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blush-and-books · 4 years ago

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i see you in the daytime (and i hear you at night)

collaboration with the magnificent @lydias--stiles - and when i say collaboration i mean collaboration. we both fully wrote parts of this.

angsty/emotional juke one shot based off of the song “amen” by amber run. get your tissues. we have no regrets

"Jules!" he screams. "I don't care that I'm dead! I'm with you!"

Tears pour down her face.

"You should care! You shouldn't- you should want to cross over, Luke."

"Julie, its- it's going to be fine. We'll figure out a way to not cross over, we'll stay-"

"No!" Her voice rattles with sobs - she just doesn't want to be here anymore. She hates this situation. She hates the universe for doing this to her, to them, to everyone. "No, Luke, you have to cross over. I cant hold you back from that."

"But I want to be here. With you."

She doesn't mean to say it out loud when she thinks it. It’s not one of those thoughts designed to be vocalized - it pops in, gets scolded and cowers away. But not now. She’s not strong enough. "Sometimes I think it'd be easier if I was dead," she whimpers. "At least then I'd be with you."

Luke falls silent in horror, jaw slack and eyes like saucers. The words are like a sledgehammer to a mirror, shattering the perfect illusion they've created for two years straight. It’s true. Sometimes, late at night, when nothing can distract her, Julie wonders if it isn't just better if she dies and becomes a ghost. Then they can truly be together. Sure, it is tragically bitter and not ideal, but... Julie is tired. Exhausted. Every time he accidentally phases through, every time she has her birthday, every time she notices how his face hasn't changed since the moment she met him… she’s tired of the perpetual ache.

Alex and Reggie both have felt the tug to cross over. They can't describe it. It’s simply time to go. Julie understands. It hurts, but she's been emotionally prepared for them to leave since their first performance in The Orpheum. Here’s the stinger though: they all have to feel ready to cross over. And Luke? He’s resisting that tug. According to Alex, it doesn’t hurt like Caleb's stamps, but it isn't pleasant either. Which means that Julie was hurting them for loving Luke.

"Julie...", he whispers, shaking his head. "Don't say that."

"So, you can say you don't care that you're dead, but I can't say I wish I was there with you?" She seethes, crossing the dangerous distance between them. Face to face, the green of his eyes begs to keep the little space left. Both know that it’ll be game over if they kiss, and then they'll have to start all over again.

He averts his gaze. "Jules... you weren't the idiot eating a bad hot dog. You deserve to live a life full of... of everything."

She scoffs. "So... what? You'll just roam the earth? Pining for me? We're not- we don't have to pretend about how we feel anymore, Luke." Tightly grabbing his hands, she urges: "Cross over - please. Don't be selfish."

He freezes. "You want me gone?"

The tears cling to her cheeks, lower lip wobbling. "No... no, I don't. I love you. But I can't hurt Alex and Reggie like that."

"Then let them cross over!" He begs her, taking a step back with the hope that he can prevent them from doing something they’ll regret. "Let me stay! With you!"

Frustration spouts from her throat. "They can’t! You died together, you cross over together! And we're holding them back." Her arms cross. "Let me go, Luke. Please."

"You're not doing anything," Luke hisses, pointing an accusatory finger. "Me and the guys have talked about this. This is us. Not you. Don’t you dare put that kind of blame on yourself."

"Then let me go," she whispers. She doesn’t want to fight anymore. They've fought for weeks. "Let me go. Please. You and the boys deserve to have peace... whatever that is. Because this-" Her hands motions at the charged energy. "-is not peace."

The last thing that Luke has ever wanted to do, is leave Julie Molina. Anyone could see that. But to avoid her self destruction and the pain of his friends - he may have to break their hearts.

He'll let her go.

But he won’t be at peace until he does one last thing.

"You're right," he says, defeated. It almost looks like tears are in his eyes. "This isn’t peace." Pain flashes across her face as she watches him cross the garage over to her, jaw clenched and eyes dark.

"Luke-"

Furiously, he winds a hand around her neck and tugs her into him. Julie whimpers into the kiss, his fingers digging into her neck and hers gripping his hair, to the point that they're hurting each other, but both need to feel. Both need the other close. She loves him. She is so in love with him.

If she can, she’ll scream at the universe and ask for a redo. It isn't fair. They belong together and everyone knows it. He shakes his head, mumbling against her lips: "I'll never stop loving you though."

"Luke-" she chokes.

"I'm doing what's best..." His lips curls into a grimace. Her heart aches at the sight, wishing her kisses are a solace and not the venom finalizing the pain. "-but I'll never stop loving you."

Pressing herself into his body, she kisses him harder. She can’t say it back - as she means it - because it’ll only make everything harder.

He knows she won’t say it back. But what kind of guy was he be if he leaves her without telling her? It would be another thing on his long list of regrets.

Maybe, if he has a pen and paper on the other side, ‘Unsaid Emily’ will get a sequel.

But he doesn't want to think about that right now. Julie is pressing herself against him, closer and closer even though he’s sure they ran out of space the second their teeth clashed at the first touch of their lips. He pulls her hips towards his, ignoring the way that the tears on their cheeks are blending and brushing against one another - and almost wishes that if he has to cross over, he will do it now.

He wants his final moments to be exactly, exactly like this. He doesn't want to feel anything else before he loses her forever.

Her head drops to his chest, hands slipping to feel the heat of his skin and kissing his shirt, right where his heart is supposed to be. The final blow is hers to serve. "Goodbye, Luke." A tragic puff leaves her. "See you in seventy years."

As humorous as it sounds - she says it heartbroken.

His lip twitches, coiling a curl around his finger. "I'll be waiting."

And then they wait.

Slowly, his skin turns luminescent. Soft, glowing. Not as solid and firm as before. They don’t move. Their eyes are fixed on each other, even when the green turns a lack-luster grey and his hair transparent. The grip on her hair falls away. She feels her fingers sink further into his skin until her hands meet. Only his eyes remain, unwavering.

And then they shut.

It’s only after she was confident that all that remained between her fingers was air and memories, that she allowed herself to admit it. It's barely a gasp when she says it; too busy trying to take in the space that once made up Luke's form and press it into her lungs in case any part of him wanted to stay.

"I’ll never stop loving you, either.”

A week later, in music class, she sings it.

Like when she sang ‘Wake Up’ for the first time, it's just her and the piano. Her class watches with dread, but she doesn't care. This was the only song she could think to sing after shutting down for a week. Her voice carries through the halls as she belts every note, feeling those atoms of Luke propel from her lungs the energy that he would want her to have.

The last verse, the last line, makes her voice break. She already knows her face is dripping with tears - if the splashing piano keys were any indication - but she can’t wipe them away.

"Sometimes I'd rather be dead, at least then I'm with you," she all but screams, followed with tearful “amens” that she repeats and repeats hoping that the boys can hear her. Yelling out for them. Cursing the world for taking them; tearing her vocal chords with one last prayer that she’ll see them again.

She wishes she was there.

Reminiscent of the day that she met the boys, she runs out of the classroom.

Flynn follows her out.

#julie and the phantoms #jatp #juke #julie molina #luke patterson #juke fanfic #jatp fanfic #jukebox #juke angst

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oh-for-fic-sake · 5 years ago

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No Boyfriend’s

Masterlist

Henry comes home to find out his three year old princess has a boyfriend, whats a dad to do?

Warnings: swearing, fluff

A/n: so I had so much fun wrighting this fluff piece! Thank you to @jessevans for requesting it.

No Boyfriend's

You walked up to the preschool to pick up your daughter from her afternoon session. You had to admit when Henry had first sugested moving out of the city You had been a little skeptical. He had been adamant that he wanted your child to have a childhood much like his. Out of the hustle and bustle moving out into 'the sticks' as many londoners would call it. You'd settled in a quaint picturesque little village near Canterbury in Kent the location was perfect for henry's work with the port of dover thirty minutes away and the center of london with all the airports around an hours drive in the opposite direction it was ideal. And best of all it was out of the way and had all the amenities within the village itself a post office, shop,pub, Doctors surgery and pharmacy the local primary school and pre school was literally a five minute walk from your house and the closest secondary schools were a ten minute bus ride into canterbury itself and when the time came you had six to choose from.

The reason for the move? Your now three year old Daughter the apple of her daddies eye. You remebered the day you'd told your boyfriend you were pregnant, you'd been terrified as much as he said he wanted a family you couldnt help that twinge of doubt. But he was exstatic within moments he had darted out of the room when he returned he was clumsily trying to dial his mothers number with shaking hands tears streaming down his face as he kept asking if you were sure even when his mother picked up, you could here her laughs of joy as he told her. He paced the room leaving you to sit on the bed giggling as he refused to sit down whilst on the phone with his family every time he walked past you he move his hand pressing on Your flat tummy asif trying to feel the child already that or he was trying to imagine you with a bump and that grin? You'd never seen him smile like that before it truly melted your heart seeing him so happy. He was always and attentive boyfriend but once you was pregnant he was..Incredible always by your side when he was at home tending to your every need and he somehow managed not to be over bearing.

It was when you went to the first scan that he had proposed some might say it wasn't the most romantic but for you it was perfect! Leaving with the first photos of your little jellybean and a fiance. Fuck yes! You thought that you couldnt get any happier but then came the gender scan. You knew he didnt mind what they were but you also knew deep deep down you both wanted a little girl to coddle over and buhe wanted a daddies girl someone who he could be their knight in shining armour. He could bearly keep still beside you holding your hand tight watching the screen trying to get a look at your little 'nugget' as he had called them he couldn't keep quiet either with every swipe of the ultrasound wand he was changing his mind.

"Girl? Is that? I can see? nope Boy definatly boy"

"Henry babe...dont get to excited that's the umbilical cord...I think?" They were being a little bugger crossing their legs making the sonographer work hard to move them around as you had to move again and again trying to get the little one to move. Finally they spoke.

"And you two are about to have... Little....Princess! You have a baby girl on the way congratulations" you both froze looking at the screen seeing your baby...your daughter. Immediately you both burst into tears.

"A-a girl your sure?" Henry asked in a quiet shaky voice the woman smiled nodding handing you both tissues then moved slower over the child showing you exactly what she saw then printed off some of the photos for you. Once home Henry began refering to her as 'little lady' on account of her 'protecting her modesty' by crossing her legs.

It wasnt long after youd began talking about moving seroiusly, the house was big enough sure but now you knew the baby was a girl it all seemed much more real. Sure you'd both spoke about buying a house together on and off as youd moved in to his place earlier in the relationship but this time it was more feasible the idea of raising your precious little girl in the middle of london didn't bode well for Henry he was also concerned about haveing photos of her taken he was an actor hell your relationship was posted all over social media by your third date! He didn't want that attention on his daughter so you both started seriously looking. It only took another nine weeks to find a place you both fell in love with the Georgian detached house it looked like a mini manor with its decorative columns and tall windows had a huge garden to for kal it was perfect.

At six months you had a small private wedding and it was then that he anounced your marriage and baby Cavill, potsing your favourite wedding photo of you in you and Henry facing each other laughing witb your foreheads together, you were wrapped around each other as close as ou could get considering the bumb that had seemingly grown overnight his hand resting on the cute bump you were laughing because she had just kicked him when he had told you he loved you. Almost like 'dont forget about me!', Kal had photo bombed to his head poking out between your an Henry's legs smiling , a part of your flowy dress caught up on the bears ear head tilted the only one looking at the camera and in the same post he added an ultrasound of your baby girl. You got congratulations from many of yours freinds and family. And Henry's freinds and costars each wondering the same thing 'how the fuck did Henry keep it quiet?'. You wondered that as well, the hole pregnancy was just memory after memory. Henry made sure you did everything you could to document your daughters creation, you did the photo of your bump once a week the last one being you in the hospital in the middle of slow labour holding the gown tight around you a mere half hour before she was born. He had made sure you did the belly casting which had been tidied up and trimmed painted pink and was in the cupboard, then the 4d scans expensive tho they were nothing and you mean nothing compared to seeing her little face for the first time, it was then you realised she looked nothing like you! She was all her father although a slightly more feminine and less sharp and it was also there you were told she had lots od hair...Curls you felt like you'd hit the jackpot. At the birth he had been incredibly supportive until he wasn't, well you disagreed he wanted to film it and not just your face he wanted to film it you said no but regretted it after as it would have been solid proof of what happened. You see one moment he was there then mid contraction....you heard quiet 'nope' a huge thump is what alerted you to his fall.... there was an alarm pressed and nurses came running in each giggleing, it was rare now days to have a fainter.

"Are you FUCKING KIDING ME?! HENRY?! OI! HERNY? CAVILL GET YOUR ASS UP!" You had to stop shouting and started breathing heavy as another contraction pulled at you once over you began barking orders to the nurses.

"KICK HIM...KICK HIM IN THE NUTS! DONT WORRY ABOUT STERILISING SUPERMAN HERE! NEVER AGAIN! HE WONT THEM TRUST ME... HENRY GET UP! ARE YOU LISTENING? STOP BEING A LITTLE BITCH! I AM NOT DOING THIS AGAIN COS HE FUCKING MISSED IT! LOOKING WHEN I TOLD HIM NOT TO!" The nurses didn't know what to do it took three of them to place im in the chair each trying desperately not to laugh as you had a melt down screaming at him to 'wake the fuck up' You swore you even heard laugher from outside signaling that his family had heard. Yes your wonderfully supportive husband had fainted through stress? Excitment? Anxiety? Low blood sugar? Each time you asked him it had been different answer but and to quote him 'it was definitely not because I looked' which neither you or his brothers will ever believe or let him forget. Luckily he came to as you finally birthed his daughter. A stunning screaming little dark haired bundle. He sobbed when he held her for the first time leaning over her cradeling her so gently leaning over her kissing her as many time he possibly could he was the first one to hold her, hug her kiss her and change her. The photo of his first cuddle hung proudly in the hallway ,you will never forget that moment, the moment when Henry's whole world changed you could see then just how much he had wanted this. Your daughter was going to be the luckiest little girl in the world.

Paige had grown into a daddies girl, through and through which made today much better. Henry was coming home from filming man from u.n.c.l.e he had been away for months and you had kept his arrival home a secret. Henry was going to make it home in about twenty five minutes. You stopped just before the colourfull gates unable to go in with Kal, you could see the kids lining up in twos underneath the oak tree in the small garden. You smile moving to stroke Kals ears hushing him as he barked loudly vibrating with exciment his tail thumping on the floor as he sat like the good boy he was. At his bark you could hear the kids all squeal with excitment, they loved it when you brought the 'wolf' to the preschool. It was funny hearing Paige whine to them that 'his name is Kal and he's a bear'. He was quite the spoilt pup when he helped you pick up his sister getting hugs and kisses of all the Paige's class mates. Finally the small class was walked out of the garden one of the teachers holding the gate lettjng them leave to their parents. Paige waited in line pointing to you then was let out you ducked down hugging her kissing between her her curly little pigtails.

"Hey baby! Have a good day?" She nodded passing you her small bag and a small potted plant? You looked at her confused but said nothing. She turned and giggled hugging kal smoshing her face in his chest making him stand up she pulled back and squealed as he latherd her with kisses three hours away from her was apparently to long!

"Oh no Kal! Stop it silly bear!" You laughed watching her push weakly at kal who began to settle down now that his 'pup' was with him. You noticed the other parents hovering there kids all pulljng itching to come get Kal cuddles. You smiled to them nodding suddenly they came over all giving him pets and love which he lapped up. You also used it as a sort of lesson the do's and donts of petting dogs, which did some of the other parents a favour. Kal wagged his tail and droped to the floor he couldnt roll over fast enough directing the tiny hands to scratch his belly mouth open tongue lolling about as he panted one happy little bear. After you were sure all the kids got there cuddles you moved calling kal he huffed at you ignoring you instead wanting more love. You smirked down at him sighing as the children giggled. Finally after much coaxing from the other parents you and Paige managed to heave kal away with promises of chicken and snuggles at home. Soon you was on your way home kal padding beside you happy as can be.

Paige took he spot beside you holding his lead with you she was talking about her 'boyfriend' a little boy who she had taken a shine to. It was really sweet he had just moved to the area a little asian boy who paige had bonded with quickly. Really they were just best freinds but he was the first boy she had made freinds with hence she had opted to call him her boyfriend.

"So then Micah played let me play and-and he let me be a knight!" You smiled at her as she beamed excited.

"Really? A knight?" She stopped at the road with you looking both ways then crossed quickly.

"Yeah! Like in daddy's games!! And he gave me some of the bany tomatoes in his lunch...did you he grew them in his own garden!!" You gasped sown at her.

"Really? Oh my, sound like a little dream boat!" she scrunched up her nose lookjng up at you placing a tiny hand to he forehed sheildjngnher eyea from the afternoon sun

"Wha?" You chuckled shaking your head at her.

"Never mind jummy is just being silly" nodded to you her lightl blue eyes sparkling at you then Continued talking about her day mostly about Micah and the games they played.

When you reached home you watched as kal began barking and whining which could only mean one thing. Henry was home already, you unlocked the gate and released the dog with a quiet 'go get daddy' he tore off whining running to the door scratching and pouncing barking the whole time.

"Mummy whats wrong with kal?" You looked down at her knowingly"I'm not sure why don't you go see to him?" She nodded her head biting her lip then licking it, she looked so much like her father doing that. Then she was off running to the house just as Henry opened the door. She froze then screamed for him quickly falling to pieces with grabby hands wantjng her daddy. You watched all choked up as always she was bawling her eyes out by the time he had jumped the steps to the house scooping her up in his huge arms. He clutched her to his chest shushing and rocking her as she cried into him fisting her small hands in his shirt just calling him over and over. He moved his head kissing her trying to calm her, he hated and loved this. He hated her getting so upset when her returned but secretly loved that she missed him. The first few times he left he was worried she wouldnt remember him but juste as youd promised him she had.

The first time he came home you’d taken her to the airport to meet him...He had ended hup having to sit in the back with her as she refused to let him go getting hysterical each time he tried to pry her off of him. She had gotten better as she got older understanding that daddy had to work and now she was older she could speak to him on the phone and video chat. Each time after the initial crying and snuggles she would stay stuck to his side weather she was sitting on the sofa between his legs when he was playing games or in the makeshift gym with him useing his reps to practice her counting...even if in five mineuts he managed two hundred by her count they were always together. Hell sometimes he even read a new script as a bed time story, which not even you were privvy to!

You laughed walking up to him winding your arms around them both cuddling your daughter between you he leaned in kissing ou on the lips.

"God its good to be home" you smiled smoothing one of paiges high pigtails she whined calming down kicking her little legs wrapping an arm around his neck and moved suckling her thumb a little. He moved you all into the house patting her bottom lightly somthing he had done since she was born it always soothed her. You moved to the kitchen opening the back door letting air in it was to hot, you placed the small plant on the windosill by the sinck giving it a tiny bit of water as you noticed the siol had dried out. Henry stayed close behind you wanting to be around you, you moved to the slow cooker flicking it on to warm up the already cooked casserole. He came up behinde you movijng to have Paige on one hip still rocking her slightly even tho she had calmed down.

"Ohh look baby chicken casserole...Did you help mummy with that today before school? " She giggled peering over the pot.

"Yes daddy! I putted in the veggies! And tatoes! Daddy!" He smiled at her gasping.

"You did the veggies and the potatoes?! Such a clever girl making daddies favourite dinner" she giggled at the praise nodding.

"And-and I tasted it to!" he gasped at her as she got all excited

"And what do you think?" She grinned and 'whispered'

"Needed salt" you spun round and gasped at her offended.

"You little!" You chased her and Henry around the kitchen island wriggling your fingers as if to tickle her.

"AHH HAHAHa NOOO! DADDY RUN RUN!" you giggled as he scarperd out of the kitchen hovering by the door and moved all you saw was the tops of their heads peering into the kitchen. You rolled your eyes as they made a 'plan of attack' you turned back to the pit placeing the lid back on.

Suddeny Henry had you, arms pinning yours to the sides as Paige 'tickled' you making you laugh.

"Oh my god! Stop I give I give!" Finally Paige relented koala climbing Henry who quickly scooped her up to his hip.You moved in kissing her cheek then henry as he wrapped his free arm around you nuzzling in to your neck giving a quick nip before licking at your skin.You giggled trying to escape yet all he did was grab you around your waist and hoist you up.

"HAHA! I have you both now!" You laughed and Paige squealed as he spun around holding you both before making his way to the living room you wriggled free pretendingnto run from him making paige call out to you for help as he threw her up in the air holding her with 'slam dunking' paige to the sofa making her laugh and scream as he followed lifting her littl tshirt blowing rasberries on her tummy makeing her squeal and laugh louder. You smiled at the two, this is what you missed when he was away, the laughter of a full house. You sat down in Henry's armchair as he and Paige 'wrestled' soon attracting kals attention who like the loyal steed he was came to paiges aid pouncing henry making him groan and roll off her givingnher and kal the chance to escape to the garden, you both let them the garden was safe and having kal around was like a live in nanny he wont let anything happen to her.

Henry rolled over on the sofa lounging back panting crooking a finger at you. You crept over moving to sit in his lap, he tugged you down to him pressing a gentle kiss to your lips. He moved sitting up more cupping your ass smirking.

"Soo? Did you think about what I mentioned?" You grinned and pretended to think for a second making him groan leaning in leaving kisses on your neck and jaw.

"I did" you finally replied, you felt him hold his breath as his nose ghosted your ear.

"I stopped them that night~ all back to normal now" he pulled back staring at you

"Really? You mean it?" You nodded them brought you forward for a deep kiss. He had mentioned trying for another child when he came back, youd always intended to give Paige a sibling but not when she aas still a baby baby. Now that Paige was older and going to be in school next year you had felt ready to try again and had be over the moon whne henry had suggested it in a video chat instantly stopping your contraception so eveything would be back to normal and you could start trying asap asfterall you knly had him home for a few months then he was off to play superman again. He smiled lunging forward pinning you below him devouring your mouth you moaned as things got heated.

You felt them. Eyes. Blue eyes to be exact. You both sighed and turned to Paige who was staring unblinking at the two of you from the door. You moved pushing him up.

"Mummy? Wheres my plant I wana show daddy what I grew!" He looked at you and sighed a little, you could tell he was a bit dissapointed but you waved him off as he stood pulling you up with him you moved in whispering.

"Tonight love" he grinned and jumped up a bounce in his step holding his hand out to paige who took it.

"Its on the windowsill in the kitchen" Henry nodded left the room letting you relax for a while already knowing you were picking up your kindle to read. Once in the kitchen he lifted Paige placing her on the counter and pulled over the small plant.

"So whats this then?" She smiled touchingnthe leaves softly

"Its a strawberry plant daddy...I did it from a tiny seed!" He smiled at her looking to the plant it wasnt half bad small but alive which is more then he could say for his when he tried.

"Oh you did this? At school?" She nodded at him and moved the leaves about.

"Yes and it will get bigger and grow pretty flowers...And the flowers will grow a strawberry! Miss bou said we cant pick em till they are a bright red like in the shops... and we can take pictures in to show em off!" He nodded to her

"So your gardening at school now? Is it fun?" She giggled putting the plant down

"Yeah we got lots in our vegetable patch...we got some lettuce and peppers and spinach and and tomatoes! But they not ready yet...Micahs is! Micah grows the at home... can we grow some veggies daddy?" He smiled at her

"We certainly can...Besides we will need to plant your strawberries in the garden...I will make your ownn little growing patch amd we can grow anything you want how does that sound?" She squealed and bounced on her bottom making him smile.

"Lets make a list and we can go get them tomorrow" she nodded in agreement. You walked in the kitchen as henry and Paige leaned over the counter making a list

"Whats going on here then?" Paige quickly riped the paper from under Henry's nose.

"List mummy! Of palnts for my veggie patch! Daddy wants to help!" You smiled peaking over the paper seeing two halves one side had strange 'paige writing' the other a list Henry had written. Compost, tools, string, pots then lots of different fruit and veg. You chuckled shaking your head.

"You missed watering can...maybe we could get a waterbutt? And one of thows plastice green houses to start the seedling off?" He smiled nodding addjng them to the list as you went and checked dinner. You nodded then turned to the other two."Right you tow dinners done wash up then go wait at the table...Had it in the slow cooker all day just needed to be heated up" he leaned over kissing you once again thanking you then helped Paige was her hands leaving to the dining room with Paige.

You did this everytime he came home early dinner meant an early bedtime for Paige and then You could give Henry a proper homecoming. You dished up the dinner home made chicken casserole you moved quickly with the three bowles placing them on the table then sat down ready to eat as Henry began talking about work. you smiled letting him gush about his work, you loved seeing him like this he blushed slightly.

"Any way enough about that, how have my two girls been?" You watched at Paige grinned across the table to him.

"I made a new friend daddy!" You swallowed your mouthfull choosing to keep quiet you knew where this was going you grinned into you bowl. He smiled at her leaning over to wipe her mouth quickly making her giggle at him as he stuck his tongue out at her.

"Oh really? And whats her name?"

"Haha nooo! Daddy its not a girl...I've got a boyfriend!" Henry choked onhis mouthfull paiges face dropped and she looked to you worriedly you smiled reassuringly at her. Henry hit his chest coughing finally getting himslef under control, he looked at you shocked and terrified you nodded at him chuckling.

"A-a boyfriend? Poppet dont you think your a bit err young for that?" She frowned at him shaking her head.

"No daddy! He is really nice! He lets me be a knight! And today we had lunch together and he fed-ed me his tomatoes."

"Gave paige he gave you his tomatoes" you corrected as Henry gaped at her unsure what to make of it.

"So he is just a friend?....he better be" he grumbled the last part under his breath.

"He is a friend...My boyfriend I love him daddy... he gives me hugs! And Kal likes him to! He's my hero" You giggled as Henry was panicked and at a loss.

"Really....love I thought daddy was your hero?" Creased up he actually looked a bit hurt from her words she gave him a sympathetic look.

"Yes daddy you are...But Micah is to! He is soo pretty and fun and he don't make me be the princess all the time...And he shares his colours"

"Okay so you love this boy Micah?" She nodded pushing her food around in her bowl.

"What do you love about him?"

"His hair! Its black and shiney! And and he is cute!"

"Aha but you do know he isnt your boy friend right? Your not aloud boyfriends yet....No boyfriends untill your older." He said she looked at him wide eyed then you her bottom lip quivering.

"What? But but I love him!" Henry crossed his arms at her she mimicked him scowling

"No absolutly not baby" .she whined and smaked the table in a huff

"NOOO! MY BOYFRIEND!" He raised a brow at her as she had a paddy.

"No boyfreinds untill your 21 and thats final ittle lady"

"No! Micah is mine! My boyfriend! A-and you cant stop us from playing! So there!" Henry rose a brow trying to ignor your quiet chuckles as Paige made huffed and stuck her nose in the air being a right little madame. You watched givjng Henry the stink eye as a grin crawled across his face. Here we go.

"Its illegal...he could get in trouble, daddy could get in trouble" Henry tilted his head at her as she gasped trying to read him, you could see her mind trying to work him out. Is he lying? Or not? but her father was an actor...And a damn good one he had a poker face like no other. You knew where this was going, you knew you should stop it but his was gold! You had a feeling that henry was not gojng to ckme out on top.as she opend her mouth.

"W-well we wont tell..Keep it a secret!" She said holding a finger to her lips Henry tutted shaking his head.

"Oh poppet...Do you know where daddy has been these past months?" You squinted at him trying to see exactly where this was going knowing you were going to have to pick up the pieces. She nodded then shook her head no. He smiled devilishly at her. Oh shit here he goes.

"Daddy has been to spy school" you gasped at him oh hell no he wouldnt...yes he fucking would you could see the twinkle in his deep blues.

"Spy school?" She spoke in a small voice then turned to you looking fro one to the other he nodded at he

"Y-your a spy?" He nodded and she gave him a sa look.

"Yes, and I made friends with lots of spies" she twitched slightly shaking her head.

"And they told me that the spy rules says that a spy's little girl isn't allowed a boyfriend until they are twenty one....If they did find out daddy could get in trouble...You dont want daddy to be in trouble do you?" She shook her head bottom lip trembling as she was torn. She looked like she would explode as she tried weighting up her 'options'.

Suddenly Henry dropped his smug look and looked more like a deer in the headlights as Paige began wailing moving her arms making grabby hands to you. You sighed and hoisted her into your arms rocking her trying so hard not to laugh.

"W-why is da-daddy mean?....I ju-just want to pl-play with my boyfreind!" You patted her back rocking her.

"No-now D-daddy will get i-in trouble! But I-I just w-wana plaayy!" She cried harder hicupping between her words.

"Oh sweety come here shh shh" you gave Henry a look as he leaned back in his chair crossing his arms at you shaking his head. Stubborn and protective of his little lady.

"Nope..Not having it" you hissed at him knowing you had to spell this one out for the big idiot.

"Daddy didn't mean it,he wont get in trouble at all baby girl"

"Yes I did"

"HENRY!" he shut up at your hiss

"Bu-but d-daddy said-"

"Hey look at me...Dont listen to daddy he is an idiot and just jealous of Micah" she sniffled an nodded

"Y-yeah cos he-he's got pretty Shiney hair... D-daddies just got stupid curls!" You giggled as Henry looked aghast at her not believing wht ha was hearing

"Exactly daddy is just being a grump! you can still play with Micah...He is your best friend isn't he?" She nodded sniffling

"and you love his like a friend right?" Henry now realised his mistake blinked at you as you rolled your eyes shaking your head at him like 'what the fuck? Really? Shes three' .oh. She pulled away wipinng her eyes looking to henry's matching blues.

"Really daddy? C-can I still play w-with micah?"

"Yes of course...I'm sorry baby...you and mummy was right I just got jealous...daddy is used to being your only hero." Smooth cavill real smooth. She bought it tho nodding he tilted his head down.

"Yo-you wont be in tr-trouble" he shook his head at her

"A-and Micah wo-wont be in t-trouble?" Again he shook his head and reached for her.

"No baby daddy was just being silly...Come here Can you forgive me poppet?" She thlught about it then nodded lunging for him cuddling him he mouthed a sorry to you but you just rolled your eyes at him. Idiot.

It was later that night when Henry returned to your bedroom after reading Paige to sleep,. You both flitted about one another getting ready for bed ou was brushing your teeth when he brought it up.

"So who is this micah then?" You rolled your eyes still hearing a little hostility there...To a fucking three year old. You spat out the toothpaste and looked to henry leaning on the door.

"A little boy...He moved to the village just after you left...Paige was instantly taken with him, he is asian so was avoided by the other kids...you know what she's like with hair and shes never seen straight pitch black hair before... she gushed about him for a few days then they became best freinds....And she call's him her boyfriend because he is the first male friend shes made! God henry really shes three! There none of that shit yet...not for a good few years!" You turned away from your sheepish husband.

"So? nothing i need to know? theres nothing going on? whats his parents like?" You blinked at him..

"Seriously? Like are you being serious now? Ok well fuck it his dad has taken over the doctors surgery and is actually your and my doctor now that dr marsh has retired! His mother is a stay at home wife, they have a cat called fuji; cos he is fat and a gold fish called mino because its a mino...he is a sweet polite boy ...his favourite colour is green he grows fruit and veg in his garden and you know what Henry he fucking loves batman! and whne he batman versus superman comes out he is gonna want batman to kick your ass! there you happy Jesus fucking christ almighty!" Henry smirked moving towards you slowly stalking towards you really.

"Fuck off" he just chuckled quickly wrappjng himself around you.

"God your so sexy when our mad come here~" you blinked at him

"Oh hell no You did not get me riled up to have rough sex.....Henry I!....you little shit!" He laughed knowing you’d caught onto him making you more irritated and dragged you to the bed kissing at your neck along the way.

"Come on love time for number two...A boy to keep and eye on Paige for me when I'm away!" You chuckled relenting as he laid you down on your bed.

#henry cavill x reader #henry cavill fic #henry cavill imagine #henry cavill #henry cavill x daughter #henry cavill x child

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thedogloverplanet · 4 years ago

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Dog Training Complete Guide

Dog training is the process of teaching a dog to exhibit certain desired behaviors in specific circumstances. Some examples are:

* Teaching a dog basic obedience commands (part of obedience training) * Teaching a dog to perform tricks casually or for circus acts * Teaching a guide dog to lead the blind * Teaching a rescue dog to find victims of a disaster * Helping a hunting dog learn to perform its instinctive behaviors at appropriate times

The specific behaviors taught in each case are different, but the underlying principles are similar.

In the wild as pack animals, canines have natural instincts that favor training. These instincts are manifested when the dog lives with humans as a desire to please a handler, as a dog would please senior members in a pack in the wild. The handler is simply whoever is working with a dog at the time.

Basic training

Most dogs, no matter their eventual advanced training or intended purpose, live with people and therefore must behave in a way that makes them pleasant to have around and for their own safety and that of other people and pets. Dogs do not figure out basic obedience on their own; it must be trained.

Basic training classes

Professional “dog trainers” usually do not train the dogs, but actually train the owners how to train their own dogs. Although it is also possible to send a dog away to a training school, the owner still must at some point learn what the dog has learned and how to use it and reinforce it. Owners and dogs who attend class together have an opportunity to learn more about each other and how to work together under a trainer’s guidance. Training is most effective if everyone who handles the dog takes part in the training to ensure consistent commands, methods, and enforcement.

Formal training in classes is not always available until the puppy has completed all its vaccinations at around 4 months; however, some trainers offer puppy socialization classes in which puppies can enroll immediately after being placed in their permanent homes as long as disease risk is minimal and puppies have receieved initial vaccinations. In most cases, basic training classes accept only puppies who are at least 3 to 6 months old.

Age for early training

Dog training begins virtually at birth. Dogs that are handled and petted by humans regularly during the first eight weeks of life are generally much more amenable to being trained and living in human households. Ideally, puppies should be placed in their permanent homes between about 8 and 10 weeks of age. In some places it is against the law to take puppies away from their mothers before the age of 8 weeks. Before this age, puppies are still learning tremendous amounts of socialization skills from their mother. Puppies are innately more fearful of new things during the period from 10 to 12 weeks, which makes it harder for them to adapt to a new home.

Puppies can begin learning tricks and commands as early as 8 to 12 weeks of age; the only limitations are the pup’s stamina, concentration, and physical coordination. It is much easier to live with young dogs that have already learned basic commands such as sit. Waiting until the puppy is much older and larger and has already learned bad habits makes the training much more difficult.

There are some professional trainers who disagree with this idea, particularly those who train working dogs, detection dogs, police dogs, etc. They feel that obedience work shouldn’t start until the dog is at least a year old, or after the prey drive has fully developed. These trainers also take the position that spaying and neutering is harmful to the training process, again because of its negative impact on the dog’s prey drive.

Communicating with the dog

Fundamentally, dog training is about communication. From the human perspective the handler is communicating to the dog what behaviors are correct, desired, or preferred in what circumstances. From the canine perspective the handler must communicate what behaviors will give the dog the most satisfaction to his natural instincts and emotions. Without that inner satisfaction a dog will not work well.

A successful handler must also understand the communication that the dog sends to the handler. The dog can signal that he is unsure, confused, nervous, happy, excited, and so on. The emotional state of the dog is an important consideration in directing the training, as a dog that is stressed or distracted will not learn efficiently.

According to Learning Theory there are a four important messages that the handler can send the dog:

Reward or release marker Correct behavior. You have earned a reward. For example, “Free” followed by a reward.

Bridge Correct behavior. Continue and you will earn a reward. For example, “Good”.

No reward marker Incorrect behavior. Try something else. For example, “Uh-uh” or “Try again”.

Punishment marker Incorrect behavior. You have earned punishment. For example, “No”.

Using consistent signals or words for these messages enables the dog to understand them more quickly. If the handler sometimes says “good” as a reward marker and sometimes as a bridge, it is difficult for the dog to know when he has earned a reward.

Rewards can be treats, play, praise, or anything that the dog finds rewarding. Failure to reward after the reward marker diminishes the value of the reward marker and makes training more difficult.

These four messages do not have to be communicated with words, and nonverbal signals are often used. In particular, mechanical clickers are frequently used for the reward marker. Hand signals and body language also play an important part in learning for dogs.

Dogs usually do not generalize commands easily; that is, a dog who has learned a command in a particular location and situation may not immediately recognize the command to other situations. A dog who knows how to “down” in the living room may suffer genuine confusion if asked to “down” at the park or in the car. The command will need to be retaught in each new situation. This is sometimes called “cross-contextualization,” meaning the dog has to apply what’s been learned to many different contexts.

Reward and punishment

Most training revolves around giving the dog consequences for his behaviour, in the hope of influencing the behaviour the dog will exhibit in the future. Operant conditioning defines four types of consequences:

Positive reinforcement adds something to the situation to increase the chance of the behaviour being exhibited again (for example, giving a dog a treat when he sits.)

Negative reinforcement removes something from the situation to increase the chance of the behaviour being exhibited again (for example, releasing the tension on an uncomfortable training collar when the dog stops pulling on the leash).

Positive punishment adds something to the situation to decrease the chance of the behaviour being exhibited again (for example, growling at a misbehaving dog).

Negative punishment removes something from the situation to decrease the chance of the behaviour being exhibited again (for example, walking away from a dog who jumps up).

Most modern trainers say that they use “positive training methods”, which is a different meaning of the word “positive” from that in operant conditioning. “Positive training methods” generally means preferring the use of reward-based training to increase good behavior over that of physical punishment to decrease bad behavior. However, a good trainer understands all four methods, whether or not she can put operant-conditioning terminology to them, and applies them as appropriate for the dog, the breed, the handler, and the situation.

Rewards

Positive reinforcers can be anything that the dog finds rewarding — special food treats, the chance to play with a tug toy, social interaction with other dogs, or the owners attention. The more rewarding a dog finds a particular reinforcer, the more work he will be prepared to do in order to obtain the reinforcer.

Some trainers go through a process of teaching a puppy to strongly desire a particular toy, in order to make the toy a more powerful positive reinforcer for good behaviour. This process is called “building prey drive”, and is commonly used in the training of Narcotics Detection and Police Service dogs. The goal is to produce a dog who will work independently for long periods of time.

Some trainers believe that the toy acts as a positive reinforcer for the desired behavior, when in all likelihood the prey drive works on an entirely different level from standard training and conditioning techniques. This is seen most clearly in the fact that, according to the laws of operant conditioning, positive reinforcers lose their effectiveness if they’re given every single time a dog does what is desired of him; the more predictable the reinforcer, the less reliable the behavior. Yet detection dogs only work well when they are always rewarded with a toy, every single time they find drugs or explosives, etc. The reason for this disparity is that when a dog is trained through the prey drive, the training activates an instinctive, automatic sequence that has to be completed in order for the dog to feel satisfied. That sequence is: search, eye-stalk, chase, grab-bite, and kill bite. So when a dog searches and finds drugs or explosives, he feels he hasn’t finished his job unless he can bite something. This is the primary reason he’s always given the toy. It’s not really a positive reinforcer. If it were it would reduce the reliability of the behavior overall. It’s a means of completing the predatory sequence for the dog.

Punishments

“Positive punishment” is probably the consequence that is least used by modern dog trainers, as it must be used very carefully. A dog is generally only given this type of punishment if it is willfully disobeying the owner. Punishing a dog who does not understand what is being asked of him is not only unfair to the dog, but can make the dog a fearful or unwilling worker.

Punishments are administered only as appropriate for the dog’s personality, age, and experience. A sharp No works for many dogs, but some dogs even show signs of fear or anxiety with harsh verbal corrections. On the other hand, certain dogs with ‘harder’ temperaments may ignore a verbal reprimand, and may work best if the reprimand is coupled with a physical punishment such as a quick tug on a training collar. Trainers generally advise keeping hand contact with the dog to positive interactions; if hands are used to threaten or hurt, some dogs may begin to behave defensively when stroked or handled.

Avoiding punishment

Keeping a puppy on a leash in challenging situations or in his crate or pen when not closely supervised prevents the puppy from getting into situations that might otherwise invite an owner’s harsh reaction (such as chewing up a favorite pair of shoes).

The command voice

When giving commands to a dog, a calm, firm, authoritative voice is most effective. Dogs do not respond well to hesitant, pleading voices, nor to yelling, which might sound to the dog like threatening barking or scolding. It is also important that the word used for the command and the pitch of the voice be consistent each time the command is delivered so that the dog can more easily learn what the owner means (siiiiiiiiiiiit does not sound the same as sit, for example).

Using the puppy’s name before a command ensures that the dog knows that a command is coming, that it is for him (rather than for other dogs, children, or people), and that he should pay attention. This is important because dogs hear a lot of human speech that has no relevance for them at all, and it is easy for them to disregard commands amongst the babble.

To reinforce the command, the dog always gets some kind of reward or reinforcement (praise and usually a treat or toy) when it performs the action correctly. This helps the dog to understand that he has done a good thing.

Note that not all dogs are trained to voice command. Many working breeds of dog are not trained to a voice command at all; they are taught to obey a combination of whistles and hand signals. Deaf dogs are perfectly capable of learning to obey visual signals alone. Many obedience classes teach hand signals for common commands in addition to voice signals; these signals can be useful in quiet situations, at a distance, and in advanced obedience competitions.

The specific command words are not important, although common words in English include sit, down, come, and stay. Short, clear words that are easily understood by other humans are generally recommended; that way, people will understand what a handler is telling his dog to do and other handlers have a good chance of controlling someone else’s dog if necessary. In fact, dogs can learn commands in any language or other communications medium, including whistles, mouth sounds, hand gestures, and so forth.

Thanks For Reading Hope This Will Help You

#dogtraining #dog train #training #pet training #golden retriever #labrador #pug #dog training tips #dog training tip

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orbemnews · 4 years ago

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Golf Homeownership Is Heating Up, Even Where You’d Least Expect it After several years of falling out of favor, golf homes are once again in high demand. According to Sotheby’s International Realty 2021 Luxury Outlook report, the pandemic has renewed interest in owning a golf home: sothebysrealty.com saw a 26 percent increase in golf property searches globally from January 2020 to February 2021, compared with the same period in 2019. Sales have also increased, says Philip A. White Jr., president of Sotheby’s International Realty and an avid golfer. “2020 was the year that golf homes became hot commodities,” he says. Golf homes became less popular before the pandemic because interest in the game had slowed and the market was oversaturated with golf properties, according to Doug Treadwell, the owner of Golf Life Properties, which sells golf homes in the United States to international buyers. The pattern reversed, he said, over the last year. Mr. Treadwell said that Golf Life Properties sold around $85 million in properties last year; in 2019, that number was $40 million. “Following five plus years of flat or declining sales, we did a 180,” he said. “Golf properties offer privacy and security, which is what home buyers want right now.” But rather than seek out established golf markets such as Naples, Fla., and Portugal’s Algarve region, buyers today are looking to emerging areas around the world with better values and fewer crowds. Here are five up-and-coming spots: Bend, Ore. About three hours southeast of Portland by car in central Oregon, the city of Bend has more than 30 golf courses within a 60-minute drive, including the prestigious Jack Nicklaus signature course at Pronghorn Resort. Several data points indicate that the area has become a highly desirable place to own a golf home in the wake of the pandemic: on sothebysrealty.com, searches for golf homes in Bend increased 71 percent from January 2020 to February 2021, while sales were up 53 percent. Cascade Lifestyle Group, part of Coldwell Banker Bain, saw $39 million of sales in Bend in 2020, compared with around $30 million the year before. “Our group has been inundated with buyers from Seattle, California, and even the U.K. ever since Covid,” said Catherine Scanland, a broker at Cascade Lifestyle Group. Many of the golf courses in the region are within luxury, amenity-rich communities, she said, where the average price of a home is around $1.5 million. Tetherow Resort and Golf Course and Crosswater Club are examples. Surrounded by the Cascade Range and dotted with lakes, Bend and the countryside around it are appealing to home buyers because of the sunny days and good weather for golfing most of the year. Outdoor enthusiasts also can enjoy other pursuits, such as skiing in winter and paddle-boarding, fly fishing and hiking when the weather is warmer. Loire Valley, France France isn’t known for golf, but the Loire Valley is fast changing that, said Mr. White, of Sotheby’s International Realty. A two-and-a-half-hour drive from Paris, the region was where French royalty summered in their castles and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its beauty and cultural landscape. There are 15 courses in Loire, said Grégory Thouzé, an agent with Bretagne Sud Sotheby’s International Realty, in France, and many are near golf estates or within communities. Golf International Barriere La Baule, with three courses spanning 540 acres, a driving range and a putting green, is the largest. Another option is Les Bordes Golf Club, which has two courses and is expected to open a third in July designed by the American golf course architect Gil Hanse; all are surrounded by forests. The club introduced real estate in 2020 with 48 homes ranging in size from two to seven bedrooms and with prices starting at around $1 million; 48 more residences will debut this fall. A spokeswoman for the property, Kerry McClinton-King, said that most buyers were from Britain, the Netherlands and the United States. The Loire is an attractive area to own a golf home, said Mr. White, because of its proximity to Paris and the availability of diversions beyond golf. “You have a lot of history and great wine country,” he said. Slovakia Located in Central Europe, Slovakia is among the hottest emerging destinations for golf in the world, according to Michael Valdes, the president of eXp Realty. “With its strong infrastructure and beautiful, mountainous landscape, the country is designed for great golf and with that, comes the burgeoning popularity of golf homes,” he said. Slovakia has 28 courses, said Ivan Micko, the publisher and editor in chief of the Slovakia golf lifestyle magazine Golf Revue, and several have a real estate component. Penati Golf Resort, for example, which is surrounded by pine forests and lakes, is in a village with contemporary golf homes. Then, about a 30-minute drive from the capital city of Bratislava, there’s Green Resort Hrubá Borša with more than 250 new homes. One of the courses that gets the most international attention is the 27-hole Black Stork, situated at the foothills of the Tatra Mountains in Vel’ká Lomnica, a village with more than 50 parcels of land where golf homes are being built. Mr. Micko said that most golf property buyers in Slovakia were either locals or from Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic. Cape Winelands, South Africa Popular with tourists for its wineries and thriving culinary scene, South Africa’s Cape Winelands region, around 45 minutes east of Cape Town, is lately also becoming known as a prime golf destination as well. Maria De Villiers, the owner of Chas Everitt Winelands, a brokerage that sells real estate in the area, said that there are five high-end golf estates here including Devonvale Golf Estate, outside Stellenbosch, and Boschenmeer Golf Estate, in Paarl. On top of world-class golf, all offer an array of amenities such as swimming pools, restaurants, gyms, a lineup of fitness classes and meeting rooms. “You have amenities equivalent to a luxury resort, but these estates are very spread out, so you get a rural feel,” Ms. De Villiers said. De Zalze Winelands Golf Estate, in Stellenbosch, for one, has a course designed by the renowned Zimbabwean golf architect Peter Matkovich and offers mountain biking, running trails and three restaurants. The development is set on a working farm with olive groves, nearly 300 acres of vineyards and a wetlands area with wildlife including birds and fish. The Winelands see a growing number of international golf home buyers, according to Ms. De Villiers. “They come from Europe and spend their winter, which is our summer, working remotely,” she said. Real estate in South Africa is inexpensive for these homeowners, compared with prices in Europe. For $500,000, Ms. De Villiers said that prospective buyers can find a 3,000-square-foot, four-bedroom property — possibly with a pool — in a luxury estate. Nashville The Nashville area is seeing a steadily growing market for golf properties, according to Mr. White, and has two well-established luxury golf communities: the Governors Club, with an Arnold Palmer signature course, and the Grove, an 1,100-acre development with a Greg Norman signature course. Both communities have a lengthy list of amenities, including fitness centers, spas, pools and restaurants, and are increasingly drawing in buyers from out-of-state who want to own a golf property in Tennessee because it has no state income tax. Many of the latest buyers are from California. “Nashville specifically is appealing because you have such a great restaurant and music scene,” Mr. White said. “And in addition to golf, there is great horseback riding.” With its vast countryside to accommodate scenic, spread out courses and temperate climate most of the year, Nashville is also an ideal locale for golf. The value for the money adds to the appeal. Mr. White said that buyers could find a luxury home for a significantly lower price than they would for a comparable property in a more popular golf spot such as Palm Beach, Fla. The latest addition to the area’s golf lineup is Discovery Land Company’s Troubadour Golf & Field Club, an 860-acre estate about a half-hour from downtown Nashville with a Tom Fazio-designed course and sites for 369 homes. Amenities include fishing and kayaking, horseback riding, a game room and craft studio for children and a recording studio. Source link Orbem News #Expect #golf #Heating #homeownership #Youd

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hymn2000 · 5 years ago

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Ideal Confusion - MCU AU Fanfic - C15

(Title subject to change)

Story summary: Giving into the constant pressure from the press, Tony decides to put a rest to the rumours that Peter is his biological son - once and for all.

Previous Chapter(s): 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Part of my Frostiron and Spiderson series.

Warnings/themes: family, family stuff, family conflict, adoption, DNA test(s), pressure, peer pressure, social issues, mentions of alcoholism, mental health problems, potentially some minor medical inaccuracies, corporal punishment, hurt/comfort

You can also find me on AO3

Chapter 15 - A Heart Has Many Secrets

Getting ready for school the next morning felt incredibly strange; almost foreign. Getting up early hadn’t been easy. He didn’t have an appetite, which nearly led to a bit of a ding-dong with Loki, who was very insistent he needed to eat anyway. And, as if tensions weren’t high enough, Loki broke the news that he had to go to work so wouldn’t be able to take him to school.

Peter wasn’t happy being in the car with Tony, and he made his feelings very clear. He’d become very good at keeping silent since becoming a member of the Stark household. Tony wouldn’t be deterred though, and kept talking, offering unwanted advice, reassurance, and generally chatting away as though he were actually getting an answer from the teen beside him.

Peter tried to dive out of the car as soon as they parked, but Tony grabbed his arm.

“Hey” he said. “Come here”

Tony hugged him, and Peter pulled away furiously. Tony kept hold of his arm a moment longer.

“Be good, sweetheart. I’ll see you after school”

Peter scowled, and Tony reluctantly released him. Peter took great pleasure in slamming the car door behind him. Oddly, as he walked towards the main building, he didn’t feel as though he’d been away all that long. He didn’t feel nervous either. In fact, he felt quite calm; although he was certain he could see huge changes on the horizon - far above what he could imagine.

Peter seemed to have inherited Loki’s flare for a low-key but poignant entrance. Oddly, as he walked into his form room, and was met by the shouts and voices of so many, he felt so free. In a way, he felt like a felon who was to be released while everyone else was left behind. Let’s be honest; he’d never quite managed to fit into this high-class school in the way everyone had hoped. And he didn’t care. He wasn’t sure how homeschooling was going to go, but he felt so calm looking at everyone, that he was certain he wasn’t going to miss this.

Going to his music lesson after lunch was the only thing that almost made him change his mind about the school. He’d grown to be quite close to Mr James since starting private lessons. Mr James was so down to Earth, so unlike a lot of the other teachers, and so supportive of Peter’s playing, and always seemed impressed with all of his progress.

“It’s good to see you again, kiddo” he said, shutting the practice room door. “How have you been? I heard about what you did”

Peter shrugged noncommittally, but he looked a little embarrassed.

“Don’t worry” Mr James said, squeezing his shoulder. “I was a right little terror when I was a kid. When I was your age, I’d been expelled four times”

Peter looked at him.

“Yes, really! If someone hadn’t shoved a saxophone into my hands, I probably would’ve got expelled from the last school too! Incredible how much music can help you turn things around”

Peter nodded, sitting down at the piano, running his fingers along the keys.

“I don’t suppose you’ve had any chance to practice. I hope you’re not too rusty”

“I’ve got one at home now” Peter said, and then started slightly, surprising himself.

It surprised Mr James too. “Nice! I’ve gotta say, kiddo, I imagined your voice a lot different”

Peter could feel himself blushing, but Mr James just smiled.

“It’s nice to hear it. Now, fancy showing me what you’ve been working on?”

Peter swallowed, turning to the piano properly. He felt nervous now, and he was still surprised that his voice had jumped out. But maybe... maybe that meant he could perform properly here.

Maybe.

But he couldn’t think of what to say, and Mr James could see his hesitation.

“Why don’t you do something we were working on first?” he suggested. “Clair de lune?”

Slow, but long. A good way to ease in. Peter understood his choice. It had been a little while since he’d played anything classical. He watched Mr James find a page in a book and set it in front of Peter. He’d managed to pick up a few notes, but he didn’t really need them. He knew this track well enough; it was so popular.

It was nice playing it, though. Something so familiar, and calm, but somehow dramatic too. He didn’t feel like he was playing the music, but more like it was playing him; making his fingers glide almost effortlessly across the keys. He started feeling much more relaxed, much less nervous and embarrassed. Maybe he’d miss this. All these calm, practice room moments...

“...That was perfect” Mr James said. “You’re incredible. I’ve never known someone learn so fast, and so well”

“Thank you...”

“You know, I do lessons outside of school. If you wanted to continue after you leave”

“I... I’d have to ask dad” Peter said, not quite looking at him, his voice small.

“What have you been working on?”

Peter shrugged slightly. He’d been playing a lot since getting the piano, mainly to drown out everything else that was happening. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to play. Maybe something fast, or something complex. Maybe...

“I’ve got one, but it’s kinda... long”

“That’s alright. So was the one we just played. If there’s anything you want to show me, just go ahead. This is your lesson, your learning, and your talent: you don’t have to let other people decide what you do with it”

Peter looked at him. He’d played strange and wonderful things to him before, and he trusted him - both his music judgement and personally.

Mr James listened, unsure if he recognised the tune at first, and then startling when Peter opened his mouth.

“You tell me there's an angel in your tree. Did he say he'd come to call on me? For things are getting desperate in our home, living in the parish of the restless folks I know”

Mr James watched him. He’d only just heard him speak, so finding out that he had a voice - and one like this - was a bit of a shock to say the least.

“Burn down the mission, if we're gonna stay alive. Watch the black smoke fly to heaven, see the red flame light the sky. Burn down the mission, burn it down to stay alive. It's our only chance of living, take all you need-”

And it carried on like that, with power and passion, and very few wobbles, and all too soon, voice and keys petered out, and the practice room was filled with a moments silence.

Mr James merely leaned closer. “What else have you got?”

Peter couldn’t help but grin, and he knew exactly what to play now. Something a bit tricky. But something he knew well enough after all the times he’d played it.

"-But where were all your shoulders when we cried? Were the darlings on the sideline, dreaming up such cherished lies? To whisper in your ear before you die”

Something that had started as a way to show off a bit soon turned into something to enjoy, and in his usual fashion, he got sucked into the music deeply. He wasn’t even distracted by Mr James gently correcting his posture as he played.

“Junk.., angel.., this closet's always stacked. The dealers in the basement, fillin’ your prescription for a brand new heart attack. But where were all your shoulders when we cried? Were the doctors in attendance saying how they felt so sick inside, or was it just the scalpel blade that lied?”

Peter shivered, but he didn’t miss a note. He didn’t let up, hardly even opened his eyes, until he’d tapped out the last few notes.

Once again, there was a moments silence. Peter looked at Mr James, biting his lip nervously. The man looked back, and smiled.

“You’re a special case, Peter Parker-Stark” he said. “You should sign up for the end of term show”

“I don’t know...”

“Well I do, and I think it’s a great idea. You don’t have to sing, but you should definitely play and show everyone what you can do. Go out with a bang”

Peter was ready to tell Loki all about his day, so he was pretty furious when Tony turned up to collect him at the end of school. Luckily, Tony was on a work call, which eliminated any awkward one-sided conversation. He was still on the call when they got home, so Peter wasted no time in getting out of the car and darting upstairs. He rushed to Loki’s room, but stopped outside, hearing voices.

“...As long as there’s a decent school within walking distance, that area would work well” Loki was saying. “What are the public transport links like? I had a hire car so...”

Peter stayed quiet, pressing his ear up against the door. What on earth was he talking about? He must be on the phone, but who to? All this talk of schools and transport and amenities. It was almost as though-

“PETER!”

Peter jumped so violently he smacked his head on the door frame.

“Ow!”

“Serves you right” Tony said. “What are you doing, eavesdropping like that?”

“Daddy’s on the phone” Peter mumbled, rubbing his head.

“I’ll ask you again: what are you doing, eavesdropping like that?”

“Being nosy, I guess”

“Come here”

Peter looked at Tony properly, remembered he was supposed to be giving him the silent treatment, and scowled, annoyed at both of them. Tony sighed, deciding he had better things to do than argue.

“Go and get changed. Now”

Peter didn’t really have a choice, not with Tony watching. He shut his door behind him, throwing his bag down and pulling his tie off. Typical of Tony to sneak in undetected at such a crucial moment. Tragically, there was an en-suite and a cupboard between Peter’s room and Loki’s, so he couldn’t even listen through the wall. He’d have to get his answers some other time.

Peter got changed, checked the coast was clear, and snuck back over to Loki’s door. Loki was still on the phone, although the conversation seemed to be coming to an end.

“-Like I said, it’s still just an idea. It’s good to have all the fact first though. Sorry...? Yes, of course... Thanks again, chick. Talk to you soon. Bye now”

Everything went quiet, and Peter stood where he was, even more confused than before. Loki only called people he cared about ‘chick’. Who could he be talking to?

As he was considering the options, Loki’s door opened, making Peter jump. They looked at each other.

“Hello, you” Loki said, closing his door behind him.

Something was off here, Peter knew it. “Who were you talking to?”

“Maggie, one of the ladies I worked with in Scotland. You know, I told you about her?”

Peter nodded slightly. He’d heard a lot of stories about Loki’s time in Scotland after he’d got back from his sabbatical. He used to talk about it a lot, but he hadn’t heard him mention it much lately. Although... he’d been looking at houses for sale, hadn’t he?

“Peter? Are you listening to me?”

“Huh?” Peter shook his head slightly. “Sorry”

“Never mind, sweetheart” Loki said, kissing him on the forehead. “Do you want a hot drink while I’m making one?”

Peter shook his head. He watched Loki go, and then looked back at the door. If Loki was just making a drink, he usually just left his door open. Peter knew that he was being overly suspicious, but he wanted answers. So he opened the door and slipped into Loki’s room.

Loki’s tablet was on the bed. Peter tapped the screen, hoping it had only just timed out. No such luck: it wanted a password. Well, Peter knew a lot of Tony’s passwords, but he’d never managed to guess any of Loki’s - aside from his phone password. Peter abandoned the tablet and picked up Loki’s phone. He tapped in the pin he remembered - and the phone opened. He sat on the bed, looking through the phone. Loki hadn’t lied; his last call had been to Maggie. More than an hour, it had been. He looked through the notes on the phone. Most of it was the usual stuff: extra shifts, household tasks, ongoing shopping lists, something about Tony’s prescription, and then something titled ‘Peter’.

Peter looked up, checking the door, and then clicked on the note. It was another list: School, Room, Tech, Piano, Swimming?, Music, Drama?, Routine. Bike???

Peter looked at the list, confused. He had absolutely no idea what was going on here. What was the thought process? He closed the notes, glanced up, and spotted a notebook, just the corner poking out from under the pillow. He picked it up. It looked old, with curled corners and a well-thumbed front cover. He opened it, finding more notes - but this looked more professional, and upon closer inspection, he suddenly knew what it was. This was Loki’s old notebook from when he’d been working in Scotland; notes on the kids he was helping look after, everything from history to medical appointments to nighttime routines. Why would he be looking at his again? Nostalgia? But, if it was just nostalgia, why would he be hiding it? He liked talking about it; they were used to it in this house now. So why the secrecy? Or was Peter just being paranoid?

He put the notebook back, and picked up Loki’s phone again, opening his recent texts. There wasn’t much. Nothing to people in Scotland, anyway. He opened his latest texts to Tony. ‘Back at 3 x” read the last one. Above that wasn’t really much of interest. Lots of saying when they’d be back, asking if the other needed anything, quick ‘I love you’ texts, that kind of thing. But when he went back further, he found what looked like an argument, and he clicked the back button, sharpish. He knew his parents argued sometimes, but he didn’t like thinking about it. He sighed, and put the phone down. He was just being silly.

He stood up, and something crackled beneath his foot. He crouched down, taking hold of the folder. It was a new one, evidenced by the price sticker still in place. He opened it, surprised at how thick it felt, and surprised even further by what he found inside. All of a sudden he felt a bit sick, and hot, and on high alert; his pulse beating in his ears. He took the papers out of the folder, looking through them properly. Job adverts, some of them. Information about residency and citizenship and things like that. And property listings. Lots of them, with notes and bullet points written on them in Loki’s familiar scrawl. He swallowed hard, trying to focus on the words - and then the door opened. Peter jumped, and gasped a little, looking at his father.

Loki carefully set his mug of tea down on the nearest cabinet. Peter couldn’t move, only watch, as Loki came over to him.

“And what” Loki said, dangerously quiet. “Do you think you’re doing?”

“I-I-I was just-” his hands were shaking, and he dropped everything. “Ah! I- Sorry!”

He went to pick everything up, but Loki put a hand out, stopping him. Peter stayed as still as he could while Loki gathered everything and put it back in its folder. Loki stood up, dragging Peter to his feet too. He left him stood there and put the folder into the little lockable filing cabinet by the desk.

“Daddy, I-”

“Not a word” Loki said. “I know exactly what you were doing”

He picked up his phone off the bed, opening it and clicking the button to see the recently viewed items. Peter had definitely taken leave of his senses, leaving everything out in the open like this.

“I-I’m gonna go” Peter tried.

“No, I think not” Loki said. He held a hand up, and the door slammed shut.

Peter swallowed hard. Loki hadn’t looked at him properly since he’d walked in, and Peter’s senses were screaming at him. He wished he’d just left everything alone.

“You came into my room without permission” Loki started, setting his phone down on his bedside table. “You go through my personal files, y-”

“Why have you got all that stuff? Is that from when you were in Scotland before? Were you gonna stay a lot longer?”

“Peter, do you really think that’s important?”

“...Is that a yes?”

Loki looked at him. “You try to get into my tablet. You get into my phone, you look at my private notes and messages”

“Not all of them!”

“Found your tongue, I see” Loki said. “You went through my things, you came in here without permission, you’ve invaded my privacy and you’ve betrayed my trust in you”

“I-I didn’t mean to! I just heard you on the phone and I thought something might be wrong and I wanted to find out what”

“And you didn’t think to just ask me?”

Peter stopped, and he felt himself blush.

“I’m really not happy with you, young man”

Peter looked down, shuffling on his feet. “...Am I in trouble?”

“YES, you’re in trouble!” Loki snapped, making the boy jump. “If you’d listened instead of interrupting, you’d know why. Although, judging by your face when I caught you red-handed, you already know why. You know you’ve done wrong”

“Mm... I didn’t mean to”

“What did you think would be the outcome, if you came in here and started going through my things without permission, and got caught? Did you stop to consider that?”

“Well...”

Loki folded his arms over his chest. Peter took a step back, and dared look at his father, at the look in his eyes, and the slight tremble of his left arm.

“I’m sorry”

Loki didn’t say anything. He sat down on the bed, resting his head in his hand.

“...Daddy?”

Loki stayed quiet, thinking. Was he right to be this angry? Was it really as bad as he though it was? Had any real harm actually been done? What should he do? Punish the boy in the way his first, second, and third instincts were telling him to? Let him go without consequence? Risk him doing it again, and maybe finding more? He’d found so much in eight minutes. How much could he find in an hour? He might even reach the right conclusion if he had long enough.

“Get my tea”

Peter did as he was told, surprised by the request, but still cautious. He watched Loki sip his drink and sit up a little straighter. It looked like he was calmer, like he was relenting. For a moment they looked at each other, and just when it looked as though Loki was about to say something, there was a knock, and the door opened.

“Hey, a- oh, you’re both here” Tony said. “What’s going on?”

Loki sighed. “I found him going through my phone and private things”

“What?!” Tony marched over, the look on his face bringing a new meaning to Hell Hath No Fury. “How DARE you?!”

“I-”

“No, don’t interrupt!” Tony snapped, making him face him properly. “You shouldn’t have been in here without permission anyway! How dare you betray our trust like this? Why I-”

Loki watched them, feeling absent. He watched the way Tony spoke to Peter. The way he snapped at him. And then the way he shouted at him. He looked at his hand on the boys wrist, keeping him there. He watched the way Peter tried to shut down the situation, the way he tried to explain but kept getting cut off. He saw the look in the boys eyes.

“I’m sick to death of your behaviour! I never would have gotten away with acting like this, and neither are you”

Tony tugged the boy close and hit him hard. Peter’s squeak, the next smack, and the sound of the boy crying broke Loki out of his dazed state.

“Tony!”

“He’ll never learn if we don’t discipline him” Tony said through gritted teeth, bringing his hand down again.

“I’m sorry!!” Peter cried.

“There” Tony said. “You’ve had an apology now”

“He’s already apologised!”

Tony didn’t seem to be listening. Loki stood still for a moment, trying to think about things rationally. But another horrible smack, followed by the sight of his son howling and begging his father not to hurt him anymore was more than enough to make up his mind.

“Tony, stop it!” Loki grabbed Tony’s wrist. “You’re being too hard on him! It’s not that big a deal, and certainly not enough for you to be hurting him like this! Stop it now!!”

“He can take a few taps, Lolly” Tony said, but he let go of the boy.

Loki quickly moved Peter away from Tony, shielding him as he hugged him.

“Are you alright?! Be honest with me, honey”

Peter covered his mouth with his hand, keeping his eyes averted, sobbing. Loki hugged him tight, protectively, willing the boy to stop shaking. He glared at Tony over his shoulder.

“You’ve scared him, you bastard!” he all but shouted. “You can’t take out all your pent-up emotions on our little boy!”

“I’m not!” Tony protested. “I’m being a parent”

“You’re being a bully” Loki shot back. “Do you want him to go and live with Thor, is that it?”

“What are you going on about?”

“That’s what happened last time you didn’t think he was safe with you. If you don’t sort yourself out, he’ll have to go again”

“Lolly, darling, you’re tired. Let’s talk about this in the morning” Tony said awkwardly.

“No, let’s talk about it now” Loki said, sitting Peter down on the bed and turning to Tony properly. “I don’t care how much you want to deny it, we both know you’ve been horrible to Peter ever since you got those DNA test results”

“Are you surprised? It’s a lot to process!”

“I know it’s a lot to process! But that’s not a reason nor an excuse for you treating him so badly. I can’t be here all the time, and-”

“Loki, I’m not being horrible to him! He’s the one being a little nightmare!”

“He’s being fine!”

“He was going through your stuff!”

“And I was handling it! You didn’t need to barge in here and launch an attack, did you? You’ve hurt him multiple times since that appointment, and the scariest part is you seem to think it’s just discipline or something, or you’re just a very good actor. You can’t seem to see that there’s a difference between a firm smack and an absolute wallop like you’ve been dolling out”

“I haven’t been that harsh!” Tony insisted. “...Have I?”

“Who in their right mind would react to those results the way you have? Thank god our kid is the only one, if this is how you are”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You talked to that Asgard man?” Peter piped up nervously.

“Yes, I did, sweetheart, even though it put me at risk of bumping into all the other bastards up there, because you asked me to, and you needed to know. And so did I”

“...He’s really the only one?” Tony said, suddenly a lot calmer.

“Yes, and I’m bloody glad of it too, and not in the least because you’ve reacted so badly to this that I’m not sure I even trust you around him right now”

Tony didn’t say anything, but he looked shame-faced. Loki didn’t look any happier for it.

“You need to face up to this and start acting like a proper dad again. Your denial is doing no one any good, and your way of ‘processing’ your emotions is damaging us. But it’s starting to seem more and more unlikely that you’re ever going to accept this new reality, unless you’re forced to” he said. “And maybe doing that is a good idea”

Loki picked up his phone, checking the time. It was still fairly early. Good.

“What are you doing?” Tony said.

“Making you face up to this”

“You can’t do that!”

“Watch me”

Peter flinched at the struggle that followed. Part of him wanted to jump in and make it stop, but he felt like he’d already caused enough trouble for one day. Tony was no match for Loki anyway. Peter looked at them. Tony had ended up on his back, hands trapped by his sides, with Loki sat on top of him with one hand holding his phone, and the other over Tony’s mouth. Something about it seemed to be evidence of truce - or at least, something close to it.

“Hello, Marco, my love” Loki said. “Have you got a pen? Perfect. I’ve got a little something for our press release”

Tony tried to struggle and get Loki to stop, unsuccessfully. He looked over at Peter for help. Peter knew what that look meant, but there was no way he was going to jump to Tony’s aid, not after how hard he’d hit him. He flopped against Loki’s pillows and hid his face so Tony couldn’t throw any more signals at him.

“Word for word, darling, promise me that now. You can choose a little opening if need be, mind” Loki was saying. “Everything ready? Beautiful. So, this is what I was thinking” Loki cleared his throat. “Due to recent findings in our personal lives, my husband decided to carry out a paternity test on himself and our son, under the guidance of our General Practitioner. Having now had time to process the results, we are happy to announce to the general public the wonderful coincidence that our son, Peter, is also my husband Tony’s biological son. While shocked by the discovery, we still remain the same family of equal parents and child. We will not be available for interview and ask that our families privacy be respected during this time”

“Nice... Nice, beautiful” Peter heard Marco saying over the phone. “Great! Tony got anything to add?”

Loki paused, his hand still over Tony’s mouth. “Tony Stark is not available for comment”

#my writing #fanfiction #mcu fanfiction #marvel fanfiction #irondad and spiderson #frostiron #it's 5am but I write so seldom nowadays that keeping up with a writers kick literally means monthly all nighters #so here's an update!!! fucking finally

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mako-lies · 7 years ago

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I wrote a fic for @ignoctweek ! The prompt was Pressed Flower. You can read it here or on AO3.

Title: promise Rating: T Notes: This work contains allusions to an unspecified mental illness. Mentioned Luna/Noct or Luna & Noct, however you’d like to read it. Takes place in this universe.

It’s merely a passing fancy that catches him so off-guard that he indulges. Ignis purchases flowers from the supermarket.

The cosmos are lovely—vibrant purple blooms, surrounded by clusters of small white flowers that are delicate as lace. They smell divine—a soft, non-cloying scent—perhaps he’ll have to see if they make candles or soap with it.

If he has time, he chides himself. He has already wasted more than enough of it on this venture.

The flowers moulder on his coffee table for nearly a week, beside the photo books that Prompto recommended him. His apartment, while tidy and not wanting for any comfort, is not where he spends his time. Naturally, his days are spent in the Citadel or Noctis’s apartment. On rare occasion, he finds time to go out.

But his apartment is more a place to sleep, when he doesn’t have more pressing concerns elsewhere. (And when he doesn’t fall asleep on the overstuffed couch in his Citadel office.)

Ignis considers moving his flowers to said office, but they’ve already begun to dry and last time he bought flowers for his office, Gladio had teased him about some “admirer” until Ignis had finally given them to one of the elderly Citadel cooks. Gladio had apologized later, shame-faced, and Ignis hadn’t been above accepting his bribe of Ebony.

So he leaves the flowers at home, but the problem remains on his mind.

Waiting outside of the locker rooms for Noctis, Ignis finds himself looking at “do it yourself” articles about what to do with cut flowers. He has never been one to leave a problem unsolved, after all.

Of course, pressing them is a classic suggestion, one that is amenable enough.

It has little practical purpose, but surely he is permitted his moments of frivolity? So long as no one can witness them, of course.

Pressing flowers, as far as flights of fancy go, is simple enough with the myriad articles he finds on the subject. Seven days later, his flowers come out from between the waxed-lined pages of The Tenebraen Encyclopedia, 7th Edition.

They turn out… decently. Some of the blooms are twisted, like he didn’t get them perfectly on their faces, but most have retained their color and their shape. Two of the seven flowers he pressed he would even consider ideal. Lovely.

But even in their loveliness, they raise a new conundrum: what to do with them?

“Now I have pressed flowers that I don’t know what to do with.” He adjusts his glasses for want of something to do with his hands. “I know, of course, that I didn’t have to do anything with the flowers save enjoy them. It simply seemed a shame to throw them out without enjoying them.”

Avery, his counselor, scratches their beard. For a moment, he’s worried they’ll rehash the old—you should spend less time working—conversation. The one that they’ve been having since His Majesty began insisting Ignis attend therapy, shortly after his breakdown following his acceptance into the Crownsguard.

“Must you do something with them? Can it not be enough to have them and enjoy them?” They look at him sharply from over the rim of their glasses, a trick Ignis reminds himself to master for when Noctis won’t eat his vegetables, however cleverly masked.

He supposes—except he can easily imagine himself storing them away and creating clutter.

“I know that look. Very well. Could you give them to someone else?” they ask.

“Some aren’t perfect…” he trails off as Avery gives him another over-the-rim stare. “I’ll try.”

“Good. That’s your homework before next session. Either gift them to someone else, or content yourself with enjoying them.” It seems an easy enough task, but Ignis knows it may well prove to be the most difficult thing he does all week. Including attending the Councilor’s Banquet on Wednesday evening.

Gladio, with his blooming love of the outdoors, is the obvious choice, but, as it always does, it comes back to Noct.

Noct is curled up on the couch of his apartment, clutching the notebook he shares with Lady Lunafreya. His mouth is pursed in thought, hair in it’s typical unkempt style, and he surveys the spread of stickers on his coffee table. Unfortunately, in creating the table space, he’s tossed all his books and video games and comics onto the floor under the table. Ignis itches to clean it, but Avery has suggested he attempt to clean Noct’s apartment less, unless it’s absolutely dire.

He wants to say this is dire, but he’s seen worse. Trash piled to the ceiling. Spilled juice left to mold on the counter. Laundry covering his bed, forcing Noctis to sleep on top of the mountain. He can see it all in his mind’s eye so clearly.

Ignis blinks back to himself as Noctis says, “I need to find new stickers, Specs. The ones I’ve got are lame.”

Bollocks. They are going to spend another series of weeks combing Etsy for new stickers. He’ll need to make inquiries to all the speciality stationary shops in the city. A headache begins forming behind his eyes. Finding stickers is one thing, but finding stickers Noct will consider fit enough for the captive princess… Even Ignis’s training and skills aren’t always up to thattask.

Noct sets aside a holographic skull sticker that Gladio had found in some Indie Music shop. He sighs. Ignis has flashbacks of Noctis spreading a store’s entire selection of stickers over the floor and searching for hours as Ignis’s phone erupted with notification after notification as Gladio live texted a council meeting he’d gone to in Ignis’s stead.

Finding stickers is no simple matter. Ignis sweated into his undershirt, risking sweating through to his dress shirt, when he remembers the flowers with all the desperation of a man holding to the final rock before the plunge of a waterfall.

Pressed as they are, the flowers could easily be inserted into the journal. “I have,” his voice rasps, and he clears it, “I have freshly pressed flowers that might just do the trick.”

“Flowers? Isn’t that Gladio’s schtick?” Noctis asks, picking up a glitzy unicorn sticker and tossing it back into the pile just as quickly.

“Last I had heard, his doctor was checking him for allergies. And I assure you, I find flowers quite pleasant.”

Noctis looks up, frown tugging at his mouth. “Allergies? Oh, he’ll love that. Explains all the sneezing, though.” Then he laughs. “Sure, I guess. I’ll send ‘em to Luna. But when did you start pressing flowers, anyway?”

“Last week. I’ll bring them tomorrow.”

The smile he’s graced with, all but gleaming, shines like the promise of stars Ignis has always dreamed of seeing. His uncle says that he saw them as a child, in Tenebrae before Mother shipped him to his Grandmother in Altissia. But he can recall the stars as well as he can recall his mother’s face, which is to say, not at all.

A pang. He wishes the flowers were perfect. If Noctis is picky about stickers, how will he see Ignis’s first attempts at flower pressing? But Noctis has been—accepting, if not patient—of Ignis’s failures in the past. No matter how many times he fails in making the Tenebraen desert, Noctis still eats them all. Perhaps he will accept the flowers, too, even if he cannot bear to send them to Lady Lunafreya.

Despair claws at his stomach with raptor claws, before he reminds himself—he needn’t be perfect. He cannot be. And striving will only make him a friendless killjoy. He smiles at Noct, and means it, even if he remains unsure whether his face demonstrates that same sentiment. “Well, at the least, it shall give you an extra day to write a fitting message to Lady Lunafreya.”

Noctis flushes, a pleasant pink in his cheeks, and bends once more to his task, fringe hiding his dear eyes. That fond longing wells up, as it ever does. Yes. The pressed flowers will be a (hopefully) wonderful gift.

The following day, Ignis sifts through his flowers and finds that three of the seven are fine enough to give. The others have folded petals that are more than unsightly. But those three are near perfect.

He is maybe less than subtle in placing the flowers between the pages of A Brief History of Economic Relations Between Lucis and Accordo, which is not even remotely brief, but is important nonetheless.

Noctis stares at it open-mouthed upon its presentation. He groans. “Seriously, Specs? I’ve got tests coming up. I thought we agreed—no more extra work before tests...” He tentatively cracks open the book like his doom is contained in the dry tome, then he stops at the sight of the flowers. “Oh, wow, Specs. They’re—pretty. Luna’s gonna love ‘em.” He turns that smile on Ignis again, and Ignis alights with it.

Enough that he wonders what lengths he would go to, to ensure that Noctis will continue to smile?

“Do I have to read the book?” Noctis asks, curious fingers gentle on the petals.

“Not now. But you should try to read most of it before you change classes in April.” Dry though it is, it is an important topic for Noctis to know before he becomes King. Though they all hope the day will be far off, the reality is is that His Majesty appears weaker with each passing day.

“Expensive flowers, but thanks. I’ll start working through it after I finish my tests.”

“Good. I’ll help you study. Let’s take a look,” he says, and guides Noctis to the couch.

They settle together, Noctis pressed up warm and soft to his side, and they go over his textbooks, and Ignis never wants this moment to end. The future will come, but oh, how he wishes it wouldn’t.

Ignis doesn’t see Noctis put the flowers into the journal, but with how closely he guards it, it’s no surprise. So he puts it out of mind—and nearly forgets the entire matter, save for those instances when he sees beautiful flowers he could press, that draw him in as though he’s a starving butterfly. But he refrains, in stunning feats of will-power.

Except a year later, shortly after Noct finishes high school, Ignis is helping him go over a new set of trade proposals with Altissia. Noctis frowns at the notes he’s been taking. “My journal is out of space. Mind grabbing me an empty one from the drawer?” Noct asks, gesturing at his desk without looking up.

Ignis makes it a point not to go through Noctis’s drawers, even when cleaning for him.

Privacy is in short supply for the monarchy, and Ignis is driven to preserving as much as it as he can. Not going through Noctis’s things is small, but it is still of vital import.

The drawer is a jumble—pens and notebooks and stickers and what looks suspiciously like his bank book. “Which journal would you like?”

“Blue one.”

There’s a blue satin bound notebook. Purple glittering stars are painted on the covers. It’s lovely, and very Noctis. That boy does love his stationary.

Ignis flips it open to check the paper composition (and to ensure it’s blank, of course) and something falls out of the pages. He bends to pick it up off the floor, and stops when he sees familiar purple blooms. The flowers that he gave to Noct. He didn’t give them to Lady Lunafreya after all.

Were they not sufficient? “Noct… Are these the flowers I gave you?” The words can barely escape his suddenly closed throat.

Noctis looks up. Then looks away again. “Oh. Yeah. They were really nice. So… I kept them. Are you mad?”

“Mad?” He puts the flowers back into the journal, with gentle but trembling hands. Is it true? Did Noctis keep them because he wanted them, more than he wanted something to give the princess? “No. Of course not.”

That Noctis thought them so fine a gift he had to keep them… If that’s the case… “Why keep them? I didn’t think you overfond of flowers.”

“They’re really nice, Iggy. I usually keep the things you get me… It’s—they always remind me of you.” Noctis shuffles through the reports in his hands, but he fixes his endless blue gaze on Ignis.

“Well, then—I must say I’m glad. That you’ve cherished my gifts.”

Something is blooming between them, something with that same sweetness of the flowers. Noctis sets aside the papers and approaches. He stalls—time suspended between them, some tension born of potential. Ignis holds the journal and the flowers. Noctis smiles, so beautiful and reassuring, Ignis’s hands sweat in the second skin of his gloves—Noctis puts his hand on Ignis’s shoulder, touch bright and searing even through his dress shirt, vest, and his undershirt. His skin heats with awareness, that heady sweetness cloying in the air between them, till Ignis fears he will become drunk on this attention. Ignis knows he shouldn’t respond so, but he cannot stop.

As ever, he will gladly drink up whatever affection Noctis will give. “Thanks, Iggy,” Noctis says, as soft and soothing as lavender. “Think you could make me some more?”

“I’ll get you flowers any time you’d like,” Ignis promises.

“And I’ll keep them all. Fill my apartment up with them,” and Noctis seals his own vow with a pointed kiss on Ignis’s cheek.

Alight. Joy bursting at the seams where Ignis had stitched himself back together, painstakingly over the years. Filled where once there was but empty sorrow.

He did have his eye on some pansies at the market. Anticipation curls within his gut, sweet as anything. Something to look forward to, as he dazedly hands Noctis both the flowers and the journal.

Ignis has a whole library. He can fill the pages with flowers for Noct, and it will never match his care or devotion. “I’d best get started then.”

“Hold your chocobos,” Noctis laughs, sitting back down. “Help me with this, first, Specs.”

And, beaming, Ignis does.

#ignoctweek #ignoct #ignis scientia #noctis lucis caelum #my fic #within the ruin verse #ignis #noctis #lololol this is more character study than anything else #can you believe #this is the first time i've written ignis pov?

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travelonlinetipsofficial · 4 years ago

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Family Friendly Hotels in Paris: Family Friendly Hotel Reviews: 10Best

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Family Friendly Hotels in Paris: Family Friendly Hotel Reviews: 10Best

Traveling with the family is what memories are made of. True ? To help make sure that those memories are good ones, I’ve put together this list of family friendly Paris hotels which includes iconic properties like Hotel Lutetia, Hotel du Jeu de Paume on the Ile St. Louis and the sport motif Molitor Hotel. These will get you off on the right foot. Accommodations set the tone for your vacation experience, after all. Making sure that Mom, Dad and the kids are all comfortable and like the neighborhood goes a long way in assuring that the rest of the vacation will be smooth and stress-free.

Here you’ll find accommodations that offer a homey type of feel. A kitchenette and a living room are great for gathering the family together in the morning, for coffee and croissants or in the afternoon after a day of sightseeing and museums. Luxury hotels can also be a good way to go. Many of the best ones in the city have a sort of friendly competition with each other about who welcomes families the best, particularly making the kids feel as much like prized guests as their parents. If you’re not staying at a palace hotel, services such as babysitting may still be offered. Above all, I’ve kept to the city center (mostly) as that’s where the easy bus and metro lines are. Public transportation in Paris can be a fun game or sport for the kids. So be sure to get them on board !

If you’ve never had a chance to discover Ile St. Louis, it is a particular side of Paris within Paris. First of all, it is the oldest inhabited area of the city, and at one point was referred to as the ‘island of cows.’ That was centuries ago, though, before the aristocrats of the kings’ courts moved in and built their grand, stately mansions. Today, it is populated by tourists and locals alike. There are only a few hotels in this ‘heart of Paris’ neighborhood. This one, particularly, is a landmark, since it still houses the oldest tennis court known in Paris. Legend has it that even King Louis XIII used to come and play here.

Recommended for Family-Friendly Hotels because: This is the oldest – and last standing – ancient tennis court in Paris from King Louis XIII’s era.

Read more about Hotel du Jeu de Paume →

Photo courtesy of Relais Christine copyright

Enter into the world of this very French hotel, starting with its inviting garden courtyard, and you enter into a world where bespoke and custom-tailored are the guiding principles of your stay. For families traveling, the duplex rooms are a good option, as well as asking for one of the dozen of rooms that connect, creating family suites. The concierge here is full of ideas for activities with the kids, whether that’s suggesting a river cruise on the Seine or day excursions visiting Palais de la Découverte, Grande Galerie de l’Evolution, Jardin d’Acclimatation, La Villette, Jardin du Luxembourg and many other kid-friendly Paris places. For a very special experience, you might want to ask for the rooms that have exclusive access to their private garden. This is a great luxury in this location where you are in the heart of Saint-Germain-des-Prés.

Recommended for Family-Friendly Hotels because: Duplex rooms that connect and transform into family suites, make for a comfortable stay here in the heart of St. Germain-des-Prés.

Read more about Residence Des Arts →

The sparkling palace that is now part of The Set Hotels fleet, this Rive Gauche landmark is bustling and welcoming. It’s one of the few really luxurious properties on the Left Bank and its proximity to the iconic Le Bon Marche department store and its adjacent gourmet food shop extravaganza, Le Grand Epicerie, makes the setting not only central for shopping but practical, too. Nearby museums are the Musee d’Orsay and the Musee Bourdelle. And, of course, the Jardin du Luxembourg is just a short stroll away. This property is not just family/ kid friendly, it is also pet friendly. There are several on-site bars and the street-facing brasserie has once again become the place to meet in this trendy neighborhood, just as it was in decades past, before the recent head-to-toe renovations.

Recommended for Family-Friendly Hotels because: The Akasha Spa offers a haven of tranquility and a zone in which to refresh. It is the only one of its kind in France.

Read more about Hotel Lutetia, The Leading Hotels of the World →

A sleek cocoon with the comfort of a 5-star hotel, the MGallery Molitor (Accor) suites and rooms offer the experience of being somewhere other than in the city while still remaining in Paris. Molitor is a listed historical landmark and its legendary pools were quite the place to be for artists and avant-gardists in the 20s and 30s. There are six pool suites and two junior suites with terraces. The pool suites overlook the famous main feature of this property, which is the historical pools (there is one winter and one summer pool). Street art is a big thematic here and the property is festooned with it. You can book a ‘gallery tour’ of the changing cabins-cum-micro-galleries in the winter pool, a great afternoon activity with the kids. The evolving art installations that have been created for the hotel are for purchase, with all proceeds going directly to the artists.

Recommended for Family-Friendly Hotels because: Headquarters during the annual French Open, Molitor attracts all kinds of athletes year-round. The spa, pools and street art decor make it family friendly.

Read more about Hotel Molitor Paris – MGallery →

A dedicated butler sees to your every whim, round-the-clock, from the moment you check-in. Amenities also include one of Paris’s largest hotel swimming pools, which adjoins the one-of-a-kind Shiseido USpa. Upon arrival, children are gifted a treasure map to search for the hotel’s mascot, a ladybug (which, everyone knows, brings good luck). Dignified Luxury. This term refers to Fouquet’s Leading Green Certification ethics and its philosophy that the environment need not be abandoned in the quest for luxury. Step foot inside this historical icon located where the Avenue George V meets the Champs-Elysées and you would never guess that the sumptuous gold-and-velvet Jacques Garcia designs surrounding you are sustainably certified. Fouquet’s is synonymous with French film stars. Each year the winners of the Cesar’s, France’s “Oscar’s”, are féted here with a gala dinner. But back in horse-and-buggy days, it was simply the chosen watering hole of the Champs-Elysées carriage drivers.

Recommended for Family-Friendly Hotels because: There are always activities planned here for the kids – From special brunches to Mom-and-me spa treatments to treasure hunts for the hotel’s ladybug mascot.

Read more about Hotel Fouquet’s Barriere →

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techspeakerstechnologyspeakers · 4 years ago

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Selecting the Best Speaker

Speakers can add immeasurably to a gathering by motivating, entertaining, enlightening or teaching a skill. An inappropriate speaker, on the opposite hand, can cause disastrous results. Here's a glance at the way to find the proper speaker for your event and the way to figure with speakers to form sure their presentation - and your event - are a hit .

The key question is: How does a corporation choose? How are you able to make certain that you're going to get a speaker who is true for your organization? Start by asking yourself these questions: Why is that this meeting being held? What can we want the attendees to understand , think, or feel after this meeting? What issues or challenges are the attendees facing right now? Your answers should assist you narrow your search. And remember, much is at stake

. A speaker can, and sometimes will, set the tone for your meeting. Select poorly, and there is a robust chance your meeting will suffer. Attendees will long recall a speaker who bombed. there is a lot financially at stake, too; speakers don't come cheap, typically charging thousands of dollars for his or her services.

once more , the key's to understand your organization, know your circumstances, and know your audience. USING A SPEAKERS BUREAU A speakers bureau can assist you narrow your search right down to that one speaker who is ideal for your organization. Here's how: Knowing who's hot. A speakers bureau is on the phone with meeting planners all day long, reviewing speakers, hearing from planners about what speakers they've used, who was good, who wasn't. Bureaus know the speaker's capabilities. Wider Access.

Speakers bureaus have access to thousands of professional speakers, industry experts, and celebrities. Occasionally, a big-name celebrity will have exclusive management with a specific bureau, but that doesn't mean other bureaus aren't ready to book that celebrity. In such cases, the celebrity's bureau and therefore the bureau representing the meeting planner "co-broker" the deal.

Negotiating Fees. additionally to selecting appropriate speaker within a group's budget, the speakers bureau will negotiate the speaker's fee on behalf of the client - that's , if the fee is hospitable negotiation. The meeting planner's organization doesn't pay extra for the services of a speakers bureau; the bureau receives a percentage of the speaker's fee, very much like a agent is compensated for selling airline tickets. Finding Replacements.

One big advantage of employing a speakers bureau is that if a speaker cancels, even at the eleventh hour , the bureau will line up a replacement that meets the client's needs. SIZING UP POTENTIAL SPEAKERS The best thanks to assure that you are a quality speaker is to ascertain the speaker in action - or a minimum of the speaker's demo video and question meeting planners who have used the speaker. don't rely solely on the demo video, since a five-minute snippet isn't necessarily a sign of how well a speaker will perform.

Another approach is to out in least three meeting executives conversant in the potential speaker's work, and ask: Did the speaker skillfully customize the presentation? Did the speaker have an honest presentation technique, i.e., use anecdotes, examples, humor? Was the speaker easy to figure with, or did he/she make unreasonable requests? How did attendees rate the speaker? Would you employ the speaker again? Find out if the speaker holds the speaking industry's major designations: CSP (Certified Speaking Professional) or the CPAE (Council of Peers Award for Excellence).

The National Speakers Association confers both. The CSP signifies achievement through a proven record of speaking experience; the recipients have made a minimum number of paid presentations and earned a minimum number of continuous education credits. The CPAE is awarded to up to 5 NSA members annually for demonstrated platform experience and professionalism. FEES AND EXPENSES Basic Fees. Fees vary widely, starting from $1,000 to $50,000 or more. Luminaries like management guru Michael Porter, billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson and former president Clinton are on the high end.

Speakers are paid during a sort of ways but generally require a deposit - 50 percent is typical - at the time of booking, with the balance due shortly before the engagement or on site. Variations within the basic fee. confine mind that professional speakers - those that do that for a living - are likely to line their fees consistent with how long they'll be at your event. as an example , the speaker may need a keynote fee that covers one keynote speech of up to 90 minutes. If the speaker plans to try to to the keynote speech , speak at a break-out session, and maybe stay for the luncheon, he might charge a better fee.

Many professional speakers have half-day and full-day rates additionally to keynote fees. Travel and other costs. For the privilege of getting the speaker address your group, you pay the speaker's fee plus travel and accommodation costs (hotel and meals). A speaker's expenses typically start at $1,000 - or more if he or she is flying first-class. Negotiating fees. Are speakers fees carved in stone? No, fees are often negotiable, even those of a number of the highest tier speakers. In fact, you should not be too quick to simply accept the primary price you're quoted. do not be shy about negotiating. KEEPING COSTS DOWN Here are some ways to stay a lid on the value of hiring speakers: Who's local? search for speakers who are based within the city where you will be holding your event. Some speakers spend their entire lives on the road, and should welcome a gig on the brink of home. A Boston-based speaker could also be amenable to offering a deal on his rate so as to deal with your meeting in Boston. And, of course, you'll avoid travel and accommodation expenses.

Does he have something to sell? A speaker with a book or a video to sell could also be willing to simply accept a lower fee if allowed to peddle their wares at your event. Can you share costs with another group? ask the hotel or local convention and visitors bureau about other events scheduled an equivalent day. you'll "share" the services of the speaker - and thus share the value .

What else can a speaker do? attempt to get more bang for your buck by having the speaker agree, lets say, to attend a break-out session additionally to giving a serious talk. The speaker might be willing to try to to the break-out at little to understand additional cost. Offer video. If you propose to record the speaker's presentation, offer to supply extra copies of the video for the speaker's use. The speaker could also be willing to chop you a deal on the fee.

Call your Congressman. Approach speakers who don't accept fees - current officeholders, as an example . If you will be meeting, say, in and around Washington, D.C., a member of congress could speak on a legislative topic of interest to your group. THE SPEAKER'S CONTRACT Primarily, the contract should clearly lay out your expectations and therefore the speaker's. It should cover the following: Travel and native transportation arrangements.

Accommodations and meals. Fees and payment terms. Customization of remarks. Additional duties expected of the speaker, like mingling with attendees or signing autographs. Whether and the way the speaker will sell products such and books and DVDs. Agreements to record the speaker's presentation (in most cases, you will need permission to record).

Audiovisual and technical requirements. Cancellation policies. PREPPING YOUR SPEAKER You should thoroughly brief the speaker about your organization (i.e. goals, accomplishments, challenges), your organization's industry, and therefore the size and demographics of the audience. this is often particularly important if you're expecting the speaker to customize the presentation. Many celebrity speakers aren't amenable to customizing their remarks, but it's almost a given among most professional speakers.

At the very least, furnish the speaker with the foremost recent annual report, a printed history of your organization, any pertinent news clippings, and therefore the names of key people and specific industry buzzwords that you're going to want the speaker to include . You may also want to possess the speaker interview key members of your organization within the weeks before the event. But don't assume the speaker will do extensive preparation work for nothing. Sometimes, speakers will charge extra for customizing due to the research they need to try to to .

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essaycontestjudiciarybranchca409 · 5 years ago

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arplis · 5 years ago

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Arplis - News: Great lounge and service: a review of Swiss Air Lines’ business class on the 777

During the COVID-19 crisis, our team has temporarily ceased taking review trips and we are not publishing new flight or hotel reviews. While bringing our readers unbiased, detailed reviews of travel experiences is one of our core missions, now is not the time. We all love to travel and know you do too. So, to help keep you entertained — and maybe inspire you — we are republishing a selection of our most popular reviews from 2019 and 2020, including the one below. Hopefully, this will help you once we’re all ready to start booking trips again. TPG Rating 84 100 Pros Generous award space, a great business-class lounge and fast, friendly service. Cons Disappointing IFE and amenity kits, and the seat is tight around the legs and head. 8 Ground Experience 23 Cabin + Seat 11 Amenities + IFE 20 Food + Beverage 22 Service Last spring, I was assigned to check out the opening of the new Jewel at Changi airport in Singapore. There was only one problem: I was scheduled to be wrapping up a trip to Europe at that time. I decided to make Singapore a stop on my way home from London to Shanghai. Since I needed to travel on a fixed date, I looked for award space on Swiss’s 777-300ER which I’d been wanting to fly for years. I find the carrier to be one of the more generous around when it comes to business-class award space on many routes, and sure enough there was a seat available on the exact flight I needed. So was Swiss worth it? Read on to find out. In This Post Booking The cloud of United’s recent switch to dynamic award pricing has one silver lining: It serves as a reminder that the real value tends to lie in partner programs based outside the US. For this Star Alliance business-class award between Europe and South Asia, we had plenty of options to book, including the following programs: Air Canada (Aeroplan): 75,000 miles Avianca LifeMiles: 78,000 miles Singapore KrisFlyer: 92,000 miles United MileagePlus: 100,000 miles We opted to book via Aeroplan, paying 75,000 miles and about $300 in taxes and fees. Aeroplan is a great way to book Star Alliance awards, as it still maintains an award chart and is a 1:1 transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards, meaning that you could get close to earning the amount of miles needed for this 12+ hour flight just by signing up for a card like The Platinum Card® from American Express, which is currently offering a welcome bonus of 60,000 points after spending $5,000 within the first three months of card membership. Although Aeroplan typically charges more reasonable taxes and fees on Swiss award tickets (closer to $50), I’d be on the hook for the high UK Air Passenger Duty since my ticket was originating in London. Ground Experience TPG Rating 8/10 HB-JNF Tail 2.8yr Age 22:45 Departure 12h 10m Duration I started my morning at London City Airport (LCY) for the quick hop over to Zurich on an ERJ190. Intra-Europe business class usually consists of regular economy seats with an empty seat blocked off next to you. Upon landing, I headed for the E concourse, which is where most of the long-haul flights at Zurich depart, and where Swiss’ newest and nicest business-class lounge is located. Swiss actually has three lounges in this area — a first-class lounge, a Senator lounge and a business-class lounge. Since I don’t have any Star Alliance elite status, I was only able to use the business-class lounge. Star Alliance Gold elites and passengers traveling in Star Alliance first class (not on Swiss) can access the Senator lounge. Both the business and Senator lounges are located in the same area, one level up from the main concourse. The elevator doors opened to a large Breitling display, and I made a mental note of the time change for when I landed in Singapore. After handing my boarding pass to the agent at the desk I was pointed left to the business-class lounge. In order to use the Wi-Fi, you need to get a unique password from the desk, so I ended up having to come back out. This is very clearly signed inside the lounge, but there’s nothing by the entrance to explain this. The lounge itself featured a similar design aesthetic to the Swiss cabins — a lot of wood, and neutral colors with the occasional splash of red. The lounge was more or less deserted when I arrived around 1 pm, and it wouldn’t begin to fill up until evening. Even then, I never saw more than 50 passengers in the entire space and there was always plenty of seating. I decided to grab some lunch so I could settle in and get some work done during my ~10-hour layover. There was a salad bar with plenty of toppings but not enough base greens in my opinion (unless your ideal salad is corn+olives+dressing). I ended up opting for the live cooking station, which seemed to only have one option for lunch, a fried-fish fillet with a mustard sauce and some lemony potatoes. The food was delicious, though a bit heavier than what I was in the mood for. I would’ve liked more choices, but the fish was good. I ended up succumbing to the dessert bar and indulging in a few pieces of carrot cake. The lounge had a fairly well stocked self-serve bar … … as well as a number of wine/water/soft drink fridges scattered throughout. There was also a massive coffee and tea station. Thankfully, a server stopped me from trying to make a full glass of macchiato in a tiny mug. By far the best amenity of the lounge was the view from the outdoor terrace. The parade of long-haul aircraft arriving and departing under my nose made for some easy entertainment. The lounge even has free binoculars set up every 10 feet or so along the terrace, great for scoping out the planes on the far side of the airport or the Swiss Alps in the distance. And while we’re on the topic of views, this is about as good as it gets looking out from a bathroom. It was dark by the time my 10:45 pm flight began boarding, but during the day I got to watch plenty of Swiss 777-300ERs arriving and departing, stoking my anticipation. The lounge also featured a number of private daybeds for relaxing, though the room had the same floor-to-ceiling windows as the rest of the lounge. If you’re a light sleeper, you might want to bring an eye mask. There was also a business station with a number of computers. Despite the limited food options, this still ranks as one of my all-time favorite business-class lounges. The space was sleek without being ostentatious, the views were unbeatable, and I was able to pass a 10-hour layover without going stir-crazy. Cabin and Seat TPG Rating 23/25 1-2-2 Configuration 20.5 Width 2 Lavs Business class aboard Swiss’ 777-300ERs features about five different seat configurations, as the cabin alternates between a 1-2-2 and a 2-2-1 configuration. This means every row has one so-called “throne” seat alone by the windows, two seats in the middle, and a pair of seats on the other side of the plane. While these “throne” seats provide the most privacy and storage space, they cost about ~$200 to select in advance. Swiss Miles & More HON Circle and Senator elites can select them for free, and you may be able to select them online 24-48 hours before your flight. If you can’t get one of the most desirable seats, the next-best option is the seats in the center section. They alternate between being closer to the aisle and closer to the center, so if you’re traveling alone, you’ll want to aim for seat G in rows 5/6/8/10/12/15/17 and seat D in rows 4/7/9/11/14/16 (there’s no row 13 so it’s not as simple as picking even rows or odd rows). Couples or families traveling together should select any of the pairs — with the center section being the first choice — since you won’t need to climb over your sleeping companion when you need to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Our flight boarded on time through gate E52, which had the same sleek wooden design as the lounge and seats. First- and business-class passengers were invited to board at the same time, as well as HON circle elites. I caught a quick glimpse of our 777 before making my way on board. I was struck immediately by the beautiful designs in the galley/entryway, something a lot of airlines overlook. To the left of door L2 was a mini business-class cabin consisting of two rows of seats, with Swiss’ exclusive first-class cabin in front of it. I turned to the right to head into the main business class cabin, which consisted of 52 seats spread across 11 rows. I’d had a lot of trouble selecting my seat online. No matter how many times I tried to change it, the Swiss website kept reverting me to seat 8A. I really didn’t want a window seat where I’d have to climb over someone to use the bathroom on a 12-hour flight, but I couldn’t seem to get it to change my assignment. When I asked in the lounge, the agent told me that certain seats were on a gate hold and she couldn’t override it, but she wrote down the numbers of available seats so I could ask at the gate. I ended up in seat 14D, one of the center section seats that was less exposed to the aisle. On the right side of the seat was a small wooden panel with a reading light and a bottle of water next to it. There was also a button at the top, which released the tray table. This doubled as a privacy divider if you didn’t know the person traveling next to you. This is also where the preset seat controls where located, and right next to them was a compartment with more specific seat controls and the IFE remote. On the opposite side of the seat, no matter which configuration you were sitting in, was a two-story storage compartment. This was perfect for smaller items like a phone or wallet, and for bigger items like my headphone case, passport holder, and inflight menu. The amount of storage is one of the biggest advantages of this seat configuration. There was a small walkway of sorts separating the seat from the aisle, with a compartment to store your shoes during the flight. This was also where the outlet and USB plug were located, meaning they were safely out of the way if you wanted to recline your seat. The biggest drawback to this relatively common staggered configuration is that you have to fit your feet into a small footwell when it’s time to sleep. I’m only 5 feet 7 inches and didn’t find it to be too bad, but I thought that the seat was tight around the head area when fully reclined. Another annoying aspect of the seat is the shoulder harness seatbelt that’s used, which is uncomfortable to wear normally and also to sleep on. Overall I found the seat to be in great condition and the cabin finishes sleek and welcoming. Swiss’ 777 fleet is incredibly young — our bird was less than three years old — which certainly helps. Even with almost every seat taken in the cabin, I felt like I had plenty of privacy and I was able to sleep for eight hours, close to my personal record on a plane. Amenities and IFE TPG Rating 11/15 15in Screen No Live TV No Tailcam Waiting at each seat on boarding were a pair of headphones, a water bottle, a pillow and a blanket. The pillow was a little softer than I would’ve liked, but the blanket was the perfect weight both for lounging and for sleeping. The amenity kit was by Victorinox and was really basic, with a toothbrush, eye mask, socks, chapstick, ear plugs, and nothing else. There were a few tubes of single use face cream in the bathroom, but this is definitely one area where Swiss could improve. The 15-inch IFE monitor had a crisp and responsive display and another small storage compartment beneath it if you wanted to protect your valuables. The selection left a lot to be desired and I struggled to find something to watch. The TV options were especially bad, with none of the classic sitcoms you can usually expect to find on even the most mediocre airlines. I ended up watching “The Social Network” with dinner and relying on downloaded content on my phone for the rest of the time. Food and Beverage TPG Rating 20/25 2 Meals Duval Leroy Brut Champagne No Dine on Demand The very second that the captain announced that boarding was complete, the flight attendants came down the aisles with trays of pre-departure beverages. I selected a glass of champagne — Duval Leroy Brut in business class. We were also given dinner menus and cards to fill out with our breakfast selections, with the two pieces conveniently held together by a pen. I know other airlines offer this option of preordering your breakfast and letting the flight attendants know if you’d like to sleep or be awakened, but this was my first time experiencing it. The system worked exactly as intended, with the FAs letting me sleep until about 80 minutes before landing, then serving me breakfast without having to waste time taking an order. Dinner service began about an hour and 15 minutes into the flight, starting with drinks. The drink cart was followed by a second cart with appetizers and table settings. Rather than preordering your appetizer, you simply picked as the cart rolled by. I selected the Hiramasa kingfish with guacamole and soy vinaigrette, which was served with a side salad and a cheese plate. I was also offered a selection from the breadbasket, and the flight attendant insisted I should take a second pretzel roll if I really wanted to (yes, I did). The fish tasted very fresh, as did the guacamole even though it was beginning to brown. I liked the little dropper that the sauce was served in, as it let me sauce the fish and not the avocado. The salad and cheese plate were both fairly simple but fine. For my main course I opted for the gnocchi with saffron sauce and asparagus. After my appetizer was cleared, the dish looked a little lonely on a big empty tray, but that’s a small sacrifice to me if it speeds up the meal service on a late-night departure. The pasta itself was the low point of the meal — it was far too chewy and not flavorful enough. The other main course options were veal and cod. Dessert was a chocolate mousse with passionfruit sauce. While the cake itself was rather dry, the sauce added a delicious boost of flavor. Service throughout the meal was attentive, with flight attendants refilling both my Champagne and water proactively. One benefit of this staggered configuration is that it’s easy for the FA to reach over and serve you from the other aisle, so I essentially had two different crew members looking after me. Dinner was done about two hours into our flight, a great pace considering the size of the cabin. It wasn’t a memorable meal by any means, but it got the job done and other than the pasta I didn’t really have any complaints. After an incredible full night of sleep, I woke up to a flight attendant tapping me on the shoulder. We were just over an hour out of Singapore, so I quickly ran to the bathroom to freshen up. By the time I got back, my breakfast tray was sitting on the table next to my seat, exactly as I’d ordered it 11 hours earlier. I had a fruit smoothie and cappuccino, the English breakfast (scrambled eggs with chives, potato rosti and a grilled tomato), a yogurt and a few pastries. The eggs were better than you normally get on a plane and the cappuccino was perfectly made. By the time I woke up, it was clear that most people had already finished eating their breakfasts, but I much preferred the option to maximize sleep. I don’t see any need to wake up for a drawn-out meal service and this breakfast did the trick. I should note that there didn’t seem to be any sort of mid-flight snack menu, one area where I’ve been consistently disappointed on my recent flights. Service TPG Rating 22/25 No Extra Pillows No Turndown Service One hallmark of a great international crew is their ability to effortlessly switch between languages as they move from passenger to passenger and the flight attendant working my aisle was a pro. She smiled at every turn and made sure I always had enough to eat and drink. The crossover service I received from the flight attendant on the other aisle was a nice surprise as well. Carts often make service slower as flight attendants can’t easily reach the galley to get drink refills, but this crew kept my drinks topped up the way I’d expect from a first-class flight. Toward the end of the flight I went to the bathroom and happened to strike up a conversation with the purser. When she learned that I lived in Shanghai, we talked for a good 10 minutes about how she’s been flying there for the last 30 years and watched the city grow from nothing into the global metropolis it is today. This was a wonderful crew and the fact that they were able to make me feel so valued and taken-care-of in a 62-person cabin is impressive. Overall Impression I wasn’t expecting Swiss business class to blow me out of the water like Qatar Airlines’ QSuites did, but I also wasn’t expecting it to sink to the level of something like China Eastern. I found the overall experience very enjoyable. The business-class lounge in Zurich is one of my favorites and although the seat and food are by no means revolutionary, Swiss offers a friendly and comfortable way to get from point A to point B. Given how easy it is to find award space on Swiss, I wouldn’t hesitate to book again. All photos by the author. #FlightReviews #Swiss #S-reviews #Reviews #Asia

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bluemagic-girl · 6 years ago

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Go Inside Vanderpump Rules Stars Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright’s $2 Million Home

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Very first arrives appreciate, then arrives marriage, then will come… a dream dwelling!After acquiring married final thirty day period, Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright are ready to start their future chapter jointly: staying householders. Whilst the newlyweds shared the distinctive information in May possibly, they are acquiring settled into their $2 million mansion in the San Fernando Valley and earning it their individual. And though it could possibly be a trek from their restaurant duties at Lisa Vanderpump’s SUR, it looks like the pair is experiencing their community in Valley Glen.”I am sensation SO blessed! We have so much to search forward to,” the Kentucky native captioned her Instagram publish of their purchase. “We are relocating into our initial property… We are escalating up, shifting ahead, & performing for our for good happiness.”In simple fact, they’re not too far from co-stars and BFFs Tom Schwartz and Katie Maloney and Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix, who also bought their homes around the similar spot.

For Jax and Brittany, their home is surely an update from the apartment they applied to dwell in and that was often featured in Vanderpump Guidelines. Now, they have a spacious backyard, stroll-in closets and, most importantly, a huge kitchen area to make Meemaw’s beer cheese!

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The fact Tv stars bought their two-story home for a tiny about $1.9 million and it options a whopping five bedrooms, 5 and a fifty percent loos, a massive outside pool and 3,765 square ft. In accordance to Wide range, the home was mentioned with Avi Barazani at Coldwell Banker Household Brokerage.Also, the pair has presented lovers a glimpse into their dwelling, as they generally pose in their luxurious kitchen, publish mirror selfies in their charming wooded-flooring hallways and take dips in their pool. The cozy however modern property also boasts higher-tech amenities like developed-in-ceiling speakers, a residence automation method and additional. As for the design, the kitchen, for example, is embellished with white and gray marble again-splashes and counters, and it features a big island with the same sample.

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Additionally, the household place overlooks the impeccable yard while the 2nd stage capabilities a courtyard patio that connects to the grasp suite. Of class, from what we’ve seen on Vanderpump Procedures, Brittany loves her makeup and Jax loves his vogue, so it only can make feeling their bedroom would contain a wander-in closet and a huge lavatory that has a self-importance for hair and makeup. As for the backyard? It can be ideal for a very hot girl summer time or BBQ (anything Jax has by now hosted in his new dwelling)! It is decked out with a swimming pool, a built-in grill and a cabana that has a toilet and an open lounge with a fire.It truly is only a subject of time right before the Bravolebrities invite their co-stars about. But let us hope they capture it all on digicam for Vanderpump Rules fans to see.

(E! and Bravo are both part of the NBCUniversal spouse and children.)

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spacetortilla · 6 years ago

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FROM: http://www.anothergaze.com/making-millennial-woman-feminist-capitalist-fleabag-girls-sally-rooney-lena-dunham-unlikeable-female-character-relatable/ THESIS: Pitfalls when marketing/media criticism prompts that white women ptag relatable/representative for all women. How double edged it ends up being for the work/person to now be read as a feminist icon when work not really about advocacy,etc. Marketing/media critique urging ‘’to see narratives of radical self-emancipation where there are none’’. This art revolves around an archetypical Young Millennial Woman – pretty, white, cisgender, and tortured enough to be interesting but not enough to be repulsive. Often described as ‘relatable,’ she is, in actuality, not. The term masks the uncomfortable truth that she is more beautiful, more intelligent, and more infuriatingly precocious than we are in real life. But her charm lies in how she is still self-hating enough to be attainable: she’s an aspirational identifier... Try as she might, her protest against the world always re-routes into a melancholic self-destruction. (((the marketing/media coverage grouping of multiple female creators’ works together under one FEMALE voice that’ll cover everyone))) But what stayed in my mind afterwards was not so much the show itself, but rather the predictable, frenzied public discourse it underwent. A hyperbole-drenched marketing cycle fetes shows like this through the language of relatable identification, and this sets them up perfectly for the inevitable backlash. Not everything is going to be loved by everyone, especially when this everyone has been told they have to on the basis that they’ll find reflections of themselves there. It’s happened to Lena Dunham and Girls, Sally Rooney and Normal People, Kristen Roupenian and Cat Person. Although these young women’s projects are distinct from each other, the ways in which they have been marketed all appear to follow this script. It has happened before and it will happen again. While this promotional approach isn’t misogynistic per se, it is a form of public speech that concedes to it. It’s an approach that hopes to pre-empt those sceptical of the value of the young female voice by framing this voice as an incredible, transformative feat of generational genius. Rather than ask whether these works of art deserve such praise, it may be more interesting to ask why the popular reception of them – even when positive – is so often bad. Headlines often praise how Girls and Fleabag have had the courage to break new ground in feminism, as if the history of western feminism itself hasn’t been marked by the elevation of upper middle class white voices to the level of unearned universalism. . The one-dimensional figures of the past – who could only either to be adored or reviled by men – have been replaced by ‘complex female characters’ who are able to unapologetically reject polite sociality. This can be powerful. But the praise that surrounds such figures also risks producing a premature celebration, a divestment of power that leaves us happy to pick at scraps and inoculate ourselves against the harder, messier mission of getting to a point where ‘unlikability’ is no longer a one-note punchline. It is rarely asked to whom these women are cruel, what engineered this cruelty, and what ends this cruelty serves. .... Womanhood, after all, is a deeply variegated class with its own histories of exclusions, violence, and domination. For some, the systemic cruelty of other women is not so much a neutral revelation, but a fact of life. women can be cruel, shitty, and narcissistic – has now been rebranded as a means of emancipating us ‘all’ under a common banner of womanhood, feels perverse, if not a stunning indictment on how parochial the current mainstream discourse on women’s emancipation really is. For every celebration of a rich white woman as carelessly destructive with her life as her privileged male counterparts, we should ask what it is that gives her the ability to be so brazen, and who is sidelined as collateral. Neurosis, often framed as a sign of powerlessness, can also be a sign of the opposite. To demand someone enter into and entertain your anxious mind-palace and reckon with your complicated and endlessly fascinating individuality can be an act of power. But who gets to be an individual to the Western public? Who gets to be complex? Vulgarity disqualifies some women from public life, or, at the very best, makes them one-note fringe figures; it also admits others to its very centre as ground-breaking, philosophical and relatable women artists. ------ But we should be asking ourselves on whose terms unity is made, and in whose interests these fissures are kept hidden. Relatability as a critical tool leads only to dead ends, endlessly wielding a ‘we’ without asking who ‘we’ really are, or why ‘we’ are drawn to some stories more than others The irony of the ‘unlikeable woman’ is that their ‘abjection’ is likeable, even admirable, to us: they are sharper, wittier, and more beautiful than anyone we know, ideals taken to be ‘real’-life characters. There are themes that are open to us all – lessons of happiness deferred, families broken, and relationships full of uncomfortable lies and mind-bending disappointments – but there are other things, too. By leaning on the flattening, deceptively homogenising framework of relatability, what do you miss? ----------- The curious case of how these particular women, ostensibly furnished with all the social trappings to take over the world – white, wealthy, pretty, ever-amenable to men in spite of their worst efforts – prefer to turn their gaze inward to hate themselves, their bodies, their thighs, the tone of their speech, the other women in their lives, their fathers. Why are the very women who, in theory, hold the most social power so interested in divesting themselves of it? . The world-weary malaise of the privileged has always had a sort of narcissism to it, as frenetic in its neurotic energy as it is useless to literally everyone else. The problem is that so many of us want to see narratives of radical self-emancipation where there are none. For all of the chatter about how revolutionary, powerful and important these fictional lives are, the Millennial Woman par excellence is a deeply disempowered human being. These women are not so much avatars for the emancipatory possibilities of womanhood as they are signs of a colossal social failure to provide substantive avenues of flourishing, care, and communal generosity. That they are taken up in the press as symbols for a generation is an additional, final statement on how being pedestaled can be as extractive as it is empowering. ... why our media loves these depictions of conventional impotence so much, and is so desperate to give them a revolutionary gloss. Making popular culture the site of revolution is an easy way to offer the appearance of doing emancipatory politics, while actually changing little. It seems as though we have been treating the ‘flawed feminist’ as a groundbreaking archetype for the past ten years. Despite the lofty rhetoric that surrounds it, the world of the archetypical Young Millennial Woman conceives of politics as both starting and stopping at anguished individual feelings

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libertariantaoist · 8 years ago

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Oh, it was glorious fun, yielding the kind of satisfaction that us anti-interventionists rarely get to enjoy: not one but two prominent neoconservatives who have been wrong about everything for the past decade – yet never held accountable – getting taken down on national television. Tucker Carlson, whose show is a shining light of reason in a fast-darkening world, has performed a public service by demolishing both Ralph Peters and Max Boot on successive shows. But these two encounters with evil weren’t just fun to watch, they’re also highly instructive for what they tell us about the essential weakness of the War Party and its failing strategy for winning over the American people.

Tucker’s first victim was Ralph Peters, an alleged “military expert” who’s been a fixture on Fox News since before the Iraq war, of which he was a rabid proponent. Tucker starts out the program by noting that ISIS “caliph” Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi may have been killed in a Russian airstrike and that the talk in Washington is now moving away from defeating ISIS and focusing on Iran as the principal enemy. He asks why is this? Why not take a moment to celebrate the death of Baghdadi and acknowledge that we have certain common interests with the Russians?

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Peters leaps into overstatement, as is his wont: “We can’t have an alliance with terrorists, and the Russians are terrorists. They’re not Islamists, but they are terrorists.” He then alleges that the Russians aren’t really fighting ISIS, but instead are bombing hospitals, children, and “our allies” (i.e. the radical Islamist Syrian rebels trained and funded by the CIA and allied with al-Qaeda and al-Nusra). The Russians “hate the United States,” and “we have nothing in common with the Russians” –nothing!” The Russians, says Peters, are paving the way for the Iranians – the real evil in the region – to “build up an empire from Afghanistan to the Mediterranean.” Ah yes, the “Shia crescent” which the Israelis and their amen corner in the US have been warning against since before the Iraq war. Yet Tucker points out that over 3,000 Americans have been killed by terrorists in the US, and “none of them are Shi’ites: all of [these terrorists] have been Sunni extremists who are supported by the Saudis who are supposed to be our allies.” And while we’re on the subject: “Why,” asks Tucker, “if we’re so afraid of Iran did we kill Saddam Hussein, thereby empowering Iran?”

“Because we were stupid,” says Peters.

Oh boy! Peters was one of the most militant advocates of the Iraq war: we were “stupid,” I suppose, to listen to him. Yet Tucker lets this ride momentarily, saving his big guns for the moment when he takes out Peters completely. And Peters walks right into it when Tucker wonders why we can’t cooperate with Russia, since both countries are under assault from Sunni terrorists:

“PETERS: You sound like Charles Lindbergh in 1938 saying Hitler hasn’t attacked us.

“TUCKER: I beg your pardon? You cannot compare me to somebody who makes apologies for Hitler. And I don’t think Putin is comparable.

“PETERS: I think Putin is.

“TUCKER: I think it is a grotesque overstatement actually. I think it’s insane.

“PETERS: Fine, you can think it’s insane all you want.”

For the neocons, it’s always 1938. The enemy is always the reincarnation of Hitler, and anyone who questions the wisdom of war is denounced as an “appeaser” in the fashion of Neville Chamberlain or Lindbergh. Yet no one ever examines and challenges the assumption behind this rhetorical trope, which is that war with the enemy of the moment – whether it be Saddam Hussein, the Iranian ayatollahs, or Vladimir Putin – is inevitable and imminent. If Putin is Hitler, and Russia is Nazi Germany, then we must take the analogy all the way and assume that we’ll be at war with the Kremlin shortly.

After all, Charles Lindbergh’s opponents in the great debate of the 1940s openly said that Hitler, who posed an existential threat to the West, had to be destroyed, and that this goal could not be achieved short of war. Of course, Franklin Roosevelt pretended that this wasn’t so, and pledged repeatedly that we weren’t going to war, but secretly he manipulated events so that war was practically inevitable. Meanwhile, the more honest elements of the War Party openly proclaimed that we had to aid Britain and get into the war.

Is this what Peters and his gaggle of neocons are advocating – that we go to war with nuclear-armed Russia and annihilate much of the world in a radioactive Armageddon? It certainly seems that way. The Hitler-Lindbergh trope certainly does more than merely imply that.

Clearly riled by the attempt to smear him, Tucker, the neocon slayer, then moves in for the kill:

“I would hate to go back and read your columns assuring America that taking out Saddam Hussein will make the region calmer, more peaceful, and America safer, when in fact it has been the opposite and it has empowered Russia and Iran, the two countries you say you fear most – let’s be totally honest, we don’t always know the outcomes. ”They are not entirely predictable so maybe we should lower that a little bit rather than calling people accommodationist.”

This is what the neocons hate: reminding them of their record is like showing a vampire a crucifix. Why should we listen to Peters, who’s been wrong about everything for decades? Peters’ response is the typical neocon riposte to all honest questions about their policies and record: you’re a traitor, you’re “cheering on Vladimir Putin!” To which Tucker has the perfect America Firster answer:

“I’m cheering for America as always. Our interests ought to come first and to the extent that making temporary alliances with other countries serves our interests, I’m in favor of that. Making sweeping moral claims – grotesque ones – comparing people to Hitler advances the ball not one inch and blinds us to reality.”

Peters has no real argument, and so he resorts to the method that’s become routine in American politics: accuse your opponent of being a foreign agent. Tucker, says Peters, is an “apologist” not only for Putin but also for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Again, Tucker answers smears with cold logic:

“So because I’m asking rational questions about what’s best for America I’m a friend to strongmen and dictators? That is a conversation stopper, not a beginning of a rational conversation. My only point is when Syria was run by Assad 10% of the population was Christian and they lived in relative peace.”

And that’s really the whole point: the War Party wants to stop the conversation. They don’t want a debate – when, really, have we ever had a fair debate in this country over foreign policy? They depend on fear, innuendo, and ad hominem “arguments” to drag us into war after war – and Tucker is having none of it.

So why is any of this important? After all, it’s just a TV show, and as amusing as it is to watch a prominent neocon get creamed, what doe it all mean in the end? Well, it matters because Tucker didn’t start out talking sense on foreign policy. He started out, in short, as a conventional conservative, but then something happened. As he put it to Peters at the end of the segment:

“I want to act in America’s interest and stop making shallow, sweeping claims about countries we don’t fully understand and hope everything will be fine in the end. I saw that happen and it didn’t work.”

What’s true isn’t self-evident, at least to those of us who aren’t omniscient. Many conservatives, as well as the country as a whole, learned something as they saw the disasters in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and Syria unfold. On the right, many have rejected the neoconservative “idealism” that destroyed the Middle East and unleashed ISIS. When Donald Trump stood before the South Carolina GOP debate and told the assembled mandarins that we were lied into the Iraq war, the chattering classes declared that he was finished – yet he won that primary, and went on to win the nomination, precisely because Republican voters were ready to hear that message.

Indeed, Trump’s “America First” skepticism when it comes to foreign wars made the crucial difference in the election, as a recent study shows: communities hard hit by our endless wars put him over the top in the key states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. This, and not “Russian meddling,” handed him the White House.

Tucker Carlson’s ideological evolution limns the transformation of the American right in the age of Trump: while Trump is not, by a long shot, a consistent anti-interventionist, Tucker comes pretty close. He is, at least, a realist with a pronounced antipathy for foreign adventurism, and that is a big step forward from the neoconservative orthodoxy that has bathed much of the world in blood.

If the demolition of Ralph Peters was the cake, then the meltdown of neoconservative ideologue Max Boot the next evening was the frosting, with ice cream on the side.

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Perhaps the neocons, having been trounced in round one, thought Boot could do better: they were mistaken. Tucker took him apart simply by letting him talk: Boot didn’t answer a single question put to him, and, in the course of it all, as Boot resorted to the typical ad hominems, Tucker made a cogent point:

“[T]o dismiss people who disagree with you as immoral – which is your habit – isn’t a useful form of debate, it’s a kind of moral preening, and it’s little odd coming from you, who really has been consistently wrong in the most flagrant and flamboyant way for over a decade. And so, you have to sort of wonder, like – ”BOOT: What have I been wrong about, Tucker? What have I been wrong about? ”CARLSON: Well, having watch you carefully and known you for a long time, I recall vividly when you said that if we were to topple the governments of Afghanistan and Iraq, the region will be much safer and the people who took their place would help us in the global war on terror. Of course it didn’t happen –“

Boot starts to completely melt down at this point, screeching “You supported the Iraq war!” To which Tucker trenchantly replies:

“I’ve been wrong about a ton of things, you try to learn your lesson. But when you get out there in the New York Times and say, we really should have done more to depose Qaddafi, because you know, Libya is going to be better when that happens. And then to hear you say we need to knock off the Assad regime and things will be better in Syria, he sort of wonder like, well, maybe we should choose another professions. Selling insurance, something you’re good at. I guess that’s kind of the point. Are there no sanctions for being as wrong as you have?”

Why oh why should we listen to Peters and Boot and their fellow neocons, who have been – literally – dead wrong about everything: their crackbrained ideology has led to untold thousands of deaths since September 11, 2001 alone. And for what?

In the end, Boot falls back on the usual non-arguments: Tucker is “immoral” because he denies that Trump is a Russian agent, and persists in asking questions about our foreign policy of endless intervention in the Middle East. Tucker keeps asking why Boot thinks Russia is the main threat to the United States, and Boot finally answers: “Because they are the only country that can destroy us with a nuclear strike.”

To a rational person, the implications of this are obvious: in that case, shouldn’t we be trying to reach some sort of détente, or even achieve a degree of cooperation with Moscow? Oh, but no, because you see the Russians are inherently evil, we have “nothing” in common with them – in which case, war is inevitable.

At which point, Tucker avers: “Okay. I am beginning to think that your judgment has been clouded by ideology, I don’t fully understand where it’s coming from but I will let our viewers decide.”

I know where it’s coming from. Tucker’s viewers may not know that Boot is a Russian immigrant, who – like so many of our Russophobic warmongers – arrived on our shores with his hatred of the motherland packed in his suitcase. There’s a whole platoon of them: Cathy Young, who recently released her polemic arguing for a new cold war with Russia in the pages of Reason magazine; Atlantic writer and tweeter of anti-Trump obscenities Julia Ioffe, whose visceral hatred for her homeland is a veritable monomania; Gary Kasparov, the former chess champion who spends most of his energy plotting revenge against Vladimir Putin and a Russian electorate that has consistently rejected his hopeless presidential campaigns, and I could go on but you get the picture.

As the new cold war envelopes the country, wrapping us in its icy embrace and freezing all rational discussion of foreign policy, a few people stand out as brave exceptions to the groupthinking mass of the chattering classes: among the most visible and articulate are Tucker Carlson, Glenn Greenwald, journalist Michael Tracey, Prof. Stephen Cohen, and of course our own Ron Paul. I tip my hat to them, in gratitude and admiration, for they represent the one thing we need right now: hope. The hope that this madness will pass, that we’ll beat back this latest War Party offensive, and enjoy a return to what passes these days for normalcy.

#justin raimondo #antiwar.com #tucker carlson #ralph peters #max boot

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