#and truly inspiring rylan is

[mrbinglee]

so we all know taylor swift listens to the national and a lot of the band’s sound inspired folklore/evermore but im really just now truly Hearing it not just in terms of vibes (by which i mean sound production/mixing) but in specific chords or melodies or rhythms like the intros of carin at the liquor store & dorothea, and light years & cardigan, and rylan & day i die & long story short, and maybe quiet light & marjorie. i love it. thank u aaron and taylor

[stfreds-arc]

@agathokakology​ sent : Hiya! Reading your ramble about what you've been realizing with Fred lately, can I just say this that I adore you and Fred and and your love for her so much? It is always so endearing to see you do anything with Fred from writing to doing dashboard games and even throw random thoughts about her over. Everything about her are so well thought out and beautifully executed and the fact they'd come from a place of pure passion is beyond amazing and inspiring. I've only recently got to be friends with you, but I wish to tell you this that getting to know you and your wonderful Fred is truly one of the best gifts to get in life! You two have all of my love. You are very wonderful to have around, Rylan, thank you for being awesome! I love ya so much! <3 <3 <3 

hey hi i am ... legit crying rn :) this means so much to me i can’t even begin to tell you like. i’m honestly crying ‘cause ! god. fred really IS a part of me and it’s been hard trying to cope with shifting my perception of myself and i think fred has also been a gateway for me to ... maybe stop hating myself so much, i think ? idk this sounds weird but the bottom line is ! this means seriously everything to me and i wish i had a coherent thought but i’m just overwhelmed. you’re fucking great. you’re an angel of a person and i’m sorry i’m so bad with messages, you truly are an angel blessing me always. i’m. gonna stop before i make a fool of myself !

[mild-lunacy]

Gay Sci-fi Recs

I've complained enough recently that I figure I should balance it out. And I think a small subgenre like sci-fi gay romance deserves some pimping. So these are the ones that I've found so far, minus the great work by Santino Hassell, which has sadly been pulled from Amazon. It's probably still findable online, though, so I'll still encourage anyone to seek out his work if you're interested in very well-written and realistic, often gritty but ultimately sweet gay genre romance.

Angel Martinez, 'Gravitational Attraction'

In some ways, Gravitational Attraction is the closest m/m novel on this list to more mainstream examples of vaguely cyberpunky space opera romance, which I have long enjoyed, ever since my teenage affection for Joan D. Vinge. There's spaceship battles, fascinating alien societies, two tortured heroes, a cyborg, and strange but dramatic powers with scientific sounding yet outlandish explanations. In this case, you'd probably call both protagonists 'tortured heroes', which is cool, not to mention one of them is the cyborg (of sorts). I love the way the story starts out with a bang, as a small commercial ship encounters the creepy remains of an inexplicable catastrophe in space, with a sole survivor who doesn't remember what happened. Things keep going in a fast clip from there, even as a sweet relationship develops between two almost broken but ultimately very strong individuals. It's a very satisfying story even just for sci-fi fans, but if you're into both queer romance and genre fiction, you'll be very pleased.

Felicia Davin, 'Edge of Nowhere'

This is a wonderful, now somewhat classic cyberpunk concept: the teleporting brash young runner, Kit, hired by the shady corporation that's engaging in shadier research that messes with the nature of reality. Kit is far from a cliche, however: he's extremely vivid and sympathetic, and he's a great match with the steady, protective and honest guard Emil, whom Kit is hired to transport. But of course, things go wrong and nothing goes according to plan. There's a bunch of interesting physics ideas being played with, but there's equally interesting relationship dynamics, both between Kit and Emil and between Emil and the other corporate employees he feels responsible for. It's rare that the 'shady corporation' is presented in a complex way that includes the manifold motivations and natures of the various scientists and human beings actually working there. There's a wonderful subtlety to all the relationships, not just the romance, and the writing overall. It's very satisfying both as sci-fi and as romance, which is rare and definitely something to celebrate.

Hanna Dare, 'Machine Metal Magic'

I definitely enjoyed the fun, breezy writing here, and I like the premise of techno-psychics enough to overlook some of the holes in the world-building. Perhaps I simply have some issues with the idea that the Singularity occurs and all machines could rise up to the point where they exile all humanity from the solar system. If you swallow that basic premise, however, there's fun to be had, and the book is stand-alone but first in an interesting series. The romance is on the cute and sweet side, without much interpersonal conflict, but the psychic, Jaime, is a very good match with the more steady, jock-type Rylan. It helps that Rylan has secrets of his own, and the other people on their ship have fun personalities with some mystery as well. The overall plot here is fun, especially since I really enjoy the whole AI aspect, especially an AI that can only really talk to (or through) one person. It's not super memorable but still a fun read.

Jenn Burke and Kelly Jensen, Chaos Station series

I absolutely love this series about two super gritty, abrasive soldiers, best friends and former lovers, both of whom thought the other was presumed dead in a human-alien conflict. The story starts as a retired soldier, named Zander, needs passage on a ship that the other's coincidentally working as a mechanic on. Zander is a super soldier on a mission to rescue his fellow altered comrade who had seemingly gone violently insane as a consequence of the procedure, initially done to help fight the aliens. Now Zander too is in imminent danger, and he needs his old lover, Felix, and his crew to help him save his comrades from themselves. Not to mention the danger that Zander is in, on a race against time as he fights not to succumb to violent insanity before he's done or they find a solution. Needless to say, the challenges here are truly impressive, and the action is fast-paced and exhilarating, though the thing I really find outstanding is the gritty, believable atmosphere of life on a spaceship or a space station, as well as the abrasive but intense and deeply loyal, ultimately loving connection between Felix and Zander. Especially in the later installments, there are also several scenes where truly strange and awesome things occur, enough to inspire that famous sense of wonder that is supposed to result from the best science fiction.

Kelly Jensen, 'To See the Sun'

This is more of a gay version of a mail-order bride story, where instead of the American West, you have a rim planet. It's a small scale, almost slice-of-life romance story that depends on the gritty, believable details of world building about an outpost on a mining planet for its science fiction aspects. If you like survivalist sci-fi, such as The Martian (which I do), combined with careful and sensitive characterization, plus a kid that adds to the story instead of being window-dressing, you'll enjoy this. I wouldn't have tried this without enjoying the Chaos Station series, but I'm glad I did. It's not the grand space opera or thriller I normally gravitate towards, but these are interesting and real-feeling people that I cared about, which is what's really important to me.

[crazyflyingspip]

Step inside celebrity chef Rachel Khoo's stylish London home – with Parisian-inspired kitchen

Complete with a charming shaker-style kitchen Rachel Khoo’s London home is simply stunning. The celebrity chef, writer and broadcaster’s two bed flat is on the market, after she relocates to a stylish new home in Sweden.

The contemporary two-bed apartment was designed and renovated by Rachel, to make it the charming home it is today.

The standout space of the whole property has to be the open-plan Parisian-inspired kitchen, dining and living room. From which the renowned chef has filmed and developed recipes for her most recent cookbooks.

Another famous kitchen: At home with Rylan – see his show-stopping kitchen makeover

‘As a chef the kitchen is the most important room for me, and this kitchen is truly the heart of the home’ explains Rachel.

Image credit: Lara Messer

‘For the design of this home I wanted to focus on functionality and beauty, a home designed for urban living’ Rachel explains.

‘The centrepiece of the home is undoubtedly the kitchen, which has real soul – it is a wonderful space to cook in. Here I have hosted everything from cookery workshops, to brunches for food writers, to dinners for my friends.’

The famous kitchen

Image credit: Dexters

It’s easy to see why she loved this room so much. The striking kitchen is designed by deVOL, with Shaker-style cabinets in an invigorating pea-green hue. With matching tiling from Milagros, a Columbian tiling shop on Columbia Road.

More: Green kitchen ideas – redecorate with a colour that’s both sophisticated and fresh

Image credit: Dexters

The worktops are reclaimed Iroko school science-lab counter tops, which Rachel sourced from Retrouvious.

Image credit: Dexters

In the same open-plan area resides a comfy sofa for lounging and a dining table for entertaining.

In addition to its generous open-plan kitchen and dining space this impressive property offers two decent sized bedrooms, a compact boutique-style bathroom and a courtyard.

Courtyard

Image credit: Dexters

The patio offers a characterful extension of the kitchen, with a wall of kitchen cupboards outside.

This continuation of the shaker-style kitchen welcomes outdoor kitchen vibes – a must for any budding chef who loves entertaining.

View this post on Instagram

Just collapsed on the sofa after a busy day of podcast recordings and filming with @foodnetworkuk for my new TV show My Swedish Kitchen. Coming to your screens in 2 days Thursday 9pm on @foodnetworkuk . Special thank you to @suqqu_uk_official for the glowing make up today (gift) Outfit @emilyandfin (gift) . . . . . . . . . . . #rachelkhoo #myswedishkitchen #foodnetworkuk #tv #cookeryshow

A post shared by Rachel Khoo (@rachelkhooks) on Aug 20, 2019 at 9:11am PDT

Rachel often filmed her much-loved podcasts and TV shows from her inspiring shaker kitchen. An impressive kitchen for her to resume her cooking commitments would have been high on her proprieties when house hunting over in Sweden.

Bathroom

Image credit: Dexters

The property’s bathroom is inspired by boutique hotels, with a roll-top bathtub and a Moroccan-style plaster on the walls.

Image credit: Dexters

This impressive property is on the market with agents Dexters.

Related: Once Meg Ryan’s house, this stunning San Fran property is on sale for $19.95million

We can’t wait to see more of her new home on future shows.

The post Step inside celebrity chef Rachel Khoo's stylish London home – with Parisian-inspired kitchen appeared first on Ideal Home.

from Ideal Home https://ift.tt/37DO5Ay

[yahoo-puck-daddy-blog]

Cynical suspicions about the NHL ‘Declaration of Principles’

NEW YORK – The goose bumps were raised on Dani Rylan’s arm.

The founder and commissioner of the National Women’s Hockey League was one of 17 executives assembled at a Manhattan steak house on Wednesday, in a show of solidarity for hockey’s “Declaration of Principles.” At the moment, she was listening to a young girl named Dorothy from a youth hockey team in Englewood, New Jersey, speaking about what inspired her to discover hockey.

The catalyst? Manon Rheaume.

“She was in the 1992 Olympics, a Canadian gold medalist. She just inspired me a whole lot. And then one day I just randomly came home and told my mom I wanted to play ice hockey,” Dorothy said.

Rylan smiled. “I started playing hockey in Tampa, Florida, because of Manon Rheaume. I started skating in 1992.I thought I was going to be the first defensewoman playing for the Tampa Bay Lightning,” she recalled. “Manon is one person. I’m a few generations older than Dorothy. Manon got me into the game. And now Dorothy’s inspired by the same woman.”

Two women, separated by hundreds of miles, inspired by the same woman playing hockey. On a day meant to support ways for hockey to be more inclusive and better representative, it couldn’t have been more appropriate.

“To pick hockey takes a bit of courage. To go to the rink, to know that it’s a family sport, to bring your daughter or your son, or start playing as an adult, to know that it really is for everyone, makes it a lot easier to make that decision,” said Rylan.

As is the case with most efforts lead by the NHL, there are cynical undercurrents to the “Declaration of Principles,” which are an attempt to focus a disparate group of organizations on one mission while reaffirming some obvious benefits of sports participation.

Hockey’s “Declaration of Principles,” ICYMI pic.twitter.com/AGm4OGHg7p

— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) September 6, 2017

Among those undercurrents:

* Making hockey “for everyone” by increasing participation is also about increasing the fan base and the player pool, especially in the United States.

* The project was spearheaded by Pat Lafontaine, who told Chris Johnston of Sportsnet that the principles pointed to the need for an extra year of development for young players. And thus, the entire project suddenly felt like an infomercial for raising the NHL Draft age from 18 to 19, which has been an aim of Lafontaine’s for years.

This completely colors statements like this from Mathieu Schneider of the NHLPA:

“I think that this transcends hockey,” he said. “I think this is about sports and the future for our kids. Being a parent, having gone though the hockey system but also having kids play other sports, the things that we’re trying to deal with as parents today are common threads throughout. The idea that we’re putting kids in the sport for college scholarships or to become professional athletes, was never the intention when we were kids. The intention was about the health, what sports was able to give to you.”

*  That moment during the press conference it appeared the “Declaration of Principles” were inspired by the Catholic Church, capped by that surreal moment with Pope Francis endorsed hockey in a letter to the NHL. (OK, maybe surreal is underselling the truly jarring turn from an agnostic presentation to a reading from the Vatican.)

* And, of course, the notion that the NHL, in particular, hadn’t exactly practiced what it was now preaching about “a safe, positive and inclusive environment for players and families regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation and socio-economic status.”

This “Declaration of Principles” was going to be met with cynicism and suspicion, and rightfully so. Even the most reasonable reading of them is that they simply restate the obvious or set a low bar to clear. (In the words of the great Chris Rock: “You’re supposed to take care of yo kids!”)

But for NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly, the simplicity of the declaration is expected. This is just the start of what he hopes is an ever-building project.

“This isn’t an announcement of an end. This is the announcement of a start,” he said. “Our challenge is how to we live the principles going forward. How do we instill them in what we’re doing and how to other leagues do the same? What we asked for from the organizations was, ‘what are you doing to reflect these materials?’ It was a way to share best practices.”

Herein lies perhaps the most important thing about the “Declaration of Principles”: The fact that 17 different hockey organizations are aligned with them. The fact that the NHL doesn’t have all the answers, so maybe someone like USA Hockey can share some – Daly, a board member for the latter, said even he was unaware about some of its grassroots efforts.

It’s a two-pronged issue: Overcoming the barriers between young athletes and hockey, and then ensuring that they’ll want to continue with the sport once they’re into it.

The first prong has proved nearly impossible to solve for the last 20 years for the NHL – the social, economic, cultural and structural obstacles that keep athletes away from hockey. If it’s not the cost of gear, it’s available ice. It’s not feeling the game is alien to one’s culture, it’s not having any friends playing it either.

So this “Declaration of Principles” is an attempt to sell potential players, especially young ones, that “hockey is for everyone” through videos like this:

The second prong is creating an environment to keep athletes in the game – a wide-ranging task that includes everything from player safety to that nebulous concept of “inclusion” the NHL bandied about this week.

“One of the things we have to do going forward is to make sure parents feel safe putting their kids in the game, from an environment standpoint but also from a player safety standpoint. News in recent years suggests that hockey could be dangerous for kids. I don’t know if the stats back that up, but we have to deal with the perception of that,” said Daly.

“What’s our role in this? Leadership is one. NHL players and the NHL are the north star of the sport. But in our ‘Learn To Play’ program, that really gave us an opportunity to reach out to kids on the grass roots level to instill these principles.”

All of this leads to one conclusion, after we cut through the ulterior motives of the “Declaration of Principles”: That hockey, as a community, needs to attract a larger, more diverse collection of fans and players across North America and internationally; but more than that, it needs to create and maintain an environment that welcomes rather than discourages that diversity.

There needs to be more Dorothys. Which means there needs to be more Manon Rheaumes.

Rylan believes that the hockey community, slowly, is getting there.

“Harrison Browne is a great example of these principles coming to life,” said Rylan, of the NWHL player and one of the first openly transgender athletes in professional sports. “I don’t think that five years ago Harrison would have felt comfortable being himself.

“Things take time,” she said. “In this day and age, people want immediate results. But you have to have the patience to see this through, starting with what we talked about today.”

At this point, it’s just talk. It’s just words on a placard. It’s just a pretty website. It’s just another reason for those already cynical about the NHL’s aims to be cynical about the NHL’s aims. And there’s really only one way to make this something more palpable, which is to practice what’s been preached – and not just because The Pope endorsed it.

“What happens next? That’s what is going to be the big thing,” said Schneider.

  —

Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

[stfreds-arc]

how’s my portrayal ? / accepting ( also known as rylan and her neverending needy ass ).

@archivars​ sent : I am in love with you & Fred ?? The development you put into her & how she's being developed every day?? God she's fantastic, it's great fun to watch her grow & once i get to actually respond to discord messages in a timely matter we will get great things going. This message did not go where I wanted it to go. But you're fantastic & ily ❤️

i cannot tell you how good this message made me feel c’: it means so so much to me, truly —— no other character has ever meant to me what the fredster does, so this just fills ? my heart ? so much ? and coming from you ! who constantly inspire me ic & ooc ! man i’m ... i’m constantly in awe of you & the multitude of complex, layered characters and stories you produce. i am SO HYPED about plotting with you ( even if we’re both equally bad at responding to messages but it’s okay, time doesn’t matter: we make our own reality ). you truly are a gem of a human being, thank you SO MUCH for giving my endorphins this sweet sweet high ♥