#best summer was that one a couple years ago when there was a heat dome. the heat dome part sucked but i got a bunch of perfects during it

[puppys-rhythm-heaven]

wish going for perfects wasn't so stressful for me. but alas. i have anxiety-

[brighterthanghosts]

By Your Side

Word count: 3,474

Pairing: Taishiro

Read below the cut or here on ao3.

Summary: “Taichi-san, you spent years telling me to believe in myself. Either you would beat a dead horse or I’d finally conquer my insecurities. Personally, I’m glad it was the latter.”

Five times Koushiro and Taichi were being good to each other from childhood to adulthood. Rated T for zombie gorillas and Taichi's foul mouth.

5&6

“Taichi, be careful!” his mom called out. But Taichi had already taken off toward the monkey bars, leaving a trail through the pebbles that separated the swings from the jungle gym. The jungle gym was attached to a large fort-style playground set that was often the backdrop for Taichi’s adventures — today, he needed to escape a rampage of zombie gorillas, and the only way was to make it through the forest Tarzan-style.

He wasn’t tall enough to reach the monkey bars on his own, but he had learned that the big dome on the opening of the slide was the perfect height. He stuck his shoe between the slide and plastic log fort, balancing on the large bolt that held the slide in place. Hoisting himself up and over the edge of the dome. The monkey bars were about two feet away to the right, and all he’d need to do was jump. He better get going, too, because the zombie gorillas were headed this way.

Taking one look behind him, Taichi stood, like a hero in his own movie, and prepared himself. He only had one chance to do this. If he didn’t make it, the zombies would eat his brain and spread the zombie virus to the human race. Taichi couldn’t let that happen. With one breath and a battle cry, Taichi lept from the top of the slide, arm fully extended out to grasp at the monkey bars. He was going to make it. He knew it. Almost there.

His fingertips brushed the underside of one bar, and he recognized his mistake. The zombies won.

Crashing to the ground snapped Taichi from his fantasy. He’d landed on his hands and knees, now bruised and scraped, and he could feel tears prickling at the corners of his eyes as he sat on his butt and assessed the damage.

“Are you okay?”

Taichi looked up into deep, dark eyes that were filled with concern and a tinge of something else.

“Y-yeah. I just —” Taichi said, turning his palms outward and gesturing to the little red-haired boy, who was kneeling beside him.

“That looks like it hurts,” the boy said, reaching out to hold Taichi’s left wrist, turning his hand this way and that. “But you looked so cool! Like Super Sentai!” The boy looked up at him, then, wide-eyed and a smile full of admiration.

“Oh!” he said, like he’d forgotten something. He looked back to Taichi’s palm and pressed a small kiss right in the center. “My okaa-san said it helps the healing.”

“Th-thanks,” Taichi said, feeling his face heat up.

“Koushiro! It’s time to go home!” a woman yelled somewhere off to the left of where the two boys sat.

“Ah, that’s my okaa-san!” the boy said, scrambling to his feet. He bowed, then smiled and with a wave said, “I have to go now! I hope you feel better soon!”

Taichi sat there, watching the boy’s back become smaller as he ran toward his mom.

“Taichi?” his own mother called.

He looked back over his right shoulder.

“Oh, Taichi! Are you okay? Are you hurt?” his mother asked.

Taichi shook his head, looking back at his hand. “No, mom, I’m okay. I’ll be better in no time.”

9&10

“Koushiro! Pass!” He heard someone yell, but he was too overwhelmed by the two bodies blocking him. Koushiro was running toward the soccer net as quickly as his little legs would carry him. The two children to his right and left stood a whole head taller than him. He could hardly see as it was; his hair was sticking flat to his forehead, sweat beading down in tiny rivers that pooled in his eyes.

“Pass it!”

He saw a mass of hair whirlwind behind the kid to his right, and Koushiro prayed it was his teammate. He quickly stepped to the left, pulled his right leg back, and kicked the ball. He made contact, he was sure, but his feet got tangled somewhere along the way and he planted face-first into the pitch.

“Go, go, go, go!”

Koushiro lifted himself up just in time to see Taichi straight-kick the ball right past the goalie and into the net. He looked like a pro, with the sunset as his backdrop. Koushiro would bet his life that Taichi would one day be the best soccer player in Japan — better than even Kamamoto Kunishige. With a little more than 30 seconds to go before half time, Koushiro got to his feet and started trekking back to the bench. His chin hurt, and he could use a towel and some water.

“Oi, Koushiro!” Taichi was jogging his way, dimples framing his warm smile. “Hey man, great pass!”

“Ah, n-no, it was all you,” Koushiro said, looking at the ground. Peeking up at his teammate, he added, “You were amazing out there, Taichi-san.”

“No way! We never would have scored had you not ran the ball down the pitch,” Taichi said, reaching a hand out to ruffle Koushiro’s hair. “Honestly, you were awesome!”

Koushiro looked down again, his face suddenly warm. “Th-thank you, Taichi-san. That makes me very happy.”

Taichi slung an arm over Koushiro’s shoulders, pulling him into Taichi’s side. “C’mon, let’s get a bandaid for your chin. You’re going to look so cool. Coach said girls like battle scars.”

Koushiro heard what Taichi said, but his brain stopped working sometime around the word cool. Taichi thought he would look cool. And suddenly, Koushiro wanted nothing more.

11&12

It had been one year exactly since their adventure to the digital world, and Taichi was feeling a little nostalgic. School had been well enough, and Taichi kept himself busy with soccer and video games for most of the summer. Had it been a Saturday, Taichi wouldn’t have felt bad about spending the morning in bed. But it wasn’t Saturday, it was Tuesday, and his mom was expecting him to be alive by the time she got home.

Taichi rolled himself toward the edge of his bed, slowly extending a leg and an arm so he could lower himself to the floor. He lay like that for a while. He’s not really sure how long, but he heard footsteps in the hall and gentle knocking on the door — he must have dozed off again. At least he was out of bed.

“Onii-chan? I’m heading out now.” A pause, then, “Onii-chan?”

“Have fun,” Taichi called out to his sister. Hikari had adjusted to life without their digimon much better than he had, and he didn’t want to bring her mood down like that.

“Okay. Why don’t you invite someone over? Have some fun yourself!” Hikari was trying to encourage him, and honestly, Taichi doesn’t think it’s a bad idea.

“Yeah, maybe.”

“I’ll see you later, okay?” He can hear her footsteps retreating. Shortly after, he hears the door open and close. Taichi is officially alone.

Taichi stared at the ceiling, tracing patterns in the popcorn texture and thinking about the first time he met Koromon. The first time he evolved. The first time he understood the power of his courage. “Hey, that kind of looks like Ikakumon,” Taichi chuckles to himself. He’s probably imagining it. He could almost hear Koushiro telling him about how our brains are formidable and capable of filling in the gaps and playing tricks on us. He smiled and rolled onto his stomach, let out a groan, and picked himself off the ground.

***

Koushiro answered the phone after three rings. Taichi wasn’t sure why he suddenly felt nervous, like he was troubling the other boy or something. It was Koushiro. Koushiro, who showed up randomly at Taichi’s home just a couple months ago and helped his mom bake a cake. This is fine.

“Uh, Taichi-san?”

“Come over.” Taichi said, mentally smacking himself for being so blunt. “Please?” He adds before Koushiro can respond.

“Okay, Taichi-san. I’ll be there shortly.” And it sounded like Koushiro was smiling.

When he said shortly, he wasn’t kidding. It was maybe 25 minutes later when Taichi heard knocking at the door. They’d spent the last hour eating snacks and playing Mortal Kombat, and Taichi was becoming increasingly more irritated for the following two reasons: 1) Koushiro had gone through six glasses of Oolong tea and had already taken two bathroom breaks and 2) despite this, Koushiro was still kicking his ass. They were 12-3 with Koushiro in the lead, and Taichi had already decided that Koushiro was clearly cheating. To prove his point, Taichi had the boy pinned to the floor in a bout of tickle tortue.

“I’m not cheating, Taichi-san!” Koushiro said through giggles, accidentally kneeing Taichi in the stomach.

“Well, if you’re not a cheater, then you’re a magician, and that’s still cheating!” Taichi replied, poking his fingers into Koushiro’s sides.  

“Me cheating is about as possible as Agumon being a real dinosaur!” Koushiro laughed. And suddenly, he wasn’t laughing.

“Taichi-san?”

Taichi’s face felt hot and wet, but he doesn’t remember how it got that way. Koushiro was looking up at him, concerned and a little scared. He didn’t want to look weak in front of his friend. He felt so weak.

“Taichi-san,” Koushiro said, softer, and Taichi lowered his head to rest on the boy’s shoulder, hiding his hurt in this pocket of trust. He felt a hand on his back as a sob wracked up his spine and out his throat. “It’s okay, Taichi-san. I miss them, too.”

17&18

“Who does Yamato think he is? Saying that kind of thing all cool and nonchalant. He should have known that Sora wouldn’t take it well. Oi, Koushiro, are you listening to me?”

He wasn’t. His heart was in his ears as he stared at his phone.

“Yo.”

He’d never felt so many emotions at once. But this really shouldn’t have surprised him.

“Koushiro. What’s so damn interesting that you can’t put your phone down?”

His phone was pulled right from his hands, and he did nothing to stop it.

“Oh.”

He’d laugh, but he wasn’t sure it would sound much like a laugh at all.

“Oh, Koushiro. Hey, man. That —”

“N-no, it’s fine,” Koushiro mumbles out. His voice is low, breathy, almost inaudible, and it sounds foreign to his own ears.

“No, it’s not. Dude, like, she could have at least said something.”

Except, she didn’t need to. Mimi returned to America shortly after Christmas, following their final battle with Ordinemon. Koushiro had never worked up the courage to properly confess his feelings, and Mimi didn’t owe him any kind of explanation for the photo she uploaded to her social media, captioned “So thankful to be in love with this guy.” She was kissing him on the cheek. They looked happy.

“She looks happy. I’m happy for her.”

And he was. Truly.

“That doesn’t mean your feelings don’t matter!”

“Taichi-san, really. It’s fine.”

“Clearly it isn’t.”

A hand cupped his cheek, thumb swiping just under his eye. Taichi is looking at him like he’s proving a point.

“We wouldn’t have worked out anyway.”

“Why not?”

He could hear tints of frustration in Taichi’s voice. He flinched a little at the words; that tone was usually reserved for Yamato. Koushiro decided to choose his words carefully. The last thing he wanted was to lose Mimi and Taichi in one sitting.

“Ah, I, um — I don’t think I’m bold enough to stand at Mimi-san’s side.”

“That’s bullshit.”

He flinched again.

“Do you ever say nice things about yourself? Don’t you see how amazing you already are?”

Koushiro looked up, meeting Taichi’s eyes for the first time since he’d unlocked his phone.

“Amazing?”

“Duh. Koushiro, you’re like the most incredible person I know.”

But Koushiro didn’t really believe him. Taichi was being nice because Taichi was a good person. Taichi was a good friend. Taichi was the amazing one. Tall and strong. Fearless. A natural leader — our leader.

“Don’t look at me like that. Like you think I’m being ‘illogical.’ I wish you could see yourself the way I see you. You’re amazing. You are literally the reason we weren’t all killed in the digital world. You have your own office. You were the one who figured out that Meicoomon had backups of our digimon’s memories. You’re creating portals for us to travel between worlds. Portals, Kou. You’re so fucking smart, I don’t even know where you come up with all your ideas. And you turn every idea into a reality. You might think that isn’t significant, but I do. Mimi is missing out. Everyone is missing out on—”

Kou. Koushiro has never been particularly spontaneous. He was usually calculated and found reasons to justify his actions. I wish you could see yourself the way I see you. Taichi and his kind words had pushed Koushiro to some kind of breaking point. The trust. The safety. The idea that someone thought so highly of him and this sudden need to protect it all. You’re amazing. He had subconsciously leaned forward toward his friend, as if their physical proximity could solidify this moment, like maybe Koushiro could really become one with all the lovely things Taichi was saying. He felt drunk on his heartbreak and sudden excitement. So fucking smart. Taichi’s words itched their way under his nails and made his fingers twitch. His blood was made of fire, his heart a bass drum, his brain alphabet soup — the letters spelling out ‘significant.’ This whole situation was illogical. Maybe Koushiro, too, was illogical.

Taichi didn’t move, didn’t push him away. Five seconds, their meeting lasted. Koushiro pulled away, the world crashing down on him as he realized what he’d done. He braved a peek at Taichi’s face — he looked different. Eyes glazed, looking past Koushiro. Mouth slightly open, jaw slacked. Koushiro took this moment to panic.

“T- ah, Taichi-san?”

“Huh?”

“Um.”

“Oh. Hey. I’m hungry. Want to grab a bite?”

“Uh?”

“I’ll treat today, so don’t worry.”

Taichi stood, grabbing his duffle bag and his wallet, looking back toward Koushiro, past him, again. His face said I need to get out of this room. Koushiro stood slowly, not making eye contact. He packed his laptop in his bag and decidedly ignored his phone, still unlocked and glowing with Mimi and her new boyfriend.

“I know I said I’ll treat, but I don’t have a lot of money. Are burgers okay?”

“Yes, that’s okay.”

“Cool.”

23&24

Taichi let out a yawn and scratched the back of head. He was thankful for this Friday evening, much welcomed after the long week. Taichi had been meeting regularly with Koushiro and his team to finalize their presentation on the digital world. They were finally making headway with the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly to get safety regulations passed to ensure secure travel to and from the digital world, which meant a foot in the door to (hopefully) his future boss and a potential research grant for Koushiro’s team.

Koushiro had texted him earlier in the day, suggesting dinner to celebrate their hard work. Taichi suggested pizza, Koushiro suggested Odaiba beach. Taichi was a bit surprised — it would be about an hour to get there from the city — but Odaiba did hold nearly all of their memories.

He smelled him before he saw him. Well, he smelled the pizza. Taichi turned to find Koushiro approaching his makeshift picnic space in the sand.

“Taichi-san!” Koushiro said, picking up speed.

“Hey,” Taichi responded smoothly. “You seem awfully excited. You didn’t miss me, did you?”

Koushiro let out a huff, but smiled anyway. “We worked hard this week! I added some finishing touches this afternoon and sent it to Nishi-san for proofreading. It should be ready to go early next week!”

Taichi wanted to say how appreciative he was, but his stomach rudely interrupted. Koushiro let out a laugh and handed over the pizza box.

They sat in silence for a while, making their way through their food and enjoying the breeze coming off the ocean. At some point, Koushiro had removed his socks and shoes and buried his feet in the sand. It had been a long time since either of them had been to the beach.

“You know, I thought about bringing Tentomon here to say goodbye.”

“Really?”

“Mhm. I was trying to think of something special to do. But I was too busy with work to get down here in time.”

“I took Agumon to watch the ocean. What did you end up doing?”

“I locked my office door and hugged him as tightly as I could.”

“How did he take it?”

“He knew what was happening. It didn’t matter where we were as long as we could properly say goodbye. I think he was happy with that.”

“Do you think we could ever, you know, regain our bonds?”

“I’m not sure. But I hope that, if we obtain this grant, we can proceed to research the digital world for traces of their data. If I’m being honest, I’m not convinced that our digimon are gone.”

“Hearing that from you gives me a lot of hope.”

Koushiro doesn’t respond. Taichi looks at him then, and he looks serene. Relaxed. Hopeful. It’s rare for Koushiro to display his quiet confidence. But if anyone can figure it out, Taichi trusts that his friend will.

“Taichi-san?”

“Hm?”

“You’re staring.”

“Ah, sorry! It’s just. You look confident.”

“Oh,” Koushiro said, high-pitched in surprise. “Hm. I suppose I can thank you for that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Taichi-san, you spent years telling me to believe in myself. Either you would beat a dead horse or I’d finally conquer my insecurities. Personally, I’m glad it was the latter.”

Koushiro looked back to the water, the air between them filled with something strange and familiar.

“Hey, Kou?”

“Hm?”

“Remember that time in high school when you kissed me?”

Koushiro sputters, face reddened like a radish bathed in sunset. “Why on Earth—”

“Why did you do it?”

“Um,” Koushiro drawls like he’s not sure how to answer. “Well.”

Taichi waits patiently, but he’s never been a particularly patient person.

“I don’t quite know, if I’m honest. I didn’t realize it was happening until it happened.”

“Hm.”

“Uhh. I remember being upset. And you made me feel better. My thoughts were blurry at that time. Ehh. I, um. I think I, maybe, I wanted to be the words you were saying?”

“What do you mean?”

“Mmm. You said I should see myself through your eyes. You ambushed me with compliment after compliment. And it took me by surprise because you were always someone I admired. I wanted to believe I was all the words you used to describe me. I wanted to believe I was worthy.”

“You are, though. I hope you believe that now.”

Koushiro isn’t looking at him, and Taichi doesn’t think he’s going to say anything else, so he continues.

“It’s the same, you know. For me.”

This caught the other boy’s attention, but Taichi cut off whatever Koushiro was going to say.

“I wanted to believe I was as cool as you thought I was,” Taichi said, huffing out a chuckle. “I wanted to stand by your side and be someone you could count on. I also wanted to believe I was worthy.”

“Do you? Believe, I mean.”

“Yeah, I do.”

Silence lies between them, but it’s no longer heavy. Koushiro’s twitching slightly, gazing out toward the water, but Taichi can tell his mind is somewhere distant. He hopes Koushiro is thinking the same thing.

“Hey, Kou?”

“Yeah?” Koushiro breathes back at him.

“Can I kiss you?”

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

A/N

And that’s it. That’s the end.

This was a wild ride that all started with the concept of kisses to fix booboos — a trope I need.

Some minor notes:

-This is loosely based around Adventure, 02 and tri., but I chose to ignore the movies (ie: Children’s War Game).

-Super Sentai is what the US’ “Power Rangers” is based on.

-Kamamoto Kunishige is one of the most prolific soccer players from Japan and is the all-time goal scorer in his country. He played for Japan’s national team throughout the ‘60s and ‘70s, and it’s my headcanon that Koushiro only knows his name because Taichi doesn’t shut up about him.

-I know Taichi works with the UN in the epilogue, but I wanted him to be just a couple years out of college here, so I filled in the gaps. Because Koushiro has already made a name for himself in the tech world (and with the knowledge that his work involves researching the digital world later), I thought it would be interesting for them to work together with common goals. That said, I have no idea what Taichi’s career path would look like, so bear with me.

[eyesfixedonthesun22]

Spark

Summary: There was no particular cause for celebration, no world threat thwarted, and no one’s birthday. The Avengers were relaxing.  Pairing: Stoner!Bucky x Gender Neutral Reader Warning(s): Drug Use: Marijuana, Cursing, Smut (18+), Voyeurism Word Count: 3,126 Gif Credit: @vivacite Beta Reader: My darling honey bun, @supersoldiersruined-me​ Notes: This is my entry to @barnesrogersvstheworld 4K writing challenge. My prompt was “Come over here and sit by me.” Thank you so much for hosting this, Attie! I’ve had a fascination with the idea of stoner!bucky for months now. Can’t wait to write more for him. 

Rooftops made you smile. It didn’t matter if it was a rooftop club, sprinting across various buildings to catch the villain of the moment, or the hidden perch you’d made at your childhood home. Being high above everyone, in your own little universe, made you smile. The Avengers Compound had the best rooftop. Technically they had the best of everything, if you asked Tony. Screw the rest; as long as you could keep the rooftop.

In the winter, the climate control dome was raised against the elements; giving off the feeling of living in a temperate snow globe. Once things started warming, the dome was lowered, and the rooftop became a mecca for the entire team.

The roof was expansive with plenty of nooks and hideaways to enjoy a good book, sunbathe, or relax undisturbed. It was littered with greenery. Flowers of all shapes and colors dotted across the shades of green. The east end housed the large garden area that was a favorite of Wanda’s. The west end had a brilliant sparkling pool half-shaded by a large wooden pergola. In the center was a large fire pit surrounded by earth toned bricks. That’s where the outdoor kitchen, bar, and lounge were all situated. It frequently hosted team get-togethers and summer barbecues. Triangular slivers of canvas stretched tight between supports to form a stunning geometric pattern around the firepit. They allowed the heat and smoke to rise undisturbed while anyone lounging below remained shaded from sun or rain.

Tonight, the entire team was gathered. There was no particular cause for celebration, no world threat thwarted, and no one’s birthday. The Avengers were relaxing. The evening was perfect for it. The sky was dusky purple; not yet revealing its stars. It was comfortably warm without making you swelter and sweat. Clint had manned the grill while Nat and Wanda helped prepare the side dishes. You were stuffed and your mind wandered to dessert.

“S’mores time!” Tony singsongs as he navigates from the elevator over to the lounge with a huge tray filled with supplies.

You should get up to help him but you’re far too comfortable. You and Bucky share an oversized cushion near the fire pit. Your back rests against the small retaining wall behind you while Bucky lays with his legs casually draped in your lap.

“Need me to explain to you what a s’more is, old man?”

Bucky may have glared at you, but you only feel the retaliating pinch. “I’ll have you know s’mores were invented before my time.”

“Impossible. There is no time before you. You’re ancient.” Another pinch. This time you tickle the sole of his foot causing him to squirm away. You regret the tickling.

Bucky walks over to the dining table and rummages through his various jacket pockets. When he’s found what he was searching for he plops down once more, head resting on your lap. He shakes an orange bottle vigorously in front of your face.

“Let’s make the s’mores s’more fun.”

“What the hell do you mean?” The rest of the team has come to gather around the fire. Nat assesses the seating arrangements and cocks her brow at you. Your return expression couldn’t say mind-your-damn-business more if you wanted. The casual intimacy you share with Bucky is nice, but it’s never progressed. Everyone was aware of the dance you two were doing except Bucky.

Bucky shakes the bottle once more demanding your attention. “According to the DSM-5 and my lovely therapist, I have depression, anxiety, PTSD, and I’m sure a whole litany of other diagnoses. One positive is that I qualify for my medical marijuana card.”

“Thank god. I’m sick of you pilfering my stash!” Clint chimes in.

“As I was saying,” he huffs, “I used my card to stock up on some ‘special chocolates’. I thought we could use some of them in the s’mores.”

“Weed works for you?” Bruce asks, clearly curious about the inner workings of super soldier metabolism.

“Shocked me too. But yes. Just need a higher dose. I’ve been smoking for years before it was legal.”

“Bucky Barnes, The Winter Stoner,” you chuckle. Your joke earns massive cackles from the entire team.  Another affectionate pinch to your side.

“I won’t share with you if you keep teasing me!”

“I don’t want any if I can’t tease you!”

Some of the team welcome the special chocolate to their desserts, others opt for cocktails. You hesitate when faced with your own decision.

“What’s wrong, doll?”

“I haven’t…”

“Never?”

“I have before. But back in high school. I took a couple hits off a friend’s bowl and had such a bad asthma attack I vowed never to touch the stuff again. Not to mention how unsettling it can be for my type A personality to feel out of control.”  

Bucky quirks his lips into a contemplative smirk. “I’m not forcing you, but I think you’d like this. I got an Indica strain.”

“Meaning?”

“Indica. In-da-couch.” Your face remains blank. “It’s relaxing. Other strains can give more of a head high, paranoia, and that out of control feeling you don’t want. Indicas help me turn my brain off and relax.”

You hesitate for a half beat longer before reaching for the chocolate.

“Hold up, darlin’.” He snatches the handful of chocolate from you. “You should probably only have one square of the special and two of the regular on your s’more. Don’t want you loopy high. Just relaxed high.”

“Don’t feel like babysitting loopy me?”

“Only looking out for ya, doll.” He kisses your temple before carrying the marshmallow clad skewers over to the fire; leaving you to grab the plate with the rest of the supplies.

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

The night buzzed. Everyone on the team was either tipsy or stoned; content and bubbly. The summer stars were hidden from view. A large storm had blown in during the past hour. It didn’t seem to bother anyone. They all knew full well the fire pit area was sheltered allowing the festivities to continue unhindered.

The team had dispersed to various parts of the rooftop. A group was enjoying a nighttime swim while another splintered off to the grill for more snacks. You hardly paid attention. You watched the thunderstorm intently as it rolls across the grounds of the compound. Thunderheads collapse into destruction only to be remade higher and darker than before as the storm inched closer and closer. You took a deep breath and realized how happy you are. It wasn’t some out of control stupor but a delicate boost of your mood.  

“Someone’s feelin’ it.” Sam’s voice cuts through your revere. You hide your face in Bucky’s shoulder unable to contain the giggles. He rubs gentle strokes up and down your back.

“You okay, doll?” He whispers low enough only you can here.

“I’m great, Buck.” You gaze up at him. “Certainly capable of kicking some asses at cards.”

You abandon the shared cushion and go investigate Sam and Steve’s card game. If you’d looked back, you would have seen the disappointment on Bucky’s face from losing your proximity. There’s plenty of chairs near the boys but the marijuana has made you overly social, so you plop right on Sam’s lap.

“Hey there, Agent.” Sam purred seductively. One hand holds his collection of cards and the other rests on your hip. Steve glances over at Bucky knowingly.

“Deal me in, gentleman!”

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

Sometime during the fifth hand, the storm officially arrived. The patterns and strategy which usually come naturally to you are muddled and poorly formed while stoned. A card shark you were not. The symphony of rolling thunder and lightning crackling was distracting you anyway.

Those of the group that had gone swimming had called it a night with the first flash of lightning. Your group of four were all that remained on the rooftop in your little oasis. Bucky had been feeding the fire, content to read his book while you played poker with Sam and Steve. He glances over at your face as if sensing your straying focus. You smile warmly at him and declare you’re folding this hand.

“It’s not even your turn!” Sam scoffs.

“Let it be, man.” Steve says noticing how Bucky’s looking at you.

You rifle through the large storage cabinet and dig out your favorite blanket before walking over to Bucky. He had collected the majority of the outdoor pillows creating a massive personal lounging nest beside the fire.

“Darling,” he acknowledges you; looking up from his book and setting it aside. You smile back and hold up the blanket like a suggestion. “Come over here and sit by me.”

He’s reclined against the mountain of pillows at his back, but his large frame manages to occupy most of the floor cushion. He pats the area between his legs.

You’re unsure if it’s the weed or Bucky’s own natural high he seems to impart on you, but you’re acutely aware of his body as he embraces you; your back to his chest. He reaches for the blanket, forming a cage around you with his arms as he fluffs it out to cover you both. You settle in against him, seeking his warmth. The storm has dropped the temperature and you have far too much skin exposed to fight off the subtle summer chill.

“How you feeling, doll?” The words are mumbled against your scalp. It sends a cascade of tingles through you. “Is it too much?”

Is he talking about the weed or his proximity you wonder?

“I’m actually plateauing? It’s not as nice as it was a couple hours ago.”

He reaches out of your field of vision producing a multicolored glass object. “I was gonna take a hit or two. Wanna top up? Your call, love.” With that one word you almost felt as though you had already taken one. He can’t see your face, so you nod. “What about the asthma?”

You feel the rumble of laughter reverberate out from his chest behind you. “I haven’t had an attack since I was eighteen, you ass!”

“Better safe than sorry, love.” That pesky word again.

He wraps his arms around you, holding the glass bowl in front of your face. His warm breath tickles your ear as he narrates his actions.

“Now I’m gonna do the hard part for you; so you don’t have to worry about that. I’m gonna hold the lighter to the bowl. You can start inhaling. I want you to squeeze my leg when you’re almost done inhaling.”

“Why?”

“See this little guy here? This hole on the side is called a carb. It helps clear the smoke from the bowl. When you squeeze my leg I’ll move my thumb off the carb, giving you a full hit.”

You wondered if anyone else explained getting stoned like a mission briefing. Probably just Bucky. “Got it.”

You lean forward placing your lips around the mouth of the bowl. Despite the mild anxiety, it doesn’t escape you Bucky’s lips have been on this same spot. The lighter sparks and he brings it towards the edge of the bowl. For a moment, you forget to inhale and simply watch the flame lick the sides of the glass and burn a corner of the green herb. You inhale gently, filling your lungs with smoke. You squeeze his thigh and see his thumb move. A rush of smoke fills your lungs to capacity. You hold it for a handful of seconds before sputtering-fuck! You can’t stop the coughing fit.

“It’s okay, honey. Coughing is normal.” His warm palm strokes soothingly up and down your arm.

“Is losing an entire lung normal?”

“Guess that asthma is still hanging around.”

Bucky smugly takes four more hits cough free while you recover. You turn your body to watch his hands move with practiced grace over the glass. He blows smoke rings on his last hit.

“Showoff.” It’s your turn to pinch his thigh. “Gimme another.”

“I don’t know, doll. We don’t have an inhaler up here and I really don’t wanna explain to the med staff why you’re in respiratory failure.”

“Don’t be an ass, Bucky.”

You’d never know but every time you say his name tingles fizz at the base of his neck in admiration.

“I have an idea.”

“Uh oh.” He continues on ignoring your sass.

“Have you ever heard of a shotgun?”

“The sawed-off form lives in my thigh holster.” Your sentence sent sparks straight to his jeans. How dare you be so unaware of his pain.

“As much as I adore your sarcasm, a shotgun is when I take a hit and pass it to you. It makes it less intense and could save your lungs a bit.”

“Pass it from where?”

“My mouth.” You could swear Bucky’s face held a subtle flush.

Agreeing to the shotgun plan, you scoot to be on your knees between his legs. Face to face. The blanket draped over your shoulders like a cape.

Spark, burn, inhale.

Bucky places his hand on your jaw, thumb against your chin; guiding your face towards his. His palm on the sensitive skin near your neck ignites you.

You part your lips and lean in to meet his but stop short. The distance between you both must be razor thin. He exhales gently. You inhale. The smoke is mellower this time, smooth and tingling. You take everything he gives you, hold, and exhale. Neither of you have pulled away.

“How do you feel?”

It’s a whisper. Your lips still parted. You feel his flutter against yours as they form the words. Lightning crackles in a spiderweb design followed by a delicious rumble of thunder. Bucky moves a hand to rest on the back of your neck.

“I feel like that. Lightning and thunder.”

Bucky closes the final distance between you. His lips press pillowy soft against your own. He’s timid. It’s as if he has no idea you’ve wanted this since you joined the team. You deepen the kiss pressing him back into the pillow nest. He tastes like s’mores. Smokey marshmallow and chocolate and something entirely his own.

“Fuck.” It’s barely above a whisper but the tone is sinful. “Babydoll, we can’t.” Your expression flips between shades of disappointment and hurt. “Doll, no. I want this. I want you. God I wish you knew.” He cradles your face, blue eyes meeting yours. “Sam and Steve are right there.”

“Where’s your sense of adventure, Barnes?”

His eyes glint; awoken by your challenge into some feral state. The responding kiss was bruising and deep but no less tender. You felt your insides thrum in turn. Bucky’s nips onto your bottom lip and neck only stoked your ravenous need for him to be closer.

Your legs straddled his lap, all prior sense of hesitation abandoned. You’re vaguely aware of Sam and Steve still engrossed in their game across the fire. The pouring rain swallows the heavy lewd breaths shared between you two.

“You’re killing me, darlin’.” Bucky sighs his words into the crook of your neck. He can’t bring himself to remove his lips off your skin. You pull back anchoring yourself with his eyes. His bottom lip is tinted from love bites. His previously tamed hair is tousled and knotted in your hand.

“I want you, Bucky.”

“Show me.”

The command falls from his mouth; his tone brown sugar sweet. You lean to taste him once more-

“Fucking hell-” You attempt to match his suave delivery, but it comes out a strangled moan. Bucky’s placed one hand on your hip and one on your ass. Using his leverage, he had pressed and pulled you against him. The new friction had your head reeling. You couldn’t help but think back to something you had read as a child in a weather book.

Lightning is a violent electrostatic discharge.

Your clothed core makes the trip down his body again while he suckles behind your ear.

Two electrically charged bodies temporarily equalize.

On the return drag, you feel the pressure of his erection against your own burning desire. The clothing between you two doing little to quell the want.

Lightning usually occurs during a thunderstorm.

This may as well be lighting. Bucky’s firm grip on the flesh of your hips had set a languid pace which ignited a molten plasma deep in your belly.

Push. Pull. Lightning. Thunder.

Each pass between the two of you creating your own storm while the real storm raged around you. There was no frenzy of ecstasy. Delicious sparks of pleasure are delivered to each of you with every collision of your hips. Your release rolled in slow and steady but powerful, like the thunderheads had earlier in the evening.

You’d have laughed if you were able. The two of you dry humping beside a bonfire while your friends sat not ten feet away. It was the stuff of horny teenagers, but you couldn’t help yourself. You were caught up in the storm and the chase to your own release.

“Bucky, I-” the declaration died in your throat with a particularly firm grind of his hips up into you.

“I know, darlin’. Me too.”

Something so simple shouldn’t be able to ignite you like this; yet it felt like charged particles danced along your skin each place Bucky touched with them all pooling low in your abdomen searching for the chance to explode.

“More.” It’s closer to a choked moan then a word. His lips never leave yours as he rolls you gently below him. The friction delivered from his weighted frame grinding against yours is better than before.

He ruts once more against you, grounding you. A lightning show explodes behind your eyelids, vision going white. Your core quakes with the aftershocks of your release while Bucky rides out his own.

Your hips still against his no longer searching for friction. The air around you feels moist and suffocating. You can’t be sure if it’s from your actions or the humid storm air. Regardless, you shimmy the blanket off stealing a glance over at your teammates. Sam and Steve appear to have switched games and are engrossed in rapidly flipping their cards over; occasionally slapping the pile and cursing at one another.

“Inside?” You jerk your head to the elevator. “It’s all sticky and gross.”

“Well I’m sorry! It’s not my fault I-” You purse your lips, struggling to maintain a straight face. “You meant the weather?”

“I did. But knowing I can get you all hot and sticky is always fun.” His eyes go wide. “Let’s go grab a shower, Sargent. Help you cool off.”

“Something tells me you’re gonna have the opposite effect.”

You grab his hand, eyes glinting as you tug him towards the elevator. Maybe he was right.  

[wrestlingisfake]

Wrestle Kingdom 12 preview

This is set to start around 2am Eastern time Thursday morning and go maybe five or six hours, so lllllet’s get ready to make bad decisions about our sleep schedule!

Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito - Naito defeated Kenny Omega to win the G1 Climax tournament in August, earning the right to challenge for the  IWGP heavyweight title here.  Okada has held the title for 564 days, far and away longer than any other reign with this championship. 

Okada vs. Naito was famously supposed to headline Wrestle Kingdom 8, but fans turned on the idea.  In the end, the intercontinental match (Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi) went on last, forever putting a footnote on what was supposed to be Okada’s first Tokyo Dome main event outside of Tanahashi’s shadow and Naito’s first Dome main event period.  Four years later, both men have earned the respect they were denied then.  So it’s morbidly amusing that fate has yet again cast doubt on whether Okada vs. Naito is “really” the main event, thanks to the buzz surrounding Jericho vs. Omega.  Obviously Okada and Naito have something to prove.  Again.

Okada had a hell of a year in 2017.  Kenny Omega tends to get most of the press for the three matches that Dave Meltzer rated six stars or better, but I watched all three and frankly I’d give Okada just a smidge more credit for those performances.  It’s also worth noting that Okada had epic matches against other opponents, like Katsuyori Shiabata, Minoru Suzuki, and EVIL.  The man’s a wrestling machine, and while he’ll never be my sentimental favorite in NJPW, he’s got my confidence as the man who makes the belt feel important.

Naito did pretty well for himself this past year as well, although I’d argue that’s more from a storytelling and entertainment standpoint.  Little things like his treatment of the intercontinental title belt and his interplay with his stablemates have added that little extra something to his game.  The Japanese audience already loves him but it’s getting easier to for the rest of us to get into his head, and see what the appeal is.

Either man can win here.  If Naito wins, it’ll be the much-delayed Tokyo Dome coronation that he’s been chasing for four years, and a proper milestone in the ascendance of Los Ingobernables de Japon as a key faction in the company.  If Okada wins, it will be his 9th consecutive successful title defense and his second consecutive title defense at the Tokyo Dome; he looked unstoppable after last year’s show, and now he’d be practically godlike.  The only thing for sure here is they’re going to fight and fight for like half an hour, and they’ll leave it all in the ring.

Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho - Omega’s IWGP United States championship is on the line.  The match is no-disqualification, which is itself interesting because it’s already pretty hard to get disqualified in New Japan, suggesting that these guys are going to go far beyond the carnage that usually gets a pass.

The backstory here is that Omega got his old buddy Don Callis a job in the commentary booth, and then Callis helped his old buddy Jericho get in touch with New Japan to put this match together.  So it’s the battle of an NJPW guy who leads the hottest faction in ROH against a longtime WWE guy, and the guy who made it happen is now VP of Impact Wrestling.  Weird.

Jericho is specifically here to try to do his own version of the Connor McGregor/Floyd Mayweather fight that generated so much buzz and money.  To that end, the buildup to this match has been extremely heated.  The two of them have barely coexisted in the same building for more than five minutes without beating each other senseless.  Jericho has vowed this will be Kenny’s last match in Japan.  We’ve been assured this will not be about getting star ratings or match of the year votes--it will be a brawl.

These guys had me hooked in with the press conference.  I don’t really care who wins, but you’d figure it has to be Omega unless they’ve got something else lined up for Jericho later in the year.

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jay White - White is challenging for the IWGP intercontinental title.  This is kind of cool for me because I got into New Japan when White was still a rookie jobbing in the openers with the plain black trunks, and then I watched him say farewell before going on excursion, and now he’s back with this wacky new “switchblade” gimmick.  It’s pretty incredibly to think of him advancing to the #3 match on the biggest show of the year, so it’ll be interesting to see if he can deliver the goods.

Tanahashi is hurting.  Aside from the torn biceps he’s been working through since the summer, he’s got a knee injury too, and that’s on top of all the usual wear and tear to a top wrestler in a Japanese group.  Ideally they’d let him gut it out for this one night, put the other guy over, and then send him the fuck home to heal up.  But if NJPW or Tanahashi were going to make such a rational decision, they wouldn’t have booked him for the G1 Climax last year.  So this could get excrutiating to watch, especially if Tanahashi just wins and therefore is set up to keep defending his title through the next couple of months.

I’m a Tanahashi fan and I hope he can deliver a good match, but I gotta root for White to just win quickly and decisively to give the poor guy a break.

Cody Rhodes vs. Kota Ibushi - This was booked to be a defense of the ROH world championship but Cody lost it to Dalton Castle a few weeks ago.

You can look at this match as a sort of consolation prize, in that both guys were viewed as top choices for Kenny Omega’s opponent on this show until the Jericho thing came up, and now they’re pitted against one another.  The problem with that is that neither guy has much in the way of upward momentum.  Cody is primarily an ROH guy, and there seems to be no interest in putting him in line for an IWGP or NEVER title.  Similarly, Ibushi is a free agent, and the issue with him has always been that NJPW will only push him so far without a contract.  So it’s hard to buy that the outcome of this match matters.  Maybe they can defy expectations or steal the show, but as it stands I’m just not worked up about it.

As far as predictions go, I’m vaguely leaning towards Cody.

Minoru Suzuki vs. Hirooki Goto - Suzuki’s NEVER openweight championship is at stake, as is the hair of both participants.  The winner of the match gets the title; the loser gets his head shaved.  Additionally, Suzuki’s henchmen in Suzuki-gun and Goto’s associates in CHAOS are barred from ringside, to prevent the usual clusterfuck finishes that happen with Suzuki-gun matches.

This could go either way, although a Goto loss would be pretty humiliating and send his storyline in a very dismal direction.  After weeks of just trying to get this match, Goto really needs to get the last laugh.

Marty Scurll vs. KUSHIDA vs. Will Ospreay vs. Hiromu Takahashi - This is a four-way match, and the first man to score a fall on any of his opponents will win Scurll’s IWGP junior heavyweight championship.  Basically the minute Scurll won the title, the three previous champions all demanded a title shot, so he offered to face them at the same time.  Not sure that was such a bright idea.

This will surely be an entertainingly flippy diversion form strong style and big mean guys.  I’m not sure it matters who wins, but I gotta pull for my man Hiromu and his cat Daryl.

Davey Boy Smith, Jr. & Lance Archer vs. EVIL & SANADA - Evil and Sanada won the 2017 World Tag League tournament to earn this shot at the IWGP heavyweight tag team championship, held by the Killer Elite Squad (Smith & Archer).  You know it’s gonna be a mean guy match when one side’s best line is “EVERYBODY DIES” and the other side’s best line is “EVERYTHING IS EVIL.”  I smell a title change coming.

5-team gauntlet match - This is for the NEVER six-man tag team championship.  The gauntlet starts with two trios wrestling a normal six-man tag match.  Once a fall is scored, the losers are eliminated and another team comes out.  This continues until the final team enters the match, and the winners of the final fall get the title.  They did this kind of match last year and the teams entered at random except for the champions who got to enter last, so I assume that’s the rule here, too.

The teams are:

Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa (the defending champions, representing Bullet Club)

Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano & Beretta (representing CHAOS)

Michael Elgin & Raymond Rowe & Hanson

Ryusuke Taguchi & Juice Robinson & Togi Makabe

Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi & Takashi Iizuka (representing Suzuki-gun)

A title change seems inevitable, since the NEVER tag belts are the hot potato of the promotion.  Of the fifteen guys in the match I think Ishii is the most protected, so I tend to favor his team to win, although Sabre is overdue to get some gold.

It’s worth noting that War Machine (Rowe and Hanson) are wrapping up their New Japan commitments and are widely expected to be reporting to WWE soon, so I wouldn’t bet on them to win here.

SHO & YOH vs. Nick Jackson & Matt Jackson - Roppongi 3K (Sho/Yoh) are defending the IWGP junior heavyweight tag team title against the Young Bucks (Nick/Matt).  The Bucks are so dominant in the junior tag division, and 3K is still so new, that a win for the Bucks will accomplish absolutely nothing.  There’s an opportunity here to help make 3K into the future of the division, so all we can do is see if they’ll take it.  I expect we’ll be seeing these teams trade the belts for many years to come, but I don’t think it’ll happen just yet.

New Japan Rumble - This will most likely be on the pre-show.  It’s a gauntlet battle royal, with wrestlers entering the match at one-minute interval; eliminations can occur via pinfall, submission, or exiting the ring over the top rope to the floor.

This is typically used to get people on the show who aren’t otherwise booked, so I’d expect to see:

Satoshi Kojima

Hiroyoshi Tenzan

YOSHI-HASHI

Yuji Nagata

Jushin Thunder Liger

Tiger Mask

Yujiro Takahashi

Hangman Page

Leo Tonga

El Desperado

TAKA Michinoku

Chase Owens

Gedo

Jado

ACH

Yoshinobu Kanemaru

Manabu Nakanishi

David Finlay

Yoshitatsu

New Japan usually brings in some old-timers and joke entrants for this thing, so you never know who’s coming or how many participants there will be.  I could imagine some of the Young Lions being in this, but if so they’ll just get clobbered so it kind of doesn’t matter.  Typically the winner is someone credible but not necessarily in line for a push, so that has me thinking Liger or Kojima could come out on top.  But really, who’s to say if Billy Gunn shows up at the last minute and shows us all who the ass man really is?

[iprincezzinuyoukai]

ToMco Week, Summer Week, Day Seven: Summer Activities

When I start my summer vacation I will be watching anime, writing or reading... Maybe all three things at the same time... A pleasure to have joined in the ToMco Week, until the next.

Notes and Warnings: Antihero||Villain AU.

We Need Vacations

Tom hadn't had what was called a normal life. Well, no one like him could, or even dream of having a normal life. Being able to master his fire cost him to transform almost his entire body. All this before the age of eighteen. In other words, four years after being recruited by The Diamond Council.

At least here he had found people similar to him, in being a Muto. Here he met Star, a girl who had beautiful butterfly wings and acid spit, and who was his girlfriend a few years ago; Marco, not-Muto boy, obsessed with jewelry and furs and very good at fighting with his martial arts techniques, besides being with whom he was currently having a relationship; Janna, whom he could call his best friend and whose voice could break thousands of crystals in a single instant; Jackie, a cool girl, perhaps more coolest than Wendy, and whose friendly rivalry was reflected in her powers as the girl controlled the water; And then there was P-Head, a crazy girl who challenged him as soon as he learned to fly.

Summer was the season of the year where he was most pleased with his body. The heat, the fire, and he was one. Of course, being in a dome under a large glacier in Antarctica was no way to spend the summer. However it was also close to the date when he discovered that he was a Muto and had to be forced to flee before The Whispers exterminated him as his family.

Getting out of the headquarters was no problem, no one forced them to stay. It was simply a place where Mutos from around the world could be careful to be exterminated and live without fear – Bill called this place a Utopian Fantasy, and like any fantasy and utopia one day they would have to wake up. There were always one or three banks to steal a week. He could always join another Muto to cause one to another disaster. He could always accept one of the missions to make a profit in The Council.

“Even so, I'm glad to know you didn't leave with more wounds.” Marco said while disinfecting the bullet wound that Tom had on his shoulder.

“You should have seen the cop's face when I wrapped his car in the fire.” Tom laughed and then gave a slight groan as the needle entered his skin.

“I guess this time there was something you wanted to have broken into a jewelry store.” Marco didn't take his gaze away from Tom's wound, he frowned, if only he had been with Tom he would probably have knocked out the cop before he fired at his boyfriend. But Star had asked for his help to get revenge on a boy who had broken her heart.

“Not for me, exactly. I have no interest in jewelry, only in fire.” Tom reached for the bureau near his bed and took the smaller bag from five bags. The sound of precious stones clashing between them rang in the Pyrokinetic's room, making Marco's curiosity grow.

“Here.” Tom pulled out a small, red, and round jewel. It was a ruby. “When I walked down the street I saw it and I thought of you. It's your color.” Tom turned to see Marco and take away the old earring his boyfriend wear to replace it. “Done.”

Marco put a hand to his ear, touching the surface of the jewel, his face beginning to resemble the ruby and hiding in Tom's chest. “Now I feel the need to give you something in return.” Marco hugged Tom, both falling on the red-haired boy's bed.

“Spending the rest of my life with you is enough for me.” Tom kissed his boyfriend's forehead.

“We could leave for a while.” Marco proposed, “Even we need not think about mundane problems. We can pretend that we are a normal couple and not someone who is wanted by the world.” Marco said with a serenity in his voice.

“By the way, why is your reward higher than mine?” Tom tried to pretend to be offended.

“I was with Star and Agatha when the Senator gave his hate-speech. But returning to the subject of a vacation, we could go to a hot place. Perhaps where there is tranquility and volcanoes.”

“I like the idea.” Why not? When he used to live with his parents he remembers that there was a volcano not so far from his town. His parents told him that probably the volcano was what awakened his powers. “What do you have in mind?”

“Hawaii.”

[writerspink]

K-12 Words

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2.2

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3.2

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4.1

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5.1

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5.2

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6.1

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6.2

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7.1

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7.2

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8.1

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8.2

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9.1

stance vie instill exceptional avail strident formidable rebuke enhance benign perspective tedious aloof encroach memoir mien desolate inventive prodigy staple stint fallacy grope vilify recur assail tirade antics recourse clad jurisdiction caption pseudonym reception humane ornate sage ungainly overt sedative amiss convey connoisseur rational enigma fortify servile fastidious contagious elite disgruntled eccentric pioneer abet luminous era sleek serene proficient rue articulate awry pungent wage deploy anarchy culminate inventory commemorate muster adept durable foreboding lucrative modify authority transition confiscate pivotal analogy avid flair ferret decree voracious imperative grapple deface augment shackle legendary trepidation discern glut cache endeavor attribute phenomenon balmy bizarre gullible loll rankle decipher sublime rubble renounce porous turbulent heritage hover pithy allot minimize agile renown fend revenue versa gaunt haven dire doctrine intricate conservative exotic facilitate bountiful cite panorama swelter foster indifferent millennium gingerly conscientious intervene mercenary citadel obviously rely supportive sympathy weakling atmosphere decay gradual impact noticeable recede stability variation approximately astronomical calculation criterion diameter evaluate orbit sphere agricultural decline disorder identify probable thrive expected widespread bulletin contribution diversity enlist intercept operation recruit survival abruptly ally collide confident conflict protective taunt adaptation dormant forage frigid hibernate insulate export glisten influence landscape native plantation restore urge blare connection errand exchange

9.2

feasible teem pang vice tycoon succumb capacious onslaught excerpt eventful forfeit crusade tract haggard susceptible exemplify ardent crucial excruciating embargo disdain apprehend surpass sporadic flustered languish conventional disposition theme plunder ignore project complaint title dramatic delivery litter experimental clinic arrogance preparation remind atomic occasional conscious deny maturity closure stressed translator animate observation physical further gently registration suppress combination amazing constructive allied poetry passion ecstasy mystery cheerful contribution spirit failed gummy commerce prove disagreement raid consume embarrass preference migrant devour encouragement quote mythology destined destination illuminating struggle accent ungrateful giggle approval confidence expose scientist operation superstitious emergency manners absolutely swallow readily mutual bound crisp orient stress sort stare comfort verbal heel challenging advertisement envious sex scar astonish basis accuracy enviable alliance specific chef embarrassed counter tolerable sympathetic gradually vanish informative amaze royal furry insist jealousy simplify quiver collaborate dedicated flexible function mimic obstacle technique archaeologist fragment historian intact preserve reconstruct remnant commence deed exaggeration heroic impress pose saunter wring astound concealed inquisitive interpret perplexed precise reconsider suspicious anticipation defy entitled neutral outspoken reserved sought equal absorb affect circulate conserve cycle necessity seep barren expression meaningful plume focused genius perspective prospect stunned superb transition assume guarantee nominate

10.1

install reticent corroborate regretfully strength murder concise cunning intention holy satire query confused progression disillusion background mundane abrupt multiple enormously introduce emulate harmful pragmatic pity rebut liberate enthusiastic elucidate camaraderie disparage nature creep profitability impression racist sobriety occupy autonomy currently amiable reiterate reproduce cripple modest offer atom provincial augment ungratefully expansion yield rashly allude immigration silence epitome exacerbate somber avid dispute vindicate collaborate manufacturer embellish superficial propaganda incompetent objective diminish statistics endure ambivalent perpetuate illuminate phenomenon exasperate originality restrict anxiety anthropology circumstances aesthetic manufacturing conventional dubious vulnerable reality precedent entity success term critical repair underscore stepmother republican hesitantly classic wary contents prediction immediate invoke notorious implicit excluding input skeptical foster element punish frank humanity profound dessert orthodox substance disappear encourage neighborhood elder superfluous naive ascertain complacent resilient deafening military tend prudent glare acceptance skillfully induce monster beam gullible conciliate vessel petty cantankerous disclose archaeology anecdote disdain electronics substantiate subjective tourism advisable joyful incredible provocative psychological ruins discipline condone indifferent misfortune judgmental industrialize tasty assume astute mission mar protective definitely escape oppress shocked virtual zealous endorse qualification hostile eccentric abstract disparate geographical scrutinize generalization tolerate activity claim dogmatic influential obsolete extol implausible subsequent resource chronic benevolent improve confidential ambiguous seriously dearth perplex hatred throughout dine contemporary evoke essentially economic flagrant obscure alleviate eloquent dreaadful clumsy sympathy victim condemn vigor condescend spontaneous quell reprehensible substantially sleeve equivocal ironic decry errand articulate progressive eradicate refreshments elicit aspiration recently exemplary bribery theoretical disingenuous partisan revere particle nostalgia self-aggrandizement debunk tyranny rhetoric hierarchy warning whimsical venerate commend assert miserable awful vibe constrain undermine explicit differentiate compliment scrupulous contempt erroneous ideal refute imply cynical rash presume insight revival vary delay renounce indignant offensive temperate circumstantial export peep logo advertise suppress distort chunk convoluted denounce overwhelming fertility rigorous acquire arrogant university antagonize profitable indulgent strategic breathing idiosyncrasy profession frugal discern accommodation adversary incredulous disturbance digress social belie roam smug continual pertinent voluntarily elite subtle blame sincerity lick horror censure involvement candid infer futile impetuous exploit bewilder sustain diligent sincere protect sealed musical empathy callous parenthetical insure acorn sarcasm seize sacrificially allege emphatic irrelevant progress diplomatic stunned improvise deride reconcile meticulous deject scientifically incontrovertible pressure justify gloomy depict supplant endurance analogous diary bolster slip contemplate pesticide glow religious advocate negligent creator lament fundamental embrace throne inherent inferior valuable thrive trivial pretense reserved capricious refresh refusal flight boost explanation coherent prevalent tenacious official royalty assassin rub poach delete

10.2

warrant circumscribed somewhat explosive optimistic mandate previously detract opinion intuitive feasible intimate persistent humble simplicity tempt deliberate painful unethical fundamentals discrepancy remorse pessimistic possibility conclusion acknowledge impregnate soberly creation paralyze suitability oblige tranquil medal arbitrate pacify illusory susceptible vibrate vengeance infection democratic stressful grave speculative sample identification stifle obligation revenge organization namely mediocre practical scream weaken consensus affectionate deficient treacherous console isolation ingenious memory melodrama despair awestruck composition regret recommendation celebrity decision devoid opaque ornamentation longevity participate dread restore interrogate aid accordingly mislead embarrassment optimism domestic apt funds virtue geography fundamentally thoroughly press despite horrible chilling rental esteemed disappointment innovative contemplation assign popularize haunt deafen serene percent estrangement suffer extravagant throng estimate comment priesthood mass dreadfully promote periphery animated saying relate clarity triple derivative succeed distortion register suicide improvement discreet inquisition probable curative incident praise convenience baffle covet dreadful genuinely weary undisturbed disgruntled humility renown nonchalant monopoly comedy vague decisive inconsequential announcement fabricated nevertheless vigilant scarce neglectful hushed attainment tedious explode snatch pslm agency sentimental tension adhere meanwhile sacred avert conformity likewise challenger accessible responsibility peril contact event roast fallible catastrophic competitor violate resolute deceive exaggeration discredit intolerable approve paste dimly novelist demeanor norm politician satisfaction obvious vehicle reservation defer involve restoration crush audible assistant backpack attain inanimate commemorate confrontation emigration parasite disperse quantitative laughter policy vulgar occasionally repay effective eulogy starvation empty therapeutic overall immortal encompass inappropriate opportune engagement illustrate turmoil observatory classification expression reminiscence comedian invention depress remedy protagonist gesture texture diplomatic election prolong conducive emotional invigorate curiosity expressive %

K-12 Words was originally published on PinkWrite

[josephkitchen0]

9 Common Homesteading Supplies and Hacks

Nifty gadgets have their place on the homestead but sometimes you just can’t go down that often-pricey path. Don’t get me wrong — I’m a hopeless fan of wonky inventions (think egg flashlights and nut wizards), but even if you have the cash, you might not feel like cramming yet another single-purpose item into your barn or basement. Enter common homesteading supplies and the hack. A time-honored tradition!

Inexpensive and creative solutions to everyday problems might be the most important tools in a backyard farmer’s toolbox.  Here are a few of my favorites gleaned from several years raising vegetables, fruits, and animals on our suburban farm.

1. Zip Ties: Worth Their Weight in Gold

On our property, plastic cable ties are homesteading supplies that have been put into service in countless ways and, despite their low cost, typically last several years, even after very hot summers and sub-zero winters. From building cages to thwarting squirrels and all the many tasks in between, the lowly zip tie steps up to a starring role in various homesteading productions. They come in several lengths, colors, and styles but my go-to model is the 8-inch commercial electrical model — heavy-duty and rated to operate in temperatures ranging from -40 to 85 degrees Celsius, well within our Northeastern United States parameters.

How many will you need? Probably more than you think.

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Zip ties are strong but can also be employed for short-term uses. For example, if you don’t tighten them all the way, you can easily cut them off when they’re no longer needed. Or you can turn them around and use the non-tightening side for loose closures where you want to get in and out, for example, a door flap. Be careful, though. Zip ties are not toys, keep them out of reach of children! They can be very difficult to remove once fully closed.

Sample uses:

Create quick fences and covers – Attach poultry wire, netting, hardware cloth or any material you can stick a tie through to sticks, poles or pipes. I use a hole-punch to create openings when necessary.

Hang objects – Leave a gap in the zip to make a loop. You can make chains of zip ties to add length.

Attach objects – Signs, varmint deterrent lights, etc.

2. Cardboard Box: A Farmer’s Best Friend

All sizes can be handy but whenever a really large cardboard box comes my way, I stash it in the garage with my homesteading supplies for guaranteed future use. I prefer to employ the basic brown, made in the United States version and try to remove all plastic tape when feasible.

Cardboard can be called on for all kinds of quick and lightweight duties.

Temporary walls – Along the lines of cheap fencing ideas, cardboard is really useful to separate or corral poultry when evading capture. (The ducks take one look and know it’s pen-up time!)

Instant weed/lawn suppressor – You could dig it up but wouldn’t you rather get a head start by covering that pesky vegetation with sun-blocking cardboard first?

Animal carrier – With bedding in the bottom and holes for air, a sturdy cardboard box makes a great lightweight container for moving small animals. Whenever we have an injured duck, it’s easier for her to be transported in a box than to have to navigate the openings of a typical pet cage.

3. Sticks: Not Just for Poking

Over the years, I’ve collected scores of sticks in various lengths, widths and wood types. As a newbie, I figured that all sticks were equally durable but a few harsh summers and winters destroyed that fantasy. I still use the faded, split and splintered pieces of hardwood that I first bought for bean teepees and tomato stakes but this spring I graduated to long-lasting locust for what I hope will be the last veggie poles I ever need to purchase. Those locust stakes are now screwed into the sides of our cedar planters where they support our homemade poultry wire cage attached with (what else?!) hundreds of zip ties!

You can also use homesteading supplies like sticks for temporary fencing, trellising, keeping doors ajar for ventilation, digging holes and excavating hard-to-reach coop muck, securing string for edging, flagging objects underneath the heavy snow, hanging covers or shade cloth and many other uses I have yet to discover. Keep a range of weights from bamboo light to locust hefty and lengths up to the famed 10-foot pole. You can always trim to size as well as repurpose broken pieces for many years of service. Your farm dog will thank you for keeping an extra stick around the place, too!

4. The Never-Ending Straw Bale

Many articles, blog posts, and even a book have been written with straw bale gardening instructions extolling the virtues of the ordinary straw bale for small-scale vegetable gardening. I’m here to tell you about its special advantage for poultry owners as well. Every autumn before most folks have even finished their back-to-school shopping, I start scoping out the local farm stands, hoping to be the first to score as many straw bales as possible. Why? Straw (not hay, different item altogether) makes a fabulous slow-release fertilizer that when gathered into a bale (or pieces of a bale) forms the perfect container for next spring’s edible plants.

But that’s not all! My main reason for buying so many bales in the fall is to place them around the edges of the poultry pen for instant winter protection for the ducks. As the straw decays, the bales heat up. They get warm enough that you can feel it when sitting on them in the middle of a snowy yard. That means that not only do they block the sharp wind but they also add a little extra cozy to your coop.

In the spring, the bales will then resume their slow organic breakdown, inviting tasty worms, fungi, and other organisms to join the party. My ducks love to forage in between the bales, especially when the ground is still a bit hard for digging. Then, once the first brassica seedlings are ready to go, I either move the bales in one piece or, much easier, move them in slices to where I want to grow my vegetables that season. It takes all summer for most of the bale to feed the crops and if there’s any left, it goes on top of the harvested plots to protect the soil for next year’s planting.

5. Poultry Fencing

Whether you’re talking hexagonal opening (AKA poultry) or square (commonly known as hardware cloth), netting materials from heavy-duty metal to the lightweight fabric are common homesteading supplies that are enormously useful on any sub(urban) farm. Just like the sticks I can’t do without, I keep a wide selection of everything from raccoon resistant heavyweight wire with tiny 1/4 inch openings to plastic poultry netting, mostly useful to keep out ducks, not rodents. Here are some styles and uses.

Plastic hexagonal – Use this for temporary fencing or veggie cages for anything squirrels don’t like. (Rodents can chew holes in plastic.) It’s lightweight, inexpensive and easy to work with.

Metal hexagonal – Use this for veggie cages, temporary dome covers, aprons for cages where large varmints are a problem. It’s lightweight, inexpensive, and can usually be cut with scissors.

Plastic hardware cloth: Use this for all the same uses as hexagonal but it has smaller openings so it can be used as shade cloth. It’s easy to cut, but rodents can chew through.

Metal hardware cloth: Buy the one-inch and one-quarter-inch squares. Smaller opening hardware cloth for chicken coops is useful to protect sides of pens from raccoons. The larger openings in heavy gauge can be used for overnight accommodations when thoroughly secured and with at least an 18 inches of apron rim around the edge. The interior floor can be dug out and hardware cloth run underneath it as well. Wire-cutters are needed.

6. No-till Composting

Okay, so I realize this is heresy and it all depends on what you use and how you use it but I’ve stopped getting compost from a composter. What?! Yeah, it’s true. Partially it’s because I’m lazy, partially it’s because I never get enough compost from those fancy rotating set-ups to feed my huge vegetable habit. So, two years ago, I began directly tossing kitchen plant scraps (not meat, eggs, oil or cooked foods) into a new garden bed I had been trying to quick-start. In the fall, I then added some very weathered straw bale material and the next year, voila, super successful Brassica, and later that autumn out-of-control squash.

Last winter, I took it to the next level by choosing two off-the-ground planters and trying the same thing. Before the snow set in, I tossed a thin layer of veggie scraps onto the top of the soil and in the spring, gently turned them under, adding a little more potting soil to supplement what got lost in the previous season.

Take a look at the photos. The plants grown in the two no-till beds are going gangbusters. The compost-less beds, not so much. Are there other reasons? Sure. Each soil system is different but I think I can reasonably say that using a little veggie scrap without waiting for it to break down completely into crumbly compost is not a terrible way to get rid of your dinner trimmings. Do not go overboard, mind! You don’t want to create an anaerobic environment; you just want to protect the soil in the winter and add a little nutrient with very little work. 

7. Incredible, Bendable Wire

You would think I’d have learned from my experience with zip ties but no. I started with a couple of crop covers and eventually realized my farmer ambitions outstripped the coverage supply. I sought out an agriculturally rated material and serendipitously discovered handy heavy gauge wire that’s sold along with it. Johnny’s Seeds offers varying amounts, weights, and lengths so of course, I bought the largest box of the longest length (100 pieces may, in fact, be a lifetime supply for a quarter-acre property but contact me in a few decades and I’ll let you know!)

Like the practical wooden stick and other homesteading supplies, a bendable wire can be useful for building lightweight structures such as cages or domes to fit odd-shaped plants (think bush variety pumpkins) or for hanging objects, crafting doors or flaps, flagging items under snow, and, of course, holding crop covers, shade cloth and the like. Best of all, they are made of seriously long-lasting, reusable galvanized steel. Super easy to store, I tie them into bundles and stack in the garage. Who knew a common homesteading supply like a skinny piece of wire could be so useful? 

8. Strange Uses for Your 1990s Pantyhose

I’ll confess here that although I’m rather a fanatic about not using synthetic pesticides or fertilizers in my home or garden, my tomatoes do get some help from a store-bought friend. That said, there’s very little I won’t do to produce a bumper crop of pizza and pasta sauces. Among the weirder strategies I employ is a tip I gleaned from the classic reference tome, Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening by Louise Riotte. In that book, Riotte talks about how lightning adds nitrogen to the soil when it strikes the ground. This is not to say that I think you should go all Ben Franklin in your tomato patch. Riotte’s suggestion is a much milder and safer method of harnessing electricity by using pantyhose tied both to the plant’s stalk and also to a supporting structure, such as a tomato cage. The static electricity generated by this connection is said to promote a bumper crop. Your neighbors may look at you funny but I’ve blogged about this and used this method for several years and have raised many delicious fruits to show for it.

9. More Purposes for the All-Purpose Rubber Bowl 

You know ’em, you see ’em everywhere, you probably own a few of these plentiful homesteading supplies; the ubiquitous rubber pans that come in sizes from two quarts to fifteen gallons. These durable workhorses are indispensable for anyone raising small livestock. Great for food, water, bathing and carrying everything from eggs to straw and beyond.

My favorite rubber bowl hack, however, is the Instant Staircase. I guess you could really call it a coop hack since there are very few duck-specialized houses on the market. This means that to get a duck into a chicken coop you usually have to pick it up and place it inside because those cute little entry ladders are not well suited to waterfowl feet. I considered a wider, longer board but that would be heavy and unwieldy with no guarantee that the girls would want to “walk the plank.”

One cold day in February, I decided to use a couple of large rubber bowls instead. I picked each duck up and placed her on the secure surface then shooed her inside.  It took no more than two nights for the ducks to get the drill. Now I leave the coop door open each afternoon so the girls can go inside when they’re ready. Thank goodness for no-slip rubber!

Quick & Easy Tips Using Common Homesteading Supplies

Your store-bought crop covers seen better days? Tear off the material and reuse the hoops underneath with row cover cloth.

Don’t have room to store another trellis or bean cage? Make a teepee out of sticks and burlap string. At the end of the season, pull it apart for other uses.

Need an entry flap for a veggie cage? Cut a flap slightly larger than the opening and attach one side with zip ties. Reverse a few zip ties (the non-binding direction) and use those to close the flap. This will not keep out super-wily rodents but may slow them down a bit!

Tomatoes grow better fruit when they’re buzz-pollinated. Grow lots of bumblebee-friendly flowering plants near your tomato patch and get ready for the most delicious “love apples” ever.

What are some of your favorite hacks using common homesteading supplies?

9 Common Homesteading Supplies and Hacks was originally posted by All About Chickens

[michellemaphoto]

Florence, Italy

After a little over a week in Rome, Alexandra and I took the TrenItalia to Florence. We weren’t in a big rush, so the slow (and cheap) train it was. We arrived in the afternoon, a bit hungry, and quite a bit hotter as Florence was warmer than Rome. Florence was quite a change from Rome -- smaller buildings, all Renaissance-era, smaller sidewalks and narrower streets. It had a different feel; a bit more calm and definitely lots to see and eat. 

More photos here!

Where I Stayed

I stayed at WoW Florence Hostel, which is near the city center, about 15 minutes’ walk from Il Duomo. It was a few flights up, and thankfully, had AC to counter the July heat. I loved this hostel very much! It was clean, the staff were polite and spoke English, which was a huge plus for me, and I stayed for 3 nights in the Matrimonial Suite (ha!) with my friend, complete with our own private bathroom and shower. Overall, it was quite comfortable, and the AC at the end of a long afternoon was much appreciated. I’d highly recommend for those visiting Florence. I stayed for 3 nights total, arriving in the early afternoon on the first day and leaving after lunch after the 3rd night, which was the perfect amount of time for the area.

Food

1. Aperitivo at Oibo

My favorite food outing has to be aperitivo at Oibo. Upon Alexandra’s friend’s recommendation, we came to Oibo in the evening for some aperitivo and nibbles, after a day enjoying the sights. At that time of night, we were approaching the golden hour so opted to eat outside on the restaurant patio. I couldn’t help ordering a Spritz to enjoy with the buffet-style food available inside, all for 10 euros. It was a great way to whet the appetite (having had gelato earlier in the late afternoon), and also have a light dinner, as we weren’t terribly hungry from the heat. 

It was really a Florentine food moment I couldn’t miss! The relaxed atmosphere, the Italian drinks on the menu, and beautiful Renaissance backdrop was a wonderful end to a busy day.

2. Dessert and digestif at Gilli

We went to Gilli for dessert after another busy day wandering the city, and after having dinner at a sandwich shop. It was Alexandra’s last day in Florence with me and we were feeling up for some dessert, dessert wines, and meandering conversation. Naturally, the courtyard in front of Gilli, with the live music, fountain, and seating area, was the perfect place to sit down and rest our feet, and not to mention, the perfect place to enjoy some desserts at a long-standing Florentine bakery. I hadn’t had tiramisu yet on my Italy trip, and I wanted to try some other local foods, so I opted for a tiramisu to share (I’m not such a pig as to have my own, ha!), some cantucci, analogous to biscotti, and Vin Santo. It was a wonderful way to wind down an otherwise busy and hot summer day.

3. Osteria all’Antico Vinaio

We opted to eat here a couple times, not least because the local Florentine bread, schiacciata, was delicious, and the other ingredients were decadent and yet beautiful in their simplicity. So a schiacciata sandwich it was, a few times, with fresh truffle paste, cured meats, and crumbly pecorino cheese, with an assortment of arugula and other greens to add in some health. And, for only a few euros, it couldn’t be beat in terms of getting value, wholesomeness, and local fare, all in one.

This one is vegetarian. The one with cured meats when down too fast for me to take a photo.

4. Mercato di San Lorenzo

This food market actually inspired the food market I fell in love with at Termini Station, in Rome. It was a feast for the eyes, stomach, and soul, and I greedily walked through the entire market, aisle by aisle, so as not to miss anything. Fortunately for my cholesterol, I can’t eat as much as I’d like, so I happily ordered a bowl of pasta, street food style, with red sauce and olives, at La Primeria Gli Spadellatori, for 5 euros. Come to the market, if only to look at food in its many, beautiful forms, and enjoy all the sights and smells!

5. Alimentari Uffizi

I gotta put in a plug for this meat and cheese shop, family-owned for generations, and run by my friend’s boyfriend. It was an incredible shop, and I only wish I’d been hungry enough to sample the meats and cheeses I encountered. The meats are produced on the family farm and cured in-house, and would have been wonderful, I’m certain. Alas, enjoy for me!

Gelato

Yes, gelato gets another of its own sections in this post, too. But, you’ll see why!

1. Venchi

So, Rome has Venchi as well, but I heard the location in Florence had better gelato, so I had to go here on my trip. A few times. No regrets. 

The store was beautiful, with melted chocolate streaming down one wall, over the Venchi logo near the entrance, and seemingly endless rows of chocolates and other chocolate desserts, packaged for us all to take home to our loved ones. I resisted, having purchased a ton of paper already at Il Papiro (sigh), but contented myself with delicious gelato.

2. La Carraia

Another local favorite, which I couldn’t resist. Also delicious gelato, but I preferred Venchi. However, for those in the area, try both! You really can’t lose. I particularly loved seeing how gelato is scooped, shaped, and served in numerous ways. 

Sightseeing

My top sights for Florence are probably the same items you’d find on another travel blog, but here they are, nevertheless. The biggest difference between Rome and Florence, in my experience, is that Florence is a MUCH smaller city, which lends itself to walking. I walked everywhere and didn’t have to take any public transportation, and it was great. The architecture had a beautiful Renaissance uniformity that contrasted with the mix of styles and architecture I saw in Rome, but the atmosphere was pleasant, albeit with more tourists than I expected to see.

1. Walk around the city & Pontevecchio and Piazzale di MIchelangelo

Walking around the city while searching for cool shops, gelato, and food was the best part of my day, as I could see the beautiful cityscapes and picturesque views of Florence as I’d seen in numerous Renaissance-era paintings in the past. Finally, I was here!

My favorite photos were of the Pontevecchio, photos of other Florentine bridges, and the view from Piazzale di Michelangelo. I felt truly lucky to be in such a beautiful city.

2. Accademia Gallery

I came here on my last full day in Florence, and because the line outside was literally several hours long, I couldn’t see as much of the museum in detail as I would like, having only gotten in an hour or so before closing. However, this museum was one of my absolute favorites of all time because it exhibits the statue of David, by Michelangelo. I’d previously only seen the statue in photos (duh), but was blown away by the beauty of David’s intense expression, his stance and body language, especially his hands, and the level of detail Michelangelo was able to express through marble. By this point I’d seen literally hundreds of beautiful Italian sculptures and this one made my heart drop. Unforgettable. 

3. Uffizi Gallery Museum

I came here on my first afternoon, when tickets were free. Even if they weren’t free, it’s a must-see. The gallery of marble sculptures, Renaissance-era religious art, and the architecture of the museum itself captivated me. Just the use of light, shadow, and color in the paintings were enough for me to pause at each piece and soak in the beauty. 

I also got to see Botticelli’s Venus, which was as beautiful in person as I’d always imagined it to be.

4. Il Duomo and Battistero

The Duomo was also something else. Built nearly 1000 years ago, its beauty, sheer size, and level of detail rendered in the marble panels was a sight to see, and I never stopped marveling at it every time I walked by, to or from some other sight, whether during the day or at night.

The museum at the Duomo is also something to see. It contained ancient relics from the previous cathedral at the same site and other religious relics. 

One thing not to miss is the climb up the cupola. The top of the cupola affords a stunning view of the entire city of Florence, not to mention a closer view of the Campanile, which is next to it.

The Baptistery is next to the Duomo and possessed comforting symmetry in its octagonal sides, and the painted gold interior of the dome dazzled me when I entered. 

5. Giotto’s Campanile

The campanile at UC Berkeley took inspiration from Giotto’s Campanile, and I couldn’t wait to see it. In truth, the Berkeley campanile looks nothing like this. This campanile, with its ornate carved marble, was breathtaking and had its own aesthetic that just can’t be copied. The walk up this campanile was as draining as the walk up the Duomo’s cupola, especially on such hot and humid July days, but well worth it! 

One neat thing is that while at the top of the campanile I could spy visitors at the top of the cupola of the Duomo. Very neat! 

6. Il Papiro

So, Il Papiro isn’t exactly a museum or historic site, but visiting it was such a wonderful experience to me that it needs to be included here.

My friend first took me to the Il Papiro flagship store next to the Duomo so I could see the beautiful storefront of hand decorated paper and stationery. I gawped in wonder at the beautiful, hand crafted paper items on every shelf, all arranged so casually but with an intentional order, that I could only first wander through the store, then methodically comb through each aisle, so that I knew I didn’t miss a little treasure.

While paying for the stack of paper and notebooks and stationery I just couldn’t resist buying, my friend came across a small flyer advertising a tour of the Il Papiro paper workshop on the outskirts of Florence, complete with a class on hand-decorating paper with the peacock motif I saw throughout the store and covering and creating a notebook. After a few unsuccessful attempts to contact the business, my friend was finally able to arrange a tour for me on my last morning in Florence. To be honest, of all experiences I had on this trip, this was one of the top two things I did in Italy that I can’t stop raving about (the other one you’ll see in the next post!). I had such a ball here, I’m still going back to look at the paper I decorated and the notebook I wrapped.

I took a bus from Santa Maria Novella bus stop to the outskirts of Florence, where Maria, an employee of Il Papiro, picked me up in her Lancia and drove me to the workshop, farther out from the city, and near other leather making workshops also stationed in the city. While we drove, she told me a bit about the history of the workshop I was to visit and her role there in developing the business. I was so excited I was all smiles and bouncing on my seat.

When we arrived, Maria first gave me a tour of the warehouse where all the completed decorated paper and other stationery were stacked on metal shelves, waiting to be transformed into something else, or sold as inspirations for customers. My favorite motifs were the peacock design I’d already seen at the store and the marbleized paper, which requires a different process to create.

A typical wood block print, such as the pattern below, would take 8 different blocks that must be manually aligned so that the designs match up correctly.

Then, I got started on wrapping a notebook. The pages of the notebook were already chosen and bound, but now I had to choose a notebook cover pattern, attach it to cardboard pieces that would serve as covers for the notebook, and then glue in the pages.

What sounds like a simple process actually required a fair amount of attention to detail and getting the feel of the process. The ladies working at the shop expertly constructed other items while I learned from one of the employees.

Book press for pressing the notebook flat after glueing.

While my book cover was drying, I went over to the paper decorating station in another part of the warehouse, where Claudio, one of the business owners and the creative mind behind Il Papiro, was hand decorating paper. Now was the time for me to learn to do the same, albeit with a simpler process more suitable for noobs such as me. It was a process that required a lot of concentration and a bit of help from Claudio toward the end to ensure that my pattern would fix to the paper.

Apparently, Claudio and his son make all the hand decorated paper that Il Papiro sells, typically around 150-200 full-sized sheets per day. The process begins with making the jelly, a plant-based substrate on which the pigments that transfer to the paper are set. This jelly solution is composed of seaweed and other herbs sourced locally that are then boiled in water and frozen overnight. The jelly solution for the peacock and marble designs are different, and the marble print requires a jelly solution with more water to allow more time to create the marble effect with the pigments.

The pigments, usually 8 different colors, are dispensed from metal bottles in several arches on top of the substrate. Numerous metal combs placed transversely across the jelly table are then used to scrape and move the pigment across the jelly; the first comb spreads the ink across the surface, the second creates the little arches, and the third comb creates the final, wavy peacock design. All those steps, including laying down the paper, require a dexterity formed from years of practice and muscle memory, so Claudio helped me out with key steps. 

After hanging the paper to dry, I went back to finish assembling my notebook pages, as the covers were now dry. While the paper was drying and my assembled notebook was in the press, I had some snacks and perused the shop inside the warehouse, which contained many items I didn’t see at the Il Papiro store in the city center. I also chatted more with Maria, who was eager to share her knowledge with me and her love of the business. 

Il Papiro integrates modern business practices with generations-old bookbinding techniques, which created a unique business model that I haven’t yet seen in the US. I was impressed at the care that went into creating each item for sale and the thought that went into creating the product line, and figuring out the audience for such specialty goods. I was also impressed with how leanly such a company is staffed, which is still able to produce so many beautiful and high quality items. Overall, the visit here was eye-opening, indeed! 

Maria also showed me some old wooden and metal molds used to decorate the paper from decades ago, now replaced with more modern and low maintenance technology. So neat!

So, I’ll stop rambling about paper and stationery now, but this was truly a memorable experience that I’d be hard-pressed to find just anywhere. I’m so grateful to Alexandra and Maria for arranging such an unforgettable experience where I could nerd out shamelessly about paper! 

Shopping

1. Go to Il Papiro, at the flagship store near the Duomo.

2. Shop at the Ferragamo and Gucci flagship stores, and even check out their museums if you’re up for it. These shops are sprinkled around the city center and are beautifully appointed, with the entire line of Ferragamo and Gucci clothing, accessories, and shoes, on wondrous display. Whether or not you buy anything, these shops really captured and distilled the style and flair I found all throughout Italy. There are also countless other boutiques nearby that are either only found in Florence or only in Italy, so take a wander and see what you find!

3. Farmacia

If you’re feeling like death, as I was, for god’s sake, go to a Farmacia. They are everywhere in every city, but in Florence, they sell local branded cough drops that really helped soothe the horrendous cough I developed on day 1 of my trip to Italy. I can’t recall the brand, but they’re local to Florence and are very, very strong. <3!

Next up, my visit to Perugia and a truffle hunt!

[toddlazarski]

Whiffs of Napoli at San Giorgio Pizzeria

Shepherd Express

Chicago or Sheboygan. Eight years ago, this was basically the Milwaukee menu for serious scorching-oven fare. The former’s wave of Neapolitan pizzas seemed to be peaking, highlighted when GQ’s Alan Richman dubbed Great Lake as the ‘Best Pizza in America’. (It mattered so little in the oceanic pie world of Chicago that the place would be closed within a couple years). The big city scene was rounded out by the likes of the excellent Spacca Napoli, exocticized by the fired coal offerings of Coal Fire. Meanwhile our small town  neighbors to the north held every Milwaukee foodie’s favorite in-the-know secret: Il Ritrovo.

We had Piccolo. Also, maybe you could count whatever was happening at the short-lived efforts of Dick’s nightclub. Aside from that, well, it’s best not to think of the stone ages in today’s bustling scramble scene of catchup. Now we have Wolf Peach - much more than a pizzeria, but still, some occasional Neapolitan-leaning gems can be found alongside bone marrow and such. There’s Anodyne, a coffee shop’s success meeting the owner’s backyard passion project, yielding a from-Italy oven, some figuring-it-out salad days, and now frequent pizza brilliance. There is Carini’s, the Shorewood meets Sicily stalwart having added a 900-degree Acunto fire-breather. More recent is Bay View’s Santino’s, whose food can best be summed up by the fact that the restaurant often feels like the set of The Sopranos. Earlier this summer Di Moda opened in the space of Trocadero, because out with the gastropubbery, in with the fancy pizza. There will certainly be more. While the best of the new school has been Zarletti Mequon - Brian Zarletti schooled by maestro Roberto Caporuscio, president of the Association of Neapolitan Pizzaiuoli, in the hard streets of midtown Manhattan.

Amidst the wave it’d be easy to overlook San Giorgio, the new, next-door opening by the owners of Calderone Club. Especially considering it’s residence in the oft-forgotten, by Milwaukeeans at least, downtown dining scene. Especially in the large shadow cast by Calderone Club itself, the much beloved, pretty ordinary spot for Milwaukee pub style pizza.  

But, note the window placard on some walk by: “Vera Pizza Napoletana” it states atop the logo - a serious jester shrouded in white, pizza peel yielded like a most potent tool of war, his focus only on the red orb before him, it seeming to contain all importance in the world, even despite the steaming Vesuvius outline in the background. Or grab a spot at the “pizza bar” - a melding of the two greatest things made by man - and spot the same certificate hanging on the back wall. What it means: they are a member of the VPN, an official delegation that designates its members as making “true Neapolitan pizza.” Admittance is based on, among other specifications, having a 900-degree wood-burning oven, using ‘certified’ mozzarella, type “00” wheat flour, tomatoes yielding from the lush soil around Mount Vesuvius. There’s also plenty of overcooked minutia: intricate requirements such as “proper work surface (usually a marble slab),” and oregano that is "Origanum vulgare from the ‘Labiatae’ family.” But, what it means hanging here: San Giorgio joins the aforementioned Il Ritrovo, Sheboygan’s other pizza spot - Harry’s, and Madison’s Naples 15  as the only spots in the state for such certified ‘za.      

Does any of this matter? Is such acronym salad but a marketing ploy? Is it misplaced rigidity? Isn’t adherence to tradition a bit overrated in comparison to, you know, taste? And, when you’re pizza-hungry, do you mind if, say, they're using a “low speed approved mixer”? Or if the pie is over the 11-inch maximum size? Are all of these just crusty stipulations, rules ordained by the hall monitors of technique?

These are the things to ponder as you sit in the considerable shadow of the blue tile beauty made in Naples - a Stefano Ferrara, or, basically, a Mercedes Benz of domed, high-temp ovens. And it burns just so, like a finely tuned, precision-engineered machine. Or you think it does, until maybe you hear one pizzaiolo tell the next, under his breathe, in a moment of heated frustration, "I'll kill you," and you realize, with the glimpse of one mistake, one disagreement, that it’s a very different kind of precision at work here. There’s something inherently temperamental at play, the world of careful cooking and fetishistic focus mixing with kitchen bullshitting and operatic southern Italian machismo right before you. There’s no setting a timer and walking away. There’s a constant checking of the temp with a gun, an indicator of the dynamic state, there’s a spinning of the pizza peel, like Federer flipping his racket, the easy familiarity with a tool, known through repetition, non-sentient friendship, a paint brush pointed toward doing serious life’s work.   

The entire presentation feels more art than kitchen procedure. It’s also at least part pizza porn - what with the in-and-out of the long peel, penetrating and prodding. And it feels all aesthetic pleasure. Especially as the waitress whisks another fire-kissed pie of San Marzano tomatoes, and nostrils fill with the woody essence of charred flour, and there’s Italian marble under your elbows, and Louis Prima overhead.    

For certain people, it feels special, essential - the kind of people that plan their honeymoon around making it to Naples, and then decide to spend the rest of their lives denigrating Rome and the Amalfi Coast, fiercely defending Napoli’s place as the actual greatest place in all of Italy, if not the world. For others, San Giorgio is simply a classy, laid back, downtown-y type place of which there are less and less downtown these days.    

Whatever your personal baggage walking through the door, there’s not much getting around it: the way pizza freaks talk about pizza is awful. Like BBQ geeks, with their ridiculous wood preferences, the need to pepper convo’s with terms like “bark,”  to let you know they know of what they speak. Or the way mixologists denigrate lesser bitters, with a scoff, like our president toward reality. Having said that, for those same certain people, Neapolitan style pizza, like Naples itself, is well deserving of a flight or two of poetic fancy.

To start, the style is a texture lover’s dream. A perfect synthesis of dough and char, of pillow and base, of stretching and body, of delightful little black air bubbles, popping up like corpuscles, hardened flakes mixing with softer pockets. What pizza nerds call ‘leoparding’ happens underneath - dark spots bleeding through the golden crust, indicating a happy marriage between worlds of cool dough and extreme heat. It adds up to what might be the mouth’s version of getting into a really comfortable bed - memory foam melding into a just-firm-enough mattress.

Atop such framework, variations abound. There is the Margherita - wielding San Marzano tomatoes, fresh Fior di Latte mozzarella, Parmigiano, fresh basil, extra virgin olive oil. (The ‘extra’ is an extra stipulation, of course). Or there is the Margherita D.O.C. - the same but with Mozzarella di Bufala, the D.O.C. meaning “Denominazione di Origine Controllata,” another authentication, which also, yes, indicates designations within designations, wheels within wheels. Whichever, whatever, these are the most elemental, the best introduction, either would rightly act as a top notch representative - the bread, sauce, melted cheese combination sort that should be sent up in one of those space ships, along with Robert Johnson recordings and Michelangelo prints as a sort of message: “beat this, aliens.”   

The “Calabrese” is the next, logical punch up.  Along with San Marzano tomatoes, mozz, something called Caciocavallo Cheese, and red pepper flakes, it showcases soppressata, maybe the most criminally under-used aspect of Italian culture, which holds enough spice, enough zing to make pepperoni seem rote.    

On the white pizza side, there is the “Quattro Formaggi,” which might very well translate to fat ‘Sconnie guy. It is smoked Provola cheese, fresh mozz, Fontina, Gorgonzola, and a bounty of fresh garlic. An oily, pungent punch of gooey melted cheese, sharpness mixing with smoothness, contrast and medley at once, it is a tongue and breath bop of rich saltiness and airy satisfaction. If going such a sans tomato route, the “Genovese” is built on a basil pesto sauce, popped by cherry tomatoes, with a Citterio Genoa salami that is good enough to make the over-gushing about soppressata seem a bit silly. It’s similar to what the crispy pancetta atop the “San Giorgio” does, this being another white pie offering with braised fennel, more fior di latte mozzarella, Pecorino Romano, baby arugula, a sunny side egg, and plenty of potential to kick start nap time. 

Really, if you top any such carbohydrate beauty with shimmering, globby cheese chunks, any type of sauce whatsoever, there can be no wrong orders. The only mistake to be made here is filling up on burrata, or the arancini, or the excellent croquettes. Or, asking for a pizza to go, which San Giorgio prefers not to do, religiously adhering to the belief that the oven is part of the experience, that it needs to be eaten hot, fresh, immediately. Not reheated, like by a tasteless barbarian.

Pizza. But not pizza ‘to go.’ And there you have it, the thing that somehow says it all: something both impossibly simple and elegant. The essence of elevated street food. But not in the hipster sense, in the 2000-year-old  timeless fashion, where fire meets grain, there are few, but fresh, ingredients, carbs and proteins in a single bite, cooking done with man’s first and most basic invention, a reduction to essentials, an overwhelming sense of everything you want in your mouth - all at once, in one hot bite.       

There is a street in Naples’ old district, where pizzerias abound, and mopeds whizz by, and there seems like an almost irresponsible number of corner cafes, and the cobblestone paths are packed and loud, and intimidating, if not just for the sheer volume of life. Within that first bite, between swills of Peroni, San Giorgio can feel like via Tribunali. Or at least as close to Naples as many might come. Despite being on Old World 3rd street, despite upbringing and the emotional bind of childhood pizza memory, and the reality that Midwest pizza might still be the appropriate everyday preference, and regardless of whatever VPN means or doesn’t mean, it’s nice, if for just a moment, to find that true taste, sense, of somewhere else.

[runshenanigenrun]

Brighton Marathon Weekend 10K

It was a warm sunny Saturday morning as I rushed down to Brighton pier to pick up my race back for the years BM10K. Hard to believe that almost a year ago I was doing the same but for my first ever marathon, the Brighton marathon. This year I thought it wise to just do the 10k but I still love the atmosphere all the same and for the third year in a row (for me) it was going to be a beautiful weekend.

As I got off the number 7 bus at Kemp Town the Centre was already a buzz with runners doing warm up runs and taking in the sights. I over heard a couple of them swapping war stories and I crossed the pedestrian crossing. To me it was a bit annoying that the race packet collection was by the sea this year and not in the convention centre. Don’t know the rational behind that but also the Expo was there this year, and sadly that to seemed really small in comparison to last year. Not even less vendors but also events that would represent their respected runs and hand out flyers. Its how I would grow to my ever large wish list of events to do. But not every year will be the same.

Luckily for me getting my 10k packet was quite easy. Waved to a friend from my training group “Run Brighton” and both wished each other good luck with tomorrow and like that I was out.  I thought I would enjoy the sunshine for a bit and then check out the expo.

I Flash forward a few hours and boy I am relieved that I went when I did! The que for the number collection was massive! I stopped by the Dublin Marathon, which is on the wish list, and Ragnar Relay, totally embarrassing myself because I thought one of the reps was American, and even said “oh I thought you didn’t have an English accent” then I watched his body slightly seize up…but he was English and the more he spoke I heard it. (facepalm) I said my goodbyes and tried not to look to obviously embarrassed, I think I over heard his mate saying something, but you could drive yourself crazy with what ifs and worrying about what they are saying Nothing was really drawing my attention this year at the expo, but again there wasn’t a lot of choice.

I put my deposit down for my usual running group training runs summer season with Run Brighton, and then headed home for some rest and packing of my kit Took the obligatory kit photo before sealing up drop bag (which I could not figure out the adhesive at all!) ended up taping it shut with clear tape. 

7:00am Sunday morning I am heading down to Preston Park. Last year I took a taxi but this year I figured why not just walk, I am certainly not covering the distance like I did last year.

I did a quick Periscope broadcast and a few Instagram Story updates and made my way down to the park.

Once I was in the park met up with my friend Jodie. We met back in 2015 at the Brooks Brighton 10k and the weather was a far cry from today. It was cold, very windy, and rainy. So we could not get our heads around this warm sunshine. We took turns saying hi to our respected friends running in various club or charity vests and shirts, then headed off to bag drop.

It was time to go We made our way to the start line, and I had my Garmin Fenix 3 qued up and ready to go. Didn’t have this baby last year but this year was so happy to finally have the watch that I took two years saving up for on my wrist. And it’s a tank of a watch for sure!!! I love it.

And we are off! Now my poor pal Jodie is still fighting a major cold, something I was dealing with about 4 weeks ago, and it sucked! It was one of the reasons why I knew today was not going to be a personal best because I just didn’t have enough time on feet.

We made our way down from Preston Park and then up into the theatre district part of the lanes, passing the dome and corn exchange. It was nice getting in and out of the shade through the buildings. It wouldn’t be until later that we didn’t realize how good we had it. We double backed on ourselves and ran past the Pavilion and smiled for the cameras. At this point we were conserving our energy and walking a minute and running for 5 or as many as we could.

The heat was catching up with us, and I didn’t have any summer gear so I’m still in black thermal tights. We made our way now towards the sea and I could see the Pier ahead of us where we took a curved right and ran under the massive “Go Team Panda” footbridge and it became very clear we were now in the elements for the next 45 minutes. No trees, no shade, no breeze.

Now I’m ashamed to say I used to be able to do much warmer temps when I was growing up in Oklahoma and Kansas however I wasn’t outside running for an hour and a half, so part of me shouldn’t be too bummed. But if I ever want to do the Sahara challenge I need to get used to warmer weather and keeping cool Jodie and I traded off walking and running as we made our way down the Kingsway road taking turns looking at one another says “how much further until we turn around?” finally after what seemed like forever we made our way to the last bend in the course and we knew we were in the last stretch. I still took my time for now the heat was getting to me. 

My decision of wearing all black was really taking its toll as it donned on me, that last year I was wearing white Team Panda charity vest so I wasn’t attracting the sun as much. I wasn’t in the throws of a possible heat stroke, and I made sure that I took two cups of water, one for my body and one for me to drink. The split moment the cold water hit my warm back always made me gasp but it was a welcomed relief. “Not far ladies” “your so close keep going” “you can do this” we kept hearing.

Now I like this and it keeps me going but for my pal she was getting a bit fed up and was like ugh we know just leave me be. Which fair enough we all deal in our own way. There it was the finish, and our competitive natures started to kick in as I felt Jodie speed up, then I sped up, then she matched, and then I kicked into full gear and pulled away for a spring finish. It was all in fun and banter, as I immediately turned around to give her a big cuddle We made our way down picking up our medal, some recovery food and our finisher tee, which was the only down fall of the day.

They only had XS left?!?! Why the hell would you have only XS left when im sorry most of the people at the end of these races are bigger people (myself included!) and we also put our shirt size down when we enter. So I was not impressed and even put a tweet about it. But they said to email the office and they will get us a replacement shirt. I have a feeling it wont be the official ones but one can try, And I know most season runners don’t even give to tosses about the shirts but I do, and my mate Jodie was counting on it as a shirt to put on after the event. Luckily I packed to top options and let her use one of mine.

We were stopped by a photographer who took some after photos which I didn’t do last year. Oh yeah that’s because my ass was super slow and most people were leaving by then ah hahaha.

Finally we hobbled to the beach where we both took turns laughing at each other on how ridiculous we looked in our finisher tees and then changed into our spare shoes and things. After some bearings we made our way to the Brighton Music Hall, which is below the  main road where the marathon was taking place, and you could almost for get it was happening because the music and atmosphere took over.

We have a well deserved summer cider and a massive burger then said our good byes. She was meeting up with her fella who was running the marathon, and me I had a flat to clean.