#Fire Mist System London

[ninja-muse]

September is birthday month, if anyone's wondering why my acquisition of books appears to have slipped again (picture #2). At least I'd read nearly all of them before they joined my library shelves, and Winter's Gifts, well, it's really easy to read an Aaronovitch novella within a day or two of acquiring it. Especially since…

September was also week-vacation month, which is part of how I made it to 13 books read but very little explanation for my read-from-TBR-shelves stack (picture #1), only two of which I read on holiday. The two short ones I read in the gap between "finished the latest Book Of Substance" and "started the official Vacation Stack", and Digger was one of my 2023 goals so I decided to check that off. Baking Yesteryear was a surprise/accident. I was telling a coworker how much I enjoyed reading the library's copy and they said, "hey, while you were off, we got a copy too damaged to sell…". And one has to treat oneself in birthday month.

(Vacation was good, in case you were wondering. Camping, so no wifi, so lots of outdoors and reading time and charming rodent shenanigans.)

My biggest regret of the month, by which we mean less regret and more mild bookish panic, is the number of reading copies I appear to have taken home. I have one for Menewood which I'm planning to get to once I finish with My Roommate is a Vampire, and the rest of them were, well, um. Look. When your store buyer and random publishers send you books you'd enjoy and your coworkers finish reading ARCs you've been interested in, things happen, okay? At least at this point a lot of the books are coming out next year, which probably doesn't bode well for my 2024 TBR but that is a future problem.

Also, not doing great at my goal of reading a Canadian author every month. This is the second (?) month in a row I've failed on that front which, yes, is why I'm reading a Canadian author right now. (Also it's one of those ARCs a coworker finished with.)

Beyond the bookish stuff, there's not much to report. I've written a good bit and am surprising myself by how much I can write on my phone during a commute. Had a good birthday. Ate good food. Got fun things. Dealt with slightly more chaos at work than usual. Finished the last season of Great British Bake-Off aired in Canada and am looking forward to starting the Canadian version tonight.

How was your September?

And now without further ado, in order of enjoyment…

Evidence of Things Seen - Sarah Weinman, ed.

A collection of true crime journalism tackling recent social justice issues and big-picture flaws in the justice system.

8/10

multiple #ownvoices essays by BIPOC authors

warning: the usual things one would expect to find in true crime journalism

Infinity Gate - M.R. Carey

A scientist, the multiverse, AI, and the nature of humanity.

8/10

Nigerian and Moroccan POV characters

warning: slavery, fire, xenophobia, war, torture, violence

Thornhedge - T. Kingfisher

Toadling confronts the knight bent on entering the sleeper’s tower.

8/10

Arab Muslim secondary character

Digger Unearthed - Ursula Vernon

A wombat’s tunnel takes her to a very foreign land. She would like to go home please—but there are gods.

8.5/10

Baking Yesteryear - B. Dylan Hollis

Tried and true recipes from the past century.

9/10

🏳️‍🌈 author

The Fragile Threads of Power - V.E. Schwab

Seven years after Red London was saved, some people have moved on and others are still picking up the pieces. And some are asking whether the king deserves to be in power.

7.5/10

POV characters of colour, 🏳️‍🌈 POV characters (gay), 🏳️‍🌈 author

Winter’s Gifts - Ben Aaronovitch

Agent Kimberley Reynolds investigates a case with “unusual characteristics” during a Michigan winter.

7/10

Ojibwe secondary characters

Lud-In-The-Mist - Hope Mirrlees

A bourgeois father tries to save his children from the plague of fairy fruit—which is hard, since it doesn’t officially exist.

6.5/10

warning: classist, misogynist, generally unkind to the disabled and mentally ill

A Long Day in Lychford - Paul Cornell

Something is wrong with the borders around Lychford and the local coven has to put things right before people get hurt.

7/10

Black British main character

warning: mild racism and xenophobia

The Vaster Wilds - Lauren Groff

A servant girl flees her colonial town for the dubious safety of the wilderness.

7/10

protagonist of colour, mentally disabled secondary character, incidental Powhatan and other indigenous characters

warning: racism, misogyny, rape, disease, starvation, murder, death of a child

Board to Death - CJ Connor

Ben turns down a suspiciously good deal on an old board game. Then the dealer turns up dead on his doorstep.

6/10

🏳️‍🌈 main character (gay), 🏳️‍🌈 secondary character (gay), 🏳️‍🌈 author, #ownvoices

Starter Villain - John Scalzi

Charlie inherits a supervillain empire, complete with a subscription mega-laser, spy cats, and enemies.

6.5/10

The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices - Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins

Two friends go on a holiday to northern England.

7/10

Currently reading:

Like Every Form of Love - Padma Viswanathan

A writer digs into the strange, complicated story of a man she befriended in a marina.

🏳️‍🌈 secondary character (gay), Indo-Canadian author, 🇨🇦

warning: domestic and child abuse

My Roommate is a Vampire - Jenna Levine

There’s a room-to-rent in Cassie’s low, low budget. The (hot) guy renting it acts like he’s from the 1800s. Surely he’s just quirky.

🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (gay)

Music from the Earliest Notations to the Sixteenth Century - Richard Taruskin

A history of early written European music, in its social and political contexts.

Stats

Monthly total: 13 Yearly total: 100/140 Queer books: 3 Authors of colour: 0 Books by women: 5 Authors outside the binary: 0 Canadian authors: 0 Off the TBR shelves: 5 Books hauled: 6 ARCs acquired: 12 ARCs unhauled: 4 DNFs: 0

January February March April May June July August

[zeithforge]

The Automaton’s Wake

London, 1888. A city caught between brilliance and smoke. The skies wept endlessly—rain tracing soot-streaked rooftops, coal smoke billowing like ghost-breath from a thousand chimneys. Beneath that churning sky, gaslight spilled onto slick cobblestones, casting amber rivers through the endless twilight. Hansom cabs clattered through the fog, wheels splashing over wet stone. Gentlemen in top hats marched with the focus of men pursued by invisible clocks.

This was the Age of Time. Not just in the sense of seconds and hours, but in faith. Time itself was an idol—measurable, conquerable. The steam engine, the chronograph, the ceaseless tick-tock of invention: all promised progress. Even death, they whispered, could be solved with enough brass and precision gears.

But while progress surged forward, shadows clung harder.

The Chronosynclastic Automaton of Professor Allister Finch. Not far from the fog-choked banks of the Thames, tucked away in the twisting backstreets of Clerkenwell, sat a peculiar workshop—three stories tall and entirely out of step with time itself. Here, amidst towering stacks of brass components, coils of electrum wire, and the pervasive scent of ozone and oil, resided Professor Alistair Finch.

He was not the celebrated, outwardly flamboyant inventor one might see in the pages of the Illustrated London News. Finch was a gaunt, almost spectral figure, his grey eyes burning with an internal fire that seemed to consume his very flesh. His only companion was a collection of chittering, articulate clockwork robins, his singular concession to frivolous decoration.

Finch was a man haunted by a singular, profound loss: the abrupt disappearance of his beloved sister, Eleanor, a brilliant mechanist herself, ten years prior. The official explanation was a tragic accident involving an experimental airship. Finch knew better. Eleanor, his closest confidante, had confided in him a wild theory—that time itself was a fourth dimension, traversable with sufficient, precisely calibrated force. And then, she was gone.

Consumed by grief and a relentless drive for answers, Finch had devoted every waking moment to building the "Chronosynclastic Automaton." It was not a clock to merely tell time, but to traverse it. Imagine a colossal sphere of polished brass, seven feet in diameter, intricately engraved with constellations and timelines, bristling with an impossible array of whirring cogs, gleaming pistons, and arcane crystal conduits. Its primary power source was a perpetually superheated steam core, humming with barely contained energy, meticulously regulated by a complex system of differential gears and a self-adjusting aetheric capacitor. Finch believed it could rupture the membrane of linear progression.

His sole confidante, and indeed his only connection to the rational world, was Miss Ada Marlowe, a tenacious investigative journalist for The Daily Sentinel. Ada possessed a mind as sharp as any industrial blade and a spirit as unyielding as forged steel. She’d initially come to Finch’s workshop chasing a rumor of peculiar energy fluctuations, but had quickly become captivated by his singular vision and the quiet anguish in his eyes. She suspected his genius bordered on madness, yet something in her own restless nature resonated with his desperate quest. She saw not just a mad inventor, but a man battling the very fabric of reality for a truth only he could perceive.

The plot ignited on a blustery November night. Ada arrived at the workshop, her usual professional composure shattered. "Professor!" she gasped, her breath misting. "There's a whisper... the Royal Society, they've been tracking strange temporal anomalies across London. Flashes of impossible light, objects appearing and disappearing from different eras!" Her voice dropped. "They're calling it 'temporal bleed.' And they believe it originates here."

Finch, wild-eyed, didn't seem surprised. "It's the Automaton, Ada! It's reacting. It’s sensing the breach! She’s trying to tell me something!" He gestured wildly towards the behemoth, which had begun to hum with a low, resonant thrum, its brass plates shimmering with an internal luminescence. "Eleanor… she found a way. She's reaching out!"

This was it. Not just a theory, but a genuine crisis. Ada, though terrified, recognized the story of a lifetime, and perhaps, the key to understanding a profound truth. She and Finch had to activate the Automaton, not just to find Eleanor, but to understand and perhaps halt the escalating temporal bleed that threatened to unravel London’s present.

Their journey became a frantic race against the clock, quite literally. Their primary objective: to pinpoint the origin of Eleanor's anomaly and understand the nature of the "temporal bleed" before the Royal Society, led by the ruthless and power-hungry Lord Blackwood, could seize the Automaton for their own nefarious purposes. Blackwood envisioned using time travel to rewrite history, cementing the British Empire's global dominance.

Their first leap, a cautious three-second jump into London's immediate past, was disorienting but successful. They materialized in the same workshop, three seconds ago, seeing their past selves. It was a dizzying confirmation. But subsequent, longer jumps proved far more perilous.

They inadvertently landed in: The Great Fire of London (1666): Witnessing the city ablaze, the choking smoke stinging their eyes, the desperate cries for help. They had to frantically recalibrate, narrowly escaping being consumed by the inferno, solidifying the dangers of uncontrolled temporal shifts. A future, dystopian London (2077): A nightmare landscape of desolate, automated factories under a sky perpetually dark with smog, ruled by silent, omnipresent surveillance automatons. This glimpse into a potential future, a consequence of unchecked industrial growth, served as a grim warning. Ada, the journalist, saw her worst fears of technology’s dehumanizing impact manifest.

Each jump tested their ingenuity. When a critical chroniton valve seized in 1666, Finch had to improvise a replacement using materials from a blacksmith's forge, adapting Victorian ingenuity to a primitive age. In 2077, they navigated a surveillance grid by deactivating old-world steam conduits, forcing them to understand that technological mastery in one era didn’t guarantee it in another. The core conflict intensified: Lord Blackwood's Pursuit: His steam-powered airships, fitted with nascent temporal sensors, relentlessly tracked Finch's Automaton. Blackwood’s agents, often clad in menacing clockwork suits, engaged Finch and Ada in frantic chases through gaslit alleyways and across sooty rooftops, adding thrilling action sequences.

The Temporal Bleed: The more they jumped, the worse the bleed became. Echoes of other times would flicker into existence: a Roman centurion glimpsed on a street corner, a horse-drawn carriage briefly replaced by a roaring horseless carriage, a snatch of music from a future century. This wasn't just a threat to London; it was a threat to the very coherence of time.

The climax arrived when Finch finally pinpointed Eleanor's last known temporal signature: not a precise location, but a repeating temporal loop in a small, abandoned laboratory beneath the London Eye construction site – then just a blueprint.

They found Eleanor, trapped within a self-sustaining temporal bubble, endlessly repeating a few minutes of her life. She was attempting to send a warning, a complex mathematical sequence, but the energy drain of her initial jump had left her in this quantum limbo. Her own experimental device, a smaller, more elegant version of Finch's Automaton, was slowly fracturing.

Just as Finch initiated a complex temporal phase-lock to extract her, Lord Blackwood's lead airship descended, its grappling hooks tearing through the roof. Blackwood, flanked by his clockwork enforcers, demanded the Automaton. He revealed his true plan: not just to rewrite history, but to stabilize it in a single, unchallengeable imperial timeline, eliminating all perceived 'future' threats by nullifying their existence.

The final confrontation was a desperate ballet of clockwork and courage. Ada, using her knowledge of the Automaton's internal workings, cleverly overloaded a steam regulator, creating a diversion. Finch, despite his frailty, fought off Blackwood's agents with an improvised electrum coil, protecting his sister’s fragile temporal bubble.

The unexpected climax came not from a physical confrontation, but a revelation. As Eleanor was phased back into their timeline, lucid for a precious few moments, she didn't speak of rescue. Instead, she gasped, "The Bleed... it's not a malfunction. It's a response. Time... it's a living entity, Alistair. You don't master it. You harmonize with it. Our jumps... they're tearing its fabric. It tries to heal. The real danger... isn't the jumps. It's the stopping."

Just as Blackwood lunged for the Automaton, Eleanor, with a final, desperate surge of will, interfaced her fracturing device with Finch’s. A blinding flash erupted. The Chronosynclastic Automaton didn't explode or simply shut down. Instead, it performed one final, catastrophic act: it didn't travel to a time, but to no time. It became temporal null, a singularity that consumed itself and everything directly connected to it. Blackwood, his hands grasping for its controls, was vaporized, reduced to a shower of chroniton particles.

When the light faded, Finch and Ada stood alone in the wreckage of the laboratory. Eleanor was gone, her temporal bubble dissolved with the Automaton. The temporal bleed across London immediately ceased.

The Chronosynclastic Automaton, and with it, the possibility of deliberate time travel, was gone. Erased.

The conclusion was both tragic and liberating. Finch, though losing Eleanor again, found a different kind of peace. Her final warning, that time was not a river to be damned or diverted but a living force to be respected, resonated deeply within him. The era of casual temporal exploration was over. Humanity had been given a chilling glimpse of the consequences of their ambition.

Ada wrote her article, not about the glory of time travel, but about the profound mystery of time itself, the hubris of humanity, and the need for wisdom over unchecked power. It was a story not of technological triumph, but of profound discovery—that some boundaries are not meant to be crossed, and some forces are not meant to be mastered.

Finch retreated from the public eye, dedicating his remaining years to studying the natural flow of time, seeking to understand its inherent harmony rather than to violate it. He continued to build clocks, but now, each intricate gear, each precise spring, whispered not of grand voyages through time, but of the sacred, relentless onward march of the present, a precious gift to be cherished rather than manipulated. The world still buzzed with steam and invention, but the dream of conquering time, for a precious few who knew the truth, had died, leaving behind only the echoing tick-tock of what truly mattered: the ever-moving now.

[aspisfiresafetyltd]

Are fire sprinklers reusable?

When they make the decision to invest in an Fire Sprinklers London property owners know that they have invested not just in a sprinkler system but in the safety of everyone who will spend time in that property, and indeed the property itself. But Fire Suppression Mist System can seem expensive and as we all begin to look for ways to reduce costs many people are beginning to wonder whether previously used fire sprinklers might offer a more affordable way to safeguard life and property.

[mymelodyheart]

Miles Between Us Chapter 2 ~Words~

Picture Source

Previously in Stories She Wrote ...

Claire ignored the jest. "So you really think I should publish my story?"

Her friend nodded excitedly. "Absolutely! You should have let me read it sooner. From what I've seen so far, you have good, solid material, and I'm convinced, when I read the rest, it will not disappoint." She stood up and smiled. "Come on, in as much as I'm all fired up after reading your story, I'm famished." She got up and left the room.

Instead of moving from her position, Claire stared at her work for a few seconds and just breathed. Although Willie and Annalise were sincere with their praises, she couldn't help but still feel nervous. This next step in her life could either turn out to be huge, or it could get her mocked out of a dream career she loved. 

Pushing aside her doubts and thinking of Jamie, she quickly compressed a copy of her story's file and sent it to him via email to read, hoping he would like her written work too

  If you wish to read this on AO3, here is the link.

If you wish to read this from the beginning:

AO3 link

Tumblr link

 WARNING: VERY EXPLICIT SEXUAL & LANGUAGE CONTENT

  Jamie walked into his cottage and was greeted by his dog Rollo and cat, Adso. He tossed his keys on the dining table as he absentmindedly rubbed his pets alternately behind the ears and scrolled through his phone. He smiled. There was an email notification from Claire and a text letting him know she would be calling after dinner. After turning on his laptop, he shrugged off his jacket, placed it on the back of his chair, and then went to the kitchen to feed his companions, thinking his own dinner would have to wait, too eager to read Claire's email. 

Feeling the chill, he put firewood onto the grate and set it alight, before making a mug of black tea and heading back to the dining table. Once there, instead of immediately opening his email, he stared at his desktop photo. It was of Claire, wearing nothing but his shirt and sitting cross-legged by the fireplace with a bowl of breakfast. Without conscious volition, he touched the picture on the screen and then brought his fingers against his lips. Miss you, Sassenach. Although work and obligations had filled his days, time seemed to go so painstakingly slow, his mind constantly wandering to her. It pained him not to have her by his side, but he knew it was a little sacrifice for what lay ahead of them.

Sighing, he opened the email. Please read and tell me what you think, love C, it said. 

After clicking on the attachment, he extracted the content and found a file with Word documents. He enlarged the first page, skimmed through the paragraphs and realised it was Claire's work. After taking a sip of his tea, he proceeded to read from the beginning.

A few paragraphs later, he was hooked. Not because Claire wrote it, but because of the beautiful marrying of emotions with words. He was instantly captivated. How could she have downplayed her talent when she had this innate gift? She once mentioned, there were talks among her peers, that editors were just frustrated authors. Weel, not this editor! he thought. But more than the mental images her storyline evoked, it was the words that moved him. It was as if he was reading a personal confession disguised in the characters she'd created and it spoked straight to his soul. He continued to read, and when he came upon a particular plot, his eyes slightly misted. 

From across the room, her gaze locked with his, and for a moment, she forgot to breathe. A live wire crackled and sparked, launching showers of tiny fireworks to light every dark recess of her weary soul. 

It was always going to be like this every time she saw him, she sighed. After all these years, nothing had changed. 

In their youth, she'd believed, they were bound together, not by something tangible, but by a profound, powerful connection that is ancient and older than the planets. It was as if she'd envisioned them a million times aeons ago and the stars finally heeded and arranged for their paths to cross. 

It had started with a touch, a soft kiss, a subtle stirring of their souls, and as if by magic, their story began to write itself from thereon. His strength had been her protection, her heart, his shelter, and in each others' arms, they were home. For at one time, love between them had been powerful than the fate and deeper than a naked eye. But that was then, she reminded herself ...before he found out she was from another place and time. Out of this tragedy, which altered the course of her life, was the infinite curse she must bear alone. But she couldn't blame him. It was her fault.

As a tiny sob escaped her throat, a man bumped into her, jarringly breaking her reverie. Annoyed with herself for feeling weak, she straightened her spine and squared her shoulders. And as she slowly made her way over to him, she hoped and prayed her face would not betray her emotions. There comes that significant point in life when one had to choose to either turn the page, write another book or simply close it. She chose the latter.

Jamie's heart drummed, and he puffed out a lungful of air. Settling back on his seat, he rubbed a hand over his face. He had this sudden burning urge to bundle Claire's story and gift it to the world. Why has she waited this long to pursue her dream? This is bloody insane! In each of the characters, he saw her - beautifully flawed and full of heart. She wielded words in her story as if she was tearing apart her own issues and exposing her loss and regrets, the courage and honesty so palpable, it jumped right off the screen. Och, Sassenach!

He needed more time to go through the story at a leisurely pace, so he skipped a few chapters out of mere curiosity and what he read next, made his heart rate doubled.

As soon as they were alone, she grabbed at his belt, her shaking fingers tugging the zipper. She'd waited for far too long and needed him now. Dropping down to her knees, she lowered his jeans to take him fully in her mouth, feeling him throb and jerk at her touch ...oh how she'd crave for the taste of him. She was hungry, oh so hungry, to feel his most private pulse beating against her palm. Despite the urgency she was feeling, she didn't rush as she wanted to savour every moment and taste of him.

He swallowed and realised his jeans were becoming too constricted. Ah Christ! There were only so many blows to the system a man could take and what he just read sent all the blood in his brain rushing southward so fast it nearly knocked him out of commission. Who would have thought a sex scene in a romance story could affect him so much?

He read a few more excerpts from the story, and when he eventually looked at the bottom right corner of his screen, he realised it was nearly ten. He'd been so engrossed with reading, he hadn't noticed the time. Claire was supposed to call. But maybe she's fallen asleep.

Reaching for his phone, he got up, shifted the bulging discomfort in his jeans and headed for the fridge. As his screen lit up, he tapped Claire's name and waited.

"Hello?" she answered, her voice thick and muffled, causing a sudden pulsing rush of longing in his stomach. A fog of cataclysmic lust descended, increasing the weight between his legs.

"Sassenach?" He grabbed a tin of beer, popped it open with one hand and made his way to the living room. "It's me." 

"I know." She yawned. "What time is it? Are you just coming home?"

"Ummm, no. I got yer email earlier." Smiling, he sat on the armchair and toed off a shoe. "I got caught up reading yer story, I forgot the time."

"A long day then. Sorry, I was supposed to call, but ...." He heard some rustling sound and then quiet.

He got his second shoe off and rested his feet on the coffee table. Right now, he wished he could teleport himself to Claire's side and slip in bed next to her. He'd wanted to come to London, but he'd been advised by Willie it was still too soon, and coming along could trigger his PTSD. Although the nightmares had stopped and he'd been following the meditation exercises Claire had told him to do, there were still times when panic attack got hold of him. They weren't as bad as before, but still, it was there lurking, ready to pounce at any time. He hadn't dared told his sister, Jenny, in case she nagged him to attend the therapy conducted by her friend Geneva. He knew what his sister was up to, and he wasn't about to fall for her matchmaking schemes.

He was just contemplating the merits of dropping everything and flying to London when he realised Claire had gone too quiet.

"Sassenach?"

"Hmmm?"

"Did ye just fall asleep on me?"

"Oh, umm, a little," she responded, utterly lacking in apology.

"Shall I let ye sleep? I can call again tomorrow."

"No!"

Relieved, he smiled. "So working too hard, I presume?"

"Yes," she mumbled. "Worked for seven hours straight. Then had too much food and wine, and too little fresh air. It made me drowsy afterwards. It's Willie's and Annalise's faults. They overfed me over dinner." 

"Mmm, in as much as I appreciate why ye're doing it, I dinnae want ye to become ill because of it." He heard another yawn and imagined her long, lean body stretching, her hair all wild against the pillow and her breast bare. When he realised where his mind was wandering to, he immediately put a stop to it. Christ, get a grip! With a steel will, he extinguished his filthy thoughts. "Ye should take care more of yersel', Sassenach."

"I'm fine ...honestly."

He was unconvinced but didn't push. "By the way, I read yer story. It's bloody good. No ...correction. It's great!"

"You like it!"

"I love it. Was that a story ye wrote a while ago? Or did ye write it recently?"

"A while ago," she hummed, her words muffled as if she had a pillow over the phone. 

He loved the way she sounded when sleep laced her voice. 

"Hmmm, a question ...how'd ye learn to write a sex scene like that, when ..." He needed a couple of seconds to find the right words. "...when ye were a virgin before we met."

"I might have been a virgin, but I never said I was a nun." 

He laughed out loud. It couldn't be helped. Though Claire could be shy at times, she always spoke her mind. "I'm sorry I didnae mean to laugh, Sassenach," he apologised when he finally sobered up. "It's just that ye wrote the sex part so vivid and graphic, it made me wonder how ye could have known the mechanics of lovemaking when ye were still a virgin at the time ye wrote that story."

"Well, I suppose I should confess ...before I met you, there might have been on a few occasions, that I had ..." 

"Watched porn?" 

"Yes ...but for research purposes," she said rapidly, her voice not sounding muffled anymore. She must have rolled on her back. "But what I meant to say was, I've had ...um ..." She trailed off.

He frowned. "Had what?"

"Physical contact, of course!" she replied with mild exasperation. 

Something heavy rolled over in his stomach. "Excuse me?"

She sighed. "When I use to date, dates sometimes end up in making out, kissing and petting, and I sort of got the gist of what normally happens afterwards." He heard her swallow. "I -I mean nothing happened of course ...at least, not in the biblical sense anyway. W-what I'm trying to say is, before we met ... I've never made it to the Old Testament with anyone. B-but you ... you're pretty special because you and I ...well, we're almost at the Revelations."

What the hell? She was rambling, and he realised she was becoming flustered. Her attempt to calm him down using the books of the Bible for analogy put a dent on his jealousy. He puffed out a breath. "I get it. I get it. Just do me a favour, Sassenach, will ye, huh? In the future, dinnae mention physical contact with other men ever again to me even if it's no' the biblical variety. It's bad enough we're separated, and here I am missing ye loads ..."

"Sorry, but you did ask how I knew about the mechanics of ..." she stopped and then sighed. "Let's change the subject, shall we?"

"Of course." He slugged back a mouthful of beer and placed it on the coffee table, before leaning back once more on his armchair. "We were talking about yer writing. I've read a few chapters, and I'm really enjoying it. Cannae wait to read the rest."

"I'm glad. Willie and Annalise liked it too," she replied, a smile in her voice.

"I'm not surprised. Ye should have published it a long time ago. Ye have a gift, Sassenach, one that I'm verra proud of." 

"Thank you. Writing does take a bit of time, and I needed a job while I was at it. I'm still glad I waited, though."

He shifted uncomfortably on his seat and paused, contemplating if ... "Are ye in the bedroom? Or did ye fall asleep on the couch?" 

"In my bedroom. I couldn't stand watching a movie with Willie and Annalise when all they do is snog in front of me. So I left them to it, thinking I'll rest my eyes for a few minutes before calling you. And that's when I fell asleep." Ah, the poor thing, she must have been so tired. At least she sounded a little more alert compared to earlier. "Seeing them cuddled up like that made me miss you loads," she added, huskily, "...and think of our time together."

Ah, hell! Her voice wasn't the only thing that was alert. His cock suddenly needed a wee adjustment. Again! He unzipped his jeans, purely for ease and comfort and to give himself room for a breathing space.

"You should sleep in tomorrow and get some fresh air too," he suggested, inhaling deeply through his nose as he felt the effects of the beer, reminding him he didn't have any food in his stomach.

"Definitely, I will have a sleep in." She drank something audibly and let out a sigh. "As for that fresh air, it will depend if it's raining or not. Annalise mentioned we're in for a horrendous weather tomorrow." He heard another delicate gulp.

"What are ye wearing, Sassenach?" His words came out before he could think and put a stop to it. It sounded much more sexual than he'd intended, gruff and hoarse, his dirty mind wandering to that explicit scene he read earlier.

There was a few seconds of silence. "Why?"

"Because I want to know ...if ye're warm enough."

"I'm warm enough." 

"So what are ye wearing?"

There was another moment of silence before she replied. "Oooh, I know what this is, James Fraser" she throatily laughed into his ears. "And, we are so not doing this." 

"Doing what?" he groaned, this time pulling out his cock. He couldn't deny himself any longer, when this woman on the other end of the line, rained havoc to his good sense. Running a calloused hand down the length of himself, he gave his throbbing erection a nice hard squeeze. "I'm only asking solely out of concern for yer health. It's cold, and I worry ye might catch ...umm ...pneumonia." He almost laughed out loud at his lame logic.

"Pneumonia? You don't have to worry, Jamie. It's warm in the apartment, and it doesn't take much to heat a small place,," she said with a hint of amusement. "And I'm not naked ...not totally anyway."

"Oh," he gritted, fisting his cock from the base to the head, as a blow of harsh breath escaped his mouth. He felt like a depraved, desperate man, but it couldn't be helped when his cock was so achingly stiff, and he wanted relief. No amount of wanking in the shower earlier had eased his need for her. In fact, it only intensified it.

As he continued to stroke himself, the house's interior closed in around him, the sounds of fire popping doing nothing to reduce the extreme feeling of airlessness. At this moment, as far as he was concerned, they were the only two people in the whole wide world awake, right here and right now, and he would die if he didn't get any release soon.

"I'm wearing undies," she finally said.

Allelujah! His fist tightened around his hardness, moisture seeping from its head. "Ah, Sassenach," he murmured. He imagined her, stretched out on her bed, the duvet kicked off, and how she had looked in those tiny cotton knickers. "And a pyjama top?" he muttered. 

"No," she sighed in sweet response, a slight shyness creeping in her next words. "I forgot to turn off the radiator before I went to bed. It's so warm I must have yanked off my top while sleeping." 

"Sweet Jesus!" He stilled his hand and cupped his balls, seeing her creamy breasts in his mind's eye. 

"Jamie ...what are ye doing? I mean, I think I know what you are doing. But I've never done this before," she whispered. "Maybe I should go and let you ...um ...finish your business?"

"No! Please." He closed his eyes and slumped deeper into the armchair, his feet spreading apart and his head falling back. "I need ye." 

"I ...I don't know how ..." 

"Sassenach." Saying his pet name for her was a mild distraction from the throbbing ache in his hand, as he swiped a thumb over the head of his erection and spread the moisture seeping out. "My cock is so rock hard, I think I might black the fuck out from wanting ye. Dinnae torture me by leaving me hanging."

Her breath hitched, and it was the most beautiful sound in his ears. "So you really are touching yourself?" she asked on a huffed breath.

"Jesus, Sassenach! Ye have nae idea, do ye? I wank every day and night to yer image in my head ...stroking so hard I can hardly breathe, thinking of our last night together ..." he swallowed with difficulty, his hand busy fisting himself. "It's so lonely without ye, and every waking moment is filled with thoughts of ye naked in my bed and every night ye haunt my dreams. What I would give to touch ye right now and plunge my cock between yer thighs." 

She gasped, and he wished he could feel her hot breath on his neck. "Jamie ...I don't even know what to say ... I ...this is out of my comfort zone.." 

"Touch yersel', and tell what ye're thinking," he commanded as he closed his eyes, the heels of his feet pushing against the floor and his muscles thighs tightening hard. "Have ye ever touched yersel'? Tell me." 

"Before you came along, there's been no one, and you know that," she said haughtily. "Giving myself an orgasm is the only reason why I remained a virgin for so long. I call it self-service." 

He let out a burst of pained laughter despite himself. "Ah, Christ, I'd love to kiss that smart-arsed mouth while taking ye hard ..." 

"I like it when you ..." she cut in, and he held his breath, agonisingly waiting for her to complete the sentence. "...kiss me between the legs." He heard her voice fade a little and swishing movements. "I think of you doing that when ...um, my hand is between my thighs."

"Is yer hand between yer thighs now?"

"Y-yes ..."

"Slide yer fingers in, Sassenach. And tell me ...are ye wet?"

"Yes ..." she softly moaned.

"How wet?"

"Very."

Ah, fuck!

He always thought dirty talks were arousing, but each shy admission by Claire was too bloody erotic for words, it made the already taut and strained tether of his self-control about to snap. He uttered her name with a litany of invocations to the saints, his hips shifting against the soft of his seat and his breathing becoming heavier. "Ye ken what I'll do to ye when I get to finally see ye? I'm no' letting ye out of bed," he groaned. "I'm gonnae worship that beautiful body of yers with my mouth until my lips are branded to your skin, and yer scent embedded in mine and yer taste in my mouth. Ye still have yer fingers inside ye?"

"Yes ..."

"Now imagine it's my tongue lapping ye up."

She sobbed, a whimpering sound full of longing and his heart twisted in a knot, creating a cluster that descended down to his belly and found its way to his cock, making his balls draw higher. His exhale came out like an animalistic grunt as Claire's breathing became more shallow. She gasped out his name, a soft plea that he badly wanted so much to pacify.

"Oh, sweet Lord, I want you so much, Jamie. I miss your hands on me," she whispered, her voice enveloping him, he could almost feel her breath on his heated skin. "Please don't stop talking ..."

"Ye think I could stop, Sassenach? I'd sell my soul just to hear ye come." Something told him the cries coming from Claire's mouth would ring in his head for days to come. Broken, sweet, desperate moans, interrupted by her breath hitching. Like she was drowning, just like him. "Ye miss me touching ye, is that right? Weel, let me tell ye something," he said hoarsely. "I spend every night looking at the bloody ceiling of my bedroom, envisioning yer sweet tits bouncing like wee temptations while ye ride me on my creaky bed. It hasn't creaked the way it used to, ever since ye left. And on some nights, I would lay on my tummy and grind myself against the mattress just to hear it creak and pretend it's not the bed I'm fucking," His hand went into overdrive stroking himself, fast and relentless. "But we both know we want the real thing, don't we now?"

"Yes, yes, yes," she whispered in a husky loop.

"Jesus, so sweet, my beautiful Sassenach ..." A drumming began in his head, inflicted by the raspy sound of her voice, the way her breath became laboured when he talked dirty to her. 

The pressure within him rose, and his breath came out in short, head-spinning gulps of air, his senses more heightened for knowing who the cause was for his predicament. Claire. Ah, Christ, he'd never anticipated for the possessiveness that tightened around his heart with a permanence that didn't alarm him. In fact, he'd always known, right from the beginning, she was the one for him. She was the only one who moved him to take a risk in love, to abuse his body for relief ...

"Jamie ...oh God ..."

Hissing out a wounded groan, Jamie fisted the base of his cock and pumped furiously. "I'm here, Sassenach," he whispered. "I hear ye. Always here for ye."

"I'm coming ..." she moaned. "Oh, my God ..."

His heart expanded as he listened to her, her breath shallow, his name a whisper, and he could picture her, turning and twisting against the sheets with her hand between her thighs. He was so close, it hurt. When he couldn't hold off any longer, he let go, his own orgasm coming in full force, spouting out of from his cock, seizing his body in an almost paralysing bliss. It went on forever, his seed spurting into his hand and thighs, his shouts reverberating off the walls and ceiling as the pleasure surged through him and rearranging everything in its route.

Finally spent, he slumped back on his seat, his breathing coming out in choppy waves as his chest rose and fell. After a long stretch of silence between them, he put down his phone and whipped off his shirt to clean himself up. By the time he grabbed it back and placed it against his ear, Claire's breath was calmer.

"Jamie?" There was a trace of doubt or maybe guilt in her voice.

Knowing Claire's strict Catholic upbringing in the boarding school, he didn't want her thinking what they did was wrong as it would only cheapen what they just shared. He needed to reassure her. "Sssh, Sassenach, I ken what ye're gonnae say. What happened between us was ... incredible. And ye ken, why?" He didn't wait for an answer. "Because we love each other. Ye understand?"

There was a long pause before she replied and he imagined her biting her lower lip in contemplation. "Yes," she replied eventually, her voice barely a whisper. And after waiting a few seconds more, he heard her soft snore and even breathing.

Smiling, he murmured good night and turned off the phone. He was just about to close his eyes to savour the moment when the doorbell rang, and a spooked Adso suddenly leapt onto his lap. Bloody hell! He plopped the cat down, righted his jeans and quickly got up, and as he peered through the window, he saw Mrs Fitz, the owner of the Airbnb from across the road, holding a dish in her hands.

What the ...? He opened the door. "Mrs Fitz!" The scent of freshly baked apple pie wafted from the dish she was carrying, making his stomach grumble. "It's kinda late. Is everything alright?" he asked, eyeing the aluminium covered plate. 

"Aye, son," she said, frowning, her eyes bypassing him as if she was in search of something or someone. "I saw the light, and I thought ye might like a bit of pudding ...for after tea perhaps or for breakfast. Yer lass ...Miss Beauchamp, I mean Claire is not here so I thought I'd check up on ye."

Jamie thought the older woman was acting a bit odd, the way she was trying to strain her neck to look beyond him. "Oh, Claire ...I was just on the phone with her."

Both her eyebrows arched. Then the frown on her face dissipated, replaced with a relieved smile and a reddening on her plump cheeks. "Oh, of course. I thought I heard some strange sounds. Ye must have been talking to her." She pushed the dish towards him. "Very well then, now that everything seems to be in order, I must go." Without waiting for him to reply, she whirled around and hurriedly left.

As Jamie stared at her disappearing figure, it slowly dawned on him, Mrs Fitz must have heard the sound he'd made while in the throes of self-love passion. Groaning inwardly, he realised Claire's writing studio shed wasn't the only place that needed soundproofing. If Claire was going to stay with him, he needed to soundproof the whole cottage. Bloody nosy neighbours!

  Dear Readers,

Thank you all for the positive feedback from the previous chapter - what a warm welcome from my readers. So chuffed reading the comments and seeing the kudos. Kudos right back at you, you wonderful lot!

I'll keep this short and sweet because I have heaps of things to do, but before I go, I'm sending you all my best wishes during this very odd times. Keep the good vibes rolling, ditched the negativity and most of all, take care of your health. Until next time ... X

[nessie-rp]

LYONESSE, founded in the 11th century, stands as a testament to the power of interspecies collaboration. When an ancient sea giant began to terrorize coastal villages in Cornwall, the druid and prophet Myrddin Wyllt — known to the modern age as Merlin — gathered a company of mages, knights, fae, and, to the surprise of many, the exiled Laestrygonian queen consort, Psamia. Their combined might brought down the giant but not before the giant, Cormoran, tried to escape to the realm from whence he came: a pocket between this dimension and the next, ruled by concentrated and capricious magical energy. Trapped in this realm, the unlikely company had to work together once more to return to the world they knew, eventually using parts of the slain giant’s body to create portals back to the mortal world.

This success did not mark the end for the company. Mortal and magical beings alike were drawn to this new realm and, seeing on the horizon a kingdom unlike any that had before risen, Myrddin Wyllt made a proposition to the rest. From those magical creatures most drawn to the giant’s grave, the Hallowed Council was born, and from the mortals who fought alongside them came the keepers of the gates. Hidden from the mortal world, Lyonesse rose as a joint effort where people of all species could work together to build a place where old feuds and misunderstandings could be laid to rest, more and more beings seeking refuge and opportunity there as mankind forgot the old ways and sought a facade of control over their fate.

The city was once confined by the gatewall, but population growth had settlements quickly spilling over the old boundaries to the lands around. With Llyn Lothian to the north, the Morroi Forest to the east, and hills and ridges just beyond its southern farmland, the spires and towers of the most industrial parts of the city cannot overshadow its connection to nature. Split into eleven recognized districts, Lyonesse is now a thriving metropolis of more than six million residents.

◇ THE GATES ◇ As old as the city itself, the gate system is the only way to breach the wards that contain Lyonesse. Eleven portals were built out of the bones from Cormoran’s severed arm, seven in the walls of the city itself and two on the shores of Llyn Lothian. The city’s magic hides it away from the mortal world, but the gates connect the two in more ways than one.

Each gate is protected by a collection of human families with at least one Gatekeep tasked with the operation and guardianship of the gate at both points of entry — within the city and in the mortal world. It is said that Merlin entrusted the first gate — the largest and southernmost, located between Southwyk and Mellaltizi — to Trystan, though the original histories of the Gatekeeps were confused and lost after a library fire in 1686. Lyonesse was never created to shun the human world entirely, you see: collaboration between magical and non-magical peoples was ensured when Merlin bestowed this responsibility on mere mortals. Over the years, many have questioned this decision, but only humans with ancestry connecting them to the Gatekeeps of old have the ability to activate the gates.

Knowledge of the gates is one of the best kept secrets in the world — less social magical beings can go their entire lives without ever hearing of the city at all. (Popular opinion about this isolationism varies widely.) That being said, the law states that no magical being can be barred from the land, so anyone who learns about the city may journey there.

Gate travel is unlike other forms of teleportation, more taxing on the body and the spirit due to the barrier keeping Lyonesse in its own plane. Some experience it instantaneously, others lose hours in the mists between worlds. Both ends of the portal are heavily guarded. Upon arriving in the city, those who have never travelled there before must register regardless of if they are visiting, relocating, or seeking refuge. Blood is drawn by a mage in order to assign a branch to all those who enter the city and prevent magical tampering, though this system is far from infallible.

Gates are shown on the map above as diamonds along the city walls. They lead to the following mortal cities:

Buenos Aires, Argentina Cape Town, South Africa Edinburgh, Scotland Jakarta, Indonesia Lima, Perú London, England New Orleans, United States Rio de Janeiro, Brasil Shanghai, China St. Petersburg, Russia Toronto, Canada

[virtual-lara]

GameSpot UK Interview with Adrian Smith - Tomb Raider 3

Interview appeared on Gamespot UK website, dated to 30th October 1998

In an exclusive interview, Tomb Raider III developer Core Design's operations director, Adrian Smith, reveals Tomb Raider III's secrets…

GameSpot UK:

Tomb Raider III is divided into five mini-adventures. Does each one have a different plot and if so, are these linked by an overall story?

Adrian Smith:

I guess you could call them mini-adventures: Lara's looking for four artefacts this time so each location is almost a separate adventure. She starts off in India. She believes she's looking for a single artefact but at the end of this location she discovers that there are another three to find. So after India she can go to the South Pacific, London or Nevada in any order, before playing the final location: Antarctica. The locations are linked by a story that is brought to its conclusion in Antarctica.

GameSpot UK:

What's the plot this time?

Adrian Smith:

I can't say too much, but the four artefacts that Lara is searching for were originally discovered lying round a large meteorite that crashed to earth millions of years ago. The collision separated this point of impact from the mainland, creating a volcanic island towards the north of Antarctica. When the meteorite impacted, the area became impregnated with foreign matter ­ this matter had powerful properties and slowly released a kind of radiation that accelerated growth and evolution in both creatures and plants... but not without side effects. As Antarctica iced over, the basin of the island remained an oasis of life.

The first peoples to discover the island were Polynesians, and when one tribe discovered the abundance of life there, they decided to stay. Deep within the dormant volcano, they found the core of the meteorite ­ magically suspended it seemed, above the rock. (The material was in fact magnetic and was being repelled by the magma below.) The settlers built an altar round the meteorite and used four smaller pieces of the meteorite to create a device to trap and save the precious radiation.

Years later, as explorers were charting Antarctica, they discovered the remains of the island. Fresh animal tracks in the snow, led them to the crumbling remains of the settlement. When the explorers reached the altar, they looted the four artefacts, and as they left, one of the men was attacked and killed by a mutant beast. The others fled in terror. Only one survived to record the story...

Back in the present day, a scientific research company hits sculpted rock as it blows a wall of ice in the Antarctic and discovers an unknown material and the body of the savaged explorer. On the explorer's tombstone are the details of the boat on which he sailed. Using this information, the research company sets about searching for the artefacts.

Lara, meanwhile, is in India searching for one of these artefacts herself, unaware of its true history. And so the adventure begins.

GameSpot UK:

What are the locations like? We've seen the London screens. Is running round the capital as challenging as raiding a tomb?

Adrian Smith:

The locations are quite diverse. London features a night-time rooftop level ­ from there Lara drops into some of the buildings, including an eerie waxworks museum and the Natural History Museum. Eventually she finds her way to St Paul's, and from there into the sewers (for which Lara has an underwater propulsion unit, à la James Bond), deserted tube stations and Masonic halls. The level of detail in Tomb Raider III enables us to create really atmospheric locations.

Other locations include: Nevada (Area 51 and the desert), The South Pacific (very lush, featuring a coastal level, island in terior and a white water level!), India (jungle locations and temples), and Antarctica (where all is not as it seems!).

GameSpot UK:

What sort of enemies will Lara face this time?

Adrian Smith:

Well, they'll all have a far higher level of AI than previously encountered since we have 'Dr Tom', the AI specialist working with us on Tomb Raider III. Nearly all the enemies are new and include snakes, hyenas, monkeys, dragons, huskies, whales, piranhas and jellyfish, plus a whole lot more.

Lara will be able to avoid some of her human enemies by ducking and crawling to avoid their line of sight, but once they see her, they'll raise the alarm and the chase will really be on. Some of the animal enemies may run away from Lara when initially approached, but if she follows them, she may be led to danger. Many of the enemies will also work in groups to cut Lara off, so she'll have to work out ways to distract them in order to proceed. And watch out for the monkeys ­ they love to run away with Lara's precious medipacks!

GameSpot UK:

Lara's an athletic lass. Does she have any new moves this time round?

Adrian Smith:

The main new moves include the duck, crawl, monkey swing and dash. Since Lara is now able to crawl in narrow spaces and tunnels, the exploration element of the game has really been opened up. The duck allows Lara to quickly avoid gunfire ­ she can also shoot while in the duck position so combat now becomes more strategic. The hand-over-hand monkey swing can be used to traverse areas that Lara is unable to cross on foot, and the dash allows Lara to sprint to safety when she needs to make a swift escape. Lara can also add a dive to her new dash move. This is particularly useful for time-based traps where she'll have to dash and dive through closing doors.

GameSpot UK:

Fashion fans want to know what Lara is wearing this season? Is brown still the new black?

Adrian Smith:

Since Lara is so practical, she needs suitable outfits for each location. These include white and grey camouflage trousers and jacket for the Antarctic, a black cat-suit for London, combat trousers for Nevada and a crop top for the hot South Pacific locations.

GameSpot UK:

What about those lovely boy toys ­ vehicles and guns?

Adrian Smith:

Lara does indeed have some new vehicles to help her get around. A couple of the levels will rely solely on the use of vehicles to complete them successfully: Lara will be white-water rafting in a kayak and speeding down mines in a rail cart. Other vehicles include a James Bond-style underwater propulsion unit and a quad bike... but I don't want to give any more than that away right now!

As for the weapons, some of Lara's new items include an automatic rifle, rocket launcher and desert eagle guns.

GameSpot UK:

Are there any changes to the combat? Does Lara have to aim now or does she auto-aim as before?

Adrian Smith:

It's basically the same system, but a couple of the weapons will require Lara to aim herself.

GameSpot UK:

What improvements have been made to the game engine and graphics on Tomb Raider III?

Adrian Smith:

Firstly there's a new structure for the order of gameplay: Tomb Raider III contains five separate locations which link together, but after completing the first location the following three can be played in any order, before the final location closes the game. Whereas Tomb Raider I and II contained 15 levels, Tomb Raider III contains 20, making it a considerably larger game. The levels themselves are far less linear than before and the player will have a choice of at least two routes to complete each one. The routes will vary in difficulty: taking the harder route will reward the player with more pick-ups, whereas the easier routes will be quicker and less complicated. To add further variety to the gameplay, the save-game system offers an easy and a hard option.

The easy option allows the player to save the game anywhere, as in Tomb Raider II. The harder option will use the save-game crystals that featured in Tomb Raider I, but this time Lara can either use the save-game crystals immediately, or store them in her inventory for use later on.

Tomb Raider III's level editing system has undergone an extensive redesign: our programmers use the level editor tool to create the rooms that, when linked together, make up each level. Tomb Raider and Tomb Raider II used a grid system to create the levels ­ this meant that the level architecture that Lara was able to interact with consisted of a series of blocks of different heights and dimensions. Tomb Raider III's system now incorporates triangles. This means that we can now achieve greater detail such as very realistic organic surfaces, and smoother shore-lines.

We're also able to create more complex architectural structures such as domes, arches and vaulted ceilings.

Tomb Raider III's game engine offers more speed than the first two games, and handles a greater amount of detail. The water in the third game is now transparent, reflective and rippling. When Lara swims or wades through the water, she'll leave a wake behind her. If she fires a weapon into the water, you'll see a new underwater explosion effect. Also, if she's standing in the water and firing a weapon, you'll see the empty shells actually drop into the water and sink to the bottom.

Other effects include semi-transparencies such as mist, smoke and shafts of light. And weather effects such as snow, wind and rain are now included ­ all of which give the game a deeper atmosphere and added realism.

We also have more realistic flames and explosions. When Lara fires a weapon, you'll even see smoke from the barrel of her gun. Lara now leaves footprints and you'll also hear sound effects as she runs across different surfaces.

Sadly, page four (of four) is no longer available.

All rights belong to GameSpot and/or their affiliated companies. I only intend to introduce people to old articles and preserve them before they are lost.

[luki-fanfic]

A Kingdom For a Book: Part 2

I’m having way too much fun with this idea...

With one failed attempt under their belt, they end up having lunch in Chinatown before heading back to the hotel to regroup and debrief.  Tsuna and Gokudera end up sitting on one bed, Gokudera nose deep in a laptop, while Yamamoto leans back on another, and Ryohei slumps the wrong way round in a chair.

“I see why the Ninth didn’t want us to come here,” Yamamoto says.  “Do you think the owner knew who we were?”

Tsuna shook his head.  “No, I think he would have treated us that way even if we weren’t Vongola.  There was something about that shop...it just felt wrong.”

Ryohei frowns. “That’s strange to the extreme.  This could be challenging.”

Gokudera is nodding, digging up the research he’d been tinkering with even before they arrived.

“Okay, so that building?  It’s been there since the 1700’s,” he explains. “That’s when Soho was built up for the aristocracy, and the book shop’s been around since then.  Which is pretty damn impressive considering the wealthy all more of less fled mid 1800’s when there was a cholera outbreak and the neighbourhood took a serious dive.  I don’t think there’s a lot of business in London that have been in the same building that long, and if they did, they’re a lot more successful.  At this point, A.Z.Fell & Co should be a historic monument or tourist attraction just due to it’s existence, but it’s only reputation-”

At this he tosses his hands up in the air in disbelief.

“-Is a handful of websites for rare book dealers bemoaning it’s existence!  There’s a 3000 word essay on here that’s just analysing the opening times! I’ve never seen a white noise spot as bad as this outside of the mafia!  It shouldn’t even be possible without mist flames!”

“Are we sure they’re not?” Yamamoto asks, head tilting.  

Tsuna shakes his head.  

“No,” he insists.  “I don’t know what it was about that building, but flames weren’t involved.  Besides, it’s too obvious in its refusal to sell.”

Everyone gives a slow nod at that, and Tsuna bites his lip.

“What we need it witness accounts,” he says.  “We need to know what doesn’t work.”

This quickly results in Gokudera frantically tapping on his laptop again and setting up a video call with Dino in Italy.  When he learns where they are, his face flinches – as if he’s just watched a man belly flop from a high dive.

“Reborn sent you where?” he asks.  “The Ninth can’t possibly have approved that.”

“He wasn’t happy about it,” Tsuna admits.  “But...it’s Reborn.  You don’t really tell him no.”

Dino grimaces.  “I feel for you little bro.  I wish I could help, but I’ve never tried my luck against the devil of Soho.

“The devil of Soho?” the four repeat, and Dino chuckles.

“Oh, it’s kind of an in-joke among people who’ve tried,” he explains.  “The shop is on a crossroad, and someone one suggested you’d probably have to sell your soul in exchange for a book from A.Z. Fell, and it kind of caught on.  Plus, according to Christianity, devils or demons are supposed to be fallen angels, and they guy is called ‘Fell,’ so...”

Tsuna guesses it’s probably funnier for the Italians, because Gokudera’s openly cackling.  Although that said, Ryohei is also grinning, so maybe he’s a fan of the crossroads story.  The boxer does often enjoy American music…

“You might as well give selling your soul a shot though,” Dino continues.  “Because I don’t have the slightest clue what else would work.”

Yamamoto frowns, leaning back in a stretch that almost looks painful.

“If we can’t buy a book, can we just buy out the shop?” he asks Dino, and Gokudera brightens.

“The Baseball Idiot has a point.  I mean, this is Soho, and that shop can’t be making enough to stay in business.  Can’t we just buy the building, or bribe the owner?”

“You really think nobody ever thought of that?” Dino asks, eyebrows raising.  “The Fell family are loaded; they own that building, and they’ve never accepted a single offer.”

“Then we’ll make it a really good one.  Reborn said our credit limit was unlimited for this-”

“Ten years ago Mr. Fell was offered five times what the building was worth and he didn’t even think it over” Dino interrupts.  “And if you think you can scare him out, think again.  People have tried everything from hiking his electric bills to bribing the council to shut him down for health reasons.  I hear the building was even set on fire once.  Nothing sticks, and it always comes back round to whoever tried their luck. An awful lot of enforcers change careers after a run in with A.Z. Fell.”

Dino sounds a little bitter by the end, and Tsuna frowns.

“That sounds a little personal,” he says.  “Did Reborn try and make you go?”

His self proclaimed older brother suddenly finds it very hard to meet his eyes.

“No, but let’s just say I have it on good authority that one of the reasons my family ended up in such dire financial straights is because my grandfather tried to ah...convince Mr. Fell to move into a building owned by my family so he could have regular access to his collection,” Dino says.  “A week later, there’s a freak accident with our accountant’s computer systems that sees 60% of our assets frozen while a record of all our recent financial dealings was sent first class to the local police department.  By the time we cleared it up the money was gone.”

Gokudera does a full body flinch.

“How-”

“I don’t know. And I don’t want to know” Dino tells him.  “Some of those financials weren’t even supposed to have a paper trail.  When my negotiation trial came up, I told Reborn I wasn’t setting foot in that shop.  That I’d try and negotiate peace in Korea before I went to Soho.”

Yamamoto whistles, and Tsuna’s optimism sinks even more.

“Where’d you end up?” Tsuna asks.

“Guinea-Bissau,” Dino says.  “Came out of it with only two bullets wounds too.”

“...Thats...good?” Tsuna offers, frantically trying to remember exactly where on a map that was, and Dino shrugs.

“Better than Xanxus any way” he offers.  “He was lucky to get out intact.”

Yamamoto immediately lights up.  “Oh yeah.  The Ninth said he’d tried.”

“Lets call the Varia, to the extreme!” Ryohei agrees.

“Not sure how useful he’ll be,” Dino warns as they say goodbye.  “His tactics weren’t really compatible with you.”

That’s hardly news to Tsuna, but a list of what definitely wont work is better than no list at all at this point.  Yamamoto is already punching in Squalo’s number.

---

Two minutes later, Tsuna is wondering how far he can be from a video screen without appearing offensive, because Xanxus is glaring like he wants to reach through the computer and strangle Tsuna for the crime of bothering him.  

Which, to be fair is Xanxus’s general mode of being, but Tsuna hasn’t survived this long by getting complacent.  Given his life, it’s not impossible Xanxus has figured out how to do it.  

At least the Varia commander is taking his question seriously – the glare had almost vanished when Yamamoto had explained just where they were.

“Whatever you do, don’t steal one” Xanxus warns when Yamamoto finishes up, and Tsuna finds himself leaning forward.

“You stole one?” he says.  “I thought the requirement was legal purchase.”

“I was getting desperate!” Xanxus snarls, almost defensively.  “Fell-Trash is impossible to reason with.  Not that it did me any good.  Cost me three months, my body weight in pride and a Lightning Guardian.”

At that Tsuna pauses, and glances to the corner of the screen where he can see Xanxus’s guardians, Levi included, not-so-subtly listening in. Xanxus rolls his eyes.

“Parasol-Trash is number 2” he tells him.  “Huge improvement over Belias, I assure you.  Idiot walked out with some old folio under his jacket, figuring we could negotiate after it was in our hands.  To this day, I have no clue what happened to him, but that folio was on display in the window next morning and Fell’s creepy ass boyfriend was wearing Belias’s shades when we walked in.”

“Boyfriend?” Yamamoto asks, and Xanxus chuckles.

“Oh trust me Trash, you’ll know him when you see him.”

In the background Lussuria is fanning himself with a hand, while Squalo is glowering and inching closer to the screen.  Tsuna ignores both of them.

“You didn’t try to find out what happened?” he questions, and Xanxus glares.

“Of course I fucking did!” he snaps.  “Even had the lightning member’s we brought along tried to put on the squeeze, but both of them are mental steel traps.  If anything, threats just amuse them.  Two of Belias’s closest tried physical violence – the boyfriend has this classic car, beautiful piece of machinery; I’ll give him that – smashed out every window and made it clear we were coming back to finish the job.  Car like that can’t be easy or cheap to fix.”

“It didn’t work?” Gokudera asks, and Xanxus shakes his head.

The trash left the hotel to get drinks, next thing I know the shark trash is getting a call from the hospital about them.”

The Varia boss jerks his head back, and Squalo freezes for a second, before slinking up to his boss, not even pretending to be subtle in his approach anymore.

“Were they still alive?” Tsuna asks, not sure if he wants to know.  Xanxus merely glares at Squalo, who reacts as though it pains him to answer.

“Voi, they lived,” he says.  “Looked like they’d been run over by that stupid car a couple hundred times, but they lived.  Not that it mattered to us, both of them up and joined a monastery in New Zealand the second they were released!”

Yamamoto frowns. “New Zealand?  When you abandon your old life to join a monastery, don’t you usually got to somewhere like Tibet or something?”

“Voi, according to them, they picked New Zealand because there aren’t any snakes there,” Squalo snarled.  “Don’t ask me why, never had a problem with them before.”

“Yeah, and that car come morning?” Xanxus adds.  “Perfect. Condition.  After that, I cut my losses while I still had something to lose.”

“It was their own fault for making compensation jokes about the darling’s car!” Lussuria defends from the back, and Xanxus throws a wine glass in his direction.

The Varia side of the call inevitably descends into a brawl, and little advice is coming.  All Tsuna’s managed to gather is, stay legal, screaming is pointless, and don’t threaten his associates or their possessions.

Tsuna silently vows that Gokudera must never enter that building unaccompanied.

Also, before the screen cut off completely, Lussuria popped onto the screen with one final titbit.

“Oh, one more thing.  Don’t flirt with the boyfriend,” he says with Bel half in a headlock and the screen on it’s side.  “Crowley-darling seems to think it’s funny, but it ticks Mr. Fell off no end.  Not sure how he did it, but I got food poisoning whenever I ate out the rest of the time we were there.  Ciao!”

The screen immediately goes black, and as a group, Tsuna, Gokudera and Ryohei all glance in Yamamoto’s direction.  The teen immediately starts pouting.

“Why are you all looking at me?” he whines.  

“Because out of everyone in this room who would think it would be funny, you’re the only one who’d actually try his luck, Baseball Idiot,” Gokudera snaps, and Yamamoto’s lip quirks, point taken.  After so much time hanging around Squalo and Reborn, Yamamoto’s baseline for appropriate behaviour and etiquette will never recover – not that there was ever much to save, if Tsuna’s being entirely honest.  

In the end, after looking at a spreadsheet of the opening hours Gokudera has on hand, they decide to hold off this evening, and try again in the 40 minute window that there should be just before lunch.

Who knows, maybe Mr. Fell will be more agreeable after he’s eaten?

---

One more part, and think it’ll be ready to migrate to AO3...

[ladyeowyn]

hey! congrats on getting 4k followers! your blog is lovely and you deserve all of those followers and more! i'm going to comic-con in san diego this summer and i'm really looking forward to that! could i please get ✨ + 📚? my favorite book series are soc, trc, and tfota! (and also i'm a slut for enemies to lovers lol) thank you so much ily!!!

asdfghjkl tysm Hannah!! 💖 that's more praise than I deserve... 😭 and wow, that's incredible!! even though it's still far away, I hope you have a great time there

b o o k  r e c o m m e n d a t i o n 📚 : I picked some books from different genres, so I hope at least some of them will fit your taste in books 😊

The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi (historical fantasy, ya, set in Paris, features secret societies & heists)

Flame in the Mist by Renée Ahdieh (ya, romance, historical, fantasy; set in Japan, features outcasts and secret identity)

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell (fantasy, contemporary, ya, lgbt; features an iconic enemies-to-lovers romance, amazing magic system and Harry Potter vibes)

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne (contemporary, romance, adult; the best enemies-to-lovers book there is)

From Lukov with Love by Mariana Zapata (contemporary, romance, adult; another wonderful contemporary enemies-to-lovers romance with slow-burn & figure skating)

M a r v e l ✨• species: human - inhuman - mutant - Asgardian - Xandarian - Krylorian• occupation: secret agent - scientist - attorney - investigative journalist - private detective - mercenary - professor - soldier - pilot - ravager - outlaw - bounty hunter - Asgardian warrior - Valkyrie - member of Dora Milaje• hero: lone superhero - leader / member of a superhero team - sidekick - vigilante - antihero• home: Hell’s Kitchen - Brooklyn - Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters - London - Asgard - Vakanda - Xandar• weapon of choice: gun - explosives - throwing knives - bow & arrows - supersuit - martial arts - your fists - your superpowers - your mind• superpower: telepathy - telekinesis - electrokinesis - teleportation - superspeed - shapeshifting - flight - regeneration - healing - manipulation (fire - water - wind - earth - ice - weather)• sidekick: Peter Parker - Gamora - Lady Sif - Nakia - Melinda May - Matt Murdock - Sam Wilson - Steve Rogers - Thor - Carol Danvers - Bruce Banner - Negasonic Teenage Warhead - Scott Lang - Ororo Munroe - Daisy Johnson• following: no(t yet) sorry, but ily ♥ - now! - yes ofc - always and forever

free hugs ♥

[mrscorpio]

[Electronica/Beats] MrScorpio's HOUSE FIRE Podcast #289 - Most Dope For 2022 Pt 2 - 16 Dec 2022 Mixcloud: http://bit.ly/Mixcloud289 D/L: http://bit.ly/DL-HF289 Shows: http://bit.ly/ScorpioPodcasts Feat: Name/Artist/Album Washed Away/Kelela/Washed Away Darker Than You Think/Ohbliv/LewseJoints Eleven tattd/Knxwledge./HX.23 System/Sevdaliza/Raving Dahlia Blood And Marrow (Stro Elliot Remix)/Hiatus Kaiyote /Blood And Marrow The Avenues/Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad/Jazz Is Dead 011 Spirit/Cleo Sol/Mother Price Tags/Jazmine Sullivan/Heaux Tales/ Mo' Tales: The Deluxe Off The Wallstreet/Stro Elliot/Stro's Old Beat Farm You From London (feat. Little Simz)/SAULT/NINE Mercury/Steve Lacy/Gemini Rights Change The Beat(le)/MF DOOM & The Beatles/Sgt. Dumile's Lonely Hearts Club Band Ritz Barlton (Feat. Estee Nack) (Prod. By Don Carrera)/Westside Gunn/Peace Fly God Guilty By Association/Phro & Guilty Simpson/Guilty By Association EP Decadence feat. Kool G Rap, Revalation & DJ Jean Maron/M-Dot/Dining In Dystopia Don't Wanna Let You Go prod. by Oh No/Prozack Turner/Not Everybody Sleeps At Night (Casual, Guilty Simpson, Brother Ali, Ea- Ski, Jake One) Might Could Be Nice/Jimetta Rose/The Gift: Around The Way Queen Ninja Faire Défiler/Lord Beatjitzu/Ninja Terminator Sunshine/Homeboy Sandman/I Can't Sell These Edge Of Tomorrow (Feat. 2Mex) (Prod. By Mic Checkmate)/Wildchild/Omowale The Only Game/Bumpy Knuckles/Produced By Bumpy Knuckles Vol. 2 Mental (feat. Saul Williams/ Bridget Perez)/Denzel Curry/Melt My Eyez See Your Future Look To The Sky (Feat. Self Jupiter, Chali 2na & Gift Of Gab) (Prod. By Nottz)/Fatlip & Blu/Live From The End Of The World Vol. 1 Switch Sides /Method Man, Jadakiss, Eddie I, 5th PXWER/Meth Lab Season 3 : The Rehab Warm Thoughts/Flume featuring GrandeMarshall and Goldie Glo/Flume Essentials Sean Price (Prod. By Evidence)/Fly Anakin/Frank Kool (Feat. Fly Anakin & J Rocc)/LMD (LMNO, MED & Declaime)/Flying High F.I.E./Starvin B x DustVibes/Dad's House Runout/Knxwledge./VGM.19 Old Magic/E L U C I D/I Told Bessie The Unknown Comic/Your Old Droog/Yodney Dangerfield Black Pinot/Meyhem Lauren, Daringer, Action Bronson/Black Vladimir GHOST/SBTRKT, Leilah/GHOST Reverse Card/Domo Genesis/Intros, Outros & Interludes Hopeful feat. Jordan Rakei, Alfa Mist/Nocturne EP Come Hither/Buttering Trio /Come Hither Fazed Out/El Michels Affair/Yeti Season (Deluxe Version) Mountains/Charlotte Day Wilson/ALPHA Send me your tracks at Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/mr_scorpio Check out all your tracks on my show THE HOUSE FIRE/ every other Friday @6-8 PM GMT on InvaderFM: http://invader.fm Stream the podcasts at my Mixcloud: bit.ly/MrScorpiosShows Friend me up on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mrscorpio247 Look me up on Tumblr: http://mrscorpio.tumblr.com Shoot me your videos on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/MrScorpio Peace, Scorp

[jadedbirch]

ARTIST CLAIMS ARE NOW OPEN!

If you have questions about some of these fics before signing up and want us to follow up with the authors, please shoot El an email.  Otherwise, read all 24 of these, and email in your top 4 picks!

SUBMIT CLAIMS BY APRIL 23rd

1. Good ships scuttled on the deep

His fingers follow flecks of blood down to the point of his captain’s cheekbone. A thin pink scar, no wider than John’s fingernail, marks Flint’s pale skin. Flint’s eyes close completely. “I thought it was a welcome,” John says. Silver and Flint become lovers following the battle on Maroon Island. S4 AU with established silverflint relationship and some canon divergences.

2. Pray For The Wicked On The Weekend    John Silver spends his days in a faded green pickup truck filled with salt-loaded shotguns and silver and holy water on the back roads of the United Stated hunting monsters and demons and things that go bump in the night, and he’s fine with it, because it’s the easiest way to forget what he’s lost. But there’s something coming, something that he can’t face alone. So where else would he turn but the best Hunter the US has ever seen. Even if no one has heard from James Flint since Thomas and Miranda Hamilton went missing.

3. patron saint of lost causes

It takes two weeks to get Flint off Skeleton Island. Or rather--it takes two weeks for the island to let them go. In which Skeleton Island is a living character and brings a host of nightmares through the mist which force Silver and Flint to confront the dangers of their minds. Featuring surreal dreamscape horror as Silver literally battles figures from his murky, unnamed past and Flint moving through a river of blood and ghosts until he and Silver finally meet in the middle. Influences include Guillermo Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth and The Devil's Backbone and Maria Luisa Bombal's work.

4. Let It All Unbreak You Post season four. Alone in taverns, at different points in time, Flint and Silver ponder what went wrong with their different relationships. They drink, remember and regret. They reflect upon the little they had together, and regret not making it work after the war with Madi or Thomas, while knowing very well that the very reason it all went wrong is that they had changed too much, had given each other too much, yet were not brave enough to admit it to each other when it was still time.

(Ships: Silverflint, flint x miranda x thomas, flint x thomas, silver x madi) (Angst, definitely not fix-it, no happy ending)

5. Pirate Sex is In Vogue

My fic is a modern AU primarily through email correspondence between Silver and Flint, although other mediums (such as texting and phoning) will be introduced as the story evolves. Silver is a crack erotica writer and Flint is the librarian who just wouldn't showcase his books at the Nassau Public Library, despite the insistence of the latter. They become unexpected virtual pen pals after Flint sends a heated rejection letter and grow closer through their correspondence, helping each other confront the inner demons of their personal lives. There will be polyamory, since Flint is involved with Thomas and Miranda by the time he and Silver fall in love.

6. Tell me we're dead and I'll love you even more

In the year 1725, or thereabouts, John Silver finds himself driven by a winter storm into an inconsequential little port town, barely a speck on any civilised map. Returned to the life of a drifter, tired and rough around the edges, he is resigned to waiting for the weather to pass before he can sail on again to the next town, and the next, and the next. That is until he overhears a conversation in the inn about a local fisherman, one Captain Barlow, and his tall tales of tempests and becalmings, devils and sharks, and Silver finds a new future opening up to him, haunted by the spectres of his past. Whether landed in this place by fortune, or fate, or even divine intervention, he finds he cannot leave again without following this trail that leads from an old and half-forgotten tether knotted deep between his ribs to somewhere that feels familiar and safe, like home. The way won’t be easy; it’s paved with notable absences and painful unspoken truths, and there’s as good a chance as any that he’ll find a knife to his throat before he can so much as say ‘Long time no see, Captain’. Still, all roads do seem to lead to them baring their souls to one another in the dark, and Silver would be lying if he said he hadn’t missed it.

7.  An Epilogue

After the events of Treasure Island, John finds James and Thomas. There’s a gradual awkward descent to domesticity when pirates retire. Madi brings Jim Hawkins with her from London. This is the ultimate fix it where there are no unanswered questions and everyone lives happily ever after. SilverFlint, SilverHamilton, SilverFlintHamilton, SilverMadi

8. Stealing Hearts

A 1920s AU with Flint as a mob boss, fighting a corrupt police force/police system, and Silver as a thief who gets caught up in all of it.  

9. Space Raiders of Nassau

The space station Nassau is in open rebellion against the interplanetary Imperial Alliance.  Captain James Flint is in deep shit for rearranging the face of a fellow raider captain.  As punishment, Nassau's leaders assign an inside man to his crew, with a very convincing cover story (that they're married). Complicating things further is the fact that Flint's shifty new husband, John Silver, knows a lot more than he's telling about their secret mission. Their own survival as well as Nassau’s future depend on how successfully they can navigate the dangerous skies… and each other.  

10. The Pirate Captain's Wedding Once he has his hands on the thief Flint is willing to do whatever it takes to get the page from him. And then Billy & Gates say marriage is the only solution left on the table. Or rather matelotage – the time honored pirate form of matrimony. Billy says it’s the only way to regain the crew’s trust, by marrying one of them, and Gates agrees. For once Flint’s desperate enough to agree to it. He never expects to actually fall in love with the little shit. Canon-Era Season1/Season2 AU– with angsty developing feelings, public consummation, & There Is Only One Bed night after hot sticky sweaty night. 11. The devil's gotta' earn

Supernatural AU. James Flint has been a hunter for over a decade now and he knows people join this profession for plenty of reasons and few of those are happy ones. Some people just seek the thrill, some want to protect the so called innocent, some - like him - are out for revenge and John Bloody Silver apparently is just trying to get rich. [Borrows mostly from first seasons of Supernatural, little to no prior knowledge of this show required. Miranda lives, Thomas tragically does not. Lots of angst, few monsters of the week and a demon or two.]

12. touch me James is a widow, bartender and owner of the gay-bar “The Rainbow“. After Thomas' death it had been John who had lift him up. One day one of his usual dancers - because what is a gay bar without your occasional striptease - can't perform. John offers to fill the space and James has to face that John is more than just a friend. Slow burn and StripperJohn!AU

13. Adamantine Flame Flint is a forest god called The Flame and Silver is part of the cult that worships him that resides on the fringes of the underworld. 14. [Title TBD] Silver never met another werewolf before. Well, realistically, he knew he must have because he wasn't born a werewolf so someone had to have done this to him. But that didn't count since his memory of the whole incident was lackluster at best. He knew others had to be out there somewhere though and he wanted to find at least one, just to know he wasn't all alone. Flint was surrounded by werewolves all his life. Always part of a family, always knowing someone cared for him. Knowing he had someone to care for. The memories were as vivid as ever, of a time when he cared for someone. But they were gone and he knew he was meant to be all alone. 15. set my soul on fire

Nothing quite like getting out of prison to make a man feel like pulling off the biggest heist you’ve ever heard of. But he can’t do it alone - he’s going to need some money, a plan, a crew, and of course, his partner. His incorrigible, oral fixation-having, blue-eyed devil of a partner. Who is this smooth, seasoned con man with his eyes on the prize? James fucking Flint, naturally. And his partner? John Silver.Viva Las Vegas, baby.

16. cat dad

Modern au. Flint's life is fine. It's quiet and it's fine and he's fine. Well, except that his upstairs neighbor is a dick and his relationship with Miranda is strained and maybe quiet isn't all it's cracked up to be. But then a one-eyed cat enters his life and with it one John Silver. Flint's not sure how he feels about that, but he's working on it. Plot includes cat shenanigans, cooking, fluff, and feelings. 

17. [Title TBD]

A post-canon rendition of the Silver and Flint reunion wherein rather than seeking each other out the two are brought back together by outside forces. There’s a wedge of sour history and new lives built between them but love and desire become hard to deny when every path you set out on to leave someone behind sends you hurdling straight back to them. Treasure Island divergent/ignorant, though I pull some things from TI including the bird. (Includes SilverMadi and FlintHamilton as side-pairings, warning for canon Black Sails side-character death.) 18. The Spark

it's a Girl Genius AU

That's it, that's the whole shtick. It's basically the plot of the show, but clockwork-punk with mad geniuses (of course Flint is one), Urca being chock full of Aztec tech a'la Mysterious Cities of Gold, and dr. Howell and colleagues taking medicine to some quite Frankenstein levels - convenient with so many characters who should know better than to fucking die.

Also John Silver might be a construct.  The prosthetics are not nearly as complicated as in treasure planet, but at least one person has a gun arm? dirigibles are "Supposed Not To Be Invented Yet", but not for the lack of trying. Silverflint revolves around having "The Spark" and personhood and is shaping up heavier than i intended... luckily they will have plenty of people to set them to rights - i'm aiming for a happy polyfamily forming in the background.

19. he’s funny that way

1920s Atlantic City. Everybody knows the only way to leave crime boss Eleanor Guthrie's business is through a funeral - either delivering the sermon or laid out in the casket. Still, Flint leaves anyway, because he likes to make his life as difficult as possible. Case in point: his new partner, the scruffy, irate, one-legged racketeer with a pretty mouth, a quick tongue, and a rye recipe even Pussyfoot Johnson wouldn't spit out. His new partner's making sure he's not joining the church and taking a celibacy vow anytime soon - but will anyone be able to save Flint from his early - or long overdue - grave?

20. Ship to Wreck 

"I don't know if you've noticed, Doctor," Silver snaps, incredulous, "But every moment the Captain is unconscious in that bed is another step away from five million fucking dollars. As if that weren't enough, we're locked in a ridiculous show of force with a madman who seems keen on blowing us sky high unless we concede to his demands; we've got a crowd of men up top losing their Goddamned minds because they've been promised a fight that we cannot presently even hope to deliver; and--" Silver pauses, exhaling hard. "Actually, you know what? There is no and.  I’d say that’s about enough shit to make us all a little tense, wouldn’t you agree?" "Hm," Howell says, mildly. A post 204 fic in which: Flint gets a fever, Silver has a panic attack, and Howell gets a migraine. Includes, among other things--Silver trying and failing at playing nurse; Silver trying and failing at controlling his feelings; Flint being dazed and delirious and soft; some singing, some yelling, and heavy doses of mutual pining. Love, obviously, turns out to be the best medicine. 21. More Than One Odysseus

Reunion fic, about two years after 4.10. Quite a lot of talking and a little of the following: fishing, sex, hunting, bathtubs, Jewish surnames, books, stories and Terra Australis. Canon-compliant, not TI-compliant. A few animals killed (for food, not sport).

22. Seedlings

"If there's anything I can help you with-- Or if you'd like to order flowers for an upcoming occasion--"

"All right, honestly?" Handsomely disgruntled customer looked Silver dead in the eye and said, "I'm looking for a gift that says, 'You are making a dreadful mistake, and you will regret these actions for the rest of your days. Call me when you've figured out what a fucking hash of things you've made.'" He spoke the way some people chewed tinfoil.

Silver felt two things: lust like a plague of locusts, and the words 'uh-oh' waft through his brain.

On the second anniversary of the worst day of his adult life, John Silver─temporary florist, burgeoning gardner, and former thief─meets James Flint. It is only love at first sight for one of them. (Or is it?)

23. The Curse of Aeaea

Inspired by the connection between Flint and Odysseus: Silver and Flint find themselves dealing with a very Circe-like situation. Once the curse affects Silver, they have to figure out a way to end it or be trapped on an island that’s not on any map.

(Animal Transformation, Body Horror, Poor Coping Mechanisms, Circe’s Curse, Odysseus, Post-Season 2, Pre-Season 3)

24. With Strange Aeons Months after the disappearance and presumed death of Captain Flint and Long John Silver, Max smuggles Jack and Anne to Oglethorpe’s plantation. Thomas learns that not only do the three of them have a friend in common, but he is not the only one whose dreams are haunted by a strange city and a terrifying name. Meanwhile, Flint and Silver try to escape an island trapped in time, impossibly built and impossibly old. Along the way they’re forced question reality, each other, and themselves.

And in his house in R’lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming. (Prior knowledge of Lovecraft is fun, but not required.)

[architectnews]

2020 Expo Dubai German Pavilion

2020 Expo Dubai German Pavilion, Event + Exhibition Building Architect, UAE Design Project Images

2020 Expo Dubai German Pavilion Design

ADUNIC: Event + Exhibition Architecture, UAE design by LAVA Architects

post updated 27 September 2021

The German Pavilion @ Expo 2020 Dubai opens on 1 October for six months.

Photo taken in September 2021:

image courtesy of architects practice

2020 Expo Dubai German Pavilion Opening

German Pavilion design embodies message of sustainability

LAVA’s design of the German Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai is an ensemble of suspended cubes, a forest of steel poles, covered by a floating roof, opening on 1 October. And behind these visually exciting design elements everything from intelligent use of local climatic conditions to materials reuse to connectedness is sustainable.

“The key question was how to design a temporary exhibition and event space for up to three million visitors in a desert environment that was sustainable. LAVA’s solution linked the Expo theme of connectedness, with our approach of ‘more with less’, with humans interacting with nature and technology at its heart,” said Tobias Wallisser, director of LAVA.

Photos taken in August 2021:

1. BUILDING AS EXHIBIT: Social Sustainability

“The building design is part of the exhibition, a tool to connect people.”

“We wanted to address the Expo motto ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and so the team chose to represent Germany as a ‘campus’, an open place for exchange of knowledge, ideas and innovations. Rather than placing the buildings horizontally across a site, three suspended cubes are assembled vertically. This loose, porous stacking of volumes, an ensemble rather than a single form, suggests interconnectedness,” said Christian Tschersich, project director, LAVA.

The positioning of the cantilevered cubes generates a spacious central atrium for gathering and events. At the heart of the visitor experience this covered vertical space visually connects all functional areas with one another, helps with way-finding, creates diverse visual relationships and access points, and assists with management of large visitor numbers.

The visitor route brings people continuously onto terraces (on top of the cubed spaces). They can see their past and future trajectory, engage with other people, and enjoy vistas out to the Expo site. The exhibition spaces inside the cubes (Energy Lab, Future City Lab, and Biodiversity Lab) feature individual immersive experiences, whilst terrace exhibitions invite group interaction.

Rather than a traditional exhibition hall the campus metaphor sees the whole building as an exhibit, not merely a canvas to display, but a tool for connecting people and content, and a place to experience German innovations.

2. BUILDING AS EXHIBIT: STRUCTURAL SUSTAINABILITY

The actual structure is the message.

“We incorporated the principle of sustainability right from the start by using the minimum amount of material to create maximum volume. LAVA’s ‘more with less’,” said Tschersich.

Three cubes were stacked on top of a plinth with other functions (restaurant, pre-show, office, back-ofhouse) formed as an abstract landscape. This created a large volume at the centre, and a roof creates shade and comfort – a technical cloud. A sandwich of three parts: landscape – stacked cubes – roof. People between nature and technology.

The clever positioning of the stacked cubes is driven by local climate and features passive energy-saving features that reduce the impact of direct sunlight, generate natural shade, decrease the heat load and optimise the indoor climate. This intelligent creation of shade by the building elements also makes “hybrid” air conditioning possible. It also referenced the design of the local courtyard house, with closed exterior facades and rooms oriented towards an inner airspace that open up to each other.

A hybrid facade minimises the sense of building bulk and creates an iconic framing of the space. At the upper level a dynamic arrangement of 900 vertical steel poles, a forest of trees swaying in the wind, creates movement. With gradually changing angles they frame the central atrium space and modulate light.

An opaque, trapezoidal single-layer ETFE membrane can be opened and closed, responsive to different climate conditions during the six-month Expo period, such as sandstorms and cooler days, and minimises the need for air conditioning. The pavilion’s outer shell also includes 1.5 metres wide glass elements that can be rotated and opened, allowing the building to breathe.

The visually striking technical cloud roof creates shade and comfort. It allows daylight into the interior through multiple small openings, similar to sunlight penetrating a forest canopy, creating an ever-changing visitor experience. Mirror surfaces reflect direct sunlight against the roof skin, a dynamic interplay of light. At night, a field of LED lights integrated in the ceiling make the building radiate from within.

Resource consumption and the circular economy were also major design drivers and are reflected in numerous passive and active sustainability features – from Design for Disassembly (DfD) to “Mine the Scrap”, “grey energy”, sustainable and reusable building materials. The building will be repurposed after the Expo is finished, with standardised building elements such as steel poles dismantled and reconfigured into different geometries.

LAVA’s bottom-up approach focussed on visitor comfort, technology in the service of humans. “At LAVA we’re always looking at the interaction between people and the physical environment they inhabit. Sustainability requires that environments are adaptable and changeable,” added Wallisser.

The transition from hot exterior to inside was carefully considered. To reduce temperature shock and save on energy costs the architects designed a transitional space where visitors entering the building, with lengthy queues, will be cooled by a gentle water mist emanating from steel poles allowing them to gradually acclimatise. The central atrium is cooled by cold air expelled from the air conditioned exhibition spaces, thereby reducing energy usage and improving visitor comfort.

“An efficiently stacked volume of space, responding to the local environment with an intelligent climate management system. This project shows how buildings can be optimised, made intelligent, be reconfigured, can adapt to changing users, environments, temperatures, acoustics, and light,” said Alexander Rieck, director, LAVA.

Chris Bosse LAVA Director added: “Functional requirements, visitor experience, climate and environmental concerns are all resolved thorough this clever multi-performative design.”

Added Wallisser: “Architecture isn’t purely a façade. Of course we wanted the building to be Instagrammable! But also innovative, thought-provoking, with an effective experiential quality. The hardware of the building creates a journey for visitors from around the world.”

The concept continues innovation in pavilion design, from London’s Crystal Palace to Germany’s history – Mies van der Rohe’s German Pavilion at Expo ’29 in Barcelona, Frei Otto at Montreal’s Expo ’67.

The German Pavilion houses a three-level restaurant, VIP spaces for business meetings, an auditorium for events and performances, plus work spaces for 50 staff. It is located in the sustainability section, close to Al Wasl Plaza, which forms the heart of the Expo site. Expo 2020 Dubai 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022 is divided into three districts: sustainability, mobility and opportunity, with exhibitions from 190 countries.

The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy commissioned Koelnmesse GmbH to organise and run the German Pavilion. The “German Pavilion Expo 2020 Dubai Consortium”, comprising facts and fiction GmbH and NUSSLI Adunic AG is in charge of concept design, planning and realisation. Facts and fiction is responsible for content, exhibition and media design, and the pavilion was built by NUSSLI Adunic, with architecture and spatial design by LAVA.

2020 Expo Dubai German Pavilion UAE – Building Information

NAME OF PROJECT German Pavilion Expo 2020 MINISTRY Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) MANAGEMENT Koelnmesse GmbH LOCATION Dubai, UAE CLIENT CONSORTIUM facts and fiction with NUSSLI ADUNIC STATUS Built 2021 SIZE 4,600m2; building height 27 m PRACTICE CREDITS LAVA: Tobias Wallisser, Alexander Rieck, Chris Bosse with Christian Tschersich Project Team: Maria Pachi, Ahmed Rihan, Niklas Knap, Daniele Colombati, Wassef Dabboussi Competition team: Maria Pachi, Christina Ciardullo, Courtney Jones, Jed Finanne, Benjamin Riess, Joanna Rzewuska PARTNERS: Concept design, planning and implementation – facts and fiction/NUSSLI Structural engineers – schlaich bergermann partner Climate – Transsolar Reuse – Certain Measures MEP – energytec Fire – Steinlehner Light – Kardorff Ingenieure DRAWINGS © facts and fiction | NUSSLI Group| LAVA IMAGE CREDITS: © German Pavilion Expo 2020 Dubai / Björn Lauen; NUSSLI Group

Previously on e-architect:

9 Nov 2018

2020 Expo Dubai German Pavilion Building

Design: LAVA Architects

2020 Expo Dubai German Pavilion Building Design by LAVA

A vertical campus of nature and technology

LAVA’s design for the German Pavilion Expo 2020 Dubai is a vertical campus of nature and technology, taking cues from the local architecture and Germany’s history of outstanding lightweight pavilion design. Demonstrating the Expo theme, everything from intelligent use of local climatic conditions to materials reuse to construction is sustainable.

On behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Economy and Energy, Koelnmesse GmbH is responsible for the organisation and operation of the Pavilion, with Consortium German Pavilion EXPO 2020 Dubai facts and fiction GmbH and ADUNIC AG (concept design, planning and implementation) and LAVA (architecture/spatial concepts).

CONCEPT The airy construction is an efficiently stacked volume of space. A visually striking freeform roof encloses a spacious volume and an intelligent ensemble of interlinked floating cubes housing exhibition and event spaces. The contrast of enclosed air space and immersive exhibition experiences generates an exciting exchange between interior and exterior spaces. The open structure is formed from abstract elements and surprising materials, a composition of repetition and differentiation.

The concept continues German innovation in Expo pavilion design by using new ways of forming space – from Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona 1929 to Frei Otto’s Montreal 1967 to Fritz Bornemann’s spherical concert hall Osaka 1970.

It also responds to the local climate and references the local courtyard house with closed exterior facade and rooms oriented towards an inner airspace.

ROOF An opaque trapezoidal single-layer ETFE membrane creates a large volume of space with a minimal enveloping surface and highly efficient material. The metallic skin lets light rays into the interior through many small openings, similar to sunlight penetrating forest foliage, creating a continuously changing visitor experience.

Mirror surfaces reflect direct sunlight against the roof skin, a dynamic interplay of light. At night, a field of LED lights integrated in the ceiling make the building radiate from within. Supported by vertical steel cables, the cloudscape roof keeps out the heat and controls light and temperature in the atrium. It reduces production energy, optimises resources by weight savings and creates the technical conditions for a pleasant visitor experience.

ATRIUM A central atrium, a green, open space, connects all visitor areas and allows many surprising perspectives. The composition of exhibition spaces, event area and restaurants are interwoven through these manifold visual relationships. The pavilion tour brings visitors continuously onto the terraces of the open atrium, providing an overview of their location within the pavilion, the variety of topics and social interaction with other visitors. Native German plants hang from the terraces and roof creating comfort in the atrium and special light.

LAYOUT The vertical campus courses between a landscaped layer on the lower two levels and the cloud roof. The rear east is a vertical backbone with technical facilities and service functions, and the front western side houses exhibition and restaurant spaces layered horizontally. The sequence of stacked seemingly floating building elements is a journey through the campus learning experience – from enrolment to learning curriculum to graduation. The ‘laboratories’, purposedesigned for exhibition, performance and dining, are grouped around the atrium.

SUSTAINABILITY The design continues LAVA’s philosophy of sustainability at multiple levels, a strong visual symbol and example for visitors, by:

1. Material-optimised construction based on nature’s geometries. 2. Passive energy saving measures applied at the very outset in the design – for example the stacked building elements not only trap vertical airspace, but also minimise direct sunlight creating a sheltered atrium with minimal solar input and optimised climate. 3. Intelligent arrangement creates different spatial situations, not through complex technology, but rather through digitised production processes. 4. Minimisation of grey energy and operational energy. 5. Graduated climatic zones of individual areas allow reduced energy use, whilst supporting the diversified room experience for visitors. 6. Reuse of building parts and materials – using algorithms to reduce waste. 7. Barrier-free access.

Tobias Wallisser, LAVA director, said: “It exemplifies LAVA’s work with natural geometries to generate efficient and beautiful structures and space through intelligent skins using integrative technology and cutting edge materials. And how buildings perform at many sustainable levels – environmental, structural and social.”

Alexander Rieck, LAVA director said: “The project continues LAVA’s expertise working in desert environments (Masdar Plaza UAE and more recently the university masterplan and headquarters for KACST in Saudi Arabia.) The integration of local climatic conditions, innovative use of recyclable materials and ground-breaking climate control technologies demonstrate how one can build and operate in harmony with the location.”

LAVA Director Chris Bosse said: “The challenge is: how does a country physically represent itself in an exhibition like the Expo? World exhibitions give a glimpse of the future from the perspective of their time. Our pavilion design shows Germany’s contribution to that view of the future. The sequence of different spatial areas encourages visitors to have fun whilst learning.”

“The building itself is part of the exhibition, a tool for connecting people and content, both a model of sustainability and a place to discover German innovations and solutions on this important topic,” added Christian Tschersich, Project Manager at LAVA.

The Expo 2020 theme is “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future” and it runs from 20 October 2020 to 10 April 2021.

IMAGE CREDITS: (c) facts and fiction | adunic | LAVA

LAVA

2020 Expo Dubai German Pavilion Building images / information received 081118

20 Aug 2018

2020 Expo Dubai German Pavilion

Design: LAVA Architects

2020 Expo Dubai German Pavilion

Cologne, August 2018 – EXPO 2020: Cologne creativity and Swiss construction expertise for Dubai

facts and fiction and ADUNIC win German Pavilion bid

In a key milestone on the road to EXPO 2020 Dubai, Germany has decided who is to design and build the German Pavilion. The bid was won by a consortium comprising Cologne-based agency facts and fiction and Swiss construction company ADUNIC, with architecture to be designed by Berlin firm LAVA.

While facts and fiction will be responsible for content, exhibition and media design, building the pavilion will be ADUNIC’s job. facts and fiction specialises in spatial communication and ADUNIC are specialists in the construction of temporary buildings. As well as matching both companies’ profiles, the brief reflects the essence of Expos, which are all about giving those who visit during the short six months of the event an Expo experience that stays with them forever. “We’re delighted to have won the German Pavilion contest,” says Dietmar Jähn, a managing director at facts and fiction, commenting on the selection committee’s decision. “It’s a dream come true and a great honour for us to have our concept chosen to represent Germany at the EXPO in Dubai.”

An EU-wide notice of tender was published back in September 2017, inviting teams to apply to design the concept and to plan and build the interior and exterior of the German Pavilion for EXPO 2020 Dubai. The brief also included the technical management of the pavilion during the World Expo from 20 October 2020 to 10 April 2021 and the dismantling of the pavilion after the event.

Initially, applicants were asked to draw up a high-level concept. This was followed by a second phase, in which a 17-member selection committee (made up of representatives of various federal ministries, trade/industry associations and experts on Expo and regional matters) chose five interdisciplinary teams to put through to the next phase – the design of a detailed concept for the German Pavilion.

“The awarding of the contract to facts and fiction and ADUNIC marks the end of a ten-month process. We are happy that things can now progress and building work can start on our plot in Dubai next year,” says Dietmar Schmitz from Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. As Commissioner General of the German Pavilion, Mr Schmitz is responsible for the country’s presence in Dubai. He is head of the “Policy on fairs and exhibitions, expo participations” division at the Ministry and has been involved in World Exhibitions across the globe over the course of many years.

The two partners in the German Pavilion consortium are no newcomers to Expo either. facts and fiction designed the Monaco and Kazakhstan pavilions in Milan in 2015 as well as the German presence at EXPO 2012 in the Korean city of Yeosu. ADUNIC built a number of the pavilions in Milan in 2015.

New to Expo is LAVA, an international team of architects with offices in Berlin, Stuttgart and Sydney and a wealth of experience, having worked on a wide variety of major projects around the world. In the Middle East, for instance, LAVA helped plan the Masdar eco city in Abu Dhabi and also designed the architecture for the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

facts and fiction and ADUNIC were selected on the basis of the tender criteria. The main requirement was to take the EXPO theme of “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future” and the sustainability subtheme chosen by Germany and translate them into a pavilion concept that will grasp visitors’ interest and hold it from start to finish while also creating a seamless marriage between the pavilion’s architecture and its content.

But all has not yet been revealed. The concept will not be presented in Germany until a press conference at Koelnmesse in Cologne on 4 September 2018, to be followed by a second press conference at the Steigenberger Hotel Business Bay in Dubai on 19 September. Koelnmesse is the company that will be organising and running the German Pavilion at the 2020 World Expo in Dubai on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.

For more information, visit www.expo2020germany.de and on the YouTube channel

LAVA

2020 Expo Dubai German Pavilion images / information received 200818

Location: Jebel Ali, Dubai, UAE

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Website: 2020 Expo Dubai German Pavilion

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[aspisfiresafetyltd]

The Ultimate Guide to Fire Suppression Mist Systems

The Fire Suppression Mist System takes the suction of the mist tank to the sprinkler system. Every area is isolated by valves, that are opened during emergency conditions consisting as a fire. This system works at the readiness stage.The High Pressure Water Mist System is injected with water by special nozzle work within the pressure lie from 4 to 10Mpa. It breaks the water droplets into mist. The water mist particle diameters lie from 50 to 200Um, which improves the system efficiency and fire extinguishing effect.

[wherespaulo]

Hiking in the Catskills

Nov. 8-15, 2020

It was November 2020, NYC, and a third, larger wave of covid-19 was well and truly on its way around the globe, limiting travel possibilities. Even individual US states had their very own travel restrictions and quarantine requirements, so I decided the least risky option to get some hiking in was to stay within NY state and head to the Catskill Mountains.

I was met by a cheerful Chinese-American woman, 70’s, at the amusingly named ‘Morning Glory’ B&B in Woodstock – I expect it was something to do with the way the sunshine beamed through the thinly veiled windows at dawn. The numerous paintings covering the walls of this 1800’s colonial style property hinted at the owner’s artistic nature. During the coming week I would come to meet her daughter, Diane, 40’s, and her granddaughter, Isobel, 20 – men were clearly superfluous to requirements in this place being run by three generations of industrious Chinese-American women!

I’d planned on doing a number of long day hikes and over the week settled on four -- a modified route of the Mink Hollow Devils Path Loop, the Devils Path to Hunter Mountain Loop, the Escarpment Loop/Kaaterskill Falls and then part of the Burroughs Range:

Mink Hollow Devils Path Loop (slightly modified route) - 15 miles

I hiked the first mile from the parking spot with Diane under clear blue skies before we went our separate ways – she was carrying on back to Woodstock while I was heading over Indian Head and Sugarloaf Mountains where the views would be spectacular and turn out to be the best of the week. 

In the heat I was soon down to my t-shirt with the bottom parts of my hiking trousers zipped off. It all took a bit longer than expected so I ended up being in a rush to get off the mountain, with its tricky scrambling sections, before dark. To make sure I can get somewhere in time I tend to assume speeds of  2.5-2.75 miles/hr for mixed terrain, 2.00-2.25 miles/hr for slower uphill/scrambling stuff, and 3.00-3.25 miles/hr for easy paths and road sections. In the event I did make it off the mountain just as the light was fading but then had a two mile dangerous walk along the dark road back to my car, with a few fast cars to contend with.

Devils Path to Hunter Mountain Loop – 11.4 miles

The first part of yet another Devils Path, connecting the car park to the loop which I would walk in an anti-clockwise fashion, was a treacherous steep half mile uphill over slippery wet, leaf-covered rocks, clearly earning some infamy and its name over the years. The low cloud would persist for most of the day where the only other hikers I met were an intrepid outdoorsy looking family that had the look of being an integral part of these mountains -- I felt honored that they spoke to me as an equal, as though I was also part of this exclusive all-weather outdoors club.

I thought about how different these mountains looked when skiing, the only other time I’d been on Hunter, and how the passage of time not only affects their visual appearance. Of how water-under-the-bridge gives an alternative view of the world.  I tried to get a look above the clouds by climbing the fire tower on the summit of Hunter but when I got to the top the latch into the lookout had been padlocked – although life can sometimes feel like this, I knew another door would soon appear in a different time and place.

Escarpment Loop, Kaaterskill Falls – 7.4 miles

It was a misty start under a fine drizzle as I headed up the steep, wet, slippery trail beside the roaring falls which spoke to me in a language I’ve yet to decipher – half heard messages drowned out before I could quite grasp their meaning.

 Then, walking the loop in a clockwise fashion, flat woodland trails lead to a still reservoir, a silent and desolate contrast under that blanket of thick fog. And when I eventually came to the ridge along the top of the escarpment facing south, the mist would periodically clear to show tiny patches of dazzling blue sky and hints at the extent of a view I might be missing – like flashes of insight into your dreams, dreams which you keep hidden in the mist, afraid to believe what might be possible for fear of being let down. Why not take a look?

Burroughs Range (partial route) - 11 miles

How to do a point-to-point hike and still have your car at the end of it? Our plan was that I would drive Diane’s car to the parking spot at the westernmost point on the loop and she, with Isobel, would drive my car to the parking spot at Woodland Valley Campground. I would then walk anti-clockwise, she would walk clockwise, and we would meet in the middle at Cornell Mountain for lunch and to swap car keys.

Best laid plans though! As I parked up Diane’s car after the steep uphill drive, acrid smelling smoke and steam emanated from under the bonnet – feck! A quick inspection revealed no water in the cooling system reservoir and a probable split hose. I dumped almost all my drinking water into the reservoir before I left for the trail. I was feeling guilty that I’d pushed her mini too hard up the hills, but when we met for lunch at the half-way point she just said “oh yeah, I’ve been noticing that for a while. Can’t remember the last time I put water in. They’ll sort it out at the service in a couple of months”. It made me think of life’s multitude examples of how the cost rises when we don’t address problems quickly – when we don’t nip them in the bud. There was the ten years of worsening scratches on my apartment’s wooden floor before I got rubber protectors to go under my sofa’s feet; then the water damage on the wall next to my bath/shower which is yet to be sorted; and of course the irrevocable damage to a marriage from not being completely ‘present’ when I needed to be.

With little drinking water I was grateful to come across a spring just after Slide Mountain – the numerous large signs clearly evident for half a mile in each direction made me smile. Flashing neon lights would hardly have made the spring more conspicuous! There’s something instinctively satisfying though about slaking your thirst straight out of the ground – a human need akin to the warmth from a fire, the freedom of stretching your legs under a blue sky, the touch from someone special...

Real Estate

On the one day it chucked it down I stayed off the mountains, instead driving towards Hudson to check out the real estate – I stopped en-route to have a stroll along Poets Walk in the misty rain. It was a welcome change to wander over gently rolling terrain like pipe-smoke in a billiard room as I considered whether I might have been a poet in another life, rather than a scientist.  

Over the past couple of years I’ve been considering whether I might leave New York City at some point since many of my good friends have left and my job no longer keeps me here – I’ve often thought if there’s nothing to keep me in an expensive city then why not leave? I’m completely open as to where I might live if I do decide to leave. My sons live in London and Lyon but who knows where they might end up in the future. And the world is a small place – the time to fly from the US east coast to western Europe is about the same as flying from the US east coast to the US west coast. I could live anywhere and fly as much as I wanted to see my sons, ethics of carbon footprint permitting of course. I’d already been checking out New York state real estate in Woodstock (and earlier in Cold Spring) where it seemed the pandemic had driven New Yorkers out of the city to quickly snap up property at increasingly elevated prices.

Although Hudson’s prevalence of high ceilinged Victorian style architecture had an attraction for me, I wasn’t overly impressed – maybe a rainy day is not the best time to visit but it seemed a tad neglected and desolate to me – other than the luxurious Maker Café, located inside the upscale Victorian Maker Hotel. Rhinebeck, just a tad further south and also usefully situated on the Amtrac line from New York City, had more appeal for me, with a smaller, less obvious center surrounded by upscale residential areas.

Good restaurants and bars are an added attraction to relocate somewhere and Woodstock had plenty. I spent a few evenings at my favorite place, the A&P Bar, with its super friendly staff serving up excellent cocktails and top quality British nosh.

The Italian food and wine were excellent at Cucina where I had an illuminating conversation with a fellow patron sitting at the bar. It was convivial enough until going off on an unexpected tangent when the topic of Covid and vaccines came up. She said something like “so what’s the scoop on how the Pharma companies released the virus?”. I decided she was just having a laugh and retorted “yeah, good one”. But when she pushed the point I realized she was serious and told her she’d been watching too many movies involving the ‘evil pharma companies’ and that she could ask many justifiable questions of big pharma, such as whether they’re charging too much for their drugs, but to suggest they’re increasing profits by releasing diseases that they can provide treatments for is ridiculous. Of course I wasn’t aware at the time of the massive US movement which subscribes to this ‘Big Pharma Conspiracy Theory’. It was a great restaurant but I decided it best to stay away for the rest of the week.

Overall it had been a very enjoyable week’s hiking and exploration of the Catskills and I look forward to when I can stay in that friendly and amusingly named B&B in Woodstock once again.

[lbrookshallfilmfestivals2020]

The Immersive and the Cinematic - Frank Gray

The Immersive - As an adjective: 

Of a work of art, performance, screening, game that seems to surround the viewer or player so that they feel totally involved in the experience.

Noting or relating to activity that occupies most of one’s attention, time or energy.

(In a computer or gaming system) generating a 3D image that surrounds the user.

Immersiveness - As a noun:

Providing, involving, or charecterised by deep absorption or immersion in something. (Such as an activity or a real artificial movement).

Immersion - As a noun:

As a metamorphic use of the experience of submersion; applied to representation, fiction or simulation; can be defined as the state of consciousness where a ‘visitor’ or ‘immersant’ is transformed by being surrounded in an artificial environment; used for describing partial or complete suspension of disbelief, enabling action or reaction to stimulations encountered in a virtual or artistic environment.

Cinematic - As an adjective:

That which is of or related to cinema.

Combining the two will give you an immersive cinematic space.

Immersive spaces include:

Auditora: odeons, amphitheatres, theatres and concert halls.

Churches.

Museums and galleries.

Cinemas: standard, 360 degrees and IMAX.

Immersion can also be charecterised by reading and using our imaginations, as well as playing VR game.

Physical Spaces

The Upper Church os the Basilica di San Francesco, Assisi, Italy. (13th century)

The Legend of Saint Francis, painted by Giotto (1297-1300)

The Rotunda, Leicester Square, London. Robert Barker’s 360 degree panorama. (1793)

Barker’s 360 degree Edinburgh panorama. (1796)

Holyrood Chapel, Louis Daguerre. (1824)

The National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London. (1834)

The Chain Pier, Brighton, painted by John Constable. (1826-7)

The Last Judgment 1,2 and 3 by John Martin. (1851-4)

The Great Exhibition, Joseph Paxton, London. (1851)

Brighton Aquarium, Eugenius Birch. (1872)

Poole’s Myriorama, Pictorial tours. (1889)

Buffalo Bill’s Wild West.

Boston Symphony Hall, Architects: McKim, Mead and White. Acustic scientist: Wallace Clement Sabine. (1900)

Projection

Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae. The Great Art of Light and Shadow, Athanasius Kircher. (1645)

Phantasmagoria Show, Étiene-Gaspard Robert. (1798)

A single slipping slide. (1820)

The Magic Lantern Show, as a storytelling medium. (1890)

The Arrival of Moving Pictures, the Edison Vitascope. (1896)

Serpentine Dance. (1896)

Grandma’s Reading Glass, G.A. Smith, Hove. (1900)

The Duke of York’s Theatre, Preston Circus, Brighton. (1910)

The Cinerama system. (1953)

The Nantes Triptych, Bill Viola. (1992)

Fire Woman, Bill Viola. (2005)

IMAX. (1967)

ScreenX. (2015)

Inner-Space

Magic Lantern Peep Show, painting by John Thomson. (1877)

Holmes Stereoscope. (1861)

Her Last Prayer, Stereograph. (1860)

The Edison Kinetoscope. (1894)

Television. (1955)

Smartphones.

Virtual Reality headsets.

Talking about cinematic immersiveness made me remember 4D cinemas, maybe in the late 00′s early 2010′s I remember going to theme parks and them showing films in 4D. The difference between this and 3D is as well as the imagery ‘popping’ out at you, the seats you’re sat in shake, mist and water get sprayed at your face, and they backs of your seats can move and poked your back. There was also a standing up 4D experience I had at Universal Studios, where you were apart of the movie, Twister (1996), you stood on a platform and a set was built around the screen where you watched a scene from the movie. The platform shook and they used fire effects around the platform, which was very immersive. They even had a flying cow prop which made me laugh.

[biointernet]

The Full History of Time

The Full History of Time

Exhibition MHC by Kirill Korotkov and Lena Rhomberg Soon The Full History of Time Main Topics: Art, Science, Love, Magic, Technologies, Human Light System, Time Philosophy

MHC Exhibitions

Dynamic Vision Board meta-models Exhibitions:Beauty Bio NetHourglass and CardsArt GlassDead Sea CollectionThe Full History of Time3DHM ExhibitionHourglass Figure Sophia Loren “I sit beside the fire and think  Of all that I have seen Of meadow flowers and butterflies In summers that have been Of yellow leaves and gossamer In autumns that there were With morning mist and silver sun And wind upon my hair I sit beside the fire and think Of how the world will be When winter comes without a spring  That I shall ever see For still there are so many things That I have never seen In every wood in every spring There is a different green I sit beside the fire and think Of people long ago And people that will see a world That I shall never know But all the while I sit and think Of times there were before I listen for returning feet  And voices at the door”  ― J.R.R. Tolkien The Death Does Not ExistHourglass SephoraHourglass Figure Sophia LorenHourglass body measurementsExtinction Rebellion – Time against LifeText, Time, MHCHourglass – Sablier, Sanduhr, Stundenglas, Reloj de arena, الساعة الرملية, Rellotge de sorra, přesýpací hodiny, velago, itula tioata, Clessidra, 砂時計, timeglass, Zandloper, Timglas, Isikhwama, SoatglassTime in physics and time Science?MHC YouTube channelSymbolism of Melencolia I by Albrecht DürerCreate Ma, Upgrade MaA New Theory On TimeFrank LaCavera hourglass collectionsTime perception or sense of timeTime and TextLunar calendar and moon’s phases nowTime TravelTime ManagementTime symbolism

Time is ...

Time of Life

DADA Time

The End of Time

Time Philosophy Hourglass/Torus form

The Full History of Time

Hourglass/Torus form

In geometry, a Torus is a surface of revolution generated by revolving a circle in three-dimensional space about an axis coplanar with the circle. If the axis of revolution does not touch the circle, the surface has a ring shape and is called a torus of revolution. More Hourglass/Torus form. Hourglass – Torus form

Father Time - Personification of Time

Dynamic Vision Board Meta Model by Adam Pierce MHC virtual museum FATHER TIME, father time symbol, father time images, old father time, father time is grim reaper, father time mother nature, father time statue, father time vintage, baby new year A Briefer History of Time by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mladinow A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes is a popular-science book on cosmology (the study of the Universe) by British physicist Stephen Hawking. It was first published in 1988. ... Finally, he talks about the search for a unifying theory that describes everything in the Universe in a coherent manner. How many pages is a brief history of time? - 256 A Brief History of Time was on the London Sunday Times best-seller list for 237 weeks and has sold about one copy for every 750 men, women, and children on earth. It was a remarkable success for a book that addressed some of the most difficult issues in modern physics. Basic questions: What do we really know about the universe? How do we know it? Where did the universe come from, and where is it going? Those questions were the essence of A Brief History of Time, and they are also the focus of this book.

Time symbolism

Time is…

Time Philosophy Time in physics and time Science Symbolism of Melencolia I by Albrecht Dürer

Time and Text

Text, Time, MHC Hourglass and Death on St Thomas’ Church Hourglass – symbol of Death Hourglass and Skeleton “Hourglass and Cards” Exhibition Time Hub The Hourglass, Hourglass History Hourglass symbolism Hourglass Tattoo Symbols of Time Father Time on MHC Hourglasses ancient-symbols.com/symbols-directory/day_night_symbols.html Lunar calendar and Moon’s phases The Full History of Time The Full History of Time Exhibition on My Hourglass Collection virtual museum. Art, Science, Love, Magic, Technologies, Human Light System

MHC Exhibitions

Exhibitions:Beauty Bio NetHourglass and CardsArt GlassDead Sea CollectionThe Full History of Time3DHM ExhibitionHourglass Figure Sophia Loren The Full History of Time Exhibition on My Hourglass Collection virtual museum

DADA Time

DADA Time

DADA Time

DADA Time

DADA Time

DADA Time

Russian Dada

Biocentrism: How Life and Consciousness are the Keys to Understanding the True Nature of the Universe

DADA Time

DADA Time DADA Time DADA Time

DADA Time

DADA DADA DADA DADA DADA DADA DADA DADA DADA DADA DADA Time Red DADA Brilliant

DADA Time is

now time The ABC’s of DADA Extinction Rebellion – Time against Life Extinction Rebellion is a global environmental movement with the stated aim of using nonviolent civil disobedience to compel government action to avoid tipping points in the climate system, biodiversity loss, and the risk of social and ecological collapse. Zeit ist das, was man an der Uhr abliest.Time is what a clock measures.Albert Einstein (1879–1955) What is Time in physics and Time Science? Time in physics is defined by its measurement: time is what a clock reads In classical, non-relativistic physics it is a scalar quantity and, like length, mass, and charge, is usually described as a fundamental quantity. Time can be combined mathematically with other physical quantities to derive other concepts such as motion, kinetic energy and time-dependent fields. Timekeeping is a complex of technological and scientific issues, and part of the foundation of record keeping.

Time in physics and time Science? What is the “meaning of time” in science? In physical science, time is defined as a measurement, or as what the clock face reads. “Time, a measured or measurable period, a continuum that lacks spatial dimensions. Time is of philosophical interest and is also the subject of mathematical and scientific investigation.” See more Time Symbolism.

The Fabric of Reality

How to use MHC Ticket Lunar calendar, any dating system based on a year consisting of synodic months A lunar calendar is a calendar based upon the monthly cycles of the Moon’s phases (synodic months), in contrast to solar calendars, whose annual cycles are based only directly upon the solar year. The Sumerians were probably the first to develop a calendar based entirely on the recurrence of lunar phases. Each Sumero-Babylonian month began on the first day of visibility of the new Moon.

Time and Text – Real Magic

Hourglass and Text Linguistic Time WaveGenetics Korotkov’s images transformation in meta-modeling process:

Korotkov’s images transformation in meta-modeling process The Hourglass of Writing Text, Time, MHC Time Philosophy

Space and time are the framework within which the mind is constrained to construct its experience of reality. Immanuel Kant Philosophy of space and time is the branch of philosophy concerned with the issues surrounding the ontology, epistemology, and character of space and time. While such ideas have been central to philosophy from its inception, the philosophy of space and time was both an inspiration for and a central aspect of early analytic philosophy. DADA Time today Day and Night The Day and the Night seem to present two entirely different worlds. Day and night changes even seem to have biological effects on mankind. The creatures that are aggressive, alert and seeking in the day become quiet and inactive at night. The dramatic contrast presented by Day and Night is equated with the disparity between life and death, light and darkness, consciousness and unconsciousness. Day and Night symbolize, respectively, the birth of the Sun and its death. With the rising Sun, the Day is considered representative of new life, and fresh beginnings, possibilities, hopes, and opportunities. It also symbolizes the active, masculine principle and the rise of consciousness. A lunar calendar is a calendar based upon the monthly cycles of the Moon’s phases (synodic months), in contrast to solar calendars, whose annual cycles are based only directly upon the solar year. MHC Exhibitions Exhibitions:Beauty Bio NetHourglass and CardsArt GlassMHC Dead Sea CollectionThe Full History of Time3DHM ExhibitionHourglass Figure Sophia Loren

Scientific Time Research

MHC Research Time-use research is a social science interested in human behavioural patterns and seeks to build a body of knowledge to benefit a wide array of disciplines interested in how people use their time. Time management is an approach to time allocation with a specific managerial purpose aimed at increasing the efficiency or effectiveness of a given process.

Time Travel Management

Time Travel + Time Management = Time Travel Management Time Travel Management is Time Travel Reality and Time Management system, using time management tools, for organizing Time-Space Time Travel Management on My Hourglass Collection project using the Biointernet modes (trainings) and the Biointernet Equipment Bio-Net, The Biointernet Mask, The BLAGA System and more Dead Sea Collection Symbols of Life Ankh has a cross shape but with an oval loop in place of an upper bar. The origins of the symbol are not known, although many hypotheses have been proposed. It was used in writing as a triliteral sign, representing a sequence of three consonants, Ꜥ-n-ḫ. One of the most common decorative motifs in ancient Egypt and was adopted by neighbouring cultures as an artistic motif. Since the late 20th century, in the Western world, the symbol has come to be used decoratively, as a symbol of African cultural identity, Neopagan belief systems, and the Goth subculture.

Symbol of Time – The Hourglass

Hourglass 267, post card The ankh is an ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic symbol that was most commonly used in writing and in art to represent the word for “life” and a symbol of Life. Its use continued through the Coptic Egyptians who adapted it as the crux ansata, a variant form of the Christian cross. Symbols of Death Symbols of Death and Time (Western) Medieval and Renaissance art made use of a number of emblems to symbolize death and mortality. Although a central theme of Christianity for hundreds of years the was triumph over death, the onset of the black plague altered public perception, and the emphasis was placed on the triumph of death over life and the necessity of repentance.

Symbolism of Melencolia I by Albrecht Dürer The lie is in our understanding, and darkness is so firmly entrenched in our mind that even our groping will fail. Albrecht Dürer Symbolism of Melencolia I by Albrecht Dürer 1514 engraving by Albrecht Dürer The print’s central subject is an enigmatic and gloomy winged female figure thought to be a personification of melancholia. Holding her head in her hand, she stares past the busy scene in front of her. The area is strewn with symbols and tools associated with craft and carpentry, including an hourglass, weighing scales, a hand plane and a saw. More about Time Symbolism

Symbolism of Melencolia I by Albrecht Dürer

Hourglass Collection, Collection catalog: Collection catalog 300-399Collection catalog 200-299Collection catalog 100-199Collection catalog 1-99Collection catalog, The List Dear Friends, please leave your comment here: DADA Time, for The Full History of Time Read the full article

[mindfulwrath]

Silver, Part IX

As we tumble into the second half of the story, all I can say is: Oh Boy.

Words: 3,491 Warnings: Blood, extremely bad decision-making

Part I Part VIII

Now remember, this is for business purposes only.

"You're for business purposes only," Hyde shot back, buttoning up his waistcoat.

I—yes, that's also true, but I don't want us getting stuck anywhere. Last time was too close. Until I can work out what went wrong—

"Yeah, yeah, give it a rest," said Hyde. "Go sleep, or whatever it is you do when you're not bothering me."

This is serious, Hyde.

"Everything's bloody serious with you. I'm not having any of it."

If there are irregularities with the potion, it spells trouble for you, too, said Jekyll. Even if we're only building up a tolerance, there could be other side-effects. We've been lucky so far, but luck's all it is.

"Yeah, one spot of bad luck," said Hyde. He slipped his shoes on, popped his hat on his head. "Didn't take a double this time, did it? Probably just the stress."

Possibly, said Jekyll. Or it could be more serious. After tonight, we'll have to take a hiatus, possibly a long one. Certainly until the exhibition's done with. I'll have to think of tests to run, to make sure nothing's seriously amiss. God only knows the effects of long-term use, something that traumatic to the system—

"Oy, have the nervous breakdowns on your own time," Hyde said, scowling at him. Jekyll was hanging about in the cheval glass, sitting curled up with his elbows on his knees.

I am not having a nervous breakdown, Jekyll snapped, glaring at him. I am being practical. It does neither of us any favors if we die from organ failure.

"Oh yeah? Says the man who was poisoning his own wine not two days ago."

And next time I'll drink it, Jekyll threatened. I am taking an immense risk, letting you do this. You'll only hurt yourself if you decide to ruin it.

"Not true, I'll hurt you, too," said Hyde. He shook out his overcoat and draped it over his shoulders. "My very favorite pastime."

We don't have time for this. We've got to find out what it is Rachel wants with you. I have a bad feeling—

"A feeling? You? I don't believe it."

You are not helping.

"Of course I'm not helping," Hyde scoffed. "I'm going to do whatever I damn well please, and there's nothing you can do about it. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a meeting that you're not invited to."

That's exactly where I was asking you to go!

"Not invited~!" Hyde sang. He threw open the window and hopped out onto the roof opposite. The skyline was riddled with white columns of steam, pillars to hold up the dull orange clouds overhead. Hyde danced from rooftop to rooftop, quick as a cat, light as the mists. A dazzle of noise rose up from below, voices and music, the clatter of wheels and hooves, the crackle of fires. Hyde flitted above it all, a bat, a phantom, the spirit—

Of excessive repetition, apparently, Jekyll sighed.

—of London at night! Nothing could compare, nothing even came close. The city was a monster, huge and sprawling, the dull roar of its lifeblood ever-present and ubiquitous. The streets were its veins, pulsing with light, driven by some beating heart hidden deep beneath the earth. It was a grimy, ugly thing, riddled with parasites, but it was his.

All too soon, he came to the bakery window. It was propped open, spilling out light and the smell of fresh-baked pastries. Hyde crouched in the shadows for a time, watching, waiting. Rachel bustled about inside. He could faintly hear her singing to herself. He waited until her back was turned, then slipped through the window and tip-toed up behind her, grinning with insatiable mischief. He crept up closer, closer, just inches behind her. . . .

"Boo!" he cried.

Rachel screamed. A rolling pin scythed towards his head. He ducked just in time. His hat took the full force of the blow as the rolling pin whistled through the air. Hyde popped back up, affronted.

"That's my hat!" he said.

"God's sake, don't do that," Rachel said, sagging with relief. She prodded him in the chest with the rolling pin and picked up his hat off the ground. He snatched it from her and dusted it off. It was completely flattened. "I could've killed you."

"No you couldn't," he said, climbing up onto the island counter in the center of the room. "I'm much too quick. If it came down to a real fight, you'd be dead in seconds. Less than a second!"

"You're adorable," Rachel said.

"I am deadly!" Hyde cried. "I am a force of nature! I am—don't laugh at me! Stop that! You won't be laughing when you're dead!"

Rachel folded nearly in half, wheezing. Hyde folded his arms and pretended she wasn't there, his nose turned up. He spotted a lovely plate of fresh-baked pastries and his ire was instantly forgotten.

"I heard you almost got dead last night," Rachel remarked, while Hyde slowly extended himself along the counter.

"Wildly exaggerated," he said, subsiding onto his elbow. "I had everything completely under control."

"Really? I heard it ended with you wailing like a baby in Jekyll's lab."

"Well you heard wrong," Hyde sniffed. "Who told you these things? They were lying to you."

He stretched out his legs, crossing them at the ankles. A little push with one toe inched him closer to the pastries.

"Oh, everyone," said Rachel, grinning. "Apparently you could've woken the dead. Jasper said you got shot, I'm sure it must have hurt oh so very much, you poor thing."

"Keep your pity off of me, that's disgusting," he said, flapping a hand at her. "And yes, it was excruciating. Lesser men would have died."

"Are there any lesser men? Only you're very small."

"Someday I am going to strangle you and it shall be immensely satisfying," Hyde said, scowling. "Your eyes will bug out all horrible and you'll turn blue."

Rachel snorted. "As if you could," she said. "I don't think your tiny hands could get all the way round my throat."

"That—youuuuu—!"

She laughed at him. He scooted closer to the pastries while her eyes were scrunched shut.

"God, you're so much fun to tease," she said. "Where're you off to tonight, then? Blackfog again?"

"I was given to understand you wanted to see me," he said. "Apparently just to insult me. I don't know why I bothered."

"Oh," said Rachel, sobering. "Right. That message got through already, did it?"

"Obviously."

"I s'pose you talk to him all the time."

"Personal assistant," Hyde reminded her. He was almost within snatching distance of the pastries, and they did look heavenly. . . .

"You're never," she said.

"Believe what you will, love, I don't care," said Hyde. "Personal assistant's what it says on my paycheck, not much else worth talking about."

"Why don't you ever talk about it?" Rachel asked, with a fearsome perspicacity. "I would've thought you'd take every opportunity to . . . like, embarrass him."

"My dear!" Hyde said, delighted at the prospect. "I was only trying to spare you from embarrassment. I could go on and on about Henry. For example, did you know he's got absolutely no gag reflex whatsoever?"

Why would you tell her that? Jekyll exclaimed, tearing his hair out.

"It's true," Hyde added, waggling his eyebrows and grinning lasciviously.

I don't care if it's true, why would you tell her that?!

"Never mind!" Rachel said, both hands pressed over her eyes. "Never mind, I changed my mind, I don't want to know!"

Hyde cackled and popped one of the pastries in his mouth. Rachel slapped him on the wrist. He gave her a friendly kick in the rear. She jumped and then scowled at him with steam coming out of her ears.

"Careful what you wish for," he said, grinning. "Speaking of a notable lack of gag reflexes, how's your wolf-boy?"

"He's—what?" said Rachel.

"Nothing!" Hyde said, the very picture of innocence.

If she stabs you, I'm letting you bleed to death, Jekyll said.

"Don't make jokes like that, it's not funny," Rachel said, turning away and pouting.

"Oh, what," said Hyde, rolling his eyes. "Is the kitchen princess jealous of somebody? Listen, love, if you didn't get there quick enough, that's your own bloody fault."

"Stop it," she snapped. "Just because you've never been jealous a day in your life."

"I have too," said Hyde. "I am the very embodiment of jealousy. A green-eyed monster, that's what they call it, and they call it that because of me! You've only never seen it."

"Yeah? Then how's it make you feel to know your Henry's been snogging my wolf-boy?"

Well, Jekyll remarked coldly. It seems the treachery goes both ways.

Hyde gasped, all a-sparkle, ignoring him. He propped his chin on his fingers and kicked his feet.

"He has?" he trilled. "What a juicy juicy little tidbit! Tell me everything, do~"

"You're not upset?"

"Hah! Not a bit. Better he gets all that gooey shit out of his system. Now come on, you can't lead with something like that and not tell me the rest, it's not fair!"

"I can't," Rachel said, folding her arms. She turned her back on him and tossed her head imperiously. "I promised."

"You promised?" said Hyde. "Who'd you promise?"

"Jasper," she said. "And Dr. Jekyll."

"Ah, fuck Jekyll," said Hyde, waving a hand.

"I'm not telling you anything. I've already said more than I should."

"Then why not say the rest?" Hyde purred.

"Why don't you go away?" Rachel retorted.

Hyde sat up and crossed his legs, pouting.

"Fine, don't tell me," he said. "But I'm not leaving until you do tell me what you wanted with me. Unless you just asked to see me for the sake of squeezing something out of Henry. Which I couldn't ~possibly~ blame you for."

I hate you so much, Jekyll said.

Rachel rolled her eyes and sighed. She leaned against the brick oven, looking less stubborn and more put out.

"You know Jekyll's posh friends?" she said.

"As little as possible," said Hyde.

"Yeah, well, they asked me to ask you to clear off," said Rachel.

"As if," said Hyde, rolling his eyes.

"Thought you might say that," said Rachel. "In that case, Dr. Lanyon wants to meet with you, probably to be stuffy at you until you drop dead."

"Can't wait," Hyde drawled. He hopped to his feet and hung off the pot rack one-handed. "Maybe I'll drop in on him now. Might as well, while I'm out and about."

"It's the middle of the night," Rachel said.

Hyde grinned. "Yeah, maybe I'll get to see him in his jammies."

"Maybe you'll get the peelers called on you."

"Like I give a damn about them," said Hyde. "Couldn't catch me if they tried."

He jumped down off of the counter and immediately bounded back up onto the windowsill.

"One day they are going to catch you and I'm going to laugh," Rachel said, coming to stand by him.

"Nah," said Hyde. "I'm the spirit of London at night, love. Nobody can catch me. Not even the bloody Forty Elephants could catch me!"

"And now I'll laugh all the harder," said Rachel, a smile tugging at her lips.

Hyde pouted at her, then yanked one of her pigtails, then leapt out the window to the sound of her offended shouting.

It was only a brief jaunt to Lanyon's place, and the night was young. Hyde was tempted to drop in at a pub or two, but his vanity got the better of him. What fun it would be, to ambush Lanyon in his quaint little home! What a delight, to see him all out of sorts! He could only imagine the pathetic, meaningless threats he might employ, the childish frustration on his silly little face when none of it did any good. He'd laugh in Lanyon's face and probably make him cry. There was no getting rid of Hyde, and Lanyon would soon know it. Maybe he'd steal the silver, while he was there, just to make a point.

It was harder getting around Cavendish by the rooftops, but he did still manage. The houses were farther apart, but some had trees and outbuildings that could be used to great effect. It was a challenge, a new game, and a delightful one at that.

Hyde found Lanyon's house and perched on the rooftop across from it, taking an inventory of the place. There were far too many windows, at least six chimneys, a glass conservatory off of one side. A couple of policemen were loitering not far off, smoking. Several of the lights were still on inside, although all the curtains were drawn. A couple more policemen rounded the block, nodding to the first pair. Hyde skirted along the peak of his current roof to get an angle on the other side of the house.

Four more policemen were hanging about in back.

The kernel of Jekyll-ness sitting in the center of Hyde's chest went so cold that it burned. Numbness radiated from it, like his ribs had been filled up with ice. Hyde didn't like it. He could feel himself being dragged under, subordinated to the pressurized rage Jekyll had been amassing for decades. It wasn't fair. It was stupid and vicious, consuming, smothering, utterly unbelievable, treachery of the highest caliber—

That posh fucker had sold him out.

Hyde clenched his fists, blazing with violence. He'd smash in the head of every bloody peeler down there, torch the bastard's shiny white house, burn down the whole fucking neighborhood, burn them all, burn everything. Lanyon would rue the day he'd ever crossed Edward Hyde. He'd be screaming it in Hell.

Stop, Jekyll said. You have to change back. We'll be caught like this. I'll handle Robert.

"I'll kill him," Hyde hissed. "I'll beat his bloody head in!"

No you will not, said Jekyll. Back to the Society. Now.

Blistered by the heat of his own wrath, Hyde whirled from the house and darted back along the rooftops. He kept low, ducking between chimneys and gables. His ears were pricked for the slightest sound of pursuit, his eyes flicking over every twitching silhouette. Gone was his leaping enthusiasm, gone the visceral joy of the night. Now it was fear, now it was frenzy, now it was the untempered fury of self-preservation. The hissing pillars of steam and smoke hid paler terrors, and in every velvet shadow he could see the cloak of death. When the bristling minarets and smoke-stacks of the Society rose from the skyline, he scrambled towards them with single-minded determination. Just ten more blocks and he would be safe, five more, three, he could see the open window of the laboratory, warm red light from inside only interrupted by—

Oh, hell, said Jekyll.

"That's all you have to fucking say about this?" Hyde snarled, flattening himself against a chimney. "Oh, hell?"

The house, then. All the servants will be asleep, you can let yourself in. There should be enough spare reagent there to change back.

"You can let yourself in," Hyde mocked, his lip curling. "Let myself right into prison, more like! They're bloody everywhere!"

If you've got any better ideas, I'd love to hear them, said Jekyll.

Hyde glared through the open window like he could murder the two policemen inside by sheer force of will. Doddle was with them, stupid, well-meaning Doddle, wringing his stupid hands and pouting into his stupid mustache, and Hyde would snap his stupid neck if—

Other than murder, for God's sake. Pull yourself together.

"We're fucked, Henry," Hyde said, trembling where he crouched.

Not yet. Get back to the house. This is still fixable.

Snarling, Hyde lit out across the rooftops once again.

Gabriel goddamned Utterson was loitering by the front door, his hands in his pockets, his hat on his head. He probably even thought he looked inconspicuous.

"What now?" Hyde demanded of Jekyll, fixated on the lanky, dusty figure by the door.

Now you walk up and go inside, said Jekyll. The most he'll do is talk at you.

"He'll shout for the police, is what he'll do," Hyde said. "He's in on it, they're all bloody in on it!"

Yes, said Jekyll. But I don't see any police, and Gabriel isn't the type to cause a scene. He's a lawyer, not an avenger. He may not even know what Lanyon's done.

"Not bloody likely," Hyde grumbled.

No, said Jekyll, it isn't. We must try anyway. It's our best bet.

"And what if I knock him over the head, what then?"

Then there will be no hope of clearing your name, now or ever, said Jekyll. This is fixable, but only if you listen to me and do as I say. Walk up to the front door, Edward. Like you've done nothing wrong.

Still seething, Hyde picked his way down from the rooftops and into a narrow alleyway. He straightened his hat, his shirt, his coat. He slipped the dagger he'd bought at Blackfog into his hand. He squared his shoulders and crossed the street. His footsteps were like gunshots in the silence, metallic and deafening. Utterson's eyes gleamed in the lamplight as he watched Hyde approach, and Hyde watched him right back, coiled to spring, tensioned to the breaking point. He mounted the steps to the door. He got out his key.

"Mr. Hyde?" Utterson said. Hyde turned like a whirlwind. Utterson backed up a step.

"What?" Hyde snapped. His hand was clenched on the dagger, trembling, sweating. His brain was buzzing in his skull.

"Do you remember me, sir?" Utterson said. There was a tremor in his voice.

"Of course I remember you, what do you want?"

"I am here on behalf of Dr. Jekyll," said Utterson.

"The hell you are!" Hyde snarled, bristling. Utterson took another step back.

"I can see by your agitation that you are aware you are a wanted man," Utterson said. "I am offering you this chance to escape. Leave London and Henry Jekyll behind, and I shall see to it that you are not followed."

"Liar!" Hyde raged. "It was never on Jekyll's behalf! I won't trust any promise you make, Utterson, you're a liar and a traitor!"

"Tonight, I am not Utterson," he said, drawing himself up wooden and towering. "Tonight, sir, I am Mr. Seek. Guest!"

Strong arms caught Hyde from behind. He kicked out, snarling. The knife flashed in the lamplight. Utterson leapt for him. Hyde kicked him in the chest. Utterson tumbled backwards over the railing. Hyde struck out blindly. The knife sunk into flesh. A gasp of pain, a burst of hot blood. He struck again, like a scorpion. The arms lost their strength. He wrenched free. His attacker staggered back. Hyde plunged the knife into his chest. Blood sprayed his face. He leapt as the body fell, onto the railing, the gables, the roof. Shingles clattered under his boots. The blood was hot on his skin. The air burned his lungs. Chimneys flashed past, steam and smoke. The rooftops rose and fell like storm-tossed waves. He tripped on his own feet and tumbled into a darkened corner. The night was cold. He tasted copper.

For a long time, he did not move.

Hyde began to shiver as a bitter wind chased through his alcove. He could not seem to catch his breath, nor would the weakness in his limbs subside. Where once the blood had been hot, it was cold now, sticky against his skin. His right hand was covered in it, glued to the hilt of the dagger. The blade was dull and black under the yellow smog, dripping with gore. The bricks were rough and chilly against his back, catching his coat. The smell of dust and sweat and blood thickened the air until his lungs seemed stuffed with wool.

The horror came up slow and rotten, swelling from the core of him like maggot-riddled meat. Numb fingers let the knife fall from their grip, and it clattered away down the shingles. He looked down at himself, at the blood drenching his hands and splashed across his clothes. He cried out in terror, scrubbed desperately at the mess with his coat, only managed to smear it up to his elbows. He was going to hang. He could feel the rope already around his neck, choking, squeezing. He tore the coat from his back and fled in desperation. They would follow, they must already have been following, he had to escape, somewhere, anywhere. He was blind in his panic, he didn't breathe once as he fled, one mile, two, hunted and haunted. His sweat mingled with the blood and made it run, dripped candle-wax trails behind him. When his legs gave out he collapsed, weeping, lost.

Dear God, what had he done?