#auckland skip bag

[jeanhm]

USA to Australia via NZ

Phew, we have eventually made it to Melbourne, amidst drama that you really couldn't have scripted. It started badly on saturday when I woke up feeling a little rough after a tad too much wine the night before in an attempt to finish up the wine before we left - never a good idea. The weather wasn't brilliant so we decided to skip going to Sausalito and instead to head to the airport early particularly given it was the big match day in San Francisco with the 49ers playing.

We had brunch on the way and checked in all ok and actually had a pretty good flight to Auckland landing at 5am which was 50 minutes early. We both slept which was lucky and then the day of waiting started.

We had to do all the declarations for NZ even though we are flying straight out as its not a transit flight so we took a while going through all the passport, biosecurity etc and collecting bags but we were still all done by 6.15 and our flight wasn't until 3.30pm - or so we thought. We therefore sat around reading, listening to music eating various things at different stages and we even managed to drop our bags pretty early which was useful, particularly as the gate number started to change. Firstly the flight was moved to a different gate so we relocated. then it was delayed as the incoming flight was late. So our 3.30pm flight become 4.40pm but even then the drama wasn't over.

We all got onto the plane and we all ready for departure but then were told we would have to wait as one passenger had decided they were unable to travel so the baggage handlers were having to go through all the luggage to remove their bags. That was another 15 minute delay. We then pushed away from the gate but after about 150m and sitting in an isolated area I saw the steps coming towards the plane. The stewardesses were then going through cabin bags a couple of rows ahead of us. The captain then told us that someone from a later flight had accidentally got through onto our flight (how can that happen??) and they had found out and were having to get his bags off - so another 20 minutes delay and then of course we had to taxi to the very farthest end of the runway. The only good thing was we did get a free drink as a result of all the nonsense.

Luckily we landed at 8pm after a relatively easy journey and this time our bags came off easily, all the security was a doddle as we were the only flight in and we even got our car with with a minimum of fuss. All in all and despite missing the road turn we still made it to the hotel within 1.5hours of landing. Ferry finally checked in fully for Tasmania - we needed a car registration for that, and tomorrow we are off to explore Melbourne. I'm just hoping that the sun is going to shine!

[smurphygames]

KiwiRPG at the Auckland games fair - A Post Mortem

Last weekend I had the privilege of running the kiwiRPG booth at the Auckland Cancer Society Games Fair, and I’m pleased to say that it went really well! We had plenty of players, designers, and members of the public stop by and chat about the organisation and tabletop games in general. A huge relief considering that it was just me at the booth all weekend, that I had never done anything like this before and was anxious as hell, and the fact that half the stuff that we were planning on having at the booth didn’t arrive in time (cheers to NZ couriers for that fun little headache).

From this experience, I have gained numerous insights, immeasurable wisdom, and a laundry list of shit that I am going to do differently next time.

There is almost nothing you can’t fix with tape (and Post-it notes)

It is honestly fucking comical how many problems got solved with tape and Post-it notes. People joke about this all the time, but it’s TRUE. Signage? Taped Post-it notes. Keeping boxes together? Tape. No business cards? Post-it note. Need someone’s details? Write it on a Post-it note. Sign keeps falling over? Tape that sucker UP. If our biggest supporter for the weekend was the Cancer Society, our biggest second supporter was the unextraordinary office products of paper plus.

I suffered for my hubris (not bringing enough food)

Every con guide tells you to bring enough food and drink. This is not new advice. However, I am (famously) a bit of a dumbass and thought, “I’ve worked shitty restaurant jobs without eating anything for longer hours; this’ll be nothing,” skipped breakfast and brought a single bag of chips with me. Unsurprisingly, I was hungry as hell by hour three of the first day and, with the only options around being out of my budget, I just had to deal with it. Learn from my mistakes and make some sammies before the event.

They stopped for the pretty books and stayed for the one-pagers

We had a decent selection visible at the booth, but the big standout was Dave Elvy/Imaginary Empire’s games, which had fancy colourful covers and a strong reputation (several people recognised them from a distance). Lots of folks walked up primarily to take a look at them, thinking I was the designer, before I explained what KiwiRPG was about.

Once they did walk up though, many people stuck around to read the one-page games and take some with them. Usually, the conversation involved me gushing about what one-page games are and the design freedom they represent, to which they would say, “Ooh, like Honey Heist, right?” to which I’d shrug and say, “Yeah, pretty much.”

The lesson here is that while not visually striking enough to draw people on their own, one-page games make great handouts and conversation starters at events like this.

People fucking LOVE business cards

We were meant to have pamphlets to hand out with our details, but unfortunately, they didn’t arrive in time. Dale, however, was very clever and sent a stack of business cards with his games. These flew off the table like hotcakes. I don’t know how I feel about them from a wastage standpoint, but it seems like having a solid stack of business cards or pamphlets is basically essential for doing stuff like this.

There’s a lot to be gained by teaming up with other creators in the industry

Talking specifically about boothing together at cons here. I got to chat with a boatload of other creators throughout the weekend, and the one thing that almost always came up was the challenges that tend to come up with events like this. There were two things that were mentioned pretty consistently:

 Booths are prohibitively expensive. The Cancer Society were incredibly generous in allowing folks to have a presence at the event for free (only asking that 20% of sales go to the charity), but this is far from the norm. Most cons charge up to 1000 bucks or more to have a booth, exceeding what most small creators can reasonably afford.

Eftpos machines are also super expensive but basically necessary if you want to sell anything. At least in New Zealand, cash is becoming increasingly uncommon payment-wise, and many cons lack an ATM. The price to rent an Eftpos machine can run up to a couple hundred dollars a day and, if you’re mainly selling 5$ - 20$ zines/books, anything less than a total success will leave you sitting at a loss.

I think both of these problems could be solved by getting a bunch of us together to share a space, possibly as a “KiwiRPG Creators” booth. It’d be a way to enable a bunch of people to show off their stuff who’d usually be unable to.

Giveaways should be dead simple

Before the event, I came up with a microgame to do giveaways. It was fun, sort of interesting, and entirely too complicated for what we were doing. After trying it with a few people, I quickly realised that people check out if a giveaway takes more than two sentences to explain. In the end, I stripped it down to its bare essentials and that ended up being much better. Unless you’re really clever, don’t do anything fancy for stuff like this.

The conclusion

The fair was a good time. We spread the good word of KiwiRPG and made some new mates. Yeah.

[vegetacide]

TaG: Bloodlines (Part 9 Bit 2 )

Veg • notables: Second part... long chunk... 

Any errors in this are strictly my own

Ty to @gumnut-logic and @scribbles97 for the brainstorming help and the encouragement.

Chapter 1 | Previous Chapter | Next 

Rating and General warning: Mature content head. If you are not a fan of medical issues of a female nature in relation to pregnancy please proceed with caution.

Characters: Virgil/Kayo and various others

E N J O Y

8-8-8

Part 9 - Dipisahkan (Bit 2)

They managed to delay the move for a few more weeks.  Using the very active storm season that had just kicked off in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean as a good excuse to push things out a bit.  

Virgil knew that the stall tactic was starting to wear thin and their Doctor was getting anxious as Kayo hit the six month mark with no further improvement made.

Dragging a grease smeared hand through his hair as a bolt refused to budge,  Virgil swore and leaned against the side of the pod.  He was making work for himself for the sake of making work. Avoiding the packing that Kayo had slowly started to do over the last week.  

They had no more excuse, they had to move. He hated the fact that he would be of no help if an emergency came up but he hated it even more that he was going to be leaving Kayo in less than weeks time.  That is if they got the packing done.  

Procrastination was certainly something Virgil didn’t usually have in his wheelhouse and it irked him that he’d been doing just that for the last twelve hours or so.  

Grabbing a rag, he wiped his hands and tossed it on his work bench.  He wasn’t getting anywhere with this pod anyway.  He knew when he’d pulled the maintenance hatch off that the thing was only fit for recycling.   A trip off a cliff side and into a raging river had done in its circuitry when its reinforced haul had been breached as it had been smashed about. The silt in the hydraulics along was enough to force a complete rebuild.

Luckily at the time no one had been inside the pod.  Brains and him had over engineered them with pilot safety in mind but even with all that had one of them been aboard at the time the ledge had given out.. Well lets just say they would be down a brother permanently.   

As it was after the interchangeable craft had tumbled,   Alan had gotten caught up in a lead line that was being used to stabilize a raft while Scott played a tantalizing game of ‘pluck a rafter from the rapids’.  If it hadn’t been for Virgil’s quick thinking as he’d dived and cut the line,  Alan would have a lot been worse off.  Sprained ankles were a pain to deal with but it was better off than dead. 

He was mending though and driving them all nuts as he fought a serious case of boredom,  The complete opposite to his wife’s quiet brooding that was for sure despite the fact that they have pretty much all grown up together.  Thankfully his little brother's antsy trait hadn’t spread or they would all be in serious trouble. 

Packing up his tools, he took one last look at his work space..kicked himself for procrastinating yet again and marched his butt upstairs to help his wife pack.  

Packing went surprisingly quickly once the pair of them really got into it.   Kayo having spent so much time traveling around was very adept and efficient at the task and before they knew it they were stowing the last few bags away on the family jet and saying their goodbyes.  

The boys were all there to see them off,  Alan hobbling along on a set of crutches.   Grandma gave both of them a big hug as a send off and made them promise to check in with her daily even though she was going to be paying them a visit soon enough.  She traveled to the mainland on a regular so popping in was an easy enough side jaunt for her. 

Jeff was last in line to see them off and he kissed Kayo in the cheek whispering something in her ear that made her eyes well up with tears and gave his son a good clap on the back.

“Keep in contact and let us know when you make it to the house.” His father intoned after a hearty handshake.  

“Will do.” 

It wasn’t like they were going to be that far away as the ‘bird flies but the family had only  just fully reformed as a single unit and none of them wanted to be parted for long. 

After fist bumping Alan, nodding to John and one arm hugging Scott, he and Kayo got on board.  Gordon brought up the rear with a whistle and a spring to his step.  He’d volunteered to give them a hand knowing full well that Lady Penelope was going to be waiting for them on the tarmac in Auckland.  

The trip after that was kind of a blur.  He’d done the crossing so many times in Two that he could do the trip in his sleep though this time it was at a more sedate pace.  

When they arrived,  security was already on the ground waiting for them along with Penny who greeted them with a polite smile and a wink Gordon’s way as he basically skipped down the gangway.  

Ushered into a waiting Fab 1 with the appropriate escort in tow,  Penny hit the control to tint the windows and off them went.  

“Oh this is lovely,”  Penelope pronounced as the car slowed and passed through a large set of gates some time later.  On the other side were two rows of pohutukawa trees,  their trunks thick with age and their canopies full and resplendent even in the off season.   Dappled light peaked though its lush leaves and danced merrily across a red gravel lined laneway that curved up to a beautiful colonial style house. 

The grounds surrounding the two story home were impeccably tended and flush with every imaginable shade of green.  Gardens sat nestled below fine picture windows framed by dark teal shutters and off set by curly-que wrought iron trellises. 

The home itself was large enough to fit the whole family but not so big that it was ostentatious. Its white siding was quant and its front door though sheltered by columns and a tiled roof overhang was welcoming and warm. 

 It blended in perfectly with the neighbouring houses and the quietness of this section of Parnell made it the ideal location to lay low.

Very few people knew that the Tracy’s even owned property here as it was far removed from their company’s various global headquarters and this particular location was under title of one of their many subsidiaries.  

Fab 1 coasted up the driveway with ease; the red gravel crunching under the tire as the custom car came to a stop just outside the front door.  Their dark colour escort vehicles pulling up behind, security disembarking even before the SUVs had finished moving. 

Swarming over their temporary lodgings and ground like ants even though there was an all seeing eye keeping watch from above and more security within its wall than most banks.  

The whole search and secure took only a few moments and when completed there was a tap tap on the car window.  The darkened glass rolled down an inch and a hushed but professional voice of one of the personnel rattled off a quick all clear.  “Baxter and Jenkins are already inside, Sir.   Grounds secure.” 

Penny turned to them as the black clad guard pulled back from the car and went to assume a position by the front door.  “Are you sure that this location will be adequate for your purposes? You are more than welcome to take up residence at my chateau in Perth.”

“Thank you Lady Penelope but we will be fine here for the duration. There’s more security here now than at Fort Knox. Plus,,”  He pointed upwards. “The all seeing eye is keeping tabs on the place.  Really with EoS buzzing about the circuitry and cameras we will be okay. On top of that, the plane is sitting on standby if we need to bolt and we’re got priority departure status if the need arises.  We can have wheels up and be airborne in a manner of minutes.” 

Penny seemed appeased by his reassurances despite his own doubts about everything..He didn’t like being out here anymore then the rest of them but what choice did they have.  They would just have to make the most of it and really even though the house wasn’t used often no expense had been spared getting it ready for them to occupy.  

Knowing their escort was getting twitchy with them just sitting there, Virgil took the initiative and opened the car door.  

Stepping out it was only than  that he noticed that Fab 1 was sporting a different colour from when he’d gotten in.  The curious look on his face must have drawn Parker’s attention for the driver simply said.  “Pink, though nice h’is a whee bit noticeable.”

“Ah yes “ Penny smiled tightly, her hand in Gordon’s as he helped her out. “Counter surveillance tactic.  It is such a dreadful colour though.  We must program the camo cells with something more...fashionable than slate grey.”   

“Yellow’s a nice colour.”  Gordon contributed with a grin trying to ease some of the tension and Penny’s lady-like tinkle of laughter followed. 

“It is but decidedly attention grabbing, darling.”  She leaned slightly into the aquanaut, aristocratic propriety be damned and pecked him on the cheek. It was obvious she’d picked up on Gordon's subtle plan to pop the stress balloon that surrounded them and had decided that she would help in her own way. 

Kayo had stayed decidedly quiet even for her throughout the whole exchange and when Virgil went to give her a hand out of the car her hand was cold in his.  “Alright?” 

She nodded mutely,  eyes scanning and ever assessing her surroundings and her free hand cupped protectively over her middle through the swell of it was lost under the folds of her open cardigan.  

“Kayo,”  The guards acknowledged her as they passed through the front doors, standing a little taller at their posts.  

Once inside and the door firmly closed behind them, they were greeted by a later afternoon sunlit foyer and a curved stairway lined with painting.   Some of which were copies of Virgil’s personal work.  A touch of home that someone had added during one of their previous stays at the house. 

Off to one side through a large archway was a cozy sitting room.  Plush cushioned seating was placed about to create comfortable conversation areas all bracketed by dark wood side tables with an assortment of tasteful lamps.  One wall was taken up by the large expanse of built in shelving with an artful arrangement of leather bound books and eclectic knick-knacks and pottery.  Centered across from the entry was a grand mantle and open faced fireplace, a fire crackling happily away in the hearth and chasing the coolness from the air away with a wonderful scent of Applewood.

On the other side of the foyer a set of glass paned double doors sat open to reveal a long, glossy dining table with accompanying chairs and a beautiful carved sideboard.  The walls were bisected by hand crafted wood paneling in a contrasting white while the upper portion was a deep maroon.  A heavy framed gilded mirror floated above the side board making the space appear even larger than it was and candles of various sizes flickered and reflected back at them invitingly.  

It had been ages since Virgil had set foot in this house. The last time being after they’d lost their father.  Usually the house was used as a tucked away spot to house Tracy Industry guests and their family when there was a need but it had only been used a half dozen times in the last eight or so years.  With the sudden disappearance of their business priorities has shifted somewhat and the boys were never in town long enough to demand out of towners to do the same.  

Most stuff these days was handled though holo with the odd exception here and there. Even those were only brief in person exchanges that took place within the confines of the company walls in whatever country that was deemed an appropriate location. Quick,  concise trips that got them back to the island and their families main function of first responders.

Settling a bag at the base of the stairs,  Virgil relaxed only slightly at being sheltered out of sight.  The building though charming held an array of emotions that he didn’t really feel inclined to revisit but out of all the properties they own this was one that was off the radar of the local media.   Mainly because they spent an exorbitant amount of credits keeping it that way. 

Looking at his wife as she peered into the living room, he contemplated tucking her away in bed.  She looked a little haggard from the short journey here and he wanted to make that transition as easy on her as possible.  

Just as he was about to suggest this through a door tucked behind the stairs opened and two plain clothed TI staffers came out.   Even dressed as they were in casual and comfortable clothing their straight back posture and alert eyes gave them away from what they were.  

“Baxter, Jenkins.”   Kayo said by way of greeting as they approached her even though she was off duty.  Her voice was steady contrary to her weary state, shoulders tight and high.   

“Ma'am.” They greeting in kind, coming to stand in front of them at parade rest.  You could take the employee out of the Marines but obviously not the Marines out of the employee.  “Everything is in order as arranged. No whispers on any social media.  Your arrival has gone unnoticed.” 

She gave a curt nod and the pair disappeared out the front door to give Parker a hand with the bags. 

“Well, this has been a delightful trip.” Lady Penny spoke up.  “I would love a cup of tea,  anyone else?”  

“Right ah’way, M’lady.”  Parker said with a huff as he set down the bags he'd brought in. “I’ll bring it to the parlour.”  

“Wonderful, Parker. Thank you.”

The distraction was a welcome relief from all the hubbub of the relocation and Virgil took the opportunity to check on Kayo, away from the prying eyes of the others.

“Hey, you sure you’re alright?”  He took her cold hand in his again and gave it a reassuring squeeze.  

She sighed, the action deflating and slumping her shoulders,  “Just tired.”  

Inspected her face and satisfied that she wasn’t holding anything back, he nodded in agreement.  It had been a long day after all and emotions were running high despite all the planning.  

“Why don’t you go up,”  He suggested, canting his head towards the stairs at her back.  “I’ll bring you up a warm drink and something to eat once everything from the car is brought in.”  

Rising up on her toes she brushed a kiss over his cheek,  no fight in her quiet response as she turned and tiredly went up the stairs.  

Resting a hand on the banisters, he kept a watchful eye on her as she slowly ascended, worry creasing his brow. 

“Everything okay, Bro?”  Gordon piped up from behind him.

Forcing a smile..  “Ya,  everything's fine.  Just been a long day.”  

8-8-8

TBC

Chapter 1 | Previous Chapter | Next 

[gumnut-logic]

When the World Goes Boom (Part Four)

This bit was a challenge to write. I’ve actually moved into writing stuff down for the planning of this fic so things are getting more complicated. I would really like to know why I suddenly can’t write short fic anymore. This one is over 7000 words now with plenty to go ::sigh:: I hope you enjoy it anyway.

Spoilers & Warnings: Spoilers for season three, angst, 2115 words

Many thanks to @scribbles97​ and @i-am-chidorixblossom​ for putting up with my crazy and reading this at random moments.

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four

-o-o-o-

Gordon accompanied Grandma back to the hospital. His father’s voice had been almost vacant of emotion when he made the request. Scott is asking for his grandmother, can you please come back in.

It wasn’t really a question.

Grandma shot him a worried look as he grabbed his wallet. John was still in the house office. Gordon had tried to speak to his brother, but Eos had growled at him at the door.

He got the message.

Didn’t stop him from worrying.

He recognised they were in a bad spot, but the outlook was positive. Alan was going to get better; Scott should recover soon. It was hard, but not insurmountable and he fought to maintain his positivity. He had to think positive. That was the key to everything.

Grandma was ever so quiet. There was none of her usually bubbly chatter. Instead it was replaced with a silent frown, thoughts obviously churning behind those eyes. It was disturbing. She hadn’t offered to cook a meal since they got here.

“They are getting better, Grandma.”

She blinked and looked over at him. “I know, honey.” A critical blue eye appraised his clothing. “You should bring a jacket. We’re not in the tropics at the moment.”

He rolled his eyes. “Yes, Grandma.”

She had dragged him and Virgil back here late last night, determined that he sleep in his own bed. Gordon hadn’t wanted too. He would rather have stayed with Alan. But his grandmother pointed out, and rightly so, that Alan was sleeping with medication tonight and would be fine under the care of the hospital. Gordon needed his sleep and he needed to go home.

Sure, Gordon needed to go home. This just wasn’t home.

But both brothers did as they were asked.

Somehow Virgil was gone before Gordon woke.

He suspected his older brother was taking his coffee intravenously to be out of bed that early. But he left a note and Gordon was to take the baton after Alan’s dressing changes.

Gordon’s lips thinned just thinking about that, but it meant he was going into the hospital anyway. Their father’s request was just timely.

The house in Parnell was close to everything important in Auckland, including the hospital. The early morning sun was bright and the view across the bay was blue and clear. His body ached for the water, but it wasn’t happening. He turned back to the car and forced a smile at the driver. He got a sad smile in return.

The drive was short, the hospital entrance like a maw, just like all hospital entrances, as he stepped into another world behind those doors.

A world from which he was willing to do anything to free his brothers.

Being Tracys they did get a little extra special treatment. Well, special in the way that they had to have it due to their celebrity. Scott and Alan’s room was separate from the main ICU, hidden away and secured by IR security and Kayo. Once past the guards, a small empty corridor led to three lonely chairs sat against stark white walls beside a door.

His footsteps echoed on the scrubbed linoleum.

Grandma gently took his wrist. “Gordon.” Blue eyes looked into his. “Could you please go and find Virgil and Alan?”

A frown. “Are you okay, Grandma?”

“I’m fine, honey. I just need to speak to your father.”

Alone.

It wasn’t said, but he got the message. “Okay, Grandma. Comm me, if you need me.”

“Always.” A soft smile and her hand briefly cupped his cheek.

He knew his smile in return was weak, but he gave it what he had.

As he turned to leave, the door opened and his tired father emerged. Gordon stopped in his tracks. Dad looked awful. Pale, bags under his eyes, immediate flashbacks to the early days of his return had Gordon’s heart thudding in his chest. A step forward, but Grandma grabbed his wrist again.

“Go find Alan, honey.”

A glance between his father and grandmother. “Okay, Grandma.” His hand wrapped around hers. “Comm me.”

She nodded once and let him go.

A nod, a smile at his father and he spun on his heel and strode back down the corridor.

Worry on his heels.

-o-o-o-

Sally Tracy was tired. But all the Tracys were tired so this was nothing special. Until all her boys were healthy and back with her on the Island, she wouldn’t be happy.

Jeff was overdoing it, of course. Her five grandsons inherited their stubbornness honestly from both sides of their gene pool. Lucy had been just as bad.

She looked up at her son and as always wondered how he had gotten so tall. She would always remember the tiny baby in her arms oh so long ago. He had grown into a man of who she was ever so proud, but the crick in her neck was becoming chronic.

Gordon was a relief.

Not that she would ever tell him.

“Jefferson, you should go home.”

“I plan to.” It was said with such depression her heart skipped a beat.

“Has something happened?” There had been something in his voice over comms, there was everything in his posture and expression now. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing, Mom.”

Hands on her hips. “Don’t you lie to my face, young man.”

“I’m not a young man anymore, Mom. I’m tired. I’m going back to the house.” He gestured towards the door. “Scott asked for you. He’s still a little disorientated. Be careful around the subject of Alan, he’s still forgetting his brother is safe.”

Sally grabbed her son’s wrist, a part of her mind registering the differences compared to Gordon’s

‘Worn’ was the word that came to mind.

She sought his eyes with her own. “What is it, Jeff?”

He twisted gently and wrapped her hand in both of his. “Scott needs you, mom.” A distinctly forced smile. “Go look after your grandson.”

Her lips thinned and she took his hand in hers and led him back into the hospital room. She didn’t miss his frustrated sigh.

“Grandma?”

The fear in Scott’s eyes brought her up short. She knew the symptoms of concussion, had even experienced some herself. She had hoped for some improvement.

She dropped her son’s hand and moved quickly to her grandson’s side. He was sitting up and hugging her before she even had a chance to say his name.

His broad shoulders were trembling. “Scotty?”

He didn’t answer, but his arms tightened. His hair brushed her cheek.

Her hands gripped his back, the hospital gown thin and crinkling under her fingertips. “Scott, honey, talk to me.”

A single sob on her shoulder. Harsh breathing. The tremble became a shake.

She clung tighter.

Behind her the door clicked shut leaving them alone together.

-o-o-o-

Virgil needed coffee.

Virgil needed a bucket of coffee. A swimming pool of coffee.

He needed a brother to get well and stop hurting.

Two brothers.

He sighed and leant against the elevator wall. Jeremy, his security guard, politely kept his eyes on the doors.

Virgil closed his. “I’m sorry, Jez. I’m not much company at the moment.”

“Understandable, Mr Tracy. No need to apologise.”

“Thanks for the early start.”

“Part of the deal, sir.”

Virgil opened his eyes at that. “Sir? Since when am I a ‘sir’?”

Jeremy snorted. “You will always be a ‘sir’, Mr Tracy.”

“You’ve never called me ‘sir’ before.”

His security guard smirked. “I use it as needed, sir.”

“Really? Well, quit it, Jez, or I’ll tell Gordon.”

The mock fear on Jeremy’s face did manage to draw out a small smile on his own lips, which was probably the purpose in the first place. “You should be afraid, very afraid.”

Jeremy dropped the fear and grinned just a little. “I trust you with my life, Mr Tracy, sir.”

It was Virgil’s turn to snort. “Would my squire like some coffee?”

Jeremy shrugged. “If Sir deigns it to happen, it will happen.”

Virgil rolled his eyes as the doors opened on the cafeteria floor. “Mocha or latte?”

“Mocha, thanks, Mr Tracy.” But the answer was distracted as they moved into the crowd, Jeremy’s eyes ever vigilant. The bustle around the elevators was tight and Virgil had no patience for it. It was a relief to break through the crowd into the café itself.

The surprise was to find Gerald, another of their security staff, seated at a table just inside the door. “Gerry? Who’s up here?” Virgil’s eyes tracked the tables and the answer was delivered to him as he caught sight of a lone figure in a dark corner. Pulling out his wallet, he fished out his credit card. “How long?”

Gerry was quiet. “About ten minutes, Mr Virgil.”

The credit card was absently passed to Jeremy. “Jez, get yourself and Gerry some coffee.”

“What about yourself?”

Virgil’s eyes didn’t leave the hunched figure of his father. “I can wait. Please give us some privacy.”

“Yes, Mr Tracy.”

He trusted them. They wouldn’t let him or his father out of their sight, but they would give them some distance and confidentiality.

He approached the table quietly, stepping around patrons and chairs. An ignored holoprojector spat the daytime broadcast from one corner, the sound adding to the drone of the room.

“Dad?”

His father startled, but visibly relaxed when he caught sight of Virgil. “You planning on sneaking up on your old man often?”

“I didn’t sneak, Dad. You okay?”

The sigh of frustration that hissed out between his father’s teeth was loud. “Virgil, for the last time. I am healthy and sane. Can you please stop asking? I’m not about to keel over because my day has been less than perfect.” That last came out quite loud and, if anything, was proof that his father was exactly the opposite of what he said he was.

Virgil kept his mouth shut and didn’t respond. Instead he stepped around the table to the opposite chair. “Is this seat taken?”

“Of course not. Sit down.” His father peered up at him. “Did you sleep last night? You look dead on your feet.”

“I don’t think you can talk, Dad. You didn’t even go home.”

Grey eyes levelled a stare at him, but his father didn’t say anything.

“How’s Scott?”

Something flickered through those eyes before they flickered away. “Not good. Your Grandma is with him.” Dad suddenly found his coffee particularly interesting.

“Still disorientated?” Virgil had already harassed the medical staff regarding Scott’s ongoing issues, but the only answers he could get were that his brother just needed time and rest.

It hurt to see Scott so distressed.

“His memory is erratic. He is terrified for Alan.”

Virgil sighed. “I was on my way to see him.”

“Your grandma has him in hand.”

There was something in his father’s voice. He looked up to find his father frowning at the table top. “Dad?”

“I’m sorry, Virgil.” It was quiet and parched.

“For what?”

The table top kept his father’s attention. “For leaving you.”

It was Virgil’s turn to frown. “It wasn’t your fault. We’ve been over this many times, Dad.”

“Yes, we have.” An indrawn breath. “Doesn’t change the fact I left all six of you to fend for yourselves.”

“We’re adults, Dad. We’re likely to do that anyway.”

Grey eyes slowly looked up and glistened in the fluorescent lighting. “Not like this.”

Virgil nearly didn’t hear the words that passed his father’s lips and as the man shook himself and straightened, he got the distinct impression that he wasn’t supposed to.

The engineer straightened his own shoulders in echo. “Dad, what is going on?”

Those eyes caught his for a split second before turning away again. A sigh. “Nothing, son. Now, you need either a bed or a bucket of coffee. At a guess you’re going to go for the latter, no matter what I say.”

Virgil levelled his gaze at his father, not willing to let the conversation drop.

“Exactly.” He stood up. “Name your poison.”

“TRACY!”

Both men jumped and on the other side of the room the two security officers leapt to their feet.

“How dare you challenge me, Francois Lemaire, in such an infantile manner. If you think I will go down without a fight, you are mistaken. Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war, I say!”

It took Virgil too many alarmed seconds to realise it was simply the ‘projector in the corner yelling the challenge across the café. Lemaire was outlined in light talking to a reporter. “I will not surrender. You hear me, Tracy? This is war!”

Virgil stared at the hologram.

What the hell?

-o-o-o-

End Part Four

[jj-ktae]

Game Three : Thinking

Title : Survival Games Genre : AU, Angst, Fluff, Romance Pairing : Taeyong x You (reader) Summary : A deserted island and no hope left. There is only despair and this boy, Lee Taeyong, who seems to be the only survivor. You both were on the flight KAL134, from Auckland to Seoul.

- Teaser - Discovering -  Sharing - 

--

Game 3 : Thinking

You’re depressed. If you had to describe your state of mind, you’d say you had enough of this place. It’s not like you were okay with the situation initially, but this storm got you all gloomy and down, with no motivation and a strong will to give up.
 You spend your days walking and waiting for the sun to set, then sleep – when you can even, fall asleep – and get up. You barely eat, your throat too tensed to even swallow anything. This survival thing is a lost cause and you know it, but you can’t let yourself die either, so you just let things be, because you have no other choice.

Taeyong notices the way your behaviour changes. He doesn’t say anything about it, but he doesn’t need to ask. He knows too much about this feeling of fear and the moment you realize you have no way out. He sees you wandering the jungle behind him, too tired to complain and too depressed to talk. He doesn’t know how to deal with this so he lets you be. You don’t want him to act like he should take care of you so you’re thankful for his silence and simply follows his lead, discovering the island with unsteady steps.

Your knee still hurts but you don’t care anymore. A knee is nothing next to what you’re living, and you have no way of treating it anyways.

It’s just how life goes, and somehow you must accept it and let it be for the best or worst. You thought of stopping this mad race around the jungle, you thought of telling Taeyong that you don’t want to keep on walking around with no goal and go back to the beach in hope of seeing a boat, maybe.

You tell him one afternoon, when the rain is back and you’re soaked again.

“Going back to the beach? Why?” He looks puzzled, his face sweaty and head tilted to the side like you said something incomprehensible.

“I…I’m done running around the jungle. Maybe there are boats passing by, maybe I could find someone.” It’s a probability. These things happen in the movies, and the survivors even use branches to write the word H E L P in big letters, on the sand. Taeyong looks at you, eyes narrowed and he doesn’t know if he should stop you or not.

You have nothing do to with him and you’re free to do whatever you want.

Still, he doesn’t want you to end up badly, seeing the way you gave up on your life recently. “I doubt there would be anyone. This island is deserted and there’s nothing around. Even if a boat passes by, it wouldn’t come that close and you’d have no way of showing yourself from the beach.” He tries.

You’re not convinced. Taeyong does great in the jungle, but you’re not like him. You’re tired of mosquitos and ants and bugs that eat you alive while you’re starting to look like a stick. “Still. I’m tired of this.”

“Tired of what?” Taeyong wants to understand. He isn’t someone who can speak a thousand words like a philosophe, and while he shouldn’t be bothered by the idea of you doing your thing on  your own, he doesn’t get what is so bad in the fact that he is pretty much doing everything for the both of you.

What could be so upsetting that you’d rather stay alone and starve to death?

“Tired of wandering the island. I’m tired of waiting for my own death and walking for no reason.” You don’t mean to sound annoyed because you’re grateful, but it sounds like you’ve had enough of this when Taeyong has been providing everything you both needed. You feel guilty, but you can’t do this anymore. It’s adding pressure on you when you need everything but stress, right now.

“And what are you going to do on the beach? You’ll have no food and nothing to drink. You want to die by yourself?” Taeyong doesn’t know about gentleness in these types of situation. He speaks the way he thinks, his honest side somewhat disturbing.

“I just want to get out of here, Taeyong,” You sigh, already tired by the probability of a fight with your saviour. “I’m grateful for what you did, but this whole…thing, it’s making me want to give up on my own life and I have too little strength left to fight for this.” You conclude in a whisper, because it’s exhausting.

“So you’re telling me you want to die on the beach, because you’re tired of actually trying to save yourself?” He finds it unbelievable. No matter how hard the situation is, giving up was never an option in Taeyong’s book. He blames it on his own experience and his strong-willed personality. He just doesn’t get how you’d rather stop trying rather than find a real way out of this.

And this annoys you more than you’d admit. “Well, yes. If you want to think of it that way, then so be it. I’m tired and I’d rather die on one of these bloody beaches. Happy?” You don’t know why you argue with him. It’s ridiculous, you barely know each other yet you must explain yourself? You should just walk away and do your thing.

Taeyong scoffs, his big eyes closing so slowly he looks like he is also done with you. “Alright. Do your thing. I shouldn’t even have asked if it’s what you want.” It’s frustrating for him, mostly because it’s a waste. He knows enough about survival to act like he doesn’t care, because this isn’t a game. It’s not a movie where you end up being saved after one hour and half-assed struggling. He wants to shake you, to make you get a grasp of the situation you’re both in and grab you by the collar to follow him but he doesn’t move.

He has absolutely no right to tell you what to do, no matter what.

“Well...thank you, then.” You try to smile at him but his face is too unreadable to understand what’s on his mind. He only stares at you, a judging look on his face and his hands on his hips, like a father when you came back after curfew.

“Stay safe.” He sighs, already regretting his lack of conviction when you limp away, aiming for a direction that would hopefully lead you to the beach.

And like this, you’re left alone, in the middle of the day, in a jungle with too much danger and too little knowledge of how to handle yourself on such a situation.

It feels lonely. It feels like you’re the only person alive. You walk, struggling to carry your hurt limb yet sad enough to forget about the pain. The day goes slowly, and no matter how much you walk, it feels like Taeyong is still behind you.

God, you’re so slow.
 The beach must be so far. You walked for god knows how many hours and you don’t even know if you’re walking straight, but you have to try. This storm made you realise how insignificant you were and how useless it was to fight, so you’re going to give up on fighting before you even throw the first punch.

It doesn’t matter, nothing really matters right now.

When the night comes, you have no fire and end up in the dark, not even caring enough to be scared.

But maybe you should.

You fall asleep. Exhausted and uncaring of your surroundings. You feel something sting your arm and simply scratch your skin, too busy to care. Life is nothing. Life was never something.

The first day on the jungle is unusual. You walk pass things you never saw and it worries you a little bit. You hope to find that waterfall but it’s nowhere to be seen and you don’t even see a trace of the places you supposedly stayed with Taeyong. Maybe you actually took a shortcut. Maybe you’re so clever you found a way out easily.

You scoff to yourself but almost trip on something. It’s stinky and big, and you take a moment to believe you walked on excrements. In the middle of a jungle.

It’s not human.

You never met any animals here, at least not one that was bigger than a squirrel. It’s weird to think that there might be dangerous stuff surrounding you, but it’s only excrements, and you can’t stop walking because of that, not matter how deep your foot planted itself into it.

So you’re now exhausted, full of poop, and scared. Great. This jungle is slowly starting to get on your nerves, but you can do nothing about it, just hope you’ll stay alive. Come to think of it, even if you die, your only worry right now is that hopefully you won’t suffer too much.

You scoff at the strong smell and when you feel large leaves moving behind you, your heartrate accelerates. It’s not dark yet, and it makes the whole situation scarier than ever. The deep green leaves move but there’s no wind, and a particularly loud noise makes you widen your eyes in fear. You freeze, torn between the will to run away and the incapacity for your legs to move.

Your lips part and whisper a subtle “help…” while you turn ever so slowly around and find yourself in front of two eyes, dark, covered by the huge nature.

“No…no...” You speak but your mind goes blank, and when another strange rumbling finds your ears, you try walking away. You don’t know how adrenalin works, but you can’t feel the pain anymore. You skip through the forest, hitting branches and getting hurts by thorns. It doesn’t matter, no insect or plant could make you stop as you run and jump, too scared to turn around. The noise is everywhere around you, but you refuse to believe this thing is running after you. You run, and run, and run until you can’t breathe, until your legs start to hurt again and you fall, like a bag of sand.

This is when you give up on everything. You tried your best, ran away, but maybe this is where you die. It’s not like there is a way out of this crappy situation, but you would rather die of something else than a beast munching on your now bony body.

You close your eyes when you hear more noise coming your way and you don’t even find the force to cry. This is how it-

“Get up!”

You scream when two hands grab you, lifting you up with too much ease and pulling you away from danger. You look behind you, not even focused on the person literally dragging you away and see nothing but nature.

You feel yourself being pulled behind a large tree after an endless race, and you can only stare back at Taeyong, whose face is sweaty and breath raged. “How the hell did you end up being chased by a wild boar?”

You blink at him, thinking that maybe it was a dream and that you were dead already. What was he even doing here?

“…what?”

“The animal. It was a wild boar.” Taeyong leans against the tree and takes a deep breath, closing in eyes. “What did you think it was? A tiger?”

He snorts and it takes all the patience in the world not to beat him up. You’re supposed to cry and be traumatised and he is supposed to go all “Are you okay” while being worried but this guy right here is plainly mocking you.

How shitty is your life even?

“The beach is not even this way, you turned in circle in the jungle all this time.” Taeyong sighs like you are the stupidest girl on earth and it makes you snap because you don’t need this when you technically almost got crushed by a stupid wild boar.

“What is wrong with you? Why would you even bother saving me from this situation if you’re about to be a jerk?” You don’t know what is wrong with this boy, but one thing is for sure, you’re certainly not going to stay around him.

“A simple ‘thank you’ would be enough.” Taeyong gets up and check behind the tree, before offering his hand. “Get up, we need to go away from here.”

“No!” You frown and try to sit on your own, your leg even more painful than it already was. “I said I would go back to the beach.”

Taeyong opens his mouth, his hand still hanging, before crossing his arms over his chest. “You can’t even walk. You almost got killed and did a terrible job running away. Why do you want to die so badly?”

“Why do you even care? We will never make it out of this alive! It’s about time you register that in your apathetic brain!” You spat the words because it’s your only way to make him pay back for acting this way, but you don’t expect him to feel hurt by it.

But it works. He is hurt. You can see it.

“I saved you. I did everything I could so you would survive. Stop acting like I don’t care about anything but me.” Taeyong doesn’t like it. He can bear with a lot of things, but he hates when people imply he is cold or only cares about himself.

It has always been about this. All this time.

“I didn’t mind helping you, and I don’t mind helping you again, but you don’t want to die. Before you know it, you’ll be dehydrated, you’ll starve to death, you’ll suffer from hallucinations, you will throw up and slowly feel yourself die in incredibly high pain. Believe me, you don’t want any of these.” He extends his hand again and this time, his eyes are determined, and you understand he isn’t playing anymore. “You either grab my hand and let me carry you through this jungle, or limp your way god-knows- where. Your choice.”

You hesitate. For a solid minute, your brain can’t focus. He did say convincing things, and maybe you’re just freaking out. Maybe he can find a way out.

Taeyong looks so determined he leaves no room for doubt.

“Alright,” You sigh, forgetting about your anger and taking his hand. This was silly. There’s no way you can survive. There’s no way you will let yourself die.

You’re too much of a coward for that. You’ll regret leaving him. You know it, your pride knows it. It’s ridiculous.

Instead of his usually arrogant face, Taeyong looks at you, and a tiny smile blooms on his face. “I’m glad you survived.” He mumbles, before pulling you close to him to help you walk.

--- 

“How do you know all this?”  

It’s night when you both stop. Taeyong made a fire with two pieces of wood and is now planting insects on a thin branch, ready to roast them. Nothing new happened that day, except that Taeyong must be exhausted from carrying your body.  

“Hmm?” He hums, busy looking around for more proteins. “All this?”

“The survival knowledge. Building a fire, finding food, knowing fruits.” You explain, your hand still massaging your sore feet.

“It’s common knowledge.” Taeyong tries, still focused on your diner.

Your laugh makes him look at you, and the hint of a smile appears on his face.

“I don’t think we have the same definition of the word “common”, then.” You muse, laying on the floor. It seems he doesn’t want to talk about it so you don’t push it. You know for sure that no one would know how to survive if it wasn’t for a good reason. Taeyong wants to keep his life personal and you respect that.

“I was in the army.” He says out of the blue and it makes you sit back up in surprise.

Your eyes grow big “I knew it had to do with something like this!”

Taeyong snorts at your sudden enthusiasm. “Ever heard of The Foreign Legion? This is where I learnt about this.”

“I think I did. They make documentaries about how tough is it to pass the entrance examinations.” Taeyong being part of it doesn’t surprise you that much. Despite his frail appearance, he does have the strength and endurance on top of an incredibly high self-control.

“The entrance examination is a survival test. They make you carry heavy furniture and throw you in the jungle for three days.” Taeyong doesn’t know why he shares such personal information. He never talked about this to anyone except his close friends. “Isn’t that a bit too harsh?” Most importantly, who would even volunteer for that?

“That’s the easiest part.” Taeyong concludes before getting up and handing you a freshly made leaf full of grilled insects. “This is partly where I learnt ‘all this’.”

“But, why would you do that instead of going to the regular national army?” It doesn’t make sense. This Taeyong boy was either in need of thrill, or plain stupid.

“I wanted to do this the hard way. Struggles give strength.” Taeyong goes back to the fire and yawns, stretching slowly. “Never thought I’d use this knowledge ever again.”

“How long were you a soldier?” You lay back on your side and pick at the insects, still not used to the fact that this is your only source of protein.

“Around five years.” He explains, not bothered by the food and munching on his own insects like they’re potato chips. “Enrolled when I turned eighteen.”

You nod slowly, lips pursed. “That means you were sent on missions all over the world?”

At this Taeyong stops moving, hesitant. It seems he doesn’t like your questioning anymore, because he puts his food down and coughs before nodding.

“Yeah,” This is all you got from him so you don’t insist. “You?” he tries to change the subject and it takes you by surprised. Now that he shared a bit of his life, you feel obligated to do the same.

“It’s not as epic as your story. I moved to New Zealand to live with my boyfriend.” You don’t talk about the part where your father is sick and your family poor. You also don’t talk about how you ran away because you’re selfish.

“What did you wanted to prove?” The question makes you hesitate for a second, and Taeyong feels it from how uneasy you look suddenly.

He remembers the part about you running away instead of dealing with things and wanting to prove yourself to your family.

“That I am reliable, I guess.” It’s the only thing you can say because you’re not so sure of it yourself. What could you prove after you left your family in despair to live with a man coming from a filthy rich family?

“We all want to be useful.” He concludes, not pushing it either and you hum in response before shivering.  You approach the fire slowly and place your palms over it, whispering about moody weather and wet clothes.

“The temperature has been dropping a lot during the night.” Taeyong looks up to the cloudless sky and sighs. “I’ll get you large leaves to cover yourself with.” He gets up and it doesn’t take long before he is back with enough leaves to cover the both of you. He puts them next to you and keeps some for himself. “Don’t get too close to the fire with it.”

You continue munching on the almost forgotten insects in hope it’d fill you up a little bit and thank him silently.

During the night, the leaves feel incredibly cold and the soft wind doesn’t warm your damp clothes at all, which makes you shiver uncontrollably. You wake up three times, and Taeyong is unfazed, face hidden by the nature and body relaxed like he is in a hotel.

You envy him so much.

You sit and rub your hands against the remains of the fire but nothing works, and every movement is enough to make you feel uncomfortable and frozen. You get up entirely at some point, still wary of your surroundings. You grip your clothes to wrap yourself into them, body trembling. How can you feel so cold when your head is burning?

“Can’t sleep?” Taeyong’s tired voice makes you jump in surprise and you turn around, only to be greeted by his eyes, barely out of dreamland.

“It’s too cold, but I think I have a fever?” You say, rubbing a hand against your damp forehead.

Taeyong frowns at your words and gets up too, approaching you. When his hand falls on your face, he instantly gasps. “You’re burning. How are you still so damp?”

Your body is indeed burning from the inside, but you can only feel the chilly air of the jungle, harsh on your skin. “I don’t know.”

Maybe sleeping in wet clothes wasn’t the best idea. Maybe eating more insects would have been smarter. You’re on an almost empty stomach with a cold and have no way to treat it.

“No matter what, stay warm. Take that sweater off.” Taeyong orders, aiming for your zipper to pull it down. “It’s too wet.” He explains, hands soft when they pull on the sleeves to take the disturbing clothing off.

“But I’m cold.” You mumble, not even caring enough to make him stop.

“I’ll make it dry.” He explains, taking the sweater and searching for more leaves. He puts them on the tiny embers  around the fire and lets the clothing rest on it. “it’ll slowly dry without burning.”

You grab your arms and rub them hard, not pleased with the fact that you feel even colder now. “What do I do while it dries?”

Taeyong thinks for a minute, and when an idea hits him, he seems conflicted. “I have an idea.” He starts, warming his own body. “There’s only one way you give you warm.”

“Yeah?” You ask, legs hitting the ground to keep your body temperature somewhat high.

“Come here.” He tells you, making you lay down and doing the same, right next to you. “I’ll warm you up.”

This fever is so high you actually think you heard Taeyong say he was going to warm you up.

You chuckle to yourself but stop when the brown-haired boy pulls on your arm. He lets no time for you to think and swiftly pulls your body close to his, before taking you in his arms.

“This should do the trick.” He whispers against your ear and he is right.

He is very, very warm.

It’s surprising coming from the boy that always seem so cold and detached from any emotion. He gently rubs your back and pushes on your head so it rests against his neck. Your arms are trapped against your bodies and you don’t need that much more to already feel warmer.

Taeyong doesn’t speak anymore after that, and concentrates on your body, not even caring about the fact that you started sweating because of the fever.

“I’ll get you some more water tomorrow.” He says in your ear and for a second, it feels like he is worried.

And if he is worried, the situation is indeed worrisome. You catching a cold and getting a high fever now is not helping at all. You’re no expert, but you know enough to understand you will be very dehydrated after all that water loss.

“Thank you.” Your hazy state can only say simple words before you fall asleep.

Taeyong stays up the whole night.

--

[qqueenofhades]

The Procurator: 5

Rating: M (may change to E) Summary:  Garcia Flynn is a widowed single father and specialist in complicated acquisitions, who has worked for a shadowy international syndicate for almost seven years and – until now – asked no questions. Lucy Preston is an American history professor leaving her past behind to start a new life in New Zealand, but who discovers that it has followed her in unsettling ways. When they’re thrown together unexpectedly, and when Flynn’s clients start mysteriously dropping dead, sparks may just fly. If they don’t kill each other first. Previous: Chapter 4

Auckland, New Zealand

9:34 PM NZST

To say the least, Lucy was not expecting this night to be enlivened by her front window breaking, a man in a ski mask jumping through, and a protracted struggle ensuing on her living room floor, as she gropes and thrashes for anything to hit him with or to reach her phone, which has fallen just out of her reach in the ruckus. She isn’t sure if Flynn can still hear this or not, or if he’d bestir himself to do anything about it in advance of a large check clearing in his bank account, but he’s the only person who will know anything about it if she also disappears. It seems unfortunately possible. The man has his hands around her neck, and she’s starting to see spots. She isn’t big enough to throw him off.

Still, however, Lucy is tenacious. She is also very angry that her evening has gone from bad (Amy’s missing) to worse (in-home mugging). She kicks as hard as she can, manages to catch her assailant in a sensitive region, and as he curls up like a shrimp, she manages to claw loose, wheezing. As he recollects himself and lunges for her, Lucy grabs the heavy door stick and belts him in the midriff with it, hard enough to fold him once more double. Then she cracks him over the head, and he goes down like a stone. For a moment, she’s not altogether sure she hasn’t killed him.

Breathing hard, Lucy clutches the door stick and wonders if she should prod him with it, but she doesn’t really want him to wake up. If he is dead, what exactly does she do with him? Wrap him in a garbage bag, weigh it down with concrete blocks, and wheel it in a shopping trolley down to the harbor? She doesn’t have a car, after all. This would take a lot of effort, and she doesn’t have a friend of the “hey I just killed a man, can you help hide the body?” variety. She is a nice middle-class girl from California. She has never even been in a bar fight. Oh God, is she going to get in trouble?

She gingerly kneels down and can detect a faint, skipping pulse in the unconscious assailant’s neck, then jumps back when he seems about to stir. He doesn’t, though, and she wonders if she should rifle through his pockets, if there will be a conveniently labeled secret paper or photograph of her. Anything to inform her why she has now been the target of kidnapping and/or assault attempts on almost consecutive nights, if this is in fact connected to Amy’s failure to call, and everything else stupid that’s happening recently. She sits back on her heels, conscious that her hands are shaking. Her neighbors probably heard that. Somebody has to have called the cops, right? Is that a good thing? She doesn’t know anymore.

Lucy is still sitting there in mild shock when she hears more banging at the front door, has a heart attack, and grabs her stick. She speeds into the dark foyer, shrieks and takes a swing at the tall figure looming up, and it is only his reflexes that enable him to duck in time, although she still clips his shoulder and sends him stumbling backward. “What the hell?” an unfortunately familiar voice splutters. “Jesus, Lucy, it’s me!”

“Wh – you?” Yet again, Garcia Flynn has inexplicably turned up out of the big black night, somehow thinks she will be glad to see him after barging into her property uninvited when she's already been attacked once, and has the gall to look affronted, rubbing his shoulder as if she’s actually hurt him. “Why didn’t you knock?”

“Because I thought you might not exactly be able to get to the door!” Flynn straightens up with another huff, looking her up and down. “What happened?”

“Someone broke the window. He’s back there.” Lucy points. “I don’t know what exactly just – ”

[read the rest on AO3]

[rhysdarbyarchive]

Thanks for posting; I adore super old Rhys interviews. I typed it up to make it easier for others to read.

With the Comedy Festival gearing up this month I took some time out to have a chat with an old friend, one of New Zealand's hottest comics (and star of this year's orientation Comedy night), Mr Rhys Darby. If you haven't heard of him yet, check out the TV2 Billy T Awards this year, or even better get along to his show The Neon Outlaw at Indigo in the Comedy Festival and you'll see what the hype is about.

He swaggers in with his trusty blue bag slung casually across his shoulder. I tell him he can't leave the house without it, he laughs and after a few drinks starts pulling out photos and cards and comics. He hates cranberry juice and mic adjusts. He's the man with the bendiest body in showbiz, the maestro of moonwalking ... and his middle name is Montague (he's going to kill me for that). Introducing, the fabulously fabulous ... Rhys Darby.

HOLLY: (The traditional personal joke greeting) Hey mite! RHYS: Gudday mite!

Now, I know some pretty interesting stories about you, tell everyone what you did before you became a comedian. Well, I ran away from school to join the army in 1991. I'd just finished the final night of the school drama production The Boyfriend and at the curtain call I told the audience I was off to fight for my country ... there wasn't a dry eye in the school hall, some kids threw flowers up onto the stage (sarcastic sob) ... I finished with a 1920s Charleston groove and told them they would 'read about me in the papers' (laughs). So, I graduated from Regular Force Cadet School six months later and was a signaller in the army for three years following. I never did any service overseas, didn't receive any medals and actually single-handedly stopped our country from achieving a radio transmission to England in a global exercise by putting up a 50ft antenna in the wrong location (laughs).

So, how exactly did you decide to make the jump from armed forces to stand-up comedy? I always see the lighter side of life ... usually to the extent where I completely miss the serious side ... You know, I made fun of my superiors, did impressions of them, I'd hold hands and skip with female soldiers during some military operations ... yeah, it was time for me to go. So I went to Canterbury University, took some art theory and philosophy and joined a club which I thought would suit me called 'the comedy club'.

How long have you been doing stand-up? Since 1996 when I formed the comedy duo 'Rhysently Granted' with Grant Lobban, a two-bit chef from Greymouth. I went solo and moved to Auckland in 1999 when I got my first 'Pulp Comedy' TV slot.

Do you think comedy will be a life-long career for you? Yeah, it is my "calling" you know, for the want of a better word. I've been a soldier, an usher, a picture framer, and I've sold women's cosmetics ... but every time, making people laugh has been my goal, it's what I enjoy the most.

I know you've done quite a bit of travelling recently, what have been the highlights of your travels? Last July, I traveled to the UK and had the privilege of performing at the London Comedy Store. Yeah, that would definitely be the highlight of y career so far. It was just awesome walking into a venue that so many of my heroes had performed in in the past. Thank God the gig went well ... very well actually. Then I went to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where I performed in a three-week season with 'The NZ Brat Pack.' The highlight was running into Steve Coogan, you know, Alan Partridge, twice in the toilets and meeting one of the original 'Goodies', well, to be honest, that festival was so massive and inspiring that I've chosen to go back every year. I also can't remember much else, if you know what I mean...

Say no more. Tell me about your new show. In previous years I've always written a play for the NZ comedy festival, and played all the characters etcetera. This year I wanted to bring in more of my stand-up, still with a running narrative and stuff, I just decided to combine my theatre with my stand-up more, kind of life when I perform in pubs. So the public gets the best of both worlds. The story is about Rhys Darby, me, on the run. (he does the full film preview voice) He gets mistakenly identified as no. 3 on the FBI's most wanted list when he gets seen wearing a ridiculous outfit on his way to the dairy. Then every location and situation I get myself into, I do a stand-up piece on... (emphatically) see! so I'm constantly switching between physical theatre, to stand-up. Of course, you won't be able to tell because the timing and motion will be so slick (laughs)

I'm sure it will. I hear you're planning to take the Neon Outlaw to Edinburgh. What happens after that? Settle down? World domination? I'm scheduled to perform in [???] I'll be fishing for offers of agents and b[???] there. Then I'll move to London and likely[?] hook up with [Brendan] Lovegrove. Then I can do the UK comedy circuit with stretches out to Europe as well (With that [???] hint of Darby sarcasm) World domination is definitely my ultimate goal ... you know that feeling you get sometimes in the middle of the night, that you're secretly from the moon? I feel that all the time. I'd like to return to New Zealand frequently because I have a lot of fans here, and I'm also halfway through building a rocket out of chilly bin lids.

Who do you think you've been influenced by in your life, people or comedians? Comedians haven't really influenced me. That's why I like to keep my performance completely original. I love all genres of comedy; in fact, one of my favourites is 'anti-comedy', the stuff that's so bad and awkward that it becomes hilarious. Having said taht, I love to laugh at the ordinary everyday things that ordinary everyday people do ... most people don't realise their lives are totally hilarious. Ok [???]!

In terms of New Zealand comedy who do you respect/admire? (he thinks long and hard for a moment) Hmmmm... John Clarke, for his originality and talent (more thinking). Billy T James, for his charisma (more thinking). Sugar and Spice for their creativity and their performance. And Brendhan Lovegrove for his great audacity and style. And those last two especially, [they] really saw it within themselves to believe in me and help me make it to where I am today.

You're nominated for another Billy T award this year, were you disappointed with the shock loss last year? At the time I had written the biggest bunch of gold material the world had ever seen and I performed it with every little piece of energy my bendy body could muster. (Dramatically) The crowd went crazy ... I was on the top of the world. I thought it was hilarious I didn't win! If I don't win this year, I won't be applying for it again. It's time to move on to bigger fish 'n' chip galaxies.

You could say you're a bit of a star these days, do you get asked for autographs, any interesting fan stories? I do get asked for autographs occasionally, which is really flattering because these are the people who really believe in you. They believe you're going to stick around and make it really big one day. I love these people because you know ... they're right! (laughs) And I always give fans discounts to shows, a lot email me and I like to keep in touch. Stalker stories? Well, when the brat pack toured all over the South Island last year, we had a group of girls that followed us to each town and then later in the year one came up to Auckland to move in with me. It got a bit much when she started to dress me ... so I had her deported (laughs) I've also had a stalker wait outside my house on the footpath and make me a dancing outfit ... (I give him a suspicious look). This one's true! He was a mental so I really liked him. In fact he was the inspiration behind my 'bouncy castle' routine, because he claimed to have owned one. I managed to shake him when I went to the UK.

Can you give any aspiring stand-ups any advice on getting into comedy? University is the best place to start. There are so many people in one place at one time to impress with your antics. You have to be extremely confident. Yeah, that is the key. Don't be offensive ... and if you see the funny side of situations constantly then you should probably give it a go. Oh and if it doesn't come natural to you, then it probably never will ... don't do the full mic adjust and 'where are you from?' bull shit. Be original.

Any final words ... stories ... anecdotes? The most ridiculous gig I ever did was last November when I was asked to perform on a jet airliner 737. 35,000ft above the earth at 8:30 am in the morning. I did a 20-minute set to a full flight en route to Brisbane. The laughs were minimal, but the experience was totally hilarious. Yeah, a lot of people think I'm arrogant, well in actual fact I'm not ... I'm actually arrowmint, the popular Wrigley's chewing gum flavour. (laughs). Uh... FUCK YA, IVE BEEN TO THE MOON!!

See Rhys in his new show in The Comedy Festival. The Neon Outlaw plays at Indigo, May 15-18 at 8:30pm. Tickets are only $10 for students. Catch him before he jet-sets off to Edinburgh to bigger and brighter things. See you there!

---

This week, Rhys Darby is in town with his all new show in The Comedy Festival. Don't miss it!

"on his way to the corner dairy, Darby is mistakenly identified as no.3 on the FBI's Most Wanted List. Soon he becomes entangled in the biggest manhunt in fashion history. The whole world is out to get him -- and he's extremely hard to miss ... He is 'The Neon Outlaw'."

Following the success of Rhys Darby and the Supernova in the 2001 Laugh Festival, and his recent NZ Fringe sensation, Swingball, New Zealand's favourite physical comedian is set to hit Wellington with a brand spanking new show.

Darby dazzled the nation in last year's TV2 Billy T Award show, since then he has travelled to the UK, performing at The London Comedy Store, the Edinburgh Fringe, the Stardome observatory, and even in a 747 jet airliner!

"Rhys Darby is amazing." -- NZ Herald. "A master story-teller adept at physical comedy." -- The Dominion. "I want my own Solid Gold back-up dancers!" -- Rhys Darby.

A Billy T Award Nominee again in 2002, Darby brings his sensational blend of sound effects, characterisation, and askew observations to Wellington's premier stand-up venue, Indigo. Since August 2001, Indigo has been home to Wellington comedy, hosting weekly stand-up nights. This year, Indigo takes a step up, becoming one of the principal venues for The Comedy Festival.

Cheeky little article about very young Rhys Darby - 2002 - in my work's student magazine. Thought it was cute lol

[safetyvestau]

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[shes-wayward]

A rocky road and some pizza rolls

The morning we left Mangonui it was beautiful and sunny. I wanted to check out the “Coca Cola” lakes, but after getting to the end of the very windy, gravel road- the lakes looked nothing like the pictures I’d seen online and seemed to be filled with algae which was quite disappointing. 

We continued on and drove and drove until we reached Pukenui Pacific. We had a milkshake, and I persuaded Zac to stay for an hour until they opened for lunch because I knew we wouldn’t be able to get food later on. I had the wedges and O M G they were yum, 100% worth that wait! 

Because it was now midday, we decided to skip Ninety Mile Beach and head straight for the Te Paki Sand Dunes. I don’t remember ever visiting the sand dunes before, they are beautiful, they really look like a scene from a movie.

After exploring and getting very sandy and hot, we headed to Spirits Bay- I actually bought a tent specifically for this part of the trip! 

The road to Spirits Bay is very bumpy, lots of gravel and holes. I was very glad when we got to the end of the road and to the bay, the road seemed to go for miles. When you get there, having not seen people for hours, seeing tents and campervans scattered around this campsite was a lovely feeling. 

We picked a spot by a tree for our tent and parked the car up. Assembled our tent and went for a swim. It was beautiful. It was a very surreal feeling for me, I was just taking in the scenery and the fact that I was swimming in the ocean/sea at the top of the North Island! I didn’t stay in the water very long because I found it a bit rough. We then sunned ourselves on the sand and enjoyed the fact we had some time to relax. 

I should have expected it, but the water in the showers at the site was cold, so I had to figure out how to wash my hair without getting my whole body cold! I took so long Zac came over to check that I was ok! 

We then sat down for a sunset meal of pizza rolls and a game of bananagram, using the boogie board as a table. We played until the mosquitos came out, and then we hopped in the tent and napped, in our connected sleeping bags, and talked until the stars came out. It was a beautiful sight, and I hovered around on the damp grass taking photos and teaching myself to adapt quickly in the dark haha. Sleep in the tent was ok, I woke up early and saw the sunrise which was nice, but I was also really excited because we were going to see the lighthouse! 

After repacking the car, and the tent, we headed back down the gravel road and towards Cape Reinga!! I love lighthouses, if you know me well you’ll know I’m obsessed with them. The drive was nice and we got there really early so there weren’t too many people- until a tour group arrived. We spent ages looking around, reading the signposts, and taking in the fact we had just driven to the top of the North Island together. 

The rest of that day we cruised back down towards Opononi, where we had another fish and chip dinner and just relaxed, a bit sad that our road trip was at its end. We played bananagram again and fell asleep quite early. 

On our way back to Auckland we stopped at Tane Mahuta, which was stunning. I think our only other stop after that was McDonald’s. The drive home was pretty long and exhausting, but I was genuinely sad our trip had come to an end. I’m not sure you can class a road trip as a holiday because you’re on the move so much, but it was certainly an unforgettable experience. 

[aucklandshoerepair]

Auckland Shoe Repair

Auckland Shoe Repairs

We offer a wide range of everyday services

 "AUCKLAND SHOE REPAIRS, We take pride in restoring your shoes, bags and leather articles to their former glory & Engraving, We can also assist you with many other day to day needs. We have been serving our local East Auckland Community for many years from our Highland Park Mall Shop."

Services:

 Shoe & Bag Repairs

 Key Cuts & Garage/Car Remotes

 Batteries

 Engraving

 Contact Us

Shoe & Bag Repairs:

At Quick Fix Highland Park we perform all shoe repairs. We also fix boots, everyday footwear, bags & leather items.

·         Shoe Repairs, Boot Repairs

·         Stilettos, Heels

·         Long or Ankle Boots, Dress Shoes

·         Half Soles, Full Resoles, Protective Half Soles

·         Insoles of Leather or Foam

·         Reline Heels

·         Stretching

·         Bag Repairs, Handle Replacements

·         Zip Replacements, Elastic & Velcro Replacement

·         Shoe Care Accessories

·         Boot Alterations

·         Sneaker Rebuilds

·         Work & Tramping Boot Repairs

·         Recolor or Change Color of Shoes Professionally

Shoe Repairs, Boot Repairs:

Our shoes are frequently on the run; rambling through the tar, concrete, mud, dirt, and anything else you can think of that flood the ground that we walk on. Customers are penetrating for a mode to keep their desired shoes around for a while longer. With this shoe repair guide, your shoes can switch with you over thick and thin!

Stilettos, Heels:

Our Damaged heels look ruthless; may put a strain on your ankles, legs, and back; and, if they’ve depreciated far enough, result in nail tips evolving to irritate your feet. Most replacement heels are made of rubber, but leather heels also are available, as are combination leather and rubber heels. The foremost reason to get leather or combination heels is for the sake of appearance; some high-quality new shoes have these types of heels. But rubber is softer and quieter to walk on.

 Long or Ankle Boots, Dress Shoes:

Dress boots are short leather boots naturally worn by men. Built like dress shoes, but with uppers covering the ankle, versions of the boots are used as an alternate to these in bad weather or rough outdoor situations, and as a traditional option for day time formalwear.

 Half Soles, Full Resoles, Protective Half Soles:

During the life of a dress shoe you'll replace the heel tops, the soles and maybe have them re-crafted as needed. Assuming that the shoe is in overall good shape and that the soles are replaced before being worn through to the cork, would you consider going with the half-resole to be detrimental to the quality and usefulness of the shoe with consideration to the amount of money saved?

Also, assume that after the shoe is in need of a resole again that it would be replaced with a full sewn sole or recrafted. Resoling in this method should not affect the future eligibility for recrafting as the welt and cork fillings are not disturbed.

 Insoles of Leather or Foam:

There are many different reasons to buy shoe insoles. You might be experiencing foot pain and seeking relief; you might be looking for an insole for sports activities, such as running, tennis, or basketball; you may be looking to replace a worn-out pair of insoles that came with your shoes when you bought them. Because there are so many different products available and so many reasons to be shopping, we realize that choosing the right insole for your needs can be a daunting task, especially for first-time shoppers. We want you to know that we're here to help you find what's best for you. This guide has been designed to help point you towards the right products for your needs.

 Reline Heels:

You could skip the sewing if you think the glue will hold it, or if you just need a temporary fix until you can buy a new pair. The result doesn't look too shabby, and when you're wearing them, no one will even be able to see it. You can cut out the extra steps by using a self-adhesive material called Moleskin. It's made to put on your feet, but you can also line your shoes with it instead for a more permanent fix.

 Stretching:

Creasing the skin of your new shoes, either this is a normal byproduct of the stretching process something that would happen nonetheless of when you start to break in your new shoes. If the lining is synthetic, the shoe stretcher can stick and leave a mark. Leather-lined shoes will give a more supple finish.

 Bag Repairs, Handle Replacements:

If a telescoping handle sticks a bit, add a bit of lubricant and open and close it a few times. If it’s bent in a visible way that makes it difficult (but still possible) to telescope up and down, you could gently hammer it back into alignment with a hard object. This may or may not go well, but it’s worth a try.

If it’s totally broken, and you’re handy and determined, you can replace the handle entirely. This will include taking the suitcase apart (there are usually small screws on the outside or underneath the inner lining of the bag), removing the old handle, and then buying and installing the new handle. If you’re neither, but love the bag, it’s probably time to enlist the help of a suitcase repair professional.

  Zip Replacements, Elastic & Velcro Replacement:

Elastic replacement is a common repair with ladies sling-back pumps. The elastic tends to wear out over time from the constant pressure on the back strap. Lace-Up conversions are a common type of orthopedic type of modification because it improves the vamp /instep fit. The adjustability makes shoes much easier to get on and off.

 Shoe Care Accessories:

Shoe Care & Accessories, Shoe Laces, Insoles, Colours & Dyes, Shoe Treatments & Polishes, Shoe Horns, Overshoes, Shoe Trees, Shoe Brushes. Shoe creams are oil-based polishes that impart a matte shine to the shoe while also restoring moisture and adding a bit of color to the leather great for shoes that are looking a bit dry and rough on the surface. This is the most common type of polish, the easiest to work with, and our recommendation for beginners.

 Key Cuts & Garage/Car Remotes:

 We provide expert key cutting services. We specialise in all house keys, post box, mortice, car In fact we have to add that we do all new transponder keys and especially “Cut to Code” option. So in case of lost keys if code is available or for worn out keys, we can provide the original factory cut option. We have the common types in colours too for easy identification. We have accessories of ABUS padlocks, number locks, TSA approved baggage locks, key tags, rings and much more. Worn out keys cause excessive wear & tare inside the lock which is more expensive and locksmith charges to spend later. A tiny expense and precaution is better than the expensive cure. We sell original car & garage door remotes:

Mazda, Mitsubishi, Merlin, Garador, Chamerlain, Guardian, etc are some of the 100 varieties we can order for you. We also make handy man call out services We cover standard internal, external main door locks and latches. Great savings as our call out and charge is almost half of what locksmiths charge so getting a quote now.

Batteries:

Batteries for Watches, Remotes & Car Keys. Quick Fix sell a wide battery range for all electronic gadgets. We have Batteries for Watches, Car Remote, Car Key, Garage opener, Gate remote & Hearing Aids. ” We undertake watch repairs done by our specialist technician with guarantee provided .“

Brands Available:

·         Varta, Sony, Panasonic, Maxell, Camelion, GP, Seiko, Sanyo, Energiser & many more…

·         We sell accessories such as straps for most watches.

·         All batteries come with their warranty and guarantee.

·         When replaced by us, we check if your remote or watch is working.

·         And if the watch or remote is faulty, we take the battery back at no cost to you.

[lethaderr-blog]

Have I found the best carry on luggage?

I haven’t tested out every carry on suitcase in the world, but I know that this one is a keeper. When asked if we wanted to test out their lightweight carry on spinner luggage, I’m not sure if they knew how reckless I could be with my belongings. I took one of these hard shell bags on a recent trip, and I’m pretty sure I bashed it off random walls and hauled it up curbs. I can hardly believe my eyes that it still looks brand new. luggage is the real deal, and I’m going to show you why you need to pick up one of these for your next holiday.

is Durable and Functional

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The last thing you want is your hard shell luggage splitting open at the airport. Trust me, I’ve been there! I’ve arrived from a flight between Toronto and Auckland, New Zealand to discover a huge crack in my suitcase. It’s a little unnerving to have your belongings held together with duct tape for a couple of weeks, and keeping your fingers crossed that they survive the journey home. You won’t have to worry about that with luggage.

When purchasing a suitcase, you might wonder if it’s best to buy luggage with two wheels or four wheels. Four wheels is definitely the way to go. The luggage Minima has 360 degree silent spinner wheels that glide with ease, even over rough terrain. You’ll zip across the airport in no time with the Minima in tow.

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Do you like to keep everything organized? I like everything to have its place. Keeping your belongings organized as you travel really makes it simpler to find everything and lose less of your things on your journey. For instance, you can keep your tech gear in one side and your clothes in the other.

The Minima lightweight carry on luggage has three interior pockets to store both large and small items. Every pocket has its own zipper to ensure that everything stays securely fastened. There’s also a small, water resistant pouch and a removable laundry bag to store your dirty clothes away from your clean ones.

It also comes in a range of colors: blue, dark blue, black, gray, light gray, pink, and sand. We chose the light blue and the dark blue Minima bag. Its telescoping ergonomic handle has two locking positions and its perfect for people of any height (like us – Justin is over a foot taller than me!).

Cabin Keeps Your Belongings Safe

The Minima is the best carry on bag for a woman or a man. No matter your travel style or purpose, whether for business or pleasure, you’ll love this suitcase. Everything you bring with you will be kept safe, and not only because it’s made of the toughest hard shell material.

Built in TSA Lock

Gone are the days where you have to attach your own TSA lock to your bag. luggage has the TSA lock built right into the bag itself. You won’t have to worry about anyone stealing from your bag or rifling through your personal belongings. Everything is safe and secure inside this cabin luggage.

Money Back Guarantee

luggage has a 30-day trial. If at any point during that 30 days you aren’t satisfied with your purchase, they will provide you with a full refund (no questions asked!). In addition, luggage has a 10-year limited warranty. If the suitcase or any pieces on the suitcase break, you can get it repaired or replaced by the company.

How to Buy the Best Carry On

You can buy the Minima Carry On directly through their website. offers free 2-day shipping and returns: all orders are shipped in two business days. They also offer a regular checked bag if you’d like something a little larger, too.

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[baehkhun]

Bakery Near Me

Hello with the Cupcakes Near Me, Im planing to make three dozen of cupcakes for my children get together. The cupcakes would possibly make the kissing a bit messy, however I am game. After we make sugar cookies I prefer to divide this recipe into a number of small bowls and colour every bowl with a different hue of meals coloring. Actually, many bakeries around the globe use this cupcake recipe as their go-to vanilla cupcake. Place cupcake liners in muffin tin. I am going to share some approaches on how to name your cupcake shop, some commonly used phrases and a few questions that you need to ask your self when choosing a name. And a cupcake. This is the reason I am fats. Open the Cupcake Maker lid cupcake and pop the stuffed cases into the 6 holes. This template comes with over 200 animated slides. My friend’s sister insists on getting the Sprinkle Bomb each time she comes to visit, whereas my favorite is the crimson velvet. Pink velvet cupcakes, what does that mean, you ask?

Along with you can even have an idea by going by means of the content that is accessible over the web site. Since everyone has their own concept of how buttercream ought to taste, I’ve included recipes for the three most popular varieties (plus, I just couldn’t help myself): basic, cream cheese, and meringue. Across the year, there are many particular deals and circulars that you will be aware of once you enrol for the circular and you're going to get this everywhere in the yr. Using a heatproof bowl over a pan of warm water, melt the chocolate, corn syrup and butter, stirring often till clean. This is very true when utilizing the higher amount of oil. Wallet Management: At N 500 per cupcake, Honey's Cupcakes does not do a number of damage to your wallet. If you have tasted cupcakes higher than Honey's anywhere in Lagos, be a expensive and drop a remark.

Thank you Iris for your go to and taking the time to comment! Nicely, all that is out the window now, for it is almost time for the return of the splendid Cake & Bake Show. I really left one, uncovered, on the kitchen counter to see how lengthy it'd keep gentle and delicious, and four days later it hadn't dried out ! We left half finished cupcakes on the plate and hastily made our means out of Katie's Cupcakes and is not going to be returning! Transfer tins to wire racks and permit to cool for 10 minutes; flip cupcakes onto racks and let cool fully. Let cupcakes cool earlier than frosting. Tell us any particular directions for supply in the order notes part of the cart web page. After confirmation of your order by 3 hrs we'll ship you, Identical Day Delivery in Hyderabad. You have made my day! They've already develop into a lot fashionable and one of the needed wedding ceremony excel that from completely different shop or cupcakes online shops can simply deliver you the specified piece.

Use instead of frosting for cupcakes or muffins. To frost, this is my favorite trick: scoop frosting into a zip-lock baggie, seal and snip off a nook; squeeze out a simple thick rope that can easily create smooth swirls atop the cakes, then toss the used bag out. However please give us 24hr to prepare your Photo Cakes, Custom Cakes. Besides being enjoyable to have a look at these cakes are additionally verrry yummy! Cupcakes are made many alternative ways. Since returning to New Zealand in 2011, Karla set up Bluebells Cakery and began by promoting cupcakes and other baked items at Auckland’s boutique French market, La Cigale. In case you need to make use of recent flowers to decorate the wedding cake, ask if the bakery can present them or in case you or a florist must ship them. The following pointers are focused not only in direction of establishing a couple’s marriage ceremony ceremony glorious, but additionally their connection transferring forward. Are you presently on a low-carb diet? Wedding Cake or perhaps a Cupcake Tier for Your Big Day: Finding the Right Supplier Online

More and more often artists are using elaborate cupcake displays instead of traditional cakes for special occasions like weddings, baby showers, birthdays, parties or festive holidays. Cupcakes, being little miniature cakes have become extremely popular given that they have countless great qualities that set them aside from everyday regular cakes.

There are different types of boxes that one could find anywhere worldwide to wear increase chocolates, cakes, cupcakes, and other desserts. That way, it is possible to serve them at parties or allow them to have to someone like a present. Recently, desserts giving gifts has turned into a new trend. There are lots of people who buy cupcakes as presents and rewards for their own reasons. Cupcakes are cheap with regards to ingredients, however when you decorate it using a box, it will look great. That's why more cupcake boxes are produced nowadays as a way to fill the requirement for this brilliant dessert trend. If you would like to get ready cupcakes, you need these basic baking implements. To begin with, you must have cupcake pans that can come in assorted sizes from mini to jumbo. In addition, you should purchase paper-baking cups which can be found in many colors and prints. These fluted cup cake liners can make your cupcakes look prettier, making them simpler to release from the pan. These paper liners also make cleaning very simple. Measuring cups and spoons, a power powered mixer, and an oven can also be essential kitchen implements. If you wish to embellish your cupcakes, also invest in icing bags or tubes. If your prices are lean, it's also possible to use resealable plastic bags to provide designs for your cupcakes. October First is additionally 'Homemade Cookie Day', if you decide to wish to skip the Vegetarian part, just go to the cookies, should you be so inclined. What is your chosen homemade cookie? Probably if one was to poll most people, Chocolate Chip would win. My preference would be Raisin Oatmeal or just plain Sugar Cookies, although I do make Chocolate Chip virtually every week in order to maintain the household happy. Another great good thing about the cupcake could be the sheer various flavours they provide, and also the power to offer multiple flavours your function by creating different models of cupcakes. You could select vanilla cupcakes, strawberry cupcakes, lemony cupcakes or any mix of flavours. Cupcakes can even be produced from healthy ingredients like applesauce, strawberries, bananas or shredded carrot.

[tsukifairy]

Wedding Cupcakes

Hi there with the Cupcakes Near Me, Im planing to make three dozen of cupcakes for my youngsters party. The cupcakes may make the kissing a bit messy, however I am recreation. After we make sugar cookies I prefer to divide this recipe into a number of small bowls and coloration every bowl with a special hue of food coloring. In fact, many bakeries around the world use this cupcake recipe as their go-to vanilla cupcake. Place cupcake liners in muffin tin. I am going to share some approaches on how to call your cupcake shop, some generally used phrases and some questions that you need to ask your self when choosing a name. And a cupcake. Because of this I am fat. Open the Cupcake Maker lid and pop the crammed circumstances into the 6 holes. This template comes with over 200 animated slides. My friend’s sister insists on getting the Sprinkle Bomb each time she comes to visit, whereas my favorite is the red velvet. Pink velvet cupcakes, what does that imply, you ask?

Along with that you would be able to also have an idea by going by way of the content that is out there over the website. Since everyone has their very own concept of how buttercream ought to taste, I’ve included recipes for the three hottest sorts (plus, I just couldn’t help myself): primary, cream cheese, and meringue. Across the yr, there are various particular deals and circulars that you will be aware of once you enrol for the circular and you're going to get this all around the 12 months. Utilizing a heatproof bowl over a pan of warm water, melt the chocolate, corn syrup and butter, stirring sometimes till clean. That is very true when using the upper quantity of oil. Wallet Control: At N 500 per cupcake, Honey's Cupcakes doesn't do loads of injury to your wallet. If you have tasted cupcakes better than Honey's anyplace in Lagos, be a expensive and drop a comment.

Thank you Iris to your visit and taking the time to comment! Nicely, all that's out the window now, for it is virtually time for the return of the splendid Cake & Bake Present. I really left one, uncovered, on the kitchen counter to see how long it'd stay soft and scrumptious, and four days later it hadn't dried out ! We left half completed cupcakes on the plate and hastily made our best cupcake shops near me approach out of Katie's Cupcakes and will not be returning! Transfer tins to wire racks and permit to cool for 10 minutes; flip cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely. Let cupcakes cool earlier than frosting. Tell us any particular directions for supply within the order notes section of the cart web page. After confirmation of your order by 3 hrs we'll deliver you, Similar Day Supply in Hyderabad. You've got made my day! They have already develop into a lot widespread and probably the most wished wedding ceremony excel that from completely different shop or cupcakes on-line retailers can easily deliver you the desired piece.

Use instead of frosting for cupcakes or muffins. To frost, that is my favourite trick: scoop frosting right into a zip-lock baggie, seal and snip off a corner; squeeze out a simple thick rope that can easily create smooth swirls atop the cakes, then toss the used bag out. But please give us 24hr to prepare your Photograph Cakes, Custom Cakes. In addition to being fun to take a look at these cakes are also verrry yummy! Cupcakes are made many alternative ways. Since returning to New Zealand in 2011, Karla set up Bluebells Cakery and started by promoting cupcakes and other baked items at Auckland’s boutique French market, La Cigale. In case you want to make use of fresh flowers to decorate the wedding cake, ask if the bakery can provide them or if you happen to or a florist must ship them. The following pointers are focused not only in direction of setting up a couple’s wedding ceremony wonderful, but also their connection shifting forward. Are you at the moment on a low-carb diet?

How to Choose The Right Oven For Cupcakes Cupcakes are cute. Everybody should accept to that. These small treats with colorful icing are favorites to many people. Nowadays, cupcakes are the new alternative to get a huge, tiered wedding cake. Not only are they modern and fun, cupcakes also set you back below the commonly expensive tiered cakes. A single-serving cupcake could be decorated because you can. You can also match the icing with all the wedding theme. If you love thinking about serving cupcakes with the wedding, below are a few stuff you might consider. The baby shower cupcakes will be the major attraction inside the respective parties, in order that they have to be fabulously designed making it tasty as well. There are several fantastic ideas for making and decorating the fabulous cakes. You can follow them and achieve making attractive cakes for that sheer excitement of one's guests who are more likely to attend your party. There is basically very little disparity involving the mode of baking normal cakes and that utilized for cup cakes. If you need to use decorations, icing and sprinkles, you can still apply the crooks to cup cakes. The only major difference that exists between cup cakes and the larger size cakes could be that the cup cakes generally cook faster, thanks to their small size. October First is also 'Homemade Cookie Day', so if you need to skip the Vegetarian part, just go for the cookies, should you be so inclined. What is your chosen homemade cookie? Probably if one was to poll the general public, Chocolate Chip would win. My preference will be Raisin Oatmeal or maybe plain Sugar Cookies, although I do make Chocolate Chip almost every week just to maintain your household happy.

By the 21st century, cupcakes have cultivated synonymous with 1st birthdays, particularly that relating to children. The small and personal size of these sweet cakes makes them perfect for children, obtaining a dessert that matches perfectly in to the palm of the hand. However, it had not been a long time before the adult scene caught onto this viral interest in a personalized cake. After a hit HBO series popularized a Manhattan "cupcakery," niche-driven cupcake joints popped up worldwide. These treats went from basic and youth-oriented to gourmet and age-unspecified inside a hot minute.

[sjworldtour]

04/10/19 Lava bombs on Rangitoto

We’ve arrived in New Zealand! Attacking the jetlag hard by exploring a volcano.

Our last morning in Rio we packed up and dragged our luggage to Campo de Santana, a nice city park crawling with agoutis, massive ducks and a peacock. We relaxed on a bench in the shade until it was time to catch an Uber to the airport. We had a handful of Reais to use up, so bought some Milka Daim (found it at last!) and some cheesy Brazilian Pao breads.

We flew 4 hours or so to Santiago on a very pleasant Latam flight, then had a burger meal in the airport where they tried to give Joey a beef burger and then got grumpy when we didn’t leave a tip. Then on to the big flight, 12 hours across the Pacific to Auckland, skipping October 3rd entirely. Not too bad a flight, we are now Latam fans.

Landed at just after 4am and killed a bit of time going through the biosecurity customs checks. We had to lose our supply of spices (though not, thankfully, the chocolate) and our tent got taken away for questioning. Eventually got through, killed some time, got a shuttle to our hire car place, got our car and headed for Auckland. It feels very nice to have the car, we have decanted ski gear, tent etc so our normal life backpacks are a bit more manageable.

Parked in an expensive car park in Auckland and wandered down to the ferry terminal to catch the 9:15am Fullers Ferry to Rangitoto Island. We had to scrub our boots to prevent the spread of Kauri dieback disease, which is apparently a fungus doing its best to spread throughout NZ, and they asked us to check our bags for rats.

Rangitoto is one big volcano and is completely brilliant. It’s covered in lava bombs in big wide black fields, interspersed with pioneer plant species and a multitude of noisy birds. We saw a cool bird someone told us was a tui, and since then have seen them everywhere. They are mockingbirds and one we met sounded exactly like R2D2. We explored some excellent lava caves, had our lunch on the crate rim, and tried to work out how old the information sign was from how much more vegetation there is compared to what it described.

After lunch we looped down a long trail past a secret black sand beach and Joey had a small paddle. There was quite a long stretch back to the pier and we started flagging quite a lot, realising we had not been in a bed for 48 hours. We made it back in time, passing old bachs (beach houses) and reading the stories of who lived in them.

Back in Auckland, we checked in to the biggest hostel in the world, where they play super loud dance music on reception all day long, and popped out for a cheeky bit of pizza. We made ourselves slightly more human, played a little bit of ping pong, and then drove out to meet Stuart and Michelle who will be our hosts for the next few days.

On the way to their house we stopped for a wander round Cox’s Bay Reserve, a park in a smart neighbourhood, where we laughed openly at a girl being enthusiastically humped by her dog.

Stuart and Michelle were super lovely, feeding us delicious noodles and discussing our plans. We were a bit zombified and probably not the best house guests, but will hopefully be a bit more fun once we have had some sleep. They have a mad cat who has sudden and obvious mood swings.