#also added a vault/era inspired one | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

vancouverkitchenrenovation · 1 year

Text

Vintage Kitchen Design Ideas 2023

Whether you’re a homeowner or renter, adding some vintage elements into your kitchen will make it more attractive. But how can you incorporate retro elements without making it look outdated?

The best way to add retro style to your space is by mixing and matching. This means combining vintage pieces with modern ones to create a unique design that’s both beautiful and functional.

Wallpaper

Wallpaper is a classic decorative material. It has been used for a long time and has undergone several changes during that time.

The trend in this year is to decorate the walls with old and vintage items. This trend is great for those who want to add character and personality to their kitchens.

You can also use wallpaper to bring a pop of color into your kitchen. This is especially useful if you have white cabinets.

Appliances

There are a number of vintage inspired kitchen design ideas to choose from, and one of the most fun ones is a good ole fashioned freestanding kitchen. You’ll also want to pay attention to the small details, like how your cabinetry fits together. This will make for an easier and more enjoyable space to navigate. In addition, incorporating your favourite tidbits into a design plan can make a house into a home, or at least a place where you’re proud to show off to guests and family members alike.

Tupperware

Whether you’re using it for storing food or serving it up at the table, Tupperware can help add a bit of retro appeal to your kitchen. The patented Tupper Seal keeps items neat and organized, and the company’s reusable containers help save space.

For a vintage look, use colors that evoke the past, such as tan or olive green. These hues are versatile and work in a variety of styles, from farmhouse to shabby chic.

Reclaimed fixtures and furniture add collected charm to traditional kitchens. Shelves displaying handcrafted pottery, heirloom servers and colorful antique glassware establish personalized appeal.

Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola is a soft drink that’s popular around the world. The company produces and sells cola syrup, which bottlers combine with carbonated water to make the beverage.

The recipe for Coca-Cola syrup remains a closely guarded trade secret. It’s been kept this way since 1886.

But now a new exhibit is helping fans learn more about the drink’s history and secret formula. Known as “The Vault of the Secret Formula,” the exhibit is located at the World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta.

Polka Dots

Polka Dots are a popular vintage style, especially in kitchens. It is a fun and bright pattern that is often used as a decorative element on walls or other accessories.

Unlike most patterns, polka dots are not perfectly round, which can make them difficult to create by hand. Once the Industrial Revolution came to Europe, a machine-made method of creating this pattern became possible.

The name polka dot comes from the polka dance craze that swept across Europe in the 1800s. This new dance era was lighthearted and happy, so the polka dot pattern evoked that cheerful spirit.

Red

Red is a bold color that can really add a pop of character to your kitchen design. To get the most impact, keep other decor simple and focus on the red hue itself to tie your space together.

If you want to take your kitchen’s vintage theme a step further, try using rust-colored walls for a more natural vibe. This hue pairs well with neutral tones such as olive or plum, and complements wood furniture, bamboo and grassy elements.

One of the biggest decorating trends for 2023 is the resurgence of bold colors. Experts predict that they’ll make a comeback in both kitchen design and overall home décor.

Hardware

One of the best ways to make your kitchen more personal is by updating your hardware. Changing your cabinet pulls or adding a new light fixture will give your space a much more updated feel.

Another way to get on the vintage trend is by mixing and matching different pieces of furniture. Adding vintage and reclaimed furniture into your kitchen can add character without going overboard.

For 2023, many experts predict that a focus on contrasting colors will be a key trend in kitchen design. Mixing dark and light tones will create a more organic and lived-in look that homeowners are craving.

.video-container {position: relative;padding-bottom: 56.25%;padding-top: 1px; height: 0; overflow: hidden;} .video-container iframe, .video-container object, .video-container embed {position: absolute;top: 0;LEFT: 0;width: 100%;height: 100%;}

youtube

Metro Vancouver’s Premier Kitchen and Bath Renovation Company

Your kitchen is more than just a place to cook; it’s a space that brings people together, connects them, and helps them feel relaxed and comfortable. It’s a space that makes you proud to invite guests over, and it’s a space that lets you show off your personality and style. That’s why Vancouver Kitchen Renovation wants to help you create the perfect kitchen for yourself and your family. Whether you’re interested in updating your existing kitchen or starting from scratch, we can help you turn your dream kitchen into reality. We believe kitchens aren’t just functional spaces; they bring families together, connect them, inspire creativity, and allow them to express themselves. So we strive to create designs that reflect these values, and we’re excited to share them with you.

We understand that to be successful is to stay ahead of the curve. That means staying current with the latest technology and design trends. We always want to improve our products or services without breaking the bank. That’s why we stay connected to the latest technologies of NKBA, National Kitchen and Bath Association. In addition, at Vancouver Kitchen renovation, our primary focus is providing sustainable kitchen design and renovation packages, and we believe in sustainable living. Sustainable living is a way of life in harmony with nature. It is a lifestyle which focuses on the preservation of our environment. Sustainable living is a philosophy emphasizing respect for the environment and concern for its well-being. This means we should take care of the planet and treat it as if it were our home. We should try to preserve what we have and protect it from destruction. If we do this, we will enjoy the benefits of the earth’s resources for many generations. Whether you’re planning a major remodel or adding finishing touches to your current kitchen, we’d love to discuss your project. Book your showroom consultation online.

Main Areas of Service in British Columbia:

Vancouver

North Vancouver

West Vancouver

Burnaby

Coquitlam

Squamish

Whistler

Frequently Asked Questions

Should cabinets be lighter/dimmer than walls?

There are no set rules. This will be a personal decision and will vary depending on the dimensions, shape, and design of your kitchen. Dark cabinets can make your kitchen feel smaller and less spacious. Brighter cabinets will brighten the space, making it appear larger.

Dark cabinets can make a large kitchen feel more intimate and cozy. While lighter cabinets will open up the space, they will be more functional.

It’s up you to decide the look and feel that you want in your kitchen. The cabinet colour you choose will also be up to you. Talk to a professional designer for guidance if you’re not sure.

What style of kitchen backsplashes is popular?

A modern kitchen would look best with a full-height backsplash. A subway tile backsplash will be a good option if you want something a little more traditional. Stone or brick backsplashes are a great choice if you want something rustic. It’s all about personal preference and what suits your kitchen the best.

What place should a refrigerator be in the kitchen?

The refrigerator should be placed between the stovetop/sink. The refrigerator should be located close to the cabinets so that you can quickly find what you need.

***

Do you need planning permission for your new kitchen?

You will need permits to change the locations of electrical and plumbing. A building permit may be required if structural changes are being made to your walls.

You can always ask your local authority for clarification if you are unsure about whether you require planning permission.

A white kitchen is a good idea given Vancouver’s climate.

Vancouver homeowners love white kitchens. They brighten up spaces and give them a modern look. To add warmth and natural elements to your space, because we don’t get much sun in Metro Vancouver, it’s best to incorporate wood or other natural elements.

Statistics

Experts also recommend setting aside 20 percent of your budget for surprises, including unpleasant demolition discoveries. One is water damage, the electricity that is not up to code, or other budget-spiking gotchas. (hgtv.com)

“We decided to strip and refinish our kitchen cabinets during a heat wave with 90-plus-degree temperatures and 90 percent humidity in a house with no air conditioning. (familyhandyman.com)

This is rather grim, but according to Business Insider, 12 percent of couples consider getting a divorce while renovating their home! (familyhandyman.com)

Followed by cabinet cost, labour, and appliance costs consume 20 percent each of your budget. (hgtv.com)

In the Pacific region (Alaska, California, Washington, and Oregon), according to Remodeling Magazine, that same midrange central kitchen remodel jumps to $72,513, and a major upscale kitchen remodels jumps up $11,823 from the national average to $143,333. (hgtv.com)

External Links

forbes.com

Amazing Kitchen Remodel Ideas that Will Refresh Your House

familyhandyman.com

Family Handyman

Create an Open, Craftsman-Style Kitchen (DIY)

thespruce.com

Open Floor Plan History, Pros, and Cons

Find professionals to estimate kitchen remodeling costs

homeguide.com

2022 Kitchen Remodel Cost Estimator

2022 Addition Costs

How To

How to design a Kitchen Layout

Although there’s no perfect layout for a kitchen, some layouts work well in certain spaces. Here are some ways to create a kitchen layout that suits your space.

Start with the essentials. The first step in determining what you have in your kitchen is to decide what can be sacrificed. For example, you may not need a large stove or oven if you don’t cook much.

Take into account the traffic flow. The second step is to consider how you and your family use the kitchen and how traffic flows through the space. You’ll want to ensure enough room to move around freely without bumping into each other.

Maximize storage. The third step is to maximize storage in your kitchen layout. This includes both food storage, and cookware storage. You want everything to be organized and easily accessible.

Include your personal style. Your style is the fourth step. This covers everything, from countertops and cabinets to flooring and appliances. Pick materials and finishes that suit your style.

A professional is recommended. The fifth and final step is to work with a professional kitchen designer. A professional kitchen designer can help you design a layout that suits all your needs and fits well in your space.

Helpful Resources:

Manufacturers talk 2023 bath and kitchen trends at KBIS

_______Frequently Asked QuestionsDo you place flooring under your kitchen appliances? You can’t ignore the importance of putting flooring under..

13 Standout Products from IBS & KBIS 2022

_______Frequently Asked QuestionsWhite kitchens are in fashion again? White kitchens are a popular choice for homeowners looking to modernize their..

The New American Home 2023 – Final Phase

_______Frequently Asked QuestionsWhat should I do if my kitchen is being renovated? You don’t have to move out if you’re good with takeouts. However,

New 2023 Amazing Kitchen Design * The Heart of The Home

It’s the center of the Home There will never be a day in your life after you won’t have a reason to enter the kitchen. It’s where your day starts, where you

Rustic Kitchen Design Ideas 2023

Rustic kitchens have a way of inspiring feelings of warmth and comfort. They make a great addition to your home without compromising modern functionality and

Quality Kitchen Cabinets – Vancouver Kitchen Renovation

Looking for the best Vancouver kitchen renovation firm? Our team of experts will work with you in creating the next inspiring kitchen for your family to love.

Smart Kitchen Technology Ideas 2023

Whether you are a chef or just a regular person, there are some innovative and practical smart kitchen technology ideas that can make your life easier. The

All-White Kitchen Ideas

White kitchens are crisp, clean, and elegant. They also provide a great blank canvas for adding other colors that will add character to the space. If

Yellow for Kitchen Design

Bright, cheery yellow is a natural way to add visual warmth and brightness to any kitchen. Known for chasing any chill, this shade of yellow isn’t..

Country style kitchen decor ideas,Decor ideas 2023,Home decor ideas

In this video we will see some furnishing ideas for a country-style kitchen

Amazon product links

1 Bed with drawers https://amzn.to/3KCKMii

2 Pot rack

50+ Beautiful small kitchen decorating ideas 2023 @Classydecorchannel

Portfolio – Vancouver Kitchen Renovation

OUR EXCLUSIVE CLIENT Completed Projects We Have Solutions for All Your Space Related Issues! Featured Kitchen Renovation Projects We’ve been lucky to work with

Mid Century Modern Kitchens

Mid century modern kitchens feature clean lines & spacious cooking areas, often featuring natural materials like wood & plants. They also often use..

Top 100 small modular kitchen design ideas 2023 (Decor Puzzle)

_______Frequently Asked QuestionsYou shouldn’t regret your kitchen remodel. Remain patient. Renovations take time. Kitchen renovations can have a..

Kitchen trends 2023: design ideas and coveted colors set to be big this year

_______Frequently Asked QuestionsWhat are some common mistakes made when renovating your kitchen? You might have a problem installing a new kitchen

Eclectic Kitchen Design Ideas 2023

The eclectic style is a fun and unique way to design your kitchen. It combines different styles and epochs to create a truly personalized and unique look that

Kitchen Trends 2022 | Kitchen Island Ideas | kitchen Design Tips | Best kitchen island layout design

_______Frequently Asked QuestionsWhat are the drawbacks of an open-concept cooking style? Privacy is the biggest issue. You can’t hide your mess from

Blog – Vancouver Kitchen Renovation

kitchen design and renovation experts in Metro Vancouver

BEST INTERIOR DESIGN KITCHEN TRENDS 2023 | Julie Khuu

_______Frequently Asked QuestionsWhite kitchens are in fashion again? White kitchens have become a favorite choice of homeowners who want to give..

Top Interior Paint Colors for 2023 | How to Pick Paint Colors like a Designer

_______Frequently Asked QuestionsWhat should I do if I need a new kitchen? It would be best to start by creating a list of your wants and needs. This

Best of KBIS | FOTILE Debuts New and Innovative Appliances at KBIS 2023

_______Frequently Asked QuestionsShould cabinets be lighter than walls? There are no guidelines for this. This decision is entirely personal and will

10 Impactful Ways to Update Your Home for 2023 | Our Top Styling Tips

_______Frequently Asked QuestionsWhere do I start when I want a new kitchen? You should start by writing down your desires and needs. This will..

DIY Small Kitchen Remodel | Before and After Ikea Kitchen | 90s Kitchen Extreme Makeover

_______Frequently Asked QuestionsWhat can I do to make my white kitchen more appealing? You can make your white kitchen even more fun. Add coloured..

Contact – Vancouver Kitchen Renovation

GET IN TOUCH Contact Us We Love to Hear from You! Let’s discuss your kitchen or bath renovation project! If you’re ready to start your kitchen renovation, we’d

Early Spring Decor | Simple Spring Decorating Ideas 2023

Shop The Home Depot President’s day sale now til 3/1 for up to 30% off select furniture, mattresses, & decor. Use code: PRESIDENTS23 for extra 10% off til 2/22.

BATHROOM TRENDS 2023 // Interior Design

_______Frequently Asked QuestionsHow do you style small white kitchens? A small white kitchen requires a lot of creativity. The best way to create a..

DesignBites 2023 | Full Event KBIS 2023

_______Frequently Asked QuestionsWhat are some common mistakes made when renovating your kitchen? You might have a problem installing a new kitchen

TOP 5 Kitchen Backsplash Trends | 2022 Latest Backsplash Ideas | Modern Backsplash Designs

_______Frequently Asked QuestionsWhat should you do not have any regrets about your kitchen renovation? Take your time, the renovations can take some

Innovative “stuffs” from World of Concrete 2023

_______Frequently Asked QuestionsAre Kitchen Remodeling Costs Worth it? Remodelling your kitchen can be a great way to improve the look and feel of..

National kitchen and bath News

Get the latest kitchen industry news from NKBA

Latest Kitchen Designs 2023 || Kitchen Design || Kitchen Cabinet Design || Kitchen Ka Design

_______Frequently Asked QuestionsHow do I work out my budget to renovate my kitchen? These guidelines can help you determine your budget. Begin by..

See What’s New in Construction Materials at IBS 2023!

_______Frequently Asked QuestionsAre open-concept and modular kitchens in decline? The appeal of open-concept designs is not dying. They offer modern

Latest Kitchen Designs 2023 || Kitchen Design || Kitchen Cabinet Design || Kitchen Ka Design

friends is video mein aapko latest modular kitchen ke design

BEST/NEW MODULAR KITCHEN DESIGN IDEAS 2023 | LUXURY KITCHEN DESIGNS FOR MODERN HOME INTERIOR DESIGN

When you are planning to renovate your kitchen or

Kitchen Ideas 2023 – How to Use Open Shelving to Display Your Favorite Kitchen Items

Open shelving is a great way to display your favourite kitchen items. You can also use it to organize your frequently used items. The key is to keep the

KBIS | Home

Source the latest product innovations from leading kitchen and bath brands at KBIS! Discover fresh design solutions, expand your network, and fine-tune your

Interior Design Ideas for Kitchens | Kitchen Design Trends 2023 | Room Design Series Episode 4

This video is the fourth in a series on how to design specific spaces and today we’re talking talking about the heart of the home, the kitchen. We’re going to

Interior Design| Top modern kitchen cabinets design ideas| Amazing modern kitchen designs 2023

Latest modern kitchen cabinets design ideas, kitchen

80 Gorgeous Gray Kitchen Ideas

80 Gorgeous Gray Kitchen Ideas. Today we show you beautiful kitchens, dining rooms and living rooms. If you like decor and design ideas, subscribe and watch

FIVE OF THE BEST DECORATING TIPS AND HACKS 2023 / Interior Design Ideas / Ramon At Home

FIVE OF THE BEST DECORATING TIPS AND HACKS 2023 / Interior Design Ideas / Ramon At Home #ramonathome #interirordesign #homedecor

If you fully obey the

How Much Does it Cost to Renovate a Kitchen?

How much does it cost to renovate a kitchen? You’ll want to consider the time and value-added of a kitchen remodel, the cost per square foot of the work, and

Cabinet Hardware – Pulls and Knobs

Find the largest offer in Cabinet Hardware – Pulls and Knobs at Richelieu.com, the one stop shop for woodworking industry.

Kitchen Paint Colors

The right kitchen paint colours can transform your space into a luxurious paradise. Stroll through any home decor store and quickly realize that paint is

‘Favorable Outlook,’ Slower Growth Seen for Remodeling

PALO ALTO, CA — Companies across all sectors of the residential remodeling market have…The post ‘Favorable Outlook,’ Slower Growth Seen for Remodeling appeared

Appliances Add Warmth

While stainless steel appliances are still the go to, colorful finishes are gaining ground,…The post Appliances Add Warmth appeared first on Kitchen & Bath

How to Estimate Kitchen Renovation Costs in Metro Vancovuer

How to Estimate Kitchen Renovation Costs in 2023 in Metro Vancouver Renovating a kitchen is no small task. It can be costly, time-consuming, and stressful

Types of Layout of a Kitchen

How to Decide the Perfect Kitchen Layout for You Figuring out the perfect kitchen layout for your needs and wants can be tough. With The Definitive Guide to

Miele CA | Premium Domestic Appliances

Bringing German engineered domestic appliances to Canadians. Explore Miele’s full line of premium kitchen and laundry appliances

How to Match Black Kitchen Cabinets With Your Appliances

Black cabinets are a great center point for any design scheme. Enhance their bold presence with contrasting pieces like stainless-steel appliances and white

Vintage Refrigeration

Whether designed for entertaining large crowds or a just few intimate friends, today’s kitchens…The post Vintage Refrigeration appeared first on Kitchen & Bath

The Pros and Cons of Open Kitchen Shelves

What are the Pros and Cons of Open Kitchen Shelves? Open kitchen shelves offer an attractive, modern look while also allowing easy access to items in your

How to Create a Scandinavian Kitchen

What is a Scandinavian Kitchen? A Scandinavian kitchen is a style of design that uses neutral and simple colour palettes to create a modern, relaxed living

Custom Kitchen Cabinets Design Ideas

The hottest custom kitchen cabinets design ideas that make any space stand out. Custom kitchen cabinets are the ideal way to create remarkable spaces. From

Sub-Zero, Wolf, and Cove | Legendary Kitchen Appliances

Sub-Zero, Wolf, and Cove appliances offer powerful performance, design and dependability. Learn about products and find inspiration for your dream kitchen.

Should You Build Your Kitchen Cabinets to the Ceiling?

Whether or not to build your kitchen cabinets to the ceiling is a personal decision. There are several benefits and drawbacks to this option. Read on to learn

Planning Family Kitchens

A family kitchen is a vital space in a home. It provides space for the family to gather and eat together. A table and chairs help to keep the area feeling

Trends of Colorful Kitchens

If you’re a fan of colourful design, here are the Trends in colours in kitchens. These colours are ideal for the modern kitchen, and they can be incorporated

Galley Kitchen Ideas For Smaller Spaces

What’s a Galley Kitchen? A galley kitchen is a cooking space with two parallel countertops that are separated by a walkway. It typically includes an oven,

Resurfacing Your Kitchen Cabinets

If you’re considering resurfacing your kitchen cabinets, there are many things to consider. These include how much it will cost, what materials you can use,

Wikipedia: Kitchens

Search Wikipedia for kitchen

Lighter Kitchen Backsplash Ideas

Are you searching for a unique backsplash design to give your kitchen life-affirming energy in 2023? If so, hand-painted tiles may be the ideal solution. They

Traditional Kitchen Design Features

Traditional Kitchen Design Features in 2023 Traditional kitchen design can make your space instantly feel timeless and classic. These features set the stage

How to Renovate a Traditional Kitchen

Soft and neutral colours are the hallmark of the traditional kitchen, providing the ideal backdrop for family activities and daily meals. Classic wood stains

Storage Cabinet Ideas For the Kitchen, Bathroom and Laundry Room

The Ultimate Compartmentalization Solutions that Will Keep Your Home and Life Organized for Good. Organizing can make your life much simpler and stress-free.

KBIS Continues to Roll

The Kitchen & Bath Industry Show is enjoying a triumphant return to the Las…The post KBIS Continues to Roll appeared first on Kitchen & Bath Design News

Kitchen Renovation Guide – Kitchen Design Ideas | Architectural Digest

Kitchen design Ideas from Architectural Digest

KBIS Final Hours

Las Vegas – The third and final day of the Kitchen & Bath Industry…The post KBIS Final Hours appeared first on Kitchen & Bath Design News

Second-Half 2023 Turnaround Forecast for Housing Market

LAS VEGAS — The housing recession that began in 2022 will bleed into 2023…The post Second-Half 2023 Turnaround Forecast for Housing Market appeared first on

Remodeling Seen Faring Better Than Housing in 2023

LAS VEGAS — The nation’s remodeling sector “remains on solid ground and will do…The post Remodeling Seen Faring Better Than Housing in 2023 appeared first on

Design Contest, Other Award Winners Named by NKBA

LAS VEGAS — More than 30 awards encompassing design and industry achievements were presented…The post Design Contest, Other Award Winners Named by NKBA

Home Design Reflecting Post-COVID Shifts, Cost Struggles

LAS VEGAS — Homebuyer preferences in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with…The post Home Design Reflecting Post-COVID Shifts, Cost Struggles appeared

95 Designer Kitchens That Will Show You How to Make the Most of Yours

So many deliciously chic solutions.

Growing Smart-Home Market Seen Spelling Opportunity

INDIANAPOLIS — The smart-home market continues to exhibit robust growth, with 37% of the…The post Growing Smart-Home Market Seen Spelling Opportunity appeared

2023 DCW Event Draws Record Attendance to Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS — More than 200,000 housing and design professionals flocked to Las Vegas…The post 2023 DCW Event Draws Record Attendance to Las Vegas appeared first

PMI Pushing Nationwide ‘Rethink Water’ Initiative

LAS VEGAS — Plumbing Manufacturers International, the association that represents the nation’s leading plumbing…The post PMI Pushing Nationwide ‘Rethink Water’

KBIS 2023 Delivers the Goods

LAS VEGAS – More than 200,000 housing and design professionals descended on Las Vegas…The post KBIS 2023 Delivers the Goods appeared first on Kitchen & Bath

kitchen island lighting

Perfect kitchen island lighting Are you in the process of renovating your kitchen, and you’re thinking about your kitchen island lighting? Regarding kitchen

Issue Fall/Winter 2022 – Dream Kitchens

All the issues of Dream Kitchens & Baths on our Newsstand. Get the subscription to Dream Kitchens & Baths and get your Digital Magazine on your device.

Transforming a small kitchen into a socializing space

How to Transform a Small Kitchen Into a Socializing Space Designing a kitchen is not easy because the kitchen is such an important room in the house. Our

Best kitchen cabinets in Vancouver

Vancouver is a city where people can enjoy the beauty of nature alongside their homes. The modern architecture and scenery make it one-of-a-kind compared to

Open Concept Kitchens

Open concept spaces are those spaces that allow multiple activities to take place at once. They are usually large enough to accommodate several different

Choosing Finishes For Cabinets

How to choose the right finish for your kitchen cabinets When building cabinets, choosing finishes is important. It’s not just about how pretty the cabinet

How to Update Your Kitchen Without Doing a Gut Rehab

A kitchen remodel doesn’t necessarily mean significant structural changes. There are many ways to remodel a space without altering its function or appearance.

The official publication of NKBA and KBIS

Kitchen & Bath Business is the official KBIS publication. We provide design professionals in the kitchen & bath industry with news & trends.

Mid Century Modern Kitchen Design

A practical approach: Mid-Century Modern Kitchen Design Do you love mid-century modern design? Are you looking for inspiration for your next kitchen remodel?

MDF Kitchen Cabinet Doors

If you’re thinking of redoing your kitchen cabinets or building your own, you will undoubtedly come across MDF as a material option. But what exactly is MDF

High-End Kitchens in Vancouver

Cabico Elmwood Series: High-End Kitchens in Vancouver, BC Not many people can resist the charm of a high-end kitchen. From luxury appliances to intricate

2023 Kitchen design trends

Are you looking to upgrade your home kitchen in 2023 with the latest design trends? Kitchen renovations involve more than just updating décor and replacing

The post Vintage Kitchen Design Ideas 2023 first appeared on Vancouver Kitchen Renovation.

source https://vancouverkitchenrenovation.com/kitchens/vintage-kitchen-design-ideas-2023/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=vintage-kitchen-design-ideas-2023

0 notes

riacte · 3 years

Text

Lurking Reddit and found a post with a lot of cool comments talking about Hermitcraft lore, which also helps to explain why Hermitcraft has outlasted practically every era of MCYT, including Mindcrack, 2b2t, factions, bedwars, even the current speedrunning trend and the massive popularity of some other servers.

The Redditors talked about how Hermitcraft lore is distributed between different hermits, each with their own “thing” (eg. Scar and Cub with Convex, Ren with his log shop). Seasonal “major” plot is also distributed between multiple hermits (eg. Area 77). So that the “lore” doesn’t rely on a handful of hermits. Let’s say, if Grian and Doc (who started a good portion of S6 plot) somehow take a break from Hermitcraft, we’ll definitely still have other hermits to drive the plot. That’s why Hermitcraft is sustainable, lore-wise. A lot of them (most of them) take part in creating plot instead of having a few people “script everything”.

There’s been some discussion on how Hermitcraft is or isn’t scripted, and I feel a lot of it is just spontaneous. Grian wanted to mess with Scar. Stress fell down the MR base. Even the S6 Civil War just escalated kinda naturally to the point the hermits were like “well shit I guess we’re having a war and I don’t even know who my allies are”. Of course they do plan and coordinate stuff, but I think they just start stuff. Then they see the results of their actions and build it up accordingly.

Take Turf War for example. Grian wanted to mess with Scar so he added mycelium. Scar thought Grian’s prank was really fun so he added HEP. Etho butted in with his spy thing. Ren wanted justice for his mooshroom so he also joined MR. People joined individually because they thought it would be fun. Slowly but surely, teams started to form. Then the MR made a fake base. And another. Scar built a manmade island, which probably inspired Grian to build HIS manmade island. MR built a really bad vault. Mumbo “I love vaults” Jumbo, who was “the leader of the MR” (according to false info set up by Grian), got really upset with MR and joined HEP. Because he wanted to, and he does love vaults, so it’ll make sense, yeah? One thing led to another. Something a hermit did affected what another hermit would do.

Also the build up for S6 Prank War. Mumbo got pranked by Iskall and Grian, Mumbo pranked Iskall with a diorite gift, so Iskall pranked False, Cleo pranked Ren by saying Ren was the one who pranked False, so False and Grian pranked Ren, then Ren and False pranked Iskall, and it kept on escalating because the hermits kept on adding to it.

Honestly I feel like HC lore is a cycle of people inspiring each other to create more and more stuff, so plot progresses naturally. Hermits can choose to join or not join if they want.

And it’s really cool how they’re just,,,, vibing in their world. Doing their own thing. Unaffected by mainstream trends. Which is exactly why they’re steadily growing in popularity and survived the different turbulent eras of MCYT. Each season is different, and yet it’s the same in the way that they’re just,,,, having fun. And making sustainable content that isn’t reliant on clout or trends or popularity. And that’s why I’m confident HC will outlast current popular SMPs like they always do.

I have no idea if this makes sense. Read the comments in the Reddit post lmao they put it more eloquently.

#hermitcraft #ria.txt #hermitcraft essay

1K notes · View notes

carewyncromwell · 3 years

Photo

Cinderelly, Cinderelly, night and day, it’s Cinderelly~... ^.^ Okay..before I jump into the next part of the Cinderella AU, here’s your usual appetizer of random historical/etc. notes!

Although carriages were developed centuries earlier, actual coaches like the kind we think of from Cinderella stories were first developed in the late 16th century in Hungary, specifically a little town called Kocs. (The word “coach” and its alternatives in other languages, such as the German Kutsche and the Spanish and Portuguese coche, are thought to have been derived from the Hungarian kocsi, meaning “of Kocs.”) They then really caught on in the rest of Europe after Queen Elizabeth I of England started using them in the 1580s. The terms “coach” and “carriage” are often used interchangeably, but if one wanted to pin-point the advancements coaches specifically made in contrast to carriages of the past, there are a few differences one can pick out in how they’re built. Coaches generally are four-wheeled enclosed vehicles with doors and/or windows (glass was added in later centuries), and often include a “boot” seat on the outside for a footman and/or luggage to sit on. Coaches also generally have a reputation for providing a smoother ride than previous modes of transport because they’re suspended between the wheels rather than directly over or beside them. After the invention of the coach, one can find carriages (royal ones, in particular) adopting some of these same attributes.

Sadly wheelchairs really weren’t a thing in the 16th century. The first self-propelled wheeled chairs were developed in the mid-17th century and refined in the 18th, with sedan chairs or litters (A.K.A. chairs you carried) generally being used by the nobility prior to that. But there’s no way in Hell I’m not going to give McNully the independence he deserves, so I used a completely anachronistic design inspired by this antique wheelchair I found online, made circa around the 1840′s. Hey, this is a fantasy world anyway, so bleh. :P The flower detailing on the wheel is supposed to evoke an emblem I see being on Florence’s green and gold coat of arms (get it? “Florence?” “Flora?”). You might also notice that McNully has little Snitch-like “wing” frills on each of his buttons! XD

Another fun thing I learned while doing research -- although cloaks were often worn for warmth during the medieval period and beyond, in England during the Elizabethan era, their use was actually actively discouraged and even prohibited, as they were associated with criminals and rebels! Therefore it was common for a lot of English noblemen and women to wear thicker clothing made of wool and accessories like muffs, gloves, and even jackets for warmth instead. I tried very, very hard to find historically accurate examples of period-worthy jackets and capes for women around the time of the Renaissance, and was very frustrated to find a lot of fantasy-esque costume pieces or historical clothing from later eras that were simply mislabeled -- but I did find one lovely recreation of a 16th century wool jacket, so that��s what I used as reference for Carewyn’s jacket in this sketch, though I personally imagine it as a dark red, so as to better blend with her burnt orange and beige servant’s uniform. Bill’s uniform is based off a real castle guard uniform from early 16th century France, though with a much simpler color palette (I see Royaume’s colors being blue and red). Like with McNully’s chair, there’s a crown on the chest of Bill’s uniform, which I see being on Royaume’s coat of arms (“royaume” is literally French for “kingdom”).

In her canon, Carewyn was born when Jacob was nine years old. Although in most of Carewyn and Jacob’s canon post-Portrait-Vault, they end up being only two years apart in age, that’s only because Jacob stopped aging while trapped in a Portrait for seven years. From Carewyn’s fifth year on, Jacob and Carewyn in canon therefore act much more like contemporaries, even though Jacob actually kind of ended up partially raising Carewyn alongside their mother Lane.

Previous part is here – whole tag is here – Katriona “KC” Cassiopeia belongs to @kc-needs-coffee and I hope you all enjoy! xoxo

x~x~x~x

Every day over the next week, Carewyn met Orion at the gate of the palace of Royaume, and the two would spend an hour or so together. Orion would ask her about life at the palace, Carewyn would playfully respond, and sooner or later, they’d end up getting diverted and talking about something else completely, whether the upcoming Winter Festival, the language of flowers, art, poetry, the meaning of life, music, fencing, or (after seeing a rather beautiful eagle flying overhead) what it might be like to fly. Carewyn honestly wasn’t entirely sure what Orion got out of their meetings besides entertainment, and naturally she couldn’t afford to indulge in such entertainment too long, when she had so much work to do around the castle and she still had to find out where Jacob was positioned. But she had to admit, with the King and Queen having invited Iris over to stay in one of the guest suites at the palace for the remainder of the month, Carewyn didn’t mind having an excuse to stay far away from her cousin. Lately Carewyn had actively planned her days so that she could clean the guest suites at teatime, when Iris would be in one of the foyers with the King, Queen, and Prince on the opposite side of the palace. She did not want a repeat of the other day, after all...particularly since she’d also need time to change out of the nicer, collared dresses she’d wear when spending time with Orion.

Orion, meanwhile, was of course getting a bit more than entertainment out of his and Carewyn’s meetings. Through speaking with Carewyn, he’d sussed out some very helpful information about Royaumanian culture, the dynamics within Royaume’s royal family, and both their and their country’s financial state. One day he told his closest confidantes at court, Skye and McNully, some of what he’d learned...but Skye didn’t react quite as favorably as Orion had expected.

“...I gave Lady Cromwell a copy of the sheet music for ‘No One is Alone’ last week -- you remember the song, of course? And from what I understand, Prince Henri and the castle staff have quite taken to it. Not that I’m surprised -- Carewyn has a very soothing voice. I’m sure she performed it very well. But the Prince listening to the words at all is a good sign -- I even asked Carewyn if the Prince enjoyed them, and she said she believed so. She also found their message meaningful...one of Florence’s best-loved anti-War songs, and one about looking through another’s eyes and forgiving past grievances, no less! That can only be a good sign, for Royaumanians to take heart in it. It surely must have been fate that Lady Cromwell and I collided at the market -- I had a feeling we were kindred spirits, when she came to my aid, but now I am most assured of it. I might hazard a guess that she wishes for peace just as much as I -- for the sake of her brother fighting in the field, yes, but also selflessly for the sake of others, not wishing to see any other person in pain...”

“She sounds like a perfect knight in shining armor,” said Skye, her voice oddly cutting.

Orion looked up at Skye, startled by her tone. Her arms were crossed over the chest of her faded blue linen dress.

“Anything else you want to tell us about the fair Lady Cromwell,” she said rather icily, “or are you actually ready to talk about how you plan to end this War?”

Orion blinked slowly. “...I thought that we were already discussing that.”

“Really?” scoffed Skye. “‘Cause it sounds to me like you were busy gushing over your new conquest.”

“Conquest?” Orion repeated. His confused tone then melted into something more soothing and indulgent, “Oh -- no, Skye...you misunderstand me. I have no interest in courting Carewyn -- she’s just my contact point, with the palace.”

Skye gave a very loud, disbelieving snort. “Ha! Right, of course she is -- that’s why you can’t stop gushing about ‘Carewyn this’ and ‘Lady Cromwell that.’”

“Skye has a point, Orion,” said McNully, though his voice was a lot less confrontational. If anything he sounded almost sheepish. “I mean, about 85% of your report was about Lady Cromwell. You used her name over ten times just in the span of a minute.”

Amazingly Orion’s calm, hard-to-read expression didn’t crack. His hands clasped lightly in front of him.

“Lady Cromwell plays an essential part in this strategy. I’m an outsider looking in, without her insight -- a ship sailing blindly, without the light from a lighthouse to give me direction.”

“A lighthouse for a lost ship -- oh yeah, those sound like the words of someone who’s focusing on winning a war and not swooning over a pretty face,” said Skye scathingly. “Maybe instead of always running off and playing dress-up, you could actually bother to do your duty and go help fight on the battlefield for once!”

Orion’s lips came together tightly, but it didn’t make his expression any less composed. McNully shot Skye an uncomfortable, faintly disapproving look.

“Easy, Skye,” he murmured. “You know Orion -- ”

But Skye didn’t seem to hear McNully. Instead she tore into Orion.

“Face it, Orion -- you just like being treated like a commoner again and being able to make believe that you don’t have any responsibilities or worries...well, guess what? You’re not a commoner anymore! You’re the Prince of Florence -- you reckon little Miss Knight-in-Shining-Armor would take kindly to that, when she finds out?”

Orion’s dark eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly upon Skye’s face.

“Carewyn’s not an unreasonable woman,” he said softly. “I’m certain she would understand the reason behind my secrecy.”

This, if anything, only seemed to make Skye madder.

“Of course she would,” she muttered sourly. “Little Lady Royaume can do no wrong in your eyes, can she?”

She turned on her heel and stormed out, leaving Orion feeling very resigned and confused. McNully gave a heavy sigh, before facing Orion with a more serious expression.

“She’s overreacting, as usual,” he said, “but she’s still 60% right. It’s risky enough for you to get this close to anyone right now, when your position as Crown Prince is threatened by the likes of Lord Malfoy. He’d frankly love to have something like that over you. But someone from Royaume? The granddaughter of one of the most powerful, wealthy, and feared noblemen in their country? Orion, that’s dangerous.”

Orion leaned his hands on the table, looking down at the map of Florence and Royaume laid out on top of it.

“McNully, I assure you...my objective has not changed,” he said very levelly. “Everything I have done is for Florence -- for peace and balance. I admit, Lady Cromwell is a fascinating woman, and certainly one to be admired...but I spend time with her to gather intelligence I can obtain nowhere else. That is all.”

McNully looked doubtful, but didn’t directly address it. Instead he said, “I understand she’s your eyes and ears inside the palace, and the intelligence you’re getting is valuable...but don’t forget, she isn’t on your team. She’s on Royaume’s. And right now, Royaume is kicking our tail out there, on the battlefield.”

Orion’s dark eyes drifted away from the table as McNully leaned his arms on the table himself.

“It’s getting bad again,” he murmured very seriously. “I know you said the palace of Royaume’s strapped for funds, but somehow or another, they’ve scrounged up enough to get more cannons, and their troops have been moving them around every couple of hours so that our men never know where they’re going to be firing from next. It’s been very effective. Whoever’s been giving Royaume’s King and Queen military strategy lately, they’re a bloody genius.”

McNully clearly was irritated about this, given the flash that shot through his narrowed eyes.

“Your father sent me a request for a counter-strategy this morning. You know it’s likely if the strategy isn’t one he can execute on his own, he may ask both you and me to join him there, on the front lines.”

Orion did not respond. His expression was as unreadable as ever, but there was something oddly detached and avoidant in his posture.

“I know you don’t want that, and you know I have faith in you,” said McNully, “but your strategy is a slow burn, Orion. It requires both patience and time...and we might not end up having as much of those as you think.”

Once again, Orion chose not to answer. McNully sighed again.

“You know I’ll be right behind you in a coach, if you need me,” he said tiredly. “Just...mind that you use your head as well as your heart, all right?”

Orion threw on his black traveling cloak and headed back to Royaume not long after, hoping to meet up with Carewyn for an evening stroll. There was a notable chill in the air -- if it got much colder, he thought that any rain might instead come down as sleet or maybe even snow.

When Orion arrived at the gate, however, he was met not by Carewyn, but by KC. She was dressed in a high-necked gown made of black velvet and holding a leather-bound book and a stack of parchment in her arms.

Orion tilted his head slightly to glance at the piece of parchment on the top of the stack, which had several “X’s” scattered over an oddly familiar map.

“Plans to bury some pirate treasure?” he asked pleasantly.

KC gave a lightly amused snort. “No, just military plans.”

Her lightly freckled face then grew a bit more serious. “I guess you’re here for Carewyn?”

Orion had been ready to ask more about the military plans KC was holding, but decided not to circle back to it when she changed the subject.

“Yes. Has she been detained?”

“I guess so...” said KC. Her lips twisted into a concerned frown as she looked out at the darkening sky.

Orion’s eyebrows knit together over his eyes slightly. “You seem concerned.”

KC bit her lip. “Mm...it’s just...well, you see, one of the royal carriages broke down earlier today, when the Queen was riding through the country with Lady Yaxley.”

Orion raised his eyebrows. “Lady Iris Yaxley, do you mean? Carewyn’s cousin?”

“Yes. No one was badly hurt, fortunately, but the Queen, Lady Iris, and the coachman and footman were forced to ride the horses back and leave the carriage behind. When they got back, they asked the royal carpenter, Charlie Weasley, to go fix it. Charlie said that he probably wouldn’t have the proper tools to fix it here at the castle, so Carewyn offered to ride out with him, so that their horses could drag the coach together to the Weasley family cottage, about forty minutes away. The problem is,” she said with a deepening frown, “they left over two hours ago, and they’re still not back yet. Bill headed out after them on his own horse not long before you got here...he’s Charlie’s brother, so he knows the route they would’ve taken...”

Orion’s dark eyes had narrowed significantly.

“Which road did Sir Weasley take after them?” he asked, his calm voice nonetheless touched with the faintest edge.

KC pointed. “Northwest -- toward the mountains.”

Orion nodded. “Thank you.”

And with this, he turned on his heel and rushed back toward where he thought he might find McNully’s coach. He needed to borrow a horse.

Setting one of the black horses free of the black coach, Orion rode off toward the mountains, his slightly-too-long dark hair flapping freely behind him. The road was well-marked, but it soon veered off into dense woods as it migrated up toward the mountains. Orion had never gone so far west into Royaume before, let alone far from Florence before. Despite himself, he had to acknowledge the beauty of the landscape. The views of the castle below were breathtaking -- it looked as tiny as a toy, and yet the infinite glass windows made it sparkle like some diamond-like beacon in the darkening sky. He wondered if his own palace in Florence looked so beautiful to others, at a distance. As much as he himself hadn’t been raised a prince, it was difficult for him to look at his own palace as anything other than a cage.

As he went further uphill and the sky darkened, it also grew colder. Orion was starting to see his own breath on the air. He thought of Carewyn alone in the cold, perhaps hurt, and had to take several deep breaths to sooth his nerves. He was never in a right state, when he let his thoughts run too wild or his fears chatter too loudly.

Finally Orion caught sight of two familiar ginger-headed men, standing by an overturned coach, covered in mud and missing one of its back wheels. One of the men was the tall, freckled castle guard from the other day who Carewyn called Bill, dressed in his high-collared blue and red patterned uniform tunic and matching white feathered, blue-velvet hat -- the other was much stockier, but no less freckled, dressed in a burgundy-colored tunic and loose brown pants and boots, and he wore his ginger hair in a ponytail not unlike Orion’s when he was at court. When Orion approached them, Bill immediately reacted with suspicion -- Orion explained what KC had told him and asked where Carewyn was, and was incredibly startled to hear her voice coming from over the edge of the cliff.

“I’m down here!”

Orion couldn’t help but feel a flash of concern. He raced over as if to look over the edge, but Charlie lashed out an arm in front of the taller man to stop him.

“Uh, I wouldn’t look over if I were you, mate,” he said, having trouble biting back his laughter despite himself.

He pointed at the broken carriage. Hanging over one of the doors was what looked like the burnt orange and beige skirt of a dress and several wool petticoats.

Orion blinked a few times in great surprise, his tanned cheeks darkening with a faint blush. Bill, however, reacted with anxiety.

“Carewyn!” he shouted over the ravine. “Are you in your underwear down there!?”

“Ugh -- well, I couldn’t very well climb down into this briar patch and wrench this wheel loose in my dress, could I?” Carewyn called back up rather haughtily. “At least my bloomers are slightly akin to the sorts of trousers you all wear.”

“You’ll catch a death of cold out here!” said Bill.

“I’m all right,” Carewyn reassured him. “Ulk -- ugh -- I have the wool jacket Andre made for me on...”

Charlie took a step forward, his eyes moved up toward the darkening sky pointedly so as not to look over the edge as he called down,

“Bill’s right, though, Carewyn -- it’s getting colder by the minute...and it’s getting dark too. Are you sure you can lift that thing up and over all by yourself?”

“Ugh...I admit, it’s a bit difficult!” she called back. “But I think I can manage.”

Recalling Carewyn’s blatant refusal of help in retrieving her horse, Orion -- still fighting back a slight blush -- called over the ravine himself.

“We do not question your capabilities, Carewyn,” he said patiently, “but would you like our help?”

“Ugh -- don’t be silly,” said Carewyn, sounding faintly haughty. “You, Charlie, and Bill would break your necks, climbing down here. And I’m still in my undergarments -- I have no interest in anyone seeing me prance around without proper clothes on, thank you.”

“It’s no use,” Charlie muttered under his breath, “I’ve tried to offer her help for the last hour, but she keeps putting me off, saying she’s fine. I don’t get why she feels like she has to do everything by herself...”

“Probably because she’s always had to, Charlie,” said Bill quietly. His voice betrayed a lot of sympathy and sadness as he exhaled through his nose.

Orion’s black eyes deepened with some compassion for Bill as he called back over the ravine to Carewyn,

“Your points are well made, my lady...but we’d still like to help you.”

“Ugh -- you can help me by leaving me my dignity and not looking over while I’m only half-dressed...ack...”

“Would you accept us doing more than that?”

“Urgh -- I am...sorry to have made you and Bill come out all this way -- but I’m all right, really.”

Bill glanced at Orion out the side of his eye, and then back at the cliff. Despite his distrust of the man, the eldest Weasley was sort of glad he wasn’t the only one who disliked how reticent Carewyn was to accept help.

“You don’t need to apologize,” he said earnestly. “I was -- we were worried about you, Carewyn. You and Charlie.”

He and Orion glanced at each other. Bill wished the other man’s expression wasn’t so hard to read. The castle guard tried to twist his uncomfortable frown into a smile that Carewyn would hopefully be able to hear over the edge of the cliff.

“Come on...let’s get you and that wheel up and over so you can get back into your dress.”

There was a silence. Then Carewyn said a bit more quietly,

“...You don’t need to worry about me.”

“Wha -- oh, come off it, Carewyn!” said Charlie exasperatedly. “To hell we do! You think I was mucking about, calling you my pal and saying I needed to figure out a nickname for you? Now let us help you, or I’ll consider making that nickname an irritating one!”

There was another silence. Then Carewyn sighed very loudly and tiredly, and Orion couldn’t help but grin, because he could tell she’d finally given in.

“Oh, all right,” she said begrudgingly. “But I don’t really know how you’re going to help, when you can’t look at me.”

Orion closed his eyes.

“Describe your surroundings, Carewyn,” he said. “Paint a picture for me, with your words.”

“...Well, I’ve gotten the wheel out of the briar patch. I’m trying to roll it back up, but it’s as large as me, and the downward slope and the ice is making it difficult. Plus the wheel isn’t in great shape -- all of its spokes are broken, so there isn’t much for me to push up on, while rolling it uphill.”

“I would’ve told her to just forget it, but it’d be much easier for me to carve a new wheel if I have framework from the old one,” Charlie explained. “I’m already going to have to make the new spokes and hubcap completely out of wood instead of using any gold or metalwork, but it’s still going to take a lot of time...even more so if the old wheel framework can’t be saved...”

Orion considered the matter, visualizing the set-up down below on the inside of his eyelids. “...What’s left of the wheel...is it made of metal or wood?”

“Wood...but there seems to be some sort of metal lining around the rim, held on by nails.”

“That’d be for durability, I reckon,” said Charlie. “Wood alone would get chaffed badly on the ground, moving in a constant circle down cobblestones or over anything rocky.”

Orion opened his eyes and looked over the broken coach. His gaze lingered on the thick leather straps coming off of the front that no doubt would’ve attached it to their horses. Then he abruptly got up, rushing over to undo the straps from the carriage.

“What are you doing?” said Bill, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

Orion quickly knotted the long, thick leather straps together with several complex-looking and strong knots.

“Carewyn,” he called over very calmly, “I’m going to lower this down to you -- use the buckle and loop it securely around the inside rim of the wheel, so that it’s tight. Give it a light tug when it’s secure.”

He blindly tossed one end of the rope made out of leather straps over the edge of the cliff. After a minute, he felt a light tug at the end.

“Gentlemen,” Orion murmured to the Weasleys, “I’ll need you to hold this, for just a moment. Carewyn,” he added, as Charlie and Bill both grabbed the end of the makeshift rope and he let go, “I’m going to need you to step onto the wheel yourself and hold on.”

“What?” said Carewyn. “Orion, you can’t lift both me and the wheel -- it’s far too much! I’ll climb up and out myself -- ”

“Not to worry, my lady -- none of us will be doing the lifting,” said Orion serenely.

He led both his black horse and Bill’s chestnut horse over by their reins, and -- taking the makeshift rope from Bill and Charlie again -- he looped the end under the straps of both his and Bill’s saddles. He gave several tugs at all of the connections to make sure they were tight and secure before mounting his horse.

“Sir Weasley, if you would assist me.”

Catching onto Orion’s idea at last, Bill rushed forward so he could jump up onto his own horse.

“Mr. Weasley, you may want to have your hands ready to help Carewyn climb out when she gets close to the top,” said Orion over his shoulder. “Sir Weasley, together now.”

With a lot of effort and strain, the two horses were able to lift Carewyn and the broken wheel up and out of the ravine. Once Carewyn was out, all three men averted their eyes so she could put her dress back on. Once she was suitably redressed in her orange-and-beige dress, snood, and dark scarlet wool jacket, she, Bill, and Orion helped Charlie secure some makeshift posts he’d carved out of some nearby tree branches under the broken coach so that their four horses could lift it up off the ground and help support it without its second back wheel. Then the four hobbled the coach up the mountain the rest of the way to the Weasley family cottage.

The home of the Weasley family, affectionately nicknamed “the Burrow,” was built up against the side of a hill. Attached to the house was a large farm with sprawling pastures and short, rustic wooden fences. Its roof had clearly been patched up multiple times over the years with whatever kind of wood was on hand, making it resemble a patchwork quilt.

When the group arrived, Bill and Charlie’s youngest sibling and only sister Ginny immediately ran out to greet them -- she’d seen them coming up over the horizon and was beyond thrilled to see that it was her eldest brothers. Bill and Charlie’s teenage brothers Percy, Fred, George, and Ron soon followed along after. Fred and George -- who were identical twins -- were quick to crow that Charlie had brought them an early birthday present (namely, the coach), and Percy scolded them that clearly it was for work and they should let it alone. Orion and Carewyn ended up staying back at a distance, both faintly baffled by the amount of warmth and noise emanating from the seven siblings as they chattered amongst themselves, constantly stepping on each other’s feet and interrupting what everyone else was saying. Neither of them had ever encountered a family quite like this before. When Bill and Charlie’s parents, Arthur and Molly Weasley, emerged from the house, however, Molly very quickly bustled every last one of them inside, including Orion and Carewyn.

“In you go, the lot of you,” she said in a forceful, but very warm tone of voice. “You all look like you need some supper-- ”

“Oh -- no, Mrs. Weasley,” said Carewyn very quickly, “I couldn’t impose -- ”

“Nonsense, dear!” said Molly, as she took Carewyn’s hands and led her inside. “Why, you’re positively freezing! To think, you came all the way out here without a proper muff for your hands...”

“I had to help Charlie with the carriage,” Carewyn said, her eyes drawn away awkwardly rather than looking at Molly, “I couldn’t hope to have my hands free, using a muff...”

“Then both of you should come inside and get warm,” said Arthur, startling Orion with an amiable clap on the back. “Any friend of Bill and Charlie’s is a friend of our family.”

Carewyn had never been the subject of such coddling and generosity before in her life. Her mother had always taught her to treat people with respect and compassion, of course, but she had been a soft-spoken and understated person, and their family life had always been very quiet. And of course at the Cromwell estate, it had been less modest and quiet, but far less affectionate as well. Never had she ever visited such a loud, crowded, and faintly uncomfortable place that still nonetheless felt like a home, full of warmth and love.

Even Orion found himself feeling a bit unsettled by the Weasley family’s overwhelming hospitality. He’d been in plenty of unruly, crowded, and loud settings like this before -- but none of them had ever been quite this...well, jovial. It made it so that Orion yearned for peace, quiet, and returned distance, and yet also couldn’t help but marvel at the positive vibes that rippled off of this family and how much they could give, despite clearly having so little. When dinner was served, Orion had to politely decline a bowl of beef stew because he didn’t eat meat, and Molly Weasley immediately handed the bowl off to Ron so she could set about making Orion his own plate, piled high with cheesy mashed potatoes, sauteed mushrooms, and roasted cauliflower seasoned with garlic and chives.

The Weasley family and their guests sat in an uncomfortable, messy half-circle around the large brick fireplace, laughing and talking as they ate. After supper came the dessert of hot, fresh apple dumplings, and after dessert came some hot tea and scones. After all, said Molly Weasley, having guests over was a rare treat, so they were going to celebrate appropriately. Neither Carewyn nor Orion could remember ever having felt so full in all their lives.

As everyone enjoyed their scones and tea, stories and songs were swapped around the fire. At one point in the evening, twelve-year-old Ginny -- who was perfectly thrilled to have another girl around, for a change -- begged Carewyn to sing for them. Apparently Bill had told his family all about her lovely voice. So, with some encouragement from Charlie, Arthur, and Molly, Carewyn bit back a broad, amused grin, took a deep breath, and started to sing.

“Mother cannot guide you...now you’re on your own.

Only me beside you -- still, you’re not alone...”

Orion had thought to himself that Carewyn must have done the song from his youth proper justice while singing for the Prince, but hearing her sing it in person, seeing her smile at him and her eyes sparkle as she did so...it was a completely different matter. As before, Orion felt all of the tension in his shoulders ebb off of him, as easily as dirt was washed away in warm water. He bowed his head and closed his eyes, tilting his head a bit so that he could hear her better, as his breathing and heart rate slowed. Even with his eyes closed, he could hear a smile in every word Carewyn sang...even when she likely wasn’t smiling at all, he thought. How could she be smiling, when lines like “sometimes people leave you half-way through the wood” and “people make mistakes -- fathers, mothers” rang with such emotion and pain? Was that pain visible on her face? Orion thought not, given Carewyn’s sense of grace and composure...but he heard it, all the same. He felt it -- her heart, aching with a kind of deep, blazing empathy Orion had never encountered in anyone else before.

When Carewyn came to the end of the song, Orion opened his eyes at last. The Weasleys all clapped, delighted, but he barely heard them as he turned to Carewyn.

“...That was remarkable,” he murmured.

Carewyn smiled. “I’m glad you think I did it justice.”

“Mm,” said Orion. “I’ve...never heard anyone drown like that, before.”

Carewyn couldn’t bite back a laugh. “Perhaps I didn’t do it justice then, if I sounded like I was drowning...”

“You were drowning in the words’ meaning,” corrected Orion. “Enveloping and submerging yourself in them -- allowing them to pull you in and take your breath away.”

He smiled, his black eyes very soft upon Carewyn’s face.

“It was...very moving.”

Molly’s face spread into an indulgent smile as she reached forward and patted Carewyn’s hand. “It was absolutely beautiful, dear.”

“Orion’s right, Carewyn,” agreed Arthur. “Your feelings really came through. I could tell the words mean something to you.”

Carewyn offered a polite smile, even as her eyes drifted away. “...I suppose they do.”

“It sounds like a lullaby, sort of,” mused Ron. “Even if it talks about your mother not being around.”

Ginny tilted her head toward Carewyn, Ron’s words prompting concern.

“...Do you not have a mother, Carewyn?”

The rest of the family went very quiet -- some like Percy shot Ginny warning looks, while others like Molly and Ron couldn’t help but glance at Carewyn in similar concern.

Carewyn’s gaze had drifted off onto the fire. Although she was turned away and her face was stoic, however, Orion could see her eyes rippling like turbulent ocean water, before she closed them solemnly.

“...I had one,” she answered softly at last. “She died when I was twelve.”

“Was she sick?” asked Ron, very hesitantly.

Carewyn bowed her head and gave a single, silent nod. Everyone in the room knew what that meant. The Plague had swept through both Royaume and Florence several times, over the span of the War -- one of the worst years was about nine years ago now...probably the same year Carewyn had lost her mother.

Orion’s black eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly upon her face. Molly looked like she wanted to envelop Carewyn in the biggest hug and was only holding back the urge because of her husband’s tight, reassuring squeeze to her hand.

“Oh, you poor dear,” she murmured.

Carewyn raised her head at last, her expression once again touched by a small, resilient, pretty smile.

“It’s all right,” she said gently, her eyes only briefly grazing each of the Weasleys’ faces. “I’ll always miss my mother...but I’m getting along all right. And I still have Jacob.”

“Your brother?” asked Percy, and Carewyn nodded.

“He left for War the same day he and I moved in with our grandfather,” Carewyn explained.

“Your brother must be quite a bit older than you, then,” said Orion.

Carewyn glanced at Orion out the side of her eye, smiling slightly. “Nine years older, yes. You know...you actually remind me of him, a bit.”

Orion raised his eyebrows. “Oh?”

Carewyn was forced to stifle a giggle behind her hand. “Jacob is also the sort to do things in his own clever way. Only he’s a lot more aggressive than you -- and more talkative, and arrogant, and overprotective...”

“And uglier,” inserted Fred.

“And smellier,” added George.

“With a long crooked nose and ears like a bat’s.”

The younger Weasley siblings were all laughing now. Carewyn had to cover her mouth to stifle her giggling.

“No!” she choked. “I don’t mean it like that! He’s wonderful, really. He’s just...well, an absolute idiot about how to interact with other people. He’s completely brilliant, mind you -- he could give you whole lectures about anything from geography to mathematics to physics...but coming up with spontaneous gifts for no occasion at all, just based on someone’s interests? He’d need some prodding, to do something like that.”

She smiled at Orion, who couldn’t help but grin fully in return.

“It was truly nothing at all, Carewyn,” he said. “With your love of music, it felt like that song would be something you would appreciate.”

Arthur glanced at Orion curiously. “Where is that song from, Orion? I’ve never heard it before.”

“I learned it as a boy,” Orion answered. “I would hear it sung outside the window of the workhouse, sometimes.”

Molly looked very troubled. “Workhouse? Orion dear, you don’t mean to say you grew up in one of those terrible places?”

Orion felt Carewyn’s gaze on him. When he looked back at her, her almond-shaped blue eyes were rippling with concern as well, though much gentler and more empathetic than Molly’s. He tried to offer her a smile.

“Let’s just say the words spoke to me as well, at the time,” he said lightly. “Not just to me, either...all of the boys there, one way or another, were where they were because of other people’s ‘terrible mistakes.’”

Orion’s gaze drifted down to his own hands as he lightly clasped them in his lap.

“...The War doesn’t touch you the same way here, but...the closer you are to Florence...the more the reality of it hits you in the face, every day. Even when you’re not on the battlefield itself -- even when you’re just at the border -- you, and the ones you care for, run the risk of getting caught in the crossfire. And on the border of Florence and Royaume...in those towns where it’s hard to tell where one country starts and another begins...tensions are like gunpowder. One spark from the tiniest match can set it ablaze -- can make everything implode, and force you to start all over again.”

His face was unreadable, but his black eyes were endless, rippling with the recollection of the fire and smoke -- the red and blue colors of Royaume, on the saddles of horses -- the life leaving his mother’s eyes -- his own heavy, terrified hyperventilating...

He closed his eyes and took several very deep, measured breaths before continuing.

“In such a place...one can find people desperate enough to want to lash out at others, to avenge their pain,” said Orion solemnly. “But there was one sweet old woman who owned a flower and herb shop near the workhouse. She’d had to rebuild her establishment several times over the years, and from what I understand, she finally had to leave town not long after I did...but every time she caught wind that the army was coming to town, looking for new recruits...she’d sing the song just loudly enough that we boys could hear it through our window.”

He absently played with the crudely carved circular charm on the cord around his neck in one hand.

“And although there were those who still enlisted afterwards...many others did not.”

Carewyn’s eyes widened.

“‘While we’re seeing our side,’ ” she sang again, more softly, “‘maybe we forgot...they are not alone. No one is alone.’ ”

Orion’s lips spread into a smile as he looked at Carewyn, his black eyes rippling gently as he nodded.

“So it’s against the War, then,” murmured Charlie. He glanced at his parents, who both looked concerned.

“Did that woman with the flower shop give you that?” asked Ginny curiously, indicating the charm around Orion’s neck.

“Yes,” said Orion. “She gave it to me one night when I tried to run away, to soothe my nerves. Its effects wore off by the next morning, but I’ve never really had the heart to throw it out.”

Percy sputtered, looking very pale. “Th-then she was a witch?”

“Whoa,” said Fred and George, looking almost too eager.

“Did she turn all the army into pigs?” asked George.

“Did she lure you in and try to cook you in a soup?” said Fred.

Orion smiled indulgently. “Of course not -- ”

“Well, thank Heavens for that!” said Molly, shooting the twins a very reproachful look. “Magic isn’t something to make fun of, you two -- it’s frankly a wonder you weren’t hurt, dear...”

Orion frowned. “There was no danger, Madam Weasley, I assure you.”

“No danger! Orion,” Molly scolded him indulgently, “I applaud your courage...but nature has its own way of things, and any magic that twists it out of shape is more dangerous than it’s worth.”

To the Weasley family’s surprise, Carewyn actually spoke up.

“Mrs. Weasley, men tend fields, plant seeds, domesticate horses and dogs...treat illnesses and injuries...cut hair and wear makeup and put on heeled shoes to make ourselves appear taller. Would that not also be twisting nature’s intent?”

Molly actually faltered somewhat. “Well, yes, but...that’s very different from magic, Carewyn! Magic is...well, it’s wild. Uncontrollable.”

“It’s untamed chaos,” said Arthur more levelly than his wife. “A kind that’s done a lot more harm than good.”

“But it still can be used for good,” said Carewyn very firmly. “And if it has that potential, why must we treat it as though it and all of its users are inherently reprehensible? If magic can be used to save lives, or heal the sick, or even just calm a scared boy down after something horrible...”

She glanced at Orion out the side of her eye.

“...Then it seems to be like any other weapon or tool, or even any other person -- something that could protect or hurt.”

Orion felt like his heart was being flooded with warmth, and his entire expression melted with pride and something like affection as he stared at Carewyn.

She truly is a woman to be admired. The memory of Skye’s irritation and McNully’s warning rippled over Orion’s mind and he found himself faltering. Admire...yes. Anyone could grow to admire such a woman, couldn’t they? To respect and esteem her...to...grow an attachment, to her... Even I? Could I...?

The Weasleys exchanged uncertain looks amongst themselves.

“Come to think of it,” said Ron thoughtfully, “wasn’t there that old myth about fairy godmothers who grant you wishes?”

Fred brought an arm roughly around his younger brother’s neck and put him in a rough choke hold. “Aww, ickle Ronnie wanting a pwetty new dress?”

“‘Oh fairy godmother, I just gotta have a new dress for the Winter Festival!’” said George in a high-pitched squeal.

“Geroff!” growled Ron, as he pulled free.

“Oh, but that would be fun!” sighed Ginny. “Dancing at the Winter Festival, in the prettiest dress you’ve ever seen...you’re going to the Festival, aren’t you, Carewyn?”

“Probably not, Ginny,” said Carewyn gently, “I’ve got so much work to do...”

“Oh, but you have to!” whined Ginny. “The Festival’s tradition! Right, Orion?”

“So I’ve heard,” Orion said modestly, “but I’m afraid I’ve never attended a Winter Festival either.”

“What?!” said all of the Weasley children except Bill in thoroughly aghast unison.

“It’s the biggest celebration of the entire year -- ”

“Everybody in town will be there -- ”

“ -- well, aside from the noble tarts -- ”

“ -- but hey, who needs them?”

“Everybody makes the best mince pies and hot apple cider -- ”

“There’s dancing and singing and games and gift-giving -- ”

“You just can’t miss it -- ”

Before long, they’d completely gotten off the topic of magic all together, so the Weasleys could tell Orion all about the Winter Festival. Carewyn took the opportunity to start carrying dishes into the kitchen so that she could help Molly clean up. While she did so, Bill pulled her aside.

“Carewyn...can I talk to you? Alone?”

Carewyn blinked, but nonetheless put down the dishes she was carrying and followed Bill off into a secluded corner.

“What’s wrong?” she asked in concern.

Bill bit the inside of his lip, his brown eyes drifting over in the direction of the fireplace where the rest of his family was sitting with Orion.

“Carewyn,” he said slowly, “who is that man, really?”

Carewyn’s eyebrows knit together. Bill ran a hand over the undone collar of his tunic absently.

“He’s hiding something, I know it. And I’m sure you see it too. He dodges questions he doesn’t want to answer, and as much as he’s even told us tonight about himself, he never gives important details. He lived near the border, but he didn’t mention what town he’s from. He lived in a workhouse, presumably after losing his parents, but he never said what he lost them to.”

“Those things might not be easy for him to talk about, Bill,” Carewyn said softly.

“Yes,” said Bill in a bracing voice, “but he also hopped the walls of the palace, completely ignorant of how tight royal security is and why, has enough time to chase after you most every day, and gets paints from people he can’t identify and learns songs from people who, from the sound of things, practice witchcraft.”

Bill crossed his arms. He clearly was trying to be considerate to Carewyn’s feelings, but couldn’t hold back his concerns.

“Look, I...I understand you like the man. And I understand why -- Ginny and the others seem to have taken to him pretty well, too. But there’s no reason for someone to hold back that many secrets, unless they’re up to no good. He could be a cad, or a criminal, or maybe even something worse. Judging by his stance on magic, he could even be a magician himself...”

His brown eyes narrowed slightly upon Carewyn’s face.

“I’m just...worried about you, that’s all,” he said lowly.

Carewyn considered Bill for a long moment. Then, reaching out a hand, she gently took hold of Bill’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

“Bill...I understand how you feel. And I’m grateful, truly grateful, for your caring. I hardly deserve it, and it...it means a lot to me.”

Bill frowned deeply, ready to say something, but Carewyn cut him off.

“But believe me when I say that people don’t just keep secrets because they mean to do harm. Sometimes -- for some people -- they’ve had to learn to hide themselves and shield their hearts...so much so that even when they encounter good people, it’s hard for them to let their guard down. Sometimes they’ve known so much pain that, even though they’re kind people, they’ve numbed themselves to a degree, just to protect themselves. Lied so much...that it becomes second-nature. Or worse, lie because they don’t know who they can really trust...because so many people have hurt them that they don’t know what trust even feels like anymore.”

Bill’s expression lost some of its edge, though it still looked wary.

“...And if he is a magic user?”

“Then he’s one of the good ones,” said Carewyn firmly.

Bill still looked a bit unsure. Carewyn squeezed his shoulder a bit more tightly, her eyes resting there instead of on his face.

“Bill, my brother is only alive, thanks to magic.”

Bill was startled.

“The Plague swept through our whole house,” said Carewyn lowly. “First the landlord and his family -- then my mother...and then Jacob. We were living hand-to-mouth, and I didn’t have anyone else to go to...so I went to the Cromwell estate.”

Bill’s brown eyes became a little smaller, darkening with grim understanding.

“...You went to your grandfather.”

Carewyn nodded. “He disowned Mum long ago, but he was still our family, so I thought he might be willing to help us. He agreed to take Jacob and me in and nurse Jacob back to health, so long as we paid back his generosity. Grandfather then tracked down a witch who could cast a spell to save Jacob’s life.”

Bill’s eyebrows furrowed. “Lord Cromwell hired a -- ?”

“Do not repeat this, Bill!” Carewyn said very sharply and urgently. “To anyone, do you understand? No one.”

Her eyes then softened visibly, becoming grimmer and sadder.

“Jacob was dying. There was no other option.”

Bill looked like he was in pain, just hearing this second-hand. He swallowed, and then gave a nod.

“So that witch saved your brother’s life,” he said quietly.

Carewyn nodded, her eyes full of emotion despite the stoicism of her features.

“The spell she cast bound Jacob’s life to Grandfather’s will. Jacob was brought into the house on a stretcher just after dawn, and within a half-hour...he was up on his own two feet again.”

Carewyn closed her eyes. She could still remember Jacob’s blazing, relieved smile as he barreled down the stairs and threw his arms around her, cradling her like a baby.

“My Wyn -- my sweet Wyn -- ”

Not long after that, though...Jacob’s arms were yanked away -- all of him was yanked away -- held back by Blaise and Claire and Pearl’s husbands, who all had work to together just to restrain Jacob as he fought to reach her, screaming and raging like a mad man --

“WYN! NO! GET OFF OF ME -- WYN! I WON’T LET YOU -- CAREWYN!”

Carewyn opened her eyes, the soft longing fading from her face completely and leaving a much more stony expression behind.

Bill himself, however, looked more troubled than ever.

“You said your brother left for War the same day you and he arrived at the Cromwell estate,” he whispered shakily. “Do you mean that, right after saving your brother’s life...Lord Cromwell immediately sent him off to War -- all while knowing how few men return home alive?”

Carewyn’s lips came together tightly.

“Grandfather sent him to the front, so that Jacob could start paying back the debt I owed him,” she said, her voice very soft and oddly distant. “After all...a man who wouldn’t die, so long as he willed it...would make an excellent soldier.”

Bill looked horrified.

“Then...” he whispered, “...then Jacob’s only alive because your grandfather decides whether he lives or dies? You only know your brother’s still alive after so many years at war...because Lord Cromwell is bound to him through magic, and he’s holding his life over your head?”

Carewyn withdrew her hand from Bill’s shoulder and turned away.

“Carewyn...that’s monstrous!” said Bill, and he was unable to keep his voice from rising. “I didn’t even know magic could do something like that -- but -- but that’s nothing, compared to...”

He couldn’t restrain himself. He actually threw an arm around Carewyn and pulled her into a hug from behind. The small ginger-haired woman stiffened like a startled cat.

“Bill?”

Carewyn looked up at him -- were those tears, in his eyes?

“Have you...never told anyone else, about this?” Bill murmured.

Carewyn tried to turn around, her blue eyes welling up with regret and pain. “Bill...”

She brought a hand through his hair, trying to soothe him the way she used to for Jacob.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I -- I didn’t mean to upset you -- I only wanted to explain why I’m not scared of magic...please forgive me.”

Bill closed his eyes to try to hold back both his righteous anger and his tears.

“Forgive you?” he repeated in a choked voice. “For what, trusting me with the truth?”

“For making you worry unnecessarily,” Carewyn said forcefully, trying to ignore how uncomfortably her stomach was squirming.

Bill opened his eyes, looking both flabbergasted and more upset than ever. “Unnecessarily?”

He roughly grabbed both of Carewyn’s shoulders and forced her to look up at him.

“Now you listen here, Carewyn Cromwell,” he said, taking on the sort of tone he only ever used with his younger siblings when they were being rowdy, “you may get to decide if you want to interact with me or not, or rely on me or not, or accept my help or not. But you don’t get to decide whether I worry about you or not. And from here on out...”

Bill’s brown eyes were blazing with resolve.

“...I’m going to worry about you. Because I hate the thought of someone feeling like anybody else worrying about them is somehow a problem.”

Carewyn was left speechless.

Bill’s face broke into a broad smile through his tears. “Until your brother’s back from the War, Carey, I’ll be looking after you for him -- no arguments, no dismissals, no saying you’re fine on your own. Got it?”

Carewyn looked at Bill, perfectly stunned. Then her gaze fell away toward the floor.

“...It sounds like...I really don’t get a choice in the matter, then,” she whispered.

“Nope,” said Bill, grinning broadly.

Carewyn was unable to fight back the weak smile prickling at the sides of her lips, nor the emotion flooding her eyes, even as she kept her face turned away.

“...And I suppose ‘Carey’...is a suggestion of a nickname you plan to give Charlie, for me?”

Bill’s eyes sparkled fondly. “Well, every one of my siblings has a nickname, in case you haven’t noticed.”

#hphm #hogwarts mystery #cinderella au #carewyn cromwell #orion amari #murphy mcnully #skye parkin #bill weasley #charlie weasley #percy weasley #fred weasley #george weasley #ron weasley #ginny weasley #molly weasley #arthur weasley #katriona cassiopeia #charles cromwell #jacob cromwell #my art #my writing #GAAAAHHHH BILLLL #I LOVE YOU SO FRIGGIN' MUCH MY PRECIOUS BOY ;~;#you go be a good big brother and best friend for carewyn you wonderful thing #also ooh hoo hoo~ orion you can claim you're not crushing but you aren't fooling anybody hahahaha #you'll figure out what you're feeling soon enough >D #we're learn more about how magic works in this universe as time goes on of course #but yeah rest assured there's still a lot to unravel in regards to what happened to jacob... >>#and of course this part is another reminder that charles cromwell is a no-good son of a b****

29 notes · View notes

percywinchester27 · 4 years

Text

A lot like ‘Us’

Word count: 3.8K

Pairing: Sam X Reader AU

Warnings: Fluff

Series Summary: Y/N Y/L/N is eager and honestly, still in awe that she managed to get herself an acceptance from Stanford Law School. On the face of it, her life seems as put together, mysterious and independent as one might hope for. On the insides, she carries the burden of past that haunts her till date. Seemingly, she’d left it all behind; that is until she sets foot in the class of the Law School’s youngest, most promising professor.

Warnings: None for this chapter

A/N: I am so excited to share this story. I am really loving it <3 This is also written for @sdavid09 ‘s Tale Teller’s 2020 Bingo Challenge.

Beta: My amazing girls @deanssweetheart23 and @anathewierdo Thank you!! I love you both <3

Finally the last of the boxes had been pushed up the five stories of stairs and into your living room. The guy from the movers quickly accepted the payment and disappeared before you could even utter “thanks.” You didn’t blame him. Anyone would be over eager to leave after hauling boxes up the stairs given that the lift randomly stopped working.

You were just relieved that none of his men got stuck inside. That would have been awful. He complained about the sort of shitshows the rental buildings in the locality were, but all things considered, he had been pretty nice about the untimely disaster.

You closed the door behind and slid to the floor, glad that you didn’t have to smile for strangers anymore.

The lift might have been a shitshow, but the flat you were renting was really nice. It had two bedrooms, a living room and a small kitchenette. The flat had only one bathroom, but the grand balcony on the other side of the living room all but made up for it. You got off the floor and made your way towards the balcony. It overlooked a small meadow of sorts, and the entry wall beyond it was high and covered with thick vines. Right in the middle, was a small fountain in the shape of a mermaid, carved out of what must have been once pristine white marble. The mermaid had a mysterious look on her face, like she knew your secret, and was contemplating if it would fetch a good gossip. In her hand, she held a beautifully carved flask, from which the water fell into the basin below.

It was like being in your own space, enclosed in this beautiful Caribbean meadow. That was until a voice called your attention.

“Hey!”

You looked sideways to find an Asian guy who couldn’t have been more than 20 waving at buy. You waved back awkwardly.

“So, I see you’ve met judgy Judy!”

“Who?”

He tilted his head towards the mermaid. “That’s judgy Judy.” he said, smiling. “If you happen to walk past her after 12 in the night, you are bestowed upon the judgiest of looks. And if you’re drunk…” he let out his breath in whoosh.

You laughed, then were surprised at the sound of it. You didn’t laugh this easily.

“My name’s Kevin,” the boy said. “Kevin Tran. Aren’t you the new girl renting 502? Meg?”

You shook your head. “I’m Y/N, actually. Meg won’t be here until Wednesday.”

You knew nothing about your roommate except that she loved her privacy. That was her only demand in the advert. That she was looking for someone who knew of basic hygiene and didn’t poke their nose in her business. You couldn’t argue with that.

He smiled, “So what brings you here, Y/N?”

Before you could answer, Kevin put out his hands excitedly. “Wait! let me guess. You’re a pastry chef, looking to start your own little bakery in this quaint little town.”

You rolled your eyes. That was about as far as he could get from why you were here.

He caught on. “No… no… you’re an artist? Looking for inspiration?”

You pursed your lips, trying not to smile. “I’m actually starting the year at the Law school.”

Kevin whistled. “Law school, huh?” Then added, “Hey, what do I know? I’m just an engineer!”

You sized him up. He looked too young to be a professional.

He raised his hands up, “I know, I know what you’re thinking,” he said and you instantly felt guilty about judging anyone by their looks. Judgy Judy would be proud.

“You’re thinking why would I live out of the city,” he said and you breathed a sigh of relief. “It’s ‘cause San Francisco is boring. Besides, I get to work from home a lot, and it’s an hours drive anyway.”

“Seems fair,” you said. He didn’t ask you why you weren’t staying in the official campus dorms. Maybe he had already done the mental math and figured out that the Law building was less than a ten minute walk from here. Besides, most of Stanford was a student town anyway. This building was closer to the college than even the Faculty residence.

“Hey, Y/N,” Kevin said genially, “Why don’t you join us for dinner? It’s just me and my roommate Jack. We can order some pizza and pop some beers. It’ll be cool. That way you don’t have to worry about cooking in the middle of all that unpacking.”

It was starting to get chilly outside, and you wrapped your arms around yourself, “I’m not much a drinker.”

“That’s fine,” he said, unfazed. “We have soda, if you want.”

You hesitated, “Thanks, Kevin, really. Maybe some other time.”

You waved at his somewhat confused face and stepped inside, closing the glass doors of the balcony behind you.

If Kevin thought you were weird, he’d get used to it like everyone in your life. He would get used to not talking, stealing glances and the fact that you weren’t exactly the sort of person people wanted around in fun times. He’d learn to ignore you like everyone else.

Most of the weekend was spent trying to put your room together. There really wasn’t much to your belongings except books and some clothes, which you arranged as neatly as you could. If the blaring music on your speakers disturbed Kevin and his roommate, neither of them complained.

On Monday, you attended orientation lectures by a few alumni and the Dean. It all seemed like a dream to you. On Tuesday, they had a pre-law show you around in groups, the grand campus that was Stanford University. By the end, you were biased about the Law building being the best, maybe because you had dreamt of being here day and night for as long as you could remember. The Law school wasn’t a grand facade. It was functional and built in a pale beige sandstone which had weathered wonderfully over the years. The corridors were breezy and opened on to landscaped spill out spaces … and the building itself seemed to breathe through the tactfully placed fenestrations.

The pre-law showing your group around the campus talked and talked and talked, while you followed her dumbfounded at the expanse of it all. One day, you’d get used to this, you knew that… but that day was nowhere near close. In fact, it had barely even registered that you had done it! That you had actually been accepted into Stanford and that you were going to be a lawyer!

Stanford had twenty libraries. Twenty. The place that you absolutely fell in love with was the Cecil H. Green library. The high, vaulted ceiling made you feel like you had stepped right into the Victorian era. The rows and rows of shelves absolutely boggled your mind. You could live here and it still wouldn’t be enough.

You touched the richly colored mahogany table in the library and unwillingly, like it was the most inevitable thing in the world, you thought of him. The look in his eyes when he talked about this very place. “Y/N,” he’d say “You’re gonna fall in love with the smell of those books!”

You immediately yanked your hand from the table, as if a current had passed through your body. The girl next to you, looked over. “Everything alright?” she asked kindly.

You nodded and moved away from the piece of furniture. You couldn’t think about him now, not here. So, you took a couple of deep breaths and closed your eyes, focussing on the things around you, the long shelves, the smooth tables. And it eased some, you could feel your chest constrict a little.

Meanwhile, the guide talked on.

“Water?” The girl next to you offered as you all stepped out of the library. You needed it, but that meant talking to her, and you weren’t sure you were up for that.

“C’mon, take it,” she insisted, “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

You took the bottle and splashed some water on your face, then took two gulps, feeling better immediately. The water tasted funny, but in a refreshing way.

You looked at what was inside.

The girl laughed. “It’s cucumber water,” she said. “I figured we’d be doing a lot of walking today and this is a saviour.”

“Thanks,” you said, actually looking at her properly. She had a slim build, with dark brown hair and eyes. Despite knowing that they would be walking a lot, she was dressed in a black pencil skirt and a flowy baby blue blouse, with matching heels. She was carrying all that effortlessly without breaking a sweat, while you were wearing your most worn pair of comfortable jeans, a sweater and sneakers. You did notice that she looked really pretty and when she smiled, it reached her eyes.

“Better?” She asked

“Much. Thank you.”

She put her hand forward. “I’m Madison. Madison Maxwell.”

“Y/N Y/L/N.” You shook her hand.

The others had already gone ahead while she had waited for you to catch your breath and drink water. You started walking together.

“So, excited for the classes to begin?” She asked peppily and you nodded.

You figured that Madison was the sort to fill every silence with words. After a while, she was going to be really disappointed in you for your lack of responses or initiating a conversation.

As you walked, Madison told you everything that she could about herself in the span of the couple minutes it took you to reach the rest of the group. She was born and brought up in Pasadena, to a lawyer dad and a socialite mom. “I feel like my mom was born as a socialite! Her first words were probably, ‘well, hullo, Dahling!”

You laughed, and encouraged by your reaction she continued. She was a pre-grad in sociology from USC, where she was voted the most likely to charm people with her smile (seemed fair). She had two older brothers both lawyers in their Dad’s bigass firm, and they lived in this huge house overlooking a hugeass swimming pool. Her words, not yours.

The fact she was rich was pretty much in your face, from the gucci bottle filled with cucumber water to the Prada shoes, but it wasn’t because she was pushing it… she was just used to it.

“What about you?” She asked as you reached the group. “Where are you from?”

“Kansas,” you said.

“And?” She coaxed good naturedly.

“And I did my pre-law from University in Texas.”

“That’s nice. What about your parents?”

You looked down. “They died in a car crash when I was little.”

“Oh no!” Madison gasped. She looked like she was about to tear up.

“It’s okay,” you said quickly, offering her a smile. “I’ve made my peace with it.” It was true. You’d had twenty odd years to adjust to it. It was a way of life now.

Madison still gave you an apologetic smile, but thankfully, for the rest of the tour she didn’t talk much. It wasn’t that Madison wasn’t charming, but everyone charming usually expected the same from you… and you weren’t. Why pitch her up for disappointment?

“So, see you tomorrow, Y/N?” She asked, tentatively.

Poor girl, you thought. “See you,” you said. “It was nice meeting you, Madison.”

“Likewise,” she said brightly.

You watched her walk over to another group of girls, all dressed fancily,who squealed when they saw Madison. You shook your head, smiling to yourself that Madison had found some kindred spirits.

It didn’t explain why she had been so nice to you all day though. If she already had friends, she didn’t have to care about you, right?

It took you a while to figure out which was your exit. Roaming around in the campus as it was dark, was anxiety inducing. Yet, a voice in the back of your head kept telling you how the Oval was at the centre of the campus, and the Law building was just to the south east. You didn’t want to hear the voice, hell you didn’t even want to think about whom the voice belonged to, but slowly and surely it guided you back to the gate closest to your flat. Once you reached it, you made a run for it, not stopping till you were inside the tall building gate and into the meadow. You ran into Kevin.

“Y/N!” He said, “I didn’t see you there.” Next to him was another boy, dirty blonde hair and a smiling face. “This is Jack. Remember, I told you about him?”

Jack took one look at you and concern rippled across his face, “Hey, you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, just tired,” you whispered.

Before any of them could say another word, you dashed up the stairs.

“The lift is working again!” Kevin called after you, but you bolted into your room without halting. Once you were inside, you locked the door behind and you rolled into a ball on your unmade bed, finally letting the tears make their way.

You knew this was coming, you knew it the moment you set foot in this town that it would remind you of him… the way he smiled, the way he ran his hand through his hair when he was nervous… the way you loved him. Over the years you had trained yourself to snap out of it whenever your thoughts even inched towards him. You could shut it off and just stop thinking. It had taken years and years of practice, but finally you could lock him in the darkest part of your mind and not look at it. Not feel anything for him. In return, you barely felt anything at all. About anything, about anyone.

In the long run, you preferred that bargain, though. The numbness.

And after spending so much time in it, the numbness felt homely. It cushioned you against the pain and the memories. So what if it cushioned you against feeling anything at all, too? At least this way you were functional. You could get through the day and be productive. Besides, who did you have to live for except yourself, anyway? So it was okay to just survive. To just feel enough for you to feel human. At one point even that had felt like an impossible feat.

You tried not to remember the days and nights wishing for the endless pain to end, wishing to just give up on everything, on life. At least now you didn’t feel that way. You had re-learned to aspire, to work hard. You didn’t feel hopeful anymore, but you had a goal set in mind and you were willing to work as hard as you could to fulfill it.

Most of the time, you managed to block out all unwanted noise in your head and outside, and just concentrate on surviving. It will have to suffice till one day you could actually start living.

But once in a while the box cracked, like today, and all the memories came spinning out. In the library, somehow Madison’s prattling had kept you from spiralling. Now, there was no one to help. The thoughts simply overwhelmed you and you shut your ears, rolling into a smaller ball, as flashes of light from that night flared behind your closed eyes, the rain pouring down on you and all the blood. The thing you remembered most clearly was the cold. The skin-numbing, bone chilling cold as the water soaked through you.

You woke up to the blaring alarm. It was 7:15 in the morning.

“Shit!”

You jumped out of bed and then immediately slipped, landing on the floor with the thud. You cursed again as you got to your feet and rushed into the bathroom. Not only had you overslept, but last night you hadn’t even gone through your schedule of classes and lectures. The plan had been to wake up at 6, and go through the schedule once more, which you should have had studied last night, wear the perfect first day clothes that you should have picked out last night, and reach early to the classroom which you should have already figured out before 8 in the morning.

At 8 in the morning, however, you were still trying to shimmy yourself into the only formal skirt you owned. You quickly threw on the first decent shirt that you could find and tied your hair in a ponytail, then made your way out of the apartment without breakfast. Your bag was threatening to spill out the laptop and notebook you carried as you all but ran across the street to get to the campus.

By some extreme luck, you remembered the building perfectly. With a quick look through the schedule and the help of a very offended senior, you finally made your way to the class, completely out of breath by 8:20. Even though your hair was falling out of the ponytail, you were covered in sweat and your shoes were permanently damaged, you were miraculously ten minutes early.

The classroom was huge and circular. It was stepped upwards, with desks curving around to focus downwards on the podium at centre, right underneath the big projecting screen mounted on the opposite wall. If you had entered the normal way, you would have probably entered through one of the two doors at the top of the class, but with your luck, you had obviously entered through the one door at the bottom, presumably which the faculty used. This way you had to climb up all the way to an empty spot with over a hundred people staring down at you in your hassled state.

“Smooth,” a blonde guy from the third row muttered as you began climbing.

“Y/N! Hey, Y/N,” a voice called. “Over here!”

You saw Madison waving at you from the corner seat on one of the top rows. A few people were looking at where the commotion was coming from. To avoid more of it, you hurried towards her.

“Saved you a seat!” she said, moving her books from the seat next to her, to make space.

“Thank you,” you said gratefully. The three girls seated on the other side of her, gave you a curious look. The sort that is given to old cheese, wondering if it has gone stale.

“Girls,” Madison said, “This is Y/N. Y/N, these are Lacey, Meredith and Rebecca.” In your harrowed state, you only remembered that the brunette with long hair was Lacey.

“Aren’t you excited?” Madison asked, smelling like she had stepped straight out of a beautiful orchard, while you were sweating bullets.

“Mhmm,” you said. Madison went on to talk about how excited she was for this particular lecture, while you hurriedly set out your laptop, and readied your papers.

“He’s just so dreamy and hot,” Madison gushed and the other girls nodded in agreement. “I can’t believe we have him for the first lecture.”

“How are we supposed to concentrate?” One of the girls wailed.

Like that was really a problem.

“Civil Procedure,” you read from the time table, quickly going through the syllabus, not even looking at the professor’s name the girls were raving about. In your experience, the content mattered, not who was teaching it.

There was a sudden ruffling, and everyone quieted at once.

“Sorry, I’m a little late,” an apologetic voice said.

It was 8:32, you thought absentmindedly, as you looked up from the papers, that was hardly late. That voice felt like long forgotten music.

The professor was facing the board, printing “Civil Procedure.”

When he turned, the floor dropped from under your feet.

He wore a light grey suit, with a striped tie and a white button up shirt, and stood tall against the black board. His soft brown hair was long and silky, curling slightly at his collar, and even though from this far you couldn’t see the colour, his hazel eyes were warm and slightly abashed.

“My name’s Sam Winchester,” he said, the words each felt like a separate stab to your gut. “I'll be taking the Civil Procedure Module for this semester and the next. And, I’m usually never late… especially in the courtroom.”

Some laughter ran around the room. He gave it a minute acknowledging it with a smile, then opened his laptop, and a tech hurried over to set it up.

“While Paul here is helping me with the wires, let me introduce myself more fully,” he said, leaning against the table. “I did my pre-law from right here at Stanford, so I’m still your senior. You all better be respectful.” More laughter rang around. “Then, I went to Yale for law school. I’ve practiced in New York for two years before moving to California, and practicing in LA for a few more. I currently work as the Senior Associate at Acton Griswold in San Francisco. You guys heard of it?”

“Is he kidding?” Lacey whispered. “Who hasn’t heard of Acton Griswold?”

“You’re even paying attention to what he’s saying?,” said the girl next to Lacey. “I can’t get over the way he looks. What is he? 30? Hot damn!”

“I have to impress him,” Madison muttered, though her voice had become softer. “I need that internship at Acton Griswold.”

On the podium Paul was done setting up the laptop, and Sam walked over to it opening the presentation. He pulled out frameless glasses from the box and slid them up his long pointed nose.

“Damn!” Lacey said again.

Your vision was tunneling in, and the room was spinning around you. Nothing made sense anymore. Not where you were, not what you were doing. Nothing mattered except the fact that he was standing there, right in front of you.

You could hear the rustling of papers, and the tap-tap of fingers hitting keys. while you just sat there numbly, not knowing what to do, not caring what was happening, or how long it had been.

“Y/N? Y/N?” Madison was calling your name. “Are you okay? You look really clammy.”

Maybe she had been calling you for a while because a few people ahead of you turned to look, visibly annoyed. and it was in slow motion, almost reluctantly, as if to seek the source of disturbance that Sam’s eyes found you.

A second passed and you could see them widen, then freeze in absolute shock. Unadulterated and profound shock.

“I’m sorry, I need to go,” You muttered, then grabbed your laptop and your bag and rushed out of the door at the top, without caring about the papers you had spilt… and bolted across the corridor, without a sense of direction till you found yourself in a toilet cubicle, locked and in hysterics.

This couldn’t be happening. Not now. Not ever.

You had closed that chapter of your life, fled as far away as you could and yet, and yet he was right here. Sam was so close to you, how had your heart not known?

***************************************

A lot like ‘Us’ Masterlist

A/N 2: SO WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK? Are we off with a good start?

PLEASE PLEASE please let me know?

If you want be tagged, you can send me an ask or add yourself to the taglist here.

Or here’s my side blog @percywinchester27-writes. You can give that blog a follow and turn the notifications on to know about updates.

ALLU taglist:

@feelmyroarrrr @gabavaldman @im-a-light-child @cosicas-cuquis @bllyjianne @hoboal87 @i-is-for-inspiring @daughterleftbehind @wackiekebab @mylovelydame21 @dancing-the-hellfire-rumba @superbadassnatural @bellastellaluna @babypink224221 @badlittlehabit99 @anathewierdo @sams-bubblegum-bitch

#sam winchester x reader #sam x reader fluff #reader x sam winchester fanfiction #sam winchester fanfic #sam winchester fluff #lawyer!Sam #professor!Sam #Ana writes allu #anawrites #anawritesspn #q

184 notes · View notes

daleisgreat · 4 years

Text

Getting Rowdy: The Unreleased Matches of Roddy Piper

A few months ago I covered the DVD set WWE released chronicling the ‘unseen’ matches of “Macho Man” Randy Savage. Today I continue that trend covering those lines of DVD collections with 2019’s Getting Rowdy: The Unreleased Matches of Roddy Piper (trailer). Like with WWE’s other ‘unreleased’ line of home videos, all the matches and segments featured in here have never been released on video before. With WWE already releasing a comprehensive three-disc DVD set to Piper with 2006’s Born to Controversy, that means we are getting a collection full of deep cuts here. This two disc DVD is compiled similarly to the Randy Savage set where we get original, newly recorded interviews intersperse with the archival content. The interviews are from Piper mega-fan, “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey which are mixed in with archived home video interviews with Piper for added context. There are six sets of Rousey interviews, and they are sporadically inserted throughout the collection which also features 19 matches, nine promos and 12 editions of Piper’s legendary interview show, Piper’s Pit. WWE has established that Rousey is essentially the endorsed successor to carry on the Piper legacy, with Ronda paying homage to “The Hot Rod” by rocking her version of Piper’s entrance attire and carrying on his nickname. With that in mind, having Ronda being the featured new set of interviews to draw from seems like a fitting choice to commemorate Piper’s career here and are nice ways to mix up this collection.

Ronda’s interviews are insightful on how she drew on Roddy for inspiration on MMA needing an antagonist, and how excited she was to finally meet him. I presumed she maintained a close relationship with Piper, and was surprised to learn in Rousey’s interviews here that she only met him once early in her MMA career when she got the blessing from Roddy to use his nickname and then a second time when she appeared on Pipers podcast, which was just a month shy of his death in July of 2015. Rousey went on to say one of her biggest regrets is not having a close relationship with him. There is a nice variety of the nine Piper interviews/promos included. There is a handful of the vintage Rock ‘n Wrestling era promos where Piper bellows out promos in front of a blue screen backdrop. A nice nostalgic bonus is a few vintage commercials where Piper maniacally shouts at you to purchase the latest WWE action figures. There are a few standout go-home PPV interviews here where Piper is on fire and by the end of them he got me just as fired up as Virgil for his upcoming WrestleMania match against Ted Dibiase, and on top of that is an especially intense promo with Bret Hart leading up to their WrestleMania VIII battle. There are three Roddy promos from his late 90’s WCW days, with a bewildering rant from a cell in Alcatrez and Hulk Hogan provoking Piper to cut loose on him and Bishoff in front of his son, Colt, standing out the most. These WCW promos have boisterous crowds capturing the high times WCW was riding at that time in the ‘Monday Night Wars.’

It is no surprise that Piper’s rougher, brawling style will not warrant many five star classics, but a fair amount of his 19 matches here have crowds eating up the chaos Piper is delivering. I have only seen a handful of Piper’s early NWA work before, so seeing a few more of his NWA matches unearthed for this set was a treat, and his match against Jay Youngblood is a smashmouth brawl that goes to a time limit draw, and I loved seeing Piper tag with Ole Anderson against Mike Davis and Buddy Landell. There are a lot of the big arena house show matches here that were previously televised only in local markets, and like a lot of those matches in other sets, usually feature good action until a hokey finish. That is the case here with a killer clash against Paul Orndorff in 1985 fresh into their rivalry, with the crowd going bokers for them until a double countout finish. Just as riveting is Piper’s match in this set against Rick Rude where the crowd is losing it throughout, but a lot of tomfoolery I will not even begin to explain transpires and is the catalyst for one of the strangest DQ finishes I have seen.

Piper teaming with Eddie and Blue-tista, looking like gold! Piper feuding with the nWo had the crowd on its feet! There are two matches on here against Mr. Perfect worth going out of your way to see. I know Mr. Fuji was an accomplished wrestler in the 70s, but never seen him in a match until this set where he is pummeled for a couple minutes against Piper until his fellow managers run in for the save. A lot of the latter matches in the back half of Getting Rowdy are quick TV matches with wonky finishes unfortunately, but for what it is worth, still draw rabid crowd reactions. There are two Nitro bouts included against Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage in 1998, but both bouts have several nWo run-ins that result in both matches being thrown out. I forgot about Piper’s brief 2003 run with Sean ‘O Haire, so it was nice to see those two again when Piper had a short encounter with Rikishi. The last match is an awesome impromptu bout against The Miz for $5000 of The Miz’s money, with Alex Reilly (remember him!?) as guest referee in 2011. I have zero recollection of this match, and even at a couple minutes long it was an absolute delight!

Getting Rowdy was jacked with 24 installments of Piper’s Pit, but WWE had quite a few more to draw upon from the vault with 12 more here. Some of the early ones in this collection that were a riot were where both Jimmy Hart and the Brooklyn Brawler ruthlessly provoke Roddy to giving them a a well-earned beatdown. There are a bunch in the second half of this set when Piper would periodically show up on RAW and SmackDown for a special Piper’s Pit. Two that really got me were one with John Cena where Piper does a tremendous job at needling Cena into living up to his then-current t-shirt slogan, ‘Rise Above Hate’ and another where Roddy moderates AJ Lee attempting to get back into Daniel Bryan’s good graces after costing him his WrestleMania match against Sheamus. I enjoyed this collection more than I anticipated. As I mentioned earlier, Piper was not known for his epic wrestling abilities, so I was not letdown from the wide range of match quality from the 19 matches in the set. There are a few matches that are hidden gems in here for what it is worth, but the real reason everyone should check out Getting Rowdy: The Unreleased Matches of Roddy Piper, is for the many unreleased promos and Piper’s Pit interviews. While he may not have been a five star wrestler, Piper was easily a five star entertainer, and that is readily apparent from beginning to end in this collection.

Those Piper action figure commercials are iconic, and this set is full of iconic promos I have never seen before where the Hot Rod made Virgil look like a million bucks! Past Wrestling Blogs Best of WCW Clash of Champions Best of WCW Monday Nitro Volume 2 Best of WCW Monday Nitro Volume 3 Biggest Knuckleheads Bobby The Brain Heenan Daniel Bryan: Just Say Yes Yes Yes DDP: Positively Living Dusty Rhodes WWE Network Specials ECW Unreleased: Vol 1 ECW Unreleased: Vol 2 ECW Unreleased: Vol 3 Eric Bishoff: Wrestlings Most Controversial Figure Fight Owens Fight: The Kevin Owens Story For All Mankind Goldberg: The Ultimate Collection Hulk Hogans Unreleased Collectors Series Impact Wresting Presents: Best of Hulk Hogan Its Good to Be the King: The Jerry Lawler Story The Kliq Rules Ladies and Gentlemen My Name is Paul Heyman Legends of Mid South Wrestling Macho Man: The Randy Savage Story Memphis Heat NXT: From Secret to Sensation NXT Greatest Matches Vol 1 OMG Vol 2: Top 50 Incidents in WCW History OMG Vol 3: Top 50 Incidents in ECW History Owen: Hart of Gold Randy Savage Unreleased: The Unseen Matches of the Macho Man RoH Supercard of Honor 2010-Present ScoobyDoo Wrestlemania Mystery Scott Hall: Living on a Razors Edge Shawn Michaels: My Journey Sting: Into the Light Straight Outta Dudley-ville: Legacy of the Dudley Boyz Straight to the Top: Money in the Bank Anthology Superstar Collection: Zach Ryder Then Now Forever – The Evolution of WWEs Womens Division TLC 2017 TNA Lockdown 2005-2016 Top 50 Superstars of All Time Tough Enough: Million Dollar Season True Giants Ultimate Fan Pack: Roman Reigns Ultimate Warrior: Always Believe War Games: WCWs Most Notorious Matches Warrior Week on WWE Network Wrestlemania III: Championship Edition Wrestlemania 28-Present The Wrestler (2008) Wrestling Road Diaries Too Wrestling Road Diaries Three: Funny Equals Money Wrestlings Greatest Factions WWE Network Original Specials First Half 2015 WWE Network Original Specials Second Half 2015 WWE Network Original Specials First Half 2016 WWE Network Original Specials Second Half 2016 WWE Network Original Specials First Half 2017

#Wrestling #Rowdy Roddy Piper #ronda rousey #hulk hogan #paul orndorff #bob orton #mr. perfect #Rick Rude #the miz #daniel bryan #aj lee #Randy Savage #WWE #wcw #nwa #nwo

11 notes · View notes

mlpdestinyverse · 4 years

Photo

Destinyverse - History of Magic and Tech

((If the text is too small, please right click and open both parts of the strip in a new tab to zoom in!))

*cries in world-building* Well then...for the first time, let's get into just a small piece of actual Destinyverse lore. I think that first panel alone gives away that there's a lot more to be known about this universe, but that information is for a later time. So! Beyond this point will be the finer details on the workings of rune enchantments and Sunset Shimmer's company, Uni-Tech~!

Info Under The Cut

Magic (cont.)

Magic exists all around. It is within every creature, the atmosphere, and more importantly, the earth itself. Granted passive magic, earth ponies were designed to tend to the earth, and pegasi the weather and the expansive skies. But unicorns were intended to utilize and protect the very knowledge and power of spellcasting.

At first unicorns kept their findings to themselves, but after the three pony tribes united, mages shared their household light enchantments and magic barriers with society. Over time, Princess Celestia and Luna came into power, and Nightmare Moon’s defeat brought about a millennium of peace. Technology developed, as did wind turbines and hydropower for electricity. Both ultimately contributed to the declining necessity of rune enchantments. Only some studied mages utilized the art sporadically (Twilight Sparkle when enchanting Tank’s helicopter. Starlight Glimmer when creating a vault to seal away cutie marks).

Unicorns also no longer had a dire need to study and utilize spells for their own safety. Growing comfortable in modern society over the years, the average unicorn now only tends to learn basic spells for everyday living like telekinesis and light. Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, however, continues to pass down knowledge to newer generations of young ponies, encouraging young colts and fillies to dive into the mysteries and wonder of magic through study. Only a hoofful of ponies have managed to truly hone their talents and go on to become knowledgeable and trained mages, such as Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer.

---------------------------------------------

Runes

While normal spellcasting is typically instantaneous, rune enchantments tend to be used for long-term purposes:

For spell usage over an extended period of time without a need for concentration (ie. Light spells)

For casting on specific items or areas (ie. enchanted relics, magic traps, energy barriers)

Rune-etchings are also often written to have a trigger, (ie. motion, pressure) which requires specific rune combinations to accomplish.

While convenient, the art of rune-etching and enchanting is complex and requires a steady mind to guide one's magic into making clean and precise carvings with a tool. It also requires the intellect to create the best rune combinations and formulas for the desired result.

Rune-etchings alone hold no power. The true power comes from the magical energy poured into them, which allows them to trigger and work as instructions for said magic. Unicorns need to concentrate and pour in magic for varied periods of time to enchant a spell into an item or area of choice. Unless a specific trigger is written into the runic spell formula to tell the runes when and how to react, rune-etchings will activate the moment they reach their full energy capacity, which differs depending on the complexity of the spell. The more extra magic that is enchanted and stored into runes, the more energy the runes will have for multiple uses. Alternatively, a spell will have more time to stay active in one usage.

Ancient relics created by olden wizards are known for carrying powerful spells. It's been hypothesized that such high-magical artifacts were either enchanted by multiple wizards or by one wizard over the course of months.

If the magic within rune-etchings completely expends, it can be recharged periodically by a unicorn or with long concentration to store up magical energy. This tends to be dependent on the strength and complexity of the spell and the spell usage required by the user.

---------------------------------------------

Uni-Tech

The rise in technology in modern-day Equestria really began with Sunset Shimmer's return to her homeland. After refreshing herself on her magical studies in an effort to rediscover her purpose, the mare found herself missing the modern tech back in the alternate human universe. As someone who dabbled in multiple fields, from music to art to science, Sunset decided to try a hoof in contributing to what she felt were the beginnings of a tech evolution in Equestria. Using human builds as inspiration, Sunset helped introduce the first equestrian digital cameras, monitors, and computers. These creations first aided medical and scientific fields, but were quickly picked up by more creative fields. Seeing this, and by pushing festering ideas in the right direction, Sunset was able to inspire other creative minds. She helped encourage the creation of animated and live-action movies, shows, and major advancements in the videogame industry (to her utter nerdy delight). On the flip side, Sunset has also very meticulously worked to keep other human inventions away from Equestria. Through her experiences, she has come to hold one solid belief; just because one can, doesn't mean one should.

While she felt she was on the right path, Sunset believed there was more she could offer. A missing piece. Observation led her to notice a rise in the cost of electricity with the increase of household appliances and electronics. Her mind began churning through ideas of energy-efficiency, convenience, and - through personal-experience once upon a time - availability and affordability for families who were not so well-off. Deep down, Sunset knew incorporating magic would be the way to go. Recalling her old studies on the history of runic spell enchantments from her filly days, Sunset picked up old books, drew up blueprints for her ideas, and approached Twilight for further wisdom.

Twilight provided the knowledge of rune-etching and worked with Sunset to think up different spells for her ideas. Having never attempted rune-etching before, Twilight offered her friends lessons. For Sunset, who once had fiddled around with different spells and potions under Celestia's tutelage, carving runes had been a new and exciting experience. It took practice, but weeks of effort had the craft feeling almost natural for the mare.

If ancient artifacts from eras long past had proven anything, different natural materials such as metals and even gems possessed inherent magical properties that were especially reactive to magical interaction. Aiming to understand which materials could hold and even enhance spell enchantments best, both Sunset and Twilight dove into their experimentation. The two gathered a small group of practiced unicorns who had tampered with rune-etching before for their research team, including Starlight Glimmer, Sunburst, and Moondancer. As they researched the best materials for Sunset's tech inventions and improvements, Sunset found herself naming their little team "Uni-Tech", the beginning stages of magitech in Equestria.

Prototypes followed. However, realizing the runes in their tech could only be powered by a unicorn's magic, Sunset and Twilight were momentarily stumped on how non-magical creatures would be able to recharge runes without aid. Sunset recognized the lack in convenience, however, a new discovery quickly came to them. As traces of magic exist in nearly everything within their world, Sunset discovered that the small amounts of magic within the very electricity that powered their tech created a unique reaction with the magic components in their metal builds. Alongside electricity powering their machines, the reaction created a steady build-up of magical energy for the added runes.

The discovery worked well with machines and tech-powered via cord to electrical socket. Even when unplugged, a machine’s runes would still hold the built-up magic it had stored previously until plugged back in again and used. Upon initial installation, the machine simply required to be plugged in for a number of hours for the initial storing of magic.

The Uni-Tech team grew with the need for professional engineers to finalize their builds and mass-produce products. And thus, Uni-Tech took off, greatly contributing to the booming era of technology with the union of magic and electronics. A facility for Uni-Tech was built not far from Twilight's own castle, and in time, they even developed a secondary location in Canterlot, overseen by Moondancer.

With the correct metals and the positive reactions to magic, Sunset was happy to observe the resulting amplification of power for her runic spells. This meant an increase in power output and a decrease in actual electricity usage in the long run. However, when it came to the concept of developing and improving portable devices (ie. laptops, handheld consoles), Sunset and Twilight ran into an issue. Even if made rechargeable, once a device's magical energy was spent, there was a huge inconvenience in the slow, gradual trickle of charging magic that would lead to far too many hours of waiting to even utilize the magical aspects of a device.

Thankfully a ground-breaking discovery was uncovered; information on elemental runes that had been lost to time was regained by chance. As it turned out, elemental arcane runes were unique in how they consumed the energy of their respective element when in proximity of it. More specifically, they converted this energy into magical energy. In old books, ancient ponies recalled attempting to build fires in uncharted areas, only for their fire to suddenly be snuffed out, followed by an explosion of flames from an undiscerned source. Hidden traps or forgotten runes, Sunset and Twilight had settled. In Sunset's case, electricity runes, when introduced to a steady source of electricity, could quickly charge up with magical and electrical energy.

That single discovery lead to the creation of the magi-battery. The magi-battery not only charged up devices with electricity, but with the correct rune formulas, allowed other spell runes to draw from its storage of magic. It proved to be fast-charging, powerful, efficient, environmental-friendly, and overall revolutionary to their efforts. Because of its huge success during its initial launch, Uni-Tech is now a supplier for companies in Canterlot and beyond.

Sunset continues to lead projects with her company to this day. With new ideas, she often works with Twilight to refine and brainstorm possible spell enchantments. Though they founded the company together, Sunset Shimmer is the true CEO of Uni-Tech, with Twilight assisting when she isn't busy with her own duties.

Uni-Tech inventions include and are not limited to:

Fireplaces lit by unique fire runes, fueled by electrical power. Fire behaves more like magic fire than real fire, thus heating the room without the need of a chimney for smoke release. Low maintenance, provides the experience of a real fireplace, and reduces air pollution. The addition of a gem (thanks to Astral Dusk’s research) allows runes to store more energy for usage if the power were to go out.

Microwaves using fire glyphs formulated for heat radiation as opposed to actual fire. Proven to provide better-balanced heating overall.

Light runes in ceilings, which lessen the need for disposable light bulbs. Easy to control dimming.

Shower installation of tankless water heaters, using water and fire-heating runes. Water runes transfer water directly from a reservoir and expel it, lessening the worry of pipe bursts. Instant and consistent warm showers, even in black-outs.

Security cameras that possess a complex spell that magically records, making recordings not as easy to alter or delete.

This universe's Luster Dawn, who I'm nearly convinced is probably Starlight and Sunburst's kiddo, started working for Uni-Tech as a young and talented intern and has continued to work as a valued member of the company!

For clarification; while Astral Dusk's gem research aids his mother's company, he's technically not a worker for Uni-Tech and is generally just a royal scientist serving Princess Twilight alongside Sunset Shimmer.

#sunset shimmer #twilight sparkle #luster dawn #sunburst #mlp #my little pony #mlp art #destinyverse #story

95 notes · View notes

hippriestess · 4 years

Photo

Part 4 - I’ve Been Duped...

It was to be expected that some of those who brought us some of the less essential Fall releases would also respond to Smith's death. One of worst was the first to arrive and it came from perennial recyclers Secret Records; a repackaging of 10 live tracks from the 2002 “A Touch Sensitive” DVD – already reconfigured multiple times – on an LP titled, and this absolutely beggars belief, “Best Of” and credited to “The Fall & Mark E Smith”, a credit never once used on a release in Smith's lifetime (a few gig posters, yes but never a record). Released just 3 months after Smith's death for about £18-20, this received the derision it deserved and, judging from the number of copies for sale on Discogs and their current asking prices, it appears to have sold just a little more than fuck all.

But even this was overshadowed come March 2019 when Ozit/Dandelion released what has to be The Worst Fall Release Ever. Pressed into horrid orange vinyl, the contents of “Mark's Personal Holiday Tony Tapes” were staggeringly poor. Proudly labelled as “Non-Record-Store-Day Release” (was it turned down?) the record boasted just 8 tracks. The album tried to elide its rotten contents by calling all the tracks “Mark's Personal Holiday Tony Tapes”. Track 1 was a 6 minute version of “Last Nacht” from “I Am Kurious Oranj”. The released track doesn't actually feature within the 6 minutes so this is probably an outtake and therefore probably not owned by Beggars Banquet. There is a drop out lasting several seconds that has gone uncorrected and it's about 4 minutes longer than it needs to be, confirming the brevity of the version used in 1988 to be bob on. Tracks 2, 4, 6 and 8 are live tracks from 1981, all of which had already been released on the otherwise unimpressive “Northern Cream” DVD. What is barely credible is that tracks 3, 5 and 7 are also “Last Nacht” but not further alternates, rather being Track 1 cut into 2 minute pieces and simply repeated! Did they think we wouldn't notice?! Utterly awful, thoroughly exploitative and an absolute disgrace. They also stumped up a 30 minute DVD of MES being interviewed. This bore the thoroughly unappealing title “30 Minutes On A Manchester Slag Heap”. I only ever saw this for sale on eBay but a couple of clicks confirmed that it was Ozit/Dandelion product being sold by them through that channel. The cover was of a slag heap rather than of MES. Enough said.

OK, let's tidy up, what's next?

The immediate future sees 2 vinyl releases in the August “drop” of the now-staggered, socially-distanced RSD2020; a double LP of “[Austurbæjarbíó] - Reykjavík Live 1983” on the now inevitable splatter vinyl and a single LP of “Cerebral Caustic” on multi-coloured “bonkers” (their word, absofuckinglutely not mine) splatter vinyl because of course it is. That's all for RSD this year, a move which represents far better judgement by the organisers. A studio album out of print on vinyl for 25 years and a properly sought after live release on the format for the first time? Yeah, that fits well with what RSD was meant to be back when we all queued up for a “Bury Pts 2 + 4” 7” in 2010.

Now, a fun wee question mark was raised over “CC” when the RSD website credited the release to Demon rather than Cherry Red. It appears Demon have the Permanent Records catalogue and have also announced clear vinyl reissues of “The Infotainment Scan”, “Middle Class Revolt”, “The Twenty-Seven Points” and, perhaps most interestingly, “The Post Nearly Man”, all on clear vinyl with expanded artwork from Pascal LeGras. It looks as though these are coming in under the £20 mark (£25 for T27P) and I reckon they'll be popular – I fancy nabbing MCR and TPNM myself. A bit of a downer that all of these, except, oddly, “The Post Nearly Man” were recently rescheduled from September 2020 to January 2021 but hey ho – probably Covid-related, much like everything else.

As for Cherry Red, whilst one report had it that “Are You Are Missing Winner” was next, they are finally releasing a 3CD/2LP edition of “Imperial Wax Solvent” in October. This includes the much-discussed original mix by Grant Showbiz and a previously unavailable live set from shortly after the album's original release. This is, basically, exactly what we wanted. Hurrah! Can't wait.

Thanks to the speculation re: AYAMW, there was a little disappointment in come quarters and I can certainly see a healthy audience for a straight single LP pressing of that as it was only ever available on a picture disc vinyl before. Here's hoping they won't go for a double splatter vinyl with unnecessary extras (“Where's The Fuckin' Taxi? Cunt” on vinyl? Come on, SPARE US).

To yr present authors surprise, an expanded edition of “The Frenz Experiment” was announced for release by Beggars Banquet/Arkive in October. I had reckoned a new vinyl edition was likely as it was the only studio album on BB not yet afforded a new pressing and the addition of a second LP with various singles tracks was no surprise either, given that there are similar packages available for “TWAFW”, “TNSG” and “Bend Sinister”. A very pleasant surprise however is the inclusion of the group's Janice Long session from 1987, their only unreleased Radio 1 session. Also, “A Day In The Life” has been licenced for the this also (it was the only studio recording from the era missing from “5 Albums”). The Long session and “...Life” are only on the CD version. As such, this release very much follows the pattern of the “Bend Sinister” reissue from 2018 and is likely inspired by the near ecstatic reception and healthy sales that release enjoyed. Nice that the CD edition is £12 this time, having been more like £22 for “Bend Sinister”.

Let Them Eat Vinyl are responsible for the illustration...they are planning an almost ludicrous onslaught of Fall vinyl. Their website currently lists an almost unbelievable THIRTY ONE Fall LP releases for the three months running September to November. Thirty-one. Now – this includes “Interim” which is already on the shelves but it also includes the “Live From The Vaults” releases. It was assumed from the inclusion of two of these on Cherry Red's “Dragnet” 3CD box that these were part of the Fall Sound Archive deal that MES cut with CR in the years before his death which makes this a bit interesting. Also, LTEV are also claiming they will release “The Post-Nearly Man” on vinyl in October, which clashes with Demon's schedule – they originally had Smith and The Fall's albums for Permanent Records releases slated for reissue in September but all except TPNM have been moved. Meanwhile, “Cog Sinister” are about to release TPNM on CD! After being unavailable and highly prized for 2 decades, we're now set for 3 separate reissues within 2 months! Anyway, the vast majority of the remaining LTEV are discs from the 2 “sets of ten (really eleven)” although also included are the excellent “I Am Pure As Oranj” and the first vinyl edition of “The Light User Syndrome” since its original release in 1996. Caveat Emptor, as the saying goes.

Narnack are also hinting that a 3LP “Fall Heads Roll” isn't too far off. Having teased this for a couple of years, Early in 2020, it was announced that the label was folding. This announcement was deleted and Narnack immediately moved on to asking fans to suggest what additional material could be added to this new version. Never one of their best, there would have to be some impressive outtakes to persuade yr persent scribe to cough up.

Elsewhere, Phonogram have yet to succumb to new vinyl pressings of their albums, despite the prices fetched on the collectors market for these, especially “Code-Selfish”. This may be partly due to what seems to have been a relatively low take-up for their 6CD box set from 2017. Titled “The Fontana Years”, this was just the 2CD editions of the three albums from 2007 in a box. It therefore looked weak next to the “Singles 1978-2016” box set as well as providing nothing attractive to the faithful who already had them. It hit the shelves at £35-40 a time and, unsurprisingly, remained there and can now be scored for around £20.

The much requested expansion of “The Real New Fall LP” with the original, very different mix of the album has yet to appear. At last count, contractual wrangles between the UK and US were said to be in the way but who knows? If “Levitate” can reappear, surely this can too.

Of course, we never know what else the less-salubrious end of the market will have for us but we shall approach with due caution.

The cold reality: what we get now is all there is. Mark E Smith now exists for Fall fans on paper, on magnetic tape, on vinyl and in combinations of 0 and 1. A sad fact. But it is clear that the appetite for The Fall is, if anything, increasing. Hindsight is presenting The Fall in a particularly clear light. In such a stylised, filtered and carefully marketed world, full of covert strategies and manipulative messaging, The Fall are reassuringly flawed, human, real. Their jagged edges, their constant state of flux, their DIY presentation and their disinterest in convention draws in the curious. The quantity of music suits an insatiable, want-it-all-and-now culture and, having made their albums for the vinyl format as well as bringing us so many magnificent 3-4 minute singles, their music is almost perfectly suited to today's market place where vinyl albums mix with song-by-song streams. People who love to write about music always loved The Fall and it seems that this is every bit as true today as it was in the days when we never had to wait any more than a few months for a missive of some sort, be it an album, a single, a Peel session or even just an entertaining interview.

Given that The Beatles – the most lauded rock/pop act of all time - have finally reached a generation to whom their blithe optimism means absolutely nothing, it is impossible to say how anything in music will be regarded 20 years from now. But for now, at least, The Fall endure. Their vibrations remain intense and powerful. And we, the people, dance to the waves.

Nine out of ten? Nah. Ten out of ten. Top marks.

#mark e smith #the fall #long live the fall

6 notes · View notes

rpgsandbox · 4 years

Link

Era: Survival (which has been one of our fan-favourite games for several years!) immerses players in a post-apocalyptic world where multiple factions fight for dominance.

Inspired by games such as Fallout and Borderlands, Era: Survival's Gaia has many dangers... but also many opportunities for an enterprising individual!

This Kickstarter brings multiple expansions for Era: Survival to you! We start with three (The Citizens of Aqua, Encounters En Route and Diaries of a Madman) and a new book is added for free with each Stretch Goal reached!

We are also offering another chance to get the Era: Survival Definitive Edition Rulebook! The Definitive Edition is an expanded version of the original Core Rulebook, which features more background, more gameplay options and extra content from our previous Era: Survival Kickstarter.

You can join any of these factions or navigate between them, taking your own path. The only question is:

Want to know more? You can find our Backstory Page here, which includes links to information about the various Factions, or you can visit our YouTube for example rolls and world information.

Era: Survival is one of our most popular games to date. We're constantly being asked for more material to play and, honestly, we are happy to oblige!

We're aiming to increase the number of tools the GM has at their disposal by offering a combination of details on new factions and Infected (The Citizens of Aqua, the Sisterhood of Pyrus and more), campaigns (Foundation, Parts 1 and 2) and GM Support books (Encounters, Population Guide)

Gaia has amazing untapped potential and the 230-page Core Rulebook and three existing expansions only scratch the surface: we have 10 expansions firmly planned with many more exciting ideas waiting on standby!

Each expansion brings a new dimension to gameplay: from naval battles to strange and unknown Infected, from the ability to integrate cybernetic components into your body to what really is within the deadly area known as Fallout and even everything you need to play a campaign 100 years after the initial setting!

This Kickstarter will bring you more expansions as we achieve Stretch Goals - the initial funded goal will bring you 3 expansions, but the further we get, the more expansions you receive, at no extra cost!

"A hundred years ago, something happened that would change the fate of humanity forever. Some say it was a biological weapon, others claim a parasite evolved. Most don’t care.

Whatever truths are hidden behind a century of distrust, fear, lies, war and death, everyone agrees about one thing: it is airborne and it’s attacking humans.

Every day, our numbers dwindle.

There is no hope left to save our species, only a chance to survive until tomorrow.”

In Era: Survival, you play as humans trying to survive the post-apocalyptic world of Gaia.

Humanity is facing extinction. There's no cure for the parasite known as Infection: no-one expects that our species will be around in another 100 years. How do you choose to survive?

Are you going to become a Raider, preying on the weak to survive, allowing your weapons to do the talking?

Will you use your cunning to chase rumours of a Vault, armed with a light and a palmtop computer, hoping to uncover treasures left from before the Cataclysm, which will make you wealthy beyond your wildest dreams?

Or perhaps you'll take the jobs one of the more powerful factions offers, hoping to work your way up and gain a reward that way?

The choice is yours...

The people of Gaia have fundamentally different views, which have led Humanity to splinter into numerous factions. These factions have complicated interactions, some working in near-alliances and others being ready to shoot on sight! Each faction also has its own view on how to survive extinction: while some search for a cure or isolate themselves far from the main centres of population, others seek to harness the power of the Mutants to gain power, or believe that Infection is the best course for Humanity.

With the Infected overrunning more towns every day, it's becoming increasingly dangerous out there...

Era d10 is a system that focuses on narrative-driven gaming, with Skills and Attributes that can be combined in any configuration to support player and GM storytelling.

Combat is fast and deadly, with a Kill Threshold providing a lethality to weapons, supporting a straightforward and intuitive system.

If you want to see the basics of the rules, download our free Era d10 Fundamentals booklet here for the ultimate introduction to the Era d10 Rule Set!

Using an Attribute and Skill system, which each define their own areas of influence, you roll your dice depending on what you're attempting - whether Dexterity + Engineering for a precision piece of work, Intelligence + Engineering for a more theoretical problem or Luck + Engineering for a complete long shot, you'll be able to adapt to your circumstances and not just focus on your strengths.

Although you roll more dice the more skilled you are, the number you are attempting to reach varies depending on the difficulty of the action - if shooting someone in clear conditions, the GM would ask for a 7. If someone was laying a mine, more likely a 6. Firing over your shoulder at someone 30 metres away, while crouching behind a low wall would definitely be a 10!

Kickstarter campaign ends: Sun, April 19 2020 9:00 PM BST

Website: [Shades of Vengeance] [facebook] [twitter]

#RPG #kickstarter #Era: Survival #Shades of Vengeance

25 notes · View notes

theonyxpath · 4 years

Link

Now available in ebook and print from Storytellers Vault: Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras 2!

For millennia, monsters have hunted and fought alongside us…

Rebellions swell and vampires feed. Casualties of war draw Reapers to blood-soaked battlefields. Gilded ages benefit mortals and monsters alike.

How? Why? What role do the monsters play with us —- and each other?

Dark Eras 2 explores 13 new eras scattered throughout the history of the Chronicles of Darkness. Each chapter features two to three game lines which include Vampire: The Requiem, Mage: The Awakening, Hunter: The Vigil, Changeling: The Lost, and more!

The rules in this book are compatible with second edition Chronicles of Darkness. Each terrifying time period and location is examined through the supernatural creatures that dwell there.

Unlock the past. Find out what hides in the shadows.

Inside, you’ll find:

Historically inspired settings and story hooks

Character-creation tips and gameplay advice

New Tilts, Conditions, and era-appropriate rules

Because of general quarantine conditions, we wanted to make it easier for you to get the stuff you wanted in order to play your games, so like Dark Eras 1, we also broke out the individual chapters as separate products:

1806 BCE: Hunger in the Black Land (Werewolf: The Forsaken, Promethean: The Created, Beast: The Primordial)

286-226 BCE: The Seven Wonders (Promethean: The Created, Changeling: The Lost)

400-500 CE: Arthur’s Britannia (Vampire: The Requiem, Changeling: The Lost, Hunter: The Vigil)

832 CE: One Thousand and One Nightmares (Vampire: The Requiem, Beast: The Primordial)

1337-1347 CE: Empire of Gold and Dust (Hunter: The Vigil, Demon: The Descent)

1630-1640 CE: Light of the Sun (Mage: The Awakening, Demon: The Descent, Deviant: The Renegades)

1644-1661 CE: Rise of the Last Imperials (Hunter: The Vigil, Mummy: The Curse)

1608-1698 CE: The Scandinavian Witch Trials (Geist: The Sin-Eaters, Mummy: The Curse)

1716-1717 CE: The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (Mage: The Awakening, Geist: The Sin-Eaters)

1793-1794 CE: The Reign of Terror (Vampire: The Requiem, Mummy: The Curse, Demon: The Descent)

1874 CE: Mysterious Frontiers (Mage: The Awakening, Changeling: The Lost)

1914-1918 CE: The Great War (Werewolf: The Forsaken, Promethean: The Created, Geist: The Sin-Eaters)

1938-1947 CE: Fear and the Golden Promise of Tomorrow (Werewolf: The Forsaken, Deviant: The Renegades)

Also available, last week’s Geist anthology, Death is Not the End, is now available via Amazon for the Kindle and B&N for the Nook!

Sales

Scion: Origin is one of dozens of products available in this COVID-19 charity bundle from DriveThruRPG! Over $600 of product for only $20, with all proceeds going to the World Food Programme!

Indie Press Revolution has a number of great bundle deals up until May 24th, or while supplies last!

Kickstarter Update

Our Technocracy Reloaded Kickstarter for Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition launched last week! We hit our $35,000 goal in just 45 minutes! We’re currently at $145,751, or 416% of our original goal, thanks to our 1,730 backers. Wow!

We’ve hit a bunch of stretch goals already, including:

Technocracy Reloaded ST Screen

Technocracy Player’s Companion: Constructs and Symposiums Expanded, Digital Web 3.0.2, Technomancer’s Toybox 20: Q Division, Unlikely Allies III,

Technocratic Union PDF bundle

Backer T-shirt

Technocracy Digital Wallpaper

Mage20 Cookbook PDF added to rewards

Art of Mage20 PDF added to rewards

Did you miss one of our previous Kickstarters? The following Kickstarted products are still open for preorders via BackerKit:

Scarred Lands: Creature Collection 5e

They Came from Beneath the Sea!: They Came from Beneath the Sea! rulebook

Trinity Continuum: Trinity Continuum: Aberrant

Realms of Pugmire: Pirates of Pugmire

Exalted: Lunars: Fangs at the Gate

Chronicles of Darkness: Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras 2

Chronicles of Darkness: The Contagion Chronicle

Chronicles of Darkness: Deviant: The Renegades

Chronicles of Darkness: Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition

Chronicles of Darkness: Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition

Community Spotlight

The following community-created content for Scarred Lands has been added to the Slarecian Vault in the last week:

Your product could be here! Have you considered creating your own to sell?

The following community-created content for Realms of Pugmire has been added to Canis Minor in the last week:

Your product could be here! Have you considered creating your own to sell?

The following community-created content for Storypath has been added to the Storypath Nexus in the last week:

Scion: Mantles of Washington

Your product could be here! Have you considered creating your own to sell?

#Onyx Path Publishing

5 notes · View notes

dippedanddripped · 4 years

Link

Lenny McGurr, better known as the multidisciplinary artist Futura (fka Futura 2000) started in the world of graffiti before branching out to the world of fine art, street art, and beyond. A certified “old head,” he’s designed some of the most covetable sneakers to date (forget the Dunkles, all praises to the FLOMs) and during NYC streetwear’s late-’90s heyday, was behind labels like Project Dragon, Subware, and the seminal Nort/Recon outpost done with Stash.

These days, he’s busier than ever. Supreme’s updating some of their collaborative work from the vault, Futura Laboratories is cooking up new products on a more consistent basis, and he’s got high-fashion collabs like last year’s Off-White™ collection and this year’s capsule with COMME des GARÇONS SHIRT.

He’s also on deck as the art director for one of NTWRK’s upcoming digital events, creating community online during the Covid-19 crisis. We took some time with the artist to discuss his breakout year, and his unexpected connection to the U.S. Postal Service.

The following interview has been edited and condensed.

Jian DeLeon: You’ve had a busy year. This week alone you’ve got your latest Supreme collab and your first collection with COMME des GARÇONS SHIRT hitting Dover Street Market. What haven’t you released yet that you’re stoked on?

Futura: Wow, yeah. I mean, there’s still projects…as you can imagine, everything has been delayed and pushed back due to the situation at hand, but last year was incredible, and a lot of that was the buildup to what’s happening now.

What Supreme is doing is just re-releasing something I did years ago — the handwritten Supreme — and we added the “Justice For All” messaging on the back which is relevant to the time. One thing you didn’t mention is the BMW, which was going to be the main thing of 2020. We were actually in Munich in mid-March. I was hand-painting the interiors before we had to get out of Europe.

JD: Right, it’s the Futura edition M2, which looks absolutely insane. Is this the first time you’ve worked with a major automobile company?

Futura: Yeah, that’s probably one of the most unbelievable jobs I’ve had, simply because I’ve been driving a BMW for more than ten years,.

JD: Yeah, I’ve seen your car parked around Brooklyn a couple times. It has a pretty recognizable license plate.

Futura: Absolutely! I got that vanity plate. So yeah — it’s a real thing; it’s not a stretch — and the fact that they came to me with the M2, plus the history of BMW’s art cars dating back to the ’60s, it’s great to be part of that catalog. For other companies, you might get to paint a vehicle and they put in on display then have it somewhere in a garage, but BMW actually wanted to go into production.

I painted a car that’s the 1-of-1 art car, but then we got a team of artisans who were able to replicate what I did on the outside, and translated that to a catalog of 500 cars. That’s why I was in Munich, I was painting the interiors — like the dashboard trim where the gearbox is. There are maybe over 1,200 pieces I physically painted. Those original pieces go onto every car. That’s a very cool thing about this project.

JD: As a BMW enthusiast, why did you gravitate towards the M2?

Futura: It’s the car I always wanted. I always wanted an M5, but the M2 hit and I was like: “Oh man, that’s really it.” There’s just something about that car. It’s about performance. It’s not meant for New York streets, but I would love to drive that car in, Utah, Montana, or on the Autobahn, obviously.

JD: Back in February when the BMW collaboration was announced, your capsule collection with COMME des GARÇONS SHIRT was also making its runway debut in Paris. While it’s not the first time your work’s been on the runway, this is the first time you’ve collaborated with CDG. That label occupies a special place in culture. It can touch sneakers, streetwear, and high fashion without losing its appeal. What’s been your perception of the. brand?

Futura: I can recall a CDG show in the ’80s where Basquiat was a runway model. It was like: “Oh, Jean’s here. Wear this shirt please, and have him walk down the runway.” I remember him telling me the price. Even back then, Japan was always expensive as an import and had a level of quality that you knew was above perhaps what Americans and Europeans were doing. Certainly Americans.

Later they did interpretations of Jean’s work in their collections. So for it to all come around in full-circle like this is great, and I mentioned that to Rei [Kawakubo]. I don’t know if I had met her in the past, but it’s a cool story for me…It connects very strongly to all the things that I’m really into. Japan’s been very good to me, not in my experiences there, but how I feel about working with my Japanese collaborators, contemporaries, and homies.

JD: The U.S. Postal Service is a hot topic right now for some very good reasons. Besides the slap history of post office stickers in graffiti, I understand you have a more personal connection?

Futura: I used to work for postal service back in the day…’88 or ’89. The ’80s were amazing, but for the graffiti guys there was only about five years before people were kind of over it because now you had [Basquiat]. You had other artists emerging that were much more important, and I was looking for any kind of job. I was a bike messenger, but then I got injured. We were independent, freelance guys with no benefits, and my son Timothy would’ve been three or four. So I got a job in Long Island City at the post office right across from PS1.

The crazy thing about that was in 1981 I was part of a huge show called “New York New Wave” at PS1. It was a seminal show of the era. We were all in it, and then six years later here I am working at the post office across the street. But luckily I recovered. It was Agnès B. in 1989 that helped me leave that job because I had an exhibition. Someone was very supportive of my work and offered me a show.I sold four paintings — two of which were bought by Agnès B. — and that was the beginning of my. life as a wannabe artist.

JD: I don’t think you’re a “wannabe artist” at this point.

Futura: Well, I think you’re right and I appreciate that, but I was really wanting to be one back then. So, yeah man, I went from USPS to having an atelier — which even sounded cooler than a studio.

JD: Since everyone’s buying. stamps right now to help support the post office, if you could design a stamp, what would it be?

Futura: That’s a great question. Well…let’s just say that’s TBD, because given my own personal history with them, I wouldn’t be against that at all. I mean, that’s the dream. First of all, as a child, stamps were one of the biggest visual inspirations of my life, along. with television. But I come from a visual stimulation culture revolving around things you could tangibly look at and touch — like stamps and money, the design of money. So yeah, designing a stamp would be crazy.

#vibe check #futura 2000 #futura #usps #agnes b #COMME des GARÇONS #streetwear blog #fashion blog

1 note · View note

lady-plantagenet · 4 years

Text

A Bygone Era - Chapter 6.

A fictional account written by me of Lady Isabel Neville’s life told through the points of view of her and those who knew her.

Points of views so far include: Anne Beauchamp Countess of Warwick, Lady Anne Neville, George Duke of Clarence, Lady Isabel Neville and Richard Neville Earl of Warwick

R&R, if you please<3

Chapter Text

15th August 1469

The Ladies of Warwick would grow tired in the coming days. Anticipation layed claim to their blood like a merciless tyrant, confounding all senses and transfiguring the muted colours of the garden into short sharp bursts of violets and reds unfolding their eyes, as their imaginations were left to run wild.

No woman was more well-versed in the practice of biding one’s time in dignity than the Countess herself. Her hands would be bound to the busy business of adorning her daughters’ sleeves. The mind would set itself upon matters of feoffee to uses . As a young girl, the needs of the heart would be met through the valiant deeds immortalised in The Grail Stories, her tired index finger tracing each engraved line for semblances of her husband’s character in De Boron’s poesies. Fodder for girlish fancies that now lay in the shallow grave of her youth, made colder with each miscarriage wrought on her person.

Her daughters trailed behind her as they left the resplendent terraces for the vaulted chambers, just as the sext sun began to claim its highest throne. The silks from their gowns flashed behind them like straggling snakes made subserviant footmen, occasionally overlapping in clashes of colour. Fresh bristol silk as red as the maiden’s hair, somber foliage patterned on crane-coloured satin for the mother and Indigo brocade dripping in richness and detail for the Duchess who would not deign it any other way.

Isabel’s boudoir at Warwick possessed an inverted ceiling, which made it a favourite backdrop for her daughters when they played at castles. It was their third place of repose for the day already, and one that would well shield their complexions from browning.

Anne was sat close to the oriel window, busily attending to the wrinkles of her labour - a baby’s smock. The green and murrey stitches, straighter than any stitches that had ever preceded them, glistened in the summer sun like cool jewels against the fire of her hair. She smiled gleefully.

Isabel, congruous to her usual character, made her pace slow and when finally appearing before them, had her hand placed visibly over her flat stomach as if two days shy of confinement. Her long dark hair shifted freely under the bare confinement of a frontlet emanating the carriage of the Virgin herself.

Anne eager to please held out to Isabel the flimsy cloth ‘Issy, tell me you like it, there you may have not noticed I added a little bear cub, can you make its likeness?’

Isabel propped her feet upon their father’s stool with a flourish before accepting the offering with delayed movement. She held it against the sun, nails critically grazing the handiwork for fault.

A daughter dark and pale with fashionable sadness in sage eyes, another with skin of honey and milk and hair like copper, full of vitality and goodness, as she. Had I not known them better I would have thought Isabel fit for mother’s old title of Gloucester and Anne, a bride for Clarence. They once seemed like the sun and moon. Annet felt a certain fondness for her new son-in-law, as much she would begrudgingly admit if held to question, but now that Isabel was free to take to him as a lawful wife, she started seeing vestiges of his hopefulness and flamboyance take root in her.

‘Daughter dear, how sure are you of your being with child?’ asked Annet ‘Only a week passes since your monthly course was due’

Isabel retrieved the smock to Anne, a brief inclination of her head conveying enough gratitude to inspire reassurance in Anne, just. The frock did little such for the Countess. ‘As to your knowledge, father and George tarried in Calais near a week after we were wed. I can assure that the nights we had as man and wife were spent most fruitfully. If a child had not been begotten already, it would defy the workings of god and nature’

Annet shot a look at Anne, who was desperately trying to trap the giggles in her throat, but with little success. ‘Isabel, you need not blaspheme and above that, being a woman wed does not entitle you to such vulgarity’.

Isabel stared back at her and redness took root over blanched features. She was once again her teenaged daughter, who would not have dreamed of retorting back to her mother.

‘What have you taken to amuse yourself with today?’ asked Annet willing a motherly warmth remedy her tongue.

Isabel produced some papers, the wax of the scarlett seal bearing two crows and a lion was unbroken.

‘Are you truly planning on reading George’s letters to us for the third time?’ Jested Anne. Annet smirked in hidden gratefulness for the opportune timings of Anne’s defiances when they rarely did arise.

‘This is new news. Fresh news. A messenger brought it some hours past. If you both determine to be this way then I see no reason to share its contents’ she said with newfound boldness.

‘Go on then Isabel’ prodded Annet patiently

‘ Dear Heart,

I write to you a jubilant husband eagerly bequeathing unto you the bestest of news. Your father and I have captured Edward and are but a day’s ride from Warwick. Edgecote Moor is proof enough that God smiles upon our work and your uncle at Olney has now given us my brother. I think it would amuse you much to see our Edward fallen into the guise of our prisoner, his hands bound and unable to wright any more mischief upon this kingdom. I have mentioned to your father that the Oubliette would do perfectly, but he thinks me jesting and will not entertain the suggestion.

I once again say that my only regret is that you were not there beside me to witness for yourself the cries of ‘A Warwick! A Clarence’ as we rode through Kent and even London, though they say the South loves Edward. As you know Sir John Conyers was slain in the melée, which may be the only regret I carry with me, having found the northerner rebel’s loyalities most touching. Withall, it is now more certain than ever that you will be Queen. Engage in your revelries as you ought to as you shall be the finest and most beloved’

Isabel pressed the letter to her chest and drew a deep breath smiling blissfully . The theatrics of the gesture ran deep and true, even Annet admitted to herself, seeing an unusual raise in her daughter’s hooded eyes. They were now the Despencer green. Annet noticed from a wandering shimmer that escaped the window, how sprightly a new wife’s eyes could be.

The reminding realisation of her daughter’s youth once more hit her with a blunt fervour. She thought that perhaps, innocence indeed trumped experience in virtue, for the latter’s lesser value never stilted the joy of the former. She remembered all too well the pangs of emotion she felt when reading her husband’s triumphant war letters in what felt like another era, however, it was never like this.

She only saw the children who a season past were sneaking bonbons from the pantry now playing at war and crowns. Unjaded and unfortified hearts are liberal in their joys which, however much they rival the shallowness of a horse trough, also have it in them to overcome the Pennines with hope alone.

‘Ah Anne, when I am Queen you shall be joined in the second to the best match in Christendom’ Annet heard Isabel say and knew better than to ask who Isabel in fact considered the foremost eligible suitor.

‘Oh truly Issy?’ Asked the hopeful child

‘Yes. Gloucester’s cowardice will be forgotten like a dandelion would readily its pappus’ Isabel passed to Anne her unguent so that she may too pride herself with soft hands, within lay crushed amethysts among a cornucopia of older herbs. ‘A French prince perhaps, now I never much liked them, however, father says it is an important country to appease. Calais claims more of your childhood than it did mine. One only need hear your French. It even surpasses mine, I daresay unsurprisingly so’

Annet raised an eyebrow at that, in surprise as much as in amusement. She did not think she would hear Isabel admit that Anne could best her in anything, while still here on earth.

‘Thank you dear sister, I am readily committed to forget Richard. Tell me, how can one brother so valiantly cross the channel in defiance of the king for love, whereas the other would not even dare ask him twice?’ Edward, the cold calculating king, denier of love, prohibitor of the happy marriage. My, what a fanciful image these two weave.

‘I would tell you if I knew Annie’ chuckled Isabel shaking her dark head in disbelief ‘Richard clearly would rather his brother than a wife he loves. If I were you I’d say “good riddance”’

Hands tightened around the stout wooden arms of the Countess’ chair while an errant foot involuntary kicked at the rushes freeing a herbal scent. ‘Truly, had cat’s brain been slipped into your porridges this morning?’ She noticed both her daughters suddenly veering their faces away from each other and towards her, startled by her exclamation.

‘Gloucester was not yet a man when Clarence first defied the king, what would you have a twelve year old do, Isabel? I know that to attempt to veto your musings would be in vain, but you are no Queen yet and as such must not alienate anyone of the house of York, not in thought nor in deed’

Isabel nodded quietly, Annet saw in her face the crestfallen expression George wore the five years past. Wide eyes sparked with dismay rather than dulled by contrition or diminished pride. ‘Yes, we have all seen the French price of loyalty. Jesus wept, you think any of this I did not know before? As you said, let me muse in peace’

Just as in St Omer, a curtain of silence swept over the room only to be availed by the Sunday tintinnabulations of the bells in St Mary’s Church. The peal of Anne’s voice added to the chorus, ‘But this letter dates three days past. Why are they not here?’

It would be like George to sacrifice clarity for flare. ‘Best read the rest’, prodded Annet

‘Very well then’, Isabel conceded

’ Beloved one, I bid you goodnight presently at Kenilworth where I tarry for a day in the dispensation of justice. Two snakes heads are to be taken off by matins tommorow, they are those of the witch’s father and brother John - married to your aunt Katherine. I believe that is explanation enough for why though I am near, you must wait a day or two to rejoice in my return -‘ the letter slipped unceremoniously through stunned fingers.

Annet was at once at her side ‘Isabel! Isabel!’, she shook her by the shoulders freeing her raven hair from its frontlet and into the pallour of her face.

‘I did not want this mother’ she whispered faintly behind a shaking fist ‘What would god think, what would-. Oh jesus, have mercy on us’

‘God smiles upon them’ Annet found herself quoting George ‘he is the almighty and the Queen’s kin would not have been put in their path if he willed it any different’. Hands were now placed about her daughter’s collar as if she were a horse caught in a storm needing to be steadied.

‘You would say the same for my grandfather of Salisbury. That god willed him lynched and cut down, rotting in the squalor of Wakefield?’ She would have drawn her hand indignantly to her chest had her mother not enclapsed her wrists into a steely grip.

Soothing her daughter, she realised, had all the wisdom of a cripple instructing a mute on how to walk. Annet briefly looked away. She, the cripple here, was unsettled rather than horrified. Yes, feeling naught for a man and his young son being strung up like poultry is unsettling.

Have I no heart, have I relived this moment too many times, just to find that everything that is to be felt, I felt, yet none the wiser for that?

‘I would not. That you do know perfectly well. Now, your father has done great good. His place in God’s kingdom is assured. Clarence is young, he has many more years to uncover the long, winding road. As for you, you have no part in this. Your soul is not tarnished, worry not for yourself- selfish practice it would be if you did’

Pale green eyes stared back into hers streaked with bronze. Anne was ever more a joy to her than Isabel, the bond was obvious. But in moments like this, her attentions covered aught but Isabel in their griefs and worries. ‘If you’d only know mother! It was George’s path that placed exclusively into my consideration. Father as well, but certainly not myself and my soul. I think of my wretched powerlessness. On how often I will find myself able to do nothing to ensure that George may walk the golden path with father when the time comes - that even before that he will be cursed here on Earth like a Henry Fitz-Empress’

The Countess stood up, the crane-coloured thistles in her skirts gathered around her like a ghostly garden against the windowed backdrop of a coming storm. ‘Oh but there is much to do. Be his wife and love him, be England’s Queen and keep its peace, bear the King a son and secure his succession. Do this and there will be no more deaths. I vow this to be true’.

‘Lo- mother, sister, the King!’ shouted Anne across the room. The warm wind from the Campion hills was in conflict with the sudden onpour, noisily banishing the raindrops to the windows in opaque watery blankets. Annet did not need to be with her husband and attendants below to know that the gravel was still hot. She could make Clarence’s likeness: the rider of the black destrier whose curls streaked golden by the sun stood on one end. Her husband’s return she saw not with the eyes but felt instinctively. Her eyes would not have demasqued the downcast man for the king had he not so towered above all the others.

‘Isabel, tidy yourself your ki -‘ no, brother by marriage. For heavens sake, what to call him? ‘ Edward is here’ she finally settled on.

Isabel was looking too, the Byzantine garnet pendant she was gifted by George as a wedding night gift, claimed what little light came from outside in its opulence. Her face showed no sign of duress and no sign of tears. Annet sighed with contentment and now relief for Isabel’s imperturbable exterior, how she would have hated a crying daughter. One to remind her every waking hour that she was no son.

A white bolt of silk was fashioned onto Isabel’s head into a chaperon and they made their way down to the great chamber for their last excursion about the castle. The three men passed the threshold and when the women curtseyed, the befudled Countess thanked chance they came at once as none of them knew for whom the deference should be intended.

Isabel was the first to rise, greeting George as a wife. A wife’s devotal duty. Surely none could gainsay her for bypassing the King .

Any neutrality was however broken when George in spite of- or rather because of- his brother’s presence drew Isabel towards him pressing his lips lingeringly against hers.

The King did not need to do more than narrow his dark eyes, and fear was struck into the walls themselves. The stalwart grey stone which saw all their childhoods and marriages unfolded, all but this giant of a man, who in them saw nothing but the betrayal that had passed against kings. No two kings were as different as Edward IV and Edward II whose Sir Gaveston was sentenced to die in this very castle. Yet fate is wrought with irony.

‘Cousin, welcome to Warwick Castle’ said The Countess who was in no mood for a confrontation regarding honorifics . ‘I have made ready your lodgings at Caesar Tower. As soon as it started to rain I bid the servants prepare a bath, if you please’

The morose nod he then gave was greater confirmation of his capture than any tied rope could have given.

As he was escorted away, she fell into her husband’s arms in a strange variation of their reunion customs. ‘Is it done?’

‘I know my clever Annet better than to ask which you did mean- the deposition or the executions’ The Earl joked, cracked lips forming a warm smile ‘Yes, the deed is done’.

Drops fell into his collar as he shook his head at George, clucking, who instead chose his plain tattered boots as his focus ‘For the love of Christ George, I know you did add that to your letter to Isabel. I told you: platitudes and naught else should be there. Have you spared any though on-‘

George met his eyes and answered with, ‘Thought on what? That news would get out and Edward would find out?’ The smirk that gathered, sat as naturally on his soft lips as a dagger in a babe’s hand.

Read the rest here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22268239/chapters/57406180

#I wrote this #wars of the roses #isabel neville #george of clarence #historical fiction #edward iv #historical accuracy #criticisms are as welcome as compliments #the white queen #richard neville #a bygone era #written by me #anne neville #anne beauchamp #margaret of york #apparently links do not show up in tags

2 notes · View notes