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popculturebuffet · 1 year

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BCN Retrospective: Year Two: Station Expansion (Patreon Review for Emma Fici

Hello all you cool cats! We're back on the air and now MONTHLY as Emma graciously agreed to make this her patreon review.

For those just joining us Breaking Cat News is a comic strip by georgia dunn that hit it's 10th anniversary just 11 days ago! So to commemerate this strip i'm chroncling all 9 years of it's existance, with Emma agreeing to sponsor. You can find part 1 HERE covering the first year. In short it's a strip covering three kitties and various aquantinces as they cover all the news that's relevant to cats. It's well done.

Year Two is where the strip starts to hit it's stride. Year one wasn't bad by any stretch. It had plenty of all time classics, including my personl faviorit I can't help but notice you only have two arms.

But while Year One has the strip's magic lightning in a bottle premise of cats reporting on things that happen from a cat's perspective, not quite getting how humans work and often explaning some of the weird things the cats in Georgia's life, the strip's other major strength is it's characters. With Year One it took a bit for the big three to really FEEL like themselves, while from the start of Year Two it's clear she has a solid idea of who these guys are in fiction, links it well to their real life selves, and thus the comedy only gets richer. While the premise is solid, the strip wouldn't be as good as it was if our main trio, later expanded to six, weren't so great and bounced off of each other, their humans and their supporting cast so well. Said supporting cast also gets expanded from two cats the guys hadn't met yet and one outdoor cat whose now their best friend: this year formally introduces Tabitha and Figaro and adds Sophie, Burt, Baba Mouse and the Robber Mice to the mix, all of which have been key fixtures in the strip since, while also adding the Girl on the human side. The humans also start to feel slightly more fleshed out, paticuarllyt he man whose exasperation with his stupid cat children coming more into view. It's what any second act of a work should be: somethign that only gets better and only enriches what was there. So let's dive into it under the cut?

Year two starts with a lot of buisness as usual. We get followup on Tommy getting a mic at the end of his christmas adventure, with him now being field reporter.. and his woman reacting approriately int he face of her pet having gottten lost

But the story really picks up shortly in with our first major story arc

Laudrevous

We begin with Lupin having found the laundry chute and with this year his dynamic with Elvis, one of the best parts of the strip is settled. Lupin and Elvis bigger like an oldest brother and youngest brother would, with puck as the calm peacekeeping middle child: Elvis acts stern, disgruntled and snarky with his jabs while Lupin tries to simply needle his brother with various verbal jabs at his vulnerabilities to get a rize out of Elvis, which works EVERY TIME.

Naturally Lupin ends up down the Chute and while Elvis is just as naturally annoyed, Puck condones with his exploration , as he finds his way to the laundry room for the first time nad explores it… and while he enjoys the quiet ironically enough.. he's not as alone as he thinks.

Of course this being Lupin it takes some brotherly shouting to realize he's not alone

He panics and we find out how Lupin commuincates with the others: he can read whiskers, a nice cat take on lipreading, and only can't understand Fig because he's not speaking english, but a quick nose sniff, the first of many in this strip, communicates that this guy is alright.

Lupin soon becomes more concerned iwth capering, and gets reported on by some non family cats for a change, with us getting subtitles for the first time. In the redo of the storyline we get this the whole time for reasons we'll get to in a moment, but I decided to save looking at the now translated dialouge for when I do those versions. For now it's clear the "cat of adventure" is okay and isn't stealing the laundry room. Naturally exactly who you expect takes it exactly as you'd expect and does exactly what you'd expect

It's a nice early show that while Lupin may bug the hell out of elvis on a daily basis… he loves his little brother and would be the first to kill for him shoudl the need arise. It really hasn't here but Elvis reacted to the kindest cat in the world with

Thankfully this time.. the kind new kitty has some backup to speed this up a bit

Tab instantly sets herself up as Lupin's rival: just as fierce.. but her temper's on far less of a hair trigger and only really gets pissed off when confronted and only threatens to tear Elvis' world asunder the second he harms her best friend. It's a shame her role kinda gets reduced as she goes, with other cats we'll meet taking up the roll of keeping Elvis in check. It's not a bad thing, it's just glear. Fig meanwhile… is just kinda there. I love his design and he's perfectly friendly but even when we can understand what he's saying he dosen't relaly stand out nearly as much as the other cats or his roomates and it's telling in most storylines even when he IS present it's Tabitha doing most of the talking. He's really either Lupin's friend or Tabitha's brother and roomate and dosen't get much beyond that.

Anyways long story short the guys escape the laundry room before the humans find them and our heroes now have a place to meet the neighbors.

Back in the apartment things have seemingly calmed with Elvis accepting the toddler.. and you allk now what that means

After the cats deal with everyone being gone, Lupin in paticular doing so with his usual grace , ellegance and dignity.....

Our heroes adjust to their new sibling/surrogate child. And while Elvis was a jealous older sibling about the boy.. when it comes to the girl?

It's sweet and really adds to Elvis: while he's.. elvis about being her protector as you'd expect, just check that last panel, it shows he has a parental side and where as he just kinda coped with the boy he actively encourages the girl like she was his own, as we'll see when he gets a kitty child next time.

We also get lupin mastering naked invisibility, and magic wind boxes, and the retun of the menace of the july bug. Again image limits mean I have to say all this but trust me it's awesome. What I did make sure I had space for was one of the sweetest moments in the strip

So after a lot of great strips, it's finally time for another arc. I'm not complaning mind:I like the strip breaking up storylines with various shenanigans of the cats and it's what makes the strip work, giving things time to breath before heavy serilzation kicks in. I mean these days just about everything is a storyline, but some are just weird stuff the cats are doing and some add more to the world or progress things. If I gloss over the strips inbetween and when we get to the uversal strips, sundays i'ts not out of lack of care btu more because I only have so much space because Tumblr is a butt. So with that we've reached

The AV Cat

This arc opens with a fantastic twist on the "ther'es a cat in the backyard" gag…

(burt) Naturally Elvis takes this with all the dignity and grace we know him for while Tommy gets to know our mysterious knew stranger, finding out his name is Burt and he's a laidback, kind barn cat. He also explains how he's here and how we haven't seen him before.

Burt's handsomeness to the other cats will be another runner, particularly with Pucky but everyone gets in on it. Burt being a casual sort invites Tommy along on his rounds as he heads to work. Burt takes tommy to his barn, as Burt is a barn cat. For those who've never seen one, Barn cats live in barns, mostly keeping out vermin. I"ve seena bout one and was sad it didn't want me to pet it. It's a nice way to shake it up as most other cats we see live in apartments and eventually most of the domestic ones we see live in the big pink house with only burt and someone we'll meet next time as the exceptions. Burt isn't alone there either. Not only do most of the barn animals flirt with him.. but he's not the only cat here

Baba is based on an elderly cat Georgia used to die who was long dead before the strip started and thus reinvented here as a longtime barn cat whose near feral, has a ton of children, and as you can tell takes not one iota of shit from anyone, not even Burt who as we'll learn later but i'm just gonna go ahead and reveal now, is her grandson. The Robber Mice you see there will, like Baba, be important later, but for now this is just setting them up for said later. THe focus is still on burt as TOmmy asks the question i'm sure we all had.

Naturally our heroes curosity is peaked.. and Elvis being concerned about Tommy (though naturally trying to brush it off) asks if there's a way Burt can link their home broadcasts so they can check in on him normally. Burt is fine with that as long as they have a place to meet.. so naturally our heroes settle on the laundry room and convince las gatos to buy in, and the next strip we se them test the new connections out.. and see that Tommy has a roomate.

While Las Gatos agree to mostly use it just for emergencies, the broadcasts are now linked and thus our heroes can check in with tommy anytime.. and as a result we find out he has a roomate.

We'll learn more about her later but with that the cast is mostly complete. There's more to come of course, but it was a trip to realize most of the core characters were introduced within the first two years, with two major additions next year to round it out until Georgia got some more real life cats and thus needed to expand to captalize on their real life shenanigans.

Seen a Ghost

Unlike with the last arc it's not as much of a lull between stories as we get our next one with a pretty important addition to the lore. Breaking Cat News mostly sticks to reality.. granted it's a reality where all the cats are reporters and have access to clothes, phones and whatever else they need, but their still bound by actual cat diets and the world is basically just "our world but with talking reporter cats"… but this arc introduces the one fantastical aspect beyond that….

Yup there's a ghost in his home, and it's better than being alone as she's a friendly reporter cat, though for radio as we'll find out much later, named Tillie. Ghosts are real in this setting, and will show up sporadically. It's something I had to adjust to pretty quick as when reading the daily strips without the context of the archive, as I hadn't caught up yet, I was shocked to find this setting had ghosts , let alone fairly detailed ghost lore. I"m okay with it as A) again we have to accept the cats being more sapient and wearing people clothes already so why not and B) it's a touching way to include pasts cats Georgia has had or known.

Thankfully though Puck is not the ONLY one to see the ghost as Tabitha does too, alerting her owner. Both The Woman and the Ceiling Woman agree ther'es a ghos tin their house and decide to do the stupid horror movie move of trying to contact it.. though fine in this case as it's an adorable sitcom about cats, and this ghost is one we know is harmless. She talks about Freddie, the owner of the house and the "new addition" something that will be vastly important MUCCCHHH later. For now our heroines try to summon the dead, while our heroes try to figure out who the heck this cat or Freddie is,

And Tommy interviews a possible eye witness

… and despite not seenig it… the ladies conjur up ANOTHER spirit

Our heroes are spooked naturally, though the man does find a valuable clue.. a cat skull, which is distressing…. and of course leaves Pucky with a less than inveable task

We soon find out just who the cat and her woman are as we get our major dollop of backstory for the house and the vauge new england town it resides in, all stuff Gerogia added: Turns out the woman was Freddie Quinn, who founded the Quinn Animal shelter that used to be housed in the Big Pink House and would go on to own a good chunk of the town owning Quinn Animal Shelter (which is now housed elsewhere and is where Tommy's woman works) and Quinn Farms (Where burt and baba live). Despite being a rich lady she was a kind one who used her wealth wisely and loved cats.. and as you can guess founded the shelter because she lost her own cat as a child, living in the same houes and making it into the intial site of the rescue because of that. It's a truly moving, well done story.

The sendoff is also truly moving as they bury the skull next to freddie.. which is technically illegal but well worth the possible fines, and as everyone says goodbye to the mow mow… two souls finally reunite and Elvis finallys ees ghosts

We also get him apologizing earlier to Puck, admitting he was probably right .. and getting that conformation here. It's a touching story that both sets up the house ghosts, yes there will be more, and the quinn backstory. With that we breifly move on to some othe rbuisness.

We start by finding out what Sophie's deal is.

Also if you noticed her greyed out eye, that's because, like her real life counterpart, Sophie's blind in one eye. It took a while for me to tell if it was that or just two diffrent colors, but looking at her real life counterpart you can find on tommy's old facebook (which she inherited), you can tell.

And with that and a brief comment on the cucumber phenomenon that certainly was a thing, we enter our final arc of the year with

Pucky's Christmas Tips

Where Puck gives out fun christmas tips for the whole family and nothing remotely bad happens. Goodnight and

Oh yeah… sorry hang on

All I Want For Christmas is Revenge

There we go. So those mice I mentioned now take center stage. It's also why I emphasized buzzy mouse: while their around a lot , this arc has them as the centerpiece. As for who the robber mice are, Burt helpfully fills our heroes in, a nice way to tie in his barn cat experince that sadly just dosen't get used very often. (The robber mice)

I'm also putting this up because keeping track of these gals can be confusing: i've BARELY just started keeping them straight. It probably dosen't helped I binged the series, and thus four characters who only ocasionally speak each others names all wearing the same outfit and in most frames appearing fairly small despite their distinct coats… is a lot for my autistic ass to process. But i'm trying to drill it in to make this easier on myself.

Turns out the mice have sent a randsome note AND have been stealing the main family's stuff for a while now. And sadly.. the stress of this combined with the sheer fact four strangers did this to him breaks poor pucky. It won't be the last time he snaps , if the only time literally, but it's notable as one of the few times it's not played for laughs.. entirely

While all the mice play a roll here, the story is really centered around the sisters of the two, Alice and Agnes. Which doe shep keeping them straight as the other tow, violet and natasha, get a full origin story later. Agnes, like puck is the heart of her merry band and wants her sister to please stop this before it gets worse. Alice is determined though and while she denis it Agnes rightly pegs it's having nothing for christmas and wanting to take what she wants and not returns what she gets… if only because what they get is nothing. Violet and Natasha…

Our heroes plot, with Lupin rightly pointing out they get MAYBE two cheese cubes in a week if their lucky, so asking for a cheese wheel was a bit much to begin with, btu they simply use a hollowed out tin to trick them. The fight however dosen't go great: most of the robber mice scatter while Alice shows she's her group's elvis by jabbing the crap out of him with a needle. Thankfullyt his is a family strip so it's just a little ouchy. They do however capture poor little Agnes, but in a show of Puck's character.. he clearly feels terrible about it and Agnes, who like him is the heart of her group, admits this won't FIX things: her sister and sisters from another misters will just attack. Burt then gives his new buddy some very sage advice

PUck goes to free agnes.. only to get attacked by her sisters, with the station held hostage. Thankfully this dosen't last long as while Tommy can't help, and is really only here to set up a heartwarming scene later… Agnes is gone, and Buzzy Mouse is delivered to the statoin. The mice return home and find agnes happily watching Our IX LIves, the strip's in universe cat soap opera. More on that next time…. and she also has a guest.

This is the arc that really defines Baba: in her previous cameo she was just sorta old, grumpy and somehow still adorable, but here we see her role as the wise peacekeeper of the area. She got both sides were just misguided and rightfully guessed things wouldn't desclate unless someone stepped in. Had she not things likely only would've gotten worse. By simply giving each side their friend back, she stopped it. IT shows while she's crotchety.. she prefers peace and diplomacy over biting and hissing. I mean with her fellow animals, with humans it's bite o clock bitches.

She also outlines the flaw in Alice's plan: christmas spirit isn't given by taking and Alice realizes Agnes only got taken in the first place because she was there. Baba encourages the mice to give instead of recive.. and that forgivness dosen't come in the bxo and if you'll excuse me i'm cryin a bit because this is geninely touching.. especially since burt somehow got a camera in the mice's lair, or bugged his grandma. Either one wouldn't suprise me.

So christmas morning comes with all their lost things returned, and the cats in turn gifting the mice the woman's phone to give them a bigger tv and some cheese crackers, while Elvis gifts Natasha a sewing kit, natasha him bandages nad for Lupin a cats cradle. It's a war mmoment capped off with one final bit of swetteness from the mice and cats, now friends

And to take us out we get one final bit of cheer with thomas and sophie, and after sophie has spent the whole time treating Tommy as announace instate d of her brother, roomate and friend.. we get this truly heart melting moment

WIth that christmas is done, and with a few more strips, year 2 is too. As I said it's a year of expansion, with most of the space being dedicated to storylines, and not in a bad way: the four story arcs here really help flesh out the world, allow us to view Tommy's apartment and thus meet sophie. With our main cast mostly solid, with any further changes mostly coming from evolving as time goes on as most great comic strip characters do, Georgia felt free to expand and said expansion , while not as rapid, will continue next time as our station gets an intern. Until then thanks for reading.

#cats #breaking cat news #georgia dunn #comics #comic strips #elvis #lupin #puck #sophie #tommy #sir figaro newton #tabitha #burt the av cat #baba mouse #the robber mice

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ferrarobrothershockey · 7 months

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certifiedskywalker · 3 years

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What Could’ve Been - Sam Wilson

With the rift carved between Tony and Steve, sides were taken. You found yourself on Cap’s team of criminals, running away from confinement and towards trouble. Running led you all to Europe, specifically the English countryside, for a brief reprieve. During this break, you and Sam find yourselves at an ‘open house’, thinking about a future that isn’t yet in reach.

AN: I need to stop writing when I’m hungry…I always mention food…

Careful, you two. Steve’s warning rang through your head as you walked in step with Sam. You shook your head and scoffed, your breath forming a small cloud. Apparently, your sound of dismay was enough to get Sam’s attention.

“What?”

“Who does he think we are? Twelve year-olds? He said it like he can’t trust us. Us!”

“He really got under your skin this time, huh?” You glanced over at Sam as he spoke and saw the grin spread along his lips. The kind of grin that caused crinkles to form in the corners of his eyes. The kind of grin you saw all too rarely.

“He didn’t get under yours?” You asked incredulously, throwing your hands up in slight defeat. “It’s like he thinks we’ll cause trouble and get caught.”

“Well, there was that time in Peru.”

You pointed a finger at Sam and shook your head. “That was different.”

“You went back for a sandwich! I mean, it was good, but not worth dying over.”

“I beg to differ,” you protested, “I went to bed full and satisfied that night. If I remember correctly, you were complaining about being hungry.”

“I don’t complain.” A laugh rippled up your throat at Sam’s sternness. “I don’t.”

“Sure,” you sighed after you caught your breath, “and Steve doesn’t like when we call him Captain either.”

“All I’m saying is that, out of all of us, you seem to cause the most chaos.”

“I cause chaos?! We literally went to j-”

As you spoke, Sam’s arm shot out in front of you. The touch stopped you mid-stride, but that was not what knocked the air from your lungs. It was the feeling of his hand on your waist, how his large palm brushed against your side. His forearm pressed against your abdomen, holding you still and in a warmth that pushed the English chill around you to the side. It was only when a car roared past you both that you found a foothold back in reality.

“There you go, proving my point,” Sam said, meeting your eyes. When he noted your slightly slack jaw and wide eyes, Sam’s demeanor shifted. He moved to stand in front of you, hands lightly gripping your arms. “Are you hurt?”

“I, no. I’m...sorry.”

A moment of quiet passed between you. Your gazes remained fixed on the others, trying to read past each other’s furrowed brows and confusion. After the white-noise of the quiet township faded back into focus, a small grin began to play on Sam’s lips. For a winding second, you wondered if he was going to kiss you; a strange, fleeting thought that left your mind as soon as he opened his mouth to speak.

“Your life flash before your eyes? You think of that sandwich?”

At his teasing questions, the haze that Sam’s touch casted lifted like the dark clouds that trailed Summer storms. Any intrusive thought fled along with the feeling and you were left with your senses returned. Gently, you pushed at Sam’s shoulders and forced him to step back. He did easily with his eyes still fixed on you.

Despite the fact there were hardly any people in the little village, you hurried across the street, desperate to get out of sight. Sam followed after you, unrelenting in his teasing.

“Aw, c’mon. You did, didn’t you?”

Not wanting to show how much he was getting to you, you kept walking as you replied. “So, maybe I did. Better than dwelling on an empty stomach.”

“Well, maybe you could watch where you walk. A trip to the ER isn’t really keeping a low profile.” You couldn’t help but glance over your shoulder at him as, while there remained a tilt in his mocking tone, there was something cold in his words. When your eyes landed on him, you saw that Sam was no longer grinning.

“You worried about me?” You meant to play into his teasing, get him to smile again, but Sam remained unmoved. You opened your mouth to ask again, but Sam was ready to reply.

“Just don’t want Cap to tell you ‘I told you so’. I’ll never hear the end of that.”

“Especially not if we’re cell neighbors,” you agreed, “again.”

At the mention of your past incarceration, Sam grew cold again. The Raft had been rough, more chilling than the loneliest nights in the quinjet. Even walking, you could see that Sam was revisiting his time there, just as you did in your darkest moments. His eyes were downcast on the sidewalk, until you took his arm.

His dark eyes lifted and met your gaze. For the first time since The Raft, you saw how truly tired Sam looked. You gave him a half smile, as it was all you could muster. Sam returned the expression as you moved to link your arm in his. Joined at the elbow, you began to lead him down the sidewalk, eyeing the facades of the shoppes as you went.

“Let’s find something to eat.”

“Another sandwich adventure?” Sam asked, a smile in his voice. Sure enough, when you glanced at him, you saw his lips were slightly more upturned.

“Maybe. What are you hungry for?”

“Nothing overwhelmingly English. No crumpets,” he shook his head, “things look like spongey hockey pucks.”

You stifled a laugh as you led him past what looked like a yarn shop. Threads of all colors mingled in spools and bundles in the windows. An older gentleman worked at the counter, glasses perched on the curve of his nose. He seemed to sense you and Sam as you strode past the store because, in a flash, he looked up.

Immediately, you fixed your gaze forward and tensed.

“What is it?” Sam asked, his voice low.

“Old guy, the shop we just walked by. I think we’re clear though.”

“You think? I need better than you think, Y/N/N.”

At the sound of Sam’s nickname for you, you relaxed in your stride. Taking advantage of the momentary ease, you glanced over your shoulder. You swore you saw someone poke their head outside of a doorway. Quickly, you turned your gaze forward again.

“Just keep moving.” Sam scoffed at your tone, but his arm tightened around yours.

“No shit, keep moving,” he said softly, only for your ears. “Move right back to the jet. We can loop back around, turn right up the road, and-”

“Excuse me!” You and Sam kept moving. “Excuse me! You two!”

You stopped in your tracks and, despite his extra step forwards, so did Sam. He grumbled something about running, but you knocked your shoulder against his to quiet him. Together, you turned around to find a plump, short woman with bright orange hair waving in your direction with one hand while the other held out a platter of biscuits.

You and Sam glanced at each other as she approached. He raised his brows at you, sending a silent message. Be ready for take off. You nodded, lifting your free hand to grip his arm in case he broke off in a sprint. Sam was faster than you, wings or no wings. He wouldn't leave you behind.

“Are you the Bridgers? The American couple that wanted to see the building?” The woman grinned at you and Sam, at your cocked heads and quirked brows. “I noticed you looking at the different shoppes. It’s a hidden gem, 784 Branbury, but it’s a good one!”

“Oh, I think that you-” Sam began, but you squeezed his bicep tight to stop him. He glanced at you, eyes squinted in question; but your gaze flickered between the smiling woman’s face and the plate of cookies she held out to you.

“Yes, we are the Bridgers. Everything here is so...quaint. We just got a little awe-struck and, well, lost.” You looked over at Sam who, still confused, eyed you warily.

“We did?”

“We did,” you confirmed, squeezing his arm again.

“You did,” the woman echoed. “Well, that’s quite alright. Here, follow me and you can help yourselves to these once we get inside. It’s really quite a nice place, all the furnishings and…”

The realtor rattled off on all the amenities of the building, but you were too busy dragging Sam in after her to truly hear what she was saying. He held back, legs locked in place and your arm slipped from his. The woman did not notice as you and Sam fell behind. Instead she wandered inside the building, still chattering away.

“What are you doing?” He asked, hands on his hips. You couldn’t help as you smiled at the sight.

“Causing chaos,” you replied as you reached for his arm once more. “And getting a cookie. Let’s go, Mr. Bridgers.”

Much to your surprise, Sam acquiesced. With ease, you led him inside the quaint storefront that, according to Ms. Verner, the cookie-holding realtor, had recently been remodeled in the cottage style. Exposed wood and wicker lined aspects of the decor, the darkest oak wonderfully offset by the white accents of the window sills and curtains. It all smelled faintly of varnish that was nearly masked by the scent of baked goods and treats that you and Sam immediately sought out. With her platter nearly cleared, and your stomachs sated, Ms. Verner busied herself by feeding her own curiosity.

“We don’t get many Americans about here. Why the interest in this property, if you don’t mind me asking such a thing?”

Searing panic rushed through your veins. You quickly peeled your eyes from the kitchenette that rested in a pristine, untouched state across from where you stood in the living room. Sam, with a half-eaten cookie in hand, glanced at you, read your wide eyes and slightly parted lips. Your ability to bullshit was misfiring. He needed to pick up the slack.

“Vacationing,” Sam replied tersely, “we come across the pond a lot. Hotels get….expensive, so this place might be cheaper in the long run, if we keep coming back to the UK. We haven’t...done the math yet.”

Ms. Verner nodded quickly in agreement. “Oh, yes! I see! Perhaps home owning will keep you ‘coming back’, as you said. I do believe that the monthly mor-”

Just as the redheaded realtor was about to dive off the edge into another tangent, a shrill beeping filled the space. Ms. Verner reached towards her pantsuit pocket and fumbled for her phone. You took advantage of the distraction to mouth a ‘thank you’ to Sam. In return, he gave you the softest smile you had ever seen. The sight sent a fluttering to your stomach.

“Hello there, Dorothy Verner speaking. I see, the property on 5th. One moment.” Ms. Verner pulled herself from her phone call and glanced apologetically between you and Sam. “Realtor duty calls, you know. Please, take a look upstairs. I’ll be right outside the door.”

Phone pressed to her ear, Ms. Verner stride out of the front door, leaving you both to the comfortable warmth of 784 Branbury. When the door shut with a secure click behind her, you glanced over at Sam. He met your gaze and gestured to the space around you with the hand that held his leftover cookie.

“We should go.”

“Why? We can't entertain the reality of the Bridgers?” You crossed your arms over your chest and gave him a nod. “You seem to be enjoying the perks.”

Sam frowned before he tossed his half-eaten biscuit in the trash bin tucked by the sofa. The quiet stretched on, heavy between you. When he finally made a sound, it was a gentle rustling as he moved. It felt as if you were back in the cold confines of The Raft.

You half expected to see Sam pace as he did before. He would rub at his bearded chin, caught deep in thought as you had watched his shadow on the metal floor. It was all you could see of him: the only comfort you found in your cell was knowing he was in his own, knowing that he shared a wall with you despite it all. Though, now, it was as if he were a ghost.

“Sam, what is it?”

He lifted his eyes to yours and, in their darkness, you saw the depth of his sadness. “It’s not our life, our lives.”

“You’re right,” you admitted, “we’re strangers, not the Bridgers.”

Slowly, you took a few steps towards him. As you drew near, Sam’s eyes traced over your face. You gave him a soft smile in the hopes of raising his spirits. He seemed to respond, his lips quirking upwards ever so faintly. Encouraged by the sight, you held your hand out to him.

“But we can pretend for a little while. Pretend like we’re not wanted criminals, right?”

He raised a dark brow at you. “As long as we’re careful.”

“Yes, fine, Captain,” you agreed, rolling your eyes. “Now, let’s see the upstairs. Shall we?”

“We gotta do our due diligence,” Sam replied, playing along with your little make believe. He took your extended hand, completely enveloping your palm and fingers with his. You took an unsteady breath and you nodded. Before you could totally recover, spit out some witty retort, Sam was guiding you up to the second level of 784 Branbury.

Recently redone, the wooden stairs hardly creaked as you and Sam ascended. If they did, you were too lost in the feeling of Sam’s skin on yours to note it. However, it was impossible to miss the rumbling laugh that rose up from Sam’s chest.

“These guys owned the place? Uppity white people.”

“Uppity?” You paused on the stairs, halting Sam along with you. He gestured to the family portraits that lined the walls. A nauseatingly nuclear family clad in matching outfits lingered in the frames. Wide smiles were plastered on their faces.

“They're wearing v-neck sweaters! They probably did the pinky thing.” As he elaborated, Sam, with his free hand, mimicked the motions of sipping a cup of tea with his pinky extended out in the air. “The pinky thing.”

“So, they had manners? They were civilized?”

“Sure,” Sam sighed, his hand slipping from yours as he continued to climb up the stairs. “Had all the privilege too.”

You watched him go and turn into the nearest open doorway before you glanced back to the family in the photos. In the abstract, you yearned for the happiness they presented, the peace: the domesticity. It was easy to imagine, to pretend, in their little house. You and Sam were the Bridgers, on holiday, planning out a future together.

“As if,” you whispered to yourself as you pushed that make-believe future from your mind. Quickly, you traced Sam’s trail and peeked into the first open doorway.

You expected to see him stood there, mocking the decor (the lace curtains in particular), but he was no longer there. With furrowed brows you took in the tacky wallpaper before returning to the hallway of portraits. You stepped into the next open door way only to find an empty bedroom. A large, king bed was perfectly made, untouched like the kitchenette. Life wonderfully frozen in time.

The lace curtains hung around the window, blowing in the gentle breeze that danced through the screen. Grey sheets were as soft as feathers as you trailed your fingertips along them. When was the last time you slept in a bed? When you were comfortable?

You couldn’t recall. The last time you had a stable place to sleep was on The Raft, where Sam’s shadow had been your only solace. Your stomach twisted at the memory, drove you to turn your back on the bed, the sweet promise of sleep.

“Sam?”

“In here!” You followed the call of Sam’s voice down the hall. It seemed to come from the farthest room on the right.

When you turned, poked your head through the open doorway, you saw Sam stood in the middle of the room. He didn’t turn to face you, but Sam’s gaze fell to the floor as you took in the space. Soft tones of blue paint coated the walls, but it was the faint scent of baby powder and shampoo that gave away the room. A nursery.

“I got two nephews at home,” Sam said as you stepped inside. “I helped my sister paint the nursery the first time. Teddy bear wallpaper on one wall. It didn’t last long. The boys crayoned right over them, gave some mustaches too.”

“Creative,” you mused, moving to stand at his side. Sam’s eyes lifted from the fuzzy rugged floor to meet your gaze. That sadness had returned. “You miss them.”

“I do, and my sister. Home.”

“You’ll see them again, once things...settle.”

“Settle? Things don’t settle for us,” he began, “they always go, go, go. Once we’re done here, done pretending, it’s back to running again. I’m tired, Y/N.”

“But we can’t just be tired, not even for a second.”

“Exactly,” Sam agreed, his dark eyes searching yours before he glanced around the blue nursery. “Can’t even pretend for very long, sorry.”

“No, it’s fine.”

You reached out a careful hand and grabbed his shoulder. Sam glanced back to you as your thumb rubbed gently into the fabric of his shirt. You stared back at him, searching for the right words somewhere in his features. Instead, you found yourself lost in him.

“I want to pretend, with you,” Sam murmured. There was no playful, teasing grin or dower coldness in his face that lessened the blow of his words. It was all serious, Sam was serious, and it made your heart flutter in your chest.

“I do too,” you thought back to the pictures of the family in the hall, “but not what could’ve been, not in some different life.”

“You don’t want to be a Bridgers?” There was that teasing grin, though it was more mild than you were expecting. You let your hand fall from his shoulder, but his fingers wrapped gently around your wrist before it rested back at your side.

“No,” you replied, mirroring his smile.

“Just want to be us, then? What could be in our lives?” Sam’s dark eyes flickered down to your lips before returning to your gaze. “I’m cool with that.”

“You are? Well, that’s great to hear,” you teased. “Maybe you could-”

Sam’s lips pressed against yours before you could continue. You melted into his touch. He pulled you softly to him by your wrist, with his other hand reaching up to cup your face. The coarse hair of his goatee nipped at your skin, coaxing your smile into the kiss. Silently, you hoped that the true pair of Bridgers were still running late to their viewing of their prospective holiday house. That way, you and Sam could pretend for a little while longer.

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recentanimenews · 3 years

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FEATURE: Only Subaru Could Have Saved Beatrice

It's been a while since we met Beatrice in Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-, but in the short time we’ve seen her she's been defined by a few key things. She doesn't leave her magic library, she doesn't like visitors, and most of all, she's as stubborn as they come. That's why, after all this time, seeing Beatrice finally come out of her library of her own free will for the first time feels so shocking. Not to mention, the previous loop where Subaru got her out ended pretty badly. So how did we end up in a timeline where Beatrice is finally able to step outside, ready to face the world?

The answer encompasses the entire story so far: Subaru's journey itself led to this very moment.

Subaru is no stranger to isolation or idolization. He put all of his self-worth into how other kids perceived him, and in trying to be as successful and respected as his dad, acting out in an increasing need to impress others. This need to feel accepted drove him, ironically, to alienating himself from the people he tried so hard to please, isolating himself until he is a shell of a person. Though he is more outgoing in Lugnica, his need for acceptance — his admiration for and desire to be more like his dad — was never resolved. He brought that baggage with him, acting out to impress Emilia, who he initially holds in similar regard to his father, a perfect person whose acceptance he values more than his own life.

Beatrice's life has followed a strikingly similar path. Having been created by Echidna, Beatrice considers her as a mother and is unendingly devoted to her. She had a friend in Ryuzu, who Beatrice feels she failed by not stopping Ryuzu from using her life to create the barrier around Sanctuary. When Echidna tells her to stay inside the Forbidden Library and protect Echidna's accumulated knowledge for what could be forever, waiting for an unknown person to appear, Beatrice doesn't question it for 400 whole years. No one else could live up to the admiration she has for her mother, of course, so she spends that time driving others away, even her "brother" Puck, as the loneliness grinds down her will to live. She expresses that loneliness by acting cold toward others, keeping a safe emotional distance so no one knows how much she longs for connection. Ironically, like Subaru, she values the acceptance of others — most notably, Echidna, who she idolizes to a dangerous degree — more than her own life. In her own words, she considers herself a failure.

Unlike Beatrice, Subaru got a second chance with his new life in Lugnica. Not that it was immediately a positive change. As noted, his drive to please others initially leads to him having an unhealthy relationship with Emilia. Return By Death allowed him to avoid having literal death as a consequence of his actions, being able to drive himself to that point over and over again was arguably worse, as it sent his mental health down a dark path, endlessly subjecting himself to the worst possible outcomes. But Subaru's adventures, and especially his time spent with Rem, taught him an invaluable lesson — wanting to help others is admirable, but he can't truly help anyone until he loves and respects himself first. Visiting his parents again, even in the false world of the Trials, helped him solidify this mindset, as he got to have a dialogue with the people he respected the most and realized they didn't want him to be perfect, just free and happy.

This newfound self-awareness has helped him become a true friend to the people he loves, by admitting it's OK that he is flawed, that he can get better, and that other people aren't perfect, either. This whole Sanctuary arc has shown us how strong that mindset can make us, as Subaru has used it to make great strides against impossible odds. He helps Emilia overcome the Trials by helping her come face-to-face with her insecurities like he did, allowing her to enter the Trials knowing that it will hurt to acknowledge the past, but that pain is an important part of growth. He subverts Roswaal's seemingly perfect plans by recognizing that no matter how old and smart Roswaal is, he's still just one man with a book, and no person is truly infallible. And, as the capstone for this story, he helps Beatrice by recognizing that her plight isn't so different from his; what she needs isn't someone to come to her rescue, but for her to realize she has all the tools to rescue herself.

It's a perfect conclusion to this part of Beatrice's story because she has said many times that she is waiting for "that person," some mythical hero that will arrive and in no uncertain terms tell her she's finally free. Every time she is uncertain about what to do next, she reflexively flips through her book for instructions, knowing full well it has no answers for her but relying on it anyway because Echidna never told her she could do anything herself and she feels like she failed the one time she did try with Ryuzu. Subaru dispels all of this, knocking down every door in Roswaal's mansion as it burns, telling her explicitly that he is not here to spout platitudes about how he is destined to rescue her. Instead, he tells her in no uncertain terms that he isn't "that person" — "that person" may not exist, but Beatrice can choose of her own free will to help Subaru, help all of her friends, and escape the library prison herself. So she does, using her own powers to transport them out of Roswaal's mansion before it fully collapses, facing the seemingly invincible Great Rabbit with newfound confidence.

No other character could have convincingly given this speech to Beatrice, only Subaru has gone through the kind of circumstances she has. This is one shut-in yelling to another, letting her know he has seen the kinds of depths isolation and self-loathing can bring you to. What Rem gave to Subaru by telling him he can start over, Subaru is passing on to Beatrice, giving her back the autonomy she has long forgotten she ever had. Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- understands the seemingly inescapable feedback loop of isolation and self-loathing and responds by showing the power that comes from supporting each other through that and facing the tomorrow that inevitably arrives. It's a powerful moment, and I'm excited to see what Beatrice can accomplish now that she isn't shackled to her insecurities and self-doubt.

Were you touched to finally see Beatrice leave the library? Let us know in the comments below!

David Lynn can be found obsessing over Fate/Grand Order on Twitter @navycherub.

By: David Lynn

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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folklore-and-fairytales · 4 years

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PUCK’S SONG & ON THE GREAT WALL

FROM PUCK OF POOK’S HILL by RUDYARD KIPLING (illustrated)

A FREE STORY AND A FREE POEM

======= PUCK’S SONG

See you the dimpled track that runs, All hollow through the wheat? O that was where they hauled the guns That smote King Philip’s fleet. See you our little mill that clacks, So busy by the brook? She has ground her corn and paid her tax Ever since Domesday Book. See you our stilly woods of oak, And the dread ditch beside? O that was where the Saxons broke, On the day that Harold died. See you the windy levels spread About the gates of Rye? O that was where the Northmen fled, When Alfred’s ships came by. See you our pastures wide and lone, Where the red oxen browse? O there was a City thronged and known, Ere London boasted a house. And see you, after rain, the trace Of mound and ditch and wall? O that was a Legion’s camping-place, When Cæsar sailed from Gaul. And see you marks that show and fade, Like shadows on the Downs? O they are the lines the Flint Men made, To guard their wondrous towns. Trackway and Camp and City lost, Salt Marsh where now is corn; Old Wars, old Peace, old Arts that cease, And so was England born! She is not any common Earth, Water or wood or air, But Merlin’s Isle of Gramarye, Where you and I will fare. ================ ON THE GREAT WALL

When I left Rome for Lalage’s sake By the Legions’ Road to Rimini, She vowed her heart was mine to take With me and my shield to Rimini— (Till the Eagles flew from Rimini!) And I’ve tramped Britain and I’ve tramped Gaul And the Pontic shore where the snow-flakes fall As white as the neck of Lalage— As cold as the heart of Lalage! And I’ve lost Britain and I’ve lost Gaul (the voice seemed very cheerful about it), And I’ve lost Rome, and worst of all, I’ve lost Lalage!

They were standing by the gate to Far Wood when they heard this song. Without a word they hurried to their private gap and wriggled through the hedge almost atop of a jay that was feeding from Puck’s hand.

‘Gently!’ said Puck. ‘What are you looking for?’

‘Parnesius, of course,’ Dan answered. ‘We’ve only just remembered yesterday. It isn’t fair.’

Puck chuckled as he rose. ‘I’m sorry, but children who spend the afternoon with me and a Roman Centurion need a little settling dose of Magic before they go to tea with their governess. Ohé, Parnesius!’ he called.

‘Here, Faun!’ came the answer from ‘Volaterrae.’ They could see the shimmer of bronze armour in the beech crotch, and the friendly flash of the great shield uplifted.

‘I have driven out the Britons.’ Parnesius laughed like a boy. ‘I occupy their high forts. But Rome is merciful! You may come up.’ And up they three all scrambled.

‘What was the song you were singing just now?’ said Una, as soon as she had settled herself.

‘That? Oh, Rimini. It’s one of the tunes that are always being born somewhere in the Empire. They run like a pestilence for six months or a year, till another one pleases the Legions, and then they march to that.’

‘Tell them about the marching, Parnesius. Few people nowadays walk from end to end of this country,’ said Puck.

‘The greater their loss. I know nothing better than the Long March when your feet are hardened. You begin after the mists have risen, and you end, perhaps, an hour after sundown.’

‘And what do you have to eat?’ Dan asked, promptly.

‘Fat bacon, beans, and bread, and whatever wine happens to be in the rest-houses. But soldiers are born grumblers. Their very first day out, my men complained of our water-ground British corn. They said it wasn’t so filling as the rough stuff that is ground in the Roman ox-mills. However, they had to fetch and eat it.’

‘Fetch it? Where from?’ said Una.

‘From that newly-invented water-mill below the Forge.’

‘That’s Forge Mill—our Mill!’ Una looked at Puck.

‘Yes; yours,’ Puck put in. ‘How old did you think it was?��

‘I don’t know. Didn’t Sir Richard Dalyngridge talk about it?’

‘He did, and it was old in his day,’ Puck answered. ‘Hundreds of years old.’

‘It was new in mine,’ said Parnesius. ‘My men looked at the flour in their helmets as though it had been a nest of adders. They did it to try my patience. But I—addressed them, and we became friends.

To tell the truth, they taught me the Roman Step. You see, I’d only served with quick-marching Auxiliaries. A Legion’s pace is altogether different. It is a long, slow stride, that never varies from sunrise to sunset. “Rome’s Race—Rome’s Pace,” as the proverb says. Twenty-four miles in eight hours, neither more nor less. Head and spear up, shield on your back, cuirass-collar open one hand’s breadth—and that’s how you take the Eagles through Britain.’

‘And did you meet any adventures?’ said Dan.

‘There are no adventures South the Wall,’ said Parnesius. ‘The worst thing that happened me was having to appear before a magistrate up North, where a wandering philosopher had jeered at the Eagles. I was able to show that the old man had deliberately blocked our road, and the magistrate told him, out of his own Book, I believe, that, whatever his God might be, he should pay proper respect to Cæsar.’

‘What did you do?’ said Dan.

‘Went on. Why should I care for such things, my business being to reach my station? It took me twenty days.

‘Of course, the farther North you go the emptier are the roads. At last you fetch clear of the forests and climb bare hills, where wolves howl in the ruins of our cities that have been. No more pretty girls; no more jolly magistrates who knew your Father when he was young, and invite you to stay with them; no news at the temples and way-stations except bad news of wild beasts. There’s where you meet hunters, and trappers for the Circuses, prodding along chained bears and muzzled wolves. Your pony shies at them, and your men laugh.

‘The houses change from gardened villas to shut forts with watch-towers of grey stone, and great stone-walled sheepfolds, guarded by armed Britons of the North Shore. In the naked hills beyond the naked houses, where the shadows of the clouds play like cavalry charging, you see puffs of black smoke from the mines. The hard road goes on and on—and the wind sings through your helmet-plume—past altars to Legions and Generals forgotten, and broken statues of Gods and Heroes, and thousands of graves where the mountain foxes and hares peep at you. Red-hot in summer, freezing in winter, is that big, purple heather country of broken stone.

‘Just when you think you are at the world’s end, you see a smoke from East to West as far as the eye can turn, and then, under it, also as far as the eye can stretch, houses and temples, shops and theatres, barracks, and granaries, trickling along like dice behind—always behind—one long, low, rising and falling, and hiding and showing line of towers. And that is the Wall!’

‘Ah!’ said the children, taking breath.

‘You may well,’ said Parnesius. ‘Old men who have followed the Eagles since boyhood say nothing in the Empire is more wonderful than first sight of the Wall!’

‘Is it just a Wall? Like the one round the kitchen-garden?’ said Dan.

‘No, no! It is the Wall. Along the top are towers with guard-houses, small towers, between. Even on the narrowest part of it three men with shields can walk abreast from guard-house to guard-house. A little curtain wall, no higher than a man’s neck, runs along the top of the thick wall, so that from a distance you see the helmets of the sentries sliding back and forth like beads. Thirty feet high is the Wall, and on the Picts’ side, the North, is a ditch, strewn with blades of old swords and spear-heads set in wood, and tyres of wheels joined by chains. The Little People come there to steal iron for their arrow-heads.

‘But the Wall itself is not more wonderful than the town behind it. Long ago there were great ramparts and ditches on the South side, and no one was allowed to build there. Now the ramparts are partly pulled down and built over, from end to end of the Wall; making a thin town eighty miles long. Think of it! One roaring, rioting, cockfighting, wolf-baiting, horse-racing town, from Ituna on the West to Segedunum on the cold eastern beach! On one side heather, woods and ruins where Picts hide, and on the other, a vast town—long like a snake, and wicked like a snake. Yes, a snake basking beside a warm wall!

‘My Cohort, I was told, lay at Hunno, where the Great North Road runs through the Wall into the Province of Valentia.’ Parnesius laughed scornfully. ‘The Province of Valentia! We followed the road, therefore, into Hunno town, and stood astonished. The place was a fair—a fair of peoples from every corner of the Empire. Some were racing horses: some sat in wine-shops: some watched dogs baiting bears, and many gathered in a ditch to see cocks fight. A boy not much older than myself, but I could see he was an Officer, reined up before me and asked what I wanted.

‘“My station,” I said, and showed him my shield.’ Parnesius held up his broad shield with its three X’s like letters on a beer-cask.

‘“Lucky omen!” said he. “Your Cohort’s the next tower to us, but they’re all at the cock-fight. This is a happy place. Come and wet the Eagles.” He meant to offer me a drink.

‘“When I’ve handed over my men,” I said. I felt angry and ashamed.

‘“Oh, you’ll soon outgrow that sort of nonsense,” he answered. “But don’t let me interfere with your hopes. Go on to the Statue of Roma Dea. You can’t miss it. The main road into Valentia!” and he laughed and rode off. I could see the Statue not a quarter of a mile away, and there I went. At some time or other the Great North Road ran under it into Valentia; but the far end had been blocked up because of the Picts, and on the plaster a man had scratched, “Finish!” It was like marching into a cave. We grounded spears together, my little thirty, and it echoed in the barrel of the arch, but none came. There was a door at one side painted with our number. We prowled in, and I found a cook asleep, and ordered him to give us food. Then I climbed to the top of the Wall, and looked out over the Pict country, and I—thought,’ said Parnesius. ‘The bricked-up arch with “Finish!” on the plaster was what shook me, for I was not much more than a boy.’

‘What a shame!’ said Una. ‘But did you feel happy after you’d had a good——’ Dan stopped her with a nudge.

‘Happy?’ said Parnesius. ‘When the men of the Cohort I was to command came back unhelmeted from the cock-fight, their birds under their arms, and asked me who I was? No, I was not happy; but I made my new Cohort unhappy too.... I wrote my Mother I was happy, but, oh, my friends’—he stretched arms over bare knees—‘I would not wish my worst enemy to suffer as I suffered through my first months on the Wall. Remember this: among the officers was scarcely one, except myself (and I thought I had lost the favour of Maximus, my General), scarcely one who had not done something of wrong or folly. Either he had killed a man, or taken money, or insulted the magistrates, or blasphemed the Gods, and so had been sent to the Wall as a hiding-place from shame or fear. And the men were as the officers. Remember, also, that the Wall was manned by every breed and race in the Empire. No two towers spoke the same tongue, or worshipped the same Gods. In one thing only we were all equal. No matter what arms we had used before we came to the Wall, on the Wall we were all archers, like the Scythians. The Pict cannot run away from the arrow, or crawl under it. He is a bowman himself. He knows!’

‘I suppose you were fighting Picts all the time,’ said Dan.

‘Picts seldom fight. I never saw a fighting Pict for half a year. The tame Picts told us they had all gone North.’

‘What is a tame Pict?’ said Dan.

‘A Pict—there were many such—who speaks a few words of our tongue, and slips across the Wall to sell ponies and wolf-hounds. Without a horse and a dog, and a friend, man would perish. The Gods gave me all three, and there is no gift like friendship. Remember this’—Parnesius turned to Dan—‘when you become a young man. For your fate will turn on the first true friend you make.’

‘He means,’ said Puck, grinning, ‘that if you try to make yourself a decent chap when you’re young, you’ll make rather decent friends when you grow up. If you’re a beast, you’ll have beastly friends. Listen to the Pious Parnesius on Friendship!’

‘I am not pious,’ Parnesius answered, ‘but I know what goodness means; and my friend, though he was without hope, was ten thousand times better than I. Stop laughing, Faun!’

‘Oh Youth Eternal and All-believing,’ cried Puck, as he rocked on the branch above. ‘Tell them about your Pertinax.’

‘He was that friend the Gods sent me—the boy who spoke to me when I first came. Little older than myself, commanding the Augusta Victoria Cohort on the tower next to us and the Numidians. In virtue he was far my superior.’

‘Then why was he on the Wall?’ Una asked, quickly. ‘They’d all done something bad. You said so yourself.’

‘He was the nephew, his Father had died, of a great rich man in Gaul who was not always kind to his Mother. When Pertinax grew up, he discovered this, and so his uncle shipped him off, by trickery and force, to the Wall. We came to know each other at a ceremony in our Temple—in the dark. It was the Bull Killing,’ Parnesius explained to Puck.

‘I see,’ said Puck, and turned to the children. ‘That’s something you wouldn’t quite understand. Parnesius means he met Pertinax in church.’

‘Yes—in the Cave we first met, and we were both raised to the Degree of Gryphons together.’ Parnesius lifted his hand towards his neck for an instant. ‘He had been on the Wall two years, and knew the Picts well. He taught me first how to take Heather.’

‘What’s that?’ said Dan.

‘Going out hunting in the Pict country with a tame Pict. You are quite safe so long as you are his guest, and wear a sprig of heather where it can be seen. If you went alone you would surely be killed, if you were not smothered first in the bogs. Only the Picts know their way about those black and hidden bogs. Old Allo, the one-eyed, withered little Pict from whom we bought our ponies, was our special friend. At first we went only to escape from the terrible town, and to talk together about our homes. Then he showed us how to hunt wolves and those great red deer with horns like Jewish candlesticks. The Roman-born officers rather looked down on us for doing this, but we preferred the heather to their amusements. Believe me,’ Parnesius turned again to Dan, ‘a boy is safe from all things that really harm when he is astride a pony or after a deer. Do you remember, O Faun,’ he turned to Puck, ‘the little altar I built to the Sylvan Pan by the pine-forest beyond the brook?’

‘Which? The stone one with the line from Xenophon?’ said Puck, in quite a new voice.

‘No. What do I know of Xenophon? That was Pertinax—after he had shot his first mountain-hare with an arrow—by chance! Mine I made of round pebbles in memory of my first bear. It took me one happy day to build.’ Parnesius faced the children quickly.

‘And that was how we lived on the Wall for two years—a little scuffling with the Picts, and a great deal of hunting with old Allo in the Pict country. He called us his children sometimes, and we were fond of him and his barbarians, though we never let them paint us Pict fashion. The marks endure till you die.’

‘How’s it done?’ said Dan. ‘Anything like tattooing?’

‘They prick the skin till the blood runs, and rub in coloured juices. Allo was painted blue, green, and red from his forehead to his ankles. He said it was part of his religion. He told us about his religion (Pertinax was always interested in such things), and as we came to know him well, he told us what was happening in Britain behind the Wall. Many things took place behind us in those days. And, by the Light of the Sun,’ said Parnesius, earnestly, ‘there was not much that those little people did not know! He told me when Maximus crossed over to Gaul, after he had made himself Emperor of Britain, and what troops and emigrants he had taken with him. We did not get the news on the Wall till fifteen days later. He told me what troops Maximus was taking out of Britain every month to help him to conquer Gaul; and I always found the numbers as he said. Wonderful! And I tell another strange thing!’

He jointed his hands across his knees, and leaned his head on the curve of the shield behind him.

‘Late in the summer, when the first frosts begin and the Picts kill their bees, we three rode out after wolf with some new hounds. Rutilianus, our General, had given us ten days’ leave, and we had pushed beyond the Second Wall—beyond the Province of Valentia—into the higher hills, where there are not even any of Rome’s old ruins. We killed a she-wolf before noon, and while Allo was skinning her he looked up and said to me, “When you are Captain of the Wall, my child, you won’t be able to do this anymore!”

‘I might as well have been made Prefect of Lower Gaul, so I laughed and said, “Wait till I am Captain.” “No, don’t wait,” said Allo. “Take my advice and go home—both of you.” “We have no homes,” said Pertinax. “You know that as well as we do. We’re finished men—thumbs down against both of us. Only men without hope would risk their necks on your ponies.” The old man laughed one of those short Pict laughs—like a fox barking on a frosty night. “I’m fond of you two,” he said. “Besides, I’ve taught you what little you know about hunting. Take my advice and go home.”

‘“We can’t,” I said. “I’m out of favour with my General, for one thing; and for another, Pertinax has an uncle.”

‘“I don’t know about his uncle,” said Allo, “but the trouble with you, Parnesius, is that your General thinks well of you.”

‘“Roma Dea!” said Pertinax, sitting up. “What can you guess what Maximus thinks, you old horse-coper?”

‘Just then (you know how near the brutes creep when one is eating?) a great dog-wolf jumped out behind us, and away our rested hounds tore after him, with us at their tails. He ran us far out of any country we’d ever heard of, straight as an arrow till sunset, towards the sunset. We came at last to long capes stretching into winding waters, and on a grey beach below us we saw ships drawn up. Forty-seven we counted—not Roman galleys but the raven-winged ships from the North where Rome does not rule. Men moved in the ships, and the sun flashed on their helmets—winged helmets of the red-haired men from the North where Rome does not rule. We watched, and we counted, and we wondered; for though we had heard rumours concerning these Winged Hats, as the Picts called them, never before had we looked upon them.

‘“Come away! Come away!” said Allo. “My Heather won’t protect you here. We shall all be killed!” His legs trembled like his voice. Back we went—back across the heather under the moon, till it was nearly morning, and our poor beasts stumbled on some ruins.

‘When we woke, very stiff and cold, Allo was mixing the meal and water. One does not light fires in the Pict country except near a village. The little men are always signalling to each other with smokes, and a strange smoke brings them out buzzing like bees. They can sting, too!

‘“What we saw last night was a trading-station,” said Allo. “Nothing but a trading-station.”

‘“I do not like lies on an empty stomach,” said Pertinax. “I suppose” (he had eyes like an eagle’s), “I suppose that is a trading-station also?” He pointed to a smoke far off on a hill-top, ascending in what we call the Pict’s Call:—Puff—double-puff: double-puff—puff! They make it by raising and dropping a wet hide on a fire.

‘“No,” said Allo, pushing the platter back into the bag. “That is for you and me. Your fate is fixed. Come.”

‘We came. When one takes Heather, one must obey one’s Pict—but that wretched smoke was twenty miles distant, well over on the east coast, and the day was as hot as a bath.

‘“Whatever happens,” said Allo, while our ponies grunted along, “I want you to remember me.”

‘“I shall not forget,” said Pertinax. “You have cheated me out of my breakfast.”

‘“What is a handful of crushed oats to a Roman?” he said. Then he laughed his laugh that was not a laugh. “What would you do if you were a handful of oats being crushed between the upper and lower stones of a mill?”

‘“I’m Pertinax, not a riddle-guesser,” said Pertinax.

‘“You’re a fool,” said Allo. “Your Gods and my Gods are threatened by strange Gods, and all you can do is to laugh.”

‘“Threatened men live long,” I said.

‘“I pray the Gods that may be true,” he said. “But I ask you again not to forget me.”

‘We climbed the last hot hill and looked out on the eastern sea, three or four miles off. There was a small sailing-galley of the North Gaul pattern at anchor, her landing-plank down and her sail half up; and below us, alone in a hollow, holding his pony, sat Maximus, Emperor of Britain! He was dressed like a hunter, and he leaned on his little stick; but I knew that back as far as I could see it, and I told Pertinax.

‘“You’re madder than Allo!” he said. “It must be the sun!”

‘Maximus never stirred till we stood before him. Then he looked me up and down, and said: “Hungry again? It seems to be my destiny to feed you whenever we meet. I have food here. Allo shall cook it.”

‘“No,” said Allo. “A Prince in his own land does not wait on wandering Emperors. I feed my two children without asking your leave.” He began to blow up the ashes.

‘“I was wrong,” said Pertinax. “We are all mad. Speak up, O Madman called Emperor!”

‘Maximus smiled his terrible tight-lipped smile, but two years on the Wall do not make a man afraid of mere looks. So I was not afraid.

‘“I meant you, Parnesius, to live and die an Officer of the Wall,” said Maximus. “But it seems from these,” he fumbled in his breast, “you can think as well as draw.” He pulled out a roll of letters I had written to my people, full of drawings of Picts, and bears, and men I had met on the Wall. Mother and my sister always liked my pictures.

‘He handed me one that I had called “Maximus’s Soldiers.” It showed a row of fat wine-skins, and our old Doctor of the Hunno hospital snuffing at them. Each time that Maximus had taken troops out of Britain to help him to conquer Gaul, he used to send the garrisons more wine—to keep them quiet, I suppose. On the Wall, we always called a wine-skin a “Maximus.” Oh, yes; and I had drawn them in Imperial helmets!

‘“Not long since,” he went on, “men’s names were sent up to Cæsar for smaller jokes than this.”

‘“True, Cæsar,” said Pertinax; “but you forget that was before I, your friend’s friend, became such a good spear-thrower.”

‘He did not actually point his hunting spear at Maximus, but balanced it on his palm—so!

‘“I was speaking of time past,” said Maximus, never fluttering an eyelid. “Nowadays one is only too pleased to find boys who can think for themselves, and their friends.” He nodded at Pertinax. “Your Father lent me the letters, Parnesius, so you run no risk from me.”

‘“None whatever,” said Pertinax, and rubbed the spear-point on his sleeve.

‘“I have been forced to reduce the garrisons in Britain, because I need troops in Gaul. Now I come to take troops from the Wall itself,” said he.

‘“I wish you joy of us,” said Pertinax. “We’re the last sweepings of the Empire—the men without hope. Myself, I’d sooner trust condemned criminals.”

‘“You think so?” he said, quite seriously. “But it will only be till I win Gaul. One must always risk one’s life, or one’s soul, or one’s peace—or some little thing.”

‘Allo passed round the fire with the sizzling deer’s meat. He served us two first.

‘“Ah!” said Maximus, waiting his turn. “I perceive you are in your own country. Well, you deserve it. They tell me you have quite a following among the Picts, Parnesius.”

‘“I have hunted with them,” I said. “Maybe I have a few friends among the Heather.”

‘“He is the only armoured man of you all who understands us,” said Allo, and he began a long speech about our virtues, and how we had saved one of his grandchildren from a wolf the year before.’

‘Had you?’ said Una.

‘Yes; but that was neither here nor there. The little green man orated like a—like Cicero. He made us out to be magnificent fellows. Maximus never took his eyes off our faces.

‘“Enough,” he said. “I have heard Allo on you. I wish to hear you on the Picts.”

‘I told him as much as I knew, and Pertinax helped me out. There is never harm in a Pict if you but take the trouble to find out what he wants. Their real grievance against us came from our burning their heather. The whole garrison of the Wall moved out twice a year, and solemnly burned the heather for ten miles North. Rutilianus, our General, called it clearing the country. The Picts, of course, scampered away, and all we did was to destroy their bee-bloom in the summer, and ruin their sheep-food in the spring.

‘“True, quite true,” said Allo. “How can we make our holy heather-wine, if you burn our bee-pasture?”

‘We talked long, Maximus asking keen questions that showed he knew much and had thought more about the Picts. He said presently to me: “If I gave you the old Province of Valentia to govern, could you keep the Picts contented till I won Gaul? Stand away, so that you do not see Allo’s face; and speak your own thoughts.”

‘“No,” I said. “You cannot re-make that Province. The Picts have been free too long.”

‘“Leave them their village councils, and let them furnish their own soldiers,” he said. “You, I am sure, would hold the reins very lightly.”

‘“Even then, no,” I said. “At least not now. They have been too oppressed by us to trust anything with a Roman name for years and years.”

‘I heard old Allo behind me mutter: “Good child!”

‘“Then what do you recommend,” said Maximus, “to keep the North quiet till I win Gaul?”

‘“Leave the Picts alone,” I said. “Stop the heather-burning at once, and—they are improvident little animals—send them a shipload or two of corn now and then.”

‘“Their own men must distribute it—not some cheating Greek accountant,” said Pertinax.

‘“Yes, and allow them to come to our hospitals when they are sick,” I said.

‘“Surely they would die first,” said Maximus.

‘“Not if Parnesius brought them in,” said Allo. “I could show you twenty wolf-bitten, bear-clawed Picts within twenty miles of here. But Parnesius must stay with them in Hospital, else they would go mad with fear.”

‘“I see,” said Maximus. “Like everything else in the world, it is one man’s work. You, I think, are that one man.”

‘“Pertinax and I are one,” I said.

‘“As you please, so long as you work. Now, Allo, you know that I mean your people no harm. Leave us to talk together,” said Maximus.

‘“No need!” said Allo. “I am the corn between the upper and lower millstones. I must know what the lower millstone means to do. These boys have spoken the truth as far as they know it. I, a Prince, will tell you the rest. I am troubled about the Men of the North.” He squatted like a hare in the heather, and looked over his shoulder.

‘“I also,” said Maximus, “or I should not be here.”

‘“Listen,” said Allo. “Long and long ago the Winged Hats”—he meant the Northmen—“came to our beaches and said, ‘Rome falls! Push her down!’ We fought you. You sent men. We were beaten. After that we said to the Winged Hats, ‘You are liars! Make our men alive that Rome killed, and we will believe you.’ They went away ashamed. Now they come back bold, and they tell the old tale, which we begin to believe—that Rome falls!”

‘“Give me three years’ peace on the Wall,” cried Maximus, “and I will show you and all the ravens how they lie!”

‘“Ah, I wish it too! I wish to save what is left of the corn from the millstones. But you shoot us Picts when we come to borrow a little iron from the Iron Ditch; you burn our heather, which is all our crop; you trouble us with your great catapults. Then you hide behind the Wall, and scorch us with Greek fire. How can I keep my young men from listening to the Winged Hats—in winter especially, when we are hungry? My young men will say, ‘Rome can neither fight nor rule. She is taking her men out of Britain. The Winged Hats will help us to push down the Wall. Let us show them the secret roads across the bogs.’ Do I want that? No!” He spat like an adder. “I would keep the secrets of my people though I were burned alive. My two children here have spoken truth. Leave us Picts alone. Comfort us, and cherish us, and feed us from far off—with the hand behind your back. Parnesius understands us. Let him have rule on the Wall, and I will hold my young men quiet for”—he ticked it off on his fingers—“one year easily: the next year not so easily: the third year, perhaps! See, I give you three years. If then you do not show us that Rome is strong in men and terrible in arms, the Winged Hats, I tell you, will sweep down the Wall from either sea till they meet in the middle, and you will go. I shall not grieve over that, but well I know tribe never helps tribe except for one price. We Picts will go too. The Winged Hats will grind us to this!” He tossed a handful of dust in the air.

‘“Oh, Roma Dea!” said Maximus, half aloud. “It is always one man’s work—always and everywhere!”

‘“And one man’s life,” said Allo. “You are Emperor, but not a God. You may die.”

‘“I have thought of that, too,” said he. “Very good. If this wind holds, I shall be at the East end of the Wall by morning. To-morrow, then, I shall see you two when I inspect; and I will make you Captains of the Wall for this work.”

‘“One instant, Cæsar,” said Pertinax. “All men have their price. I am not bought yet.”

‘“Do you also begin to bargain so early?” said Maximus. “Well?”

‘“Give me justice against my uncle Icenus, the Duumvir of Divio in Gaul,” he said.

‘“Only a life? I thought it would be money or an office. Certainly you shall have him. Write his name on these tablets—on the red side; the other is for the living!” And Maximus held out his tablets.

‘“He is of no use to me dead,” said Pertinax. “My mother is a widow. I am far off. I am not sure he pays her all her dowry.”

‘“No matter. My arm is reasonably long. We will look through your uncle’s accounts in due time. Now, farewell till to-morrow, O Captains of the Wall!”

‘We saw him grow small across the heather as he walked to the galley. There were Picts, scores, each side of him, hidden behind stones. He never looked left or right. He sailed away Southerly, full spread before the evening breeze, and when we had watched him out to sea, we were silent. We understood Earth bred few men like to this man.

‘Presently Allo brought the ponies and held them for us to mount—a thing he had never done before.

‘“Wait awhile,” said Pertinax, and he made a little altar of cut turf, and strewed heather-bloom atop, and laid upon it a letter from a girl in Gaul.

‘“What do you do, O my friend?” I said.

‘“I sacrifice to my dead youth,” he answered, and, when the flames had consumed the letter, he ground them out with his heel. Then we rode back to that Wall of which we were to be Captains.’

Parnesius stopped. The children sat still, not even asking if that were all the tale. Puck beckoned, and pointed the way out of the wood. ‘Sorry,’ he whispered, ‘but you must go now.’

‘We haven’t made him angry, have we?’ said Una. ‘He looks so far off, and—and—thinky.’

‘Bless your heart, no. Wait till to-morrow. It won’t be long. Remember, you’ve been playing “Lays of Ancient Rome.”’

And as soon as they had scrambled through their gap, where Oak, Ash and Thorn grow, that was all they remembered.

=================== From: PUCK OF POOK’s HILL by RUDYARD KIPLING (illustrated)

ISBN: 9788835367420

To download this book CLICK HERE>> http://bit.ly/2vUVAnO

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#Puck_of_Pooks_hill fantasy fiction folklore myths legends magic childrens_stories fables childrens_fiction juvenile_fiction young_adult_fict

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lindortech · 5 years

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The group at inVia Robotics didn’t begin out looking to build a business that would create a brand-new kind of version for selling robotics to the masses, but that may be exactly what they’ve done.

After their graduation from the University of Southern California’s robotics app, Lior Elazary, Dan Parks and Randolph Voorhies were casting around for ideas that could get traction quickly.

“Our goal was to get something up and running that could make economic sense immediately,” Voorhies, the company’s monarch technology officer, said in an interview.

The key was to learn from the lessons of what the group had seen as the missteps of past robotics manufacturers.

Despite the early victory of iRobot, consumer-facing or collaborative robots that could operate alongside people had yet to earn traction in wider markets.

Willow Garage, the fabled company formed by some of the top names in the robotics industry, had shuttered just as Voorhies and his compatriots were graduating, and Boston Dynamics, another of the biggest names in robotics research, was bought by Google around the same moment — capping a six-month buying spree that saw the search giant acquire eight robotics companies.

“In the midst of all this we were looking around and we said, ‘God there were a lot of failed robotics companies!’ and we asked ourselves why did that happen?,” Voorhies recalled. “a lot of the hardware companies that we’d seen, their plan was: stride one build a really cool automaton and stride three: an app ecosystem will evolve and people will write apps and the automaton will vend like insane. And nobody had realized how to do stride 2, which was commercialize the automaton.”

So the three co-founders looked for ideas they could take to marketplace quickly.

The thought was construction an automaton that could assist with mobility and reaching for objects. “We built a six-degree-of-freedom arm with a mobile base,” Voorhies said.

However, the arm was tricky to build, elements were high-price and there were too many variables in the environment for things to go wrong with the automaton’s operations. Ultimately the group at inVia realized that the gigantic successes in robotics were happening in controlled environments.

“We very quickly realized that the environment is too unpredictable and there were too many disparate kinds of things that we needed to do,” he said.

Parks then put together a white paper analyzing the disparate controlled environments where collaborative robots could be most easily deployed. The warehouse was the obvious preference.

Back in March of 2012 Amazon had come to the same conclusion and acquired Kiva Systems in a $775 million deal that brought Kiva’s soldier of robots to Amazon warehouses and distribution centers around the world.

“Dan put a white paper together for Lior and I,” Voorhies said, “and the thing that really stuck out was e-commerce logistics. Floors tend to be concrete slabs; they’re very flat with very tiny rank, and in general people are picking things off a shelf and putting them somewhere else.”

With the concept in place, the group, which included technologists Voorhies and Parks, and Elazary, a serial entrepreneur who had already exited from two businesses, just needed to get a working prototype together.

Most warehouses and shipping facilities that weren’t Amazon were using automated storage and retrieval systems, Voorhies said. These gigantic, automated systems that looked and worked like massive vending machines. But those systems, he said, involved a lot of sunk costs, and weren’t flexible or adaptable.

And those old systems weren’t built for random access patterns and multi-use orders, which comprise most of the shipping and packing that are done as e-commerce takes off.

With those sunk costs though, warehouses are reluctant to change the version. The innovation that Voorhies and his group came up with was that the logistics providers wouldn’t have to.

“We didn’t like the upfront investment, not just to install one but just to begin a company to build those things,” said Voorhies. “We wanted something we could bootstrap ourselves and grow very organically and just see wins very very quickly. So we looked at those ASRS systems and said why don’t we build mobile robots to do this.”

In the beginning, the group at inVia played with disparate ways to build the automaton. At first there was an automaton that could carry several disparate objects and another that would be responsible for picking.

The form factor that the company eventually decided on was a movable puck-shaped base with a scissor lift that can move a platform up and down. Attached to the back of the platform is a robotic arm that can diversify forward and backward and has a suction pump attached to its end. The suction pump drags boxes onto a platform that are then taken to a pick-and-pack employee.

“We were originally going to grab solo products. Once we started talking to real warehouses more and more we realized that everyone stores everything in these boxes anyway,” said Voorhies. “And we said why don’t we make our lives path easier, why don’t we just grab those totes?”

Since bootstrapping that initial automaton, inVia has gone on to lift $29 million in financing to assist its vision — most recently with a $20 million circular that closed in July.

“E-commerce industry growth is driving the need for more warehouse automation to fulfill require, and AI-driven robots can dispatch that automation with the flexibility to scale across varied workflows. Our investment in inVia Robotics reflects our conviction in AI as a key enabler for the supply chain industry,” said Daniel Gwak, co-head, AI Investments at Point72 Ventures, the early-stage investment tight formed by the famed hedge fund manager, Steven Cohen.

Given the pressures on shipping and logistics companies, it’s no surprise that robotics and automation are becoming critically important strategic investments, or that adventure capital is flooding into the marketplace. In the past two months alone, robotics companies targeting warehouse and retail automation have raised nearly $70 million in brand-new financing. They include the recent raised $17.7 million for the French startup Exotec Solutions and Bossa Nova’s $29 million circular for its grocery store robots.

Then there are warehouse-focused robotics companies like Fetch Robotics, which traces its lineage back to Willow Garage and Locus Robotics, which is linked to the logistics services company calm Logistics.

“Funding in robotics has been astonishing over the past several years, and for good reason,” said John Santagate, research director for Commercial Service Robotics at research and analysis tight IDC, in a statement. “The growth in funding is a function of a marketplace that has become accepting of the technology, a technology location that has matured to meet marketplace demands, and vision of the future that must include flexible automation technology. Products must move faster and more efficiently through the warehouse today to keep up with consumer require, and autonomous mobile robots offer a cost-effective path to deploy automation to enable speed, efficiency, and flexibility.”

The group at inVia realized it wasn’t enough to vend the robots. To give warehouses a full sense of the potential cost savings they could have with inVia’s robots, they’d need to take a page from the program playbook. Rather than selling the tool, they’d vend the work the robots were doing as a service.

“Customers will request us how much the robots cost and that’s sort of irrelevant,” says Voorhies. “We don’t want customers to think about those things at all.”

Contracts between inVia and logistics companies are based on the unit of work done, Voorhies said. “We charge on the order line,” says Voorhies. “an order line is a solo [stock keeping unit] that somebody would order regardless of quantity… We’re essentially charging them every moment an automaton has to bring a tote and present it in front of a person. The faster we’re able to do that and the less robots we can use to present an item the good our margins are.”

It may not sound like a big change, but those kinds of efficiencies matter in warehouses, Voorhies said. “If you’re a person pushing a cart in a warehouse, that cart can have 35 pallets on it. With us, that person is standing still, and they’re really not limited to a solo cart. They are able to fill 70 orders at the same moment rather than 55,” he said.

At Rakuten Super Logistics, the deployment of inVia’s robots are already yielding returns, according to Michael Manzione, the monarch executive officer of Rakuten.

“Really [robotics] being used in a fulfillment center is beautiful brand-new,” said Manzione in an interview. “We started looking at the product in late February and went live in late March.”

For Manzione, the gigantic selling point was scaling the robots quickly, with no upfront cost. “The bottom line is going to be effective when we see planning around the vacation season,” said Manzione. “We’re not planning on bringing in more people, versus last year when we doubled our labor.”

As Voorhies notes, training a group to work effectively in a warehouse environment isn’t uncomplicated.

“The gigantic problem is that it’s really solid to hire additional people to do this. In a warehouse there’s a dedicated core group that really kicks ass and they’re really gleeful with those pickers and they will be gleeful with what they get from whatever those people can sweat out in a shift,” Voorhies said. “Once you need to push your throughput beyond what your core group can do it’s solid to find people who can do that job well.”

*This post has been updated to correct the spelling of the name of inVia’s monarch executive, Lior Elazary.

Robotics-as-a-service is on the way and inVia Robotics is leading the charge The group at inVia Robotics didn’t begin out looking to build a business that would create a brand-new kind of version for selling robotics to the masses, but that may be exactly what they’ve done.

#Amazon #amazon robotics #artificial intelligence #boston dynamics #Exotec Solutions #inVia Robotics #iRobot #Kiva Systems #locus robotics #rakuten #willow garage

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lifeless-x · 6 years

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What’s New at Walt Disney World in 2018?

Whether you’ve been taking a short break from Walt Disney World trips or whether you’ve been going faithfully every year, 2018 is going to be a great time to return to the World. There is so much new stuff, you will hardly recognize the place. Ok, not really, but still, A LOT OF NEW STUFF!!!

Magic Kingdom News

Main Street, U.S.A. is getting a new destination! Work has already begun on a live entertainment theater. Just as Main Street itself was inspired by Marceline, Missouri (Walt’s early childhood hometown), the new theater will be based on one from Kansas City (where Walt moved when he was nine years old). The Willis Wood Theater opened in 1902 in Kansas City, with a gleaming exterior of yellow brick and white terra cotta. Walt would no doubt have felt that, with the confectionery scrollwork curling from rooftop and corner balconies, the Willis Wood would fit in perfectly with the elegance of his own Main Street, U.S.A.

Disney promises to bring “world class entertainment” to Main Street, U.S.A. at this theater, akin to shows like “Frozen Live” at the Hyperion in Disney California Adventure. What Broadway-style show might the new theater host? With the film MARY POPPINS RETURNS coming in 2018, perhaps the new theater will feature this supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Disney favorite! What’s your guess??

Disney’s Hollywood Studios News

A new land is opening at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in summer 2018. No, it’s not Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge – not yet! You’ll have to wait until 2019 to travel to the galaxy far, far away. But much closer to home – right in Andy’s backyard, in fact – is Toy Story Land! If you were sad about the closure of the Honey I Shrunk the Kid Playground, here’s your chance to shrink again – this time to the size of a toy. Disney promises that you’ll experience the “Joy of Being a Toy.” Scattered around the land (Andy’s back yard) you’ll come across giant building blocks and game board pieces with many beloved Toy Story characters represented (either with character greetings or other homages).

Fans of Toy Story’s Slinky Dog will be delighted to discover that he will have his own roller coaster. Slinky Dog Dash is an attraction the whole family can enjoy together, with ride vehicles nestled cozily in Slinky Dog’s coils. The back story here is that Andy has built a toy roller coaster stretching all across his backyard using the bright red and yellow pieces of his Mega Coaster Play Kit, throwing in creative touches with his other toys (Jessie strides across the track and Dinosaur perches on top of a tower of blocks). In addition to the fun of the coaster and the movie elements, you’ll get a bird’s eye view of the new land from Slinky Dog Dash.

Right next door, you’ll find the Alien Swirling Saucers attraction – a life-sized toy play set that Andy won at Pizza Planet (seen in the original TOY STORY film). You’ll zoom along in a your rocket vehicle among toy planets and satellites while LGM (Little Green Men) flying above in flying saucers attempt to grab you with “The Claw.” To lighten the mood for younger guests, Disney has written some cool, electronic “Space Jazz” just for the Alien Swirling Saucers ride. And maybe you’ll be the lucky vehicle snagged by The Claw and hear the aliens intone their famous, “Oooooooo!”

Toy Story Midway Mania will be given a new entrance so it will be truly part and parcel of Toy Story Land. (The current entrance corridor, beyond the Pixar arch, will become a backstage area.) Starting this summer, you’ll enter the ride through a Midway Games set “box.” (Remember, you’re the size of a toy!)

Also in Toy Story Land, a counter service restaurant will resemble a giant Woody’s Roundup lunch box and thermos, while Scrabble pieces will spell out the restroom sign.

Opening day hasn’t been announced – but May 1, 2018, is the 29th anniversary of the opening of the park itself – so that might be a hint!

Epcot News

You’ll be able to enjoy the feeling that you’re shrinking at Epcot as well as at Disney’s Hollywood Studios when the France Pavilion debuts a Ratatouille themed ride. You’ll find that you’re the same size as Remy as you scurry across Gusteau’s legendary Parisian restaurant.

A new Frozen Ever After fireworks dessert party has begun at Epcot’s Norway pavilion. You can watch IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth with an unobstructed view along World Showcase Lagoon while nibbling an assortment of Frozen-themed sweet and savory treats. These are not your run-of-the-mill buffet desserts. The highlights include:

Kristoff’s Kransekake Almond Cookie

Wandering Oaken’s Eclairons

Hans’ Key Lime Tarts with Orange Glitter Glaze

Troll Rock Crispy Bon Bons

Elsa’s Blue Velvet Cupcakes

Freeze Fried Salted Caramel Popcorn

Olaf’s Warm Double Chocolate S’mores Pudding Cake

Anna’s Warm Cottage Pudding with Salted Caramel Glaze

Grand Pabbie’s Mystical Winter Spiced Snack Mix

Duke of Weselton’s Cheese Fondue—served with country bread cubes, broccoli, and grilled flatbread

“Frozen Heart´is the featured non-alcoholic beverage of the dessert party.

After the fireworks, you’ll have the opportunity to take the snowy boat ride through Arendelle on the ever-popular Frozen Ever After – with no wait.

Animal Kingdom News

The Animal Kingdom park celebrates its 20th anniversary on April 22! Disney promises fun surprises to commemorate the date. Rumors include Photopass magic shots with new Na’vi elements in Pandora. Meanwhile, the Flights of Wonder show will be updated with Russell and Dug from the Disney Pixar film UP at the Caravan Theater in Anandapur Village in the Asia section of the park.

Disney Springs News

Eight (count ‘em!) brand new food and beverage locations will open at Disney Springs in 2018. The Edison opened in the first week of January. Disney calls it an “industrial Gothic-style destination for fine food and handcrafted cocktails.” A fictional back story sets the stage for the original historic Disney Springs power plant repurposed as a trendy restaurant. Terralina Crafted Italian (replacing Portobello Country Italian Trattoria) will open near Paddlefish in The Landing. Other new locations include Maria & Enzo’s Ristorante, Enzo’s Hideaway and Pizza Ponte, Wine Bar George, Jaleo on the West Side, and Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill in Town Center.

The post What’s New at Walt Disney World in 2018? appeared first on Mouseketrips.

Source: http://www.mouseketrips.com/whats-new-walt-disney-world-2018/

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amukmuk · 3 years

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Oh you know, just a casual family photo of the boys

#wip #playing in the perception pool #nehoc #the adventures of puck and stride #coruscant guard #amukmuk draws #or tries to

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samanthasroberts · 6 years

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Hockey, weed and taxes? 11 Canadian stereotypes debunked

Canada is often pictured as a uniformly cold, multicultural, socialist paradise full of beer-swilling ice hockey fans. But a close look at the evidence reveals some very different truths good and bad about the Great White North

Its pretty easy to conjure an idea of a Canadian. As one young paramour looking to marry an American told a dating website: She must be willing to become a hockey fan and eat maple syrup and Beaver Tails in my igloo.

Theres more to the stereotype, of course. Canadas universal health care and gun-control legislation are frequently namechecked by American politicians (often disapprovingly), while the countrys adventurers have a long-standing tradition of stitching tiny Canadian flags into their backpacks.

But while some of these cliches are true Tim Hortons really does sell more of its hot brown drink (they call it coffee) than any other restaurant chain a deep dive into the actual statistics suggest that much of the countrys image is just that.

Some of the most common misconceptions about Canada include:

Canadas most popular sport by far is ice hockey

What football is to Brazil, hockey is Canada, right? Between them, the mens and womens national Canadian ice hockey teams won seven of a possible eight gold medals at the last four Winter Olympics.

But while Canadas superiority on the ice remains unchecked, the sport itself is becoming a little more niche at home. A 2014 study pegged ice hockey fourth among 3-to-17-year-old Canadians in participation numbers, behind swimming, soccer and dance. Its probably no coincidence that hockey was also ranked the second most expensive sport to play, and that multiculturalism means a generation of kids less uniformly passionate about pucks.

Meanwhile, the rest of the world is catching up to Canada when it comes to playing the sport professionally: 2015 marked the first time in 98 years when Canadians did not make up the majority of National Hockey League players.

Canadians live in the wilderness

Pierre Berton once declared: A Canadian is somebody who knows how to make love in a canoe.

But there are a few problems with this all-Canadian adage, beyond the obvious issue of tipping. For one, Berton never actually said it. For another, the image of Canadians as a wilderness-dwelling people is not borne out by research: as of 2011, a full 81% of Canadians resided in a population centre, census speak for urban area.

In fact, about 35.2%, or one in three Canadians, lives in either Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver alone.

And if you think the vast majority Canadas city-dwellers love nothing more than to race to the countryside, youd also be wrong: a 2010 poll found that only 23% of Canadians see their ideal vacation as a visit to a cottage or a lake.

Canadians are taxed to death

The status of Canada as something of a socialist darling leads many to assume that Canadians pay income tax rates at similar levels to those in, for example, France or Germany.

Not so, according to the OECDs annual Taxing Wages report. The report ranks Canada 25th out of 34 countries in terms of its tax wedge for single-income earners (a measure of the difference between labour costs to the employer and the corresponding net take-home pay of the employee). By this metric,, Canada is actually slightly below the US.

In the same report, Canada ranked 14th out of 34 in terms of income tax, based on the average national wage. When it comes to corporate taxes, too, Canada is relatively generous the headline corporate tax rate has dropped from 34% in 2007 to 26.5% in 2015, ranking Canada 61st in the world. By comparison, the US ranks fourth.

Canadians are obsessed with beer

There are few images more Canadian than beloved SCTV hosers Bob and Doug McKenzie sitting on a couch and cracking open a few bottles of Molson Canadian while complaining about US-style twist-off caps. The Beer Hunter, an all-Canadian take on Russian Roulette, has long been the nations greatest drinking game.

But while it is true that Canadians love beer they spent C$15.7bn on the stuff in 2011 an increasing number are embracing wine as their drink of choice. As a 2015 report notes, Beer sales as a share of the total sale of alcoholic beverages have been declining for several years.

In 2004/2005, the report continued, beer had a market share of 49% in terms of dollar value, while wine had a market share of 25%. By 2013/2014, the market share for beer had declined to 42%, while wine was up to 31%.

Canada is a haven for pot smokers

Since snowboarder Ross Rebagliati went on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno in 1998 to celebrate the return of his Olympic gold medal after it had been stripped from him because of THC in his blood, Canada has garnered a reputation as weed-smoking haven. The 2001 ruling of an Ontario court that prohibiting the medical use of marijuana was unconstitutional did little to shake that impression.

But although Justin Trudeaus Liberal government promised to table legislation to legalise marijuana in 2017, Canadas medical community and popular opinion are divided on the question, and there are diplomatic hurdles still to clear. Even if weed is eventually made legal, it will likely be sold in set quantities, possibly from government stores, and subject to significant taxes. In fact, the North American nation that has made the biggest strides in legalising pot has been the supposedly drug-averse US.

Canadian hospital wait times are so bad they flee to the US for care

During the 9 October presidential debate, Donald Trump raised some ire north of the border when he referred to Canadian healthcare as catastrophic. Said the now-president-elect: Youve noticed the Canadians. When they need a big operation, they come into the US in many cases, because their system is so slow.

As ever, Trump is manipulating the truth. Canadians do endure long wait times for specialised treatment, and as of 2014 Canada ranked last among 11 OECD countries in terms of how quickly patients can get an appointment with their family doctor.

However, Canadians arent flocking en masse to the US in response. A Fraser Institute report revealed that in 2015 just 1% of Canadians who needed specialised medical treatment sought that treatment in the US.

Canada is a major exporter of comedy stars

Dan Aykroyd, Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Catherine OHara, Lorne Michaels, Jim Carrey, Mike Myers, Dave Foley. All are Canadians who made it big in America and all are over 50. Whereas comedians were once regularly discovered on shows such as Saturday Night Live, SCTV and Kids in the Hall, the well has been drying up: the success of Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel and Ryan Reynolds is heartening, but Canada is no longer the comedy source it once was.

Though tightened screening at the US border may be partly to blame, the changing way in which we consume comedy bite-sized clips shared online, from acts such as Picnicface and Baronness Von Sketch Show also plays a role. The old model of a breakout US/Canadian TV sketch comedy may no longer exist, says Toronto Second Citys Etan Muskat: The CBC is trying to have breakout mainstream comedic success, following a model that doesnt compute.

Canada is a frigid wasteland

Canada is cold, eh? It has an average daily temperature of -5.6C, making it one of the chilliest countries on earth. But the idea of an average Canadian daily temperature is meaningless. Not only does it combine cities like Regina and St Johns thousands of miles apart, in entirely different climates but it doesnt capture range.

Canadas summer highs are in fact often equal to, or higher than, other major cities in Europe and the US. Winnipeg, for example, which suffers average annual winter highs of -12.7, has a summer average high of 25.8, higher than Paris and Los Angeles.

Canada also has a rich summer culture of cabin or cottage-going to rival the Scandinavians and the dacha-loving Russians. If anything, the brutal winters make Canadians appreciate the summer months more.

Canadas economy is driven by natural resources

Though Canada is the biggest exporter of crude oil to the US and the highest exporter of forestry products relative to imports, the forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil and gas industries collectively employ only 355,000 Canadians, or 2% of the workforce.

In fact, Canadas services sector dwarfs the goods-producing sector by almost four to one. And the third-biggest service employer after retail and healthcare/social services is professional, scientific and technical services, including tech startups like Shopify, Hootsuite and Freshbooks. In 2015, Canadas tech companies produced $117bn or 7.1% of Canadas economic output, greater than that of the finance and insurance industry. As Mike McDerment, CEO of Freshbooks, notes: Its our observation that the economy is being restructured away from resource economy to services and tech.

Canada is a Scandinavian-style social democracy

Though Canada enjoys a strong healthcare system and is consistently ranked among the most livable countries on earth, many assume it is a thriving social democracy in the style of Sweden or Denmark. Not exactly.

Canadian bachelors students pay the joint 2nd highest tuition fees of OECD countries, alongside Japanese and Korean students. Canada also has the 7th highest child poverty rate in the OECD, and, as of 2013, was last in spending on early childhood education and is among the most expensive countries on earth when it comes to childcare costs.

Meanwhile Canadas rich-poor gap is slightly bigger than the OECD average, and the World Economic Forum put Canada in 30th place globally two spots below the US in gender equality measures.

Canada is diverse from coast to coast

The Economist recently pointed out that Canada is a world leader in immigration, both in acceptance and integration, a result of 1971 legislation enshrining multiculturalism. However, most of the resulting diversity is limited to Canadas big cities. Of Canadas 6.8 millions immigrants in 2011, 91% lived in one of Canadas 33 census metropolitan areas (CMAs) Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver compared with 63.3% of people who were born in Canada.

Across the country, skilled immigrants struggle with significant barriers to finding work, such as language and requirements for Canadian experience. In Vancouver and Toronto, many immigrants are increasingly living in inner suburban enclaves, with less access to public transport. At least one geographer, Zach Taylor, argues the isolation and resentment these enclaves can cause helped fuel the populist rise of Toronto mayor Rob Ford.

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Source: http://allofbeer.com/hockey-weed-and-taxes-11-canadian-stereotypes-debunked/

from All of Beer https://allofbeer.wordpress.com/2017/12/31/hockey-weed-and-taxes-11-canadian-stereotypes-debunked/

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amikshop · 7 years

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Custom Toronto Blue Jays iron on sticker time period six changing seasons

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circle111e-blog · 7 years

Text

Hockey, weed and taxes? 11 Canadian stereotypes debunked

Some of the most common misconceptions about Canada include:

Canadas most popular sport by far is ice hockey

What football is to Brazil, hockey is Canada, right? Between them, the mens and womens national Canadian ice hockey teams won seven of a possible eight gold medals at the last four Winter Olympics.

Canadians live in the wilderness

Pierre Berton once declared: A Canadian is somebody who knows how to make love in a canoe.

In fact, about 35.2%, or one in three Canadians, lives in either Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver alone.

Canadians are taxed to death

The status of Canada as something of a socialist darling leads many to assume that Canadians pay income tax rates at similar levels to those in, for example, France or Germany.

Canadians are obsessed with beer

Canada is a haven for pot smokers

Canadian hospital wait times are so bad they flee to the US for care

Canada is a major exporter of comedy stars

Canada is a frigid wasteland

Canadas economy is driven by natural resources

Canada is a Scandinavian-style social democracy

Meanwhile Canadas rich-poor gap is slightly bigger than the OECD average, and the World Economic Forum put Canada in 30th place globally two spots below the US in gender equality measures.

0 notes

circle111g-blog · 7 years

Text

Hockey, weed and taxes? 11 Canadian stereotypes debunked

Some of the most common misconceptions about Canada include:

Canadas most popular sport by far is ice hockey

What football is to Brazil, hockey is Canada, right? Between them, the mens and womens national Canadian ice hockey teams won seven of a possible eight gold medals at the last four Winter Olympics.

Canadians live in the wilderness

Pierre Berton once declared: A Canadian is somebody who knows how to make love in a canoe.

In fact, about 35.2%, or one in three Canadians, lives in either Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver alone.

Canadians are taxed to death

The status of Canada as something of a socialist darling leads many to assume that Canadians pay income tax rates at similar levels to those in, for example, France or Germany.

Canadians are obsessed with beer

Canada is a haven for pot smokers

Canadian hospital wait times are so bad they flee to the US for care

Canada is a major exporter of comedy stars

Canada is a frigid wasteland

Canadas economy is driven by natural resources

Canada is a Scandinavian-style social democracy

Meanwhile Canadas rich-poor gap is slightly bigger than the OECD average, and the World Economic Forum put Canada in 30th place globally two spots below the US in gender equality measures.

0 notes