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thestraggletag · 3 years

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Virtual Session, A Rumbelle Zoom Fic

Rating: Explicit.

Summary: Town meetings were usually drab, boring events, and having them over Zoom hadn't improved them much. Or so Mr Gold thought, until he forgot to log out of the meeting after it ended, only to discover a half-naked Belle French had also forgotten to do so.

SOMEONE PLEASE COMMENT WITH A BETTER SUMMARY I HATE IT.

Based on this prompt.

“We will review your presentation and hold a virtual vote before the month is up, Miss French. Thank you very much for your time.”

The mayor adjusted her suit jacket, her shirt riding up as she did so and unknowingly displaying the telltale white check of her Adidas yoga pants. Royce snickered, taking advantage of the fact he was muted.

“As there are no other pending topics on today’s agenda this virtual session is adjourned.”

He half-expected her to produce a gable out of thin air and bang it against her marble countertop. All around him people began to say their goodbyes and log out of Zoom, lest Regina decide to spring a surprise motion at the last minute. There was no need to flee, however, as Regina herself was one of the first to log off. Given the amount of smoke he had spotted coming from behind her right before she exited he did not need to guess what had caused her sudden departure.

“I guess no apple turnover for dessert at Madame Mayor’s.”

He heard an adorable chuckle and did not need to glance at the screen again to guess who it was. Very few people found his brand of dark humour palatable, but the librarian seemed to love it. It was nice, he soon found out, to have someone appreciate his often ill-received quips. It was one of the things he had first noticed about her. Well, other than her stunning eyes. And perhaps her hair, which was a lovely shade of reddish-brown. Her legs too, he acknowledged reluctantly, so nicely-displayed by her short skirts and high heels. And her-

He stopped himself. That way lay madness and he knew it. It was one thing to admire in an unattached way, from a distance. He was a connoisseur of beautiful things, after all, and Belle French was certainly beautiful. Unfortunately she also happened to have a lovely personality. Kind, generous, open, but also bold, defiant and the littlest bit dark. She flaunted the rules of smalltown society by wearing what the matrons around town considered “inappropriate clothing” for a librarian, and speaking to anyone and everyone, including those that polite society would urge her to shun. Drank beer with the miners, for example, men deemed “too coarse” for genteel women, and stocked the library with altogether undesirable books, be it because they dealt with unseemly issues or because they were from traditional authors. Which, he was sure, was code for “white men”, even if Mother Superior never quite spelled it out in such terms.

She was altogether dangerous for him, with her mix of light and dark, so he was always on his guard, lest his thoughts veer too far into dangerous territory. He didn’t fear scorn or derision if his feelings became too obvious for her to ignore. Belle was altogether too kind for that. But to be gently yet firmly rebuffed, and have their subsequent interactions laced by the barest hint of pity from her, would be unbearable.

“I’m pretty sure that at least Mr Spencer didn’t hear a word I said. His camera was off during the whole of my presentation.” The librarian huffed, clearly bothered that her proposal to increase the library’s budget to repair the East Wing’s leaky ceiling wouldn’t get a fair shot. The wing was currently closed, and had been since she had taken the post of librarian, but with the newfound need of social-distancing, particularly in enclosed spaces, she hoped she could change that, make the town council see the need for more space in the library. “Though perhaps he didn’t want to be yelled at again for not being in a three-piece suit for a virtual town meeting.”

He briefly paused to remember Spencer’s red face when Regina had chastised him for wearing a white polo shirt instead of a shirt and tie during the last meeting.

“Kinda hypocritical of Madame Mayor, given she was a couple of clothing articles shy of a full tracksuit tonight.”

They shared a conspiratorial laugh, and he hoped the camera somehow toned down the stupid look on his face. He tried to avoid direct eye contact, looking instead mildly-interested in her living-room. Her laptop seemed to be perched somewhere on her dining-room table, giving him a great view of the rest of her flat, which was a loft, so it was open space, with exposed brick and tall ceilings. Though small it was tastefully-decorated, and with enough bookcases to make it seem like it was a part of the library he had never been to, if it weren’t for the kitchen area and the- and he told himself to stop looking at it- queen-size bed.

“Well, Miss French, at the risk of getting ahead of myself I can confidently state that things are looking good for your project. It was an excellent presentation and I could see Midas and Hopper were clearly in favour. That leaves the Mayor and Spencer outnumbered. Hell, I think even Regina will vote yes on this one. I know she’s keen on finding a place for students with connectivity issues to go do their homework and attend some classes. Fingers crossed the voting goes your way.”

He smiled at her, trying to look reassuring instead of besotted, and they exchanged their goodbyes. He closed his laptop, deciding that he needed a stiff drink first and a cold shower later, and went over to his wet bar, where after some debate he picked up a bottle of Ardberg and poured himself three fingers of Scotch, opting to forgo the ice and drink it straight. The alcohol burned pleasantly on its way down, making him loosen up almost immediately. He went over to the window, undoing the buttons of his vest and slipping it off as he did, feeling warmed by the whiskey. He chanced a glance outside, where the night remained crisp and clear, thankfully devoid of snow. It was still bitterly cold, though, and he hoped the library’s heating system, which was in need of maintenance as well, would not fail. The money for its maintenance had already been allocated and the budget for the work set, but perhaps he could email the person in charge of the job and… persuade them to make it a priority. The work should’ve already been done, but the pandemic had put a temporary stop on jobs like that with the exception of emergencies. Now that things were slowly returning to normal he was confident he could get the people working on the library by the end of the week with three sentences or less.

He went back to his laptop, determined to send the email as soon as possible. He opened it up and noticed, at first, that his camera light was still on. Almost as soon as his brain connected the dots and realised that he had forgotten to log off Zoom he noticed something else: so had Belle French. She was walking around her house, seemingly tidying things up and humming as she went along. It was a lovely, domestic little display, and though he knew he needed to log off fucking Zoom and stop intruding on what Miss French clearly thought was the privacy of her own home, he didn’t move the mouse. Surely there was no harm in indulging a bit. He was a lonely man, partly by design and partly by circumstance, and though he often told himself he wasn’t missing out on anything, he had to admit it was nice to- albeit accidentally- share an intimate moment with someone he had an affinity with. He imagined, for a moment, that instead of her living-room he was seeing her in his, picking up discarded books or perhaps the remnants of a tea they had shared together. He quickly shook himself out of that fantasy, alarm bells ringing in his mind, and refocused in the present, where Belle was taking off her cardigan. Well, surely, that meant the heating system was holding, which was a good thing. Which reminded him of his idea to write-

He glanced at the monitor again, where Belle French was now shimming out of her skirt.

He blinked, idiotically-confused for a second, as if the thought of a woman undressing was news for him. After the initial shock he took in all the details, fixsting on the black stripe on the back of her sheer black stockings, which she rolled down with painstaking care, the gesture almost painfully erotic. She started on the buttons of her sheer maroon shirt, undoing them with ease and shrugging out of the garment. The black camisole she wore underneath did nothing to conceal her lacy black culotte, which hugged her perfect ass like it was made for her. She went to unpin her hair next, letting the bobby pins that kept it off her sides of her face drop into a little ceramic bowl on her vanity. He was surprised at how much seeing her walk around her house with bare feet, shaking her hair out and stretching her limbs affected him. There was nothing inherently sensual about her movements, yet he was transfixed, unable to look away. Any hope of containing his attraction or attachment to the librarian vanished into thin air at that moment, leaving him equal parts scared and turned on.

It was then that his mostly-unused sense of decency decided to let itself be known, a wave of shame washing through him at the notion of what he was doing. Miss French had every right to her privacy, and here he was, violating it in the worst possible way. He should log out immediately and stay away from the librarian for a rather long time, enough for-

“Royce?”

His heart lurched painfully in his chest at the sound of her voice. Slowly, reluctantly, he turned his head towards the screen, telling himself that he deserved the scorn and disgust he was sure to see in the librarian’s face. But whatever hasty apologies and half-formed excuses he was about to blurt out died on his lips the moment he saw her: she was standing in profile, arms crossed in front of her chest and hands grasping the hem of her camisole, prepared to take it off, and her head was turned to the side, her eyes on her laptop screen. She didn’t look accusatory, or disgusted. She didn’t even look embarrassed. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes shone, but it looked more like… like...

Arousal.

“I’m here, sweetheart.”

He could hardly recognise the low, growly burr as his voice. It sounded uncouth and harsh, like the way he used to speak back in Glasgow. He had worked for years on toning down his accent, letting only the barest hint of it show when he was trying to intimidate someone. Never enough to sound too much like he did back in his youth, and yet he hadn’t managed to quite rid himself of it.

On screen Belle lifted the hem of her camisole a few inches, exposing supple, creamy skin. Royce tried hard not to swallow his own tongue. She bit her lip, suddenly hesitant, and fuck him if that sliver of vulnerability wasn’t the sexiest thing he’d ever seen.

“Is this… Is this okay?”

It took him an embarrassingly-long time to understand that Belle fucking French was asking him if it was alright for her to strip in front of him, presumably for their mutual enjoyment. He reminded himself that he had had only one glass of Scotch, not enough to dismiss whatever was happening as a drunken daydream. Which he might have had, from time to time. About Belle. Maybe.

“It’s perfect, sweetheart.”

Her lips curled into a coy smile, the growl in his voice making her shiver, and in one swift motion removed her camisole, revealing a lacy black bandeau bra with delicate details done in leavers lace. It matched her knickers, he noticed idly, and the black contrasted amazingly with her pale, softly-blushed skin. His keen eye noticed the exquisite craftsmanship right away. It was an expensive set, no doubt, and given how she was wearing during a commonplace day where she planned to stay home it led him to the conclusion that Belle French simply owned a lot of fancy lingerie, to the point that she wore it as an everyday sort of garment. He was very sure he would never again be able to look at her and not think about that.

“You’re gorgeous.”

In any other situation he would’ve been embarrassed to sound so… Reverent. So incredibly not in control of the situation. He might be fully-dressed, a man of means with a position of political power in their little hamlet and she might be a half-naked small-town librarian but he was absolutely powerless at the moment. And what was worse, he enjoyed it.

“Thank you, Mr Gold.”

Though he loved the way she said “Gold”, with enough irreverence to turn her tone teasing, he desperately wanted her to say his name.

“Call me Royce, sweetheart.”

She walked over to the table, flipped the chair and sat down, draping her arms loosely around the backrest, the position loose and cocky. There was no doubt in her now, no hesitance. She had assumed control of the situation, for which he was grateful. She tilted her head to a side, sizing him up.

“You’re wearing a lot of clothes, Royce. I feel at a disadvantage.”

She smiled, looking supremely unconcerned, but there was a glint in her eyes he recognised quite easily. Greed. And not the kind he was used to seeing in people who frequented his shop to strike one of his infamous deals. It was different. It certainly felt different to him, hit him right beneath his gut in a way that felt both uncomfortable and pleasant. Without quite thinking his fingers went to the knot of his tie, already loosened, and tugged expertly, untying it in seconds. The silk made a soft, hissing sound as it slipped off his neck, which sounded loud in the otherwise dead silence of the room. Belle followed his movements avidly from the screen, and the look of utter absorption on her face gave him the surge of bravery he needed to tackle the buttons of his shirt till he could shimmy out of it. He was wearing a white undershirt beneath, but his arms and throat were bare, making him feel ridiculously exposed.

“You have many layers. I like that about you.” Belle dropped her gaze, looking coy and vulnerable at the same time. “I like a lot of things about you.”

“Me too.” He tried to stop himself, but it was easier said than done. “Too many things, actually. But I’ve always understood that it would be foolish to expect anything to come of that.” He looked at Belle, draped over her chair and in her underwear. “Well, perhaps I was wrong.”

Belle smiled.

“You’re finally getting it. Good boy.”

He forced himself not to react visibly to those words, even though the moment he heard them it was like being struck by lightning. Thankfully the camera caught him from the waist up, hiding the embarrassing way his cock had perked up a second earlier. He could not hide his flushed face, however, or the way his eyes glazed over the slightest bit.

“Tell you what. I’ll take off my bra if you lose the t-shirt. It’s a fair deal.”

It wasn’t. As far as he was concerned he was getting the far better end of the deal but he would never dream of telling her that. Tipping his hand was not his style.

“Deal.��

He said it in the pleased, soft burr he usually reserved for his less savoury business arrangements, the kind that needed to be sealed in the cloak of night in some remote, deserted location. Belle shivered, and he enjoyed the thought that his voice made her react so. Feeling bold he grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked it off, baring himself from the waist up. He saw and felt the librarian’s eyes roam over his torso. It wasn’t a pretty sight. He had scars from his dodgy upbringing in Glasgow, and some from his learning days restoring antiques. He was fond of the sun so at least he was not pasty white, or overly hairy, but he didn’t have much in the way of muscles. Belle, however, seemed to appreciate his more lean physique, if the heat of her gaze was any indication. After she seemed to have her fill of staring she leaned back and deftly unhooked her bra, letting the straps slide down her arms till the garment was on the floor.

He stared. Couldn’t help himself really. Belle French’s tits were perfect. Fucking perfect. Just the right size, incredibly soft-looking and with the loveliest nipples he had ever seen, a rosy-pink that he would never be able to get out of his head. The kind of breasts that would ruin a man for other women. He certainly felt like no other breasts could ever tempt him again.

“Royce, are you okay?”

Her voice sounded a delightful mix of amused and slightly worried, so he forced himself to nod, still unable to look away.

“Fucking perfect.”

Fuck, was that his voice? He sounded… dazed. He fought the instinct to slap some sense into himself. Belle draped herself across the back of the chair again, and though the position hid her breasts somewhat it didn’t do so completely.

“I love how soft you are. Underneath the hardass pawnbroker exterior, I mean. Soft, and kind and funny. So funny. It’s one of your most attractive qualities.”

Most people wouldn’t think so. His brand of humour was dark, sometimes too much. And yet Belle always laughed, always caught on to his quips and seemed to appreciate them in a consporatory way. She could also dish it out, but in a far more subtle way that he was sure most people didn’t catch on to. Softly-spoken sarcasm delivered in a lilting accent.

What was not to love?

He told her so. Unburdened himself completely, caught up in his own physical vulnerability and hers. It felt safe to tell her of his feelings, of how days where he knew he would see her were brighter, and how he liked when they shared a smile or exchanged a comment on a book. How his heart fluttered when he watched her read to the children, and how another part of his anatomy altogether reacted when she strutted around town with her short skirts and devil-may-care attitude. Liked how she thumbed her nose at the pearl-clutchers in town, doing things her way. Completely unsuited for boring, conventional small-town life, and yet wholly at home in Storybrooke, to the point where he could not imagine the town without her.

He shut up after that, noticing how she seemed to have changed, her mood going from loose and flirty to… anxious? No, that wasn’t the right word. Unsettled, perhaps.

“I can’t do this.” The sudden sentence felt like a slap in the face, but the moment his face dropped she seemed to backpedal. “No, no, not like that! I mean… I wanna touch you. I want to be in the same room. With even less clothes on. This… It suddenly doesn’t feel like enough.”

She was fucking right, he realised. He felt itchy all of a sudden. Unfulfilled. Empty.

“Come over.”

“What?”

Belle seemed genuinely surprised, but the way her skin flushed and her eyes got big let him know she was very open to the idea.

“Come the fuck over. It’s fucking cold anyway and the heating system at the library is shite at the moment. Come over and I’ll keep you warm, sweetheart.”

He was rather impressed with his blunt bit of bravery, born out of a consuming need more than anything, and even more impressed when it looked like it worked. Belle scrambled out of the chair, throwing a lovely little nightie on before getting her coat and scarf.

“Be there in a few. See you!”

She disconnected before he could tell her to bundle up. It was fucking freezing outside and that nightie and her stockings and shoes would do nothing against the cold, coat or no coat. A moment later he realised he was sitting down in his pants, socks and shoes and nothing else while Belle fucking French was coming over to...

Fuck.

He scrambled up, fishing for his cane in a hurry and having just enough presence of mind to disconnect from Zoom. He went upstairs to his room, deciding that it would be awkward for him to still be wearing pants. And socks. And shoes. So he chucked all that off, throwing a dressing gown over his boxers, pausing to put on his house slippers, glad beyond words he had recently bought new ones. After that he went downstairs to the kitchen and popped a bottle of champagne, looking into his pantry for the box of chocolate truffles from Kreuther, a treat he had gotten himself after visiting a state sale in Midtown Manhattan a week ago. He arranged the impromptu offerings on the dining room table, and when the bell rang he told himself he was ready. He opened the door, finding a rosy-cheeked and clearly shivering Belle on the other side, hair windswept, as if she had run there. Taking into account her heels it was rather impressive.

Belatedly he thought about the scene she had walked into. He in his dressing gown, with champagne flutes and truffles on the table and a fire roaring in the living-room, a scenario ripe for debauching. But perhaps she wished to talk more, to explore their emotional intimacy. Perhaps the trek there had killed her ardour and all she wanted and needed was to get warm and comfortable. He didn’t want to come off as… expecting anything.

Belle, however, seemed to not share his concerns. She took one look at him, one look at the softly-lit space behind him and the food laid out and smiled.

“You brilliant, wonderful man.”

A second late she was in his arms. Cold, but soft and smelling of orange blossoms and frost. She tilted her head up, slanting her lips across before he could blink and it was… wonderful. The coolness of her lips contrasted with the searing heat of her mouth, making for a rather delicious contrast of sensations. He used the hand not clutching his cane for dear life to find the buttons of her coat, undoing them one by one with barely-contained impatience. Finally he had the coat opened and could snake his arm around her waist. The silk of her small camisole was soft to the touch, and let him feel the warmth of her skin beneath.

He needed to feel more. Now that she was safe in the warmth of his house she didn’t need her coat or scarves and went about the business of removing both without separating himself from her. It took a lot of tugging and pulling and a couple of missteps that landed her up against the wall, to his utter delight, but she was finally rid of both. Her skin, despite the toasty temperature inside the house, was still chilly from the outside.

“Come close to the fire, sweetheart.”

They managed to stumble across the hallway and into the living room, where they seemed to come to the mutual conclusion that remaining standing was not conducive to their current situation. The rug near the fireplace, thankfully, was thick and soft, and the couple of throw blankets he quickly spread over it made it more so. Once he was satisfied she would be comfortable he let her tackle him to the ground, enjoying having her above him. She was small, especially once she wrestled her heeled boots off. A tiny slip of a woman, shorter than him even, but there was a presence to her, a strength, that he couldn't help but surrender to. Beautiful, terrifying Belle.

“I’ve dreamed of this.” Her voice was low, husky. “You weren’t wearing a dressing gown in my dreams, though.”

“And you weren’t wearing anything in mine.” His accent was so thick he feared she might not be able to understand me. “Tit for tat, dearie.”

She ground herself against him, causing him to hiss and arc. Enough pressure to elicit a response, but not nearly enough to satisfy him.

“Don’t call me that. That’s how you call everyone else, and I’m not everyone else, am I?”

Her confidence slipped for a second, exposing a hint of uncertainty that he was quick to dispel.

“No, sweetheart. Of course not.”

He untied the belt of his dressing gown, managing to slip it off while still pinned by Belle. He didn’t imagine it was a very sexy spectacle but she seemed to appreciate it nevertheless. To reward him she yanked her nightie off, revealing her glorious breasts once again to his hungry stare. She was absolutely perfect, made even better by the way the fire lit her skin and hair, and turned her eyes a deeper blue. She looked fierce yet soft, a magnanimous mistress looking down fondly at a favoured pet. Idly she traced a scar near his right shoulder with the tip of her index finger, frowning the slightest bit.

“I want to know the story behind this. I want to know… more. About you. All there is to know that you wish to tell me.”

“Yes.” Usually he’d balk at the idea of such intimacy, of being so bare. Yet it felt like something he could do with Belle, something he wanted to do. “Yes, of course, sweetheart. And I want to know everything about you.”

She smiled, the gesture slowly turning sultry as she crossed her elbows over his chest.

“We’ll talk… later.”

She kissed him then, slowly and thoroughly, sinking one hand into his hair so she could tilt his head just so. Her fingernails felt delicious against the sensitive skin of his scalp and were a welcome distraction from the uncomfortable pressure of her ass against his groin. He wanted to last, desperately, but she was every wet dream he’d ever had come true. He needed to redirect his attention to anywhere but his aching cock. So he forced himself to focus on anything else. The soft, silky feeling of her skin against the rough pads of his fingers, and the taste of her, faintly sweet. She kissed like it was an art, managing to somehow find every spot that made him want to rip her panties off and just bury himself in her, foreplay be damned.

He startled when he felt her hands trail down his body and grasp the elastic of his underwear, tugging on it to hint at what she wanted. He obliged her before he could talk himself out of it, raising his hips so she could slide the boxers off his legs while still kissing. He felt her touch his mangled ankle and forced himself not to flinch or pull back. Blessedly she seemed to notice his discomfort, tugging his boxers off completely and reaching out to place his hands on the sides of her hips, against the scratchy fabric of her underwear. The message was clear, especially when she propped herself against the floor with her hands so she could raise her hips. He gently tugged her pantied down, with slow, careful movements to avoid accidentally ripping the delicate lace and not simply to watch in aroused amusement as Belle fidgeted above him.

“Patience, sweetheart.”

She whined, kicking her panties off when they reached her ankles and pushing him back a second later, her expression demanding.

“No more delays. We’ve had months of foreplay.”

He found himself agreeing with her. It certainly felt like they had been teasing each other for months, with the shared jokes, the furtive glances, bitten lips and coy smiles. Not that he had even dared dream of it before that night. Belle was too good in every way for a bitter old cripple like himself. Her hands on his cock chased his self-deprecation away, leaving his mind in a blissful state of blankness. Slowly, torturously so, she took him in, her hot, wet cunt enveloping him with the right amount of pressure. It was almost too good a feeling, leaving his nerve-endings too excited to register much else. She was fucking perfect, the feel of her the weight of her above him. Like she was made for him, only he wasn’t that lucky.

He needed to somehow make it up to her, make it so good she would not regret it. So he focused on establishing a rhythm, steady enough to build up their pleasure, but not too perfect to make it boring. He concentrated on the sounds she made, the perfect little gasps and the occasional, shivery whine that let him know she was enjoying herself. Soon enough, however, coordination and any form of higher thinking went out the window, the pleasure getting to be too much to focus on anything else other than driving himself as deep into her as he possibly could. He had enough presence of mind to sneak a hand between their bodies, slipping it across her wet fold to stimulate her further, determined not to come before she did. When he finally felt it, the blissful fluttering of her inner walls accompanied by a triumphant cry, he let go of his last shreds of self-control, letting his body seek out its needed release, the feeling travelling up his spine and leaving his whole body boneless with satisfaction.

He grunted when she practically fell on top of him, though he welcomed the reassuring weight of her and the heat from her body. He thought about the champagne and the truffles waiting for them on the dining room table and decided they could wait. As soon as he was able to move he would wrap his dressing gown around Belle and take her and the food and drinks to the bedroom, where they could recoup their energy and talk. And perhaps much later, if he was good, Belle would let him drink champagne from her navel.

Thank Regina and her fucking Zoom twon halls. He would never complain about them again.

#rumbelle #rumbelle fic #Thestraggletag fanfiction #Virtual Session

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tomtenadia · 4 years

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Island Dreams - Chapter 7

Hello everyone.

I have a day off so the update to day is an early one. The reason I am updating basically daily is that this story just came to me and I knew exactly what i wanted to write. The chapters come easily and I don't think I ever written this easily. Ever. I hope to be able to post regularly.

So, chapter 7, things move a bit more. Rowan tells her his idea to make her happy again and they get a bit closer. Elias shows up and he and Rowan have a stand off. If we were in a fantasy, Aelin would be calling them both "overprotective fae bastards."

There is angst and I am sorry about that. Aelin is having a hard time. But things are improving soon. I promise.

I hope you will enjoy this chapter.

A big, massive, gigantic virtual hug and thank you to everyone who liked the story or reblogged it. Thank you all so very much. And to everyone is reading only... thank you to you too <3

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A couple of days had passed and Aelin kept herself as busy as possible and went to visit again some of the places that were becoming her favourite sites. That day she was taking another day off from gallivanting around the island and was now on her way to Rowan. She had finished the book and she had to discuss it with him. And that special aspect of their complex relationship made her happy. But first of all coffee and breakfast. With the confidence of a local she walked along the streets and went straight to Maeve’s. Once in she noticed it was quite busy, but the woman had time for he and greeted her warmly and with a soft smile. “Good morning, darling.” The woman squeezed her in a gentle hug “What can I do for you?” “Could I please have two coffees to go and…” she looked at the counter full of fresh food. Her mouth watering “Does Rowan like apple turnovers? I am bringing breakfast to him.” “Alas, my nephew does not like sweet food.” “He what?” The shock clear on Aelin’s face. Maeve grabbed a small box from the counter behind her “I know. He is strange. I made him some of the oatmeal biscuits he loves. It took me a while to perfect the recipe but he will eat these.” Aelin grabbed the container and placed it in her backpack, then grabbed the coffees and the paper bag with the apple turnovers. “Thank you, Maeve.”

She left the coffee shop and began walking toward the alien that was Rowan. How was it possible that he did not like sweet food? He could not be a regular human being. Once at the bookshop she realised her hands were full, and Rowan was looking the other way. With her butt she pushed the door open and a moment later Rowan finally noticed her struggle and was at her side holding the door before she dropped everything and made an epic mess of their breakfast. “You could have said something. I would have helped you carry everything.” “I did try to get your attention but you were staring at the computer.” “Sorry, I was dealing with an order.” “You are an alien, by the way.” In a few steps she closed the distance and walked to the counter where she deposited the two take thermos mugs. “Excuse me?” “How can you not like sweet stuff?” Aelin plopped the container with his biscuits on the counter and then the bag with her breakfast “Your aunt made your favourite biscuits.” “I like to eat healthy foods.” And munched on his own biscuits. She scooted past him and sat on the high chair behind the counter and enjoyed her breakfast and her smile was back and Rowan relaxed a bit. He hadn’t seen her in two days and he was worried after what happened last time she was there. Aelin pointed a finger at him “so boring.” She wiggled her finger at him. Rowan launched forward and pretended to bite her finger. In challenge she stared at him with a poker face and kept eating, closing her eyes with delight. The food was incredible. She moaned quietly and Rowan froze at the sound. Fuck. A different kind of picture popped in his head. The two of them on a bed with far less clothes on and his mouth… He blinked the image away and forced himself to rid his brain of that picture. He coughed gently “Choked on coffee, sorry.” He lied shamelessly. She would have killed him if she had known where his mind had gone. Hey Aelin, I know we just became friends, but I just imagined you naked on my bed and my head between your legs. Still fancy being my buddy? He cleared his voice again “I was thinking…” Aelin stopped drinking her coffee and looked at him “You know that is dangerous for you, right?” He glared at her and continued “Would you like to… I thought that maybe…” he was struggling to find the way to suggest to her the idea he had thought about last time he had seen her. Why was he so bad at this? “The shop… you could, work with me. If you want.” He clarified quite quickly “It’s just an offer. You love books, you have a knack for displays,” and he pointed at her table “and you might like the money too…I can't pay you like a doctor but, it's just the two of us, thus the pay is quite decent and life on the islands is cheap." Aelin liked the idea. Having an income would help a lot. She had savings but they were starting to take a hit. She had even bought a car after returning the rental. And he was right, life on the islands was indeed much cheaper. She was so used to the astronomical price in London. “Are you asking me to work here?” He could see the joy in her eyes and the view took his breath away. “Yeah… and I sucked at it.” Aelin deposited her mug on the desk and then threw her arms around his neck and squealed in delight “Of course.” Then she quickly moved away and began jumping behind the counter “I will be working in a bookstore. Do I get staff discount?” “You can get a staff discount.” He nodded and Aelin smiled again. But a part of Rowan was terrified. Last time he had another person working in the shop it did not end well. He tucked the sadness away and convinced that this time it was different. He and Aelin were just friends. She was not interested in him that way, plus she had the other guy and probably it was for the better. He breathed deeply and regained focus. He left the counter and went to his back office. When he got back he had a bundle in his hands “I have been thinking about this for a few days now and I got you a t-shirt to work here.” “Mine.” Said Aelin grabbing the t-shirt and disappearing to the staff toilet to get changed. She came back a few minutes later grinning “How do I look?” She walked to him swayed her hips in a sensual way that made Rowan sweat “Perfect. Now get that box and start unpacking.” “Yes, sir.” Aelin produced a military salute and went back to work. The two worked in silence for a few hours. Aelin unpacking, checking the deliveries and arranging some of the display. Rowan at the counter working on his computer on paperwork. They had a busy morning and Aelin had a lot of fun helping the customers giving time to Rowan to do his stuff. They even had a few groups of tourists in an Aelin gave her loads of suggestions. She was giddy. Again that feeling of lightness in her soul she hadn’t felt in ages. On her knees she was rearranging the fiction section and stopped to look at a book that sounded quite interesting “Have you read this?” She asked him, waving the books in his direction. Rowan joined her and kneeled in front of her, far too close for comfort. He took the book from her hands and looked at it. Aelin in the meantime stared at him transfixed and a small smiled appeared on her face. She wanted to run her hand in his hair. She wanted to taste if his lips were as soft as she imagined them. And his hands. She stared at his hands. Lysandra’s comment popped in her head and she pushed it away. She was at work. Not appropriate. “Spaceship Rowan to Aelin, are you there?” Fuck. Did he notice her staring at him like a moron? “Sorry, away with the fairies.” “I said that this is a good one.” “Good.” She regained control of herself and placed the book on the side on the floor “I’ll give it a go.” In that instant the door opened and they both looked up and Aelin gasped. Elias just entered the shop, then he looked at her close proximity with Rowan, and gave him a hard stare.

Rowan stood quickly “Hello.” He said quite icily. “Hi Elias.” That was all she could manage. Her heart was racing madly in her heart. “My meeting finished early. So I went for coffee, passed in front of here and saw you.” He noticed her uniform “In that.” “Oh yeah. I started working here.” “Since when?” “Since about two hours ago.” “Oh.” That’s all he said. A strange emotion flashed in his eyes. Was Elias mad at her? Was that jealousy? “I don’t have meeting until later in the afternoon. Fancy going for a ride?” And he uttered the words while staring at Rowan in a clear challenge to the man at Aelin’s side. Aelin turned to Rowan. He nodded and placed a hand on her lower back in an almost proprietary gesture and Elias noticed the gesture. “You can go. I got all my paperwork done this morning, thanks to you. I man the fort for the afternoon. Go, have fun.” There was a softness in his words she never felt from him. He jerked his head “Go.” “Are you sure?” “Positive.” with his hand on her back he pushed her away from him. “I’ll se you tomorrow, I guess?” Rowan gave her a wonderful warm smile. Then Elias held out a hand to her and she timidly took it “Ready to go?” “My backpack.” She collected her belongings and she joined the man. One last look at Rowan and she followed Elias out, feeling guilty. They went to his car and he started driving. Both in silence. They were on the road, in the countryside outside Stornoway when she finally broke the silence “You are mad.” “I am not.” His tone told her otherwise. Aelin scoffed “Yes you are. You are gripping the steering wheel so hard that your knuckles are almost white.” He realised his mistake and released the grip a bit. “Most importantly. You are mad at me.” “Why were you working with him? I thought you were a doctor.” He was definitely spoiling for a fight. She looked outside the window and stared at the rolling landscape and tried to soothe the pain in her soul. “So what? Does that mean I can’t work in a bookshop?” “You can work wherever you want, okay?” And his anger came back. “It just seems a waste.” Aelin’s head whipped in his direction and flashed him a deadly glare “You what?” Her tone matched his in terms of nastiness. “All I am saying is that it sounds like you were this awesome doctor down in London and now you are here, in this small town, playing bookseller. Damn it, Aelin. Dream bigger.” A surge of savage anger rushed through her “Stop the car.” When he did not comply she shouted again “Stop the fucking car, Elias.” Worried by her tone, he pulled over in a safe place and she stormed out as soon as the car was stopped. She slammed the door and moved to the front of the car, meeting him “How dare you.” She growled at him “How fucking dare you to tell me what to do with my life. Dream big?” She pushed him on his chest “I dreamt big my entire fucking life. I had a goal. And that goal has been taken from me in the most hurtful way possible, so don’t you dare.” She sat on the hood and refused to look at him “I gave my life to my job. Every single fucking day of my life.” She said through gritted teeth “And it probably even costed me my marriage. I gave everything.” She was breathing hard and she knew a panic attack was coming. She had a few in the past few days. And the thing scared the hell out of her. Last time she suffered from panic attacks was when she was an intern. That’s how messed up her life was just now. She tucked her arms around her waist, closed her eyes and concentrated on breathing. “I am sorry, I didn’t…” he was in front of her and there was deep sadness in his eyes. “I am an idiot. I am sorry, Aelin.” She started crying as well. She was struggling to breath and when she tried to pull away from the car hood, Elias had the scare of his life when she collapsed on her knees “Shit, Aelin.” She was crying and hyperventilating at the same time. Her tears now turned into full ugly sobs. He moved closer but Aelin pushed him away “Don’t touch me.” He ignored her and hugged her. She fought him for a moment but then she she gave up to his embrace. Elias felt her shaking. “I can’t breathe…” her voice was shaky and he recognised the telltales of a panic attack. He lifted her chin “Look at me.” And she did “Breath in… then breath out. In.. and out…” He caressed her head trying to give her some comfort after he was the one who caused all of this. She did just that for a few minutes. “How are you feeling?” “Dizzy and about to be sick.” She jumped up and run at the side of the road and hurled. Elias stared at her with worry not knowing wether his proximity would help or make things worse. Aelin leaned on the car exhausted. She was still shaking but he breathing was slowly going back to normal but she still felt very dizzy. Probably from all the hyperventilating. Damn she was a doctor she should be able to handle her panic attacks better. But in the past few days they have been quite bad. And that did nothing to lower her stress levels. She was almost at the breaking point. She turned toward Elias and a wave of dizziness hit her. He noticed her sway on her feet and a moment later he was at her side “Hey…” his arms went around her “Shhh… hold on to me.” He felt her arms loosely wrap around his back. “I am taking you home.” “I am fine.” She added stubbornly, pushing away from him to prove that she was okay. But she wasn’t. When she swayed another time, Elias lifted her in his arms and opened the passenger door “We are going home. You need to rest. Panic attacks this bad can leave you exhausted for a while.” He got back in the car and began driving back into town. Fifteen minutes later he was back at the marina in their usual car park. “Hey, baby…” she gently nudged her awake “We are back.” Aelin woke up and looked at him and then focused her eyes on the area around her. She went to open the door but Elias’ hand was on hers “Let me drive you home, please.” “I can walk.” Her voice told him otherwise. “Aelin, please.” Then he smiled and lifted his hands “I’ll keep them to myself. I promise. I just want to see you home safely. You gave me a fright.” She sat back and gave in. “Fine. I live on Newton st. The only light blue cottage there.” He replied with a smile and she leaned back. Five minutes later they arrived in front of her cottage. He parked along the pavement and left the car, walked in front of it and in a matter of seconds he was at her side holding the door open for her “M’lady…” and bowed. Aelin stood and still felt a bit dizzy, something he did notice so he followed her. In front of the door, Aelin hesitated “Come in. We had no lunch and you must be famished.” “You don’t have to cook for me.” Aelin did her best to give him a weak smile “I have some Indian leftovers, if you are not too fussy.” “Which one did you use?” “The one along the main road to Lews castle. Apparently that is the best one in town.” “That is the best one.” They entered the room. He noticed her removing her shoes and he did the same. “Kitchen is on the right.” She directed him, her voice filled with exhaustion. “Do you want some as well?” Aelin shook her head, “I’ll just have some chamomile tea.” She left him in the living room and made her way to her bedroom upstairs. She came back a few minutes later in her pyjama. Elias was in the living room. A plate full of food on the coffee table a glass of water and a mug of steaming chamomile for her. “A cookie monster pyjama.” He laughed “You are the woman of my dreams.” She lifted her leg, wiggled her toes showing off her Calvin and Hobbes socks. “You are bloody perfect, you know?” She ignored the comment “Is the food still good?” “Oh yeah. I usually buy a lot from them and polish it off the next day and it’s always still tasty. Not my first time.” He turned to her and she looked exhausted and he felt deep worry “I am sorry for what I said.” She leaned heavily against the back of the sofa “Not today, Elias, I don’t have the mental strength right now.” “You should go to bed.” “The chamomile usually helps me sleep.” She took a sip and tasted something sweet “Did you put honey in it?” “Yeah, that’s how my mom used to make it for me when I was little. It tastes amazing.” Aelin took another sip and hummed in pleasure. “Sweet to perfection.” “Get a room you two.” Slowly she leaned on his shoulder. He shifted his position a bit so that she could lean a bit more comfortably against him. Slowly he placed the empty plate on the coffee table and leaned back. One arm went around her back and pulled her closer. With the other he removed a stray lock of hair from her face. Aelin continued sipping her tea but both stayed in silence for a while. She was still mad at him for what he had said, but she had no strength to fight. So, she just gave up and enjoyed his presence beside her. “I wanted to be an archaeologist when I was little.” He started telling her, hoping to distract her from her thoughts “I had watched Indiana Jones a bit too much I guess. But also, my parent’s house was near Callanish as well. They live about ten minutes form my current house.” The hand around her shoulder started caressing her hair “My dad used to take me and my brother to the stones almost on a daily basis and tell us all the myths and legends. And that’s when the obsession started.” “That place is awesome.” “My brother loved the legends but he was in the firefighter phase.” He explained “And by the way he actually is a firefighter. He is the captain of his unit.” “No way.” Elias nodded “I, on the other hand I started using our garden to dig holes. I knew that was an area rich in settlements remains and I was adamant our garden contained an archeological treasure. I destroyed my mum’s garden.” And he laughed “When I was in high school I did manage to get a placement with some guys working on digs on Shetland, the islands in the very, very north of Scotland. They have some amazing Viking stuff. It’s mind-blowing. Anyway…” he stopped when he felt he hand on his knee “I spent a month working on the remains of a Viking longhouse. It was epic.” “It sounds like. I love Vikings.” “Then I came back home, went back to school and one of my teachers destroyed my dream of becoming an archaeologist. She told me that I was going to waste my time. She one was of those who believe only scientific careers actually mattered. Not a nice woman. But I was young and I listened to her. So I took engineering.” She squeezed his knee “Med school is just as a nightmare as they paint it. Your social life disappears. And once you are an intern… sleep becomes a luxury as well. That’s when the panic attacks started. My stress levels were off the roof. Too much coffee, lack of sleep, infinite hours. By the time I finished I was a wreck. I choose my specialisation and worked hard every day of my life. Then a year ago everything went to shit.” “You said you were married.” Aelin nodded “We met at the hospital. He is a police officer. I had been called in the A&E for a consult on a police officer who had been injured pretty badly in the line of duty in a very seriously deprived part of London. The officer was trying to stop a case of domestic abuse. He almost got killed in the process. Chaol, my ex, was his partner. That’s when we met. Seeing the police in an A&E was not unusual. And I used to do a lot of rotations there as well if I was not in surgery. Anyway, Chaol once brought me a cup of coffee, we started chatting and we hit it off. Four years later we married. Five more and I gave him divorce papers.” He pulled even closer and kissed the top of her head “Do you regret the divorce?” “Hell no, he had it coming. No… no…” she grabbed her mug again “But it just not easy to ignore nine years spent with someone, especially when eight of those years had been great.” “I imagine you can’t.” Elias then stood and cleared up his dishes. By the time he washed everything, she had fallen asleep on the sofa. Gently he lifted her in his arms and walked upstairs looking for the bedroom. He put her to bed and covered her with the blankets. He found a notepad and scribbled down a note for her

You fell asleep while I was doing the dishes. That should have been me :) Hope you and cookie monster had a nice slumber, my princess. I’ll text you tomorrow to check that you are okay. I have a crazy day at work tomorrow so no adventure. Please, take it easy.

Good night, Elias.

He then got back downstairs, grabbed the keys from a tray on a shelf, left the house, locked the door and pushed the keys through the letterbox. Once outside he looked up at her bedroom door and smiled. He was mad about her. He’d move the world for one of her smiles.

#rowaelin #rowan whitethorn #rowan x aelin #aelin galythinius #lysandra #aedion x lysandra #fanfic #angst #fluff #throne of glass series

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andsoshespins · 3 years

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Saturday Morning Musings

I want to bring back playing cards as a pastime. But not poker. Fuck that.

Related: Maybe I can learn to play bridge and have card nights like all those episodes of I Love Lucy. Or maybe my friends can learn to play Gin Rummy and Italian card games like Briscola.

Still related: I should play with my nonna soon.

Why am I having such difficulty finding gray, knee-high boots?

Related: Maybe I am actually just really picky. But, for someone who works on her feet all day, I view most shoes as investments.

I should quit my online tutoring gig. But it is barely 3 virtual hours on a Saturday morning. How do I justify quitting?

The other night, I watched Thank You for Sharing which features Mark Ruffalo as the recovering sex-addict protagonist. It was kind of an interesting movie, partly because it seemed like it was marketed as a strangely light rom-com (which it was not for the most part), and partly because it dealt with dark matters and had a few odd turns, some predictable and well-done and others not-so-much. I am also curious about how addicts and/or people in recovery would feel about the way addiction was portrayed in the movie.

Related: The man looked sexy as fuck in that movie. Goddamn, what is it about Mark Ruffalo? There were a few times I had to refocus my attention on the gravity of the situations arising in the movie.

I bought all new flour to replace the disgusting bug-infested stash that crushed my soul a few weeks ago. Apple desserts, here I come!

Related: I tried freezing some apple turnover filling. I am wondering how that will work, if it does.

Buying 10 bell peppers for $10 always gives me a weird kick at Stop and Shop.

Sometimes I feel very crotchety about things that occur in the school workplace, and I feel slightly irrational for feeling that way. Then I talk to veteran teacher friends; and my irked feelings are validated because they, too, are annoyed by the same unprofessionalism that was bugging me.

I love my 4th and 5th graders a whole hell of a lot.

Joy is something I must continue to ponder. I am feeling like I am experiencing a weird, invisible limit of feeling this emotion at the moment. It is not quite muted but a bizarre hyperawareness of knowing how much more and deeper joy I am capable of feeling. More in another post perhaps.

I wish cheese wasn’t as addictive as crack.

#miscellaneous musings #saturday #sigh

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gem-quest · 5 years

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[ QUEST 01. — I N F E R N A ]

taglist: @ayzrules @bebemoon @atimefordragons @armadasneon @now-on-elissastillstands @interluxetumbra @pulltheskydown

Inferna was hanging out in her favorite spot in Yue City - the lousy excuse of a Chinese restaurant, because it was just so easy to market her Inferna Sauce and sriracha to players who came away disappointed by the Asian dishes with absolutely zero seasoning - when the announcement popped up in the sky.

[ . . . T O U R N E Y . A N D . F A I R . I N . W I L D F L O W E R . M E A D O W . . . L E V E L . O N E . . . ]

"Well, shit, that's just right around the corner," Inferna said out loud, putting away her sauce for the time being. She wasn't sure if she was going to compete - she'd prooobably get distracted by the free food - but it might be fun to just watch for a little bit.

So, with one over-dramatic whoosh of her hooded black capelet (which was decorated with intricate gold embroidery, because Inferna didn't wear things that were plain, thank you very much), Inferna was off.

When she got to the meadowlands, the entire place was filled with stalls and throngs of players eager to watch the tournament. Inferna decided that she'd watch the tournament after some refreshments, and immediately headed for the food stalls. She stocked up on some chicken pot pies and mead, nibbling on an apple turnover as she browsed. Eventually, she came across a wyvern being turned over a spit, and tossed the NPCs roasting the thing a coin in exchange for a hunk of meat, which she drizzled her homemade hot sauce over before biting into.

It tasted just like chicken. Then again, most meats that weren't pork or beef also tasted like chicken, in Inferna’s opinion.

Rats, for example; Inferna had been dared to eat a rat skewer in the City of Magic, once. She did it, and got a whole blueberry pie in return. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy. And that pie had been good.

Inferna wandered around for another thirty minutes, snacking on the wyvern kebab, before finally making her way over to the lists. She frowned when she noticed that there were almost no seats, instead hopping up onto the balustrade after shoving all the dumb meatheads out of the way.

There. That’s a perfect view, she thought, satisfied. She was taking in the sight of the Moonstone player with the pretties armor she’d ever seen facing off an Obsidian player in all black, just as she felt someone flick her calf.

“What the f-” Inferna’s muttered profanity was cut off when she noticed who it was.

"Hey, what’s up? You’re Neddy, right?" she asked, grinning widely. Inferna had met Neddy back in Level Ten, AKA Finvarra’s Gardens, and honestly, Inferna thought she was the sweetest thing. And her dragon, ugh - Inferna would never! Get! Over! Jack!!!!

The other girl looked up. "Inferna?"

Inferna beamed down at her and offered her a hand up instead of answering.

Neddy took her hand, and Inferna pulled her up onto the balustrade with her. “View’s better up here,” she told her with a wink, grinning her usual shit-eating grin.

Inferna was about to go back to watching the action - the Obsidian player had easily unseated the Moonstone one - when she noticed...was that Jack?!?! Riding in a basket on Neddy’s back?????

She gave an excited half-squeal, half-exclaimation. “God, Jack is so freaking adorable! Does he still like sugar cubes?" she fired off, pulling out a sugar cube she’d gotten from the Tearoom, as well as a tiny bottle of Inferna Sauce (she’d decided that she was going to make mini bottles to carry around outside of her inventory, just for convenience). She dunked the sauce onto the sugar cube.

"How are you faring out there?" asked Neddy.

“It’s been pretty chill on my end,” Inferna replied, giving the Moonstone player a cheeky grin. “Haven’t really done anything exciting, besides get some blueberry scones from the Tearoom yesterday; they’re amazing. I was at Level 39 the other day too, but fighting the dragon is so much work, so I fucked off after a few minutes.”

Her attention strayed back to Neddy’s dragon. “Ooh, fuck, Jack is so cute. Here, you’re a good boy, aren’t you?” she said, gently tossing the sugar cube in the air and clapping with delight when Jack caught it in his mouth.

“What about you? Got anything fun going on?” she asked Neddy a moment later, tearing her eyes away from the miniature dragon.

"Nothing quite as exciting as thirty-nine," Neddy replied. "I've just gotten through floor twenty-nine by the skin of my teeth. Mermaid Cove won't be easy for me since I'm currently, you know, on my own."

Inferna nodded, grimacing. “Oh, yeah, that level’s a pain in the ass if you don’t have a party. I think I got through it by just finding a group that needed an extra person who didn’t care about Angel’s Breath. Aydina - that’s the NPC you go up against - is kind of a cunt, too. Like, I get that it’s just pre-written dialogue, but the lady could be nicer while trying to fuck us over with that dodgeball of hers, you know?”

Inferna rolled her eyes at the thought of the pirate queen. Really, though, she was a cunt, she mused to herself. Everything she said, just - ugh! So unnecessary.

It was a known fact that Inferna talked so much shit about any and all of the NPCs in the game. She was a bit infamous for it within the Obsidian Guild, actually, which was something that Inferna was immensely proud of.

"I’m not very good at dodgeball," said Neddy.

Inferna shrugged. “It was my favorite thing in gym, when I still had to take that bullshit class. All I did was dick around and throw balls at the annoying people in my grade, even if they were technically on my team,” she said, in the most solemn voice she could muster.

She continued. “I thought that level was pretty fun, besides Aydina’s totally unnecessary commentary. So I can help you, if you want,” she said, “if you bribe me somehow. Since I don’t see how helping you with dodgeball helps my Guild, after all.”

Neddy seemed surprised. "Bribe?" she managed to get out. "I don't have much in the way of coin. . . . I'm not formidable by any means. Surely, it won't hurt Obsidian any if you help little old me move through a lower floor."

Inferna narrowed her eyes, skeptical. “Little old you and a dragon,” she pointed out, gesturing towards Jack. As cute as Jack was, both miniature and at his full size, he was still a, you know, dragon.

Neddy nodded, slowly. "Yeah. Okay- well, I can give you all the apricot tartlets in my inventory if you help me out."

Inferna bit her lip. Apricot tartlets? That was...that was a tempting offer. Plus, dodgeball was really fun, and plus, Inferna sort of owed Neddy, because Neddy had saved Inferna from being eternally trapped in Level Ten with that insufferable faerie prince (but the sweets on that level all looked absolutely divine, so could you really blame her?).

“Alright fine, I’ll do it,” Inferna agreed, flipping her red hair over one shoulder. “Just tell me when, and I’ll be there. But don’t make it before noon, or I’ll probably sleep straight through it. Like, I’m not even kidding; last semester I somehow slept through ten alarms and missed a 12:30 PM lab. So don’t make it before twelve.”

She narrowed her eyes, again. “Now hand over those tartlets.”

After Neddy had given her the tartlets, Inferna lingered for a little while, then decided to go find some other food to eat, nibbling on one of the tartlets as she went. She bought a steak and mashed potatoes dish, stowing it away in her virtual inventory for the time being.

A commotion by the lists caught her attention, about an hour or so later. Intrigued, Inferna crept closer, just in time to see a fellow Obsidian player wearing a flowy dress win a duel. Inferna cheered with the rest of her Guild, elbowing closer for a better view.

Hey, she thought, suddenly. Isn’t that the girl I saw yesterday?

Inferna let her gaze follow the blonde girl as she collected her prize money and went off towards one of the open areas. She took off after her, finding that it was extraordinarily easy to follow the other player when she was wearing a pretty flower crown - all she had to do was look for the flowers in the crush of people.

Once Inferna reached the grassy field, she scanned the area before finally locating the girl she met at the Descend the day before.

“Oh, hey,” Inferna said, trotting over. A quick glance at her profile said that she went by ‘Morningstar’. “I saw your duel, by the way. Congrats on winning.” She grinned.

Morningstar gave her a scathing look. Inferna ignored it and flopped down to sit on the grass next to her, dragging out a bottle of Inferna Sauce from her inventory, as well as as the steak and mashed potatoes dish she’d just purchased. She all but drenched the food with her hot sauce, because everything in the game was so damn bland - to someone who’d grown up eating spicy food, anyway.

“Do you want some, by the way?” Inferna asked, glancing up at Morningstar and grinning again. “It’s hot sauce. For when the white people food in this game gets too boring.”

She paused, for a moment. “I’ll trade you a bottle for a potion that makes me feel like I’ve just smoked some weed, if you have any. Or if you have anything like vodka? This mead and ale and stuff is fine, but jesus fucking christ, sometimes I just want to take two shots and be done.”

The two of them talked for a bit. Inferna mentioned that she’d be doing dodgeball with Neddy soon, and asked Morningstar if she’d want to join in. Then, once Inferna was hungry again, she got up and went searching for more food.

I should probably also get something if I’m going up against Aydina again, she thought. God, but she’s such a fucking cunt.

As such, Inferna found the marketplace and bought herself a few propugnatio potions, knowing that she’d need them to up her defense for the underwater dodgeball game; as a fire-mage, she was more vulnerable in aquatic environments. She also stocked up on fortissime potions, just to make sure her fiery attacks would pack an extra punch.

Satisfied with her haul, Inferna tossed the items into her inventory and went towards one of the stalls selling pastries. God, but they smelled good.

#writing #q1 #inferna #vicky #inferna story #wildflower meadow #yue city #s/o to fanfan for dialogue!!!

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7hrconsultancyuk-blog · 4 years

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The Fitness Industry offers a lot many opportunities to the job hunters who are exactly looking to get a job in this sector. This industry has a lot to offer in a different arena to work-in fitness field itself. The job one can be assigned in this sector are: • Sports Nutritionist • Lifeguard • Physiotherapist • Fitness Instructor • Wellness Coach • Strength and Conditioning Personal Trainer • Fitness Manager • Assistant Manager- Health and Fitness

Leading Recruitment Agency in London search best of candidates from different platforms to hire only those talents whose skill set matches the profile by following all the requirements that are been needed.

Fitness Industry is a booming industry which helps an individual to change their lifestyle in a better manner. The Fitness Manpower Recruitment Agency in UK aims for individuals to achieve their goals by helping these individuals to get the job by ensuring them to provide practical experience in this field.

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jackdjgan-blog · 4 years

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Vikings scores, odds, artiste props and analysis for the Green Bay Packers

Their wins lifted both teams to an identical 1-0. A couple last-season stats to grant an eye regarding: The Packers vs Vikings Live threw unaccompanied four interceptions last year, the first along in the center of all teams in the league. As for the Vikings, they ranked second in penalties, closing the 2018 season single-handedly at the yet to be 92 overall. Well sit in judgment out if either of these strengths ends occurring making the difference in the game. For the second epoch this season for both Packers and Vikings fans, those who seek to watch their teams game will have to scan their TV channels for ESPN. Green Bay at Minnesota is the featured game completely in this area Monday Night Football in Week 16, the firm Monday night game of the 2019 season.

The Packers had to kick off their season virtually the road last week, but they showed no in poor health effects. They took their matchup nearby Chicago 10-3. Chicago can feel this payback for the 17-24 loss they dealt Green Bay the last period the teams encountered one be adjoining going a propos speaking for. Meanwhile, Minnesota took care of situation in their dwelling opener. They strolled p.s. Atlanta once points to spare, taking the contest 28-12. Since Minnesota won the last grow pass these teams met, too, this is lonely more fuel for the blaze driving Atlantas cool revenge.

Monday nights game will have a huge impact vis--vis the NFL playoff describe regardless of the result. If the Packers win, they will clinch the NFC North title and save themselves in scuffle for the No. 1 overall seed and home-ground advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. If the Vikings win, they will pass judgment the child desist for themselves a unintentional to steal the spite in Week 17 and climb from the No. 6 seed in the playoffs to a peak three seed.

Minnesota enters Monday nights game as a five-narrowing around blaze favorite, but dispensation sponsorship Dalvin Cook will miss the game following an insult, and quarterback Kirk Cousins is winless in Monday Night Football games for his career. If the Vikings lose, they will be ashore going re the subject of for the road in the wild-card round of the playoffs as the No. 6 seed, playing in Green Bay, New Orleans, San Francisco or Seattle. Theres in fact nothing sophisticated checking that first crate in the region of the order of the set sights vis--vis list, said Rodgers, who was picked off without throwing a touchdown late magnification for the first become accumulation in 18 games.

Kirk Cousins was sacked five time, as soon as a whopping 3 1/2 by Smith, and he threw an interception in the third quarter that set going concerning the first score by Jones, who leads the league upholding taking place 16 stepping occurring touchdowns. The Vikings had 132 final yards, as Cousins fell to 0-9 in his career in Monday night games.

When you dont convert third downs, go three-and-out, you just dont have that many plays. You dont have many bites at the apple to profit going, Cousins said. We deeply did not feat quickly plenty from begin to finish. The Vikings had without help seven first downs and never netted a approach longer than 31 yards in this re regression. They wasted a traditional deem not guilty allegiance by their defense, which has produced 10 turnovers in the last two games.

Minnesotas add to around peak of a stalled offense that averaged vis--vis 30 points concerning the subject of extremity of the previous 10 games on the subject of your own increased in the second half. Stefon Diggs caught a 28-yard adjunct upon third-and-18 in the third quarter, but Cousins was intercepted by now upon the throb complex Diggs was tangled occurring as soon as Jaire Alexander and Kevin King made a leaping grab lead a 39-yard reward.

The Vikings punted upon fourth-and-1 from their 45 to white-flag their ensuing possession.The Minnesota Vikings will host the Green Bay Packers in the Week 16 edition of Monday Night Football. The Packers can clinch the NFC North by now a victory contiguously the Vikings or a win closely week adjacent to the Detroit Lions, whereas Minnesota would pretentiousness to win out and achieve some urge on if it wants to win the estrangement.

The Packers got the advance they needed to stay in the race for the No. 1 seed when than than the Seattle Seahawks losing to the Arizona Cardinals. Green Bay doesnt plan its own destiny for the depth seed just yet, but by winning out, itd have a adorable chance of go-getter in first place of the conference. Winning tonight would guarantee the Packers the NFC North title and one of the severity three seeds. Win both games and the No. 2 seed will be theirs at worst.

On the flip side, lose tonight and along moreover lose furthermore-showing off in week to the Detroit Lions, and the Vikings will have the opportunity to win the NFC North, pushing the Packers every single one the compulsion down to the No. 6 seed. Green Bay won a Super Bowl from that right of access, for that observations maybe its not such a bad matter. A win or a loss tonight could be the difference together in partner happening to hosting a playoff game in the divisional round or the wild-card circular.

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organicdietguide · 4 years

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Best Foods for Healthy Skin & prevent cancer!

sliced avocados, Not all fats are evil. Omega-3 fatty acids are just one example of healthy fats and they’re especially important for those who want to prevent fine lines and wrinkles.

“Omega-3 fatty acids reduce inflammation that can lead to wrinkles, and they prevent collagen breakdown,” says Keri Glassman, RD, a nutritionist based in New York City.

Lifestyle Changes to Improve Your Cholesterol

Good sources of these fats recommended by the National Institutes of Health include things like walnuts and flaxseed.

You can also enlist the help of avocados, which are packed with nutrients that benefit the skin. “Avocados are high in sterolins, which help soften and moisturize the skin,” says Glassman. “

They also have vitamin E, which enhances the skin’s collagen production while sealing in vital

moisture.”And prevent cancer.

Belly Fat in Women

Collagen is a fibrous protein naturally produced in the body that helps repair connective tissue, and keeps our hair, nails, and skin strong, says Zeichner. Eating food rich in vitamins A and C, like blueberries and kale, has also been shown to increase collagen production, past research has shown.

Pick Proteins That Are Lean and Fat-Free, oysters, Larry Zhou/iStock, Aside from fish, eggs, chicken, and turkey breast.

one of the best sources of protein is lean red meat, says Jessica Wu, MD, an assistant clinical professor of dermatology at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and the author of Feed Your Face.

What Is The Paleo Diet

Red meat contains the amino acids glycine and proline, previous research has shown, and per a study published in January 2018 in Amino Acids, these are components involved in the synthesis of collagen.

But red meat is also high in saturated fat, and produces a chemical called TMAO (trimethylamine N-oxide) that may be linked to heart disease, according to a study published in December 2018 in the European Heart Journal. In the study, people whose diets were high in red meat had triple the levels of TMAO in their systems.

To keep your heart healthy, the American Heart Association recommends sticking to proteins with unsaturated fats, like fish, or choosing red meats that are lean, fat-free, and unprocessed.

Because of their zinc content, oysters are also effective in the fight against dry, aging skin, says Howard Murad, MD, an associate clinical professor of medicine at the University of California in Los Angeles and the author of The Water Secret.

“Zinc is not only an essential component for collagen production and healing,” he says, “it’s a powerful anti-inflammatory.”

The simple lifestyle shifts in the Eat Sleep Burn ugly belly fat…

Inflammation is how the body communicates to our immune systems to jump into action if we’re injured, but it can also cause flare-ups in our skin that come in the form of swelling, rashes, and redness.

per an article published by InformedHealth.org. Zeichner says foods rich in vitamin A or zinc, like fortified cereal, beans, spinach, and oysters, can help reduce inflammation in the skin And prevent cancer .

Fruits and vegetables contain the building blocks for soft, smooth, healthy skin. Blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries, as well as pomegranates, are rich in skin-friendly antioxidants, which, says Dr.

Melt 7 Pounds Every 7 Days

Murad, “assist in cellular renewal and help cells stay plump with water.”

Antioxidants are molecules that help prevent damage to cells by neutralizing what are known as free radicals, which are byproducts harmful to tissue cells, according to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health And prevent cancer.

Experts also single out tomatoes as being effective in keeping fine lines and wrinkles in check. “Tomatoes are rich in the antioxidant lycopene, which has been shown to fight sunburn and sun damage that can lead to wrinkles and skin cancer,” Dr. Wu says.

Lycopene is thought to protect skin and potentially treat skin cancer by preventing tumorous cells from spreading.

A recent study published in January 2019 in the Journal of Cancer found that while the role of lycopene in treating skin cancer is still unclear, the antioxidant did appear to stall or reverse cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, a type of skin cancer.

The Real Mom’s Guide

Drink (Water, That Is) to Your Skin’s Health, is good for your skin, but you don’t have to go overboard. The goal is to avoid dehydration.

Water intake varies based on your age, gender, and other factors such as pregnancy, but in general, water recommendations from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine suggest 15 cups of water per day for males age 19 and up, and 11 cups per.

What foods and drinks are bad for your skin:

Refined carbohydrates – white flour foods such as white bread, pasta, and white rice have a high glycemic index.

This causes an insulin surge after consumption and leads to the production of androgen hormones that cause sebaceous glands to produce more oil and cause acne.

Sugar/corn syrup – soda, juices, sports drinks, protein-granola bars cause inflammation and destruction of collagen and elastin in the skin that leads to wrinkles and premature aging and also the same mechanism as with refined carbs.

where an increase in serum insulin leads to more oil production by sebaceous glands and the overproduction of oil leads to clogged pores and acne.

Dairy products – high inflammatory food that will contribute to skin conditions such as acne, eczema, and wrinkles.

Overconsumption of alcohol – pro-inflammatory, causes dehydration, increases likelihood of broken capillaries due to skin vasodilation, increases skin dullness, and wrinkles formation.

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Healthy Skin Starts With Good Nutrition

Best Foods for Healthy Skin:

Though it may sound counterintuitive, the high concentration of water in watermelon can actually reduce the water retention that leads to puffiness around the eyes,” says Baumann.

“And because watermelon is low in sugar—well, compared to many other fruits—you don’t have to worry about glycation, the chemical reaction that compromises collagen and leads to lines and wrinkles.”

“Since green tea contains polyphenols, making it an antioxidant and an anti-inflammatory, it can be used as a great toner to treat acne,” says Dr. Kaleroy Papantoniou, a cosmetic dermatologist.

“It’s great for healing blemishes and scars, flushes out toxins, and also keeps skin supple. The vitamin K in green tea helps lighten dark circles under the eyes, too. So, put used green tea bags in the fridge for a great 15-minute under eye treatment.”

Tomatoes are rich in lycopene, a potent antioxidant to protect skin from UV damage, says Zeichner.

In fact, a study in the British Journal of Dermatology found participants who ate five tablespoons of tomato paste daily showed 33 percent more protection against sunburn than a control group.

“This vegetable is orange thanks to high levels of beta-carotene, which is a precursor to vitamin A … which also happens to be a form of the main active ingredient in Retin-A,” says Baumann. “This vitamin has been found to decrease the skin’s oil production, and there’s also some evidence that it can improve psoriasis.”

There’s a reason why avocados are a popular ingredient for face masks. “Avocados penetrate cells at the deepest level, which is virtually a tasty way to get a basal layer skin dose of vitamins A, D, and E, good fats, and phytonutrients,” says Papantoniou. Seriously, is there anything this fruit can’t do?

Walnuts amp up collagen production because they are also high in omega-3 fatty acids, says Papantoniou.

If you’re wondering what the heck is collagen, it’s a protein that helps improve the skin’s elasticity, preventing sagging and ultimately leaving your skin plump and youthful.

Walnut’s rich omega-3 content also helps reduce stress and diminish the risk of heart disease.

This leafy green is rich in vitamin A, which is an antioxidant and promotes healthy skin cell turnover, says Zeichner. As mentioned earlier, vitamin A is also a big ingredient found in Retin-A, a medication used to treat acne.

Legend has it that applying kale topically helps diminish the visibility of bruises, scars, stretch marks, and spider veins.

Almonds are rich in vitamin E, a powerful antioxidant that helps prevent signs of aging caused by free radicals and may even bolster your skin’s defense against skin cancer.

Foods that lower your risk of cancer

FlaxseedsThey’re a top source of alpha-linolenic (ALA) omega-3 fatty acids, which are tied to lower breast cancer risk.

Clinical trials have also found that flaxseeds have the potential to slow the growth of tumors in women who’ve already been diagnosed with breast cancer.

And here’s a tip: Choose ground flaxseeds over whole ones whenever possible—grinding the seeds makes their nutrients more bioavailable, research shows.

KaleIt’s another cruciferous vegetable, so you know these hearty leaves have good stuff going for them from a cancer prevention perspective.

A single cup of chopped kale serves up more than a day’s worth of antioxidants like vitamins A and C, both of which can scrounge up free radicals and stop them from causing cell damage that could potentially lead to cancer.

ApplesCan having one a day really help keep the doctor away? Regular apple eaters have a lower risk for lung cancer as well as certain types of breast cancer, according to the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR). Just be sure to have the skin too.

“The flavonoid quercitin has been associated with a reduced risk of certain cancers, and the highest concentration is found in the skin,” says nutrition expert Erin Palinski-Wade, R.D.

CauliflowerBroccoli’s paler cousin is also a cruciferous vegetable, and it boasts similar cancer-fighting abilities.

So feel free to fill up, well, as often as you can. A Harvard study of some 124,000 adults found that women who gobbled up more than five servings of crucifers like cauliflower a week were less likely to get lung cancer compared to those who ate the veggies less frequently.

WalnutsLike flaxseeds, walnuts are rich in ALA omega-3 fatty acids. But that’s not all. They also serve up antioxidant compounds like ellagitannins, melatonin, and gamma-tocopherol, which the AICR says could combat oxidative stress and inflammation.

Just keep your portions in check, since walnuts are calorie-dense. A one-ounce, 150-calorie serving is all you need, says Palinski-Wade.

GarlicPopulation studies have tied higher garlic consumption to lower cancer rates, particularly when it comes to gastrointestinal cancers.

according to one review. Garlic contains sulfur compounds that exert antimicrobial activity as well as inhibit cell-damaging carcinogens, the researchers note.

To reap the biggest benefits, chop or crush your garlic and let it sit for 10 minutes before adding it to your cooking.

The brief rest helps the garlic produce more sulfur compounds, the AICR points out.

OatmealOats are an easy, delicious source of whole grains, which may boast serious cancer-fighting abilities.

People who get three servings of whole grains daily have a 15% lower cancer risk overall compared to those who get less, concluded one major study.

The benefits are even more impressive when it comes to colorectal cancer in particular: Three daily servings of whole grains could slash your risk by as much as 17%, the AICR notes.

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vsplusonline · 5 years

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Backed by SoftBank, Herman Narula’s Improbable is struggling to revolutionize gaming industry

New Post has been published on https://apzweb.com/backed-by-softbank-herman-narulas-improbable-is-struggling-to-revolutionize-gaming-industry/

Backed by SoftBank, Herman Narula’s Improbable is struggling to revolutionize gaming industry

By Amy Thomson

Worlds Adrift was supposed to be a multiplayer game like no other: think Minecraft meets Second Life. Released to some users in 2018, the virtual world promised to take immersive gaming to another level by using a new technology from SoftBank-backed wunderkind, Improbable Worlds Ltd. Players would build ships to explore a universe of floating islands created by other participants. Then last May its creator, Bossa Studios, said it was pulling the plug.

“We fell way short of what the game’s original vision was,” Bossa co-founder Henrique Olifiers explained in a YouTube video. “What we have live today is probably perhaps 20% of the game that we wanted to launch, and it shows.”

Worlds Adrift is one of at least three games using Improbable technology that were pulled last year—a setback for Improbable, which promised to revolutionize gaming by helping developers create complex worlds that rival the real one. There are many reasons games can fail, but two people familiar with the situation say Improbable is struggling in part because it surprised developers with frequent updates that forced game studios to spend more time fixing code than perfecting their products.

Founded about seven years ago by Cambridge University students, Improbable is unprofitable and has only one game running on its platform. Since 2018, the company has lost its chief financial officer, chief legal officer, vice president of people operations and chief creative officer, according to their LinkedIn profiles. One high-level person who left said co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Herman Narula didn’t give executives autonomy to make their own decisions, from hiring to choosing which projects to pursue. Several people who worked with Improbable and requested anonymity to avoid hurting their careers in the insular gaming industry, also said Narula alienated game developers with his temper—shouting orders and complaints on the phone and in meetings.

Improbable has since lured a former Disney executive to become the new CFO, is working with several other studios and is starting to develop its own games. Company spokesman Daniel Griffiths said that it’s not unusual for game developers to decide against a commercial launch after a trial period. Additionally, he said, studios could decide when to implement updates and were allowed to use an older version of the platform for a period of time. The company offered assistance and kept developers updated of changes in its forums and through emails, Griffiths said. He called accusations of shouting and micromanaging “hearsay” and pointed to Narula’s approval rating on the Glassdoor job review site, which was at about 83% when this article was published, and said most reviewers on the site would recommend working at Improbable to a friend.

As for employee attrition, Griffiths said that the company’s voluntary turnover rate is in line with the tech industry, which is high. A report from LinkedIn put employee churn for tech at 13.2%, the highest of all the industries it surveyed. Improbable has an internal tool that lets employees offer anonymous feedback as part of efforts to manage its culture, he said.

The London-based startup’s travails are just the latest setback for SoftBank Group Corp.’s Vision Fund, which in 2017 led an investing group that plowed $502 million into Improbable. Along with Narula, SoftBank is one of two Improbable shareholders that have significant control, with a stake of 25% to 50%, according to Companies House, the U.K. registrar of companies. While some of SoftBank’s bets have paid off, such as its 2018 sale of a majority stake in Flipkart Online Services Pvt Ltd. to Walmart Inc. for $16 billion, several of the Japanese investor’s companies have run into difficulties recently. WeWork pulled its initial public offering, robot pizza maker Zume Pizza Inc. announced it was cutting hundreds of jobs in January, and Indian lodging startup Oyo Hotels is eliminating thousands of employees and losing money after an aggressive expansion. SoftBank didn’t provide a comment.

Pic: Improbable

Narula, the son of Indian construction magnate Harpinder Singh Narula, founded Improbable in 2012 with Rob Whitehead, a fellow graduate student at Cambridge who’s now chief product officer. The men originally worked out of a barn next to Hyver Hall, the Narula family’s mansion, before moving to an office in central London two years later. They’d met in the university’s computer science department where they bonded over a shared passion for games, dreaming of creating huge, detailed virtual worlds where lots of people could play together.

SpatialOS was going to be the tool that made those dreams a reality. It helps developers create complex, simulated environments. Plants and animals continue to grow and reproduce even when nobody’s playing; it can enable programs that mimic how electrical grids, transportation networks and traffic work together. It promised to create elaborate, persistent worlds unlike anything that had been built before.

“We’re in a place today where it is actually possible to create artificial realities,” Narula said in a 2017 interview with Wired. “Basically, we want to build the Matrix,” he joked. SoftBank’s investment that year was one of the biggest in a U.K. startup, on par with Google’s 400 million pound ($511 million) acquisition of artificial intelligence firm DeepMind. Before that, Improbable got early funding from Andreessen Horowitz, which put in about $20 million in 2015, as well as billionaire Li Ka-shing’s Horizons Ventures and Singapore’s state investor Temasek Holdings Pte, which were part of a group that invested $30 million later that year. All told, the company’s attracted more than $600 million in investment.

Even after SoftBank’s investment, Narula retained control of his company, keeping 75% of the voting rights, according to regulatory filings.

People who know Narula describe the 31-year-old executive as unusually charismatic and persuasive, drawing people into his “reality distortion field,” a characteristic famously attributed to Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs. During a Ted talk last year, Narula said the types of games his creation enables will reshape human relationships and identity as people spend more time together in huge, collaborative worlds.

“If we could co-inhabit, co-experience things together, undiminished by physical frailty or by lack of context, create opportunities together—that changes things,” Narula said in the talk. “That bonds people.”

Bossa Studios was Improbable’s first big gaming customer to use its technology platform. The two companies began discussions about what they could build together in 2014, giving some users early access to Worlds Adrift in 2018. It was a major departure for a gamemaker that previously specialized in simpler, social titles, such as I Am Bread, “a beautiful story of one slice of bread’s epic and emotional journey as it embarks upon a quest to become toasted.”

Following Bossa’s vote of confidence, Spilt Milk Studios decided to give Improbable a try with a game called Lazarus. Described as a sci-fi twist on Groundhog Day, the game let thousands of players fight over technology and territories in a world that reset weekly. After about three years letting players test the game, Spilt Milk shut it down in September, saying the game was too expensive to continue and cited the costs of maintaining, running and updating the game as it became more feature-packed.

On its website, Improbable says it costs “slightly more” to use SpatialOS than traditional cloud-hosted, dedicated game servers. Improbable estimates that for the smallest “templates,” hosted in the U.S., developers are paying 8% to 35% more per hour.

Bossa declined to comment and Spilt Milk didn’t reply to requests for comment. Both are focusing on other games.

The biggest failure so far has been Automaton, a SpatialOS game developer which last year went into administration, the British version of bankruptcy. Its Mavericks: Proving Grounds game was going to be a 1,000-player “battle royale” shooter with users ducking in and out of abandoned buildings and running across landscapes to be the last one standing. The game had weather systems, and players left footprints and shell casings behind that let others track them. Mavericks was going to be vastly bigger than similar games, like Fortnite, which typically host a maximum of 100 people at once.

Big, complicated games like Mavericks are expensive to develop, and Improbable offered studios financing ranging from thousands to millions of pounds, the people said. Studios in return agreed to give Narula control over aspects of their business including communications and financials, depending on the deal, people familiar with the arrangements said. Game makers also agreed not to make disparaging comments about Improbable, they said.

Last year, Improbable provided Automaton a credit line of about 5 million pounds that could be converted into equity, according to the administrators’ report. The deal gave Improbable some control over Automaton’s finances. But Improbable became so involved in the game’s development that Automaton felt more like a subsidiary than an independent studio, and employees complained that they didn’t know who was making decisions, people familiar with the episode said.

Then last summer, Improbable told Automaton, which had drawn down less than a third of its credit line, that it would be withdrawing further funding, according to the administrators’ report. No other benefactors materialized, and the firm, which had been profitable through the fiscal year ending in May 2018, entered administration with just 30% of Mavericks development completed. As part of discussions about the company’s insolvency, Improbable said it would be willing to take on about 20 staff who’d been working on the project. The company had 40 employees at the time. Automaton’s founder, James Thompson, now works at Improbable as head of product research. He didn’t respond to requests for comment.

The Improbable loan was meant to be a bridge while Automaton looked for other investors, Griffiths said. The loan was to be used specifically for Mavericks, and did give Improbable some oversight over how the money was spent, but was never meant to fund the game’s entire development, he said. Improbable decided not to extend the loan further after Automaton notified them that it hadn’t secured any additional money, though the company did contribute to a fund for Automaton’s employees who were affected by the administration, he said.

Improbable, which is private, reported that sales rose to 1.22 million pounds for the year ended in May 2019, double the revenue from a year earlier, but less than the 7.8 million pounds in fiscal 2017. Its net loss narrowed to 39.2 million pounds from a 50.4 million loss in 2018 as the company invested in its technology and expanded, adding employees.

In the absence of significant game traffic on its platform, Improbable has said its main revenue source has come from defense industry projects.

The company’s next move is to develop its own games. Improbable has set up studios and bought Midwinter Entertainment, a Washington state-based SpatialOS developer, in September. No games are ready for commercial release, though Midwinter has been play-testing one title, called Scavengers, where opposing players must decide whether to join forces to defeat monsters and survive in the wilderness. The company also acquired game development consultancy the Multiplayer Guys in September and hosting firm Zeuz in February.

There are also a number of other SpatialOS games in development including Seed, a multiplayer game by Klang, and Wizard’s Wrath, a fantasy first-person-shooter from DragonfiAR.

Improbable has also recently attracted a new CFO, Dan Odell, who spent 15 years at Walt Disney Co. where he was finance chief of Maker Studios and Disney Mobile and Social Games, the company said.

But so far, the only game for sale is from NetEase Inc., a Chinese gamemaker that invested more than $50 million in Improbable in 2018. Called Nostos, the multiplayer survival title launched as an early release in December.

“It’s a great team with solid technology, and Herman Narula is a visionary CEO,” NetEase said in an emailed statement. “We chose to work with Improbable for their advanced technical capability and the increasing usability of their technology further confirmed our choice.”

Nostos got three out of five stars on game-distribution platform Steam, with reviewers hailing its promise and beautiful graphics, but complaining that the game is unpolished and buggy. NetEase developers posted in January that they realized there were some problems and had been working on improving performance issues.

“I really want to like the game, I really do but there isn’t much game here,” the top reviewer, the self-styled Trashgoblin, wrote in December.

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endenogatai · 5 years

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UK sets out safety-focused plan to regulate Internet firms

The UK government has laid out proposals to regulate online and social media platforms, setting out the substance of its long-awaited White Paper on online harms today — and kicking off a public consultation.

The Online Harms White Paper is a joint proposal from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and Home Office. The paper can be read in full here (PDF).

It follows the government announcement of a policy intent last May, and a string of domestic calls for greater regulation of the Internet as politicians have responded to rising concern about the mental health impacts of online content.

The government is now proposing to put a mandatory duty of care on platforms to take reasonable steps to protect their users from a range of harms — including but not limited to illegal material such as terrorist and child sexual exploitation and abuse (which will be covered by further stringent requirements under the plan).

The approach is also intended to address a range of content and activity that’s deemed harmful.

Examples providing by the government of the sorts of broader harms it’s targeting include inciting violence and violent content; encouraging suicide; disinformation; cyber bullying; and inappropriate material being accessed by children.

Content promoting suicide has been thrown into the public spotlight in the UK in recent months, following media reports about a schoolgirl whose family found out she had been viewing pro-suicide content on Instagram after she killed herself.

The Facebook -owned platform subsequently agreed to change its policies towards suicide content, saying it would start censoring graphic images of self-harm, after pressure from ministers.

Commenting on the publication of the White Paper today, digital secretary Jeremy Wright said: “The era of self-regulation for online companies is over. Voluntary actions from industry to tackle online harms have not been applied consistently or gone far enough. Tech can be an incredible force for good and we want the sector to be part of the solution in protecting their users. However those that fail to do this will face tough action.

”We want the UK to be the safest place in the world to go online, and the best place to start and grow a digital business and our proposals for new laws will help make sure everyone in our country can enjoy the Internet safely.”

In another supporting statement Home Secretary Sajid Javid added: “The tech giants and social media companies have a moral duty to protect the young people they profit from. Despite our repeated calls to action, harmful and illegal content – including child abuse and terrorism – is still too readily available online.

“That is why we are forcing these firms to clean up their act once and for all. I made it my mission to protect our young people – and we are now delivering on that promise.”

Children’s charity, the NSPCC, was among the sector bodies welcoming the proposal.

“This is a hugely significant commitment by the Government that once enacted, can make the UK a world pioneer in protecting children online,” wrote CEO Peter Wanless in a statement.

“For too long social networks have failed to prioritise children’s safety and left them exposed to grooming, abuse, and harmful content. So it’s high time they were forced to act through this legally binding duty to protect children, backed up with hefty punishments if they fail to do so.”

Although the Internet Watch Foundation, which works to stop the spread of child exploitation imagery online, warned against unintended consequences from badly planned legislation — and urged the government to take a “balanced approach”.

The proposed laws would apply to any company that allows users to share or discover user generated content or interact with each other online — meaning companies both big and small.

Nor is it just social media platforms either, with file hosting sites, public discussion forums, messaging services, and search engines among those falling under the planned law’s remit.

The government says a new independent regulator will be introduced to ensure Internet companies meet their responsibilities, with ministers consulting on whether this should be a new or existing body.

Telecoms regulator Ofcom has been rumored as one possible contender, though the UK’s data watchdog, the ICO, has previously suggested it should be involved in any Internet oversight given its responsibility for data protection and privacy. (According to the FT a hybrid entity combining the two is another possibility — although the newspaper reports that the government remains genuinely undecided on who the regulator will be.)

The future Internet watchdog will be funded by industry in the medium term, with the government saying it’s exploring options such as an industry levy to put it on a sustainable footing.

On the enforcement front, the watchdog will be armed with a range of tools — with the government consulting on powers for it to issue substantial fines; block access to sites; and potentially to impose liability on individual members of senior management.

So there’s at least the prospect of a high profile social media CEO being threatened with UK jail time in future if they don’t do enough to remove harmful content.

On the financial penalties front, Wright suggested that the government is entertaining GDPR-level fines of as much as 4% of a company’s annual global turnover, speaking during an interview on Sky News…

The #OnlineHarms regulator should have teeth, says Jeremy Wright. Fines comparable to information commissioner's under GDPR – 4% of global turnover. Potentially makes individual managers liable. In extreme cases, decides whether websites should be allowed to operate in the UK… pic.twitter.com/gBMe6uUKie

— Alexander J. Martin (@AJMartinSky) April 8, 2019

Other elements of the proposed framework include giving the regulator the power to force tech companies to publish annual transparency reports on the amount of harmful content on their platforms and what they are doing to address it; to compel companies to respond to users’ complaints and act to address them quickly; and to comply with codes of practice issued by the regulator, such as requirements to minimise the spread of misleading and harmful disinformation with dedicated fact checkers, particularly during election periods.

A long-running enquiry by a DCMS parliamentary committee into online disinformation last year, which was continuously frustrated in its attempts to get Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to testify before it, concluded with a laundry list of recommendations for tightening regulations around digital campaigning.

The committee also recommended clear legal liabilities for tech companies to act against “harmful or illegal content”, and suggested a levy on tech firms to support enhanced regulation.

Responding to the government’s White Paper in a statement today DCMS chair Damian Collins broadly welcomed the government’s proposals — though he also pressed for the future regulator to have the power to conduct its own investigations, rather than relying on self reporting by tech firms.

“We need a clear definition of how quickly social media companies should be required to take down harmful content, and this should include not only when it is referred to them by users, but also when it is easily within their power to discover this content for themselves,” Collins wrote.

“The regulator should also give guidance on the responsibilities of social media companies to ensure that their algorithms are not consistently directing users to harmful content.”

Another element of the government’s proposal is a “Safety by Design” framework that’s intended to help companies incorporate online safety features in new apps and platforms from the start.

The government also wants the regulator to head up a media literacy strategy that’s intended to equip people with the knowledge to recognise and deal with a range of deceptive and malicious behaviours online, such as catfishing, grooming and extremism.

It writes that the UK is committed to a free, open and secure Internet — and makes a point of noting that the watchdog will have a legal duty to pay “due regard” to innovation, and also to protect users’ rights online by paying particular mindful not infringe privacy and freedom of expression.

It therefore suggests technology will be an integral part of any solution, saying the proposals are designed to promote a culture of continuous improvement among companies — and highlighting technologies such as Google’s “Family Link” and Apple’s Screen Time app as examples of the sorts of developments it wants the policy framework to encourage.

Although such caveats are unlikely to do much to reassure those concerned the approach will chill online speech, and/or place an impossible burden on smaller firms with less resource to monitor what their users are doing.

“The government’s proposals would create state regulation of the speech of millions of British citizens,” warns digital and civil rights group, the Open Rights Group, in a statement by its executive director Jim Killock. “We have to expect that the duty of care will end up widely drawn with serious implications for legal content, that is deemed potentially risky, whether it really is nor not.

“The government refused to create a state regulator the press because it didn’t want to be seen to be controlling free expression. We are skeptical that state regulation is the right approach.”

UK startup policy advocacy group Coadec was also quick to voice concerns — warning that the government’s plans will “entrench the tech giants, not punish them”.

“The vast scope of the proposals means they cover not just social media but virtually the entire internet – from file sharing to newspaper comment sections. Those most impacted will not be the tech giants the Government claims they are targeting, but everyone else. It will benefit the largest platforms with the resources and legal might to comply – and restrict the ability of British startups to compete fairly,” said Coadec executive director Dom Hallas in a statement.

“There is a reason that Mark Zuckerberg has called for more regulation. It is in Facebook’s business interest.”

UK startup industry association, techUK, also put out a response statement that warns about the need to avoid disproportionate impacts.

“Some of the key pillars of the Government’s approach remain too vague,” said Vinous Ali, head of policy, techUK. “It is vital that the new framework is effective, proportionate and predictable. Clear legal definitions that allow companies in scope to understand the law and therefore act quickly and with confidence will be key to the success of the new system.

“Not all of the legitimate concerns about online harms can be addressed through regulation. The new framework must be complemented by renewed efforts to ensure children, young people and adults alike have the skills and awareness to navigate the digital world safely and securely.”

The government has launched a 12-week consultation on the proposals, ending July 1, after which it says it will set out the action it will take in developing its final proposals for legislation.

“Following the publication of the Government Response to the consultation, we will bring forward legislation when parliamentary time allows,” it adds.

Last month a House of Lords committee recommended an overarching super regulator be established to plug any legislative gaps and/or handle overlaps in rules on Internet platforms, arguing that “a new framework for regulatory action” is needed to handle the digital world.

Though the government appears confident that an Internet regulator will be able to navigate any legislative patchwork and keep tech firms in line on its own — at least, for now.

The House of Lords committee was another parliamentary body that came down in support of a statutory duty of care for online services hosting user-generated content, suggesting it should have a special focus on children and “the vulnerable in society”.

And there’s no doubt the concept of regulating Internet platforms has broad consensus among UK politicians — on both sides of the aisle. But how to do that effectively and proportionately is another matter.

We reached out to Facebook and Google for a response to the White Paper.

Commenting on the Online Harms White Paper in a statement, Rebecca Stimson, Facebook’s head of UK public policy, said: “New rules for the internet should protect society from harm while also supporting innovation, the digital economy and freedom of speech. These are complex issues to get right and we look forward to working with the Government and Parliament to ensure new regulations are effective.”

Stimson also reiterated how Facebook has expanded the number of staff it has working on trust and safety issues to 30,000 in recent years, as well as claiming it’s invested heavily in technology to help prevent abuse — while conceding that “we know there is much more to do”.

Last month the company revealed shortcomings with its safety measures around livestreaming, after it emerged that a massacre in Christchurch, New Zealand which was livestreamed to Facebook’s platform, had not been flagged for accelerated review by moderates because it was not tagged as suicide related content.

Facebook said it would be “learning” from the incident and “re-examining our reporting logic and experiences for both live and recently live videos in order to expand the categories that would get to accelerated review”.

In its response to the UK government White Paper today, Stimson added: “The internet has transformed how billions of people live, work and connect with each other, but new forms of communication also bring huge challenges. We have responsibilities to keep people safe on our services and we share the government’s commitment to tackling harmful content online. As Mark Zuckerberg said last month, new regulations are needed so that we have a standardised approach across platforms and private companies aren’t making so many important decisions alone.”

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technicalsolutions88 · 5 years

Link

The Online Harms White Paper is a joint proposal from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and Home Office.

The government is now proposing to put a mandatory duty of care on platforms to take reasonable steps to protect their users from a range of harms — including but not limited to illegal material such as terrorist and child sexual exploitation and abuse which will be covered by further stringent requirements under the plan.

The approach is also intended to address a range of content and activity that’s deemed harmful.

The Facebook-owned platform subsequently agreed to change its policies towards suicide content, saying it would start censoring graphic images of self-harm, after pressure from ministers.

“That is why we are forcing these firms to clean up their act once and for all. I made it my mission to protect our young people – and we are now delivering on that promise.”

Children’s charity, the NSPCC, was among the sector bodies welcoming the proposal.

“This is a hugely significant commitment by the Government that once enacted, can make the UK a world pioneer in protecting children online,” wrote CEO Peter Wanless in a statement.

The proposed laws would apply to any company that allows users to share or discover user generated content or interact with each other online — meaning companies both big and small.

Nor is it just social media platforms either, with file hosting sites, public discussion forums, messaging services, and search engines among those falling under the planned law’s remit.

Telecoms regulator Ofcom has been rumored as one possible contender, though the UK’s data watchdog, the ICO, has previously suggested it should be involved in any Internet oversight given its responsibility for data protection and privacy. (According to the FT a hybrid entity combining the two is another possibility — although it reports that the government remains genuinely undecided on who the regulator will be.)

The future Internet watchdog will be funded by industry in the medium term, with the government saying it’s exploring options such as an industry levy to put it on a sustainable footing.

So there’s at least the prospect of a high profile social media CEO being threatened with UK jail time in future if they don’t do enough to remove harmful content.

— Alexander J. Martin (@AJMartinSky) April 8, 2019

The committee also recommended clear legal liabilities for tech companies to act against “harmful or illegal content”, and suggested a levy on tech firms to support enhanced regulation.

“The regulator should also give guidance on the responsibilities of social media companies to ensure that their algorithms are not consistently directing users to harmful content.”

Another element of the government’s proposal is a “Safety by Design” framework that’s intended to help companies incorporate online safety features in new apps and platforms from the start.

“The government refused to create a state regulator the press because it didn’t want to be seen to be controlling free expression. We are skeptical that state regulation is the right approach.”

UK startup policy advocacy group Coadec was also quick to voice concerns — warning that the government’s plans will “entrench the tech giants, not punish them”.

“There is a reason that Mark Zuckerberg has called for more regulation. It is in Facebook’s business interest.”

UK startup industry association, techUK, also put out a response statement that warns about the need to avoid disproportionate impacts.

The government has launched a 12-week consultation on the proposals, after which it says it will set out the action it will take in developing its final proposals for legislation.

Last month a House of Lords committee recommended an overarching super regulator be established to plug any gaps and/or handle overlaps in rules on Internet platforms, arguing that “a new framework for regulatory action” is needed to handle the digital world.

Though the government appears confident at this stage that an Internet regulator will be able to navigate any legislative patchwork and keep tech firms in line on its own.

The House of Lords committee was another that came down in support of a statutory duty of care for online services hosting user-generated content, suggesting it should have a special focus on children and “the vulnerable in society”. And there’s no doubt the concept of regulating Internet platforms has broad consensus among UK politicians — on both sides of the aisle.

But how to do that effectively and proportionately is another matter.

We reached out to Facebook and Google for a response to the White Paper.

from Social – TechCrunch https://tcrn.ch/2OUixwV Original Content From: https://techcrunch.com

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fmservers · 5 years