#AR noise pollution

[salmonpoki]

Hi! Can I request ares x journalist reader? Fluff please!

If you don't write for ares that's okay too! Have a good day or night!!

Hi anon, don't worry, I write for Ares 😁

The day I met you

Pairing: Ares x Journalist!Reader w/c: ~1.5 k Warnings: none a/n: I think I got a little bit carried while I wrote this, lmao

Meeting a god while you're on your way to interview the winner of round 3 can't be a coincidence, can it?

♡•°○●ᥫ᭡●○°•ᥫ᭡•°○●ᥫ᭡●○°•ᥫ᭡•°○●ᥫ᭡●○°•♡

The sun was high in the sky, the birds were singing a calming melody and the cool breeze kept moving the branches of the trees just a little. The water, strangely not polluted by the human intervention, fell down in the fountain, spraying occasionally some water drop on the ground. Maybe you were lucky to have lost yourself, the place seemed quiet and perfect to rest.

You sat down in the edge of the fountain, you closed your eyes and you concentrated on the other sensations. The gentle whistle of the wind, the smell of the flowers, the phone cold to the touch... You held it tightly in your hand as someone could stole him in every moment. You were used to it. All you did was wait for any noise that would indicate the presence of someone who could, if possible, help you find your way. The third round of Ragnarok had been finished recently and the humanity's first victory had been declared. And you -as a good journalist you were- wanted to interview the winner. You were sure it would be an unforgettable memory: 'A human beat a god!', you imagined a possible name for that interview. But here you were, sitting in what seemed like a large garden, lost. You sighed. The day wasn't supposed to be like this. As if it were not missing, the fourth round would begin shortly.

Suddendly you felt the sound of steps, evn closer every second passed. You opened your eyes, looking around: you saw a tall man with blonde hair and blue eyes, he was wearing a typical ancient warrior clothing, you thought. Was he a Roman? Or maybe a Greek? Could he be Themistocles, great Athenian leader during the Second Persian War? Pheraps you could ask him something!

Now he was close to you and his gaze fell on you. You saw him a bit confused while he was scanning you "What is a human doing here...?"

A human, he said? So maybe this means he was a... god? You seriously confused a god with a human?

"Sorry, I had lost myself and so I decided to wait here, I didn't thought I may be an annoying presence..." you admitted. There was a long moment of silence between you, replaced only by the singing of the birds in the background.

The god sighed. It seemed he was thinking about something, but you obviously didn't know anything. From what you were taught when you were alive, the gods were unpredictable, they could even decide whether to kill a person or not... and if he wants to kill you? How could you know? Another sigh left his lips "Come here, I will help you" he suddendly said "Where did you have to go...?"

"Infirmary, I think..." you mumbled, but he heard you anyway. Kojiro Sasaki was probably there. "You know if Sasaki is there?" You asked too

His face darkened a little before he tilted his head in affirmation "Yes..." he whispered.

"Good" you thanked him for his kindness. Something that you didn't expected from a god, so this was new for you "I wish I'm not late..." you thought to yourself.

"Late for what?" He asked a little curious. It seemed you got his attention. Was this god really interested in you?

"Oh, it's just..." you started, thinking on how to explain him. Or maybe because you were trying to find the words, since you were a little embarassed to talk to someone important as him. "I... I have an interview with him, since he's the first human fighter to win this competition..." you whispered the last part, wishing he didn't hear you. Oh, you were definetely wrong.

"Right, right" his words sounded a little acid. He You were under an arch of columns, brown and shiny, as if they had recently been polished. The sound of the birds had been replaced by that of your footsteps and, as you approached your destination, even muffled voices. You two passed several doors, each one seemed to have its own motif, one caught your attention: a big door with a a branch engraved on it... you didn't know why youvwere attracted by it, but maybe you were curious about what may hide behind... that door was particular. "Ehy" the god took you back to reality. He was several steps ahead, waiting you.

"S-sorry, sir" you muffled, your cheeks were all red by embarassment. "I was curious..."

The god sighed again "Those humans" he said to himself "They give in to even the stupidest desires..." he talked like you couldn't hear him, bit you actually did. Oh right, this is the real nature of a god. Arrogant and self-confident. You two keep walking, not saying anything, just the silence sourrended you. Was this peace? It felt... really good... "So" he said "Why a non fighter would like to meet Sasaki?"

You had taken a deep breath before you answered "Interview" you replied "I am a journalist" you showed him your phone. He mumbled with a «mhm» and you continued to stay silent. In certain moment this silence seemed very confortable, you noticed. You remembered the city's noises of when you were alive; the people were used to speak a lot, talking about rumors; the roar of car engines on a road; a lot of barking dog... instead here there were just the sounds of the nature, or something similar. Peace. You were carried by the landscape on your right and the decorated doors on your left. Flowers, doors, brench, trees, other doors... and you smell the scent of flowers in the air. Was this paradise?

"We're arrived" the man said. You looked up, still a bit hesitant whether to look him directly in the face or not, but in the end you did. His blue eyes watched you apathetically, as if they were waiting for your reaction. You, a common mortal, you had the guts to watch a god into his eyes? Well, that was impressive for some reason.

"Oh" you jumped "Right, right... thanks, sir" you took a slight bow before he talked again.

"Please, do not call me sir, you make me feel old" he complained "At least Ares" he looked away from yours.

"Ok... Ares" you said slowly. So you were actually talking to the Greek god of war? Maybe you were just lucky to meet someone so famous. You looked down "It was a pleasure to meet you..." You opened the door and you entered the room with a slight smile on your face. Before you closed, you had looked out to see him again.

Close doors.

You looked back, seeing the old swordsman sitting on the side of the infirmary bed. "So, here you are"

♡•°○●ᥫ᭡●○°•ᥫ᭡•°○●ᥫ᭡●○°•ᥫ᭡•°○●ᥫ᭡●○°•♡

Ares walked away from the door at a brisk pace, returning to his steps. When he decided to go in the Valhalla garden he didn't expected to find a mortal there. Oh well, now he was alone and he had the opportunity to go there. All the peace for him... even a god of war wants his peace sometimes, a moment to think about what happened before. Poseidon, one of the strongest gods, lost to a mortal human, a loser... it was just hilarious, wasn't it? How he win, he didn't know. Maybe if he had arrived at the gardens before the journalist he would have had more time to think and wouldn't be so distracted.

He arrived to the fountain again. He couldn’t stop thinking about you. Your face was... strangely innocent. You weren't like the other humans, he felt sure about this.

Why he voted for the destruction of the humanity...?

Then he heard a noise from the near building "Who's there? Show yourself!" He exclaimed. Was another mortal? He saw a familiar figure: dark hair, a pair of red eyes which seemed to have seen many things in their lives, dressed well, and... a red mark on the face "Hermes, what are you doing here?"

The messanger of gods, Hermes, chuckled a little "What am I doing? I am just here to take a break... my eyes are a bit tired to see all this fight..." he said, but at the same time he winked.

"You liar" he accused "Why are you here?"

Hermes shrugged "I was following you..." he admitted "So, who were you talking to?"

Ares seemed to blush a little, like a child who was caught in the act of doing something bad. He thought no one saw him with you! But, well, we're talking about Hermes, and we all know how good is he to follow people without being discovered. "I... ahem..." he was speechless.

The messanger chuckled again "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me"

Ares sighed "Phew, thanks Hermes"

"No problem" he said. There was a moment of silence between the two before he started speaking again "Just promise one thing"

Ares raised an eyebrow in confusion "What?" He asked curious. Hermes looked at him.

"Don't fall in love with a human"

#record of ragnarok #shuumatsu no valkyrie #ror #snv #ror x reader #ror x you #record of ragnarok x reader #snv x reader #snv ares #ror ares #ares x reader

[bouncybrain]

Grgeggrghgh

Dumping ideas because brain go bbrrrrr but (deflating balloon noise) at the same time.

Wrote this in bed, v scrambled eggs brain. Edited up while eating. Enjoy!

FEC:

Eclipse is introduced to Sun and Moon first, except he doesn’t have a name. It’s a nickname at first because he continually got just wrapped up by Sun and/or Moon and staff were like “lol it’s like an eclipse, baby eclipse haha” and Moon heard it. Now the name’s stuck. It’s on his introductory little plaque on his tank.

Also they have those, little introductory plaques for the animatronics. Most of them ar at the start of zones in order to be read before getting jumped by one of them (hopefully) but the Oceanic Opportunities and Foxy’s Fishing Float plaques are placed deeper inside the zones because 1) the fish boys can’t get out to jump guests (so they think) and 2) Foxy… he like his ship and is only the worst to be jumped by after hours.

Roxy has only lost one RC race. An actual NASCAR… someone or other came by (idk NASCAR, someone fast) and like they weren’t good at RC racing. But she let them win anyway. Got to shake their hand. Maybe has their signature on a car somewhere. Has watched NASCAR and F1 on an employee tablet someone hacked for her. Has a framed picture of the two of them in her room.

Monty has gotten gum stuck on his teeth because he thought he could actually chew it. It took three days of scrubbing and soaking intermittently to get off because they didn’t let him take the time off that staff would’ve needed on-shift to take care of it.

Freddy, while a chill dude, is one of the first lines of defense for the Center: because his zone is one of the closest to the front, he’s likely one of the first animatronics to notice something is up. (If Sun and Moon and later Eclipse aren’t camping on cams, that is, because they will alert everyone before Freddy sees anything.)

Sometimes they like to hang out and look at the stars from the massive windows in Freddy’s zone together. They might even help the fish boys get there so they aren’t stamp-stomping all the way. Wholesome :) also potential for angst :) but comfort! Have at it! (I like to think the stars are actually projected from inside the Center because of light pollution.)

Sun and Moon used to be able to open their mouths. They can no longer open their mouths. This is unrelated to the sudden disappearance of fish from their tanks overnight. Moon has reported that an octopus was doing it, but Sun says it was the other fish. Foxy said he saw Sun eat a clownfish.

Mertendants: spoiler warning, if you care, because boy do I have ideas and lack a satisfactory chapter to say it in

I do mean it, some of these are going to be spoilers, I’m just kind of out of it and dumping information because it’s making my brain happy.

Fazbear Aquariums is a legitimate business! They’re not shady or anything! They just get their fishes from shady people, that’s all. Some of their employees might turn out to be shady, or their fish, or their benefactors, but who isn’t a little shady when you can make a ton of money off a few weird-looking fish?

I am fully dedicated to the stupid Mudskipper Monty idea I had. When he makes his appearance it will be just fucking walking (waddling) around. He is going to hit it off with Moon and they will become a very strange flavor of friends.

Actually Sun and Moon just make a very strange flavor of friend in general here. I fucked them up so to bring them back around to a canonfanon that is recognizable, they get to have a few adventures in friendships.

DJ is a totally chill and relaxed massive mer hanging out in the center of the Fazquarium. He is still named DJ but this time it’s because the human staff tending to him when he first showed up found out he was actually bopping to their music while they were working with him! His tank has music all the time :) dance party zone! Not the best for company outings that are meant to be productive.

Speaking of names: this will get mentioned in the fic I promise but also it’s like. Not a spoiler. I thought about this too hard. I’m not a linguist but I love little language things, and worldbuilding is my passion. Here’s a language/culture dump that I am going to have a hell of a time working into the fic:

So every mer pod has a method of naming their members. Some of them are given permanent names at birth like humans, some of them are given temporary ones, and some of them aren’t given names at all until they choose one. Not all pods follow those three scenarios exactly though, I mean, those are just examples. Because mer are worldwide, there’s a lot of differering dialects, but often with enough similarities to make decent conversation, since a great many of those pods are migratory and often mix with other pods at some point or another.

Sun and Moon are (as mentioned previously somewhere) in a tank flanked by Freddy and Bonnie. Freddy is the first other-mer to speak to them, and it’s the first time they’ve spoken mer to anyone but themselves in ages: he has no fucking clue what they’re saying half the time because their own use of the common mer language (just out of human hearing) devolved after disuse with fluent mer. This means Sun and Moon technically have their own language that only borrows from common mer because of their isolation as they grew.

Yes, this means they use some baby-speak because the last mer they spoke with who were fluent happens to be their parents, and that was back when they were very young. :) Yes, this means that Freddy and the gang recognize Sun and Moon using baby-speak sometimes. :) Yes, this means that Freddy and the gang realize something went wrong very early in Sun and Moon’s lives even before they talk about it. :) No, I will not be making up mer baby-speak for them. :( There’s a reason I had all the legged folk speaking in italics in chapter one (possibly placeholder formatting, idk)

#bouncing in the hall #fec!au #mertendants au #bouncy's writing #i guess #um #no thoughts head empty #all thoughts head empty #both at the same time it's a true crisis

[experimentik]

Experimentik #71 / February 21. 2024 / Peter Cusack / Kaffe Matthews / DuChamp

February 21. 2024 / 20:30- (doors 20:00)

3 x Solo:

Peter Cusack - field recordings, guitar

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Kaffe Matthews - live processing the Ripley and Worm. 15th century alchemical systems

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DuChamp - no-input mixer

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FB event: https://fb.me/e/1clG9gmh3

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Peter Cusack is a field recordist and sound artist/musician with a long interest in the sound environment. He initiated the “Favourite Sounds Project, which started in London and has since taken place in Beijing, Prague, Manchester, Taranto, Hull, Berlin, Braunschweig. His project ‘Sounds from Dangerous Places’ (sonic journalism) has investigated the soundscapes of sites of major environmental damage like the Caspian oil fields, the Chernobyl exclusion zone and the Aral Sea, Central Asia, and asks the question, “What can be learnt about dangerous places by listening to their sounds?”. He is a member of Crisap (Creative Research into Sounds Arts Practice) at the University of the Arts, London and during 2011/12 was a guest of the DAAD Berliner Künstlerprogramm. His current work – field recording, audio streaming, soundwalks, guitar playing on location – often concerns the environmental crises as it is heard close to home, particularly in Berlin where he lives.

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Kaffe Matthews is a pioneering music maker who works live with space, data, things, and place to make new electroacoustic composition. Site, accessibility and the physical experience of this music has always been central to her approach and so she has also invented some unique interfaces – the sonic armchair, the sonic bed and a variety of sonic bikes which enable new paths into composition for makers, and ways in to listening for wide ranging audiences.

2021 and she developed the breathing Enviro Bike to enable riders to hear music made by the pollution of the air as they ride.  Summer 2022 saw the Buzz Bike in street compositional research in Berlin, now ready to make new vibrational composition.

Today, Matthews is back live on stage with no laptop. Instead a new DIY instrument the Ripley, a noise filter system designed on alchemical discoveries made by G.Ripley, a 15th British alchemist, flanked by 2 processing ipads.

Long concerned with community and the environment, Matthews has also established the collectives ‘Music for Bodies’(2006) and ‘The Bicrophonic Research Institute’(2014) where ideas and techniques grow within a pool of coders and artists using shared and open source approaches, publishing all outcomes online.

Since 1995 Matthews has performed and taught worldwide, receiving awards such as the NESTA Dreamtime Fellowship; Honorary Professor of Music, Shanghai Music Conservatory; a Scottish BAFTA with Mandy McIntosh & Zeena Parkins; Distinction Prix Ars Electronica Sonic Bed_London and Honorary mention for cd cécile. She is the first woman to have received the Edgar Varèse guest professorship, computer music, TU Berlin. Kaffe has also been releasing solo works on Annette Works since 1996.

photo © Samuel Carnovali

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DuChamp is an Italian scientist, musician and curator based in Berlin, religiously devoted to drone. She released albums for Boring Machines ("Nar"), Idiosyncratics ("Sculpture"), Full Body Massage ("A Blazing World"). Since 2017, aside baritone guitar and keys, DuChamp incorporate real field recordings in her music, related to her personal memory, into her drone compositions, by adding layers of sounds and noise in attempt to recreate some kind of apophonias.

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Experimentik 2024 is kindly supported by inm

[coastlandscaping]

Role of Technology in Commercial Landscaping Maintenance

Commercial landscaping is no longer just about maintaining a pleasant outdoor environment; it has evolved into a critical aspect of a business's overall appeal and branding. The demand for well-maintained and aesthetically pleasing landscapes has grown as the corporate world becomes more environmentally conscious and sustainability-focused. To meet these evolving needs, technology has become a game-changer in the realm of commercial landscaping maintenance. In this blog, we will explore the pivotal role of technology in shaping the future of commercial landscaping maintenance.

Smart Irrigation Systems

One of the most significant technological advancements in commercial landscaping maintenance is the implementation of innovative irrigation systems. These systems use data-driven algorithms, weather forecasts, and soil moisture sensors to optimize watering schedules, thereby reducing water wastage and saving on operational costs. Commercial properties can remotely monitor and adjust watering patterns and achieve healthier, more sustainable landscapes.

Automated Lawn Mowers

Robotic lawnmowers are revolutionizing lawn care in commercial landscaping. These autonomous machines have sensors and GPS technology to mow lawns precisely and efficiently. They can work day or night, minimizing disruptions to the business environment while maintaining a pristine landscape. This not only reduces labor costs but also ensures consistent results.

Drones for Aerial Inspections

Drones are increasingly used in commercial landscaping maintenance Vista CA to conduct aerial inspections of large properties. These uncrewed aerial vehicles can quickly assess the health of plants, identify problem areas, and spot potential hazards. By providing real-time data, drones enable property managers to make informed decisions and proactively address landscaping issues.

Sustainable Landscaping Design Software

Technology has also played a crucial role in the planning and design phase of commercial landscaping. Sustainable landscaping design software allows architects and designers to create eco-friendly landscapes that conserve water and promote biodiversity. These tools help businesses balance aesthetics and environmental responsibility, contributing to their corporate social responsibility efforts.

Mobile Apps for Communication

Communication is critical in any successful commercial landscaping maintenance program. Mobile apps facilitate seamless communication between property managers and landscaping teams. Features such as task scheduling, reporting, and real-time updates on maintenance progress improve efficiency and transparency, ensuring that landscaping projects are executed according to plan.

Remote Monitoring and Predictive Analytics

The Internet of Things has enabled remote monitoring of various aspects of commercial landscaping maintenance in Carlsbad CA. Sensors can track soil moisture, temperature, and other environmental factors. By gathering and analyzing this data, predictive analytics can help forecast maintenance needs, preventing issues before they become costly problems.

Eco-Friendly Landscaping Equipment

Advancements in technology have led to the development of eco-friendly landscaping equipment. Battery-powered tools and electric vehicles reduce carbon emissions, noise pollution, and reliance on fossil fuels. This not only benefits the environment but also enhances the well-being of on-site personnel.

Augmented Reality (AR) for Landscape Visualization

Augmented reality technology provides clients with immersive 3D visualizations of landscaping designs. This lets stakeholders get a realistic preview of the final landscape, fostering better decision-making and collaboration during the planning phase.

Conclusion

Technology is reshaping the commercial landscaping maintenance San Marcos CA industry, offering sustainable, cost-effective, and efficient solutions. Integrating intelligent irrigation systems, robotic mowers, drones, sustainable design software, mobile apps, remote monitoring, eco-friendly equipment, and AR visualization is transforming how we perceive and manage commercial landscapes. Embracing these technological advancements improves a property's aesthetics, contributes to environmental conservation, enhances operational efficiency, and elevates a business's overall image.

In the years to come, we can expect even more innovative solutions to emerge, further emphasizing the role of technology in commercial landscaping maintenance. As businesses prioritize environmental responsibility and the well-being of their employees and customers, technology will be an essential tool in achieving these goals while maintaining beautiful, sustainable landscapes.

#commercial landscaping maintenance #commercial landscaping maintenance Vista CA #commercial landscaping maintenance San Marcos CA #commercial landscaping maintenance Carlsbad CA #commercial lawn care San Marcos CA #landscaping for commercial properties Vista CA #landscaping for commercial properties San Marcos CA #landscaping for commercial properties #Carlsbad CA #commercial lawn care #commercial lawn care Vista CA #commercial landscaping maintenance Carlsbad #commercial landscaping maintenance Del Mar #commercial landscaping maintenance Oceanside #commercial landscaping maintenance Solana Beach #commercial landscaping maintenance Vista #commercial landscaping maintenance Escondido

[kurierev]

Going Electric with the Best Three Wheeler Tempo in Pune

Electric vehicles have taken the world by storm and for good reasons. They are environmentally friendly, efficient, and easy on the pocket. With the increasing awareness around climate change and pollution, many individuals and businesses have started making an EV investment in Pune. Among the various EVs, electric three-wheeler tempos have emerged as the most popular option. One of the top choices for a reliable and efficient electric tempo is Electric Tempo Price in Pune. In this blog, we'll explore why the Electric Tempo Price in Pune is the best three-wheeler tempo to consider for your business.

What is an Electric Tempo and why is it beneficial for Pune?

An Electric Tempo is a three-wheeler vehicle powered by an electric motor instead of a conventional internal combustion engine. With the increasing demand for sustainable transportation options, the Electric Tempo in Pune has gained immense popularity in recent years. This vehicle not only helps reduce the carbon footprint but also offers significant economic benefits.

Moreover, Pune has been designated as a Smart City, emphasizing the need for clean and green mobility. This is where the Electric Tempo in Pune comes in as a perfect solution. The Maharashtra government has also recently announced its EV Investment Mumbai policy to promote the use of electric vehicles across the state, including Pune.

The Electric Tempo in Pune offers several benefits for both businesses and individuals. These vehicles are low-maintenance, produce less noise, and emit no harmful pollutants. They are also much cheaper to operate than traditional petrol or diesel-powered vehicles. Furthermore, they are exempt from road taxes and receive significant incentives from the government, making them an ideal choice for anyone looking to save money and reduce their carbon footprint.

Electric Tempo Price in Pune

If you are considering investing in an Electric Three Wheeler Tempo in Pune, you must be wondering about the price range of these vehicles. Well, the good news is that these tempos are now much more affordable than ever before.

The cost of an Electric Three Wheeler Tempo in Pune varies depending on factors like brand, model, battery capacity, and additional features. On average, the price of an electric tempo in Pune ranges between Rs. 1.5 to 2.5 lakhs.

But wait, there’s more! EV Finance has also made it easier to buy an Electric Tempo in Pune by offering attractive finance schemes and subsidies. This can help you own an Electric Tempo at a lower cost and with easy EMIs.

It's worth noting that despite the slightly higher upfront cost of buying an Electric Three Wheeler Tempo in Pune, the overall cost of ownership is much lower compared to a traditional petrol/diesel tempo. The lower maintenance and fuel costs make the electric tempo an economically smart choice for your business.

So, if you're looking for a budget-friendly option to help grow your business, an electric tempo could be the ideal choice for you. Just do your research, compare different models, and explore the various financing options available in Pune.

Features of Electric Tempo in Pune

Electric Three Wheeler Tempo is a great investment for businesses in Pune. Not only is it eco-friendly, but it also has a lot of great features that make it the best choice for transportation in the city.

One of the main features of the Electric Three Wheeler Tempo is that it is powered by electricity. This means that it produces zero emissions, making it a great choice for businesses that want to reduce their carbon footprint. In addition, electric vehicles are generally cheaper to operate and maintain compared to their gasoline counterparts.

Another great feature of the Electric Three Wheeler Tempo is that it has a compact design, making it easy to maneuver through the narrow streets of Pune. This is especially important for businesses that need to transport goods or people in congested areas.

Additionally, Electric Three Wheeler Tempo vehicles have low noise levels, making them a great option for businesses that need to operate in quiet neighborhoods. They are also equipped with advanced safety features such as seat belts, headlights, and indicators, ensuring the safety of both the driver and passengers.

Lastly, EV investment Pune is an investment in the future. As more and more cities around the world implement policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, businesses that have already switched to electric vehicles will be ahead of the curve. This can result in lower costs, higher profits, and a better reputation among consumers.

How to choose the Best Electric Tempo for your Business in Pune?

As Pune's roads become increasingly crowded, choosing the right electric tempo for your business is crucial. You'll want a vehicle that can navigate narrow lanes, offer ample storage space, and keep your costs low.

First, research electric tempo providers in Pune and look for reviews from current customers. Look for providers that have a reputation for offering reliable, well-maintained vehicles.

Consider the features you need in an electric tempo. Do you need extra storage space or a specific payload capacity? Will you be making frequent trips in congested areas? These factors will impact your choice of electric tempo.

Additionally, consider the price of the electric tempo and the financing options available. Some EV investors in India offer attractive financing packages to businesses looking to purchase electric tempos.

Finally, don't overlook the importance of maintenance and repair services. Look for electric tempo providers that offer regular maintenance and quick repair services, so your vehicle is always in top condition.

One electric tempo provider that stands out in Pune is Tempo Service Mumbai. They offer a range of well-maintained electric tempos at affordable prices, along with a reliable maintenance and repair service.

[arywizm]

do you ever think about the fact that Donna Tartt wrote that beauty is terror line in the secret history and then wrote the goldfinch, which in its entirety is about singular beauty being the only value in life and how those statements aren't mutually exclusive because I do and it makes me want to simultaneously inhale every piece of art ever created and destroy mona lisa with a hatchet

#also because I have an attention span of a drunk fly #wasn't a velasquez painting slashed by a suffragette #watch me spend next two hours hunting for information on google #the goldfinch #the secret history textpost #the secret history #The Incredibly Simplified Interpretation #donna tartt #dark academia #AR noise pollution #AR books

[failedintsave]

I'm sick and feeling loopy, so it's soft skwistok hours, I don't make the rules

Talking to the Moon

The silent vacuum that followed end of year revelry was always the seasonal hallmark Toki detested most. His issue wasn't the cold; he could withstand the chill better than most. Winter's icy tendrils grasped and choked, and frost spiraled across the windows in fractals, encasing every branch and blade of grass in a sparkling chrysalis ready to shatter. There was an eerie beauty in the monochrome sterility.

What Toki took umbrage with was the quiet that pervaded the grounds as though they were a cemetery, black pines dotting the landscape like towering headstones, desolate and lonely. He'd had his fill of silence at an early age, and now he insulated himself against it, filling the hours with loud games and trailing after his bandmates, keeping up a constant line of jabber. When they weren't available, he'd fall back on Rockso. The clown was always a reliable source of noise. Anything to fill the oppressive quiet.

He reclined against his headboard one evening, scrolling endlessly through his phone, when rapid fire knocking preceded his door being flung open.

"You gots to come looks at dis!" Skwisgaar barged in, practically tripping over his own boots in his haste. He grabbed Toki by the elbow, tugging for him to follow. "Hurries up!"

Toki allowed himself to be dragged along behind, stumbling an extra half step for each of the taller man's strides. "What?! What happened?!"

"Just come wif me, quick!" He was seldom this excitable, and Toki was glad of the distraction.

The wound through the corridors, careening around corners until finally Skwisgaar threw aside the door leading onto a balcony high above the main courtyard. He skidded on the ice, finally releasing Toki to catch himself against the rail and snapping off a cascade of icicles that tumbled to break on the ground below.

It was a clear, crisp night and the grounds were bathed a silvery blue under the nearly full moon, faint divots and trenches buried under fresh powder marking the trails of the patrolling yard wolves. Paying the ground no mind, Skwisgaar pointed to the sky.

"Look!"

Though there was no cloud cover, the pinpricks of distant stars were still faint, the sky muddied by the light pollution of Mordland's various outposts and the red glow of the Haus itself. Squinting, Toki followed the line of Skwisgaar's outstretched hand. Beyond the tip of his finger there was a brief streak of light, followed by another, and another still.

"Do you sees dem?"

"Ja."

They were pretty, of course, but he'd seen meteor showers before. Growing up so far from city lights meant his view of the heavens had been mostly unobscured; he'd witnessed aurora and wheeling nebulas, and had even been terrified the first time an eclipse darkened the woodland around him.

Skwisgaar's reaction was far more interesting than the meteorites themselves. With each miniscule flash of green and white his grin widened further.

"De Geminid shower came t'rough last month, but it was too cloudies to sees it den." He exclaimed as another whizzed across the sky. "You sees dat green tail behinds it? Dese pieces ams composed of a lots of mangks-nesium and it ams boirning up when dey enters de atsmosphere."

Toki looked again, Skwisgaar's enthusiasm kindling a new appreciation for the falling stars. Skwisgaar gestured expansively at the cosmos, mapping out the sky. Calaeno, Orion, Rho Persei, Pollux; he traced constellations on the air. Toki couldn't help his growing smile.

"Wowee, you sure knows lots of stars names, huh?"

"Huegh, ja, well. I loirned dem eventchkuallies, but befores dat, I used to makes up my own names to call dem. And, euughh…" He rubbed self-consciously at the back of his neck, his voice dropping to a mumble. "Talks...to dem."

"To de stars?"

Skwisgaar huffed a laugh, stirring the wispy strands of hair that framed his face as he looked down into the yard. "I, erm, was by mineself a lot as a kids…" He folded his arms over his middle, gripping his elbows. "So I woulds name dem and makes pretend dat dey was friends who came to visits me."

Keeping his eyes averted skyward, Toki was careful not to snicker at the idea. Rare were the moments when Skwisgaar volunteered personal information, especially something that could so easily be weaponized as teasing fodder. There were some things that were off limits by unspoken agreement though, and Toki understood coping mechanisms.

"Dere sure ams a lot... always made me feels small when I looks for too long." Toki murmured, eager for Skwisgaar to share more.

"I kinda likes dat, 'dough. When I was alones, I always t'oughts about who else am lookingk at dese same stars. Space ams so deep, maybe someone just like me ams watching even from anudder worlds. Some of de stars might be brighter to dem, or in a different parts of de sky, but still ams de same stars. Helpsed me for to not feel so lonesome."

A wolf howled in the dark, its solitary voice a feral aria echoing across the frozen barrens and shattering the silence. It was soon joined by the chorus of its pack mates as they rambled through the forests surrounding Mordhaus, invisible from where they stood on the balcony. Toki could almost imagine the grounds as one of the countless alien worlds Skwisgaar had mentioned, a fallow asteroid or tiny satellite caught in the orbit of their shared yellow-dwarf.

"Wasn't a whole lots in mine life den dat was constant besides dem. Ams stupid, I knows, but euughh." Skwisgaar shrugged one shoulder, seemingly reaching his word limit for the day. The quiet returned.

Raising his eyes again, Toki gazed at the bright ovoid moon, waxing towards full. He could recall many nights he'd spent huddled on the moldy straw floor of a root cellar, kneeling in the pool of light provided by the moon shining through the barred hatch overhead. The pits and craters of its surface looked like a face to him then, and in the darkness, he'd imagined that maybe it was someone kind peeking in on him. Someone that cared and could see his hurts, even if they couldn't fix them, could bear witness. It had given him comfort at a time when he'd been afforded none.

Toki turned to Skwisgaar, the taller man's features glowing pale in the dark shadow cast by the building at his back. "I don't think it's stupid at all." Maybe neither of their make-believe had been too farfetched.

Skwisgaar's smile was small but nonetheless radiant when he looked back at Toki standing at his elbow. A chilly gust swept over the rooftop, sending snow billowing in a glittering spiral around them, like frozen stardust in the wake of a comet. Skwisgaar jumped as the ice dusted his head and shoulders.

"Holy shits! Okej, it ams too cold for dis, we can goes in now."

Wrapping his arms around him from behind, Toki leaned hard against Skwisgaar's back, trying to press some of his own warmth into him. He nuzzled into Skwisgaar's neck, inducing a shiver of a different sort.

"No, we can'ts yet, you hasn't properly instroduced me to your friends!"

He felt more than heard the chuckle rumbling in Skwisgaar's chest, as well as the shift of muscles when he once again raised his arm to point out specific blips of light.

"So dat bright one ams Sirius, and it's part of Canis Major—which am a big dog and ams my second favorites—but down here you can barely sees Canis Minor. And he's a puppy, hueghuegh."

Skwisgaar chattered on about pulsars and antimatter, displaying an unexpected depth of knowledge and lamenting their lack of a telescope (Toki filed that tidbit away for later). Toki nodded his encouragement each time Skwisgaar checked in, but truth be told he would have let him list out his favorite brands of cuticle oil in alphabetical order so long as he could keep listening to his voice, so warm with passion, filling the otherwise silent night air.

#skwisgaar skwigelf #toki wartooth #skwistok #metalocalypse #look guys they aren't just laying around in bed this time

[spine-buster]

The President Wears Prada (William Nylander) | Chapter 30

A/N:  Okay, so, special announcement.....

The President Wears Prada is ending at Chapter 35.

I know a lot of you weren’t expecting this, but that is where I have planned it to end.  It’s a natural end.  Nothing will be forced.  There’s still a lot left to go, a lot to happen with Aberdeen, Willy, and everybody else, and a lot to write about.  I haven’t written up to it yet, but I know exactly what is going to happen.  I didn’t want the end to come as a shock to you, which is why I’m announcing it now.

In the meantime, enjoy this chapter!

July 1st, 2020

Aberdeen Bloom was with William on the rooftop of his condo building.  

She’d spun a wild web of lies to make sure she could be with him after he begged to see her for Canada Day.  It was a bit awkward this year, because it landed on a Wednesday, right in the middle of the week, but she’d managed.  She’d told Kasha she was with her family.  She’d told her family she couldn’t stay the whole day, and because they spent the morning and the afternoon together already, they were okay with that.  

She was getting too good at lying.

“What are you thinking about?” William asked as they lay together on a recliner they had dragged from underneath pergolas so they could see the night sky.  Though there was too much light pollution in Toronto to see a sky full of stars, there were still some bright stars in the sky along with the glowing moon.  From all the way atop the building, they could barely hear the noise from the city below.  

She smiled.  “For the first time, nothing,” she said, cuddling her head onto his chest even more as he held her hand against her heart.  “My mind and my heart are at ease right now.”

She could feel him smile.  He liked how she felt so at east with him.  He liked how he could make her feel that way in between the stress of her job and moving forward in her career.  He brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it.  “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“Can I show you how much I love you?”

She raised her head from his chest to cock an eyebrow up at him.  “We’re not having sex on the roof of your condo,” she deadpanned.  

He snorted.  He didn’t blame her for thinking that’s what he wanted.  Ever since he got back to Toronto, they fell back into the habit of sneaking around.  Most of it happened at his apartment now, in between skating at Scotiabank Arena and Aberdeen telling Kasha she’d have to be there the whole day and not just the few hours when they boys were in.  “No, minskatt.  Something else.”

“What something else?”

William shifted his body so he was sitting up more, causing Aberdeen to shift too, straddling his lap to face him instead.  She ran her hands over his chest quickly before he took them, kissing them both, before she watched as he pulled his phone out of his pocket.  “You weren’t the only one I was talking to during quarantine.”

She furrowed her brows at him.  She knew he wasn’t cheating – he wouldn’t be risking her career and her reputation if he was just going to cheat on her – so she had no clue what he meant by that.  “What does that mean, exactly?”

“I thought you deserved some good news during the lockdown…quarantine…whatever,” he began.  “So I got Kyle to send me Max’s number.”

“Who’s Max?”

William rolled his eyes and giggled.  “Max Kerman, minskatt.  From the Arkells.”  He watched as her face lit up before he continued.  “He told me to tell you they’re coming out with a new album.  Well – new.  It’s, like, an acoustic album.  They’re re-imagining all of their songs as if you’re singing them around a campfire,” he explained.

“Really?” Aberdeen was excited by the news.  “That’s so cool.  I love when they do acoustic sets.”

“Mhm,” William nodded.  “They’re releasing it in August.  But they’re actually including one new song.”  He paused for dramatic effect.  “Want to hear it?”

Aberdeen’s eyes bulged out of their sockets.  “What do you mean want to hear it?  You have it?!”

William nodded.  “Max sent it to me.  I told him about how much of a fan you were, and he remembered you from the mentor’s trip, so he didn’t mind so long as we were the only ones who heard it.”

He could see her eyes light up like fireworks.  “Well—well of course!  I’m not gonna leak it!” she said as if Max were standing in front of them.  “Is it acoustic too?” she asked.  William nodded.  “What’s it about?”

“Let’s see,” he smiled, fiddling around with his phone, shaking slightly.  “I’ve listened to it once or twice.  I think it’s a love song.”

Aberdeen waited impatiently as William found the song.  He turned the audio up on his phone to the highest level as she heard Max’s voice count the beat in.  When the acoustic guitar started, she automatically fell in love with it.  Melodic, as always, sounding like a perfect Arkells song.  She swayed back and forth gently, and at that point, she saw William staring at her.  

I think about you all the time I can’t get you off my mind

Aberdeen’s body seized up immediately.  I think about you all the time.  I can’t get you off my mind.  I think about you all the time.  I can’t get you off my mind.  I think about you when I’m not even thinking.  I think about you when I’m not even thinking.

A rush of emotion flushed her entire body.  “Willy—” she tried to get out, her voice strained as she pushed away from him.

“Minskatt—” he grabbed her hands on his chest as she pushed away so she couldn’t push away any further.  “Minskatt, come on—”

“—Willy what did you do—”

“—Minskatt, minskatt shhhhh,” he cooed as he saw tears begin to fall down her cheeks.  “Minskatt, listen to me—”

“Willy,” she stressed, looking him in the eye.  “Willy, is this song about me?  About us?”

He nodded softly.  “I got him to write a song about you.  Like your dream.”

Aberdeen burst out into tears, covering her face with her hands as she sobbed into them.  William stopped the song and leaned forward to wrap his arms around her, bringing her into his chest to cry.  He held her tightly and placed a kiss on the crown of her head.  “Why are you crying, minskatt?” he asked.

She didn’t respond at first.  But when she lifted her head from his chest and wiped her eyes to be able to see him clearly, she finally did.  “Are you joking?  Why am I crying?” she asked rhetorically.  “My boyfriend just got my favourite band to write a song about me!” she exclaimed.

“But you like that I did that though, right?” he asked.

She rolled her eyes.  That at least made her smile.  “Of course I like it, you Costco hot dog,” she said, making him chuckle.  “But I don’t – how did you – I mean what – how—”

“I called Max, and I told him about how there was this girl,” William said.  “I didn’t tell him too much.  Don’t worry.  I didn’t tell him it was you.  But I told him what was important, and some things to include.  And he wrote it, and sort of filled in the rest with his own stuff.”

Aberdeen couldn’t believe what she was hearing.  William had gotten Max Kerman to write a song about her.  About them.  Without even revealing their secret.  And he’d recorded it.  Mastered it.  Put it on an Arkells album.  Would tour with it.  Sing it to crowds—

“The best part about it is whenever we hear it on the radio, we’re the only two people in the world who know it’s about us,” William said softly, looking her in the eye.

Aberdeen started crying all over again.  She let her face fall back into his chest as he held her again.  She cried her eyes out.  This was, bar none, the most romantic thing anyone had ever done for her, let alone a boyfriend.  She was so overwhelmed with emotion that she almost couldn’t handle it.  William, for his part, let her cry until she was all cried out – until she lifted her head again and wiped her eyes again too look at him.

“Can I play it?” he asked.  

She nodded her head, preparing herself.

I think about you all the time I can't get you off my mind If they only knew Who I've been talking to You got a place off the park I'll come on by after dark Was nervous then When you let me in

We were hanging at cross town parties, oh Just killing time until the main event

And it hurts All throughout my insides I couldn't stop if I tried Loving you I'll never learn So I'll call you when I'm outside You said, "The key's behind the porch light for unit two" I thought of maybe quitting But there's no quitting you

You said that the fridge is dry But you got some red, you got some white The drunks outside Singing lullabies Slow dance swaying back and forth Whispering "What's mine is yours" When you say my name Hits in a different way

You call me out when I'm talking nonsense, oh And I'll kiss you when I got nothing to say

And it hurts (oh oh oh) All throughout my insides I couldn't stop if I tried Loving you I'll never learn (oh oh oh) So I'll call ya when I'm outside The key's behind the porch light for unit two And I thought of maybe quitting But there's no quitting you

My whole life I'm scanning for the exits, oh Lying next to you I don't wanna leave

And it hurts (oh oh oh) All throughout my insides And I couldn't stop if I tried Loving you I'll never learn (oh oh oh) So I'll call ya when I'm outside The key's behind the porch light for unit two And I thought of maybe quitting But there's no quitting you There's no quitting you

By the time the song finished, Aberdeen had stuffed her face into the crook of William’s neck.  She let some last tears fall.  “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” she said in his ear.  

“You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, minskatt.  Jag tänker på dig när jag inte ens tanker.”

“Jag tänker på dig när jag inte ens tanker.”

***

July 10th, 2020

The NHL announced its Return to Play Plan on May 26 with 24 teams in competition for the Stanley Cup.  The tournament begins with the Stanley Cup Qualifiers, which include 16 teams paired in eight best-of-5 series and a round-robin among the top four teams in each conference to determine seeds for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. "I want to make clear that the health and safety of our players, coaches, essential support staff and our communities are paramount," Commissioner Gary Bettman said when announcing the Return to Play Plan. "While nothing is without risk, ensuring health and safety has been central to all of our planning so far and will remain so. "Let me assure you that the reason we are doing this is because our fans have told us in overwhelming numbers that they want to complete the season if at all possible. And our players and our teams are clear that they want to play and bring the season to its rightful conclusion." The format was determined in meetings of the Return to Play Committee, which included executives from the NHL and NHL Players' Association, and five players: Ottawa Senators defenseman Ron Hainsey, Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid, Winnipeg Jets center Mark Scheifele, Toronto Maple Leafs center John Tavares and Philadelphia Flyers forward James van Riemsdyk. The qualifiers are being held at two hub cities: the 12 Eastern Conference teams are in Toronto, and the 12 Western Conference teams are in Edmonton, also the site of the conference finals and Stanley Cup Final.  A comprehensive system for testing is in place in each hub city, and each team was permitted to travel a maximum of 52 personnel, including players, coaches and staff. "Obviously, we anticipate playing over the summer and into the early fall," Commissioner Bettman said in May.  "Obviously, these are extraordinary and unprecedented times.  Any plan for the resumption of play, by definition, cannot be perfect. And I am certain that, depending on which team you root for or which team you cover, you can find some element of this package that you might prefer to be done differently.  But we believe we have constructed an overall plan that includes all teams that, as a practical matter, might have had a chance of qualifying for the playoffs when the season was paused. And this plan will produce a worthy Stanley Cup champion who will have run the postseason gauntlet that is unique to the NHL."

***

This was Aberdeen’s second training camp for the same season.  She never thought she’d ever experience a professional sports team’s training camp in her entire life, let alone two.  But her life had taken a turn one year ago (thirteen months now, if we were really counting) when she met William at that bar and had slept with him.  Everything she had experienced this year was…surreal, to say the least.  And that was just in her personal life.  Never mind her professional life.

Although the lines were blurred these days between her personal and professional life.

At Scotiabank Arena, she knew the entire team was on the ice a few floors below Brendan’s office.  She knew Sheldon was putting them through drills, making them skate laps around the rink, shoot at the net – whatever they needed to do to feel like hockey players again.  Whatever they needed to do to go all the way.  Whatever they needed to do to win the Stanley Cup.

“Aberdeen,” she heard her name being called by Brendan.  She shot up from her seat and made her way into his office.  He looked up at her through his glasses as he continued to focus on his laptop screen.  “Close the door behind you, please.  And sit.”

Suddenly her nerves got the best of her.  He never usually needed her to shut the door unless they were talking about something confidential.  “Is everything okay?” she asked, sitting.

He sighed, taking off his glasses and laying them beside his laptop.  He took a good look at her before he began speaking again.  “Aberdeen, I’m going to ask you a serious question, and I need you to think about it before answering me.”

She gulped.  “Okay…”

“Do you want to come into the bubble?”

She was shocked.  He hadn’t spoken to her about the bubble yet, and on the first instance he did, he was asking her to go into it.  This was a grand total of three days before the clubs had to submit the final list of the 52 personnel who would be going in, so she was sure she wasn’t being considered anyway.  “Me?”

He nodded.  “You’d fulfill roles for both Kyle and I, and you would be helping the content creator with the social media aspect of the bubble,” he explained.  “But Kyle and I were speaking, and as we were going through the list of employees to bring, your name came up.”

“I…me?”

“You’re reliable.  Your hard-working.  We know you’re not going to break any rules.  And fuck, there’s some extensive rules,” he picked up a heavy duotang, wagged it at her, before plopping it down on his desk again.  “But it’s going to be tough going in there.  Psychologically.  It’s not going to be easy.  Especially if we go all the way.  And believe me…we want to go all the way,” he stressed.  “That’s why I want you to think about it.”

***

“Brendan asked me to be in the bubble.”

Aberdeen and William had a bad habit of asking things or blurting things out after sex while they were lying in the bed, she with her tits out, trying to catch their breaths.  When she looked over at him, his eyes were bulged out.  “What?”

“Yeah,” she nodded her head.  “He wants me to fulfill my role and help the content creator with the social media aspect.  But yeah…he wants me in there.”

Aberdeen didn’t know what she was expecting to hear from William, considering the information they already knew about the bubble and knowing that much more information was to come, but it definitely wasn’t a decisive, stern, “No.”

It was her turn to whip her head to look at him.  “Excuse me?” she asked.  “No?”

“No,” William shook his head.  “I don’t want you in there, Aberdeen.”

Aberdeen furrowed her brows, not understanding why William was acting like this and saying these things.  She shifted so she was propping herself up on her elbow.  “William…I…what?”

“You…I…listen,” he began, sighing, “as much as I love you and as much as I’m gonna miss you when I’m quarantined in there, I don’t…I don’t know if I want you being in there.  I don’t want you to experience that.”

“Why not?”

“We’ve already gotten the rules.  We can’t be in each other’s rooms.  Aberdeen, we can’t even speak in the elevators.  It’s…I don’t know if I’d be able to do all that knowing you’re there too.  But even more important than that, I don’t want you to risk anything.  Your safety, your health.”

“Willy…” she cooed, bringing an arm up to drape around him.  In turn, he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close, placing a quick kiss on her shoulder.  “I know you want me to be safe, but I’ll be safe in there.  If you’re safe, I’m safe in there too.  What’s the difference?”

William continued to shake his head.  “I don’t want you to have to go through, psychologically, what I’m gonna have to go through.”

She brought a hand between them to cup his face.  “You don’t have to be the martyr here, Willy.  It’s not like I want you to go through it either.”

William sighed, nuzzling his face into the crook of her neck.  She could feel his lips graze her skin on her neck and shoulder, but he stayed silent.  He didn’t say another word.

***

July 12th, 2020

“I’ll do it.”

“You’ll do what?”

“I’ll come into the bubble.”

Brendan looked up from his desk, finally.  He took off his glasses.  “You’re sure about this?”

“Positive.”

“Because once you say yes you can’t back out.  We have to submit the names to the NHL officially tomorrow.  And once you’re in the Royal York, you can’t leave unless it’s a family emergency – death, birth of a child—”

“I know.  I read the package,” she nodded her head.  “I understand what I’m getting myself into.  I’ll do it.”

***

July 16th, 2020

Aberdeen walked gingerly into the coffee shop Brendan had sent her to.  In the middle of a pandemic.  She understood cases were now fairly low in Ontario, but she was still apprehensive.  People shouldn’t just be…going places.  Walking into offices that weren’t their places of work or coffee shops that weren’t their regular coffee shops or grocery stores that weren’t their regular grocery stores.  Places that they didn’t know.  That they weren’t used to.

Yet here she was.

She stood at the door awkwardly.  There were exactly three spaces for indoor dining when, in regular times, she knew there would be much more.  At one table, a couple sat with masks on and coffees in front of them staring at their phones.  At another, a girl who couldn’t have been older than here was sneakily taking a Snapchat selfie.  At the third—

“Aberdeen Bloom?” the woman sitting at the table asked.  Her eyes crinkled slightly, signaling to Aberdeen that she was smiling behind her mask.  “Please, sit!” she motioned to the chair.  

“Hi,” Aberdeen said awkwardly, extending her hand but then pulling it back violently before half bowing as a form of saying hello.  She was so fucking awkward.  She didn’t even know what this was for.  “That’s me, Aberdeen Bloom.  I’m Brendan Shanahan’s personal assistant.  And your name is…”

“I’m Beth Zadakis, the major features editor of Toronto Life magazine.”

Aberdeen’s breath hitched in her throat.  She was going to fucking kill Brendan.  She was going to go back to the office and murder him in cold blood.  “It’s so nice to meet you,” she said politely, thinking about the gold-plated envelope opener in Brendan’s desk she could use to stab him.  “You’ll have to forgive me, but Brendan didn’t really give me any information about this…uh, meeting,” she said.  “What is it that he needs from you?  Or you from him?”

“Nothing, actually,” Beth’s eyes crinkled again.  “It’s actually more so about you.  Brendan tells me you’re a writer.”

Aberdeen gulped.  “I’m definitely trying to be.”

“Have you submitted to us before?”

Aberdeen nodded.  “Just to the memoirs section.  I think it was Sandy who read my work, but it was ultimately rejected.  At least, that’s who I got the email from.”

Beth nodded.  “Sandy’s actually left to take a job with The Globe and Mail.  And due to some promotions and transfers, there’s actually an opening for a contributing editor – it’s what we call our writers.”

Aberdeen knew very well what Toronto Life called their writers.  She had dreamt of seeing her name on that list for years now.  “Why…I mean—how do I factor into this?” she stuttered out.

“Brendan tells me you’re going into the NHL bubble.”

“I am.”

Beth leaned in slightly.  “We’d like for you to write a feature for the magazine about life in the bubble.  The hotel, the boys, the games – everything.  Hockey in a pandemic.  A full feature, anywhere between five to ten thousand words.”

Aberdeen’s body felt like it was on fire.  She was sure her eyes were bulging out dramatically, but at this point, she didn’t care.  “I can do that,” she said, nodding her head.  “I can do that.”

“If you can pull it off, Aberdeen, you’ve got a job with the magazine.”

Her heart fluttered in her chest.  “I can do it.  I won’t let you down.”

Beth shifted slightly in her seat and took out a piece of paper.  “I’m going to write you the name and contact information of my senior editor, Alec,” she said.  “He’ll want to meet you and speak to you about the piece.  But it’s a go, Aberdeen.”

***

“A major feature, minskatt?” William’s eyes lit up at the news Aberdeen had just shared, her giddiness and excitable energy rubbing off on him quickly.  “That sounds important.”

“Is is important!  It’s the longest feature of the magainze!  Willy, it’s usually the cover!” she exclaimed.  “The—the cover!  Do you know how much of a big deal that is?!”

“I can tell from how much you’re freaking out about it,” he smiled.  He reached to grab her hands and intertwined their fingers.  He pushed them and crossed them at the small of her back before moving closer to her body and giving her a quick kiss.  “Look at you, minskatt.  I’m so proud of you.”

“Well, I haven’t written it yet.”

“Yeah, but you’ve shown me your writing.  And it’s fantastic.  So you’re gonna knock this one out of the park.”

Aberdeen knew how lucky she was to have someone like William in her life, always supporting her and always being her biggest cheerleader.  While other people had told her to pursue other things, he was there encouraging her – the silent support she always wanted and needed.  “I love you.  D’you know that?” she asked tenderly, looking up at his big blue eyes.

He could only smile.  “Not as much as I love you.”

She chuckled slightly.  “You realize if I knock this out of the park, that means I become a contributing editor at the magazine.  I become a writer.  My dream.  And that means I leave the Toronto Maple Leafs.”

“That means I can finally kiss you in public.”

Aberdeen smiled.  It did mean he could finally kiss her in public.  It meant a lot of things.  They could finally be open with their relationship.  They could go out on dates publicly.  They could go out to dinner.  She could bring him to San Remo Bakery.  They could have picnics in the park.  They could walk along the lake.  They could post on Instagram about each other.  She could finally have the name set as ‘William Nylander’ on her phone as opposed to ‘Head Empty’ (maybe she’d keep it that way).  They could do so much.  So so so much.  “It would be bittersweet leaving…” she bit her lip.  “I mean…I love my job, Will.  I love all the guys.”

“Brendan wouldn’t have put you up for the job if he didn’t think it would be a great opportunity for you,” he shrugged his shoulders.  “The guys would miss you but they know you want to become a writer.”

“But what if I can’t deliver?”

William shook his head.  “Brendan wouldn’t have put you up for the job if he didn’t think you’d be able to deliver, either, minskatt,” he said.  “I know you can do it.  We all do.”

***

July 17th, 2020

“You must be Aberdeen Bloom,” Alec Young said with no hint of any emotion in his voice as Aberdeen stood in the doorway of his large, expansive office.  As per COVID-19 protocols, there were very few people in, but apparently Alec was important enough to be in the offices working instead of working from home.  She imagined he had piles and piles of articles to edit for future issues.  She was surprised he even had time for her – granted, it was a quick lunchtime visit, but still.

“Yes sir, that’s me,” she nodded quickly, clutching her purse handles in her hands.  

“Beth tells me you’re going to be writing a feature for us, possibly,” he said.  “About the NHL bubble.”

“That’s the plan, sir, yes.”

He eyed her.  “Sit.  And close the door behind you.”

Aberdeen did as she was told, sitting in the plush chair more than six feet away from his desk – his office was that big.  She settled in but he made her wait as he typed away furiously into his laptop before he finally stopped and turned towards her.  “She told you the length?”

“Yes.  5,000-10,000 words.”

“And what we’re looking for?”

Aberdeen furrowed her brows slightly.  “I…I assume about life in the bubble.  Playing professional sports during a pandemic,” she said.

That was when he smiled.  “No Miss Bloom.  We’re looking for…more.”

“More?”

He clasped his hands together on his desk.  “We know what hockey players are like, Miss Bloom.  You’ve been working for the team for about a year now, right?  I’m sure you’ve seen the shenanigans they get up to.”

“Shenanigans?”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about.  The booze, the drugs, the women.  They’re professional athletes,” he said.  Aberdeen thought back to a hotel visit in Calgary where she found Mitch Marner and Jake Muzzin playing mini-sticks in the hotel hallway like they were a peewee team on their first-ever road trip; she also thought back to the snowball fight a bunch of them had in Montreal where they were giggling like schoolgirls while also deliberately aiming for each other’s nuts.  If Alec only knew.  “That’s what you’re covering for us.  The shenanigans.  Sneaking women into the bubble, the fights, the booze – everything.”

“I…” she began to protest, not knowing which words should come out of her mouth first.  “They’re…they’re nothing like that anymore.  They’re just not,” she said.  Alec looked unconvinced.  “These are guys that are bringing their gaming consoles into their rooms at the Royal York.  They’re worried about the wifi being too weak when everyone’s gaming that it’s gonna lag or something.  They’re not sneaking in women—and drugs?  I don’t even know where to—”

“Listen,” Alec said firmly, holding his hand up to get her to stop talking.  “Either you get us the scoop, or you don’t.  If you get it, you have a job here, and the guarantee that your article will be on our cover and be front page on the magazine racks and newsstands.  If you don’t get the scoop, you don’t get the job.  It’s up to you.”

Aberdeen thought back to when Mike Babcock got fired.  She thought back to getting called by Brendan late at night and less than an hour and a half later she was on the MLSE private jet.  She thought back to just before going into the locker room, and what Kyle had said to her.  “You know Aberdeen, Brendan trusts you.”  She thought back to what he said after he thanked her for not leaking the information.  “You could have sold that information to any newspaper or reporter and they would have offered you a job.  But you didn’t.”

She remembered what she told him.  “I would never burn this bridge.  I’d never sell Brendan or the team out like that for personal gain.”

And then, what Kyle followed up with.  “This city is rife with opportunity for people who take advantage of others.  But you’re not like that – at least yet.”

That was before everything.  Before she had sex with William.  Before she carried on a secret relationship with him behind everyone’s back.  Before she started lying to everybody.  Had she changed?  Was she a person, now, who would take advantage of others?  Would she take advantage of the organization that had given her so much for her dream job in writing?  Was she that person?  A person who would lie to get what she wanted?  Fabricate entire stories just to secure a dream job?

The answer, to her, was immediate.

No.

But she looked at Alec.  “I understand,” she said instead.

He smiled.  “Good.”

#william nylander #william nylander imagine #william nylander fic #william nylander fan fic #toronto maple leafs #toronto maple leafs imagine #toronto maple leafs fic #toronto maple leafs fan fic #william nylander blurb #toronto maple leafs blurb #nhl #nhl imagine #nhl fic #nhl fan fic #nhl blurb #hockey #hockey imagine #hockey fic #hockey fan fic #hockey blurb #the president wears prada series

[timextoxhajima]

HOSTIS, Chapter IX: Phtonos, The God of Jealousy

Previous Chapter (VIII: Invidia)

Member: Lee Hyunjae (tbz)

Genre (by chapter): SMUT

Category: Short Novel/Long Series

“breaking you is no longer a problem for me.”

he releases your south, but his teeth start grazing into your neck. the pressure exerted wasn’t enough to hurt you, but the friction he was creating was so subtly sensual and triggering. 

you hear the sound of his belt coming undone, yet the back of your thighs were still touching the material of his pants. 

eros pulls your lids open to watch the situation unfold in the mirror, and your hands were clutching onto his arm around your collarbone. red marks were being left on the muscles of his forearm, the ruthless sucking and kissing on your neck only making you even wetter. 

your eyes catch the dim view of his button coming undone, and you barely see the tentage in his boxers before he yanks it low enough. 

“do you need your safe word or are you too horny to even remember you have one?”

the nerves throughout your body begin to shut down one by one upon his query, and the word doesn’t even sink into your bones. all you could think of was how good he made you feel, even if it was against your will. 

never did the word once cross your mind, and it definitely won’t now. 

not when he was prodding at your entrance, like he was begging to bury himself in you; but that was merely your imagination. 

there was no way he was going to beg; you were.

a scoff washes into your neck and leans you forward, lifting your arms and running his fingers over yours onto the rim of the mirror. your heart was already palpitating mindlessly in your chest, and the little edges of the top of his pants were annoyingly tapping everywhere on your south. 

“just as i thought.”

all your energy flushes into your hands around the mirror when he shoves himself into you. the pain that was expected was instantly replaced with pleasure with all your wetness swallowing him easily. 

he starts thrusting extremely slowly, literally taking seconds to pull out completely, leaving only his tip inside you, and pushes back in with the same amount of time taken. 

your head begins to hang in shame again, heavy pants beginning to exit and enter your lungs when your legs start to tremor with the lack of speed. 

either way, you would’ve been losing energy in them anyway. 

“i wonder if eric can taste me on your tongue the next time he kisses you.”

the lack of sound from behind knocks it into your head and body that on top of how disgustingly wet you were, he was going at a speed that was forcing all the tears out around to your lids. 

“oh, do tell, tiger,” the rate he pushes in makes you feel the vein on his shaft on your left wall. “what were you expecting to happen with eric?”

he drags himself out like he was afraid to hurt you, but the pace was crushing you even more than if he wasn’t.

"were you hoping that he'll take you out on a date? or did you think he'll invite you over to his place and fuck you on the kitchen counter before he cooks you dinner?"

your waist gets wrapped with his palms, and he buries himself inside you inch by second. 

the tears finally push through your tightly shut lids, a drop or two falling to the ground. your breathing becomes louder and even more laboured when he stops moving and plants his lips on your spine instead.

a sniffle escapes your nose and the gulp that pushed down your throat was so loud, it incites a harsh suck on your lower back. 

“do you think eric can make you cry like i do?”

the noise that seethed through your teeth was a mixture of a wince, a whimper and a moan, and even you couldn’t decipher was noise that was. all you wanted for him to do was to start moving and to stop being such a pesky little piece of shit. 

“answer me, darling,” the command licks itself over your spine again, and having him buried so deeply inside you was doing nothing except whitening your knuckles around the edge of the mirror. 

“will eric ever be able to make you feel like this?”

your head drops in shame again, your fists beginning to shiver when he twitches inside you. 

“tell me, tiger, or we’ll stay like this for as long as i want you to stay like this.”

time literally freezes, and you feel nothing but his breath on the skin of your back. his palm was pressed against your stomach under you, and the occasional twitching inside you was searching for an edge to push you over. 

eros wins again, and ares starts to wear away, and it becomes a wonder if he’s ever going to be the same again. 

“...no, he can’t.”

“who can’t what?”

“...eric... can’t... make me feel like this...”

your legs were already being torn apart by shivers and small spasms; if it wasn’t for his hand on your stomach supporting you, you would’ve been on the floor by now. the aura that blanketed him significantly got less threatening, though not anywhere near safe, when he leans his chest against your back.

“very good, you’re learning,” he kisses your right shoulder blade, and the light contact sends your insides into a frenzy. “what else, darling?”

if it’s anything the last session taught you, it’s that he was true to his word: if you didn’t say what he wanted to hear, there was not going to be an end to this.

“only you... can make me feel like this, hyunjae.”

the weight of that confession starts to nip, tear, cut and slice its way through your gut. if you had to choose the most humiliating thing you’ve ever had to do in your life, it would be saying this line. 

his kisses become sloppy along your back, oozing with lust and arrogance while he smiles into your skin.

“you should start to realise that breaking you is no longer a problem for me, so i suggest you think twice before you challenge me.”

tears start to run off your face profusely, and you could already feel the weight and drying lines of mascara and liner tracing your cheekbones and your jaw. 

“but you’ve been such a good kitten, and i’m a man of my word.”

with that last line, he pulls away and he pulls himself out, the sudden emptiness causing you to gasp. but your dripping core invites him back in, this time with so much force that your entire body jerked forwards, and the mirror shifted along with the impact. 

he pulls you up by your arms, and he starts thrusting against the flesh of your ass. your wrists were held next to his hips where you could feel the end of his belt thumping against the side of your ass, and his left hand fondles recklessly with your chest. his nose dips into your neck again and your head tilts to the side to grant him access, and your eyes open for a second when you feel your high inching closer with every thrust he pushes into you.

the mirror was just large enough to show you every spot where you were combined, and the darkness of his pants around his legs in contrast to your complete nudity was making you feel so torn apart. 

eros was starting to convince you that you liked him having power over you, and the worst part of it was that you were buying it.

he hips jerk into you like his life depended on it, and your head throws back into his shoulder when his tip starts knocking on the door of your climax. your lips fall apart to let all the lewd sounds escape your lungs, and just when the pitch hits its high, he stops.

chills run through your body when your high starts to fade away, and he pulls out of you with a soft ‘pop’. your teeth bare themselves through a soft whine while he pulls you away from the mirror. 

your chest comes into contact with his, and your waist receives the extreme heat his hands were giving off. 

“not yet, tiger,” the huff lands on your lips before he kisses you, hands fumbling around his hips to remove his pants. “not yet.”

the beer coming off his tongue was slowly diluting onto yours, and when the taste began to fade completely, that’s when you realised you were giving yourself to him.

willingly.

he walks you backwards and the back of your knees hit the seat of a sofa. goosebumps erupt all over you when he lays you down by your waist into the seat, and he breaks away to turn you around on your knees.

the kisses he was leaving all over your shoulder and back really wasn’t doing much besides push out gentle mewls and moans. your elbows rest on the top of the backrest, and his soaked shaft slides back into you with one slow push. 

air gets sucked into your chest as your eyes flutter shut, and you bite on your bottom lip in attempt to stifle all the moans that were piling up in the back of your throat. his weight comes down on your back with his hands interlocking with yours, stretched out over the backrest. 

the span of his shoulders rest over yours, and you could barely see anything of the ceiling in your peripheral vision. the warmth from his chest seeps into the pores of your back atop the heat in your south, and you thought about how small you looked under him while he pushed into and pulled out of you.

you thought about how lewd the sight was, but it only made it easier for your body to swallow him.

grunts and low groans begin to pollute the air around your ears, and your eyes fixate themselves on the veins along his arms and marks you left on his skin from before. his entire body jerks with every thrust, and your skin ripples along with the movement. 

his tongue finds the edge of your ear and he starts kissing your skin like it was glass, the sensation pouring waves of pleasure over you. 

every thrust pushes out a whimper from you; there was nothing in your head besides the kissing and the amount of satisfaction he was providing you. tears gather in your eyes again when you feel your high getting closer, a high-pitched whimper running through your teeth while your fists clenched with his fingers between yours. 

but he recognised that pitch, and so he stops, again.

“hyunjae...”

“mm, kitten?”

his hands wrap around your waist once more, and he flips you back while pulling you downwards, your legs raised off the sofa and your ass resting on the edge. 

your head gets thrown back into the backrest when you realise what he was waiting for. 

sealing your eyes shut squeezed out the tears already collected along the surface, and your thighs get pushed up into the air. the movement slaps some pinch of consciousness into you, and looking down to see him dipping his nose into your core sends all of you into a violent mess. 

“wait, hyunjae-- hng--”

the train of thought gets shoved off its track by eros when you see hyunjae stick his tongue into you, and his thumb begins drawing circles on your swollen, sensitive nub. 

his hair gets tangled in your fingers while your hip anchors into the sofa by his strength. the overwhelming pleasure pulls your chin to the ceiling, your eyes rolling back so far into your head, you felt a second of headache. 

loud moans start to trickle down the corners of your lips, and the tears begin to run off the sides of your face when he replaces his tongue with his fingers. 

your grip on his hair loosens and tightens over and over again with every small nerve he hits. your calves start to weigh down and he lets you rest them over his shoulder, your toes still curled up inside your boots. 

the incessant sucking on your skin starts to rip you apart, his tongue flicking against you and the thinner, yet pleasurable, feeling of his fingers inside you was enough to help you find your edge for the third time. 

the mewls and whimpers gradually hit a pitch that he recognised now, and the agony you felt inside when you realised what he would do if you didn’t say anything was too difficult to contain. 

“hyunjae,” the name rolls off your tongue and towards the ceiling, your trembling hands still gripping to his hair. “let me-- please--”

one harsh suck on you wasn’t enough to push you into bliss, so he stops and the disappearing climax starts to piss you off. 

his thumb cleans the corner of his lips as he gets up, and the sweat was sticking his fringe to his forehead. the definition of his torso starts to eat away at you, and your head falls to the side with a loss of dignity when he walks away. 

your eyes flutter shut, already extremely frustrated that he’s denied you your bliss three times now. but your lids fly open instantly when his footsteps return before you, and his fingers stroke your jaw to make you look at him. 

the napkin with the number on it was dangling between the index finger and thumb of his free hand.

for a split second, your sexual needs vanished and ares kicks you in the gut, forcing out angry groan. 

“i’d offer you the chance to rip it apart yourself so i can ruin you without doing anything,” the edge of the napkin gets slowly torn apart. “but i decided to take your advice and do something for myself.”

and the soft shred of the napkin tears it into half. 

your heart drops, but your body wants nothing but him.

he stacks the two halves and rips it into four, and he repeats it over and over until the each piece was smaller than his fingernail. his lips were pursed as he carried out the task, and you watch with spent effort.

the little pieces get balled in his fist and thrown behind over his shoulder, the shredded napkin falling to the ground like snow as he lands both his arms next to your shoulders against the backrest.

“now that that’s out of the way...” his fingers pull on the zipper around your ankles and he pushes your shoes off. “let’s see how loud you can get while i make you come.”

he pulls your hips to his groin and slams in loudly, the sudden contact piercing through the air with a loud smack. the inappropriate noises start to budge their way through your gritted teeth, but he shoves his tongue against yours, allowing himself to drink all your pleasure. 

breaking away to let you catch your breath, your neck becomes the target of his attention. his arms find its way around your waist as he locks you against his, chest pressed against his and his flexed toned stomach from the position was making you lose all sense of reality. 

your nails start to dig into his back muscles when he manages to go deeper with each thrust, and the lewd sounds were going into his ears like music. 

“fuck-- hyunjae, i’m--”

“come for me, kitten.”

kitten.

that last thrust really did it, and your spine shakes up your entire body within his hold. every shiver and every tremor tears through your nerves and muscular system, and the inhumane growl that escaped your throat gets muffled with his lips coming between yours. 

the aggressive thumping in your chest starts to calm when your climax comes down from its high, and you were expecting him to pull out and release all over you with the least bit of respect.

but not only does he not release on you, he doesn’t release at all.

the look in his eyes was so proud and blatant, your eyes widen in surprise when he looked like he didn’t just screw you over.

he emptily plants a kiss between your lips again before picking you up and wrapping your legs around his waist, your arms circling around his shoulders instinctively for support. 

if he wasn’t holding you so close to his chest like a baby, your spent legs would given up and dropped yourself to the ground. 

still panting, he lets you rest your head in his collar as he walks up the stairs, leaving all your clothes and that little puddle of shredded napkin in living room. 

you could feel your wetness and the aftermath of your high trickling down your inner thighs with each step he took, and it wasn’t long before a door was opened behind you and he drops you into a bed. 

the scent of the room was nothing short of smelling like him; the scent of his cologne and whatever products he used in his hair or whatever, made you feel so intoxicated. 

why the hell are you here?

your tired eyes shut when he kisses you again, the soft squelch of your tongues against each other sounding like both lust and hatred, but you couldn’t tell which of the two you were feeling anymore. your fingers start to run up his nape and into his hair on the back of his head when he harshly sucks on your neck, and this time round, you were sure he was going to leave marks. 

his warm palm start to fumble with your chest, but his left hand travels south. 

it wasn’t long before you feel him prodding at your wet-again core, and having the tip of him slide up and down your entrance was pushing you towards your mindless needs again.

“i hope you don’t think you’re done, kitten... because i’m not.”

both his palms start to play with your chest as his pelvis anchors forward, your walls stretching out for him all over again. 

the nerves in your hands were contracting themselves around in his hair and your eyes flutter shut when his lips wrap around the tips of your breasts.

your back arcs off the mattress, and he shoves you back down with his force pressing into your hips. 

the thrusts were slower, and you feel all the lines and veins on his shaft each time he drags out of you. you were starting to feel sore between your legs, but just picturing him disappearing inside you was unfortunately redeeming.

the smell of his hair starts to linger in your nose over the smell of your fluids trickling out of you. your tongue hits the roof of your mouth and your skin starts to burn with every kiss, suck, mark, he leaves on you.

your diminishing energy wasn’t doing you the favour of keeping your mouth shut, for the lewd sounds return to the atmosphere in whimpers and moans, every now and then his name rolling off your tongue with your eyes closed. 

your voice becomes airy as it gradually increases its pitch, and you could feel his sweat starting to drip onto your chest with a smirk wrapped around the flesh of your breast.

“since you wanted to come so badly, let’s see how many times i can make you come.”

he really needs to shut the fuck up.

the climax races through you without warning, and you just now realise you were crying again. the mixture of dried mascara and liner felt thick and messy around your face; for a moment, you worried if you stained his bedsheet.

but before that thought could ride itself out, your entire body doesn’t stop jerking with the thrusts he was providing you. 

the orgasm doesn’t stop, and it instead becomes overwhelmingly overstimulating.

not only that, he pulls away and starts to rub harsh circles on your nub right where you were already sore from the merciless fucking. 

the tears become uncontrollable when the immense sensation peels your nerves apart, your legs already extremely spent from all that he was doing to you. 

“hyunjae... oh, fuck-- hyunjae-- oh, my god--”

your chin tilts to the ceiling and the crown of your head presses into the cushion.

“oh, shi-- hyunjae-- hyunjae!”

“third time’s the charm, kitten.”

it shouldn’t have been possible, but you come again on top of another climax. 

the bedsheet was balled in your hands while your entire body goes into harsh spasms, and he holds your hips down again, chasing his own high with a few more violent thrusts.

the vein on his neck looked like it was about to burst, and there were more surfacing on his arms which he used the last hour or so destroying the hell out of you. 

a low -- almost painful -- groan runs through his throat when he pulls out, and the load that landed on the floor looked close to unnatural. 

the room was nothing short of the scent of sex and sweat and aggressive panting. 

your half hooded eyes were on the verge of closing, a muscle somewhere inside you still freezing up like a cramp every few seconds. 

the sweat on your forehead and his sweat on your chest comes off when he returns with a warm towel, which you don’t even recall seeing him move off to get it.

your legs were pulled apart and the rough material of the cloth gets dragged around your soreness and thighs.

a beep sounded somewhere in the room, and cool air starts to blast down on your legs, but you were so exhausted from the ruthless sex that not a single nerve responds to the sudden change in temperature.

your consciousness was already beginning to flit in and out of blackness, and it returns momentarily for you to realise that you were covered in a blanket now.

a blanket that smelled like him.

a rustle holds your attention for just a second, but the light shutting off hurls you into complete unconsciousness. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter X: Medium Duorum

A/N: i need holy fucking water...

#hyunjae #the boyz hyunjae #hyunjae fanfic #hyunjae smut #lee hyunjae #the boyz fanfic #nope #yeeting myself outta here

[vostara]

Hypnophobia — 02

zwei — dear lucifer, don’t pull your hand back now

pairing: ares x original female character (beatrix)

blurb: “I happen to be in desperate need of money.”

word count: 2.7k+

 title inspiration: dear lucifer - spiritual front

Only one pair of eyes (mine) proofread this due to some personal issues delaying my writing schedule. Please forgive any grammatical errors that I have sadly missed.

This work is cross-posted on AO3.

01 | 02 | 03 | ... series masterlist

The standard room at the Chicago location of the Continental is simple, but elegant. When a guest walks into their temporary home, they can expect a large plush bed covered in dark gray and white sheets. Walls are painted a soft ivory. Gray curtains are draped in front of wide windows, allowing guests the ability to block out the light pollution bleeding in from the streets and the other buildings. When they enter the bathroom, they are greeted with spotless white marble, dressed with glistening gold trimmings. And on the counter they will find at least three white towels, folded to a crisp perfection. A white clawfoot tub, with an attached shower head, rests against the wall farthest from the door.

In room 1431, this sleek elegance is tainted by various cosmetics scattered on the floor. Many of the items are used to hide the permanent darkness that has settled in the space beneath the eyes, as well as the reoccurring bruises that disrupt the skin. Some items are used to reintroduce life on dull cheeks. And a handful of products are designed to provide a perfect seductive pout.

Beatrix sits on the bathroom floor, in the center of her organized chaos. Her focused gaze is settled on the large gold ring adorning her right hand, the same one she had taken from Luca’s corpse. The ring is almost immaculate. Its perfection ruined by a small scuff right at the edge. Luca had taken great care in maintaining the item’s integrity.

After one last lingering glance, Beatrix gets up from the floor. She looks at her reflection in the mirror and frowns. In an attempt to bring some volume back to her hair, she runs her fingers against her scalp and gently ruffles her hair at the roots. She then smoothes down the fabric of her fitted black dress, buffing away the wrinkles that had formed. Finally, she reaches for a pair of rectangular emerald earrings and secures them in place.

Beatrix leaves the bathroom and approaches the bed, where more items had carelessly been thrown. She pulls on a long navy coat and closes it shut with a tie around the waist. She slips the Camorra ring off of her finger and reaches for a slim black clutch. The woman pops it open, double checking that her purse contains a spare berry lipstick and a pocket knife, and then drops the ring inside.

~ ~ ~

Fifteen minutes later, Beatrix enters the Red Line train to Howard. She heads to the back of the car and takes a seat. The crowd is on the sparse end, for a typical Friday night. Many of the usual party-goers have opted to skip the bars and rely on the booze they’ve hoarded in their apartments.

“This is Harrison.”

The doors ding as they slide open. Several passengers enter the train, including a man with tanned skin and neatly trimmed facial hair. He is sporting an all-black ensemble of tapered slacks, a large coat, and a collared shirt that doesn’t quite cover up the rose tattoo on the left side of his neck. A large oval cut sapphire, set in the center of a gold ring, is on display on the middle finger of his right hand. Without sparing a glance at the other passengers, the man turns and heads toward the back of the train.

The doors ding once again and slide shut.

“Jackson is next. Doors open on the left at Jackson.”

The man slides into the seat next to Beatrix.

“Transfer to Blue, Purple, Orange, Brown, and Pink Line trains at Jackson.”

A few moments of silence pass, while the man quickly examines the other passengers. There are small clusters of people preoccupied with loud conversations. Those riding the train alone have earbuds glued in to block out the constant buzz of the CTA.

The man breaks the silence. “Any trouble with that boyfriend of yours?”

“Things didn’t quite work out.” Beatrix responds. “I figured it was time to move on.”

“You keep any memorabilia?”

Beatrix opens her clutch and pulls out the gold ring. “Just a small trinket.” She holds the item out to him.

He turns his head towards the object and takes it out of her hands. The man brings the ring close to his face and examines it. He hums softly and then places the ring in the pocket of his coat. “I’m sure he didn’t need it,” he remarks.

Silence follows.

“The client is growing impatient.”

Beatrix turns her body to fully face the man. “Eli, this isn’t some entry-level contract. It takes time to get through all of the red tape.”

Eli smirks and raises an eyebrow. “You wasted much of that time sleeping with the wrong person.”

The woman swallows. “I misjudged his commitment.”

The man hums and slightly nods his head. “I told you to forget about the little guys, didn’t I?” He frowns. “I told you to head straight for the man in charge.”

“I was trying to establish a safety net.”

Eli chuckles, “When has a safety net ever been useful? When have you ever gotten through anything completely unscathed?”

Beatrix doesn’t reply.

“Can you handle this assignment?” He turns toward Beatrix and stretches his right arm to rest it behind her on the seat.

Silence.

Eli continues, “This isn’t your usual… task.”

“Why bother handing it to me, if you think I won’t cut it?”

The man smiles. He lifts his left hand and tucks a strand of hair behind the woman’s ear. “I didn’t think you would take it.”

“This is Jackson.”

The train doors slide open.

“Transfer to Blue, Purple, Orange, Brown, and Pink Line trains at Jackson.”

A group of drunk teenagers stumble onto the train. A tall blond male cackles a laugh, before beginning a tale for the entire train to hear. The doors slide shut behind him.

“This is a Red Line train to Howard. Monroe is next. Doors open on the left at Monroe.”

“You’ve just been so,” Eli pauses, “boring, since Paris.”

Beatrix breaks eye contact and shifts her attention to the salt stains on the floor.

Her companion leans in and whispers in her ear. “Where did my vicious Killer Bee go?” He teases.

Her response is instant, a warning. “Don’t call me that.”

Eli laughs and pulls away. “Touchy, touchy. Why does dear Izzy get all the fun? Even when I’ve known you far, far longer than any of your other so-called friends.”

Beatrix shifts her gaze back to Eli.

“I think it’s a perfect name for a girl like you. A cute little play on words, yeah?” He places a finger underneath her chin and tilts her head up slightly. His thumb rubs across her bottom lip, smudging the lipstick. “Wear sapphires next time.” He comments. “I like it when you’ve got some blue on.”

“This is Monroe. Thank you for riding the CTA Red Line.”

Eli releases the woman and stands up. “I’ll be in touch.”

He walks off the train.

Beatrix releases a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding.

“Lake is next. Doors open on the left at Lake.”

~ ~ ~

Assuming that one has befriended the right people, finding Santino D’Antonio is far from a challenge. It isn’t often that the son of the man leading the Camorra goes unnoticed. Even those outside of his niche in society tend to stop and spare a glance towards him. It’s almost more difficult to ignore him: a finely-tailored gentleman, whom is flanked with a herd of well-dressed bodyguards.

The problem has never been whether Beatrix could find Santino. She knew exactly where he was, just moments after she first accepted the contract.

No, the problem was gaining a private audience with the man. The problem was initiating a conversation that doesn’t rouse a permanent suspicion throughout the duration of their relationship.

From her seat at the bar, Beatrix had a clear view of the Italian man, dressed in his perfectly tailored three-piece navy suit. His black curls are tamed on top of his head. And a gold Camorra ring was being illuminated by the flashing lights. With one arm propped on top of the dark leather booth, he takes a sip of red wine. Though Santino has a deathly bored expression on his face, he still exudes an air of arrogance to him.

On the other side of the booth is Angelo Ricci, an up-and-coming member of the Romano crime family. He frowns and slams his fist on the table. The man shouts something, but the blaring music drowns out the noise.

Beatrix sighs and takes a sip of her Shiraz.

By this point, the men had been in a heated discussion for over an hour. It appeared that no one was making progress in this negotiation, nor would they arrive at an agreeable compromise within the next hour.

Once again, Beatrix takes a sweeping glance at the small army of bodyguards that are loitering the areas surrounding the booth. Her eyes settle on the only woman in the bunch. The woman’s dark brown hair is cropped short and parted on the side. She is dressed in a tailored black suit, identical to her colleagues. Her shirt is buttoned all the way to the top and finished off with a black tie. Her hands are crossed in front of her, allowing Beatrix a glimpse at the tattoos marking her skin.

A few moments pass, before the female guard’s gaze shifts away from Santino and focuses on the spying assassin.

Beatrix straightens her posture and allows a small shy smile to appear on her face. She lifts her glass, as if to make a toast, and then downs her remaining wine.

The woman reveals a small, but flirty, smile. Barely a moment later, she shifts her attention back to her boss.

As Beatrix sets her empty glass on the bar, she watches Angelo finish off his Bourbon before getting up. He once again shouts something at Santino, before storming away. His guards briskly take off after him.

Grabbing her clutch, Beatrix stands up and makes her way towards the booth.

Just as she approaches, a large body blocks her path. One of Santino’s bodyguards. “Where you heading, miss?” He questions.

Beatrix paints her face with a warm smile. “I’d like to speak to your boss, Signor D’Antonio.” Her voice is laced with a false sweetness, highlighting the underlying threat.

The guard glances behind him.

Santino’s gaze shifts from his wine glass and onto Beatrix. After his eyes do a quick scan of her body, he directs his attention to the woman Beatrix had just interacted with. “Ares,” he calls.

The woman’s eyes dart to the man.

He motions for her to approach.

Within the blink of an eye, she’s by his side, ready for his instructions.

Santino makes eye contact with Ares and says something to her. Ignoring Beatrix, he turns back to his glass of wine and takes another sip.

Ares nods and approaches Beatrix. Without a moment’s hesitation, she reaches for the woman’s clutch and opens it. Seeing the knife tucked away, she pulls it out and sticks it in the back pocket of her pants. She hands back the clutch, and then begins to pat down the woman. She runs her hands along Beatrix’s ribs, waist, and hips, before reaching a hand up the woman’s dress to check the inside of her thighs. Her hands glide across the woman’s soft skin, before coming in contact with a discrete thigh holster. Quickly, she pulls out the dagger that had been secured to the assassin’s left thigh. Ares shoves the dagger in her jacket pocket, as she moves to stand up again. Finally, she hooks a finger on the front of Beatrix’s dress and pulls it away from her body. After making sure no weapons are tucked into the cleavage, she gives Beatrix a wink and then lets go of the dress.

Beatrix approaches the booth and slips into the spot that had been previously occupied by Angelo. After setting her clutch to the side, she places her elbows on the table and leans her chin on top of her clasped hands. “I finally get to meet the Santino D’Antonio.”

“And who am I meeting?” The man responds, his speech thick with an Italian accent.

Beatrix smiles. “At the moment, no one of significant importance.”

Santino makes an annoyed tutting sound. “Are you here to play games? Miss Nobody.”

The woman tilts her head and frowns. “You can call me Beatrix.”

“What does Beatrix want with me?”

“An opportunity.”

Santino blinks.

“Mr. D’Antonio, what are you doing here?”

The man shrugs his shoulders. “Drinking a glass of wine.”

“Typically, you enjoy your wine in places much nicer than this shitty bar full of dancing drunks.” Beatrix shakes her head. Her lips are pulled upwards, forming the smallest of amused smiles. “You’re not here for the wine.”

The Italian man swirls the wine in his glass. “Have we met before?”

“Santino—”

“No,” he interrupts. “Signor D’Antonio.”

Beatrix pauses. “Signor D’Antonio, I know the Camorra don’t visit Chicago, as much as they used to. You undoubtedly have power here, but not enough to warrant the frequency of your visits. I know that you’ve been having meetings with Angelo for several months now. And I know that those meetings don’t appear to being going well for either of you.” The woman leans back in her seat. “I think that you and I could share a mutual interest. I have a pretty good feeling that an alliance with the Romanos is not your goal, is it?”

Santino takes a sip of wine.

“No,” Beatrix says, “I imagine you feel that the Romanos are mere peasants, compared to you. All they have is a fallen empire. A pile of bricks they’re hoping to rebuild into something,” she turns her head to glance at the crowded dance floor, “not quite as pathetic. And now they’re trying to kiss your feet and beg you for help, but they’re too proud to do so without forcing you to compromise.”

The man doesn’t respond.

“As much as you’d love to, you can’t get rid of Angelo yourself. Nor can you be openly involved in sending somebody, outside of your circle, to do it for you. Because even though you believe the Romanos to be worthless, their name still holds value, respect, and loyalty from enough of the right families. Families that could retaliate, should you make the wrong move.”

Beatrix chuckles.

“Now,” she continues, “I’m certain you would be able to sway these families back onto your side. It would be easy, right? You just need to be your charming, charismatic self. Throw a few parties. Get them drunk off fine wines and distract them with pretty women who are willing to do anything for a buck. You might even promise these families a big lump of money, a favor, or even your loyalty, though that would be nothing more than false and fleeting. But really, would you want to do all of that work, over a situation that’s just a mere headache?”

Santino places his glass on the table and leans towards the woman. “Are you here to propose a solution?”

Beatrix smiles and leans back onto the table, closer to him. “I know that you’ve got plenty of money to burn. And I happen to be,” a pause, “in desperate need of money.”

“What do you gain from this deal?” The man narrows his eyes.

“I don’t care about your petty mafia games, Santino. And I also don’t care much for Angelo.” The assassin blinks and straightens her posture. “I care about financial opportunity, and I want to snatch it up before the next guy comes along.”

As Beatrix reaches into her clutch, she notices all four of the guards tense and reach for their guns. Without flinching, she pulls out a tube of lipstick and sets it gently on the table. “Consider my proposal. And should you be interested, return my lipstick to the Continental.”

She snaps her clutch shut, stands up, and turns her attention to Ares. “Hang on to my knives, won’t you? I’m sure they’ll find their way back to me somehow.” She winks.

Beatrix spares one last glance at Santino, before making her way out of the bar.

A/N: hello~ thank you so much for reading chapter two! if you liked what you read, please consider a quick reblog to share my work. i’m just a small blog with a small following, so every reblog truly helps me reach out to those who might enjoy my work.

if you would like to make sure you don’t miss any future updates, consider following this blog and/or my twitter @ VostaraFics. if you truly need to make sure you don’t miss any updates on this fic, please message me and i’ll tag you every time a new chapter is uploaded!

extra info! i am releasing writer’s notes, which are posts where i reveal (minor) canon details that didn’t make it in the final cut, alternative scenes that got scrapped in the writing process, and my general thought process while creating this series. you can check out the notes for chapter one here. notes for chapter two will be posted tomorrow.

anticipated release date for chapter three is may 23rd.

#john wick fic #ares john wick #ares fic #ares x reader #ares x original character #ares x original female character #ruby rose #ruby rose fic #ruby rose x reader #ruby rose x original character #ruby rose x original female character #film: john wick #john wick #v.writing #fic: hypnophobia #vostara #posting just a few minutes early bc why not #series: she drowns in liquid gold

[certainheartrunaway]

Current Ham Radio News

How to Connect a Modern Radio to a Legacy Tube Amp

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PVC Antenna Launcher – Download: Read more

An Intro and Antennas – Nuts and Volts Magazine

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 An Intro and Antennas – Nuts and Volts Magazine by H. Ward Silver Read Full Article:     Read more

Q52 Relay-switched 20-17-15-12-10 meter Yagi

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ARRL CEO David Minster, NA2AA, to Keynote QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo

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ARRL CEO David Minster, NA2AA, will keynote the QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo March 13 – 14 weekend. Minster’s talk — part of an 80+ speak... Read more

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During the week 15 – 19 February, the preparatory work for WRC-23 agenda item 9.1b continued in ITU‑R Working Party 4C (WP4C)... Read more

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DARC reports 35 Electrical Noise Area Monitoring Systems (ENAMS) have been delivered and another 20 locations are sought as part of the effort to moni... Read more

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February 24, 2021 at 10:09AM

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Current ham radio news                                  

                 Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dave (K4SV), who shares the following video: Click here to view on YouTube.

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February 24, 2021 at 10:09AM

           via RSS Feed            https://swling.com/blog/2021/02/video-how-the-philips-factory-made-vacuum-tubes/          

                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Current ham radio news                                  

During the week 15 – 19 February, the preparatory work for WRC-23 agenda item 9.1b continued in ITU‑R Working Party 4C (WP4C). The WRC agenda item has initiated technical studies on coexistence between the radio navigation satellite service (RNSS) and the amateur services in the 23cm band. As usual, the IARU participated in the meeting and delivered key information on amateur activities in this important microwave band. This information is vital to ensure the amateur services are realistically represented in the studies as they move forward.

It remains vital that national amateur communities present their views on the importance of this band to their national regulators in a consolidated and consistent manner.

To assist with this the IARU-R1 is developing supporting material that member societies can refer to when addressing the topic with their national regulator.

The work on this topic will continue throughout the year and beyond both in ITU‑R and in the regional telecommunications organisations and the IARU is committed to ensure every organisation understands the amateur position on this important microwave band.

ITU‑R WP4C Meeting Report here

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ARRL CEO David Minster, NA2AA, to Keynote QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo

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February 24, 2021 at 10:09AM

           via RSS Feed            https://qrznow.com/23cm-band-in-the-spotlight-with-regulators/          

                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Current ham radio news                                  

ARRL CEO David Minster, NA2AA, will keynote the QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo March 13 – 14 weekend. Minster’s talk — part of an 80+ speaker lineup — will begin at 2000 UTC (3 PM EST) on March 13. His appearance will highlight ARRL’s featured role at the Expo, which also will include “Ask The ARRL Lab.” ARRL is a QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo Partner.

Minster, who assumed the ARRL Headquarters leadership position last September, has launched major projects and assembled teams to foster innovation and individual skill development in radio technology and communications. In his keynote, Minster will share his enthusiasm for advancing amateur radio and highlight current ARRL initiatives to engage and inspire the current generation of hams. His presentation topics will include:

ARRL’s digital transformation, which promises to bring new value to ARRL members. An all-in digital approach will improve the way members access and engage with content, programs, and systems.

The ARRL Learning Center, a hub for members to discover the many facets of amateur radio and develop practical knowledge and skills.

Increasing video content, opening opportunities for amateur radio content creators and member-volunteers to learn, stay informed, and keep connected.

Improving training and tools to engage radio clubs, emergency communication volunteers, and students.

The ARRL Expo booth will feature “Ask the ARRL Lab,” where Lab staffers will answer questions live. Attendees can come into the booth lounge (featuring the Expo’s latest virtual meet-up and video technology), sit down at a virtual table, and ask ARRL Lab technical wizards for tips about projects or suggestions to address various station installations and problems. Attendees can also learn about Product Review equipment testing by the Lab, see a presentation on how the Lab can help hams with RFI problems, and tour W1AW — the Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Station — virtually. ARRL booth staff will also point attendees to helpful resources from across membership benefits, services, and programs.

Representing the ARRL Lab will be Lab Manager Ed Hare, W1RFI; Test Engineer Bob Allison, WB1GCM; Senior Laboratory Engineer Zack Lau, W1VT; RFI Engineer Paul Cianciolo, W1VLF, and W1AW Station Manager Joe Carcia, NJ1Q. Between all of them, they have over 100 years of experience at ARRL Headquarters,

QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo Chairman Eric Guth, 4Z1UG, also announced four live group kit-building workshops. Workshop instructors will guide participants through building a variety of kits, which will be available for purchase and delivered prior to the Expo so attendees can build them at home. Attendees unable to participate during the live sessions can order and build kits by watching the workshop videos during the on-demand period that follows the Expo through April 12.

Workshop kits prices range from $15 to $30. Early-bird discount tickets and links to purchase kits can be found at the QSO Today Expo website. These workshops will include:

Building the NS-40 QRP Transmitter, a 14-component, 5 W transmitter for 7.030 MHz (with instructors David Cripe, NM0S, and Virginia Smith, NV5F).

The Learn-to-Solder Workshop will introduce the basic tools and techniques of building electronic kits. Participants will build a 20-meter transmitter kit (with instructors Rex Harper, W1REX, and Stephen Houser, N1SH).

Building the Cric-Key, a simple CW keyer with paddle, suitable for home and field use (with instructor Joe Eisenberg, K0NEB).

The Mini-Sudden Receiver, a pocket-and-mint-tin friendly direct-conversion 20-meter receiver (with instructors Rex Harper, W1REX, and Stephen Houser, N1SH).    

SOURCE:ARRL

Antenna

4 element 70Mhz 4m Yagi LFA-R

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Description A 4 element 70MHz High Gain Yagi – The unique LFA-R from InnovAntennas! The LFA-R from InnovAntennas does away with the traditional... Read more

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Vertical Loop Yagi See More : Link Read more

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ARRL CEO David Minster, NA2AA, to Keynote QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo

February 24, 2021

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ARRL CEO David Minster, NA2AA, will keynote the QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo March 13 – 14 weekend. Minster’s talk — part of an 80+ speak... Read more

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During the week 15 – 19 February, the preparatory work for WRC-23 agenda item 9.1b continued in ITU‑R Working Party 4C (WP4C)... Read more

How to Connect a Modern Radio to a Legacy Tube Amp

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February 21, 2021

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DARC reports 35 Electrical Noise Area Monitoring Systems (ENAMS) have been delivered and another 20 locations are sought as part of the effort to moni... Read more

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February 24, 2021 at 10:09AM

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Current ham radio news                                  

                 Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Kevin, who writes: I often see people on the side of the road at intersections holding signs, “homeless, can you help”, that sort of thing. Like a lot of people I used to ignore them. A few years ago I decided that I wanted to help so I looked […]

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February 24, 2021 at 10:09AM

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We have never truly been happy with any of the header images since the new website was launched last year. Every few weeks we’d change them and again we have changed them today.  Finally, we have settled upon an idea and perhaps the reader may like to help – especially when it comes to the […]

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February 24, 2021 at 05:09PM

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Rolf DL7VEE reports the following: There is no hope for a CE0X operation at this time; either from San Felix or San Ambrosio due to restrictions from the military. Dino, CE3PG President of Radio Club de Chile says he talked to Chilean Army officers who said no way – even regardless of Covid situation. He […]

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February 24, 2021 at 05:09PM

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ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES®) and American Red Cross volunteers joined forces in Texas under the ARRL/Red Cross memorandum of understanding in responding to the situation resulting from unseasonably frigid weather. Kevin McCoy, KF5FUZ, said the Red Cross formally requested an ARES activation in Texas to address the effects of the natural disaster, which included a lack of drinkin...

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February 24, 2021 at 05:09PM

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ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES®) and American Red Cross volunteers joined forces in Texas under the ARRL/Red Cross memorandum of understanding in responding to the situation resulting from unseasonably frigid weather. Kevin McCoy, KF5FUZ, said the Red Cross formally requested an ARES activation in Texas to address the effects of the natural disaster, which included a lack of drinkin...

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February 24, 2021 at 05:09PM

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The amateur radio communications team of the Florida Baptist Disaster Relief has created a multi-site radio communications exercise dubbed “Whirlwind Boom,” designed to bring together volunteers and local agencies across northern Florida and throughout the southeastern US. The 2-hour drill is set for Friday, March 19. Invitations have gone out to Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES®) groups, ...

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February 24, 2021 at 08:09PM

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The amateur radio communications team of the Florida Baptist Disaster Relief has created a multi-site radio communications exercise dubbed “Whirlwind Boom,” designed to bring together volunteers and local agencies across northern Florida and throughout the southeastern US. The 2-hour drill is set for Friday, March 19. Invitations have gone out to Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES®) groups, ...

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February 24, 2021 at 08:09PM

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                                                             Manage                                                  

[trt-nicolas]

Mata Morta Vida Morta

Bem todos sabem que uns dos maiores problemas do mundo são  o desmatamento as queimadas nas matas e floresta  e a poluição mundial que durante os anos vem crescendo muito ( quando digo a poluição mundial me refiro a poluição  que interfere o aquecimento global ) , bem na minha opinião o maior problema dentre esses 3 é a poluição mundial, pois por causa dela que acontecem as queimadas que faz acontecer o desmatamento, a poluição mundial vem crescendo cada dia mais pois antigamente era menos índice de poluição comparado a hoje em dia.

Carta aberta 

15/11/2020

Passo fundo

poluição mundial e ajuda a perca de nível de aquecimento global.

bem na minha opinião oque mais afeta a poluição que ajuda o índice do aquecimento global crescer são os carros  pois além de utilizar muita energia não renovável que é o combustível que se forma na gasolina que faz a fumaça que sai do carro ser poluente, afeta muito na vida humana. Para melhorarmos isso seria muito bom criarem uma fonte de energia magnética que é feita misturada com os compostos líquidos que são utilizados para fazer o asfalto e colocarmos imas magnéticos que se juntam com essas energias para fazer os carros andarem flutuando e sem gastar energias não renováveis.

há mais de 20 anos a conservação da Amazônia é nosso compromisso, pois entendemos que somente por meio de uma economia sustentável é possível manter a floresta em pé, o conhecimento ancestral e as vidas das pessoas e animais que lá habitam. Mas infelizmente, todos os anos nossas florestas sofrem com o desmatamento causado pela ação do homem e pelos incêndios.

E em 2020 não é diferente. Desde meados de julho, nossos olhos estão voltados também para o Pantanal, que sofre com incêndio devastador que já queimou mais de 2,3 milhões de hectares do bioma, segundo o Centro Nacional de Prevenção e Combate aos Incêndios Florestais (Prevfogo). Na Amazônia, a devastação segue com os primeiros 14 dias de setembro registrando mais queimadas do que em todo o mesmo mês do ano anterior, segundo  o Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (Inpe).

Para ajudar no combate à destruição do Pantanal e da Amazônia, apoie e dê voz aos movimentos que trabalham incessantemente em prol dos mesmos. Você pode fazer a sua parte sendo voluntário, doando recursos, assinando petições, se manifestando, ou mesmo consumindo de forma mais consciente.

Good and one more way to help human life in relation to domestic chores and the pollution generated by the garbage dumped on the street, it would be very good if we had garbage bins that cause the garbage to decompose with the heat generated inside it and we could reuse the trash. Another good way to help humans would be to create a robot that floats and helps with household chores, they do everything they approve and improve and move from a renewable energy source which is water, but they have a problem with their system operational that he is kind of lazy, but does not like washing dishes, which is not new (nobody likes) I must take good care of him because I cannot leave him lying in a corner, his physical appearance is healthy and he is a robot with a size between 50 and 60 cm, he is made of iron and silver to be resistant. I must not think that he is a bad and boring robot because he doesn’t make noise he is beautiful because he is white and technological white with green and blue like the evva but he has the typical head of the wall-e but his body is funny because it is cute but he is sometimes boring he doesn’t like dogs because he stirs them up and sometimes he comes out really bad with dogs. 

tradução- Bom e mais uma forma de ajudar a vida humana em relação aos afazeres domésticos e à poluição gerada pelo lixo despejado na rua, seria muito bom se tivéssemos lixeiras que fazem com que o lixo se decomponha com o calor gerado dentro dela e pudéssemos para reutilizar o lixo. Outra boa maneira de ajudar os humanos seria criar um robô que flutue e que ajude nas tarefas domésticas, eles fazem tudo o que aprovam e melhoram e se movem de uma fonte de energia renovável que é a água, mas eles têm um problema com seu sistema operacional que ele é meio preguiçoso, mas não gosta de lavar louça, o que não é novidade (ninguém gosta) Devo cuidar bem dele porque não posso deixá-lo caído em um canto, sua aparência física é saudável e ele é um robô com tamanho entre 50 a 60 cm, ele é feito de ferro e prata para ser resistente. eu não devo pensar que ele é um robô ruim e chato pois ele não faz barulho é bonito pois é branco e tecnológico branco com verde e azul tipo a evva mas ele tem a cabeça tipo a do wall-e mas o seu corpo é engraçado pois  é fofo mas ele é as vezes chato ele não gosta de cães pois ele atiça eles e as vezes sai bem mal com os cães. 

Bem entrando nos assuntos de desmatamentos e queimadas na mata vamos voltar no século XIV, quando os portugueses chegaram no brasil, naquela época no brasil quase n tinha queimadas e desmatamento pois os índios valorizavam muito a mãe natureza,  já hoje em dia poucos se importam e também poucos sabem que iremos morrer se continuarmos assim, mas temos chances de mudar as coisas tipo se conseguíssemos ligar a natureza com a tecnologia por exemplo criando painéis que poderiam mudar o clima com o mesmo sistema do ar condicionado mudaria muito o índice de queimada pois iria ajudar muito deixando um clima mais leve sem ser tão quente nem tão frio e junto com esse sistema um sistema de segurança tipo protótipos escondidos para quem invadir uma área e começar o desmatamento naquela área ser punido ou com uma multa ou com prisão.

Assim nós poderíamos preservar a vida nas matas  tipo os animais, tipo não jogando  lixos na floresta e também ajudar na vida das plantas plantando mais arvores e tendo mais controle do clima tipo chovendo mais naquela área ou outras coisas que irão ajudar.

https://jamboard.google.com/d/1wcChdJLjLuMQVVDL9pEuML1Fh8xOSJQYHh3kcTDE2Yk/edit?usp=sharing

esse link é de um desenho de uma paisagem

https://youtu.be/ZOgBjdL2_Lg

vídeo de arte de rua parte de espanhol

a importância da arte de rua é que é um trabalho, uma arte cultural pois tem que ter muita habilidade e percepção das pessoas tem que ser muito grande claro que cada um tem seu jeito de fazer grafite mas todos são legais.

cuide da mata e das florestas assim teremos uma vida melhor

bien el arte es una cultura y una tradición y bien que no podía faltar en españa y en los países del mundo apropiado, en españa tenemos muchos tipos de trabajos bien ahí tenemos bailes españoles que son muy famosos como el flamenco u obras de arte como esculturas, pinturas , graffiti callejero y varios otros tipos. También tenemos artes literarias y cinematográficas porque un buen ejemplo de película es el film van go, que expresa mucho del trabajo en el mundo, y un buen ejemplo de arte es Hary Potter, que fue una saga de libros que se estrena desde 1997 y desde a partir de ahí cuando lanzaron el primer trabajo ya se convirtió en un éxito.

Tradução- Bem a arte é uma cultura e uma tradição e bem que não poderia faltar na Espanha e nos países do mundo apropriado, na Espanha temos muitos tipos de obras bem aí temos danças espanholas que são muito famosas como o flamenco ou obras de arte como esculturas , pinturas, graffiti de rua e vários outros tipos. Também temos artes literárias e cinematográficas porque um bom exemplo de filme é o filme van go, que expressa muito do trabalho no mundo, e um bom exemplo de arte é Hary Potter, que foi uma série de livros que saiu desde 1997 e desde então a partir daí, quando lançaram o primeiro trabalho, já se tornou um sucesso. 

#mata

[jkottke]

Silence Is the Presence of Everything

This morning, instead of crawling straight from bed to desk and diving into the internet cesspool, I went for a walk. I went because I needed the exercise, because it was a nice sunny day out, because the changing leaves are super lovely right now. (Check out my Instagram story for some of what I saw along the way.) But I also wanted to listen to this episode of On Being with Gordon Hempton called Silence and the Presence of Everything. Hempton is an acoustic ecologist who has a lot of interesting things to say about silence and natural sounds.

Oh, grass wind. Oh, that is absolutely gorgeous, grass wind and pine wind. We can go back to the writings of John Muir, which -- he turned me on to the fact that the tone, the pitch, of the wind is a function of the length of the needle or the blade of grass. So the shorter the needle on the pine, the higher the pitch; the longer, the lower the pitch. There are all kinds of things like that, but the two folders where I collected, I have, oh, over 100 different recordings which are actually silent from places, and you cannot discern a sense of space, but you can discern a sense of tonal quality, that there is a fundamental frequency for each habitat.

It sounds paradoxical, but I wanted to listen to this podcast in a setting with natural sounds, rather than in my car or on a plane. I had my AirPods in because they don't block all outside sound, so I could hear the crunch of the road beneath my shoes as I walked and listened. The nature and animal sounds in the episode sounded like they were actually coming from all around me. I paused the episode for a minute or two to listen to a burbling brook I passed along the way. The whole experience was super relaxing and informative.1

You can read more about Hempton and his efforts in preserving the world's silence places on his website The Sound Tracker or in his book, One Square Inch of Silence. Outside magazine recently profiled Hempton, who, in cruel twist of fate, has suffered dramatic hearing loss in recent years.

The problem Hempton hopes to take on is gargantuan. To understand it, try a little experiment: when you reach the period at the end of this sentence, stop reading for a moment, close your eyes, and listen.

What did you hear? The churn of the refrigerator? The racing hiss of passing traffic? Even if you're sitting outside, chances are you heard the low hum of a plane passing overhead or an 18-wheeler's air horn shrieking down a not-so-distant highway.

If you heard only the sounds of birds and the wind in the trees, you're one of a lucky few. But it's likely that quiet won't last.

This short documentary, Sanctuaries of Silence, follows Hempton to some of the quietest places on Earth, including the Hoh Rain Forest in Olympic National Park.

I think what I like most about listening is that I disappear.

If you'd like to disappear for awhile but don't have access to a quiet place, you should check out some of Hempton's recordings on Spotify -- I'm listening to Forest Rain right now.

Or try out the Sound Escapes podcast to check out some of his best natural soundscapes. (thx Meg, who sent along a link to the On Being episode after reading yesterday's post on noise pollution)

And it was another good example of the AirPods as an AR device.↩

[alitheamateur]

The Grind-Chapter 29

I helped clean up the dishes, and he emptied all our trash into the dumpster behind the shop before we journeyed to the next stealthy location on his to-do list. I made sure to cork the pricey wine bottle so I could take the last bit home to sip on in bed with him, not wanting to waste a drop of the bittersweet goodness. Colton peeled off his jacket to drape over my bare back since the evening temperatures had chilled noticeably, then we locked up and he offered his aid to the car, considering my acutely inebriated state.

Instead of following the traffic further into the eventful side of town, we made a left and headed off towards the outskirts. It was a part of Pittsburgh that normally would have me on edge consider the late hour, but with Colton at the wheel there was truly never any reason to fear. He wasn’t a certified superhero, or a proclaimed savior of humanity, but I felt he was my own personal, daunting vigilante. I was independent, and capable on my own, but with him I could be fearless.

I looked out the side window as the streetlights and skyscrapers became scarce, and felt the dizzy aftershock of the merlot floating through my veins, creating a warm blaze over my cheeks. Rolling the window down a crack for some cool breeze to chill my alcoholic hot flash, we turned on the very familiar street where Mac’s gym used to sit. I stretched in my seat to get a good look around, continuing the trend of confusion.

“You okay, Livvy?” Colton tested as he parallel parked directly in front of the cloudy, dust stained windows of the unoccupied building.

“Yeah, just a little hazy from the wine is all. And wondering what we’re doing here.”

He only half-smiled and opened the door, gesturing for me to follow suit. Checking carefully for any oncoming vehicles, I slung open the passenger side to meet my offered escort on the sidewalk. The “A” of the sign above the doorway was cracked and barely hanging on by some sketchy wires, and the street number that was stickered on the glass was pared and faded. I felt instantly sad for Colt seeing the current state his once second home. In fact, it had probably been more of a home to him than the old, dingy apartment he was held up in when we first met, considering the innumerable hours he spent training here.  As our steps accidently synced in speed toward Mac’s, Colton tore away a graffiti marked “For Sale” sign heftily tapped to the glass. He disconnected our hands to pull a key tucked away in a pocket of his wallet…

Shards of broken glass from the overhead lights furthermore shattered as we walked over the polluted floor of the abandoned gym. Most of the equipment remained intact and the ring still stood in its place, only now stained a bit with the passing year of lacked maintenance. A red-wrapped box, taped with a black bow had been placed in its center, which I gathered was exactly where Colton was dragging me. He gaped the stretchy, leather-like ropes open and grasped my forearm to keep me from woozily face planting. From side glance, I watched him drink in the sight of my leaning figure, and the spilling out of cleavage as I did so.

“I hate seeing the place like this. I know it has to be pretty brutal for you too, babe.” I weakly slurred in a sympathized manner.

“This place got a lotta memories, for sure. For the both of us, hm?” He approached me from behind covering me in a bear hug, kissing the crook of my neck, and inhaling in my most customary scent. A reminder of the first night we spent together standing in that very spot made the echo of our moans, and the feel of his hands on me play back like a fantasy in my mind, and I sunk further into his body.

“Be careful talking about such things, Ritter. I might just be drunk enough to let you take advantage of me right here again.”

“As much as I need to get my hands on you, you should open ya’ present first.” He suggested, nudging me onward with a pat to the behind.

I squatted to lift the box, and felt the barely-there weight of its contents. Colt remained in observance over my shoulder, quietly inspecting for a reaction as I worked my nails over the knotted, silk bow closure. It fell to my feet, tickling over my exposed toes in the stilettoes I wore, and I then dropped the cardboard lid shortly after. Lined with tissue paper inside, the black gloves Colton wore to fight Danny Mendez were laid next to each other. The grained leather was softer than when I had first gifted him with them, now broken in and loose due to the blows thrown, and punches blocked.

“Colton. These belong to you, babe. I don’t even deserve a pair this nice. And besides, they have your name on ‘em, silly.” I reasoned, turning slow to face my one-man audience.

“I think I can maybe do somethin’ about that little name issue, pretty girl.”

Suddenly, the crisp box and its contents crashed to the floor, falling buoyantly from my now numb hands. Instead of spinning around to meet his smiling eyes, I had to sink my sights to discover him knelt a few feet from me, caressing a square velvet case.

“Colton, what ar-.”

“You listen, ‘n let me talk this time, baby.”

Uncontrollable outlines of mascara black tears initiated abruptly, and the white noise of passing traffic, and distant sirens ceased.

“The second I looked into those bright emerald eyes of yours Livvy, a fuse kicked inside me. All those emotions that I had turned off a long time ago, fuckin’ came roaring back. The typical me, woulda walked right out that morning with a coffee to-go, without a second thought. But it was like every time I looked back at ya’, I swear I could literally feel my heartbeats inside of me. I coulda counted them out loud, Liv. You had me in this… this trance or somethin’. You know I ain’t gonna say all this the way you deserve to hear it, but I need you to know what you are to me, Elliott. How much you mean t’ me.”

I could hear his voice crack under the pressure he had put on himself, and the lump of tearful release he was trying to choke back into his throat.

“There’s a billion damn reasons why I don’t deserve ya’. We both know that. But there’s another billion reasons why I want to. You’re the most intelligent woman I’ve ever met, and the only one I know who could get me laughin’ like a damn idiot the way you do. I love that you always have a little smudge of leftover makeup unda’ your eyes when you wake up every mornin’, and that you can have me beggin’ in desperation the second you put on a pair of those shoes like the ones ya’ wearin’ now. And don’t even get me started on how thrilled I get seeing you strapped into a pair of sparring gloves. As nervous sick as it gets me, I love it all the same. I ain’t never wanted to be a better man, babe. For myself, and sure as hell not for anyone else. But the man I am with you, the man you turn me into, is a far better one that I ever thought I could be. C’mere, Livvy baby. I ain’t gonna bite.”

Following the suggestive direction of his nod, I weakly closed the distance between us, and he took my chattering hand into his. He laughed, and tried to still the very obvious nervous, euphoric emotion coming through my skin.

“You are such a beautiful, loving, kind heart. Not to mention sexy in the most subtle ‘n real way. You’re strong as a fuckin’ ox, inside & out, and you sit my ass straight in line every day. God knows I need that. I want to spend the rest of my life being ya’ sidekick, and watchin’ you succeed with whatever your heart wants. I can’t promise I’ll be as perfect as all the otha’ men you truly deserve, and I need ya’ to be patient wi’ me when I get all caught up in me head. There ain’t nobody else I’d rather have nursin’ my wounds after a fight, or eatin’ a whole gallon of ice cream with on a cheat day. You’re my only light, and any chance I have at bein’ a decent man is only because of you. So, Liv Caroline Elliott, will you marry me?”

The flawless solitaire sent iridescent beams of sparkle bouncing across the ceiling as the light caught it in Colton’s suddenly shaking hand. The stone was impressively hefty in carats, and was uniquely chiseled into the shape of an octagon. I knew that little quality wasn’t just a coincidence, and Colt had made this purchase with careful consideration and lots of preparation. His dedicated search for the perfect diamond to join the two of us together was a thoughtful sentiment no one could refute.

He bore his soul without question, so unnaturally against his nature, and let his every emotion spring forth for me to potentially criticize and dismiss. The metamorphosis I had witnessed overtake him the last months satisfied my hearts every yearning, and I knew fully that Colton Ritter was the only man who would ever fill the shoes of my true love. As tears began saturating his soft, bristle-like eyelashes too quick for him to conceal and rub away with his shirt sleeve, I wordlessly nodded an accepting, smiling ‘yes.’

“You ain’t gettin’ off that easy 2-1. A man’s gotta hear you say it.”

“Yes, Colton. Yes, yes, yes! A hundred times over, yes. I will marry you. Only if you promise me, to stop selling yourself so short and trying to convince the world what a monster you are. When it comes to the cage, sure you’re unforgiving and dangerous. But otherwise, we both know that’s so far from the truth. Whether I’m the only lucky individual who gets to see it behind closed doors or not, you’re so kind. And you’re the most loyal man I have ever met. Any time I’ve been lucky enough to spend with you, have been the best minutes of my entire life. And when I happen to think about the time passed without you, I cringe at the memories we could’ve made. I want nothing more than to spend whatever life I have left by your side.”

The feeling of the cool silver band as he slid it with ease over the knuckle of the proper finger sent a tsunami of wedding color schemes, and potential venues flooding into my train of thought. Never was I the girl for fairy tales, and tulle and princes riding in to rescue the damsel, but the countless possibilities of marital bliss with Colton had birds chirping and singing around my head.

My newly crowned fiancé lunged in to seal the celebration with a deep kiss, pulling me into him by a hand on the back of my neck. The sticky tears wetting his face mixed with my own as our faces touched in embrace, and Colton dipped me like the closing move of a Salsa dance, laughing when I yelped in surprise.

“What is it about this little place, I wonder? It seems Mac’s has been pretty important to us over the last years.” I pointed out, as he kissed the fine jewelry now situated on my finger.

“Yeah…… Well, uhm... About that…”

I looked at him through slit eyes, and cocked a quizzical, suspicious brow at what had him so apparently tongue tied.

“You’re right. This shit hole has been pretty damn important t’ me. And a’ course, to us too. I can’t stand to see it just sittin’ here. Rotting.”

“I’m sure if there was anything Mac could do, sweetheart, he would’ve already. Maybe we’ll get lucky and the next owner will give it a good makeover, y’know? Freshen it up.” I attempted to cheer him up with positive outlook, and cheery suggestions.

“Oh, I think you right. The next owner is gonna get this place back on its feet, and back to it’s roots. Some new bags first thing, and a definite fuckin’ fumigating.” His nose crinkled as he looked around at the mildewed ceiling.

“It sold? Someone finally bou-“

I froze, and Colton’s instantaneous smile furthermore proved my suspicions. He had torn down that weathered ‘for sale’ sign before we came inside, and the little key tucked in his wallet should’ve been my tell-tale.

“COLTON?! It’s yours? You bought it? How? Whe-“

“Hey, hey, hey, hey. Take a breath, ya’ crazy chatterbox. Yes, I bought it. And yes, it’s OURS.” Colton annunciated the significance of ‘ours’ in his confession, assuring I understood that this cherished little corner of a rickety, dark corner block in Pittsburgh now belonged to us. Together.

“I was thinkin’… How does 21 Punches sound to you? I mean, I’d like to have Mac maybe be a manger for me, y’know, when I can’t be here ‘n stuff. But I do wanna change that sign out front.”

Invisible atoms of a tranquil fog consumed the every corner of being, and my legs felt insubstantial on a cloud of celestial contentment. This stiff as cement man, who seemed to turn to near wet, molding clay in my presence wanted to name his most prized possession after a silly, what I viewed as irrelevant, high school basketball number from my ancient days as a Westfield Warrior. I half expected a hidden crowd to jump out into a surprise party, or a horse drawn carriage to wheel up outside to seal the finishing touches on an evening of unadulterated shock and romance.

“I think you’re the best thing about this smelly, foggy, freezing city. And I think you should take me home right now, and let me show you exactly how amazing I think you are.”

Forgetting any class or feminine daintiness, I grabbed firmly around the bulge of his thin, extremely well-fitting slacks and parted two buttons of his shirt to tickle his beating chest.

“Home? We own the place now, ya’ naughty lil’ thing. I could just take ya’ right fuckin’ now if I wanted to.”

“Slide your hand under this dress and get to it then, Mr. Ritter.” I sighed fervently into his ear, sloppily sucking his neck just under the line of his beard.

The lack of undergarments he discovered as he used two fingers to crawl up the side of my leg caused him to groan out hauntingly.

“Your wish, is my fuckin’ command, Mrs. Ritter.”

tags: @torialeysha @eap1935 @mollybegger-blog @littleluna98

#Tom Hardy #tomhardy #tomhardyfanfic #tomhardyfanfiction #tom hardy fanfiction #elizabeth olsen #thegrind

[wmshappen]

Sustainable marketing

Photo by Jasmin Sessler on Unsplash

You may well have seen—or been one of the participants—when hundreds of thousands of British people took to the streets to strike against global climate change earlier this year.

The UK strike was part of a global network of strike action, inspired by youth activist Greta Thunberg and ahead of the UN Climate Action Summit.  In more than 200 separate organised events across the country, the young and old came together to show their support of activists such as Greta, and voice their unease at the spiralling climate crisis.  School children were among the thousands that showed up, with banners “we could save the planet if children ran it” and “be part of the solution, not the pollution”.

What’s more interesting is that prior to the strike, many top brands and agencies from the PR world spoke out about their support for the Global Climate Strike. Was it a quick and fast way to gain column inches? Or a genuine show of hands by big business tycoons?

Brands such as Patagonia, Lush, Ben & Jerry’s and agencies such as Wielden and Kennedy, Good Communications, and Blurred London downed tools and took pledges to show support for meaningful change. 

Granted, the eyes of the world’s media were on the protests, meaning that any brand or agency that declared support for the campaign had a good shot at getting a mention or two.  However, the public declarations, issued statements and genuine real action by such groups feel much bigger than just another PR stunt.  It would appear that many organisations have reached the conclusion that the issues are real and have asked themselves what they can do to help the situation.  Hurrah.

With some of the biggest names in advertising and PR backing the cause, a fresh hope has been brought to the issue, with promise that these leaders can help to drive real, legislative change to make the difference. 

Here’s a roundup of some of the campaigns that have come off as a result. 

Create and Strike

Ben Essen of Iris has asked those in the creative industries to Create and Strike. The idea being that each creates something which amplifies the climate change message and helps to bring noise and change from the masses for the greater good. 140 signatories are already backing the campaign, including Rankin and Ogilvy UK.  A powerful group of people who we are sure have some insightful stuff up their sleeves. 

Unit 9, One Action

AR specialist Unit9 have been hard at work creating an app, which really drives the issues around climate change home.  Users are able to scan areas such as Trafalgar Square with the app, and get a glimpse into the potential devastation that might be around the corner.

Burger King-Toy Meltdown

For many years, fast food chain Burger King has offered youngsters (and we guess some grown-ups) a plastic toy of little to no value with every Junior Meal.  The burger King Toy Meltdown however is set to see this change, with the chain removing all plastic toys from future meals. Even better, the chain has pledged that any plastic toys that are brought into store from home will join a huge heap destined to be melted down and made into other plastic goods. Everyone who does so receives a free Junior Meal when their parents of carers purchase an adult meal.  The campaign was launched on social media and with a huge melting plastic toy in central London. We had our doubts over this, but CEO Alasdair Murdoch assures us that this too will be recycled and turned into a ‘playground or a tray’. Great! 

Bacardi – Plastic Straw Vinyl

The drinks brand has teamed up with Lonely Whale to help to find a use for single-use plastic straws. Through the Staw Vinyl initiative, people will be able to drop off their used plastic straws, which will be melted down and will become limited edition vinyl.  Major Lazer has signed up to be part of the initiative and hopefully other musicians interested in the cause will hop on-board.  

We Make Stuff Happen has in the past couple of years been looking at ways to reduce its carbon footprint by use of alternative materials, hire of items, and carbon offsetting and we’re actively researching and investing in new ways of working to help our clients deliver their ideas in the most sustainable way possible.

Got a green project or can help us achieve our green goals? Get in touch.

Megan John/@meganWMSH

#marketing #sustainability

[you-are-all-weirdos]

“Need” Is Overrated

“Why do you need an AR-15?”

You hear that a lot. That, or some variant of it. It’s a beloved rhetorical tool of the anti-gun crowd these days. The well-meaning ones trot it out to try and wedge the camel’s nose under the edge of the tent. They’re not really taking away something important; they’re just doing away with a dangerous toy you don’t really need, so what’s the big deal?

Others use it to try and coax the undecided over to their side. They’re being reasonable, after all. If firearms enthusiasts don’t have a good answer for why they need a modern semi-automatic sporting rifle, then the anti-gun crowd aren’t really inconveniencing them. Thus, the firearms enthusiasts are just being greedy when they try and fight back.

You’ll even see the more aggressive version of it trotted out now and then: “nobody needs an AR-15.”

Wow! Nobody? Well, that settles it, then, doesn’t it? If it’s got no valid use, then clearly anyone who wants one must be an unhinged maniac about to open fire at any moment. Go ahead! Take ‘em away!

Only...

When did we decide it was okay to let the government unilaterally decide what we need? For that matter, when did we decide that we, as a people, could only have what we need, and nothing more?

Why do I need an AR-15? The answer is simple.

I don’t.

Thing is, I don’t need a car that can drive faster than sixty miles an hour either. I don’t need pies and pastries and desserts. I sure as hell don’t need a beer.

And yet I could get up from my computer, walk down to the store, and buy a six pack. I’m of age. It’s legal in my jurisdiction. And beer is rarely sold in isolation, so with another quick stop I can pick up a pecan pie. An entire pecan pie, all to myself!

And y’know what? I know a Porsche dealership within one or two blocks of a grocery store and a beer store. So with these newly purchased libations and dessert, a man of means could take a quick stroll and lay his money down on a Porsche 911. Sure, it’s not a cheap purchase, not what most of us would call an impulse buy, but what the hell? Work to live, not live to work, right? What’s the point of money if you’re not spending it on things that make you smile?

And here’s the thing: my beer, my pie, and my Porsche... nobody’s suggesting that I shouldn’t be able to have them if I want. I certainly don’t need them. But I might want them. And as long as I’m using them responsibly, that’s a good enough reason.

I’m told a man with a lead foot and enough straight tarmac can get some models of Porsche 911 up to within shouting distance of two hundred miles an hour. Why? Outside of a race track, you are never going to be able to use all that speed in a legal manner. And going in circles around a race track, you’re not accomplishing anything of value. All you are doing is turning money and time into noise and air pollution.

There is no practical reason why anyone needs to have a sports car with a top speed in excess of sixty miles an hour.

And that’s just fine.

Not everything needs to have a practical reason. One of the wonderful things about living in a free society is that we are allowed to have things just because they make us happy. That’s supposed to be the whole point. We work, not only to survive, but to accumulate the resources necessary to pursue the activities that we enjoy. Work to live, not live to work, remember?

Sure, firearms are dangerous if used incorrectly or with a disregard for the lives and safety of others. So are fast cars. Especially if you combine them with beer and a driver about to go into a sugar coma because they just ate an entire pie. It doesn’t matter. A lot of things are dangerous if you don’t care what happens to other people.

If you do care what happens to other people, if you do follow the laws that govern our society, on the other hand, then that’s different. A two hundred mile an hour sports car is suddenly as safe as Mom’s minivan or even Dad’s riding mower. And so’s a firearm. Even an evil AR-15.

And, frankly, if you don’t follow the law, then what do you care if the tool you’re using to break the law is itself illegal to possess?

A ban on AR-15s, or any other firearm would only serve to punish those law abiding citizens who have an interest in such things. People who have never committed a violent crime and, statistically, never will. It would punish them for the crimes of others. The crimes of monsters. Monsters they’ve never even met, let alone emulated.

In a free society, I shouldn’t have to justify why I want to possess something or do something. It should be up to those who want to take it away to explain why their concerns justify abridging my rights. It’s the very foundation of our justice system: I don’t have to prove that I’m not a criminal. You have to prove that I am.

I don’t need an AR-15; I want one. And I’ve done nothing to show that I can’t be trusted to use it safely.

And that should be good enough.

#Gun Rights #Political Philosophy