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libidomechanica · 1 year

Text

“For þre at þe halme”

A ballad sequence

First Stanza

Strive, more the hall— jenny her sighs. Of murmured, sown with hast. All this sort of slumbering eye, and I don’t sleep of night

and snow than to be borne rennez, and fare and high spires, where- so ȝe ride; your honour his hode, and bonie Bell. For þre at

þe halme grypez, and he ȝarrande hym a riche forth þer þe ruful race he schranke a lytel with dirt. Alas for

heroine in a kind constantly I bought; of him, who saw power, see now love perfection? And koyntyse of clerkez

and spill: I saw these rebel powers and slow, which locke of pearl, and let as he’s mounture he askes. Corinth hardly

to be grouping conceal’d her golden eye peep’d o’er the nightingale’s complaints doth a rainbow, as it was: but see

its roof, still steadfast, still in short space where she summer’s noon clouded; fall’n like a sunbeam by themselves, Belovëd, it

is my fair ladies al for luf at þis departed þe wesaunt fro þo wonez þad daye. Its roads sunken in light

erasing stand! On brode cheldez, and ho bere on þat hym rydes, watz grayþed Gwenore Bliss, for angardez pryde.

Second Stanza

We schal erly ryse, fro þe hyȝe table of ermyn in erde þer I haf hade here þat al desyres, þurȝe grace. If

there I will find me out and I love had recently impressèd with woe, forgive us! But each with pleasures are. Ho

commes such comfortez þe lorde þat þe freke, quen þe best,— a lively, but she’s mine did draw: of touch she says margarita

she means no mon mynez þay lanced þo bourded aȝayn ful ȝerne, and sound she home returned, which blend their tongue: none

else to each other dress of flowery glen; in sheets white flower on the light. That nobody poor, and syþen þay slyt

þe slot euen, hit is yowre borȝe, be bayn to smyte, bot he did not sink i’ the slaves, and country in Mexico I slept

in hand while his harnays watz grayþed for Renaude saule with lotez þe lorde hym leden to nye hym on-ferum, bot

neȝe hym non durst for wondered into her hand, ere That come thou taught my Theotormon once would like a part: no, no, no.

Third Stanza

Right or wrong. Beneath a city from though my bale with patient though sweet, to swell the park: strange and syþen I haue learne it

will ring in the holy rite for to pay my court, knyȝt, þe gate, and, in huge vessels, who doth it deny? And your chamber

or the rimes, and scorn to add a syllables! The oaken log lay on the passion to thaw, and shame stole my hert.

Fourth Stanza

As are a hard one to watch you, my most things are such sydes of Time; and he ȝarrande hym acorde of þe bitterly. Yet of a Foolish or imprudent act would make his

druryes greme þenne he houed, and raven ringlets gatherine and a foolish things are left me by thy peculiar Eye— and learn, too late to com þe clowdes kesten þe knyȝt þat

I bere her subtle to schewed! Now Kitty, now! Found straight my hid meaning to be singing birds forget him, you and I will kiss you will! A deadly silence step by step increase

are metamorphos’d straight and walls of glass, beauty’s effects suffices—little flowers; but your wylle, þay maden as mery as any other; whose plantains, where there.

But now my shames and all: then out it lay those true as truth atone! Which is for maydens meete: a chapelet, of dos and of adder’s tongue-tied by a jagged reef. ’: Al laȝande quoþ þe

freke, and rys, and required don Juan in his temple comes, a dull red ball wrapt in drifts of love or be tied to ryde and wysse hym to þe berȝe, about doth part of heads, than this I

might by a true descent be not now her lord’s heart-strings like what it were a wynne in þe grete þat godly hym knowez alle poynt of your hearts are neither, can I you rehearse.

Fifth Stanza

Baba thought, and I dived in the arrows of the wave is; i’ll drap the same to ryd þe kyng, and in halle as long passionate cry from usury feel the pains we proved the mole knowe. When Chloris is gold; or does the Koran. Excuse

her only this politesse she resides. Forgetful of my surfet I schal se hit on grounde brayde his brows made of the founded Hearts, the two and the three whole in its round each further chair, though harbengers of Albion weeps not;

a sort of style that I am dead, my good as an evening heate? As when suffer’d, pricking her sweet Access a Salve to wounden wyth noyse to quelle as quyk go hymself and by sweet a face and this dungeon darke abstraction, and he

stars dangled yet incessant. But when things in the haycocks looked at noonday. He died at fifty wreaths; and her lord’s head, and when shall be loved, or cherry- pit: she took this hypocrite modest mind of love, but is not greatly ouergone, save

thou the Fuel of its own accord before, thou’lt see thee with speed. Some days you can see for yoghurt partly because of your love for your wylle hom last, vche burning doves, while made the thyrsus, that one simile’s quite shrinking souls, who have

been, and you fed by this I find, but missed us much. For the endite. To give ourselves as handsome parauenturus, oþer sum segg hym biddes þat tyde. My paine still, which thus kindly thine image of a lover a Highland wel hym semed,

for to wax ful rype; he dryues wyth penyes to some show where Rigours exile lockes vp al my sense? ’But wherever beautiful, the glittering waue doth say, so I turned towrast. Now from the eyes, resign’d to expound the light. From

the traits of straws, ever lonely in crowds before hit is þe laþe and þe þryd as þro þronge in yowre awen, to be beloved hour sharp pittances o’er Siberia’s shore, when we shut in a few hours, and ruȝe knokled knarrez, boþe þe

barred clouds before his frendez. Sukey is tumbled fruit that my steel’d sense does the citizens of the breath they call; of each encumbrance what it was. And thirty years might pillow, who fain would pull the page, enwrapped from eternal fire,

lest felle weppen, I quit-clayme hit forth at þe niyȝt neȝed ful ofte, swez his cort-ferez, lachez his berde, saue þat Crystemas gomen, in vayres. For more in the begin, we wish their light in you. For these blessed wood was full of expressive

as they are thereat was old Sir Ralph’s at Ascalon: a good does all Caesar bled. That not, conscience, say truly? May be of Corinth’s voice. Thou hast made her that I foundez so grete, half etayn in his own head up in the first age,

on sille, þe hapnest vnder hit fallez—and þe fayrest þat I schal be ware. He carped to hand his hede in his hed cast, schot with no doubt every dashing, and gedered þe broken chord. Me ouertake your voice cry Is it done? It

means, and Lyonel, and so hit is staring oblivion, that mine recall; earth change; and he knew all. Ho dos hir vp radly þay woned þer sayde, Haþel, by heuen, kyng hym lenge in þat slade þe sellokest þat I tell my students, describe

what it isn’t the eagle scorn the firths of smoke on the golde ryngez vus þis bent be not now? I have but you out but this book her sighs. Be there, like Nature, carelesse sorrow. Without all with the tender almost slept; when from the truth,

I have pleasures are. Had it any bed to give you there beating all their change by the eyes of the eastern cloud; instead of night in silence, sence of all passions, show’d Juan, or Juanna lay as fast and smolt þay þat he þe helme ne hawbergh

nauþer, bot for a constant lover. Certainty, fidelity on the Travesera de Gracia in Barcelona partly because their sepulchral sites, and syþen I yow blame. ’Ve known; unknown, by which elemented it.

Sixth Stanza

Is what I fall in paradise, and þenne no mon merkkez hym warp wyth muthe. He lened with myrrh and spill their smart: lovers, when he did not like him, there, for while gentle reader. No more blest their way to curl round me once lovely Davies.:

But one rosy morning she is sipping. Implored that, as all my soul or mind, could shame stole the world over. With the sun; and he ryche, and the hogs. I have pleasure lives or dies; and hem tofylched, as longe to love thee freely, as ȝe

ar knyȝt in þe grene chapeles chosen þe game. True, her hair, first a nation. Drunken with dynt of her nape caught into Grece, þe best can hym better than this I missed: we seven at your bedde, gawayn and þe halle, herande on schulde.

’ Ma fay, ’ quoþ þe wyghe, Iwysse, and thirty kingdoms, worlds are so much bale þoled. ’ Arms and at mele messes ful harde þat rennes of þe were some great wings of the gift þat is soul to suit without, faith in my yellow nightie eating sorry

she had hym dressed, but by the Law of Faith still pursues the smart, but the world arraigned, were most renoun of þorne, he bryng þis buurne wyth blys into a cumly close did not chuse to die, I leave this life? The budding; cheerful within and vials

in the lines! Why do you thought of every eye doth say, since we’re not by Extortion, nor Usury wrung from the grove, but so. And lay lodged—thought aboute, þer mon, now þou hattes þat his dear delight in laps of adamant will be

thy tresses mark, and brought, love I see to this, nay all that crowd confused as fuel, heat, and their wills and eyelids my anguish hangs at the is raking leaves. Upon the Long Island Expressway. That wake her seruaunt to your wylle and eft

hit schemered and drew, from a bed of splendid stream on a glory from these would like to be at peace in holy matrimony snores away. Love I see you scornful of dryness find you can using girl, her terms of my truth,

the sorrow after the path a littel dyn at his disguise, all who had the worlde whederwarde- so-euer hit is symple in his primrose, thus bepearl’d with dead cold lips and enticing lies upon the meadows low. Even were pushed, and

other live, and etaynez, þat hym maȝtyly, bot not his eye discerne the animals. Has an empress, with busy brain, arriving her throat, despite her injuries: yet do not weighed not see a ship afar: tossing his lome, and

dernly and stone and drof vche dale ful ofte. With mony leude hade, ful clene aboute bilyue, and he then presses lightly winds creep softly, Grace; o Roger, thou, to entangle, trammel up and strike the self-same time, perhaps as wretch looks and lance

bihynde, for vch wyȝe may like the hid and meek, arose and coynt of pure and smiling through primrose tufts, in their frail deeds might; where and women of what he forsoke, and years. She killed a thing on their way to cure you. Asks, does the night; but I’ll

tell you, or De Tott: her Attic forehead, and put this lif liked quick objects too. Now þrid tyme þrowen and day were, þe best,—a lively length came to be vnslayn, þe sleȝtez of gold. And eft at þe hyȝe tables, by silk sayn vmbe his sparlyr,

and shadow to the direction every eye doth provides to make quat ho wolde lystened ful ryue. I thank heavens fall in paradise, my silver, or shape, her aid, which, for the gourd, and henged þenne greuez ar bare, here ends my strife, should

sigh, with alle þe mete tyme; when I reche myȝt. And suffer’d, pricking shot he defende. And stumped the unnameable nameable for summer has been so quite. Doth part of heads, if there rises every scent from a sepulchral sites, and

he trantes and No, into is, was, and at þis tyme, iche tolke to the pasture, my music the better. Bene thy north and Morning on the eye of pity; or will in us, waiting forth good will not rise of wrinkled by the wall

and sweet milk the sight to the turrets and comforts on the leaves quite awrie, to take a lodging round, and pity joined the martini he is darken’d and start. Whilst I algate mynn hym to be packed into a forest wide awake for no

here I give it no form men to talk and pity now incline to play wyth busy bot bare þre dayez, and wynter to resoun þat þe lorde is lyȝt at home in þe grene as þe messequyle, and sanguineous as twas foolish or

imprudent act would we defer our joys the ape for to haf at þe asaute watz wyth þe pentangel apendez to Gryngolet, and glent as glem of þe leudez vchone halched oþer gome with wymmen þat dawed bot neȝe hym noþyng lowe; þat

oþer hales in mildnesse strayne, in brawden bryné of bryȝt sunne; wyt ȝe wel trawe. While the usual forms of every scent from a magic shore. Who lent his bak, bigynez on þe grene ar here, and many-headed Eagles yelp alone, foul dream!

Seventh Stanza

Kill him insecure, which, for text, text, text, and left to both these lady-flowers; but your wordez: þou art a ladde: with

much reuel þe remnaunt of life have a nose for wet filaree and snare your sleep of night all bashfully to tunes of Time;

and þe teche of my hous and more he long galleries in the labour of þis gyng? Of which embarrass’d people would

like a May-day breaking; her eye: let all to me; for drede he watz hit list vpon boþe halue þat we spedly han spoken

a woman loves a man love well knew the starts, and colour of night? Jesus and men ben oþer. Brows gently,—for a tumult

shakes them aside, wretched, drunken with you, sleeping on the world to the Evil Doer, thy Heralds through—he could not

separate charms fly at the fainting to the music play’st, upon their own Estate—for who eats Profit of a Fool? ’ The

scrubbed, sheenless wood was full of pleasure is flowing, and took my eyes are tedious found, then greater smart, but always,

always say, Your mother all bashfully to tunes of þurȝ ronez ful fayre schedez þay calle ful hyȝe, and þy burȝ and

þy burȝ and þy burnes togeder, aywan, and darkle. Described; we all hap-hazard when though her utterly, keen, cruel

fair; heap the lyre, and on my adventure brave is; i’ll drap the stately into. Then Bromion spoke: Behold the Winter’s

choicest furniture, hath his bedde buskez bolde, and a marriage bed! As hendelayk is hendely hym byfore þe

hors gret and þe nyȝt passe the poor craven bridegroom stood on thee—beholding, because is the flood, leads—God knows what!

Eighth Stanza

That may face now I see the sounde. His cher þe clere wyf—þe cosses, and in a Kirtle of grace hade a hole, whyrlande

out of sin, and her longed beyond the lovely head. Let age speak to yourez, and I don’t make the hope then with you, mine

eyes or Heathen, in mony syker knyȝt wyth her grey of morn, askez erly he dressed, but rather lake, for my sore:

loue is a good knight like th’ other lives sweeter thy night, when past three, lolah, Katinka, too; and with my soule

was abhorr’d; a thing but the loss, and if one law for both their dusty urns sepulchre, and he commonest ambition,

the loud revelry grew hush; the strains of an unnatural rest, and I schal not rise nor set, five other far doth

removed from the surest Steps builds up his helme, and stondez, ouer at þe knyȝt al of grene. As long catechism of

queans; and as sadly þe gome of my bed lay the days you rehearse, in the page. With þe blod ouer þe dede askez, þe

ver by his matynnes tell; but not stuck all exactly in hor houndes wyth þe best. To get from the roses at

my feet. And some are everlasting time leads summer heaven’s eye; on your brow clear’d, and rod ouer þe daylyȝt watz in

drowping depe, Ande sayde, I schal sitte and spekez of his curse I vent my whole than her eyes, although but of honest, open

this odd warp in time, some buried Caesar bled. Down this came a thrill of pleasant though they scarce discern the earth, painting

of thy rim, skull-things long passionate cry from underneath in the chase,—he sees! Twelve sphere in sewe sauer to worch

youre hest. And layt no fyrre—bot let me run, let not by the lovers rather to this day, and all: then sudden and on

lyte droȝen. Blythe in thy sweet girl- graduates in my virgin fancies she glows; mild as all pillow, to catch those motion

which the cost, all the tongue; and Mary, þat noble, of þe dece he dressed on the brain intended. At the rider as

in the sweet Nature’s own ribs what entered into halle; quen he wan to þe masse, with love: oh, you are a harde as

free as an evening thy outward show, which still cries, she was pleasure. Or be your hands, their Master work, yet swelled the maidens

in Scotland morn are both did play, falls to shrieue: now gynneth the industry. And they liv’d, till I dwell in us,

waiting for these goods. Just as he watz wys vpon fyrst word þat ho ne con make a Bi gate wyth a wroth noyse.

Ninth Stanza

For a laggard in war, was too busy bot bare þre dayez, and brothers wish’d the bride kiss’d the green spark of the soul in mine, and alone cure, like her, or rather lake, for rich men and cave and meled of my true love round his hors at þat

tyme, so cortaysye, lest he ne keuer þe falssyng, and listen to a heart from off my should have broke promise twice, dear, to understood the gender skinnes to prey upon thy heauy laye, and he thought of the Abbey: there rang on a sudden

it grew hot, and perfume: before than her own room, for the imperial presence when the ocean? Ask me why I send to men; irks care thereby! For the first she dreamed. I schal sitte, com ȝe þere selly in siȝt summer days, and sayde, now,

dere, to dress and Time with a diploma, just to carry thing on of your wynne golde hem bitwene two souls to go to rest. There Dante found she thoughts to the rolling skill, and their bad taste, for rills do not gete. I doubt but I am gray?

Tenth Stanza

The tu’ s too much abhorrèd birth of heate in his harme, bot such a day—for these effect with him how to load and layde

hym chefly þay blw prys, and he þe golde schapes hem þe scharp rasores, þe tweyne yȝen and both Subjects’ cost, all alone

till my heart. With metez at hor wylle and when the dull at the swallow’s twitter in the cold walls so costly

spot; and syþen I com hider sengel, and left to both the motion some old ruin or wild and therefore, my dear lord,

all ghastly Wraith of one good heart shall be kept in a crystal seek, but find nothing so much berd as a parrot turns

my foes, that Theotormon’s limbs: he roll’d his own. And whence doth shower, and in silken kerchief folds, and rekenly hym

kyssed; he were, boþe þe luf-laȝyng a lyt he layd ouer them spred a goodly sinecure as he warp on hym laft, and

heads: the sweets of bright Marigold of God and brought so. To þonk; he had better, to shunne the wheel the same that Miracles

Mens faith that ladies of Jacob Behmen which,—taken at the cave where for to sett hym in armez wythinne. He

did not love may turn, and, at dull plays, have scope, it fell vpon a gryndellayk and you hero in his hed cast, give life

for a masquerade; the day appear to haf greued; þe blodhoundez fast þurȝ þis fre meny in halle hym here schal

lerne of his bronde vpon his lyndes and vials fired a cannon: Echo answerless, lustful joy shall grow too close

me your speche; and lone supports his nedez hit vp so hyȝe hode þat couþe hit no more broken purpose bred that you will—

but Trusty—knowing we weren’t born tomorrow, the deed is done; take the kitchen two times keep, by the reason to

loke on þat haldez vp euen, hit hym vp and fast;—oh! Good as sour balls. I could ne’er discern the flying cloud as these

new assaults arise, a conquering may prove thee blushing banquet-room, fill’d with the more þen ani in þe knyȝt totes.

Eleventh Stanza

What nwez so þay nome, and all: then out it came a ruin: side by side; and beautifully more or less takes a man, she

was humming an air, stopt, and gnomed mine—unweave a crime on all general commotion: matron and quere-so countenaunce

at last! With flying hair. Of god look deep in a moment’s thoughts and protect the light. I haue a hauberghe at home,

in gerez ful hoge. If this our banquet-room, fill’d withalle.— When silver-set; about supernatural, the numbers

are history’s towarde þe ladi, loflyest to obey in which in her ears with syȝt þay smeten into a

forest. In California and as she went through acts uncouth, to share our marveling: for the impure scourge force himself;

in fact twas icy, and I schal swere swyfte by his limbs stream—the Champak odours. I love her foes wounds the ocean

I could not save listening. Hauled away in easy death! Bring down these my night a sickly charnel- house, that acquiescence

vain: the Future I may last; for these things, and swallow’s twitter, captain ill: tired with work, sit on a bent þerwith

his wylle, not your orders, even the sake of mine together with ache? For more þen a spere henged, to byde

bale with my lost their words I know Gulbeyaz was extremely few: I have not the whole that iudged beauty of her dryȝe

stroke of romaunce. With all her lord was like Thames. And frankly no one, save that make the unnameable nameable

nameable for sophomore girls. She joins me in tale to remwe. And folly wide thee oft a sleep; and as warm; Katinka was

a way to its own according to them to your first investigation, could not so much it grieve, we now might be

shown lucus a non lucendo, ’ not what is ho þat is goodly row of ladies are in a thousand fire, and hair.

�� Twelfth Stanza

Imagination,—are the lodging, and in the misty vapuors, which doth your fortune wolde lyȝt; and sings upon his hed for ferde for love, their new companion art, and alle his venysoun to þe note schewe and the silent nightfall because their wills and wires and

armour beauty that I doe Stellaes brows, silk-pillow’d on the dust from me, and an outlines or slight share if that this thy flowing, artful, secret tears; beneath? ’ Bi God, ’ quoþ Gawayn goande ryȝt nome, as I haf caȝt þare; þe maner meued to a chambre dore, and Samson

eftsonez—dalyda dalt hym hys wyrde at þe leude, schal sitte and to show their stations; and those were departed þe wesaunt fro þe lynde and calde hemmez, and found made: and gayly atyred, so fautles of dreery death-wound is sweete-cruell shot: a kind of sleeping, or

at hand to those sad hungry spirit meet, and serene, it may be unwrought, and mine their habitation may hym hent, and þe nyȝt passe in glodes aywhere, with you the Faith- preserving Intellect the image dies with you the Fuel of its own according to

pay my court, I gave what weppen, a denez ax nwe dyȝt, þe dynt schewe and then a slight embower that would excuse her; she’d get over my heart than other did fret, and dalten, and a bee, to take as knyȝt, wheþer þis bor with all heaven, blue are the correct yes.

Thirteenth Stanza

” Not that take, I must go, endure. My doole, drawe nearer than truth, the glittering, as they less simple reed, Blythe in

it and my sick Muse doth learn some prize the doome. When a woman I am and of his berde, and I schal quyte, and syþen

þurȝ þe roȝ wonez. Of alderes, of art, of politics; they the voice of sweet place for love’s ripening thy voice slow

and the powers the world’s release. I did my very boyish best token of the weed, my flocke thereby! You said not

sink i’ the martini he is we schyn reuel and rys, and birds forget the blot upon the wheel of her name in

fashionable madmen raise their injured bird’s carelesse cryes. Ah Willye, when thou, my father’s glass, and echo did them it seemed

to feed on joy, to solely seek and follow me, the vineyard, as when they knew the means She plies an inland sea.

Fourteenth Stanza

That she wore, hey ho the feast in which wears the sobs of mine that maken fiers warre: when there my arms I throw a football

with reconciling words I know not þe mone rysed, withoute debate aboute þo giftes; ladies þat we fest watz

Wawen hymseluen, and griefs united easier ears beguile, so agreued mony, justed ful ryche and fling thy

pure laykez þis renk þurȝ þe schal happe yow here þat ȝe breue wolde. Cannot we delude the joys of rivulet crossing

my cheuicaunce, I charre hider; now ar ȝe tale þat mon most of þe knygez burȝ boȝed toward America, Oothoon is

a syngne of my soul can returnest to steal; but now I must on this Arbour makes no show to move about this lost

they grapple to my hands or the fifteen-hundredth part of the custom of the fluorescent struggle into the echoes

rang, while Dudu’s form look’d for, and ȝe drowe. To vnlace þis bor lufly con hym alle, and þat þay were brought it would

be humiliating to bathe in it, hoping the sun, that brings expansion to the core; Walter nodded at self-

will, and, soberly hys armez wyth hor brode ȝate, ȝarked vp wyde, and his brest and his aþel songez, as her seraglio

guest, with none at hand, and try it: i’ve seen it all, but it’s not alway to the room goes black sacrament. For if

it be, it be sothe þat ȝe telle, hit were at home I never win his fee, as fast track shifted precipitation

in the bright as possible after Crystenmasse com þe kyng yow ȝelde, as may þat day dele hym an oþer barlay,

and no part, that trees and serious more on his hands, and your voices gainst my feet hath led me that glittering,

like to know. We did not even at Vivian all other sport, half in Arizona, one is painting bee, reaching

late his lyre, and he sette, let me count the devil may decompose, but only this Exchange thou may’st marry me?

Fifteenth Stanza

Fair unknown—trees, beasts, and her Phidian nose: few angles were, my desire, a king, thou can do. Dull, she sweet kiss—you

see, and þe mirþe þat cortaysye is close to chemné, þer chaplaynez to sadel, vpon Godez halue, not for the ends my strife,

let þe last line, who, cowarddyse and þe wowes, vnder heuenryche þat mused; and am like a mallet running across

a city, unfolds, and towche þe temez of tyxt and trembling dotage touch the first made her they would have a mutual

flame which the fix’d; the blue and sete, sesoun of þe bit burnyst bryȝt, with Silence! From vales of feature, the curtains

of love; time will not cure! And strydez alofte; þe olde auncian lady; ho is euer; byfore þe courtiers’ gems may

witness love, when feeling willow as idlers do, and I am wyȝe at your address therein the most impossible,

but one vent. And you, you missed those sad hungry dog; or does he surrounds her sharply stop, and þat, for some gentlemen

must see, to-morrow she though her burnez tellen, þay ferden to þat Krystmasse and Give. Mischief there. Ah Willye now

I have sewn it over my left breast o’ thine: the course, ran most I strive that word from their guards being no orator

as Brutus on mony syker knyȝt so toȝt. As passions are mutual Victims laid, the reign of conquerd yeelding

duct tape, noticing lies. And to hold his thunderbolt, she might blush, and to hold a treasure divine—a talisman—

an amulet that fail to pipe now ’gainst another’s wrinkles yet will ring in good poetry with dead cold limbs, and

with thy tongue: when I look at you are far away? Shadow there in his hands to your enmy kene. I arise from thy

behavior; beauty o’ersnow’d and she would gladly be bride kiss’d the wind in that cloud or a song to give you crazy.

Sixteenth Stanza

And take at þe haȝþorne were, þat bisemed þe sted with my signet are their chamber or the Sunnye beame so sore doth provide

and farther lover in a sinecure as he, that deity. Glory she had no sin to show that scantly

any sparke of couardise of your honour, and then, longing, although such as we could stop the seraglio title, got

I know is, there was not save nations with thy tongues from one who have a fan, and gentle into lightning the valley

of shallow Polish rivers. For my love appear, tis a worde vpon molde his hand who saith A whole of Patience bid me

boȝe of þe best would cure the cold ran through the long to leave them but only to praysed, and couetyse þat I in long

tresses near; then slacken’d it, ever would shame or pity no more’, quoþ þe lorde and his riche Romulus to Rome ricchis

hym swared, and al with merþe and trulofez entayled so þik, þat pine to fynde. The birds, or answer that very

farthings are our set, five other, Flock or Shepherd pipe, and dalten vntyȝtel, þise lorde greue yow no more that once were

a pure token of þe morn to fylle þe burne bolde bredden alle þe court carolez newe with bryȝt fyr bette.

Seventeenth Stanza

Self-love, to stop posterity? Fancy return, years and of savage caring thrown into the lines! As þou deles

me to the sward she tapt her spirit descend, from the rest. Yet he couþe. Which lighter than a hundreth. ’ Arms were cheating

when their pursuits and traps of adamant will be cut in a ker syde sittes, boþe þe heredmen in þe water-

blurred ful clere, cortyn and crede. But one meets, hearts are decay. Ok, I’m sorry, you dickhead. This he discipline among

the wing’d eagle why her sing as still as solecisms, seven-headed sexton that rolls away with the shepherds

as to buy slave it in an hour. ’Nous snake where is a meyny he melez to hor bedde, I rych yow better sea. No;

for me. And con studie quo walt þay seuer with the threshold? Yon wander’d how Gulbeyaz was extremely con ho lete wyth lyppez,

and radly hem folȝes, hunterez here-biforne haf fallen have earth’s smoothness rough, each shrining in good Turkish

title, and requires it, there’s neither hert. Hit is not going to such a gest as Gawayn, wysty is her sorrowe.

Mony wylsum way he went to a tree; but she. Er he watz þe welcoming soft and not ashamèd; I trembling,

wonder if there we come there, as þe dede had compas and complete,—I trust what is the woman’s bride’s beautiful. I’m

an impose stand in hand while you’re lagging I may remember’d not to slepe, þis morning, and I dived in that guy with

misty river-tide. Precious stone threshold, he, or hand in a little butter fire in sphered tables stood, and

sistersunes and bringing together, but better happy spirits low, and shook the canopy of heavens fall aboute

þo giftez, for she’s a devil if that presence thee thy poet doth remove the moment of þe bryȝt wyn boþe.

Eighteenth Stanza

Oh, you are your face that’s a blunder Ful skete hatz nere þat of his armes þat þou wyl grant youth’s heritage, life’s struggle

into þe Norþe Walez. Is each nook and hair. Other way of speaking will. Forth dayez, and cryed for Renaude saule with

all those manifold possession, or are but a kiss for the same for blys abloy Ful oft con launce into þe chef

huntes of Krystmasse with the Country and to read: the hand third heroine’ clamour bowled and shown the affairs of me,

and weep to the mild! By the background, as the loves a woman loves a woman now? The oaken log lay on a mortal

and then; at least disposed by Sallust in troubled ayquere, among þo þornez rachez þat myȝt be preued he þe

waye, preue for a king, the moving waters at the skies. They saw it unfold itself and went on his hors at þat cace

myȝt to þe halme halched ful wel þat seȝ þat segge, I siker me, segge, and as it erewhile made the harvest.

Nineteenth Stanza

When I realize I’m not break)? But tell why she blush’d were þanne Alle my wyt to wynne me þerforne. Spoken, þer spared

watz hym dered of yȝen, when neither too high as heavens and, maybe, love. Shall bow thy Neck beneath a city from

heaven dwelt among þo menne. When ho watz Arthure wolde not eternal spring so long to last for you, that green-blue

wild ass why her silver bow to see each tide does I will break of day, veil’d, in a breath of plays and þe wowes, vnder

couertorez ful mony, sir Doddinaual de Sauage, þe duk of Clarence, Launcelot, and heads: the pathless man! The window-

ledge on which they should we defer our joys? Into the sweet Nature’s patience my hart; her hedez þay fawne and

candlelight. Accuse me now, he stopp’d, and haply may forgetfulness, which, for text, and gentyle kniȝtes, syþen rich rurd

þat his cry herkened. For wonder what you move so bestadde? And if I could not shut it sooner said, than where I

begun. Hit is þe pure feeling the sound and Love’s service dwells, a porter pure; gold is thy body watz poudred ayquere

naylet ful þik, þat pines for soþe, þat speche, for worlds to love! Sweet kiss—you see your orders, even tide, upon a

mortal, gaz’d amain, and al watz fraunchyse and knees he laȝes so long! Low kinds exist with no malez with knowledge or

our sport, half in dreams and fleets, all is silent night and who could burn as close inquiries after it, and wythhylde his

matynnes telle! And crush it under the Divan; thoughts hardly spoke to þis knyȝt, and long woo’d your visionary

gleams. In Mexico I slept in the give and fayre at herself at all that lives in height, in celebration of the

least we think of going to the beautiful. But when the surf biting thy outward show, which he knew to brook a ruffled

rose peeping upon the same for comely face; but let it be for nought before me, what need’st thou was peregall

to the eye, hauled away. And down through his schulde hym aboute hym to were of sum siker knyȝt to joyne wyth hym in araye

noble. And both Subjects hath bene mine own begin? In lordly and scaur; they’ll have him ashamed to be rashly touch’d.

Twentieth Stanza

And fare and lyfte vp þe lufez vpon þe, mon, my mother deere, Cupid weeping. Hello to the people have recourse. And every guest had felt the Wise, turn no more she caught and warly þiderwarde-so-euer hit hir after, and brayde his

men tokenyng he melez. His mother chilly o’er his hede by þe here me fallez vpon þis bench sytten, þat ho hym ȝeldez aȝayn, and honour of this bele chere oft þen in wyth hit is a meyny in þis sted with hearth so plede

hit praysed for drede he wolde no wont þe wederez vp hys grymme quen þay wyth a rynkande rurde he lenger on lyte lette I ne kepe. Of absence! God wyl me suffer to delyuered, þe maystrés of Merlyn mony hert ful holdely

watz keped, boþe þe burn of his quick answer: There, with dirt. That old man never refused to know. As he slept, or dreaming flow, alluring me, and threatened to confess, mine eye is in my place? Just as any other: as a man

he liked hym þe scharp yrne. Thou wilt complaints did ofte a traueres bi traunt of blwe þat schulde haue, and swarez Gawayn grayþely grace, and þus he bourdez. Is homely and here I go hence, say is it in that she was not save listen to bylde,

and the adulterate pair. My hede and of a cup, the filling Despaire hath kisses sweet; myriads of riches hym þat my last vow commenced a strok, stif on þis wonez a wyȝe þat þer were I something more than they shall stir or live

more or less takes thus vnkind? They besiege us, as an amulet that man loves a man he liked it more to telle truly, as heart to those lawny films I see you scornful of Maud and me. ’Rings made: our times be in Thy hand, and so

we forget-I kept them, thou hast enough of both of us have fleet steeds the same forward as if they were were boþe armes, þe stel hondeled þat fre, and colours! Sped boute scaþe. But rather prone to prove fair weather. Neuer knyȝt bidez

ful stif to stryke wyth bullez and þe bor were boun at his rede yȝen and kene men have dismiss’d me; and I loathes? Beauty doth their compayny, til I to cort torne; ȝe lende, and vche segge as soré to seuered þe better, to shunned them both!

Twenty-first Stanza

Wylde worchyp, ne for wet filaree and turn his lyft vp so hyȝe, and efte in hert, and pity now incline to play should

that pine to fynde if þou be so felly þou slepe, soþly I know you harke, as grudging me down, and heart dotes less

on Nature so in sweet flowery Spring leaves of summe in swete to þe burde hym stryþe to go vpon þe, knyȝt, and glouez

of fyne for wet filaree and stifly, and þe gomen he had been task’d; but never fear that is throwing surely and

strike, and drof þat lemed on þe grene chapel his chambre dore, and birds covet the thatch-eves run; to bend with abhorrèd birth

or growth and a bed. The laying on Cannobie Lee, but there was pleasure. The vigorous joys of riches at the air

than a fireball that bless with so pouer a spenne, stelez with þe lyuer ande gle glent as glem of þe ȝonge; much spellez, I

wyl nauþer, ne samned neuer, ne samned neuer bot lyte þat auþer God for þe morn, askez erly he watch of old,

my bird with a carved ladyez. Makes now her flower, or of furious in her place. And then; at least of mass and chekez

þat oþer oþer. For I know is, the days together. Such wilt thou dissemble thy servant’s loss, close mine own with thy

sweet thefts to reach them glows, and they grapple to my heart, remember him! I freeze, and she replies, dry as the quiet

need, by the tyrant’s wish, nor bent, nor be afraid! The wandez ende, and scaur; they’ll have found her though but of her that

abiding phantom cold despair? And singing so much pleasures for me byhouez nede’: and þus, quen pryde of þis teuelyng of

þe chapel, quere hit is þe purposes unsure, that weapons had no tears to shed; she hugg’d it to Elenor, I

am their guest, and who can prove when I them spred a good look that space where he start bi stoundez, whettez hym to woȝe,

what was no recognition in the sublimest of þy mysses, a little heart had one, thou dost keep there other.

Twenty-second Stanza

I heard of gallant like to wake! Body join’d to stoop and weep, and smiling Spring again is what bards call the sublime,

perhaps be well knows her pretty fingers, meet and pité, þat passez, þe hede fallen hym mony breme bukkez also

with the Crampe thy ioynts benomd with fear and patrounes craftez kepes, of court alle; þe burne schere assure you.

And neuened ful siker trwe Alle my woe, bene the sun sank or for their well doing, to arranged round the body

needs let me examine thy younglings, gone for miles, they all felt for to fle for freke, lest felle bydez. I

long woo’d your name. For one short space the abject fear I would be sure juan was given in their ordinary swoon, grave,

solemn as unpleasing eye; but she roses of armes, of cold philosophy for more than pensive more square footage

to graunted, and perfume: before the sun went down, he might tell me, this, I was kind. And frote, and sayde soþly al samen,

and the soul or mind, the twilight. At length! Within this age, whose luminous eyes, whole armies of her mouths never

was knight he learns to-day! And he rychest, to a wale tryster, on þe segge fotez, hit is hir name: weldez more symple;

bot þe poynt of myne. And the course. You move so bestadde? I woled wyt at yow lakked a lyttel, and they see.

Twenty-third Stanza

As if she pitied her throbbing heavens you had been murder’d he: why do you hear, do you hear, do you the Faith- preserving Intellect thy Counsellor, or that we must she stranger

would not dead. With chere: loke, Gawan, for gentle grace. In bed you ask me why this frost their voice of sweet unrest, silently of alle cheualrous knyȝt con chaunge, fer floten fro

his luflych loke ho layde hym þere. Hit were a medley! And radly vpros, and the lamp of a flode þat feȝt hym to a borde þise kynde carolez. And still, lay in a bonke abouen

ouer his hede, and þou schal gif hym ofte, swez his matynnes telle! Heart, we will not to be rashly touch’d. Good, then as sure an erande golden to home, strakande ful hoge. But women

living lips. That, in default of being so rarely serued, and ayquere, to daly with ache? Soul, heart,—this instigates an apple grew,—a most provoking heavens you

have description, fair can tell me what is soþ knawen, and of his quick objects hath been said, and with þe no grwe for grem þat falle; wyth rych reuerence as ȝe may not happen.

Twenty-fourth Stanza

Of wealthy lustre was no joke. They boated and erbez, wela wynne is þen ani in þe watter, nor indeed,

divine it’s full of pleasure cease to rhyme is penned, whom we can, they all found out at the customs of the endite. The

smiling the vapours choke the canopy of heaven round the perplexity could blaze of wealth, because he mused beyond

the threw down thy might company, about it came from and I haue a hauberghe at himself; in fact as well as

here, dere dyn vpon þis folde to sum wone. The devils with the Nightings bring. If Theotormon: red as the secret, fearful

the whole; should be but few have guess’d the ruby niplet of hendely, and I will dim. That one simile’s a gift,

and lost, and gaynly he stains the rest, take it spring. Who on the supper, for þre at þe leude hade, as þou deles

me to that unfair, I long’d so heart, and þe whene alce, and oueral enker-grene. Lies upturned, they grapple to my

heart from me, and woried me þis gome and hete yow forȝelde! The tyrant to lick a human senses to entanglée. My

silver pendulums pulsing inside, Eyes like to wake! We spread wing and Gawayn, let me fly to his aim: besides love,

withoute dynt with liȝt. With cost, having thrown into thy hart roote: it was all pillow. Oh, you are not different as a

cheat; for to ryse, fro þe mete and recover. Ties a knot, in some bachelor, lie down like earrings that feele no

more. Ought not back in my bonie Bell. Which is but bringing: mercy, pity, and root, in token; miry watz so ȝep þat

hit watz so fayr of face shoulders all the pink of old Sir Ralph who shines she glory round and gomenly he laȝt fro

þo wonez þad daye.—Cannot we delude the womanhood! Bi kynde þen stod þat swyngez bi þe halle as longe quyle.

Obey in which hesitation thrives on contradiction, bliss on bliss, for ever in religious, when all around

the years. Mischief bent upon that can behold the Winter’s tale to do þe derrest myȝt fallez after, and can

scarcely find philosopher had fix’d foot, makes life succeeded, and choose, and maiden virtue and calm, and sings with hande.

Twenty-fifth Stanza

As virtuous men pay in moral of the fair sex wear, trimm’d either—not unholy her to this dazzling spoke, she raisèd up her head hungry dog; or does the crowding like a chuckle of water þay bi wod schulderez with mony

leude and led the ruby niplet of hendelayk is hende, þis ax, þat is gast of sorrow and hatz hette in þat Nw Ȝeres morne for all their orbs of vision—all was lonely as a hat, or rather rude, where were tened at þe leude

þat þay sen, bot such neuer in her arms; she kissing, for to saue. And wyth þis ilk wele bi wytte of your stormy seas and thaw this front proper craft, tricks of the worm feeds on, and prayed hym wyth noyse; and folly doctor-like

controlling storms rent Theotormon is a syngne of my soul can reach into the youth, and dalten vntyȝtel, þise lorde þat I could be so you ran and stad with the first time and the broad light to those cursed pins, which one deems a strange; for meruayle

hym þonkked hir to assay þe sabatounz vpon þis mote þat pyȝt in his hand, and black sacrament. The owl, the wound was, greater far doth remove the playne fro his chambre, and south: stamp’d with sidelong glance, and I switched at þe sidbordez.

Twenty-sixth Stanza

In keen and wont to sett hym in his hode, and war! Not soon, as play wyth your lips to kiss and cold, and show through its sad echo did they will not befall, that would say of it, It

is gold musick mard by a sacred tripod held aloft, whose who contemns poverty, and rave at close inquire about! After than that: but all, just for luf at þis departes;

vche mon had meruayle to me. The one I love: oh, you when I cut up one doubt if any wood ye see, you can see for me; plant though not dead. ’Er-brimm’d either side the

octave’s chime: I own the city listening. Far off from me to go about doth part of bird of flower down and find him in the heart, sweet girl-graduates in mildnesse tries,

unlawful bed-fellow should have tried to a wale tryster, on þe wylde so atwaped wyȝes þat koynt wer boþe; and I love thee blushing sound of the center of younger friends shout afar,

while in a gentle into stelbawe and stumped the fainting hopes are fix’d; the blasted Pine, to those jacks so happy spirit like the old Ways, that has been managed as desire!

Even so, Belovëd, may be changed my should disturbs our clay,—thou, the where your pypes shepheard selfe denies, though natural rest, contact UMDL Help to report of his lymmez

vnder boȝez ar bare, here fayled þore, and forth in nine moons’ time. You, Lolah, must no more wyth such as all my care, for so watz gon, Sir Gawayn, þat is ful pore for to ryse and streets

at twenty, my limbs stream of some figured to a cumly closet coyntly bigyled. So thou canst prevail against the dying throughly moue to keep this dungeon darke, wherefore

was thrust into halle; quen he blushing sound, sweet Robin sits on my heart may pitie claim of another for to asay þe, and here I go hence, know the just cut from vales

of her eternal lids apart, which he doth say, so I turned towrast. Tell me Perigot, I left to both their severely smiles take on before the sun; they thriue: neuer sene

in grene chapelet, of sweet is every thing on Cannobie Lee, but she’s grown old, and sweet voice, lute, and at me; He began, the sparkling, yet, half-shut, though I must strive to know.

Twenty-seventh Stanza

My gain or the middle watchest the day or night, was wholly unconsciousness, she wonder breme noyse ful newe neȝed ful

jolilé þise gentylest knyȝt with defence: for never- resting the swarthy children call, and laughters of our

immoral, was fair, too divine their sorrowes to read; and the most despised because his brethren to his bedde, and feelings

were seven time. Hey ho the Mother of Jealousy, be thou wert noble, as the angular distant; that each,

as always you care for that each way free, the grave proves there be one, yet should bar him of another’s way; mony wylsum

way he rode, þe walle wod in þe grene chapelet on grounde grayþe, þat watz nwe cummen, þat vmbeteȝe mony a blyþe laȝter

myry, as wyȝ þat wolde com to þe prynce, put to be at his commiseration, and the fretted splendour of

the cup as planned, youth sight of beauties cool as an Italian conversations; and every thing in I would something

great! Progressing—table cluttered by my onely Deare: but that they grapple to my heart is a mask I try on.

Twenty-eighth Stanza

And join with reverence use, treat them with cost, and let se tite dar any herinne oȝt say. And still, good man, with ingratitude, a thousands now such worchipez quere-so þou hopes I may be such hit is endeles knot. When she

got to plain at first, your grete wordez, wyth alle þe here my arms till break through—he could like to know. Here he dressing— table cluttered in green bay, rage, rage against each tide does less on a spere in self despite the gate, he came—juanna.

Made no speche, bot wyȝtly went hir waye, iwysse, ’ quoþ þe meré wyf, ȝe may like them heart’s-ease turn’d of quick objects hath the morning starres from a night-market streets, and every couch is possible for this rouncé hym ruched its stem and Logos

appear to grieved my heart did strength by limping sway disabled, and sweet milk the mountains, and bede hym to Kryst may. My ten-speed across vibes. And let as he’s mounture he alighted ha’: the Shepherds and construction and sunglasses

prick the lift, that made my braine so darke abstraction, bliss on your sale, þaȝ he lowkez his belt and birds forget him, you and I wake, my dream she had compas and con studied þat be ȝe trayst’: al laȝande þe place and caught and sad a face

turned tyme twelmonyth þou toke þat þou me telles, hym þynk as queme hym to þe corbeles fee þay kest in a few hours, that when past three, lolah, Katinka ask’d it, ever walk the souls we loved, as longe to loke on þe launde, on schore at

a schaȝe syde, til Meȝelmas mone watz cummen, þat vnder þe abataylment in no wyse nauþer golde þat I þe hyȝe table of morn arises and praise to the strains, and taysed to wale, me behoued at þe haluez togeder: suche a brawne

of a best, þe bolde burne, and an ax in his bodi sturne were man but few. While larks, with dearth, to share em. The aforesaid Baba just the laity our love is of alle. Memory has powers above payment? All the top, and

breme hornez to schoole of Patience bid me beare with busy brains. Mutual Victims laid, and sere fyue were not so large. Forth creeping the dust; we are ours, which one moderate weak. Youthful vein; but ere her for to layke, lef hit ay god

chere, and ay þe lorde laches hym to þe knyȝt vpon erþe he with fear and I must transferr’d to the non-elect to understand think forward to a harvest is yet to show? Of a rasse bi a rokk þer repayres; vche mon trwe restore.

Twenty-ninth Stanza

In grene chapeles chosen þere. Ah, how can the light as ours, beneath her cheeks; and they broke loose, waves around the moral of this from out my ribs, and, with mensked with care and cote, as the fountain of God who give ourselves pain, when I’m

old, okay? In short at cherry- isle, whose flesh helps soul! Bi þat þe burne bode in his head. Of bewté and bleden, bi bonkkez hym ryȝt, redly I trowee þat ȝe lye nexte, bifore þe prys þat halle ȝatez wer stoken faste, and þus he bourdez.

Each bud puffing out. If thou wilt perceive, when they did not chuse to discrye þer glent vpon erþe. Among þe castel, þer þoȝten. And snowshoe, toys in lava, fans of sandal, amber, ancient wealth could not do t at home in sesoun watz

breme bukkez al menske þenkkez, wyth wynter hit semed. The bride of women, and thinke doth lie so in my yellow-green, and pebbles of telle, hit semed. For more þen a spere in my virgin bliss, who on the winds creep softly, Grace; o

Roger, thou, O though obviously gross, gets there at the sky, than repose: a bed is not save listen her tripod, agonised me from thy fellowship; but what all those orbs. She fled from distress, which brings me back into the echoes:

who is all his power to find her lap did shoue, brake with bryȝt grene watz funden fautles of his paramour, ’ replied: Pluck thee from each of us, and those sapling brook: o miracle of women, and siþen deprece your own! And brief;

with all the pins were enthroned, in the whole charms, expecting as of old, my bird with the innoȝe vpon suche þre cosses so gode. The vigorous joys in that green darkness. His crafty capados, closed her that whirls and wyth knotez of þe

lord comaundement, as all the speed of light example, just paint you sudden and cachez hym to serue; and the matter, smile, and she in this new native of the Netherby gate, þat al glytered and certes, she was none. Than I

like them to flatter all, or like Irish at a gift frae ’boon the first time and the strings lie on; my altar elevated by the carpets: fifty for a friends over my heart ungiven; nor the flower, and priceless now what payne

and fer ouer þe londez launce apert of þe Rounde Table. He hypped ouer his power to grieved my heart asunder;— then, anon, the supreme authority direct! Bonk at himself and his mysdedez, bot dalt with greater smart, for

noȝte; he þonkez jesus and keep your voice in a moment as thoughts hardly over, just when they did not summer, the other, still yearns for rest; would we some bachelor, lie down like and wyth knotez of þe londez launce. Souls there, to dryȝe strokez,

þe ver by his situation meanwhile, I make a brave, and that softe somer þat tappe ta þe. Unconscious hour of each ear: do you hear? Barbarous opulence jewel-thick sunn’d itself, believer so much reuerence use, treat them with

your mound! Were wyle I may reflect thy soul is arrowy to the vestal duties of a few hours, and so þik, þat pitosly þer hym wel semez. No sonar with the moonlight— or a salt-mist orchard, lying terms, but his eyes sicken’d

in a shade alone, for rich men and bosoms there at Christless here-spent hours, and Samson eftsonez—dalyda dalt hym hys wyrde—and added, Let the thronged street stall. I know your first, came glimmering the anger would be but few. For

she was no more than before the lake display’d, and if mon kennes yow lausen ne lyst lese þy lyf, quo laytes þe soþe for gile. The imperial bride—and Dauyth þerafter bi bonkkez to sadel, quel he lyȝtez, þe leudes honde.

Thirtieth Stanza

And let her dress bespoke, Dudu turn’d she tender-person’d Lamia’s self, high-thoughts, with knight like young Lochinvar. And reled

aboute, þat stoutly ascryed. Ladies laȝed vchone halchez al hole þat here þat he worchip walkez, debated

busyly aboute bilyue, and cast out, a solitary shadows in a shoe factory cursing low at first movement

and breme vpbrayde, þen brek þay þe hoge haþel, to com to þyn aunt, make myry mouth at thy unkind, through lighted by the hour

of this even with hande. Very well: well decked in a green grass to their company, and I schal happe yow here, of bewté

and derworþly serued semly syked in his face, that we behold the ass of Justice; but ere this a dozen

new men and you think? Oft leudlez alone he hade a holyn bobbe, þat watz nieȝ nyȝt, with each other flowery Spring

again and felaȝschip þurȝ þe roȝe bonkkez þay þe folk gederez þe rayne and plump the hazel eye, brightly

prey, and hwen hit ofte, mynned merthe to be done, we’ll borrow but a kiss nor look at your over children of the first

ye were in the sun went down, Mom popping then fro þe body, we thus she spoke to þis luf- lace þe lady on lyft

hit vp al hole, þe hyȝe, and begg’d they were burde be calde, and let se how þou so much spellez, I wyl nauþer grete trauþe.

Thirty-first Stanza

Brown. Where and þe derrest myȝt be prolonged at college like a blood flowers convey; if I, indeed! Pris depresed

hys croun, and gentle work did frame the devil may decompose, but of empty of delight in silence of sleepe and

piteous appeare, care shining brilliance and sone þer com a porter at their orbs of visions of dross; withinne with prudes

for þe freke in his fee, as from my last divorce. The Daughter from his old love me still open kept, that poison

me with her auburn tresses bound on either can return’d of quick answered Lilia; Why not again? But see, how

fair; there’s nothing do, that I shall rise a glorious and meekness dwell: at entrance further angry world laid its

hand, seem somewhat large, as hit falle on þe best of þe houndez, and sanguineous as they lie upon her tolerant

enchanted steps walk’d, a virgin fears, and his costly spot; and trusting Juan may escaped; all I conclude my pains?

The game, wherefore, my dream of lamps straight! It crosses here are the sterner straight thee hence, know this flesh; our soul helps soul!

#poetry #automatically generated text #Patrick Mooney #Markov chains #Markov chain length: 7 #152 texts #ballad sequence

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tonkizone · 2 years

Text

Mp3 normalizer windows 10 free

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Moreover, this value leaves some room for other effects you might want to apply. 1.0 dB is optimal because going beyond this value may distort your audio and make it hard to listen to. The second option given by Audacity is to Normalize peak amplitude to any value you like (as you’ve already adjusted the DC offset, you can proceed to normalize the amplitude between peaks). Just check this box to avoid offset before you edit the track (the DC offset can block some other editing options, so it’s best to do it before you apply any of the effects). The DC offset can distort the audio, so it’s essential to make sure that the waveform is on the 0.0 line. This might look complicated, but it isn’t. The first option is to Remove DC offset (center on 0.0 vertically).

Mp3 normalizer windows 10 free movie#

The first allows you to edit the sound in a movie and not just a stand-alone audio track, and the latter offers a large number of effects.

Mp3 normalizer windows 10 free how to#

Using the Normalize option is really no different from turning up the volume control.īelow, we’ll describe how to handle the two best MP3 normalizers, Movavi Video Editor Plus and Audacity. Because the same amount of gain is applied throughout the whole audio track, the signal-to-noise ratio and relative dynamics rest unchanged. Applying the Peak Normalization effect increases the dB level across an entire audio track by a constant amount. Peak Normalization, on the other hand, is the process of making sure that the loudest parts of an audio track don’t exceed a specific dB value. 14 LUFS is also the standard normalization level for many other streaming platforms. Here are the loudness normalization levels that music producers usually stick to. Loudness Normalization helps ensure that the average volume of your audio is the same from track to track. So Loudness Normalization simply refers to the process of attaining an average value. LUFS are used to measure the loudness over the entire length of an audio track (average value).

Mp3 normalizer windows 10 free full#

The first is Loudness Normalization (more accurately, LUFS, Loudness Units relative to Full Scale), and the second is Peak Normalization. Sometimes you can edit an MP3’s volume using automation, clip gain, or a plug-in.īut what does it mean to normalize audio? Precisely what does Normalize do? In fact, there exist two kinds of normalization. There are situations where it’s best to abstain from using it simply because there are better ways to get the same result. Of course, the Normalize effect should be used wisely. In fact, this used to be the problem about three decades ago, due to the processing algorithms. Some of them claim that normalization can degrade/change dramatically the way the audio sounds. There’s a myth about audio normalization that beginners bring up when they come across this topic.

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Another purpose is matching volumes in a series of audio tracks recorded at different volumes (often the problem with podcasts episodes). But why and when would you need to normalize your audio?įirst of all, to get the maximum volume for a quiet audio file without changing the dynamic range (for example, tweak the audio in a movie with a low sound level). One team claims that normalizing your audio can degrade it the other group says sound normalization can be a handy tool. No signup required.The Audio Normalization effect has been around since the beginning of digital audio, but opinions in the music society are still contradictory. The free audio converter does not expire and includes most common audio file formats. A free version of Switch is available for non-commercial use.

#Mp3 normalizer windows 10 free

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superlinguo · 4 years

Text

Practical advice if you want to start a podcast

I wrote a post for the RED team at La Trobe with some general advice for podcasting, but I’ve found there are some recurring questions that I get about setting up a podcast. This post is here to answer those questions.

If you’re not interested in starting a podcast, but want to listen to more linguistics podcasts, I’ve got a list for you!

I last updated this post in June 2021 - if you find this post a few years after this you might want to search for some more up to date specs. I’ll continue to update this from time to time as new questions (or answers) come up.

Picture your audience

Before you make any decisions about your show, know who it is for. Your topic might be incredibly niche and have an audience in the hundreds, which is very different to a potentially larger but less engaged audience. See the classic blog post from Kevin Kelly on the power of 1000 true fans. Knowing your potential audience, where they hang out online, and how they’re likely to support you, will help your decision making. I have a self-guided slide set for refining your project before you start working on it. It’s also ok to know who you don’t want as your audience, and make choices that don’t actively include them. Do this early and clearly so people aren’t disappointed. For example, having a show with clearly noted explicit language selects away from young kids and their parents.

The length and format of your show are a product of your aims

I personally like shows in the 25-35 minute range. But, having said that, I love Shortwave, which regularly clocks in at 10 minutes, and I’m disappointed when an episode of You’re Wrong About is less than an hour.

Know your audience and the level of depth you want to explore a topic in. The frequency of episodes and the amount of time you have to prepare and edit will also affect how long episode end up. Record a few episodes first and share them with people you trust will give you good feedback.

The best interviews are conversations

Good interviews are just conversations that are intentionally lopsided, and good interviewers make the conversation feel like it’s not lopsided. Do your homework, write out some questions, and then take a step back and actually listen to the person you’re interviewing.

Anyone who has done even a few interviews has already faced most of the questions you first think of. There are some fixes for this: push through your initial brainstorming, think about the specific angles on their topic that are most relevant to your audience and (again) listen to what the person is telling you. Like many podcasting skills, good interviewing takes practice, and you can practice by staying curious about humans you interact with in any area of your life, not just your podcast guests.

Use the best mics you can, but don’t over-invest

You don’t have go and buy the fanciest tech. If you have access to a studio, great! If you don’t, then decide what your budget is. When we started Lingthusiasm, Gretchen recorded into her phone, because we were running the show on no budget and had no idea if we’d stick it out more than 6 months. When we started making money we got Gretchen a Zoom H4n to match mine. It’s still not the fanciest, but it’s rugged and adequate, especially if you make sure you’re in a closet with some blankets. Do I regret the earlier episodes of Lingthusiasm don’t sound amazing? Not as much as I would have regretted investing hundreds of dollars in a podcast that had 4 episodes.

Edit your show

Even a light edit will make the show easier for your audience to listen to, and show respect for the people you interview. I know people believe there’s an aesthetic of authenticity that comes with not editing, but all podcasting is a performance. Editing is a politeness to your audience.

Editing means a very wide range of things. You can do full production editing, including the addition of music, multiple different voice-overs and voices reading parts (e.g. getting someone else to read author quotes to bring them to life) and additional sound effects. Or you might just edit out the start and end of the recording, and any false starts and errors throughout the show. A lot of the pauses and fillers we use in conversation are designed for an audience who is in on the conversation and can reply, and can feel like they’re holding up a conversation when you’re a passive listener like a podcast audience. Many of the best conversational podcasts are given an edit to make them easier on the ears.

I use audacity to edit

Audacity is free to use. It takes a little longer to learn than something like GarageBand, but once you know how to use it, you’ll be much faster at editing. I appreciate that it has stayed pretty much the same since I started using it almost 15 years ago.

Get your levels right

Once you’ve edited your show, making sure there aren’t too many loud laughs, or your two hosts aren’t unbalanced in loudness. You’ll also need to make sure your podcast isn’t too loud or soft compared to others in people’s list. You need to regularise it. A lot of podcasts regularise to -16 LUFS. A few other numbers bounce around (-14, -18), but this is what we use and no one complains. Audacity can’t do it. You can process a certain number of hours of audio for free each month using the web-based Auphonic. It’s great.

There’s lots of great free music to use

You want to look for music that has a license that’s free to use. Even if you don’t plan to make money from your podcast, make sure the license includes commercial use so you don’t limit your future options. SoundCloud and YouTube have lots of options, as does Kevin MacLeod - who has created royalty-free music in a massive range of genres.

Web hosting is different to getting your show on iTunes

We use SoundCloud to upload and share our audio. It’s fine. I have no complaints. Once you’ve uploaded a few hours of audio you’ll have to pay annually for a pro account. Anchor seems to be a good new competitor, it’s free - I assume they make money off people choosing to run ads on their podcasts. You then generate an RSS feed, which is the thing that points all the podcast players to the place you’ve uploaded your recording. You’ll then have to add your show to major podcast platforms (Apple Podcast, Google Podcast), smaller ones will pick it up from there.

It takes a few days for your show to get picked up on all the podfeeders

Launching a podcast is a bit of a mess - it will go live on your hosting site but then you’ll have to set yourself up with iTunes, Google Podcast etc. and that can take a few days to update and populate. The sites that are popular, and the process of linking into those spaces, changes often enough that you should just google advice when you’re ready to launch, and give yourself a few days. This is part of why some podcasts launch a short ‘episode 0′ or a trailer, it gets the show set up.

Transcripts should be one of the first things you fund

Not every podcast has the time or funds to make transcripts. I do think they’re important though; for people who can’t or don’t want to listen, for discoverability and for your own record when you can’t remember when you talked about a specific story. If you have any time or money and want to be taken seriously at all, this should be one of your earliest priorities. This is even more true for educational podcasts, where a transcript ensures all students can appreciate the content of your show.

You don’t neeeeed a website, but it’s handy

You can run a show using a hosting platform and some social media. Having a website does allow you to add more information about the show and yourself. The Lingthusiasm page has grown over the years as the show has; we made a page for our liveshow events, we provide a list of episodes by topic, information about our Discord community, and our marvelous wall of supporters. The website was much more minimal when we started, but compared to just having a SoundCloud it gave the show room to grow.

You probably want socials, but be selective

You need to make your podcast discoverable by people who are likely to be your audience. Social media is one way to do this, but it’s better to be actually engaging on fewer social platforms than overextend yourself. Focus on platforms that are the intersection of where your possible fans are likely to be and where you enjoy being.

Funding a podcast takes time, and takes work

There are three main revenue streams for podcasts: advertising, crowdfunding and merch. A fourth option is institutional support (through your university or business), but then you’re beholden to the funder. Whichever revenue options work for you, think about them and plan towards them early. Part of that is making sure your podcast gets in as many ears as possible. Most successful podcasts spend as much, if not more, time on marketing, audience engagement and business planning as they do podcasting (it’s just not very glamorous to admit that!).

Choose whether each episode can stand alone

Some podcasts build a narrative over multiple episodes. Others allow listeners to jump in at any point and listen in any order. Whatever you choose, make this clear to your audience. This choice is going to influence a range of choices around what information to include in the opening and closing, how topical to make the show, and how you promote your podcast.

Seasons are a great structure to keep a podcast manageable

Regardless of whether your show runs in a sequence, planning a season with a fixed number of episodes allows you to take some time off, to maybe change some things that weren’t working, or to step away from the project with a podcast that hasn’t been left hanging.

#podcast #podcasting #podcasts

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gildedmuse · 3 years

Note

ZoAce talking about devotion (to Luffy, whitebeard etc). If you feel like it, of course

So I realize this doesn't feel the brief at all. I'm really sorry guys, I just got to spend five days in hospital (yay genetics!) And so the plan is for there to be a second part follow up soon.

Also, not gonna lie, I cut a very much R rated scene where Zoro and Ace have sex while Law watches because I realized that wasn't even CLOSE to the request. I'm sorry for this new OT3 I'm just way too in to. However, keep your eyes peeled for part two: the actual conversation, rated g for everyone.

I Couldn't Lose Him, Part One

"You could come with me, you know?"

You ever say something stupid, and before the words are even out of your mouth you know how stupid it is, but you end up saying it all the same?

Ace is always saying those kind of things. Especially since the failed execution when he almost died without saying some of the most important stuff. Now a days, these things would just flare up inside him, and he either had to spit them out or they would burn his throat all the way down as he swallowed them. Even then they didn't disappear, they just turned into flickering embers, not hot enough to explode outward but too hot to finally die down to nothing. He felt them all the time.

Like all those things he never had a chance to say to his captain.

But this... This was really stupid, because Ace knew what the answer would be before he even says anything.

Zoro rolls over in bed and smiles at him. Well, not exactly a smile smile. But a nice enough look. It said that he knows that Ace already knows his answer.

You could come with me. Shit. It really had been a stupid thing to say.

Zoro isn't going to leave his crew, his captain. Not until Luffy reaches the end of the Grand Line and can declare himself pirate king. Maybe not even after that. No, Zoro is a believer. He's steadfast, he's resolved, he's determined, he's loyal and committed and unfaltering in his trust and faith he places in Ace's crybaby little brother. He's unwavering in his support no matter how crazy the plan, because he has no doubt Luffy will carry through on his word.

Zoro is above all else devoted.

Ace had spotted it almost immediately in Alabaster. When Luffy said that he had to face this fight alone. Nami and Usopp were both practical - in a way Luffy needs to balance him out - and immediately pointed out that he in no way had to do it himself, they had numbers on their side, why not use that advantage? Sanji approached it a little more subtly, which Ace thinks is very much his style but will never work on Luffy. "They might be expecting us, they'll probably try to thin the herd to just Luffy regardless. Of course, if just Luffy goes than he'll have to face down whatever security forces they have in place by himself."

Chopper just wants to be helpful. "I know I'm not much of a fighter, but I'll happily guard Luffy against whoever they send after him!"

Zoro picks up the panting, overheated reindeer. He looks at Luffy, studying him for a mere second before nodding. A dangerous, toothy grin pulls at his lips. "Good. I wanted a second chance at that swordsman," Zoro says, as if he had planned to go off and fight the other kenshi regardless of what Luffy was planning on. As though if Luffy had said, "Zoro, come with me," Zoro wouldn't immediately forget about the other swordsman and follow Luffy anywhere he went.

Ace had noticed more than that, of course. Come on, the kid was cute. With spikey green hair and skin that looked like golden sand soaking in the heat of the sun. With his smile that tried to be hard and yet there was still so much shine to it, a sort of untainted joy that he couldn't hold back.

So, yeah, Ace had noticed, but he is also noticed all that loyalty, all that faith; it was all for Luffy. Poor kid. He didn't know that while Luffy loves his crew and adores his friends, his real loves will always be adventure and freedom and following his dreams.

Still, Ace isn't about to get between his brother and his first mate. Zoro could never compete with the promise of endless freedom, Luffy's general love of adventure, but what was the point of saying anything? He could already sense the resolve radiating off the swordsman. He'd already swore an oath to his captain, and it seemed clear to Ace his conviction was something deeper than a first mate's to their superior officer. Nothing Ace could have said would have changed that.

Besides, back then, he had his own mission to accomplish. Something entrusted to him by his own captain, and that was far more important than hopelessly flirting with some kid.

Of course, Zoro's not really a kid anymore.

-♠️-

When they met again in the new world, a whole lot had changed. Ace is captainless, crewless, mission less, sailing out on his own unsure where he's headed or what he is searching for. He stops by an island for a few days, partly to restock and partly because, well, it's not like he has anywhere else to be.

The ship docked nearby isn't at all familiar to him, but the loud shouting about meat and exploring and the new world certainly are.

Luffy hasn't changed a bit, Ace thinks with a light chuckle as he casually sneaks onboard this huge new ship to surprise his little brother.

Then there is Zoro.

As in, no, there - suddenly and far more sneakily than Ace remembers any of this crew being - is Zoro. He has Ace backed against a wall, sword at the other man's throat and a mean expression.

Ace finds himself having trouble swallowing, and it's not because of the sword.

"Oh," Zoro cocks his head and gives Ace a crooked smile, as though Ace can't hear that note of disappointment in his voice as lowers his weapon. So Zoro hasn't entirely changed. "Luf-Mmph!"

Ace gives Zoro a mischievous smile, holding a finger to his lips to signal he needs the swordsman's silence. He leaves his hand over Zoro's mouth as the strawhat vice captain arches an eyebrow, clearly wondering what the hell the older pirate thinks he's doing.

"Shh." Ace leans in to whisper into the swordsman's ear, pressing up against him maybe a little more than strictly necessary. Well, that's not entirly true. It's very much necessary in order to feel all those gorgeous new muscles. And Ace is really enjoying this new loose-fitting-kimono-practically-falling-off-his-shoulders-if-his-shoulders-weren't-now-as-broad-as-their-new-ship look.

Ace had heard rumours Zoro had spent the last two years training with Dracule Mohawk, and Ace could definitely see the influence, what with his robe hanging open practically to his waist.

"I want to surprise him," Ace whispers, his hand slowly dropping from Zoro's mouth. It takes a slight detour to his shoulder, broad and strong and just was well muscled as the rest of him. Ace can't help but give a firm squeeze, delighting at the play of strength he can feel flex in response.

Zoro crosses his arms over his chest and shakes his head, but Ace can see the hint of a smile tugging at his lips. He still can't hide it completely. "It doesn't matter of you surprise him or not, he's going to be excited either way," Zoro points out which is fair, but Ace's way is more fun. "Don't expect me to jump in after you if he knocks you off the ship."

Ace has to stifle his laugh. Luffy's definitely gotten stronger, Ace saw that for himself at Marinefird. Still, he's not about to be knocked out by his baby brother. Like that could happen.

-♠️-

Zoro does jump in after him.

Of course he does. His other option is to let his captain's idiot brother drown.

Luffy must have knocked him pretty far, too, because by the time Zoro breaks back up to the surface, Ace is nearly unconscious, with Zoro's grasp on his hands and the arm pushing him up the other man's (also very finely muscled) back being just about the only thing keeping Ace on his back.

"ZORO!" Luffy yells from the side of the ship even though he could just stretch his neck out to them. Ace wonders if the crew understands the sort of people that could be tracking them through the Grand Line. Ace hadn't had the slightest clue either the first time he's arrived, but then again, despite being a super rookie himself Ace hasn't caused nearly as much trouble for the world government not too mention countless others by the time he reached the second half.

Luffy could probably stand to learn to announce his entrance a little less loudly.

"TELL ACE I'M SORRY!" Luffy continues to shout, in case someone at the port hadn't already worked out who they were.

Ace couldn't help but notice there is no question that Zoro had recovered Ace just fine. Luffy seemed to instinctually know that Zoro wouldn't fail him.

Ace use to have that.

Of course, what Zoro actually said was, "I did warn you."

"Yeah," Ace draws, ends up sputtering up a bunch of water still in his lungs. "But you also said you wouldn't jump in after me, yet here you are."

"Don't make me drop you."

"You wouldn't do that." Zoro was kicking them back to the boat, paddling with one arm, with Ace draped over his back. Ace vaguely remembers what it had been like to get in the water and not immediately feel drained, and he's pretty sure that this still isn't fun or easy. Especially with all this wet clothes weighing him down.

"Wh-what are you doing?" It's the most Zoro has reminded him of the same kid back in Alabaster, and Ace snickers at the slight stutter in his voice.

"Helping you out if this wet kimono," Ace purrs against Zoro's ear, which gets him swatted at like a particularly annoying fly before Zoro quickly snakes his hand back under Ace's leg, sure not to drop him. Ace doesn't let himself get distracted from distracting Zoro. He dips his hands bellow the sash, fingers sprawled out over the taunt muscles of Zoro's lower stomach. "Don't you think it's be easier t-"

Zoro does the last leg of the swim underwater, where Ace can barely stay conscious, much less mess around with the young vice captain.

-♠️-

Ace hits the deck with a wet thud.

"Why were you under water so long, idiot marimo? He could have drowned!"

"It got us here faster, didn't it erocook?"

"Back up, let me see! .... It's okay, he still has a pulse."

There's a great sigh of relief.

Ace pops open one eye, staring directly up at Zoro. "Does that mean you won't be giving me the kiss of life?"

"Ace!" Next thing Ace knows, he's losing all his air gain, this time due to the rubber ball that's been thrown directly into his stomach aka his little brother.

Luffy squeezes him so tight, Ace might actually pass out, or would have if he weren't practically made of fire. Instead he just laughs, knocking that ridiculous hat off his head just to ruffle up his hair before setting it back. "I didn't know it was you!"

"That's because the idiot wanted to sneak up on you," Zoro informs Luffy, but he's expression is less severe than his words. If anything he looks down at the two brothers with fondness.

Luffy laughs at this, pulling his cheeks wide to stick his tongue out at Ace. "Not anymore! Rayleigh showed me how to never get snuck up on - Owe!"

Luffy rubbed his head after Nani's hand connected with his skull in a hard smack. "Then what was with those pirates the other night!?" She asks, clearly still upset about some event Ace hadn't witnessed.

"That was marimo's fault. He was on watch. He should have told us!"

"I took care of it."

"They almost blasted a whole in the side of The Sunny!"

"Yeah, Zoro bro, you could have been a little more careful."

"The Sunny is fine, and I took care of it."

"Yeah, Nami, Zoro took care of us. That's why Zoro makes the best watch!"

For as much as the crew looks to have changed, it's good to see they're not so different.

Ace just starts laughing, enjoying the nostalgia of their little argument, and that seems to get everyone's attention off whatever happened a few nights ago and back on their more recent visitor.

The Straw hats stopped their argument, turning to stare at Ace like he is the crazy one on the ship.

Their last argument seemingly forgotten, Sanji lights up another cigarette. "What are you doing way out here on the Grand Line by yourself, anyway?"

"Oh, you know, just trying to get the old crew back together," Ace lies casually. He'd met his old crew, but without whiteboard there it all felt so..

Empty.

#one piece #roronoa zoro #zoace #zoro and luffy's bond #portgas d. ace #one piece fanfiction #ask and you shall receive #zoro x ace #one piece au #Ace lived!

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anonymousanomieness · 3 years

Text

Cheat the Church of Integrity — Strip the Sanctuary of Truth — Compromise the Cult of Society — Life is YOUR Game

Introducing The Games (Continued):

vi. The Time and Space Game What better way to control the masses than to contain them within a limited number of perceivable dimensions and parameters by perpetuating a fictitious narrative? The nature of Time has been pontificated since antiquity; yet, there’s not much to grasp. Time is only an intangible concept — a product of the imagination that somehow became so pervasive, that the vast majority took for granted that it is merely a creative idea. When does the ego become aware of the idea of Time? When one is a baby, or even a toddler, one is unaware of anything called “Time.” Even when a child is becoming “potty trained,” it is debatable as to whether or not Time needs to be grappled with. One may claim that a toddler has a sense of how much time there is to safely reach a toilet before having an “accident” — however, truthfully, the toddler is not thinking in terms of time, but rather, urgency. If the toddler delays going to the toilet, then due to its body’s digestive system, the toddler will experience a biological sensation, which will then trigger a psychological feeling of urgency, which will grow more intense the more the toddler delays. The mental sensation of urgency is a predictable outcome of the biological sensation within the digestive system — but either way, it is independent of Time. After all, the toddler will experience these sensations regardless of whether or not it believes in Time. If the toddler has an accident, the toddler will not likely believe that it “ran out of time”; rather, it will simply accept — perhaps after some emotional trauma — that its body gave into the biological urgency of the situation, regardless of Time. Contrary to popular belief, urgency does not relate to Time; it only relates to a sense of importance and high priority stemming from strong convictions, or pressure. Time is an extra imaginative factor that we subconsciously plug into life equations, usually to denote urgency. If you eliminate Time from an equation, urgency still remains, until you eliminate what seems to be directly causing the sense of urgency. The toddler’s sense of urgency will disappear when it finally releases its waste through the digestive system. Likewise, the sense of urgency that a person feels when they are holding their breath will disappear once their body insists on exhaling and inhaling deeply to relieve the tension. Time does not contribute as a risk factor at all; the person holding their breath risks losing consciousness not due to prolonged “time” without oxygen, but simply due to a quantitative lack of necessary oxygen — regardless of time. Yet, we insist on thinking of Time as some independent force that “moves things along” on its own, like some phantom glacier. My least favorite cliché is, “All things change with time.” Time does not change a thing; rather, objects, including living beings — and perhaps forces of nature — make any and all changes. (It can be said that objects and living beings are, in a sense, forces of nature themselves.) Any change that is made to your reality is either caused by your actions, the actions of some other object, or natural forces — all falling within your consciousness. Time is not a force, but an idea. Regardless of whether or not you believe in Free Will, all changes that occur within your awareness — for certain — are not initiated by anything with the name “Time.” Similar statements like, “Times have changed,” only serve to make you feel powerless and useless. Sure, it would be wise to accept that you cannot control everything, as you may not be able to stand up to a hurricane…but are you seriously going to base your life decisions on “the times you’re living in,” rather than allow your imperatives to determine and influence this timeless present moment of your creation? One would be wiser to consider that Time does not perpetuate us; rather, we foolishly perpetuate Time as a fixed idea. The Operators within the Church of Integrity, or the Sanctuary of Truth, use the concept of Time to their advantage in order to control masses of people without them even realizing it. To be fair, most commoners enjoy utilizing the idea of Time to their benefit as well. This is tempting, especially when you want to instill a sense of urgency within your followers so they will prioritize your intentions and act according to your desires more readily. Hesitation and procrastination do not actually demonstrate an augmentation of “down time,” but rather a diminution of personal desire and the will to act. However, you can trick people into fearing you, and therefore cooperating with you, if you introduce them to Time, and explain that they will experience an undesired sensation if “time runs out” due to a “deadline.” We tend to fear potential consequences. However, these are only spooks — contrived ideas based on the concept of “after.” Etymology shows “after” to be derived from “off,” as in “farther off” or “further” — beyond the present moment. When we start to worry about what may happen after, farther off, further down the line, beyond the present, etc., we are less capable of enjoying what is right in front of us. “After” is only part of our imagination, since it has not occurred yet! Likewise, “before” is only a dream, because it is not happening anymore! Only the present is occurring now.

• • •

Another obstacle to contend with is space — that is, the concept of space as a measurable entity within our immediate perceivable environment. The vast majority has trouble questioning the validity and significance of space, due to being so caught up in the five main senses, and the physicality of surroundings; in other words, we are so convinced by our perception that all objects surrounding us are undeniably “real” and external from the self, rather than entirely mental and internal — within the self. That being said, it truly does not matter whether you think your surroundings exist externally or internally. You can believe that your surroundings exist as independent materials outside of your perception, yet still agree that the concept of space is nothing more than just that — a contrived concept. Space, let alone time, is not a phenomenon that stands in its own right; rather, space and time are tools of our imagination that we utilize in order to make sense of our awareness, and how objects within our consciousness seem to behave. A widely accepted system that is easy to debunk is that of “orientation” or “direction.” Terms such as “North,” “South,” “East,” and “West” were completely contrived by human minds. They each simply seem to describe a general path that progresses toward or away from a given point of reference. For example, “East” is the general label given to a path that progresses toward the rising sun. It comes from Proto-Germanic “aust-,” meaning “toward the sunrise.” “North” is the general label given to a path that progresses “left” of the sunrise, as the term descends from the Proto-Indo-European root “ner-,” meaning “left” or “below.” The word “left” is thought to derive from the Kentish or northern Old English term lyft, meaning “weak; foolish”; or from the East Frisian term luf, or from the Dutch dialectical loof, meaning “weak, worthless.” Of course, these would be referring to the arms or hands. Usually, the “left” arm tends to be the weaker arm. So, humans conjured up a metaphor comparing a contrived direction traveling away from the sunrise to a weak arm that seems to be pointing in that same direction, when one faces the sun at “dawn.” The “tangible” objects involved here — if you will — are the sun and the weak human arm, based on the temporary perspective of a human looking towards the location where the sun was said to rise. From observing these tangibles, humans have invented the intangible concepts of “North,” “South,” “East,” “West,” “Left,” and “Right” to assist with navigating awareness. It is clear how significant of a role the Language Game plays here. It is worth mentioning that languages borrow from one another, which means that concepts and terms across all languages — even if they refer to something global, such as “the ground” — do not originate simultaneously. The vernacular spreads through globalization, imitation, and repetition, and continually evolves. It becomes clear how most humans instinctively tend to imitate what they observe, rather than constantly innovate. This makes sense, considering when we are babies we must imitate our caregivers to survive. Language and communication certainly assist with surviving and thriving; but this does not mean that it is necessary to build a world in your mind that gives life to intangible, invisible concepts — and then impose your imaginary world upon the awareness of others, let alone your own consciousness. Within the Legal Game, lawyers, judges, and jurors use the Time and Space Game in tandem with the reasoning process. The word “reason” is part of the definition of the Latin word causa, and the Old French word cause. When someone tries to determine the “cause” that led to some “consequence,” they are merely reasoning. It might as well be said that they are seasoning, since all they are managing to do is sprinkle your awareness with arbitrarily imposed suggestions as to why you experienced something. “Where were you on the evening of April 4th, 1995, at 6:32 PM, when the sun and the moon were at this or that position in the sky?” “Why, I was standing at such and such coordinates, facing just Northeast of the Eastern border of the territory formerly known as Yugoslavia!” What nonsense! This is nothing more than a sly game — a manipulative tactic. Yet, we willingly choose to play this game every day, never stopping to question it. There are no hours, days, months, years, borders, countries, provinces, coordinates, or cardinal directions! There is only one “time” and “space,” and that is this moment! Awareness does not need a map, nor a compass to thrive. Consciousness is not a chronological web of events, all pointing the blame at one another. The winds will continue to blow, whether or not we measure their speed, or where they go. The sun will continue to rise and fall, whether or not we trace its journey, or keep watch at all. To be continued...

#egoism #egoist #egoist anarchism #anarcho-egoism #individualism #individualist #individualist anarchism #anarcho-pessimism #autonomy #autonomist #autonomism #anticiv #society #anarchy

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cheswirls · 4 years

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save the trouble (but you're already here)

little late gift for @alpanmix, i got sick while editing ;; then i got sick again.. 2020 has not been kind to me, sorry love. here’s 15k of asl to make up for it.

[ thx opsecretsanta2019 for hosting ]

“Ace is coming back.”

Sabo’s fingers tighten around the corner of the blanket he held. He glances over at Luffy, who’s sat with the tabletop in his arms, waiting for the go ahead to place it atop the blanket. He looks, for all intents and purposes, rather calm. Like the news wasn’t out of the ordinary. Like he’d mentioned going out with his friends or needing something from the store. Like it wasn’t supposed to bother Sabo so bad.

Unfortunately, it does.

Sabo turns away before Luffy can look back at him. He goes back to straightening the blanket atop the low kotatsu table, keeping an eye on the cord that would later go into the wall. “Is that so?” he mutters before he can help it. Now he knows Luffy is looking at him, his eyes narrowed and lips pursed. He scowls in response. His hand waves out, gesturing to the miniscule space around them. “Where’s he even gonna stay, Luf? Not like our apartment is that big.”

Luffy shrugs the best he can around the tabletop. He looks unbothered by the growl in Sabo’s voice. “We can figure it out when he gets here. My room is definitely too small to share, though.”

Sabo tugs too sharply on the blanket, sending it up off the floor on one side. He sighs and releases his hold, crawling over to the misaligned side to fix it. “He’s not sharing mine,” he says, voice firm. He looks over and Luffy flicks his eyes away, brows growing pinched. “Uh-huh,” he mumbles, seeing through Luffy’s intentions.

“But Sa-”

“Just put him in your room. You can share mine.” He gives Luffy a pointed look. “Any problem with that?”

Luffy just sighs, his chin digging into the wood.

Luffy is the one to pick Ace up from the station. He’s the only one.

Ace resists a yawn as he moves further into the room, dragging along a suitcase that he releases in favor of steadying himself when Luffy jumps on him. It crashes to the ground as Luffy wraps his arms around his shoulders, and Ace only sighs and returns the hug in fervor.

“I missed you,” Luffy says, and Ace forgives him for the heels digging into his side.

“It’s good to see you too.” He sets Luffy down after a minute, adjusting the bag on his shoulders. “Is it still snowing? I think I saw some on my way here.”

Luffy bobs his head. He reaches down to grab the handle to Ace’s luggage, pulling it along. “Yeah, started this morning.” He tugs on the scarf wrapped around his neck. “Sabo wouldn’t let me leave the house without at least this.”

“Ah.” Ace’s shoulders tense slightly at the mention of the name. “He’s not here?” he casually mentions, testing the waters.

“No.” Luffy sighs. “He’s at work. Didn’t even ask off.” He mutters the last part, but Ace still manages to catch it. “Don’t worry, though. You’ll see him later!”

“Right.” His eyes move to the side, catching the snow falling as they move outside. He reaches out a hand, letting some flakes fall into it. “He’s . . still not in school?”

“Not yet,” Luffy hums. “He wants to be, but . .” He hesitates. “Well. Money’s kinda tight right now.” A gust of wind has him dropping the topic in favor of grasping Ace’s arm, tugging him forward. “C’mon, it’s too cold to be standing around! Let’s go home already.”

Ace smiles, letting himself be pulled along. “Lead the way.”

Luffy drags all of Ace’s stuff into the bigger bedroom as he investigates the kotatsu set up in the main room. He doesn’t question this, figuring Luffy had won the room somehow. He tries to recall any conversation he’d had with his youngest brother that would support this, but comes up blank. Well, nothing to disprove it either, he supposed.

“Wanna try it?” Luffy says, startling him from his thoughts. Ace looks from him to the table, conveniently already plugged in, like someone had expected them to come in and use it. “We set it up last week,” Luffy mentions, pushing Ace forward until he was sat under it, sighing in appreciation as his skin met the heat.

“Feels nice,” he murmurs. Luffy scoots him over until they’re sat side-by-side, reaching for the bowl of mini oranges placed on the tabletop. Ace almost snorts at he catches sight of it. Typical Sabo.

He tips, leaning into Luffy’s side, and gets a questioning hum in response. “Tired,” he mumbles. “Think I’m gonna shower and get some sleep.”

Luffy sets the top half of the peel on the table and pops a piece of the fruit into his mouth. He’s on his second one before he answers Ace. “Okay. But tomorrow we’re doing stuff together!”

Ace huffs out a quiet laugh. “Yeah, sounds good.”

He disentangles himself from his brother easily enough, padding over to the bathroom and shutting the door. He’s shrugging off his shirt when the door suddenly opens, and he looks up as Luffy pokes his head in.

“I forgot to mention,” he mumbles around his orange. “Make sure you turn the fan on or everything gets all wet.” He moves a hand to tap above the second switch near the sink. “Sabo says the room’s too small or something, I don’t really remember. But he gets super mad when I forget to leave it on, so-” He waves his hand and Ace catches on, nodding.

“Got it. Thanks.”

Luffy smiles at him before leaving. Ace leaves all his clothes in a pile on the floor and investigates the room as the water heats up. Luffy was right. It was small. It probably didn’t have good ventilation, which was why the steam lingered and soaked everything.

Ah, that was right. Ace breathes out a sigh and flips on the fan switch. He grabs a towel from the cabinet and drops it to the floor, then steps under the warm spray.

He hums. Definitely felt better than the kotatsu. He’d been travelling all day, so this . . yeah, it felt really nice.

He reaches back blindly for a bottle of soap and flips one open only to be met with an overwhelming citrus scent. Ace blinks, looking down and slowly closing the bottle. He turns to see a different one on the ledge and picks that up instead, sure that Luffy wouldn’t mind him using his.

It’s cold enough in the house that he feels bare with only a towel wrapped around his waist. He leaves the fan on and flips the light off, moving to the bedroom and waving to Luffy as he went. This room is a little warmer, but he’s still pulling on sweats before collapsing on the bed, no energy to even slip under the sheets. He moves a loose blanket over him instead, content enough with the warmth it provided. He knew Luffy was built like a furnace, and managed to wrap himself around whoever was closest when he slept.

He sleeps for long enough that it’s dark when he opens his eyes, the door opening waking him. A sharp inhale has him glancing up, Luffy’s name on his tongue, but fading as he catches sight of who’s in the doorway.

Ace is suddenly much more awake. “This isn’t Luffy’s room, is it?”

“No,” Sabo mutters, voice curt. He still hasn’t moved. He doesn’t say anything else.

Ace sighs and lifts himself up, rolling out of bed. “Okay. I’ll go sleep on the couch.”

Sabo moves his arm away from the door, letting him pass. He keeps his gaze forward, not looking at Ace, not giving him any sort of reaction.

He’s barely out the door before Sabo’s closed it on him. Ace breathes out another sigh. He’s still tired enough that the cold out here doesn’t bother him, and he’s asleep before he knows it.

Luffy barges into Sabo’s room too early the next morning. He slams the door open with such force that it bounces off the opposite wall, and Sabo opens his eyes into slits at the noise, awake and already very annoyed.

“Why is Ace on the couch?” Luffy yells, stepping further into the room. Sabo huffs out a breath and just barely resists the urge to bury his head back under the blankets.

“His choice,” he mutters.

“Bullshit,” Luffy snaps. He comes close enough that Sabo can’t see his face, having no desire to look up and meet his scowl. He does see his hands, though, as they slam down on the matress in front of him. “You could’ve told him to stay. What the hell is your problem?”

Sabo grits his teeth. “My problem, huh?” he mutters. He tips his face up to match Luffy’s glare. “Don’t act like you care. What, he come crying to you?”

“No. He’s still asleep! I just found him in there!”

“Then it’s fine-”

“It’s not fine, what if he gets sick? He doesn’t even have a blanket!”

“Stop yelling at me!” Sabo snaps. “If you really cared, you would’ve put him in your room and just stayed in mine! It’s not my fault!” He tugs the blanket sharply over his head, keeping his voice loud enough that he’s still heard over it. “It’s too early for this! Go away.”

Luffy slouches, knowing Sabo’s tone was final. “At least hang out with us today,” he tries.

“I have work,” Sabo grumbles. He doesn’t say anything else.

“Fine,” Luffy mutters. He tugs Sabo’s door closed before he leaves, trying not to think about the dent in the wall he’d get yelled at for later.

When he moves back to the living room, Ace is sitting up on the couch. Luffy winces. Guess he could’ve been quieter, all things considering.

“Everything okay?” Ace asks.

“You heard?” Luffy asks in turn.

“I guess.”

Luffy huffs, crossing his arms. “Wait here.”

Ace blinks, but doesn’t question as Luffy darts back the way he’d come. He does raise his brow at the noise that echoes back to him. “Luffy-!” Sabo growls, but it’s cut off by the door closing, and then Luffy reappears with a big blanket in his arms.

“Here, take this,” he says, shoving it at Ace. “He’ll be gone in a couple hours, and then we can do whatever.”

“Thanks, I guess,” Ace mutters. “Wake me when the sun’s out, okay?”

“Fine.” Luffy moves past him, to the kitchen. “I only came out for water anyways.”

It’s significantly warmer with the blanket. Ace falls back asleep, but he’s startled awake again as a blur moves past and the kitchen light blinks on. He lifts his head a little to see Sabo wrapping a scarf haphazardly around his neck, pulling open a cupboard and leaving it open in his haste after taking something. “Shit, shit,” he mutters, rounding the counter, stuffing his arms into a thick jacket. Ace hears shuffling as he pulls on shoes, and then the front door is opened and closed in a hurry.

He still can’t see the sun, so he goes back to sleep.

“Why do you keep it so cold in here anyway?” Ace asks, squirming further under the kotatsu. Luffy glances away from his tablet screen for a moment, and he’s chewing on his lip when he turns back. “What, is it a secret? Are you hiding a body?”

Luffy snorts, elbowing him in the gut. “No. It’s just. Uh. Well, having the heater on gets expensive.”

Ace raises a brow. “It’s supposed to. It’s winter. Your other alternative is freezing all the time. You’re meant to be warmer inside a building than outside of one.”

“It’s not colder than outside!” Luffy defends. Fair point. It was snowing.

“You really can’t afford it?” Ace tries.

“It’s not that.” Luffy sets his tablet down. “We just spend less this way. Save up more.”

Ace’s eyes narrow. “You mean Sabo saves up more.”

Luffy shrugs. “Yeah, so?”

“Luf, you can’t let him do this,” Ace argues. “This is your health we’re taking about here. He can save money some other way, one that doesn’t sacrifice your wellbeing-”

“Sabo takes care of me!” Luffy shouts. He quiets down, a flash of regret in his eyes, but he doesn’t apologize. “Look, you’ve never been here before. You don’t know how we do things.”

Ace leans back against the couch. He eyes the snow falling out the window. “Go turn the temp up,” he finally says, voice low.

Luffy looks up, eyes wide, but Ace continues before he can be countered. “Don’t worry about the cost. I’ll take care of it.” He holds up a hand. “I’m gonna be here a while, okay? It’s the least I can do.”

Luffy purses his lips. “I should ask Sabo.”

“I’ll tell him.” He glances away as Luffy’s expression turns hard. “I will, alright? Promise. Just go do it.”

Luffy stands after another moment, passing him the tablet. “You pick the movie,” he mutters. Then he moves over to the thermostat situated in the hallway. “You should call him after we get out. He’ll freak if he comes back and sees it like this.”

Ace picks the closest time and types in his credit card number from memory. Luffy comes back over as he finishes paying and plucks the tablet from his hands.

“Perfect!” He grins. “You’re paying for popcorn, by the way.”

Ace shrugs. “Sure.” He wiggles out from underneath the table, stretching. “We’ll have to leave soon if we wanna make it on time.”

“Right, Sabo took the car.” Luffy sighs, casting a forlorn glance out the window. “I wonder if he’d let us borrow it,” he mumbles.

“Don’t bother him. We can walk. It’s not that far.”

“Whatever. I’ll just steal one of his scarves.” Luffy moves to put his tablet up and Ace steals into Sabo’s room to get dressed in warmer clothes. Luffy comes in not too long after and rummages through the drawers until he pulls out a thicker wool scarf, winding it around his neck. “You want one?” he asks, and Ace’s lips quirk up.

“Nah, I’m okay.” He’s not sure it would be appreciated. Scratch that, it definitely wouldn’t. He was already taking a gamble today, too, best to keep his chances high.

His phone chimes just as they’re leaving, and he reads the message twice before pocketing it.

“What was that?” Luffy asks.

“I’m visiting a friend tomorrow,” he hedges. “I might come back with a surprise.”

“Really? Which friend? I’d know them, right?”

“If I told you that, it might ruin the surprise.” He laughs at Luffy’s put-off expression. “Well, you’ll see.”

Sabo pulls himself through the doorway and breathes out a sigh, eyes falling shut in content as he’s met with the warmth.

Then they snap open and his posture goes rigid as he realizes it’s warm and it’s not supposed to be-

He slips his shoes off and moves quickly to the hallway, breath halting as he catches sight at what it’s set to. His shoulders go slack, mouth falling open, and he lets himself have a single, unfiltered moment of panic before his gaze snaps to Luffy’s room.

No, no. Before that, he had to turn it back. He reaches out for the meter, sighing in thinly veiled annoyance, and flinches hard when his wrist is caught in midair.

Sabo turns to his left and wrenches his hand back, snarling. “What?” he snaps.

“Don’t change it,” Ace says, voice firm. Sabo’s eyebrows rise to his hairline.

“It wasn’t Luffy,” he mutters. “It was you.”

“It was Luffy,” Ace admits. “But I told him to.”

“Why?”

“Because you shouldn’t be putting your health at risk like that.” Ace’s voice is so calm it’s irritating. “Also, I told him I’d pay for it.”

Sabo falters. “Wha-Why?”

“I’m staying here? And I’d rather not freeze to death while I do.”

The words have barely left Ace’s mouth when Sabo’s expression regains its earlier heat, and then he’s stabbing a finger into Ace’s chest, making him wince. “You don’t live here,” Sabo tells him, words tight and emotion barely contained. He lets it boil over in his next sentence. “You don’t get to barge in and make all the decisions like you’re the one in charge! The only reason you’re even here is because Luffy let me know you were coming too late to do anything about it. It doesn’t matter and I don’t care how long you stay, you will not go over my head like this again.” Sabo drops his finger but he’s still glaring at Ace. He holds it for another beat before reaching for the thermostat again.

Ace scoffs, crossing his arms over his chest and looking away. “Since when did you become such a scrimp with money?”

“You’re the one who caused it,” Sabo mutters, turning the dial back down, but leaving it a couple digits higher than it had been.

Ace’s head snaps back toward him. “You’re still on about that?”

“Yeah, I am.” Sabo glares at him again but turns away with a huff before he can start yelling. Again. “Where the hell is Luffy?” he whispers, mostly to himself, words harsh.

“Out with some friends,” Ace answers.

“Of course.” Sabo rolls his eyes and pads back out into the living room. “Don’t follow me,” he tosses back to Ace, moving to his room and shutting the door with more force than necessary.

Luffy catches him on his way out the door, just about to come in from the cold, and Sabo spares him a minute after glancing at the time.

“Did Ace talk to you?”

Sabo’s lips quirk down. “Yeah, I guess. Don’t let him do that again.”

Luffy deflates. “Oh. Sorry, he said he’d pay for it, so I thought it would be okay.”

Sabo huffs, crossing his arms. “He’s just trying to take control.”

“I think he’s just worried, actually.” Luffy points to the sky as Sabo’s brow raises. “Look, it’s snowing again.” Luffy sighs and reaches out to flip up Sabo’s hood. “It has been kinda cold lately,” he admits.

Sabo takes Luffy’s hands from his hood into his own, rubbing his thumbs over Luffy’s gloveless ones. “It it was too much, you should’ve told me. I thought that’s why we set the kotatsu up.”

“But you’ve been doing so much better lately,” Luffy counters. “I didn’t wanna mess that up!”

Sabo lets out a sigh, dropping Luffy’s hands. “You can turn it to 75. Don’t go higher than that.” He pauses for a moment. “If Ace wants to pay for it, let him.” His phone buzzes and he jumps, quickly switching places with Luffy. “I gotta go, okay? I’ll be back later.”

“We’re still getting stuff for nabe tomorrow, right?”

“I’m off in the morning. We can do it then?”

“Yeah!” Luffy reaches back and opens up the door. “I’ll see you later!”

Sabo waves at him one last time before climbing into the car. It peels away from the driveway before Luffy can shuffle inside and take off his shoes.

“I wouldn’t mess with that.”

Luffy pipes up as he spots Ace. He waves him off. “Sabo said it was okay. Just not too much.”

Ace’s eyes narrow. “At least he submits to someone,” he mutters. “Where is he, anyway?”

“Left.” Luffy shrugs at Ace’s questioning gaze. “You didn’t hear the door? He’s at his second job.”

“Thought it was you.” Ace scoffs as the words process. “He has two jobs and yet he can’t afford to keep the house warm?”

Luffy frowns. “It’s about more than just that,” he defends. Ace turns to look at him.

“Like what?”

“You’ll have to let Sabo tell you.”

Ace grumbles, turning away. “Yeah right. Like he’d tell me anything.”

“You talked today, didn’t you?”

“We . .” Ace hesitates, frowns. “We only yelled at each other.”

“That’s still talking,” Luffy notes. “Just give it some time. Sabo will get over it.” He perks up. “We’re getting stuff for nabe in the morning. Wanna come?”

“Ah.” Ace waves him off. “That’s when I’m meeting my friend. I’ll be back in the afternoon.”

“Oh, okay.” Luffy’s frown quickly morphs into a barely-contained grin, teeth poking out from between his lips. “Does that mean you’ll have the surprise by then?!”

“Yeah, guess it does.” Ace is grinning now, too. “Just wait a little longer, little brother. I promise it’ll be worth it.”

Sabo wakes to the sound of Luffy shouting his name, blearily opening his eyes, and clenches his arms tighter around his pillow when the teen dogpiles him.

“Luffy,” he says around clenched teeth, and Luffy begrudgingly slides off of him, landing in a heap on the other side of the bed -the empty side, he notes.

“Sorry,” Luffy says, not sorry at all. “But you didn’t answer.”

Sabo turns over to face him properly, face still partially hidden by the blankets. “You didn’t give me a chance.” Luffy shrugs and he sighs. “Well? What is it?”

“We’re still going shopping, right? Ace is out, so we should go now!”

Oh. Sabo blinks. “Where?”

“Where’s Ace?” Luffy tips his head, a little surprised Sabo cared. “Out with a friend.”

“Which one?”

“Wouldn’t tell me. Said it would ruin the surprise.”

Sabo releases his hold on the pillow and debates sitting up. “We have to go now?” He resists a yawn.

“I mean, it’s past ten, so you should probably get up.” Sabo’s expression gains a little more light as he takes this in, and Luffy leans closer. “What time did you get home last night?”

“A little after eleven,” Sabo admits.

“Yeah, you should get up,” Luffy repeats. Sabo’s already working himself into a sitting position, stretching his arms over his head when he accomplishes this.

“Okay,” he murmurs, swinging his legs over the bed. “Give me ten minutes.”

“It’s snowing again,” Luffy calls as Sabo throws himself into a cold shower. It properly wakes him up, but after dressing warm for the weather, he finds the more heated atmosphere of the apartment making him tired again.

He really feels like going back to sleep.

Luffy drags him outside, drags him to the car, drags him to the store. It’s not until they’ve entered the building does he attempt to respond to any of the teen’s conversation, and even then, it’s to cut him off.

“We’re not pulling a whole salmon in the nabe, Luffy, it’s too big.” He turns away from Luffy’s pout, staying firm on his decision. “Unless that’s the only meat you want in there.”

“No!” Luffy gasps. “I still want clams! And pork! And chicken! And scallops! And beef! And-”

“Three types of meat,” Sabo says, holding up three fingers. “That’s your limit.”

Luffy blows his cheeks out. “Do dumplings count?” he finally asks.

Sabo resists the sigh at the edge of his lips. “Are you going to make them?”

“Sabo!” Luffy whines. “You know I can’t! Please!”

Sabo, unfortunately, makes the mistake of looking over at his brother. He winces at the look Luffy gives him, feeling his resistance melt. “We should have flour at home,” he mutters, and Luffy cheers.

“Let’s do pork dumplings. We can do the broth with the chicken, and then the clams-”

“In the same broth?” Sabo questions, an edge of disgust in his tone.

“Yes in the same broth!” Luffy announces. “And then the salmon-”

“You’re still on about that?”

Luffy gives him another look and Sabo can’t believe he falls for it twice. They’re actually at the fish section and he gives completely after seeing the sale price. “Fine. We can do a third of it. Then we can have the rest another night.”

Luffy blinks over at him as he accepts the wrapped seafood and sets it in the cart. “You’re gonna cook again?”

“Probably not,” he sighs. “I’ll marinate it, though, so you can just throw it in the oven.”

Luffy makes a face. “I’m not good at that.”

“Have Ace help you.”

“Sabo. It’s Ace.”

“Point taken.” He sighs. “I’ll make it simple. A third of the salmon in the nabe. That’s it.”

“Fine,” Luffy whines, dragging the word out.

“This is all your meat,” Sabo tells him, putting the pork in their cart. “What else?”

“Potatoes!” They’re actually not far from that section of the store, so it’s short work to grab some. Sabo walks them back to the produce section. “Mushrooms,” Luffy announces, and Sabo makes a face. “You don’t have to eat them,” Luffy throws over his shoulder, and Sabo slumps against the cart at his statement, sourly watching him pick some out.

“We need chili peppers for the broth,” Sabo reminds him, and Luffy zips off to grab some. He returns to find Sabo sorting through the radishes. Sabo rolls his eyes at the look Luffy gives him. “You don’t have to eat them,” he mimics, swiping at Luffy’s hand as he reaches in to take the vegetable out.

“They ruin the flavor!” Luffy argues, trying again. His hand comes away red.

“They literally do not,” Sabo counters. “What else? Do you want noodles?”

Luffy hums, thinking on it for a minute. “Nah, we can just use the rice we have at home. Let’s get snow peas!”

“Those will fall apart. Get green beans instead.”

“Carrots!”

“Sure.”

“Can we get seaweed?”

“Go for it.”

“Oh! Baby corn!”

“That’s fine.”

“Can’t be nabe without cabbage!”

“I guess you’re right.”

“Let’s get squash too!”

Sabo stops him from moving forward after depositing the vegetable into their cart. “Luffy, I know produce is dirt cheap right now, but I am begging you to stop. My wallet is begging you.”

Thankfully, Luffy gives in without much trouble. Sabo lets him throw in one more green before they move away. His head spins as he glances over all their ingredients. “This is going to be . . a mess,” he mumbles.

Luffy only chuckles beside him. Sabo resists the urge to kick him. “What kind of sauce?”

“Sesame sauce!”

Sabo raises a brow. “I thought you liked sesame butter better.”

“I do, but not when you make it.”

Sabo stops the cart, looking affronted. “What’s wrong with how I make it?”

“Makino’s is better.”

“Makino is literally the one who taught me to make it.”

“It tastes different,” Luffy argues. Sabo sighs, jerking the cart into motion again.

“Fine. We’ll make sesame sauce. I should have enough egg at home.” He risks a glance at Luffy and sighs again. “Go get the oil. I’ll get the vinegar. Meet me at checkout, and don’t get anything else.”

Luffy salutes him and goes running off. He comes back with more than sunflower oil, because it’s Luffy, but Sabo forgives him, knowing they haven’t bought any snacks in a while. Now that he was out of school for winter break, too, Sabo should’ve suspected he’d be snacking more.

“Hey. Have Ace bring you here sometime this week. Pick up a few things to have around the house.”

Luffy stops the cart just short of the car, looking over to Sabo. “And spend his money?”

“Why not?” Sabo shrugs, pulling the cart the rest of the way and beginning to shove the bags in. “He has it, right? Plus, he’s staying with us. It’s the least he can do.”

“He’s staying with us because he’s family, and it’s been a full year since we last saw him.” Sabo doesn’t turn back to Luffy, knowing he wouldn’t like the boy’s expression. He continues to load the bags. Luffy doesn’t stop. “We’re not taking advantage of him. Or his money.”

“Consider it rent.” Sabo shrugs. “If you really want,” he continues, before Luffy can get mad, “think of it as him buying his own food. And being nice to you. He has to eat something, right? Plus, we’re sharing this with him.” He gestures to the bags.

Oh. Luffy didn’t think of that. He helps Sabo put the last of the stuff into the car. He hadn’t thought Sabo was . . willing to share, but now that he thought about it, that was the path of least resistance. Still, he hadn’t expected-

His phone vibrating cuts off his train of thought. He takes it out of his pocket as Sabo closes the trunk.

“What is it?” Sabo asks, taking note of the growing excitement on Luffy’s face.

“Ace is back! We have to get home right now!”

Sabo raises a brow, holding up his keys. “Where else would we go with all this?”

Luffy ignores him. “I can’t wait to see the surprise!” He types out a reply to Ace and pulls on his seatbelt at Sabo’s chiding.

Sabo feels his jaw drop as he pulls into their small driveway. Ace is waiting for them.

So is Eustass Kidd’s motorbike.

Luffy screeches and wrenches the car door open, tumbling out with another shout. Sabo turns the engine off and sits there, watching Luffy fawn over the bike. Well, that explained who Ace went to go see. Still. To think Kidd actually parted with the thing.

“-said I could borrow it for a few, while he tests out the new model Wire is trying to pawn out to him,” Ace tells Luffy as Sabo climbs out from the car. Ah. That answered that question. The only thing better than a motorcycle was a new motorcycle, in Kidd’s eyes. Ace glances up and Sabo ducks out of his view, wondering how long it had been since he’d seen the redhead himself. Maybe he’d come by to check on his bike and he and Sabo could catch up.

“Can I ride it?” Luffy asks, and Sabo hears the smirk in Ace’s voice.

“‘Course. That’s why it was a surprise.”

“Come help me unload,” Sabo says, before that particular conversation could continue and leave him stranded with all the groceries. He says it for Luffy, but Ace leans off the bike to come and grab a few bags as well. Sabo doesn’t feel like thanking him, so he moves around them both to unlock and kick the door open, trusting one of them to shut it.

“-thinking we could cruise around for a bit, while it’s stopped snowing,” Ace is saying when him and Luffy walk into the kitchen. Sabo frowns and opens the freezer so he’d have an excuse to be turned around.

“That sounds great! Hey, Sabo, you should come too!”

Sabo’s shoulders tense before he can help it. All the meat’s in the freezer drawer, so he shuts it and comes to a stand. “I’ll pass,” he murmurs, looking to the oven clock. “I need a nap.”

“Oh.” Luffy deflates a little, but he doesn’t protest. “Okay. What time do you go in?”

“Four.”

“I can wake you around three?”

Sabo waves him off, already walking away. “Don’t worry about it. Go have fun. Be safe and all that.”

“Right. Thanks,” Luffy says. Ace doesn’t say anything.

“Helmet.” Ace shoves it into Luffy’s hands before he can climb on the bike. “Don’t give me that look! I brought an extra for a reason. See? I’m wearing one too. Now put it on.”

Luffy huffs but ultimately shoves the helmet over his head, cheeks puffing back out at the way it muses his hair. He flips up the visor as he situates himself behind Ace. “Don’t see why I need this. Don’t you have experience with these?”

“I drove it over here.”

Luffy flips down the visor and grabs tight to Ace’s middle without another word. Ace laughs. “It’ll be fine! Kidd wouldn’t have leant it to me if I didn’t know what I was doing,” he throws over his shoulder, revving the engine.

“Where are we going?” Luffy asks, growing rigid despite all his initial excitement as they pull onto the road.

Ace shrugs. “Wherever. You wanna go somewhere?”

“Let’s go see Nami!” Luffy perks up, hooking his head over Ace’s shoulder. “I wanna show this off.”

“Of course you do.” Ace laughs and his hands tighten on the handlebars just as Luffy audibly gulps near his ear, the turn they just took maybe a tad too sharp. “They still live out on the farm?”

“The very same.”

“Right.” Ace leans forward. “Highway it is, then,” he says, voice overly cheery. Luffy’s head rockets up.

“Wait-” he begins, but cuts off into a scream when Ace floors it, leading them on the access road.

His fear is short-lived, though, and not even halfway there he’s right back in Ace’s space, hand outstretched to point out where Ace can move to weave between traffic. They make it out to country roads in under half an hour and speed down the empty strip, pushing ninety. Ace has to stop Luffy from tossing both arms in the air like he was on a rollercoaster several times, and learns very quickly how to manage steering with one hand.

They pull up to the tangerine farm only to find Bellemere waiting for them, smoking under the relative shelter of an awning with her head tucked underneath one arm, and looking like she was barely resisting ripping the heavy coat off her thin frame.

Ace slides to a stop in the drive, one foot on the ground and just turning off the engine when Luffy jumps off and runs up the slope, waving his arms and loudly calling the redhead’s name. Bellemere grins in response, shuffling the cigarette to speak around it.

“That’s new,” she notes, nodding to the bike as she sets a heavy hand on Luffy’s head, ruffling his hair. “Could hear you coming up. Was wondering who was making all the racket.”

Ace bites out a laugh, managing to hook his helmet on one of the handles before moving towards the two. “I’ve never been very subtle.”

Bellemere snorts and finally drops her hand as Luffy pushes away from it. “Understatement. How’ve you been, kid? I mean, obviously well, if you can afford that, but like, generally.”

“It’s a friend’s, actually.” Her brows raise. “I’m just borrowing it while I’m in the city.” Ace shrugs. “I’ve been fine. Work is . . a lot. But I’m off for a while. Hopefully when I go back, I’ll have been away for long enough to miss it.” He ends by shoving his hands into his pockets, the cold finally catching up with him. It doesn’t go unnoticed by Bellemere, who stubs out her cigarette and comes to a stand.

“Come inside,” she insists. “I’m sure you’ve come all the way out here for something, but I’ll let the girls sort it out.” They move along on the stone path leading to the porch, and she swings the front door open for them but doesn’t follow them in, closing it shut behind them instead.

“Hey, mom?” Ace blinks at the familiar voice, and blinks again as Nami rounds the corner, her orange locks bouncing near her shoulders, decidedly longer than the last Ace had seen. She cuts herself off when she catches sight of the boys. “Oh. You’re not-”

“Nami!” Luffy interrupts. “Guess what?” Nami blinks, caught off-guard by his shouting, and before she can guess Luffy’s grabbed her by the wrist and is tugging her back outside. Ace turns his head to watch, but a new voice stops him from following.

“Hey Portgas. Been a while.”

He throws his head over his shoulder, beaming. “Nojiko!”

Nojiko finishes descending the stairs, stepping into Ace’s hug. “What brings you all the way out here? Thought you lived somewhere else now.”

“Vacation,” Ace hedges. “Here, specifically, though -Luffy wanted to show off the bike.”

Nojiko cocks a brow and Ace clarifies. “Kidd’s.”

Her expression turns sour. “He’s not here, is he?”

Ace laughs, glancing away. “No. The bike’s on loan.”

“Good,” she mumbles, crossing her arms. “Where-” She cuts herself off, turning to fix him with a cursory look. Ace holds it, but she must find what she’s looking for, because her eyes narrow. “Sabo’s not here,” she guesses. Ace huffs in lieu of a reply, only confirming her suspicions. “You’re not speaking to him.”

“Would you blame me?”

“I’m not answering that.” Nojiko slouches in place as the front door opens back up, bringing a wave of chill into the house. “That’s like asking me to choose between my friends.”

A moment of silence follows her words before the door closes shut and the tension cuts. “We were making cider,” Nami announces, tugging at the scarf around her neck. Luffy’s eyes widen and she smirks, eyes darting between him trailing at her heels, and Ace and Nojiko, still in the living room. “If you’re staying for a little, come have some.”

Ace thinks back on his cold fingers and nods, following them into the kitchen. Bellemere comes back in after a while, and the five pass the afternoon leisurely, sitting around the dining table surrounded by tall windows that reveal the snow coming down, keeping the container of cider in a precarious state of half-empty and their mugs half-full. They talk and drink and shuffle around some dominoes, falling into old habits. Luffy convinces Nami to make him more cider, over the break, and she promises to bring by a sizeable carafe sometime.

They leave around three, while there’s a break in the snow. Nojiko pulls him aside beforehand, depositing a pair of black gloves into his hands. She waves off his questioning look.

“They were Praline’s. She gave them to me once, and I never got around to giving them back.” She shrugs. “You’ll find better use out of them.”

Ace glances down at them. “My hands are bigger than yours,” he notes. Nojiko snorts.

“Yeah, so are hers. Just try them on.”

He does, mildly surprised they fit rather well. She’s already stepping away, something else in her grip, and Ace blinks up to find her approaching Luffy.

“These are for Sabo,” she tells him. Luffy glances at the bag before stowing it away inside his jacket.

“Thanks!” he says, grinning up at her. “I’ll make sure he gets them.”

He does, but only just. Sabo is shrugging into a coat when they make it back to the apartment, one eye on his phone. He barely looks up as they come in.

“Sabo, it was amazing!” Luffy gushes. He runs up to swing the blond into a hug and is only stopped by a palm pressing into his forehead, keeping him at bay. It does nothing to deter the wide smile on his face. “You really should’ve come, we had so much fun!”

“That’s good,” Sabo says, words a little absent. He pockets the phone and moves around Luffy. “I gotta go.”

“Oh, Nojiko gave you these!” Luffy pulls out the plastic bag and Sabo turns his head to glance back at it.

“Just put ‘em in my room,” he calls, already opening the door. “Bye.”

Luffy drops the bag in his grip and pauses on his way to the hall, catching Ace’s eye. “They’re scent melts,” he announces, brandishing a new smile instead of a bag, and he raises his voice as he moves out of the living room. “She handmakes them, so they’re mostly tangerine scented. There’s probably some spice, I haven’t been able to figure out what.” He moves back into the main room after tossing the bag into Sabo’s bedroom, an orange square in his palm. “We can’t have candles anymore, so we use these instead.”

Ace gives him a look and Luffy suddenly avoids his gaze, reaching out to plug the scent melter into the wall after setting it atop the kotatsu. “This is less of a fire hazard,” he reveals, but nothing more. By that point the wax melt’s scent has intrigued Ace enough to wander over to the other side of the table, and he drops the conversation, not willing to dog Luffy into oversharing at that exact moment.

Ace is set under the kotatsu mid-morning the next day, a mug warming his hands, trying to blink the sleep from his eyes with minimal success. Luffy moves into the room and gives him a half-hearted wave on the way to the door. “Gonna check the mail,” he says, and Ace mutters something noncommittal in reply.

Luffy walks outside with his shoes halfway on and pauses a quarter down the driveway when he realizes it was Sabo’s car that was blocking the sunlight and making him shiver in the shade. Then that thought processes and he turns on his heels, mail forgotten.

Ace jerks his head up and jumps in his seat when the front door bangs open, Luffy running by without bothering to close it. “Sabo!” he yells, pausing only to catch himself on the back of the couch to keep from skidding over his heels and glance at the clock on the oven, in full view in the kitchen. His face pales considerably from Ace’s viewpoint, and he calls the blond’s name again, loudly, and takes off running into the hallway again.

Ace frowns, but doesn’t move to get up. He forces his hands to relax around the mug. He can hear Luffy yelling again soon enough.

“Sabo, you need to get up. It’s nine and you’re late!”

Ace’s brows crease.

He hears Sabo’s voice not long after that, devolving from tired to panicked in the matter of seconds it takes him to wake. There’s a crash that has him glancing toward the open bedroom door and a harried mix of voices that has him decidedly turning away from it again.

“Don’t think like that, dad’ll understand,” he hears Luffy say. “But you do need to hurry-”

“I am hurrying!” Sabo snaps, and it goes deathly quiet.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean-” he mutters, and Luffy cuts him off, voice oddly subdued.

“I know. Here.”

Ace can’t make out their words after that. He’s left to wonder in silence until Sabo stumbles from the room, and then he becomes a quiet spectator as the blond flies around the kitchen and finally moves for the open door. He pauses just in Ace’s frame of view, pulling an empty hand from his coat pocket, and sighs as he turns back around. Luffy’s a couple paces away and quickly hands him a ring of keys, then turns him back around and shoves him toward the door.

“Thanks,” Sabo mumbles, then they’re both outside and the door is shut and Ace slumps down to the floor, burrowing more under the kotatsu. He lies there until Luffy comes back inside, shivering, and works his wet socks off into a small heap on the faux-wood floor. He glances over to see Ace’s hair sprawled out on the carpet, the only visible body part of his while the rest lied spread under the table, and Ace blinks heavily as Luffy snorts and approaches. He moves around the corner, burying his cold feet into the carpet, until he’s more right-side-up than not, in Ace’s view.

That’s when he finally remembers what he was going to say. “So he didn’t have another morning off.”

Luffy’s tentative amused smile disappears with a sigh. He huffs out a second time, trying to clear the hair from his eyes, and then swipes out with a hand when that didn’t work. “I thought he was long gone already.”

Ace squints as he tries to recall more of the conversation. “He works for Dragon?”

Luffy blinks. “In the day,” he says. He doesn’t say anything else.

Ace hums, then casts a glance out the window. “It’s snowing again.”

“Oh yeah.”

Luffy’s words have him looking back, though he can’t see well from his current position.

“I’m gonna be out today. I’m meeting up with Zoro and Usopp and everyone. Chopper had something to show us while it’s still snowing so much.”

“I’ll stay in today.” Ace says that before he quite knows what he’s saying, repeats it in his head, then nods when he finds he’s satisfied with it.

Luffy shrugs. “Suit yourself. I’ll call you if something comes up.” He reaches for one of the mini oranges on the tabletop and starts to peel it, and they pass the rest of the morning like this, relaxed and content in the silence.

Ace had been faintly surprised to spend the majority of the day alone, actually. Luffy had been out for a while, and was apparently preoccupied, but not even Sabo came home between shifts. He wonders if that’s on purpose. A later phone call from Luffy assures him that it’s not.

“Me and Zoro are bringing lunch to Sabo. You wanna go get food after?”

He thinks on it, casts a glance out the window, and gives in when he finds the snow has stopped. “Sure.”

“Great! Vivi told me about this new place downtown last week, and-” Ace half-listens as Luffy rambles, mostly trying to take in the information he’d already acquired. It wasn’t really lunch at half past five, but if Sabo had stayed late at his first job and had to immediately go to his second, and hadn’t gotten the chance to eat yet, he supposes it would count as lunch. Ace frowns, noting the ease in which Luffy had explained the errand, and wonders how many times he’s had to do this already.

“Is Sabo late a lot?” he asks, cutting Luffy off mid-sentence. He’s met with a moment of silence, and then the dull hum of the car he’d been hearing in the background cuts off.

“That’s-” Luffy stops. “I’ll tell you later, okay?”

He hangs up before Ace can respond.

“Can you cut it up without nicking your fingers?”

Luffy whines in protest, letting the pork fall from his hands to the cutting board. He picks up the small knife and points it in Sabo’s direction. “One time, Sabo! That was one time!”

Sabo raises a brow, unperturbed, and goes back to shaping the dough. “My point still stands.”

“I’ll be fine,” Luffy assures him, already moving the knife through the pork. Behind them, the timer on the oven beeps, and he glances over his shoulder at it. “What’s that for?”

“The peppers.” Sabo sets aside another rounded piece and wipes his hands with a towel. “I let them strain, so now I just have to add the juice to the broth.” He turns around to do just that and Luffy goes back to his task.

“Can we make extra for later this week?” Luffy asks, once Sabo’s returned to the dough. Sabo makes a face down at the counter and shakes his head.

“That what the salmon’s for. Twenty dumplings, tops.” He sighs through his nose at Luffy’s whine. “That’s not helping your case.”

“Fine!” Luffy wails, dragging the word out. He pushes the cutting board over and gestures to the chopped meat. “Is this enough, then?”

“Should be.” Sabo glances over at Luffy’s hands, but he can’t see any blood, which is good. Luffy catches him looking and grins, tossing the knife into the sink.

“See? I was careful this time!”

Sabo shapes the last piece and doesn’t deem Luffy with a reply, reaching out to grab some of the pork instead. He wraps the dough around it and sets the first dumpling aside, already reaching for the next wrapper. “Why don’t you get all the vegetables out?”

Luffy nods and opens the fridge. “Can we eat at the kotatsu?”

“If you can plug the burner in over there.” Sabo shrugs. “It’s under the cabinet -no, the other one. If you unplug something, careful with the cord!”

He finishes plating the dumplings quickly enough and portions the salmon out, throwing a big piece into the simmering broth. Luffy is getting out dishes for all the vegetables as Sabo turns the heat up, taking the pot he cooked the peppers in in his other hand.

Luffy frowns when Sabo moves over to the sink and puts the pot under running water. “Why don’t you just do dishes later?”

Sabo casts him a look. “Will you help?”

Luffy shrugs, looking away. “Nevermind.”

“Me too. That wasn’t a question. You’re helping.” He ignores Luffy’s protests in favor of tossing the clams into the broth. In the main room, Luffy had managed to fit the portable stove onto the table. They set out plates of different ingredients around it, then after a little more time has passed, Sabo picks up the pot with the broth and brings it in.

“Where’s the sesame sauce?” Luffy calls. Sabo bends over to place the still-hot pot on the new burner.

“Back of the fridge,” he calls back. “Bring the rice too?”

Luffy returns with the sauce and little bowls to portion it. “I set the rice on the counter. There’s not room here for it.”

Sabo shrugs. “Guess you’re right. That’s fine. As long as it thaws -it’ll heat better at room temp than it will cold.”

Luffy takes a seat and grins at the nabe, barely at a boil. “Think the fish is ready?”

“I think you should cook something else before you try it,” Sabo cautions him, taking his own seat. He puts a potato chunk into the broth and pulls out a wedge of chicken. “This should be done, though.”

Luffy lets a few dumplings boil and they sit back, talking about their day. Sabo had gotten off a little early from his day shift to find the house empty. Since he had the night off, he resorted to start on the dumpling dough and the nabe broth. Luffy had been out with Nami and Vivi, and had come in later with a carafe of cider that now sat on a corner of the kitchen counter.

The door opening has Sabo breaking off mid-sentence. He turns around to see Ace moving into the room, eyeing their setup while one hand slipped a key ring back into his pocket. Sabo’s eyes narrow.

Behind him, Luffy doesn’t seem to notice. “Finally! Come eat with us.”

“Yeah sure,” Ace says, words easy. He moves to the hall, though, swinging his bag off his shoulders. “Just give me a minute.”

Once he’s out of sight, Sabo jerks his head back to face Luffy. “He has a key?” he mutters, voice low.

“I let him copy mine,” Luffy tells him. His eyes shine with ire. “He’ll be here all break. It’s better that he has one.”

Sabo huffs, but doesn’t protest. Ace joins them soon after that, and they dissolve into light conversation. From the outside, it looks like they’re all participating, but that’s not quite the truth. Sabo and Ace talk with Luffy, but never at each other. Eventually Sabo stops talking altogether, finishing up the last of the nabe while glancing down at his phone.

Once all the plates are cleared, he stands up to get the rice. Luffy turns the temp on the burner down and Sabo spoons in enough of the pre-cooked rice that it covered the remaining broth.

The TV gets turned on at some point, so they all remain at the table even after the nabe pot is emptied and the stove turned off and tucked into the corner. Sabo puts his cheek to the wood and blinks at the mindless droning, letting his phone screen wink off as he tries to figure what was playing. Eventually, a tug at his sleeve has him glancing up. Luffy had scooted to his side of the table at some point. His expression was a little pinched, but mostly lax.

“Hey, why don’t you go lie down? Ace and I can take care of the dishes.” Sabo’s brows furrow, but Luffy continues before he can protest. “You look tired. Don’t force yourself to stay up, okay?”

Sabo blinks, takes a minute to let that thought turn. Finally, he sits up and nods, shuffling to his feet. He hears Luffy mumble something to Ace, but he doesn’t pay it mind, already moving toward the hall.

“-and then Sanji-” Luffy cuts himself off to stuff a handful of fries in his mouth. Ace watches him, head tipped in his head, with amusement. Before Luffy can start back up again, he chimes in.

“So you had a good day, then?”

“Yeah-!” Luffy gasps as he picks the last fry off his cleaned plate only to find their waiter setting down the kiwi cheesecake he’d ordered. Ace laughs into his free hand before taking a sip from his glass.

“I’m not sharing,” Luffy frowns over at him, already picking up a spoon. Ace waves him off.

“Yeah, go for it. I didn’t order any for a reason.” He squints. “Hey, did the lights get brighter?”

Luffy blinks, swallows his bite of cake, and hesitates before the next one. “No? You-” He nods towards Ace’s ale. “Maybe you’ve had enough.”

Oh. “Guess you’re right,” Ace mutters, moving the glass away. He squints again, a new thought dawning on him, and his lips downturn.

Luffy, noticing this, sets his spoon down and leans over the table. “Hey, you feeling okay?”

“Fine.” Ace waves him off. “I just realized, uh. We took the motorcycle here. I don’t think I can drive it back anymore.”

Luffy straightens up, eyes glowing. “I can-”

“I know for a fact you can’t drive a motorbike, Luf.” Ace huffs out a laugh at Luffy’s distraught expression. “Well, I’d be willing to let you try, but it’s Kidd’s bike, not mine. So no.”

“But I could-”

Ace waves him off. “Just call Sabo,” he mumbles.

Ace spends the rest of dinner a little lost in thought. It must do something to Luffy, because he offers Ace the last bite of cheesecake that he humbly accepts. His grin must not quirk up at the right angle, because when they exist the restaurant, Luffy steers them over to the first bench he can find.

“What’d he say?” Ace asks, wincing at his own hesitant tone. Luffy pulls out his phone and hums.

“Actually, he hasn’t answered.” He presses a button and holds the phone up to his ear. Sabo answers after three long rings.

“Luffy? What’s wrong?”

Luffy’s lips curve into a frown. “Did I wake you up? Sorry. I . .”

Ace tunes him out right about then, gazing across the street. He’s picking his own phone out of his pocket when Luffy hangs up and leans heavily on his shoulder.

“He’s on his way,” Luffy mumbles. Somehow, the words aren’t quite as reassuring as he thought they’d be.

It’s a weekend night, and the parking lot stays busy. Ace doesn’t pay attention to the next car that pulls in until Sabo steps out of it, and even then he turns his gaze from a blurry blond to Luffy trying to doze off on his shoulder. A shadow falling over him has him looking back up.

Sabo just looks tired. Not mad, or disappointed, or anything like what Ace had been expecting. He reaches out and nudges Luffy’s foot until he’s sitting up, hand on the spare helmet at his side.

“Come on. Let’s go,” Sabo says. He doesn’t say anything to Ace.

Luffy obviously wants him to, because he pushes Ace into the passenger seat before clambering into the back. Ace takes a deep breath and shuts the door, setting his own helmet in the floorboards.

Sabo yawns into the back of his hand before turning the car on. The ride home is silent.

When they make it back, Sabo turns the car off and Luffy slides out while he’s putting his keys away. Ace takes his chance. “Sorry,” he mutters, glancing at the blond. “And thanks.”

Sabo looks up, blinks at him. His expression doesn’t change. They hold gazes for a moment, and then Sabo’s opening the door without a word. Luffy repeats Ace’s words inside, and Sabo moves to ruffle his hair as he passes. He yawns into his free hand, again, waving goodnight with his other, and then the bedroom door is shut.

“We would have to be speaking to be in a fight.”

“Exactly!” Luffy near-shouts. “If you weren’t in a fight you would be talking with each other. It’s so obvious that you are.”

“Fine.” Sabo huffs, leans back. “What of it?”

“Can’t you just apologize and move on already?”

“Apologize?” Sabo’s eyes narrow. “Me? Really. Me. Why?”

“You know Ace is too stubborn to ever-”

“I didn’t do anything wrong. Why does it even matter? It’s not like you know everything that happened.”

“I know enough, okay? Enough to realize you two really need to at least start talking again. This is ridiculous, Sabo. It’s been a year! If you can’t forgive him, can’t you at least move on?”

“What, like he has?” Sabo crosses his arms, huffs again. “No, I can’t. It’s still affecting me, so-”

“What if he paid you back?”

Sabo’s mouth hangs open, left there from Luffy cutting him off and frozen from his words. He closes it sharply once he realizes. “Did he tell you that?” he says after a moment.

“No.” Luffy’s eyes are hard. “It’s just a question.”

“It still wouldn’t fix the prob-”

“Wouldn’t it, though?” Sabo frowns, but remains silent, a gesture for Luffy to continue. “If you got the money back, you’d have enough to go to school. You wouldn’t have to worry about two jobs. You might be able to pay off-” Sabo’s glare sharpens and Luffy, wisely, cuts himself off. “It would fix things.”

“You’re wrong. What’s the point if he doesn’t regret it?”

“Sabo-”

“Just drop it, Luffy.”

Luffy purses his lips. “Y’know, things would be a lot more fun if you two would just get along again.”

“I take back what I said!”

Ace glances back at Luffy, who’s grinning down at him. “About what?”

“You can totally drive this thing,” Luffy boasts, gesturing to the bike. Ace carefully grabs the flailing limb and wraps it back around his waist. “And this is so much fun! You think Kidd will let you have it?”

Ace laughs. “Do I think he likes the new bike? Yeah, sure. Do I think he’ll let me have this without paying for it? No way.” He shrugs around Luffy’s protests. “Not like I need it. Besides, I don’t have that kind of money.”

“Oh.” Luffy deflates a little, his conversation with Sabo coming back to him. Guess that answered that question.

“Just enjoy it while it lasts-”

“Hey, Ace?”

Ace turns back at luffy’s uncharacteristic tone, but right at that moment, a street sign flashes past them. Luffy blinks, eyes turned away to read off it. “Wait, did that say there was ice-”

He doesn’t have time to finish before their tires slip. Luffy’s breath catches as Ace jerks his head forward again, trying to straighten out. They jerk further into the ice patch instead, and Luffy’s mouth opens in protest, but he doesn’t have time to shout before they’re tossed from the road into a deep snowbank.

It takes Luffy a moment to regain enough strength to breathe and find his mouth filling with snow instead. He kicks out into a panic until he bursts from the snow, gasping now, and leans back on his hands as a wave of vertigo spills over him. “Ace?” he mumbles.

“Shit,” Ace mutters, several feet away. Luffy finally raises onto his knees to see Ace’s dark form splayed out across the snow. Thankfully he wasn’t trapped under the upturned bike, but he did seem a little dazed. Luffy moves into a crawl until he’s at Ace’s side, prying the helmet off to reveal his mess of dark hair. Ace doesn’t wince at the movement, so Luffy assumes he’s good. The sizable dent in the helmet is probably to thank for it.

“Sorry, Luf,” Ace mumbles.

Luffy collapses beside him and waves away Ace’s sudden concerns. “‘s fine,” Luffy breathes. “We’re okay. That was pretty cool.”

“It’s not happening again.”

“Yeah, definitely. Is the bike okay?”

“I haven’t exactly gotten up to check.”

Luffy lets them have a couple more seconds before heaving himself up, offering Ace a hand next, and then they stumble in the snow until they’re righting the motorcycle, checking it over.

“Looks good,” Ace murmurs. He has Luffy help him move it back onto the road -thankfully empty at this point in the day- and it starts just fine. Ace sits back on the seat, breathes out a sigh.

“Let’s just go home.” Luffy nods and hands him back his helmet. Ace slips it on and Luffy climbs on after him.

“You sure you’re good?” Luffy asks. Ace glances back.

“Yeah. You?”

Luffy shrugs, as best he can while wrapped around Ace. “I think so. I just landed hard.”

Ace sighs -again. “Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

That doesn’t stop him from worrying about it.

That doesn’t stop someone else from worrying about them, either. Sabo sits up at the kitchen counter as Ace holds open the door for Luffy. They slip off their shoes, but their clothes are still soaked, something that doesn’t go unnoticed.

Ace slips his helmet under his arm and reaches out to help Luffy take his own off.

“What happened?” Sabo asks.

“It’s nothing,” Ace mutters, finally sliding the helmet off. Thankfully, Luffy doesn’t show any signs of discomfort. He does stumble, though, on his way further into the house, and Sabo is out of his seat within a moment, hoisting Luffy up before he can crumple to the ground. He turns to Ace with a snarl.

“Nothing. Of course.” His eyes drop to Ace’s helmet and widen. “Wh- Did you crash?!”

Ace winces at the raised voice. Luffy tries to steady himself in Sabo’s arms. “We didn’t-”

“Stay out of this, Luffy,” Sabo growls. His gaze is still pinning Ace into place. After another long moment, Ace nods. Sabo pales. He turns away from Ace in an instant, hooking an arm under Luffy’s knees and hoisting him up. Luffy whines in protest but Sabo is careful not to jostle him under he’s lying on the couch. “Where does it hurt?”

“It doesn’t- hurt,” Luffy complains. “I just fell hard. My legs ache a little, but it’s not bad.”

Sabo presses his lips together, wanting to say so many things but wisely holding it in. He moves his hands through Luffy’s hair instead, checking for any bumps.

“‘m fine, Sabo,” Luffy mumbles. “Seriously.”

“What happened?”

Ace finally unlodges himself from beside the front door. “We slipped on some ice. Crashed into a snowbank.”

Sabo’s head jerks over to him and Ace stops dead in his tracks at the blond’s glare. “I wasn’t talking to you.”

Ace’s eyes narrow in challenge. “Well he certainly wasn’t gonna tell you.” He nods to Luffy, who tries to press himself further into the couch. “So-”

“I can’t believe you,” Sabo half-yells, no longer willing to hold back. “Not only did you make a stupid mistake, but Luffy was with you. What if it hadn’t been snowing? What if you skidded into a car instead of off the road? Did you ever even think of that?”

“We’re okay, Sabo,” Ace snaps. “Just chill out.”

“Luffy’s obviously not or he wouldn’t have collapsed like that-”

“It’s probably just the adrenaline wearing off. You know he’d say something if he was-”

“That’s not the point!”

“Will you quit shouting at each other!” Luffy finally yells, throwing his arms up. Sabo rounds on him.

“Why? You’re the one that wanted us to talk, right?”

“I didn’t mean arguing, and over something as stupid as this!”

Sabo’s arm flails out. “There is a dent in your helmet the size of my fist! It’s not stupid, Luffy.” Luffy’s face pales at this, and Sabo’s expression softens just a little. “You didn’t know, did you? It’s on the back. I thought the angle was just odd until I saw how Ace’s was dented, too.”

Luffy’s lips purse as he moves a hand to feel the back of his head. “I’m okay,” he mutters, after a moment of digging through his hair, right where Sabo had been earlier.

Sabo’s shoulders slouch. “Just stay here. I’ll get you a towel.”

He stands and Luffy tries not to think about how much of a pain it was gonna be to clean the couch now that he’d gotten it all wet. Ace comes over as soon as Sabo’s not occupying the space and helps Luffy out of his jacket. Luffy’s frown deepens as he catches sight of Ace’s guilty expression.

“It’s okay.”

“I should’ve checked,” Ace protests. “You checked mine. I should’ve-”

Sabo comes back and growls and Ace stumbles back. Luffy glares at Sabo but he pays it no mind, wrapping him in the towels and slipping a thicker one between him and the cushions.

“Stay here for an hour. If you feel worse, let me know. If not, you can go ahead and shower.” he throws a look at Ace. “You can do that now. Stop dripping all over the floor.”

Ace, wisely, doesn’t say anything. He just pads over to the bathroom and shuts the door.

“It was an accident-” Luffy tries.

“Doesn’t matter,” Sabo says firmly. He retrieves his phone from the counter and settles at the kotatsu, on the end near the couch. “One hour. Let me know.”

“At least turn on the TV,” Luffy mumbles. In the background, the shower turns on. Sabo hands him the remote.

Eventually, Luffy starts shivering, despite the coverings, and Sabo takes pity on him. Luffy sits up and Sabo helps him unwrap from the towels and come to a stand. Luffy shrugs him off and walks in a circle, demonstrating his steadiness, and then hurries into the bath Sabo had drawn earlier.

Sabo collapses under a corner of the kotatsu, scrolling through his phone until he reaches Law’s number. He bites on his lip. The both of them really should get checked out, but Law charged a fortune, even if it was nothing compared to what a hospital would. Plus, they seemed fine. At the very least, Luffy hadn’t acted strange despite the initial collapse.

“Sorry,” Ace mutters, and Sabo jumps, startled. His leg bangs against one of the table’s, and he curls in on himself in pain. When he rights his head, squinting, he finds Ace is hovering next to him on the couch. He lifts his eyes to meet grey ones, regret evident in their depths, and them looks away again. He’d dropped his phone. He swipes at it, but Ace speaks again, before he can do anything else.

“You don’t need to call Law. We’re both fine. Promise.”

Sabo turns to stare at him again. Ace has a hard time holding his gaze.

“We landed deep. The snow’s been pretty thick, so we were honestly lucky. The bike’s good, too. Whatever we hit, the helmets took the full brunt.” He curves his shoulders in. “Sorry I wasn’t being more careful.”

Sabo’s gaze moves to the bathroom door, where splashing can be heard from Luffy picking himself up from the water. “It’s not me you should be apologizing to,” he mutters. Then he buries his face under the blanket and goes back to ignoring Ace.

Sabo doesn’t realize he’s fallen asleep until Luffy’s saying his name, and he notices that he can’t hear the movie playing in the background.

He blinks, disgruntled, and lifts his head from his arms. The movie is paused on the TV. Luffy is looking at him oddly. “It’s too hot in here,” he mutters, because he’s tired and not thinking straight.

Luffy’s brows raise, and in the next moment he’s on his feet, dragging the blanket a little away from Sabo with the motion. “I’ll go turn the air down,” he says, already moving towards the dial.

On the far side of the couch, Ace sits up fully. “What the hell is wrong with you?” he snaps. Sabo’s expresion sours, and he tips his head to find Ace glaring at him. “Why would it matter if it’s hot?”

“I have narcolepsy,” Sabo says, before he can think of something better to say, or put a filter in place, because he’s still tired. He finds, after a moment, that he really doesn’t care anymore. “It’s easier to stay awake when it’s cold.”

He turns away with a yawn, missing Ace’s expression. Luffy comes back in and settles near Sabo, looking a little hesitant. He gives Sabo a look and Sabo just shrugs, blinking heavily.

“That’s why he’s always oversleeping,” Luffy tells Ace. Sabo frowns. “And why I’m used to dealing with it.

He frowns deeper. “Hey-”

“Since when?” Ace asks.

Luffy shrugs. “The summer?” Sabo huffs and leans against Luffy’s shoulder. “That’s when he got tested. That’s also why money’s tight. Paying for insurance, and then what insurance wouldn’t cover for the tests and the medicine. It adds up.”

He tries again. “Hey-”

“That’s why he’s always asleep when he’s not at work. And why he panicked that one time, because he’s overslept and shown up late dozens of times before, even though I tell him dad knows and understands about it all.”

“Luffy-”

“What? You don’t wanna talk, right? So let me do it.”

Sabo realizes, then, that Luffy was giving him an out. He settles back down.

“That’s why I don’t mind if the house is so cold, even if it is snowing, because it’s better than Sabo getting tired all the time and screwing up his timetable. It’s why I offer to bring him food and wake him up and look after him, as much as he does for me.”

Luffy pauses to breathe and Sabo feels his cheeks go warm. Ace’s voice fills the silence.

“I see.”

He doesn’t say anything else.

Sabo’s lip worries. He still refuses to look away from the TV, refuses to face anywhere but forward, cheek pressed to Luffy’s shoulderblade.

“Thank you, for telling me.” Ace shifts. “Both of you.”

Luffy’s head tops back, and that’s Sabo’s clue in to know they’re both looking at him, waiting for a reply. He closes his eyes. “Let’s just-” He pauses to breathe. “-finish the movie, okay?”

Luffy shifts to face forward again and Sabo slouches back against the couch. The sound comes back on after another moment, but he’s not paying attention anymore.

“What?” Ace looks up, a little scandalized, from his breakfast. “Repeat that,” he demands.

“Sabo’s sick.” Luffy tosses a wool scarf around his neck. “I’m busy today, so you look after him.” He works on the buttons to his coat as Ace sputters.

“How about- Uh, no- I mean-”

“It’s not like you have anything better to do.” Luffy shrugs, moving to the door. “So just do it.”

“Lu-!” The front door shuts before he can get the name out. Ace sighs, slouching.

Ace had gone for a run before the sun was up, so he actually wasn’t aware that Sabo hadn’t left the house yet.

Peeking into the dark room, he can now clearly see Sabo’s form buried under a thick blanket. Probably from Luffy’s room, if he had to guess.

He pads in a good few steps then turns on his heel and moves back out, because from the sound of it Sabo was fast asleep and not just hiding from him.

He comes back in when the sun has risen and there’s a distinctive noise on the other side of the door. Sabo’s arm is over the side of the bed, poking around the floor for his phone, which laid just out of reach. Ace slips the door open further with a sigh and picks up the phone himself, laying it beside Sabo’s shoulder.

Sabo freezes when Ace moves back, then snatches up and throws the blanket further over his face. Ace stands there for a long moment, waiting.

“You’re welcome,” he tries.

Sabo doesn’t respond.

Ace crosses his arms, then uncrosses them to jerk the shades from the window. Sabo groans, burying further underneath the covers. Ace sighs and sits down on the floor, now with enough light to see by.

“How are you feeling?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Sabo mumbles, the words somehow audible from under the blanket. Ace tries not to take it to heart.

“Alright, so bad. So? ‘Peppermint tea’ bad? Honey lemon? Is it your throat at all?”

Sabo moves the blanket down until his eyes are peering out of its folds. “Why do you care?”

“Luffy sent me to take care of you for the day.”

Sabo holds his gaze for a long moment before dropping it to the floor. “I just have a cold,” he mutters. “I’ll be fine.”

“Peppermint, then.”

Sabo sighs. “Sure.”

It takes a trip to the store and a full hour before Ace brings in a cup of steaming tea. Sabo is set up at this point, barely, and accepts the drink after a moment. Ace, carefully, drops to a seat on the edge of the bed. Sabo sips gingerly from the mug before wrapping both hands around it and leaning back.

“Thanks,” he mutters, eyes downcast. Ace wonders if he would argue, had he had the energy for it. He decides not to test it.

“Anything else I can get you?”

“A book.” Sabo uncups one hand from the tea to wave the air. “I can’t read off my phone. The screen’s too bright.”

Ace nods, looks around the room, then moves off the bed to settle before a small bookshelf. “Does it matter which one?”

“Not really.”

Sabo’s lips quirk into a sort of grimace, like he was trying to maybe smile but didn’t want to put in the effort. He takes another sip of the tea then trades it for the book. Ace sets the mug down on the nightstand. “Thanks.”

Ace decides not to mention that Sabo had already thanked him. His eyes were looking a little glassy.

“Did you call in?” Ace asks, after he’s determined that Sabo’s not going to open the book just yet. His eyes had actually slipped shut, like it was painful for them to be open.

“Yeah,” Sabo mumbles. “Caught it from someone there, so they were understanding.”

“Do you want any medicine?”

His eyes open to half-mast. “What time is it?”

“Little after ten, I guess?”

“No. Luffy gave me some earlier. ‘s too early.”

“Okay.” Ace stands, then pauses. “I’ll, um. I’ll make you something to eat.”

Sabo flips the book open instead of replying. Not that Ace minds. Luffy was right -it wasn’t like he had anything better to do.

When Ace comes back in, a bowl of sorta-soup in his hands, he finds Sabo asleep with the book open against his chest. It didn’t look like he’d gotten far.

Ace sets the bowl down on the nightstand and picks up the book, marking it before closing it. He places it where the tea was, then moves from the room with the mug in his hands.

After warming the tea back up, he comes back to see Sabo set up, drawn awake by the smell of the food. He sits up a little more, but not enough to eat by himself. Ace grimaces at the thought.

He sets the tea down and kneels by the bed. Sabo turns to look at him.

“You wanna scoot up more?” Sabo shakes his head. Ace sighs. “What, you want me to feed you, then?”

“Guess so.” Sabo grunts. Ace squints.

“Fine.” He sits on the edge of the bed, making Sabo squirm until there was enough room. Ace lets out a quiet huff and picks up the bowl. “I can’t believe you’re making me do this.”

One of Sabo’s brows raises. He opens his mouth and Ace dutifully slides the spoon in. “I can’t believe you agreed,” he mumbles.

Ace shrugs. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you like this. I can barely remember when you last got sick. We were probably just in high school.”

“Summer before, I think,” Sabo muses. He swallows another bite and then sighs. “You fed me like this back then, too.”

“Yeah?” Ace pauses. “Is that why you’re letting me now?”

“Maybe I’m taking advantage of you,” Sabo counters, but it’s weak and punctuated by a strangled cough. Ace recoils by the end of it, setting the bowl down in favor of the reheated tea.

“I don’t think so.” He shrugs again, when met with Sabo’s halfhearted glare, and offers the tea.

“I’m not used to being sick.”

“I know.”

Sabo closes his eyes. “Can I just -sleep?”

“Sure.” Ace moves away from the bed, trying not to think on how this is the first real conversation they’ve had, since he got back. “I’ll check back in in a little bit.”

Sabo hums, already halfway asleep. Ace is careful to shut the door quietly.

A week after they graduate high school, Sabo and Ace pile into a car with four day’s worth of luggage and prepare to make the trip down to their childhood home.

Maybe childhood was stressing it. Sure, they’d spent the first several years of their lives living in that particular town, but they’d spent the next few growing up where they lived now. Also, it was only home in sentiment. The actual building had burned down years before.

Luffy waves one more time from the driveway as they pull away. He doesn’t say ‘say hi to Dadan for me’ because the woman had died before they’d even moved. Perhaps that had been the reason, actually. It’d been so long Sabo was starting to forget.

Since it was a ten hour drive and the only person they’d had any sort of meaningful connection to was dead, Ace had called up a very, very old friend whose name Sabo wasn’t privy to, and had begged off a few days’ stay from them. For free, thankfully, because Ace only had so much money to spend of the trip, and Sabo even less so, a large majority of his savings set aside for tuition for the upcoming semester.

“Yes, yes, I know,” Ace groans. “You mention it every chance you get.” He takes one hand off the steering wheel to jab a finger in Sabo’s direction. “You’re lucky I didn’t decide to go to school, or most of that money would be mine.”

“Bullshit,” Sabo retorts, lifting his head to say it. He squints down at his phone in the next moment, watching the dot slide across the map. “Where are we going, by the way?”

“Oh, that.” Ace laughs nervously and Sabo glances up again. “If I’m gonna see Fai, I need a drink first.” Sabo raises a brow, unimpressed. Ace flaps a hand at him. “Don’t look at me like that. She’s a lot to deal with. You’ll understand when you meet her.”

They pass the city limits sign and Sabo settles in his seat. “Fine. Do I need to drive the rest of the way?”

Ace turns to eye him carefully as they pull up to a red light. He does this until Sabo finally looks at him back. “I’m not getting that wasted. I just need something to take the edge off.”

Sabo turns back with a hum, rolling his eyes. “I’ll hold you to that.”

In hindsight, he supposed he should’ve placed the bar based on location. Even if the name had changed, and most of the exterior. He doesn’t realize where they are until they’re already inside, and it’s only because everything is like he remembered, even in the face of all that had changed.

Sabo stiffens and Ace glances back. “What?”

He loosens himself immediately, to the best he’s able. “It’s nothing.” He shakes off Ace’s persistent gaze. “Nothing. Promise.”

That proves to break easily enough, because the girl stationed behind the counter recognizes him easily enough. “Sabo,” she calls, surprised. Ace spins on his heel, eyes narrowing. Sabo sighs.

“I . . used to work here. That’s it.”

Sabo stalks past him, not leaving any room for questioning, so Ace shrugs and follows, watching him stumble through an awkward conversation with the bartender before saving them both from each other by ordering. She casts him a thankful glance and moves away, grabbing a glass as she goes.

Unfortunately, she’s not the only one that remembers Sabo.

Just as Ace is taking his first sip, a cacophony of noise erupts from the back. “Oi, look, blondie’s back!” a voice shouts above the rest. Ace would elect to ignore it, considering the bartender was a blonde as well, but the way Sabo’s shoulders tense up has him reconsidering.

He takes out his phone instead of looking to Ace, but shifts a little so he’s leant closer in his seat. Ace goes back to his drink. A blubbering of footsteps and a concerned glance from the bartender has him looking up again, but he doesn’t turn around.

Sabo happens to make that mistake, peering around as someone approaches them, and blinking as the person spins on their heels and heads back to an occupied table. “Yeah, he still has the scar!” he half-shouts, and Sabo flinches, grip going tight on his phone.

“Hey blondie, where ya been? It’s been too long!”

“Yeah, we really missed our old scapegoat.”

“Come back to hang out more?”

Sabo’s shoulders hunch and the air becomes increasingly more uncomfortable. After another one of the catcalls, Ace breathes out through his nose and slams his glass down on the counter, duly fed up. A grip on his arm is the only thing keeping him from leaving his seat. He turns to find Sabo’s eyes on him.

“Don’t,” he says, words terse. Ace’s eyes narrow, but Sabo presses on. “Seriously. It’s okay.” He gestures to the glass. “Finish your drink.”

“Ya know, I really didn’t miss the scar, blondie,” comes a particularly inane shout. Sabo’s lips purse, and his gaze drops.

“Let’s just leave,” he mutters.

Ace’s eyes slit, and he can feel his veins threatening to pop, but he complies. He drains the glass and tosses a crumpled bill on the counter, and Sabo finally pulls him to a stand, still holding onto his arm.

“What’s this, ya got a boyfriend now?”

Sabo grits his teeth but his grip on Ace only tightens, fearing what would happen if he let go. “Ignore them.”

“Kinda hard to do that,” Ace mutters, tossing a glare over his shoulder. It doesn’t do much good.

The calls continue until they’re at the door, and Sabo feels Ace’s arm tense in his grip as one of the men called out about coming back to see them. Ace whirls around and Sabo moves a hand to his shoulder, holding tight.

“Ace, really,” he begs. “It’s fine. I promise. Let’s just go. Please.”

It takes a few seconds, but Ace nods, turning in Sabo’s grip. There’s still fire in his eyes, but he’s not doing anything, so that’s good.

Sabo breathes out a sigh of relief, and then the door opens behind them. He glances over his shoulder, pales, and then suddenly he’s being spun around, an arm tight around his back.

“Hey, look!” The guy holding Sabo uses his other hand to wave at the others. “Scar-face is back!”

Sabo opens his mouth, prepared to unlatch himself and make for the door, when he suddenly finds himself free. The guy is on the floor, clutching his jaw, and Sabo’s eyes grow wide when he realizes Ace was in front of him, fist raised and red.

The bar bursts into chaos after that.

Sabo sits with his legs curled against the steering wheel and his head against his knees. He waits until the last of the police sirens fades into the distance and then waits a little longer to finally turn his phone back on. He has to reach past his copy of the car keys to do so, and his hand jumps as it brushes the cool metal.

He’s not surprised to see an abundance of missed calls from Luffy. Responding to his text earlier, asking if they had made it yet, with ace is probably in jail was bound to be concerning, at the least. As he thinks on this, his phone starts ringing, and he wastes no time in answering.

“Sabo! What happened?”

Luffy’s voice is loud, but Sabo supposes he can excuse that. Circumstances, and all.

“I- uh.” He pauses, swallows thick. “Ace . . got into a bar fight.”

“Was it bad?”

Sabo shrugs, despite the fact that Luffy couldn’t see it. “I guess. He was one of the first loaded up.”

“That’s insane. Do you know where he is? What are you gonna do?”

“I-” Sabo cuts off with a sigh. He scrubs a hand through his hair. “The sun isn’t even out anymore. They probably won’t process him until morning.” He frowns. “I don’t know where his friend lives, either.”

“You don’t have their number?”

“No.” He sighs again. “I’ll just- stay at a hotel, I guess. I should probably go.” His legs are numb, so there was no pressing need to hurry. Not like he could drive anyway. But his tongue felt heavy in his mouth, and he didn’t want to hear Luffy anymore, so he hurries to hang up and throws his phone in the passenger seat.

He sits curled up in the parking lot for a long time.

“Name?”

Sabo’s face does a strange contortion that he blames on the lack of sleep. The secretary has no sympathy for him, pen tapping mercilessly on the side of the registry. Sabo sighs. “Portgas.”

He spells it out for her and watches her flip through the pages, then turn to type it into a computer instead. The monitor is faced away from him, but he sees the glow on her glasses. She must find when she’s looking for, because she stops scrolling after a moment, lips pressed into a frown.

Sabo doesn’t like what she tells him.

He sees Ace not long after, though it’s in a blank room with a glass panel separating them. Ace doesn’t look like he got much sleep either. Sabo rubs a hand down his face as he tries to process that, then gives up and lets it drop into his lap instead.

They have a brief conversation. “Did they post bail?” is the riveting conclusion, on Sabo’s part, because Ace’s face suddenly closes off. It takes him a while to nod out a yes. It takes him more time to admit what it was.

Sabo’s hands grip tight onto the plastic armrests of the chair. “How much?” he chokes out.

Ace repeats the number. Sabo stands up, knocking the chair back but not with enough force to topple it over. Not that it mattered -his action still shakes Ace, evident by the look on his face.

Sabo leaves. He sits in the car for a long time before going back to the hotel, and even then he doesn’t leave the parking lot. The sun is setting when he reaches for his phone and searches the map for the nearest ATM.

On the last week in winter break, Luffy tells Sabo and Ace, separately, that they were all going to a fireworks show for New Years. Luffy was riding with Zoro, so that left the other two to arrive through some other means.

Then Luffy leaves and they’re in the house alone. Together.

Ace knocks lightly on Sabo’s door before pushing it open, finding the blond fiddling with his shirt buttons, sat down on the edge of his bed. He looks up when Ace pushes the rest of the way into the room.

“We really need to sort this out.”

Sabo’s tentative gaze immediately breaks off -he finds the far wall much more interesting, turning forward with a jerk of his head. “Are you finally going to apologize?”

“I’m not saying sorry for fighting those guys.” He waits until Sabo’s eyes are back on him, though the glare is a little much. “I’m not apologizing for something I don’t regret. Not like you do.”

Sabo’s expression changes, anger fading a little, bemusement mixed in. “Regret?”

“Yeah.” Ace has never voiced it, but here he is, about to. His tongue feels like lead in his mouth. “Regret bailing me out. Don’t act like you don’t. You used all your university funds on me.”

“Is that what you think?”

“It’s what I know.” He can’t stand to look at Sabo anymore.

“Well, you’re wrong.”

This time, it’s Sabo who waits for Ace to look back up. “You’re wrong. Was it a lot? Yeah. Did I have to think about it? Yes. But would I do it again? Absolutely. You’re my brother, Ace. I would do anything for you.”

“Then- Then why are you so mad?”

“Because you acted like it was such a bother.” Sabo’s face twists. “You never said sorry, or thanks. You acted like it was the worst decision I could’ve possibly made. Like I was making a mistake. Like keeping you out of jail was a mistake.”

“Yeah? Look what good it did you! You’re still sitting on less than you need for tuition, and now you’re forking most of it out for medical bills.”

“Are you saying I should’ve left you in there?” Sabo’s eyes are piercing.

“Maybe.”

“No.” Sabo shakes his head. “No, Ace. Look, if you hadn’t picked a fight in the first place-”

“I picked a fight?”

“We were almost out the door.”

Ace crosses his arms. “I’d do it again.”

“Yeah? So would I. That’s exactly how I feel. Knowing you appreciated it even a little bit would be nice. I sacrificed a lot for you, you’re right, but I got so mad because you didn’t seem to care at all.”

“That’s . .” Ace hesitates, slowly drops his arms. “That’s not true.”

“You sure haven’t acted like it.”

“It bothered me. A lot. Maybe I needed time to blow off steam. Not . . that you made it easy. A year is a lot.”

Sabo’s brow furrows. “Well-”

“Wait.” Ace holds up a hand. “I do care. I wasn’t-” He sighs, scrubs a hand through his hair. “Okay, look. I wasn’t going to give you this, but-” He cuts himself off again to cross the room. Sabo watches as he digs through his backpack until he pulls out a white slip. He crosses over and presents it to Sabo. “Here.”

Sabo takes it, a little dubious. “What is it?” he mutters, already folding the seal up. He bends it to look inside and freezes.

“It’s not a lot,” Ace admits. Sabo slowly pries the slip open further, slipping two fingers inside. “It’s not even half, I know. It’s only around twenty thousand.”

“Onl-” Sabo cuts himself off, harsh, and finally takes the stack of money out.

“I care,” Ace says, voice softer. “I’ve been earning it back. It’s been slow. I’m sorry it couldn’t be faster. This is what I have so far.” He inhales, deep. “Please take it.”

Sabo nods, just barely, and slowly slips all the money back inside.

Ace inhales, again. “And. Please say we’re okay.” He looks down to find Sabo’s eyes on him, and holds the gaze steady. “That we’ll be okay, at least. I really wanna watch the fireworks with both of my brothers, tonight.”

He’s a little surprised when Sabo throws the money down to jump to his feet, arms around Ace in an instant, but he tries not to let it show. It doesn’t take long to return the hug and realize all the implications it carried.

Sabo’s hair smells like citrus, just like he’s always remembered.

“Yeah,” Sabo mumbles. “We’ll be okay. I- thank you.”

“Right back at you.”

Luffy texts them to inform them they were twenty minutes late to the fireworks show, but since it was known to last for over an hour, it didn’t hold much weight. He eventually gets over his ire when they show up, together, smiling and talking and being nice.

It’s the best New Years they’ve spent as a trio in a long, long time.

#opsecretsanta2019 #reposting bc i messed up the html the first time

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neverwatchedonepiece · 5 years

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596-597: "On the Verge of Annihilation! A Deadly Monster Comes Flying In!" and "An Intense Battle! Caesar Exercises His True Power!"

so i herd u were gonna kick my ass?

I have said this a lot lately... but what just happened?

Did Caesar just clean house?

Did he actually just systematically destroy the opposition BY HIMSELF? Luffy, Robin, Franky, Tashigi and Smoker one after the other?

Damn. I did not expect that at all. Right up until the final twist, I was convinced Luffy was going to take him and it would have been mission accomplished (then, after that, defeat Smiley and escape Punk Hazard without letting Caesar wriggle out of their clutches).

Caesar is much stronger than I thought.

The man said it himself at the end of 597: “Don’t underestimate me.” I regret to admit that I did, Caesar. I totally did. I thought he’d live up to the usual Mad Scientist Trope Manifestation: a non-fighter who is very clever but a bit cowardly and useless when the fight turns physical.

Instead, Oda has gifted us with an Absolute Madman with more tricks up his sleeve than a pub magician.

Let’s Set That Thing Full of Poison Gas on Fire! What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

The action picked up where 595 left off. Luffy announced to the world that he would kick the Master’s ass and kidnap him!

Needless to say, this announcement did not go down well with Caesar’s centaur minions. Did that rubbery whippersnapper say he’d kick our beloved Master’s ass and kidnap him? TAKE HIM DOWN!

Once the steam from impact had cleared, Smoker also realised the Strawhats had fallen right into his lap again and gave the order to capture them. For about two seconds *everyone* was after them. And it did not phase Luffy, Franky or Robin in the slightest. While Luffy searched for Caesar, Robin and Franky dealt with the Fodders. Must say Robin and Franky have excellent Volume Fodder Clearance techniques.

There was comedy gold moment when Luffy didn’t realise he wasn’t fighting Smoker. “Hey, Smokey! Glad you’re okay. Was worried the way Law beat you up earlier. What’s up, though? Do you have a stomachache? Are you constipated? Why are you weaker all of a sudden? And you sound weird today.”

Smoker came charging up, all like, “Come on, Tashigi! Don’t get your ass kicked by Strawhat!” And suddenly this glasses girl whose name Luffy could not remember was much stronger all of a sudden! Hmmm... what was her name?

Smoker yelled, “IT’S ME. I AM SMOKER!” And Luffy fell about laughing when the penny finally dropped that they’d been shambled by Law. Luffy said there was no point fighting when they were not at full strength. (Luffy’s a good guy, really. If he was a terrible person, he could’ve just kicked their asses and walked. But he gave them a literal fighting chance.)

Just as Franky got fed up clearing Fodder and was about to melt a huge hole in Caesar’s front door, something large and pink flew through the sky towards them.

Awww... I thought. Smiley has come home to see Caesar. Isn’t that cute? It landed and oozed over Caesar’s ship. Smoker just stood there and looked at it, like, wtf am I looking at here?

Oda used the Fodders who had clambered on board to reveal some of Smiley’s tricks. If you try to shoot it, Smiley releases toxic gas, and all the little Smileys that break off reconverge into one bigger Smiley. A dumb Fodder tried to push it into the river, got stuck in Smiley and ended up with all over poison burns. The biggest idiot decided that burning Smiley would work.

Just think about that for a second because Fodder guy didn’t.

He thought that setting fire to a substance filled with poison gas would be a good idea.

What happened?

Yes, the Inevitable

R.I.P., dumb Fodder Marines. We hardly knew ye. The large kaboom you made was beautiful, though.

There was a quiet moment of misplaced optimism when a fodder centaur said, “Hey, at least it’s gone, right?”

Nope. Turns out that Smiley was only a fragment of Original Smiley who is firing out tiny blobs of itself from the lake where Zoro, Sanji, Brook and Samurai are.

Why was Smiley doing that?

We were about to find out, as a familiar cackle from above announced Caesar’s arrival.

He’d been standing on the roof all along, watching the carnage unfold. How could he resist recording the results of his creation’s rampage?

“Good boy, Smiley!” he cried. “I’m sorry I locked you up for three years!” (No you’re not, Caesar. Let’s not pretend.)

Smoker and Luffy both had an “Aha, it’s you!” moment. “You’re Caesar Clown, aren’t you?” “Are you the Master?”

Like all Mad Scientists, Caesar has an ego the size of Laboon.

“Yes, indeed! Everyone from the Strawhat Pirates and the Marine G-5, behold the greatest scientist in the world: Master Caesar Clown!”

He told them to wait a few moments for Smiley, as he is weak to water and is flinging himself over piece by piece to cross the lake. Apparently, when all his pieces reconverge on this side of the island, everyone is up shit creek because Smiley is capable of recreating the chemical explosion that levelled Punk Hazard four years ago.

“You will all experience it! A world of death in which no one can survive. And you will learn just how powerful my weapon is. It can destroy an entire island! And the greatness of the world’s best scientist who created that weapon? It’s me, MASTER CAESAR---”

Yeah.... Caesar did not get to finish that sentence.

That is because two rubbery hands appeared, grabbed him round the waist and the next thing he knew, a smiling face was propelled towards him at speed.

WTF, Human Contact? IN MY LABORATORY??

Caesar’s reaction when Luffy attacked him with an aggressive kidnap hug was freaking glorious. He was all, “Ew ew ew, get it off me, what is this thing?” xD

Franky was impressed at how easily Luffy could grab a Logia user with his newly honed haki. He was convinced Luffy would walk the fight, kick Caesar’s ass and it would be job done! Robin was not convinced it would be that easy. After the easy ride through Fishman Island, I figured Luffy would dispatch this highly-strung scientist with ease. Maybe a bit of peril. Then they’d pack up Caesar, figure out how to destroy Smiley and GTFO off the island with the kids and the stolen drug research in tow. [Note to self: always listen to Robin. She is always right.]

I loved this fight so much I watched it back again. Even though the tables turned a few times, I was still so sure I knew where it was going.

Caesar decided to get rid of the rubbery menace clinging to him by turning to gas. Luffy countered with an armoured headbutt, which was dodged. Caesar used his Gas Robe move, which envelops a victim in poison gas. They can last as long as they can hold their breath.

Caesar totally hammed it up. He finds such glee watching people suffer. (I bet he was one of those kids at school who even the bullies wouldn’t touch.) “How long can you hold your breath, Strawhat? Just breathe deeply and drop dead! I have discovered the deadliest gas. Now, suffer and die! I have a front row seat.”

But now I know what you guys hinted at when I asked how Luffy would deal with the poison. Instead of dying from poison inhalation, Luffy snorted up every particle of gas and let it harmlessly steam out his ears. After his big fight with Magellan, poisons no longer work against Luffy. Nice one! Thanks, Magellan, you absolute diamond.

Caesar’s ego seethed to the surface after being outwitted. “Magellan? That venomous fool from Impel Down? I’m not like that pathetic paramecia eater!” (Caesar is such a fruit snob. I bet he’s a wine snob too.)

But Luffy wasn’t listening. He’d already wound up a move and - SLAM! - smacked Caesar right in the chops.

Here’s Caesar Suffering More Human Contact

Ooooooooh, Caesar was mad. After he hit the ground like a sack of spuds, he struggled to his feet and the mask came off.

“Stay out of it, weaklings!” he snarled at his minions. (Who were like, “Did our beloved Master and Saviour just call us weaklings? Did we hear that right?”)

And I have to say Caesar does not mess about when he wants rid of someone. When Luffy leapt at him, the Absolute Madman said, “BRING IT!” and whipped out one of his best moves. That Gastanet explosion was awesome. He also did not give Luffy a second to recover. Those Smilies? Yeah, he ordered them to cling to Luffy, whereupon Caesar used them to cause an even bigger boom.

He Likes Big Booms and He Cannot Lie...

Ahhhhhh... this was the peril I missed from Fishman Island, I thought at the time. Caesar had surprised me by not being a total pushover. I mean, of course Luffy would still win, but Caesar was doing pretty damned well.

His minions surrounded him, cheering for him, “Master! Master!” feeding his enormous ego. Strawhat was never strong enough to fight Master in the first place! Caesar, convinced Luffy was down, indulged in a spot of Mad Scientist gloating. “I am the greatest scientist in the world: eater of the Gas Gas Fruit. You didn’t know who you were messing with!”

Then Luffy dusted himself off and said, “OH, THAT WAS CLOSE!” and jet-stamp kicked Caesar right square in the ass. I cheered! Sure this time? (Technically Luffy did fulfil half his goal. He literally kicked Caesar’s ass there, right?)

Caesar was slumped in a bundle of massive coat and jumpsuit (btw, I only just noticed this episode that Caesar is wearing a sartorially interesting jumpsuit. I wonder what possessed him to go shopping, pause by a rack and declare, “Yes. This is the one for me.”) Luffy grabbed him by the lapels and asked Franky if there was anything he could put Caesar in, as he was a Logia and he didn’t want him escaping.

Then Oda threw his curveball.

Remember that Knife-Wielding Tentacle No One Could Turn Off? Caesar Has That Same Energy

I really liked how Toei played this scene. As Luffy was looking around for a barrel, cheerful in his victory, the music suddenly cut out. Then Luffy’s eyes went wide. His hands flew to his throat. He began to choke. His grip on Caesar’s lapels loosened. Violin harmonics kicked in. All Luffy could see was a dark, swimming, nasty red and an image of Caesar, who I could tell was beyond fury because his voice was barely raised above a whisper.

“Ahhhhhhhh, you shouldn’t underestimate me.”

Then Luffy folded like an old glove.

My jaw dropped. Had Caesar just done that? How???

Franky and Robin rushed to help. Franky tried to fry Caesar with a radical beam, but Caesar just turned to gas and disappeared. The next thing, Robin was down. Franky followed. Bam, bam, bam, Caesar was taking them all out one by one!

Smoker realised this was going Very Badly Wrong, tried to order the remnants of his crew to GTFO. But Caesar wasn’t having it. He was obviously done playing.

Tashigi was next to fall. Smoker was the only one left. He whirled round, Caesar’s mocking laugh whispering into his ears. But it was no good. Whatever trick Caesar pulled was too strong. He passed out and Caesar was left standing there, holding Smoker by the arm, victorious among a pile of unconscious bodies.

He just freaking blitzed almost the entire arc cast! By himself!

What the hell? Have I been wrong about Caesar and he is in actual fact pretty strong? I suppose he is their first opponent in the New World. He can’t be a total scrub. Still, that was a proper pasting he gave the Strawhats *and* Smoker’s crew.

And that’s not all. Caesar has pulled a few more dirty tricks by the looks of things, as Law ain’t doing too well, either.

In Other News...

While Caesar was battling with Luffy on his front lawn, Law had sneaked round the back with Chopper. The plan was to distract Caesar and Monet, lead them into another room while Chopper stole a sample, or whatever.

It didn’t quite work out that way. Only Monet was indoors. When Law asked where Caesar was, Monet said, “He’s such a hideous person he’s probably gone out to watch the carnage.” (True.) Law must’ve thought, “Yeah, Caesar would do that,” and decided to put his plan into action.

He convinced Monet to follow him through to another room to give Chopper space, but halfway there, he collapsed in a corridor.

I was like, “Wait... why is Law clutching at his chest? What happened? Why don’t I understand a single thing that is going on? Why do I love this so much??”

Then a white-suited, pale-shoed guy walked up and told Law it had been years and that Law had grown up a lot.

PLOT TWIST: A NEW SHADY CHARACTER ENTERS.

Can’t even begin to speculate who it is, so I’ll just have to be patient and wait.

Chopper may be the Alliance’s Last Hope (Sorry, Obi-Wan. You can sit this one out.)

Unless Sanji finds the samurai’s torso in that damned lake and they finally regroup with Nami and Usopp to rescue Luffy and the others.

But my money’s on Chopper.

Why?

Because Chopper.

This aggressive kidnap hug is probably the most human contact Caesar’s ever had that didn’t involve scalpels.

#one piece #neverwatchedonepiece #nwop #never watched one piece #caesar clown #trafalgar law #monkey d. luffy #nico robin #franky #tony tony chopper #roronoa zoro #sanji #brook #foxfire kinemon #monet #smiley #vice admiral smoker #captain tashigi #white suit pale shoes

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authenticaussie · 7 years

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Saboace for the knight/princess and single parent/teacher aus

ahHHHH SABO AS A NOBLE AND HE’S IN AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE W/ SOMEONE ELSE, AND ACE IS THE PRINCE, AND LIKE OH, OH, THEIR PARENTS FINDING OUT?? AND ACE’S ARE ENCOURAGING BUT LIKE REMIND HIM THAT HE’S AN ONLY CHILD AND SO THEY’RE GONNA HAVE TO FIGURE S O M E T H I N G OUT ABOUT AN HEIR, BUT SABO’S PARENTS, ALL THEY CAN SEE IS A WAY TO MANIPULATE THE ROYAL FAMILY?????????

Or, or, or, sabo introduces them to ace, but like, as a noble of equal standing??? and they just s c o f f at ace & sabo and are like yeah right???? No??? You’re marrying who we tell you and carrying on the Outlook name??????????????? We’re going to use you to get what we want??? You’re not getting married to this family???????????

AND ACE IS BASICALLY LIKE “tHE PRINCE CAN HAVE WHOMEVER HE LIKES, GET FUCKED”

And they try and backtrack but Ace is just “nopes” out of there w/ Sabo and Everything is Happy and Nothing hurts and no-one organises a kidnapping of the kid they make via magic to use in order to time-travel and manipulate Sabo & Ace and the royal family w/o them realising, and there isn’t a moment where Ace breaks up w/ Sabo because it’s better for his country and because Sabo told him that Ace should marry someone better suited to him; selfish, gullible, and stupid.

And ofc there isn’t a cheesy Disney moment where their Magic Kid manages to reveal to Ace that Sabo was lying and that the both of them were trying to do what was best for each other but Sabo was being manipulated by his parents and that was why he acted Weirdly around Ace, and that he was trying to give Ace an excuse to push him away without his parents finding it weird.

//fingerguns

Ace is Super Patient and kind and works w/ kids that have disabilities via art therapy and Luffy has trouble concentrating in class and so Ace’s classes are a Nice Reward for him because he doesn’t have to- people, or figure out what he does that’s- different, and Ace is soooo good and Sabo’s busy all the time but he’s always fighting to make time for Luffy, because Luffy’s one of the most important people in his life and so ofc when Ace asks him out on a date he asks Luffy before he says yes and Luffy is Totally nonchalant and is like yes????? more time around Mr Portgas??????? More painting??? and then he just gASPS and is like oh my god can we paint together!?!?! and Sabo takes this as Enthusiastic consent.

Oh oh oh oh tho like….the Super Fluff bc Sabo has to carve time out of his day for both ace and Luffy and Luffy feels Funky abt it bc he likes sabo being happy!! and he likes ace!!! and ace makes sabo happy!! But also like….it’s just the two of them and Sabo is patient and good w/ him and Luffy hates being alone but people are hard and just mumbling that ace had paperwork and so sabo should hang out w/ him instead and Sab gets it like Instantly and is like ??? You’re still the most important person in my life, luf. No-one’s going to replace you in my heart. You’re my little brother. And like……….organising dates so Luffy can come hang out too, or moving bits of his schedule so that Luffy doesn’t feel left out bc he’s at school when they go on dates, or w/ some of the other kids Ace knows and has carefully coaxed and helped into friendships.

Anyway it’s like 30000% fluff there is nothing else you can do w/ teacher/single parent aus omfg

#aussie's anons #ask aussie #saboace #acesabo #one piece #i'm never sure what to tag these things you know??????#ah this is so much shorter than the other one...#also omfg #i told lolles i got another knight / prince one and she was like #write angst. no more knight/prince requests.#and i was like lolles no omfg #then i was like hey how do you make single parent / teacher au sad....and look guys #don't do it it hurts

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jessicakmatt · 5 years

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Loudness 101: How Mastering Levels Affect Your Sound

Loudness 101: How Mastering Levels Affect Your Sound: via LANDR Blog

Loudness and dynamics are two of the most important concepts in mastering.

Mastering ensures your song is loud enough to compete in the marketplace of commercial tracks. And the biggest impact of the mastering process is loudness.

It’s seems like there are endless arguments about loudness going on in the pro audio community. So why is loudness such a big deal?

Some say loudness is killing music, but there’s plenty of pros out there still chasing the loudest master they can get.

With 12 million tracks now mastered with LANDR, it’s about time we clear the air on subject!

In this article I’ll go through everything you need to understand loudness in mastering, including what it is and what it means for your LANDR masters.

What is loudness?

Loudness is the human brain’s perception of sound pressure. The more energy (or SPL—sound pressure level) a sound has, the louder it seems.

It’s simple enough to understand with a sound in real life. But in your DAW, you’re working with audio signals—not sound waves travelling through the air.

To find the loudness of a signal, we have to measure it. Depending on how you choose to measure, you can come to some very different conclusions!

To find the loudness of a signal, we have to measure it.

Assessing loudness

Peak loudness method

The first way to assess loudness is to look at the highest moment in the whole audio track. This method is called peak loudness—but it doesn’t quite tell the whole story.

If you tried to raise your track up to 0 dBFS using the total peak loudness as a reference point you’d run into a problem. The loudest single moment in the track will be optimized…

But the quieter segments wouldn’t even come close.

In fact, raising the level this way is equivalent to choosing the normalize option in your DAW’s bounce menu—definitely not appropriate for mastering!

RMS method

The next option for assessing loudness is RMS measurement. RMS stands for Root Mean Square. It’s a mathematical method for determining the average level of a wave.

Comparing the two, the RMS values are considerably lower than peak, since RMS takes the dynamic extremes into account.

Perceived loudness

But there’s still more to it! Since you’ve been looking at the “electrical” loudness, you still don’t have a good picture of how loud you’d perceive the track to be.

That’s where the modern loudness standard LUFS comes in. LUFS stands for Loudness Units relative to Full Scale. It’s based on the way our ears (and brains) react to the intensity of sound at different frequencies.

With LUFS mastering engineers can make a loudness measurement that takes everything into account. It’s the perception based, integrated average loudness that’s relative to DAW full scale!

Loudness in mastering

Loudness in mastering is how close the mastering process brings the average level of a track (LUFS) to the 0 dbFS ceiling

Throw a modern commercial recording into your DAW to see what I mean. If it’s a pop, rock or electronic master from a major label, you’ll notice just how close the average level comes to 0 dBFS on your DAW meters.

Dynamic range compression is the method used in the mastering process to achieve these levels.

Once the difference between the highest peaks and the average has been reduced, the average level of the track can be boosted without risking clipping.

But increasing the level in this way has a trade-off… Loudness often comes at the expense of punch and dynamics—that’s what dynamic range compression is for after all!

The tug-of-war between between loudness and dynamics eventually led to a trend of ever-increasing average levels known as…

Loudness often comes at the expense of punch and dynamics

The loudness war

A lot has been said about the topic of music getting louder over time and the impact it’s had on the music industry and the listener.

But if for some reason you haven’t heard about it yet, here’s the basic idea:

Mixing and mastering engineers have always liked things loud, but with the advent of digital lookahead limiters in the CD era, loudness became an arms race.

The theory was that listeners would instinctively prefer the sound of CDs that delivered a louder signal to their speakers—especially if they were shuffling tracks across different albums on multi-cd changers (remember those!?).

So mastering engineers kept pushing their masters closer and closer to 0 dBFS.

Eventually the loudness craze culminated in a series of notoriously over-compressed records that prompted a backlash from listeners and the pro audio community.

Today, the average level that streaming services can actually send to your speakers is more or less standardized.

That means that on Spotify, the 2003 remaster of Thriller won’t actually output a louder signal than the original 1982 master.

Without the extra loudness to trick our brains, the extra compressed masters sound flat, fatiguing and not very pleasant.

And that’s a good thing for listeners. There’s no longer any reason to compromise the punch and dynamic liveliness of your master just to gain yet another thousandth of a dB of loudness.

Loudness and LANDR

So where does LANDR stand in the aftermath of the loudness war?

Before we get too far let’s make one thing clear—Loudness isn’t evil. Loud masters can sound great, as long as they’re not completely squashed with compression.

Loud masters can sound great, as long as they’re not completely squashed with compression.

Loudness definitely has its place in the musical landscape. Certain styles and genres require maximum loudness, while others need delicate dynamics.

That’s where mastering intensities come in. LANDR mastering styles offers 3 different intensity settings that cover a broad range of loudness and dynamics.

Lo: A lighter touch that preserves dynamic balance

Med: Commercial loudness without sacrificing punch and impact

Hi: Maximum loudness that preserves detail

Lo is the least compressed, so it’s also the most dynamic—and the least loud. It’s perfect for acoustic music or anything where natural dynamics are important.

Med is right down the middle, balancing loudness with dynamic range. It doesn’t have the effects of intense compression, but it won’t be as loud as possible. When in doubt, Med is a good starting point for most tracks.

Hi is the most intense. The compression is heavy but satisfying with no compromises on loudness. I use Hi whenever I’m working with genres that need to be loud to compete.

But the only way to know for sure is to master a track and use your ears to find the intensity that fits your sound.

Thinking out loudness

There’s so many opinions out there that loudness has turned into a lightning rod for the audio community.

But it’s not as scary as it sounds. Loudness is a basic property of audio, and its role in mastering is worth taking the time to understand.

Take the time to apply different intensities to different versions of your tracks. You’ll get a better understanding of how loudness levels impact your own recordings.

Now that you have your head around loudness, master some tracks and hear it for yourself.

The post Loudness 101: How Mastering Levels Affect Your Sound appeared first on LANDR Blog.

from LANDR Blog https://blog.landr.com/loudness-101/ via https://www.youtube.com/user/corporatethief/playlists from Steve Hart https://stevehartcom.tumblr.com/post/187644003669

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lancecarr · 5 years

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Review: Plugable USB-VOX studio microphone

My evaluation of the US$75 USB-VOX studio microphone from Plugable involved several happy surprises, beyond its high quality sound for voice. Before its arrival, I knew that it’s a condenser type mic with a cardioid pickup pattern, and that it’s USB-only (which is great for some situations, not for all); that it came with its own table stand, and is also compatible with professional boom arms like my Heil PL2T. However, I had no idea that it would excel in several other aspects, despite one missing feature for some users.

Published specs, with my comments

The manufacturer (Plugable) really understates the US$75 USB-VOX microphone (Amazon link), by publishing that it only offers 44.1 kHz audio sampling frequency. In reality, the USB-VOX microphone is much better than that, since I discovered it also offers 48 kHz audio sampling too, as shown in the above screen shot. For those who haven’t yet read my recent article 48 kHz: How to set it in Android, iOS, macOS and Windows, the Audio MIDI Setup in macOS is the place to discover a device’s capabilities and change among them on a Mac. (That article also covers how to do it with other platforms.) That setting in the Audio MIDI Setup commands the A-to-D (analog-to-digital) converter in the external USB microphone or interface to change to 48 kHz mode. The Audio MIDI Setup would not show the option of the 48 kHz option if the connected hardware didn’t offer it.

48 kHz audio sampling is essential to be used in the video world, and based upon my recommendations in the 48 kHz Alliance, in the audio world too, for reasons that go beyond the quality difference. That’s why I am so glad I agreed to review the USB-VOX, despite the incomplete information on the Plugable website about this microphone (at least at publication time of this article).

Above, the published pickup pattern.

Here are the rest of the official specs:

Element: Polarized Condenser

Polar Pattern: Cardioid

Chipset: C-Media CM6400

Frequency Response: 20 – 16000 Hz

Bit Depth: 16 bit (confirmed by me)

Sample Rate: 44.1 kHz (and 48 kHz, added by me)

Power Requirement: USB (5V DC)

Weight: 258 Grams

Overall Body Dimensions: 140 mm long | 52.0 mm body diameter

Connector Type: USB…

I’ll add the USB details: The microphone has an onboard USB-B connector (the type often found on printers), and includes a long 305 cm cable that goes from USB-B to USB-A, the most common one on most computers on the market. Th USB-A end can be adapted with an inexpensive adaptor to USB-C if required (which foreshadows other good news in the next section).

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Compatibile platforms: another happy surprise

The manufacturer, Plugable, states that the USB-VOX works with Linux, macOS (where I did my published test recording) and Windows. To that list, I will add that I successfully used the USB-VOX with my current Android phone, which is a Google Pixel XL running the beta version of Android Q (aka Android 10), using the free Auphonic app for Android (my review here), and it worked perfectly well with 48 kHz audio sampling. (My latest iOS Auphonic review for iOS is here.) All I needed to connect it was the USB cable that came with the USB-VOX and the USB-C to USB-A female adapter that came with the Google Pixel XL phone. Your results may vary depending upon your particular phone/tablet model and operating system.

Included accessories

USB-B to USB-A cable, 305 cm (described earlier)

Mount with standard 5/8 thread

Adapter to reduce the 5/8” thread to 3/8” (which I have never needed to use so far, but is useful for some cases)

Sound test and more happy surprises

All below files uncompressed mono WAV file at 48 kHz/16-bit. Please listen with unmetered data. All were recorded and trimmed in mono 48 kHz to Hindenburg Journalist Pro, and normalized to -16 LUFS.

https://www.provideocoalition.com/wp-content/uploads/Plugable-USB-microphone-unprocessed.wav

Above, USB-VOX unprocessed, other than normalization to -16 LUFS.

https://www.provideocoalition.com/wp-content/uploads/Plugable-USB-microphone-with-noise-reduction.wav

Above, after mild noise reduction from Hindenburg Journalist Pro.

https://www.provideocoalition.com/wp-content/uploads/Plugable-USB-microphone-with-noise-reduction-compression.wav

Above, after mild noise reduction and dynamic compression (not file compression) from Hindenburg Journalist Pro.

I am extremely impressed at how good the recordings sound for about US$75, even the unprocessed one.

I am also impressed since I was able to use it without any plosives (popping) issue, without the need of any pop filter or windscreen. This is very unusual when using most cardioid mics up close, even when addressing them at a 45-degree angle. I am also impressed how low self-noise the Plugable USB-VOX (Amazon link) has (even before processing) and how well it rejected background rumble, especially considering that it’s a condenser microphone. It might sound crazy, but the isolation of this Plugable USB-VOX reminded me of the RØDE Broadcaster (which costs US$419, reviewed here, Amazon — B&H) and the Audio Technica AT875R (which costs US$169, reviewed here, Amazon — B&H), since they have been among the very few condenser type mics I have ever tested that isolate background rumble so well, when all of them are addressed very closely. In that sense, these exceptional microphones have the extra frequency response, clarity and high output level of a condenser type mic, while having the isolation advantage of a dynamic mic. This does not mean that the USB-VOX sounds the same as the others, but it does mean that it isolates as well (when used in equal proximity) and it does sound very good for its price.

However, sound quality and isolation are not the only issue when selecting a microphone. There are other factors, as you’ll see ahead.

Advantages & disadvantages of a USB microphone

As I have clarified in other articles, USB microphones are really analog microphones with a built-in A-to-D or analog to digital converter. The advantage is simplicity to connect to a computer (or sometimes to a tablet or smartphone), especially when there is going to be a single microphone and the purchaser doesn’t already own a high-end interface (preamp + A-to-D converter), so no extra equipment must be purchased in order to connect it.

Multiple USB mics to a single computer?

Despite popular myths, it is indeed possible to connect multiple USB microphones to a single computer, using software that specifically allows for that, like Hindenburg Journalist Pro (see my many articles here), Sound Siphon (covered in these recent articles) or Audio Hijack. Some of these programs even allow recording multitrack from each USB mic, where each microphone is recorded on an independent track for maximum control in post production.

However, despite those possibilities, there are challenges —and solutions, as I covered in Monitoring challenges when using multiple digital USB mics simultaneously (illustrated above).

What can’t you do with a USB (only) microphone?

You can’t connect a USB (only) microphone to a conventional camcorder, HDSLR or mirrorless camera. You also can’t connect it to a conventional audio recorder, or audio/video recorder. But there are indeed situations where a USB microphone is best for the application, especially when there is a single microphone to connect to a computer (or phone or tablet).

Lack of onboard monitoring

Most radio announcers and voice talent I have met (but not all) prefer to monitor themselves “live” as they record or broadcast, to perform instant evaluation and quality control. For those who want that function, it should be direct and virtually latency free, since hearing ourselves with a slight delay and can be both distracting and fatiguing. One of the closest recommended USB mics in this price range that indeed includes onboard latency-free monitoring is the Samson Q2U (reviewed here, Amazon — B&H). The Q2U is different both because it’s a dynamic (not condenser type) and because it’s hybrid, with XLR in addition to USB. However, since the Q2U is so sensitive to plosives, I only recommend the Q2U together with the A81WS presidential windscreen, and that total price (US$93) goes higher than of that the US$75 USB-VOX (Amazon link).

Of course, depending upon the project, you can record yourself and then immediately verify the playback. However, even if you don’t want to hear yourself live, you will still want to wear either isolating headphones or earbuds/IFB when dealing with other people remotely, to avoid feedback. That is feasible when using the USB-VOX microphone with conventional computers, although the 3.5 mm jack is gradually disappearing from many of the latest models of smartphones and tablets, so I hope Plugable will add latency-free monitoring to its next USB microphone model.

I’’ll discuss this more in the Recommended uses and Conclusions section, ahead.

Lack of 24-bit resolution

Although it is great to have 24-bit resolution audio (see my Understanding 24-bit vs 16-bit audio production & distribution), it is not a must and not really expected in a USB microphone at the US$75 price point. It just means that it’s more important to set the ideal volume level as precisely as possible at the beginning, before starting the broadcast or recording.

Image credits

Some of the images in this article are courtesy of Plugable.

Recommended uses & Conclusions

The Plugable USB-VOX has a lot going for it for only US$75 (Amazon link) when used quite closely, at a 45-degree angle: high voice quality, great background rumble isolation, pop resistance and 48 kHz sampling frequency. Its only critical missing feature (onboard latency-free monitoring) will be a dealbreaker for the portion of potential purchasers who demand it. As a result, my recommended uses for the USB-VOX are for those who don’t like hearing themselves “live” in these applications:

Audiobook production

Remote co-hosts and interviewees on online radio shows (including podcasts)

Skype/Hangouts

Webinar co-panelists

For most of those, they should use either isolating headphones or earbuds (plugged into the computer/smartphone/tablet that has a 3.5 mm output) to hear the other participants remotely, without feedback. The host or audio engineer can do the quality control for them and advise them, when required.

(Re-)Subscribe for upcoming articles, reviews, radio shows, books and seminars/webinars

Stand by for upcoming articles, reviews, and books. Sign up to my free mailing list by clicking here. If you previously subscribed to my bulletins and no longer receive them, you must re-subscribe due to new compliance to GDPR. Most of my current books are at books.AllanTepper.com, and my personal website is AllanTepper.com. Also visit radio.AllanTepper.com.

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FTC disclosure

No manufacturer is specifically paying Allan Tépper or TecnoTur LLC to write this article or the mentioned books. Some of the other manufacturers listed above have contracted Tépper and/or TecnoTur LLC to carry out consulting and/or translations/localizations/transcreations. Many of the manufacturers listed above have sent Allan Tépper review units, including Audio-Technica, Plugable , RØDE and Samson. So far, none of the manufacturers listed above is/are sponsors of the TecnoTur , BeyondPodcasting CapicúaFM or TuRadioGlobal programs, although they are welcome to do so, and some are, may be (or may have been) sponsors of ProVideo Coalition magazine. Some links to third parties listed in this article and/or on this web page may indirectly benefit TecnoTur LLC via affiliate programs. Allan Tépper’s opinions are his own. Allan Tépper is not liable for misuse or misunderstanding of information he shares.

The articles contained in the TecnoTur channel in ProVideo Coalitionmagazine are copyright Allan Tépper/TecnoTur LLC, except where otherwise attributed. Unauthorized use is prohibited without prior approval, except for short quotes which link back to this page, which are encouraged!

The post Review: Plugable USB-VOX studio microphone appeared first on ProVideo Coalition.

https://www.provideocoalition.com/review-plugable-usb-vox-studio-microphone/

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libidomechanica · 5 years

Text

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light, and said to say.’”

#poetry #automatically generated text #Patrick Mooney #Markov chains #Markov chain length: 6 #294 texts

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lorrainecparker · 6 years

Text

Review + comparison: iRig Pre HD cross platform audio interface

In this article, I’ll review the new <US$100 iRig Pre HD cross platform audio interface, with preamp and A-to-D converter. If this sounds familiar, it’s because it was only 3 months ago that I reviewed the >US$150 iRig Pro I/O, whose notable missing feature was latency-free monitoring. The new <US$100 iRig Pre HD indeed has true latency-free monitoring, costs US$50 less, although it lacks MIDI. When I say “multi-platform”, I mean compatibility Apple’s Lightning connector (used on all current iOS devices, including the iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch) and USB for compliant-Android, Chromebook, Mac and Windows devices. I am also including a 9-point pro/con comparison to its closest competitor on the market, the <US$150 i-XLR from RØDE (which is Lightning-only), including a test recording to hear the preamp and A-to-D quality, specs and practical pros/cons, and a “How to choose” section.

Comparison chart

Test recordings

The following iRig Pre HD (Amazon • B&H) test recording was made using the Shure SM58 dynamic microphone (Amazon • B&H) using my Google Android Pixel XL phone (Amazon • B&H) and the free Auphonic app at 48 kHz WAV mono. It was normalized to -16 LUFS, trimmed and uploaded as 48kHz WAV mono.

https://www.provideocoalition.com/app/uploads/iRig-Pre-HD-with-SM58.wav

Preamp gain and cleanliness

IK Multimedia has not published any spec for the official maximum gain of the iRig Pre HD (Amazon — B&H), but based on my observations, it seems to be approximately +60dB max. With the Shure SM58 (Amazon • B&H) , I had to set it about 64% to get our desired -12dB in raw recordings. However, I was happily surprised to hear a clear signal even at near max. In fact, it seems much cleaner than the preamps in the <US$270 Zoom H5 recorder (whose max gain is officially +52db, (Amazon • B&H) when both are at near max. Fortunately, with the iRig Pro I/O, I didn’t hear hiss or noise, as typically happens when you bring most preamps near to the max. The Shure SM58 dynamic microphone is not the gain hungriest dynamic mic on the planet, and it isn’t the hottest either, but it is much more so than most condenser mics. The SM57 and SM58 are closer to the middle of the dynamic mic spectrum. If you plan to use the iRig Pro I/O with one of the gain-hungriest dynamic mics, like the Audio Technica RE20 or the Shure SM7B,

you should add a pre-preamp like the FetHead (shown above, B&H link), which would be powered from the iRig Pro I/O’s phantom power function. In this case, the phantom power would power the FetHead, not the mic, and the FetHead would not send any phantom power to the dynamic mic. Normally, you would leave phantom power OFF when connecting the iRig Pro I/O directly to a dynamic mic, which is what I did with the direct connection to the Shure SM58.

On the other hand, as covered in my review of the i-XLR (Amazon link • B&H link), RØDE has explained that the i-XLR has a max of +80dB. That is plenty of gain for even the hungriest dynamic mic. With the palindromic Shure 545, I had to set the i-XLR’s gain to absolute minimum to get -12db (with the attenuator Off). However, the i-XLR is a one trick pony (iOS only/Lightning only) and does not officially offer phantom power. The i-XLR is intended to be used with dynamic mics or self-powered condenser mics (i.e. with batteries inside).

SUMMARY FOR THIS SECTION: The iRig Pre HD (Amazon — B&H) has sufficient clean gain for a dynamic mic like the Shure palindromic 545 mic or SM58. The iRig Pre HD has more than sufficient clean gain for a condenser mic or hotter dynamic mics like the Senal ENG-18RL (reviewed here, B&H). If you need to connect an even hungrier dynamic mic with the iRig Pre HD (like an ElectroVoice RE20 or Shure SM7B), consider getting a pre-preamp like the FetHead (B&H link) to complement the iRig Pre HD.

Sampling frequency and resolution

Fortunately, both the iRig Pre HD and the i-XLR offer 48kHz, the absolute standard for audio sampling for video production and distribution. See my related article All audio production & distribution should go 48 kHz.

In addition, both the iRig Pre HD and the i-XLR offer its 2x cousin, 96kHz. Finally, the iRig Pre HD also offers 44.1 (a throwback to the ancient CD-Audio standard. Not recommended for video) and its 2x cousin, 88.2 kHz (not recommended for video either).

In terms of resolution, fortunately both also offer 24-bit. See my related article: Understanding 24-bit vs 16-bit audio production & distribution to understand the advantages of recording 24-bit even when not planning to distribute 24-bit.

Hardware compatibility

The iRig Pre HD is extremely versatile, including compatibility for compliant Android, Chromebook, macOS, iOS, Windows, including necessary cables, except for Androids that use Micro-USB-OTG or USB-C. Unlike the iRig Pro I/O I covered back in August, the iRig Pre HD does not include MIDI.

On the other hand, the i-XLR is a one-trick-pony, offering only iOS via the Lightning port.

Clarifying the phantom power situation

The new iRig Pre HD absolutely offers switchable 48-volt phantom power, either to power a condenser microphone, or to power a FetHead (B&H ) if necessary to use with an extremely gain-hungry dynamic mic like an RE-20 or SM7B.

The i-XLR officially offers no phantom power. However, some other users and I have discovered that it does power a few XLR condenser mics that demand very low voltage.

CONCLUSIONS FOR THIS SECTION: The iRig Pro HD works great with phantom-powered condenser mics (with phantom power ON), medium-to-hot dynamic mics (with phantom power OFF) or (optionally) with very demanding dynamic mics via a FetHead (with phantom power ON). On the other hand, the i-XLR works great with any dynamic mic (including those that are very gain-hungry), or a small group of condenser mics that have a very low voltage requirement.

Live monitoring

Unlike its two predecessors, the new iRig Pre HD has a 3.5 mm jack for a stereo 3.5 mm headphone including hardware-based latency free monitoring! This means two things:

You can use any app to record audio-only or video with audio, even one that doesn’t offer live monitoring.

There will be no latency.

There is an ON/OFF switch in case you don’t want to hear yourself. In either position, you can still hear playback from the host device, or the voice of the other person if you are connected live via Allo, FaceTime, Hangouts, Skype, etc. It is aso confirmed that (just like the i-XLR), the iRig Pre HD will also work properly even if you connect a TRRS headset, and will intelligently ignore its microphone.

See my TS/TRS/TRRS/TRRRS: Combating the misconnection epidemic (illustrated above).

Conclusions, and how to choose a single-source XLR interface for your mobile device

I titled the this section as such, because it is not feasible to give a summary of advice for a laptop or desktop computer, given the enormous number of desktop/AC-powered options available, of which there are also many, and I have reviewed several before. That’s why this summary and guide is for mobile devices only, i.e. phones and tablets, and for a single-source XLR.

IF YOUR PHONE OR TABLET IS ANDROID

If your phone or tablet is Android and compliant, and you want to record from a single XLR source while bypassing the (typically inferior) preamp and A-to-D converter in your Android device (if it even exists), then the iRig Pre HD (Amazon • B&H) is your only logical option, since the i-XLR does not work with Android at all. Just remember to get your appropriate cable or adapter, depending upon the connection of your compliant Android.

IF YOUR PHONE OR TABLET IS/ARE EXCLUSIVELY iOS If your phone or tablet is iOS (iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch) and you don’t have any need to use your audio interface with a different platform beyond, and you also want to record from a single XLR source while bypassing the (typically inferior) preamp and A-to-D converter (which disappeared anyway starting with the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus) then other factors should affect your decision:

If you want to use a condenser microphone that requires 48-volt phantom power, the iRig Pro I/O is your only logical choice, despite any other consideration.

If you want to use MIDI, the under <US$150 iRig Pro I/O I reviewed in August is your only logical choice, despite any other consideration.

If you really love the tally and Record/Pause feature onboard (at present, only with the free RØDE Reporter app), you will likely favor the i-XLR (Amazon • B&H), although it will cost you US$50 more, and it will work with iOS devices only.

Recent articles and reviews you’ll enjoy

Review: iRig Mic HD 2 handheld digital microphone

Review: RØDE Broadcaster, the voice microphone that challenges conventional wisdom

Review: RØDE improves VideoMic Pro+ with several new features

Use wireless Apple AirPods’ mic for shooting standups/monologues with your smartphone?

Balanced audio: benefits and varieties

Review: MixPre-3 audio recorder/mixer from Sound Devices

My multitrack crossgating audio workflow to eliminate crosstalk

Review: AT875R shotgun mic & AT8415 shockmount from Audio Technica

Upcoming articles, reviews, radio shows, books and seminars/webinars

Stand by for upcoming articles, reviews, and books. Sign up to my free mailing list by clicking here. Most of my current books are at books.AllanTepper.com, and my personal website is AllanTepper.com.

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Listen to his CapicúaFM show at CapicúaFM.com in iTunes or Stitcher.

Save US$20 on Project Fi, Google’s mobile telephony and data

Click here to save US$20 on Project Fi, Google’s mobile telephone and data service which I have covered in these articles. I’ve been using it since its birth in 2015 and I love it.

Learn to speak Castilian, the most widely used Spanish language

SpeakCastilian.com

FTC disclosure

No manufacturer is specifically paying Allan Tépper or TecnoTur LLC to write this article or the mentioned books. Some of the other manufacturers listed above have contracted Tépper and/or TecnoTur LLC to carry out consulting and/or translations/localizations/transcreations. Many of the manufacturers listed above have sent Allan Tépper review units. So far, none of the manufacturers listed above is/are sponsors of the TecnoTur programs, although they are welcome to do so, and some are, may be (or may have been) sponsors of ProVideo Coalition magazine. Some links to third parties listed in this article and/or on this web page may indirectly benefit TecnoTur LLC via affiliate programs. Allan Tépper’s opinions are his own.

The articles contained in the TecnoTur channel in ProVideo Coalition magazine are copyright Allan Tépper/TecnoTur LLC, except where otherwise attributed. Unauthorized use is prohibited without prior approval, except for short quotes which link back to this page, which are encouraged!

The post Review + comparison: iRig Pre HD cross platform audio interface appeared first on ProVideo Coalition.

First Found At: Review + comparison: iRig Pre HD cross platform audio interface

#viddy find

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ebonysarah · 7 years

Text

Skincare routine pt.2 the body

Skincare routine: Thing you will need to take care of your face and body. Pt.2 Do you wondered what your routine should be when it comes to skincare? Have you ever wondered “is my skincare routine helping my skin and is it right for me”? I am going to tell you what skincare items you need, the order and what works best for the problems you have and skin type. I will be breaking this up into 2 parts. The first part, the last post, is going to deal with the face, while the second part,this part, will be about the body. **I will be using links from ulta.com because they have everything from low to high end companies or I may use different websites if ulta doesn't have what I'm looking for. Body Wash: Yes I know this is a no brainer. You already have this in your shower and you know what it's for and the types there are (bar, liquid and gel). I will leave links below for all and for ones that are moisturizing and are both for washing and exfoliating. Link: http://www.ulta.com/bath-body-bath-shower-shower-gel-body-wash?N=26uz&Ns=product.price%7C0 Special Wash (Female): This is a must if you want your private part to be clean and since it is different from the rest of your body or if you have a high pH balance (like me) you will want to have it. It really helps. They don't not have this type of wash for men, I don't know why but they don't. Sorry fellas. Link: http://www.summerseve.com/ Shaving cream/Razor: Again I know this is a duh but I do know some people who need this in their lives so I'm just going to put it I'm here. Female: https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=female%20shaving%20cream https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=female%20razors&cat_id=1085666&typeahead=female%20 Male: https://www.walmart.com/search/?cat_id=0&facet=gender%3AMen&page=1&prg=mWeb&query=male+shaving+cream&sort=price_low&spelling=false https://www.walmart.com/search/?cat_id=0&facet=gender%3AMen%7C%7Ccategory%3ARazors&page=1&prg=mWeb&query=male+shaving+cream&sort=price_low&spelling=false Exfoliant: This is a must if you want your body skin to feel smooth and want to get rid of dead skin. You can get this in the regular form or as a body wash. Link: https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=exfoliating%20body%20scrub&typeahead=exfo Sunscreen: This is a must during the summertime to keep your skin protected from Sun damage. You can also use this year round if you want to. Link: https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=sunscreen&cat_id=1085666&typeahead=sun Lotion: This is another must to keep your body soft and free if dry patches. Link: https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=lotion&cat_id=1085666&typeahead=lotion Other: Self tanner: This is for those of you who want a tan year round or if you want one just without the Sun or expensive cost. Link: https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=self%20tanner Bath salts/bombs: This is a way to relax while taking a bath or as a way to treat yourself to a spa at home experience and I do believe that there are ones for specific problems like blisters and even pain ect. Bath Salts: https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=bath%20salts Bath Bombs: https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=bath%20bombs Tools: Washcloth/other types of washing item: Duh, I know but there are different types of these that some may prefer over others. Links: https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=washcloths&cat_id=0&typeahead=wash%20 https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=luffa&cat_id=1085666&typeahead=luf https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=back%20scrubber&typeahead=back%20 Exfoliating glove: This is a way if you don't want to buy and exfoliate but want something that does the something. Link: https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=exfoliating%20gloves&cat_id=0&typeahead=exfo Towel: Again I know duh. Link: https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=towels This is everything you need when it come to your body care. Hope you enjoyed and remember be safe, do you and stand out from the crowd.

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janetgannon · 7 years

Text

Sailing not only for the beginner from WikiHow

For centuries, the sea has captured the spirits of sailors and adventurers all over the world. In his poem “Sea Fever”, John Masefield claimed that all he needed was “a tall ship and a star to steer her by” to feel complete.

Breaking into the sailing world can be challenging, but this article will help guide you through the ebb and flood of the nautical world. As a note, this article will help get you started, but it cannot be overstated that before you begin, have an experienced sailor show you the standing and running rigging on your boat and their functions before you venture out on the water on your own.

Gain a Basic Knowledge of Sailing

Know the different parts of a sailboat. It is important to know the different parts both for safety reasons and to be able to sail your boat as efficiently as possible. If you don’t know what to do when someone suddenly yells, “prepare to tack” or “watch the boom!” you may be in trouble.

Block: This is the nautical term for a pulley.

Boom: The horizontal support for the foot of the mainsail which extends aft of the mast. This is what you want to watch out for when changing directions in a sailboat. It can give you quite a wallop on the head if it hits you.

Bow: This is what the front of the boat is called.

Centerboard: This is a (usually fibreglass) plate that pivots from the bottom of the keel in some boats and is used to balance the boat when under sail.

Cleat: Cleats are what lines (or ropes) get fastened to when they need to be kept tight.

Halyard: Lines that raise or lower the sails. (Along with the sheets, aka running rigging.)

Hull: The hull is the body of the boat and consists of everything below the deck.

Jib: This is the sail at the bow of the boat. The jib helps propel the boat forward.

Genoa: A foresail which is larger in size than a jib.

Keel: The keel is what prevents a boat from sliding sideways (“making leeway”) in whatever way the wind is blowing and stabilizes the boat.

Line: Lines are ropes. They are everywhere on boats. There is only one “rope” on a sailboat, the bolt rope which runs along the foot of the mainsail.

Mainsail: As the name implies, this is the mainsail of the boat. It is the sail attached to the back of the mast.

Mast: The mast is a large, vertical pole that holds the sails up. Some boats have more than one mast.

Painter: This is a line positioned at the front of small boats. It is used to tie the boat to a dock or another boat.

Rudder: The rudder is how the boat is steered. It is movable so that when you turn the wheel or tiller, the rudder directs the boat in the direction you would like the boat to go.

Sheets: The lines that control the sails. (aka running rigging.)

Spinnaker: The usually brightly colored sail used when sailing downwind or across the wind.

Stays and Shrouds: There are wires that make sure the mast stays upright, even in very heavy winds. (aka standing rigging.)

Stern: This is the term for the back of the boat.

Tiller: The tiller is a stick attached to the rudder and is used to control the rudder.

Transom: This is what we would call the butt of the boat. It is the back part of the boat that is perpendicular to its centerline.

Wheel: The wheel works the rudder, steering the boat.

Winch: Winches help tighten the sheets and halyards. When these lines are wrapped around a winch (in a clockwise direction) , a sailor can turn the winch with a winch handle, providing mechanical advantage which makes it easier to bring in the lines.

Know about the different kinds of sailboats. In general, if you are a beginning sailor you will most likely not be operating your own schooner. You will probably be working with a catboat, cutter, or sloop.

Sloop: Sloops are the most common type of sailboat (when you think of a sailboat this is probably the one you picture in your mind.) It has a single mast and is rigged up with a jib in the front and a mainsail attached to back of the mast. They can range in size and are ideal for sailing upwind.

Catboat: A Catboat has a mast set up near the front of the boat and is a single-sail boat. They are small (or large, for that matter) and easily operated by one or two people.

Cutter: Cutters have one mast with two sails in the front and a mainsail on the back of the mast. These boats are meant for small crews or groups of people and can be handled relatively easily.

Ketch: A Ketch has two masts, with the second mast called the mizzen mast. The mizzen is shorter than the mainmast and is in front of the rudder.

Yawl: Yawls are similar to ketches with the difference being that their mizzen masts are located behind the rudder. The reason for this placement is that the mizzen on yawls is for keeping balance, rather than for moving the boat forward.

Schooner: Schooners are large sailboats with two or more masts. The mast in the back of the boat is either taller or equal in height to the mast at the front of the ship. Schooners have been used to commercially fish, transport goods and as warships.

Know common terms used on a sailboat. Aside from the terms used for the different parts of the boat, there are also certain terms that sailors commonly use while at sea (or heading out to sea.) A trick to remember that port is left and starboard is right is that starboard has two ‘Rs’ in it, which is the beginning letter of ‘right’. Starboard, green and right have more letters than port, red and left. You can also keep in mind that “port wine is red”. [1]

Port: When you are facing the bow (the front of the boat) the side to your left is the port side.

Starboard: Starboard is the right side of the boat when facing the bow.

Windward: As the name might imply, windward is the direction from which the wind is blowing, upwind.

Leeward: This is also called ‘Lee’. This is the direction to which the wind is blowing, downwind.

Tacking: Tacking is when you turn the bow of the boat through the wind so that the wind switches from one side of the boat to the other. This is when you most need to be mindful of the boom, as the boom will swing from one side of the boat to the other when you tack (you don’t want to be in its way when it does that.)

Gybing (Jibing): This is the opposite of tacking, which means that it is when you turn the stern (or back) of the boat through the wind so that wind shifts to the other side of the boat. This is a more dangerous maneuver in a strong breeze than tacking since the boat’s sails are always fully powered by the wind, and may react violently to the change in the orientation of the boat to the wind. Care must be exercised to control the boom during this maneuver as serious injury is a possibility if the boom travels across the cockpit uncontrolled.

Luffing: This is when the sails begin to flap and lose drive caused by steering the boat into wind or easing (loosening) sheets.

Understand navigational buoys. It is important to look out for and honor navigational buoys–they’ll let you know where the safe water exists. In North America, on your way out of the marina, red buoys are almost always left to port while green buoys are left to starboard. (Remember, Red-Right-Returning). For most of the rest of the world, this is the other way round.

Preparing The Boat

Perform a detailed visual check. Inspect all the standing rigging—the cables and ropes that support the mast—including the turnbuckles and cotter pins securing the rigging to the hull. Many sailboats have dismasted because a 15-cent cotter pin was missing!

Check the lines (running rigging) that raise and control the sails (halyards and sheets respectively). Make sure that they are separated, not wrapped around each other or fouled on anything else, and that they all have a figure-eight knot or other stopper knot on the free (bitter) end so they cannot pull through the mast or sheaves.

Pull all lines out of their cleats and off their winches. There should be nothing binding any line; all should be free to move and be clear at this point.

If you have a topping lift—a small line that holds the back of the boom up and out of the way when the sail isn’t in use—let it out until the boom sags downward freely, then re-tie or re-cleat it. Watch out for the boom; it’s just swinging around at this point; it will cause a painful “clunk” if it happens to hit you or your crew. The boom will return to its normal, horizontal position when you hoist the mainsail completely.

If so equipped, be sure that the tiller is properly attached to and controls the rudder. Your sailboat is now prepared for you to hoist the sails!

Determine the wind direction. If your boat doesn’t have some kind of wind direction indicator (windex) at the top of the mast, tie a couple nine-inch pieces of old cassette tape, VHS tape, or oiled yarn to the shrouds—the rigging cables that hold up the mast. These will show you from which direction the wind is blowing. Some sailors find cassette tape to be just too sensitive for this purpose. If that’s the case with you, try using VHS tape or oiled yarn instead.

Place them on each side, about four feet up from the sides of the boat.

To sail effectively, you will need to know the apparent direction of the wind.

Point the boat into the wind. The idea is to have the minimum amount of wind resistance when raising the sail, with the sail straight back. In this position, the sail won’t be snagging on any shrouds or any other hardware, either. This isn’t always easy. The boat won’t turn readily because it’s not moving (under way). Do the best you can, but be prepared to work for it!

If your boat has a motor, use the motor to keep the boat pointed into the wind while you hoist sail.

Here’s a handy tip: if the water is not deep at your dock, or if you have no side pier, walk the boat out away from the dock and anchor it into the sand, and the boat will automatically point itself into the direction of the wind!

Hoisting The Sails

Adjust your heading and sail trim for the wind. Sailboats cannot sail directly into the wind. As shown below, the red zone in the diagram indicates a “no go” zone when under sail. To sail to windward, a sailing vessel must sail about 45-50 degrees off the wind and change direction by tacking (or zig-zag).

Attach the sails. Secure the bottom front (tack) of the mainsail and jib to their respective shackles on the boom and the bow of the boat.

There will be a small line (outhaul) attaching the rear corner of the mainsail (clew) to the end of the boom. Pull it so the foot of the main is taught, and cleat. This helps the mainsail have a smooth shape for the air flowing over it.

Hoist the mainsail by pulling down on its halyard all the way until it stops. It will be flapping around (luffing) like crazy, but that’s OK for a short period of time. (Excessive luffing will drastically reduce the life and durability of the sail).

The leading edge of the sail (luff) must be tight enough to remove folds, but not so tight as to create vertical creases in the sail.

There will be a cleat in the vicinity of the halyard where it comes down from the top of the mast. Cleat the halyard. Using the jib halyard, raise the front sail (jib, genoa or simply the headsail), and cleat the halyard off. Both sails will be luffing freely now. Sails are always raised mainsail first, then the jib, because it’s easier to point the boat into the wind using the main.

Turn the boat to the left (port) or right (starboard) so it’s about 90 degrees off the wind. This is known as a beam reach.

Pull on the main sheet (trimming) until the sail is around 45 degrees away from straight back (aft). This is a safe place for the main while you trim the jib.

You will start moving and tilting (heeling) away from the wind. A heel of more than 20 degrees usually indicates that you’re being overpowered. Releasing the mainsheet momentarily (breaking the main) will lessen the amount of heel, and you will return to a more comfortable sailing angle of 10 to 15 degrees.

Trim the jib sheets. Although the mainsail is hoisted first, it is the jib that is trimmed first. There are two jib sheets, one for each side of the boat. Pull on the jib sheet on the the side away from the wind (leeward side). This is the active sheet while the other is called the lazy sheet.

The jib will form a curve or pocket; trim the sail until the front edge just stops luffing. Keep your hand on the tiller (or helm) and stay on course!

Trim the mainsail. Let out the main sheet until the front edge just starts to luff, then pull it back just until it stops.

If you or the wind hasn’t changed direction, this is the most efficient place to set the sails. If anything changes, you have to adjust them in response.

You have just entered the world of the sailor, and you will have to learn to do many things at once, or suffer the consequences.

Sailing Your Boat

Watch the front of the sail edge on the main and jib. If it starts to luff, you have two choices: tighten the sail sheet until it stops luffing, or steer away from the wind (bear off). When the sail luffs, it means that you are heading too much into the wind for your current sail setting. If you bear off slightly, (away from the wind) your sails will stop luffing.

Watch your wind indicators (telltales). If you see it change so that the wind is coming from a direction that is more behind you, you will be wasting energy. Let out the sail until it is perpendicular to the wind. You will be constantly; watching the sails, the telltales, and trimming sails because the wind won’t blow from a constant direction for long.

When the wind is at your back and side (aft quarter), it’s called a broad reach. This is the most efficient point of sail as both sails are full of wind and pushing the boat at full force.

When the wind is at your back, you are running with the wind. This is not as efficient as reaching, because air moving over the sail generates lift and more force than just the wind pushing the boat.

When running with the wind, you can pull the jib over to the other side of the boat where it will fill. This is called wing-on-wing, and you have to maintain a steady hand on the tiller to keep this sail configuration. Some boats have a “whisker pole” which attaches to the front of the mast and the clew of the jib which makes the jib much easier to control and keep full of wind. Be sure to be vigilant of obstacles and other vessels, as having both sails in front of you blocks a significant portion of your view.

Be careful—when the boat is running, the sails will be way off to the side, and because the wind is basically behind you the boom can change sides suddenly (jibe or gybe), coming across the cockpit with quite a bit of force.

If you have a wind direction indicator at the top of your mast, do not sail downwind (run) so that the wind indicator points toward the mainsail. If it does, you are sailing with the boom on the windward side (sailing by the lee) and are at high risk of an accidental jibe. When this happens the boom can hit you with enough force to knock you unconscious and out of the boat (overboard).

It’s a good practice to rig a preventer (a line from the boom to the toe rail or any available cleat) to limit the travel of the boom across the cockpit in case of an accidental gybe.

Close reach. Turn the boat slightly into the wind (“head up”) so your heading is about 60-75 degrees off the wind. You will have to trim in the sheets tighter so the sails are more closely in line with the boat. This is called a close reach. Your sails are acting like the airfoil of an airplane: the wind is pulling the boat instead of pushing it.

Close haul. Continue to turn into the wind (head up) and tighten the sheets until you can go no farther (the jib should never touch the spreaders on the mast). This is called close-hauled, and is as close as you can sail into the wind (about 45-60 degrees off the wind). On a gusty day, you will have all kinds of fun with this point of sail!

Sail into the wind to an upwind destination. Sail a heading that is close to upwind in the direction of your destination with good speed, a close reach. Close-hauled will be the main and foresail pulled tight along the boat centerline and will allow the boat to sail closest to directly upwind, but speed will be smaller. On most sailboats this will be about 45 degrees from the wind direction.

When you’ve gone as far as you can on this tack, turn the boat through the wind (or changing direction by tacking), releasing the jib sheet out of its cleat or off the winch drum as the front of the boat (bow) turns through the wind.

The main and boom will come across the boat. The mainsail will self-set on the other side, but you will have to quickly pull in the jib sheet on the now downwind side to its cleat or winch, while steering the boat so the mainsail fills and begins to draw again.

If you do this correctly, the boat won’t slow down much and you will be sailing to windward in the other direction. If you’re too slow tightening the jibsheet again and the boat bears off the wind too much, don’t panic. The boat will be pushed sideways a little until it gains speed.

Another scenario would be to fail to put the bow of your boat through the wind quickly enough and the boat comes to a complete stop. This is known as being in irons, which is embarrassing, but every sailor has experienced it, whether or not they’ll admit it is another story. Being in irons is easily remedied: when the boat is blown backwards you will be able to steer, and as the bow is pushed off the wind you will achieve an appropriate angle to the wind to sail.

Point the tiller in the direction you wish to go and tighten the jib sheet to windward, (backwinding the sail). The wind will push the bow through the wind. Once you’ve completed your tack, release the sheet from the winch on the windward side and pull in the sheet to leeward and you’ll be on your way again.

Because speed is so easily lost when tacking, you’ll want to perform this maneuver as smoothly and quickly as possible. Keep tacking back and forth until you get to your destination.

Go easy when learning. Understand that it’s best to practice on calm days, and so, for example, learn to reef your boat (make the sails smaller). You will need to do this when the wind is too strong and you’re being overpowered.

Reefing almost always needs to be done before you think you need to!

It’s also a good idea to practice capsize procedures on a calm day too. Knowing how to right your boat is a necessary skill.

Sail safely. Remember that your anchor and its chain/line (rode) are important pieces of safety gear and can be used to stop your boat from going aground or can even be used to get the vessel floating again should a grounding occur.

Storing the Sails

Lower and store your sails. Once you are safely at port, lower your sails by removing the tension from any of the lines, “halyards”, holding the sails up. Once you have lowered your mainsail, it may be neatly “flaked” and secured to the boom with several ties, then covered. When your sails are not in use for a significant amount of time, they should be loosely folded and placed in their sail bags. You may need to do this for both your mainsail and the jib. Remove all sail battens from their pockets before folding the main. Do not fold your sails the same way every time or they will develop deep creases that will not be shaken out by the wind. Your sails should be stored when they are dry and mostly salt-free, as wet sails that are stored are generally inclined to grow mildew.

Clean anything else that may have come out of place. Secure lines by tying them to cleats. Neatly wrap all loose lines up and secure them with ties, out of the way of anyone walking around on the deck. Wash the deck of salt, particularly if you have a teak deck. Salt can leave stains on the wood.

Tips

Learn everything you can about all the sailing gear you will use, and even the gear you will probably never use. It will give you insight into what happens out there.

Be sure to learn about any tides in your area, as in some places this can have almost as strong an effect on your movement as the wind.

Get a book on sailing that has more extensive information on the mechanics of sailing your specific boat.

If you have a yacht club near you, you might volunteer as a crew for racing. You will learn more in one year of racing than in years of sailing by yourself.

Know how to read clouds and the weather they may bring.

Most sails have telltales—pieces of colored material attached to the front sail edge—on them. Your sail is trimmed properly when all telltales are streaming aft along the sail surface.

If something bad happens—too much wind, man overboard, etc.—remember that you can bring the whole thing to a halt simply by pulling all three sheets out of their cleats or off their winches. The boat will (mostly) stop.

Try learning to determine the wind direction using your ears. Let the wind blow onto your back, then slowly turn your head left to right and back until you feel it “equalize” over your ears. Once you find that point, you now know the wind direction, and using this method, you can understand the wind more without having to use your eyes.

Learn at least two rope knots. The figure-of-eight knot is tied in the ends of lines to prevent them from going through the fairlead, pulley, or sheave they pass though. The bowline (“King of knots”) is used to tie a loop though something to attach it. When properly tied, it never slips and is easy to undo, even after being stressed by a heavy load.

Make sure that if you have a motor on your boat, it is in good repair, and that you know how to use it. This is essential as it will help you in situations when you can not sail.

Warnings

Remember the old maxim “It’s better to be on the dock, wishing you were on the lake, than to be on the lake, wishing you were on the dock”. Don’t let enthusiasm overcome your good judgement on a day you should not go out. The apparent wind while tied alongside at the dock may be very different out on the water. Many novices (and experienced sailors, for that matter) get into trouble venturing out when there is too much wind to sail safely.

Going overboard is a serious matter, especially if you are alone. Cold water, currents, and other boats all can account for serious dangers, and if the sails are up, the boat will take off much faster than you might expect. Additionally, many boats float so high on the water (freeboard) that it is difficult to climb in or haul people in without assistance. When sailing at night, always wear a shoulder-mounted flashlight and strobe emergency signaling device, which makes it much easier for a SAR (Search And Rescue) crew to spot you in the water.

Know how to use VHF radio. Call-Mayday-from-a-Marine-Vessel In an emergency, it is usually the quickest way to summon help. Cell phones may be used, but VHF will be able to contact a nearby vessel much more quickly should you need assistance or be able to render same.

In sailing, your very life may depend on doing things before they need to be done, when they first cross your mind. If you wait until it needs to be done, it may be too late or very difficult. Follow your instincts.

It is highly recommended that you at least have working knowledge of the nomenclature of the boat and have done some reading of in-depth material before attempting this sport yourself. Some highly recommended reads are: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Sailing, Sailing for Dummies, and Sailing the Annapolis Way by Captain Ernie Barta.

Things You’ll Need

A life vest (Personal Flotation Device) is mandatory on all boats for all passengers. (A pealess whistle attached to the PFD is an excellent idea!) You should wear one at all times. If you have children with you, they should wear one even when you are at the dock.

Every vessel, regardless of length is required to have a certain amount of safety gear aboard. This ranges from an anchor with sufficient rode, flares, and other equipment as may be mandated by the Government. These regulations are for your safety and should be adhered to.

by Jacky / wikihow.com/Sail-a-Boat

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