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darklightacademias · 4 years ago

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Dark academia dress guide for the medical student

I will celebrate that I have officially ended my first semester of medical school by writing this post (also kind of procrastinate studying for my winter exams, oops), since now I have 18 weeks of experience on dressing for college.

Mind you, how a medical student dresses in first and second year IS WILDLY different from how you dress in third, fourth, fifth and sixth year. In the first couple of years you spend most of your time in college, doing labs, attending lectures, going to the dissection room, and at most going to health centers and psychiatric wards to shadow physicians, and that’s only in select colleges. Starting third year you will spend more time in the hospital and simulation centers wearing uniform scrubs and lab coats than in a regular lecture hall, although, sometimes your rotation will mandate you wear casual business clothes.

That said, dark academia outfits for every occasion in the first year of medical school, plus practicality tips:

For the regular lecture day: wear comfortable high waisted pants, (maybe colored mom jeans, cigarette pants, belted pants, culottes) or a high waisted skirt, maybe a midi or a pencil one. You can wear a button up blouse, a turtleneck in winter, comfortable wool sweaters, etc. For summer, flowy dresses and skirts, loose blouses in silk, linen or cotton. Always, always, always carry a cardigan or a blazer or both BECAUSE IT GETS SO COLD IN LECTURE HALLS. Go with layers in winter and autumn and spring. For shoes, ankle boots in black or brown leather that’s a bit worn, ballet flats, loafers, I love those you can lace up your ankle, oxfords, lace up boots. Mostly comfortable shoes. Leave a good impression with your lecturer because that’s your future colleague right there.

If you will stay in the library until late hours studying, wear comfortable pants. I think you could make drawstring pants dark academia if they are high waisted, kinda loose but follow the line of your body, and if you wear them with a button up loose blouse or turtleneck or sweater, a blazer and boots or ballet flats depending on the weather.

For days you have to stay until 8 pm because you have a lab or a seminar, you can wear what you wore on lecture days unless it’s something to do with an actual lab with chemicals, like biology, biochemistry, and anatomy labs. In that case: your white lab coat, wear flat and close toe shoes that are comfortable because you will spend a long time on your feet. Such a long time on your feet. Ballet shoes, in this case, are not recommended. Boots are best, oxfords are fine. Make sure your shoes are made of something you can whipe off. Getting formaline and bits of dead people is hard to erase on canvas shoes. Also, don’t wear frilly things to the labs, no skirts or long dresses either. Wear shirts with short sleeves or that you can fold up. Wear the typical dark academia pants mentioned above. Be comfortable. For the people with long hair: wear it up and away from your face, no sweet romantic pieces falling on your head, channel Mary Curie and wear a bun, a braided crown, or a high ponytail. Never ever ever wear shorts, they will not let you in the lab.

I want to add: the last three weeks I spent everyday going to the dissection room until they closed at night to study for my anatomy practical exam and let me tell you: dress in layers when you have to go to that room because it is always cold, like a fridge, but you have to wear the lab coat on top. Wear your hair up, maybe a French twist? Also, always take your dissection kit with you because a fellow classmate will ask you to help them analyze a biological piece and you might need your tweezers and such.

For exams: dress well, smart and comfortable. I make a lot of emphasis for comfort because you will spend long hours in college absorbing a lot of information that will later save lives, and you deserve to be comfortable. For oral exams it is essential you dress well and leave a good impression with your examiner, everything counts. For written exams dress like you would for a lecture or the library because those are long.

For hospital and health center visits: unless you have to wear scrubs, you should wear the formal version of lecture outfits. In general, dark academia fashion is very conservative and professional, you look serious and profound, so great job dressing well. Just wear comfortable shoes, dress pants, and a button down or turtleneck, plus a pristine version of your white coat (don’t take the one you use for anatomy because it is dirty and it smells and it is likely stained). Wear your hair up if you it long.

Makeup for med school: I’d say something minimal, a dark lip and mascara. I think that dark under eye circles add to the aesthetic so no need to conceal those unless you want to. Maybe winged eyeliner, mascara and pink lips. Wear some blush high on your cheeks and the tip of your nose for that cold flushed look. Do your eyebrows well, that’s essential. Wear some burgundy eyeshadow on your eyelids if you want, or a color that truly brings out your eyes. Highlighter if you want to look ethereal and haunting, which is always a great thing. Curl your eyelashes. Wear sunscreen!

Accessories: a golden locket around your neck, a small ring or rings. Honestly: get small rings, big rings you have to remove every single time you need to put on rubber gloves. A bracelet with charms, and teardrop earrings or pearls. I’d say with jewelry the most important thing is that the color of your metals match: gold with gold and silver with silver. Avoid rose gold and copper pieces, those look too banal. Wear a head band on your head, or ribbons. Lots of ribbons. Get a nice leather dissection kit but make sure your pieces are always held securely, otherwise when you want to remove something and they are loose you can cut yourself and that’s no fun. Always carry some books on your arms to look smart. Solid color scarves are great for winter, as well as leather gloves, and a beret or classic earmuffs. For summer, a silk scarf with a French knot, sunglasses. Looser, thinner fabrics, but same cut of clothes. No turtlenecks, or sweaters naturally. Boatneck shirts in a solid color with pants or skirts are always elegant. You, again, can wear drawstring pants if you use the formula stated above. Same makeup as before. Take a picnic blanket in your bag to have a picnic on the grass with your friends or to study under an ancient tree.

#dark academia #dark aesthetic #dark academic aesthetic #medical #med school #studyblr #outfit #dark academia outfit #light academia #light acadamia aesthetic #studyspiration #studyspo

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gatheringfiki · 4 years ago

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The following ficlet was written by @fikidurin based on this photoset.

Pairing: Fili/Kili Rating: M

You can also read this story on AO3.

If you’ve enjoyed this story, please leave a comment either in replies or on AO3. :)

Tremble

—

A door slams elsewhere in the house, and in the parlour, Kili’s grip slackens and a candle falls as if in slow motion. He can feel the rifle cartridge tearing through his flesh, the deep burning sensation and fresh ache…

Kili stares at the falling flame, his brain catching up with his hands. Before he has a chance to react, his mother’s low heel Oxfords have quickly extinguished the candle, saving her favourite rug.

“Oh, Kilian, really,” she sighs, retrieving the candle.

Kili turns away, his body feeling incomprehensibly cold at the admonishment, can’t bear to see the frustration he knows is etched over her face. He doesn’t need another reminder that her only son, the heir to the title of Lord Durin, is now a burden to her.

He doesn’t look down. He doesn’t need to know his hands are shaking. Instead, he balls them into fists.

His mother is still speaking. Kili forces himself to hear what she’s saying.

“—perhaps you should go away somewhere for Christmas. Return for the New Year after you’ve had a chance to rest and recover yourself.”

Try as he might, he can’t help but hear what she’s really saying.

“Yes, mother,” Kili replies dutifully. “I shall make arrangements at once.”

His mother asks her handmaiden, who asks her sister’s-cousin-twice-removed, who knows of a reclusive gentleman who will rent out a spare room in his woodland cottage and doesn’t mind that Kili is broken.

Kili accepts quickly. This is outside his mother’s influence, and he knows it is the biggest chance at freedom he has. Heavens knows where she might get the idea to send him if he declines.

He listens to her pointed comments about his recovery, and shoulders his father’s silent shame, and leaves at first light.

Seamus carries the additional weight of his few belongings with ease, and Kili wouldn’t dream of taking another horse. Besides, he imagines the gentleman he’s to lodge with is a recluse for a reason, and Kili likes to talk to someone now and then, even if it is a horse.

A firm squeeze of his calves sees Seamus canter down the long drive, and Kili doesn’t even think to look back at the manor behind him.

Instead, he sees the open gates and the endless stretch of road beyond. He takes in the twinkle of the early morning dew against the branches, reflecting the sienna stirrings of sunrise and smiles.

For the first time since his injury, he feels hope.

The cottage is cosy.

Small, but not so small that he’ll be under Fili’s feet all the time.

Kili admits, on approach, he felt some trepidation. The outside looks abandoned, a small sign warning trespassers away from the property. But inside is fully furnished with dark oak fixings, thick blankets, soft armchairs. Inside, the chill of autumn’s end combated by the roaring fire.

He has his own room, a private wash basin, and the woods surrounding them are held at bay by an enormous clearing where he can ride Seamus as much as he likes. It’s far from the nearest town, and Kili swears he saw a stray reindeer on the way through the woods.

It’s freedom.

Fili is… unusual.

Not what Kili had been picturing at all. His lack of insight had allowed him to form a picture of a much older gentleman, perhaps something with little idea of the elevated areas of society. A little rough around the edges.

Not so.

Fili is young. Perhaps around the same age as Kili, and twice as handsome. His hair falls in blonde curls over his neck, and his manners are impeccable.

He welcomes Kili as if they were long-lost brothers and gives him free reign of the cottage.

“I retrieve supplies and food tomorrow, and every Tuesday thereafter from town. It means I will be gone most of the day. If you would like to assist, I would enjoy the company. If not, let me know if there’s anything you’d like me to retrieve for you.”

Kili, who hasn’t experienced such kindness since before his journey to war, manages a nod in response. “I thank you for your hospitality.”

Fili waves off. “I do have a question, Lord Kilian, if you’ll permit me?”

And here it is. Everyone always asks the same thing. If not about the gunshot, then about the extremely visible scar that runs down his cheek, spanning from his eye to his jawline. The scar that had severed his suitable betrothal to the Lady Tauriel, who no longer wished to marry him when he returned from war disfigured.

Kili braces himself.

“How can I help? Your mother sought to inform me that you have the shakes and that you are startled by loud noises. Would you prefer I keep my distance during such episodes, or would company ease your mind?”

“It’s just Kili, and—pardon?” The words take a few seconds to process.

He didn’t ask about the scar.

Fili raises an eyebrow. “Kili, then. And you’re far from the only casualty of war I’ve housed. I simply ask to avoid us future difficulties.”

“I do not wish to feel like a burden. My mother—” he bites off the words because they feel unkind. His mother simply does not know how he feels. “Please pay me no heed. My episodes are brief.”

Fili nods, pleased. “Good. Then I shall leave you to unpack. Lunch will be ready in an hour.”

He leaves Kili alone, who lets out a long slow breath, and draws a shaking hand from behind his back, squeezing it into a tight fist.

The first time an episode occurs, Kili shatters a bowl he’d been about to serve himself stew into. Distantly, amidst his haze of crippling panic, he braces himself for Fili to begin cleaning it up, to putter around him and fuss.

He does not.

He remains sitting, eating his stew until Kili lets out a shuddering breath and looks down at the mess. Only then does he leave his seat, and only to hand Kili a broom.

Kili looks at it in confusion, and then over to Fili, who raises an eyebrow mockingly, and takes another bite of his stew.

Though the challenge is not spoken, Kili understands that it’s there. There are no maids here to run around after him. He himself asked to dispense with his title and all that comes with it. This mess is his own. Kili accepts this, and cleans up the mess dutifully.

Once it’s done, he serves himself some stew and sits down next to Fili.

When he dares to look at Fili, he sees an approving smile aimed in his direction.

He finds himself returning it.

As the days pass by, Kili settles into his new environment.

They have meals together, which are friendly and grow more comfortable by the day. They travel into town together to buy food and ride together in the clearing every day.

Kili finds the pressure on his lungs lessen as time passes. His shakes are less frequent, less severe.

It has been at least four days since an episode, and those shakes were brought on by the third letter from his parents.

They prattle on about high society, the most recent scandals and betrothals and announcements. Kili suddenly finds he has no interest in the shallow goings-on of a life he was raised into. He reads the letter in its entirety, and then throws it into the fire.

They still do not ask how he is, or when he will return.

His hands tremble and he sinks down onto the loveseat, and tries to work out what the strange noise is he hears.

It’s only when he feels a comforting weight of a blanket slide across his shoulders, and a gentle palm against his back, fingers splayed, that he realises the noise is him.

Broken sobs, reverberating into his hollow chest, escaping him unbidden. His eyes remain dry, free of tears, but inside it feels like his heart is breaking.

“Kili, hey, you’re okay. Just breathe with me.”

He wonders if, meeting Fili’s eyes, he’ll see those same cracks mirrored on his skin, showing him broken on the outside. If the fractures that mark his insides have finally reached the surface and announce to the world that he is beyond repair.

Kili forces himself to look, but sees no judgement reflected back at him. What he sees is a brief glimpse of affection, of warmth. In that particular instance, he sees how Fili sees him. There are cracks in his exterior, but nothing major and nothing that affects the beauty of the whole.

It feels only right, then, to lean in and gently press a kiss to Fili’s mouth.

It lasts only a moment, and Kili pulls back before Fili has a chance to react.

Fili does not get up and walk away, nor does he yell or throw a punch or ask Kili to leave. He stays, his hand a steadying comfort where it’s pressed against Kili’s back.

But when Kili sneaks a glance at him, he sees the slight downturn of his mouth, and wonders if perhaps he just made a huge mistake.

Nothing changes after the kiss.

Fili is perhaps a little more reserved, but he doesn’t avoid Kili or treat him any differently.

There appears to be some sort of unspoken agreement between them that they won’t discuss it, and Kili honours that. He hasn’t forgotten his manners, and he’s still a guest in Fili’s home.

Regardless of how he feels.

His hands tremble, but no longer a reminder of the trauma he endured. Instead, they tremble with the need to touch Fili, to cup his face and bring their lips together. To curl into his gorgeous hair and devour him.

Kili doesn’t know where the intensity of his feelings has come from. He just knows he can see it reflected back at him from the way Fili is careful not to press their thighs together when he sits down. Or the way he stares when he thinks Kili can’t see him.

They lace up their winter boots and ride into town together one last time in the days before Christmas is upon them. They need to stock up, as the sudden snowfall is getting heavier and Fili suspects they might not be able to get back next week.

Kili has agonised over what kind of gift would be suitable for Fili for the last week. He wants to repay him for opening up his home, but that feels like an obligation.

He wants to give a gift to Fili because he likes him. Because they are friends. Because of the linger possibility that they will become something more.

He discards the concept of anything frivolous or expensive. Kili knows Fili would not appreciate it. He lives a life of simplicity.

So Kili picks out a sweater, a chunk aran-knit, soft and warm. The cream will look beautiful with his golden hair, he thinks. And he might pay a higher price for a quality sweater, so as a gift, it’s both indulgent and practical.

In the end, he’s satisfied with his gift, and tips a little extra to have it wrapped nicely, a shiny purple wrapping paper and a satin golden-tan poinsettia leaves held in place by a thick string.

The anticipation leaves a knot in his stomach, and he finds himself simultaneously awaiting and dreading Christmas.

Christmas arrives and the blizzard howling around the cottage lets Kili know that they’re not going anywhere today. He edges into the living room, looking around for Fili, the gift held behind his back.

He doesn’t expect him to be sitting in front of the fire, lost in thought. Fili always seems unflappable, but it’s clear that he’s troubled.

For a moment, Kili is hesitant to approach, but finds his courage. He settles down on the threadbare rug, crossing his legs, his stockinged feet beneath his knees.

“I’ve never been a big fan of Christmas,” Fili murmurs, not taking his eyes off the flickering flames. His shoulder nudges against Kili’s, who takes it as permission to shift closer, winding a comforting arm over Fili’s shoulder.

“Why not?”

“Ah,” Fili sighs, and that’s all he says for a long moment. “When your parents find you kissing one of the servant boys under the mistletoe, well… let’s just say there are memories that sting. Particularly when I’ve spent every Christmas since that year completely alone.”

Kili can’t imagine that exact scenario, but a part of him does understand how Fili feels. There was no letter from his parents this week. Nor was there one the previous week.

Part of Kili knows that they’re busy preparing for Christmas, but he’s their only son. It shouldn’t be a hardship to check up on him.

“Then they don’t know what they’re missing out on,” Kili replies simply. “I, for one, count myself lucky to have met you, Fili. And I’m honoured to spend Christmas in your home.”

He nudges the gift towards Fili with a shy smile.

Fili looks down at the gift in surprise, and then looks up at Fili quickly, his expression twisted with guilt. “I didn’t think to get you anything.”

Kili’s smile doesn’t falter, and a steady hand comes up to brush Fili’s cheek. “I require nothing.”

The moment hangs between them and then Fili surges forward, his hand curving around the back of Kili’s head and then their lips are meeting. There’s a clash of teeth and a burst of pain, and then they correct themselves until there’s nothing but want and need and more.

They make love for the first time in front of the fire, and neither of them move until long after it dies.

Kili wonders what his parents would say if they knew. He doubts their words would hurt him, because at least then they’d be acknowledging him. He thinks instead about the people that matter to him. Fili. His horse, Seamus. His fallen comrades.

His old Captain, Thorin. He was the first person to ever see what Kili had so often tried to hide about himself. Amidst Kili’s panic, Thorin had drawn a picture from his breast pocket of a young man, smoking a pipe and sitting in a huge armchair. Thorin sits beside him, smiling widely.

Kili had studied the picture carefully. “You’ll be killed if anyone finds out,” he’d told Thorin.

Thorin had simply smiled. “Find what you love and let it kill you. That’s the only way to live a happy life.”

Kili glances over at his lover, and finds a worried gaze aimed in his direction.

“What are you thinking?” Fili asks, almost hesitantly.

Between them, their hands bump together and Kili interlocks their fingers.

“I was thinking that I’d like to stay here forever,” Kili whispers. “That I’d like to stay with you forever.”

The temperature below freezing. His fingers begin to tremble at the chill, even as the wind howls outside. Fili’s reply, if he gives one, is lost to that sound, but as a warm body covers his, Kili knows he has his answer.

#Gathering 12 Days 2020 #Fili/Kili #FiKi #Durincest #the Hobbit #submission

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lettercastauthor · 5 years ago

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Spider-Barista: Part One, Pumpkin Spice Latte, Extra Whip

AU Summary and Warnings: Tony Stark survived the snap that killed Thanos and only lost his arm, Steve Rogers has returned from his brief time travel escapades after realizing he’s not as straight as he thought he was, and his feelings for Tony went far beyond friendship. Tony, Steve, Peter, Rhodey, Pepper, and Nebula are in a polyship and were living at Stark’s private New York residence located somewhere in the city “near all the action,” also close to Peter’s school. Peter, 18, is finishing senior year. Recently, Pepper and Morgan Stark have left for upstate New York to begin Morgan’s private school. Overprotective “auntie” Nebula joined them due to her own safety concerns, leaving the boys to fend for themselves. Unknown to everyone, Tony is having a secret sciencey-fling with Bruce Banner, kept private for shy Bruce’s sake. Aunt May is on a cruise in the Bahamas.

Tony has offered to pay for Peter’s college, but Peter is being stubborn and wants to earn it for himself, so he gets a job at the local coffee shop and quickly finds a love for the job. In fact, he loves it so much that he begins to neglect his Super-Hero duties. At first Tony is supportive of a break from the dangerous life of saving New York on the daily, despite Cap’s urging Peter to take on bigger baddies and hone his skills. But they both soon realize Peter’s interest in coffee is mainly tied to a cute customer who comes in on Peter’s every shift. Unbeknownst to Peter, this customer lives a double life. This will be a serial story, updated when I have time. There will be NSFW content, each section that includes NSFW content will be marked accordingly so the reader can choose to enjoy the story while skipping the lewd parts should the desire.

Everyone in this story is 18 or older.

Tl;Dr: Adult Tom Holland Spider-Man is working as a barista post-blip. He’s in a polyship with Tony, Steve, Rhodey, Pepper, and Nebula. He has a crush on one of his patrons and is neglecting his heroic duty. There’s NSFW stuff in here.

Part One: “Pumpkin Spice Latte, Extra Whip”

Warm yellow sun pierced through the sepia tinted windows of the coffee shop. It was a nice clear day. The taxi cabs sat bumper-to-bumper, the people hurriedly walked the sidewalks like a fashion-show runway, carrying their coats over their shoulders on this uncharacteristically warm November afternoon. A flash of green dashed through the crowd of customers as Peter Parker raced round the back entrance of the counter to clock in. His apron whooshed around him as he stopped at the register, punched in his employee ID number, and jumped into the flow of things, watching the front door intensely as he worked the hot bar with lightning speed.

Customers loved Peter. He was quick, he never messed up a drink, and he always served with a smile. Pete’s co-workers loved him because whenever he worked, everyone got higher tips. The manager liked him because he always showed up for every shift, but she felt he could be better at the cleaning part of the job; she made sure to mention that in his quarterly review. Right on time, five minutes after 2:00 p.m., Peter’s favorite customer walked in. He told all the customers they were his favorite, but this one in particular was actually his favorite.

The bell chimed and a man walked in, brown coat draped over his arm, gray knit sweater hugging his broad shoulders and chest just tight enough to portray a hint of modelesque musculature. This was Jamie. Jamie always wore a steel-blue tie, pulled tight around his white collared button-up shirt. Today, he sported a pair of well-fitting khaki slacks, brown oxfords, argyle socks. Clothing tells you everything about a person in New York City. Jamie’s clothes told Peter this: that Jamie had a job in the city, a real job, the kind you do in an office that looks over the hustle and bustle of the commoner’s everyday lives. Or so Peter imagined. He looked like most New York businessmen, but to Peter he was the definition of heaven. He was also unattainable. Peter rarely worked the register, due to being what the manager called “too friendly.” All his chatting with the customers slowed up the line. Unfortunately, Pete’s normal position at the bar fixing drinks kept him behind a wall of glass and noisy machines. The barrier made it near impossible to communicate effectively with customers.

His only chance was at the passthrough area, where he would set each hand-crafted beverage and call out the name of the customer it belonged to. Jamie changed up his drink often, which both frustrated and intrigued Peter. He wanted to be able to make Jamie’s drink quick enough that he could have a second to drop him his number on a napkin, but by the time Peter learned Jamie’s drink (usually three or four shifts), it was usually too late. He’d switched it up again. But Peter liked that about him, too. Jamie clearly liked to try new things. It was a good sign.

So, as Jamie placed his order, Peter rushed to fill it before the payment was even processed. Today, Jamie ordered a pumpkin spice latte with extra whipped cream. Pete lucked out. He could make that drink in his sleep! Since the seasonal drink made its yearly debut in September, he was making hundreds of these each day. As he steamed the milk, Jamie looked over and gave him an easy smile. The light danced off his brown skin, his eyes twinkled. Peter felt his cheeks tingle with blush as he returned the grin. Milk frothed and mixed with the pumpkin spice flavor, the drink was almost complete. The payment processor beeped its approval to Jamie, and Peter raced to put the extra whip and autumn seasonings on the drink, meeting Jamie at the passthrough counter and carefully putting the lid on the cup.

As Jamie reached for the drink, Peter slipped a napkin toward him. “Don’t forget your napkins, Mr. Jamie, sir.” He’d written his number on it this morning, in preparation for this very moment.

Jamie smiled again, “Thank you, Peter. I’d hate to get coffee all over my suit.”

“You’re welcome, sir.”

Jamie took the napkin and left without showing signs of having seen the number written on it. All Peter could do now was wait. Waiting was hard. The time ticked by slower than usual today, but finally it was closing time. Peter helped clean up the floor, sweeping, mopping, and wiping frantically. His co-workers joked about him having a hot date, but when Peter blushed they realized he might actually have a hot date! So they pushed him for answers as to who the mystery guy or girl could possibly be.

“I don’t have a date, guys. It’s just that I - uh - I have school in the morning. You know, senior year and all. Gotta finish strong,” he said.

At this, Tammy the night shift manager, bursted out with her typical hyena-cackle laughter. “Okay, sure Pete, you have school on a Saturday. Dumbass, it’s Friday night. If you didn’t have a date tonight I would be worried. You need to loosen up, Peter. You can’t just stay single forever!”

Peter’s co-workers had no idea he was actually dating, like, five people, so he just grinned and laughed, “I guess you’re right! Well I have to go now, goodbye!” He clocked out and dashed out of the store as quickly as he came in. As he walked home, green apron hanging over his shoulder, visor flipped backwards, he turned on his phone and waited impatiently for the messages to load. One-by-one they came in.

Aunt May: “Just arrived at the port in Jamaica, having a lovely time on the cruise!”

Cap: “Peter, please remember to do your laundry tonight. Your room smells like feet.”

Mr. Stark: [sent you a picture message]

Ned: “LEGO building party tonight at Josh’s, are you coming? 10pm.”

Pepper: “Morgan says hi!”

MJ: “LOL You look so funny in that coffee uniform.”

But nothing from a mystery number that could possibly be Jamie’s. He responded to the messages somewhat halfheartedly, then descended the subway stairs to take the train home. Headphones in, he thought about Jamie’s smile as he was ordering. His chest felt tight again, blood pumping, music blasting. He daydreamed until his stop, then took the headphones out for his walk home. He entered the tall apartment building and took the elevator up to the top. Nothing but the best for Tony Stark and his family! The penthouse smelled of a home-cooked meal. It was Cap’s turn to cook, so they were bound to have a feast. Rhodey was setting the table and greeted him first.

“Peter! How was work?” He laid down the last fork at the big oval dining table.

“It was good, I made some tips today!” Peter put on an extra layer of cheer to compensate for the disappointment of not hearing from Jamie.

“That’s great, Pete.” Rhodey was Peter’s metamour, Tony being their shared partner. Occasionally there was tension between them. It wasn’t jealousy, but they were known for calling each other out on their bullshit, and Peter could tell Rhodey’s bullshit detector was going off.

But before Rhodes could say anything, Steve Rogers walked in carrying a turkey pot pie. His kiss-the-cook apron, denim cut-off booty-shorts, and crab-claw oven mitts really made for a unique kind of vibe far and away from the Captain America the rest of the world saw. The daisy dukes certainly showed off America’s Ass in the least wholesome of ways. Peter and Rhodey both gulped, eyeballing that thicc snack as Cap bent over the kitchen table and set it at the center. The pot-pie didn’t look too bad either. Both had been interested in Steve for quite some time, but were not sure how to approach that, since he was so newly out of the closet.

“Where’s Tony?” Steve asked, pulling the oven mitts off and reaching back to untie his apron.

“I don’t know, I just got home,” Peter shrugged, heading up the loft stairs.

Steve turned to Rhodey and asked, “What’s up with the kid? He seems off.”

Rhodey wrapped an arm around Steve’s waist and pulled him close, “Don’t you ever take that apron off.” He grinned, then released Steve and headed to the kitchen to grab the green beans and bread rolls. Steve stayed stuck there for a moment, trying to control the blush that spread across his face before going upstairs to check on Peter and find Tony.

Since Peter’s room was down the hall from Tony’s workshop, Steve decided to stop there first. He poked his head in and spotted Pete sulking at his desk, staring listlessly at his phone. Pete didn’t notice him, so he observed and admired for a minute before knocking and entering. “Hey Pete, don’t you have laundry to do?”

Startled, Peter jumped up and threw his phone under his bed. “Yes, that’s exactly what I came in here to do, laundry.” Frantically, he searched for the laundry basket. Unable to find it, he quickly picked up some of his dirty clothes and balled them up in a pile in his arms. Once his hands were full, he used his toes to pick up the boxers and socks that littered the floor.

“Pete…” Steve tried to get his attention.

“I know, Mr. Rogers it smells like feet in here…”

“Pete… well, I mean yes it does but Peter—” he stepped in front of the teen. “Peter, stop.”

“What?” Peter was clearly upset, though his face wasn’t visible behind the pile of clothing that filled his arms.

“Put the laundry down.”

“But my room smells like feet…”

“Peter.”

“Fine,” he dropped the laundry on the floor, then plopped defiantly on the bed. “What.”

Steve sat gently beside Peter. “Pete, you’re upset.”

“I am not upset, I’m fine.”

“Did you have a rough day at work?” Steve scooted closer, leaning into Peter. He smelled sweetly of coffee. Peter said nothing. “You can tell me, I’ll keep a secret.” He wrapped a reassuring arm around Peter’s shoulders.

The young man looked up at him, eyes red from both tiredness and emotions. “There’s a guy.”

“A guy?” Steve had only come out of the closet three months ago. He could feel the blush coming back to his cheeks. He glanced toward the door, secretly hoping Tony would come in and fix everything. Tony could always fix anything, especially Peter’s broken heart.

Pete sniffed. “He’s a customer. His name is Jamie.”

Suddenly suspicious, Steve perked up. “Is he the reason you turned off your police scanner and keep picking up extra shifts at the shop?”

Peter rolled his eyes and sighed. “You have no idea. How hot. He is. Like, he walks in the room and I can’t breathe. And he doesn’t even know I exist beyond that I am some guy in a green apron who works at a coffee shop.”

“I know what you mean, sport, but you so many of us here who adore you, you know?”

“I know, but…” Peter stopped and suddenly realized what Cap was insinuating, “Wait a second… Mr. Rogers are you saying you’re—?”

Just then Tony knocked on the door. “I hope I’m not interrupting.”

Steve stiffened up and suddenly there was a whole 12 inches between him and Peter. “Hey Tony! Peter had a rough day at work. I told him he needs to do his laundry… ah… dinner is ready, bye!” Steve bolted out of the kid’s room and down the stairs before Tony or Peter had a chance to respond.

“What’s his deal?” Tony asked, sitting down in the warm spot where Steve’s butt just was.

“I think… actually I really don’t know, Mr. Stark.” Peter stood to pick up his clothes.

“Hey, kid, come here for a second.” Tony pulled Peter back onto the bed and pinned him down, his mechanical hand caressing Peter’s cheek. Peter had a momentary flashback to that day but shook it out of his head. He focused on Tony’s piercing eyes.

“You are clearly not okay. And from what I heard, because you know I hear everything that goes on in this house, it has to do with some boy at work?”

Peter rolled his eyes. “It’s nothing…”

“Yes, that’s absolutely right, it is nothing. Hey. Look at me, kid.” He waited until Peter turned his head and made eye contact. “Whoever this guy is, maybe he’s cute. Maybe you even gave him your number on that little napkin from breakfast, but in the end when you’re like us, like you and me and Cap and Bruce, you just can’t date civilians. It never works out. They don’t understand the pressures of the job... or worse: they get killed. Ask any super hero you’ve ever met.”

“But you and Pepper—”

“Yes, Pepper is a special lady who also does the super hero things from time to time. Pep and I have a kid together, but there were years of turmoil before Morgan was born. Stick with what you have, dating outside our kind will only make it hard for you in the end.”

Peter sighed. “I guess… you’re probably right. He’s just so handsome, I… there’s something about him.”

“Pete, I’m not saying don’t go knocking on that door, I’m just saying… be safe about it.”

***NSFW INCOMING. Look for the 3 asterisks at the end of this passage if you wish to skip the naughty stuff.***

Peter glanced up at Tony, feeling flush. Thinking about Jamie, feeling the weight of Tony pressing down against him, it had all started to become a little too much. His hard-on strained against the fabric of his black work pants. “Tony, I…”

“I know, kid,” Tony went in for a kiss. They were still eager and new, Peter only having turned 18 less than three months ago, but the kiss was so familiar and comforting. Tony pulled back and smiled, unbuttoning Peter’s pants. “I don’t want you thinking about that guy anymore. It’s just you and me in here, alright?” He pulled out Pete’s member and rubbed a finger at the base of the head.

“Yes, Mr. Stark, sir…”

“It’s Tony.” He palmed Peter’s cock, then slowly stroked.

Peter could only whimper in response.

“Good boy.” He released Peter. “Get naked for me, I have something I want you to try on.” Tony left the room to grab the skimpy maid outfit from his bedroom closet while Peter disrobed and hastily threw his dirty laundry in a pile in the closet.

As Peter cleaned, he muttered to himself, “I really should have listened to Cap and done this last week… Where’s that fabreeze?”

Meanwhile, Tony bumped into Steve on his way to their shared bedroom at the other corner of the massive loft. “Steve, what’s up with you today?”

“What are you talking about?” Steve feigned coolness.

“Do you have a thing for Pete?”

“Who? Pete? The kid? Nah. Not me.” Steve sped up, walking quicker toward the bedroom, but Tony caught up with him easily.

At the doorframe, he stopped him, cornered him, pushed him back against the wall. “Steve, I want you to join us.” His lips were so close to Steve’s. Steve quivered.

“Join you?” Steve chuckled nervously, turning red again. “Tony, even if I liked him, how could I handle both of you at once?”

“Yep, that’s it you’re coming with me.” Tony gripped Steve’s forearm tight with his bionic hand and pulled the protesting Captain back toward Peter’s room. The maid outfit could wait for another day, but breaking Steve in with another young buck had to happen someday... and today was as good as any!

By the time they entered the room, Peter had made it spotless. Not a single smell of feet to be found. Tony and Steve both knew he had probably just shoved everything in his closet, but the bed was made and the desk was cleared and the room smelled nicely of linen fabreeze. Peter was nude, sitting on the bed, waiting patiently for Tony to return with some outfit or other. He was shocked to see Steve Rogers standing in the doorway beside Tony, looking shyly down, cheeks frosted rose.

“Mr. Stark… you said you wanted me to try something on… D-do you want me to try on Mr. Rogers?” His voice broke a bit.

Stark sighed. “Kid, how many times do we have to tell you? it’s Tony. And Steve. And... there was a change of plans. Remember how I said it would be only you and me in here?” Pete nodded, swallowing hard as he saw Steve’s growing erection through the tight daisy dukes he’d donned to prepare dinner. “Well, now it’s you and me. And Steve.”

“S-steve, sir, I would love that... it’s just…” Pete had never seen Captain America be so shy. “I think your dick might ruin me…”

Steve glanced at Peter. Tony glared at Steve. “Say it, Cap. Go on! Tell him.”

“Peter.” Steve was looking at him lustfully, passionately now. “I want you. I want you to take me. I need you... I need you inside of me.”

Peter gave a breathy sigh. Partly from the way Cap’s words made his own dick throb, and partly from relief that he wouldn’t have to try to take the horse-sized dong that seemed to be endlessly growing in Steve’s shorts. He stood, approached Steve, and smiled. “I would like that very much.” He glanced over at Tony, unable to hide his surprise and apparent elatedness that Steve was in fact a bottom, and also that his dick really was that huge.

*** End NSFW Section***

So, that’s it for now! What do you think of part one? Do you like the partition for the SFW vs. NSFW content? What do you think will happen next? Part 2 takes place the next day. It will be coming soon! Probably tomorrow, or next week, depending on when I find time between work and school.

#spideybarista #spidey-barista #starker #polyship #MCU AU #mcu poly #stony #fanfic #fanlore #AO3 #super husbands #ironshield #stark and stripes #i ship everyone with everyone

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televinita · 5 years ago

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Books Read in 2019: The Why

In a tradition I accidentally started for myself and now quite enjoy, at the end of the year I look back at my reading list and answer the question, why did you read this particular book?

Below, the books are split into groups by target readership age, plus nonfiction at the end. This year I have added the category “how I heard of it” as well, because I just think that info is neat.

FICTION

The Visitor - K.L. Slater. 2018. Read because: Ten episodes of The Good Cop weren't enough, so I tried to find something w/ similar characters, and this looked kinda like "TJ as a slightly more withdrawn weirdo." By the time I realized it wouldn't work due to being British, I was too excited by the prospect of a thriller to stop.

How I heard of it: Googling keywords

Like the Red Panda - Andrea Seigel. 2004. The back cover and first few pages reminded me of a friend I had once.

How I heard of it: Library

The Lost Vintage - Ann Mah. 2018. What's that? You've got some secret family history/a mystery from the past to be solved using old personal papers, including a diary? My jams.

How I heard of it: Goodreads

The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls (4th ed.) - Emilie Autumn. 2017. I googled for books that promised unique formatting/art design, and Emilie Autumn has always been an intriguing enigma to me.

I Heard the Owl Call My Name - Margaret Craven. 1967. I know this title, but not why -- when I tripped over it in the teen* section and saw how tiny it was, I decided to find out what it was about. (*it's there because it's often taught in schools. It's here because its intended audience is adult.)

Escape - Barbara Delinsky. 2011. Went looking for an audiobook -- the cover with a woman standing on a small bridge amidst the woods drew me in (I can't find that cover on the internet though), and the idea of abandoning responsibility and driving off to a small town sounded like my dream.

How I heard of it: Library

Saul and Patsy - Charles Baxter. 2003. Another search result from my attempt to cast Josh Groban in a novel -- Midwestern-set and a man very much in love with his wife, no worries about the relationship being wrecked? Sweet! (though ultimately, I had to mentally recast)

How I heard of it: Googling

California - Edan Lepucki. 2014. Needed an audiobook. The title and green forest cover caught my eye, and the off-the-grid life + promise of a mysterious and possibly suspicious settler community described in the plot appealed to me.

How I heard of it: Library

The Lost Queen of Crocker County - Elizabeth Leiknes. 2018. Woman moves back home to rural Iowa in a book described as a "love letter to the Midwest"? Look at all these good choices.

How I heard of it: Library

All The Things You Are - Declan Hughs. 2014. Was looking for a different book w/ this title, but saw Spooky Dark House cover + wild summary and wanted to know how that could possibly happen / what the explanation was.

How I heard of it: Library catalog

Tumbledown Manor - Helen Brown. 2016. Cover love. A book about restoring a historic family manor?? BRING ME THERE.

How I heard of it: Library

The War Bride's Scrapbook - Caroline Preston. 2017. IT'S LITERALLY A SCRAPBOOK. I loved her other one like this.

How I heard of it: Goodreads

Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day - Winifred Watson. 1938. Rewatched the movie and needed to relive an alternate take immediately (especially for more Michael).

How I heard of it: special features on the DVD

April & Oliver - Tess Callahan. 2009. This just screamed "(slightly less storybook) Ned/Chuck AU!!" [Pushing Daisies] at me. There was semi-platonic comfort-spooning in the second chapter, COME ON.

How I heard of it: Half Price Books

A Short Walk to the Bookshop - Aleksandra Drake. 2019. This looked like an even more solid Ned/Chuck AU, missing only the childhood connection/age similarity, with bonus fave keywords anxiety, widower, bookshop and dog.

How I heard of it: Googling

Girl Last Seen - Nina Laurin. 2017. Recently watched "Captive" and wanted a story of the aftermath from the captive's perspective.

How I heard of it: Goodreads (specifically, I looked up an older book by this title intending to check out related recs, but this came up first)

The Road to Enchantment - Kaya McLaren. 2017. Gorgeous cover/title + "single [pregnant] woman inherits late mother's ranch" = an alternate life I want to try on.

How I heard of it: Library

From Sand and Ash - Amy Harmon. 2016. Love between childhood best friends who can’t (well, aren’t supposed to) touch? Sounds like a Ned/Chuck AU to me!

How I heard of it: a book blog post

My Oxford Year - Julia Whelan. 2018. Always here for age-appropriate student/teacher romances -- I had this one saved for a while -- but read now specifically to cast David Tennant.

How I heard of it: Goodreads

The Reckoning at Gossamer Pond - Jaime Jo Wright. 2018. There's a mystery from the past being solved in the present. Also, "inherited hoarder's trailer" made me v. curious about what was inside.

How I heard of it: a book blog post

My Husband the Stranger - Rebecca Done. 2017. It's Find Books That Remind Me Of David Tennant's Roles Month, and this was my crack at "Recovery."

How I heard of it: Googling

The House on Foster Hill - Jaime Jo Wright. 2017. Fixing up a spooky abandoned historic house + solving a mystery from the past in the present!

How I heard of it: a book blog post

Broadchurch - Erin Kelly. 2014. Fell in love with the show, had to immediately relive it in text form.

How I heard of it: Goodreads

The Vanishing - Wendy Webb. 2014. Spooky historic mansion from a reliable author for the spookening season.

How I heard of it: looking up the author’s back catalog

The Scholar - Dervla McTiernan. 2019. The Ruin - Dervla McTiernan. 2018. "Hmmm looks kind of like (Irish) Broadchurch but where the detective character has a girlfriend to fuss over and worry about. Nice." Read out of order because the second one had more girlfriend content, and enjoyed it enough to go back for book 1.

How I heard of it: Googling

The Day She Died - Catriona McPherson. 2014. The cover looked perfect for the Spook Season/gloomy weather. Sign me up for insta-families and murder mysteries w/ MCs in possible danger any day.

How I heard of it: library (literally because it was right next to McTiernan)

Still Missing - Chevy Stevens. 2010. Collecting base material for when I play this scenario (abduction/prolonged captivity and its aftermath) out w/ TV characters I like.

How I heard of it: Goodreads

This Is How You Lose The Time War - Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone. 2019. It sounded EXACTLY like a (genderbent) Doctor/Master or Crowley/Aziraphale relationship.

How I heard of it: a book blog post

The Tale of Halcyon Crane - Wendy Webb. 2010. Wanted an audiobook and I like this author (esp. for spook season).

How I heard of it: author’s back catalog

The Child Garden - Catriona McPherson. 2015. I liked her previous book and this setting looked even spookier and more atmospheric.

How I heard of it: author’s back catalog

Quiet Neighbors - Catriona McPherson. 2016. One last dip into this author...because what part of "woman gets a job organizing the books in 'the oldest bookshop in a town full of bookshops' + an old cottage to stay in" does not sound like my dream life?

How I heard of it: author’s back catalog

Doctor Who: The Nightmare of Black Island - Mike Tucker. 2006. After 2.5 months in a Ten/Rose spiral, the time was nigh to pluck one of their novels I didn’t get around to reading back in my original fandom heyday.

How I heard of it: can't remember

Misery - Stephen King. 1987. I just woke up one day and decided I was in the mood to try this infamous mother of all literary whumps.

How I heard of it: can’t remember

The Whisper Man - Alex North. 2019. Went looking for books that would remind me of the father/son dynamic in "The Escape Artist."

How I heard of it: Googling

Open Your Eyes - Paula Daly. 2018. Second crack at a "Recovery"-shaped novel (it failed instantly because I didn’t take the possibility of diversity into account, but suspense is still a good genre regardless).

How I heard of it: Googling

The Last - Hanna Jameson. 2019. "Dystopian psychological thriller" + the gorgeous hotel on the cover.

How I heard of it: Goodreads

------------------

YOUNG ADULT

Blood Wounds - Susan Beth Pfeffer. 2011. Established quality author + (what I thought was a) thriller premise.

How I heard of it: author’s back catalog

Beware That Girl - Teresa Totten. 2016. I wanted an audiobook, and contemporary YA options are limited at the library. The mystery/thriller aspect sounded good enough to spend 8+ hours with.

How I heard of it: library

Trafficked - Kim Purcell. 2012. I am mystified/intrigued by domestic/non-sexual slavery, and have not seen the topic covered in YA.

How I heard of it: Goodreads

Wild Bird - Wendelin Van Draanen. 2017. I have long been fascinated by teen reform camps for girls in the wilderness.

How I heard of it: library

The Year of Luminous Love - Lurlene McDaniel. 2013. The Year of Chasing Dreams - Lurlene McDaniel. 2014.

The library didn't have Girl With the Broken Heart, but it did have a fat duology featuring similar elements of horses + tragic illness, and a trio of friends that called to mind Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.

The Pull of Gravity - Gae Polisner. 2011. I was looking for quality male friendships, but the male/female friendship + road trip in this search result sounded like I could cast them as teen versions of Survivor contestants. I forget which ones.

How I heard of it: Googling

The Summer of Jordi Perez (and the Best Burger in Los Angeles) - Amy Spalding. 2018. Established quality author + bright cover, cool title, burger quest, MC's love of fashion and job in a clothing store, and summer in L.A. setting

How I heard of it: Goodreads

Tiger Eyes - Judy Blume. 1981. Found out Amy Jo Johnson was the mom in the movie version, decided to read the book as prep since once again, I knew the title, but not why I knew it.

Darius the Great Is Not Okay - Adib Khorram. 2018. I turned the internet upside down in search of books with quality male friendships, and was pointed here.

How I heard of it: Googling

Big Doc's Girl - Mary Medearis. 1941. Went looking for vintage stories of simple country girls who reminded me of Katharine McPhee's character in The House Bunny. (spoiler alert: this was not it even a little bit, why did I think it was)

How I heard of it: Googling

With Malice - Eileen Cook. 2016. Always here for random teen thrillers, including a fictionalized version of Amanda Knox.

How I heard of it: library

The Girls of No Return - Erin Saldin. 2012. Like I said, I'm big on girls reform camps in the wilderness.

How I heard of it: Goodreads

Hope Was Here - Joan Bauer. 2000. Needed an audiobook. This one was short and by a proven quality author.

How I heard of it: library

Rules of the Road - Joan Bauer. 1998. Best Foot Forward - Joan Bauer. 2006. Bought the first super-cheap a while ago because of the cover/road trip aspect/fascinating first few pages; read NOW to keep the Bauer train rolling, followed immediately by its sequel.

How I heard of it: Goodwill/Goodreads

Now Is Everything - Amy Giles. 2017. Interesting format, sympathetic-sounding main character (edit: What Makes You Beautiful - Ha Ha Ha version.mp3), potential for a sweet and protective romance.

How I heard of it: library

Radical - E.M. Kokie. 2016. Survivalist/prepper teen? Intriguing and underrepresented concept in YA.

How I heard of it: library

Hit the Road - Caroline B. Cooney. 2006. “It's spring, which means it's time to think about road trips.” Plus I just read a fun teen + old lady on the road book (Rules of the Road). It's thematic.

How I heard of it: library

I Am Still Alive - Kate Alice Marshall. 2018. I dig survival stories, especially in the wilderness, and this one was well recced.

How I heard of it: Goodreads

The Caged Graves - Dianne K. Salerni. 2013. Spook cover!! I MUST KNOW WHY THERE ARE CAGES OVER THESE GRAVES.

How I heard of it: library

Fancy Free - Betty Cavanna. 1961. Found cheap and will read this author always.

How I heard of it: antique store

Once And For All - Sarah Dessen. 2017. Stubborn determination to complete this author's canon and literally no other reasons.

How I heard of it: Goodreads

Wired Man and Other Freaks of Nature - Sashi Kaufman. 2016. People in the Goodreads reviews were mad that the guys were so close yet not gay for each other. That's the very specific male friendship wheelhouse I've been looking for! Plus I know this author can write teen boys in a way I can tolerate.

How I heard of it: Goodreads

Field Notes on Love - Jennifer E. Smith. 2019. Needed an audiobook and this was on display at the library; it looked cute and fluffy and I was ready for an antidote to the Dessen book.

How I heard of it: library

Midnight Sun - Trish Cook. 2017. Needed an audiobook and sick!lit seemed the most reliable of my options, given that previews for the movie had looked okay and it was real short.

How I heard of it: library

9 Days and 9 Nights - Katie Cotugno. 2018. Sequel to a book that drove me insane, but where I loved the writing style and was frustratingly fond of the characters so I Had 2 Know what happened next.

How I heard of it: Goodreads

Your Destination Is On The Left - Lauren Spieller. 2018. Attractive cover + keywords like "nomadic RV lifestyle," Santa Fe, post-high-school YA, and internship

How I heard of it: library

Weird Girl and What's His Name - Meagan Brothers. 2015. X-Philes?? In MY modern-day YA fiction?? (with a side of inappropriate age-mismatched relationship?) My interest is more likely than you'd think!

How I heard of it: library

All Out of Pretty - Ingrid Palmer. 2018. Attractive design + arresting first page piqued my curiosity

How I heard of it: library

Hitchhike - Isabelle Holland. 1977. Vintage book w/ a puppy on the cover, by an author I like.

How I heard of it: Goodreads

Send No Blessings - Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. 1990. Reread from high school after it came up on the What's The Name of That Book? discussion group; felt a strong pull of positive feelings but couldn't remember much.

How I heard of it: Goodreads

The Year of the Gopher - Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. 1987 Wanted better understanding of the source material before reading an essay about this book and the above in Lost Masterworks of Young Adult Literature.

How I heard of it: another book

Up In Seth's Room - Norma Fox Mazer. 1979 There was an essay about this in Lost Masterworks too. I had read it a long time ago and remembered NOT liking it, but figured I might as well revisit it to review on Goodreads.

How I heard of it: library

Blizzard's Wake - Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. 2002. Happened to be on the shelf when I checked to see what non-Alice books of hers the library had in stock, and figured as long I'm on a Naylor kick, this might as well happen. Mainly ‘cause I saw "deadly blizzard" on the back and was like "WOW this seems useful for my hurt/comfort scenario stockpile."

How I heard of it: library

A Whole New World - Liz Braswell. 2015. Seeing the new Aladdin trailer blew up my heart with FEELINGS for the original, so I went looking for a YA retelling. Can't believe I found an actual Disney-based retelling.

How I heard of it: Library catalog

After the Dancing Days - Margaret I. Rostkowski. 1986. The connection between Roy and the little girl in The Fall reminded me of this book, so I reread it specifically to visualize Andrew as Lee Pace.

How I heard of it: Library

There's Someone Inside Your House - Stephanie Perkins. 2017. I'll read most any teen thriller you throw at me. The more murders the better.

How I heard of it: Library

All the Forever Things - Jolene Perry. 2017. Loved the author's writing style on a previous book, but couldn't stomach the love triangle. Wanted to give her another chance.

How I heard of it: Library

Aristotle and Dante Discover The Secrets of the Universe - Benjamin Alire Saenz. 2012. Been on my TBR for a while because quality male friendship; read it now to see if I should keep or get rid of the dollar store copy I bought. (answer: get rid of. it's good but not amazing to me personally)

How I heard of it: Goodreads

The Hollow Girl - Hillary Monahan. 2017. Violent revenge fantasy against rapists? Especially to save the life of a guy you like who was brutally beaten during your assault? Heck yeah.

How I heard of it: Library

The Opposite of Love - Sarah Lynn Scheerger. 2014. The hurt/comfort potential was off the charts and it vaguely reminded me of Ryan/Marissa (the O.C.).

How I heard of it: Library

Sophomore Year is Greek to Me - Meredith Zeitlin. 2015. It just looked light and cute, like summer.

How I heard of it: Library

Girl Online On Tour - Zoe Sugg. 2015. Girl Online Going Solo - Zoe Sugg. 2016. Two sequels to a book I enjoyed.

How I heard of it: Goodreads

Plague Land - Alex Scarrow. 2017. Plague Land Reborn - Alex Scarrow. 2018. Always here for illness-based apocalypse/dystopia. Would have finished the trilogy but library doesn’t have book 3 yet.

How I heard of it: Library

Pretty Fierce - Kieran Scott. 2017. Spy daughter of spies running for her life along w/ doting boyfriend (named Oliver, a name that has never let me down in fiction)? The ship radar is sounding OFF.

How I heard of it: Library

The Leaving - Lynn Hall. 1980. Will read any LH book, but this one was small and easy to take on an overnight trip plus everything about the summary and first couple of pages drew me in.

How I heard of it: author’s back catalog

Speed of Life - J.M. Kelly. 2016. Beautiful cover, blue collar family, unusual premise (twin sisters co-parenting the baby one of them had, no dad in sight), and I love stories where teens are (essentially) head of household.

How I heard of it: Thrift Books

Freshman Year and Other Unnatural Disasters - Meredith Zeitlin. 2012. Looked light and cute, because it's back-to-school time and lately I've been enjoying study blogs from people just starting high school.

How I heard of it: Library

The Land of 10,000 Madonnas - Kate Hattemer. 2016. Unsupervised teens a-wanderin' through Europe? Sign me up for that vicarious wanderlust.

How I heard of it: Goodreads

A Thousand Boy Kisses - Tillie Cole. 2016. A romance w/ astronomical hurt/comfort potential. (spoiler alert it’s too sickly saccharine even for me)

How I heard of it: Goodreads

Hooked - Catherine Greenman. 2011. Random reread of a book I had come to believe should have been 4 stars rather than 3, but couldn’t remember well enough to feel confident in changing the rating without checking first.

How I heard of it: Library

Appaloosa Summer - Tudor Robins. 2014. Horsey YA + after years of it being on my TBR, the author saw me post about this fact and offered to send me a free paperback copy for review.

How I heard of it: Goodreads

I Stop Somewhere - T.E. Carter. 2018. I too identified as a girl my classmates would never notice was missing (moreso in college, but still). Plus it's getting close to Halloween, so time for spooky/true-crime-esque reads.

How I heard of it: library

What Waits in the Woods - Kieran Scott. 2015. An ideal spook setting for the spook season!

How I heard of it: Library

Illuminae - Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff. 2015. The formatting/art design just sounded cool and unique.

How I heard of it: a book blog post

Boot Camp - Todd Strasser. 2006. I went to the library to check out a different book of his, but this caught my eye because WHUMPITY WHUMP (with a side of pining for the teacher he had previously been in a relationship with).

The Last Trip of the Magi - Michael Lorinser. 2012. Picked up cheap at a book sale for the struggling-to-survive-a-winter-night-outside aspect.

A List of Cages - Robin Roe. 2017. Male friendship loaded with hurt/comfort.

How I heard of it: Goodreads

-------

MIDDLE GRADE

Sparrow Road - Sheila O'Connor. 2011. The setting -- an artist's retreat at an old mansion on sprawling estate grounds formerly used as an orphanage -- captivated me.

How I heard of it: a Little Free Library (outside of a mansion repurposed as an art council's center, actually)

Annie's Life in Lists - Kristin Mahoney. 2018. I LOVE LISTS.

How I heard of it: library

Hope is a Ferris Wheel - Robin Herrera. 2014. Still grinding my teeth over Dessen's Once and For All, I was desperate for a sweet middle grade story to refresh my palate. Gimme that bright cover. Ooh, and a trailer park kid?

How I heard of it: Library

The Education of Ivy Blake - Ellen Airgood. 2015. Prairie Evers - Ellen Airgood. 2012. Also intended as a Dessen antidote, I picked up the sequel first due to the incredibly charming excerpt on the back, and then fell so in love with the character and writing style I needed more of her world.

How I heard of it: Library

When You Reach Me - Rebecca Stead. 2009. Rave reviews from friends; mystery aspect sounded intriguing.

How I heard of it: Goodreads

Counting By 7s - Holly Goldberg Sloan. 2013. Picked up cheap at a fundraiser garage sale I wanted to support; seemed easily readable.

Summerlost - Ally Condie. 2016. Young!Ned/Chuck AU?? (spoiler alert: maybe if it wasn't so boring)

How I heard of it: Googling

Where The Heart Is - Jo Knowles. 2019. "Country girl taking care of the animals at a hobby farm across the road" = the childhood dream and also I wanted to ignore the summary and hope I could still get a Young!Ned/Chuck AU. How I heard of it: Library

The Wizards of Once - Cressida Cowell. 2017. Twice Magic - Cressida Cowell. 2018. First one: David Tennant reads the audiobook, and literally no other reasons.

Second one: Ah heck turns out I kind of loved how David Tennant read that audiobook and want more.

How I heard of it: Library catalog

My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece - Annabel Pitcher. 2011. David Tennant reads the audiobook, and literally no other reasons.

How I heard of it: Library catalog

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NONFICTION

Seinology: The Sociology of Seinfeld - Tim Delaney. 2006. It's sociology, it's Seinfeld, what's not to love?

How I heard of it: Goodreads

Survivor: The Ultimate Game - Mark Burnett. 2000. At the beginning of the year I was obsessed w/ this show like never before, so a detailed recap of one of its seasons seemed like the ticket to complement that.

How I heard of it: Googling

Jungle: A Harrowing True Story of Survival - Yossi Ghinsberg. 1985. Loved the movie, wanted to relive it in text form.

How I heard of it: special features on the DVD

Lost Masterworks of Young Adult Literature - ed. Connie Zitlow. 2002. There was an essay about Send No Blessings in here. If that's the kind of book this book is about, I wanna hear all about it.

How I heard of it: Library catalog

Animals in Young Adult Fiction - Walter Hogan. 2009. From the same publishing line as the above, which I loved, I figured this was even MORE my specialized reading niche.

How I heard of it: Goodreads

Phantoms of the Hudson Valley - Monica Randall. 1996. When I have I ever NOT wanted to read about grand mansions of yesteryear -- especially if some are abandoned ruins?

How I heard of it: Goodreads

Seven Cats and the Art of Living - Jo Coudert. 1996. Picked up cheap at a library sale because cats (and the cute author-illustrated cover painting).

Psychic Pets and Spirit Animals: True Stories From The Files of Fate Magazine. 1996. Random reread of a childhood favorite.

How I heard of it: B. Dalton's (THAT’S how long I’ve had this book, y’all).

Extreme Couponing - Joni Meyer-Crothers with Beth Adelman. 2013. Who doesn't love saving money? But I am not very coupon-savvy and wanted to learn.

How I heard of it: Library

Cabin Lessons: A Tale of 2x4s, Blisters and Love - Spike Carlsen. 2015. Having the money/skill to build my own cabin on MN's north shore is a fun daydream.

How I heard of it: Library

The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap: A Memoir of Friendship, Community, and the Uncommon Pleasure of a Good Book - Wendy Welch. 2012. Opening a used bookstore is my impractical dream too.

How I heard of it: Library

Belonging: A German Reckons With History and Home - Nora Krug. 2018. Illustrated memoirs are always awesome.

How I heard of it: Library

The Astor Orphan: A Memoir - Alexandra Aldrich. 2013.

Rokeby was one of the estates that fascinated me in Phantoms of the Hudson Valley, and the content of this one took place around the same era that book was written.

How I heard of it: Goodreads

I'll Be There For You: The One About Friends - Kelsey Miller. 2018. Am I going to turn down "a retrospective" about one of my favorite shows?? I am not.

How I heard of it: Goodreads

Season Finale: The Unexpected Rise and Fall of the WB & UPN. 2007. Recommended after the above because I love hearing how network TV stations are built in terms of programming decisions.

How I heard of it: Goodreads

Paperback Crush: The Totally Radical History of 80s and 90s Teen Fiction - Gabrielle Moss. 2018. Take how I reacted to Lost Masterworks of Young Adult Literature, and multiply it by "fully illustrated with brightly colored pages." These are the kind of books I’m familiar with and always down to talk/hear about, but hardly anyone else is.

How I heard of it: Goodreads

#why i read #queued

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ofaphrvdite · 6 years ago

Text

silence ! raise the royal standard, for the princess of hungary, AURÉLIA VANCURA, has arrived. being 26 years old, she is third in line to the throne. many around the court call her the chameleon, by virtue of her being ebullient and audacious, while also being unscrupulous and perverse. — played by jodie comer.

- THE BASICS.

full name: aurélia katalinka vancura name meaning: aurélia ‘golden’, katalinka ‘pure’ known in history as: the little rose, light of the east date of birth: july 1st, 1992/1639 age: twenty six star sign: cancer profession: diplomat for the foreign and commonwealth office (modern verse) / princess of hungary (royal verse) loyalty: hungary, house vancura, the entente alignment: chaotic neutral mbti: entp spoken languages: hungarian, german, english, french, advanced dutch, intermediate spanish, basic italian (royal verse) / english, hungarian, mandarin, french, spanish, advanced german, advanced dutch (modern verse) mother’s name: gabriella vancura father’s name: richárd vancura siblings, if any: pál vancura (deceased), dominykas vancura (older), adelaida & angéla vancura (younger), dániel vancura (younger) height: 5’8” hair colour: golden blonde eye colour: hazel

- BACKSTORY / MODERN VERSE.

ever since she was a little girl, aurélia had always possessed a mind above the rest. despite sending her to the top schools, her parents found their eldest daughter continued to best her tutors at every turn. it was in her third year of secondary school that the school made the rare call to put her forward a year, sitting her gcse’s after only one year of study. exams that she passed with flying colours.

though the vancura family had always been a competitive one, aurélia rarely found reason to quarrel with her older brother dominykas. whilst their siblings bickered amongst themselves it was often them against the world, each making no secret that they were eachother’s favourite. and so it was no surprise that after her studies she chose to remain as close to her brother as possible. if there was one certainty, it was that she would always have him to lean on.

it was through university that she discovered a love for two things: diplomacy and women. though she’d been vaguely aware of the fact that she wasn’t interested in any of the boys in her school growing up, she’d put it down to always being a year behind them in age which made dating that bit harder - especially when they were always so much slower than her. it was at oxford that she realised her gravitation towards other girls had been more than a familiar kinship, but intrigue. something she was happy to indulge in for the first time while learning the ways of language and negotiation. two subjects she was fascinated with and would serve her well in her future career.

after graduating with a first, aurélia immediately took a position in the public sector as part of the civil service fast stream in the diplomatic service division. with plenty languages already under her belt and a strong mind for debate it didn’t take long for her to rise in the ranks and soon was being sent from country to country for months at a time to represent the people of the uk. the job involved plenty of dinners at various embassies and it was at one of these very events in vienna that she was seated next to one of the country’s most famed sportswomen. in a rare meeting of minds, aurélia was convinced by theresa von hapsburg to abandon her duty for the evening and instead spent it with it her. not only could the quick witted woman easily keep up with her ( even best her at times ), but she challenged her. made her embrace a much less structured life and taught her a freedom she hadn’t ever allowed herself. aurélia in turn offered the wild spirit a home and place to belong and the two have been living together in london ( amongst other abodes ) in between their various travels.

her life remained much the same for years. work, travel, theresa and in the middle of it her brother and his wife popped out a kid and life continued on much the same. except now she was cool and fun aunt lia with a baby to spoil and none of the responsibility. unfortunately her peace was to be short lived and the gentle routine she had found herself in, one she had come to rely upon, was ripped away in one cruel and tragic sweep. with her sister-in-law’s death came unwelcome ground. her brother was replaced with a man she did not know, a stranger, and her niece was all but orphaned. in a position she was not prepared for, aurélia stepped up in her brother’s mental absence as a somewhat guardian to laima.

over time she grew to be fiercely protective of her niece and in turn wary and somewhat disillusioned with her brother. though she knows he is suffering, and so she cannot abandon him, she feels for the little girl who has been left without a mother and a father - the latter she deems an unnecessary loss. her relationship with him has become somewhat strained, but she has never been one to give up and intends stick by his side and fix what others might see is impossible. always striving for more, for the very best, aurélia will only be content when her family is whole and happy once again.

- BACKSTORY / ROYAL VERSE.

once a headstrong princess, life’s plans have forced aurélia to adapt to the hand dealt to her. her house, though stable in its seat, had been a power hungry one away from prying eyes. with siblings vying for only one throne and keen to prove themselves strong in the eyes of watching europe, she has become far more calculating in order to survive. but before the perils of growing up ( and the responsibilities that came with it ) she was every bit the free spirit. keen to stir up trouble. always batting her eyelashes to get what she wanted, and really who was surprised when she had been taught by arguably the best there was?

keen to builld a strong relationship with their neighbours and allies, the hungarian king and queen sent their eldest princess to austria frequently as a child where she built up a strong friendship with the princess theresa. in her eyes the older girl was everything she wanted to be, and she hung on her every word as if her advice were worth its true weight in gold. in actual fact it was more the blind leading the blind, but either way aurélia attributes many of the lessons she learned to the most innocent period of her life. alone in her rooms, when there is no company but the stars, she longs for those summers again where she could be the freest version of herself with her truest friend. something impossible for her to return to as that girl was long dead and the distance between them too great after her friend was married off. quietly, aurélia found herself resentful ( perhaps even envious ) toward someone who she had thought would always be by her side.

life for the eldest vancura daughter was uneventful, as if god had decided to save up the tragedy all must face in life for one concentrated dose. she was betrothed to a rich duke, and that rich duke so very sadly passed away in the war before she ever had the chance to don her pretty white veil. aurélia felt no particular loss and grieved as was appropriate for a fiance in public ( the black skirts had been so very ugly, and she had never suited such dire palettes ), only a disruption to her life that proved a mild inconvenience. she did not like not knowing what was next, and she had been left in an unsure position. something that made the now pragmatic princess anxious.

it was at the peace summit in switzerland where the pieces of her fragmented life began to slowly fit together - not long before they would be torn apart. at bern she flourished. her mother had seen fit to give her the same education as her brothers ( smart women were often more deadly than well educated men. no one saw them coming. they could tear countries apart and no one would ever suspect the pretty smiling blonde. ) and so she was well prepared to take a seat at the table with lord’s not used to a woman commanding anything. she exuded confidence and made herself impossible to ignore, and proved herself a keen and useful negotiator. her belief in herself that had begun with theresa all those years ago, had only grown with the introduction to the daughter of an italian duke. lucrezia had been her mirror in every sense. both girls so warm and fun loving, finding comfort in the spotlight of balls, always giggling and taking great pleasure in pulling the strings of the men attempting to court them. it was with slow realisation that whilst she rejected every man that came to worship at her renowned beauty, it was lucrezia she wished to spend all her time with. not just to share in their latest debacles and laugh over silly things, but she found herself longing to see her face every morning she woke, and if a day passed where she did not speak with her it was a sad day indeed.

it was on a warm autumn day that her feelings of love surpassed anything platonic. the two girls had taken their horses out across the countryside and spent the afternoon playing in a lake far from prying eyes. half giggly on the champagne she’d swiped, and half because lucrezia was suddenly so close and the air was so heavy that she’d blame flushed cheeks on that, the other girl had kissed her mid laugh and aurélia had decided she never wanted it to stop. weeks would pass and the two young girls found themselves in and out of eachothers chambers, going beyond two youths trying to find their place, her heart belonged to the other and she could not foresee a time they would ever part. the logical part of her knew it must end, they would all return home eventually and be forced into marriages they did not want, but she was so swept up in something so pure she was sure it couldn’t be wrong.

it was a perfect tapestry that would always need to be unravelled, but never did she expect for it to happen so violently. the thread was not slowly tugged upon, instead it all went up in flames and left nothing but ash. during a coronation ball for the king of prussia, pirates invaded the castle and began slaying anyone in their path all in the name of chaos. ever together, the two girls escaped with crowded ballroom full of screams and their relief, they soon realised, came too soon. it was aurélia that had made it to the end of the corridor first, lucrezia’s expensive gown becoming ensnared on a loose nail and leaving her to catch up. she’d waited for her by the door to a chamber they could barricade until the shouts had sounded from down the hall and left the princess frozen in fear. if she waited they would both die, and both the girls knew it. she had seen the resignation of her fate in her lover’s eyes as men had grabbed her and without a second’s thought the princess had closed the door behind her to hide. but not before the screams of lucrezia had reached her ears and she had burned the memory of the sword through her chest into her mind forever.

hours passed and even after the screaming had died down, aurélia remained under the bed she had hidden beneath, unable to calm her sobbing as she spiralled deeper into shock and grief. it was only after her brother found her and managed to coax her from hiding that she began to calm down long enough to accept that lucrezia was dead. dead because of her. a thought that was soon solidified as she was led from the room and saw the remains of her lover being carried away from the pool of pool she had left behind. knowledge that her brother had too passed away in the attacks ensured the princess did not emerge from her room for quite some time. the things she had seen she shared with no one, not even her brother. her secret could not be uncovered, and her links to the dead woman must remain unknown for the sake of her reputation. her life must still continue on.

the attacks left her forever changed. no longer was the warmth she exuded anything but a product of a practiced facade. the free spirit once cultivated had been cut down and locked away. she could no longer afford to behave so foolishly, and be so free with her bleeding heart. for weeks the princess did not leave the safety of her rooms and only ate when the pain of hunger distracted her long enough from her grief. when she reemerged into court, it was only when she was attended by a guard. her trauma was stowed away deep down, forced to be forgotten. it was at night where her survivors guilt manifested as night terrors. so often did she wake herself screaming that her guards no longer ran to her. now sure the only harm inside her rooms that could be done to her was herself.

it has been months since the attacks and aurélia is now at versailles to represent hungary and its new king. in her time of self imposed exile she has learned to play the game perfectly. at surface level she is a perfect princess, her brains now buried deep where they can be used to subtly move others into the places she wants. though she smiles prettily, it is often a front meant to sway others into doing her bidding. manipulation now a part of her day to day life. it is as this new muted version of herself that she finds herself reunited with theresa, and all the old confused feelings she has long since buried. though she will play good friends, their reunion will be tainted with the knowledge that aurélia has asked for a betrothal. hoping that marriage will banish the forbidden longings of her heart for good, and give her the position of power she so yearns for.

#! * INTRODUCTIONS.#! * INTRODUCTION / aurélia.#YEET #she gets one before izzy because its gay rights #lets go lesbians etc

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qqueenofhades · 7 years ago

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could i ask for some more of your lovely garcy!professors au? maybe a conference together...

semi-sequel to citation needed, although you don’t need to read that one for this one to make sense. basically, Lucy and Flynn are both professors, she hates his guts while he fancies that he is a dashing academic flirt (spoiler alert: he is not), there are academic shenanigans, and they end up sort of getting together.

I also have to tag @oldshrewsburyian in this, for reasons.

It is not the first time that Lucy has been to the International Medieval Congress, though it is the first time she has actually gone to attend the sessions and not just Flynn’s with the intention of asking him multiple probing questions afterward (hey, turnabout is fair play for all the times he did it to her). They are making a trip of it to England for a few weeks over the summer, for several reasons: first, for Flynn to formally wrap up his job at Royal Holloway in London, since he’s taking up a permanent position at Stanford; second, to visit Oxford so he can run around his old stomping grounds from his Marie Curie; and three, to attend the IMC in Leeds, to which he goes every year and is apparently a well-known hashtag on IMC Twitter. (Lucy was wondering if it was #FuckingFlynn, but apparently medievalists are nicer than she is.) She is looking forward to learning more about a period of history that isn’t her specialty, and seeing if Garcia has developed any more social skills in the six months they’ve been dating. Doubtful.

They have not really put a label on their relationship, though they are definitely a couple and serious enough that Flynn thinks it worthwhile to move to California and leave London, where he’s been based for several years. Lucy has been a little apprehensive about this trip, as if seeing all his familiar places and institutions will make him decide that he wants to stay on this side of the pond instead. Just a year ago she would have been absolutely delighted if he never darkened her door again, and stayed on the other damn side of the Atlantic for good, but, well. Things have changed.

The trip to London mostly consists of Flynn signing important papers, grumbling about how much it costs to ship his 800 boxes of hardback books to California, and being given the side-eye by his old colleagues, as if not sure this is the same man. It is followed by a more enjoyable trip to Oxford where they stroll around the lawn at Trinity, his old college, and Lucy can tell from his face that he loves this place more than just about anywhere in the world. Flynn says it saved his life, more or less, to come here after Lorena and Iris’s deaths and make himself start again, being a scholar, after almost giving it up. Painful as hell, but he found himself again here. He will never forget that.

They get to Leeds on the Sunday before the conference starts, pick up their registration packs (Garcia Flynn and Lucy Preston, Department of History, Stanford University) run into Eleanor, who has also flown out to attend, and sit down with the prospectus to plan out which sessions to go to. Flynn is giving a paper on Tuesday, moderating two other sessions, has organized a fourth, and is on two evening round-tables, so his time is mostly booked, but he encourages Lucy to explore, and she flips through the pages. “Hey, this one looks interesting. Queer readings of medieval romances? Wednesday, 11:15-12:45.”

“Wednesday second session? I was thinking about the one on regional differences and developments in the legal archives of eleventh-century Swabia.”

Lucy manages not to roll her eyes at him, but barely. Trust Flynn to be drawn to the most obscure and bogglingly boring ones (as well as apparently having the prospectus memorized). “How about you go to that one and I’ll go to the interesting one on queer medieval romances?”

Flynn looks vaguely stung that she doesn’t agree that scholars of legal archives in eleventh-century Swabia need love too (or knowing him, a barrage of questions on their opinions on the textual materialities of charters in high medieval Germany… whatever). “Well, if you really want to.”

Lucy bites her lip trying not to grin. “We can compare notes later.”

Flynn more or less graciously agrees that they can, though with a look saying that next she won’t want to go to the one on medieval Icelandic farming techniques either. They go to bed that night to prepare to be up early for the keynote lecture, and walk from their campus accommodation to the Great Hall the next morning with an excited, chattering crowd of fellow nerds. Several of them seem to do double-takes when they see Lucy and Flynn holding hands on the way inside. This is not unusual behavior at Stanford, so they ignore it.

They split up after that to head to their various sessions, meet at the Pavilion for lunch, and briefly amble in to check out the book fair. Flynn is like a kid in a candy shop (and they haven’t even gotten to the main publishers’ exhibition in Parkinson yet, obliging Lucy to remind him that they do have to carry all these books back on the plane with them and she for one is not paying the overweight baggage fees). It is definitely adorable to watch him frolic around and pull off random books on this or that extremely niche subject, and Lucy grins up at him after he has just insisted on spending £25 for a rare hardcover first-edition by some esteemed Byzantine Empire expert. “You know, if I had seen this side of you before, I might have liked you sooner.”

“What do you mean?” Also trust Flynn to forget what a dumpster-fire disaster he was at flirting. “You always saw that side of me.”

Lucy gives him a sure-buddy look, and they head to their afternoon papers. Overall they have a fine time, to judge from Flynn’s notes, legal archives in eleventh-century Swabia are exactly as boring as she thought, and on Thursday morning, they run into someone else Flynn knows, a professor at the University of Leicester, who remarks dryly that he seems a little more – well, less tightly strung this year. “Let’s face it, Garcia. You’re usually that bloke in the Q&A sessions asking if the speaker has considered the alternate meaning for the Old Catalan verb in their translation, and they not-so-subtly want to kill you.”

“Yes,” Lucy says. “Yes, he is.”

Flynn opens his mouth, thinks better of it, and shuts it. “Well,” he says with a shrug. “I suppose I’m just happy.” He looks down at Lucy, with the crooked smile that makes his eyes crinkle, and her stomach turn a flip. “And I’m even happier to be heading back to Stanford this autumn. I would not change a thing.”

(God, this ridiculous man.)

(Lucy loves him so much, and believe her, she does not know how that happened either.)

#lucy x flynn #garcy #garcy ff #citation needed #anonymous #ask

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livehealthynewsusa · 4 years ago

Text

We Found the Solutions to Summer’s Toughest Style Situations

What should I wear? It was a pretty normal question we asked ourselves before the pandemic. But asking now what clothes to wear is not purely pragmatic. It’s existential. Which pants should I wear to work? What kind of pants should I own? What is the point of pants and who decided we had to wear them?

And listen, we too wore sweatpants and sweatshorts and T-shirts to work last year. We too let our bosses see our questionable WFH outfits and unmeasured gallery walls in virtual meetings. Social boundaries have been broken, the back of our cupboards have long been forgotten. But now that things are largely reopened, we could all use a little reminder of how to dress for this. So we teamed up with our friends at Klarna to find the eaaaasssssyy solutions for some of these tricky style situations, such as going back to the office, finally taking the long-awaited vacation with friends and family, or sliding over to all the postponed ones Weddings.

The facts about Klarna

Klarna is an all-in-one payment and shopping service that makes both shopping and the purchase process easier. Download their app and you can shop at any retailer in America while also getting access to a custom selection of brands, offers and rewards tailored specifically to your type of shopping – like most of the heavy lifting in Klarna to find the good things for you. You can also use the app at many partner retailers you already know and love (think Adidas, Lululemon, Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, and more). Just click the Klarna button when you check out on their website or scan the app in the store, and from there it goes “smoothly”.

If you’ve chosen to pay later, there are plenty of options for your wallet too.

There are also many advantages for your wallet when shopping with Klarna. First, there is the popular “Pay in 4”, where you split your purchase into four installments. Don’t worry, there is no interest and it doesn’t affect your creditworthiness. Klarna also gives you access to exclusive deals with hundreds of their trading partners. Save items you love on your profile and the app will notify you when there’s a price drop or sale so you can get the best items at the best price.

Whatever you want to buy – and however you want to buy it – just got easier. Hey, even style icons like A $ AP Rocky are turning to the app to reconnect with their style. And if it works for him, you know it works for us too. Here, three of our very own Men’s Health editors share their advice on the post-pandemic situations they shopped for and what they chose to shop for with Klarna.

Back to the office

Spencer Dukoff, assistant editor for content strategy, prepares to return to the office. Not only will his everyday life feel completely different, he will also think differently about it. “I’m more focused than ever on comfort and versatility,” he says. “I can only imagine that more than a year of working from home will push the office wear norms in a more casual direction.” But that doesn’t mean he really wants to wear gym shorts to work. What it means is buying clothes that have high quality fabrics at the fore.

To Spencer, it looks like grabbing nifty sweatpants that look professional but feels like sweatpants and pair them with a classic polo shirt. When it comes to a blazer, he looks for one that feels as far from rigid as it gets without venturing into loungewear. Wear it with a clean cut t-shirt and a pair of shoes that feel like sneakers but look classy.

“In terms of equipment, this is a reintroduction of real commuting,” Spencer points out. “A lot of things that I took for granted, like headphones or a watch, become a little more important to maintain a sense of normality and routine.” He opts for low-profile noise-canceling headphones and a cool leather briefcase to hold all of his hide other technology.

He also invests in a few important things. First, a series of mugs to keep customers entertained and to make his desk in the office more homely. And he makes a new watch – one he can wear to work, but also one that he can wear every day and that makes him feel good. To manage his expenses intelligently, he’d go for the Klarna Payment Option in Four, which allows buyers to plan larger purchases without interest – instead of having to watch them sit idly on a credit card statement.

Wingtip Oxford

Cole Haan macys.com

$ 130.00

Regular fit polo shirt

REISS Bloomingdales.com

$ 94.00

Canfield Weekday Stationery

Shinola Bloomingdales.com

$ 895.00

ABC pants narrow 34 “

lululemon lululemon.com

$ 128.00

Venture blazer

lululemon lululemon.com

$ 198.00

Formula I watch, 43 mm 43

Day, this year Bloomingdales.com

$ 1,450.00

Old fashioned glasses

Marquis of Waterford macys.com

$ 59.99

Pack a vacation bag

Ebenezer Samuel, fitness director, looks forward to spending his summer outdoors. While he is stocking up on a few things for the vacation, he thinks very differently about shopping. “The pandemic was the first time I actually LIVE in my house and I swear we found rooms that I didn’t know I had,” he says. “It was a good reminder of how many things I had collected in total that I never used or did not need. After the pandemic, I’m definitely thinking more about it. Do i really need this? Will it really enrich my life and my experience? ”

Getting to the beach is one of those experiences that Eb can’t wait to pack his bags for – with versatility, quality and comfort in mind. His wardrobe has to work in the sand for days and the rest of his vacation, for example double packs such as quick-drying swimming trunks that also serve as shorts and a polo made of absorbent terrycloth. For some of the more fashionable items, Eb uses Klarna’s collection function, with which you can put together products from different retailers and keep an eye on all offers. Eb is waiting for this Klarna price drop notification so he can grab a pair of mules and polarized sunglasses that his wife “won’t make fun of”.

To freshen up your equipment: speakers, a tablet for reading and a sturdy but cool weekend travel bag that goes with everything. This is ideal for summer excursions as well as for autumn hikes and ski trips. He’s also investing in an expensive but necessary cooler. If he uses it now while paying for it over the next several months, he can really enjoy it (no large loan debt required).

Polarized sunglasses

Oakley backcountry.com

$ 97.80

Base Camp 132L travel bag

The north wall backcountry.com

$ 168.95

Roadie 24 cooler

YETI backcountry.com

$ 199.99

Terrycloth polo

Orlebar brown orlebarbrown.com

$ 175.00

Galaxy Tab S7 11 “

Samsung samsung.com

$ 199.99

Do the wedding season rounds

Adam Mansuroglu, Senior Style and Commerce Editor, is ready for a change in style and looks forward to clothes that make him feel good. “I haven’t worn a suit in what feels like a century, but now that it’s time to store my sweatpants, I want to be totally stylish,” he says. “This summer, I’m trying to channel the looks of some iconic movies with classic pieces that have a touch of retro vibes.” To Adam, this effortless cool looks like a seersucker suit, linen polo, and loafers – light and comfortable for the heat but heavy in the boast.

Adam is always looking for high quality clothing and accessories, and this summer wedding season is no exception. “I’m absolutely ready to spend some money on goods that will stand the test of time, but luckily Klarna allows me to freshen up my wardrobe after the vaccination without burdening my wallet at the same time,” he says. That means he can start right away with his carry-on luggage, sunglasses, and jewelry – all of the next-level accessories that he would normally need to purchase individually to meet his current shopping budget.

And because he is planning to spend a busy summer away from home, Adam stores himself with technology to keep track of things: a portable charger for his travel bag and an AirTag to keep track of things on the go. He could pay for this lovely bag over time, but that doesn’t stop him from using it asap.

Seersucker suit

Indochinese indochino.com

$ 429.00

Clubmaster sunglasses

Radiation protection farfetch.com

$ 94.00

Firenze travel bag

Brics nordstrom.com

$ 525.00

Linen blend polo sweater

theory Bloomingdales.com

$ 195.00

Gold vermeil signet ring

Miansai mrporter.com

$ 165.00

Reverse suede loafers

Fear of god mrporter.com

$ 695.00

CA resident loans issued or arranged under a California Finance Lenders Law license.

source https://livehealthynews.com/we-found-the-solutions-to-summers-toughest-style-situations/

0 notes

dailyhealthynews · 4 years ago

Text

We Found the Solutions to Summer’s Toughest Style Situations

The facts about Klarna

If you’ve chosen to pay later, there are plenty of options for your wallet too.

Back to the office

Wingtip Oxford

Cole Haan macys.com

$ 130.00

Regular fit polo shirt

REISS Bloomingdales.com

$ 94.00

Canfield Weekday Stationery

Shinola Bloomingdales.com

$ 895.00

ABC pants narrow 34 “

lululemon lululemon.com

$ 128.00

Venture blazer

lululemon lululemon.com

$ 198.00

Formula I watch, 43 mm 43

Day, this year Bloomingdales.com

$ 1,450.00

Old fashioned glasses

Marquis of Waterford macys.com

$ 59.99

Pack a vacation bag

Polarized sunglasses

Oakley backcountry.com

$ 114.10

Base Camp 132L travel bag

The north wall backcountry.com

$ 168.95

Roadie 24 cooler

YETI backcountry.com

$ 199.99

Terrycloth polo

Orlebar brown orlebarbrown.com

$ 175.00

Galaxy Tab S7 11 “

Samsung samsung.com

$ 199.99

Do the wedding season rounds

Seersucker suit

Indochinese indochino.com

$ 429.00

Clubmaster sunglasses

Radiation protection farfetch.com

$ 94.00

Firenze travel bag

Brics nordstrom.com

$ 525.00

Linen blend polo sweater

theory Bloomingdales.com

$ 195.00

Gold vermeil signet ring

Miansai mrporter.com

$ 165.00

Reverse suede loafers

Fear of god mrporter.com

$ 695.00

CA resident loans issued or arranged under a California Finance Lenders Law license.

source https://dailyhealthynews.ca/we-found-the-solutions-to-summers-toughest-style-situations/

0 notes

sandinz · 7 years ago

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It may seem to some readers we spend most of our time enjoying ourselves. Together, with family, and with friends.

True, life in the Teutenberg/Walsh boathold (no household here!) it’s vastly different to the majority of people in our peer group. However, we are NOT retired. Barry has another two and half years to go; Sandra just over eight.

We do not, and neither of us ever have, rely on any form of public funds (i.e. state benefits). We DO have a small savings buffer as we’ve both ‘worked’ in the usual way for over 35 years each in our chosen professions. We have our boat, NB Areandare.

Adapting as we go …

This year has seen a marked difference in our travelling and trading plans. One of the most important things we’ve learnt since our bold/brave/crazy/impetuous (take your pick depending on your perspective!) decision to sell bricks and mortar, move to England, buy a narrowboat and leave our ‘normal’ jobs of Professional Photographer (Barry) and Midwife/Educator/Quality Coordinator (Sandra), has been to regularly review what we’re doing to attempt to sustain our chosen lifestyle. Up until very recently of course, I’ve also been caring for my elderly parents as their health diminished.

What we’re very conscious of is not getting sucked back into the hamster treadmill – or feeling coerced by ‘the powers that be’ into ‘ticking their boxes’.

Admittedly there’s been a few times such as the two applications for Barry’s UK Spousal Sponsored Visa (with the third one looming), or recently opening an ‘Executors Bank Account’ with my sister, or hiring a car from Enterprise (they ask about occupation this year having never done previously!), where not being able to simply answer questions about home address and employment, as most people easily do, can feel rather frustrating.

But … overall we feel an incredible sense of freedom ‘doing it differently‘ and NOT waiting to live until it’s potentially too late. We’ve known far too many people who have left this mortal world much sooner than expected. We both believe strongly this life is it. No point gambling precariously that there’s something ‘better’ to come in our worldview. As I’ve alluded to previously though, this way of living is not for the fainthearted. It takes courage, perseverance, partnership, persistence and planning (just not long-term or it’s just too freaky!).

Calendar Club – a joint venture

For the past two years we’ve both worked at Calendar Club outlets. In 2016 we each worked for people we knew who were running stores. Last year we successfully ran our own shop in Lichfield at the Three Spires Centre. A full-on fourteen week commitment, with only two days during in total when we shut up shop. We even managed to stay open during the period of severe snowfall.

However, with both of us running the store we each had sufficient time off. We’d chosen Lichfield as there were good moorings nearby, with public transport routes to the city – and it’s near family and friends, as Sandra lived in Sutton Coldfield for many years. And from 1st November to 1st March, 48 hour moorings become 14 day ones. So we were able to move the required distances during the time we were ‘working’.

We’re very proud that this year, as we met the Key Performance Indicators set by Calendar Club, we’ve been invited to run the Lichfield store again. It’s a brilliant way to earn a good sum of money, on a commission basis (we’re ‘Self-Employed Operators’), in a set period of time. So it’s ideally suited to live-aboard boaters who’d prefer not to work in the usual way. There’s obviously many other people who live on land who run stores and mall outlets too.

This year Calendar Club have a number of vacancies needing to be filled from now till October. You can apply by going to this link and filling in the online form. Currently the areas where Calendar Club are seeking motivated and committed operators are:

Aldershot

Andover

Aylesbury

Bath

Bishops Stortford

Buxton

Chester

Dumfries

Durham

Elgin

Hastings

Hemel Hempstead

Hereford

Hull

Inverness

Kendal

Kirkcaldy

Maidenhead

Middlesbrough

Newmarket

Oxford

Reading

Runcorn

Southend

Stafford

St Albans

Swansea

Tamworth

Taunton

So get in quick if you’re interested!

There’s a number on the list with nearby waterways … Do contact us by email if you want to chat about our experiences.

The Home Brew Boat and Photography

Barry has focused mostly on on-line sales for The Home Brew Boat this year, doing very little towpath trading. We have three canal festivals booked in the Birmingham area in September. Most unlike the past four years.

He’s refining the products he sells, according to what he’s found popular. There may be more changes afoot in the near future, concentrating more along the distilling and spirits making line. That is more his area of expertise having been involved with ‘Still Spirits‘, the distilling supply company whom Barry dealt with in New Zealand, prior to moving to the UK. So … if you want to know about distilling, the legalities of it and ‘how to do it safely and successfully for personal consumption only’, give him a call or email via the contact us page.

Last year Barry was invited to work with PayPal together with an international freight company and which uses a website plugin to expand the reach of his business. It means his wicked website is translated into the language of the country where it is viewed so is able to have products delivered across the globe. The customer pays the UK plus extra international postage when ordering. Barry organises the courier to the depot at Heathrow, and PayPal or their freight partner, do the rest. It’s been working very successfully so far.

He’s also increased the range of waterways related Greeting Cards to 47, with nine new ones in the last batch. Photography continues to be a passion – just in a very different way to his years in New Zealand.

The Worcester, Birmingham and Droitwich Canal Society have purchased some of his cards to sell at events they attend, and they say they’ve been one of their best-sellers! So … if there’s anyone else out there who would like to stock a selection of Barry’s cards, please do contact us.

He’s had photographs published recently in The Wall Street Journal and Waterways World, and we started a weekly Wednesday ‘Guess the location and waterway’ competition on his ‘Inspirational Images of the UK Inland Waterways’ Facebook page. The person to guess correctly wins their choice of Greeting Card from Barry’s range. Most week’s we’re a card down – occasionally we stump everyone! Click the link and ‘like’ the page, check it out on a Wednesday (the time we publish is variable) – and have a go yourself …

Reflections in Little Venice – published in The Wall Street Journal

A snow covered Areandare December 2017 Hopwas

Sandra’s becoming a Google Guru – at Ad-extra

Also this year, I (Sandra) applied, was interviewed, and successfully passed the required ‘Google Ads’ (formerly ‘Google AdWords’) exams, to gain a self-employed consultant contract with a fabulous UK-based company called ‘Ad-Extra‘. Over the past years I’ve blogged, set up and managed websites, and marketed our services through a variety of Social Media accounts, so this seemed like a natural progression.

One of the beauties of doing online work like this, is the flexibility of the ‘hours of work’ – which can be mostly adapted around our lifestyle. It’s early days yet, but after working with the owner Dom, and the select team, since March 2018, I can honestly say I’m looking forwarding to building up my contribution to helping people promote themselves to clients searching for local businesses.

For any canal-related businesses, appearing at the top of Google searches may be something that would increase your exposure and income. Sandra Willis from The Doggie Boat, also works for Ad-Extra. Click here and ‘meet the team‘!

Duck food and Canal Art

These have been very small additions, so far, to our ‘portfolio’ of income generating streams.

We’ve been travelling a lot, and entertaining visitors frequently, so weekends sitting on a busy towpath attempting to ply our wares just hasn’t really figured on our itinerary! However, they’re both ‘works in progress’, and projects we’ll consider building upon during the remainder of this summer, early autumn, and in 2019.

Letting go of Facepainting …

A few fantastic faces from Blisworth Canal Festival 2016

I loved being a facepainter since April 2014. It’s something I’d wanted to do for many years, and I believe (and was often told!) that I became rather good at it!

However …

I only ever got to facepaint OFF the boat. Which meant hauling heaps of equipment from the boat to a land-based stall and setting it up. Or hiring a car and travelling to events (that cut into the meagre profits!). And when people asked me if I did parties, generally I had to say yes and no, desperately wanting to say yes – but knowing it depended upon where we were expecting to be located at the time of the event. I’m convinced that if we’d been in one place, for a length of time, I could’ve built up the business successfully. As it is, with the lifestyle we’re currently living and loving, I felt it wasn’t moving forward. So I’ve made the sad decision to let it go – for now. Who knows, one day I may pick up my brushes, sponges, paints, glitter and gems again … Watching children’s (and young and more mature adults!) faces light up when they look in the mirror has been akin to waving a magic wand and sprinkling fairy dust on them. Absolutely priceless.

A kiwi summer

Our next kiwi guests arrive today, and are with us for three fabulous days. We’re currently moored adjacent to The Salt Barge, not far from Northwich. We’ve not stayed here previously, but will definitely do so again. A marvellous mooring and outstanding proper British pub.

On 25th July Barry’s older brother Ray arrives for three weeks. We recently heard his younger brother Peter has also chosen 2018 to pop in for a cuppa – or most likely something rather stronger! He’s literally popping in one day and out the next. But it’ll be amazing to see them both.

And yes, in between and during, we’ll both be fitting in ‘work’. Following that, September we have three festivals booked. October, it’ll be noses to the grindstone, and we’ll be focussing on making our Lichfield Calendar Club store as successful as possible.

We don’t always get the balance as evenly weighted to either side as we’d like, but mostly it suits us living as we are. For now …

Continuing to discover ways to sustain our flexible floating lifestyle It may seem to some readers we spend most of our time enjoying ourselves. Together, with family, and with friends.

#Ad-Extra #AdWords #Calendar Club Store Operators applications #Calendar Club UK #facepainting #Google Ads #Google AdWords #Inspirational Images of the UK Inland Waterways #Still Spirits #The Home Brew Boat #Three Spires Centre Lichfield #Waterways Related Greeting Cards

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thelarryficrecplace · 7 years ago

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hey so i’m bored as fuck and like really emotional and i just wanna read some larry fics and just be emotional, so do you have any that are cute and slightly angsty and i don’t really care if they’re au or like real life stuff i just need something good to read. thanks a lot!!

I just wanna apologise in advance, first of all for being too late to reply to this and second of all because even though the following fics are cute and fluffy they’re angsty as well cos apparently the word slightly doesn’t exist in my vocabulary:

Counting The Steps Between Us by zarah5:

Summary: AU. So, yeah. That year abroad helped Harry establish that he is in love with his best friend. Now, if Louis would stop treating him like a little brother, that would be awesome. (Additional ingredients: a collapsing tree house, a lot of pining, the other three boys as Louis’ new best mates from university, and a camping trip. Serve hot.)

Word count: 24,526

Loving You Is Free by littlelouishiccups:

Summary: Louis is a workaholic record label CEO who hasn’t been on a date in nearly a year. Niall and Liam make an account for him on a sugar dating website as a joke. And then Louis meets Harry.

Word count: 67,971

one more for the stars by imsosorry:

Summary: It’s different, and Louis knows that, because Harry’s got so much riding on this - a career and a future and his whole life. There’s talk of him going first overall in the draft, of entering the NFL after only two years in college, of going to New York or Seattle or Green Bay, and Louis wants to be there for him, wants to support him and help him make decisions, but he also kind of wants to pin him to the bed and cry and scream, What about me what about me what about me?

(au. Harry’s the star quarterback and Louis is about to graduate. It’s a heartbreak waiting to happen.)

Word count: 16,099

And I’ll judge the cover by the book by harrystylesandstuff:

Summary: At twenty years old Harry has his life figured out. He’ll graduate from the private University of Buckingham and move to Oxford to study journalism. He’ll meet someone who shares his values and accepts who he is, and apply everything his successful parents have taught him.

At twenty-two years old Louis has no clue what he wants in life. He’s not sure he’ll pass the year and doesn’t know where he’ll go after that. He spends his time smoking away his doubts about himself with his friends and all he cares about is making sure his family doesn’t fall apart.

They don’t belong together.

Or a Private University AU where Harry is a queer posh prince, Louis is a closeted troublemaker, and neither expect to understand each other the way they will.

Word count: 73,810

Your Mess Is Mine by amory:

Summary: Louis is the father to the most brilliant little boy in the world who is all Louis really needs, or at least that’s what he tells himself. Harry is a gorgeous boybander fresh off a two year break and a massive scandal that’s left him a little broken and more than ready to move on.

They fall in love.

Word count: 176,723

Autumn At My Window by TheCellarDoor:

Summary: A canon-compliant AU, in which Harry and Louis are both in the band and have been sharing flats and hotel rooms for nearly five years, but never made the leap past ‘friends who are too close for comfort’.

Featuring a lot of pining, Louis’ addiction to Harry’s scent, and a whole lot of sexual tension that might just snap loose when they decide to spend some time together all on their own.

Word count: 20,405

Foolishly Completely Falling by isthatyoularry:

Summary: Louis is ¼ of the infamous boy band One Direction and has had a crush on the Prince of Wales for ages. Prince Harry is gay and out and when he spills on a tv show about finding a certain Louis fit, their paths cross and everything turns into a tumult of emotions and anxiety, and the complications when you just want to show the world who you love.

Word count: 85,965

as long as skies are blue by theboyfriendstagram:

Summary: Summer Camp!AU. Louis has been a football instructor at Lake District Camp for three years when twenty-year old Harry Styles - the latest addition to the counseling team - stumbles not so gracefully into his life. It’s not that Harry is everything Louis can’t stand-except. He is. But that doesn’t stop him from walking in on the naked boy too many times for it to be a coincidence.

Word count: 25,268

I Need A Fix Cause I’m Going Down by larryshares:

Summary: louis has been dealing with depression for as long as he can remember. he doesn’t expect green eyes and toothy grins and sweet petals in messy curls to save him, but they’re doing a hell of a lot more to help than regular therapy and prescribed pills ever have.

Word count: 158,296

There’s No Way That I Could Share You by paladincoolcats:

Summary: Harry had always been possessive of Louis, even before they soulbonded. This is pretty much just a bunch of incidents where Harry, as Louis’s alpha, gets jealous when other people get too involved with his omega. And then there’s part two, dealing with Harry and Louis’ experiences during Louis’ pregnancy.

Word count: 37,954

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fedonciadale · 7 years ago

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What’s in a touch? - Part 2 - The Woods of Brethil

So, here is part 2 and another entry for @jonsa-week, free choice day, for the lovely mods! Also on AO3.

When the swirling lights died down, Sansa and Jon found themselves in a clearing in the midst of an autumn wood. The sun was playing with the leaves that were shivering in a slight breeze. They looked around in wonder. Behind them there was a distinct thunk.

“OW!”, they heard.

Sansa turned and a woman stood just behind them, clutching her head. Apparently, she had managed to bang her head.

Sansa looked at her in awe. She wore a very short skirt and a white blouse, and on her nose, was something that looked like a very strange kind of jewellery. There were two large pink circles around her eyes and Sansa realised that they somehow were fastened with a bar behind her ears. When the woman moved her head, Sansa saw that in the pink circles there was glass. She must be from this ‘Oxford’. O gods, she looks strange. Why does she have such short hair?

“Well, we are somewhere else,” Jon said. “But I’m not sure where we are. I had the impression that this ‘Oxford’ Maester Wolkan talked about should be a city?” Sadly, he had let go of Sansa’s hand as soon as the other woman appeared.

The woman with the pink jewellery snorted. “This is not Oxford, this is Westeros.”

Sansa shook her head. “No, we’ve just come from Westeros. This is some other place. I don’t know these strange trees nor these little white and yellow flowers.”

The woman looked at her just over the edge of the strange pink circles and raised an eyebrow. “I just started a computer programme to log into Westeros to collect clues for my new book project. I must be in Westeros.”

“No, this should be Oxford.”, Jon insisted.

The woman snorted. “You apparently have no idea what you are talking about, you imbeciles. Of course, this is not Oxford. As if Oxford would be in the middle of the woods.”

Sansa felt a bit intimidated by the woman’s air of superiority, but she remembered she had a mission. “So, you are from Oxford?”, she asked hopefully.

She tried to smile sweetly. She could see that Jon made no effort to save the situation. His brow was furrowed and he looked warily at the woman. “We need to talk with the maesters there.”

The woman stopped rubbing her head. “Maesters? There are no maesters in Oxford, only professors. And since you talk of Maesters, I must be in Westeros.”

Jon shook his head stubbornly. “No, we just swallowed a potion to get to Oxford.”

Sansa sighed. “Apparently, the potion did not bring us to Oxford, but somewhere else and just brought someone from Oxford to us.”

The woman crossed her arms across her breasts. “This is the newest art of programming. I can’t believe I’m stuck in another world. Probably some bland traditional fantasy by the look of it.”

Sansa looked at Jon, helpless, and Jon shrugged his shoulders, indicating that he had no idea what to do either.

Sansa decided to introduce herself, when suddenly all around them, men with arrows nocked on their bows, sprang up. Sansa yelped. She hadn’t seen anything.

The men looked strange, their ears were somewhat pointed and it was difficult to look at them. Their cloaks blended into the green of the wood.

“Lower your bows,” someone said, probably the leader. “These are no fell orcs, but mortal men. You can see it in their eyes.”

“Strictly speaking, I am a woman, and I am Carol Honton, a famous professor for medieval English.”, the woman said. She scrutinized her environment and sniffed disdainfully.

“Elves,” she sighed. “I suppose we are in a traditional fluffy fantasy world.” She managed to look haughtily over the strange pink circles that framed her eyes.

Jon took a step, so that he was before her and gave a short bow.

“I am Jon Snow and this is Sansa Stark. I don’t really know, how we got here. We wanted to go to a place called Oxford, where this Lady Honton comes from. We are from a different,… ” he stopped. “.. world you could say.”

The leader of the group carefully gazed into Jon’s eyes. “I’m Mablung, hunter to King Elu Thingol of Doriath. State your purpose.”

He gave a slight wave to one of his men, who began to relax.

Jon scratched his head. “Well, a magic potion brought us here.”

“I suppose, you could say, we are searching for something that will help us to defeat evil beings that threaten us, mortal men, as you probably would say.” Sansa added.

Mablung looked worried. “So Morgoth’s clutch is on your world as well.”

Sansa decided to go along with it. “He is the Night King in our world.”

Lady Honton tsked. “You’ve got that wrong, Sansa. George RR Martin is not into writing villains in the traditional way. Tolkien did that. He is all good against evil and living happily ever after. These are beautiful elves”, she waved at the people around them. “And the orcs are ugly. This tells you enough to know that Tolkien is just bland. I’ve never read any of this boring stuff. It is my luck to be apparently stuck in Tolkien.”

Sansa shook her head, irritated. What is she talking about?

Jon came to her help. “Since we haven’t reached our real destination, I think we will just try to return and won’t bother you.”

Lady Honton sprang forward and rudely grabbed Jon’s sleeve. “I won’t let you go. You are Jon Snow and I am determined to uncover your destiny. I won’t leave your side until I have found out.” She eyes Sansa from the side. “Why is Sansa here? She isn’t important.”

Jon tried to disentangle his arm from the woman’s grasp, but it seemed like short of breaking her fingers he would not get rid of the woman.

Mablung was searching in his pockets. “While you are here, you could be of help to us. My king entailed a task to me. Glaurung, the dragon, has left Angband and he is looking for Turin, Hurin’s son. I must needs find him, before the dragon does.”

He showed them two tiny beautifully painted pictures, the one was a raven-haired tall man with a sad face. Sansa looked at him and said: “He has the same facial expression as you when you’re brooding, Jon.”

Mablung sighed. “He has ample reason. He was separated from his family at the age of eight and his path has been a dark one ever since.”

The other picture was of a blond and determined looking woman. “That’s Nienor, his sister. She fell under the spell of the dragon and forgot who she is. She has been lost for years.”

Sansa took the pictures and because the sun was shining she turned a bit, so that the shadow of her head fell on the pictures.

“What shall we tell Turin and Nienor, if we find them?”, she asked.

“Tell them to flee the dragon at all costs and that they are welcome to Doriath. The king has long pardoned Turin.” Mablung the hunter said.

“If we find them, we’ll tell them.”, Sansa reassured him.

Mablung sighed. “You could tell Turin that he can’t kill the dragon on his own.”

To Sansa that sounded very much like something Jon would do and she nodded.

Mablung bowed to her. “Your help is very welcome, fair lady. I would caution you to be very careful, though. While searching your way back, I could order some of my men to escort you, although we are hard pressed.”

Sansa curtsied to the friendly hunter. “Thank you, my lord. But we have means to travel back.”

“Sansa, we should go back and try again to reach Oxford, we have our own war to fight.”, Jon said. He was still trying to disentangle himself from the grasp of that professor, who still held his sleeve as if her life depended on it.

He took a step towards Sansa, finally disentangling himself from the grasp. Jon bent to her ear, his mouth coming within a hair’s breadth of her face.

“Sansa, there is a dragon around here, we’d better get home.” he whispered under his breath. Sansa’s ear tingled where his lips almost brushed the shell of her ears.

“If the dragon comes, we’ll escape, but I don’t think there is enough for another journey”, she whispered back with a meaningful glance at her bag with the potion.

Then she spoke for the benefit of all. “While we look for Turin and Nienor, we can talk with Lady Honton. This is not Oxford, but she is from Oxford and she might be able to help us.”

Lady Honton again looked down her nose full of scorn. “I’m not very interested in talking to you, Sansa, you are not one of the original five.”

Sansa was taken aback and wondered again what in the name of the Old Gods this annoying lady was talking about, but it was Jon who answered.

“I would appreciate if you could make an effort to be more courteous to my sister,” he said, his eyes blazing.

For the first time Lady or Professor Honton looked contrived. “I’m sorry, of course you are protective of your sister, but Sansa still has to learn that she is not that important and that she has to abide by your decisions. She should have died already anyway, her purpose in the story is done.”

If she was trying to be more courteous there I don’t want to know how she is when she is rude.

Jon frowned, but held his mouth.

Mablung had followed their exchange with a puzzled look on his face. “You are sure, you don’t need an escort, fair lady?” he asked Sansa.

“We won’t need anyone, I would thank you for your consideration.” Sansa curtsied again.

“If you had something to eat that would be greatly appreciated, though”, she added as an afterthought. Rations had been scarce at Winterfell, and they might as well make the most of their strange trip.

Mablung waved towards one of his men who brought several packages that looked like someone had folded or crumpled leaves.

“Here,” he gave Sansa the packages. “This is lembas. Gladly we part of it, for such a fair and kind lady.”

Sansa took the packages and held them to her nose. There was an air of freshness about the leaves that she felt like her nose was filled with the crisp air that came with rain.

Lady Honton opened her mouth, no doubt to say something nasty about Mablung’s gift, but the hunter just shot her a look, that silenced her. Sansa made a mental note to try that look once in a while with Lord Glover.

They parted on amiable terms, at least as far as Sansa and Jon were concerned and Mablung and his companions left them.

“I know how this story is going to end.” Professor Honton said. “Turin will slay the dragon, save his sister and will be welcomed back in this fluffy elven kingdom. Traditional fantasy like Tolkien is so predictable.”

“Fluffy?” Jon asked.

“Yes, fluffy,” Professor Honton answered. “Like Sansa’s dresses, all girly and lacey. Not very practical and absolutely unrealistic, not like Westeros.” She sniffed. “Sansa would probably adore these elves.”

Jon shot Sansa a look his eyes widening and Sansa could have sworn that his eyes lingered on the embroidery at the front of her dress.

“I think, that Mablung was a true knight, and indeed I think it was nice of him to give food to people who are strangers to him.”, Sansa observed, her voice a bit strained.

Professor Honton waved dismissively at Sansa and turned to Jon. “Now, tell me, you are ‘the prince who was promised’ aren’t you?”

#Jonsa #jonxsansaff #jonsaff #Jonsa-week #What's in a touch #The wood of Brethil #chapter 2 #Jon Snow #sansa stark #Mablung the hunter #Silmarillion AU

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esytes69 · 5 years ago

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New Post has been published on https://www.acqro.in/uk-could-be-worst-hit-country-in-europe-by-coronavirus-leading-expert-declares/

UK could be worst-hit country in Europe by coronavirus, leading expert declares

Sir Jeremy Farrar of the Wellcome Trust, which is searching for a Covid-19 vaccine, said ‘the UK is likely to be one of the worst, if not the worst, affected country in Europe’

The UK is likely to be “one of the worst, if not the worst” hit countries in Europe by coronavirus, one of the nation’s leading experts said today.

Wellcome Trust director Sir Jeremy Farrar, who advises the government and whose organisation is helping seek a Covid-19 vaccine, said better testing had let countries like Germany get ahead.

He accepted it was “inevitable” the UK would “learn lessons” from Germany after Tory ministers’ slow progress on ramping up testing came under fire. He added: “The UK is likely to be one of the worst, if not the worst, affected country in Europe.”

It comes after the number of daily deaths in the UK passed the peaks in Spain and Italy for the first time on Friday.

The daily rise of 980 outstripped previous records of 971 in Italy on March 28 and 950 in Spain on April 3 – though was narrowly beaten by France.

Sir Jeremy also said today that there was evidence that black and minority ethnic people are more at risk from Covid-19, though it is not known why.

He warned immunity in some people who have had Covid-19 may be incomplete – throwing any idea of “immunity passports” into jeopardy.

And he said a vaccine may be ready by September – but not for the whole population.

London hospitals are now trying to secure supplies directly from China (Image: Getty Images)

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said there would be “difficult questions” over whether the UK was too slow to impose a lockdown.

But he said “now is not the time for those”.

He added: ” The national effort has to be about reducing those numbers and, as I say, that’s about increasing the capacity of the NHS, it’s about social distancing and following the government’s guidance. That’s what we all have to be focused on.”

Questioned today, Business Secretary Alok Sharma dodged saying three times whether he agreed with Sir Jeremy about the UK being the worst-hit country in Europe.

“Different countries are at different stages of this cycle. But what we have seen is the measures we have announced having an effect,” he told the BBC.

Asked again he said: “We are at different trajectories. What we have done with the advice that we have now set out to people, to stay at home, is precisely because we want to make sure we have a flattening of the curve, infection rates aren’t going up, and ultimately people’s lives are being saved.”

Mr Sharma told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show he was “very sorry” for deaths and he would rely on evidence from the government’s scientific advisors.

He added: “I completely understand it is a tough time for individuals and it is a tough time for businesses as well.”

Business Secretary Alok Sharma did not directly said ‘different countries are at different stages of this cycle’ (Image: Sky)

Sir Jeremy was also interviewed by the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show.

Asked if the UK was heading for the worst death totals in Europe, he said: “It is possible. The numbers in the UK have continued to go up.

“I do hope we’re coming close to the number of new infections and in a week or two… the number of deaths plateauing and starting to come down.

“But yes, the UK is likely to be certainly one of the worst, if not the worst affected country in Europe.”

The UK is now close to testing 20,000 people per day for Covid-19. There is finally enough capacity for NHS staff who need it, but not all social care workers who have symptoms and not for the wider population who fall moderately ill.

Sir Jeremy said Germany worked “very early on” to test people at a “remarkable” scale and isolate individuals, “and as a result they were able to know exactly what was happening in the epidemic in Germany.”

Jeremy Farrar (Image: Getty Images)

He said continuing testing in the community would “buy you time” to deal with the crisis, giving an additional six to eight weeks to ensure health systems were up to capacity.

He added: “Inevitably the UK will learn lessons from how Germany has managed to control the epidemic to date.”

Sir Jeremy said every country has struggled to get hold of testing equipment, but also said it was clear in late January that there was human to human transmission of Covid-19.

In the early days of February, he said, “it was obvious this infection was going to be very serious and it was going to affect more than just the region of Asia where it started.”

Meanwhile, Sir Jeremy warned it is a possiblity that people could be affected by Covid-19 twice, and not have “complete” immunity.

A vaccination could be ready by September – but not for the whole population (stock) (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Sir Jeremy said treatments and a vaccine are the only true exit strategy because a second or third wave of the epidemic “are probably inevitable”.

He said “there is a very good chance” that a team at Oxford University will be able to produce a vaccine “that can start to be tested in the summer.”

He added: “We could know by the autumn of this year whether that vaccine was inducing immune responses in people.”

But he sent a note of warning.

He said it would then need to be manufactured at scale and distributed to vast numbers of people in an accessible way.

He said: “That vaccine will be going into volunteer studies in the summer, so May, June, July.

“The results will be available in September, and then there will be a push from September to give it to more people and see if it is not just safe but is it also effective.”

Sir Jeremy said mass rollout of a vaccine in even 12 months was an “unprecedented ambition”.

He went on: “The vaccine I think will be available during the autumn of this year but that will not be at the scale that’s required to vaccinate maybe many billions of people around the world.”

Meanwhile, he warned scientists are still working out how long people retain immunity from Covid-19.

He said: “We don’t know yet, after being infected, how long and to what extent any of us have immunity, and how long that will last.”

He said it is critical to understand whether Covid-19 was actually infecting people twice, or whether it was a slightly different virus.

But he added: “Either way it suggests that perhaps immunity in some people is not complete and that has major ramifications for the ability to make a vaccine and also for the community to be protected in each wave”.

Sir Jeremy also said there is “growing evidence” that people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds are hit harder than others. But he warned against jumping to conclusions.

He said: “There is some evidence growing both in the US and here in Europe that people from BAME backgrounds are more at risk.

“What is critical to work out is, is that something specific to that background, or is it related to other risk factors that we know about? Age, other illness that people have – diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, lung disease.

“And it’s critically important we understand which elements of that are the real risk factors.”

#corona virus latest updates #coronavirus uk #covid19 #pandemic #Vaccine for corona virus

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emilygibsonw18019897 · 5 years ago

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London Placement at KITRI

Week 4-

2nd-6th March:

This week I started off by organising a sample in the vintage archive and labelling it and logging it into the system. I then steamed about 8 garments from one of their current collections in preperation for a photoshoot that the marketing and social media team were doing early on in the week for their Instagram account.

I learned how to send out a lot of seperate colour standards swatches which were going to different suppliers from the uk all the way to China, China is mostly where they get their manufacturing done. I learned how to use their DHL express postage system and DPD system online to package and create shipping labels to send the samples and colours/fabrics to different suppliers. Alongside this I also sent print artworks and teachnical packs for the prints off to the corrosponding suppliers via email and wetransfer, so the companies had a digital version of the print and the physical fabric colour refrence.

Above are two images of the final prints I worked on changing the colour ways/creating the print techpacks and sending the colour standars to the suppliers. These are for the Autumn/Winter 2020 collection and I have recently just added them to show what I worked on.(Images added 4/10/2020).

Below is an example of sending a colour standard, it included the colour swatch and then the fabric which is a refernce for the correct colour. The colours were selected from what they had chosen for a specific season. They have refrence files of selected colour swatches and fabric swatches for each season which I kept refering to for each print tech pack and colour standard pack.

Tuesday was Selfridges day!

I went back to Selfridges on Oxford street exactly three weeks from the first time to compare the KITRI display. They had slightly moved the rail display and moved a couple of the garments to different layouts but overall it had the same as last time give or take one style that had sold out. However, this time the sales assistant was a lot more talkative and told me which styles were selling well with certain ages and which style not selling as much. She explained that the faux leather dresses and garments were the best sellers currently and that the wrap front dresses always sell well.

I then started organising the filing systems of fabrics swatches from a supplier named Rich Silk as they recieve a lot of swatches so need to be organised. I started to order them chronologically which is done by the similarity in fabrics and their numbering systems. There was hundreds of samples so this was to continue organising next time I had free time.

They also recieved a Zara sample dress as part of their archiving styles,which I photographed, labelled and cut x10 A5 sized swatches from for sample to refrence the taffeta fabric. The dress was a lovely silhouette and I loved the black matte taffeta it was made from.

Throughout this month I have personally been keeping up with the fashion shows from London fashion week, Milan and Paris, looking at what new trends were arising for inspiration for my own design projects and interest.

At the very end of the week I was set a task to create a Trend Report for Autumn/Winter 2020 and by logging trends and saving refrence catwalk images to create a Trend Report on powerpoint. I will carry on with this task and will do until its finished in next few weeks to summarise the trends from colour, dresses, silhouettes to fabric and prints for Autmn/ Winter 2020. I am to research in accordance to Kitri’s brand aesthetic and to find running themes of dofferent trends across designers collections. Dresses and print are their main areas of focus towards their style of design and I will look out for new trends especially for those two areas.

Friday afternoon I ended the week by steaming the entire Autumn collection which I went to collect from a company that had shipped it back from Paris, for a very important meeting on friday morning. Each garment is differnet to steam depending on the fabric, for example the faux leathers had to be steamed lighting on the inside of the garments only and some lighter fabrics only need small amounts of steaming to protect the fabrics.

Skills obtained:

I continued to organise the vintage archive with labels and photographing samples.

I learned how to organise and order their rich silk fabric standards and getting to see all different types of fabrics they produce.

I spoke to the sales advisor about the Kitri display and learned whats working well for the brand and what they nedd to improve upon.

I started researching for A/W 2020 catwalk trend report looking for trends that will link well with Kitri and their style.

I steamed technical fabrics and learned hoe to make sure they dont get damaged or distorted whilst steaming.

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gizedcom · 5 years ago

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Donald Trump has held back global efforts to find real treatments, SAGE scientists claims

Sir Jeremy Farrar said today the US President’s enthusiasm about hydroxychloroquine had held back global efforts to find Covid-19 treatments

Donald Trump’s endorsement of hydroxychloroquine as a coronavirus wonder drug has slowed down global efforts to beat the disease, a UK Government scientist suggested today.

Sir Jeremy Farrar implied the US President’s enthusiasm about the anti-malaria drug — which has since been proven not to have any effect on Covid-19 patients — ‘delayed and slowed down our progress in developing treatments’.

Trump first touted hydroxychloroquine in April, saying there were ‘very strong signs’ it could treat the viral disease based on limited anecdotal reports from US doctors and poor studies.

But last month, Oxford University’s Recovery trial, the biggest in the world, stopped enrolling participants to its hydroxychloroquine arm after concluding that it showed no clinical benefit.

President Trump has also admitted to taking the drug as a preventative therapy, to stop him from getting infected from the disease in the first place. Trials are currently ongoing to see if the tablets can work in this way.

Sir Jeremy, a member of Downing Street’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said out of more than a thousand clinical trials of Covid-19 treatments around the world, 16 per cent are looking at hydroxychloroquine.

He told a Chatham House briefing it ‘didn’t make any organised sense’ and blamed comments politicians for making statements about ‘certain drugs’ which proved not to be true and holding back progress of other potential therapies.

Trump first touted hydroxyhcloroquine in April, saying there were ‘very strong signs’ it could treat the viral disease based on very limited anecdotal reports from US doctors

The anti-malaria drug has since been proven not to have any effect on Covid-19 patients

Only one drug — the £5 steroid dexamethasone — has been conclusively proven to treat coronavirus. Ebola drug remdesivir has been approved to treat patients but the evidence is still mixed.

The Recovery trial found it reduced the risk of death by 35 per cent for patients relying on ventilators — the most dangerously ill — and by a fifth for all patients needing oxygen at any point.

Sir Jeremy said today: ‘I think there are 1,200 clinical trials currently in place around the world, of which 16 per cent are looking at chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine. That doesn’t make any organised sense.’

He suggested statements made by politicians in relation to drugs, which ended up not being true, had ‘delayed and slowed down our progress in developing treatments’. But he did not name any politicians in particular.

Sir Jeremy, who is also director of the Wellcome Trust, a research-charity based in London, claimed too many trials of potential treatments were too small to show definitive results.

He praised the Recovery trial — which has recruited 11,000 trialists — and the World Health Organization’s Solidarity trial, which has 5,000 volunteers.

But he added: ‘Many of the trials, and I think here the clinical community does need to take a harsh look at ourselves, many of the trials are too small.

‘I think 40 pre cent will enrol less than 100 patients. It’s very unlikely in less than 100 patients you’re going to provide definitive evidence of the efficacy and safety of a treatment.

VACCINE NATIONALISM ‘HAS NO PLACE’ IN THE COVID-19 FIGHT

Sir Jeremy Farrar, who is a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), also warned against ‘nationalism’ when it comes to treatments and a vaccine.

He said the pandemic will affect all of us ‘until every country manages to steer a way through it’, adding: ‘So there’s no point being nationalistic, there’s no point saying “I’ve got my vaccine in America and nobody else will have it”, because that won’t work, and it won’t actually protect Americans.

‘Vaccine nationalism, therapeutic nationalism, has no place in enlightened self-interest, and they have to be seen as global public goods.’

His comments come after Donald Trump was earlier this month accused of ‘undermining’ the global Covid-19 fight by splashing the cash on one of only two drugs approved to treat the disease on the NHS.

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HSS) revealed it had secured more than 500,000 treatment courses of remdesivir for American hospitals.

It represented the entire global supply for July and 90 per cent of stocks for August and September, leading to fears of an autumn shortage.

‘You have to do things at scale as Recovery and Solidarity have done, and small trials will often be unhelpful, and will often be politicised as we have seen in this epidemic, where politicians sadly made statements about certain drugs which proved not to be true and I think delayed and slowed down our progress in developing treatments.’

Last month Oxford University scientists pulled the controversial drug from the Recovery trial after results showed it had no benefit on patients hospitalised with the virus.

A quarter of NHS patients given hydroxychloroquine died from Covid-19, compared to 23.5 per cent who were not prescribed the drug.

The scientists running the trial said the results were ‘pretty compelling’, adding: ‘This isn’t a treatment that works.’

Professor Martin Landray, lead author of the study, added: ‘If you’re admitted to hospital with Covid – you, your mother or anyone else — hydroxychloroquine is not the right treatment. It doesn’t work.’

He called for doctors around the world to stop using the drug, which can cause a slew of nasty side effects including heart arrhythmias, headaches and vomiting.

But Professor Landray said the results do not necessarily mean the tablets cannot prevent people from catching Covid-19 in the first place, which several studies are still investigating.

Early results on hydroxychloroquine from the RECOVERY trial were not supposed to released until July.

But the study’s chief investigators said they felt compelled to release the data and set the record straight on the drug, which has been at the centre of furious debate.

It comes after another study last week claimed that hydroxychloroquine can boost survival odds for some coronavirus patients.

Hospitalized coronavirus patients given hydroxychloroquine were 50 percent less likely to die of the brutal infection than those who did not receive the drug.

President Trump’s top economic adviser Peter Navarro claimed the US ‘could have saved 10s of thousands of lives’ if it used the drug from the start.

But critics slammed the Henry Ford Health System retrospective analysis of 2,541 people, saying it wasn’t a randomised trial — the gold-standard type of scientific evidence.

Exerts warned more of the hydroxychloroquine group were given steroids, which data suggests combats dangerous inflammation in coronavirus patients.

WHY IS HYDROXY-CHLOROQUINE CONTROVERSIAL?

Hydroxychloroquine – branded as Plaquenil – is a cheap drug that has been used to prevent malaria and treat lupus and rheumatoid arthritis for decades.

It was touted as a wonder drug by Donald Trump despite no evidence it could treat Covid-19.

Hope was sparked early on in the crisis when a French study suggested the drug could have both antiviral and anti-inflammatory effects.

It triggered a flurry of research across the world, the endorsement from Trump and emergency authorization from US regulators.

The RECOVERY trial is the first randomised study to provide concrete evidence about the drug.

The results will likely have a knock-on effect around the globe, where tens of thousands of coronavirus patients are still being prescribed hydroxychloroquine.

Leading doctors have also warned the drug can cause severe side effects, and can even throw off the process that makes the heart beat in time.

One trial in Brazil was stopped short because so many of the enrolled coronavirus patients given the drug developed these arrhythmias (abnormal heartbeats).

According to WebMD, side effects may include:

Nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, diarrhea, dizziness, or headache

Slow heartbeat, symptoms of heart failure (such as shortness of breath, swelling ankles/feet, unusual tiredness, unusual/sudden weight gain)

Mental/mood changes (such as anxiety, depression, rare thoughts of suicide, hallucinations)

Hearing changes (such as ringing in the ears, hearing loss), easy bruising/bleeding

Signs of infection or liver disease

Muscle weakness, unwanted/uncontrolled movements (including tongue/face twitching), hair loss, hair/skin color changes

Low blood sugar, severe dizziness, fainting, fast/irregular heartbeat, seizures.

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