if i was super horny and only read smut lol)

OR i could try to incorporate the length of the fics i'm reading, meaning it won't be a day by day project, but a fic by fic project

for this i'd need to come up with a system, like do i go for one stitch per 1k? categorise fics by wordcount and do a specific amount of stitches for drabbles, one shots under 5k, long fics >100k..? this could get super messy (not just colour wise but also weaving in all those ends.... yikes) and i think i prefer the clean look of one row=one colour - but! i kind of want to keep track of how much i've read over the year too so this would be a good visual way to do it

for that method i thought i could also indicate the fics i didn't finish (sometimes i nope out of a fic after like 50k for some stupid thing that didn't sit well with me lol) by putting a stitch in a dark grey or something after the amount of words i got through before i abandoned it. or i just choose another colour for the whole fic

i am SO indecisive so any input at all is welcome!! or if you have any ideas for what colours to use for a specific trope or whatever, please let me know as well!!!!

Silver Lining - Two

word count- 2,259

content warning- language, angst, indirect s**cidal thought

____________________________________________

Crows cawing, your eyes open just enough to hazily make out the all too familiar color of your room.

“Early bird gets the worm, you know,” a familiar voice murmurs. Pushing off the wall to your right, your body slides diagonally over your bed, your head dangling off the side. Upside down, Cheryl is slumped against your door frame, arms and legs crossed. Brazen as usual, just the way you loved her. You held your own in most regards but Cheryl was always there when you least expected it and needed her most. You swear there were a halo atop that adorable shaggy blonde head of hers. And not one of those tacky event items either.

“Like I’d get anything any time of day with all the birds around here.” A tickling squeeze builds in your abdomen, branching up your neck to your cheeks which now had a telling pink glow.

“So you gonna talk to old lover boy yet or what?”

You jolt forward and whip around fast enough to make any killer miss a swing. Your response is unnecessary as she’s already smirking devilishly, aware of what she’s doing. She might have been your closest friend but that did not stop her from tormenting you, or anyone else that crossed her path. All in good fun and love, of course. It went without saying that you enjoyed it and she knew when it was, rarely, time to pack it up.

Raising her eyebrows, she leans back and throws her hands up. “I’m just saying, if you don’t, you might lose your chance. That’s all I’m saying,” quieter now.

You sighed. She was right. You weren’t the only one who took a liking to Leon. But, unlike you, Yun-Jin did not hide her feelings, from anyone for any reason, ever. Of course, everyone thought he was charismatic and most, undeniably handsome. That was common knowledge. You ran out of things to talk about in a place like this, and secrets were few and far between. There was no reason to hide here. This was your foreseeable future, together. There was no getting out, no changing things. Being open and sharing everything together made your day to day bearable. The connections you lost in your old lives left gaping holes, but together as one tightly knit, weird, fucked up family, you helped fill the voids. Some took longer than others to accept that fate, and there were some inevitable hiccups, but everyone came around eventually.

Anyone who wasn’t blind could see the attraction Yun-Jin had for the newest addition to your group. Placing her hands on him in conversation whenever she got the chance, laughing a little too hard at the things he said, biting her bottom lip and smiling at him when he talked. You’d even caught her pecking his cheek playfully here and there. He’d always smile and look away, as if it were a game. Leon always had a sultry attitude to him, a ladies' man no doubt. Subtly flirting with everyone was just commonplace for him. That was part of the reason you held back. Fearing you missed your chance and someone else had filled the role you longed to be in. Maybe it was your fear of rejection or abandonment, or not wanting to lose something this important in a world as cruel and bare this. You were subconsciously working hard to convince him you were only a friend. Which you were, definitely friends. Close even, given the circumstances. Trauma bonding does one hell of a number to the timeline of friendship. Still, you sensed zero difference in his behavior toward you versus the others. Which, admittedly, was quite the letdown. Nonetheless, you had nothing to lose by casually admitting your feelings for him. Keep it light and airy and there would be no reason for things to change on the chance he didn’t feel the same. After all, you surely weren’t the only one with a harmless little crush. That’s all it was. Right? So what if you constantly day-dream about him holding you so close he might consume you, kissing you with four times the passion the Notebook tried to capture, never leaving your side regardless of what the future held. His taste, his smell… what his cock would feel like ramming into your cervix. Your brain was one giant knot, constantly distracting you and there wasn’t a single thing you could do about it. Except tell him, but keep it simple.

By your calculations, it was November 18th. You’d been keeping track, not sure if it made things better or worse. Your third anniversary in this place was not far off. Despite being a literal nightmare, it had its perks. Your need for food was no more, as well as your other bodily needs. Sickness was a quickly forgotten annoyance of the past. You stayed in this eerily perfect state. Makeup never crusty, hair never oily and always smelling of your favorite fruit. The dirt and blood you’d acquire during trials magically disappeared upon return. You had a handful of outfits to rotate but there was no real need. Another upside, there were no severe temperatures here. Jackets, shorts, sandals, snow boots if you were Nea. You were always mostly comfortable. Even on Ormond where snow blanketed the ground, those gusts of wind should have sent chills right through you, but they didn’t. It felt like living in a dream or a, simulation. Just, where you’re hunted all day and night for the rest of your existence. At least death wasn’t permanent. Sometimes you’d wish it was, just to escape.

Several months have passed since Leon and Jill were introduced to your world. You had inside jokes and more close calls than you could both count. You were a damn good team and got along smoother than melted butter. What were you waiting for? You inhaled sharply and broke your stare out the window.

“I’m gonna do it.”

To no avail, your deep breaths failed to remedy the painful pounding in your chest, or the heat radiating from your face. Nevertheless, you marched out to the campfire to seek out Yun-Jin. As selfish as you wanted to be with Leon, she was your friend, and you held that in high regard. She was easy to spot in a crowd given her loud attire, but wasn’t around the fire. Which lead to your next realization; neither was Leon. Your throat tightened, heart still pounding. You set off a little too quickly to find her, or them. First stop was Ace’s shack. Judging based on appearances, you figured he would be one of the last people she associated with. Quite the opposite, they were dear friends. Not connected at the hip per se, like her and Claudette, but they related to one another's childhoods. Trauma bonding, can't beat it. To your dismay, the shack was empty, a seed of despair planting in your stomach. Maintaining the most convincing composure you could, you continue your search. Heading left down the line of shacks, robust laughter grows closer. You’d know that laugh anywhere. Cutting through the row, David and Felix are reclined under a tree. They were one of the few monogamous couples among you. The others being Nancy and Steve, and Adam and Zarina. You understood the allure of being romantically involved with more than one person, especially given your less-than-ideal situation, but it wasn’t for you.

“Hi y/n!” Felix shouted toward you.

Not wanting to stop and chat given your current objective, you flashed a cheeky smile and waved to them. Before they could get another word out, you dipped back behind the row of houses. Nerves getting the best of you, you parted your lips to breathe through your mouth. Every breath burned your lungs, realizing now all the times you brushed off your feelings have come back to haunt you. You should never have waited this long. At this point you would be more than willing, desperate, to share Leon. Refusing to let your anxiety get the best of you, you ball your fists and dig your nails into your palms to get a grip on yourself. There was one more place they could possibly be. A sliver of premature acceptance wedged itself into your train of thought as you trudged toward your own shack. Leon’s was adjacent to yours. Feeling foolish for not checking earlier, you round the corner to the opening. As much as you wish you could close your eyes, they were pinned open with anticipation. Looking up from your feet you were shocked to see an empty room before you. Relief and confusion replace your foreboding. Too much time had already been wasted, so you return to the campfire.

“Hey, have you seen Leon or Yun-Jin anywhere?” you, as calmly as possible, ask Élodie.

“They got pulled a little bit ago babe.” She was intently focused on Jane, her concentration not broken. “Which do you like more, up or down?” her gaze still fixated on Jane.

You have to either keep the courage you finally mustered until they get back or give yourself emotional whiplash by releasing until they do. You hesitate for a moment, but to hide your disappointment you quickly retort, “Up, definitely up. Gotta distract the killer with that beautiful face you know?”

“Like they're looking at her face and not that dumptruck ass!” Élodie howls. Jane facetiously puts her fingertips to her chin and looks upward, a façade of innocence no one here would ever buy. You can't help but giggle despite your inner turmoil.

“Well hey,” you add through chuckles, “when they're back can you please send her my way?”

“Sure thing babe,” Élodie assures, finally turning to meet your gaze.

A horrible nauseating mix of dismal, relieving, lewd thoughts of Leon swirl in your mind as you wait for Yun-Jin to step into the doorway. You knew you liked him but holy shit, where did this come from? The realization slapped you in the face. Try to blame infatuation all you want, not that you did, but it was so painfully evident now you were dumbfounded.

A soft knock jerked you out of your thoughts. “Hiya y/n, what's going on?”

Her delicate eyes effortlessly comforted you from across the room.

“I...” your eyes now glued to the floor beneath your feet, a reservoir of tears barely being held back, “I need to know how you feel about Leon.” Your nerves went haywire just uttering his name to her. An icy splash of chills surged from your head to your feet as your chest panged with dread.

“Well of course I like him,” her brow furrowed ever so slightly.

All that could escape your mouth was, “Oh.” Emptiness, despair replacing the jealous unease you felt before. Tears streamed down your cheeks uncontrollably, feelings that danced around menacingly finally coming to a head.

At the sight of your distress, she rushed to sit next to you. “Honey, what’s going on?” her voice barely above a whisper.

You were ashamed for breaking down in front of her, afraid of guilting her for something that was not her fault, and now terrified Leon might follow her here, only to find you undone over him. You jerk your head up to face her and blurt out, “Jinny I think I love him,” face sopping wet with untouched tears.

She raises her eyebrows and smiles at you. “Honey I have fun toying with him all in good nature but there’s no connection there.” Your heart thuds against your ribcage. “Sure, I’ll admit he’s attractive, who wouldn’t, but I have nowhere near the same feelings for him that you evidently do.” She uses both hands to cup your face and pushes as much wetness as she can aside with her thumbs. “Why didn’t you say something sooner? Not only to me but to him!” Despite being similar in age, she feels like a mother to you. Caring for a child, your own or not, will do that to you. That’s not a trait you lose over time.

“I’m so afraid,” you softly whimper, “of what he would say, what you would say.” You're picking at your cuticles, a habit you acquired during puberty as an outlet for your overwhelming feelings.

She wraps her arms around you, carefully as to not tarnish her jacket with tears, which would definitely stain the material. “I was just having a little fun, and from what I’ve gathered, he was more so allowing it than participating. You know I love you all to death but I’m not looking for anything like that, definitely not here.” She gives you a squeeze, and suddenly you can breathe again, the air around you no longer dense and difficult to swallow. “Honey, go get him.”

“Oh Jesus, let me fix myself a little first at least,” the sudden relief causing you to laugh involuntarily.

You were grateful disease and ailments didn’t exist outside of the trials, if they had you're sure you would've had an aneurysm from the stress you went through in a matter of an hour. Yun-Jin left you to your thoughts, which were now solely you and Leon together, doing anything and everything you could think of. The rest of the day you contemplated telling him, more so, how to. Thankfully you didn’t have any trials together, you were far too disorganized for that right now. “Tomorrow,” you promise yourself. Nothing like a clear head and a night’s rest to help you be your most collected, confident self.

____________________________________________

Silver Lining masterlist

Takarazuka news & schedule update

We have some news!

Today Takarazuka announced that all previously scheduled performances through the end of 2020 have been canceled. A new schedule is still in the works and will be announced at a later date. 

Kicking off this new schedule, and pending any further developments/second wave issues, Hanagumi’s Haikarasan will be opening at the Takarazuka Grand Theater on July 17 and running through September 5. The shinko performance will take place on August 4.

The Tokyo Takarazuka Theater schedule is still entirely pending. 

Takarazuka has also announced that they are planning on running Tsukigumi’s Welcome to Takarazuka/Pigalle and Soragumi’s Anastasia within the 2020 calendar year as well, although the schedule is still TBD.

Regarding other previously scheduled productions, they will determine on a show by show basis which shows will be rescheduled and which will not be able to go on, and they will continue updating the home page as these determinations are made. 

In accordance with government-imposed guidelines, the following adjustments will be made to the Grand Theater experience beginning with Haikarasan:

For the entirety of July, there will be only one performance per day.

Beginning August 1, on days designated for two performances, the afternoon show will be postponed from 3:00pm to 3:30pm, to alleviate congestion at the entrances and exits and allow for the theater to be cleaned.

To alleviate crowding during intermission, the time of intermission will be elongated from 30 to 35 minutes.

To help alleviate crowding onstage and backstage, scenes and direction may be altered in order to ensure a safe maximum number of actresses occupying a space at any given time. 

There will be no performers entering the audience seating area until further notice.

The live orchestra will be replaced by recordings.

The front row of seats will not be sold, and in the rest of the theater, every other seat has been removed to open up more space between patrons.

Since the number of available seats has been drastically reduced, Tomo no Kai presale tickets will be limited to one ticket per performance per person.

Ticket general sale will also be limited to one per person per performance, and sales will only take place through the Takarazuka official website. Phone, ticket counter, and 3rd party service sales (such as convenience stores, Pia/e+/Lawson counters, etc) are suspended. 

In order to reduce contact at ticket issuing stations and when entering the theater, tickets will be printed/issued on the day of the performance ONLY. They will be using automated readers at the entrances.

There will be no same day tickets sold. The last row of B-seki and the standing room space typically reserved for same day tickets will be made available as part of general sale. 

Group ticket sales are temporarily suspended.

Their official position on ticket resale is that it’s forbidden, and you may be asked to show identification when picking up your tickets at the theater. 

Theatergoers are being asked to adhere to the following requests:

Do not attend if you are not feeling well, or have a cough, fever, or cold symptoms.

If you have a persistent sneeze or runny nose (the implication being even due to something like allergies), please refrain from attending as this may make other patrons uneasy.

Do not attend if anyone in your household, school, workplace, etc. has tested positive for coronavirus.

Do not attend if you have traveled to/from an infected country in the past two weeks.

Wash your hands with the liquid soap provided at each bathroom sink and use the hand sanitizer placed throughout the theater.

You will receive a pump of hand sanitizer from a theater employee upon entering the venue, if you have an allergy to alcohol be sure to say so at this time. There will also be infrared temperature checks at the entrances, and patrons with a temperature over 37.5C will be refused entry. 

Adhere to the social distancing markers placed in areas of crowding such as lines for the bathroom, lines for the ticket machines, etc.

Please refrain from talking anywhere in the theater building including the lobby in order to minimize the spread of infection through droplets.

No food or drink in the audience except water.

In order alleviate congestion at the exits after the performance ends, the theater staff will be dismissing guests one seat block at a time.

Gathering outside the theater, including irimachi/demachi/gallery/stage door activities, is not permitted.

Please cooperate with government initiatives for contact tracing. Should you become infected, you will be asked to disclose that information. 

The theater is taking the following precautions to ensure safety:

Disinfecting railings and other surfaces with solutions proven effective against other viruses such as flu and norovirus

Air conditioning systems have undergone maintenance according to government regulations, and further steps are being taken to strengthen the ventilation systems and circulate a greater than usual amount of air from outside.

High touch surfaces such as railings and door handles will undergo additional cleaning with alcohol based sanitizers every performance.

All theater employees will be required to wear masks, some will be wearing gloves and face shields where appropriate. Partitions have been placed between the staff and the customers at all service counters/registers.

Some lounge areas and shops/restaurants will be closed completely, others will operate with limited offerings. Restaurants/vending machines/etc inside the theater will adhere to additional government guidelines for food service.

All theater staff and performers will be required to wash their hands regularly and will be subject to daily temperature checks.

Lending of blankets and opera classes is suspended. Opera glasses will continue to be sold in the theater shops.

 Day 2: Festive Lights

 “Move, get out of the way! I can’t see where I’m walking!”

 The call comes from a stack of cardboard boxes with legs sticking out on the bottom and a voice that sounds a lot like Tony. Steve steps aside, one eyebrow raised in amusement at the sudden command.

 “Do you need help over there?” he offers, and takes the upper two boxes, revealing his teammates face behind them.

 “Perfect, thanks. Just put them over there.” He nods his head over to a table, where some time in the last few minutes, even more boxes have appeared.

 “What’s up with that stuff?” Steve asks, and is met with a bright grin.

 “Christmas decorations!”

 “Uh… It’s still November?”

 “So? Thanksgiving is over, that means it’s christmas time! Festive lights! Cookies! Shove a pine tree up your ass! All of that good stuff.”

 “I’ll pass on the tree part, thanks.”

 “Spoilsport.”

 The grin that Tony shoots him is blinding though - he is clearly excited, and as always, his good mood is highly contagious. Steve can’t help but smile back, even when he is handed a lump of knotted up lights.

 “You just don’t want to untangle this mess on your own.” he accuses, but there is no heat behind it and he is already searching for an end.

 “Guilty as charged. Humor me.”

 Once they start decorating, it’s like the rest of the team is magically summoned to the common area. They appear one by one, as if materializing out of thin air. It’s as if they drop down from the ceiling, grow out of the ground and crawl out of the wall. Just a bit.

 Tony figures, that’s what he gets for living with two ex-SHIELD agents, amongst others. He is standing on Steve’s shoulders to reach under the ceiling, where a string of icicle fairy lights makes its way halfway around the room, when suddenly, Clint says right next to them,

 “The fuck, did I miss the start of December?!”

 He sounds confused and slightly panicked - who knows when was the last time he slept.

 “Nope, we’re just early.”

 “Don’t startle me like that. I didn’t have enough caffeine…”

 “Not enough sleep, you mean.” Steve shoots him a look - like he thought, the archer looks disheveled and the bags under his eyes are slowly turning darker and darker. Clint shrugs.

 “Same thing. You guys need a hand?”

 It doesn’t take long for more people to show up. Natasha is next, who is probably on the search for Clint. She arrives in the living room, finding her best friend using one of his arrows - lord knows where he stored that, no one saw - to tighten a neat row of screws on the wall to hang up glittery garlands.

 Tony is still standing on their Captains broad shoulders, hanging up lights, and Natasha doesn’t question any of it. Life is much easier that way. She simply asks the same question everyone else has asked to far:

 “Do you want any help?”

 And they happily assign her another task.

 Soon after, Bruce walks in with Thor in tow. Both of them are in an animated conversation and Thor interrupts himself to exclaim,

 “Your decor for the Yule festivities are a  bit early, but truly magnificent, my friends!”

 With the whole team there, it doesn’t take very long until the common floor looks like christmas exploded all over it. Countless lights are wrapped around the entire room, around table legs and even in the houseplants. Glitter, fake snow, stars, pine cones - they’ve thought of everything. Or rather, Tony thought of everything.

 Many years have passed since he last used the decor, but he is happy to see it all out there. Most of all, he is happy to be able to share this with his friends. It’s the first holiday season that they spend together as a team, and it means a lot.

 Tony is aware that he is probably overdoing it, like he always does but fuck it.

 He knows that most of them don’t have many happy memories of this time of year, himself included. But they’re a lot less alone now that they have each other and Tony wants this season to be to as nice as humanly possible. He wants the team happy and the tower to look like a winter wonderland has thrown up all over it, damn it.

 He doesn’t vocalize any of this. Instead, he spreads lights and glitter all over the floor and engages in the happy chatter.

 Truth been told, it’s been a long time since he’s looked forward to the holidays. But this year, he does.

 A quiet spark of happiness floats through his entire body and he can’t stop smiling the whole time.

 The true beauty of their work is revealed when nighttime hits. The sky outside is dark, even though it is still pretty early. Winter time.

 Millions of lights from the outside are reflecting in the windows, and then they dim the lights inside. The room is half dark, only illuminated by countless tiny light bulbs and a huge, crackling candle on the coffee table.

 A heavenly scent of Lasagna wafts out of the open kitchen door, making everyone hungry. While they wait for the oven timer to go off with watering mouths, the team is sprawled across the spacious couch.

 All of them hold mugs with hot drinks, ranging from coffee to tea to hot chocolate. The room is warm, thanks to JARVIS temperature control and the electric fire in the corner.

 One of the many perks of living here is the fact that the couch is big enough for 6 grown adults, including a Demigod and a Supersoldier to sprawl out on. They bump into each other and tangle limbs, but they fit on it with no problem.

 Tony leans back into the cushions, one hand scratching the soft fur of the dog-butt that ended up on his lap while Lucky has his head buried in Clint and a thick blanket, enjoying the pets from both sides.

 That dog is living the best life ever, he thinks, and smiles a little.

 All around them, the world grows dark and quiet, only illuminated by the festive lights they hung up in a team effort. Maybe, hopefully, this year they can all make good christmas memories to replace the old and painful ones.

*+~

This is a writing challenge set up by AJ Woolfenden on Instagram, starting on December 14th. One word per day for a week. Works shared have to use #writingweek

   https://www.instagram.com/p/CILEG_agRzF/?igshid=1p72flhf7lhzz

   Day 1: Snow Day 2: Festive Lights Day 3: Santa’s hat Day 4: Gifts Day 5: Silent Night Day 6: Red Noses Day 7: Miracles

   All cover photos 1-6 used from Pixabay , 7th from unsplash. Free to use photos

Frosted Windows

Joe Liebgott - Band of Brothers 

*Based on the characters from the show and not the real-life soldiers who fought bravely for the United States of America in wwii* 

@liebgoth wanted some Joe Liebgott stuff so here it is children. 

Synopsis: it’s a cold night in Holland and not even the thick duvet of your bed can keep you warm. The frosted windows taunt you, reminding you of your bedroom back home and keeping you awake. Thankfully, you’re not the only one who’s found a rather sleepless night. 

Sitting up against the backboard of the single bed you had been given for the night, you balled the duvet into your fists and pulled the blanket tighter around your body — if that was even possible. Your teeth were chattering non-stop and you were shaking so hard you could feel your abdominal muscles aching from being constantly tensed. 

As much as you were grateful for the old couple that had offered to take you and a few other men in for the night, you couldn’t help but wish you were back in that old, dingy barn where you could wedge your small body in between Bull and Martin and steal their warmth. 

The bed you were staying in was more than comfortable, but the walls were thin and you were freezing, which meant you weren’t sleeping; and when you weren’t sleeping you were often thinking about home. Many things tended to remind you of your home, often times something small or unsuspecting, and that evening it was the frosted window that sat above the dresser of the small room. 

The night sky was dark and filled with stars, and even though there was nothing that stood out specifically, you found yourself thinking back to when you would stay up on cold nights, just like that one, and stare out into the dark sky. Sometimes you would count the stars, sometimes you would try to make shapes and pictures out of them; anything to distract yourself from the cold.

That night, however, nothing was distracting you from the cold.

Throwing the blanket off of yourself, you swung your legs over the side of your bed and stood up. You weren’t exactly sure where you were going to go, but you knew you had to get up and distract your mind and body with something other than thoughts of home and shivering. 

You opened the door slowly and carefully, cautious not to allow the squeaking hinges to make too much noise and wake anyone up. The last thing you wanted was for one of the many closed doors to swing open and reveal a bleary-eyed, angry Paratrooper who had been woken from his first good sleep in weeks. 

Your socked feet padded along the wooden floor as you made your way down the hall. At the other end of the corridor were the steps down to the main floor, and you thought maybe you could sneak downstairs and sit on the couch for a while. Maybe a change in scenery would tire you out a little bit. 

As you neared the end of the row of doors, you noticed one of them was cracked open slightly. You paused for a second, your arms wrapped around your torso as you tried to remember whose room was the first one on the right.  

“I can see you, you know.” a whispered voice came from the darkness. 

You jumped a little, not expecting anyone to be awake and certainly not expecting anyone to catch you peering through the crack in the doorway like a stalker. 

You couldn’t exactly tell who it was from the voice, so you took a step closer. “Sorry.” you apologized. “I was just…well, I was just walking around.”

“I heard your feet on the floor.” the person sat up, allowing the moonlight shining through the door to illuminate part of their face. It was Joe Liebgott, the snarky Jewish taxi driver from Oakland who was always ready with a quick comeback for whatever someone had to say to him. 

You liked Joe, but in all honesty, you weren’t so sure he liked you. Sometimes the two of you would talk like old friends, but other times he would act like you meant nothing more to him than a filthy Kraut did. He was an oddball, but maybe that was why you found him so alluring. 

“I hope I didn’t wake you.” you pushed the door open even further and leaned against the doorframe. “I just couldn’t sleep.”

“That makes two of us.” the rather thin man drew his knees up and rested his arms on them. “Why couldn’t you sleep?” he inquired, the half of his face that you could see in the minimal light expressing what seemed like genuine interest.

You shuddered slightly as a cold patch of air passed by, the action itself pretty much answering the question at hand. “Cold,” you answered simply, deciding not to add the part about being homesick. You didn’t need Joe taunting you about it for days on end. 

Joe’s eyes drifted to the window in his own room, which was also frosting around the edges. “It is cold out,” he nodded as if he had to check for himself before accepting the reason as valid. His eyes then shifted back to you and you suddenly felt as if you were standing in such an awkward, unnatural way. You became hyperaware of everything you did, even down to your breathing.

The way his dark eyes cut through the shadows and took in your figure before him was both tantalizing and terrifying. At that moment you found yourself realizing just how handsome of a man Joeseph Liebgott really was. You had never thought he was ugly, per se, but you had yet to notice how soft his hair looked, despite being caked with dirt, or how inviting his lips seemed even though they were dry and cracked. 

“I should probably go.” you dragged your mind out of the gutter it was settling itself into and pushed away from the doorframe. “I don’t want to keep you up. I’m sure you want to go back to sleep.”

You reached for the doorknob to pull it shut once more, but his low, quiet voice stopped you. “Don’t go.” he slid further back against the headboard to make room at the end of the bed. “Stay. Talk for a while.”

You furrowed your brows at the request. Never before had Joe asked anything from you, nevertheless for you to talk to him. He always seemed like such a closed-off, personal sort of man. You had never heard him talk about anything really serious in the years you had known him. 

“Okay.” you agreed, and before you even knew what you were doing, you stepped into the room, shut the door behind yourself, made your way over to the bed, and sat down. “What do you want to talk about?”

“I don’t know.” he shrugged, suddenly seeming much less sure of himself. 

A wave of silence fell over the room and before long you were shivering once again, your teeth bouncing off of one another in your mouth and making faint clacking sounds. You tried your best to keep your dropping body temperature on the down low, but in the deafening silence and stillness of the bedroom, it was hard. 

“Jesus, you weren’t kidding about being cold.” Joe flipped the cover up beside himself and patted the spot with his hand. “Come on. Just watching you is making me shake.”

Thankful for the nice gesture, you crawled up to the top of the bed and settled yourself beside Joe. As you tucked your knees up to your chest, Joe threw the duvet back over you and absentmindedly tucked the blanket in as tight as he could, making sure you were as warm as possible. 

“Thanks.” you smiled softly. 

“Yeah.” he adjusted his own position before his eyes settled on the dark corner of the room. “You miss home?” he asked out of the blue, making you believe for a second he might possess the ability to read minds.

Since he brought up the topic, you decided there was no need to lie about it. “All the time,” you admitted. “About ten minutes ago I was sitting in my room staring at the window and thinking about how it reminded me of home. A freaking window. I swear I get reminded of that damn place by the smallest things, and I didn’t even like it that much!”

A small chuckle escaped Joe���s lips. “Wasn’t a fan of the family?” he half-joked, half-questioned.

“Mmm, not necessarily the family, although they had their moments.” you not-so-fondly remembered the many heated arguments you got into with your parents. “More the town itself. Very boring…very one dimensional. Everyone did the same thing every day and was somehow okay with it. I couldn’t live like that.”

“So you decided to jump out of planes.”

“I figured that was the logical next step, yes.” you giggled, your hand covering your mouth to muffle the sound. 

As Joe’s own laughter died down, he exhaled slowly, his smile remaining. “You’re a funny girl, you know that?”

“So I’ve been told.” you turned your head to look at him, slightly surprised at how close the two of you had gotten. 

“Lots of guys compliment you?” he cocked a single brow quizzically.

You knew which direction the prying question was heading in and somehow didn’t mind at all. “Wouldn’t you like to know.” you taunted him. You waited for him to say anything in response, but when he didn’t, you continued the previous conversation. “What about you? What was home like?”

“Me and my cab.” he thought back on his days as a taxi driver with the hint of a smile on his face. “Lots of people looked down on the job but I quite enjoyed it.”

You rolled your eyes playfully and gave him a light shove. “I was asking about your family, you weirdo! Not your love affair with your taxi cab.”

“Hey, what happens between me and my cab is none of your business,” he retaliated with a shove back. “I had five brothers and sisters, a mom and a dad. My home life was good, very average. Is that what you wanted to hear?”

“Wow, that’s the stuff of fairytales right there.” you mocked, earning a look from him and another shove. “Hey, I’m serious! That’s a bestseller right there. Very heartwarming.” 

“Your story wasn’t very uplifting either.” he reminded you. 

You sighed and brushed a strand of loose hair behind your ear. “Real life never is, is it?” you stated. “I mean, look at us now. This war…this is nothing to write about. All of this, all of us, we will be forgotten just like the stories of soldiers that came before.”

“You’re really good at bringing down the mood, aren’t you?”

You smiled again, this time only letting the corners of your mouth curl slightly. “I try my best.” your eyes drifted to the door and you realized just how long you had been sitting there. “I really should go now.” you moved to climb over him. “Wouldn’t want to waste a whole night with mindless chatter.”

As you maneuvered over Joe you found yourself at some point inches away from his face. You paused for a second, which turned out to be a horrible idea because once you were there you didn’t want to move. 

“Goodnight,” you whispered to break the tension. 

In a swift motion, Joe reached up and cupped your face with both hands, leaned in, and his lips met yours. It was a quick and rather simple kiss, but you felt the connection as strongly as if he had backed you against a wall and shoved his tongue down your throat. 

When he pulled back a few inches so he could look at you, his dark eyes were suddenly lighter somehow and filled with emotion. “You should stay,” he whispered back. 

“Yeah…” the words spilled out of your mouth like water, your brain too focused on what had just happened to form any real response. 

Moving back to your original spot, you pulled the blanket over your shoulder and settled in, this time for the night. You weren’t planning on leaving, and even if you were, you were sure Joe had no intentions of letting you. 

Joe lied down next to you and draped his arm over your waist, his fingertips brushing against the skin where your shirt had ridden up and causing extra goosebumps to the already chilled surface. 

“You’re so goddamn cold.” he murmured as his eyes fell shut and his breathing fell into a calming rhythm.

Tangling your legs with his, you shifted closer and shut your eyes as well, focusing on matching your breathing with his. “I’m sure I won’t be for much longer.” 

Without another word, the two of you fell into the best sleep either of you had had in a very long time. And just like you had predicted, you warmed up rather quickly as Joe wrapped you tighter in his arms throughout the night. 

Dysphoric

FANDOM: Final Fantasy XV PAIRING: Noctis/Prompto WORD COUNT: 2,311 LINKS: AO3 | FFN

Trans Prompto, dysphoria and a little bit of bed sharing. If this is the type of content you enjoy and you like my work, consider buying me a coffee! Also open to requests!

“Admit it, we're lost!”

“We are not lost.”

Prompto Argentum is the first to admit that Noctis isn't much of a liar. Hell, his honesty is probably a hazard to Lucis, as far as most its politicians are concerned, but that mattered little. He could say with confidence that most people preferred an honest king to a liar, even if he came baring disheartening information.

But as much of a liar Noct wasn’t, that didn’t mean he couldn’t tell one. Being a blunt guy didn’t mean he wouldn’t pretend that he knew where they were going until it was clear that he’d lost their way well over an hour ago.

“Dude, we're totally lost. There's the coeurl we killed like thirty minutes ago!”

“Okay, for on thing, that was maybe twenty minutes, but fine, yes,” Noctis says with an eye roll so aggressive that Prompto wouldn’t be surprised if they rolled right out of his head. He leans heavy on his “good” leg, eyes scouring the trees for their destination to no avail before making their way back to Prompto. “We’re a little lost.”

“Finally!” Prompto says, raising his hands toward the sky, as if reciting a silent prayer to the Astrals, thanking them for this blessing. Noct’s half-hearted glare stops him from actually singing his praises to the Six.

“You're more than welcome to show me where I should be going if you know so much better,” Noctis says with a wave of his hand, gesturing at the foreign landscape stretched out before him.

Oh, hell no.

“Right, uh, buddy. Pal. Kinda defeats the point of a camera man is he taking the lead.”

There’s another roll of his eyes, but Prompto doesn’t miss the way Noct’s lips twitch upwards into a smile that gives away his amusement.

“Yeah, you just wanna take pics of me falling on my ass,” Noctis says and Prompto touches a hand to his heart, offended by the mere concept that he would enjoy the opportunity to ruin his friend’s reputation. But he doesn’t have the chance to continue messing around, if only because they need to be adults for once, instead of letting Iggy do all the legwork for them.

“We're gonna have to camp soon. It's getting late,” Noctis says and any glee Prompto had found in their antics disappears. He groans at the idea of sleeping on the ground again. This would make the fourth night in a row—and this time, he couldn’t even blame Ignis being cheap.

“Ya know, I think we need to convince Ignis that sleeping on a giant magical rock that sends a smoky wisp thing up into the air to alert everyone to where it's at is probably not very beneficial to our health.”

“Tried it.”

A laugh spills from Prompto’s lips as a smile spreads across Noct’s face. The two of them walk onwards in the dimming light, searching for anything that might resemble safety once night fell. It’s the aforementioned sliver of smoky light that leads them to their destination and it’s not until he takes a running leap to the top of the rock that he realizes how shit out of luck they are.

“Aw, man,” Prompto says aloud, letting loose a whine as he swivels on his heels to look at his friend. “We’re gonna freeze our balls off out here, Noct.”

That was to be expected, but it somehow slipped his mind that as infinite as Noctis’s internal storage apparently was, their camping equipment had a home in the trunk of the Regalia, rather than the Armiger. Tents, sleeping bags… Come morning, they were both going to have nasty colds and aching backs to match.

“I have, uh…” Noctis says, pausing to hum softly before something flickers into existence in his hands, pulled from the Armiger. “This?”

This is a just a single, solitary blanket, not particularly thick and superior to what Prompto could offer—which was nothing—but it does little to make him feel better about the night they’d be spending away from their other comrades.

“That’s… not gonna get us very far.”

“Yeah, but it’s all we’ve got,” Noct says, shrugging off Prompto’s observation before he tosses the blanket to him. It covers Prompto’s face and by the time he’s wrestled it from the top of his head, Noctis is disappearing over the edge of the rock to retrieve a few pieces of firewood so they don’t actually freeze to death.

Apart from this sad little blanket, a fire was going to be their only means of staying relatively warm.

A sigh leaves his lips as he tips his head back for a moment to look at the stars starting to appear in the sky amidst the warm hues of the fading sun.

Looks like he's stuck prepping their, uh… sleeping arrangements.

Their camp is a sorry one. It can hardly be called one at all, but the sky is clear and the daemons are distant, so despite the chill in the air, they still had plenty to be thankful for. The fire isn’t going to stave off the cold as much as he’d like, but it’s better than nothing and it’s easy to ignore the chill in the air when he’s teasing Noct for cheating and using magic to start the fire.

It’s easy to ignore the temperature that’s steadily dipping sitting here with Noct, sucking down dinner that was little more than a nice meal of enhanced cup noodles. It’s not until they’re getting ready to underneath their single, solitary blanket that he begins to feel the cold. Their jackets are peeled away, laid down to defend them as much as possible from stone beneath them.

The rest should be easy. Years of knowing Noctis had given them time to have plenty of sleepovers in the past. There were perhaps too many times where Prompto ended up crashing at his place—in his bed—because he’d missed the last train. Not to mention, Noct was his best bud. The only real tragedy here would be if he wasn’t allowed to cuddle away the cold with him.

Noct is the first one to find a home in their shoddy sleeping arrangements. That’s no surprise. What he’s not expecting is for Noctis to stop him before he can crawl in to join him.

“C'mon, man, I'm freezing my junk off out here.”

“You’re not wearing that to bed.”

Violet blue eyes find a sudden interest in the stone beneath his feet more than the face of his friend. He can’t help biting down on his lip, chewing on the tender flesh there for a moment as he mulls over how to win the ensuing argument.

Anyone with half a brain would know what Noctis was talking about—and it’s not the pants he’s borrowed from him to keep the cold from clinging to his skin like it would if he slept in his boxers as per usual.

“Aw, come on, man. Don't be Ignis,” he tries, wringing his hands in front of him, chest constricting the minute the words were out of his mouth. That is 100% your anxiety, he tells himself, not wanting to believe it’s anything else, despite the likelihood of it.

The way Noct’s face scrunches up at the mere suggestion that he’s even remotely similar to his adviser elicits a breath of laughter from Prompto, though he knows a loss is in the cards. All he’s doing is prolonging the inevitable.

“I'm not ‘being Ignis’. You can't sleep in a binder, Prom.”

“Uh, and I can't sleep with my tits, like, on you.”

“Like they’re any different than mine.”

From day one, it’s been obvious that Prompto was the only one bothered by the disparity between his identity and his body. The only “disturbance” that had occured due to Prompto’s confession was Ignis being surprisingly upset that he hadn’t been told in advance so he could tailor meals more appropriately to minimize the negative impacts of what Prompto liked to call his “monthly hell”—and Prompto couldn’t have been happier to say that the extra effort wasn’t necessary.

But Noctis had known longer than Gladio or Ignis. He had found out back in high school, when his stupid uterus had decided to be on anything buta schedule and Prompto had been forced to tell the prince of his fucking country that he was trans and could he please go buy him a couple things because he couldn’t very well walk down the street bleeding everywhere.

Words could never express how grateful he was to have a friend that would not only go out and do exactly that, but would also deal with the weeksthat the press spent trying to track down who he was dating.

So if there was any one person that Prompto should feel comfort being around without a binder, it should probably be Noct—if only that was enough to will away his dysphoria.

“Prom,” Noctis says, voice as soft as it is stern. It’s the tone of his voice that dissolves whatever drive he has to keep his chest as flat as possible. Much as he hates the fat sacks hanging from his chest like a pair of anatomically-infused weights, sleeping in a binder is a bad idea.

Noct's right. He knows this; he knows that the ache in his chest isn’t anxiety.

“Fiiine, just… turn around, would ya?”

Noct does as told, but that doesn’t mean Prompto’s satisfied.

“And close your eyes.”

Prompto can’t even see his face to confirm whether or not he actually does it, but he decides that maybe—just maybe—Noct is trustworthy enough to assume that he did as told.

“And cover them with your hands!”

“Prom, really?” Noct asks, though Prompto hears more amusement than irritation in his voice, despite the exaggerated sigh as his hands move up to comply with Prompto’s demands.

“Listen, I'm not taking any chances with you after that time you grabbed me, Mister!”

Noct sputters, ears flushing bright even in the dim light as he tries and fails to make anything but words. It takes him so long to figure out how his mouth works that Prompto’s already stripping his tank off when he says, “It was an accident! Besides, you’re one to talk! You had your hand on my ass how many times today?!”

“Dude, I have to make sure you still have one after all the lazing around you do. Think about how disappointed Lady Lunafreya would be if her husband was assless?”

“Hey, I have an ass!”

“Yeah, sure, buddy,” he says with a laugh as he peels off the tight, black binder, letting loose a breath of sweet relief that came with the first opportunity he’s had to breath properly all day. But the absence of it reminds him of another issue as the air hits his bare skin, causing a shiver to rock his body. “Hey, uh… Don't suppose you have an extra shirt? Iggy had all of mine for washing… And the tank is a little…”

Tight, he wants to say, but the thought of how it would emphasize a part of his body that he hated second most was enough to make him cringe. But as always, Noctis doesn’t question him, doesn’t second guess whatever is on Prompto’s mind.

“Uh, yeah, sure,” he pauses to fish through the armiger a moment before retrieving one of his spare shirts and Prompto was grateful when he reached back without looking to hand it to him. He doesn’t scold him for pulling his hands away from his face to do it, either. “Here.”

“Thanks, man.”

It’s when the shirt is in his hands that he knows he’s been more than blessed by the Gods, given the friend that he has.

“Oh, Noct,” he whispers, tone exaggerated. “My favorite fabric. How did you know? Not even my nips will suffer tonight.”

He hears a huff of laughter from his friend, but the joke that follows has Prompto gasping in mock offense.

“It's my subtle way of saying, ‘Please keep your shirt on’.”

“Like you haven’t seen ‘em before, your highness.”

Both of them chuckle at that, knowing the truth of it. It’d be hard for Noct not to see his bare chest once of twice when he was constantly getting his ass kicked. How many times had he needed to help bandage a wound that he’d waited too long to grab a potion for?

Prompto pulls on the shirt offered to him, relishing in the familiar soft fabric that was easy even on the most sensitive of skin.

“Okay,” he says, signalling to Noct that he can finally turn back around. This time, their eyes meet and a smile lights Prompto’s face as Noctis opens up the space he’d previously closed off for his sake. He’s quick to settle into their makeshift sleeping bag, laying close—too close by the standards of some—to his friend and curling an arm around him. “Give me your best octopus impression.”

Noctis wastes no time in leeching off Prompto’s natural warmth while Prompto suffers a few minutes through the chill that’s settled into Noct’s limbs. He spots a hint of the same tired smile he’s been seeing all evening before it disappears into blond locks.

“Night, Prom,” Noct mutters, voice already slurred from sleep. He was going to wake up with a stiff back tomorrow. He was going to wish they'd never wandered out of Gladio and Ignis's field of vision, but he had none of those regrets right now.

“Night, Noct,” he whispers, the soft snoring he gets in response eliciting a giggle from him that fills his chest with warmth instead of the usual anxiety.

Nah, this couldn’t be counted among his regrets, no matter how sore his back would be come morning.

A year of fasting once a week... My Experience.

About 18 months ago, I started experimenting with fasting.  The practice of not eating for longer than a few hours is outside todays conventional wisdom, yet it was practiced widely by many in the past for various reasons including: food scarcity, for weight loss, for metabolic reset (or detoxifying), for religious or spiritual reasons, for medical reasons etc... The main reason I wanted to start fasting was to ensure metabolic flexibility.  I want my body to run on both sugar and fat, whereas most people are conditioned to run only on sugar.  Our family has been eating Paleo (essentially: whole foods, no grains) for about 3+ years, and while our macros are Low-Carb High-Fat most of the time, we do not shoot for Keto-macros... that is we are not trying to get into ketogenesis with out diet, and I am not interested in macro counting to that extreme.  By fasting, my body will naturally ride that line of being mildly ketogenic every week, which allows me to be both carbohydrate powered and fat powered when needed.   When I started experimenting with fasting, I tried doing intermittent fasting - 16 hours a day, then longer 60-72 hour fasts once a month and eventually settled in on one-36-hour-fast per week.  I have kept this up for about 15 months at this point.  Logistically, it means i eat 6 days a week and then don't eat one day... For me that one day is usually Tuesday.

A few other reasons for starting fasting is for a metabolic reboot, to maintain insulin sensitivity, foster a strong immune system and for cell autophagy... Autophagy is the process where the body repairs itself and self-eats unhealthy cells.  My extended family has a lot of chronic diseases running through it, and this is one practice that has enough evidence to me that it can be used to keep your metabolism and cells healthy.  I also believe that as humans, we are not designed to be constantly grazing food.  Our bodies need time to digest, to build and to repair itself and it can't do that if it is constantly working on digestion.  As Hunter-Gatherers we never had access to so much food so easily and our bodies are optimized to take breaks from eating.  When the digestive tract takes a break, the body is able to focus on other issues such as building up and resetting the immune system.  Since eating clean (Paleo) and fasting, I haven't gotten sick.  I even had my youngest son puke all over me when he had the flu last year and I never caught it.

These have been my experiences with a weekly 36 hour fast.  36 hours once a week seems to be the best schedule for me.  Other people take longer or shorter periods of fasting, and their experiences will likely vary.  Here are my experiences.

-Ive not met anyone else who does fasting the way I do.  If they chose to try fasting, my advice is that people need to find a method that works for them... 

-The more I do it, the easier it gets.  My body has adapted to the weekly practice. 

-My family is supportive.  Everyone knows if its Tuesday, that I am not eating.  I am the only one who does this practice in my household.  Nobody tries to tempt me with food.  They just accept that thats what I do on Tuesdays.

-When I started fasting once a week, I was 187 lbs.  I am currently 184lbs.  I have reached a low of 173lbs last summer and peaked at 187lbs again this past November.  I don't lose sleep over my weight.  If I wanted to lose weight, It would be pretty easy for me to do it since I am conditioned to run on my own fat.  I would like to stay lean but I’m beyond giving a shit about my body weight once I’m sub 185lbs.  

-I feel more disciplined in general.  If you can go without eating for a full day while others around you are eating normally, it shows you have willpower and discipline.  

-I no longer get Hangry.  Since eating Paleo, we saw Hanger go away... but with fasting it got even easier to not be hungry in the morning.  I don't have to eat right away on any day, and I usually eat because I want to not because I feel I have to.  

-On fasting days, I wake up NOT HUNGRY and am able to make it through the day without eating without any real hunger challenges.  My digestive system has gone to sleep.  I have to make sure that i don't eat anything by accident of lick my fingers after making a meal for others because once I do, it kickstarts my digestive system and I become hungry.  If this happens, and it has a few times, I will usually abandon my fast for that day/week and move on.  

-My breath tastes kind of bad on fasting days and brushing my teeth only works for a couple hours before the taste comes back... (I usually chew gum on fasting days).  I’ve heard this is because of the body detoxifying, which I guess could make sense... 

-Since becoming fat-adapted, I wake up most mornings NOT HUNGRY.  I eat a big fatty breakfast most days with Kim. It usually consists of eggs, a meat of some kind, and a mix of veggies and fruit.  It is one of the only times we get to eat together, just the two of us, so we take advantage of it.  It is more of a social meal than an “I must eat” meal.  On my fasting days, I still have a morning coffee but that is it for the day.  The rest of the day I drink water with some salt sprinkled in it.

-On Tuesdays, after having fasted 14-16 hours, I usually do a cardio/endurance type workout... usually rowing and/or biking intervals for up to an hour.  By doing this type of workout, I empty my glycogen stores that are in my muscles and blood.  At some point I run out of sugar in my system (if I still have any after sleeping) and I switch over to being fat fuelled.   

-I usually lose a few pounds from Tuesday morning to Wednesday morning.  I weigh myself every morning as part of a morning routine.  Its not abnormal for me to be 4-5 lbs lighter the next day.  Most of that is likely water loss and waste.  I do not fast to lose weight or fat, but if I wanted to lose weight, adding another fasting day per week would probably be my first choice. 

-On fasting days, I become very conscious of my eating habits... and how often I typically eat out of boredom, and not out of necessity or hunger.  I find myself looking for food throughout the day yet I am not hungry.  I believe I do this because the food is always there.  Fortunately I don't give in, but if I was addicted to food (or specifically carbs), it could be very challenging.

-On the day after my fast, food flavours are enhanced.  Meals on Wednesdays are the best.

-Some people who fast have experienced a clarity of the mind while fasting... Like a fog has lifted from their brain.  I have not experienced this.  Either my mind is already clear or I might need to try fasting longer than 60-72 hours to experience it.... if it exists.  I certainly don't less mentally sharp, but I don't feel significantly better either.  

-While fasting, I become more sensitive to temperature... in particular I feel colder in the winter.  I need an extra blanket in bed to keep me warm. 

-I don't believe I have lost any strength from fasting. I’ve done CrossFit 3-4 days a week for the last 3.5 years.  At this stage in my life, 46 years old, building strength is not really my primary reason for working out.. but rather just to stay fit and healthy... however my lifting stats suggest I am stronger today than when I started fasting.

At present, I have no intention of stopping this practice.  My view and experience of it has been a net positive for me specifically.  And if the benefits I’ve read about are true, then its worth it for me to continue doing it.  I look forward to a reset each week. 

                             Vol. II Chapter III: A Semblance of Truth

Yeula awoke from her slumber with her head snuggled underneath a flowery blanket and the light of dawn radiating her half-opened eyes from beyond the elegantly framed window positioned at the bedside. She sat up and peeled back the flower-patterned curtain, relaxing at the familiar sight of her quaint neighborhood. Beyond the gated yard of the her own house, rows of impressively decorated houses of ivory wood could be seen behind equally expansive yards on the other side of the street. The residential subdistrict she called her home was in every way archaic compared to Golem's more prominent locales, but Yeula could appreciate such a place to return to after a hard-fought day in a clamorous city.

She gently closed the curtain before exhaling a sigh and placing a palm over her face. She had often risked everything for the Erenet Family, but rarely had she met a moment she suspected she would die. Such a thought lingered as she found herself confronting a rogue from Fortitude and her armed body of goons with only a gun and a sentry at her own disposal. And above that, it was her own responsibility to protect the young twins. She had succeeded well enough in their eyes, but that was only to be expected; she was nothing short of an incalculable heroine to them. And she would have it no other way—she would never show weakness again, not to a bitter enemy nor a closest ally.

With a stretch and a yawn, Yeula lazily crawled from the comfort of her bed and faced the confines of her room—or whatever she could make of it from the scattered mess. Piles of paraphernalia such as stuffed animals and electronic trinkets had been placed haphazardly on the ground, and one could hardly reach the room door without stepping upon at least a couple of the many discarded papers littered about. The countertops saw far more care, livened with neatly-stacked scholarly books, cherished accessories, intricate ivory lamps and upright teddy bears. Of the assortment of accessories, Yeula snatched a silver bracelet along with a necklace with a pair of glimmering tags respectively colored blue and green, each one personalized with black flame imagery and complimented with a couple of rings of the opposing color farther from the middle of the necklace. Retrieving her outfit of choice from her dresser, she stepped out into the hallway with both of her hands helplessly full.

“Rise and shine, O' turbulent Yeula!” a gleeful female voice spoke from the household communicator. “You have two presently scheduled events for this wonderful morning. Would you now like to review your schedule or make any necessary changes?”

“No, thank you,” Yeula groaned, opening the door to her bathroom by twisting the knob under her forearm.

“Very well, ma'am,” the entity conceded from the communicator. “Well then, what would you like to have for breakfast today?”

“Anything's fine; thanks,” Yeula dismissively replied as she took the first step onto the white and blue tiles of her large, luxurious bathroom. Numerous portraits of grassy plains inhabited with towering automatons decorated the walls. A human-sized fountain with water pouring into its basin from the maws of the stone birds situated atop its pillar furnished the center of the bathroom. A wide mirror from the left reflected most of Yeula's figure, and it was there she turned her attention.

“You have a new message from Farah Erenet,” the entity stated from the communicator. “Would you like me to read it for you?”

“I'll read it myself, thanks,” Yeula hastily replied, almost interrupting the entity.

“Suit yourself. Would you like any help bathing?”

With the push of a button, Yeula opened the compartment of a touchscreen music station panel located next to the mirror, on which she promptly browsed through a selection of genres before deciding on an instrumental composition, cranking up the volume until she could effortlessly ignore her aide's incessant inquiries. Laying her outfit over the counter and throwing off her pajamas, she made her way into the marble shower behind the fountain, closing her eyes and trailing off in thought under the soothing warm water.

What lay on Rubis' mind before the moment of her downfall? What were her intentions all along? And what organization, if any, had she affiliated herself with? Today, Yeula would have answers to those lingering questions, if Ferah had indeed done her research well. Today the sisterly duo would convene and discuss not only the events of the day before, but their plans for the future without an ally from Fortitude. Yeula sighed in thought of her failure to save Rubis, wondering if her own rash decisions were to blame. In some way, it felt as though she had killed Rubis herself.

After a prolonged shower, Yeula wrapped herself in a towel and stood against her hazy reflection in the mirror. Bringing a comb to her head, she proceeded to style her blue-dyed hair, cut evenly short at the back and reaching down her chin to form a frame around her face. Her hair parted smoothly at the center of her crown and partly concealed her eyebrows. With her hair neatly styled, she threw off her towel and got dressed in her preferred outfit, comprised of an open high-collar, form-fitting beige vest with only one sleeve to cover her left upper arm and several pairs of extravagant black buttons down the bottom of the vest; per her usual choice, she kept her vest tucked into her black jeans and partially unbuttoned just above her navel, exposing much of her torso and her patterned dark bra. Worn over the vest was a black cloth draping over her leg and buckled in place. Worn over her pants was a pair of black boots with white soles. Her garb was accessorized with a silver bracelet, a single black glove without an index finger or a thumb over her left hand, and the necklace she carried with her earlier. The provocatively roguish features of her ensemble, particularly the bronze buckle of the brown belt around her pants with an engraving depicting a crossing of swords, would make her character apparent to any onlooker without a second glance.

Dressed for a new day of service to the Erenet Family, Yeula stepped back into the hallway and descended the steps into her living room where her aide, a hovering automaton with a round body and narrow arms, awaited her. Beyond the expected furnishings—a velvet sofa placed behind a table and before a widescreen television set—several tall acoustic sets stood in a row against the wall; above a pair of miniature desks upon which computers were placed, a rack encompassing most of the wall on the other side of the front door held smaller, relatively archaic sound devices such as headphones. A large ceiling fan blew a gentle breeze over the entire space.

“Your breakfast, Yeula,” Yeula's mechanical aide announced, motioning to a plate of greens and a couple of vitamin supplements over one of the computer desks.

After taking a seat by the desk, Yeula gave her aide a contorted look. “What's this?”

“Excuse me?” Yeula's aide naively responded. “I've assembled a nutritional dish to complement your active lifestyle, as requested of me by your beloved sister. Besides, your usual overconsumption of carbohydrates won't help keep up that pretty little face of yours!”

“I don't remember Ferah ever requesting—” Yeula took a moment to plant her palm over her face. “Fine, whatever. Did you happen to go shopping while I was asleep?”

“Anything for the pleasure of my beloved master!” Yeula's aide said as it cheerfully circled around the space.

“How about notifying me before running off on your own next time? We need you in one piece.” Yeula faced her computer. “Number Six, power on.”

“Always an honor to be showered with concern, my beloved master!” Yeula's aide gleefully responded. Yeula simply ignored her and took a bite of her so-called breakfast.

The screen of the computer's monitor lit up as it responded to Yeula's command. Yeula browsed the internet for several minutes before standing up and waltzing to the front door without finishing her food. “Keep an eye out for trouble while I'm gone, all right?”

“Anything for the pleasure of my beloved—” Yeula's aide paused mid-speech after noticing Yeula's unfinished plate. “But Yeula, you haven't even—”

“Take care,” came Yeula's dry interjection as she stepped into the pleasant breeze and the fair temperature of the outdoors, letting out her enthusiasm by slamming her front door shut and dashing into her parked vehicle. After reaching for personalized headphones in a compartment below the wheel and wearing them over her ears, she meddled with the dashboard's panel until an artificial male voice spoke to her.

“Please provide identification,” the voice requested as another compartment at the side of the panel lifted open to reveal a hand-shaped indentation. As Yeula placed her right hand into the indentation, the vehicle lifted off the ground, hovering slightly above the air in a ready state. “Identification accepted. Welcome back, Yeula.”

And with that, Yeula switched to auto-pilot and took to the skies alongside other civilian vehicles. With her hands free, she reclined against the door with her legs dangling over the other side, lowering her head to feel the caress of the breeze.

“Oh, damn,” Yeula mumbled as she recalled the message of her adoptive sister, hustling upright and accessing the email over the panel.

“Farah here,” began the voice message. “Preparations for the grand reopening of Prime District are going as planned—the reopening is scheduled to coincide with Golem's thousand-year anniversary tomorrow. As you can expect, the whole South District is about to become more festive than ever. I invited most of the gang over there for some all-day quality time. Care to join us? Oh, and we'll have a moment to discuss my findings of Rubis, as I promised.” Farah trailed off into a bout of laughter before continuing, “by the way, have you noticed anything different with your helper? We had a little discussion about your diet the other day. Actually, don't message me the answer; I'd rather hear it in person over by The Antiquity. Care to join me there? Don't keep me waiting.”

“Oh, Ferah,” Yeula sighed, rubbing her eyebrows in annoyance.

The disaster of Prime District prompted a citywide evacuation and lockdown that Yeula was not given a chance to witness during her stay on Fortitude grounds. One circulating rumor was that FOG had even quarantined a few of the evacuees and kept them long after the passing of the disaster. FOG's official statement was that an experiment conducted by a shadowy organization known as the Covenant had gone horribly awry, infesting the streets with numerous man-machines and endangering even the Haizer family, among the few who remained in Prime District after the disaster. In more recent years, any civilian who so much as flew above the city ruins in any sort of vehicle was shot down on sight. What Yeula was certain of was that the disaster began shortly after Argen was carried to Prime District, indicated by a massive black pillar reaching the skies that many survivors could clearly remember seeing. As for Argen, no mention had been made of him ever since. It was all just as she had predicted back then—for one reason or another, she would never see him again.

“You called?” Yeula asked as a ring chimed over her headphones, connecting her to the individual over the line.

“Oh, hi,” a man nervously replied. “I believe I called you before about changing my Golem ID?”

“Oh, yeah...” Yeula took a moment to observe the panel of her car, which relayed to her the exact location of the caller. “Well then, have you approached our collectors with the established payment?”

“Yes.”

“I'm a bit preoccupied with important business right now, so it'll take me a while to confirm your payment before we can move on to the next step. You could take that time to either try your luck with another representative or maybe reconsider your actions. There'll be no turning back, you know.”

“I've made up my mind; let's just get this over with.”

“Alrighty.” Upon reaching an expansive plain of shrubbery and trees outside of the residential subdistrict, Yeula lowered her altitude to a few feet above the road and took the wheel. Even after so many years since her escape from the barren fields of Golem's militarized zone, Yeula could appreciate the sight of nature just as much as the day she was set free. “I'll get you in touch with some of our ex-Reunion officers when the time comes; they'll instruct you the rest of the way. As a client, just remember that the Erenets are not in any way responsible for any action you choose to commit with your falsified ID. If you can remember that, you'll stay in our good graces. Have a nice day.” Her final line served as a voice command for her headphones, terminating the call before the man could respond.

Upon reaching a commercial area of South District, Yeula parked her car by side of the street and set off in the direction of a building behind a garden with a few chairs and tables. Her eccentric outfit along with her elegant stride earned her a few stares of interest and bewilderment. As she approached the seemingly antiquated bar, a woman with brown hair tied in a ponytail and a red scarf waved at her from the view of one of the windows. She hurriedly pushed through the double-door entrance to be greeted by what indeed was an unusual sight for the present-day Golem with its wooden architecture. A few touches of modern-day technology were yet present, such as a holographic television hanging behind the counter. A number of the patrons were dressed to fit their surroundings, including the bartender, a woman with long, pale blond hair framing her face, clad in black with a long skirt, a tunic with a shawl over its shoulders, a pink bowtie, and a cap embellished with a pink flower. The bartender looked at Yeula with her right eye—having her left eye concealed under an eyepatch—and smiled as she gestured her to come over. Yeula partially ignored the woman and took a rest on a velvet seat on the other side of her adoptive sister.

Despite hearing much of The Antiquity, Yeula never had much an interest in visiting the famed bar herself. The bar had apparently underwent considerable changes since the bar was purchased following the passing of the former owner, but that did little to deter the ever-passionate votaries of Golem's old traditions, including Farah. Yeula simply folded her hands on the table as she sat face-to-face with her adoptive sister, waiting for her to strike up a conversation.

Farah stared at Yeula from the corner of her hazel eyes while treating herself to a plate of steak; Yeula could hardly see under the reflection of Farah's simple pair of glasses. “Oh, what's up?” she asked with her mouth full.

“You invite me to a bar miles away from home and that's all you have to say?” Yeula sighed.

“Oh, no. I just figured you'd have something to say about that changing up your diet, at least? I did mention that in the message, didn't I?”

“So you're telling me that you thought it was a good idea to have a chat with my service bot about my diet while researching Rubis at the same time? And please tell me you found something to say about Rubis.”

Farah laughed after swallowing her food. “Hey, if you don't like it, a genius hacker like yourself could just force a few changes, right?”

“It my servant; it doesn't need any modifications,” Yeula groaned. “I'll just tell it to stop taking advice from my clueless big sister, and bam, problem solved!”

Farah shrugged with her palms in the air. “Try not to end up like Relt, okay?”

“Just keep off my back about my diet and I won't look so heavy,” Yeula smirked. Her discussions with Ferah were often laconic and littered with playful insults directed at one another. Farah was to Yeula like a sister she had always desired in her childhood, an honest woman she could always trust to speak her mind, occasional pranks notwithstanding. Meeting Farah in the wake of being sent back to Golem was like a first breath of fresh air she continued to savor.

Ferah gave Yeula a warm smile. “Well, jokes aside, I'm glad to see you're okay after yesterday, sis. I forgot to ask if you were hurt, actually.”

“Just a couple of bruises. Could've been much worse.”

“Well, I'm glad you're acknowledging how lucky you are to be alive. The same goes for Alco and Tredy. Their parents were worried sick about them before we gave them the good news.”

“Their parents are idiots for letting those twerps tag along with me to begin with,” Yeula murmured. “Do I look like a babysitter to them?”

Ferah chuckled. “But it couldn't be helped, sis; you've always been an inspiration to them. And as long as you're with them, they think there's nothing to be afraid of. You should be flattered; you're a role model already!”

“Doesn't make me any less of a bad influence. My lifestyle is my own; it's not made for anyone else. And before you say anything, I'm not beating myself up; that's just how it is.”

Ferah gave a subtle nod before looking away with a contemplative look in her eyes. A moment of silence fell over the duo before Ferah changed the subject. “Anyway, you might like to know that I've discovered a few things about Rubis. It turns out she had associated herself with a small-time criminal syndicate and was en-route to their base before you intercepted her. The weapons she had stolen from Fortitude were likely a form of offering in exchange for their services. Fortitude equipment is something us civilians rarely have any access to, even those who dabble in black market trade. FOG seems to be very serious in keeping military gear out of unwarranted hands. It makes you wonder if there's perhaps something more to it than we suspect.”

Yeula nodded. “Is that so? Anything more about Rubis herself?”

Ferah looked surprised. “Aren't you any bit curious about Fortitude's equipment?”

“Naturally, but just sitting here speculating won't get us anywhere.”

“Good point, I guess. So, apparently, Rubis had a daughter who should be around your age by now. It might do us well to scout her should an opportunity arise. She might know a few things about Fortitude from her mother.”

“Where is she? And how did she react to her mother's death?”

“I'm not completely sure, but I'm almost certain she's still alive somewhere. Ultimately, we should concern ourselves with her later, until I can gather more intel.” Ferah's lips curled into a sly smirk. “And speaking of family, sis… I heard a rumor that your father would be returning from his duties soon.”

“Oh, didn't know about that,” came Yeula's unmotivated response.

“I heard your father was once a man of high standing,” Ferah continued. “He did something spectacular to get himself noticed just as his daughter is doing right now. Good genes must run in your family.” Farah shrugged. “Well, that said, I hope you don't plan on going anywhere if you ever do get to see him again, since we all still have much to gain from your talents.”

“And why would I do that?”

“I don't know, I just figured you two would at least have some catching up to do if you were to be reunited.”

Yeula vehemently shook her head. “Let's get something straight, 'sis'—I don't care about my father and never will. There's not gonna be any reunion if I have anything to say about it. The Erenets are the only family I have now.”

Farah shushed Yeula. “Keep your voice down,” she whispered. “You know full well that mentioning that name here is bound to give us a ton of awkward stares.”

“So what?” Yeula whispered back. “The Guard's not gonna do anything if we're just sitting here talking.”

“I just don't like being stared at, okay?” Farah openly expressed, inadvertently earning her a few stares.

“You should have a picked a quieter meeting place, then, because I still have some questions about the reopening of Prime District.”

“Still wondering where your old boyfriend ran off to?” Farah chuckled at Yeula's annoyed expression. “While I agree that FOG's explanation is obviously some sort of cover-up, it's hardly our business.”

“It's been my business since the very beginning and I don't intend to rest until I have an answer.”

“The description of these 'experimental cyborgs' that raided Prime District sounds awfully similar to the 'black beasts roaming Golem' nonsense the media churns out every other day, I admit. It makes me almost want to believe that Fortitude holds some purpose other than warding off outsiders like the existence of this 'Argen' you told me about suggested.”

“We know there are other colonies outside of Golem, so why does the government contain civilians inside the walls?”

Farah shrugged. “Golem's Central Database doesn't ID any outsiders, if what we know from our ex-Reunion employees is correct, which means that Golem doesn't entirely affiliate itself with outside colonies. Maybe Reunion is making peace offerings with clans Golem has been at war with for ages.”

“If we've been at war with these neighboring colonies all this time, they'd probably have some kind of effective weapon against us. And if that's true, that'd mean they should have been capable of breaching our walls at least once, don't you think? Look, Farah, I've been to Fortitude's camps before—I've seen the kind of weaponry they carry outside Golem's walls, and let me tell you they're doing far more than just warring with humans or scavenging for materials out there.”

“Isn't that just speculation? For your amusement, another, albeit far more believable story that counters your argument is that Golem has been breached before, but FOG simply chooses to keep quiet about that for morality reasons.”

“And don't you think people would remember something like that ever happening no matter how hard FOG tried to cover it up?”

Farah narrowed her eyes. “So where are you going with this?”

“I'm telling you, RICOR exists!” Yeula exclaimed, leaning closer to the chuckling Ferah.

“First of all, where are these so-called Responsive Insurgent Covert Operations Regiment operatives? Even our ex-Reunion officers say that no such occupation exists within the Central Database.”

“RICOR officers are likely capable of operating within Golem without an official ID, which would explain why the Central Database makes no mention of RICOR. They've likely established an isolated database for ID'ing their own members and granting them the same privileges as any citizen of Golem, just like we've done for ourselves and our clients thanks to Reunion's deserters.”

Farah briefly frowned. “That wouldn't be too far-fetched, I suppose. So, you're trying to say that this 'RICOR' organization has been involved in some kind of secret war against… an invisible threat invading Golem from outside? Keep in mind that you're far from being the first person to connect the dots in such a way—the problem is that no one has ever been capable of proving, beyond all doubt, that RICOR and the 'black beasts' are actually a thing.”

“That's why I need to haul ass back to Prime District as soon as I get the chance. Say what you want, but FOG can't cover all of its tracks, especially not from someone like me.”

“Whatever you say. If you ask me, the grand reopening of Prime District doesn't present much more than a great business opportunity for us. Prime District had remained largely untouched by the Erenets before the incident, and now will be as fitting a time as any to make our name known and heard throughout the entire colony! Thousands of would-be criminals will shower us with gold for the services we can provide them; more and more Reunion officers and genius hackers like yourself will join our ranks, making us more powerful and efficient than ever. Before long, maybe some FOG operatives, including those from Fortitude and perhaps RICOR if they exist, will defect to our side as well. In the end of things, you, me, and our entire family will be seen as the true rulers of Golem with the Haizers grovelling at our feet. And if it turns out that FOG does have some secrets we can expose to the public, the masses at large would undoubtedly begin to trust us over them. The era of the Haizer family will at long last come to an end, beginning a new chapter of Golem history where we will rule solely over the entire colony… and soon, the entire world beyond it!” Farah placed her hands on her hips and feigned a menacing laugh, immediately silencing herself upon noticing the influx of puzzled stares in her direction. “Well, what I was trying to say was… good luck with your investigation, sis.”

“Does that mean you actually—”

“And no, that doesn't mean I totally believe what you're saying, but if you turn out to be right, well… we'd have nothing to complain about. Anyway, most of our affiliates should be scattered around South District passing time until tomorrow by now, and I say we join them. How many months has it been since the two of us last met up for something that wasn't strictly business?”

“Where to?” Yeula asked as she rose from her seat.

Farah pulled a stack of gold coins from her pocket and laid them on the table. “I heard that FOG is hosting a public execution a few blocks down from here. You haven't had anything to eat recently, have you?”

“Not really, thanks to your meddling.”

“You'll thank me later.”

As Yeula remained fixated on Ferah, a cold hand brushed against her shoulder, nearly causing her to fall back onto her seat from surprise. She turned to the culprit to find the eccentric bartender looking up at her with a wide smile.

“Why, hello there,” came the bartender's gentle greeting. “Please pardon my intrusion, but I couldn't help but notice that you two had mentioned the incident of Prime District.”

Yeula gave the bartender a contorted look. “Yeah? What of it?”

“My name is Floe Kaster,” the bartender responded, extending her hand to Yeula. “You are a relative of Farah's, I presume?”

With some hesitation, Yeula took the bartender's cold, soft hand and meekly gave it a single nod. The mere sight of the bartender's face gave Yeula a sort of unease she could not quite place. “That's right,” she answered, her mundane tone withholding her troubled emotions.

“Ah, you must be Yeula, then. You know, I've heard so many wonderful stories about you.”

“Wait, what? How do you—”

“I told her, all right?” Farah interjected as she rose from her seat. “There's no need to panic.”

“We get patrons from all walks of life around here,” the bartender, Floe, continued. “The Antiquity has always provided a safe haven for those who wish to chat with peers and enemies alike and put any moral differences aside for once. It's not at all my concern that you two happen to be from the Erenet family, so… relax.” Floe tipped her cap upward as she lifted her head in contemplation. “Prime District… I was actually there during the invasion, you see. I lost all of my property along with many dear friends that day, but in the end I'm simply grateful to have made it out with my hide intact; and what a pleasure it is to have been presented with such an outstanding bar. As far as uncovering the truth of whatever happened that day goes… I can't say that's been much of a concern to me, but that's not to say I would mind if that became someone else's little project when Prime District reopens for us commoners.” Floe once again placed her hand on Yeula's shoulder, causing her to flinch. “I wish you good luck on your future endeavors, little one. Stop by for a drink next time, won't you? Assuming you're old enough, of course.”

“We'll be taking our leave now, thanks,” Farah announced as she grabbed Yeula's other shoulder.

Floe nodded. “So soon? Well, my apologies if I seemed overly nosy. Can I expect to see the both of you again sometime—”

“Hold on,” Yeula interjected, brushing off her sister's hand, “Is there anything you can tell me about what you saw during the attack?”

“Nothing a dedicated researcher like yourself would not have already heard,” Floe replied while adjusting her cap. “Have a nice day, you two; enjoy yourselves out there.”

As Yeula and Farah casually left the bar, Yeula observed the bartender staring at them with a smile through the window until they were nearly out of sight and on the way back to Yeula's car. “I don't know what it is, but that woman scares me like no other,” she murmured.

“Now you're just being paranoid again,” Farah sighed.

“Call it paranoia, but my intuition never has and never will prove me wrong.”

“Better proven wrong than crazy, I always say,” Farah laughed.

An uneasy feeling that she could not quite place… That would be all Yeula would receive from the look of the bartender for a long time to come. Her intuition had made that much known to her, at least; but as it was, she had greater concerns at the moment.

Castor, the Six Star Hero an OC centric BNHA fanfiction Chapter 4

Touma wants to become a pro hero. He trains every day and studies the special moves and techniques of pros and sidekicks alike at his part time job. But there’s one thing in his way: In a world were 90% of the population had some sort of super human ability known as a quirk, Touma was one of the 10% that didn’t. Touma was quirkless, but that won’t stop him from pursuing his dream of working in the hero industry like the rest of his family. This is the story of how Castor, the Six Star Hero became the first quirkless pro hero. 

'Latest age for quirk manifestation'

'quirk manifestation later in life'

'quirk manifest after puberty'

'test for psychic quirk'

'oldest age manifest quirk'

'late quirk manifest'

Touma's keyboard keys clattered with an anxious fury as he typed each question in rapid succession. Each search query presented him with less and less results that could answer his problem. His mother would know more, and through a mouthful of fruits and cereal bars at the breakfast table, he explained his predicament. Hotari took Touma's excited and confused rambling well and brought him to a quirk doctor to test if he had some dormant quirk that was only really coming out of the woodwork now.

As Touma was poked and prodded with strange measuring tools and scopes, in his eyes and his ears and even his fingers, the nurse made comments about how he was likely one of the oldest patients she was treating for a first quirk and not a quirk evolution.

When the nurse told him to sit back down in the waiting room, Touma sat by his mother who was reading a book. Touma was in such a rush that morning he forgot to bring his own book with him and was left twiddling his thumbs and tapping his feet in anticipation of more tests and eventually, the results.

"Calm down," Hotari said softly, resting a hand on Touma's knee without even lifting her eyes from the pages of her book. "Just a few more tests and then we can go out for lunch, what do you think about that?"

Touma nodded, "that sounds good."

"Oh, more waiting for test results, isn't that fun? I'm sure Alek and Xiameng are loving this." A voice sounded in his head. The airy voice of the snow boots lady brushed up against Touma's ear. He could have sworn the temperature of the room dropped when she grunted and rolled his eyes at him. Touma dropped his head in his hands and groaned.

Touma excused himself to the washroom so he and this mystery of a lady could talk in private out of his mother's earshot.

"Who's Alek? Who are you?" Touma demanded in a harsh whisper. The snowy boots lady leaned against the closed door of their stall and took off her hood, shaking snowflakes from her hair. She was wearing her parka with shades of grey and white in winter camo, snowboots, and a thick hat, as per usual. Her hair was tied in a braid that trailed over her lowered hood and shoulder. A strap of a hunting rifle hung diagonally across her chest. Snowflakes dusted the fur trim of her parka.

"Alek's that foul mouthed blond boy, the lockpicker from Germany. Not the redheaded one from England, that's Merlin. And I'm Natalya. Natalya Ozimmy." She gave a slight curtsy and smiled at Touma sweetly as if that answered his question.

Touma pinched the bridge of his nose. This was all so confusing and he didn't understand a thing. He leaned against the wall opposite Natalya and slid down until he was sitting on the floor in front of her. Their feet should have touched, but they didn't.

"You've already met Xiameng too, right? The dark haired acrobat from Hong Kong." Natalya asked. Touma thought to the girl he met on the subway. Her dizzying acrobatics, the soreness of his hands, the new pages in his notebook with a title that wasn't his handwriting. Xiameng said she was from his taekwondo class. Had she lied?

"That was probably Alek talking for her." Natalya interrupted Touma's thoughts. "If she said she was one of the voices in your head, you would have thought you were going insane, wouldn't you?"

Touma's stomach churned uneasily. "Is that what I am?" Touma dared to speak, as if voicing his fears would make them real.

"Have you ever heard of someone manifesting a quirk this late? Your test results are going to come back negative." Natalya informed him.

Touma hid his face from Natalya. "So you're saying, you're all hallucinations?" Touma asked, peeking at her face through his hair.

Natalya crouched down to his level, and sat by him, the sound of snow crunching under her weight. "That's what I thought too. But you're not crazy, trust me, you're going to be ok." Despite the cold of the air around her, Natalya's voice had a sense of warmth and comfort Touma relished in this whole confusing mess.

Touma looked at her again, she was there sitting on the floor of the stall with him, but she was also sitting against a tree in a snow covered forest. "You're not actually here, are you?"

"No. I'm in Russia, in the Ural mountains." Natalya said. Touma could see where she was clearer. In a forest blanketed with thick snow and light flurries falling from a sky that was just beginning to lighten with the sunrise. "You're in Japan, right?" Natalya asked. 

Touma nodded. "Near Tokyo.""Merlin said you were in London with him yesterday." Touma nodded again.

"How is that possible?" Touma asked."It's an effect of Serena's quirk." Natalya explained.

"Who's Serena?"

Natalya opened her mouth to answer but stopped, a sound far off on her side of the bathroom stall called for her attention. She stood up and she was in that snowy forest on a mountain again. "I'm sorry, I have to go. I'll let the others know to help you."

And just as suddenly as Natalya appeared, she was gone. Touma's phone buzzed in his pocket, his mother was texting him to come back for more tests.

A nurse greeted Touma again when he came back to the waiting room and led him down a hall to an x-ray room. Touma was given a lead coat to wear and was told to lay on the table while the nurse took the x-ray.

"Ah the infamous foot x-ray. I can tell you right now, you've got two joints in that pinky toe." A gruff voice taunted in Touma's head. Touma turned to find the blond boy who picked Ame's locker a few weeks ago standing by the table, a smirk on his face. Alek, Natalya said his name was. Touma pressed his lips together and turned his face away, not wanting to talk to him while the nurses were watching him.

"Oh, you haven't learned to just talk to us in your head yet? Don't worry. You'll get the hang of it, maybe."

Touma narrowed his eyes at the boy. "What, have people been giving you strange looks when you do? You know a trick I used to use?" Alek pointed to his ear where he wore a Bluetooth earpiece. Alek offered Touma a slight smile and waved him goodbye as the nurse called to Touma to say his tests were done. 

Lunch with his mom was mostly uneventful and none of the voices in his head came to visit him. It didn't stop Touma from turning his head in the direction of any conversation in the restaurant that were a bit too loud or were about quirks. The damned word ringing in his ear every time it was spoken, a beacon that tugged at his ears and stole his attention but faded back into the din just as he turned again and again.

"You're going to be okay," his mom called Touma back to reality. "We'll get the results in one or two days. In the meantime, don't worry about them. Focus on your work and training." Her warm eyes were crinkled by her smile. "And no matter what the results say, you can still be a hero, you know that, right?"Touma gave her a smile. "Yeah, I know." 

The next day on Touma's way home from his jiu-jitsu class, he'd visited Merlin again. As the subway left the station into the dark tunnels under Tokyo, Touma found himself up in the sky, clouds flying past the windows. He pressed his face against the glass and outside, a thousand feet below him was not Tokyo, but some unfamiliar countryside.

A smile split across Touma's face, stomach fluttering with a strange mix of anxiety and excitement, he had never been in a plane before. "Wow!" Touma exclaimed as he saw farmland, windmills, energy stations, rivers and boats pass by below him, this new view of the world was breathtaking and beyond anything he'd seen before.

"Can you please keep it down?" A voice behind Touma sighed. Merlin was looking at Touma like he'd just crawled out of a shower drain. His eyes had dark, heavy bags under them and his red hair was in disarray. His seat was alone in the row, a thin wall separating him from the other passengers, a laptop and papers on a narrow desk beside him and a blanket draped over his torso.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you?" Touma's shoulders dropped and he apologized meekly. Merlin looked familiar. More familiar than Natalya or Xiameng felt, he couldn't quite place where he'd seen Merlin before.

"No, but I'm busy working." Merlin said quietly, his accent giving his Japanese a funny lilt.Touma looked to the laptop, portraits of heroes and villains on the screen.

"What are you working on?" Before Touma could get a closer look at the screen, his own hand shot out in front of him, slamming the screen of the laptop closed.

"Classified." Merlin said sternly. Touma stared at his hand strangely and then spotted a familiar logo on the back of the laptop. The emblem of the largest hero agencies in the world, a dragon clutching a sword. Looking back, Touma could see the same emblem on the shoulder of Merlin's sweater. Pendragon, it employed more than a thousand heroes and sidekicks in over a hundred countries, but it was most famous in Britain.

"Your accent," Touma began, "You're British, and you called Stormbringer your uncle...do you work at the Pendragon Hero Agency?" 

Instead of an answer to his questions, Merlin just scowled and with a shove, Touma was out of the plane and in a dark tunnel. Touma's legs were wobbly. Unlike Natalya and Xiameng who were nothing but kind to him and Alek who teased him but offered help, Merlin just straight up pushed him out of his head and left Touma alone, in the dark, alone. He didn't even know where he was anymore, the service lights on the tunnel walls around him doing little to reassure Touma's racing mind. 

"Haha, Merlin is a total jerk!" Alek's voice called out in the dark. A firm hand found Touma's shoulder and Alek pulled him close, a flashlight in his hand, leading the way. "He likes to keep his life private, but he's not that bad once you get to know him." Alek said as he led them down the tunnel, subway track at their feet. Alek was carrying a bag of spray paint cans that clinked and bumped against each other as they walked. "Here we are." Alek climbed up to what looked like an old subway platform that looked like its walls had already been mural-ed over and over again by different taggers for years. Alek picked out a space on the wall and slipped on an aerosol mask and started blacking out a portrait of Endeavour for his own painting. Touma chuckled to himself, seeing an iron on decal of All Might on the back of Alek's sweater. It was as if Endeavour was glaring at the blond hero.

"And you know Merlin?" Touma asked, climbing up onto the platform, looking at the graffitied walls with interest.

"Ya I know Merlin, he's been in my head for little more than a year now. If I didnt, that must mean I'm a shit twin." Alek laughed as he started spraying a large tag of letters onto the wall.

"You and him are twins?"

"Not really. But you are." Alek said. He capped the spray can he had and returned it to the bag. Then he pulled out another colour, shook it, and started applying another layer to his tag."You're turning 17 on April 24 at 3 am, right?"

Touma almost tripped over his own feet at Alek's statement. 

"That's correct, how did you know?"

"Because Merlin is also turning 17, on April 23 at 7pm. You two, you're twins." Alek said.

"We're not brothers...We're not even born on the same day though?" Touma said, skeptical.

"No, not the same day, but the very same second. Accounting for time zones of course." Alek said. "Same with Natalya and Xiameng. And me and Serena."

Touma's head was spinning. This didn't make any sense. Alek focused on his painting, picking new colours and standing back once in a while to admire his work while Touma tried counting backwards in his head, trying to calm down.

"You should get a Bluetooth like I did, if you don't know how to communicate with us without tipping anyone else off yet." Alek said after a while.

"Why?" Touma asked.

"Because Serena has only one joint in her toe. And this is all a part of her quirk," Alek waved an arm to the room around them. "But no one believes her. No one believes that she can talk to 4 other quirkless people in the world. Well, 5 now with you." Alek said slowly, a sense of grim and dread slowly creeping into his voice. "People wouldn't listen to her, thought she was crazy, that we're all made up and she's actually just quirkless."

Touma cradled head in his hands and shook himself, forcing himself to push through a breathing exercise. "I still don't understand. Is this even all real? Am I actually crazy?"

"I know, you're scared." Alek said plainly over his shoulder. "But if I say this is all real, isn't that just what a crazy person will tell himself?"

Alek tossed his spray paint can back in its bag and stepped back one last time, standing shoulder to shoulder with Touma. Engulfing Endeavour's earlier portrait was a figure's head with bandages over his eyes, a manic grin on his face and blood dripping from his tongue Angry black, red, purple and white script framed the whole thing reading 'Long Live Stendhal' in English letters. Touma recognised the words as German, but he understood it almost as well as reading Japanese.

"If you want to reassure yourself, you could search for me, Alek Grimm from Germany and Xiameng Liu Fan from Hong Kong. There might be some news articles about us." Alek shrugged. He looked around the room for a second, the abandoned subway platform melting away slowly."Go, now, don't miss your stop."

Touma was back in the subway car, a brightly lit subway platform and other commuters whizzing by him. He pushed through and got off the subway before the doors closed and walked up the stairs, leaving Alek and his dark abandoned platform behind.

"Look Touma, your test results came in!" Was the first thing he heard when he kicked off his shoes once he got home. His mother was leaning on the stairway banister, waving a large envelope for him to see. I'll let you look at it alone if you want." She handed it to him as he started up the stairs to his room with a quiet "hi mum," and "thanks."

"Wait a minute." Hotari pointed to Touma's ear as he climbed the stairs. "What's this?"

"It's a Bluetooth," Touma shrugged, "so I can do calls hands free." Touma said, blushing slightly.

"Cool," his mom said. "Dinner's in an hour, your aunt and uncle are coming ok? See you later."

When he opened his room door, Natalya was there, waiting on his bed. She was wearing a wool knit sweater, jeans and hiking boots. In her hands was an embroidery hoop and a needle with thread. "So the results are in, do you need anything like moral support?" Natalya asked.

"Depends on the results I suppose." Touma grabbed a letter opener from his desk and spilled the contents of the envelope onto his desk when he cut it open. Multiple tests, and they all came back negative for quirks. The last page was a copy of his foot x-ray. He had two joints in his pinky toe. He fell into his seat, refusing to look in Natalya's direction.

"I was right, wasn't I?" Natalya said, sounding unsure."I-- no, I don't. I'm crazy. I don't. I don't have a quirk. That means you're not real." Touma struggled to speak.

Natalya slowly approached and lay a gentle hand on Touma's shoulder. "I thought so too, once, years ago."Touma tried to focus himself, do the breathing exercises he learned from tai chi. He wouldn't allow himself to cry in front of her.

"Would you like to take a walk? Will that help you relax?" Natalya suggested. Touma looked up into her violet eyes, warm and reassuring. He shook his head and closed his eyes.

"I just want to be alone for a while, please." When Touma opened his eyes again, Natalya was gone.

Touma hardly touched his food that night. Despite his aunt and mother's questions about what he planned to do at school next week, whether he'd bought all his supplies yet, did he know anyone else who was going to UA? he gave them short, single word answers.

Back in his room, his negative test papers were still on his desk, a grim reminder that he was probably going crazy and he was going to have a hard time at hero school. Maybe he did need a walk. 

"Natalya?" Touma called tentatively.

"I'm here." A soft voice called behind him. 

Touma dragged his feet towards the door and opened it, presenting it to her like a prize. "I'm ready for a walk now."

Natalya smiled and followed him out.

The city was bustling even this late in the evening. People were waking on the streets, heading home from work or going out for the last week before school started again. All around him were people with quirks, transformation quirks that changed their appearance to that of animals or warped proportions, of emission quirks where people with hair of fire or a head of ice walked around, just existing. Touma turned on his Bluetooth just so the light would show.

"So, how does this work?" Touma asked, his feet leading him and Natalya nowhere in particular.

"We call Serena's quirk 'Twin Telepathy'. We can communicate with each other through it, share each others skills and knowledge. Visit each other, see the world through another set of eyes. But it only works for quirkless people. Quirkless people who were born on the same day." Natalya explained as they walked.

"Where are you right now?" Touma asked.

"I'm still in the mountains, I work in a rescue lodge. Rehabilitating injured animals and warding off poachers or helping lost hikers and skiers. Supervising the occasional military exercise. That sort of thing. But I'm also here with you." She replied.

"And you speak Japanese?"

"Not before I met you and Merlin. I speak Russian,  Belorussian and some Ukrainian. When I hear you speak I hear you speaking Belorussian. Do I sound like I'm speaking Japanese to you?"

Touma nodded. "Merlin can speak Japanese?" Touma asked.

"He studied in Japan a few years ago. Speaking of which, have you bought your school supplies yet?" 

Touma shook his head, so they started heading towards a mall.

While he browsed through various sized notebooks and different colored pens in a department store, Touma pulled out his phone and typed in a search query: Xiameng Liu Fan, Hong Kong. A few dozen articles came up that looked relevant, and some pictures of the girl he'd seen before came up as results. An acrobat and ballet dancer who, despite being quirkless, was a member of a world renowned circus troupe.

Touma felt a wave of relief wash over him. She was real.

"My parents were disappointed when everyone else in my class started presenting quirks in preschool and I still didn't have one by the next year." A voice spoke from the other side of the aisle. Xiameng rounded the corner, wearing a leotard, arms crossed and smiling at both Touma and Natalya. "Though everyone else gave up on me, my parents didn't. Quirk or not, I had to make something of myself. I found something I liked, trained hard. I had to be the best at what I did." She explained, Touma scrolling through articles as she spoke. He smiled at her, her accomplishments acting like proof for who she was on the screen, not just in his head.

"You want to be the best at what you do too, right?" She asked as Touma and Natalya picked school supplies and lined up at the cashier."I want to become a pro-hero." Touma said confidently, finally admitting his dreams to them even though they probably already knew. Them being in his head and all.

"An uphill battle, even with a quirk." Natalya said.

"But if I got into Cirque du Soleil, maybe you can become a hero." Xiameng said as she stretched.

Touma paid for his school supplies and then they left for another store, searching for clothes. With his bag of school supplies hanging from his elbow, Touma started typing into his phone again. Alek Grimm, from Germany. Natalya had to help him scroll down past a few articles about other 'Alek Grimms' until she got to a news report and opened the link for him.

The German text on the screen jumbled in his mind until he could somehow understand it. It was a local report on a dangerous villain gang. A quirkless member of the group had already served time in juvie and being quirkless, had his bail set lower than the others. Mugshots of the villains were displayed, the last member bearing a familiar face.

"He's...he's a villain..." Touma's breath was uneasy as he spoke.

"Thanks. Not everyone gets to have a support system. The world is cruel to those with quirks not so readily accepted by society, even more so for those who don't have a quirk at all." Alek said, his voice bitter as he pushed some clothes on a rack, looking at some faux leather jackets.

"You're a villain." Touma spoke.

"I didn't do anything wrong." Alek jeered.

"You stole a gun from a cop." Natalya scolded.

"It's not like I killed him. The other guy deserved what he got anyway." Alek shrugged and left the rack of jackets and browsed through rugby sweaters. "Besides, I've turned a new leaf. I'm not a villain anymore," Alek turned back around to face the others and struck a pose imitating All Might. 

"I am a petty criminal!" He proclaimed in a mocking tone.

Natalya crossed her arms and shook her head in disappointment. "Your tone doesn't match your pose. And your words don't inspire much confidence either."

Alek gave her a sly grin. "I'll keep working on my new image then," he said, slicking his hair back as if that would instantly make him look more professional.

"Bloody hell you're all very loud today." Merlin was sitting on a bench near the changing rooms. He was wearing a suit and tie, shiny black shoes and was clicking away at a laptop. A laptop bearing the Pendragon logo, he wore a pin on his lapel with the same emblem too.

"Ha, looks like someone's in a good mood today." Xiameng said.

"Please, my flight was very turbulent and I think the lobster was bad." Merlin brushed her off, not even lifting his eyes from the screen. "The hotel we're staying at offers fugu and my cousin and her colleagues tried it but Alek used my voice to tell one of them about a recent fatality incident. Now that sidekick won't shut up about how she might suddenly drop dead and it's much too soon because her rating isn't high enough yet."

"Alek, boundaries?" Natalya chided. Alek grinned at her and shrugged.

"I don't give a bloody damn, but I wish she'd annoy someone else about it." Merlin came to Alek's defence.

"You're not in London right now, are you?" Touma asked.

"Canberra. Australia. Hero conference." Merlin said flatly.

"So you do work for the Pendragon Hero Agency." Touma said.

Merlin looked up at Touma with narrowed eyes. He didn't say anything for a while, choosing his words carefully. "No, I'm studying hero law. I only work with heroes from the Hero Agency sometimes, acting as a liaison between the PHA and the International Committee of Damage Control."

Alek asked to see Touma's phone. Touma passed the phone over and Alek smiled at the Pear logo on the back, showing it to Merlin. Then Alek started his own search query and started typing on it. Merlin looked up at Alek with poison in his eyes.

"He's going to find out eventually." Alek reasoned and handed Touma's phone back with a picture of a group of heroes from the Pendragon Agency on the screen. Merlin was there, beside the British pro-hero Stormbringer, who had an arm around the young boy. Scrolling down, there were more pictures and an article about him, Touma's eyes widening as he read. Merlin had placed 1st at the sophomore year's U.A. High Sports Festival almost 3 years ago. The article spoke of some kind of earth and water quirk he used to beat the competition, praising the gifted boy who'd been the youngest student to attend the esteemed academy, passing the entrance exam and getting accepted into the school at a meer 13 years old and was a popular candidate for the next generation's #1 hero. The boy in the picture was very different from the young man who sat in front of him though. The Merlin from the article offered the camera a bright, toothy smile, genuine happiness on his face. The real Merlin sat at his laptop, back straight, shoulders squared, a stiff upper lip, tired eyes looking at the screen of his laptop like it had offended him. 

"I thought this quirk only works with quirkless peo--"

"It does." Merlin spoke, terse and acidic.

"Come on, let's go. He can catch up to us later." Natalya said, slowly urging Touma away from Merlin.

"Don't wait up." Merlin called after the group, his face illuminated by the blue light of the screen.

"I'm a little hungry, are you hungry?" Xiameng said after a while as the group walked towards a food court.

Touma got a health smoothie from drinks kiosk, and when he sat down, he saw Xiameng was snacking on her own protein bar and Natalya was eating a hearty stew which he somehow knew came from a pack of military rations."Ha, fitness freaks, the lot of you." Alek teased.

"You should up your game too. Or else you might get caught again." Xiameng said sweetly, teasing but not meaning any harm. Alek knew and just crossed his arms and laughed.

Touma felt someone tap his shoulder. A woman a couple years older than him with long brown hair and a lab coat smiled at him and made some hand signals at him.

'its nice to finally meet you' Touma somehow understand what the gestures meant in his head even though he didn't hear the woman speak at all.

"Rokuhoshi, this is Serena." Natalya introduced them.

"You're...you're deaf?" Touma asked, unsure if it was an inappropriate question. Serena didn't mind though and nodded, yes. She continued signing, 'I can hear you though. Or maybe feel is a better word, it's a bit hard to explain, I know. You five are the only voices I can hear, other than my dad. I'm happy you can understand me. It feels good to be listened to.' 

Touma smiled at her. "I'm still a little confused though." He admitted, though he felt better and was eager to learn more about the others and this new and interesting quirk. Serena smiled at him. Natalya, Alek, Xiameng and even Merlin was there sitting at the table.

"Join the club," they all joked.

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7

Hello from the Gobi Desert! This post is a bit of an epic so you might want to sit down with a cup of tea if you're planning to read it all! We've been in Mongolia for almost a week now, and have found it to be a fantastic place with very beautiful landscapes, where traditional culture is still very much a part of life as parts of the country are rapidly changing and becoming modernised. The traditional lifestyle in Mongolia is that of nomadic herding, where herders move several times per year with their herd of cattle, goats, sheep, yaks and horses, living in a ger (yurt) which is dismantled and taken with them. The extremes of temperature from minus 40 in the winter to +40 in the summer mean they are very tough ! Mongolia became under Soviet governance in the 20's and was a communist country until the early 90's. As a buffer zone between Russia and China, it received a lot of subsidies from the Kremlin and hence in a lot of ways people felt their quality of life was better during this time - there was free healthcare, universal education and if herders didn't meet quotas set by the government (for wool, meat, etc) they were given enough for a basic standard of living, which it is felt did not encourage productivity. As an independent democratic nation it is in a time of transition to an economically productive country - there is a wealth of natural reserves such as gold, uranium and zinc, and it is hoped that if managed properly, mining will bring a lot of wealth to Mongolia. Nowadays more and more people live in urban areas (around 60%), the main one being the capital Ulaanbaatar, where there is better infrastructure and access to services and employment. Here the landscape is not unlike many other Soviet cities with huge crumbling tower blocks and plenty of concrete, however with one key difference- there has been a strong reluctance of many to leave their ger life behind, and hence the suburbs are full of 'ger districts' where people live in small fenced areas, near to shops, electricity and running water, but in their ger. Everyone in Mongolia over the age of 18 has a right to 0.7 hectares of land, so can take this and put their ger on it, sometimes families will combine their land and have a compound with several gers and different family members . The ger districts have a lot of air pollution in the winter due to coal fires, and apartment blocks have been built for people to relocate to, however this scheme has proved unpopular. It seems the traditional way of living is important to many Mongolians, even if many parts of life are become modernised or westernised to make life easier. Some people will live in the countryside in a ger just for the summer months and spend the harsh winter in the city. There are still many herders (difficult to say how many as some people may live a semi-nomadic life, but around 30-40%) who continue their way of life in a similar way to how it has been for hundreds of years, however many with certain adaptations, for example solar panels, cars and internet access. Tourism has been useful for many people living in the countryside, bringing money for them to be able to buy these things. There is little other source of income here other than selling livestock, and hence it can be disastrous if there is a particularly harsh summer or winter. Buddhism is the main religion of Mongolia, along with Shamanism and certain other minority religions. The buddhist teachings came from Tibet and the church was very powerful until the communist years when it was declared that there was no religion, and monasteries and temples were destroyed. Still, however, Mongolians continued their rituals and all over the countryside you can see coloured scarves representing air, sky, earth, water and fire, shrines and prayer flags and gers all have a family alter, often with Buddhist ornaments. Mongolians tend to be quite spiritual and superstitious people and we're slowly learning some of the things which are bad luck (e.g accidentally touching someone's foot with yours- you have to shake their hand to say you didn't mean it). So combined with the dramatic, diverse and often empty scenery, all in all it makes for a really interesting place to visit! On planning the fortnight in Mongolia we realised two things, firstly that we happened to be arriving on the first day of the Nadaam Festival - a national celebration with a tournament of "manly games" on a similar (if not bigger) scale to our Christmas! And also that planning to explore yourself with public transport is quite hard work and can take a long time with lots of potential pitfalls , so we gave up on that and booked a tour. We found a small company which aims to maximise benefits to local people and minimise environmental impact, and it has been great so far! The first couple of days we spent enjoying the Nadaam festival, an annual festival to celebrate the arrival of summertime, it has taken place for hundreds of years and comprises three "manly games", wrestling, horse racing and archery, and recently ankle bone shooting has also been added to the games. Actually women are able to take part in the horse racing and archery. The evening we arrived there was a big concert in Sukhbatar Square (named after a famous revolutionary) with lots of music and dancing, including some mongolian renditions of Justin Bieber and Ed Sheeran! A huge fireworks display and on the way home there was a jazz band and salsa dancing in the streets. We went to the field by the stadium to watch the archery, you sit in the stands with lots of families and competitors, many wearing the traditional clothes which are a long coat (which doubles as a blanket) boots and a pointy hat, differing in colour and style depending on the person, with the backdrop of the a mountains North of UB behind. the archery we saw was very different to archery elsewhere, the aim is to shoot leather cylinders which are stacked on the floor in a row around 100m away, so the arrows are shot in a long arc - apparently it takes a lot of strength, for a woman it is equivalent to lifting more than 20kg with one arm! By the leather cylinders, judges stand to signal to the shooter whether they were successful or not, and do so by waving their arms in different ways. The following day we went to the horse trainer's Naadam - a smaller festival outside the city for the people who train the horses for the national Naadam in UB and hence miss the celebrations. First we saw the horse racing - interestingly all the riders are kids , as they are lighter - there has recently been a lower age limit of 7 set! They race for around 40km, so it is quite a challenge. It doesn't seem to be a professional/ elite sport as it is in other places- any family who trains horses can enter and win. We also saw the wrestling, where men wearing a nice outfit of a short and decorated jacket with an open front and long sleeves, and matching pants, with a pair of boots, aim to force their opponent to touch the ground with a part of their body other than their feet . Before the fight they salute the referees and perform the eagle dance, where they spread their arms like eagle wings, pretend to swoop around and slap their thighs. The winning wrestlers from the national Naadam were at the event and were awarded a jeep! They then proceeded to drive around the wrestling ring waving out of the sunroof! In between the matches there was a traditional mongolian folk band, a Mongolian pop band and a 'wolf dance' with throat singing and really impressive dancing. It was a scorching hot day and the area around the ring was packed with people. The stands were crammed full with people climbing onto the railings at the back for a better view. A truck drove round to spray water on the grass to keep it moist whilst the music was being performed and also sprayed the crowd, which people were quite happy with! After the Naadam we went into the countryside and drove for miles into what seemed to be dry farmers fields on the side of gentle mountain slopes occasionally asking at gers for directions - it turns out it's quite difficult to find your destination if it moves onto a new pasture in the middle of vast open countryside every few months!-but eventually found the place we were looking for - a family which accepts tourists and has done since the 60's when tourism was strictly and rigidly controlled by the government. When we arrived there were dried curds and home made yogurt inside the ger, where we stayed for the next two nights. The gers are very cosy, comforting dwellings which are surprisingly sturdy, dry and cool. They are made from a lattice of wooden sticks with layers of sheep's wool covered in a white fabric sheet. They tend to have elaborately and colourfully painted wooden chests and cupboards, decorative silk hanging on the walls, and a family altar opposite the door with photographs, pictures and ornaments of deities and other special items for worship or offering. In the centre will be a stove and there is an opening in the centre of the roof to allow air to circulate. There are many symbols used to decorate the ger and it's contents, for example the endless knot, a Buddhist symbol representing infinite life or live, and the interdependence of things. The ger was surrounded by gentle slopes opening up a huge grassy valley, climbing to the top of the slopes you could see over many mountains for miles, and couldn't see anything or anyone else! Only just outside UB, already it felt like the middle of nowhere-but I guess that's understandable in a large country with a population of only 2.9million. And then there were the stars- there were so, so many! It was so quiet at night, all you could hear was the sound of the herd and the occasional breeze. We drank some whiskey in the back of the van for a while -When you drink alcohol you have to put your ring finger into it and flick it toward the sky as a symbol of respect- Bayara is the driver and Mishka the guide, Mishka is a school teacher but has 3month long summer holidays so has started doing tours to make a bit more money. She said she enjoys seeing more of Mongolia too. They are both very lovely kind people and we've been enjoying spending time with them and have been very well looked after! Bayara really cares for his van, spending lots of time attending to it and maintaining it, we feel very safe with him driving (and with the roads here that's saying something!), There is a carpet and cushions, a small library, binoculars and even a TV! We've been watching Mongolian musicians on it and doing a bit of Mongolian karaoke! We drove from UB down to the Gobi desert, moving from grassy rolling hills to dry sandy moonscapes. We camped by collection of huge limestone boulders which were great fun to climb up, and hiked to the interior of one group of rocks where there is an old temple, now destroyed, but people still make pilgrimages here and everywhere hang prayer flags and blue scarves. On top of the rocks are piles of stones- people place a rock on top and walk around the pile three times, praying to the ancestors or deities .some people also leave money and sweets, and even a toy horse,! There was also a natural spring deep in the rock with a long metal spoon you could use to reach it, it is said that it is very good for your eyes which was lucky as Mat was struggling after getting sand in his eyes, now completely fine so clearly the water worked! There is a lot of wildlife here and we've been spending time in the national parks where we've seen wild horses, wild camels, ibex, lammergeiers, golden eagles and gazelles. There is a special type of wild horse (truly wild,the ones in the UK are apparently escaped ferrel horses!) called a Przewalski horse which became extinct in the wild in the 80s, but was successfully reintroduced (there were some in a zoo in Germany;!) And is now doing well. We're currently in the Gobi Ghurvain national park where there are huge rocky mountains rising up out of the desert, created by the same geological events which created the Himalayas. For a few days it was punishingly hot- at least up to 38 degrees - and heading South was a bit nerve racking! But luckily it has begun raining and cooled down massively- it's also very lucky for the herders who have been experiencing a very dry summer and if their animals don't put on enough weight they really struggle to make it through the very harsh winter and spring. If the animals starve they can't make any money and don't have enough to eat. The water source in the countryside is usually a well, which can run out of water. It really demonstrates how climate change and what seems like a small temperature rise can have disastrous effects upon people living in certain areas. Particularly unjust as their relatively very low impact lifestyle means they haven't contributed to the problem. One evening we turned up to a place to stay in the middle of a vast open desert plain where a family lives with their herd of goats, cows and horses, in a semi nomadic lifestyle where they have a barn and several small out buildings for housing animals and producing curds and other dairy products, but can also live elsewhere in different times of year if the herd needs it. None of the family were there as they'd all gone to the local Naadam, all the buildings were locked, and a few minutes later within seconds a huge dust storm had begun where strong winds were blowing harsh clouds of sand like mist across the plain. Soon you couldn't see or hear further a than a few meters in front of you. We all ran and jumped in the van and closed all the windows as it was steadily filling with a layer of dust. The place felt desolate and completely at the mercy of the elements. There was nothing really to do other than some karaoke and Nishka taught us a Mongolian song and wrote out the words so we can now do a feeble rendition of 'Ayani Sliuvud'! Eventually a motorbike with two sisters pulled up out of the dust and they both ran and jumped in the van. It turned out they'd been asked to look after all the local gers while everyone else went to the naadam! After they drove off to find some phone signal to call the host family and locate the keys we eventually were able to get into one of the gers where we stayed the night . This ger was different to others we'd stayed in as it was brand new and had super modern furniture but still with a family alter, Buddhist scarves and elaborate decorations everywhere. We played some ankle bone games - sheep's ankle bones are different on each side and represent a sheep, goat, horse or camel depending on which side they fall on, and the aim of the game is to collect all the bones by flicking matching animals so they hit each other- a bit like a more complicated marbles. It is generally a really fun and satisfying game and we're hoping to get some to bring home (as long as we can get them through customs!) So will be teaching you all how to play (lucky you !:P) We also got a cheap ukulele from China and a chords app which turned out to have the entire Beatles library on it so Nishka and Bayara have been having to put up with lots of Beatles songs in the evenings ! They like 'i wanna be your man's and '8 days a week' The Beatles have even made it to Mongolia and in UB there is a square called 'beatles square' with a statue of Paul in it! One night we stayed in a provincial centre town (with a public shower, woohoo!) with a family of musicians who played some mongolian folk songs for us in full traditional clothing - they had a type of two stringed lute with a goose head for the neck, and a horse fiddle which is played like a 'cello, and they did this incredible throat and overtone singing. Overtone singing is where you somehow sing more than one note at once, it looks like hard work, and produces an intense and beautiful otherworldly sound which hardly resembles a human voice. I would recommend googling it as it was really amazing and very difficult to describe! Travelling up through a wide valley between the mountains of the Gobi Gurvan Saikhan national park you reach the Khongoryn Els sand dunes which are a ginormous bank of golden sand running roughly parallel to the valley, swept up by strong winds and reaching a height of 200m, spanning 180km! It takes up to an hour to hike up to the top, and the view is breathtaking, like an otherworldly coastline without any ocean, like striding edge made of sand! Over the other side are smaller gentler dunes sweeping for miles like a static sea over to the rocky mountains beyond. The dunes change shape with the weather and make humming sounds in the wind, they are nicknamed 'the singing dunes'. A very fun thing to do there is go exploring by camel! The camels in the Gobi are part of the livestock of people living there, and their meat and milk and wool are all used along with their immense capacity for shifting things(including tourists)- they can carry a whole yurt!  Another spectacular sight is the 'Flaming Cliffs' at Bayanzag, a name coined by explorer Ray Chapman Andrews (who the character Indiana Jones was based on) one of the first explorers to take the challenge of visiting the harsh Gobi desert in the 1920's. These are huge cliffs of red sandstone, baked by the sun to produce a glowing orange mars-like scene. Here some of the first dinosaur eggs were discovered, along with a lot of other dinosaur fossils. On the way here we stopped to look at some petroglyphs on top of a big rocky hill overlooking the steppe - they were pictures of deer, horses, camels, people and dogs, carved into the rocks sometime between 3000 and 8000 BC! It is not clear why they were carved here but they are thought to be of spiritual significance. Incredible to see folk art from such a long time ago.  The last couple of days of our trip were spent near a place called Erdendalai on a gentle grassy plain, camping alongside the family of one of the people running the tour. This was a lovely time as the family were very friendly and welcoming and there were lots of them around - many people who work in cities return to the countryside with their children for the summer. The first night was very wet and windy so they let us sleep in the ger. They were very happy to see the rain! The grandfather prayed by the altar every morning, spinning a prayer wheel, lighting oil candles and sniffing snuff. A 10 year old grandson called Biliun befriended us and we played a lot of card games, he loved Splendor! He took us on a walk one day to what we thought looked like a small pond about 200m away and turned out to be a lake about a mile away! It can be difficult to judge distances here when there is so little on the landscape to provide any scale. You often see mirages of water below the horizon on hot days, making it feel like you're on a great peninsula, but somehow you never manage to reach the shore.  Biliun also came to get us when the goats were being milked (in our tent we heard him asking Mishka for help with the English, then a few seconds later "GOAT MILKING GO!!" ) so we got to do our second milking session of this trip, this time of the goat variety! About 7 people were all milking around 80 goats and there was an impressive amount of milk ! More difficult than milking a cow I think but a kick in the face much less scary, so all in all if I had to choose I'd probably prefer the goat milking. The milk is very tasty too, we've had lots of milk tea, a breakfast of home made rice pudding (nana if you're reading this, almost as good as yours!), the 'top of the milk' - a very thick creamy skin of milk made when it's boiled -, dried curds and even got to make some Khushur- a kind of Mongolian Cornish pasty, the pastry made from flour and water and deep fried rather than baked, eaten mostly during Naadam. Speaking of Naadam, we got to go to another one! This time a small rural festival in a little town we passed through, much less busy and grand but still with a fun holiday atmosphere and with archery, wrestling and horse racing.  We are sorry to be finishing our trip round Mongolia as it's so peaceful and beautiful here, and completely off grid (weird to have no idea what's happening in the outside world!) but also looking forward to being back home. We have one more short stop in Yekaterinburg so will try to write about that before we get back to the UK. See you all soon!

Review: ANA First Class 777-300ER

We arrived at O’Hare Airport at around 9AM for our 11:20AM flight to Tokyo Narita. We had already checked in online, so we headed straight through security and to the United Polaris Lounge, which ANA uses for their first and business class passengers in Chicago.

Chicago O’Hare Terminal

I’ve already reviewed the Polaris Lounge Chicago in great detail. The only thing I’d add is that since I last visited they expanded the lounge a bit, by adding a dining section and a bit more seating at the far end of the lounge.

United Polaris Lounge Chicago dining

United Polaris Lounge Chicago dining

United Polaris Lounge Chicago seating

We had breakfast in the lounge before our flight.

United Polaris Lounge Chicago breakfast

United Polaris Lounge Chicago breakfast

Polaris Lounges continue to blow me away, especially when you consider that they’re from a US airline. These really are some of the best business class lounges in the world.

Our ANA flight to Tokyo Narita was departing from gate C10, just a short walk from the lounge. Boarding was scheduled for 10:50AM, so we headed to the counter at around 10:40AM to have our passports verified.

You’ve gotta love how consistently Japanese airlines try to apply their service standards, even at outstations. The guy checking our passports was caucasian, but gave us a proper bow when he handed us back our boarding passes and passports. Hah.

ANA has a separate line for first class passengers, which was at the far left of the gate.

ANA departure gate Chicago

As you’d expect, boarding started exactly on time. One awesome thing was that I noticed we were flying ANA’s Star Wars 777. Unfortunately they don’t brand it quite to the level of EVA Air’s Hello Kitty flights, though it’s cool nonetheless.

All Nippon Airways 11 Chicago (ORD) – Tokyo (NRT) Tuesday, May 28 Depart: 11:20AM Arrive: 2:20PM (+1 day) Duration: 13hr Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER Seat: 2G (First Class)

We boarded through the forward door, where we were greeted by no fewer than three bowing flight attendants, and escorted to our seats. ANA’s first class cabin consists of eight seats, spread across two rows in a 1-2-1 configuration.

ANA 777-300ER first class cabin

ANA first class cabin 777-300ER

The cabin only takes up a bit over half the space between doors one and two on the 777-300ER as there are also two rows of business class immediately behind it. ANA’s business class features staggered seats with direct aisle access.

ANA business class cabin 777-300ER

ANA 777-300ER business class cabin

While I don’t like to complain about international first class seats — obviously they were incredibly comfortable — I find that ANA’s are among the most poorly designed out there. They box in the seats, and this simply makes no sense. It’s one thing to have the option of extending a door for privacy, but these seats don’t have doors yet feel like cubicles.

This means that if you’re in a window seat you can’t really look outside, while if you’re in one of the center seats you can’t even talk to your travel companion.

ANA first class seat

I selected seats 2D & 2G for Ford and me, though in retrospect we might as well have just both selected window seats, since we couldn’t practically communicate with one another.

All Nippon Airways first class seats

The seats themselves are comfortable and there’s lots of personal space, it’s just that they’re boxed in.

All Nippon Airways first class seats

All Nippon Airways first class seats

All Nippon Airways first class seat

There’s an ottoman, counter, and TV at the far end of the seat. Since they decided to make the seats so private you’d think they would have at least designed the seats so that you had a “buddy seat” option, but even that isn’t the case, so there’s no way you can dine with someone.

All Nippon Airways first class seat

The tray table folded out from the very front of the seat. Rather annoyingly you couldn’t “lock” the table in any position other than completely extended.

ANA first class tray table

All the seat controls were on the center console, including the entertainment controllers, seat controllers, power outlets, reading lights, and even some small cabinets where you could store things.

ANA first class seat controls

Then along the aisle-side wall was another small compartment where you could store reading glasses or a phone.

ANA first class seat storage

While there was a small open space between seats, there was also a panel you could extend for more privacy. Then again, you can’t really talk to the person across from you anyway, so it doesn’t matter that much.

ANA first class seat privacy

Along the outside of the seat was a small closet where you could hang a jacket or two.

ANA first class seat closet

The seats don’t have individual air nozzles, which might be problematic for those who tend to get warm on planes.

Waiting at my seat upon boarding were a pillow and blanket. These were just intended while relaxing at your seat, and then there was separate bedding when it was time to sleep.

ANA first class pillow & blanket

There were also a pair of Sony headphones, which were reasonably good quality.

ANA first class headphones

Once settled in, the nonstop, fabulous service began. First both of the flight attendants working first class, as well as the chief purser, came by our seats to introduce themselves and inform us of the flight time of 12hr15min. They couldn’t have been kinder and more adorable. For example, the chief purser said “Is there anything I can do for you? I hope you enjoy the yummy food and good sleep.” While saying “yummy food” she rubbed her tummy, and while saying “good sleep” she put her hands to the side of her head as if she was sleeping.

They asked if we wanted something to drink, with the choice between water, champagne, and orange juice.

Until several years ago Japanese airlines weren’t even allowed to serve pre-departure drinks, so I guess I shouldn’t complain, but the champagne was room temperature and somewhat flat. I get how it could be room temperature, but flat already?!

ANA first class pre-departure champagne

A few minutes later we were brought Samsonite amenity kits with excellent “The Ginza” toiletries.

ANA first class amenity kit

Then we were offered vouchers for 100MB of free wifi per person, which is a nice feature for first class passengers.

Free wifi for ANA first class

We were also offered socks, shoe horns, and shoe bags.

ANA first class slippers

Then we were offered cardigans.

ANA first class cardigan

Lastly we were offered pajamas. These felt high quality, though were also quite thick and felt warm.

ANA first class pajamas

We were also offered immigration cards for Japan, as well as fast track forms.

Landing cards for Japan

In addition to the amenity kit, the crew came around with a basket of goodies to choose from.

ANA first class amenities

ANA first class amenities

I’ve always wanted to try the “leg refreshing sheet,” though I’ve never quite been sure what to do with it…

ANA first class amenities

Since this was an ANA Star Wars plane, the boarding music was from Star Wars, which is a cute touch. Suddenly a flight attendant appeared from behind us with this huge Yoda stuffed animal, and tried to scare us. It was hilarious, because it caught me off guard and I may or may not have screamed.

The crew asked if we wanted to change into pajamas, which we agreed to. They set up the two lavatories at the front of the cabin, and then stood outside so they could hang our clothes when we emerged.

The lavatories themselves were well appointed, thanks to the bidets and the number of amenities they had. As you’d expect, toilets were absolutely spotless the entire flight, down to constant toilet paper triangle art.

ANA first class lavatory

ANA first class lavatory

ANA first class lavatory bidet

ANA first class lavatory amenities

By the time boarding was complete there were a total of four first class passengers — we were the only ones in row two, and then in 1A was a Japanese guy and in 1K was an American lady who was going on a two week group tour of Japan.

At 11:20AM the door closed, and a couple of minutes later we commenced our pushback. At that point the safety video was screened, and then a few minutes later we began our taxi.

Usually I’d switch to a window seat for takeoff, but given that you can’t really easily look out of the windows either way, I just stayed in the center seat.

During the taxi out, there was a PA from R2-D2 and C-3PO.

Our taxi was fairly quick, and by 11:40AM we were cleared for takeoff. The seatbelt sign was turned off just a few minutes after takeoff.

15 minutes after takeoff the crew distributed the menus and wine list for the flight, which were presented in a binder. We were also given warm towels.

ANA first class menu

ANA offers a dine on demand concept in first class. The menu read as follows:

The drink list read as follows:

We were given a bit of time to look over the menu, and then 30 minutes after takeoff our meal and drink order was taken.

35 minutes after takeoff we were served our first drink — we both had a glass of 2004 Krug to drink. For a limited time ANA was serving the 2004 Krug (rather than Grande Cuvee) in first class, which was a treat.

ANA first class 2004 Krug

Continuing the Star Wars theme, the napkins were even Star Wars branded!

ANA Star Wars branded napkin

We were offered an amuse bouche to go along with the champagne, consisting of apricot and goat cheese, rosette of smoked salmon, foie gras mousse canapé, and cheese pepper bar.

ANA first class lunch — amuse bouche and champagne

For the actual meal we both had the cauliflower mousse with caviar to start.

ANA first class lunch — caviar

Next up I had a garden salad with horseradish dressing, which was excellent.

ANA first class lunch — starter

Ford instead had the corn soup, which I skipped.

ANA first class lunch — soup

Suffice to say that the crew kept our glasses very full. At this point we decided to switch to sake.

ANA first class lunch — sake, champagne, and water

For my main course I selected the sautéed chilean seabass with raisins and herb brown butter sauce.

ANA first class lunch — main course

Ford had the vegetable cannelloni with dried tomato polenta.

ANA first class lunch — main course

For dessert I had the cappuccino mousse cake, while Ford had the warm blueberry pie with vanilla ice cream.

ANA first class lunch — dessert

ANA first class lunch — dessert

To finish off the meal there were some petit fours (after all, one dessert is never enough).

ANA first class lunch — petit fours

I thought the meal was excellent all around. The meal service was finished about 1hr40min after takeoff and was perfectly paced. The crew was attentive without being overbearing, and as is the norm on ANA, couldn’t have been kinder. It was bumpy throughout the first meal service, which made it fun to try and take pictures of the meal.

We were quite tired after the meal, so decided it was time to nap. We had them set up the beds in the window seats in row two so that we could switch between beds and regular seats without having to disturb them going forward. At this point we were a bit over two hours into the flight.

Moving map enroute to Tokyo

Moving map enroute to Tokyo

The bed in ANA first class is quite comfortable. The sleeping surface is nice and wide, and the bedding is good, though I do wish they had bigger pillows and blankets.

ANA first class bed

ANA first class bed

Much to my surprise I got a solid four hours of sleep, and woke up with about six hours remaining to Tokyo, meaning we were just past the halfway point of the flight. At this point we were just leaving Alaska.

Moving map enroute to Tokyo

Moving map enroute to Tokyo

Once awake I decided to browse the entertainment selection.

ANA entertainment system

ANA’s entertainment selection is pretty lackluster, so I’d recommend bringing your own entertainment, personally. The selection is quite limited, especially when it comes to western movies and sitcoms.

ANA entertainment system

ANA entertainment system

ANA entertainment system

Fortunately some of the entertainment was amazing, at least in an ironic way. There was a video about crime prevention for tourists in Tokyo, and it was so hilariously bad that I watched it twice.

ANA entertainment selection

It featured two caucasian guys who communicate exclusively in Japanese, but one of them has never been to Japan before and knows nothing about the culture. So when he lands in Japan the first thing he wants to do is buy a knife so he can defend himself, he talks loudly on the bus on his phone, etc. If anyone can find this video online I’d sure love to watch it again.

ANA entertainment

While watching the show I also ordered a cappuccino. Unfortunately it was watery, so that was the only one I ordered.

ANA first class cappuccino

ANA has wifi on their 777-300ERs, and the pricing is ordinarily as follows:

30 minute plan costs $4.95 (up to 15MB) One hour plan costs $8.95 (up to 30MB) Full flight plan costs $19.95 (up to 100MB)

ANA wifi pricing

Fortunately because I was in first class I received 100MB of free wifi.

ANA wifi complimentary wifi

While I appreciate that ANA has wifi and that it’s even free for first class passengers, it’s provided by OnAir, and is excruciatingly slow. Nonetheless I managed to get a bit of work done for a few hours.

About three hours before landing I decided to order a pre-arrival snack, consisting of curry with steamed rice. The curry is one of my favorite staple dishes on ANA.

ANA first class curry

Ford had the cheeseburger, since he has never had a burger on a plane before.

ANA first class cheeseburger

To finish off the meal I ordered a cheese plate.

ANA first class cheese plate

After the meal I changed out of pajamas, and before I knew it we were just about an hour from our arrival in Tokyo.

At 1:05PM Tokyo time the captain announced that we would be descending in about 20 minutes, and thanked everyone for flying ANA.

Moving map enroute to Tokyo

Moving map enroute to Tokyo

30 minutes out the crew offered everyone in first class iced green tea, and thanked us for flying with ANA.

Pre-landing drinks

After that the three crew taking care of us each stopped by our seats to thank us for flying with ANA. At this point I switched to the window seat, though I did have to briefly unbuckle my seatbelt every time I tried to take a picture out of the window.

View approaching Narita

View approaching Narita

View approaching Narita

We touched down at Narita Airport at 2PM. There was another Star Wars announcement at this point, saying “may the force be with you.” We also taxied past an ANA 787 in Star Wars livery at this point — how cool!

Star Wars 787 Narita Airport

We arrived at gate 58A in Terminal 1 at around 2:10PM.

Star Wars 777 upon arrival

We cleared immigration and headed towards the domestic part of the terminal for our flight to Nagoya.

ANA first class bottom line

All things considered ANA first class is excellent, especially when you consider the deal we got on miles. The crew was incredibly kind and professional, the food and drinks were excellent, and the amenities were endless.

However, I maintain that I have a strong preference for Japan Airlines first class over All Nippon Airways first class. This comes down to the better seat design and the much faster wifi.

It’s sort of frustrating when you’re traveling with someone and literally can’t talk to them unless you’re either standing or leaning way forward.

Fortunately many of these problems will be solved with ANA’s new first class, which debuts in a few weeks. That should be an exceptional product.

If you’ve flown ANA first class, what was your experience like?

The post Review: ANA First Class 777-300ER appeared first on Tripstations.

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Where to Travel in July: The Best Adventure Destinations Around the World

In North America and Europe, July all but guarantees sunshine. And I don’t mean a bit of sun poking out from behind the clouds like the icon on your iPhone weather app. Oh, no. I’m talking about the kind of sunshine that bathes the land in a golden glow until bedtime.

July means getting outside and absorbing some of that much-needed vitamin D. If it means pausing your Netflix marathon, then so be it.

The southern hemisphere, however, is a whole different ballgame. Down south, July translates to peak winter, and this time of year is considered either ski season or stay-inside-and-wait-out-the-storm season. Sure, there’s fun to be had in the snow, but the real adventures in July happen under that northern sunshine.

With that in mind, go find the settings in your email and select the “automated” email option. Write something along the lines of, “I’m out of the office on vacation, so leave me alone.”

Hire a dog sitter if you must—I’m sure your best buddy owes you for something. Reschedule any appointments; they can wait. And then go stock up on some sunscreen.

1. Vancouver, Canada for Urban and Outdoor Adventures

Vancouver is the kind of city that has everything, and July is the perfect time to enjoy it all. The sun is out and the notoriously rainy city is at its driest.

The city itself is a pulsing metropolis complete with ice cream parlors, brunch spots, malls, museums, and all the other requisite modern conveniences. And, in just an hour’s drive, the entire landscape can completely change.

Drive north out of Vancouver and you’ll encounter the Sea to Sky Highway, a road that winds all the way up into the Rocky Mountains. Follow the road for around 45 minutes and you’ll get to the Sea to Sky Gondola in Squamish. If you’re interested in breathtaking views and natural beauty (who isn’t?) then hop in.

View of the Stawamus Chief in Squamish. Worth it!

At $45 for a day pass, the gondola isn’t the most budget-friendly activity, but there are two reasons why it’s worth forking out. First, you get front row views of the Howe Sound, a network of beautiful fjords—think mirror-like water flanked by rugged green slopes.

Second, once you reach the top of the gondola, you can spend all day exploring the nature trails through the Stawamus Chief Provincial Park. The Panorama Trail is a popular one since it’s just over a mile long and has several viewpoints that look out over the Fjords.

Drive west out of Vancouver and you hit the beach. Second Beach in Stanley Park is perfect for a BBQ and pitch and putt, while Kitsilano Beach is better for swimming thanks to its calm water. If you’re feeling more adventurous, shed your swimwear and head to the clothing-optional Wreck Beach.

2. Mongolia for Off-the-Beaten Track Travel

Mongolia is the Wild West of Asia. It has the lowest population density of any country in the world (just 1 person per square mile) and is home to one of the last groups of nomadic people.

A trip to Mongolia means spending a lot of time out in staggeringly beautiful nature. The capital, Ulaanbaatar, is the country’s only city and is also home to the majority of the population. This means not only do you have loads of beautiful nature to explore, but you’ll also have it virtually all to yourself.

Unearthly Mongolian landscape.

There is a good chance that, if you venture off into the Mongolian countryside, you will not see another living soul for days on end. What you will see, however, is the gorgeous Terkhiin Tsagaan Lake, the formidable mountains of Altai Tavn Bogd National Park and Gorkhi-Terelj National Park’s lush, endless valley.

But, the countryside is only half of the story. July in Mongolia is all about the Naadam Festival—the biggest festival of nomadic culture in the world, happening annually between July 10-12. The main Naadam Festival is in Ulaanbaatar, but every province holds their own version. There are three core events at the festival: wrestling, horse racing, and archery—each done with its own Mongolian flare.

Interspersed between the “three manly sports” as they are known, men, women and children perform dances, songs and parades. It is a loud, colorful event, unlike anything you will have ever seen. If you want an experience that will make you sound interesting at dinner parties, this will do the trick.

3. Lofoten Islands for Adventure 

Not everyone wants the scorching heat of the Mediterranean for their summer vacation. Some people would rather enjoy a milder climate and be able to spend more than five minutes outside without sweating.

If that’s you, you should consider going to Norway’s Lofoten Islands. In July, the weather will be pleasant if a little erratic—don’t worry though, bad weather spells turn into glowing sunshine within 10 minutes or so.

Each endowed with a name you would humiliate yourself trying to pronounce, the Lofoten Islands are a mecca for adventure-seekers. Surfing is a popular activity in the water surrounding the islands. Even if you’ve never surfed before, have a go just so you can tick “surf above the Arctic Circle” off your bucket list.

Incredible views around the Lofoten Islands

On land, there are dozens of hiking trails through the glorious fjords. The path to the Reinebringen lookout point is one of the most spectacular routes—mainly due to the uninhibited views you’ll get over Reinefjorden and the Lofoten Wall.

If you visit the Lofoten Islands in July, you will also witness the midnight sun. This natural phenomenon occurs in the Arctic Circle from mid-May to July. For around six weeks the sun never sets. Instead, at night, the land is doused in a soft twilight that is a long way from the darkness. This means you have 24 hours a day to enjoy the stunning scenery of the islands.

4. Belize for Great Diving

Unlike the rest of Central America, Belize was once a British colony, which means everyone there speaks English. Also unlike the rest of Central America, the people and culture in Belize are Caribbean, not Latino. So, this little gem stands out from its neighbors, and you don’t even need a phrasebook on hand to help you get by.

In July, the temperature hovers around the low to mid-80s and, while this is technically the rainy season, it is one of the better months to travel.

Belize’s insanely blue waters is reason enough to visit, no? | Photo Credit: MaxPixel

We all know by now that travel companies hike up their prices during peak season and July is often when they are at their most exorbitant. However, July in Belize is not peak season despite the warm weather. If you can handle the occasional bit of rain then July is a cheap and temperate time to visit Belize.

Once you get to Belize, I recommend heading straight out to the islands of Caye Caulker and Caye Ambergris. The number one activity on these islands is scuba diving—in particular diving in the world famous Great Blue Hole. This giant sinkhole is teeming with hammerhead sharks, sea turtles, giant groupers and every color of tropical fish you could imagine.

Don’t have time to go to the islands? The ATM caves near San Ignacio on the mainland are ripe for adventure. Tours take you floating on a rubber ring through the extensive cave river network with stops for exploring the cave by foot. If you’re lucky your guide will let you cliff jump into the deep and icy cave pools.

5. Switzerland for Mountain Hiking

Forget about skiing in the Alps just for a second and try to picture Switzerland in the summer. Instead of endless ski pistes, the iconic mountains of Switzerland are fully thawed and blanketed with a layer of lush, green grass. It’s the kind of scenery that makes you want to run around and burst into song like Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music.

July is the most beautiful and happiest time of the year to visit.

Switzerland might not be the biggest country on the map, but it sure packs a punch when it comes to adventure activities. There are around 250 miles of hiking trails leading through the picturesque Zermatt region. Be sure to snap a photo or two of the oh-so-impressive Matterhorn looming in the background.

These views though! Is there a bad view in Switzerland?

Lake Geneva is another summer hotspot, blessed with scenery that will stop you in your tracks. The lake itself shimmers under the sun while Lausanne and Geneva hug its shoreline. Either stroll around the edge of the lake and take it all in from the comfort of dry land or grab a paddleboard and head out onto the water.

Side note for people with a sweet tooth (like myself): Switzerland is the home of chocolate. Do with this information what you will.

6. Seychelles for Beaches 

The Seychelles are the definition of paradise islands. White sand, impossibly turquoise water, coconut palms, year-round sunshine—this archipelago ticks all the boxes. While there are 115 islands in the Seychelles altogether, you will spend most of your time on the three main islands: Mahé, Praslin and La Digue.

On Praslin, you will find the UNESCO World Heritage Vallée de Mai, a nature reserve known for its outstanding beauty. Here, you can walk under the giant leaves of the endemic coco de mer palm trees and listen to the cries of the rare black parrots.

There are no bad choices when exploring the Seychelles.

Looking for some peace and quiet? La Digue is almost free of motorized vehicles—and roads for that matter. The best way to explore the island is on two wheels. Cycle across the little island to the Veuve Nature Reserve and see if you can spot the Seychelles Black Paradise Flycatcher, one of the rarest birds in the world.

One requirement of a trip to the Seychelles is at least one (but probably more) day spent on the beach. Anse Coco on La Digue, Anse Intendance on Mahé and Anse Georgette on Praslin are among the most pristine thanks to their pearl white sand and notable lack of trash. Honestly, though, any beach you choose will be amazing.

7. Estonia for City Fun and Spa Treatments

In July, Estonia’s temperature is utterly delightful and there is very little rain. On top of that, due to its northerly location, the month of July bears witness to virtually 24-hour sunshine. If you’re looking for adventure in Estonia, there’s no better time of year to visit.

Start your vacation by getting to grips with the capital: Tallinn. At its center is a city cut through with narrow streets and enclosed by towering medieval walls. Check out the town square and climb the 115 steps within the tower attached to the town hall for just a couple of euros—from here you’ll get a panoramic view over the capital.

Gorgeous views of Old Tallinn.

Now it’s time to head out of the city to Pärnu, Estonia’s summer capital. During the warmer months, this town is packed with people looking for spa mud treatments and beach time. It is the kind of place you go to stroll through parks and take it easy.

You can also use Pärnu as a springboard to explore the Soomaa National Park. This comprises predominantly bog and swampland, but it’s super pretty, I promise.

There are various trails that wind through the park. There’s also a boardwalk that runs over the top of the swamp. The Beaver Trail is the best route if you want to spot wildlife. This includes elk, foxes, lynx and, you guessed it, beavers.

It is a cardinal sin to spend your whole summer in the office. This year, treat yourself to a break from the mundane and seek out an adventure overseas. You’ll come back refreshed, rejuvenated and ready to bore all of your friends with traveling stories.

Which of these places has you frantically packing to get away?

READ MORE: 11 U.S. National Parks That Are Ripe for Adventure

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Your Guide to Growing the Vegetable Garden of Your Dreams

One hundred pounds of tomatoes from just 100 square feet. Twenty pounds of carrots from 24 square feet. Delicious vegetables from a 15-by-20-foot plot. Believe it or not, it’s not impossible to grow your own vegetable garden with yields of this nature. All that’s required is some patience and smart tactics to get the most out of your garden space. Follow these tips and tricks to plan the vegetable gardening of your dreams.

Develop a practical plan.

The first step to growing a healthy garden is marking off exactly where you want the beds to go. Consider the size, shape, and location of your garden to figure out the best set-up for you. Keep in mind that it can always be changed over time if necessary.

You're reading: Your Guide to Growing the Vegetable Garden of Your Dreams

Plant in raised beds with rich soil.

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Expert gardeners agree that building up the soil is the single most important factor in pumping up yields. A deep, organically rich soil encourages the growth of healthy, extensive roots able to reach more nutrients and water. The result: extra-lush, extra-productive growth above ground.

The fastest way to get that deep layer of fertile soil is to make raised beds. Raised beds yield up to four times more than the same amount of space planted in rows. That’s due not only to their loose, fertile soil but also to efficient spacing. By using less space for paths, you have more room to grow plants.

Raised beds save you time, too. One researcher tracked the time it took to plant and maintain a 30-by-30-foot garden planted in beds, and found that he needed to spend just 27 hours in the garden from mid-May to mid-October. Yet he was able to harvest 1,900 pounds of fresh vegetables. That’s a year’s supply of food for three people from about three total days of work!

How do raised beds save so much time? Plants grow close enough together to crowd out competing weeds so you spend less time weeding. The close spacing also makes watering and harvesting more efficient.

Round out the soil in your beds.

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The shape of your beds can make a difference, too. Raised beds become more space-efficient by gently rounding the soil to form an arc. A rounded bed that is 5 feet wide across its base, for instance, could give you a 6-foot-wide arc above it. That foot might not seem like much, but multiply it by the length of your bed and you’ll see that it can make a big difference in total planting area.

Read more: 14 Best Garden Cocktail Attire / Atuendo de Coctel de Jardín ideas | fashion, style, cocktail attire

In a 20-foot-long bed, for example, mounding the soil in the middle increases your total planting area from 100 to 120 square feet. That’s a 20% gain in planting space in a bed that takes up the same amount of ground space. Lettuce, spinach, and other greens are perfect crops for planting on the edges of a rounded bed.

Consider worm castings.

Worm castings, a.k.a. poop, are a natural fertilizer that can stimulate plant growth. It also helps soil retain water, which is key for a healthy vegetable garden. Work in the worm castings as you turn and break up clumps of soil. If you’re not seeing a lot of earthworms in your soil already, be generous with the castings. Your local garden store can offer guidance on how much to add.

Aim to plant crops in triangles rather than rows.

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To get the maximum yields from each bed, pay attention to how you arrange your plants. Avoid planting in square patterns or rows. Instead, stagger the plants by planting in triangles. By doing so, you can fit 10 to 14% more plants in each bed.

Just be careful not to space your plants too tightly. Some plants won’t reach their full size — or yield — when crowded. For instance, when one researcher increased the spacing between romaine lettuces from 8 to 10 inches, the harvest weight per plant doubled. (Remember that weight yield per square foot is more important than the number of plants per square foot.)

Overly tight spacing can also stress plants, making them more susceptible to diseases and insect attack.

Try climbing plants to make the most of space.

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No matter how small your garden, you can grow more by going vertical. Grow space-hungry vining crops—such as tomatoes, pole beans, peas, squash, melons, cukes, and so on—straight up, supported by trellises, fences, cages, or stakes.

Growing vegetables vertically also saves time. Harvest and maintenance go faster because you can see exactly where the fruits are. Fungal diseases are also less likely to affect upward-bound plants s thanks to the improved air circulation around the foliage.

Try growing vining crops on trellises along one side of raised beds, using sturdy end posts with nylon mesh netting or string in between to provide a climbing surface. Tie the growing vines to the trellis. But don’t worry about securing heavy fruits. Even squash and melons will develop thicker stems for support.

Choose the right pairings.

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Interplanting compatible crops saves space, too. Consider the classic Native American combination, the “three sisters:” corn, beans, and squash. Sturdy cornstalks support the pole beans, while squash grows freely on the ground below, shading out competing weeds.

Other compatible combinations include tomatoes, basil, and onions; leaf lettuce and peas or brassicas; carrots, onions, and radishes; and beets and celery.

Read more: 10 Excellent Reasons to Use Raised Beds in Your Garden

Know how to time your crops well.

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Succession planting allows you to grow more than one crop in a given space over the course of a growing season. That way, many gardeners can harvest three or even four crops from a single area. For instance, follow an early crop of leaf lettuce with a fast-maturing corn, and then grow more greens or overwintered garlic — all within a single growing season. To get the most from your succession plantings:

Use transplants. A transplant is already a month or so old when you plant it, and matures that much faster than a seed sown directly in the garden.

Choose fast-maturing varieties.

Replenish the soil with a ¼-to-½-inch layer of compost (about 2 cubic feet per 100 square feet) each time you replant. Work it into the top few inches of soil.

Covering the beds to extend your season.

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Adding a few weeks to each end of the growing season can buy you enough time to grow yet another succession crop — say a planting of leaf lettuce, kale, or turnips — or to harvest more end-of-the-season tomatoes.

To get those extra weeks of production, you need to keep the air around your plants warm (even when the weather is cold) by using mulches, cloches, row covers, or cold frames.

Or give heat-loving crops (such as melons, peppers, and eggplants) an extra-early start in the spring by using two “blankets” — one to warm the air and one to warm the soil. About six to eight weeks before the last frost date, preheat cold soil by covering it with either infrared-transmitting (IRT) mulch or black plastic, which will absorb heat.

Then, cover the bed with a slitted, clear plastic tunnel. When the soil temperature reaches 65 to 70 degrees Farenheit, set out plants and cover the black plastic mulch with straw to keep it from trapping too much heat. Remove the clear plastic tunnel when the air temperature warms and all danger of frost has passed. Install it again at the end of the season when temperatures cool.

But remember the cons of mulching the seed beds with straw.

One downside of straw mulch is that it provides a hide-out for slugs during the day. Suze Bono, an accomplished farmer, likes to hand pick them off at night with a headlamp and a tub of soapy water to toss them into. Companion planting with alliums, which naturally ward off slugs, is also a good idea.

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Source: https://livingcorner.com.au Category: Garden

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Tips for Germinating Seeds Indoors

By Gail Reynolds – There’s probably nothing quite so rewarding for any gardener as the success of starting your own herb, vegetable, or flowering plants, indoors, from seed. Not only can you get an early jump on the growing season by growing seedlings indoors, but you can realize some serious savings in the process.

For the commercial grower (even the small-scale truck gardener or farmer’s market vendor) germinating seeds indoors is not simply the most cost-effective way to go, but producing (rather than purchasing) your own plants can usually make the difference between red or black ink in the profit margin at the end of the season.

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For the home gardener, there are some major bucks to save as well when you pit the relatively small investment for your time, effort, and seed purchases against the prevailing retail prices for plants.

For example, I’ll grow herbs from seed here since I know them best. For a packet of approximately 100 herb seeds (even the rarest varieties) fall in the neighborhood of $1.50 from top seed companies. The retail catalog price for one plant (even the most ordinary) is around $4.50, not including shipping.

In any event, the real satisfaction of germinating seeds indoors comes in the freedom to select those plant varieties and cultivars which best meet your needs for taste, appearance, quality, and productivity, instead of being limited to only those selections available on the nursery shelves or through catalog offerings.

While germinating seeds indoors can be challenging, once you’ve got the principles of successful germination down pat, it’ll soon become old-hat! I’ll try and share some of the stuff we’ve learned over the years (through not only our successes but our outrageous failures, as well), plus hopefully put you on to some money-saving tricks to avoid any top-heavy initial investment.

Getting Started Germinating Seeds Indoors

The first lesson is to get started at the right time. If you are wondering when to start vegetable seeds indoors, charts and lists will tell you to start germinating seeds indoors six to eight weeks before your usual outdoors planting time. Before we get into what you’ll need, become acquainted with the folks who run your local privately owned plant-sales (not plant supplies) nursery or a commercial grower in your area. Generally speaking, these folks will be excited about what you’re doing; they’ll offer some invaluable tips for germinating seeds indoors and be there to troubleshoot if you run into any problems; plus they can help supply you with the standardized best in equipment at a nominal cost.

The reason for this is that commercial growers, such as ourselves, purchase seeding equipment at wholesale prices in case quantities. More often than not, it is more cost-effective for us to purchase that case-volume (even if it’s more than we need) than to purchase a lesser volume at the per-single price.

For example, we purchase our 20-row seeding trays in the 100/case volume at under 50-cents apiece. Retail single unit price can get as high as $1.50 and $2.00. I doubt I’ll live long enough to use all of our seeding trays so I’m not averse to selling one or two of them to someone at our going-in price, just to recoup some of our original outlay.

Furthermore, many of these nursery plastics are reusable, if rinsed in bleach water from year to year. So I might simply give away a few used ones and start the season with some brand new ones!

Here’s what you’ll need to get started: Containers for germinating seeds indoors, soil mix, watering can, water sprayer or mister, labels, underneath heat source, permanent indelible pen or marker, and seeds.

Containers: You can start seeds in practically any type of container that will hold a couple inches of starting soil mix — from an egg carton seed starter to commercially available peat pots, open flats or compartmentalized flats.

The main thing when it comes to containers (particularly for germinating seeds indoors) is that they won’t become easily waterlogged, are shallow enough to readily absorb heat from overhead and underneath sources, and are compact in size.

For germination, you’ll want to maintain a steady overhead and underneath temperature of 75-90 degrees for about two weeks. When your plants reach the seedling stage and are ready to be transplanted into larger containers, temperature requirements can be relaxed and are less critical.

Since you’ll be shelling out for the heating expenses it only makes sense to focus your heat sources on the smallest amount of area possible. My pick: A 20-row seeding tray (placed into an open flat). Because of its shallow trenches, this seeding tray lends the best environment for quick, healthy seed germination. And because of its compactness — you can start as many as 1,000 seedlings in this single 11×21-inch piece of equipment — it saves lots of space and heating costs. Retail costs for seeding tray and flat: $3-$4.

Soil mix: While some authorities would recommend one soil mix for germinating seeds indoors and another compound for your transplants, I find this a waste of money, since you can find soil mixes which satisfy both needs well.

My pick is Metro Mix 366 (2.8 cu. ft. bag). A bag of this will fill your one seed tray plus 19 transplant trays (called 1204s-each tray houses 48 separate transplants). In the lesser alternative, I’d vote for Schultz Potting Soil (in the same capacity). Cost for either is around $7.50. Caution! Do not use ordinary garden soil and steer away from potting soils on sale outside your corner grocer or discount outlet. These look like a steal of a deal, however often times they are so dense that they eventually choke off and kill your transplants. One year, in desperation on a Sunday, we purchased some and lost about 5,000 of our basil plants in the experience.

Bottom heat source: This can be anything from a 25-watt light bulb in an apple box placed below your seeding flat to a heating blanket or heating pad.

My pick is a heating pad (pick one up at a garage sale) which fits perfectly underneath your 11×21-inch flat.

Overhead heat source: If your house is fairly toasty (and since heat rises) once you’ve seeded your tray try placing the whole germinating deal on top of the refrigerator or a cabinet for a couple of days until you see the first sprouts popping up. After that, you’ll want to expose the flat to light.

Water source: A watering can will allow you to initially wet down the soil you have placed in your seed tray (let water completely absorb before you distribute seeds) and use later on your transplanted seedlings. You’ll need a mister (an old cleaned out window-spray plastic bottle works wonderfully) to water the newly germinated seeds and sprouts for about two weeks until they’re ready for transplanting.

Seeds: Steer away from too-good-to-be-true 10 seed packets/$1 deals. Generally, you’re lucky if you get 15-25 seeds and exceptionally lucky if any of them ever germinate.

My pick would be a reputable seed house. You can get some pretty good mini-packet prices for quality seeds, which you can seed out and label in each or any of the 20 separate rows of your seeding tray.

Markers and labels: I use popsicle sticks for stick-up labels to mark what I’ve seeded in each row. They fit in the ends of the seed rows perfectly and they stand tall enough for me to read. As far as marking pens, just make sure they’re permanent markers or your water misting will remove what you worked so hard to put on.

Ed note: Prices from 2003. 

The How-To of Seeding

First place your soil mix into your container, flush to the top. Water it down generously, and let it absorb fully. If you’re using the 20-row seeding tray, place it in the open flat once all water is absorbed. Sprinkle your seeds on top of the moistened soil. In the 20-row seeder, you can seed 50 seeds per row. Label your row each time you change plants or varieties of a plant. If you have more than one seeding tray or container and do not seed all at the same time, you may want to place the seeding date on your label as well, so you can track the germination time.

Unless the instructions on your seed packet tell you not to, sprinkle some of the dry soil mix over the top of your seeds to cover them. (Most seeds prefer to germinate in the dark.) Then take your index finger and tamp down this topping soil lightly to set seeds. Now, sprinkle with the mister until totally moist.

If your home is fairly dry (as ours is from wood heat), place your seeding tray or container inside a large plastic bag and secure with a clothespin or large paper clip at the open end.

Get your bottom heating source set up, place your container on top, and mist the soil whenever it appears to be drying out, then watch for the sprouts to poke through.

Rule of thumb for misting: Neither flood your soil mix nor allow it to dry out. While germinating seeds indoors, lean on the side of more moisture, rather than less if you are unsure. Later, during the seedling and transplant stage, do the reverse. Too much moisture will ruin your young plants (I’ve been there). Once your seeds have sprouted, they will need light, air, and moisture.

Light required is optimum 16 hours per day, and 12 hours is the absolute minimum tolerated for healthy seedlings and transplants. Natural light from a window is great — just make sure there’s no cold air coming from your window space.

If you’ve had plastic bags over your containers, the time to remove them is when the sprouts begin to pop through the soil. Leave them in open air and keep moist, then introduce the tender sprouts to at least some light at intervals during the daylight hours, keeping them free of chill. Keep moist and continue to provide a heat from underneath, as well as in the surrounding air.

Transplanting

The first leaves to unfold when a seed germinates are called “cotyledone.” These first leaves often look different from the leaves that follow. Those that follow are considered “true leaves.” When seedlings develop their first set of true leaves, they are ready for transplanting.

You can transplant your seedlings into any type of container you wish. We transplant ours in 1204 trays, which house 48 separated plants per 11×21 plastic container. This tray is placed into an open flat.

Whatever container you choose to use, make sure it has proper drainage. You may wish to buy commercial plastic trays (such as the 1204) and place some gravel above the drainage hole in the bottom of the container for proper filtering. Fill the container with the appropriate potting soil, water down completely, and let the soil completely absorb the water.

Once the soil has absorbed the water, take a popsicle stick (or old pencil) and place a circular hole wherever you intend to place a seedling. (In the case of the plastic compartmentalized trays (such as the 1204), place one hole in the center of each compartment.

Now, with your index finger, carefully lift out a portion of seedlings from your germination container. In the case of the 20-row seeding tray, lift out about a one-inch portion of a row, scooping it from the bottom. Carefully, separate the seedlings (from the bottom side-not the top and not the root), taking each seedling and gently poking it into the holes you have just made. Allow for at least 1/3-1/2 of the seedling below the soil mark. Take your thumb and forefinger and gently squeeze the soil around the plant, and go on to the next one. Once you get the hang of this it all goes very quickly and smoothly.

Once your transplanting is completed, you can lower your temperature requirements (60-70 degrees is fine), remove any bottom heat source and begin to watch your plants flourish.

You can now water with your watering can, preferably one which can “sprinkle,” rather than “pour” the water into the container.

Do not over-water however, and do not allow the soil to completely dry out.

Prior to planting outdoors, it helps to harden off your transplants. For a few hours during the warmth of the day set them outside and allow them to acclimate to the outdoors.

When the plants are anywhere from six to eight weeks old, your outside area is free from frost and the soil temperature reaches a steady 50 degrees, you’re ready to plant these puppies outdoors.

Have fun and good luck germinating seeds indoors!

Published in Countryside March / April 2003 and regularly vetted for accuracy.

Tips for Germinating Seeds Indoors was originally posted by All About Chickens

10 things you need to know before buying or selling an equestrian property

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Ranging from modest homes with just enough land to house an aging family pony to multi-million dollar equestrian estates, few types of property require such a specific field of knowledge including equine health care, safety, state liability laws and pasture management.

Most clients looking to have their horses on their own property usually have a pretty good idea of what they want. Most first-time equestrian property buyers already own at least one horse, if not more than one, and they are currently paying to keep their four-legged friend at someone else’s facility.

For any number of reasons, these owners have decided they want to move somewhere where their horse can live with them.

Many horse farm buyers have dreamed of the day they could wake up, make a cup of coffee and go out and care for their own horse. This is a very emotional and exciting process for them, and they will have done lots of research.

Some buyers may even bring their friends, trainers or veterinarians out to see a property before putting in an offer.

The top concerns of the average horse property buyer are for the horse’s health, safety and well-being rather than their own comfort.

Taking care of horses is a full-time job in itself. It never fails to amaze me how difficult it can be to keep a horse healthy, sound and happy, and I’ve been caring for horses for over 35 years.

Whoever came up with the saying “healthy as a horse” never owned one, as few animals are as accident and illness prone as the average horse.

So when marketing the listing toward potential equestrian use, there is a lot that goes into deciding if the property really is suited for horses.

Here is my top 10 list of what you need to know about buying and selling an equestrian property.

1. Know the land

Not all land is conducive to horse keeping — steep slopes, heavily wooded areas and marshy areas consisting of poorly draining soil are all inadvisable qualities in a horse facility.

Steep slopes put undue strain on delicate tendons and ligaments, sharp tree branches are all reaching out to scratch unprotected eyes and soupy soil can cause hoof walls to rot and weaken.

Very rocky soil can cause bruising to tender soles of the hooves and stress and crack hoof walls. Farms with standing water can be breeding grounds for mosquitoes that can transmit potentially fatal equine diseases.

Do your research, and also find out if the property is going to have adequate water for equine needs. The average horse drinks five to 10 gallons of water per day, so having a deep well with high yield will come in handy filling 150 gallon troughs.

Also, know where the “after effects” of all the grass, water and grain a horse eats is going to go. The average 1,000-pound horse gives off 37 pounds of manure and 2.4 gallons of urine a day.

If there isn’t one already there, have an idea where the most convenient place to put a manure pile will be that fits into local zoning regulations, environmental regulations and potential HOA regulations.

2. Is that a bank barn, pole barn or shed row?

Just as there are different styles of homes, there are different styles of barns. Is there a loft with hay storage? If yes, how many bales does it hold? How many stalls are in there, and is there room for storage or equipment?

Also, in the pastures, are there structures, usually called run-in sheds for the horses to escape beating sun, driving rain or get out of winter winds?

Especially if there is no barn on the property, horses must have some form of shelter to protect them from extreme weather conditions.

3. Where do I keep my tack?

Horse people have a lot of equipment for the care and riding of their horses, and this all needs to be kept somewhere, usually called a tack room. This is where saddles, bridles, blankets, grooming supplies and more are kept.

It is not unusual for a saddle to be $2,000 – $4,000, so tack storage areas need to be secure from not only the possibility of theft but also the potential ravages of critters.

Mice leave behind droppings, make a mess and can chew through delicate stitching and weaken leather.

A tack room should be protected from extremes in temperature, which can also weaken and damage leather goods.

Many riders keep first aid supplies and medications in the barn, and all medications should be kept in temperature-controlled areas to prevent spoiling of the active ingredients.

4. Why do I need a feed room?

Horses love to eat. If it were up to them, they would eat all day, and most of the night, too. The equine animal is designed to graze and eat slowly and steadily throughout the day.

One of the most frightening scenes to find first thing in the morning is a horse that has somehow gotten into a feed room and gorged on grain.

As humans, if we eat something that may have gone bad, or overeat and get a stomach ache, we may throw up and then feel better.

Horses are not physically able to vomit. This can lead to an episode of colic, or severe stomach pain, and can be fatal. A horse-proof place to store grain is a must. Ideally, the storage should also be rodent proof, as well.

5. Check the fences

My in-laws live down the street from a beautiful horse property that was lovely in every way — except the fences.

One night, their neighbor’s horse broke through the fence, was standing in the middle of the road and was hit by a speeding car. The horse was killed, and the driver of the vehicle was severely injured.

Fences must be strong, sturdy and checked regularly for loose nails, cracked boards or loose posts. Three- and four-board wood fences are the most common types, with electric tape, vinyl and no-climb wire also being popular.

Barbed wire should never be used on an equestrian property — some of the most gruesome injuries I have ever seen were when a horse got tangled in barbed wire and panicked.

6. Ride out?

This is one category that causes more problems for the listing agent than any of the others. Ride out is the term used by equestrians to denote if there are riding trails or areas off the property that are allowed for equestrian use.

I often see agents comment: “Miles of trails!” Unless there is a public park next door that allows equestrian use, do not say you can ride on other people’s property. With increased liability and fear of lawsuits, fewer and fewer private landowners are allowing people to ride on their properties.

The buyer is not going to be at all pleased if the first time they take Mr. Ed on a leisurely trail ride through their neighbor’s acreage they get shot at for trespassing.

7. Find out what the area surfaces are made of

Horses have incredibly delicate tendons and ligaments in their legs, and if they tear or rupture one, it can be a career ending, if not a fatal, injury. Because of this, it’s no surprise training surfaces, like in arenas, now have any number of options to cushion the impact of repeated stress.

From bluestone and sand to synthetic materials including rubber and felt, know what the surface is and how old it is.

Sand breaks down through repeated use and time and will need to be replaced. The synthetic materials can be very expensive and are a major selling point of a property to a serious competitor.

It’s not unusual for a complete arena installation to be between $50,000 and $100,000, or more. Arenas always deserve a mention along with upgraded footing — this alone can be a major selling point.

8. Is there access for vets, farriers and trailers?

Horses require a lot of people to keep them healthy. Farriers trim equine feet and attach shoes as needed every four to six weeks.

Veterinarians usually visit a minimum of twice a year for checkups and vaccines, and many horses also get at least a once yearly visit from the equine dentist.

Having a way for them to easily access your barn and then have a place that is well-lit to safely work, even potentially late at night, is a must.

Somehow, horses know the most inconvenient time to get sick — mine save up their sick time for 6 p.m. on the Friday before a major holiday weekend to have their most serious illnesses and injuries.

Not only do all of these people need a place to work on your horse, they also need a place to park their truck where they have easy access to the tools of their trade.

Having a dirt path to the barn that turns into eight inches of shoe-sucking mud during the spring rainy season will make for a very cranky veterinarian if they get their vehicle stuck at your farm.

Also, if owners plan to have feed and hay delivered, those very large heavy trucks need a way to get into the property and to the place where they need to deliver. If they don’t think they can get to your property without getting stuck, they won’t deliver.

9. Look for farm equipment storage and parking

You are also going to need a place to park all of your farm “toys.” Horse trailers, tractors, mowers, manure spreaders, trucks, arena maintenance equipment and whatever else you have all need a place to live.

Keeping machines covered or in some form of garage will make them last longer and work more reliably.

Some equipment, like a bush hog, will probably only be used a handful of times a year. These are the tools that can and will run forever if properly maintained and protected from the elements.

10. Figure out a bad weather plan

Every farm owner needs a plan for bad weather. Deciding to come up with a game plan for a snowstorm once the flurries begin is way too late.

If homeowners are in areas with wildfires, they need a plan for how to get their horses to safety. In areas that may flood, they may need to trailer their horses out to somewhere higher and drier well before the storm even begins.

If a huge snow is expected where they may be snowed in, they need a plan for how to get to their barn to feed and water the animals. If the barn is two miles from the house, they will need heavy equipment to make sure they can get to their horses in a timely manner.

By addressing these 10 key horse facility concerns in your marketing, you will be helping prospective buyers check off the must haves on their needs and wants list. If the property you are selling is coming up lacking in a certain category, have a plan for what could work for them instead.

For example, does your barn not have a feed room? No problem, be able to tell them where they can buy horse-proof feed bins to put in the extra wide aisle.

No existing tack room? Show the potential buyer where one could be added on after purchase, or maybe the buyer could turn an existing stall into storage instead.

Always remember a true horse person is going to want what is best for their horses.

By accentuating the reasons your listing is the home where every horse would want to live, you will draw potential buyers to your equine property like flies to a manure pile — or more poetically, flies to honey!

Maria Dampman is the owner and manager of Smiling Cat Farm and a Virginia State licensed Realtor and ABR with Century 21 Redwood in Leesburg, Virginia. Visit her on Facebook or LinkedIn.

Email Maria Dampman

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