#One of the four was an impressive new renovation

[archivistic]

I've been doing conference then vacation travel for two weeks at this point, but don't worry, I've found four libraries so far.

[selfaware-bungou-stray-dogs]

Hello, for the event (congratulations) may I request chuuya, kunikida and Nikolai please. Were they are protesting reader (gn adult) from people trying to kill them please

Thank you 💖

If you were not alone

Part VII

Characters: Self-Aware! Chuuya Nakahara, Self-Aware! Doppo Kunikida, Self-Aware! Nikolai Gogol

Reader: GN! Adult! Reader

Warning: English is my second language

🍷🤡📒 Whoever were responsible for getting you four in Teyvat made a terrible job in pinpointing locations. Because, somehow, all of you ended up on Vanessa's tree.

After some struggling, you four were on the ground, unharmed. Unfortunately, someone of you scared Dr. Edith (you aren't sure, if it was the landing itself, Nikolai's jokes, Chuuya's curses, Kunikida's demands of " be serious, you two" or your attempts to make everyone calm down), making her ran away. Your first impression on locals already weren't good.

Still, it wasn't the reason to stay in the wilderness. You four decided to go to Mondstadt, and ask for help.

🍷🤡📒 The walk wasn't that bad. Weather was good, Kunikida was talking about what he knew about survival in the wilderness, just in case, if you need to camp outside.

Then, something strange happened.

You have met Chloris. You thought, that you got lost and wandered too far from Mondstadt. But, the girl bowed before you, and, with "Star born All-Creator, I was ready to go to the Cathedral, and gave you today's offerings! Thank you for gracing me with your presence. Let me gave you my offerings to you right now."

Chloris particularly shoved a bouquet of windwheel asters into your hands, bowed again and skipped away, before any of you can react.

Chuuya raised an eyebrow.

"Mmm... [Y/N], My Symphony... Do you have any idea, what happened?"

You shake your head.

"No... And I have a bad feeling about it."

🍷🤡📒 Good news, you didn't get lost, Chloris simply get too close to Mondstadt, that she usually did in the game. You reached Cider Lake in ten minutes after meeting with the girl. Bad news, you were 'welcomed' with a pitchfork mob, with shouts of "Imposter! You and your sinful servants will be purged with holy fire!"

Kunikida, Chuuya and Nikolai, probably, could ignore the mob's treats, if they were aimed only at them. But, threats towards you were the biggest mistake, people of Mondstadt could have made.

Kunikida stayed near you, while Chuuya and Nikolai were creating chaos in the crowd.

At the end, you four left, and Mondstadt city required a major renovation.

🍷🤡📒 Before you could leave Mondstadt region, Albedo found you. You get a lot of valuable information from him and camp equipment. The journey won't be an easy one. You wanted to left Chloris's bouquet with Albedo, asking him to bring flowers to the church of that mysterious Creator, but the alchemist refused. He insisted, that you should keep it. That that bouquet, prays, everything, that people brought to the church and Ivory Throne should have been yours.

You were sure, that Albedo was mistaken about you. You weren't Creator.

Right?

You will think about it later.

You have an Alice to catch with.

Four of you left Mondstadt.

__________________

Your friends saved you three times...

__________________

🍷You were in Liyue. You four were camping in the wilderness. And everyone were doing their best. You were careful. And you always have either Chuuya, or Nikolai, or Kunikida near you.

You and Chuuya were trying to gather food. While you were trying to catch fishes, Chuuya was trying to catch a boar. You don't know, how far Chuuya went, but, he was far enough to not notice Beidou immediately.

Claymore of Crux's captain was pressed against your neck. She bared her teeth.

"Got you, Sinner..."

Chuuya, with a loud yell, dropped from above, landing close to you. He immediately grabbed you, saving from the crumbled earth under your feet. Beidou wasn't that lucky. She fell down, buried under rubble and earth. You can see, how she tried to claw her way up. Still, it will take her a few hours to get back on the surface.

Chuuya picked you up, running with you towards the camp. The familiar red glow of "Upon the Tainted Sorrow" covered you both.

"Sorry, [Y/N], for being late. Are you okay?"

You nodded, leaning your head on Chuuya's shoulder.

"Yes. Thank you for saving me".

///////////

📒 Beidou's defeat leads her to have a number of serious injuries. It also robs you from the chance of getting to Inazuma. According to Xingqiu, you four had to travel in empty crates, hiding, until the ship reach Inazuma. And Crux's captain will be fine with taking shipping crates without looking into them, if Feiyun Commerce Guild require not to touch them. But, the team refused to sail without Beidou and other ships have stricter rules.

So, you went to Sumeru.

Everything was fine.

Nahida tried to help you. Collei went against Tighnari's orders to help you (Kunikida, as a 'thank you', helped her with mathematic).

And, yet, you were discovered. And gad to flee.

You don't know, in Tighnari supposed to be in Apam Woods.

But he was here, it was raining, and you had to be cautious both of his arrows and Bloom reaction.

You hardly managed to jumped away from the Dendro Core explosion, and Tighnari already had the next arrow ready.

Kunikida, who threw the next forest ranger on the ground, finally had a moment to grab a prepared list from his notebook from his pocket. Kunikida barked.

"Back off from My Ideal! The Matchless Poet: stun gun!"

With one hand, Doppo grabbed you by the collar and yanked behind him, with the second hand, he aimed and fired.

Electricity stan Tighnari, and forest rangers, that stood near him. Nearest Dendro Cores turned into a Sprawling Shot.

The commotion gave you four a good opportunity to ran away.

When you were somewhat safe, Kunikida checked on you.

"You weren't stunned, [Y/N]?" Kunikida was panicking. You reassuringly pet his shoulder.

"I am fine, thanks to you."

////////////

🤡After Sumeru come Fontaine. Melusines were real sweethearts, letting you four stay in Merusea Village. Nikolai with his magic tricks became a new star for melusines. Furina, who, with Navia, helped you with getting here, confessed you, once, that she would like to see Nikolai's performance on Opera Epiclese's stage.

Melusines supposed to keep your stay a secret. Yet, somehow, Lyney, Lynette and Freminet learned about you four.

Were it Freminet, who was diving near the village, who got a glimpse of you?

Were it illusionists duo, who saw, how some melusines tried to re-create Nikolai's tricks?

It doesn't matter "how".

What matters, that you were captured. On Opera Epiclese's stage, with Freminet, Lyney and Lynette not letting you escape. You saw people of Fontaine, sitting in the audience, waiting for your demise, for Arlecchino's and Neuvillette's arrival.

Yet, different people arrived.

In a golden-white tornado, Nikolai appeared. Chuuya and Kunikida, who arrived with him, fall on the stage, still not experienced with traveling by "The Overcoat".

"IT'S SHOWTIME! ASSISTANT DOPPO?" Nikolai's voice echoed through the Opera.

Everyone was stunned. Kunikida stand up, glared at Nikolai, but took a small MP3 Player from his pocket and pressed "Play". Sounds of "Entry of the gladiators" filled the air.

Chuuya tried to release you from your bindings. While Nikolai...

"QUIZ TIME! WHAT MUST BE QUICK RIGHT NOW?"

Nikolai, with a mad grin, disappeared again. With an explosion of confetti and streamers (they were probably made of documents, angry at Neuvillette melusines gave Nikolai), he appeared behind Lynette. He leveled her with a frightful, delightful roundhouse kick that made Nikolai's cape whip about whilst he circled.

"RIGHT! YOUR THINKING!"

Nikolai disappeared again, leaving behind confetti, streamers and a broken jaw.

"HEY, DRIVER BOY, WANNA GO FOR A MARRY-GO-ROUND RIDE?"

Nikolai grabbed Freminet by the legs and swung him at Lyney. Males collide with a terrific meaty smack.

Nikolai, with his makeshift weapon, disappeared. And reappeared in the audience.

Making several three-hundred-and-sixty-degree swipes, Nikolai sent people tumbling all around him, and then he tossed away Freminet on unconscious Lynette, jumping over the heap of bodies that were piled around him.

Nikolai returned to the stage, bowing.

"Ah, what a nice performance..."

Then he immediately grabbed your shoulders, take a good look at you, and hugged you.

"Are you okay, Birdy? They didn't hurt you, right? Should I hit them more?"

You quickly shushed him.

"Everything is fine, Kolya. You made it in time."

_________

And then you sawed them.

_________

🍷📒🤡 You knew, that Neuvillette and Arlecchino were on their way. But you hopped, that you will leave Opera before they arrived.

You weren't that lucky, so you four had to fight again.

Chuuya was a literal tank in your group, dealing with the strongest attacks.

Kunikida's stun gun made a good weapon against Neuvillette's hydro attacks.

Nikolai, with "The Overcoat" and, this time, with unconscious Luney, gave a hard time to Arlecchino.

You were tried. You wanted to go home.

Your emotions reached its peak.

Portal appeared under your feet.

______________

🐾 BSD Cast expected, that you four can be anywhere. They don't expect you four appeared in the barn. With two unconscious people on the floor. With Nikolai, hitting a strange woman with a third unconscious person. With Kunikida, aiming a stun gun at said woman. With Chuuya, protecting you from the said woman. And with a circus music playing.

🐾 It took time to calm everyone down, to find a place to lock Arlecchino and House of Hearth's siblings. And then you four start talking.

🐾 Perhaps, one day, you will return to Teyvat. You have people to help here

__________

Tag list: @withered-blossoms , @myluckymoon @cocodrilofeliz @c4xcocoa @vvyeislazzy @whisperingwinters @nervousinfluencertidalwave @ayameshu

[boinkingbattlemechs]

Incubus

Inner Sphere analysts were stumped trying to determine the purpose of the second-line BattleMech they assigned the code name Vixen after sighting it among the garrison forces of Clan Jade Falcon. The Incubus, as it is known among the Clans, is somewhat expensive for a light garrison 'Mech, which confused Spheroid observers until they understood how important one-on-one duels were in Clan culture and how often they occurred among bored garrison troops. The Incubus is a 'Mech that is often used in such Trials, especially because it is easy to turn off weapons to effectively balance the 'Mech's strength with that of an augmented Elemental. Despite its purpose, the Incubus does show up in some second-line forces as well and is highly regarded in all roles it serves.

Following Clan Hell's Horses recapture of Tokasha MechWorks Alpha, and inspired by Clan Diamond Shark's "Phoenix" renovation of older designs, the Hell's Horses developed a new version of the venerable design incorporating newer weapons technology to expand their BattleMech strength. Though visually different, the core purpose of the 'Mech remains intact, especially useful given the Horses Elemental-heavy touman. This visually refreshed Incubus also appealed to Clan Ice Hellion, who developed their own variant of it, examples of which fell into the hands of Clans Cloud Cobra and Star Adder following the Hellion's ill-fated trade mission to Tanis prior to the Wars of Reaving.

Part of the Inner Sphere observers' confusion around the garrison role of the Incubus is its use of an expensive 270-rated XL engine, endo steel frame, and five and a half tons of ferro-fibrous armor. While seemingly expensive for a "mere" garrison 'Mech, this gives the Incubus impressive performance for a light 'Mech, as well as an aggressive profile despite its weight, a distinct psychological advantage for its pilots.

The Incubus is armed with primarily medium-range weaponry. A large pulse laser is accurate and covers a respectable range, mounted in a semi-modular "rifle" in the standard version's right arm. Similar to such classic designs as the Wolverine and BattleMaster, the "rifle" placement makes both repair and modification of this weapon extremely easy and rapid. The Hell's Horses upgraded version replaces the "rifle" with a forearm mounted pod instead, but retains the same semi-modular nature for this reason.

The arm-mounted primary weapon is supported by over the shoulder light weapons clusters in each side torso. A pair of ER medium lasers are solid backup weapons, while four machine guns are highly effective against unarmored infantry. A half ton of machine gun ammunition and 10 double heat sinks are more than adequate for Clan Trials.

[geralt-of-baevia]

Call It What You Want: Chapter Eight

Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four | Chapter Five | Chapter Six | Chapter Seven | Chapter Eight

pairing: nobreakout!joel x f!ofc (Violet Fletcher)

rating: explicit, MDNI 18+

word count: 3.7k

summary: Seeking solace from a painful breakup, Violet relocates to a tranquil town, purchasing a neglected house to renovate. In her new neighborhood, she befriends Harlow, who introduces her to Joel, a gruff and seasoned contractor with a heart of gold. Despite Joel's initial grumpiness, Violet finds herself drawn to his expertise and hidden kindness.

As Violet immerses herself in home renovations alongside Joel, their dynamic begins to shift, with Joel unexpectedly opening himself up to the possibility of love. Their budding relationship faces challenges as shadows from their pasts emerge, testing their newfound connection.

warnings/tags: alright folks. dirty talk, softdom!joel, hung!joel, kitchen sex, nipple/breast play, vaginal fingering, p-in-v sex, unprotected p-in-v sex, one pussy slap, oral sex/cunnilingus (female receiving), size kink, consent king joel miller, baby. 😎

a/n: uhhh, maybe after you read this I'll have some water waiting for you to cool down? bahahaha, just kidding. but man, these two finally get freaky and thank GOD. 😈

The next week flew by faster than I realized. Joel and I dove headfirst into the house. While he was fixing things like the roof and crown molding, I was alternating between painting rooms and baking pies for taste testing. 

It turned out Harlow was right, Frank and Bill loved my croissants and asked me to bake them a few pies to try. They just used frozen pies, but for years had been wanting to have homemade ones instead. Once Joel mentioned that damned apple pie I made the day he came over to them, they knew they wanted to potentially sell them at the diner. 

Saturday afternoon, Bill and Frank, along with Joel and Harlow, all got together to taste tested the four pies I made. Apple, banana cream, lemon meringue and cherry. I figured those four gave a range and variety to show off my skills. The chorus of ‘oos’ and ‘ahhs’ rang throughout Bill and Frank’s dining room. I giggled to myself, hiding my smile behind my hand. I had forgotten how much I loved making food and it making people happy. 

“Goddammit, Violet. Where did you learn to bake like this?” Bill asked in his gruff voice, greedily cutting a piece of the lemon meringue to try next. 

“Now I can understand why you said Joel was eye fucking that apple pie. This is fucking amazing, Vi,” Harlow mumbled through a mouthful, causing Joel to choke on his bite. Frank and Bill broke out into giggles at her statement, Joel blushing as he coughed. 

“Violet, how many pies a week can you bake?” Frank asked, putting his fork down and wiping his mouth with a napkin. I sighed and stared off into the corner, mentally doing the math. 

“Well, we can do this. What I did at my bakery was prepare pies in advance and then each morning I would bake the pie before opening the shop, like when I would also bake the bread and stuff. Then give it time to rest before serving. So what if I prepare two of each pie you’d like me to make, I’ll freeze them raw. Then we can see how quickly you go through those pies to know what is the most popular and what you go through the fastest,” I rambled, “But to answer your question straight I can bake four pies a day and prepare like 8 a day.”

“Violet, I’m very impressed with you,” Frank told me, a beaming smile on his face, “that plan sounds great. We can talk about costs in private.”

I giggled. “I respect your professionalism Frank, but I’m just going to tell Harlow and Joel any way. How much were you thinking per pie?”

“$50 a pie? And make whatever flavors you know sell, I trust you on that,” he said with a friendly wink. “Will you make five different flavors? 10 pies total? Would you be willing to do half of the payment now and the other half when you deliver them?”

“That sounds perfect, Frank. And you two are welcome to keep these pies I made,” I said with a smile. 

“The hell they are. This pie is coming home with me,” Harlow said, grabbing the apple pie and putting it next to her plate. We all chuckled. 

The following evening I stood and stared at my kitchen, it was a complete mess. I was a complete mess. Flour, sugar and various fruits were all over me and had stained my hands. I had only cut myself once, which was a miracle. But six pies sat in my freezer ready and done. I had obviously miscalculated to Frank how long it would take me to prepare the pies, but I had to remind myself I was a little rusty and used to working with an assistant. 

I made two cherry, two pecan and two apple. Tomorrow would be banana crème and chocolate creme. But for now, I needed to be done. It was almost 8pm, and I had been going since noon. I began to clean up, but then I heard that all too familiar knock at my door. 

It was Joel. 

I didn’t care if I was a mess or the kitchen at this point with him. When I opened the door, Joel’s hand was up, me interrupting his second knock.

“What happened to you?” He asked, looking me up and down. 

“I’ve been baking pies all day,” I told him. His eyes lit up. “No, that doesn’t mean there’s any pie for you. You just had some last night and if you want anymore you’ll have to wait until you buy some from Frank at the diner.” 

His eyes grew wide. My words came out harsher than I meant them. “Wow, I’m sorry I-”

“No, no, I’m sorry, Joel. I’m just very tired and frazzled and I need to clean the kitchen and shower-”

“Well if you let me in, I’ll clean the kitchen for you while you shower,” he offered, raising his eyebrows at me. I sighed. 

“That would actually be wonderful,” I stated. I let Joel in and we both headed to the kitchen. 

“Oh this isn’t that bad at all, I’ve got this,” he told me. I watched in amazement as Joel went over to the sink and put my dark green apron on before collecting dishes off of the table. He looked up at me and gave me a smirk. “Go, shower and don’t worry about this.” 

“Thank you,” I told him. He gave me a wink, and with that I turned around and headed up the stairs. I took a longer shower than normal, just basking in the heat of the water, almost forgetting that Joel was there. 

When I was done showering, I dried off and got dressed in pajamas in my room. I threw on a pair of pajama shorts and an oversized sweater. In the shower I had decided to ask Joel to stay over. Part of me felt like he wanted to, coming over at eight at night. 

I headed back downstairs and to my surprise, Joel had not only cleaned the kitchen, but had food waiting for us to eat together on the table. Joel looked up from the fridge as I entered, wine in his hand.  My eyes started to well up at the sight. 

“Hi,” I moused out with a smile. I bit at my bottom lip as Joel set the wine down on the counter and walked over to me. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close as I placed my hands on his chest.

“How was your shower?” 

“It was nice. Joel, this is so wonderful. You didn’t have to-”

“Maybe not, but I wanted to,” he said with a scrunch of his nose. I quickly wiped tears away from under my eyes with the sleeves of my sweater. 

“Why?” 

He chuckled, shaking his head at me in amused disbelief. 

“Because Violet, you deserve it. You said last night that you were going to be baking all day, and when you texted me earlier saying you were on your last pie I went and picked up food for us. It’s what Harlow said she sees you order all the time,” he said with a smile. My heart felt like it was swelling in my chest. I just beamed up at him, speechless at his actions. The way he continued to take care of me amazed me. He did it just because he wanted to, not because he had to. 

“So, I thought we’d eat this and have a glass of wine and then-”

Without another thought, I cut Joel off mid sentence. I reached up and grabbed his face to pull him down into a deep kiss. I needed to kiss him. To touch him. 

Joel reacted immediately, his hands eagerly grabbing at any part of me he could. I felt one of his hands sneak up under my sweater. Soon it found what it was searching for, cupping my breast. I moaned against his mouth as his rough fingertips found my nipple, pinching and twisting it. His other hand slinked down my shorts and grabbed at my ass, keeping me close.

My mouth broke away from his to breathe as he planted sloppy, needy kisses down my neck. 

“Fuck Joel,” I panted out. He removed his hand from my shorts and released my tit, much to my dismay. Joel picked me up under my ass, my legs wrapping around his waist, all while still kissing and biting at my neck. My arms clutched onto his shoulders as I felt him walk me backwards. Soon my ass was placed on the counter to sit. I wrapped my legs around him tighter, rubbing my throbbing core against his hardening cock. 

His hands tugged at the bottom of my sweater and I lifted my arms above my head so that he could take it off. He looked me over for a second, a wicked smile playing on his face. 

“God, you’re beautiful,” he said as his eyes took me in. His hands reached up and cupped both of my tits, massaging them roughly and causing fire to spark between my thighs again. I placed my hands on either side of Joel’s head and guided his face to between my tits. 

He took in a deep breath, breathing me in before kissing and biting at still damp skin. I let out a loud cry as he pinched both my nipples at the same time. He removed one of his hands and replaced it quickly with his mouth. I clutched onto him as he bit and sucked at my nipple, still twisting the other one in his fingertips. 

“Joel…” I whined out through a moan. I had never felt so needy, the space between my legs aching. He looked up at me, my nipple still between his teeth. I watched with quick breaths as he released it from his mouth, my nipple now swollen and peaked. He reached around and hooked his thumbs under my knees, prying me off of him. I watched confused for a moment as he knelt down, but then I realized what he was doing. 

Joel reached up and grabbed at the waistband of my shorts. He tugged them down as I lifted my ass up, discarding them to the side. My breathing became shallow as he spread my legs apart, he was now eye level with my aching, wet pussy. 

“Fuck, Vi…” he said, his eyes turning dark with lust at the sight before him. 

I leaned back on my hands, bracing myself against the cold quartz of the countertop. He began to kiss at the inside of my thighs, making his way painstakingly slow towards my core. Joel placed one of my knees over his shoulders and pulled my ass a little closer to the edge. 

Joel hovered over my pussy and I felt like I was going to explode if he didn’t touch me. Moans formed in the back of my throat as he kissed the outside of my slit, crying out as he began biting lightly at my pussy lips. My mouth gaped open as I watched him slide his strong nose between my slit, the tip of it hitting my clit and causing me to cry out again. 

Joel looked up at me, a cheeky grin on his stupid, sexy face.

“You like that, Vi?” he asked, kissing the inside of my thigh. Before I could answer, he did it again. When I didn’t answer him soon enough, I was shocked when he slapped my pussy, causing a surge throughout my body. 

“I asked you, did you like it?” he questioned again, his voice stern now. “I expect an answer when I ask you questions.” 

“Y-yes.” 

“Yes, what?” 

“Yes, I liked it,” I replied through heavy breaths . He smiled. 

“Good girl.”

Before I had anytime to respond, he dipped his tongue into my slit and swiped his tongue against my clit. 

“Fuuuuuck, Joel,” I whined out. He smiled to himself before dipping in, this time burying his face in my pussy. My arms buckled and I fell back against the countertop, catching myself on my elbows. 

He pulled away for a moment to mutter out how I ‘tasted so good’ before diving back in. I reached down with one of my hands and raked it through his hair, gripping at it. 

Joel began to suck on my clit, causing my hips to instinctively grind against his face. He moaned against me, causing that familiar tension to build between my legs. I knew what was coming, but I wasn’t ready. 

“Joel-Joel I’m gonna-”

Before I could finish my sentence he gripped onto me tighter, his strong arms locking my legs into place. He moaned again against my clit, alternating between licking and sucking on it. 

“Joel-Joel-“

In a matter of seconds I was peaking, shockwaves causing my body to convulse with my loud orgasm. Joel continued to circle his tongue around my clit as I came, letting me ride it out. 

I laid back against the counter, my breathing heavy as I was still reeling. Joel got to his feet and pulled me up off of my back, and against his warm chest. He leaned down and kissed me hard, feeling myself get turned on again already as I tasted myself on his tongue.

“But, I wanted you to-”

“Do you think I’m done with you?” he practically growled low in my ear. My eyes grew wide and without another word, he picked me up. I relaxed against him as he led us out of the kitchen, my legs still feeling like dead weight. 

My heart began to race again as he ascended the stairs, heading straight for my bedroom once he hit the landing. Once in my room, he set me down on my bed. I immediately reached out and began undoing his belt. While I undid that and his jeans, Joel began working on the buttons on his shirt. At almost the same time we got done. He pulled off his shirt and discarded it to the side before pulling down his jeans and boxers, kicking them off. 

My eyes grew wide. Joel was much bigger than I had expected. I reached out and wrapped my right hand around his cock. He let out a sigh of relief as I began stroking him. 

“God, you’re so big,” I told him, looking at him through hooded eyes. 

“Hmm, I can’t wait to fuck that pussy of yours,” he said, his eyes closing in pleasure. His head fell back as I quickened my pace, moans escaping his parted lips. 

I stopped the movements with my hand and released him from my grip. His head snapped back down, looking at me intensely. I bit at my lip as I scooted back on the bed, laying so that my head was at my pillows. Anticipation rippled through my chest as he kneeled onto the bed and started crawling towards me. 

Once Joel was hovering over me, he leaned down and crashed our lips together again. I wrapped my limbs around his naked frame and pulled him down on top of me. Joel moved to lay to the side of me, and I met his eyes with a curious expression. 

“Spread your legs for me,” he said. I followed orders, bending my knees and letting them fall to the sides,  one of my legs resting on Joel’s thighs. 

I watched as his right hand trailed down my torso, my chest rising and falling as my breathing sped back up. 

“Joel, it’s been a long time since I’ve had any-”

“Shhh, don’t worry. We’re going to get you nice and ready for my cock.” He slipped his hand down to my pussy and grabbed it, massaging me gently with his palm. My clit was still extra sensitive and sore, so this felt amazing. I tried to spread my legs a little more as I felt his middle finger dip into my slit. He circled around my clit softly for a moment, eliciting soft moans out of me.

I couldn’t help but moan out Joel’s name as he plunged his thick finger into my pussy. He moved very slowly, letting my walls adjust to him. I grabbed onto him where I could, trying to keep grounded. After a moment he began to move his finger in and out, producing more moans from me. 

As soon as that felt comfortable and I began to thrust against him, he added another finger. I winced out in pain for a moment, but that pain quickly turned to pleasure again. 

“Are you okay? Am I going too fast?” Joel asked, scanning my face for an answer. I nodded eagerly, not being able to form any coherent words. 

My walls adjusted again as he began to finger fuck me with his fingers, my pussy stretching and getting wetter with every thrust. 

“Joel, Joel I need you,” I quietly begged. 

“What was that?” he asked in a devilish tone. He was such a fucking tease. 

“I need you,” I said a little louder.

“Hmm?” 

“Fuck Joel! I need you to fuck me with your cock!” I said loudly through gritted teeth. 

My pussy squelched as he finger fucked me a few more times before pulling them out. He started to move his hand to wipe me off on the bed, but I stopped him. He watched curiously as I brought his messy hand up to my face. His jaw slackened as I put his two wet fingers in my mouth and began sucking and licking my juices off of them. 

I groaned as he pulled his fingers out of my mouth and started moving so he was sitting on his knees between my legs. He roughly grabbed onto my hips and pulled them up onto his thighs. I watched as he lined the head of his cock up with my pussy with one of his hands, the other holding me still. 

Without another thought, Joel began to slowly plunge his cock into my center. Even though he had stretched me out with his fingers, it still ached as I adjusted. I closed my eyes and breathed and he continued to push into me, filling me up to the brim. We stayed like that for a moment, allowing me to get used to his size. He reached down and gently stroked my clit, causing my pussy to tighten again around his cock in pleasure.

“Jesus, Violet. You’re so tight,” he breathed out, “you feel so fucking good. Am I hurting you?” 

I shook my head, words failing me again. After another moment I finally spoke. All I could say was, ‘start moving.” 

Joel’s eyes lit up. I began to feel empty as he almost pulled all the way out, but not for long. He thrust back into me, it aching less. After a few times of him moving slowly, he began to quicken his pace. 

I couldn’t stop my eyes from rolling back in my head as he held a steady pace. Moans escaped both of us as he fucked into me, my pussy gripping his cock.

“Joel, fucking hell,” I mumbled out, bliss taking over my senses. Suddenly Joel pulled out of me, granting a whine from me. He slapped my pussy in response. 

“Roll over,” he said, in more of a demand than a request. I moaned and slid down off of him before rolling over onto my stomach. Joel grabbed me by the hips and pulled me up onto a fours. I laid my upper body back down, arching my back and sticking my ass up more in the process. As he slapped my ass I turned around to look at him the best I could, only being able to see him roughly out of my peripheral vision. 

I almost melted into the mattress as I watched him lick his finger tips before rubbing the saliva he had collected on the head of his cock. His eyes were hungrily fixed on my cunt. I spread my knees out, just enough for him to kneel in between them. I felt again as he lined himself up with my pussy, this time sliding in much easier at this angle. 

“Oh my god,” I whimpered out as he filled me up again. Joel let out a heavy moan as he began to thrust in and out of me, going slowly again at first. But that’s not what I wanted.

“Joel, harder,” I told him, my face half smothered in my pillow. He thrust into me, holding my hips so that we didn’t move. 

“Speak up, baby,” he told me, his pet name sending a shiver down my spine. 

“Harder,” I said louder this time. 

“That’s my girl.” 

Joel’s fingers dug into my hip bones, threatening to leave bruises tomorrow. One of his hands moved to my shoulder and pulled me backwards, pressing my back against his chest. This angle suddenly began to hit a new spot, and I gasped as I began climbing towards a second orgasm. 

“Joel, Joel I’m so-“

“Me too, come on, baby. Cum for me,” he crooned into my ear. 

That was enough to send me over the edge. Joel wrapped the hand not gripping my hip around my middle, keeping me close to him as came. He continued to thrust into me and within moments he was moaning in my ear, his cock throbbing inside me. He trust in and out of me a couple more times, softer as he spilled into me. 

When he was finished, he slipped himself out of me with a groan. I felt as he then immediately laid me down, not wanting to make a mess on my bed. But at this point, I didn’t care. I had extra bedding if things needed to be changed.

We moved underneath the covers and Joel cuddled up behind me, wrapping his arms around me. I immediately relaxed into him, not sure if my body was still actually there. 

“That’s the first time I’ve done that,” I told him, my voice just above a whisper. He kissed my shoulder. 

“What’s that?” 

“Orgasmed twice in one go like that,” I said. He chuckled a sleepy laugh. “What?” 

“Oh, just that it won’t be the last time that happens.”

[sweaterkittensahoy]

Our apartment is through a management company. It's usually fine. The last several months, we've had issues with them 1) actually sending out maintenance, and 2) not fixing our fucking floor.

Our floor was put in during the Fall of 2022 after the fucking flood of June 2022. For the entire summer, we walked around on the original concrete floor of our renovated 100-year-old basement apartment.

Management company swore the problem was that the property owner was dragging his feet.

I'd met the property owner several times as he'd come to inspect the damage and understand what he needed to do as owner, since it would be his insurance covering things. I thought he was an asshole.

The new floor went in. We moved home. A few weeks later, I noticed a space between the boards in the kitchen. I debated calling the management company, then went, "I'm in no fucking mood" and threw a rug over it.

I'm not a professional, but I know bits and pieces of home shit. I figured, with the weather cooling, the vinyl boards were shifting a bit, and it'd either stay the same or just slip back together at some point.

And then the rest of the floor started buckling.

I put a maintenance request in. A guy came out, took one look at the floor, and went, "Oh, yeah, I know what's happening." He took photos. He pushed back together what boards he could, and he left.

Nothing for about a week, then a call. The owner wants to come out and look. I sighed and agreed. He came out and brought along his wife, the maintenance guy who'd come before, and our property management contact.

He was NOT PLEASED. His wife's job that day, very obviously to me, was to get my real impression of the management company while the owner asked some questions about why it was taking a week to even update me on next steps?

I told the wife, "We've never had a real problem with maintenance. Stuff's always gotten fixed."

"Have you needed it often?" she asked.

"Nope," I said because it was true.

When the whole apartment was getting torn up after the flood, the demo guy was 1) great and 2) informed me that all the finishes in the apartment were commonly used but also the high-end version. Yeah, they were all particle board and vinyl and what have you. But they were the top-notch versions of everything. I remembered thinking, "Wow, the dude who renovated this place gave a real shit."

We have not heard word one from anyone at the management company about our floor since around October. We have heard from the owner and his wife on a few occasions, calling to see if the next step of the plans had happened. Which is how I found out there were plans. Our contact at the management company (with 16 years experience, something she mentioned when she sent out her intro email at her hiring) had not given me any information.

A couple of weeks ago, our kitchen turned into a tiny swamp. There was water coming up through the fucked up floorboards. A pipe had frozen upstairs a couple of days before. There were four inches of glaze ice over everything.

We called the management company. We got an email back: "We are confirming with the owner how he wants to proceed."

I started cursing the owner's name up and down.

And then he showed up that night. In the ice and the snow. With it pouring sleet (literally pouring sleet). I thought he was being a control freak.

He looked at things, said, "I'll have to turn the water off." And then went upstairs to check on things there. He came back a few minutes later, needing to try and find the shut off. We couldn't locate it down here, either. He shut it off at the street, then took Sean out and showed him how to use the tool to turn it on and off.

"It's a very slow leak," he told us. "If you don't mind mopping up water when it comes up, you can turn the water on for short periods of time."

Two days with no water. The ice continued not to melt. I fell on the dog walk and slid into the side of a car (nothing serious). The owner showed up again when the roads were still barely passable. He had the leak fixed and the water back in by the end of the day. He apologized for the delay. He left the wall open so things could dry, and came back the next day to check things again.

He started to grow on me. He knows his shit. He works quietly. He tries to be as unobtrusive as possible. I sent my regards to his wife, for which he thanked me.

During these few days, I'm getting sporadic emails from the management company basically rehashing everything that had happened that day. Even though I'd heard him call them and explain things to them within half an hour of showing up each day.

So, they were in the loop.

And, yes, so were we.

But there's a way to do these things.

And acting like it's all brand new information to you when the email gets to me at six, after he's left again after apologizing for getting some mud on the floor because he's been in and out not only fixing the leak but also beating the shit out of the four inches of glaze ice with a shovel so he can clear the sidewalk for us. Which is one of those technical requirements that I don't expect of any owner or management company when it's below freezing multiple days in a row in a city where that does not happen regularly. Like, the official city policy during the weather was "please stay the fuck inside."

The contractors came to put the wall back together. The owner showed up to properly introduce them, then left them to it. They did good work as far as I could tell.

I've heard nothing from the management company for several days, and I continue to be very unimpressed by their current actions. Which is just additional unimpressed feelings since October when I got a call from the wife saying, "Did the contractor come out to measure?"

"Measure?"

"For the replacement floor."

"No, Ma'am," I said, not knowing until this phone call that a contractor had even been signed. "Last I heard anything was when the inspector came out."

"Did the company contact you about them?"

"Yes, but then the inspector didn't show the day he was supposed to, and we didn't hear why. He did show up a couple of days later."

The kind of pause you only get from a woman who knows how to use her powers for politeness, smoothing ruffled feathers, and fucking murdering someone. "I see. Okay. Thank you."

"I've worked on a lot of floors," the contractor told me yesterday as he wiped down all the places drywall dust and paste had gotten (everywhere; including the bottom of Bean's foot I discovered this morning). "You're definitely gonna need new floor where the leak was."

"Oh, yeah," I said, with a wave. "We need the whole thing replaced, actually. It's in work."

"Yeah, I noticed it was bubbling," the contractor says. "Not surprising. This is the cheapest vinyl floor you can get."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I've worked with the owner for years. I'm surprised he approved this."

About a week after the wife last called me, we got a letter in the mail from the owner. It read, in part:

...please copy us in all emails to the management company. We want to be fully aware when issues arise so they can be handled as quickly as possible...

Given all current evidence, I am beginning to suspect the problem was NOT the owner but the management company. As I have never worked in property management, I don't know who decides things like which flooring. However, having watched the owner over this last couple of weeks, I suspect the management company picked the flooring and the contractor to do it and the "dragging on" issue was the owner pushing for better quality.

I'm not sure. What I am sure of is that the owner was here today to paint the repaired wall and a strip of ceiling that has gone unfixed by the management company since before we told them the floor news.

I have been beyond happy with the speed of things with the owner in charge of repairs, and I've come to appreciate his dedication to keeping our place in good kit. He is proud of this place and wants it to show. He wants high-quality and good craftsmanship.

He also ended up not painting because the ceiling repair doesn't have the right texture when the lights are off. He is coming back tomorrow morning with the contractor so it gets done to his liking. "It can be difficult to match the texture of sheet rock," he told me. Having watched him work these past couple of weeks, I know he wants it done to a high standard that I appreciate as the tenant.

On the other hand. What an asshole.

[burstingwithbellies]

So, recently I’ve been seeing a lot of breeder family scenarios flying around in my feeds and I think I will put my two cents in. This goes out to @infinitegest who I’ve been seeing giving out a lot of these scenarios.

So, my thing is a family full of preggos within a house that can’t keep up with them. I’m talking about a very BIG family that takes breeding very seriously. It is tradition to them; it’s a huge part of their identity and it goes in hand with their great amount of fertility. So much so that a generation from said family could amount to the population of a small city sometimes.

Singleton pregnancies practically don’t exist with them. A small pregnancy for them is triplets. Every pregnancy out of this family is a show-stopper. And so because of this, they have this home that was built especially for them; to house their huge and ever-growing clan.

But it worked for only so long.

Each generation got bigger than the last. Their libidos got stronger, the number of multiples in each pregnancy increased and they cared less and less about giving their wombs and each other’s wombs a break.

The eldest members of the household, the grandparents for instance, have both been pumping out babies for over 20 years and still going strong. They themselves have an impressive amount of kids, but their kids and grandkids took the cake.

Nearly all of them were of age and had gotten into the family tradition and their bellies challenged all of their parents’ pregnancies from the past and the present and maybe in the future.

One of the grandparents’ kids from their first-ever batch got knocked up with an astonishing 25 babies on their first pregnancy and that shocked them. The people who were getting knocked up for decades with multiples were shocked by the new generation of fertility.

And the house was supposed to be adapted to handle their expanding families and bellies, but it has been done over. The house that was built to be the size of a mansion was too small for them! The doors were tiny, the hallways narrow and tight and God forbid there be more than four people in a room. That would be way too many people in one room. Everyone is always knocking into one another and there’s always the threat of getting stuck somewhere.

It honestly wouldn’t be a problem if everyone would quit getting so pregnant all the time, but you might as well tell them to stop breathing too. Breathing is like breeding in this family, that’s their motto.

And unfortunately, they can’t make adjustments.

At least not all the time.

The family is really always growing and they can’t be spending thousands of dollars on renovations that would need to be redone again later when that money could have been better spent on food, maternity or paternity clothes or baby supplies, or something else.

Also, there’s no telling who’s heavily pregnant and nearly finished gestating or who is just now getting started and is going to have a much greater gigantic belly down the line. It’s unpredictable how big someone is gonna get. Some grow at a snail’s pace, some through fixed growth spurts and others grow to the size of an elephant in seconds before your eyes. And it’s hard keeping track of all the babies in your womb sometimes.

The space in the house gets smaller every day. Too many people, too many bellies with too many babies in them and that’s a growing problem.

The youngest adult in the family has a hard time getting through a door by himself and he’s just 2 months pregnant along. He just might burst down a wall tomorrow. This is the countdown for the house before the family gets too big for it.

[lasudio]

VeronaHills, Round Four: Roth

Stella had to give Morty credit - he'd brought as much moneyed refinery as he reasonably could to their new home in the countryside.

Evening guests were summoned to candlelit dining areas to be regaled with tales of the city, and when Morty stood and announced a tour of his private art and artifact collection, they moved along with excited murmurs. One such night, Stella remained at the outdoor setting with Rosalind, a fellow lady from Cordelia Capp's breakfasts.

"I feel I've left this far too long, but I must apologise for previous conduct," Stella said, pulling from rehearsed words in the mirror.

Rosalind lowered her fork and - snorted! "Couldn't hold your wine at breakfast?" She sent forth a dry chuckle. "Dear - you could have at least changed out of your bathers before attending the table."

Stella snapped her agape mouth shut. Neurons frantically fired as she searched for the words: "Next time, I can assure you, I will steer clear of the bottle, and the spa-"

"It's not me you need to impress," Rosalind said suddenly. Her green gaze met Stella's, filled with intensity. "I like you. Looking back, I found your behaviour amusing. But Cordelia? Well..." Her eyes dropped to her plate. "Let's just say, it's a good thing your husband focuses on appearances."

This indictment was enough for Stella to wish Rosalind a good night and retire to bed early. She met Xander in the upstairs hallway. Her little darling boy was now a teenager, and he lamented that he was outgrowing his Grand Prix-themed bedroom decor (and literally outgrowing his racecar bed). Stella agreed to a renovation.

Appearances had to match expectations, after all.

[udo0stories]

New York City is the most iconic and most visited city in the United States. With its distinctive skyline, diverse neighborhoods, world-class museums, incredible Broadway productions, and melting pot of cultures, NYC attracts millions of visitors each year. (It’s also the place I call home.) New York City is huge. I mean, ten million people live here. Where do you stay when you’re here? There are so many hotels to choose from. To help you plan your visit and narrow down your options, here’s my list of the best hotels in NYC: 1. East Village Hotel Located in the East Village, my absolute favorite neighborhood in NYC, this boutique aparthotel is run more like an Airbnb than a traditional hotel. You get sent a code before arrival to check in, and there’s no staff or restaurant on site (though an outpost of The Bean, a popular NYC café, is right downstairs). The studio apartments are designed to reflect the neighborhood’s bohemian spirit, with contemporary artistic décor, beautiful exposed brick walls, and lots of natural light. The kitchenettes include a stovetop, refrigerator, microwave, dishwasher, and silverware. Rooms include comfy pillowtop beds, showers with good water pressure, a flatscreen TV, and complimentary bath products. Everything is pretty compact, but in an area with few hotels, this is one of the best-value spots. Stay here if you want to be in a central location with tons of great restaurants and bars at your fingertips.   2. The Marlton Originally built in 1900, this historic boutique hotel in Greenwich Village has been home to many of the area’s bohemian set, including one of my favorite writers, Jack Kerouac (he even penned a few novellas here). I like that the hotel’s extensive renovations still kept its classic aesthetic. The beautiful interior has a stately feel, with ornate moldings, herringbone parquet floors, and vintage furnishings like brass light fixtures, ornate rugs, and custom-made furniture. The staff are super friendly too. The rooms are pretty small, but well designed to make use of the space. They come with flat-screen TVs, comfy beds with plush bedding, wardrobes, minibars, and marble bathrooms. The Marlton is also home to an excellent bar that serves incredible cocktails, and there’s a complimentary breakfast available too. I think it’s the best value for your money in the area.   3. Vocabulary: The Franklin This three-star hotel is in a 19th-century brownstone in the Upper East Side, the neighborhood I live in (if you see me, say hi!). The rooms here are simple, but the hotel has some great perks, like a free 24-hour espresso bar and a standard late checkout time of 12 p.m. The restaurant is currently being renovated, so there’s no breakfast available on-site, but there are tons of places just steps away. The rooms are decorated in a minimal (but cozy) style, with white-painted chandeliers and cute original art. All rooms come with large TVs and comfy pillow-top mattresses, while their larger rooms come with a desk and easy chair. Everything is newly renovated, and the glass-enclosed showers have excellent pressure. The location is great too, as it’s on a quiet, leafy street close to Central Park and Museum Mile.   4. Hotel Indigo This four-star hotel is dedicated to supporting local street art and artists, and you’ll see plenty of their work throughout the building. The rooftop bar, Mr. Purple, is a favorite among locals for fancy cocktails, and on the weekends, the area turns into an upscale club. (Because of that, it’s a 21+ hotel.). There’s even a heated pool on the rooftop too. The rooms boast hardwood floors, bold artwork, and floor-to-ceiling windows with impressive views over the city. All rooms also include Keurig machines, desks, and a minibar (for which you get a $20 USD credit). The bathrooms are large, beautifully tiled, and feature rainfall shower heads. While there’s no breakfast served on site, you’re just steps away from tons of great eateries open at all hours. Overall,

I think this hotel is the best place to stay if you want to experience NYC’s legendary nightlife.   5. The Standard The Standard is one of the best hotels in the city (I think this East Side location is even better than the one in the Meatpacking district). The bar serves some of the best drinks in town and is usually always packed with NY’s fashionable set. There’s a café where you can get breakfast in the mornings too. The recently renovated rooms are gorgeous, decorated in a minimal design with bright pops of color and lots of natural light thanks to the floor-to-ceiling windows. They’re pretty big too, especially by NYC standards. All rooms at this four-star hotel feature plush beds, fluffy down pillows, huge flatscreen TVs, Bluetooth speakers, cozy bathrobes, work desks, and stocked minibars. The bathrooms are spacious, with tiled walk-in showers and organic designer toiletries. You’ll also get complimentary access to the nearby Crunch gym (in case you want to work off all the delicious food from the plethora of nearby restaurants).   6. The Library Hotel Everything at this four-star hotel is book-related. Each of the ten floors has a different theme, and all of the 60 rooms have dozens of books that fit within that theme (the hotel has a collection of over 6,000 books!). There’s also a Reading Room lounge with work desks, cozy nooks for reading or writing, and 24/7 coffee, tea, snacks, and drinks. Guest rooms are a good size (for NYC) and feature rich wood furnishings in a sleek, contemporary design, with plush bedding, minibars, flatscreen TVs, desks, and luxury bath products. There’s also free breakfast, a rooftop terrace with a bar that serves literary-themed drinks, and really helpful staff. It’s a quiet respite from an otherwise busy and loud neighborhood. Stay here for a unique experience that’s close to major tourist sites like Times Square, the Empire State Building, and Grand Central Station.   7. The Sherry-Netherland Located on Fifth Avenue, right across from Central Park, this ornate five-star hotel is housed in a stunning Beaux-Arts building. The lobby boasts vaulted, painted ceilings and custom-made chandeliers, and the elevator even has a white-gloved operator, just to highlight how upscale this property is. The property’s Italian restaurant serves breakfast in the mornings, and there’s a fitness center available too. The spacious rooms are elegantly decorated, with mahogany desks, tasteful art on the walls, and large marble bathrooms. All rooms include flatscreen TVs, luxury bath products, complimentary soda, mineral water, and chocolates, and daily newspaper delivery. This is the place to stay if you want to splash out on a classy and timeless NYC hotel experience.

[tomtenadia]

Thicker than blood - 36

As promised here we are with another chapter. The epilogue will come tomorrow night.

A month had elapsed from the elections and things had set in motion for the change that Darrow and Rhoe had promised. The works to renovate the deviation centres had started almost immediately all the while Evalin had opened a temporary location and the success had been incredible. Both vampires and humans alike had turned up asking for help and Evalin had spent most of her days with the patients, sometimes offering her own personal help. Ansel had joined Evalin full time and the two women had become a power to be reckoned with.

Aedion had released his new treatment and the centres had started administering it to junkies and it was showing the first results. Gone were the painful three months in a cell. For the milder cases the treatment could be taken at home as long as the person had someone to help them. He was the golden boy once more and missed those few months back in anonymity.

He had also perfected the blood for Aelin and created a few flavours for her. She had loved the idea so much that he had tried and expand it to the blood for general sales and the response had been incredible. Adding flavours was a long task but so far he had four different ones and his team was working on two more. His research team had grown exponentially and Rhoe had built him, out of his own pockets, a state of the art laboratory in the city. Aedion had been ecstatic at the gift. In the meantime and through the whirlwind of changes, Lysandra and Aedion had finally managed to find a little time to finally get married. It had been a very low key and simple ceremony. They had then disappeared for a week on their honeymoon, but Aelin kept teasing them that they actually never went anywhere and just stayed at home in bed, enjoying their new status and the fun of finally being able to bond in the way married couple could. Not long after that, Lorcan had finally gathered the courage to ask Elide to move in with him and now bets were on, on when it was their turn to finally marry.

The police had an overhaul too. Darrow and Rhoe were still working on adjusting some of the rules, but the skeleton was still there. A few had been passed to the higher administration and received government approval.

Police had expanded especially the immortal component. The second chances programme was a success too and many vampires had joined the paranormal unit. Human police had a great intake of recruits too.

The biggest change had been the main chief. Darrow had deposed the previous one after it had surfaced that he had dealings with Hamel and received a share for every vampire that ended up in a deviation centre. Rhoe had decided to appoint Lorcan.

The man had been speechless, but Rhoe had admitted that he had been impressed by his morals. He had put a friend behind bars after he broke the rules. 

In his place Rowan had taken over the paranormal unit. He was still adjusting just as Lorcan and they would call each other to moan about their jobs. Aelin had started calling Lorcan Rowan’s second wife.

Aelin had eventually gone back to the morgue and Elide had been elated at having her back. At their reunion they had been screaming so much that Dorian had come running with a fire extinguisher in his hands.

Rowan had been apprehensive when she had decided to go back, but by the time she did, Aelin had improved a lot and when she admitted to him that she needed to go back to work he had decided to trust her.

It was not perfect, there was still a lot of work to be done, but they were heading in the right direction.

*

Rowan was on his way to the morgue after he finished his shift. Being the chief gave him a more structured timetable and he loved to pop at Aelin’s work after he finished. He’d see her at home later but that had become their little ritual.

He went to her office and it was empty so moved to the examination room and saw her concentrated on a body. He leaned against the doorframe and watched her.

“Do you like the show, chief?”

He walked to her hugging her from behind while Aelin’s hand were still deep in the body’s chest cavity “What are you doing?”

“Checking this man’s heart. He probably died of an heart attack, see these scars here?”

Rowan kissed her head “There’s quite a few that are large, which means that his heart was struggling to pump correctly.”

She finished a few checks and confirmed her initial assumption “natural death.”

Aelin lifted her bloodied hands and turned to kiss her husband “want to watch me dissect a brain?” She proceeded to close up the heart attack victim, discarded the dirty gloves and moved to another body and removed the white sheet “this is going to be fun.”

Rowan chuckled. Aelin had slowly regained her normal disposition and he had been fascinated by watching her perform autopsies. He was learning so much.

Aelin had also started working with her mother and he knew that was also a reason why she was recovering. Somehow it had helped greatly and Aelin had loved working with Evalin.

She grabbed a scalpel ”ready, chief?”

He kissed her head “go.”

*

The following day it was afternoon when they were getting ready for a hike. They had finally a day off and were going to Forsaken peak. They had left it late because Rowan wanted to spend the night on the mountain top. He had done it when he was younger and it had been stunning and wanted to show it to Aelin. It was a wonderful hike and he was positive she was going to love it.

Aelin had confessed him that nature had helped her a lot in her recovery. She and Rowan had spent many late afternoons exploring the woodlands around their house. Rowan had also taken seriously the idea of having a house deep in the mountains and they had started planning all the works.

“Did you get your thermos with blood?”

Aedion had perfected the recipe for Aelin and had made the blood more appetising too. Aelin was still of the opinion that Rowan’s tasted better but she knew she could not drink from him all the time, no matter how fun.

“Yep, all stocked up,” she grabbed something else “I also have my head torch,” Aelin wore it and switched it on pointing it in Rowan’s face “where were you the night of the 1st of July?

Rowan roared with laughter and pulled the light away from her head. Although they had enhanced vision he still convinced her to take torches. Her husband had also told everyone where they were going because he believed that in case of emergency people had to know. She had called him fussy buzzard.

Aelin went to wear her new hiking boots. Rowan had bought her a brand new pair after he discovered that she had been hiking with trainers. He had been horrified at her carelessness.

Once she had her boots on she stood and Rowan walked to her in his hiking gear. He stopped in front of her and zipped up the jacket “Rowan, is not that I can get cold.”

“Shush, menace. It’s for your comfort.”

Aelin let him fuss over her. She had to admit that she loved his attentions. Loved how he cared about all the small things too.

Aelin did a full turn on herself “Do I pass inspection?”

He answered with a kiss “grab your gear and let’s go. It’s a long hike.”

The starting point of the walk was an hour away so they had to drive to the destination. Aelin sat in the car and started fiddling with the music and to scare Rowan she had placed the radio on a pop station.

He finally joined her in the car and the first thing he said was a loud curse.

Aelin giggled hysterically and blasted the volume higher and her husband turned to her with death in his eyes.

“What hubby? I though you loved pop music.”

“Aelin…”

“Fine,” she yielded “I will look for grampa music.”

“The fact that I love classical music does not make me a grampa.”

Aelin smiled at his grumpy face, she loved to rile him up. Adored his expression when he pouted,  and she had to admit that she had started to appreciate classical music too. She had always listened to rock, metal and all the heavy stuff but Rowan had made her discover new stuff and she had admitted that classical music had a very calming effect. He had even taken her out to an opera and she had loved it. But genres her husband could not tolerate were pop, dance and anything modern that according to him was empty and meaningless. She would let him rant and would never admit to him that it was a guilty pleasure of hers. Not her favourite type but her library had about five songs that would make Rowan’s skin crawl.

“Is this better?” She had found a station that passed rockier music.

“Thank you, my ears are not bleeding anymore.”

Aelin wore her sunglasses “punch it.”

The drive took an hour as expected and now they were in the parking lot staring at the sun kissing the peaks. Sunset was still hours away but the tones were getting softer and the view in front of them was stunning.

Rowan stopped behind her and grabbed her hand and pointed to a precise location “see that ridge there?”

“Yes.”

“That’s where we are going, that’s Forsaken peak.”

“Why is it called forsaken?’

Rowan grabbed her hand and after locking the car he started walking along the marked path “it was a very long time ago. I was still only less than a hundred. There used to be many battles with all the lands around Erilea,” he started telling her “Forsaken peak proved a perfect outpost. But the reason it’s called forsaken was because the outpost was where people were sent as a punishment after committing crimes. It was a life sentence. They became the guardians of the peaks, but also forgotten by society. Some were vampires, some were humans. “

Aelin gasped at his side.

“It lasted until Orlon. Your great uncle came into power and stopped the practice, but the name of the peak remained.”

“That is such a sad story.”

He laughed “this path has a lot of lovely legends connected to it too.”

“Tell me…”

And while they climber Rowan told her all of the legends he knew about that path and Aelin listened to him with interest. Yes, he was old but she had been fascinated by his past, all of his adventures. She had screamed when he had confessed that he served in the airforce too and had begged him for photos so they had spent the evening in his attic looking for photos. Aelin had loved him so much in uniform that they ended up having sex surrounded by old boxes. She had taken a picture of one of the old photos and it was now her new home screen on her phone: her husband in a pilot jump suit near his plane. 

The last part of the climb proved to be challenging, but Aelin kept going and loved to see the sun slowly start to disappear at the horizon. She was still young but the most dangerous hours for her were around noon when the sun was at its strongest. That late in the evening it was fine and sunlight was not much of an issue if the exposure was not prolonged.

“Come on, fireheart, last stretch.”

Rowan helped her climb and together they reached the ridge and saw the remains of the old outpost.

But what took her breath away was the scene around her. The sun was almost behind the horizon, the sky was ablaze with orange and pink hues and Aelin was speechless.

“Good, I timed it perfectly.”

Aelin was too absorbed in the sunset to listen to her husband but his hands brushed her hips and she leaned against his chest, the scent of pine and snow enveloping her. In that instant she felt at peace, at home and it was all thanks to the man behind her. Rowan had helped during the dark days when her bad memories made it impossible for her to find the will to get out of bed. He supported her, he saved her in more ways than she could ever imagine. She turned in his arms “can I be cheesy, please?”

“I thought I was the mushy one in this marriage.”

She glared at him “fine.”

Her hands twinned behind his neck and she looked into his pine green eyes “Thank you, it’s very cliche but before I met you I was lost, deeply and truly lost. Until that night when you stopped me from feeding. You pushed me to admit I had a problem. You fought for me when I had given up on my life,” she kissed his lips softly “We have been through a lot but I have no regrets of choosing you as my partner in this adventure. I told you before, you make me want to live. I want a future for us, a life, dreams and who knows? A family one day? Thank you for choosing me.” Another gentle kiss and then she buried her face in his chest, when she looked up she saw him with his eyes closed, his face bathed in the last rays of light. He was stunning at he was hers.

When he reopened his eyes she was positive they were moist.

He grabbed her hand and placed it on his heart “you are my heart, my everything.”

Aelin buried her face in his neck and cried tears of joy “buzzard we are so pathetic.”

She felt him chuckle “I am a sappy old fart and I wear it like a badge of honour.”

She pushed him down towards the entrance of the old fort “but you are my sappy old fart.”

Rowan rolled her over on top of him and showed her just how much he was hers.

As they joined, their souls sang their union to the ancient gods and an eternal promise. To whatever end.

taglist

@rowaelinismyotp @swankii-art-teacher @whimsicallyreading @elentiyawhitethorn @aelin-bitch-queen @bruiseonthefaceofhumanity  @mis-lil-red @thegreyj @sailorsassley @leiawritesstories @clairec79 @morganofthewildfire @sv0430 @heartless--aromantic @autumnbabylon @rowanaelinn @backtobl4ck @susumaus98  @gracie-rosee @mybloodrunsblue @tanvee1231 @avenrebekah @whoever-you-choose-to-love  @theywillnotsingforme @universallytreepost @black-daisy-water @goddess-aelin @whispers-in-the-darkest-heart @lovely-dove-zee @athena127

[underthewingsofthblackeagle]

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A post shared by Corinne Férault (@co.versailles)

My top 5 Prussian palaces & Residences are mainly in Potsdam, 40 minutes from Berlin, Germany. 1. Chinese House: located in Potsdam in the Sanssouci Park. A small garden pavilion created in 1756 for smaller court gatherings. Reopened after 2 years of renovation, it is shaped in a form of a cloverleaf: a circular hall and there are small Chambers. Ticket price: 6€ or a daily combined ticket for all the palaces in Potsdam ( 22euros) 2. New Chambers: located in Potsdam in the Sanssouci Park. Impressive palace with two different moods: - the western Wing is made of four reception halls ( jasper hall, Ovid Gallery, Porcelain Hall and blue one) which are amazing. A really must-see while in Sanssouci. -the eastern wing is composed of guest rooms (bedrooms and living rooms). Ticket price: 6€ or a daily combined ticket for all the palaces in Potsdam ( 22euros) 3. Charlottenburg Palace located in Berlin is composed of 2 palaces. The new wing with its long enfilade of 13 rooms ends with a huge Porcelain Room and a Chapel. The new wing has magnificent interiors like the Golden Gallery. A really worth-visit while in Berlin. Ticket price: 12€ each or 19€ the combined ticket. 4. Picture Gallery located in Potsdam, in the Sanssouci Park. If the facade is relatively simple design, the interiors are adorned with white and yellow Italian marble, opulent gilding and sculptures. The paintings were mostly acquired for this building. This is the oldest Royal Museum still in use in Germany. Ticket price: 6€ or a daily combined ticket for all the palaces in Potsdam ( 22euros) 5. Rheinsberg Palace, in the mark Brandenburg When entering the palace you feel like being in a different world. I loved the rooms in neoclassic and Frederician rococo styles. It was the house of Prince Henry, Frederic the Great’s brother. Ticket price: 10€

[laresearchette]

Sunday, April 16, 2023 Canadian TV Listings (Times Eastern)

WHERE CAN I FIND THOSE PREMIERES?: THE WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON COOPER (CNN) 8:00pm 100 FOOT WAVE (HBO Canada) 8:00pm ALEX VS AMERICA (Food Network Canada) 9:00pm LEGUIZAMO DOES AMERICA (MSNBC) 10:00pm CIAO HOUSE (Food Network Canada) 10:00pm BARRY (HBO Canada) 10:00pm

WHAT IS NOT PREMIERING IN CANADA TONIGHT?: CHAOS ON THE FARM (TBD - Lifetime Canada) VERY SCARY PEOPLE (TBD - HLN)

NEW TO AMAZON PRIME CANADA/CBC GEM/CRAVE TV/DISNEY + STAR/NETFLIX CANADA:

CRAVE TV BARRY (Season 4, episodes 1-2) THE 100 FOOT WAVE (Season 2, Episode 1)

NETFLIX CANADA LOVE IS BLIND SEASON 4 REUNION SPECIAL THE NUTTY BOY PART 2

IIHF WOMEN’S HOCKEY (TSN/TSN4) 3:00pm: Bronze Medal Game (TSN/TSN4) 7:00pm: Gold Medal Game

GRAND SLAM OF CURLING (SN1) 1:00pm: Players' Championship - Women's Final (SN/SN1) 5:00pm: Players' Championship - Men's Final

MLB BASEBALL (SN Now) 1:30pm: Twins vs. Yankees (SN) 1:30pm: Rays vs. Jays (TSN2) 7:00pm: Rangers vs. Astros

MLS SOCCER (TSN2) 2:00pm: CF Montreal vs. DC United (TSN2) 4:30pm: LA Galaxy vs. LAFC

NBA BASKETBALL (SN360) 3:00pm: Lakers vs. Grizzlies - Game #1 (SN360) 5:30pm: Heat vs. Bucks - Game #1 (TSN3/TSN5) 8:00pm: Clippers vs. Suns - Game #1 (TSN3/TSN4/TSN5) 10:30pm: Timberwolves vs. Nuggets - Game #1

BEST IN MINIATURE (CBC) 7:00pm (SEASON FINALE): In the season finale, the top three artists have a yard sale before completing their homes and fighting for the $15,000 grand prize and the title of Best in Miniature.

SULLIVAN'S CROSSING (CTV) 7:00pm: Maggie makes a difficult decision after Sully lets his temper get the best of him.

FIRE MASTERS (Food Network Canada) 7:00pm: The Patridge family is ready to find out who has the fiercest flame game; they have a bone to pick with each other in the battle of the bones; it's time to turn up the heat with feasts as hot as the grills.

THE MASKED SINGER UK (Game TV) 7:30pm: Featuring Jacket Potato vs Fawn, Rubbish vs Pigeon, and Piece of Cake vs Rhino.

CANADIAN SCREEN AWARDS (CBC) 8:00pm: With host Samantha Bee.

ESSEX COUNTY (CBC) 9:00pm: Anne visits her daughter at university, where old ambitions are reignited; Ken gets news that makes the future more settled; Lester realizes he is not alone in his grief; Lou searches for peace.

A TOWN CALLED MALICE (Showcase) 9:00pm (SERIES PREMIERE): The youngest son of a South London crime family must flee 1980s London for Spain.

RENOVATION RESORT (HGTV Canada) 10:00pm (SEASON FINALE): All four vacation rental cabins are completely transformed and the exhausted teams are surprised to discover that they have to compete in a rock the dock challenge for one last time; this is their final chance to impress Scott and Bryan.

THE CURSE OF OAK ISLAND (History Canada) 10:00pm: As time is running out, an exciting find in the swamp may have the fellowship rewriting the history of North America.

THE CURSE OF OAK ISLAND: DRILLING DOWN (History Canada) 11:00pm: Matty joins the fellowship as they look back on all the incredible clues and connections they've discovered over the last decade of the treasure hunt.

[maxs-corner45]

World Cup Stadiums

The World Cup is one of the most prestigious sporting events in the world, with millions of fans around the globe tuning in to watch their favorite teams compete on the world stage. A critical part of the World Cup experience is the stadiums that host the matches, which are often some of the most impressive and iconic structures in the world. Over the years, the World Cup has been hosted in many different countries, each of which has brought its own unique style and culture to the event. For example, the 2010 World Cup in South Africa featured several stunning stadiums, including the Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg, which was designed to resemble an African pot and had a seating capacity of over 94,000. Similarly, the 2018 World Cup in Russia featured several impressive stadiums, including the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, which had a seating capacity of over 81,000 and was the site of the final match of the tournament. The stadium had undergone a massive renovation in the years leading up to the World Cup, with a new roof, seating arrangement, and other upgrades designed to enhance the fan experience. Creating these massive stadiums is no small feat, and it often takes years of planning and construction to bring them to life. For example, the construction of the new Wembley Stadium in London, which was built to replace the iconic original stadium, took over four years and cost over £1 billion. The process of building a new World Cup stadium can be complex and challenging, requiring significant investment and coordination between multiple stakeholders. However, the end result is often a world-class facility that can serve as a symbol of national pride and a source of inspiration for fans around the world. In conclusion, World Cup stadiums are an essential part of the event's history and culture, representing the best in sports design and innovation. From the futuristic architecture of the Allianz Arena in Germany to the breathtaking natural scenery of the Estádio Nacional in Brazil, each World Cup stadium has its own unique story to tell and has played a critical role in shaping the tournament's legacy.

[marvellighting1]

6" SlimLED Indirect Square Recessed Downlight by Liteline

Elevate Your Space with Liteline’s SlimLED Downlights: A Comprehensive Guide

In today's fast-paced world, creating a well-lit, inviting space is essential for both residential and commercial settings. Whether you're designing a cozy home environment or a dynamic office space, lighting plays a crucial role in setting the tone and enhancing the ambiance. With advancements in LED technology, homeowners and business owners alike can now enjoy energy-efficient, stylish, and versatile lighting solutions. One of the leading brands in this domain is Liteline, offering an impressive range of downlights designed to meet various lighting needs. This article delves into the features and benefits of four key products from Liteline's SlimLED series: the 4" SlimLED Profile Square Recess Retrofit Downlight, the 6" SlimLED Profile Round Recess Retrofit Downlight, the 6" SlimLED Indirect Round Recessed Downlight, and the 6" SlimLED Indirect Square Recessed Downlight.

The Rise of LED Lighting

Before we explore the specifics of Liteline's SlimLED downlights, it's important to understand the significance of LED lighting in the modern world. LED (Light Emitting Diode) technology has revolutionized the lighting industry with its energy efficiency, long lifespan, and environmental benefits. Unlike traditional incandescent bulbs, LEDs consume significantly less energy, reducing electricity bills and lowering carbon footprints. Moreover, LED lights produce less heat, making them safer and more durable.

For US consumers, the shift to LED lighting is not just a trend; it's a smart investment. As energy costs continue to rise, switching to LED lighting solutions like those offered by Liteline can lead to substantial savings over time. Additionally, the versatility and design flexibility of LED lights make them an excellent choice for various applications, from residential living rooms to commercial office spaces.

4" SlimLED Profile Square Recess Retrofit Downlight by Liteline

The 4" SlimLED Profile Square Recess Retrofit Downlight by Liteline is a standout product for those looking to upgrade their existing lighting fixtures. This downlight is designed to seamlessly retrofit into most standard 4-inch recessed housings, making it an ideal choice for both new constructions and renovation projects.

One of the key features of this downlight is its slim profile, which allows for easy installation in spaces with limited ceiling clearance. Despite its compact size, the 4" SlimLED Profile Square Recess Retrofit Downlight delivers powerful, evenly distributed light, making it perfect for a variety of settings, including kitchens, hallways, and bathrooms.

In terms of energy efficiency, this downlight is a game-changer. It consumes far less energy than traditional incandescent or halogen bulbs, which translates into significant cost savings over time. Moreover, its long lifespan reduces the need for frequent replacements, further enhancing its cost-effectiveness.

Another notable feature is its dimmable capability, allowing users to adjust the brightness according to their needs and preferences. Whether you need bright lighting for task-oriented activities or a softer glow for a relaxing atmosphere, this downlight offers the flexibility to create the perfect ambiance.

6" SlimLED Profile Round Recess Retrofit Downlight by Liteline

For those seeking a more rounded aesthetic, the 6" SlimLED Profile Round Recess Retrofit Downlight by Liteline is an excellent choice. This downlight combines modern design with high functionality, making it suitable for a wide range of interior spaces.

Like its square counterpart, this downlight is designed for easy retrofitting into existing 6-inch recessed housings. Its slim profile ensures that it can be installed in spaces with low ceiling clearance without compromising on performance. The round design adds a touch of elegance to any room, making it a popular choice for living rooms, dining areas, and bedrooms.

The 6" SlimLED Profile Round Recess Retrofit Downlight is also highly energy-efficient, consuming less power than traditional lighting options. This not only reduces energy bills but also contributes to environmental sustainability by lowering overall energy consumption.

This downlight is compatible with most standard dimmers, offering the same dimmable functionality as the square model. This feature is particularly useful for creating layered lighting schemes, where different light levels are used to enhance the mood and functionality of a space.

6" SlimLED Indirect Round Recessed Downlight by Liteline

If you're looking to create a soft, ambient lighting effect, the 6" SlimLED Indirect Round Recessed Downlight by Liteline is a perfect choice. This downlight is designed to provide indirect lighting, which means the light is reflected off the ceiling or walls before illuminating the room. This creates a warm, diffused light that is ideal for creating a cozy, inviting atmosphere.

The 6" SlimLED Indirect Round Recessed Downlight is particularly well-suited for spaces where glare-free lighting is desired, such as living rooms, bedrooms, and media rooms. Its indirect lighting effect is gentle on the eyes, making it perfect for relaxing environments.

Despite its indirect lighting design, this downlight still delivers ample illumination, thanks to its advanced LED technology. It is also energy-efficient, ensuring that you can enjoy beautiful lighting without worrying about high energy costs.

In addition to its aesthetic benefits, the 6" SlimLED Indirect Round Recessed Downlight is easy to install and compatible with most standard dimmers. This allows you to adjust the light level to suit different activities and moods, making it a versatile addition to any home.

6" SlimLED Indirect Square Recessed Downlight by Liteline

Rounding out our exploration of Liteline's SlimLED series is the 6" SlimLED Indirect Square Recessed Downlight. This downlight offers all the benefits of the round indirect model but with a sleek, square design that adds a modern touch to any space.

The 6" SlimLED Indirect Square Recessed Downlight by Liteline is perfect for those who appreciate the clean lines and contemporary aesthetic of square lighting fixtures. Its indirect lighting design provides soft, even illumination that enhances the ambiance of any room.

Like the other models in the SlimLED series, this downlight is highly energy-efficient, helping you save on energy costs while reducing your environmental impact. Its long lifespan means fewer replacements, making it a cost-effective choice for long-term use.

This downlight is also dimmable, allowing you to customize the lighting to suit your preferences. Whether you're hosting a dinner party or enjoying a quiet evening at home, the 6" SlimLED Indirect Square Recessed Downlight offers the flexibility to create the perfect lighting environment.

Conclusion

Liteline’s SlimLED series offers a range of high-quality downlights that combine energy efficiency, modern design, and versatile functionality. Whether you're renovating your home, upgrading your office lighting, or designing a new space from scratch, these downlights provide the perfect solution for any setting.

The 4" SlimLED Profile Square Recess Retrofit Downlight and the 6" SlimLED Profile Round Recess Retrofit Downlight are ideal for those looking for sleek, energy-efficient lighting that can easily retrofit into existing fixtures. On the other hand, the 6" SlimLED Indirect Round Recessed Downlight and the 6" SlimLED Indirect Square Recessed Downlight offer soft, indirect lighting that creates a warm, inviting atmosphere.

No matter which model you choose, you can trust that Liteline’s SlimLED downlights will enhance the beauty and functionality of your space while helping you save on energy costs. With their easy installation, dimmable capabilities, and long lifespan, these downlights are an excellent investment for any home or business in the US.

[xtruss]

The Death of School 10! How Declining Enrollment Is Threatening The Future of American Public Education.

— By Alec MacGillis | August 26, 2024

The building that housed Rochester’s now shuttered School 10. Such closures “rend the community,” a professor of education said.Photographs by Joshua Rashaad McFadden for The New Yorker

In The Nineteen-Nineties, when Liberia descended into civil war, the Kpor family fled to Ivory Coast. A few years later, in 1999, they were approved for resettlement in the United States, and ended up in Rochester, New York. Janice Kpor, who was eleven at the time, jokingly wonders whether her elders were under the impression that they were moving to New York City. What she remembers most about their arrival is the trees: it was May, yet many were only just starting to bud. “It was, like, ‘Where are we?’ ” she said. “It was completely different.”

But the Kpors adapted and flourished. Janice lived with her father in an affordable-housing complex close to other family members, and she attended the city’s public schools before enrolling in St. John Fisher University, just outside the city, where she got a bachelor’s degree in sociology and African American studies. She found work as a social-service case manager and eventually started running a group home for disabled adults.

She also became highly involved in the schooling of her three children, whom she was raising with her partner, the father of the younger two, a truck driver from Ghana. Education had always been highly valued in her family: one of her grandmothers had been a principal in Liberia, and her mother, who remained there, is a teacher. Last fall, when school started, Kpor was the president of the parent-teacher organization at School 10, the Dr. Walter Cooper Academy, where her youngest child, Thomasena, was in kindergarten. Her middle child had also attended the school.

Kpor took pleasure in dropping by the school, a handsome two-story structure that was built in 1916 and underwent a full renovation and expansion several years ago. The school was in the Nineteenth Ward, in southwest Rochester, a predominantly Black, working- and middle-class neighborhood of century-old homes. The principal, Eva Thomas, oversaw a staff that prided itself on maintaining a warm environment for two hundred and ninety-nine students, from kindergarten through sixth grade, more than ninety per cent of whom were Black or Latino. Student art work filled the hallways, and parent participation was encouraged. School 10 dated only to 2009—the building had housed different programs before that—but it had strong ties to the neighborhood, owing partly to its namesake, a pioneering Black research scientist who, at the age of ninety-five, still made frequent visits to speak to students. “When parents chose to go to this particular school, it was because of the community that they have within our school, the culture that they have,” Kpor told me.

Because she was also engaged in citywide advocacy, through a group called the Parent Leadership Advisory Council, Kpor knew that the Rochester City School District faced major challenges. Enrollment had declined from nearly thirty-four thousand in 2003 to less than twenty-three thousand last year, the result of flight to the suburbs, falling birth rates, and the expansion of local charter schools, whose student population had grown from less than two thousand to nearly eight thousand during that time. Between 2020 and 2022, the district’s enrollment had dropped by more than ten per cent.

The situation in Rochester was a particularly acute example of a nationwide trend. Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, public-school enrollment has declined by about a million students, and researchers attribute the drop to families switching to private schools—aided by an expansion of voucher programs in many red and purple states—and to homeschooling, which has seen especially strong growth. In addition, as of last year, an estimated fifty thousand students are unaccounted for—many of them are simply not in school.

During the pandemic, Rochester kept its schools closed to in-person instruction longer than any other district in New York besides Buffalo, and throughout the country some of the largest enrollment declines have come in districts that embraced remote learning. Some parents pulled their children out of public schools because they worried about the inadequacy of virtual learning; others did so, after the eventual return to school, because classroom behavior had deteriorated following the hiatus. In these places, a stark reality now looms: schools have far more space than they need, with higher costs for heating and cooling, building upkeep, and staffing than their enrollment justifies. During the pandemic, the federal government gave a hundred and ninety billion dollars to school districts, but that money is about to run dry. Even some relatively prosperous communities face large drops in enrollment: in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where enrollment has fallen by more than a thousand students since the fall of 2019, the city is planning to lay off some ninety teachers; Santa Clara, which is part of Silicon Valley, has seen a decrease of fourteen per cent in a decade.

On September 12, 2023, less than a week after the school year started, Rochester’s school board held what appeared to be a routine subcommittee meeting. The room was mostly empty as the district’s superintendent, Carmine Peluso, presented what the district called a “reconfiguration plan.”

A decade earlier, twenty-six hundred kindergarten students had enrolled in Rochester’s schools—roughly three-quarters of the children born in the city five years before. But in recent years, Peluso said, that proportion had sunk to about half.

Within ten years, Peluso said, “if we continue on this trend and we don’t address this, we’re going to be at a district of under fourteen thousand students.” The fourth-largest city in New York, with a relatively stable population of about two hundred and ten thousand, was projecting that its school system would soon enroll only about a third of the city’s current school-age population.

Peluso then recommended that the Rochester school district close eleven of its forty-five schools at the end of the school year. Kpor, who was watching the meeting online, was taken aback. Five buildings would be shuttered altogether; the other six would be put to use by other schools in the district.

School 10 was among the second group. The school would cease to exist, and its building, with its new gymnasium-auditorium and its light-filled two-story atrium, would be turned over to a public Montessori school for pre-K through sixth grade, which had been sharing space with another school.

Kpor was stunned. The building was newly renovated. She had heard at a recent PTA meeting that its students’ over-all performance was improving. And now it was being shut down? “I was in disbelief,” she said. “It was a stab in the back.”

School Closures Are a Fact of Life in a country as dynamic as the United States. Cities boom, then bust or stagnate, leaving public infrastructure that is incommensurate with present needs. The brick elementary school where I attended kindergarten and first grade, in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, was closed in the early eighties, as the city’s population declined, and then was razed to make way for a shopping plaza.

Still, there is a pathos to a closed school that doesn’t apply to a shuttered courthouse or post office. The abandonment of a building once full of young voices is an indelible sign of the action having moved elsewhere. There is a tangible cost, too. Researchers have found that students whose schools have been closed often experience declines in attendance and achievement, and that they tend to be less likely to graduate from college or find employment. Closures tend to fall disproportionately on majority-Black schools, even beyond what would be expected on the basis of enrollment and performance data. In some cities, efforts to close underpopulated schools have become major political issues. In 2013, Chicago, facing a billion-dollar budget deficit and falling enrollment, closed forty-nine schools, the largest mass closure in the country’s history. After months of marches and protests, twelve thousand students and eleven hundred staff members were displaced.

Now, as a result of the nationwide decline in enrollment, many cities will have to engage in disruption at a previously unseen scale. “School closures are difficult events that rend the community, the fabric of the community,” Thomas Dee, a professor of education at Stanford, said. He has been collecting data on declining enrollment in partnership with the Associated Press. “The concern I have is that it’s going to be yet another layer of the educational harm of the pandemic.”

Janice Kpor knew that her family was, in a sense, part of the problem. Her oldest child, Virginia, had flourished in the early grades, so her school put her on an accelerated track, but it declined to move her up a grade, as Kpor had desired. Wanting her daughter to be sufficiently challenged, Kpor opted for the area’s Urban-Suburban program, in which students can apply to transfer to one of the many smaller school districts that surround Rochester; if a district is interested in a student, it offers the family a slot. The program began in 1965, and there are now about a thousand children enrolled. Virginia began attending school in Brockport, where she had access to more extracurricular activities.

Supporters call Urban-Suburban a step toward integration in a region where city schools are eighty-five per cent Black and Latino and suburban districts are heavily white. But critics see it as a way for suburban districts to draw some of the most engaged families out of the city’s schools; the selectiveness of the suburban districts helps explain why close to a quarter of the students remaining in the city system qualify for special-education services. (The local charter schools are also selective.) One suburban district, Rush-Henrietta, assured residents that it would weed out participants who brought “city issues” with them, as Justin Murphy, a reporter for the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, wrote in his book, “Your Children Are Very Greatly in Danger,” a history of segregation in the city’s schools.

Kpor understood these concerns even as she watched Virginia thrive in the suburbs, then go on to attend the Rochester Institute of Technology. As Kpor saw it, each child’s situation was unique, and she tried to make decisions accordingly. “It’s where they’re at,” she said. “It’s not all or nothing for me.”

She enrolled her middle child, Steven, in School 10 for kindergarten and immediately liked the school, but stability was elusive. First, the school moved to temporary quarters for the renovation. Then came disagreements with a teacher who thought that her son’s behavioral issues stemmed from A.D.H.D. Then the pandemic arrived, and her son spent the final months of second grade and most of third on Zoom. For fourth grade, she decided to try Urban-Suburban again. He was accepted by Brockport, which sent a bus to pick him up every morning.

Other parents shared similar accounts with me of the aftermath of the pandemic closures. Ruthy Brown said that, after the reopening, her children’s school was rowdier than before, with more frequent fights and disturbances in the classroom; a charter school with uniforms suddenly seemed appealing. Isabel Rosa, too, moved her son to a charter school, because his classmates were “going bonkers” when they finally returned to in-person instruction. (She changed her mind after he was bullied by a charter-school security guard.) Carmen Torres, who works at a local advocacy organization, the Children’s Agenda, watched one of her client families get so frustrated by virtual instruction that they switched to homeschooling. “Enough is enough,” Torres recalled the mother saying. “My kids need to learn how to read.”

But, when it came time to enroll Thomasena, Kpor resolved to stick with the district, and she was so hopeful about her daughter’s future at School 10 that she took the prospect of its closure with great umbrage. She and other parents struggled to understand the decision. One of the reasons School 10 was chosen to close was that it was in receivership—a designation for public schools rated in the bottom five per cent in the state, among Peluso’s criteria for closure—but Kpor knew that the receivership was due not only to low test scores but also to the school’s high rate of absenteeism, which was, she believed, because the school roster was outdated, filled with students who were no longer there. According to a board member, the state had also placed School 10 on a list of dangerous schools, partly owing to an incident in which a student had been found with a pocketknife.

Making matters worse, for Kpor, was that the building was going to be turned over to another program, School 53, the Montessori school. It would be one thing for School 10 to be shut down because the district needed to cut costs. But the building had just been renovated at great expense, an investment intended for School 10, and now those students and teachers were being evicted to make room for others. “It was more of an insult,” Kpor said, “because now you have this place and all these kids and a whole bunch of new kids in the same building, so what is the logic of, quote-unquote, closing the school?”

The awkwardness of this was not lost on the parents of School 53. The school had a slightly higher proportion of white families and a lower one of economically disadvantaged students than School 10, and it was expected to draw additional white families once it moved to its new building. “The perception is that you’ve got the kids at this protected, special school—you can see the difference between what they get and what we get,” Robert Rodgers, a parent at School 53, told me. “If I was a parent at School 10, I would be livid.”

After Peluso announced the plan, the district held two public forums, followed by sessions at the targeted schools. The School 10 auditorium was packed for its session, and Kpor lined up at the microphone to speak. She asked Peluso if Thomasena and her classmates would get priority for placement in School 53, so that they could stay in the building. “I do not want her to go to any other school,” she said. “Every time we think we’re doing something right for our kids, someone comes in and dictates to us that our choices are not valid.” Kpor was encouraged to hear Peluso say that School 10 kids would get priority.

Janice Kpor, whose youngest child had just started at School 10 when the city announced its closure.

On October 19th, five weeks after the announcement, the school board met to vote on the closures. During the public-comment period, a teacher from School 2 pleaded with the board to let its students enroll at the school that would be replacing it. A teacher from School 106 asked that the vote be delayed until after board members visited every school, including hers, which was engaged in a yearlong special project geared toward the coming total solar eclipse, so that they could get a more visceral sense of the school’s value. The principal of School 29, Joseph Baldino, asked that the school’s many students with autism-spectrum disorder be kept together, along with their teachers, during the reassignment. “They’re unique, they’re beautiful, and they don’t do real well with change,” he said. Chrissy Miller, a parent at the school, said of her son, “He loves his staff . . . he loves his teachers, and he wants everybody to stay together as one.”

In the end, the closures passed, five to two.

In September, 2020, as many public schools in Democratic-leaning states started the new academic year with remote learning, I asked Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, whether she worried about the long-term effects on public education. What if too many families left the system in favor of homeschooling or private schools—many of which had reopened—and didn’t come back? She wasn’t concerned about such hypotheticals. “At the end of the day, kids need to be together in community,” she said.

The news from a growing number of districts suggests that the institution of public schooling has indeed suffered a lasting blow, even in cities that are better funded than Rochester. In Seattle, parents anticipate the closure of twenty elementary schools. The state of Ohio has witnessed a major expansion of private-school vouchers; in Columbus, a task force is recommending the closure of nine schools.

In Rochester, the continuing effects of the pandemic weighed heavily on some. Camille Simmons, who joined the school board in 2021, told me, “A lot of children felt the result of those decisions.” She went on, “There were a lot of entities at play, there were so many conversations going on. I think we should have brought children back much sooner.”

Adam Urbanski, the longtime president of the Rochester teachers’ union, said that the union had believed schools should not reopen until the district could guarantee high air quality, and it had not been able to. “When I reflect back on it, I know that I erred on the side of safety, and I do not regret the position that we took,” he said.

But Rebecca Hetherington, the owner of a small embroidery company and the former head of the Parent Leadership Advisory Council, the group Kpor was part of, feared that the district would soon lack the critical mass to remain viable. “I am concerned there is a tipping point and we’re past it,” she said. Rachel Barnhart, a former TV news reporter who attended city schools and now serves in the county legislature, agreed. “It’s like you’re watching institutions decline in real time,” she told me. “Anchors of the community are disappearing.” School districts have long aspired to imbue their communities with certain shared values and learning standards, but such commonality now seemed inconceivable.

By the spring of 2024, parents at the eleven targeted schools were too busy trying to figure out where their children would be going in the fall to worry about the long term. A mother at School 39, Rachel Dixon, who lived so close to the school that she could carry her kindergartner there, was on the wait list for School 52 but had been assigned to School 50. She wasn’t even sure where that was. Chrissy Miller was upset that School 29’s students with autism were being more broadly dispersed than promised; she worried that her son’s assigned school wasn’t equipped for students with special needs. Many of her fellow School 29 parents were now considering homeschooling or moving, she said, and added, “We don’t have trust in the district at all.” It was easy to envision how the closures could compound the problem, leading to even fewer students and even more closures.

Thomasena had been assigned to School 45, which was close to her family’s home but less convenient for Kpor than School 10, which was closer to her work. Kpor wondered how many other families were in similar situations, with assignments that didn’t take into account the specific context of their lives. “All of this plays into why kids are not going to school,” she said. “You’re placing kids in locations that don’t meet the families’ needs.”

She had taken Peluso’s word that students from School 10 would be given priority at the Montessori school taking its place, and she was disappointed to learn that Thomasena was thirtieth on the wait list there. It was also unclear to her which branch of the central office was handling placement appeals. “It’s all a jumble, and no one really knows how things work,” she said.

On March 26th, as families were dealing with the overhaul, Peluso announced that he was leaving the district to become the superintendent of the Churchville-Chili district, in the suburbs. The district was far smaller than Rochester, with some thirty-eight hundred students, more than seventy per cent of them white, but the job paid nearly as much. “It’s one of the hardest decisions I’ve had,” Peluso said at a news conference. “There’s a lot of commitment I’ve had to this district.” Rodgers, the School 53 parent, told me, “This hurts. It’s another situation where the suburbs are taking something from the city.”

Parents and district staff tried to make sense of Peluso’s departure. Some people speculated that he had grown tired of the treatment he was receiving from certain board members. Other people wondered if he simply wanted a less challenging district. Peluso told me, “It was the best decision for me and my family.”

In Late June, I returned to Rochester for the final days of the school year. I stayed at School 31 Lofts, a hotel in a former schoolhouse that was built in 1919. (The Web site advertises “WhimsyHistorySerenity.”) An empty hallway was still marked with a “Fallout Shelter” sign. I stayed in a room that, judging from its size and location, might have been a faculty lounge.

One afternoon, I met with Demario Strickland, a deputy superintendent who’d been named interim superintendent while the school board searched for a permanent replacement for Peluso. Strickland, a genial thirty-nine-year-old Buffalo native who moved to Rochester last year, was the seventh superintendent of the district since 2016. He told me that he was not surprised the closures had prompted such protests. “School closures are traumatic in itself,” he said.

But he defended the district against several of the criticisms I had heard from parents. School 10 had been improving, he said, but still fell short on some metrics. “Even though they met demonstrable progress, we still had to look at proficiency, and we still had to look at receivership,” he said. And, he added, School 53 had limited slots available, so the district had made no promises to parents of School 10 about having priority.

Still, he said, the district could perhaps have been more empathetic in its approach. “This process has taught me that, in a sense, people don’t care about the money,” he said. “When you make these decisions, you really have to think about the heart. That’s something we could have done a little more. It makes sense—we’re wasting money, throwing money away, we have all these vacancies, that makes sense to us. But our families don’t care about that. Our families want their school to stay open—they don’t want to do away with it.”

At the end of the academic year, Rochester closed eleven of its forty-five schools, including School 39.

I asked him whether he worried that the district’s enrollment decline might continue until the system could no longer sustain itself, as Hetherington and Barnhart feared. “I try not to get scared about the future,” he said.

On the second-to-last day of the school year, I went to School 10 to join Kpor at the end-of-year ceremony for Thomasena’s kindergarten class. She and her fourteen classmates sang songs, demonstrated spelling on the whiteboard, and rose one by one to say what they had liked best about kindergarten. “Education and learning,” Thomasena, a tall girl with her front teeth just coming in, said. “When it’s the weekend,” one boy said, to the laughter of parents.

It was not hard to see why Kpor and other parents were sorry to leave the school, with its gleaming new tile work and hardwood-composite hallway floorboards. A few weeks earlier, the latest assessment results had shown improvement for School 10, putting it close to citywide averages. “All of us are going to be going to different places, but I hope one day that I get to see you again,” the class’s teacher, Karen Lewis, said.

Kpor was still waiting to find out if she had moved up on the list for School 53. I asked if she might have Thomasena apply for Urban-Suburban, like her siblings, and she said she was hoping it would work out in the district. “I still have faith,” she said. Outside, I met a parent who was worried about how her daughter would fare at her new school after having been at School 10 with the same special-needs classmates and teacher for the past three years. “The school has been amazing,” she said.

The Next Day, I attended a school-wide Rites of Achievement ceremony in the gym. Parents cheered as students received awards for Dr. Walter Cooper Character Traits—Responsibility, Integrity, Compassion, Leadership, Perseverance, and Courage. (Thomasena won for Courage.) Thomas, the principal, called up the school’s entire staff, name by name. The shrieks from the assembled children for their favorite teachers and aides indicated the hold that even a school officially deemed subpar can have on its students and families: this had been their home, a hundred and eighty days a year, for as long as seven years.

Walter Cooper himself was there, watching from a thronelike chair with gilt edges. Eventually, he addressed the children for the last time, recounting his upbringing with a father who had received no formal schooling, a mother who preached the value of education, and six siblings, all but one of whom had gone to college. “The rule was we had to have a library card at seven. We didn’t have a lot in this community, but we had books,” he said. “There are always things in the street for you, but there is much more in books. . . . The guiding thesis is: books will set you free.”

The children sang a final song: “I am a Cooper kid, a Dr. Walter Cooper kid, I am, I am / I stand up for what’s right, even when the world is wrong.” Sylvia Cooksey, a retired administrator who is also a pastor, gave the final speech. “No matter where you go, where you end up, you are taking part of this school with you,” she said. “You are taking Dr. Walter Cooper with you. We’re going to hear all over Rochester, ‘That child is from School 10.’ ”

After the assembly, I asked Cooper what he made of the closure. “It’s tragic,” he said. “It points to the fundamental instability in the future of the schools. Children need stability, and they aren’t getting it in terms of the educational process.”

Wanda Zawadzki, a physical-education teacher who had worked at the school for eight years and received some of the loudest shrieks from the kids, stood looking forlorn. She recalled the time a class had persuaded the city to tear down an abandoned house across the street, and the time a boy had brought her smartphone to her after she dropped it outside. “My other school, that phone would have been gone,” she said. “It’s the integrity here.” Like many teachers at the targeted schools, she was still waiting for her transfer assignment. “This was supposed to be my last home,” she said.

And then it was dismissal time. It was school tradition to have the staff come out at the end of every school year and wave at the departing buses as they did two ceremonial loops around the block. Speakers blared music from the back of a pickup, and the teachers danced and waved. “We love you,” Principal Thomas called out.

It was quieter over at School 29, the school with many special-needs kids. The children were gone, and one teacher, Latoya Crockton-Brown, walked alone to her car. She had spent nineteen years at the school, which will be closing completely. “We’re not doing well at all,” she said, of herself and her colleagues. “This was a family school. It’s very disheartening. Even the children cried today.”

She was wearing a T-shirt that read “Forever School 29 / 1965 to Now.” The school had done a lot in recent days to aid the transition—bringing in a snow-cone truck and a cotton-candy machine, hosting a school dance. “One girl said she feels like she’s never going to make friends like she had here,” Crockton-Brown said. “But we have to move on. We have no other choice.” ♦

— This Article is a Collaboration Between The New Yorker and ProPublica. ProPublica is a Nonprofit Newsroom that Investigates Abuses of Power. Published in the Print Edition of the September 2, 2024, Issue, with the Headline “The Last Day.”

[ledenews]

Oglebay Reveals Transformed Lodge and Restaurant Experiences

Oglebay celebrated a significant milestone with the grand opening of its newly reimagined lodge arrival experience and restaurants. This renovation, initiated in January, was supported in part by a grant from the Economic Development Administration (EDA) and matched by community gifts to culminate in a remarkable enhancement to the guest experience. Bob Peckenpaugh, President & CEO of the Wheeling Park Commission, expressed his enthusiasm, stating, “We are thrilled to see this project reach completion. These enhancements not only elevate the comfort and ambiance of the lodge but also provide our team with the opportunity to create new and improved service levels for our guests.” Guests will now be welcomed by a redesigned arrival experience that offers clear guidance and shelter from inclement weather. The covered drive is anchored by four illuminated pillars, leading guests seamlessly to the front door and a new water feature creates a stunning focal point at the entrance.  Upon entering the lodge, guests are greeted by a redesigned desk area with open workstations, designed to foster natural and friendly interactions between staff and visitors. The interior renovations reflect the lodge’s natural stone and dark wood aesthetic, enhancing the inviting ambiance throughout. Sarita’s Coffee & Goods has significantly expanded from its original counter space and resides with the retail experience. It features private label barista-style coffee, baked pastries, grab-and-go foods, and a curated selection of Oglebay apparel and keepsakes. Oglebay also unveiled new dining and relaxation spaces, set to delight guests with enhanced experiences.  These areas feature fireplaces, floor-to-ceiling windows, an open display kitchen, natural wood accents, and inviting, eclectic atmospheres. The new Skyline Kitchen & Bar invites guests to rise, rally, and revel with classic comfort foods served with a modern twist.  Open for breakfast, lunch, dinner and available for a relaxing drink, the team is dedicated to creating memorable dining experiences filled with fun and flair.  Trace Chophouse sets a new standard for dining, offering a space that transports guests back in time to the frontier days of tracers mapping the land.  This elegant yet rugged venue serves premium steak and seafood dishes, complemented by a fine selection of wines and an impressive drink list, five nights a week.  Hickman Lounge has also been elevated, now offering a focus on craft cocktails and small bites in a beautiful setting, perfect for relaxed conversations. Principal Architect Vic Greco from The Mills Group remarked, “My team recognized from the start that this project was a rare opportunity, requiring meticulous attention to detail and thoughtful execution. Every aspect was scrutinized with care and profound consideration. I can sincerely say that this project is one of the most transformative in my career. I want to credit not only the design team and contractors but especially the Wheeling Park Commission for their vision and trust, which allowed us to bring this project to fruition”. Oglebay’s Lodge renovation received a major boost through West Virginia’s Tourism Development Act tax credit program, securing over $3 million in potential credits. These credits can be utilized over several years after the project’s completion and opening to the public. The West Virginia Department of Economic Development also played a key role by leveraging a federal grant to obtain over $60,000 in workforce training funds, which will be used to train Oglebay employees as they launch new restaurants. Furthermore, the Oglebay Foundation’s “Forever Yours: The Campaign for An Enduring Oglebay” provided essential funding support for these renovations. This effort aligns with the foundation’s goal of securing 100,000 gifts by Oglebay’s centenary in 2028. Eriks Janelsins, President & CEO of the Oglebay Foundation, emphasized the campaign’s impact on enhancing park assets like Wilson Lodge and Wheeling Park. Peckenpaugh expressed gratitude towards the Wheeling Park Commission, Economic Development Administration, Oglebay Foundation, and its donors for their dedication to enhancing Oglebay’s facilities and visitor experience. Read the full article

[whitepolaris]

Odd Leavings by the Odd Fellows

The Odd Fellows is a fraternal organization that traces its lineage back to seventeenth-century England. Like similar organizations, it is full of symbols and rituals with meaning known only to members. The Odd Fellows has a history of taking care of members who might be experiencing tough times, including providing inexpensive funeral services. Because of this, it has an interesting initiation ritual. New members are shown a coffin, inside of which is a skeleton that represents death. Usually the coffin and skeleton were fake, but sometimes they weren't. In small towns, the Odd Fellows Lodge was usually located in the shop or warehouse of a local member, with the skeleton and coffin hidden in a storeroom somewhere. Some larger Odd Fellows Lodges were ornate buildings, and a real skeleton was kept in a hidden room.

At one time, the Odd Fellows had many members in lodges across the country, including Washington State, but by the end of the twentieth century, their numbers dwindled as older members died and weren't replaced. Some lodges sold their buildings, leaving all their ritual materials behind, including the coffins with fake or real skeletons. What do you with a bunch of old bones, anyway? Leave them for the new owners to find!

An Odd Fellows Lodge in Ridgefield was sold in the 1990s to a nonmember. When the new owner toured his property, he could not find a key to a back room. He broke the lock and opened the door to find a small, badly lit room. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw an open coffin lying on a table. With understanding hesitation, he walked up to the foot of the coffin. It was several more seconds before he stepped close enough to look inside. When he did, his heart seemed to stop, until he realized that the bony figure inside was only a mannequin.

Spokane's Odd Fellows Lodge

In 1998, the Spokane Odd Fellows moved out of their lodge on West First Avenue and put it up for sale. It was a while before anyone bought it, but eventually two businesswomen turned the large brick building into the Cameo Catering and Event Center. After months of renovation, the new owners found several robes, uniforms, books, and other ritual-related regalia the Odd Fellows had left behind. But the group might have left something else that the new owners have yet to discover.

Weird Washington visited the old building a few years ago and was impressed with the restoration work. The main entrance featured an Eye of Horus mosaic-an important symbol to the Odd Fellows-that seemed to wink at visitors as they visited. The wooden floors were beautifully restored, and the dark paneling in the grand ballroom gleamed in the soft light.

The owners showed us into the billiard room, where the Odd Fellows used to meet, talk, and smoke cigars. They told us they had cleaned every room in the building and never found a hidden room, with or without the requisite coffin or skeleton. We kept this in mind as we walked through the rest of the building, looking for signs of a hidden room they might have missed.

When we returned to the ballroom, something looked a little bit odd. The room had high ceilings, and the builders had tried to create a theatrical look by constructing a set of ornamental balconies over the front entrance. These balconies were very small, about four feet wide, and only two or three feet deep, but each had a set of French windows, as if they opened into other rooms. When asked where the stairs leading to the balconies were located, the owners said that the balconies were purely ornamental and that the doors did not open into another room.

We weren't so sure, and paced off the ballroom, comparing distances to the floor above, where the balconies were. We suspect there might have been a small room on the other side of one of the balconies, but could not figure out how to get there. We weren't willing to scale the wall, so the mystery remains. How many other Odd Fellows Lodges in Washington hold a secret or two that their present owners do not suspect?

Cameo Apppearance

Along with their ritual gear and paperwork, the Odd Fellows left some spiritual remnants behind at the Cameo. Employees have told the managers that they sometimes feel someone following them around the building. A few thought they heard someone calling their names or heard echoing footsteps when the building was empty. Is this the overactive imagination of people alone in an old building?

In one case, it's especially hard to pass off the phenomenon as purely imaginary. When employees-particularly female employees-work in the billiard room, they report a strong odor. They describe it as a sweaty male-type smell. Once in a while, this smell follows them from the billiard room throughout the building before fading away.