#one extra point if it's obviously a photo taken on vacation; two extra points if at an ancient site

[finelythreadedsky]

i love it when the faculty section of a university department website is a cutthroat competition for who can have the worst headshot

[bffsoobin]

yeonjun x reader

requested by: @yeonjuncore (made this hurt extra special for you 😌)

tw//this is angsty!! cheating, swearing, mentions of sexual acts (no actual smut), etc!

⇒ twelve: “Don’t touch me. Your skin is poison.” 

•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•☾☼☽•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:••:•.•

A nearby car rumbled down the street, severing the delicate silence you had cultivated within your apartment. As it revved up the hill, you glanced out the window lethargically, not bothering to remove yourself from the sunken comfort of your sofa. The muted television flashed in its variance of bold colors but offered no relief from the barrage going on inside your own mind. 

You really should have known better. Should have seen the fallout coming a mile away, should have stopped fooling around with Yeonjun the first night you’d drunkenly made out in the dimly lit corner of a college bar, but you didn’t. Maybe you should have stopped it the first time he pushed his hand into your underwear while your roommate slept, or the first time you’d gone to return a set of movies he’d given you and ended up falling asleep in his bed. Instead, you’d let yourself become intoxicated by him and shatter the only friendship you’d ever cherished. It’d now been a week since your best friend and roommate had officially moved out, but the confrontation still bounced around your conscience like an annoyingly catchy pop song. 

“I can’t fucking believe you!” She had seethed, storming through the apartment with fervor. “All this time, you’ve been fucking around with Yeonjun behind my back? I love him!” Tears had tracked down your face, unable to come up with any other response. You’d already tried apologizing even though you knew it was a lost cause. Helplessly, you watched her gather up as many of her belongings as she could find in one swoop. Her footsteps rattled the photos on the wall and side tables, shaking your bones in sync. 

“Why did you do this to me?” The question hung above you like an interrogation light, burning into your eyes as she finally looked at you for the first time in days. 

“I...I don’t know,” you had muttered, offering the shaky words with a tearful glance. Your best friend’s face, normally soft and round and full of love, stood stoic and sharp- completely unforgiving. You couldn’t blame her. 

“Please,” she breathed, looking down at the ground as if to contain herself. You could see her lips shaking with the force of keeping in her sobs. “N-never speak to me again. And if that fucker comes here, tell him to lose my number. I trust you’ll get him the message once you’re done having his dick down your throat.” She shoved past you, rolling a suitcase she’d used on many joint vacations behind her on the wooden floors. Every thump of the wheel over a panel made you flinch. Once she had reached the door, she glanced at the table where you’d set down your keys every day after work. Upon the table was a simple photo of the two of you, cozied up at your high school graduation. She grasped the simple wooden frame between her fingers staring down at the photo with a wry smile on her lips. For a moment, you thought she would take the picture with her. The thought made you dizzy, a naïve part of your heart hoping that she would take it as a token of possible redemption for the years-long bond. 

“Hey, Y/N?” Her voice was nasally from the crying, but still so familiar that despite the situation, you looked up at her earnestly. “Fuck you.” The photo dropped the the floor, bouncing off the floor with a harsh thud you were sure the neighbors downstairs heard loud and clear. You both stared at it, the plain backing facing the ceiling. In a millisecond, she slammed the heel of her sneaker into the back of the photo, shattering the delicate glass covering underneath the force. She had disappeared out the door not a second later.

The picture still laid in its exact same spot, face down next to the door that hadn’t been opened since she walked out. A few shards of glass had scattered dangerously into the living room, but you knew how to step over them all by now. In fact, nothing had really been touched since she left. The drawers in the kitchen and living room were still hanging wide open, gaping with the evidence of all the things she had taken away with her. You were living off of lukewarm hot pockets and bottled water, supplemented with the swigs of red wine you’d been saving for a party that will never happen. Sleeping in your room was no longer in the cards, as you would have to pass by the painfully empty room that she used to inhabit in neutral tones with splashes of color in the decor- a dichotomy that you never hesitated to tease her for. Your phone laid out of reach, cold and dead and nothing but a weight in your hand when you did pick it up. 

Everything was half-full, missing a piece that you hadn’t lived without for years.

A loud succession of knocks threw you out of your stupor, bringing your thoughts to a halting stop they hadn’t in days. You had no idea who was bothering you, as the sweet older neighbor who was collecting your mail knew to simply leave it outside for you to grab at the wee hours of the night. 

‘Who is it?” Foolishly, your heart raced with the hope that she had come back to allow you to patch things up. 

“Jesus,” a familiar voice scoffed. “It’s me, Y/N.” Yeonjun. You imagined him posted on the other side of the door, one arm leaning him against the sturdy frame while the other knocked at the door. Glossy black hair falling into his eyes as he tried to catch a glimpse of you through the peephole. Slowly, you shuffled over to the door, skillfully avoiding a stray piece of glass, and unlocked the deadbolt. Yeonjun sighed in relief and mumbled something under his breath that you didn’t quite catch. The door was only open about a foot before he was pushing himself inside, wrapping both muscular arms around your shoulders. He buried his pointed nose into your neck, and the usually affectionate gesture made your stomach twist. 

“God, don’t you ever answer your phone? I’ve been trying to reach you for days.” He held you at an arm’s length, frowning at your obviously unwashed hair and stained clothing. 

“It’s off.” 

“It’s off? Why the hell is it off? Someone might need you- shit, is that glass?” Yeonjun’s eyes widened at the shards you’d come to coexist with, dropping his hands from your arms to squat and examine the pieces further. Exhausted already, you plopped back into your couch indent with a sigh. 

“Why are you here?” 

“Because I was worried about you,” his eyes softened as he set down the few pieces of glass he’d recovered. His warm hands cradled your knees, the touch burning through the fabric of your sweats. “Because I knew that once she left, you’d be a mess. Because I know you aren��t taking care of yourself. Because-” he plopped himself down on the couch next to you, leaving no room between the two of you. A careful hand lifted, pushing strands of your greasy hair behind your ear with a delicacy you craved. “Because I love you.” 

Your stomach lurched. Yeonjun loves you. Part of you knew that. You love him too. Or maybe you used to. Now the thought of him caused a tsunami of emotion, mixing the best moments of your life with the single worst. You loved each other, but what had it cost you? 

“Yeonjun, I- I don’t,” your voice shattered, pricking even your own eardrums as your chest heaved with a cry you’d repressed for a while. For as long as you’d been grieving the loss of your best friend, you’d never cried over the Yeonjun of it all. Deep down, you knew you’d always had real feelings for him. 

The first time your best friend introduced you to him, you felt the kind of magic that you thought only existed in movies. As the good best friend you once were, you tried to keep your distance and let your feelings simmer down. And then the night your friend fell sick even though the three of you had plans came around, and at her insistence, you and Yeonjun went together. In the dark, pulsing club you were hypnotized by how well he moved his hips and made an off-brand joke about wanting to feel them against yours. By the end of the night you were littered with hickeys and walking with a limp you had to play off for two days. 

And for a while, you thought that was really all you’d be- drunk fumbles and hookups shrouded in mystery and shame- and then he’d taken you on a full fledged date. Pizza, beer, a slightly tipsy visit to an arcade; the whole nine yards of charming, and with no sex attached. That’s when you knew you craved more than just the feeling of his skin against yours. You had come to crave the experience of Yeonjun, the way he spoke and laughed and checked up on you after your hardest days at work. 

Now, he cooed, cradling you to his broad chest with a reassuring hand on the back of your neck. The feeling of his skin made you repulsed, accumulating all of the times he’d laid a hand on you to work against your friend. All the times you’d let him touch you, knowing the likely consequences. You shrunk away from him, putting as much distance between the two of you as the couch would allow. 

“Please don’t touch me,” you pleaded, hands shaking. He scrunched his aggravatingly perfect brows as you crossed your arms over yourself. 

“Y/N, what do you mean? Are you hurt, is there something I can-” 

“Stop, please,” you sigh, eyes wandering to the worn fluffy socks adorning your feet. There was an annoying thread that had been rubbing between your toes all day, and you could see it peeking out just enough now that you could try to pull it and maybe you would feel a little bit less uncomfortable in your own skin-

“Y/N?” Yeonjun ventured, trying to wade through whatever emotion you were presenting to him at the moment.

“Just please don’t touch me, Yeonjun. Your skin is poison. It’s poison and I got a taste of it and it fucked up the single best friendship I’d ever had. Your stupid fucking touch,” you hissed, watching him physically recoil. “It’s everything I have ever wanted, and I crave it all the fucking time. And you got me so addicted with all of our little secret touches that I didn’t realize the havoc they would bring into the world where you weren’t touching me because, fuck, I don’t know. I helped you cheat on my best friend? And for a while I didn’t feel bad about it, I was just too god damn busy thinking about your hands, and your mouth, and all of the touches. So please stop touching me.” 

Stunned, Yeonjun sat the stillest you’d ever seen him on your couch. You were broken, and he had done the damage. While part of him wanted to blame it all on you, he knew that he’d ultimately been the one to stick his hands in your normal life and, well, poision it. 

“I’m sorry.” His hand hovered awkwardly just inches away from you, longing to console you. 

“‘Sokay. Just...leave? I’ll shoot you a text when I’m back up and running.” 

With great hesitation, Yeonjun slid off the couch. His hands were stuffed in his pockets as he hovered, waiting to see if you had anything else in you. If you had been able to muster the courage, you would have seen the tears rolling down his full cheeks. 

With one hand on the door, Yeonjun finally spotted the photo from which the glass shards had come, and he picked it up warily. The last of the pieces scattered on the flooring, and he resisted the urge to clean them up. He knew that you’d get to it eventually. He steadied the frame back on the table and cleared his throat in lieu of a painful goodbye. The knob twisted noisily under his hand as he tried not to look back on your beat-down form. 

“Yeonjun,” your voice waivered but kept him silent enough to hear a pin drop. “In case you were wondering- I love you too.” 

[actionnerdgamerlove]

Do You Want Me Now - Chapter 25: Beach Week, Part One

Find it on AO3

Many, many thanks to @laughingatlivedragons for her help with this chapter - Geralt's past vacations couldn't have happened without you, my love!

“Hey Geralt,” Jaskier called from the living room, “Are you a beach person?”

She heard him hum as he came out of the upstairs bathroom. She’d heard the shower shut off, and was waiting for him at the foot of the stairs.

“This isn’t a show, Jask,” Geralt growled (without any real heat in it) as he walked down the stairs, shirtless, toweling off his hair. “Maybe I should start selling tickets,” he rolled his eyes as he said it, but he was secretly delighted. Anytime Jaskier was home and able to catch him showering, she’d wait for him to come out, just to see him without a shirt on. (She usually waited downstairs in the living room, or the kitchen; she didn’t just hover outside of the bathroom.) She never said anything; just looked at him – and it was always the same look. She looked at him like he was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. No one had ever looked at Geralt like that before; not even when he was married.

“I mean, I do pay rent; is this not an amenity that’s included?” Larkin laughed, but then turned serious. “Geralt, for real though, if I’m making you uncomfortable, say the word, and it won’t happen again.”

“It’s fine,” he said while rolling his eyes, fondly. “I just – I figured the novelty would have worn off after six plus months, y’know?”

“NOPE! The effect of your physical beauty is just too compelling; I am powerless to resist.” Jask threw her hand over her forehead dramatically, leaning back.

“So, before we got sidetracked with your weird fascination with me,” the teasing note in Geralt’s voice made Larkin beam. “What’d you ask me?” he ended by throwing his towel over her head, enjoying the squawk and sputtering noises coming from under the towel. It had taken him a while to get used to the fact that Larkin just…rolled with stuff like that. He watched her pull the towel off her head, then point upstairs, then downstairs, asking him if he wanted it back in the bathroom, or down in the laundry. Geralt pointed upstairs; he’d just gotten it out. She took the stairs two at a time, and presumably hung it up on his hook in the bathroom.

Huh, he thought. Geralt wasn’t sure what he was expecting when he draped her in his towel, but return towel service was not it.

Larkin noticed the bewildered look on his face when she came back downstairs. “’Tis but a small price to pay, for the simple joy of letting me ogle you,”

“You’re weird,” he told her. Because she was. But he really liked it.

“Yep!” Larkin walked over to the couch and sat down, pulling out her phone. “Oh, so. Do you like the beach? Are you a beach person?”

Geralt felt like this was a trick question. “Why?” he asked, suspicious.

“Why do I get the feeling you think I’m going to try to do something mean, Geralt? Relax, sir. A friend of mine just said I could use her beach house for the summer, that’s all. I wanted to know if you wanted to go sometime.”

This has to be a trick, he thought. Who just doesn’tuse a beach house during the summer?

“Why isn’t she gonna use it?��

“She’s going on tour, she won’t be around. Shame, too, she’s a lot of fun.”

“Who is it?” Geralt asked, still skeptical.

“Taylor Swift,” Larkin said, like it was NBD.

Fucking WHAT.

*****

[White Wolf 6:30 PM]: Taylor Swift is lending Jask her beach house for the summer and wanted to know if I wanted to go with her.

[Eskel 6:30 PM]: Wait a minute. Taylor Swift wanted to know if you wanted to go with Jask, or Jask wanted to know if you wanted to go with Jask?

[White Wolf 6:31 PM]: Jask wanted to know if I wanted to go.

[Lambert 6:32 PM]: WAIT BACKUP. TAYLOR SWIFT? This is a joke, right?

[White Wolf 6:33 PM]: No joke, I made Jask show me the texts. Jask has a bunch of photos of the two of them together, apparently Jask stayed there for like a month last summer, before we met.

[Lambert 6:34 PM]: OH MY GOD, SHE DID. She said she was staying at a friend’s! She never said it was fucking Taylor Swift!

[White Wolf 6:34 PM]: Question still stands.

[Lambert 6:35 PM]: What was the question? Is there a question? You’re going, right? Is that the question? Do you not want to go? Why wouldn’t you go?

[Eskel 6:35 PM]: Seriously, Geralt – why wouldn’t you go?

[White Wolf 6:36 PM]: What’re we gonna do?

[Eskel 6:36 PM]: What do you do here?

[White Wolf 6:37 PM]: Nothing. Hangout. Go running. Cook. Watch movies.

[Lambert 6:38 PM]: I still can’t see you being ‘chill’, she is a literal miracle worker. Anyhoo. Do all that. At the BEACH.

[Eskel 6:39 PM]: Yes. Please go. Jas is asking you to go on a vacation, Ger. When was the last time you went on a vacation?

[White Wolf 6:40 PM]: Yen.

[Lambert 6:40 PM]: DEAR GOD PLEASE GO. I guarantee that Jas does vacations VERY differently. There won’t be an agenda every day. I promise.

*****

Geralt’s last vacation had been…intense. He and Yennefer had gone to Amsterdam for two weeks and to Geralt it had been…a LOT. Cities weren’t necessarily his favorite place in general, but throw in almost a million inhabitants, drugs and hookers EVERYWHERE, the waterworks, a literal shitton of bicycles and the mix of posh and historic – there was NOTHIING relaxing about that vacation.

It wasn’t a vacation, it was a trip. Lambert wasn’t exaggerating – Yen had actually come up with a written agenda every day, thinking it would appeal to the control freak in Geralt.

It did not. It actually made Geralt even more anxious, because it made him feel like there was a scheduled timetable they had to keep. And when Yen would dawdle, and throw off the timing of the agenda-

You can see how this did not appeal to Geralt AT ALL.

In general, his marriage to Yennefer had been intense on a level that was unsustainable for them both (hence the divorce) and he knew, he knew Jaskier was nothing like Yen, and would therefore probably vacation very differently.

But he was still kind of freaking out about it.

*****

Larkin could tell something was bothering her beloved Wolf. She’d asked him about going to the beach, and he’d just…avoided the question. That…was not Geralt’s style, AT ALL. She’d mentioned it to Lauren, her therapist, and Lauren had suggested that perhaps Geralt had had a bad vacation experience, once upon a time.

Larkin hadn’t thought of that.

Armed with this potential realization, Larkin attempted to bring it up once more.

“Geralt, would it be ok if I talked to you about maybe going to the beach again?” She asked one night as they were clearing dinner dishes. She watched his shoulders tense up.

Oh boy, she thought.

“Sure,” Geralt said, sounding utterly defeated.

Ok, WHAT THE FUCK, thought Larkin. Who hurt my Wolf with a VACATION?

“Geralt,” she started, watching him load the dishwasher, back to her, obviously uncomfortable. “You know you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. I can’t make you go. You won’t hurt my feelings if you say no.”

Geralt turned to face her, over the open dishwasher trays. “No, it’s not – that’s not-“ he took a breath. “Why me?”

Larkin was puzzled. “I don’t understand the question. You’re like my favorite person; I love spending time with you. I thought it might be a nice break from the farm, and school? If it being just the two of us makes you uncomfortable, I can invite-“

“Why would it being just the two of us make me uncomfortable? We live together, just the two of us.”

“Ok, so it’s not me that’s the problem.” Larkin was glad to get that sorted out; she’d worried she’d freaked him out by asking him alone.

“Of course you’re not the problem – you’re never a problem, Jask.” Geralt was looking at Larkin like she were speaking moon-man language.

“Is there a problem? Do you…not like vacations?”

“No, Jas, it’s not-“ he sighed. Larkin watched him push a lock of hair out of his eyes. “My last vacation was…not fantastic. It was very…structured. There was a written daily agenda. It was like a two-week long bad day.”

“Geralt, I don’t mean to be smart, but are you sure that was a vacation? That sounds like an extra circle of hell, to me.”

“It was.”

“Ok. So, knowing that, that isn’t really what I had in mind? I mean, if there’s stuff we want to do, we can talk about it before hand, and I don’t really think we’d need to write it down, but if you wanted to, I guess we could? Like, I’m not sure you’d really need to write down “go for a run” or “let’s go fishing”?

“Fishing?” Geralt’s ears perked up at that.

“Yeah, there’s a bunch of fun stuff we could do, if you want. There’s hiking trails, fishing, I think Taylor’s leaving me her boat, so there’s that-“

“A BOAT?”

Geralt was fully invested now. He left the dishwasher wide open and came to sit next to Jaskier on a barstool at the kitchen island.

“I mean, she is Taylor Swift. It’s a pretty sweet boat.”

“You know how to use it?”

“Yes, Geralt. Former Viscountess, remember? I got that angle covered,” Larkin said, smiling. “If you want, I’ll send you the address, and the website for the town. You can see all the stuff they have going on, it’s a really nice place – both the house and the town.”

“It’s not a city?”

“Oh, Lord, no. This place is the definition of laid-back small town. Lemme ask you this – what are your concerns, other than an agenda driven nightmare of anti-relaxation?”

Geralt snorted. That was exactly what he was worried about. “Lotta people, crowds, feeling cornered.”

“Ok. Can you give me one second to get my laptop? I have some photos I think might help.”

Larkin waited for Geralt to nod, and she hopped up and grabbed her laptop from the living room. She flipped it into tablet mode, and opened a photo album titled “Taylor – Beach – 1st year”.

“Ok, so, this is going to seem silly, but she sent me a video tour of her house, because I was nervous before going the first time.”

“How many times have you been there?” Geralt asked, sounding insanely curious.

“Last year was my third year. She hasn’t really changed much with the house since she took this video.”

Larkin pressed play, and the video showed Taylor, in all her blonde “girl-next-door” glory, starting outside a really nice-looking tan-clapboard-sided ridiculously big beach house, that looked like it was in the middle of fucking nowhere. She walked around the paved drive, showing the marshland across the road from the house, then walked up to the house, up the big front entry stairway, into a foyer the size of their living room. She continued the tour through what seemed like five separate living rooms, a massively well-equipped kitchen, several different dining areas, the 97 bedrooms, the outdoor living areas on the deck outside, and then the little walkway out to the private beach. Taylor did a 360-degree spin on the beach. There were no neighbors.

All in all, the video was thirty minutes long. There was a lot of goofy, silly good-friend stuff throughout; Taylor made up songs about the different rooms, she essentially sang the tour to Jaskier. She ended it by saying “I love you; I can’t wait to see you. We’ll have fun. I promise.”

Geralt looked at Larkin with a look she couldn’t translate. “Did you guys…date?”

“Huh? Oh, that. No. I met her shortly after the fallout of the Countess bullshit. I was…not okay. She was really kind, and a really good friend. She’s still a really good friend. No, we didn’t date.” Larkin smiled at the fond memories the video brought back. It had been a really shitty time, and Taylor, and that beach house made everything a lot less shitty.

“What did you guys do?”

“We sang a lot, we laid on the beach, we took walks, we ate – boy, did we eat, I tell you what that girl can EAT, Geralt; you wouldn’t think it to look at her but GOODNESS. It was great.”

“Why was it great?”

“It was just nice to be able to see her being herself, like, instead of the person society says she is; she wanted to eat, so she did. I did a lot of cooking while I was with her, it was fantastic. We went to the boardwalk a couple times, but we had to kind of lay low, because she’s a BIG DEAL. She has an aunt in town, Aunt Karen, so mostly the townsfolk are real chill about her being there, but sometimes the tourists are the WORST. We went out on the boat, we went fishing, and we slept a lot. Sometimes on the boat, sometimes on the beach. We got really tan.”

“That house has a lot of bedrooms,”

“Doesn’t it? To this day I haven’t slept in them all; it’s my mission in life to do that. I feel like the house keeps gaining extra bedrooms, so it’s always one step ahead of me.” Larkin turned to Geralt. “So, that’s kind of the extent of the excitement. It’s definitelynot crowded, unless you bring people with you. There’s a soundproof music room, so that’s cool. I think you’ll like that feature,” Larkin said with a smile.

“Hey!” Geralt said, sounding somewhat offended. “That was like, one time. Ok, maybe more than one time. But not a lot of times!”

“I’m kidding, big guy. You have been so gracious about my constant noise making, really. I tease.” Larkin considered the man next to her. “You know, you still haven’t answered my original question – do you even like going to the beach?”

“The way you describe ‘beach time’ is not the way I’ve experienced beach time in the past. Your way sounds much more enjoyable.”

“Did you have agendas for beach time, too?” Larkin was horrified someone would desecrate beach time that way.

“Kind of. It wasn’t relaxing, let’s say.”

“Wow. So, it’s like this. You wake up in the morning and want to go hiking? We do that. I wake up and want to lie on the beach for a while, and you don’t? I lie on the beach and you do whatever you want to do. We want to do something together? We figure it out, and do it. If there is a specific something happening on a specific day, that we want to hit? We work it in. There’s like, sightseeing we could do, but it’s not like ‘going to the oldest European city EVER and needing to see every piece of every shard of something someone really old carried from one place to another’ kind of sightseeing. There are a couple nature preserves in the area, and a lot of really good places for nature photos.”

“This sounds too good to be true.”

“Right? I am ridiculously lucky to have such a good friend. I wish she wasn’t going on tour for so long, I think you’d really like her. She’s super goofy, she’s a lot of fun.”

“What’s Renfri think of her?”

“Renfri LOVES HER. She gets heart eyes the entire time Taylor is anywhere in the vicinity. It’s hysterical.”

“Are they…a thing?”

“I’ve never asked, and neither of them has ever said. Taylor deserves privacy. I want them both to be happy. If that’s with each other, then I know they’ll have a good time.”

“So wait. You said she gave you this house for the summer – are you going to be there ALL summer?” Geralt asked. Larkin thought he sounded panicky.

“I, uh, hadn’t really thought about it. I still plan on paying rent, Geralt, it’s not like I’m moving out or anything,”

“I wasn’t worried about the rent, Lark,” Geralt said, making a face at her.

“Then what are you worried about?” Larkin asked, giving Geralt a concerned look.

“Three months is just…a long time,”

Larkin thought that wasn’t exactly what Geralt wanted to say. Larkin was pretty sure she heard “I’ll miss you,” instead. Now it was her turn to hum.

“Well, I don’t think I’ll be there for three months straight, for sure. I do think I want to go before Taylor leaves, so I can see her for a couple days before she’s gone, and I’d like to spend some time with you there, and I think I want to get my brother and sister there for a couple days, too; obviously you’re welcome for that, if you want. They love you, they’d love to see you. Other than that, I don’t really have any ‘must-do’s’ other than maybe having everyone there at the same time? Do you think Eskel and Lambert would want to come? And Aiden? And maybe Triss?”

Yes, Geralt thought. But do I want them to come, is the question.

“What about Renfri?” he said instead, noticing that she hadn’t mentioned her best friend.

“Oh, obviously Renfri would be invited at some point. But she’s already gone with me before. I’ll talk to you before I go, Geralt, it’s not like I’m just gonna up and leave without saying anything,” she paused. “And hopefully, you’d be willing to come with me, at least once,”

“Lemme think about it. I see my therapist tomorrow, I want to talk to him first. I’m serious, Larkin, I really will think about it. I do want to go, it’s just – beforetimes.

“Beforetimes.” She nodded, sadly. Larkin knew exactly what he meant.

*****

Geralt was almost able to predict exactly what Frank, his therapist, was going to say.

“So, let’s break this down. You’re afraid of two things. You’re afraid of going on vacation because vacations with Yennefer were not enjoyable for you, and you’re afraid future vacations will also be not enjoyable. But you’re also afraid of Larkin being away for an extended amount of time. Are those both accurate statements?”

“Yes.” Geralt wanted to argue about the use of the word ‘afraid’ but knew it was pointless because he was, in fact, afraid.

“Let’s start with the overall vacation idea, because I think that one might be a little easier to navigate.”

“Not every vacation is going to be like a Yennefer vacation.”

“You’re getting pretty good at this, maybe we should switch chairs,” Frank said, making Geralt smirk. He really liked his therapist. He’d been seeing Frank for four years; Frank had taken over when his last therapist had retired. He’d liked his last therapist, too; he’d gotten pretty lucky that way. Frank was real. He used examples from real life to illustrate and make parallels. He understood PTSD. He understood Geralt’s limits, and didn’t push – too hard. He called Geralt on his bullshit, in a gentle and professional way. He was a really good therapist.

“You said Larkin gave you an idea of what vacationing at this specific location, specifically with her, would be like. Correct?”

“Yes.”

“And what did she make it sound like?”

“Perfect.”

“Ok. Do you trust Larkin?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because she’s honest. Because she’s down to Earth. Because she cares about me.”

“Do you think anything she said about this beach house, or spending time with her there, is made up, or embellished?”

“No, I don’t.”

“I gotta tell you, I’m really skeptical that she knows Taylor Swift.”

“I’m telling you, Frank, I saw the video. Taylor Swift made Jas a half an hour video five years ago singing her way through this fucking humongous gorgeous beach house. She used Jaskier’s name several times in the video. She told Jas she loved her at the end of it. There are pictures of the two of them together at this house, and other places. Jas has text messages on her phone from her.”

“Well, those could just be made up,”

“Frank. I know you googled Larkin. She’s not making this up. If anything, the HOUSE is made up, but it’s not, because there are pictures of her and Renfri, and Taylor Swift all on the couches and at tables together.”

“You have a fascinating roommate.”

“Yep.”

“Back to the vacation idea. So. How certain are you that Jaskier is telling the truth about the laid-back beach vacation of which she speaks?”

“99.9% certain.”

“And the .1%?”

“It sounds too good to be true.”

“Face it, Geralt, a lot of Jaskier sounds too good to be true, but it isn’t, because you’ve lived with her now for what, over six months?”

“Yep.”

“And there are parts of Jaskier that are NOT too good to be true, correct?” Frank asked, giving Geralt A LOOK.

“Yes.”

“But you still like living with her?”

“I do.”

“I think that brings us to our second point.”

“Joy.”

“Geralt. You knew we’d get here eventually. So. You don’t like the idea of Jaskier being gone for three months straight. How come?”

“I just…don’t want her to be gone that long. That’s a long time.”

“Ok, Geralt, I feel that it is my place to remind you that you’re safe here, you know that, and it’s ok to have feelings, here and everywhere else. Care to delve in to that last bit a little deeper?”

“I’ll miss her.”

“There you go.” Frank paused. “Ok, I’m going to ask, and I won’t push about this one. Why will you miss her?”

Geralt sighed. Yep, he thought. This is the problem.

“I love her.”

“Oh, shit!” Frank exclaimed, his face a mask of surprise. Geralt had never actually seen Frank look really, actually surprised. “I honestly thought that one was gonna take longer.”

Geralt just stared at him.

“Oh, come on, Geralt. I am not your brothers; I’m not going to bust your balls over this but even still. It has been obvious to me for quite a while, and especially since that fucking wedding what the actual fuck is wrong with her family- I apologize. That was inappropriate. Accurate, but inappropriate. Anyway. It’s been fairly obvious for quite a while that you care about her deeply. That’s all I’m gonna say. You pay me to notice things. So I noticed. Mazel Tov, man. For what it’s worth, from what you’ve told me about her, you guys are a very good fit. You’ve both dealt with some really serious shit together in the time you’ve known one another, and you’ve handled it well, both separately, and together. So, good luck, if you decide to move things in a more romantic direction. In my nonprofessional opinion, I think that will be received very well.”

“Oh. Thank you.” Geralt was feeling kind of bewildered, both from admitting OUT LOUD that he loved his roommate in the ‘Yeah, I’d kind of like to get married to you,’ way; but also that his therapist already knew about it, and thought his chances of success were high.

[welllpthisishappening]

An American Haunting (1/2)

Emma Swan does not believe in ghosts. She simply talks about them on tourist-filled walking tours at Colonial Williamsburg. 

It’s a belief she’s certain she’ll always hold, until, one summer she starts hearing a voice, asking her for help. And, suddenly, every certainty Emma Swan has ever had starts to shake just a bit, a hint of history and a past that’s far more extensive than she could have imagined. 

----

Rating: Probably like a pretty solid teen Word Count: 6.4 K this chapter. Closing in on 13K overall AN: This is, hands down, the single most self indulgent thing I have ever written and one time I wrote a college basketball story that was literally just my own opinions. I grew up going to Colonial Williamsburg, have been on every ghost tour, including the one the RAs took us on when I went to HISTORY CAMP AT WILLIAM AND MARY. That happened. So, I’ve been wanting to write a story based at CW for years, but I couldn’t ever come up with something legit idea-wise and then today. Bam. BAM. i had an idea. I wrote the idea out in several hours of sunshine-fueled key smashing and here we are. Part two eventually because I really do hate spamming the internet with words. I won’t ever go in the Peyton Randolph house at night. 

Also on Ao3 if that’s how you roll. 

----

The gasps always made her smile. 

That was a very strange sentence out of context, but Emma couldn’t help the way her lips quirked up every single time, biting the side of her tongue so she wouldn’t actually laugh at the whole, stupid thing. 

He had quite a flair for the dramatic, after all. 

“Even Lafayette himself once wrote that he felt someone push against his back upon entering the house! But there was no one there. There never is. Just a feeling, that chill that creeps up your spine and takes up residence in the back of your brain, waiting for you to let your guard down.”

And…cue the gasps. 

Emma covered her mouth with her hand, fingers curling around the side of her jaw. Her eyes flickered towards the couple in front of her, still sporting their Colonial Williamsburg tickets on lanyards and the man’s ghost tour sticker was peeling off at one end. 

The woman reached for his hand. 

And Killian was wholly and entirely in his element. 

He leaned forward, a spark in his eyes that was not even remotely supernatural, but completely theatrical, the stretch of a smile moving in slow motion across his face. 

“Take a look at some of the photos you’ve been snapping this whole time,” he muttered. If he leaned forward any further his stupid tri-corner hat was going to fall off. 

Emma shifted against the side of the fence she was leaning on, tugging on her own skirts and trying to find a way to stand that didn’t end with her stupid eighteenth-century appropriate shoes digging into the back of her heels. It didn’t work. 

It never did. 

Killian wasn’t done. 

“See anything yet?” he asked lightly, a practiced spiel that always ended with—

“Oh my God, there are orbs in the photo!”

Emma rolled her eyes skyward, all stars and a few clouds and it was humid enough that her hair was actually starting to curl at the ends. Maybe she could convince Regina to let her wear a different outfit later that week. This one was impossibly heavy, all full skirts and an apron that didn’t make any sense at all because she wasn’t working in any of the kitchens on property, was leading tours from nine at night until somewhere in the realm of midnight for extra money and she was certain each group was getting smaller and smaller. 

The crowds were getting smaller and smaller. 

No one wanted to go learn about Colonial American history on their vacation. 

“That’s right,” Killian said, crossing his arms and rocking back on his own heels. Emma assumed they didn’t hurt his feet. He was still smiling. “The Peyton Randolph house is considered one of the most haunted buildings in the entire United States. Visitors since even before the first shots were fired in Lexington and Concord have claimed interactions with the supernatural. They’ve been shaken violently in their beds, heard laughter from other rooms, furniture moves—“

“—But what about the orbs?”

Emma was going to need pliers to move her hand away from her mouth. Killian uncrossed his arms, resting his weight on the replica musket he was holding. 

He was supposed to be a Colonial soldier. 

At the Randolph house while it was used as a hospital in 1781. Just about every building in Williamsburg was used as a hospital in 1781. 

It was unfairly attractive. 

Him, not the hospital thing. Emma was a psychopath. 

“Well,” Killian drawled, “that’s up for debate, isn’t it? Could be a catch of the light. Could be—“ He shrugged, eyes flicker towards Emma and she had to bite her tongue again. “Disembodied ghosts looking to find their way onto the afterlife. No one knows for certain, do they Miss Swan?”

She might have gasped. 

Killian’s smile widened. 

Idiot. 

That wasn’t part of the script at all. 

“Oh, yes, absolutely, sir,” she said quickly, trying her best to stay in character. The group turned expectantly toward her, eyes wide and that woman appeared to be gripping her husband’s hand like some kind of vice. “Lots of whispers about this house and, well, Mr. Randolph, you know, I don’t like to speak ill of such a respected gentleman, but—“

“—Is that the newspaper guy?” another voice interrupted, and Emma was going to have to have a serious conversation about Regina about that too. 

And she was just about to respond, not sure how she was going to do that while staying in character, but the words got caught in Emma’s throat, a sudden chill spreading through all of her limbs. 

She felt rooted to the spot, mouth going dry and goosebumps exploding across her skin. Her vision danced in front of her, no orbs, but something just on the edge that felt a bit like a shadow creeping across her eye line, a hopelessness that Emma was certain she could taste, like ash and disappointment and none of that made sense, but her knees suddenly felt very weak and—

Help me. Please. I need help. 

Emma didn’t hear the footsteps at first, flinching when Killian’s fingers curled around her elbow. People were gasping again. 

“Swan?” he whispered, bending his own knees so he was level with her. His thumb traced absent-minded patterns on her sleeve. They were going to get in trouble for that. “Are you alright, love?”

She nodded slowly, not sure if it was actually true or not, but the shadow was gone and that had to count for something. 

“Fine, fine. I’m—I’m fine.” “Try that again.” “Fine, sir,” Emma snapped, an abrupt return to form and characters and Killian's eyebrows leapt into his hairline. His tongue swiped the front of his teeth. 

“Just a touch of vapors, is it?” Emma scowled, resisting the very real urge to kick him in the shins, but she didn’t need Regina to yell at them for more than one thing and she really wanted to switch costumes. “The air is rather heavy tonight, sir, that’s all,” she said. “Shall we continue on to the next place, then?”

There was a general murmur of agreement and confusion from the crowd, Emma pulling her arm back to her side quickly enough that she nearly elbowed herself in the ribs. Killian’s had to pick up the musket. He’d dropped it at some point.  

“Alright,” Emma continued, backing up towards Nicholson Street, “if you’ll all be so kind as to follow me this way, our next stop takes us up the road towards the public gaol and Hangman’s Lane where, legend has it, member’s of Blackbeard’s crew were taken to the gallows.” More gasps. 

A few ooh and exactly one no way, really . Emma smiled. 

And Killian’s eyes never left hers, concern practically wafting off him and mixing in with that very specific smell that was Williamsburg in late August, like dogwood trees and sunscreen. 

He was waiting for her. 

She wasn’t all that surprised, but it was still kind of nice in a butterflies in her stomach and slightly erratic pulse kind of way and Emma had gotten a few more gasps out of the crowd. Well, Ruby had when they’d gotten to Shield’s Tavern and the story about the lady who haunted the corner room upstairs, but that felt like splitting hairs and Emma was exhausted. 

“You want to tell me what happened now?” Killian asked, legs stretched out in front of him where he was sitting. On the stairs behind the Public Armory, a few feet away from the staff rooms. 

He was already back in modern clothes, which was a little bit like playing with fire, guests still filing out of the historic area and meandering down Duke of Gloucester Street, but he had that very specific type of pinch between his eyebrows and— “No,” Emma replied. “Because nothing happened.” “You’re honestly getting worse at it.” Emma made a face. “I really don’t see how that’s possible.” “Swan.” “Yeah, what was that about? You’re just throwing out real names in this now? You better watch out or I’m going to tell Regina on you.”

“Please, the only thing you want to do when talking to Regina is tell her how annoyed you are with the overall state of your skirts.” “Oh, that’s so dumb, honestly.”

“Tell me I’m wrong,” Killian challenged. He leaned back on his elbows, another very specific type of spark in his eyes and this was really starting to become a problem. In a way where it wasn’t, obviously. Becuase he waited for her and knew her and Emma really had way too many thoughts about how good the whole Colonial outfit regularly looked on him. 

But they were going to have to tell people eventually. 

And she wasn’t sure she could cope with that. 

“It’s a lot of skirts,” Emma mumbled, a quick shrug and pitiful attempt to get around him. “C’mon, move, I’ve got to change and—”

“—What happened, Emma?” He caught her around the ankle, impressive considering the amount of fabric in the way, glancing up at her with a look that was treading somewhere between imploring and a little overwhelming. Maybe they wouldn’t have to tell anyone. 

Emma couldn’t believe people hadn’t figured it out already. 

That lady from the tour definitely knew. 

“Did it happen again?” Killian pressed, and his thumb was doing that thing again. Tracing and brushing, following a pattern that wasn’t really there, but might have been obvious for him. 

Emma swallowed. “I don’t—’ “—Swan.” “This is not a real thing,” she exclaimed, at least the forty-seventh time they’d had that particular conversation. “It’s not! I’m just—I’m tired and I’m worried about attendance and—” “—Well if management would stop sending out all those cards and things to donors, then we wouldn’t have such a problem. You see the Christmas ornament designs Regina’s been looking at yet? They’re ridiculous.” Emma sighed out something that might have been a laugh, letting Killian tug her down to his side. She burrowed her face into his chest. “It was louder this time,” she whispered. “Like it was—I don’t know, getting desperate or something.” “And you still couldn’t see anything?” “No. Just heard it. Her. Heard her and I was freezing cold again.” Killian’s hand had started moving at some point, up and down her arm and Emma got the distinct impression he was trying to account for all of her. As if some voice she’d been hearing for the better part of the summer would be able to make her disappear. 

The whole thing was, honestly, starting to get on her nerves. Emma had never been all that apt to believe in the facts she was touting on one of Colonial Williamsburg’s several official ghost tours. And while her’s was definitely the scariest of the bunch — the kid-friendly one didn’t mention hanging pirates — Emma wasn’t the kind of person to have nightmares or worry that she was being followed by some kind of frustrated spirit. 

Until. 

It started just after the Fourth of July festivities in the historic area, one of the few times when the place drew regularly crowds. Emma was sitting on the Palace Green, more ridiculous skirts and sweat pooling at the base of her spine and it had been the middle of the day. None of the stories about being haunted ever happened during the day. 

That was...against the rules or something. 

Help me. Please. I need help. 

She’d brushed it off as the heat and exhaustion, but it kept happening — the same words, the same voice, someone looking for help and Emma seemingly incapable of doing anything except getting cold when it happened. 

She was probably just going insane. 

That wasn’t really a much better option. 

“You’re ok,” he whispered, and her breath definitely hitched as soon as his lips ghosted over the top of her head. That was a bad word choice. “It’s ok.” “It’s crazy, that’s what it is.” “I don’t think you’re crazy, love. This is—” “—Oh, God, do not tell me that this is one of the most haunted places in America. Just...do not do it. I’ll punch you.” “You kind of looked like you wanted to before.”

“You like drawing out the Randolph schtick.” “Did I get the best reaction of the night?” “No.” “No?” Killian echoed, all scandalized incredulity. Emma shook her head, glancing up and he didn’t argue when her chin dug into his shirt. 

“No. Ruby got some pretty good gasps at Shield’s and David got what can only be described as as a whimper when we started at the Wren, so—” “—That doesn’t count, the Wren is proper haunted.” She made a noise in the back of her throat, not quite a disagreement, but more like innate skepticism and Killian definitely kissed the crown of her head that time. “There is no such thing as actual ghosts,” Emma said, ignoring her maybe -boyfriend’s wide-eyed stare. “There’s not. This is—we are doing this for profit and to freak out the tourists. I’m—” Emma pushed up, nearly tripping over her goddamn skirts in the process. “I’ve got to change and then I really think you owe me a milkshake for going off-script.” Killian grinned. Slowly. It was cheating. They both knew it. The ghosts Emma absolutely, positively did not believe in knew it. 

“You want to walk to Wawa or…” “Walking’s fine. Five minute?” “I’ll be here.”

 She made him buy the fried ravioli under the heat lamp at the register too. 

And Emma didn’t notice the brick sitting outside her apartment door when she got home, trudging into her room and falling asleep almost immediately, Killian’s arm curled around her middle. 

 “Ok, do not freak out.” Emma looked up, her phone in one hand and a half-finished cup of lukewarm coffee sitting a few inches away from her. She winced.

Ruby had that look on her face. 

And Mary Margaret wasn’t far behind. 

Which meant David was— “Where’s David?” Emma asked. 

Ruby stopped in her tracks. “What kind of question is that?” “Usually these kinds of conversations also include David and I just don’t want to have to repeat ourselves when he gets here. I’ve got to be at—” She glanced at the schedule hanging on the far wall. “Tarpley’s this afternoon.” It was apparently Mary Margaret’s turn to freeze. Her eyes bugged, lips popping audibly. “You have to work at Tarpley’s today? Oh, Emma you can’t go.” “Excuse me?” “You seriously can’t go there, Em,” Ruby said, hooking her foot around an open chair and dropping down in a small cloud of fabric. “Where’s Regina? You’ve got to tell her.” “Is there a reason I have to tell our boss that I can’t go where I’m scheduled? Honestly, Tarpley’s is the easiest gig out there. I barely have to remember any facts, just for the few kids that come in with that’s—what’s the name of that thing they’re doing this summer?” “—Kid’s in Liberty,” Mary Margaret answered. Her eyes hadn’t returned to their normal size. “That’s a garbage name, isn’t it?” “Emma, I am not kidding around here,” Ruby hissed. She leaned forward, tugging Emma’s phone out of her hand and ignoring any objection. “This is a big deal and—Tarpley’s is crazy haunted, you know that.”

Emma groaned. Loudly. And slid down her chair. It hurt her spine. “Are you kidding me? Ok, who did he tell?” “You mean your boyfriend?” “Killian is not my boyfriend.” “Yeah?” Ruby grinned. “Tell that to how worried he was about you this morning. Becuase he, how would you describe it M’s?” Mary Margaret still didn’t look entirely confident, but Emma knew she couldn’t pass up a good romance either and secret dating in the middle of a vaguely popular tourist destination certainly fit the bill. “Something about a whirlwind,” she muttered. “And he told David. David just—” “—Can’t exist without telling you things?” Emma finished. 

“Basically. Why didn’t you tell us you were hearing things?” “Oh my God, I am not hearing things! That’s—I’m just tired and...hallucinating?” “I’m going to be honest, Em, that is not great either,” Ruby pointed out. She took a sip of Emma’s coffee, sticking her tongue out when the temperature was wrong. 

“Get your own coffee then,” Emma sneered. “Ok, ok, so I’m just...listen, this is not a big deal.” Mary Margaret’s eyes were never going to recover. “It’s not! Because it’s not a real thing. There are not actually ghosts in Williamsburg. It’s an old place with old stories and—” “—Ghosts,” David said, appearing in the doorway with a bag of Raleigh Bakery goods in his hand. “I refuse to take responsibility for any of this. Your boyfriend—” “—Come on—” “—Found me before his shift started at the blacksmith, which is where he is by the way now, Em, if you’re planning on killing him before work, and wanted to know if there were any stories we don’t use on the ghost tours. Specifically about a woman looking for help.” Emma lifted her eyebrows. “And?” “And nothing. I can’t find anything.” “Did you look real hard, then?” Ruby asked knowingly. 

“Maybe not real hard,” David admitted. “But we pretty much cover our bases on all the tours. I mean you can ask Regina if you want to, but…” “No,” Emma cried. Her voice cracked on both letters, another less-than-good thing, but she was bouncing between emotions so quickly she kind of felt like a ping pong ball. Or that stupid game with the string and the stick and none of the kids who bought it could ever do it right. “We are not telling anyone about any of this because—” She cut herself off when she heard the first clack of heels, Regina walking into the room with a stack of papers on her hip and bags under her eyes that looked deeper every time Emma saw her. “What are you doing in here?” Regina asked. “Emma, you’re supposed to be opening Tarpley’s five minutes ago.” “Yeah, that’s not how time works. I’m going, I’m going. I’m—” Regina blinked. “Yeah?” “Nothing, I’m fine. Everything is fine.” 

She looked around, as if she were challenging the rest of the room to contradict her and none of them said a word. “Let’s help the tourists learn something, huh?”

She made it through the day. 

No ghost. No voices. 

Just a day filled with overheated families and kids dressed in Colonial garb, more than a few obvious retirees sporting their own tri-corner hats because, for reasons Emma could never understand, that was apparently something people wanted to do. 

She sold replicas of the Declaration and the Constitution, tiny books that reprinted George Washington’s Rules of Civility and Thomas Paines’ Common Sense. And soap. So much soap. People who came to Colonial Williamsburg loved buying soap in bulk and a variety of scents. Lemon, lavender, bayberry. 

All of them. 

Emma’s hands reeked of the scents when she locked the door to Tarpley’s behind her. She didn’t have any extra ghost shifts that night, but she knew Killian was back at the Randolph house and, well—she did like when the crowd gasped. 

So she didn’t consider changing or even going back to the employee rooms, hiking up her skirts and heading towards the palace green and, really, she should have expected it all to go to shit.

The first gust of wind wasn’t much more than a soft breeze, but then the dirt blew up against her ankles and Emma felt like someone had strapped a very strong, nearly indestructible steel pipe to her back. 

Her spine straightened, mouth falling open like something was actually trying to yank the air out of her lungs. She tensed, the lump in the back of her throat making it impossible for Emma to swallow the way she wanted to. 

She tried to lick her lips, but even that was too much movement, shadows extending out from the Governor’s Palace in front of her and whatever sound she heard would probably echo in the back of her consciousness for the rest of her life. 

It wasn’t human. 

That much she knew. 

It sounded like it was coming from an impossible distance and right in front of her, all at the same time, a shrill wail filled with despair and fury and something else just on the edge that felt a hell of a lot like determination. 

And if she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, Emma would have sworn it was a dream. 

But she was awake and, somehow, still standing there, knees locked into place with what she could only described as awe and bone-rattling fear. Because there was someone running towards her. 

A woman. 

She was dressed exquisitely, a soft yellow fabric that ballooned around her when she ran. There were tears on her cheeks, streaks of kohl and a softness to her mouth that made Emma want to strangle whoever had done this. Several times over. She didn’t slow down, even as she got closer to Emma, a haziness around her that made it obvious she wasn’t entirely there. 

Her shoes clacked on the cobblestone street, sniffling every few moments and Emma couldn’t blink if she tried. 

She followed the woman as she continued forward, head on a swivel and her own breathing turning erratic. The woman’s shoulders heaved, until something changed, abruptly and suddenly, and her gaze snapped directly towards Emma, eyes boring into what genuinely felt like her soul and that steel whatever got even stronger. 

Emma stood up straighter, not sure what was happening, only that it was important and— “You have to help me,” the woman said, voice sounding like it was coming from underwater. “What he did. What he—tried to change. It’s not right.” Emma blinked. Once, twice, three times. “This is a dream. This is a dream. This is a dream,” she chanted, pinching up her arm like that 

would get her to wake up. It didn’t. She wasn’t asleep. 

The woman shook her head slowly. She didn’t take a step forward. That was probably for the best, Emma wasn’t sure what she would do if that happened. “You can help,” she said instead, “make sure the truth is known, what I—what we did. You can make sure it doesn’t happen again. He’s trying. Now. Please. Help me.” Emma didn’t respond. 

And eventually, when she stopped to think of everything that happened that night, how it changed the scope of anything that happened after, she would always regret that just a bit. 

The woman took a deep breath. 

Impressive, since, by all accounts, she was a ghost. 

“Please,” she repeated softly before turning on her heels and floating straight through the front door of the Wythe House. 

She left her right heel on the ground, the sight flickering for a moment, like it was clinging to this plane of existence and Emma couldn’t pull her eyes away. Until. One more burst of light, another sharp wail and— Emma didn’t remember her knees giving out, just a pair of hands around her shoulders and mumbled words in her ear, kisses peppered to every bit of skin he could reach and the goddamn musket was a few feet away. 

“Swan, Swan, Emma, look at me, love, c’mon, I need you to actually show that you’re breathing.”

She didn’t say anything. Again. That was becoming a quickly frustrating habit of hers. 

“Emma,” Killian sighed, only slight frustration. The rest was obvious fear and— “How did you get over here?” she asked. “That’s...aren’t you Randolph’ing tonight?” “Did you just use the family name as a verb?” “Am I awake right now?” Killian kissed her again — just between her brows. “Yeah, you are, love. And I...I don’t know how I knew. I just—” He swallowed, tongue darting towards lips that shouldn’t have been that distracting. All things considered. “I could feel it.” Emma jerked her head back, the condensation from the grass seeping through her skirts. Regina was going to yell about that. Loudly. Incessantly. “Wait, what?”

“It doesn’t make any sense, but—” “—I think I saw a ghost.” To his credit, Killian didn’t laugh. He didn’t really do anything, which was also pretty understandable, but Emma was teetering right on the edge of a complete breakdown and she kind of wanted him to kiss her some more. 

If only to prove this was real. 

“When?” “Just now,” Emma whispered. “She was...she came out of the palace. All fancy dress and she was crying and she said...she said I could help?” “You think it was the same woman? The one who was asking for help before?”

“If there’s more than one ghost involved in this, I will scream very loudly.” That got him to laugh. Killian ducked his head, lips catching Emma’s, and it was over before it really began, which was probably for the best, but she was greedy and dealing with ghosts and her knees were very damp. So she wanted to kiss him. 

For several interrupted minutes. 

No ghosts allowed. 

“Was there anything else?” Killian asked. “I mean she didn’t introduce herself, I’d imagine.” “No, the ghost and I did not exchange pleasantries.” “I’ve never heard of a haunting on the Place Green, that’s…”

“What you asked David about?” Killian blushed, the spots of color on his cheek obvious even under the dim lighting of now-electrical lamps around them. “I was worried,” he said softly. “About—” “—Me?” “Quite a bit, yeah.” “You could feel it?” Emma asked. “Feel what, exactly?”

“I don’t know how to explain it...it was like—like I could feel this tug in the pit of my stomach and I knew it didn’t want me, specifically, but it was like everything that I’ve ever felt for you was disappearing. Like you were…” “Disappearing?” “It sounds crazy, I know.” “I just saw a crying ghost leave her shoe on the grass, so. You know, comparatively.” “She left her shoe?” “Technically,” Emma nodded. “It was a ghost shoe, so it’s not there anymore. But it was silk, I think. Pink.” Killian narrowed his eyes, gears almost turning audibly in his head. He pressed the tip of his tongue to the corner of his mouth. “That’s something, love. What do you say to a little bit of research tomorrow afternoon?”

The Wren Building and the Wren Library were two different places on the campus of William and Mary, a fact that always inexplicably annoyed Emma. But the campus of William and Mary was also absurdly old and, if the stories were true, haunted in several different places and Thomas Jefferson went there, so Emma also figured it was the prerogative of said campus to be frustrating if it wanted. 

She’d already lost track of how long she and Killian had been there, tucked into a corner of the Library, not the Building, with half a dozen stacks of books around them and David’s promise that he’d sneak them ginger cookies from Raleigh at some point. 

“This is pointless,” Emma said, slamming another book closed and ignoring the look of reproach on Killian’s face. He was very worried about offending the books. 

Or possibly the ghosts. 

She hadn’t slept very well the night before. 

“We’re just not looking in the right books, Swan.” “Babe, we are—” She nearly swallowed her tongue. And Killian didn’t tense so much as he smirked at her, which was really, patently stupid when they were also researching ghosts, but maybe boyfriend sounded kind of good, if not just a little antiquated and— “Oh, don’t do that,” Emma mumbled, but that only gave the smirk more power. 

Clap if you believe in using relationship qualifiers. 

That was an out of place reference. “You were saying, love,” Killian drawled, propping his head on his hand. Emma rolled her eyes. 

“We’ll circle back around to that.” “Will we just?”

“Tell me the most out of left field Revolutionary War fact you know.”

“And that will help us how?” “It’ll distract me from finding absolutely nothing about some lady in a yellow dress that, in all likelihood did not exist,” Emma explained, the smirk turning into something that looked a little more genuine. Killian’s chair squeaked when he pushed out of it, in her space in three quick strides and he didn’t react to whatever sound she made when he tugged her up only to pull her back onto his legs. 

He hooked his chin over her shoulder. 

“The Continental Congress tried to replace Washington at one point. When things were at their worst, before Saratoga and the French showed. Lost some of that faith him. You know he didn’t have a picture-perfect military record—” “—Starting the French and Indian War will probably do that to you.” “Ok, it wasn’t Washington specifically.” “It helped,” Emma argued. “And this is really not a lesser-known fact. I also have a degree, you know. Plus the colonists won at Saratoga and Benedict Arnold was a good guy for a while and—” “—the French showed up,” Killian said. “We’re making the same point here, love.” She huffed, equal parts frustration and exhaustion. “The woman didn’t have any other defining characteristics? I’m just...I’m trying to time her.” “Like her 40 up the Palace Green?” He nipped behind her ear, leaving Emma squirming on his lap and they were going to get kicked out of the Library. She hoped David showed up with the cookies before that. “It just doesn’t make sense,” Killian mused. “Once the royal governor left the colony there wasn’t anything at the Palace that would warrant a dress. It was a hospital. That’s—” “—Oh, if you say it’s haunted, I’ll strangle you.” “That’s not romantic at all, Swan.” “And that’s not a disagreement. I know the story, anyway. Used as a hospital during the Siege of Yorktown and French soldiers died there and now kids at the College jump the wall and see apparitions or whatever.” “Have you ever done it?” “Once,” Emma answered, appreciating the look that elicited. “When I first started here. It was Ruby’s idea, obviously. So I went with her and David and M’s. But nothing happened. No ghosts, no weird voices asking me for help. No lady disappearing into the Wythe House.”

Killian jerked back. “Wait, what?” “Did I not mention that yesterday?” He shook his head slowly, the muscles in his throat moving when he swallowed. The lights above them flickered. “Spooky,” Emma muttered, gritting her teeth when Killian pinched her side. “God, stop that. So, yeah, that happened too. She lost her shoe and then kind of...melted through the door, but that’s—that’s not a clue. George Wythe was a really important guy. He had hundreds of people staying with him.” “During the war, though? That would have put him in Philadelphia.” “So he was ahead of his time and came up with a colonial Airbnb.” “Swan.” “I’ve never heard of a ghost story at the Wythe house.” “I have,” David said, and Emma wished he’d stop showing up like that. It was doing damage to her pulse. 

And Killian’s, apparently. 

“What the hell are you doing here?” he growled. The arm around Emma’s waist noticeably tightened. David’s eyebrows lifted. 

“Cookies. And information you can use.” “I thought you said you’d never heard about a woman asking for help,” Emma said, well aware that it sounded exactly like the accusation it was. 

“That’s true, I haven’t. But I have heard about a woman haunting the Wythe house, or at least its staircase and,” he clicked his tongue, squeezing one eye shut in thought, “possibly the upstairs bedroom too.” “God, get to the point.” “The story goes that a woman had been attending an event at the Palace—very Colonial Army, strategizing and—” “—A woman?” Emma interrupted sharply. David glared. She ignored that. “I know, I know. That’s...I’m just—for real?” “Again, the story goes that she was well respected and well married. Her husband had been big money in London, came to the colonies to expand the empire or whatever and ran in close circles with both Washington and the Marquis.” “Lafayette?” “You know another one?” “Give me the goddamn cookies, David.” He chuckled, another step into the room and he’d bought cornbread too. “Do you know what anniversary we’re closing in on?” 

Emma was going to scream. It was going to be dramatic and emotional and college kids would very likely talk in hushed whispers about the Wren Library Incident for years to come. Only, she never got the chance. Killian was talking. 

“The Comte de Grasse showed up in Yorktown. The beginning of the end of the Revolutionary War.” “Ding, ding, ding,” David nodded. “And according to the story some of the plans for the blockade of the Chesapeake that the Comte staged were drafted in a small room outside of the Governor’s Palace. Out by the gardens in the back.” “Where the hospital was?” Emma asked, and David was starting to look a bit like a bobblehead. “Ding. Again. The story goes that the woman was there with her husband, a man named Robert Gold and—don’t make fun of the name, I am not in the mood.” Emma mimed zipping her lips closed. Killian kissed the curve of her shoulder. “Anyway, no one knows why, but something happened in that last meeting and the woman she ran out, not a trace of her ever seen again, except, at midnight, when the sound of one heeled shoe can be heard walking up the stairs in the Wythe House.”

Emma had to look down to make sure her heart had not, in fact, fallen on the floor. She was having trouble breathing. But whether that was from the state of her lungs or just how tightly Killian’s arm was holding her was probably a debate even a group of revolutionaries outside the Governor’s Palace wouldn’t have been able to decide. 

“Shit,” she breathed. “One shoe, David? You’re sure?” “Is that important?” Emma didn’t answer him. She twisted, meeting Killian’s gaze and the tip of his tongue was back in the corner of his mouth. “What do you think?” “I think I have several thousand questions I didn’t have before.” “So list ‘em out.” He kissed her before he said anything else. That was nice. David groaned. 

“Possibly lesser-known Revolutionary fact,” Killian started, “but Washington had two options in 1780. The French were trying to get some support from the French West Indies, but that wasn’t guaranteed and Washington needed to do something drastic to make a move on the British. So he could either follow de Grasse to the Chesapeake or try and recapture New York.” “I mean obviously they didn’t recapture New York.” Killian shook his head. “No, they didn’t. Rochambeau advised them this way because he heard the British were building a deep-water port in Yorktown. And it wasn’t quite a last-ditch effort, but trying to contain Cornwallis down here was...an almost unheard of tactic. A lot of things had to go right and there was a certain amount of subterfuge to it. Washington and Lafayette both engaged British troops to make it seem like they were going for New York.” And it only took her a few seconds to understand. 

The light above them definitely got brighter. “You think he had help,” Emma said, stabbing her finger into Killian’s chest. He caught her around the wrist. “Someone here. Whoever told Rochambeau.” Killian nodded. “I do.” “You think it was Robert Gold?” “Why would someone with deep pockets in London be at a meeting of the minds just months before the British surrender?” Emma’s head was spinning. And racing. And possibly tripping over things. She was very glad she was sitting down. “But what about this woman?” David pressed through a mouthful of cookie. “Why would she run out of a meeting if her husband was helping the colonists? Unless she didn’t want that?” “No, that’s not right,” Emma said quickly. She blinked at the sudden certainty to her voice, as if it wasn’t hers at all, and she really wished her mouth would stop going dry so often. Killian tilted his head. “I don’t—David, do not react to this—she told me that he was trying to do it again. That’s got to be the husband, right?” Killian shrugged.

“Ok, that’s not helpful at all.” “Hold on, hold on,” David cut in. “We’re still talking about Emma’s ghost? Em, did you see someone? Here?” “Not here specifically.” “Oh my God.” “She said that exactly, Swan?” Killian asked. “Again?” 

“Seems important, right?” He hummed, tongue swiping in front of his teeth. She needed to stop looking at his tongue. “America won,” Killian muttered. “That...it all worked the way it was supposed to, eventually, but the road to Yorktown wasn’t great. There were a dozen instances where Washington could have lost control and—” “—These sound a hell of a lot like questions only the woman can answer.”

“No.” “Excuse me?” “I know what you’re thinking Swan and absolutely not.” “Ok, first of all, you are not a mind-reader, so jot that down. And second of all, that’s ridiculous. You are the one who is constantly talking about ghosts and—” Emma cut herself off. She couldn’t help it. Because the look on his face wasn’t one she’d ever seen before and she wasn’t entirely sure she ever wanted to see it again. 

She leaned forward, both hands on Killian’s cheeks. He kissed the inside of her left wrist. David didn’t make any noise. “I don’t know why this is happening,” Emma whispered. “But it is. And it’s...I can hear this woman and I saw her last night and she needs—if I can help her, then I’m going to.” Killian took a deep breath. “I know, Swan. But I’ll be damned if you do it by yourself.”

“Well, this is very romantic and absolutely lovely, but, uh, you guys are both idiots if you think I’m not going too,” David said. 

Emma nearly fell off Killian’s leg. “Are you kidding me?” “Are you? I was the one who knew the story, Em. Plus, something about this just...it feels off, you know?” “The ghosts weren’t a clue?” “You’re using humor to deflect and that’s fair, but I can also get the key for the Wythe house from Locksley. So.” “Fine,” she groused, only faking the irritation a little. “What time would you like to commune with the dead?”

[etraytin]

HEADCANONS FOR JOSH AND DONNA'S WEDDING

Okay, so last night I was kinda freaking out about the whole moving-again thing, so extra thanks to everybody who liked my post and gave me that virtual “there, there,” because that did help. :D Today I have sorted some paperwork and eaten an egg sandwich and I’m feeling some better, so obviously it is time to get back to my favorite moving-procrastination activity: writing headcanons! 

Josh and Donna’s wedding is something I’ve never written because I’m kinda terrible at writing weddings and avoid it when I can. That said, I did do one pre-wedding fic, Personnel Matters.  that deals with the apportionment of maidly and manly wedding duties. I think it turned out pretty funny, but I will be ignoring it for the purposes of this headcanon. 

Once Josh and Donna get going on thewhole romance train, they move along at a reasonable clip. Notsuper-fast, they are trying to run a country after all, but once theyget things talked out in Hawaii, there's a certain feeling that theyknow the endgame that they are heading for. This is very helpful forJosh, especially, who freaks out over the engagement only about 60%as much as he might have otherwise (which is still a fair amount).They get engaged about six months into the Santos administration,once the first and second hundred days are behind them, then have thewedding six months later, just before things really rev up formidterms. Some might see that sort of political calculus asunromantic, but Donna and Josh have both lived their lives to therhythms of politics for many years and it never even occurs to eitherof them to do otherwise.

Donna hires a wedding planner to takecare of all the actual details. Given their respective positions andthe sort of people they'll be inviting, certain standards need to bemet and she is way too busy to do it herself, despite formidableorganizational skills. Between her salary, Josh's salary, and herparents wanting to chip in, they can afford to do things up properly.The whole “His and hers” matching Chiefs of Staff thing hasgotten a lot of traction in some of the news outlets, but they limitpress access to a few friendly reporters and one photography teamfrom Vanity Fair, who have been quite favorable to the newadministration and have earned Josh's grudging appreciation. There'snot quite as much protocol as at, say, Ellie Bartlet's wedding, butwith two presidents and a bunch of other VIPs attending, security isgoing to be tight. They settle on the Hay Adams Hotel in DC for bothceremony and reception, even though it invites teasing about neitherof them being able to get away from work (it's in eyesight of theWhite House!), because it's a gorgeous event space that understandshow to handle this sort of function.

The ceremony itself is a bit of acultural mix. Neither Josh nor Donna are particularly observant intheir religious lives, but both of them have deep cultural roots andfamilies they want to honor. Toby helps Josh create a beautifullylettered ketubah, and it turns out Margaret has a friend who doesmanuscript illumination in their spare time because of course shedoes. So that's taken care of, and the chuppah cannot be open to thesky because of security concerns but it's still gorgeous (thank you,wedding planner!) and decorated with many, many flowers. They smashthe glass as well, a specially-designed smashing-glass, much to thedelight of the youngest members of the crowd. Most of the rest of theceremony is pretty standard Midwestern Protestant, rings and a unitycandle and a big procession with the wedding march playing.

Toby's twins serving as ring-bearer andflower girl and Peter and Miranda as junior attendants becauseMiranda idolizes Donna and wasabsolutelydesperate to be in the wedding. Donna's sister is her maid of honorbecause friendship doesn't count as much as blood when it comes towho stands where on one's wedding day, but she gets Stephanie Gaulttoo, plus Annabeth and Margaret and CJ, once she works up the nerveto ask. Josh isn't sure he knows five guys who'll stand up for him,but he recruits Sam for his best man, of course, then gets Toby,Charlie, Danny Concannon and, because my poor little fanficcer'sbrain has it as quasi-canon that these guys are old friends, MattSkinner. (This was a huge thing in a lot of early-season fanfic I'veread, and I just sort of absorbed it as true despite a lack of realtextual evidence. I like it anyway!) Donna teases that if Josh gotWill Bailey as well, he could reenact the time when they all gotdrunk and threw snowballs at her apartment, but Josh points out boththat Will was merely substituting in for Sam anyway and that weddingparties have a strict one-congressman limit and he'd hate to jinxWill's run. Donna does allow that, Congressman limit or no, thatmight be entirely too many speechwriters for one wedding party as shedoes hope to have a chance to do things like dance and eat at thereception.

Josh'smom doesn't meet Donna's parents until just a few days before theceremony, but the two moms have been conversing by phone for monthsand they all get along like gangbusters. It is apparently very easyto bond over children who do not call or visit enough and who need tobe a lot more proactive on the whole grandchildren issue. Before theend of the wedding week, the Mosses are making plans to vacation inWest Palm Beach during the winter when nobody wants to be inWisconsin anyway. Donna's younger sister is more than happy to bepaired up with Sam during the wedding party activities, enough thatDonna has to warn her off with threats of brutal lawyer retaliationfrom Sam's fiance (who is in reality a sweetheart and slightlysocially awkward but Little Sis doesn't need to know that.) To staveoff any fights, she blithely foists her sister off onto Bram instead,who turns out to be a perfectly adequate substitute. There are many,many other Moss relatives as well, far more than Josh can keep trackof. It's a little weird when his side of the family has a photo withjust him, Donna, his mom and a couple of cousins, but then he and hismom both get folded into the dozens of people cramming together forthe Moss family photo and it's actually kind of nice.

AsDonna had feared, the reception involves a whole lot of speeches andtoasts. Turns out when you invite a president to your wedding youhave to let him speak, and when you invite two presidents they bothget to speak, and when two of your groomsmen have written speechesfor the president they are going to have surreptitious littleslapfights over grammar while one of them is trying to talk. By thetime all those speeches are done, Donna's sister is too intimidatedto speak at all, and has also finished a glass and a half ofchampagne. CJ gracefully steps in and delivers the maid of honortoast with all the poise of a press secretary and the wit of Josh'shonorary big sister, and the extemporaneous speech is probably thebest received of the whole night. After that, everybody finally getsto eat. 

The Secret Service will not allow the use of the rooftopbalcony for dancing, but from inside the ballroom they can still seethe White House in the distace, which is kind of nice, all thingsconsidered. It seems fitting. Josh and Donna disappear after a couplehours of dancing and the compulsory throwing-of-Donna's-accessories(she puts the garter around her ankle just before the toss and makesJosh take it off with his hands, thank you!), both of which arescored by Donna's speedy and highly competitive extended family. Theyhead off for a Hawaiian honeymoon to do all the stuff Donna pickedout of the guidebook on the first trip but they didn't have a chanceto do, while the rest of the guests close the place down, dancing andcelebrating till late. It's really quite something!

[velha-vida-nova]

Essentially the most Hazardous Vacation Selfies Ever Captured On Digicam

In the present working day and age, we are so accustomed to scrolling the feeds of our social websites accounts and locating a myriad of selfies, commonly from so-called 'influencers.'

It is really virtually develop into some form of weird obsession, specifically among the millennial crowd. They're often on the lookout to get the last word shot that can garner by far the most 'likes' for their web page. But this receives taken into a entire new extraordinary when individuals are traveling to new areas or embarking on some extra adventurous functions.

See more data while in the video below

You will discover a good share of thrill-seekers to choose from that are recognized to climb properties and bridges all during the title of obtaining that perfect selfie and gaining extra followers on IG (or where ever it may well be). They try for making a reputation for by themselves while in the craziest way imaginable. Even though the photographs are without a question quite interesting to look at, these are obviously unbelievably perilous instead of value jeopardizing your life about. People today have missing their lives though using selfies in harmful sites so it really is not your regular every day passion, and if it really is, you'll want to perhaps rethink that.

These are some really epic selfies individuals have taken wherever they have scaled properties, climbed along with factors they shouldn't have or taken a photo that has a harmful animal that may have no turned out so very well.

They are all certainly crazy and just on the lookout at many of these is sufficient to give anyone a little bit of hysteria, especially if you might be deathly afraid of heights.

At this point, practically anyone has taken out their smartphone to snap a photo of on their own. Actually, you'll be able to almost certainly look for a selfie with your social media marketing appropriate now. (No have to examine; you presently know it can be correct.)

But when taken in dangerous situations, selfies may also be deadly. Between 2011 and 2017, 259 folks died inside their pursuit of one.

Quite often, these precarious selfies are taken even though traveling, with persons scaling skyscrapers, cliffs and bridges to seize a photograph to recall. Lots of people consistently choose images they know being dangerous; some others have posted a questionable shot or two, probably due to the fact they didn't totally recognize the dangers associated.

If you want to acquire a tremendous selfie, completely go for it. Nevertheless the next shots, we think, took matters as well much.

Veja no link ao lado: 10 Lugares Bonitos e Perigosos Para se Tirar Uma Selfie

[cupidstargetpractice-blog]

Best Compact Cameras For Travel 2017 Advice

HTC's U11 will support Bluetooth 5.0 when Android arrives. It has a shorter focal length, since its optical zoom is 5x. Nonetheless, just like the IXUS one hundred fifty, it has the option of recording HD video, so you have a wider quantity of features you can make the most of. Some budget models solely shoot 720p (1280 x 720 pixels) but they are more and more scarce. In our opinion, it could have been better to maintain them accessible by way of the Perform button, along with the 15 different shooting modes. We have put Fujifilm XT20 as primary in our checklist of the very best compact cameras as it is full of updated choices which assure an ideal shooting. I've taken some fairly good road shots, travel shots and food photographs. The new sensor is joined be an improved ninety one-level autofocus system. The XAVC S codec out there with Sony's latest cameras is a major step up from AVCHD. What we don't: Restricted zoom range and slower than the Sony RX100 V. Nonetheless, these two brands make enough close to-equivalent models that it can be laborious for the average shopper to separate the wheat from the chaff. As is the case with most digital cameras nowadays, the observe-as much as the SX720 HS also features Bluetooth, NFC and WiFi, in case you want to control it remotely or share pictures wirelessly. Finding all of these options in a digicam that measures 1.6 inches in thickness and weighs less than 11 ounces is pretty spectacular in the compact camera market. Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity can be included, allowing customers to share and transfer photographs wirelessly and seamlessly. A whole lot of fashions are available starting at entry level and going via to pro commonplace; there are enormous variances in quality and value too. You might suppose we're mad for not together with the more inexpensive authentic RX100 mannequin , but the unique doesn't have a zoom lens fairly as advanced. The Panasonic LX100 is presumably on the borderline by way of weight/measurement and maybe must be included with the larger/heavier cameras listed under. Autofocus, computerized exposure, flash, and generally built-in optical and digital zoom make it almost easy to get a terrific shot. However, as you turn out to be extra familiar with cameras, you may find it just feels extra natural to make use of a viewfinder to record pictures. This shot of a turtle highlights the extremely sharp element from the sensor of the Sony a6500 Shot with the Tokina 10-17mm Fisheye Lens. Point-and-shoots are most discreet attributable to their small dimension—I love that a common thief would doubtless do not know that the Sony RX100 V or Ricoh GR II s such a pleasant camera. But make no mistake, some level-and-shoots provide a no-compromise strategy to best compact digital camera images. Although extra functionality is welcome, several other cameras supply options like these but constructed-in and free. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS30 is tough, compact, and fairly affordable. In particular if you are shooting birds/animals/sport which is shifting. The DSCH300 has inbuilt picture stabilisation, which will cut back blur in your photographs, and shoots HD quality movies in 720P. The Sony Alpha a6500 is an superior mannequin as is the new Fujifilm X-T2, and the full-frame Sony Alpha a7R II is the cream of the mirrorless crop. When Fuji has launched cameras with mounted lenses in the past (e.g. the Fuji X100 sequence), the picture quality is arguably better than inter-changeable Fuji lens cameras. The zoom range of the 24-72mm equal lens is in the good range for underwater use. One other thrilling mirrorless mannequin to make its method into the market this 12 months is the X-T2, which offers such superb usability and picture high quality that many are jumping ship from DSLRs to join the mirrorless revolution. Extra advanced cameras, housings and strobes, connect on to the digital camera body by waterproofed connectors, allowing you to fireplace them independently of the shutter and control the strobe's brightness and timing. The two cameras use the same 20-megapixel CMOS sensor and DIGIC 4+ picture processor, so we are able to attribute this difference only to the SX620 HS's extra formidable 25x zoom lens. I do not always need to haul my complete DSLR digicam and case around. The Canon 360 HS produces natural-trying colours in outside scenes. Nearly every journey photographer I know that owns a mirrorless either has the Sony A7 or the Fuji X-T1 (below). By the way, Lumix TZ80 has an digital viewfinder. I can say that there's simply simply no higher bang for the buck in a digicam that I might discover with these features. These cameras could also be a superb match for beginning photographers best point and shoot digital camera who wish to experiment with handbook controls once in a while, but who nonetheless want to have the ability to rely on the comfort of automated functions. There's a maximum f/2 aperture, which, when paired up with the giant sensor, results in some incredibly shallow depth of subject. It is the right SLR for those shopping for their first one or upgrading from an older mannequin. The 360 HS has a set display screen, which means it would not rotate or tilt. The tech specs are strong right here, too: a 30x Leica-badged zoom, an 18.1-megapixel CMOS sensor, and a spiffy new processor combine to create a handy guide a rough little digital camera. Dont get a superzoom unless you are planning to use it extra regularly. Not only do compact cameras produce crisp photos, additionally they aren't that a lot larger than a typical smartphone. Most of the level-and-shoot cameras embrace Full HD video capability permitting you to obviously capture anything motion Digicam and Picture retailer has something for everyone searching for a degree-and-shoot camera. Mirrorless cameras even have a incredible auto-focus system and, with the DSLR adaptor, you need to use them with a myriad of lenses. There are some exciting new decrease-price options such as the GoPro and the Olympus Robust line give that entry-level shooter a great way to get began with a worth and ease of use standpoint. The entire thing feels tight and snappy, too, because of the internals - whipping by menus was fast if a little bit unintuitive, and extra importantly, there was mainly no downtime between photographs. Samsung's MultiView MV900F begins shipping with one hundred eighty-diploma AMOLED display for $350. EXR Processor IIFujinon 23mm f/2 Mounted Focal Length Lens. Uncooked recordsdata from the LX10 can withstand substantial corrections in image enhancing software. Consequently, its price is cheaper as one of the earlier Fujifilm model. If you do not care about an EVF, the Panasonic Lumix LX10 is the best compact digicam for journey as regards to image quality, features and worth. Sony lets you add extra digicam performance by free and paid apps. If you happen to ever have to print out vacation images to your mother, attempt certainly one of these. With the addition of the Wi-Fi connectivity, the LUMIX FX90 addresses the growing communities of people that take images and movies and need to share them immediately through online social networks. Understand that the GR II has a fixed focal length lens equivalent to 28mm on a 35mm digital camera, which is nice for travel and outdoor pictures however is not for everyone. Additional increase your capturing pleasure and provides your photography knowledgeable edge with equipment specially designed for this model. The same goes for software program, and it's ludicrous that Sony would lag behind the curve right here, contemplating Android M has been publicly known for months now. The newer model does cost about $300 more—we love the image stabilization but both are perfectly viable options at their respective value factors. The RX100 V is a big-sensor camera with a 1-inch sensor that's Sony's most superior compact digital camera but.

[thisislizheather]

2018 Resolutions Revisited

This is one of my favourite posts to write, but I feel like you know that already. Most people throw away their resolutions after a few months, but I love to keep very specific track of everything I try to do throughout the year, so here we go. Here’s how 2018 went for me.

Read at least one book per season.

For winter, I read Jen Kirkman’s I Can Barely Take Care of Myself and Lindy West’s Shrill. For spring, I read Rachel Dratch’s Girl Walks Into A Bar…, David Sedaris’ Me Talk Pretty One Day and Jim Gaffigan’s Food: A Love Story. For summer, I read The Duplass Brothers’ Like Brothers, Mike Reiss’ Springfield Confidential, Ijeoma Oluo’s So You Want To Talk About Race and Penny Marshall’s My Mother Was Nuts. For autumn, I read Bill Cunningham’s Fashion Climbing. So I guess you can say YEAH, I crushed this resolution.

Go to the gym or do some kind of physically strenuous activity at least ten times a month.

January - 8 times

February - 2 times

March - 3 times

April - 9 times

May - 13 times

June - 4 times

July - 0 times

August - 9 times

September - 5 times

October - 3 times

November - 5 times

December - 23 times (hahah, can you tell I was trying to be extra impressive this month?)

So that means that I worked out for 23% of the days of the year, which is better than 2017 (which was 17%) so that makes me feel great. I know it’s just a number and I shouldn’t care about things like that, but I do so what can you do. Going to strive for an even better number next year.

Juice at least five times a month.

January - 24 times

February - 6 times

March - 6 times

April - 1 time

May - 15 times

June - 8 times

July - 3 times

August - 5 times

September - 1 time

October - 1 time

November - 0 times

December - 25 times

Okay so there were five months when this didn’t happen. But I mean… look at January and May and December. I feel like I go nuts with the juices every five months or so. Weird. Still love this resolution.

At least once a month, go to a nice restaurant that you've never been to before.

January - Fuck! Nowhere!

February - The Wilcox (the lobster poutine was nuts) & BlueBlood Steakhouse (good, but definitely overrated)

March - Martina (killer pizza), The Spotted Pig (the gnudi is obviously a dream but with all the terrible things that went on here, it just felt wrong to be any kind of a fan of this place), Butcher Bar (definitely not as great as Astoria blogs tell you it is)

April - Prime by Jean Georges (crazy overrated/overpriced), Emeril’s Delmonico Steakhouse (so, so great - this man can do no wrong)

May - Javelina (so good!), L’Artusi (literally the best pasta I’ve ever had in NYC)

June - Bocca (only okay)

July - Astor Court (lovely as hell)

August - The Russian Tea Room (overrated, average food)

September - Cherry Point (so, so good)

October - Nowhere!

November - Dante (quite good), Del Frisco’s (really good meat), Rainbow Room Pop Up Bar (incredible), Ofrenda (best quesadillas), Pil Pil (really good tapas)

December - The Spaniard (crazy good burger), Le Rivage (average, though the snails were good)

There were only two months when this didn’t happen! That’s pretty sweet.

Take Baby Dog on at least two dog adventures per month (this could include going to Central Park, Astoria Park, dog dates, etc.)

Oh boy, was this an eager resolution. I did take her to Central Park as much as I could when the weather was warm, but of course I could’ve taken her more. She also went to some dog friendly cafes, so that was good too. If I keep this resolution for 2019, I’ll definitely revise it to be a seasonal aspiration instead of a twice-monthly one.

Properly go on a date with Nathan at least once a month.

I kind of can’t even believe we did this every single month except September (which he travelled for most of), sometimes even a few times a month! It was great! I could list everything we did here but that seems… like something a crazy person would do (said the person who counts her juices & workouts on a daily basis).

Learn how to meditate.

I think I did? For a few months I tried to do it and it seems like something I need a lot more practice with. Also, maybe I was doing it wrong, but I didn’t really understand what I was supposed to get out of it. Obviously it’s great for a lot of people, I’m not trying to be a dick, but I think I was just missing something about it in general.

Once a month, write a letter to someone that I haven’t seen for awhile.

Hahahah, awww. Not a chance in hell. I did this once and I’m pretty sure I mailed it to the wrong address.

Once a season, do a week-long juice cleanse or follow a completely raw food diet.

Again, NOPE! Too hard.

By the end of the year, stop waitressing and start editing full time again.

I was reeeeally close to having this done in June, but then backed out of it. Lots of reasons. Some personal ones just for me to know. But I’ll keep working towards this goal. I happen to not completely hate waitressing, so until I do, I think I’ll keep doing it.

Some other notable things that happened: I was on Nathan’s podcast Positive Anger twice, which was really, really fun. I started doing my monthly roundup posts (May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December) that I think I’ll continue to do. So many great photos were taken (which reminds me that I need to make the 2018 photo book sometime soon). My attempt at Halloween domination continued. Went on some memorable vacations to Las Vegas and Vermont. We celebrated my dad’s 95th birthday. My grandmother turned 100.

2018 was kind of a good year, I think. It’s so hard to tell when you’re looking back at it. It wasn’t the best or worst, but it’s over now so we can only look forward. Definitely going to try and make this one a wicked one. Thank you so much for continuing to read and encourage all of the nonsense that I post on here, it means more to me than anyone will ever know.

[corellian-smuggler]

Comprehensive Star Wars at Disney World Review

As you may or may not know, I just got back from Disney World. Obviously being a diehard Star Wars fan, I was very excited about the Star Wars activities in the parks. Certain things were extremely enjoyable and others were just ridiculous, so I thought for the sake of providing some helpful tips and information as well as giving my thoughts and critiques about the Star Wars experience at WDW, I’d write you guys a review! I’ll go through all the Star Wars attractions as well as my opinions about them, list all the stores for merch, etc.

SO, to start off

HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS

For those of you who are going to Disney World and don’t know this already, Disney World has four major theme parks (in addition to a shopping area and two water parks): the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios.

Hollywood Studios should essentially be renamed, “Hollywood Studios: The Star Wars Park,” because that’s where all the SW stuff is and 90% of the people in that park are there for the Star Wars attractions, which are:

Star Tours: This is the only actual Star Wars ride in Disney World, and it’s got an AT-AT at its entrance. It was originally built as a tribute to the Original Trilogy, but as I’m sure you can imagine, it’s been redone to encompass the prequel and sequel trilogies as well. The ride features C-3PO, R2-D2, and BB-8, and simulates a trip through space and over planets. Though the ride sends you through hyperspace and into battles, I don’t think it would make anyone sick. My mother is EXTREMELY sensitive to rides and gets bad motion sickness, and she had no trouble at all on the ride. It’s a lot of fun even if you’re not a huge Star Wars fan. Loses points due to the inclusion of Jar Jar Binks, but still absolutely worth it. Warning that you should probably use a Fast Pass to go on this ride, especially if you go on a weekend or during peak season (summer, school vacations, etc). As it is the only Star Wars ride, one of the classic attractions in the park, and one of the only fun rides in Hollywood Studios just in general, it usually has a sizable line. 

Star Wars: The Path of the Jedi: This is a 10 minute long movie documenting “Luke’s journey from farm boy to Jedi Knight.” The film theoretically focuses on Luke’s path as he discovers the Force, strives to follow in his father’s footsteps, learns the truth of Anakin’s identity, and ultimately shows Luke’s arc from start to finish throughout the films. Although not as expository as it may have been, given that it includes only existing footage from the films without providing any additional commentary, the editing of the film does do a decent enough job of explaining the Force and showcasing Luke’s story. Voice-overs from Obi-Wan and Yoda as well as footage from the prequels and juxtapositions of Luke’s journey against Anakin’s provide for a fairly significant little movie. The only strangeness comes from the moments where Luke’s journey is sporadically sidelined in favor of what is essentially just highlights from the OT, regardless of whether or not the scenes are relevant to Luke’s path as a Jedi or not. Not exactly a deterrent, just not really what the little movie is advertised as being. What did bother me is that the last few minutes of the film focus not on Luke but on Rey and HER journey with the Force, which of course is again not what the movie was supposed to be about. It also comes off as slightly (read: very) depressing, as of course with the additions of TFA footage, the ending of the film is culminated by the destruction of Luke’s Jedi Order and the failure of his Jedi Path, the corruption of his nephew, and his exile, instead honing in on Rey as the new hero who must find the Force and “fix things.” Very much a sensation of “Luke isn’t the hero and now Rey is the hero instead”. Honestly up to you whether or not you want to sit through it. Despite my disdain for the treatment of the OT characters in the TFA, I still thought it was worthwhile simply for the fact that it was an opportunity to watch OT footage on the big screen for the first 8 minutes, which I’ve never before had the opportunity to do. Also bonus points for including Leia amongst its montage of powerful Force users on the side of the Light. PSA that this film does not run during Extra Magic Hours, so make sure to watch it during regular park hours if you’re interested.

Character Encounters: At Star Wars Launch Bay, in addition to displaying replicas of significant Star Wars props and scenes, you can stand in line to meet Chewbacca or Kylo Ren. I would definitely recommend this if you like either of those characters. You can use your own camera, so you don’t have to pay for the professionally taken photos of the encounter, and I only had to wait five minutes to meet Chewie. The costume was very authentic and the actor inside the suit was very believable as Chewie, to the point where I got choked up because it almost felt real. I obviously didn’t meet Kylo Ren, but I’m sure the experience is a good one for the fans that want to have their picture taken with him. In line you pass replicas of all the Force users’ lightsabers, Luke’s flight helmet, etc. You can meet the characters up until the park closes at 8 PM.

Rogue One Film: Also at Star Wars Launch Bay, there is evidently a ten minute long behind-the-scenes film about the making of Rogue One. I didn’t bother seeing it, but it showed every ten minutes and there was no line, so I would imagine if you’re a big fan of Rogue One it could be an interesting little movie.

Jedi Training: Only available for children ages 4-12. Little kids who are signed up at the beginning of the day (limited spots available) get to train as Jedi Knights and show their skills in battle. The kids seemed delighted when I saw the show, but keep in mind if you have a very shy five year old that the event draws a crowd that may be distressing for certain children. It was definitely super cute however, and could be an awesome experience and memory for children who love Star Wars and lightsabers and such.

March of the First Order: Every hour on the hour from 10-4, Captain Phasma and a troop of stormtroopers march down Hollywood Boulevard (the main street in the park) to the First Order’s theme. While I personally would have appreciated it more if it were OT stormtroopers walking to the Imperial March, it’s still cool to watch, especially if you liked TFA. It definitely has a certain effect on a Star Wars fan to see a stormtrooper marching along in front of you–pretty surreal, and transports you to a GFFA.  At the end of the march, Phasma and the troopers disperse into the crowd and threaten people to show their obedience to the First Order.

Star Wars: A Galaxy Far, Far Away: Every hour on the half hour from 11:30-5:30, this show takes place at the center of the park, at the end of Hollywood Boulevard and right in front of the Great Movie Ride. The show incorporates classic Star Wars music, footage from all the existing Star Wars universe films, as well as appearances on stage from Chewbacca, R2, Threepio, BB-8, Darth Maul, Darth Vader, Phasma, Kylo Ren, and stormtroopers. I don’t like the new canon, but standing in a crowd of people loving Star Wars while footage from the OT was projected on an enormous screen and the music blasted all around was enough for me to ignore my dislike of Kylo Ren. I must say that the editing of the footage was very well done. Definitely recommend seeing the show at some point!!

Star Wars Galactic Spectacular: This is Hollywood Studios’ end of the night fireworks display, however in addition to the fireworks there is also footage from the films projected on the front of the Chinese Theater (the Great Movie Ride). Like the Star Wars: A Galaxy Far, Far Away show, the footage is well cut together, perfectly put to the music, features the characters we all know and love (Luke, Leia, Han, Padme, Anakin, Vader, Yoda, etc etc) and accentuated by lighting effects, fire, lasers, and fireworks. Definitely a must see. Be warned however that it is crucial to have an unobstructed view of the facade of the Chinese Theater, as the projections on the building are the focus of the show, with the fireworks being more an added bonus. If you can’t see the front of the building well, your experience will be negatively affected. The stage on which the Star Wars: A Galaxy Far, Far Away takes place will obstruct your view if you stand directly behind it (it’s located right in front of the Great Movie Ride) and there are also trees and the crowd to consider. The Galactic Spectacular starts at 7:45 (the park closes at 8) and crowds started gathering to claim spots an hour in advance. You may want to consider paying to be a part of the dessert party featured in every park for the fireworks display, which essentially gives you access to a roped off, VIP area from which to view the show while being served desserts and drinks.

In addition to these attractions, there is also a Star Wars guided tour you can take that brings you through a behind the scenes look at all the above attractions. In addition, stormtroopers stand outside the Star Wars Launch Bay (the building where the character encounters take place and the replicas are displayed and the Rogue One film is shown) which makes for a good photo opportunity. There’s also a speeder bike to sit on across from the Star Tours ride, obviously for picture purposes. Plus, you can get chocolate Darth Vader cupcakes in the Starbucks on Hollywood Boulevard, which I thought was delightful. It even had a little candy red lightsaber.

Overall it’s a lot of fun to be surrounded by Star Wars fans. I loved seeing all the little kids running around with lightsabers and holding BB-8 and R2 toys, and it’s just awesome to walk through the park hearing Star Wars music wherever you go or turning a corner and seeing a giant AT-AT or going on a ride and jumping to hyperspace. I was pretty happy, despite my very strong feelings about Disney SW canon.

MERCHANDISE AND SHOPPING

I scoured every single Star Wars store and took note of all the available merch, so to save you guys the time I wasted, here’s a run down. Just as a fair warning it should be noted that in every store, the majority of the merchandise is Rogue One primarily, followed by TFA, with OT and PT merchandise almost non-existent.

Stores in Hollywood Studios:

Tatooine Traders: This is the store you emerge into after getting off the Star Tours ride. The merch is pretty subpar, in my opinion, focusing mostly on toys. There’s build-your-own lightsabers and droids parts, some key chains and pins and such, action figures, Star Wars mouse ears, etc. The Star Wars pins are essentially the same in every store in the parks, most of it being Rogue One or TFA themed, with a few Chewbacca, R2, or other such ambiguous pins that could technically be representative of any of the films, despite the fact that the characters originated in the OT. The same goes for keychains. I think the choices were the droids, Chewie, stormtrooper, Kylo Ren, Boba Fett, or Vader. Those are essentially the only characters really featured in anything that’s not strictly TFA or Rogue One merchandise: for example, if the character on a shirt or the action figure in a box isn’t Jyn Erso or Poe Dameron or Rey, chances are it’s a droid or Chewie or a masked character (Vader, Boba Fett, Stormtrooper). Another thing to note is that “dark side” stuff and Empire/First Order merch is for some reason much more prevalent than any rebellion merchandise. As in several of the other stores, this store sells Tsum-Tsums, and is where I purchased the Hoth Leia one. I bought it not only because it was adorable, but also because it was the only Leia product in the entire store. Despite the Episode IV Han and Luke tsum-tsums being available on the Disney Store website, they were NOT sold in Tatooine Traders or in any other store on Disney property. The closest you could get were the Hoth edition Han and Luke tsum-tsums sold in a set with a wampa and taun-taun tsum-tsums (inside a larger taun-taun tsum-tsum) so that if you want Luke and Han to go with your Hoth Leia, you can’t just pay $6 for each of them but $35 for the set with three extra tsum-tsums you probably don’t even want. Again, these little plushies were essentially the only Han, Luke, and Leia items in the entire store, which is why I just went into that detail about freaking plush toys. I don’t think I need to get into the irony of a store called Tatooine Traders not selling any Luke Skywalker merchandise. 

Star Wars Launch Bay: The building where you meet Chewie and Kylo Ren and see the Rogue One film and view the replicas also has a store inside. It should be noted that as opposed to other Star Wars stores in the parks, the Launch Bay store sells higher end, expensive collectibles. For example, Star Wars artworks for $150 and up. Star Wars collectible figurines. Customizable Star Wars merch (laptop cases and such) that you pay extra to put your name on. I believe this store also carried the soundtracks to the films, some action figures, and the new canon books. As a result of the “collectible” aspect of the store–ie, it’s catering to the die-hard fans of a certain kind who are willing to put down money to get their hands on the products they want–this is one of the few stores on the property that you’ll find original trilogy or prequel trilogy merchandise. Of course, I couldn’t buy any because it was expensive AF. Unfortunately, for example, there aren’t any cheaper alternatives to the expensive artwork. No posters or prints for fans who can’t afford to drop $350 on an Empire Strikes Back metal framed vintage movie still. I would also just like to briefly express my indignation regarding the fact that the one and only Leia artwork (featuring her in her slave attire, of course) is several times more expensive than any other piece in the store, because, as an employee explained to me, they raised the price when Carrie Fisher died. I was promptly disgusted that already-rich Disney felt the need to make money off her passing. Also, despite the fact that they stock collectible figurines for virtually every Star Wars character in existence (including Han, Luke, jawas, ewoks, Jar Jar Binks, Vader, etc etc) there was no Leia figurine to be found because they don’t carry it.

Legends of Hollywood: THIS STORE IS NOT SHOWN ON THE THEME PARK MAP DISTRIBUTED AT THE GATE. However, the store is located off to the right side of Hollywood Boulevard, past the Starbucks and around the bend, and is another Star Wars merchandise only store. OT posters decorate the outside and the sign over the door claims to have everything for Star Wars film fans. While still not a STELLAR selection, I will say this store probably has the best SW merch in the park. It has slightly less juvenile clothing than other stores and features items other than Rogue One and TFA. It also was the only place in Hollywood Studios where I found the Princess Leia Alex and Ani bracelet (along with the rest of the Star Wars collection) which I was told were selling out very fast. Also in the store were OT Disney-inspired mugs, Loungefly Star Wars purses, wallets, backpacks, etc, among other items. I’d say this store is your best bet for Star Wars apparel or accessories on Disney Property, especially for women.

Mickey’s of Hollywood: Though not a Star Wars specific store, this general Disney gift shop located on Hollywood Boulevard has, like all the general Disney Park gift shops, a Star Wars section. It features, again, lots of Rogue One and TFA merch, Star Wars pins, and smaller items. This store had the his and hers’ “I love you,” “I know” shirts, and was the only store in Hollywood Studios where I found the Han and Leia “I Love You” “I Know” collectible pin set, which apparently is another item quickly becoming increasingly difficult to find. There were also Star Wars “mystery pack” playing cards that included a Leia set, but unfortunately I didn’t buy them because there were twelve different varieties and no way to guarantee that I was purchasing the Leia playing cards. I did find, and this is the ONLY store on Disney property that had it, Princess Leia chocolates.

Stores outside of Hollywood Studios:

Merchant of Venus: This store is located in the Magic Kingdom and is NOT shown on the park map available at the park’s entrance. It is located in Tomorrowland near the Stitch Ride, and apparently used to sell Stitch merchandise that obviously wasn’t selling and instead became the Magic Kingdom’s only Star Wars store. I didn’t really see much in there that I hadn’t already seen in Tatooine Traders, Launch Bay, Legends of Hollywood, or Mickey’s of Hollywood, so I really doubt you’d be missing much by skipping it, unless of course for some reason you don’t go to Hollywood Studios. I believe it had mostly clothes and some toys (like the tsum-tsums and light-up R2 spinny toys and such) with maybe a few other nicer items here and there. Maybe Star Wars luggage? I only remember being underwhelmed.

Main Street Emporium: Located in the Magic Kingdom on Main Street USA. Like Mickey’s of Hollywood, this is a general Disney Store that just happens to have a Star Wars section, but unlike Mickey’s of Hollywood, it’s located in a park more focused on princesses and such, so the selection of Star Wars merch is much smaller. Mostly toys if I recall, and mostly Rogue One. Across the street in the jewelry store you can find the Star Wars jewelry collection.

Mouse Gear: Located in Epcot. Same deal as the Main Street Emporium, essentially, in that it’s Epcot’s general gift shop and it does have a Star Wars section.

Star Wars Galactic Outpost: Located in Disney Springs. This was the most disappointing store in Disney for me. It’s located in Disney’s designated enormous, high-end shopping complex and it’s a store devoted entirely to Star Wars, so logically you’d infer that it has a bigger selection and nicer merchandise than the park gift shops. Wrong. It has none of the nicer items found in Legends of Hollywood. Most of its merchandise can be found in other stores. The only apparel I saw in there that was unique to the store were a few men’s shirts: namely, a few Boba Fett shirts, a Jedi Order shirt, a stormtrooper shirt, a millennium falcon shirt, and a galactic empire shirt. First of all they were only MEN’S shirts and second of all they really weren’t that great at all. The design of the millennium falcon shirt was ugly and so overly THIS IS FOR A MAN!!!!!!!!! in nature (clearly done on purpose) that I couldn’t have even bought it for myself if it had come in my size, and of course the Boba Fett and Galactic Empire shirts were garbage I wouldn’t want to wear anyways. The only reason they’re even standing out to me is because they were some of the first things I’d seen that weren’t Rogue One of TFA.

World of Disney: Also located in Disney Springs, this is the largest Disney store in the world. It had a Star Wars section which had mostly things easily found in all of the other stores (stuffed BB-8s, stormtrooper pillows, action figures and toys, the same Rogue One and TFA apparel and products, etc) but with a few additional finds. I found a set of OT really nice magnets that I bought. This store also had the Star Wars Alex and Ani jewelry in the jewelry part of the store, and some Star Wars back packs and luggage in the accessories part.

All in all, I was extremely disappointed by the Star Wars merchandise in the parks. I ended up buying the Leia Alex and Ani bracelet, a Millennium Falcon mug, the Leia tsum-tsum, the Han and Leia pins, an R2-D2 pin, the Leia chocolate, and the set of magnets. That’s basically all the OT merch sold in all of Disney World, not counting the expensive collectibles sold in Launch Bay. There was hardly any OT merchandise at all–and before anyone argues that it’s because they’re trying to promote the newer films, I’d like to point out that there are FIVE ENTIRE STORES in Disney dedicated to selling ONLY Star Wars merchandise. It is absolutely ABSURD that in five stores devoted to Star Wars, you can hardly find anything with Han, Luke, or Leia on it. That’s not even to mention that the original trilogy is prominently featured in the Star Wars fireworks display and the Star Wars hourly show (as well as the PT), to the point where I’d say they show more OT footage and music during those shows than they feature Rogue One and TFA, and of course much of the replicas displayed in Launch Bay are OT replicas, and there’s an entire attraction in Hollywood Studios that’s supposed to be focused entirely on Luke’s journey. That being said, if you’re going to feature the OT in your attractions and shows and rides–that is to say, if it’s OT things that people are coming to do and see–why would you not then sell merchandise for them?

For any other character in Disney this would not be the case. If there’s a ride devoted to Snow White, or an entire fireworks display featuring Cinderella, you’d better believe you can buy merchandise for those characters and movies featured in the parks. And the whole “only promoting the new films” theory doesn’t even make sense when considering you can buy Disney merchandise for characters like Sleeping Beauty, whose movie is old AF, despite the fact that Disney is simultaneously promoting its new princesses and selling tons of Ana and Elsa and Rapunzel merchandise.

Plus, you’d think it would be a red flag for Disney marketers and researchers to realize that almost every single person in Hollywood Studios is walking around wearing a Star Wars shirt, but not ONE SINGLE PERSON that I saw was wearing one of DISNEY’S Star Wars shirts that they were selling in the gift shops. This is opposed to the other merchandise, where for example you could easily find many people wearing the princess or Mickey Mouse or castle apparel sold in the stores. I found a very nice original logo Disney long sleeve shirt in Epcot that I bought that only had a few colors left because it was selling so quickly and I only found it in two stores, as opposed to the Rogue One and TFA shirts that were sitting on the racks in literally every single store I went into, and not selling.

One has to ask then why the heck Disney wouldn’t do the smart thing and sell what people so obviously would buy: OT merchandise. If the exact same Disney logo shirt that I bought had had a little rebel starbird symbol on the front left over the heart instead of the Disney Logo, and the words REBEL ALLIANCE on the back across the shoulders instead of WALT DISNEY WORLD, it would have sold out in a HEART BEAT. If they stuck some ROTJ and ESB and ANH film poster images on shirts, or did some vintage Millennium Falcon hoodies or some Princess Leia shirts or something, they would sell. But they don’t carry them, which is truly bizarre.

The only explanation I can think of is that Disney came to the same conclusion that JJ Abrams reached when he decided to keep Luke out of the majority of TFA. He stated that he realized that Luke would “take over the story” if he were in it, and that it wouldn’t be about Rey anymore, and that the audience would be more focused on him. So what did he do? He kept Luke out of the story, even though it didn’t make much sense. I think Disney is doing the same thing with the merchandise. If they stocked a ton of amazing original trilogy merchandise, the Rogue One and TFA stuff wouldn’t sell (it’s not really selling as it is. I know because I asked). How many people would be jumping to buy a Krennic shirt if there were super unique and wearable and cool Luke Skywalker or Han Solo or Princess Leia shirts to pick from??? Not many people, that’s for sure. I bet they figured people would be more likely to buy the Rogue One and TFA apparel if it was the only choice they really had, which is a true shame, because there are stores called Tatooine Traders and Star Wars Galactic Outpost and several other STAR WARS STORES and you can’t even get quality Star Wars stuff in them. I’ve bought lovely Star Wars shirts from Kohl’s that are 100x better than literally ANY SINGLE SHIRT that I saw in any of the Disney stores. 

I’d also like to point out that the design of the women’s apparel was truly revolting. First of all the material used in the women’s shirts was much thinner and flimsier and lower quality than the fabric used for the men’s shirts. All of the designs for the WOMEN’s apparel looked like they were designed with a ten year old in mind. Like, the shirts would easily fit in with garments sold in Justice for Girls or Limited Too or on that Shake It Up show on Disney Channel where those two preteen girls wore those over-designed outfits covered in sequins and corny designs. While some of the men’s Star Wars stuff was subtle and almost classy–the t-shirts being perfectly acceptable to wear in public, some of the nicer items–like black polo shirts with little embroidered Vaders on the front upper corner–were almost infuriatingly superior to the garish things designed for women. That’s not even to mention that as a woman, your ONLY options for Star Wars apparel are shirts with Jyn on them or shirts with Rey on them, that or one shirt with the Star Wars logo in sparkly font on an ill-fitted top made of thin cotton. No selection whatsoever.

And finally I’d just like to say, that while I had a lovely time and while I do love Disney and Disney World for many reasons, I did feel pretty annoyed that Disney was clearly willing to exploit the OT and Han, Luke, and Leia to get emotional reactions out of the crowd during the fireworks shows and such, and totally on board with exploiting Leia and Han’s love story via the merchandise, but they didn’t care enough at all to even give the original films respectful treatment in the new canon.

Anyways, I hope this is helpful for any future Disney-goers! I’m interested to hear other people’s experiences–did you like the merch? How did you feel about the attractions? Etc. And also of course anyone with a specific question can always feel free to message me and I’ll do my best to provide a helpful answer :)

BTW: I stayed in the Allstar Movie Resort, which had a Star Wars tribute in the lobby and played Star Wars music all the time in the gift shop, food court, lobby, and pool area :)

[wotdhorror]

I work at a haunted pizza place

I work at a pizza place and have for the last few years. It’s just your average thin crust pizza place and bar in an older part of town, and the only one in this part of the country able to brag about being haunted. No really, we’ve had the place booked out a few times by paranormal investigators and even one ‘ghost party’ where some goth kids pooled their money to smoke pot and play Ouija overnight. We don’t do that anymore though.

The haunting harder to notice than you would think, at least at first. We’re lucky enough to have a lot of business and believe me, when you’re in the middle of a rush the last thing you’re thinking about is where the ghost is or how pissed it is that we’re hosting yet another kid’s birthday party in the front loft. Those of you who work food service know all too well how hectic rush time is even when you’re organized and at your best. Still, even if the haunting isn’t obvious everyone’s got a favorite story about who we lovingly call ‘the pizzageist,’ even if sightings are fairly scattered. 

My personal experience is more on the eerie side and I have some stories I’d love to share if there’s interest, but before I do I want to emphasize something. We are VERY lucky to be open still. Things are good now, but I joined the team at the end of a very dicey period of layoffs and downsizing. The store is huge, two stories and two lofts at the front and the back and all of that square-footage is rented from some property management company. I guess a decade or so ago they bought up and plowed over a good portion of ‘the bad side of town,’ to make one of those artificial main streets.

Renting that big of a space almost bankrupted the owner in the mid 2000’s, and so the entire top floor has been vacated to be rented out again by property management. I.e., we don’t officially use it and so we don’t pay for it anymore. Officially is the key word there. The bar got moved out before I got hired, but there’s still extra tables, chairs, and holiday decorations stashed up there. We’ll go up there very occasionally to fetch odds and ends, or to frantically move stuff out if a prospective renter makes an appointment.

The pizzageist likes to stomp around up there, and it’s the epicenter of the ‘activity,’ if you will, although it usually doesn’t cause much trouble. Usually just the average chills, whispers, and phantom footsteps. I say usually because something markedly more fucked up happened last July.

I remember it very clearly because when I went in the owner was checking the cameras because customers had been mentioning the upstairs more than usual. The power up on floor has been disconnected but we still have some cameras up there because of there’s a fire exit that needs to be watched. Anyway, I walk in for my shift and the big boss and the manager (let’s call her Barbara) are watching some footage from the previous night.

The pizzageist had gotten ornery and apparently thrown a chair into an old plastic Santa. It was out of the range of the camera, but sure enough as we watched one of the chairs twitched into Old Saint Nicks’ nethers and broken him open. No one was really phased but Barbara, who was concerned about a birthday party booked in the front loft that day. She was worried that if our phantom was more active today that something might happen to one of the kids. Honestly so was I because the only ways to the second floor are through the front loft or the dumbwaiter. The boss just wanted the mess cleaned up though, so I and a co-worker (I’ll call him Jeff) took the keys and some flashlights up to the top floor.  

Pizzageist had really done a number on poor santa, so we took him down in a big trash bag and threw him out back. We had a good laugh about it (nevermind the fact that the ghost had technically taken out a saint) and Jeff went back upstairs to lock up while I got the plates and party hats and stuff set up.

All was good after that. The kiddies showed up, opened presents, we put some kids songs on the iPod dock for them, and they paid for candids so I was up there taking photos. The folks who rented the loft out this day were real power moms, and I say that because they brought at least two big tubs of stuff for games and all that. Now kids doing anything on the lofts is an accident waiting to happen, and the last thing we wanted was some kid tumbling over a railing while no one was watching, so Barbara had me hang out there a little bit longer than usual.

To be honest, I would rather have bussed tables because watching a kids party is super boring. Musical chairs was kind of fun until the fat kid sat on someone and they started hitting each other. Then the adults insisted on breaking open the pinata themselves and splitting the candy evenly, and they didn’t even blindfold the kids for pizza-themed pin the tail on the donkey (the group were probably six or seven).

Not wanting to roll my eyes too much, I hopped on my phone and browsed as discretely as I could. My shift was coming to an end so I messaged some friends to see who wanted to grab a cup of coffee afterward. I had just gotten a reply when one of the mothers goes hysterical. I swear to God I look down for one moment and as soon as I do some woman is all over me saying “I thought you were watching them.”

Long story short the fat kid had wandered away. The stairs to the second floor are surrounded by some curtains to keep people from going back there (it doesn’t work), so that’s the first place I check. When I don’t find him I considered that he’d gone to the bathroom and had Jeff go check for me. All the while his mom is ranting to Barbara about how her kid is too well-behaved to do anything like this. I hear Barbara taking my side, check the stairs again I see that the second story door is ajar. Pretty sure it wasn’t a second ago.

I dont’ have a flashlight on me, so I call out for the kid. I hear a little giggle. Big deal, I think, there’s plenty of stuff a chubby little gremlin would find fun to play with up here. On goes my phone light and I go searching. When I find him He’s just standing there with his back to me staring at a hole in the drywall. I walk over and ask him what he’s doing up here.

“He said there was more pizza up here,” he says.

When I was his age I had sent my sister into the attic looking for birthday presents and locked her in so I understood what was going on here. Obviously we’re dealing with a practical joke. Sensing an opportunity to deflect his mom’s rage I ask him who it was.

“The funny guy,” he says.

“What does he look like?” I ask.

“I don’t know,” says the little kid. “He was saying funny stuff.”

“Well where is he?” I ask.

The kid points right in front of him and gives me this ‘ya-duh’ shrug of the shoulders. Leave it to pizzageist to pick on the fat kid, I think. I tell him we’ll get him another piece of pizza if he goes downstairs with me and I think we’re good to go.

Then he screams and falls flat on his face.

I remember it clear as day. He was lagging behind so I turn to see what the hold up is. In the murk of my phone light I see this kid look behind him, and then his shoulders shrug back and he gets this twisted up look on his face. That is, the very second I turn my back on this kid and ‘the funny guy’ he gets his face shoved into the floor by… nothing.

We make sure that door is locked now.

The end is fairly anticlimactic, as I get the kid back downstairs and inexplicably start a witch hunt for whoever sent him up there. The walk out with twenty bucks in vouchers and the next time I saw the kid he was chins deep in his second personal pan pizza.

[francisgino]

Tirar Uma Selfie Nestes Lugares é Muito Perigoso

Probably the most Risky Vacation Selfies At any time Captured On Digicam

In today's working day and age, we are so utilized to scrolling the feeds of our social networking accounts and getting a plethora of selfies, usually from so-called 'influencers.'

It can be pretty much come to be some sort of unusual obsession, specifically amongst the millennial group. They are generally searching to acquire the last word shot that can garner by far the most 'likes' for their page. But this receives taken to some entire new excessive when people are touring to new places or embarking on some extra adventurous things to do.

See additional facts while in the video below

You will find a good share of thrill-seekers to choose from who're acknowledged to climb properties and bridges all during the identify of having that great selfie and gaining a lot more followers on IG (or wherever it may be). They fight to produce a reputation for themselves from the craziest way imaginable. Though the pictures are without having a doubt very amazing to take a look at, these are obviously unbelievably risky and never truly worth jeopardizing your lifetime more than. Persons have misplaced their lives while using selfies in hazardous areas so it's not your typical daily hobby, and when it is, you must perhaps rethink that.

They're some quite epic selfies men and women have taken exactly where they've scaled buildings, climbed along with things they shouldn't have or taken a photograph which has a hazardous animal which will don't have any turned out so perfectly.

Check out us to find out more: Os Lugares Mais Bonitos e Arriscados Para Selfie

They are all definitely crazy and just on the lookout at some is sufficient to give any person a tiny bit of tension, particularly when you happen to be deathly worried of heights.

At this stage, pretty much anyone has taken out their smartphone to snap a photograph of on their own. In reality, you'll be able to probably look for a selfie with your social websites suitable now. (No have to test; you already know it really is genuine.)

But when taken in unsafe situation, selfies will also be deadly. Among 2011 and 2017, 259 people today died inside their pursuit of one.

Quite often, these precarious selfies are taken even though touring, with individuals scaling skyscrapers, cliffs and bridges to capture a photo to remember. A number of people regularly acquire photographs they know for being perilous; other folks have posted a questionable shot or two, maybe since they failed to totally understand the hazards concerned.

If you prefer to take a fantastic selfie, completely choose it. Although the adhering to pictures, we predict, took points as well significantly.

Pay a visit to us for more info: Fotos em Paisagens Maravilhosas

[thingstodoinfrederickmaryl-blog2]

Valletta, Malta

Solid Advice About Photography Which Can Help Anyone

Visit this website A lot of people that take plenty of photos, find yourself always trying to find more methods to increase their technique and capture better shots. It is possible to get lots of great pictures throughout the journey, despite the fact that it can be a never-ending quest. This informative article contains a few ideas that can, hopefully, help you on that quest.

Compose your photograph carefully. Sometimes you may have to actually move things around to get the proper contrast or light you desire. If you are taking pictures of objects, turn them to have the proper angle. Become familiar with how to make a scene look natural if you compose it, while you progress.

A fantastic photography tip is to get a tripod. Possessing a tripod is very important because it will allow you to require a clear and focused picture. Don't assume you could require a clear picture just by using your hands. Avoid blurry pictures through getting a tripod.

An excellent photography tip is to invest in a tripod. Using a tripod is vital because it will enable you to have a clear and focused picture. Don't assume that you can take a clear picture just by utilizing your hands. Avoid blurry pictures by getting a tripod.

Be certain your photo features a solid focal point. With no good centerpiece your photographs will turn out looking empty, leaving the eye with nowhere to rest. In case you are shooting a landscape or any other wide setting, your viewers will be more appreciative of a photo that has a clear focus, even.

Avoid using the flash which you find of all cameras nowadays when possible. It has a tendency to supply the subject 'red eye', and yes it removes many of the shadow that may create depth inside a picture. When you have to make use of a flash, for example an inside nighttime shot, keep your subject clear of walls. This way you won't end up getting an ugly black shadow that resembles an outline.

Consider receiving a tripod. An effective tripod provides more stability and enables you to invest some time composing your picture. Get a tripod that give you flexibility in height and positioning. Tripods really are a great tool for several types of pictures only. Usually do not use a tripod if you are searching for a unusual angle.

You should think of receiving a tripod. A good tripod provides more stability and lets you spend some time composing your picture. Get yourself a tripod which provide you flexibility in height and positioning. Tripods are a great tool for certain forms of pictures only. Do not make use of a tripod should you be looking for any unusual angle.

Only choose the best shots that you may have if you are planning on showing your pictures to someone. This will assist them form the highest possible opinion of your so you work, which happens to be desirable in case you are seeking to land work. Always present your best work to others.

Mess around together with the settings on your camera and produce different compositions for your photographs. A high quality photograph fails to require a unique subject. It really requires an original method of thinking. An effective photographer makes even insignificant objects look interesting. Try various things to see what matches your needs.

One great tip for photography is to try using the flash as soon as the sun is out. Sometimes direct sunlight creates nasty shadows and makes the main topic of the photograph not look just like they might. A number of the shadows will be filled in and the subject will appear better, through the use of flash.

When framing your photo, always look at the rule of thirds. This should sometimes be the rule of ninths, simply because you are envisioning your photo space into thirds both horizontally and vertically. Make an effort to place your subject left or right, top or bottom, instead of dead center inside the picture. This may cause the viewer's eyes maneuver around the picture as an alternative to stareing directly into it.

When you want to get tack sharp shots using a tripod, you need to get a remote to be able to eradicate camera shake. Also, you can use the timer on the camera. You'll need to have a stable surface to create it your camera on, though even though you don't use a tripod, this will work great.

An excellent photography tip that can help you plenty is to avoid getting lens flare. Lens flare typically occurs when you are trying shooting in bright light. A great way to avoid lens flare is to use a lens hood or to position your hand to block it.

An excellent photography trick that will help you is usually to aim lighting from your subject. You don't usually have to aim lights right at the subject. You are able to aim the sunshine away to generate a considerably more subtle and diffused light. Try this the next occasion you shoot.

Compare camera prices when you find yourself searching for a fresh one. An effective rule is to decide first what make, model, and features you need. Then you can certainly proceed with finding the optimum deal about the camera. Make sure you check local camera retailers and also big online outlets.

Position your subjected to face from the sun should you be shooting in poor mid-day sun. Hard light in the sun can cause shadows that may likely ruin the photo. Putting your subject in a way that they are facing from the sun puts their face within the shade and then you can over-expose the image hence the face is definitely right.

When shooting a memorable occasion, say for example a wedding or birthday or sporting event, understand that among the best stories are told about the sidelines. It's most of the intimate, unrehearsed moments that portray the actual emotion in the occasion, although the main action is obviously crucial that you capture.

Shoot and aim quickly. In case you are taking a picture of any object that is certainly moving, or could move suddenly (for instance a perched bird) go ahead and take first photo as quickly as possible. Should it be not perfect, this means have one or more photo of your respective subject, even. When the subject allows for it, you are able to go on a second, more carefully aimed picture, once you grab the original shot. It is best to get several images from which to choose rather than spend precious seconds framing the first shot merely to have your subject disappear.

When you go on a photograph, you want to make certain it's a high quality one. In today's era of photo editing and digicams, everyone can take a superior quality photo. It's just a matter of learning how. Because of the advice in this article, you need to be taking better looking photos right away. Modern Travel Techniques For A Well Used Fashioned Vacation

Traveling is something a number of people want to accomplish around they can, among the finest ways to achieve that is usually to discover ways to efficiently travel. Whenever you learn to travel efficiently you learn how to save money and time, so take the time to read through through the tips on this page to view what you are able learn.

Travel can be a fun-filled activity, but remember to understand at the very least a few words in the native language. 'thank and 'Please' you' certainly are a must, but phrases including 'I'm lost' and 'Where is definitely the train station? ' will prove invaluable should you must have them. It's much simpler than seeking to act out complicated activities!

When packing, ensure you split up your valuables. Should you be packing multiple bags for any trip, spread your more costly items out between the two. Always avoid putting your valuables in just one bag in the event this bag is lost or stolen. Losing just one bag is still terrible but may not ruin your vacation.

Trust locals on the concierge. Unfortunately, many hotels as well as their concierge services have agreements with certain businesses to steer guests to them, no matter whether or otherwise it really is to your advantage. Instead, scope out a location seems just like your style and request other customers for extra recommendations.

Something you must never do is place a vital document in the pocket from the seat before you. Probably, it is going to slide down to where you will be unable to view it anymore and you will forget about it. Then you will definately get away from the plane and realize too far gone that you simply don't get it.

Consider investing in a wi-fi detector prior to travel over a road trip. Not needing internet connection can easily make a road trip seem a bit lonely. A wi-fi detector may help you look for a hotspot even when companies are not advertising they have it available. You can find these signal detectors on almost everything, including keychains.

Most people areraised and born, live all of their lives and die within the same place. If a person is afforded and allowed the ability to travel and explore the globe outside their hometown then this advantage needs to be taken. Understanding new things, people and places allows someone to grow and learn about different lifestyles, ways of living, ways of viewing the entire world.

Everybody knows that airplane food is not really gourmet. An effective tip is usually to take along your preferred spice or hot sauce, and dress the rather bland meal. It would bring that extra kick to your food, and can help it go down a bit easier.

Don't count on ribbons and bows to make your luggage differentiate yourself from the other pack. These adornments can quickly be torn off in transit. Instead, choose luggage in a bright, unusual color or vivid pattern that stands out by itself and can't be removed.

Before leaving to your trip, be sure you double as well as triple check your reservations. Just call the hotels you might be staying at or make certain none the events you have been intending on planning to got cancelled. You don't wish to be left stranded without having the best places to stay or disappointed that your favorite band isn't gonna play within the city you are likely to visit in order to see them live. There's no problem with checking your plans to your trip.

Compare and contrast multiple flight options utilizing a mega-search website like kayak.com. Sites like kayak.com save you lots of time by pulling intelligence through the biggest travel sites into one convenient location. Furthermore, it can save you a lot of money simply by making sure you obtain the best price entirely possible that your tickets.

Pack a travel mug along if you're having a cruise. They're just the thing for filling up with coffee or tea while you're wandering the ship from the mornings. They are able to also prevent you from spilling your drink in the buffet line. Of course, if you're likely to be sitting by the pool, they'll maintain your drinks nice cool for you.

Be up front if you buy travel insurance. Tell the carrier if you have medical ailments. Should you really discover youself to be starting to be more ill in your trip, you ought to realize that the provider will discover it a pre-existing illness and deny the clam. It will likely be under your control to come up with the funds for the bill.

Utilize a broomstick to lock your sliding door. Sliding doors take time and effort to securely secure. Their locks aren't always the very best however you can fortify them by placing a cut-off broomstick in the channel behind the sliding panel. Cut the broomstick so that it is for enough time to achieve from the inside side of the sliding door towards the opposite door frame. It's simple, and it's cheap. Just explain it to all the individuals the household - you do not want it to become a fire hazard either.

Usually do not schedule your time and energy too closely when traveling by car, specifically if your passengers needs a potty break. Any additional 10-20 minutes won't totally ruin your plans or trip. This will likely also help you avoid grumpy or whiny travelers in the trip.

Be flexible about your travel dates. You will likely see that prices can vary provided you can look for a day before and a day right after a particular date. You could possibly save cash by flying out per day earlier or later. These savings could easily add up to more than, one hundred dollars.

A fantastic travel tip is and also hardwearing . accommodation information to yourself when you're traveling abroad. A potential thief might hear you and also they'll understand specifically where it is actually that you're staying in the event you mention where you're staying. It's best to keep quiet with regards to your hotel.

As noted initially of the article, travel doesn't need to mean a long, extended tour from the continents. It may simply mean each day trip to a different town or perhaps a camping trip up inside the mountains. This short article may help you get ready for your journey, regardless how big or small.

[kayleygoestolondon]

The Great European Adventure

Warning: buckle up and hold onto your butts because this is going to be a long one, folks. I haven’t done an update since mid-February, so I need to write about a few of my London adventures before I dive into my Easter vacation. 

February/March:

I participated in the March 4 Women, which is a celebration tied to International Women’s Day. There were thousands of women there and the rally included some famous women who came to speak about gender equality. It was an awesome experience, despite the typical London rain, and I even made it into a Buzzfeed article about the event. I’m proper famous now. Have a game of “Where’s Kayley” if you wanna waste a few minutes and see all the hilarious signs from the march. 

I attended two live tapings of QI, which is a British quiz show that I became obsessed with after moving here. It used to be hosted by Stephen Fry, but he was replaced a couple years ago by Sandi Toksvig, who I’m also obsessed with. The show is hysterically funny and has lots of great celebrity guests. A friend and I got free tickets to be part of the studio audience so we went to two different episode tapings. It was a really cool way to spend an evening and something I never would have been able to do if I didn’t live in London. I’m now impatiently waiting for the episodes to be released next season so I can see if my cackle-laugh is distinguishable in the audience. 

England is entirely incapable of handling any snow at all, so when the “Beast from the East” (lol), also known as “Snowmaggedon” (even bigger lol) happened in February, my school was closed for TWO DAYS. I was housebound for four days as the country had a collective nervous breakdown over what was basically three snowflakes and some chilly wind. 

I went to see School of Rock on the West End, which was a great show. I love the film, and even without Jack Black the theatrical version was pretty awesome. Still waiting to see Matilda and Aladdin!

Still surviving the mad preparation for SATs at school. I go back to work tomorrow, and we’ll officially only have four more weeks until the exams. At this point, I can’t wait to get them over with because I’m so sick of administering and marking practice tests. I’m optimistic that my students will do well, but there is a massive amount of pressure on them to succeed, so I’ve got my fingers crossed. 

Now, onto my great European vacation. I went to 5 different countries in less than two weeks, which was overly ambitious, but I made it back in one piece (albeit significantly poorer). 

SWEDEN:

I flew into Copenhagen and took the train into Lund, Sweden, where Carina and her family picked me up. Back in 1990, my grandparents hosted an exchange student from Sweden who lived with them for a year. That was Carina. Ever since then, they’ve kept in touch. Last summer, Carina, her husband, and her two daughters came out to Canada to stay with my grandparents for a few weeks and tour the country. I got to meet them all for the first time, and since then I have been hoping to go and visit them in Sweden. I was with them for Easter weekend and they were the most amazing hosts. I was definitely spoiled - the Easter bunny even found me while I was there :) We went into Malmo, which is one of the bigger cities in Sweden, and also went to the seaside. The weather was horrifically cold while I was there... obviously not compared to Canada, but compared to what I’ve been used to, I nearly froze to death. It was a lovely weekend and it was really nice to spend a holiday with family. I tried some traditional Swedish things, like herring (which I enjoyed) and schnapps (which I did not). Linn and Klara attempted to teach me some Swedish, of which I can only remember the words for “dog” and “puppy”... so I’m basically a linguistic prodigy. 

DENMARK:

I took the train back into Copenhagen on Monday the 2nd. It was cold, but thankfully the sun was shining. I did a walking tour around the city and learned a lot about Danish history. The harbour there was especially beautiful. After the tour, I went on my own and found the famous “Little Mermaid” statue. I knew in advance it was going to be a massive letdown... which it was. It’s tiny and covered in graffiti. Great job on your major tourist attractions, Copenhagen. I also had a famous Danish hotdog and obviously for me that was a key moment of the day. The next morning, I went and checked out their National Museum before catching my flight to Amsterdam. Overall, I loved Denmark and Sweden. The Scandinavian countries are incredibly expensive, but really beautiful and welcoming. I was so enamoured with all of their colourful buildings. 

NETHERLANDS:

When I landed in Amsterdam, I met up with my friend Robyn at our AirBnB. She’s a Canadian teacher working in London too, and we did the rest of the trip together. Our first night in the city, we went for dinner at a fondue restaurant next to the place we were staying in, and I ate way too much bread and truffle cheese. Just kidding... there’s no such thing as too much bread or cheese. The following day, we went on a walking tour, went to the Anne Frank House, and then ended the day with a tour of the Heineken Brewery and dinner. It was an amazing day. The Anne Frank House was a pretty powerful and moving experience. 

The second day, we did a trip out to the Keukenhof Flower Gardens. I have never taken so many photos of tulips in my life. We finished the day with a canal cruise around the city. Our last day, we visited the Van Gogh Museum before getting on the train to Bruges. Van Gogh is one of my favourite artists of all time... the only thing that was missing was Starry Night :(

BRUGES:

Out of all the cities I’ve visited in Europe, Bruges is among the top 5. I found it very similar to Prague in terms of medieval charm. Bruges was never bombed or destroyed during the World Wars, so most of its buildings are original. We also finally had some nice weather, so that helped. We did another walking tour (our standard first activity in any city), checked out some markets and shops, and went to the Chocolate Museum. Yes, there is an actual Chocolate Museum in Bruges, and yes, it is as delicious as it sounds. It’s almost possible that I ate too much chocolate that day... almost. Our second day, we climbed up to the top of the Belfry (366 steps!) and got an amazing view of the city. It was cool to see how the bells worked, even though being right beside them when they ring is enough to blow out your eardrums. Then we rented bikes and did the Windmill Path around the outside of the city. We biked out of Bruges and into a nearby village called Damme. It was gorgeous, and I didn’t fall off my bike, so that was a solid day. 

VIMY (FRANCE):

That evening, after our biking, we hopped on a train to make our way to Arras, France. The idea was to get to Arras so that we could go to the Vimy Memorial the next morning. We made it as far as Lille, where we were supposed to catch a connecting train, before we ran into our first obstacle. There was a train strike going on in France, which meant our train to Arras was cancelled. As were all other trains. So at 8 PM on a Sunday night, we found ourselves stranded in the Lille train station. We tried to rent a car, but all they had was a manual, which neither Robyn nor I could drive, so we were forced to find a crappy hotel room in Lille. On the walk there, a group of street children tried to pickpocket us. Not a great first impression of France. In the end, I guess the important thing is that we were safe and we didn’t lose anything important. We had to spend a bunch of extra money on renting a car the next morning to get us to Vimy, but it was more than worth it. The day we were at the memorial was actually Vimy Day, so there was a special ceremony. It rained (of course), but we still went and explored the Canadian cemeteries and the reconstructed trenches and tunnels. I have never been more proud of being Canadian, and it was so humbling to see the way our military contributions are still honoured in France. 

BRUSSELS:

The last stop in our trip. Brussels was interesting, but not nearly as beautiful or charming as Bruges. We did a walking tour, got rained on (classic), and had an awesome dinner before trying out some Belgian beers. Belgium is very proud of their beers - almost as much as their chocolate - so it seemed only appropriate that I have a few on my last night there. I also had a waffle or two :)

ONWARD:

Tomorrow is my first day back at work in more than two weeks. I’m mostly ready to get back into a routine, but more importantly, ready to earn a paycheque again. I loved my trip, but I’m also happy to be home. It’s weird how much London feels like “home” now. At the moment, I don’t have any upcoming trips planned besides going back to Canada in August. I can’t wait!! The countdown is on.

[katiezstorey93]

This Cruise Ship Brewmaster Makes Beer Using Seawater

The Red Frog Pub & Brewery, aboard the Carnival Vista, is one of the first breweries in the world to operate on a cruise boat. The guy in control of the surgery is while he had been in school a Pennsylvania native who started home brewing, Colin Presby. Presby abandoned living to reside Carnival cruises permanently, after pursuing a career at the industry. He’s currently one of the many 1,400 workers who maintain the Carnival Vista working smoothly.

Since the Red Dice started filling up with guests one day, I sat down with Presby to talk about how to create beer on a moving vessel that was gigantic.

Extra Crispy: Just how did you learn about the Carnival brewmaster position? Colin Presby: I saw this job advertised on ProBrewer.com, and that’s where brewers start looking for work. It is a technical enough field where we are not looking at regular or Monster occupation websites. I sent a resume and cover letter. Basically it was trying to find a brewmaster at sea. I had been hired early in the flow of things. The brewery space was designed, we had branding and beer names, and descriptions, but not the liquid.  

I came on in late and instantly flew to the shipyard in Monfalcone and worked for a busy month at the shipyard and prepared, obtaining the brews in the tank. Technically we were an Italian brewery briefly before the boat set sail it had been shrouded in Italy and because it was not a boat that is commissioned.

That Ohio Brewery Just Released a Fruity Pebbles IPA

From Tim Nelson

Posted in Drinks

Samuel Adams Only Unleashed a 200 Beer That’s Illegal in Some States

From Chris Morris

Posted in Drinks

What were the challenges of establishing a brewery and creating beer on a ship? After we got things up and running, the main challenges were still logistical. It is an issue of getting things. As a brewer that is stateside, I am sort of spoiled by overnighting anything. You can order whatever you receive and want it there the following day, whether it is a live yeast culture or even a replacement component. There has been some adjustment for it.

This was a really different experience on many levels. First of all, it is the brewery I have worked in but it is also the most significant business I worked for by far. As the cruise line in the world, it is tough to compare to that. It’s the smallest and also the biggest and it is also in terms of where the beer is sold by us, and also we found it, it is sort of an interesting combination of a manufacturing brewery and a brew pub. It is like a brew bar in there’s that gratification and that I see people drinking the beer, and that I will chat about the beer with them and receive feedback. It is very personal and hands on and direct with the guests. Nevertheless, it’s also like a manufacturing brewery because we focus on our flagships with some seaonals because every eight or six times, it is 4,000 new visitors, so it is a completely new crowd every week. It will become a bit tricky.

In a straight home, I’d devote a great deal of time speaking about the beers that are currently coming. Because people are here for their eight times, I can’t really talk about this much shipboard. We do have a great deal of repeat visitors, but that’s months later on. It is not like, next week, come back and then try this.

Photo by natalie B. Compton

Where do you get the water from? In designing Vista, they left lots of good, forward steps with lots of our engineering. We’ve got a bunch of redundancy including electricity, in lots of our programs, propulsion, and lots of the systems, including our water manufacturing system. We’ve got a desalination and reverse osmosis plant complexes at which seawater is taken by us and produce the drinking water. We’ve got sufficient capacity in it to make our drinking water all. All of our water is created here on board. That gives a stable compound profile for my water to me. Some additional nutrient alterations can be made by me for the beers that helps, and that I want to brew but in general I’ve a starting point that is constant.

A lot of ships fill up and will go through a procedure where essentially they hook a hose up to the local water source at whatever port they’re at, called bunkering. This becomes their drinking water. That could be quite tough for me to deal with because it could be a different water every time. Now, I’ve a fairly consistent basis and that I will start there and brew.  

Can the motion of the boat matter when you’re brewing? If we have a circumstance where we have heavy sea warnings, and the captain comes on and makes the announcement, and I am scheduled to take up a batch, then I’ll reschedule and push it back a day.  

In the fermentation process, it will not affect things too much. My settling time slows a tiny bit as the yeast becomes roused back up. I just have to be cautious about purging the yeast in the floor. And then in my tanks that are working, because I do not filter, there will be some settling still from the serving tank. For the most part it’s a nonissue. But when the serving tank is low and we have heavy seas–it has gotta be both states–then we get a bit more cloudiness and a foamier pours. It happened twice that I have had to take something.  

So can you live on the ship? I dwell on deck zero in a tiny cottage. I have my own cottage, which is a great perk. It is little but it’s my own. No Woman, that is fine.  

How does your program work? Do you have off? I am a shipboard worker, which signifies a workweek. In fourteen days I’m working. 1 way is that if you’ve got your vacation, it will be six weeks to three months dwelling. You can sort of think of that as all of your weekends. I receive all of my weekends at once.

The forfeit is that I work through continuously. I am able to some degree control my hours I can get out to time and see some places that are really cool. I have had some chances, especially during our European season, see things and to find outside some time that I never would have had the chance to see differently. But I am also at the mercy of this brew cycle.  

How do you balance your personal life and this particular job? It is tough. It’s. I purchase the societal networking website bundle every day. Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp–it is tough, although they’re crucial to staying connected with people back home. I miss things. I miss people. I miss events in individuals’ lives. That part of it–boat life. It is a whole lot of fun. I meet folks. My crew members are excellent. We have got this always group of people. So it is not the very same folks, but new people movement in and fit in and it is this environment on board.  

PHOTO BY NATALIE B. COMPTON

Do you really feel as though time passes by very quickly and blurry in this eternal summer of boat life? Yeah. I can’t tell you exactly what day of the week it’s. It is home port, sea afternoon daytime. That’s it. It is some combination of those, which means you lose track of the times of this week. Time moves really quickly. It does. Months disappear. Lots of times you believe in terms of Oh, it’s two aisles from now and then the cruise is gone. It’s 1 cruise from now.  

Can you wind up saving more money because you are living on a boat? Oh yeah. For sure. Not discussing items in detail salary-wise, but the identical salary on boat ends up more savings because I am not paying for rent, I am not paying gas for my vehicle. In Pennsylvania we have to drive. I am not paying for food. It is a box of granola bars from Target every week if food is got by me. It is not a complete cart of groceries. So I am saving plenty of money that way. You are able to bank a great deal. This works out well financially. There are sacrifices, obviously. It is a lifestyle I would not have always seen myself doing before but there are many aspects of it that are just wonderfully rewarding and fulfilling.  

Just how long can you see yourself operating in the railroad world? Some time. As soon as I started, I did not understand. I didn’t have a great idea yet. To be fair I took the work and believed,  I’ll go see. Because I am craft beer, and a craft beer guy is a really inward focused area. In the craft beer universe people do not do outreach out there. We do more reaching across. We search for people who already drink craft beer at this time and rather than reaching out I am going to do something cool to entice them.

When I started because I did not understand what Carnival desired it was interesting. I didn’t understand what guests desired, or how this would relate to me personally. It was that my boss, from the start, our VP of beverages, and everybody on the Carnival team has been very supportive of moving in a beer management. Whether that has thoughts about food and beer pairing, or brew some seasonals. From the very beginning my boss said, “Hey, even if you wish to boil seasonal, experimental beers, then test batches, then go ahead. We want it for a brewpub.” Pretty early on I had been reassured with that. It has been both personally and career-wise very satisfying.  

You say you’re employing another worker soon. Are you looking for? We are looking for someone. But someone who is able to come do this, because not everybody is. You’ve got to be able to leave house for six months at one time, regardless of entanglements you’ve got, whatever that involves. In addition, you need to be able to work a shipboard environment, in this environment. In addition, we conduct drug tests, that may weed out some brewers. Brewers might not be got by us from Colorado, I guess.

This interview was edited and condensed for clarity.

Source

http://extracrispy.com/drinks/4421/this-cruise-ship-brewmaster-makes-beer-with-seawater

from network 8 http://www.cheap-discount-mexico-cruises.com/this-cruise-ship-brewmaster-makes-beer-using-seawater/