#I know for the most part all artist provide travel and accommodations but this is luxury

[iwatcheditbegin]

I knew her crew was big but 179 hotel rooms for all the crew just puts things into perspective

[worldsover]

Judgement to the Desiccated ft. Karina

length ✦ 5573

genres ✧ sm type future; asphyxiation; blackmail; virtual_servant!Karina;

✦✧✦✧✦✧

Air did a poor job of not being polluted so Lee Soo Man flooded the world instead. The man himself certainly must be long gone and could not have been in charge of that decision but the legacy of his company far exceeds the legacy of any other human collective in history. Once on this planet, gas was the fluid of choice for respiration and breathing was an unconscious reflex. Now there’s Aether by SM. How very on-brand of them to have the liquid air you breathe follow perfume naming conventions.

Open your eyes and exit the sleeping chamber. Aether has you work for each inhalation, it desaturates the color of the bedroom—maybe there’s a subtle but uncomfortable tinge of yellow—and it makes your nose itch. Your muscles wield much less force than they used to because of the lack of resistance the fluid provides. Moreover, it smells like hairspray as though the ozone layer is taking sardonic revenge.

Screens impersonating windows track your eyes to ensure realistic parallax, playing the scene of divine blue heavens that could not exist. An azure sky is a reward for those planets that have an atmosphere and a sun for light to scatter. Your walls are either chrome or drywall white and your whole bedroom is plainly decorated just like the day you moved in.

“Etymology of bedroom,” you think out loud, though it falls on no ears.

“Bedroom is a compound noun consisting of bed and room. Bed goes back to Old English bedd ‘sleeping place, plot of ground prepared for plants,’ which goes back to the Germanic-”

Plants and sleep are both strong words to use nowadays. The former doesn’t exist in nature and it seems you’re the only one who bothers with the latter. Faint buzzing distracts you from the AI’s response and signals you to the nano drones that swim throughout the liquid to process carbon dioxide from your lungs. This whole ordeal could’ve been much worse if you didn’t have brain interfaces doing the hard part of controlling your diaphragm. The most you need is a purposeful thought. Still, it gets tiring having to think the same thought every three seconds. In. Out.

Was the metaphorical Soo Man teaching a lesson in perseverance? You love K-pop and imagine it’s how trainees used to practice dancing, singing, being charismatic. Being an idol had to be as natural as breathing air. Inhale and exhale. Right now with any antiquated programming language you clung on to, you could write a single for loop that did the same job. For every three seconds: breathe in, breathe out.

“What’s for breakfast today?” Not loud enough. “What’s for breakfast?” you think it louder.

“Welcome, master. Ae-Karina is ready for service.” It’s quite a kindness for SM to blur the bland dystopia you live in by augmenting reality through your neural device. A bosomy woman in a gold-lined but otherwise modest maid outfit appears from the corner of your eye and she bows. Ae-Karina is bewitching and almost becoming of her basis as its graphics have gradually upgraded over the rotations but you wouldn’t misconstrue the avatar as human.

“I said, what’s for breakfast!” It feels impolite to scream in your head, there’s other residents there, but finally the fridge lights up.

“Of course master. May I remind you eating is unnecessary?”

In. Out. Every day, she does remind you, yes. How kind of the company to put all your nutritional requirements in the new air. Aether goes in then Aether goes out. You wish the thoughts of breathing could fade into the background but they’re just like your cravings for food. Always hungry but never starving, whole though not once satisfied. Your eyes pause at her gorgeous face and she tells you there’s bacon. Take it from your fridge. Bacon goes in. Well, the drones take care of the out.

Your assigned living space is the entire 207th floor of a tower. Two hundred and seven floors below the surface. The neighbor a few floors upstairs says that he thinks living deeper is a sign of status. What a luxury. That guy should check the status of his facial muscles, maybe improve his code that lets him tell lies while he’s at it. A couple hundred flights of stairs to swim up is a useless skeuomorphism of skyscrapers in the days of the sun. In fact they were more than useless, you would've preferred a single vertical hallway as it would have let you propel upwards unimpeded. Each floor is the exact same, a glass door that affords no privacy for its residence, a false tree on each side. At the upper levels, malls, convenience stores and other gaudy retail, but it’s the gyms that mock you that you mock in return. They’re always empty.

Finally reaching the top is no true break even if it is a change in scenery. Inhale. Aether tastes a little different up here. Exhale. Can’t say you like it.

Countless satellites form a parody of the star from which the planet flew away, the false image refracted by the upper boundary of Aether. They can’t take away your memories of this star. Looking up at the sky once blinded you with ultraviolet radiation, burning your cornea. It was beautiful. Now everyone’s decided that if they’re playing the part of corporate dystopia, they might as well fit the aesthetic. In a way, it’s self-fulfilling. They wouldn’t have chosen a neon pink sun to compliment the blue and metallic gloom of the cityscape if it weren’t so ingrained in popular media already.

Still, you would’ve expected Google or Walmart to become the megacorp responsible for the state of the world, not a Korean entertainment company. Must’ve been quite the red paperclip scenario. Instead of material design or utilitarian architecture, tacky artistic structures line the streets. The same advertisements for albums that they’ve been selling for the past however long. It's all so obvious, the city could've been designed from scratch to accommodate new forms of travel and goddamn liquid air but instead they went with futuristic Tokyo.

Dubstep permeates your inner ear implants. A notification informs your thoughts that it’s “Hip-hop EDM dance pop with a strong jungle house groove and urban influences.” It’s dubstep. Liquid carries barely any sound so SM affords the option for implants if you're nostalgic for one of the senses. Even though it’s a slower form of communication than direct neural transfer, the noise comforts you. Of course the company would choose dubstep as their background music, but maybe they make money off refunds somehow. It switches to Ice Cream Cake. Much better.

You walk the not so busy roads towards a short brick warehouse in the distance and heavy rain soaks your clothes. No such thing as weather without the sun and water but it’s all simulated anyway.

A warm Seulgi adlib and you know it’s Psycho that starts playing. No, none of your senses are real. The most you could trust is your vision but even that’s being lied to. You could be living in a vat and fed all these thoughts, but then why make it so mediocre? Not paradise, nor torture but a lukewarm in-between. Guess that's what happens when SM Entertainment manages the post-apocalypse. Good on them for trying. The alternative would be a frozen hellscape without solar radiation. Can’t deny their work with geothermal and nuclear energy to keep the Aether warm so that you didn’t have to live underground for the rest of human history. It’s quite great PR to save humanity.

“Hey now, we’ll be okay,” repeats a few more times than you remember.

The Idea Factory Alpha White Delta Green says the neon tubes lighting the front of the brick and mortar building. Your ID card bears a name but it’s not yours, not until they approve your name change. Those usually get processed faster with how often people liked changing their names.

Sit at a desk with a sterile white keyboard and slick new monitor. Type and empty words appear on the screen: “Think for the many, not for the one. We need to think ahead.” A thumbs up. The company appreciates the input. That’s probably enough work for one day. Some SNSD live stages help the time pass, SM certainly appreciated the streaming numbers and it would net you some social points.

It’s hard to say what comes to mind when they ask you to envision a world without the sun and air, especially since it’s what you’ve known for... Two hundred years? There’s no frame of reference, that much you can tell from when you counted seconds to see how often the satellites completed their orbit. SM really took time to have them propel at random speeds, they love withholding sensitive information like that from citizens. To be fair, time is sensitive. Guess the meaning of that phrase changes like all parts of language.

Look around. Dozens of employees at identical workspaces all try to answer the same questions. Naturally, there’s no need for manual labor anymore but there will never be a replacement for human ingenuity. Nice slogan but you know you’re only here for data. Can’t see a need for customer retention though—what’s the alternative, skip Earth? See you on another planet?

“Hey bro, you come up with anything new?” Dave says. Two desks away, you see the enthusiastic, surprisingly spry man play around with a Newton’s cradle. The balls at each end bounce back and forth, not slowing down their rhythm any time soon.

“I think I got something,” you say, “Earth is not the answer. It can’t be, long term.”

“Ooh, I like that. Actually, I really like that.”

“What are you gonna do, copy me?”

“Of course not. You know how much SM hates plagiarism.” Click. Clack.

“Ha. As if there’s a single original thought left in the world.” Click. Clack. The imaginary sounds of metal spheres bouncing play in your mind. They got the volume wrong, no way it’d sound that loud from that distance. “You’d think with all their resources, they’d have figured out space travel by now.”

“I don’t think they want to leave, bro. Wouldn’t be great for profits.”

Your mouth opens to laugh and causes laugh8942.mp3 to play in Dave’s head. “I love it. SM probably hates that sass too,” you say.

“Oh no, they’re gonna arrest me for thoughtcrimes. Nah, they love creativity, just when it suits them. Also, if they actually did bust you for wrongthink like rumors say, I wouldn’t have this on me.” Dave twirls a finger and points at you and you thank his absurd flair for the histrionic that keeps you amused with such drab work.

“NewDrug.mp6. Would you like to play it?” the dry system voice notifies you.

“Woah woah there tiger, hold on.” Dave must’ve noticed your intrigued eyes and holds his hands up. “You might wanna experience that at home. But if you’re interested in more, ask for chicken parm at the vegan place. You know the one.”

Dave leaves his desk. He doesn’t return. You finish your work. Inspire. Expire. You’d rather not.

In contrast to your commute to work, the roads fill with others on your way home. You have to know. Take solace in the comfort of a bench where a huge McDonald’s arch bathes the surroundings and its people with a yellow glow. Really shouldn’t watch it now, especially if Dave says it’s a home type of watch but you have to know. A family of five watches you pass out. They, along with every other passerby, ignore your still body draped over the chrome outdoor seating as you look like yet another junkie. The title is correct after a fashion, the simulation is some sort of new drug. The details of the exploits that happen in the immersive replay wash over you but you don’t need them to know that it’s the sort of lewd that SM would not allow—at least not publicly and not without the right exorbitant payment.

Suit pants and underwear go straight to the laundry. That must’ve been an embarrassing sight but no one bothered to stop you, so it doesn’t matter. Look up where this vegan place was that Dave so presumptuously assumed you knew about and you find that it’s about four Avengers’ stores down from work. He must’ve eaten there before.

“Yo Dave, just wanna make sure, what’s the name of the vegan place called?”

“What are you talking about, man? You telling me there’s some secret underground farms that SM wouldn’t know about?”

You can’t tell when you got to work, a lack of standardized timing would help as well the haze of living in a monotonous dark. “Nah, I mean, for the-”

“I have no idea,” Dave emphasizes each word, “what you’re talking about.”

“I see.”

Work flies by, unusually.

“Hey, can I get a chicken-”

“Uh, this is Maron’s Veggies Only, it clearly says on the sign.”

Clear your throat. “Parm.”

The shifty part-time worker looks around and rubs his fingers gesturing for money. “No digital.”

Over the counter, you pass him a gold coin stamped with a holographic 1 and he hands you a USB stick and a laptop in return. How old-fashioned.

“It’ll sync with whoever you have set as your avatar experience aspect,” the worker says.

“Thanks.”

Ever vigilant as the patrol is, the alleys are the last place you want to go to hide with the obvious criminal element within them all but you head to one anyway. Dump the anachronistic technology in your storage pocket dimensions. Looking at its contents, you’d have to clean that mess up later, but the more you look like an average slob the better. The biggest problem with the inventories is all the people squatting in them. Inspectors wouldn’t care about the archaic ruins you left in yours.

“Welcome, master. Ae-Karina is ready to service.”

“I’d like to go on a date. A special date.” You highlight the key word special and sit on your living room couch. No one’s going to look in your glass door and regardless, you wouldn’t be the pervert for glimpsing into someone’s home.

“Ah yes, master. Ae-Karina is ready to fully service,” she says with a provocative tint in her tone, her sclera disperses to black to match. A pole drops from the ceiling while parts of her maid outfit dissolve which reveals more of the silky skin of her thighs, her lissom arms and most importantly her overflowing breasts. Ae-Karina wraps her legs around the pole and spins around, teasing fingers trace curves on her body to harden you. Her dance is precise but sultry regardless. She pulls up her short skirt to flaunt more of her ass beneath white panties and then pulls down to flourish her cleavage, not trapped by a bra. “Are you enjoying your maid’s show?”

“Very much so, yes,” you say.

Half of a smile forms before a glitch occurs and she teleports next to you, fully nude. It doesn’t pull you out of the illusion however. You just stare and drink in the splendor of her created body.

“You’re not going to touch?” Ae-Karina says.

A feel of her tits and you find it softer than pillows you used to rest on. Soft isn’t much of a character that exists anymore when the whole world is engulfed in liquid. No one has beds, especially with the rarity of sleep. Therefore, her mounds are a consummate dedication to the texture as you squeeze and pinch at her cute nipples.

Her maid outfit rematerializes as she straddles you. It provides more friction to your pants as she begins her lap dance. The weight of her body dragging across your legs and clothed erection induces your carnal impulses further. If only you could fuck the virtual idol. You have to make do with the imprint of her pussy lips on your bulge sliding up and down. Breath in. Breath out.

Ae-Karina pulls down your boxers and spits on your erection. It's not real but her hands so slick on your cock and you let reality slip. Real is for the past, you have desires gratified in the present. There is no real person nibbling at your neck but your nerves activate in sexual desire without discernment for truth. No, she doesn't love you, but when the voracious mass of ones and zeroes says it loves its master, you say it back.

"I love you."

ILOVEYOU infected ten million computers in 2000. An explosion. Calibration engaging. It’s 1:21 PM, Sunday, July 18, 2286 and hypothetically the sun would be out in its full rage. At this latitude and longitude, you’re at what was once the epicenter of all—Seoul, where a fountain caused a chain reaction allowing the hopeful remnant of a world to exist. It lasted a surprisingly long time without the sun and without Aether but the dying planet would succumb inevitably to the ever-increasing contamination so SM of all corporations took charge. A different kind of chain reaction occurred when they acquired a restaurant chain that discovered the recipe for liquid air. The law is on its way and prepared to punish you to its full extent.

You reel while your ears ring. An even sexier version of the woman you already fantasized about appears from your peripheral vision in the crater of your floor. A skimpy cop outfit, striated with reflective material that seems to wane black at different angles, outlines Karina’s curves. She has a tool belt with absurd gadgets, such as a knife baton hybrid, a taser combined with a spray bottle and a Tamagotchi. None of this is necessary. They could just immediately arrest you, impose limitations on your devices. Sure, SM cloned people to deal with underpopulation, but why Karina would be the enforcer is a whole nother issue. Maybe the entertainment company loves their irony?

“Halt. You’re under arrest. Any resistance will be penalized according to the combined Terms of Service of all SM and SM associated products.”

Fucked anyway, you figure you might as well go for it. Escape into your inventory and only seconds later you’re forced out. You manage to get what you need regardless.

“Violation of access rights will be charged to your account.”

It’s so obvious but there’s a reason you kept so much gold in physical storage. As you swim away, the sides of your apartment start to bubble. Bubbles? Already, your limbs feel unsteady. Something’s wrong in the Aether.

“This is standard procedure for escaping suspects that are indoors. Again, this is all agreed to under the Terms of Service.”

“When the fuck did I ever click accept to that shit?”

“When you were born in this world and decided you want to stay in it,” Karina says out loud. You hear her say it. Your physical ears process the vibrations in the air that come from her mouth. Gravity thwarts your desperate escape as your limp body floats on the limit between liquid and air. The atrophy of your muscles becomes apparent within the gaseous atmosphere. She watches you sink down as the room drains of all the false air though her eyebrows crease when she inspects you closer. Your breaths are involuntary. Despite your muscles shorting out, the force of gravity and the pressure of the gas bearing down on you, you’re breathing and you don’t mean to. Her eyes wander farther down. On your pants, a concrete rod stamps the fabric.

“Oh, you like what you see?”

“Shut up, criminal. Anything you say can and will be used against you.”

“Your pussy,” you say and she scoffs.

“Original.” Karina bites her lip as your erection continues to grow behind its prison. You use all effort to put your hands up.

“Please, miss Karina. I’ve been bad.”

“I could punish you even more for sexual assault.”

“Then do it.”

Heat radiates the room in a way you haven’t felt in a while and droplets of sweat form on each of your bodies, especially on the thighs that her revealing outfit parades. Her facial features contort in deliberation and the wait kills you. You bat your eyes at her before Karina takes off her tight shorts and drops herself into your anticipatory face. This makes no sense but none of this life made any sense so you decide to go with the tides.

Centuries of training your respiration has led to this moment, but when you finally have real air to breathe, you spit at the opportunity and choose to suffocate. Then you spit at her pussy and lap it up. Karina’s nectar transfixes your olfactory glands, for once a smell that isn’t the sterile Aether. Your eyes are mesmerized in parallel because of the perfect design of her pussy, a single crease that leads into her hole that your tongue emphatically explores. Karina spreads her thighs wide to reveal a small nub that craves attention. So give it. Suck and swirl and flick your tongue, and the woman provides you the tight clench of her legs as a gift. And the sounds, rediscovered glorious noise. Loud, almost too loud, and clear is how they assault your ears, even surrounded by the flesh of her thighs. Muffled by the weight of her legs, you hear Karina moan in approval but she’s still clearly in charge with how she chokes you with her legs. This is not about your pleasure but hers, and any satisfaction that you derive is not only incidental but probably punishable by SM copyright law.

Karina squirms her hips subtly on your mouth. Her eyes are sharp and she’s just about to stop your hands from moving but she notices them clasp together.

“I’ll do anything to make you cum, please.” you say sloppily as her pussy juices fill your cheeks and drip down your chin.

“God. I can’t.” She takes deep, contemplative breaths. ”That’s more time added on for inappropriate behavior.” Her groaning and brief squeals make her words sound incogent.

You give her a concluding lick and a kiss on her slit. “So what have you been doing right now then?”

Point to a corner of the room and a subtle red light indicates a recording camera. At once, she pulls out a hose from a pocket that could not fit it and the vacuum submerges the room with noise. Her expression shifts quickly to serious.

“We don’t play games here in SMTOWN unless it’s SuperStar so don’t fuck with me.”

“Look who's trying to be a comedian. How about you fuck with me any further and the video gets released.”

“That’s funny, you think you have any sort of power-”

“Yoo Jimin, I suggest you don’t push me more.”

“Where do you know that name from? Right now.” She weighs herself down on your neck.

“You think I don’t have contingencies for if I die too? Karina, we can make this a  win-win scenario. We both get to cum, we both get to walk away unscathed.”

“Fuck you.”

Your weak arms wander between her thighs. At any moment, a feeble punch towards your face or another ten seconds of asphyxiation and she could call your bluff. Even if you did have the ability to expose her perversions in any way, there would be no permanent recourse, not as long SM was in charge. So it surprises you when Karina takes off her shorts. 

“Goddammit. Your cock just looks too good. And your mouth, how are you so good with it?” Put up five fingers when she motions to remove her top as well, and instead she opts to take off your clothes, seizing your pants and throwing them to join the rubble in the room.

A finger slips in, then two and a third dares. Her flawlessly architected pussy lips clings to your digits and Karina shudders in reply. You explore her wetness and find it’s smooth to the point of having no faults, but her juice inside is gloppy and causes your fingers to stick more than the liquids she spills from her slit.

“Who said you’re allowed to have more?”

You lap up the nectar on your fingers. “Then why’d they make you taste so good?”

Your thumb teases her sweet tight asshole and puts just the slightest amount of pressure on it while you finger her with more intensity. The mass of her butt burdens your torso the closer she gets to orgasm. Her eyelids squeeze close and you see her body ripple in anxious pleasure. Karina shows off her pearly whites, teetering on the cliff of hysteria.

“Yes, yes! I’m so close,” she screams.

"Not yet."

“Fuck." Karina sobs, "God. Damn, fuck I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Just fuck me.”

“My pleasure,” you say. There’s no need for you to grab her since she brings herself down to your groin, which you’re thankful for as your arms are as good as jelly now. Fortunately, your cock throbs as hard as ever while Karina’s slit rests on it.

“Say you’ll delete it all, all the evidence, promise me.”

“You’re gonna fuck me first or what?” Your breath hitches while she makes a strangled noise as her velvety walls swallow your cock whole to leave no room for comfort. Her tightness is stifling and you have to start counting just to breathe again.

“One two-”

“Be quiet.”

But there is no quiet when pleas for your cooperation intersperse her excessive profanities when she seats herself into your cock and ricochets up and down. Sweat emanates from her creamy skin while her legs widen to find a better angle for her supporting knees in her cowgirl position. Grapefruit and other citrus mingle with the scent of the sweat, fruits you haven’t seen except on billboards in music videos. As much as your mind crackles and your blood roars for every atmosphere of pressure Karina’s walls provide on each thrust in and out, you can’t help but reminisce on sweeter, more innocent times.

The white fluorescent lights in your apartment sputter. For all the advancements in technology, some among many things never change. Light refracts differently in air, less bright, but you can see the pure enjoyment on Karina’s face no matter the luminescence. Karina slows her ride to pull her hips down harder instead and she jolts when your cock finds the most tender spots inside her pussy and it interrupts her babbling.

Karina almost hyperventilates when she gets up to spit on your cock. She pulls out some kind of meter from her tool belt and sighs when there’s no beeping and you recognize it having to do with carbon dioxide. She gets back to dribbling saliva and the filament trailing down to your shaft mesmerizes you. This spit is real, not simulated, and it wettens your erection in a mix with her pussy juices to paralyze you further in your already listless state. Her bare thighs jiggle and you can’t exert much force with your hands but her buttcheeks are firm with just a bit of give.

“Thank you for this cock, thank you for being bad,” Karina says as you watch her ass sink deeper while her pussy holds your dick taut. She’s frenetic when bounces up and down to play an unadulterated orchestra of slick noises between your groins.

“You’re welcome,” you accomplish getting out the words between planned breaths. Your hands cup her buttcheeks but you fear they may break with how she strikes her ass into you.

Karina turns around once more to give you the spectacle of her facial expressions as she fucks herself into you. Knead her calves laying on your torso and they take no energy to spread them though she brings them back together, compressing your hard shaft within her pussy. A new game you play with her, a separate rhythm of loosening and tightening. Her feet press on your chest to help her bounce, but the way they bear down on your lungs against the timing of your breathing causes you to fumble. Your cock bends straight forward as she plunges herself into you and it sends prickles to your entire skin, making the new angle difficult but worth it. Karina takes your hand and starts sucking on your fingers.

“You want my promise that bad?” you say.

“Yes, as bad as I want your cum. I swear, I need it.”

She draws her knees up to her torso and hugs her legs to keep thighs as tight together as possible. Karina couldn’t keep her word, she was trying to kill your cock with constriction.

“Fuck, your pussy is so fucking tight. God, Karina, fuck. You’re so good.” Even if good isn’t the word you want to use to describe her.

“Do it, please, please. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, baby. Karina can be a good girl, a good maid, a good cop, whatever you want. Just don’t get me in trouble, please.”

Karina’s mouth stops saying words though her lips writhe, drunk in increasing lust. Her cheeks flush, before the rest of her skin joins in redness while she grapples your chest and whatever spare limb she can find. You still struggle wresting control of your body but nature seems to take over when you drive yourself into her and match her needy cadence. The air in the room is replaced by a new air but it isn’t Aether. Passion, sweat, heat and all fluids that you both exude join squelching sounds, slaps and moans in harmonic bliss when her body tenses and she screams. As her body tightens, her pussy especially holds your cock for dear life and endeavours to wring out all your semen as her wetness throbs and spills. Karina starts counting to three repeatedly and you laugh though your amusement quickly subsides when you feel her juices become more viscous and she continues her ride, even in the dying pulses of her climax.

“Was I good?” Karina asks.

Just a moment goes by before you mentally send her a screenshot of all the recordings being deleted. Karina hasn’t stopped fucking you yet so at least it wasn’t a ploy.

“Thank you, thank you, I love you.” The flexion of her pliant legs brings them all the way back to rest on top of your legs. Karina lays prone above you and finally give you a kiss. The citrusy flavor may be closer to lime than grapefruit but it’s been so long that you can’t remember which scent is which. Lips crash and her tongue lashes out at yours trying to establish dominance. Keep still to let her investigate your mouth while her pussy does the same to your shaft.

You savor the way Karina’s top emphasizes the bouncing of her tits synchronous with the rebounding of her waist on your cock, but your mouth waters when she frees them. Take the shortest moment to relish in the sight before Karina smothers you with her plump globes. You wriggle your face to try to breathe. Inhale, up and exhale, down, but all you inhale is the scent of her orbs’ sweat. Her hips undulate with a pace at least double yours breathing and the echoes of slapping flesh resonate throughout the air-filled chamber. The loudness is unlike any you’ve experienced in a long time. It’s almost a flashbang every time her ass slams into your lap, especially as you start to see white when orgasm threatens to overload you with preludial pulses.

The last words you hear infected ten million computers in 2000. Fade to black. Cut. You’re slammed out of existence back into existence as a sun rebirths both within you, heating your core to a dangerous high, and from your eyes, dazzling you in an unforgiving white light. In the throes of unconsciousness relapsing to consciousness back to tenebrosity, your streaks of semen suspend in the Aether like a dead tree resting from the wind. What flashes your mind in its orgasmic state are two things only you would remember, plants and weather. Your hyperventilation is unconscious but not unwelcome, as it’s the first time in a while your breaths were reflexive even in the liquid air. However, basking in your newfound power, you start to choke. Right. You breathe in and out again. In and out. In. Out. In. Out. Back in.

“Replaying KarinaArrestsYou.mp6.” A hint of vexatious glee in the system’s otherwise dry voice. You don’t stop for it.

✦✧✦✧✦✧ 

AFF, AO3

It’s pretty silly but the idea danced around in my head ever since I saw the absolute Black Mirror concept that SM had for aespa and I concur that Karina is insanely hot.

As I’m writing this, this Kurzgesagt video on the idea of a rogue Earth comes out and now I have to rewrite stuff to make it at least a little consistent. I’m obviously already going nuts with all these ridiculous sci-fi concepts but this video almost feels too targeted to me writing this for me to ignore it.

[weavingthetapestry]

19th March 1286: “A Strong Wind Will Be Heard in Scotland”

(Image source: Wikimedia Commons)

On 19th March 1286, a body was discovered on a Fife beach, not far from the royal burgh of Kinghorn. The corpse was that of a 44-year-old man, and the cause of death was later diversely reported as either a broken neck or some other severe injury consistent with a fall from a horse at some point during the previous night. It is not known exactly when this body was found, nor do we know who discovered it. But we do know that the dead man was soon identified, with much dismay, as the King of Scots himself, Alexander III.

The late king had no surviving children, only a young widow who was not yet known to be pregnant, and an infant granddaughter in the kingdom of Norway. Despite this, Alexander III’s untimely death did not cause any immediate civil strife, although it did set in motion a chain of events which eventually led to the Scottish Wars of Independence. This conflict would forever alter the relationship between the kingdoms of Scotland and England, as well as the wider course of European history.

Although Alexander III was a moderately successful monarch, he had been unfortunate over the last ten years. His first wife, Margaret of England, had died in 1275 and Alexander initially showed no immediate interest in remarriage. At first the succession seemed secure: Margaret had left behind two sons and a daughter. However the death of the couple’s younger son David c.1281, may have prompted the king’s decision to arrange the marriages of his two surviving children over the next few years. In the summer of 1281, the twenty-year-old Princess Margaret set sail for Bergen, where she was to marry King Eirik II of Norway. Her brother Alexander, the eighteen-year-old heir to the throne, married the Count of Flanders’ daughter in November 1282. Neither marriage lasted long. The queen of Norway died in spring 1283, possibly during childbirth, while her younger brother succumbed to illness in January 1284. Within a few years, a series of unforeseen tragedies had destroyed Alexander III’s family and hopes, and the outlook for the kingdom seemed equally bleak...

All was not lost however. The king was in good health and believed he could count on the support of the realm’s leading men. Steps were swiftly taken to ensure their compliance with his plans for the succession. On 5th February 1284, a few weeks after Prince Alexander’s death, an impressive number of Scottish nobles* set their seals to an agreement at Scone. In the event of the king of Scotland’s death without any surviving legitimate children, they obliged themselves and their heirs to accept as monarch the heir at law. This was currently a baby named Margaret, the only surviving child of Alexander III’s daughter the queen of Norway.

(Drawing based on a seal belonging to Yolande of Dreux, Alexander III’s second queen. She later became Countess of Montfort and, by marriage, Duchess of Brittany. Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Although the bishops of Scotland were to censure anyone who broke this oath, the prospect of the crown being inherited by an infant girl on the other side of the North Sea was obviously not ideal. Her grandfather struck an optimistic note in a letter to his brother-in-law Edward I of England, writing that in spite of his recent “intolerable” trials, “the child of his dearest daughter” still lived and hoping that “much good may yet be in store”. But the king would not leave everything up to chance and in October 1285, at the age of 43, he married the French noblewoman Yolande of Dreux. As the year drew to a close, Alexander might have hoped that his misfortunes were behind him. He still had his kingdom and his health, and now, with a new queen, there was every chance that he could father another son.

In fact, the king had less than six months to live. The exact circumstances of Alexander’s death are shrouded in mystery, although most sources agree on the fundamental details. Only the Chronicle of Lanercost gives a detailed account, although much cannot be corroborated, and its author had a habit of providing moral explanations for historical events. He was convinced that the calamities which befell the Scottish royal house in the 1280s were punishment for Alexander III’s personal sins. The chronicler never explicitly names these sins, but he does hint at a conflict between the king and the monks of Durham (allowing Alexander’s death to be attributed to a vengeful St Cuthbert). The chronicler also included salacious stories of Alexander’s private life, claiming:

“he used never to forbear on account of season or storm, nor for perils of flood or rocky cliffs, but would visit, not too creditably, matrons and nuns, virgins and widows, by day or by night as the fancy seized him, sometimes in disguise, often accompanied by a single follower.”

Although this does seem to back up the king’s habit of making reckless journeys, alone and in bad weather, the chronicle’s biases are nonetheless fairly obvious. On the other hand, the man who probably compiled the chronicle up to the year 1297 does appear to have had many contacts in Scotland. These included the confessors of the late Queen Margaret and her son Prince Alexander, as well as the latter’s tutor, the clergy of Haddington and Berwick, and the earl of Dunbar. It is unclear how he acquired information about Alexander III’s death, but the chronicle’s narrative is at least plausible and correct in its essentials. Although some of the anecdotes are a little too detailed and didactic to be entirely truthful, the narrative provides some interesting insights into contemporary behaviour, such as the way medieval Scots felt entitled to address their kings. In the absence of alternative narratives, and without necessarily subscribing to the chronicler’s moral views, it is therefore perhaps worth following Lanercost to begin with, supplementing this with additional information where possible.

(The northern half of a map of Britain, drawn by the thirteenth century English chronicler Matthew Paris. Matthew Paris was based in the south of England and was not overly familiar with Scottish geography, but his depiction of Scotland as split over two islands and joined only at the bridge of Stirling, is nonetheless enlightening. The map is now in the public domain and has been made available by the British Libary (x))

On the evening of 18th March 1286, Alexander III is reported to have been in good spirits. This was in spite of the weather, which the author of the Chronicle of Lanercost described as being so foul, “that to me and most men, it seemed disagreeable to expose one’s face to the north wind, rain and snow”. The king of Scots was then dining at Edinburgh, attended by many of his nobles, who were preparing a response to the king of England’s ambassadors regarding the aged prisoner Thomas of Galloway. However when the court had finished dinner King Alexander was not at all anxious to retire early. Instead, not in the least deterred by the wind and rain lashing the windows, he announced his intention of spending the night with his new wife. Since Queen Yolande was then staying at Kinghorn in Fife, travelling there from Edinburgh would not only involve riding over twenty miles in the dark, but would also mean crossing the choppy waters of the Firth of Forth. Unsurprisingly, the king’s councillors tried to dissuade him. However Alexander was determined, and eventually he set off with only a few attendants, leaving his courtiers wringing their hands behind him.

The first part of the journey passed without incident and soon the king and his companions arrived at the Queen’s Ferry, by the shores of the Forth. This popular crossing point was named after Alexander’s famous ancestress St Margaret, who had established accommodation and transport for pilgrims there two hundred years earlier. But when the king himself sought passage, the ferryman pointed out that it would be very dangerous to attempt the crossing in such conditions. Alexander, undeterred, asked him if he was scared, to which the ferryman is said to have stoutly replied, “By no means, it would be a great honour to share the fate of your father’s son.” So the king and his attendants boarded the ferry and, notwithstanding the storm, the boat soon reached the shores of Fife in safety. As the king and his squires rode away from the ferry port, intending to complete the last eleven or so miles of their journey that night, they passed through the royal burgh of Inverkeithing. There, despite the evening gloom, the king’s voice was recognised by the manager of his saltpans, who was also one of the baillies of the town.** The burgess called out to the king and reprimanded him for his habit of riding abroad at night, inviting Alexander to stay with him until morning. But, laughing, Alexander dismissed his concerns and, asking only for some local serfs to act as guides, he rode off into the night.

(South Queensferry, as drawn by the eighteenth century artist John Clerk and made available for public use by the National Galleries of Scotland. Obviously the Queen’s Ferry changed a lot between the 1280s and the 1700s, but at least during this period the ferry was still the main mode of transportation across the Forth.)

By now darkness had set in and, despite the local knowledge of their guides, it was not long before every member of the king’s party became completely lost. Although they had become separated, the king’s squires eventually found the road again. However at some point they must have realised that they had a new problem: the king was nowhere to be found.

In the early fifteenth century, local tradition held that Alexander was at least heading in the right direction when he became separated from his companions. Although he too had lost sight of the main road, the king followed the shoreline, his horse carrying him swiftly over the sands towards Kinghorn. It was there, only a couple of miles from his destination, that the king’s luck finally ran out. Since there were no known witnesses to Alexander III’s death, it is unlikely that we will ever know for certain what happened that night. However most sources agree that the king’s horse probably stumbled and threw its rider. Alexander tumbled to the ground and snapped his neck and, at a stroke, the dynasty which had ruled Scotland for over two hundred years came to an end.

It is not known precisely how long the king’s body lay on the beach, alone under the moon while the waves crashed on the shore and confusion reigned among his squires and guides. However his corpse was discovered the next day and was swiftly conveyed to nearby Dunfermline. Ten days later, on 29th March 1286, the kingdom’s ruling elite gathered to see the last King Alexander buried near the high altar of the abbey kirk, in the company of his ancestors. Near the spot where the king’s body was allegedly found, a stone cross was later erected beside the road, which could still be seen by travellers over a hundred years later. The modern belief that Alexander III died when either he or his horse fell from a cliff*** (a tradition which is not supported by any mediaeval sources so far as I am aware) may stem from the position of this old cross, which possibly occupied the same spot as that of the Victorian Alexander III monument. This monument can now be seen at the side of the modern A921 road between Burntisland and Kinghorn, a permanent reminder of the role this seemingly nondescript location once played in the history of Scotland.

(The Alexander III monument near Kinghorn. Source: Wikimedia Commons- the photo was taken by Kim Traynor who has kindly made the image available for reuse under the  Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license).

The impact of Alexander’s death on a small mediaeval kingdom like Scotland, conditioned to look to its monarch for leadership, must have been great. Even the Lanercost chronicler admitted that the general populace was observed “bewailing his sudden death as deeply as the desolation of the realm.” However it is important not to exaggerate the scale of the crisis. Popular views of Alexander III’s death are inescapably informed by the accounts of fourteenth and fifteenth century writers, who depicted it as the root of all of Scotland’s later ills.

Writing in the aftermath of a century dominated by war, plague, famine, and climate change, it is perhaps unsurprising that many late mediaeval chroniclers looked back on Alexander III’s reign as comparatively peaceful. As the author of the fourteenth century “Gesta Annalia II” explained, “How worthy of tears and how hurtful his death was to the kingdom of Scotland is plainly shown forth by the evils of after times.” Meanwhile, in his “Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland” completed c.1420, Andrew Wyntoun portrayed Alexander’s reign as a Golden Age of peace and justice (when, just as importantly, oats only cost fourpence a boll). He incorporated an old song into his chronicle, perhaps written in the years following the king’s accident, which neatly encapsulates later views of the event and its impact:

“Quhen Alysandyr oure Kyng wes dede 

That Scotland led in luẅe and lé, 

Away wes sons off ale and brede, 

Off wyne and wax, off gamyn and glé: 

Oure gold wes changyd in to lede. 

Cryste borne in to Vyrgynyté, 

Succoure Scotland and remede, 

That stad [is in] perplexyté.”

Wyntoun’s younger contemporary Walter Bower, author of the “Scotichronicon”, also lamented Alexander’s premature death and even rolled out a legend about Scotland’s famous seer, Thomas the Rhymer, to reinforce his point. On 18th March 1286, he claimed, the earl of Dunbar “half-jesting” asked the Rhymer for the next day’s weather forecast. True Thomas answered gloomily:

“Alas for tomorrow, a day of calamity and misery! Because before the stroke of twelve a strong wind will be heard in Scotland, the like of which has not been known since long ago. Indeed its blast will dumbfound the nations and render senseless those who hear it, it will humble what is lofty and raze what is unbending to the ground.”

The next morning came and went without any gales, so the earl decided that Thomas had gone mad- until a messenger arrived at precisely midday with news of the king’s death. Although Bower may have been attempting to bolster Thomas of Erceldoune’s reputation as a prophet (in response to English propagandic use of Merlin’s prophecies), the anecdote reveals the significance he attached to Alexander III’s death. Similarly for John Barbour, author of the fourteenth century romance “The Bruce”, there was no doubt that the story of his hero’s story began, “Quhen Alexander the king was deid / That Scotland haid to steyr and leid.” Following this, Barbour skips ahead to the selection of John Balliol as king, dismissing the six years in between as a time when the country lay “desolate”. In this way later chroniclers created the impression of an Alexandrian ‘Golden Age’ and that Scotland almost immediately descended into chaos after his death. Though understandable, these late mediaeval interpretations have traditionally hampered analysis of Alexander’s reign and the events of the decade following his death, despite the best efforts of modern historians.

(The coronation of the young Alexander III at Scone, as depicted in a manuscript version of the fifteenth century “Scotichronicon”, compiled by the Abbot of Incholm, Walter Bower.  Source: Wikimedia Commons)

In reality, while the king’s death was undoubtedly a deep blow, the Scottish political community rallied in the immediate aftermath. In April 1286, parliament assembled at Scone and promised to keep the peace on behalf of the rightful heir to the kingdom. Six ‘Guardians’ were to govern in the meantime- two bishops (William Fraser of St Andrews and Robert Wishart of Glasgow), two earls (Alexander Comyn, earl of Buchan and Duncan, earl of Fife), and two barons (John Comyn of Badenoch and James the Steward). Despite the oaths sworn to Margaret of Norway two years earlier, there may have been some doubt as to who the “rightful heir” actually was. Certain sources claim that Alexander III’s widow Yolande of Dreux was pregnant and the political community waited anxiously for several months before the queen gave birth in November 1286. However no male heir materialised**** and by the end of the year it seems to have been generally acknowledged that the three-year-old Maid of Norway was the rightful “Lady of Scotland”. She was destined never to set foot in Scotland, but, despite her age, gender, and absence from the realm, the country did not descend into complete anarchy in the four years when she was the accepted heir to the throne. Undoubtedly there were people who had reservations about her reign: the Bruces, for example, seem to have attempted a short-lived rebellion, though the situation was soon defused by the Guardians. By 1289 the cracks were perhaps beginning to show, with the death of the earl of Buchan and the murder of the earl of Fife removing two Guardians, who were not replaced. Nonetheless, the authority of the Guardians was recognised in the absence of an adult ruler and they generally attempted to govern competently in the four years between Alexander III’s accident and the Maid of Norway’s own death in 1290.

Having received news of this second tragedy, the Guardians again acted cautiously, deciding that rival claims for the kingship should be judged in an official court chaired by a respected and powerful arbitrator. Thus they appealed to Scotland’s formidable neighbour, Edward I of England. Despite later allegations of foul play, the English king’s eventual judgement in favour of John Balliol does appear to have been consistent with the law of primogeniture and due process. It would take years of steady deterioration before war finally broke out in 1296. By then Alexander III had been dead for a decade, and though the crisis may have indirectly grown out of his demise, it was not necessarily the immediate cause of Scotland’s late mediaeval woes. Nonetheless the events of that dark night in March 1286 would leave their mark on the popular imagination for centuries, shaping Scottish history down to the present day.

(An imprint of the Great Seal used by the Guardians of Scotland following Alexander III’s death. Reproduced in the “History of Scottish seals from the eleventh to the seventeenth century”, by Walter de Gray Birch, now out of copyright and available on internet archive)

Additional Notes:

*The assembled magnates included the earls of Buchan, Dunbar, Strathearn, Atholl, Lennox, Carrick, Mar, Angus, Menteith, Ross, Sutherland, and two other earls whose titles are illegible but who may have been Caithness and Fife.  The barons included Robert de Brus the elder (father of the earl of Carrick and grandfather of the future Robert I), James Stewart, John Balliol (the future king), John Comyn of Badenoch, William de Soules, Enguerrand de Coucy (Alexander III’s maternal cousin), William Murray, Reginald le Cheyne, William de St Clair, Richard Siward, William of Brechin, Nicholas de Hay, Henry de Graham, Ingelram de Balliol, Alan the son of the earl, Reginald Cheyne the younger, (John?) de Lindsay, Simon Fraser, Alexander MacDougall of Argyll, Angus MacDonald, and Alan MacRuairi, among others. 

** The historian G.W.S. Barrow identified this figure as Alexander the saucier the master of the royal sauce kitchen and one of the baillies of Inverkeithing. 

*** There are some variations on this local tradition too- in 1794, the minister who wrote the entry for Kinghorn parish in the Old Statistical Account claimed that the ‘King’s Wood-end’ near the site of the current Alexander III monument was where the king liked to hunt and that he fell from his horse while on a hunting trip. 

****The Guardians and other nobles may have assembled at Clackmannan for the birth. Several modern historians have accepted Walter Bower’s statement that the queen’s baby was stillborn, despite the Chronicle of Lanercost’s somewhat fantastic tale of a fake pregnancy, with Yolande being caught conspiring to smuggle an actor’s son into Stirling Castle.

Selected Bibliography: 

- “The Chronicle of Lanercost”, as translated by Sir Herbert Maxwell 

- “Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland, Preserved Among the Public Records of England”, Volume 2, ed. Joseph Bain 

- Rymer’s “Foedera…”, Volume 1 part 1 

- “Documents Illustrative of the History of Scotland”, vol 1., ed. Joseph Stevenson 

- “Scottish Annals From English Chroniclers”, ed. A.O. Anderson (especially Annals of Worcester; Thomas Wykes; Chronicles in Annales Monastici) 

- “Early Sources of Scottish History”, ed. A.O. Anderson (esp. Chronicle of Holyrood, various continuations of the Chronicle of the Kings of Scotland; John of Evenden; Nicholas Trivet) 

- “The Flowers of History… as Collected by Mathew of Westminster”, ed. C.D. Yonge - Gesta Annalia II (formerly attributed to John of Fordun) in “John of Fordun’s Chronicle of the Scottish Nation”, ed. W. F. Skene 

- John Barbour’s “The Brus”, ed. A.A.M. Duncan 

- “The Orygynale Cronikil of the Scotland”, vol.2., by Andrew Wyntoun, ed. David Laing 

- “A History Book for Scots: Selections from the Scotichronicon”, ed. D.E.R. Watt 

- “The Authorship of the Lanercost Chronicle”, by A.G. Little in the English Historical Review, vol. 31 no. 122, p. 269-279 

- “The Kingship of the Scots”, A.A.M. Duncan 

- “Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland”, G.W.S. Barrow 

- “The Wars of Scotland, 1230-1371”, Michael Brown

I have extensive notes so if anyone needs a reference for a specific detail please let me know.

[besttablaplayerinindia]

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[thewidowstanton]

Carol Gandey, circus director: Gandeys Circus and Gandey World Class Productions

Circus director Carol Gandey – of Gandeys Circus – was The Widow’s 2020 Person of the Year, chosen for her for sterling efforts to keep touring circus as a viable artform in the UK during the Covid-19 pandemic, and also for the inspirational work she undertook in securing a large grant from the Arts Recovery Fund with what it termed an “exceptional” application. She has worked in what is a male-dominated industry for 45 years. Carol chats to Liz Arratoon about the problems Gandeys faced last year during the lockdown, and its plans for 2021. 

The Widow Stanton: Which shows did you have running or in the pipeline? Carol Gandey: Gandeys had produced three shows pre-lockdown – we had shows in Hong Kong and Singapore, but in December 2019 word was filtering in about Wuhan. Hong Kong closed early because of it. The third show, Gandeys Circus Unbelievable Tour, started touring in the UK in February and was closed two weeks later. The costs of these closures were substantial. At that time we also had Circus Starr in the UK, Gandeys in Malaysia and the theatre and cabaret tour of the UK with the Lady Boys of Bangkok in pre-production. These shows were never opened.

How did the virus most affect you? 2020 was a challenging year for everyone within circus all over the world. Anxiety over loved ones catching the disease – families could be anywhere worldwide when tours were cancelled – was utmost in people’s minds. Our tour in Hong Kong was cut short and lost money. We had to bring artists and equipment back to the UK, and repatriate overseas artists, all of which was challenging.

Production costs and losses ran into hundreds of thousands of pounds. In addition we refunded tens of thousands of pounds in advance ticket sales. Artists were stranded in the UK as flights home were cancelled and borders closed. They had no redress to public funds and so no income. Suppliers who were owed money included local authorities, who were owed rent for sites agreed for 2020. But we were grateful for the help given by the government for the furlough of PAYE staff and the local authority money for rated premises.

What happened to the artists who couldn’t get home? I’m fortunate to live in the countryside, and Phillip [Gandey] and I were able to provide accommodation, electricity and living expenses for them. Thirty-three people lived with us from March until July. They were exceptional, taking the lockdown very seriously and restricting visits to the ‘outside world’. They concentrated on rehearsing and practising new skills. We erected a tent in the fields with an outside trapeze rig. The weather was great and they made the best of their confinement. I would say that given the circumstances this was a happy time; not one they would have hoped for but they were amazingly good natured and positive.

How did you begin to consider the logistics of reopening your shows? We felt we were in a unique position to be in the vanguard of reopening events and so closely followed the science around the transmission of Covid and produced air-flow plans to submit to the Association of Circus Proprietors and the government. We worked alongside Butlins to produce a working model to allow the circus to trial an opening at its resort in Skegness. The test showed an air-flow pattern that gave the government the confidence to allow circus to open in reduced-seating-capacity circumstances. This meant we could engage our artists and others in the UK to perform at Butlins’ three resorts over the summer.

The government took a very long time to help the arts in general. Did you have a plan? Throughout this period I was lobbying the government and the Arts Council, and anyone on an email list, to support circus as a relevant artform that provides quality skills in performance, social and economic benefits along with a lot more. I had been collecting and collating statistics on this for some time to be able to produce fact sheets to support my claims. Other industry people had been simultaneously lobbying. We were thrilled to see circus included in the Arts Council Recovery Fund. I applied for Gandey Productions for a grant to cover the losses incurred during 2020 due to the Covid lockdown, plus a survival package to include some performances last autumn at reduced capacity, and the production costs for opening again this year.

Gandeys was awarded the biggest grant – £1.1million – of any UK circus company. Why do your think application stood out? I imagine because we are the largest operator in the UK and produce shows for export. We had invested heavily in productions pre-Covid and had commitments to third parties moving forward that benefitted the artform and many communities. We have a commitment to affordable ticket pricing and supporting social projects alongside fundraising for local and national charities. Further, and importantly for an Arts Council Fund, we produce to a very high standard, our artists are internationally acclaimed and our production values are significant. What does this recognition mean for the circus industry? I believe the support of circus by the Arts Council is a dynamic and profound change in funding that will bring circus as a performing art closer to the mainstream public in the UK. Circus is possibly the most accessible artform to the wider population geographically, socially and financially.

How might Brexit affect the industry? Who knows yet? There is still a lot of small print to be reviewed, and however it works there will be more bureaucracy and uncertainty. Additional issues for artists will be the import and export of props and vehicles and the rules around members of the EU driving in the UK, which will impact on them travelling with their own vehicles and caravans. In addition there will be changes to insurances and health cover, and not forgetting the changes to the exchange rate due to Brexit. We are uncertain of those consequences after a period of relative stability. Artists looking at these barriers may decide the paperwork and risks are too complicated and prefer to stay in Europe. All this will cost more and ultimately reflect on the ticket price. This is always a worry for touring circus in the UK as it tries hard to be an affordable form of art. Yet another issue for us is that we operate annually in Belfast and are expecting some challenges working there as different rules will apply even though it is part of the United Kingdom. We have factored Brexit into our strategy for 2021 and beyond. We cannot stress the financial difficulties and the maintaining of a high level of morale over this period. However, we are resilient and we will keep looking forward in positive ways. And when I say we, I mean the whole team here at Gandeys, which includes our office staff, financial support, engineering and technical teams, production teams to include lighting designer, choreographer, music production, set and prop designers, and all the artists who have been so supportive with their attitudes and ideas.

What can you tell us about your plans for 2021? We have taken this time of closure to look forward to this coming year; to reimagine our productions, researching acts and skills and production techniques, and to consider and test new ways of working; logistically, digitally and financially. We intend to continue to communicate with our circus audiences, to improve training, safety and security and Covid measures, and to review and re-target our environmental and social policies and charitable work. We are a flexible organisation and will respond to the Covid directives of the government as best suited to our company and our audiences, always with the safety of others at the core of our operations.

See Gandeys Circus website and Facebook

[fyrapartnersearch]

Howdy there! How are you?

Self

My name is James Home. I’m a 23 year old trans male from Olympia WA. In time zones that’s PST (Pacific standard time) am a visual artist, graphic designer, and storyteller. My Briggs acronym ENFJ. In saying so I’m a huge talker and communicator, physically and literally! Personal interests of mine include BOTW, FFXV, and Hanibal atm. I have a lovely and incredible wife named Isabella. We both additionally like DND (were even painting our minis), collecting Halloween decorations, and watching Avatar the last air bender with our roommate. Though I do have a history in plenty of other fandoms as well and always on the lookout for recommendations.

Preference

So for myself I love to take care of my Rp partners in all accommodations possible.

Meaning if your heart has been craving fluff, rough smut, or a plain ol hug. IM GAME! If none, no biggie let’s make a plot spot!

Roles I usually fall under are but not limited too….

-DOM , Vers, Power bottom

-caretaker, guardian, teacher

-father, handler, knight

-beefcakes, robots, selfless leaders

And so much more!

The roles I lean towards are

-caretaker, strong and silent-ish type, and flamboyant entertainers.

-male roles, trans male roles, open to trying a female role?, non binary, pangender role.

- I do enjoy topping, some aspects of BDSM, and some hard kinks.

-fallen leader, relearning about a loving world, hopeful in a dark world.

-not taking their role as important as they should have or are, “I’ve been doing this for years. But this is new”, and “I brought you your favorite drink wanna cuddle, I’ll provide the sugar?” Types

And so much more!

As far as story things themes are

-highly complex kingdoms

-High pace fantasy

-society by the ocean

-abandon green houses

-heavily dense forests

-fae and fiend worlds

-AUs of pre-existing universes from shows

-magic incorporated

-supernatural

Worlds we design collectively.

My HARD NOs are…

NO MINORS ROLEPLAYING WITH ME, 19 AND UNDER DO NOT APPLY

-abuse in active Rp (can be used from background and really has to depend on circumstance)

-harm of any children

-harm of expected mother

-any form of r*pe play

-blood play, degrading play, hard impact play

-crying kinks, humiliation kink, and electric play

-no smoking kinks either or character usage of substances.

Writing

I’m not too big on proper grammar or sentence structure as long as there was an idea getting across. I’m ok with role playing as many people as you’d like to actively work on, so doubles, and even triples are okay. Plus working two different stories is fun! I do prefer paragraphing and we all know the feeling of one word responses. This is a hobby and creative outlet from myself so that’s why I have no big stressors about punctuation or spelling.

Storytelling

Here are some story concepts I’ve come up with. Yet if you’d like to imply your own let’s talk about it!

Counterpart pathways

A magical filled fantasy realm where all is possible including the bad. One summer day a incubus/demon hybrid named Jona, father of three, learns someone has kidnapped all three of his boys! He's on the hunt for clues and finding them at all costs. Gathering the best crew possible of Moof the best wolf bounty hunter in all the realm, Bell the boys spider caretaker shapeshifter, and Glover the bull/bison hybrid the green alchemist, set off to find the children. Along the way by gathering clues they encounter obstacles and trials of skill and pursuit! Will they ever find the three octopus babies ? Will Jona have closure and put on a shirt? Will Bell ever stop stealing everything shiny? Will Moof grow more confident in his teammates? Will Glover not stop shaking and being such a wuss? Who will help this odd 4 on their epic abnormal quest?!

Puddles

A time traveler that gets stuck in between dimensions due to their powers temporarily weakened from the extensive work they've been doing end up meeting a stranger who takes them in. Not used to the timeline they shows up in, they have to knowledge of normal behavior. They must figure out a way to recharge their abilities but has not of the slightly clue as to what it causing them to have lost them in the first place. Is the person that's helping them good or evil? Who's side are they on? How will they figure them out? Why do they find the stranger oddly familiar?

When men become mortal

An alien/robot/human species that survives by using different masks/chips for various occasions. It's like buying different clothes but they adapt or transform the hoist for a month or less of another body/form/identity. The main character experiences a technical difficulty where their head socket cannot adapt to a new face for long and has to get it repaired. Though along the way he seems to find that not wearing a false identity they actually enjoy seeing the outside world with no expectation of appearance. The other is a identity artist, the one whom develops different faces and identity. He spends hours tweaking details of bodies and faces. He always has the nicest things because of his work and from important commissions and work for certain clients.They meet at a gallery that the artist is hoisting at a museum. The individuals there are decorated like some of the model pieces and others artist curators-part sellers. The faceless one decides to go to the museum to see what's or who's being showcased and since he has a little bit of extra money he saved up for the occasion. Everyone finds him interesting since he doesn't have an appearance, they think he's a model. Thus they send him to meet with the artist for the show. The artist doesn't know him at all. They find eachother very different but most parts similar. From their meeting the artist gets inspired by his original face. Coming to realize that even himself that he has given into the world he never wanted to.The two of them hit it off. Both dwelling into the matters of the "perfect" vessel. Asking the serious questions such as what makes a body, a face, a soul attractive? They go on for hours and it starts to inspire the artists work into his new resorted craftsmanship. The faceless impressed by the purposed questions and also work. The two of them grow closer resulted from talking so much about bodies and meaning. All the while testing out the new creations, body parts, and vessels capabilities. Not all though is good while the two develop this hoist. There's a villain at hand who one of the artist's main clients that goes unsuspected. They want to use the designs to create a vessel for the bad and wealth. Only to include to kill off all humans.The two of them hit it off. Both dwelling into the matters of the "perfect" vessel. Asking the serious questions such as what makes a body, a face, a soul attractive? They go on for hours and it starts to inspire the artists work into his new resorted craftsmanship. The faceless impressed by the purposed questions and also work. The two of them grow closer resulted from talking so much about bodies and meaning. All the while testing out the new creations, body parts, and vessels capabilities. Not all though is good while the two develop this hoist. There's a villain at hand who one of the artist's main clients that goes unsuspected. They want to use the designs to create a vessel for the bad and wealth. Only to include to kill off all humans. Thus forces the artist to reveal his true identity. A human being. Not a hologram. Plus he's not just an artist but a ex-con scientist from the labs that have bloomed into a internalized war. Faceless becomes confused and also hurt that the artist to mention this. Only for the two of them being followed. The artist informs the robot that the hybrids (the children of the robot-species, generations of offspring) are the real threat to society. The one who hoists and is in charge of the power sorce is human and machine. The first of its kind, and also the previous mentor of the artist/ex-scientist. Who will get to the power source first. Our main dynamic couple or the robotic uprising that believe all humans should cease to exist once and for all?

Gay Cryptids

Themes

Active night life

Next to the ocean, sea, body of water.

Beach city/lost boys/Mad max?/punk/ regal?/neon lights/old mascots/vapor wave af

Carnival / festivals

Dark market authenticity

Biker gang(s)

Aquatic features, art, incorporated in surroundings

Lifestyles like fish importing, dock workers, sushi shops, fancy diners

Common foods are all fish and sea foods

The city was a work in process for a resort city, and a major violent storm came too early taking out some of the fancier parts of the island. Most of the higher end houses and mansions were believed to be damaged in the outer edges of the island. There had been a castle built as a main part of the hotel/resort. Old costumes, sets, mascots were left to rot by the seas breeze. Barnacles, ivy, and vines with exotic flora and fauna growing wildly cover the buildings. Possibly even growing in the mansion and other houses. The main part of the biker gang is in a abandoned church next to the sea caves is where the biker gang mostly resides and work primarily as hit men and women. The island would be decided by the two head family of vampires one powerful family versus the other in over control if the current situation of resort in the actual tourist location.A rambunctious gang of young cryptics disguise themselves as human during the daytime but during the night it's quite the time to be alive and young. Various story arcs of love and lust between the group members figuring out their own sexualities and forming adulthood. Though most of it is all of them just fucking around.A rambunctious gang of young cryptics disguise themselves as human during the daytime but during the night it's quite the time to be alive and young. Various story arcs of love and lust between the group members figuring out their own sexualities and forming adulthood. Though most of it is all of them just fucking around.

Plausible locations

Old mill

Carnival / freakshow

Rides and amusement

Abandoned Church

Greenhouse

Garden

Boat house

Log cabins

CAMP grounds

Old schools

Warehouses

The Docks or Port

Boat houses

Boat docks

Abandoned Hotel

Studios

Bike store

Surf or like diving store

Knickknack shack

Ma and Pa restaurants

Antique stores

Downtown

Library

Hospital or infirmary excotic masion

I have story plots for days SONNNN so these are at skim level for plot.

If you’d like to contact me the best ways are

Discord at

Agodnamedhome#4202

Onlyagodnamedhome@gmail.com

I work from 11:30 to 4 Monday-Friday

But available before, and after for sure.

Thursday’s at 5 are my therapist appointments

Weekends are 100% free atm

Looking for a long term, short term, a friend!

[agodnamedhome]

Howdy there! How are you?

Self

My name is James Home. I’m a 23 year old trans male from Olympia WA. In time zones that’s PST (Pacific standard time) am a visual artist, graphic designer, and storyteller. My Briggs acronym ENFJ. In saying so I’m a huge talker and communicator, physically and literally! Personal interests of mine include BOTW, FFXV, and Hanibal atm. I have a lovely and incredible wife named Isabella. We both additionally like DND (were even painting our minis), collecting Halloween decorations, and watching Avatar the last air bender with our roommate. Though I do have a history in plenty of other fandoms as well and always on the lookout for recommendations.

Preference

So for myself I love to take care of my Rp partners in all accommodations possible.

Meaning if your heart has been craving fluff, rough smut, or a plain ol hug. IM GAME! If none, no biggie let’s make a plot spot!

Roles I usually fall under are but not limited too….

-DOM , Vers, Power bottom

-caretaker, guardian, teacher

-father, handler, knight

-beefcakes, robots, selfless leaders

And so much more!

The roles I lean towards are

-caretaker, strong and silent-ish type, and flamboyant entertainers.

-male roles, trans male roles, open to trying a female role?, non binary, pangender role.

- I do enjoy topping, some aspects of BDSM, and some hard kinks.

-fallen leader, relearning about a loving world, hopeful in a dark world.

-not taking their role as important as they should have or are, “I’ve been doing this for years. But this is new”, and “I brought you your favorite drink wanna cuddle, I’ll provide the sugar?” Types

And so much more!

As far as story things themes are

-highly complex kingdoms

-High pace fantasy

-society by the ocean

-abandon green houses

-heavily dense forests

-fae and fiend worlds

-AUs of pre-existing universes from shows

-magic incorporated

-supernatural

Worlds we design collectively.

My HARD NOs are…

NO MINORS ROLEPLAYING WITH ME, 19 AND UNDER DO NOT APPLY

-abuse in active Rp (can be used from background and really has to depend on circumstance)

-harm of any children

-harm of expected mother

-any form of r*pe play

-blood play, degrading play, hard impact play

-crying kinks, humiliation kink, and electric play

-no smoking kinks either or character usage of substances.

Writing

I’m not too big on proper grammar or sentence structure as long as there was an idea getting across. I’m ok with role playing as many people as you’d like to actively work on, so doubles, and even triples are okay. Plus working two different stories is fun! I do prefer paragraphing and we all know the feeling of one word responses. This is a hobby and creative outlet from myself so that’s why I have no big stressors about punctuation or spelling.

Storytelling

Here are some story concepts I’ve come up with. Yet if you’d like to imply your own let’s talk about it!

Counterpart pathways

A magical filled fantasy realm where all is possible including the bad. One summer day a incubus/demon hybrid named Jona, father of three, learns someone has kidnapped all three of his boys! He's on the hunt for clues and finding them at all costs. Gathering the best crew possible of Moof the best wolf bounty hunter in all the realm, Bell the boys spider caretaker shapeshifter, and Glover the bull/bison hybrid the green alchemist, set off to find the children. Along the way by gathering clues they encounter obstacles and trials of skill and pursuit! Will they ever find the three octopus babies ? Will Jona have closure and put on a shirt? Will Bell ever stop stealing everything shiny? Will Moof grow more confident in his teammates? Will Glover not stop shaking and being such a wuss? Who will help this odd 4 on their epic abnormal quest?!

Puddles

A time traveler that gets stuck in between dimensions due to their powers temporarily weakened from the extensive work they've been doing end up meeting a stranger who takes them in. Not used to the timeline they shows up in, they have to knowledge of normal behavior. They must figure out a way to recharge their abilities but has not of the slightly clue as to what it causing them to have lost them in the first place. Is the person that's helping them good or evil? Who's side are they on? How will they figure them out? Why do they find the stranger oddly familiar?

When men become mortal

An alien/robot/human species that survives by using different masks/chips for various occasions.

It's like buying different clothes but they adapt or transform the hoist for a month or less of another body/form/identity.

The main character experiences a technical difficulty where their head socket cannot adapt to a new face for long and has to get it repaired. Though along the way he seems to find that not wearing a false identity they actually enjoy seeing the outside world with no expectation of appearance.

The other is a identity artist, the one whom develops different faces and identity. He spends hours tweaking details of bodies and faces. He always has the nicest things because of his work and from important commissions and work for certain clients.

They meet at a gallery that the artist is hoisting at a museum. The individuals there are decorated like some of the model pieces and others artist curators-part sellers.

The faceless one decides to go to the museum to see what's or who's being showcased and since he has a little bit of extra money he saved up for the occasion. Everyone finds him interesting since he doesn't have an appearance, they think he's a model. Thus they send him to meet with the artist for the show.

The artist doesn't know him at all. They find eachother very different but most parts similar. From their meeting the artist gets inspired by his original face. Coming to realize that even himself that he has given into the world he never wanted to.

The two of them hit it off. Both dwelling into the matters of the "perfect" vessel. Asking the serious questions such as what makes a body, a face, a soul attractive? They go on for hours and it starts to inspire the artists work into his new resorted craftsmanship. The faceless impressed by the purposed questions and also work. The two of them grow closer resulted from talking so much about bodies and meaning. All the while testing out the new creations, body parts, and vessels capabilities.

Not all though is good while the two develop this hoist. There's a villain at hand who one of the artist's main clients that goes unsuspected. They want to use the designs to create a vessel for the bad and wealth. Only to include to kill off all humans.

The two of them hit it off. Both dwelling into the matters of the "perfect" vessel. Asking the serious questions such as what makes a body, a face, a soul attractive? They go on for hours and it starts to inspire the artists work into his new resorted craftsmanship. The faceless impressed by the purposed questions and also work. The two of them grow closer resulted from talking so much about bodies and meaning. All the while testing out the new creations, body parts, and vessels capabilities.

Not all though is good while the two develop this hoist. There's a villain at hand who one of the artist's main clients that goes unsuspected. They want to use the designs to create a vessel for the bad and wealth. Only to include to kill off all humans.

Thus forces the artist to reveal his true identity. A human being. Not a hologram. Plus he's not just an artist but a ex-con scientist from the labs that have bloomed into a internalized war. Faceless becomes confused and also hurt that the artist to mention this. Only for the two of them being followed.

The artist informs the robot that the hybrids (the children of the robot-species, generations of offspring) are the real threat to society. The one who hoists and is in charge of the power sorce is human and machine. The first of its kind, and also the previous mentor of the artist/ex-scientist.

Who will get to the power source first. Our main dynamic couple or the robotic uprising that believe all humans should cease to exist once and for all?

Gay Cryptids

Themes

Active night life

Next to the ocean, sea, body of water.

Beach city/lost boys/Mad max?/punk/ regal?/neon lights/old mascots/vapor wave af

Carnival / festivals

Dark market authenticity

Biker gang(s)

Aquatic features, art, incorporated in surroundings

Lifestyles like fish importing, dock workers, sushi shops, fancy diners

Common foods are all fish and sea foods

The city was a work in process for a resort city, and a major violent storm came too early taking out some of the fancier parts of the island. Most of the higher end houses and mansions were believed to be damaged in the outer edges of the island. There had been a castle built as a main part of the hotel/resort. Old costumes, sets, mascots were left to rot by the seas breeze. Barnacles, ivy, and vines with exotic flora and fauna growing wildly cover the buildings. Possibly even growing in the mansion and other houses. The main part of the biker gang is in a abandoned church next to the sea caves is where the biker gang mostly resides and work primarily as hit men and women. The island would be decided by the two head family of vampires one powerful family versus the other in over control if the current situation of resort in the actual tourist location.

A rambunctious gang of young cryptics disguise themselves as human during the daytime but during the night it's quite the time to be alive and young.

Various story arcs of love and lust between the group members figuring out their own sexualities and forming adulthood. Though most of it is all of them just fucking around.

A rambunctious gang of young cryptics disguise themselves as human during the daytime but during the night it's quite the time to be alive and young.

Various story arcs of love and lust between the group members figuring out their own sexualities and forming adulthood. Though most of it is all of them just fucking around.

Plausible locations

Old mill

Carnival / freakshow

Rides and amusement

Abandoned Church

Greenhouse

Garden

Boat house

Log cabins

CAMP grounds

Old schools

Warehouses

The Docks or Port

Boat houses

Boat docks

Abandoned Hotel

Studios

Bike store

Surf or like diving store

Knickknack shack

Ma and Pa restaurants

Antique stores

Downtown

Library

Hospital or infirmary excotic masion

I have story plots for days SONNNN so these are at skim level for plot.

If you’d like to contact me the best ways are

Discord at

Agodnamedhome#4202

Onlyagodnamedhome@gmail.com

I work from 11:30 to 4 Monday-Friday

But available before, and after for sure.

Thursday’s at 5 are my therapist appointments

Weekends are 100% free atm

Looking for a long term, short term, a friend!

[xodaniellevictoria]

8 Days in Paris

I’ve been wanting to visit Paris for as long as I can remember. 2 weeks ago my life long dream, CAME TRUE! My fascination with the city began with my love for ballet. For those who don't know I was a ballet dancer for 16 years, and the type of ballet I was taught, originated in Paris. I have envisioned myself walking amongst the city streets for years and to finally cross this off my bucket list was an indescribable feeling. I want to share everything we did while we were there, and any quick tips to help you out if you’re wanting to visit this amazing place for yourself! 

Alright lets start with planning. I searched for EVER to find affordable flights. Typically out of California round trip tickets to Paris are around $1200 each. By some miracle I was able to find round trip tickets for $500 each. (Because it’s off season for tourism and once the weather gets colder, the ticket prices drop) I didn't use any specific sites or cheap airlines, I was just always looking for a deal. So I definitely recommend going on off season (Fall to early spring) to avoid high ticket prices. 

While you're planning, I would also really recommend staying at an Airbnb over a hotel. We really felt like we got the true Parisian experience and most Airbnbs are cheaper then hotels is what I noticed while planning.

HERE IS A LINK to the cute private apartment we stayed at while we were there. It was PERFECT for what we wanted. The iconic Parisian windows, a great view to a little courtyard, in the city center, and 3 minute walk to the subway. (Photo below for the ideal Parisian windows I was talking about.)

We decided to break up our trip by spending the majority of our time in Paris at the Airbnb, and then the last 2 nights we splurged and stayed at a hotel I’ve had my eye on for awhile now. Hotel Providence is the Parisian hotel of my dreams, and it did not disappoint. The stunning lush decor and rich color palette of the entire hotel checked off all my aesthetic points. We had champagne waiting for us in our room, and they were accommodating for early check in and leaving our bags at the front desk after we checked out, since we had some time to kill before our flight. I found the hotel on Instagram and I’m so glad I did. They have an amazing bar downstairs that was great for pre and post dinner drinks. They serve food as well but we unfortunately never got to try any. The front desk and service at the bar was amazing, super friendly, spoke great English and would absolutely recommend staying here if your budget allows. See below for pictures of our beautiful room and the outside seats of the bar / restaurant! CLICK HERE FOR A LINK TO THE HOTEL

Another thing I would highly recommend is getting the PARIS CITY PASS. This pass will get you into the Louvre, Musee d’Orsay, Versailles, you name a Parisian attraction, and this pass will most likely get you in, and the best part is you won't have to wait in ticket lines. At the Louvre, there was a 2 hour wait to get tickets, and we literally walked RIGHT in... Sorry everyone in line! Should have done your research! 

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE SITE TO GET YOUR PARIS CITY PASS

While planning, something else to think about is transportation. Basically the entire trip, we took Paris’s subway system ‘Le Metro.’ If you have an iPhone, using apple maps is going to be your best friend. Switch your directions to transit instead of walking or driving. The apple maps directions will tell you exactly where to go for the train stations, which lines to take, and which direction you need to be heading. There are signs in English in the subway so don't worry about not being able to understand French signs. There are trains right at the airport, and everywhere you will want to go in the city. Its truly amazing and so affordable compared to trying to Uber everywhere. We honestly preferred taking the subway way more than taking Ubers, because traffic in the city is.... Intense, and most of our Uber drivers didn't speak any English. The trains were always much faster and just easier in general.

Now I want to share the things we did that were noteworthy, and that we would recommend to anyone who is coming to Paris for the first time.

1. Eiffel Tower. Just as magical as you would think it would be. Head to the Tracadero across the river Seine to get an amazing view and its a GREAT picture spot. Another amazing picture spot is on the same side of the river as the Eiffel Tower and its a little dead end street with the perfect view of the tower with some French buildings in the line of view as well. 

Heres the address: 228 Rue de l’Universite (the picture below was taken HERE)

2. Versailles. The grandest palace in all of Europe. It is breath taking. Especially if you're a history nerd like me. I got an audio guide so we didn't have to take a tour, and it was perfect. Also highly recommend renting a golf cart to get around the gardens and to see the other buildings and Marie Antoinette’s little village she created. PICTURE SPOTS: Hall of mirrors, Petite Trianon, and the Grand Trianon. Advice for getting pictures here, PATIENCE. Just wait for people to move so you can get cool shots with no one in them.

3. Crazy Horse. Ok this one won't be for everyone, but when I think of Paris I think of burlesque. Crazy Horse was one of the coolest burlesque shows we’ve seen and its a must if you're wanting a sexy night out. ( We preferred this over Moulin Rouge. )

4. MontMarte. MontMarte is the cities highest point. resting on a hill, there's a gorgeous old church, the Sacre Couer. MontMarte is also the cities historic artist district. Artists such as Van Gogh, and Renoir, found inspiration in this quaint part of town. Behind the church is the cutest little area where local artists are still paining city scapes and personal portraits. Seeing this area was a highlight for me. It felt so like what I thought Paris would be like. Good rooftop bar with the view of the city and the Eiffel Tower: Terrass Hotel, the rooftop bar is open to the public, you don't have to be staying at the hotel.

5. Le Marais. This is where you need to go if you're wanting to shop. Clothes, local pastries, apothecaries, you name it this area has it. Our favorite stores were Blue Garage, System Vintage, Luka Luna, 

6. Notre Dame. A Paris staple. Currently closed for renovations but still worth seeing from afar. The streets around the Notre Dame are covered with vintage magazine / book stands. They make for great home decor. Make sure you have euros pulled out though because they don't accept credit cards!

7. Musee d’Orsay. Paris’s second biggest and most famous museum. Is in an old train station which makes for a cool setting for a museum. (See picture below) We liked this museum more than the Louvre...Way less crowded, and more modern artists that we actually knew. Holds famous paintings from Monet, Degas, Renoir, and Van Gogh. Highly recommend grabbing a drink on the 5th floor cafe behind one of the old clocks!

8. The Catacombs. Super interesting walk through some of Paris’s old Limestone quarries that they filled with bones from the cemeteries, when the cemeteries were getting too crowded in the 1700′s. I didn't get any spooky vibes. Just felt like a museum.

9. Palais Garnier. The Opera house in Paris. Reminiscent of Versailles, this grand Opera house is soooo extravagant and gorgeous. The first real Ballets were put on here. How cool is that?

That wraps up the things to see that we loved most. Now lets move on to my favorite part... THE FOOD!

Basically everywhere you look in Paris there are little cafes. Sometimes as many as 4 on a block. Eat at as many of them as you can. They're all pretty incredible. If you're from America and have never traveled to Europe, something to note is that in Europe, slow service is good service. You have to ask for your check. dining out in Europe is an experience and they want you to relax and enjoy your time dining. There is no rush with food there. Its pretty life changing coming from a country where you are accustomed to being in and out of a restaurant within an hour and getting angry if your food hasn't shown up in 15 minutes. 

Things you need to try at any Parisian restaurant: bread, butter, wine, and cheese. They're all usually locally sourced and man let me tell you... It just tastes DIFFERENT over there. The butter is the best butter I’ve ever had. When we got home I legitimately looked up where I can buy French butter here in San Diego... The wine? INSANE. One night I had 6 glasses (which is WAY way way too much for me) and the next morning I didn't wake up with any sort of hangover... I don't know what they're doing in France but wow it is amazing. The cheeses are also wonderful. All so different depending on the restaurant, and all taste soooo much fresher then any cheese I’ve had here in the US. It’s hard to describe. 

Some of our favorite restaurants we came across while we were there:

BREAKFAST / LUNCH-

Any cafe usually has a Croque Monisuer or a Croque Madame which is basically a grilled cheese sandwich with ham and egg, they're amazing and make a great breakfast sandwich. We also ordered Cafe Au Lait’s everywhere we went for breakfast (Coffee with steamed milk.) And croissants are always a good idea.

La Terrasse Des Archives for an amazing avocado toast eggs Benedict

Hollybelly 5 for some americanized / English style breakfasts and some amazing lattes

Hardware Societie for another amazing Americanized / English breakfast

Breakfast in America is a full on American diner in the heart of Paris.

DINNER-

My favorite meals we ate in Paris were our dinners. There is endless amazing food options but here are some of our favorites.

Sacree Fleur did not disappoint. Located in MontMarte, this cozy restaurant will blow you away. We started with the cheese course, wine, and bread. Had steak and mashed potatoes as our main course, which by the way, continues to cook at your table on a hot slab of rock. SO COOL! And we finished with the creme brûlée, which actually made me CRY, it was so good.... (Terrass Hotel is walking distance away, the rooftop bar is open to the public and you get an amazing view of all of Paris including the Effie tower while enjoying some after dinner drinks, and you don't have to be staying at the hotel to enjoy the rooftop bar.)

Le Petit Italien is an amazing option if you're wanting some Italian food in Paris.

Le Sancrerre in MontMarte was another stand out. I got the beef bourguignon and it was incredible.

Chez Janou was also outstanding. Perfect French dishes, great service. Our waiter was actually living in San Diego for awhile before he moved back home to Paris so it was a super random coincidence to eat there and have him as our waiter!

[fireintheforest]

Behind the Blue, chapter 10

“Ok so the plan is simple.”

“One goes in with the invitation. Introduces oneself as Cyremin of Alinor, and the rest of the evening is spent entertaining guests and finding a window to approach Emmanuel Hawkcroft.”

“When you find Emmanuel Hawkcroft, find a way to sneak out the key for the chest under his bed. Sorcise said the lock is small and copper so maybe the key we’re looking for is similar.”

“Once one gets the key, one will sneak it to Sorcise by asking her to guide one to the restroom or something similar.”

“She’ll then take the key to me with the excuse of taking out the trash that conglomerates in the kitchen. I do my part. Once it’s done, she’ll sneak the key back to you.”

“One plants it somewhere Emmanuel can see it and think he dropped it. The evening goes on as usual, one leaves, we regroup at the inn.”

“We give the client their gem, get paid and we get out of Evermor.”

“And fetch Marcello on the way back…right?”

“…yeah no sure, totally. I was totally going to do that, yeah, sure, of course.”

Saufinril stopped brushing his hair and gave Toivon a pointed look using the mirror in front of him.

“Of course we’re going to go for him!” Toivon said, “That was a joke, what kind of mer do you take me for?”

“One was just checking.” Saufinril replied, putting down the comb and picking up the brushes to apply makeup around his eyes while Toivon sat on his bed, observing him get ready, “And what are you doing during all of this?” Saufinril asked

“I do my part, you do yours. If we do this, we both end with thousands of septims on our bags.” Toivon answered

“Because that’s not sketchy.”

“It’s precaution.” Toivon observed Saufinril, then asked, “Mind me asking, how did you get that carriage?”

“Carriage?” Saufinril asked softly, mouth agape as he traced the paint carefully on his eyelid.

“The one outside. Maroon. Brown horse. What the fuck.”

“Oh. That one.” Saufinril said

 That one. Saufinril smiled to himself as he observed the maroon carriage that was in front of a store, pulled by a pretty white and gray horse, its driver asleep in the driver’s seat.  That one is perfect for tonight, and the chance was too good to leave behind. Toivon had gone out mere minutes ago, and this was Saufinril’s chance to get a worthy carriage to get him to the event. Like hell would a courtesan travel by foot, or in some hay wagon! The daedra are in the details, and if he was going to be a convincing courtesan, he had to look the part. So he approached it cautiously from behind and eyed around. The people on the street walked here and there, minding their business. Saufinril knelt, as if to tie his shoe, and once he was crouched, lowered even more and dragged himself under the carriage.

Now, under these carriages there was usually a latch or something where he could grab onto…ugh, did he have to grab to the wheel bars? Again? He remembered the last time when-

“And thank you so much!” a feminine voice alerted him to his left. A mustard skirt with fine black stripes approached the cart. Saufinril latched himself to the wheel bars above him and stuck his feet above the bars behind him as the woman climbed, and held tight. The carriage moved as the woman accommodated herself, and then with a couple of tongue clicks of the driver, the wheels moved ahead.

He began to wonder if he was returning to Wayrest when the carriage got out of the city and went behind a hill and a small conglomerate of trees, but breathed in relief when he saw it entering a residence. Low bushes, yellow with some flowers here and there. Saufinril was hanging in there nicely, despite the amount of dust that was raised underneath him from the road (he was definitely going to take a bath after this). The carriage stopped at the front of the house for the woman to get down and go in, then moved on until the clapping of the hooves was no more in dirt, but rather in the cobblestone of the stables. Bingo.

The driver hummed a song to himself as he got down and to his quarters, allowing the stable hand to greet the horse and free it from the carriage. The stable hand put it in the stable and then headed to the end to grab the brush. Just the day he’d washed Neige, they take him out. He’d have to wash him all over again, not to mention the other two and-

A hand suddenly covered his mouth, and an arm circled around his throat and pressed back with strength, blocking his breathing. He clutched the arm, tugging back, trying to scream, but the arms were secure. The stable boy’s body squirmed like a worm, hitting a couple times against the body behind him to no avail: it was someone taller. And the forearm was firm. He tried screaming again, but no air could pass through. He clawed the forearm, reaching back to whoever had caught him, then back to clawing. Black dots filled his vision, then it was a tunnel…

Saufinril pressed on, waiting, until the stable hand’s body went limp, and then dragged the body to a nearby pile of hay, tossing it in and covering it with more hay. That’s someone else’s problem now, by the end of the night he was going to be away from Evermor anyways.

The horses, however, neighed and stomped with nervousness. Too much attention, and he heard the door of the shed open. Without thinking it twice, Saufinril jumped into the pile of hay that hid the body, burying himself in it. His hand briefly brushed the stable hand’s one second as he dug in deep.

“Gustave?” a male voice asked. The driver walked into the stables, and seeing it empty and with the horses whinnying, he went and calmed them, speaking to them in a soothing, low volume. Saufinril stayed put.

“Gustave!” the driver called again. No answer, “Where has he gone to now?” the driver walked out and closed the door behind him. Saufinril waited a minute before emerging from the hay, brushing it out of his hair. The gray horse started to get uneasy again, but a quick shoot of a calming spell solved it with him and the other beasts.

“Alright. Gray horse was already seen by everyone. Let’s pick…” Saufinril looked around and finally decided on a brown horse with white socks. He pulled her out of the stable, hitched her to the carriage, got on the driver’s seat and pulled it out. Now, if his guess was correct, the small hedge was just decorative for the front. Maybe the back had a higher hedge, or maybe it was open. He didn’t want to risk it. Front it is. Here goes nothing.

A couple of tongue clicks, much like the ones the driver had used, and the horse started to move on. No, wait. Saufinril stopped the horse. No way they’d let any cart show up to their beautiful front. There was a driver and a stable hand, this means there’s a help’s entrance. It’s on the back, most likely. Saufinril redirected the horse, made it trot around the stables, behind a bigger shed on the right, and sure enough found the door. He only had to get down to open the gate, get back in, and then took the carriage back into the city.

 “It’s a borrowed gift, from a local Breton stable hand.” Saufinril explained, fixing a minor mistake on his eye. Toivon nodded slowly. Damn. The daedra work hard but this guy works harder. He should really work on his own hustle as much as Saufinril worked on his, he mused. One roll in the hay and he got lent a whole ass carriage and horse? Respect.

Saufinril applied the last pin on his hair and said, “Alright, done.”

Saufinril turned around and stood up for Toivon to see him, “And?” he was wearing a flowing silk robe, royal blue and with green and ivory intricate details around the neck, sleeves and back that he had brought from Valenwood for this night. He’d removed his earring and in its place had a silver ear cuff on his right ear, some rings, and the comb with the orchids. He’d styled and pinned his hair in a way to make it seem shorter than it was, ending past his shoulderblades instead of all the way to his lower back, with braids here and there. A very discreet dark blue and gold lined his eyes.

Toivon blinked, “S’alright.”

“Alright? Just ‘alright’?” Saufinril asked, “One is supposed to be a courtesan, the tip of the social pyramid of Artists, art themselves! One can’t just be ‘alright’!”

“Don’t you need to show more skin to be a courtesan?”

“No! What do you think a courtesan is?”

“An expensive escort?”

Saufinril blinked, “Not in the Isles, they’re not! They’re-”

“Art themselves, yes. Fine, you got me, you look divine. Exquisite.”

“Cut the sarcasm, it doesn’t look cute on you.”

“I am enthralled beyond my very being!”

“Toivon-”

“Marry me!”

“Alright, one got the message.” Saufinril turned to look in the mirror again, checking details,

“Yeah, one is ready. One looks well.”

“Come on, you do look good, and you can do this no problem. We’ll meet here when it’s all over. If anything happens, Sorcise will let me know.” Toivon extended a gold invitation, “Here’s the invitation. Are you going to drive that thing over there?”

“No, one has some money. One can hire someone downstairs for the night.” Saufinril grabbed the envelope and tucked it in the pouch inside his sleeve, along with a fan.

“Well, one better get going. Good luck.” He told Toivon

“You as well. We meet back here after midnight.” Toivon lingered for a second, seemingly about to say something, but stayed silent as Saufinril left the room.

 The estate came into view just when Saufinril was wondering if they’d gotten lost. It was some kilometers outside of city limits, with a single road lined by pine trees on either side and a lit torch here and there to provide illumination. At one point the trees and road widened to let the drivers turn left, following the roundabout at the entrance, until they got to the front of the gates. At the center of this roundabout was a wide flower bed of snapdragons, begonias, zinnias and marigolds, and at the other side of the road trees stretched far beyond the sight. Two guards awaited at the gates, checking the invitations of each of the guests before letting them in. He took a deep breath. Hopefully Toivon was already in. The carriage stopped at the very entrance, prompting Saufinril to get out, then turned to the driver.

“Thank you so much, one will be out of here at midnight.” He said

The driver gave him a nod and left. All that was left…was showtime. He walked, head high, to the guards.

“Invitation.” The one on the left said, not without a gruff in his voice. Saufinril pulled out the envelope from his sleeve and handed it to the guard, who read it quickly before handing it back and opening the door to him.

“Thank you.” With the reassurance of having passed the first obstacle, Saufinril stepped inside, noticing the rose archway with lit magic lamps that cast a serene light and guided him forwards. And after, lo and behold, Emmanuel’s manor.

This was the front garden, with topiaries of animals and beings. Lamps powered by magic, both on a stick and hanging from above, illuminated the garden. Ground flowers like liriorpes, lilies of the valley, dragon scales, blue star creepers, Mara tears, chamomile and dwarf eyes were scattered around the ground, bringing a pop of color around the paths set by a smooth, white pebble-like gravel. Some people were talking amongst themselves, walking in groups or pairs around the front garden to watch and comment the topiaries, holding a cup of wine. One woman noticed him and motioned to her husband, who turned back to look at Saufinril. Saufinril pretended like he hadn’t noticed them and walked forwards to the inside. Rialas, don’t fail him now.

Said inside was warmer and more energetic than the cool, calm, silent outside. Inside there were jugglers, a live band, a contortionist, some people dancing to the music, others chatting lively, servants going around refilling wine cups, light provided by the magic chandeliers above and the dining table pushed to one end of the room and filled to the brim with fresh fruit, candies of different shapes and sizes, at least 4 different types of cheeses, breads, pastries, boar in blueberry sauce, vegetables drizzled in olive oil and rosemary and a couple meat pies that enticed with their fresh-off-the-oven scent.

Saufinril rescued a dark-colored wine from one of the servants’ trays, and before he even began figuring out who to approach to strike conversation, a Breton man dressed in all black approached him.

“Good evening,” he said with a smile, “Have we, by any chance, met before?”

Saufinril gave him a smile that curled into a satisfied smirk and purred out, “And you are…?”

“Ah, heh. Not the answer I was expecting.” The Breton replied, earning an arched eyebrow from Saufinril. The stranger extended his hand, “Julien Beckingdale.”

Instead of shaking his hand right away, Saufinril gave his wine a gentle swirl, “Charmed.” He replied, holding the smile he hoped was a fraction as entrancing as Rialas’s usually was. Gods, if he couldn’t draw attention by being alluring and beautiful as Rialas, he hoped to at least catch attention by being mysterious.

“You are close to Monsieur Hawkcroft’s family, I assume?” he asked, lowering the rejected hand. Saufinril let his eyebrows arch and his face show some amusement, the way Rialas did when he himself asked a stupid question. “His daughter came to one and asked one to come.” He replied, “One is Cyremin of Alinor. And you are…an entertainer, perhaps?”

“An actor. Emmanuel’s daughter invited me to come, too. Seems like she was very excited to bring as many artists here as possible. I assumed you’d seen her around?”

Before Saufinril could reply, a man with a graying beard and a booming voice approached them, joyfully.

“Monsieur Beckingdale, welcome! And weren’t you spectacular in The Last Goodbye is Bid Tonight, I never cry but I have to admit, you brought me to tears!” he shook Julien’s hand, who graciously accepted the compliments. The man then turned to Saufinril, “I’m afraid I haven’t had the pleasure, but welcome to my manor!”

“Monsieur, let me introduce you. This is Cyremin of Alinor, he comes from the Isles. Monsieur Cyremin, this is our warm host, Emmanuel Hawkcroft.”

Saufinril’s smile widened. Jackpot.

“The Emmanuel! Glad one can meet you early on in the party.” Saufinril said. Alright, so maybe Rialas wouldn’t have said this, maybe he was out of character for having said that, but he had to keep some pleasantries and help Emmanuel feel like this festive-looking Altmer wasn’t going to steal his key to steal his gem.

“The pleasure is all mine. Now, I know Julien here is a talented artist…” Emmanuel said, looking at Julien, who smiled humbly.

“Please monsieur, you give me too much credit.”

“I give you the right amount. But back at the matter at hand, judging how more than a half of the present people here are artists, am I right to say that you are an artist yourself?”

“Naturally.” Saufinril said, giving a coy smirk that exteriorized more confidence than he felt, “From birth. One was born and raised and praised for it in the Isles.” If Lillandril were with him, right now, in this very same room, hearing him utter these very same words, he would probably have a laughing fit.

“You can’t expect less from an Artist of the Flesh.” Another Altmer (oh great) said when he joined the group, emerging from behind Emmanuel and standing to his right. He had one (1) single streak of gray hairs on front of his otherwise honey blond hair and a couple of wrinkles were already forming around his eyes. He had a well-kept, trimmed anchor beard and amber eyes that sweeped Saufinril’s appearance up and down, stopping on the comb with the orchids on it for a longer time.

“Oh, this is fantastic!” Emmanuel’s booming enthusiasm sounded in the background as both Altmer studied the other with cold eyes and a polite smile, “Cyremin, this is my lawyer Armellon, and it just so happens he’s from Alinor too!”

Of fucking course he is.

“Interesting. One would certainly recall seeing…you.” He’d used the pause to look at Saufinril up and down.

“Well, have you been to Alinor recently, serah?” Never in his life had he put the mental effort to remember not to do a ‘sh’ sound at words with an ‘s’ at the beginning, as he’d done his whole life. He silently congratulated himself on the Alinor pronunciation of ‘serah’ instead of slipping into his usual accent.

“One hasn’t sadly. But if you’re that young, serah Cyremin, perhaps one can meet your parents soon? They are around for supervision, yes? You musn’t be older than 82.” he briefly scanned behind Saufinril as Julien and Emmanuel talked about Julien’s play.

No, thankfully they weren’t. “One is young, yes. Fresh. New. Enthusiastic. Beautiful. Desired.” With each word, he took a step closer to the other Altmer until he was just two or three inches away from Armellon’s face, smiling like a cat does when he’s trapped a mouse in the corner and resting casually a hand on Armellon’s forearm as he whispered, “And with stamina.” Armellon might have frowned, but going one shade paler in the face didn’t escape Saufinril’s attention, who winked, removing the hand, excused himself to Julien and Emmanuel, and walked away to a group of women, internally screaming.

[lily-liegh]

So lately I’ve seen several posts about how expensive conventions have become and how this is limiting attendance rates bc fans simply can’t afford to go. And that’s valid bc conventions should be accessible to people and you shouldn’t have to starve all weekend just so you can go to a con and maybe buy two pins. There’s something wrong with that.

But there’s also something wrong with people arguing that conventions should have dirt-cheap prices or even be free. And I think people just don’t realise how expensive it is to run a convention. (Time-consuming is another fact altogether, but not a part of this post).

Conventions are expensive to run. As someone who have helped run a con for several years, including participating on the financial committee, conventions occur massive costs. And it’s not necessarily the fault of con-goers to know a con’s budget and expenses, but dismissing ticket prices because “cons just want your money and don’t care about fans” puts a lot of shade on many conventions that have higher ticket prices because of what they are offering.

So let’s run through some expenses a typical convention might have.

Primary costs:

The venue itself. Con staff must take into account the size of their convention and whether the venue will accommodate this attendance. The larger the convention, the larger the venue - you may even need multiple venues. You’ll also need to consider location - is this accessible to your general population (near public transit)? 

Printing costs. Tickets, event schedules, posters, advertising - that all costs money to print, and depending on the size of the event and attendance, you might need to print several thousand, hundred thousand, or even a million copies so as not to run out. 

Advertising. You can advertise for free on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter, but you’re also probably going to put up flyers around the city - and that’s not always free to do. If you’re advertising outside of the city too, you might be paying for transport to get out and advertise. For larger conventions, billboards and larger signage are often rented and have a monthly/yearly fee. And a website. And upkeep for the website. 

Security. The more people you have gathered in a place, the likelihood something is going to go wrong. For smaller conventions, you might just need a couple designated people to make sure attendees are treating themselves, each other, and the venue respectfully. If you’re convention has 50,000 or more people, you’ll probably need to hire security. Bad stuff happens.

Moving/storage. You won’t have the venue for the entire year, so likely you’ll need to transport all your equipment (tables, chairs, indoor/outdoor advertising, etc.) to the venue. You’ll also need a place to store the equipment for the rest of the year.

Entertainment costs:

Guests. For many conventions, this is one of the largest expenses simply because guests are not cheap and you are hosting them. You are paying for them to come to your city, visit your convention, and host panels. Thus, you are paying for every aspect of their trip. Therefore, this includes:

Hotel. If you want to make a good impression to your guest, you get them a nice hotel close to your convention. Depending on where you con is located, this could be quite pricey.

Food/drink. Again, you’ll be taking them for dinners, as what convention has time to cook their guests meals, and you should not expect guests to cook (and many hotels don’t have kitchens).

Travel. If you couldn’t find a hotel close by, you’ll probably be driving your guests to and from the convention.

Entertainment/leisure. In most cases, guests don’t stay at the con for the entire duration. They need breaks and leisure - and as their hosts, you’ll likely take them around to attractions in your city. This won’t always be a large expense, but it’s nonetheless a factor con staff must consider - and if you have multiple guests, how will you be entertaining all of them?

Sound/lighting. For every panel you go to, there are probably hundreds of wires, lights, speakers, projectors, and other equipment needed to make the panel run without a hitch. Some cons have all this equipment; others don’t, in which case you’ll need to buy/rent it. That shit’s expensive.

Giveaways. Often cons give away prizes at special ceremonies. In some cases, these items can be gifted to the con and regifted to attendees. In many more cases, the conventions purchase these prizes out of their pocket.

And many more costs, and sometimes budgeting for large expenses the convention might save up for (a large display, powerful cleaners because you often have to clean the venue spotless after the con).

Conventions are expensive.

There are ways to save money, such as not putting years on your advertising and merchandise (that way you can use it for multiple years); inviting local talented guests who would already have food/boarding and do not need to be flown halfway across the country/world; and seeking prizes and donations from local game and fan shops in exchange for perhaps giving them a table in your Artist and Vendor Alley and some free advertising.

But even with saving money, you won’t get a cheap or free convention if you expect that very same convention to host multiple guests, including overseas guests; have a large-scale event spanning multiple venues; have prizes, raffles, and other such attractions; and run seamlessly and efficiently on a shoestring budget.

Yes, not all cons price their conventions effectively. Some are for-profit and cashing in on your interest.

But many more cons are not-for-profit, locally run, and/or trying to provide you what you want while also considering what they can actually afford. 

And without decently-priced ticket prices, the convention’s largest revenue, cons can’t give you shit.

[thedeviltohisangel]

How The Night Changes//4//You Mean Everything

Olivia has a date to a gala that is not Duncan.

Warnings: physical fight, mentions of noncon acts, attempted noncon acts

my URL /writing will bring you other parts and also my series’ with Michael and Jim!

Thank you to @kellysimagines for the request!

“I was there because the President invited me, mom...Yes, Olivia was there too...No I didn’t get a chance to sweep her off her feet...Listen I have to go I’m in the middle of the grocery store, I’ll stop by before the gala tomorrow, okay? Love you too, bye.” Olivia watched him roll his eyes from where she was poking her fingers into the kitten crates, allowing them to playfully swat at her.

“Your mother wants you to seduce me?”

“Something like that,” Duncan muttered as he returned to looking at the varying kittens as he had been before his mother had called. “Did you decided on one yet? Any of them speaking to you?” Olivia had decided her new townhouse was too empty, her belongings from Paris not filling up as much space as would be necessary in order to make it a home. She decided she needed a cat to keep her company and she had enlisted Duncan’s help in accompanying her to the shelter to find. “I don’t know why you couldn’t get a dog.”

“Because I’m not home enough now to take care of one. My little kitten will be able to travel with me easier too.”

“Please do not be one of those girls that keeps her animal in her bag.”

“If that’s going to be a dealbreaker then…” She didn’t have time to run away as he lurched forward and ghosted his fingers over her ribs, the tickling sensation enough to make her squeal and attempt to curl in on herself. The volume of their laughter and their public display of affection was of no concern, the Secret Service making the shelter stay open later than usual to accommodate the special guest.

As Duncan paused to allow her to catch her breath, she noticed an orange kitten watching them intently from a crate at the bottom. Enamored, she bent down and placed her hand flat against the bars on the cage, the kitten mimicking her actions with its paw. “This one. Definitely this one. Let me go find that lady.” He watched her scurry off and bent down to assess the kitten she had chosen.

“She’s the best person to be loved by, you’re a lucky fluff ball.” All he got was a ‘meow’ in response.

“What do you think I should name her?” Olivia asked as she came back with a clipboard and a pen.

“How about something to remind you of Paris? Maybe Eiffel? You can call her Effie, for short.” He shrugged as he said it, returning to looking at the kitten while she mulled it over.

“That’s actually perfect. You’re much more sentimental than I originally thought of you.” She squatted down next to him and puckered her lips, Duncan pecking them. “Come on, you can help me carry all of her accoutrements to the car.”

When the SUVs pulled up to Duncan’s building and she made no sign of getting out he groaned.

“You’re not spending the night?”

“I have to take Effie home and get her settled. And I have to be at the White House early tomorrow for the gala. I’ll see you there though, right?”

“Yeah and if you look too good in your dress I might regret it.” She snickered as he leaned over and kiss her soundly, pulling apart with her lip between his teeth.

“Not fair! I’m not going to get to kiss you all day tomorrow.”

“The price we must pay to keep certain people out of our lives.” He opened the door and when his feet hit the pavement she called out his name.

“I love you.” The day after they had exchanged affirmations of their love on the beach, the two had murmured the words into each other’s mouth over and over before making a pact that they would only say it when they really meant it, it was not a feeling either of them took lightly.

“I love you more than you’ll ever know,” he replied. Effie meowed from her crate in Olivia’s lap. “You too Eiffel.” Duncan couldn’t help but be amused that even his girlfriend’s, if he could call her that, cat had him wrapped around her finger. “Until we meet again.”

She had spent the past few nights with him and he was unafraid to admit that he had gotten used to the feeling of going to sleep with her in his arms and waking up to her legs tangled in his. Had fallen in love with it even. As he walked into his dark apartment, her camel colored jacket over the top of his couch, he felt lonely. His bed looked cold and uninviting without her in it and his bathroom smelled bland without her rosemary scented shampoo wafting through. Duncan looked at himself and had only one blunt thought: he was fucked.

Olivia sat with Effie in her lap while her hair and makeup were being sorted for her mother’s gala to welcome the Prime Minister of Malaysia. She hadn’t heard from Duncan all day but she was buzzing with anticipation of seeing him that night. She had already fallen in love with the blue Roberto Cavalli dress that had been loaned to her for the night and she couldn’t wait for Duncan to see her in it. He had never seen her all dressed up and done up before and she hoped it would go just as the fairytale in her mind did.

A knock on the door startled Olivia out of her daydream, her mother’s head poking into the room. “Ladies, can I have a moment alone with my daughter, please?” The hairstylist placed the curling iron on the vanity, the makeup artist tucked the eyeliner into her pocket and the two walked out without even a nod.

“Do you no longer like the color I’m wearing? You said it made my eyes pop.” Olivia always expected her mother to have a criticism to present to her. She had never reached her full potential, and most likely never would, if you asked her mother.

“I need you to take a date tonight. Henry Macy. A big vote is coming up on my Equal Pay Amendment and his happiness would go a long way in getting his father’s vote.”

“Are you expecting me to...to physically persuade him?” She felt sick to her stomach over pretending to flirt with another man that wasn’t Duncan, let alone if her mother was going to ask her to ensure his happiness by any means necessary.

“We’ll see how the night goes. Thank you, sweetheart. I’m sure even your attention will make it the night of his life.” Her mother left after kissing the top of her head, Olivia no longer as exciting for the evening as she had been before their conversation.

“Duty calls, right Effie?” The women tasked with making her glamorous emerged once again and got back to work. Olivia took out her phone and sent a text to Duncan: I love you and only you. Please don’t think tonight is a reflection of something else. My mother is making me. She didn’t want him to think she was ignoring him or that her laughs and touches meant anything substantive. She was his and he was hers and Olivia was just hoping they could get through the night still in tact.

Duncan stood in conversation with his mother and a group of people, but he wasn’t listening in the slightest. He had to resist his urge to pace while he waited for Olivia to make her entrance. He had spent all of last night and all of this morning missing her and then when she had texted him his stomach had dropped. The line about her mother had lead Duncan to anticipate that she would be walking in with a man on her arm. A man that wasn’t him. The mental image had made his blood boil and he was already on his second vodka neat in preparation for the reality to be in front of him.

“Duncan, you seem so anxious. Have you overheard something detrimental?” He shook his head at his mother as he swallowed the sip of alcohol he had just taken.

“No. Just can’t wait to eat is all.” He snagged a deviled egg from a tray as it passed him as a way to emphasize his point.

“Well I am sure Clare will be arriving soon. This will be Olivia’s first big appearance at a state event. We’ll have to really read up on the media reports tomorrow, see how she can fit into our plan.” Thankfully, Annette was called over by another group and she missed the way Duncan’s face paled at the mention of his mother and uncle working her into their master plan. He had vowed to himself over and over that any capital he had within his family would be used to keep her out of their dealings.

It was when the murmur of the crowd fell to a hush then rose back up to its normal volume that he knew they had arrived. He politely pushed himself towards the front of the room where they had entered in the hopes of catching Olivia’s attention before she was whisked away for the rest of the night. Duncan saw her bare back first, his mouth running dry at the sight of her in that blue gown, her leg slightly exposed and the strapless bodice providing enough of her for him to feast on for eternity. She must have brushed something shimmering over her collarbones because he couldn’t take his eyes off the way they reflected the light. He took a step forward in order to intercept her when he noticed an arm snake around her waist. A hand press itself on the bare skin that resided between her shoulder blades. An arm that wasn’t his. A hand that wasn’t his.

He felt his grip on his glass of vodka tighten and he placed it on the nearest table in the fear he would squeeze so tight he’d break it. It didn’t matter who or what the offensive appendage belonged to but it shouldn’t be touching Olivia. Touching the bare skin of the woman he was in love with.

“Duncan! It’s so nice to see you!” His anger faded only slightly as she finally caught his eye in the crowd and made her way over to him, her shadow in tow and his hand not moving from the small of her back. “It’s been quite some time since I’ve seen you.” The sparkle in her eyes at the game she was enjoying playing almost made it more bearable.

“Too long,” he mused in response. She braced her hands on his shoulders in order to reach his cheeks to place a kiss, whispering a promise in his ear that they’d find time to be alone together later. “And who is this?” Duncan aimlessly gestured towards her date.

“Henry Macy. Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Shepherd.” Duncan wasn’t ashamed to say that he made sure to present an extra tight grip when he shook his hand, Olivia watching him intently.

“Henry’s father is the most sought after caucus member in the Senate, isn’t he?” She was doing this for Duncan’s benefit, he was sure of it. Henry looked entirely uncomfortable having the reason for his attendance be broadcast in such a blatant manner but Olivia could not care less. Clearly her warning to Duncan had done nothing to stem the tide of rage that was flowing through him. Answering his questions in non-descript ways would have to suffice until after the event was over.

“I’m sure he receives quite the sought after attention then.” The three of them chuckled politely before an awkward silence set in.

“Shall I get you something to drink, Olivia?” She opened her mouth to respond but Duncan jumped in before she could get the words out.

“Cabernet, if memory serves me correctly.” She shot him a warning glance.

“It does. Thank you, Henry.” He awkwardly placed a kiss to her hand before heading in the direction of the bar. “Duncan, you must behave. You can’t be angry at me.”

“I could never be angry with you, Olivia,” he scoffed, “It’s that prick. He has his hands all over you and it makes me seethe.”

“Anytime you feel the anger becoming too remember that you’re the only man I love.” She took a step closer to him and whispered the next part. “That you’re the only man I’ve considered letting near my-”

“If you’re about to say what I think then please do not because that will do nothing to help me cope with that-” The offensive creature returned with her glass of wine before Duncan could finish his warning.

“Thank you,” Olivia replied warmly while taking a sip and keeping her stern gaze on Duncan over the rim of her glass. He was going to excuse himself to drinking something strong and straight by himself in the corner for the rest of night when her mother approached the trio.

“Duncan, it is so nice to see you. And to see you acquainting yourself with Olivia. I’m sure she’s introduced you to Mr. Macy.” Duncan put on his best political smile and shook her hand warmly.

“An honor to be here tonight, Madame President, and to be in your daughter’s presence.” It was. That bit of his act wasn’t fake.

“I was actually just coming over here to see if my daughter had offered you a personal tour of the floor, Henry. The usual groups don’t come down here but there is still a lot to see.” Olivia’s eyes widened in fear at the thought of her mother expecting her to go on a secluded walk around the White House by herself with this man she had just meant.

“She hadn’t but if you’re willing, Olivia, I’d love to go on one.” Clare didn’t miss the way the Shepherd boys nostrils flared nor did she miss the way his hand twitched as if he was stopping himself from reaching out to her daughter. Olivia looked at Duncan in a silent plea for help but there was nothing he could do without seeming impolite or exposing their secret. He wasn’t unaware of the rumors of the Underwoods using their youthful, graceful, beautiful daughter as leverage but Duncan didn’t think he’d have to see the look of terror in her eyes as it was being asked of her. Or that he would feel a blinding rage to protect her and make sure that any person who tried to have what was his would never be able to have anything again.

“Follow me.” She made sure her hand brushed against Duncan’s as she walked away from the party.

“Stay away from her.” Duncan looked at Clare in horror at her words.

“I’m sorry?”

“You heard me, Duncan. You go near my daughter in any capacity other than for a brief exchange of pleasantries and I’ll bury you.” A biting remark about the extent of the pleasantries he and her daughter had exchanged sat on his tongue but he bit it and nodded once as she walked away from him. There was no question in his mind that the stern glare he had gotten from Olivia only moments before had been a hereditary gift from her mother.

“You know, I’ve heard about the gifts boys who come on these private tours with you get.” Olivia turned around from where she had been leading Henry down a hallway.

“Just nasty rumors. No fear,” she chuckled as she wrapped her arms around herself and continued meandering forward.

“It’s the only reason I agreed to come, Olivia, and I intend on cashing in.” He angled her towards the wall and took measured steps until her back hit against the concrete.

“Stop that. I’m not doing anything with you other than going for a walk.” She moved to get out from the bind he had her in when his hand shot out and tightened around her wrist.

“If your mother wants my father’s vote, then I need something in return.”

“Get your hands off of me,” she spoke through gritted teeth.

“Don’t fight me, Olivia. It’ll only make me go slower.” It was in that moment she realized he wasn’t going to heed her pleas. He was going to take what she wanted no matter what she said in order to stop him. When his head angled to kiss her neck she screamed and used her one free hand to push against his chest which only served him to stumble back a step or two. That was her chance to run back the way she came, her frightened tears obscuring her vision. She didn’t stop until she ran into a body, looking up to see familiar blue eyes.

Duncan looked down at her crying form, the hand shaped bruise around her wrist, and looked up to see Henry adjusting his jacket. It didn’t take him long to put it together.

“Duncan, please. Please just take me home.”

“I’ll only be a moment.” Olivia squeezed her eyes shut, afraid to turn around. “You put your fucking hands on her? Does terrifying a woman make your dick hard?” Duncan wound himself up with each step closer to Henry.

“I’m sure you know of the things people say about that little slut around here, Shepherd. About the things that mouth can do.” Duncan’s fist connected with his jaw with a satisfying snap, his body following him to the ground as he connected again. And again. And again.

It was then that Olivia rushed forward and and grabbed his arm from surging forward again. “Duncan. Duncan, stop! Please! Please, stop!” He grabbed Henry’s collar and pulled his bloodied face closer to his.

“You even look at her again and I’ll fucking kill you.” Duncan let his body drop back to the tiled floor before standing up and turning his attention to Olivia. “What hurts? Where’d he touch you?” He picked up her bruised wrist gently, replacing Henry’s touch with his own in an attempt to remove the imprint from her mind.

“Nowhere. I was running away when you were on your way down the hall.” He nodded.

“The look in your eyes before you left with him...It made me uneasy so came after you.”

“Thank you,” she whispered. He shrugged off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders.

“I’ll have the car brought around. You head out. Let me make a call to get this taken care of and I’ll be right out.” She kissed him gently with a nod, sparing Henry one last glance before exiting the scene and entrusting Duncan to make it all go away.

That night as she lay next to him in bed she couldn’t help the ache in her chest that made her feel like she needed to let go of a secret she had been holding onto for so long. Or at least she thought it had been a secret.

“It happened once. Me exchanging a physical favor in exchange for political capital for my parents.” She turned her head to look at him, tears streaking down her cheeks in the moonlight. “It’s why I moved to Paris. I couldn’t deal with the dirty feeling. The shame.” Duncan pulled her against him soundlessly.

“You’re the strongest person I know, Olivia. You’re not less than because of it.” He wanted to cry with her. Her pain was his pain and it was washing over him as she trembled slightly against his chest.

“I felt I was unworthy of happiness and love because of it. You changed that, Duncan.”

“I’m never going to let a day go by where you feel that way again, ok? You can come to me with anything. We’re stronger together, right Livy?” He bumped his nose against hers. “I’d set the world on fire for you.” And she thinks in a way that he has already set her world on fire. They just had to make sure they didn’t get burned by the flames of their passion.

[covoxori-blog]

The Foolproof Faroe Islands Visa Strategy

http://www.ivisa.com/faroe-islands-visa

Finding the Best Faroe Islands Visa Visas might be denied for numerous reasons, especially in the event that you appear to lack financial resources to see the nation, your health is of question, or in case you get a criminal record. EU citizens may apply for a work permit as a way to work with either an advance-approved employer or with an employer that doesn't hold an advance-approval. Those issues are a lot more difficult to fundraise off of.

The cost is going to be a good deal cheaper if you're not bringing a vehicle, but nevertheless, it would be rather difficult to have around Suuroy without one, so I don't suggest it. There are car rental agencies in the many towns, including international automobile rental agencies, which makes it simple to receive one. Renting a vehicle is easy and reasonably priced means of transportation.

You just need to venture around one hour from the capital to locate the charming village of Gjogv. The individual will give you with a 3-page questionnaire which you've got to answer in a little private room. Its present-day church was constructed in 1937.

Further campaigns will follow to improve the opportunity of cutting back the amount of dolphin hunts. Orcas, for instance, used to be killed here, but aren't anymore. The most important argument for whaling comes from Japan, as they possess the most significant whaling operation in the entire world.

What Faroe Islands Visa Is - and What it Is Not The right term isn't carnivore but necrivore. For over 1,000 decades, the individuals here have hunted pilot whales, and whale meat is still a significant part their diet. The other matter to notice is that even when they aren't hunting whales, their whole export business is based on fishing and the resources of the sea.

Introducing Faroe Islands Visa So it's all up to the discretion of the artist who's printing the last image to determine precisely how much grain you are interested in being able the viewer to see in the finished image. Besides the overall documentation required, accompanying should be other additional documents based on the objective of your application. The duration of the permit depends upon the length of the job.

Faroe Islands Visa and Faroe Islands Visa - The Perfect Combination It takes a while, energy and patience. Yes, your entry is currently granted. There's nothing small-scale or traditional about it.

A Startling Fact about Faroe Islands Visa Uncovered Visiting Suuroy not something you are able to tack on at the previous minute, unlike a lot of places in the Faroes that are connected through an impressive network of subsea tunnels. As a consequence, the fragile all-natural environment in some popular tourist spots have felt the impacts of the growth in visitors. Travelers must be aware of their surroundings and immediately leave the area should they feel threatened.

This calendar year, though, a different sort of protest is happening. It's a story that's practically self-written, as an easy commentary. Though some might love this, I somewhat delight in getting results from transparency film with a little color cast that is among the reasons why I choose a specific film stock.

New Step by Step Roadmap for Faroe Islands Visa It's about the $, which makes it increasingly outrageous. And I feel I couldn't do it. We are going to let you know what's true.

Get the Scoop on Faroe Islands Visa Before You're Too Late You're shunned, unwelcome, until you quit slaughtering these fellow residents of the planet. Faroese folks are well conscious of the risks related to consuming too large an amount of pilot whale meat and blubber. The hunt is clearly no longer a necessity for those islanders, but there are, in addition, some unfair misconceptions about the killings.

Getting the Best Faroe Islands Visa It's important to research visa requirements before travelling, as in some instances you have to be in possession of a visa before going into the nation and others might permit you to procure the essential visa once your arrive. There's a possiblity that the consulate will study your J1 visa application the exact same way they looked at your Visa Waiver previously. A visa doesn't guarantee entry into the USA.

American citizens who have regular passports do not have to have a visa to go to the UAE. Passport and other travel documents ought to be valid for three or more months. See If you have residency (permanent or temporary) in Denmark, you don't have any automated immigration privileges in Greenland, though you can visit for as much as 90 days without a visa even if you're a citizen of a nation that would ordinarily require one.

Accommodation in Greenland have a tendency to be pricey. For the time being, make them eat whales. Terrorists will likely attempt to carry out attacks in Denmark.

There are lots of kittiwakes here in the summertime. The 30 days to get ready for departure is permitted provided that the student maintained a complete plan of study and maintained status. The list could go on and on.

The True Meaning of Faroe Islands Visa Since then there's been talk of the nation simply leaving the body so it's going to no longer be bound by its rules. This unjust decision also has to be revoked. With respect to crime, you truly don't have too much to be concerned about in this respect.

[buscharternationwideusa]

Ultimate Guide To Miami

Confused? Where to live and what to eat in Miami. Traveling for the first time and no idea about bus traveling. Bus rental Miami is providing best guidelines.  

Planning this summer to visit Miami but you have to an idea where to stay, what to eat and how to manage all the things together? Right? These are the question roaring in your mind and you want to manage all the things in your budget.

Bear me, because I’m going to tell you everything in detail. Miami is one of the most beautiful places to visit. It is one of the calmful places to explore new things and maintain the inner peace of your mind.

Miami is famous for the vibrant street art and blue sky always take your attraction to explore nature fun. You can find out different food taste with the best severing in the vibrant plates. From the Wynwood walls to the South beach every moment spent here is the most enjoyable moment. Happiness is filled with sunshine and charm is found in the layers of water during a stay at the beach.

First of all, I will recommend traveling on bus rental Miami and they provide you the best services under a suitable budget. Not only this they provide other facilities while staying at different places in Miami.  They are friendly and provide security as well. As for me, security is the biggest concern while traveling in different places. I also experienced their traveling for bus charter New York.

Now I know what’s your next question would be…

What to do while staying in Miami?

Right?

I know such type of questions because I experienced Sam thing while exploring different Miami. I’ll mention everything that helps you explore and enjoy your trip as much as you can.

Let’s start our journey of exploring:

First visit Wynwood Walls, it is created by late Tony Goldman in 2009. With the artistic streets and international graffiti, your eyes will enjoy every single detail that is curved on the wall. To enjoy the photogenic area then you must visit Miami Design District. It is the best place for shopping as well and there are a few restaurants that provide quality food.

Here’s the best part:

To enjoy the food, South Beach Food is the best place to taste the yummy food and food flavor is so fresh. There are lots of restaurant and food point that offering food in the minimum rates and quality is their main focus. Giant cocktails can be enjoyed with the fresh taste of the burger.

To explore the vibrant place of the city then visit Havana. Cuban restaurants can be found there, and they even offered Cuban coffee and mojitos. For the accommodation, Freehand Miami and Posh South Beach are the best one. They offered different packages under suitable budgets. To avoid crowd shepley hotel is the best one. They offered free shuffle and a private room can be occupied under a suitable budget.

[mojput-mypath]

DE-TOXIN’

DOUBTING THOMAS

Since 2013, I have started to use Ayurveda as a means of healing my body. I was in India and it was easy, I could often go for check-ups and the doctor would keep changing my therapy according to need. I had one year in India, so it was a slow, yet useful process for me. I also did sessions of cranio-sacral therapy, advised by my Ayurveda doctor. I also went to see the Ayurveda eye doctor, he told me my eyesight could be improved with treatments and also gave me some mudras I could do to improve not only my eyesight but my body strength as well. I went to the Ayurveda dentist, and he told me my immunity is low, giving me chyawanprash (an immunity-booster paste), and some other powders and pastes I used to rub on my gums with honey or brush my teeth with, saving my then-rotting-tooth for about 6 months. The moment I came to Europe (different food and no more ayurvedic powders), I had to have the tooth pulled out. Ayurveda seemed to look at the body and mind and emotions as a whole, whether it was the dentist or the eye doctor, or general physician.

I have been recommended to do a “Detox” or any form of Panchakarma (ayurvedic treatments). At the time I had little money and no time and felt these are “just some massages”. I had the opportunity to visit friends in the Ayurveda hospital while they were doing the treatments and they did not seem very happy. Later they told me it was good, but you had to keep the recommended food and lifestyle in order to keep the light feeling, so I was not very impressed.

Even though many of you might think of me as: “Well, there’s a true believer”. I am super sceptical and believe things only when I have myself experienced them.

Even then, in 2013, the doctor was telling me to go to the hospital for treatments, but it took me another 5 years before I actually did it. I needed some persuasion. I went to see Ayurveda doctors regularly all these years, taking supplements and following the eating and lifestyle habits as much as I could at the given time. I trusted their advice more and more, as I saw that the more I followed the recommendations, the better I felt.

At a particular moment I was following ALL the advice of the doctors. Yet, I was still unwell. Some things were not getting resolved. The last two years, every time an Ayurveda doctor “checked my pulse”, the reaction was: You must do a Detox. I have already formed an opinion on these “Detoxes” and thought they were just too expensive, in India, as it is far away, including travel expenses, or in Europe where it was far too much for my budget.

I started to think Ayurveda is quite useless, so what should I do? As I came to trust it more and more, I knew that I would probably just do it one day. My doubts were about how expensive it was, whether it was really so useful and is it more like a spa holiday, rather than healing the body. Could it really help?

TOX-IN -> TOX-OUT

I knew I in-toxified quite a lot as a kid, and knowing that toxins are not only chemicals brought in from the outside, but also that the body creates toxins out of stress, mental or emotional. I knew that, if not choosing allopathic medicine, this would have to be it. Five days of “Detox”, here I am.

I will not share all the details here, as it is an experience to have on one’s own, but I will attempt to depict what I felt in a most non-spoiler manner. It started off kind of easy, I had physical sensations for sure, but nothing that I have not already experienced during all the harmful intoxication I did, now many years ago. I went through all of them, and somehow it was not so difficult for me. I took this time to really not do anything, and I took care that others would not involve me in any work discussions.

To be totally honest, I had to hide a little to make the point of people understanding I needed some alone time. It worked! I felt gentle, soft, sensitive, fragile, yet took good care that I don’t bring more stress than needed into the experience. I noticed a few things, how emotions come suddenly and wildly, and disappear in the same speed, like nothing ever happened. I also noticed how my mind was craving for entertainment. How easily we fall into watching TV, listening to music, chatting, without ever giving some rest to the mind. Mind is like a magnet, searching constantly for something to stick on and be amused by, and in the end gets worn out, tired easily.

WEIRD MAGICAL SUPER-HERBS; YAY!

I said not to spoil too much, and I am sure you could Google what is done in Panchakarma (I am guessing what we do here in Germany is just some parts of it), but let me tell you about my own experience. On the first days, you take some herbs. Magical super-herbs that drain all the toxins from your body. I could actually feel them work inside me! How amazing is that? You take a small amount, a mixture of herbs, that pull all the toxins out of your system! How simple! Of course, the doctor decides what exactly to take, what amount, when, for how long, etc. These days I had the time to allow the process to happen in my body and during that time I was allowed, or encouraged to colour pictures, more specifically, mandalas. 

:::Lovely materials:::

In the process, which I absolutely loved, and coloured-in quite a few, revealed for me many insights. I felt how artists must feel when creating. Allowing the creativity to flow while practicing and practising and practising (whether music, or painting or knitting or anything else). I had so much more focus and awareness of the colours, the shapes. I could feel the nuances and allow my fingers to choose the next colour and my eyes to flow to the next area I would colour. I saw nuance and knew contrast. I felt the beauty of doing and doing. Just doing. Not waiting or struggling to finish. I enjoyed every single moment. The little details of working with coloured pencils vs. markers. How they both reacted with paper, and print. How the more you press the colour pencil, the more colour will come out. But the more you press, the more your hand hurts soon after, so you can sometimes use layers, and sometimes press. Colouring was like a dance with myself. Beauty yet undiscovered.

:::Bed exhibition:::

MY BUDDY BODY

Another point that was completely re-discovered for me, was the relationship with my body. The Ayurveda (Ayur-veda: knowledge of life) Detox is made in such a way that treatments are given together with advice or rules of conduct. The entire time you are supervised by therapists as well as the doctor and provided with everything you might need. Yet, to use the rules to your benefit, you must listen very carefully to your body. With surgical precision, or awareness. If you go too much in one direction, you are in trouble. If you indulge your craving, you are in trouble. If you suppress whatever is coming, physical or mental or emotional, you are in trouble. Being in trouble just means it creates a little more discomfort for you, it can be avoided if you really put all your attention on the body.

The doctor gives instructions in every given moment and can help you get out of trouble and explain how things work, but it is about you, you are the only one who can really feel and know your own body. No-Body can know Your-Body better than you. It brings total awareness and complete responsibility. Such a mind-blowing setting, Ayurveda, you rock!

One more thing I could observe during this time is to see and feel and make use of my body as if it were a temple. This we usually mention when talking about sex, and for sure, this attitude should be applied. With food, and what we use on the body as well – yes, my body is as sacred as a temple; How much do I love it, appreciate it, how much care do I have for it? What kind of food do I take? What creams do I use? My body is sacred! I just looooove this God-given-gift! I want to take good care of it. It is my personal temple.

:::The view from my little sanctuary:::

THE AYURVEDA DETOX IS AMAZING

Then there are more things that are included in the detox, but I would not like to spoil anyone’s surprise. I wondered during this time, whether there is any kind of detox program in Western medicine? One that has no harmful side-effects for other than the body system that is being detoxified? Is there a wholesome detox at all? I do use Western-based medicine for short-term solutions, like a blocked nose, migraine pain, blood results, x-ray and similar.  I do trust it with some miraculous modern discoveries, like prosthetics, by-passes, organ-donation-based procedures. But I would not put my entire health in the hands of mostly invasive treatments. I have made use of it, and in many cases it has helped acutely, but not long-term. Too soon to tell yet, and of course, I have been using natural medicine for most of my problems for years to keep them in balance. It is to be seen how it will come out in the long run.

In short, I would recommend the Ayurveda Detox itself, along with all other Ayurveda practices, as non-invasive, individual body-aligned and deeply purifying. I am ever so grateful for the much-needed rest, for the silent observation of my own body, mind and emotions and for the truly spiritually enriching experience it also provides.

I cannot recommend anything I have not experienced myself. In the internet provider shop I used to work, I  would honestly tell people - if they lived in an area where the Internet was crap - that the Internet was crap. People loved my honesty and would often buy the packages just because they felt safe. Definitely true that my experience is my own, and that is only what I can share here.

As per the money issue, I just had a conversation with someone who payed 12,000$ for a three-week detox. That is around 500€ per day, for three weeks! Ayurveda Detox in Bad Antogast is a short 3 or 5 or 7 days program, it is less than 200€ per day (depends also on your accommodation preferences), includes food, treatments, care and all other details mentioned above. My budget must afford it! For the naturalness of the processes, the purity of the products used and the care the staff provides, I now feel it is cheap! Affordable, at the least. This is how much I love my body! This is how much Ayurveda is effective!

I feel like a new-born baby, with all the capabilities and faculties of a healthy and strong grown-woman. Ever so pure again…

:::A little tired still from the process, but undoubtedly calmer and happier:::

[idolimmigration]

10 REASONS TO BE IN HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

Thinking to join the Hospitality industry, but you would want to research more before diving yourself into it. You’ve stumbled upon the right place. We will not only discuss the job seekers, but also the entrepreneurs who seek to join the hospitality industry.

In this article, we are going to cover the good “5 reasons why Hospitality jobs are great” in detail and we will also cover “the top 5 business ideas in the hospitality industry”.

Before proceeding further, let's know the meaning of the term “hospitality”. It means “treating guests and strangers in a warm, friendly, generous way”. If you’re not enthusiastic enough and not emphatic about your guest then you might want to work yourself before indulging yourself in this profession.

Let's begin with…

5 reasons why Hospitality jobs are great

• Good Perks  You get a chance to meet celebrities and then later you could show it off to your friends and families. Didn’t I tell you about all the fancy food which you’ll get to have once you get into the hospitality industry.

• Bye-bye to the boring routine of 9-5

If you’re that kind of person who doesn’t love your job and its routine makes it even worse. You may consider shifting to the hospitality industry. If you’re aiming to work in this industry it does not involve the mundane routine of 9-5. It might be more than just 9-5. An erratic working schedule would pay you more along with some great perks.

• Better pay

The hospitality industry is all about how passionate are you about making someone’s day. The more passionate you are, the higher will be your salary. This is the reason why the hospitality industry hires people who are vibrant and lively.

• Job satisfaction

Feedback makes life even better regardless of the negative and positive the feedback is. Either way, it will give you more scope to work on yourself. With better pay along with great perks, unlike those regular nine-to-five jobs. You’ll get a great sense of job satisfaction which makes your life more fun.

• Travel and explore

You get to travel to exotic places nationally and internationally as well. If you work in a hotel that has large chain hotel operations you get to travel the places which could bring more carrier opportunities such as travel blogger, or even vlogger, or you could consider photography as well.

In the next segment, we are going to proceed with how to own the industry which is the best business idea and opportunities in the hospitality industry.

5 Business ideas in the Hospitality Industry

• Hotel business

The major part of the hospitality industry is a hotel. With people traveling from one place to another, they need a place to stay. The place doesn’t have to be extravagant. You'll have to keep this mind that what does a tourist want? Just a decent place to rest and of course food. You could start with a small business with a bed and breakfast which will attract the tourist.

• Travel Agency

Travel agency makes the necessary arrangements on the behalf of hotels, or airlines for travellers. Arrangements such as accommodation, transportation, and tours. For attracting tourist, you can also provide services like car rentals and taxi service along with travel agency.

• Translation Service

With people coming closer and roaming places, there’s only one major problem which they face is the language barrier. Speaking different languages is lucrative not only for you but for your business as well.

• Restaurant or coffee shop

If you have good knowledge of food and beverage or have no knowledge at all. You still open a restaurant by simply hire someone. Opening a restaurant in a place where most the tourist visit would be beneficial. You don’t have to start with a large restaurant, start with small ones to capture the market. ��

• photographer or videographer

Some people travel to make memories and some are travel to post on their social media. Either way, the Photographer has a win-win situation. You have to be very artistic about your skills because everyone can take pictures with their phone. You have to know photoshop skills to take a cool picture and grow your business.

Working in the hospitality industry, your every day is not going to be the same which we have discussed earlier. It allows you to explore, travel to different locations, and also meeting with diverse faces. It's not an as easy job as it seems. It requires a lot of dedication and patience to deal and communicate with people. You get to meet a lot of people who do not only have diverse backgrounds but also have diverse attitudes. Some will be impressed and some will be disappointed, but you try hard to focus on the former one, always.

Treat people with kindness and empathy in this profession and otherwise as well.

[ghchgc]

The mini tablet has lots of graphics processing power

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