#considering this one the final installment to that particular prompt list!
Note
Maybe Reese and 'there is a prayer in me still' ?
If that prompt tickles your fancy for him.
Atlas | Skye | Puck
⎯
“Think that’s bullshit.”
Your head perks up as you shoot a sidelong glance at Reese, the man seated beside you trying to cover his hand to save the flame dying on his fingers. He’s been trying to light that blasted cigarette for what feels like minutes now. It’s probably only been a few moments, but everything feels much longer when you’re on stakeout like this. The rooftop isn’t exactly the most pleasant position to find yourself in this late at night, the cold air nips a little too harshly at your nose, and the unforgiving edge of the flat apartment roof smells uncannily like fish. You wrinkle your nose a bit. Maybe that’s why Reese is still trying to light the cigarette— to drown out the smells. You don’t know if the smell of smoke is going to help much, though.
“What?” You ask, lifting your head a bit in his direction in order to prompt him to continue. He takes the bait easily, one leg swung over the edge of the roof. Both of yours hang off, turned away from him still though you’re staring at him now.
“‘God makes this go faster.’ That’s what you said, right?” He responds, shrugging his shoulders as his words slur slightly with the cigarette still firmly lodged between his teeth. You catch a flash of his sharp canines. “Think that’s bullshit. No god can speed up time— don’t even really think they’d notice it passing.”
You raise your eyebrows a bit at him now. This certainly came out of left field.
“Where’d this come from?” You ask, huffing out a breath that you meant to sound like a laugh. It doesn’t, but you’re not in the mood to put any fake effort into it. “Midnight stakeouts make you philosophical or something now?”
Reese spares a glance up at you for a moment, shooting you one of his classic ‘you’re so stupid I don’t even have time to explain it to you’ looks. He snorts and a bit of smoke dissipates in the air in front of you from his nostrils.
“I’m just making conversation. You’re the one filling the space with stupid shit.”
You frown a bit at that.
“I’m sorry, do you have something more important to add?” You snap back, eye twitching a bit as you swallow down your frustration just as quickly, looking away. This isn’t going to get you anywhere. But surprisingly, Reese doesn’t snap back right away. You glance back at him and he’s given up on his cigarette, the thing now twiddling between his fingers as he stares off ahead of you, at some distant horizon between the tops of the buildings and the darkened sky. The silence between you two isn’t exactly uncomfortable, but it doesn’t sit quite right with you. You don’t know if that’s on him or you.
“Do you believe in that crap?” He voices again, voice a bit quieter now, though it still holds that sting at the end, like some kind of shy scorpion.
“What?” You ask again, before quirking a brow at him. “God?”
He nods quietly. You sigh, turning to look at the same great beyond he is. You wish you could see whatever answers he’s searching for out there. Maybe then it’d be easier for you two to just… talk. You don’t know.
“Kind of a big question, huh?” You reply with a small scoff that isn’t directed towards anyone. You chew on your cheek for a bit. “Why do you ask?”
This time, Reese adjusts himself in his seat, slinging his other leg over the edge so he turns away from you. Despite the distancing, he lowers his head and begins to fiddle with the cigarette again. You’ve been around him long enough to know the tells. He’s nervous. Well— maybe not nervous per se, but certainly thinking about something.
“I don’t know. Just been on my mind, I think.” He sighs and it feels heavy. You don’t interrupt. “I’ve spent a lot of my life wanting to believe something like it is true. Not many signs, though.”
It’s your turn to pause now. You glance from him to the sky again, gaze turning higher upwards now. It’s harder to make out the stars out here in the city. But if you peer hard enough, you can still spot the flickers of white spattered gently across the expanse that seems to tumble on towards infinity. You smile a bit.
“I think it’s kind of silly to go looking for signs. Puts a lot of pressure on you to make it real. Besides, they’re probably busy. Time wouldn’t mean much to them, remember?” You chuckle, the cold air feeling a bit less biting now as you take a deep breath. There’s another beat of silence. When you look back to Reese, he’s staring back at you. You expect him to break the moment, but he doesn’t, staring at you like you just said something more meaningful than you believe you actually did. He smirks a bit, then laughs back softly.
“Maybe there’s a prayer in me yet.”
#prompts#s&s: reese#asks#cw: smoking#sorry this one took so long lol#considering this one the final installment to that particular prompt list!#jazz hands supriseeee#reese has a complicated view on religion yippie#✌️just shit the bed in an interview so finally posting this#also the tickles your fancy phrase is so funny to me you’re great anon
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Rally’s Scribbles in the Work
So after that lovely anon blew my mind away with their kind words and wonderful support, and because I keep telling you guys about my writing plans without actually giving you even a teensy little detail, I have decided to stop being coy and actually likely get your hopes up a bit by dilvulging small details and bits of plots of what is currently going on in my G-Drive.
This will be a brief recount of what I have currently baking in the AoMomo oven, so let’s dive right into it! Please note that the numbers are in no particular order - I just keep revisiting each of these stories and writing a bit more to them whenever I feel like it. So there’s no ranking and no importance, just a number to keep proper count.
1. “Knight of Renown” Dragons and Knighthood AU, based on that one AoMomo pic with Momo ithe Knight and Dragon Aomine that I reblogged a while back and I actually let me imagination go a bit too much in the tags. I ended up actually rather enjoying the premise I set up in the tags so I actually started writing that one out!
Completion rate at about: 5%? I’d say? Less? :D
2. AoMomo Music AU - a dearly beloved project that I am pouring a lot of love and attentioin to. That’s why it’s coming along super slow. It’s been in the making since November and I chewed it and mulled through it so thoroughly that I’ve grinded to a halt with it.
Intending for there to be 2 chapters, and I am at about 25-30% of chapter 1 currently ready currently. At the pace I’m going, it might be another full year before you actually get to see this bad boy up, but when you do, I’m sure you’ll see all the care and effort that went into making it perfect.
Honestly, no joke here, I am intending for this to be one of my rare masterpieces in this tag. So I’m not gonna rush it!
3. AoMomo Car Accident AU where Daiki barely manages to save Satsuki from being run over by a hit-and-run and ends up being the one run over instead. This was my first piece of writing after coming back to AoMomo last summer and yet completion rate is a sad thing. I want it to be flawless, a perfectly agonizing, thrilling type of torturous read that gives you a great sense of relief by the end of it. Needless to say, the clusterfuck of negative feelings is a bit difficult to hold onto for a prolonged period of time and the work is coming along slowly.
Planned at about 5 chapters, I have 2 complete ones and the 3rd one is at about ... 30%? Hopefully before this year’s whumptober, we’ll have a finished piece!
4. AoMomo bond character study, which went in a direction I did NOT expect nor intend. It was suppsoed to be an idea that you will see also listed below. But I started this one from their early childhood and somehow, instead of focusing on the kids and their bond and their weird interactions with each other and their first moments of realizing they are of opposite genders, it turned into something much too fun to let go of and the ideas for scenes just kept piling. It’s going to be a long one, very explorative and very in-depth character study on the bond between these two and how it changed over the years, and their first encounters with their sexuality inbetween (because that was really the main idea that I started with... xDDD;;;) Currently at 1 chapter complete, chapter 2 somewhere around 50-60% completion, and at least 6-7 chapters to come after that, soooo.... :’DDDD YEAH. THIS ONE AIN’T SEEING THE LIGHT OF DAY ANYTIME SOON.
5. AoMomo deciding to practice stuff on each other, because I am a sucker for this trope.THIS will be what the idea under previous number 4 was SUPPOSED to be like, but it instead spun out of control. So this one, under number 5, is going to be the smutty, idiots bumbling through physicality to discover that they actually have serious feelings for each other kind of piece.
Chapters are planned at about at least 6-7 or so, but not my usual monstrocities! :D First we start with practice kissing, and we move our way up from there!
6. “The Evil of Humanity” AU - a dystopian futuristic kinda mecha AU, sort of an amalgamation of some of my favourite anime in the genre - a bit of NGE, a bit of Gurren-Lagann, a lot of Darling in the Franxx rewrite and improvement, in distinctly AoMomo colors. I poured a lot of thought and love into initial outline of main moments for this one, and I really hope to make it an epic, thrilling action/adventure with a big dash of romance kind of read! Chapters currently not even planned properly, because I need to sit down and consider this seriously. It will definitely be more than 10-15 though, and they will be my usual chapter lengths so.... likely no time soon. :D
7. Aomine Fanclub - I got a plot bunny some time ago and I shared it here and my friends were spurring me on with it, so I started trying it out a little more. I’ve written out like... maybe 30% of this one as well, but need to re-read and reconceptualize to get it back on track. The issue with this one is that I’m not really sure where I want to take it, thus it’s on the back burner at the moment.
8. KagaKuro AoMomo double-date kind of story, where Aomine is asking some curious questions of Taiga about going to America and pondering if any of his immediate friends know what Satsuki wants to do with her life. I’m really invested in this one but haven’t started properly writing it out yet beyond just sketching out the idea so I don’t forget it. (I’d say 1% complete here.) Really looking forward to using the idea of Kagami being super impressed with AoMomo perfect sync when playing as a team in arcade games!
9.Laws of Attraction Chapter 2 - You might be surprised at this, but I’m actually super invested in this one. Likely the reason why I am delaying so much working on it - I feel like all my great scene ideas are just too chaotic and I have a hard time starting the chapter flowing properly. I had like 4-5 false starts already and I’m feeling a bit skittish with picking it up. But I have such AMAZING concepts on where to take it after it revvs up the engine, so... Maybe sometime this year! Completion rate: 0% written, but at least about 30% ideas built up for the installment!
10. AoMomo college rooming together story - sort of an expansion on my fill for one of the prompts way back those years ago in AoMomo week. I really dig the concept and the trope of sharing spaces with someone you consider nothing more than a friend and then gradually learning to appreciate each other for something so much more. I am definitely doing this one some day, but not anytime soon, likely.
11. A random idea bit me the other day (read: a month ago) and I actually wrote out like... maybe 25% of it already as well. A random comment from Wakamatsu miffs Satsuki but then she realizes why he’s asking dumb questions and she comes to realize that something is wrong with the equation: either Dai-chan likes someone really close to them and she hasn’t realized, which is unlikely, or Dai-chan likes HER and is super blase about it in a way that betrays his feelings not at all, which is even more unlikely. Being a curious individual, she sets out to find which it is! Some hilarity should ensue but mostly just some mess-with-Dai-chan fun!
12. Touou summer training camp at the sea - progress is practically 0, I wanted to write a summery piece and set my mind on this, but nothing beyond has come to me, so I’m not forcing it.
13. AoMomo cultural festival fic in second year of high school (meaning something approx end of Oct -> beginning of Nov.) with Daiki being in a distinctly Haruhu Suzumiya role at that festival (has anyone even seen this anime? I adored that episode to freaking bits, man, it’s engraved upon my soul) and singing Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell” and one more song just like Haruhi did. And Satsuki just beholding the phenomenon he becomes in no time flat while he lays bare his passion for life for all the student body to see. Shippiness will happen in private afterwards!
14. You Can Leave Your Hat On Chapter 2 - Probably like 2-3 years ago while I was still in the damn woodwork and wrestling with real life and adulting being crap, I remembered this AU premise and I got super hyped on the idea of Club Owner Dai-chan being a flirt with innocent Satsuki who got dragged to his joined and fell in love at first sight with his shenanigans. I’ve already played around for like 7k words with the second chapter of this but I’m still not where I want to be at, so it will take a while longer to flesh it out.
15. Idol Worship - a story that I promised my mate aricana some 6 years ago the premise for which I am super hyped for but not quite engaging with it yet. The idea was that Momoi finally starts gettiing the dates she has been pesting Kuroko for for years, and Daiki feeling terrible about beholding that, whilst Kise is being pestered by Horikita Mai for a date and instead ditches her with Daiki because he knows his former Teikou classmate is a huge fan of her. Mai-chan isn’t particularly happy but somehow ends up enjoying her time with Daiki and starts considering actually pursuing him instead of Kise when she sees what an interesting soul he is, with the torch that he’s carrying for some girl in his life he doesn’t really talk about but is evident from the little things he drops off as hits.
AoMomo shenanigans will start to ensue properly when Satsuki realizes that Daiki is actually having a close female friend who is not her but is Horikita Mai instead, Dai-chan’s perfect woman, practically. She doesn’t take well to the news and has to grapple with why that is! And what to do with these newfound frustrating emotions!
16. Obstruction of Justice Chapter 3 - MAYBE SOME DAY, I WILL GET TO WRITING THIS. Last summer I inteded to do just that but instead, Wild Side of Justice was born. And it became a spin off of sorts on its own. ORZ. I WILL FINISH THIS SOME DAY, I do have some plans for it and I do have the desire to pursue them. I just need to be in the right headspace for it ahsjkfhkjaf
17. A PWP story of Kagami arriving early for a practice match at Touou and somehow walking in on AoMomo getting busy with each other in very unexpected and explicit ways that Kagami did not see headed his way. Because, we need more PWP in this fandom, honestly.
18. And since we DO need more PWP, recently when checking the 30 lemons community on LJ (shut up, I’m not ancient, YOU’RE ANCIENT) I was wondering how exactly a smut plot around the “Taken by the Faceless Stranger” could work for Aomomo and I came up with this Masquerade ball that they end up both attending because of their friends and meeting each other and hitting off fantastically just chatting the night and then banging in a niche in the long castle-like premise of the ball. :’DDDD Cuz it’s me and if I don’t have something like that in the works, you know i’m likely sick.
ALL OF THESE I am planning on eventually finishing one day. ONE DAY!
For now they are in various states of completion and in various stages of being cared for and improved on with more ideas added and fleshed out.
I am not joking when I say I am very invested in this fandom. I just have difficulty getting to writing out these ideas when I spend like 60% of my free time playing my mobile games. :D
So there you have it. I didn’t want to say anything about these because 1) I don’t want to get your hopes up. You Can Leave Your Hat On 2, for one, has been in the making for 3 years, very on-again-off-again kind of way, and I just... can’t do that to you guys. I have decided against posting any incomplete fics so I don’t torture you guys and my muse doesn’t abandom me forever for them. So when something is complete, it gets posted promptly for your viewing pleasure!
And 2) If I divulge too much of the story, I feel like my hype of it may disappear completely. Ehh, my muse is a willful creature, what can I tell you...
So let’s hope at least SOME of these get to see the light of day soon!
#my scribbles#here you have it#a rather complete list of incomplete AoMomo stuff I'd say#Rally's works in the making#tagged as:#AoMomo#because it's all AoMomo#sorry for spamming the main tag with nonsense#Kuroko no Basuke#will I ever finish any and all of these?#here's to hoping!#a little bit insider info from the kitchen#fanfiction#writing
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PROMPT: OOC Interview with [X] Clint ‘Cuyler’ Barton
" Been a while since we did one of these.. but. You know the drill man! This is your first interview, yeah? Want to explain why and where you’re from? “
Cuyler (Clint Barton D14:) Besides trolling the hell out of tags with Viedimadr? *grins* Ah, mostly that’s keeping the core element I guess. Most Bartons are the quintessential superhero, at least in the range of having that alter-ego. Might not wear a mask ‘til Ronin in the MCU? But --and especially with how my character works pre-Avengers; sharing past the job isn’t exactly any of our fortes? We have a family to protect, and if you do the math of how old the kids are even in Ultron: that family has been a thing since before we take the higher ground up out of the paid-SHIELD-killer status I’m in that Nat does mention in the original Avengers. Also usually save it up between the pages and occasional poke into tags and skits here on the dash.
Cuyler (Clint Barton D14:) As for where I’m from! *he leans back and hooks his hands behind his head* We’re Universe Fourteen; two doors on the left down the connecting Vestibule from Lisan’s Universe, and one to right of the Ego-centrics with Grey Knight and Leadsprite. Ours starts out different in the respect that, Fury ends up getting the Scepter tap instead of me; and the resulting conflict goes very differently.
“ Such as? “
Cuyler (Clint Barton D14:) We never even hit New York; Fury tries to snag me in, and under the Stone’s influence that means trying to at best grab my kids since he’s one of the only two people attached who know about them. Loki ends up breaking form and getting in the middle of that. Yanks us off world and out of Fury’s sight, with the goods. That’s where we picked up with our first published bit ‘The Warming Stone’ anyways.
” Speaking of.. what do you think about the split from the original timeline? “
Cuyler (Clint Barton D14:) I’m having a lot of fun with it myself. And I’m pretty sure Laura is somewhere outside the room clapping in agreement; she’s quieter than most but a constant presence and; she and Lo get along real well. Anyway. End up dealing with that whole ‘the city is flying, we’re fighting an army of robots; and I have a bow and arrow’ overwhelmed mentality a lot sooner because of it? I like the existential twists that come with the Dark Fairy Tale elements and whatnot that get thrown out there and right into our faces pretty much immediately, what with running face-first, on foot, into Jotunheim of all places through that doorway in Illinois. We did some collabs with the other guys that run through there, on top of the research and expanded on some of the wildlife ourselves to manage that? So that was some actual fun. This side of the pool I can absolutely admit us Bartons are a bit masochistic? *laughs* I am pretty sure we enjoy exploring those bits and how we’d react to them. I’m no different in that respect. I mean.. how would you react to being a dinner sized meal for labrador-to-great-dane sized snow-caterpillars with the elongated teeth of freakin shark? Or finding out the hard way there’s giant predator owls flying around about the size of a plane that eat those, just as an example? Never mind trolls, or frost giants, or anything else that manages to survive in that kind of insane climate and might decide to try and eat you just to see if you taste good.
” Probably stay inside forever if I was going to be honest? XD Anyway, Is there anything you’d change about your current story? “
Cuyler (Clint Barton D14:) Considering we’re still building back there? Not yet. I mean, too much fun so far. I mean we’ve done what.. four parts at this point? All during what we’re currently calling the Traveler Phase from Earth to Asgard through the doors between Illinois, Jotunheim, and Vanaheim. Which is interesting in itself. I mean whole other world, and things are shaken up before we even get there and (in part because of the fact that) we end up dependent on our Loki pretty fast. I think maybe my only change there would be in maybe doing another part for Extras that includes ‘Ogre’ .. who hasn’t even shown yet at that point in the story. He’s our Bruce Banner; or more specifically our Hulk? Thing is finding a space that won’t interfere too heavily with the book when we do it though. We could excuse the bits in the Traveler Phase because we intended to shorten it when we got there anyway; maybe cut straight to Asgard with that as a supplemental extra; a lot like the GROUNDED kids did with their out-takes featured in the same platovember series.
“ I imagine messing with Universe Three’s next installment’s been helping that along? “
Cuyler (Clint Barton D14:) Oh yeah, definitely. That mirror of Bruce’s is pretty similar in mindset and approach.
” That said, do I have to ask if there’s anyone in particular you like to watch or get into reading over their shoulder when they’re at it? “
Cuyler (Clint Barton D14:) Oh definitely The Bean right now, for sure? But there’s a list.. *grins* GROUNDED and DREAMS being woven together finally, especially with some of the inter-universal roles being brought up is a big one. Looking forward to whipping out that sword.. heh. Though, watching the ESCAPE kids from the other forming Vestibule has been an interesting ride now that they’re not entirely cloistered in Tuscon, or their hotel room. I know what’s up there outside of Traverse too, which helps. And there’s Josh. I think everyone’s been waiting for that fireball to explode across the page? The fact Tony, Lo and Fury managed to somehow make that nutcase all on their own with just a few lines still makes me laugh. Walsh is a character and a half. I’m looking forward to getting my chance at screwing with his mirror in our Door. Leigh is a weird bit of fun too, but Josh is definitely one of those at the top of the list, and who you chose for a face in close rep, is interesting. Maybe Vix too as far as characters go? But he’d a little lower down for me at the moment.
“ Stab, stab pull..? Heh. Which is your favorite upcoming group from the books/portions of Mixology aka the Lokiverse at large? And which are you most curious about? “
Cuyler (Clint Barton D14:) Ha! yeah; stab-stab, pull. Loxley’s got an interesting bunch next door. *rubs his hands up over the top of his head and back down* Honestly, MONSTERS and ASHES. Ah, that’s Door and or Universes Three and Twelve for those that don’t know. Three has a similar bonding mechanic between Bruce and Lo I’ve been interested in, while ASHES hits on other things, including a rockier relationship and overall dynamic between his Bartons and Redbird (that’s his Quill) that tends to go dark in the personal aspects a lot. I guess I like that struggle between them, personally. Loxley brushes something similar going on post-Ronin with his family dynamic with his internals and his Lo’s concerns for that; but I think Lili and his crew hit that at a whole other angle from around five years prior on? With, a whole other take on the family dynamic that Laura and I have with Lo by the time we leave Asgard. And that’s curious to me.
” I put you guys through a lot of shit in the name of storytelling. Any parts you have complaints about? “
Cuyler (Clint Barton D14:) None, planned or otherwise.
“ ..that was fast. “
Cuyler (Clint Barton D14:) What can I say? I enjoy the twisty shit, at least on this end of the pool. Ignoring the reservations, and dealing with the danger-fear of getting hurt in ways that can’t be fixed with stitches or band-aids, of accepting that kind of bond knowing how it started and risking the idea that finding out why might not make that danger less or that person better or more relatable than perceived to be able to accept them farther even after that investment?
Cuyler (Clint Barton D14:) The contradiction of pride and ego versus conscience and the guilt when it belongs there getting in the way -and even dealing with when it should be toned down that results in having one, even if it’s just a sliver in places and playing that out along with dipping into places mostly ignored or washed over in the Universes; is interesting and fun to me. Danger included. I have a little less guilt than my mirrors in a lot of directions that gets placed elsewhere after we come back to Earth; and I enjoy that dynamic and what we’re trying to explore there. That whole; ‘what if he was loyal, without he stone’s influence’ aspect, in our own flavor is a LOT of fun to play with. It’s a very different Universe, but holds hints and background pieces, and similarities enough, as well as the core; that it’s a feasable alternative to the canon line. Which is extra fun, for the personal aspects or ‘humanity’ we manage in the process? So no.. no complaints. Not yet anyways.. heh. We’ll see how I feel when you start actually touching actual, hands-on Gagnarok fixes and alternates though. Outside of that Cosmic-FrostIron bitty from a few doors down anyway. That’s gonna be a mess.
“ Whee.. yeah. MONSTERS gets that honor first, most likely.. “
Cuyler (Clint Barton D14:) Good. Bean can handle that best, I think... or maybe worst. Either way it’s gonna be entertaining for me..
For those interested, Cuyler’s published stories are found below in chronological order (they were posted out of order in part because of the prompts themselves and some parts were planned ahead to take certain slots.) The title names are the links to each part.
The Warming Stone (part 1)
Fathers (part 4)
The Hart (part 2)
Between the Reds (part 3)
#Lokiverse#Lokiverse muses#muse interview#Cuyler/Clint Barton D14#Clint Barton#Dark Fairy Tale Elements#Door/Universe 14#Hawkeye#OOC interview#Lokiverse (Mixology)#alternate universes#multiverse#conjoined AUs#Alternate Reality#fanfiction#FrostHawk#aka#LoHawk
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Prompt: already in a relationship, mulder is still suprise to find a naked scully walking around in the apartment
The Possibilities are Endless
By: mldrgrl
Rated: PG-13
Maybe not quite what Anon ordered, but close to it.
They’d had so little time together in the beginning. From friends to lovers overnight and suddenly he was gone and back and gone again. And then they were fugitives, living in shadows under assumed names, trying to re-learn what it was like to be together when in reality, they’d never really gotten that chance in the first place. Neither could relax or feel very comfortable in cheap motel rooms and always looking over their shoulders for signs of trouble.
When they finally felt safe enough, they settled in a little isolated house in the middle of Virginia that Mulder had owned for years, but couldn’t be traced to either of them. At The Gunmen’s urging, it had been purchased as a safety net in case things were to ever go awry. He’d stayed there, briefly, after being forced to flee DC, but quickly moved on to New Mexico where he’d be better equipped to continue his quest.
Still, it took months for them to start to feel secure again. They’d spent weeks inside with curtains drawn and shutters closed, alert to even the quietest noise. Summer came and windows needed to be opened. They needed to risk spending time outside to do repairs to the roof or to the porch. Scully had planted a garden that needed weeding and tending to. After awhile, they settled into their new normal.
Scully had stopped coloring her hair when they began living as fugitives. Actually, she’d initially dyed it an insignificant shade of brown that was sure not to attract attention, but as that faded, she allowed the natural strawberry blonde to return. Her hair grew longer and softer and wavy. In the whole time they’d worked together, Mulder had never realized how much effort she put into straightening and maintaining that hair until she stopped. She’d even apologized to him once for how unkempt it looked and he shook his head so fiercely he thought it might fall off his shoulders. He liked it wild and untamed, free-flowing and fluffy. Definitely not something to apologize for.
Getting comfortable led to another development that Mulder was fully on board with, but tried to keep his cool about. Scully had begun to walk around naked. The first time he saw it happen with his own two eyes, he’d just come inside from fixing a step on the porch. Sweaty and dirt-caked, he’d shed his t-shirt as he bounded up the stairs and he was suddenly caught like a deer-in-the-headlights at the sight of Scully, clearly just out of the shower with her hair up in a towel-turban, stark naked and rifling through the dresser drawers.
It shouldn’t have been so unusual, but Scully had always confined her nudity to the bed and the bathroom. Whenever she left the shower, her robe went on. Whenever she left the bed, some form of whatever she (or he) had been wearing before she got naked, got picked up and slipped on almost immediately. He said nothing about it, afraid that calling attention to such a momentous occasion would make her self-conscious. He’d simply thrown his t-shirt into the hamper, shucked his jeans in the bathroom, and taken a long, cold shower.
It happened again the following week when Mulder had just returned from the hardware store. He’d needed more boards and Scully had wanted some particular seeds for her garden. He’d come in, called her name to let her know he was back, and when he found her, she was in the bedroom, lying prone under the ceiling fan without a stitch of clothing on, rubbing ice onto her neck and chest.
“Did you get the seeds?” she’d asked
“Uh,” he answered. They’d been talking recently about installing an air conditioner in the upstairs window, but he suddenly found himself both completely unmotivated to do so and cursing the fact that it was too damn hot to do much more than watch her cool herself down and try not to salivate.
The third time it happened, he nearly expired on the spot. It was a Sunday, he was at the kitchen table reading the newspaper and sipping a cup of coffee. Scully came downstairs with a mountain of bedsheets and it wasn’t until she passed by and he happened to take a glance up that he caught her tail end, literally.
“Scuh…” He coughed, sputtering his coffee across the newspaper and nearly spilling the cup in his lap.
“I’m putting the flannel sheets on,” she called.
He had to beat his chest for a minute to catch his breath and then he got up from the table to follow Scully into the laundry room and make sure his eyes were not deceiving him. Lo and behold, there she was, loading sheets into the washing machine in her birthday suit like it was completely routine.
“Are you aware that you are absolutely, 100% stark naked right now?” he asked.
“Grab the detergent for me?”
He grabbed the first bottle he found, not sure if it was detergent or not because he’d lost the ability to read the minute her bare butt sauntered across the kitchen.
“This is the fabric softener,” she said.
“Oh.”
Scully shook her head and stood on her toes to put the fabric softener back in its place and grab the bottle of detergent. The side of her breast brushed his arm as she reached and jiggled enticingly as she unscrewed the cap.
“Scully…” Mulder felt weak in the knees and faint.
“We should think about getting the down comforter out of the attic soon.”
“Scully…” Mulder put a stop to her setting the machine and wrapped his arms around her from behind. He pushed his hips into hers, letting her feel just how weak he was for her.
“What’s gotten into you?”
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not, Scully, but you’re naked.”
“So? Mulder, you’ve seen me naked nearly every day for two years.”
“I’ve never seen you naked in the kitchen. Or the laundry room. This is like brand new, unexplored nudity.”
She chuckled quietly and playfully pushed her rear end back into his hips. He groaned and pawed at her thighs. Somehow, she still managed to finish setting the washer and it clicked on. The water gushed loudly into the barrel as he took her hands and pressed them down onto the top of the lightly vibrating surface of the machine.
Before the first rinse, he had her perched on the edge of the machine, panting and writhing and gripping the sides for dear life with his head buried between her legs. When she was done, she pulled him up by his hair to kiss the taste of herself off his lips. He was rewarded for a job well done when she slipped off the washer and bent over the top, feet splayed wide and hips swaying at the ready. He reached his own climax during the spin cycle, which he considered quite a feat considering how up and at ‘em he’d been before he even made it to the laundry room.
“Jesus, Mulder,” Scully said, struggling to raise up onto her elbows with Mulder still draped over her back.
“Just Mulder is fine.” He pushed her hair out of the way to kiss her shoulder. “Can we add dishwashing to the list of nude chores to try? Naked cooking is probably too dangerous. How about naked dusting?”
“There is no list of nude chores.” She wiggled her shoulders to signal to him to let her up and let her turn and so he did.
“Well, there should be. Naked vacuuming. That’s a good one.”
“Why don’t we just become nudists and just make everything a naked chore?”
“That would mean outdoor nudity.” Mulder closed his eyes and smiled and Scully pinched his chin. He blindly waved her away. “Shh, I’m envisioning playing naked badminton.”
“I’m going to go clean up.” Scully ducked out of his arms and he turned to stumble after her without opening his eyes.
“Naked basketball, Scully. Or kayaking. The possibilities are endless!”
The End
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Sunshine and Shadows-Chapter 8
After finishing his meal, Will headed over to the Poseidon table to take Nico and the others back to the infirmary to see the latest of Clovis’ frankly bizarre dreams. He wasn’t entirely sure what went on inside the son of Hypnos’ mind, and he wasn’t sure he ever wanted to know.
When he arrived in front of them, Nico was listening intently to something that Jason was saying, while Percy stole the final fries off of Jason’s plate. Upon seeing him, the three boys turned and looked up. Nico gave him a small smile and Will got a ridiculous warm fuzzy feeling and he felt that he was definitely blushing. Not one to be deterred by embarrassment, Will led the way to the infirmary, gesturing for the others to follow. Nico and Jason resumed their conversation, which seemed to be about finalising details for their sleepover, while Percy bounced ahead like an over-excited kangaroo, pestering Will with questions about what awaited him in the infirmary. Clearly Nico had wanted to keep it a surprise, so Will played along, trying and failing to keep the amused smirk off his face.
Reaching the infirmary, Will swung open the door and held it so that the others could enter. Then, closing the door behind him, he took them all through to the back room, before turning to them and gazing sternly at them.
“You have to be very careful and quiet.
he warned them, only turning to open the door when he was satisfied that they understood. Once they were inside, Will tried to coax the cat out of its little hiding spot, snuggled within the little mountain of blankets. After a while, a tiny pink nose poked out and Percy gave a tiny gasp. Will turned his head and slowly beckoned him over. The son of Poseidon looked thrilled to see the cat,
“Hello tiny friend”
he cooed to the head that was now fully sticking out. Big eyes blinked curiously. Trusting that Percy would be able to introduce himself safely, Will walked over to Jason, as Nico stepped forward to get a closer look. Will looked at the taller blonde. Jason wasn’t really that much taller than Will’s 6’1 but it was noticeable. It seemed that descendants of Zeus had plenty of tall-person genes. Well, being a demigod made the whole ‘genes’ thing a bit weird, but Will didn’t fully understand that, although he knew that Malcolm was planning on doing some research on the subject.
“Are you not going to say hi to the little fluffball?”
he asked. Jason ran a hand through his hair.
“To be fully honest with you, I don’t really have much experience with cats; I wouldn’t really consider myself a cat person. Also I’m a little confused as to why it’s blue. I don’t remember any myths with blue cats.”
Will laughed and shook his head.
“It’s not from Ancient Greece or anything. It’s one of Clovis’ fever dreams.”
Jason frowned, and adjusted his glasses.
“Here I was thinking I had weird dreams.”
he muttered. Chuckling, Will walked towards Percy who had managed to get the cat onto his lap. He waved Jason over. Hesitantly, Jason approached and sat down next to Nico. The cat looked up curiously, before wrinkling its nose and giving an adorable sneeze. The wariness in Jason’s eyes melted away into an expression of utter adoration.
“It’s so fuzzy and cute”
he exclaimed, reaching out a hand in order to stroke it. The cat promptly hopped down from Percy’s lap and trotted over to Jason, nuzzling his hand and purring loudly. Approximately a minute after saying he wasn’t a cat person, Jason was completely won over, tickling his happy new buddy under the chin.
“Should we name you or do you already have a name?”
he murmured, picking the cat up and looking it in the eyes.
“What about Pip, or Berry or maybe Muffin?”
Percy suggested. Nico snorted.
“What kind of person names their cat Berry?”
Will shrugged.
“I’m not sure, but I do know a family friend that has a tortoise called Berry.”
Nico raised an eyebrow at that and Will quickly turned his attention back to the cat in order to avoid being seen blushing. Thankfully, the other three boys were now discussing names. The general consensus appeared to be writing a list and getting the other campers to vote on it, or add any new names they thought would be good.
Will took a clipboard and a blank piece of paper from a shelf that was fixed to a wall at the side of the room. With prompts from the others, he wrote down a list of names, with room for tally marks below, as well as gaps for new names that other campers might add. The current contenders were as follows:
Pip
Berry
Muffin
Cookie
Boo
Link
Buzz
Nemo
Will had to say, it was a very varied list of names, mostly contributed to by Percy. Jason was too distracted tickling the cat, who had clearly become very attached to him, under the chin. Will snorted. Not a cat person indeed. Although the cat was so irresistible that Will had a hard time imagining even Mr D not falling for its charms.
Once it was all written down, the four boys left, Jason in particular looking very reluctant to put down the cat, giving it an extra hug before letting it snuggle back down in its nest of blankets.
✧✧✧
When they were outside, the boys all went their separate ways to their cabins, as it was nearing curfew time. Will took the clipboard with him, planning on asking for name suggestions in the Apollo Cabin before asking the rest of the campers in the morning.
His siblings were all more than happy to help. Lillie suggested Leonardo, while Kayla voted for Berry. Austin, on his way to his shift in the infirmary, grabbed the pen and scribbled Pepper down.
Will put the clipboard on his bedside table, and changed ready for bed, before grabbing his toothbrush and heading to the recently installed (thanks to Annabeth) bathroom at the back of the cabin. Well, when he said recently installed, he meant installed around 2 years ago, just after the Titan War.
After ensuring that his teeth were thoroughly clean, Will returned to his bunk, climbed in under the blankets, and went to sleep.
[A/N: as you can probably tell, I'm terrible with coming up with names. Suggestions for the cat's name are very much welcomed]
Taglist: @rainbow-sheepofthefamily @emava04 @percabethfangirl @nightmareghosts @luna0713hunter @seven-halfbloods @my-apollo-gies
Masterlist (all chapters and the link to read it on Ao3)
#heroes of olympus#rick riordan#riordanverse#trials of apollo#percy jackson and the olympians#nico di angelo#percy jackson#will solace#jason grace#apollo cabin#solangelo
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In this installment of Great Albums, we’re back to talking about albums nobody’s ever heard of! You might not know who Zaine Griff is, but you’ve probably heard of a guy called Hans Zimmer, and Zimmer is the real mastermind of this record: a masterpiece of New Romantic synth-pop made long before he made his name composing for the big screen! Not to mention contributions from Ultravox’s Warren Cann, YMO’s Yukihiro Takahashi, and even Kate Bush. Find out all about it by watching this video, or reading the full transcript below the break!
Welcome to Passionate Reply, and welcome to Great Albums! Today’s installment is going to feature an album that is most definitely towards the obscure side--but, like most of the more obscure artists and albums I’ve talked about, I think this one is every bit as good as the classics. Zaine Griff’s Figures is not only a forgotten album that I think deserves more acclaim, but also an album that, in many ways, feels like it could have been a huge success in its own time.
Zaine Griff grew up in New Zealand, and moved to Great Britain in the 1970s in the hopes of pursuing a career in music. His debut LP, 1980’s Ashes & Diamonds, would mark him as one of the many artists straddling the musical landscape in the aftermath of glam, in the long shadow of David Bowie. With keen visual panache, a suave way of slurring when he sang, and the requisite killer cheekbones, Griff fit in perfectly with the so-called “New Romantics,” as stylish and sophisticated as Visage, Ultravox, or Japan.
Music: “Ashes & Diamonds”
The real turning point in Griff’s career was his being “discovered,” so to speak, by Hans Zimmer and Warren Cann. Cann had already become a figure of some renown, as the percussionist for the aforementioned Ultravox. Despite his tremendous fame today, Zimmer actually had much less to show for himself at this point, aside from a somewhat dodgy stint in the Buggles. While geniuses in their own ways, neither of them were necessarily natural frontmen, and Zaine Griff seemed like the perfect missing piece to fit into their pop ambitions.
Even setting aside Zimmer and Cann, Figures is actually full of recognizable talent, and I think it may have the single most stacked list of album credits I’ve ever seen in my life! You’ll also hear contributions from Yellow Magic Orchestra’s Yukihiro Takahashi, backing vocals from Linda Jardim, who was also the soprano on the Buggles’ famous “Video Killed the Radio Star,” and a guest appearance by none other than Kate Bush. That’s really a lot of clout going around, which is one of the reasons I’m so surprised this album went nowhere. Anyway, that aside, the most dominant sonic footprint on display here is certainly that of Hans Zimmer. Zimmer is credited with producing the album, and his dynamic, expressive, perhaps “cinematic” work with digital synthesisers is surely the driving force behind Figures’s sound.
Music: “Fahrenheit 451”
It’s easy to imagine “Fahrenheit 451” is the thumping theme to some delightfully 80s adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s classic novel. Its theme of lustful but dangerous romance is a constant throughout the album, most notably on tracks like “Hot” and the haunting closer, “The Beating of Wings.” The song’s tense and dramatic mood is well bolstered by those soaring synths, courtesy of the Fairlight CMI. One of the most distinctive sounds of mid-80s synth-pop, the soft, breathy tones of the Fairlight hadn’t yet reached full saturation when Figures was made--Zimmer was an early adopter of this particular musical revolution. You might be surprised to learn that “Fahrenheit 451” only saw minor distribution as a single, exclusively for the French and Belgian markets. I think that sort of mismanagement on behalf of Polydor really shafted this album. Its lead single was actually its title track.
Music: “Figures”
The title track of Figures isn’t the worst song I’ve ever heard, but I do think it just might be the worst song on this album. With a strident, stabbing synth riff and a somewhat sparse and anemic soundstage, the title track is not particularly exciting, and also not particularly representative of what the rest of the album sounds like, with no indication of the lush and vibrant textures that dominate tracks like “Fahrenheit 451.” It also has less lyrics than the other tracks, and offers Griff little opportunity to demonstrate his pipes. Thematically, though, its imagery of wispy and mysterious personas, flitting in and out of substance in a world where appearance and identity are trifling and ephemeral, is something that resonates strongly with the album as a whole, as one might surmise from its title also being used for the album. “The Vanishing Men,” another song that easily feels like a better single than “Figures,” handles the same sort of subject in a more playful and upbeat manner.
Music: “The Vanishing Men”
The titular “vanishing men” are quite clearly the life of the party here, and in the world of this track, the insignificance of true identity is portrayed as an invitation to experiment and have fun with it--though not without a slight hint of danger as well. Perhaps it’s a good metaphor for the curated aestheticism of the New Romantic movement, decried by some as “style over substance.” New Romanticism really didn’t have much time left by the time *Figures* came out, being so strongly associated with trends in fashion that were on their way out by this point. Even Ultravox would find themselves pivoting towards more of a pop rock-oriented sound for their final classic lineup LP, 1984’s Lament. I can’t help but think that the changing landscape of musical trends is part of the poor reception of Figures, which is such a consummate New Romantic album, which basks in the full flush of the movement’s prior penetration into the mainstream. As stated above, “The Vanishing Men” is all about the glamour of mutable identity, but other tracks on the album seem to assign this theme a bit more weight, as in “The Stranger.”
Music: “The Stranger”
The titular character of “The Stranger” is described as “a stranger to himself,” but also “no stranger to anyone else.” This track seems to be more focused on the negative aspects of fashionable persona-play: losing the dignity and security of a true form, the people around you seeing through your charades, and becoming trapped in an existence defined by arbitrariness and artificiality. I’d also be remiss not to mention this track’s winsome pentatonic synth riff, which helps create a mercurial and ambiguous mood. It might be interpreted as a nod towards the rampant Orientalism of New Romantic music, which ran with the early 80s verve for all things Asian, and wasn’t shy about appropriating “Asiatic” musical motives like pentatonic scales to evoke mystery and wonder. Griff and friends’ use of such here is relatively subtle, though, and perhaps a bit more tactful than how many of their contemporaries approached other musical ideas associated with the East.
The unforgettable cover of Figures is as dramatic and infused with capital-R Romantic sentiment as the music contained within. Above the text relating the artist and title, which uses a V for a U for a touch of the classical, we see Griff splayed dramatically in a pond of lilies. With sharp makeup that emphasizes his lips, and a diaphanous, blousy top that turns translucent in the water, he seems to be the perfect tragic hero of some lost work of Shakespeare’s--complete with another flower stylishly pinned to his chest. As I mentioned before, Figures is an album that rides the wave of New Romanticism particularly hard, and I think its cover is yet another symptom of those sensibilities.
Speaking of Shakespeare, I can’t help but want to compare this image with a famous painting of one of Shakespeare’s best-known characters: Ophelia, by Sir John Everett Millais. Painted in the early 1850s, Millais’s Ophelia depicts the moment where Ophelia, driven mad by Hamlet’s romantic rejection of her, drowns herself in a river. It’s exactly the kind of story of wild, passionate, and doomed love portrayed on tracks like “Fahrenheit 451.” Ophelia is also associated strongly with flowers in the text, and features in a particularly memorable scene where she doles out various symbolic blossoms to members of the royal court. Besides the affinity of subject matter, even the composition of Millais’s work resembles the cover of Figures, contrasting its subject’s pale skin with the dark and murky natural surrounds, and emphasizing the drapery of their wettened attire. Ophelia is often considered the definitive masterpiece of the short-lived art movement, the “Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood,” who, as their name implies, sought to recapture the intuitive, colourful, and emotive power of art created prior to the High Renaissance. Not unlike New Romanticism, the Pre-Raphaelite movement would crumble after only a few years, but not without leaving behind a trail of masterpieces that would continue to inspire future artists and admirers, far removed from their own time.
After the release of Figures, Zaine Griff remained involved with Hans Zimmer and Warren Cann, and, as the supergroup “Helden,” they embarked on an even more ambitious musical opus together: Spies, a sort of synth-pop oratorio about immortal Nazi super-spies falling in love in a futuristic dystopia. Spies is about as out-there as it sounds, and brings the flamboyant musical excess of Figures into a suitably theatrical setting. It’s also got nearly as star-studded of a cast as Figures, featuring not only Zimmer, Cann, and Jardim again, but also Eddie Maelov of Eddie & Sunshine as a mad scientist, and the enigmatic French electro-cabaret chanteuse Ronny, in the role of a super-computer with a sultry female voice. Griff portrays one of the titular immortal spies, known only as “The Stranger”--which, of course, begs comparison to the track of the same name on Figures, and prompts the question, to what extent was Spies already in the works when *Figures* was being written and recorded?
Music: “The Ball”
We all know the rest of the story for Hans Zimmer, who began working with music for film in the mid-1980s, such as the queer cult classic My Beautiful Laundrette. But Zaine Griff obviously never became a household name. Despite being finished in 1983, Spies never got to see an official release, as it was a bit too out there for a label to take a chance on at the time, and it would probably be lost media today if it weren’t for a vinyl bootleg that’s thankfully fairly easy to find online. Griff decided to retire from music shortly after this, and recounts a story of having walked past an extremely talented street musician, and having a sort of epiphany about just how hard it was to make it in music. After all, if a true virtuoso could end up busking on the street, how fair and rewarding could the industry possibly be? Disillusioned with the world of pop, Griff returned to his native New Zealand and got a day job as a golf instructor. More recently, though, he’s also released several new solo albums in the 2010s, surprisingly enough, and attempted to push forward into some very contemporary-sounding pop rock. The world is, of course, a very different place nowadays than it was in the 20th Century, and particularly in the world of music distribution, so perhaps it makes sense that our brave new world has room in it for someone like Zaine Griff to return.
My overall favourite track on Figures is probably “Time Stands Still,” which I think is perhaps the most accessible, pop-friendly track to be had on the album, and the one I would’ve released as the lead single had I worked for Polydor. With a big hook and simple, repetitive lyrics, it’s a true pop song through and through--though, if an artist releases a commercial-sounding album in the woods, and nobody is around to buy it, is it still really “pop?” Anyway, I also love this track’s delightful outro, imitating a skipping record to represent a freeze in the flow of time...though I admit it’s a lot less harrowing to hear when listening digitally! That’s all I have for today--thanks for listening.
Music: “Time Stands Still”
#music#great albums#album review#album reviews#zaine griff#new romantic#ultravox#warren cann#hans zimmer
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Hey darling, do you think you could do a DamiJon one shot with the sentence starter "Are we on a date right now?" Where Damian is very oblivious to his and Jon's feelings and doesn't understand crushes/love much to Jon's frustration?
Sorry This took so long! It doesn’t exactly match up with the last pat of the prompt, but here you go!
It was a sunny day, as was the usual for the bright and busy city of Metropolis, and Damian swore he was the only one for miles who was not enjoying the lack of cloud cover and gloomy weather. Everyone they passed by on the streets wore blinding smiles and talked with too much enthusiasm for a Monday afternoon. People waved at strangers and stopped for street performers, and in general acted as the Utopian image of city life.
Damian almost found himself missing the dark and very real streets of Gotham. Almost.
Of course, that didn’t mean he wasn’t enjoying the day so far.
At that particular moment, he was walking down a sidewalk with a certain Kryptonian boy who was laughing far too hard for someone who hadn’t been told a joke.
“The acting was unrealistic, the CGI was terrible and the props and costumes were the work of anmitures,” Damian persisted, still hung up on the awful movie they had gotten out of half an hour before. It had been the newest installment in the Sunrise series, and it was so bad Damian would have been at a loss for words if he were forced to watch just five more minutes.
He had only gone to see it in the first place because Jon had loved the first movie and he, Raven and Todd had all loved the books. If the books were anything like the movie had been, Damian would have to have a serious talk with his friends and brother about their taste in media.
“Stop laughing, I’m serious,” Damian huffed, but despite his annoyance he was fighting a smile of his own.
“It’s good bad,” Jon said through his laughter, wiping tears from his eyes and clutching his side.
“That wasn’t ‘good bad’ it was a disgrace to all of cinema!” Damian scoffed. “I knew you were tasteless, but I had no clue it was this atrocious.”
“You just aren’t getting it because you’re taking it too seriously,” Jon insisted. “If you stop looking at it as an actual romance and look at it from a comedic angle, it’s the best thing ever.”
“The protagonist was bland, her love interests behaviors were unrealistic, and the message of the story is disgusting,” Damian continued to list off the movie’s flaws.
“Damian, stop for one second,” Jon said, finally freed of his laughter. “Remember, we aren’t the intended audience. The intended audience is teenage girls. It wasn’t meant for a message, it was meant for escapism and wish fulfillment for its intended audience. When you keep that in mind, it’s an absolute masterpiece.”
“Tt, whatever you say farm boy,” Damian rolled his eyes. He checked his watch while Jon laughed a little more. “We still have three hours before we have to meet Drake and the Clone.”
“Perfect,” Jon bounced. “That means we have time to stop by the arcade, sweets shop and my favorite cafe!”
“If you insist,” Damian sighed.
“Don’t be like that, I’ve had this day planned for weeks!” Jon whined, tugging on his arm. “I even did extra chores this week so we would have enough money.
“You could have just asked me to bring my wallet,” Damian said.
“Nu-uh, there is no way I’m letting you pay for our first outing together,” Jon shook his head.
“This isn’t our first-” Damian was quickly cut off as Jon pulled him into the arcade, his super speed and strength slipping ever so slightly so that he had to rub his arm and catch his breath afterwards. By the time he regained his balance, Jon had rushed over to the coin machine and was feeding in a twenty he had earned from mowing the lawn and washing the dishes.
When he came back, he took Damian’s hand and dumped about half of the coins into it with a grin. He had been practically glowing ever since they had met up that morning, an effect that Damian could easily write off as being due to the shining sun and not his presence, as Drake had insisted. Even inside the arcade, shaded and away from the sun, the fifteen year old was still shining brighter than any of the neon lights around them.
Damian just shook his head but relented as Jon dragged him around the arcade, showing off his gaming skills and earning tickets. Damian was decent at most of the games, but was too unused to the mode of gaming compared to the consuls he played on with his family to truly be any good. He would never admit that out loud of course. It would go right to Jon’s head he was sure.
Damian had run out of coins and only had a fistful of tickets by the time Jon was down to his last two had had a plastic bag filled.
For his last game, Jon took Damian by the hand and pulled him towards an arm wrestling game that reached to the ceiling with a bell at the top. Damian had seen such a game in a cheesy movie Brown had shown him and the rest of the family. After asking his father more about the game, he was informed that, as many carnival games were, it was completely rigged and impossible to win.
“Those don’t actually work you know,” Damian said, leaning against the machine with an unimpressed raise to his brow. “Even for your strength it won't budge.”
“Want to bet?” Jon asked, his grin growing wider, a far cry from the shy and timid Jon Kent and much closer to the Superboy he knew from their late night escapades.
Damian snorted but gave a single nod. A simple dip of his chin, never breaking eye contact.
“All of the loser’s tickets to the winner?” Jon asked.
“Whatever you say,” Damian agreed.
Jon rolled up his sleeves and, gaze still on Damian, took hold of the fake hand and started the simulated arm wrestling contest.
Damian actually gave a jump when he felt something rush past him inside the machine and hit the bell at the top with an almost deafening ding ding ding!
While he stared wide eyed up at the bell, Jon cheered and collected the tickets spilling out from the machine into his plastic bag. When Damian turned back to him, still slightly in shock, Jon was holding out his hand expectantly with a self satisfied smirk.
“The machine must be broken,” Damian said as he handed them over.
“Whatever you say,” Jon teased. After taking the tickets, he took Damian’s hand again and went up to the prize counter to feed the tickets into a machine to get a receipt. He handed off said recit to a tired looking teenager, only a year or so older than Damian, bouncing on his heels.
“Could I have that bear?” he asked, pointing up to the ceiling. Damian followed his finger’s direction and found a large bear that was at least five feet tall hanging from the ceiling. It had a superman symbol on it’s chest in the shape of a heart, which was more than enough to make Damian roll his eyes. It was very much something the young Kent would waste his tickets on as a gag with his family.
The teenager behind the counter smiled through their clear as day lack of sleep and scanned both the recibt and the little sign that announced the bear’s price. He had to pull over a ladder and get a long hooked pole to unloop the bear from where it was hung up, and struggled with handing it to Jon over the counter.
As soon as the bear was in his arms, though, Jon immediately pushed it to Damian’s chest. He struggled at first, with the bear being as big as himself, but managed to get a good hold on it and look around it to furrow his brows in question.
“I won it for you,” Jon said like it was obvious. “If you need me to carry it it can.”
“I am perfectly fine carrying the monstrosity on my own,” Damian said. “You couldn’t have chosen a more impractical gift?”
“It's not an impractical gift,” Jon said. “It’s cute.”
“Can it not be both?” Damian asked, but relented in following Jon out of the arcade the fastest he could with the monstrous stuffed animal in his arms.
“Sweets shop or cafe next?” Jon said allowed, though it was clear he was asking himself.
“We only have time left for one of the two,” Damian said after checking his watch again.
“Cafe it is then!” Jon said. He guided Damian back down the Metropolis sidewalk, pointing out different stores and vendors along the way as he told stories about them. Damian only heard half of the stories, his sight too focused on Jon’s lit up and expressive face for any of his other senses to properly function.
Halfway through a story about a noodle store he liked to visit with his older brother, Jon noticed Damian’s staring. He ducked his head, his cheeks flaring bright red, and Damian couldn’t help but give the smallest of smiles at the reaction.
The rest of the walk to the cafe, Jon’s voice was back to its usual shy softness as he chatted on about the city he so clearly loved. Damian didn’t stop his staring, but did end up lost in his own thoughts about the past years’ events.
He could still very clearly remember the day when he was thirteen and his father had carefully sat him down in his study for a talk. During that talk, he was told of one of the most disturbing things yet to happen in his life, which was saying something considering his childhood.
Through dimension hopping events that Damian never bothered to understand, Jon had gone from ten years old to seventeen overnight. He was different now that he was so much older, and Damian found a hole grow in his chest from the loss of his closest friend.
The event was possibly the thing that finally cemented his bond with Drake, and they had both lost their kryptonian friends under circumstances completely out of their control. The only problem Damian saw with the bonding they had done was that Drake had gotten Conner back. Not only had he gotten him back, but the two had started dating not too long after his return, which brought Damian an odd sense of jealousy he had never been able to understand.
After a year of consideration between himself and his parents, Jon had gone to Zatanna for help in reversing his physical age. The magician had agreed, but had only been half successful in her daunting task. The next time Damian saw Jon, he was only a year younger than him, still with his ever present height advantage, now coupled with his mental age.
Damian was still ashamed when he remembered his initial reaction of slamming the door in Jon’s face. He had refused to speak to the Kryptonian for months on end, so unsure of how to feel about the entire situation he had found himself in. He had gotten his friends back, but he wasn’t sure if he was still really his friend.
He still wished that his family could have stopped being so damn unconditionally supportive for one moment and knocked some sense into him so he could have accepted Jon’s returned presence in his life earlier than he actually had.
It had been a year since the two had fully reunited, apologies coming from both ends despite Damian’s admit denial that Jon had anything to apologize for. He was big enough to admit he had been the one fully in the wrong even though everyone repeatedly told him his reaction was perfectly reasonable for a fourteen year old presented with such a stressful situation. Even at sixteen, he couldn’t understand Jon’s easy forgiveness of his behavior.
“Dami?” Jon pulled him from his thoughts gently, cheeks faded to a much softer pink, but the blush still clearly present.
“I’m okay,” Damian nodded, ignoring the clear pull in his chest. Jon had been so gentle with him the past year no matter how much they had both moved on, and it was enough to drive him crazy “You were saying?”
“We’re here,” Jon smiled, nodding to the cafe now in front of them.
Damian gave a small smile in return and followed Jon to the outdoor table he claimed to be his favorite. While Jon placed their orders at the front, Damian set the super bear up in one of the seats at the table. He pulled out his phone while he waited, finding texts from Grayson, Todd and Brown all asking him a variation of ‘how’s the date going?’
Damian responded to all the texts from his prying siblings with ‘it’s not a date’ and put his phone away again to look around at the others sitting outside of the cafe.
There were a few younger high school and older middle school students hanging around the tables and benches outside the cafe, enjoying the nice weather and food Jon had claimed to be some of the best in metropolis (“Besides that one time Conner brought me with him to a custody required dinner with Lex a few years ago. That was the best,” he remembered the teen chatting on the walk there). Damian realized Jon had probably learned about the cafe from friends he knew from school.
As he looked around, though, he noticed more and more that the other teens around him were all there in pairs. Sipping on milkshakes and coffees together while they ate a split pastry. Some were holding hands over or under the table, or kissing on benches or leaned against the cafe’s garden walls. Subconsciously he found himself beginning to go into panic, because this was clearly not a place a normal friend from school would take Jon.
He didn’t understand why he was panicking at the notion of the boy having a boyfriend or girlfriend, or having gone on dates before. He was mentally aged to nineteen, even if he was currently dwelling in the body of a fifteen year old.
Maybe it was because sitting among these couples brought out something in him that had nothing to do with Jon. At least, he was pretty sure it had nothing to do with Jon.
He had never felt threatened or out of place when at events that had many couples, his age, younger and older, all gathered and acting as couples. He knew the divorce, widowing and murder rates in Gotham meant that very few couples actually lasted for life. Even around his family he never found himself upset because he was too happy for their pairings. His father and Selina had made a great match despite his earlier doubts, Grayson and West were married with kids of their own, Todd and Harper as dysfunctional as they were still held Damian’s vote as the best fit couple in the family, and Drake and Jon’s cloned older brother were engaged to be wed in the spring.
But these couples were affecting him in such a way that he started to squeeze his stuffed bear’s paw under the table.
What’s wrong with Gotham? He thought, rerunning every statistic and horror story of love he knew from the city. The thought quickly morphed into What’s wrong with me?
It had been a long time since he asked that question, two years to be exact, and it was quickly waved away back to his first question. It had taken years of extensive therapy ordered by Alfred and plenty of love and care from his family, colleagues and friends to help him accept there wasn’t anything wrong with him. He was raised in harsh circumstances that his mother had gotten him out of and to his father the soonest she could. He had built walls and defences, and he knew now at a more mature age that they were all just for show and were unneeded now.
He looked around at the couples again and forced his heart not to harden in the presence. It was beautiful what youth and a good city could do to grow love, and he would be damned if he let a coping mechanism from his childhood make him view it as any less.
“Sorry I took so long,” Jon’s laugh caught his attention and he gave a soft smile up at his friend.
“Not at all.”
Jon took his seat across from him and sat down the tall pink and white milkshake between them as well as a napkin with two cookies on it. Just with a glance Damian could tell Jon had gotten him a dark chocolate variety, and couldn’t help but let his smile grow.
His attention on the cookies of course made him belatedly notice that the milkshake was singular and had two straws sticking up from the top.
“I wasn’t sure what flavor you wanted,” Jon admitted while Damian’s gaze whipped around them, knowing there must be a mistake. Instead of an explanation, Damian’s eyes locked onto a few couples who had a drink or milkshake set up the same way. One drink, two straws, with them drinking from them happily as they stared into each other’s eyes.
“It’s strawberry and cream,” Jon said, drawing his attention again. The teen across from him was nervously adjusting his glasses and pushing back his dark curls, looking anywhere but Damian. Damian noticed the faint blush dusting his cheeks and smiled, before his entire face went red at realization that he had just smiled at his friend blushing.
His brothers’ and Brown’s texts suddenly came back to mind, along with a few romcoms they had watched together and his own observations of his family and their significant others. The movie with a shared bucket of popcorn, the holding hands, the bear purchased and given after winning an arcade game, and now the obviously romantic cafe with a two straw milkshake and a blush.
“Are we on a date right now?” Damian blurted, eyebrow furrowed but eyes wide.
Jon’s head snapped up so quick Damian had barely seen it, compliments of super speed, his eyes equally as wide, “I thought we were, but your expression is telling a totally different story. You don’t have any kryptonite batarangs on you right now, right?”
“Why would I-” Damian shook his head, “We’re on a date no one had the decency to tell me?”
Well, technically Grayson, Todd and Brown had told him, but that wasn’t important. What was important was how shrill his voice was to his own ears, and the sympathetic glances a few couples were giving him.
“I asked Tim to ask you if you go on a date with me since my phone broke,” Jon was babbling now, hands flying around as he tried to explain. “I thought when he told Conner that you said yes you were saying yes to the date!”
A set up, Damian realized. Drake had fully intended for this mess to happen just to spite him. The man was lucky Damian now accepted he loved him, or he would never live to see his spring wedding.
“I need a second,” Damian said, resting his head in his hands. His face felt hot under his fingers, and he feared to imagine just how red it had become. A lifetime of training was all falling apart all because he had spent an entire date with a cute boy completely in the dark to the fact that it was a date.
Wait. Cute boy?
Did he think Jon was cute? Jon was cute, he had always known that, but did he really think he was cute in the way that Drake found the clone cute?
He had been jealous when Tim got the clone back but he lost Jon. That meant something, he had always known that, but he had never really looked into it. If he thought Jon was cute in that way, it explained the jealousy. The feeling of emptiness the half kryptonian boy’s absence had left him with. The reaction of honest to god fear when Jon came back in a way that was definitely socially unacceptable for him to be with.
Jon is cute. I like Jon. Jon likes me…
“Dami?” Jon said quietly, nervously. No, it was more than nerves now, he was afraid. He was afraid in the same way Damian had seen him in his older form. Rejection and heartbreak surly making the taste in his mouth bitter as apologies he didn't need to say weighed on his tongue.
“We’re on a date,” Damian finally said, peeking up from behind his finger. He said it as the statement it was and not the question from before.
“If you want to be,” Jon nodded, some of the fear falling away.
Damian took his hands away from his face but kept his eyes on the milkshake instead of Jon’s face. It was already starting to melt and turn sluggish in its tall cup.
“I want to be,” he said, a soft smile falling on his lips.
“Thank goodness, because I don’t know what I would tell Mom if I went home single,” Jon sighed in relief, then stopped. “That does mean you want to be my boyfriend, right?”
“I want to be your boyfriend,” Damian affirmed, smile growing wider. There was something fuzzy and warm and safe growing in his chest. It reminded him of Jon, as silly as it was considering Jon was the one who put it there.
“Thank goodness,” Jon repeated, letting his head fall on the table. “I think that was the most stressful thing I’ve ever done.”
“Jon, you’ve fought gods.”
“That was a hundred times easier than this was.”
“The milkshake is melting.”
Jon bounced up at that and quickly leaned forward to start gulping the sugary drink from his straw. Damian shook his head with a smaller smile and leaned forward as well.
His face lit up in heat once again when their noses brushed and Damian realized just how close there were, but he didn’t pull back. The milkshake was good, but it had nothing on the bashful and overwhelmingly happy look in Jon’s eyes. Damian was sure it was a look he could get drunk off of if he tried.
“We should probably get going,” Jon said with heavy remorse after they finished the milkshake.
“Probably,” Damian agreed, checking his watch. He wished he had the ability to make time stop, just for a second. He had just found out this was a date, and it was already ending. He would have to use the walk back to Drake and the clone to make up for that lost time.
As they walked down the sidewalk they finished their cookies and stared ahead at the near setting sun. When they were both finished, Damian took Jon’s hand and intertwined their fingers without looking towards him.
“Our next date you should take me to that sweets shop you’ve been talking about,” Damian said with a smile teasing his lips. He glanced from the corner of his eye just in time to catch Jon smiling a close lipped but wide smile. Domain was sure he would never get over how shy Jon could get in his civilian persona.
“I will,” Jon promised.
They reached the fountain they were meeting their brothers much too soon for Damian’s liking. Drake and clone spoted them right away, surly partially due to the oversized stuffed bear Damian was hulling along, and smiled upon spotting their intertwined fingers.
“I see the date went well,” Drake said with a devilish grin.
“No thanks to you,” Damian glared.
“He was just having a little fun,” the older Kent boy waved off Damian’s anger. “You figured it out before it ended at least.”
“Barely,” Damian rolled his eyes.
“But we still had fun,” Jon interjected. “Thank you for bringing Damian with you. It was a good first date.”
“First date as in there will be more,” the clone’s grin matched his fiance’s as he looked between them. “Jon you sly dog, did you get yourself a bat boyfriend?”
“Oh my God,” Jon mumbled, face going red in a new way for that day that was more familiar to Damian as his My Family is Embarrassing me Please Send Help face, as titled by his brother.
“He did,” Damian spoke up for him with a slightly puffed chest.
“I did,” Jon repeated with a smile down at Damian.
“Well, it’s time for me to get your little bat back to Gotham,” Tim interjected.
“Who are you calling little?” Damian raised an eyebrow. He was as tall as Drake and still growing. If it weren’t for Cain, Drake would have been the shortest of the bats.
“Can you please let me live in a fantasy where my little brother is still little for five minutes?” Drake pleaded with him.
Damian rolled his eyes again as Drake kissed his fiance goodbye.
Together they started to walk away from the Kent brothers and back to Drake’s car. Drake allowed the kick that came to his shins as they walked off and even smiled. When they got to the car, Damian had made up his mind.
“Hold this,” Damian said, passing the bear off to Drake as quickly as he could with a stuffed animal of it;s size. “If you drop Jon Jr. I won't hesitate to stick a blade in your shin.”
“Got it, no dropping,” Drake grinned at him over the bear. “Go get him.”
Damian nodded and ran back in the direction they had come from until he reached the fountain and spotted the Kent brothers walking in the other direction. He had to rush to keep up with even just their walking speed, reminding him of how much Jon had to control himself and slow down the entire day. Luckily his own speed, as human as it was, was enough to reach them before they got to the clone’s car.
Without a word, Damian grabbed Jon’s arm as he turned to face him, and pushed up onto his tiptoes to lock their lips together. Jon froze under his hand before melting into the kiss and sliding his hand into Damian’s hair and his other arm around his waist for support.
Damian pulled back with Jon chasing after his lips with his eyes closed. He smiled at the sight and pecked Jon’s lips one more time before parting fully and starting his run back in the direction of his brother’s car.
“You’ll call me, right?” he heard Jon yell behind him.
Damian turned on his heel to look back, “Get your phone fixed and I will.”
Then he kept running, a wide grin on his face.
Maybe sunny days in Metropolis weren't so bad after all.
#damian wayne#jon kent#jonathan kent#damijon#jondami#willow writes prompts#willow writes#tim drake#kon el#conner kent#timkon#batfam#batfamily#superfam#robin#superboy
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Cryptocurrency Mining
Crypto currency mining is really a endless game within this world. Bit coin, the very first decentralized money introduced in early 2000. Mining crypto currency is a intricate process of confirming trades and adding to people ledger (block-chain ). This ledger of previous trades is known as the block-chain since it's a string of cubes. The block-chain functions to validate trades to the remaining part of the system as having happened. The block-chain can be accountable for releasing fresh bit-coins. Every one of those numerous crypto coins from presence are contingent on the central idea of this block-chain.
Procedure for Mining
Thus every single trade is scrambled. Once that Gee trade happens it has inserted to some thing many reference as a"cube" before purpose that a predetermined range of trades was listed. That obstruct in the time becomes included with a string - that the block-chain - that can be found openly. Throughout mining crypto currency either Bit coin, Dash, Litecoin, Zcash, Ethereum, and more, the miner needs to Maximize recent transections in to cubes and decode a computationally tough puzzle. There are many on the web Bit coin mining websites. It has grown into a highly common means to make money.
Crypto currency is cryptographic, meaning it employs a distinctive encryption which enables controlling the creation of coins and also verifying that the trade. A cube is really useless in its own now available variant. But after applying the algorithm into a particular block. Upon fitting the miner receives a few bit-coins. To get earing Bit coin via mining, then the miner needs to be technological. Bit coin mining for benefit is quite competitive. Bit coin price tends to make it tricky to appreciate monetary gains without additionally speculating on the purchase price. The payment is dependent on how far that their hardware contributed to solving this mystery. Miners affirm that the trades, ensure they're not false, and maintain the infrastructure stirring together.
Most Useful Coins to Mine
Bit-coins aren't really a good option for beginning diggers that require a go at a tiny scale. The present in-advance speculation and upkeep expenses, and the utter scientific problem of this task, only will not allow it to be more productive for consumer degree hardware. Currently, Bit coin mining is stored to get large-scale activities since it was. Litecoins, Dogecoins, along with Feathercoins, however,, are 3 Scrypt-based digital types of money which will be the most useful money saving advantage to apprentices. At the current quote of Litecoin, a gentleman can profit somewhere in the assortment of $50 pennies to ten dollars for every single day utilizing customer degree mining gear. Dogecoins and Feathercoins would reunite slightly less reward with a identical mining equipment are still end more famous daily. Peercoins, also, is also quite a sensibly acceptable benefit for the venture of energy and time.
As more folks join the cryptocoin explosion, your final decision may receive more hard to mine as the costly hardware will probably be asked to come across coins. You're going to be forced to contribute vigorously on the off likelihood you will need to stay mining which coin, or you'll want to take your revenue and also switch to a demanding cryptocoin. Knowing the most important 3 Bit coin mining strategies will be likely where you've got to start out; this specific report centers round mining scrypt coins. Like wise, make certain you're in a state where bit coins and also Bit coin mining isn't legal.
Think about we centre around mining crypto currency. The complete Focus of mining would be to reach three things:
1. Give bookkeeping administrations into the coin system. Mining is basically every instant of routine PC accounting referred to as'checking trades'.
2. Get-paid a little reward for the bookkeeping administrations by accepting fractions of coins each handful of days.
3. Hold your own personal down expenses, including hardware and power.
Some Fundamental Requirements
A completely free private database referred to as a coin wallet. This really is actually a password-secured container which stores your earnings and also keeps a huge listing of trades. A completely free mining program package, very similar to that one from AMD, on average composed of cgminer and stratum. A registration in an online mining pool, and it is a residential district of mineworkers who combine their PCs to improve profitability and wage equilibrium. Registration for an internet currency market, at which you are able to swap your coins for normal money, and also another way round. A dependable fulltime web institution, ideally two megabits for each 2nd or faster rate. A hardware installation location on your cellar or other trendy and airconditioned space.
A workshop or custom-fabricated PC meant for exploration. Truly, you might utilize your overall PC to start, yet you wont have the ability to use PC as the digger is operating. A different dedicated PC is best. Suggestion: Don't start using a notebook, gaming system or handheld device . These instruments only aren't sufficiently successful to build wage. The price will probably be anywhere from $90 used-to $3000 brand new for each GPU or ASIC processor. Even the GPU or ASIC are the work horse of committing the bookkeeping administrations and mining job.
A residence fan to blow air across your mining PC. Mining creates heat, and heating that the equipment is essential for the own prosperity. Personal interest. You definitely call for a good desire for studying and continuous learning, since you'll find continuous creation changes and fresh procedures for updating sheet mining includes about. The ideal coin mine-workers place in hours always considering probably the most perfect ways to correct and boost their money mining operation.
Crypto currency Mining Profitability Every time a mathematical difficulty is recognized, a continuing number of bit-coins are made. The amount of bit coins generated per cube starts in 50 and can be halved each 210,000 cubes (roughly four years). The current quantity of bit coins granted a cube is 12.5. The previous bock halving happened on July 20-16 and the subsequent one will probably soon be in 2020. The estimation of adulthood can be reached using varied on the web mining systems. Development of electronic money standards, as an instance, Bit coin, Ethereum, along with Bit coin Cash has prompted enormous partnerships by businesses and this also is needed to help in substantial maturation of industry in the not too distant future.
Crypto currency mining can be a computationally intensive procedure, which demands system of several PCs for confirmation of this trade record, referred to as the block-chain. The excavators can be obtained a share of trade charges and gain a much greater possibility of locating the following block through leading high computational capability. These service trades aid in giving increased security to network customers, and promises honesty, that will be depended upon are the evident variable influencing growth of their worldwide crypto currency mining marketplace.
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Books of 2020 - April
April was a strange reading month for me, on the one hand I read 10 books which is double my average 5-6 books a month! On the other I completely failed to read my OWLs Magical Readathon tbr... I did manage to read books that worked for the prompts but they weren’t the books I meant to read. Oops!
(Once again I haven’t proof read this and I’ll just apologise in advance for any mistakes, I’m lazy...)
OWLS Magical Reathon: Hogwarts Professor (what subject I specialise in will depend on the NEWTS...)
Wyrd Sisters - Terry Pratchett (Discworld #6, Witches #1)
OWLS: History of Magic
I loved reading Wyrd Sisters, it was so much fun! Pratchett retold Shakespeare’s Macbeth from the witches view point, but with his usual satirical twist. Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, and Magrat Garlick shine through the narrative, offering a no nonsense, ridiculous, and lovable take on witchcraft (or headology) as worked to protect Lancre from Duke and Duchess Felmet after they assassinated King Verence.
The Shakespeare references, puns, and reworkings in this book was sublime! I had a great time picking them out and watching as the acting company performed the most ridiculous versions of Shakespeare’s greatest works. I adored the witches - which was a bit surprising. I’d gone into this thinking I’d dislike the Witches sub-series after reading Equal Rites a couple of years ago (to this day it is my least favourite Discworld book...) However, Granny Weatherwax is a very different character here and the story is so separate from the narrative in Equal Rites that I refuse to see this book as the second installment in the Wtiches sub-series. I’d highly recommed reading Wyrd Sisters, and it would be a fantastic place to start with Pratchett if you like retellings and/or Shakespeare!
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - Anon, trans. by J.R.R. Tolkien
OWLS: Potions
I enjoyed this translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Tolkien’s style and tone suits this style of poetry (would you call it epic? It’s more of a romance...) Tolkien brought the story in Sir Gawain to life for me, in a way I’ve never experienced in other versions I’ve read. I fell in love with this simple tale from Arthurian Legend, which I’ve never done before... It’s beautiful, simple, and captivating. I would highly recommend reading this edition if you’re interested in Sir Gawain.
The Last Hero - Terry Pratchett (Discworld #27, Rincewind and the Wizards #7)
OWLs: Astronomy
This is a book of two halves for me. The story itself is a bit too simple for my tastes... We see Cohen the Barbarian (the only Discworld character I actually hate) heading towards the Hub to return fire to the gods, however, Ankh-Morpork sends a party afte him to prevent him from destroying the Disc. This party was hilarious: Rincewind, the Librarian, Leonard of Quirrm, and Captain Carrot Ironfounderson all confined to a tiny ‘spaceship’... This was not a combination of characters I ever expected to see and their personalities, particularly Carrot and Rincewind, created several spectacularly ridiculous moments I loved! But the plot itself wasn’t great, I was expecting a bit more from Pratchett at this stage in in the Discworld.
However, the artwork in this book was stunning! It worked so well to elevate the story, I couldn’t help but love it... If the artwork hadn’t been included this book would have been a lot weaker... It’s hard to rate the book because of this, but I did really enjoy it (and hopefully this will be the last time I have to read about Cohen the Barbarian and the Silver Horde.) Also, look up Rincewind as The Scream, it’s brilliant!
We Should All Be Feminists - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
OWLs: Arithmancy
I usually don’t read essays for pleasure, nonfiction has been relegated to academic pursuits for the last 5ish years... Yet, this classic (I’m calling it a classic, everyone should read it) essay from Adichie was incredibly powerful. It emphasised the importance of feminism to non-western/European women and highlighted how important and beneficial feminism is for everyone. It’s a really important piece for people to read and I’d highly recommend finding the audiobook, or a reading, done by Adichie as her passion for the subject shines through her words.
Beren and Luthien - J.R.R. Tolkien (Middle Earth)
OWLs: Transfiguration
I ADORED Beren and Luthien, it was the best book I’ve read all month. I was expecting to dislike this book because of it’s formatting. It’s told through several fragmentary versions of Beren’ and Luthien’s romance that at Tolkien wrote throughout his life. Christopher Tolkien edited together 5 or 6 (maybe?) manuscripts along with his own commentary, introduction, and parts of the Earendil story to give us a fleshed out picture of Tolkien’s greatest romance. Unlike The Fall of Gondolin, which I read earlier this year, the format worked beautifully for Beren and Luthien, probably because the different versions that have survived were incredibly different and more complete.
I was feeling a bit so-so about this collection until we started seeing the Lay of Leithian (sp?) woven in between a few prose versions of the tale. The verse in the Lay of Leithian was gorgeous, it was beautiful, etherial, and passionate. I actually cried reading a few sections from it, such as the end of Felagund’s part in the tale. It was such a shame Tolkien never finished the Lay as it probably would have been his best work within the Middle Earth legend. It was captivating and the poetry suited the tone and style of Beren and Luthien’s story. The verse would have made the final acts of Luthien in the Halls of Mados exquisite, poignant, and heartbreakingly tragic.
I cannot love this book more - it might be my favourite in Middle Earth, knocking The Silmarillion off the top spot... But, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this book for everyone. If you’re a Tolkien fanatic then I’d consider this a must read, it contains Tolkien’s most beautiful writing along with his most tragic romance! If you’re only mildly interested in Middle Earth then I don’t think you’re going to enjoy it.
The Children of Earth and Sky - Guy Gavriel Kay
OWLs: Charms
The Children of Earth and Sky was an incredibly read, it’s a powerful but understated historical fantasy set in a world based on (I presume) renaissance Italy and the Ottoman Empire at its height. There’s not a vast amount of story here, however, the character work, world building, and thematic discussion around history, religion, the ability of an individual to change the fate of nations, corruption of power, and so much more, was stunning. It was a beautiful study of characters and cultures, which was complimented by Kay’s sumptuous writing style. This was a gorgeous read!
My biggest criticism is for the romances, Kay had 4 main characters - two men and two women - and rather predictably they ended up in relationships by the end of the novel... The relationship between Danica and Marin did make more sense to me by the end of the book than the relationship between Leonora and Pero. However, both were a bit instalove-y and could have done with more development.
Nevertheless, I’d highly recommend this book! It would be an excellent read for people who aren’t fantasy fans as the fantastical elements are minor. The focus is on the historical influences, themes, and character development. It’s an excellent standalone fantasy book and I’m excited to read more of Kay’s work in the future.
The Merchant of Venice - William Shakespeare
OWLs: Divination
Most of what I could say about The Merchant of Venice has already been said before. Shakespeare’s portrayal of Shylock is incredibly problematic (I haven’t got the time or energy to go into why, but there are literally thousands of books, essays and blogposts about this, go forth and read if you want more details), the relationship between Portia and Bassanio makes NO sense, and I cannot believe that ending means anyone is going to be happy...
However, this play has a certain charm that I loved. I couldn’t help but like the relationship between Antonio and Bassanio, Portia and Nerissa are darlings, and I had fun reading the wacky plotline and (yet more) crossdressing shenanigans going on in here! I think most of my enjoyment came from the RSC version I watch alongside the play (currently availbale on Marquee TV). Either way, I’m happy to have read the play AT LAST and be one play closer to my goal of reading every Shakespeare play!
Assassin’s Apprentice - Robin Hobb (Farseer #1, Realm of the Elderlings #1)
OWLs: Defence Against the Dark Arts
We all know how I feel about Robin Hobb and the Realm of the Elderlings. I adore this world, Fitz and the Fool are (probably) the best written characters in fantasy and two of my all time favourites! I reread this for the Elderlingalong (that I somehow missed...), which gave me the perfect excuse to pick up the new 25th Anniversary edition with the GORGEOUS illustrations from Magali Villeneuve. I had a wonderful time rereading this and if you’re a fan of Hobb and you haven’t seen the work this book already you MUST get your hands on it ASAP.
Non-OWLs books
The Gathering Storm - Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson (Wheel of Time #12)
I wrote WAY to much to include it on this long list of books... I’ll post my thoughts on The Gathering Storm separately.
Conclusion of my ramblings: I really liked it, there were flaws in Sanderson’s writing and treatment of some characters (Mat in particular), however, it was a really good installment in the series! Sanderson really impressed me and I’m slightly nervous and very excited to read the last two books in the series!
The Fellowship of the Ring - J.R.R. Tolkien (Lord of the Rings #1)
I’ve already put up a lot of my thoughts on my latest read of The Fellowship of the Ring here. I really loved rereading this book (as I always do), I had a lot of new thoughts, and I gained a new appreciation of Boromir and Tolkien’s poetry. My annotation reread will continue in the near future with The Two Towers - I just need to clear a few urgent reads off my shelves first!
Currently Reading
Nevermore: The Trials of Morrigan Crow - Jessica Townsend
Buddy read book! I’ve actually finished this at time of posting but I’m trying to give an accurate view of my April reading!
The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet - Becky Chambers
I was supposed to read this for Arithmancy, but I didn’t get round to it... I’ve also finished this one early this month.
Words of Radiance - Brandon Sanderson
Another buddy read with @towerofleeza! We’re not the best at reading this at the same time (sorry dear!) but I think we’re both loving it, I certainly am!
Witches Abroad - Terry Pratchett
I couldn’t help myself I needed more of the Witches! I’ve also finished this one at time of posting this and enjoyed it.
#books of 2020#reading#bookblr#mini book review#Terry Pratchett#pterry#Discworld#witches#wyrd sisters#witches abroad#JRR Tolkien#tolkien#middle earth#lotr#lord of the rings#fellowship of the ring#sir gawain and the green knight#the last hero#Rincewind the Wizzard#rincewind and the wizards#chimamanda ngozi adichie#we should all be feminists#beren and luthien#guy gavriel kay#the children of earth and sky#shakespeare#william shakespeare#the merchant of venice#robin hobb#Realm of the Elderlings
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How Do I Test My iPhone Battery?
Has this ever been you…? you're distant from home; distant from any source of electricity, once you realize that your iPhone battery is dead. you only charged it this morning! How could it already be dead? If this has ever been you, you recognize a frustration that a lot of folks know only too well.
But never fear, there are a couple of ways in which you'll test the life and functionality of the battery inside your iPhone so that you never need to experience that helpless feeling again. Keep reading for several ways to understand the solution to the question, “How do I test my iPhone battery?”
Why would I want to check my iPhone’s battery?
If your phone is consistently dying on you or running slow and sluggishly, one among the culprits might be the health of your battery. you would possibly think that you simply can check the health of your battery by watching the small battery icon within the upper right corner of your phone, however, that's the status of your iPhone battery’s life.
Your iPhone battery’s health is some things completely different. Your iPhone’s battery life dictates how long your iPhone will stay charged on one charge, however, your iPhone’s battery health regulates how your battery life weakens over time. Constant use of your iPhone will cause your battery life to get shorter and shorter. That’s why your iPhone doesn’t hold its charge quite also because it did a year ago.
Unfortunately, you can't gain access to data about your iPhone battery’s health in your iOS settings, so to get this information, you'll get to undergo a few additional steps. Luckily there are several different approaches and methods to try to to it.
The Apple Support App
One of the only ways, by far, to see the status of your iPhone battery’s health is to download the Apple Support app. This free app is amazingly helpful, not just for testing the life and functionality of your iPhone battery, but also for several other questions that you simply may need about your apple devices.
Through this application, you gain access to articles and knowledge tailored specifically to your apple product which answers your questions directly. you furthermore may get the choice to call, chat or email with an Apple expert. All you've got to try to do is just download the Apple Support app from the App Store.
Once you've got the app downloaded, simply start a talk session with an Apple technician. Once connected, tell them the difficulty that you simply are having together with your battery which you'd like for its health to be checked. they're going to then walk you through the method of doing just that. Once complete, a report of the status of your battery is going to be sent to Apple and therefore the representative will inform you of the status of your iPhone battery’s health.
If for whatever reason, you are doing not want to download the app, you'll also contact Apple Support through their support website or tweet them. one of the downsides to the present method is the lack of data. The diagnostic assay will offer you a pass or fail, so if you would like to urge a touch more specific about your iPhone battery’s health, you'll get to accompany one among our different options.
Battery Life Doctor app
When it involves apps that will tell you about the status of your iPhone battery’s health, there is a veritable smorgasbord of options out there to settle on from. Some cost money, some just aren’t helpful, and a few are complicated to use. The Battery Life Doctor may be a refreshingly simple (and free) option for you to urge a reasonably thorough analysis of your battery health.
Just download the app from the App Store, and you'll gain access to an easy layout of most of the knowledge you'll ever need about your iPhone battery’s health. Battery Life Doctor tells you the general health of your battery, giving it a rating of “Perfect”, “Good”, “Bad”, etc. it'll also tell you the overall” Wear Level” of your iPhone battery.
This nifty percentage tells you ways much your battery has degraded over time. So, as an example, if your wear level is at 22%, then that means that the charge capacity of your iPhone’s battery is at 78%. this suggests, that your iPhone’s battery is merely capable of holding a touch over 3/4 of the charge that it did once you first got it.
The one downside to the present app is like many other free applications, it contains pesky advertisements. But if you'll affect those ads, which isn’t that difficult since this is often likely not an application that you simply will use fairly often, then this might be the answer for you.
Coconut Battery
Another option for testing the health of your iPhone’s battery is to use your MacBook. If you own a Mac computer, then you'll download a free and amazing little program called Coconut Battery. this tiny utility application gives you an easy yet thorough check out not only your iPhone’s battery health but also your MacBook’s battery also.
You can even use it to research the life and health of your iPad’s battery too! Once you've got downloaded and installed the program, simply plug your iPhone into your MacBook together with your lightning cable and click on on the “iOS Device” tab at the highest of the appliance.
This will allow you to ascertain helpful information about your iPhone Battery just like the current charge, the complete charge capacity (the maximum amount that your battery are often charged with), the cycle count (amount of times your battery was charged from 0% to 100%) and even the temperature inside your iPhone’s battery.
The only downside to the present option is that it's only available on Macs. If you own a Windows computer, then you'll not be ready to use it. But don’t fret, because there are options out there for you also.
iBackupBot
For people who don’t have a Mac, you'll download iBackupBot. This device is almost like coconut Battery. You download and install the appliance and plug your iPhone into your computer via the lighting cable. After it runs a diagnostic check on the status of your iPhone battery, it'll offer you access to a myriad of data including cycle count, full-charge capacity, and lots of others.
The downside to the present particular utility is that it's not free. It cost 35 dollars, however, you'll always bypass the charge by utilizing the “7-day free trial” option. It won’t offer you future access to the app, however, seven days is certainly long enough to see your iPhone battery’s health a few times and find out if something must be done.
Another downside to the present application is that the knowledge and layout aren’t as easy to know because of the other apps listed above. Regardless, iBackupBot remains a viable solution for getting an in-depth analysis of you the status of your iPhone’s battery health.
What if your battery health just isn’t very good?
So, after utilizing one among the applications above, you've got determined that your iPhone’s battery isn’t very healthy. What does one do about it?
Nothing lasts forever. All electronic devices have a lifetime. that's why your telephone providers offer upgrades. However, there are a few options available to you.
Get your iPhone battery replaced. If your battery is struggling you'll catch on replaced fairly painlessly. Apple will roll in the hay for you, in fact, and at a fraction of the value of a replacement phone. Just visit their Apple Batteries website and click on their battery services under the iPhone option and you'll be directed to the iPhone Services Answer Center. There you'll find all of the knowledge you would like about the way to get your iPhone battery replaced without even leaving your home. Just a fair warning, this may cost you within the neighborhood of $80 and can leave you without your phone for the higher a part of every week.If that doesn’t work for you there also are other options. If there's an apple store near you, you'll always visit them and have them fix it there. it'll cost an equivalent, minus the delivery fee. If there isn’t an apple store near you, don’t hand over hope.You can always find the closest Authorized Apple Service Center and obtain them to exchange your battery for you. If this is often the choice that you simply would like to pursue, you'll get to make a meeting . attend Apple’s Support Page, click “iPhone”, then “Battery, Power & Charging.” Once that's done you'll want to click “Battery replacement” and lastly “Bring certain repair.”After doing so, you'll be prompted to log in together with your Apple ID and provides a reason for the repair request. then, you'll be directed an inventory of the closest available locations and therefore the times that they're available to repair your iPhone.BONUS: If you're still rocking that iPhone 6, and still aren’t looking to upgrade, you'll get this service finished less expensive. Rick Broida has a superb article on the way to replace your iPhone 6 battery without breaking the bank.
Get a replacement iPhone.
I know, you've got been adjourning getting that new upgrade. you'll be asking yourself, “Is the newer iPhone 8 or X that far better than my iPhone 6?” the straightforward answer is yes, it is. However, whether or not you ought to finally spring for that upgrade depends on what you primarily use your phone for, and the way often you employ it.
For example, if you're an amateur photographer and use your phone to constantly take pictures, then you ought to consider going for the upgrade especially if your phone maybe a few years old. The newer iPhones accompany far better lenses, technology, and lots of more filters and settings that allow you to require stunning pictures.
Another reason to upgrade is that Apple has gotten significantly better at creating phones with much greater battery life. Remember, that's a term for a way long your battery will continue one charge. If you haven’t upgraded in quite a while, you'll be shocked at what proportion longer the newer phones will last before they're going to get to be charged.
Often, people that just use their phones for texting and therefore the occasional call can even go a few days without charging. Apple has even gone wireless with charging for the iPhone X, which suggests you'll charge on charge pads that conveniently located in many stores and even in some newer model cars.
Ultimately, only you'll decide on whether you would like to upgrade or not. Replacing your battery could also be cheaper, but you'll be missing out on tons of options and upgrades that are only available on a more modern iPhone.
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Insanity Revisited- Solo Biking Expedition On The World's Harshest Desert
It was October 2016 and Suhas was just back from a solo expedition covering Australia’s East to West Coast. We had immediately taken a liking to him and of course we kept in touch because we knew that this craziness was just beginning. As suspected, our biker dude found his inspiration in the Ayers rock. Yep, that red massive sandstone rock which quintessentially represents Australia. Through one of the most punishing deserts on Earth, this expedition is as much about courage as it is about perseverance and unwavering self-belief. There is also the whole hearted support of a loving family who believe in letting him loose! So here is Suhas at his candid best and we are so glad we got to catch up with him after all this time!
1. Last time when we got together, you were just back from a bike ride covering East to West coast of Australia. Tell us what kept you busy between the last and the present expedition?
Gosh, it doesn’t feel like it’s already been over 2 years since I did the East Coast to West Coast (SYDNEY – PERTH) solo motorcycle ride. Life was back to normalcy just a few days after returning from Perth and unbeknownst to me got stuck in the more routine activities – work, family and rinse, repeat. Still, managed to travel with family and friends & take them on a few road-trips in car and a couple of trips outside Australia again with family.
But more often than not we tend to forget that we need to venture out into the open which then helps you give a different perspective to life.
2. We are sure the “normalcy” did not suit you for long. Tell us why did you choose this stretch for your latest bike adventure?
Mid-last year while I was flying out of Australia, I looked down from my window and saw this glorious red rock glowing in the late afternoon light. That kind of planted the seed in my head of exploring Ayers Rock on my Harley. Slowly, I started working towards it as this time it was going to be over 6000 kms of the unforgiving Australian Desert and each and every detail needed to be laid out and meticulously planned.
I wanted to do a round trip starting from Sydney and back again to Sydney covering the legendary Australian Outback thereby seeing the World heritage listed Uluru and the Kata Tjuta National Park. I wanted to push my boundaries this time around and thereby making sure this trip to be more challenging than my previous one. And what better way to do it than being alone on the road with my bike in the middle of nowhere!
Life, according to me is a celebration – the more you celebrate the more there is in life to celebrate. I decided to “Celebrate Life” under the stars close to Australia’s most recognisable landmarks – ULURU.
3. We agree and glad that you chose the magnificent Uluru for your next adventure. What prompted you to take the solo ride again?
Hahaha, actually this is one of the most frequently asked questions by many people and honestly I feel I do not have one answer. It was purely based on my instinct and the fact that I was not entirely satisfied with my previous solo ride (to Perth) due to various factors as I thought I still could do so much more.
I have always enjoyed the mental focus and solitude while riding a motorcycle; you have no distractions and can really enjoy the moment and be in tune with nature with the pleasure of living in the Here and Now.
Riding a motorcycle enables the perfect relationship between rhythmic movement and internal stillness, drawing out the physical force like no other. Adding to the fact that exploring NT (Northern Territory) was on my cards too kind of triggered the notion of going on a more gruelling solo ride again.
4. Alright, we are assuming that these solo rides are going well with the wife. How was this trip different from your last?
I had named this trip “The Mile Muncher” from the day I started working on this as it was clear I had to put a lot of kms under my belt on a daily basis, around 500 kms on an average.
The biggest difference was in my previous ride I only had to ride from east to west, but this trip was covering all the 4 directions with me starting west from Sydney, going north from Port Augusta (SA), travelling east from Tennent Creek (NT) and south from Rockhampton (QLD) back to Sydney and the total distance of this trip was 8,312 kms (approx 5,165 miles)spanning 17 days.
I was told before I even embarked on this expedition by few seasoned travellers that some stretches were really dangerous owing to the cross winds that is actually a normal occurrence in the Central Australian Desert and along with the ever present and the iconic Road-Trains without which the roads are pretty much empty. I also had to be geared up for the frequent sand storms, thanks to the mining that happens all through the desert. Along the track were the usual mix of Kangaroos, Emus, Camels, livestock and birds of prey mainly the famous Wedge tailed eagle which has an approximate wing span of 9 metres when in flight.
5. Did the past experience help you this time? Did it make you more relaxed or confident?
Oh yes, absolutely! Every single ride that I’ve completed till date has taught me some important life lessons with the most important one being that not everything goes according to plan and how much ever you plan, things happen which are outside our control and comfort zone. But the only way to get out of these types of sticky situations is to fall back on those lessons that were forcibly taught. Like they say “Good judgement comes from experience and experience comes from bad judgement”.
I was silently confident and relatively less nervous compared to my previous expeditions especially my previous ride partly because I got to know more about me during that 2 week period and even though that ride was not an easy one (6,927 kms in 16 days) my gut feeling kept reminding me that it was a ride that actually did not test my mettle in ways that I had expected it to.
And once I got this thought etched in my mind, the only way to prove it to myself or get over this was to get on my Harley and go on another ride but to increase the stakes and simultaneously making it more difficult. “The more difficult the goal, the greater the achievement” this statement pretty much summarises my thought process behind this expedition.
6. We call it insane goal. Any problems that you faced with your bike in the course of your trip, and we are sure that even a great bike like yours would have issues considering the terrain and weather?
There was a major issue with my bike’s battery on the very 2nd day into my ride and unfortunately that day was one of the longest days of my ride covering over 600 kms and the starting point was Nyngan with the destination being Broken Hill.
It was around 6:20 AM on that fateful day and after saddling up, it came as a shock my bike wouldn’t start! Luckily I was carrying my trickle battery charger and thought putting my bike on charge for an hour or so would kick it back to life. After plugging the bike in, relaxed for a while, had a cuppa and at around 7:30 AM tried to start the bike and I was successful. Now happy, got saddled up again (mind you, saddling up takes around ~10-15 mins each time!) sat on the bike, turned on the music and tried starting the bike and Round 2; the battery died again!! I was devastated, all sorts of thoughts started clouding my mind – what’s going to happen now? Do I need to come back home? How am I going to complete over 8000 kms on a bike with a faulty battery?
I had to think straight now as this was a make or break situation that too on just the 2nd day. I called up the local mechanic, he came at around 8:20 AM, removed the battery, tried fixing it, finally put it back in and, the battery came back to life. Mechanic leaves, re-saddled and I tried to start the bike and guess what, Round 3 – the battery goes KAPUT! It was already 9 AM, I had lost 2.5 valuable hours on a 600 km day and frustrated to the core. I called the mechanic again, this time told to get a new battery and he came at around 9:45 AM, put the new battery on charge for 30 mins and finally the bike started!
I started from that place at around 10:30 AM, no drink breaks, no bathroom breaks, no photo breaks, just 1 lunch break after 400 kms when I refuelled the bike and reached the destination in a total time of 6.5 hours at around 4:30 PM (I was riding west, hence gained extra 30 mins due to the time difference).
So there is always something to cheer about in every situation as they teach us to reach new heights in whatever we are trying to accomplish!
7. How did you prepare for this expedition?
I did not try to do too many things different this time around, just kept it simple and like I’ve said previously, laying out all the particulars and planning it to the finest detail was the foundation on which the broader aspects of my ride were built.
Once the route was finalized, I started planning around the accommodations and also making sure there were enough places to see nearby after each day’s ride. More than the physical effort that it takes on these kinds of expeditions, I would say it is more psychological as the mind tends to always look for negatives and negative outcomes in every situation and this particular phase during my preparation was more challenging; staying positive through the days of build-up and focussing only on one goal which is to come back home safe and sound and bring back a life-time worth of memories was among the things I did before embarking on my ride.
8. What travel gear did you take along?
I have always been a light traveller and since I had made prior accommodations in hotels/roadhouses, I did not need to carry a tent and all its accompanying materials. I had installed custom panniers and it took most of the load including extra fuel, water, and battery trickle charger among others.
Coming to the riding gear, I pretty much followed what I used during my Perth ride which included a Kevlar trouser, a jumper and a leather jacket with elbow, shoulder and spine armour and lastly a back support belt ensuring I stay upright during the entire course of my trip. Also I was carrying 4 different pairs of gloves as the weather was fairly un-predictable ranging from a minimum of 3°c to a max 40°c across 4 states.
9. Which was the most memorable halt you made on the way
This is a very hard question for me to answer as every day’s ride and the following halt was memorable in its own way. But if I want to hand-pick just one, I would pick the 10th day of the ride where I had to do ~700 kms in a day starting from Tennant Creek (Northern Territory) and reach Mount Isa (Queensland). This was the longest day of this ride and I had to reach Mount Isa before 2 PM due to the fact that the sun’s rays would be most intense from 2 – 5 PM and post 5 PM it was almost impossible to ride a motorcycle owing to the sheer number of Kangaroos and cattle on the road.
So effectively I had early morning till 2 PM to finish 700 kms and that too had to ride east which meant I had to leave before sun-rise as in the desert you nearly get blind-folded while riding during sun-rise and this inadvertently impacts the day’s journey. I had to take the speed of earth’s rotation into account as I had to clock as many kilometres I could before sun-rise thereby ensuring I ride slowly and carefully with sun in my eyes.
I had planned on taking only two breaks on this day – first one after 220 kms and the second one 260 kms further from the first stop. The final stretch of 215 kms proved to be the most difficult of my ride (life). This was because I started losing focus & attention on the road during the last few kms and also my lower body slowly started becoming numb.
So when I reached the destination at 1:55 PM, I was euphoric and that inexplicable feeling will remain with me forever. I would rate it as my most memorable halt till date!
10. Any insane happening? We have seen those scary movies about highways..so indulge us.
Hahahaa, no such thing happened to me fortunately in this trip but I would like to share a couple of narrow misses that I had with animals on road which was more or less scary in some way.
First was whilst I was behind a road-train (>55-meter-long truck) cruising over 130 kmph trying to gauge its length for over-taking and all of a sudden the truck driver did a fishtail and I had to make a split second decision to swerve to my right as there was a massive dead kangaroo in the middle of the road. This episode was a good lesson for me to not only scan the horizon for animals which are on the side of the road but also the ones lying dead on the road.
Every morning I used to see birds feast on animals that got hit by vehicles travelling the previous night and one such instance happened that a few birds were on a feeding frenzy on a dead camel just on the side of the road and within that group was a Wedge-tailed eagle. These are the biggest birds of prey in the Australian desert. I normally slow down when there are birds around as I do not want to startle them, but this time I did not and the sound of the bike might have surprised the birds and the wedge-tail was within inches of banging on to my helmet. I had to veer to my left completely blinded with that 9 foot wing in my face to avoid hitting that bird.
There were a few more with Dingoes, bustards and emus but I reckon these two events were the most scary ones.
11.Now that you are a veteran travel adventurer, any tips for the budding enthusiast based on your past two expeditions?
Always keep an open mind for whatever situation you might get into and never lose focus of the goal no matter the adversity. Even if you lose a couple of battles in between, make sure the war is won at the end, because when you are on the road not everything goes according to plan and one needs to be very flexible and do whatever it takes to reach the next milestone.
Set yourself a target or an assignment each day and this keeps every single day interesting and after the completion of that task the sense of accomplishment will most certainly make you more connected and fulfilled. Through this process you will be more motivated for the subsequent days’ travel. I would say this is a very important mental exercise especially while travelling solo as one will definitely feel that lack of motivation due to the missing human connection.
Lastly, solo travel gives one the space to think and deal with stuff like self-doubt or any emotional baggage that we inadvertently tend to push to the back seat while trying to get on with our normal lives. I think it is a great catch-up time with your own self which would invariably result in getting clarity in your life.
12. Sounds a lot like Meditation. We come back to our classic- what’s next?
I am planning to travel with the family this time around and maybe take them outside Australia to anyone of the nearby countries like New-Zealand or Fiji Islands and maybe do some adventure sports there.
Nonetheless, travelling to me is like a drug and sometimes you find yourself in the middle of nowhere and sometimes, in the middle of nowhere you find yourself! “.
Suhas is the case of “Once Bitten, completely smitten”. We at Bohotraveller will wait for his next solo bike adventure and we are sure he will not disappoint yourself
About Suhas
Suhas is originally from Bengaluru, India. IHe moved to Australia in May 2015 and is currently working as a Technical Architect in Sydney.
Suhas is a quintessential biker dude and loves going on expeditions on his beloved Harley. His wild vagabond streak is only tempered by his meticulous planning and that has enabled him to go on adventures others can only dream of.
Hope you go inspired by Suhas’s extraordinary journey because we definitely are! Iif you are somebody who got as crazy on bike as Suhas, tell us DEFINITELY! Yours could be the next story we feature on Bohotraveller. After all it is about inspiring the best of travel!
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Merlin Writer Month: Faves Week
So, I’ve been really looking forward to this week and I have a ton of recommendations. Hope I provide you with something new and that you enjoy it! This are in no particular order, they are just works that I love in equal measure for different reasons and that I feel everyone should read because they are amazing. Also, this is going to be long, so sorry (but not really) about that, so you’ll find everything after the cut.
Also, if the fic has a “*” beside it, it means it is a restricted work on AO3, so you’ll need to be logged in to read it.
The thing is, I need to start this list by putting my absolute favorite at the very beggining. After it, as I wrote above, they’re all equally beloved to me, but this first one is just it for me for various reasons.
The Sidewalks of New York by emmbrancsxx0
Lenght: 161,191
Summary: New York City, 1925. Jazz, flappers, parties, and violence. In the midst of Prohibition, crime boss Arthur Pendragon and his gang, the Knights of the Round Table, arrive from London to open a speakeasy in Chelsea. Fearing they’ll lose their hold on Manhattan’s West Side, the Black Kings send Merlin Emrys to spy on the Knights. The two gangs quickly become rivals, and there is no place for love in war.
Comment: This fic is just absolutely brilliant in every sense. It picked my interest because of the time it is set in (which is my favorite time in history). I’ve always had a fascination with New York 1910-1930 and the whole Prohibition and gangs aspect of it. This is just so well balanced in every aspect that it offers: the romance, the betrayals, the rivalries between gangs, the characters and their personalitites and motivations are just fantastic. Arthur as a crime boss is just delightful as is Merlin as the charismatic bartender of the speakeasy (even tho he is so much more than that). It’s tense, it’s violent, it’s romantic and it has a happy ending, what more could I ask for? This author writes so freaking amazing and I love everything she’s written so if you like this one, you should totally check out all her other stuff because it’s just as amazing. Also, Arthur is known as the “Golden Knight” and for some reason that just made me love it even more. Arthur and Merlin are brilliant and she just gets the point across so well of how much they love and get each other and that’s one of the reaons why I love it so much, it’s just... they belong together and I love the journey (the hearthache and the love and everything in between) until they get to the point of actual happiness and understanding.
1. True North by Kroki_Refur *
Lenght: 6,752
Summary: Arthur is given a compass that is unable to tell north from south, but always points him to where Merlin is.
Comment: Oh, this fic. It follows Arthur and Melrin throughout the centuries, with Arthur always finding his way to Merlin. Soulmate-y of sorts and just lovely in the way this gets the point across that they belong together and that they’ll always find each other.
2. The Reincarnation Situation by orphan_account
Lenght: 16,591
Summary: My series finale gift to the Merlin fandom. Reincarnation. Merlin and Arthur only remember their past lives for one night a year - New Year's Eve. This is a quick tour (and it's not cracky like the title suggests, I swear).
Merlin still thinks that perhaps the dragon was right and one day Arthur will return as a king destined to save the people of Albion, but that day has not yet come. Arthur has not missed a single moment of life since Merlin laid him to rest in the waters of Avalon but the lives he has lived have not been for his people or for the greater good, they have been just for Merlin.
Comment: SO, SO, SO much love for this one. Again, anothe bitter-sweet read but so worth it, it tugs at your heart but comforts you in the knowledge that they’ll always have each other. Fantastic narrative and I love each of the reincarnations shown. It also has a lovely podfic. Soulmates is something I’ve always been a sucker for and this fic is amazing in how it portrays them througout time and the intensity of remembering for one night, who they really are.
3. Tulips Are Better; Dragons Are Best by sweetiejelly
Lenght: 58,627
Summary: Arthur loses a bet with Morgana and ends up on The Bachelor. As he identifies as bisexual, the pool of candidates is quite diverse and includes one Merlin Emrys, his ex. Arthur thinks it's fate. Merlin thinks it's bollocks. Thus begins (again) their courtship.
Comment: So delightful and fun and angsty. Arthur’s complete dismissal of anyone that isn’t Merlin is just so fun to read, how he wants to just send everyone home as soon as he realizes Merlin is there is just hilarious and shows how gone he is. A Modern AU with magic with boths sides wanting each other but with issues that need talking over and mending before they get together and Merlin’s magic being as in love with Arthur as he is, is just one of the things that make me love this as much as I do. Stupid and stubborn boys make my heart melt with their longing. The art is so lovely and adds so much to it. Read it, it’s fantastic.
4. You bring music to my silent world by Balthamos
Lenght: 49,818
Summary: Arthur and Merlin are thrown together as children when Merlin’s mother moves into the Pendragon Manor as the new housekeeper, bringing her deaf son Merlin with her. Arthur is a loud and obnoxious child, whereas Merlin is quiet but not as shy as everyone thinks. The two children become fast friends, but as they grow up together things begin to change, due to the pressure of wanting to be normal, and the growing lack of communication between the pair. Growing up is never easy and the graceful friendship they had as children gets lost as they reach their teenage years, but through their difficulties they develop a deeper, stronger relationship, one far more permanent.
Comment: I love, love, love, love this one. Like anything by this author is amazing, so you should totally check them out if you haven’t, but this one, gosh, it’s so lovely it hurts.
5. Where the Hurt Is by undersomestairs
Lenght: 12,349
Summary: For this Kink Me! Merlin prompt: They were childhood/teenage sweethearts but Arthur's family moved away (because Uther detested Merlin but Arthur doesn't know this) and they promise to write. After Uther's death Arthur finds all the letters from Merlin he never received. All the time he thought Merlin had forgotten him. Arthur seeks him out.
Comment: Oh my god, this one made me cry. It takes your heart and stomps on it and then mends is back but not before it kind of destroys you. How you see Merlin losing hope, Arthur’s feelings after he realized Merlin didn’t forget him but that it was Uther and then his sorrow over what he thinks lost. Read it, it’s just beautiful.
6. License to Thrill by lady_ragnell
Lenght: 14,174
Summary: Merlin's employees bet him the recipe for the most addictive cocoa in the world that he can't find out what the hot blond who comes into his chocolate shop does for a living within the month. He ends up getting far more than he bargained for.
Comment: Arthur as James Bond (kind of) and Merlin as the chocolatier who steals his heart via his sweet tooth and shameless flirting from Arthur’s part because Merlin is lovely. So incredibly good and it has a podfic by wildwildwoods which is also incredibly lovely. Read/listen to it, you’lll feel better after.
7. Remember, Remember by winterstorrm
Lenght: 16,480
Summary: Prince Arthur gives up the person he loves to do his duty, but Merlin's impossible to forget.
Comment: So, anything by this author is amazing (please, check out all of their other stories because they’re fantastic), but this one just breaks my heart. Arthur’s longing and regret is so palpable through every word. His love for Merlin is just so big and I always love to read something where I get to see how much Arthur feels for Merlin, how much Merlin means to him, how much he loves and needs Merlin.
8. Mr. & Mr. Smith Series by Detochkina *
Lenght: 101,837
Summary: Merlin Emrys is used to living life on the go. As an agent for the Agency of Magic, Merlin’s days are consumed by travel, exotic locations, and battling a faceless rival -- an officer from the competing Bureau of Corrections, who is always hot on his heels and ready to one-up him. When Merlin is sent on a mission to Las Vegas to secure a powerful artifact, he allows himself one night off. Just one, because he bloody deserves it. Drinks and foreplay lead to a bet with a hot financial advisor he just met. Merlin ends up as a newlywed. Oops.
Comment: This series has a special place in my heart because apart from being so bloody good it made my head spin and has me (still because it’s a WIP) on the edge of my seat, I was actually in Vegas and stayed in the hotel in which Arthur and Merlin are in the first two installments. Being able to read while on the locations described in it, made me feel an even bigger connection with the world. This is an absolutely addicting read that before you know it you’ll have read the 5 available works and will be eagerly awaiting the next.
9. So Are They All, All Honourable Men by seperis
Lenght: 18,199
Summary: Considering Arthur's future wife will be chosen less for compatibility than for her political value, Merlin may be the only marriage he'll have that won't end in bloodshed or a great deal of fortifying wine.
Comment: Lovely, so very, very, lovely. SO many great lines and the old married couple dynamic and them being so in love is just brilliant. Canon Era, Magic Reveal and lots of love and pinining and getting together. Please do yourself a favor and read it if you haven’t, and if you have, do it again because it’s just amazing. There are moments here in which their love and worry is so palpable it hurts, I love it so much.
10. Oscilliate Wildly by suntipped
Lenght: 11,246
Summary: Fucking Arthur, he thinks, pushing his head against the seat. It’s not so much that he’s breaking promises left and right by bringing up that thing between them in public again; it's just his ever-irritating sense of entitlement. It’s Arthur being a prick and thinking he can go around doing anything he wants sometimes, because obviously, obviously the entire world exists only to amuse him.
Comment: This is just one of my all time favorite fics ever. Oblivious, pining boys in love are my favorites. Also, pet-names. A lovely Modern AU with stupid boys who won’t talk to each other. I read this at least 3 times a year, yes, I love it that much.
11. These Feathered Breaths (a Handfasting remix) by Emjayelle
Lenght: 3,580
Summary: There was at least a dozen reasons why Arthur, Prince of Wales, couldn't marry Merlin, bird-whisperer, but it didn't stop him from thinking it was the best idea in the world.
Comment: This is one of the most romantic, heart-wrenching and loved filled reads I’ve ever encountered. It’s so insanely beautiful and it tugs on my heartstrings because of the absolute love, devotion and longing that fills each word. The knights as little robins is one of the most adorable concepts ever and if there’s something I love is seeing Arthur not being able to cope with how much he loves Merlin and this conveys it in such a way that it puts fairytales to shame.
12. We Pull These Jobs To Make A Little Money (No One Gets Hurt If They Don’t Act Funny) by leashy_babes
Lenght: 48,918
Summary: Arthur and his friends have been making their money this way for years. It's all they know and they're good enough to get away with it. Merlin grudgingly works in a bank, wishing his days away. Their worlds collide and everything changes.AKA: Bank robbers of the round table.
Comment: Arthur is so smitten with Merlin he almost forgets what he actually was there to do. If you haven’t noticied, besotted!Arthur is one of my most favorite things ever and this nails it. I love the concept and the development is fantastic, please read it if you haven’t it’s such an entertaining and lovely read and I love it a lot.
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When You Want Complete Data On Debt Consolidation, Look At This
Resolving the situation of overwhelming exceptional financial debt can occasionally appear like an impossibility. Nevertheless, as long as you spend some time to teach on your own about consolidating debts options and principles, there really is believe. Continue reading to determine things to watch out for and what to do to guarantee a promising monetary down the road.
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Easy photo organizing software and organize photos
With their brand new similar photo cleaner everyone could want to search images kept in computer hardware to discover ones at it that are actually held upon your other hard disk.
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