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mostlysignssomeportents · 6 months

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All the books I reviewed in 2023 (Novels)

Next Tuesday (December 5), I'm at Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, NC, with my new solarpunk novel The Lost Cause, which 350.org's Bill McKibben called "The first great YIMBY novel: perceptive, scientifically sound, and extraordinarily hopeful."

It's that time of year again, when I round up all the books I reviewed for my newsletter in the previous year. I posted 21 reviews last year, covering 31 books (there are two series in there!). I also published three books of my own last year (two novels and one nonfiction). A busy year in books!

Every year, these roundups remind me that I did actually manager to get a lot of reading done, even if the list of extremely good books that I didn't read is much longer than the list of books I did read. I read many of these books while doing physiotherapy for my chronic pain, specifically as audiobooks I listened to on my underwater MP3 player while doing my daily laps at the public pool across the street from my house.

After many years of using generic Chinese waterproof MP3s players – whose quality steadily declined over a decade – I gave up and bought a brand-name player, a Shokz Openswim. So far, I have no complaints. Thanks to reader Abbas Halai for recommending this!

https://shokz.com/products/openswim

I load up this gadget with audiobook MP3s bought from Libro.fm, a fantastic, DRM-free alternative to Audible, which is both a monopolist and a prolific wage-thief with a documented history of stealing from writers:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/07/25/can-you-hear-me-now/#acx-ripoff

All right, enough with the process notes, on to the reviews!

NOVELS

I. Temeraire by Naomi Novik

One of the finest pleasures in life is to discover a complete series of novels as an adult, to devour them right through to the end, and to arrive at that ending to discover that, while you'd have happily inhabited the author's world for many more volumes, you are eminently satisfied with the series' conclusion.

I just had this experience and I am still basking in the warm glow of having had such a thoroughly fulfilling imaginary demi-life for half a year. I'm speaking of the nine volumes in Naomi Novik's Temeraire series, which reimagines the Napoleonic Wars in a world that humans share with enormous, powerful, intelligent dragons.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/08/temeraire/#but-i-am-napoleon

II. Destroyer of Worlds by Matt Ruff

The Destroyer of Worlds is a spectacular followup to Lovecraft Country that revisits the characters, setting, and supernatural dread of the original. Country was structured as a series of linked novellas, each one picking up where the previous left off, with a different focal characters. Destroyer is a much more traditional braided novel, moving swiftly amongst the characters and periodically jumping back in time to the era of American slavery, retelling the story of the settlement of the Great Dismal swamp by escaped slaves.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/21/the-horror-of-white-magic/#anti-lovecraftian

III. Scholomance by Naomi Novik

The wizards of the world live in constant peril from maleficaria – the magic monsters that prey on those born with magic, especially the children. In a state of nature, only one in ten wizard kids reaches adulthood. So the wizarding world built the Scholomance, a fully automated magical secondary school that exists in the void – a dimension beyond our world. The Scholomance is also an extremely dangerous place – three quarters of the wizard children who attend will die before graduation – but it is much safer than life on the outside.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/29/hobbeswarts/#the-chosen-one

IV. Tsalmoth by Steven Brust

Longrunning Brust hero Vlad Taltos has been convinced to recount the story of how he and Cawti came to fall in love, and how they planned their marriage. This is quite an adventure – it plays out against the backdrop of a gang-war within the Jhereg organization, with Vlad in severe mortal peril that he can only avoid by uncovering an intricate criminal caper of crosses, double-crosses, smuggling and sorcery. But while Vlad is dodging throwing knives and lethal spells (or not!), what's really going on is that he and Cawti are falling deeply, profoundly, irrevocably in love. The romance that plays out among the blades and magic is more magical still, a grand passion that expresses itself through Nick-and-Nora wordplay and Three Musketeers swordplay.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/27/mannerpunk/#ask-anyone

V. Hopeland by Ian McDonald

Seriously what the fuck is this amazing, uncategorizable, unsummarizable, weird, sprawling, hairball of a novel? How the hell do you research – much less write – a novel this ambitious and wide-ranging? Why did I find myself weeping uncontrollably on a train yesterday as I finished it, literally squeezing my chest over my heart as it broke and sang at the same moment? The stars of Hopeland are members of two ancient, secret societies. There's Raisa Hopeland, who belongs to a globe-spanning, mystical "family," that's one part mutual aid, one part dance music subculture, and one part sorcerer (some Hopelanders are electromancers, making strange, powerful magic with Tesla coils). Amon is a composer and DJ who specializes in making music for very small groups of people – preferably just one person – that is so perfect for them that they are transformed by hearing it.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/30/electromancy/#the-grace

VI. The World Wasn't Ready For You by Justin Key

These are horror stories, though some of them are science fiction too, and more to the point, they're Black horror stories. In his afterword, Key writes about his early fascination with horror, the catharsis he felt in watching nightmares unspool on screen or off the page. And then, he writes, came the dawning recognition that the Black characters in these stories were always there as cannon-fodder, often nameless, usually picked off early. "Black horror" isn't merely parables about racism. In the deft hands of these writers – and now, Key – the stories are horror in which Blackness is a fact, sometimes a central one, and that fact is ever a complication, limiting how the characters move through space, interact with authority, and relate to one another.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/19/justin-c-key/#clarion-west-2015

VII. The Future by Naomi Alderman

A cracking, multi-point-of-view adventure novel about billionaires prepping for the end of the world. Three billionaires, the lords of thinly veiled analogs to Facebook, Google and Amazon, each getting ready in their own way. Stumbling into their midst comes Lai Zhen, a prepper influencer vlogger with millions of followers.

When Zhen becomes romantically entangled with Martha Einkorn, the top aide and chief-of-prepping for one of these billionaires, she finds herself in possession of an AI chatbot that is devoted to protecting a very small number of people from incipient danger. This chatbot determines that Zhen is being stalked by an assassin at a mall in Singapore, and guides her to safety.

The chatbot is a closely held secret among the tech billionaire cabal. It is designed to monitor world events and predict when The Event is imminent, be it disease, war, or other cataclysmic disaster. With the chatbot's predictive powers and its superhuman guidance, the billionaires, their families, and their closest confidantes will be able to slip away before the shit hits the fan, fly by different private jets to one or another luxury bunker, and wait out the apocalypse. Once the fires raging without have died down to embers, the chatbot's billionaire charges will emerge to assume their places as wise and all-powerful leaders of the next human civilization.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/07/preppers-of-the-red-death/#the-event

VIII. Liberty's Daughter by Naomi Kritzer

There's so much sf about "competent men" running their families with entrepreneurial zeal, clarity of vision and a firm confident hand. But there's precious little fiction about how much being raised by a Heinlein dad would *suuuck*. But it would, and in *Liberty's Daughter*, we get a peek inside the nightmare.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/21/podkaynes-dad-was-a-dick/#age-of-consent

Like I said, this has been a good year in books for me, and it included three books of my own:

I. Red Team Blues (novel, Tor Books US, Head of Zeus UK)

Martin Hench is 67 years old, single, and successful in a career stretching back to the beginnings of Silicon Valley. He lives and roams California in a very comfortable fully-furnished touring bus, The Unsalted Hash, that he bought years ago from a fading rock star. He knows his way around good food and fine drink. He likes intelligent women, and they like him back often enough. Martin is a—contain your excitement—self-employed forensic accountant, a veteran of the long guerilla war between people who want to hide money, and people who want to find it. He knows computer hardware and software alike, including the ins and outs of high-end databases and the kinds of spreadsheets that are designed to conceal rather than reveal. He’s as comfortable with social media as people a quarter his age, and he’s a world-level expert on the kind of international money-laundering and shell-company chicanery used by Fortune 500 companies, mid-divorce billionaires, and international drug gangs alike. He also knows the Valley like the back of his hand, all the secret histories of charismatic company founders and Sand Hill Road VCs. Because he was there at all the beginnings. Now he’s been roped into a job that’s more dangerous than anything he’s ever agreed to before—and it will take every ounce of his skill to get out alive.

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865847/red-team-blues

II. The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation (nonfiction, Verso)

We can – we must – dismantle the tech platforms. We must to seize the means of computation by forcing Silicon Valley to do the thing it fears most: interoperate. Interoperability will tear down the walls between technologies, allowing users to leave platforms, remix their media, and reconfigure their devices without corporate permission. Interoperability is the only route to the rapid and enduring annihilation of the platforms. The Internet Con is the disassembly manual we need to take back our internet.

https://www.versobooks.com/products/3035-the-internet-con

III. The Lost Cause (novel, Tor Books US, Head of Zeus UK)

For young Americans a generation from now, climate change isn't controversial. It's just an overwhelming fact of life. And so are the great efforts to contain and mitigate it. Entire cities are being moved inland from the rising seas. Vast clean-energy projects are springing up everywhere. Disaster relief, the mitigation of floods and superstorms, has become a skill for which tens of millions of people are trained every year. The effort is global. It employs everyone who wants to work. Even when national politics oscillates back to right-wing leaders, the momentum is too great; these vast programs cannot be stopped in their tracks.

But there are still those Americans, mostly elderly, who cling to their red baseball caps, their grievances, their huge vehicles, their anger. To their "alternative" news sources that reassure them that their resentment is right and pure and that "climate change" is just a giant scam. And they're your grandfather, your uncle, your great-aunt. And they're not going anywhere. And they’re armed to the teeth. The Lost Cause asks: What do we do about people who cling to the belief that their own children are the enemy? When, in fact, they're often the elders that we love?

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865939/the-lost-cause

I wrote nine books during lockdown, and there's plenty more to come. The next one is The Bezzle, a followup to Red Team Blues, which comes out in February:

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865878/thebezzle

While you're waiting for that one, I hope the reviews above will help you connect with some excellent books. If you want more of my reviews, here's my annual roundup from 2022:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/01/bookishness/#2022-in-review

Here's my book reviews from 2021:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/12/08/required-ish-reading/#bibliography

And here's my book reviews from 2020:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/12/08/required-reading/#recommended-reading

It's EFF's Power Up Your Donation Week: this week, donations to the Electronic Frontier Foundation are matched 1:1, meaning your money goes twice as far. I've worked with EFF for 22 years now and I have always been - and remain - a major donor, because I've seen firsthand how effective, responsible and brilliant this organization is. Please join me in helping EFF continue its work!

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/12/01/bookmaker/#2023-in-review

#pluralistic #books #reviews #science fiction #gift guide #graphic novels #2023 in review #novels

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demospectator · 20 days

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(left to right) "Walter," Phyllis Soohoo, and Kenny Kai-Kee outside Sather Gate on the campus of the University of California Berkeley, c. 1940. Photographer unknown (from the collection of Doug Chan).

Mother's Day and Wartime Remembrance

In an old photograph, a smiling Chinese coed strolls out of the University of California Berkeley’s Sather Gate, circa 1940. Observing this image, one cannot help but infer that my future mother didn’t lack for male companionship eight decades ago. However, beyond the personal anecdote, the photograph of the trio encapsulates a broader narrative about the adventurous spirit of Chinese American youth who began entering college in significant numbers on the cusp of the World War II.

The Chinese students who enrolled at Cal in the late 1930’s represented a subset of the second or third generation offspring of the Chinese settlers in California. Despite being a minority, these students embodied the inaugural All-American generation of the Chinese diaspora in the US.

Chinese collegians dine at the Persian Room in the Sir Francis Drake Hotel, June 12, 1942. Hollywood Nite Club Photos (from the collection of Doug Chan). Phyllis Soohoo appears second from right.

The confluence of access to higher education and the backdrop of WWII proved to be a watershed moment for Chinese American youth. The war coincided with the formation and facilitated the ascent of the first Chinese American middle class.

With the outbreak of war, my mother took breaks to work for Shell Oil Co.'s laboratories, where she contributed to the development and testing of waterproofing treatments for equipment such as tents. Alongside other Chinese American men and women on the homefront, she undertook real jobs for the first time outside of the segregated Chinatowns. Her generation garnered newfound respect from their compatriots and the larger society amidst an era scarred by exclusion.

Time and the passing of her generation have dimmed the sacrifices made by many of my mother's contemporaries and, most poignantly, the memories of young men who had served and fallen in combat.

UC Berkeley classmates Kenny Kai-Kee and Phyllis Soohoo at Lake Lagunitas, March 21, 1940. Photographer unknown (from the collection of Doug Chan).

Kenny Kai-Kee was the classmate and a friend seen at the right in my mother's photograph outside of Sather Gate. Remembered as a jovial and talented athlete who secured a spot on Cal's varsity basketball team, Kenny would earn a lieutenant's commission, joining the US Army Air Force in October 1943 and qualifying as a bomber pilot. As recounted in my earlier writing here, this year marks the 80th anniversary of the downing of Kenny’s B-17 to enemy fire over Austria.

Like many other Americans who were left behind in sorrow, my mother emerged from the war years with not only her pharmacist's license but also specific, painful reasons to detest horrors of the global conflict and its waste of life.

Another decade would pass before Mom crossed paths with my father. He had shared none of the transformational experiences of my mother's college cohort. His family had struggled during the years of the Great Depression in San Francisco Chinatown, and he lacked the means, and perhaps the inclination, to pursue university education before enlisting in the US Coast Guard.

After her passing, Dad contemplated discarding all of my mother's carefully compiled sets of photos about her side of the family, including the small snapshots with Kenny. His sentiments were understandable. Mother's album merely provided glimpses into a personal life in the East Bay in which Dad had played no part, separated by a ferry ride and later a new Bay Bridge. The probably discomfiting images, however, served a broader social history in addition to their sentimental narrative, ending on the eve of her encountering my father in San Francisco Chinatown's Powell Garage. Thus, my then-grieving father had dispassionately set aside her old photos for disposal. I reclaimed a portion of her captured memories from a grim jumble of items he had discarded for the dump.

I have never regretted thwarting that impulse.

[2024-5-11]

#Phyllis Soohoo #Kenny Kai-Kee

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haseenachoti76 · 3 months

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Exploring the Untamed Beauty of Bishop's Beach in Homer, Alaska

Nestled along the rugged coastline of Alaska's Kenai Peninsula lies Bishop's Beach, a hidden gem revered by locals and cherished by visitors seeking a true Alaskan experience. With its breathtaking vistas, diverse wildlife, and tranquil atmosphere, Bishop's Beach offers an unparalleled opportunity to connect with nature in its purest form.

Located in the charming town of Homer, known as the "Halibut Fishing Capital of the World," Bishop's Beach serves as a serene retreat amidst the stunning backdrop of snow-capped mountains and pristine waters. Accessible year-round, this coastal haven beckons adventurers, photographers, and nature enthusiasts alike to explore its wonders.

One of the most remarkable features of Bishop's Beach is its ever-changing landscape. From expansive stretches of sandy shoreline to rocky tidal pools teeming with marine life, each visit unveils a new spectacle waiting to be discovered. During low tide, visitors can wander along the beach, marveling at the intricate patterns left behind by the retreating waters and searching for treasures washed ashore.

Wildlife enthusiasts will delight in the abundance of creatures that call Bishop's Beach home. Keep an eye out for bald eagles soaring overhead, sea otters frolicking in the waves, and curious seals basking on the rocks. If you're lucky, you might even spot a pod of majestic orcas gliding through the depths or a majestic humpback whale breaching in the distance.

For those seeking adventure, Bishop's Beach offers ample opportunities for outdoor activities. Kayaking along the coastline provides a unique perspective of the rugged cliffs and hidden coves, while hiking trails meander through the surrounding wilderness, offering panoramic views of Kachemak Bay and the distant mountains beyond.

As evening falls, visitors can gather around a crackling bonfire on the beach, savoring the simple pleasure of roasting marshmallows under the vast Alaskan sky. Whether you're admiring the vibrant hues of a sunset painting the horizon or gazing in awe at the dance of the Northern Lights, Bishop's Beach offers moments of serenity and wonder that linger long after you've departed.

In addition to its natural beauty, Bishop's Beach holds cultural significance for the local community. Named after the revered Bishop Nikolai, an influential figure in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church in Alaska, the beach serves as a place of reflection and reverence for residents and visitors alike.

Beaches in Venice a visit to Bishop's Beach, it's essential to come prepared for Alaska's unpredictable weather. Dress in layers, pack waterproof gear, and be sure to check the tide charts to make the most of your adventure. Whether you're exploring tide pools teeming with life, watching the sunrise paint the mountains in golden hues, or simply breathing in the crisp, salty air, Bishop's Beach promises an unforgettable experience that celebrates the untamed beauty of Alaska's wilderness.

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formula1ficrecs · 2 years

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¡Revolución!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/35551006

Ship: Carlando

Author: hibivrooms ( @hibiscus-vroom on here)

Rated: E

Summary: 19-year-old Lando Norris, originally from the Kingdom of Anglosax, decides to pursue his undergraduate degree at the State University of Hiberia. There, he strikes up a relationship with a 25-year old Hiberian man, Carlos Sainz. Carlos is beautiful, kind, and deeply passionate about the Hiberian people and their struggles. Though Lando knows very little about he wants out of life, he knows one thing: he desperately wants Carlos.

But against the backdrop of an increasingly tumultuous political situation in Hiberia, will Lando be brave enough to open his heart to all of Carlos?

Notes: You know when you read a fic and it’s a reminder of the immense talent that fic writers have and that they just give us this stuff for free? This is one of those - spectacular political/college au (modern, which I hadn’t realized from the summary), super plotty, and delightfully smutty and romantic. This author is great at capturing that all-encompassing obsessive love when you find your person, and I’m also a sucker for Alex/George/Lando friendship which this has in abundance. I did fully tear up at times while reading so bring your waterproof mascara.

Wordcount: 84,643

Major Tags: political au, college au (kind of), violence against political dissidents (not explicit)

#carlando #Carlos Sainz Jr #lando norris #carlos sainz x lando norris #formula 1 fic rec #rated e

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bluemoonfantasiesiii · 1 year

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SumeruBedo Voice Lines

(Some of these are the same as his canon voice lines)

Hello

I am Dhaval, assistant to the Forest Watcher. You carry the aura of the stars, interesting... I would like to study you, if you do not mind. I'm certain we will have many opportunities to be alone in the future.

Chat: Still Life

What a view... How about a quick break so I can sketch this beautiful scenery?

Chat: Investigation

“The truth of this world"... *sigh* What could it be?

Chat: Reminiscing

Going out into the world and investigating, turning the "unknown" into the "known." ...Ahhh, I missed this feeling.

When It Rains

Thankfully I had the foresight to waterproof both the paper and the ink I use to take notes.

When Thunder Strikes

We should seek shelter. If I recall, there’s an adequate cave system nearby.

When It Snows

Master…

When the Sun is Out

Ample light... active biological organisms... Yes, this is a good place to sketch.

When it’s Windy

Let my quickly bind my notes so they don’t blow away.

In the Desert

I’ve crafted some pendants using the stamens of mist flowers to keep us cool during the day, and flaming flowers to keep us warm at night.

Good Morning

Good morning. Are we going to search for unusual flora today?

Good Afternoon

Good afternoon. I was just about to survey the surrounding area for any abnormalities that may need to be investigated. Care to join me?

Good Evening

The sunset bathes everything in a soft, pink glow. It makes a perfect backdrop for a painting.

Good Night

The crickets and frogs have begun their nightly serenade, and the fireflies are like tiny lanterns dancing over the water. The forest truly comes alive at night.

About Dhaval: Genius

Genius? ...A number of people call me that. But I don't think I'm any "genius."

About Dhaval: Socializing

Relationships are... quite troublesome. Once you establish a relation with someone, you must continue to maintain it; if you lose contact, you must reestablish the relation. This taxing cycle requires a lot of time...

About Us: Experiments

You... want to accompany me while I experiment? I'm honored.

My experiments are sometimes dangerous, but I will do my utmost to ensure your safety. I’ve already prepared for every possible contingency.

About Us: Perennial

Although I try to be prepared for everything, there’s no secret formula for bonding with someone. You are someone I can now proudly call a friend. It is now up to us to decide whether our friendship is a delicate rose or a perennial peony.

About the Vision

My Vision? Ah, that's nothing more than a tool to aid in my experiments, no different from a beaker or crucible. The one thing about it that really intrigues me is the principle behind how it works... One day, I will uncover its secrets, it's only a matter of time.

Something to Share

There's something I've always wanted to ask you, but feared rejection and disappointment...

Eh-hem... I am very interested in your little floating companion. May I borrow her to investigate for a short while?

Interesting Things

Most of the fauna in the Avidya Forest is edible with proper preparation. Even the large spiders that live near the roots of certain trees. If you tie one up in cape jasmine and lemongrass and sprinkle on some cardamom, smoke it for a few hours — you get a fragrant taste that's simply... unforgettable.

About Family

Family? when I think of the idea of "family," my old master comes to mind first. My earliest memories in life are of going on adventures with her. She taught me the art of alchemy and much knowledge about the world. However, the bonds that I’ve forged in the Avidya Forest with the likes of Collei and Master Tighnari feel much more meaningful to me now.

About Tighnari: Assistant

As Master Tighnari’s right hand, it’s my duty to make sure he stays on track with his patrols and meets deadlines with any paperwork that lands on his desk. I certainly wouldn’t describe him as lazy, but he does tend to get swept up in the lax atmosphere of the forest sometimes. I occasionally catch him napping in a tree.

About Tighnari: Aid

Have you ever heard the phrase “doctors make the worst patients?” Master Tighnari is the perfect example. Because of his medical expertise, convincing him to let somebody else treat him when he’s the one in need of care is like pulling teeth. He puts up a bit less of a fuss when I’m the one offering aid since we know each other so well, but even then it’s still a struggle.

About Collei

I arrived in the Avidya Forest shortly after her. I quickly got a feel for her boundaries, and stopped using words like “experiment” and “test subject” around her for a while. Her aversion to physical touch was never an issue, since I’m not a very touchy person myself, but I’m glad to see she’s more comfortable with certain people now.

I sometimes take over her literacy lessons as well. She’s been making significant progress. I’m proud of her.

About Cyno

He takes his duties as General Mahamtra very seriously, and many people find him intimidating because of that. But when he’s not in work mode, he actually makes for pleasant company. His sense of humor is unique, and I find his jokes entertaining.

About Nilou

I occasionally collaborate with Zubayr Theatre to help them work on set pieces and props. Despite being a performer, Nilou always watches me with an intense fascination, as she wants to be familiar with every aspect of the stage. She’s even asked me to teach her a few things. I find such dedication to her chosen field to be very admirable. She’s a joy to work with.

About Alhaitham

Having the ability to operate without being influenced by emotion doesn’t sound entirely healthy… Even for as deadpan as I can be, I still listen to my heart every now and then. I would love an opportunity to pick his brain and figure out how he does it.

About Kaveh

I admire his work as a fellow artist, but sometimes he can get a bit too caught up in his feelings. I suppose in that regard, he’s more of a stereotypical artist than I am.

About Lesser Lord Kusanali

While I wouldn’t consider myself a man of strong faith, I can truthfully say that I respect Lesser Lord Kusanali. I’ve always found boundless intellect and boundless humility to be a commendable combination.

About Lisa

I heard her name a few times while I was enrolled in the Spantamad Darshan. As much as I would like to talk about wasted potential, I suppose I ended up doing the same thing as her…

About Faruzan

She loves bringing me complex puzzles that she designs in an attempt to stump me. I don’t have the heart to tell her that her puzzles are children’s toys compared to the labyrinths I used to explore with my master…

More About Dhaval I

Have a question for me? Go ahead, ask. It doesn't take too long to ask a single question, does it? I'm about to begin the final stage of an experiment...

More About Dhaval II

Oh, by the way. Did you know that without human manipulation, you would need to harness the power of a sun eight times the size of our own in order to naturally create gold?

More About Dhaval III

What do I do besides sketching and research...? I will often go for casual strolls around the rainforest, just to take in the different species of flora and fauna. They never fail to provide me with unexpected inspirations for my own creations, no matter how many times I see them.

More About Dhaval IV

I was originally sent to the Akademiya to see what they knew of alchemy. It quickly became apparent that the Spantamad Darshan had nothing of value to offer me. My master’s teachings were much more extensive, and I found myself growing bored there.

More About Dhaval V

Even though “Dhaval” started as an alias to better fit in with the people of Sumeru, it feels… more right than the name my master gave me. More like myself. In fact, the rainforest feels more like home than anywhere I stayed with my master. I feel like I truly have a family in Avidya.

Dhaval’s Hobbies

Hmm... Besides research and contingency planning, the activity I spend most of my time on is probably sketching. At first I saw it simply as a way to better study the structure of living things and materials so as to aid me in my experiments, but it eventually became a hobby of mine. Indeed, it is a very good way to relax.

Dhaval’s Troubles

Although I try to have a plan for everything, there are some things one simply can’t be prepared for. I have yet to encounter a setback I couldn’t recover from, but it is still obnoxious…

Favorite Food

I really do enjoy having dessert. How can I put it...? When both physical and mental capacity are spent, high-energy materials further provide a kind of primordial, highly-effective boost.

Least Favorite Food

What food do I dislike? ...Large portions of meat at restaurants. I have a rather small appetite, so a meal like that only ends up in tragedy — either I overeat and the joy of the taste is lost, or I don't finish it and the food is wasted. I decided to simply not go to restaurants, although that has also meant I must spend more time preparing my own food...

Receiving a Gift I

If flavors were colors... this one would be gold.

Receiving a Gift II

You're willing to spend so much time on improving your cooking, and that's precisely how you're able to make it taste so good.

Receiving a Gift III

This is more than I can manage... maybe we could split it between us?

Birthday

Happy birthday. You look especially happy, would you mind if I sketched you? The capacity of our brains is limited, so we are bound to forget things. But when an image is transferred onto paper or canvas, the sketch becomes an extension of our memory. We can remember that past feeling when we later look at the sketch.

Feelings About Ascension: Intro

Nigredo is the first step in alchemy, drawing from primordial forms. As beings who live in this world, we must find our own meaning.

Feelings About Ascension: Building Up

Albedo is the step in which change begins. Clearing away the excess so we can take on all the knowledge that is available. Would you like to investigate this world with me?

Feelings About Ascension: Climax

Rubedo in alchemy refers to the refining of feeling. I feel the refining of my own emotions is also thanks to you.

Feelings About Ascension: Conclusion

Citrinitas is the final stage of the alchemical transmutation process. The meaning of the object being transmuted has finally been brought to light, becoming gold and revealing its true value... I too have found my own meaning.

Elemental Skill

Blossom.

Bloom!

Come into being.

Elemental Burst

Soil, heed my call!

Feel this ancient power.

Are you prepared?

Opening Treasure Chest

Let me quickly take inventory.

Who leaves things like this out in the wilderness…?

Quite the fortunate find.

Low HP

Time for Plan B.

I wasn’t prepared for this.

A new strategy’s required.

Ally at Low HP

I’ll take over from here.

This is too dangerous for you.

Fallen

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust…

The soil…is calling me…

Seems my research…is over…

Light Hit Taken

Still within my threshold.

Heavy Hit Taken

A miscalculation.

Joining Party

Ready to go.

Some in-the-field research?

Let’s investigate this further.

#moon writes shit #genshin impact #sumeru albedo au #albedo #voice lines

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builder051 · 1 year

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A happy (merry?) Starbucks Sunday to you!

I'll just go ahead and admit to this up front (forced health update):

I'm really not doing well. I've had multiple serious migraines that wipe me off my feet for several days at a time, which has contributed to a massive inability track time (like calendar dates, as well as moving through the day from morning to evening). I'm really slipping in my "life" management, like planning project time with a starting and stopping time, but being unable to work within those hours because I see something else (and the something else...) that needs fixing. DD and I plan to talk to psych about my ADHD meds. I hope I can come out of this very stressy state and get back to feeling calmer.

Anyway-- the short version is that I've been physically and mentally ill; I'm spread thin among many projects, and I'm still dedicated to write.

Today's plan:

-Work on finishing and posting a Chasing Ghosts seasonally appropriate story (that is actually about drug use and role reversal--the usual one needing help winds up to be the one giving the help)

-Put up an ask game (it's in my drafts, and I can have it posted in 1 second)- Always ready to send answers, as well as discuss anything you want to send my way--box is open

-Keep signing up for your holiday cards--no cost to you, just fill out the form, and I'll get one sent your way.

-Put up some photos at the end of the session--I've been working on a present for my oldest kid--refurbishing something like ~25 vintage Playmobil action figures and pieces of furniture, as well as performing a little carpentry and a little set decoration in order to make him a complete playset with all the characters and backdrops for him to put on his own tiny Nutcracker ballet. It's taken me months, a lot of niche E-Bay search terms, and so much paint and glitter and waterproof caulk and extra gloss mod podge... I photographed a few random scenes of the characters on the little play stage, and I really want to show you. :)

#starbucks sunday

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sebstanaddict · 2 years

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The Distance

Chapter 7 - A New Home

Summary : A space adventure where we follow Bucky Barnes around the universe as he struggles to reclaim the love of his life amidst the backdrop of war between humans and the Kree race.

Yon-Rogg and Adriana embarked on a journey to restart their lives together, but an encounter with an alien race threatened to ruin their plan. Will they succeed to restart their life or will they surrender to the alien race's wills? Meanwhile, Bucky and his team went to a morally questionable planet to track Kang The Conqueror. Will they succeed in finding him? Or will their efforts proved to be futile?

Pairings : Bucky Barnes x Adriana Weaver (OC)

Chapters: 7 / 20 (might add more as I write)

Chapter List >

Warning : violence, grief, angst

Word count : 9k

This is a sequel to my first Bucky fic, New Beginning. Check it out here.

Torfa, Outskirts of Greater Magellanic Cloud - July 2024

Adriana stood frozen inside Yon-Rogg's ship as he slowly put the waterproof suit onto her. He was just kneeling down and helping to put her feet inside the suit and stood back up to help zip the front part of it close. He was so close that she could smell his scent and it made her heart beat faster. Yon-Rogg's eyes flicked up to hers as he pulled the zipper up, avoiding to look at her chest. The gesture warmed her heart somehow. She knew then that Yon-Rogg could be trusted. After all, he did say he had feelings for her and that he risked his life by not following Supreme Intelligence's orders to kill her. So he must have loved her so much. She wished she knew if she had feelings for him too. It would make everything easier. But she tried to search within her heart and mind whether she had feelings for him and she came up blank. She didn't even remember him except from when he shielded her in the ship from incoming missile.

"There. You're all set." Yon-Rogg said as he put on a helmet on Adriana's head.

"Push this to close the front part. You should still be able to breathe underwater. The helmet releases oxygen from the suit." Yon-Rogg said, lifting her hand up and directed it to the side of the helmet where there are buttons.

"Okay. Thanks." Adriana nodded, pulling her hand off from his. His touch on her made her feel somewhat uncomfortable. She could see a slight disappointment in Yon-Rogg's eyes as she pulled her hand from his, but he got over it quickly and he proceeded to put a waterproof suit on himself.

Yon-Rogg had explained to Adriana earlier that since the ship had tracking device on it, Supreme Intelligence must have known where they were. He must have presumed that Yon-Rogg brought her here to kill her. So in order to make Supreme Intelligence lose track of them, he was planning on faking an accident where it would seem he and Adriana had died on the accident, leaving them free to start over their lives away from Supreme Intelligence.

"Alright, take a seat Una. We're taking off shortly." Yon-Rogg said after putting his suit on. He went to sit on the cockpit, buckled himself up and started pushing some buttons.

Adriana took a seat behind him and put her seat belt on. Yon-Rogg pushed some more buttons and soon the ship started to take off. He steered it away from the mountain they were on while looking down on the surface of the planet, trying to find a spot where they could get off the ship. After a while he spotted green forest up ahead, right as they were passing a large body of water. Beyond the forest he could see some more mountains.

"Una. I think this is it." Yon-Rogg said, turning to look at Adriana and she nodded.

She took her seatbelt off and stood up. Yon-Rogg pushed some buttons and turned on the autopilot. He then unbuckled himself and stood up. He walked towards the door of the ship and pushed a button. Soon, the door of the ship was opened. Adriana looked down and saw nothing but water. The ship flew slowly over it towards the green forest.

"Ready?" Yon-Rogg asked, turning to look at her. She pushed the button by her helmet and the front part of her helmet was closed. She nodded and Yon-Rogg closed his helmet.

"On three." He said and took her hand. Adriana nodded.

"One.. two.. three.."

Adriana jumped and Yon-Rogg jumped next to her. She released her hand from his as they got nearer the water, stretching both hands in front of her as she prepared to dive head first into the water.

As her body hit the water, the cold shocked her. But she didn't stop as she continued to dive deeper into the water. She could see Yon-Rogg in front of her, his hand beckoning for her to follow him. They swam closer to the forest and finally went up to the surface once they could see the bottom of the water sloped upwards towards land.

Just as they arrived at the surface they saw Yon-Rogg's ship flying over the forest and headed straight towards the mountain. When they arrived on shore, the ship hit the mountain, making a loud crashing sound then exploded. The vibrations from the impact traveled to where they were, shaking the ground underneath them. Birds flew out from the forest, surprised by the impact. They could hear in the distance a loud growling sound. It seemed they had disturbed the peacefulness of the forest and woken up creatures in it.

Adriana pushed the button by her helmet and took it off, panting slightly. Yon-Rogg took his helmet off too and put it down on the sand.

"Are you alright?" Yon-Rogg asked, turning to look at her.

"Yeah, I'm alright. I hope whatever made that sound won't attack us." she said while putting her helmet down on the sand.

"It seems to be far away. I think we're safe for now." Yon-Rogg smiled and he extended his hand to her. Just then something streaked fast in front of them and landed on the sand near them. An arrow was stuck on the sand. Adriana and Yon-Rogg raised their hands as they turned to look at whoever had shot that arrow.

Adriana's eyes widened as she saw five creatures came out of the forest, brandishing weapons at them. The creatures were human-like but with horns coming out from the sides of their foreheads. Two of them pointed arrows that glowed blue at them while the other two pointed spears at them, the point of the spears also glowed blue. The other one, who seemed to be their leader stood holding a sword up. The sword also had blue light surrounding it.

"Get down on your knees! Now!" the leader of the horned creatures yelled at them.

Adriana slowly knelt down, still raising her hands up. Yon-Rogg knelt down too next to her.

The five horned creatures walked closer to them, staring at them cautiously. Adriana's heart was racing fast in her chest as the creatures surrounded them. She wondered if these creatures were going to hurt them or not. She looked up at one of them and saw the one closest to her, which was holding a spear, looked at her as if she was a meal on a plate. She knew that look and it disgusted her. She didn't know how she remembered but she suddenly pulled the creature's spear close to her and took it off him successfully, surprising the creature. She stood up and quickly twirled the spear around, hitting the creatures one by one on their heads and chests, making them all fall to the ground unconscious. Her fast movements caught them by surprise.

"How did you do that?" Yon-Rogg asked, standing up in awe.

"I.. I don't know.." Adriana said, dumbfounded as she stared at the spear in her hand.

Yon-Rogg grabbed the sword from one of the creatures then took her hand and guided her to run with him into the forest. They were running into the forest when they suddenly felt the ground shook beneath their feet and growling sounds came from in front of them. Small animals scurried in front of them, running on the opposite direction. They stopped as they saw the small animals. Then they quickly turned around and ran back following the animals when they saw a large sabre tooth tiger-like creature but with five eyes appeared in front of them. The creature growled and ran fast towards them. Adriana ran as fast as she could but the creature was also fast. After a while they finally managed to make it onto the edge of the forest. Just as the creature caught up to them, something streaked past their heads and struck the creature on its body. The horned human-like creatures were all awake and two of them were shooting arrows at the saber tooth tiger. None of the arrows successfully hit it, they all bounced on the creature's thick skin and fell to the ground. But the arrows distracted the creature enough so that Adriana and Yon-Rogg could run to the side, away from it.

The creature now set its eyes on the five horned human-like creatures. It growled and ran towards them, toppling three of them to the ground. It continued chasing one of them whose sword Yon-Rogg had taken earlier. It was about to devour the horned creature when Adriana suddenly ran fast towards the creature and jumped up high, landing on top of the creature's neck, stopping the creature in its tracks. She quickly stuck the spear in her hand on the creature's soft exposed neck. The creature choked as Adriana continued to push the spear deeper into the creature's neck. Adriana held on to her spear as the creature brandished around, howling in pain. After a while it finally stopped moving and fell down to the ground in a thud, lifeless.

Adriana pulled the spear off from the creature's neck and jumped down. The horned creature approached her, raising his hands up as he saw Adriana pointing the spear at him.

"Thank you. For saving my life." The creature said, bowing his head in respect.

"You're welcome." Adriana said still holding the spear tight in her hands.

The other four horned creatures stood next to their leader, pointing their arrows and spear at her. Yon-Rogg stood next to Adriana, raising his sword, ready to attack.

For several moments neither party made a move. They stared at each other, seizing each other up. Finally, the leader of the horned creatures extended his hands and lowered the arrows and spears the other creatures were holding.

"I think.. a truce is in order. You have saved my life after all. And it's clear you can kill us all without batting an eye." He said, winking at Adriana.

"That's true." Adriana said, pride filled her voice. She didn't know she had deadly skills like that. Wherever she came from, she must have received immense training so she could have powerful skills.

Adriana lowered the spear in her hand and Yon-Rogg followed suit, lowering the sword in his hand.

"Could you return that to me please? That sword belong to my great grandfather. He wouldn't be pleased with me if I lose it." The horned creature said, extending his hand towards Yon-Rogg.

"I'm sorry. But until we get clear confirmation that you won't hurt us the minute we give you your weapons back, I prefer holding onto it, thank you." Yon-Rogg said, shaking his head.

The creature tilted his head to the side and studied Yon-Rogg. His eyes suddenly widened.

"A Kree! You're a Kree!" He yelled. Anger suddenly filled his eyes. The four other horned creatures raised their weapons back at them again.

"What if we are?!" Adriana asked, confusion filled her voice.

"Clearly you're not a Kree if you don't understand that our races are mortal enemies!" The horned creature answered in disbelief.

"Wait a minute. You're Argens?" Yon-Rogg asked, his eyes widened in surprise.

"Yes we are!" The creature confirmed with pride.

"I thought you were all extinct already." Yon-Rogg snickered.

"We're more resilient than you think!" The creature scoffed.

"Now, hand me back my sword you filthy Kree!" He yelled.

He grabbed a spear from one of his comrades and attacked Yon-Rogg with it. Yon-Rogg raised the sword in his hands to block him and they started duelling. Somehow Yon-Rogg got the upper hand and he managed to get away. The creature ran to chase him, pointing the spear in his hand at him.

"Get back here you filthy Kree!" The creature shouted.

"Should we help him?" One of the creature holding an arrow asked.

"No, if we help him that female Kree might attack us. Besides, he's tough. I'm sure he can get that sword back." The other creature whose spear was taken by Adriana said, looking at Adriana in apprehension.

Adriana smiled as she heard what the creature had said. She was glad that they feared and respected her.

"Guys! A little help here!" The leader of the creatures who was duelling with Yon-Rogg shouted as they fought past them. He was still fighting Yon-Rogg who was fiercely swinging the sword. The clang of the sword and spear rang in Adriana's ears, making her flinch.

"Are you going to attack us if we help him?" One of the creature asked Adriana.

Adriana sighed. "No, I'll help."

"Stop! stop!" She yelled as she ran towards Yon-Rogg and put herself between him and the leader of the creature. Both Yon-Rogg and the leader of the creatures froze in their tracks, still raising their weapons.

"Stop! Yon-Rogg, give him back his sword." Adriana ordered, extending her arms to prevent them from attacking each other.

"What?! And lose the only thing that can help me defend myself?" Yon-Rogg asked in disbelief.

"They won't hurt us. Right?" Adriana asked the leader of the creature.

"No, we won't hurt you but we might kill the Kree." He answered and Yon-Rogg raised the sword in his hand again.

"But I'm a Kree too! Why would you kill him and not me?!" Adriana asked incredulously.

"Oh.. you're a Kree too?" The creature asked, disbelief filled his eyes.

"Yes!" Adriana said, exasperated.

"Well, I owe you my life so I won't kill you." He said.

"If you kill him, I will kill all of you! You understand?" Adriana raised her voice, threatening him.

The creature studied her and Yon-Rogg then he finally nodded. He dropped the spear in his hand then raised both his hands in surrender.

"Now Yon-Rogg, return the sword to him." Adriana ordered.

Yon-Rogg reluctantly gave the creature his sword back. The creature accepted it and put it back in its sheath on his waist.

"Okay, good. Now that we have come to an understanding, maybe we can introduce each other in a more civil way." Adriana said.

"And I'll start. My name is Una-Ver and this is Yon-Rogg. And we're not here to hurt anyone." She continued.

"I'm Halvos Madirna. Leader of the Argens on this planet." The creature said.

"And these are my fellow comrades, Agnus, Cellith, Hordu and Cartho." Halvos said, extending his hand to his comrades and they nodded at them.

"Well, it's nice to meet you all." Adriana said, nodding her head.

"Now, what brings you here?" Halvos asked.

"We.. umm.." Adriana glanced at Yon-Rogg, not sure what to say.

"We were on a mission. But our ship malfunctioned and we had to get off it to save ourselves." Yon-Rogg explained.

"I see. What kind of mission? What does the Kree want from Torfa?" Halvos asked.

"It's confidential. We can't share that. But.. we assure you that it has nothing to do with you or the other inhabitants of this planet. We were merely looking for a deserted planet to do the mission. We didn't know Torfa is now inhabited." Yon-Rogg replied.

"Hmm.. very well. I will accept that explanation for now. But if I find out in the future that you are intending to hurt us or other inhabitants of this planet, then I will not hesitate to kill you." Halvos warned.

"Fair enough." Yon-Rogg nodded.

"Now come. It's unsafe to stay out here too long. The explosion from your ship must have bothered the Pentatigras. We don't want to stay out here where we could easily cross their paths." Halvos said, referring to the five eyed giant sabertooth tiger.

"Oh.. so there are more of them?" Adriana asked as they started walking away from the shore.

"Yes, there are many of them. They live in a cave on the mountain your ship just hit. So I'm sure more of them will come down soon to try to find whoever is responsible." Halvos said.

"Oh no." Adriana said, shaking her head. One of the Pentatigras was enough to wreak havoc. She couldn't imagine facing more of them.

-----

Adriana and Yon-Rogg followed the Argens, walking at the edge of the forest along the beach. She wondered why they didn't go into the forest. She had suspected the Argens to live in the forest where there must be a lot of animals and vegetations to be their source of food. Not to mention there could be spring water in there. But they continued on their journey until the forest became barren land and there were only rocks and sand.

After a while she could see giant stone structures in front of her. They stood in rows, towering over them. There must be at least twenty of them. The structures were dirty white in color with streaks of red on them. Probably from the constant exposure of the toxic fog around them. She thought.

The Argens continued walking and suddenly stopped in front of one of the stone structures. Halvos touched the stone structure on multiple spots. The spots where he touched turned blue. Slowly the blue light on the spots moved to combine together into a rectangle. It slowly widened and formed a large rectangular shape. The stone inside of the rectangle moved aside slowly, revealing a dark passage inside.

"Please, come in." Halvos said, beckoning for them to come inside.

"No, you go on first, we'll follow." Yon-Rogg said.

"Don't worry. This is the entrance to where we live. Agnus, show them. Go on in." Halvos said, clapping Agnus' shoulder and pushed him in.

"Hey! No need to push me, Halvos!" Agnus complained but he continued walking into the entrance anyway.

Agnus was holding a spear. Once he was inside, the spear gave the dark entrance some light so that they could see the insides better. Adriana squinted her eyes and she could make out stone walls inside.

One by one the Argens walked into the entrance, leaving Halvos, Adriana and Yon-Rogg outside of it. Adriana entered first, followed by Yon-Rogg then Halvos. Then the entrance closed itself once Halvos was in.

Once inside, it took a while for Adriana to adjust to the darkness. But the blue light coming from the Argens' weapons helped her see. They were inside what seemed to be a circular chamber. The walls surrounding them glowed blue all of a sudden and Adriana could see some strange shapes on one of the walls, like ancient runes. Halvos touched one of the shape on the wall then the chamber they were in suddenly moved downwards. Adriana almost lost her balance when the chamber started moving but Yon-Rogg caught her and held her in place.

"Thanks." Adriana said, blushing a little as she looked up at Yon-Rogg. He just looked down at her and smiled shyly. He continued to hold her until the chamber stopped moving.

One side of the chamber suddenly opened, revealing a massive area underground. Adriana's eyes widened as she stepped outside of the chamber. On the ceiling in the middle of the chamber she could see a bright light like a mini sun. Underneath it was a small city where the Argens lived. The buildings and structures were all made from black stone with mostly round shaped architectures. Almost all of the stones were imbued with the blue light she had seen in the chamber they just got out of. People.. well.. Argens could be seen walking around. They all had horns on the sides of their foreheads. Even the small Argen children had them. Their clothes reminded Adriana like clothes from the medieval era. The female Argens wore long dresses and frocks, covered with cloaks while the male Argens wore leather pants and tunics covered with cloaks.

"Welcome to Lyra, our capital city." Halvos said, sweeping his hand in front of him. Showing off the city to Yon-Rogg and Adriana.

"Wow! This is amazing!" Adriana exclaimed as she continued to gaze around the city, drinking in the environment.

"Come. Let me take you to meet The Elders." Halvos said.

"The Elders?" Yon-Rogg asked.

"Yes. I may be the leader of the Argens but The Elders are whom I ask for advice in almost any situation." He explained.

"Oh, alright." Yon-Rogg nodded.

Halvos continued to walk, guiding them further into the city. As they walked some Argens noticed them and some stared at them as if they were a weird animal. Adriana smiled at them, trying to show them that she was not to be scared of. Some of the Argens smiled back at her yet some avoided her gaze.

They continued walking on the cobbled street and after passing what seemed to be the market in the city, they arrived at the city center. A large three story building stood in front of them. Glowing ancient runes-like shapes adorned the top of the entrance of the building. Adriana figured they were writings in Argen language. The walls of the building were made from black stone. Streaks of blue glowed on the walls. It seemed vibranium was imbued all over the city.

"Welcome to the city hall." Halvos said as the door to the building opened automatically in front of them.

A large hall welcomed them where they could see some Argens wearing brown colored uniform walking around. Halvos continued to walk further into the building and guided them into a circular room about three hundred square feet wide at the end of the hall.

"Please wait here while I talk to The Elders first." Halvos said.

Adriana and Yon-Rogg nodded. Soon all the Argens left them in the room. They seemed to be in a waiting room of some sort. Chairs where placed around the room leaving the middle empty. There was what seemed to be a water dispenser at one side of the room with glasses provided on the table next to it.

"I'm thirsty. Do you think it's okay if we drink that?" Adriana asked, pointing at the water dispenser.

"Well, if I were you, I wouldn't feel safe. I'd wait until one of them drink it first to make sure they're not poisoned." Yon-Rogg said as he sat on one of the chairs.

"You're so negative, Yon-Rogg." Adriana shook her head.

"I'm just being cautious." Yon-Rogg said.

"Well, I'm thirsty. I'm gonna try it." Adriana shrugged then walked to the water dispenser.

"Una.. don't you dare drink that." Yon-Rogg warned her.

"But I'm thirsty Yon-Rogg." She protested as she grabbed a glass and pushed a button on the dispenser. Soon water poured out of it into the glass. Yon-Rogg stood up and quickly walked over to her and grabbed the glass from her hand. He then took a sip of the water and swallowed it.

"Hey! You could get one on your own you know." Adriana protested.

"But I wanted to test it first before you.. " suddenly Yon-Rogg choked and started coughing violently.

"Yon-Rogg! Are you okay?!" Adriana exclaimed in panic as she held Yon-Rogg's shoulder and took the glass off his hand.

Yon-Rogg stopped coughing and smiled suddenly. Then he started laughing loudly.

"Ugh.. you were faking it?!" Adriana slapped his back angrily.

"Sorry. I had to. You wouldn't listen to me so I thought I'd give you a lesson." Yon-Rogg shrugged.

"What if it was really poisoned? You would've been hurt!" Adriana stated.

"Well.. Better me than you." Yon-Rogg winked, leaving her speechless.

"I told you I have feelings for you Una. I'm not going to let anything hurt you." Yon-Rogg said, raising his hand up and stroked her cheek gently with his thumb, making her heart beat faster.

Adriana felt strange. She felt like someone else had done the same thing to her. But that someone wasn't Yon-Rogg. There was someone else. But she couldn't remember who it was. She just remembered the same gentle touch stroking her cheek.

Suddenly the door to the room was opened and Halvos came in. Yon-Rogg dropped his hand from her cheek and turned around to face him.

"Oh, I'm sorry if I didn't offer you drinks before. What a bad host I am. But I guess you found some drinks yourself." Halvos said.

"It's okay Halvos." Adriana smiled as she put the glass she was still holding on a table next to the water dispenser.

"Come, The Elders are ready to meet you." Halvos said.

-----

The Elders Chamber, Lyra City Hall, Lyra, Torfa - July 2024

Halvos brought them outside of the room and took them to enter another room on the other side of the building. He stopped in front of a huge double doors.

"This is The Elders Chamber, where The Elders accept guests. They are.. shall we say.. a little ancient. So, please speak loudly in front of them. Their hearing aren't really good." Halvos said. Adriana and Yon-Rogg nodded.

Halvos then opened the door. Behind the door they found a huge circular room. A raised platform could be seen right across from them where three old Argens sat behind a long desk. Two male Argens and one female Argen stared at them as they walked in. In front of The Elders were rows and rows of chairs where The Elders' guests could sit.

Halvos guided them to stand in front of The Elders and started speaking.

"Your Excellency Zando Egarna, Your Excellency Havnal Erramda, and Your Excellency Renara Assigno. These are the Kree I have mentioned previously. The male Kree is Yon-Rogg and the female is Una-Ver." Halvos said, bowing his head in respect.

"Thank you, Halvos. You may sit down." One of the male Elder Argen said.

He looked down on them from behind his thick glasses, his gaze passed Adriana but lingered on Yon-Rogg and he seemed to scowl.

"Now, Kree, could you please state the reason on why you are on Torfa?" The Elder asked.

"Your Excellency. We were on a classified mission sent by The Supreme Intelligence, the Kree leader from Hala. Our ship malfunctioned as we tried to get back to Hala so we were forced to get off it. We ended up on the shores near the forest where we met Halvos and one of the Pentatigras." Yon-Rogg said.

"Yes.. yes. Halvos told us you saved his life." The female Elder, Renara said.

"Yes, Una-Ver killed the Pentatigra who was about to devour Halvos." Yon-Rogg nodded.

"Yes. We cannot thank you enough for saving his life. That is why we allow you to speak with us. Otherwise, we would have you killed once we knew you were a Kree." The other male Elder said.

"Why?" Adriana asked. She had been curious on why The Argens and The Kree were mortal enemies.

"Why?!" The male Elder asked, raising his voice in disbelief.

"Child.. don't you know the history of the war between our races? The war that destroyed our homeworld and forced us to flee across the universe?!" He asked, dumbfounded at Adriana's lack of knowledge.

"Forgive her, Your Excellency. Una-Ver is suffering from memory loss. She doesn't remember anything beyond yesterday." Yon-Rogg bowed apologetically.

"Memory loss? Interesting." Renara said, looking at Adriana.

"Yes.. I'm sorry Your Excellency. I don't remember anything happening in my past. Or anything about myself." She said, looking down dejectedly.

"Well, it will do you good if you know about the war. You can tell her about it I'm sure." One of the male Elder said to Yon-Rogg.

"Yes, Your Excellency, I will tell her the story of the war between our races." Yon-Rogg nodded.

"Very well. Now, what is your plan?" The male Elder asked.

"We.. well, our ship is destroyed so we don't have a means of transport. We cannot go back to Hala.. nor we want to. Because the mission failed, we don't dare to go back to Hala. Supreme Intelligence threatened to kill us should we fail the mission. We were planning on hiding out here, hoping that Supreme Intelligence won't find us here. So we would like to ask for your permission to stay here." Yon-Rogg said.

The Elders seemed to be surprised. They looked at each other and then conferred among themselves in a language Adriana didn't understand. They beckoned for Halvos to come near them and after some time Halvos returned to his seat.

"Could you tell us the mission? We will let you stay if you tell us the mission." Renara said.

Yon-Rogg glanced at Adriana, and Adriana nodded slowly.

"I was tasked to kill Una-Ver. Supreme Intelligence thinks she's a mole for the people of earth. So he wants her dead. But.. I.. I couldn't kill her. She was a member of the special elite taskforce I once led. I just couldn't kill my own comrade." Yon-Rogg said.

"So you decided to betray Supreme Intelligence?" Renara asked.

"Yes. He threatened to have me killed if I failed on killing her. But I.. I'd rather die myself than having to kill her." Yon-Rogg said, glancing at Adriana and smiled at her. She blushed as he looked at her and returned his smile with a shy smile.

"Well.. in that case. I think we can give permission for you to stay here. As long as you promise not to hurt our people." Renara said.

"Of course Your Excellency. We wouldn't dream of hurting your people. The war between our races were in the past. And I have no more grudges against your people." Yon-Rogg said.

"Well, that is easy for you to say seeing how your race won the war." one of the male Elder said in disgust.

"Forgive me Your Excellency, I did not mean to come off that way." Yon-Rogg bowed his head in apology.

"Well, the past is the past. Let's not focus on that. For now let's look into a brighter future ahead. With you staying with us, one day our races may just form a beneficial alliance." Renara said.

"Yes, Your Excellency." Yon-Rogg nodded.

"Alright, now that we have decided. Halvos, you can take them to one of the empty houses for the refugees at the border. We hope you'll find staying with us enjoyable." Renara said, smiling at them.

"Thank you very much Your Excellency." Yon-Rogg put his hand on his chest in respect and bowed his head. Adriana bowed her head too. They then turned around and went out of the room. Glad the meeting went well and that they had a new place to call their home.

-----

Border of Lyra, Lyra, Torfa - July 2024

Halvos took them to the border of the city, where small houses that the Argens had set up for refugees stood. Torfa was not just inhabited by The Argens. But it was also home to several other alien races whose homeworld had been destroyed, whether by natural causes or brought on by wars.

A long time ago the original population of Torfa was wiped out by an unknown plague. It was an empty planet for many years until the Galactic Council decided to use it as a place for alien races whose homeworld were destroyed. There were at least five alien races living there at one point. After some time they found out that Torfa had vibranium, so they mined it. Unfortunately, the mining method used released toxic material onto the air and water. And soon, almost all of the population became sick from the toxic material. The mining operation was stopped and the mine was destroyed. But too many of the population had become too sick to survive. Those who still could, left the planet, leaving it empty for the second time.

After many years, The Argens, having lost the war with The Kree and had their homeworld destroyed, went to Torfa and turned its underground to be habitable for them. They managed to use a different mining technology to mine vibranium, which didn't release toxic material into the air and water. They used it to power their underground houses and buildings and as a source of light for them. They created filters to filter the water and air so the water and air that entered their underground city had been purified from toxic materials.

After they were successful in turning Torfa into a habitable planet, some other alien races who also had lost their homeworld heard of their success and decided to also inhabit it. So now there were three alien races living there, the Argens, the Sentimault and the Nowlanians.

The Nowlanians were a humanoid green skinned race and had very short life span compared to others. They lived to only about twenty years old. While the Sentimault were a race who lived in robotic bodies. They required exoskeletons to survive anywhere outside of their homeworld and they needed bio-manufacturing to produce the exoskeletons.

As Adriana and Yon-Rogg entered the refugee area, they saw some of the Nowlanians and Sentimaults walking around. They stared as Adriana and Yon-Rogg passed. One of the Nowlanians, who looked like a fifteen year old green skinned and red haired boy, smiled at Adriana as she passed. She smiled back at him and the Nowlanian waved at her in delight. She waved back and continued walking.

Finally they arrived at a small empty house. The structure of the house was round, like three quarters of a ball. The walls were black with streaks of blue from the vibranium.

Halvos pressed a button at the door of the house. The door glowed blue and slid open, revealing a surprisingly light and bright interior. Apparently there were many lamps installed at the ceiling. And despite the walls being black, the mostly white furniture in the house helped brighten it.

Halvos allowed Adriana and Yon-Rogg to enter the house first. The house was about six hundred square feet in size. It had a sitting room at the front which had a leather sofa and coffee table. Behind the sofa was a small kitchen and a dining table. On the left of the sitting room were two bedrooms opposite from each other and a bathroom located between them. The bedrooms were already furnished with beds, wardrobes as well as dressing tables. Adriana's eyes widened as she studied the furnitures in the house. They all reminded her somehow of a place she once called home.

"Well, welcome to your new home." Halvos smiled at them.

"This is amazing! Thank you so much Halvos!" Adriana said as she walked closer to him then hugged him, surprising him.

"Oh! Yes.. well. You're welcome." Halvos said, releasing himself from her hug. He seemed to be blushing a little, Adriana noted, making her smiled in amusement. She glanced at Yon-Rogg and found him giving Halvos a death stare.

"This house is weird." Yon-Rogg said coldly.

"What are you talking about Yon-Rogg?" Adriana asked, her eyebrows furrowed.

"I mean. The furnitures seemed to be secondhand. Did someone else use to live here?" He asked.

"As a matter of fact, yes. An elderly Nowlanian couple used to live here. They died about a week ago. They didn't have children so this house had been empty since they died." Halvos said.

"Oh I see." Adriana nodded.

"I don't feel comfortable living here." Yon-Rogg said. Adriana elbowed him on the ribs, making him yelped in pain.

"Don't be rude Yon-Rogg! Halvos, we would love to stay here. Thank you very much!" Adriana said, smiling wide at him.

"You're welcome, Una. Alright, I'll leave you to settle down. If you need clothing and such, I think the Nowlanian couple left some clothing in the wardrobes. I will have someone to drop off some food and drinks for you later today. But after that you will need to work and earn a living to put food on the table like everyone else." Halvos said.

"Oh of course, Halvos. We'll definitely look for a job starting tomorrow." Adriana said.

"Alright. Bye now. Hope you'll enjoy yourselves here." Halvos smiled and then left the house, leaving Adriana and Yon-Rogg to stand in the middle of the living room awkwardly.

"So.." Adriana said, turning to Yon-Rogg.

"So.." Yon-Rogg said, smiling at her.

Adriana reached out and held his hands in hers and guided him to sit on the sofa.

"Yon-Rogg, thank you for sparing my life. I.. I don't know if I ever will be able to repay you. I wish.. I wish I had the same feelings for you as you have for me. But.. honestly I don't feel that way about you. At least, not now. I mean.. I barely remember you Yon-Rogg." Adriana said, squeezing his hands.

"Una, it's okay. I understand." Yon-Rogg smiled gently at her, squeezing her hands back.

"Thank you Yon-Rogg. I do hope someday I can return the feeling back to you. But for now.. let's start off as friends. Shall we?" Adriana said, looking up at Yon-Rogg, hoping he would understand.

"Of course, Una. Anything to make you happy." He smiled, and her heart skipped a beat.

Maybe she could love him back. Adriana thought. He was so kind and nice to her and he spared her life. Surely someone like that deserved her love.

She looked at his yellow eyes and tried to find comfort in there but she couldn't. A feeling deep down inside her told her that this was wrong. Someone else was out there, and that someone loved her even more than Yon-Rogg did. But she couldn't remember who it was. She could only remember the warmth in her heart of being loved so much, so fully that she felt at home with the person. But the person was not Yon-Rogg. Well, whoever that person was, he was not here with her. Yon-Rogg was. And she should try to get used to living with him. After all, she had no other choice.

-----

Border of Lyra, Lyra, Torfa - January 2025

"Una! Una! Where are you?!" Yon-Rogg yelled inside the house. He finally did it and he couldn't wait to show her.

"What is it Yon-Rogg?" Adriana asked, coming out of the bathroom.

"Oh.. there you are! Come! You have to see this. I finally did it!" Yon-Rogg said excitedly.

"Did what Yon-Rogg?" Adriana asked, dumbfounded.

"Just.. come! Come on!" Yon-Rogg grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the house.

They ran on the cobbled street of Lyra, heading towards the exit to the surface. Once they got on the surface Yon-Rogg dragged her to run on the sand towards a cave near the tall stone structures. There in the cave was a small red ship. Yon-Rogg found the ship several months ago when he was doing his daily patrolling of the planet. Yes, with his military background he was hired by the Argens to be part of the security team. He patrolled the planet daily, sometimes in the morning until afternoon, sometimes the other way around. He was feeling bored to death of his job when he found the broken ship stranded at an area of the planet he barely set foot on. Whoever left the ship seemed to have left the planet because he couldn't find anything or anyone around the ship. With help from the other security members, he moved the ship into a cave not far from the entrance to Lyra. He had been spending some time trying to fix it and get it turned on again.

Yon-Rogg continued to drag Adriana into the ship. He then sat her on the co-pilot's seat while he sat on the pilot's seat. He then pushed some buttons and the ship came to live.

"Oh my God! You did it Yon-Rogg! You fixed the ship!" Adriana exclaimed happily, giving Yon-Rogg a hug.

"That's not all. Buckle your seatbelt, Una. We're going on a ride." Yon-Rogg winked at her.

Adriana put her seatbelt on and sat back, studying Yon-Rogg while he pushed some more buttons and finally pulled a lever on the middle of the cockpit slowly towards him. The ship hovered slowly then Yon-Rogg pulled the lever down fully and the ship took off to the sky.

"Woohoo! Oh my God! This is amazing!" Adriana shouted gleefully.

She looked outside the window as the ship passed the forest then the large body of water. It then continued to fly towards a mountain far in the distance.

"Yon-Rogg.. where are we going?" Adriana asked, turning to look at him in confusion.

"I'm taking you to somewhere beautiful." He winked and she blushed, making his heart skipped a beat.

After a while they finally arrived at a mountain. Yon-Rogg parked the ship in the front of a cave on the mountain and guided her to walk outside.

He guided her to sit at the edge of a cliff facing the beautiful view of Torfa. It was time for sunset, the sky was starting to turn dark but Adriana could see glimmers of orange colored the horizon.

"It's beautiful." She smiled, drinking in the gorgeous view in front of her.

"It is." Yon-Rogg smiled then turned to look at her, squeezing her hand.

"But you're more beautiful, Una." He said in a low voice, making her blush.

"Una. I.. I know I've told you this before. But, I need to tell you again. Being with you for the past six months is like a dream come true for me. Even though you don't love me back but I'm grateful that you allowed me to be friends with you. However, I can't help but wish we were more... I.. I love you, Una. I've always loved you." Yon-Rogg said, cupping his hands on the sides of her face, gazing at her with love and adoration.

She gazed back at him, her eyebrows furrowed as she searched his eyes. After a while her eyes cleared and she gazed at him back with love in her eyes.

"I love you too, Yon-Rogg. I've fallen in love with you for a couple of months now." She smiled shyly at him.

Yon-Rogg couldn't believe his ears! She was in love with him! Just as he had been in love with her for so long! With his heartbeat racing in his chest, he leaned close to her. He glanced at her perfectly kissable lips and finally closed the gap between them, capturing her lips with his. His heart seemed to explode with love and happiness as he finally kissed her. Kissing her was even better than he imagined. His hands went down to her waist and he pulled her closer to him as she put her hands around his neck.

Yon-Rogg never felt as happy as he was that day. He made a promise in his heart that he would always love her and be by her side. She was the love of his life and he would never let her go.

-----

Border of Lyra, Lyra, Torfa - March 2025

Adriana opened her eyes and found Yon-Rogg's piercing yellow eyes staring back at her with love and adoration.

"Good morning, my love." Yon-Rogg smiled as he stroked her cheek gently with his thumb.

"Good morning, Yon-Rogg honey." She smiled back, putting the palm of her hand on his cheek gently. She leaned in closer and kissed him, making him smile.

"How are you feeling today?" He asked.

"I feel great!" She smiled, remembering the fierce love making they did the night before and blushed as she remembered it.

"Good..Because...I have something to tell you. Well.. ask you.. actually." He said as he sat up from the bed and pulled her up with him.

"Yon-Rogg.. what are you doing?" She asked, her hand on her mouth in disbelief as Yon-Rogg knelt on the floor in front of her, holding her hand tight, sweat seeped out from his palm.

"Una, I've never felt happier in my life than when I'm with you. You are my love, my sunshine, my everything. I couldn't imagine living without you. I want to grow old with you and spend the rest of my life with you. So.. will you marry me and make me the happiest Kree in the world?" He asked and he pulled out a beautiful vibranium ring from his pocket. The ring was black with streaks of blue and gold. A small diamond sat on the middle of the ring, glowing brightly.

"Oh Yon-Rogg! Yes! I will marry you!" Adriana exclaimed and reached out to hug him tight, tears streaming down her face. Yon-Rogg released her from the hug and slid the ring onto her right ring finger, on top of the platinum ring with the heart shaped diamond on it, the ring Yon-Rogg said used to belong to her mother.

After he put the ring on her finger, he leaned close to her and kissed her. Adriana felt so happy yet strange at the same time. Her heart should be exploding with joy but she felt a weird sting instead. She felt deep down that she had experienced something like this before. How perfect it seemed to her when it happened. How happy she was that she was getting married. Well, she was happy too to be Yon-Rogg's fiancee. After all, she did love him. But she couldn't help but feel that something wasn't right, like half of her was grieving.

She kicked herself mentally for feeling that way. Yon-Rogg loved her and she loved him too. That should be enough. She was going to marry Yon-Rogg, had beautiful children together and lived happily until the day they die.

-----

House of Games, Kitson City, Planet Kitson - March 2025

The door to the galaxy-wide infamous gambling establishment, House of Games, suddenly opened with a loud bang. Bucky, Sam and Kate ran out of it while shots were being fired at them.

"Clint! Clint! Come pick us up now!" Bucky yelled into his comms as they continued running through the shady streets of Kitson City, bumping into passersby while passing through the many brothels the planet had.

"Roger that, Bucky." Clint answered through his comms.

The quinjet was parked on top of a building not far from the House of Games. Clint took it down to where Bucky, Kate and Sam were. He deactivated the invisible feature and slowly hovered the jet and landed right in front of them, making the local people ran to the side, away from it.

More and more men came out of the House of Games, shooting at them. But thankfully none of them successfully hit Bucky, Sam nor Kate. They quickly ran into the quinjet and closed the door behind them while shots were still being fired, bouncing off the quinjet's exterior. Once they were in, Clint immediately took off.

"Phew! That was close!" Kate commented, panting as she tried to catch her breath.

"Guys! We're not safe yet! Buckle up! They're chasing us!" Clint shouted as he manouvered the quinjet to the right to avoid being hit by a missile shot by a ship sent to attack them by Mr.Kitson, the leader on planet Kitson and the owner of the House of Games.

Bucky, Sam and Kate toppled to the ground as the ship veered right.

"Clint! What are you doing?!" Kate protested as she tried to get up.

"I was avoiding a missile! I told you we're being attacked!" Clint yelled.

"Now buckle up all of you!" Clint continued to yell.

Sam stood up and quickly took a seat on the co-pilot's seat while Bucky and Kate sat and buckled up behind him.

The ships chasing them continued to fire shots at them. Clint veered the quinjet to the left and the right trying to avoid them.

While Clint was dodging the shots, Sam tried to turn the invisibility feature of the quinjet on. He turned the knob to turn it on but it didn't work. The quinjet continued to stay visible.

"Oh d****t!" Sam cursed.

"What is it Sam?" Bucky asked.

"We can't go invisible. This thing is broken!" Sam protested as he tried to turn the knob again.

"What?!" Clint exclaimed.

Sam then pushed some buttons and activated the quinjet's weapons system. By looking at the display on his front and moving a joystick next to it he started to shoot at the ships chasing them. There were at least five ships chasing them. He tried to take them down one by one. He successfully took down three of them but couldn't take down the other two.

One of the two suddenly jetted quickly past them and flew right in front of them. The other one flew behind them so that they were trapped.

"Clint! Do something!" Kate yelled as both ships started to launch a missile at them.

"Hold on!" Clint yelled.

Clint pushed some buttons and pulled a lever next to him. The quinjet's nose abruptly turned up and they were flying vertically up to the sky. Bucky held on to his seat tightly, feeling the pressure all over his body. He really hated this part of flying. He hoped he wouldn't throw up after this.

The quinjet successfully shot up to the sky avoiding the two missile headed at them. The missiles hit each of Mr.Kitson's ships instead, exploding in the sky, leaving them free from all of his attacks.

Clint continued to steer the quinjet away from the planet. Once they were out of the planet's atmosphere, Clint slowed the quinjet down and set the autopilot on.

"Okay. What happened back there?" Clint asked, turning his seat around to face the others.

"Mr.Kitson promised to tell us what he knew about Kang if we won a game at the House of Games. But if we lose, we promised that he could take Kate and make her work at one of his brothels. Well.. we lost. So of course we had to get away before he could take Kate." Sam started to explain.

"What?!" Clint exclaimed in disbelief.

"Whose f*****g idea was that?!" Clint asked incredulously.

"Mine actually." Kate said sheepishly.

"You what? You offered yourself to be one of his prostitutes?! Kate, what were you thinking?!" Clint protested.

"I thought I was gonna win! The game seemed easy enough to win at first glance. And since none of these guys had anymore ideas to offer him, I thought that was the perfect idea." Kate explained.

"Sorry Clint, we didn't have time to confer at all, we had to improvise. If we knew she was going to offer herself to Mr.Kitson we wouldn't have agreed to it." Bucky explained.

"Yeah.. well.. we all know the games are rigged at most gambling establishments. Especially one like the House of Games. Kate, please think twice before doing something like that again." Clint pleaded.

"Yeah of course. Sorry Clint." Kate said, looking down in regret.

"So now we have no information at all about Kang?" Clint asked.

"Nope, none, nada, zip." Sam said, exasperated.

"I'm starting to think this Kang doesn't exist." Bucky commented.

"Yeah, but Wanda, Stephen and Carol are confident he exists." Kate said.

The Avengers had spent the past six months trying to track down Kang but none of them had succeeded. He truly seemed like a ghost. They went to all corners of the universe trying to find information about him, but they only got hints here and there and never a definite answer on where they could find him. Bucky felt like they were being led on a wild-goose chase somehow.

"Well.. they could be wrong. In any case, we need to get back to earth. With the invisibility feature broken we can't continue with the mission." Clint said.

"Yeah, you're right. Let's go back to earth and discuss this with the others. I also want to know what their statuses are." Sam said and he turned on his seat to face the front of the quinjet, Clint followed him, turning on his seat to the front.

Suddenly Bucky felt a sting in his heart. It came out of nowhere. He flinched as he felt the pain in his chest and put his hand on it. He could feel that something was wrong. But he didn't know what it was.

"Bucky.. you okay?" Kate asked, putting her hand on Bucky's shoulder, looking at him in concern.

"Yeah.. yeah.. I'm good. I'm just still unstable from that vertical manouver." He said, not sure he could tell Kate the truth because he didn't know what he was feeling.

"Okay." Kate nodded and took her hand off his shoulder then leaned back on her seat. Bucky sighed in relief. He really didn't want anyone to be worried about him. He was fine.

Bucky suddenly remembered Adriana. The moment where he proposed to her and saw her wide smiling face and tears streaming down her face flashed in his mind. He then felt it again, the feeling of grief pressuring his chest. His eyes started to prickle and he blinked furiously, trying to stop himself from crying. What was happening to him? Why did it feel like he just lost his other half?

He leaned back on his seat and closed his eyes. He took deep breaths and tried to focus on his breathing. Slowly but surely the pressure on his chest loosened and the feeling of grief passed him and he breathed a sigh of relief.

Adriana had been gone for almost a year now. He thought he was finally over her. He rarely thought about her ever since he went on the space mission to find Kang. Yes, he still sometimes had dreams of her. But he could handle them better. He almost never cried anymore as he thought of her. So this feeling was peculiar to him.

Well, whatever it was, it had passed. He thought. He should just forget about it. His body suddenly jolted back in his seat as the quinjet went into warp, heading back towards earth.

Chapter 8 >

#sebastian stan #bucky barnes #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes x oc #marvel #avengers #avengers fan fiction #sebastian stan fanfic #sebastian stan fanfiction #james bucky barnes #bucky barnes fan fiction #winter soldier #winter soldier fan fiction

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m-j-turner-photography · 2 years

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Raven Crag - Lake District.

Sometimes, photographers like myself venture out early in the morning to capture a glorious sunrise with wonderful warm colours. At other times, we venture out regardless of the conditions to capture the sheer moody magnificence of the landscape in any weather. Today was definitely one of those latter occasions.

It's the first 'sunrise' I'd done out in the hills for quite some time, as this year I've focused mainly on sunsets. From the outset, I knew there was very little chance of the sun appearing, and I had the waterproofs on before I even set off - which was a good decision as the rain started heavily very early on and didn't let up for the whole outing.

There are a few locations which I personally think look best in these kind of conditions, and Raven Crag is one of them. I always feel like it has a slightly sinister and ominous atmosphere, so this kind of weather sets the scene perfectly for me. I stopped in this position for a good 20-30 minutes as the mist swirled around the summit crags, seen here from one of the forestry tracks on my ascent. The little tuft of grass in the centre of the track provided just the right amount of foreground interest without detracting from the impressive backdrop.

After capturing this picture, I carried on to the summit of Raven Crag and then the nearby Castle Crag.

#ravencrag #lakedistrict #unitedutilities #lakedistrictnationalpark #worldheritagesite #forest #cumbria #england

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ledscreendisplay · 2 days

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Unlocking Affordable LED Display Screen Prices in Kochi

Find the best LED wall display screen prices in Kochi: Detailed guide

In the vibrant and ever-evolving city of Kochi, where modernity meets tradition, there is a growing demand for fresh and exciting visual elements Whether for business, events or artistic purposes, LED walls and displays offer unparalleled visual impact and versatility. For those looking to invest in this cutting-edge technology, it’s important to understand the factors that affect prices and look for the best deals. This blog will provide a detailed and informative guide to help you navigate the landscape of Best Led wall price in Kochi and led display screen prices in Kochi.

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Investigate and Compare: Evaluate different suppliers and analyze the features and costs of each and providing best Led wall price and led display screen price in Kochi. Examining customer feedback might provide valuable information about the reliability and quality of their services.

Get Accurate statements: Request detailed estimates from several vendors. This will facilitate the process of comparing various solutions and improve in your understanding of the financial structure.

Buying LED walls and screens is an intelligent decision that may greatly improve the aesthetic and practical qualities in the Kochi area. You may obtain high-quality, cheap LED display solutions that fit your demands and budget by being aware of the elements that affect pricing and by using the guidance provided. Accept the path that visual technology is taking and enable Kochi to shine through the creativity of LED technology. With the correct LED display, you can captivate your audience and completely change your environment, whether it's for events, business, or art.

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eventdecor · 2 years

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6FT Tall RGBW Shift Color - Lighted Tree Waterproof Ginkgo - Indoor / Outdoor Lighted Tree 700 LEDS! | Etsy

Event Décor Direct is proud to offer the BEST QUALITY Indoor/Outdoor LED Electric trees on the market. These trees have incredibly realistic details coupled with a durable, sturdy build! Longevity and quality is our top priority!

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operandolaminates · 3 days

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How to Choose the Perfect Interior Laminate for Your Home

Have you been searching for the Best Decorative Laminates in India for enhancing living room and kitchen cabinets to reinventing bedroom floors and tabletops, decorative laminates are an eco-friendly and cost-effective alternative to solid wood. This comprehensive guide will explore the various types of interior laminates available, helping you choose the right textures, colors, patterns, and applications to infuse your space with vibrancy and personalized flair.

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Laminate Thickness

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Apart from being scratch-resistant, abrasion-resistant, stain-proof, and heat-resistant, Best Decorative Laminates in India are also available with anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties. These features minimize the risk of microbes penetrating and multiplying on the laminate sheets, prolonging the lifespan of your furniture and making them ideal for kitchens, bathrooms, and other high-traffic areas in your home.

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Kitchens (countertops, cabinets, backsplashes)

Kitchens are the heart of every home, and incorporating laminates in this space can elevate its functionality and aesthetics. Digital laminates offer a versatile and modern surfacing solution for your kitchen countertops, cabinets, and backsplashes.

Countertops: Kitchen countertop designs significantly impact their functionality, aesthetics, and durability. Digital laminates, made by fusing kraft paper and decorative layers with melamine resin, provide an aesthetically appealing and durable option for your countertops. You can choose from a wide range of designs, from solid colors to patterns mimicking natural materials like wood or stone, giving your kitchen a stylish and personalized look while reducing maintenance needs.

Cabinets: Kitchen cabinets are essential for storage and organization, but they also contribute to the overall ambiance of your cooking space. Digital laminates allow you to customize the look of your cabinets, whether you prefer a solid wood appearance or vibrant, colorful prints. You can even add decorative elements like trim and molding to create a truly bespoke look.

Backsplashes: The backsplash area, located between the cabinets and countertops, is an excellent opportunity to introduce color and patterns into your kitchen design. Digital laminates offer numerous design options, from floral to geometric patterns, and can even mimic the appearance of materials like marble or tile. This versatile surfacing solution allows you to create a visually striking and unique backsplash that complements your kitchen's overall aesthetic.

Bathrooms (vanities, shower walls, floors)

Bathrooms are high-moisture areas that require durable and water-resistant materials. Laminates are an excellent choice for bathroom surfaces, offering both style and practicality. [19]

Vanities: Laminate vanities are a popular choice for bathrooms due to their water-resistant properties and easy maintenance. You can choose from a variety of colors and textures to complement your bathroom's design theme, from sleek and modern to warm and rustic.

Shower Walls: Laminate shower walls are a practical and stylish solution for your bathroom. They are resistant to moisture, mold, and mildew, ensuring long-lasting durability. Additionally, you can select from a range of designs, including tile-look or stone-look laminates, to create a visually appealing shower enclosure.

Floors: Laminate flooring is an excellent option for bathroom floors, as it is water-resistant and easy to clean. You can choose from a variety of wood-look or tile-look designs to achieve the desired aesthetic for your bathroom.

Living rooms (accent walls, furniture surfaces)

Laminates can transform your living room into a stylish and inviting space, offering a range of design possibilities for accent walls and furniture surfaces.

Accent Walls: Creating an accent wall with metallic laminate can add a striking focal point to your living room. Choose a bold metallic finish like gold or copper for an elegant touch, or opt for a more subtle metallic color like silver or bronze for a modern look. The reflective surface will brighten the space and create visual interest.

Furniture Surfaces: Incorporate metallic laminate into your living room furniture, such as coffee tables, side tables, or entertainment units, to add a luxurious touch and create stylish statement pieces. The metallic finish will elevate the overall aesthetic of your living space.

Decorative Accents: Enhance your living room decor by incorporating metallic laminate into accessories like mirror frames, picture frames, vases, and more. [21] Mix and match different metallic finishes and textures to create a visually appealing and cohesive look.

By strategically incorporating laminates in key areas of your home, you can achieve a perfect balance of functionality, durability, and aesthetic appeal, transforming your living spaces into stylish and personalized havens.

Conclusion

After analyzing the additional instruction provided, I believe it is related to promoting a specific product or collection from Operando Laminates. Since the conclusion section should focus on summarizing the main points discussed in the article and providing a sense of closure, incorporating a product promotion may not be entirely appropriate.

Elevating the aesthetic appeal and functionality of your living spaces has never been easier with the advent of Best Decorative Laminates in India. By carefully considering factors such as intended use, durability requirements, and design preferences, you can curate a harmonious and visually captivating interior that reflects your personal style. From kitchens to bathrooms, living rooms to accent walls, laminates offer a versatile and cost-effective solution for transforming every nook and cranny of your home.

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